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diff --git a/31681-h/31681-h.htm b/31681-h/31681-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..af0e94d --- /dev/null +++ b/31681-h/31681-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,21669 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> +<head> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1" /> +<title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Hand and Ring, by Anna Katharine Green</title> + <style type="text/css"> + + p {margin-top: .75em; + text-align: justify; + text-indent: 1.25em; + margin-bottom: .75em; + } + img {border: 0;} + .tnote {border: dashed 1px; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; padding-bottom: .5em; padding-top: .5em; + padding-left: .5em; padding-right: .5em;} + ins {text-decoration:none; border-bottom: thin dotted gray;} + h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 { + text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ + clear: both; + } + hr { width: 33%; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + clear: both; + } + + table {margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;} + + body{margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + } + + .pagenum { /* uncomment the next line for invisible page numbers */ + /* visibility: hidden; */ + position: absolute; + left: 92%; + font-size: smaller; + text-align: right; + } /* page numbers */ + .copyright {text-align: center; font-size: 70%;} + .blockquot{margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; text-align: justify;} + .blockquot2{margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 15%; text-align: justify;} + + .bbox {border: solid 2px; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; padding-bottom: .5em; padding-top: .5em; + padding-left: .5em; padding-right: .5em;} + + .center {text-align: center;} + .smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + + .caption {font-weight: bold; font-size: 80%;} + + .figcenter {margin: auto; text-align: center;} + + .figleft {float: left; clear: left; margin-left: 0; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: + 1em; margin-right: 1em; padding: 0; text-align: center;} + + .figright {float: right; clear: right; margin-left: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em; + margin-top: 1em; margin-right: 0; padding: 0; text-align: center;} + + .unindent {margin-top: .75em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; + } + .right {text-align: right;} + .poem {margin-left: 30%; margin-right: 10%; text-align: left;} + .poem2 {margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 10%; text-align: left;} + .sig {margin-right: 10%; text-align: right;} + .u {text-decoration: underline;} + .footnotes {border: dashed 1px;} + .footnote {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-size: 0.9em;} + .fnanchor {vertical-align:baseline; + position: relative; + bottom: 0.33em; + font-size: .8em; + text-decoration: none;} + .hang1 {text-indent: -3em; margin-left: 3em;} + .cap:first-letter {float: left; clear: left; margin: -0.2em 0.1em 0; margin-top: 0%; + padding: 0; line-height: .75em; font-size: 300%; text-align: justify;} + .cap {text-align: justify;} + + hr.full { width: 100%; + margin-top: 3em; + margin-bottom: 0em; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + height: 4px; + border-width: 4px 0 0 0; /* remove all borders except the top one */ + border-style: solid; + border-color: #000000; + clear: both; } + pre {font-size: 85%;} + </style> +</head> +<body> +<h1>The Project Gutenberg eBook, Hand and Ring, by Anna Katharine Green</h1> +<pre> +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 <a href = "http://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a></pre> +<p>Title: Hand and Ring</p> +<p>Author: Anna Katharine Green</p> +<p>Release Date: March 17, 2010 [eBook #31681]</p> +<p>Language: English</p> +<p>Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1</p> +<p>***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HAND AND RING***</p> +<p> </p> +<h4>E-text prepared by Suzanne Shell, Emmy,<br /> + and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team<br /> + (<a href="http://www.pgdp.net/c/">http://www.pgdp.net</a>)<br /> + from page images generously made available by<br /> + Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries<br /> + (<a href="http://www.archive.org/details/toronto">http://www.archive.org/details/toronto</a>)</h4> +<p> </p> +<table border="0" style="background-color: #ccccff;" cellpadding="10"> + <tr> + <td valign="top"> + Note: + </td> + <td> + Images of the original pages are available through + Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries. See + <a href="http://www.archive.org/details/handring00greeuoft"> + http://www.archive.org/details/handring00greeuoft</a> + </td> + </tr> +</table> +<p> </p> +<div class='tnote'> +<b>Transcriber's Note:</b> Clicking on the second diagram (<a href="#Page_364">Page 364</a>) will show the reader a +larger, and somewhat more readable, version of the same. +</div> +<p> </p> +<hr class="full" /> +<p> </p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 378px;"> +<img src="images/cover.jpg" width="378" height="600" alt="Cover" title="" /> +<br /><br /></div> + +<h3><br /><br /><br />BY THE SAME AUTHOR.</h3> + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align='left'><b>The Leavenworth Case.</b> <span class="smcap">A Lawyer's Story</span>. 16mo, cloth, $1.00; paper, 50 cents; 4to, paper</td><td align='right'>20</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><b>A Strange Disappearance.</b> 16mo, cloth, $1.00; paper</td><td align='right'>50</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><b>The Sword of Damocles.</b> 16mo, cloth, $1.00; paper</td><td align='right'>50</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><b>X. Y. Z.</b> <span class="smcap">A Detective Story.</span> 16mo, paper</td><td align='right'>25</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><b>The Defence of the Bride, and other Poems.</b> Square 8vo., flexible cloth</td><td align='right'>1 00</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<div class='center'> +G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS, PUBLISHERS,<br /> +<small>NEW YORK AND LONDON.</small><br /><br /><br /><br /> +</div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_i" id="Page_i">[i]</a></span></p><div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/ill01.jpg" width="600" height="445" alt=""'Look out,' cried the detective, 'or you will get yourself into trouble,' and he tightened his grip on the old creature's arm."—(Page 43.) (Frontispiece.)" title="" /> +<span class="caption">"'Look out,' cried the detective, 'or you will get yourself into trouble,' and he tightened his grip on the old creature's arm."—(<a href="#Page_43">Page 43.</a>) <span style="margin-left: 12em;">(Frontispiece.)</span></span> +</div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h1>HAND AND RING</h1> + +<h3>BY</h3> + +<h2>ANNA KATHARINE GREEN</h2> + +<div class='copyright'> +AUTHOR OF "THE LEAVENWORTH CASE", "THE SWORD OF DAMOCLES", "THE<br /> +DEFENSE OF THE BRIDE" ETC., ETC.<br /></div> + + +<div class='blockquot2'><br /><br /><br /><br /> +<p>"For murder, though it have no tongue, will speak with most miraculous +organ."</p><br /></div> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> + + +<div class='center'><br /> +<br /> +<big>G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS</big><br /> +NEW YORK: 27 & 29 WEST 23D STREET<br /> +LONDON: 25 HENRIETTA STREET, COVENT GARDEN<br /> +1883<br /></div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_ii" id="Page_ii">[ii]</a></span></p> + + + + + +<div class='copyright'> +<span class="smcap">Copyright by</span><br /> +ANNA KATHARINE GREEN<br /> +1883<br /> +<br /><br /><br /> + + +<i>Press of<br /> +G. P. Putnam's Sons<br /> +New York</i><br /> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_iii" id="Page_iii">[iii]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2>CONTENTS.</h2> + + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="Contents"> +<tr><td align='center' colspan='3'><i>BOOK I.</i></td></tr> +<tr><td align='center' colspan='3'>THE GENTLEMAN FROM TOLEDO.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left' colspan='2'><span class="smcap">chapter</span> </td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">page</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>I. </td><td align='left'>A Startling Coincidence</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_1">1</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>II. </td><td align='left'>An Appeal to Heaven</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_17">17</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>III. </td><td align='left'>The Unfinished Letter</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_31">31</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>IV. </td><td align='left'>Imogene</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_49">49</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>V. </td><td align='left'>Horace Byrd</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_67">67</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>VI. </td><td align='left'>The Skill of an Artist</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_85">85</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>VII. </td><td align='left'>Miss Firman</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_95">95</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>VIII. </td><td align='left'>The Thick-set Man</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_115">115</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>IX. </td><td align='left'>Close Calculations</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_128">128</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>X. </td><td align='left'>The Final Test</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_146">146</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XI. </td><td align='left'>Decision</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_162">162</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='center' colspan='3'><br /><i>BOOK II.</i></td></tr> +<tr><td align='center' colspan='3'>THE WEAVING OF A WEB.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XII. </td><td align='left'>The Spider</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_168">168</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XIII. </td><td align='left'>The Fly</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_175">175</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XIV. </td><td align='left'>A Last Attempt</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_189">189</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XV. </td><td align='left'>The End of a Tortuous Path</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_199">199</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XVI. </td><td align='left'>Storm</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_205">205</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XVII. </td><td align='left'>A Surprise</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_213">213</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XVIII. </td><td align='left'>A Brace of Detectives</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_214">214</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XIX. </td><td align='left'>Mr. Ferris</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_233">233</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XX. </td><td align='left'>A Crisis</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_245">245</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XXI. </td><td align='left'>A Heart's Martyrdom</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_258">258</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XXII. </td><td align='left'>Craik Mansell</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_264">264</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XXIII. </td><td align='left'>Mr. Orcutt</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_278">278</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XXIV. </td><td align='left'>A True Bill</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_299">299</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XXV. </td><td align='left'>Among Telescopes and Charts</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_306">306</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_iv" id="Page_iv">[iv]</a></span>XXVI. </td><td align='left'>"He Shall Hear Me!"</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_313">313</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='center' colspan='3'><br /><i>BOOK III.</i></td></tr> +<tr><td align='center' colspan='3'>THE SCALES OF JUSTICE.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XXVII. </td><td align='left'>The Great Trial</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_315">315</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XXVIII. </td><td align='left'>The Chief Witness for the Prosecution</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_322">322</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XXIX. </td><td align='left'>The Opening of the Defence</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_350">350</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XXX. </td><td align='left'>Byrd Uses his Pencil Again</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_356">356</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XXXI. </td><td align='left'>The Chief Witness for the Defence</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_369">369</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XXXII. </td><td align='left'>Hickory</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_383">383</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XXXIII. </td><td align='left'>A Late Discovery</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_392">392</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XXXIV. </td><td align='left'>What Was Hid Behind Imogene's Veil</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_411">411</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XXXV. </td><td align='left'>Pro and Con</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_436">436</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XXXVI. </td><td align='left'>A Mistake Rectified</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_465">465</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XXXVII. </td><td align='left'>Under the Great Tree</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_475">475</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XXXVIII. </td><td align='left'>Unexpected Words</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_502">502</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XXXIX. </td><td align='left'>Mr. Gryce</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_516">516</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XL. </td><td align='left'>In the Prison</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_529">529</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XLI. </td><td align='left'>A Link Supplied</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_555">555</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XLII. </td><td align='left'>Consultations</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_568">568</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XLIII. </td><td align='left'>Mrs. Firman</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_573">573</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XLIV. </td><td align='left'>The Widow Clemmens</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_587">587</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XLV. </td><td align='left'>Mr. Gryce Says Good-bye</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_600">600</a></td></tr> +</table></div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_v" id="Page_v">[v]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2>LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.</h2> + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="List of Illustrations"> +<tr><td align='left'> </td><td align='right'><span class="smcap">PAGE</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><div class='hang1'>"'Look out,' cried the detective, 'or you will get yourself into trouble,' and he tightened his grip on the old creature's arm."</div></td><td align='right'><i><a href="#Page_i">Frontispiece</a></i></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><div class='hang1'>"Taking her hand in his, he looked at her long and searchingly. 'Imogene,' he exclaimed, 'there is something weighing on your heart.'"</div></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_58">58</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><div class='hang1'>"He paused, sick and horror-stricken. Her face had risen upon him from the back of the chair, and was staring at him like that of a Medusa."</div></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_252">252</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><div class='hang1'>Diagram</div></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_364">364</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><div class='hang1'>"The curtains parted and disclosed the form of Imogene. 'I am coming,' she murmured, and stepped forth."</div></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_402">402</a></td></tr> +</table></div> + +<div class="blockquot"><p><span class="smcap">Note</span>.—A portion of these illustrations originally appeared in <i>Frank Leslie's Illustrated +Newspaper</i>, and have been used in this volume through the courtesy of Mrs. Leslie.</p></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[1]</a></span></p> +<h2>HAND AND RING.</h2> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>BOOK I.</h2> + +<h2>THE GENTLEMAN FROM TOLEDO.</h2> + + + + +<h2>I.</h2> + +<h3>A STARTLING COINCIDENCE.</h3> + +<div class='poem'> +By the pricking of my thumbs,<br /> +Something wicked this way comes.<br /> +<div class='sig'>—<span class="smcap">Macbeth.</span></div><br /> +</div> + + +<div class='cap'>THE town clock of Sibley had just struck twelve. +Court had adjourned, and Judge Evans, with +one or two of the leading lawyers of the county, stood +in the door-way of the court-house discussing in a +friendly way the eccentricities of criminals as developed +in the case then before the court. Mr. Lord had just +ventured the assertion that crime as a fine art was +happily confined to France; to which District Attorney +Ferris had replied:</div> + +<p>"And why? Because atheism has not yet acquired +such a hold upon our upper classes that gentlemen +think it possible to meddle with such matters. It is +only when a student, a doctor, a lawyer, determines +to put aside from his path the secret stumbling-block<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[2]</a></span> +to his desires or his ambition that the true intellectual +crime is developed. That brute whom you see slouching +along over the way is the type of the average +criminal of the day."</p> + +<p>And he indicated with a nod a sturdy, ill-favored man, +who, with pack on his back, was just emerging from +a grassy lane that opened out from the street directly +opposite the court-house.</p> + +<p>"Such men are often seen in the dock," remarked +Mr. Orcutt, of more than local reputation as a criminal +lawyer. "And often escape the penalty of their crimes," +he added, watching, with a curious glance, the lowering +brow and furtive look of the man who, upon perceiving +the attention he had attracted, increased his pace till he +almost broke into a run.</p> + +<p>"Looks as if he had been up to mischief," observed +Judge Evans.</p> + +<p>"Rather as if he had heard the sentence which was +passed upon the last tramp who paid his respects to +this town," corrected Mr. Lord.</p> + +<p>"Revenons à nos moutons," resumed the District Attorney. +"Crime, as an investment, does not pay in this +country. The regular burglar leads a dog's life of it; +and when you come to the murderer, how few escape +suspicion if they do the gallows. I do not know of a case +where a murder for money has been really successful in +this region."</p> + +<p>"Then you must have some pretty cute detective work<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[3]</a></span> +going on here," remarked a young man who had not before +spoken.</p> + +<p>"No, no—nothing to brag of. But the brutes are so +clumsy—that is the word, clumsy. They don't know how +to cover up their tracks."</p> + +<p>"The smart ones don't make tracks," interposed a +rough voice near them, and a large, red-haired, slightly +hump-backed man, who, from the looks of those about, +was evidently a stranger in the place, shuffled forward +from the pillar against which he had been leaning, and +took up the thread of conversation.</p> + +<p>"I tell you," he continued, in a gruff tone somewhat +out of keeping with the studied abstraction of his keen, +gray eye, "that half the criminals are caught because they +do make tracks and then resort to such extraordinary +means to cover them up. The true secret of success in +this line lies in striking your blow with a weapon picked +up on the spot, and in choosing for the scene of your tragedy +a thoroughfare where, in the natural course of events, +other men will come and go and unconsciously tread out +your traces, provided you have made any. This dissipates +suspicion, or starts it in so many directions that +justice is at once confused, if not ultimately baffled. +Look at that house yonder," the stranger pursued, pointing +to a plain dwelling on the opposite corner. "While +we have been standing here, several persons of one kind +or another, and among them a pretty rough-looking tramp, +have gone into the side gate and so around to the kitchen<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[4]</a></span> +door and back. I don't know who lives there, but say it +is a solitary old woman above keeping help, and that an +hour from now some one, not finding her in the house, +searches through the garden and comes upon her lying +dead behind the wood-pile, struck down by her own axe. +On whom are you going to lay your hand in suspicion? +On the stranger, of course—the rough-looking tramp +that everybody thinks is ready for bloodshed at the +least provocation. But suspicion is not conviction, and I +would dare wager that no court, in face of a persistent +denial on his part that he even saw the old woman when +he went to her door, would bring in a verdict of murder +against him, even though silver from her private drawer +were found concealed upon his person. The chance that he +spoke the truth, and that she was not in the house when he +entered, and that his crime had been merely one of burglary +or theft, would be enough to save him from the +hangman."</p> + +<p>"That is true," assented Mr. Lord, "unless all the +other persons who had been seen to go into the yard were +not only reputable men, but were willing to testify to having +seen the woman alive up to the time he invaded her +premises."</p> + +<p>But the hump-backed stranger had already lounged +away.</p> + +<p>"What do you think about this, Mr. Byrd?" inquired +the District Attorney, turning to the young man before alluded +to. "You are an expert in these matters, or<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[5]</a></span> +ought to be. What would you give for the tramp's +chances if the detectives took him in hand?"</p> + +<p>"I, sir?" was the response. "I am so comparatively +young and inexperienced in such affairs, that I scarcely +dare presume to express an opinion. But I have heard +it said by Mr. Gryce, who you know stands foremost +among the detectives of New York, that the only case of +murder in which he utterly failed to get any clue to work +upon, was that of a Jew who was knocked down in his +own shop in broad daylight. But this will not appear so +strange when you learn the full particulars. The store +was situated between two alley-ways in Harlem. It had +an entrance back and an entrance front. Both were in +constant use. The man was found behind his counter, +having evidently been hit on the head by a slung-shot +while reaching for a box of hosiery. But though a succession +of people were constantly passing by both doors, +there was for that very reason no one to tell which of all +the men who were observed to enter the shop, came out +again with blood upon his conscience. Nor were the circumstances +of the Jew's life such as to assist justice. The +most careful investigation failed to disclose the existence +of any enemy, nor was he found to possess in this country, +at least, any relative who could have hoped to be +benefited by the few dollars he had saved from a late +bankruptcy. The only conclusion to be drawn is that the +man was secretly in the way of some one and was as +secretly put out of it, but for what purpose or by whose +hand, time has never disclosed."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[6]</a></span></p> + +<p>"There is one, however, who knows both," affirmed +Judge Evans, impressively.</p> + +<p>"The man himself?"</p> + +<p>"God!"</p> + +<p>The solemnity with which this was uttered caused a +silence, during which Mr. Orcutt looked at his watch.</p> + +<p>"I must go to dinner," he announced, withdrawing, +with a slight nod, across the street.</p> + +<p>The rest stood for a few minutes abstractedly contemplating +his retreating figure, as with an energetic pace all +his own he passed down the little street that opened opposite +to where they stood, and entered the unpretending +cottage of a widow lady, with whom he was in the habit +of taking his mid-day meal whenever he had a case before +the court.</p> + +<p>A lull was over the whole village, and the few remaining +persons on the court-house steps were about to separate, +when Mr. Lord uttered an exclamation and pointed +to the cottage into which they had just seen Mr. Orcutt +disappear. Immediately all eyes looked that way and +saw the lawyer standing on the stoop, having evidently +issued with the utmost precipitation from the house.</p> + +<p>"He is making signs," cried Mr. Lord to Mr. Ferris; +and scarcely knowing what they feared, both gentlemen +crossed the way and hurried down the street toward +their friend, who, with unusual tokens of disturbance in +his manner, ran forward to meet them.</p> + +<p>"A murder!" he excitedly exclaimed, as soon as he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[7]</a></span> +came within speaking distance. "A strange and startling +coincidence. Mrs. Clemmens has been struck on the +head, and is lying covered with blood at the foot of her +dining-room table."</p> + +<p>Mr. Lord and the District Attorney stared at each +other in a maze of surprise and horror easily to be comprehended, +and then they rushed forward.</p> + +<p>"Wait a moment," the latter suddenly cried, stopping +short and looking back. "Where is the fellow who talked +so learnedly about murder and the best way of making a +success of it. He must be found at once. I don't believe +in coincidences." And he beckoned to the person +they had called Byrd, who with very pardonable curiosity +was hurrying their way. "Go find Hunt, the constable," +he cried; "tell him to stop and retain the humpback. +A woman here has been found murdered, and that fellow +must have known something about it."</p> + +<p>The young man stared, flushed with sudden intelligence, +and darted off. Mr. Ferris turned, found Mr. +Orcutt still at his side, and drew him forward to rejoin +Mr. Lord, who by this time was at the door of the +cottage.</p> + +<p>They all went in together, Mr. Ferris, who was of an +adventurous disposition, leading the way. The room +into which they first stepped was empty. It was evidently +the widow's sitting-room, and was in perfect order, with +the exception of Mr. Orcutt's hat, which lay on the centre-table +where he had laid it on entering. Neat, without<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[8]</a></span> +being prim, the entire aspect of the place was one of +comfort, ease, and modest luxury. For, though the +Widow Clemmens lived alone and without help, she was +by no means an indigent person, as a single glance at her +house would show. The door leading into the farther +room was open, and toward this they hastened, led by +the glitter of the fine old china service which loaded the +dining-table.</p> + +<p>"She is there," said Mr. Orcutt, pointing to the other +side of the room.</p> + +<p>They immediately passed behind the table, and there, +sure enough, lay the prostrate figure of the widow, her +head bleeding, her arms extended, one hand grasping her +watch, which she had loosened from her belt, the other +stretched toward a stick of firewood, that, from the mark +of blood upon its side, had evidently been used to fell +her to the floor. She was motionless as stone, and was, +to all appearance, dead.</p> + +<p>"Sickening, sickening!—horrible!" exclaimed Mr. +Lord, recoiling upon the District Attorney with a gesture, +as if he would put the frightful object out of his sight. +"What motive could any one have for killing such an inoffensive +woman? The deviltry of man is beyond +belief!"</p> + +<p>"And after what we have heard, inexplicable," asserted +Mr. Ferris. "To be told of a supposable case of murder +one minute, and then to see it exemplified in this dreadful +way the next, is an experience of no common order.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[9]</a></span> +I own I am overcome by it." And he flung open a door +that communicated with the lane and let the outside air +sweep in.</p> + +<p>"That door was unlocked," remarked Mr. Lord, +glancing at Mr. Orcutt, who stood with severe, set face, +looking down at the outstretched form which, for several +years now, had so often sat opposite to him at his noonday +meal.</p> + +<p>With a start the latter looked up. "What did you say? +The door unlocked? There is nothing strange in that. +She never locked her doors, though she was so very deaf +I often advised her to." And he allowed his eyes to run +over the wide stretch of low, uncultivated ground before +him, that, in the opinion of many persons, was such a decided +blot upon the town. "There is no one in sight," he +reluctantly admitted.</p> + +<p>"No," responded the other. "The ground is unfavorable +for escape. It is marshy and covered with snake +grass. A man could make his way, however, between +the hillocks into those woods yonder, if he were driven by +fear or understood the path well. What is the matter, +Orcutt?"</p> + +<p>"Nothing," affirmed the latter,—"nothing, I thought I +heard a groan."</p> + +<p>"You heard me make an exclamation," spoke up Mr. +Ferris, who by this time had sufficiently overcome his +emotion to lift the head of the prostrate woman and look +in her face. "This woman is not dead."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[10]</a></span></p> + +<p>"What!" they both cried, bounding forward.</p> + +<p>"See, she breathes," continued the former, pointing to +her slowly laboring chest. "The villain, whoever he was, +did not do his work well; she may be able to tell us something +yet."</p> + +<p>"I do not think so," murmured Mr. Orcutt. "Such a +blow as that must have destroyed her faculties, if not her +life. It was of cruel force."</p> + +<p>"However that may be, she ought to be taken care +of now," cried Mr. Ferris. "I wish Dr. Tredwell was +here."</p> + +<p>"I will go for him," signified the other.</p> + +<p>But it was not necessary. Scarcely had the lawyer +turned to execute this mission, when a sudden murmur +was heard at the door, and a dozen or so citizens burst +into the house, among them the very person named. +Being coroner as well as physician, he at once assumed +authority. The widow was carried into her room, which +was on the same floor, and a brother practitioner sent for, +who took his place at her head and waited for any sign of +returning consciousness. The crowd, remanded to the +yard, spent their time alternately in furtive questionings +of each other's countenances, and in eager look-out for +the expected return of the strange young man who had +been sent after the incomprehensible humpback of +whom all had heard. The coroner, closeted with the +District Attorney in the dining-room, busied himself in +noting certain evident facts.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[11]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I am, perhaps, forestalling my duties in interfering +before the woman is dead," intimated the former. "But +it is only a matter of a few hours, and any facts we can +glean in the interim must be of value to a proper conduct +of the inquiry I shall be called upon to hold. I +shall therefore make the same note of the position of affairs +as I would do if she were dead; and to begin with, +I wish you to observe that she was hit while setting the +clock." And he pointed to the open door of the huge +old-fashioned timepiece which occupied that corner of +the room in which she had been found. "She had not +even finished her task," he next remarked, "for the +clock is still ten minutes slow, while her watch is just +right, as you will see by comparing it with your own. +She was attacked from behind, and to all appearances unexpectedly. +Had she turned, her forehead would have +been struck, while, as all can see, it is the back of her head +that has suffered, and that from a right-hand blow. +Her deafness was undoubtedly the cause of her immobility +under the approach of such an assailant. She +did not hear his step, and, being so busily engaged, saw +nothing of the cruel hand uplifted to destroy her. I +doubt if she even knew what happened. The mystery is +that any one could have sufficiently desired her death to +engage in such a cold-blooded butchery. If plunder +were wanted, why was not her watch taken from her? +And see, here is a pile of small change lying beside her +plate on the table,—a thing a tramp would make for at +once."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[12]</a></span></p> + +<p>"It was not a thief that struck her."</p> + +<p>"Well, well, we don't know. I have my own theory," +admitted the coroner; "but, of course, it will not do for +me to mention it here. The stick was taken from that +pile laid ready on the hearth," he went on. "Odd, significantly +odd, that in all its essential details this affair +should tally so completely with the supposable case of +crime given a moment before by the deformed wretch +you tell me about."</p> + +<p>"Not if that man was a madman and the assailant," +suggested the District Attorney.</p> + +<p>"True, but I do not think he was mad—not from what +you have told me. But let us see what the commotion is. +Some one has evidently arrived."</p> + +<p>It was Mr. Byrd, who had entered by the front door, +and deaf to the low murmur of the impatient crowd +without, stood waiting in silent patience for an opportunity +to report to the District Attorney the results of his +efforts.</p> + +<p>Mr. Ferris at once welcomed him.</p> + +<p>"What have you done? Did you find the constable +or succeed in laying hands on that scamp of a humpback?"</p> + +<p>Mr. Byrd, who, to explain at once, was a young and +intelligent detective, who had been brought from New +York for purposes connected with the case then before +the court, glanced carefully in the direction of the coroner +and quietly replied:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[13]</a></span></p> + +<p>"The hump-backed scamp, as you call him, has disappeared. +Whether he will be found or not I cannot +say. Hunt is on his track, and will report to you +in an hour. The tramp whom you saw slinking out +of this street while we stood on the court-house steps +is doubtless the man whom you most want, and him +we have captured."</p> + +<p>"You have?" repeated Mr. Ferris, eying, with good-natured +irony, the young man's gentlemanly but rather +indifferent face. "And what makes you think it is the +tramp who is the guilty one in this case? Because that +ingenious stranger saw fit to make him such a prominent +figure in his suppositions?"</p> + +<p>"No, sir," replied the detective, flushing with a momentary +embarrassment he however speedily overcame; +"I do not found my opinions upon any man's remarks. +I only—— Excuse me," said he, with a quiet air of self-control +that was not without its effect upon the sensible +man he was addressing. "If you will tell me how, where, +and under what circumstances this poor murdered woman +was found, perhaps I shall be better able to explain my +reasons for believing in the tramp as the guilty party; +though the belief, even of a detective, goes for but little +in matters of this kind, as you and these other gentlemen +very well know."</p> + +<p>"Step here, then," signified Mr. Ferris, who, accompanied +by the coroner, had already passed around the +table. "Do you see that clock? She was winding it<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[14]</a></span> +when she was struck, and fell almost at its foot. The +weapon which did the execution lies over there; it is a +stick of firewood, as you see, and was caught up from +that pile on the hearth. Now recall what that humpback +said about choosing a thoroughfare for a murder (and +this house is a thoroughfare), and the peculiar stress +which he laid upon the choice of a weapon, and tell me +why you think he is innocent of this immediate and most +remarkable exemplification of his revolting theory?"</p> + +<p>"Let me first ask," ventured the other, with a remaining +tinge of embarrassment coloring his cheek, "if you +have reason to think this woman had been lying long +where she was found, or was she struck soon before the +discovery?"</p> + +<p>"Soon. The dinner was still smoking in the kitchen, +where it had been dished up ready for serving."</p> + +<p>"Then," declared the detective with sudden confidence, +"a single word will satisfy you that the humpback +was not the man who delivered this stroke. To lay that +woman low at the foot of this clock would require the +presence of the assailant in the room. Now, the humpback +was not here this morning, but in the court-room. I +know this, for I saw him there."</p> + +<p>"You did? You are sure of that?" cried, in a breath, +both his hearers, somewhat taken aback by this revelation.</p> + +<p>"Yes. He sat down by the door. I noticed him particularly."</p> + +<p>"Humph! that is odd," quoth Mr. Ferris, with the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[15]</a></span> +testiness of an irritable man who sees himself contradicted +in a publicly expressed theory.</p> + +<p>"Very odd," repeated the coroner; "so odd, I am +inclined to think he did not sit there every moment of +the time. It is but a step from the court-house here; he +might well have taken the trip and returned while you +wiped your eye-glasses or was otherwise engaged."</p> + +<p>Mr. Byrd did not see fit to answer this.</p> + +<p>"The tramp is an ugly-looking customer," he remarked, +in what was almost a careless tone of voice.</p> + +<p>Mr. Ferris covered with his hand the pile of loose +change that was yet lying on the table, and shortly observed:</p> + +<p>"A tramp to commit such a crime must be actuated +either by rage or cupidity; that you will acknowledge. +Now the fellow who struck this woman could not have +been excited by any sudden anger, for the whole position +of her body when found proves that she had not even +turned to face the intruder, much less engaged in an +altercation with him. Yet how could it have been money +he was after, when a tempting bit like this remained undisturbed +upon the table?"</p> + +<p>And Mr. Ferris, with a sudden gesture, disclosed to +view the pile of silver coin he had been concealing.</p> + +<p>The young detective shook his head but lost none of +his seeming indifference. "That is one of the little +anomalies of criminal experience that we were talking +about this morning," he remarked. "Perhaps the fellow<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[16]</a></span> +was frightened and lost his head, or perhaps he really +heard some one at the door, and was obliged to escape +without reaping any of the fruits of his crime."</p> + +<p>"Perhaps and perhaps," retorted Mr. Ferris, who was +a quick man, and who, once settled in a belief, was not to +be easily shaken out of it.</p> + +<p>"However that may be," continued Mr. Byrd, without +seeming to notice the irritating interruption, "I still think +that the tramp, rather than the humpback, will be the +man to occupy your future attention."</p> + +<p>And with a deprecatory bow to both gentlemen, he +drew back and quietly left the room.</p> + +<p>Mr. Ferris at once recovered from his momentary loss +of temper.</p> + +<p>"I suppose the young man is right," he acknowledged; +"but, if so, what an encouragement we have received this +morning to a belief in clairvoyance." And with less +irony and more conviction, he added: "The humpback +<i>must</i> have known something about the murder."</p> + +<p>And the coroner bowed; common-sense undoubtedly +agreeing with this assumption.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[17]</a></span></p> +<h2>II.</h2> + +<h3>AN APPEAL TO HEAVEN.</h3> + +<div class='center'> +Her step was royal—queen-like.—<span class="smcap">Longfellow.</span><br /> +<br /><br /></div> + + +<div class='cap'>IT was now half-past one. An hour and a half had +elapsed since the widow had been laid upon her bed, +and to all appearance no change had taken place in her +condition. Within the room where she lay were collected +the doctor and one or two neighbors of the female sex, +who watched every breath she drew, and stood ready to +notice the slightest change in the stony face that, dim with +the shadow of death, stared upon them from the unruffled +pillows. In the sitting-room Lawyer Orcutt conversed +in a subdued voice with Mr. Ferris, in regard to +such incidents of the widow's life as had come under his +notice in the years of their daily companionship, while +the crowd about the gate vented their interest in loud exclamations +of wrath against the tramp who had been +found, and the unknown humpback who had not. Our +story leads us into the crowd in front.</div> + +<p>"I don't think she'll ever come to," said one, who +from his dusty coat might have been a miller. "Blows +like that <ins title="Transcriber's Note: original reads 'have'nt'">haven't</ins> much let-up about them."</p> + +<p>"Doctor says she will die before morning," put in a +pert young miss, anxious to have her voice heard.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[18]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Then it will be murder and no mistake, and that +brute of a tramp will hang as high as Haman."</p> + +<p>"Don't condemn a man before you've had a chance to +hear what he has to say for himself," cried another in a +strictly judicial tone. "How do you know as he came to +this house at all?"</p> + +<p>"Miss Perkins says he did, and Mrs. Phillips too; they +saw him go into the gate."</p> + +<p>"And what else did they see? I warrant he wasn't the +only beggar that was roaming round this morning."</p> + +<p>"No; there was a tin peddler in the street, for I saw +him my own self, and Mrs. Clemmens standing in the +door flourishing her broom at him. She was mighty short +with such folks. Wouldn't wonder if some of the unholy +wretches killed her out of spite. They're a wicked lot, +the whole of them."</p> + +<p>"Widow Clemmens had a quick temper, but she had a +mighty good heart notwithstanding. See how kind she +was to them Hubbells."</p> + +<p>"And how hard she was to that Pratt girl."</p> + +<p>"Well, I know, but——" And so on and so on, in a +hum and a buzz about the head of Mr. Byrd, who, engaged +in thought seemingly far removed from the subject +in hand, stood leaning against the fence, careless and <i>insouciant</i>. +Suddenly there was a lull, then a short cry, +then a woman's voice rose clear, ringing, and commanding, +and Mr. Byrd caught the following words:</p> + +<p>"What is this I hear? Mrs. Clemmens dead? Struck<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[19]</a></span> +down by some wandering tramp? Murdered and in her +own house?"</p> + +<p>In an instant, every eye, including Mr. Byrd's, was +fixed upon the speaker. The crowd parted, and the +young girl, who had spoken from the street, came into +the gate. She was a remarkable-looking person. Tall, +large, and majestic in every proportion of an unusually +noble figure, she was of a make and possessed a bearing +to attract attention had she borne a less striking and +beautiful countenance. As it was, the glance lingered +but a moment on the grand curves and lithe loveliness of +that matchless figure, and passed at once to the face. +Once there, it did not soon wander; for though its beauty +was incontestable, the something that lay behind that +beauty was more incontestable still, and held you, in spite +of yourself, long after you had become acquainted with +the broad white brow, the clear, deep, changing gray eye, +the straight but characteristic nose, and the ruddy, nervous +lip. You felt that, young and beautiful as she was, +and charming as she might be, she was also one of +nature's unsolvable mysteries—a woman whom you might +study, obey, adore, but whom you could never hope to +understand; a Sphinx without an Œdipus. She was +dressed in dark green, and held her gloves in her hand. +Her appearance was that of one who had been profoundly +startled.</p> + +<p>"Why don't some one answer me?" she asked, after +an instant's pause, seemingly unconscious that, alike to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[20]</a></span> +those who knew her and to those who did not, her air and +manner were such as to naturally impose silence. "Must +I go into the house in order to find out if this good +woman is dead or not?"</p> + +<p>"Shure she isn't dead yet," spoke up a brawny butcher-boy, +bolder than the rest. "But she's sore hurt, miss, +and the doctors say as how there is no hope."</p> + +<p>A change impossible to understand passed over the +girl's face. Had she been less vigorous of body, she +would have staggered. As it was, she stood still, rigidly +still, and seemed to summon up her faculties, till the very +clinch of her fingers spoke of the strong control she was +putting upon herself.</p> + +<p>"It is dreadful, dreadful!" she murmured, this time +in a whisper, and as if to some rising protest in her own +soul. "No good can come of it, none." Then, as if +awakening to the scene about her, shook her head and +cried to those nearest: "It was a tramp who did it, I +suppose; at least, I am told so."</p> + +<p>"A tramp has been took up, miss, on suspicion, as they +call it."</p> + +<p>"If a tramp has been taken up on suspicion, then he +was the one who assailed her, of course." And pushing +on through the crowd that fell back still more awe-struck +than before, she went into the house.</p> + +<p>The murmur that followed her was subdued but universal. +It made no impression on Mr. Byrd. He had +leaned forward to watch the girl's retreating form, but,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[21]</a></span> +finding his view intercepted by the wrinkled profile of +an old crone who had leaned forward too, had drawn +impatiently back. Something in that crone's aged face +made him address her.</p> + +<p>"You know the lady?" he inquired.</p> + +<p>"Yes," was the cautious reply, given, however, with a +leer he found not altogether pleasant.</p> + +<p>"She is a relative of the injured woman, or a friend, +perhaps?"</p> + +<p>The old woman's face looked frightful.</p> + +<p>"No," she muttered grimly; "they are strangers."</p> + +<p>At this unexpected response Mr. Byrd made a perceptible +start forward. The old woman's hand fell at +once on his arm.</p> + +<p>"Stay!" she hoarsely whispered. "By strangers I +mean they don't visit each other. The town is too small +for any of us to be strangers."</p> + +<p>Mr. Byrd nodded and escaped her clutch.</p> + +<p>"This is worth seeing through," he murmured, with +the first gleam of interest he had shown in the affair. +And, hurrying forward, he succeeded in following the +lady into the house.</p> + +<p>The sight he met there did not tend to allay his newborn +interest. There she stood in the centre of the sitting-room, +tall, resolute, and commanding, her eyes fixed +on the door of the room that contained the still breathing +sufferer, Mr. Orcutt's eyes fixed upon her. It seemed +as if she had asked one question and been answered; +there had not been time for more.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[22]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I do not know what to say in apology for my intrusion," +she remarked. "But the death, or almost the +death, of a person of whom we have all heard, seems to +me so terrible that——"</p> + +<p>But here Mr. Orcutt interrupted gently, almost tenderly, +but with a fatherly authority which Mr. Byrd expected +to see her respect.</p> + +<p>"Imogene," he observed, "this is no place for you; +the horror of the event has made you forget yourself; go +home and trust me to tell you on my return all that it is +advisable for you to know."</p> + +<p>But she did not even meet his glance with her steady +eyes. "Thank you," she protested; "but I cannot go +till I have seen the place where this woman fell and the +weapon with which she was struck. I want to see it all. +Mr. Ferris, will you show me?" And without giving +any reason for this extraordinary request, she stood waiting +with that air of conscious authority which is sometimes +given by great beauty when united to a distinguished +personal presence.</p> + +<p>The District Attorney, taken aback, moved toward the +dining-room door. "I will consult with the coroner," +said he.</p> + +<p>But she waited for no man's leave. Following close +behind him, she entered upon the scene of the tragedy.</p> + +<p>"Where was the poor woman hit?" she inquired.</p> + +<p>They told her; they showed her all she desired and +asked her no questions. She awed them, all but Mr. +Orcutt—him she both astonished and alarmed.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[23]</a></span></p> + +<p>"And a tramp did all this?" she finally exclaimed, in +the odd, musing tone she had used once before, while her +eye fell thoughtfully to the floor. Suddenly she started, +or so Mr. Byrd fondly imagined, and moved a pace, setting +her foot carefully down upon a certain spot in the +carpet beneath her.</p> + +<p>"She has spied something," he thought, and watched +to see if she would stoop.</p> + +<p>But no, she held herself still more erectly than before, +and seemed, by her rather desultory inquiries, to be +striving to engage the attention of the others from herself.</p> + +<p>"There is some one surely tapping at this door," she +intimated, pointing to the one that opened into the lane.</p> + +<p>Dr. Tredwell moved to see.</p> + +<p>"Is there not?" she repeated, glancing at Mr. Ferris.</p> + +<p>He, too, turned to see.</p> + +<p>But there was still an eye regarding her from behind +the sitting-room door, and, perceiving it, she impatiently +ceased her efforts. She was not mistaken about the +tapping. A man was at the door whom both gentlemen +seemed to know.</p> + +<p>"I come from the tavern where they are holding this +tramp in custody," announced the new-comer in a voice +too low to penetrate into the room. "He is frightened +almost out of his wits. Seems to think he was taken up +for theft, and makes no bones of saying that he did take +a spoon or two from a house where he was let in for a +bite. He gave up the spoons and expects to go to jail,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[24]</a></span> +but seems to have no idea that any worse suspicion is +hanging over him. Those that stand around think he is +innocent of the murder."</p> + +<p>"Humph! well, we will see," ejaculated Mr. Ferris; +and, turning back, he met, with a certain sort of complacence, +the eyes of the young lady who had been somewhat +impatiently awaiting his reappearance. "It seems +there are doubts, after all, about the tramp being the +assailant."</p> + +<p>The start she gave was sudden and involuntary. She +took a step forward and then paused as if hesitating. +Instantly, Mr. Byrd, who had not forgotten the small +object she had been covering with her foot, sauntered +leisurely forward, and, spying a ring on the floor where +she had been standing, unconcernedly picked it up.</p> + +<p>She did not seem to notice him. Looking at Mr. +Ferris with eyes whose startled, if not alarmed, expression +she did not succeed in hiding from the detective, she +inquired, in a stifled voice:</p> + +<p>"What do you mean? What has this man been telling +you? You say it was not the tramp. Who, then, was it?"</p> + +<p>"That is a question we cannot answer," rejoined Mr. +Ferris, astonished at her heat, while Lawyer Orcutt, +moving forward, attempted once more to recall her to +herself.</p> + +<p>"Imogene," he pleaded,—"Imogene, calm yourself. +This is not a matter of so much importance to you that +you need agitate yourself so violently in regard to it.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[25]</a></span> +Come home, I beseech you, and leave the affairs of justice +to the attention of those whose duty it is to look after +them."</p> + +<p>But beyond acknowledging his well-meant interference +by a deprecatory glance, she stood immovable, looking +from Dr. Tredwell to Mr. Ferris, and back again to Dr. +Tredwell, as if she sought in their faces some confirmation +of a hideous doubt or fear that had arisen in her own +mind. Suddenly she felt a touch on her arm.</p> + +<p>"Excuse me, madam, but is this yours?" inquired a +smooth and careless voice over her shoulder.</p> + +<p>As though awakening from a dream she turned; they +all turned. Mr. Byrd was holding out in his open palm +a ring blazing with a diamond of no mean lustre or +value.</p> + +<p>The sight of such a jewel, presented at such a moment, +completed the astonishment of her friends. Pressing +forward, they stared at the costly ornament and then at +her, Mr. Orcutt's face especially assuming a startled +expression of mingled surprise and apprehension, that +soon attracted the attention of the others, and led to an +interchange of looks that denoted a mutual but not +unpleasant understanding.</p> + +<p>"I found it at your feet," explained the detective, still +carelessly, but with just that delicate shade of respect in +his voice necessary to express a gentleman's sense of presumption +in thus addressing a strange and beautiful young +lady.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[26]</a></span></p> + +<p>The tone, if not the explanation, seemed to calm her, +as powerful natures are calmed in the stress of a sudden +crisis.</p> + +<p>"Thank you," she returned, not without signs of great +sweetness in her look and manner. "Yes, it is mine," she +added slowly, reaching out her hand and taking the ring. +"I must have dropped it without knowing it." And +meeting the eye of Mr. Orcutt fixed upon her with that +startled look of inquiry already alluded to, she flushed, but +placed the jewel nonchalantly on her finger.</p> + +<p>This cool appropriation of something he had no reason +to believe hers, startled the youthful detective immeasurably. +He had not expected such a <i>dénouement</i> to the little +drama he had prepared with such quiet assurance, and, +though with the quick self-control that distinguished him +he forbore to show his surprise, he none the less felt baffled +and ill at ease, all the more that the two gentlemen +present, who appeared to be the most disinterested in +their regard for this young lady, seemed to accept this +act on her part as genuine, and therefore not to be questioned.</p> + +<p>"It is a clue that is lost," thought he. "I have made +a mess of my first unassisted efforts at real detective +work." And, inwardly disgusted with himself, he drew +back into the other room and took up his stand at a remote +window.</p> + +<p>The slight stir he made in crossing the room seemed to +break a spell and restore the minds of all present to their<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[27]</a></span> +proper balance. Mr. Orcutt threw off the shadow that +had momentarily disturbed his quiet and assured mien, +and advancing once more, held out his arm with even +more kindness than before, saying impressively:</p> + +<p>"Now you will surely consent to accompany me +home. You cannot mean to remain here any longer, can +you, Imogene?"</p> + +<p>But before she could reply, before her hand could lay +itself on his arm, a sudden hush like that of awe passed +solemnly through the room, and the physician, who had +been set to watch over the dying gasps of the poor sufferer +within, appeared on the threshold of the bedroom +door, holding up his hand with a look that at once commanded +attention and awoke the most painful expectancy +in the hearts of all who beheld him:</p> + +<p>"She stirs; she moves her lips," he announced, and +again paused, listening.</p> + +<p>Immediately there was a sound from the dimness behind +him, a low sound, inarticulate at first, but presently +growing loud enough and plain enough to be heard in the +utmost recesses of the furthermost room on that floor.</p> + +<p>"Hand! ring!" was the burden of the short ejaculation +they heard. "Ring! hand!" till a sudden gasp cut +short the fearful iteration, and all was silent again.</p> + +<p>"Great heavens!" came in an awe-struck whisper from +Mr. Ferris, as he pressed hastily toward the place from +which these words had issued.</p> + +<p>But the physician at once stopped and silenced him.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[28]</a></span></p> + +<p>"She may speak again," he suggested. "Wait."</p> + +<p>But, though they listened breathlessly, and with ever-growing +suspense, no further break occurred in the deep +silence, and soon the doctor announced:</p> + +<p>"She has sunk back into her old state; she may rouse +again, and she may not."</p> + +<p>As though released from some painful tension, the +coroner, the District Attorney, and the detective all +looked up. They found Miss Dare standing by the open +window, with her face turned to the landscape, and Mr. +Orcutt gazing at her with an expression of perplexity that +had almost the appearance of dismay. This look passed +instantly from the lawyer's countenance as he met the +eyes of his friends, but Mr. Byrd, who was still smarting +under a sense of his late defeat, could not but wonder +what that gentleman had seen in Miss Dare, during the +period of their late preoccupation, to call up such an expression +to his usually keen and composed face.</p> + +<p>The clinch of her white hand on the window-sill told +nothing; but when in a few moments later she turned +toward them again, Mr. Byrd saw, or thought he saw, the +last lingering remains of a great horror fading out of her +eyes, and was not surprised when she walked up to Mr. +Orcutt and said, somewhat hoarsely: "I wish to go home +now. This place is a terrible one to be in."</p> + +<p>Mr. Orcutt, who was only too glad to comply with her +request, again offered her his arm. But anxious as they +evidently were to quit the house, they were not allowed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[29]</a></span> +to do so without experiencing another shock. +Just as they were passing the door of the room where the +wounded woman lay, the physician in attendance again +appeared before them with that silently uplifted hand.</p> + +<p>"Hush!" said he; "she stirs again. I think she is +going to speak."</p> + +<p>And once more that terrible suspense held each and +every one enthralled: once more that faint, inarticulate +murmur eddied through the house, growing gradually into +speech that this time took a form that curdled the blood +of the listeners, and made Mr. Orcutt and the young +woman at his side drop apart from each other as though +a dividing sword had passed between them.</p> + +<p>"May the <ins title="Transcriber's Note: original reads 'vengance'">vengeance</ins> of Heaven light upon the head of +him who has brought me to this pass," were the words +that now rose ringing and clear from that bed of death. +"May the fate that has come upon me be visited upon +him, measure for measure, blow for blow, death for +death."</p> + +<p>Strange and awe-inspiring words, that drew a pall over +that house and made the dullest person there gasp for +breath. In the silence that followed—a silence that +could be felt—the white faces of lawyer and physician, +coroner and detective, turned and confronted each other. +But the young lady who lingered in their midst looked at +no one, turned to no one. Shuddering and white, she +stood gazing before her as if she already beheld that retributive +hand descending upon the head of the guilty; then,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[30]</a></span> +as she awoke to the silence of those around her, gave +a quick start and flashed forward to the door and so out +into the street before Mr. Orcutt could rouse himself sufficiently +from the stupor of the moment to follow her.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[31]</a></span></p> +<h2>III.</h2> + +<h3>THE UNFINISHED LETTER.</h3> + +<div class='poem'> +Faith, thou hast some crotchets in thy head now.<br /> +<div class='sig'>—<span class="smcap">Merry Wives of Windsor.</span></div><br /> +</div> + + +<div class='cap'>"WOULD there be any indiscretion in my asking +who that young lady is?" inquired Mr. Byrd +of Mr. Ferris, as, after ascertaining that the stricken sufferer +still breathed, they stood together in a distant corner +of the dining-room.</div> + +<p>"No," returned the other, in a low tone, with a glance +in the direction of the lawyer, who was just re-entering +the house, after an unsuccessful effort to rejoin the person +of whom they were speaking. "She is a Miss Dare, +a young lady much admired in this town, and believed +by many to be on the verge of matrimony with——" He +nodded toward Mr. Orcutt, and discreetly forbore to +finish the sentence.</p> + +<p>"Ah!" exclaimed the youthful detective, "I understand." +And he cast a look of suddenly awakened +interest at the man who, up to this time, he had merely +regarded as a more than usually acute criminal lawyer.</p> + +<p>He saw a small, fair, alert man, of some forty years of +age, of a good carriage, easy manner, and refined cast of +countenance, overshadowed now by a secret anxiety<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[32]</a></span> +he vainly tried to conceal. He was not as handsome +as Coroner Tredwell, nor as well built as Mr. Ferris, yet +he was, without doubt, the most striking-looking man in +the room, and, to the masculine eyes of the detective, +seemed at first glance to be a person to win the admiration, +if not the affection, of women.</p> + +<p>"She appears to take a great interest in this affair," he +ventured again, looking back at Mr. Ferris.</p> + +<p>"Yes, that is woman's way," replied the other, lightly, +without any hint of secret feeling or curiosity. "Besides, +she is an inscrutable girl, always surprising you by +her emotions—or by her lack of them," he added, dismissing +the topic with a wave of his hand.</p> + +<p>"Which is also woman's way," remarked Mr. Byrd, retiring +into his shell, from which he had momentarily +thrust his head.</p> + +<p>"Does it not strike you that there are rather more +persons present than are necessary for the purposes of +justice?" asked the lawyer, now coming forward with +a look of rather pointed significance at the youthful +stranger.</p> + +<p>Mr. Ferris at once spoke up. "Mr. Orcutt," said he, +"let me introduce to you Mr. Byrd, of New York. He +is a member of the police force, and has been rendering +me assistance in the case just adjourned."</p> + +<p>"A detective!" repeated the other, eying the young +man with a critical eye. "It is a pity, sir," he finally +observed, "that your present duties will not allow you<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[33]</a></span> +to render service to justice in this case of mysterious +assault." And with a bow of more kindness than +Mr. Byrd had reason to look for, he went slowly back to +his former place near the door that hid the suffering +woman from sight.</p> + +<p>However kindly expressed, Mr. Byrd felt that he had +received his dismissal, and was about to withdraw, when +the coroner, who had been absent from their midst for +the last few minutes, approached them from the foot of +the stairs, and tapped the detective on the arm.</p> + +<p>"I want you," said he.</p> + +<p>Mr. Byrd bowed, and with a glance toward the District +Attorney, who returned him a nod of approval, went +quickly out with the coroner.</p> + +<p>"I hear you are a detective," observed the latter, taking +him up stairs into a room which he carefully locked +behind them. "A detective on the spot in a case like +this is valuable; are you willing to assume the duties of +your profession and act for justice in this matter?"</p> + +<p>"Dr. Tredwell," returned the young man, instantly +conscious of a vague, inward shrinking from meddling +further in the affair, "I am not at present master of my +proceedings. To say nothing of the obedience I owe my +superiors at home, I am just now engaged in assisting +Mr. Ferris in the somewhat pressing matter now before +the court, and do not know whether it would meet with +his approval to have me mix up matters in this way."</p> + +<p>"Mr. Ferris is a reasonable man," said the coroner. +"If his consent is all that is necessary——"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[34]</a></span></p> + +<p>"But it is not, sir. I must have orders from New +York."</p> + +<p>"Oh, as to that, I will telegraph at once."</p> + +<p>But still the young man hesitated, lounging in his +easy way against the table by which he had taken his +stand.</p> + +<p>"Dr. Tredwell," he suggested, "you must have men +in this town amply able to manage such a matter as this. +A woman struck in broad daylight and a man already +taken up on suspicion! 'Tis simple, surely; intricate +measures are not wanted here."</p> + +<p>"So you still think it is the tramp that struck her?" +quoth the coroner, a trifle baffled by the other's careless +manner.</p> + +<p>"I still think it was not the man who sat in court all +the morning and held me fascinated by his eye."</p> + +<p>"Ah, he held you fascinated, did he?" repeated the +other, a trifle suspiciously.</p> + +<p>"Well, that is," Mr. Byrd allowed, with the least perceptible +loss of his easy bearing, "he made me look at +him more than once. A wandering eye always attracts +me, and his wandered constantly."</p> + +<p>"Humph! and you are sure he was in the court every +minute of the morning?"</p> + +<p>"There must be other witnesses who can testify to that," +answered the detective, with the perceptible irritation of +one weary of a subject which he feels he has already +amply discussed.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[35]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Well," declared the other, dropping his eyes from the +young man's countenance to a sheet of paper he was +holding in his hand, "whatever <i>rôle</i> this humpback has +played in the tragedy now occupying us, whether he be a +wizard, a secret accomplice, a fool who cannot keep his +own secret, or a traitor who cannot preserve that of his +tools, this affair, as you call it, is not likely to prove the +simple matter you seem to consider it. The victim, if not +her townsfolk, knew she possessed an enemy, and this +half-finished letter which I have found on her table, +raises the question whether a common tramp, with no motive +but that of theft or brutal revenge, was the one to +meditate the fatal blow, even if he were the one to deal +it."</p> + +<p>A perceptible light flickered into the eyes of Mr. Byrd, +and he glanced with a new but unmistakable interest at +the letter, though he failed to put out his hand for it, even +though the coroner held it toward him.</p> + +<p>"Thank you," said he; "but if I do not take the case, +it would be better for me not to meddle any further with +it."</p> + +<p>"But you are going to take it," insisted the other, with +temper, his anxiety to secure this man's services increasing +with the opposition he so unaccountably received. +"The officers at the detective bureau in New York are +not going to send another man up here when there is already +one on the spot. And a man from New York I am +determined to have. A crime like this shall not go<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[36]</a></span> +unpunished in this town, whatever it may do in a great +city like yours. We don't have so many murder cases +that we need to stint ourselves in the luxury of professional +assistance."</p> + +<p>"But," protested the young man, still determined to +hold back, whatever arguments might be employed or +inducements offered him, "how do you know I am the +man for your work? We have many sorts and kinds of +detectives in our bureau. Some for one kind of business, +some for another; the following up of a criminal is +not mine."</p> + +<p>"What, then, is yours?" asked the coroner, not yielding +a jot of his determination.</p> + +<p>The detective was silent.</p> + +<p>"Read the letter," persisted Dr. Tredwell, shrewdly +conscious that if once the young man's professional +instinct was aroused, all the puerile objections which +influenced him would immediately vanish.</p> + +<p>There was no resisting that air of command. Taking +the letter in his hand, the young man read:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"<span class="smcap">Dear Emily</span>:—I don't know why I sit down to write to you +to-day. I have plenty to do, and morning is no time for indulging +in sentimentalities; but I feel strangely lonely and strangely anxious. +Nothing goes just to my mind, and somehow the many causes for +secret fear which I have always had, assume an undue prominence in +my mind. It is always so when I am not quite well. In vain I +reason with myself, saying that respectable people do not lightly +enter into crime. But there are so many to whom my death would +be more than welcome, that I constantly see myself in the act of +being——"</p></div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[37]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Struck, shot, murdered," suggested Dr. Tredwell, +perceiving the young man's eye lingering over the broken +sentence.</p> + +<p>"The words are not there," remonstrated Mr. Byrd; +but the tone of his voice showed that his professional +complacency had been disturbed at last.</p> + +<p>The other did not answer, but waited with the wisdom +of the trapper who sees the quarry nosing round the +toils.</p> + +<p>"There is evidently some family mystery," the young +man continued, glancing again at the letter. "But," he +remarked, "Mr. Orcutt is a good friend of hers, and can +probably tell us what it all means."</p> + +<p>"Very likely," the other admitted, "if we choose to +ask him."</p> + +<p>Quick as lightning the young man's glance flashed to +the coroner's face.</p> + +<p>"You would rather not put the question to him?" he +inquired.</p> + +<p>"No. As he is the lawyer who, in all probability, will +be employed by the criminal in this case, I am sure he +would rather not be mixed up in any preliminary investigation +of the affair."</p> + +<p>The young man's eye did not waver. He appeared to +take a secret resolve.</p> + +<p>"Has it not struck you," he insinuated, "that Mr. +Orcutt might have other reasons for not wishing to give +any expression of opinion in regard to it?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[38]</a></span></p> + +<p>The surprise in the coroner's eye was his best answer.</p> + +<p>"No," he rejoined.</p> + +<p>Mr. Byrd at once resumed all his old nonchalance.</p> + +<p>"The young lady who was here appeared to show such +agitated interest in this horrible crime, I thought that, in +kindness to her, he might wish to keep out of the affair as +much as possible."</p> + +<p>"Miss Dare? Bless your heart, she would not restrict +him in any way. Her interest in the matter is purely one +of curiosity. It has been carried, perhaps, to a somewhat +unusual length for a woman of her position and +breeding. But that is all, I assure you. Miss Dare's +eccentricities are well known in this town."</p> + +<p>"Then the diamond ring was really hers?" Mr. Byrd +was about to inquire, but stopped; something in his +memory of this beautiful woman made it impossible for +him to disturb the confidence of the coroner in her behalf, +at least while his own doubts were so vague and shadowy.</p> + +<p>The coroner, however, observed the young detective's +hesitation, and smiled.</p> + +<p>"Are you thinking of Miss Dare as having any thing to +do with this shocking affair?" he asked.</p> + +<p>Mr. Byrd shook his head, but could not hide the flush +that stole up over his forehead.</p> + +<p>The coroner actually laughed, a low, soft, decorous +laugh, but none the less one of decided amusement. +"Your line is not in the direction of spotting criminals, +I must allow," said he. "Why, Miss Dare is not only as<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[39]</a></span> +irreproachable a young lady as we have in this town, but +she is a perfect stranger to this woman and all her concerns. +I doubt if she even knew her name till to-day."</p> + +<p>A laugh is often more potent than argument. The +face of the detective lighted up, and he looked very +manly and very handsome as he returned the letter to +the coroner, saying, with a sweep of his hand as if he +tossed an unworthy doubt away forever:</p> + +<p>"Well, I do not wish to appear obstinate. If this +woman dies, and the inquest fails to reveal who her +assailant is, I will apply to New York for leave to work +up the case; that is, if you continue to desire my assistance. +Meanwhile——"</p> + +<p>"You will keep your eyes open," intimated the coroner, +taking back the letter and putting it carefully away in +his breast-pocket. "And now, mum!"</p> + +<p>Mr. Byrd bowed, and they went together down the +stairs.</p> + +<p>It was by this time made certain that the dying woman +was destined to linger on for some hours. She was completely +unconscious, and her breath barely lifted the +clothes that lay over the slowly laboring breast; but such +vitality as there was held its own with scarcely perceptible +change, and the doctor thought it might be midnight +before the solemn struggle would end. "In the meantime, +expect nothing," he exclaimed; "she has said her +last word. What remains will be a mere sinking into the +eternal sleep."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[40]</a></span></p> + +<p>This being so, Mr. Orcutt and Mr. Ferris decided to +leave. Mr. Byrd saw them safely out, and proceeded to +take one or two private observations of his own. They +consisted mostly in noting the precise position of the +various doors in reference to the hearth where the stick +was picked up, and the clock where the victim was +attacked. Or, so the coroner gathered from the direction +which Mr. Byrd's eye took in its travels over the scene of +action, and the diagram which he hastily drew on the +back of an envelope. The table was noticed, too, and an +inventory of its articles taken, after which he opened the +side-door and looked carefully out into the lane.</p> + +<p>To observe him now with his quick eye flashing from +spot to spot, his head lifted, and a visible air of determination +infused through his whole bearing, you would +scarcely recognize the easy, gracefully indolent youth +who, but a little while before, lounged against the tables +and chairs, and met the most penetrating eye with the +sleepy gaze of a totally uninterested man. Dr. Tredwell, +alert to the change, tapped the letter in his pocket complacently. +"I have roused up a weasel," he mentally +decided, and congratulated himself accordingly.</p> + +<p>It was two o'clock when Mr. Byrd went forth to join +Mr. Ferris in the court-room. As he stepped from the +door, he encountered, to all appearance, just the same +crowd that had encumbered its entrance a half hour +before. Even the old crone had not moved from her +former position, and seeing him, fairly pounced upon<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[41]</a></span> +him with question after question, all of which he parried +with a nonchalant dexterity that drew shout after shout +from those who stood by, and, finally, as he thought, won +him the victory, for, with an angry shake of the head, she +ceased her importunities, and presently let him pass. He +hastened to improve the chance to gain for himself the +refuge of the streets; and, having done this, stood for an +instant parleying with a trembling young girl, whose real +distress and anxiety seemed to merit some attention. +Fatal delay. In that instant the old woman had got in +front of him, and when he arrived at the head of the +street he found her there.</p> + +<p>"Now," said she, with full-blown triumph in her +venomous eyes, "perhaps you will tell me something! +You think I am a mumbling old woman who don't know +what she is bothering herself about. But I tell you I've +not kept my eyes and ears open for seventy-five years in +this wicked world without knowing a bit of the devil's +own work when I see it." Here her face grew quite +hideous, and her eyes gleamed with an aspect of gloating +over the evil she alluded to, that quite sickened the young +man, accustomed though he was to the worst phases of +moral depravity. Leaning forward, she peered inquiringly +in his face. "What has <i>she</i> to do with it?" she +suddenly asked, emphasizing the pronoun with an expressive +leer.</p> + +<p>"She?" he repeated, starting back.</p> + +<p>"Yes, she; the pretty young lady, the pert and haughty<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[42]</a></span> +Miss Dare, that had but to speak to make the whole +crowd stand back. What had she to do with it, I say? +Something, or she wouldn't be here!"</p> + +<p>"I don't know what you are talking about," he replied, +conscious of a strange and unaccountable dismay at thus +hearing his own passing doubt put into words by this vile +and repellent being. "Miss Dare is a stranger. She has +nothing to do either with this affair or the poor woman +who has suffered by it. Her interest is purely one of +sympathy."</p> + +<p>"Hi! and you call yourself a smart one, I dare say." +And the old creature ironically chuckled. "Well, well, +well, what fools men are! They see a pretty face, and +blind themselves to what is written on it as plain as black +writing on a white wall. They call it sympathy, and never +stop to ask why she, of all the soft-hearted gals in the +town, should be the only one to burst into that house like +an avenging spirit! But it's all right," she went on, in +a bitterly satirical tone. "A crime like this can't be +covered up, however much you may try; and sooner or +later we will all know whether this young lady has had +any thing to do with Mrs. Clemmens' murder or not."</p> + +<p>"Stop!" cried Mr. Byrd, struck in spite of himself by +the look of meaning with which she said these last words. +"Do you know any thing against Miss Dare which other +folks do not? If you do, speak, and let me hear at once +what it is. But—" he felt very angry, though he could +not for the moment tell why—"if you are only talking to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[43]</a></span> +gratify your spite, and have nothing to tell me except the +fact that Miss Dare appeared shocked and anxious +when she came from the widow's house just now, look out +what use you make of her name, or you will get yourself +into trouble. Mr. Orcutt and Mr. Ferris are not men to +let you go babbling round town about a young lady of +estimable character." And he tightened the grip he had +taken upon her arm and looked at her threateningly.</p> + +<p>The effect was instantaneous. Slipping from his grasp, +she gazed at him with a sinister expression and edged +slowly away.</p> + +<p>"I know any thing?" she repeated. "What should I +know? I only say the young lady's face tells a very +strange story. If you are too dull or too obstinate to read +it, it's nothing to me." And with another leer and +a quick look up and down the street, as if she half feared +to encounter one or both of the two lawyers whose names +he had mentioned, she marched quickly away, wagging +her head and looking back as she went, as much as to +say: "You have hushed me up for this time, young man, +but don't congratulate yourself too much. I have still a +tongue in my head, and the day may come when I +can use it without any fear of being stopped by you."</p> + +<p>Mr. Byrd, who was not very well pleased with himself +or the way he had managed this interview, watched her +till she was out of sight, and then turned thoughtfully toward +the court-house. The fact was, he felt both agitated +and confused. In the first place, he was disconcerted<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[44]</a></span> +at discovering the extent of the impression that +had evidently been made upon him by the beauty of Miss +Dare, since nothing short of a deep, unconscious admiration +for her personal attributes, and a strong and secret +dread of having his lately acquired confidence in her +again disturbed, could have led him to treat the insinuations +of this babbling old wretch in such a cavalier manner. +Any other detective would have seized with +avidity upon the opportunity of hearing what she had to +say on such a subject, and would not only have cajoled +her into confidence, but encouraged her to talk until she +had given utterance to all that was on her mind. But in +the stress of a feeling to which he was not anxious to +give a name, he had forgotten that he was a detective, +and remembered only that he was a man; and the consequence +was that he had frightened the old creature, +and cut short words that it was possibly his business +to hear. In the second place, he felt himself in a quandary +as regarded Miss Dare. If, as was more than possible, +she was really the innocent woman the coroner considered +her, and the insinuations, if not threats, to which +he had been listening were simply the result of a +wicked old woman's privately nurtured hatred, how could +he reconcile it to his duty as a man, or even as a detective, +to let the day pass without warning her, or the eminent +lawyer who honored her with his regard, of the +danger in which she stood from this creature's venomous +tongue.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[45]</a></span></p> + +<p>As he sat in court that afternoon, with his eye upon +Mr. Orcutt, beneath whose ordinary aspect of quiet, sarcastic +attention he thought he could detect the secret +workings of a deep, personal perplexity, if not of actual +alarm, he asked himself what he would wish done if +he were that man, and a scandal of a debasing character +threatened the peace of one allied to him by the +most endearing ties. "Would I wish to be informed of +it?" he queried. "I most certainly should," was his +inward reply.</p> + +<p>And so it was that, after the adjournment of court, he +approached Mr. Orcutt, and leading him respectfully +aside, said, with visible reluctance:</p> + +<p>"I beg your pardon, sir, but a fact has come to my +knowledge to-day with which I think you ought to be +made acquainted. It is in reference to the young lady +who was with us at Mrs. Clemmens' house this morning. +Did you know, sir, that she had an enemy in this +town?"</p> + +<p>Mr. Orcutt, whose thoughts had been very much with +that young lady since she left him so unceremoniously a +few hours before, started and looked at Mr. Byrd with +surprise which was not without its element of distrust.</p> + +<p>"An enemy?" he repeated. "An enemy? What do +you mean?"</p> + +<p>"What I say, Mr. Orcutt. As I came out of Mrs. +Clemmens' house this afternoon, an old hag whose name +I do not know, but whom you will probably have no difficulty<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[46]</a></span> +in recognizing, seized me by the arm and made me +the recipient of insinuations and threats against Miss +Dare, which, however foolish and unfounded, betrayed an +animosity and a desire to injure her that is worthy your +attention."</p> + +<p>"You are very kind," returned Mr. Orcutt, with increased +astonishment and a visible constraint, "but I do +not understand you. What insinuations or threats could +this woman have to make against a young lady of Miss +Dare's position and character?"</p> + +<p>"It is difficult for me to tell you," acknowledged Mr. +Byrd; "but the vicious old creature presumed to say that +Miss Dare must have had a special and secret interest in +this murder, or she would not have gone as she did to that +house. Of course," pursued the detective, discreetly +dropping his eyes from the lawyer's face, "I did what I +could to show her the folly of her suspicions, and tried to +make her see the trouble she would bring upon herself if +she persisted in expressing them; but I fear I only succeeded +in quieting her for the moment, and that she will +soon be attacking others with this foolish story."</p> + +<p>Mr. Orcutt who, whatever his own doubts or apprehensions, +could not fail to be totally unprepared for a +communication of this kind, gave utterance to a fierce +and bitter exclamation, and fixed upon the detective his +keen and piercing eye.</p> + +<p>"Tell me just what she said," he demanded.</p> + +<p>"I will try to do so," returned Mr. Byrd. And calling<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[47]</a></span> +to his aid a very excellent memory, he gave a <i>verbatim</i> +account of the conversation that had passed between him +and the old woman. Mr. Orcutt listened, as he always +did, without interruption or outward demonstration; but +when the recital was over and Mr. Byrd ventured to look +at him once more, he noticed that he was very pale and +greatly changed in expression. Being himself in a position +to understand somewhat of the other's emotion, he +regained by an effort the air of polite nonchalance that +became him so well, and quickly suggested: "Miss Dare +will, of course, be able to explain herself."</p> + +<p>The lawyer flashed upon him a quick glance.</p> + +<p>"I hope you have no doubts on the subject," he said; +then, as the detective's eye fell a trifle before his, paused +and looked at him with the self-possession gained in fifteen +years of practice in the criminal courts, and said: +"I am Miss Dare's best friend. I know her well, and +can truly say that not only is her character above reproach, +but that I am acquainted with no circumstances +that could in any way connect her with this crime. Nevertheless, +the incidents of the day have been such as to +make it desirable for her to explain herself, and this, as +you say, she will probably have no difficulty in doing. If +you will, therefore, wait till to-morrow before taking any +one else into your confidence, I promise you to see Miss +Dare myself, and, from her own lips, learn the cause of +her peculiar interest in this affair. Meanwhile, let me +request you to put a curb upon your imagination, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[48]</a></span> +not allow it to soar too high into the regions of idle speculation."</p> + +<p>And he held out his hand to the detective with a smile +whose vain attempt at unconcern affected Mr. Byrd more +than a violent outbreak would have done. It betrayed +so unmistakably that his own secret doubts were not +without an echo in the breast of this eminent lawyer.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[49]</a></span></p> +<h2>IV.</h2> + +<h3>IMOGENE.</h3> + +<div class='center'> +You are a riddle, solve you who can.—<span class="smcap">Knowles.</span><br /> +<br /><br /></div> + + +<div class='cap'>MR. ORCUTT was a man who for many years had +turned a deaf ear and a cold eye to the various +attractions and beguilements of woman. Either from +natural coldness of disposition, or for some other latent +cause, traceable, perhaps, to some fact in his past history, +and not to be inquired into by gossiping neighbors and +so-called friends, he had resisted, even to the point of +disdain, both the blandishments of acknowledged belles, +and the more timid but no less pleasing charms of the +shy country misses that he met upon his travels.</div> + +<p>But one day all this was changed. Imogene Dare +entered his home, awakening a light in the dim old place +that melted his heart and made a man out of what was +usually considered a well-ordered machine.</p> + +<p>She had been a foundling. Yes, this beautiful, disdainful, +almost commanding woman, had in the beginning +been that most unfortunate of beings—a child without a +name. But though this fact may have influenced the +course of her early days, it gradually disappeared from +notice as she grew up and developed, till in Sibley, at +least, it became wellnigh a fact forgotten. Her beauty,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[50]</a></span> +as well as the imposing traits of her character, was the +cause. There are some persons so gifted with natural +force that, once brought in contact with them, you forget +their antecedents, and, indeed, every thing but themselves. +Either their beauty overawes you or they, by conversation +or bearing, so completely satisfy you of their right +to your respect, that indifference takes the place of curiosity, +and you yield your regard as if you have already +yielded your admiration, without question and without +stint.</p> + +<p>The early years of her life were passed in the house of +a poor widow, to whom the appearance of this child on +her door-step one fine day had been nothing more nor less +than a veritable godsend. First, because she was herself +alone in the world, and needed the mingled companionship +and care which a little one invariably gives; and, +secondly, because Imogene, from the very first, had been +a noticeable child, who early attracted the attention of +the neighbors, and led to many a substantial evidence of +favor from them, as well as from the strangers who +passed their gate or frequented their church. Insensibly +to herself, and without help of circumstances or rearing, +the girl was a magnet toward which all good things insensibly +tended; and the widow saw this, and, while +reaping the reward, stinted neither her affection nor her +gratitude.</p> + +<p>When Imogene was eleven, this protector of her infancy +died. But another home instantly offered. A wealthy<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[51]</a></span> +couple of much kindness, if little culture, adopted her as +their child, and gave her every benefit in life save education. +This never having possessed themselves, they +openly undervalued. But she was not to be kept down +by the force of any circumstances, whether favorable or +otherwise. All the graces of manner and refinements of +thought which properly belong to the station she had now +attained, but which, in the long struggle after wealth, had +escaped the honest couple that befriended her, became +by degrees her own, tempering without destroying her individuality, +any more than the new life of restraint that +now governed her physical powers, was able to weaken or +subdue that rare and splendid physique which had been +her fairest birthright.</p> + +<p>In the lap of luxury, therefore, and in full possession +of means to come and go and conform herself to the +genteel world and its fashions, she passed the next four +years; but scarcely had she attained the age of fifteen, +when bankruptcy, followed by death, again robbed her of +her home and set her once more adrift upon the world.</p> + +<p>This time she looked to no one for assistance. Refusing +all offers, many of them those of honorable marriage, +she sought for work, and after a short delay found it in +the household of Mr. Orcutt. The aged sister who +governed his home and attended to all its domestic +details, hired her as a sort of assistant, rightly judging +that the able young body and the alert hand would bring +into the household economy just that life and interest<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[52]</a></span> +which her own failing strength had now for some time refused +to supply.</p> + +<p>That the girl was a beauty and something more, who +could not from the nature of things be kept in that subordinate +position, she either failed to see, or, seeing, was +pleased to disregard. She never sought to impose restraint +upon the girl any more than she did upon her +brother, when in the course of events she saw that his +eye was at last attracted and his imagination fired by the +noble specimen of girlhood that made its daily appearance +at his own board.</p> + +<p>That she had introduced a dangerous element into that +quiet home, that ere long would devastate its sacred precincts, +and endanger, if not destroy, its safety and honor, +she had no reason to suspect. What was there in youth, +beauty, and womanly power that one should shrink from +their embodiment and tremble as if an evil instead of a +good had entered that hitherto undisturbed household? +Nothing, if they had been all. But alas for her, and alas +for him—they were not all! Mixed with the youth, +beauty, and power was a something else not to be so +readily understood—a something, too, which, without +offering explanation to the fascinated mind that studied +her, made the beauty unique, the youth a charm, and the +power a controlling force. She was not to be sounded. +Going and coming, smiling and frowning, in movement or +at rest, she was always a mystery; the depths of her being +remaining still in hiding, however calmly she spoke or<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[53]</a></span> +however graciously she turned upon you the light of her +deep gray eyes.</p> + +<p>Mr. Orcutt loved her. From the first vision he had of +her face and form dominating according to their nature +at his board and fireside, he had given up his will into her +unconscious keeping. She was so precisely what all +other women he had known were not. At first so distant, +so self-contained, so unapproachable in her pride; then +as her passion grew for books, so teachable, so industrious, +so willing to listen to his explanations and arguments; +and lastly——</p> + +<p>But that did not come at once. A long struggle took +place between those hours when he used to encourage +her to come into his study and sit at his side, and read +from his books, and the more dangerous time still, when +he followed her into the drawing-room and sat at her side, +and sought to read, not from books, but from her eyes, +the story of his own future fate.</p> + +<p>For, powerful as was his passion and deeply as his +heart had been touched, he did not yield to the thought +of marriage which such a passion involves, without a conflict. +He would make her his child, the heiress of his +wealth, and the support of his old age; this was his first +resolve. But it did not last; the first sight he had of her +on her return from a visit to Buffalo, which he had insisted +upon her making during the time of his greatest +mental conflict, had assured him that this could never +be; that he must be husband and she wife, or else their<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[54]</a></span> +relations must entirely cease. Perhaps the look with +which she met him had something to do with this. It +was such a blushing, humble—yes, for her, really humble +and beautiful—look. He could not withstand it. +Though no one could have detected it in his manner, +he really succumbed in that hour. Doubt and hesitation +flew to the winds, and to make her his own became the +sole aim and object of his life.</p> + +<p>He did not, however, betray his purpose at once. +Neighbors and friends might and did suspect the state of +his feelings, but to her he was silent. That vague something +which marked her off from the rest of her sex, +seemed to have deepened in her temporary sojourn from +his side, and whatever it meant of good or of ill, it taught +him at least to be wary. At last, was it with premeditation +or was it in some moment of uncontrollable impulse, +he spoke; not with definite pleading, or even with any +very clear intimation that he desired some day to make +her his wife, but in a way that sufficed to tear the veil +from their previous intercourse and let her catch a +glimpse, if no more, of his heart, and its devouring passion.</p> + +<p>He was absolutely startled at the result. She avowed +that she had never thought of his possessing such a regard +for her; and for two days shut herself up in her +room and refused to see either him or his sister. Then +she came down, blooming like a rose, but more distant, +more quiet, and more inscrutable than ever. Pride, if<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[55]</a></span> +pride she felt, was subdued under a general aspect of +womanly dignity that for a time held all further avowals +in check, and made all intercourse between them at once +potent in its attraction and painful in its restraint.</p> + +<p>"She is waiting for a distinct offer of marriage," he +decided.</p> + +<p>And thus matters stood, notwithstanding the general +opinion of their friends, when the terrible event recorded +in the foregoing chapters of this story brought her in +a new light before his eyes, and raised a question, shocking +as it was unexpected, as to whether this young girl, +immured as he had believed her to be in his own home, +had by some unknown and inexplicable means run upon +the secret involving, if not explaining, the mystery of this +dreadful and daring crime.</p> + +<p>Such an idea was certainly a preposterous one to entertain. +He neither could nor would believe she knew more +of this matter than any other disinterested person in town, +and yet there had certainly been something in her bearing +upon the scene of tragedy, that suggested a personal interest +in the affair; nor could he deny that he himself +had been struck by the incongruity of her behavior long +before it attracted the attention of others.</p> + +<p>But then he had opportunities for judging of her conduct +which others did not have. He not only had every +reason to believe that the ring to which she had so publicly +laid claim was not her own, but he had observed how, +at the moment the dying woman had made that tell-tale exclamation<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[56]</a></span> +of "<i>Ring</i> and <i>Hand!</i>" Miss Dare had looked +down at the jewel she had thus appropriated, with a +quick horror and alarm that seemed to denote she had +some knowledge of its owner, or some suspicion, at least, +as to whose hand had worn it before she placed it upon +her own.</p> + +<p>It was not, therefore, a matter of wonder that he was +visibly affected at finding her conduct had attracted the +attention of others, and one of those a detective, or that +the walk home after his interview with Mr. Byrd should +have been fraught with a dread to which he scarcely +dared to give a name.</p> + +<p>The sight of Miss Dare coming down the path as he +reached his own gate did not tend to greatly allay his apprehensions, +particularly as he observed she was dressed +in travelling costume, and carried a small satchel on her +arm.</p> + +<p>"Imogene," he cried, as she reached him, "what is the +meaning of this? Where are you going?"</p> + +<p>Her face, which wore a wholly unnatural and strained +expression, turned slowly toward his.</p> + +<p>"I am going to Buffalo," she said.</p> + +<p>"To Buffalo?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>This was alarming, surely. She was going to leave the +town—leave it suddenly, without excuse or explanation!</p> + +<p>Looking at her with eyes which, for all their intense +inquiry, conveyed but little of the serious emotions that +were agitating his mind, he asked, hurriedly:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[57]</a></span></p> + +<p>"What takes you to Buffalo—to-day—so suddenly?"</p> + +<p>Her answer was set and mechanical.</p> + +<p>"I have had news. One of my—my friends is not well. +I must go. Do not detain me."</p> + +<p>And she moved quickly toward the gate.</p> + +<p>But his tremulous hand was upon it, and he made no +offer to open a passage for her.</p> + +<p>"Pardon me," said he, "but I cannot let you go till I +have had some conversation with you. Come with me to +the house, Imogene. I will not detain you long."</p> + +<p>But with a sad and abstracted gesture she slowly shook +her head.</p> + +<p>"It is too late," she murmured. "I shall miss the train +if I stop now."</p> + +<p>"Then you must miss it," he cried, bitterly, forgetting +every thing else in the torture of his uncertainty. "What +I have to say cannot wait. Come!"</p> + +<p>This tone of command from one who had hitherto +adapted himself to her every whim, seemed to strike her. +Paling quickly, she for the first time looked at him with +something like a comprehension of his feelings, and +quietly replied:</p> + +<p>"Forgive me. I had forgotten for the moment the +extent of your claims upon me. I will wait till to-morrow +before going." And she led the way back to the house.</p> + +<p>When they were alone together in the library, he turned +toward her with a look whose severity was the fruit of +his condition of mind rather than of any natural harshness +or imperiousness.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[58]</a></span></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> +<img src="images/ill02.jpg" width="400" height="441" alt=""Taking her hand in his, he looked at her long and searchingly. 'Imogene,' he exclaimed, 'there is something weighing on your heart.'"—(Page 58.)" title="" /> +<span class="caption">"Taking her hand in his, he looked at her long and searchingly. 'Imogene,' he exclaimed, 'there is something weighing on your heart.'"—(Page 58.)</span> +</div> +<p>"Now, Imogene," said he, "tell me why you desire to +leave my house."</p> + +<p>Her face, which had assumed a mask of cold impassiveness, +confronted him like that of a statue, but her voice, +when she spoke, was sufficiently gentle.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Orcutt," was her answer, "I have told you. I +have a call elsewhere which must be attended to. I do +not leave your house; I merely go to Buffalo for a few +days."</p> + +<p>But he could not believe this short statement of her +intentions. In the light of these new fears of his, this +talk of Buffalo, and a call there, looked to him like the +merest subterfuge. Yet her gentle tone was not without +its effect, and his voice visibly softened as he said:</p> + +<p>"You are intending, then, to return?"</p> + +<p>Her reply was prefaced by a glance of amazement.</p> + +<p>"Of course," she responded at last. "Is not this +my home?"</p> + +<p>Something in the way she said this carried a ray of +hope to his heart. Taking her hand in his, he looked at +her long and searchingly.</p> + +<p>"Imogene!" he exclaimed, "there is something serious +weighing upon your heart. What is it? Will you not +make me the confidant of your troubles? Tell me what +has made such a change in you since—since noon, and its +dreadful event."</p> + +<p>But her expression did not soften, and her manner became +even more reserved than before.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[59]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I have not any thing to tell," said she.</p> + +<p>"Not any thing?" he repeated.</p> + +<p>"Not any thing."</p> + +<p>Dropping her hand, he communed a moment with himself. +That a secret of possible consequence lay between +them he could not doubt. That it had reference to and +involved the crime of the morning, he was equally sure. +But how was he to make her acknowledge it? How was +he to reach her mind and determine its secrets without +alarming her dignity or wounding her heart?</p> + +<p>To press her with questions seemed impossible. Even +if he could have found words with which to formulate his +fears, her firm, set face, and steady, unrelenting eye, +assured him only too plainly that the attempt would +be met by failure, if it did not bring upon him her +scorn and contempt. No; some other method must +be found; some way that would completely and at once +ease his mind of a terrible weight, and yet involve no risk +to the love that had now become the greatest necessity of +his existence. But what way? With all his acumen and +knowledge of the world, he could think of but one. +He would ask her hand in marriage—aye, at this very moment—and +from the tenor of her reply judge of the +nature of her thoughts. For, looking in her face, he felt +forced to acknowledge that whatever doubts he had +ever cherished in reference to the character of this remarkable +girl, upon one point he was perfectly clear, and +this was, that she was at basis honorable in her instincts,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[60]</a></span> +and would never do herself or another a real injustice. If +a distinct wrong or even a secret of an unhappy or debasing +nature lay between them, he knew that nothing, not +even the bitterest necessity or the most headlong passion, +would ever drive her into committing the dishonor of +marrying him.</p> + +<p>No; if with his declaration in her ears, and with his +eyes fixed upon hers, she should give any token of +her willingness to accept his addresses, he felt he might +know, beyond doubt or cavil, that whatever womanish +excitability may have moved her in her demonstrations +that day, they certainly arose from no private knowledge +or suspicion detrimental to his future peace or to hers.</p> + +<p>Bracing himself, therefore, to meet any result that +might follow his attempt, he drew her gently toward him +and determinedly addressed her.</p> + +<p>"Imogene, I told you at the gate that I had something +to say to you. So I have; and though it may +not be wholly unexpected to you, yet I doubt if it would +have left my lips to-night if the events of the day had not +urged me to offer you my sympathy and protection."</p> + +<p>He paused, almost sickened; at that last phrase +she had grown so terribly white and breathless. But +something in her manner, notwithstanding, seemed to +encourage him to proceed, and smothering his doubts, +trampling, as it were, upon his rising apprehensions, +he calmed down his tone and went quietly on:</p> + +<p>"Imogene, I love you."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[61]</a></span></p> + +<p>She did not shrink.</p> + +<p>"Imogene, I want you for my wife. Will you listen to +my prayer, and make my home forever happy with your +presence?"</p> + +<p>Ah, now she showed feeling; now she started and drew +back, putting out her hands as if the idea he had +advanced was insupportable to her. But it was only for +a moment. Before he could say to himself that it was all +over, that his worst fears had been true, and that nothing +but the sense of some impassable gulf between them +could have made her recoil from him like this, she +had dropped her hands and turned toward him with +a look whose deep inquiry and evident struggle after +an understanding of his claims, spoke of a mind clouded +by trouble, but not alienated from himself by fear.</p> + +<p>She did not speak, however,—not for some few minutes, +and when she did, her words came in short and hurried +gasps.</p> + +<p>"You are kind," was what she said. "To be your—wife"—she +had difficulty in uttering the word, but it +came at last—"would be an honor and a protection. I +appreciate both. But I am in no mood to-night to listen +to words of love from any man. Perhaps six months +hence——"</p> + +<p>But he already had her in his arms. The joy and relief +he felt were so great he could not control himself. +"Imogene," he murmured, "my Imogene!" And +scarcely heeded her when, in a burst of subdued agony,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[62]</a></span> +she asked to be released, saying that she was ill and tired, +and must be allowed to withdraw to her room.</p> + +<p>But a second appeal woke him from his dream. If his +worst fears were without foundation; if her mind was +pure of aught that unfitted her to be his wife, there was +yet much that was mysterious in her conduct, and, consequently, +much which he longed to have explained.</p> + +<p>"Imogene," he said, "I must ask you to remain a +moment longer. Hard as it is for me to distress you, +there is a question which I feel it necessary to put to you +before you go. It is in reference to the fearful crime +which took place to-day. Why did you take such an interest +in it, and why has it had such an effect upon you +that you look like a changed woman to-night?"</p> + +<p>Disengaging herself from his arms, she looked at him +with the set composure of one driven to bay, and asked:</p> + +<p>"Is there any thing strange in my being interested in a +murder perpetrated on a person whose name I have frequently +heard mentioned in this house?"</p> + +<p>"No," he murmured, "no; but what led you to her +home? It was not a spot for a young lady to be in, and +any other woman would have shrunk from so immediate +a contact with crime."</p> + +<p>Imogene's hand was on the door, but she turned back.</p> + +<p>"I am not like other women," she declared. "When I +hear of any thing strange or mysterious, I want to understand +it. I did not stop to ask what people would think +of my conduct."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[63]</a></span></p> + +<p>"But your grief and terror, Imogene? They are real, +and not to be disguised. Look in the glass over there, +and you will yourself see what an effect all this has had +upon you. If Mrs. Clemmens is a stranger to you; if you +know no more of her than you have always led me to suppose, +why should you have been so unnaturally impressed +by to-day's tragedy?"</p> + +<p>It was a searching question, and her eye fell slightly, +but her steady demeanor did not fail her.</p> + +<p>"Still," said she, "because I am not like other women. +I cannot forget such horrors in a moment." And she +advanced again to the door, upon which she laid her +hand.</p> + +<p>Unconsciously his eye followed the movement, and +rested somewhat inquiringly upon that hand. It was +gloved, but to all appearance was without the ring which +he had seen her put on at the widow's house.</p> + +<p>She seemed to comprehend his look. Meeting his eye +with unshaken firmness, she resumed, in a low and constrained +voice:</p> + +<p>"You are wondering about the ring that formed a +portion of the scene we are discussing. Mr. Orcutt, I +told the gentleman who handed it to me to-day that it +was mine. That should be enough for the man who +professes sufficient confidence in me to wish to make me +his wife. But since your looks confess a curiosity in +regard to this diamond, I will say that I was as much astonished +as anybody to see it picked up from the floor at<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[64]</a></span> +my feet. The last time I had seen it was when I dropped +it, somewhat recklessly, into a pocket. How or when it +fell out, I cannot say. As for the ring itself," she haughtily +added, "young ladies frequently possess articles of +whose existence their friends are unconscious."</p> + +<p>Here was an attempt at an explanation which, though +meagre and far from satisfactory, had at least a basis in +possibility. But Mr. Orcutt, as I have before said, was +certain that the ring was lying on the floor of the room +where it was picked up, before Imogene had made her +appearance there, and was therefore struck with dismay +at this conclusive evidence of her falsehood.</p> + +<p>Yet, as he said to himself, she might have some association +with the ring, might even have an owner's claim +upon it, incredible as this appeared, without being in the +possession of such knowledge as definitely connected it +with this crime. And led by this hope he laid his hand +on hers as it was softly turning the knob of the door, and +said, with emotion:</p> + +<p>"Imogene, one moment. This is a subject which I am +as anxious to drop as you are. In your condition it is +almost cruelty to urge it upon you, but of one thing I +must be assured before you leave my presence, and that +is, that whatever secrets you may hide in your soul, or +whatever motive may have governed your treatment of me +and my suit to-night, they do not spring from any real or +supposed interest in this crime, which ought from its +nature to separate you and me. I ask," he quickly added,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[65]</a></span> +as he saw her give a start of injured pride or irrepressible +dismay, "not because I have any doubts on the subject +myself, but because some of the persons who have +unfortunately been witness to your strange and excited +conduct to-day, have presumed to hint that nothing short of +a secret knowledge of the crime or criminal could explain +your action upon the scene of tragedy."</p> + +<p>And with a look which, if she had observed it, might +have roused her to a sense of the critical position in which +she stood, he paused and held his breath for her reply.</p> + +<p>It did not come.</p> + +<p>"Imogene?"</p> + +<p>"I hear."</p> + +<p>Cold and hard the words sounded—his hand went like +lightning to his heart.</p> + +<p>"Are you going to answer?" he asked, at last.</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"What is that answer to be, Yes or No?"</p> + +<p>She turned upon him her large gray eyes. There was +misery in their depths, but there was a haughtiness, also, +which only truth could impart.</p> + +<p>"My answer is No!" said she.</p> + +<p>And, without another word, she glided from the room.</p> + +<p>Next morning, Mr. Byrd found three notes awaiting +his perusal. The first was a notification from the coroner +to the effect that the Widow Clemmens had quietly +breathed her last at midnight. The second, a hurried +line from Mr. Ferris, advising him to make use of the day<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[66]</a></span> +in concluding a certain matter of theirs in the next town; +and the third, a letter from Mr. Orcutt, couched in the +following terms:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p><span class="smcap">Mr. Byrd</span>: <i>Dear Sir</i>—I have seen the person named between +us, and I here state, upon my honor, that she is in possession of no +facts which it concerns the authorities to know.</p> + +<div class='sig'> +<span class="smcap">Tremont B. Orcutt.</span><br /> +</div></div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[67]</a></span></p> + +<h2>V.</h2> + +<h3>HORACE BYRD.</h3> + +<div class='poem'> +But now, I am cabin'd, cribbed, confin'd, bound in<br /> +To saucy doubts and fears.—<span class="smcap">Macbeth.</span><br /> +<br /><br /></div> + + +<div class='cap'>HORACE BYRD was by birth and education a +gentleman. He was the son of a man of small +means but great expectations, and had been reared to +look forward to the day when he should be the possessor +of a large income. But his father dying, both means and +expectations vanished into thin air, and at the age of +twenty, young Horace found himself thrown upon the +world without income, without business, and, what was +still worse, without those habits of industry that serve a +man in such an emergency better than friends and often +better than money itself.</div> + +<p>He had also an invalid mother to look after, and two +young sisters whom he loved with warm and devoted +affection; and though by the kindness and forethought +of certain relatives he was for a time spared all anxiety +on their account, he soon found that some exertion on +his part would be necessary to their continued subsistence, +and accordingly set about the task of finding suitable +employment, with much spirit and no little hope.</p> + +<p>But a long series of disappointments taught him that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[68]</a></span> +young men cannot leap at a bound into a fine salary or +even a promising situation; and baffled in every wish, +worn out with continued failures, he sank from one state +of hope to another, till he was ready to embrace any +prospect that would insure ease and comfort to the helpless +beings he so much loved.</p> + +<p>It was while he was in this condition that Mr. Gryce—a +somewhat famous police detective of New York—came +upon him, and observing, as he thought, some signs of +natural aptitude for <i>fine work</i>, as he called it, in this +elegant but decidedly hard-pushed young gentleman, seized +upon him with an avidity that can only be explained by +this detective's long-cherished desire to ally to himself a +man of real refinement and breeding; having, as he +privately admitted more than once to certain chosen +friends, a strong need of such a person to assist him in +certain cases where great houses were to be entered and +fine gentlemen if not fair ladies subjected to interviews of +a delicate and searching nature.</p> + +<p>To join the police force and be a detective was the last +contingency that had occurred to Horace Byrd. But +men in decidedly straitened circumstances cannot pick +and choose too nicely; and after a week of uncertainty +and fresh disappointment, he went manfully to his mother +and told her of the offer that had been made him. Meeting +with less discouragement than he had expected from the +broken-down and unhappy woman, he gave himself up to +the guiding hand of Mr. Gryce, and before he realized it,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[69]</a></span> +was enrolled among the secret members of the New York +force.</p> + +<p>He was not recognized publicly as a detective. His +name was not even known to any but the highest officials. +He was employed for special purposes, and it was not +considered desirable that he should be seen at police +head-quarters. But being a man of much ability and of a +solid, reliable nature, he made his way notwithstanding, +and by the time he had been in the service a year, was +looked upon as a good-fellow and a truly valuable acquisition +to the bureau. Indeed, he possessed more than the +usual qualifications for his calling, strange as the fact +appeared not only to himself but to the few friends +acquainted with his secret. In the first place, he possessed +much acuteness without betraying it. Of an easy +bearing and a polished address, he was a man to please +all and alarm none, yet he always knew what he was +about and what you were about, too, unless indeed you +possessed a power of dissimulation much beyond ordinary, +when the chances were that his gentlemanly instincts +would get in his way, making it impossible for him to +believe in a guilt that was too hardy to betray itself, and +too insensible to shame to blush before the touch of the +inquisitor.</p> + +<p>In the second place, he liked the business. Yes, notwithstanding +the theories of that social code to which he +once paid deference, notwithstanding the frankness and +candor of his own disposition, he found in this pursuit a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[70]</a></span> +nice adjustment of cause to effect and effect to cause +that at once pleased and satisfied his naturally mathematical +mind.</p> + +<p>He did not acknowledge the fact, not even to himself. +On the contrary, he was always threatening that in another +month he should look up some new means of livelihood, +but the coming month would invariably bring a fresh case +before his notice, and then it would be: "Well, after this +matter is probed to the bottom," or, "When that criminal +is made to confess his guilt," till even his little sisters +caught the infection, and would whisper over their dolls:</p> + +<p>"Brother Horace is going to be a great man when all +the bad and naughty people in the world are put in +prison."</p> + +<p>As a rule, Mr. Byrd was not sent out of town. But, on +the occasion of Mr. Ferris desiring a man of singular discretion +to assist him in certain inquiries connected with +the case then on trial in Sibley, there happened to be a +deficiency of capable men in the bureau, and the superintendent +was obliged to respond to the call by sending Mr. +Byrd. He did not do it, however, without making the +proviso that all public recognition of this officer, in his +real capacity, was to be avoided. And so far the wishes +of his superiors had been respected. No one outside of +the few persons mentioned in the first chapter of this +story suspected that the easy, affable, and somewhat distinguished-looking +young gentleman who honored the +village hotel with his patronage was a secret emissary of +the New York police.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[71]</a></span></p> + +<p>Mr. Byrd was, of all men, then, the very one to feel the +utmost attraction toward, and at the same time the +greatest shrinking from, the pursuit of such investigations +as were likely to ensue upon the discovery of the mysterious +case of murder which had so unexpectedly been +presented to his notice. As a professional, he could not +fail to experience that quick start of the blood which +always follows the recognition of a "big affair," while as +a gentleman, he felt himself recoil from probing into a +matter that was blackened by a possibility against which +every instinct in his nature rebelled.</p> + +<p>It was, therefore, with oddly mingled sensations that +he read Mr. Orcutt's letter, and found himself compelled +to admit that the coroner had possessed a truer insight +than himself into the true cause of Miss Dare's eccentric +conduct upon the scene of the tragedy. His main feeling, +however, was one of relief. It was such a comfort to +think he could proceed in the case without the dread of +stumbling upon a clue that, in some secret and unforeseen +way, should connect this imposing woman with a revolting +crime. Or so he fondly considered. But he had not spent +five minutes at the railroad station, where, in pursuance +to the commands of Mr. Ferris, he went to take the train +for Monteith, before he saw reason to again change his +mind. For, there among the passengers awaiting the +New York express, he saw Miss Dare, with a travelling-bag +upon her arm and a look on her face that, to say the +least, was of most uncommon character in a scene of so<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[72]</a></span> +much bustle and hurry. She was going away, then—going +to leave Sibley and its mystery behind her! He was not +pleased with the discovery. This sudden departure +looked too much like escape, and gave him, notwithstanding +the assurance he had received from Mr. Orcutt, an +uneasy sense of having tampered with his duty as an +officer of justice, in thus providing this mysterious young +woman with a warning that could lead to a result like +this.</p> + +<p>Yet, as he stood at the depot surveying Miss Dare, in +the few minutes they both had to wait, he asked himself +over and over again how any thought of her possessing a +personal interest in the crime which had just taken place +could retain a harbor in his mind. She looked so noble +in her quiet aspect of solemn determination, so superior +in her young, fresh beauty—a determination that, from +the lofty look it imparted, must have its birth in generous +emotion, even if her beauty was but the result of a rarely +modelled frame and a health of surpassing perfection. +He resolved he would think of her no more in that or any +other connection; that he would follow the example of +her best friend, and give his doubts to the wind.</p> + +<p>And yet such a burr is suspicion, that he no sooner saw +a young man approaching her with the evident intention +of speaking, than he felt an irresistible desire to hear +what she would have to say, and, led by this impulse, +allowed himself to saunter nearer and nearer the pair, till +he stood almost at their backs.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[73]</a></span></p> + +<p>The first words he heard were:</p> + +<p>"How long do you expect to remain in Buffalo, Miss +Dare?"</p> + +<p>To which she replied:</p> + +<p>"I have no idea whether I shall stay a week or a +month."</p> + +<p>Then the whistle of the advancing train was heard, and +the two pressed hurriedly forward.</p> + +<p>The business which had taken Mr. Byrd to Monteith +kept him in that small town all day. But though he thus +missed the opportunity of attending the opening of the +inquest at Sibley, he did not experience the vivid disappointment +which might have been expected, his interest +in that matter having in some unaccountable way subsided +from the moment he saw Imogene Dare take the cars for +Buffalo.</p> + +<p>It was five o'clock when he again returned to Sibley, +the hour at which the western train was also due. In +fact, it came steaming in while he stood there, and, as +was natural, perhaps, he paused a moment to watch the +passengers alight. There were not many, and he was +about to turn toward home, when he saw a lady step +upon the platform whose appearance was so familiar that +he stopped, disbelieving the evidence of his own senses. +Miss Dare returned? Miss Dare, who but a few hours +before had left this very depot for the purpose, as she +said, of making a visit of more or less length in the distant +city of Buffalo? It could not be. And yet there<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[74]</a></span> +was no mistaking her, disguised though she was by the +heavy veil that covered her features. She had come +back, and the interest which Mr. Byrd had lost in Sibley +and its possible mystery, revived with a suddenness that +called up a self-conscious blush to his hardy cheek.</p> + +<p>But why had she so changed her plans? What could +have occurred during the few hours that had elapsed +since her departure, to turn her about on her path and +drive her homeward before her journey was half completed? +He could not imagine. True, it was not his +present business to do so; and yet, however much he endeavored +to think of other things, he found this question +occupying his whole mind long after his return to the +village hotel. She was such a mystery, this woman, it +might easily be that she had never intended to go to Buffalo; +that she had only spoken of that place as the point +of her destination under the stress of her companion's +importunities, and that the real place for which she was +bound had been some spot very much nearer home. The +fact, that her baggage had consisted only of a small bag +that she carried on her arm, would lend probability to this +idea, yet, such was the generous character of the young +detective, he hesitated to give credit to this suspicion, and +indeed took every pains to disabuse himself of it by inquiring +of the ticket-agent, whether it was true, as he had +heard, that Miss Dare had left town on that day for a +visit to her friends in Buffalo.</p> + +<p>He received for his reply that she had bought a ticket<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[75]</a></span> +for that place, though she evidently had not used it, a +fact which seemed at least to prove she was honest in the +expression of her intentions that morning, whatever alteration +may have taken place in her plans during the course +of her journey.</p> + +<p>Mr. Byrd did not enjoy his supper that night, and was +heartily glad when, in a few moments after its completion, +Mr. Ferris came in for a chat and a cigar.</p> + +<p>They had many things to discuss. First, their own +case now drawing to a successful close; next, the murder +of the day before; and lastly, the few facts which had +been elicited in regard to that murder, in the inquiry +which had that day been begun before the coroner.</p> + +<p>Of the latter Mr. Ferris spoke with much interest. He +had attended the inquest himself, and, though he had not +much to communicate—the time having been mainly +taken up in selecting and swearing in a jury—a few witnesses +had been examined and certain conclusions +reached, which certainly added greatly to the impression +already made upon the public mind, that an affair of +great importance had arisen; an affair, too, promising +more in the way of mystery than the simple nature of its +earlier manifestations gave them reason to suppose.</p> + +<p>In the first place, the widow had evidently been assaulted +with a deliberate purpose and a serious intent to +slay.</p> + +<p>Secondly, no immediate testimony was forthcoming +calculated to point with unerring certainty to the guilty +party.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[76]</a></span></p> + +<p>To be sure, the tramp and the hunchback still offered +possibilities of suspicion; but even they were slight, the +former having been seen to leave the widow's house +without entering, and the latter having been proved beyond +a question to have come into town on the morning +train and to have gone at once to court where he remained +till the time they all saw him disappear down the +street.</p> + +<p>That the last-mentioned individual may have had some +guilty knowledge of the crime was possible enough. The +fact of his having wiped himself out so completely as to +elude all search, was suspicious in itself, but if he was +connected with the assault it must have been simply as an +accomplice employed to distract public attention from +the real criminal; and in a case like this, the interest +naturally centres with the actual perpetrator; and the +question was now and must be: Who was the man who, +in broad daylight, dared to enter a house situated like +this in a thickly populated street, and kill with a blow an +inoffensive woman?</p> + +<p>"I cannot imagine," declared Mr. Ferris, as his communication +reached this point. "It looks as if she had +an enemy, but what enemy could such a person as she +possess—a woman who always did her own work, attended +to her own affairs, and made it an especial rule of her +life never to meddle with those of anybody else?"</p> + +<p>"Was she such a woman?" inquired Mr. Byrd, to +whom as yet no knowledge had come of the widow's life, +habits, or character.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[77]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Yes. In all the years I have been in this town I have +never heard of her visiting any one or encouraging any +one to visit her. Had it not been for Mr. Orcutt, she +would have lived the life of a recluse. As it was, she was +the most methodical person in her ways that I ever knew. +At just such an hour she rose; at just such an hour put +on her kettle, cooked her meal, washed her dishes, and sat +herself down to her sewing or whatever work it was she +had to do. The dinner was the only meal that waited, +and that, Mr. Orcutt says, was always ready and done to +a turn at whatever moment he chose to present himself."</p> + +<p>"Had she no intimates, no relatives?" asked Mr. +Byrd, remembering that fragment of a letter he had read—a +letter which certainly contradicted this assertion in +regard to her even and quiet life.</p> + +<p>"None that I am aware of," was the response. "Wait, +I believe I have been told she has a nephew somewhere—a +sister's son, for whom she had some regard and to whom +she intended to leave her money."</p> + +<p>"She had money, then?"</p> + +<p>"Some five thousand, maybe. Reports differ about +such matters."</p> + +<p>"And this nephew, where does he live?"</p> + +<p>"I cannot tell you. I don't know as any one can. My +remembrances in regard to him are of the vaguest character."</p> + +<p>"Five thousand dollars is regarded as no mean sum in +a town like this," quoth Mr. Byrd, carelessly.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[78]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I know it. She is called quite rich by many. How +she got her money no one knows; for when she first +came here she was so poor she had to eat and sleep all in +one room. Mr. Orcutt paid her something for his daily +dinner, of course, but that could not have enabled her to +put ten dollars in the bank as she has done every week +for the last ten years. And to all appearances she has +done nothing else for her living. You see, we have paid +attention to her affairs, if she has paid none to ours."</p> + +<p>Mr. Byrd again remembered that scrap of a letter which +had been shown him by the coroner, and thought to himself +that their knowledge was in all probability less than +they supposed.</p> + +<p>"Who was that horrid crone I saw shouldering herself +through the crowd that collected around the gate yesterday?" +was his remark, however. "Do you remember a +wizen, toothless old wretch, whose eye has more of the +Evil One in it than that of many a young thief you see +locked up in the county jails?"</p> + +<p>"No; that is, I wonder if you mean Sally Perkins. +She is old enough and ugly enough to answer your +description; and, now I think of it, she <i>has</i> a way of leering +at you as you go by that is slightly suggestive of a +somewhat bitter knowledge of the world. What makes +you ask about her?"</p> + +<p>"Because she attracted my attention, I suppose. You +must remember that I don't know any of these people, +and that an especially vicious-looking person like her +would be apt to awaken my curiosity."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[79]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I see, I see; but, in this case, I doubt if it leads to +much. Old Sally is a hard one, no doubt. But I don't +believe she ever contemplated a murder, much less accomplished +it. It would take too much courage, to say +nothing of strength. It was a man's hand struck that +blow, Mr. Byrd."</p> + +<p>"Yes," was the quick reply—a reply given somewhat +too quickly, perhaps, for it made Mr. Ferris look up inquiringly +at the young man.</p> + +<p>"You take considerable interest in the affair," he remarked, +shortly. "Well, I do not wonder. Even my old +blood has been somewhat fired by its peculiar features. +I foresee that your detective instinct will soon lead you to +risk a run at the game."</p> + +<p>"Ah, then, you see no objection to my trying for the +scent, if the coroner persists in demanding it?" inquired +Mr. Byrd, as he followed the other to the door.</p> + +<p>"On the contrary," was the polite response.</p> + +<p>And Mr. Byrd found himself satisfied on that score.</p> + +<p>Mr. Ferris had no sooner left the room than the coroner +came in.</p> + +<p>"Well," cried he, with no unnecessary delay, "I want +you."</p> + +<p>Mr. Byrd rose.</p> + +<p>"Have you telegraphed to New York?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"Yes, and expect an answer every minute. There will +be no difficulty about that. The superintendent is my +friend, and will not be likely to cross me in my expressed +wish."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[80]</a></span></p> + +<p>"But——" essayed the detective.</p> + +<p>"We have no time for buts," broke in the coroner. +"The inquest begins in earnest to-morrow, and the one +witness we most want has not yet been found. I mean +the man or the woman who can swear to seeing some one +approach or enter the murdered woman's house between +the time the milkman left it at half-past eleven and the +hour she was found by Mr. Orcutt, lying upon the floor +of her dining-room in a dying condition. That such a +witness exists I have no doubt. A street in which there +are six houses, every one of which has to be passed by +the person entering Widow Clemmens' gate, must produce +one individual, at least, who can swear to what I +want. To be sure, all whom I have questioned so far say +that they were either eating dinner at the time or were +in the kitchen serving it up; but, for all that, there were +plenty who saw the tramp, and two women, at least, who +are ready to take their oath that they not only saw him, +but watched him long enough to observe him go around +to the Widow Clemmens' kitchen door and turn about +again and come away as if for some reason he had +changed his mind about entering. Now, if there were +two witnesses to see all that, there must have been one +somewhere to notice that other person, known or unknown, +who went through the street but a few minutes before +the tramp. At all events, I believe such a witness can +be found, and I mean to have him if I call up every man, +woman, and child who was in the lane at the time. But<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[81]</a></span> +a little foreknowledge helps a coroner wonderfully, and +if you will aid me by making judicious inquiries round +about, time will be gained, and, perhaps, a clue obtained +that will lead to a direct knowledge of the perpetrator +of this crime."</p> + +<p>"But," inquired the detective, willing, at least, to discuss +the subject with the coroner, "is it absolutely necessary +that the murderer should have advanced from the +street? Is there no way he could have reached the house +from the back, and so have eluded the gaze of the +neighbors round about?"</p> + +<p>"No; that is, there is no regular path there, only a +stretch of swampy ground, any thing but pleasant to travel +through. Of course a man with a deliberate purpose before +him might pursue that route and subject himself to +all its inconveniences; but I would scarcely expect it of +one who—who chose such an hour for his assault," the +coroner explained, with a slight stammer of embarrassment +that did not escape the detective's notice. "Nor +shall I feel ready to entertain the idea till it has been +proved that no person, with the exception of those already +named, was seen any time during that fatal half-hour to +advance by the usual way to the widow's house."</p> + +<p>"Have you questioned the tramp, or in any way received +from him an intimation of the reason why he did +not go into the house after he came to it?"</p> + +<p>"He said he heard voices quarrelling."</p> + +<p>"Ah!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[82]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Of course he was not upon his oath, but as the statement +was volunteered, we have some right to credit it, +perhaps."</p> + +<p>"Did he say"—it was Mr. Byrd now who lost a trifle +of his fluency—"what sort of voices he heard?"</p> + +<p>"No; he is an ignorant wretch, and is moreover +thoroughly frightened. I don't believe he would know +a cultivated from an uncultivated voice, a gentleman's +from a quarryman's. At all events, we cannot trust to +his discrimination."</p> + +<p>Mr. Byrd started. This was the last construction he +had expected to be put upon his question. Flushing a +trifle, he looked the coroner earnestly in the face. But +that gentleman was too absorbed in the train of thought +raised by his own remark to notice the look, and Mr. +Byrd, not feeling any too well assured of his own position, +forbore to utter the words that hovered on his tongue.</p> + +<p>"I have another commission for you," resumed the +coroner, after a moment. "Here is a name which I wish +you would look at——"</p> + +<p>But at this instant a smart tap was heard at the door, +and a boy entered with the expected telegram from New +York. Dr. Tredwell took it, and, after glancing at its +contents with an annoyed look, folded up the paper he +was about to hand to Mr. Byrd and put it slowly back +into his pocket. He then referred again to the +telegram.</p> + +<p>"It is not what I expected," he said, shortly, after a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[83]</a></span> +moment of perplexed thought. "It seems that the superintendent +is not disposed to accommodate me." And he +tossed over the telegram.</p> + +<p>Mr. Byrd took it and read:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Expect a suitable man by the midnight express. He will bring +a letter."</p></div> + +<p>A flush mounted to the detective's brow.</p> + +<p>"You see, sir," he observed, "I was right when I told +you I was not the man."</p> + +<p>"I don't know," returned the other, rising. "I have +not changed my opinion. The man they send may be +very keen and very well-up in his business, but I doubt +if he will manage this case any better than you would +have done," and he moved quietly toward the door.</p> + +<p>"Thank you for your too favorable opinion of my +skill," said Mr. Byrd, as he bowed the other out. "I am +sure the superintendent is right. I am not much accustomed +to work for myself, and was none too eager to take +the case in the first place, as you will do me the justice to +remember. I can but feel relieved at this shifting of the +responsibility upon shoulders more fitted to bear it."</p> + +<p>Yet, when the coroner was gone, and he sat down alone +by himself to review the matter, he found he was in reality +more disappointed than he cared to confess. Why, +he scarcely knew. There was no lessening of the shrinking +he had always felt from the possible developments +which an earnest inquiry into the causes of this crime +might educe. Yet, to be severed in this way from all<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[84]</a></span> +professional interest in the pursuit cut him so deeply that, +in despite of his usual good-sense and correct judgment, +he was never nearer sending in his resignation than he +was in that short half-hour which followed the departure +of Dr. Tredwell. To distract his thoughts, he at last +went down to the bar-room.</p> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[85]</a></span></p> + +<h2>VI.</h2> + +<h3>THE SKILL OF AN ARTIST.</h3> + +<div class='center'> +A hit, a very palpable hit.—<span class="smcap">Hamlet.</span><br /> +<br /><br /></div> + + +<div class='cap'>HE found it occupied by some half-dozen men, +one of whom immediately attracted his attention, +by his high-bred air and total absorption in the +paper he was reading. He was evidently a stranger, and, +though not without some faint marks of a tendency to +gentlemanly dissipation, was, to say the least, more than +ordinarily good-looking, possessing a large, manly figure, +and a fair, regular-featured face, above which shone a +thick crop of short curly hair of a peculiarly bright +blond color. He was sitting at a small table, drawn +somewhat apart from the rest, and was, as I have said, +engrossed with a newspaper, to the utter exclusion of any +apparent interest in the talk that was going on at the +other end of the room. And yet this talk was of the +most animated description, and was seemingly of a nature +to attract the attention of the most indifferent. At all +events Mr. Byrd considered it so; and, after one comprehensive +glance at the elegant stranger, that took in not +only the personal characteristics I have noted, but also +the frown of deep thought or anxious care that furrowed +a naturally smooth forehead, he passed quietly up the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[86]</a></span> +room and took his stand among the group of loungers +there assembled.</div> + +<p>Mr. Byrd was not unknown to the <i>habitués</i> of that +place, and no cessation took place in the conversation. +They were discussing an occurrence slight enough in +itself, but made interesting and dramatic by the unconscious +enthusiasm of the chief speaker, a young fellow of +indifferent personal appearance, but with a fervid flow of +words and a knack at presenting a subject that reminded +you of the actor's power, and made you as anxious to +watch his gesticulations as to hear the words that accompanied +them.</p> + +<p>"I tell you," he was saying, "that it was just a leaf out +of a play. I never saw its equal off the stage. She was +so handsome, so impressive in her trouble or anxiety, or +whatever it was that agitated her, and he so dark, and so +determined in <i>his</i> trouble or anxiety, or whatever it was +that agitated him. They came in at different doors, she +at one side of the depot and he at another, and they met +just where I could see them both, directly in the centre +of the room. 'You!' was her involuntary cry, and she +threw up her hands before her face just as if she had seen +a ghost or a demon. An equal exclamation burst from +him, but he did not cover his eyes, only stood and looked +at her as if he were turned to stone. In another moment +she dropped her hands. 'Were you coming to see <i>me?</i>' +came from her lips in a whisper so fraught with secret +horror and anguish that it curdled my blood to hear it.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[87]</a></span> +'Were you coming to see <i>me?</i>' was his response, uttered +in an equally suppressed voice and with an equal intensity +of expression. And then, without either giving an +answer to the other's question, they both shrank back, +and, turning, fled with distracted looks, each by the way +they had come, the two doors closing with a simultaneous +bang that echoed through that miserable depot like a +knell. There were not many folks in the room just at +that minute, but I tell you those that were looked at each +other as they had not done before and would not be +likely to do again. Some unhappy tragedy underlies such +a meeting and parting, gentlemen, and I for one would +rather not inquire what."</p> + +<p>"But the girl—the man—didn't you see them again +before you left?" asked an eager voice from the group.</p> + +<p>"The young lady," remarked the other, "was on the +train that brought me here. The gentleman went the +other way."</p> + +<p>"Oh!" "Ah!" and "Where did she get off?" rose +in a somewhat deafening clamor around him.</p> + +<p>"I did not observe. She seemed greatly distressed, if +not thoroughly overcome, and observing her pull down +her veil, I thought she did not relish my inquiring looks, +and as I could not sit within view of her and not watch +her, I discreetly betook myself into the smoking-car, +where I stayed till we arrived at this place."</p> + +<p>"Hum!" "Ha!" "Curious!" rose in chorus once +more, and then, the general sympathies of the crowd<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[88]</a></span> +being exhausted, two or three or more of the group +sauntered up to the bar, and the rest sidled restlessly out +of the room, leaving the enthusiastic speaker alone with +Mr. Byrd.</p> + +<p>"A strange scene!" exclaimed the latter, infusing just +enough of seeming interest into his usually nonchalant +tone to excite the vanity of the person he addressed, and +make him more than ever ready to talk. "I wish I had +been in your place," continued Mr. Byrd, almost enthusiastically. +"I am sure I could have made a picture of +that scene that would have been very telling in the +gazette I draw for."</p> + +<p>"Do you make pictures for papers?" the young fellow +inquired, his respect visibly rising.</p> + +<p>"Sometimes," the imperturbable detective replied, and +in so doing told no more than the truth. He had a rare +talent for off-hand sketching, and not infrequently made +use of it to increase the funds of the family.</p> + +<p>"Well, that is something I would like to do," acknowledged +the youth, surveying the other over with curious +eyes. "But I hav'n't a cent's worth of talent for it. I +can see a scene in my mind now—this one for instance—just +as plain as I can see you; all the details of it, you +know, the way they stood, the clothes they wore, the looks +on their faces, and all that, but when I try to put it on +paper, why, I just can't, that's all."</p> + +<p>"Your forte lies another way," remarked Mr. Byrd. +"You can present a scene so vividly that a person who<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[89]</a></span> +had not seen it for himself, might easily put it on paper +just from your description. See now!" And he caught +up a sheet of paper from the desk and carried it to a side +table. "Just tell me what depot this was in."</p> + +<p>The young fellow, greatly interested at once, leaned +over the detective's shoulder and eagerly replied: "The +depot at Syracuse."</p> + +<p>Mr. Byrd nodded and made a few strokes with his +pencil on the paper before him.</p> + +<p>"How was the lady dressed?" he next asked.</p> + +<p>"In blue; dark blue cloth, fitting like a glove. Fine +figure, you know, very tall and unusually large, but perfect, +I assure you, perfect. Yes, that is very like it," he +went on watching the quick, assured strokes of the other +with growing wonder and an unbounded admiration. +"You have caught the exact poise of the head, as I live, +and—yes, a large hat with two feathers, sir, two feathers +drooping over the side, so; a bag on the arm; two flounces +on the skirt; a—oh! the face? Well, handsome, +sir, very handsome; straight nose, large eyes, determined +mouth, strong, violently agitated expression. Well, I will +give up! A photograph couldn't have done her better +justice. You are a genius, sir, a genius!"</p> + +<p>Mr. Byrd received this tribute to his skill with some +confusion and a deep blush, which he vainly sought to +hide by bending lower over his work.</p> + +<p>"The man, now," he suggested, with the least perceptible +change in his voice, that, however, escaped the attention<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[90]</a></span> +of his companion. "What was he like; young or +old?"</p> + +<p>"Well, young—about twenty-five I should say; medium +height, but very firmly and squarely built, with a +strong face, large mustache, brilliant eyes, and a look—I +cannot describe it, but you have caught that of the lady +so well, you will, doubtless, succeed in getting his also."</p> + +<p>But Mr. Byrd's pencil moved with less certainty now, +and it was some time before he could catch even the peculiarly +sturdy aspect of the figure which made this unknown +gentleman, as the young fellow declared, look like +a modern Hercules, though he was far from being either +large or tall. The face, too, presented difficulties he was +far from experiencing in the case of the lady, and the +young fellow at his side was obliged to make several suggestions +such as:—"A little more hair on the forehead, if +you please—there was quite a lock showing beneath his +hat;" or, "A trifle less sharpness to the chin,—so;" or, +"Stay, you have it too square now; tone it down a hair's +breadth, and you will get it," before he received even the +somewhat hesitating acknowledgment from the other of: +"There, that is something like him!"</p> + +<p>But he had not expected to succeed very well in this +part of the picture, and was sufficiently pleased to have +gained a very correct notion of the style of clothing the +gentleman wore, which, it is needless to state, was most +faithfully reproduced in the sketch, even if the exact +expression of the strong and masculine face was not.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[91]</a></span></p> + +<p>"A really remarkable bit of work," admitted the young +fellow when the whole was completed. "And as true to +the scene, too, as half the illustrations given in the weekly +papers. Would you mind letting me have it as a <i>souvenir?</i>" +he eagerly inquired. "I would like to show it to +a chap who was with me at the time. The likeness to the +lady is wonderful."</p> + +<p>But Mr. Byrd, with his most careless air, had already +thrust the picture into his pocket, from which he refused +to withdraw it, saying, with an easy laugh, that it might +come in play with him some time, and that he could not +afford to part with it. At which remark the young fellow +looked disappointed and vaguely rattled some coins he +had in his pocket; but, meeting with no encouragement +from the other, forbore to press his request, and turned it +into an invitation to join him in a social glass at the bar.</p> + +<p>To this slight token of appreciation Mr. Byrd did not +choose to turn a deaf ear. So the drinks being ordered, +he proceeded to clink glasses with the youthful stranger, +taking the opportunity, at the same time, of glancing over +to the large, well-built man whose quiet absorption in the +paper he was reading had so attracted his attention when +he first came in.</p> + +<p>To his surprise he found that person just as engrossed +in the news as ever, not a feature or an eyelash appearing +to have moved since the time he looked at him last.</p> + +<p>Mr. Byrd was so astonished at this that when he left +the room a few minutes later he took occasion in passing +the gentleman, to glance at the paper he was studying so<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[92]</a></span> +industriously, and, to his surprise, found it to be nothing +more nor less than the advertising sheet of the New York +<i>Herald</i>.</p> + +<p>"A fellow of my own craft," was his instantaneous conclusion. +But a moment's consideration assured him that +this could not be, as no detective worthy the name would +place so little value upon the understanding of those +about him as to sit for a half-hour with his eyes upon a +sheet of paper totally devoid of news, no matter what his +purpose might be, or how great was his interest in the conversation +to which he was secretly listening. No; this gentleman +was doubtless what he seemed to be, a mere stranger, +with something of a serious and engrossing nature +upon his mind, or else he was an amateur, who for some +reason was acting the part of a detective without either +the skill or experience of one.</p> + +<p>Whichever theory might be true, this gentleman was a +person who at this time and in this place was well worth +watching: that is, if a man had any reason for interesting +himself in the pursuit of possible clues to the mystery +of Mrs. Clemmens' murder. But Mr. Byrd felt that he +no longer possessed a professional right to such interest; +so, leaving behind him this fine-looking gentleman, +together with all the inevitable conjectures which the +latter's peculiar manner had irresistibly awakened, he +proceeded to regain his room and enter upon that contemplation +of the picture he had just made, which was +naturally demanded by his regard for one of the persons +there depicted.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[93]</a></span></p> + +<p>It was a vigorous sketch, and the slow blush crept up +and dyed Mr. Byrd's forehead as he gazed at it and realized +the perfection of the likeness he had drawn of Miss +Dare. Yes, that was her form, her face, her expression, +her very self. She it was and no other who had been the +heroine of the strange scene enacted that day in the +Syracuse depot; a scene to which, by means of this impromptu +sketch, he had now become as nearly a witness +as any one could hope for who had not been actually upon +the spot. Strange! And he had been so anxious to +know what had altered the mind of this lady and sent her +back to Sibley before her journey was half completed—had +pondered so long and vainly upon the whys and +wherefores of an action whose motive he had never expected +to understand, but which he now saw suggested in +a scene that seriously whetted, if it did not thoroughly +satisfy, his curiosity.</p> + +<p>The moment he had chosen to portray was that in +which the eyes of the two met and their first instinctive +recoil took place. Turning his attention from the face +of the lady and bestowing it upon that of the man, he +perceived there the horror and shrinking which he had +imprinted so successfully upon hers. That the expression +was true, though the countenance was not, he had no +doubt. The man, whatever his name, nature, calling, or +history, recoiled from a meeting with Imogene Dare as +passionately as she did from one with him. Both had +started from home with a simultaneous intention of seeking +the other, and yet, at the first recognition of this<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[94]</a></span> +fact, both had started and drawn back as if death rather +than life had confronted them in each other's faces. +What did it mean? What secret of a deep and deadly +nature could lie between these two, that a scene of such +evident import could take place between them? He +dared not think; he could do nothing but gaze upon the +figure of the man he had portrayed, and wonder if he +would be able to identify the original in case he ever met +him. The face was more or less a failure, of course, but +the form, the cut of the clothes, the manner of carriage, +and the general aspect of strong and puissant manhood +which distinguished the whole figure, could not be so far +from correct but that, with a hint from surrounding circumstances, +he would know the man himself when he saw +him. At all events, he meant to imprint the possible +portrait upon his mind in case——in case what? Pausing +he asked himself this question with stern determination, +and could find no answer.</p> + +<p>"I will burn the sketch at once, and think of it and her +no more," he muttered, half-rising.</p> + +<p>But he did not do it. Some remembrance crossed his +mind of what the young fellow downstairs had said about +retaining it as a <i>souvenir</i>, and he ended in folding it up +and putting it away somewhat carefully in his memorandum-book, +with a vow that he would leave Sibley and its +troublous mystery at the first moment of release that he +could possibly obtain. The pang which this decision cost +him convinced him that it was indeed high time he +did so.</p> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[95]</a></span></p> + +<h2>VII.</h2> + +<h3>MISS FIRMAN.</h3> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>I confess with all humility that at times the line of demarcation between +truth and fiction is rendered so indefinite and indistinct, that I cannot always +determine, with unerring certainty, whether an event really happened to me, +or whether <i>I</i> only dreamed it.—<span class="smcap">Longfellow.</span></p><br /><br /></div> + + +<div class='cap'>MR. BYRD, upon waking next morning, found +himself disturbed by a great perplexity. Were +the words then ringing in his ears, real words, which he +had overheard spoken outside of his door some time during +the past night, or were they merely the empty utterances +of a more than usually vivid dream?</div> + +<p>He could not tell. He could remember the very tone +of voice in which he fancied them to have been spoken—a +tone which he had no difficulty in recognizing as that +of the landlord of the hotel; could even recall the faint +sounds of bustle which accompanied them, as though the +person using them had been showing another person +through the hall; but beyond that, all was indistinct and +dream-like.</p> + +<p>The words were these:</p> + +<p>"Glad to see you back, sir. This murder following so +close upon your visit must have been a great surprise. A +sad occurrence, that, sir, and a very mysterious one. +Hope you have some information to give."</p> + +<p>"If it is a remembrance and such words were uttered<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[96]</a></span> +outside of my door last night," argued the young detective +to himself, "the guest who called them forth can be +no other than the tall and florid gentleman whom I encountered +in the bar-room. But is it a remembrance, or +only a chimera of my own overwrought brain struggling +with a subject it will not let drop? As Shakespeare +says, 'That is the question!'"</p> + +<p>Fortunately, it was not one which it behooved him to +decide. So, for the twentieth time, he put the subject by +and resolved to think of it no more.</p> + +<p>But perplexities of this kind are not so easily dismissed, +and more than once during his hurried and solitary breakfast, +did he ask himself whether, in case the words were +real, he had not found in the landlord of this very hotel +the one witness for which the coroner was so diligently +seeking.</p> + +<p>A surprise awaited him after breakfast, in the sudden +appearance at his room door of the very gentleman last +alluded to.</p> + +<p>"Ha, Byrd," said he, with cheerful vivacity: "here is a +line from the superintendent which may prove interesting +to you."</p> + +<p>And with a complacent smile, Dr. Tredwell handed +over a letter which had been brought to him by the +detective who had that morning arrived from New York.</p> + +<p>With a dim sense of foreboding which he would have +found difficult to explain, Mr. Byrd opened the note +and read the following words:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[97]</a></span></p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p><span class="smcap">Dear Sir</span>,—I send with this a man fully competent to conduct a +case of any ordinary difficulty. I acknowledge it is for our interest +that you employ him to the exclusion of the person mentioned in your +letter. But if you or that person think that he can render you any +real assistance by his interference, he is at liberty to act in his +capacity of detective in as far as he can do so without divulging too +widely the secret of his connection with the force. —— ——.</p></div> + +<p>"The superintendent need not be concerned," said Mr. +Byrd, returning the note with a constrained bow. "I +shall not interfere in this matter."</p> + +<p>"You will miss a good thing, then," remarked the +coroner, shortly, looking keenly at the young man.</p> + +<p>"I cannot help it," observed the other, with a quick +sigh of impatience or regret. "I should have to see my +duty very clearly and possess the very strongest reasons +for interfering before I presumed to offer either advice or +assistance after a letter of this kind."</p> + +<p>"And who knows but what such reasons may yet present +themselves?" ventured the coroner. Then seeing +the young man shake his head, made haste to add in the +business-like tone of one preparing to take his leave, +"At all events the matter stands open for the present; +and if during the course of to-day's inquiry you see fit +to change your mind, it will be easy enough for you to +notify me." And without waiting for any further remonstrance, +he gave a quick nod and passed hastily out.</p> + +<p>The state of mind in which he left Mr. Byrd was any +thing but enviable. Not that the young man's former +determination to let this matter alone had been in any<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[98]</a></span> +wise shaken by the unexpected concession on the part of +the superintendent, but that the final hint concerning the +inquest had aroused his old interest to quite a formidable +degree, and, what was worse, had reawakened certain +feelings which since last night it had been his most +earnest endeavor to subdue. He felt like a man pursued +by an implacable fate, and dimly wondered whether he +would be allowed to escape before it was too late to save +himself from lasting uneasiness, if not lifelong regret.</p> + +<p>A final stroke of business for Mr. Ferris kept him at +the court-house most of the morning; but his duty in +that direction being at an end, he no longer found any +excuse for neglecting the task imposed upon him by the +coroner. He accordingly proceeded to the cottage where +the inquest was being held, and finding each and every +available room there packed to its uttermost by interested +spectators, took up his stand on the outside of a curtained +window, where with but a slight craning of his neck he +could catch a very satisfactory view of the different witnesses +as they appeared before the jury. The day was +warm and he was by no means uncomfortable, though he +could have wished that the advantages of his position had +occasioned less envy in the breasts of the impatient crowd +that was slowly gathering at his back; or, rather, that +their sense of these advantages might have been expressed +in some more pleasing way than by the various pushes he +received from the more or less adventurous spirits who +endeavored to raise themselves over his shoulder or insinuate +themselves under his arms.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[99]</a></span></p> + +<p>The room into which he looked was the sitting-room, +and it was, so far as he could judge in the first casual +glance he threw into it, occupied entirely by strangers. +This was a relief. Since it had become his duty to +attend this inquiry, he wished to do so with a free mind, +unhindered by the watchfulness of those who knew his +interest in the affair, or by the presence of persons around +whom his own imagination had involuntarily woven a network +of suspicion that made his observation of them at +once significant and painful.</p> + +<p>The proceedings were at a standstill when he first came +upon the scene.</p> + +<p>A witness had just stepped aside, who, from the impatient +shrugs of many persons present, had evidently added +little if any thing to the testimony already given. Taking +advantage of the moment, Mr. Byrd leaned forward and +addressed a burly man who sat directly under him.</p> + +<p>"What have they been doing all the morning?" he +asked. "Any thing important?"</p> + +<p>"No," was the surly reply. "A score of folks have +had their say, but not one of them has told any thing +worth listening to. Nobody has seen any thing, nobody +knows any thing. The murderer might have risen up +through the floor to deal his blow, and having given it, +sunk back again with the same supernatural claptrap, for +all these stupid people seem to know about him."</p> + +<p>The man had a loud voice, and as he made no attempt +to modulate it, his words were heard on all sides. Naturally<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[100]</a></span> +many heads were turned toward him, and more than +one person looked at him with an amused smile. Indeed, +of all the various individuals in his immediate vicinity, +only one forbore to take any notice of his remark. This +was a heavy, lymphatic, and somewhat abstracted-looking +fellow of nondescript appearance, who stood stiff and +straight as an exclamation point against the jamb of the +door-way that led into the front hall.</p> + +<p>"But have no facts been obtained, no conclusions +reached, that would serve to awaken suspicion or put +justice on the right track?" pursued Mr. Byrd, lowering +his voice in intimation for the other to do the same.</p> + +<p>But that other was of an obstinate tendency, and his +reply rose full and loud.</p> + +<p>"No, unless it can be considered proved that it is only +folly to try and find out who commits a crime in these +days. Nothing else has come to light, as far as I can see, +and that much we all knew before."</p> + +<p>A remark of this kind was not calculated to allay the +slight inclination to mirth which his former observation +had raised; but the coroner rapping with his gavel on +the table at this moment, every other consideration was +lost in the natural curiosity which every one felt as to who +the next witness would be.</p> + +<p>But the coroner had something to say before he called +for further testimony.</p> + +<p>"Gentlemen," he remarked, in a clear and commanding +tone that at once secured attention and awakened interest,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[101]</a></span> +"we have spent the morning in examining the persons +who live in this street, with a view to ascertaining, +if possible, who was in conversation with Mrs. Clemmens +at the time the tramp went up to her door."</p> + +<p>Was it a coincidence, or was there something in the +words themselves that called forth the stir that at this +moment took place among the people assembled directly +before Mr. Byrd? It was of the slightest character, and +was merely momentary in its duration; nevertheless, it +attracted his attention, especially as it seemed to have its +origin in a portion of the room shut off from his observation +by the corner of the wall already alluded to.</p> + +<p>The coroner proceeded without pause.</p> + +<p>"The result, as you know, has not been satisfactory. +No one seems to be able to tell us who it was that visited +Mrs. Clemmens on that day. I now propose to open +another examination of a totally different character, +which I hope may be more conclusive in its results. +Miss Firman, are you prepared to give your testimony?"</p> + +<p>Immediately a tall, gaunt, but pleasant-faced woman +arose from the dim recesses of the parlor. She was +dressed with decency, if not taste, and took her stand +before the jury with a lady-like yet perfectly assured +air that promised well for the correctness and discretion +of her answers. The coroner at once addressed her.</p> + +<p>"Your full name, madam?"</p> + +<p>"Emily Letitia Firman, sir."</p> + +<p>"Emily!" ejaculated Mr. Byrd, to himself, with a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[102]</a></span> +throb of sudden interest. "That is the name of the +murdered woman's correspondent."</p> + +<p>"Your birthplace," pursued the coroner, "and the +place of your present residence?"</p> + +<p>"I was born in Danbury, Connecticut," was the reply, +"and I am living in Utica, where I support my aged +mother by dress-making."</p> + +<p>"How are you related to Mrs. Clemmens, the lady who +was found murdered here two days ago?"</p> + +<p>"I am her second cousin; her grandmother and my +mother were sisters."</p> + +<p>"Upon what terms have you always lived, and what +can you tell us of her other relatives and connections?"</p> + +<p>"We have always been friends, and I can tell you all +that is generally known of the two or three remaining +persons of her blood and kindred. They are, first, my +mother and myself, who, as I have before said, live in +Utica, where I am connected with the dress-making +establishment of Madame Trebelle; and, secondly, a +nephew of hers, the son of a favorite brother, whom she +has always supported, and to whom she has frequently +avowed her intention of leaving her accumulated savings."</p> + +<p>"The name of this gentleman and his place of residence?"</p> + +<p>"His name is Mansell—Craik Mansell—and he lives +in Buffalo, where he has a situation of some trust in the +large paper manufactory of Harrison, Goodman, & +Chamberlin."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[103]</a></span></p> + +<p>Buffalo! Mr. Byrd gave an involuntary start, and became, +if possible, doubly attentive.</p> + +<p>The coroner's questions went on.</p> + +<p>"Do you know this young man?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir. He has been several times to our house in +the course of the last five years."</p> + +<p>"What can you tell us of his nature and disposition, +as well as of his regard for the woman who proposed to +benefit him so materially by her will?"</p> + +<p>"Well, sir," returned Miss Firman, "it is hard to read +the nature and feelings of any man who has much character, +and Craik Mansell has a good deal of character. +But I have always thought him a very honest and capable +young man, who might do us credit some day, if he were +allowed to have his own way and not be interfered with +too much. As for his feelings toward his aunt, they were +doubtless those of gratitude, though I have never heard +him express himself in any very affectionate terms toward +her, owing, no doubt, to a natural reticence of disposition +which has been observable in him from childhood."</p> + +<p>"You have, however, no reason to believe he cherished +any feelings of animosity toward his benefactress?" continued +the coroner, somewhat carelessly, "or possessed +any inordinate desire after the money she was expecting +to leave him at her death?"</p> + +<p>"No, sir. Both having minds of their own, they frequently +disagreed, especially on business matters; but +there was never any bitterness between them, as far as I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[104]</a></span> +know, and I never heard him say any thing about his expectations +one way or the other. He is a man of much +natural force, of strong, if not violent, traits of character; +but he has too keen a sense of his own dignity to intimate +the existence of desires so discreditable to him."</p> + +<p>There was something in this reply and the impartial +aspect of the lady delivering it that was worthy of notice, +perhaps. And such it would have undoubtedly received +from Mr. Byrd, at least, if the words she had used in +characterizing this person had not struck him so deeply +that he forgot to note any thing further.</p> + +<p>"A man of great natural force—of strong, if not +violent traits of character," he kept repeating to himself. +"The description, as I live, of the person whose picture I +attempted to draw last night."</p> + +<p>And, ignoring every thing else, he waited with almost +sickening expectation for the question that would link +this nephew of Mrs. Clemmens either to the tragedy +itself, or to that person still in the background, of whose +secret connection with a man of this type, he had +obtained so curious and accidental a knowledge.</p> + +<p>But it did not come. With a quiet abandonment of the +by no means exhausted topic, which convinced Mr. Byrd +that the coroner had plans and suspicions to which +the foregoing questions had given no clue, Dr. Tredwell +leaned slowly forward, and, after surveying the witness +with a glance of cautious inquiry, asked in a way to concentrate +the attention of all present:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[105]</a></span></p> + +<p>"You say that you knew the Widow Clemmens well; +that you have always been on friendly terms with her, +and are acquainted with her affairs. Does that mean you +have been made a confidante of her troubles, her responsibilities, +and her cares?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir; that is, in as far as she ever made a confidant +of any one. Mrs. Clemmens was not of a complaining +disposition, neither was she by nature very communicative. +Only at rare times did she make mention of +herself or her troubles: but when she did, it was invariably +to me, sir—or so she used to say; and she was +not a woman to deceive you in such matters."</p> + +<p>"Very well, then, you are in a position to tell us something +of her history, and why it is she kept herself so +close after she came to this town?"</p> + +<p>But Miss Firman uttered a vigorous disclaimer to this. +"No, sir," said she, "I am not. Mrs. Clemmens' history +was simple enough, but her reasons for living as she did +have never been explained. She was not naturally a +quiet woman, and, when a girl, was remarkable for +her spirits and fondness for company."</p> + +<p>"Has she had any great sorrow since you knew her—any +serious loss or disappointment that may have soured +her disposition, and turned her, as it were, against +the world?"</p> + +<p>"Perhaps; she felt the death of her husband very +much—indeed, has never been quite the same since +she lost him."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[106]</a></span></p> + +<p>"And when was that, if you please?"</p> + +<p>"Full fifteen years ago, sir; just before she came +to this town."</p> + +<p>"Did you know Mr. Clemmens?"</p> + +<p>"No, sir; none of us knew him. They were married in +some small village out West, where he died—well, I think +she wrote—a month if not less after their marriage. She +was inconsolable for a time, and, though she consented to +come East, refused to take up her abode with any of +her relatives, and so settled in this place, where she +has remained ever since."</p> + +<p>The manner of the coroner suddenly changed to one of +great impressiveness.</p> + +<p>"Miss Firman," he now asked, "did it ever strike you +that the hermit life she led was due to any fear or apprehension +which she may have secretly entertained?"</p> + +<p>"Sir?"</p> + +<p>The question was peculiar and no one wondered at the +start which the good woman gave. But what mainly +struck Mr. Byrd, and gave to the moment a seeming +importance, was the fact that she was not alone in her +surprise or even her expression of it; that the indefinable +stir he had before observed had again taken place in the +crowd before him, and that this time there was no doubt +about its having been occasioned by the movements of a +person whose elbow he could just perceive projecting +beyond the door-way that led into the hall.</p> + +<p>But there was no time for speculation as to whom this<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[107]</a></span> +person might be. The coroner's questions were every +moment growing more rapid, and Miss Firman's answers +more interesting.</p> + +<p>"I asked," here the coroner was heard to say, "whether, +in your intercourse with Mrs. Clemmens, you have ever +had reason to suppose she was the victim of any secret +or personal apprehension that might have caused her +to seclude herself as she did? Or let me put it in another +way. Can you tell me whether you know of any other +person besides this nephew of hers who is likely to +be benefited by Mrs. Clemmens' death?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, sir," was the hasty and somewhat excited reply, +"you mean young Mr. Hildreth!"</p> + +<p>The way in which this was said, together with the +slight flush of satisfaction or surprise which rose to the +coroner's brow, naturally awoke the slumbering excitement +of the crowd and made a small sensation. A low +murmur ran through the rooms, amid which Mr. Byrd +thought he heard a suppressed but bitter exclamation. +He could not be sure of it, however, and had just made +up his mind that his ears had deceived him, when his +attention was attracted by a shifting in the position of +the sturdy, thick-set man who had been leaning against +the opposite wall, but who now crossed and took his stand +beside the jamb, on the other side of which sat the unknown +individual toward whom so many inquiring +glances had hitherto been directed.</p> + +<p>The quietness with which this change was made, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[108]</a></span> +the slight, almost imperceptible, alteration in the manner +of the person making it, brought a sudden enlightenment +to Mr. Byrd, and he at once made up his mind that this +dull, abstracted-looking nonentity leaning with such apparent +unconcern against the wall, was the new detective +who had been sent up that morning from New York. +His curiosity in regard to the identity of the individual +round the corner was not lessened by this.</p> + +<p>Meantime the coroner had answered the hasty exclamation +of the witness, by disclaiming the existence of +any special meaning of his own, and had furthermore +pressed the question as to who this Mr. Hildreth was.</p> + +<p>She immediately answered: "A gentleman of Toledo, +sir; a young man who could only come into his property +by the death of Mrs. Clemmens."</p> + +<p>"How? You have not spoken of any such person as +connected with her."</p> + +<p>"No," was her steady response; "nor was he so connected +by any tie of family or friendship. Indeed, I do +not know as they were ever acquainted, or, as for that +matter, ever saw each other's faces. The fact to which I +allude was simply the result of a will, sir, made by Mr. +Hildreth's grandfather."</p> + +<p>"A will? Explain yourself. I do not understand."</p> + +<p>"Well, sir, I do not know much about the law, and +may make a dozen mistakes in telling you what you wish +to know; but what I understand about the matter is this: +Mr. Hildreth, the grandfather of the gentleman of whom<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[109]</a></span> +I have just spoken, having a large property, which he +wanted to leave in bulk to his grandchildren,—their +father being a very dissipated and reckless man,—made +his will in such a way as to prevent its distribution +among his heirs till after the death of two persons whom +he mentioned by name. Of these two persons one was +the son of his head clerk, a young boy, who sickened and +died shortly after Mr. Hildreth himself, and the other my +cousin, the poor murdered woman, who was then a little +girl visiting the family. I do not know how she came to +be chosen by him for this purpose, unless it was that she +was particularly round and ruddy as a child, and looked +as if she might live for many years."</p> + +<p>"And the Hildreths? What of them during these +years?"</p> + +<p>"Well, I cannot exactly say, as I never had any acquaintance +with them myself. But I know that the +father, whose dissipated habits were the cause of this +peculiar will tying up the property, died some little time +ago; also one or two of his children, but beyond that I +know little, except that the remaining heirs are a young +gentleman and one or two young girls, all of the worldliest +and most fashionable description."</p> + +<p>The coroner, who had followed all this with the greatest +interest, now asked if she knew the first name of the +young gentleman.</p> + +<p>"Yes," said she, "I do. It is Gouverneur."</p> + +<p>The coroner gave a satisfied nod, and remarked<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[110]</a></span> +casually, "It is not a common name," and then, leaning +forward, selected a paper from among several that lay on +the table before him. "Miss Firman," he inquired, retaining +this paper in his hand, "do you know when it +was that Mrs. Clemmens first became acquainted with +the fact of her name having been made use of in the +elder Mr. Hildreth's will?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, years ago; when she first came of age, I believe."</p> + +<p>"Was it an occasion of regret to her? Did she ever +express herself as sorry for the position in which she +stood toward this family?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir; she did."</p> + +<p>The coroner's face assumed a yet greater gravity, and +his manner became more and more impressive.</p> + +<p>"Can you go a step farther and say that she ever +acknowledged herself to have cherished apprehensions +of her personal safety, during these years of weary waiting +on the part of the naturally impatient heirs?"</p> + +<p>A distressed look crossed the amiable spinster's face, +and she looked around at the jury with an expression +almost deprecatory in its nature.</p> + +<p>"I scarcely know what answer to give," she hesitatingly +declared. "It is a good deal to say that she was apprehensive; +but I cannot help remembering that she once +told me her peace of mind had left her since she knew +there were persons in the world to whom her death would +be a matter of rejoicing. 'It makes me feel as if I were<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[111]</a></span> +keeping people out of their rights,' she remarked at the +same time. 'And, though it is not my fault, I should +not be surprised if some day I had to suffer for it.'"</p> + +<p>"Was there ever any communication made to Mrs. +Clemmens by persons cognizant of the relation in which +she stood to these Hildreths?—or any facts or gossip +detailed to her concerning them, that would seem to give +color to her fears and supply her with any actual grounds +for her apprehensions?"</p> + +<p>"No; only such tales as came to her of their expensive +ways of living and somewhat headlong rush into all +fashionable freaks and follies."</p> + +<p>"And Gouverneur Hildreth? Any special gossip in +regard to him?"</p> + +<p>"No!"</p> + +<p>There are some noes that are equivalent to affirmations. +This was one of them. Naturally the coroner +pressed the question.</p> + +<p>"I must request you to think again," he persisted. +Then, with a change of voice: "Are you sure you have +never heard any thing specially derogatory to this young +man, or that Mrs. Clemmens had not?"</p> + +<p>"I have friends in Toledo who speak of him as the +fastest man about town, if that could be called derogatory. +As for Mrs. Clemmens, she may have heard as +much, and she may have heard more, I cannot say. I +know she always frowned when his father's name was +mentioned."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[112]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Miss Firman," proceeded the coroner, "in the long +years in which you have been more or less separated +from Mrs. Clemmens, you have, doubtless, kept up a +continued if not frequent correspondence with her?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir."</p> + +<p>"Do you think, from the commencement and general +tone of this letter, which I found lying half finished +on her desk, that it was written and intended for yourself?"</p> + +<p>Taking the letter from his outstretched hand, she +fumbled nervously for her glasses, put them on, and +then glanced hurriedly at the sheet, saying as she did +so:</p> + +<p>"There can be no doubt of it. She had no other +friend whom she would have been likely to address as +'Dear Emily.'"</p> + +<p>"Gentlemen of the Jury, you have a right to hear the +words written by the deceased but a few hours, if not a +few minutes, previous to the brutal assault that has led to +the present inquiry. Miss Firman, as the letter was intended +for yourself, will you be kind enough to read it +aloud, after which you will hand it over to the jury."</p> + +<p>With a gloomy shake of her head, and a certain trembling +in her voice, that was due, perhaps, as much to +the sadness of her task as to any foreboding of the real +nature of the words she had to read, she proceeded to +comply:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"<span class="smcap">Dear Emily</span>:—I don't know why I sit down to write to you +to-day. I have plenty to do, and morning is no time for indulging<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[113]</a></span> +in sentimentalities. But I feel strangely lonely and strangely anxious. +Nothing goes just to my mind, and somehow the many causes for +secret fear which I have always had, assume an undue prominence in +my mind. It is always so when I am not quite well. In vain I +reason with myself, saying that respectable people do not lightly +enter into crime. But there are so many to whom my death would +be more than welcome, that I constantly see myself in the act of +being——</p></div> + +<p>"Good heavens!" ejaculated the spinster, dropping +the paper from her hand and looking dismally around +upon the assembled faces of the now deeply interested +spectators.</p> + +<p>Seeing her dismay, a man who stood at the right of the +coroner, and who seemed to be an officer of the law, +quietly advanced, and picking up the paper she had let +fall, handed it to the jury. The coroner meanwhile +recalled her attention to herself.</p> + +<p>"Miss Firman," said he, "allow me to put to you one +final question which, though it might not be called a +strictly legal one, is surely justified by the gravity of the +situation. If Mrs. Clemmens had finished this letter, and +you in due course had received it, what conclusion +would you have drawn from the words you have just +read?"</p> + +<p>"I could have drawn but one, sir. I should have considered +that the solitary life led by my cousin was telling +upon her mind."</p> + +<p>"But these terrors of which she speaks? To what and +whom would you have attributed them?"</p> + +<p>"I don't like to say it, and I don't know as I am<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[114]</a></span> +justified in saying it, but it would have been impossible +for me, under the circumstances, to have thought of any +other source for them than the one we have already +mentioned."</p> + +<p>"And that is?" inexorably pursued the coroner.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Gouverneur Hildreth."</p> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[115]</a></span></p> + +<h2>VIII.</h2> + +<h3>THE THICK-SET MAN.</h3> + +<div class='center'> +Springs to catch woodcocks.—<span class="smcap">Hamlet.</span><br /> +<br /><br /></div> + + +<div class='cap'>IN the pause that followed, Miss Firman stepped +aside, and Mr. Byrd, finding his attention released, +stole a glance toward the hall-way and its nearly concealed +occupant. He found the elbow in agitated movement, +and, as he looked at it, saw it disappear and a hand +project into view, groping for the handkerchief which was, +doubtless, hidden in the hat which he now perceived +standing on the floor in the corner of the door-way. He +looked at that hand well. It was large, white, and +elegantly formed, and wore a seal ring of conspicuous +size upon the little finger. He had scarcely noticed this +ring, and wondered if others had seen it too, when the +hand plunged into the hat, and drawing out the kerchief, +vanished with it behind the jamb that had already hidden +so much from his view.</div> + +<p>"A fine gentleman's hand, and a fine gentleman's ring," +was Mr. Byrd's mental comment; and he was about +to glance aside, when, to his great astonishment, he saw +the hand appear once more with the handkerchief in it, +but without the ring which a moment since had made it +such a conspicuous mark for his eyes.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[116]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Our fine gentleman is becoming frightened," he +thought, watching the hand until it dropped the handkerchief +back into the hat. "One does not take off a ring in +a company like this without a good reason." And +he threw a quick glance at the man he considered his +rival in the detective business.</p> + +<p>But that worthy was busily engaged in stroking his chin +in a feeling way, strongly suggestive of a Fledgerby-like +interest in his absent whisker; and well versed as +was Mr. Byrd in the ways of his fellow-detectives, he +found it impossible to tell whether the significant action +he had just remarked had escaped the attention of +this man or not. Confused if not confounded, he turned +back to the coroner, in a maze of new sensations, among +which a growing hope that his own former suspicions had +been of a wholly presumptuous character, rose predominant.</p> + +<p>He found that functionary preparing to make a remark.</p> + +<p>"Gentlemen," said he; "you have listened to the +testimony of Mrs. Clemmens' most confidential friend, +and heard such explanations as she had to give, of +the special fears which Mrs. Clemmens acknowledges herself +to have entertained in regard to her personal safety. +Now, while duly impressing upon you the necessity of not +laying too much stress upon the secret apprehensions of +a woman living a life of loneliness and seclusion, I still +consider it my duty to lay before you another bit of the +widow's writing, in which——"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[117]</a></span></p> + +<p>Here he was interrupted by the appearance at his side +of a man with a telegram in his hand. In the pause +which followed his reading of the same, Mr. Byrd, with +that sudden impulse of interference which comes upon us +all at certain junctures, tore out a leaf from his memorandum-book, +and wrote upon it some half dozen or +so words indicative of the advisability of examining the +proprietor of the Eastern Hotel as to the name and +quality of the several guests entertained by him on the +day of the murder; and having signed this communication +with his initial letters H. B., looked about for a +messenger to carry it to the coroner. He found one in +the person of a small boy, who was pressing with all his +might against his back, and having despatched him with +the note, regained his old position at the window, and +proceeded to watch, with a growing interest in the drama +before him, the result of his interference upon the +coroner.</p> + +<p>He had not long to wait. The boy had no sooner +shown himself at the door with the note, than Dr. +Tredwell laid down the telegram he was perusing and +took this new communication. With a slight smile Mr. +Byrd was not slow in attributing to its true source, +he read the note through, then turned to the officer +at his side and gave him some command that sent him +from the room. He then took up the slip he was on the +point of presenting to the jury at the time he was +first interrupted, and continuing his remarks in reference +to it, said quietly:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[118]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Gentlemen, this paper which I here pass over to you, +was found by me in the recess of Mrs. Clemmens' desk at +the time I examined it for the address of Miss Firman. +It was in an envelope that had never been sealed, and +was, if I may use the expression, tucked away under a pile +of old receipts. The writing is similar to that used +in the letter you have just read, and the signature attached +to it is 'Mary Ann Clemmens.' Will Mr. Black +of the jury read aloud the words he will there find +written?"</p> + +<p>Mr. Black, in whose hand the paper then rested, +looked up with a flush, and slowly, if not painfully, complied:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"I desire"—such was the language of the writing before him—"that +in case of any sudden or violent death on my part, the authorities +should inquire into the possible culpability of a gentleman living +in Toledo, Ohio, known by the name of Gouverneur Hildreth. He is +a man of no principle, and my distinct conviction is, that if such a +death should occur to me, it will be entirely due to his efforts to gain +possession of property which cannot be at his full disposal until my +death.</p> + +<div class='sig'> +"<span class="smcap">Mary Ann Clemmens</span>, Sibley, N. Y."<br /> +</div></div> + +<p>"A serious charge!" quoth a juryman, breaking the +universal silence occasioned by this communication from +the dead.</p> + +<p>"I should think so," echoed the burly man in front of +Mr. Byrd.</p> + +<p>But Mr. Byrd himself and the quiet man who leaned so +stiffly and abstractedly against the wall, said nothing. Perhaps +they found themselves sufficiently engaged in watching<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[119]</a></span> +that half-seen elbow, which since the reading of this +last slip of paper had ceased all movement and remained +as stationary as though it had been paralyzed.</p> + +<p>"A charge which, as yet, is nothing but a charge," observed +the coroner. "But evidence is not wanting," he +went on, "that Mr. Hildreth is not at home at this present +time, but is somewhere in this region, as will be seen +by the following telegram from the superintendent of the +Toledo police." And he held up to view, not the telegram +he had just received, but another which he had +taken from among the papers on the table before him:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Party mentioned not in Toledo. Left for the East on midnight +train of Wednesday the 27th inst. When last heard from was in Albany. +He has been living fast, and is well known to be in pecuniary +difficulties, necessitating a large and immediate amount of money. +Further particulars by letter.</p></div> + +<p>"That, gentlemen, I received last night. To-day," +he continued, taking up the telegram that had just come +in, "the following arrives:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Fresh advices. Man you are in search of talked of suicide at +his club the other night. Seemed in a desperate way, and said that +if something did not soon happen he should be a lost man. Horse-flesh +and unfortunate speculations have ruined him. They say it will +take all he will ultimately receive to pay his debts.</p></div> + +<p>"And below:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Suspected that he has been in your town."</p></div> + +<p>A crisis was approaching round the corner. This, to +the skilled eyes of Mr. Byrd, was no longer doubtful. +Even if he had not observed the wondering glances cast<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[120]</a></span> +in that direction by persons who could see the owner of +that now immovable elbow, he would have been assured +that all was not right, by the alert expression which had +now taken the place of the stolid and indifferent look +which had hitherto characterized the face of the man he +believed to be a detective.</p> + +<p>A panther about to spring could not have looked more +threatening, and the wonder was, that there were no more +to observe this exciting by-play. Yet the panther did +not spring, and the inquiry went on.</p> + +<p>"The witness I now propose to call," announced the +coroner, after a somewhat trying delay, "is the proprietor +of the Eastern Hotel. Ah, here he is. Mr. Symonds, +have you brought your register for the past week?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir," answered the new-comer, with a good deal +of flurry in his manner and an embarrassed look about +him, which convinced Mr. Byrd that the words in regard +to whose origin he had been so doubtful that morning, +had been real words and no dream.</p> + +<p>"Very well, then, submit it, if you please, to the jury, +and tell us in the meantime whether you have entertained +at your house this week any guest who professed to come +from Toledo?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know. I don't remember any such," began +the witness, in a stammering sort of way. "We have +always a great many men from the West stopping at our +house, but I don't recollect any special one who registered +himself as coming from Toledo."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[121]</a></span></p> + +<p>"You, however, always expect your guests to put their +names in your book?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir."</p> + +<p>There was something in the troubled look of the man +which aroused the suspicion of the coroner, and he was +about to address him with another question when one of +the jury, who was looking over the register, spoke up and +asked:</p> + +<p>"Who is this Clement Smith who writes himself down +here as coming from Toledo?"</p> + +<p>"Smith?—Smith?" repeated Symonds, going up to +the juryman and looking over his shoulder at the book. +"Oh, yes, the gentleman who came yesterday. He——"</p> + +<p>But at this moment a slight disturbance occurring in +the other room, the witness paused and looked about him +with that same embarrassed look before noted. "He is +at the hotel now," he added, with an attempt at ease, +transparent as it was futile.</p> + +<p>The disturbance to which I have alluded was of a +peculiar kind. It was occasioned by the thick-set man +making the spring which, for some minutes, he had evidently +been meditating. It was not a tragic leap, however, but +a decidedly comic one, and had for its end and aim the +recovery of a handkerchief which he had taken from his +pocket at the moment when the witness uttered the name +of Smith, and, by a useless flourish in opening it, flirted +from his hand to the floor. At least, so the amused +throng interpreted the sudden dive which he made, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[122]</a></span> +the heedless haste that caused him to trip over the gentleman's +hat that stood on the floor, causing it to fall and +another handkerchief to tumble out. But Mr. Byrd, who +had a detective's insight into the whole matter, saw +something more than appeared in the profuse apologies +which the thick-set man made, and the hurried manner +in which he gathered up the handkerchiefs and stood +looking at them before returning one to his pocket and +the other to its place in the gentleman's hat. Nor was +Mr. Byrd at all astonished to observe that the stand +which his fellow-detective took, upon resettling himself, +was much nearer the unseen gentleman than before, or +that in replacing the hat, he had taken pains to put it so +far to one side that the gentleman would be obliged to +rise and come around the corner in order to obtain it. +The drift of the questions propounded to the witness at +this moment opened his eyes too clearly for him to fail +any longer to understand the situation.</p> + +<p>"Now at the hotel?" the coroner was repeating. +"And came yesterday? Why, then, did you look so embarrassed +when I mentioned his name?"</p> + +<p>"Oh—well—ah," stammered the man, "because he was +there once before, though his name is not registered but +once in the book."</p> + +<p>"He was? And on what day?"</p> + +<p>"On Tuesday," asserted the man, with the sudden decision +of one who sees it is useless to attempt to keep +silence.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[123]</a></span></p> + +<p>"The day of the murder?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir."</p> + +<p>"And why is his name not on the book at that time if +he came to your house and put up?"</p> + +<p>"Because he did not put up; he merely called in, as it +were, and did not take a meal or hire a room."</p> + +<p>"How did you know, then, that he was there? Did +you see him or talk to him?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir."</p> + +<p>"And what did you say?"</p> + +<p>"He asked me for directions to a certain house, and I +gave them."</p> + +<p>"Whose house?"</p> + +<p>"The Widow Clemmens', sir."</p> + +<p>Ah, light at last! The long-sought-for witness had +been found! Coroner and jury brightened visibly, while +the assembled crowd gave vent to a deep murmur, that +must have sounded like a knell of doom—in one pair of +ears, at least.</p> + +<p>"He asked you for directions to the house of Widow +Clemmens. At what time was this?"</p> + +<p>"At about half-past eleven in the morning."</p> + +<p>The very hour!</p> + +<p>"And did he leave then?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir; after taking a glass of brandy."</p> + +<p>"And did you not see him again?"</p> + +<p>"Not till yesterday, sir."</p> + +<p>"Ah, and at what time did you see him yesterday?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[124]</a></span></p> + +<p>"At bedtime, sir. He came with other arrivals on the +five o'clock train; but I was away all the afternoon and +did not see him till I went into the bar-room in the +evening."</p> + +<p>"Well, and what passed between you then?"</p> + +<p>"Not much, sir. I asked if he was going to stay with +us, and when he said 'Yes,' I inquired if he had registered +his name. He replied 'No.' At which I pointed +to the book, and he wrote his name down and then went +up-stairs with me to his room."</p> + +<p>"And is that all? Did you say nothing beyond what +you have mentioned? ask him no questions or make no +allusions to the murder?"</p> + +<p>"Well, sir, I did make some attempt that way, for I +was curious to know what took him to the Widow Clemmens' +house, but he snubbed me so quickly, I concluded +to hold my tongue and not trouble myself any further +about the matter."</p> + +<p>"And do you mean to say you haven't told any one +that an unknown man had been at your house on the +morning of the murder inquiring after the widow?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir. I am a poor man, and believe in keeping +out of all sort of messes. Policy demands that much of +me, gentlemen."</p> + +<p>The look he received from the coroner may have convinced +him that policy can be carried too far.</p> + +<p>"And now," said Dr. Tredwell, "what sort of a man is +this Clement Smith?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[125]</a></span></p> + +<p>"He is a gentleman, sir, and not at all the sort of person +with whom you would be likely to connect any unpleasant +suspicion."</p> + +<p>The coroner surveyed the hotel-keeper somewhat +sternly.</p> + +<p>"We are not talking about suspicions!" he cried; +then, in a different tone, repeated: "This gentleman, you +say, is still at your house?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir, or was at breakfast-time. I have not seen +him since."</p> + +<p>"We will have to call Mr. Smith as a witness," declared +the coroner, turning to the officer at his side. "Go and +see if you cannot bring him as soon as you did Mr. +Symonds."</p> + +<p>But here a voice spoke up full and loud from the other +room.</p> + +<p>"It is not necessary, sir. A witness you will consider +more desirable than he is in the building." And the +thick-set man showed himself for an instant to the coroner, +then walking back, deliberately laid his hand on the +elbow which for so long a time had been the centre of +Mr. Byrd's wondering conjectures.</p> + +<p>In an instant the fine, gentlemanly figure of the stranger, +whom he had seen the night before in the bar-room, appeared +with a bound from beyond the jamb, and pausing +excitedly before the man, now fully discovered to all +around as a detective, asked him, in shaking tones of +suppressed terror or rage, what it was he meant.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[126]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I will tell you," was the ready assurance, "if you will +step out here in view of the coroner and jury."</p> + +<p>With a glance that for some reason disturbed Mr. Byrd +in his newly acquired complacency, the gentleman stalked +hurriedly forward and took his stand in the door-way +leading into the room occupied by the persons mentioned.</p> + +<p>"Now," he cried, "what have you to say?"</p> + +<p>But the detective, who had advanced behind him, still +refrained from replying, though he gave a quick look at +the coroner, which led that functionary to glance at the +hotel-keeper and instantly ask:</p> + +<p>"You know this gentleman?"</p> + +<p>"It is Mr. Clement Smith."</p> + +<p>A flush so violent and profuse, that even Mr. Byrd +could see it from his stand outside the window, inundated +for an instant the face and neck of the gentleman, but +was followed by no words, though the detective at his +side waited for an instant before saying:</p> + +<p>"I think you are mistaken; I should call him now Mr. +Gouverneur Hildreth!"</p> + +<p>With a start and a face grown as suddenly white as it +had but an instant before been red, the gentleman turned +and surveyed the detective from head to foot, saying, in +a tone of mock politeness:</p> + +<p>"And why, if you please? I have never been introduced +to you that I remember."</p> + +<p>"No," rejoined the detective, taking from his pocket +the handkerchief which he had previously put there, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[127]</a></span> +presenting it to the other with a bow, "but I have read +the monogram upon your handkerchief and it happens to +be——"</p> + +<p>"Enough!" interrupted the other, in a stern if not +disdainful voice. "I see I have been the victim of +espionage." And stepping into the other room, he walked +haughtily up to the coroner and exclaimed: "I am +Gouverneur Hildreth, and I come from Toledo. Now, +what is it you have to say to me?"</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[128]</a></span></p> +<h2>IX.</h2> + +<h3>CLOSE CALCULATIONS.</h3> + +<div class='poem'> +<span style="margin-left: 10em;">Truth alone,</span><br /> +Truth tangible and palpable; such truth<br /> +As may be weighed and measured; truth deduced<br /> +By logical conclusion—close, severe—<br /> +From premises incontrovertible.—<span class="smcap">Moultrie.</span><br /> +<br /><br /></div> + + +<div class='cap'>THE excitement induced by the foregoing announcement +had, in a degree, subsided. The coroner, +who appeared to be as much startled as any one at the +result of the day's proceedings, had manifested his desire +of putting certain questions to the young man, and had +begun by such inquiries into his antecedents, and his +connection with Mrs. Clemmens, as elicited the most +complete corroboration of all Miss Firman's statements.</div> + +<p>An investigation into his motives for coming East at +this time next followed, in the course of which he acknowledged +that he undertook the journey solely for the +purpose of seeing Mrs. Clemmens. And when asked +why he wished to see her at this time, admitted, with +some manifestation of shame, that he desired to see for +himself whether she was really in as strong and healthy a +condition as he had always been told; his pecuniary embarrassments +being such that he could not prevent his +mind from dwelling upon possibilities which, under any +other circumstances, he would have been ashamed to +consider.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[129]</a></span></p> + +<p>"And did you see Mrs. Clemmens?" the coroner inquired.</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir; I did."</p> + +<p>"When?"</p> + +<p>"On Tuesday, sir; about noon."</p> + +<p>The answer was given almost with bravado, and the silence +among the various auditors became intense.</p> + +<p>"You admit, then, that you were in the widow's house +the morning she was murdered, and that you had an interview +with her a few minutes before the fatal blow was +struck?"</p> + +<p>"I do."</p> + +<p>There was doggedness in the tone, and doggedness in +the look that accompanied it. The coroner moved a little +forward in his chair and uttered his next question with +deep gravity.</p> + +<p>"Did you approach the widow's house by the road and +enter into it by means of the front door overlooking +the lane?"</p> + +<p>"I did."</p> + +<p>"And did you meet no one in the lane, or see no one +at the windows of any of the houses as you came by?"</p> + +<p>"No, sir."</p> + +<p>"How long did you stay in this house, and what was +the result of the interview which you had with Mrs. Clemmens?"</p> + +<p>"I stayed, perhaps, ten minutes, and I learned nothing +from Mrs. Clemmens, save that she was well and hearty,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[130]</a></span> +and likely to live out her threescore years and ten for +all hint that her conversation or appearance gave me."</p> + +<p>He spoke almost with a tone of resentment; his eyes +glowed darkly, and a thrill of horror sped through the +room as if they felt that the murderer himself stood before +them.</p> + +<p>"You will tell me what was said in this interview, if +you please, and whether the widow knew who you were; +and, if so, whether any words of anger passed between +you?"</p> + +<p>The face of the young man burned, and he looked at +the coroner and then at the jurymen, as if he would like +to challenge the whole crew, but the color that showed in +his face was the flush of shame, or, so thought Mr. Byrd, +and in his reply, when he gave it, there was a bitterness +of self-scorn that reminded the detective more of the mortification +of a gentleman caught in an act of meanness +than the secret alarm of a man who had been beguiled +into committing a dastardly crime.</p> + +<p>"Mrs. Clemmens was evidently a woman of some +spirit," said he, forcing out his words with sullen desperation. +"She may have used sharp language; I believe +indeed she did; but she did not know who I was, +for—for I pretended to be a seller of patent medicine, +warranted to cure all ills, and she told me she had no ills, +and—and—Do you want a man to disgrace himself in +your presence?" he suddenly flashed out, cringing under +the gaze of the many curious and unsympathetic eyes +fixed upon him.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[131]</a></span></p> + +<p>But the coroner, with a sudden assumption of severity, +pardonable, perhaps, in a man with a case of such importance +on his hands, recommended the witness to be calm +and not to allow any small feelings of personal mortification +to interfere with a testimony of so much evident +value. And without waiting for the witness to recover +himself, asked again:</p> + +<p>"What did the widow say, and with what words did +you leave?"</p> + +<p>"The widow said she abominated drugs, and never +took them. I replied that she made a great mistake, if +she had any ailments. Upon which she retorted that +she had no ailment, and politely showed me the door. +I do not remember that any thing else passed between +us."</p> + +<p>His tone, which had been shrill and high, dropped at +the final sentence, and by the nervous workings of his +lips, Mr. Byrd perceived that he dreaded the next question. +The persons grouped around him evidently dreaded +it too.</p> + +<p>But it was less searching than they expected, and +proved that the coroner preferred to approach his point +by circuitous rather than direct means.</p> + +<p>"In what room was the conversation held, and by what +door did you come in and go out?"</p> + +<p>"I came in by the front door, and we stood in that +room"—pointing to the sitting-room from which he had +just issued.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[132]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Stood! Did you not sit down?"</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>"Stood all the time, and in that room to which you +have just pointed?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>The coroner drew a deep breath, and looked at the +witness long and searchingly. Mr. Hildreth's way of +uttering this word had been any thing but pleasant, and +consequently any thing but satisfactory. A low murmur +began to eddy through the rooms.</p> + +<p>"Gentlemen, silence!" commanded the coroner, venting +in this injunction some of the uncomfortable emotion +with which he was evidently surcharged; for his next +words were spoken in a comparatively quiet voice, though +the fixed severity of his eye could have given the witness +but little encouragement.</p> + +<p>"You say," he declared, "that in coming through the +lane you encountered no one. Was this equally true of +your return?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir; I believe so. I don't remember. I was not +looking up," was the slightly confused reply.</p> + +<p>"You passed, however, through the lane, and entered +the main street by the usual path?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"And where did you go then?"</p> + +<p>"To the depot."</p> + +<p>"Ah!"</p> + +<p>"I wished to leave the town. I had done with it."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[133]</a></span></p> + +<p>"And did you do so, Mr. Hildreth?"</p> + +<p>"I did."</p> + +<p>"Where did you go?"</p> + +<p>"To Albany, where I had left my traps."</p> + +<p>"You took the noon train, then?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir."</p> + +<p>"Which leaves precisely five minutes after twelve?"</p> + +<p>"I suppose so."</p> + +<p>"Took it without stopping anywhere on the way?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir."</p> + +<p>"Did you buy a ticket at the office?"</p> + +<p>"No, sir."</p> + +<p>"Why?"</p> + +<p>"I did not have time."</p> + +<p>"Ah, the train was at the station, then?"</p> + +<p>Mr. Hildreth did not reply; he had evidently been +driven almost to the end of his patience, or possibly of +his courage, by this quick fire of small questions.</p> + +<p>The coroner saw this and pressed his advantage.</p> + +<p>"Was the train at the station or not when you arrived +there, Mr. Hildreth?"</p> + +<p>"I do not see why it can interest you to know," the +witness retorted, with a flash of somewhat natural anger; +"but since you insist, I will tell you that it was just going +out, and that I had to run to reach it, and only got a foothold +upon the platform of the rear car at the risk of my +life."</p> + +<p>He looked as if he wished it had been at the cost of his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[134]</a></span> +life, and compressed his lips and moved restlessly from +side to side as if the battery of eyes levelled upon his face +were so many points of red-hot steel burning into his +brain.</p> + +<p>But the coroner, intent upon his duty, released not one +jot of the steady hold he had taken upon his victim.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Hildreth," said he, "your position as the only +person who acknowledges himself to have been in this +house during the half-hour that preceded the assault, +makes every thing you can tell us in reference to your +visit of the highest importance. Was the widow alone, +do you think, or did you see any thing—pause now and +consider well—<i>any thing</i> that would lead you to suppose +there was any one beside her and yourself in the house?"</p> + +<p>It was the suggestion of a just man, and Mr. Byrd +looked to see the witness grasp with all the energy of +despair at the prospect of release it held out. But Mr. +Hildreth either felt his cause beyond the reach of any +such assistance, or his understanding was so dulled by +misery he could not see the advantage of acknowledging +the presence of a third party in the cottage. Giving a +dreary shake of the head, he slowly answered:</p> + +<p>"There may have been somebody else in the house, I +don't know; but if so, I didn't hear him or see him. I +thought we were alone."</p> + +<p>The frankness with which he made the admission was +in his favor, but the quick and overpowering flush that +rose to his face the moment he had given utterance to it,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[135]</a></span> +betrayed so unmistakable a consciousness of what the +admission implied that the effect was immediately reversed. +Seeing that he had lost rather than gained in the +opinions of the merciless inquisitors about him, he +went back to his old bravado, and haughtily lifted his +head.</p> + +<p>"One question more," resumed the coroner. "You +have said that Mrs. Clemmens was a spirited woman. +Now, what made you think so? Any expression of +annoyance on her part at the interruption in her work +which your errand had caused her, or merely the expression +of her face and the general way she had of +speaking?"</p> + +<p>"The latter, I think, though she did use a harsh word +or two when she showed me the door."</p> + +<p>"And raised her voice?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, yes."</p> + +<p>"Mr. Hildreth," intimated the coroner, rising, "will +you be kind enough to step with me into the adjoining +room?"</p> + +<p>With a look of wonder not unmixed with alarm, +the young man prepared to comply.</p> + +<p>"I should like the attention of the jury," Dr. Tredwell +signified as he passed through the door.</p> + +<p>There was no need to give them this hint. Not a man +of them but was already on his feet in eager curiosity +as to what their presiding officer was about to do.</p> + +<p>"I wish you to tell me now," the coroner demanded of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[136]</a></span> +Mr. Hildreth, as they paused in the centre of the sitting-room, +"where it was you stood during your interview +with Mrs. Clemmens, and, if possible, take the very +position now which you held at that time."</p> + +<p>"There are too many persons here," the witness +objected, visibly rebelling at a request of which he could +not guess the full significance.</p> + +<p>"The people present will step back," declared the +coroner; "you will have no trouble in taking your stand +on the spot you occupied the other day."</p> + +<p>"Here, then!" exclaimed the young man, taking +a position near the centre of the room.</p> + +<p>"And the widow?"</p> + +<p>"Stood there."</p> + +<p>"Facing you?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"I see," intimated the coroner, pointing toward the +windows. "Her back was to the yard while you stood +with your face toward it." Then with a quick motion, +summoning the witness back into the other room, asked, +amid the breathless attention of the crowd, whom this bit +of by-play had wrought up to expectation: "Did you +observe any one go around to the back door while you +stood there, and go away again without attempting to +knock?"</p> + +<p>Mr. Hildreth knitted his brow and seemed to think.</p> + +<p>"Answer," persisted the coroner; "it is not a question +that requires thought."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[137]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Well, then, I did not," cried the witness, looking the +other directly in the eye, with the first gleam of real +manly feeling which he had yet displayed.</p> + +<p>"You did not see a tramp come into the yard, walk +around to the kitchen door, wait a moment as if hesitating +whether he would rap, and then turn and come back +again without doing so?"</p> + +<p>"No, sir."</p> + +<p>The coroner drew a piece of paper before him and began +figuring on it. Earnestly, almost wildly, the young +man watched him, drawing a deep breath and turning +quite pale as the other paused and looked up.</p> + +<p>"Yet," affirmed the coroner, as if no delay had +occurred since he received his last answer, "such a person +did approach the house while you were in it, and if +you had stood where you say, you must have seen him."</p> + +<p>It was a vital thrust, a relentless presentation of fact, +and as such shook the witness out of his lately acquired +composure. Glancing hastily about, he sought the assistance +of some one both capable and willing to advise +him in this crisis, but seeing no one, he made a vigorous +effort and called together his own faculties.</p> + +<p>"Sir," he protested, a tremor of undisguised anxiety +finding way into his voice, "I do not see how you make +that all out. What proof have you that this tramp of +which you speak came to the house while I was in it? +Could he not have come before? Or, what was better, +could he not have come after?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[138]</a></span></p> + +<p>The ringing tone with which the last question was put +startled everybody. No such sounds had issued from his +lips before. Had he caught a glimpse of hope, or was +he driven to an extremity in his defence that forced him +to assert himself? The eyes of Miss Firman and of +a few other women began to soften, and even the face of +Mr. Byrd betrayed that a change was on the verge of taking +place in his feelings.</p> + +<p>But the coroner's look and tone dashed cold water on +this young and tender growth of sympathy. Passing over +to the witness the paper on which he had been scribbling, +he explained with dry significance:</p> + +<p>"It is only a matter of subtraction and addition, Mr. +Hildreth. You have said that upon quitting this house +you went directly to the depot, where you arrived barely +in time to jump on the train as it was leaving the station. +Now, to walk from this place to the depot at any pace +<ins title="Transcriber's Note: original reads 'yon'">you</ins> would be likely to use, would occupy—well, let us +say seven minutes. At two minutes before twelve, then, +you were still in this house. Well!" he ejaculated, interrupting +himself as the other opened his lips, "have you +any thing to say?"</p> + +<p>"No," was the dejected and hesitating reply.</p> + +<p>The coroner at once resumed:</p> + +<p>"But at five minutes before twelve, Mr. Hildreth, the +tramp walked into the widow's yard. Now, allowing only +two minutes for your interview with that lady, the conclusion +remains that you were in the house when he came<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[139]</a></span> +up to it. Yet you declare that, although you stood in full +view of the yard, you did not see him."</p> + +<p>"You figure closer than an astronomer calculating an +eclipse," burst from the young man's lips in a flash of that +resolution which had for the last few minutes animated +him. "How do you know your witnesses have been so +exact to a second when they say this and that of the goings +and comings you are pleased to put into an arithmetical +problem. A minute or two one way or the other +would make a sad discrepancy in your calculations, Mr. +Coroner."</p> + +<p>"I know it," assented Dr. Tredwell, quietly ignoring +the other's heat; "but if the jury will remember, there were +four witnesses, at least, who testified to the striking of the +town clock just as the tramp finally issued from the lane, +and one witness, of well-known accuracy in matters of +detail, who declared on oath that she had just dropped +her eyes from that same clock when she observed the +tramp go into the widow's gate, and that it was five minutes +to twelve exactly. But, lest I do seem too nice +in my calculations," the coroner inexorably pursued, "I +will take the trouble of putting it another way. At what +time did you leave the hotel, Mr. Hildreth?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know," was the testy response.</p> + +<p>"Well, I can tell you," the coroner assured him. "It +was about twenty minutes to twelve, or possibly earlier, +but no later. My reason for saying this," he went on, +drawing once more before him the fatal sheet of paper,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[140]</a></span> +"is that Mrs. Dayton's children next door were out playing +in front of this house for some few minutes previous +to the time the tramp came into the lane. As you did +not see them you must have arrived here before they began +their game, and that, at the least calculation, would +make the time as early as a quarter to twelve."</p> + +<p>"Well," the fierce looks of the other seemed to say, +"and what if it was?"</p> + +<p>"Mr. Hildreth," continued the coroner, "if you were +in this house at a quarter to twelve and did not leave it +till two minutes before, and the interview was as you say +a mere interchange of a dozen words or so, that could not +possibly have occupied more than three minutes; <i>where +were you during all the rest of the time</i> that must have +elapsed after you finished your interview and the moment +you left the house?"</p> + +<p>It was a knock-down question. This aristocratic-looking +young gentleman who had hitherto held himself erect before +them, <ins title="Transcriber's Note: original reads 'notwithstandingt he'">notwithstanding the</ins> humiliating nature of the +inquiries which had been propounded to him, cringed +visibly and bowed his head as if a stroke of vital force +had descended upon it. Bringing his fist down on the +table near which he stood, he seemed to utter a muttered +curse, while the veins swelled on his forehead so powerfully +that more than one person present dropped their +eyes from a spectacle which bore so distinctly the stamp +of guilt.</p> + +<p>"You have not answered," intimated the coroner, after +a moment of silent waiting.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[141]</a></span></p> + +<p>"No!" was the loud reply, uttered with a force that +startled all present, and made the more timid gaze with +some apprehension at his suddenly antagonistic attitude. +"It is not pleasant for a gentleman"—he emphasized the +word bitterly—"for a <i>gentleman</i> to acknowledge himself +caught at a time like this in a decided equivocation. But +you have cornered me fairly and squarely, and I am bound +to tell the truth. Gentlemen, I did not leave the widow's +house as immediately as I said. I stayed for fully five +minutes or so alone in the small hall that leads to the +front door. In all probability I was there when the tramp +passed by on his way to the kitchen-door, and there when +he came back again." And Mr. Hildreth fixed his eyes +on the coroner as if he dared him to push him further.</p> + +<p>But Dr. Tredwell had been in his present seat before. +Merely confronting the other with that cold official gaze +which seems to act like a wall of ice between a witness +and the coroner, he said the two words: "What doing?"</p> + +<p>The effect was satisfactory. Paling suddenly, Mr. +Hildreth dropped his eyes and replied humbly, though +with equal laconism, "I was thinking." But scarcely had +the words left his lips, than a fresh flame of feeling started +up within him, and looking from juryman to juryman he +passionately exclaimed: "You consider that acknowledgment +suspicious. You wonder why a man should give a +few minutes to thought after the conclusion of an interview +that terminated all hope. I wonder at it now +myself. I wonder I did not go straight out of the house<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[142]</a></span> +and rush headlong into any danger that promised an +immediate extinction of my life."</p> + +<p>No language could have more forcibly betrayed the +real desperation of his mind at the critical moment when +the widow's life hung in the balance. He saw this, perhaps, +when it was too late, for the sweat started on his +brow, and he drew himself up like a man nerving himself +to meet a blow he no longer hoped to avert. One +further remark, however, left his lips.</p> + +<p>"Whatever I did or of whatever I was thinking, one +thing I here declare to be true, and that is, that I did not +see the widow again after she left my side and went back +to her kitchen in the rear of the house. The hand that +struck her may have been lifted while I stood in the hall, +but if so, I did not know it, nor can I tell you now who +it was that killed her."</p> + +<p>It was the first attempt at direct disavowal which he +had made, and it had its effect. The coroner softened +a trifle of his austerity, and the jurymen glanced at each +other relieved. But the weight of suspicion against this +young man was too heavy, and his manner had been too +unfortunate, for this effect to last long. Gladly as many +would have been to credit this denial, if only for the name +he bore and a certain fine aspect of gentlemanhood that +surrounded him in spite of his present humiliation, it was +no longer possible to do so without question, and he +seemed to feel this and do his best to accept the situation +with patience.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[143]</a></span></p> + +<p>An inquiry which was put to him at this time by a +juryman showed the existent state of feeling against +him.</p> + +<p>"May I ask," that individual dryly interrogated, "why +you came back to Sibley, after having left it?"</p> + +<p>The response came clear and full. Evidently the +gravity of his position had at last awakened the latent +resources of Mr. Hildreth's mind.</p> + +<p>"I heard of the death of this woman, and my surprise +caused me to return."</p> + +<p>"How did you hear of it?"</p> + +<p>"Through the newspapers."</p> + +<p>"And you were surprised?"</p> + +<p>"I was astounded; I felt as if I had received a blow +myself, and could not rest till I had come back where I +could learn the full particulars."</p> + +<p>"So, then, it was curiosity that brought you to the +inquest to-day?"</p> + +<p>"It was."</p> + +<p>The juryman looked at him astonished; so did all the +rest. His manner was so changed, his answers so prompt +and ringing.</p> + +<p>"And what was it," broke in the coroner, "that led you +to register yourself at the hotel under a false name?"</p> + +<p>"I scarcely know," was the answer, given with less fire +and some show of embarrassment. "Perhaps I thought +that, under the circumstances, it would be better for me +not to use my own."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[144]</a></span></p> + +<p>"In other words, you were afraid?" exclaimed the +coroner, with the full impressiveness of his somewhat +weighty voice and manner.</p> + +<p>It was a word to make the weakest of men start. Mr. +Hildreth, who was conspicuous in his own neighborhood +for personal if not for moral courage, flushed till it +looked as if the veins would burst on his forehead, but +he made no other reply than a proud and angry look and +a short:</p> + +<p>"I was not aware of fear; though, to be sure, I had no +premonition of the treatment I should be called upon to +suffer here to-day."</p> + +<p>The flash told, the coroner sat as if doubtful, and +looked from man to man of the jury as if he would question +their feelings on this vital subject. Meantime the +full shame of his position settled heavier and heavier +upon Mr. Hildreth; his head fell slowly forward, and he +seemed to be asking himself how he was to meet the possibly +impending ignominy of a direct accusation. Suddenly +he drew himself erect, and a gleam shot from his eyes +that, for the first time, revealed him as a man of latent +pluck and courage.</p> + +<p>"Gentlemen," he began, looking first at the coroner +and then at the jury, "you have not said you consider +me guilty of this crime, but you evidently harbor the +suspicion. I do not wonder; my own words have given +me away, and any man would find it difficult to believe +in my innocence after what has been testified to in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[145]</a></span> +this place. Do not hesitate, then. The shock of finding +myself suspected of a horrible murder is passed. I am +willing to be arrested. Indeed, after what has here taken +place, I not only am willing but even anxious. I want to +be tried, if only to prove to the world my complete and +entire innocence."</p> + +<p>The effect of this speech, uttered at a moment so critical, +may be easily imagined. All the impressible people +present at once signified their belief in his honesty, and +gave him looks of sympathy, if not approval; while the +cooler and possibly the more judicious of his auditors +calmly weighed these assertions against the evidence that +had been advanced, and finding the result unsatisfactory, +shook their heads as if unconvinced, and awaited further +developments.</p> + +<p>They did not come. The inquiry had reached its +climax, and little, if any thing, more was left to be said. +Mr. Hildreth was examined more fully, and some few of +the witnesses who had been heard in the early part of the +day were recalled, but no new facts came to light, and no +fresh inquiries were started.</p> + +<p>Mr. Byrd, who from the attitude of the coroner could +not fail to see Mr. Hildreth was looked upon with a suspicion +that would ultimately end in arrest, decided that +his interest in the inquest was at an end, and being greatly +fatigued, gave up his position at the window and +quietly stole away.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[146]</a></span></p> +<h2>X.</h2> + +<h3>THE FINAL TEST.</h3> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>Men are born with two eyes, but with one tongue, in order that they +should see twice as much as they say.—<span class="smcap">Colton.</span></p><br /><br /></div> + + +<div class='cap'>THE fact was, he wanted to think. Detective though +he was and accustomed to the bravado with +which every sort of criminal will turn to meet their fate +when fully driven to bay, there had been something in the +final manner of this desperate but evidently cultured +gentleman, which had impressed him against his own +will, and made him question whether the suspected man +was not rather the victim of a series of extraordinary circumstances, +than the selfish and brutal criminal which the +evidence given seemed to suggest.</div> + +<p>Not that Mr. Byrd ever allowed his generous heart to +blind him to the plain language of facts. His secret and +not to be smothered doubts in another direction were +proof enough of this; and had it not been for those very +doubts, the probabilities are that he would have agreed +with the cooler-headed portion of the crowd, which listened +unmoved to that last indignant burst of desperate manhood.</p> + +<p>But with those doubts still holding possession of his +mind, he could not feel so sure of Mr. Hildreth's guilt;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[147]</a></span> +and the struggle that was likely to ensue between his +personal feelings on the one side and his sense of duty on +the other did not promise to be so light as to make it +possible for him to remain within eye and earshot of an +unsympathetic crowd.</p> + +<p>"If only the superintendent had not left it to my judgment +to interfere," thought he, pacing the streets with +ever-increasing uneasiness, "the responsibility would have +been shifted from my shoulders, and I would have left +the young man to his fate in peace. But now I would +be criminally at fault if I were to let him drift hopelessly +to his doom, when by a lift of my finger I might possibly +turn the attention of justice toward the real culprit."</p> + +<p>Yet the making up of his mind to interfere was a torture +to Horace Byrd. If he was not conscious of any +love for Imogene Dare, he was sufficiently under the +dominion of her extraordinary fascinations to feel that +any movement on his part toward the unravelling of +the mystery that enveloped her, would be like subjecting +his own self to the rack of public inquiry and suspicion.</p> + +<p>Nor, though he walked the streets for hours, each +moment growing more and more settled in his conviction +of Mr. Hildreth's innocence, could he bring himself to +the point of embracing the duty presented to him, till he +had subjected Miss Dare to a new test, and won for himself +absolute certainty as to the fact of her possessing a +clue to the crime, which had not been discovered in the +coroner's inquiry.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[148]</a></span></p> + +<p>"The possibility of innocence on her part is even +greater than on that of Mr. Hildreth," he considered, +"and nothing, not even the peril of those dearest to me, +could justify me in shifting the weight of suspicion from +a guiltless man to an equally guiltless woman."</p> + +<p>It was, therefore, for the purpose of solving this doubt, +that he finally sought Mr. Ferris, and after learning that +Mr. Hildreth was under surveillance, and would in all +probability be subjected to arrest on the morrow, asked +for some errand that would take him to Mr. Orcutt's +house.</p> + +<p>"I have a great admiration for that gentleman and +would like to make his acquaintance," he remarked carelessly, +hiding his true purpose under his usual nonchalant +tones. "But I do not want to seem to be pushing myself +forward; so if you could give me some papers to carry to +him, or some message requiring an introduction to his +presence, I should feel very much obliged."</p> + +<p>Mr. Ferris, who had no suspicions of his own to assist +him in understanding the motives that led to this request, +easily provided the detective with the errand he sought. +Mr. Byrd at once started for the lawyer's house.</p> + +<p>It was fully two miles away, but once arrived there, he +was thankful that the walk had been so long, as the +fatigue, following upon the activity of the afternoon, had +succeeded in quieting his pulses and calming down the +fierce excitement which had held him under its control +ever since he had taken the determination to satisfy his +doubts by an interview with Miss Dare.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[149]</a></span></p> + +<p>Ringing the bell of the rambling old mansion that +spread out its wide extensions through the vines and +bushes of an old-fashioned and most luxuriant garden, he +waited the issue with beating heart. A respectable-looking +negro servant came to the door.</p> + +<p>"Is Mr. Orcutt in?" he asked; "or, if not, Miss +Dare? I have a message from Mr. Ferris and would be +glad to see one of them."</p> + +<p>This, in order to ascertain at a word if the lady was at +home.</p> + +<p>"Miss Dare is not in," was the civil response, "and +Mr. Orcutt is very busily engaged; but if you will step +into the parlor I will tell him you are here."</p> + +<p>"No," returned the disappointed detective, handing +her the note he held in his hand. "If your master is +busy I will not disturb him." And, turning away, he +went slowly down the steps.</p> + +<p>"If I only knew where she was gone!" he muttered, +bitterly.</p> + +<p>But he did not consider himself in a position to ask.</p> + +<p>Inwardly chafing over his ill-luck, Mr. Byrd proceeded +with reluctant pace to regain the street, when, hearing the +gate suddenly click, he looked up, and saw advancing +toward him a young gentleman of a peculiarly spruce +and elegant appearance.</p> + +<p>"Ha! another visitor for Miss Dare," was the detective's +natural inference. And with a sudden movement +he withdrew from the path, and paused as if to light his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[150]</a></span> +cigar in the shadow of the thick bushes that grew against +the house.</p> + +<p>In an instant the young stranger was on the stoop. +Another, and he had rung the bell, which was answered +almost as soon as his hand dropped from the knob.</p> + +<p>"Is Miss Dare in?" was the inquiry, uttered in loud +and cheery tones.</p> + +<p>"No, sir. She is spending a few days with Miss +Tremaine," was the clear and satisfactory reply. "Shall +I tell her you have been here?"</p> + +<p>"No. I will call myself at Miss Tremaine's," rejoined +the gentleman. And, with a gay swing of his cane and a +cheerful look overhead where the stars were already becoming +visible, he sauntered easily off, followed by the +envious thoughts of Mr. Byrd.</p> + +<p>"Miss Tremaine," repeated the latter, musingly. +"Who knows Miss Tremaine?"</p> + +<p>While he was asking himself this question, the voice of +the young man rose melodiously in a scrap of old song, +and instantly Mr. Byrd recognized in the seeming stranger +the well-known tenor singer of the church he had himself +attended the Sunday before—a gentleman, too, to whom +he had been introduced by Mr. Ferris, and with whom he +had exchanged something more than the passing civilities +of the moment.</p> + +<p>To increase his pace, overtake the young man, recall +himself to his attention, and join him in his quick walk +down the street, was the work of a moment. The natural<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[151]</a></span> +sequence followed. Mr. Byrd made himself so agreeable +that by the time they arrived at Miss Tremaine's the +other felt loath to part with him, and it resulted in his being +urged to join this chance acquaintance in his call.</p> + +<p>Nothing could have pleased Mr. Byrd better. So, +waiving for once his instinctive objection to any sort of +personal intrusion, he signified his acquiescence to the +proposal, and at once accompanied his new friend into the +house of the unknown Miss Tremaine. He found it +lit up as for guests. All the rooms on the ground +floor were open, and in one of them he could discern a +dashing and coquettish young miss holding court over a +cluster of eager swains.</p> + +<p>"Ah, I forgot," exclaimed Mr. Byrd's companion, +whose name, by-the-way, was Duryea. "It is Miss +Tremaine's reception night. She is the daughter of one +of the professors of the High School," he went on, whispering +his somewhat late explanations into the ear of Mr. +Byrd. "Every Thursday evening she throws her house +open for callers, and the youth of the academy are only +too eager to avail themselves of the opportunity of coming +here. Well, it is all the better for us. Miss Dare +despises boys, and in all likelihood we shall have her entirely +to ourselves."</p> + +<p>A quick pang contracted the breast of Mr. Byrd. +If this easy, almost rakish, fellow at his side but knew the +hideous errand which brought him to this house, what +a scene would have ensued!<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[152]</a></span></p> + +<p>But he had no time for reflection, or even for that +irresistible shrinking from his own designs which he now +began to experience. Before he realized that he was +fully committed to this venture, he found himself in the +parlor bowing before the <i>naïve</i> and laughing-eyed Miss +Tremaine, who rose to receive him with all the airy +graciousness of a finished coquette.</p> + +<p>Miss Dare was not visible, and Mr. Byrd was just +wondering if he would be called upon to enter into a sustained +conversation with his pretty hostess, when a deep, +rich voice was heard in the adjoining room, and, looking +up, he saw the stately figure he so longed and yet dreaded +to encounter, advancing toward them through the open +door. She was very pale, and, to Mr. Byrd's eyes, +looked thoroughly worn out, if not ill. Yet, she bore +herself with a steadiness that was evidently the result of +her will; and manifested neither reluctance nor impatience +when the eager Mr. Duryea pressed forward with +his compliments, though from the fixedness of her gaze +and the immobility of her lip, Mr. Byrd too truly +discovered that her thoughts were far away from the +scene of mirth and pleasure in which she found herself.</p> + +<p>"You see I have presumed to follow you, Miss Dare," +was the greeting with which Mr. Duryea hailed her +approach. And he immediately became so engrossed +with his gallantries he forgot to introduce his companion.</p> + +<p>Mr. Byrd was rather relieved at this. He was not yet<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[153]</a></span> +ready to submit her to the test he considered necessary +to a proper understanding of the situation; and he had +not the heart to approach her with any mere civility on +his tongue, while matters of such vital importance to her +happiness, if not to her honor, trembled in the balance.</p> + +<p>He preferred to talk to Miss Tremaine, and this he continued +to do till the young fellows at his side, one by +one, edged away, leaving no one in that portion of the room +but himself and Miss Tremaine, Mr. Duryea and Miss +Dare.</p> + +<p>The latter two stood together some few feet behind +him, and were discussing in a somewhat languid way, the +merits of a <i>musicale</i> which they had lately attended. +They were approaching, however, and he felt that if he +did not speak at once he might not have another opportunity +for doing so during the whole evening. Turning, +therefore, to Miss Tremaine, with more seriousness than +her gay and totally inconsequent conversation had +hitherto allowed, he asked, in what he meant to be a +simply colloquial and courteous manner, if she had heard +the news.</p> + +<p>"News," she repeated, "no; is there any news?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, I call it news. But, perhaps, you are not interested +in the murder that has lately taken place in this +town?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes, I am," she exclaimed, all eagerness at once, +while he felt rather than perceived that the couple at his +back stood suddenly still, as if his words had worked their<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[154]</a></span> +spell over one heart there at least. "Papa knew Mrs. +Clemmens very well," the little lady proceeded with a +bewitchingly earnest look. "Have they found the murderer, +do you think? Any thing less than that would be +no news to me."</p> + +<p>"There is every reason to suppose——" he began, and +stopped, something in the deadly silence behind him making +it impossible for him to proceed. Happily he was not +obliged to. An interruption occurred in the shape of a +new-comer, and he was left with the fatal word on his +lips to await the approach of that severely measured step +behind him, which by this time he knew was bringing the +inscrutable Miss Dare to his side.</p> + +<p>"Miss Dare, allow me to present to you Mr. Byrd. Mr. +Byrd, Miss Dare."</p> + +<p>The young detective bowed. With rigid attention to +the forms of etiquette, he uttered the first few acknowledgments +necessary to the occasion, and then glanced +up.</p> + +<p>She was looking him full in the face.</p> + +<p>"We have met before," he was about to observe, but +not detecting the least sign of recognition in her gaze, restrained +the words and hastily dropped his eyes.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Duryea informs me you are a stranger in the +town," she remarked, moving slowly to one side in a way +to rid herself of that gentleman's too immediate presence. +"Have you a liking for the place, or do you meditate any +lengthy stay?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[155]</a></span></p> + +<p>"No. That is," he rejoined, somewhat shaken in his +theories by the self-possession of her tone and the ease +and quietness with which she evidently prepared to enter +into a sustained conversation, "I may go away to-morrow, +and I may linger on for an indefinite length of time. It +all depends upon certain matters that will be determined for +me to-night. Sibley is a very pretty place," he observed, +startled at his own temerity in venturing the last remark.</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>The word came as if forced, and she looked at Mr. +Duryea.</p> + +<p>"Do you wish any thing, Miss Dare?" that gentleman +suddenly asked. "You do not look well."</p> + +<p>"I am not well," she acknowledged. "No, thank you," +she cried, as he pushed a chair toward her. "It is too +warm here. If you do not object, we will go into the +other room." And with a courteous glance that included +both gentlemen in its invitation, she led the way into the +adjoining apartment. Could it have been with the purpose +of ridding herself of the assiduities of Mr. Duryea? +The room contained half a dozen or more musical people, +and no sooner did they perceive their favorite tenor approach +than they seized upon him and, without listening +to his excuses, carried him off to the piano, leaving Miss +Dare alone with Mr. Byrd.</p> + +<p>She seemed instantly to forget her indisposition. Drawing +herself up till every queenly attribute she possessed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[156]</a></span> +flashed brilliantly before his eyes, she asked, with sudden +determination, if she had been right in understanding him +to say that there was news in regard to the murder of Mrs. +Clemmens?</p> + +<p>Subduing, by a strong inward effort, every token of the +emotion which her own introduction of this topic naturally +evoked, he replied in his easiest tones:</p> + +<p>"Yes; there was an inquest held to-day, and the authorities +evidently think they have discovered the person +who killed her." And obliging himself to meet half-way +the fate that awaited him, he bestowed upon the lady +before him a casual glance that hid beneath its easy politeness +the greatest anxiety of his life.</p> + +<p>The test worked well. From the pallor of sickness, +grief, or apprehension, her complexion whitened to the +deadlier hue of mortal terror.</p> + +<p>"Impossible!" her lips seemed to breathe; and Mr. +Byrd could almost fancy he saw the hair rise on her +forehead.</p> + +<p>Cursing in his heart the bitter necessity that had forced +him into this duty, he was about to address her in a way +calculated to break the spell occasioned by his last words, +when the rich and tuneful voice of the melodious +singer rose suddenly on the air, and they heard the +words:</p> + +<div class='poem'> +"Come rest in this bosom, my own stricken deer,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">Though the herd have fled from thee, thy home is still here;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">Here still is the smile that no cloud can o'ercast,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">And a heart and a hand all thy own to the last."</span><br /> +</div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[157]</a></span></p> + +<p>Instantly Mr. Byrd perceived that he should not be +obliged to speak. Though the music, or possibly the +words, struck her like a blow, it likewise served to recall +her to herself. Dropping her gaze, which had remained +fixed upon his own, she turned her face aside, saying with +forced composure:</p> + +<p>"This near contact with crime is dreadful." Then +slowly, and with a quietness that showed how great +was her power of self-control when she was not under +the influence of surprise, she inquired: "And who do +they think this person is? What name do they presume +to associate with the murderer of this woman?"</p> + +<p>With something of the feeling of a surgeon who nerves +himself to bury the steel in his patient's quivering flesh, +he gave his response unhesitatingly.</p> + +<p>"A gentleman's, I believe. A young man connected +with her, in some strange way, by financial interests. +A Mr. Hildreth, of Toledo—Gouverneur Hildreth, I +think they call him."</p> + +<p>It was not the name she expected. He saw this by +the relaxation that took place in all her features, by the +look of almost painful relief that flashed for a moment +into the eyes she turned like lightning upon him.</p> + +<p>"Gouverneur Hildreth!" she repeated. And he knew +from the tone that it was not only a different name from +what she anticipated, but that it was also a strange one to +her. "I never heard of such a person," she went on +after a minute, during which the relentless mellow voice<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[158]</a></span> +of the unconscious singer filled the room with the passionate +appeal:</p> + +<div class='poem2'> +"Oh, what was love made for, if 't is not the same,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">Through joy and through sorrow, through glory and shame!"</span><br /> +</div> + +<p>"That is not strange," explained Mr. Byrd, drawing +nearer, as if to escape that pursuing sweetness of incongruous +song. "He is not known in this town. He only +came here the morning the unfortunate woman was murdered. +Whether he really killed her or not," he proceeded, +with forced quietness, "no one can tell, of course. +But the facts are very much against him, and the poor +fellow is under arrest."</p> + +<p>"What?"</p> + +<p>The word was involuntary. So was the tone of horrified +surprise in which it was uttered. But the music, +now swelling to a crescendo, drowned both word and +tone, or so she seemed to fondly imagine; for, making +another effort at self-control, she confined herself to a +quiet repetition of his words, "'Under arrest'?" and +then waited with only a suitable display of emotion for +whatever further enlightenment he chose to give her.</p> + +<p>He mercifully spoke to the point.</p> + +<p>"Yes, under arrest. You see he was in the house +at or near the time the deadly blow was struck. He was +in the front hall, he says, and nowhere near the woman +or her unknown assailant, but there is no evidence +against any one else, and the facts so far proved, show he +had an interest in her death, and so he has to pay the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[159]</a></span> +penalty of circumstances. And he may be guilty, who +knows," the young detective pursued, seeing she was +struck with horror and dismay, "dreadful as it is to +imagine that a gentleman of culture and breeding could +be brought to commit such a deed."</p> + +<p>But she seemed to have ears for but one phrase of +all this.</p> + +<p>"He was in the front hall," she repeated. "How did +he get there? What called him there?"</p> + +<p>"He had been visiting the widow, and was on his way +out. He paused to collect his thoughts, he said. It +seems unaccountable, Miss Dare; but the whole thing is +strange and very mysterious."</p> + +<p>She was deaf to his explanations.</p> + +<p>"Do you suppose he heard the widow scream?" she +asked, tremblingly, "or——"</p> + +<p>A sinking of the ringing tones whose powerful vibration +had made this conversation possible, caused her to +pause. When the notes grew loud enough again for her +to proceed, she seemed to have forgotten the question she +was about to propound, and simply inquired:</p> + +<p>"Had he any thing to say about what he overheard—or +saw?"</p> + +<p>"No. If he spoke the truth and stood in the hall as +he said, the sounds, if sounds there were, stopped short +of the sitting-room door, for he has nothing to say about +them."</p> + +<p>A change passed over Miss Dare. She dropped her<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[160]</a></span> +eyes, and an instant's pause followed this last acknowledgment.</p> + +<p>"Will you tell me," she inquired, at last, speaking very +slowly, in an attempt to infuse into her voice no more +than a natural tone of interest, "how it was he came to +say he stood in that place during the assault?"</p> + +<p>"He did not say he stood in that place during the +assault," was again the forced rejoinder of Mr. Byrd. +"It was by means of a nice calculation of time and events, +that it was found he must have been in the house at or +near the fatal moment."</p> + +<p>Another pause; another bar of that lovely music.</p> + +<p>"And he is a gentleman, you say?" was her hurried +remark at last.</p> + +<p>"Yes, and a very handsome one."</p> + +<p>"And they have put him in prison?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, or will on the morrow."</p> + +<p>She turned and leaned against a window-frame near by, +looking with eyes that saw nothing into the still vast night.</p> + +<p>"I suppose he has friends," she faintly suggested.</p> + +<p>"Two sisters, if no one nearer and dearer."</p> + +<div class='poem'> +"Thou hast called me thy angel in moments of bliss,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">And thy angel I 'll be, 'mid the horrors of this—</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">Through the furnace, unshrinking, thy steps to pursue,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">And shield thee, and save thee—or perish there too,"</span><br /> +</div> + +<div class='unindent'>rang the mellow song.</div> + +<p>"I am not well," she suddenly cried, leaving the window +and turning quickly toward Mr. Byrd. "I am much<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[161]</a></span> +obliged to you," said she, lowering her voice to a whisper, +for the last note of the song was dying away in a quivering +<i>pianissimo</i>. "I have been deeply interested in this +tragedy, and am thankful for any information in regard +to it. I must now bid you good-evening."</p> + +<p>And with a stately bow into which she infused the +mingled courtesy and haughtiness of her nature, she +walked steadily away through the crowd that vainly +sought to stay her, and disappeared, almost without a +pause, behind the door that opened into the hall.</p> + +<p>Mr. Byrd remained for a full half-hour after that, but +he never could tell what he did, or with whom he conversed, +or how or when he issued from the house and +made his way back to his room in the hotel. He only +knew that at midnight he was still walking the floor, and +had not yet made up his mind to take the step which his +own sense of duty now inexorably demanded.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[162]</a></span></p> +<h2>XI.</h2> + +<h3>DECISION.</h3> + +<div class='poem'> +<span style="margin-left: 8em;">Who dares</span><br /> +To say that he alone has found the truth.<br /> +<div class='sig'> +—<span class="smcap">Longfellow.</span></div><br /><br /><br /> +</div> + + +<div class='cap'>THE next morning Mr. Ferris was startled by the +appearance in his office of Mr. Byrd, looking +wretchedly anxious and ill.</div> + +<p>"I have come," said the detective, "to ask you what +you think of Mr. Hildreth's prospects. Have you made +up your mind to have him arrested for this crime?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," was the reply. "The evidence against him is +purely circumstantial, but it is very strong; and if no +fresh developments occur, I think there can be no doubt +about my duty. Each and every fact that comes to light +only strengthens the case against him. When he came to +be examined last night, a ring was found on his person, +which he acknowledged to having worn on the day of the +murder."</p> + +<p>"He took it off during the inquest," murmured Mr. +Byrd; "I saw him."</p> + +<p>"It is said by Hickory—the somewhat questionable +cognomen of your fellow-detective from New York—that +the young man manifested the most intense uneasiness +during the whole inquiry. That in fact his attention<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[163]</a></span> +was first drawn to him by the many tokens which he +gave of suppressed agitation and alarm. Indeed, Mr. +Hickory at one time thought he should be obliged to +speak to this stranger in order to prevent a scene. Once +Mr. Hildreth got up as if to go, and, indeed, if he had +been less hemmed in by the crowd, there is every reason +to believe he would have attempted an escape."</p> + +<p>"Is this Hickory a man of good judgment?" inquired +Mr. Byrd, anxiously.</p> + +<p>"Why, yes, I should say so. He seems to understand +his business. The way he procured us the testimony of +Mr. Hildreth was certainly satisfactory."</p> + +<p>"I wish that, without his knowing it, I could hear him +give his opinion of this matter," intimated the other.</p> + +<p>"Well, you can," rejoined Mr. Ferris, after a quick +and comprehensive survey of Mr. Byrd's countenance. +"I am expecting him here any moment, and if you see fit +to sit down behind that screen, you can, without the least +difficulty to yourself or him, hear all he has to impart."</p> + +<p>"I will, then," the detective declared, a gloomy frown +suddenly corrugating his brow; and he stepped across to +the screen which had been indicated to him, and quietly +withdrew from view.</p> + +<p>He had scarcely done this, when a short, quick step +was heard at the door, and a wide-awake voice called out, +cheerily:</p> + +<p>"Are you alone, sir?"</p> + +<p>"Ah!" ejaculated Mr. Ferris, "come in, come in. I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[164]</a></span> +have been awaiting you for some minutes," he declared, +ignoring the look which the man threw hastily around the +room. "Any news this morning?"</p> + +<p>"No," returned the other, in a tone of complete self-satisfaction. +"We've caged the bird and mustn't expect +much more in the way of news. I'm on my way to +Albany now, to pick up such facts about him as may be +lying around there loose, and shall be ready to start for +Toledo any day next week that you may think proper."</p> + +<p>"You are, then, convinced that Mr. Hildreth is undeniably +the guilty party in this case?" exclaimed the +District Attorney, taking a whiff at his cigar.</p> + +<p>"Convinced? That is a strong word, sir. A detective +is never convinced," protested the man. "He leaves +that for the judge and jury. But if you ask me if there is +any doubt about the direction in which all the circumstantial +evidence in this case points, I must retort by +asking you for a clue, or the tag-end of a clue, guiding +me elsewhere. I know," he went on, with the volubility +of a man whose work is done, and who feels he has the +right to a momentary indulgence in conversation, "that +it is not an agreeable thing to subject a gentleman like +Mr. Hildreth to the shame of a public arrest. But facts +are not partial, sir; and the gentleman has no more rights +in law than the coarsest fellow that we take up for butchering +his mother. But you know all this without my telling +you, and I only mention it to excuse any obstinacy I may +have manifested on the subject. He is mightily cut up<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[165]</a></span> +about it," he again proceeded, as he found Mr. Ferris +forebore to reply. "I am told he didn't sleep a wink +all night, but spent his time alternately in pacing the floor +like a caged lion, and in a wild sort of stupor that had +something of the hint of madness in it. 'If my grandfather +had only known!' was the burden of his song; +and when any one approached him he either told them to +keep their eyes off him, or else buried his face in his +hands with an entreaty for them not to disturb the last +hours of a dying man. He evidently has no hope of +escaping the indignity of arrest, and as soon as it was +light enough for him to see, he asked for paper and pencil. +They were brought him, and a man stood over +him while he wrote. It proved to be a letter to his +sisters enjoining them to believe in his innocence, and +wound up with what was very much like an attempt at a +will. Altogether, it looks as if he meditated suicide, and +we have been careful to take from him every possible +means for his effecting his release in this way, as well as +set a strict though secret watch upon him."</p> + +<p>A slight noise took place behind the screen, which at +any other time Mr. Hickory would have been the first to +notice and inquire into. As it was, it had only the effect +of unconsciously severing his train of thought and starting +him alertly to his feet.</p> + +<p>"Well," said he, facing the District Attorney with +cheerful vivacity, "any orders?"</p> + +<p>"No," responded Mr. Ferris. "A run down to Albany<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[166]</a></span> +seems to be the best thing for you at present. On your +return we will consult again."</p> + +<p>"Very well, sir. I shall not be absent more than two +days, and, in the meantime, you will let me know if any +thing important occurs?" And, handing over his new +address, Hickory speedily took his leave.</p> + +<p>"Well, Byrd, what do you think of him?"</p> + +<p>For reply, Mr. Byrd stepped forth and took his stand +before the District Attorney.</p> + +<p>"Has Coroner Tredwell informed you," said he, "that +the superintendent has left it to my discretion to interfere +in this matter if I thought that by so doing I could +further the ends of justice?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," was the language of the quick, short nod he received.</p> + +<p>"Very well," continued the other, "you will pardon +me, then, if I ask you to convey to Mr. Hildreth the following +message: That if he is guiltless of this crime he +need have no fear of the results of the arrest to which he +may be subjected; that a man has interested himself in +this matter who pledges his word not to rest till he has +discovered the guilty party and freed the innocent from +suspicion."</p> + +<p>"What!" cried Mr. Ferris, astonished at the severe +but determined bearing of the young man who, up to +this time, he had only seen under his lighter and more +indifferent aspect. "You don't agree with this fellow, +then, in his conclusions regarding Mr. Hildreth?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[167]</a></span></p> + +<p>"No, sir. Hickory, as I judge, is an egotist. He discovered +Mr. Hildreth and brought him to the notice of +the jury, therefore Mr. Hildreth is guilty."</p> + +<p>"And you?"</p> + +<p>"I am open to doubt about it. Not that I would +acknowledge it to any one but you, sir."</p> + +<p>"Why?"</p> + +<p>"Because if I work in this case at all, or make any +efforts to follow up the clue which I believe myself to +have received, it must be done secretly, and without +raising the suspicion of any one in this town. I am not +in a position, as you know, to work openly, even if it +were advisable to do so, which it certainly is not. +What I do must be accomplished under cover, and +I ask you to help me in my self-imposed and by no +means agreeable task, by trusting me to pursue my +inquiries alone, until such time as I assure myself beyond +a doubt that my own convictions are just, and +that the man who murdered Mrs. Clemmens is some +one entirely separated from Mr. Hildreth and any +interests that he represents."</p> + +<p>"You are, then, going to take up this case?"</p> + +<p>The answer given was short, but it meant the deliberate +shivering of the fairest dream of love that had ever +visited Mr. Byrd's imagination.</p> + +<p>"I am."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[168]</a></span></p> +<h2>BOOK II.</h2> + +<h2>THE WEAVING OF A WEB.</h2> + + + + +<h2>XII.</h2> + +<h3>THE SPIDER.</h3> + +<div class='center'> +"Thus far we run before the wind."<br /><br /><br /> +</div> + + +<div class='cap'>IN the interview which Mr. Byrd had held with Miss +Dare he had been conscious of omitting one test +which many another man in his place would have made. +This was the utterance of the name of him whom he really +believed to be the murderer of Mrs. Clemmens. Had he +spoken this name, had he allowed himself to breathe the +words "Craik Mansell" into the ears of this agitated +woman, or even gone so far as to allude in the most careless +way to the widow's nephew, he felt sure his daring +would have been rewarded by some expression on her +part that would have given him a substantial basis for +his theories to rest upon.</div> + +<p>But he had too much natural chivalry for this. His +feelings as a man got in the way of his instinct as a detective. +Nevertheless, he felt positive that his suspicions in +regard to this nephew of Mrs. Clemmens were correct, +and set about the task of fitting facts to his theory, with +all that settled and dogged determination which follows +the pursuit of a stern duty unwillingly embraced.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[169]</a></span></p> + +<p>Two points required instant settling.</p> + +<p>First, the truth or falsehood of his supposition as to +the identification of the person confronted by Miss Dare +in the Syracuse depot with the young man described by +Miss Firman as the nephew of Widow Clemmens.</p> + +<p>Secondly, the existence or non-existence of proof going +to show the presence of this person at or near the house +of Mrs. Clemmens, during the time of the assault.</p> + +<p>But before proceeding to satisfy himself in regard to +these essentials, he went again to the widow's house and +there spent an hour in a careful study of its inner and +outer arrangements, with a view to the formation of a +complete theory as to the manner and method of the +murder. He found that in default of believing Mr. +Hildreth the assailant, one supposition was positively +necessary, and this was that the murderer was in the +house when this gentleman came to it. A glance at the +diagram on next page will explain why.</p> + +<p>The house, as you will see, has but three entrances: +the front door, at which Mr. Hildreth unconsciously +stood guard; the kitchen door, also unconsciously guarded +during the critical moment by the coming and going +of the tramp through the yard; and the dining-room +door, which, though to all appearance free from the surveillance +of any eye, was so situated in reference to the +clock at which the widow stood when attacked, that it +was manifestly impossible for any one to enter it and +cross the room to the hearth without attracting the attention +of her eye if not of her ear.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[170]</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/diagram01.png" width="600" height="799" alt="Diagram" title="" /> +</div> + +<p>To be sure, there was the bare possibility of his having +come in by the kitchen-door, after the departure of the +tramp, but such a contingency was scarcely worth considering. +The almost certain conclusion was that he had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[171]</a></span> +been in the house for some time, and was either in the +dining-room when Mrs. Clemmens returned to it from her +interview with Mr. Hildreth, or else came down to it from +the floor above by means of the staircase that so strangely +descended into that very room.</p> + +<p>Another point looked equally clear. The escape of +the murderer—still in default of considering Mr. Hildreth +as such—must have been by means of one of the back +doors, and must have been in the direction of the woods. +To be sure there was a stretch of uneven and marshy +ground to be travelled over before the shelter of the trees +could be reached; but a person driven by fear could, at +a pinch, travel it in five minutes or less; and a momentary +calculation on the part of Mr. Byrd sufficed to show +him that more time than this had elapsed from the probable +instant of assault to the moment when Mr. Ferris +opened the side door and looked out upon the swamp.</p> + +<p>The dearth of dwellings on the left-hand side of the +street, and, consequently, the comparative immunity +from observation which was given to that portion of the +house which over-looked the swamp, made him conclude +that this outlet from the dining-room had been the one +made use of in the murderer's flight. A glance down the +yard to the broken fence that separated the widow's land +from the boggy fields beyond, only tended to increase the +probabilities of this supposition, and, alert to gain for +himself that full knowledge of the situation necessary to +a successful conduct of this mysterious affair, he hastily<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[172]</a></span> +left the house and started across the swamp, with the idea +of penetrating the woods and discovering for himself +what opportunity they afforded for concealment or +escape.</p> + +<p>He had more difficulty in doing this than he expected. +The ground about the hillocks was half-sunk in water, +and the least slip to one side invariably precipitated him +among the brambles that encumbered this spot. Still, he +compassed his task in little more than five minutes, +arriving at the firm ground, and its sturdy growth of +beeches and maples, well covered with mud, but so far +thoroughly satisfied with the result of his efforts.</p> + +<p>The next thing to be done was to search the woods, +not for the purpose of picking up clues—it was too late +for that—but to determine what sort of a refuge they +afforded, and whether, in the event of a man's desiring to +penetrate them quickly, many impediments would arise +in the shape of tangled underground or loose-lying +stones.</p> + +<p>He found them remarkably clear; so much so, indeed, +that he travelled for some distance into their midst before +he realized that he had passed beyond their borders. +More than this, he came ere long upon something like a +path, and, following it, emerged into a sort of glade, +where, backed up against a high rock, stood a small and +seemingly deserted hut. It was the first object he had +met with that in any way suggested the possible presence +of man, and advancing to it with cautious steps, he looked<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[173]</a></span> +into its open door-way. Nothing met his eyes but an +empty interior, and without pausing to bestow upon the +building a further thought, he hurried on through a path +he saw opening beyond it, till he came to the end of the +wood.</p> + +<p>Stepping forth, he paused in astonishment. Instead +of having penetrated the woods in a direct line, he found +that he had merely described a half circle through them, +and now stood on a highway leading directly back into +the town.</p> + +<p>Likewise, he was in full sight of the terminus of a line +of horse-cars that connected this remote region of Sibley +with its business portion, and though distant a good mile +from the railway depot, was, to all intents and purposes, +as near that means of escape as he would have been in +the street in front of Widow Clemmens' house.</p> + +<p>Full of thoughts and inly wondering over the fatality +that had confined the attention of the authorities to the +approaches afforded by the lane, to the utter exclusion of +this more circuitous, but certainly more elusive, road of +escape, he entered upon the highway, and proceeded to +gain the horse-car he saw standing at the head of the road, +a few rods away. As he did so, he for the first time realized +just where he was. The elegant villa of Professor +Darling rising before him on the ridge that ran along on +the right-hand side of the road, made it at once evident +that he was on the borders of that choice and aristocratic +quarter known as the West Side. It was a new region to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[174]</a></span> +him, and, pausing for a moment, he cast his eyes over the +scene which lay stretched out before him. He had frequently +heard it said that the view commanded by the +houses on the ridge was the finest in the town, and he was +not disappointed in it. As he looked across the verdant +basin of marshy ground around which the road curved +like a horseshoe, he could see the city spread out like a +map before him. So unobstructed, indeed, was the view +he had of its various streets and buildings, that he thought +he could even detect, amid the taller and more conspicuous +dwellings, the humble walls and newly-shingled roof +of the widow's cottage.</p> + +<p>But he could not be sure of this; his eyesight was any +thing but trustworthy for long distances, and hurrying +forward to the car, he took his seat just as it was about +to start.</p> + +<p>It carried him straight into town, and came to a standstill +not ten feet from the railroad depot. As he left it +and betook himself back to his hotel, he gave to his +thoughts a distinct though inward expression.</p> + +<p>"If," he mused, "my suppositions in regard to this +matter are true, and another man than Mr. Hildreth +struck the fatal blow, then I have just travelled over the +self-same route he took in his flight."</p> + +<p>But were his suppositions true? It remained for him to +determine.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[175]</a></span></p> +<h2>XIII.</h2> + +<h3>THE FLY.</h3> + +<div class='center'> +Like—but oh! how different.—<span class="smcap">Wordsworth.</span><br /> +<br /><br /></div> + + +<div class='cap'>THE paper mill of Harrison, Goodman & Chamberlain +was situated in one of the main thoroughfares +of Buffalo. It was a large but otherwise unpretentious +building, and gave employment to a vast number of +operatives, mostly female.</div> + +<p>Some of these latter might have been surprised, and +possibly a little fluttered, one evening, at seeing a well-dressed +young gentleman standing at the gate as they +came forth, gazing with languid interest from one face to +another, as if he were on the look-out for some one of +their number.</p> + +<p>But they would have been yet more astonished could +they have seen him still lingering after the last one had +passed, watching with unabated patience the opening and +shutting of the small side door devoted to the use of the +firm, and such employés as had seats in the office. It +was Mr. Byrd, and his purpose there at this time of day +was to see and review the whole rank and file of the +young men employed in the place, in the hope of being +able to identify the nephew of Mrs. Clemmens by his supposed +resemblance to the person whose character of face +and form had been so minutely described to him.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[176]</a></span></p> + +<p>For Mr. Byrd was a just man and a thoughtful one, and +knowing this identification to be the key-stone of his +lately formed theory, desired it to be complete and of no +doubtful character. He accordingly held fast to his +position, watching and waiting, seemingly in vain, for the +dark, powerful face and the sturdily-built frame of the +gentleman whose likeness he had attempted to draw in +conjunction with that of Miss Dare. But, though he saw +many men of all sorts and kinds issue from one door or +another of this vast building, not one of them struck him +with that sudden and unmistakable sense of familiarity +which he had a right to expect, and he was just beginning +to doubt if the whole framework of his elaborately-formed +theory was not destined to fall into ruins, when the small +door, already alluded to, opened once more, and a couple +of gentlemen came out.</p> + +<p>The appearance of one of them gave Mr. Byrd a start. +He was young, powerfully built, wore a large mustache, +and had a complexion of unusual swarthiness. There +was character, too, in his face, though not so much as Mr. +Byrd had expected to see in the nephew of Mrs. Clemmens. +Still, people differ about degrees of expression, +and to his informant this face might have appeared strong. +He was dressed in a business suit, and was without an +overcoat—two facts that made it difficult for Mr. Byrd +to get any assistance from the cut and color of his +clothes.</p> + +<p>But there was enough in the general style and bearing<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[177]</a></span> +of this person to make Mr. Byrd anxious to know his +name. He, therefore, took it upon himself to follow +him—a proceeding which brought him to the corner just +in time to see the two gentlemen separate, and the especial +one in whom he was interested, step into a car.</p> + +<p>He succeeded in getting a seat in the same car, and for +some blocks had the pleasure of watching the back of the +supposed Mansell, as he stood on the front platform with +the driver. Then others got in, and the detective's view +was obstructed, and presently—he never could tell how +it was—he lost track of the person he was shadowing, +and when the chance came for another sight of the driver +and platform, the young man was gone.</p> + +<p>Annoyed beyond expression, Mr. Byrd went to a hotel, +and next day sent to the mill and procured the address +of Mr. Mansell. Going to the place named, he found it +to be a very respectable boarding-house, and, chancing +upon a time when more or less of the rooms were empty, +succeeded in procuring for himself an apartment there.</p> + +<p>So here he was a fixture in the house supposed by him +to hold the murderer of Mrs. Clemmens. When the +time for dinner came, and with it an opportunity for settling +the vexed question of Mr. Mansell's identity not +only with the man in the Syracuse depot, but with the +person who had eluded his pursuit the day before, something +of the excitement of the hunter in view of his game +seized upon this hitherto imperturbable detective, and it +was with difficulty he could sustain his usual <i>rôle</i> of fashionable +indifference.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[178]</a></span></p> + +<p>He arrived at the table before any of the other boarders, +and presently a goodly array of amiable matrons, old +and young gentlemen, and pretty girls came filing into the +room, and finally—yes, finally—the gentleman whom he +had followed from the mill the day before, and whom he +now had no hesitation in fixing upon as Mr. Mansell.</p> + +<p>But the satisfaction occasioned by the settlement of +this perplexing question was dampened somewhat by a +sudden and uneasy sense of being himself at a disadvantage. +Why he should feel thus he did not know. Perhaps +the almost imperceptible change which took place +in that gentleman's face as their eyes first met, may have +caused the unlooked-for sensation; though why Mr. +Mansell should change at the sight of one who must have +been a perfect stranger to him, was more than Mr. Byrd +could understand. It was enough that the latter felt he +had made a mistake in not having donned a disguise +before entering this house, and that, oppressed by the +idea, he withdrew his attention from the man he had +come to watch, and fixed it upon more immediate and +personal matters.</p> + +<p>The meal was half over. Mr. Byrd who, as a stranger +of more than ordinary good looks and prepossessing manners, +had been placed by the obliging landlady between +her own daughter and a lady of doubtful attractions, was +endeavoring to improve his advantages and make himself +as agreeable as possible to both of his neighbors, +when he heard a lady near him say aloud, "You are late,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[179]</a></span> +Mr. Mansell," and, looking up in his amazement, saw +entering the door—— Well, in the presence of the real +owner of this name, he wondered he ever could have +fixed upon the other man as the original of the person +that had been described to him. The strong face, the +sombre expression, the herculean frame, were unique, +and in the comparison which they inevitably called forth, +made all other men in the room look dwarfed if not +actually commonplace.</p> + +<p>Greatly surprised at this new turn of affairs, and satisfied +that he at last had before him the man who had confronted +Miss Dare in the Syracuse depot, he turned his +attention back to the ladies. He, however, took care to +keep one ear open on the side of the new-comer, in the +hope of gleaning from his style and manner of conversation +some notion of his disposition and nature.</p> + +<p>But Craik Mansell was at no time a talkative man, and +at this especial period of his career was less inclined than +ever to enter into the trivial debates or good-natured +repartee that was the staple of conversation at Mrs. +Hart's table.</p> + +<p>So Mr. Byrd's wishes in this regard were foiled. He +succeeded, however, in assuring himself by a square look, +into the other's face, that to whatever temptation this man +may have succumbed, or of whatever crime he may have +been guilty, he was by nature neither cold, cruel, nor +treacherous, and that the deadly blow, if dealt by him, +was the offspring of some sudden impulse or violent<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[180]</a></span> +ebullition of temper, and was being repented of with +every breath he drew.</p> + +<p>But this discovery, though it modified Mr. Byrd's own +sense of personal revolt against the man, could not influence +him in the discharge of his duty, which was to save +another of less interesting and perhaps less valuable traits +of character from the consequences of a crime he had +never committed. It was, therefore, no more than just, +that, upon withdrawing from the table, he should endeavor +to put himself in the way of settling that second question, +upon whose answer in the affirmative depended the rightful +establishment of his secret suspicions.</p> + +<p>That was, whether this young man was at or near the +house of his aunt at the time when she was assaulted.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Hart's parlors were always thrown open to her +boarders in the evening.</p> + +<p>There, at any time from seven to ten, you might meet +a merry crowd of young people intent upon enjoying +themselves, and usually highly successful in their endeavors +to do so. Into this throng Mr. Byrd accordingly +insinuated himself, and being of the sort to win instant +social recognition, soon found he had but to make his +choice in order to win for himself that <i>tête-à-tête</i> conversation +from which he hoped so much. He consequently +surveyed the company with a critical eye, and soon made +up his mind as to which lady was the most affable in her +manners and the least likely to meet his advances with +haughty reserve, and having won an introduction to her,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[181]</a></span> +sat down at her side with the stern determination of +making her talk about Mr. Mansell.</p> + +<p>"You have a very charming company here," he remarked; +"the house seems to be filled with a most +cheerful class of people."</p> + +<p>"Yes," was the not-unlooked-for reply. "We are all +merry enough if we except Mr. Mansell. But, of course, +there is excuse for him. No one expects him to join in +our sports."</p> + +<p>"Mr. Mansell? the gentleman who came in late to +supper?" repeated Mr. Byrd, with no suggestion of the +secret satisfaction he felt at the immediate success of his +scheme.</p> + +<p>"Yes, he is in great trouble, you know; is the nephew +of the woman who was killed a few days ago at Sibley, +don't you remember? The widow lady who was struck +on the head by a man of the name of Hildreth, and who +died after uttering something about a ring, supposed by +many to be an attempt on her part to describe the murderer?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," was the slow, almost languid, response; "and +a dreadful thing, too; quite horrifying in its nature. And +so this Mr. Mansell is her nephew?" he suggestively repeated. +"Odd! I suppose he has told you all about the +affair?"</p> + +<p>"He? Mercy! I don't suppose you could get him to +say anything about it to save your life. He isn't of the +talking sort. Besides, I don't believe he knows any more +about it than you or I. He hasn't been to Sibley."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[182]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Didn't he go to the funeral?"</p> + +<p>"No; he said he was too ill; and indeed he was shut +up one whole day with a terrible sore throat. He is the +heir, too, of all her savings, they say; but he won't go +to Sibley. Some folks think it is queer, but I——"</p> + +<p>Here her eyes wandered and her almost serious look +vanished in a somewhat coquettish smile. Following her +gaze with his own, Mr. Byrd perceived a gentleman approaching. +It was the one he had first taken for Mr. +Mansell.</p> + +<p>"Beg pardon," was the somewhat abrupt salutation +with which this person advanced. "But they are proposing +a game in the next room, and Miss Clayton's assistance +is considered absolutely indispensable."</p> + +<p>"Mr. Brown, first allow me to make you acquainted +with Mr. Byrd," said the light-hearted damsel, with a +gracious inclination. "As you are both strangers, it is +well for you to know each other, especially as I expect +you to join in our games."</p> + +<p>"Thank you," protested Mr. Brown, "but I don't +play games." Then seeing the deep bow of acquiescence +which Mr. Byrd was making, added, with what appeared +to be a touch of jealousy, "Except under strong provocation," +and holding out his arm, offered to escort the +young lady into the next room.</p> + +<p>With an apologetic glance at Mr. Byrd, she accepted +the attention proffered her, and speedily vanished into +the midst of the laughing group that awaited her.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[183]</a></span></p> + +<p>Mr. Byrd found himself alone.</p> + +<p>"Check number one," thought he; and he bestowed +any thing but an amiable benediction upon the man who +had interrupted him in the midst of so promising a conversation.</p> + +<p>His next move was in the direction of the landlady's +daughter, who, being somewhat shy, favored a retired +nook behind the piano. They had been neighbors at +table, and he could at once address her without fear of +seeming obtrusive.</p> + +<p>"I do not see here the dark young gentleman whom +you call Mr. Mansell?" he remarked, inquiringly.</p> + +<p>"Oh, no; he is in trouble. A near relative of his was +murdered in cold blood the other day, and under the +most aggravating circumstances. Haven't you heard +about it? She was a Mrs. Clemmens, and lived in Sibley. +It was in all the papers."</p> + +<p>"Ah, yes; I remember about it very well. And so he +is her nephew," he went on, recklessly repeating himself +in his determination to elicit all he could from these +young and thoughtless misses. "A peculiar-looking +young man; has the air of thoroughly understanding +himself."</p> + +<p>"Yes, he is very smart, they say."</p> + +<p>"Does he never talk?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes; that is, he used to; but, since his aunt's +death, we don't expect it. He is very much interested in +machinery, and has invented something——"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[184]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Oh, Clara, you are not going to sit here," interposed +the reproachful voice of a saucy-eyed maiden, who at this +moment peeped around the corner of the piano. "We +want all the recruits we can get," she cried, with a sudden +blush, as she encountered the glance of Mr. Byrd. +"Do come, and bring the gentleman too." And she +slipped away to join that very Mr. Brown who, by his importunities, +had been the occasion of the former interruption +from which Mr. Byrd had suffered.</p> + +<p>"That man and I will quarrel yet," was the mental +exclamation with which the detective rose. "Shall we +join your friends?" asked he, assuming an unconcern he +was far from feeling.</p> + +<p>"Yes, if you please," was the somewhat timid, though +evidently pleased, reply.</p> + +<p>And Mr. Byrd noted down in his own mind check +number two.</p> + +<p>The game was a protracted one. Twice did he think +to escape from the merry crowd he had entered, and +twice did he fail to do so. The indefatigable Brown +would not let him slip, and it was only by a positive +exertion of his will that he finally succeeded in withdrawing +himself.</p> + +<p>"I wish to have a word with your mother," he explained, +in reply to the look of protest with which Miss +Hart honored his departure. "I hear she retires early; +so you will excuse me if I leave somewhat abruptly."</p> + +<p>And to Mrs. Hart's apartment he at once proceeded,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[185]</a></span> +and, by dint of his easy assurance, soon succeeded in +leading her, as he had already done the rest, into a discussion +of the one topic for which he had an interest. +He had not time, however, to glean much from her, for, +just as she was making the admission that Mr. Mansell +had not been home at the time of the murder, a knock +was heard at the door, and, with an affable bow and a +short, quick stare of surprise at Mr. Byrd, the ubiquitous +Mr. Brown stepped in and took a seat on the sofa, with +every appearance of intending to make a call.</p> + +<p>At this third check, Mr. Byrd was more than annoyed. +Rising, however, with the most amiable courtesy, he +bowed his acknowledgments to the landlady, and, without +heeding her pressing invitation to remain and make the +acquaintance of Mr. Brown, left the room and betook +himself back to the parlors.</p> + +<p>He was just one minute too late. The last of the +boarders had gone up-stairs, and only an empty room met +his eyes.</p> + +<p>He at once ascended to his own apartment. It was on +the fourth floor. There were many other rooms on this +floor, and for a moment he could not remember which +was his own door. At last, however, he felt sure it was +the third one from the stairs, and, going to it, gave a +short knock in case of mistake, and, hearing no reply, +opened it and went in.</p> + +<p>The first glance assured him that his recollection had +played him false, and that he was in the wrong room.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[186]</a></span> +The second, that he was in that of Mr. Mansell. The +sight of the small model of a delicate and intricate +machine that stood in full view on a table before him +would have been sufficient assurance of this fact, even if +the inventor himself had been absent. But he was there. +Seated at a table, with his back to the door, and his head +bowed forward on his arms, he presented such a picture +of misery or despair, that Mr. Byrd felt his sympathies +touched in spite of himself, and hastily stumbling backward, +was about to confusedly withdraw, when a doubt +struck him as to the condition of the deathly, still, and +somewhat pallid figure before him, and, stepping hurriedly +forward, he spoke the young man's name, and, failing to +elicit a response, laid his hand on his shoulder, with an +apology for disturbing him, and an inquiry as to how he +felt.</p> + +<p>The touch acted where the voice had failed. Leaping +from his partly recumbent position, Craik Mansell faced +the intruder with indignant inquiry written in every line +of his white and determined face.</p> + +<p>"To what do I owe this intrusion?" he cried, his +nostrils expanding and contracting with an anger that +proved the violence of his nature when aroused.</p> + +<p>"First, to my carelessness," responded Mr. Byrd; +"and, secondly——" But there he paused, for the first +time in his life, perhaps, absolutely robbed of speech. +His eye had fallen upon a picture that the other held +clutched in his vigorous right hand. It was a photograph<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[187]</a></span> +of Imogene Dare, and it was made conspicuous by +two heavy black lines which had been relentlessy drawn +across the face in the form of a cross. "Secondly," he +went on, after a moment, resolutely tearing his gaze away +from this startling and suggestive object, "to my fears. +I thought you looked ill, and could not forbear making +an effort to reassure myself that all was right."</p> + +<p>"Thank you," ejaculated the other, in a heavy weariful +tone. "I am perfectly well." And with a short bow +he partially turned his back, with a distinct intimation +that he desired to be left alone.</p> + +<p>Mr. Byrd could not resist this appeal. Glad as he +would have been for even a moment's conversation with +this man, he was, perhaps unfortunately, too much of a +gentleman to press himself forward against the expressed +wishes even of a suspected criminal. He accordingly +withdrew to the door, and was about to open it and go +out, when it was flung violently forward, and the ever-obtrusive +Brown stepped in.</p> + +<p>This second intrusion was more than unhappy Mr. +Mansell could stand. Striding passionately forward, he +met the unblushing Brown at full tilt, and angrily pointing +to the door, asked if it was not the custom of gentlemen +to knock before entering the room of strangers.</p> + +<p>"I beg pardon," said the other, backing across the +threshold, with a profuse display of confusion. "I had +no idea of its being a stranger's room. I thought it was +my own. I—I was sure that my door was the third from<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[188]</a></span> +the stairs. Excuse me, excuse me." And he bustled +noisily out.</p> + +<p>This precise reproduction of his own train of thought +and action confounded Mr. Byrd.</p> + +<p>Turning with a deprecatory glance to the perplexed +and angry occupant of the room, he said something +about not knowing the person who had just left them; +and then, conscious that a further contemplation of the +stern and suffering countenance before him would unnerve +him for the duty he had to perform, hurriedly +withdrew.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[189]</a></span></p> +<h2>XIV.</h2> + +<h3>A LAST ATTEMPT.</h3> + +<div class='poem'> +When Fortune means to men most good,<br /> +She looks upon them with a threatening eye.—<span class="smcap">King John.</span><br /> +<br /><br /></div> + + +<div class='cap'>THE sleep of Horace Byrd that night was any thing +but refreshing. In the first place, he was +troubled about this fellow Brown, whose last impertinence +showed he was a man to be watched, and, if +possible, understood. Secondly, he was haunted by a +vision of the unhappy youth he had just left; seeing, +again and again, both in his dreams and in the rush of +heated fancies which followed his awaking, that picture +of utter despair which the opening of his neighbor's door +had revealed. He could not think of that poor mortal +as sleeping. Whether it was the result of his own sympathetic +admiration for Miss Dare, or of some subtle clairvoyance +bestowed upon him by the darkness and stillness +of the hour, he felt assured that the quiet watch he +had interrupted by his careless importunity, had been +again established, and that if he could tear down the +partition separating their two rooms, he should see that +bowed form and buried face crouched despairingly above +the disfigured picture. The depths of human misery and +the maddening passions that underlie all crime had been<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[190]</a></span> +revealed to him for the first time, perhaps, in all their +terrible suggestiveness, and he asked himself over and +over as he tossed on his uneasy pillow, if he possessed +the needful determination to carry on the scheme he had +undertaken, in face of the unreasoning sympathies which +the fathomless misery of this young man had aroused. +Under the softening influences of the night, he answered, +No; but when the sunlight came and the full flush of +life with its restless duties and common necessities awoke +within him, he decided, Yes.</div> + +<p>Mr. Mansell was not at the breakfast-table when Mr. +Byrd came down. His duties at the mill were peremptory, +and he had already taken his coffee and gone. But +Mr. Brown was there, and at sight of him Mr. Byrd's +caution took alarm, and he bestowed upon this intrusive +busybody a close and searching scrutiny. It, however, +elicited nothing in the way of his own enlightenment beyond +the fact that this fellow, total stranger though he +seemed, was for some inexplicable reason an enemy to +himself or his plans.</p> + +<p>Not that Mr. Brown manifested this by any offensive +token of dislike or even of mistrust. On the contrary, +he was excessively polite, and let slip no opportunity of +dragging Mr. Byrd into the conversation. Yet, for all +that, a secret influence was already at work against the +detective, and he could not attribute it to any other +source than the jealous efforts of this man. Miss Hart +was actually curt to him, and in the attitude of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[191]</a></span> +various persons about the board he detected a certain reserve +which had been entirely absent from their manner +the evening before.</p> + +<p>But while placing, as he thought, due weight upon this +fellow's animosity, he had no idea to what it would lead, +till he went up-stairs. Mrs. Hart, who had hitherto +treated him with the utmost cordiality, now called him +into the parlor, and told him frankly that she would be +obliged to him if he would let her have his room. To be +sure, she qualified the seeming harshness of her request +by an intimation that a permanent occupant had applied +for it, and offered to pay his board at the hotel till +he could find a room to suit him in another house; but +the fact remained that she was really in a flutter to rid +herself of him, and no subterfuge could hide it, and Mr. +Byrd, to whose plans the full confidence of those around +him was essential, found himself obliged to acquiesce in +her desires, and announce at once his willingness to depart.</p> + +<p>Instantly she was all smiles, and overwhelmed him with +overtures of assistance; but he courteously declined her +help, and, flying from her apologies with what speed he +could, went immediately to his room. Here he sat down +to deliberate.</p> + +<p>The facts he had gleaned, despite the interference of +his unknown enemy, were three:</p> + +<p>First, that Craik Mansell had found excuses for not attending +the inquest, or even the funeral, of his murdered +aunt.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[192]</a></span></p> + +<p>Secondly, that he had a strong passion for invention, +and had even now the model of a machine on hand.</p> + +<p>And third, that he was not at home, wherever else +he may have been, on the morning of the murder in +Sibley.</p> + +<p>"A poor and meagre collection of insignificant facts," +thought Mr. Byrd. "Too poor and meagre to avail +much in stemming the tide threatening to overwhelm +Gouverneur Hildreth."</p> + +<p>But what opportunity remained for making them +weightier? He was turned from the house that held the +few persons from whom he could hope to glean more +complete and satisfactory information, and he did +not know where else to seek it unless he went to the +mill. And this was an alternative from which he shrank, +as it would, in the first place, necessitate a revelation of his +real character; and, secondly, make known the fact that +Mr. Mansell was under the surveillance of the police, if +not in the actual attitude of a suspected man.</p> + +<p>A quick and hearty, "Shure, you are very good, +sir!" uttered in the hall without roused him from his +meditations and turned his thoughts in a new direction. +What if he could learn something from the servants? He +had not thought of them. This girl, now, whose work +constantly carried her into the various rooms on this +floor, would, of course, know whether Mr. Mansell had +been away on the day of the murder, even if she +could not tell the precise time of his return. At all<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[193]</a></span> +events, it was worth while to test her with a question +or two before he left, even if he had to resort to the +means of spurring her memory with money. His failure +in other directions did not necessitate a failure here.</p> + +<p>He accordingly called her in, and showing her a +bright silver dollar, asked her if she thought it good +enough pay for a short answer to a simple question.</p> + +<p>To his great surprise she blushed and drew back, shaking +her head and muttering that her mistress didn't like +to have the girls talk to the young men about the house, +and finally going off with a determined toss of her frowsy +head, that struck Mr. Byrd aghast, and made him believe +more than ever that his evil star hung in the ascendant, +and that the sooner he quit the house the better.</p> + +<p>In ten minutes he was in the street.</p> + +<p>But one thing now remained for him to do. He must +make the acquaintance of one of the mill-owners, or +possibly of an overseer or accountant, and from him learn +where Mr. Mansell had been at the time of his aunt's +murder. To this duty he devoted the day; but here +also he was met by unexpected difficulties. Though he +took pains to disguise himself before proceeding to the +mill, all the endeavors which he made to obtain an interview +there with any responsible person were utterly fruitless. +Whether his ill-luck at the house had followed him +to this place he could not tell, but, for some reason or +other, there was not one of the gentlemen for whom he +inquired but had some excuse for not seeing him; and,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[194]</a></span> +worn out at last with repeated disappointments, if not +oppressed by the doubtful looks he received from the +various subordinates who carried his messages, he left the +building, and proceeded to make use of the only means +now left him of compassing his end.</p> + +<p>This was to visit Mr. Goodman, the one member of the +firm who was not at his post that day, and see if from +him he could gather the single fact he was in search of.</p> + +<p>"Perhaps the atmosphere of distrust with which I am +surrounded in this quarter has not reached this gentleman's +house," thought he. And having learned from the +directory where that house was, he proceeded immediately +to it.</p> + +<p>His reception was by no means cordial. Mr. Goodman +had been ill the night before, and was in no mood +to see strangers.</p> + +<p>"Mansell?" he coolly repeated, in acknowledgment +of the other's inquiry as to whether he had a person of +that name in his employ. "Yes, our book-keeper's +name is Mansell. May I ask"—and here Mr. Byrd felt +himself subjected to a thorough, if not severe, scrutiny—"why +you come to me with inquiries concerning him?"</p> + +<p>"Because," the determined detective responded, adopting +at once the bold course, "you can put me in possession +of a fact which it eminently befits the cause of +justice to know. I am an emissary, sir, from the District +Attorney at Sibley, and the point I want settled is, +where Mr. Mansell was on the morning of the twenty-sixth +of September?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[195]</a></span></p> + +<p>This was business, and the look that involuntarily +leaped into Mr. Goodman's eye proved that he considered +it so. He did not otherwise betray this feeling, however, +but turned quite calmly toward a chair, into which he +slowly settled himself before replying:</p> + +<p>"And why do you not ask the gentleman himself where +he was? He probably would be quite ready to tell you."</p> + +<p>The inflection he gave to these words warned Mr. +Byrd to be careful. The truth was, Mr. Goodman was +Mr. Mansell's best friend, and as such had his own +reasons for not being especially communicative in his +regard, to this stranger. The detective vaguely felt this, +and immediately changed his manner.</p> + +<p>"I have no doubt of that, sir," he ingenuously answered. +"But Mr. Mansell has had so much to distress him lately, +that I was desirous of saving him from the unpleasantness +which such a question would necessarily cause. It +is only a small matter, sir. A person—it is not essential +to state whom—has presumed to raise the question +among the authorities in Sibley as to whether Mr. Mansell, +as heir of poor Mrs. Clemmens' small property, +might not have had some hand in her dreadful death. +There was no proof to sustain the assumption, and Mr. +Mansell was not even known to have been in the town on +or after the day of her murder; but justice, having +listened to the aspersion, felt bound to satisfy itself of its +falsity; and I was sent here to learn where Mr. Mansell +was upon that fatal day. I find he was not in Buffalo.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[196]</a></span> +But this does not mean he was in Sibley, and I am sure +that, if you will, you can supply me with facts that will +lead to a complete and satisfactory <i>alibi</i> for him."</p> + +<p>But the hard caution of the other was not to be moved.</p> + +<p>"I am sorry," said he, "but I can give you no information +in regard to Mr. Mansell's travels. You will have +to ask the gentleman himself."</p> + +<p>"You did not send him out on business of your own, +then?"</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>"But you knew he was going?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"And can tell when he came back?"</p> + +<p>"He was in his place on Wednesday."</p> + +<p>The cold, dry nature of these replies convinced Mr. +Byrd that something more than the sullen obstinacy of +an uncommunicative man lay behind this determined +reticence. Looking at Mr. Goodman inquiringly, he +calmly remarked:</p> + +<p>"You are a friend of Mr. Mansell?"</p> + +<p>The answer came quick and coldly:</p> + +<p>"He is a constant visitor at my house."</p> + +<p>Mr. Byrd made a respectful bow.</p> + +<p>"You can, then, have no doubts of his ability to prove +an <i>alibi?</i>"</p> + +<p>"I have no doubts concerning Mr. Mansell," was the +stern and uncompromising reply.</p> + +<p>Mr. Byrd at once felt he had received his dismissal. +But before making up his mind to go, he resolved upon<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[197]</a></span> +one further effort. Calling to his aid his full power of +acting, he slowly shook his head with a thoughtful air, +and presently murmured half aloud and half, as it were, +to himself:</p> + +<p>"I thought, possibly, he might have gone to Washington." +Then, with a casual glance at Mr. Goodman, +added: "He is an inventor, I believe?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," was again the laconic response.</p> + +<p>"Has he not a machine at present which he desires to +bring to the notice of some capitalist?"</p> + +<p>"I believe he has," was the forced and none too amiable +answer.</p> + +<p>Mr. Byrd at once leaned confidingly forward.</p> + +<p>"Don't you think," he asked, "that he may have gone +to New York to consult with some one about this pet +hobby of his? It would certainly be a natural thing for +him to do, and if I only knew it was so, I could go back +to Sibley with an easy conscience."</p> + +<p>His disinterested air, and the tone of kindly concern +which he had adopted, seemed at last to produce its effect +on his companion. Relaxing a trifle of his austerity, Mr. +Goodman went so far as to admit that Mr. Mansell had +told him that business connected with his patent had +called him out of town; but beyond this he would allow +nothing; and Mr. Byrd, baffled in his attempts to elicit +from this man any distinct acknowledgment of Mr. Mansell's +whereabouts at the critical time of Mrs. Clemmens' +death, made a final bow and turned toward the door.</p> + +<p>It was only at this moment he discovered that Mr.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[198]</a></span> +Goodman and himself had not been alone in the room; +that curled up in one of the window-seats was a little girl +of some ten or twelve years of age, who at the first tokens +of his taking his departure slipped shyly down to the +floor and ran before him out into the hall. He found +her by the front door when he arrived there. She was +standing with her hand on the knob, and presented such +a picture of childish eagerness, tempered by childish timidity, +that he involuntarily paused before her with a +smile. She needed no further encouragement.</p> + +<p>"Oh, sir, I know about Mr. Mansell!" she cried. "He +wasn't in that place you talk about, for he wrote a letter +to papa just the day before he came back, and the postmark +on the envelope was Monteith. I remember, because +it was the name of the man who made our big +map." And, looking up with that eager zeal which marks +the liking of very little folks for some one favorite person +among their grown acquaintances, she added, earnestly: +"I do hope you won't let them say any thing bad about +Mr. Mansell, he is so good."</p> + +<p>And without waiting for a reply, she ran off, her curls +dancing, her eyes sparkling, all her little innocent form +alive with the joy of having done a kindness, as she +thought, for her favorite, Mr. Mansell.</p> + +<p>Mr. Byrd, on the contrary, felt a strange pang that the +information he had sought for so long and vainly should +come at last from the lips of an innocent child.</p> + +<p>Monteith, as you remember, was the next station to +Sibley.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[199]</a></span></p> +<h2>XV.</h2> + +<h3>THE END OF A TORTUOUS PATH.</h3> + +<div class='center'> +Thus bad begins and worse remains behind.—<span class="smcap">Hamlet.</span><br /> +<br /><br /></div> + + +<div class='cap'>THE arrest of Mr. Hildreth had naturally quieted +public suspicion by fixing attention upon a definite +point, so that when Mr. Byrd returned to Sibley he +found that he could pursue whatever inquiries he chose +without awakening the least mistrust that he was on the +look-out for the murderer of Mrs. Clemmens.</div> + +<p>The first use he made of his time was to find out if Mr. +Mansell, or any man answering to his description, had +been seen to take the train from the Sibley station on the +afternoon or evening of the fatal Tuesday. The result +was unequivocal. No such person had been seen there, +and no such person was believed to have been at the +station at any time during that day. This was his first +disappointment.</p> + +<p>He next made the acquaintance of the conductors on +that line of street-cars by means of which he believed +Mr. Mansell to have made his escape. But with no better +result. Not one of them remembered having taken +up, of late, any passenger from the terminus, of the appearance +described by Mr. Byrd.</p> + +<p>And this was his second disappointment.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[200]</a></span></p> + +<p>His next duty was obviously to change his plan of +action and make the town of Monteith the centre of his +inquiries. But he hesitated to do this till he had made one +other visit to the woods in whose recesses he still believed +the murderer to have plunged immediately upon +dealing the fatal blow.</p> + +<p>He went by the way of the street railroad, not wishing +to be again seen crossing the bog, and arrived at the hut +in the centre of the glade without meeting any one or +experiencing the least adventure.</p> + +<p>This time he went in, but nothing was to be seen save +bare logs, a rough hearth where a fire had once been +built, and the rudest sort of bench and table; and hurrying +forth again, he looked doubtfully up and down the +glade in pursuit of some hint to guide him in his future +researches.</p> + +<p>Suddenly he received one. The thick wall of foliage +which at first glance revealed but the two outlets already +traversed by him, showed upon close inspection a third +path, opening well behind the hut, and leading, as he +soon discovered, in an entirely opposite direction from +that which had taken him to West Side. Merely stopping +to cast one glance at the sun, which was still well +overhead, he set out on this new path. It was longer and +much more intricate than the other. It led through hollows +and up steeps, and finally out into an open blackberry +patch, where it seemed to terminate. But a close +study of the surrounding bushes, soon disclosed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[201]</a></span> +signs of a narrow and thread-like passage curving about a +rocky steep. Entering this he presently found himself +drawn again into the woods, which he continued to traverse +till he came to a road cut through the heart of the +forest, for the use of the lumbermen. Here he paused. +Should he turn to the right or left? He decided to turn +to the right. Keeping in the road, which was rough with +stones where it was not marked with the hoofs of both +horses and cattle, he walked for some distance. Then he +emerged into open space again, and discovered that he +was on the hillside overlooking Monteith, and that by a +mile or two's further walk over the highway that was +dimly to be descried at the foot of the hill, he would +reach the small station devoted to the uses of the quarrymen +that worked in this place.</p> + +<p>There was no longer any further doubt that this route, +and not the other, had been the one taken by Mr. Mansell +on that fatal afternoon. But he was determined not +to trust any further to mere surmises; so hastening down +the hill, he made his way in the direction of the highway, +meaning to take the walk alluded to, and learn for himself +what passengers had taken the train at this point on +the Tuesday afternoon so often mentioned.</p> + +<p>But a barrier rose in his way. A stream which he had +barely noticed in the quick glance he threw over the landscape +from the brow of the hill, separated with quite a +formidable width of water the hillside from the road, and +it was not till he wandered back for some distance along<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[202]</a></span> +its banks, that he found a bridge. The time thus lost was +considerable, but he did not think of it; and when, after a +long and weary tramp, he stepped upon the platform of +the small station, he was so eager to learn if he had correctly +followed the scent, that he forgot to remark that +the road he had taken was any thing but an easy or +feasible one for a hasty escape.</p> + +<p>The accommodation-trains, which alone stop at this +point, had both passed, and he found the station-master +at leisure. A single glance into his honest and intelligent +face convinced the detective that he had a reliable +man to deal with. He at once commenced his questions.</p> + +<p>"Do many persons besides the quarrymen take the +train at this place?" asked he.</p> + +<p>"Not many," was the short but sufficiently good-natured +rejoinder. "I guess I could easily count them +on the fingers of one hand," he laughed.</p> + +<p>"You would be apt to notice, then, if a strange gentleman +got on board here at any time, would you not?"</p> + +<p>"Guess so; not often troubled that way, but sometimes—sometimes."</p> + +<p>"Can you tell me whether a young man of very dark +complexion, heavy mustache, and a determined, if not +excited, expression, took the cars here for Monteith, say, +any day last week?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know," mused the man. "Dark complexion, +you say, large mustache; let me see."</p> + +<p>"No dandy," Mr. Byrd carefully explained, "but a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[203]</a></span> +strong man, who believes in work. He was possibly in a +state of somewhat nervous hurry," he went on, suggestively, +"and if he wore an overcoat at all, it was a gray +one."</p> + +<p>The face of the man lighted up.</p> + +<p>"I seem to remember," said he. "Did he have a very +bright blue eye and a high color?"</p> + +<p>Mr. Byrd nodded.</p> + +<p>"And did he carry a peculiarly shaped bag, of which +he was very careful?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know," said Mr. Byrd, but remembering the +model, added with quick assurance, "I have no doubt he +did"; which seemed to satisfy the other, for he at once +cried:</p> + +<p>"I recollect such a person very well. I noticed him +before he got to the station; as soon in fact as he came +in sight. He was walking down the highway, and seemed +to be thinking about something. He's of the kind to +attract attention. What about him, sir?"</p> + +<p>"Nothing. He was in trouble of some kind, and he +went from home without saying where he was going; +and his friends are anxious about him, that is all. Do +you think you could swear to his face if you saw it?"</p> + +<p>"I think I could. He was the only stranger that got +on to the cars that afternoon."</p> + +<p>"Do you remember, then, the day?"</p> + +<p>"Well, no, now, I don't."</p> + +<p>"But can't you, if you try? Wasn't there something +done by you that day which will assist your memory?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[204]</a></span></p> + +<p>Again that slow "Let me see" showed that the man +was pondering. Suddenly he slapped his thigh and exclaimed:</p> + +<p>"You might be a lawyer's clerk now, mightn't you; +or, perhaps, a lawyer himself? I do remember that a +large load of stone was sent off that day, and a minute's +look at my book—— It was Tuesday," he presently +affirmed.</p> + +<p>Mr. Byrd drew a deep breath. There is sadness mixed +with the satisfaction of such a triumph.</p> + +<p>"I am much obliged to you," he said, in acknowledgment +of the other's trouble. "The friends of this gentleman +will now have little difficulty in tracing him. There +is but one thing further I should like to make sure of."</p> + +<p>And taking from his memorandum-book the picture he +kept concealed there, he showed him the face of Mr. +Mansell, now altered to a perfect likeness, and asked him +if he recognized it.</p> + +<p>The decided Yes which he received made further +questions unnecessary.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[205]</a></span></p> +<h2>XVI.</h2> + +<h3>STORM.</h3> + +<div class='poem'> +Oh, my offence is rank, it smells to heav'n:<br /> +It hath the primal eldest curse upon 't!—<span class="smcap">Hamlet.</span><br /> +<br /><br /></div> + + +<div class='cap'>A DAY had passed. Mr. Byrd, who no longer had +any reason to doubt that he was upon the trail of +the real assailant of the Widow Clemmens, had resolved +upon a third visit to the woods, this time with the +definite object of picking up any clew, however trifling, +in support of the fact that Craik Mansell had passed +through the glade behind his aunt's house.</div> + +<p>The sky, when he left the hotel, was one vast field of +blue; but by the time he reached the terminus of the +car-route, and stepped out upon the road leading to the +woods, dark clouds had overcast the sun, and a cool +wind replaced the quiet zephyrs which had all day +fanned the brilliant autumn foliage.</p> + +<p>He did not realize the condition of the atmosphere, +however, and proceeded on his way, thinking more of the +person he had just perceived issuing from the door-way of +Professor Darling's lofty mansion, than of the low mutterings +of distant thunder that now and then disturbed +the silence of the woods, or of the ominous, brazen tint +which was slowly settling over the huge bank of cloud<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[206]</a></span> +that filled the northern sky. For that person was Miss +Dare, and her presence here, or anywhere near him, at +this time, must of necessity, awaken a most painful train +of thought.</p> + +<p>But, though unmindful of the storm, he was dimly +conscious of the darkness that was settling about him. +Quicker and quicker grew his pace, and at last he almost +broke into a run as the heavy pall of a large black cloud +swept up over the zenith, and wiped from the heavens +the last remnant of blue sky. One drop fell, then another, +then a slow, heavy patter, that bent double the +leaves they fell upon, as if a shower of lead had +descended upon the heavily writhing forest. The wind +had risen, too, and the vast aisles of that clear and +beautiful wood thundered with the swaying of boughs, +and the crash here and there of an old and falling limb. +But the lightning delayed.</p> + +<p>The blindest or most abstracted man could be ignorant +no longer of what all this turmoil meant. Stopping in +the path along which he had been speeding, Mr. Byrd +glanced before him and behind, in a momentary calculation +of distances, and deciding he could not regain the +terminus before the storm burst, pushed on toward the +hut.</p> + +<p>He reached it just as the first flash of lightning darted +down through the heavy darkness, and was about to +fling himself against the door, when something—was it +the touch of an invisible hand, or the crash of awful<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[207]</a></span> +thunder which at this instant plowed up the silence of +the forest and woke a pandemonium of echoes about his +head?—stopped him.</p> + +<p>He never knew. He only realized that he shuddered +and drew back, with a feeling of great disinclination to +enter the low building before him, alone; and that presently +taking advantage of another loud crash of falling +boughs, he crept around the corner of the hut, and satisfied +his doubts by looking into the small, square window +opening to the west.</p> + +<p>He found there was ample reason for all the hesitation +he had felt. A man was sitting there, who, at the first +glimpse, appeared to him to be none other than Craik +Mansell. But reason soon assured him this could not be, +though the shape, the attitude—that old attitude of +despair which he remembered so well—was so startlingly +like that of the man whose name was uppermost in his +thoughts, that he recoiled in spite of himself.</p> + +<p>A second flash swept blinding through the wood. Mr. +Byrd advanced his head and took another glance at the +stranger. It <i>was</i> Mr. Mansell. No other man would sit +so quiet and unmoved during the rush and clatter of a +terrible storm.</p> + +<p>Look! not a hair of his head has stirred, not a movement +has taken place in the hands clasped so convulsively +beneath his brow. He is an image, a stone, and +would not hear though the roof fell in.</p> + +<p>Mr. Byrd himself forgot the storm, and only queried<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[208]</a></span> +what his duty was in this strange and surprising emergency.</p> + +<p>But before he could come to any definite conclusion, +he was subjected to a new sensation. A stir that was not +the result of the wind or the rain had taken place in the +forest before him. A something—he could not tell what—was +advancing upon him from the path he had himself +travelled so short a time before, and its step, if step it +were, shook him with a vague apprehension that made +him dread to lift his eyes. But he conquered the unmanly +instinct, and merely taking the precaution to step +somewhat further back from view, looked in the direction +of his fears, and saw a tall, firmly-built woman, whose +grandly poised head, held high, in defiance of the gale, +the lightning, and the rain, proclaimed her to be none +other than Imogene Dare.</p> + +<p>It was a juxtaposition of mental, moral, and physical +forces that almost took Mr. Byrd's breath away. He had +no doubt whom she had come to see, or to what sort of a +tryst he was about to be made an unwilling witness. But +he could not have moved if the blast then surging through +the trees had uprooted the huge pine behind which he +had involuntarily drawn at the first impression he had +received of her approach. He must watch that white +face of hers slowly evolve itself from the surrounding +darkness, and he must be present when the dreadful bolt +swept down from heaven, if only to see her eyes in the +flare of its ghostly flame.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[209]</a></span></p> + +<p>It came while she was crossing the glade. Fierce, +blinding, more vivid and searching than at any time +before, it flashed down through the cringing boughs, and, +like a mantle of fire, enveloped her form, throwing out +its every outline, and making of the strong and beautiful +face an electric vision which Mr. Byrd was never able to +forget.</p> + +<p>A sudden swoop of wind followed, flinging her almost +to the ground, but Mr. Byrd knew from that moment that +neither wind nor lightning, not even the fear of death, +would stop this woman if once she was determined upon +any course.</p> + +<p>Dreading the next few moments inexpressibly, yet +forcing himself, as a detective, to remain at his post, +though every instinct of his nature rebelled, Mr. Byrd +drew himself up against the side of the low hut and +listened. Her voice, rising between the mutterings of +thunder and the roar of the ceaseless gale, was plainly to +be heard.</p> + +<p>"Craik Mansell," said she, in a strained tone, that was +not without its severity, "you sent for me, and I am +here."</p> + +<p>Ah, this was her mode of greeting, was it? Mr. Byrd +felt his breath come easier, and listened for the reply +with intensest interest.</p> + +<p>But it did not come. The low rumbling of the thunder +went on, and the wind howled through the gruesome +forest, but the man she had addressed did not speak.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[210]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Craik!" Her voice still came from the door-way, +where she had seemingly taken her stand. "Do you not +hear me?"</p> + +<p>A stifled groan was the sole reply.</p> + +<p>She appeared to take one step forward, but no more.</p> + +<p>"I can understand," said she, and Mr. Byrd had no +difficulty in hearing her words, though the turmoil overhead +was almost deafening, "why the restlessness of +despair should drive you into seeking this interview. I +have longed to see you too, if only to tell you that I wish +heaven's thunderbolts had fallen upon us both on that +day when we sat and talked of our future prospects +and——"</p> + +<p>A lurid flash cut short her words. Strange and awesome +sounds awoke in the air above, and the next moment +a great branch fell crashing down upon the roof of the +hut, beating in one corner, and sliding thence heavily to +the ground, where it lay with all its quivering leaves +uppermost, not two feet from the door-way where this +woman stood.</p> + +<p>A shriek like that of a lost spirit went up from her +lips.</p> + +<p>"I thought the vengeance of heaven had fallen!" she +gasped. And for a moment not a sound was heard within +or without the hut, save that low flutter of the disturbed +leaves. "It is not to be," she then whispered, with a +return of her old calmness, that was worse than any +shriek. "Murder is not to be avenged thus." Then,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[211]</a></span> +shortly: "A dark and hideous line of blood is drawn +between you and me, Craik Mansell. <i>I</i> cannot pass it, +and you must not, forever and forever and forever. But +that does not hinder me from wishing to help you, and so +I ask, in all sincerity, What is it you want me to do for +you to-day?"</p> + +<p>A response came this time.</p> + +<p>"Show me how to escape the consequences of my +act," were his words, uttered in a low and muffled voice.</p> + +<p>She did not answer at once.</p> + +<p>"Are you threatened?" she inquired at last, in a tone +that proved she had drawn one step nearer to the bowed +form and hidden face of the person she addressed.</p> + +<p>"My conscience threatens me," was the almost stifled +reply.</p> + +<p>Again that heavy silence, all the more impressive that +the moments before had been so prolific of heaven's most +terrible noises.</p> + +<p>"You suffer because another man is forced to endure +suspicion for a crime he never committed," she whisperingly +exclaimed.</p> + +<p>Only a groan answered her; and the moments grew +heavier and heavier, more and more oppressive, though +the hitherto accompanying outcries of the forest had +ceased, and a faint lightening of the heavy darkness was +taking place overhead. Mr. Byrd felt the pressure of the +situation so powerfully, he drew near to the window he +had hitherto avoided, and looked in. She was standing a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[212]</a></span> +foot behind the crouched figure of the man, between +whom and herself she had avowed a line of blood to be +drawn. As he looked she spoke.</p> + +<p>"Craik," said she, and the deathless yearning of love +spoke in her voice at last, "there is but one thing to do. +Expiate your guilt by acknowledging it. Save the innocent +from unmerited suspicion, and trust to the mercy +of God. It is the only advice I can give you. I know +no other road to peace. If I did——" She stopped, +choked by the terror of her own thoughts. "Craik," she +murmured, at last, "on the day I hear of your having +made this confession, I vow to take an oath of celibacy +for life. It is the only recompense I can offer for the +misery and sin into which our mutual mad ambitions have +plunged you."</p> + +<p>And subduing with a look of inexpressible anguish an +evident longing to lay her hand in final caress upon that +bended head, she gave him one parting look, and then, +with a quick shudder, hurried away, and buried herself +amid the darkness of the wet and shivering woods.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[213]</a></span></p> +<h2>XVII.</h2> + +<h3>A SURPRISE.</h3> + +<div class='center'> +Season your admiration for awhile.—<span class="smcap">Hamlet.</span><br /> +<br /><br /></div> + + +<div class='cap'>WHEN all was still again, Mr. Byrd advanced from +his place of concealment, and softly entered +the hut. Its solitary occupant sat as before, with his +head bent down upon his clasped hands. But at the first +sound of Mr. Byrd's approach he rose and turned. The +shock of the discovery which followed sent the detective +reeling back against the door. The person who faced +him with such quiet assurance was <i>not</i> Craik Mansell.</div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[214]</a></span></p> +<h2>XVIII.</h2> + +<h3>A BRACE OF DETECTIVES.</h3> + +<div class='center'> +Hath this fellow no feeling of his business?—<span class="smcap">Hamlet.</span><br /> +<br /></div> + +<div class='poem'> +No action, whether foul or fair,<br /> +Is ever done, but it leaves somewhere<br /> +A record. —<span class="smcap">Longfellow.</span><br /> +<br /><br /></div> + + +<div class='cap'>"SO there are two of us! I thought as much when +I first set eyes upon your face in Buffalo!"</div> + +<p>This exclamation, uttered in a dry and musing tone, +woke Mr. Byrd from the stupor into which this astonishing +discovery had thrown him. Advancing upon the +stranger, who in size, shape, and coloring was almost the +<i>fac-simile</i> of the person he had so successfully represented, +Mr. Byrd looked him scrutinizingly over.</p> + +<p>The man bore the ordeal with equanimity; he even +smiled.</p> + +<p>"You don't recognize me, I see."</p> + +<p>Mr. Byrd at once recoiled.</p> + +<p>"Ah!" cried he, "you are that Jack-in-the-box, +Brown!"</p> + +<p>"<i>Alias</i> Frank Hickory, at your service."</p> + +<p>This name, so unexpected, called up a flush of mingled +surprise and indignation to Mr. Byrd's cheek.</p> + +<p>"I thought——" he began<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[215]</a></span>.</p> + +<p>"Don't think," interrupted the other, who, when +excited, affected laconicism, "know." Then, with affability, +proceeded, "You are the gentleman——" he paid +that much deference to Mr. Byrd's air and manner, "who +I was told might lend me a helping hand in this Clemmens +affair. I didn't recognize you before, sir. Wouldn't +have stood in your way if I had. Though, to be sure, +I did want to see this matter through myself. I thought +I had the right. And I've done it, too, as you must +acknowledge, if you have been present in this terrible +place very long."</p> + +<p>This self-satisfied, if not boastful, allusion to a scene in +which this strange being had played so unworthy, if not +unjustifiable, a part, sent a thrill of revulsion through Mr. +Byrd. Drawing hastily back with an instinct of dislike +he could not conceal, he cast a glance through the thicket +of trees that spread beyond the open door, and pointedly +asked:</p> + +<p>"Was there no way of satisfying yourself of the guilt of +Craik Mansell, except by enacting a farce that may lead +to the life-long remorse of the woman out of whose love +you have made a trap?"</p> + +<p>A slow flush, the first, possibly, that had visited the +hardy cheek of this thick-skinned detective for years, +crept over the face of Frank Hickory.</p> + +<p>"I don't mean she shall ever know," he sullenly protested, +kicking at the block upon which he had been sitting. +"But it <i>was</i> a mean trick," he frankly enough<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[216]</a></span> +admitted the next moment. "If I hadn't been the +tough old hickory knot that I am, I couldn't have done +it, I suppose. The storm, too, made it seem a bit trifling. +But—— Well, well!" he suddenly interjected, in a +more cheerful tone, "'tis too late now for tears and +repentance. The thing is done, and can't be undone. +And, at all events, I reckon we are both satisfied <i>now</i> as +to who killed Widow Clemmens!"</p> + +<p>Mr. Byrd could not resist a slight sarcasm. "I thought +you were satisfied in that regard before?" said he. "At +least, I understood that at a certain time you were very +positive it was Mr. Hildreth."</p> + +<p>"So I was," the fellow good-naturedly allowed; "so I +was. The byways of a crime like this are dreadful dark +and uncertain. It isn't strange that a fellow gets lost +sometimes. But I got a jog on my elbow that sent me +into the right path," said he, "as, perhaps, you did too, +sir, eh?"</p> + +<p>Not replying to this latter insinuation, Mr. Byrd +quietly repeated:</p> + +<p>"You got a jog on your elbow? When, may I ask?"</p> + +<p>"Three days ago, <i>just!</i>" was the emphatic reply.</p> + +<p>"And from whom?"</p> + +<p>Instead of replying, the man leaned back against the +wall of the hut and looked at his interlocutor in silence.</p> + +<p>"Are we going to join hands over this business?" he +cried, at last, "or are you thinking of pushing your way +on alone after you have got from me all that I know?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[217]</a></span></p> + +<p>The question took Mr. Byrd by surprise.</p> + +<p>He had not thought of the future. He was as yet too +much disturbed by his memories of the past. To hide +his discomfiture, he began to pace the floor, an operation +which his thoroughly wet condition certainly made +advisable.</p> + +<p>"I have no wish to rob you of any glory you may hope +to reap from the success of the plot you have carried on +here to-day," he presently declared, with some bitterness; +"but if this Craik Mansell <i>is</i> guilty, I suppose it +is my duty to help you in the collection of all suitable +and proper evidence against him."</p> + +<p>"Then," said the other, who had been watching him +with rather an anxious eye, "let us to work." And, sitting +down on the table, he motioned to Mr. Byrd to take +a seat upon the block at his side.</p> + +<p>But the latter kept up his walk.</p> + +<p>Hickory surveyed him for a moment in silence, then he +said:</p> + +<p>"You must have something against this young man, or +you wouldn't be here. What is it? What first set you +thinking about Craik Mansell?"</p> + +<p>Now, this was a question Mr. Byrd could not and +would not answer. After what had just passed in the +hut, he felt it impossible to mention to this man the name +of Imogene Dare in connection with that of the nephew +of Mrs. Clemmens. He therefore waived the other's +interrogation and remarked:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[218]</a></span></p> + +<p>"My knowledge was rather the fruit of surmise than +fact. I did not believe in the guilt of Gouverneur Hildreth, +and so was forced to look about me for some one +whom I could conscientiously suspect. I fixed upon this +unhappy man in Buffalo; how truly, your own suspicions, +unfortunately, reveal."</p> + +<p>"And I had to have my wits started by a horrid old +woman," murmured the evidently abashed Hickory.</p> + +<p>"Horrid old woman!" repeated Mr. Byrd. "Not +Sally Perkins?"</p> + +<p>"Yes. A sweet one, isn't she?"</p> + +<p>Mr. Byrd shuddered.</p> + +<p>"Tell me about it," said he, coming and sitting down +in the seat the other had previously indicated to him.</p> + +<p>"I will, sir; I will: but first let's look at the weather. +Some folks would think it just as well for you to change +that toggery of yours. What do you say to going home +first, and talking afterward?"</p> + +<p>"I suppose it would be wise," admitted Mr. Byrd, +looking down at his garments, whose decidedly damp +condition he had scarcely noticed in his excitement. +"And yet I hate to leave this spot till I learn how you +came to choose it as the scene of the tragi-comedy you +have enacted here to-day, and what position it is likely +to occupy in the testimony which you have collected +against this young man."</p> + +<p>"Wait, then," said the bustling fellow, "till I build you +the least bit of a fire to warm you. It won't take but a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[219]</a></span> +minute," he averred, piling together some old sticks that +cumbered the hearth, and straightway setting a match to +them. "See! isn't that pleasant? And now, just cast +your eye at this!" he continued, drawing a comfortable-looking +flask out of his pocket and handing it over to +the other with a dry laugh. "Isn't <i>this</i> pleasant?" And +he threw himself down on the floor and stretched out his +hands to the blaze, with a gusto which the dreary hour +he had undoubtedly passed made perfectly natural, if not +excusable.</p> + +<p>"I thank you," said Mr. Byrd; "I didn't know I was +so chilled," and he, too, enjoyed the warmth. "And, +now," he pursued, after a moment, "go on; let us have +the thing out at once."</p> + +<p>But the other was in no hurry. "Very good, sir," he +cried; "but, first, if you don't mind, suppose you tell me +what brought <i>you</i> to this hut to-day?"</p> + +<p>"I was on the look-out for clues. In my study of the +situation, I decided that the murderer of Mrs. Clemmens +escaped, not from the front, but from the back, of the +house. Taking the path I imagined him to have trod, I +came upon this hut. It naturally attracted my attention, +and to-day I came back to examine it more closely in the +hope of picking up some signs of his having been here, +or at least of having passed through the glade on his +way to the deeper woods."</p> + +<p>"And what, if you had succeeded in this, sir? What, +if some token of his presence had rewarded your search?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[220]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I should have completed a chain of proof of which +only this one link is lacking. I could have shown how +Craik Mansell fled from this place on last Tuesday afternoon, +making his way through the woods to the highway, +and thence to the Quarry Station at Monteith, where he +took the train which carried him back to Buffalo."</p> + +<p>"You could!—show me how?"</p> + +<p>Mr. Byrd explained himself more definitely.</p> + +<p>Hickory at once rose.</p> + +<p>"I guess we can give you the link," he dryly remarked. +"At all events, suppose you just step here and tell me +what conclusion you draw from the appearance of this +pile of brush."</p> + +<p>Mr. Byrd advanced and looked at a small heap of +hemlock that lay in a compact mass in one corner.</p> + +<p>"I have not disturbed it," pursued the other. "It is +just as it was when I found it."</p> + +<p>"Looks like a pillow," declared Mr. Byrd. "Has +been used for such, I am sure; for see, the dust in this +portion of the floor lies lighter than elsewhere. You can +almost detect the outline of a man's recumbent form," he +went on, slowly, leaning down to examine the floor more +closely. "As for the boughs, they have been cut from +the tree with a knife, and——" Lifting up a sprig, he +looked at it, then passed it over to Hickory, with a +meaning glance that directed attention to one or two +short hairs of a dark brown color, that were caught in +the rough bark. "He did not even throw his pocket-handkerchief<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[221]</a></span> +over the heap before lying down," he +observed.</p> + +<p>Mr. Hickory smiled. "You're up in your business, I +see." And drawing his new colleague to the table, he +asked him what he saw there.</p> + +<p>At first sight Mr. Byrd exclaimed: "Nothing," but in +another moment he picked up an <ins title="Transcriber's Note: original reads 'infinitesmal'">infinitesimal</ins> chip from +between the rough logs that formed the top of this somewhat +rustic piece of furniture, and turning it over in his +hand, pronounced it to be a piece of wood from a lead-pencil.</p> + +<p>"Here are several of them," remarked Mr. Hickory, +"and what is more, it is easy to tell just the color +of the pencil from which they were cut. It was blue."</p> + +<p>"That is so," assented Mr. Byrd.</p> + +<p>"Quarrymen, charcoal-burners, and the like are not +much in the habit of sharpening pencils," suggested +Hickory.</p> + +<p>"Is the pencil now to be found in the pocket of Mr. +Mansell a blue one?"</p> + +<p>"It is."</p> + +<p>"Have you any thing more to show me?" asked Mr. +Byrd.</p> + +<p>"Only this," responded the other, taking out of his +pocket the torn-off corner of a newspaper. "I found +this blowing about under the bushes out there," said he. +"Look at it and tell me from what paper it was torn."</p> + +<p>"I don't know," said Mr. Byrd; "none that I am +acquainted with."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[222]</a></span></p> + +<p>"You don't read the Buffalo <i>Courier?</i>"</p> + +<p>"Oh, is this——"</p> + +<p>"A corner from the Buffalo <i>Courier?</i> I don't know, +but I mean to find out. If it is, and the date proves to +be correct, we won't have much trouble about the little +link, will we?"</p> + +<p>Mr. Byrd shook his head and they again crouched +down over the fire.</p> + +<p>"And, now, what did you learn in Buffalo?" inquired +the persistent Hickory.</p> + +<p>"Not much," acknowledged Mr. Byrd. "The man +Brown was entirely too ubiquitous to give me my full +chance. Neither at the house nor at the mill was I able +to glean any thing beyond an admission from the landlady +that Mr. Mansell was not at home at the time of his +aunt's murder. I couldn't even learn where he was on +that day, or where he had ostensibly gone? If it had +not been for the little girl of Mr. Goodman——"</p> + +<p>"Ah, I had not time to go to that house," interjected +the other, suggestively.</p> + +<p>"I should have come home as wise as I went," continued +Mr. Byrd. "She told me that on the day before +Mr. Mansell returned, he wrote to her father from Monteith, +and <i>that</i> settled my mind in regard to him. It was +pure luck, however."</p> + +<p>The other laughed long and loud.</p> + +<p>"I didn't know I did it up so well," he cried. "I +told the landlady you were a detective, or acted like one,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[223]</a></span> +and she was very ready to take the alarm, having, as I +judge, a motherly liking for her young boarder. Then I +took Messrs. Chamberlin and Harrison into my confidence, +and having got from them all the information +they could give me, told them there was evidently +another man on the track of this Mansell, and warned +them to keep silence till they heard from the prosecuting +attorney in Sibley. But I didn't know who you were, or, +at least, I wasn't sure; or, as I said before, I shouldn't +have presumed."</p> + +<p>The short, dry laugh with which he ended this explanation +had not ceased, when Mr. Byrd observed:</p> + +<p>"You have not told me what <i>you</i> gathered in Buffalo."</p> + +<p>"Much," quoth Hickory, reverting to his favorite +laconic mode of speech. "First, that Mansell went +from home on Monday, the day before the murder, for +the purpose, as he said, of seeing a man in New York +about his wonderful invention. Secondly, that he never +went to New York, but came back the next evening, +bringing his model with him, and looking terribly used +up and worried. Thirdly, that to get this invention +before the public had been his pet aim and effort for a +whole year. That he believed in it as you do in your +Bible, and would have given his heart's blood, if it would +have done any good, to start the thing, and prove himself +right in his estimate of its value. That the money to +do this was all that was lacking, no one believing in him +sufficiently to advance him the five thousand dollars considered<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[224]</a></span> +necessary to build the machine and get it in working +order. That, in short, he was a fanatic on the subject, +and often said he would be willing to die within the +year if he could first prove to the unbelieving capitalists +whom he had vainly importuned for assistance, the worth +of the discovery he believed himself to have made. +Fourthly—but what is it you wish to say, sir?"</p> + +<p>"Five thousand dollars is just the amount Widow Clemmens +is supposed to leave him," remarked Mr. Byrd.</p> + +<p>"Precisely," was the short reply.</p> + +<p>"And fourthly?" suggested the former.</p> + +<p>"Fourthly, he was in the mill on Wednesday morning, +where he went about his work as usual, until some one +who knew his relation to Mrs. Clemmens looked up from the +paper he was reading, and, in pure thoughtlessness, cried, +'So they have killed your aunt for you, have they?' A +barbarous jest, that caused everybody near him to start in +indignation, but which made him recoil as if one of these +thunderbolts we have been listening to this afternoon had +fallen at his feet. And he didn't get over it," Hickory +went on. "He had to beg permission to go home. He +said the terrible news had made him ill, and indeed he +looked sick enough, and continued to look sick enough +for days. He had letters from Sibley, and an invitation +to attend the inquest and be present at the funeral +services, but he refused to go. He was threatened with +diphtheria, he declared, and remained away from the mill +until the day before yesterday. Some one, I don't<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[225]</a></span> +remember who, says he went out of town the very Wednesday +he first heard the news; but if so, he could +not have been gone long, for he was at home Wednesday +night, sick in bed, and threatened, as I have said, with +the diphtheria. Fifthly——"</p> + +<p>"Well, fifthly?"</p> + +<p>"I am afraid of your criticisms," laughed the rough +detective. "Fifthly is the result of my poking about +among Mr. Mansell's traps."</p> + +<p>"Ah!" frowned the other, with a vivid remembrance +of that picture of Miss Dare, with its beauty blotted out +by the ominous black lines.</p> + +<p>"You are too squeamish for a detective," the other +declared. "Guess you're kept for the fancy business, +eh?"</p> + +<p>The look Mr. Byrd gave him was eloquent. "Go on," +said he; "let us hear what lies behind your fifthly."</p> + +<p>"Love," returned the man. "Locked in the drawer of +this young gentleman's table, I found some half-dozen +letters tied with a black ribbon. I knew they were +written by a lady, but squeamishness is not a fault +of mine, and so I just allowed myself to glance over them. +They were from Miss Dare, of course, and they revealed +the fact that love, as well as ambition, had been a motive +power in determining this Mansell to make a success +out of his invention."</p> + +<p>Leaning back, the now self-satisfied detective looked +at Mr. Byrd.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[226]</a></span></p> + +<p>"The name of Miss Dare," he went on, "brings me to +the point from which we started. I haven't yet told +you what old Sally Perkins had to say to me."</p> + +<p>"No," rejoined Mr. Byrd.</p> + +<p>"Well," continued the other, poking with his foot the +dying embers of the fire, till it started up into a fresh +blaze, "the case against this young fellow wouldn't be +worth very much without that old crone's testimony, +I reckon; but with it I guess we can get along."</p> + +<p>"Let us hear," said Mr. Byrd.</p> + +<p>"The old woman is a wretch," Hickory suddenly +broke out. "She seems to gloat over the fact that +a young and beautiful woman is in trouble. She actually +trembled with eagerness as she told her story. If I +hadn't been rather anxious myself to hear what she had +to say, I could have thrown her out of the window. +As it was, I let her go on; duty before pleasure, you see—duty +before pleasure."</p> + +<p>"But her story," persisted Mr. Byrd, letting some +of his secret irritation betray itself.</p> + +<p>"Well, her story was this: Monday afternoon, the day +before the murder, you know, she was up in these very +woods hunting for witch-hazel. She had got her arms +full and was going home across the bog when she suddenly +heard voices. Being of a curious disposition, like myself, +I suppose, she stopped, and seeing just before her +a young gentleman and lady sitting on an old stump, +crouched down in the shadow of a tree, with the harmless<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[227]</a></span> +intent, no doubt, of amusing herself with their conversation. +It was more interesting than she expected, +and she really became quite tragic as she related her +story to me. I cannot do justice to it myself, and I +sha'n't try. It is enough that the man whom she did +not know, and the woman whom she immediately recognized +as Miss Dare, were both in a state of great indignation. +That he spoke of selfishness and <ins title="Transcriber's Note: original reads 'obstancy'">obstinacy</ins> on +the part of his aunt, and that she, in the place of rebuking +him, replied in a way to increase his bitterness, and lead +him finally to exclaim: 'I cannot bear it! To think that +with just the advance of the very sum she proposes to +give me some day, I could make her fortune and my own, +and win <i>you</i> all in one breath! It is enough to drive a +man mad to see all that he craves in this world so near +his grasp, and yet have nothing, not even hope, to comfort +him.' And at that, it seems, they both rose, and she, +who had not answered any thing to this, struck the tree +before which they stood, with her bare fist, and murmured +a word or so which the old woman couldn't catch, but +which was evidently something to the effect that she +wished she knew Mrs. Clemmens; for Mansell—of +course it was he—said, in almost the same breath, 'And +if you did know her, what then?' A question which +elicited no reply at first, but which finally led her to say: +'Oh! I think that, possibly, I might be able to persuade +her.' All this," the detective went on, "old Sally related +with the greatest force; but in regard to what followed,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[228]</a></span> +she was not so clear. Probably they interrupted +their conversation with some lovers' by-play, for they +stood very near together, and he seemed to be earnestly +pleading with her. 'Do take it,' old Sally heard him +say. 'I shall feel as if life held some outlook for +me, if you only will gratify me in this respect.' But +she answered: 'No; it is of no use. I am as +ambitious as you are, and fate is evidently against +us,' and put his hand back when he endeavored to take +hers, but finally yielded so far as to give it to him for a +moment, though she immediately snatched it away again, +crying: 'I cannot; you must wait till to-morrow.' And +when he asked: 'Why to-morrow?' she answered: 'A +night has been known to change the whole current of a +person's affairs.' To which he replied: 'True,' and +looked thoughtful, very thoughtful, as he met her eyes +and saw her raise that white hand of hers and strike the +tree again with a passionate force that made her fingers +bleed. And she was right," concluded the speaker. +"The night, or if not the night, the next twenty-four +hours, <i>did</i> make a change, as even old Sally Perkins +observed. Widow Clemmens was struck down and Craik +Mansell became the possessor of the five thousand dollars +he so much wanted in order to win for himself a fortune +and a bride."</p> + +<p>Mr. Byrd, who had been sitting with his face turned +aside during this long recital, slowly rose to his feet. +"Hickory," said he, and his tone had an edge of suppressed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[229]</a></span> +feeling in it that made the other start, "don't +let me ever hear you say, in my presence, that you think +this young and beautiful woman was the one to suggest +murder to this man, for I won't hear it. And now," he +continued, more calmly, "tell me why this babbling old +wretch did not enliven the inquest with her wonderful +tale. It would have been a fine offset to the testimony +of Miss Firman."</p> + +<p>"She said she wasn't fond of coroners and had no +wish to draw the attention of twelve of her own townsfolk +upon herself. She didn't mean to commit herself with +me," pursued Hickory, rising also. "She was going to +give me a hint of the real state of affairs; or, rather, set +me working in the right direction, as this little note which +she tucked under the door of my room at the hotel will +show. But I was too quick for her, and had her by the +arm before she could shuffle down the stairs. It was +partly to prove her story was true and not a romance +made up for the occasion, that I lured this woman here +this afternoon."</p> + +<p>"You are not as bad a fellow as I thought," Mr. Byrd +admitted, after a momentary contemplation of the +other's face. "If I might only know how you managed +to effect this interview."</p> + +<p>"Nothing easier. I found in looking over the scraps +of paper which Mansell had thrown into the waste-paper +basket in Buffalo, the draft of a note which he had written +to Miss Dare, under an impulse which he afterward<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[230]</a></span> +probably regretted. It was a summons to their usual +place of tryst at or near this hut, and though unsigned, +was of a character, as I thought, to effect its purpose. I +just sent it to her, that's all."</p> + +<p>The nonchalance with which this was said completed +Mr. Byrd's astonishment.</p> + +<p>"You are a worthy disciple of Gryce," he asserted, leading +the way to the door.</p> + +<p>"Think so?" exclaimed the man, evidently flattered +at what he considered a great compliment. "Then shake +hands," he cried, with a frank appeal Mr. Byrd found it +hard to resist. "Ah, you don't want to," he somewhat +ruefully declared. "Will it change your feelings any if I +promise to ignore what happened here to-day—my trick +with Miss Dare and what she revealed and all that? If +it will, I swear I won't even think of it any more if I can +help it. At all events, I won't tattle about it even to the +superintendent. It shall be a secret between you and me, +and she won't know but what it was her lover she talked +to, after all."</p> + +<p>"You are willing to do all this?" inquired Mr. Byrd.</p> + +<p>"Willing and ready," cried the man. "I believe in +duty to one's superiors, but duty doesn't always demand +of one to tell every thing he knows. Besides, it won't be +necessary, I imagine. There is enough against this poor +fellow without that."</p> + +<p>"I fear so," ejaculated Mr. Byrd.</p> + +<p>"Then it is a bargain?" said Hickory.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[231]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>And Mr. Byrd held out his hand.</p> + +<p>The rain had now ceased and they prepared to return +home. Before leaving the glade, however, Mr. Byrd ran +his eye over the other's person and apparel, and in some +wonder inquired:</p> + +<p>"How do you fellows ever manage to get up such complete +disguises? I declare you look enough like Mr. +Mansell in the back to make me doubt even now who I +am talking to."</p> + +<p>"Oh," laughed the other, "it is easy enough. It's my +specialty, you see, and one in which I <i>am</i> thought to +excel. But, to tell the truth, I hadn't much to contend +with in this case. In build I am famously like this man, +as you must have noticed when you saw us together in +Buffalo. Indeed, it was our similarity in this respect that +first put the idea of personifying him into my head. My +complexion had been darkened already, and, as for such +accessories as hair, voice, manner, dress, etc., a five-minutes' +study of my model was sufficient to prime me up in +all that—enough, at least, to satisfy the conditions of an +interview which did not require me to show my face."</p> + +<p>"But you did not know when you came here that you +would not have to show your face," persisted Mr. Byrd, +anxious to understand how this man dared risk his reputation +on an undertaking of this kind.</p> + +<p>"No, and I did not know that the biggest thunderstorm +of the season was going to spring up and lend me its darkness<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[232]</a></span> +to complete the illusion I had attempted. I only +trusted my good fortune—and my wits," he added, with a +droll demureness. "Both had served me before, and +both were likely to serve me again. And, say she had +detected me in my little game, what then? Women like +her don't babble."</p> + +<p>There was no reply to make to this, and Mr. Byrd's +thoughts being thus carried back to Imogene Dare and the +unhappy revelations she had been led to make, he walked +on in a dreary silence his companion had sufficient discretion +not to break.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[233]</a></span></p> +<h2>XIX.</h2> + +<h3>MR. FERRIS.</h3> + +<div class='poem'> +Which of you have done this?—<span class="smcap">Macbeth.</span><br /> +What have we here?—<span class="smcap">Tempest.</span><br /> +<br /><br /></div> + + +<div class='cap'>MR. FERRIS sat in his office in a somewhat +gloomy frame of mind. There had been bad +news from the jail that morning. Mr. Hildreth had +attempted suicide the night before, and was now lying in +a critical condition at the hospital.</div> + +<p>Mr. Ferris himself had never doubted this man's guilt. +From Hildreth's first appearance at the inquest, the +District Attorney had fixed upon him as the murderer of +Mrs. Clemmens, and up to this time he had seen no good +and substantial reason for altering his opinion.</p> + +<p>Even the doubts expressed by Mr. Byrd had moved +him but little. Mr. Byrd was an enthusiast, and, naturally +enough, shrank from believing a gentleman capable of +such a crime. But the other detective's judgment was unswayed, +and he considered Hildreth guilty. It was not +astonishing, then, that the opinion of Mr. Ferris should +coincide with that of the older and more experienced +man.</p> + +<p>But the depth of despair or remorse which had led Mr. +Hildreth to this desperate attempt upon his own life had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[234]</a></span> +struck the District Attorney with dismay. Though not +over-sensitive by nature, he could not help feeling sympathy +for the misery that had prompted such a deed, and +while secretly regarding this unsuccessful attempt at +suicide as an additional proof of guilt, he could not forbear +satisfying himself by a review of the evidence elicited +at the inquest, that the action of the authorities in +arresting this man had been both warrantable and necessary.</p> + +<p>The result was satisfactory in all but one point. When +he came to the widow's written accusation against one by +the name of Gouverneur Hildreth, he was impressed by a +fact that had hitherto escaped his notice. This was the +yellowness of the paper upon which the words were +written. If they had been transcribed a dozen years before, +they would not have looked older, nor would the +ink have presented a more faded appearance. Now, as +the suspected man was under twenty-five years of age, +and must, therefore, have been a mere child when the +paper was drawn up, the probability was that the Gouverneur +intended was the prisoner's father, their names being +identical.</p> + +<p>But this discovery, while it robbed the affair of its most +dramatic feature, could not affect in any serious way the +extreme significance of the remaining real and compromising +facts which told so heavily against this unfortunate +man. Indeed, the well-known baseness of the father +made it easier to distrust the son, and Mr. Ferris had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[235]</a></span> +just come to the conclusion that his duty compelled him +to draw up an indictment of the would-be suicide, when +the door opened, and Mr. Byrd and Mr. Hickory came in.</p> + +<p>To see these two men in conjunction was a surprise to +the District Attorney. He, however, had no time to +express himself on the subject, for Mr. Byrd, stepping +forward, immediately remarked:</p> + +<p>"Mr. Hickory and I have been in consultation, sir; +and we have a few facts to give you that we think will +alter your opinion as to the person who murdered Mrs. +Clemmens."</p> + +<p>"Is this so?" cried Mr. <ins title="Transcriber's Note: original reads 'Ferrris'">Ferris</ins>, looking at Hickory +with a glance indicative of doubt.</p> + +<p>"Yes, <i>sir</i>," exclaimed that not easily abashed individual, +with an emphasis decided enough to show the state +of his feelings on the subject. "After I last saw you a +woman came in my way and put into my hands so fresh +and promising a clue, that I dropped the old scent at +once and made instanter for the new game. But I soon +found I was not the only sportsman on this trail. Before +I had taken a dozen steps I ran upon this gentleman, and, +finding him true grit, struck up a partnership with him +that has led to our bringing down the quarry together."</p> + +<p>"Humph!" quoth the District Attorney. "Some very +remarkable discoveries must have come to light to influence +the judgment of two such men as yourselves."</p> + +<p>"You are right," rejoined Mr. Byrd. "In fact, I +should not be surprised if this case proved to be one of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[236]</a></span> +the most remarkable on record. It is not often that +equally convincing evidence of guilt is found against two +men having no apparent connection."</p> + +<p>"And have you collected such evidence?"</p> + +<p>"We have."</p> + +<p>"And who is the person you consider equally open to +suspicion with Mr. Hildreth?"</p> + +<p>"Craik Mansell, Mrs. Clemmens' nephew."</p> + +<p>The surprise of the District-Attorney was, as Mr. +Hickory in later days remarked, nuts to him. The solemn +nature of the business he was engaged upon never disturbed +this hardy detective's sense of the ludicrous, and +he indulged in one of his deepest chuckles as he met the +eye of Mr. Ferris.</p> + +<p>"One never knows what they are going to run upon in +a chase of this kind, do they, sir?" he remarked, with the +greatest cheerfulness. "Mr. Mansell is no more of a +gentleman than Mr. Hildreth; yet, because he is the +second one of his caste who has attracted our attention, +you are naturally very much surprised. But wait till you +hear what we have to tell you. I am confident you will +be satisfied with our reasons for suspecting this new +party." And he glanced at Mr. Byrd, who, seeing no +cause for delay, proceeded to unfold before the District +Attorney the evidence they had collected against Mr. +Mansell.</p> + +<p>It was strong, telling, and seemingly conclusive, as we +already know; and awoke in the mind of Mr. Ferris the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[237]</a></span> +greatest perplexity of his life. It was not simply that the +facts urged against Mr. Mansell were of the same circumstantial +character and of almost the same significance as +those already urged against Mr. Hildreth, but that the +association of Miss Dare's name with this new theory of +suspicion presented difficulties, if it did not involve consequences, +calculated to make any friend of Mr. Orcutt +quail. And Mr. Ferris was such a friend, and knew very +well the violent nature of the shock which this eminent +lawyer would experience at discovering the relations held +by this trusted woman toward a man suspected of crime.</p> + +<p>Then Miss Dare herself! Was this beautiful and +cherished woman, hitherto believed by all who knew her +to be set high above the reach of reproach, to be dragged +down from her pedestal and submitted to the curiosity of +the rabble, if not to its insinuations and reproach? It +seemed hard; even to this stern, dry searcher among +dead men's bones, it seemed both hard and bitter. And +yet, because he was an honest man, he had no thought of +paltering with his duty. He could only take time to +make sure what that duty was. He accordingly refrained +from expressing any opinion in regard to Mr. Mansell's +culpability to the two detectives, and finally dismissed +them without any special orders.</p> + +<p>But a day or two after this he sent for them again, and +said:</p> + +<p>"Since I have seen you I have considered, with due +carefulness, the various facts presented me in support of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[238]</a></span> +your belief that Craik Mansell is the man who assailed +the Widow Clemmens, and have weighed them against the +equally significant facts pointing toward Mr. Hildreth as +the guilty party, and find but one link lacking in the +former chain of evidence which is not lacking in the latter; +and that is this: Mrs. Clemmens, in the one or two +lucid moments which returned to her after the assault, +gave utterance to an exclamation which many think was +meant to serve as a guide in determining the person of +her murderer. She said, 'Ring,' as Mr. Byrd here will +doubtless remember, and then 'Hand,' as if she wished to +fix upon the minds of those about her that the hand +uplifted against her wore a ring. At all events, such a +conclusion is plausible enough, and led to my making an +experiment yesterday, which has, for ever, set the matter +at rest in my own mind. I took my stand at the huge +clock in her house, just in the attitude she was supposed +to occupy when struck, and, while in this position, ordered +my clerk to advance upon me from behind with his hands +clasped about a stick of wood, which he was to bring +down within an inch of my head. This was done, and +while his arm was in the act of descending, I looked to +see if by a quick glance from the corner of my eye I +could detect the broad seal ring I had previously pushed +upon his little finger. I discovered that I could; that +indeed it was all of the man which I could distinctly see +without turning my head completely around. The ring, +then, is an important feature in this case, a link without<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[239]</a></span> +which any chain of evidence forged for the express purpose +of connecting a man with this murder must necessarily +remain incomplete and consequently useless. But +amongst the suspicious circumstances brought to bear +against Mr. Mansell, I discern no token of a connection +between him and any such article, while we all know that +Mr. Hildreth not only wore a ring on the day of the +murder, but considered the circumstance so much in his +own disfavor, that he slipped it off his finger when he +began to see the shadow of suspicion falling upon him."</p> + +<p>"You have, then, forgotten the diamond I picked up +from the floor of Mrs. Clemmens' dining-room on the +morning of the murder?" suggested Mr. Byrd with great +reluctance.</p> + +<p>"No," answered the District Attorney, shortly. "But +Miss Dare distinctly avowed that ring to be hers, and +you have brought me no evidence as yet to prove her +statement false. If you can supply such proof, or if you +can show that Mr. Mansell had that ring on his hand +when he entered Mrs. Clemmens' house on the fatal +morning—another fact, which, by-the-way, rests as yet +upon inference only—I shall consider the case against +him as strong as that against Mr. Hildreth; otherwise, +not."</p> + +<p>Mr. Byrd, with the vivid remembrance before him +of Miss Dare's looks and actions in the scene he had +witnessed between her and the supposed Mansell in the +hut, smiled with secret bitterness over this attempt of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[240]</a></span> +the District Attorney to shut his eyes to the evident +guiltiness of this man.</p> + +<p>Mr. Ferris saw this smile and instantly became irritated.</p> + +<p>"I do not doubt any more than yourself," he resumed, +in a changed voice, "that this young man allowed his +mind to dwell upon the possible advantages which might +accrue to himself if his aunt should die. He may even +have gone so far as to meditate the commission of a crime +to insure these advantages. But whether the crime which +did indeed take place the next day in his aunt's house +was the result of his meditations, or whether he found his +own purpose forestalled by an attack made by another +person possessing no less interest than himself in seeing +this woman dead, is not determined by the evidence you +bring."</p> + +<p>"Then you do not favor his arrest?" inquired Mr. +Byrd.</p> + +<p>"No. The vigorous measures which were taken in +Mr. Hildreth's case, and the unfortunate event to which +they have led, are terrible enough to satisfy the public +craving after excitement for a week at least. I am not +fond of driving men to madness myself, and unless I can +be made to see that my duty demands a complete transferal +of my suspicions from Hildreth to Mansell, I can +advise nothing more than a close but secret surveillance +of the latter's movements until the action of the Grand +Jury determines whether the evidence against Mr. +Hildreth is sufficient to hold him for trial."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[241]</a></span></p> + +<p>Mr. Byrd, who had such solid, if private and uncommunicable, +reasons for believing in the guilt of Craik +Mansell, was somewhat taken aback at this unlooked-for +decision of Mr. Ferris, and, remembering the temptation +which a man like Hickory must feel to make his cause +good at all hazards, cast a sharp look toward that blunt-spoken +detective, in some doubt as to whether he could +be relied upon to keep his promise in the face of this +manifest disappointment.</p> + +<p>But Hickory had given his word, and Hickory remained +firm; and Mr. Byrd, somewhat relieved in his own +mind, was about to utter his acquiescence in the District +Attorney's views, when a momentary interruption +occurred, which gave him an opportunity to exchange +a few words aside with his colleague.</p> + +<p>"Hickory," he whispered, "what do you think of this +objection which Mr. Ferris makes?"</p> + +<p>"I?" was the hurried reply. "Oh, I think there is +something in it."</p> + +<p>"Something in it?"</p> + +<p>"Yes. Mr. Mansell is the last man to wear a ring, +I must acknowledge. Indeed, I took some pains while in +Buffalo to find out if he ever indulged in any such vanity, +and was told decidedly No. As to the diamond you +mentioned, that is certainly entirely too rich a jewel for a +man like him to possess. I—I am a afraid the absence +of this link in our chain of evidence is fatal. +I shouldn't wonder if the old scent was the best, +after all."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[242]</a></span></p> + + +<p>"But Miss Dare—her feelings and her convictions, as +manifested by the words she made use of in the hut?" +objected Mr. Byrd.</p> + +<p>"Oh! <i>she</i> thinks he is guilty, of course!"</p> + +<p><i>She</i> thinks! Mr. Byrd stared at his companion for a +minute in silence. <i>She</i> thinks! Then there was a possibility, +it seems, that it was only her thought, and that +Mr. Mansell was not really the culpable man he had been +brought to consider him.</p> + +<p>But here an exclamation, uttered by Mr. Ferris, called +their attention back to that gentleman. He was reading +a letter which had evidently been just brought in, and his +expression was one of amazement, mixed with doubt. As +they looked toward him they met his eye, that had a +troubled and somewhat abashed expression, which convinced +them that the communication he held in his hand +was in some way connected with the matter under consideration.</p> + +<p>Surprised themselves, they unconsciously started forward, +when, in a dry and not altogether pleased tone, the +District Attorney observed:</p> + +<p>"This affair seems to be full of coincidences. You +talk of a missing link, and it is immediately thrust under +your nose. Read that!"</p> + +<p>And he pushed toward them the following epistle, +roughly scrawled on a sheet of common writing-paper:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>If Mr. Ferris is anxious for justice, and can believe that suspicion +does not always attach itself to the guilty, let him, or some one<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[243]</a></span> +whose business it is, inquire of Miss Imogene Dare, of this town, how +she came to claim as her own the ring that was picked up on the floor +of Mrs. Clemmens' house.</p></div> + +<p>"Well!" cried Mr. Byrd, glancing at Hickory, "what +are we to think of this?"</p> + +<p>"Looks like the work of old Sally Perkins," observed +the other, pointing out the lack of date and signature.</p> + +<p>"So it does," acquiesced Mr. Byrd, in a relieved tone. +"The miserable old wretch is growing impatient."</p> + +<p>But Mr. Ferris, with a gloomy frown, shortly said:</p> + +<p>"The language is not that of an ignorant old creature +like Sally Perkins, whatever the writing may be. Besides, +how could she have known about the ring? The persons +who were present at the time it was picked up are not of +the gossiping order."</p> + +<p>"Who, then, do you think wrote this?" inquired Mr. +Byrd.</p> + +<p>"That is what I wish you to find out," declared the +District Attorney.</p> + +<p>Mr. Hickory at once took it in his hand.</p> + +<p>"Wait," said he, "I have an idea." And he carried +the letter to one side, where he stood examining it for +several minutes. When he came back he looked tolerably +excited and somewhat pleased. "I believe I can tell you +who wrote it," said he.</p> + +<p>"Who?" inquired the District Attorney.</p> + +<p>For reply the detective placed his finger upon a name +that was written in the letter.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[244]</a></span></p> + + +<p>"Imogene Dare?" exclaimed Mr. Ferris, astonished.</p> + +<p>"She herself," proclaimed the self-satisfied detective.</p> + +<p>"What makes you think that?" the District Attorney +slowly asked.</p> + +<p>"Because I have seen her writing, and studied her signature, +and, ably as she has disguised her hand in the +rest of the letter, it betrays itself in her name. See here." +And Hickory took from his pocket-book a small slip of +paper containing her autograph, and submitted it to the +test of comparison.</p> + +<p>The similarity between the two signatures was evident, +and both Mr. Byrd and Mr. Ferris were obliged to allow +the detective might be right, though the admission opened +up suggestions of the most formidable character.</p> + +<p>"It is a turn for which I am not prepared," declared +the District Attorney.</p> + +<p>"It is a turn for which <i>we</i> are not prepared," repeated +Mr. Byrd, with a controlling look at Hickory.</p> + +<p>"Let us, then, defer further consideration of the matter +till I have had an opportunity to see Miss Dare," suggested +Mr. Ferris.</p> + +<p>And the two detectives were very glad to acquiesce in +this, for they were as much astonished as he at this action +of Miss Dare, though, with their better knowledge of her +feelings, they found it comparatively easy to understand +how her remorse and the great anxiety she doubtless felt +for Mr. Hildreth had sufficed to drive her to such an +extreme and desperate measure.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[245]</a></span></p> +<h2>XX.</h2> + +<h3>A CRISIS.</h3> + + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align='left' valign='top'><i>Queen.</i> </td><td align='left' valign='top'>Alas, how is it with you?<br /> +That you do bend your eye on vacancy,<br /> +And with the incorporeal air do hold discourse?<br /> + + * * * * * +<br /> +Your bedded hair, like life in excrements,<br /> +Starts up and stands on end.<br /> + + * * * * * + +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 8em;">Whereon do you look?</span><br /></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left' valign='top'><i>Hamlet.</i></td><td align='left' valign='top'>On him! On him! Look you how pale he glares!<br /> +His form and cause conjoined, preaching to stones,<br /> +Would make them capable. Do not look upon me;<br /> +Lest, with this piteous action, you convert<br /> +My stern effects! then what I have to do<br /> +Will want true color; tears, perchance, for blood.—<span class="smcap">Hamlet.</span><br /><br /><br /> +</td></tr> +</table></div> + + + + + +<div class='cap'>THAT my readers may understand even better than +Byrd and Hickory how it was that Imogene came +to write this letter, I must ask them to consider certain +incidents that had occurred in a quarter far removed +from the eye of the detectives.</div> + +<p>Mr. Orcutt's mind had never been at rest concerning +the peculiar attitude assumed by Imogene Dare at the +time of Mrs. Clemmens' murder. Time and thought had +not made it any more possible for him to believe now +than then that she knew any thing of the matter beyond +what appeared to the general eye: but he could not +forget the ring. It haunted him. Fifty times a day he +asked himself what she had meant by claiming as her own<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[246]</a></span> +a jewel which had been picked up from the floor of a +strange house at a time so dreadful, and which, in despite +of her explanations to him, he found it impossible to +believe was hers or ever could have been hers? He was +even tempted to ask her; but he never did. The words +would not come. Though they faltered again and again +upon his lips, he could not give utterance to them; no, +though with every passing day he felt that the bond uniting +her to him was growing weaker and weaker, and that +if something did not soon intervene to establish confidence +between them, he would presently lose all hope +of the treasure for the possession of which he was now +ready to barter away half the remaining years of his life.</p> + +<p>Her increasing reticence, and the almost stony look of +misery that now confronted him without let or hindrance +from her wide gray eyes, were not calculated to reassure +him or make his future prospects look any brighter. Her +pain, if pain it were, or remorse, if remorse it could be, +was not of a kind to feel the influence of time; and, +struck with dismay, alarmed in spite of himself, if not for +her reason at least for his own, he watched her from day +to day, feeling that now he would give his life not merely +to possess her, but to understand her and the secret that +was gnawing at her heart.</p> + +<p>At last there came a day when he could no longer +restrain himself. She had been seated in his presence, +and had been handed a letter which for the moment +seemed to thoroughly overwhelm her. We know what<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[247]</a></span> +that letter was. It was the note which had been sent as +a decoy by the detective Hickory, but which she had no +reason to doubt was a real communication from Craik +Mansell, despite the strange handwriting on the envelope. +It prayed her for an interview. It set the time and mentioned +the place of meeting, and created for the instant +such a turmoil in her usually steady brain that she could +not hide it from the searching eyes that watched her.</p> + +<p>"What is it, Imogene?" inquired Mr. Orcutt, drawing +near her with a gesture of such uncontrollable anxiety, it +looked as if he were about to snatch the letter from her +hand.</p> + +<p>For reply she rose, walked to the grate, in which a low +wood fire was burning, and plunged the paper in among +the coals. When it was all consumed she turned and +faced Mr. Orcutt.</p> + +<p>"You must excuse me," she murmured; "but the +letter was one which I absolutely desired no one to see."</p> + +<p>But he did not seem to hear her apology. He stood +with his gaze fixed on the fire, and his hand clenched +against his heart, as if something in the fate of that +wretched sheet of paper reminded him of the love and +hope that were shrivelling up before his eyes.</p> + +<p>She saw his look and drooped her head with a sudden +low moan of mingled shame and suffering.</p> + +<p>"Am I killing <i>you?</i>" she faintly cried. "Are my +strange, wild ways driving <i>you</i> to despair? I had not +thought of that. I am so selfish, I had not thought of +that!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[248]</a></span></p> + +<p>This evidence of feeling, the first she had ever shown +him, moved Mr. Orcutt deeply. Advancing toward her, +with sudden passion, he took her by the hand.</p> + +<p>"Killing me?" he repeated. "Yes, you are killing +me. Don't you see how fast I am growing old? Don't +you see how the dust lies thick upon the books that used +to be my solace and delight? I do not understand you, +Imogene. I love you and I do not understand your +grief, or what it is that is affecting you in this terrible +way. Tell me. Let me know the nature of the forces +with which I have to contend, and I can bear all the +rest."</p> + +<p>This appeal, forced as it was from lips unused to +prayer, seemed to strike her, absorbed though she was in +her own suffering. Looking at him with real concern, she +tried to speak, but the words faltered on her tongue. +They came at last, however, and he heard her say:</p> + +<p>"I wish I could weep, if only to show you I am not +utterly devoid of womanly sympathy for an anguish I +cannot cure. But the fountain of my tears is dried at its +source. I do not think I can ever weep again. I am +condemned to tread a path of misery and despair, and +must traverse it to the end without weakness and without +help. Do not ask me why, for I can never tell you. And +do not detain me now, or try to make me talk, for I must +go where I can be alone and silent."</p> + +<p>She was slipping away, but he caught her by the wrist +and drew her back. His pain and perplexity had +reached their climax.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[249]</a></span></p> + +<p>"You must speak," he cried. "I have paltered long +enough with this matter. You must tell me what it is that +is destroying your happiness and mine."</p> + +<p>But her eyes, turning toward him, seemed to echo that +<i>must</i> in a look of disdain eloquent enough to scorn all +help from words, and in the indomitable determination of +her whole aspect he saw that he might slay her, but that +he could never make her speak.</p> + +<p>Loosing her with a gesture of despair, he turned away. +When he glanced back again she was gone.</p> + +<p>The result of this interview was naturally an increased +doubt and anxiety on his part. He could not attend to +his duties with any degree of precision, he was so haunted +by uneasy surmises as to what might have been the contents +of the letter which he had thus seen her destroy before +his eyes. As for her words, they were like her conduct, +an insolvable mystery, for which he had no key.</p> + +<p>His failure to find her at home when he returned that +night added to his alarm, especially as he remembered +the vivid thunderstorm that had deluged the town in the +afternoon. Nor, though she came in very soon and +offered both excuses and explanations for her absence, +did he experience any appreciable relief, or feel at all +satisfied that he was not threatened with some secret and +terrible catastrophe. Indeed, the air of vivid and feverish +excitement which pervaded every look of hers from +this time, making each morning and evening distinctive +in his memory as a season of fresh fear and renewed suspense,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[250]</a></span> +was enough of itself to arouse this sense of an unknown, +but surely approaching, danger. He saw she was +on the look out for some event, he knew not what, and +studied the papers as sedulously as she, in the hope of +coming upon some revelation that should lay bare the +secret of this new condition of hers. At last he thought +he had found it. Coming home one day from the court, +he called her into his presence, and, without pause or +preamble, exclaimed, with almost cruel abruptness:</p> + +<p>"An event of possible interest to you has just taken +place. The murderer of Mrs. Clemmens has just cut his +throat."</p> + +<p>He saw before he had finished the first clause that he +had struck at the very citadel of her terrors and her woe. +At the end of the second sentence he knew, beyond all +doubt now, what it was she had been fearing, if not expecting. +Yet she said not a word, and by no movement +betrayed that the steel had gone through and through her +heart.</p> + +<p>A demon—the maddening demon of jealousy—gripped +him for the first time with relentless force.</p> + +<p>"Ah, you have been looking for it?" he cried in a +choked voice. "You know this man, then—knew him, +perhaps, before the murder of Mrs. Clemmens; knew +him, and—and, perhaps, loved him?"</p> + +<p>She did not reply.</p> + +<p>He struck his forehead with his hand, as if the moment +was perfectly intolerable to him.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[251]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Answer," he cried. "Did you know Gouverneur +Hildreth or not?"</p> + +<p>"<i>Gouverneur Hildreth?</i>" Oh, the sharp surprise, the +wailing anguish of her tone! Mr. Orcutt stood amazed. +"It is not he who has made this attempt upon his life!—not +he!" she shrieked like one appalled.</p> + +<p>Perhaps because all other expression or emotion failed +him, Mr. Orcutt broke forth into a loud and harrowing +laugh. "And who else should it be?" he cried. +"What other man stands accused of having murdered +Widow Clemmens? You are mad, Imogene; you don't +know what you say or what you do."</p> + +<p>"Yes, I am mad," she repeated—"mad!" and leaned +her forehead forward on the back of a high chair beside +which she had been standing, and hid her face and struggled +with herself for a moment, while the clock went on +ticking, and the wretched surveyer of her sorrow stood +looking at her bended head like a man who does not +know whether it is he or she who is in the most danger of +losing his reason.</p> + +<p>At last a word struggled forth from between her +clasped hands.</p> + +<p>"When did it happen?" she gasped, without lifting +her head. "Tell me all about it. I think I can understand."</p> + +<p>The noted lawyer smiled a bitter smile, and spoke for +the first time, without pity and without mercy.</p> + +<p>"He has been trying for some days to effect his death.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[252]</a></span> +His arrest and the little prospect there is of his escaping +trial seem to have maddened his gentlemanly brain. +Fire-arms were not procurable, neither was poison nor a +rope, but a pewter plate is enough in the hands of a +desperate man. He broke one in two last night, and——"</p> + +<p>He paused, sick and horror-stricken. Her face had +risen upon him from the back of the chair, and was staring +upon him like that of a Medusa. Before that gaze +the flesh crept on his bones and the breath of life refused +to pass his lips. Gazing at her with rising horror, he saw +her stony lips slowly part.</p> + +<p>"Don't go on," she whispered. "I can see it all without +the help of words." Then, in a tone that seemed to +come from some far-off world of nightmare, she painfully +gasped, "Is he dead?"</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 355px;"> +<img src="images/ill03.jpg" width="355" height="600" alt=""He paused, sick and horror-stricken. Her face had risen upon him from the back of the chair, and was staring at him like that of a Medusa."—(Page 252.)" title="" /> +<span class="caption">"He paused, sick and horror-stricken. Her face had risen upon him from the back of the chair, and was staring at him like that of a Medusa."—(Page 252.)</span> +</div> + +<p>Mr. Orcutt was a man who, up to the last year, had +never known what it was to experience a real and controlling +emotion. Life with him had meant success in +public affairs, and a certain social pre-eminence that +made his presence in any place the signal of admiring +looks and respectful attentions. But let no man think +that, because his doom delays, it will never come. Passions +such as he had deprecated in others, and desires +such as he had believed impossible to himself, had seized +upon him with ungovernable power, and in this moment +especially he felt himself yielding to their sway with no +more power of resistance than a puppet experiences in the +grasp of a whirlwind. Meeting that terrible eye of hers,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[253]</a></span> +burning with an anxiety for a man he despised, and +hearing that agonized question from lips whose touch he +had never known, he experienced a sudden wild and +almost demoniac temptation to hurl back the implacable +"Yes" that he felt certain would strike her like a dead +woman to the ground. But the horrid impulse passed, +and, with a quick remembrance of the claims of honor +upon one bearing his name and owning his history, he +controlled himself with a giant resolution, and merely +dropping his eyes from an anguish he dared no longer +confront, answered, quietly:</p> + +<p>"No; he has hurt himself severely and has disfigured +his good looks for life, but he will not die; or so the +physicians think."</p> + +<p>A long, deep, shuddering sigh swept through the room.</p> + +<p>"Thank God!" came from her lips, and then all was +quiet again.</p> + +<p>He looked up in haste; he could not bear the silence.</p> + +<p>"Imogene——" he began, but instantly paused in surprise +at the change which had taken place in her expression. +"What do you intend to do?" was his quick +demand. "You look as I have never seen you look +before."</p> + +<p>"Do not ask me!" she returned. "I have no words +for what I am going to do. What <i>you</i> must do is to see +that Gouverneur Hildreth is released from prison. He +is not guilty, mind you; he never committed this crime +of which he is suspected, and in the shame of which suspicion<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[254]</a></span> +he has this day attempted his life. If he is kept +in the restraint which is so humiliating to him, and if he +dies there, it will be murder—do you hear? murder! +And he <i>will</i> die there if he is not released; I know his +feelings only too well."</p> + +<p>"But, Imogene——"</p> + +<p>"Hush! don't argue. 'Tis a matter of life and death, +I tell you. He must be released! I know," she went on, +hurriedly, "what it is you want to say. You think you +cannot do this; that the evidence is all against him; that +he went to prison of his own free will and cannot hope +for release till his guilt or innocence has been properly +inquired into. But I know you can effect his enlargement +if you will. You are a lawyer, and understand all +the crooks and turns by which a man can sometimes be +made to evade the grasp of justice. Use your knowledge. +Avail yourself of your influence with the authorities, and +I——" she paused and gave him a long, long look.</p> + +<p>He was at her side in an instant.</p> + +<p>"You would—what?" he cried, taking her hand in his +and pressing it impulsively.</p> + +<p>"I would grant you whatever you ask," she murmured, +in a weariful tone.</p> + +<p>"Would you be my wife?" he passionately inquired.</p> + +<p>"Yes," was the choked reply; "if I did not die first."</p> + +<p>He caught her to his breast in rapture. He knelt at +her side and threw his arms about her waist.</p> + +<p>"You shall not die," he cried. "You shall live and be +happy. Only marry me to-day."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[255]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Not till Gouverneur Hildreth be released," she interposed, +gently.</p> + +<p>He started as if touched by a galvanic battery, and +slowly rose up and coldly looked at her.</p> + +<p>"Do you love him so madly you would sell yourself for +his sake?" he sternly demanded.</p> + +<p>With a quick gesture she threw back her head as though +the indignant "No" that sprang to her lips would flash +out whether she would or not. But she restrained herself +in time.</p> + +<p>"I cannot answer," she returned.</p> + +<p>But he was master now—master of this dominating +spirit that had held him in check for so long a time, and +he was not to be put off.</p> + +<p>"You must answer," he sternly commanded. "I have +the right to know the extent of your feeling for this man, +and I will. Do you <i>love</i> him, Imogene Dare? Tell me, +or I here swear that I will do nothing for him, either now +or at a time when he may need my assistance more than +you know."</p> + +<p>This threat, uttered as he uttered it, could have but one +effect. Turning aside, so that he should not see the +shuddering revolt in her eyes, she mechanically whispered:</p> + +<p>"And what if I did? Would it be so very strange? +Youth admires youth, Mr. Orcutt, and Mr. Hildreth is +very handsome and very unfortunate. Do not oblige me +to say more."</p> + +<p>Mr. Orcutt, across whose face a dozen different emotions<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[256]</a></span> +had flitted during the utterance of these few words, +drew back till half the distance of the room lay between +them.</p> + +<p>"Nor do I wish to hear any more," he rejoined, slowly. +"You have said enough, quite enough. I understand +now all the past—all your terrors and all your secret +doubts and unaccountable behavior. The man you loved +was in danger, and you did not know how to manage his +release. Well, well, I am sorry for you, Imogene. I +wish I could help you. I love you passionately, and +would make you my wife in face of your affection for this +man if I could do for you what you request. But it is +impossible. Never during the whole course of my career +has a blot rested upon my integrity as a lawyer. I am +known as an honest man, and honest will I remain known to +the last. Besides, I could do nothing to effect his enlargement +if I tried. Nothing but the plainest proof that he +is innocent, or that another man is guilty, would avail +now to release him from the suspicion which his own admissions +have aroused."</p> + +<p>"Then there is no hope?" was her slow and despairing +reply.</p> + +<p>"None at present, Imogene," was his stern, almost as +despairing, answer.</p> + +<p>As Mr. Orcutt sat over his lonely hearth that evening, +a servant brought to him the following letter:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p><span class="smcap">Dear Friend</span>,—It is not fit that I should remain any longer +under your roof. I have a duty before me which separates me forever<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[257]</a></span> +from the friendship and protection of honorable men and women. +No home but such as I can provide for myself by the work of my +own hands shall henceforth shelter the disgraced head of Imogene +Dare. Her fate, whatever it may prove to be, she bears alone, and +you, who have been so kind, shall never suffer from any association +with one whose name must henceforth become the sport of the crowd, +if not the execration of the virtuous. If your generous heart rebels +at this, choke it relentlessly down. I shall be already gone when you +read these lines, and nothing you could do or say would make me +come back. Good-by, and may Heaven grant you forgetfulness of +one whose only return to your benefactions has been to make you +suffer almost as much as she suffers herself.</p></div> + +<p>As Mr. Orcutt read these last lines, District Attorney +Ferris was unsealing the anonymous missive which has +already been laid before my readers.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[258]</a></span></p> +<h2>XXI.</h2> + +<h3>HEART'S MARTYRDOM.</h3> + +<div class='poem'> +Oh that a man might know<br /> +The end of this day's business, ere it come;<br /> +But it sufficeth that the day will end,<br /> +And then the end is known!—<span class="smcap">Julius Cæsar.</span><br /> +<br /><br /></div> + + +<div class='cap'>MR. FERRIS' first impulse upon dismissing the +detectives had been to carry the note he had +received to Mr. Orcutt. But a night's careful consideration +of the subject convinced him that the wisest course +would be to follow the suggestions conveyed in the letter, +and seek a direct interview with Imogene Dare.</div> + +<p>It was not an agreeable task for him to undertake. +Miss Dare was a young lady whom he had always held in +the highest esteem. He had hoped to see her the wife +of his friend, and would have given much from his own +private stock of hope and happiness to have kept her +name free from the contumely which any association with +this dreadful crime must necessarily bring upon it. But +his position as prosecuting attorney of the county would +not allow him to consult his feelings any further in a +case of such serious import. The condition of Mr. Hildreth +was, to say the least, such as demanded the most +impartial action on the part of the public officials, and if +through any explanation of Miss Dare the one missing<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[259]</a></span> +link in the chain of evidence against another could be +supplied, it was certainly his duty to do all he could to +insure it.</p> + +<p>Accordingly at a favorable hour the next day, he made +his appearance at Mr. Orcutt's house, and learning that +Miss Dare had gone to Professor Darling's house for a +few days, followed her to her new home and requested +an interview.</p> + +<p>She at once responded to his call. Little did he think +as she came into the parlor where he sat, and with even +more than her usual calm self-possession glided down +the length of that elegant apartment to his side, that she +had just come from a small room on the top floor, where, +in the position of a hired seamstress, she had been engaged +in cutting out the wedding garments of one of the +daughters of the house.</p> + +<p>Her greeting was that of a person attempting to feign +a surprise she did not feel.</p> + +<p>"Ah," said she, "Mr. Ferris! This is an unexpected +pleasure."</p> + +<p>But Mr. Ferris had no heart for courtesies.</p> + +<p>"Miss Dare," he began, without any of the preliminaries +which might be expected of him, "I have come +upon a disagreeable errand. I have a favor to ask. You +are in the possession of a piece of information which it is +highly necessary for me to share."</p> + +<p>"I?"</p> + +<p>The surprise betrayed in this single word was no more<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[260]</a></span> +than was to be expected from a lady thus addressed, +neither did the face she turned so steadily toward him +alter under his searching gaze.</p> + +<p>"If I can tell you any thing that you wish to know," +she quietly declared, "I am certainly ready to do so, sir."</p> + +<p>Deceived by the steadiness of her tone and the straightforward +look of her eyes, he proceeded, with a sudden +releasement from his embarrassment, to say:</p> + +<p>"I shall have to recall to your mind a most painful +incident. You remember, on the morning when we met +at Mrs. Clemmens' house, claiming as your own a diamond +ring which was picked up from the floor at your feet?"</p> + +<p>"I do."</p> + +<p>"Miss Dare, was this ring really yours, or were you +misled by its appearance into merely thinking it your +property? My excuse for asking this is that the ring, if +not yours, is likely to become an important factor in the +case to which the murder of this unfortunate woman has +led."</p> + +<p>"Sir——" The pause which followed the utterance +of this one word was but momentary, but in it what faint +and final hope may have gone down into the depths of +everlasting darkness God only knows. "Sir, since you +ask me the question, I will say that in one sense of the +term it was mine, and in another it was not. The ring +was mine, because it had been offered to me as a gift the +day before. The ring was not mine, because I had +refused to take it when it was offered."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[261]</a></span></p> + +<p>At these words, spoken with such quietness they +seemed like the mechanical utterances of a woman in a +trance, Mr. Ferris started to his feet. He could no +longer doubt that evidence of an important nature lay +before him.</p> + +<p>"And may I ask," he inquired, without any idea of the +martyrdom he caused, "what was the name of the person +who offered you this ring, and from whom you refused to +take it?"</p> + +<p>"The name?" She quavered for a moment, and her +eyes flashed up toward heaven with a look of wild appeal, +as if the requirement of this moment was more than even +she had strength to meet. Then a certain terrible calm +settled upon her, blotting the last hint of feeling from her +face, and, rising up in her turn, she met Mr. Ferris' inquiring +eye, and slowly and distinctly replied:</p> + +<p>"It was Craik Mansell, sir. He is a nephew of Mrs. +Clemmens."</p> + +<p>It was the name Mr. Ferris had come there to hear, yet +it gave him a slight shock when it fell from her lips—perhaps +because his mind was still running upon her supposed +relations with Mr. Orcutt. But he did not show +his feelings, however, and calmly asked:</p> + +<p>"And was Mr. Mansell in this town the day before the +assault upon his aunt?"</p> + +<p>"He was."</p> + +<p>"And you had a conversation with him?"</p> + +<p>"I had."</p> + +<p>"May I ask where?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[262]</a></span></p> + +<p>For the first time she flushed; womanly shame had +not yet vanished entirely from her stricken breast; but +she responded as steadily as before:</p> + +<p>"In the woods, sir, back of Mrs. Clemmens' house. +There were reasons"—she paused—"there were good +reasons, which I do not feel obliged to state, why a meeting +in such a place was not discreditable to us."</p> + +<p>Mr. Ferris, who had received from other sources a full +version of the interview to which she thus alluded, experienced +a sudden revulsion of feeling against one he +could not but consider as a detected coquette; and, drawing +quickly back, made a gesture such as was not often +witnessed in those elegant apartments.</p> + +<p>"You mean," said he, with a sharp edge to his tone +that passed over her dreary soul unheeded, "that you +were lovers?"</p> + +<p>"I mean," said she, like the automaton she surely was +at that moment, "that he had paid me honorable addresses, +and that I had no reason to doubt his motives or +my own in seeking such a meeting."</p> + +<p>"Miss Dare,"—all the District Attorney spoke in the +manner of Mr. Ferris now,—"if you refused Mr. Mansell +his ring, you must have returned it to him?"</p> + +<p>She looked at him with an anguish that bespoke her +full appreciation of all this question implied, but unequivocally +bowed her head.</p> + +<p>"It was in his possession, then," he continued, "when +you left him on that day and returned to your home?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[263]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Yes," her lips seemed to say, though no distinct utterance +came from them.</p> + +<p>"And you did not see it again till you found it on +the floor of Mrs. Clemmens' dining-room the morning of +the murder?"</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>"Miss Dare," said he, with greater mildness, after a +short pause, "you have answered my somewhat painful +inquiries with a straightforwardness I cannot sufficiently +commend. If you will now add to my gratitude by telling +me whether you have informed any one else of the +important facts you have just given me, I will distress you +by no further questions."</p> + +<p>"Sir," said she, and her attitude showed that she +could endure but little more, "I have taken no one else +into my confidence. Such knowledge as I had to impart +was not matter for idle gossip."</p> + +<p>And Mr. Ferris, being thus assured that his own surmises +and that of Hickory were correct, bowed with the +respect her pale face and rigid attitude seemed to demand, +and considerately left the house.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[264]</a></span></p> +<h2>XXII.</h2> + +<h3>CRAIK MANSELL.</h3> + +<div class='center'> +Bring me unto my trial when you will.—<span class="smcap">Henry VI.</span><br /> +<br /><br /></div> + + +<div class='cap'>"HE is here."</div> + +<p>Mr. Ferris threw aside his cigar, and looked +up at Mr. Byrd, who was standing before him.</p> + +<p>"You had no difficulty, then?"</p> + +<p>"No, sir. He acted like a man in hourly expectation +of some such summons. At the very first intimation of +your desire to see him in Sibley, he rose from his desk, +with what I thought was a meaning look at Mr. Goodman, +and after a few preparations for departure, signified +he was ready to take the next train."</p> + +<p>"And did he ask no questions?"</p> + +<p>"Only one. He wished to know if I were a detective. +And when I responded 'Yes,' observed with an inquiring +look: 'I am wanted as a witness, I suppose.' A suggestion +to which I was careful to make no reply."</p> + +<p>Mr. Ferris pushed aside his writing and glanced toward +the door. "Show him in, Mr. Byrd," said he.</p> + +<p>A moment after Mr. Mansell entered the room.</p> + +<p>The District Attorney had never seen this man, and was +struck at once by the force and manliness of his appearance. +Half-rising from his seat to greet the visitor, he +said:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[265]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I have to beg your pardon, Mr. Mansell. Feeling it +quite necessary to see you, I took the liberty of requesting +you to take this journey, my own time being fully +occupied at present."</p> + +<p>Mr. Mansell bowed—a slow, self-possessed bow,—and +advancing to the table before which the District Attorney +sat, laid his hand firmly upon it and said:</p> + +<p>"No apologies are needed." Then shortly, "What is +it you want of me?"</p> + +<p>The words were almost the same as those which +had been used by Mr. Hildreth under similar circumstances, +but how different was their effect! The one was +the utterance of a weak man driven to bay, the other of +a strong one. Mr. Ferris, who was by no means of an +impressible organization, flashed a look of somewhat uneasy +doubt at Mr. Byrd, and hesitated slightly before +proceeding.</p> + +<p>"We have sent for you in this friendly way," he remarked, +at last, "in order to give you that opportunity +for explaining certain matters connected with your aunt's +sudden death which your well-known character and good +position seem to warrant. We think you can do this. At +all events I have accorded myself the privilege of so supposing; +and any words you may have to say will meet +with all due consideration. As Mrs. Clemmens' nephew, +you, of course, desire to see her murderer brought to +justice."</p> + +<p>The slightly rising inflection given to the last few<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[266]</a></span> +words made them to all intents and purposes a question, +and Mr. Byrd, who stood near by, waited anxiously for +the decided Yes which seemed the only possible reply under +the circumstances, but it did not come.</p> + +<p>Surprised, and possibly anxious, the District Attorney +repeated himself.</p> + +<p>"As her nephew," said he, "and the inheritor of +the few savings she has left behind her, you can have but +one wish on this subject, Mr. Mansell?"</p> + +<p>But this attempt succeeded no better than the first. +Beyond a slight compression of the lips, Mr. Mansell +gave no manifestation of having heard this remark, and +both Mr. Ferris and the detective found themselves forced +to wonder at the rigid honesty of a man who, whatever +death-giving blow he may have dealt, would not allow +himself to escape the prejudice of his accusers by assenting +to a supposition he and they knew to be false.</p> + +<p>Mr. Ferris did not press the question.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Mansell," he remarked instead, "a person by the +name of Gouverneur Hildreth is, as you must know, +under arrest at this time, charged with the crime of having +given the blow that led to your aunt's death. The +evidence against him is strong, and the public generally +have no doubt that his arrest will lead to trial, if not to +conviction. But, unfortunately for us, however fortunately +for him, another person has lately been found, +against whom an equal show of evidence can be raised, +and it is for the purpose of satisfying ourselves that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[267]</a></span> +it is but a show, we have requested your presence here +to-day."</p> + +<p>A spasm, vivid as it was instantaneous, distorted for a +moment the powerful features of Craik Mansell at the +words, "another person," but it was gone before the +sentence was completed; and when Mr. Ferris ceased, he +looked up with the steady calmness which made his bearing +so remarkable.</p> + +<p>"I am waiting to hear the name of this freshly +suspected person," he observed.</p> + +<p>"Cannot you imagine?" asked the District Attorney, +coldly, secretly disconcerted under a gaze that held his +own with such steady persistence.</p> + +<p>The eyeballs of the other flashed like coals of fire.</p> + +<p>"I think it is my right to hear it spoken," he returned.</p> + +<p>This display of feeling restored Mr. Ferris to himself.</p> + +<p>"In a moment, sir," said he. "Meanwhile, have you +any objections to answering a few questions I would like +to put to you?"</p> + +<p>"I will hear them," was the steady reply.</p> + +<p>"You know," said the District Attorney, "you are at +perfect liberty to answer or not, as you see fit. I have no +desire to entrap you into any acknowledgments you may +hereafter regret."</p> + +<p>"Speak," was the sole response he received.</p> + +<p>"Well, sir," said Mr. Ferris, "are you willing to tell me +where you <ins title="Transcriber's Note: original reads 'where'">were</ins> when you first heard of the assault +which had been made upon your aunt?"</p> + +<p>"I was in my place at the mill."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[268]</a></span></p> + +<p>"And—pardon me if I go too far—were you also there +the morning she was murdered?"</p> + +<p>"No, sir."</p> + +<p>"Mr. Mansell, if you could tell us where you were at +that time, it would be of great benefit to us, and possibly +to yourself."</p> + +<p>"To myself?"</p> + +<p>Having shown his surprise, or, possibly, his alarm, by +the repetition of the other's words, Craik Mansell paused +and looked slowly around the room until he encountered +Mr. Byrd's eye. There was a steady compassion in the +look he met there that seemed to strike him with great +force, for he at once replied that he was away from home, +and stopped—his glance still fixed upon Mr. Byrd, as if, +by the very power of his gaze, he would force the secrets +of that detective's soul to the surface.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Mansell," pursued the District Attorney, "a +distinct avowal on your part of the place where you were +at that time, would be best for us both, I am sure."</p> + +<p>"Do you not already know?" inquired the other, his +eye still upon Horace Byrd.</p> + +<p>"We have reason to think you were in this town," +averred Mr. Ferris, with an emphasis calculated to recall +the attention of his visitor to himself.</p> + +<p>"And may I ask," Craik Mansell quietly said, "what +reason you can have for such a supposition? No one could +have seen me here, for, till to-day I have not entered the +streets of this place since my visit to my aunt three months +ago."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[269]</a></span></p> + +<p>"It was not necessary to enter the streets of this town +to effect a visit to Mrs. Clemmens' house, Mr. Mansell."</p> + +<p>"No?"</p> + +<p>There was the faintest hint of emotion in the intonation +he gave to that one word, but it vanished before he +spoke his next sentence.</p> + +<p>"And how," asked he, "can a person pass from Sibley +Station to the door of my aunt's house without going +through the streets?"</p> + +<p>Instead of replying, Mr. Ferris inquired:</p> + +<p>"Did you get out at Sibley Station, Mr. Mansell?"</p> + +<p>But the other, with unmoved self-possession, returned:</p> + +<p>"I have not said so."</p> + +<p>"Mr. Mansell," the District Attorney now observed, +"we have no motive in deceiving or even in misleading +you. You were in this town on the morning of your +aunt's murder, and you were even in her house. Evidence +which you cannot dispute proves this, and the question +that now arises, and of whose importance we leave you to +judge, is whether you were there prior to the visit of Mr. +Hildreth, or after. Any proof you may have to show that +it was before will receive its due consideration."</p> + +<p>A change, decided as it was involuntary, took place in +the hitherto undisturbed countenance of Craik Mansell. +Leaning forward, he surveyed Mr. Ferris with great earnestness.</p> + +<p>"I asked that man," said he, pointing with a steady +forefinger at the somewhat abashed detective, "if I were<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[270]</a></span> +not wanted here simply as a witness, and he did not say +No. Now, sir," he continued, turning back with a slight +gesture of disdain to the District Attorney, "was the man +right in allowing me to believe such a fact, or was he not? +I would like an answer to my question before I proceed +further, if you please."</p> + +<p>"You shall have it, Mr. Mansell. If this man did not +answer you, it was probably because he did not feel justified +in so doing. He knew I had summoned you +here in the hope of receiving such explanations of your +late conduct as should satisfy me you had nothing to do +with your aunt's murder. The claims upon my consideration, +which are held by certain persons allied to you in +this matter"—Mr. Ferris' look was eloquent of his real +meaning here—"are my sole justification for this somewhat +unusual method of dealing with a suspected +man."</p> + +<p>A smile, bitter, oh, how bitter in its irony! traversed +the firm-set lips of Craik Mansell for a moment, then he +bowed with a show of deference to the District Attorney, +and settling into the attitude of a man willing to plead his +own cause, responded:</p> + +<p>"It would be more just, perhaps, if I first heard the +reasons you have for suspecting me, before I attempt +to advance arguments to prove the injustice of your suspicions."</p> + +<p>"Well," said Mr. Ferris, "you shall have them. If +frankness on my part can do aught to avert the terrible<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">[271]</a></span> +scandal which your arrest and its consequent developments +would cause, I am willing to sacrifice thus much to +my friendship for Mr. Orcutt. But if I do this, I shall +expect an equal frankness in return. The matter is too +serious for subterfuge."</p> + +<p>The other merely waved his hand.</p> + +<p>"The reasons," proceeded Mr. Ferris, "for considering +you a party as much open to suspicion as Mr. Hildreth, +are several. First, we have evidence to prove +your great desire for a sum of money equal to your aunt's +savings, in order to introduce an invention which you +have just patented.</p> + +<p>"Secondly, we can show that you left your home in +Buffalo the day before the assault, came to Monteith, the +next town to this, alighted at the remote station assigned +to the use of the quarrymen, crossed the hills and +threaded the woods till you came to a small hut back of +your aunt's house, where you put up for the night.</p> + +<p>"Thirdly, evidence is not lacking to prove that while +there you visited your aunt's once, if not twice; the last +time on the very morning she was killed, entering the +house in a surreptitious way by the back door, and leaving +it in the same suspicious manner.</p> + +<p>"And fourthly, we can prove that you escaped from +this place as you had come, secretly, and through a difficult +and roundabout path over the hills.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Mansell, these facts, taken with your reticence +concerning a visit so manifestly of importance to the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">[272]</a></span> +authorities to know, must strike even you as offering +grounds for a suspicion as grave as that attaching to Mr. +Hildreth."</p> + +<p>With a restraint marked as it was impressive, Mr. +Mansell looked at the District Attorney for a moment, +and then said:</p> + +<p>"You speak of proof. Now, what proof have you to +give that I put up, as you call it, for a night, or even for +an hour, in the hut which stands in the woods back of +my aunt's house?"</p> + +<p>"This," was Mr. Ferris' reply. "It is known you were +in the woods the afternoon previous to the assault upon +your aunt, because you were seen there in company with +a young lady with whom you were holding a tryst. Did +you speak, sir?"</p> + +<p>"No!" was the violent, almost disdainful, rejoinder.</p> + +<p>"You did not sleep at your aunt's, for her rooms contained +not an evidence of having been opened for a +guest, while the hut revealed more than one trace of having +been used as a dormitory. I could even tell you +where you cut the twigs of hemlock that served you for +a pillow, and point to the place where you sat when you +scribbled over the margin of the Buffalo <i>Courier</i> with a +blue pencil, such as that I now see projecting from your +vest pocket."</p> + +<p>"It is not necessary," replied the young man, heavily +frowning. Then with another short glance at Mr. Ferris, +he again demanded:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[273]</a></span></p> + +<p>"What is your reason for stating I visited my aunt's +house on the morning she was murdered? Did any one +see me do it? or does the house, like the hut, exhibit +traces of my presence there at that particular time?"</p> + +<p>There was irony in his tone, and a disdain almost +amounting to scorn in his wide-flashing blue eyes; but +Mr. Ferris, glancing at the hand clutched about the railing +of the desk, remarked quietly:</p> + +<p>"You do not wear the diamond ring you carried away +with you from the tryst I mentioned? Can it be that the +one which was picked up after the assault, on the floor of +Mrs. Clemmens' dining-room, could have fallen from your +finger, Mr. Mansell?"</p> + +<p>A start, the first this powerfully repressed man had +given, showed that his armor of resistance had been +pierced at last.</p> + +<p>"How do you know," he quickly asked, "that I carried +away a diamond ring from the tryst you speak of?"</p> + +<p>"Circumstances," returned the District Attorney, +"prove it beyond a doubt. Miss Dare——"</p> + +<p>"Miss Dare!"</p> + +<p>Oh, the indescribable tone of this exclamation! Mr. +Byrd shuddered as he heard it, and looked at Mr. Mansell +with a new feeling, for which he had no name.</p> + +<p>"Miss Dare," repeated the District Attorney, without, +apparently, regarding the interruption, "acknowledges +she returned you the ring which you endeavored at that +interview to bestow upon her."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">[274]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Ah!" The word came after a moment's pause. "I +see the case has been well worked up, and it only remains +for me to give you such explanations as I choose to make. +Sir," declared he, stepping forward, and bringing his +clenched hand down upon the desk at which Mr. Ferris +was sitting, "I did not kill my aunt. I admit that I paid +her a visit. I admit that I stayed in the woods back of her +house, and even slept in the hut, as you have said; but +that was on the day previous to her murder, and not after +it. I went to see her for the purpose of again urging the +claims of my invention upon her. I went secretly, and +by the roundabout way you describe, because I had +another purpose in visiting Sibley, which made it expedient +for me to conceal my presence in the town. I failed +in my efforts to enlist the sympathies of my aunt in regard +to my plans, and I failed also in compassing that +other desire of my heart of which the ring you mention +was a token. Both failures unnerved me, and I lay in +that hut all night. I even lay there most of the next +morning; but I did not see my aunt again, and I did not +lift my hand against her life."</p> + +<p>There was indescribable quiet in the tone, but there +was indescribable power also, and the look he levelled +upon the District Attorney was unwaveringly solemn and +hard.</p> + +<p>"You deny, then, that you entered the widow's house +on the morning of the murder?"</p> + +<p>"I do."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">[275]</a></span></p> + +<p>"It is, then, a question of veracity between you and +Miss Dare?"</p> + +<p>Silence.</p> + +<p>"She asserts she gave you back the ring you offered +her. If this is so, and that ring was in your possession +after you left her on Monday evening, how came it to be +in the widow's dining-room the next morning, if you did +not carry it there?"</p> + +<p>"I can only repeat my words," rejoined Mr. Mansell.</p> + +<p>The District Attorney replied impatiently. For various +reasons he did not wish to believe this man guilty.</p> + +<p>"You do not seem very anxious to assist me in my +endeavors to reach the truth," he observed. "Cannot +you tell me what you did with the ring after you left +Miss Dare? Whether you put it on your finger, or +thrust it into your pocket, or tossed it into the marsh? +If you did not carry it to the house, some one else must +have done so, and you ought to be able to help us in +determining who."</p> + +<p>But Mr. Mansell shortly responded:</p> + +<p>"I have nothing to say about the ring. From the +moment Miss Dare returned it to me, as you say, it was, +so far as I am concerned, a thing forgotten. I do not +know as I should ever have thought of it again, if you +had not mentioned it to me to-day. How it vanished +from my possession only to reappear upon the scene of +murder, some more clever conjurer than myself must +explain."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">[276]</a></span></p> + +<p>"And this is all you have to say, Mr. Mansell?"</p> + +<p>"This is all I have to say."</p> + +<p>"Byrd," suggested the District Attorney, after a long +pause, during which the subject of his suspicions had +stood before him as rigid and inscrutable as a statue in +bronze, "Mr. Mansell would probably like to go to the +hotel, unless, indeed, he desires to return immediately to +Buffalo."</p> + +<p>Craik Mansell at once started forward.</p> + +<p>"Do you intend to allow me to return to Buffalo?" +he asked.</p> + +<p>"Yes," was the District Attorney's reply.</p> + +<p>"You are a good man," broke involuntarily from the +other's lips, and he impulsively reached out his hand, +but as quickly drew it back with a flush of pride that +greatly became him.</p> + +<p>"I do not say," quoth Mr. Ferris, "that I exempt you +from surveillance. As prosecuting attorney of this district, +my duty is to seek out and discover the man who +murdered Mrs. Clemmens, and your explanations have +not been as full or as satisfactory as I could wish."</p> + +<p>"Your men will always find me at my desk in the +mill," said Mr. Mansell, coldly. And, with another +short bow, he left the attorney's side and went quickly +out.</p> + +<p>"That man is innocent," declared Mr. Ferris, as +Horace Byrd leaned above him in expectation of instructions +to keep watch over the departing visitor.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">[277]</a></span></p> + +<p>"The way in which he held out his hand to me spoke +volumes."</p> + +<p>The detective cast a sad glance at Craik Mansell's +retreating figure.</p> + +<p>"You could not convince Hickory of that fact," +said he.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">[278]</a></span></p> +<h2>XXIII.</h2> + +<h3>MR. ORCUTT.</h3> + +<div class='center'> +What is it she does now?—<span class="smcap">Macbeth.</span><br /> +<br /></div> + +<div class='poem'> +My resolution's plac'd, and I have nothing<br /> +Of woman in me. Now, from head to foot<br /> +I am marble—constant.—<span class="smcap">Antony and Cleopatra.</span><br /> +<br /><br /></div> + + +<div class='cap'>THESE words rang in the ears of Mr. Ferris. For +he felt himself disturbed by them. Hickory +did not believe Mr. Mansell innocent.</div> + +<p>At last he sent for that detective.</p> + +<p>"Hickory," he asked, "why do you think Mansell, +rather than Hildreth, committed this crime?"</p> + +<p>Now this query, on the part of the District Attorney, +put Hickory into a quandary. He wished to keep his +promise to Horace Byrd, and yet he greatly desired to +answer his employer's question truthfully. Without any +special sympathies of his own, he yet had an undeniable +leaning toward justice, and justice certainly demanded +the indictment of Mansell. He ended by compromising +matters.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Ferris," said he, "when you went to see Miss +Dare the other day, what did you think of her state of +mind?"</p> + +<p>"That it was a very unhappy one."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">[279]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Didn't you think more than that, sir? Didn't you +think she believed Mr. Mansell guilty of this crime?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," admitted the other, with reluctance.</p> + +<p>"If Miss Dare is attached to Mr. Mansell, she must +feel certain of his guilt to <i>offer</i> testimony against him. +Her belief should go for something, sir; for much, it +strikes me, when you consider what a woman she is."</p> + +<p>This conversation increased Mr. Ferris' uneasiness. +Much as he wished to spare the feelings of Miss Dare, +and, through her, those of his friend, Mr. Orcutt, the +conviction of Mansell's criminality was slowly gaining +ground in his mind. He remembered the peculiar manner +of the latter during the interview they had held +together; his quiet acceptance of the position of a suspected +man, and his marked reticence in regard to the +ring. Though the delicate nature of the interests involved +might be sufficient to explain his behavior in the +latter regard, his whole conduct could not be said to be +that of a disinterested man, even if it were not necessarily +that of a guilty one. In whatever way Mr. Ferris looked +at it, he could come to but one conclusion, and that was, +that justice to Hildreth called for such official attention +to the evidence which had been collected against Mansell +as should secure the indictment of that man against +whom could be brought the more convincing proof of +guilt.</p> + +<p>Not that Mr. Ferris meant, or in anywise considered it +good policy, to have Mansell arrested at this time. As<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">[280]</a></span> +the friend of Mr. Orcutt, it was manifestly advisable for +him to present whatever evidence he possessed against +Mansell directly to the Grand Jury. For in this way he +would not only save the lawyer from the pain and humiliation +of seeing the woman he so much loved called up as +a witness against the man who had successfully rivalled +him in her affections, but would run the chance, at least, +of eventually preserving from open knowledge, the various +details, if not the actual facts, which had led to this +person being suspected of crime. For the Grand Jury is +a body whose business it is to make secret inquisition into +criminal offences. Its members are bound by oath to +the privacy of their deliberations. If, therefore, they +should find the proofs presented to them by the District +Attorney insufficient to authorize an indictment against +Mansell, nothing of their proceedings would transpire. +While, on the contrary, if they decided that the evidence +was such as to oblige them to indict Mansell instead of +Hildreth, neither Mr. Orcutt nor Miss Dare could hold +the District Attorney accountable for the exposures that +must follow.</p> + +<p>The course, therefore, of Mr. Ferris was determined +upon. All the evidence in his possession against both +parties, together with the verdict of the coroner's jury, +should go at once before the Grand Jury; Mansell, in the +meantime, being so watched that a bench-warrant issuing +upon the indictment would have him safely in custody at +any moment.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">[281]</a></span></p> + +<p>But this plan for saving Mr. Orcutt's feelings did not +succeed as fully as Mr. Ferris hoped. By some means or +other the rumor got abroad that another man than Hildreth +had fallen under the suspicion of the authorities, +and one day Mr. Ferris found himself stopped on the +street by the very person he had for a week been endeavoring +to avoid.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Orcutt!" he cried, "how do you do? I did not +recognize you at first."</p> + +<p>"No?" was the sharp rejoinder. "I'm not myself +nowadays. I have a bad cold." With which impatient +explanation he seized Mr. Ferris by the arm and said: +"But what is this I hear? You have your eye on another +party suspected of being Mrs. Clemmens' murderer?"</p> + +<p>The District Attorney bowed uneasily. He had hoped +to escape the discussion of this subject with Mr. Orcutt.</p> + +<p>The lawyer observed the embarrassment his question +had caused, and instantly turned pale, notwithstanding +the hardihood which a long career at the bar had given +him.</p> + +<p>"Ferris," he pursued, in a voice he strove hard to +keep steady, "we have always been good friends, in spite +of the many tilts we have had together before the court. +Will you be kind enough to inform me if your suspicions +are founded upon evidence collected by yourself, or at +the instigation of parties professing to know more about +this murder than they have hitherto revealed?"</p> + +<p>Mr. Ferris could not fail to understand the true nature<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">[282]</a></span> +of this question, and out of pure friendship answered +quietly:</p> + +<p>"I have allowed myself to look with suspicion upon +this Mansell—for it is Mrs. Clemmens' nephew who is at +present occupying our attention,—because the facts which +have come to light in his regard are as criminating in +their nature as those which have transpired in reference +to Mr. Hildreth. The examination into this matter, +which my duty requires, has been any thing but pleasant +to me, Mr. Orcutt. The evidence of such witnesses as +will have to be summoned before the Grand Jury, is +of a character to bring open humiliation, if not secret +grief, upon persons for whom I entertain the highest +esteem."</p> + +<p>The pointed way in which this was said convinced +Mr. Orcutt that his worst fears had been realized. +Turning partly away, but not losing his hold upon +the other's arm, he observed with what quietness he +could:</p> + +<p>"You say that so strangely, I feel forced to put +another question to you. If what I have to ask strikes +you with any surprise, remember that my own astonishment +and perplexity at being constrained to interrogate +you in this way, are greater than any sensation you can +yourself experience. What I desire to know is this. +Among the witnesses you have collected against this +last suspected party, there are some women, are there +not?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">[283]</a></span></p> + +<p>The District Attorney gravely bowed.</p> + +<p>"Ferris, is Miss Dare amongst them?"</p> + +<p>"Orcutt, she is."</p> + +<p>With a look that expressed his secret mistrust the +lawyer gave way to a sudden burst of feeling.</p> + +<p>"Ferris," he wrathfully acknowledged, "I may be a +fool, but I don't see what she can have to say on this +subject. It is impossible she should know any thing +about the murder; and, as for this Mansell——" He +made a violent gesture with his hand, as if the very idea +of her having any acquaintance with the nephew of Mrs. +Clemmens were simply preposterous.</p> + +<p>The District Attorney, who saw from this how utterly +ignorant the other was concerning Miss Dare's relations +to the person named, felt his embarrassment increase.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Orcutt," he replied, "strange as it may appear +to you, Miss Dare <i>has</i> testimony to give of value to the +prosecution, or she would not be reckoned among its +witnesses. What that testimony is, I must leave to her +discretion to make known to you, as she doubtless will, +if you question her with sufficient consideration. I +never forestall matters myself, nor would you wish me to +tell you what would more becomingly come from her +own lips. But, Mr. Orcutt, this I can say: that if it had +been given me to choose between the two alternatives of +resigning my office and of pursuing an inquiry which +obliges me to submit to the unpleasantness of a judicial +investigation a person held in so much regard by yourself,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">[284]</a></span> +I would have given up my office with pleasure, so +keenly do I feel the embarrassment of my position and +the unhappiness of yours. But any mere resignation on +my part would have availed nothing to save Miss Dare +from appearing before the Grand Jury. The evidence +she has to give in this matter makes the case against +Mansell as strong as that against Hildreth, and it would +be the duty of any public prosecutor to recognize the +fact and act accordingly."</p> + +<p>Mr. Orcutt, who had by the greatest effort succeeded +in calming himself through this harangue, flashed sarcastically +at this last remark, and surveyed Mr. Ferris with +a peculiar look.</p> + +<p>"Are you sure," he inquired in a slow, ironical tone, +"that she has not succeeded in making it stronger?"</p> + +<p>The look, the tone, were unexpected, and greatly +startled Mr. Ferris. Drawing nearer to his friend, he +returned his gaze with marked earnestness.</p> + +<p>"What do you mean?" he asked, with secret anxiety.</p> + +<p>But the wary lawyer had already repented this unwise +betrayal of his own doubts. Meeting his companion's +eye with a calmness that amazed himself, he remarked, +instead of answering:</p> + +<p>"It was through Miss Dare, then, that your attention +was first drawn to Mrs. Clemmens' nephew?"</p> + +<p>"No," disclaimed Mr. Ferris, hastily. "The detectives +already had their eyes upon him. But a hint from +her went far toward determining me upon pursuing the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">[285]</a></span> +matter," he allowed, seeing that his friend was determined +upon hearing the truth.</p> + +<p>"So then," observed the other, with a stern dryness +that recalled his manner at the bar, "she opened a communication +with you herself?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>It was enough. Mr. Orcutt dropped the arm of Mr. +Ferris, and, with his usual hasty bow, turned shortly +away. The revelation which he believed himself to have +received in this otherwise far from satisfactory interview, +was one that he could not afford to share—that is, not +yet; not while any hope remained that circumstances +would so arrange themselves as to make it unnecessary +for him to do so. If Imogene Dare, out of her insane desire +to free Gouverneur Hildreth from the suspicion that +oppressed him, had resorted to perjury and invented evidence +tending to show the guilt of another party—and +remembering her admissions at their last interview and +the language she had used in her letter of farewell, no +other conclusion offered itself,—what alternative was left +him but to wait till he had seen her before he proceeded +to an interference that would separate her from himself +by a gulf still greater than that which already existed between +them? To be sure, the jealousy which consumed +him, the passionate rage that seized his whole being when +he thought of all she dared do for the man she loved, +or that he thought she loved, counselled him to nip this +attempt of hers in the bud, and by means of a word to Mr.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286">[286]</a></span> +Ferris throw such a doubt upon her veracity as a witness +against this new party as should greatly influence the action +of the former in the critical business he had in hand. +But Mr. Orcutt, while a prey to unwonted passions, had +not yet lost control of his reason, and reason told him +that impulse was an unsafe guide for him to follow at this +time. Thought alone—deep and concentrated thought—would +help him out of this crisis with honor and safety. +But thought would not come at call. In all his quick +walk home but one mad sentence formulated itself in his +brain, and that was: "She loves him so, she is willing to +perjure herself for his sake!" Nor, though he entered +his door with his usual bustling air and went through all +the customary observances of the hour with an appearance +of no greater abstraction and gloom than had characterized +him ever since the departure of Miss Dare, no +other idea obtruded itself upon his mind than this: "She +loves him so, she is willing to perjure herself for his +sake!"</p> + +<p>Even the sight of his books, his papers, and all that +various paraphernalia of work and study which gives +character to a lawyer's library, was insufficient to restore +his mind to its usual condition of calm thought and accurate +judgment. Not till the clock struck eight and he +found himself almost without his own volition at Professor +Darling's house, did he realize all the difficulties of +his position and the almost intolerable nature of the +undertaking which had been forced upon him by the +exigencies of the situation.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287">[287]</a></span></p> + +<p>Miss Dare, who had refused to see him at first, came +into his presence with an expression that showed him with +what reluctance she had finally responded to his peremptory +message. But in the few heavy moments he had +been obliged to wait, he had schooled himself to expect +coldness if not absolute rebuff. He therefore took no +heed of the haughty air of inquiry which she turned upon +him, but came at once to the point, saying almost before +she had closed the door:</p> + +<p>"What is this you have been doing, Imogene?"</p> + +<p>A flush, such as glints across the face of a marble +statue, visited for a moment the still whiteness of her set +features, then she replied:</p> + +<p>"Mr. Orcutt, when I left your house I told you I had +a wretched and unhappy duty to perform, that, when +once accomplished, would separate us forever. I have +done it, and the separation has come; why attempt to +bridge it?"</p> + +<p>There was a sad weariness in her tone, a sad weariness +in her face, but he seemed to recognize neither. The +demon jealousy—that hindrance to all unselfish feeling—had +gripped him again, and the words that came to his +lips were at once bitter and masterful.</p> + +<p>"Imogene," he cried, with as much wrath in his tone +as he had ever betrayed in her presence, "you do not +answer my question. I ask you what you have been +doing, and you reply, your duty. Now, what do you +mean by duty? Tell me at once and distinctly, for I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288">[288]</a></span> +will no longer be put off by any roundabout phrases concerning +a matter of such vital importance."</p> + +<p>"Tell you?" This repetition of his words had a +world of secret anguish in it which he could not help but +notice. She did not succumb to it, however, but continued +in another moment: "You said to me, in the last +conversation we held together, that Gouverneur Hildreth +could not be released from his terrible position without a +distinct proof of innocence or the advancement of such +evidence against another as should turn suspicion aside +from him into a new and more justifiable quarter. I +could not, any more than he, give a distinct proof of his +innocence; but I could furnish the authorities with testimony +calculated to arouse suspicion in a fresh direction, +and I did it. For Gouverneur Hildreth had to be saved +at any price—<i>at any price</i>."</p> + +<p>The <ins title="Transcriber's Note: original reads 'desparing'">despairing</ins> emphasis she laid upon the last phrase +went like hot steel to Mr. Orcutt's heart, and made his +eyes blaze with almost uncontrollable passion.</p> + +<p>"<i>Je ne vois pas la necessité</i>," said he, in that low, restrained +tone of bitter sarcasm which made his invective +so dreaded by opposing counsel. "If Gouverneur Hildreth +finds himself in an unfortunate position, he has +only his own follies and inordinate desire for this woman's +death to thank for it. Because you love him and compassionate +him beyond all measure, that is no reason why +you should perjure yourself, and throw the burden of his +shame upon a man as innocent as Mr. Mansell."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_289" id="Page_289">[289]</a></span></p> + +<p>But this tone, though it had made many a witness quail +before it, neither awed nor intimidated her.</p> + +<p>"You—you do not understand," came from her white +lips. "It is Mr. Hildreth who is perfectly innocent, and +not——" But here she paused. "You will excuse me +from saying more," she said. "You, as a lawyer, ought +to know that I should not be compelled to speak on a +subject like this except under oath."</p> + +<p>"Imogene!" A change had passed over Mr. Orcutt. +"Imogene, do you mean to affirm that you really have +charges to make against Craik Mansell; that this evidence +you propose to give is real, and not manufactured for the +purpose of leading suspicion aside from Hildreth?"</p> + +<p>It was an insinuation against her veracity he never +could have made, or she have listened to, a few weeks before; +but the shield of her pride was broken between +them, and neither he nor she seemed to give any thought +to the reproach conveyed in these words.</p> + +<p>"What I have to say is the truth," she murmured. +"I have not manufactured any thing."</p> + +<p>With an astonishment he took no pains to conceal, Mr. +Orcutt anxiously surveyed her. He could not believe +this was so, yet how could he convict her of falsehood in +face of that suffering expression of resolve which she +wore. His methods as a lawyer came to his relief.</p> + +<p>"Imogene," he slowly responded, "if, as you say, you +are in possession of positive evidence against this Mansell, +how comes it that you jeopardized the interests of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_290" id="Page_290">[290]</a></span> +man you loved by so long withholding your testimony?"</p> + +<p>But instead of the flush of confusion which he expected, +she flashed upon him with a sudden revelation of +feeling that made him involuntarily start.</p> + +<p>"Shall I tell you?" she replied. "You will have to +know some time, and why not now? I kept back the +truth," she replied, advancing a step, but without raising +her eyes to his, "because it is not the aspersed Hildreth +that I love, but——"</p> + +<p>Why did she pause? What was it she found so hard +to speak? Mr. Orcutt's expression became terrible.</p> + +<p>"But the other," she murmured at last.</p> + +<p>"The other!"</p> + +<p>It was now her turn to start and look at him in surprise, +if not in some fear.</p> + +<p>"What other?" he cried, seizing her by the hand. +"Name him. I will have no further misunderstanding +between us."</p> + +<p>"Is it necessary?" she asked, with bitterness. "Will +Heaven spare me nothing?" Then, as she saw no relenting +in the fixed gaze that held her own, whispered, in +a hollow tone: "You have just spoken the name yourself—Craik +Mansell."</p> + +<p>"Ah!"</p> + +<p>Incredulity, anger, perplexity, all the emotions that +were seething in this man's troubled soul, spoke in that +simple exclamation. Then silence settled upon the room,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_291" id="Page_291">[291]</a></span> +during which she gained control over herself, and he the +semblance of it if no more. She was the first to speak.</p> + +<p>"I know," said she, "that this avowal on my part +seems almost incredible to you; but it is no more so than +that which you so readily received from me the other day +in reference to Gouverneur Hildreth. A woman who +spends a month away from home makes acquaintances +which she does not always mention when she comes +back. I saw Mr. Mansell in Buffalo, and——" turning, +she confronted the lawyer with her large gray eyes, in +which a fire burned such as he had never seen there +before—"and grew to esteem him," she went on. "For +the first time in my life I found myself in the presence of +a man whose nature commanded mine. His ambition, +his determination, his unconventional and forcible character +woke aspirations within me such as I had never +known myself capable of before. Life, which had +stretched out before me with a somewhat monotonous +outlook, changed to a panorama of varied and wonderful +experiences, as I listened to his voice and met the glance +of his eye; and soon, before he knew it, and certainly +before I realized it, words of love passed between us, and +the agony of that struggle began which has ended—— Ah, +let me not think how, or I shall go mad!"</p> + +<p>Mr. Orcutt, who had watched her with a lover's fascination +during all this attempted explanation, shivered +for a moment at this last bitter cry of love and despair, +but spoke up when he did speak, with a coldness that +verged on severity.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_292" id="Page_292">[292]</a></span></p> + +<p>"So you loved another man when you came back to +my home and listened to the words of passion which +came from <i>my</i> lips, and the hopes of future bliss and +happiness that welled up from <i>my</i> heart?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," she whispered, "and, as you will remember, I +tried to suppress those hopes and turn a deaf ear to those +words, though I had but little prospect of marrying a +man whose fortunes depended upon the success of an invention +he could persuade no one to believe in."</p> + +<p>"Yet you brought yourself to listen to those hopes on +the afternoon of the murder," he suggested, ironically.</p> + +<p>"Can you blame me for that?" she cried, "remembering +how you pleaded, and what a revulsion of feeling I +was laboring under?"</p> + +<p>A smile bitter as the fate which loomed before him, +and scornful as the feelings that secretly agitated his +breast, parted Mr. Orcutt's pale lips for an instant, and +he seemed about to give utterance to some passionate rejoinder, +but he subdued himself with a determined effort, +and quietly waiting till his voice was under full control, +remarked with lawyer-like brevity at last:</p> + +<p>"You have not told me what evidence you have to +give against young Mansell?"</p> + +<p>Her answer came with equal brevity if not equal +quietness.</p> + +<p>"No; I have told Mr. Ferris; is not that enough?"</p> + +<p>But he did not consider it so. "Ferris is a District +Attorney," said he, "and has demanded your confidence<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_293" id="Page_293">[293]</a></span> +for the purposes of justice, while I am your friend. The +action you have taken is peculiar, and you may need +advice. But how can I give it or how can you receive it +unless there is a complete understanding between us?"</p> + +<p>Struck in spite of herself, moved perhaps by a hope she +had not allowed herself to contemplate before, she looked +at him long and earnestly.</p> + +<p>"And do you really wish to help me?" she inquired. +"Are you so generous as to forgive the pain, and possibly +the humiliation, I have inflicted upon you, and lend +me your assistance in case my testimony works its due +effect, and he be brought to trial instead of Mr. Hildreth?"</p> + +<p>It was a searching and a pregnant question, for which +Mr. Orcutt was possibly not fully prepared, but his newly +gained control did not give way.</p> + +<p>"I must insist upon hearing the facts before I say any +thing of my intentions," he averred. "Whatever they +may be, they cannot be more startling in their character +than those which have been urged against Hildreth."</p> + +<p>"But they are," she whispered. Then with a quick +look around her, she put her mouth close to Mr. Orcutt's +ear and breathed:</p> + +<p>"Mr. Hildreth is not the only man who, unseen by the +neighbors, visited Mrs. Clemmens' house on the morning +of the murder. Craik Mansell was there also."</p> + +<p>"Craik Mansell! How do you know that? Ah," he +pursued, with the scornful intonation of a jealous man, +"I forgot that you are lovers."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_294" id="Page_294">[294]</a></span></p> + +<p>The sneer, natural as it was, perhaps, seemed to go to +her heart and wake its fiercest indignation.</p> + +<p>"Hush," cried she, towering upon him with an ominous +flash of her proud eye. "Do not turn the knife in +<i>that</i> wound or you will seal my lips forever." And she +moved hastily away from his side. But in another instant +she determinedly returned, saying: "This is no +time for indulging in one's sensibilities. I affirm that +Craik Mansell visited his aunt on that day, because the +ring which was picked up on the floor of her dining-room—you +remember the ring, Mr. Orcutt?"</p> + +<p>Remember it! Did he not? All his many perplexities +in its regard crowded upon him as he made a hurried bow +of acquiescence.</p> + +<p>"It belonged to him," she continued. "He had +bought it for me, or, rather, had had the diamond reset +for me—it had been his mother's. Only the day before, +he had tried to put it on my finger in a meeting we had +in the woods back of his aunt's house. But I refused to +allow him. The prospect ahead was too dismal and unrelenting +for us to betroth ourselves, whatever our hopes +or wishes might be."</p> + +<p>"You—you had a meeting with this man in the woods +the day before his aunt was assaulted," echoed Mr. Orcutt, +turning upon her with an amazement that swallowed +up his wrath.</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"And he afterward visited her house?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_295" id="Page_295">[295]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"And dropped that ring there?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>Starting slowly, as if the thoughts roused by this short +statement of facts were such as demanded instant consideration, +Mr. Orcutt walked to the other side of the +room, where he paced up and down in silence for some +minutes. When he returned it was the lawyer instead of +the lover who stood before her.</p> + +<p>"Then, it was the simple fact of finding this gentleman's +ring on the floor of Mrs. Clemmens' dining-room +that makes you consider him the murderer of his aunt?" +he asked, with a tinge of something like irony in his +tone.</p> + +<p>"No," she breathed rather than answered. "That +was a proof, of course, that he had been there, but I +should never have thought of it as an evidence of guilt +if the woman herself had not uttered, in our hearing +that tell-tale exclamation of 'Ring and Hand,' and if, in +the talk I held with Mr. Mansell the day before, he had +not betrayed—— Why do you stop me?" she whispered.</p> + +<p>"I did not stop you," he hastily assured her. "I am +too anxious to hear what you have to say. Go on, Imogene. +What did this Mansell betray? I—I ask as a +father might," he added, with some dignity and no little +effort.</p> + +<p>But her fears had taken alarm, or her caution been +aroused, and she merely said:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_296" id="Page_296">[296]</a></span></p> + +<p>"The five thousand dollars which his aunt leaves him +is just the amount he desired to start him in life."</p> + +<p>"Did he wish such an amount?" Mr. Orcutt asked.</p> + +<p>"Very much."</p> + +<p>"And acknowledged it in the conversation he had with +you?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"Imogene," declared the lawyer, "if you do not want +to insure Mr. Mansell's indictment, I would suggest to +you not to lay too great stress upon any <i>talk</i> you may +have held with him."</p> + +<p>But she cried with unmoved sternness, and a relentless +crushing down of all emotion that was at once amazing +and painful to see:</p> + +<p>"The innocent is to be saved from the gallows, no +matter what the fate of the guilty may be."</p> + +<p>And a short but agitated silence followed which Mr. +Orcutt broke at last by saying:</p> + +<p>"Are these all the facts you have to give me?"</p> + +<p>She started, cast him a quick look, bowed her head, +and replied:</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>There was something in the tone of this assertion that +made him repeat his question.</p> + +<p>"Are these <i>all</i> the facts you have to give me?"</p> + +<p>Her answer came ringing and emphatic now.</p> + +<p>"Yes," she avowed—"all."</p> + +<p>With a look of relief, slowly smoothing out the deep<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_297" id="Page_297">[297]</a></span> +furrows of his brow, Mr. Orcutt, for the second time, +walked thoughtfully away in evident consultation with his +own thoughts. This time he was gone so long, the suspense +became almost intolerable to Imogene. Feeling +that she could endure it no longer, she followed him at +last, and laid her hand upon his arm.</p> + +<p>"Speak," she impetuously cried. "Tell me what you +think; what I have to expect."</p> + +<p>But he shook his head.</p> + +<p>"Wait," he returned; "wait till the Grand Jury has +brought in a bill of indictment. It will, doubtless, be +against one of these two men; but I must know which, +before I can say or do any thing."</p> + +<p>"And do you think there can be any doubt about +which of these two it will be?" she inquired, with sudden +emotion.</p> + +<p>"There is always doubt," he rejoined, "about any thing +or every thing a body of men may do. This is a very +remarkable case, Imogene," he resumed, with increased +sombreness; "the most remarkable one, perhaps, that +has ever come under my observation. What the Grand +Jury will think of it; upon which party, Mansell or Hildreth, +the weight of their suspicion will fall, neither I nor +Ferris, nor any other man, can prophesy with any assurance. +The evidence against both is, in so far as we know, +entirely circumstantial. That you believe Mr. Mansell +to be the guilty party——"</p> + +<p>"Believe!" she murmured; "I know it."</p> + +<p>"That you <i>believe</i> him to be the guilty party," the wary<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_298" id="Page_298">[298]</a></span> +lawyer pursued, as if he had not heard her "does not +imply that they will believe it too. Hildreth comes of a +bad stock, and his late attempt at suicide tells wonderfully +against him; yet, the facts you have to give in +Mansell's disfavor are strong also, and Heaven only +knows what the upshot will be. However, a few weeks +will determine all that, and then——" Pausing, he +looked at her, and, as he did so, the austerity and self-command +of the lawyer vanished out of sight, and the +passionate gleam of a fierce and overmastering love +shone again in his eyes. "And then," he cried, "then +we will see what Tremont Orcutt can do to bring order +out of this chaos."</p> + +<p>There was so much resolve in his look, such a hint of +promise in his tone, that she flushed with something +almost akin to hope.</p> + +<p>"Oh, generous——" she began.</p> + +<p>But he stopped her before she could say more.</p> + +<p>"Wait," he repeated; "wait till we see what action +will be taken by the Grand Jury." And taking her hand, +he looked earnestly, if not passionately, in her face. +"Imogene," he commenced, "if I should succeed——" +But there he himself stopped short with a quick recalling +of his own words, perhaps. "No," he cried, "I will say +no more till we see which of these two men is to be +brought to trial." And, pressing her hand to his lips, he +gave her one last look in which was concentrated all the +secret passions which had been called forth by this hour, +and hastily left the room.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_299" id="Page_299">[299]</a></span></p> +<h2>XXIV.</h2> + +<h3>A TRUE BILL.</h3> + +<div class='poem'> +Come to me, friend or foe,<br /> +And tell me who is victor, York or Warwick.—<span class="smcap">Henry VI.</span><br /> +<br /><br /></div> + + +<div class='cap'>THE town of Sibley was in a state of excitement. +About the court-house especially the crowd was +great and the interest manifested intense. The Grand +Jury was in session, and the case of the Widow Clemmens +was before it.</div> + +<p>As all the proceedings of this body are private, the +suspense of those interested in the issue was naturally +very great. The name of the man lastly suspected of the +crime had transpired, and both Hildreth and Mansell +had their partisans, though the mystery surrounding the +latter made his friends less forward in asserting his innocence +than those of the more thoroughly understood Hildreth. +Indeed, the ignorance felt on all sides as to the +express reasons for associating the name of Mrs. Clemmens' +nephew with his aunt's murder added much to the +significance of the hour. Conjectures were plenty and +the wonder great, but the causes why this man, or any +other, should lie under a suspicion equal to that raised +against Hildreth at the inquest was a mystery that none +could solve.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_300" id="Page_300">[300]</a></span></p> + +<p>But what is the curiosity of the rabble to us? Our interest +is in a little room far removed from this scene of +excitement, where the young daughter of Professor +Darling kneels by the side of Imogene Dare, striving by +caress and entreaty to win a word from her lips or a +glance from her heavy eyes.</p> + +<p>"Imogene," she pleaded,—"Imogene, what is this +terrible grief? Why did you have to go to the court-house +this morning with papa, and why have you been +almost dead with terror and misery ever since you got +back? Tell me, or I shall perish of mere fright. For +weeks now, ever since you were so good as to help me +with my wedding-clothes, I have seen that something +dreadful was weighing upon your mind, but this which +you are suffering now is awful; this I cannot bear. Cannot +you speak dear? Words will do you good."</p> + +<p>"Words!"</p> + +<p>Oh, the despair, the bitterness of that single exclamation! +Miss Darling drew back in dismay. As if released, +Imogene rose to her feet and surveyed the sweet and ingenuous +countenance uplifted to her own, with a look of +faint recognition of the womanly sympathy it conveyed.</p> + +<p>"Helen," she resumed, "you are happy. Don't stay +here with me, but go where there are cheerfulness and +hope."</p> + +<p>"But I cannot while you suffer so. I love you, +Imogene. Would you drive me away from your side +when you are so unhappy? You don't care for me as I +do for you or you could not do it."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_301" id="Page_301">[301]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Helen!" The deep tone made the sympathetic little +bride-elect quiver. "Helen, some griefs are best +borne alone. Only a few hours now and I shall know +the worst. Leave me."</p> + +<p>But the gentle little creature was not to be driven away. +She only clung the closer and pleaded the more earnestly:</p> + +<p>"Tell me, tell me!"</p> + +<p>The reiteration of this request was too much for the +pallid woman before her. Laying her two hands on the +shoulders of this child, she drew back and looked her earnestly +in the face.</p> + +<p>"Helen," she cried, "what do you know of earthly +anguish? A petted child, the favorite of happy fortune, +you have been kept from evil as from a blight. None of +the annoyances of life have been allowed to enter +your path, much less its griefs and sins. Terror with you +is but a name, remorse an unknown sensation. Even +your love has no depths in it such as suffering gives. Yet, +since you do love, and love well, perhaps you can understand +something of what a human soul can endure who +sees its only hope and only love tottering above a gulf +too horrible for words to describe—a gulf, too, which her +own hand—— But no, I cannot tell you. I overrated +my strength. I——"</p> + +<p>She sank back, but the next moment started again to +her feet: a servant had opened the door.</p> + +<p>"What is it!" she exclaimed; "speak, tell me."</p> + +<p>"Only a gentleman to see you, miss."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_302" id="Page_302">[302]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Only a——" But she stopped in that vain repetition +of the girl's simple words, and looked at her as if she +would force from her lips the name she had not the courage +to demand; but, failing to obtain it, turned away to +the glass, where she quietly smoothed her hair and adjusted +the lace at her throat, and then catching sight of +the tear-stained face of Helen, stooped and gave her a +kiss, after which she moved mechanically to the door and +went down those broad flights, one after one, till she came +to the parlor, when she went in and encountered—Mr. +Orcutt.</p> + +<p>A glance at his face told her all she wanted to know.</p> + +<p>"Ah!" she gasped, "it is then——"</p> + +<p>"Mansell!"</p> + +<p>It was five minutes later. Imogene leaned against the +window where she had withdrawn herself at the utterance +of that one word. Mr. Orcutt stood a couple of paces +behind her.</p> + +<p>"Imogene," said he, "there is a question I would like +to have you answer."</p> + +<p>The feverish agitation expressed in his tone made her +look around.</p> + +<p>"Put it," she mechanically replied.</p> + +<p>But he did not find it easy to do this, while her eyes +rested upon him in such despair. He felt, however, that +the doubt in his mind must be satisfied at all hazards; so +choking down an emotion that was almost as boundless as +her own, he ventured to ask:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_303" id="Page_303">[303]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Is it among the possibilities that you could ever +again contemplate giving yourself in marriage to Craik +Mansell, no matter what the issue of the coming trial may +be?"</p> + +<p>A shudder quick and powerful as that which follows the +withdrawal of a dart from an agonizing wound shook her +whole frame for a moment, but she answered, steadily:</p> + +<p>"No; how can you ask, Mr. Orcutt?"</p> + +<p>A gleam of relief shot across his somewhat haggard +features.</p> + +<p>"Then," said he, "it will be no treason in me to assure +you that never has my love been greater for you than to-day. +That to save you from the pain which you are suffering, +I would sacrifice every thing, even my pride. If, +therefore, there is any kindness I can show you, any deed +I can perform for your sake, I am ready to attempt it, +Imogene.</p> + +<p>"Would you—" she hesitated, but gathered courage +as she met his eye—"would you be willing to go to him +with a message from me?"</p> + +<p>His glance fell and his lips took a line that startled +Imogene, but his answer, though given with bitterness +was encouraging.</p> + +<p>"Yes," he returned; "even that."</p> + +<p>"Then," she cried, "tell him that to save the innocent, +I had to betray the guilty, but in doing this I did not +spare myself; that whatever his doom may be, I shall +share it, even though it be that of death."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_304" id="Page_304">[304]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Imogene!"</p> + +<p>"Will you tell him?" she asked.</p> + +<p>But he would not have been a man, much less a lover, +if he could answer that question now. Seizing her by the +arm, he looked her wildly in the face.</p> + +<p>"Do you mean to kill yourself?" he demanded.</p> + +<p>"I feel I shall not live," she gasped, while her hand +went involuntarily to her heart.</p> + +<p>He gazed at her in horror.</p> + +<p>"And if he is cleared?" he hoarsely ejaculated.</p> + +<p>"I—I shall try to endure my fate."</p> + +<p>He gave her another long, long look.</p> + +<p>"So this is the alternative you give me?" he bitterly +exclaimed. "I must either save this man or see you +perish. Well," he declared, after a few minutes' further +contemplation of her face, "I will save this man—that is, +if he will allow me to do so."</p> + +<p>A flash of joy such as he had not perceived on her +countenance for weeks transformed its marble-like severity +into something of its pristine beauty.</p> + +<p>"And you will take him my message also?" she cried.</p> + +<p>But to this he shook his head.</p> + +<p>"If I am to approach him as a lawyer willing to undertake +his cause, don't you see I can give him no such +message as that?"</p> + +<p>"Ah, yes, yes. But you can tell him Imogene Dare +has risked her own life and happiness to save the innocent."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_305" id="Page_305">[305]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I will tell him whatever I can to show your pity and +your misery."</p> + +<p>And she had to content herself with this. In the light +of the new hope that was thus unexpectedly held out to +her, it did not seem so difficult. Giving Mr. Orcutt her +hand, she endeavored to thank him, but the reaction from +her long suspense was too much, and, for the first time +in her brave young life, Imogene lost consciousness and +fainted quite away.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_306" id="Page_306">[306]</a></span></p> +<h2>XXV.</h2> + +<h3>AMONG TELESCOPES AND CHARTS.</h3> + +<div class='center'> +Tarry a little—there is something else.—<span class="smcap">Merchant of Venice.</span><br /> +<br /><br /></div> + + +<div class='cap'>GOUVERNEUR HILDRETH was discharged +and Craik Mansell committed to prison to await +his trial.</div> + +<p>Horace Byrd, who no longer had any motive for remaining +in Sibley, had completed all his preparations to +return to New York. His valise was packed, his adieus +made, and nothing was left for him to do but to step +around to the station, when he bethought him of a certain +question he had not put to Hickory.</p> + +<p>Seeking him out, he propounded it.</p> + +<p>"Hickory," said he, "have you ever discovered in the +course of your inquiries where Miss Dare was on the +morning of the murder?"</p> + +<p>The stalwart detective, who was in a very contented +frame of mind, answered up with great cheeriness:</p> + +<p>"Haven't I, though! It was one of the very first +things I made sure of. She was at Professor Darling's +house on Summer Avenue."</p> + +<p>"At Professor Darling's house?" Mr. Byrd felt a +sensation of dismay. Professor Darling's house was, as +you remember, in almost direct communication with<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_307" id="Page_307">[307]</a></span> +Mrs. Clemmens' cottage by means of a path through the +woods. As Mr. Byrd recalled his first experience in +threading those woods, and remembered with what suddenness +he had emerged from them only to find himself +in full view of the West Side and Professor Darling's +spacious villa, he stared uneasily at his colleague and +said:</p> + +<p>"It is train time, Hickory, but I cannot help that. +Before I leave this town I must know just what she was +doing on that morning, and whom she was with. Can +you find out?"</p> + +<p>"<i>Can I find out?</i>"</p> + +<p>The hardy detective was out of the door before the +last word of this scornful repetition had left his lips.</p> + +<p>He was gone an hour. When he returned he looked +very much excited.</p> + +<p>"Well!" he ejaculated, breathlessly, "I have had an +experience."</p> + +<p>Mr. Byrd gave him a look, saw something he did not +like in his face, and moved uneasily in his chair.</p> + +<p>"You have?" he retorted. "What is it? Speak."</p> + +<p>"Do you know," the other resumed, "that the hardest +thing I ever had to do was to keep my head down in the +hut the other day, and deny myself a look at the woman +who could bear herself so bravely in the midst of a scene +so terrible. Well," he went on, "I have to-day been rewarded +for my self-control. I have seen Miss Dare."</p> + +<p>Horace Byrd could scarcely restrain his impatience.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_308" id="Page_308">[308]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Where?" he demanded. "How? Tell a fellow, +can't you?"</p> + +<p>"I am going to," protested Hickory. "Cannot you +wait a minute? <i>I</i> had to wait forty. Well," he continued +more pleasantly as he saw the other frown, "I +went to Professor Darling's. There is a girl there I have +talked to before, and I had no difficulty in seeing her or +getting a five minutes' chat with her at the back-gate. +Odd how such girls will talk! She told me in three +minutes all I wanted to know. Not that it was so much, +only——"</p> + +<p>"Do get on," interrupted Mr. Byrd. "When did Miss +Dare come to the house on the morning Mrs. Clemmens +was murdered, and what did she do while there?"</p> + +<p>"She came early; by ten o'clock or so, I believe, and +she sat, if she did sit, in an observatory they have at the +top of the house: a place where she often used to go, I +am told, to study astronomy with Professor Darling's +oldest daughter."</p> + +<p>"And was Miss Darling with her that morning? Did +they study together all the time she was in the house?"</p> + +<p>"No; that is, the girl said no one went up to the observatory +with Miss Dare; that Miss Darling did not +happen to be at home that day, and Miss Dare had to +study alone. Hearing this," pursued Hickory, answering +the look of impatience in the other's face, "I had a +curiosity to interview the observatory, and being—well, +not a clumsy fellow at softsoaping a girl—I at last succeeded<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_309" id="Page_309">[309]</a></span> +in prevailing upon her to take me up. Byrd, will +you believe me when I tell you that we did it without going +into the house?"</p> + +<p>"What?"</p> + +<p>"I mean," corrected the other, "without entering the +main part of the building. The professor's house has a +tower, you know, at the upper angle toward the woods, +and it is in the top of that tower he keeps his telescopes +and all that kind of thing. The tower has a special +staircase of its own. It is a spiral one, and opens on +a door below that connects directly with the garden. +We went up these stairs."</p> + +<p>"You dared to?"</p> + +<p>"Yes; the girl assured me every one was out of the +house but the servants, and I believed her. We went up +the stairs, entered the observatory——"</p> + +<p>"It is not kept locked, then?"</p> + +<p>"It was not locked to-day—saw the room, which is a +curious one—glanced out over the view, which is well +worth seeing, and then——"</p> + +<p>"Well, what?"</p> + +<p>"I believe I stood still and asked the girl a question or +two more. I inquired," he went on, deprecating the +other's impatience by a wave of his nervous hand, "when +Miss Dare came down from this place on the morning +you remember. She answered that she couldn't quite +tell; that she wouldn't have remembered any thing about +it at all, only that Miss Tremaine came to the house that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_310" id="Page_310">[310]</a></span> +morning, and wanting to see Miss Dare, ordered her to +go up to the observatory and tell that lady to come down, +and that she went, but to her surprise did not find Miss +Dare there, though she was sure she had not gone home, +or, at least, hadn't taken any of the cars that start from +the front of the house, for she had looked at them every +one as they went by the basement window where she was +at work."</p> + +<p>"The girl said this?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, standing in the door of this small room, and +looking me straight in the eye."</p> + +<p>"And did you ask her nothing more? Say nothing about +the time, Hickory, or—or inquire where she supposed +Miss Dare to have gone?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, I asked her all this. I am not without curiosity +any more than you are, Mr. Byrd."</p> + +<p>"And she replied?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, as to the time, that it was somewhere before noon. +Her reason for being sure of this was that Miss Tremaine +declined to wait till another effort had been made to find +Miss Dare, saying she had an engagement at twelve which +she did not wish to break."</p> + +<p>"And the girl's notions about where Miss Dare had +gone?"</p> + +<p>"Such as you expect, Byrd. She said she did not +know any thing about it, but that Miss Dare often went +strolling in the garden, or even in the woods when she +came to Professor Darling's house, and that she supposed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_311" id="Page_311">[311]</a></span> +she had gone off on some such walk at this time, for, at +one o'clock or thereabouts, she saw her pass in the +horse-car on her way back to the town."</p> + +<p>"Hickory, I wish you had not told me this just as I am +going back to the city."</p> + +<p>"Wish I had not told it, or wish I had not gone to +Professor Darling's house as you requested?"</p> + +<p>"Wish you had not told it. I dare not wish the other. +But you spoke of seeing Miss Dare; how was that? +Where did you run across her?"</p> + +<p>"Do you want to hear?"</p> + +<p>"Of course, of course."</p> + +<p>"But I thought——"</p> + +<p>"Oh, never mind, old boy; tell me the whole now, as +long as you have told me any. Was she in the +house?"</p> + +<p>"I will tell you. I had asked the girl all these questions, +as I have said, and was about to leave the observatory +and go below when I thought I would cast another +glance around the curious old place, and in doing so +caught a glimpse of a huge portfolio of charts, as I +supposed, standing upright in a rack that stretched +across the further portion of the room. Somehow my +heart misgave me when I saw this rack, and, scarcely +conscious what it was I feared, I crossed the floor and +looked behind the portfolio. Byrd, there was a woman +crouched there—a woman whose pallid cheeks and +burning eyes lifted to meet my own, told me only too<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_312" id="Page_312">[312]</a></span> +plainly that it was Miss Dare. I have had many experiences," +Hickory allowed, after a moment, "and +some of them any thing but pleasant to myself, but I +don't think I ever felt just as I did at that instant. I +believe I attempted a bow—I don't remember; or, at +least, tried to murmur some excuse, but the look that +came into her face paralyzed me, and I stopped before +I had gotten very far, and waited to hear what she +would say. But she did not say much; she merely +rose, and, turning toward me, exclaimed: 'No apologies; +you are a detective, I suppose?' And when I +nodded, or made some other token that she had guessed +correctly, she merely remarked, flashing upon me, however, +in a way I do not yet understand: 'Well, you +have got what you desired, and now can go.' And I +went, Byrd, went; and I felt puzzled, I don't know +why, and a little bit sore about the heart, too, as +if—— Well, I can't even tell what I mean by that <i>if</i>. +The only thing I am sure of is, that Mansell's cause +hasn't been helped by this day's job, and that if this +lady is asked on the witness stand where she was during +the hour every one believed her to be safely shut +up with the telescopes and charts, we shall hear——"</p> + +<p>"What?"</p> + +<p>"Well, that she <i>was</i> shut up with them, most likely. +Women like her are not to be easily disconcerted even on +the witness stand."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_313" id="Page_313">[313]</a></span></p> +<h2>XXVI.</h2> + +<h3>"HE SHALL HEAR ME!"</h3> + +<div class='poem'> +There's some ill planet reigns;<br /> +I must be patient till the heavens look<br /> +With an aspect more favorable.—<span class="smcap">Winter's Tale.</span><br /> +<br /><br /></div> + + +<div class='cap'>THE time is midnight, the day the same as that +which saw this irruption of Hickory into Professor +Darling's observatory; the scene that of Miss +Dare's own room in the northeast tower. She is standing +before a table with a letter in her hand and a look +upon her face that, if seen, would have added much to +the puzzlement of the detectives.</div> + +<p>The letter was from Mr. Orcutt and ran thus:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>I have seen Mr. Mansell, and have engaged myself to undertake +his defence. When I tell you that out of the hundreds of cases I +have tried in my still short life, I have lost but a small percentage, +you will understand what this means.</p> + +<p>In pursuance to your wishes, I mentioned your name to the +prisoner with an intimation that I had a message from you to deliver. +But he stopped me before I could utter a word. "I receive no communication +from Miss Dare!" he declared, and, anxious as I really +was to do your bidding, I was compelled to refrain; for his tone was +one of hatred and his look that of ineffable scorn.</p></div> + +<p>This was all, but it was enough. Imogene had read +these words over three times, and now was ready to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_314" id="Page_314">[314]</a></span> +plunge the letter into the flame of a candle to destroy it. +As it burned, her grief and indignation took words:</p> + +<p>"He is alienated, completely alienated," she gasped; +"and I do not wonder. But," and here the full majesty +of her nature broke forth in one grand gesture, "he shall +hear me yet! As there is a God above, he shall hear me +yet, even if it has to be in the open court and in the +presence of judge and jury!"</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_315" id="Page_315">[315]</a></span></p> +<h2>BOOK III.</h2> + +<h2>THE SCALES OF JUSTICE.</h2> + + + + +<h2>XXVII.</h2> + +<h3>THE GREAT TRIAL.</h3> + +<div class='poem'> +<i>Othello.</i>—What dost thou think?<br /> +<i>Iago.</i>— Think, my lord?<br /> +<i>Othello.</i>—By heav'n, he echoes me.<br /> +As if there was some monster in his thought<br /> +Too hideous to be shown.—<span class="smcap">Othello.</span><br /> +<br /><br /></div> + + +<div class='cap'>SIBLEY was in a stir. Sibley was the central point +of interest for the whole country. The great trial +was in progress and the curiosity of the populace knew +no bounds.</div> + +<p>In a room of the hotel sat our two detectives. They +had just come from the court-house. Both seemed inclined +to talk, though both showed an indisposition to +open the conversation. A hesitation lay between them; +a certain thin vail of embarrassment that either one would +have found it hard to explain, and yet which sufficed to +make their intercourse a trifle uncertain in its character, +though Hickory's look had lost none of its rude good-humor, +and Byrd's manner was the same mixture of easy +nonchalance and quiet self-possession it had always been.</p> + +<p>It was Hickory who spoke at last.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_316" id="Page_316">[316]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Well, Byrd?" was his suggestive exclamation.</p> + +<p>"Well, Hickory?" was the quiet reply.</p> + +<p>"What do you think of the case so far?"</p> + +<p>"I think"—the words came somewhat slowly—"I +think that it looks bad. Bad for the prisoner, I mean," +he explained the next moment with a quick flush.</p> + +<p>"Your sympathies are evidently with Mansell," +Hickory quietly remarked.</p> + +<p>"Yes," was the slow reply. "Not that I think him innocent, +or would turn a hair's breadth from the truth to +serve him."</p> + +<p>"He <i>is</i> a manly fellow," Hickory bluntly admitted, +after a moment's puff at the pipe he was smoking. +"Do you remember the peculiar straightforwardness of +his look when he uttered his plea of 'Not guilty,' and the +tone he used too, so quiet, yet so emphatic? You could +have heard a pin drop."</p> + +<p>"Yes," returned Mr. Byrd, with a quick contraction of +his usually smooth brow.</p> + +<p>"Have you noticed," the other broke forth, after +another puff, "a certain curious air of disdain that he +wears?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," was again the short reply.</p> + +<p>"I wonder what it means?" queried Hickory carelessly, +knocking the ashes out of his pipe.</p> + +<p>Mr. Byrd flashed a quick askance look at his colleague +from under his half-fallen lids, but made no +answer.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_317" id="Page_317">[317]</a></span></p> + +<p>"It is not pride alone," resumed the rough-and-ready +detective, half-musingly; "though he's as proud as the +best of 'em. Neither is it any sort of make-believe, or <i>I</i> +wouldn't be caught by it. 'Tis—'tis—what?" And +Hickory rubbed his nose with his thoughtful forefinger, +and looked inquiringly at Mr. Byrd.</p> + +<p>"How should I know?" remarked the other, tossing +his stump of a cigar into the fire. "Mr. Mansell is too +deep a problem for me."</p> + +<p>"And Miss Dare too?"</p> + +<p>"<i>And</i> Miss Dare."</p> + +<p>Silence followed this admission, which Hickory broke +at last by observing:</p> + +<p>"The day that sees <i>her</i> on the witness stand will be interesting, +eh?"</p> + +<p>"It is not far off," declared Mr. Byrd.</p> + +<p>"No?"</p> + +<p>"I think she will be called as a witness to-morrow."</p> + +<p>"Have you noticed," began Hickory again, after another +short interval of quiet contemplation, "that it is +only when Miss Dare is present that Mansell wears the +look of scorn I have just mentioned."</p> + +<p>"Hickory," said Mr. Byrd, wheeling directly about in +his chair and for the first time surveying his colleague +squarely, "I have noticed <i>this</i>. That ever since the day +she made her first appearance in the court-room, she has +sat with her eyes fixed earnestly upon the prisoner, and +that he has never answered her look by so much as a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_318" id="Page_318">[318]</a></span> +glance in her direction. This has but one explanation as +I take it. He never forgets that it is through her he has +been brought to trial for his life."</p> + +<p>Mr. Byrd uttered this very distinctly, and with a decided +emphasis. But the impervious Hickory only settled himself +farther back in his chair, and stretching his feet out +toward the fire, remarked dryly:</p> + +<p>"Perhaps I am not much of a judge of human nature, +but I should have said now that this Mansell was not +a man to treat her contemptuously for that. Rage he +might show or hatred, but this quiet ignoring of her +presence seems a little too dignified for a criminal facing +a person he has every reason to believe is convinced +of his guilt."</p> + +<p>"Ordinary rules don't apply to this man. Neither you +nor I can sound his nature. If he displays contempt, it +is because he is of the sort to feel it for the woman who +has betrayed him."</p> + +<p>"You make him out mean-spirited, then, as well +as wicked?"</p> + +<p>"I make him out human. More than that," Mr. Byrd +resumed, after a moment's thought, "I make him out consistent. +A man who lets his passions sway him to the extent +of committing a murder for the purpose of satisfying +his love or his ambition, is not of the unselfish cast that +would appreciate such a sacrifice as Miss Dare has made. +This under the supposition that our reasons for believing +him guilty are well founded. If our suppositions are<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_319" id="Page_319">[319]</a></span> +false, and the crime was not committed by him, his contempt +needs no explanation."</p> + +<p>"Just so!"</p> + +<p>The peculiar tone in which this was uttered caused Mr. +Byrd to flash another quick look at his colleague. +Hickory did not seem to observe it.</p> + +<p>"What makes you think Miss Dare will be called +to the witness stand to-morrow?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"Well I will tell you," returned Byrd, with the sudden +vivacity of one glad to turn the current of conversation +into a fresh channel. "If you have followed the method +of the prosecution as I have done, you will have noticed +that it has advanced to its point by definite stages. +First, witnesses were produced to prove the existence of +motive on the part of the accused. Mr. Goodman +was called to the witness stand, and, after him, other +business men of Buffalo, all of whom united in unqualified +assertions of the prisoner's frequently-expressed desire for +a sum of money sufficient to put his invention into +practical use. Next, the amount considered necessary +for this purpose was ascertained and found to be just +covered by the legacy bequeathed him by his aunt; after +which, ample evidence was produced to show that he +knew the extent of her small fortune, and the fact +that she had by her will made him her heir. Motive for +the crime being thus established, they now proceeded to +prove that he was not without actual opportunity for perpetrating +it. He was shown to have been in Sibley at the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_320" id="Page_320">[320]</a></span> +time of the murder. The station-master at Monteith was +confronted with the prisoner, also old Sally Perkins. +Then you and I came before the court with our testimony, +and whatever doubt may have remained as to his +having been in a position to effect his aunt's death, +and afterward escape unnoticed by means of the path +leading over the hills to Monteith Quarry station, was +swept away. What remains? To connect him with the +murder itself, by some, strong link of circumstantial evidence, +such as the ring provides. And who is it that +can give testimony regarding the ring?—Miss Dare."</p> + +<p>"Hem! Well, she will do it," was the dry remark of +Hickory.</p> + +<p>"She will be obliged to do it," was the emphatic response +of Byrd.</p> + +<p>And again their glances crossed in a furtive way both +seemed ready to ignore.</p> + +<p>"What do you think of Orcutt?" Hickory next inquired.</p> + +<p>"He is very quiet."</p> + +<p>"Too quiet, eh?"</p> + +<p>"Perhaps. Folks that know him well declare they +never before saw him conduct a case in so temperate a +manner. He has scarcely made an effort at cross-examination, +and, in fact, has thus far won nothing for the +defence except that astonishing tribute to the prisoner's +character given by Mr. Goodman."</p> + +<p>"Mr. Goodman is Mansell's friend."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_321" id="Page_321">[321]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I know it; but his short, decisive statements told +upon the jury. Such a man as he made Mansell out to +be is just the sort to create an impression on a body of +men like them."</p> + +<p>"Orcutt understands a jury."</p> + +<p>"Orcutt understands his case. He knows he can +make nothing by attempting to shake the evidence which +has been presented by the prosecution; the facts are too +clear, and the witnesses which have been called to testify +are of too reliable a character. Whatever defence he +contemplates, it will not rest upon a denial of any of the +facts brought to light through our efforts, or the evidence +of such persons as Messrs. Goodman and Harrison."</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>"The question is, then, in what will it lie? Some +strong point, I warrant you, or he would not hold himself +and his plans so completely in reserve. But what strong +point? I acknowledge the uncertainty troubles me."</p> + +<p>"I don't wonder," rejoined Hickory. "So it does +me."</p> + +<p>And a constraint again fell between them that lasted +till Hickory put his pipe in his pocket and signified his +intention of returning to his own apartments.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_322" id="Page_322">[322]</a></span></p> +<h2>XXVIII.</h2> + +<h3>THE CHIEF WITNESS FOR THE PROSECUTION.</h3> + +<div class='poem'> +Oh, while you live tell truth and shame the devil!<br /> +<div class='sig'> +—<span class="smcap">Henry IV.</span></div><br /> +<br /><br /></div> + + +<div class='cap'>MR. BYRD'S countenance after the departure of +his companion was any thing but cheerful. The +fact is, he was secretly uneasy. He dreaded the morrow. +He dreaded the testimony of Miss Dare. He had not yet +escaped so fully from under the dominion of her fascinations +as to regard with equanimity this unhappy woman +forcing herself to give testimony compromising to the +man she loved.</div> + +<p>Yet when the morrow came he was among the first to +secure a seat in the court-room. Though the scene was +likely to be harrowing to his feelings, he had no wish to +lose it, and, indeed, chose such a position as would give +him the best opportunity for observing the prisoner and +surveying the witnesses.</p> + +<p>He was not the only one on the look-out for the testimony +of Miss Dare. The increased number of the spectators +and the general air of expectation visible in more +than one of the chief actors in this terrible drama gave +suspicious proof of the fact; even if the deadly pallor of +the lady herself had not revealed her own feelings in +regard to the subject.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_323" id="Page_323">[323]</a></span></p> + +<p>The entrance of the prisoner was more marked, too, +than usual. His air and manner were emphasized, so to +speak, and his face, when he turned it toward the jury, +wore an iron look of resolution that would have made +him conspicuous had he occupied a less prominent position +than that of the dock.</p> + +<p>Miss Dare, who had flashed her eyes toward him at the +moment of his first appearance, dropped them again, contrary +to her usual custom. Was it because she knew the +moment was at hand when their glances would be obliged +to meet?</p> + +<p>Mr. Orcutt, whom no movement on the part of Miss +Dare ever escaped, leaned over and spoke to the prisoner.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Mansell," said he, "are you prepared to submit +with composure to the ordeal of confronting Miss Dare?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," was the stern reply.</p> + +<p>"I would then advise you to look at her now," proceeded +his counsel. "She is not turned this way, and +you can observe her without encountering her glance. A +quick look at this moment may save you from betraying +any undue emotion when you see her upon the stand."</p> + +<p>The accused smiled with a bitterness Mr. Orcutt +thought perfectly natural, and slowly prepared to obey. +As he raised his eyes and allowed them to traverse the +room until they settled upon the countenance of the +woman he loved, this other man who, out of a still more +absorbing passion for Imogene, was at that very moment +doing all that lay in his power for the saving of this his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_324" id="Page_324">[324]</a></span> +openly acknowledged rival, watched him with the closest +and most breathless attention. It was another instance +of that peculiar fascination which a successful rival has +for an unsuccessful one. It was as if this great lawyer's +thoughts reverted to his love, and he asked himself: +"What is there in this Mansell that she should prefer him +to me?"</p> + +<p>And Orcutt himself, though happily unaware of the +fact, was at that same instant under a scrutiny as narrow +as that he bestowed upon his client. Mr. Ferris, who +knew his secret, felt a keen interest in watching how he +would conduct himself at this juncture. Not an expression +of the lawyer's keen and puzzling eye but was seen +by the District Attorney and noted, even if it was not +understood.</p> + +<p>Of the three, Mr. Ferris was the first to turn away, and +his thoughts if they could have been put into words might +have run something like this: "That man"—meaning +Orcutt—"is doing the noblest work one human being +can perform for another, and yet there is something in his +face I do not comprehend. Can it be he hopes to win +Miss Dare by his effort to save his rival?"</p> + +<p>As for the thoughts of the person thus unconsciously +subjected to the criticism of his dearest friend, let our +knowledge of the springs that govern his action serve to +interpret both the depth and bitterness of his curiosity; +while the sentiments of Mansell—— But who can read +what lurks behind the iron of that sternly composed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_325" id="Page_325">[325]</a></span> +countenance? Not Imogene, not Orcutt, not Ferris. +His secret, if he owns one, he keeps well, and his lids +scarcely quiver as he drops them over the eyes that but a +moment before reflected the grand beauty of the unfortunate +woman for whom he so lately protested the most +fervent love.</p> + +<p>The next moment the court was opened and Miss +Dare's name was called by the District Attorney.</p> + +<p>With a last look at the unresponsive prisoner, Imogene +rose, took her place on the witness stand and faced the +jury.</p> + +<p>It was a memorable moment. If the curious and impressible +crowd of spectators about her had been ignorant +of her true relations to the accused, the deadly +stillness and immobility of her bearing would have convinced +them that emotion of the deepest nature lay +behind the still, white mask she had thought fit to assume. +That she was beautiful and confronted them from that +common stand as from a throne, did not serve to lessen +the impression she made.</p> + +<p>The officer held the Bible toward her. With a look +that Mr. Byrd was fain to consider one of natural shrinking +only, she laid her white hand upon it; but at the intimation +from the officer, "The right hand, if you please, +miss," she started and made the exchange he suggested, +while at the same moment there rang upon her ear the +voice of the clerk as he administered the awful adjuration +that she should, as she believed and hoped in Eternal<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_326" id="Page_326">[326]</a></span> +mercy, tell the truth as between this man and the law and +keep not one tittle back. The book was then lifted to her +lips by the officer, and withdrawn.</p> + +<p>"Take your seat, Miss Dare," said the District Attorney. +And the examination began.</p> + +<p>"Your name, if you please?"</p> + +<p>"Imogene Dare."</p> + +<p>"Are you married or single?"</p> + +<p>"I am single."</p> + +<p>"Where were you born?"</p> + +<p>Now this was a painful question to one of her history. +Indeed, she showed it to be so by the flush which rose to +her cheek and by the decided trembling of her proud lip. +But she did not seek to evade it.</p> + +<p>"Sir," she said, "I cannot answer you. I never heard +any of the particulars of my birth. I was a foundling."</p> + +<p>The mingled gentleness and dignity with which she +made this acknowledgment won for her the instantaneous +sympathy of all present. Mr. Orcutt saw this, and +the flash of indignation that had involuntarily passed +between him and the prisoner subsided as quickly as it +arose.</p> + +<p>Mr. Ferris went on.</p> + +<p>"Where do you live?"</p> + +<p>"In this town?"</p> + +<p>"With whom do you live?"</p> + +<p>"I am boarding <ins title="Transcriber's Note: original reads 'a'">at</ins> present with a woman of the name +of Kennedy. I support myself by my needle," she hurriedly<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_327" id="Page_327">[327]</a></span> +added, as though anxious to forestall his next +question.</p> + +<p>Seeing the prisoner start at this, Imogene lifted her +head still higher. Evidently this former lover of hers +knew little of her movements since they parted so many +weeks ago.</p> + +<p>"And how long is it since you supported yourself in +this way?" asked the District Attorney.</p> + +<p>"For a few weeks only. Formerly," she said, making +a slight inclination in the direction of the prisoner's +counsel, "I lived in the household of Mr. Orcutt, where +I occupied the position of assistant to the lady who looks +after his domestic affairs." And her eye met the +lawyer's with a look of pride that made him inwardly +cringe, though not even the jealous glance of the prisoner +could detect that an eyelash quivered or a flicker disturbed +the studied serenity of his gaze.</p> + +<p>The District Attorney opened his lips as if to pursue +this topic, but, meeting his opponent's eye, concluded to +waive further preliminaries and proceed at once to the +more serious part of the examination.</p> + +<p>"Miss Dare," said he, "will you look at the prisoner +and tell us if you have any acquaintance with him?"</p> + +<p>Slowly she prepared to reply; slowly she turned her +head and let her glance traverse that vast crowd till it +settled upon her former lover. The look which passed +like lightning across her face as she encountered his gaze +fixed for the first time steadily upon her own, no one in +that assemblage ever forgot.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_328" id="Page_328">[328]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Yes," she returned, quietly, but in a tone that made +Mansell quiver and look away, despite his iron self-command; +"I know him."</p> + +<p>"Will you be kind enough to say how long you have +known him and where it was you first made his acquaintance?"</p> + +<p>"I met him first in Buffalo some four months since," +was the steady reply. "He was calling at a friend's +house where I was staying."</p> + +<p>"Did you at that time know of his relation to your +townswoman, Mrs. Clemmens?"</p> + +<p>"No, sir. It was not till I had seen him several +times that I learned he had any connections in Sibley."</p> + +<p>"Miss Dare, you will excuse me, but it is highly +desirable for the court to know if the prisoner ever paid +his addresses to you?"</p> + +<p>The deep, almost agonizing blush that colored her +white cheek answered as truly as the slow "Yes," that +struggled painfully to her lips.</p> + +<p>"And—excuse me again, Miss Dare—did he propose +marriage to you?"</p> + +<p>"He did."</p> + +<p>"Did you accept him?"</p> + +<p>"I did not."</p> + +<p>"Did you refuse him?"</p> + +<p>"I refused to engage myself to him."</p> + +<p>"Miss Dare, will you tell us when you left Buffalo?"</p> + +<p>"On the nineteenth day of August last."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_329" id="Page_329">[329]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Did the prisoner accompany you?"</p> + +<p>"He did not."</p> + +<p>"Upon what sort of terms did you part?"</p> + +<p>"Good terms, sir."</p> + +<p>"Do you mean friendly terms, or such as are held by +a man and a woman between whom an attachment exists +which, under favorable circumstances, may culminate in +marriage?"</p> + +<p>"The latter, sir, I think."</p> + +<p>"Did you receive any letters from the prisoner after +your return to Sibley?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir."</p> + +<p>"And did you answer them?"</p> + +<p>"I did."</p> + +<p>"Miss Dare, may I now ask what reasons you gave +the prisoner for declining his offer—that is, if my friend +does not object to the question?" added the District +Attorney, turning with courtesy toward Mr. Orcutt.</p> + +<p>The latter, who had started to his feet, bowed composedly +and prepared to resume his seat.</p> + +<p>"I desire to put nothing in the way of your eliciting +the whole truth concerning this matter," was his +quiet, if somewhat constrained, response.</p> + +<p>Mr. Ferris at once turned back to Miss Dare.</p> + +<p>"You will, then, answer," he said.</p> + +<p>Imogene lifted her head and complied.</p> + +<p>"I told him," she declared, with thrilling distinctness, +"that he was in no condition to marry. I am by nature<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_330" id="Page_330">[330]</a></span> +an ambitious woman, and, not having suffered at that +time, thought more of my position before the world +than of what constitutes the worth and dignity of +a man."</p> + +<p>No one who heard these words could doubt they were +addressed to the prisoner. Haughtily as she held herself, +there was a deprecatory humility in her tone +that neither judge nor jury could have elicited from her. +Naturally many eyes turned in the direction of the +prisoner. They saw two white faces before them, that of +the accused and that of his counsel, who sat near him. +But the pallor of the one was of scorn, and that of the +other—— Well, no one who knew the relations of Mr. +Orcutt to the witness could wonder that the renowned +lawyer shrank from hearing the woman he loved confess +her partiality for another man.</p> + +<p>Mr. Ferris, who understood the situation as well as any +one, but who had passed the point where sympathy could +interfere with his action, showed a disposition to press his +advantage.</p> + +<p>"Miss Dare," he inquired, "in declining the proposals +of the prisoner, did you state to him in so many words +these objections you have here mentioned?"</p> + +<p>"I did."</p> + +<p>"And what answer did he give you?"</p> + +<p>"He replied that he was also ambitious, and hoped and +intended to make a success in life."</p> + +<p>"And did he tell you how he hoped and intended +to make a success?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_331" id="Page_331">[331]</a></span></p> + +<p>"He did."</p> + +<p>"Miss Dare, were these letters written by you?"</p> + +<p>She looked at the packet he held toward her, started +as she saw the broad black ribbon that encircled it, and +bowed her head.</p> + +<p>"I have no doubt these are my letters," she rejoined, +a little tremulously for her. And unbinding the packet, +she examined its contents. "Yes," she answered, "they +are. These letters were all written by me."</p> + +<p>And she handed them back with such haste that +the ribbon which bound them remained in her fingers, +where consciously or unconsciously she held it clutched +all through the remaining time of her examination.</p> + +<p>"Now," said the District Attorney, "I propose to read +two of these letters. Does my friend wish to look at +them before I offer them in evidence?" holding them out +to Mr. Orcutt.</p> + +<p>Every eye in the court-room was fixed upon the latter's +face, as the letters addressed to his rival by the woman he +wished to make his wife, were tendered in this public +manner to his inspection. Even the iron face of Mansell +relaxed into an expression of commiseration as he turned +and surveyed the man who, in despite of the anomalous +position they held toward each other, was thus engaged +in battling for his life before the eyes of the whole +world. At that instant there was not a spectator who +did not feel that Tremont Orcutt was the hero of the +moment.</p> + +<p>He slowly turned to the prisoner:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_332" id="Page_332">[332]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Have you any objection to these letters being +read?"</p> + +<p>"No," returned the other, in a low tone.</p> + +<p>Mr. Orcutt turned firmly to the District Attorney:</p> + +<p>"You may read them if you think proper," said he.</p> + +<p>Mr. Ferris bowed; the letters were marked as exhibits +by the stenographic reporter who was taking the +minutes of testimony, and handed back to Ferris, who +proceeded to read the following in a clear voice to +the jury:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<div class='right'> +"<span class="smcap">Sibley, N. Y.</span>, September 7, 1882.<br /> +</div> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">Dear Friend</span>,—You show signs of impatience, and ask for a +word to help you through this period of uncertainty and unrest. What +can I say more than I have said? That I believe in you and in your +invention, and proudly wait for the hour when you will come to +claim me with the fruit of your labors in your hand. I am impatient +myself, but I have more trust than you. Some one will see the value +of your work before long, or else your aunt will interest herself in +your success, and lend you that practical assistance which you need +to start you in the way of fortune and fame. I cannot think you are +going to fail. I will not allow myself to look forward to any thing +less than success for you and happiness for myself. For the one involves +the other, as you must know by this time, or else believe me +to be the most heartless of coquettes.</p> + +<p>"Wishing to see you, but of the opinion that further meetings +between us would be unwise till our future looks more settled, I remain, +hopefully yours,</p> + +<div class='sig'> +"<span class="smcap">Imogene Dare.</span>"<br /> +</div></div> + +<p>"The other letter I propose to read," continued Mr. +Ferris, "is dated September 23d, three days before the +widow's death.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_333" id="Page_333">[333]</a></span></p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"<span class="smcap">Dear Craik</span>,—Since you insist upon seeing me, and say that you +have reasons of your own for not visiting me openly, I will consent to +meet you at the trysting spot you mention, though all such underhand +dealings are as foreign to my nature as I believe them to be to +yours.</p> + +<p>"Trusting that fortune will so favor us as to make it unnecessary +for us to meet in this way more than once, I wait in anxiety for your +coming.</p> + +<div class='sig'> +"<span class="smcap">Imogene Dare.</span>"<br /> +</div></div> + +<p>These letters, unfolding relations that, up to this time, +had been barely surmised by the persons congregated +before her, created a great impression. To those especially +who knew her and believed her to be engaged to Mr. +Orcutt the surprise was wellnigh thrilling. The witness +seemed to feel this, and bestowed a short, quick glance +upon the lawyer, that may have partially recompensed +him for the unpleasantness of the general curiosity.</p> + +<p>The Prosecuting Attorney went on without pause:</p> + +<p>"Miss Dare," said he, "did you meet the prisoner as +you promised?"</p> + +<p>"I did."</p> + +<p>"Will you tell me when and where?"</p> + +<p>"On the afternoon of Monday, September 27th, in the +glade back of Mrs. Clemmens' house."</p> + +<p>"Miss Dare, we fully realize the pain it must cost you +to refer to these matters, but I must request you to tell us +what passed between you at this interview?"</p> + +<p>"If you will ask me questions, sir, I will answer them +with the truth the subject demands."</p> + +<p>The sorrowful dignity with which this was said, called +forth a bow from the Prosecuting Attorney.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_334" id="Page_334">[334]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Very well," he rejoined, "did the prisoner have any +thing to say about his prospects?"</p> + +<p>"He did."</p> + +<p>"How did he speak of them?"</p> + +<p>"Despondingly."</p> + +<p>"And what reason did he give for this?"</p> + +<p>"He said he had failed to interest any capitalist in his +invention."</p> + +<p>"Any other reason?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"What was that?"</p> + +<p>"That he had just come from his aunt whom he had +tried to persuade to advance him a sum of money to +carry out his wishes, but that she had refused."</p> + +<p>"He told you that?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir."</p> + +<p>"Did he also tell you what path he had taken to his +aunt's house?"</p> + +<p>"No, sir."</p> + +<p>"Was there any thing said by him to show he did not +take the secret path through the woods and across the +bog to her back door?"</p> + +<p>"No, sir."</p> + +<p>"Or that he did not return in the same way?"</p> + +<p>"No, sir."</p> + +<p>"Miss Dare, did the prisoner express to you at this +time irritation as well as regret at the result of his efforts +to elicit money from his aunt?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," was the evidently forced reply.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_335" id="Page_335">[335]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Can you remember any words that he used which +would tend to show the condition of his mind?"</p> + +<p>"I have no memory for words," she began, but flushed +as she met the eye of the Judge, and perhaps remembered +her oath. "I do recollect, however, one expression he +used. He said: 'My life is worth nothing to me without +success. If only to win you, I must put this matter +through; and I will do it yet.'"</p> + +<p>She repeated this quietly, giving it no emphasis and +scarcely any inflection, as if she hoped by her mechanical +way of uttering it to rob it of any special meaning. But +she did not succeed, as was shown by the compassionate +tone in which Mr. Ferris next addressed her.</p> + +<p>"Miss Dare, did you express any anger yourself at the +refusal of Mrs. Clemmens to assist the prisoner by lending +him such moneys as he required?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir; I fear I did. It seemed unreasonable to me +then, and I was very anxious he should have that opportunity +to make fame and fortune which I thought his +genius merited."</p> + +<p>"Miss Dare," inquired the District Attorney, calling +to his aid such words as he had heard from old Sally in +reference to this interview, "did you make use of any +such expression as this: 'I wish I knew Mrs. Clemmens'?"</p> + +<p>"I believe I did."</p> + +<p>"And did this mean you had no acquaintance with the +murdered woman at that time?" pursued Mr. Ferris,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_336" id="Page_336">[336]</a></span> +half-turning to the prisoner's counsel, as if he anticipated +the objection which that gentleman might very properly +make to a question concerning the intention of a witness.</p> + +<p>And Mr. Orcutt, yielding to professional instinct, did +indeed make a slight movement as if to rise, but became +instantly motionless. Nothing could be more painful to +him than to wrangle before the crowded court-room over +these dealings between the woman he loved and the man +he was now defending.</p> + +<p>Mr. Ferris turned back to the witness and awaited her +answer. It came without hesitation.</p> + +<p>"It meant that, sir."</p> + +<p>"And what did the prisoner say when you gave utterance +to this wish?"</p> + +<p>"He asked me why I desired to know her."</p> + +<p>"And what did you reply?"</p> + +<p>"That if I knew her I might be able to persuade her to +listen to his request."</p> + +<p>"And what answer had he for this?"</p> + +<p>"None but a quick shake of his head."</p> + +<p>"Miss Dare; up to the time of this interview had you +ever received any gift from the prisoner—jewelry, for instance—say, +a ring!"</p> + +<p>"No, sir."</p> + +<p>"Did he offer you such a gift then?"</p> + +<p>"He did."</p> + +<p>"What was it?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_337" id="Page_337">[337]</a></span></p> + +<p>"A gold ring set with a diamond."</p> + +<p>"Did you receive it?"</p> + +<p>"No, sir. I felt that in taking a ring from him I would +be giving an irrevocable promise, and I was not ready to +do that."</p> + +<p>"Did you allow him to put it on your finger?"</p> + +<p>"I did."</p> + +<p>"And it remained there?" suggested Mr. Ferris, with +a smile.</p> + +<p>"A minute, may be."</p> + +<p>"Which of you, then, took it off?"</p> + +<p>"I did."</p> + +<p>"And what did you say when you took it off?"</p> + +<p>"I do not remember my words."</p> + +<p>Again recalling old Sally's account of this interview, +Mr. Ferris asked:</p> + +<p>"Were they these: 'I cannot. Wait till to-morrow'?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, I believe they were."</p> + +<p>"And when he inquired: 'Why to-morrow?' did you +reply: 'A night has been known to change the whole +current of one's affairs'?"</p> + +<p>"I did."</p> + +<p>"Miss Dare, what did you mean by those words?"</p> + +<p>"I object!" cried Mr. Orcutt, rising. Unseen by any +save himself, the prisoner had made him an eloquent gesture, +slight, but peremptory.</p> + +<p>"I think it is one I have a right to ask," urged the +District Attorney.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_338" id="Page_338">[338]</a></span></p> + +<p>But Mr. Orcutt, who manifestly had the best of the +argument, maintained his objection, and the Court instantly +ruled in his favor.</p> + +<p>Mr. Ferris prepared to modify his question. But before +he could speak the voice of Miss Dare was heard.</p> + +<p>"Gentlemen," said she, "there was no need of all this +talk. I intended to seek an interview with Mrs. Clemmens +and try what the effect would be of confiding to her +my interest in her nephew."</p> + +<p>The dignified simplicity with which she spoke, and the +air of quiet candor that for that one moment surrounded +her, gave to this voluntary explanation an unexpected +force that carried it quite home to the hearts of the jury. +Even Mr. Orcutt could not preserve the frown with which +he had confronted her at the first movement of her lips, +but turned toward the prisoner with a look almost congratulatory +in its character. But Mr. Byrd, who for reasons +of his own kept his eyes upon that prisoner, observed +that it met with no other return than that shadow of a +bitter smile which now and then visited his otherwise unmoved +countenance.</p> + +<p>Mr. Ferris, who, in his friendship for the witness, was +secretly rejoiced in an explanation which separated her +from the crime of her lover, bowed in acknowledgment of +the answer she had been pleased to give him in face of the +ruling of the Court, and calmly proceeded:</p> + +<p>"And what reply did the prisoner make you when you +uttered this remark in reference to the change that a +single day sometimes makes in one's affairs?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_339" id="Page_339">[339]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Something in the way of assent."</p> + +<p>"Cannot you give us his words?"</p> + +<p>"No, sir."</p> + +<p>"Well, then, can you tell us whether or not he looked +thoughtful when you said this?"</p> + +<p>"He may have done so, sir."</p> + +<p>"Did it strike you at the time that he reflected on what +you said?"</p> + +<p>"I cannot say how it struck me at the time."</p> + +<p>"Did he look at you a few minutes before speaking, +or in any way conduct himself as if he had been set +thinking?"</p> + +<p>"He did not speak for a few minutes."</p> + +<p>"And looked at you?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir."</p> + +<p>The District Attorney paused a moment as if to let the +results of his examination sink into the minds of the jury; +then he went on:</p> + +<p>"Miss Dare, you say you returned the ring to the +prisoner?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir."</p> + +<p>"You say positively the ring passed from you to him; +that you saw it in his hand after it had left yours?"</p> + +<p>"No, sir. The ring passed from me to him, but I did +not see it in his hand, because I did not return it to him +that way. I dropped it into his pocket."</p> + +<p>At this acknowledgment, which made both the prisoner +and his counsel look up, Mr. Byrd felt himself nudged by +Hickory.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_340" id="Page_340">[340]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Did you hear that?" he whispered.</p> + +<p>"Yes," returned the other.</p> + +<p>"And do you believe it?"</p> + +<p>"Miss Dare is on oath," was the reply.</p> + +<p>"Pooh!" was Hickory's whispered exclamation.</p> + +<p>The District Attorney alone showed no surprise.</p> + +<p>"You dropped it into his pocket?" he resumed. "How +came you to do that?"</p> + +<p>"I was weary of the strife which had followed my refusal +to accept this token. He would not take it from me himself, +so I restored it to him in the way I have said."</p> + +<p>"Miss Dare, will you tell us what pocket this was?"</p> + +<p>"The outside pocket on the left side of his coat," she +returned, with a cold and careful exactness that caused the +prisoner to drop his eyes from her face, with that faint +but scornful twitch of the muscles about his mouth, which +gave to his countenance now and then the proud look of +disdain which both the detectives had noted.</p> + +<p>"Miss Dare," continued the Prosecuting Attorney, "did +you see this ring again during the interview?"</p> + +<p>"No, sir."</p> + +<p>"Did you detect the prisoner making any move to take +it out of his pocket, or have you any reason to believe +that it was taken out of the pocket on the left-hand side +of his coat while you were with him?"</p> + +<p>"No, sir."</p> + +<p>"So that, as far as you know, it was still in his pocket +when you parted?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_341" id="Page_341">[341]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Yes, sir."</p> + +<p>"Miss Dare, have you ever seen that ring since?"</p> + +<p>"I have."</p> + +<p>"When and where?"</p> + +<p>"I saw it on the morning of the murder. It was lying +on the floor of Mrs. Clemmens' dining-room. I had gone +to the house, in my surprise at hearing of the murderous +assault which had been made upon her, and, while surveying +the spot where she was struck, perceived this ring lying +on the floor before me."</p> + +<p>"What made you think it was this ring which you had +returned to the prisoner the day before?"</p> + +<p>"Because of its setting, and the character of the gem, I +suppose."</p> + +<p>"Could you see all this where it was lying on the +floor?"</p> + +<p>"It was brought nearer to my eyes, sir. A gentleman +who was standing near, picked it up and offered it to me, +supposing it was mine. As he held it out in his open palm +I saw it plainly."</p> + +<p>"Miss Dare, will you tell us what you did when you +first saw this ring lying on the floor?"</p> + +<p>"I covered it with my foot."</p> + +<p>"Was that before you recognized it?"</p> + +<p>"I cannot say. I placed my foot upon it instinctively."</p> + +<p>"How long did you keep it there?"</p> + +<p>"Some few minutes."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_342" id="Page_342">[342]</a></span></p> + +<p>"What caused you to move at last?"</p> + +<p>"I was surprised."</p> + +<p>"What surprised you?"</p> + +<p>"A man came to the door."</p> + +<p>"What man."</p> + +<p>"I don't know. A stranger to me. Some one who had +been sent on an errand connected with this affair."</p> + +<p>"What did he say or do to surprise you?"</p> + +<p>"Nothing. It was what you said yourself after the +man had gone."</p> + +<p>"And what did I say, Miss Dare?"</p> + +<p>She cast him a look of the faintest appeal, but answered +quietly:</p> + +<p>"Something about its not being the tramp who had +committed this crime."</p> + +<p>"That surprised you?"</p> + +<p>"That made me start."</p> + +<p>"Miss Dare, were you present in the house when the +dying woman spoke the one or two exclamations which +have been testified to in this trial?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir."</p> + +<p>"What was the burden of the first speech you heard?"</p> + +<p>"The words <i>Hand</i>, sir, and <i>Ring</i>. She repeated the +two half a dozen times."</p> + +<p>"Miss Dare, what did you say to the gentleman who +showed you the ring and asked if it were yours?"</p> + +<p>"I told him it was mine, and took it and placed it on +my finger."</p> + +<p>"But the ring was not yours?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_343" id="Page_343">[343]</a></span></p> + +<p>"My acceptance of it made it mine. In all but that +regard it had been mine ever since Mr. Mansell offered it +to me the day before."</p> + +<p>Mr. Ferris surveyed the witness for a moment before +saying:</p> + +<p>"Then you considered it damaging to your lover to +have this ring found in that apartment?"</p> + +<p>Mr. Orcutt instantly rose to object.</p> + +<p>"I won't press the question," said the District Attorney, +with a wave of his hand and a slight look at the jury.</p> + +<p>"You ought never to have asked it?" exclaimed Mr. +Orcutt, with the first appearance of heat he had shown.</p> + +<p>"You are right," Mr. Ferris coolly responded. "The +jury could see the point without any assistance from you +or me."</p> + +<p>"And the jury," returned Mr. Orcutt, with equal coolness, +"is scarcely obliged to you for the suggestion."</p> + +<p>"Well, we won't quarrel about it," declared Mr. +Ferris.</p> + +<p>"We won't quarrel about any thing," retorted Mr. Orcutt. +"We will try the case in a legal manner."</p> + +<p>"Have you got through?" inquired Mr. Ferris, nettled.</p> + +<p>Mr. Orcutt took his seat with the simple reply:</p> + +<p>"Go on with the case."</p> + +<p>The District Attorney, after a momentary pause to regain +the thread of his examination and recover his equanimity, +turned to the witness.</p> + +<p>"Miss Dare," he asked, "how long did you keep that +ring on your finger after you left the house?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_344" id="Page_344">[344]</a></span></p> + +<p>"A little while—five or ten minutes, perhaps."</p> + +<p>"Where were you when you took it off?"</p> + +<p>Her voice sank just a trifle:</p> + +<p>"On the bridge at Warren Street."</p> + +<p>"What did you do with it then?"</p> + +<p>Her eyes which had been upon the Attorney's face, fell +slowly.</p> + +<p>"I dropped it into the water," she said.</p> + +<p>And the character of her thoughts and suspicions at +that time stood revealed.</p> + +<p>The Prosecuting Attorney allowed himself a few more +questions.</p> + +<p>"When you parted with the prisoner in the woods, was +it with any arrangement for meeting again before he returned +to Buffalo?"</p> + +<p>"No, sir."</p> + +<p>"Give us the final words of your conversation, if you +please."</p> + +<p>"We were just parting, and I had turned to go, when +he said: 'Is it good-by, then, Imogene?' and I answered, +'That to-morrow must decide.' 'Shall I stay, then?' +he inquired; to which I replied, 'Yes.'"</p> + +<p>'Twas a short, seemingly literal, repetition of possibly +innocent words, but the whisper into which her voice +sank at the final "Yes" endowed it with a thrilling effect +for which even she was not prepared. For she shuddered +as she realized the deathly quiet that followed its utterance, +and cast a quick look at Mr. Orcutt that was full of +question, if not doubt.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_345" id="Page_345">[345]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I was calculating upon the interview I intended to +have with Mrs. Clemmens," she explained, turning toward +the Judge with indescribable dignity.</p> + +<p>"We understand that," remarked the Prosecuting Attorney, +kindly, and then inquired:</p> + +<p>"Was this the last you saw of the prisoner until to-day?"</p> + +<p>"No, sir."</p> + +<p>"When did you see him again?"</p> + +<p>"On the following Wednesday."</p> + +<p>"Where?"</p> + +<p>"In the depôt at Syracuse."</p> + +<p>"How came you to be in Syracuse the day after the +murder?"</p> + +<p>"I had started to go to Buffalo."</p> + +<p>"What purpose had you in going to Buffalo?"</p> + +<p>"I wished to see Mr. Mansell."</p> + +<p>"Did he know you were coming?"</p> + +<p>"No, sir."</p> + +<p>"Had no communication passed between you from the +time you parted in the woods till you came upon each +other in the depôt you have just mentioned?"</p> + +<p>"No, sir."</p> + +<p>"Had he no reason to expect to meet you there?"</p> + +<p>"No, sir."</p> + +<p>"With what words did you accost each other?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know. I have no remembrance of saying +any thing. I was utterly dumbfounded at seeing him in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_346" id="Page_346">[346]</a></span> +this place, and cannot say into what exclamation I may +have been betrayed."</p> + +<p>"And he? Don't you remember what he said?"</p> + +<p>"No, sir. I only know he started back with a look of +great surprise. Afterward he asked if I were on my +way to see him."</p> + +<p>"And what did you answer?"</p> + +<p>"I don't think I made any answer. I was wondering +if he was on his way to see me."</p> + +<p>"Did you put the question to him?"</p> + +<p>"Perhaps. I cannot tell. It is all like a dream to +me."</p> + +<p>If she had said horrible dream, every one there would +have believed her.</p> + +<p>"You can tell us, however, if you held any conversation?"</p> + +<p>"We did not."</p> + +<p>"And you can tell us how the interview terminated?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir. I turned away and took the train back +home, which I saw standing on the track without."</p> + +<p>"And he?"</p> + +<p>"Turned away also. Where he went I cannot say."</p> + +<p>"Miss Dare"—the District Attorney's voice was very +earnest—"can you tell us which of you made the first +movement to go?"</p> + +<p>"What does he mean by that?" whispered Hickory to +Byrd.</p> + +<p>"I think——" she commenced and paused. Her<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_347" id="Page_347">[347]</a></span> +eyes in wandering over the throng of spectators before +her, had settled on these two detectives, and noting the +breathless way in which they looked at her, she seemed +to realize that more might lie in this question than at +first appeared.</p> + +<p>"I do not know," she answered at last. "It was a +simultaneous movement, I think."</p> + +<p>"Are you sure?" persisted Mr. Ferris. "You are on +oath, Miss Dare? Is there no way in which you can +make certain whether he or you took the initiatory step +in this sudden parting after an event that so materially +changed your mutual prospects?"</p> + +<p>"No, sir. I can only say that in recalling the sensations +of that hour, I am certain my own movement was +not the result of any I saw him take. The instinct to +leave the place had its birth in my own breast."</p> + +<p>"I told you so," commented Hickory, in the ear of +Byrd. "She is not going to give herself away, whatever +happens."</p> + +<p>"But can you positively say he did not make the first +motion to leave?"</p> + +<p>"No, sir."</p> + +<p>Mr. Ferris bowed, turned toward the opposing counsel +and said:</p> + +<p>"The witness is yours."</p> + +<p>Mr. Ferris sat down perfectly satisfied. He had dexterously +brought out Imogene's suspicions of the prisoner's +guilt, and knew that the jury must be influenced in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_348" id="Page_348">[348]</a></span> +their convictions by those of the woman who, of all the +world, ought to have believed, if she could, in the innocence +of her lover. He did not even fear the cross-examination +which he expected to follow. No amount +of skill on the part of Orcutt could extract other than the +truth, and the truth was that Imogene believed the +prisoner to be the murderer of his aunt. He, therefore, +surveyed the court-room with a smile, and awaited the +somewhat slow proceedings of his opponent with equanimity.</p> + +<p>But, to the surprise of every one, Mr. Orcutt, after a +short consultation with the prisoner, rose and said he had +no questions to put to the witness.</p> + +<p>And Miss Dare was allowed to withdraw from the +stand, to the great satisfaction of Mr. Ferris, who found +himself by this move in a still better position than he had +anticipated.</p> + +<p>"Byrd," whispered Hickory, as Miss Dare returned +somewhat tremulously to her former seat among the +witnesses—"Byrd, you could knock me over with a +feather. I thought the defence would have no difficulty +in riddling this woman's testimony, and they have not +even made the effort. Can it be that Orcutt has such +an attachment for her that he is going to let his rival +hang?"</p> + +<p>"No. Orcutt isn't the man to deliberately lose a case +for any woman. He looks at Miss Dare's testimony from +a different standpoint than you do. He believes what +she says to be true, and you do not."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_349" id="Page_349">[349]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Then, all I've got to say, 'So much the worse for +Mansell!'" was the whispered response. "He was a +fool to trust his case to that man."</p> + +<p>The judge, the jury, and all the by-standers in court, it +must be confessed, shared the opinion of Hickory—Mr. +Orcutt was standing on slippery ground.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_350" id="Page_350">[350]</a></span></p> +<h2>XXIX.</h2> + +<h3>THE OPENING OF THE DEFENCE.</h3> + +<div class='center'> +Excellent! I smell a device.—<span class="smcap">Twelfth Night.</span><br /> +<br /><br /></div> + + +<div class='cap'>LATE that afternoon the prosecution rested. It had +made out a case of great strength and seeming +impregnability. Favorably as every one was disposed to +regard the prisoner, the evidence against him was such +that, to quote a man who was pretty free with his opinions +in the lobby of the court-room: "Orcutt will have to +wake up if he is going to clear his man in face of facts +like these."</div> + +<p>The moment, therefore, when this famous lawyer and +distinguished advocate rose to open the defence, was one +of great interest to more than the immediate actors in the +scene. It was felt that hitherto he had rather idled with +his case, and curiosity was awake to his future course. +Indeed, in the minds of many the counsel for the prisoner +was on trial as well as his client.</p> + +<p>He rose with more of self-possession, quiet and reserved +strength, than could be hoped for, and his look +toward the Court and then to the jury tended to gain for +him the confidence which up to this moment he seemed +to be losing. Never a handsome man or even an imposing +one, he had the advantage of always rising to the occasion,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_351" id="Page_351">[351]</a></span> +and whether pleading with a jury or arguing with +opposing counsel, flashed with that unmistakable glitter +of keen and ready intellect which, once observed in a +man, marks him off from his less gifted fellows and makes +him the cynosure of all eyes, however insignificant his +height, features, or ordinary expression.</p> + +<p>To-day he was even cooler, more brilliant, and more +confident in his bearing than usual. Feelings, if feelings +he possessed—and we who have seen him at his hearth +can have no doubt on this subject,—had been set aside +when he rose to his feet and turned his face upon the +expectant crowd before him. To save his client seemed the +one predominating impulse of his soul, and, as he drew +himself up to speak, Mr. Byrd, who was watching him with +the utmost eagerness and anticipation, felt that, despite +appearances, despite evidence, despite probability itself, +this man was going to win his case.</p> + +<p>"May it please your Honor and Gentlemen of the Jury," +he began, and those who looked at him could not but +notice how the prisoner at his side lifted his head at this +address, till it seemed as if the words issued from his lips +instead of from those of his counsel, "I stand before you +to-day not to argue with my learned opponent in reference +to the evidence which he has brought out with so much +ingenuity. I have a simpler duty than that to perform. +I have to show you how, in spite of this evidence, in face +of all this accumulated testimony showing the prisoner to +have been in possession of both motive and opportunities<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_352" id="Page_352">[352]</a></span> +for committing this crime, he is guiltless of it; that a +physical impossibility stands in the way of his being the +assailant of the Widow Clemmens, and that to whomever +or whatsoever her death may be due, it neither was nor +could have been the result of any blow struck by the +prisoner's hand. In other words, we dispute, not the +facts which have led the Prosecuting Attorney of this +district, and perhaps others also, to infer guilt on the +part of the prisoner,"—here Mr. Orcutt cast a significant +glance at the bench where the witnesses sat,—"but the +inference itself. Something besides proof of motive and +opportunity must be urged against <i>this</i> man in order to +convict him of guilt. Nor is it sufficient to show he was +on the scene of murder some time during the fatal morning +when Mrs. Clemmens was attacked; you must prove +he was there at the time the deadly blow was struck; for +it is not with him as with so many against whom circumstantial +evidence of guilt is brought. <i>This</i> man, gentlemen, +has an answer for those who accuse him of crime—an +answer, too, before which all the circumstantial evidence +in the world cannot stand. Do you want to know +what it is? Give me but a moment's attention and you +shall hear."</p> + +<p>Expectation, which had been rising through this exordium, +now stood at fever-point. Byrd and Hickory +held their breaths, and even Miss Dare showed feeling +through the icy restraint which had hitherto governed +her secret anguish and suspense. Mr. Orcutt went on:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_353" id="Page_353">[353]</a></span></p> + +<p>"First, however, as I have already said, the prisoner +desires it to be understood that he has no intention of +disputing the various facts which have been presented before +you at this trial. He does not deny that he was in +great need of money at the time of his aunt's death; that +he came to Sibley to entreat her to advance to him certain +sums he deemed necessary to the furtherance of his +plans; that he came secretly and in the roundabout way +you describe. Neither does he refuse to allow that his +errand was also one of love, that he sought and obtained +a private interview with the woman he wished to make his +wife, in the place and at the time testified to; that the +scraps of conversation which have been sworn to as having +passed between them at this interview are true in as +far as they go, and that he did place upon the finger of +Miss Dare a diamond ring. Also, he admits that she took +this ring off immediately upon receiving it, saying she +could not accept it, at least not then, and that she entreated +him to take it back, which he declined to do, +though he cannot say she did not restore it in the manner +she declares, for he remembers nothing of the ring after +the moment he put her hand aside as she was offering it +back to him. The prisoner also allows that he slept in +the hut and remained in that especial region of the woods +until near noon the next day; but, your Honor and Gentlemen +of the Jury, what the prisoner does not allow and +will not admit is that he struck the blow which eventually +robbed Mrs. Clemmens of her life, and the proof which I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_354" id="Page_354">[354]</a></span> +propose to bring forward in support of this assertion is +this:</p> + +<p>"Mrs. Clemmens received the blow which led to her +death at some time previously to three minutes past +twelve o'clock on Tuesday, September 26th. This the +prosecution has already proved. Now, what I propose to +show is, that Mrs. Clemmens, however or whenever assailed, +was still living and unhurt up to ten minutes before +twelve on that same day. A witness, whom you +must believe, saw her at that time and conversed with +her, proving that the blow by which she came to her death +must have occurred after that hour, that is, after ten minutes +before noon. But, your Honor and Gentlemen of the +Jury, the prosecution has already shown that the prisoner +stepped on to the train at Monteith Quarry Station at +twenty minutes past one of that same day, and has produced +witnesses whose testimony positively proves that +the road he took there from Mrs. Clemmens' house was +the same he had traversed in his secret approach to it +the day before—viz., the path through the woods; the +only path, I may here state, that connects those two +points with any thing like directness.</p> + +<p>"But, Sirs, what the prosecution has not shown you, +and what it now devolves upon me to show, is that this +path which the prisoner is allowed to have taken is one +which no man could traverse without encountering great +difficulties and many hindrances to speed. It is not +only a narrow path filled with various encumbrances in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_355" id="Page_355">[355]</a></span> +the way of brambles and rolling stones, but it is so +flanked by an impenetrable undergrowth in some places, +and by low, swampy ground in others, that no deviation +from its course is possible, while to keep within it and +follow its many turns and windings till it finally emerges +upon the highway that leads to the Quarry Station would +require many more minutes than those which elapsed +between the time of the murder and the hour the prisoner +made his appearance at the Quarry Station. In other +words, I propose to introduce before you as witnesses two +gentlemen from New York, both of whom are experts in +all feats of pedestrianism, and who, having been over the +road themselves, are in position to testify that the time +necessary for a man to pass by means of this path from +Mrs. Clemmens' house to the Quarry Station is, by a +definite number of minutes, greater than that allowed to +the prisoner by the evidence laid before you. If, therefore, +you accept the testimony of the prosecution as +true, and believe that the prisoner took the train for +Buffalo, which he has been said to do, it follows, as a +physical impossibility, for him to have been at Mrs. +Clemmens' cottage, or anywhere else except on the road to +the station, at the moment when the fatal blow was dealt.</p> + +<p>"Your Honor, this is our answer to the terrible charge +which has been made against the prisoner; it is simple, +but it is effective, and upon it, as upon a rock, we found +our defence."</p> + +<p>And with a bow, Mr. Orcutt sat down, and, it being +late in the day, the court adjourned.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_356" id="Page_356">[356]</a></span></p> +<h2>XXX.</h2> + +<h3>BYRD USES HIS PENCIL AGAIN.</h3> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>Ay, sir, you shall find me reasonable; if it be so, I shall do that that is +reason.—<span class="smcap">Merry Wives of Windsor.</span></p><br /><br /></div> + + +<div class='cap'>"BYRD, you look dazed."</div> + +<p>"I am."</p> + +<p>Hickory paused till they were well clear of the crowd +that was pouring from the court-room; then he said:</p> + +<p>"Well, what do you think of this as a defence?"</p> + +<p>"I am beginning to think it is good," was the slow, +almost hesitating, reply.</p> + +<p>"Beginning to think?"</p> + +<p>"Yes. At first it seemed puerile. I had such a steadfast +belief in Mansell's guilt, I could not give much credit +to any argument tending to shake me loose from my convictions. +But the longer I think of it the more vividly I +remember the difficulties of the road he had to take in +his flight. I have travelled it myself, you remember, and +I don't see how he could have got over the ground in +ninety minutes."</p> + +<p>Hickory's face assumed a somewhat quizzical expression.</p> + +<p>"Byrd," said he, "whom were you looking at during +the time Mr. Orcutt was making his speech?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_357" id="Page_357">[357]</a></span></p> + +<p>"At the speaker, of course."</p> + +<p>"Bah!"</p> + +<p>"Whom were <i>you</i> looking at?"</p> + +<p>"At the person who would be likely to give me some +return for my pains."</p> + +<p>"The prisoner?"</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>"Whom, then?"</p> + +<p>"Miss Dare."</p> + +<p>Byrd shifted uneasily to the other side of his companion.</p> + +<p>"And what did you discover from her, Hickory?" he +asked.</p> + +<p>"Two things. First, that she knew no more than the +rest of us what the defence was going to be. Secondly, +that she regarded it as a piece of great cleverness on the +part of Orcutt, but that she didn't believe in it anymore—well, +any more than I do."</p> + +<p>"Hickory!"</p> + +<p>"Yes, <i>sir!</i> Miss Dare is a smart woman, and a resolute +one, and could have baffled the penetration of all +concerned if she had only remembered to try. But she +forgot that others might be more interested in making +out what was going on in her mind at this critical moment +than in watching the speaker or noting the effect of +his words upon the court. In fact, she was too eager herself +to hear what he had to say to remember her <i>rôle</i>, I +fancy."</p> + +<p>"But, I don't see——" began Byrd.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_358" id="Page_358">[358]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Wait," interrupted the other. "You believe Miss +Dare loves Craik Mansell?"</p> + +<p>"Most certainly," was the gloomy response.</p> + +<p>"Very well, then. If she had known what the defence +was going to be she would have been acutely alive +to the effect it was going to have upon the jury. That +would have been her first thought and her only thought +all the time Mr. Orcutt was speaking, and she would have +sat with her eyes fixed upon the men upon whose acceptance +or non-acceptance of the truth of this argument her +lover's life ultimately depended. But no; her gaze, like +yours, remained fixed upon Mr. Orcutt, and she scarcely +breathed or stirred till he had fully revealed what his +argument was going to be. Then——"</p> + +<p>"Well, then?"</p> + +<p>"Instead of flashing with the joy of relief which any +devoted woman would experience who sees in this argument +a proof of her lover's innocence, she merely dropped +her eyes and resumed her old mask of impassiveness."</p> + +<p>"From all of which you gather——"</p> + +<p>"That her feelings were not those of relief, but doubt. +In other words, that the knowledge she possesses is of a +character which laughs to scorn any such subterfuge of +defence as Orcutt advances."</p> + +<p>"Hickory," ventured Byrd, after a long silence, "it is +time we understood each other. What is your secret +thought in relation to Miss Dare?"</p> + +<p>"My secret thought? Well," drawled the other, looking<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_359" id="Page_359">[359]</a></span> +away, "I think she knows more about this crime than +she has yet chosen to reveal."</p> + +<p>"More than she evinced to-day in her testimony?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"I should like to know why you think so. What +special reasons have you for drawing any such conclusions?"</p> + +<p>"Well, one reason is, that she was no more shaken by +the plausible argument advanced by Mr. Orcutt. If her +knowledge of the crime was limited to what she acknowledged +in her testimony, and her conclusions as to Mansell's +guilt were really founded upon such facts as she +gave us in court to-day, why didn't she grasp at the possibility +of her lover's innocence which was held out to her +by his counsel? No facts that she had testified to, not +even the fact of his ring having been found on the scene +of murder, could stand before the proof that he left the +region of Mrs. Clemmens' house before the moment of +assault; yet, while evincing interest in the argument, and +some confidence in it, too, as one that would be likely to +satisfy the jury, she gave no tokens of being surprised by +it into a reconsideration of her own conclusions, as must +have happened if she told the truth, the whole truth, and +nothing but the truth, when she was on the stand to-day."</p> + +<p>"I see," remarked Byrd, "that you are presuming to +understand Miss Dare after all."</p> + +<p>Hickory smiled.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_360" id="Page_360">[360]</a></span></p> + +<p>"You call this woman a mystery," proceeded Byrd; +"hint at great possibilities of acting on her part, and yet +in a moment, as it were, profess yourself the reader of her +inmost thoughts, and the interpreter of looks and expressions +she has manifestly assumed to hide those +thoughts."</p> + +<p>Hickory's smile broadened into a laugh.</p> + +<p>"Just so," he cried. "One's imbecility has to stop +somewhere." Then, as he saw Byrd look grave, added: +"I haven't a single fact at my command that isn't +shared by you. My conclusions are different, that is all."</p> + +<p>Horace Byrd did not answer. Perhaps if Hickory +could have sounded his thoughts he would have discovered +that their conclusions were not so far apart as he +imagined.</p> + +<p>"Hickory," Byrd at last demanded, "what do you propose +to do with your conclusions?"</p> + +<p>"I propose to wait and see if Mr. Orcutt proves his +case. If he don't, I have nothing more to say; but if he +does, I think I shall call the attention of Mr. Ferris to +one question he has omitted to ask Miss Dare."</p> + +<p>"And what is that?"</p> + +<p>"Where she was on the morning of Mrs. Clemmens' +murder. You remember you took some interest in that +question yourself a while ago."</p> + +<p>"But——"</p> + +<p>"Not that I think any thing will come of it, only my +conscience will be set at rest."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_361" id="Page_361">[361]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Hickory,"—Byrd's face had quite altered now—"where +do you think Miss Dare was at that time?"</p> + +<p>"Where do I think she was?" repeated Hickory.</p> + +<p>"Well, I will tell you. I think she was <i>not</i> in Professor +Darling's observatory."</p> + +<p>"Do you think she was in the glade back of Widow +Clemmens' house?"</p> + +<p>"Now you ask me conundrums."</p> + +<p>"Hickory!" Byrd spoke almost violently, "Mr. +Orcutt shall not prove his case."</p> + +<p>"No?"</p> + +<p>"I will make the run over the ground supposed to +have been taken by Mansell in his flight, and show in +my own proper person that it can be done in the time +specified."</p> + +<p>Hickory's eye, which had taken a rapid survey of his +companion's form during the utterance of the above, +darkened, then he slowly shook his head.</p> + +<p>"You couldn't," he rejoined laconically. "Too little +staying power; you'd give out before you got clear of +the woods. Better delegate the job to me."</p> + +<p>"To you?"</p> + +<p>"Yes. I'm of the make to stand long runs; besides I +am no novice at athletic sports of any kind. More than +one race has owed its interest to the efforts of your humble +servant. 'Tis my pet amusement, you see, as off-hand +drawing is yours, and is likely to be of as much use to +me, eh?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_362" id="Page_362">[362]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Hickory, you are chaffing me."</p> + +<p>"Think so? Do you see that five-barred gate over +there? Well, now keep your eye on the top rail and see +if I clear it without a graze or not."</p> + +<p>"Stop!" exclaimed Mr. Byrd, "don't make a fool of +yourself in the public street. I'll believe you if you say +you understand such things."</p> + +<p>"Well, I do, and what is more, I'm an adept at them. +If I can't make that run in the time requisite to show that +Mansell could have committed the murder, and yet arrive +at the station the moment he did, I don't know of a +chap who can."</p> + +<p>"Hickory, do you mean to say you <i>will</i> make this +run?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"With a conscientious effort to prove that Orcutt's +scheme of defence is false?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"When?"</p> + +<p>"To-morrow."</p> + +<p>"While we are in court?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>Byrd turned square around, gave Hickory a look and +offered his hand.</p> + +<p>"You are a good fellow," he declared, "May luck go +with you."</p> + +<p>Hickory suddenly became unusually thoughtful.</p> + +<p>"A little while ago," he reflected, "this fellow's sympathies<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_363" id="Page_363">[363]</a></span> +were all with Mansell; now he would risk my limbs +and neck to have the man proved guilty. He does not +wish Miss Dare to be questioned again, I see."</p> + +<p>"Hickory," resumed Byrd, a few minutes later, "Orcutt +has not rested the defence upon this one point without +being very sure of its being unassailable."</p> + +<p>"I know that."</p> + +<p>"He has had more than one expert make that run during +the weeks that have elapsed since the murder. It has +been tested to the uttermost."</p> + +<p>"I know <i>that</i>."</p> + +<p>"If you succeed then in doing what none of these +others have, it must be by dint of a better understanding +of the route you have to take and the difficulties you will +have to overcome. Now, do you understand the route?"</p> + +<p>"I think so."</p> + +<p>"You will have to start from the widow's door, you +know?"</p> + +<p>"Certain."</p> + +<p>"Cross the bog, enter the woods, skirt the hut—but I +won't go into details. The best way to prove you know +exactly what you have to do is to see if you can describe +the route yourself. Come into my room, old fellow, and +let us see if you can give me a sufficiently exact account +of the ground you will have to pass over, for me to draw +up a chart by it. An hour spent with paper and pencil +to-night may save you from an uncertainty to-morrow +that would lose you a good ten minutes."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_364" id="Page_364">[364]</a></span></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<a href="images/diagram02b-big.png"><img src="images/diagram02b.png" width="600" height="403" alt="(Page 364)" title="" /></a> +<span class="right">(Page 364)</span> +</div> + +<p>"Good! that's an idea; let's try it," rejoined Hickory.</p> + +<p>And being by this time at the hotel, they went in. In +another moment they were shut up in Mr. Byrd's room, +with a large sheet of foolscap before them.</p> + +<p>"Now," cried Horace, taking up a pencil, "begin with +your description, and I will follow with my drawing."</p> + +<p>"Very well," replied Hickory, setting himself forward +in a way to watch his colleague's pencil. "I leave the +widow's house by the dining-room door—a square for the +house, Byrd, well down in the left-hand corner of the +paper, and a dotted line for the path I take,—run down +the yard to the fence, leap it, cross the bog, and make +straight for the woods."</p> + +<p>"Very good," commented Byrd, sketching rapidly as +the other spoke.</p> + +<p>"Having taken care to enter where the trees are thinnest, +I find a path along which I rush in a bee-line till I +come to the glade—an ellipse for the glade, Byrd, with a +dot in it for the hut. Merely stopping to dash into the +hut and out again——"</p> + +<p>"Wait!" put in Byrd, pausing with his pencil in mid-air; +"what did you want to go into the hut for?"</p> + +<p>"To get the bag which I propose to leave there to-night."</p> + +<p>"Bag?"</p> + + +<p>"Yes; Mansell carried a bag, didn't he? Don't you +remember what the station-master said about the curious<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_365" id="Page_365">[365]</a></span> +portmanteau the fellow had in his hand when he came to +the station?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, but——"</p> + +<p>"Byrd, if I run that fellow to his death it must be +fairly. A man with an awkward bag in his hand cannot +run like a man without one. So I handicap myself in the +same way he did, do you see?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"Very well, then; I rush into the hut, pick up the bag, +carry it out, and dash immediately into the woods at the +opening behind the hut.—What are you doing?"</p> + +<p>"Just putting in a few landmarks," explained Byrd, +who had run his pencil off in an opposite direction. +"See, that is the path to West Side which I followed in +my first expedition through the woods—the path, too, +which Miss Dare took when she came to the hut at the +time of the fearful thunderstorm. And wait, let me put +in Professor Darling's house, too, and the ridge from +which you can see Mrs. Clemmens' cottage. It will help +us to understand——"</p> + +<p>"What?" cried Hickory, with quick suspiciousness, as +the other paused.</p> + +<p>But Byrd, impatiently shaking his head, answered:</p> + +<p>"The whole situation, of course." Then, pointing +hastily back to the hut, exclaimed: "So you have entered +the woods again at this place? Very well; what then?"</p> + +<p>"Well, then," resumed Hickory, "I make my way +along the path I find there—run it at right angles to the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_366" id="Page_366">[366]</a></span> +one leading up to the glade—till I come to a stony ledge +covered with blackberry bushes. (A very cleverly drawn +blackberry patch that, Byrd.) Here I fear I shall have to +pause."</p> + +<p>"Why?"</p> + +<p>"Because, deuce take me if I can remember where the +path runs after that."</p> + +<p>"But I can. A big hemlock-tree stands just at the +point where the woods open again. Make for that and +you will be all right."</p> + +<p>"Good enough; but it's mighty rough travelling over +that ledge, and I shall have to go at a foot's pace. The +stones are slippery as glass, and a fall would scarcely be +conducive to the final success of my scheme."</p> + +<p>"I will make the path serpentine."</p> + +<p>"That will be highly expressive."</p> + +<p>"And now, what next?"</p> + +<p>"The Foresters' Road, Byrd, upon which I ought to +come about this time. Run it due east and west—not +that I have surveyed the ground, but it looks more +natural so—and let the dotted line traverse it toward the +right, for that is the direction in which I shall go."</p> + +<p>"It's done," said Byrd.</p> + +<p>"Well, description fails me now. All I know is, I +come out on a hillside running straight down to the +river-bank and that the highway is visible beyond, +leading directly to the station; but the way to get to +it——"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_367" id="Page_367">[367]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I will show you," interposed Byrd, mapping out the +station and the intervening river with a few quick strokes +of his dexterous pencil. "You see this point where you +issue from the woods? Very good; it is, as you say, on +a hillside overlooking the river. Well, it seems unfortunate, +but there is no way of crossing that river at this +point. The falls above and below make it no place for +boats, and you will have to go back along its banks for +some little distance before you come to a bridge. But +there is no use in hesitating or looking about for a +shorter path. The woods just here are encumbered with +a mass of tangled undergrowth which make them simply +impassable except as you keep in the road, while the +river curves so frequently and with so much abruptness—see, +I will endeavor to give you some notion of it here—that +you would only waste time in attempting to make +any short cuts. But, once over the bridge——"</p> + +<p>"I have only to foot it," burst in Hickory, taking up +the sketch which the other had now completed, and +glancing at it with a dubious eye. "Do you know, +Byrd," he remarked in another moment, "that it strikes +me Mansell did not take this roundabout road to the +station?"</p> + +<p>"Why?"</p> + +<p>"Because it <i>is</i> so roundabout, and he is such a clearheaded +fellow. Couldn't he have got there by some +shorter cut?"</p> + +<p>"No. Don't you remember how Orcutt cross-examined<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_368" id="Page_368">[368]</a></span> +the station-master about the appearance which +Mansell presented when he came upon the platform, +and how that person was forced to acknowledge that, +although the prisoner looked heated and exhausted, his +clothes were neither muddied nor torn? Now, I did not +think of it at the time, but this was done by Orcutt to +prove that Mansell did take the road I have jotted down +here, since any other would have carried him through +swamps knee-deep with mud, or amongst stones and +briers which would have put him in a state of disorder +totally unfitting him for travel."</p> + +<p>"That is so," acquiesced Hickory, after a moment's +thought. "Mansell must be kept in the path. Well, +well, we will see to-morrow if wit and a swift foot can +make any thing out of this problem."</p> + +<p>"Wit? Hickory, it <i>will</i> be wit and not a swift foot. +Or luck, maybe I should call it, or rather providence. +If a wagon should be going along the highway, +now——"</p> + +<p>"Let me alone for availing myself of it," laughed +Hickory. "Wagon! I would jump on the back of a +mule sooner than lose the chance of gaining a minute on +these experts whose testimony we are to hear to-morrow. +Don't lose confidence in old Hickory yet. He's the boy +for this job if he isn't for any other."</p> + +<p>And so the matter was settled.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_369" id="Page_369">[369]</a></span></p> +<h2>XXXI.</h2> + +<h3>THE CHIEF WITNESS FOR THE DEFENCE.</h3> + +<div class='center'> +Your <i>If</i> is the only peace-maker; much virtue in <i>If</i>.—<span class="smcap">As You Like It.</span><br /> +<br /><br /></div> + + +<div class='cap'>THE crowd that congregated at the court-house the +next morning was even greater than at any previous +time. The opening speech of Mr. Orcutt had been +telegraphed all over the country, and many who had not +been specially interested in the case before felt an anxiety +to hear how he would substantiate the defence he had +so boldly and confidently put forth.</div> + +<p>To the general eye, however, the appearance of the +court-room was much the same as on the previous day. +Only to the close observer was it evident that the countenances +of the several actors in this exciting drama wore a +different expression. Mr. Byrd, who by dint of the most +energetic effort had succeeded in procuring his old seat, +was one of these, and as he noted the significant change, +wished that Hickory had been at his side to note it with +him.</p> + +<p>The first person he observed was, naturally, the Judge.</p> + +<p>Judge Evans, who has been but barely introduced to +the reader, was a man of great moral force and discretion. +He had occupied his present position for many years, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_370" id="Page_370">[370]</a></span> +possessed not only the confidence but the affections of +those who came within the sphere of his jurisdiction. +The reason for this undoubtedly lay in his sympathetic +nature. While never accused of weakness, he so unmistakably +retained the feeling heart under the official ermine +that it was by no means an uncommon thing for him +to show more emotion in uttering a sentence than the +man he condemned did in listening to it.</p> + +<p>His expression, then, upon this momentous morning +was of great significance to Mr. Byrd. In its hopefulness +and cheer was written the extent of the effect made upon +the unprejudiced mind by the promised defence.</p> + +<p>As for Mr. Orcutt himself, no advocate could display a +more confident air or prepare to introduce his witnesses +with more dignity or quiet assurance. His self-possession +was so marked, indeed, that Mr. Byrd, who felt a sympathetic +interest in what he knew to be seething in this +man's breast, was greatly surprised, and surveyed, with a +feeling almost akin to awe, the lawyer who could so sink +all personal considerations in the cause he was trying.</p> + +<p>Miss Dare, on the contrary, was in a state of nervous +agitation. Though no movement betrayed this, the very +force of the restraint she put upon herself showed the +extent of her inner excitement.</p> + +<p>The prisoner alone remained unchanged. Nothing +could shake his steady soul from its composure, not the +possibility of death or the prospect of release. He was +absolutely imposing in his quiet presence, and Mr. Byrd<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_371" id="Page_371">[371]</a></span> +could not but admire the power of the man even while +recoiling from his supposed guilt.</p> + +<p>The opening of the defence carried the minds of many +back to the inquest. The nice question of time was gone +into, and the moment when Mrs. Clemmens was found +lying bleeding and insensible at the foot of her dining-room +clock, fixed at three or four minutes past noon. +The next point to be ascertained was when she received +the deadly blow.</p> + +<p>And here the great surprise of the defence occurred. +Mr. Orcutt rose, and in clear, firm tones said:</p> + +<p>"Gouverneur Hildreth, take the stand."</p> + +<p>Instantly, and before the witness could comply, Mr. +Ferris was on his feet.</p> + +<p>"Who? what?" he cried.</p> + +<p>"Gouverneur Hildreth," repeated Mr. Orcutt.</p> + +<p>"Did you know this gentleman has already been in +custody upon suspicion of having committed the crime +for which the prisoner is now being tried?"</p> + +<p>"I do," returned Mr. Orcutt, with imperturbable <i>sang +froid</i>.</p> + +<p>"And is it your intention to save your client from the +gallows by putting the halter around the neck of the man +you now propose to call as a witness?"</p> + +<p>"No," retorted Mr. Orcutt; "<i>I</i> do not propose to put +the halter about any man's neck. That is the proud +privilege of my learned and respected opponent."</p> + +<p>With an impatient frown Mr. Ferris sat down, while<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_372" id="Page_372">[372]</a></span> +Mr. Hildreth, who had taken advantage of this short passage +of arms between the lawyers to retain his place in +the remote corner where he was more or less shielded +from the curiosity of the crowd, rose, and, with a slow +and painful movement that at once attracted attention to +his carefully bandaged throat and the general air of +debility which surrounded him, came hesitatingly forward +and took his stand in face of the judge and jury.</p> + +<p>Necessarily a low murmur greeted him from the throng +of interested spectators who saw in this appearance before +them of the man who, by no more than a hair's-breadth, +had escaped occupying the position of the +prisoner, another of those dramatic incidents with which +this trial seemed fairly to bristle.</p> + +<p>It was hushed by one look from the Judge, but not +before it had awakened in Mr. Hildreth's weak and +sensitive nature those old emotions of shame and rage +whose token was a flush so deep and profuse it unconsciously +repelled the gaze of all who beheld it. Immediately +Mr. Byrd, who sat with bated breath, as it were, so +intense was his excitement over the unexpected turn of +affairs, recognized the full meaning of the situation, and +awarded to Mr. Orcutt all the admiration which his +skill in bringing it about undoubtedly deserved. Indeed, +as the detective's quick glance flashed first at the +witness, cringing in his old unfortunate way before the +gaze of the crowd, and then at the prisoner sitting unmoved +and quietly disdainful in his dignity and pride,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_373" id="Page_373">[373]</a></span> +he felt that, whether Mr. Orcutt succeeded in getting +all he wished from his witness, the mere conjunction of +these two men before the jury, with the opportunity +for comparison between them which it inevitably offered, +was the master-stroke of this eminent lawyer's legal +career.</p> + +<p>Mr. Ferris seemed to feel the significance of the +moment also, for his eyes fell and his brow contracted +with a sudden doubt that convinced Mr. Byrd that, +mentally, he was on the point of giving up his case.</p> + +<p>The witness was at once sworn.</p> + +<p>"Orcutt believes Hildreth to be the murderer, or, at +least, is willing that others should be impressed with this +belief," was the comment of Byrd to himself at this +juncture.</p> + +<p>He had surprised a look which had passed between +the lawyer and Miss Dare—a look of such piercing +sarcasm and scornful inquiry that it might well arrest the +detective's attention and lead him to question the intentions +of the man who could allow such an expression +of his feelings to escape him.</p> + +<p>But whether the detective was correct in his inferences, +or whether Mr. Orcutt's glance at Imogene meant no +more than the natural emotion of a man who suddenly +sees revealed to the woman he loves the face of him for +whose welfare she has expressed the greatest concern and +for whose sake, while unknown, she has consented to +make the heaviest of sacrifices, the wary lawyer was careful<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_374" id="Page_374">[374]</a></span> +to show neither scorn nor prejudice when he turned +toward the witness and began his interrogations.</p> + +<p>On the contrary, his manner was highly respectful, if +not considerate, and his questions while put with such +art as to keep the jury constantly alert to the anomalous +position which the witness undoubtedly held, were of a +nature mainly to call forth the one fact for which his +testimony was presumably desired. This was, his presence +in the widow's house on the morning of the murder, +and the fact that he saw her and conversed with her and +could swear to her being alive and unhurt up to a few +minutes before noon. To be sure, the precise minute of +his leaving her in this condition Mr. Orcutt failed to +gather from the witness, but, like the coroner at the inquest, +he succeeded in eliciting enough to show that the +visit had been completed prior to the appearance of the +tramp at the widow's kitchen-door, as it had been begun +after the disappearance of the Danton children from the +front of the widow's house.</p> + +<p>This fact being established and impressed upon the +jury, Mr. Orcutt with admirable judgment cut short his +own examination of the witness, and passed him over to +the District Attorney, with a grim smile, suggestive of his +late taunt, that to this gentleman belonged the special +privilege of weaving halters for the necks of unhappy +criminals.</p> + +<p>Mr. Ferris who understood his adversary's tactics only +too well, but who in his anxiety for the truth could not<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_375" id="Page_375">[375]</a></span> +afford to let such an opportunity for reaching it slip by, +opened his cross-examination with great vigor.</p> + +<p>The result could not but be favorable to the defence +and damaging to the prosecution. The position which +Mr. Hildreth must occupy if the prisoner was acquitted, +was patent to all understandings, making each and every +admission on his part tending to exculpate the latter, of +a manifest force and significance.</p> + +<p>Mr. Ferris, however, was careful not to exceed his duty +or press his inquiries beyond due bounds. The man +they were trying was not Gouverneur Hildreth but Craik +Mansell, and to press the witness too close, was to urge +him into admissions seemingly so damaging to himself as, +in the present state of affairs, to incur the risk of distracting +attention entirely from the prisoner.</p> + +<p>Mr. Hildreth's examination being at an end, Mr. +Orcutt proceeded with his case, by furnishing proof calculated +to fix the moment at which Mr. Hildreth had +made his call. This was done in much the same way as +it was at the inquest. Mrs. Clemmens' next-door neighbor, +Mrs. Danton, was summoned to the stand, and after +her her two children, the testimony of the three, taken +with Mr. Hildreth's own acknowledgments, making it +very evident to all who listened that he could not have +gone into Mrs. Clemmens' house before a quarter to +twelve.</p> + +<p>The natural inference followed. Allowing the least +possible time for his interview with Mrs. Clemmens, the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_376" id="Page_376">[376]</a></span> +moment at which the witness swore to having seen her +alive and unhurt must have been as late as ten minutes +before noon.</p> + +<p>Taking pains to impress this time upon the jury, Mr. +Orcutt next proceeded to fix the moment at which the +prisoner arrived at Monteith Quarry Station. As the +fact of his having arrived in time to take the afternoon +train to Buffalo had been already proved by the prosecution, +it was manifestly necessary only to determine at +what hour the train was due, and whether it had come in +on time.</p> + +<p>The hour was ascertained, by direct consultation with +the road's time-table, to be just twenty minutes past one, +and the station-master having been called to the stand, +gave it as his best knowledge and belief that the train had +been on time.</p> + +<p>This, however, not being deemed explicit enough for +the purposes of the defence, there was submitted to the +jury a telegram bearing the date of that same day, and +distinctly stating that the train was on time. This was +testified to by the conductor of the train as having been +sent by him to the superintendent of the road who was +awaiting the cars at Monteith; and was received as evidence +and considered as conclusively fixing the hour at +which the prisoner arrived at the Quarry Station as +twenty minutes past one.</p> + +<p>This settled, witnesses were called to testify as to the +nature of the path by which he must have travelled from<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_377" id="Page_377">[377]</a></span> +the widow's house to the station. A chart similar to that +Mr. Byrd had drawn, but more explicit and nice in its +details, was submitted to the jury by an actual surveyor +of the ground; after which, and the establishment of +other minor details not necessary to enumerate here, a +man of well-known proficiency in running and other +athletic sports, was summoned to the stand.</p> + +<p>Mr. Byrd, who up to this moment had shared in the +interest every where displayed in the defence, now felt +his attention wandering. The fact is, he had heard the +whistle of the train on which Hickory had promised to +return to Sibley, and interesting as was the testimony +given by the witness, he could not prevent his eyes from +continually turning toward the door by which he expected +Hickory to enter.</p> + +<p>Strange to say, Mr. Orcutt seemed to take a like interest +in that same door, and was more than once detected +by Byrd flashing a hurried glance in its direction, as if he, +too, were on the look-out for some one.</p> + +<p>Meantime the expert in running was saying:</p> + +<p>"It took me one hundred and twenty minutes to go +over the ground the first time, and one hundred and +fifteen minutes the next. I gained five minutes the second +time, you see," he explained, "by knowing my ground +better and by saving my strength where it was of no avail +to attempt great speed. The last time I made the effort, +however, I lost three minutes on my former time. The +wood road which I had to take for some distance was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_378" id="Page_378">[378]</a></span> +deep with mud, and my feet sank with every step. The +shortest time, then, which I was able to make in three +attempts, was one hundred and fifteen minutes."</p> + +<p>Now, as the time between the striking of the fatal blow +and the hour at which the prisoner arrived at the Quarry +Station was only ninety minutes, a general murmur of +satisfaction followed this announcement. It was only +momentary, however, for Mr. Ferris, rising to cross-examine +the witness, curiosity prevailed over all lesser emotions, +and an immediate silence followed without the +intervention of the Court.</p> + +<p>"Did you make these three runs from Mrs. Clemmens' +house to Monteith Quarry Station entirely on foot?"</p> + +<p>"I did, sir."</p> + +<p>"Was that necessary?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir; as far as the highway, at least. The path +through the woods is not wide enough for a horse, unless +it be for that short distance where the Foresters' Road +intervenes."</p> + +<p>"And you ran there?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir, twice at full speed; the third time I had the +experience I have told you of."</p> + +<p>"And how long do you think it took you to go over +that especial portion of ground?"</p> + +<p>"Five minutes, maybe."</p> + +<p>"And, supposing you had had a horse?"</p> + +<p>"Well, sir, <i>if</i> I had had a horse, and <i>if</i> he had been +waiting there, all ready for me to jump on his back, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_379" id="Page_379">[379]</a></span> +<i>if</i> he had been a good runner and used to the road, I +think I could have gone over it in two minutes, if I had +not first broken my neck on some of the jagged stones +that roughen the road."</p> + +<p>"In other words, you could have saved three minutes +if you had been furnished with a horse at that particular +spot?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, <i>if</i>."</p> + +<p>Mr. Orcutt, whose eye had been fixed upon the door at +this particular juncture, now looked back at the witness +and hurriedly rose to his feet.</p> + +<p>"Has my esteemed friend any testimony on hand to +prove that the prisoner had a horse at this place? if he +has not, I object to these questions."</p> + +<p>"What testimony I have to produce will come in at its +proper time," retorted Mr. Ferris. "Meanwhile, I think +I have a right to put this or any other kind of similar +question to the witness."</p> + +<p>The Judge acquiescing with a nod, Mr. Orcutt sat +down.</p> + +<p>Mr. Ferris went on.</p> + +<p>"Did you meet any one on the road during any of +these three runs which you made?"</p> + +<p>"No, sir. That is, I met no one in the woods. There +were one or two persons on the highway the last time I +ran over it."</p> + +<p>"Were they riding or walking?"</p> + +<p>"Walking."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_380" id="Page_380">[380]</a></span></p> + +<p>Here Mr. Orcutt interposed.</p> + +<p>"Did you say that in passing over the highway you +ran?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir."</p> + +<p>"Why did you do this? Had you not been told that +the prisoner was seen to be walking when he came down +the road to the station?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir. But I was in for time, you see."</p> + +<p>"And you did not make it even with that advantage?"</p> + +<p>"No, sir."</p> + +<p>The second expert had the same story to tell, with a +few variations. He had made one of his runs in five +minutes less than the other had done, but it was by a +great exertion that left him completely exhausted when +he arrived at the station. It was during his cross-examination +that Hickory at last came in.</p> + +<p>Horace Byrd, who had been growing very impatient +during the last few minutes, happened to be looking at +the door when it opened to admit this late comer. So +was Mr. Orcutt. But Byrd did not notice this, or Hickory +either. If they had, perhaps Hickory would have +been more careful to hide his feelings. As it was, he no +sooner met his colleague's eye than he gave a quick, +despondent shake of the head in intimation that he had +<i>failed</i>.</p> + +<p>Mr. Byrd, who had anticipated a different result, +was greatly disappointed. His countenance fell and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_381" id="Page_381">[381]</a></span> +he cast a glance of compassion at Miss Dare, now +flushing with a secret but slowly growing hope. The defence, +then, was good, and she ran the risk of being interrogated +again. It was a prospect from which Mr. +Byrd recoiled.</p> + +<p>As soon as Hickory got the chance, he made his way +to the side of Byrd.</p> + +<p>"No go," was his low but expressive salutation. "One +hundred and five minutes is the shortest time in which I +can get over the ground, and that by a deuced hard +scramble of it too."</p> + +<p>"But that's five minutes' gain on the experts," Byrd +whispered.</p> + +<p>"Is it? Hope I could gain something on them, but +what's five minutes' gain in an affair like this? Fifteen +is what's wanted."</p> + +<p>"I know it."</p> + +<p>"And fifteen I cannot make, nor ten either, unless a +pair of wings should be given me to carry me over the +river."</p> + +<p>"Sure?"</p> + +<p>"Sure!"</p> + +<p>Here there was some commotion in their vicinity, +owing to the withdrawal of the last witness from the +stand. Hickory took advantage of the bustle to lean +over and whisper in Byrd's ear:</p> + +<p>"Do you know I think I have been watched to-day. +There was a fellow concealed in Mrs. Clemmens' house,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_382" id="Page_382">[382]</a></span> +who saw me leave it, and who, I have no doubt, took +express note of the time I started. And there was another +chap hanging round the station at the quarries, whom I +am almost sure had no business there unless it was to see +at what moment I arrived. He came back to Sibley +when I did, but he telegraphed first, and it is my opinion +that Orcutt——"</p> + +<p>Here he was greatly startled by hearing his name +spoken in a loud and commanding tone of voice. Stopping +short, he glanced up, encountered the eye of Mr. +Orcutt fixed upon him from the other side of the court-room, +and realized he was being summoned to the witness +stand.</p> + +<p>"The deuce!" he murmured, with a look at Byrd to +which none but an artist could do justice.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_383" id="Page_383">[383]</a></span></p> +<h2>XXXII.</h2> + +<h3>HICKORY.</h3> + +<div class='poem'> +Hickory, dickory, dock!<br /> +The mouse ran up the clock!<br /> +The clock struck one,<br /> +And down he run!<br /> +Hickory, dickory, dock!<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;"><span class="smcap">—Mother Goose Melodies.</span></span><br /> +<br /><br /></div> + + +<div class='cap'>HICKORY'S face was no new one to the court. He +had occupied a considerable portion of one day in +giving testimony for the prosecution, and his rough manner +and hardy face, twinkling, however, at times with an +irrepressible humor that redeemed it and him from all +charge of ugliness, were well known not only to the jury +but to all the <i>habitués</i> of the trial. Yet, when he stepped +upon the stand at the summons of Mr. Orcutt, every eye +turned toward him with curiosity, so great was the surprise +with which his name had been hailed, and so vivid +the interest aroused in what a detective devoted to the +cause of the prosecution might have to say in the way of +supporting the defence.</div> + +<p>The first question uttered by Mr. Orcutt served to put +them upon the right track.</p> + +<p>"Will you tell the court where you have been to-day, +Mr. Hickory?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_384" id="Page_384">[384]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Well," replied the witness in a slow and ruminating +tone of voice, as he cast a look at Mr. Ferris, half apologetic +and half reassuring, "I have been in a good many +places——"</p> + +<p>"You know what I mean," interrupted Mr. Orcutt. +"Tell the court where you were between the hours of +eleven and a quarter to one," he added, with a quick +glance at the paper he held in his hand.</p> + +<p>"Oh, <i>then</i>," cried Hickory, suddenly relaxing into his +drollest self. "Well, <i>then</i>, I was all along the route from +Sibley to Monteith Quarry Station. I don't think I was +stationary at any one minute of the time, sir."</p> + +<p>"In other words——" suggested Mr. Orcutt, severely.</p> + +<p>"I was trying to show myself smarter than my betters;" +bowing with a great show of respect to the two experts +who sat near. "<i>Or</i>, in other words still, I was trying to +make the distance between Mrs. Clemmens' house and +the station I have mentioned, in time sufficient to upset +the defence, sir."</p> + +<p>And the look he cast at Mr. Ferris was wholly apologetic +now.</p> + +<p>"Ah, I understand, and at whose suggestion did you +undertake to do this, Mr. Hickory?"</p> + +<p>"At the suggestion of a friend of mine, who is also +somewhat of a detective."</p> + +<p>"And when was this suggestion given?"</p> + +<p>"After your speech, sir, yesterday afternoon."</p> + +<p>"And where?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_385" id="Page_385">[385]</a></span></p> + +<p>"At the hotel, sir, where I and my friend put up."</p> + +<p>"Did not the counsel for the prosecution order you to +make this attempt?"</p> + +<p>"No, sir."</p> + +<p>"Did he not know you were going to make it?"</p> + +<p>"No, sir."</p> + +<p>"Who did know it?"</p> + +<p>"My friend."</p> + +<p>"No one else?"</p> + +<p>"Well, sir, judging from my present position, I should +say there seems to have been some one else," the witness +slyly retorted.</p> + +<p>The calmness with which Mr. Orcutt carried on this +examination suffered a momentary disturbance.</p> + +<p>"You know what I mean," he returned. "Did you +tell any one but your friend that you were going to undertake +this run?"</p> + +<p>"No, sir."</p> + +<p>"Mr. Hickory," the lawyer now pursued, "will you tell +us why you considered yourself qualified to succeed in an +attempt where you had already been told regular experts +had failed?"</p> + +<p>"Well, sir, I don't know unless you find the solution +in the slightly presumptive character of my disposition."</p> + +<p>"Had you ever run before or engaged in athletic +sports of any kind?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes, I have run before."</p> + +<p>"And engaged in athletic sports?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_386" id="Page_386">[386]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Yes, sir."</p> + +<p>"Mr. Hickory, have you ever run in a race with men +of well-known reputation for speed?"</p> + +<p>"Well, yes, I have."</p> + +<p>"Did you ever win in running such a race?"</p> + +<p>"Once."</p> + +<p>"No more?"</p> + +<p>"Well, then, twice."</p> + +<p>The dejection with which this last assent came forth +roused the mirth of some light-hearted, feather-headed +people, but the officers of the court soon put a stop +to that.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Hickory, will you tell us whether on account of +having twice beaten in a race requiring the qualifications +of a professional runner, you considered yourself qualified +to judge of the feasibility of any other man's making +the distance from Mrs. Clemmens' house to Monteith +Quarry Station in ninety minutes by your own ability or +non-ability to do so?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir, I did; but a man's judgment of his own +qualifications don't go very far, I've been told."</p> + +<p>"I did not ask you for any remarks, Mr. Hickory. +This is a serious matter and demands serious treatment. +I asked if in undertaking to make this run in ninety minutes +you did not presume to judge of the feasibility of the +prisoner having made it in that time, and you answered, +'Yes.' It was enough."</p> + +<p>The witness bowed with an air of great innocence.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_387" id="Page_387">[387]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Now," resumed the lawyer, "you say you made a run +from Mrs. Clemmens' house to Monteith Quarry Station +to-day. Before telling us in what time you did it, will +you be kind enough to say what route you took?"</p> + +<p>"The one, sir, which has been pointed out by the prosecution +as that which the prisoner undoubtedly took—the +path through the woods and over the bridge to the highway. +I knew no other."</p> + +<p>"Did you know <i>this?</i>"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir."</p> + +<p>"How came you to know it?"</p> + +<p>"I had been over it before."</p> + +<p>"The whole distance?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir."</p> + +<p>"Mr. Hickory, were you well enough acquainted with +the route not to be obliged to stop at any point during +your journey to see if you were in the right path or taking +the most direct road to your destination?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir."</p> + +<p>"And when you got to the river?"</p> + +<p>"I turned straight to the right and made for the +bridge."</p> + +<p>"Did you not pause long enough to see if you could +not cross the stream in some way?"</p> + +<p>"No, sir. I don't know how to swim in my clothes +and keep them dry, and as for my wings, I had unfortunately +left them at home."</p> + +<p>Mr. Orcutt frowned.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_388" id="Page_388">[388]</a></span></p> + +<p>"These attempts at humor," said he, "are very <i>mal +à propos</i>, Mr. Hickory." Then, with a return to his usual +tone: "Did you cross the bridge at a run?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir."</p> + +<p>"And did you keep up your pace when you got to the +highroad?"</p> + +<p>"No, I did not."</p> + +<p>"You did not?"</p> + +<p>"No, sir."</p> + +<p>"And why, may I ask?"</p> + +<p>"I was tired."</p> + +<p>"Tired?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir."</p> + +<p>There was a droll demureness in the way Hickory said +this which made Mr. Orcutt pause. But in another +minute he went on.</p> + +<p>"And what pace do you take when you are tired?"</p> + +<p>"A horse's pace when I can get it," was the laughing +reply. "A team was going by, sir, and I just jumped up +with the driver."</p> + +<p>"Ah, you rode, then, part of the way? Was it a fast +team, Mr. Hickory?"</p> + +<p>"Well, it wasn't one of Bonner's."</p> + +<p>"Did they go faster than a man could run?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir, I am obliged to say they did."</p> + +<p>"And how long did you ride behind them?"</p> + +<p>"Till I got in sight of the station."</p> + +<p>"Why did you not go farther?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_389" id="Page_389">[389]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Because I had been told the prisoner was seen to +walk up to the station, and I meant to be fair to him +when I knew how."</p> + +<p>"Oh, you did; and do you think it was fair to him to +steal a ride on the highway?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir."</p> + +<p>"And why?"</p> + +<p>"Because no one has ever told me he didn't ride down +the highway, at least till he came within sight of the +station."</p> + +<p>"Mr. Hickory," inquired the lawyer, severely, "are +you in possession of any knowledge proving that he +did?"</p> + +<p>"No, sir."</p> + +<p>Mr. Byrd, who had been watching the prisoner breathlessly +through all this, saw or thought he saw the faintest +shadow of an odd, disdainful smile cross his sternly composed +features at this moment. But he could not be sure. +There was enough in the possibility, however, to make +the detective thoughtful; but Mr. Orcutt proceeding +rapidly with his examination, left him no time to formulate +his sensations into words.</p> + +<p>"So that by taking this wagon you are certain you lost +no time?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir."</p> + +<p>"Rather gained some?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir."</p> + +<p>"Mr. Hickory, will you now state whether you put<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_390" id="Page_390">[390]</a></span> +forth your full speed to-day in going from Mrs. Clemmens' +house to the Quarry Station?"</p> + +<p>"I did not."</p> + +<p>"What?"</p> + +<p>"I did not put forth any thing like my full speed, sir," +the witness repeated, with a twinkle in the direction of +Byrd that fell just short of being a decided wink.</p> + +<p>"And why, may I ask? What restrained you from +running as fast as you could? Sympathy for the defence?"</p> + +<p>The ironical suggestion conveyed in this last question +gave Hickory an excuse for indulging in his peculiar +humor.</p> + +<p>"No, sir; sympathy for the prosecution. I feared the +loss of one of its most humble but valuable assistants. +In other words, I was afraid I should break my neck."</p> + +<p>"And why should you have any special fears of breaking +your neck?"</p> + +<p>"The path is so uneven, sir. No man could run +for much of the way without endangering his life or at +least his limbs."</p> + +<p>"Did you run when you could?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir."</p> + +<p>"And in those places where you could not run, did you +proceed as fast as you knew how?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir."</p> + +<p>"Very well; now I think it is time you told the jury +just how many minutes it took you to go from Mrs. Clemmens' +door to the Monteith Quarry Station."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_391" id="Page_391">[391]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Well, sir, according to <i>my</i> watch, it took one hundred +and five minutes."</p> + +<p>Mr. Orcutt glanced impressively at the jury.</p> + +<p>"One hundred and five minutes," he repeated. He +then turned to the witness with his concluding questions.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Hickory, were you present in the court-room just +now when the two experts whom I have employed to +make the run gave their testimony?"</p> + +<p>"No, sir."</p> + +<p>"Do you know in what time they made it?"</p> + +<p>"I believe I do. I was told by the person whom I informed +of my failure that I had gained five minutes upon +them."</p> + +<p>"And what did you reply?"</p> + +<p>"That I hoped I could make something on <i>them;</i> but +that five minutes wasn't much when a clean fifteen was +wanted," returned Hickory, with another droll look at the +experts and an askance appeal at Byrd, which being translated +might read: "How in the deuce could this man have +known what I was whispering to you on the other side of +the court-room? Is he a wizard, this Orcutt?"</p> + +<p>He forgot that a successful lawyer is always more or +less of a wizard.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_392" id="Page_392">[392]</a></span></p> +<h2>XXXIII.</h2> + +<h3>A LATE DISCOVERY.</h3> + +<div class='center'> +Oh, torture me no more, I will confess.—<span class="smcap">King Lear.</span><br /> +<br /><br /></div> + + +<div class='cap'>WITH the cross-examination of Hickory, the defence +rested, and the day being far advanced, +the court adjourned.</div> + +<p>During the bustle occasioned by the departure of the +prisoner, Mr. Byrd took occasion to glance at the faces +of those most immediately concerned in the trial.</p> + +<p>His first look naturally fell upon Mr. Orcutt. Ah! all +was going well with the great lawyer. Hope, if not +triumph, beamed in his eye and breathed in every movement +of his alert and nervous form. He was looking +across the court-room at Imogene Dare, and his features +wore a faint smile that indelibly impressed itself upon +Mr. Byrd's memory. Perhaps because there was something +really peculiar and remarkable in its expression, +and perhaps because of the contrast it offered to his own +feelings of secret doubt and dread.</p> + +<p>His next look naturally followed that of Mr. Orcutt +and rested upon Imogene Dare. Ah! she was under +the spell of awakening hope also. It was visible in her +lightened brow, her calmer and less studied aspect, +her eager and eloquently speaking gaze yet lingering<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_393" id="Page_393">[393]</a></span> +on the door through which the prisoner had departed. +As Mr. Byrd marked this look of hers and noted all it +revealed, he felt his emotions rise till they almost confounded +him. But strong as they were, they deepened +still further when, in another moment, he beheld her suddenly +drop her eyes from the door and turn them slowly, +reluctantly but gratefully, upon Mr. Orcutt. All the +story of her life was in that change of look; all the story +of her future, too, perhaps, if—— Mr. Byrd dared not +trust himself to follow the contingency that lurked behind +that <i>if</i>, and, to divert his mind, turned his attention +to Mr. Ferris.</p> + +<p>But he found small comfort there. For the District +Attorney was not alone. Hickory stood at his side, and +Hickory was whispering in his ear, and Mr. Byrd, +who knew what was weighing on his colleague's mind, +found no difficulty in interpreting the mingled expression +of perplexity and surprise that crossed the dark, aquiline +features of the District Attorney as he listened with +slightly bended head to what the detective had to say. +That look and the deep, anxious frown which crossed his +brow as he glanced up and encountered Imogene's eye, +remained in Mr. Byrd's mind long after the court-room +was empty and he had returned to his hotel. It mingled +with the smile of strange satisfaction which he had +detected on Mr. Orcutt's face, and awakened such a turmoil +of contradictory images in his mind that he was glad +when Hickory at last came in to break the spell.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_394" id="Page_394">[394]</a></span></p> + +<p>Their meeting was singular, and revealed, as by a flash, +the difference between the two men. Byrd contented +himself with giving Hickory a look and saying nothing, +while Hickory bestowed upon Byrd a hearty "Well, old +fellow!" and broke out into a loud and by no means unenjoyable +laugh.</p> + +<p>"You didn't expect to see me mounting the rostrum +in favor of the defence, did you?" he asked, after he had +indulged himself as long as he saw fit in the display +of this somewhat unseasonable mirth. "Well, it was a +surprise. But I've done it for Orcutt now!"</p> + +<p>"You have?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, I have."</p> + +<p>"But the prosecution has closed its case?"</p> + +<p>"Bah! what of that?" was the careless reply. "The +District Attorney can get it reopened. No Court would +refuse that."</p> + +<p>Horace surveyed his colleague for a moment in +silence.</p> + +<p>"So Mr. Ferris was struck with the point you gave +him?" he ventured, at last.</p> + +<p>"Well, sufficiently so to be uneasy," was Hickory's +somewhat dry response.</p> + +<p>The look with which Byrd answered him was eloquent. +"And that makes you cheerful?" he inquired, with ill-concealed +sarcasm.</p> + +<p>"Well, it has a slight tendency that way," drawled the +other, seemingly careless of the other's expression, if, indeed,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_395" id="Page_395">[395]</a></span> +he had noted it. "You see," he went on, with a +meaning wink and a smile of utter unconcern, "all my +energies just now are concentrated on getting myself even +with that somewhat too wide-awake lawyer." And his +smile broadened till it merged into a laugh that was rasping +enough to Byrd's more delicate and generous sensibilities.</p> + +<p>"Sufficiently so to be uneasy!" Yes, that was it. From +the minute Mr. Ferris listened to the suggestion that Miss +Dare had not told all she knew about the murder, and +that a question relative to where she had been at the +time it was perpetrated would, in all probability, bring +strange revelations to light, he had been awakened to a +most uncomfortable sense of his position and the +duty that was possibly required of him. To be sure, the +time for presenting testimony to the court was passed, unless +it was in the way of rebuttal; but how did he +know but what Miss Dare had a fact at her command +which would help the prosecution in overturning the +strange, unexpected, yet simple theory of the defence? +At all events, he felt he ought to know whether, in giving +her testimony she had exhausted her knowledge on +this subject, or whether, in her sympathy for the accused, +she had kept back certain evidence which if +presented might bring the crime more directly home to +the prisoner. Accordingly, somewhere toward eight +o'clock in the evening, he sought her out with the bold +resolution of forcing her to satisfy him on this point.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_396" id="Page_396">[396]</a></span></p> + +<p>He did not find his task so easy, however, when he +came into direct contact with her stately and far from encouraging +presence, and met the look of surprise not unmixed +with alarm with which she greeted him. She +looked very weary, too, and yet unnaturally excited, as if +she had not slept for many nights, if indeed she had +rested at all since the trial began. It struck him as cruel +to further disturb this woman, and yet the longer he surveyed +her, the more he studied her pale, haughty, inscrutable +face, he became the more assured that he +would never feel satisfied with himself if he did not give +her an immediate opportunity to disperse at once and forever +these freshly awakened doubts.</p> + +<p>His attitude or possibly his expression must have +betrayed something of his anxiety if not of his resolve, +for her countenance fell as she watched him, and her voice +sounded quite unnatural as she strove to ask to what +she was indebted for this unexpected visit.</p> + +<p>He did not keep her in suspense.</p> + +<p>"Miss Dare," said he, not without kindness, for he was +very sorry for this woman, despite the inevitable prejudice +which her relations to the accused had awakened, +"I would have given much not to have been obliged to +disturb you to-night, but my duty would not allow it. +There is a question which I have hitherto omitted to +ask——"</p> + +<p>He paused, shocked; she was swaying from side +to side before his eyes, and seemed indeed about to fall.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_397" id="Page_397">[397]</a></span> +But at the outreaching of his hand she recovered herself +and stood erect, the noblest spectacle of a woman +triumphing over the weakness of her body by the +mere force of her indomitable will, that he had ever +beheld.</p> + +<p>"Sit down," he gently urged, pushing toward her a +chair. "You have had a hard and dreary week of it; +you are in need of rest."</p> + +<p>She did not refuse to avail herself of the chair, though, +as he could not help but notice, she did not thereby relax +one iota of the restraint she put upon herself.</p> + +<p>"I do not understand," she murmured; "what question?"</p> + +<p>"Miss Dare, in all you have told the court, in all that +you have told me, about this fatal and unhappy affair, you +have never informed us how it was you first came +to hear of it. You were——"</p> + +<p>"I heard it on the street corner," she interrupted, with +what seemed to him an almost feverish haste.</p> + +<p>"First?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, first."</p> + +<p>"Miss Dare, had you been in the street long? Were +you in it at the time the murder happened, do you +think?"</p> + +<p>"I in the street?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," he repeated, conscious from the sudden strange +alteration in her look that he had touched upon a point +which, to her, was vital with some undefined interest,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_398" id="Page_398">[398]</a></span> +possibly that to which the surmises of Hickory had supplied +a clue. "Were you in the street, or anywhere out-of-doors +at the time the murder occurred? It strikes me +that it would be well for me to know."</p> + +<p>"Sir," she cried, rising in her sudden indignation, "I +thought the time for questions had passed. What means +this sudden inquiry into a matter we have all considered +exhausted, certainly as far as I am concerned."</p> + +<p>"Shall I show you?" he cried, taking her by the hand +and leading her toward the mirror near by, under one of +those impulses which sometimes effect so much. "Look +in there at your own face and you will see why I press +this question upon you."</p> + +<p>Astonished, if not awed, she followed with her eyes the +direction of his pointing finger, and anxiously surveyed +her own image in the glass. Then, with a quick movement, +her hands went up before her face—which till that +moment had kept its counsel so well—and, tottering back +against a table, she stood for a moment communing with +herself, and possibly summoning up her courage for the +conflict she evidently saw before her.</p> + +<p>"What is it you wish to know?" she faintly inquired, +after a long period of suspense and doubt.</p> + +<p>"Where were you when the clock struck twelve on the +day Mrs. Clemmens was murdered?"</p> + +<p>Instantly dropping her hands, she turned toward him +with a sudden lift of her majestic figure that was as imposing +as it was unexpected.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_399" id="Page_399">[399]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I was at Professor Darling's house," she declared, +with great steadiness.</p> + +<p>Mr. Ferris had not expected this reply, and looked at +her for an instant almost as if he felt inclined to repeat +his inquiry.</p> + +<p>"Do you doubt my word?" she queried. "Is it possible +you question my truth at a time like this?"</p> + +<p>"No, Miss Dare," he gravely assured her. "After the +great sacrifice you have publicly made in the interests of +justice, it would be worse than presumptuous in me to +doubt your sincerity now."</p> + +<p>She drew a deep breath, and straightened herself still +more proudly.</p> + +<p>"Then am I to understand you are satisfied with the +answer you have received?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, if you will also add that you were in the observatory +at Professor Darling's house," he responded quickly, +convinced there was some mystery here, and seeing but +one way to reach it.</p> + +<p>"Very well, then, I was," she averred, without hesitation.</p> + +<p>"You were!" he echoed, advancing upon her with a +slight flush on his middle-aged cheek, that evinced how +difficult it was for him to pursue this conversation in face +of the haughty and repellant bearing she had assumed. +"You will, perhaps, tell me, then, why you did not see +and respond to the girl who came into that room at this +very time, with a message from a lady who waited below +to see you?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_400" id="Page_400">[400]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Ah!" she cried, succumbing with a suppressed +moan to the inexorable destiny that pursued her in this +man, "you have woven a net for me!"</p> + +<p>And she sank again into a chair, where she sat like one +stunned, looking at him with a hollow gaze which filled +his heart with compassion, but which had no power to +shake his purpose as a District Attorney.</p> + +<p>"Yes," he acknowledged, after a moment, "I have +woven a net for you, but only because I am anxious for +the truth, and desirous of furthering the ends of justice. +I am confident you know more about this crime than you +have ever revealed, Miss Dare; that you are acquainted +with some fact that makes you certain Mr. Mansell committed +this murder, notwithstanding the defence advanced +in his favor. What is this fact? It is my office to inquire. +True," he admitted, seeing her draw back with +denial written on every line of her white face, "you have +a right to refuse to answer me here, but you will have no +right to refuse to answer me to-morrow when I put the +same question to you in the presence of judge and jury."</p> + +<p>"And"—her voice was so husky he could but with +difficulty distinguish her words—"do you intend to recall +me to the stand to-morrow?"</p> + +<p>"I am obliged to, Miss Dare."</p> + +<p>"But I thought the time for examination was over; +that the witnesses had all testified, and that nothing remained +now but for the lawyers to sum up."</p> + +<p>"When in a case like this the prisoner offers a defence<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_401" id="Page_401">[401]</a></span> +not anticipated by the prosecution, the latter, of course, +has the right to meet such defence with proof in rebuttal."</p> + +<p>"Proof in rebuttal? What is that?"</p> + +<p>"Evidence to rebut or prove false the matters advanced in +support of the defence."</p> + +<p>"Ah!"</p> + +<p>"I must do it in this case—if I can, of course."</p> + +<p>She did not reply.</p> + +<p>"And even if the testimony I desire to put in is not +rebuttal in its character, no unbiassed judge would deny +to counsel the privilege of reopening his case when any +new or important fact has come to light."</p> + +<p>As if overwhelmed by a prospect she had not anticipated, +she hurriedly arose and pointed down the room to +a curtained recess.</p> + +<p>"Give me five minutes," she cried; "five minutes by +myself where no one can look at me, and where I can +think undisturbed upon what I had better do."</p> + +<p>"Very well," he acquiesced; "you shall have them."</p> + +<p>She at once crossed to the small retreat.</p> + +<p>"Five minutes," she reiterated huskily, as she lifted +the curtains aside; "when the clock strikes nine I will +come out."</p> + +<p>"You will?" he repeated, doubtfully.</p> + +<p>"I will."</p> + +<p>The curtains fell behind her, and for five long minutes +Mr. Ferris paced the room alone. He was far from<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_402" id="Page_402">[402]</a></span> +easy. All was so quiet behind that curtain,—so preternaturally +quiet. But he would not disturb her; no, he +had promised, and she should be left to fight her battle +alone. When nine o'clock struck, however, he started, and +owned to himself some secret dread. Would she come +forth or would he have to seek her in her place of seclusion? +It seemed he would have to seek her, for the curtains +did not stir, and by no sound from within was any +token given that she had heard the summons. Yet he +hesitated, and as he did so, a thought struck him. Could +it be there was any outlet from the refuge she had +sought? Had she taken advantage of his consideration +to escape him? Moved by the fear, he hastily crossed +the room. But before he could lay his <ins title="Transcriber's Note: original reads 'band'">hand</ins> upon the +curtains, they parted, and disclosed the form of Imogene.</p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 450px;"> +<img src="images/ill04.jpg" width="450" height="450" alt=""The curtains parted and disclosed the form of Imogene. 'I am coming,' she murmured, and stepped forth."—(Page 402.)" title="" /> +<span class="caption">"The curtains parted and disclosed the form of Imogene. 'I am coming,' she murmured, and stepped forth."—(Page 402.)</span> +</div> + +<p>"I am coming," she murmured, and stepped forth +more like a faintly-breathing image than a living +woman.</p> + +<p>His first glance at her face convinced him she had +taken her resolution. His second, that in taking it she +had drifted into a state of feeling different from any he +had observed in her before, and of a sort that to him was +wholly inexplicable. Her words when she spoke only +deepened this impression.</p> + + +<p>"Mr. Ferris," said she, coming very near to him in +evident dread of being overheard, "I have decided to +tell you all. I hoped never to be obliged to do this. I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_403" id="Page_403">[403]</a></span> +thought enough had been revealed to answer your purpose. +I—I believed Heaven would spare me this last +trial, let me keep this last secret. It was of so strange a +nature, so totally out of the reach of any man's surmise. +But the finger of God is on me. It has followed this +crime from the beginning, and there is no escape. By +some strange means, some instinct of penetration, perhaps, +you have discovered that I know something concerning +this murder of which I have never told you, and +that the hour I spent at Professor Darling's is accountable +for this knowledge. Sir, I cannot struggle with +Providence. I will tell you all I have hitherto hidden +from the world if you will promise to let me know if my +words will prove fatal, and if he—he who is on trial for +his life—will be lost if I give to the court my last evidence +against him?"</p> + +<p>"But, Miss Dare," remonstrated the District Attorney, +"no man can tell——" He did not finish his sentence. +Something in the feverish gaze she fixed upon him +stopped him. He felt that he could not palter with a +woman in the grasp of an agony like this. So, starting +again, he observed: "Let me hear what you have to say, +and afterward we will consider what the effect of it may +be; though a question of expediency should not come +into your consideration, Miss Dare, in telling such truths +as the law demands."</p> + +<p>"No?" she broke out, giving way for one instant to a +low and terrible laugh which curdled Mr. Ferris' blood<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_404" id="Page_404">[404]</a></span> +and made him wish his duty had led him into the midst +of any other scene than this.</p> + +<p>But before he could remonstrate with her, this harrowing +expression of misery had ceased, and she was saying +in quiet and suppressed tones:</p> + +<p>"The reason I did not see and respond to the girl who +came into the observatory on the morning of Mrs. Clemmens' +murder is, that I was so absorbed in the discoveries +I was making behind the high rack which shuts off one +end of the room, that any appeal to me at that time must +have passed unnoticed. I had come to Professor Darling's +house, according to my usual custom on Tuesday +mornings, to study astronomy with his daughter Helen. +I had come reluctantly, for my mind was full of the secret +intention I had formed of visiting Mrs. Clemmens in +the afternoon, and I had no heart for study. But finding +Miss Darling out, I felt a drawing toward the seclusion I +knew I should find in the observatory, and mounting to +it, I sat down by myself to think. The rest and quiet of +the place were soothing to me, and I sat still a long time, +but suddenly becoming impressed with the idea that it +was growing late, I went to the window to consult the +town-clock. But though its face could be plainly seen +from the observatory, its hands could not, and I was about +to withdraw from the window when I remembered the +telescope, which Miss Darling and I had, in a moment of +caprice a few days before, so arranged as to command a +view of the town. Going to it, I peered through it at the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_405" id="Page_405">[405]</a></span> +clock." Stopping, she surveyed the District Attorney with +breathless suspense. "It was just five minutes to twelve," +she impressively whispered.</p> + +<p>Mr. Ferris felt a shock.</p> + +<p>"A critical moment!" he exclaimed. Then, with a +certain intuition of what she was going to say next, inquired: +"And what then, Miss Dare?"</p> + +<p>"I was struck by a desire to see if I could detect Mrs. +Clemmens' house from where I was, and shifting the +telescope slightly, I looked through it again, and——"</p> + +<p>"What did you see, Miss Dare?"</p> + +<p>"I saw her dining-room door standing ajar and a +man leaping headlong over the fence toward the +bog."</p> + +<p>The District Attorney started, looked at her with growing +interest, and inquired:</p> + +<p>"Did you recognize this man, Miss Dare?"</p> + +<p>She nodded in great agitation.</p> + +<p>"Who was he?"</p> + +<p>"Craik Mansell."</p> + +<p>"Miss Dare," ventured Mr. Ferris, after a moment, +"you say this was five minutes to twelve?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir," was the faint reply.</p> + +<p>"Five minutes later than the time designated by the +defence as a period manifestly too late for the prisoner to +have left Mrs. Clemmens' house and arrived at the +Quarry Station at twenty minutes past one?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," she repeated, below her breath.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_406" id="Page_406">[406]</a></span></p> + +<p>The District Attorney surveyed her earnestly, perceiving +she had not only spoken the truth, but realized all +which that truth implied, and drew back a few steps muttering +ironically to himself:</p> + +<p>"Ah, Orcutt! Orcutt!"</p> + +<p>Breathlessly she watched him, breathlessly she followed +him step by step like some white and haunting spirit.</p> + +<p>"You believe, then, this fact will cost him his life?" +came from her lips at last.</p> + +<p>"Don't ask me that, Miss Dare. You and I have no +concern with the consequences of this evidence."</p> + +<p>"No concern?" she repeated, wildly. "You and I +no concern? Ah!" she went on, with heart-piercing +sarcasm, "I forgot that the sentiments of the heart have +no place in judicial investigation. A criminal is but +lawful prey, and it is every good citizen's duty to push +him to his doom. No matter if one is bound to that +criminal by the dearest ties which can unite two hearts; +no matter if the trust he has bestowed upon you has been +absolute and unquestioning, the law does not busy itself +with that. The law says if you have a word at your +command which can destroy this man, give utterance to +it; and the law must be obeyed."</p> + +<p>"But, Miss Dare——" the District Attorney hastily intervened, +startled by the feverish gleam of her hitherto +calm eye.</p> + +<p>But she was not to be stopped, now that her misery had +at last found words.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_407" id="Page_407">[407]</a></span></p> + +<p>"You do not understand my position, perhaps," she +continued. "You do not see that it has been my hand, +and mine only, which, from the first, has slowly, remorselessly +pushed this man back from the point of safety, till +now, now, I am called upon to drag from his hand the one +poor bending twig to which he clings, and upon which he +relies to support him above the terrible gulf that yawns at +his feet. You do not see——"</p> + +<p>"Pardon me," interposed Mr. Ferris again, anxious, if +possible, to restore her to herself. "I see enough to pity +you profoundly. But you must allow me to remark that +your hand is not the only one which has been instrumental +in hurrying this young man to his doom. The +detectives——"</p> + +<p>"Sir," she interrupted in her turn, "can you, dare you +say, that without my testimony he would have stood at +any time in a really critical position?—or that he would +stand in jeopardy of his life even now, if it were not for +this fact I have to tell?"</p> + +<p>Mr. Ferris was silent.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I knew it, I knew it!" she cried. "There will be +no doubt concerning whose testimony it was that convicted +him, if he is sentenced by the court for this crime. +Ah, ah, what an enviable position is mine! What an +honorable deed I am called upon to perform! To tell the +truth at the expense of the life most dear to you. It is a +Roman virtue! I shall be held up as a model to my sex. +All the world must shower plaudits upon the woman who,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_408" id="Page_408">[408]</a></span> +sooner than rob justice of its due, delivered her own lover +over to the hangman."</p> + +<p>Pausing in her passionate burst, she turned her hot, dry +eyes in a sort of desperation upon his face.</p> + +<p>"Do you know," she gurgled in his ear, "some women +would kill themselves before they would do this deed."</p> + +<p>Struck to his heart in spite of himself, Mr. Ferris looked +at her in alarm—saw her standing there with her arms +hanging down at her sides, but with her two hands clinched +till they looked as if carved from marble—and drew near +to her with the simple hurried question of:</p> + +<p>"But you?"</p> + +<p>"I?" she laughed again—a low, gurgling laugh, that +yet had a tone in it that went to the other's heart and +awoke strange sensations there. "Oh, I shall live to respond +to your questions. Do not fear that I shall not be +in the court-room to-morrow."</p> + +<p>There was something in her look and manner that +was new. It awed him, while it woke all his latent concern.</p> + +<p>"Miss Dare," he began, "you can believe how painful +all this has been to me, and how I would have spared you +this misery if I could. But the responsibilities resting upon +me are such——"</p> + +<p>He did not go on; why should he? She was not listening. +To be sure, she stood before him, seemingly attentive, +but the eyes with which she met his were fixed +upon other objects than any which could have been apparent<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_409" id="Page_409">[409]</a></span> +to her in his face; and her form, which she had +hitherto held upright, was shaking with long, uncontrollable +shudders, which, to his excited imagination, +threatened to lay her at his feet.</p> + +<p>He at once started toward the door for help. But she +was alive to his movements if not to his words. Stopping +him with a gesture, she cried:</p> + +<p>"No—no! do not call for any one; I wish to be alone; +I have <i>my</i> duty to face, you know; my testimony to prepare." +And rousing herself she cast a peculiar look about +the room, like one suddenly introduced into a strange place, +and then moving slowly toward the window, threw back +the curtain and gazed without. "Night!" she murmured, +"night!" and after a moment added, in a deep, unearthly +voice that thrilled irresistibly upon Mr. Ferris' ear: +"And a heaven full of stars!"</p> + +<p>Her face, as she turned it upward, wore so strange a +look, Mr. Ferris involuntarily left his position and crossed +to her side. She was still murmuring to herself in seeming +unconsciousness of his presence. "Stars!" she was +repeating; "and above them God!" And the long +shudders shook her frame again, and she dropped her +head and seemed about to fall into her old abstraction +when her eye encountered that of the District Attorney, +and she hurriedly aroused herself.</p> + +<p>"Pardon me," she exclaimed, with an ill-concealed +irony, particularly impressive after her tone of the moment +before, "have you any thing further to exact of me?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_410" id="Page_410">[410]</a></span></p> + +<p>"No," he made haste to reply; "only before I go I +would entreat you to be calm——"</p> + +<p>"And say the word I have to say to-morrow without a +balk and without an <ins title="Transcriber's Note: original reads 'unneccessary'">unnecessary</ins> display of feeling," she +coldly interpolated. "Thanks, Mr. Ferris, I understand +you. But you need fear nothing from me. There will +be no scene—at least on my part—when I rise before the +court to give my testimony to-morrow. Since my hand +must strike the fatal blow, it shall strike—firmly!" and +her clenched fist fell heavily on her own breast, as if the +blow she meditated must first strike there.</p> + +<p>The District Attorney, more moved than he had deemed +it possible for him to be, made her a low bow and withdrew +slowly to the door.</p> + +<p>"I leave you, then, till to-morrow," he said.</p> + +<p>"Till to-morrow."</p> + +<p>Long after he had passed out, the deep meaning which +informed those two words haunted his memory and disturbed +his heart. Till to-morrow! Alas, poor girl! and +after to-morrow, what then?</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_411" id="Page_411">[411]</a></span></p> +<h2>XXXIV.</h2> + +<h3>WHAT WAS HID BEHIND IMOGENE'S VEIL.</h3> + +<div class='center'> +Mark now, how a plain tale shall put you down.—<span class="smcap">Henry IV.</span><br /> +<br /><br /></div> + + +<div class='cap'>THE few minutes that elapsed before the formal +opening of court the next morning were marked +by great cheerfulness. The crisp frosty air had put everybody +in a good-humor. Even the prisoner looked less +sombre than before, and for the first time since the +beginning of his trial, deigned to turn his eyes toward +the bench where Imogene sat, with a look that, while it +was not exactly kind, had certainly less disdain in it than +before he saw his way to a possible acquittal on the +theory advanced by his counsel.</div> + +<p>But this look, though his first, did not prove to be his +last. Something in the attitude of the woman he gazed +at—or was it the mystery of the heavy black veil that +enveloped her features?—woke a strange doubt in his +mind. Beckoning to Mr. Orcutt, he communicated with +him in a low tone.</p> + +<p>"Can it be possible," asked he, "that any thing new +could have transpired since last night to give encouragement +to the prosecution?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_412" id="Page_412">[412]</a></span></p> + +<p>The lawyer, startled, glanced hastily about him and +shook his head.</p> + +<p>"No," he cried; "impossible! What could have +transpired?"</p> + +<p>"Look at Mr. Ferris," whispered the prisoner, "and +then at the witness who wears a veil."</p> + +<p>With an unaccountable feeling of reluctance, Mr. +Orcutt hastily complied. His first glance at the District +Attorney made him thoughtful. He recognized the look +which his opponent wore; he had seen it many a time +before this, and knew what it indicated. As for Imogene, +who could tell what went on in that determined breast? +The close black veil revealed nothing. Mr. Orcutt impatiently +turned back to his client.</p> + +<p>"I think you alarm yourself unnecessarily," he whispered. +"Ferris means to fight, but what of that? He +wouldn't be fit for his position if he didn't struggle to +the last gasp even for a failing cause."</p> + +<p>Yet in saying this his lip took its sternest line, and from +the glitter of his eye and the close contraction of his brow +it looked as if he were polishing his own weapons for the +conflict he thus unexpectedly saw before him.</p> + +<p>Meantime, across the court-room, another whispered +conference was going on.</p> + +<p>"Hickory, where have you been ever since last night? +I have not been able to find you anywhere."</p> + +<p>"I was on duty; I had a bird to look after."</p> + +<p>"A bird?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_413" id="Page_413">[413]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Yes, a wild bird; one who is none too fond of its +cage; a desperate one who might find means to force +aside its bars and fly away."</p> + +<p>"What do you mean, Hickory? What nonsense is +this?"</p> + +<p>"Look at Miss Dare and perhaps you will understand."</p> + +<p>"Miss Dare?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>Horace's eyes opened in secret alarm.</p> + +<p>"Do you mean——"</p> + +<p>"I mean that I spent the whole night in tramping up +and down in front of her window. And a dismal task it +was too. Her lamp burned till daylight."</p> + +<p>Here the court was called to order and Byrd had only +opportunity to ask:</p> + +<p>"Why does she wear a veil?"</p> + +<p>To which the other whisperingly retorted:</p> + +<p>"Why did she spend the whole night in packing up her +worldly goods and writing a letter to the Congregational +minister to be sent after the adjournment of court to-day?"</p> + +<p>"Did she do that?"</p> + +<p>"She did."</p> + +<p>"Hickory, don't <i>you</i> know—haven't you been told +what she is expected to say or do here to-day?"</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>"You only guess?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_414" id="Page_414">[414]</a></span></p> + +<p>"No, I don't guess."</p> + +<p>"You fear, then?"</p> + +<p>"Fear! Well, that's a big word to a fellow like me. +I don't know as I fear any thing; I'm curious, that is +all."</p> + +<p>Mr. Byrd drew back, looked over at Imogene, and involuntarily +shook his head. What was in the mind of +this mysterious woman? What direful purpose or shadow +of doom lay behind the veil that separated her from the +curiosity and perhaps the sympathy of the surrounding +crowd? It was in vain to question; he could only wait +in secret anxiety for the revelations which the next few +minutes might bring.</p> + +<p>The defence having rested the night before, the first +action of the Judge on the opening of the court was to +demand whether the prosecution had any rebuttal testimony +to offer.</p> + +<p>Mr. Ferris instantly rose.</p> + +<p>"Miss Dare, will you retake the stand," said he.</p> + +<p>Immediately Mr. Orcutt, who up to the last moment +had felt his case as secure as if it had indeed been +founded on a rock, bounded to his feet, white as the +witness herself.</p> + +<p>"I object!" he cried. "The witness thus recalled by +the counsel of the prosecution has had ample opportunity +to lay before the court all the evidence in her possession. +I submit it to the court whether my learned opponent +should not have exhausted his witness before he rested +his case."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_415" id="Page_415">[415]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Mr. Ferris," asked the Judge, turning to the District +Attorney, "do you recall this witness for the purpose of +introducing fresh testimony in support of your case or +merely to disprove the defence?"</p> + +<p>"Your honor," was the District Attorney's reply, "I +ought to say in fairness to my adversary and to the court, +that since the case was closed a fact has come to my +knowledge of so startling and conclusive a nature that I +feel bound to lay it before the jury. From this witness +alone can we hope to glean this fact; and as I had no +information on which to base a question concerning it in +her former examination, I beg the privilege of reopening +my case to that extent."</p> + +<p>"Then the evidence you desire to submit is not in rebuttal?" +queried the Judge.</p> + +<p>"I do not like to say that," rejoined the District +Attorney, adroitly. "I think it may bear directly upon +the question whether the prisoner could catch the train +at Monteith Quarry if he left the widow's house after the +murder. If the evidence I am about to offer be true, he +certainly could."</p> + +<p>Thoroughly alarmed now and filled with the dismay +which a mysterious threat is always calculated to produce, +Mr. Orcutt darted a wild look of inquiry at Imogene, +and finding her immovable behind her thick veil, +turned about and confronted the District Attorney with +a most sarcastic smile upon his blanched and trembling +lips.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_416" id="Page_416">[416]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Does my learned friend suppose the court will receive +any such ambiguous explanation as this? If the +testimony sought from this witness is by way of rebuttal, +let him say so; but if it is not, let him be frank enough +to admit it, that I may in turn present my objections +to the introduction of any irrelevant evidence at this +time."</p> + +<p>"The testimony I propose to present through this witness +<i>is</i> in the way of rebuttal," returned Mr Ferris, +severely. "The argument advanced by the defence, that +the prisoner could not have left Mrs. Clemmens' house +at ten minutes before twelve and arrived at Monteith +Quarry Station at twenty minutes past one, is not a tenable +one, and I purpose to prove it by this witness."</p> + +<p>Mr. Orcutt's look of anxiety changed to one of mingled +amazement and incredulity.</p> + +<p>"By <i>this</i> witness! You have chosen a peculiar one for +the purpose," he ironically exclaimed, more and more +shaken from his self-possession by the quiet bearing +of his opponent, and the silent air of waiting which +marked the stately figure of her whom, as he had +hitherto believed, he thoroughly comprehended. "Your +Honor," he continued, "I withdraw my objections; I +should really like to hear how Miss Dare or any lady can +give evidence on this point."</p> + +<p>And he sank back into his seat with a look at his +client in which professional bravado strangely struggled +with something even deeper than alarm.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_417" id="Page_417">[417]</a></span></p> + +<p>"This must be an exciting moment to the prisoner," +whispered Hickory to Byrd.</p> + +<p>"So, so. But mark his control, will you? He is less +cut up than Orcutt."</p> + +<p>"Look at his eyes, though. If any thing could pierce +that veil of hers, you would think such a glance might."</p> + +<p>"Ah, he <ins title="Transcriber's Note: original reads 'his'">is</ins> trying his influence over her at last."</p> + +<p>"But it is too late."</p> + +<p>Meantime the District Attorney had signified again to +Miss Dare his desire that she should take the stand. +Slowly, and like a person in a dream, she arose, unloosed +her veil, dragged it from before her set features, and +stepped mechanically forward to the place assigned her. +What was there in the face thus revealed that called +down an instantaneous silence upon the court, and made +the momentary pause that ensued memorable in the +minds of all present? It was not that she was so pale, +though her close-fitting black dress, totally unrelieved by +any suspicion of white, was of a kind to bring out +any startling change in her complexion; nor was there +visible in her bearing any trace of the feverish excitement +which had characterized it the evening before; +yet of all the eyes that were fixed upon her—and there +were many in that crowd whose only look a moment +before had been one of heartless curiosity—there were +none which were not filled with compassion and more or +less dread.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile, she remained like a statue on the spot<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_418" id="Page_418">[418]</a></span> +where she had taken her stand, and her eyes, which +in her former examination had met the court with the +unflinching gaze of an automaton, were lowered till the +lashes swept her cheek.</p> + +<p>"Miss Dare," asked the District Attorney, as soon as +he could recover from his own secret emotions of pity +and regret, "will you tell us where you were at the +hour of noon on the morning Mrs. Clemmens was +murdered?"</p> + +<p>Before she could answer, before in fact her stiff and +icy lips could part, Mr. Orcutt had risen impetuously to +his feet, like a man bound to contend every step of the +way with the unknown danger that menaced him.</p> + +<p>"I object!" he cried, in the changed voice of a +deeply disturbed man, while those who had an interest in +the prisoner at this juncture, could not but notice that +he, too, showed signs of suppressed feeling, and for the +first time since the beginning of the trial, absolutely +found his self-command insufficient to keep down the +rush of color that swept up to his swarthy cheek.</p> + +<p>"The question," continued Mr. Orcutt, "is not to +elicit testimony in rebuttal."</p> + +<p>"Will my learned friend allow the witness to give her +answer, instead of assuming what it is to be?"</p> + +<p>"I will not," retorted his adversary. "A child could +see that such a question is not admissible at this stage of +the case."</p> + +<p>"I am sure my learned friend would not wish me to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_419" id="Page_419">[419]</a></span> +associate <i>him</i> with any such type of inexperience?" +suggested Mr. Ferris, grimly.</p> + +<p>But the sarcasm, which at one time would have called +forth a stinging retort from Mr. Orcutt, passed unheeded. +The great lawyer was fighting for his life, for his heart's +life, for the love and hand of Imogene—a recompense +which at this moment her own unconsidered action, or +the constraining power of a conscience of whose might +he had already received such heart-rending manifestation, +seemed about to snatch from his grasp forever. Turning +to the Judge, he said:</p> + +<p>"I will not delay the case by bandying words with my +esteemed friend, but appeal at once to the Court as to +whether the whereabouts of Miss Dare on that fatal +morning can have any thing to do with the defence we +have proved."</p> + +<p>"Your Honor," commenced the District Attorney, +calmly following the lead of his adversary, "I am ready +to stake my reputation on the declaration that this witness +is in possession of a fact that overturns the whole +fabric of the defence. If the particular question I have +made use of, in my endeavor to elicit this fact, is displeasing +to my friend, I will venture upon another less +ambiguous, if more direct and perhaps leading." And +turning again to the witness, Mr. Ferris calmly inquired:</p> + +<p>"Did you or did you not see the prisoner on the +morning of the assault, at a time distinctly known by you +to be after ten minutes to twelve?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_420" id="Page_420">[420]</a></span></p> + +<p>It was out. The line of attack meditated by Mr. +Ferris was patent to everybody. A murmur of surprise +and interest swept through the court-room, while Mr. +Orcutt, who in spite of his vague fears was any thing but +prepared for a thrust of this vital nature, started and +cast short demanding looks from Imogene to Mansell, as +if he would ask them what fact this was which through +ignorance or presumption they had conspired to keep +from him. The startled look which he surprised on the +stern face of the prisoner, showed him there was every +thing to fear in her reply, and bounding again to his feet, +he was about to make some further attempt to stave off +the impending calamity, when the rich voice of Imogene +was heard saying:</p> + +<p>"Gentlemen, if you will allow me to tell my story unhindered, +I think I shall soonest satisfy both the District +Attorney and the counsel for the prisoner."</p> + +<p>And raising her eyes with a slow and heavy movement +from the floor, she fixed them in a meaning way upon the +latter.</p> + +<p>At once convinced that he had been unnecessarily +alarmed, Mr. Orcutt sank back into his seat, and Imogene +slowly proceeded.</p> + +<p>She commenced in a forced tone and with a sudden +quick shudder that made her words come hesitatingly +and with strange breaks: "I have been asked—two questions +by Mr. Ferris—I prefer—to answer the first. He +asked me—where I was at the hour Mrs. Clemmens was +murdered."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_421" id="Page_421">[421]</a></span></p> + +<p>She paused so long one had time to count her breaths +as they came in gasps to her white lips.</p> + +<p>"I have no further desire to hide from you the truth. +I was with Mrs. Clemmens in her own house."</p> + +<p>At this acknowledgment so astonishing, and besides so +totally different from the one he had been led to expect, +Mr. Ferris started as if a thunder-bolt had fallen at his +feet.</p> + +<p>"In Mrs. Clemmens' house!" he repeated, amid the +excited hum of a hundred murmuring voices. "Did you +say, in Mrs. Clemmens' house?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," she returned, with a wild, ironical smile that at +once assured Mr. Ferris of his helplessness. "I am on +oath <i>now</i>, and I assert that on the day and at the +hour Mrs. Clemmens was murdered, I was in her house +and in her dining-room. I had come there secretly," she +proceeded, with a sudden feverish fluency that robbed +Mr. Ferris of speech, and in fact held all her auditors +spell-bound. "I had been spending an hour or so at +Professor Darling's, whose house in West Side is, as +many here know, at the very end of Summer Avenue, and +close to the woods that run along back of Mrs. Clemmens' +cottage. I had been sitting alone in the observatory, +which is at the top of one of the towers, but being suddenly +seized with a desire to see the widow and make +that promised attempt at persuading her to reconsider +her decision in regard to the money her—her—the +prisoner wanted, I came down, and unknown to any one<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_422" id="Page_422">[422]</a></span> +in the house, stole away to the woods and so to the +widow's cottage. It was noon when I got there, or very +near it, for her company, if she had had any, was gone, +and she was engaged in setting the clock where——"</p> + +<p>Why did she pause? The District Attorney, utterly +stupefied by his surprise, had made no sign; neither had +Mr. Orcutt. Indeed, it looked as if the latter could +not have moved, much less spoken, even if he had desired +it. Thought, feeling, life itself, seemed to be at a +standstill within him as he sat with a face like clay, waiting +for words whose import he perhaps saw foreshadowed +in her wild and terrible mien. But though his aspect was +enough to stop her, it was not upon him she was gazing +when the words tripped on her lips. It was upon the +prisoner, on the man who up to this time had borne himself +with such iron-like composure and reserve, but who +now, with every sign of feeling and alarm, had started +forward and stood surveying her, with his hand uplifted +in the authoritative manner of a master.</p> + +<p>The next instant he sank back, feeling the eye of the +Judge upon him; but the signal had been made, and +many in that court-room looked to see Imogene falter or +break down. But she, although fascinated, perhaps +moved, by this hint of feeling from one who had hitherto +met all the exigencies of the hour with a steady and firm +composure, did not continue silent at his bidding. On +the contrary, her purpose, whatever it was, seemed to acquire +new force, for turning from him with a strange, unearthly<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_423" id="Page_423">[423]</a></span> +glare on her face, she fixed her glances on the +jury and went steadily on.</p> + +<p>"I have said," she began, "that Mrs. Clemmens was +winding her clock. When I came in she stepped down, +and a short and angry colloquy commenced between us. +She did not like my coming there. She did not appreciate +my interest in her nephew. She made me furious, +frenzied, mad. I—I turned away—then I came back. +She was standing with her face lifted toward her clock, as +though she no longer heeded or remembered my presence. +I—I don't know what came to me; whether it +was hatred or love that maddened my brain—but——"</p> + +<p>She did not finish; she did not need to. The look she +gave, the attitude she took, the appalling gesture which +she made, supplied the place of language. In an instant +Mr. Ferris, Mr. Orcutt, all the many and confused spectators +who hung upon her words as if spell-bound, realized +that instead of giving evidence inculpating the prisoner, +she was giving evidence <i>accusing</i> herself; that, in other +words, Imogene Dare, goaded to madness by the fearful +alternative of either destroying her lover or sacrificing +herself, had yielded to the claims of her love or her conscience, +and in hearing of judge and jury, proclaimed +herself to be the murderess of Mrs. Clemmens.</p> + +<p>The moment that followed was frightful. The prisoner, +who was probably the only man present who foresaw her +intention when she began to speak, had sunk back into +his seat and covered his face with his hands long before<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_424" id="Page_424">[424]</a></span> +she reached the fatal declaration. But the spectacle presented +by Mr. Orcutt was enough, as with eyes dilated +and lips half parted in consternation, he stood before +them a victim of overwhelming emotion; so overcome, +indeed, as scarcely to be able to give vent to the one low +and memorable cry that involuntarily left his lips as the +full realization of what she had done smote home to his +stricken breast.</p> + +<p>As for Mr. Ferris, he stood dumb, absolutely robbed of +speech by this ghastly confession he had unwillingly +called from his witness' lips; while slowly from end to +end of that court-room the wave of horror spread, till +Imogene, her cause, and that of the wretched prisoner +himself, seemed swallowed up in one fearful tide of unreality +and nightmare.</p> + +<p>The first gleam of relief came from the Judge.</p> + +<p>"Miss Dare," said he, in his slow, kindly way that +nothing could impair, "do you realize the nature of the +evidence you have given to the court?"</p> + +<p>Her slowly falling head and white face, from which all +the fearful excitement was slowly ebbing in a dead despair, +gave answer for her.</p> + +<p>"I fear that you are not in a condition to realize the +effect of your words," the Judge went on. "Sympathy for +the prisoner or the excitement of being recalled to the +stand has unnerved or confused you. Take time, Miss +Dare, the court will wait; reconsider your words, and +then tell us the truth about this matter."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_425" id="Page_425">[425]</a></span></p> + +<p>But Imogene, with white lips and drooped head, +answered hurriedly:</p> + +<p>"I have nothing to consider. I have told, or attempted +to tell, how Mrs. Clemmens came to her death. She +was struck down by me; Craik Mansell there is innocent."</p> + +<p>At this repetition in words of what she had before +merely intimated by a gesture, the Judge ceased his questions, +and the horror of the multitude found vent in one +long, low, but irrepressible murmur. Taking advantage +of the momentary disturbance, Byrd turned to his colleague +with the agitated inquiry:</p> + +<p>"Hickory, is <i>this</i> what you have had in your mind for +the last few days?"</p> + +<p>"This," repeated the other, with an air of careful consideration, +assumed, as Byrd thought, to conceal any +emotion which he might have felt; "no, no, not really. +I—I don't know what I thought. Not this though." And +he fixed his eyes upon Imogene's fallen countenance, +with an expression of mingled doubt and wonder, as +baffling in its nature as the tone of voice he had used.</p> + +<p>"But," stammered Byrd, with an earnestness that almost +partook of the nature of pleading, "she is not +speaking the truth, of course. What we heard her say +in the hut——"</p> + +<p>"Hush!" interposed the other, with a significant gesture +and a sudden glance toward the prisoner and his +counsel; "watching is better than talking just now. +Besides, Orcutt is going to speak."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_426" id="Page_426">[426]</a></span></p> + +<p>It was so. After a short and violent conflict with the +almost overwhelming emotions that had crushed upon +him with the words and actions of Imogene, the great +lawyer had summoned up sufficient control over himself +to reassume the duties of his position and face once more +the expectant crowd, and the startled, if not thoroughly +benumbed, jury.</p> + +<p>His first words had the well-known ring, and, like a +puff of cool air through a heated atmosphere, at once restored +the court-room to its usual condition of formality +and restraint.</p> + +<p>"This is not evidence, but the raving of frenzy," he +said, in impassioned tones. "The witness has been tortured +by the demands of the prosecution, till she is no +longer responsible for her words." And turning toward +the District Attorney, who, at the first sound of his adversary's +voice, had roused himself from the stupor into +which he had been thrown by the fearful and unexpected +turn which Imogene's confession had taken, he continued: +"If my learned friend is not lost to all feelings +of humanity, he will withdraw from the stand a witness +laboring under a mental aberration of so serious a +nature."</p> + +<p>Mr. Ferris was an irritable man, but he was touched +with sympathy for his friend, reeling under so heavy a +blow. He therefore forbore to notice this taunt save by +a low bow, but turned at once to the Judge.</p> + +<p>"Your Honor," said he, "I desire to be understood by<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_427" id="Page_427">[427]</a></span> +the Court, that the statement which has just been made +in your hearing by this witness, is as much of a surprise +to me as to any one in this court-room. The fact which +I proposed to elicit from her testimony was of an entirely +different nature. In the conversation which we held last +night——"</p> + +<p>But Mr. Orcutt, vacillating between his powerful concern +for Imogene, and his duty to his client, would not +allow the other to proceed.</p> + +<p>"I object," said he, "to any attempt at influencing +the jury by the statement of any conversation which may +have passed between the District Attorney and the witness. +From its effects we may judge something of its +nature, but with its details we have nothing to do."</p> + +<p>And raising his voice till it filled the room like a clarion, +Mr. Orcutt said:</p> + +<p>"The moment is too serious for wrangling. A spectacle, +the most terrible that can be presented to the eyes +of man, is before you. A young, beautiful, and hitherto +honored woman, caught in the jaws of a cruel fate and +urged on by the emotions of her sex, which turn ever +toward self-sacrifice, has, in a moment of mistaken zeal +or frantic terror, allowed herself to utter words which +sound like a criminal confession. May it please your +Honor and Gentlemen of the Jury, this is an act to awaken +compassion in the breast of every true man. Neither my +client nor myself can regard it in any other light. Though +his case were ten times more critical than it is, and condemnation<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_428" id="Page_428">[428]</a></span> +awaited him at your hands instead of a triumphant +acquittal, he is not the man I believe him, if he +would consent to accept a deliverance founded upon +utterances so manifestly frenzied and devoid of truth. +I therefore repeat the objection I have before urged. I +ask your Honor now to strike out all this testimony as +irrelevant in rebuttal, and I beg our learned friend to +close an examination as unprofitable to his own cause as to +mine."</p> + +<p>"I agree with my friend," returned Mr. Ferris, "that +the moment is one unfit for controversy. If it please the +Court, therefore, I will withdraw the witness, though by +so doing I am forced to yield all hope of eliciting the important +fact I had relied upon to rebut the defence."</p> + +<p>And obedient to the bow of acquiescence he received +from the Judge, the District Attorney turned to Miss +Dare and considerately requested her to leave the stand.</p> + +<p>But she, roused by the sound of her name perhaps, +looked up, and meeting the eye of the Judge, said:</p> + +<p>"Pardon me, your Honor, but I do not desire to leave +the stand till I have made clear to all who hear me that it +is I, not the prisoner, who am responsible for Mrs. Clemmens' +death. The agony which I have been forced to +undergo in giving testimony against him, has earned me +the right to say the words that prove his innocence and +my own guilt."</p> + +<p>"But," said the Judge, "we do not consider you in any +condition to give testimony in court to-day, even against<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_429" id="Page_429">[429]</a></span> +yourself. If what you say is true, you shall have ample +opportunities hereafter to confirm and establish your +statements, for you must know, Miss Dare, that no confession +of this nature will be considered sufficient without +testimony corroborative of its truth."</p> + +<p>"But, your Honor," she returned, with a dreadful calmness, +"I have corroborative testimony." And amid the +startled looks of all present, she raised her hand and +pointed with steady forefinger at the astounded and by-no-means +gratified Hickory. "Let that man be recalled," +she cried, "and asked to repeat the conversation he had +with a young servant-girl called Roxana, in Professor +Darling's observatory some ten weeks ago."</p> + +<p>The suddenness of her action, the calm assurance with +which it was made, together with the intention it evinced +of summoning actual evidence to substantiate her confession, +almost took away the breath of the assembled +multitude. Even Mr. Orcutt seemed shaken by it, and +stood looking from the outstretched hand of this woman +he so adored, to the abashed countenance of the rough +detective, with a wonder that for the first time betrayed +the presence of alarm. Indeed, to him as to others, the +moment was fuller of horror than when she made her first +self-accusation, for what at that time partook of the +vagueness of a dream, seemed to be acquiring the substance +of an awful reality.</p> + +<p>Imogene alone remained unmoved. Still with her eyes +fixed on Hickory, she continued:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_430" id="Page_430">[430]</a></span></p> + +<p>"He has not told you all he knows about this matter, +any more than I. If my word needs corroboration, look +to him."</p> + +<p>And taking advantage of the sensation which this last +appeal occasioned, she waited where she was for the +Judge to speak, with all the calmness of one who has +nothing more to fear or hope for in this world.</p> + +<p>But the Judge sat aghast at this spectacle of youth and +beauty insisting upon its own guilt, and neither Mr. Ferris +nor Mr. Orcutt having words for this emergency, a +silence, deep as the feeling which had been aroused, +gradually settled over the whole court. It was fast becoming +oppressive, when suddenly a voice, low but firm, +and endowed with a strange power to awake and hold the +attention, was heard speaking in that quarter of the room +whence Mr. Orcutt's commanding tones had so often +issued. It was an unknown voice, and for a minute a +doubt seemed to rest upon the assembled crowd as to +whom it belonged.</p> + +<p>But the change that had come into Imogene's face, as +well as the character of the words that were uttered, soon +convinced them it was the prisoner himself. With a start, +every one turned in the direction of the dock. The +sight that met their eyes seemed a fit culmination of the +scene through which they had just passed. Erect, noble, +as commanding in appearance and address as the woman +who still held her place on the witness stand, Craik Mansell +faced the judge and jury with a quiet, resolute, but<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_431" id="Page_431">[431]</a></span> +courteous assurance, that seemed at once to rob him of +the character of a criminal, and set him on a par with the +able and honorable men by whom he was surrounded. +Yet his words were not those of a belied man, nor was +his plea one of innocence.</p> + +<p>"I ask pardon," he was saying, "for addressing the +court directly; first of all, the pardon of my counsel, +whose ability has never been so conspicuous as in this +case, and whose just resentment, if he were less magnanimous +and noble, I feel I am now about to incur."</p> + +<p>Mr. Orcutt turned to him a look of surprise and +severity, but the prisoner saw nothing but the face of +the Judge, and continued:</p> + +<p>"I would have remained silent if the disposition which +your Honor and the District Attorney proposed to make +of this last testimony were not in danger of reconsideration +from the appeal which the witness has just made. +I believe, with you, that her testimony should be disregarded. +I intend, if I have the power, that it shall be +<ins title="Transcriber's Note: original reads 'disegarded'">disregarded</ins>."</p> + +<p>The Judge held up his hand, as if to warn the prisoner +and was about to speak.</p> + +<p>"I entreat that I may be heard," said Mansell, with +the utmost calmness. "I beg the Court not to imagine +that I am about to imitate the witness in any sudden or +ill-considered attempt at a confession. All I intend is +that her self-accusation shall not derive strength or +importance from any doubts of my guilt which may<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_432" id="Page_432">[432]</a></span> +spring from the defence which has been interposed in +my behalf."</p> + +<p>Mr. Orcutt, who, from the moment the prisoner began +to speak, had given evidences of a great indecision as to +whether he should allow his client to continue or not, +started at these words, so unmistakably pointing toward +a demolishment of his whole case, and hurriedly rose. +But a glance at Imogene seemed to awaken a new train +of thought, and he as hurriedly reseated himself.</p> + +<p>The prisoner, seeing he had nothing to fear from his +counsel's interference, and meeting with no rebuke from +the Judge, went calmly on:</p> + +<p>"Yesterday I felt differently in regard to this matter. +If I could be saved from my fate by a defence seemingly +so impregnable, I was willing to be so saved, but to-day +I would be a coward and a disgrace to my sex if, in face +of the generous action of this woman, I allowed a falsehood +of whatever description to place her in peril, or to +stand between me and the doom that probably awaits +me. Sir," he continued, turning for the first time to +Mr. Orcutt, with a gesture of profound respect, "you +had been told that the path from Mrs. Clemmens' house +to the bridge, and so on to Monteith Quarry Station, +could not be traversed in ninety minutes, and you believed +it. You were not wrong. It cannot be gone over +in that time. But I now say to your Honor and to the +jury, that the distance from my aunt's house to the +Quarry Station can be made in that number of minutes<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_433" id="Page_433">[433]</a></span> +if a way can be found to cross the river without going +around by the bridge. I know," he proceeded, as a +torrent of muttered exclamations rose on his ear, foremost +among which was that of the much-discomfited +Hickory, "that to many of you, to all of you, perhaps, +all means for doing this seem to be lacking to the chance +wayfarer, but if there were a lumberman here, he would +tell you that the logs which are frequently floated down +this stream to the station afford an easy means of passage +to one accustomed to ride them, as I have been +when a lad, during the year I spent in the Maine woods. +At all events, it was upon a log that happened to be +lodged against the banks, and which I pushed out into +the stream by means of the 'pivy' or long spiked pole +which I found lying in the grass at its side, that I crossed +the river on that fatal day; and if the detective, who has +already made such an effort to controvert the defence, +will risk an attempt at this expedient for cutting short +his route, I have no doubt he will be able to show +you that a man can pass from Mrs. Clemmens' house +to the station at Monteith Quarry, not only in ninety +minutes, but in less, if the exigencies of the case seem to +demand it. I did it."</p> + +<p>And without a glance at Imogene, but with an air +almost lofty in its pride and manly assertion, the prisoner +sank back into his seat, and resumed once more his quiet +and unshaken demeanor.</p> + +<p>This last change in the kaleidoscope of events, that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_434" id="Page_434">[434]</a></span> +had been shifting before their eyes for the last half +hour, was too much for the continued equanimity of +a crowd already worked up into a state of feverish +excitement. It had become apparent that by stripping +away his defence, Mansell left himself naked to the law. +In this excitement of the jury, consequent upon the +self-accusation of Imogene, the prisoner's admission +might prove directly fatal to him. He was on trial +for this crime; public justice demanded blood for +blood, and public excitement clamored for a victim. +It was dangerous to toy with a feeling but one degree +removed from the sentiment of a mob. The jury might +not stop to sympathize with the self-abnegation of these +two persons willing to die for each other. They might +say: "The way is clear as to the prisoner at least; he +has confessed his defence is false; the guilty interpose +false defences; we are acquit before God and men if we +convict him out of his own mouth."</p> + +<p>The crowd in the court-room was saying all this and +more, each man to his neighbor. A clamor of voices +next to impossible to suppress rose over the whole room, +and not even the efforts of the officers of the court, +exerted to their full power in the maintenance of order, +could have hushed the storm, had not the spectators +become mute with expectation at seeing Mr. Ferris and +Mr. Orcutt, summoned by a sign from the Judge, advance +to the front of the bench and engage in an earnest conference +with the Court. A few minutes afterward the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_435" id="Page_435">[435]</a></span> +Judge turned to the jury and announced that the disclosures +of the morning demanded a careful consideration +by the prosecution, that an adjournment was undoubtedly +indispensable, and that the jury should refrain from any +discussion of the case, even among themselves, until it was +finally given them under the charge of the Court. The +jury expressed their concurrence by an almost unanimous +gesture of assent, and the crier proclaimed an adjournment +until the next day at ten o'clock.</p> + +<p>Imogene, still sitting in the witness chair, saw the +prisoner led forth by the jailer without being able to +gather, in the whirl of the moment, any indication that her +dreadful sacrifice—for she had made wreck of her life in +the eyes of the world whether her confession were true or +false—had accomplished any thing save to drive the man +she loved to the verge of that doom from which she had +sought to deliver him.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_436" id="Page_436">[436]</a></span></p> +<h2>XXXV.</h2> + +<h3>PRO AND CON.</h3> + +<div class='poem2'> +<i>Hamlet.</i>—Do you see yonder cloud that's almost in shape of a camel?<br /> +<i>Polonius.</i>—By the mass, and 'tis like a camel indeed.<br /> +<i>Hamlet.</i>—Methinks it is like a weasel.<br /> +<i>Polonius.</i>—It is back'd like a weasel. —<span class="smcap">Hamlet.</span><br /> +<br /><br /></div> + + +<div class='cap'>SHORTLY after the adjournment of court, Mr. +Ferris summoned the two detectives to his office.</div> + +<p>"We have a serious question before us to decide," said +he. "Are we to go on with the prosecution or are we to +stop? I should like to hear your views on the subject."</p> + +<p>Hickory was, as usual, the first to speak.</p> + +<p>"I should say, stop," he cried. "This fresh applicant +for the honor of having slain the Widow Clemmens +deserves a hearing at least."</p> + +<p>"But," hurriedly interposed Byrd, "you don't give any +credit to her story now, even if you did before the +prisoner spoke? You know she did not commit the crime +herself, whatever she may choose to declare in her +anxiety to shield the prisoner. I hope, sir," he proceeded, +glancing at the District Attorney, "that <i>you</i> have +no doubts as to Miss Dare's innocence?"</p> + +<p>But Mr. Ferris, instead of answering, turned to Hickory +and said:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_437" id="Page_437">[437]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Miss Dare, in summoning you to confirm her statement, +relied, I suppose, upon the fact of your having +been told by Professor Darling's servant-maid that she—that +is, Miss Dare—was gone from the observatory when +the girl came for her on the morning of the murder?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir."</p> + +<p>"A strong corroborative fact, if true?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir."</p> + +<p>"But is it true? In the explanation which Miss Dare +gave me last night of this affair, she uttered statements +essentially different from those she made in court to-day. +She then told me she <i>was</i> in the observatory when the +girl came for her; that she was looking through a telescope +which was behind a high rack filled with charts; +and that—— Why do you start?"</p> + +<p>"I didn't start," protested Hickory.</p> + +<p>"I beg your pardon," returned Mr. Ferris.</p> + +<p>"Well, then, if I did make such a fool of myself, it was +because so far her story is plausible enough. She was in +that very position when <i>I</i> visited the observatory, you +remember, and she was so effectually concealed I didn't +see her or know she was there, till I looked behind the +rack."</p> + +<p>"Very good!" interjected Mr. Ferris. "And that," +he resumed, "she did not answer the girl or make known +her presence, because at the moment the girl came in she +was deeply interested in watching something that was +going on in the town."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_438" id="Page_438">[438]</a></span></p> + +<p>"In the town!" repeated Byrd.</p> + +<p>"Yes; the telescope was lowered so as to command a +view of the town, and she had taken advantage of its +position (as she assured me last night) to consult the +church clock."</p> + +<p>"The church clock!" echoed Byrd once more. "And +what time did she say it was?" breathlessly cried both +detectives.</p> + +<p>"Five minutes to twelve."</p> + +<p>"A critical moment," ejaculated Byrd. "And what +was it she saw going on in the town at that especial +time?"</p> + +<p>"I will tell you," returned the District Attorney, impressively. +"She said—and I believed her last night and +so recalled her to the stand this morning—that she saw +Craik Mansell fleeing toward the swamp from Mrs. +Clemmens' dining-room door."</p> + +<p>Both men looked up astonished.</p> + +<p>"That was what she told me last night. To-day she +comes into court with this contradictory story of herself +being the assailant and sole cause of Mrs. Clemmens' +death."</p> + +<p>"But all that is frenzy," protested Byrd. "She probably +saw from your manner that the prisoner was lost if +she gave this fact to the court, and her mind became disordered. +She evidently loves this Mansell, and as for +me, I pity her."</p> + +<p>"So do I," assented the District Attorney; "still——"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_439" id="Page_439">[439]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Is it possible," Byrd interrupted, with feeling, as Mr. +Ferris hesitated, "that you do doubt her innocence? +After the acknowledgments made by the prisoner too?"</p> + +<p>Rising from his seat, Mr. Ferris began slowly to pace +the floor.</p> + +<p>"I should like each of you," said he, without answering +the appeal of Byrd, "to tell me why I should credit +what she told me in conversation last night rather than +what she uttered upon oath in the court-room to-day?"</p> + +<p>"Let me speak first," rejoined Byrd, glancing at Hickory. +And, rising also, he took his stand against the +mantel-shelf where he could partially hide his face from +those he addressed. "Sir," he proceeded, after a moment, +"both Hickory and myself know Miss Dare to be +innocent of this murder. A circumstance which we have +hitherto kept secret, but which in justice to Miss Dare I +think we are now bound to make known, has revealed to +us the true criminal. Hickory, tell Mr. Ferris of the deception +you practised upon Miss Dare in the hut."</p> + +<p>The surprised, but secretly gratified, detective at once +complied. <i>He</i> saw no reason for keeping quiet about +that day's work. He told how, by means of a letter purporting +to come from Mansell, he had decoyed Imogene +to an interview in the hut, where, under the supposition +she was addressing her lover, she had betrayed her conviction +of his guilt, and advised him to confess it.</p> + +<p>Mr. Ferris listened with surprise and great interest.</p> + +<p>"That seems to settle the question," he said.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_440" id="Page_440">[440]</a></span></p> + +<p>But it was now Hickory's turn to shake his head.</p> + +<p>"I don't know," he remonstrated. "I have sometimes +thought she saw through the trick and turned it to her +own advantage."</p> + +<p>"How to her own advantage?"</p> + +<p>"To talk in such a way as to make us think Mansell +was guilty."</p> + +<p>"Stuff!" said Byrd; "that woman?"</p> + +<p>"More unaccountable things have happened," was the +weak reply of Hickory, his habitual state of suspicion +leading him more than once into similar freaks of folly.</p> + +<p>"Sir," said Mr. Byrd, confidingly, to the District Attorney, +"let us run over this matter from the beginning. +Starting with the supposition that the explanation she +gave you last night was the true one, let us see if the +whole affair does not hang together in a way to satisfy us +all as to where the real guilt lies. To begin, then, with +the meeting in the woods——"</p> + +<p>"Wait," interrupted Hickory; "there is going to be an +argument here; so suppose you give your summary of +events from the lady's standpoint, as that seems to be the +one which interests you most."</p> + +<p>"I was about to do so," Horace assured him, heedless +of the rough fellow's good-natured taunt. "To make my +point, it is absolutely necessary for us to transfer ourselves +into her position and view matters as they gradually unfolded +themselves before her eyes. First, then, as I have +before suggested, let us consider the interview held by<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_441" id="Page_441">[441]</a></span> +this man and woman in the woods. Miss Dare, as we +must remember, was not engaged to Mr. Mansell; she +only loved him. Their engagement, to say nothing of +their marriage, depended upon his success in life—a success +which to them seemed to hang solely upon the decision +of Mrs. Clemmens concerning the small capital he +desired her to advance him. But in the interview which +Mansell had held with his aunt previous to the meeting +between the lovers, Mrs. Clemmens had refused to loan +him this money, and Miss Dare, whose feelings we are +endeavoring to follow, found herself beset by the entreaties +of a man who, having failed in his plans for future +fortune, feared the loss of her love as well. What was the +natural consequence? Rebellion against the widow's decision, +of course,—a rebellion which she showed by the +violent gesture which she made;—and then a determination +to struggle for her happiness, as she evinced when, +with most unhappy ambiguity of expression, she begged +him to wait till the next day before pressing his ring upon +her acceptance, because, as she said:</p> + +<p>"'A night has been known to change the whole current +of a person's affairs.'</p> + +<p>"To her, engrossed with the one idea of making a personal +effort to alter Mrs. Clemmens' mind on the money +question, these words seemed innocent enough. But the +look with which he received them, and the pause that +followed, undoubtedly impressed her, and prepared the +way for the interest she manifested when, upon looking<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_442" id="Page_442">[442]</a></span> +through the telescope the next day, she saw him flying in +that extraordinary way from his aunt's cottage toward the +woods. Not that she then thought of his having committed +a crime. As I trace her mental experience, she +did not come to that conclusion till it was forced upon +her. I do not know, and so cannot say, how she first +heard of the murder——"</p> + +<p>"She was told of it on the street-corner," interpolated +Mr. Ferris.</p> + +<p>"Ah, well, then, fresh from this vision of her lover +hasting from his aunt's door to hide himself in the woods +beyond, she came into town and was greeted by the announcement +that Mrs. Clemmens had just been assaulted +by a tramp in her own house. I know this was the way +in which the news was told her, from the expression of +her face as she entered the house. I was standing at the +gate, you remember, when she came up, and her look had +in it determination and horror, but no special fear. In +fact, the words she dropped show the character of her +thoughts at that time. She distinctly murmured in my +hearing: 'No good can come of it, none.' As if her mind +were dwelling upon the advantages which might accrue to +her lover from his aunt's death, and weighing them +against the foul means by which that person's end had +been hastened. Yet I will not say but she may have been +influenced in the course which she took by some doubt or +apprehension of her own. The fact that she came to the +house at all, and, having come, insisted upon knowing all<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_443" id="Page_443">[443]</a></span> +the details of the assault, seem to prove she was not without +a desire to satisfy herself that suspicion rightfully +attached itself to the tramp. But not until she saw her +lover's ring on the floor (the ring which she had with her +own hand dropped into the pocket of his coat the day +before) and heard that the tramp had justified himself +and was no longer considered the assailant, did her true +fear and horror come. Then, indeed, all the past rose up +before her, and, believing her lover guilty of this crime, +she laid claim to the jewel as the first and only alternative +that offered by which she might stand between him +and the consequences of his guilt. Her subsequent agitation +when the dying woman made use of the exclamation +that indissolubly connected the crime with a ring, speaks +for itself. Nor was her departure from the house any too +hurried or involuntary, when you consider that the vengeance +invoked by the widow, was, in Miss Dare's opinion, +called down upon one to whom she had nearly +plighted her troth. What is the next act in the drama? +The scene in the Syracuse depot. Let me see if I cannot +explain it. A woman who has once allowed herself to +suspect the man she loves of a murderous deed, cannot +rest till she has either convinced herself that her suspicions +are false, or until she has gained such knowledge of +the truth as makes her feel justified in her seeming treason. +A woman of Miss Dare's generous nature especially. +What does she do, then? With the courage that characterizes +all her movements, she determines upon seeing<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_444" id="Page_444">[444]</a></span> +him, and from his own lips, perhaps, win a confession of +guilt or innocence. Conceiving that his flight was directed +toward the Quarry Station, and thence to Buffalo, she +embraced the first opportunity to follow him to the latter +place. As I have told you, her ticket was bought for +Buffalo, and to Buffalo she evidently intended going. +But chancing to leave the cars at Syracuse, she was +startled by encountering in the depot the very man +with whom she had been associating thoughts of guilt. +Shocked and thrown off her guard by the unexpectedness +of the occurrence, she betrays her shrinking and her +horror. 'Were you coming to see me?' she asks, and +recoils, while he, conscious at the first glimpse of her face +that his guilt has cost him her love, starts back also, +uttering, in his shame and despair, words that were similar +to hers, 'Were you coming to see me?'"</p> + +<p>"Convinced without further speech, that her worst +fears had foundation in fact, she turns back toward her +home. The man she loved had committed a crime. That +it was partly for her sake only increased her horror +sevenfold. She felt as if she were guilty also, and, with +sudden remorse, remembered how, instead of curbing his +wrath the day before she had inflamed it by her words, +if not given direction to it by her violent gestures. That +fact, and the self-blame it produced, probably is the cause +why her love did not vanish with her hopes. Though he +was stained by guilt, she felt that it was the guilt of a +strong nature driven from its bearings by the conjunction<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_445" id="Page_445">[445]</a></span> +of two violent passions,—ambition and love; and she +being passionate and ambitious herself, remained attached +to the man while she recoiled from his crime.</p> + +<p>"This being so, she could not, as a woman, wish him +to suffer the penalty of his wickedness. Though lost to +her, he must not be lost to the world. So, with the +heroism natural to such a nature, she shut the secret up +in her own breast, and faced her friends with courage, +wishing, if not hoping, that the matter would remain the +mystery it promised to be when she stood with us in the +presence of the dying woman.</p> + +<p>"But this was not to be, for suddenly, in the midst of +her complacency, fell the startling announcement that +another man—an innocent man—one, too, of her lover's +own standing, if not hopes, had by a curious conjunction +of events so laid himself open to the suspicion of the +authorities as to be actually under arrest for this crime. +'Twas a danger she had not foreseen, a result for which +she was not prepared.</p> + +<p>"Startled and confounded she let a few days go by in +struggle and indecision, possibly hoping, with the blind +trust of her sex, that Mr. Hildreth would be released +without her interference. But Mr. Hildreth was not released, +and her anxiety was fast becoming unendurable, +when that decoy letter sent by Hickory reached her, +awakening in her breast for the first time, perhaps, the +hope that Mansell would show himself to be a true man +in this extremity, and by a public confession of guilt release<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_446" id="Page_446">[446]</a></span> +her from the task of herself supplying the information +which would lead to his commitment.</p> + +<p>"And, perhaps, if it had really fallen to the lot of +Mansell to confront her in the hut and listen to her +words of adjuration and appeal, he might have been induced +to consent to her wishes. But a detective sat +there instead of her lover, and the poor woman lived to +see the days go by without any movement being made to +save Mr. Hildreth. At last—was it the result of the +attempt made by this man upon his life?—she put an end +to the struggle by acting for herself. Moved by a sense +of duty, despite her love, she sent the letter which drew +attention to her lover, and paved the way for that trial +which has occupied our attention for so many days. But—mark +this, for I think it is the only explanation of her +whole conduct—the sense of justice that upheld her in this +duty was mingled with the hope that her lover would +escape conviction if he did not trial. The one fact +which told the most against him—I allude to his flight +from his aunt's door on the morning of the murder, as +observed by her through the telescope—was as yet a +secret in her own breast, and there she meant it to +remain unless it was drawn forth by actual question. But +it was not a fact likely to be made the subject of question, +and drawing hope from that consideration, she prepared +herself for the ordeal before her, determined, as I +actually believe, to answer with truth all the inquiries +that were put to her.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_447" id="Page_447">[447]</a></span></p> + +<p>"But in an unexpected hour she learned that the detectives +were anxious to know where she was during the +time of the murder. She heard Hickory question Professor +Darling's servant-girl, as to whether she was still +in the observatory, and at once feared that her secret was +discovered. Feared, I say—I conjecture this,—but what +I do not conjecture is that with the fear, or doubt, or +whatever emotion it was she cherished, a revelation came +of the story she might tell if worst came to worst, and +she found herself forced to declare what she saw when +the clock stood at five minutes to twelve on that fatal +day. Think of your conversation with the girl Roxana," +he went on to Hickory, "and then think of that woman +crouching behind the rack, listening to your words, and +see if you can draw any other conclusion from the expression +of her face than that of triumph at seeing a way +to deliver her lover at the sacrifice of herself."</p> + +<p>As Byrd waited for a reply, Hickory reluctantly acknowledged:</p> + +<p>"Her look was a puzzler, that I will allow. She seemed +glad——"</p> + +<p>"There," cried Byrd, "you say she seemed glad; that +is enough. Had she had the weight of this crime upon +her conscience, she would have betrayed a different emotion +from that. I pray you to consider the situation," +he proceeded, turning to the District Attorney, "for on +it hangs your conviction of her innocence. First, imagine +her guilty. What would her feelings be, as, hiding unseen<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_448" id="Page_448">[448]</a></span> +in that secret corner, she hears a detective's voice inquiring +where she was when the fatal blow was struck, and +hears the answer given that she was not where she was +supposed to be, but in the woods—the woods which she +and every one know lead so directly to Mrs. Clemmens' +house, she could without the least difficulty hasten there +and back in the hour she was observed to be missing? +Would she show gladness or triumph even of a wild or +delirious order? No, even Hickory cannot say she +would. Now, on the contrary, see her as I do, crouched +there in the very place before the telescope which she +occupied when the girl came to the observatory before, +but unseen now as she was unseen then, and watch the +change that takes place in her countenance as she hears +question and answer and realizes what confirmation she +would receive from this girl if she ever thought fit to declare +that she was not in the observatory when the girl +sought her there on the day of the murder. That by this +act she would bring execration if not death upon herself, +she does not stop to consider. Her mind is full of what +she can do for her lover, and she does not think of herself.</p> + +<p>"But an enthusiasm like this is too frenzied to last. +As time passes by and Craik Mansell is brought to trial, +she begins to hope she may be spared this sacrifice. She +therefore responds with perfect truth when summoned to +the stand to give evidence, and does not waver, though +question after question is asked her, whose answers cannot +fail to show the state of her mind in regard to the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_449" id="Page_449">[449]</a></span> +prisoner's guilt. Life and honor are sweet even to one +in her condition; and if her lover could be saved without +falsehood it was her natural instinct to avoid it.</p> + +<p>"And it looked as if he would be saved. A defence +both skilful and ingenious had been advanced for him by +his counsel—a defence which only the one fact so securely +locked in her bosom could controvert. You can imagine, +then, the horror and alarm which must have seized her +when, in the very hour of hope, you approached her with +the demand which proved that her confidence in her +power to keep silence had been premature, and that the +alternative was yet to be submitted to her of destroying +her lover or sacrificing herself. Yet, because a great +nature does not succumb without a struggle, she tried even +now the effect of the truth upon you, and told you the one +fact she considered so detrimental to the safety of her +lover.</p> + +<p>"The result was fatal. Though I cannot presume to +say what passed between you, I can imagine how the +change in your countenance warned her of the doom she +would bring upon Mansell if she went into court with the +same story she told you. Nor do I find it difficult to +imagine how, in one of her history and temperament, a +night of continuous brooding over this one topic should +have culminated in the act which startled us so profoundly +in the court-room this morning. Love, misery, devotion +are not mere names to her, and the greatness which sustained +her through the ordeal of denouncing her lover in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_450" id="Page_450">[450]</a></span> +order that an innocent man might be relieved from suspicion, +was the same that made it possible for her to +denounce herself that she might redeem the life she had +thus deliberately jeopardized.</p> + +<p>"That she did this with a certain calmness and dignity +proves it to have been the result of design. A murderess +forced by conscience into confession would not have gone +into the details of her crime, but blurted out her guilt, +and left the details to be drawn from her by question. +Only the woman anxious to tell her story with the plausibility +necessary to insure its belief would have planned +and carried on her confession as she did.</p> + +<p>"The action of the prisoner, in face of this proof of +devotion, though it might have been foreseen by a man, +was evidently not foreseen by her. To me, who watched +her closely at the time, her face wore a strange look of +mingled satisfaction and despair,—satisfaction in having +awakened his manhood, despair at having failed in saving +him. But it is not necessary for me to dilate on this +point. If I have been successful in presenting before you +the true condition of her mind during this struggle, you +will see for yourself what her feelings must be now that +her lover has himself confessed to a fact, to hide which +she made the greatest sacrifice of which mortal is capable."</p> + +<p>Mr. Ferris, who, during this lengthy and exhaustive +harangue, had sat with brooding countenance and an +anxious mien, roused himself as the other ceased, and +glanced with a smile at Hickory.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_451" id="Page_451">[451]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Well," said he, "that's good reasoning; now let us +hear how you will go to work to demolish it."</p> + +<p>The cleared brow, the playful tone of the District +Attorney showed the relieved state of his mind. Byrd's +arguments had evidently convinced him of the innocence +of Imogene Dare.</p> + +<p>Hickory, seeing it, shook his head with a gloomy air.</p> + +<p>"Sir," said he, "I can't demolish it. If I could tell +why Mansell fled from Widow Clemmens' house at five +minutes to twelve I might be able to do so, but that fact +stumps me. It is an act consistent with guilt. It may +be consistent with innocence, but, as we don't know all +the facts, we can't say so. But this I do know, that my +convictions with regard to that man have undergone a +change. I now as firmly believe in his innocence as +I once did in his guilt."</p> + +<p>"What has produced the change?" asked Mr. Ferris.</p> + +<p>"Well," said Hickory, "it all lies in this. From the +day I heard Miss Dare accuse him so confidently in the +hut, I believed him guilty; from the moment he withdrew +his defence, I believed him innocent."</p> + +<p>Mr. Ferris and Mr. Byrd looked at him astonished. +He at once brought down his fist in vigorous assertion on +the table.</p> + +<p>"I tell you," said he, "that Craik Mansell is innocent. +The truth is, he believes Miss Dare guilty, and so stands +his trial, hoping to save her."</p> + +<p>"And be hung for her crime?" asked Mr. Ferris.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_452" id="Page_452">[452]</a></span></p> + +<p>"No; he thinks his innocence will save him, in spite +of the evidence on which we got him indicted."</p> + +<p>But the District Attorney protested at this.</p> + +<p>"That can't be," said he; "Mansell has withdrawn the +only defence he had."</p> + +<p>"On the contrary," asserted Hickory, "that very thing +only proves my theory true. He is still determined to +save Miss Dare by every thing short of a confession +of his own guilt. He won't lie. That man is innocent."</p> + +<p>"And Miss Dare is guilty?" said Byrd.</p> + +<p>"Shall I make it clear to you in the way it has become +clear to Mr. Mansell?"</p> + +<p>As Byrd only answered by a toss of his head, +Hickory put his elbows on the table, and checking off +every sentence with the forefinger of his right hand, +which he pointed at Mr. Ferris' shirt-stud, as if to instil +from its point conviction into that gentleman's bosom, he +proceeded with the utmost composure as follows:</p> + +<p>"To commence, then, with the scene in the woods. +He meets her. She is as angry at his aunt as he is. +What does she do? She strikes the tree with her hand, +and tells him to wait till to-morrow, since a night has +been known to change the whole current of a person's +affairs. Now tell me what does that mean? Murder? +If so, she was the one to originate it. He can't forget +that. It has stamped itself upon Mansell's memory, and +when, after the assassination of Mrs. Clemmens, he recalls +those words, he is convinced that she has slain Mrs. +Clemmens to help him."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_453" id="Page_453">[453]</a></span></p> + +<p>"But, Mr. Hickory," objected Mr. Ferris, "this assumes +that Mr. Mansell is innocent, whereas we have +exceedingly cogent proof that he is the guilty party. +There is the circumstance of his leaving Widow Clemmens' +house at five minutes to twelve."</p> + +<p>To which Hickory, with a twinkle in his eye, replied:</p> + +<p>"I won't discuss that; it hasn't been proved, you +know. Miss Dare told you she saw him do this, but she +wouldn't swear to it. Nothing is to be taken for granted +against my man."</p> + +<p>"Then you think Miss Dare spoke falsely?"</p> + +<p>"I don't say that. I believe that whatever he did +could be explained if we knew as much about it as +he does. But I'm not called upon to explain any +thing which has not appeared in the evidence against +him."</p> + +<p>"Well, then, we'll take the evidence. There is his +ring, found on the scene of murder."</p> + +<p>"Exactly," rejoined Hickory. "Dropped there, as he +must suppose, by Miss Dare, because he didn't know she +had secretly restored it to his pocket."</p> + +<p>Mr. Ferris smiled.</p> + +<p>"You don't see the force of the evidence," said he. +"As she <i>had</i> restored it to his pocket, he must have been +the one to drop it there."</p> + +<p>"I am willing to admit he dropped it there, not that +he killed Mrs. Clemmens. I am now speaking of his +suspicions as to the assassin. When the betrothal ring<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_454" id="Page_454">[454]</a></span> +was found there, he suspects Miss Dare of the crime, and +nothing has occurred to change his suspicions."</p> + +<p>"But," said the District Attorney, "how does your +client, Mr. Mansell, get over this difficulty; that Miss +Dare, who has committed a murder to put five thousand +dollars into his pocket, immediately afterward turns +round and accuses him of the crime—nay more, furnishes +evidence against him!"</p> + +<p>"You can't expect the same consistency from a woman +as from a man. They can nerve themselves up one +moment to any deed of desperation, and take every pains +the next to conceal it by a lie."</p> + +<p>"Men will do the same; then why not Mansell?"</p> + +<p>"I am showing you why I know that Mansell believes +Miss Dare guilty of a murder. To continue, then. What +does he do when he hears that his aunt has been murdered? +He scratches out the face of Miss Dare in a +photograph; he ties up her letters with a black ribbon as +if she were dead and gone to him. Then the scene in +the Syracuse depot! The rule of three works both ways, +Mr. Byrd, and if she left her home to solve <i>her</i> doubts, +what shall be said of him? The recoil, too—was it less +on his part than hers? And, if she had cause to gather +guilt from his manner, had he not as much cause to +gather it from hers? If his mind was full of suspicion +when he met her, it became conviction before he left; +and, bearing that fact in your mind, watch how he henceforth +conducted himself. He does not come to Sibley;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_455" id="Page_455">[455]</a></span> +the woman he fears to encounter is there. He hears of +Mr. Hildreth's arrest, reads of the discoveries which led +to it, and keeps silent. So would any other man have +done in his place, at least till he saw whether this arrest +was likely to end in trial. But he cannot forget he had +been in Sibley on the fatal day, or that there may be +some one who saw his interview with Miss Dare. When +Byrd comes to him, therefore, and tells him he is wanted +in Sibley, his first question is, 'Am I wanted as a witness?' +and, even you have acknowledged, Mr. Ferris, +that he seemed surprised to find himself accused of the +crime. But, accused, he takes his course and keeps to it. +Brought to trial, he remembers the curious way in which +he crossed the river, and thus cut short the road to the +station; and, seeing in it great opportunities for a successful +defence, chooses Mr. Orcutt for his counsel, and +trusts the secret to him. The trial goes on; acquittal +seems certain, when suddenly she is recalled to the +stand, and he hears words which make him think she is +going to betray him by some falsehood, when, instead of +following the lead of the prosecution, she launches into a +personal confession. What does he do? Why, rise and +hold up his hand in a command for her to stop. But she +does not heed, and the rest follows as a matter of course. +The life she throws away he will not accept. He is +innocent, but his defence is false! He says so, and +leaves the jury to decide on the verdict. There can be +no doubt," Hickory finally concluded, "that some of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_456" id="Page_456">[456]</a></span> +these circumstances are consistent only with his belief +that Miss Dare is a murderess: such, for instance, as his +scratching out her face in the picture. Others favor the +theory in a less degree, but this is what I want to impress +upon both your minds," he declared, turning first to Mr. +Ferris and then to Mr. Byrd: "<i>If any fact, no matter how +slight, leads us to the conviction that Craik Mansell, at any +time after the murder, entertained the belief that Miss Dare +committed it, his innocence follows as a matter of course. +For the guilty could never entertain a belief in the guilt of +any other person.</i>"</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Mr. Ferris, "I admit that, but we have got +to see into Mr. Mansell's mind before we can tell what +his belief really was."</p> + +<p>"No," was Hickory's reply; "let us look at his actions. +I say that that defaced picture is conclusive. One day +he loves that woman and wants her to marry him; the +next, he defaces her picture. Why? She had not offended +him. Not a word, not a line, passes between them to +cause him to commit this act. But he does hear of his +aunt's murder, and he does recall her sinister promise: +'Wait; there is no telling what a day will bring forth.' +I say that no other cause for his act is shown except his +conviction that she is a murderess."</p> + +<p>"But," persisted Mr. Ferris, "his leaving the house, as +he acknowledges he did, by this unfrequented and circuitous +road?"</p> + +<p>"I have said before that I cannot explain his presence<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_457" id="Page_457">[457]</a></span> +there, or his flight. All I am now called upon to show +is, some fact inconsistent with any thing except a belief in +this young woman's guilt. I claim I have shown it, and, +as you admit, Mr. Ferris, if I show <i>that</i>, he is innocent."</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Byrd, speaking for the first time; "but we +have heard of people manufacturing evidence in their own +behalf."</p> + +<p>"Come, Byrd," replied Hickory, "you don't seriously +mean to attack my position with that suggestion. How +could a man dream of manufacturing evidence of such a +character? A murderer manufactures evidence to throw +suspicion on other people. No fool could suppose that +scratching out the face of a girl in a photograph and locking +it up in his own desk, would tend to bring her to the +scaffold, or save him from it."</p> + +<p>"And, yet," rejoined Byrd, "that very act acquits him +in your eyes. All that is necessary is to give him credit +for being smart enough to foresee that it would have such +a tendency in the eyes of any person who discovered the +picture."</p> + +<p>"Then," said Hickory, "he would also have to foresee +that she would accuse herself of murder when he was on +trial for it, and that he would thereupon withdraw his +defence. Byrd, you are foreseeing too much. My friend +Mansell possesses no such power of looking into the +future as that."</p> + +<p>"Your friend Mansell!" repeated Mr. Ferris, with a +smile. "If you were on his jury, I suppose your bias in +his favor would lead you to acquit him of this crime?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_458" id="Page_458">[458]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I should declare him 'Not guilty,' and stick to it, if I +had to be locked up for a year."</p> + +<p>Mr. Ferris sank into an attitude of profound thought. +Horace Byrd, impressed by this, looked at him anxiously.</p> + +<p>"Have your convictions been shaken by Hickory's ingenious +theory?" he ventured to inquire at last.</p> + +<p>Mr. Ferris abstractedly replied:</p> + +<p>"This is no time for me to state my convictions. It is +enough that you comprehend my perplexity." And, relapsing +into his former condition, he remained for a +moment wrapped in silence, then he said: "Byrd, how +comes it that the humpback who excited so much attention +on the day of the murder was never found?"</p> + +<p>Byrd, astonished, surveyed the District Attorney with a +doubtful look that gradually changed into one of quiet +satisfaction as he realized the significance of this recurrence +to old theories and suspicions. His answer, however, +was slightly embarrassed in tone, though frank +enough to remind one of Hickory's blunt-spoken admissions.</p> + +<p>"Well," said he, "I suppose the main reason is that I +made no attempt to find him."</p> + +<p>"Do you think that you were wise in that, Mr. Byrd?" +inquired Mr. Ferris, with some severity.</p> + +<p>Horace laughed.</p> + +<p>"I can find him for you to-day, if you want him," he +declared.</p> + +<p>"You can? You know him, then?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_459" id="Page_459">[459]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Very well. Mr. Ferris," he courteously remarked, +"I perhaps should have explained to you at the time, +that I recognized this person and knew him to be an +honest man; but the habits of secrecy in our profession +are so fostered by the lives we lead, that we sometimes +hold our tongue when it would be better for us to speak. +The humpback who talked with us on the court-house +steps the morning Mrs. Clemmens was murdered, was not +what he seemed, sir. He was a detective; a detective in +disguise; a man with whom I never presume to meddle—in +other words, our famous Mr. Gryce."</p> + +<p>"Gryce!—that man!" exclaimed Mr. Ferris, astounded.</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir. He was in disguise, probably for some +purpose of his own, but I knew his eye. Gryce's eye +isn't to be mistaken by any one who has much to +do with him."</p> + +<p>"And that famous detective was actually on the spot +at the time this murder was discovered, and you let him +go without warning me of his presence?"</p> + +<p>"Sir," returned Mr. Byrd, "neither you nor I nor any +one at that time could foresee what a serious and complicated +case this was going to be. Besides, he did not linger +in this vicinity, but took the cars only a few minutes after +he parted from us. I did not think he wanted to be +dragged into this affair unless it was necessary. He had +important matters of his own to look after. However, if +suspicion had continued to follow him, I should have<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_460" id="Page_460">[460]</a></span> +notified him of the fact, and let him speak for himself. +But it vanished so quickly in the light of other developments, +I just let the matter drop."</p> + +<p>The impatient frown with which Mr. Ferris received +this acknowledgment showed he was not pleased.</p> + +<p>"I think you made a mistake," said he. Then, after +a minute's thought, added: "You have seen Gryce +since?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir; several times."</p> + +<p>"And he acknowledged himself to have been the +humpback?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir."</p> + +<p>"You must have had some conversation with him, +then, about this murder? He was too nearly concerned +in it not to take some interest in the affair?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir; Gryce takes an interest in all murder +cases."</p> + +<p>"Well, then, what did he have to say about this one? +He gave an opinion, I suppose?"</p> + +<p>"No, sir. Gryce never gives an opinion without +study, and we detectives have no time to study up an +affair not our own. If you want to know what Gryce +thinks about a crime, you have got to put the case into +his hands."</p> + +<p>Mr. Ferris paused and seemed to ruminate. Seeing +this, Mr. Byrd flushed and cast a side glance at Hickory, +who returned him an expressive shrug.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Ferris," ventured the former, "if you wish to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_461" id="Page_461">[461]</a></span> +consult with Mr. Gryce on this matter, do not hesitate +because of us. Both Hickory and myself acknowledge +we are more or less baffled by this case, and Gryce's +judgment is a good thing to have in a perplexity."</p> + +<p>"You think so?" queried the District Attorney.</p> + +<p>"I do," said Byrd.</p> + +<p>Mr. Ferris glanced at Hickory.</p> + +<p>"Oh, have the old man here if you want him," was +that detective's blunt reply. "I have nothing to say +against your getting all the light you can on this +affair."</p> + +<p>"Very good," returned Mr. Ferris. "You may give +me his address before you go."</p> + +<p>"His address for to-night is Utica," observed Byrd. +"He could be here before morning, if you wanted +him."</p> + +<p>"I am in no such hurry as that," returned Mr. Ferris, +and he sank again into thought.</p> + +<p>The detectives took advantage of his abstraction to +utter a few private condolences in each other's ears.</p> + +<p>"So it seems we are to be laid on the shelf," whispered +Hickory.</p> + +<p>"Yes, for which let us be thankful," answered Byrd.</p> + +<p>"Why? Are you getting tired of the affair?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>A humorous twinkle shone for a minute in Hickory's +eye.</p> + +<p>"Pooh!" said he, "it's just getting interesting."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_462" id="Page_462">[462]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Opinions differ," quoth Byrd.</p> + +<p>"Not much," retorted Hickory.</p> + +<p>Something in the way he said this made Byrd look +at him more intently. He instantly changed his tone.</p> + +<p>"Old fellow," said he, "you don't believe Miss Dare +committed this crime any more than I do."</p> + +<p>A sly twinkle answered him from the detective's half-shut +eye.</p> + +<p>"All that talk of having seen through your disguise in +the hut is just nonsense on your part to cover up your +real notion about it. What is that notion, Hickory? +Come, out with it; let us understand each other thoroughly +at last."</p> + +<p>"Do I understand you?"</p> + +<p>"You shall, when you tell me just what your convictions +are in this matter."</p> + +<p>"Well, then," replied Hickory, with a short glance at +Mr. Ferris, "I believe (it's hard as pulling teeth to own +it) that neither of them did it: that she thought him +guilty and he thought her so, but that in reality the crime +lies at the door of some third party totally disconnected +with either of them."</p> + +<p>"Such as Gouverneur Hildreth?" whispered Byrd.</p> + +<p>"<ins title="Transcriber's Note: original reads 'Sueh'">Such</ins>—as—Gouverneur Hildreth," drawled Hickory.</p> + +<p>The two detectives eyed each other, smiled, and +turned with relieved countenances toward the District +Attorney. He was looking at them with great earnestness.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_463" id="Page_463">[463]</a></span></p> + +<p>"That is your joint opinion?" he remarked.</p> + +<p>"It is mine," cried Hickory, bringing his fist down on +the table with a vim that made every individual article on +it jump.</p> + +<p>"It is and it is not mine," acquiesced Byrd, as the eye +of Mr. Ferris turned in his direction. "Mr. Mansell +may be innocent—indeed, after hearing Hickory's explanation +of his conduct, I am ready to believe he is—but +to say that Gouverneur Hildreth is guilty comes +hard to me after the long struggle I have maintained in +favor of his innocence. Yet, what other conclusion remains +after an impartial view of the subject? None. +Then why should I shrink from acknowledging I was at +fault, or hesitate to admit a defeat where so many causes +combined to mislead me?"</p> + +<p>"Which means you agree with Hickory?" ventured +the District Attorney.</p> + +<p>Mr. Byrd slowly bowed.</p> + +<p>Mr. Ferris continued for a moment looking alternately +from one to the other; then he observed:</p> + +<p>"When two such men unite in an opinion, it is at least +worthy of consideration." And, rising, he took on an +aspect of sudden determination. "Whatever may be the +truth in regard to this matter," said he, "one duty is +clear. Miss Dare, as you inform me, has been—with but +little idea of the consequences, I am sure—allowed to remain +under the impression that the interview which she +held in the hut was with her lover. As her belief in the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_464" id="Page_464">[464]</a></span> +prisoner's guilt doubtless rests upon the admissions which +were at that time made in her hearing, it is palpable that +a grave injustice has been done both to her and to him +by leaving this mistake of hers uncorrected. I therefore +consider it due to Miss Dare, as well as to the prisoner, +to undeceive her on this score before another hour has +passed over our heads. I must therefore request you, +Mr. Byrd, to bring the lady here. You will find her still +in the court-house, I think, as she requested leave to +remain in the room below till the crowd had left the +streets."</p> + +<p>Mr. Byrd, who, in the new light which had been +thrown on the affair by his own and Hickory's suppositions, +could not but see the justice of this, rose with +alacrity to obey.</p> + +<p>"I will bring her if she is in the building," he declared, +hurriedly leaving the room.</p> + +<p>"And if she is not," Mr. Ferris remarked, with a glance +at the consciously rebuked Hickory, "we shall have to +follow her to her home, that is all. I am determined to +see this woman's mind cleared of all misapprehensions +before I take another step in the way of my duty.</p> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_465" id="Page_465">[465]</a></span>"</p> + +<h2>XXXVI.</h2> + +<h3>A MISTAKE RECTIFIED.</h3> + +<div class='poem'> +If circumstances lead me, I will find<br /> +Where truth is hid, though it were hid, indeed,<br /> +Within the centre. —<span class="smcap">Hamlet.</span><br /> +<br /><br /></div> + + +<div class='cap'>IF Mr. Ferris, in seeking this interview with Miss +Dare, had been influenced by any hope of finding +her in an unsettled and hesitating state of mind, he was +effectually undeceived, when, after a few minutes' absence, +Mr. Byrd returned with her to his presence. Though her +physical strength was nearly exhausted, and she looked +quite pale and worn, there was a steady gleam in her eye, +which spoke of an unshaken purpose.</div> + +<p>Seeing it, and noting the forced humility with which +she awaited his bidding at the threshold, the District +Attorney, for the first time perhaps, realized the power +of this great, if perverted, nature, and advancing with +real kindness to the door, he greeted her with as much +deference as he ever showed to ladies, and gravely +pushed toward her a chair.</p> + +<p>She did not take it. On the contrary, she drew back +a step, and looked at him in some doubt, but a sudden +glimpse of Hickory's sturdy figure in the corner seemed +to reassure her, and merely stopping to acknowledge Mr. +Ferris' courtesy by a bow, she glided forward and took +her stand by the chair he had provided.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_466" id="Page_466">[466]</a></span></p> + +<p>A short and, on his part, somewhat embarrassing +pause followed. It was broken by her.</p> + +<p>"You sent for me," she suggested. "You perhaps +want some explanation of my conduct, or some assurance +that the confession I made before the court to-day was +true?"</p> + +<p>If Mr. Ferris had needed any further proof than he had +already received that Imogene Dare, in presenting herself +before the world as a criminal, had been actuated by a +spirit of devotion to the prisoner, he would have found it +in the fervor and unconscious dignity with which she +uttered these few words. But he needed no such proof. +Giving her, therefore, a look full of grave significance, he +replied:</p> + +<p>"No, Miss Dare. After my experience of the ease +with which you can contradict yourself in matters of the +most serious import, you will pardon me if I say that the +truth or falsehood of your words must be arrived at by +some other means than any you yourself can offer. My +business with you at this time is of an entirely different +nature. Instead of listening to further confessions from +you, it has become my duty to offer one myself. Not on +my own behalf," he made haste to explain, as she looked +up, startled, "but on account of these men, who, in their +anxiety to find out who murdered Mrs. Clemmens, made +use of means and resorted to deceptions which, if their +superiors had been consulted, would not have been countenanced +for a moment."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_467" id="Page_467">[467]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I do not understand," she murmured, looking at the +two detectives with a wonder that suddenly merged into +alarm as she noticed the embarrassment of the one and +the decided discomfiture of the other.</p> + +<p>Mr. Ferris at once resumed:</p> + +<p>"In the weeks that have elapsed since the commission +of this crime, it has been my lot to subject you to much +mental misery, Miss Dare. Provided by yourself with a +possible clue to the murder, I have probed the matter +with an unsparing hand. Heedless of the pain I was inflicting, +or the desperation to which I was driving you, I +asked you questions and pressed you for facts as long as +there seemed questions to ask or facts to be gained. My +duty and the claims of my position demanded this, and +for it I can make no excuse, notwithstanding the unhappy +results that have ensued. But, Miss Dare, whatever +anxiety I may have shown in procuring the conviction of +a man I believed to be a criminal, I have never wished to +win my case at the expense of justice and right; and had +I been told before you came to the stand that you had +been made the victim of a deception calculated to influence +your judgment, I should have hastened to set you +right with the same anxiety as I do now."</p> + +<p>"Sir—sir——" she began.</p> + +<p>But Mr. Ferris would not listen.</p> + +<p>"Miss Dare," he proceeded with all the gravity of conviction, +"you have uttered a deliberate perjury in the +court-room to-day. You said that you alone were responsible<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_468" id="Page_468">[468]</a></span> +for the murder of Mrs. Clemmens, whereas you +not only did not commit the crime yourself but were not +even an accessory to it. Wait!" he commanded, as she +flashed upon him a look full of denial, "I would rather +you did not speak. The motive for this calumny you uttered +upon yourself lies in a fact which may be modified +by what I have to reveal. Hear me, then, before you +stain yourself still further by a falsehood you will not +only be unable to maintain, but which you may no longer +see reason for insisting upon. Hickory, turn around so +Miss Dare can see your face. Miss Dare, when you saw +fit to call upon this man to upbear you in the extraordinary +statements you made to-day, did you realize that in +doing this you appealed to the one person best qualified +to prove the falsehood of what you had said? I see you +did not; yet it is so. He if no other can testify that a few +weeks ago, no idea of taking this crime upon your own +shoulders had ever crossed your mind; that, on the contrary, +your whole heart was filled with sorrow for the supposed +guilt of another, and plans for inducing that +other to make a confession of his guilt before the +world."</p> + +<p>"This man!" was her startled exclamation. "It is +not possible; I do not know him; he does not know me. +I never talked with him but once in my life, and that was +to say words I am not only willing but anxious for him +to repeat."</p> + +<p>"Miss Dare," the District Attorney pursued, "when<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_469" id="Page_469">[469]</a></span> +you say this you show how completely you have +been deceived. The conversation to which you allude +is not the only one which has passed between you two. +Though you did not know it, you held a talk with +this man at a time in which you so completely discovered +the secrets of your heart, you can never hope +to deceive us or the world by any story of personal +guilt which you may see fit to manufacture."</p> + +<p>"I reveal my heart to this man!" she repeated, in +a maze of doubt and terror that left her almost unable +to stand. "You are playing with my misery, Mr. +Ferris."</p> + +<p>The District Attorney took a different tone.</p> + +<p>"Miss Dare," he asked, "do you remember a certain +interview you held with a gentleman in the hut +back of Mrs. Clemmens' house, a short time after the +murder?"</p> + +<p>"Did this man overhear my words that day?" she +murmured, reaching out her hand to steady herself by +the back of the chair near which she was standing.</p> + +<p>"Your words that day were addressed to this man."</p> + +<p>"To him!" she repeated, staggering back.</p> + +<p>"Yes, to him, disguised as Craik Mansell. With an +unjustifiable zeal to know the truth, he had taken this +plan for surprising your secret thoughts, and he succeeded, +Miss Dare, remember that, even if he did you and +your lover the cruel wrong of leaving you undisturbed in +the impression that Mr. Mansell had admitted his guilt in +your presence."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_470" id="Page_470">[470]</a></span></p> + +<p>But Imogene, throwing out her hands, cried impetuously:</p> + +<p>"It is not so; you are mocking me. This man never +could deceive me like that!"</p> + +<p>But even as she spoke she recoiled, for Hickory, with +ready art, had thrown his arms and head forward on the +table before which he sat, in the attitude and with much +the same appearance he had preserved on the day she +had come upon him in the hut. Though he had no assistance +from disguise and all the accessories were lacking +which had helped forward the illusion on the former +occasion, there was still a sufficient resemblance between +this bowed figure and the one that had so impressed itself +upon her memory as that of her wretched and remorseful +lover, that she stood rooted to the ground in her surprise +and dismay.</p> + +<p>"You see how it was done, do you not?" inquired +Mr. Ferris. Then, as he saw she did not heed, added: +"I hope you remember what passed between you two on +that day?"</p> + +<p>As if struck by a thought which altered the whole atmosphere +of her hopes and feelings, she took a step forward +with a power and vigor that recalled to mind the +Imogene of old.</p> + +<p>"Sir," she exclaimed, "let that man turn around and +face me!"</p> + +<p>Hickory at once rose.</p> + +<p>"Tell me," she demanded, surveying him with a look<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_471" id="Page_471">[471]</a></span> +it took all his well-known hardihood to sustain unmoved, +"was it all false—all a trick from the beginning to the +end? I received a letter—was that written by your hand +too? Are you capable of forgery as well as of other +deceptions?"</p> + +<p>The detective, who knew no other way to escape from +his embarrassment, uttered a short laugh. But finding a +reply was expected of him, answered with well-simulated +indifference:</p> + +<p>"No, only the address on the envelope was mine; the +letter was one which Mr. Mansell had written but never +sent. I found it in his waste-paper basket in Buffalo."</p> + +<p>"Ah! and you could make use of that?"</p> + +<p>"I know it was a mean trick," he acknowledged, dropping +his eyes from her face. "But things do look different +when you are in the thick of 'em than when you +take a stand and observe them from the outside. I—I +was ashamed of it long ago, Miss Dare"—this was a lie; +Hickory never was really ashamed of it—"and would +have told you about it, but I thought 'mum' was the +word after a scene like that."</p> + +<p>She did not seem to hear him.</p> + +<p>"Then Mr. Mansell did not send me the letter inviting +me to meet him in the hut on a certain day, some few +weeks after Mrs. Clemmens was murdered?"</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>"Nor know that such a letter had been sent?"</p> + +<p>"No."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_472" id="Page_472">[472]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Nor come, as I supposed he did, to Sibley? nor admit +what I supposed he admitted in my hearing? nor +listen, as I supposed he did, to the insinuations I made +use of in the hut?"</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>Imbued with sudden purpose and energy, she turned +upon the District Attorney.</p> + +<p>"Oh, what a revelation to come to me now!" she +murmured.</p> + +<p>Mr. Ferris bowed.</p> + +<p>"You are right," he assented; "it should have come +to you before. But I can only repeat what I have previously +said, that if I had known of this deception myself, +you would have been notified of it previous to going +upon the stand. For your belief in the prisoner's guilt +has necessarily had its effect upon the jury, and I cannot +but see how much that belief must have been strengthened, +if it was not actually induced, by the interview +which we have just been considering."</p> + +<p>Her eyes took on fresh light; she looked at Mr. Ferris +as if she would read his soul.</p> + +<p>"Can it be possible——" she breathed, but stopped as +suddenly as she began. The District Attorney was not +the man from whom she could hope to obtain any opinion +in reference to the prisoner's innocence.</p> + +<p>Mr. Ferris, noting her hesitation and understanding it +too, perhaps, moved toward her with a certain kindly dignity, +saying:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_473" id="Page_473">[473]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I should be glad to utter words that would give you +some comfort, Miss Dare, but in the present state of affairs +I do not feel as if I could go farther than bid you +trust in the justice and wisdom of those who have this +matter in charge. As for your own wretched and uncalled-for +action in court to-day, it was a madness which +I hope will be speedily forgotten, or, if not forgotten, laid +to a despair almost too heavy for mortal strength to +endure."</p> + +<p>"Thank you," she murmured; but her look, the poise +of her head, the color that quivered through the pallor of +her cheek, showed she was not thinking of herself. +Doubt, the first which had visited her since she became +convinced that Craik Mansell was the destroyer of his +aunt's life, had cast a momentary gleam over her thoughts, +and she was conscious of but one wish, and that was to +understand the feelings of the men before her.</p> + +<p>But she soon saw the hopelessness of this, and, sinking +back again into her old distress as she realized how +much reason she still had for believing Craik Mansell +guilty, she threw a hurried look toward the door as if +anxious to escape from the eyes and ears of men interested, +as she knew, in gleaning her every thought and +sounding her every impulse.</p> + +<p>Mr. Ferris at once comprehended her intention, and +courteously advanced.</p> + +<p>"Do you wish to return home?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"If a carriage can be obtained."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_474" id="Page_474">[474]</a></span></p> + +<p>"There can be no difficulty about that," he answered; +and he gave Hickory a look, and whispered a word +to Mr. Byrd, that sent them both speedily from the +room.</p> + +<p>When he was left alone with her, he said:</p> + +<p>"Before you leave my presence, Miss Dare, I wish to +urge upon you the necessity of patience. Any sudden +or violent act on your part now would result in no good, +and lead to much evil. Let me, then, pray you to +remain quiet in your home, confident that Mr. Orcutt +and myself will do all in our power to insure justice and +make the truth evident."</p> + +<p>She bowed, but did not speak; while her impatient +eye, resting feverishly on the door, told of her anxiety +to depart.</p> + +<p>"She will need watching," commented Mr. Ferris to +himself, and he, too, waited impatiently for the detectives' +return. When they came in he gave Imogene to +their charge, but the look he cast Byrd contained a +hint which led that gentleman to take his hat when +he went below to put Miss Dare into her carriage.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_475" id="Page_475">[475]</a></span></p> +<h2>XXXVII.</h2> + +<h3>UNDER THE GREAT TREE.</h3> + +<div class='poem'> +<span style="margin-left: 8em;">We but teach</span><br /> +Bloody instructions, which, being taught, return<br /> +To plague the inventor. This even-handed justice<br /> +Commends the ingredients of our poisoned chalice<br /> +To our own lips. —<span class="smcap">Macbeth.</span><br /> +<br /></div> + + +<div class='cap'>IMOGENE went to her home. Confused, disordered, +the prey of a thousand hopes and a thousand fears, +she sought for solitude and found it within the four walls +of the small room which was now her only refuge.</div> + +<p>The two detectives who had followed her to the house—the +one in the carriage, the other on foot—met, as the +street-door closed upon her retreating form, and consulted +together as to their future course.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Ferris thinks we ought to keep watch over the +house, to make sure she does not leave it again," announced +Mr. Byrd.</p> + +<p>"Does he? Well, then, I am the man for that job," +quoth Hickory. "I was on this very same beat last +night."</p> + +<p>"Good reason why you should rest and give me a +turn at the business," declared the other.</p> + +<p>"Do you want it?"</p> + +<p>"I am willing to take it," said Byrd.</p> + +<p>"Well, then, after nine o'clock you shall."</p> + +<p>"Why after nine?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_476" id="Page_476">[476]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Because if she's bent on skylarking, she'll leave the +house before then," laughed the other.</p> + +<p>"And you want to be here if she goes out?"</p> + +<p>"Well, yes, <i>rather!</i>"</p> + +<p>They compromised matters by both remaining, Byrd +within view of the house and Hickory on a corner within +hail. Neither expected much from this effort at surveillance, +there seeming to be no good reason why she +should venture forth into the streets again that night. +But the watchfulness of the true detective mind is unceasing.</p> + +<p>Several hours passed. The peace of evening had come +at last to the troubled town. In the streets, especially, +its gentle influence was felt, and regions which had seethed +all day with a restless and impatient throng were fast settling +into their usual quiet and solitary condition. A new +moon hung in the west, and to Mr. Byrd, pacing the walk +in front of Imogene's door, it seemed as if he had never +seen the town look more lovely or less like the abode of +violence and crime. All was so quiet, especially in the +house opposite him, he was fast becoming convinced that +further precautions were needless, and that Imogene had +no intention of stirring abroad again, when the window +where her light burned suddenly became dark, and he +perceived the street door cautiously open, and her tall, +vailed figure emerge and pass rapidly up the street. +Merely stopping to give the signal to Hickory, he hastened +after her with rapid but cautious steps.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_477" id="Page_477">[477]</a></span></p> + +<p>She went like one bound on no uncertain errand. +Though many of the walks were heavily shaded, and the +light of the lamps was not brilliant, she speeded on from +corner to corner, threading the business streets with +rapidity, and emerging upon the large and handsome +avenue that led up toward the eastern district of the town +before Hickory could overtake Byrd, and find sufficient +breath to ask:</p> + +<p>"Where is she bound for? Who lives up this way?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know," answered Byrd, lowering his voice in +the fear of startling her into a knowledge of their presence. +"It may be she is going to Miss Tremaine's; the +High School is somewhere in this direction."</p> + +<p>But even as they spoke, the gliding figure before them +turned into another street, and before they knew it, they +were on the car-track leading out to Somerset Park.</p> + +<p>"Ha! I know now," whispered Hickory. "It is +Orcutt she is after." And pressing the arm of Byrd in +his enthusiasm, he speeded after her with renewed zeal.</p> + +<p>Byrd, seeing no reason to dispute a fact that was every +moment becoming more evident, hurried forward also, +and after a long and breathless walk—for she seemed to +be urged onward by flying feet—they found themselves +within sight of the grand old trees that guarded the +entrance to the lawyer's somewhat spacious grounds.</p> + +<p>"What are we going to do now?" asked Byrd, stopping, +as they heard the gate click behind her.</p> + +<p>"Wait and watch," said Hickory. "She has not led<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_478" id="Page_478">[478]</a></span> +us this wild-goose chase for nothing." And leaping the +hedge, he began creeping up toward the house, leaving +his companion to follow or not, as he saw fit.</p> + +<p>Meantime Imogene had passed up the walk and +paused before the front door. But a single look at it +seemed to satisfy her, for, moving hurriedly away, she +flitted around the corner of the house and stopped just +before the long windows whose brightly illumined sashes +proclaimed that the master of the house was still in his +library.</p> + +<p>She seemed to feel relieved at this sight. Pausing, she +leaned against the frame of a trellis-work near by to +gather up her courage or regain her breath before proceeding +to make her presence known to the lawyer. As +she thus leaned, the peal of the church clock was heard, +striking the hour of nine. She started, possibly at finding +it so late, and bending forward, looked at the windows +before her with an anxious eye that soon caught sight of +a small opening left by the curtains having been drawn +together by a too hasty or a too careless hand, and +recognizing the opportunity it afforded for a glimpse into +the room before her, stepped with a light tread upon the +piazza and quietly peered within.</p> + +<p>The sight she saw never left her memory.</p> + +<p>Seated before a deadened fire, she beheld Mr. Orcutt. +He was neither writing nor reading, nor, in the true sense +of the word, thinking. The papers he had evidently +taken from his desk, lay at his side undisturbed, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_479" id="Page_479">[479]</a></span> +from one end of the room to the other, solitude, suffering, +and despair seemed to fill the atmosphere and weigh upon +its dreary occupant, till the single lamp which shone +beside him burned dimmer and dimmer, like a life going +out or a purpose vanishing in the gloom of a stealthily +approaching destiny.</p> + +<p>Imogene, who had come to this place thus secretly and +at this late hour of the day with the sole intent of procuring +the advice of this man concerning the deception +which had been practised upon her before the trial, felt +her heart die within her as she surveyed this rigid figure +and realized all it implied. Though his position was +such she could not see his face, there was that in his +attitude which bespoke hopelessness and an utter weariness +of life, and as ash after ash fell from the grate, she +imagined how the gloom deepened on the brow which till +this hour had confronted the world with such undeviating +courage and confidence.</p> + +<p>It was therefore a powerful shock to her when, in +another moment, he looked up, and, without moving his +body, turned his head slowly around in such a way as to +afford her a glimpse of his face. For, in all her memory +of it—and she had seen it distorted by many and various +emotions during the last few weeks—she had never beheld +it wear such a look as now. It gave her a new idea of +the man; it filled her with dismay, and sent the life-blood +from her cheeks. It fascinated her, as the glimpse of any +evil thing fascinates, and held her spell-bound long after<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_480" id="Page_480">[480]</a></span> +he had turned back again to his silent contemplation of +the fire and its ever-drifting ashes. It was as if a vail +had been rent before her eyes, disclosing to her a living +soul writhing in secret struggle with its own worst passions; +and horrified at the revelation, more than horrified +at the remembrance that it was her own action of +the morning which had occasioned this change in one she +had long reverenced, if not loved, she sank helplessly +upon her knees and pressed her face to the window in a +prayer for courage to sustain this new woe and latest, if +not heaviest, disappointment.</p> + +<p>It came while she was kneeling—came in the breath of +the cold night wind, perhaps; for, rising up, she turned +her forehead gratefully to the breeze, and drew in long +draughts of it before she lifted her hand and knocked +upon the window.</p> + +<p>The sharp, shrill sound made by her fingers on the +pane reassured her as much as it startled him. Gathering +up her long cloak, which had fallen apart in her last +hurried movement, she waited with growing self-possession +for his appearance at the window.</p> + +<p>He came almost immediately—came with his usual +hasty step and with much of his usual expression on his +well-disciplined features. Flinging aside the curtains, he +cried impatiently: "Who is there?" But at sight of the +tall figure of Imogene standing upright and firm on the +piazza without, he drew back with a gesture of dismay, +which was almost forbidding in its character.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_481" id="Page_481">[481]</a></span></p> + +<p>She saw it, but did not pause. Pushing up the window, +she stepped into the room; then, as he did not offer to +help her, turned and shut the window behind her and +carefully arranged the curtains. He meantime stood +watching her with eyes in whose fierce light burned equal +love and equal anger.</p> + +<p>When all was completed, she faced him. Instantly a +cry broke from his lips:</p> + +<p>"You here!" he exclaimed, as if her presence were +more than he could meet or stand. But in another moment +the forlornness of her position seemed to strike him, +and he advanced toward her, saying in a voice husky +with passion: "Wretched woman, what have you done? +Was it not enough that for weeks, months now, you +have played with my love and misery as with toys, that +you should rise up at the last minute and crush me before +the whole world with a story, mad as it is false, of yourself +being a criminal and the destroyer of the woman for +whose death your miserable lover is being tried? Had +you no consideration, no pity, if not for yourself, ruined +by this day's work, for me, who have sacrificed every thing, +done every thing the most devoted man or lawyer could +do to save this fellow and win you for my wife?"</p> + +<p>"Sir," said she, meeting the burning anger of his look +with the coldness of a set despair, as if in the doubt +awakened by his changed demeanor she sought to probe +his mind for its hidden secret, "I did what any other +woman would have done in my place. When we are +pushed to the wall we tell the truth."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_482" id="Page_482">[482]</a></span></p> + +<p>"The truth!" Was that his laugh that rang startlingly +through the room? "The truth! You told the truth! +Imogene, Imogene, is any such farce necessary with +me?"</p> + +<p>Her lips, which had opened, closed again, and she did +not answer for a moment; then she asked:</p> + +<p>"How do you know that what I said was not the +truth?"</p> + +<p>"How do I know?" He paused as if to get his +breath. "How do I know?" he repeated, calling up all +his self-control to sustain her gaze unmoved. "Do you +think I have lost my reason, Imogene, that you put +me such a question as that? How do I know you are +innocent? Recall your own words and acts since the +day we met at Mrs. Clemmens' house, and tell me how it +would be possible for me to think any thing else of +you?"</p> + +<p>But her purpose did not relax, neither did she falter as +she returned:</p> + +<p>"Mr. Orcutt, will you tell me what has ever been said +by me or what you have ever known me to do that would +make it certain I did not commit this crime myself?"</p> + +<p>His indignation was too much for his courtesy.</p> + +<p>"Imogene," he commanded, "be silent! I will not +listen to any further arguments of this sort. Isn't it +enough that you have destroyed my happiness, that you +should seek to sport with my good-sense? I say you are +innocent as a babe unborn, not only of the crime itself<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_483" id="Page_483">[483]</a></span> +but of any complicity in it. Every word you have spoken, +every action you have taken, since the day of Mrs. Clemmens' +death, proves you to be the victim of a fixed +conviction totally at war with the statement you were +pleased to make to-day. Only your belief in the guilt of +another and your—your——"</p> + +<p>He stopped, choked. The thought of his rival maddened +him.</p> + +<p>She immediately seized the opportunity to say:</p> + +<p>"Mr. Orcutt, I cannot argue about what I have done. +It is over and cannot be remedied. It is true I have +destroyed myself, but this is no time to think of that. +All I can think of or mourn over now is that, by +destroying myself, I have not succeeded in saving Craik +Mansell."</p> + +<p>If her purpose was to probe the lawyer's soul for +the deadly wound that had turned all his sympathies +to gall, she was successful at last. Turning upon her +with a look in which despair and anger were strangely +mingled, he cried:</p> + +<p>"And me, Imogene—have you no thought for me?"</p> + +<p>"Sir," said she, "any thought from one disgraced as I +am now, would be an insult to one of your character and +position."</p> + +<p>It was true. In the eyes of the world Tremont +Orcutt and Imogene Dare henceforth stood as far apart +as the poles. Realizing it only too well, he uttered a +half-inarticulate exclamation, and trod restlessly to the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_484" id="Page_484">[484]</a></span> +other end of the room. When he came back, it was +with more of the lawyer's aspect and less of the baffled +lover's.</p> + +<p>"Imogene," he said, "what could have induced you +to resort to an expedient so dreadful? Had you lost +confidence in me? Had I not told you I would save +this man from his threatened fate?"</p> + +<p>"You cannot do every thing," she replied. "There +are limits even to a power like yours. I knew that +Craik was lost if I gave to the court the testimony which +Mr. Ferris expected from me."</p> + +<p>"Ah, then," he cried, seizing with his usual quickness +at the admission which had thus unconsciously, perhaps, +slipped from her, "you acknowledge you uttered a perjury +to save yourself from making declarations you +believed to be hurtful to the prisoner?"</p> + +<p>A faint smile crossed her lips, and her whole aspect +suddenly changed.</p> + +<p>"Yes," she said; "I have no motive for hiding it +from you now. I perjured myself to escape destroying +Craik Mansell. I was scarcely the mistress of my own +actions. I had suffered so much I was ready to do any +thing to save the man I had so relentlessly pushed to his +doom. I forgot that God does not prosper a lie."</p> + +<p>The jealous gleam which answered her from the lawyer's +eyes was a revelation.</p> + +<p>"You regret, then," he said, "that you tossed my +happiness away with a breath of your perjured lips?"</p> + +<p>"I regret I did not tell the truth and trust God."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_485" id="Page_485">[485]</a></span></p> + +<p>At this answer, uttered with the simplicity of a penitent +spirit, Mr. Orcutt unconsciously drew back.</p> + +<p>"And, may I ask, what has caused this sudden +regret?" he inquired, in a tone not far removed from +mockery; "the generous action of the prisoner in relieving +you from your self-imposed burden of guilt by an +acknowledgment that struck at the foundation of the +defence I had so carefully prepared?"</p> + +<p>"No," was her short reply; "that could but afford me +joy. Of whatever sin he may be guilty, he is at least +free from the reproach of accepting deliverance at the +expense of a woman. I am sorry I said what I did +to-day, because a revelation has since been made to +me, which proves I could never have sustained myself +in the position I took, and that it was mere suicidal +folly in me to attempt to save Craik Mansell by such +means."</p> + +<p>"A revelation?"</p> + +<p>"Yes." And, forgetting all else in the purpose which +had actuated her in seeking this interview, Imogene drew +nearer to the lawyer and earnestly said: "There have +been some persons—I have perceived it—who have wondered +at my deep conviction of Craik Mansell's guilt. +But the reasons I had justified it. They were great, +greater than any one knew, greater even than <i>you</i> knew. +His mother—were she living—must have thought as I +did, had she been placed beside me and seen what I +have seen, and heard what I have heard from the time<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_486" id="Page_486">[486]</a></span> +of Mrs. Clemmens' death. Not only were all the facts +brought against him in the trial known to me, but I saw +him—saw him with my own eyes, running from Mrs. +Clemmens' dining-room door at the very time we suppose +the murder to have been committed; that is, at five +minutes before noon on the fatal day."</p> + +<p>"Impossible!" exclaimed Mr. Orcutt, in his astonishment. +"You are playing with my credulity, Imogene."</p> + +<p>But she went on, letting her voice fall in awe of the +lawyer's startled look.</p> + +<p>"No," she persisted; "I was in Professor Darling's +observatory. I was looking through a telescope, which +had been pointed toward the town. Mrs. Clemmens +was much in my mind at the time, and I took the notion +to glance at her house, when I saw what I have described +to you. I could not help remembering the time," she +added, "for I had looked at the clock but a moment +before."</p> + +<p>"And it was five minutes before noon?" broke again +from the lawyer's lips, in what was almost an awe-struck +tone.</p> + +<p>Troubled at an astonishment which seemed to partake +of the nature of alarm, she silently bowed her head.</p> + +<p>"And you were looking at him—actually looking at +him—that very moment through a telescope perched a +mile or so away?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," she bowed again.</p> + +<p>Turning his face aside, Mr. Orcutt walked to the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_487" id="Page_487">[487]</a></span> +hearth and began kicking the burnt-out logs with his +restless foot. As he did so, Imogene heard him mutter +between his set teeth:</p> + +<p>"It is almost enough to make one believe in a God!"</p> + +<p>Struck, horrified, she glided anxiously to his side.</p> + +<p>"Do not you believe in a God?" she asked.</p> + +<p>He was silent.</p> + +<p>Amazed, almost frightened, for she had never heard +him breathe a word of scepticism before,—though, to be +sure, he had never mentioned the name of the Deity in +her presence,—she stood looking at him like one who had +received a blow; then she said:</p> + +<p>"I believe in God. It is my punishment that I do. It +is He who wills blood for blood; who dooms the guilty +to a merited death. Oh, if He only would accept the +sacrifice I so willingly offer!—take the life I so little +value, and give me in return——"</p> + +<p>"Mansell's?" completed the lawyer, turning upon her +in a burst of fury he no longer had power to suppress. +"Is that your cry—always and forever your cry? You +drive me too far, Imogene. This mad and senseless +passion for a man who no longer loves you——"</p> + +<p>"Spare me!" rose from her trembling lips. "Let me +forget that."</p> + +<p>But the great lawyer only laughed.</p> + +<p>"You make it worth my while to save you the bitterness +of such a remembrance," he cried. Then, as she +remained silent, he changed his tone to one of careless +inquiry, and asked:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_488" id="Page_488">[488]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Was it to tell this story of the prisoner having fled +from his aunt's house that you came here to-night?"</p> + +<p>Recalled to the purpose of the hour, she answered, +hurriedly:</p> + +<p>"Not entirely; that story was what Mr. Ferris expected +me to testify to in court this morning. You see +for yourself in what a position it would have put the +prisoner."</p> + +<p>"And the revelation you have received?" the lawyer +coldly urged.</p> + +<p>"Was of a deception that has been practised upon me—a +base deception by which I was led to think long ago +that Craik Mansell had admitted his guilt and only +trusted to the excellence of his defence to escape punishment."</p> + +<p>"I do not understand," said Mr. Orcutt. "Who +could have practised such deception upon you?"</p> + +<p>"The detectives," she murmured; "that rough, heartless +fellow they call Hickory." And, in a burst of indignation, +she told how she had been practised upon, and +what the results had been upon her belief, if not upon +the testimony which grew out of that belief.</p> + +<p>The lawyer listened with a strange apathy. What +would once have aroused his fiercest indignation and +fired him to an exertion of his keenest powers, fell on +him now like the tedious repetition of an old and worn-out +tale. He scarcely looked up when she was done; +and despair—the first, perhaps, she had ever really felt—began<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_489" id="Page_489">[489]</a></span> +to close in around her as she saw how deep a gulf +she had dug between this man and herself by the inconsiderate +act which had robbed him of all hope of ever +making her his wife. Moved by this feeling, she suddenly +asked:</p> + +<p>"Have you lost all interest in your client, Mr. Orcutt? +Have you no wish or hope remaining of seeing him +acquitted of this crime?"</p> + +<p>"My client," responded the lawyer, with bitter emphasis, +"has taken his case into his own hands. It +would be presumptuous in me to attempt any thing further +in his favor."</p> + +<p>"Mr. Orcutt!"</p> + +<p>"Ah!" he scornfully laughed, with a quick yielding +to his passion as startling as it was unexpected, "you +thought you could play with me as you would; use my +skill and ignore the love that prompted it. You are a +clever woman, Imogene, but you went too far when you +considered my forbearance unlimited."</p> + +<p>"And you forsake Craik Mansell, in the hour of his +extremity?"</p> + +<p>"Craik Mansell has forsaken me."</p> + +<p>This was true; for her sake her lover had thrown his +defence to the winds and rendered the assistance of his +counsel unavailable. Seeing her droop her head abashed, +Mr. Orcutt dryly proceeded.</p> + +<p>"I do not know what may take place in court to-morrow," +said he. "It is difficult to determine what will be<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_490" id="Page_490">[490]</a></span> +the outcome of so complicated a case. The District +Attorney, in consideration of the deception which has +been practised upon you, may refuse to prosecute any +further; or, if the case goes on and the jury is called +upon for a verdict, they may or may not be moved by its +peculiar aspects to acquit a man of such generous dispositions. +If they are, I shall do nothing to hinder an +acquittal; but ask for no more active measures on my +part. I cannot plead for the lover of the woman who has +disgraced me."</p> + +<p>This decision, from one she had trusted so implicitly, +seemed to crush her.</p> + +<p>"Ah," she murmured, "if you did not believe him +guilty you would not leave him thus to his fate."</p> + +<p>He gave her a short, side-long glance, half-mocking, +half-pitiful.</p> + +<p>"If," she pursued, "you had felt even a passing gleam +of doubt, such as came to me when I discovered that he +had never really admitted his guilt, you would let no +mere mistake on the part of a woman turn you from your +duty as counsellor for a man on trial for his life."</p> + +<p>His glance lost its pity and became wholly mocking.</p> + +<p>"And do <i>you</i> cherish but passing gleams?" he sarcastically +asked.</p> + +<p>She started back.</p> + +<p>"I laugh at the inconsistency of women," he cried. +"You have sacrificed every thing, even risked your life +for a man you really believe guilty of crime; yet if<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_491" id="Page_491">[491]</a></span> +another man similarly stained asked you for your compassion +only, you would fly from him as from a pestilence."</p> + +<p>But no words he could utter of this sort were able to +raise any emotion in her now.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Orcutt," she demanded, "do <i>you</i> believe Craik +Mansell innocent?"</p> + +<p>His old mocking smile came back.</p> + +<p>"Have I conducted his case as if I believed him +guilty?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"No, no; but you are his lawyer; you are bound not +to let your real thoughts appear. But in your secret +heart you did not, could not, believe he was free from a +crime to which he is linked by so many criminating circumstances?"</p> + +<p>But his strange smile remaining unchanged, she seemed +to waken to a sudden doubt, and leaping impetuously to +his side, laid her hand on his arm and exclaimed:</p> + +<p>"Oh, sir, if you have ever cherished one hope of his +innocence, no matter how faint or small, tell me of it, even +if this last disclosure has convinced you of its folly!"</p> + +<p>Giving her an icy look, he drew his arm slowly from +her grasp and replied:</p> + +<p>"Mr. Mansell has never been considered guilty by +me."</p> + +<p>"Never?"</p> + +<p>"Never."</p> + +<p>"Not even now?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_492" id="Page_492">[492]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Not even now."</p> + +<p>It seemed as if she could not believe his words.</p> + +<p>"And yet you know all there is against him; all that I +do now!"</p> + +<p>"I know he visited his aunt's house at or after the time +she was murdered, but that is no proof he killed her, +Miss Dare."</p> + +<p>"No," she admitted with slow conviction, "no. But +why did he fly in that wild way when he left it? Why did +he go straight to Buffalo and not wait to give me the interview +he promised?"</p> + +<p>"Shall I tell you?" Mr. Orcutt inquired, with a +dangerous sneer on his lips. "Do you wish to know why +this man—the man you have so loved—the man for +whom you would die this moment, has conducted himself +with such marked discretion?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," came like a breath from between Imogene's +parted lips.</p> + +<p>"Well," said the lawyer, dropping his words with cruel +clearness, "Mr. Mansell has a great faith in women. He +has such faith in you, Imogene Dare, he thinks you are +all you declare yourself to be; that in the hour you stood +up before the court and called yourself a murderer, you +spoke but the truth; that——" He stopped; even his +scornful <i>aplomb</i> would not allow him to go on in the face +of the look she wore.</p> + +<p>"Say—say those words again!" she gasped. "Let me +hear them once more. He thinks what?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_493" id="Page_493">[493]</a></span></p> + +<p>"That you are what you proclaimed yourself to be this +day, the actual assailant and murderer of Mrs. Clemmens. +He has thought so all along, Miss Dare, why, I do not +know. Whether he saw any thing or heard any thing in +that house from which you saw him fly so abruptly, or +whether he relied solely upon the testimony of the ring, +which you must remember he never acknowledged having +received back from you, I only know that from the +minute he heard of his aunt's death, his suspicions flew +to you, and that, in despite of such suggestions as I felt +it judicious to make, they have never suffered shock or +been turned from their course from that day to this. +<i>Such</i> honor," concluded Mr. Orcutt, with dry sarcasm, +"does the man you love show to the woman who has +sacrificed for his sake all that the world holds dear."</p> + +<p>"I—I cannot believe it. You are mocking me," came +inarticulately from her lips, while she drew back, step by +step, till half the room lay between them.</p> + +<p>"Mocking you? Miss Dare, he has shown his feelings +so palpably, I have often trembled lest the whole +court should see and understand them."</p> + +<p>"You have trembled"—she could scarcely speak, the +rush of her emotion was so great—"<i>you</i> have trembled +lest the whole court should see he suspected me of this +crime?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"Then," she cried, "you must have been convinced,—Ah!" +she hurriedly interposed, with a sudden look of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_494" id="Page_494">[494]</a></span> +distrust, "you are not amusing yourself with me, are you, +Mr. Orcutt? So many traps have been laid for me from +time to time, I dare not trust the truth of my best friend. +Swear you believe Craik Mansell to have thought this of +me! Swear you have seen this dark thing lying in his +soul, or I——"</p> + +<p>"What?"</p> + +<p>"Will confront him myself with the question, if I have +to tear down the walls of the prison to reach him. His +mind I must and will know."</p> + +<p>"Very well, then, you do. I have told you," declared +Mr. Orcutt. "Swearing would not make it any more +true."</p> + +<p>Lifting her face to heaven, she suddenly fell on her +knees.</p> + +<p>"O God!" she murmured, "help me to bear this +great joy!"</p> + +<p>"<i>Joy!</i>"</p> + +<p>The icy tone, the fierce surprise it expressed, started +her at once to her feet.</p> + +<p>"Yes," she murmured, "joy! Don't you see that if he +thinks me guilty, he <i>must</i> be innocent? I am willing to +perish and fall from the ranks of good men and honorable +women to be sure of a fact like this!"</p> + +<p>"Imogene, Imogene, would you drive me mad?"</p> + +<p>She did not seem to hear.</p> + +<p>"Craik, are you guiltless, then?" she was saying. "Is +the past all a dream! Are we two nothing but victims of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_495" id="Page_495">[495]</a></span> +dread and awful circumstances? Oh, we will see; life +is not ended yet!" And with a burst of hope that +seemed to transfigure her into another woman, she turned +toward the lawyer with the cry: "If he is innocent, he +can be saved. Nothing that has been done by him or +me can hurt him if this be so. God who watches over +this crime has His eye on the guilty one. Though his +sin be hidden under a mountain of deceit, it will yet +come forth. Guilt like his cannot remain hidden."</p> + +<p>"You did not think this when you faced the court this +morning with perjury on your lips," came in slow, ironical +tones from her companion.</p> + +<p>"Heaven sometimes accepts a sacrifice," she returned. +"But who will sacrifice himself for a man who could let +the trial of one he knew to be innocent go on unhindered?"</p> + +<p>"Who, indeed!" came in almost stifled tones from the +lawyer's lips.</p> + +<p>"If a stranger and not Craik Mansell slew Mrs. Clemmens," +she went on, "and nothing but an incomprehensible +train of coincidences unites him and me to this act +of violence, then may God remember the words of the +widow, and in His almighty power call down such a +doom——"</p> + +<p>She ended with a gasp. Mr. Orcutt, with a sudden +movement, had laid his hand upon her lips.</p> + +<p>"Hush!" he said, "let no curses issue from <i>your</i> +mouth. The guilty can perish without that."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_496" id="Page_496">[496]</a></span></p> + +<p>Releasing herself from him in alarm, she drew back, +her eyes slowly dilating as she noted the dead whiteness +that had settled over his face, and taken even the hue of +life from his nervously trembling lip.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Orcutt," she whispered, with a solemnity which +made them heedless that the lamp which had been burning +lower and lower in its socket was giving out its last +fitful rays, "if Craik Mansell did not kill the Widow +Clemmens who then did?"</p> + +<p>Her question—or was it her look and tone?—seemed +to transfix Mr. Orcutt. But it was only for a moment. +Turning with a slight gesture to the table at his side, he +fumbled with his papers, still oblivious of the flaring +lamp, saying slowly:</p> + +<p>"I have always supposed Gouverneur Hildreth to be +the true author of this crime."</p> + +<p>"Gouverneur Hildreth?"</p> + +<p>Mr. Orcutt bowed.</p> + +<p>"I do not agree with you," she returned, moving +slowly toward the window. "I am no reader of human +hearts, as all my past history shows, but something—is it +the voice of God in my breast?—tells me that Gouverneur +Hildreth is as innocent as Craik Mansell, and that the +true murderer of Mrs. Clemmens——" Her words +ended in a shriek. The light, which for so long a time +had been flickering to its end, had given one startling +flare in which the face of the man before her had flashed +on her view in a ghastly flame that seemed to separate it<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_497" id="Page_497">[497]</a></span> +from all surrounding objects, then as suddenly gone out, +leaving the room in total darkness.</p> + +<p>In the silence that followed, a quick sound as of rushing +feet was heard, then the window was pushed up +and the night air came moaning in. Imogene had fled.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>Horace Byrd had not followed Hickory in his rush +toward the house. He had preferred to await results under +the great tree which, standing just inside the gate, +cast its mysterious and far-reaching shadow widely over +the wintry lawn. He was, therefore, alone during most +of the interview which Miss Dare held with Mr. Orcutt in +the library, and, being alone, felt himself a prey to his +sensations and the weirdness of the situation in which he +found himself.</p> + +<p>Though no longer a victim to the passion with which +Miss Dare had at first inspired him, he was by no means +without feeling for this grand if somewhat misguided woman, +and his emotions, as he stood there awaiting the issue +of her last desperate attempt to aid the prisoner, were +strong enough to make any solitude welcome, though +this solitude for some reason held an influence which was +any thing but enlivening, if it was not actually depressing, +to one of his ready sensibilities.</p> + +<p>The tree under which he had taken his stand was, as I +have intimated, an old one. It had stood there from +time immemorial, and was, as I have heard it since said, +at once the pride of Mr. Orcutt's heart and the chief ornament<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_498" id="Page_498">[498]</a></span> +of his grounds. Though devoid of foliage at the +time, its vast and symmetrical canopy of interlacing +branches had caught Mr. Byrd's attention from the first +moment of his entrance beneath it, and, preoccupied +as he was, he could not prevent his thoughts from reverting +now and then with a curious sensation of awe to +the immensity of those great limbs which branched above +him. His imagination was so powerfully affected at last, +he had a notion of leaving the spot and seeking a +nearer look-out in the belt of evergreens that hid the +crouching form of Hickory; but a spell seemed to +emanate from the huge trunk against which he leaned +that restrained him when he sought to go, and noticing +almost at the same moment that the path which Miss +Dare would have to take in her departure ran directly +under this tree, he yielded to the apathy of the moment +and remained where he was.</p> + +<p>Soon after he was visited by Hickory.</p> + +<p>"I can see nothing and hear nothing," was that individual's +hurried salutation. "She and Mr. Orcutt are +evidently still in the library, but I cannot get a clue +to what is going on. I shall keep up my watch, however, +for I want to catch a glimpse of her face as she +steps from the window." And he was off again before +Byrd could reply.</p> + +<p>But the next instant he was back, panting and breathless.</p> + +<p>"The light is out in the library," he cried; "we shall +see her no more to-night."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_499" id="Page_499">[499]</a></span></p> + +<p>But scarcely had the words left his lips when a faint +sound was heard from the region of the piazza, and looking +eagerly up the path, they saw the form of Miss Dare +coming hurriedly toward them.</p> + +<p>To slip around into the deepest shadow cast by the +tree was but the work of a moment. Meantime, the +moon shone brightly on the walk down which she was +speeding, and as, in the agitation of her departure, she +had forgotten to draw down her veil, they succeeded in +obtaining a view of her face. It was pale, and wore an +expression of fear, while her feet hasted as though she +were only filled with thoughts of escape.</p> + +<p>Seeing this, the two detectives held their breaths, preparing +to follow her as soon as she had passed the tree. +But she did not pass the tree. Just as she got within +reach of its shadow, a commanding voice was heard calling +upon her to stop, and Mr. Orcutt came hurrying, in his +turn, down the path.</p> + +<p>"I cannot let you go thus," he cried, pausing beside +her on the walk directly under the tree. "If you command +me to save Craik Mansell I must do it. What you +wish must be done, Imogene."</p> + +<p>"My wishes should not be needed to lead you to do your +duty by the man you believe to be innocent of the charge +for which he is being tried," was her earnest and strangely +cold reply.</p> + +<p>"Perhaps not," he muttered, bitterly; "but—ah, Imogene," +he suddenly broke forth, in a way to startle these<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_500" id="Page_500">[500]</a></span> +two detectives, who, however suspicious they had been of +his passion, had never before had the opportunity of seeing +him under its control, "what have you made of me +with your bewildering graces and indomitable soul? Before +I knew you, life was a round of honorable duties and +serene pleasures. I lived in my profession, and found +my greatest delight in its exercise. But now——"</p> + +<p>"What now?" she asked.</p> + +<p>"I seem"—he said, and the hard, cold selfishness that +underlay all his actions, however generous they may have +been in appearance, was apparent in his words and tones,—"I +seem to forget every thing, even my standing and +fame as a lawyer, in the one fear that, although lost to +me, you will yet live to give yourself to another."</p> + +<p>"If you fear that I shall ever be so weak as to give myself +to Craik Mansell," was her steady reply, "you have +only to recall the promise I made you when you undertook +his case."</p> + +<p>"Yes," said he, "but that was when you yourself believed +him guilty."</p> + +<p>"I know," she returned; "but if he were not good +enough for me then, I am not good enough for him now. +Do you forget that I am blotted with a stain that can +never be effaced? When I stood up in court to-day and +denounced myself as guilty of crime, I signed away all my +chances of future happiness."</p> + +<p>There was a pause; Mr. Orcutt seemed to be thinking. +From the position occupied by the two detectives his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_501" id="Page_501">[501]</a></span> +shadow could be seen oscillating to and fro on the lawn, +then, amid the hush of night—a deathly hush—undisturbed, +as Mr. Byrd afterward remarked, by so much as +the cracking of a twig, his voice rose quiet, yet vaguely +sinister, in the words:</p> + +<p>"You have conquered. If any man suffers for this +crime it shall not be Craik Mansell, but——"</p> + +<p>The sentence was never finished. Before the words +could leave his mouth a sudden strange and splitting +sound was heard above their heads, then a terrifying rush +took place, and a great limb lay upon the walk where but +a moment before the beautiful form of Imogene Dare +lifted itself by the side of the eminent lawyer.</p> + +<p>When a full sense of the terrible nature of the calamity +which had just occurred swept across the minds of the +benumbed detectives, Mr. Byrd, recalling the words and +attitude of Imogene in face of a similar, if less fatal, catastrophe +at the hut, exclaimed under his breath:</p> + +<p>"It is the vengeance of Heaven! Imogene Dare must +have been more guilty than we believed."</p> + +<p>But when, after a superhuman exertion of strength, +and the assistance of many hands, the limb was at length +raised, it was found that, although both had been prostrated +by its weight, only one remained stretched and +senseless upon the ground, and that was not Imogene +Dare, but the great lawyer, Mr. Orcutt.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_502" id="Page_502">[502]</a></span></p> +<h2>XXXVIII.</h2> + +<h3>UNEXPECTED WORDS.</h3> + +<div class='poem2'> +It will have blood: they say, blood will have blood.<br /> +Stones have been known to move, and trees to speak;<br /> +Augurs and understood relations have,<br /> +By magot-pies and choughs and rooks, brought forth<br /> +The secret'st man of blood.<br /> + + * * * * *<br /> + +Foul whisperings are abroad; unnatural deeds<br /> +Do breed unnatural troubles; infected minds<br /> +To their deaf pillows will discharge their secrets. —<span class="smcap">Macbeth.</span><br /> +<br /></div> + + +<div class='cap'>"MR. ORCUTT dead?"</div> + +<p>"Dying, sir."</p> + +<p>"How, when, where?"</p> + +<p>"In his own house, sir. He has been struck down by +a falling limb."</p> + +<p>The District Attorney, who had been roused from +his bed to hear these evil tidings, looked at the perturbed +face of the messenger before him—who was none +other than Mr. Byrd—and with difficulty restrained his +emotion.</p> + +<p>"I sympathize with your horror and surprise," exclaimed +the detective, respectfully. Then, with a +strange mixture of embarrassment and agitation, added: +"It is considered absolutely necessary that you come +to the house. He may yet speak—and—and—you will +find Miss Dare there," he concluded, with a peculiarly<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_503" id="Page_503">[503]</a></span> +hesitating glance and a rapid movement toward the +door.</p> + +<p>Mr. Ferris, who, as we know, cherished a strong +feeling of friendship for Mr. Orcutt, stared uneasily at +the departing form of the detective.</p> + +<p>"What do you say?" he repeated. "Miss Dare +there, in Mr. Orcutt's house?"</p> + +<p>The short "Yes," and the celerity with which Mr. +Byrd vanished, gave him the appearance of one anxious +to escape further inquiries.</p> + +<p>Astonished, as well as greatly distressed, the District +Attorney made speedy preparations for following him, +and soon was in the street. He found it all alive +with eager citizens, who, notwithstanding the lateness +of the hour, were rushing hither and thither in search +of particulars concerning this sudden calamity; and upon +reaching the house itself, found it wellnigh surrounded +by an agitated throng of neighbors and friends.</p> + +<p>Simply pausing at the gate to cast one glance at the +tree and its fallen limb, he made his way to the front +door. It was immediately opened. Dr. Tredwell, whose +face it was a shock to encounter in this place, stood +before him, and farther back a group of such favored +friends as had been allowed to enter the house. Something +in the look of the coroner, as he silently reached +forth his hand in salutation, added to the mysterious +impression which had been made upon Mr. Ferris by +the manner, if not words, of Mr. Byrd. Feeling that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_504" id="Page_504">[504]</a></span> +he was losing his self-command, the District Attorney +grasped the hand that was held out to him, and huskily +inquired if Mr. Orcutt was still alive.</p> + +<p>The coroner, who had been standing before him with +a troubled brow and lowered eyes, gravely bowed, and +quietly leading the way, ushered him forward to Mr. +Orcutt's bedroom door. There he paused and looked as +if he would like to speak, but hastily changing his mind, +opened the door and motioned the District Attorney in. +As he did so, he cast a meaning and solemn look toward +the bed, then drew back, watching with evident anxiety +what the effect of the scene before him would have upon +this new witness.</p> + +<p>A stupefying one it seemed, for Mr. Ferris, pausing in +his approach, looked at the cluster of persons about the +bed, and then drew his hand across his eyes like a man +in a maze. Suddenly he turned upon Dr. Tredwell with +the same strange look he had himself seen in the eyes of +Byrd, and said, almost as if the words were forced from +his lips:</p> + +<p>"This is no new sight to us, doctor; we have been +spectators of a scene like this before."</p> + +<p>That was it. As nearly as the alteration in circumstances +and surroundings would allow, the spectacle +before him was the same as that which he had encountered +months before in a small cottage at the other end of +the town. On the bed a pallid, senseless, but slowly +breathing form, whose features, stamped with the approach<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_505" id="Page_505">[505]</a></span> +of death, stared at them with marble-like rigidity from beneath +the heavy bandages which proclaimed the injury to +be one to the head. At his side the doctor—the same +one who had been called in to attend Mrs. Clemmens—wearing, +as he did then, a look of sombre anticipation +which Mr. Ferris expected every instant to see culminate +in the solemn gesture which he had used at the widow's +bedside before she spoke. Even the group of women +who clustered about the foot of the couch wore much the +same expression as those who waited for movement on +the part of Mrs. Clemmens; and had it not been for the +sight of Imogene Dare sitting immovable and watchful +on the farther side of the bed, he might almost have +imagined he was transported back to the old scene, and +that all this new horror under which he was laboring was +a dream from which he would speedily be awakened.</p> + +<p>But Imogene's face, her look, her air of patient waiting, +were not to be mistaken. Attention once really attracted +to her, it was not possible for it to wander +elsewhere. Even the face of the dying man and the +countenance of the watchful physician paled in interest +before that fixed look which, never wavering, +never altering, studied the marble visage before her, for +the first faint signs of reawakening consciousness. Even +his sister, who, if weak of mind, was most certainly of a +loving disposition, seemed to feel the force of the tie that +bound Imogene to that pillow; and, though she hovered +nearer and nearer the beloved form as the weariful<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_506" id="Page_506">[506]</a></span> +moments sped by, did not presume to interpose her grief +or her assistance between the burning eye of Imogene +and the immovable form of her stricken brother.</p> + +<p>The hush that lay upon the room was unbroken save +by the agitated breaths of all present.</p> + +<p>"Is there no hope?" whispered Mr. Ferris to Dr. +Tredwell, as, seeing no immediate prospect of change, +they sought for seats at the other side of the room.</p> + +<p>"No; the wound is strangely like that which Mrs. +Clemmens received. He will rouse, probably, but he will +not live. Our only comfort is that in this case it is not a +murder."</p> + +<p>The District Attorney made a gesture in the direction +of Imogene.</p> + +<p>"How came she to be here?" he asked.</p> + +<p>Dr. Tredwell rose and drew him from the room.</p> + +<p>"It needs some explanation," he said; and began to +relate to him how Mr. Orcutt was escorting Miss Dare to +the gate when the bough fell which seemed likely to rob +him of his life.</p> + +<p>Mr. Ferris, through whose mind those old words of the +widow were running in a way that could only be accounted +for by the memories which the scene within had +awakened—"May the vengeance of Heaven light upon +the head of him who has brought me to this pass! May +the fate that has come upon me be visited upon him, +measure for measure, blow for blow, death for death!"—turned +with impressive gravity and asked if Miss Dare +had not been hurt.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_507" id="Page_507">[507]</a></span></p> + +<p>But Dr. Tredwell shook his head.</p> + +<p>"She is not even bruised," said he.</p> + +<p>"And yet was on his arm?"</p> + +<p>"Possibly, though I very much doubt it."</p> + +<p>"She was standing at his side," uttered the quiet voice +of Mr. Byrd in their ear; "and disappeared when he did, +under the falling branch. She must have been bruised, +though she says not. I do not think she is in a condition +to feel her injuries."</p> + +<p>"You were present, then," observed Mr. Ferris, with a +meaning glance at the detective.</p> + +<p>"I was present," he returned, with a look the District +Attorney did not find it difficult to understand.</p> + +<p>"Is there any thing you ought to tell me?" Mr. Ferris +inquired, when a moment or so later the coroner had +been drawn away by a friend.</p> + +<p>"I do not know," said Byrd. "Of the conversation +that passed between Miss Dare and Mr. Orcutt, but a +short portion came to our ears. It is her manner, her +actions, that have astonished us, and made us anxious to +have you upon the spot." And he told with what an expression +of fear she had fled from her interview with Mr. +Orcutt in the library, and then gave, as nearly as he +could, an account of what had passed between them before +the falling of the fatal limb. Finally he said: +"Hickory and I expected to find her lying crushed and +bleeding beneath, but instead of that, no sooner was the +bough lifted than she sprang to her knees, and seeing<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_508" id="Page_508">[508]</a></span> +Mr. Orcutt lying before her insensible, bent over him +with that same expression of breathless awe and expectation +which you see in her now. It looks as if she were +waiting for him to rouse and finish the sentence that was +cut short by this catastrophe."</p> + +<p>"And what was that sentence?"</p> + +<p>"As near as I can recollect, it was this: 'If any man +suffers for this crime it shall not be Craik Mansell, but——' +He did not have time to say whom."</p> + +<p>"My poor friend!" ejaculated Mr. Ferris, "cut down +in the exercise of his duties! It is a mysterious providence—a +very mysterious providence!" And crossing +again to the sick-room, he went sadly in.</p> + +<p>He found the aspect unchanged. On the pillow the +same white, immovable face; at the bedside the same +constant and expectant watchers. Imogene especially +seemed scarcely to have made a move in all the time of +his absence. Like a marble image watching over a form +of clay she sat silent, breathless, intent—a sight to draw +all eyes and satisfy none; for her look was not one of +grief, nor of awe, nor of hope, yet it had that within it +which made her presence there seem a matter of right +even to those who did not know the exact character of +the bond which united her to the unhappy sufferer.</p> + +<p>Mr. Ferris, who had been only too ready to accept Mr. +Byrd's explanation of her conduct, allowed himself to +gaze at her unhindered.</p> + +<p>Overwhelmed, as he was, by the calamity which promised<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_509" id="Page_509">[509]</a></span> +to rob the Bar of one of its most distinguished +advocates, and himself of a long-tried friend, he could +not but feel the throb of those deep interests which, in +the estimation of this woman at least, hung upon a word +which those dying lips might utter. And swayed by this +feeling, he unconsciously became a third watcher, though +for what, and in hope of what, he could scarcely have +told, so much was he benumbed by the suddenness of +this great catastrophe, and the extraordinary circumstances +by which it was surrounded.</p> + +<p>And so one o'clock came and passed.</p> + +<p>It was not the last time the clock struck before a +change came. The hour of two went by, then that of +three, and still, to the casual eye, all remained the same. +But ere the stroke of four was heard, Mr. Ferris, who +had relaxed his survey of Imogene to bestow a fuller attention +upon his friend, felt an indefinable sensation of +dismay assail him, and rising to his feet, drew a step or +so nearer the bed, and looked at its silent occupant with +the air of a man who would fain shut his eyes to the +meaning of what he sees before him. At the same +moment Mr. Byrd, who had just come in, found himself +attracted by the subtle difference he observed in the expression +of Miss Dare. The expectancy in her look was +gone, and its entire expression was that of awe. Advancing +to the side of Mr. Ferris, he glanced down at the +dying lawyer. He at once saw what it was that had so +attracted and moved the District Attorney. A change<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_510" id="Page_510">[510]</a></span> +had come over Mr. Orcutt's face. Though rigid still, and +unrelieved by any signs of returning consciousness, it was +no longer that of the man they knew, but a strange face, +owning the same features, but distinguished now by a +look sinister as it was unaccustomed, filling the breasts of +those who saw it with dismay, and making any contemplation +of his countenance more than painful to those +who loved him. Nor did it decrease as they watched +him. Like that charmed writing which appears on a +blank paper when it is subjected to the heat, the subtle, +unmistakable lines came out, moment by moment, on the +mask of his unconscious face, till even Imogene trembled, +and turned an appealing glance upon Mr. Ferris, as if to +bid him note this involuntary evidence of nature against +the purity and good intentions of the man who had +always stood so high in the world's regard. Then, satisfied, +perhaps, with the expression she encountered on the +face of the District Attorney, she looked back; and the +heavy minutes went on, only more drearily, and perhaps +more fearfully, than before.</p> + +<p>Suddenly—was it at a gesture of the physician, or a +look from Imogene?—a thrill of expectation passed +through the room, and Dr. Tredwell, Mr. Ferris, and a +certain other gentleman who had but just entered at a +remote corner of the apartment, came hurriedly forward +and stood at the foot of the bed. At the same instant +Imogene rose, and motioning them a trifle aside, with an +air of mingled entreaty and command, bent slowly down<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_511" id="Page_511">[511]</a></span> +toward the injured man. A look of recognition answered +her from the face upon the pillow, but she did not wait to +meet it, nor pause for the word that evidently trembled +on his momentarily conscious lip. Shutting out with her +form the group of anxious watchers behind her, she threw +all her soul into the regard with which she held him +enchained; then slowly, solemnly, but with unyielding +determination, uttered these words, which no one there +could know were but a repetition of a question made a +few eventful hours ago: "If Craik Mansell is not the man +who killed Mrs. Clemmens, do you, Mr. Orcutt, tell us +who is!" and, pausing, remained with her gaze fixed +demandingly on that of the lawyer, undeterred by the +smothered exclamations of those who witnessed this +scene and missed its clue or found it only in the supposition +that this last great shock had unsettled her mind.</p> + +<p>The panting sufferer just trembling on the verge of life +thrilled all down his once alert and nervous frame, then +searching her face for one sign of relenting, unclosed his +rigid lips and said, with emphasis:</p> + +<p>"Has not Fate spoken?"</p> + +<p>Instantly Imogene sprang erect, and, amid the stifled +shrieks of the women and the muttered exclamations of +the men, pointed at the recumbent figure before them, +saying:</p> + +<p>"You hear! Tremont Orcutt declares upon his death-bed +that it is the voice of Heaven which has spoken in +this dreadful calamity. You who were present when<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_512" id="Page_512">[512]</a></span> +Mrs. Clemmens breathed her imprecations on the head of +her murderer, must know what that means."</p> + +<p>Mr. Ferris, who of all present, perhaps, possessed the +greatest regard for the lawyer, gave an ejaculation of dismay +at this, and bounding forward, lifted her away from +the bedside he believed her to have basely desecrated.</p> + +<p>"Madwoman," he cried, "where will your ravings end? +He will tell no such tale to me."</p> + +<p>But when he bent above the lawyer with the question +forced from him by Miss Dare's words, he found him +already lapsed into that strange insensibility which was +every moment showing itself more and more to be the +precursor of death.</p> + +<p>The sight seemed to rob Mr. Ferris of his last grain of +self-command. Rising, he confronted the dazed faces of +those about him with a severe look.</p> + +<p>"This charge," said he, "is akin to that which Miss +Dare made against herself in the court yesterday morning. +When a woman has become crazed she no longer +knows what she says."</p> + +<p>But Imogene, strong in the belief that the hand of +Heaven had pointed out the culprit for whom they had so +long been searching, shook her head in quiet denial, and +simply saying, "None of you know this man as I do," +moved quietly aside to a dim corner, where she sat down +in calm expectation of another awakening on the part of +the dying lawyer.</p> + +<p>It came soon—came before Mr. Ferris had recovered<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_513" id="Page_513">[513]</a></span> +himself, or Dr. Tredwell had had a chance to give any +utterance to the emotions which this scene was calculated +to awaken.</p> + +<p>Rousing as the widow had done, but seeming to see no +one, not even the physician who bent close at his side, +Mr. Orcutt lifted his voice again, this time in the old +stentorian tones which he used in court, and clearly, +firmly exclaimed:</p> + +<p>"Blood will have blood!" Then in lower and more +familiar accents, cried: "Ah, Imogene, Imogene, it was +all for you!" And with her name on his lips, the great +lawyer closed his eyes again, and sank for the last time +into a state of insensibility.</p> + +<p>Imogene at once rose.</p> + +<p>"I must go," she murmured; "my duty in this place is +done." And she attempted to cross the floor.</p> + +<p>But the purpose which had sustained her being at an +end, she felt the full weight of her misery, and looking in +the faces about her, and seeing nothing there but reprobation, +she tottered and would have fallen had not a +certain portly gentleman who stood near by put forth his +arm to sustain her. Accepting the support with gratitude, +but scarcely pausing to note from what source it came, +she turned for an instant to Mr. Ferris.</p> + +<p>"I realize," said she, "with what surprise you must +have heard the revelation which has just come from Mr. +Orcutt's lips. So unexpected is it that you cannot yet +believe it, but the time will come when, of all the words<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_514" id="Page_514">[514]</a></span> +I have spoken, these alone will be found worthy your full +credit: that not Craik Mansell, not Gouverneur Hildreth, +not even unhappy Imogene Dare herself, could tell you +so much of the real cause and manner of Mrs. Clemmens' +death as this man who lies stricken here a victim of +Divine justice."</p> + +<p>And merely stopping to cast one final look in the direction +of the bed, she stumbled from the room. A few +minutes later and she reached the front door; but only +to fall against the lintel with the moan:</p> + +<p>"My words are true, but who will ever believe them?"</p> + +<p>"Pardon me," exclaimed a bland and fatherly voice +over her shoulder, "I am a man who can believe in any +thing. Put your confidence in me, Miss Dare, and we +will see—we will see."</p> + +<p>Startled by her surprise into new life, she gave one +glance at the gentleman who had followed her to the +door. It was the same who had offered her his arm, and +whom she supposed to have remained behind her in Mr. +Orcutt's room. She saw before her a large comfortable-looking +personage of middle age, of no great pretensions +to elegance or culture, but bearing that within his face +which oddly enough baffled her understanding while it +encouraged her trust. This was the more peculiar in +that he was not looking at her, but stood with his eyes +fixed on the fading light of the hall-lamp, which he surveyed +with an expression of concern that almost amounted +to pity.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_515" id="Page_515">[515]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Sir, who are you?" she tremblingly asked.</p> + +<p>Dropping his eyes from the lamp, he riveted them upon +the veil she held tightly clasped in her right hand.</p> + +<p>"If you will allow me the liberty of whispering in your +ear, I will soon tell you," said he.</p> + +<p>She bent her weary head downward; he at once leaned +toward her and murmured a half-dozen words that made +her instantly start erect with new light in her eyes.</p> + +<p>"And you will help me?" she cried.</p> + +<p>"What else am I here for?" he answered.</p> + +<p>And turning toward a quiet figure which she now saw +for the first time standing on the threshold of a small +room near by, he said with the calmness of a master:</p> + +<p>"Hickory, see that no one enters or leaves the sick-room +till I return." And offering Imogene his arm, he +conducted her into the library, the door of which he +shut to behind them.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_516" id="Page_516">[516]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER XXXIX.</h2> + +<h3>MR. GRYCE.</h3> + +<div class='poem'> +What you have spoke, it may be so, perchance.<br /> +This tyrant, whose sole name blisters our tongues,<br /> +Was once thought honest. —<span class="smcap">Macbeth.</span><br /> +<br /><br /></div> + + +<div class='cap'>AN hour later, as Mr. Ferris was leaving the house in +company with Dr. Tredwell, he felt himself +stopped by a slight touch on his arm. Turning about he +saw Hickory.</div> + +<p>"Beg pardon, sirs," said the detective, with a short +bow, "but there's a gentleman, in the library who would +like to see you before you go."</p> + +<p>They at once turned to the room indicated. But at +sight of its well-known features—its huge cases of books, +its large centre-table profusely littered with papers, the +burnt-out grate, the empty arm-chair—they paused, and +it was with difficulty they could recover themselves sufficiently +to enter. When they did, their first glance was +toward the gentleman they saw standing in a distant +window, apparently perusing a book.</p> + +<p>"Who is it?" inquired Mr. Ferris of his companion.</p> + +<p>"I cannot imagine," returned the other.</p> + +<p>Hearing voices, the gentleman advanced.</p> + +<p>"Ah," said he, "allow me to introduce myself. I am +Mr. Gryce, of the New York Detective Service."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_517" id="Page_517">[517]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Mr. Gryce!" repeated the District Attorney, in astonishment.</p> + +<p>The famous detective bowed. "I have come," said +he, "upon a summons received by me in Utica not six +hours ago. It was sent by a subordinate of mine interested +in the trial now going on before the court. Horace +Byrd is his name. I hope he is well liked here and has +your confidence."</p> + +<p>"Mr. Byrd is well enough liked," rejoined Mr. Ferris, +"but I gave him no orders to send for you. At what +hour was the telegram dated?"</p> + +<p>"At half-past eleven; immediately after the accident +to Mr. Orcutt."</p> + +<p>"I see."</p> + +<p>"He probably felt himself inadequate to meet this new +emergency. He is a young man, and the affair is certainly +a complicated one."</p> + +<p>The District Attorney, who had been studying the +countenance of the able detective before him, bowed +courteously.</p> + +<p>"I am not displeased to see you," said he. "If you +have been in the room above——"</p> + +<p>The other gravely bowed.</p> + +<p>"You know probably of the outrageous accusation +which has just been made against our best lawyer and +most-esteemed citizen. It is but one of many which this +same woman has made; and while it is to be regarded as +the ravings of lunacy, still your character and ability may<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_518" id="Page_518">[518]</a></span> +weigh much in lifting the opprobrium which any such +accusation, however unfounded, is calculated to throw +around the memory of my dying friend."</p> + +<p>"Sir," returned Mr. Gryce, shifting his gaze uneasily +from one small object to another in that dismal room, till +all and every article it contained seemed to partake of his +mysterious confidence, "this is a world of disappointment +and deceit. Intellects we admired, hearts in which +we trusted, turn out frequently to be the abodes of falsehood +and violence. It is dreadful, but it is true."</p> + +<p>Mr. Ferris, struck aghast, looked at the detective with +severe disapprobation.</p> + +<p>"Is it possible," he asked, "that you have allowed +yourself to give any credence to the delirious utterances +of a man suffering from a wound on the head, or to the +frantic words of a woman who has already abused the +ears of the court by a deliberate perjury?" While Dr. +Tredwell, equally indignant and even more impatient, +rapped with his knuckles on the table by which he stood, +and cried:</p> + +<p>"Pooh, pooh, the man cannot be such a fool!"</p> + +<p>A solemn smile crossed the features of the detective.</p> + +<p>"Many persons have listened to the aspersion you denounce. +Active measures will be needed to prevent its +going farther."</p> + +<p>"I have commanded silence," said Dr. Tredwell. "Respect +for Mr. Orcutt will cause my wishes to be obeyed."</p> + +<p>"Does Mr. Orcutt enjoy the universal respect of the +town?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_519" id="Page_519">[519]</a></span></p> + +<p>"He does," was the stern reply.</p> + +<p>"It behooves us, then," said Mr. Gryce, "to clear his +memory from every doubt by a strict inquiry into his relations +with the murdered woman."</p> + +<p>"They are known," returned Mr. Ferris, with grim reserve. +"They were such as any man might hold with +the woman at whose house he finds it convenient to take +his daily dinner. She was to him the provider of a good +meal."</p> + +<p>Mr. Gryce's eye travelled slowly toward Mr. Ferris' +shirt stud.</p> + +<p>"Gentlemen," said he, "do you forget that Mr. Orcutt +was on the scene of murder some minutes before the rest +of you arrived? Let the attention of people once be directed +toward him as a suspicious party, and they will be +likely to remember this fact."</p> + +<p>Astounded, both men drew back.</p> + +<p>"What do you mean by that remark?" they asked.</p> + +<p>"I mean," said Mr. Gryce, "that Mr. Orcutt's visit to +Mrs. Clemmens' house on the morning of the murder will +be apt to be recalled by persons of a suspicious tendency +as having given him an opportunity to commit the crime."</p> + +<p>"People are not such fools," cried Dr. Tredwell; while +Mr. Ferris, in a tone of mingled incredulity and anger, +exclaimed:</p> + +<p>"And do you, a reputable detective, and, as I have +been told, a man of excellent judgment, presume to say +that there could be found any one in this town, or even<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_520" id="Page_520">[520]</a></span> +in this country, who could let his suspicions carry him +so far as to hint that Mr. Orcutt struck this woman +with his own hand in the minute or two that elapsed +between his going into her house and his coming out +again with tidings of her death?"</p> + +<p>"Those who remember that he had been a participator +in the lengthy discussion which had just taken +place on the court-house steps as to how a man might +commit a crime without laying himself open to the risk +of detection, might—yes, sir."</p> + +<p>Mr. Ferris and the coroner, who, whatever their doubts +or fears, had never for an instant seriously believed the +dying words of Mr. Orcutt to be those of confession, +gazed in consternation at the detective, and finally inquired:</p> + +<p>"Do you realize what you are saying?"</p> + +<p>Mr. Gryce drew a deep breath, and shifted his gaze to +the next stud in Mr. Ferris' shirt-front.</p> + +<p>"I have never been accused of speaking lightly," he +remarked. Then, with quiet insistence, asked: "Where +was Mrs. Clemmens believed to get the money she lived +on?"</p> + +<p>"It is not known," rejoined the District Attorney.</p> + +<p>"Yet she left a nice little sum behind her?"</p> + +<p>"Five thousand dollars," declared the coroner.</p> + +<p>"Strange that, in a town like this, no one should know +where it came from?" suggested the detective.</p> + +<p>The two gentlemen were silent.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_521" id="Page_521">[521]</a></span></p> + +<p>"It was a good deal to come from Mr. Orcutt in payment +of a single meal a day!" continued Mr. Gryce.</p> + +<p>"No one has ever supposed it did come from Mr. +Orcutt," remarked Mr. Ferris, with some severity.</p> + +<p>"But does any one know it did not?" ventured the +detective.</p> + +<p>Dr. Tredwell and the District Attorney looked at each +other, but did not reply.</p> + +<p>"Gentlemen," pursued Mr. Gryce, after a moment of +quiet waiting, "this is without exception the most +serious moment of my life. Never in the course of my +experience—and that includes much—have I been +placed in a more trying position than now. To allow +one's self to doubt, much less to question, the integrity +of so eminent a man, seems to me only less dreadful +than it does to you; yet, for all that, were I his friend, +as I certainly am his admirer, I would say: 'Sift this +matter to the bottom; let us know if this great lawyer +has any more in favor of his innocence than the +other gentlemen who have been publicly accused of this +crime.'"</p> + +<p>"But," protested Dr. Tredwell, seeing that the District +Attorney was too much moved to speak, "you +forget the evidences which underlay the accusation of +these <i>other</i> gentlemen; also that of all the persons who, +from the day the widow was struck till now, have been +in any way associated with suspicion, Mr. Orcutt +is the only one who could have had no earthly motive<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_522" id="Page_522">[522]</a></span> +for injuring this humble woman, even if he were all he +would have to be to first perform such a brutal deed +and then carry out his hypocrisy to the point of using +his skill as a criminal lawyer to defend another man +falsely accused of the crime."</p> + +<p>"I beg your pardon, sir," said the detective, "but I +forget nothing. I only bring to the consideration of this +subject a totally unprejudiced mind and an experience +which has taught me never to omit testing the truth of +a charge because it seems at first blush false, preposterous, +and without visible foundation. If you will recall +the conversation to which I have just alluded as +having been held on the court-house steps on the morning +Mrs. Clemmens was murdered, you will remember +that it was the intellectual crime that was discussed—the +crime of an intelligent man, safe in the knowledge +that his motive for doing such a deed was a secret to +the world."</p> + +<p>"My God!" exclaimed Mr. Ferris, under his breath, +"the man seems to be in earnest!"</p> + +<p>"Gentlemen," pursued Mr. Gryce, with more dignity +than he had hitherto seen fit to assume, "it is not my +usual practice to express myself as openly as I have done +here to-day. In all ordinary cases I consider it expedient +to reserve intact my suspicions and my doubts till I +have completed my discoveries and arranged my arguments +so as to bear out with some show of reason whatever +statement I may feel obliged to make. But the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_523" id="Page_523">[523]</a></span> +extraordinary features of this affair, and the fact that +so many were present at the scene we have just left, have +caused me to change my usual tactics. Though far from +ready to say that Mr. Orcutt's words were those of confession, +I still see much reason to doubt his innocence, +and, feeling thus, am quite willing you should know it in +time to prepare for the worst."</p> + +<p>"Then you propose making what has occurred here +public?" asked Mr. Ferris, with emotion.</p> + +<p>"Not so," was the detective's ready reply. "On the +contrary, I was about to suggest that you did something +more than lay a command of silence upon those who +were present."</p> + +<p>The District Attorney, who, as he afterward said, felt +as if he were laboring under some oppressive nightmare, +turned to the coroner and said:</p> + +<p>"Dr. Tredwell, what do you advise me to do? Terrible +as this shock has been, and serious as is the duty it +possibly involves, I have never allowed myself to shrink +from doing what was right simply because it afforded +suffering to myself or indignity to my friends. Do you +think I am called upon to pursue this matter?"</p> + +<p>The coroner, troubled, anxious, and nearly as much +overwhelmed as the District Attorney, did not immediately +reply. Indeed, the situation was one to upset any +man of whatever calibre. Finally he turned to Mr. +Gryce.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Gryce," said he, "we are, as you have observed,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_524" id="Page_524">[524]</a></span> +friends of the dying man, and, being so, may miss our +duty in our sympathy. What do you think ought to be +done, in justice to him, the prisoner, and the positions +which we both occupy?"</p> + +<p>"Well, sirs," rejoined Mr. Gryce, "it is not usual, +perhaps, for a man in my position to offer actual advice +to gentlemen in yours; but if you wish to know what +course I should pursue if I were in your places, I should +say: First, require the witnesses still lingering around +the dying man to promise that they will not divulge what +was there said till a week has fully elapsed; next, adjourn +the case now before the court for the same decent length +of time; and, lastly, trust me and the two men you +have hitherto employed, to find out if there is any thing +in Mr. Orcutt's past history of a nature to make you +tremble if the world hears of the words which escaped +him on his death-bed. We shall probably need but a +week."</p> + +<p>"And Miss Dare?"</p> + +<p>"Has already promised secrecy."</p> + +<p>There was nothing in all this to alarm their fears; +every thing, on the contrary, to allay them.</p> + +<p>The coroner gave a nod of approval to Mr. Ferris, and +both signified their acquiescence in the measures proposed.</p> + +<p>Mr. Gryce at once assumed his usual genial air.</p> + +<p>"You may trust me," said he, "to exercise all the +discretion you would yourselves show under the circumstances.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_525" id="Page_525">[525]</a></span> +I have no wish to see the name of such a man +blasted by an ineffaceable stain." And he bowed as if +about to leave the room.</p> + +<p>But Mr. Ferris, who had observed this movement with +an air of some uneasiness, suddenly stepped forward and +stopped him.</p> + +<p>"I wish to ask," said he, "whether superstition has +had any thing to do with this readiness on your part to +impute the worst meaning to the chance phrases which +have fallen from the lips of our severely injured friend. +Because his end seems in some regards to mirror that of +the widow, have you allowed a remembrance of the +words she made use of in the face of death to influence +your good judgment as to the identity of Mr. Orcutt with +her assassin?"</p> + +<p>The face of Mr. Gryce assumed its grimmest aspect.</p> + +<p>"Do you think this catastrophe was necessary to draw +my attention to Mr. Orcutt? To a man acquainted with +the extraordinary coincidence that marked the discovery +of Mrs. Clemmens' murder, the mystery must be that Mr. +Orcutt has gone unsuspected for so long." And assuming +an argumentative air, he asked:</p> + +<p>"Were either of you two gentlemen present at the conversation +I have mentioned as taking place on the court-house +steps the morning Mrs. Clemmens was murdered?"</p> + +<p>"I was," said the District Attorney.</p> + +<p>"You remember, then, the hunchback who was so free +with his views?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_526" id="Page_526">[526]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Most certainly."</p> + +<p>"And know, perhaps, who that hunchback was?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"You will not be surprised, then, if I recall to you the +special incidents of that hour. A group of lawyers, +among them Mr. Orcutt, are amusing <ins title="Transcriber's Note: original reads 'thumselves'">themselves</ins> with an +off-hand chat concerning criminals and the clumsy way +in which, as a rule, they plan and execute their crimes. All +seem to agree that a murder is usually followed by detection, +when suddenly a stranger speaks and tells them that +the true way to make a success of the crime is to choose a +thoroughfare for the scene of tragedy, and employ a +weapon that has been picked up on the spot. What happens? +Within five minutes after this piece of gratuitous +information, or as soon as Mr. Orcutt can cross the +street, Mrs. Clemmens is found lying in her blood, struck +down by a stick of wood picked up from her own hearth-stone. +Is this chance? If so, 'tis a very curious one."</p> + +<p>"I don't deny it," said Doctor Tredwell.</p> + +<p>"I believe you never did deny it," quickly retorted the +detective. "Am I not right in saying that it struck you +so forcibly at the time as to lead you into supposing some +collusion between the hunchback and the murderer?"</p> + +<p>"It certainly did," admitted the coroner.</p> + +<p>"Very well," proceeded Mr. Gryce. "Now as there +could have been no collusion between these parties, the +hunchback being no other person than myself, what are +we to think of this murder? That it was a coincidence, +or an actual result of the hunchback's words?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_527" id="Page_527">[527]</a></span></p> + +<p>Dr. Tredwell and Mr. Ferris were both silent.</p> + +<p>"Sirs," continued Mr. Gryce, feeling, perhaps, that +perfect openness was necessary in order to win entire confidence, +"I am not given to boasting or to a too-free expression +of my opinion, but if I had been ignorant of this +affair, and one of my men had come to me and said: 'A +mysterious murder has just taken place, marked by this +extraordinary feature, that it is a precise reproduction of +a supposable case of crime which has just been discussed +by a group of indifferent persons in the public street,' and +then had asked me where to look for the assassin, I +should have said: 'Search for that man who heard the +discussion through, was among the first to leave the +group, and was the first to show himself upon the scene +of murder.' To be sure, when Byrd did come to me +with this story, I was silent, for the man who fulfilled +these conditions was Mr. Orcutt."</p> + +<p>"Then," said Mr. Ferris, "you mean to say that you +would have suspected Mr. Orcutt of this crime long ago +if he had not been a man of such position and eminence?"</p> + +<p>"Undoubtedly," was Mr. Gryce's reply.</p> + +<p>If the expression was unequivocal, his air was still more +so. Shocked and disturbed, both gentlemen fell back. +The detective at once advanced and opened the door.</p> + +<p>It was time. Mr. Byrd had been tapping upon it for +some minutes, and now hastily came in. His face told +the nature of his errand before he spoke.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_528" id="Page_528">[528]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I am sorry to be obliged to inform you——" he +began.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Orcutt is dead?" quickly interposed Mr. Ferris.</p> + +<p>The young detective solemnly bowed.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_529" id="Page_529">[529]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER XL.</h2> + +<h3>IN THE PRISON.</h3> + +<div class='poem'> +The jury passing on the prisoner's life,<br /> +May in the sworn twelve have a thief or two<br /> +Guiltier than him they try.<br /> +<div class='sig'> +—<span class="smcap">Measure for Measure.</span><br /></div> +<br /></div> + +<div class='poem'> +Such welcome and unwelcome things at once<br /> +'Tis hard to reconcile. —<span class="smcap">Macbeth.</span><br /> +<br /><br /></div> + + +<div class='cap'>MR. MANSELL sat in his cell, the prey of gloomy +and perturbed thought. He knew Mr. Orcutt +was dead; he had been told of it early in the morning by +his jailer, but of the circumstances which attended that +death he knew nothing, save that the lawyer had been +struck by a limb falling from a tree in his own garden.</div> + +<p>The few moments during which the court had met for +the purpose of re-adjournment had added but little to his +enlightenment. A marked reserve had characterized the +whole proceedings; and though an indefinable instinct had +told him that in some mysterious way his cause had been +helped rather than injured by this calamity to his counsel, +he found no one ready to volunteer those explanations +which his great interest in the matter certainly demanded. +The hour, therefore, which he spent in solitude upon his +return to prison was one of great anxiety, and it was quite a +welcome relief when the cell door opened and the keeper +ushered in a strange gentleman. Supposing it to be the new<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_530" id="Page_530">[530]</a></span> +counsel he had chosen at haphazard from a list of names that +had been offered him, Mr. Mansell rose. But a second +glance assured him he had made a mistake in supposing +this person to be a lawyer, and stepping back he awaited +his approach with mingled curiosity and reserve.</p> + +<p>The stranger, who seemed to be perfectly at home in +the narrow quarters in which he found himself, advanced +with a frank air.</p> + +<p>"My name is Gryce," said he, "and I am a detective. +The District Attorney, who, as you know, has been placed +in a very embarrassing situation by the events of the last +two days, has accepted my services in connection with +those of the two men already employed by him, in the +hope that my greater experience may assist him in determining +which, of all the persons who have been accused, +or who have accused themselves, of murdering Mrs. Clemmens, +is the actual perpetrator of that deed. Do you require +any further assurance of my being in the confidence of Mr. +Ferris than the fact that I am here, and in full liberty to +talk with you?"</p> + +<p>"No," returned the other, after a short but close study +of his visitor.</p> + +<p>"Very well, then," continued the detective, with a comfortable +air of ease, "I will speak to the point; and the +first thing I will say is, that upon looking at the evidence +against you, and hearing what I have heard from various +sources since I came to town, I know you are not the man +who killed Mrs. Clemmens. To be sure, you have declined<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_531" id="Page_531">[531]</a></span> +to explain certain points, but I think you can explain +them, and if you will only inform me——"</p> + +<p>"Pardon me," interrupted Mr. Mansell, gravely; "but +you say you are a detective. Now, I have no information +to give a detective."</p> + +<p>"Are you sure?" was the imperturbable query.</p> + +<p>"Quite," was the quick reply.</p> + +<p>"You are then determined upon going to the scaffold, +whether or no?" remarked Mr. Gryce, somewhat grimly.</p> + +<p>"Yes, if to escape it I must confide in a detective."</p> + +<p>"Then you do wrong," declared the other; "as I will +immediately proceed to show you. Mr. Mansell, you +are, of course, aware of the manner of Mr. Orcutt's +death?"</p> + +<p>"I know he was struck by a falling limb."</p> + +<p>"Do you know what he was doing when this occurred?"</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>"He was escorting Miss Dare down to the gate."</p> + +<p>The prisoner, whose countenance had brightened at the +mention of his lawyer, turned a deadly white at this.</p> + +<p>"And—and was Miss Dare hurt?" he asked.</p> + +<p>The detective shook his head.</p> + +<p>"Then why do you tell me this?"</p> + +<p>"Because it has much to do with the occasion of my +coming here, Mr. Mansell," proceeded Mr. Gryce, in +that tone of completely understanding himself which he +knew so well how to assume with men of the prisoner's<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_532" id="Page_532">[532]</a></span> +stamp. "I am going to speak to you without circumlocution +or disguise. I am going to put your position before +you just as it is. You are on trial for a murder of +which not only yourself, but another man, was suspected. +Why are you on trial instead of him? Because you were +reticent in regard to certain matters which common-sense +would say you ought to be able to explain. Why were +you reticent? There can be but one answer. Because +you feared to implicate another person, for whose happiness +and honor you had more regard than for your own. +Who was that other person? The woman who stood up +in court yesterday and declared she had herself committed +this crime. What is the conclusion? You believe, +and have always believed, Miss Dare to be the +assassin of Mrs. Clemmens."</p> + +<p>The prisoner, whose pallor had increased with every +word the detective uttered, leaped to his feet at this last +sentence.</p> + +<p>"You have no right to say that!" he vehemently +asseverated. "What do you know of my thoughts or my +beliefs? Do I carry my convictions on my sleeve? I +am not the man to betray my ideas or feelings to the +world."</p> + +<p>Mr. Gryce smiled. To be sure, this expression of silent +complacency was directed to the grating of the +window overhead, but it was none the less effectual on +that account. Mr. Mansell, despite his self-command, +began to look uneasy.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_533" id="Page_533">[533]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Prove your words!" he cried. "Show that these +have been my convictions!"</p> + +<p>"Very well," returned Mr. Gryce. "Why were you +so long silent about the ring? Because you did not wish +to compromise Miss Dare by declaring she did not return +it to you, as she had said. Why did you try to stop +her in the midst of her testimony yesterday? Because +you saw it was going to end in confession. Finally, why +did you throw aside your defence, and instead of proclaiming +yourself guilty, simply tell how you were able to +reach Monteith Quarry Station in ninety minutes? Because +you feared her guilt would be confirmed if her +statements were investigated, and were willing to sacrifice +every thing but the truth in order to save her."</p> + +<p>"You give me credit for a great deal of generosity," +coldly replied the prisoner. "After the evidence brought +against me by the prosecution, I should think my guilt +would be accepted as proved the moment I showed that +I had not left Mrs. Clemmens' house at the time she was +believed to be murdered."</p> + +<p>"And so it would," responded Mr. Gryce, "if the +prosecution had not seen reason to believe that the moment +of Mrs. Clemmens' death has been put too early. +We now think she was not struck till some time after +twelve, instead of five minutes before."</p> + +<p>"Indeed?" said Mr. Mansell, with stern self-control.</p> + +<p>Mr. Gryce, whose carelessly roving eye told little of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_534" id="Page_534">[534]</a></span> +the close study with which he was honoring the man +before him, nodded with grave decision.</p> + +<p>"You could add very much to our convictions on this +point," he observed, "by telling what it was you saw or +heard in Mrs. Clemmens' house at the moment you fled +from it so abruptly."</p> + +<p>"How do you know I fled from it abruptly?"</p> + +<p>"You were seen. The fact has not appeared in court, +but a witness we might name perceived you flying from +your aunt's door to the swamp as if your life depended +upon the speed you made."</p> + +<p>"And with that fact added to all the rest you have +against me, you say you believe me innocent?" exclaimed +Mr. Mansell.</p> + +<p>"Yes; for I have also said I believe Mrs. Clemmens +not to have been assaulted till after the hour of noon. +You fled from the door at precisely five minutes before +it."</p> + +<p>The uneasiness of Mr. Mansell's face increased, till it +amounted to agitation.</p> + +<p>"And may I ask," said he, "what has happened to +make you believe she was not struck at the moment +hitherto supposed?"</p> + +<p>"Ah, now," replied the detective, "we come down to +facts." And leaning with a confidential air toward the +prisoner, he quietly said: "Your counsel has died, for +one thing."</p> + +<p>Astonished as much by the tone as the tenor of these<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_535" id="Page_535">[535]</a></span> +words, Mr. Mansell drew back from his visitor in some +distrust. Seeing it, Mr. Gryce edged still farther forward, +and calmly continued:</p> + +<p>"If no one has told you the particulars of Mr. Orcutt's +death, you probably do not know why Miss Dare was at +his house last evening?"</p> + +<p>The look of the prisoner was sufficient reply.</p> + +<p>"She went there," resumed Mr. Gryce, with composure, +"to tell him that her whole evidence against you +had been given under the belief that you were guilty of +the crime with which you had been charged; that by a +trick of my fellow-detectives, Hickory and Byrd, she had +been deceived into thinking you had actually admitted +your guilt to her; and that she had only been undeceived +after she had uttered the perjury with which she sought +to save you yesterday morning."</p> + +<p>"Perjury?" escaped involuntarily from Craik Mansell's +lips.</p> + +<p>"Yes," repeated the detective, "perjury. Miss Dare +lied when she said she had been to Mrs. Clemmens' cottage +on the morning of the murder. She was not there, +nor did she lift her hand against the widow's life. That +tale she told to escape telling another which she thought +would insure your doom."</p> + +<p>"You have been talking to Miss Dare?" suggested +the prisoner, with subdued sarcasm.</p> + +<p>"I have been talking to my two men," was the unmoved +retort, "to Hickory and to Byrd, and they not<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_536" id="Page_536">[536]</a></span> +only confirm this statement of hers in regard to the +deception they played upon her, but say enough to show +she could not have been guilty of the crime, because at +that time she honestly believed you to be so."</p> + +<p>"I do not understand you," cried the prisoner, in a +voice that, despite his marked self-control, showed the +presence of genuine emotion.</p> + +<p>Mr. Gryce at once went into particulars. He was anxious +to have Craik Mansell's mind disabused of the notion +that Imogene had committed this crime, since upon +that notion he believed his unfortunate reticence to rest. +He therefore gave him a full relation of the scene in the +hut, together with all its consequences.</p> + +<p>Mr. Mansell listened like a man in a dream. Some +fact in the past evidently made this story incredible to +him.</p> + +<p>Seeing it, Mr. Gryce did not wait to hear his comments, +but upon finishing his account, exclaimed, with a confident +air:</p> + +<p>"Such testimony is conclusive. It is impossible to +consider Miss Dare guilty, after an insight of this kind +into the real state of her mind. Even she has seen the +uselessness of persisting in her self-accusation, and, as I +have already told you, went to Mr. Orcutt's house in +order to explain to him her past conduct, and ask his +advice for the future. She learned something else before +her interview with Mr. Orcutt ended," continued the detective, +impressively. "She learned that she had not<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_537" id="Page_537">[537]</a></span> +only been mistaken in supposing you had admitted your +guilt, but that you could not have been guilty, because +you had always believed her to be so. It has been a +mutual case of suspicion, you see, and argues innocence +on the part of you both. Or so it seems to the prosecution. +How does it seem to you?"</p> + +<p>"Would it help my cause to say?"</p> + +<p>"It would help your cause to tell what sent you so +abruptly from Mrs. Clemmens' house the morning she +was murdered."</p> + +<p>"I do not see how," returned the prisoner.</p> + +<p>The glance of Mr. Gryce settled confidentially on his +right hand where it lay outspread upon his ample knee.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Mansell," he inquired, "have you no curiosity to +know any details of the accident by which you have unexpectedly +been deprived of a counsel?"</p> + +<p>Evidently surprised at this sudden change of subject, +Craik replied:</p> + +<p>"If I had not hoped you would understand my anxiety +and presently relieve it, I could not have shown you as +much patience as I have."</p> + +<p>"Very well," rejoined Mr. Gryce, altering his manner +with a suddenness that evidently alarmed his listener. +"Mr. Orcutt did not die immediately after he was struck +down. He lived some hours; lived to say some words +that have materially changed the suspicions of persons +interested in the case he was defending."</p> + +<p>"Mr. Orcutt?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_538" id="Page_538">[538]</a></span></p> + +<p>The tone was one of surprise. Mr. Gryce's little +finger seemed to take note of it, for it tapped the leg +beneath it in quite an emphatic manner as he continued: +"It was in answer to a question put to him by Miss +Dare. To the surprise of every one, she had not left +him from the moment they were mutually relieved from +the weight of the fallen limb, but had stood over him for +hours, watching for him to rouse from his insensibility. +When he did, she appealed to him in a way that showed +she expected a reply, to tell her who it was that killed +the Widow Clemmens."</p> + +<p>"And did Mr. Orcutt know?" was Mansell's half-agitated, +half-incredulous query.</p> + +<p>"His answer seemed to show that he did. Mr. Mansell, +have you ever had any doubts of Mr. Orcutt?"</p> + +<p>"Doubts?"</p> + +<p>"Doubts as to his integrity, good-heartedness, or desire +to serve you?"</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>"You will, then, be greatly surprised," Mr. Gryce went +on, with increased gravity, "when I tell you that Mr. +Orcutt's reply to Miss Dare's question was such as to +draw attention to himself as the assassin of Widow Clemmens, +and that his words and the circumstances under +which they were uttered have so impressed Mr. Ferris, +that the question now agitating his mind is not, 'Is Craik +Mansell innocent, but was his counsel, Tremont Orcutt, +guilty?'"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_539" id="Page_539">[539]</a></span></p> + +<p>The excited look which had appeared on the face of +Mansell at the beginning of this speech, changed to one +of strong disgust.</p> + +<p>"This is too much!" he cried. "I am not a fool to be +caught by any such make-believe as this! Mr. Orcutt +thought to be an assassin? You might as well say +that people accuse Judge Evans of killing the Widow +Clemmens."</p> + +<p>Mr. Gryce, who had perhaps stretched a point when +he so unequivocally declared his complete confidence in +the innocence of the man before him, tapped his leg +quite affectionately at this burst of natural indignation, +and counted off another point in favor of the prisoner. +His words, however, were dry as sarcasm could make +them.</p> + +<p>"No," said he, "for people know that Judge Evans +was without the opportunity for committing this murder, +while every one remembers how Mr. Orcutt went to the +widow's house and came out again with tidings of her +death."</p> + +<p>The prisoner's lip curled disdainfully.</p> + +<p>"And do you expect me to believe you regard this as +a groundwork for suspicion? I should have given you +credit for more penetration, sir."</p> + +<p>"Then you do not think Mr. Orcutt knew what he +was saying when, in answer to Miss Dare's appeal for him +to tell who the murderer was, he answered: 'Blood will +have blood!' and drew attention to his own violent +end?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_540" id="Page_540">[540]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Did Mr. Orcutt say that?"</p> + +<p>"He did."</p> + +<p>"Very well, a man whose whole mind has for some +time been engrossed with defending another man accused +of murder, might say any thing while in a state of +delirium."</p> + +<p>Mr. Gryce uttered his favorite "Humph!" and gave +his leg another pat, but added, gravely enough: "Miss +Dare believes his words to be those of confession."</p> + +<p>"You say Miss Dare once believed me to have confessed."</p> + +<p>"But," persisted the detective, "Miss Dare is not +alone in her opinion. Men in whose judgment you must +rely, find it difficult to explain the words of Mr. Orcutt +by means of any other theory than that he is himself the +perpetrator of that crime for which you are yourself +being tried."</p> + +<p>"I find it difficult to believe that possible," quietly +returned the prisoner. "What!" he suddenly exclaimed; +"suspect a man of Mr. Orcutt's abilities and standing of +a hideous crime—the very crime, too, with which his +client is charged, and in defence of whom he has brought +all his skill to bear! The idea is preposterous, unheard +of!"</p> + +<p>"I acknowledge that," dryly assented Mr. Gryce; +"but it has been my experience to find that it is the +preposterous things which happen."</p> + +<p>For a minute the prisoner stared at the speaker incredulously; +then he cried:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_541" id="Page_541">[541]</a></span></p> + +<p>"You really appear to be in earnest."</p> + +<p>"I was never more so in my life," was Mr. Gryce's +rejoinder.</p> + +<p>Drawing back, Craik Mansell looked at the detective +with an emotion that had almost the character of hope. +Presently he said:</p> + +<p>"If you do distrust Mr. Orcutt, you must have weightier +reasons for it than any you have given me. What are +they? You must be willing I should know, or you would +not have gone as far with me as you have."</p> + +<p>"You are right," Gryce assured him. "A case so complicated +as this calls for unusual measures. Mr. Ferris, +feeling the gravity of his position, allows me to take you +into our confidence, in the hope that you will be able to +help us out of our difficulty."</p> + +<p>"I help you! You'd better release me first."</p> + +<p>"That will come in time."</p> + +<p>"<i>If</i> I help you?"</p> + +<p>"Whether you help or not, if we can satisfy ourselves +and the world that Mr. Orcutt's words were a confession. +You may hasten that conviction."</p> + +<p>"How?"</p> + +<p>"By clearing up the mystery of your flight from Mrs. +Clemmens' house."</p> + +<p>The keen eyes of the prisoner fell; all his old distrust +seemed on the point of returning.</p> + +<p>"That would not help you at all," said he.</p> + +<p>"<i>I</i> should like to be the judge," said Mr. Gryce.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_542" id="Page_542">[542]</a></span></p> + +<p>The prisoner shook his head.</p> + +<p>"My word must go for it," said he.</p> + +<p>The detective had been the hero of too many such +scenes to be easily discouraged. Bowing as if accepting +this conclusion from the prisoner, he quietly proceeded +with the recital he had planned. With a frankness certainly +unusual to him, he gave the prisoner a full account +of Mr. Orcutt's last hours, and the interview which had +followed between himself and Miss Dare. To this he added +his own reasons for doubting the lawyer, and, while +admitting he saw no motive for the deed, gave it as his +serious opinion, that the motive would be found if once he +could get at the secret of Mr. Orcutt's real connection with +the deceased. He was so eloquent, and so manifestly in +earnest, Mr. Mansell's eye brightened in spite of himself, +and when the detective ceased he looked up with an expression +which convinced Mr. Gryce that half the battle +was won. He accordingly said, in a tone of great +confidence:</p> + +<p>"A knowledge of what went on in Mrs. Clemmens' +house before he went to it would be of great help to us. +With that for a start, all may be learned. I therefore put +it to you for the last time whether it would not be best for +you to explain yourself on this point. I am sure you will +not regret it."</p> + +<p>"Sir," said Mansell, with undisturbed composure, "if +your purpose is to fix this crime on Mr. Orcutt, I must +insist upon your taking my word that I have no information +to give you that can in any way affect him."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_543" id="Page_543">[543]</a></span></p> + +<p>"You could give us information, then, that would affect +Miss Dare?" was the quick retort. "Now, I say," the +astute detective declared, as the prisoner gave an almost +imperceptible start, "that whatever your information is, +Miss Dare is not guilty."</p> + +<p>"You say it!" exclaimed the prisoner. "What does +your opinion amount to if you haven't heard the evidence +against her?"</p> + +<p>"There is no evidence against her but what is purely +circumstantial."</p> + +<p>"How do you know that?"</p> + +<p>"Because she is innocent. Circumstantial evidence may +exist alike against the innocent and the guilty; real evidence +only against the guilty. I mean to say that as I +am firmly convinced Miss Dare once regarded you as +guilty of this crime, I must be equally convinced she +didn't commit it herself. This is unanswerable."</p> + +<p>"You have stated that before."</p> + +<p>"I know it; but I want you to see the force of it; because, +once convinced with me that Miss Dare is innocent, +you will be willing to tell all you know, even what apparently +implicates her."</p> + +<p>Silence answered this remark.</p> + +<p>"You didn't <i>see</i> her strike the blow?"</p> + +<p>Mansell roused indignantly.</p> + +<p>"No, of course not!" he cried.</p> + +<p>"You did not see her with your aunt that moment you +fled from the house immediately before the murder!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_544" id="Page_544">[544]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I didn't <i>see</i> her."</p> + +<p>That emphasis, unconscious, perhaps, was fatal. Gryce, +who never lost any thing, darted on this small gleam of +advantage as a hungry pike darts upon an innocent +minnow.</p> + +<p>"But you thought you heard her," he cried; "her +voice, or her laugh, or perhaps merely the rustle of her +dress in another room?"</p> + +<p>"No," said Mansell, "I didn't <i>hear</i> her."</p> + +<p>"Of course not," was the instantaneous reply. "But +something said or done by somebody—a something +which amounts to nothing as evidence—gives you to +understand she was there, and so you hold your tongue +for fear of compromising her."</p> + +<p>"Amounts to nothing as evidence?" echoed Mansell. +"How do you know that?"</p> + +<p>"Because Miss Dare was not in the house with your +aunt at that time. Miss Dare was in Professor Darling's +observatory, a mile or so away."</p> + +<p>"Does she say that?"</p> + +<p>"We will <i>prove</i> that."</p> + +<p>Aroused, excited, the prisoner turned his flashing blue +eyes on the detective.</p> + +<p>"I should be glad to have you," he said.</p> + +<p>"But you must first tell me in what room you were +when you received this intimation of Miss Dare's presence?"</p> + +<p>"I was in no room; I was on the stone step outside of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_545" id="Page_545">[545]</a></span> +the dining-room door. I did not go into the house at all +that morning, as I believe I have already told Mr. +Ferris."</p> + +<p>"<i>Very</i> good! It will all be simpler than I thought. +You came up to the house and went away again without +coming in; ran away, I may say, taking the direction of +the swamp."</p> + +<p>The prisoner did not deny it.</p> + +<p>"You remember all the incidents of that short flight?"</p> + +<p>The prisoner's lip curled.</p> + +<p>"Remember leaping the fence and stumbling a trifle +when you came down?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"Very well; now tell me how could Miss Dare see you +do that from Mrs. Clemmens' house?"</p> + +<p>"Did Miss Dare tell you she saw me trip after I +jumped the fence?"</p> + +<p>"She did."</p> + +<p>"And yet was in Professor Darling's observatory, a +mile or so away?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>A satirical laugh broke from the prisoner.</p> + +<p>"I think," said he, "that instead of my telling you +how she could have seen this from Mrs. Clemmens' house, +you should tell me how she could have seen it from Professor +Darling's observatory."</p> + +<p>"That is easy enough. She was looking through a +telescope."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_546" id="Page_546">[546]</a></span></p> + +<p>"What?"</p> + +<p>"At the moment you were turning from Mrs. Clemmens' +door, Miss Dare, perched in the top of Professor +Darling's house, was looking in that very direction +through a telescope."</p> + +<p>"I—I would like to believe that story," said the +prisoner, with suppressed emotion. "It would——"</p> + +<p>"What?" urged the detective, calmly.</p> + +<p>"Make a new man of me," finished Mansell, with a +momentary burst of feeling.</p> + +<p>"Well, then, call up your memories of the way your +aunt's house is situated. Recall the hour, and acknowledge +that, if Miss Dare was with her, she must have been +in the dining-room."</p> + +<p>"There is no doubt about that."</p> + +<p>"Now, how many windows has the dining-room?"</p> + +<p>"One."</p> + +<p>"How situated?"</p> + +<p>"It is on the same side as the door."</p> + +<p>"There is none, then, which looks down to that place +where you leaped the fence?"</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>"How account for her seeing that little incident, then, +of your stumbling?"</p> + +<p>"She might have come to the door, stepped out, and +so seen me."</p> + +<p>"Humph! I see you have an answer for every +thing."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_547" id="Page_547">[547]</a></span></p> + +<p>Craik Mansell was silent.</p> + +<p>A look of admiration slowly spread itself over the detective's +face.</p> + +<p>"We must probe the matter a little deeper," said he. +"I see I have a hard head to deal with." And, bringing +his glance a little nearer to the prisoner, he remarked:</p> + +<p>"If she had been standing there you could not have +turned round without seeing her?"</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>"Now, did you see her standing there?"</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>"Yet you turned round?"</p> + +<p>"I did?"</p> + +<p>"Miss Dare says so."</p> + +<p>The prisoner struck his forehead with his hand.</p> + +<p>"And it <i>is</i> so," he cried. "I remember now that some +vague desire to know the time made me turn to look +at the church clock. Go on. Tell me more that Miss +Dare saw."</p> + +<p>His manner was so changed—his eye burned so brightly—the +detective gave himself a tap of decided self-gratulation.</p> + +<p>"She saw you hurry over the bog, stop at the entrance +of the wood, take a look at your watch, and plunge with +renewed speed into the forest."</p> + +<p>"It is so. It is so. And, to have seen that, she must +have had the aid of a telescope."</p> + +<p>"Then she describes your appearance. She says you<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_548" id="Page_548">[548]</a></span> +had your pants turned up at the ankles, and carried your +coat on your left arm."</p> + +<p>"<i>Left</i> arm?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"I think I had it on my right."</p> + +<p>"It was on the arm toward her, she declares. If she +was in the observatory, it was your left side that she +saw."</p> + +<p>"Yes, yes; but the coat was over the other arm. I +remember using my left hand in vaulting over the fence +when I came up to the house."</p> + +<p>"It is a vital point," said Mr. Gryce, with a quietness +that concealed his real anxiety and chagrin. "If the +coat was on the arm <i>toward</i> her, the fact of its being on +the right——"</p> + +<p>"Wait!" exclaimed Mr. Mansell, with an air of sudden +relief. "I recollect now that I changed it from one +arm to the other after I vaulted the fence. It was just at +the moment I turned to come back to the side door, and, +as she does not pretend to have seen me till after I left +the door, of course the coat was, as she says, on my left +arm."</p> + +<p>"I thought you could explain it," returned Mr. Gryce, +with an air of easy confidence. "But what do you mean +when you say that you changed it at the moment you +turned to come back to the side door? Didn't you go +at once to the dining-room door from the swamp?"</p> + +<p>"No. I had gone to the front door on my former<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_549" id="Page_549">[549]</a></span> +visit, and was going to it this time; but when I got to +the corner of the house I saw the tramp coming into the +gate, and not wishing to encounter any one, turned +round and came back to the dining-room door."</p> + +<p>"I see. And it was then you heard——"</p> + +<p>"What I heard," completed the prisoner, grimly.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Mansell," said the other, "are you not sufficiently +convinced by this time that Miss Dare was not with +Mrs. Clemmens, but in the observatory of Professor Darling's +house, to tell me what that was?"</p> + +<p>"Answer me a question and I will reply. Can the +entrance of the woods be seen from the position which +she declares herself to have occupied?"</p> + +<p>"It can. Not two hours ago I tried the experiment +myself, using the same telescope and kneeling in the +same place where she did. I found I could not only +trace the spot where you paused, but could detect quite +readily every movement of my man Hickory, whom I had +previously placed there to go through the motions. I +should not have come here if I had not made myself certain +on that point."</p> + +<p>Yet the prisoner hesitated.</p> + +<p>"I not only made myself sure of that," resumed Mr. +Gryce, "but I also tried if I could see as much with my +naked eye from Mrs. Clemmens' side door. I found I +could not, and my sight is very good."</p> + +<p>"Enough," said Mansell; "hard as it is to explain, I +must believe Miss Dare was not where I thought her."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_550" id="Page_550">[550]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Then you will tell me what you heard?"</p> + +<p>"Yes; for in it may lie the key to this mystery, though +how, I cannot see, and doubt if you can. I am all the +more ready to do it," he pursued, "because I can now +understand how she came to think me guilty, and, thinking +so, conducted herself as she has done from the beginning +of my trial. All but the fact of her denouncing +herself yesterday; that I cannot comprehend."</p> + +<p>"A woman in love can do any thing," quoth Mr. Gryce. +Then admonished by the flush of the prisoner's cheek +that he was treading on dangerous ground, he quickly +added: "But she will explain all that herself some day. +Let us hear what you have to tell me."</p> + +<p>Craik Mansell drooped his head and his brow became +gloomy.</p> + +<p>"Sir," said he, "it is unnecessary for me to state that +your surmise in regard to my past convictions is true. If +Miss Dare was not with my aunt just before the murder, +I certainly had reasons for thinking she was. To be sure, +I did not see her or hear her voice, but I heard my aunt +address her distinctly and by name."</p> + +<p>"You did?" Mr. Gryce's interest in the tattoo he +was playing on his knee became intense.</p> + +<p>"Yes. It was just as I pushed the door ajar. The +words were these: 'You think you are going to marry +him, Imogene Dare; but I tell you you <i>never shall</i>, not +while <i>I</i> live.'"</p> + +<p>"Humph!" broke involuntarily from the detective's<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_551" id="Page_551">[551]</a></span> +lips, and, though his face betrayed nothing of the shock +this communication occasioned him, his fingers stopped +an instant in their restless play.</p> + +<p>Mr. Mansell saw it and cast him an anxious look. The +detective instantly smiled with great unconcern. "Go +on," said he, "what else did you hear?"</p> + +<p>"Nothing else. In the mood in which I was this very +plain intimation that Miss Dare had sought my aunt, had +pleaded with her for me and failed, struck me as sufficient. +I did not wait to hear more, but hurried away in +a state of passion that was little short of frenzy. To +leave the place and return to my work was now my one +wish. When I found, then, that by running I might +catch the train at Monteith, I ran, and so unconsciously +laid myself open to suspicion."</p> + +<p>"I see," murmured the detective; "I see."</p> + +<p>"Not that I suspected any evil then," pursued Mr. +Mansell, earnestly. "I was only conscious of disappointment +and a desire to escape from my own thoughts. It +was not till next day——"</p> + +<p>"Yes—yes," interrupted Mr. Gryce, abstractedly, +"but your aunt's words! She said: 'You think you are +going to marry him, Imogene Dare; but you never shall, +not while I live.' Yet Imogene Dare was not there. Let +us solve that problem."</p> + +<p>"You think you can?"</p> + +<p>"I think I must."</p> + +<p>"How? how?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_552" id="Page_552">[552]</a></span></p> + +<p>The detective did not answer. He was buried in profound +thought. Suddenly he exclaimed:</p> + +<p>"It is, as you say, the key-note to the tragedy. It must +be solved." But the glance he dived deep into space +seemed to echo that "How? how?" of the prisoner, with +a gloomy persistence that promised little <ins title="Transcriber's Note: original reads 'sor'">for</ins> an immediate +answer to the enigma before them. It occurred to +Mansell to offer a suggestion.</p> + +<p>"There is but one way <i>I</i> can explain it," said he. +"My aunt was speaking to herself. She was deaf and +lived alone. Such people often indulge in soliloquizing."</p> + +<p>The slap which Mr. Gryce gave his thigh must have +made it tingle for a good half-hour.</p> + +<p>"There," he cried, "who says extraordinary measures +are not useful at times? You've hit the very explanation. +Of course she was speaking to herself. She was +just the woman to do it. Imogene Dare was in her +thoughts, so she addressed Imogene Dare. If you had +opened the door you would have seen her standing there +alone, venting her thoughts into empty space."</p> + +<p>"I wish I had," said the prisoner.</p> + +<p>Mr. Gryce became exceedingly animated. "Well, +that's settled," said he. "Imogene Dare was not there, +save in Mrs. Clemmens' imagination. And now for the +conclusion. She said: 'You think you are going to +marry him, Imogene Dare; but you never shall, not while +I live.' That shows her mind was running on you."</p> + +<p>"It shows more than that. It shows that, if Miss Dare<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_553" id="Page_553">[553]</a></span> +was not with her then, she must have been there earlier +in the day. For, when I left my aunt the day before, she +was in entire ignorance of my attachment to Miss Dare, +and the hopes it had led to."</p> + +<p>"Say that again," cried Gryce.</p> + +<p>Mr. Mansell repeated himself, adding: "That would +account for the ring being found on my aunt's dining-room +floor——"</p> + +<p>But Mr. Gryce waved that question aside.</p> + +<p>"What I want to make sure of is that your aunt +had not been informed of your wishes as concerned Miss +Dare."</p> + +<p>"Unless Miss Dare was there in the early morning and +told her herself."</p> + +<p>"There were no neighbors to betray you?"</p> + +<p>"There wasn't a neighbor who knew any thing about +the matter."</p> + +<p>The detective's eye brightened till it vied in brilliancy +with the stray gleam of sunshine which had found its +way to the cell through the narrow grating over their +heads.</p> + +<p>"A clue!" he murmured; "I have received a clue," +and rose as if to leave.</p> + +<p>The prisoner, startled, rose also.</p> + +<p>"A clue to what?" he cried.</p> + +<p>But Mr. Gryce was not the man to answer such a +question.</p> + +<p>"You shall hear soon. Enough that you have given<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_554" id="Page_554">[554]</a></span> +me an idea that may eventually lead to the clearing up of +this mystery, if not to your own acquittal from a false +charge of murder."</p> + +<p>"And Miss Dare?"</p> + +<p>"Is under no charge, and never will be."</p> + +<p>"And Mr. Orcutt?"</p> + +<p>"Wait," said Mr. Gryce—"wait."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_555" id="Page_555">[555]</a></span></p> +<h2>XLI.</h2> + +<h3>A LINK SUPPLIED.</h3> + +<div class='poem'> +Upon his bloody finger he doth wear<br /> +A precious ring.<br /> + +<div class='sig'>—<span class="smcap">Titus Andronicus.</span><br /></div> +<br /> + + +Make me to see it; or at the least so prove it,<br /> +That the probation bear no hinge nor loop<br /> +To hang a doubt on.<br /> +<br /> +<div class='sig'>—<span class="smcap">Othello.</span><br /></div> +<br /><br /></div> + + +<div class='cap'>MR. GRYCE did not believe that Imogene Dare +had visited Mrs. Clemmens before the assault, +or, indeed, had held any communication with her. Therefore, +when Mansell declared that he had never told +his aunt of the attachment between himself and this +young lady, the astute detective at once drew the conclusion +that the widow had never known of that attachment, +and consequently that the words which the prisoner had +overheard must have referred, not to himself, as he +supposed, but to some other man, and, if to some other +man—why to the only one with whom Miss Dare's name +was at that time associated; in other words, to Mr. +Orcutt!</div> + +<p>Now it was not easy to measure the importance of +a conclusion like this. For whilst there would have been +nothing peculiar in this solitary woman, with the few<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_556" id="Page_556">[556]</a></span> +thousands in the bank, boasting of her power to separate +her nephew from the lady of his choice, there was every +thing that was significant in her using the same language +in regard to Miss Dare and Mr. Orcutt. Nothing but +the existence of some unsuspected bond between herself +and the great lawyer could have accounted, first, for her +feeling on the subject of his marriage; and, secondly, for +the threat of interference contained in her very emphatic +words,—a bond which, while evidently not that of love, +was still of a nature to give her control over his destiny, +and make her, in spite of her lonely condition, the selfish +and determined arbitrator of his fate.</p> + +<p>What was that bond? A secret shared between them? +The knowledge on her part of some fact in Mr. Orcutt's +past life, which, if revealed, might serve as an impediment +to his marriage? In consideration that the great mystery +to be solved was what motive Mr. Orcutt could have had +for killing this woman, an answer to this question was +manifestly of the first importance.</p> + +<p>But before proceeding to take any measures to insure +one, Mr. Gryce sat down and seriously asked himself +whether there was any known fact, circumstantial or +otherwise, which refused to fit into the theory that +Mr. Orcutt actually committed this crime with his own +hand, and at the time he was seen to cross the street and +enter Mrs. Clemmens' house. For, whereas the most +complete chain of circumstantial evidence does not +necessarily prove the suspected party to be guilty of a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_557" id="Page_557">[557]</a></span> +crime, the least break in it is fatal to his conviction. +And Mr. Gryce wished to be as fair to the memory +of Mr. Orcutt as he would have been to the living +man.</p> + +<p>Beginning, therefore, with the earliest incidents of the +fatal day, he called up, first, the letter which the widow +had commenced but never lived to finish. It was a suggestive +epistle. It was addressed to her most intimate +friend, and showed in the few lines written a certain foreboding +or apprehension of death remarkable under the +circumstances. Mr. Gryce recalled one of its expressions. +"There are so many," wrote she, "to whom my +death would be more than welcome." So many! Many +is a strong word; many means more than one, more than +two; many means <i>three</i> at least. Now where were the +three? Hildreth, of course, was one, Mansell might +very properly be another, but who was the third? To +Mr. Gryce, but one name suggested itself in reply. So +far, then, his theory stood firm. Now what was the next +fact known? The milkman stopped with his milk; that +was at half-past eleven. He had to wait a few minutes, +from which it was concluded she was up-stairs when he +rapped. Was it at this time she was interrupted in her +letter-writing? If so, she probably did not go back to it, +for when Mr. Hildreth called, some fifteen minutes later, +she was on the spot to open the door. Their interview +was short; it was also stormy. Medicine was the last +thing she stood in need of; besides, her mind was evidently<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_558" id="Page_558">[558]</a></span> +preoccupied. Showing him the door, she goes +back to her work, and, being deaf, does not notice that +he does not leave the house as she expected. Consequently +her thoughts go on unhindered, and, her condition +being one of anger, she mutters aloud and bitterly to +herself as she flits from dining-room to kitchen in her +labor of serving up her dinner. The words she made use +of have been overheard, and here another point appears. +For, whereas her temper must have been disturbed by +the demand which had been made upon her the day +before by her favorite relative and heir, her expressions +of wrath at this moment were not levelled against him, +but against a young lady who is said to have been a +stranger to her, her language being: "You think you are +going to marry him, Imogene Dare; but I tell you you +never shall, not while I live." Her chief grievance, then, +and the one thing uppermost in her thoughts, even at a +time when she felt that there were many who desired her +death, lay in this fact that a young and beautiful woman +had manifested, as she supposed, a wish to marry Mr. +Orcutt, the word <i>him</i> which she had used, necessarily referring +to the lawyer, as she knew nothing of Imogene's +passion for her nephew.</p> + +<p>But this is not the only point into which it is necessary +to inquire. For to believe Mr. Orcutt guilty of this +crime one <ins title="Transcriber's Note: original reads 'most'">must</ins> also believe that all the other persons +who had been accused of it were truthful in the explanations +which they gave of the events which had seemingly<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_559" id="Page_559">[559]</a></span> +connected them with it. Now, were they? Take the +occurrences of that critical moment when the clock stood +at five minutes to twelve. If Mr. Hildreth is to be believed, +he was at that instant in the widow's front hall +musing on his disappointment and arranging his plans +for the future; the tramp, if those who profess to have +watched him are to be believed, was on the kitchen +portico; Craik Mansell on the dining-room door-step; +Imogene Dare before her telescope in Professor Darling's +observatory. Mr. Hildreth, with two doors closed between +him and the back of the house, knew nothing of +what was said or done there, but the tramp heard loud +talking, and Craik Mansell the actual voice of the widow +raised in words which were calculated to mislead him +into thinking she was engaged in angry altercation with +the woman he loved. What do all three do, then? Mr. +Hildreth remains where he is; the tramp skulks away +through the front gate; Craik Mansell rushes back to +the woods. And Imogene Dare? She has turned her +telescope toward Mrs. Clemmens' cottage, and, being +on the side of the dining-room door, sees the flying form +of Craik Mansell, and marks it till it disappears from her +sight. Is there any thing contradictory in these various +statements? No. Every thing, on the contrary, that is +reconcilable.</p> + +<p>Let us proceed then. What happens a few minutes +later? Mr. Hildreth, tired of seclusion and anxious to +catch the train, opens the front door and steps out. The<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_560" id="Page_560">[560]</a></span> +tramp, skulking round some other back door, does not +see him; Imogene, with her eye on Craik Mansell, now +vanishing into the woods, does not see him; nobody sees +him. He goes, and the widow for a short interval is as +much alone as she believed herself to be a minute or two +before when three men stood, unseen by each other, at +each of the three doors of her house. What does she do +now?</p> + +<p>Why, she finishes preparing her dinner, and then, +observing that the clock is slow, proceeds to set it right. +Fatal task! Before she has had an opportunity to finish +it, the front door has opened again, Mr. Orcutt has come +in, and, tempted perhaps by her defenceless position, +catches up a stick of wood from the fireplace and, with +one blow, strikes her down at his feet, and rushes forth +again with tidings of her death.</p> + +<p>Now, is there any thing in all <i>this</i> that is contradictory? +No; there is only something left out. In the whole of +this description of what went on in the widow's house, +there has been no mention made of the ring—the ring +which it is conceded was either in Craik Mansell's or +Imogene Dare's possession the evening before the murder, +and which was found on the dining-room floor within ten +minutes after the assault took place. If Mrs. Clemmens' +exclamations are to be taken as an attempt to describe +her murderer, then this ring must have been on the hand +which was raised against her, and how could that have +been if the hand was that of Mr. Orcutt? Unimportant<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_561" id="Page_561">[561]</a></span> +as it seemed, the discovery of this ring on the floor, taken +with the exclamations of the widow, make a break in the +chain that is fatal to Mr. Gryce's theory. Yet does it? +The consternation displayed by Mr. Orcutt when Imogene +claimed the ring and put it on her finger may have +had a deeper significance than was thought at the time. +Was there any way in which he could have come into +possession of it before she did? and could it have been +that he had had it on his hand when he struck the blow? +Mr. Gryce bent all his energies to inquire.</p> + +<p>First, where was the ring when the lovers parted in the +wood the day before the murder? Evidently in Mr. +Mansell's coat-pocket. Imogene had put it there, and +Imogene had left it there. But Mansell did not know it +was there, so took no pains to look after its safety. It +accordingly slipped out; but when? Not while he slept, +or it would have been found in the hut. Not while he +took the path to his aunt's house, or it would have been +found in the lane, or, at best, on the dining-room door-step. +When, then? Mr. Gryce could think of but one +instant, and that was when the young man threw his +coat from one arm to the other at the corner of the house +toward the street. If it rolled out then it would have +been under an impetus, and, as the coat was flung from +the right arm to the left, the ring would have flown in the +direction of the gate and fallen, perhaps, directly on the +walk in front of the house. If it had, its presence in the +dining-room seemed to show it had been carried there by<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_562" id="Page_562">[562]</a></span> +Mr. Orcutt, since he was the next person who went into +the house.</p> + +<p>But did it fall there? Mr. Gryce took the only available +means to find out.</p> + +<p>Sending for Horace Byrd, he said to him:</p> + +<p>"You were on the court-house steps when Mr. Orcutt +left and crossed over to the widow's house?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir."</p> + +<p>"Were you watching him? Could you describe his +manner as he entered the house; how he opened the +gate; or whether he stopped to look about him before +going in?"</p> + +<p>"No, sir," returned Byrd; "my eyes may have been on +him, but I don't remember any thing especial that he did."</p> + +<p>Somewhat disappointed, Mr. Gryce went to the District +Attorney and put to him the same question. The +answer he received from him was different. With a +gloomy contraction of his brow, Mr. Ferris said:</p> + +<p>"Yes, I remember his look and appearance very well. +He stepped briskly, as he always did, and carried +his head—— Wait!" he suddenly exclaimed, giving the +detective a look in which excitement and decision were +strangely blended. "You think Mr. Orcutt committed +this crime; that he left us standing on the court-house +steps and crossed the street to Mrs. Clemmens' house +with the deliberate intention of killing her, and leaving +the burden of his guilt to be shouldered by the tramp. +Now, you have called up a memory to me that convinces<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_563" id="Page_563">[563]</a></span> +me this could not have been. Had he had any such infernal +design in his breast he would not have been likely +to have stopped as he did to pick up something which he +saw lying on the walk in front of Mrs. Clemmens' house."</p> + +<p>"And did Mr. Orcutt do that?" inquired Mr. Gryce, +with admirable self-control.</p> + +<p>"Yes, I remember it now distinctly. It was just as he +entered the gate. A man meditating a murder of this +sort would not be likely to notice a pin lying in his path, +much less pause to pick it up."</p> + +<p>"How if it were a diamond ring?"</p> + +<p>"A diamond ring?"</p> + +<p>"Mr. Ferris," said the detective, gravely, "you have +just supplied a very important link in the chain of evidence +against Mr. Orcutt. The question is, how could +the diamond ring which Miss Dare is believed to have +dropped into Mr. Mansell's coat-pocket have been carried +into Mrs. Clemmens' house without the agency of either +herself or Mr. Mansell? I think you have just shown." +And the able detective, in a few brief sentences, explained +the situation to Mr. Ferris, together with the circumstances +of Mansell's flight, as gleaned by him in his conversation +with the prisoner.</p> + +<p>The District Attorney was sincerely dismayed. The +guilt of the renowned lawyer was certainly assuming positive +proportions. Yet, true to his friendship for Mr. Orcutt, +he made one final effort to controvert the arguments +of the detective, and quietly said:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_564" id="Page_564">[564]</a></span></p> + +<p>"You profess to explain how the ring might have been +carried into Mrs. Clemmens' house, but how do you +account for the widow having used an exclamation +which seems to signify it was <i>on</i> the hand which she +saw lifted against her life?"</p> + +<p>"By the fact that it was on that hand."</p> + +<p>"Do you think that probable if the hand was Mr. +Orcutt's?"</p> + +<p>"Perfectly so. Where else would he be likely to put +it in the preoccupied state of mind in which he was? In +his pocket? The tramp might have done that, but not +the gentleman."</p> + +<p>Mr. Ferris looked at the detective with almost an expression +of fear.</p> + +<p>"And how came it to be on the floor if Mr. Orcutt put +it on his finger?"</p> + +<p>"By the most natural process in the world. The ring +made for Miss Dare's third finger was too large for +Mr. Orcutt's little finger, and so slipped off when he +dropped the stick of wood from his hand."</p> + +<p>"And he left it lying where it fell?"</p> + +<p>"He probably did not notice its loss. If, as I suppose, +he had picked it up and placed it on his finger, +mechanically, its absence at such a moment would not be +observed. Besides, what clue could he suppose a +diamond ring he had never seen before, and which he +had had on his finger but an instant, would offer in +a case like this?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_565" id="Page_565">[565]</a></span></p> + +<p>"You reason close," said the District Attorney; "too +close," he added, as he recalled, with painful distinctness, +the look and attitude of Mr. Orcutt at the time this +ring was first brought into public notice, and realized that +so might a man comport himself who, conscious of this +ring's association with the crime he had just secretly perpetrated, +sees it claimed and put on the finger of the woman +he loves.</p> + +<p>Mr. <ins title="Transcriber's Note: original reads 'Gyrce'">Gryce</ins>, with his usual intuition, seemed to follow +the thoughts of the District Attorney.</p> + +<p>"If our surmises are correct," he remarked, "it was a +grim moment for the lawyer when, secure in his immunity +from suspicion, he saw Miss Dare come upon the scene +with eager inquiries concerning this murder. To you, +who had not the clue, it looked as if he feared she was +not as innocent as she should be; but, if you will recall +the situation now, I think you will see that his agitation +can only be explained by his apprehension of her +intuitions and an alarm lest her interest sprang from some +mysterious doubt of himself."</p> + +<p>Mr. Ferris shook his head with a gloomy air, but +did not respond.</p> + +<p>"Miss Dare tells me," the detective resumed, "that his +first act upon their meeting again at his house was to +offer himself to her in marriage. Now you, or any one +else, would say this was to show he did not mistrust her, +but I say it was to find out if she mistrusted him."</p> + +<p>Still Mr. Ferris remained silent.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_566" id="Page_566">[566]</a></span></p> + +<p>"The same reasoning will apply to what followed," +continued Mr. Gryce. "You cannot reconcile the +thought of his guilt with his taking the case of Mansell +and doing all he could to secure his acquittal. But you +will find it easier to do so when I tell you that, without +taking into consideration any spark of sympathy which he +might feel for the man falsely accused of his crime, he +knew from Imogene's lips that she would not survive the +condemnation of her lover, and that, besides this, his +only hope of winning her for his wife lay in the gratitude +he might awaken in her if he succeeded in saving his +rival."</p> + +<p>"You are making him out a great villain," murmured +Mr. Ferris, bitterly.</p> + +<p>"And was not that the language of his own countenance +as he lay dying?" inquired the detective.</p> + +<p>Mr. Ferris could not say No. He had himself been +too deeply impressed by the sinister look he had observed +on the face of his dying friend. He therefore confined +himself to remarking, not without sarcasm:</p> + +<p>"And now for the motive of this hideous crime—for I +suppose your ingenuity has discovered one before this."</p> + +<p>"It will be found in his love for Miss Dare," returned +the detective; "but just how I am not prepared to-day +to say."</p> + +<p>"His love for Miss Dare? What had this plain and +homespun Mrs. Clemmens to do with his love for +Miss Dare?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_567" id="Page_567">[567]</a></span></p> + +<p>"She was an interference."</p> + +<p>"How?"</p> + +<p>"Ah, that, sir, is the question."</p> + +<p>"So then you do not know?"</p> + +<p>Mr. Gryce was obliged to shake his head.</p> + +<p>The District Attorney drew himself up. "Mr. Gryce," +said he, "the charge which has been made against this +eminent man demands the very strongest proof in order +to substantiate it. The motive, especially, must be shown +to have been such as to offer a complete excuse for suspecting +him. No trivial or imaginary reason for his +wishing this woman out of the world will answer in his case. +You must prove that her death was absolutely necessary to +the success of his dearest hopes, or your reasoning will +only awaken distrust in the minds of all who hear it. +The fame of a man like Mr. Orcutt is not to be destroyed +by a passing word of delirium, or a specious display of +circumstantial evidence such as you evolve from the presence +of the ring on the scene of murder."</p> + +<p>"I know it," allowed Mr. Gryce, "and that is why I +have asked for a week."</p> + +<p>"Then you still believe you can find such a motive?"</p> + +<p>The smile which Mr. Gryce bestowed upon the favored +object then honored by his gaze haunted the District Attorney +for the rest of the week.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_568" id="Page_568">[568]</a></span></p> +<h2>XLII.</h2> + +<h3>CONSULTATIONS.</h3> + +<div class='poem'> +That he should die is worthy policy;<br /> +But yet we want a color for his death;<br /> +'Tis meet he be condemned by course of law.<br /> + +<div class='sig'>—<span class="smcap">Henry VI.</span><br /></div> +<br /><br /></div> + + +<div class='cap'>MR. GRYCE was perfectly aware that the task +before him was a difficult one. To be himself +convinced that Mr. Orcutt had been in possession of a +motive sufficient to account for, if not excuse, this horrible +crime was one thing; to find out that motive and +make it apparent to the world was another. But he was +not discouraged. Summoning his two subordinates, he +laid the matter before them.</div> + +<p>"I am convinced," said he, "that Mrs. Clemmens was +a more important person to Mr. Orcutt than her plain appearance +and humble manner of life would suggest. Do +either of you know whether Mr. Orcutt's name has ever +been associated with any private scandal, the knowledge +of which might have given her power over him?"</p> + +<p>"I do not think he was that kind of a man," said +Byrd. "Since morning I have put myself in the way of +such persons as I saw disposed to converse about him, +and though I have been astonished to find how many +there are who say they never quite liked or altogether<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_569" id="Page_569">[569]</a></span> +trusted this famous lawyer, I have heard nothing said in +any way derogatory to his private character. Indeed, I +believe, as far as the ladies were concerned, he was particularly +reserved. Though a bachelor, he showed no +disposition to marry, and until Miss Dare appeared on +the scene was not known to be even attentive to one of +her sex."</p> + +<p>"Some one, however, I forget who, told me that for a +short time he was sweet on a certain Miss Pratt," remarked +Hickory.</p> + +<p>"Pratt? Where have I heard that name?" murmured +Byrd to himself.</p> + +<p>"But nothing came of it," Hickory continued. "She +was not over and above smart they say, and though +pretty enough, did not hold his fancy. Some folks declare +she was so disappointed she left town."</p> + +<p>"Pratt, Pratt!" repeated Byrd to himself. "Ah! I +know now," he suddenly exclaimed. "While I stood +around amongst the crowd, the morning Mrs. Clemmens +was murdered, I remember overhearing some one say +how hard she was on the Pratt girl."</p> + +<p>"Humph!" ejaculated Mr. Gryce. "The widow was +hard on any one Mr. Orcutt chose to admire."</p> + +<p>"I don't understand it," said Byrd.</p> + +<p>"Nor I," rejoined Mr. Gryce; "but I intend to before +the week is out." Then abruptly: "When did Mrs. +Clemmens come to this town?"</p> + +<p>"Fifteen years ago," replied Byrd.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_570" id="Page_570">[570]</a></span></p> + +<p>"And Orcutt—when did he first put in an appearance +here?"</p> + +<p>"At very much the same time, I believe."</p> + +<p>"Humph! And did they seem to be friends at that +time?"</p> + +<p>"Some say Yes, some say No."</p> + +<p>"Where did he come from—have you learned?"</p> + +<p>"From some place in Nebraska, I believe."</p> + +<p>"And she?"</p> + +<p>"Why, she came from some place in Nebraska too!"</p> + +<p>"The <i>same</i> place?"</p> + +<p>"That we must find out."</p> + +<p>Mr. Gryce mused for a minute; then he observed:</p> + +<p>"Mr. Orcutt was renowned in his profession. Do you +know any thing about his career—whether he brought a +reputation for ability with him, or whether his fame was +entirely made in this place?"</p> + +<p>"I think it was made here. Indeed, I have heard that +it was in this court he pleaded his first case. Don't you +know more about it, Hickory?"</p> + +<p>"Yes; Mr. Ferris told me this morning that Orcutt +had not opened a law-book when he came to this town. +That he was a country schoolmaster in some uncivilized +district out West, and would never have been any thing +more, perhaps, if the son of old Stephen Orcutt had not +died, and thus made a vacancy in the law-office here +which he was immediately sent for to fill."</p> + +<p>"Stephen Orcutt? He was the uncle of this man, +wasn't he?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_571" id="Page_571">[571]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"And quite a lawyer too?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, but nothing like Tremont B. <i>He</i> was successful +from the start. Had a natural aptitude, I suppose—must +have had, to pick up the profession in the way he did."</p> + +<p>"Boys," cried Mr. Gryce, after another short ruminative +pause, "the secret we want to know is of long standing; +indeed, I should not be surprised if it were connected +with his life out West. I will tell you why I think +so. For ten years Mrs. Clemmens has been known to +put money in the bank regularly every week. Now, +where did she get that money? From Mr. Orcutt, of +course. What for? In payment for the dinner he usually +took with her? No, in payment of her silence concerning +a past he desired kept secret."</p> + +<p>"But they have been here fifteen years and she has +only received money for ten."</p> + +<p>"She has only put money in the bank for ten; she +may have been paid before that and may not. I do not +suppose he was in a condition to be very lavish at the +outset of his career."</p> + +<p>"You advise us, then, to see what we can make out of +his early life out West?"</p> + +<p>"Yes; and I will see what I can make out of hers. +The link which connects the two will be found. Mr. +Orcutt did not say: 'It was all for you, Imogene,' for +nothing."</p> + +<p>And, dismissing the two young men, Mr. Gryce proceeded<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_572" id="Page_572">[572]</a></span> +to the house of Mr. Orcutt, where he entered +upon an examination of such papers and documents as +were open to his inspection, in the hope of discovering +some allusion to the deceased lawyer's early history. +But he was not successful. Neither did a like inspection +of the widow's letters bring any new facts to light. The +only result which seemed to follow these efforts was an +increased certainty on his part that some dangerous secret +lurked in a past that was so determinedly hidden from +the world, and resorting to the only expedient now left to +him, he resolved to consult Miss Firman, as being the +only person who professed to have had any acquaintance +with Mrs. Clemmens before she came to Sibley. To be +sure, she had already been questioned by the coroner, +but Mr. Gryce was a man who had always found that the +dryest well could be made to yield a drop or two more of +water if the bucket was dropped by a dexterous hand. +He accordingly prepared himself for a trip to Utica.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_573" id="Page_573">[573]</a></span></p> +<h2>XLIII.</h2> + +<h3>MRS. FIRMAN.</h3> + +<div class='poem'> +Hark! she speaks. I will set down what comes from her....<br /> +Heaven knows what she has known.—<span class="smcap">Macbeth.</span><br /> +<br /><br /></div> + + +<div class='cap'>"MISS FIRMAN, I believe?" The staid, pleasant-faced +lady whom we know, but who is looking +older and considerably more careworn than when we +saw her at the coroner's inquest, rose from her chair +in her own cozy sitting-room, and surveyed her visitor +curiously. "I am Mr. Gryce," the genial voice went on. +"Perhaps the name is not familiar?"</div> + +<p>"I never heard it before," was the short but not +ungracious reply.</p> + +<p>"Well, then, let me explain," said he. "You are a +relative of the Mrs. Clemmens who was so foully murdered +in Sibley, are you not? Pardon me, but I see you +are; your expression speaks for itself." How he could +have seen her expression was a mystery to Miss Firman, +for his eyes, if not attention, were seemingly fixed upon +some object in quite a different portion of the room. +"You must, therefore," he pursued, "be in a state +of great anxiety to know who her murderer was. Now, +I am in that same state, madam; we are, therefore, +in sympathy, you see."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_574" id="Page_574">[574]</a></span></p> + +<p>The respectful smile and peculiar intonation with +which these last words were uttered, robbed them of +their familiarity and allowed Miss Firman to perceive his +true character.</p> + +<p>"You are a detective," said she, and as he did not +deny it, she went on: "You say I must be anxious to +know who my cousin's murderer was. Has Craik Mansell, +then, been acquitted?"</p> + +<p>"A verdict has not been given," said the other. "His +trial has been adjourned in order to give him an opportunity +to choose a new counsel."</p> + +<p>Miss Firman motioned her visitor to be seated, and at +once took a chair herself.</p> + +<p>"What do you want with me?" she asked, with characteristic +bluntness.</p> + +<p>The detective was silent. It was but for a moment, +but in that moment he seemed to read to the bottom of +this woman's mind.</p> + +<p>"Well," said he, "I will tell you. You believe Craik +Mansell to be innocent?"</p> + +<p>"I do," she returned.</p> + +<p>"Very well; so do I."</p> + +<p>"Let me shake hands with you," was her abrupt remark. +And without a smile she reached forth her hand, +which he took with equal gravity.</p> + +<p>This ceremony over, he remarked, with a cheerful +mien:</p> + +<p>"We are fortunately not in a court of law, and so can<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_575" id="Page_575">[575]</a></span> +talk freely together. Why do you think Mansell innocent? +I am sure the evidence has not been much +in his favor."</p> + +<p>"Why do <i>you</i> think him innocent?" was the brisk +retort.</p> + +<p>"I have talked with him."</p> + +<p>"Ah!"</p> + +<p>"I have talked with Miss Dare."</p> + +<p>A different "Ah!" this time.</p> + +<p>"And I was present when Mr. Orcutt breathed his +last."</p> + +<p>The look she gave was like cold water on Mr. Gryce's +secretly growing hopes.</p> + +<p>"What has that to do with it?" she wonderingly exclaimed.</p> + +<p>The detective took another tone.</p> + +<p>"You did not know Mr. Orcutt then?" he inquired.</p> + +<p>"I had not that honor," was the formal reply.</p> + +<p>"You have never, then, visited your cousin in +Sibley?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, I was there once; but that did not give me an +acquaintance with Mr. Orcutt."</p> + +<p>"Yet he went almost every day to her house."</p> + +<p>"And he came while I was there, but <i>that</i> did not give +me an acquaintance with him."</p> + +<p>"He was reserved, then, in his manners, uncommunicative, +possibly morose?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_576" id="Page_576">[576]</a></span></p> + +<p>"He was just what I would expect such a gentleman +to be at the table with women like my cousin +and myself."</p> + +<p>"Not morose, then; only reserved."</p> + +<p>"Exactly," the short, quick bow of the amiable spinster +seemed to assert.</p> + +<p>Mr. Gryce drew a deep breath. This well seemed to +be destitute of even a drop of moisture.</p> + +<p>"Why do you ask me about Mr. Orcutt? Has his +death in any way affected young Mansell's prospects?"</p> + +<p>"That is what I want to find out," declared Mr. +Gryce. Then, without giving her time for another question, +said: "Where did Mrs. Clemmens first make the +acquaintance of Mr. Orcutt? Wasn't it in some town +out West?"</p> + +<p>"Out West? Not to my knowledge, sir. I always +supposed she saw him first in Sibley."</p> + +<p>This well was certainly very dry.</p> + +<p>"Yet you are not positive that this is so, are you?" +pursued the patient detective. "She came from Nebraska, +and so did he; now, why may they not have +known each other there?"</p> + +<p>"I did not know that he came from Nebraska."</p> + +<p>"She has never talked about him then?"</p> + +<p>"Never."</p> + +<p>Mr. Gryce drew another deep breath and let down his +bucket again.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_577" id="Page_577">[577]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I thought your cousin spent her childhood in +Toledo?"</p> + +<p>"She did, sir."</p> + +<p>"How came she to go to Nebraska then?"</p> + +<p>"Well, she was left an orphan and had to look out for +herself. A situation in some way opened to her in Nebraska, +and she went there to take it."</p> + +<p>"A situation at what?"</p> + +<p>"As waitress in some hotel."</p> + +<p>"Humph! And was she still a waitress when she +married?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, I think so, but I am not sure about it or any +thing else in connection with her at that time. The subject +was so painful we never discussed it."</p> + +<p>"Why painful?"</p> + +<p>"She lost her husband so soon."</p> + +<p>"But you can tell me the name of the town in which +this hotel was, can you not?"</p> + +<p>"It was called Swanson then, but that was fifteen +years ago. Its name may have been changed since."</p> + +<p>Swanson! This was something to learn, but not much. +Mr. Gryce returned to his first question. "You have +not told me," said he, "why <i>you</i> believe Craik Mansell +to be innocent?"</p> + +<p>"Well," replied she, "<i>I</i> believe Craik Mansell to be +innocent because he is the son of his mother. I think I +know <i>him</i> pretty well, but I am certain I knew <i>her</i>. She +was a woman who would go through fire and water to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_578" id="Page_578">[578]</a></span> +attain a purpose she thought right, but who would stop +in the midst of any project the moment she felt the least +doubt of its being just or wise. Craik has his mother's +forehead and eyes, and no one will ever make me believe +he has not her principles also."</p> + +<p>"I coincide with you, madam," remarked the attentive +detective.</p> + +<p>"I hope the jury will," was her energetic response.</p> + +<p>He bowed and was about to attempt another question, +when an interruption occurred. Miss Firman was called +from the room, and Mr. Gryce found himself left for a +few moments alone. His thoughts, as he awaited her +return, were far from cheerful, for he saw a long and +tedious line of inquiry opening before him in the West, +which, if it did not end in failure, promised to exhaust +not only a week, but possibly many months, before certainty +of any kind could be obtained. With Miss Dare +on the verge of a fever, and Mansell in a position calling +for the utmost nerve and self-control, this prospect +looked any thing but attractive to the benevolent detective; +and, carried away by his impatience, he was about +to give utterance to an angry ejaculation against the man +he believed to be the author of all this mischief, when he +suddenly heard a voice raised from some unknown quarter +near by, saying in strange tones he was positive did +not proceed from Miss Firman:</p> + +<p>"Was it Clemmens or was it Orcutt? Clemmens or +Orcutt? I cannot remember."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_579" id="Page_579">[579]</a></span></p> + +<p>Naturally excited and aroused, Mr. Gryce rose and +looked about him. A door stood ajar at his back. +Hastening toward it, he was about to lay his hand on +the knob when Miss Firman returned.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I beg you," she entreated. "That is my +mother's room, and she is not at all well."</p> + +<p>"I was going to her assistance," asserted the detective, +with grave composure. "She has just uttered a +cry."</p> + +<p>"Oh, you don't say so!" exclaimed the unsuspicious +spinster, and hurrying forward, she threw open the door +herself. Mr. Gryce benevolently followed. "Why, she +is asleep," protested Miss Firman, turning on the detective +with a suspicious look.</p> + +<p>Mr. Gryce, with a glance toward the bed he saw before +him, bowed with seeming perplexity.</p> + +<p>"She certainly appears to be," said he, "and yet I am +positive she spoke but an instant ago; I can even tell you +the words she used."</p> + +<p>"What were they?" asked the spinster, with something +like a look of concern.</p> + +<p>"She said: 'Was it Clemmens or was it Orcutt? Clemmens +or Orcutt? I cannot remember.'"</p> + +<p>"You don't say so! Poor ma! She was dreaming. +Come into the other room and I will explain."</p> + +<p>And leading the way back to the apartment they had +left, she motioned him again toward a chair, and then +said:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_580" id="Page_580">[580]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Ma has always been a very hale and active woman for +her years; but this murder seems to have shaken her. To +speak the truth, sir, she has not been quite right in her +mind since the day I told her of it; and I often detect +her murmuring words similar to those you have just +heard."</p> + +<p>"Humph! And does she often use his name?"</p> + +<p>"Whose name?"</p> + +<p>"Mr. Orcutt's."</p> + +<p>"Why, yes; but not with any understanding of whom +she is speaking."</p> + +<p>"Are you <i>sure?</i>" inquired Mr. Gryce, with that peculiar +impressiveness he used on great occasions.</p> + +<p>"What do you mean?"</p> + +<p>"I mean," returned the detective, dryly, "that I believe +your mother does know what she is talking about when +she links the name of Mr. Orcutt with that of your cousin +who was murdered. They belong together; Mr. Orcutt +was her murderer."</p> + +<p>"<i>Mr. Orcutt?</i>"</p> + +<p>"Hush!" cried Mr. Gryce, "you will wake up your +mother."</p> + +<p>And, adapting himself to this emergency as to all others, +he talked with the astounded and incredulous woman +before him till she was in a condition not only to listen to +his explanations, but to discuss the problem of a crime so +seemingly without motive. He then said, with easy assurance:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_581" id="Page_581">[581]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Your mother does not know that Mr. Orcutt is +dead?"</p> + +<p>"No, sir."</p> + +<p>"She does not even know he was counsel for Craik +Mansell in the trial now going on."</p> + +<p>"How do you know that?" inquired Miss Firman, +grimly.</p> + +<p>"Because I do not believe you have even told her that +Craik Mansell was on trial."</p> + +<p>"Sir, you are a magician."</p> + +<p>"Have you, madam?"</p> + +<p>"No, sir, I have not."</p> + +<p>"Very good; what <i>does</i> she know about Mr. Orcutt, +then; and why should she connect his name with Mrs. +Clemmens?"</p> + +<p>"She knows he was her boarder, and that he was the +first one to discover she had been murdered."</p> + +<p>"That is not enough to account for her frequent repetition +of his name."</p> + +<p>"You think not?"</p> + +<p>"I am sure not. Cannot your mother have some +memories connected with his name of which you are ignorant?"</p> + +<p>"No, sir; we have lived together in this house for +twenty-five years, and have never had a thought we have +not shared together. Ma could not have known any +thing about him or Mary Ann which I did not. The +words she has just spoken sprang from mental confusion. +She is almost like a child sometimes."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_582" id="Page_582">[582]</a></span></p> + +<p>Mr. Gryce smiled. If the cream-jug he happened to +be gazing at on a tray near by had been full of cream, I +am far from certain it would not have turned sour on the +spot.</p> + +<p>"I grant the mental confusion," said he; "but why +should she confuse those two names in preference to all +others?" And, with quiet persistence, he remarked again: +"She may be recalling some old fact of years ago. Was +there never a time, even while you lived here together, +when she could have received some confidence from Mrs. +Clemmens——"</p> + +<p>"Mary Ann, Mary Ann!" came in querulous accents +from the other room, "I wish you had not told me; Emily +would be a better one to know your secret."</p> + +<p>It was a startling interruption to come just at that moment +The two surprised listeners glanced toward each +other, and Miss Firman colored.</p> + +<p>"That sounds as if your surmise was true," she dryly +observed.</p> + +<p>"Let us make an experiment," said he, and motioned +her to re-enter her mother's room, which she did with a +precipitation that showed her composure had been sorely +shaken by these unexpected occurrences.</p> + +<p>He followed her without ceremony.</p> + +<p>The old lady lay as before in a condition between +sleeping and waking, and did not move as they came in. +Mr. Gryce at once withdrew out of sight, and, with finger +on his lip, put himself in the attitude of waiting. Miss<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_583" id="Page_583">[583]</a></span> +Firman, surprised, and possibly curious, took her stand +at the foot of the bed.</p> + +<p>A few minutes passed thus, during which a strange +dreariness seemed to settle upon the room; then the old +lady spoke again, this time repeating the words he had +first heard, but in a tone which betrayed an increased +perplexity.</p> + +<p>"<i>Was</i> it Clemmens or <i>was</i> it Orcutt? I wish somebody +would tell me."</p> + +<p>Instantly Mr. Gryce, with his soft tread, drew near to +the old lady's side, and, leaning over her, murmured +gently:</p> + +<p>"I think it was Orcutt."</p> + +<p>Instantly the old lady breathed a deep sigh and moved.</p> + +<p>"Then her name was Mrs. Orcutt," said she, "and I +thought you always called her Clemmens."</p> + +<p>Miss Firman, recoiling, stared at Mr. Gryce, on whose +cheek a faint spot of red had appeared—a most unusual +token of emotion with him.</p> + +<p>"Did she say it was Mrs. Orcutt," he pursued, in the +even tones he had before used.</p> + +<p>"She said——" But here the old lady opened her +eyes, and, seeing her daughter standing at the foot of her +bed, turned away with a peevish air, and restlessly pushed +her hand under the pillow.</p> + +<p>Mr. Gryce at once bent nearer.</p> + +<p>"She said——" he suggested, with careful gentleness.</p> + +<p>But the old lady made no answer. Her hand seemed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_584" id="Page_584">[584]</a></span> +to have touched some object for which she was seeking, +and she was evidently oblivious to all else. Miss Firman +came around and touched Mr. Gryce on the shoulder.</p> + +<p>"It is useless," said she; "she is awake now, and you +won't hear any thing more; come!"</p> + +<p>And she drew the reluctant detective back again into +the other room.</p> + +<p>"What does it all mean?" she asked, sinking into a +chair.</p> + +<p>Mr. Gryce did not answer. He had a question of his +own to put.</p> + +<p>"Why did your mother put her hand under her pillow?" +he asked.</p> + +<p>"I don't know, unless it was to see if her big envelope +was there."</p> + +<p>"Her big envelope?"</p> + +<p>"Yes; for weeks now, ever since she took to her bed, +she has kept a paper in a big envelope under her pillow. +What is in it I don't know, for she never seems to hear +me when I inquire."</p> + +<p>"And have you no curiosity to find out?"</p> + +<p>"No, sir. Why should I? It might easily be my +father's old letters sealed up, or, for that matter, be nothing +more than a piece of blank paper. My mother is not +herself, as I have said before."</p> + +<p>"I should like a peep at the contents of that envelope," +he declared.</p> + +<p>"You?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_585" id="Page_585">[585]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Is there any name written on the outside?"</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>"It would not be violating any one's rights, then, if +you opened it."</p> + +<p>"Only my mother's, sir."</p> + +<p>"You say she is not in her right mind?"</p> + +<p>"All the more reason why I should respect her whims +and caprices."</p> + +<p>"Wouldn't you open it if she were dead?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"Will it be very different then from what it is now? +A father's letters! a blank piece of paper! What harm +would there be in looking at them?"</p> + +<p>"My mother would know it if I took them away. It +might excite and injure her."</p> + +<p>"Put another envelope in the place of this one, with a +piece of paper folded up in it."</p> + +<p>"It would be a trick."</p> + +<p>"I know it; but if Craik Mansell can be saved even by +a trick, I should think you would be willing to venture +on one."</p> + +<p>"Craik Mansell? What has he got to do with the +papers under my mother's pillow?"</p> + +<p>"I cannot say that he has any thing to do with them; +but if he has—if, for instance, that envelope should contain, +not a piece of blank paper, or even the letters of +your father, but such a document, say, as a certificate of +marriage——"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_586" id="Page_586">[586]</a></span></p> + +<p>"A certificate of marriage?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, between Mrs. Clemmens and Mr. Orcutt, it +would not take much perspicacity to prophesy an +acquittal for Craik Mansell."</p> + +<p>"Mary Ann the wife of Mr. Orcutt! Oh, that is impossible!" +exclaimed the agitated spinster. But even +while making this determined statement, she turned a +look full of curiosity and excitement toward the door +which separated them from her mother's apartment.</p> + +<p>Mr. Gryce smiled in his wise way.</p> + +<p>"Less improbable things than that have been found to +be true in this topsy-turvy world," said he. "Mrs. Clemmens +might very well have been Mrs. Orcutt."</p> + +<p>"Do you really think so?" she asked; and yielding with +sudden impetuosity to the curiosity of the moment, she +at once dashed from his side and disappeared in her +mother's room. Mr. Gryce's smile took on an aspect of +triumph.</p> + +<p>It was some few moments before she returned, but +when she did, her countenance was flushed with emotion.</p> + +<p>"I have it," she murmured, taking out a packet from +under her apron and tearing it open with trembling +fingers.</p> + +<p>A number of closely written sheets fell out.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_587" id="Page_587">[587]</a></span></p> +<h2>XLIV.</h2> + +<h3>THE WIDOW CLEMMENS.</h3> + +<div class='poem'> +<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">Discovered</span><br /> +The secret that so long had hovered<br /> +Upon the misty verge of Truth.—<span class="smcap">Longfellow.</span><br /> +<br /><br /></div> + + +<div class='cap'>"WELL, and what have you to say?" It was Mr. +Ferris who spoke. The week which Mr. +Gryce had demanded for his inquiries had fully elapsed, +and the three detectives stood before him ready with +their report.</div> + +<p>It was Mr. Gryce who replied.</p> + +<p>"Sir," said he, "our opinions have not been changed +by the discoveries which we have made. It was Mr. +Orcutt who killed Mrs. Clemmens, and for the reason +already stated that she stood in the way of his marrying +Miss Dare. Mrs. Clemmens was his wife."</p> + +<p>"His <i>wife?</i>"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir; and, what is more, she has been so for +years; before either of them came to Sibley, in fact."</p> + +<p>The District Attorney looked stunned.</p> + +<p>"It was while they lived West," said Byrd. "He was +a poor school-master, and she a waitress in some hotel. +She was pretty then, and he thought he loved her. At +all events, he induced her to marry him, and then kept it<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_588" id="Page_588">[588]</a></span> +secret because he was afraid she would lose her place at +the hotel, where she was getting very good wages. You +see, he had the makings in him of a villain even then."</p> + +<p>"And was it a real marriage?"</p> + +<p>"There is a record of it," said Hickory.</p> + +<p>"And did he never acknowledge it?"</p> + +<p>"Not openly," answered Byrd. "The commonness of +the woman seemed to revolt him after he was married to +her, and when in a month or so he received the summons +East, which opened up before him the career of a lawyer, +he determined to drop her and start afresh. He accordingly +left town without notifying her, and actually succeeded +in reaching the railway depot twenty miles away +before he was stopped. But here, a delay occurring in +the departure of the train, she was enabled to overtake +him, and a stormy scene ensued. What its exact nature +was, we, of course, cannot say, but from the results it is +evident that he told her his prospects had changed, and +with them his tastes and requirements; that she was not +the woman he thought her, and that he could not and +would not take her East with him as his wife: while she, +on her side, displayed full as much spirit as he, and replied +that if he could desert her like this he wasn't the +kind of a man she could live with, and that he could go +if he wished; only that he must acknowledge her claims +upon him by giving her a yearly stipend, according to +his income and success. At all events, some such compromise +was effected, for he came East and she went<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_589" id="Page_589">[589]</a></span> +back to Swanson. She did not stay there long, however; +for the next we know she was in Sibley, where she set up +her own little house-keeping arrangements under his very +eye. More than that, she prevailed upon him to visit her +daily, and even to take a meal at her house, her sense of +justice seeming to be satisfied if he showed her this little +attention and gave to no other woman the place he +denied her. It was the weakness shown in this last requirement +that doubtless led to her death. She would +stand any thing but a rival. He knew this, and preferred +crime to the loss of the woman he loved."</p> + +<p>"You speak very knowingly," said Mr. Ferris. "May +I ask where you received your information?"</p> + +<p>It was Mr. Gryce who answered.</p> + +<p>"From letters. Mrs. Clemmens was one of those women +who delight in putting their feelings on paper. Fortunately +for us, such women are not rare. See here!" +And he pulled out before the District Attorney a pile of +old letters in the widow's well-known handwriting.</p> + +<p>"Where did you find these?" asked Mr. Ferris.</p> + +<p>"Well," said Mr. Gryce, "I found them in rather +a curious place. They were in the keeping of old Mrs. +Firman, Miss Firman's mother. Mrs. Clemmens, or, +rather, Mrs. Orcutt, got frightened some two years ago at +the disappearance of her marriage certificate from the +place where she had always kept it hidden, and, thinking +that Mr. Orcutt was planning to throw her off, she +resolved to provide herself with a confidante capable of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_590" id="Page_590">[590]</a></span> +standing by her in case she wished to assert her rights. +She chose old Mrs. Firman. Why, when her daughter +would have been so much more suitable for the purpose, +it is hard to tell; possibly the widow's pride revolted +from telling a woman of her own years the indignities +she had suffered. However that may be, it was to +the old lady she told her story and gave these letters—letters +which, as you will see, are not written to any +special person, but are rather the separate leaves of +a journal which she kept to show the state of her feelings +from time to time."</p> + +<p>"And this?" inquired Mr. Ferris, taking up a sheet +of paper written in a different handwriting from the +rest.</p> + +<p>"This is an attempt on the part of the old lady to put +on paper the story which had been told her. She evidently +thought herself too old to be entrusted with a secret +so important, and, fearing loss of memory, or perhaps +sudden death, took this means of explaining how she +came into possession of her cousin's letters. 'T was a +wise precaution. Without it we would have missed the +clue to the widow's journal. For the old lady's brain +gave way when she heard of the widow's death, and had +it not been for a special stroke of good-luck on my +part, we might have remained some time longer in +ignorance of what very valuable papers she secretly held +in her possession."</p> + +<p>"I will read the letters," said Mr. Ferris.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_591" id="Page_591">[591]</a></span></p> + +<p>Seeing from his look that he only waited their departure +to do so, Mr. Gryce and his <ins title="Transcriber's Note: original reads 'surbordinates'">subordinates</ins> arose.</p> + +<p>"I think you will find them satisfactory," drawled +Hickory.</p> + +<p>"If you do not," said Mr. Gryce, "then give a look at +this telegram. It is from Swanson, and notifies us that a +record of a marriage between Benjamin Orcutt—Mr. +Orcutt's middle name was Benjamin—and Mary Mansell +can be found in the old town books."</p> + +<p>Mr. Ferris took the telegram, the shade of sorrow settling +heavier and heavier on his brow.</p> + +<p>"I see," said he, "I have got to accept your conclusions. +Well, there are those among the living who +will be greatly relieved by these discoveries. I will try +and think of that."</p> + +<p>Yet, after the detectives were gone, and he sat down in +solitude before these evidences of his friend's perfidy, it +was many long and dreary moments before he could summon +up courage to peruse them. But when he did, he +found in them all that Mr. Gryce had promised. As my +readers may feel some interest to know how the seeming +widow bore the daily trial of her life, I will give a few +extracts from these letters. The first bears date of fourteen +years back, and was written after she came to +Sibley:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"<span class="smcap">November 8, 1867.</span>—In the same town! Within a +stone's throw of the court-house, where, they tell me, his +business will soon take him almost every day! Isn't it +a triumph? and am I not to be congratulated upon my<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_592" id="Page_592">[592]</a></span> +bravery in coming here? He hasn't seen me yet, but I +have seen <i>him</i>. I crept out of the house at nightfall on +purpose. He was sauntering down the street and he +looked—it makes my blood boil to think of it—he looked +<i>happy</i>."</p> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">November 10, 1867.</span>—Clemmens, Clemmens—that +is my name, and I have taken the title of widow. +What a fate for a woman with a husband in the next +street! He saw <i>me</i> to-day. I met him in the open +square, and I looked him right in the face. How he did +quail! It just does me good to think of it! Perk and +haughty as he is, he grew as white as a sheet when he saw +me, and though he tried to put on airs and carry it off +with a high hand, he failed, just as I knew he would +when he came to meet me on even ground. Oh, I'll +have my way now, and if I choose to stay in this place +where I can keep my eye on him, he won't dare to say +No. The only thing I fear is that he will do me a secret +mischief some day. His look was just murderous when +he left me."</p> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">February 24, 1868.</span>—Can I stand it? I ask myself +that question every morning when I get up. Can I stand +it? To sit all alone in my little narrow room and know +that he is going about as gay as you please with people +who wouldn't look at me twice. It's awful hard; but +it would be worse still to be where I couldn't see what +he was up to. Then I should imagine all sorts of things. +No, I will just grit my teeth and bear it. I'll get used +to it after a while."</p> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">October 7, 1868.</span>—If he says he never loved me he +lies. He did, or why did he marry me? I never asked +him to. He teased me into it, saying my saucy ways had +bewitched him. A month after, it was common ways, +rude ways, such ways as he wouldn't have in a wife. +That's the kind of man he is."</p> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">May 11, 1869.</span>—One thing I will say of him. He +don't pay no heed to women. He's too busy, I guess. +He don't seem to think of any thing but to get along,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_593" id="Page_593">[593]</a></span> +and he does get along remarkable. I'm awful proud of +him. He's taken to defending criminals lately. They +almost all get off."</p> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">October 5, 1870.</span>—He pays me but a pittance. How +can I look like any thing, or hold my head up with the +ladies here if I cannot get enough together to buy me a +new fall hat. I <i>will</i> not go to church looking like a +farmer's wife, if I haven't any education or any manners. +I'm as good as anybody here if they but knew it, +and deserve to dress as well. He <i>must</i> give me more +money."</p> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">November 2, 1870.</span>—No, he sha'n't give me a +cent more. If I can't go to church I will stay at home. +He sha'n't say I stood in his way of becoming a +great man. He <i>is</i> too good for me. I saw it to-day +when he got up in the court to speak. I was there +with a thick veil over my face, for I was determined +to know whether he was as smart as folks say or not. +And he just is! Oh, how beautiful he did look, and +how everybody held their breaths while he was speaking! +I felt like jumping up and saying: 'This is my +husband; we were married three years ago.' Wouldn't +I have raised a rumpus if I had! I guess the poor +man he was pleading for would not have been remembered +very long after that. My husband! the thought +makes me laugh. No other woman can call him that, +anyhow. He is mine, <i>mine</i>, <i>mine</i>, and I mean he shall +stay so."</p> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">January 9, 1871.</span>—I feel awful blue to-night. I +have been thinking about those Hildreths. How they +would like to have me dead! And so would Tremont, +though he don't say nothing. I like to call him Tremont; +it makes me feel as if he belonged to me. What if that +wicked Gouverneur Hildreth should know I lived so much +alone? I don't believe he would stop at killing me! And +my husband! He is equal to telling him I have no protector. +Oh, what a dreadful wickedness it is in me to put +that down on paper! It isn't so—it isn't so; my husband<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_594" id="Page_594">[594]</a></span> +wouldn't do me any harm if he could. If ever I'm found +dead in my bed, it will be the work of that Toledo man +and of nobody else."</p> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">March 2, 1872.</span>—I hope I am going to have some +comfort now. Tremont has begun to pay me more +money. He <i>had</i> to. He isn't a poor man any more, +and when he moves into his big house, I am going to move +into a certain little cottage I have found, just around the +corner. If I can't have no other pleasures, I will at least +have a kitchen I can call my own, and a parlor too. +What if there don't no company come to it; they would +if they <i>knew</i>. I've just heard from Adelaide; she says +Craik is getting to be a big boy, and is so smart."</p> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">June 10, 1872.</span>—What's the use of having a home? I +declare I feel just like breaking down and crying. I don't +want company: if women folks, they're always talking +about their husbands and children; and if men, they're +always saying: 'My wife's this, and my wife's that.' +But I do want <i>him</i>. It's my right; what if I couldn't +say three words to him that was agreeable, I could look +at him and think: 'This splendid gentleman is my husband, +I ain't so much alone in the world as folks think.' +I'll put on my bonnet and run down the street. Perhaps +I'll see him sitting in the club-house window!"</p> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">Evening.</span>—I hate him. He has a hard, cruel, wicked +heart. When I got to the club-house window he was sitting +there, so I just went walking by, and he saw me and +came out and hustled me away with terrible words, saying +he wouldn't have me hanging round where he was; that +I had promised not to bother him, and that I must keep my +word, or he would see me—he didn't say where, but it's +easy enough to guess. So—so! he thinks he'll put an +end to my coming to see him, does he? Well, perhaps he +can; but if he does, he shall pay for it by coming to see +me. I'll not sit day in and day out alone without the +glimpse of a face I love, not while I have a husband in +the same town with me. He shall come, if it is only for +a moment each day, or I'll dare every thing and tell the +world I am his wife."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_595" id="Page_595">[595]</a></span></p> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">June 16, 1872.</span>—He had to consent! Meek as I +have been, he knows it won't do to rouse me too much. +So to-day he came in to dinner, and he had to acknowledge +it was a good one. Oh, how I did feel when I saw +his face on the other side of the table! I didn't know +whether I hated him or loved him. But I am sure now I +hated him, for he scarcely spoke to me all the time he was +eating, and when he was through, he went away just as a +stranger would have done. He means to act like a boarder, +and, goodness me, he's welcome to if he isn't going to +act like a husband! The hard, selfish—— Oh, oh, I +love him!"</p> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">August 5, 1872.</span>—It is no use; I'll never be a +happy woman. Tremont has been in so regularly to dinner +lately, and shown me such a kind face, I thought I +would venture upon a little familiarity. It was only to lay +my hand upon his arm, but it made him very angry, and I +thought he would strike me. Am I then actually hateful +to him? or is he so proud he cannot bear the thought of +my having the right to touch him? I looked in the glass +when he went out. I <i>am</i> plain and homespun, that's a +fact. Even my red cheeks are gone, and the dimples +which once took his fancy. I shall never lay the tip of +a finger on him again."</p> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">February 13, 1873.</span>—What shall I cook for him +to-day? Some thing that he likes. It is my only pleasure, +to see how he does enjoy my meals. I should think +they would choke him; they do me sometimes. But men +are made of iron—ambitious men, anyhow. Little they +care what suffering they cause, so long as they have a +good time and get all the praises they want. <i>He</i> gets them +more and more every day. He will soon be as far above +me as if I had married the President himself. Oh, sometimes +when I think of it and remember he is my own husband, +I just feel as if some awful fate was preparing for +him or me!"</p> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">June 7, 1873.</span>—Would he send for me if he was +dying? No. He hates me; he hates me."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_596" id="Page_596">[596]</a></span></p> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">September 8, 1874.</span>—Craik was here to-day; he is +just going North to earn a few dollars in the logging business. +What a keen eye he has for a boy of his years! I +shouldn't wonder if he made a powerful smart man some +day. If he's only good, too, and kind to his women-folks, +I sha'n't mind. But a smart man who is all +for himself is an awful trial to those who love him. +Don't I know? Haven't I suffered? Craik must never +be like him."</p> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">December 21, 1875.</span>—One thousand dollars. That's +a nice little sum to have put away in the bank. So +much I get out of my husband's fame, anyhow. I +think I will make my will, for I want Craik to have what +I leave. He's a fine lad."</p> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">February 19, 1876.</span>—I was thinking the other day, +suppose I did die suddenly. It would be dreadful to +have the name of Clemmens put on my tombstone! But +it would be. Tremont would never let the truth be +known, if he had to rifle my dead body for my marriage +certificate. What shall I do, then? Tell anybody who +I am? It seems just as if I couldn't. Either the whole +world must know it, or just himself and me alone. Oh, I +wish I had never been born!"</p> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">June 17, 1876.</span>—Why wasn't I made handsome +and fine and nice? Think where I would be if I was! +I'd be in that big house of his, curtesying to all the +grand folks as go there. I went to see it last night. It +was dark as pitch in the streets, and I went into the gate +and all around the house. I walked upon the piazza too, +and rubbed my hand along the window-ledges and up +and down the doors. It's mighty nice, all of it, and +there sha'n't lie a square inch on that whole ground that +my foot sha'n't go over. I wish I could get inside the +house once."</p> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">July 1, 1876.</span>—I have done it. I went to see Mr. +Orcutt's sister. I had a right. Isn't he away, and +isn't he my boarder, and didn't I want to know when +he was coming home? She's a soft, good-natured<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_597" id="Page_597">[597]</a></span> +piece, and let me peek into the library without saying a +word. What a room it is! I just felt like I'd been +struck when I saw it and spied his chair setting there +and all those books heaped around and the fine things on +the mantel-shelf and the pictures on the walls. What +would I do in such a place as that? I could keep it +clean, but so could any gal he might hire. Oh, me! Oh, +me! I wish he'd given me a chance. Perhaps if he had +loved me I might have learned to be quiet and nice like +that silly sister of his."</p> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">January 12, 1877.</span>—Some women would take a +heap of delight in having folks know they were the +wife of a great man, but I find lots of pleasure in being +so without folks knowing it. If I lived in his big house +and was called Mrs. Orcutt, why, he would have nothing +to be afraid of and might do as he pleased; but +now he has to do what <i>I</i> please. Sometimes, when I sit +down of an evening in my little sitting-room to sew, I +think how this famous man whom everybody is afraid of +has to come and go just as humble me wants him to; +and it makes me hug myself with pride. It's as if I +had a string tied round his little finger, which I can pull +now and then. I don't pull it much; but I do sometimes."</p> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">March 30, 1877.</span>—Gouverneur Hildreth is dead. I +shall never be his victim, at any rate. Shall I ever be the +victim of anybody? I don't feel as if I cared now. For +one kiss I would sell my life and die happy.</p> + +<p>"There is a young Gouverneur, but it will be years +before he will be old enough to make me afraid of +him."</p> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">November 16, 1878.</span>—I should think that Tremont +would be lonely in that big house of his. If he +had a heart he would. They say he reads all the time. +How can folks pore so over books? I can't. I'd +rather sit in my chair and think. What story in all the +books is equal to mine?"</p> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">April 23, 1879.</span>—I am growing very settled in my<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_598" id="Page_598">[598]</a></span> +ways. Now that Tremont comes in almost every day, +I'm satisfied not to see any other company. My house +affairs keep me busy too. I like to have it all nice for +him. I believe I could almost be happy if he'd only +smile once in a while when he meets my eye. But he +never does. Oh, well, we all have our crosses, and he's +a very great man."</p> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">January 18, 1880.</span>—He went to a ball last night. +What does it mean? He never seemed to care for +things like that. Is there any girl he is after?"</p> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">February 6, 1880.</span>—Oh, he has been riding with +a lady, has he? It was in the next town, and he thought +I wouldn't hear. But there's little he does that I don't +know about; let him make himself sure of that. I even +know her name; it is Selina Pratt. If he goes with her +again, look out for a disturbance. I'll not stand his +making love to another woman."</p> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">May 26, 1880.</span>—My marriage certificate is missing. +Can it be that Tremont has taken it? I have looked all +through the desk where I have kept it for so many years, +but I cannot find it. He was left alone in the house a +few minutes the other day. Could he have taken the +chance to rob me of the only proof I have that we are +man and wife? If he has he is a villain at heart, and is +capable of doing any thing, even of marrying this Pratt +girl who he <i>has</i> taken riding again. The worst is that I +dare not accuse him of having my certificate; for if he +didn't take it and should find out it is gone, he'd throw +me off just as quick as if he had. What shall I do then? +Something. He shall <i>never</i> marry another woman while +I live."</p> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">May 30, 1880.</span>—The Pratt girl is gone. If he +cared for her it was only for a week, like an old love I +could mention. I think I feel safe again, only I am convinced +some one ought to know my secret besides myself. +Shall it be Emily? No. I'd rather tell her mother."</p> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">June 9th, 1880.</span>—I am going to Utica. I shall take<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_599" id="Page_599">[599]</a></span> +these letters with me. Perhaps I shall leave them. For +the last time, then, let me say 'I am the lawful wife of +Tremont Benjamin Orcutt, the lawyer, who lives in Sibley, +New York.' We were married in Swanson, Nevada, +on the 3d of July, 1867, by a travelling minister, named +George Sinclair.</p> + +<div class='sig'> +"<span class="smcap">Mary Ann Orcutt</span>, Sibley, N. Y."<br /> +</div></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_600" id="Page_600">[600]</a></span></p> +<h2>XLV.</h2> + +<h3>MR. GRYCE SAYS GOOD-BYE.</h3> + +<div class='center'> +There still are many rainbows in your sky.—<span class="smcap">Byron.</span><br /> +<br /><br /></div> + + +<div class='cap'>"HELEN?"</div> + +<p>"Yes, Imogene."</p> + +<p>"What noise is that? The people seem to be shouting +down the street. What does it mean?"</p> + +<p>Helen Richmond—whom we better know as Helen +Darling—looked at the worn, fever-flushed countenance +of her friend, and for a moment was silent; then she +whispered:</p> + +<p>"I have not dared to tell you before, you seemed so +ill; but I can tell you now, because joyful news never +hurts. The people shout because the long and tedious +trial of an innocent man has come to an end. Craik +Mansell was acquitted from the charge of murder this +morning."</p> + +<p>"Acquitted! O Helen!"</p> + +<p>"Yes, dear. Since you have been ill, very strange +and solemn revelations have come to light. Mr. Orcutt——"</p> + +<p>"Ah!" cried Imogene, rising up in the great arm-chair +in which she was half-sitting and half-reclining.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_601" id="Page_601">[601]</a></span> +"I know what you are going to say. I was with Mr. +Orcutt when he died. I heard him myself declare that +fate had spoken in his death. I believe Mr. Orcutt to +have been the murderer of Mrs. Clemmens, Helen."</p> + +<p>"Yes, there can be no doubt about that," was the +reply.</p> + +<p>"It has been proved then?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>Moved to the depths of her being, Imogene covered +her face with her hands. Presently she murmured:</p> + +<p>"I do not understand it. Why should such a great +man as he have desired the death of a woman like her? +He said it was all for my sake. What did he mean, +Helen?"</p> + +<p>"Don't you know?" questioned the other, anxiously.</p> + +<p>"How should I? It is the mystery of mysteries to +me."</p> + +<p>"Ah, then you did not suspect that she was his +wife?"</p> + +<p>"His wife!" Imogene rose in horror.</p> + +<p>"Yes," repeated the little bride with decision. "She +was his lawfully wedded wife. They were married as +long ago as when we were little children."</p> + +<p>"Married! And he dared to approach me with words +of love! Dared to offer himself to me as a husband +while his hands were still wet with the life-blood of his +wife! O the horror of it! The amazing wickedness +and presumption of it!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_602" id="Page_602">[602]</a></span></p> + +<p>"He is dead," whispered the gentle little lady at her +side.</p> + +<p>With a sigh of suppressed feeling, Imogene sank back.</p> + +<p>"I must not think of him," she cried. "I am not +strong enough. I must think only of Craik. He has +been acquitted, you say—acquitted."</p> + +<p>"Yes, and the whole town is rejoicing."</p> + +<p>A smile, exquisite as it was rare, swept like a sunbeam +over Imogene's lips.</p> + +<p>"And I rejoice with the rest," she cried. Then, as if +she felt all speech to be a mockery, she remained for a +long time silent, gazing with ever-deepening expression +into the space before her, till Helen did not know +whether the awe she felt creeping over her sprang from +admiration of her companion's suddenly awakened beauty +or from a recognition of the depths of that companion's +emotions. At last Imogene spoke:</p> + +<p>"How came Mr. Mansell to be <i>acquitted?</i> Mr. Gryce +did not tell me to look for any such reinstatement as +that. The most he bade me expect was that Mr. Ferris +would decline to prosecute Mr. Mansell any further, in +which event he would be discharged."</p> + +<p>"I know," said Helen, "but Mr. Mansell was not satisfied +with that. He demanded a verdict from the jury. +So Mr. Ferris, with great generosity, asked the Judge to +recommend the jury to bring in a verdict of acquittal, +and when the Judge hesitated to do this, the foreman of +the jury himself rose, and intimated that he thought the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_603" id="Page_603">[603]</a></span> +jury were ready with their verdict. The Judge took advantage +of this, and the result was a triumphant acquittal."</p> + +<p>"O Helen, Helen!"</p> + +<p>"That was just an hour ago," cried the little lady, +brightly, "but the people are not through shouting yet. +There has been a great excitement in town these last few +days."</p> + +<p>"And I knew nothing of it!" exclaimed Imogene. +Suddenly she looked at Helen. "How did you hear +about what took place in the court-room to-day?" she +asked.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Byrd told me."</p> + +<p>"Ah, Mr. Byrd?"</p> + +<p>"He came to leave a good-bye for you. He goes +home this afternoon."</p> + +<p>"I should like to have seen Mr. Byrd," said Imogene.</p> + +<p>"Would you?" queried the little lady, quietly shaking +her head. "I don't know; I think it is just as well you +did not see him," said she.</p> + +<p>But she made no such demur when a little while later +Mr. Gryce was announced. The fatherly old gentleman +had evidently been in that house before, and Mrs. Richmond +was not the woman to withstand a man like him.</p> + +<p>He came immediately into the room where Imogene +was sitting. Evidently he thought as Helen did, that +good news never hurts.</p> + +<p>"Well!" he cried, taking her trembling hand in his,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_604" id="Page_604">[604]</a></span> +with his most expressive smile. "What did I tell you? +Didn't I say that if you would only trust me all would +come right? And it has, don't you see? Right as a +trivet."</p> + +<p>"Yes," she returned; "and I never can find words +with which to express my gratitude. You have saved +two lives, Mr. Gryce: his—and mine."</p> + +<p>"Pooh! pooh!" cried the detective, good-humoredly. +"You mustn't think too much of any thing I have done. +It was the falling limb that did the business. If Mr. +Orcutt's conscience had not been awakened by the stroke +of death, I don't know where we should have been to-day. +Affairs were beginning to look pretty dark for +Mansell."</p> + +<p>Imogene shuddered.</p> + +<p>"But I haven't come here to call up unpleasant memories," +he continued. "I have come to wish you joy and +a happy convalescence." And leaning toward her, he +said, with a complete change of voice: "You know, I +suppose, why Mr. Mansell presumed to think <i>you</i> guilty +of this crime?"</p> + +<p>"No," she murmured, wearily; "unless it was because +the ring he believed me to have retained was found on +the scene of murder."</p> + +<p>"Bah!" cried Mr. Gryce, "he had a much better +reason than that."</p> + +<p>And with the air of one who wishes to clear up all misunderstandings, +he told her the words which her lover<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_605" id="Page_605">[605]</a></span> +had overheard Mrs. Clemmens say when he came up to +her dining-room door.</p> + +<p>The effect on Imogene was very great. Hoping to +hide it, she turned away her face, showing in this struggle +with herself something of the strength of her old days. +Mr. Gryce watched her with interest.</p> + +<p>"It is very strange," was her first remark. "I had +such reasons for thinking him guilty; he such good +cause for thinking me so. What wonder we doubted +each other. And yet I can never forgive myself for +doubting him; I can sooner forgive him for doubting +me. If you see him——"</p> + +<p>"If <i>I</i> see him?" interrupted the detective, with a +smile.</p> + +<p>"Yes," said she. "If you see him tell him that Imogene +Dare thanks him for his noble conduct toward one +he believed to be stained by so despicable a crime, and +assure him that I think he was much more justified in his +suspicions than I was in mine, for there were weaknesses +in my character which he had ample opportunities for +observing, while all that I knew of him was to his credit."</p> + +<p>"Miss Dare," suggested the detective, "couldn't you +tell him this much better yourself?"</p> + +<p>"I shall not have the opportunity," she said.</p> + +<p>"And why?" he inquired.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Mansell and I have met for the last time. A +woman who has stained herself by such declarations as +I made use of in court the last time I was called to the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_606" id="Page_606">[606]</a></span> +stand has created a barrier between herself and all earthly +friendship. Even he for whom I perjured myself so +basely cannot overleap the gulf I dug between us two +that day."</p> + +<p>"But that is hard," said Mr. Gryce.</p> + +<p>"My life <i>is</i> hard," she answered.</p> + +<p>The wise old man, who had seen so much of life and +who knew the human heart so well, smiled, but did not +reply. He turned instead to another subject.</p> + +<p>"Well," he declared, "the great case is over! Sibley, +satisfied with having made its mark in the world, will now +rest in peace. I quit the place with some reluctance myself. +'Tis a mighty pretty spot to do business in."</p> + +<p>"You are going?" she asked.</p> + +<p>"Immediately," was the reply. "We detectives don't +have much time to rest." Then, as he saw how deep a +shadow lay upon her brow, added, confidentially: "Miss +Dare, we all have occasions for great regret. Look at +me now. Honest as I hold myself to be, I cannot blind +myself to the fact that I am the possible instigator of this +crime. If I had not shown Mr. Orcutt how a man like +himself might perpetrate a murder without rousing suspicion, +he might never have summoned up courage to +attempt it. For a detective with a conscience, that is a +hard thought to bear."</p> + +<p>"But you were ignorant of what you were doing," she +protested. "You had no idea there was any one present +who was meditating crime."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_607" id="Page_607">[607]</a></span></p> + +<p>"True; but a detective shouldn't be ignorant. He +ought to know men; he has opportunity enough to learn +them. But I won't be caught again. Never in any company, +not if it is composed of the highest dignitaries in +the land, will I ever tell again how a crime of any +kind can be perpetrated without risk. One always runs +the chance of encountering an Orcutt."</p> + +<p>Imogene turned pale. "Do not speak of him," she +cried. "I want to forget that such a man ever lived."</p> + +<p>Mr. Gryce smiled again.</p> + +<p>"It is the best thing you can do," said he. "Begin a +new life, my child; begin a new life."</p> + +<p>And with this fatherly advice, he said good-bye, and she +saw his wise, kind face no more.</p> + +<p>The hour that followed was a dreary one for Imogene. +Her joy at knowing Craik Mansell was released could not +blind her to the realization of her own ruined life. +Indeed she seemed to feel it now as never before; and as +the slow minutes passed, and she saw in fancy the strong +figure of Mansell surrounded by congratulating admirers +and friends, the full loneliness of her position swept over +her, and she knew not whether to be thankful or not to +the fever for having spared her blighted and dishonored +life.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Richmond, seeing her so absorbed, made no +attempt at consolation. She only listened, and when a +step was heard, arose and went out, leaving the door +open behind her.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_608" id="Page_608">[608]</a></span></p> + +<p>And Imogene mused on, sinking deeper and deeper +into melancholy, till the tears, which for so long a time had +been dried at their source, welled up to her eyes and fell +slowly down her cheeks. Their touch seemed to rouse +her. Starting erect, she looked quickly around as if to +see if anybody was observing her. But the room seems +quite empty, and she is about to sink back again with a +sigh when her eyes fall on the door-way and she becomes +transfixed. A sturdy form is standing there! A manly, +eager form in whose beaming eyes and tender smile shine +a love and a purpose which open out before her quite a +different future from that which her fancy had been so +ruthlessly picturing.</p> + + +<h4>THE END.</h4> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_609" id="Page_609">[609]</a></span></p> +<h2>PUBLICATIONS OF G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS.</h2> + + +<div class='hang1'><b>THE LEAVENWORTH CASE.</b> A Lawyer's Story. +By <span class="smcap">Anna Katherine Green</span>. 16mo, paper, 60 cents; +cloth, $1.00.</div> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"In one respect at least, 'The Leavenworth Case' is the peer of Gaboriau's +best efforts—the wonderful skill with which the author draws the +reader, now this way, now that, in the search for the perpetrator of the +mysterious crime with which the story begins, and deludes him until he +reaches almost the last page."—<i>New Haven Palladium.</i></p> + +<p>"Wilkie Collins, in his best period, never invented a more ingeniously +constructed plot, nor held the reader in such suspense until the final denouement. +The most blasé novel-reader will be unable to put aside 'The Leavenworth +Case' until he has read the last sentence and mastered the mystery +which has baffled him from the beginning."—<i>N. Y. Express.</i></p> + +<p>"She has proved herself as well able to write an interesting story of +mysterious crime as any man living."—<i>The Academy, (London.)</i></p> + +<p>"She has worked up a <i>cause celèbre</i> with a fertility of device and ingenuity +of treatment hardly second to Wilkie Collins or Edgar Allen Poe."—<i>Christian +Union.</i></p> + +<p>"We have read no story for a long time which has had so much of the +Wilkie Collins, and Edgar Allen Poe flavor of reality in the telling."—<i>Congregationalist.</i></p> + +<p>"We do not propose to give the plot of the work, however, but merely to +say that it is one of the most ingenious of the kind we have ever read."—<i>Buffalo +Express.</i></p> + +<p>"This is the sort of book to be eagerly read and thoroughly enjoyed."—<i>St. +Paul Pioneer.</i></p> + +<p>"A new novel by a new writer, which enchains our attention from the +very first sentence of the first page, is a pleasant surprise. * * * Told +with a force and power that indicate great dramatic talent in the writer."—<i>St. +Louis Post.</i></p> + +<p>"Its interest is undoubted and it is thoroughly well sustained."—<i>N. Y. +Evening Post.</i></p> + +<p>"The story is developed with great skill and shows ingenuity of the highest +order."—<i>Troy Times.</i></p> + +<p>"A story of mystery and crime and is here narrated with an artistic skill +which inevitably holds the interest of the reader, even to the point of the +highest tension, to the close of the last chapter. * * * A real marvel of +fiction."—<i>Davenport Gazette.</i></p><br /></div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_610" id="Page_610">[610]</a></span></p> + + +<div class='hang1'><b>A STRANGE DISAPPEARANCE.</b> By <span class="smcap">Anna Katharine Green</span>. +16mo, paper, 50 cents, cloth, $1.00.</div> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"The plot is marked with striking originality, and the story is narrated with a +vigor and power rarely met in modern novels. It is deeply interesting from beginning +to end, and holds the reader entranced from the moment the first page is read until +the last sentence is reached. It is, in fact, a revelation in American romance-writing, +and we heartily commend it to the public."—<i>Baltimore Gazette.</i></p> + +<p>"Catches the fancy and chains the interest of the reader to such a degree that +he is unwilling to lay it down until every page is devoured."—<i>Toledo Journal.</i></p> + +<p>"The author has chosen a department of fiction where only the best writers +succeed, but she has shown herself capable of sustaining her role with wonderful +vigor."—<i>Boston Evening Traveller.</i></p> + +<p>"It is an ingenious plot, admirably worked up, and told so straightforward +as to be wholly pleasing."—<i>Chicago Inter-Ocean.</i></p> + +<p>"One of the best police detective stories written in America."—<i>Hartford +Courant.</i></p> + +<p>"Wilkie Collins would not be ashamed of the construction of this story. * * * +It keeps the reader's close attention from first to last."—<i>N. Y. Evening Post.</i></p> + +<p>"A most ingenious and absorbingly interesting story. The readers are held +spell-bound till the last page."—<i>Cincinnati Commercial.</i></p> + +<p>"Ingenious in construction, powerful in dramatic interest, and artistic in development."—<i>Boston +Gazette.</i></p> + +<p>"A most intensely interesting work of fiction. The story is developed with +skill, and the work written in a strong, powerful style."—<i>Augusta (Me.) Farmer.</i></p> + +<p>"The plot is new and sparkling, and the story is carried to its denouement +with an ingenuity and brightness of manner that makes it impossible to lay the volume +down until completed. * * * It is a marvel of fiction."—<i>Columbus Sunday +Capital.</i></p> + +<p>"The plot is very ingenious. * * * The interest in the tale is remarkably +well sustained until its conclusion, and the mystery which envelopes the principal +character is concealed with a great deal of artistic skill. * * * Shows a spirit of +patient research that speaks well for the industry of the writer, and an analytical +faculty rarely seen in a woman."—<i>Boston Courier.</i></p><br /></div> + + +<div class='hang1'><b>X. Y. Z.</b> A Detective Story. By <span class="smcap">Anna Katharine Green</span>. 16mo, +paper, 25 cents.</div> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Well written and extremely exciting and captivating. * * * She is a +perfect genius in the construction of a plot."—<i>N. Y. Commercial Advertiser.</i></p> + +<p>"Will keep the sleepiest reader wide-awake from title to finis."—<i>Boston +Transcript.</i></p> + +<p>"An extremely interesting story, * * * the development of the plot is +kept well in hand, and the denouement is as dramatic as any that could be desired."—<i>Albany +Argus.</i></p><br /></div> + + +<div class='hang1'><b>THE DEFENCE OF THE BRIDE</b>, and Other Poems. By +<span class="smcap">Anna Katharine Green</span>. Sq. 16mo, flex. cloth, $1.00.</div> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Written with a spirit and force that are impressive."—<i>Congregationalist.</i></p></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_611" id="Page_611">[611]</a></span></p> +<h3>PUBLICATIONS OF G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS.</h3> + + +<h2>BAYARD TAYLOR'S NOVELS.</h2> + +<div class='hang1'> +I. <b>Hannah Thurston.</b> <span class="smcap">A Story of American Life</span> 12mo. Household edition, $1.50<br /> +</div> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"If Bayard Taylor has not placed himself, as we are half inclined to suspect, +in the front rank of novelists, he has produced a very remarkable book—a +really original story, admirably told, crowded with life-like characters +full of delicate and subtle sympathies, with ideas the most opposite to his +own, and lighted up throughout with that playful humor which suggests always +wisdom rather than mere fun."—<i>London Spectator.</i></p></div> + +<div class='hang1'> +II. <b>John Godfrey's Fortunes.</b> <span class="smcap">Related by Himself</span> 12mo. Household edition, $1.50<br /> +</div> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"'John Godfrey's Fortunes,' without being melodramatic or morbid, is +one of the most fascinating novels which we have ever read. Its portraiture +of American social life, though not flattering, is eminently truthful; its delineation +of character is delicate and natural; its English, though sometimes +careless, is singularly grateful and pleasant."—<i>Cleveland Leader.</i></p></div> + +<div class='hang1'> +III. <b>The Story of Kennett.</b> 12mo. Household edition, $1.50<br /> +</div> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Mr. Bayard Taylor's book is <i>delightful and refreshing reading</i>, and +great rest after the crowded artistic effects and the conventional interests of +even the better kind of English novels."—<i>London Spectator.</i></p> + +<p>"As a picture of rural life, we think this novel of Mr. Taylor's excels any +of his previous productions."—<i>N. Y. Evening Post.</i></p> + +<p>"A tale of absorbing interest."—<i>Syracuse Standard.</i></p></div> + + +<div class='hang1'> +IV. <b>Joseph and his Friend.</b> <span class="smcap">A Story of Pennsylvania</span> 12mo. Household edition, $1.50<br /> +</div> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"In Bayard Taylor's happiest vein."—<i>Buffalo Express.</i></p> + +<p>"By far the best novel of the season."—<i>Cleveland Leader.</i></p></div> + +<div class='hang1'> +V. <b>Beauty and the Beast</b> and <b>Tales of Home</b>. 12mo Household edition, $1.50<br /> +</div> + +<div class='center'>——————</div> +<h3>Bayard Taylor's Complete Works.</h3> + + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="Bayard Taylor's Complete Works"> +<tr><td align='left'><b>The Complete Works of Bayard Taylor.</b> In sixteen volumes. Household edition, </td><td align='right'>$24.00</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><b>The Travels</b>, separate, eleven volumes. Household edition,</td><td align='right'>$16.50</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>The Novels, separate, five volumes, boards. Cedarcroft edition,</td><td align='right'>$6.25</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<div class='tnote'><h3>Transcriber's Notes:</h3> +<p>The original text had page v before pages iii and iv. This was rearranged in this edition. The List of +Illustrations now follows the Table of Contents.</p> +<p>The text uses both "vail" and "veil," "depot" and "depôt."</p> +<p>Obvious punctuation errors were corrected.</p> + +<p>The remaining corrections made are indicated by dotted lines under the corrections. Scroll the mouse over the word and the original text will <ins title="Transcriber's Note: original reads 'apprear'">appear</ins>.</p></div> + +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<hr class="full" /> +<p>***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HAND AND RING***</p> +<p>******* This file should be named 31681-h.txt or 31681-h.zip *******</p> +<p>This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:<br /> +<a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/3/1/6/8/31681">http://www.gutenberg.org/3/1/6/8/31681</a></p> +<p>Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed.</p> + +<p>Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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