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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/35424-8.txt b/35424-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d40cf12 --- /dev/null +++ b/35424-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,5926 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Amethyst Box, by Anna Katherine Green + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Amethyst Box + +Author: Anna Katherine Green + +Release Date: February 28, 2011 [EBook #35424] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE AMETHYST BOX *** + + + + +Produced by Chris Curnow, Michael, Mary Meehan and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + + + THE AMETHYST BOX + + _By_ ANNA KATHARINE GREEN + + Author of The Millionaire Baby, The House in the Mist, + The Filigree Ball, etc., etc. + + + INDIANAPOLIS + THE BOBBS-MERRILL COMPANY + PUBLISHERS + + COPYRIGHT 1905 + THE BOBBS-MERRILL COMPANY + + APRIL + + + + +THE AMETHYST BOX + + + + +I + +THE FLASK WHICH HELD BUT A DROP + + +It was the night before the wedding. Though Sinclair, and not myself, +was the happy man, I had my own causes for excitement, and, finding the +heat of the billiard-room insupportable, I sought the veranda for a +solitary smoke in sight of the ocean and a full moon. + +I was in a condition of rapturous, if unreasoning, delight. That +afternoon a little hand had lingered in mine for just an instant longer +than the circumstances of the moment strictly required, and small as the +favor may seem to those who do not know Dorothy Camerden, to me, who +realized fully both her delicacy and pride, it was a sign that my long, +if secret, devotion was about to be rewarded and that at last I was free +to cherish hopes whose alternative had once bid fair to wreck the +happiness of my life. + +I was reveling in the felicity of these anticipations and contrasting +this hour of ardent hope with others of whose dissatisfaction and gloom +I was yet mindful, when a sudden shadow fell across the broad band of +light issuing from the library window, and Sinclair stepped out. + +He had the appearance of being disturbed; very much disturbed, I +thought, for a man on the point of marrying the woman for whom he +professed to entertain the one profound passion of his life; but +remembering his frequent causes of annoyance--causes quite apart from +his bride and her personal attributes--I kept on placidly smoking till I +felt his hand on my shoulder and turned to see that the moment was a +serious one. + +"I have something to say to you," he whispered. "Come where we shall run +less risk of being disturbed." + +"What's wrong?" I asked, facing him with curiosity, if not with alarm. +"I never saw you look like this before. Has the old lady taken this last +minute to--" + +"Hush!" he prayed, emphasizing the word with a curt gesture not to be +mistaken. "The little room over the west porch is empty just now. Follow +me there." + +With a sigh for the cigar I had so lately lighted I tossed it into the +bushes and sauntered in after him. I thought I understood his trouble. +The prospective bride was young--a mere slip of a girl, indeed--bright, +beautiful and proud, yet with odd little restraints in her manner and +language, due probably to her peculiar bringing up and the surprise, not +yet overcome, of finding herself, after an isolated, if not despised, +childhood, the idol of society and the recipient of general homage. The +fault was not with her. But she had for guardian (alas! my dear girl had +the same) an aunt who was a gorgon. This aunt must have been making +herself disagreeable to the prospective bridegroom, and he, being quick +to take offense, quicker than myself, it was said, had probably retorted +in a way to make things unpleasant. As he was a guest in the house, he +and all the other members of the bridal party--(Mrs. Armstrong having +insisted upon opening her magnificent Newport villa for this wedding and +its attendant festivities), the matter might well look black to him. Yet +I did not feel disposed to take much interest in it, even though his +case might be mine some day, with all its accompanying drawbacks. + +But, once confronted with Sinclair in the well-lighted room above, I +perceived that I had better drop all selfish regrets and give my full +attention to what he had to say. For his eye, which had flashed with an +unusual light at dinner, was clouded now, and his manner, when he strove +to speak, betrayed a nervousness I had considered foreign to his nature +ever since the day I had seen him rein in his horse so calmly on the +extreme edge of a precipice where a fall would have meant certain death +not only to himself, but also to the two riders who unwittingly were +pressing closely behind him. + +"Walter," he faltered, "something has happened, something dreadful, +something unprecedented! You may think me a fool--God knows I would be +glad to be proved so, but this thing has frightened me. I--" He paused +and pulled himself together. "I will tell you about it, then you can +judge for yourself. I am in no condition to do so. I wonder if you will +be when you hear--" + +"Don't beat about the bush. Speak up! What's the matter?" + +He gave me an odd look full of gloom, a look I felt the force of, though +I could not interpret it; then coming closer, though there was no one +within hearing, possibly no one any nearer than the drawing-room below, +he whispered in my ear: + +"I have lost a little vial of the deadliest drug ever compounded; a +Venetian curiosity which I was foolish enough to take out and show the +ladies, because the little box which holds it is such an exquisite +example of jewelers' work. There's death in its taste, almost in its +smell; and it's out of my hands and--" + +"Well, I'll tell you how to fix that up," I put in, with my usual frank +decision. "Order the music stopped; call everybody into the drawing-room +and explain the dangerous nature of this toy. After which, if anything +happens, it will not be your fault, but that of the person who has so +thoughtlessly appropriated it." + +His eyes, which had been resting eagerly on mine, shifted aside in +visible embarrassment. + +"Impossible! It would only aggravate matters, or rather, would not +relieve my fears at all. The person who took it knew its nature very +well, and that person--" + +"Oh, then you know who took it!" I broke in, in increasing astonishment. +"I thought from your manner that--" + +"No," he moodily corrected, "I do not know who took it. If I did, I +should not be here. That is, I do not know the exact person. Only--" +Here he again eyed me with his former singular intentness, and +observing that I was nettled, made a fresh beginning. "When I came +here, I brought with me a case of rarities chosen from my various +collections. In looking over them preparatory to making a present to +Gilbertine, I came across the little box I have just mentioned. It is +made of a single amethyst and contains--or so I was assured when I +bought it--a tiny flask of old but very deadly poison. How it came to be +included with the other precious and beautiful articles I had picked out +for her _cadeau_, I can not say; but there it was; and conceiving that +the sight of it would please the ladies, I carried it down into the +library and, in an evil hour, called three or four of those about me to +inspect it. This was while you boys were in the billiard-room, so the +ladies could give their entire attention to the little box which is +certainly worth the most careful scrutiny. + +"I was holding it out on the palm of my hand, where it burned with a +purple light which made more than one feminine eye glitter, when +somebody inquired to what use so small and yet so rich a receptacle +could be put. The question was such a natural one I never thought of +evading it, besides, I enjoy the fearsome delight which women take in +the marvelous. Expecting no greater result than lifted eyebrows or +flushed cheeks, I answered by pressing a little spring in the +filigree-work surrounding the gem. Instantly, the tiniest of lids flew +back, revealing a crystal flask of such minute proportions that the +usual astonishment followed its disclosure. + +"'You see!' I cried, 'it was made to hold _that_!' And moving my hand to +and fro under the gas-jet, I caused to shine in their eyes the single +drop of yellow liquid it still held. 'Poison!' I impressively announced. +'This trinket may have adorned the bosom of a Borgia or flashed from the +arm of some great Venetian lady as she flourished her fan between her +embittered heart and the object of her wrath or jealousy.' + +"The first sentence had come naturally, but the last was spoken at +random and almost unconsciously. For at the utterance of the word +'poison,' a quickly suppressed cry had escaped the lips of some one +behind me, which, while faint enough to elude the attention of any ear +less sensitive than my own, contained such an astonishing, if +involuntary, note of self-betrayal that my mind grew numb with horror, +and I stood staring at the fearful toy which had called up such a +revelation of--what? That is what I am here to ask, first of myself, +then of you. For the two women pressing behind me were--" + +"Who?" I sharply demanded, partaking in some indefinable way of his +excitement and alarm. + +"Gilbertine Murray and Dorothy Camerden:"--his prospective bride and the +woman I loved and whom he knew I loved, though I had kept my secret +quite successfully from every one else! + +The look we exchanged neither of us will ever forget. + +"Describe the sound!" I presently said. + +"I can not," he replied. "I can only give you my impression of it. You, +like myself, fought in more than one skirmish in the Cuban War. Did you +ever hear the cry made by a wounded man when the cup of cool water for +which he has long agonized is brought suddenly before his eyes? Such a +sound, with all that goes to make it eloquent, did I hear from one of +the two girls who leaned over my shoulder. Can you understand this +amazing, this unheard-of circumstance? Can you name the woman, can you +name the grief capable of making either of these seemingly happy and +innocent girls hail the sight of such a doubtful panacea with an +unconscious ebullition of joy? You would clear my wedding-eve of a great +dread if you could, for if this expression of concealed misery came from +Gilbertine--" + +"Do you mean," I cried in vehement protest, "that you really are in +doubt as to which of these two women uttered the cry which so startled +you? That you positively can not tell whether it was Gilbertine +or--or--" + +"I can not; as God lives, I can not. I was too dazed, too confounded by +the unexpected circumstance, to turn at once, and when I did, it was to +see both pairs of eyes shining, and both faces dimpling with real or +affected gaiety. Indeed, if the matter had stopped there, I should have +thought myself the victim of some monstrous delusion; but when a +half-hour later I found this box missing from the cabinet where I had +hastily thrust it at the peremptory summons of our hostess, I knew that +I had not misunderstood the nature of the cry I had heard; that it was +indeed one of secret longing, and that the hand had simply taken what +the heart desired. If a death occurs in this house to-night--" + +"Sinclair, you are mad!" I exclaimed with great violence. No lesser word +would fit either the intensity of my feeling or the confused state of my +mind. "Death _here_! where all are so happy! Remember your bride's +ingenuous face! Remember the candid expression of Dorothy's eye--her +smile--her noble ways! You exaggerate the situation. You neither +understand aright the simple expression of surprise you heard, nor the +feminine frolic which led these girls to carry off this romantic +specimen of Italian deviltry." + +"You are losing time," was his simple comment. "Every minute we allow to +pass in inaction only brings the danger nearer." + +"What! You imagine--" + +"I imagine nothing. I simply know that one of these girls has in her +possession the means of terminating life in an instant; that the girl so +having it is not happy, and that if anything happens to-night it will be +because we rested supine in the face of a very real and possible danger. +Now, as Gilbertine has never given me reason to doubt either her +affection for myself or her satisfaction in our approaching union, I +have allowed myself--" + +"To think that the object of your fears is Dorothy," I finished with a +laugh I vainly strove to make sarcastic. + +He did not answer, and I stood battling with a dread I could neither +conceal nor avow. For preposterous as his idea was, reason told me that +he had some grounds for his doubt. + +Dorothy, unlike Gilbertine Murray, was not to be read at a glance, and +her trouble--for she certainly had a trouble--was not one she chose to +share with any one, even with me. I had flattered myself in days gone by +that I understood it well enough, and that any lack of sincerity I might +observe in her could be easily explained by the position of dependence +she held toward an irascible aunt. But now that I forced myself to +consider the matter carefully I could not but ask if the varying moods +by which I had found myself secretly harrowed had not sprung from a very +different cause--a cause for which my persistent love was more to blame +than the temper of her relative. The aversion she had once shown to my +attentions had yielded long ago to a shy, but seemingly sincere +appreciation of them, and gleams of what I was fain to call real feeling +had shown themselves now and then in her softened manner, culminating +to-day in that soft pressure of my hand which had awakened my hopes and +made me forget all the doubts and caprices of a disturbing courtship. + +But, had I interpreted that strong, nervous pressure aright? Had it +necessarily meant love? Might it not have sprung from a sudden desperate +resolution to accept a devotion which offered her a way out of +difficulties especially galling to one of her gentle but lofty spirit? +Her expression when she caught my look of joy had little of the demure +tenderness of a maiden blushing at her first involuntary avowal. There +was shrinking in it, but it was the shrinking of a frightened woman, not +of an abashed girl; and when I strove to follow her, the gesture with +which she waved me back had that in it which would have alarmed a more +exacting lover. Had I mistaken my darling's feelings? Was her heart +still cold, her affection unwon? Or--thought insupportable!--had she +secretly yielded to another what she had so long denied me and-- + +"Ah!" quoth Sinclair at this juncture, "I see that I have roused you at +last." And unconsciously his tone grew lighter and his eye lost the +strained look which had made it the eye of a stranger. "You begin to see +that a question of the most serious import is before us, and that this +question must be answered before we separate for the night." + +"I do," said I. + +His relief was evident. + +"Then so much is gained. The next point is, how are we to settle our +doubts? We can not approach either of these ladies with questions. A +girl wretched enough to contemplate suicide would be especially careful +to conceal both her misery and its cause. Neither can we order a search +made for an object so small that it can be concealed about the person." + +"Yet this jewel must be recovered. Listen, Sinclair. I will have a talk +with Dorothy, you with Gilbertine. A kind talk, mind you! one that will +soothe, not frighten. If a secret lurks in either breast our tenderness +should find it out. Only, as you love me, promise to show me the same +frankness I here promise to show you. Dear as Dorothy is to me, I swear +to communicate to you the full result of my conversation with her, +whatever the cost to myself or even to her." + +"And I will be equally fair as regards Gilbertine. But, before we +proceed to such extreme measures, let us make sure that there is no +shorter road to the truth. Some one may have seen which of our two dear +girls went back to the library after we all came out of it. That would +narrow down our inquiry and save one of them, at least, from unnecessary +disturbance." + +It was a happy thought, and I told him so, but at the same time bade him +look in the glass and see how impossible it would be for him to venture +below without creating an alarm which might precipitate the dread event +we both feared. + +He replied by drawing me to his side before the mirror and pointing to +my own face. It was as pale as his own. + +Most disagreeably impressed by this self-betrayal, I colored deeply +under Sinclair's eye and was but little, if any, relieved when I +noticed that he colored under mine. For his feelings were no enigma to +me. Naturally he was glad to discover that I shared his apprehensions, +since it gave him leave to hope that the blow he so dreaded was not +necessarily directed toward his own affections. Yet, being a generous +fellow, he blushed to be detected in his egotism, while I--well, I own +that at that moment I should have felt a very unmixed joy at being +assured that the foundations of my own love were secure, and that the +tiny flask Sinclair had missed had not been taken by the hand of the one +to whom I looked for all my earthly happiness. + +And my wedding-day was as yet a vague and distant hope, while his was +set for the morrow. + +"We must carry down stairs very different faces from these," he +remarked, "or we shall be stopped before we reach the library." + +I made an effort at composure, so did he; and both being determined men, +we soon found ourselves in a condition to descend among our friends +without attracting any closer attention than was naturally due him as +prospective bridegroom and myself as best man. + + + + +II + +BEATON'S DREAM + + +Mrs. Armstrong, our hostess, was fond of gaiety, and amusements were +never lacking. As we stepped down into the great hall we heard music in +the drawing-room and saw that a dance was in progress. + +"That is good," observed Sinclair. "We shall run less risk of finding +the library occupied." + +"Shall I not look and see where the girls are? It would be a great +relief to find them both among the dancers." + +"Yes," said he, "but don't allow yourself to be inveigled into joining +them. I could not stand the suspense." + +I nodded and slipped toward the drawing-room. He remained in the +bay-window overlooking the terrace. + +A rush of young people greeted me as soon as I showed myself. But I was +able to elude them and catch the one full glimpse I wanted of the great +room beyond. It was a magnificent apartment, and so brilliantly lighted +that every nook stood revealed. On a divan near the center was a lady +conversing with two gentlemen. Her back was toward me, but I had no +difficulty in recognizing Miss Murray. Some distance from her, but with +her face also turned away, stood Dorothy. She was talking with an +unmarried friend and appeared quite at ease and more than usually +cheerful. + +Relieved, yet sorry that I had not succeeded in catching a glimpse of +their faces, I hastened back to Sinclair, who was watching me with +furtive eyes from between the curtains of the window in which he had +secreted himself. As I joined him a young man, who was to act as usher, +sauntered from behind one of the great pillars forming a colonnade down +the hall, and, crossing to where the music-room door stood invitingly +open, disappeared behind it with the air of a man perfectly contented +with his surroundings. + +With a nervous grip Sinclair seized me by the arm. + +"Was that Beaton?" he asked. + +"Certainly; didn't you recognize him?" + +He gave me a very strange look. + +"Does the sight of him recall anything?" + +"No." + +"You were at the breakfast-table yesterday morning?" + +"I was." + +"Do you remember the dream he related for the delectation of such as +would listen?" + +Then it was my turn to go white. + +"You don't mean--" I began. + +"I thought at the time that it sounded more like a veritable adventure +than a dream; now I am sure that it was such." + +"Sinclair! You do not mean that the young girl he professed himself to +have surprised one moonlit night standing on the verge of the cliff, +with arms upstretched and a distracted air, was a real person?" + +"I do. We laughed at the time; he made it seem so tragic and +preposterous. I do not feel like laughing now." + +I gazed at Sinclair in horror. The music was throbbing in our ears, and +the murmur of gay voices and swiftly moving feet suggested nothing but +joy and hilarity. Which was the dream? This scene of seeming mirth and +happy promise, or the fancies he had conjured up to rob us both of +peace? + +"Beaton mentioned no names," I stubbornly protested. "He did not even +call the vision he encountered a woman. It was a wraith, you remember, a +dream-maiden, a creature of his own imagination, born of some tragedy he +had read." + +"Beaton is a gentleman," was Sinclair's cold reply. "He did not wish to +injure, but to warn the woman for whose benefit he told his tale." + +"Warn?" + +"He doubtless reasoned in this way. If he could make this young and +probably sensitive girl realize that she had been seen and her +intentions recognized, she would beware of such attempts in the future. +He is a kind-hearted fellow. Did you notice which end of the table he +ignored when relating this dramatic episode?" + +"No." + +"If you had we might be better able to judge where his thoughts were. +Probably you can not even tell how the ladies took it?" + +"No, I never thought of looking. Good God! Sinclair, don't let us harrow +up ourselves unnecessarily! I saw them both a moment ago, and nothing in +their manner showed that anything was amiss with either of them." + +For answer he drew me toward the library. + +This room was not frequented by the young people at night. There were +two or three elderly people in the party, notably the husband and the +brother of the lady of the house, and to their use the room was more or +less given up after nightfall. Sinclair wished to show me the cabinet +where the box had been. + +There was a fire in the grate, for the evenings were now more or less +chilly. When the door had closed behind us we found that this same fire +made all the light there was in the room. Both gas-jets had been put out +and the rich yet home-like room glowed with ruddy hues, interspersed +with great shadows. A solitary scene, yet an enticing one. + +Sinclair drew a deep breath. "Mr. Armstrong must have gone elsewhere to +read the evening papers," he remarked. + +I replied by casting a scrutinizing look into the corners. I dreaded +finding a pair of lovers hid somewhere in the many nooks made by the +jutting book-cases. But I saw no one. However, at the other end of the +large room there stood a screen near one of the many lounges, and I was +on the point of approaching this place of concealment when Sinclair drew +me toward a tall cabinet upon whose glass doors the firelight was +shimmering, and, pointing to a shelf far above our heads, cried: + +"No woman could reach that unaided. Gilbertine is tall, but not tall +enough for that. I purposely put it high." + +[Illustration] + +I looked about for a stool. There was one just behind Sinclair. I drew +his attention to it. + +He flushed and gave it a kick, then shivered slightly and sat down in a +near-by chair. I knew what he was thinking. Gilbertine was taller than +Dorothy. This stool might have served Gilbertine if not Dorothy. + +I felt a great sympathy for him. After all, his case was more serious +than mine. The bishop was coming to marry him the next day. + +"Sinclair," said I, "the stool means nothing. Dorothy has more inches +than you think. With this under her feet, she could reach the shelf by +standing tiptoe. Besides, there are the chairs." + +"True, true!" and he started up; "there are the chairs! I forgot the +chairs. I fear my wits have gone wool-gathering. We shall have to take +others into our confidence." Here his voice fell to a whisper. "Somehow +or by some means we must find out if either of them was seen to come +into this room." + +"Leave that to me," said I. "Remember that a word might raise +suspicion, and that in a case like this--Halloo, what's that?" + +A gentle snore had come from behind the screen. + +"We are not alone," I whispered. "Some one is over there on the lounge." + +Sinclair had already bounded across the room. I pressed hurriedly behind +him, and together we rounded the screen and came upon the recumbent +figure of Mr. Armstrong, asleep on the lounge, with his paper fallen +from his hand. + +"That accounts for the lights being turned out," grumbled Sinclair. +"Dutton must have done it." + +Dutton was the butler. + +I stood contemplating the sleeping figure before me. + +"He must have been lying here for some time," I muttered. + +Sinclair started. + +"Probably some little while before he slept," I pursued. "I have often +heard that he dotes on the firelight." + +"I have a notion to wake him," suggested Sinclair. + +"It will not be necessary," said I, drawing back, as the heavy figure +stirred, breathed heavily and finally sat up. + +"I beg pardon," I now entreated, backing politely away. "We thought the +room empty." + +Mr. Armstrong, who, if slow to receive impressions, is far from lacking +intelligence, eyed us with sleepy indifference for a moment, then rose +ponderously to his feet and was, on the instant, the man of manner and +unfailing courtesy we had ever found him. + +"What can I do to oblige you?" he asked; his smooth, if hesitating +tones, sounding strange to our excited ears. + +I made haste to forestall Sinclair, who was racking his brains for words +with which to propound the question he dared not put too boldly. + +"Pardon me, Mr. Armstrong, we were looking about for a small pin dropped +by Miss Camerden." (How hard it was for me to use her name in this +connection only my own heart knew.) "She was in here just now, was she +not?" + +The courteous gentleman bowed, hawed, and smiled a very polite but +unmeaning smile. Evidently he had not the remotest notion whether she +had been in or not. + +"I am sorry, but I am afraid I lost myself for a moment on that lounge," +he admitted. "The firelight always makes me sleepy. But if I can help +you," he cried, starting forward, but almost immediately pausing again +and giving us rather a curious look. "Some one was in the room. I +remember it now. It was just before the warmth and glow of the fire +became too much for me. I can not say that it was Miss Camerden, +however. I thought it was some one of quicker movement. She made quite a +rattle with the chairs." + +I purposely did not look back at Sinclair. + +"Miss Murray?" I suggested. + +Mr. Armstrong made one of his low, old-fashioned bows. This, I doubt +not, was out of deference to the bride-to-be. + +"Does Miss Murray wear white to-night?" + +"Yes," muttered Sinclair, coming hastily forward. + +"Then it may have been she, for as I lay there deciding whether or not +to yield to the agreeable somnolence I felt creeping over me, I caught a +glimpse of her skirt as she passed out of the room. And that skirt was +white--white silk, I suppose you call it. It looked very pretty in the +firelight." + +Sinclair, turning on his heel, stalked in a dazed way toward the door. +To cover this show of abruptness which was quite unusual on his part, I +made the effort of my life, and, remarking lightly, "She must have been +here looking for the pin her friend has lost," I launched forth into an +impromptu dissertation on one of the subjects I knew to be dear to the +heart of the bookworm before me, and kept it up, too, till I saw by his +brightening eye and suddenly freed manner that he had forgotten the +insignificant episode of a minute ago, never in all probability to +recall it again. Then I made another effort and released myself with +something like deftness from the long-drawn-out argument I saw +impending, and, making for the door in my turn, glanced about for +Sinclair. So far as I was concerned the question as to who had taken the +box from the library was settled. + +It was now half-past eight. I made my way from room to room and from +group to group, looking for Sinclair. At last I returned to my old post +near the library door, and was instantly rewarded by the sight of his +figure approaching from a small side passage in company with the butler, +Dutton. His face, as he stepped into the full light of the open hall, +showed discomposure, but not the extreme distress I had anticipated. +Somehow, at sight of it, I found myself seeking the shadow just as he +had done a short time before, and it was in one of the recesses made by +a row of bay trees that we came face to face. + +He gave me one look, then his eyes dropped. + +"Miss Camerden has lost a pin from her hair," he impressively explained +to me. Then turning to Dutton he nonchalantly remarked. "It must be +somewhere in this hall; perhaps you will be good enough to look for it." + +"Certainly," replied the man. "I thought she had lost something when I +saw her come out of the library a little while ago holding her hand to +her hair." + +My heart gave a leap, then sank cold and almost pulseless in my breast. +In the hum to which all sounds had sunk, I heard Sinclair's voice rise +again in the question with which my own mind was full. + +"When was that? After Mr. Armstrong went into the room, or before?" + +"Oh, after he fell asleep. I had just come from putting out the gas when +I saw Miss Camerden slip in and almost immediately come out again. I +will search for the pin very carefully, sir." + +So Mr. Armstrong had made a mistake! It was Dorothy and not Gilbertine +whom he had seen leaving the room. I braced myself up and met Sinclair's +eye. + +"Dorothy's dress is gray to-night; but Mr. Armstrong's eye may not be +very good for colors." + +"It is possible that both were in the room," was Sinclair's reply. But I +could see that he advanced this theory solely out of consideration for +me; that he did not really believe it. "At all events," he went on, "we +can not prove anything this way; we must revert to our original idea. I +wonder if Gilbertine will give me the chance to speak to her." + +"You will have an easier task than I," was my half-sullen retort. "If +Dorothy perceives that I wish to approach her she has but to lift her +eyes to any of the half-dozen fellows here, and the thing becomes +impossible." + +"There is to be a rehearsal of the ceremony at half-past ten. I might +get a word in then; only, this matter must be settled first. I could +never go through the farce of standing up before you all at Gilbertine's +side, with such a doubt as this in my mind." + +"You will see her before then. Insist on a moment's talk. If she +refuses--" + +"Hush!" he here put in. "We part now to meet in this same place again +at ten. Do I look fit to enter among the dancers? I see a whole group of +them coming for me." + +"You will in another moment. Approaching matrimony has made you sober, +that's all." + +It was some time before I had the opportunity, even if I had the +courage, to look Dorothy in the face. When the moment came she was +flushed with dancing and looked beautiful. Ordinarily she was a little +pale, but not even Gilbertine, with her sumptuous coloring, showed a +warmer cheek than she, as, resting from the waltz, she leaned against +the rose-tinted wall and let her eyes for the first time rise slowly to +where I stood talking mechanically to my partner. + +Gentle eyes they were, made for appeal, and eloquent with a subdued +heart language. But they were held in check by an infinite discretion. +Never have I caught them quite off their guard, and to-night they were +wholly unreadable. Yet she was trembling with something more than the +fervor of the dance, and the little hand which had touched mine in +lingering pressure a few hours before was not quiet for a moment. I +could not see it fluttering in and out of the folds of her smoke-colored +dress without a sickening wonder if the little purple box which was the +cause of my horror lay somewhere concealed amid the airy puffs and +ruffles that rose and fell so rapidly over her heaving breast. Could her +eye rest on mine, even in this cold and perfunctory manner, if the drop +which could separate us for ever lay concealed over her heart? She knew +that I loved her. From the first hour we met in her aunt's forbidding +parlor in Thirty-sixth Street, she had recognized my passion, however +perfectly I had succeeded in concealing it from others. Inexperienced as +she was in those days, she had noted as quickly as any society belle the +effect produced upon me by her chill prettiness and her air of meek +reserve under which one felt the heart-break; and though she would never +openly acknowledge my homage and frowned down every attempt on my part +at lover-like speech or attention, I was as sure that she rated my +feelings at their real value, as that she was the dearest, yet most +incomprehensible, mortal my narrow world contained. When, therefore, I +encountered her eyes at the end of the dance I said to myself: + +"She may not love me, but she knows that I love her, and, being a woman +of sympathetic instincts, would never meet my eyes with so calm a look +if she were meditating an act which must infallibly plunge me into +misery." Yet I was not satisfied to go away without a word. So, taking +the bull by the horns, I excused myself to my partner, and crossed to +Dorothy's side. + +"Will you dance the next waltz with me?" I asked. + +Her eyes fell from mine directly and she drew back in a way that +suggested flight. + +"I shall dance no more to-night," said she, her hand rising in its +nervous fashion to her hair. + +I made no appeal. I just watched that hand, whereupon she flushed +vividly and seemed more than ever anxious to escape. At which I spoke +again. + +"Give me a chance, Dorothy. If you will not dance come out on the +veranda and look at the ocean. It is glorious to-night. I will not keep +you long. The lights here trouble my eyes; besides, I am most anxious to +ask you--" + +"No, no," she vehemently objected, very much as if frightened. "I can +not leave the drawing-room--do not ask me--seek some other partner--do, +to-night." + +"You wish it?" + +"Very much." + +She was panting, eager. I felt my heart sink and dreaded lest I should +betray my feelings. + +"You do not honor me then with your regard," I retorted, bowing +ceremoniously as I became assured that we were attracting more attention +than I considered desirable. + +She was silent. Her hand went again to her hair. + +I changed my tone. Quietly, but with an emphasis which moved her in +spite of herself, I whispered: "If I leave you now will you tell me +to-morrow why you are so peremptory with me to-night?" + +With an eagerness which was anything but encouraging, she answered with +suddenly recovered gaiety: + +"Yes, yes, after all this excitement is over." And, slipping her hand +into that of a friend who was passing, she was soon in the whirl again +and dancing--she who had just assured me that she did not mean to dance +again that night. + + + + +III + +A SCREAM IN THE NIGHT + + +I turned and, hardly conscious of my actions, stumbled from the room. A +bevy of young people at once surrounded me. What I said to them I hardly +know. I only remember that it was several minutes before I found myself +again alone and making for the little room into which Beaton had +vanished a half-hour before. It was the one given up to card-playing. +Did I expect to find him seated at one of the tables? Possibly; at all +events I approached the doorway and was about to enter when a heavy step +shook the threshold before me and I found myself confronted by the +advancing figure of an elderly lady whose portrait it is now time for me +to draw. It is no pleasurable task, but one I can not escape. + +Imagine, then, a broad, weighty woman of not much height, with a face +whose features were usually forgotten in the impression made by her +great cheeks and falling jowls. If the small eyes rested on you, you +found them sinister and strange, but if they were turned elsewhere, you +asked in what lay the power of the face, and sought in vain amid its +long wrinkles and indeterminate lines for the secret of that spiritual +and bodily repulsion which the least look into this impassive +countenance was calculated to produce. She was a woman of immense means, +and an oppressive consciousness of this spoke in every movement of her +heavy frame, which always seemed to take up three times as much space as +rightfully belonged to any human creature. Add to this that she was +seldom seen without a display of diamonds which made her broad bust look +like the bejeweled breast of some Eastern idol, and some idea may be +formed of this redoubtable woman whom I have hitherto confined myself to +speaking of as _the gorgon_. + +The stare she gave me had something venomous and threatening in it. +Evidently for the moment I was out of her books, and while I did not +understand in what way I had displeased her, for we always had met +amicably before, I seized upon this sign of displeasure on her part as +explanatory, perhaps, of the curtness and show of contradictory feelings +on the part of her dependent niece. Yet why should the old woman frown +on me? I had been told more than once that she regarded me with great +favor. Had I unwittingly done something to displease her, or had the +game of cards she had just left gone against her, ruffling her temper +and making it imperative for her to choose some object on which to vent +her spite? I entered the room to see. Two men and one woman stood in +rather an embarrassed silence about a table on which lay some cards, +which had every appearance of having been thrown down by an impatient +hand. One of the men was Will Beaton, and it was he who now remarked: + +"She has just found out that the young people are enjoying themselves. +I wonder upon which of her two unfortunate nieces she will expend her +ill-temper to-night?" + +"Oh, there's no question about that," remarked the lady who stood near +him. "Ever since she has had a reasonable prospect of working Gilbertine +off her hands, she has devoted herself quite exclusively to her +remaining burden. I hear," she impulsively continued, craning her neck +to be sure that the object of her remarks was quite out of earshot, +"that the south hall was blue to-day with the talk she gave Dorothy +Camerden. No one knows what about, for the girl evidently tries to +please her. But some women have more than their own proper share of +bile; they must expend it on some one." And she in turn threw down her +cards, which up till now she had held in her hand. + +I gave Beaton a look and stepped out on the veranda. In a minute he +followed me, and in the corner facing the ocean, where the vines cluster +the thickest, we held our conversation. + +I began it, with a directness born of my desperation. + +"Beaton," said I, "we have not known each other long, but I recognize a +man when I see him, and I am disposed to be frank with you. I am in +trouble. My affections are engaged, deeply engaged, in a quarter where I +find some mystery. You have helped make it." (Here a gesture escaped +him.) "I allude to the story you related the other morning of the young +girl you had seen hanging over the verge of the cliff, with every +appearance of intending to throw herself over." + +"It was as a dream I related that," he gravely remarked. + +"That I am aware of. But it was no dream to me, Beaton. I fear I know +that young girl; I also fear that I know what drove her into +contemplating so rash an act. The conversation just held in the +card-room should enlighten you. Beaton, am I wrong?" + +The feeling I could not suppress trembled in my tones. He may have been +sensitive to it or he may have been simply good-natured. Whatever the +cause, this is what he said in reply: + +"It was a dream. Remember that I insist upon its being a dream. But some +of its details are very clear in my mind. When I stumbled upon this +dream-maiden in the moonlight her face was turned from me toward the +ocean, and I did not see her features then or afterwards. Startled by +some sound I made, she crouched, drew back and fled to cover. That +cover, I have good reason to believe, was this very house." + +I reached out my hand and touched him on the arm. + +"This dream-maiden was a woman?" I inquired. "One of the women now in +this house." + +He replied reluctantly. + +"She was a young woman and she wore a long cloak. My dream ends there. I +can not even say whether she was fair or dark." + +I recognized that he had reached the limit of his explanations, and, +wringing his hand, I started for the nearest window, which proved to be +that of the music-room. I was about to enter when I saw two women +crossing to the opposite doorway, and paused with a full heart to note +them, for one was Mrs. Lansing and the other Dorothy. The aunt had +evidently come for the niece and they were leaving the room together. +Not amicably, however. Harsh words had passed, or I am no judge of the +human countenance. Dorothy especially bore herself like one who finds +difficulty in restraining herself from some unhappy outburst, and as she +disappeared from my sight in the wake of her formidable companion my +attention was again called to her hands, which she held clenched at her +sides. + +I was stepping into the room when my impulse was again checked. Another +person was sitting there, a person I had been most anxious to see ever +since my last interview with Sinclair. It was Gilbertine Murray, sitting +alone in an attitude of deep, and possibly not altogether happy +thought. + +I paused to study the sweet face. Truly she was a beautiful woman. I had +never before realized how beautiful. Her rich coloring, her noble traits +and the spirited air, which gave her such marked distinction, bespoke at +once an ardent nature and a pure soul. + +I did not wonder that Sinclair had succumbed to charms so pronounced and +uncommon, and as I gazed longer and noted the tremulous droop of her +ripe lips and the faraway look of eyes which had created a great stir in +the social world when they first flashed upon it. I felt that if +Sinclair could see her now he would never doubt her again, despite the +fact that the attitude into which she had fallen was one of great +fatigue, if not despondency. + +She held a fan in her hand, and as I stood looking at her she dropped +it. As she stooped to pick it up, her eyes met mine, and a startling +change passed over her. Springing up, she held out her hands in wordless +appeal--then let them drop again as if conscious that I would not be +likely to understand either herself or her mood. She was very beautiful. + +Entering the room, I approached her. Had Sinclair managed to have his +little conversation with her? Something must have happened, for never +had I seen her in such a state of suppressed excitement, and I had seen +her many times, both here and in her aunt's house when I was visiting +Dorothy. Her eyes were shining, not with a brilliant, but a soft light, +and the smile with which she met my advance had something in it +strangely tremulous and expectant. + +"I am glad to have a moment in which to speak to you alone," I said. "As +Sinclair's oldest and closest friend, I wish to tell you how truly you +can rely both on his affection and esteem. He has an infinitely good +heart." + +She did not answer as brightly and as quickly as I expected. Something +seemed to choke her, something which she finally mastered, though only +by an effort which left her pale, but self-contained and even more +lovely, if that is possible, than before. + +"Thank you," she then said, "my prospects are very happy. No one but +myself knows how happy." And she smiled again, but with an expression +which recalled to my mind Sinclair's fears. + +I bowed; some one was calling her name; evidently our interview was to +be short. + +"I am obliged," she murmured. Then quickly, "I have not seen the moon +to-night. Is it beautiful? Can you see it from this veranda?" + +But before I could answer, she was surrounded and dragged off by a knot +of young people, and I was left free to keep my engagement with +Sinclair. + +I did not find him at his post nor could any one tell me where he had +vanished. + +It was plain that his conduct was looked upon as strange, and I felt +some anxiety lest it should appear more so before the evening was over. +I found him at last in his room sitting with his head buried in his +arms. He started up as I entered. + +"Well?" he asked sharply. + +"I have learned nothing decisive." + +"Nor I." + +"I exchanged some words with both ladies and I tackled Beaton; but the +matter remains just about where it was. It may have been Dorothy who +took the box and it may have been Gilbertine. But there seems to be +greater reason for suspecting Dorothy. She lives a hell of a life with +that aunt." + +"And Gilbertine is on the point of escaping that bondage. I know; I have +thought of that. Walter, you are a generous fellow;" and for a moment +Sinclair looked relieved. Before I could speak, however, he was sunk +again in his old despondency. "But the doubt," he cried, "the doubt! How +can I go through this rehearsal with such a doubt in my mind? I can not +and will not. Go tell them I am ill and can not come down again +to-night. God knows you will tell no untruth." + +I saw that he was quite beside himself, but ventured upon one +remonstrance. + +"It will be unwise to rouse comment," I said. "If that box was taken +for the death it holds, the one restraint most likely to act upon the +young girl who retains it will be the conventionalities of her position +and the requirements of the hour. Any break in the settled order of +things--anything which would give her a moment by herself--might +precipitate the dreadful event we fear. Remember, one turn of the hand +and all is lost. A drop is quickly swallowed." + +"Frightful!" he murmured, the perspiration oozing from his forehead. +"What a wedding-eve! And they are laughing down there; listen to them. I +even imagine I hear Gilbertine's voice. Is there unconsciousness in it +or just the hilarity of a distracted mind bent on self-destruction? I +can not tell; the sound conveys no meaning to me." + +"She has a sweet, true face," I said, "and she wears a very beautiful +smile to-night." + +He sprang to his feet. + +"Yes, yes; a smile that maddens me; a smile that tells me nothing, +nothing! Walter, Walter, don't you see that, even if that cursed box +remains unopened and nothing ever comes of its theft, the seeds of +distrust are sown thick in my breast, and I must always ask: 'Was there +a moment when my young bride shrank from me enough to dream of death?' +That is why I can not go through the mockery of this rehearsal." + +"Can you go through the ceremony of marriage?" + +"I must--if nothing happens to-night." + +"And then?" + +I spoke involuntarily. I was thinking not of him, but of myself. But he +evidently found in my words an echo of his own thought. + +"Yes, it is the _then_," he murmured. "Well may a man quail before that +_then_." + +He did go down stairs, however, and later on, went through the rehearsal +very much as I had expected him to do, quietly and without any outward +show of emotion. + +As soon as possible after this the company separated, Sinclair making me +an imperceptible gesture as he went up stairs. I knew what it meant, +and was in his room as soon as the fellows who accompanied him had left +him alone. + +"The danger is from now on," he cried, as soon as I had closed the door +behind me. "I shall not undress to-night." + +"Nor I." + +"Happily we both have rooms by ourselves in this great house. I shall +put out my light and then open my door as far as need be. Not a move in +the house will escape me." + +"I will do the same." + +"Gilbertine--God be thanked--is not alone in her room. Little Miss Lane +shares it with her." + +"And Dorothy?" + +"Oh, she is under the strictest bondage night and day. She sleeps in a +little room off her aunt's. Do you know her door?" + +I shook my head. + +"I will pass down the hall and stop an instant before the two doors we +are most interested in. When I pass Gilbertine's I will throw out my +right hand." + +I stood on the threshold of his room and watched him. When the two doors +were well fixed in my mind, I went to my own room and prepared for my +self-imposed watch. When quite ready, I put out my light. It was then +eleven o'clock. + +The house was very quiet. There had been the usual bustle attending the +separation of a party of laughing, chattering girls for the night, but +this had not lasted long, for the great doings of the morrow called for +bright eyes and fresh cheeks, and these can only be gained by sleep. In +this stillness twelve o'clock struck and the first hour of my anxious +vigil was at an end. I thought of Sinclair. He had given no token of the +watch he was keeping, but I knew he was sitting with his ear to the +door, listening for the alarm which must come soon if it came at all. + +But would it come at all? Were we not wasting strength and a great deal +of emotion on a dread which had no foundation in fact? What were we two +sensible and, as a rule, practical men thinking of, that we should +ascribe to either of these dainty belles of a conventional and shallow +society the wish to commit a deed calling for the vigor and daring of +some wilful child of nature? It was not to be thought of in this sober, +reasoning hour. We had given ourselves over to a ghastly nightmare and +would yet awake. + +Why was I on my feet? Had I heard anything? + +Yes, a stir, a very faint stir somewhere down the hall--the slow, +cautious opening of a door, then a footfall--or had I imagined the +latter? I could hear nothing now. + +Pushing open my own door, I looked cautiously out. Only the pale face of +Sinclair confronted me. He was peering from the corner of an adjacent +passageway, the moonlight at his back. Advancing, we met in silence. For +the moment we seemed to be the only persons awake in the vast house. + +"I thought I heard a step," was my cautious whisper after a moment of +intense listening. + +"Where?" + +I pointed toward that portion of the house where the ladies' rooms were +situated. + +"That is not what I heard," was his murmured protest, "what I heard was +a creak in the small stairway running down at the end of the hall where +my room is." + +"One of the servants," I ventured, and for a moment we stood irresolute. +Then we both turned rigid as some sound arose in one of the far-off +rooms, only to quickly relax again as that sound resolved itself into a +murmur of muffled voices. Where there was talking there could be no +danger of the special event we feared. Our relief was so great we both +smiled. Next instant his face and, I have no doubt, my own, turned the +color of clay and Sinclair went reeling back against the wall. + +A scream had risen in this sleeping house--a piercing and insistent +scream such as raises the hair and curdles the blood. + + + + +IV + +WHAT SINCLAIR HAD TO SHOW ME + + +This scream seemed to come from the room where we had just heard voices. +With a common impulse, Sinclair and I both started down the hall, only +to find ourselves met by a dozen wild interrogations from behind as many +quickly opened doors. Was it fire? Had burglars got in? What was the +matter? Who had uttered that dreadful shriek? Alas! that was the +question which we of all men were most anxious to hear answered. Who? +Gilbertine or Dorothy? + +Gilbertine's door was reached first. In it stood a short, slight figure, +wrapped in a hastily-donned shawl. The white face looked into ours as we +stopped, and we recognized little Miss Lane. + +"What has happened?" she gasped. "It must have been an awful cry to +waken everybody so!" + +We never thought of answering her. + +"Where is Gilbertine?" demanded Sinclair, thrusting his hand out as if +to put her aside. + +She drew herself up with sudden dignity. + +"In bed," she replied. "It was she who told me that somebody had +shrieked. I didn't wake." + +Sinclair uttered a sigh of the greatest relief that ever burst from a +man's overcharged breast. + +"Tell her we will find out what it means," he replied kindly, drawing me +rapidly away. + +By this time Mr. and Mrs. Armstrong were aroused, and I could hear the +slow and hesitating tones of the former in the passage behind us. + +"Let us hasten," whispered Sinclair. "Our eyes must be the first to see +what lies behind that partly-opened door." + +I shivered. The door he had designated was Dorothy's. + +Sinclair reached it first and pushed it open. Pressing up behind him, I +cast a fearful look over his shoulder. Only emptiness confronted us. +Dorothy was not in the little chamber. With an impulsive gesture +Sinclair pointed to the bed--it had not been lain in; then to the +gas--it was still burning. The communicating room, in which Mrs. Lansing +slept, was also lighted, but silent as the one in which we stood. This +last struck us as the most incomprehensible fact of all. Mrs. Lansing +was not the woman to sleep through a disturbance. Where was she, then? +and why did we not hear her strident and aggressive tones rising in +angry remonstrance at our intrusion? Had she followed her niece from the +room? Should we in another minute encounter her ponderous figure in the +group of people we could now hear hurrying toward us? I was for +retreating and hunting the house over for Dorothy. But Sinclair, with +truer instinct, drew me across the threshold of this silent room. + +Well was it for us that we entered there together, for I do not know +how either of us, weakened as we were by our forebodings and all the +alarms of this unprecedented night, could have borne alone the sight +that awaited us. + +On the bed situated at the right of the doorway lay a form--awful, +ghastly, and unspeakably repulsive. The head, which lay high but inert +upon the pillow, was surrounded with the gray hairs of age, and the +eyes, which seemed to stare into ours, were glassy with reflected light +and not with inward intelligence. This glassiness told the tale of the +room's grim silence. It was death we looked on; not the death we had +anticipated and for which we were in a measure prepared, but one fully +as awful, and having for its victim not Dorothy Camerden nor even +Gilbertine Murray, but the heartless aunt, who had driven them both like +slaves, and who now lay facing the reward of her earthly deeds, _alone_. + +As a realization of the awful truth came upon me, I stumbled against the +bedpost, looking on with almost blind eyes as Sinclair bent over the +rapidly whitening face, whose naturally ruddy color no one had ever +before seen disturbed. And I was still standing there when Mr. Armstrong +and all the others came pouring in. Nor have I any distinct remembrance +of what was said or how I came to be in the ante-chamber again. All +thought, all consciousness even, seemed to forsake me, and I did not +really waken to my surroundings till some one near me whispered: + +"Apoplexy!" + +Then I began to look about me and peer into the faces crowding up on +every side, for the only one which could give me back my +self-possession. But though there were many girlish countenances to be +seen in the awestruck groups huddled in every corner, I beheld no +Dorothy, and was therefore but little astonished when in another moment +I heard the cry go up: + +"Where is Dorothy? Where was she when her aunt died?" + +Alas! there was no one there to answer, and the looks of those about, +which hitherto had expressed little save awe and fright, turned to +wonder, and more than one person left the room as if to look for her. I +did not join them. I was rooted to the place. Nor did Sinclair stir a +foot, though his eye, which had been wandering restlessly over the faces +about him, now settled inquiringly on the doorway. For whom was he +looking? Gilbertine or Dorothy? Gilbertine, no doubt, for he visibly +brightened as her figure presently appeared clad in a _negligée_, which +emphasized her height and gave to her whole appearance a womanly +sobriety unusual to it. + +She had evidently been told what had occurred, for she asked no +questions, only leaned in still horror against the door-post, with her +eyes fixed on the room within. Sinclair, advancing, held out his arm. +She gave no sign of seeing it. Then he spoke. This seemed to rouse her, +for she gave him a grateful look, though she did not take his arm. + +"There will be no wedding to-morrow," fell from her lips in +self-communing murmur. + +Only a few minutes had passed since they had started to find Dorothy, +but it seemed an age to me. My body remained in the room, but my mind +was searching the house for the girl I loved. Where was she hidden? +Would she be found huddled but alive in some far-off chamber? Or was +another and more dreadful tragedy awaiting us? I wondered that I could +not join the search. I wondered that even Gilbertine's presence could +keep Sinclair from doing so. Didn't he know what, in all probability, +this missing girl had with her? Didn't he know what I had suffered, was +suffering--ah, what now? She is coming! I can hear them speaking to her. +Gilbertine moves from the door, and a young man and woman enter with +Dorothy between them. + +But what a Dorothy! Years could have made no greater change in her. She +looked and she moved like one who is done with life, yet fears the few +remaining moments left her. Instinctively we fell back before her; +instinctively we followed her with our eyes as, reeling a little at the +door, she cast a look of inconceivable shrinking, first at her own bed, +then at the group of older people watching her with serious looks from +the room beyond. As she did so I noted that she was still clad in her +evening dress of gray, and that there was no more color on cheek or lip +than in the neutral tints of her gown. + +Was it our consciousness of the relief which Mrs. Lansing's death, +horrible as it was, must bring to this unhappy girl and of the +inappropriateness of any display of grief on her part, which caused the +silence with which we saw her pass with forced step and dread +anticipation into the room where that image of dead virulence awaited +her? Impossible to tell. I could not read my own thoughts. How, then, +the thoughts of others! + +But thoughts, if we had any, all fled when, after one slow turn of her +head toward the bed, this trembling young girl gave a choking shriek and +fell, face down, on the floor. Evidently she had not been prepared for +the look which made her aunt's still face so horrible. How could she +have been? Had it not imprinted itself upon my mind as the one revolting +vision of my life? How, then, if this young and tender-hearted girl had +been insensible to it! As her form struck the floor Mr. Armstrong rushed +forward; I had not the right. But it was not by his arms she was lifted. +Sinclair was before him, and it was with a singularly determined look I +could not understand and which made us all fall back, that he raised her +and carried her in to her own bed, where he laid her gently down. Then, +as if not content with this simple attention, he hovered over her for a +moment arranging the pillows and smoothing her disheveled hair. When at +last he left her, the women rushed forward. + +"Not too many of you," was his final adjuration, as, giving me a look, +he slipped out into the hall. + +I followed him immediately. He had gained the moon-lighted corridor near +his own door, where he stood awaiting me with something in his hand. As +I approached, he drew me to the window and showed me what it was. It +was the amethyst box, open and empty, and beside it, shining with a +yellow instead of a purple light, the little vial void of the one drop +which used to sparkle within it. + +"I found the vial in the bed with the old woman," said he. "The box I +saw glittering among Dorothy's locks before she fell. That was why I +lifted her." + + + + +V + +THREE O'CLOCK IN THE MORNING + + +As he spoke, youth with its brilliant hopes, illusions and beliefs +passed from me, never to return in the same measure again. I stared at +the glimmering amethyst, I stared at the empty vial and, as a full +realization of all his words implied seized my benumbed faculties, I +felt the icy chill of some grisly horror moving among the roots of my +hair, lifting it on my forehead and filling my whole being with +shrinking and dismay. + +Sinclair, with a quick movement, replaced the tiny flask in its old +receptacle, and then thrusting the whole out of sight, seized my hand +and wrung it. + +"I am your friend," he whispered. "Remember, under all circumstances and +in every exigency, your friend." + +"What are you going to do with _those_?" I demanded when I regained +control of my speech. + +"I do not know." + +"What are you going to do with--with Dorothy?" + +He drooped his head; I could see his fingers working in the moonlight. + +"The physicians will soon be here. I heard the telephone going a few +minutes ago. When they have pronounced the old woman dead we will give +the--the lady you mention an opportunity to explain herself." + +Explain herself, she! Simple expectation. Unconsciously I shook my head. + +"It is the least we can do," he gently persisted. "Come, we must not be +seen with our heads together--not yet. I am sorry that we two were found +more or less dressed at the time of the alarm. It may cause comment." + +"She was dressed, too," I murmured, as much to myself as to him. + +"Unfortunately, yes," was the muttered reply, with which he drew off +and hastened into the hall, where the now thoroughly-aroused household +stood in a great group about the excited hostess. + +Mrs. Armstrong was not the woman for an emergency. With streaming hair +and tightly-clutched kimono, she was gesticulating wildly and bemoaning +the break in the festivities which this event must necessarily cause. As +Sinclair approached, she turned her tirade on him, and as all stood +still to listen and add such words of sympathy or disappointment as +suggested themselves in the excitement of the moment, I had an +opportunity to note that neither of the two girls most interested was +within sight. This troubled me. Drawing up to the outside of the circle, +I asked Beaton, who was nearest to me, if he knew how Miss Camerden was. + +"Better, I hear. Poor girl, it was a great shock to her." + +I ventured nothing more. The conventionality of his tone was not to be +mistaken. Our conversation on the veranda was to be ignored. I did not +know whether to feel relief at this or an added distress. I was in a +whirl of emotion which robbed me of all discrimination. As I realized my +own condition, I concluded that my wisest move would be to withdraw +myself for a time from every eye. Accordingly, and at the risk of +offending more than one pretty girl who still had something to say +concerning this terrible mischance, I slid away to my room, happy to +escape the murmurs and snatches of talk rising on every side. One bitter +speech, uttered by I do not know whom, rang in my ears and made all +thinking unendurable. It was this: + +"Poor woman! she was angry once too often. I heard her scolding Dorothy +again after she went to her room. That is why Dorothy is so overcome. +She says it was the violence of her aunt's rage which killed her,--a +rage of which she unfortunately was the cause." + +So there were words again between these two after the door closed upon +them for the night! Was this what we heard just before that scream went +up? It would seem so. Thereupon, quite against my will, I found myself +thinking of Dorothy's changed position before the world. Only yesterday +a dependent slave; to-day, the owner of millions. Gilbertine would have +her share, a large one, but there was enough to make them both wealthy. +Intolerable thought! Would that no money had been involved! I hated to +think of those diamonds and-- + +Oh, anything was better than this! Dashing from my room I joined one of +the groups into which the single large circle had now broken up. The +house had been lighted from end to end, and some effort had been made at +a more respectable appearance by such persons as I now saw; some even +were fully dressed. All were engaged in discussing the one great topic. +Listening and not listening, I waited for the front door bell to ring. +It sounded while one woman was saying to another: + +"The Sinclairs will now be able to take their honeymoon on their own +yacht." + +I made my way to where I could watch Sinclair while the physicians were +in the room. I thought his face looked very noble. The narrowness of his +own escape, the sympathy for me which the event, so much worse than +either of us anticipated, had awakened in his generous breast, had +called out all that was best in his naturally reserved and +not-always-to-be-understood nature. A tower of strength he was to me +that hour. I knew that mercy and mercy only would influence his conduct. +He would be guilty of no rash or inconsiderate act. He would give this +young girl a chance. + +Therefore when the physicians had pronounced the case one of apoplexy (a +conclusion most natural under the circumstances), and the excitement +which had held together the various groups of uneasy guests had begun to +subside, it was with perfect confidence I saw him approach and address +Gilbertine. She was standing fully dressed at the stairhead, where she +had stopped to hold some conversation with the retiring physicians; and +the look she gave him in return and the way she moved off in obedience +to his command or suggestion assured me that he was laying plans for an +interview with Dorothy. Consequently I was quite ready to obey him when +he finally stepped up to me and said: + +"Go below, and if you find the library empty, as I have no doubt you +will, light one gas-jet and see that the door to the conservatory is +unlocked. I require a place in which to make Gilbertine comfortable +while I have some words with her cousin." + +"But how will you be able to influence Miss Camerden to come down?" +Somehow, the familiar name of Dorothy would not pass my lips. "Do you +think she will recognize your right to summon her to an interview?" + +"Yes." + +I had never seen his lip take that firm line before, yet I had always +known him to be a man of great resolution. + +"But how can you reach her? She is shut up in her own room, under the +care, I am told, of Mrs. Armstrong's maid." + +"I know, but she will escape that dreadful place as soon as her feet +will carry her. I shall wait in the hall till she is seen to enter it, +then I will say 'Come!' and she will come, attended by Gilbertine." + +"And I? Do you mean me to be present at an interview so painful, nay, so +serious and so threatening? It would cut short every word you hope to +hear. I--can not--" + +"I have not asked you to. It is imperative that I should see Miss +Camerden alone." (He could not call her Dorothy, either.) "I shall ask +Gilbertine to accompany us, so that appearances may be preserved. I want +you to be able to inform any one who approaches the door that you saw me +go in there with Miss Murray." + +"Then I am to stay in the hall?" + +"If you will be so kind." + +The clock struck three. + +"It is very late," I exclaimed. "Why not wait till morning?" + +"And have the whole house about our ears? No. Besides, some things will +not keep an hour, a moment. I must hear what this young girl has to say +in response to my questions. Remember, I am the owner of the flask whose +contents killed the old woman!" + +"You believe she died from swallowing that drop?" + +"Absolutely." + +I said no more, but hastened down stairs to do his bidding. + +I found the lower hall partly lighted, but none of the rooms. + +Entering the library, I lit the gas as Sinclair had requested. Then I +tried the conservatory door. It was unlocked. Casting a sharp glance +around, I made sure that the lounges were all unoccupied and that I +could safely leave Sinclair to hold his contemplated interview without +fear of interruption. Then, dreading a premature arrival on his part, I +slid quickly out and moved down the hall to where the light of the one +burning jet failed to penetrate. "I will watch from here," thought I, +and entered upon the quick pacing of the floor which my impatience and +the overwrought condition of my nerves demanded. + +But before I had turned on my steps more than half a dozen times, the +single but brilliant ray coming from some half-open door in the rear +caught my eye, and I had the curiosity to step back and see if any one +was sharing my watch. In doing so I came upon the little spiral +staircase which, earlier in the evening, Sinclair had heard creak under +some unknown footstep. Had this footstep been Dorothy's, and if so, what +had brought her into this remote portion of the house? Fear? Anguish? +Remorse? A flying from herself or from _it_? I wished I knew just where +she had been found by the two young persons who had brought her back +into her aunt's room. No one had volunteered the information, and I had +not seen the moment when I felt myself in a position to demand it. + +Proceeding further, I stood amazed at my own forgetfulness. The light +which had attracted my attention came from the room devoted to the +display of Miss Murray's wedding-gifts. This I should have known +instantly, having had a hand in their arrangement. But all my faculties +were dulled that night, save such as responded to dread and horror. +Before going back I paused to look at the detective whose business it +was to guard the room. He was sitting very quietly at his post, and if +he saw me he did not look up. Strange that I had forgotten this man when +keeping my own vigil above. I doubted if Sinclair had remembered him +either. Yet he must have been unconsciously sharing our watch from start +to finish; must even have heard the cry as only a waking man could hear +it. Should I ask him if this was so? No. Perhaps I had not the courage +to hear his answer. + +Shortly after my return into the main hall I heard steps on the grand +staircase. Looking up, I saw the two girls descending, followed by +Sinclair. He had been successful, then, in inducing Dorothy to come +down. What would be the result? Could I stand the suspense of the +impending interview? + +As they stepped within the rays of the solitary gas-jet already +mentioned, I cast one quick look into Gilbertine's face, then a long one +into Dorothy's. I could read neither. If it was horror and horror only +which rendered both so pale and fixed of feature, then their emotion was +similar in character and intensity. But if in either breast the one +dominant sentiment was fear--horrible, blood-curdling fear--then was +that fear confined to Dorothy; for while Gilbertine advanced bravely, +Dorothy's steps lagged, and at the point where she should have turned +into the library, she whirled sharply about and made as if she would fly +back up stairs. + +But one stare from Gilbertine, one word from Sinclair, recalled her to +herself and she passed in and the door closed upon the three. I was left +to prevent possible intrusion and to eat out my heart in intolerable +suspense. + + + + +VI + +DOROTHY SPEAKS + + +I shall not subject you to the ordeal from which I suffered. You shall +follow my three friends into the room. According to Sinclair's +description, the interview proceeded thus: + +As soon as the door had closed upon them, and before either of the girls +had a chance to speak, he remarked to Gilbertine: + +"I have brought you here because I wish to express to you, in the +presence of your cousin, my sympathy for the bereavement which in an +instant has robbed you both of a lifelong guardian. I also wish to say +in the light of this sad event, that I am ready, if propriety so exacts, +to postpone the ceremony which I hoped would unite our lives to-day. +Your wish shall be my wish, Gilbertine; though I would suggest that +possibly you never more needed the sympathy and protection which only a +husband can give than you do to-day." + +He told me afterward that he was so taken up with the effect of this +suggestion on Gilbertine that he forgot to look at Dorothy, though the +hint he strove to convey of impending trouble was meant as much for her +as for his affianced bride. In another moment he regretted this, +especially when he saw that Dorothy had changed her attitude and was now +looking away from them both. + +"What do you say, Gilbertine?" he asked earnestly, as she sat flushing +and paling before him. + +"Nothing. I have not thought--it is a question for others to +decide--others who know what is right better than I. I appreciate your +consideration," she suddenly burst out--"and should be glad to tell you +at this moment what to expect; but--give me a little time--let me see +you later--in the morning, Mr. Sinclair, after we are all somewhat +rested and when I can see you quite alone." + +Dorothy rose. + +"Shall I go?" she asked. + +Sinclair advanced and with quiet protest, touched her on the shoulder. +Quietly she sank back into her seat. + +"I want to say a half-dozen words to you, Miss Camerden. Gilbertine will +pardon us; it is about matters which must be settled to-night. There are +decisions to arrive at and arrangements to be made. Mrs. Armstrong has +instructed me to question you in regard to these, as the one best +acquainted with Mrs. Lansing's affairs and general tastes. We will not +trouble Gilbertine. She has her own decisions to reach. Dear, will you +let me make you comfortable in the conservatory while I talk for five +minutes with Dorothy?" + +He said she met this question with a look so blank and uncomprehending +that he just lifted her and carried her in among the palms. + +"I must speak to Dorothy," he pleaded, placing her in the chair where he +had often seen her sit of her own accord. "Be a good girl; I will not +keep you here long." + +"But why can not I go to my room? I do not understand--I am +frightened--what have you to say to Dorothy you can not say to me?" + +She seemed so excited that for a minute, just a minute, he faltered in +his purpose. Then he took her gravely by the hand. + +"I have told you," said he. Then he kissed her softly on the forehead. +"Be quiet, dear, and rest. See! here are roses." + +He plucked and flung a handful into her lap. Then he crossed back to the +library and shut the conservatory door behind him. I am not surprised +that Gilbertine wondered at her peremptory bridegroom. + +When Sinclair reëntered the library, he found Dorothy standing with her +hand on the knob of the door leading into the hall. Her head was bent +and thoughtful, as though she were inwardly debating whether to stand +her ground or fly. Sinclair gave her no further opportunity for +hesitation. Advancing rapidly, he laid his hand quietly on hers, and +with a gravity which must have impressed her, quietly remarked: + +"I must ask you to stay and hear what I have to say. I wished to spare +Gilbertine; would that I could spare you. But circumstances forbid. You +know and I know that your aunt did not die of apoplexy." + +She gave a violent start and her lips parted. If the hand under his +clasp had been cold, it was now icy. He let his own slip from the +contact. + +"You know!" she echoed, trembling and pallid, her released hand flying +instinctively to her hair. + +"Yes; you need not feel about for the little box. I took it from its +hiding-place when I laid you fainting on the bed. Here it is." + +He drew it from his pocket and showed it to her. She hardly glanced at +it; her eyes were fixed in terror on his face and her lips seemed to be +trying in vain to formulate some inquiry. + +He tried to be merciful. + +"I missed it many hours ago, from the shelf yonder where you all saw me +place it. Had I known that you had taken it, I would have repeated to +you how deadly were the contents, and how dangerous it was to handle the +vial or to let others handle it, much less to put it to the lips." + +She started and instinctively her form rose to its full height. + +"Have you looked in that little box since you took it from my hair?" she +asked. + +"Yes." + +"Then you know it to be empty." + +For answer he pressed the spring, and the little lid flew open. + +"It is not empty now, you see." Then more slowly and with infinite +meaning, "But the little flask is." + +She brought her hands together and faced him with a noble dignity which +at once put the interview on a different footing. + +"Where was this vial found?" she demanded. + +He found it difficult to answer. They seemed to have exchanged +positions. When he did speak it was in a low tone and with less +confidence than he had shown before. + +"In the bed with the old lady. I saw it there myself. Mr. Worthington +was with me. Nobody else knows anything about it. I wished to give you +an opportunity to explain. I begin to think you can--but how, God only +knows. The box was hidden in your hair from early evening. I saw your +hand continually fluttering toward it all the time we were dancing in +the parlor." + +She did not lose an iota of her dignity or pride. + +"You are right," she said. "I put it there as soon as I took it from the +cabinet. I could think of no safer hiding-place. Yes, I took it," she +acknowledged as she saw the flush rise to his cheek. "I took it; but +with no worse motive than the dishonest one of having for my own an +object which bewitched me; I was hardly myself when I snatched it from +the shelf and thrust it into my hair." + +He stared at her in amazement, her confession and her attitude so +completely contradicted each other. + +"But I had nothing to do with the vial," she went on. And with this +declaration her whole manner, even her voice changed, as if with the +utterance of these few words she had satisfied some inner demand of +self-respect and could now enter into the sufferings of those about her. +"This I think it right to make plain to you. I supposed the vial to be +in the box when I took it, but when I got to my room and had an +opportunity to examine the deadly trinket, I found it empty, just as you +found it when you took it from my hair. Some one had taken the vial out +before my hand had ever touched the box." + +Like a man who feels himself suddenly seized by the throat, yet who +struggles for the life slowly but inexorably leaving him, Sinclair cast +one heartrending look toward the conservatory, then heavily demanded: + +"Why were you out of your room? Why did they have to look for you? _And +who was the person who uttered that scream?_" + +She confronted him sadly, but with an earnestness he could not but +respect. + +"I was not in the room because I was troubled by my discovery. I think I +had some idea of returning the box to the shelf from which I had taken +it. At all events, I found myself on the little staircase in the rear +when that cry rang through the house. I do not know who uttered it; I +only know that it did not spring from my lips." + +In a rush of renewed hope he seized her by the hand. + +"It was your aunt!" he whispered. "It was she who took the vial out of +the box; who put it to her own lips; who shrieked when she felt her +vitals gripped. Had you stayed you would have known this. Can't you say +so? Don't you think so? Why do you look at me with those incredulous +eyes?" + +"Because you must not believe a lie. Because you are too good a man to +be sacrificed. It was a younger throat than my aunt's which gave +utterance to that shriek. Mr. Sinclair, be advised; _do not be married +to-morrow_!" + +Meanwhile I was pacing the hall without in a delirium of suspense. I +tried hard to keep within the bounds of silence. I had turned for the +fiftieth time to face that library door, when suddenly I heard a hoarse +cry break from within and saw the door fly open and Dorothy come +hurrying out. She shrank when she saw me, but seemed grateful that I did +not attempt to stop her, and soon was up the stairs and out of sight. I +rushed at once into the library. + +I found Sinclair sitting before a table with his head buried in his +hands. In an instant I knew that our positions were again reversed and, +without stopping to give heed to my own sensations, I approached him as +near as I dared and laid my hand on his shoulder. + +He shuddered but did not look up, and it was minutes before he spoke. +Then it all came in a rush. + +"Fool! fool that I was! And I saw that she was consumed by fright the +moment it became plain that I was intent upon having some conversation +with Dorothy. Her fingers where they gripped my arm must have left +marks behind them. But I saw only womanly nervousness where a man less +blind would have detected guilt. Walter, I wish that the mere scent of +this empty flask would kill. Then I should not have to reënter that +conservatory door--or look again in her face, or--" + +He had taken out the cursed jewel and was fingering it in a nervous way +which went to my heart of hearts. Gently removing it from his hand, I +asked with all the calmness possible: + +"What is all this mystery? Why have your suspicions returned to +Gilbertine? I thought you had entirely dissociated her with this matter +and that you blamed Dorothy and Dorothy only, for the amethyst's loss?" + +"Dorothy had the empty box; but the vial! the vial!--that had been taken +by a previous hand. Do you remember the white silk train which Mr. +Armstrong saw slipping from this room? I can not talk, Walter; my duty +leads me _there_." + +He pointed toward the conservatory. I drew back and asked if I should +take up my watch again outside the door. + +He shook his head. + +"It makes no difference; nothing makes any difference. But if you want +to please me, stay here." + +I at once sank into a chair. He made a great effort and advanced to the +conservatory door. I studiously looked another way; my heart was +breaking with sympathy for him. + +But in another instant I was on my feet. I could hear him rushing about +among the palms. Presently I heard his voice shout out the wild cry: + +"She is gone! I forgot there was another door communicating with the +hall." + +I crossed the floor and entered where he stood gazing down at an empty +seat and a trail of scattered roses. Never shall I forget his face. The +dimness of the spot could not hide his deep, unspeakable emotions. To +him this flight bore but one interpretation--guilt. + +I did not advocate Sinclair's pressing the matter further that night. I +saw that he was exhausted and that any further movement would tax him +beyond his strength. We therefore separated immediately after leaving +the library, and I found my way to my own room alone. It may seem +callous in me, but I fell asleep very soon after, and did not wake till +roused by a knock at my door. On opening it I confronted Sinclair, +looking haggard and unkempt. As he entered, the first clear notes of the +breakfast-bell could be heard rising up from the lower hall. + +"I have not slept," he said. "I have been walking the hall all night, +listening by spells at her door, and at other times giving what counsel +I could to the Armstrongs. God forgive me, but I have said nothing to +any one of what has made this affair an awful tragedy to me! Do you +think I did wrong? I waited to give Dorothy a chance. Why should I not +show the same consideration to Gilbertine?" + +"You should." But our eyes did not meet, and neither voice expressed the +least hope. + +"I shall not go to breakfast," he now declared. "I have written this +line to Gilbertine. Will you see that she gets it?" + +For reply I held out my hand. He placed the note in it, and I was +touched to see that it was unsealed. + +"Be sure, when you give it to her, that she will have an opportunity of +reading it alone. I shall request the use of one of the little +reception-rooms this morning. Let her come there if she is so impelled. +She will find a friend as well as a judge." + +I endeavored to express sympathy, urge patience and suggest hope. But he +had no ear for words, though he tried to listen, poor fellow! so I soon +stopped and he presently left the room. I immediately made myself as +presentable as a night of unprecedented emotions would allow, and went +below to do him such service as opportunity offered and the exigencies +of the case permitted. + +I found the lower hall alive with eager guests and a few outsiders. News +of the sad event was slowly making its way through the avenue, and some +of the Armstrongs' nearest neighbors had left their breakfast-tables to +express their interest and to hear the particulars. Among these stood +the lady of the house; but Mr. Armstrong was nowhere within sight. For +him the breakfast waited. Not wishing to be caught in any little swirl +of conventional comment, I remained near the staircase waiting for some +one to descend who could give me news concerning Miss Murray. For I had +small expectation of her braving the eyes of these strangers, and +doubted if even Dorothy would be seen at the breakfast-table. But little +Miss Lane, if small, was gifted with a great appetite. She would be sure +to appear prior to the last summons, and as we were good friends, she +would listen to my questions and give me the answer I needed for the +carrying out of Sinclair's wishes. But before her light footfall was +heard descending I was lured from my plans by an unexpected series of +events. Three men came down, one after the other, followed by Mr. +Armstrong, looking even more grave and ponderous than usual. Two of them +were the physicians who had been called in the night and whom I had +myself seen depart somewhere near three o'clock. The third I did not +know, but he looked like a doctor also. Why were they here again so +early? Had anything new come to light? + +It was a question which seemed to strike others as well as myself. As +Mr. Armstrong ushered them down the hall and out of the front door, many +were the curious glances which followed them, and it was with difficulty +that the courteous host on his return escaped the questions and +detaining hands of some of his more inquisitive guests. A pleasant word, +an amiable smile he had for all, but I was quite certain when I saw him +disappear into the little room he retained for his own use that he had +told them nothing which could in any way relieve their curiosity. + +This filled me with a vague alarm. Something must have +occurred--something which Sinclair ought to know. I felt a great anxiety +and was closely watching the door behind which Mr. Armstrong had +vanished when it suddenly opened and I perceived that he had been +writing a telegram. As he gave it to one of the servants he made a +gesture to the man standing with extended hand by the Chinese gong, and +the summons rang out for breakfast. Instantly the hum of voices ceased, +and young and old turned toward the dining-room, but the host did not +enter with them. Before the younger and more active of his guests could +reach his side he had slid into the room which I have before described +as set apart for the display of Gilbertine's wedding-presents. Instantly +I lost all inclination for breakfast and lingered about in the hall +until every one had passed me, even little Miss Lane, who had come down +unperceived while I was watching Mr. Armstrong's door. Not very well +pleased with myself for having missed the one opportunity which might +have been of service to me, I was asking myself whether I should follow +her and make the best attempt I could at sociability if not at eating, +when Mr. Armstrong approached from the side hall, and, accosting me, +inquired if Mr. Sinclair had come down yet. + +I assured him that I had not seen him and did not think he meant to come +to breakfast, adding that he had been very much affected by the affairs +of the night, and had told me that he was going to shut himself up in +his room and rest. + +"I am sorry, but there is a question I must ask him immediately. It is +about a little Italian trinket which I am told he displayed to the +ladies yesterday afternoon." + + + + +VII + +CONSTRAINT + + +So! our dreadful secret was not confined to ourselves as we had +supposed, but was shared or at least suspected, by our host. + +Thankful that it was I, rather than Sinclair, who was called upon to +meet and sustain this shock, I answered with what calmness I could: + +"Yes; Sinclair mentioned the matter to me. Indeed, if you have any +curiosity on the subject, I think I can enlighten you as fully as he +can." + +Mr. Armstrong glanced up the stairs, hesitated, then drew me into his +private room. + +"I find myself in a very uncomfortable position," he began. "A strange +and quite unaccountable change has shown itself in the appearance of +Mrs. Lansing's body during the last few hours; a change which baffles +the physicians and raises in their minds very unfortunate conjectures. +What I want to know is whether Mr. Sinclair still has in his possession +the box which is said to hold a vial of deadly poison, or whether it has +passed into any other hand since he showed it to certain ladies in the +library." + +We were standing directly in the light of an eastern window. Deception +was impossible, even if I had felt like employing it. In Sinclair's +interests, if not in my own, I resolved to be as true to our host as our +positions demanded, yet, at the same time, to save Gilbertine as much as +possible from premature if not final suspicion. + +I therefore replied: "That is a question I can answer as well as +Sinclair." (Happy was I to save him this cross-examination.) "While he +was showing this toy, Mrs. Armstrong came into the room and proposed a +stroll, which drew all of the ladies from the room and called for his +attendance as well. With no thought of the danger involved, he placed +the trinket on a high shelf in the cabinet, and went out with the rest. +When he came back for it, it was gone." + +The usually ruddy aspect of my host's face deepened, and he sat down in +the great armchair which did duty before his writing-table. + +"This is dreadful," was his comment, "entailing I do not know what +unfortunate consequences upon this household and on the unhappy girl--" + +"Girl?" I repeated. + +He turned upon me with great gravity. "Mr. Worthington, I am sorry to +have to admit it, but something strange, something not easily +explainable, took place in this house last night. It has only just come +to light; otherwise, the doctors' conclusions might have been different. +You know there is a detective in the house. The presents are valuable +and I thought best to have a man here to look after them." + +I nodded; I had no breath for speech. + +"That man tells me," continued Mr. Armstrong, "that just a few minutes +previous to the time the whole household was aroused last night, he +heard a step in the hall overhead, then the sound of a light foot +descending the little staircase in the servants' hall. Being anxious to +find out what this person wanted at an hour so late, he lowered the gas, +closed his door and listened. The steps went by his door. Satisfied that +it was a woman he heard, he pulled open the door again and looked out. A +young girl was standing not very far from him in a thin streak of +moonlight. She was gazing intently at something in her hand, and that +something had a purple gleam to it. He is ready to swear to this. Next +moment, frightened by some noise she heard, she fled back and vanished +again in the region of the little staircase. It was soon, very soon +after this that the shriek came. Now, Mr. Worthington, what am I to do +with this knowledge? I have advised this man to hold his peace till I +can make inquiries, but where am I to make them? I can not think that +Miss Camerden--" + +The ejaculation which escaped me was involuntary. To hear her name for +the second time in this association was more than I could bear. + +"Did he say it was Miss Camerden?" I hurriedly inquired as he looked at +me in some surprise. "How should he know Miss Camerden?" + +"He described her," was the unanswerable reply. "Besides, we know that +she was circulating in the halls at that time. I declare I have never +known a worse business," this amiable man bemoaned. "Let me send for +Sinclair; he is more interested than any one else in Gilbertine's +relatives; or stay, what if I should send for Miss Camerden herself? She +should be able to tell how she came by this box." + +I subdued my own instincts, which were all for clearing Dorothy on the +spot, and answered as I thought Sinclair would like me to answer. + +"It is a serious and very perplexing piece of business," said I; "but if +you will wait a short time I do not think you will have to trouble Miss +Camerden. I am sure that explanations will be given. Give the lady a +chance," I stammered. "Imagine what her feelings would be if questioned +on so delicate a topic. It would make a breach which nothing could heal. +Later, if she does not speak, it will be only right for you to ask her +why." + +"She did not come down this morning." + +"Naturally not." + +"If I could take counsel of my wife! But she is of too nervous a +temperament. I am anxious to keep her from knowing this fresh +complication as long as possible. Do you think I can look for Miss +Camerden to explain herself before the doctors return, or before Mrs. +Lansing's physician, for whom I have telegraphed, can arrive from New +York?" + +"I am sure that three hours will not pass before you hear the truth. +Leave me to work out the situation. I promise that if I can not bring it +about to your satisfaction, Sinclair shall be asked to lend his +assistance. Only keep the gossips from Miss Camerden's good name. Words +can be said in a moment that will not be forgotten in years. I tremble +at such a prospect for her." + +"No one knows of her being seen with the box," he remarked. "Every one +probably knows by this time that there is some doubt felt as to the +cause of Mrs. Lansing's death. You can not keep a suspicion of this +nature secret in a house so full of people as this." + +I knew it, but, relieved by his manner if not by his words, I took my +leave of him for the present and made my way at once to the dining-room. +Should I find Miss Lane there? Yes, and what was more, the fortunes of +the day had decreed that the place beside her should be unoccupied. + +I was on my way to that place when I was struck by the extreme quiet +into which the room had fallen. It had been humming with talk when I +first entered; but now not a voice was raised, and scarcely an eye. In +the hurried glance I cast about the board, not a look met mine in +recognition or welcome. + +What did it mean? Had they been talking about me? Possibly; and in a +way, it would seem, that was not altogether flattering to my vanity. + +Unable to hide my sense of the general embarrassment which my presence +had called forth, I passed to the seat I have indicated and let my +inquiring look settle on Miss Lane. She was staring in imitation of the +others straight into her plate, but as I saluted her with a quiet good +morning, she looked up and acknowledged my courtesy with a faint, almost +sympathetic, smile. At once the whole tableful broke again into chatter, +and I could safely put the question with which my mind was full. + +"How is Miss Murray?" I asked. "I do not see her here." + +"Did you expect to? Poor Gilbertine! This is not the bridal day she +expected." Then, with irresistible naïveté entirely in keeping with her +fairy-like figure and girlish face, she added: "I think it was just +horrid in the old woman to die the night before the wedding; don't you?" + +"Indeed, I do," I emphatically rejoined, humoring her in the hope of +learning what I wished to know. "Does Miss Murray still cherish the +expectation of being married to-day? No one seems to know." + +"Nor do I. I haven't seen her since the middle of the night. She didn't +come back to her room. They say she is sobbing out her terror and +disappointment in some attic corner. Think of that for Gilbertine +Murray! But even that is better than--" + +The sentence trailed away into an indistinguishable murmur; the murmur +into silence. Was it because of a fresh lull in the conversation about +us? I hardly think so, for though the talk was presently resumed, she +remained silent, not even giving the least sign of wishing to prolong +this particular topic. I finished my coffee as soon as possible and +quitted the room, but not before many had preceded me. The hall was +consequently as full as before of a gossiping crowd. + +I was on the point of bowing myself through the various groups blocking +my way to the library door, when I noticed renewed signs of +embarrassment on all the faces turned my way. Women who were clustered +about the newel-post drew back, and some others sauntered away into side +rooms with an appearance of suddenly wishing to go somewhere. This +certainly was very singular, especially as these marks of disapproval +did not seem to be directed so much at myself as at some one behind me. +Who could this some one be? Turning quickly, I cast a glance up the +staircase before which I stood and saw the figure of a young girl +dressed in black hesitating on the landing. This young girl was Dorothy +Camerden, and it took but a moment's contemplation of the scene for me +to feel assured that it was against her this feeling of universal +constraint had been directed. + + + + +VIII + +GILBERTINE SPEAKS + + +Knowing my darling's innocence, I felt the insult shown her in my heart +of hearts, and might in the heat of the moment have been betrayed into +an unwise utterance of my indignation, if at that moment I had not +encountered the eye of Mr. Armstrong, fixed on me from the rear hall. In +the mingled surprise and distress he displayed, I saw that it was not +from any indiscretion of his that this feeling against her had started. +He had not betrayed the trust I had placed in him, yet the murmur had +gone about which virtually ostracized her, and instead of confronting +the eager looks of friends, she found herself met by averted glances and +coldly turned backs, and soon by an almost empty hall. + +She flushed as she realized the effect of her presence and cast me an +agonized look, which, without her expectation, perhaps, roused every +instinct of chivalry within me. Advancing, I met her at the foot of the +stairs, and with one quick word seemed to restore her to herself. + +"Be patient!" I whispered. "To-morrow they will be all around you again. +Perhaps sooner. Go into the conservatory and wait." + +She gave me a grateful pressure of the hand, while I bounded up stairs, +determined that nothing should stop me from finding Gilbertine and +giving her the letter with which Sinclair had intrusted me. + +But this was more easily planned than accomplished. When I had reached +the third floor (an unaccustomed and strange spot for me to find myself +in) I at first found no one who could tell me to which room Miss Murray +had retired. Then, when I did come across a stray housemaid and she, +with an extraordinary stare, had pointed out the door, I found it quite +impossible to gain any response from within, though I could hear a +quick step moving restlessly to and fro and now and then catch the sound +of a smothered sob or low cry. The wretched girl would not heed me, +though I told her who I was and that I had a letter from Mr. Sinclair in +my hand. Indeed, she presently became perfectly quiet and let me knock +again and again, till the situation became ridiculous and I felt obliged +to draw off. + +Not that I thought of yielding. No, I would stay there till her own +fancy drove her to open the door, or till Mr. Armstrong should come up +and force it. A woman upon whom so many interests depended would not be +allowed to remain shut up the whole morning. Her position as a possible +bride forbade it. Guilty or innocent, she must show herself before long. +As if in answer to my expectation, a figure appeared at this very moment +at the other end of the hall. It was Dutton, the butler, and in his hand +he held a telegram. He seemed astonished to see me there, but passed me +with a simple bow and stopped before the door I had so unavailingly +assailed a few minutes before. + +"A telegram, miss," he shouted, as no answer was made to his knock. "Mr. +Armstrong asked me to bring it to you. It is from the bishop and calls +for an immediate reply." + +There was a stir within, but the door did not open. Meanwhile, I had +sealed and thrust forth the letter I had held concealed in my breast +pocket. + +"Give her this, too," I signified, and pointed to the crack under the +door. + +He took the letter, laid the telegram on it, and pushed them both in. +Then he stood up and eyed the unresponsive panels with the set look of a +man who does not easily yield his purpose. + +"I will wait for the answer," he shouted through the keyhole, and +falling back he took up his stand against the opposite wall. + +I could not keep him company there. Withdrawing into a big dormer +window, I waited with beating heart to see if her door would open. +Apparently not, yet as I still lingered, I heard the lock turn, followed +by the sound of a measured but hurried step. Dashing from my retreat, I +reached the main hall in time to see Miss Murray disappear toward the +staircase. This was well, and I was about to follow when, to my +astonishment, I perceived Dutton standing in the doorway she had just +left, staring down at the floor with a puzzled look. + +"She didn't pick up the letters," he cried, in amazement. "She just +walked over them. What shall I do now? It's the strangest thing I ever +saw." + +"Take them to the little boudoir over the porch," I suggested. "Mr. +Sinclair is there and if she is not on her way to join him now she +certainly will be soon." + +Without a word Dutton caught up the letters and made for the stairs. + +Left to await the result, I found myself so worked upon that I wondered +how much longer I should find myself able to endure these shifts of +feeling and constantly recurring moments of extreme suspense. To escape +the torture of my own thoughts, or, possibly, to get some idea of how +Dorothy was sustaining an ordeal which was fast destroying my own +self-possession, I prepared to go down stairs. What was my astonishment +in passing the little boudoir on the second floor, to find its door ajar +and the place empty. Either the interview between Sinclair and +Gilbertine had been very much curtailed, or it had not yet taken place. +With a heart heavy with forebodings I no longer sought to analyze, I +made my way down and reached the lower step of the great staircase just +as a half-dozen girls, rushing from different quarters of the hall, +surrounded the heavy form of Mr. Armstrong coming from his own little +room. + +Their questions made a small hubbub. With a good-natured gesture, he put +them all back and, raising his voice, said to the assembled crowd: + +"It has been decided by Miss Murray that, under the circumstances, it +will be wiser for her to postpone the celebration of her marriage to +some time and place less fraught with mournful suggestions. A telegram +has just been sent to the bishop to that effect, and while we all suffer +from this disappointment, I am sure there is no one here who will not +see the propriety of her decision." + +As he finished, Gilbertine appeared behind him. At the same moment I +caught, or thought I did, the flash of Sinclair's eye from the recesses +of the room beyond; but I could not stop to make sure of this, for +Gilbertine's look and manner were such as to draw my full attention, and +it was with a mixture of almost inexplicable emotions that I saw her +thread her way among her friends, in a state of high feeling which made +her blind to their outstretched hands and deaf to the murmur of interest +and sympathy which instinctively followed her. She was making for the +stairs, and whatever her thoughts, whatever the state of her mind, she +moved superbly, in her pale, yet seemingly radiant abstraction. I +watched her, fascinated, yet when she left the last group and began to +cross the small square of carpet which alone separated us, I stepped +down and aside, feeling that to meet her eye just then without knowing +what had passed between her and Sinclair would be cruel to her and +well-nigh unbearable to myself. + +She saw the movement and seemed to hesitate an instant, then she turned +for one brief instant in my direction, and I saw her smile. Great God! +it was the smile of innocence. Fleeting as it was, the pride that was in +it, the sweet assertion and the joy were unmistakable. I felt like +springing to Sinclair's side in the gladness of my relief, but there was +no time; another door had opened down the hall, another person had +stepped upon the scene, and Miss Murray, as well as myself, recognized +by the hush which at once fell upon every one present that something of +still more startling import awaited us. + +"Mr. Armstrong and ladies!" said this stranger (I knew he was a stranger +by the studied formality of the former's bow). "I have made a few +inquiries since I came here a short time ago, and I find that there is +one young lady in the house who ought to be able to tell me better than +any one else under what circumstances Mrs. Lansing breathed her last. I +allude to her niece, who slept in the adjoining room. Is that young lady +here? Her name, if I remember rightly, is Camerden--Miss Dorothy +Camerden." + +A movement as of denial passed from group to group down the hall, and, +while no one glanced toward the library and some did glance up stairs, I +felt the dart of sudden fear--or was it hope--that Dorothy, hearing her +name called, would leave the conservatory and proudly confront the +speaker in face of this whole suspicious throng. But no Dorothy +appeared. On the contrary, it was Gilbertine who turned, and with an air +of authority for which no one was prepared, asked in tones vibrating +with feeling: + +"Has this gentleman the official right to question who was and who was +not with my aunt when she died?" + +Mr. Armstrong, who showed his surprise as ingenuously as he did every +other emotion, glanced up at the light figure hovering over them from +the staircase and made out to answer: + +"This gentleman has every right, Miss Murray. He is the coroner of the +town, accustomed to inquire into all cases of sudden death." + +"Then," she vehemently rejoined, her pale cheeks breaking out into a +scarlet flush, above which her eyes shone with an almost unearthly +brilliancy, "do not summon Dorothy Camerden. She is not the witness you +want. I am. I am the one who uttered that scream; I am the one who saw +our aunt die. Dorothy can not tell you what took place in her room and +at her bedside, for Dorothy was not there; but _I_ can." + +Amazed, not as others were, at the assertion itself, but at the manner +and publicity of the utterance, I contemplated this surprising girl in +ever-increasing wonder. Always beautiful, always spirited and proud, she +looked at that moment as if nothing in the shape of fear, or even +contumely, could touch her. She faced the astonishment of her best +friends with absolute fearlessness, and before the general murmur could +break into words, added: + +"I feel it my duty to speak thus publicly, because, by keeping silent so +long, I have allowed a false impression to go about. Stunned with +terror, I found it impossible to speak during that first shock. Besides, +I was in a measure to blame for the catastrophe itself and lacked +courage to own it. It was I who took the little crystal flask into my +aunt's room. I had been fascinated by it from the first, fascinated +enough to long to see it closer and to hold it in my hand. But I was +ashamed of this fascination, ashamed, I mean, to have any one know that +I could be moved by such a childish impulse; so, instead of taking the +box itself, which might easily be missed, I simply abstracted the tiny +vial. It strikes me now as a very strange thing for me to do, but then +it seemed a natural enough impulse; and it was with a feeling of decided +satisfaction I carried this coveted object about with me till I got to +my room. Then, when the house was quiet and my room-mate asleep, I took +it out and looked at it, and feeling an irresistible desire to share my +amusement with my cousin, I stole to her room by means of the connecting +balcony, just as I had done many times before when our aunt was in bed +and asleep. But unlike any previous occasion, I found the room empty. +Dorothy was not there; but as the light was burning high I knew she +would soon be back and so ventured to step in. Instantly, I heard my +aunt's voice. She was awake and wanted something. She had evidently +called before, for her voice was sharp with impatience, and she used +some very harsh words. When she heard me in Dorothy's room, she shouted +again, and, as I have always been accustomed to obey her commands, I +hastened to her side, with the little vial concealed in my hand. As she +had expected to see Dorothy and not me, she rose up in unreasoning +anger, asking where my cousin was and why I was not in bed. I attempted +to answer her, but she would not listen to me and bade me turn up the +gas, which I did. Then with her eyes fixed on mine as though she knew I +was trying to conceal something from her, she commanded me to rearrange +her hair and make her more comfortable. This I could not do with the +tiny flask still in my hand, so with a quick movement, which I hoped +would pass unobserved, I slid it behind some bottles standing on a table +by the bedside, and bent to do what she required. But to attempt to +escape her eye was useless. She had seen my action and at once began to +feel about for what I had attempted to hide from her. Coming in contact +with the tiny flask, she seized it, and with a smile I shall never +forget held it up between us. 'What's this?' she cried, showing such +astonishment at its minuteness and perfection of shape that it was +immediately apparent she had heard nothing of the amethyst box displayed +by Mr. Sinclair in the library. 'I never saw a bottle as small as this +before. What is in it and why were you so afraid of my seeing it?' As +she spoke, she attempted to wrench out the stopper. It stuck, so I was +in hopes she would fail in the effort, but she was a woman of uncommon +strength and presently it yielded and I saw the vial open in her hand. + +"Aghast with terror, I caught at the table beside me, fearing to drop +before her eyes. Instantly, her look of curiosity changed to one of +suspicion, and repeating, 'What's in it? What's in it?' she raised the +flask to her nostrils, and when she found she could make out nothing +from the smell, lowered it to her lips, with the intention, I suppose, +of determining its contents by tasting them. As I caught sight of this +fatal action, and beheld the one drop, which Mr. Sinclair had said was +enough to kill a man, slip from its hiding-place of centuries into her +open throat, I felt as if the poison had entered my own veins; I could +neither speak nor move. But when, an instant later, I met the look which +spread suddenly over her face--a look of horror and hatred, accusing +horror and unspeakable hatred mingled with what I dimly felt must mean +death--an agonized cry burst from my lips, after which, panicstricken, I +flew as if for life, back by the way I had come, to my own room. This +was a great mistake. I should have remained with my aunt and boldly met +the results of the tragedy which my folly had brought about. But terror +knows no law, and having once yielded to the instinct of concealment, I +knew no other course than to continue to maintain an apparent ignorance +of what had just occurred. With chattering teeth and an awful numbness +at my heart, I tore off my wrapper and slid into bed. Miss Lane had not +wakened, but every one else had and the hall was full of people. This +terrified me still more, and for the moment I felt that I could never +own the truth and bring down upon myself all this wonder and curiosity. +So I allowed a wrong impression of the event to go about, for which act +of cowardice I now ask the pardon of every one here, as I have already +asked that of Mr. Sinclair and of our kind friend, Mr. Armstrong." + +She paused, and stood for a moment confronting us all with proud eyes +and flaming cheeks, then amid a hubbub which did not seem to affect her +in the least, she stepped down, and approaching the man who, she had +been told, had a right to her full confidence, she said, loud enough for +all who wished to hear her: + +"I am ready to give you whatever further information you may require. +Shall I step into the drawing-room with you?" + +He bowed and as they disappeared from the great hall the hubbub of +voices became tumultuous. + +Naturally I should have joined in the universal expressions of surprise +and the gossip incident to such an unexpected revelation. But I found +myself averse to any kind of talk. Till I could meet Sinclair's eye and +discern in it the happy clearing-up of all his doubts, I should not feel +free to be my own ordinary and sociable self again. But Sinclair showed +every evidence of wishing to keep in the background, and while this was +natural enough, so far as people in general were concerned, I thought it +odd and very unlike him not to give me an opportunity to express my +congratulations at the turn affairs had taken and the frank attitude +assumed by Gilbertine. I own I felt much disturbed by this neglect, and +as the minutes passed and he failed to appear, I found my satisfaction +in her explanations dwindle under the consciousness that they had +failed, in some respects, to account for the situation; and before I +knew it, I was the prey of fresh doubts which I did my best to smother, +not only for the sake of Sinclair, but because I was still too much +under the influence of Gilbertine's imposing personality to wish to +believe aught but what her burning words conveyed. She must have spoken +the truth, but was it the entire truth? I hated myself for asking the +question; hated myself for being more critical with her than I had been +with Dorothy, who certainly had not made her own part in this tragedy as +clear as one who loved her could wish. Ah, Dorothy! it was time some one +told her that Gilbertine had openly vindicated her and that she could +now come forth and face her friends without hesitation and without +dread. Was she still in the conservatory? Doubtless. But it would be +better perhaps for me to make sure. + +Approaching the place by the small door connecting it with the hall-way +in which I stood, I took a hurried look within, and, seeing no one, +stepped boldly down between the palms to the little nook where lovers of +this quiet spot were accustomed to sit. It was empty, and so was the +library beyond. Coming back, I accosted Dutton, whom I found +superintending the removal of the potted plants which encumbered the +passages, and asked him if he knew where Miss Camerden was? He answered +without hesitation that she had stood in the rear hall a little while +before, listening to Miss Murray; that she had then gone up stairs by +the spiral staircase, leaving word with him that if anybody wanted her +she would be found in the small boudoir over the porch. + +I thanked him and was on my way to join her, when Mr. Armstrong called +me. He must have kept me a half-hour in his room, discussing every +aspect of the affair and apologizing for the necessity which he now felt +for bidding farewell to most of his guests, among whom, he was careful +to state, he did not include me. Then, when I thought this topic +exhausted, he began to talk about his wife, and what this dreadful +occurrence was to her and how he despaired of ever reconciling her to +the fact that it had been considered necessary to call in a coroner. +Then he spoke of Sinclair, but with some constraint and a more careful +choice of words, at which, realizing that I was to reap nothing from +this interview, only suffer strong and continual irritation at a delay +which was costing me the inestimable privilege of being the first to +tell Dorothy of her reëstablishment in every one's good opinion, I +exerted myself for release and to such good purpose that I presently +found myself again in the hall, where the first person I ran against was +Sinclair. + +He started and so did I at this unexpected encounter. Then we stood +still, and I stared at him in amazement, for everything about the man +was changed, and--inexplicable fact!--in nothing was this change more +marked than in his attitude toward myself. Yet he tried to be friendly +and meet me on the old footing, and observed as soon as we found +ourselves beyond the hearing of others: + +"You heard what Gilbertine said. There is no reason for doubting her +words. _I_ do not doubt them and you will show yourself my friend +by not doubting them either." Then with some impetuosity and a gleam +in his eye quite foreign to its natural expression, he pursued, with +a pitiful effort to speak dispassionately: "Our wedding is +postponed--indefinitely. There are reasons why this seemed best to Miss +Murray. To you, I will say, that postponed nuptials seldom culminate in +marriage. In fact, I have just released Miss Murray from all obligations +to myself." + +The stare of utter astonishment I gave him called up a flush, the first +and only one I have ever seen on his face. What was I to say, what could +I say, in response to such a declaration, following so immediately upon +his warm assertion of her innocence? Nothing. With that indefinable +chill between us, which had come I knew not how, I felt tongue-tied. + +He saw my embarrassment, possibly my emotion, for he smiled somewhat +bitterly and put a step or so between us before he remarked: + +"Miss Murray has my good wishes. Out of respect to her position I shall +show her a friend's attention while we remain in this house. That is all +I have to say, Walter. You and I have held our last conversation on this +subject." + +He was gone before I had sufficiently recovered to realize that in this +conversation I had had no part, neither had it contained any explanation +of the very facts which had once formed our greatest grounds for doubt, +namely, Beaton's dream, the smothered cry uttered behind Sinclair's +shoulder when he first made known the deadly qualities of the little +vial, and lastly, the strange desire acknowledged to by both these young +ladies to touch and hold an object calculated rather to repel than to +attract the normal feminine heart. + +At every previous stage of this ever-shifting drama, my instinct had +been to set my wits against the facts, and, if I could, puzzle out the +mystery. But I felt no such temptation now. My one desire was to act, +and that immediately. Dorothy, for all Gilbertine's intimation to the +contrary, held the key to the enigma in her own breast. Otherwise, she +would not have ventured upon that surprising and necessarily unpalatable +advice to Sinclair--an advice he seemed to have followed--not to marry +Gilbertine Murray at the time proposed. Nothing, short of a secret +acquaintanceship with facts unknown as yet to the rest of us, could have +nerved her to such an act. + +My one hope, then, of understanding the matter lay with her. To seek her +at once in the place where I had been told she awaited me seemed the +only course to take. If any real gratitude underlay the look of trust +which she had given me at the termination of our last interview, she +would reward my confidence in her by unbosoming herself to me. + +I was at the door of the boudoir immediately upon forming this +resolution. Finding it ajar, I pushed it softly open, and as softly +entered. To my astonishment, the place was very dark. Not only had the +shades been drawn down, but the shutters had been closed, so that it was +with difficulty I detected the slight, black-robed figure which lay, +face down, among the cushions of a lounge. She had evidently not heard +my entrance, for she did not move; and, struck by her pathetic attitude, +I advanced in a whirl of feeling which made me forget all +conventionalities and everything else, in fact, but that I loved her and +had the utmost confidence in her power to make me happy. Laying my hand +softly on her head, I tenderly whispered: + +"Look up, dear. Whatever barrier may have intervened between us has +fallen. Look up and hear how I love you." + +She thrilled as a woman only thrills when her secret soul is moved, and, +rising with a certain grand movement, turned her face upon me, glorious +with a feeling that not even the dimness of the room could hide. + +Why, then, did my brain whirl and my heart collapse? + +It was Gilbertine and not Dorothy who stood before me. + + + + +IX + +IN THE LITTLE BOUDOIR + + +Never had a suspicion crossed my mind of any such explanation of our +secret troubles. I had seen as much of one cousin as the other in my +visits to Mrs. Lansing's house, but Gilbertine being from the first day +of our acquaintance engaged to my friend Sinclair, I naturally did not +presume to study her face for any signs of interest in myself, even if +my sudden and uncontrollable passion for Dorothy had left me the heart +to do so. Yet now, in the light of her unmistakable smile, of her +beaming eyes from which all troublous thoughts seemed to have fled for +ever, a thousand recollections forced themselves upon my attention which +not only made me bewail my own blindness, but which served to explain +the peculiar attitude always maintained toward me by Dorothy, and many +other things which a moment before had seemed fraught with impenetrable +mystery. + +All this in the twinkling of an eye. Meanwhile, misled by my words, +Gilbertine drew back a step and with her face still bright with the +radiance I have mentioned, murmured in low, but full-toned accents: + +"Not just yet! it is too soon. Let me simply enjoy the fact that I am +free and that the courage to win my release came from my own suddenly +acquired trust in Mr. Sinclair's goodness. Last night--" and she +shuddered--"I saw only another way--a way the horrors of which I hardly +realized. But God saved me from so dreadful, yea, so unnecessary a +crime, and this morning--" + +It was cruel to let her go on, cruel to stand there and allow this +ardent if mistaken nature to unfold itself so ingenuously, while I with +ear half-turned toward the door, listened for the step of her whom I had +never so much loved as at that moment--possibly because I had only just +come to understand the cause of her seeming vacillations. My instincts +were so imperative, my duty and the obligations of my position so +unmistakable, that I made a move as she reached this point, which caused +Gilbertine first to hesitate, then to stop. How should I fill up this +gap of silence? How tell her of the great, the grievous mistake she had +made? The task was one to try the courage of stouter souls than mine. +But the thought of Dorothy nerved me; perhaps, also, my real friendship +and commiseration for Sinclair. + +"Gilbertine," I began, "I will make no pretense of misunderstanding you. +The situation is too serious, the honor which you do me too great; only, +I am not free to accept that honor. The words which I uttered were meant +for your cousin Dorothy. I expected to find her in this room. I have +long loved your cousin--in secrecy, I own, but honestly and with every +hope of some day making her my wife. I--I--" + +There was no need for me to finish. The warm hand turning to ice in my +clasp, the wide-open, blind-struck eyes, the recoil, the maiden flush +rising, deepening, covering chin and cheek and forehead, then fading out +again till the whole face was white as marble and seemingly as +cold--told me that the blow had gone home and that Gilbertine Murray, +the unequalled beauty, the petted darling of a society who recognized +every charm she possessed save her ardent nature and great heart, had +reached the height of her many miseries and that it was I who had placed +her there. + +Overcome with pity, but conscious, also, of a profound respect, I +endeavored to utter some futile words, which she at once put an end to +by an appealing gesture. + +"You can say nothing," she began. "I have made an awful mistake, the +worst a woman can make, I think." Then, with long pauses, as though her +tongue were clogged by shame--perhaps by some deeper if less apparent +feeling--"You love Dorothy; does Dorothy love you?" + +My answer was an honest one. + +"I have dared to hope so, despite the little opportunity she has given +me to express my feelings. She has always held me back, and that very +decidedly, or my devotion would have been apparent to everybody." + +"Oh, Dorothy!" + +Regret, sorrow, infinite tenderness, all were audible in that cry. +Indeed, it seemed as if for the moment her thoughts were more taken up +with her cousin's unhappiness than with her own. + +"How I must have made her suffer! I have been a curse to those who loved +me. But I am humbled now, and very rightly." + +I began to experience a certain awe of this great nature. There was +grandeur even in her contrition and, as I took in the expression of her +colorless features, sweet with almost an unearthly sweetness in spite of +the anguish consuming her, I suddenly realized what Sinclair's love for +her must be. I also as suddenly realized the depth and extent of his +suffering. To call such a woman his, to lead her almost to the foot of +the altar and then to see her turn aside and leave him! Surely his lot +was an intolerable one, and, though the interference I had unconsciously +made in his wishes had been involuntary, I felt like cursing myself for +not having been more open in my attentions to the girl I really loved. + +Gilbertine seemed to divine my thoughts, for, pausing at the door she +had unconsciously approached, she stood with the knob in her hand, and, +with averted brow, remarked gravely: + +"I am going out of your life. Before I do so, however, I should like to +say a few words in palliation of my conduct. I have never known a +mother. I early fell under my aunt's charge, who, detesting children, +sent me away to school, where I was well enough treated, but never +loved. I was a plain child and felt my plainness. This gave an +awkwardness to my actions, and as my aunt had caused it to be distinctly +understood that her sole intention in sending me to the Academy was to +have me educated for a teacher, my position awakened little interest, +and few hearts, if any, warmed toward me. Meanwhile my breast was +filled with but one thought, one absorbing wish. I longed to love +passionately and be passionately loved in return. Had I found a +mate--but I never did. I was not destined for any such happiness. + +"Years passed. I was a woman, but neither my happiness nor my +self-confidence had kept pace with my growth. Girls who once passed me +with a bare nod now stopped to stare, sometimes to whisper comments +behind my back. I did not understand this change, and withdrew more and +more into myself and the fairy-land made for me by books. Romance was my +life, and I had fallen into the dangerous habit of brooding over the +pleasures and excitements which would have been mine had I been born +beautiful and wealthy, when my aunt suddenly visited the school, saw me +and at once took me away and placed me in the most fashionable school in +New York City. From there I was launched, without any word of motherly +counsel, into the gay society you know so well. Almost with my +coming-out I found the world at my feet and, though my aunt showed me no +love, she evinced a certain pride in my success and cast about to +procure for me a great match. Mr. Sinclair was the victim. He visited +me, took me to theaters and eventually proposed. My aunt was in +ecstasies. I, who felt helpless before her will, was glad that the +husband she had chosen for me was, at least, a gentleman, and, to all +appearances, respectable in his living and nice in his tastes. But he +was not the man I had dwelt on in my dreams, and while I accepted +him--(it was not possible to do anything else, with my aunt controlling +every action, if not every thought)--I cared so little for Mr. Sinclair +himself that I forgot to ask if his many attentions were the result of +any real feeling on his part or only such as he considered due to the +woman he expected to make his wife. You see what girls are. How I +despise myself now for this miserable frivolity! + +"All this time I knew that I was not my aunt's only niece; that Dorothy +Camerden, of whom I knew little but her name, was as closely related to +her as I was. For, true to her heartless code, my aunt had placed us in +separate schools and we had never met. When she found that I was to +leave her and that soon there would be nobody to see that her dresses +were bought with discretion, and her person attended to with something +like care, she sent for Dorothy. I shall never forget my first +impression of her. I had been told that I need not expect much in the +way of beauty and style, but from my first glimpse of her dear face, I +saw that my soul's friend had come and that, marriage or no marriage, I +need never be solitary again. + +"I do not think I made as favorable an impression on my cousin as she +did on me. Dorothy was new to elaborate dressing and to all the follies +of fashionable life, and her look had more of awe than expectation in +it. But I gave her a hearty kiss and in a week she was as brilliantly +equipped as myself. + +"I loved her, but, from blindness of eye or an overwhelming egotism +which God has certainly punished, I did not consider her beautiful. This +I must acknowledge to you, if only to complete my humiliation. I never +imagined for a moment, even after I became the daily witness of your +many attentions to her, that it was on her account you visited the house +so often. I had been so petted and spoiled since entering society that +I thought you were kind to her simply because honor forbade you +to be too kind to me; and seeing in you a man different from the +others--one--who--who pleased me as the heroes of my old romances had +pleased me, I gave you all my heart and, what was worse, _confided my +folly to Dorothy_. + +"You will have many a talk with her in the future, and some day she may +succeed in proving to you that it was vanity and not badness of heart +which led me to misunderstand your feelings. Having repressed my own +impulses so long, I saw in your reticence the evidences of a like +struggle; and when, immediately upon my break with Mr. Sinclair, you +entered here and said the words you did--Well, we have finished with +this subject for ever. + +"The explanations which I gave below, of the part I played in my aunt's +death were true. I only omitted one detail, which you may consider a +very important one. The fact which paralyzed my hand and voice when I +saw her lift the drop of death to her lips was this: I had meant to die +by this drop myself, in Dorothy's room, and with Dorothy's arms about +me. This was my secret--a secret which no one can blame me for keeping +as long as I could, and one which I should hardly have the courage to +disclose to you now if I had not already parted with it to the coroner, +who would not credit my story till I had told him the whole truth." + +"Gilbertine," I prayed, for I saw her fingers closing upon the knob she +had held lightly till now, "do not go till I have said this. A young +girl does not always know the demands of her own nature. The heart you +have ignored is one in a thousand. Do not let it slip from you. God +never gives a woman such a love twice." + +"I know it," she murmured, and turned the knob. + +I thought she was gone, and let the sigh which had been laboring at my +breast have vent, when suddenly I caught one last word whispered from +the threshold: + +"Throw back the shutters and let in the light. Dorothy is coming. I am +going now to call her." + +An hour had passed, the hour of hours for me, for in it the sun of my +happiness rose full-orbed and Dorothy and I came to understand each +other. We were sitting hand in hand in this blessed little boudoir, when +suddenly she turned her sweet face toward me and gently remarked: + +"This seems like selfishness on our part; but Gilbertine insisted. Do +you know what she is doing now? Helping old Mrs. Cummings and holding +Mrs. Barnstable's baby while her maid packs. She will work like that all +day, and with a smile, too. Oh, it is a rich nature, an ideal nature! I +think we can trust her now." + +I did not like to discuss Gilbertine even with Dorothy, so I said +nothing. But she was too full of her theme to stop. I think she wished +to unburden her mind once and for ever of all that had disturbed it. + +"Our aunt's death," she continued, "will be a sort of emancipation for +her. I don't think you, or any one out of our immediate household, can +realize the control which Aunt Hannah exerted over every one who came +within her daily influence. It would have been the same had she occupied +a dependent position instead of being the wealthy autocrat she was. In +her cold nature dwelt an imperiousness which no one could withstand. You +know how her friends, some of them as rich and influential as herself, +bowed to her will and submitted to her interference. What, then, could +you expect from two poor girls entirely dependent upon her for +everything they enjoyed? Gilbertine, with all her spirit, could not face +Aunt Hannah's frown, while I studied to have no wishes. Had this been +otherwise, had we found a friend instead of a tyrant in the woman who +took us into her home, Gilbertine might have gained more control over +her feelings. It was the necessity she felt of smothering her natural +impulses, and of maintaining in the house and before the world an +appearance of satisfaction in her position as bride-elect, which caused +her to fall into such extremes of despondency and deep despair. Her +self-respect was shocked. She felt that she was living a lie and hated +herself in consequence. + +"You may think I did wrong not to tell her of your affection for myself, +especially, after what you whispered into my ear that night at the +theater. I did do wrong; I see it now. She was really a stronger woman +than I thought and we might all have been saved the horrors which have +befallen us had I acted with more firmness at that time. But I was weak +and frightened. I held you back and let her go on deceiving herself, +which meant deceiving Mr. Sinclair, too. I thought, when she found +herself really married and settled in her own home, she would find it +easier to forget, and that soon, perhaps very soon, all this would seem +like a troubled dream to her. And there was reason for this hope on my +part. She showed a woman's natural interest in her outfit and the plans +for her new house, but when she heard you were to be Mr. Sinclair's best +man, every feminine instinct within her rebelled and it was with +difficulty she could prevent herself from breaking out into a loud No! +in face of aunt and lover. From this moment on her state of mind grew +desperate. In the parlor, at the theater, she was the brilliant girl +whom all admired and many envied; but in my little room at night she +would bury her face in my lap and talk of death, till I moved in a +constant atmosphere of dread. Yet, because she looked gay and laughed, I +turned a like face to the world and laughed also. We felt it was +expected of us, and the very nervous tension we were under made these +ebullitions easy. But I did not laugh so much after coming here. One +night I found her out of her bed long after every one else had retired +for the night. Next morning Mr. Beaton told a dream--I hope it was a +dream--but it frightened me. Then came that moment when Mr. Sinclair +displayed the amethyst box and explained with such a nonchalant air how +a drop from the little flask inside would kill a person. A toy, but so +deadly! I felt the thrill which shot like lightning through her, and +made up my mind she should never have the opportunity of touching that +box. And that is why I stole into the library at the first moment I had +to myself and took down the little box and hid it in my hair. I never +thought to look inside; I did not pause to think that it was the flask +and not the box she wanted, and consequently felt convinced of her +safety so long as I kept the latter successfully concealed in my hair. +You know the rest." + +Yes, I knew it. How she opened the box in her room and found it empty. +How she flew to Gilbertine's room, and, finding the door unlocked, +looked in, and saw Miss Lane lying there asleep but no Gilbertine. How +her alarm grew at this and how, forgetting that her cousin often stole +to her room by means of the connecting balcony, she had wandered over +the house in the hope of coming upon Gilbertine in one of the +down-stairs rooms. How her mind misgave her before she had entered the +great hall, and how she turned back only to hear that awful scream go up +as she was setting foot upon the spiral stair. I had heard it all before +and could imagine her terror and dismay; and why she found it impossible +to proceed any further, but clung to the stair-rail, half-alive and +half-dead, till she was found there by those seeking her and taken up to +her aunt's room. But she never told me, and I do not yet know, what her +thoughts or feelings were when, instead of seeing her cousin +outstretched in death on the bed they led her to, she beheld the +lifeless figure of her aunt. The reserve she maintained on this point +has been always respected by me. Let it continue to be so. + +When therefore she said, "You know the rest," I took her in my arms and +gave her my first kiss. Then I softly released her, and by tacit consent +we each went our way for that day. + +Mine took me into the hall below, which was all alive with the hum of +departing guests. Beaton was among them, and as he stepped out on the +porch I gave him a parting handclasp and quietly whispered: + +"When all dark things are made light, you will find that there was both +more and less to your dream than you were inclined to make out." + +He bowed, and that was the last word which ever passed between us on +this topic. + +But what chiefly impressed me in connection with this afternoon's events +was the short talk I had with Sinclair. I feared I forced this talk, but +I could not let the dreary day settle into still drearier night without +making clear to him a point which, in the new position he held toward +Gilbertine if not toward myself, might seem to be involved in some +doubt. When, therefore, I had the opportunity to accost him I did so, +and, without noting the formal bow with which he strove to hold back all +confidential communication, I said: + +"It is not a very propitious time for me to intrude my personal affairs +upon you, but I feel as if I should like you to know that the clouds +have been cleared away between Dorothy and myself, and that some day we +expect to marry." + +He gave me the earnest look of a man who has recovered his one friend. +Then he grasped my hand warmly, saying with something like his old +fervor: + +"You deserve all the happiness that awaits you. Mine is gone; but if I +can regain it, I will; trust me for that, Worthington." + +The coroner, who had seen much of life and human nature, managed with +much discretion the inquest he felt bound to hold. Mrs. Lansing was +found to have come to her death by a meddlesome interference with one of +her niece's wedding trinkets; and, as every one acquainted with Mrs. +Lansing knew her to be quite capable of such an act of malicious folly, +the verdict was duly accepted and the real heart of this tragedy closed +for ever from every human eye. + +As we were leaving Newport Sinclair stepped up to me. + +"I have reason to know," said he, "that Mrs. Lansing's bequests will be +a surprise, not only to her nieces, but to the world at large. Let me +advise you to announce your engagement before reaching New York." + +I followed his advice and in a few days understood why it had been +given. All the vast property owned by this woman had been left to +Dorothy. Gilbertine had been cut off without a cent. + +We never knew Mrs. Lansing's reason for this act. Gilbertine had always +been considered her favorite, and, had the will been a late one, it +would have been generally thought that she had left her thus unprovided +for solely in consideration of the great match which she expected her to +make. But the will was dated back several years,--long before +Gilbertine had met Mr. Sinclair, long before either niece had come to +live with Mrs. Lansing in New York. Had it always been the latter's +wish, then, to enrich the one and slight the other? It would seem so, +but why should the slighted one be Gilbertine? + +The only explanation I ever heard given was the partiality which Mrs. +Lansing felt for Dorothy's mother, or, rather, her lack of affection for +Gilbertine's. God knows if it is the true one, but whether so or not, +the discrimination she showed in her will put poor Gilbertine in a very +unfortunate position. At least, it would have done so, if Sinclair, with +an adroitness worthy of his love, had not proved to her that a break at +this time in their supposed relations would reflect most seriously upon +his disinterestedness and thus secured for himself opportunities for +urging his suit which ended, as such opportunities often do, in a +renewal of their engagement. But this time mutual love was its basis. +This was evident to any one who saw them together. But how the magic +was wrought, how this hard-to-be-won heart learned at last its true +allegiance, I did not know till later, and then it was told me by +Gilbertine herself. + +I had been married for some months and she for some weeks, when one +evening chance threw us together. Instantly, and as if she had waited +for this hour, she turned upon me with the beautiful smile which has +been hers ever since her new happiness came to her, and said: + +"You once gave me some very good advice, Mr. Worthington, but it was not +that which led me to realize Mr. Sinclair's affection. It was a short +conversation which passed between us on the day my aunt's will was read. +Do you remember my turning to speak to him the moment after that word +_all_ fell from the lawyer's lips?" + +"Yes, Mrs. Sinclair." Alas! did I not! It was one of the most poignant +memories of my life. The look she gave him, and the look he gave her! +Indeed, I did remember. + +"It was to ask him one question,--a question to which misfortune only +could have given so much weight. Had my aunt taken him into her +confidence? Had he known that I had no place in her will? His answer was +very simple; a single word,--'always.' But after that, do I need to say +why I am a wife? why I am _his_ wife?" + + + + +THE HOUSE IN THE MIST + + + + +I + +AN OPEN DOOR + + +It was a night to drive any man indoors. Not only was the darkness +impenetrable, but the raw mist enveloping hill and valley made the open +road anything but desirable to a belated wayfarer like myself. + +Being young, untrammeled, and naturally indifferent to danger, I was not +averse to adventure; and having my fortune to make, was always on the +lookout for El Dorado, which, to ardent souls, lies ever beyond the next +turning. Consequently, when I saw a light shimmering through the mist at +my right, I resolved to make for it and the shelter it so opportunely +offered. + +But I did not realize then, as I do now, that shelter does not +necessarily imply refuge, or I might not have undertaken this adventure +with so light a heart. Yet, who knows? The impulses of an unfettered +spirit lean toward daring, and youth, as I have said, seeks the strange, +the unknown and, sometimes, the terrible. + +My path toward this light was by no means an easy one. After confused +wanderings through tangled hedges, and a struggle with obstacles of +whose nature I received the most curious impression in the surrounding +murk, I arrived in front of a long, low building which, to my +astonishment, I found standing with doors and windows open to the +pervading mist, save for one square casement through which the light +shone from a row of candles placed on a long mahogany table. + +The quiet and seeming emptiness of this odd and picturesque building +made me pause. I am not much affected by visible danger, but this silent +room, with its air of sinister expectancy, struck me most unpleasantly, +and I was about to reconsider my first impulse and withdraw again to the +road, when a second look, thrown back upon the comfortable interior I +was leaving, convinced me of my folly and sent me straight toward the +door which stood so invitingly open. + +But half-way up the path, my progress was again stayed by the sight of a +man issuing from the house I had so rashly looked upon as devoid of all +human presence. He seemed in haste and, at the moment my eye first fell +on him, was engaged in replacing his watch in his pocket. + +But he did not shut the door behind him, which I thought odd, especially +as his final glance had been a backward one, and seemed to take in all +the appointments of the place he was so hurriedly leaving. + +As we met, he raised his hat. This likewise struck me as peculiar, for +the deference he displayed was more marked than that usually bestowed on +strangers, while his lack of surprise at an encounter more or less +startling in such a mist was calculated to puzzle an ordinary man like +myself. Indeed, he was so little impressed by my presence there that he +was for passing me without a word or any other hint of good fellowship, +save the bow of which I have spoken. But this did not suit me. I was +hungry, cold, and eager for creature comforts, and the house before me +gave forth not only heat, but a savory odor which in itself was an +invitation hard to ignore. I therefore accosted the man. + +"Will bed and supper be provided me here?" I asked. "I am tired out with +a long tramp over the hills, and hungry enough to pay anything in +reason--" + +I stopped, for the man had disappeared. He had not paused at my appeal +and the mist had swallowed him. But at the break in my sentence, his +voice came back in good-natured tones and I heard: + +"Supper will be ready at nine, and there are beds for all. Enter, sir; +you are the first to arrive, but the others can not be far behind." + +A queer greeting, certainly. But when I strove to question him as to its +meaning, his voice returned to me from such a distance that I doubted if +my words had reached him with any more distinctness than his answer +reached me. + +"Well!" thought I, "it isn't as if a lodging had been denied me. He +invited me to enter, and enter I will." + +The house, to which I now naturally directed a glance of much more +careful scrutiny than before, was no ordinary farm-building, but a +rambling old mansion, made conspicuously larger here and there by +jutting porches and more than one convenient lean-to. Though furnished, +warmed and lighted with candles, as I have previously described, it had +about it an air of disuse which made me feel myself an intruder, in +spite of the welcome I had received. But I was not in a position to +stand upon ceremony, and ere long I found myself inside the great room +and before the blazing logs whose glow had lighted up the doorway and +added its own attraction to the other allurements of the inviting place. + +Though the open door made a draft which was anything but pleasant, I did +not feel like closing it, and was astonished to observe the effect of +the mist through the square thus left open to the night. It was not an +agreeable one, and, instinctively turning my back upon that quarter of +the room, I let my eyes roam over the wainscoted walls and the odd +pieces of furniture which gave such an air of old-fashioned richness to +the place. As nothing of the kind had ever fallen under my eyes before, +I should have thoroughly enjoyed this opportunity of gratifying my taste +for the curious and the beautiful, if the quaint old chairs I saw +standing about me on every side had not all been empty. But the solitude +of the place, so much more oppressive than the solitude of the road I +had left, struck cold to my heart, and I missed the cheer rightfully +belonging to such attractive surroundings. Suddenly I bethought me of +the many other apartments likely to be found in so spacious a dwelling, +and, going to the nearest door, I opened it and called out for the +master of the house. But only an echo came back, and, returning to the +fire, I sat down before the cheering blaze, in quiet acceptance of a +situation too lonely for comfort, yet not without a certain piquant +interest for a man of free mind and adventurous disposition like myself. + +After all, if supper was to be served at nine, someone must be expected +to eat it: I should surely not be left much longer without companions. + +Meanwhile ample amusement awaited me in the contemplation of a picture +which, next to the large fireplace, was the most prominent object in the +room. This picture was a portrait, and a remarkable one. The countenance +it portrayed was both characteristic and forcible, and so interested me +that in studying it I quite forgot both hunger and weariness. Indeed its +effect upon me was such that, after gazing at it uninterruptedly for a +few minutes, I discovered that its various features--the narrow eyes in +which a hint of craft gave a strange gleam to their native intelligence; +the steadfast chin, strong as the rock of the hills I had wearily +tramped all day; the cunning wrinkles which yet did not interfere with +a latent great-heartedness that made the face as attractive as it was +puzzling--had so established themselves in my mind that I continued to +see them before me whichever way I turned, and found it impossible to +shake off their influence even after I had resolutely set my mind in +another direction by endeavoring to recall what I knew of the town into +which I had strayed. + +I had come from Scranton and was now, according to my best judgment, in +one of those rural districts of western Pennsylvania which breed such +strange and sturdy characters. But of this special neighborhood, its +inhabitants and its industries, I knew nothing nor was likely to, so +long as I remained in the solitude I have endeavored to describe. + +But these impressions and these thoughts--if thoughts they +were--presently received a check. A loud "Halloo" rose from somewhere in +the mist, followed by a string of muttered imprecations, which convinced +me that the person now attempting to approach the house was encountering +some of the many difficulties which had beset me in the same +undertaking a few minutes before. + +I therefore raised my voice and shouted out, "Here! this way!" after +which I sat still and awaited developments. + +There was a huge clock in one of the corners, whose loud tick filled up +every interval of silence. By this clock it was just ten minutes to +eight when two gentlemen (I should say men, and coarse men at that) +crossed the open threshold and entered the house. + +Their appearance was more or less note-worthy--unpleasantly so, I am +obliged to add. One was red-faced and obese, the other was tall, thin +and wiry and showed as many seams in his face as a blighted apple. +Neither of the two had anything to recommend him either in appearance or +address, save a certain veneer of polite assumption as transparent as it +was offensive. As I listened to the forced sallies of the one and the +hollow laugh of the other, I was glad that I was large of frame and +strong of arm and used to all kinds of men and--brutes. + +As these two new-comers seemed no more astonished at my presence than +the man I had met at the gate, I checked the question which +instinctively rose to my lips and with a simple bow,--responded to by a +more or less familiar nod from either,--accepted the situation with all +the _sang-froid_ the occasion seemed to demand. Perhaps this was wise, +perhaps it was not; there was little opportunity to judge, for the start +they both gave as they encountered the eyes of the picture before +mentioned drew my attention to a consideration of the different ways in +which men, however similar in other respects, express sudden and +unlooked-for emotion. The big man simply allowed his astonishment, +dread, or whatever the feeling was which moved him, to ooze forth in a +cold and deathly perspiration which robbed his cheeks of color and cast +a bluish shadow over his narrow and retreating temples; while the thin +and waspish man, caught in the same trap (for trap I saw it was), +shouted aloud in his ill-timed mirth, the false and cruel character of +which would have made me shudder, if all expression of feeling on my +part had not been held in check by the interest I immediately +experienced in the display of open bravado with which, in another +moment, these two tried to carry off their mutual embarrassment. + +"Good likeness, eh?" laughed the seamy-faced man. "Quite an idea, that! +Makes him one of us again! Well, he's welcome--in oils. Can't say much +to us from canvas, eh?" And the rafters above him vibrated, as his +violent efforts at joviality went up in loud and louder assertion from +his thin throat. + +A nudge from the other's elbow stopped him and I saw them both cast +half-lowering, half-inquisitive glances in my direction. + +"One of the Witherspoon boys?" queried one. + +"Perhaps," snarled the other. "I never saw but one of them. There are +five, aren't there? Eustace believed in marrying off his gals young." + +"Damn him, yes. And he'd have married them off younger if he had known +how numbers were going to count some day among the Westonhaughs." And he +laughed again in a way I should certainly have felt it my business to +resent, if my indignation as well as the ill-timed allusions which had +called it forth had not been put to an end by a fresh arrival through +the veiling mist which hung like a shroud at the doorway. + +This time it was for me to experience a shock of something like fear. +Yet the personage who called up this unlooked-for sensation in my +naturally hardy nature was old and, to all appearance, harmless from +disability, if not from good will. His form was bent over upon itself +like a bow; and only from the glances he shot from his upturned eyes was +the fact made evident that a redoubtable nature, full of force and +malignity, had just brought its quota of evil into a room already +overflowing with dangerous and menacing passions. + +As this old wretch, either from the feebleness of age or from the +infirmity I have mentioned, had great difficulty in walking, he had +brought with him a small boy, whose business it was to direct his +tottering steps as best he could. + +But once settled in his chair, he drove away this boy with his pointed +oak stick, and with some harsh words about caring for the horse and +being on time in the morning, he sent him out into the mist. As this +little shivering and pathetic figure vanished, the old man drew, with +gasp and haw, a number of deep breaths which shook his bent back and did +their share, no doubt, in restoring his own disturbed circulation. Then, +with a sinister twist which brought his pointed chin and twinkling eyes +again into view, he remarked: + +"Haven't ye a word for kinsman Luke, you two? It isn't often I get out +among ye. Shakee, nephew! Shakee, Hector! And now who's the boy in the +window? My eyes aren't what they used to be, but he don't seem to favor +the Westonhaughs over-much. One of Salmon's four grandchildren, think +'e? Or a shoot from Eustace's gnarled old trunk? His gals all married +Americans, and one of them, I've been told, was a yellow-haired giant +like this fellow." + +As this description pointed directly toward me, I was about to venture a +response on my own account, when my attention, as well as theirs, was +freshly attracted by a loud "Whoa!" at the gate, followed by the hasty +but assured entrance of a dapper, wizen, but perfectly preserved little +old gentleman with a bag in his hand. Looking askance with eyes that +were like two beads, first at the two men who were now elbowing each +other for the best place before the fire, and then at the revolting +figure in the chair, he bestowed his greeting, which consisted of an +elaborate bow, not on them, but upon the picture hanging so +conspicuously on the open wall before him; and then, taking me within +the scope of his quick, circling glance, cried out with an assumption of +great cordiality: + +"Good evening, gentlemen; good evening one, good evening all. Nothing +like being on the tick. I'm sorry the night has turned out so badly. +Some may find it too thick for travel. That would be bad, eh? very +bad--for _them_." + +As none of the men he openly addressed saw fit to answer, save by the +hitch of a shoulder or a leer quickly suppressed, I kept silent also. +But this reticence, marked as it was, did not seem to offend the +new-comer. Shaking the wet from the umbrella he held, he stood the +dripping article up in a corner and then came and placed his feet on the +fender. To do this he had to crowd between the two men already occupying +the best part of the hearth. But he showed no concern at incommoding +them, and bore their cross looks and threatening gestures with +professional equanimity. + +"You know me?" he now unexpectedly snapped, bestowing another look over +his shoulder at that oppressive figure in the chair. (Did I say that I +had risen when the latter sat?) "I'm no Westonhaugh, I; nor yet a +Witherspoon nor a Clapsaddle. I'm only Smead, the lawyer. Mr. Anthony +Westonhaugh's lawyer," he repeated, with another glance of recognition +in the direction of the picture. "I drew up his last will and testament, +and, until all of his wishes have been duly carried out, am entitled by +the terms of that will to be regarded both legally and socially as his +representative. This you all know, but it is my way to make everything +clear as I proceed. A lawyer's trick, no doubt. I do not pretend to be +entirely exempt from such." + +A grumble from the large man, who seemed to have been disturbed in some +absorbing calculation he was carrying on, mingled with a few muttered +words of forced acknowledgment from the restless old sinner in the +chair, made it unnecessary for me to reply, even if the last comer had +given me the opportunity. + +"It's getting late!" he cried, with an easy garrulity rather amusing, +under the circumstances. "Two more trains came in as I left the depot. +If old Phil was on hand with his wagon, several more members of this +interesting family may be here before the clock strikes; if not, the +assemblage is like to be small. Too small," I heard him grumble a minute +after, under his breath. + +"I wish it were a matter of one," spoke up the big man, striking his +breast in a way to make it perfectly apparent whom he meant by that word +_one_. And having (if I may judge by the mingled laugh and growl of his +companions) thus shown his hand both figuratively and literally, he +relapsed into the calculation which seemed to absorb all of his +unoccupied moments. + +"Generous, very!" commented the lawyer in a murmur which was more than +audible. "Pity that sentiments of such broad benevolence should go +unrewarded." + +This, because at that very instant wheels were heard in front, also a +jangle of voices, in some controversy about fares, which promised +anything but a pleasing addition to the already none too desirable +company. + +"I suppose that's sister Janet," snarled out the one addressed as +Hector. There was no love in his voice, despite the relationship hinted +at, and I awaited the entrance of this woman with some curiosity. + +But her appearance, heralded by many a puff and pant which the damp air +exaggerated in a prodigious way, did not seem to warrant the interest I +had shown in it. As she stepped into the room, I saw only a big frowsy +woman, who had attempted to make a show with a new silk dress and a hat +in the latest fashion, but who had lamentably failed, owing to the +slouchiness of her figure and some misadventure by which her hat had +been set awry on her head and her usual complacency destroyed. Later, I +noted that her down-looking eyes had a false twinkle in them, and that, +commonplace as she looked, she was one to steer clear of in times of +necessity and distress. + +She, too, evidently expected to find the door open and people assembled, +but she had not anticipated being confronted by the portrait on the +wall, and cringed in an unpleasant way as she stumbled by it into one of +the ill-lighted corners. + +The old man, who had doubtless caught the rustle of her dress as she +passed him, emitted one short sentence. + +"Almost late," said he. + +Her answer was a sputter of words. + +"It's the fault of that driver," she complained. "If he had taken one +drop more at the half-way house, I might really not have got here at +all. That would not have inconvenienced _you_. But oh! what a grudge I +would have owed that skinflint brother of ours"--here she shook her fist +at the picture--"for making our good luck depend upon our arrival within +two short strokes of the clock!" + +"There are several to come yet," blandly observed the lawyer. But before +the words were well out of his mouth, we all became aware of a new +presence--a woman, whose somber grace and quiet bearing gave distinction +to her unobtrusive entrance, and caused a feeling of something like awe +to follow the first sight of her cold features and deep, heavily-fringed +eyes. But this soon passed in the more human sentiment awakened by the +soft pleading which infused her gaze with a touching femininity. She +wore a long loose garment which fell without a fold from chin to foot, +and in her arms she seemed to carry something. + +Never before had I seen so beautiful a woman. As I was contemplating +her, with respect but yet with a masculine intentness I could not quite +suppress, two or three other persons came in. And now I began to notice +that the eyes of all these people turned mainly one way, and that was +toward the clock. Another small circumstance likewise drew my attention. +Whenever any one entered,--and there were one or two additional arrivals +during the five minutes preceding the striking of the hour,--a frown +settled for an instant on every brow, giving to each and all a similar +look, for the interpretation of which I lacked the key. Yet not on every +brow either. There was one which remained undisturbed and showed only a +grand patience. + +As the hands of the big clock neared the point of eight, a furtive +smile appeared on more than one face; and when the hour rang out, a sigh +of satisfaction swept through the room, to which the little old lawyer +responded with a worldly-wise grunt, as he moved from his place and +proceeded to the door. + +This he had scarcely shut when a chorus of voices rose from without. +Three or four lingerers had pushed their way as far as the gate, only to +see the door of the house shut in their faces. + +"Too late!" growled old man Luke from between the locks of his long +beard. + +"Too late!" shrieked the woman who had come so near being late herself. + +"Too late!" smoothly acquiesced the lawyer, locking and bolting the door +with a deft and assured hand. + +But the four or five persons who thus found themselves barred out did +not accept without a struggle the decision of the more fortunate ones +assembled within. More than one hand began pounding on the door, and we +could hear cries of, "The train was behind time!" "Your clock is fast!" +"You are cheating us; you want it all for yourselves!" "We will have the +law on you!" and other bitter adjurations unintelligible to me from my +ignorance of the circumstances which called them forth. + +But the wary old lawyer simply shook his head and answered nothing; +whereat a murmur of gratification rose from within, and a howl of almost +frenzied dismay from without, which latter presently received point from +a startling vision which now appeared at the casement where the lights +burned. A man's face looked in, and behind it, that of a woman, so wild +and maddened by some sort of heart-break that I found my sympathies +aroused in spite of the glare of evil passions which made both of these +countenances something less than human. + +But the lawyer met the stare of these four eyes with a quiet chuckle, +which found its echo in the ill-advised mirth of those about him; and +moving over to the window where they still peered in, he drew together +the two heavy shutters which hitherto had stood back against the wall, +and, fastening them with a bar, shut out the sight of this despair, if +he could not shut out the protests which ever and anon were shouted +through the keyhole. + +Meanwhile, one form had sat through this whole incident without a +gesture; and on the quiet brow, from which I could not keep my eyes, no +shadows appeared save the perpetual one of native melancholy, which was +at once the source of its attraction and the secret of its power. + +Into what sort of gathering had I stumbled? And why did I prefer to +await developments rather than ask the simplest question of any one +about me? + +Meantime the lawyer had proceeded to make certain preparations. With the +help of one or two willing hands, he had drawn the great table into the +middle of the room and, having seen the candles restored to their +places, began to open his small bag and take from it a roll of paper and +several flat documents. Laying the latter in the center of the table and +slowly unrolling the former, he consulted, with his foxy eyes, the faces +surrounding him, and smiled with secret malevolence, as he noted that +every chair and every form were turned away from the picture before +which he had bent with such obvious courtesy, on entering. I alone stood +erect, and this possibly was why a gleam of curiosity was noticeable in +his glance, as he ended his scrutiny of my countenance and bent his gaze +again upon the paper he held. + +"Heavens!" thought I. "What shall I answer this man if he asks me why I +continued to remain in a spot where I have so little business." The +impulse came to go. But such was the effect of this strange convocation +of persons, at night and in a mist which was itself a nightmare, that I +failed to take action and remained riveted to my place, while Mr. Smead +consulted his roll and finally asked in a business-like tone, quite +unlike his previous sarcastic speech, the names of those whom he had the +pleasure of seeing before him. + +The old man in the chair spoke up first. + +"Luke Westonhaugh," he announced. + +"Very good!" responded the lawyer. + +"Hector Westonhaugh," came from the thin man. + +A nod and a look toward the next. + +"John Westonhaugh." + +"Nephew?" asked the lawyer. + +"Yes." + +"Go on, and be quick; supper will be ready at nine." + +"Eunice Westonhaugh," spoke up a soft voice. + +I felt my heart bound as if some inner echo responded to that name. + +"Daughter of whom?" + +"Hudson Westonhaugh," she gently faltered. "My father is dead--died last +night;--I am his only heir." + +A grumble of dissatisfaction and a glint of unrelieved hate came from +the doubled-up figure, whose malevolence had so revolted me. + +But the lawyer was not to be shaken. + +"Very good! It is fortunate you trusted your feet rather than the +train. And now you! What is your name?" + +He was looking, not at me as I had at first feared, but at the man next +to me, a slim but slippery youth, whose small red eyes made me shudder. + +"William Witherspoon." + +"Barbara's son?" + +"Yes." + +"Where are your brothers?" + +"One of them, I think, is outside"--here he laughed;--"the other +is--_sick_." + +The way he uttered this word made me set him down as one to be +especially wary of when he smiled. But then I had already passed +judgment on him at my first view. + +"And you, madam?"--this to the large, dowdy woman with the uncertain +eye, a contrast to the young and melancholy Eunice. + +"Janet Clapsaddle," she replied, waddling hungrily forward and getting +unpleasantly near the speaker, for he moved off as she approached, and +took his stand in the clear place at the head of the table. + +"Very good, Mistress Clapsaddle. You were a Westonhaugh, I believe?" + +"You _believe_, sneak-faced hypocrite that you are!" she blurted out. "I +don't understand your lawyer ways. I like plain speaking myself. Don't +you know me, and Luke and Hector, and--and most of us indeed, except +that puny, white-faced girl yonder, whom, having been brought up on the +other side of the Ridge, we have none of us seen since she was a +screaming baby in Hildegarde's arms. And the young gentleman over +there,"--here she indicated me--"who shows so little likeness to the +rest of the family. He will have to make it pretty plain who his father +was before we shall feel like acknowledging him, either as the son of +one of Eustace's girls, or a chip from brother Salmon's hard old block." + +As this caused all eyes to turn upon me, even _hers_, I smiled as I +stepped forward. The lawyer did not return that smile. + +"What is your name?" he asked shortly and sharply, as if he distrusted +me. + +"Hugh Austin," was my quiet reply. + +"There is no such name on the list," snapped old Smead, with an +authoritative gesture toward those who seemed anxious to enter a +protest. + +"Probably not," I returned, "for I am neither a Witherspoon, a +Westonhaugh nor a Clapsaddle. I am merely a chance wayfarer passing +through the town on my way west. I thought this house was a tavern, or +at least a place I could lodge in. The man I met in the doorway told me +as much, and so I am here. If my company is not agreeable, or if you +wish this room to yourselves, let me go into the kitchen. I promise not +to meddle with the supper, hungry as I am. Or perhaps you wish me to +join the crowd outside; it seems to be increasing." + +"No, no," came from all parts of the room. "Don't let the door be +opened. Nothing could keep Lemuel and his crowd out if they once got +foot over the threshold." + +The lawyer rubbed his chin. He seemed to be in some sort of quandary. +First he scrutinized me from under his shaggy brows with a sharp gleam +of suspicion; then his features softened and, with a side glance at the +young woman who called herself Eunice, (perhaps, because she was worth +looking at, perhaps because she had partly risen at my words), he +slipped toward a door I had before observed in the wainscoting on the +left of the mantelpiece, and softly opened it upon what looked like a +narrow staircase. + +"We can not let you go out," said he; "and we can not let you have a +finger in our viands before the hour comes for serving them; so if you +will be so good as to follow this staircase to the top, you will find it +ends in a room comfortable enough for the wayfarer you call yourself. In +that room you can rest till the way is clear for you to continue your +travels. Better, we can not do for you. This house is not a tavern, but +the somewhat valuable property of--" He turned with a bow and smile, as +every one there drew a deep breath; but no one ventured to end that +sentence. + +I would have given all my future prospects (which, by the way, were not +very great) to remain in that room. The oddity of the situation; the +mystery of the occurrence; the suspense I saw in every face; the +eagerness of the cries I heard redoubled from time to time outside; the +malevolence but poorly disguised in the old lawyer's countenance; and, +above all, the presence of that noble-looking woman, which was the one +off-set to the general tone of villainy with which the room was charged, +filled me with curiosity, if I might call it by no other name, that made +my acquiescence in the demand thus made upon me positively heroic. But +there seemed no other course for me to follow, and with a last lingering +glance at the genial fire and a quick look about me, which happily +encountered hers, I stooped my head to suit the low and narrow doorway +opened for my accommodation, and instantly found myself in darkness. The +door had been immediately closed by the lawyer's impatient hand. + + + + +II + +WITH MY EAR TO THE WAINSCOTING + + +No move more unwise could have been made by the old lawyer,--that is, if +his intention had been to rid himself of an unwelcome witness. For, +finding myself thrust thus suddenly from the scene, I naturally stood +still instead of mounting the stairs, and, by standing still, discovered +that though shut from sight I was not from sound. Distinctly through the +panel of the door, which was much thinner, no doubt, than the old fox +imagined, I heard one of the men present shout out: + +"Well, that makes the number less by _one_!" + +The murmur which followed this remark came plainly to my ears, and, +greatly rejoicing over what I considered my good luck, I settled myself +on the lowest step of the stairs in the hope of catching some word +which would reveal to me the mystery of this scene. + +It was not long in coming. Old Smead had now his audience before him in +good shape, and his next words were of a character to make evident the +purpose of this meeting. + +"Heirs of Anthony Westonhaugh, deceased," he began in a sing-song voice +strangely unmusical, "I congratulate you upon your good fortune at being +at this especial moment on the inner rather than outer side of your +amiable relative's front door. His will, which you have assembled to +hear read, is well known to you. By it his whole property--(not so large +as some of you might wish, but yet a goodly property for farmers like +yourselves)--is to be divided this night, share and share alike, among +such of his relatives as have found it convenient to be present here +between the strokes of half-past seven and eight. If some of our friends +have failed us through sloth, sickness or the misfortune of mistaking +the road, they have our sympathy, but they can not have _his dollars_." + +"Can not have his dollars!" echoed a rasping voice which, from its +smothered sound, probably came from the bearded lips of the old +reprobate in the chair. + +The lawyer waited for one or two other repetitions of this phrase (a +phrase which, for some unimaginable reason, seemed to give him an odd +sort of pleasure), then he went on with greater distinctness and a +certain sly emphasis, chilling in effect but very professional: + +"Ladies and gentlemen: Shall I read this will?" + +"No, no! The division! the division! Tell us what we are to have!" rose +in a shout about him. + +There was a pause. I could imagine the sharp eyes of the lawyer +traveling from face to face as each thus gave voice to his cupidity, and +the thin curl of his lips as he remarked in a slow tantalizing way: + +"There was more in the old man's clutches than you think." + +A gasp of greed shook the partition against which my ear was pressed. +Some one must have drawn up against the wainscoting since my departure +from the room. I found myself wondering which of them it was. Meantime +old Smead was having his say, with the smoothness of a man who perfectly +understands what is required of him. + +"Mr. Westonhaugh would not have put you to so much trouble or had you +wait so long if he had not expected to reward you amply. There are +shares in this bag which are worth thousands instead of hundreds. Now, +now! stop that! hands off! hands off! there are calculations to make +first. How many of you are there? Count up, some of you." + +"Nine!" called out a voice with such rapacious eagerness that the word +was almost unintelligible. + +"Nine." How slowly the old knave spoke! What pleasure he seemed to take +in the suspense he purposely made as exasperating as possible! + +"Well, if each one gets his share, he may count himself richer by two +hundred thousand dollars than when he came in here to-night." + +Two hundred thousand dollars! They had expected no more than thirty. +Surprise made them speechless,--that is, for a moment; then a +pandemonium of hurrahs, shrieks and loud-voiced enthusiasm made the room +ring, till wonder seized them again, and a sudden silence fell, through +which I caught a far-off wail of grief from the disappointed ones +without, which, heard in the dark and narrow place in which I was +confined, had a peculiarly weird and desolate effect. + +Perhaps it likewise was heard by some of the fortunate ones within! +Perhaps one head, to mark which, in this moment of universal elation, I +would have given a year from my life, turned toward the dark without, in +recognition of the despair thus piteously voiced; but if so, no token of +the same came to me, and I could but hope that she had shown, by some +such movement, the natural sympathy of her sex. + +Meanwhile the lawyer was addressing the company in his smoothest and +most sarcastic tones. + +"Mr. Westonhaugh was a wise man, a very wise man," he droned. "He +foresaw what your pleasure would be, and left a letter for you. But +before I read it, before I invite you to the board he ordered to be +spread for you in honor of this happy occasion, there is one appeal he +bade me make to those I should find assembled here. As you know, he was +not personally acquainted with all the children and grandchildren of his +many brothers and sisters. Salmon's sons, for instance, were perfect +strangers to him, and all those boys and girls of the Evans' branch have +never been long enough this side of the mountains for him to know their +names, much less their temper or their lives. Yet his heirs--or such was +his wish, his great wish--must be honest men, righteous in their +dealings, and of stainless lives. If therefore, any one among you feels +that for reasons he need not state, he has no right to accept his share +of Anthony Westonhaugh's bounty, then that person is requested to +withdraw before this letter to his heirs is read." + +Withdraw? Was the man a fool? _Withdraw?_--these cormorants! these +suckers of blood! these harpies and vultures! I laughed as I imagined +sneaking Hector, malicious Luke or brutal John responding to this naïve +appeal, and then found myself wondering why no echo of my mirth came +from the men themselves. They must have seen much more plainly than I +did the ludicrousness of their weak old kinsman's demand; yet Luke was +still; Hector was still; and even John, and the three or four others I +have mentioned gave forth no audible token of disdain or surprise. I was +asking myself what sentiment of awe or fear restrained these selfish +souls, when I became conscious of a movement within, which presently +resolved itself into a departing footstep. + +Some conscience there had been awakened. Some one was crossing the floor +toward the door. Who? I waited in anxious expectancy for the word which +was to enlighten me. Happily it came soon, and from the old lawyer's +lips. + +"You do not feel yourself worthy?" he queried, in tones I had not heard +from him before. "Why? What have you done that you should forego an +inheritance to which these others feel themselves honestly entitled?" + +The voice which answered gave both my mind and heart a shock. It was +_she_ who had risen at this call. _She_, the only true-faced person +there! + +Anxiously I listened for her reply. Alas! it was one of action rather +than speech. As I afterward heard, she simply opened her long cloak and +showed a little infant slumbering in her arms. + +"This is my reason," said she. "I have sinned in the eyes of the world, +therefore I can not take my share of Uncle Anthony's money. I did not +know he exacted an unblemished record from those he expected to enrich, +or I would not have come." + +The sob which followed these last words showed at what a cost she thus +renounced a fortune of which she, of all present, perhaps, stood in the +greatest need; but there was no lingering in her step; and to me, who +understood her fault only through the faint sound of infantile wailing +which accompanied her departure, there was a nobility in her action +which raised her in an instant to an almost ideal height of unselfish +virtue. + +Perhaps they felt this, too. Perhaps even these hardened men and the +more than hardened woman whose presence was in itself a blight, +recognized heroism when they saw it; for when the lawyer, with a certain +obvious reluctance, laid his hand on the bolts of the door with the +remark: "This is not my work, you know; I am but following out +instructions very minutely given me," the smothered growls and grunts +which rose in reply lacked the venom which had been infused into all +their previous comments. + +"I think our friends out there are far enough withdrawn, by this time, +for us to hazard the opening of the door," the lawyer now remarked. +"Madam, I hope you will speedily find your way to some comfortable +shelter." + +Then the door opened, and after a moment, closed again in a silence +which at least was respectful. Yet I warrant there was not a soul +remaining who had not already figured in his mind to what extent his own +fortune had been increased by the failure of one of their number to +inherit. + +As for me, my whole interest in the affair was at an end, and I was only +anxious to find my way to where this desolate woman faced the mist with +her unfed baby in her arms. + + + + +III + +A LIFE DRAMA + + +But to reach this wanderer, it was first necessary for me to escape from +the house. This proved simple enough. The up-stairs room toward which I +rushed had a window overlooking one of the many lean-tos already +mentioned. This window was fastened, but I had no difficulty in +unlocking it or in finding my way to the ground from the top of the +lean-to. But once again on terra-firma, I discovered that the mist was +now so thick that it had all the effect of a fog at sea. It was icy cold +as well, and clung about me so that I presently began to shudder most +violently, and, strong man though I was, wish myself back in the little +attic bedroom from which I had climbed in search of one in more unhappy +case than myself. + +But these feelings did not cause me to return. If I found the night +cold, she must find it bitter. If desolation oppressed my naturally +hopeful spirit, must it not be more overwhelming yet to one whose +memories were sad and whose future was doubtful? And the child! What +infant could live in an air like this! Edging away from the house, I +called out her name, but no answer came back. The persons whom we had +heard flitting in restless longing about the house a few moments before +had left in rage and she, possibly, with them. Yet I could not imagine +her joining herself to people of their stamp. There had been a +solitariness in her aspect which seemed to forbid any such +companionship. Whatever her story, at least she had nothing in common +with the two ill-favored persons whose faces I had seen looking in at +the casement. No; I should find her alone, but where? Certainly the ring +of mist, surrounding me at that moment, offered me little prospect of +finding her anywhere, either easily or soon. + +Again I raised my voice, and again I failed to meet with response. +Then, fearing to leave the house lest I should be quite lost amid the +fences and brush lying between it and the road, I began to feel my way +along the walls, calling softly now, instead of loudly, so anxious was I +not to miss any chance of carrying comfort, if not succor, to the woman +I was seeking. But the night gave back no sound, and when I came to the +open door of a shed, I welcomed the refuge it offered and stepped in. I +was, of course, confronted by darkness,--a different darkness from that +without, blanket-like and impenetrable. But when after a moment of +intense listening I heard a soft sound as of weariful breathing, I was +seized anew by hope, and, feeling in my pocket for my match-box, I made +a light and looked around. + +My intuitions had not deceived me; she was there. Sitting on the floor +with her cheek pressed against the wall, she revealed to my eager +scrutiny only the outlines of her pure, pale profile; but in those +outlines and on those pure, pale features, I saw such an abandonment of +hope, mingled with such quiet endurance, that my whole soul melted +before it, and it was with difficulty I managed to say: + +"Pardon! I do not wish to intrude; but I am shut out of the house also; +and the night is raw and cold. Can I do nothing for your comfort or +for--for the child's?" + +She turned toward me and I saw a tremulous gleam of pleasure disturb the +somber stillness of her face; then the match went out in my hand, and we +were again in complete darkness. But the little wail, which at the same +instant rose from between her arms, filled up the pause, as her sweet +"Hush!" filled my heart. + +"I am used to the cold," came in another moment from the place where she +crouched. "It is the child--she is hungry; and I--I walked +here--feeling, hoping that, as my father's heir, I might partake in some +slight measure of Uncle Anthony's money. Though my father cast me out +before he died, and I have neither home nor money, I do not complain. I +forfeited all when--" another wail, another gentle "hush!"--then +silence. + +I lit another match. "Look in my face!" I prayed. "I am a stranger, and +you would be showing only proper prudence not to trust me. But I +overheard your words when you withdrew from the room where your fortune +lay; and I honor you, madam. If food can be got for your little one, I +will get it." + +I caught sight of the convulsive clasp with which she drew to her breast +the tiny bundle she held, then darkness fell again. + +"A little bread," she entreated; "a little milk--ah, baby, baby, hush!" + +"But where can I get it?" I cried. "They are at table inside. I hear +them shouting over their good cheer. But perhaps there are neighbors +near by; do you know?" + +"There are no neighbors," she replied. "What is got must be got here. I +know a way to the kitchen; I used to visit Uncle Anthony when a little +child; if you have the courage--" + +I laughed. This token of confidence seemed to reassure her. I heard her +move; possibly she stood up. + +"In the further corner of this shed," said she, "there used to be a +trap, connecting this floor with an underground passageway. A ladder +stood against the trap, and the small cellar at the foot communicated by +means of an iron-bound door with the large one under the house. Eighteen +years ago the wood of that door was old; now it should be rotten. If you +have the strength--" + +"I will make the effort and see," said I. "But when I am in the cellar, +what then?" + +"Follow the wall to the right; you will come to a stone staircase. As +this staircase has no railing, be careful in ascending it. At the top +you will find a door; it leads into a pantry adjoining the kitchen. Some +one will be in that pantry. Some one will give you a bite for the child; +and when she is quieted and the sun has risen, I will go away. It is my +duty to do so. My uncle was always upright, if cold. He was perfectly +justified in exacting rectitude in his heirs." + +I might have rejoined by asking if she detected rectitude in the faces +of the greedy throng she had left behind her with the guardian of this +estate; but I did not. I was too intent upon following out her +directions. Lighting another match, I sought the trap. Alas! it was +burdened with a pile of sticks and rubbish which looked as if they had +lain there for years. As these had to be removed in total darkness, it +took me some time. But once this debris had been scattered and thrown +aside, I had no difficulty in finding the trap and, as the ladder was +still there, I was soon on the cellar-bottom. When, by the reassuring +shout I gave, she knew that I had advanced thus far, she spoke, and her +voice had a soft and thrilling sound. + +"Do not forget your own needs," she said. "We two are not so hungry that +we can not wait for you to take a mouthful. I will sing to the baby. +Good-by." + +These ten minutes we had spent together had made us friends. The warmth, +the strength which this discovery brought, gave to my arm a force that +made that old oak door go down before me in three vigorous pushes. + +Had the eight fortunate ones above not been indulging in a noisy +celebration of their good luck, they must have heard the clatter of this +door when it fell. But good eating, good drink, and the prospect of an +immediate fortune far beyond their wildest dreams, made all ears deaf; +and no pause occurred in the shouts of laughter and the hum of +good-fellowship which sifted down between the beams supporting the house +above my head. Consequently little or no courage was required for the +completion of my adventure; and before long I came upon the staircase +and the door leading from its top into the pantry. The next minute I was +in front of that door. + +But here a surprise awaited me. The noise which had hitherto been loud +now became deafening, and I realized that, contrary to Eunice +Westonhaugh's expectation, the supper had been spread in the kitchen and +that I was likely to run amuck of the whole despicable crowd in any +effort I might make to get a bite for the famished baby. + +I therefore naturally hesitated to push open the door, fearing to draw +attention to myself; and when I did succeed in lifting the latch and +making a small crack, I was so astonished by the sudden lull in the +general babble, that I drew hastily back and was for descending the +stairs in sudden retreat. + +But I was prevented from carrying out this cowardly impulse, by catching +the sound of the lawyer's voice, addressing the assembled guests. + +"You have eaten and you have drunk," he was saying; "you are therefore +ready for the final toast. Brothers, nephews--heirs all of Anthony +Westonhaugh, I rise to propose the name of your generous benefactor, +who, if spirits walk this earth, must certainly be with us to-night." + +A grumble from more than one throat and an uneasy hitch from such +shoulders as I could see through my narrow vantage-hole testified to the +rather doubtful pleasure with which this suggestion was received. But +the lawyer's tones lost none of their animation as he went on to say: + +"The bottle, from which your glasses are to be replenished for this +final draft, he has himself provided. So anxious was he that it should +be of the very best and altogether worthy of the occasion it is to +celebrate, that he gave into my charge, almost with his dying breath, +this key, telling me that it would unlock a cupboard here in which he +had placed a bottle of wine of the very rarest vintage. This is the key, +and yonder, if I do not mistake, is the cupboard." + +They had already quaffed a dozen toasts. Perhaps this was why they +accepted this proposition in a sort of panting silence, which remained +unbroken while the lawyer crossed the floor, unlocked the cupboard and +brought out before them a bottle which he held up before their eyes with +a simulated glee almost saturnine. + +"Isn't that a bottle to make your eyes dance? The very cobwebs on it are +eloquent. And see! look at this label. Tokay, friends, real Tokay! How +many of you ever had the opportunity of drinking real Tokay before?" + +A long deep sigh from a half-dozen throats in which some strong but +hitherto repressed passion, totally incomprehensible to me, found sudden +vent, rose in one simultaneous sound from about that table, and I heard +one jocular voice sing out: + +"Pass it around, Smead. I'll drink to Uncle Anthony out of that bottle +till there isn't a drop left to tell what was in it!" + +But the lawyer was in no hurry. + +"You have forgotten the letter, for the hearing of which you are called +together. Mr. Anthony Westonhaugh left behind him a letter. The time is +now come for reading it." + +As I heard these words and realized that the final toast was to be +delayed and that some few moments must yet elapse before the room would +be cleared and an opportunity given me for obtaining what I needed for +the famishing mother and child, I felt such impatience with the fact +and so much anxiety as to the condition of those I had left behind me +that I questioned whether it would not be better for me to return to +them empty-handed than to leave them so long without the comfort of my +presence, when the fascination of the scene again seized me and I found +myself lingering to mark its conclusion with an avidity which can only +be explained by my sudden and intense consciousness of what it all might +mean to her whose witness I had thus inadvertently become. + +The careful lawyer began by quoting the injunction with which this +letter had been put in his hands. "'When they are warm with food and +wine, but not too warm,'--thus his adjuration ran, 'then let them hear +my first and only words to them.' I know you are eager for these words. +Folk so honest, so convinced of their own purity and uprightness that +they can stand unmoved while the youngest and most helpless among them +withdraws her claim to wealth and independence rather than share an +unmerited bounty, such folk, I say, must be eager, must be anxious to +know why they have been made the legatees of so great a fortune, under +the easy conditions and amid such slight restrictions as have been +imposed upon them by their munificent kinsman." + +"I had rather go on drinking toasts," babbled one thick voice. + +"I had rather finish my figuring," growled another, in whose grating +tones no echo remained of Hector Westonhaugh's formerly honeyed voice. +"I am making out a list of stock--" + +"Blast your stock! that is, if you mean horses and cows!" screamed a +third. "I'm going in for city life. With less money than we have got, +Andreas Amsberger got to be alderman--" + +"Alderman!" sneered the whole pack; and the tumult became general. "If +more of us had been sick," called out one; "or if Uncle Luke, say, had +tripped into the ditch instead of on the edge of it, the fellows who +came safe through might have had anything they wanted, even to the +governorship of the state or--or--" + +"Silence!" came in commanding tones from the lawyer, who had begun to +let his disgust appear, perhaps because he held under his thumb the +bottle upon which all eyes were now lovingly centered; so lovingly, +indeed, that I ventured to increase, in the smallest perceptible degree, +the crack by means of which I was myself an interested, if unseen, +participator in this scene. + +A sight of Smead, and a partial glimpse of old Luke's covetous profile, +rewarded this small act of daring on my part. The lawyer was standing; +all the rest were sitting. Perhaps he alone retained sufficient +steadiness to stand; for I observed by the control he exercised over +this herd of self-seekers, that he alone had not touched the cup which +had so freely gone about among the others. The woman was hidden from me, +but the change in her voice, when by any chance I heard it, convinced me +that she had not disdained the toasts drunk by her brothers and +nephews. + +"Silence!" the lawyer reiterated, "or I will smash this bottle on the +hearth." He raised it in one threatening hand and every man there seemed +to tremble, while old Luke put out his long fingers with an entreaty +that ill became them. "You want to hear the letter?" old Smead called +out. "I thought so." + +Putting the bottle down again, but still keeping one hand upon it, he +drew a folded paper from his breast. "This," said he, "contains the +final injunctions of Anthony Westonhaugh. You will listen, all of you; +listen till I am done; or I will not only smash this bottle before your +eyes, but I will keep for ever buried in my breast the whereabouts of +certain drafts and bonds in which, as his heirs, you possess the +greatest interest. Nobody but myself knows where these papers can be +found." + +Whether this was so, or whether the threat was an empty one thrown out +by this subtile old schemer for the purpose of safeguarding his life +from their possible hate and impatience, it answered his end with these +semi-intoxicated men, and secured him the silence he demanded. Breaking +open the seal of the envelope he held, he showed them the folded sheet +which it contained, with the remark: + +"I have had nothing to do with the writing of this letter. It is in Mr. +Westonhaugh's own hand, and he was not even so good as to communicate to +me the nature of its contents. I was bidden to read it to such as should +be here assembled under the provisos mentioned in his will; and as you +are now in a condition to listen, I will proceed with my task as +required." + +This was my time for leaving, but a certain brooding terror, latent in +the air, held me chained to the spot, listening with my ears, but +receiving the full sense of what was read from the expression of old +Luke's face, which was probably more plainly visible to me than to those +who sat beside him. For, being bent almost into a bow, as I have said, +his forehead came within an inch of touching his plate, and one had to +look under his arms, as I did, to catch the workings of his evil mouth, +as old Smead gave forth, in his professional sing-song, the following +words from his departed client: + +"Brothers, nephews and heirs! Though the earth has lain upon my breast a +month, I am with you here to-night." + +A snort from old Luke's snarling lips; and a stir--not a comfortable +one--in the jostling crowd, whose shaking arms and clawing hands I could +see projecting here and there over the board. + +"My presence at this feast--a presence which, if unseen, can not be +unfelt, may bring you more pain than pleasure. But if so, it matters +little. You are my natural heirs and I have left you my money; why, when +so little love has characterized our intercourse, must be evident to +such of my brothers as can recall their youth and the promise our father +exacted from us on the day we set foot in this new land. + +"There were nine of us in those days: Luke, Salmon, Barbara, Hector, +Eustace, Janet, Hudson, William and myself; and all save one were +promising, in appearance at least. But our father knew his offspring, +and when we stood, an alien and miserable band in front of Castle +Garden, at the foot of the great city whose immensity struck terror to +our hearts, he drew all our hands together and made us swear by the soul +of our mother, whose body we had left in the sea, that we would keep the +bond of brotherhood intact, and share with mutual confidence whatever +good fortune this untried country might hold in store for us. You were +strong and your voices rang out loudly. Mine was faint, for I was +weak--so weak that my hand had to be held in place by my sister Barbara. +But my oath has never lost its hold upon my heart, while yours--answer +how you have kept it, Luke; or you, Janet; or you Hector, of the smooth +tongue and vicious heart; or you, or you, who, from one stock, recognize +but one law: the law of cold-blooded selfishness which seeks its own in +face of all oaths and at the cost of another man's heart-break. + +"This I say to such as know my story. But lest there be one amongst you +who has not heard from parent or uncle the true tale of him who has +brought you all under one roof to-night, I will repeat it here in words, +that no man may fail to understand why I remembered my oath through life +and beyond death, yet stand above you an accusing spirit while you quaff +me toasts and count the gains my justice divides among you. + +"I, as you all remember, was the weak one--the ne'er-do-weel. When all +of you were grown and had homes of your own, I still remained under the +family roof-tree, fed by our father's bounty and looking to our father's +justice for that share of his savings which he had promised to all +alike. When he died it came to me as it came to you; but I had married +before that day; married, not, like the rest of you, for what a wife +could bring, but for sentiment and true passion. This, in my case, meant +a loving wife, but a frail one; and while we lived a little while on the +patrimony left us, it was far too small to support us long without some +aid from our own hands; and our hands were feeble and could not work. +And so we fell into debt for rent and, ere long, for the commonest +necessities of life. In vain I struggled to redeem myself; the time of +my prosperity had not come and I only sank deeper and deeper into debt +and finally into indigence. A baby came. Our landlord was kind and +allowed us to stay for two weeks under the roof for whose protection we +could not pay; but at the end of that time we were asked to leave; and I +found myself on the road with a dying wife, a wailing infant, no money +in my purse and no power in my arm to earn any. Then when heart and hope +were both failing, I recalled that ancient oath and the six prosperous +homes scattered up and down the very highway on which I stood. I could +not leave my wife; the fever was in her veins and she could not bear me +out of her sight; so I put her on a horse, which a kind old neighbor was +willing to lend me, and holding her up with one hand, guided the horse +with the other, to the home of my brother Luke. He was a straight +enough fellow in those days--physically, I mean--and he looked able and +strong that morning, as he stood in the open doorway of his house, +gazing down at us as we halted before him in the roadway. But his temper +had grown greedy with the accumulation of a few dollars, and he shook +his head as he closed his door, saying he remembered no oath and that +spenders must expect to be beggars. + +"Struck to the heart by a rebuff which meant prolongation of the +suffering I saw in my dear wife's eyes, I stretched up and kissed her +where she sat half-fainting on the horse; then I moved on. I came to +Barbara's home next. She had been a little mother to me once; that is, +she had fed and dressed me, and doled out blows and caresses, and taught +me to read and sing. But Barbara in her father's home and without +fortune was not the Barbara I saw on the threshold of the little cottage +she called her own. She heard my story; looked in the face of my wife +and turned her back. She had no place for idle folk in her little house; +if we would work she would feed us; but we must earn our supper or go +hungry to bed. I felt the trembling of my wife's frame where she leaned +against my arm, and kissing her again, led her on to Salmon's. Luke, +Hector, Janet, have you heard him tell of that vision at his gateway, +twenty-five years ago? He is not amongst you. For twelve years he has +lain beside our father in the churchyard, but his sons may be here, for +they were ever alert when gold was in sight or a full glass to be +drained. Ask _them_, ask John, whom I saw skulking behind his cousins at +the garden fence that day, what it was they saw as I drew rein under the +great tree which shadowed their father's doorstep. + +"The sunshine had been pitiless that morning, and the head, for whose +rest in some loving shelter I would have bartered soul and body, had +fallen sidewise till it lay on my arm. Pressed to her breast was our +infant, whose little wail struck in pitifully as Salmon called out: +'What's to do here to-day!' Do you remember it, lads? or how you all +laughed, little and great, when I asked for a few weeks' stay under my +brother's roof till we could all get well and go about our tasks again? +_I_ remember. I, who am writing these words from the very mouth of the +tomb, _I_ remember; but I did not curse you. I only rode on to the next. +The way ran uphill now; and the sun which, since our last stop, had been +under a cloud, came out and blistered my wife's cheeks, already burning +red with fever. But I pressed my lips upon them, and led her on. With +each rebuff I gave her a kiss; and her smile, as her head pressed harder +and harder upon my arm now exerting all its strength to support her, +grew almost divine. But it vanished at my nephew Lemuel's. + +"He was shearing sheep, and could give no time to company; and when, +late in the day, I drew rein at Janet's, and she said she was going to +have a dance and could not look after sick folk, the pallid lips failed +to return my despairing embrace; and in the terror which this brought me +I went down, in the gathering twilight, into the deep valley where +William raised his sheep and reckoned, day by day, the increase among +his pigs. Oh, the chill of that descent! Oh, the gloom of the gathering +shadows! As we neared the bottom and I heard a far-off voice shout out a +hoarse command, some instinct made me reach up for the last time and +bestow that faithful kiss, which was at once her consolation and my +prayer. My lips were cold with the terror of my soul, but they were not +so cold as the cheek they touched, and, shrieking in my misery and need, +I fell before William where he halted by the horse-trough and--He was +always a hard man, was William, and it was a shock to him, no doubt, to +see us standing in our anguish and necessity before him; but he raised +the whip in his hand and, when it fell, my arm fell with it and she +slipped from my grasp to the ground, and lay in a heap in the roadway. + +"He was ashamed next minute and pointed to the house near-by. But I did +not carry her in, and she died in the roadway. Do you remember it, +Luke? Do you remember it, Lemuel? + +"But it is not of this I complain at this hour, nor is it for this I ask +you to drink the toast I have prepared for you." + +The looks, the writhings of old Luke and such others as I could now see +through the widening crack my hands unconsciously made in the doorway, +told me that the rack was at work in this room so lately given up to +revelry. Yet the mutterings, which from time to time came to my ears +from one sullen lip or another, did not rise into frightened imprecation +or even into any assertion of sorrow or contrition. It seemed as if some +suspense, common to all, held them speechless if not dumbly +apprehensive; and while the lawyer said nothing in recognition of this, +he could not have been quite blind to it, for he bestowed one curious +glance around the table before he proceeded with old Anthony's words. + +Those words had now become short, sharp, and accusatory. + +"My child lived; and what remained to me of human passion and longing +centered in his frail existence. I managed to earn enough for his eating +and housing, and in time I was almost happy again. This was while our +existence was a struggle; but when, with the discovery of latent powers +in my own mind, I began to find my place in the world and to earn money, +then your sudden interest in my boy taught me a new lesson in human +selfishness; but not, as yet, new fears. My nature was not one to grasp +ideas of evil, and the remembrance of that oath still remained to make +me lenient toward you. + +"I let him see you; not much, not often, but yet often enough for him to +realize that he had uncles and cousins, or, if you like it better, +kindred. And how did you repay this confidence on my part? What hand had +ye in the removal of this small barrier to the fortune my own poor +health warranted you in looking upon, even in those early days, as your +own? To others' eyes it may appear, none; to mine, ye are one and all +his murderers, as certainly as all of you were the murderers of the good +physician hastening to his aid. For his illness was not a mortal one. He +would have been saved if the doctor had reached him; but a precipice +swallowed that good Samaritan, and only I, of all who looked upon the +footprints which harrowed up the road at this dangerous point, knew +whose shoes would fit those marks. God's providence, it was called, and +I let it pass for such; but it was a providence which cost me my boy and +made _you_ my heirs." + +Silence as sullen in character as the men who found themselves thus +openly impeached had, for some minutes now, replaced the muttered +complaints which had accompanied the first portion of this denunciatory +letter. As the lawyer stopped to cast them another of those strange +looks, a gleam from old Luke's sidewise eyes startled the man next him, +who, shrugging a shoulder, passed the underhanded look on, till it had +circled the board and stopped with the man sitting opposite the crooked +sinner who had started it. + +I began to have a wholesome dread of them all and was astonished to see +the lawyer drop his hand from the bottle, which to some degree offered +itself as a possible weapon. But he knew his audience better than I did. +Though the bottle was now free for any man's taking, not a hand trembled +toward it, nor was a single glass held out. + +The lawyer, with an evil smile, went on with his relentless client's +story. + +"Ye had killed my wife; ye had killed my son; but this was not enough. +Being lonesome in my great house, which was as much too large for me as +my fortune was, I had taken a child to replace the boy I had lost. +Remembering the cold blood running in the veins of those nearest me, I +chose a boy from alien stock and, for a while, knew contentment again. +But, as he developed and my affections strengthened, the possibility of +all my money going his way roused my brothers and sisters from the +complacency they had enjoyed since their road to fortune had been +secured by my son's death, and one day--can you recall it, Hudson? can +you recall it, Lemuel?--the boy was brought in from the mill and laid at +my feet, dead! He had stumbled amongst the great belts, but whose was +the voice which had startled him with a sudden 'Halloo!' Can you say, +Luke? Can you say, John? I can say in whose ear it was whispered that +three, if not more of you, were seen moving among the machinery that +fatal morning. + +"Again, God's providence was said to have visited my house; and again +_ye_ were my heirs." + +"Stop there!" broke in the harsh voice of Luke, who was gradually +growing livid under his long gray locks. + +"Lies! lies!" shrieked Hector, gathering courage from his brother. + +"Cut it all and give us the drink!" snarled one of the younger men, who +was less under the effect of liquor than the rest. + +But a trembling voice muttered "Hush!" and the lawyer, whose eye had +grown steely under these comments, took advantage of the sudden silence +which had followed this last objurgation and went steadily on. + +"Some men would have made a will and denounced you. I made a will, but +did not denounce you. _I_ am no breaker of oaths. More than this, I +learned a new trick. I, who hated all subtlety and looked upon craft as +the favorite weapon of the devil, learned to smile with my lips while my +heart was burning with hatred. Perhaps this was why you all began to +smile too, and joke me about certain losses I had sustained, by which +you meant the gains which had come to me. That these gains were many +times greater than you realized added to the sting of this good +fellowship, but I held my peace; and you began to have confidence in a +good-nature which nothing could shake. You even gave me a supper." + +_A supper!_ + +What was there in these words to cause every man there to stop in +whatever movement he was making and stare, with wide-open eyes, intently +at the reader. He had spoken quietly; he had not even looked up, but +the silence which, for some minutes back, had begun to reign over that +tumultuous gathering, now became breathless, and the seams in Hector's +cheeks deepened to a bluish criss-cross. + +"_You remember that supper?_" + +As the words rang out again, I threw wide the door; I might have stalked +openly into their circle; not a man there would have noticed me. + +"It was a memorable occasion," the lawyer read on with stoical +impassiveness. "There was not a brother lacking. Luke and Hudson and +William and Hector and Eustace's boys, as well as Eustace himself; Janet +too, and Salmon's Lemuel, and Barbara's son, who, even if his mother had +gone the way of all flesh, had so trained her black brood in the love of +the things of this world that I scarcely missed her when I looked about +among you all for the eight sturdy brothers and sisters who had joined +in one clasp and one oath, under the eye of the true-hearted immigrant, +our father. What I did miss was one true eye lifted to my glance; but I +did not show that I missed it; and so our peace was made and we +separated, you to wait for your inheritance, and I for the death which +was to secure it to you. For, when the cup passed round that night, you +each dropped into it a tear of repentance, and tears make bitter +drinking. I sickened as I quaffed and was never myself again, as you +know. Do you understand me, you cruel, crafty ones?" + +Did they not! Heads quaking, throats gasping, teeth chattering--no +longer sitting--all risen, all looking with wild eyes for the door--was +it not apparent that they understood and only waited for one more word +to break away and flee the accursed house? + +But that word lingered. Old Smead had now grown pale himself and read +with difficulty the lines which were to end this frightful scene. As I +saw the red gleam of terror shine out from his small eyes, I wondered if +he had been but the blind tool of his implacable client and was as +ignorant as those before him of what was to follow this heavy +arraignment. The dread with which he finally proceeded was too marked +for me to doubt the truth of this surmise. This is what he found himself +forced to read: + +"There was a bottle reserved for me. It had a green label on it,--" + +A shriek from every one there and a hurried look up and down at the +bottles standing on the table. + +"A green label," the lawyer repeated, "and it made a goodly appearance +as it was set down before me. But you had no liking for wine with a +green label on the bottle. One by one you refused it, and when I rose to +quaff my final glass alone, every eye before me fell and did not lift +again until the glass was drained. I did not notice this then, but I see +it all now, just as I hear again the excuses you gave for not filling +your glasses as the bottle went round. One had drunk enough; one +suffered from qualms brought on by an unaccustomed indulgence in +oysters; one felt that wine good enough for me was too good for him, +and so on and so on. Not one to show frank eyes and drink with me as I +was ready to drink with him! Why? Because one and all of you knew what +was in that cup, and would not risk an inheritance so nearly within your +grasp." + +"Lies! lies!" again shrieked the raucous voice of Luke, smothered by +terror; while oaths, shouts, imprecations, rang out in horrid tumult +from one end of the table to the other, till the lawyer's face, over +which a startling change was rapidly passing, drew the whole crowd +forward again in awful fascination, till they clung, speechless, arm in +arm, shoulder propping shoulder, while he gasped out in dismay equal to +their own, these last fatal words: + +"That was at your board, my brothers; now you are at mine. You have +eaten my viands, drunk of my cup; and now, through the mouth of the one +man who has been true to me because therein lies his advantage, I offer +you a final glass. Will you drink it? I drank yours. By that old-time +oath which binds us to share each other's fortune, I ask you to share +this cup with me. _You will not?_" + +"No, no, no!" shouted one after another. + +"Then," the inexorable voice went on, a voice which to these miserable +souls was no longer that of the lawyer, but an issue from the grave they +had themselves dug for Anthony Westonhaugh, "know that your abstinence +comes too late; that you have already drunk the toast destined to end +your lives. The bottle which you must have missed from that board of +yours has been offered you again. A label is easily changed and--Luke, +John, Hector, I know you all so well--that bottle has been greedily +emptied by you; and while I, who sipped sparingly, lived three weeks, +you, who have drunk deep, _have not three hours before you, possibly not +three minutes_." + +O, the wail of those lost souls as this last sentence issued in a final +pant of horror from the lawyer's quaking lips! Shrieks--howls--prayers +for mercy--groans to make the hair rise--and curses, at sound of which +I shut my ears in horror, only to open them again in dread as, with one +simultaneous impulse, they flung themselves upon the lawyer who, +foreseeing this rush, had backed up against the wall. + +He tried to stem the tide. + +"I knew nothing of the poisoning," he protested. "That was not my reason +for declining the drink. I wished to preserve my senses--to carry out my +client's wishes. As God lives, I did not know he meant to carry his +revenge so far. Mercy! Mer--" + +But the hands which clutched him were the hands of murderers, and the +lawyer's puny figure could not stand up against the avalanche of human +terror, relentless fury and mad vengeance which now rolled in upon it. +As I bounded to his relief he turned his ghastly face upon me. But the +way between us was blocked, and I was preparing myself to see him sink +before my eyes, when an unearthly shriek rose from behind us, and every +living soul in that mass of struggling humanity paused, set and +staring, with stiffened limbs and eyes fixed, not on him, not on me, but +on one of their own number, the only woman amongst them, Janet +Clapsaddle, who, with clutching hands clawing her breast, was reeling in +solitary agony in her place beside the board. As they looked she fell, +and lay with upturned face and staring eyes, in whose glassy depths the +ill-fated ones who watched her could see mirrored their own impending +doom. + +It was an awful moment. A groan, in which was concentrated the despair +of seven miserable souls, rose from that petrified band; then, man by +man, they separated and fell back, showing on each weak or wicked face +the particular passion which had driven them into crime and made them +the victims of this wholesale revenge. There had been some sort of bond +between them till the vision of death rose before each shrinking soul. +Shoulder to shoulder in crime, they fell apart as their doom approached; +and rushing, shrieking, each man for himself, they one and all sought +to escape by doors, windows or any outlet which promised release from +this fatal spot. One rushed by me--I do not know which one--and I felt +as if a flame from hell had licked me, his breath was so hot and the +moans he uttered so like the curses we imagine to blister the lips of +the lost. None of them saw me; they did not even detect the sliding form +of the lawyer crawling away before them to some place of egress of which +they had no knowledge; and, convinced that in this scene of death I +could play no part worthy of her who awaited me, I too rushed away and, +groping my way back through the cellar, sought the side of her who still +crouched in patient waiting against the dismal wall. + + + + +IV + +THE FINAL SHOCK + + +Her baby had fallen asleep. I knew this by the faint, low sweetness of +her croon; and, shuddering with the horrors I had witnessed, horrors +which acquired a double force from the contrast presented by the peace +of this quiet spot and the hallowing influence of the sleeping +infant,--I threw myself down in the darkness at her feet, gasping out: + +"Oh, thank God and your uncle's seeming harshness, that you have escaped +the doom which has overtaken those others! You and your babe are still +alive; while they--" + +"What of them? What has happened to them? You are breathless, trembling; +you have brought no bread--" + +"No, no. Food in this house means death. Your relatives gave food and +wine to your uncle at a supper; he, though now in his grave, has +returned the same to them. There was a bottle--" + +I stopped, appalled. A shriek, muffled by distance but quivering with +the same note of death I had heard before, had gone up again from the +other side of the wall against which we were leaning. + +"Oh!" she gasped; "and my father was at that supper! my father, who died +last night cursing the day he was born! We are an accursed race. I have +known it all my life; perhaps that was why I mistook passion for love; +and my baby--O God, have mercy! God have mercy!" + +The plaintiveness of that cry, the awesomeness of what I had seen--of +what was going on at that moment almost within the reach of our +arms--the darkness, the desolation of our two souls, affected me as I +had never been affected in my whole life before. In the concentrated +experience of the last two hours I seemed to live years under this +woman's eyes; to know her as I did my own heart; to love her as I did my +own soul. No growth of feeling ever brought the ecstasy of that +moment's inspiration. With no sense of doing anything strange, with no +fear of being misunderstood, I reached out my hand and, touching hers +where it lay clasped about her infant, I said: + +"We are two poor wayfarers. A rough road loses half its difficulties +when trodden by two. Shall we, then, fare on together--we and the little +child?" + +She gave a sob; there was sorrow, longing, grief, hope, in its thrilling +low sound. As I recognized the latter emotion I drew her to my breast. +The child did not separate us. + +"We shall be happy," I murmured, and her sigh seemed to answer a +delicious "Yes," when suddenly there came a shock to the partition +against which we leaned and, starting from my clasp, she cried: + +"Our duty is in there. Shall we think of ourselves or even of each other +while these men, all relatives of mine, are dying on the other side of +this wall?" + +Seizing my hand, she dragged me to the trap; but here I took the lead, +and helped her down the ladder. When I had her safely on the floor at +the foot, she passed in front of me again; but once up the steps and in +front of the kitchen door, I thrust her behind me, for one glance into +the room beyond had convinced me it was no place for her. + +But she would not be held back. She crowded forward beside me, and +together we looked upon the wreck within. It was a never-to-be-forgotten +scene. The demon that was in those men had driven them to demolish +furniture, dishes, everything. In one heap lay what, an hour before, had +been an inviting board surrounded by rollicking and greedy guests. But +it was not upon this overthrow we stopped to look. It was upon something +that mingled with it, dominated it and made of this chaos only a setting +to awful death. Janet's face, in all its natural hideousness and +depravity, looked up from the floor beside this heap; and farther on, +the twisted figure of him they called Hector, with something more than +the seams of greedy longing round his wide, staring eyes and icy +temples. Two in this room! and on the threshold of the one beyond a +moaning third, who sank into eternal silence as we approached; and +before the fireplace in the great room, a horrible crescent that had +once been aged Luke, upon whom we had no sooner turned our backs than we +caught glimpses here and there of other prostrate forms which moved once +under our eyes and then moved no more. + +One only still stood upright, and he was the man whose obtrusive figure +and sordid expression had so revolted me in the beginning. There was no +color now in his flabby and heavily fallen cheeks. The eyes, in whose +false sheen I had seen so much of evil, were glazed now, and his big and +burly frame shook the door it pressed against. He was staring at a small +slip of paper he held, and, from his anxious looks, appeared to miss +something which neither of us had power to supply. It was a spectacle to +make devils rejoice, and mortals fly aghast. But Eunice had a spirit +like an angel and drawing near him, she said: + +"Is there anything I can do for you, Cousin John?" + +He started, looked at her with the same blank gaze he had hitherto cast +at the wall; then some words formed on his working lips and we heard: + +"I can not reckon; I was never good at figures; but if Luke is gone, and +William, and Hector, and Barbara's boy, and Janet,--_how much does that +leave for me_?" + +He was answered almost the moment he spoke; but it was by other tongues +and in another world than this. As his body fell forward, I tore open +the door before which he had been standing, and, lifting the almost +fainting Eunice in my arms, I carried her out into the night. As I did +so, I caught a final glimpse of the pictured face I had found it so hard +to understand a couple of hours before. I understood it now. + +A surprise awaited us as we turned toward the gate. The mist had lifted +and a keen but not unpleasant wind was driving from the north. Borne on +it, we heard voices. The village had emptied itself, probably at the +alarm given by the lawyer, and it was these good men and women whose +approach we heard. As we had nothing to fear from them, we went forward +to meet them. As we did so, three crouching figures rose from some +bushes we passed and ran scurrying before us through the gateway. They +were the late comers who had shown such despair at being shut out from +this fatal house, and who probably did not yet know the doom they had +escaped. + + * * * * * + +There were lanterns in the hands of some of the men who now approached. +As we stopped before them, these lanterns were held up, and by the light +they gave we saw, first, the lawyer's frightened face, then the visages +of two men who seemed to be persons of some authority. + +"What news?" faltered the lawyer, seeing by our faces that we knew the +worst. + +"Bad," I returned; "the poison had lost none of its virulence by being +mixed so long with the wine." + +"How many?" asked the man on his right anxiously. + +"Eight," was my solemn reply. + +"There were but eight," faltered the lawyer; "that means, then, all?" + +"All," I repeated. + +A murmur of horror rose, swelled, then died out in tumult as the crowd +swept on past us. + +For a moment we stood watching these people; saw them pause before the +door we had left open behind us, then rush in, leaving a wail of terror +on the shuddering midnight air. When all was quiet again, Eunice laid +her hand upon my arm. + +"Where shall we go?" she asked despairingly. "I do not know a house that +will open to me." + +The answer to her question came from other lips than mine. + +"I do not know one that will _not_," spoke up a voice behind our backs. +"Your withdrawal from the circle of heirs did not take from you your +rightful claim to an inheritance which, according to your uncle's will, +could be forfeited only by a failure to arrive at the place of +distribution within the hour set by the testator. As I see the matter +now, this appeal to the honesty of the persons so collected was a test +by which my unhappy client strove to save from the general fate such +members of his miserable family as fully recognized their sin and were +truly repentant." + +It was Lawyer Smead. He had lingered behind the others to tell her this. +She was, then, no outcast, but rich, very rich; how rich I dared not +acknowledge to myself, lest a remembrance of the man who was the last to +perish in that house of death should return to make this calculation +hateful. It was a blow which struck deep, deeper than any either of us +had sustained that night. As we came to realize it, I stepped slowly +back, leaving her standing erect and tall in the middle of the roadway, +with her baby in her arms. But not for long; soon she was close at my +side murmuring softly: + +"Two wayfarers still! Only, the road will be more difficult and the need +of companionship greater. Shall we fare on together, you, I--and the +little one?" + + + + +THE RUBY AND THE CALDRON + + +As there were two good men on duty that night, I did not see why I +should remain at my desk, even though there was an unusual stir created +in our small town by the grand ball given at The Evergreens. + +But just as I was preparing to start for home, an imperative ring called +me to the telephone and I heard: + +"Halloo! Is this the police-station?" + +"It is." + +"Well, then, a detective is wanted at once at The Evergreens. He can not +be too clever or too discreet. A valuable jewel has been lost, which +must be found before the guests disperse for home. Large reward if the +matter ends successfully and without too great publicity." + +"May I ask who is speaking to me?" + +"Mrs. Ashley." + +It was the mistress of The Evergreens and giver of the ball. + +"Madam, a man shall be sent at once. Where will you see him?" + +"In the butler's pantry at the rear. Let him give his name as Jennings." + +"Very good. Good-by." + +"Good-by." + +A pretty piece of work! Should I send Hendricks or should I send Hicks? +Hendricks was clever and Hicks discreet, but neither united both +qualifications in the measure demanded by the sensible and +quietly-resolved woman with whom I had just been talking. What +alternative remained? But one; I must go myself. + +It was not late--not for a ball night, at least--and as half the town +had been invited to the dance, the streets were alive with carriages. I +was watching the blink of their lights through the fast falling snow +when my attention was drawn to a fact which struck me as peculiar. These +carriages were all coming my way instead of rolling in the direction of +The Evergreens. Had they been empty this would have needed no +explanation, but, as far as I could see, most of them were full, and +that, too, with loudly talking women and gesticulating men. + +Something of a serious nature must have occurred at The Evergreens. +Rapidly I paced on and soon found myself before the great gates. + +A crowd of vehicles of all descriptions blocked the entrance. None +seemed to be passing up the driveway; all stood clustered at the gates, +and as I drew nearer I perceived many an anxious head thrust forth from +their quickly opened doors and heard many an ejaculation of +disappointment as the short interchange of words went on between the +drivers of these various turnouts and a man drawn up in quiet resolution +before the unexpectedly barred entrance. + +Slipping round to this man's side, I listened to what he was saying. It +was simple but very explicit. + +"Mrs. Ashley asks everybody's pardon, but the ball can't go on +to-night. Something has happened which makes the reception of further +guests impossible. To-morrow evening she will be happy to see you all. +The dance is simply postponed." + +This he had probably repeated forty times, and each time it had probably +been received with the same mixture of doubt and curiosity which now +held the lengthy procession in check. + +Not wishing to attract attention, yet anxious to lose no time, I pressed +up still nearer, and, bending toward him from the shadow cast by a +convenient post, uttered the one word: + +"Jennings." + +Instantly he unlocked a small gate at his right. I passed in and, with +professional _sang-froid_, proceeded to take my way to the house through +the double row of evergreens bordering the semicircular approach. + +As these trees stood very close together and were, besides, heavily +laden with fresh-fallen snow, I failed to catch a glimpse of the +building itself until I stood in front of it. Then I saw that it was +brilliantly lighted and gave evidence here and there of some festivity; +but the guests were too few for the effect to be very exhilarating and, +passing around to the rear, I sought the special entrance to which I had +been directed. + +A heavy-browed porch, before which stood a caterer's wagon, led me to a +door which had every appearance of being the one I sought. Pushing it +open, I entered without ceremony, and speedily found myself in the midst +of twenty or more colored waiters and chattering housemaids. To one of +the former I addressed the question: + +"Where is the butler's pantry? I am told that I shall find the lady of +the house there." + +"Your name?" was the curt demand. + +"Jennings." + +"Follow me." + +I was taken through narrow passages and across one or two store-rooms to +a small but well-lighted closet, where I was left, with the assurance +that Mrs. Ashley would presently join me. I had never seen this lady, +but I had often heard her spoken of as a woman of superior character and +admirable discretion. + +She did not keep me waiting. In two minutes the door opened and this +fine, well-poised woman was telling her story in the straight-forward +manner I so much admire and so seldom meet with. + +The article lost was a large ruby of singular beauty and great +value--the property of Mrs. Burton, the senator's wife, in whose honor +this ball was given. It had not been lost in the house nor had it been +originally missed that evening. Mrs. Burton and herself had attended the +great foot-ball game in the afternoon, and it was on the college campus +that Mrs. Burton had first dropped her invaluable jewel. But a reward of +five hundred dollars having been at once offered to whoever should find +and restore it, a great search had followed, which ended in its being +picked up by one of the students and brought back as far as the great +step leading up to the front door, when it had again disappeared, and +in a way to rouse conjecture of the strangest and most puzzling +character. + +The young man who had brought it thus far bore the name of John Deane, +and was a member of the senior class. He had been the first to detect +its sparkle in the grass, and those who were near enough to see his face +at that happy moment say that it expressed the utmost satisfaction at +his good luck. + +"You see," said Mrs. Ashley, "he has a sweetheart, and five hundred +dollars looks like a fortune to a young man just starting life. But he +was weak enough to take this girl into his confidence; and on their way +here--for both were invited to the ball--he went so far as to pull it +out of his pocket and show it to her. + +"They were admiring it together and vaunting its beauties to the young +lady friend who had accompanied them, when their carriage turned into +the driveway and they saw the lights of the house flashing before them. +Hastily restoring the jewel to the little bag he had made for it out of +the finger-end of an old glove,--a bag in which he assured me he had +been careful to keep it safely tied ever since picking it up on the +college green,--he thrust it back into his pocket and prepared to help +the ladies out. But just then a disturbance arose in front. A horse +which had been driven up was rearing in a way that threatened to +overturn the light buggy to which he was attached. As the occupants of +this buggy were ladies, and seemed to have no control over the plunging +beast, young Deane naturally sprang to the rescue. Bidding his own +ladies alight and make for the porch, he hurriedly ran forward and, +pausing in front of the maddened animal, waited for an opportunity to +seize him by the rein. He says that as he stood there facing the beast +with fixed eye and raised hand, he distinctly felt something strike or +touch his breast. But the sensation conveyed no meaning to him in his +excitement, and he did not think of it again till, the horse well in +hand and the two alarmed occupants of the buggy rescued, he turned to +see where his own ladies were, and beheld them looking down at him from +the midst of a circle of young people, drawn from the house by the +screaming of the women. Instantly a thought of the treasure he carried +recurred to his mind, and dropping the rein of the now quieted horse, he +put his hand to his pocket. The jewel was gone. He declares that for a +moment he felt as if he had been struck on the head by one of the hoofs +of the frantic horse he had just handled. But immediately the importance +of his loss and the necessity he felt for instant action restored him to +himself, and shouting aloud, 'I have dropped Mrs. Burton's ruby!' begged +every one to stand still while he made a search for it. + +"This all occurred, as you must know, more than an hour and a half ago, +consequently before many of my guests had arrived. My son, who was one +of the few spectators gathered on the porch, tells me that there was +only one other carriage behind the one in which Mr. Deane had brought +his ladies. Both of these had stopped short of the stepping-stone, and +as the horse and buggy which had made all this trouble had by this time +been driven to the stable, nothing stood in the way of his search but +the rapidly accumulating snow which, if you remember, was falling very +thick and fast at the time. + +"My son, who had rushed in for his overcoat, came running down with +offers to help him. So did some others. But, with an imploring gesture, +he begged to be allowed to conduct the search alone, the ground being in +such a state that the delicately-mounted jewel ran great risk of being +trodden into the snow and thus injured or lost. They humored him for a +moment, then, seeing that his efforts bade fair to be fruitless, my son +insisted upon joining him, and the two looked the ground over, inch by +inch, from the place where Mr. Deane had set foot to ground in alighting +from his carriage to the exact spot where he had stood when he had +finally seized hold of the horse. But no ruby. Then Harrison (that is my +son's name) sent for a broom and went over the place again, sweeping +aside the surface snow and examining carefully the ground beneath,--but +with no better results than before. No ruby could be found. My son came +to me panting. Mrs. Burton and myself stood awaiting him in a state of +suspense. Guests and fête were alike forgotten. We had heard that the +jewel had been found on the campus by one of the students and had been +brought back as far as the step in front and then lost again in some +unaccountable manner in the snow, and we hoped, nay expected from moment +to moment, that it would be brought in. + +"When Harrison entered, then, pale, disheveled and shaking his head, +Mrs. Burton caught me by the hand, and I thought she would faint. For +this jewel is of far greater value to her than its mere worth in money, +though that is by no means small. + +"It is a family jewel and was given to her by her husband under special +circumstances. He prizes it even more than she does, and he is not here +to counsel or assist her in this extremity. Besides, she was wearing it +in direct opposition to his expressed wishes. This I must tell you, to +show how imperative it is for us to recover it; also to account for the +large reward she is willing to pay. When he last looked at it he noticed +that the fastening was a trifle slack and, though he handed the trinket +back, he told her distinctly that she was not to wear it till it had +been either to Tiffany's or Starr's. But she considered it safe enough, +and put it on to please the boys, and lost it. Senator Burton is a hard +man and,--in short, the jewel must be found. I give you just one hour in +which to do it." + +"But, madam--" I protested. + +"I know," she put in, with a quick nod and a glance over her shoulder to +see if the door was shut. "I have not finished my story. Hearing what +Harrison had to say, I took action at once. I bade him call in the +guests, whom curiosity or interest still detained on the porch, and seat +them in a certain room which I designated to him. Then, after telling +him to send two men to the gates with orders to hold back all further +carriages from entering, and two others to shovel up and cart away to +the stable every particle of snow for ten feet each side of the front +step, I asked to see Mr. Deane. But here my son whispered something into +my ear, which it is my duty to repeat. It was to the effect that Mr. +Deane believed that the jewel had been taken from him; that he insisted, +in fact, that he had felt a hand touch his breast while he stood +awaiting an opportunity to seize the horse. 'Very good,' said I, 'we'll +remember that, too; but first see that my orders are carried out and +that all approaches to the grounds are guarded and no one allowed to +come in or go out without permission from me.' + +"He left us, and I was turning to encourage Mrs. Burton when my +attention was caught by the eager face of a little friend of mine, who, +quite unknown to me, was sitting in one of the corners of the room. She +was studying my countenance in a sort of subdued anxiety, hardly +natural in one so young, and I was about to call her to my side and +question her when she made a sudden dive and vanished from the room. +Some impulse made me follow her. She is a conscientious little thing, +but timid as a hare, and though I saw she had something to say, it was +with difficulty I could make her speak. Only after the most solemn +assurances that her name should not be mentioned in the matter, would +she give me the following bit of information, which you may possibly +think throws another light upon the affair. It seems that she was +looking out of one of the front windows when Mr. Deane's carriage drove +up. She had been watching the antics of the horse attached to the buggy, +but as soon as she saw Mr. Deane going to the assistance of those in +danger, she let her eyes stray back to the ladies whom he had left +behind him in the carriage. + +"She did not know these ladies, but their looks and gestures interested +her, and she watched them quite intently as they leaped to the ground +and made their way toward the porch. One went on quickly, and without +pause, to the step, but the other,--the one who came last,--did not do +this. She stopped a moment, perhaps to watch the horse in front, perhaps +to draw her cloak more closely about her, and when she again moved on, +it was with a start and a hurried glance at her feet, terminating in a +quick turn and a sudden stooping to the ground. When she again stood +upright, she had something in her hand which she thrust furtively into +her breast." + +"How was this lady dressed?" I inquired. + +"In a white cloak, with an edging of fur. I took pains to learn that, +too, and it was with some curiosity, I assure you, that I examined the +few guests who had now been admitted to the room I had so carefully +pointed out to my son. Two of them wore white cloaks, but one of these +was Mrs. Dalrymple, and I did not give her or her cloak a second +thought. The other was a tall, fine-looking girl, with an air and +bearing calculated to rouse admiration if she had not shown so very +plainly that she was in a state of inner perturbation. Though she tried +to look amiable and pleased, I saw that she had some care on her mind, +which, had she been Mr. Deane's _fiancée_, would have needed no +explanation; but as she was only Mr. Deane's _fiancée's_ friend, its +cause was not so apparent. + +"The floor of the room, as I had happily remembered, was covered with +crash, and as I lifted each garment off--I allowed no maid to assist me +in this--I shook it well; ostensibly, because of the few flakes clinging +to it, really to see if anything could be shaken out of it. Of course, I +met with no success. I had not expected to, but it is my disposition to +be thorough. These wraps I saw all hung in an adjoining closet, the door +of which I locked,--here is the key,--after which I handed my guests +over to my son who led them into the drawing-room where they joined the +few others who had previously arrived, and went myself to telephone to +_you_." + +I bowed and asked where the young people were now. + +"Still in the drawing-room. I have ordered the musicians to play, and +consequently there is more or less dancing. But, of course, nothing can +remove the wet blanket which has fallen over us all,--nothing but the +finding of this jewel. Do you see your way to accomplishing this? We +are, from this very moment, at your disposal; only I pray that you will +make no more disturbance than is necessary, and, if possible, arouse no +suspicions you can not back up by facts. I dread a scandal almost as +much as I do sickness and death, and these young people--well, their +lives are all before them, and neither Mrs. Burton nor myself would wish +to throw the shadow of a false suspicion over the least of them." + +I assured her that I sympathized with her scruples and would do my best +to recover the ruby without inflicting undue annoyance upon the +innocent. Then I inquired whether it was known that a detective had been +called in. She seemed to think it was suspected by some, if not by all. +At which my way seemed a trifle complicated. + +We were about to proceed when another thought struck me. + +"Madam, you have not said whether the carriage itself was searched." + +"I forgot. Yes, the carriage was thoroughly overhauled, and before the +coachman left the box." + +"Who did this overhauling?" + +"My son. He would not trust any other hand than his own in a business of +this kind." + +"One more question, madam. Was any one seen to approach Mr. Deane on the +carriage-drive prior to his assertion that the jewel was lost?" + +"No. _And there were no tracks in the snow of any such person._ My son +looked." + +And I would look, or so I decided within myself, but I said nothing; and +in silence we proceeded toward the drawing-room. + +I had left my overcoat behind me, and always being well-dressed, I did +not present so bad an appearance. Still I was not in party attire and +naturally could not pass for a guest if I had wanted to, which I did +not. I felt that I must rely on insight in this case and on a certain +power I had always possessed of reading faces. That the case called for +just this species of intuition I was positive. Mrs. Burton's ruby was +within a hundred yards of us at this very moment, probably within a +hundred feet; but to lay hands on it and without scandal--well, that was +a problem calculated to rouse the interest of even an old police-officer +like myself. + +A strain of music, desultory, however, and spiritless, like everything +else about the place that night, greeted us as Mrs. Ashley opened the +door leading directly into the large front hall. + +Immediately a scene meant to be festive, but which was, in fact, +desolate, burst upon us. The lights, the flowers and the brilliant +appearance of such ladies as flitted into sight from the almost empty +parlors, were all suggestive of the cheer suitable to a great occasion; +but in spite of this, the effect was altogether melancholy, for the +hundreds who should have graced this scene, and for whom this +illumination had been made and these festoons hung, had been turned away +from the gates, and the few who felt they must remain, because their +hostess showed no disposition to let them go, wore any but holiday +faces, for all their forced smiles and pitiful attempts at nonchalance +and gaiety. + +I scrutinized these faces carefully. I detected nothing in them but +annoyance at a situation which certainly was anything but pleasant. + +Turning to Mrs. Ashley, I requested her to be kind enough to point out +her son, adding that I should be glad to have a moment's conversation +with him, also with Mr. Deane. + +"Mr. Deane is in one of those small rooms over there. He is quite upset. +Not even Mrs. Burton can comfort him. My son--Oh, there is Harrison!" + +A tall, fine-looking young man was crossing the hall. Mrs. Ashley called +him to her, and in another moment we were standing together in one of +the empty parlors. + +I gave him my name and told him my business. Then I said: + +"Your mother has allotted me an hour in which to find the valuable jewel +which has just been lost on these premises." Here I smiled. "She +evidently has great confidence in my ability. I must see that I do not +disappoint her." + +All this time I was examining his face. It was a handsome one, as I have +said, but it had also a very candid expression; the eyes looked straight +into mine, and, while showing anxiety, betrayed no deeper emotion than +the occasion naturally called for. + +"Have you any suggestions to offer? I understand that you were on the +ground almost as soon as Mr. Deane discovered his loss." + +His eyes changed a trifle but did not swerve. Of course he had been +informed by his mother of the suspicious action of the young lady who +had been a member of that gentleman's party, and shrank, as any one in +his position would, from the responsibilities entailed by this +knowledge. + +"No," said he. "We have done all we can. The next move must come from +you." + +"There is one that will settle the matter in a moment," I assured him, +still with my eyes fixed scrutinizingly on his face,--"a universal +search, not of places, but of persons. But it is a harsh measure." + +"A most disagreeable one," he emphasized, flushing. "Such an indignity +offered to guests would never be forgotten or forgiven." + +"True, but if they offered to submit to this themselves?" + +"They? How?" + +"If _you_, the son of the house,--their host we may say,--should call +them together and, for your own satisfaction, empty out your pockets in +the sight of every one, don't you think that all the men, and possibly +all the women too--" (here I let my voice fall suggestively) "would be +glad to follow suit? It could be done in apparent joke." + +He shook his head with a straight-forward air, which raised him high in +my estimation. + +"That would call for little but effrontery on my part," said he; "but +think what it would demand from these boys who came here for the sole +purpose of enjoying themselves. I will not so much as mention the +ladies." + +"Yet one of the latter--" + +"I know," he quietly acknowledged, growing restless for the first time. + +I withdrew my eyes from his face. I had learned what I wished. +Personally he did not shrink from search, therefore the jewel was not in +his pockets. This left but two persons for suspicion to halt between. +But I disclosed nothing of my thoughts; I merely asked pardon for a +suggestion that, while pardonable in a man accustomed to handle crime +with ungloved hands, could not fail to prove offensive to a gentleman +like himself. + +"We must move by means less open," I concluded. "It adds to our +difficulties, but that can not be helped. I should now like a glimpse of +Mr. Deane." + +"Do you not wish to speak to him?" + +"I should prefer a sight of his face first." + +He led me across the hall and pointed through an open door. In the +center of a small room containing a table and some chairs, I perceived a +young man sitting, with fallen head and dejected air, staring at +vacancy. By his side, with hand laid on his, knelt a young girl, +striving in this gentle but speechless way to comfort him. It made a +pathetic picture. I drew Ashley away. + +"I am disposed to believe in that young man," said I. "If he still has +the jewel, he would not try to carry off the situation in just this way. +He really looks broken-hearted." + +"Oh, he is dreadfully cut up. If you could have seen how frantically he +searched for the stone, and the depression into which he fell when he +realized that it was not to be found, you would not doubt him for an +instant. What made you think he might still have the ruby?" + +"Oh, we police officers think of everything. Then the fact that he +insists that something or some one touched his breast on the driveway +strikes me as a trifle suspicious. Your mother says that no second +person could have been there, or the snow would have given evidence of +it." + +"Yes; I looked expressly. Of course, the drive itself was full of +hoof-marks and wheel-tracks, for several carriages had already passed +over it. Then there were all of Deane's footsteps, but no other man's, +as far as I could see." + +"Yet he insists that he was touched or struck." + +"Yes." + +"With no one there to touch or strike him." + +Mr. Ashley was silent. + +"Let us step out and take a view of the place," I suggested. "I should +prefer doing this to questioning the young man in his present state of +mind." Then, as we turned to put on our coats, I asked with suitable +precaution: "Do you suppose that he has the same secret suspicions as +ourselves, and that it is to hide these he insists upon the jewel's +having been taken away from him at a point the ladies are known not to +have approached?" + +Young Ashley bent somewhat startled eyes on mine. + +"Nothing has been said to him of what Miss Peters saw Miss Glover do. I +could not bring myself to mention it. I have not even allowed myself to +believe--" + +Here a fierce gust, blowing in from the door he had just opened, cut +short his words, and neither of us spoke again till we stood on the +exact spot in the driveway where the episode we were endeavoring to +understand had taken place. + +"Oh," I cried as soon as I could look about me; "the mystery is +explained. Look at that bush, or perhaps you call it a shrub. If the +wind were blowing as freshly as it is now, and very probably it was, one +of those slender branches might easily be switched against his breast, +especially if he stood, as you say he did, close against this border." + +"Well, I'm a fool. Only the other day I told the gardener that these +branches would need trimming in the spring, and yet I never so much as +thought of them when Mr. Deane spoke of something striking his breast." + +As we turned back I made this remark: + +"With this explanation of the one doubtful point in his otherwise +plausible account, we can credit his story as being in the main true, +which," I calmly added, "places him above suspicion and narrows our +inquiry down to _one_." + +We had moved quickly and were now at the threshold of the door by which +we had come out. + +"Mr. Ashley," I continued, "I shall have to ask you to add to your +former favors that of showing me the young lady in whom, from this +moment on, we are especially interested. If you can manage to let me see +her first without her seeing me, I shall be infinitely obliged to you." + +"I do not know where she is. I shall have to search for her." + +"I will wait by the hall door." + +In a few minutes he returned to me. "Come," said he, and led me into +what I judged to be the library. + +With a gesture toward one of the windows, he backed quickly out, leaving +me to face the situation alone. I was rather glad of this. Glancing in +the direction he had indicated, and perceiving the figure of a young +lady standing with her back to me on the farther side of a flowing lace +curtain, I took a few steps toward her, hoping that the movement would +cause her to turn. But it entirely failed to produce this effect, nor +did she give any sign that she noted the intrusion. This prevented me +from catching the glimpse of her face which I so desired, and obliged me +to confine myself to a study of her dress and attitude. + +The former was very elegant, more elegant than the appearance of her two +friends had led me to expect. Though I am far from being an authority on +feminine toilets, I yet had experience enough to know that those +sweeping folds of spotless satin, with their festoons of lace and loops +of shiny trimming, which it would be folly for me to attempt to +describe, represented not only the best efforts of the dressmaker's art, +but very considerable means on the part of the woman wearing such a +gown. This was a discovery which altered the complexion of my thoughts +for a moment; for I had presupposed her a girl of humble means, willing +to sacrifice certain scruples to obtain a little extra money. This +imposing figure might be that of a millionaire's daughter; how then +could I associate her, even in my own mind, with theft? I decided that I +must see her face before giving answer to these doubts. + +She did not seem inclined to turn. She had raised the shade from before +the wintry panes and was engaged in looking out. Her attitude was not +that of one simply enjoying a moment's respite from the dance. It was +rather that of an absorbed mind brooding upon what gave little or no +pleasure; and as I further gazed and noted the droop of her lovely +shoulders and the languor visible in her whole bearing, I began to +regard a glimpse of her features as imperative. Moving forward, I came +upon her suddenly. + +"Excuse me, Miss Smith," I boldly exclaimed; then paused, for she had +turned instinctively and I had seen that for which I had risked this +daring move. "Your pardon," I hastily apologized. "I mistook you for +another young lady," and drew back with a low bow to let her pass, for I +saw that she thought only of escaping both me and the room. + +And I did not wonder at this, for her eyes were streaming with tears, +and her face, which was doubtless a pretty one under ordinary +conditions, looked so distorted with distracting emotions that she was +no fit subject for any man's eye, let alone that of a hard-hearted +officer of the law on the lookout for the guilty hand which had just +appropriated a jewel worth anywhere from eight to ten thousand dollars. + +Yet I was glad to see her weep, for only first offenders weep, and first +offenders are amenable to influence, especially if they have been led +into wrong by impulse and are weak rather than wicked. + +Anxious to make no blunder, I resolved, before proceeding further, to +learn what I could of the character and antecedents of the suspected +one, and this from the only source which offered--Mr. Deane's affianced. + +This young lady was a delicate girl, with a face like a flower. +Recognizing her sensitive nature, I approached her with the utmost +gentleness. Not seeking to disguise either the nature of my business or +my reasons for being in the house, since all this gave me authority, I +modulated my tone to suit her gentle spirit, and, above all, I showed +the utmost sympathy for her lover, whose rights in the reward had been +taken from him as certainly as the jewel had been taken from Mrs. +Burton. In this way I gained her confidence, and she was quite ready to +listen when I observed: + +"There is a young lady here who seems to be in a state of even greater +trouble than Mr. Deane. Why is this? You brought her here. Is her +sympathy with Mr. Deane so great as to cause her to weep over his loss?" + +"Frances? Oh, no. She likes Mr. Deane and she likes me, but not well +enough to cry over our misfortunes. I think she has some trouble of her +own." + +"One that you can tell me?" + +Her surprise was manifest. + +"Why do you ask that? What interest have you (called in, as I +understand, to recover a stolen jewel) in Frances Glover's personal +difficulties?" + +I saw that I must make my position perfectly plain. + +"Only this. She was seen to pick up something from the driveway, where +no one else had succeeded in finding anything." + +"She? When? Who saw her?" + +"I can not answer all these questions at once," I smiled. "She was seen +to do this--no matter by whom,--during your passage from the carriage to +the stoop. As you preceded her, you naturally did not observe this +action, which was fortunate, perhaps, as you would scarcely have known +what to do or say about it." + +"Yes I should," she retorted, with a most unexpected display of spirit. +"I should have asked her what she had found and I should have insisted +upon an answer. I love my friends, but I love the man I am to marry, +better." Here her voice fell and a most becoming blush suffused her +cheek. + +"Quite right," I assented. "Now will you answer my former question? What +troubles Miss Glover? Can you tell me?" + +"That I can not. I only know that she has been very silent ever since +she left the house. I thought her beautiful new dress would please her, +but it does not seem to. She has been unhappy and preoccupied all the +evening. She only roused a bit when Mr. Deane showed us the ruby and +said--Oh, I forgot!" + +"What's that? What have you forgot?" + +"What you said just now. I wouldn't add a word--" + +"Pardon me!" I smilingly interrupted, looking as fatherly as I could, +"but you _have_ added this word and now you must tell me what it means. +You were going to say she showed interest in the extraordinary jewel +which Mr. Deane took from his pocket and--" + +"In what he let fall about the expected reward. That is, she looked +eagerly at the ruby and sighed when he acknowledged that he expected it +to bring him five hundred dollars before midnight. But any girl of no +more means than she might do that. It would not be fair to lay too much +stress on a sigh." + +"Is not Miss Glover wealthy? She wears a very expensive dress, I +observe." + +"I know it and I have wondered a little at it, for her father is not +called very well off. But perhaps she bought it with her own money; I +know she has some; she is an artist in burnt wood." + +I let the subject of Miss Glover's dress drop. I had heard enough to +satisfy me that my first theory was correct. This young woman, +beautifully dressed, and with a face from which the rounded lines of +early girlhood had not yet departed, held in her possession, probably at +this very moment, Mrs. Burton's magnificent jewel. But where? On her +person or hidden in some of her belongings? I remembered the cloak in +the closet and thought it wise to assure myself that the jewel was not +secreted in this garment, before I proceeded to extreme measures. Mrs. +Ashley, upon being consulted, agreed with me as to the desirability of +this, and presently I had this poor girl's cloak in my hands. + +Did I find the ruby? No; but I found something else tucked away in an +inner pocket which struck me as bearing quite pointedly upon this case. +It was the bill--crumpled, soiled and tear-stained--of the dress whose +elegance had so surprised her friends and made me, for a short time, +regard her as the daughter of wealthy parents. An enormous bill, which +must have struck dismay to the soul of this self-supporting girl, who +probably had no idea of how a French dressmaker can foot up items. Four +hundred and fifty dollars! and for one gown! I declare I felt indignant +myself and could quite understand why she heaved that little sigh when +Mr. Deane spoke of the five hundred dollars he expected from Mrs. +Burton, and later, how she came to succumb to the temptation of making +the effort to secure this sum for herself when, in following the +latter's footsteps up the driveway, she stumbled upon this same jewel +fallen, as it were, from his pocket into her very hands. The impulse of +the moment was so strong and the consequences so little anticipated! + +It is not at all probable that she foresaw he would shout aloud his loss +and draw the whole household out on the porch. Of course when he did +this, the feasibility of her project was gone, and I only wished that I +had been present and able to note her countenance, as, crowded in with +others on that windy porch, she watched the progress of the search, +which every moment made it not only less impossible for her to attempt +the restoration upon which the reward depended, but must have caused her +to feel, if she had been as well brought up as all indications showed, +that it was a dishonest act of which she had been guilty and that, +willing or not, she must look upon herself as a thief so long as she +held the jewel back from Mr. Deane or its rightful owner. But how face +the publicity of restoring it now, after this elaborate and painful +search, in which even the son of her hostess had taken part? + +That would be to proclaim her guilt and thus effectually ruin her in the +eyes of everybody concerned. No, she would keep the compromising article +a little longer, in the hope of finding some opportunity of returning it +without risk to her good name. And so she allowed the search to proceed. + +I have entered thus elaborately into the supposed condition of this +girl's mind on this critical evening, that you may understand why I felt +a certain sympathy for her, which forbade harsh measures. I was sure, +from the glimpse I had caught of her face, that she longed to be +relieved from the tension she was under, and that she would gladly rid +herself of this valuable jewel if she only knew how. This opportunity I +proposed to give her; and this is why, on returning the bill to its +place, I assumed such an air of relief on rejoining Mrs. Ashley. + +She saw, and drew me aside. + +"You have not found it!" she said. + +"No," I returned, "but I am positive where it is." + +"And where is that?" + +"Over Miss Glover's uneasy heart." + +Mrs. Ashley turned pale. + +"Wait," said I; "I have a scheme for getting it hence without making her +shame public. Listen!" and I whispered a few words in her ear. + +She surveyed me in amazement for a moment, then nodded, and her face +lighted up. + +"You are certainly earning your reward," she declared; and summoning her +son, who was never far away from her side, she whispered her wishes. He +started, bowed and hurried from the room. + +By this time my business in the house was well-known to all, and I could +not appear in hall or parlor without a great silence falling upon every +one present, followed by a breaking up of the only too small circle of +unhappy guests into agitated groups. But I appeared to see nothing of +all this till the proper moment, when, turning suddenly upon them all, I +cried out cheerfully, but with a certain deference I thought would +please them: + +"Ladies and gentlemen: I have an interesting fact to announce. The snow +which was taken up from the driveway has been put to melt in the great +feed caldron over the stable fire. We expect to find the ruby at the +bottom, and Mrs. Ashley invites you to be present at its recovery. It +has now stopped snowing and she thought you might enjoy the excitement +of watching the water ladled out." + +A dozen girls bounded forward. + +"Oh, yes, what fun! where are our cloaks--our rubbers?" + +Two only stood hesitating. One of these was Mr. Deane's lady love and +the other her friend, Miss Glover. The former, perhaps, secretly +wondered. The latter--but I dared not look long enough or closely enough +in her direction to judge just what her emotions were. Presently these, +too, stepped forward into the excited circle of young people, and were +met by the two maids who were bringing in their wraps. Amid the bustle +which now ensued, I caught sight of Mr. Deane's face peering from an +open doorway. It was all alive with hope. I also perceived a lady +looking down from the second story, who, I felt sure, was Mrs. Burton +herself. Evidently my confident tone had produced more effect than the +words themselves. Every one looked upon the jewel as already recovered +and regarded my invitation to the stable as a ruse by which I hoped to +restore universal good feeling by giving them all a share in my triumph. + +All but one! Nothing could make Miss Glover look otherwise than anxious, +restless and unsettled, and though she followed in the wake of the +rest, it was with hidden face and lagging step, as if she recognized the +whole thing as a farce and doubted her own power to go through it +calmly. + +"Ah, ha! my lady," thought I, "only be patient and you will see what I +shall do for you." And indeed I thought her eye brightened as we all +drew up around the huge caldron standing full of water over the stable +stove. As pains had already been taken to put out the fire in this +stove, the ladies were not afraid of injuring their dresses and +consequently crowded as close as their numbers would permit. Miss Glover +especially stood within reach of the brim, and as soon as I noted this, +I gave the signal which had been agreed upon between Mr. Ashley and +myself. Instantly the electric lights went out, leaving the place in +total darkness. + +A scream from the girls, a burst of hilarious laughter from their +escorts, mingled with loud apologies from their seemingly mischievous +host, filled up the interval of darkness which I had insisted should not +be too soon curtailed; then the lights glowed as suddenly as they had +gone out, and while the glare was fresh on every face, I stole a glance +at Miss Glover to see if she had made good use of the opportunity just +accorded for ridding herself of the jewel by dropping it into the +caldron. If she had, both her troubles and mine were at an end; if she +had not, then I need feel no further scruple in approaching her with the +direct question I had hitherto found it so difficult to put. + +She stood with both hands grasping her cloak which she had drawn tightly +about the rich folds of her new and expensive dress; but her eyes were +fixed straight before her with a soft light in their depths which made +her positively beautiful. + +The jewel is in the pot, I inwardly decided, and ordered the two waiting +stablemen to step forward with their ladles. Quickly those ladles went +in, but before they could be lifted out dripping, half the ladies had +scurried back, afraid of injury to their pretty dresses. But they soon +sidled forward again, and watched with beaming eyes the slow but sure +emptying of the great caldron at whose bottom they anticipated finding +the lost jewel. + +As the ladles were plunged deeper and deeper, the heads drew closer and +so great was the interest shown, that the busiest lips forgot to +chatter, and eyes, whose only business up till now had been to follow +with shy curiosity every motion made by their handsome young host, now +settled on the murky depths of the great pot whose bottom was almost in +sight. + +As I heard the ladles strike this bottom, I instinctively withdrew a +step in anticipation of the loud hurrah which would naturally hail the +first sight of the lost ruby. Conceive, then, my chagrin, my bitter and +mortified disappointment, when, after one look at the broad surface of +the now exposed bottom the one shout which rose was: + +"_Nothing!_" + + * * * * * + +I was so thoroughly put out that I did not wait to hear the loud +complaints which burst from every lip. Drawing Mr. Ashley aside (who, +by the way, seemed as much affected as myself by the turn affairs had +taken) I remarked to him that there was only one course left open to us. + +"And what is that?" + +"To ask Miss Glover to show me what she picked up from your driveway." + +"And if she refuses?" + +"To take her quietly with me to the station, where we have women who can +make sure that the ruby is not on her person." + +Mr. Ashley made an involuntary gesture of strong repugnance. + +"Let us pray that it will not come to that," he objected hoarsely. "Such +a fine figure of a girl! Did you notice how bright and happy she looked +when the lights sprang up? I declare she struck me as lovely." + +"So she did me, and caused me to draw some erroneous conclusions. I +shall have to ask you to procure me an interview with her as soon as we +return to the house." + +"She shall meet you in the library." + +But when, a few minutes later, she joined me in the room just designated +and I had full opportunity for reading her countenance, I own that my +task became suddenly hateful to me. She was not far from my own +daughter's age and, had it not been for her furtive look of care, +appeared almost as blooming and bright. Would it ever come to pass that +a harsh man of the law would feel it his duty to speak to my Flora as I +must now speak to the young girl before me? The thought made me inwardly +recoil and it was in as gentle a manner as possible that I made my bow +and began with the following remark: + +"I hope you will pardon me, Miss Glover--I am told that is your name. I +hate to disturb your pleasure--" (this with the tears of alarm and grief +rising in her eyes) "but you can tell me something which will greatly +simplify my task and possibly put matters in such shape that you and +your friends can be released to your homes." + +"I?" + +She stood before me with amazed eyes, the color rising in her cheeks. I +had to force my next words, which, out of consideration for her, I made +as direct as possible. + +"Yes, miss. What was the article you were seen to pick up from the +driveway soon after leaving your carriage?" + +She started, then stumbled backward, tripping in her long train. + +"I pick up?" she murmured. Then with a blush, whether of anger or pride +I could not tell, she coldly answered: "Oh, that was something of my +own,--something I had just dropped. I had rather not tell you what it +was." + +I scrutinized her closely. She met my eyes squarely, yet not with just +the clear light I should, remembering Flora, have been glad to see +there. + +"I think it would be better for you to be entirely frank," said I. "It +was the only article known to have been picked up from the driveway +after Mr. Deane's loss of the ruby; and though we do not presume to say +that it was the ruby, yet the matter would look clearer to us all if you +would frankly state what this object was." + +Her whole body seemed to collapse and she looked as if about to sink. + +"Oh, where is Minnie? Where is Mr. Deane?" she moaned, turning and +staring at the door, as if she hoped they would fly to her aid. Then, in +a burst of indignation which I was fain to believe real, she turned on +me with the cry: "It was a bit of paper which I had thrust into the +bosom of my gown. It fell out--" + +"Your dressmaker's bill?" I intimated. + +She stared, laughed hysterically for a moment, then sank upon a near-by +sofa, sobbing spasmodically. + +"Yes," she cried, after a moment; "my dressmaker's bill. You seem to +know all my affairs." Then suddenly, and with a startling impetuosity, +which drew her to her feet: "Are you going to tell everybody that? Are +you going to state publicly that Miss Glover brought an unpaid bill to +the party and that because Mr. Deane was unfortunate enough or careless +enough to drop and lose the jewel he was bringing to Mrs. Burton, she is +to be looked upon as a thief, because she stooped to pick up this bill +which had slipped inadvertently from its hiding-place? I shall die if +you do," she cried. "I shall die if it is already known," she pursued, +with increasing emotion. "Is it? Is it?" + +Her passion was so great, so much greater than any likely to rise in a +breast wholly innocent, that I began to feel very sober. + +"No one but Mrs. Ashley and possibly her son know about the bill," said +I, "and no one shall, if you will go with that lady to her room, and +make plain to her, in the only way you can, that the extremely valuable +article which has been lost to-night is not in your possession." + +She threw up her arms with a scream. "Oh, what a horror! I can not! I +can not! Oh, I shall die of shame! My father! My mother!" And she burst +from the room like one distraught. + +But in another moment she came cringing back. "I can not face them," +she said. "They all believe it; they will always believe it unless I +submit--Oh, why did I ever come to this dreadful place? Why did I order +this hateful dress which I can never pay for and which, in spite of the +misery it has caused me, has failed to bring me the--" She did not +continue. She had caught my eye and seen there, perhaps, some evidence +of the pity I could not but experience for her. With a sudden change of +tone she advanced upon me with the appeal: "Save me from this +humiliation. I have not seen the ruby. I am as ignorant of its +whereabouts as--as Mr. Ashley himself. Won't you believe me? Won't they +be satisfied if I swear--" + +I was really sorry for her. I began to think too that some dreadful +mistake had been made. Her manner seemed too ingenuous for guilt. Yet +where could that ruby be, if not with this young girl? Certainly, all +other possibilities had been exhausted, and her story of the bill, even +if accepted, would never quite exonerate her from secret suspicion while +that elusive jewel remained unfound. + +"You give me no hope," she moaned. "I must go out before them all and +ask to have it proved that I am no thief. Oh, if God would have pity--" + +"Or some one would find--Halloo! What's that?" + +A shout had risen from the hall beyond. + +She gasped and we both plunged forward. Mr. Ashley, still in his +overcoat, stood at the other end of the hall, and facing him were ranged +the whole line of young people whom I had left scattered about in the +various parlors. I thought he looked peculiar; certainly his appearance +differed from that of a quarter of an hour before, and when he glanced +our way and saw who was standing with me in the library doorway, his +voice took on a tone which made me doubt whether he was about to +announce good news or bad. + +But his first word settled that question. + +"Rejoice with me!" he cried. "_The ruby has been found!_ Do you want to +see the culprit?--for there is a culprit. We have him at the door; shall +we bring him in?" + +"Yes, yes," cried several voices, among them that of Mr. Deane, who now +strode forward with beaming eyes and instinctively lifted hand. But some +of the ladies looked frightened, and Mr. Ashley, noting this, glanced +for encouragement toward us. + +He seemed to find it in Miss Glover's eyes. She had quivered and nearly +fallen at that word _found_, but had drawn herself up by this time and +was awaiting his further action in a fever of relief and hope which +perhaps no one but myself could fully appreciate. + +"A vile thief! A most unconscionable rascal!" vociferated Mr. Ashley. +"You must see him, mother; you must see him, ladies, else you will not +realize our good fortune. Open the door there and bring in the robber!" + +At this command, uttered in ringing tones, the huge leaves of the great +front door swung slowly forward, revealing the sturdy forms of the two +stablemen holding down by main force the towering figure of--_a horse_! + +The scream of astonishment which went up from all sides, united to Mr. +Ashley's shout of hilarity, caused the animal, unused, no doubt, to +drawing-rooms, to rear to the length of his bridle. At which Mr. Ashley +laughed again and gaily cried: + +"Confound the fellow! Look at him, mother; look at him, ladies! Do you +not see guilt written on his brow? It is he who has made us all this +trouble. First, he must needs take umbrage at the two lights with which +we presumed to illuminate our porch; then, envying Mrs. Burton her ruby +and Mr. Deane his reward, seek to rob them both by grinding his hoofs +all over the snow of the driveway till he came upon the jewel which Mr. +Deane had dropped from his pocket, and taking it up in a ball of snow, +secrete it in his left hind shoe,--where it might be yet, if Mr. +Spencer--" here he bowed to a strange gentleman who at that moment +entered--"had not come himself for his daughters, and, going first to +the stable, found his horse so restless and seemingly lame--(there, +boys, you may take the wretch away now and harness him, but first hold +up that guilty left hind hoof for the ladies to see)--that he stooped to +examine him, and so came upon _this_." + +Here the young gentleman brought forward his hand. In it was a +nondescript little wad, well soaked and shapeless; but, once he had +untied the kid, such a ray of rosy light burst from his outstretched +palm that I doubt if a single woman there noted the clatter of the +retiring beast or the heavy clang made by the two front doors as they +shut upon the _robber_. Eyes and tongues were too busy, and Mr. Ashley, +realizing, probably, that the interest of all present would remain, for +a few minutes at least, with this marvelous jewel so astonishingly +recovered, laid it, with many expressions of thankfulness, in Mrs. +Burton's now eagerly outstretched palm, and advancing toward us, paused +in front of Miss Glover and eagerly held out his hand. + +"Congratulate me," he prayed. "All our troubles are over--Oh, what now!" + +The poor young thing, in trying to smile, had turned as white as a +sheet. Before either of us could interpose an arm, she had slipped to +the floor in a dead faint. With a murmur of pity and possibly of inward +contrition, he stooped over her and together we carried her into the +library, where I left her in his care, confident, from certain +indications, that my presence would not be greatly missed by either of +them. + +Whatever hope I may have had of reaping the reward offered by Mrs. +Ashley was now lost, but, in the satisfaction I experienced at finding +this young girl as innocent as my Flora, I did not greatly care. + +Well, it all ended even more happily than may here appear. The horse not +putting in his claim to the reward, and Mr. Spencer repudiating all +right to it, it was paid in full to Mr. Deane, who went home in as +buoyant a state of mind as was possible to him after the great anxieties +of the preceding two hours. Miss Glover was sent back by the Ashleys in +their own carriage and I was told that Mr. Ashley declined to close the +carriage door upon her till she had promised to come again the +following night. + +Anxious to make such amends as I personally could for my share in the +mortification to which she had been subjected, I visited her in the +morning, with the intention of offering a suggestion or two in regard to +that little bill. But she met my first advance with a radiant smile and +the glad exclamation: + +"Oh, I have settled all that! I have just come from Madame Duprè's. I +told her that I had never imagined the dress could possibly cost more +than a hundred dollars, and I offered her that sum if she would take the +garment back. And she did, she did, and I shall never have to wear that +dreadful satin again." + +I made a note of this dressmaker's name. She and I may have a bone to +pick some day. But I said nothing to Miss Glover. I merely exclaimed: + +"And to-night?" + +"Oh, I have an old spotted muslin which, with a few natural flowers, +will make me look festive enough. One does not need fine clothes when +one is--happy." + +The dreamy far-off smile with which she finished the sentence was more +eloquent than words, and I was not surprised when some time later I read +of her engagement to Mr. Ashley. + +But it was not till she could sign herself with his name that she told +me just what underlay the misery of that night. She had met Harrison +Ashley more than once before, and, though she did not say so, had +evidently conceived an admiration for him which made her especially +desirous of attracting and pleasing him. Not understanding the world +very well, certainly having very little knowledge of the tastes and +feelings of wealthy people, she conceived that the more brilliantly she +was attired the more likely she would be to please this rich young man. +So in a moment of weakness she decided to devote all her small savings +(a hundred dollars, as we know) to buying a gown such as she felt she +could appear in at his house without shame. + +It came home, as dresses from French dressmakers are very apt to do, +just in time for her to put it on for the party. The bill came with it +and when she saw the amount--it was all itemized and she could find no +fault with anything but the summing up--she was so overwhelmed that she +nearly fainted. But she could not give up her ball; so she dressed +herself, and, being urged all the time to hurry, hardly stopped to give +one look at the new and splendid gown which had cost so much. The +bill--the incredible, the enormous bill--was all she could think of, and +the figures, which represented nearly her whole year's earnings, danced +constantly before her eyes. How to pay it--but she could not pay it, nor +could she ask her father to do so. She was ruined; but the ball, and Mr. +Ashley--these still awaited her; so presently she worked herself up to +some anticipation of enjoyment, and, having thrown on her cloak, was +turning down her light preparatory to departure, when her eye fell on +the bill lying open on her dresser. + +It would never do to leave it there--never do to leave it anywhere in +her room. There were prying eyes in the house, and she was as ashamed of +that bill as she might have been of a contemplated theft. So she tucked +it in her corsage and went down to join her friends in the carriage. + +The rest we know, all but one small detail which turned to gall whatever +enjoyment she was able to get out of the early evening. There was a +young girl present, dressed in a simple muslin gown. While looking at it +and inwardly contrasting it with her own splendor, Mr. Ashley passed by +with another gentleman and she heard him say: + +"How much better young girls look in simple white than in the elaborate +silks only suitable for their mothers!" + +Thoughtless words, possibly forgotten as soon as uttered, but they +sharply pierced this already sufficiently stricken and uneasy breast and +were the cause of the tears which had aroused my suspicion when I came +upon her in the library, standing with her face to the night. + +But who can say whether, if the evening had been devoid of these +occurrences and no emotions of contrition and pity had been awakened in +her behalf in the breast of her chivalrous host, she would ever have +become Mrs. Ashley? + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Amethyst Box, by Anna Katherine Green + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE AMETHYST BOX *** + +***** This file should be named 35424-8.txt or 35424-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/5/4/2/35424/ + +Produced by Chris Curnow, Michael, Mary Meehan and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Amethyst Box + +Author: Anna Katherine Green + +Release Date: February 28, 2011 [EBook #35424] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE AMETHYST BOX *** + + + + +Produced by Chris Curnow, Michael, Mary Meehan and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +</pre> + + + + + + +<h1>THE AMETHYST BOX</h1> + +<h2><i>By</i> ANNA KATHARINE GREEN</h2> + +<h3>Author of The Millionaire Baby, The House in the Mist, The Filigree Ball, +etc., etc.</h3> + + +<h3>INDIANAPOLIS<br /> +THE BOBBS-MERRILL COMPANY<br /> +PUBLISHERS</h3> + +<h3><span class="smcap">Copyright 1905<br /> +The Bobbs-Merrill Company</span></h3> + +<h3><span class="smcap">April</span></h3> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CONTENTS</h2> + +<!-- Autogenerated TOC. Modify or delete as required. --> +<p> +<a href="#THE_AMETHYST_BOX">THE AMETHYST BOX</a><br /><br /> +<a href="#I">I. THE FLASK WHICH HELD BUT A DROP</a><br /> +<a href="#II">II. BEATON'S DREAM</a><br /> +<a href="#III">III. A SCREAM IN THE NIGHT</a><br /> +<a href="#IV">IV. WHAT SINCLAIR HAD TO SHOW ME</a><br /> +<a href="#V">V. THREE O'CLOCK IN THE MORNING</a><br /> +<a href="#VI">VI. DOROTHY SPEAKS</a><br /> +<a href="#VII">VII. CONSTRAINT</a><br /> +<a href="#VIII">VIII. GILBERTINE SPEAKS</a><br /> +<a href="#IX">IX. IN THE LITTLE BOUDOIR</a><br /><br /> +<a href="#THE_HOUSE_IN_THE_MIST">THE HOUSE IN THE MIST</a><br /><br /> +<a href="#IA">I. AN OPEN DOOR</a><br /> +<a href="#IIA">II. WITH MY EAR TO THE WAINSCOTING</a><br /> +<a href="#IIIA">III. A LIFE DRAMA</a><br /> +<a href="#IVA">IV. THE FINAL SHOCK</a><br /><br /> +<a href="#THE_RUBY_AND_THE_CALDRON">THE RUBY AND THE CALDRON</a><br /> +</p> +<!-- End Autogenerated TOC. --> + + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="THE_AMETHYST_BOX" id="THE_AMETHYST_BOX"></a>THE AMETHYST BOX</h2> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="I" id="I"></a>I</h2> + +<h3>THE FLASK WHICH HELD BUT A DROP</h3> + + +<p>It was the night before the wedding. Though Sinclair, and not myself, +was the happy man, I had my own causes for excitement, and, finding the +heat of the billiard-room insupportable, I sought the veranda for a +solitary smoke in sight of the ocean and a full moon.</p> + +<p>I was in a condition of rapturous, if unreasoning, delight. That +afternoon a little hand had lingered in mine for just an instant longer +than the circumstances of the moment strictly required, and small as the +favor may seem to those who do not know Dorothy Camerden, to me, who +realized fully both her delicacy and pride, it was a sign that my long, +if secret, devotion was about to be rewarded and that at last I was free +to cherish hopes whose alternative had once bid fair to wreck the +happiness of my life.</p> + +<p>I was reveling in the felicity of these anticipations and contrasting +this hour of ardent hope with others of whose dissatisfaction and gloom +I was yet mindful, when a sudden shadow fell across the broad band of +light issuing from the library window, and Sinclair stepped out.</p> + +<p>He had the appearance of being disturbed; very much disturbed, I +thought, for a man on the point of marrying the woman for whom he +professed to entertain the one profound passion of his life; but +remembering his frequent causes of annoyance—causes quite apart from +his bride and her personal attributes—I kept on placidly smoking till I +felt his hand on my shoulder and turned to see that the moment was a +serious one.</p> + +<p>"I have something to say to you," he whispered. "Come where we shall run +less risk of being disturbed."</p> + +<p>"What's wrong?" I asked, facing him with curiosity, if not with alarm. +"I never saw you look like this before. Has the old lady taken this last +minute to—"</p> + +<p>"Hush!" he prayed, emphasizing the word with a curt gesture not to be +mistaken. "The little room over the west porch is empty just now. Follow +me there."</p> + +<p>With a sigh for the cigar I had so lately lighted I tossed it into the +bushes and sauntered in after him. I thought I understood his trouble. +The prospective bride was young—a mere slip of a girl, indeed—bright, +beautiful and proud, yet with odd little restraints in her manner and +language, due probably to her peculiar bringing up and the surprise, not +yet overcome, of finding herself, after an isolated, if not despised, +childhood, the idol of society and the recipient of general homage. The +fault was not with her. But she had for guardian (alas! my dear girl had +the same) an aunt who was a gorgon. This aunt must have been making +herself disagreeable to the prospective bridegroom, and he, being quick +to take offense, quicker than myself, it was said, had probably retorted +in a way to make things unpleasant. As he was a guest in the house, he +and all the other members of the bridal party—(Mrs. Armstrong having +insisted upon opening her magnificent Newport villa for this wedding and +its attendant festivities), the matter might well look black to him. Yet +I did not feel disposed to take much interest in it, even though his +case might be mine some day, with all its accompanying drawbacks.</p> + +<p>But, once confronted with Sinclair in the well-lighted room above, I +perceived that I had better drop all selfish regrets and give my full +attention to what he had to say. For his eye, which had flashed with an +unusual light at dinner, was clouded now, and his manner, when he strove +to speak, betrayed a nervousness I had considered foreign to his nature +ever since the day I had seen him rein in his horse so calmly on the +extreme edge of a precipice where a fall would have meant certain death +not only to himself, but also to the two riders who unwittingly were +pressing closely behind him.</p> + +<p>"Walter," he faltered, "something has happened, something dreadful, +something unprecedented! You may think me a fool—God knows I would be +glad to be proved so, but this thing has frightened me. I—" He paused +and pulled himself together. "I will tell you about it, then you can +judge for yourself. I am in no condition to do so. I wonder if you will +be when you hear—"</p> + +<p>"Don't beat about the bush. Speak up! What's the matter?"</p> + +<p>He gave me an odd look full of gloom, a look I felt the force of, though +I could not interpret it; then coming closer, though there was no one +within hearing, possibly no one any nearer than the drawing-room below, +he whispered in my ear:</p> + +<p>"I have lost a little vial of the deadliest drug ever compounded; a +Venetian curiosity which I was foolish enough to take out and show the +ladies, because the little box which holds it is such an exquisite +example of jewelers' work. There's death in its taste, almost in its +smell; and it's out of my hands and—"</p> + +<p>"Well, I'll tell you how to fix that up," I put in, with my usual frank +decision. "Order the music stopped; call everybody into the drawing-room +and explain the dangerous nature of this toy. After which, if anything +happens, it will not be your fault, but that of the person who has so +thoughtlessly appropriated it."</p> + +<p>His eyes, which had been resting eagerly on mine, shifted aside in +visible embarrassment.</p> + +<p>"Impossible! It would only aggravate matters, or rather, would not +relieve my fears at all. The person who took it knew its nature very +well, and that person—"</p> + +<p>"Oh, then you know who took it!" I broke in, in increasing astonishment. +"I thought from your manner that—"</p> + +<p>"No," he moodily corrected, "I do not know who took it. If I did, I +should not be here. That is, I do not know the exact person. Only—" +Here he again eyed me with his former singular intentness, and +observing that I was nettled, made a fresh beginning. "When I came +here, I brought with me a case of rarities chosen from my various +collections. In looking over them preparatory to making a present to +Gilbertine, I came across the little box I have just mentioned. It is +made of a single amethyst and contains—or so I was assured when I +bought it—a tiny flask of old but very deadly poison. How it came to be +included with the other precious and beautiful articles I had picked out +for her <i>cadeau</i>, I can not say; but there it was; and conceiving that +the sight of it would please the ladies, I carried it down into the +library and, in an evil hour, called three or four of those about me to +inspect it. This was while you boys were in the billiard-room, so the +ladies could give their entire attention to the little box which is +certainly worth the most careful scrutiny.</p> + +<p>"I was holding it out on the palm of my hand, where it burned with a +purple light which made more than one feminine eye glitter, when +somebody inquired to what use so small and yet so rich a receptacle +could be put. The question was such a natural one I never thought of +evading it, besides, I enjoy the fearsome delight which women take in +the marvelous. Expecting no greater result than lifted eyebrows or +flushed cheeks, I answered by pressing a little spring in the +filigree-work surrounding the gem. Instantly, the tiniest of lids flew +back, revealing a crystal flask of such minute proportions that the +usual astonishment followed its disclosure.</p> + +<p>"'You see!' I cried, 'it was made to hold <i>that</i>!' And moving my hand to +and fro under the gas-jet, I caused to shine in their eyes the single +drop of yellow liquid it still held. 'Poison!' I impressively announced. +'This trinket may have adorned the bosom of a Borgia or flashed from the +arm of some great Venetian lady as she flourished her fan between her +embittered heart and the object of her wrath or jealousy.'</p> + +<p>"The first sentence had come naturally, but the last was spoken at +random and almost unconsciously. For at the utterance of the word +'poison,' a quickly suppressed cry had escaped the lips of some one +behind me, which, while faint enough to elude the attention of any ear +less sensitive than my own, contained such an astonishing, if +involuntary, note of self-betrayal that my mind grew numb with horror, +and I stood staring at the fearful toy which had called up such a +revelation of—what? That is what I am here to ask, first of myself, +then of you. For the two women pressing behind me were—"</p> + +<p>"Who?" I sharply demanded, partaking in some indefinable way of his +excitement and alarm.</p> + +<p>"Gilbertine Murray and Dorothy Camerden:"—his prospective bride and the +woman I loved and whom he knew I loved, though I had kept my secret +quite successfully from every one else!</p> + +<p>The look we exchanged neither of us will ever forget.</p> + +<p>"Describe the sound!" I presently said.</p> + +<p>"I can not," he replied. "I can only give you my impression of it. You, +like myself, fought in more than one skirmish in the Cuban War. Did you +ever hear the cry made by a wounded man when the cup of cool water for +which he has long agonized is brought suddenly before his eyes? Such a +sound, with all that goes to make it eloquent, did I hear from one of +the two girls who leaned over my shoulder. Can you understand this +amazing, this unheard-of circumstance? Can you name the woman, can you +name the grief capable of making either of these seemingly happy and +innocent girls hail the sight of such a doubtful panacea with an +unconscious ebullition of joy? You would clear my wedding-eve of a great +dread if you could, for if this expression of concealed misery came from +Gilbertine—"</p> + +<p>"Do you mean," I cried in vehement protest, "that you really are in +doubt as to which of these two women uttered the cry which so startled +you? That you positively can not tell whether it was Gilbertine +or—or—"</p> + +<p>"I can not; as God lives, I can not. I was too dazed, too confounded by +the unexpected circumstance, to turn at once, and when I did, it was to +see both pairs of eyes shining, and both faces dimpling with real or +affected gaiety. Indeed, if the matter had stopped there, I should have +thought myself the victim of some monstrous delusion; but when a +half-hour later I found this box missing from the cabinet where I had +hastily thrust it at the peremptory summons of our hostess, I knew that +I had not misunderstood the nature of the cry I had heard; that it was +indeed one of secret longing, and that the hand had simply taken what +the heart desired. If a death occurs in this house to-night—"</p> + +<p>"Sinclair, you are mad!" I exclaimed with great violence. No lesser word +would fit either the intensity of my feeling or the confused state of my +mind. "Death <i>here</i>! where all are so happy! Remember your bride's +ingenuous face! Remember the candid expression of Dorothy's eye—her +smile—her noble ways! You exaggerate the situation. You neither +understand aright the simple expression of surprise you heard, nor the +feminine frolic which led these girls to carry off this romantic +specimen of Italian deviltry."</p> + +<p>"You are losing time," was his simple comment. "Every minute we allow to +pass in inaction only brings the danger nearer."</p> + +<p>"What! You imagine—"</p> + +<p>"I imagine nothing. I simply know that one of these girls has in her +possession the means of terminating life in an instant; that the girl so +having it is not happy, and that if anything happens to-night it will be +because we rested supine in the face of a very real and possible danger. +Now, as Gilbertine has never given me reason to doubt either her +affection for myself or her satisfaction in our approaching union, I +have allowed myself—"</p> + +<p>"To think that the object of your fears is Dorothy," I finished with a +laugh I vainly strove to make sarcastic.</p> + +<p>He did not answer, and I stood battling with a dread I could neither +conceal nor avow. For preposterous as his idea was, reason told me that +he had some grounds for his doubt.</p> + +<p>Dorothy, unlike Gilbertine Murray, was not to be read at a glance, and +her trouble—for she certainly had a trouble—was not one she chose to +share with any one, even with me. I had flattered myself in days gone by +that I understood it well enough, and that any lack of sincerity I might +observe in her could be easily explained by the position of dependence +she held toward an irascible aunt. But now that I forced myself to +consider the matter carefully I could not but ask if the varying moods +by which I had found myself secretly harrowed had not sprung from a very +different cause—a cause for which my persistent love was more to blame +than the temper of her relative. The aversion she had once shown to my +attentions had yielded long ago to a shy, but seemingly sincere +appreciation of them, and gleams of what I was fain to call real feeling +had shown themselves now and then in her softened manner, culminating +to-day in that soft pressure of my hand which had awakened my hopes and +made me forget all the doubts and caprices of a disturbing courtship.</p> + +<p>But, had I interpreted that strong, nervous pressure aright? Had it +necessarily meant love? Might it not have sprung from a sudden desperate +resolution to accept a devotion which offered her a way out of +difficulties especially galling to one of her gentle but lofty spirit? +Her expression when she caught my look of joy had little of the demure +tenderness of a maiden blushing at her first involuntary avowal. There +was shrinking in it, but it was the shrinking of a frightened woman, not +of an abashed girl; and when I strove to follow her, the gesture with +which she waved me back had that in it which would have alarmed a more +exacting lover. Had I mistaken my darling's feelings? Was her heart +still cold, her affection unwon? Or—thought insupportable!—had she +secretly yielded to another what she had so long denied me and—</p> + +<p>"Ah!" quoth Sinclair at this juncture, "I see that I have roused you at +last." And unconsciously his tone grew lighter and his eye lost the +strained look which had made it the eye of a stranger. "You begin to see +that a question of the most serious import is before us, and that this +question must be answered before we separate for the night."</p> + +<p>"I do," said I.</p> + +<p>His relief was evident.</p> + +<p>"Then so much is gained. The next point is, how are we to settle our +doubts? We can not approach either of these ladies with questions. A +girl wretched enough to contemplate suicide would be especially careful +to conceal both her misery and its cause. Neither can we order a search +made for an object so small that it can be concealed about the person."</p> + +<p>"Yet this jewel must be recovered. Listen, Sinclair. I will have a talk +with Dorothy, you with Gilbertine. A kind talk, mind you! one that will +soothe, not frighten. If a secret lurks in either breast our tenderness +should find it out. Only, as you love me, promise to show me the same +frankness I here promise to show you. Dear as Dorothy is to me, I swear +to communicate to you the full result of my conversation with her, +whatever the cost to myself or even to her."</p> + +<p>"And I will be equally fair as regards Gilbertine. But, before we +proceed to such extreme measures, let us make sure that there is no +shorter road to the truth. Some one may have seen which of our two dear +girls went back to the library after we all came out of it. That would +narrow down our inquiry and save one of them, at least, from unnecessary +disturbance."</p> + +<p>It was a happy thought, and I told him so, but at the same time bade him +look in the glass and see how impossible it would be for him to venture +below without creating an alarm which might precipitate the dread event +we both feared.</p> + +<p>He replied by drawing me to his side before the mirror and pointing to +my own face. It was as pale as his own.</p> + +<p>Most disagreeably impressed by this self-betrayal, I colored deeply +under Sinclair's eye and was but little, if any, relieved when I +noticed that he colored under mine. For his feelings were no enigma to +me. Naturally he was glad to discover that I shared his apprehensions, +since it gave him leave to hope that the blow he so dreaded was not +necessarily directed toward his own affections. Yet, being a generous +fellow, he blushed to be detected in his egotism, while I—well, I own +that at that moment I should have felt a very unmixed joy at being +assured that the foundations of my own love were secure, and that the +tiny flask Sinclair had missed had not been taken by the hand of the one +to whom I looked for all my earthly happiness.</p> + +<p>And my wedding-day was as yet a vague and distant hope, while his was +set for the morrow.</p> + +<p>"We must carry down stairs very different faces from these," he +remarked, "or we shall be stopped before we reach the library."</p> + +<p>I made an effort at composure, so did he; and both being determined men, +we soon found ourselves in a condition to descend among our friends +without attracting any closer attention than was naturally due him as +prospective bridegroom and myself as best man.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="II" id="II"></a>II</h2> + +<h3>BEATON'S DREAM</h3> + + +<p>Mrs. Armstrong, our hostess, was fond of gaiety, and amusements were +never lacking. As we stepped down into the great hall we heard music in +the drawing-room and saw that a dance was in progress.</p> + +<p>"That is good," observed Sinclair. "We shall run less risk of finding +the library occupied."</p> + +<p>"Shall I not look and see where the girls are? It would be a great +relief to find them both among the dancers."</p> + +<p>"Yes," said he, "but don't allow yourself to be inveigled into joining +them. I could not stand the suspense."</p> + +<p>I nodded and slipped toward the drawing-room. He remained in the +bay-window overlooking the terrace.</p> + +<p>A rush of young people greeted me as soon as I showed myself. But I was +able to elude them and catch the one full glimpse I wanted of the great +room beyond. It was a magnificent apartment, and so brilliantly lighted +that every nook stood revealed. On a divan near the center was a lady +conversing with two gentlemen. Her back was toward me, but I had no +difficulty in recognizing Miss Murray. Some distance from her, but with +her face also turned away, stood Dorothy. She was talking with an +unmarried friend and appeared quite at ease and more than usually +cheerful.</p> + +<p>Relieved, yet sorry that I had not succeeded in catching a glimpse of +their faces, I hastened back to Sinclair, who was watching me with +furtive eyes from between the curtains of the window in which he had +secreted himself. As I joined him a young man, who was to act as usher, +sauntered from behind one of the great pillars forming a colonnade down +the hall, and, crossing to where the music-room door stood invitingly +open, disappeared behind it with the air of a man perfectly contented +with his surroundings.</p> + +<p>With a nervous grip Sinclair seized me by the arm.</p> + +<p>"Was that Beaton?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"Certainly; didn't you recognize him?"</p> + +<p>He gave me a very strange look.</p> + +<p>"Does the sight of him recall anything?"</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>"You were at the breakfast-table yesterday morning?"</p> + +<p>"I was."</p> + +<p>"Do you remember the dream he related for the delectation of such as +would listen?"</p> + +<p>Then it was my turn to go white.</p> + +<p>"You don't mean—" I began.</p> + +<p>"I thought at the time that it sounded more like a veritable adventure +than a dream; now I am sure that it was such."</p> + +<p>"Sinclair! You do not mean that the young girl he professed himself to +have surprised one moonlit night standing on the verge of the cliff, +with arms upstretched and a distracted air, was a real person?"</p> + +<p>"I do. We laughed at the time; he made it seem so tragic and +preposterous. I do not feel like laughing now."</p> + +<p>I gazed at Sinclair in horror. The music was throbbing in our ears, and +the murmur of gay voices and swiftly moving feet suggested nothing but +joy and hilarity. Which was the dream? This scene of seeming mirth and +happy promise, or the fancies he had conjured up to rob us both of +peace?</p> + +<p>"Beaton mentioned no names," I stubbornly protested. "He did not even +call the vision he encountered a woman. It was a wraith, you remember, a +dream-maiden, a creature of his own imagination, born of some tragedy he +had read."</p> + +<p>"Beaton is a gentleman," was Sinclair's cold reply. "He did not wish to +injure, but to warn the woman for whose benefit he told his tale."</p> + +<p>"Warn?"</p> + +<p>"He doubtless reasoned in this way. If he could make this young and +probably sensitive girl realize that she had been seen and her +intentions recognized, she would beware of such attempts in the future. +He is a kind-hearted fellow. Did you notice which end of the table he +ignored when relating this dramatic episode?"</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>"If you had we might be better able to judge where his thoughts were. +Probably you can not even tell how the ladies took it?"</p> + +<p>"No, I never thought of looking. Good God! Sinclair, don't let us harrow +up ourselves unnecessarily! I saw them both a moment ago, and nothing in +their manner showed that anything was amiss with either of them."</p> + +<p>For answer he drew me toward the library.</p> + +<p>This room was not frequented by the young people at night. There were +two or three elderly people in the party, notably the husband and the +brother of the lady of the house, and to their use the room was more or +less given up after nightfall. Sinclair wished to show me the cabinet +where the box had been.</p> + +<p>There was a fire in the grate, for the evenings were now more or less +chilly. When the door had closed behind us we found that this same fire +made all the light there was in the room. Both gas-jets had been put out +and the rich yet home-like room glowed with ruddy hues, interspersed +with great shadows. A solitary scene, yet an enticing one.</p> + +<p>Sinclair drew a deep breath. "Mr. Armstrong must have gone elsewhere to +read the evening papers," he remarked.</p> + +<p>I replied by casting a scrutinizing look into the corners. I dreaded +finding a pair of lovers hid somewhere in the many nooks made by the +jutting book-cases. But I saw no one. However, at the other end of the +large room there stood a screen near one of the many lounges, and I was +on the point of approaching this place of concealment when Sinclair drew +me toward a tall cabinet upon whose glass doors the firelight was +shimmering, and, pointing to a shelf far above our heads, cried:</p> + +<p>"No woman could reach that unaided. Gilbertine is tall, but not tall +enough for that. I purposely put it high."</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/illus.jpg" alt=""/> +</div> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<p>I looked about for a stool. There was one just behind Sinclair. I drew +his attention to it.</p> + +<p>He flushed and gave it a kick, then shivered slightly and sat down in a +near-by chair. I knew what he was thinking. Gilbertine was taller than +Dorothy. This stool might have served Gilbertine if not Dorothy.</p> + +<p>I felt a great sympathy for him. After all, his case was more serious +than mine. The bishop was coming to marry him the next day.</p> + +<p>"Sinclair," said I, "the stool means nothing. Dorothy has more inches +than you think. With this under her feet, she could reach the shelf by +standing tiptoe. Besides, there are the chairs."</p> + +<p>"True, true!" and he started up; "there are the chairs! I forgot the +chairs. I fear my wits have gone wool-gathering. We shall have to take +others into our confidence." Here his voice fell to a whisper. "Somehow +or by some means we must find out if either of them was seen to come +into this room."</p> + +<p>"Leave that to me," said I. "Remember that a word might raise +suspicion, and that in a case like this—Halloo, what's that?"</p> + +<p>A gentle snore had come from behind the screen.</p> + +<p>"We are not alone," I whispered. "Some one is over there on the lounge."</p> + +<p>Sinclair had already bounded across the room. I pressed hurriedly behind +him, and together we rounded the screen and came upon the recumbent +figure of Mr. Armstrong, asleep on the lounge, with his paper fallen +from his hand.</p> + +<p>"That accounts for the lights being turned out," grumbled Sinclair. +"Dutton must have done it."</p> + +<p>Dutton was the butler.</p> + +<p>I stood contemplating the sleeping figure before me.</p> + +<p>"He must have been lying here for some time," I muttered.</p> + +<p>Sinclair started.</p> + +<p>"Probably some little while before he slept," I pursued. "I have often +heard that he dotes on the firelight."</p> + +<p>"I have a notion to wake him," suggested Sinclair.</p> + +<p>"It will not be necessary," said I, drawing back, as the heavy figure +stirred, breathed heavily and finally sat up.</p> + +<p>"I beg pardon," I now entreated, backing politely away. "We thought the +room empty."</p> + +<p>Mr. Armstrong, who, if slow to receive impressions, is far from lacking +intelligence, eyed us with sleepy indifference for a moment, then rose +ponderously to his feet and was, on the instant, the man of manner and +unfailing courtesy we had ever found him.</p> + +<p>"What can I do to oblige you?" he asked; his smooth, if hesitating +tones, sounding strange to our excited ears.</p> + +<p>I made haste to forestall Sinclair, who was racking his brains for words +with which to propound the question he dared not put too boldly.</p> + +<p>"Pardon me, Mr. Armstrong, we were looking about for a small pin dropped +by Miss Camerden." (How hard it was for me to use her name in this +connection only my own heart knew.) "She was in here just now, was she +not?"</p> + +<p>The courteous gentleman bowed, hawed, and smiled a very polite but +unmeaning smile. Evidently he had not the remotest notion whether she +had been in or not.</p> + +<p>"I am sorry, but I am afraid I lost myself for a moment on that lounge," +he admitted. "The firelight always makes me sleepy. But if I can help +you," he cried, starting forward, but almost immediately pausing again +and giving us rather a curious look. "Some one was in the room. I +remember it now. It was just before the warmth and glow of the fire +became too much for me. I can not say that it was Miss Camerden, +however. I thought it was some one of quicker movement. She made quite a +rattle with the chairs."</p> + +<p>I purposely did not look back at Sinclair.</p> + +<p>"Miss Murray?" I suggested.</p> + +<p>Mr. Armstrong made one of his low, old-fashioned bows. This, I doubt +not, was out of deference to the bride-to-be.</p> + +<p>"Does Miss Murray wear white to-night?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," muttered Sinclair, coming hastily forward.</p> + +<p>"Then it may have been she, for as I lay there deciding whether or not +to yield to the agreeable somnolence I felt creeping over me, I caught a +glimpse of her skirt as she passed out of the room. And that skirt was +white—white silk, I suppose you call it. It looked very pretty in the +firelight."</p> + +<p>Sinclair, turning on his heel, stalked in a dazed way toward the door. +To cover this show of abruptness which was quite unusual on his part, I +made the effort of my life, and, remarking lightly, "She must have been +here looking for the pin her friend has lost," I launched forth into an +impromptu dissertation on one of the subjects I knew to be dear to the +heart of the bookworm before me, and kept it up, too, till I saw by his +brightening eye and suddenly freed manner that he had forgotten the +insignificant episode of a minute ago, never in all probability to +recall it again. Then I made another effort and released myself with +something like deftness from the long-drawn-out argument I saw +impending, and, making for the door in my turn, glanced about for +Sinclair. So far as I was concerned the question as to who had taken the +box from the library was settled.</p> + +<p>It was now half-past eight. I made my way from room to room and from +group to group, looking for Sinclair. At last I returned to my old post +near the library door, and was instantly rewarded by the sight of his +figure approaching from a small side passage in company with the butler, +Dutton. His face, as he stepped into the full light of the open hall, +showed discomposure, but not the extreme distress I had anticipated. +Somehow, at sight of it, I found myself seeking the shadow just as he +had done a short time before, and it was in one of the recesses made by +a row of bay trees that we came face to face.</p> + +<p>He gave me one look, then his eyes dropped.</p> + +<p>"Miss Camerden has lost a pin from her hair," he impressively explained +to me. Then turning to Dutton he nonchalantly remarked. "It must be +somewhere in this hall; perhaps you will be good enough to look for it."</p> + +<p>"Certainly," replied the man. "I thought she had lost something when I +saw her come out of the library a little while ago holding her hand to +her hair."</p> + +<p>My heart gave a leap, then sank cold and almost pulseless in my breast. +In the hum to which all sounds had sunk, I heard Sinclair's voice rise +again in the question with which my own mind was full.</p> + +<p>"When was that? After Mr. Armstrong went into the room, or before?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, after he fell asleep. I had just come from putting out the gas when +I saw Miss Camerden slip in and almost immediately come out again. I +will search for the pin very carefully, sir."</p> + +<p>So Mr. Armstrong had made a mistake! It was Dorothy and not Gilbertine +whom he had seen leaving the room. I braced myself up and met Sinclair's +eye.</p> + +<p>"Dorothy's dress is gray to-night; but Mr. Armstrong's eye may not be +very good for colors."</p> + +<p>"It is possible that both were in the room," was Sinclair's reply. But I +could see that he advanced this theory solely out of consideration for +me; that he did not really believe it. "At all events," he went on, "we +can not prove anything this way; we must revert to our original idea. I +wonder if Gilbertine will give me the chance to speak to her."</p> + +<p>"You will have an easier task than I," was my half-sullen retort. "If +Dorothy perceives that I wish to approach her she has but to lift her +eyes to any of the half-dozen fellows here, and the thing becomes +impossible."</p> + +<p>"There is to be a rehearsal of the ceremony at half-past ten. I might +get a word in then; only, this matter must be settled first. I could +never go through the farce of standing up before you all at Gilbertine's +side, with such a doubt as this in my mind."</p> + +<p>"You will see her before then. Insist on a moment's talk. If she +refuses—"</p> + +<p>"Hush!" he here put in. "We part now to meet in this same place again +at ten. Do I look fit to enter among the dancers? I see a whole group of +them coming for me."</p> + +<p>"You will in another moment. Approaching matrimony has made you sober, +that's all."</p> + +<p>It was some time before I had the opportunity, even if I had the +courage, to look Dorothy in the face. When the moment came she was +flushed with dancing and looked beautiful. Ordinarily she was a little +pale, but not even Gilbertine, with her sumptuous coloring, showed a +warmer cheek than she, as, resting from the waltz, she leaned against +the rose-tinted wall and let her eyes for the first time rise slowly to +where I stood talking mechanically to my partner.</p> + +<p>Gentle eyes they were, made for appeal, and eloquent with a subdued +heart language. But they were held in check by an infinite discretion. +Never have I caught them quite off their guard, and to-night they were +wholly unreadable. Yet she was trembling with something more than the +fervor of the dance, and the little hand which had touched mine in +lingering pressure a few hours before was not quiet for a moment. I +could not see it fluttering in and out of the folds of her smoke-colored +dress without a sickening wonder if the little purple box which was the +cause of my horror lay somewhere concealed amid the airy puffs and +ruffles that rose and fell so rapidly over her heaving breast. Could her +eye rest on mine, even in this cold and perfunctory manner, if the drop +which could separate us for ever lay concealed over her heart? She knew +that I loved her. From the first hour we met in her aunt's forbidding +parlor in Thirty-sixth Street, she had recognized my passion, however +perfectly I had succeeded in concealing it from others. Inexperienced as +she was in those days, she had noted as quickly as any society belle the +effect produced upon me by her chill prettiness and her air of meek +reserve under which one felt the heart-break; and though she would never +openly acknowledge my homage and frowned down every attempt on my part +at lover-like speech or attention, I was as sure that she rated my +feelings at their real value, as that she was the dearest, yet most +incomprehensible, mortal my narrow world contained. When, therefore, I +encountered her eyes at the end of the dance I said to myself:</p> + +<p>"She may not love me, but she knows that I love her, and, being a woman +of sympathetic instincts, would never meet my eyes with so calm a look +if she were meditating an act which must infallibly plunge me into +misery." Yet I was not satisfied to go away without a word. So, taking +the bull by the horns, I excused myself to my partner, and crossed to +Dorothy's side.</p> + +<p>"Will you dance the next waltz with me?" I asked.</p> + +<p>Her eyes fell from mine directly and she drew back in a way that +suggested flight.</p> + +<p>"I shall dance no more to-night," said she, her hand rising in its +nervous fashion to her hair.</p> + +<p>I made no appeal. I just watched that hand, whereupon she flushed +vividly and seemed more than ever anxious to escape. At which I spoke +again.</p> + +<p>"Give me a chance, Dorothy. If you will not dance come out on the +veranda and look at the ocean. It is glorious to-night. I will not keep +you long. The lights here trouble my eyes; besides, I am most anxious to +ask you—"</p> + +<p>"No, no," she vehemently objected, very much as if frightened. "I can +not leave the drawing-room—do not ask me—seek some other partner—do, +to-night."</p> + +<p>"You wish it?"</p> + +<p>"Very much."</p> + +<p>She was panting, eager. I felt my heart sink and dreaded lest I should +betray my feelings.</p> + +<p>"You do not honor me then with your regard," I retorted, bowing +ceremoniously as I became assured that we were attracting more attention +than I considered desirable.</p> + +<p>She was silent. Her hand went again to her hair.</p> + +<p>I changed my tone. Quietly, but with an emphasis which moved her in +spite of herself, I whispered: "If I leave you now will you tell me +to-morrow why you are so peremptory with me to-night?"</p> + +<p>With an eagerness which was anything but encouraging, she answered with +suddenly recovered gaiety:</p> + +<p>"Yes, yes, after all this excitement is over." And, slipping her hand +into that of a friend who was passing, she was soon in the whirl again +and dancing—she who had just assured me that she did not mean to dance +again that night.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="III" id="III"></a>III</h2> + +<h3>A SCREAM IN THE NIGHT</h3> + + +<p>I turned and, hardly conscious of my actions, stumbled from the room. A +bevy of young people at once surrounded me. What I said to them I hardly +know. I only remember that it was several minutes before I found myself +again alone and making for the little room into which Beaton had +vanished a half-hour before. It was the one given up to card-playing. +Did I expect to find him seated at one of the tables? Possibly; at all +events I approached the doorway and was about to enter when a heavy step +shook the threshold before me and I found myself confronted by the +advancing figure of an elderly lady whose portrait it is now time for me +to draw. It is no pleasurable task, but one I can not escape.</p> + +<p>Imagine, then, a broad, weighty woman of not much height, with a face +whose features were usually forgotten in the impression made by her +great cheeks and falling jowls. If the small eyes rested on you, you +found them sinister and strange, but if they were turned elsewhere, you +asked in what lay the power of the face, and sought in vain amid its +long wrinkles and indeterminate lines for the secret of that spiritual +and bodily repulsion which the least look into this impassive +countenance was calculated to produce. She was a woman of immense means, +and an oppressive consciousness of this spoke in every movement of her +heavy frame, which always seemed to take up three times as much space as +rightfully belonged to any human creature. Add to this that she was +seldom seen without a display of diamonds which made her broad bust look +like the bejeweled breast of some Eastern idol, and some idea may be +formed of this redoubtable woman whom I have hitherto confined myself to +speaking of as <i>the gorgon</i>.</p> + +<p>The stare she gave me had something venomous and threatening in it. +Evidently for the moment I was out of her books, and while I did not +understand in what way I had displeased her, for we always had met +amicably before, I seized upon this sign of displeasure on her part as +explanatory, perhaps, of the curtness and show of contradictory feelings +on the part of her dependent niece. Yet why should the old woman frown +on me? I had been told more than once that she regarded me with great +favor. Had I unwittingly done something to displease her, or had the +game of cards she had just left gone against her, ruffling her temper +and making it imperative for her to choose some object on which to vent +her spite? I entered the room to see. Two men and one woman stood in +rather an embarrassed silence about a table on which lay some cards, +which had every appearance of having been thrown down by an impatient +hand. One of the men was Will Beaton, and it was he who now remarked:</p> + +<p>"She has just found out that the young people are enjoying themselves. +I wonder upon which of her two unfortunate nieces she will expend her +ill-temper to-night?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, there's no question about that," remarked the lady who stood near +him. "Ever since she has had a reasonable prospect of working Gilbertine +off her hands, she has devoted herself quite exclusively to her +remaining burden. I hear," she impulsively continued, craning her neck +to be sure that the object of her remarks was quite out of earshot, +"that the south hall was blue to-day with the talk she gave Dorothy +Camerden. No one knows what about, for the girl evidently tries to +please her. But some women have more than their own proper share of +bile; they must expend it on some one." And she in turn threw down her +cards, which up till now she had held in her hand.</p> + +<p>I gave Beaton a look and stepped out on the veranda. In a minute he +followed me, and in the corner facing the ocean, where the vines cluster +the thickest, we held our conversation.</p> + +<p>I began it, with a directness born of my desperation.</p> + +<p>"Beaton," said I, "we have not known each other long, but I recognize a +man when I see him, and I am disposed to be frank with you. I am in +trouble. My affections are engaged, deeply engaged, in a quarter where I +find some mystery. You have helped make it." (Here a gesture escaped +him.) "I allude to the story you related the other morning of the young +girl you had seen hanging over the verge of the cliff, with every +appearance of intending to throw herself over."</p> + +<p>"It was as a dream I related that," he gravely remarked.</p> + +<p>"That I am aware of. But it was no dream to me, Beaton. I fear I know +that young girl; I also fear that I know what drove her into +contemplating so rash an act. The conversation just held in the +card-room should enlighten you. Beaton, am I wrong?"</p> + +<p>The feeling I could not suppress trembled in my tones. He may have been +sensitive to it or he may have been simply good-natured. Whatever the +cause, this is what he said in reply:</p> + +<p>"It was a dream. Remember that I insist upon its being a dream. But some +of its details are very clear in my mind. When I stumbled upon this +dream-maiden in the moonlight her face was turned from me toward the +ocean, and I did not see her features then or afterwards. Startled by +some sound I made, she crouched, drew back and fled to cover. That +cover, I have good reason to believe, was this very house."</p> + +<p>I reached out my hand and touched him on the arm.</p> + +<p>"This dream-maiden was a woman?" I inquired. "One of the women now in +this house."</p> + +<p>He replied reluctantly.</p> + +<p>"She was a young woman and she wore a long cloak. My dream ends there. I +can not even say whether she was fair or dark."</p> + +<p>I recognized that he had reached the limit of his explanations, and, +wringing his hand, I started for the nearest window, which proved to be +that of the music-room. I was about to enter when I saw two women +crossing to the opposite doorway, and paused with a full heart to note +them, for one was Mrs. Lansing and the other Dorothy. The aunt had +evidently come for the niece and they were leaving the room together. +Not amicably, however. Harsh words had passed, or I am no judge of the +human countenance. Dorothy especially bore herself like one who finds +difficulty in restraining herself from some unhappy outburst, and as she +disappeared from my sight in the wake of her formidable companion my +attention was again called to her hands, which she held clenched at her +sides.</p> + +<p>I was stepping into the room when my impulse was again checked. Another +person was sitting there, a person I had been most anxious to see ever +since my last interview with Sinclair. It was Gilbertine Murray, sitting +alone in an attitude of deep, and possibly not altogether happy +thought.</p> + +<p>I paused to study the sweet face. Truly she was a beautiful woman. I had +never before realized how beautiful. Her rich coloring, her noble traits +and the spirited air, which gave her such marked distinction, bespoke at +once an ardent nature and a pure soul.</p> + +<p>I did not wonder that Sinclair had succumbed to charms so pronounced and +uncommon, and as I gazed longer and noted the tremulous droop of her +ripe lips and the faraway look of eyes which had created a great stir in +the social world when they first flashed upon it. I felt that if +Sinclair could see her now he would never doubt her again, despite the +fact that the attitude into which she had fallen was one of great +fatigue, if not despondency.</p> + +<p>She held a fan in her hand, and as I stood looking at her she dropped +it. As she stooped to pick it up, her eyes met mine, and a startling +change passed over her. Springing up, she held out her hands in wordless +appeal—then let them drop again as if conscious that I would not be +likely to understand either herself or her mood. She was very beautiful.</p> + +<p>Entering the room, I approached her. Had Sinclair managed to have his +little conversation with her? Something must have happened, for never +had I seen her in such a state of suppressed excitement, and I had seen +her many times, both here and in her aunt's house when I was visiting +Dorothy. Her eyes were shining, not with a brilliant, but a soft light, +and the smile with which she met my advance had something in it +strangely tremulous and expectant.</p> + +<p>"I am glad to have a moment in which to speak to you alone," I said. "As +Sinclair's oldest and closest friend, I wish to tell you how truly you +can rely both on his affection and esteem. He has an infinitely good +heart."</p> + +<p>She did not answer as brightly and as quickly as I expected. Something +seemed to choke her, something which she finally mastered, though only +by an effort which left her pale, but self-contained and even more +lovely, if that is possible, than before.</p> + +<p>"Thank you," she then said, "my prospects are very happy. No one but +myself knows how happy." And she smiled again, but with an expression +which recalled to my mind Sinclair's fears.</p> + +<p>I bowed; some one was calling her name; evidently our interview was to +be short.</p> + +<p>"I am obliged," she murmured. Then quickly, "I have not seen the moon +to-night. Is it beautiful? Can you see it from this veranda?"</p> + +<p>But before I could answer, she was surrounded and dragged off by a knot +of young people, and I was left free to keep my engagement with +Sinclair.</p> + +<p>I did not find him at his post nor could any one tell me where he had +vanished.</p> + +<p>It was plain that his conduct was looked upon as strange, and I felt +some anxiety lest it should appear more so before the evening was over. +I found him at last in his room sitting with his head buried in his +arms. He started up as I entered.</p> + +<p>"Well?" he asked sharply.</p> + +<p>"I have learned nothing decisive."</p> + +<p>"Nor I."</p> + +<p>"I exchanged some words with both ladies and I tackled Beaton; but the +matter remains just about where it was. It may have been Dorothy who +took the box and it may have been Gilbertine. But there seems to be +greater reason for suspecting Dorothy. She lives a hell of a life with +that aunt."</p> + +<p>"And Gilbertine is on the point of escaping that bondage. I know; I have +thought of that. Walter, you are a generous fellow;" and for a moment +Sinclair looked relieved. Before I could speak, however, he was sunk +again in his old despondency. "But the doubt," he cried, "the doubt! How +can I go through this rehearsal with such a doubt in my mind? I can not +and will not. Go tell them I am ill and can not come down again +to-night. God knows you will tell no untruth."</p> + +<p>I saw that he was quite beside himself, but ventured upon one +remonstrance.</p> + +<p>"It will be unwise to rouse comment," I said. "If that box was taken +for the death it holds, the one restraint most likely to act upon the +young girl who retains it will be the conventionalities of her position +and the requirements of the hour. Any break in the settled order of +things—anything which would give her a moment by herself—might +precipitate the dreadful event we fear. Remember, one turn of the hand +and all is lost. A drop is quickly swallowed."</p> + +<p>"Frightful!" he murmured, the perspiration oozing from his forehead. +"What a wedding-eve! And they are laughing down there; listen to them. I +even imagine I hear Gilbertine's voice. Is there unconsciousness in it +or just the hilarity of a distracted mind bent on self-destruction? I +can not tell; the sound conveys no meaning to me."</p> + +<p>"She has a sweet, true face," I said, "and she wears a very beautiful +smile to-night."</p> + +<p>He sprang to his feet.</p> + +<p>"Yes, yes; a smile that maddens me; a smile that tells me nothing, +nothing! Walter, Walter, don't you see that, even if that cursed box +remains unopened and nothing ever comes of its theft, the seeds of +distrust are sown thick in my breast, and I must always ask: 'Was there +a moment when my young bride shrank from me enough to dream of death?' +That is why I can not go through the mockery of this rehearsal."</p> + +<p>"Can you go through the ceremony of marriage?"</p> + +<p>"I must—if nothing happens to-night."</p> + +<p>"And then?"</p> + +<p>I spoke involuntarily. I was thinking not of him, but of myself. But he +evidently found in my words an echo of his own thought.</p> + +<p>"Yes, it is the <i>then</i>," he murmured. "Well may a man quail before that +<i>then</i>."</p> + +<p>He did go down stairs, however, and later on, went through the rehearsal +very much as I had expected him to do, quietly and without any outward +show of emotion.</p> + +<p>As soon as possible after this the company separated, Sinclair making me +an imperceptible gesture as he went up stairs. I knew what it meant, +and was in his room as soon as the fellows who accompanied him had left +him alone.</p> + +<p>"The danger is from now on," he cried, as soon as I had closed the door +behind me. "I shall not undress to-night."</p> + +<p>"Nor I."</p> + +<p>"Happily we both have rooms by ourselves in this great house. I shall +put out my light and then open my door as far as need be. Not a move in +the house will escape me."</p> + +<p>"I will do the same."</p> + +<p>"Gilbertine—God be thanked—is not alone in her room. Little Miss Lane +shares it with her."</p> + +<p>"And Dorothy?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, she is under the strictest bondage night and day. She sleeps in a +little room off her aunt's. Do you know her door?"</p> + +<p>I shook my head.</p> + +<p>"I will pass down the hall and stop an instant before the two doors we +are most interested in. When I pass Gilbertine's I will throw out my +right hand."</p> + +<p>I stood on the threshold of his room and watched him. When the two doors +were well fixed in my mind, I went to my own room and prepared for my +self-imposed watch. When quite ready, I put out my light. It was then +eleven o'clock.</p> + +<p>The house was very quiet. There had been the usual bustle attending the +separation of a party of laughing, chattering girls for the night, but +this had not lasted long, for the great doings of the morrow called for +bright eyes and fresh cheeks, and these can only be gained by sleep. In +this stillness twelve o'clock struck and the first hour of my anxious +vigil was at an end. I thought of Sinclair. He had given no token of the +watch he was keeping, but I knew he was sitting with his ear to the +door, listening for the alarm which must come soon if it came at all.</p> + +<p>But would it come at all? Were we not wasting strength and a great deal +of emotion on a dread which had no foundation in fact? What were we two +sensible and, as a rule, practical men thinking of, that we should +ascribe to either of these dainty belles of a conventional and shallow +society the wish to commit a deed calling for the vigor and daring of +some wilful child of nature? It was not to be thought of in this sober, +reasoning hour. We had given ourselves over to a ghastly nightmare and +would yet awake.</p> + +<p>Why was I on my feet? Had I heard anything?</p> + +<p>Yes, a stir, a very faint stir somewhere down the hall—the slow, +cautious opening of a door, then a footfall—or had I imagined the +latter? I could hear nothing now.</p> + +<p>Pushing open my own door, I looked cautiously out. Only the pale face of +Sinclair confronted me. He was peering from the corner of an adjacent +passageway, the moonlight at his back. Advancing, we met in silence. For +the moment we seemed to be the only persons awake in the vast house.</p> + +<p>"I thought I heard a step," was my cautious whisper after a moment of +intense listening.</p> + +<p>"Where?"</p> + +<p>I pointed toward that portion of the house where the ladies' rooms were +situated.</p> + +<p>"That is not what I heard," was his murmured protest, "what I heard was +a creak in the small stairway running down at the end of the hall where +my room is."</p> + +<p>"One of the servants," I ventured, and for a moment we stood irresolute. +Then we both turned rigid as some sound arose in one of the far-off +rooms, only to quickly relax again as that sound resolved itself into a +murmur of muffled voices. Where there was talking there could be no +danger of the special event we feared. Our relief was so great we both +smiled. Next instant his face and, I have no doubt, my own, turned the +color of clay and Sinclair went reeling back against the wall.</p> + +<p>A scream had risen in this sleeping house—a piercing and insistent +scream such as raises the hair and curdles the blood.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="IV" id="IV"></a>IV</h2> + +<h3>WHAT SINCLAIR HAD TO SHOW ME</h3> + + +<p>This scream seemed to come from the room where we had just heard voices. +With a common impulse, Sinclair and I both started down the hall, only +to find ourselves met by a dozen wild interrogations from behind as many +quickly opened doors. Was it fire? Had burglars got in? What was the +matter? Who had uttered that dreadful shriek? Alas! that was the +question which we of all men were most anxious to hear answered. Who? +Gilbertine or Dorothy?</p> + +<p>Gilbertine's door was reached first. In it stood a short, slight figure, +wrapped in a hastily-donned shawl. The white face looked into ours as we +stopped, and we recognized little Miss Lane.</p> + +<p>"What has happened?" she gasped. "It must have been an awful cry to +waken everybody so!"</p> + +<p>We never thought of answering her.</p> + +<p>"Where is Gilbertine?" demanded Sinclair, thrusting his hand out as if +to put her aside.</p> + +<p>She drew herself up with sudden dignity.</p> + +<p>"In bed," she replied. "It was she who told me that somebody had +shrieked. I didn't wake."</p> + +<p>Sinclair uttered a sigh of the greatest relief that ever burst from a +man's overcharged breast.</p> + +<p>"Tell her we will find out what it means," he replied kindly, drawing me +rapidly away.</p> + +<p>By this time Mr. and Mrs. Armstrong were aroused, and I could hear the +slow and hesitating tones of the former in the passage behind us.</p> + +<p>"Let us hasten," whispered Sinclair. "Our eyes must be the first to see +what lies behind that partly-opened door."</p> + +<p>I shivered. The door he had designated was Dorothy's.</p> + +<p>Sinclair reached it first and pushed it open. Pressing up behind him, I +cast a fearful look over his shoulder. Only emptiness confronted us. +Dorothy was not in the little chamber. With an impulsive gesture +Sinclair pointed to the bed—it had not been lain in; then to the +gas—it was still burning. The communicating room, in which Mrs. Lansing +slept, was also lighted, but silent as the one in which we stood. This +last struck us as the most incomprehensible fact of all. Mrs. Lansing +was not the woman to sleep through a disturbance. Where was she, then? +and why did we not hear her strident and aggressive tones rising in +angry remonstrance at our intrusion? Had she followed her niece from the +room? Should we in another minute encounter her ponderous figure in the +group of people we could now hear hurrying toward us? I was for +retreating and hunting the house over for Dorothy. But Sinclair, with +truer instinct, drew me across the threshold of this silent room.</p> + +<p>Well was it for us that we entered there together, for I do not know +how either of us, weakened as we were by our forebodings and all the +alarms of this unprecedented night, could have borne alone the sight +that awaited us.</p> + +<p>On the bed situated at the right of the doorway lay a form—awful, +ghastly, and unspeakably repulsive. The head, which lay high but inert +upon the pillow, was surrounded with the gray hairs of age, and the +eyes, which seemed to stare into ours, were glassy with reflected light +and not with inward intelligence. This glassiness told the tale of the +room's grim silence. It was death we looked on; not the death we had +anticipated and for which we were in a measure prepared, but one fully +as awful, and having for its victim not Dorothy Camerden nor even +Gilbertine Murray, but the heartless aunt, who had driven them both like +slaves, and who now lay facing the reward of her earthly deeds, <i>alone</i>.</p> + +<p>As a realization of the awful truth came upon me, I stumbled against the +bedpost, looking on with almost blind eyes as Sinclair bent over the +rapidly whitening face, whose naturally ruddy color no one had ever +before seen disturbed. And I was still standing there when Mr. Armstrong +and all the others came pouring in. Nor have I any distinct remembrance +of what was said or how I came to be in the ante-chamber again. All +thought, all consciousness even, seemed to forsake me, and I did not +really waken to my surroundings till some one near me whispered:</p> + +<p>"Apoplexy!"</p> + +<p>Then I began to look about me and peer into the faces crowding up on +every side, for the only one which could give me back my +self-possession. But though there were many girlish countenances to be +seen in the awestruck groups huddled in every corner, I beheld no +Dorothy, and was therefore but little astonished when in another moment +I heard the cry go up:</p> + +<p>"Where is Dorothy? Where was she when her aunt died?"</p> + +<p>Alas! there was no one there to answer, and the looks of those about, +which hitherto had expressed little save awe and fright, turned to +wonder, and more than one person left the room as if to look for her. I +did not join them. I was rooted to the place. Nor did Sinclair stir a +foot, though his eye, which had been wandering restlessly over the faces +about him, now settled inquiringly on the doorway. For whom was he +looking? Gilbertine or Dorothy? Gilbertine, no doubt, for he visibly +brightened as her figure presently appeared clad in a <i>negligée</i>, which +emphasized her height and gave to her whole appearance a womanly +sobriety unusual to it.</p> + +<p>She had evidently been told what had occurred, for she asked no +questions, only leaned in still horror against the door-post, with her +eyes fixed on the room within. Sinclair, advancing, held out his arm. +She gave no sign of seeing it. Then he spoke. This seemed to rouse her, +for she gave him a grateful look, though she did not take his arm.</p> + +<p>"There will be no wedding to-morrow," fell from her lips in +self-communing murmur.</p> + +<p>Only a few minutes had passed since they had started to find Dorothy, +but it seemed an age to me. My body remained in the room, but my mind +was searching the house for the girl I loved. Where was she hidden? +Would she be found huddled but alive in some far-off chamber? Or was +another and more dreadful tragedy awaiting us? I wondered that I could +not join the search. I wondered that even Gilbertine's presence could +keep Sinclair from doing so. Didn't he know what, in all probability, +this missing girl had with her? Didn't he know what I had suffered, was +suffering—ah, what now? She is coming! I can hear them speaking to her. +Gilbertine moves from the door, and a young man and woman enter with +Dorothy between them.</p> + +<p>But what a Dorothy! Years could have made no greater change in her. She +looked and she moved like one who is done with life, yet fears the few +remaining moments left her. Instinctively we fell back before her; +instinctively we followed her with our eyes as, reeling a little at the +door, she cast a look of inconceivable shrinking, first at her own bed, +then at the group of older people watching her with serious looks from +the room beyond. As she did so I noted that she was still clad in her +evening dress of gray, and that there was no more color on cheek or lip +than in the neutral tints of her gown.</p> + +<p>Was it our consciousness of the relief which Mrs. Lansing's death, +horrible as it was, must bring to this unhappy girl and of the +inappropriateness of any display of grief on her part, which caused the +silence with which we saw her pass with forced step and dread +anticipation into the room where that image of dead virulence awaited +her? Impossible to tell. I could not read my own thoughts. How, then, +the thoughts of others!</p> + +<p>But thoughts, if we had any, all fled when, after one slow turn of her +head toward the bed, this trembling young girl gave a choking shriek and +fell, face down, on the floor. Evidently she had not been prepared for +the look which made her aunt's still face so horrible. How could she +have been? Had it not imprinted itself upon my mind as the one revolting +vision of my life? How, then, if this young and tender-hearted girl had +been insensible to it! As her form struck the floor Mr. Armstrong rushed +forward; I had not the right. But it was not by his arms she was lifted. +Sinclair was before him, and it was with a singularly determined look I +could not understand and which made us all fall back, that he raised her +and carried her in to her own bed, where he laid her gently down. Then, +as if not content with this simple attention, he hovered over her for a +moment arranging the pillows and smoothing her disheveled hair. When at +last he left her, the women rushed forward.</p> + +<p>"Not too many of you," was his final adjuration, as, giving me a look, +he slipped out into the hall.</p> + +<p>I followed him immediately. He had gained the moon-lighted corridor near +his own door, where he stood awaiting me with something in his hand. As +I approached, he drew me to the window and showed me what it was. It +was the amethyst box, open and empty, and beside it, shining with a +yellow instead of a purple light, the little vial void of the one drop +which used to sparkle within it.</p> + +<p>"I found the vial in the bed with the old woman," said he. "The box I +saw glittering among Dorothy's locks before she fell. That was why I +lifted her."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="V" id="V"></a>V</h2> + +<h3>THREE O'CLOCK IN THE MORNING</h3> + + +<p>As he spoke, youth with its brilliant hopes, illusions and beliefs +passed from me, never to return in the same measure again. I stared at +the glimmering amethyst, I stared at the empty vial and, as a full +realization of all his words implied seized my benumbed faculties, I +felt the icy chill of some grisly horror moving among the roots of my +hair, lifting it on my forehead and filling my whole being with +shrinking and dismay.</p> + +<p>Sinclair, with a quick movement, replaced the tiny flask in its old +receptacle, and then thrusting the whole out of sight, seized my hand +and wrung it.</p> + +<p>"I am your friend," he whispered. "Remember, under all circumstances and +in every exigency, your friend."</p> + +<p>"What are you going to do with <i>those</i>?" I demanded when I regained +control of my speech.</p> + +<p>"I do not know."</p> + +<p>"What are you going to do with—with Dorothy?"</p> + +<p>He drooped his head; I could see his fingers working in the moonlight.</p> + +<p>"The physicians will soon be here. I heard the telephone going a few +minutes ago. When they have pronounced the old woman dead we will give +the—the lady you mention an opportunity to explain herself."</p> + +<p>Explain herself, she! Simple expectation. Unconsciously I shook my head.</p> + +<p>"It is the least we can do," he gently persisted. "Come, we must not be +seen with our heads together—not yet. I am sorry that we two were found +more or less dressed at the time of the alarm. It may cause comment."</p> + +<p>"She was dressed, too," I murmured, as much to myself as to him.</p> + +<p>"Unfortunately, yes," was the muttered reply, with which he drew off +and hastened into the hall, where the now thoroughly-aroused household +stood in a great group about the excited hostess.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Armstrong was not the woman for an emergency. With streaming hair +and tightly-clutched kimono, she was gesticulating wildly and bemoaning +the break in the festivities which this event must necessarily cause. As +Sinclair approached, she turned her tirade on him, and as all stood +still to listen and add such words of sympathy or disappointment as +suggested themselves in the excitement of the moment, I had an +opportunity to note that neither of the two girls most interested was +within sight. This troubled me. Drawing up to the outside of the circle, +I asked Beaton, who was nearest to me, if he knew how Miss Camerden was.</p> + +<p>"Better, I hear. Poor girl, it was a great shock to her."</p> + +<p>I ventured nothing more. The conventionality of his tone was not to be +mistaken. Our conversation on the veranda was to be ignored. I did not +know whether to feel relief at this or an added distress. I was in a +whirl of emotion which robbed me of all discrimination. As I realized my +own condition, I concluded that my wisest move would be to withdraw +myself for a time from every eye. Accordingly, and at the risk of +offending more than one pretty girl who still had something to say +concerning this terrible mischance, I slid away to my room, happy to +escape the murmurs and snatches of talk rising on every side. One bitter +speech, uttered by I do not know whom, rang in my ears and made all +thinking unendurable. It was this:</p> + +<p>"Poor woman! she was angry once too often. I heard her scolding Dorothy +again after she went to her room. That is why Dorothy is so overcome. +She says it was the violence of her aunt's rage which killed her,—a +rage of which she unfortunately was the cause."</p> + +<p>So there were words again between these two after the door closed upon +them for the night! Was this what we heard just before that scream went +up? It would seem so. Thereupon, quite against my will, I found myself +thinking of Dorothy's changed position before the world. Only yesterday +a dependent slave; to-day, the owner of millions. Gilbertine would have +her share, a large one, but there was enough to make them both wealthy. +Intolerable thought! Would that no money had been involved! I hated to +think of those diamonds and—</p> + +<p>Oh, anything was better than this! Dashing from my room I joined one of +the groups into which the single large circle had now broken up. The +house had been lighted from end to end, and some effort had been made at +a more respectable appearance by such persons as I now saw; some even +were fully dressed. All were engaged in discussing the one great topic. +Listening and not listening, I waited for the front door bell to ring. +It sounded while one woman was saying to another:</p> + +<p>"The Sinclairs will now be able to take their honeymoon on their own +yacht."</p> + +<p>I made my way to where I could watch Sinclair while the physicians were +in the room. I thought his face looked very noble. The narrowness of his +own escape, the sympathy for me which the event, so much worse than +either of us anticipated, had awakened in his generous breast, had +called out all that was best in his naturally reserved and +not-always-to-be-understood nature. A tower of strength he was to me +that hour. I knew that mercy and mercy only would influence his conduct. +He would be guilty of no rash or inconsiderate act. He would give this +young girl a chance.</p> + +<p>Therefore when the physicians had pronounced the case one of apoplexy (a +conclusion most natural under the circumstances), and the excitement +which had held together the various groups of uneasy guests had begun to +subside, it was with perfect confidence I saw him approach and address +Gilbertine. She was standing fully dressed at the stairhead, where she +had stopped to hold some conversation with the retiring physicians; and +the look she gave him in return and the way she moved off in obedience +to his command or suggestion assured me that he was laying plans for an +interview with Dorothy. Consequently I was quite ready to obey him when +he finally stepped up to me and said:</p> + +<p>"Go below, and if you find the library empty, as I have no doubt you +will, light one gas-jet and see that the door to the conservatory is +unlocked. I require a place in which to make Gilbertine comfortable +while I have some words with her cousin."</p> + +<p>"But how will you be able to influence Miss Camerden to come down?" +Somehow, the familiar name of Dorothy would not pass my lips. "Do you +think she will recognize your right to summon her to an interview?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>I had never seen his lip take that firm line before, yet I had always +known him to be a man of great resolution.</p> + +<p>"But how can you reach her? She is shut up in her own room, under the +care, I am told, of Mrs. Armstrong's maid."</p> + +<p>"I know, but she will escape that dreadful place as soon as her feet +will carry her. I shall wait in the hall till she is seen to enter it, +then I will say 'Come!' and she will come, attended by Gilbertine."</p> + +<p>"And I? Do you mean me to be present at an interview so painful, nay, so +serious and so threatening? It would cut short every word you hope to +hear. I—can not—"</p> + +<p>"I have not asked you to. It is imperative that I should see Miss +Camerden alone." (He could not call her Dorothy, either.) "I shall ask +Gilbertine to accompany us, so that appearances may be preserved. I want +you to be able to inform any one who approaches the door that you saw me +go in there with Miss Murray."</p> + +<p>"Then I am to stay in the hall?"</p> + +<p>"If you will be so kind."</p> + +<p>The clock struck three.</p> + +<p>"It is very late," I exclaimed. "Why not wait till morning?"</p> + +<p>"And have the whole house about our ears? No. Besides, some things will +not keep an hour, a moment. I must hear what this young girl has to say +in response to my questions. Remember, I am the owner of the flask whose +contents killed the old woman!"</p> + +<p>"You believe she died from swallowing that drop?"</p> + +<p>"Absolutely."</p> + +<p>I said no more, but hastened down stairs to do his bidding.</p> + +<p>I found the lower hall partly lighted, but none of the rooms.</p> + +<p>Entering the library, I lit the gas as Sinclair had requested. Then I +tried the conservatory door. It was unlocked. Casting a sharp glance +around, I made sure that the lounges were all unoccupied and that I +could safely leave Sinclair to hold his contemplated interview without +fear of interruption. Then, dreading a premature arrival on his part, I +slid quickly out and moved down the hall to where the light of the one +burning jet failed to penetrate. "I will watch from here," thought I, +and entered upon the quick pacing of the floor which my impatience and +the overwrought condition of my nerves demanded.</p> + +<p>But before I had turned on my steps more than half a dozen times, the +single but brilliant ray coming from some half-open door in the rear +caught my eye, and I had the curiosity to step back and see if any one +was sharing my watch. In doing so I came upon the little spiral +staircase which, earlier in the evening, Sinclair had heard creak under +some unknown footstep. Had this footstep been Dorothy's, and if so, what +had brought her into this remote portion of the house? Fear? Anguish? +Remorse? A flying from herself or from <i>it</i>? I wished I knew just where +she had been found by the two young persons who had brought her back +into her aunt's room. No one had volunteered the information, and I had +not seen the moment when I felt myself in a position to demand it.</p> + +<p>Proceeding further, I stood amazed at my own forgetfulness. The light +which had attracted my attention came from the room devoted to the +display of Miss Murray's wedding-gifts. This I should have known +instantly, having had a hand in their arrangement. But all my faculties +were dulled that night, save such as responded to dread and horror. +Before going back I paused to look at the detective whose business it +was to guard the room. He was sitting very quietly at his post, and if +he saw me he did not look up. Strange that I had forgotten this man when +keeping my own vigil above. I doubted if Sinclair had remembered him +either. Yet he must have been unconsciously sharing our watch from start +to finish; must even have heard the cry as only a waking man could hear +it. Should I ask him if this was so? No. Perhaps I had not the courage +to hear his answer.</p> + +<p>Shortly after my return into the main hall I heard steps on the grand +staircase. Looking up, I saw the two girls descending, followed by +Sinclair. He had been successful, then, in inducing Dorothy to come +down. What would be the result? Could I stand the suspense of the +impending interview?</p> + +<p>As they stepped within the rays of the solitary gas-jet already +mentioned, I cast one quick look into Gilbertine's face, then a long one +into Dorothy's. I could read neither. If it was horror and horror only +which rendered both so pale and fixed of feature, then their emotion was +similar in character and intensity. But if in either breast the one +dominant sentiment was fear—horrible, blood-curdling fear—then was +that fear confined to Dorothy; for while Gilbertine advanced bravely, +Dorothy's steps lagged, and at the point where she should have turned +into the library, she whirled sharply about and made as if she would fly +back up stairs.</p> + +<p>But one stare from Gilbertine, one word from Sinclair, recalled her to +herself and she passed in and the door closed upon the three. I was left +to prevent possible intrusion and to eat out my heart in intolerable +suspense.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="VI" id="VI"></a>VI</h2> + +<h3>DOROTHY SPEAKS</h3> + + +<p>I shall not subject you to the ordeal from which I suffered. You shall +follow my three friends into the room. According to Sinclair's +description, the interview proceeded thus:</p> + +<p>As soon as the door had closed upon them, and before either of the girls +had a chance to speak, he remarked to Gilbertine:</p> + +<p>"I have brought you here because I wish to express to you, in the +presence of your cousin, my sympathy for the bereavement which in an +instant has robbed you both of a lifelong guardian. I also wish to say +in the light of this sad event, that I am ready, if propriety so exacts, +to postpone the ceremony which I hoped would unite our lives to-day. +Your wish shall be my wish, Gilbertine; though I would suggest that +possibly you never more needed the sympathy and protection which only a +husband can give than you do to-day."</p> + +<p>He told me afterward that he was so taken up with the effect of this +suggestion on Gilbertine that he forgot to look at Dorothy, though the +hint he strove to convey of impending trouble was meant as much for her +as for his affianced bride. In another moment he regretted this, +especially when he saw that Dorothy had changed her attitude and was now +looking away from them both.</p> + +<p>"What do you say, Gilbertine?" he asked earnestly, as she sat flushing +and paling before him.</p> + +<p>"Nothing. I have not thought—it is a question for others to +decide—others who know what is right better than I. I appreciate your +consideration," she suddenly burst out—"and should be glad to tell you +at this moment what to expect; but—give me a little time—let me see +you later—in the morning, Mr. Sinclair, after we are all somewhat +rested and when I can see you quite alone."</p> + +<p>Dorothy rose.</p> + +<p>"Shall I go?" she asked.</p> + +<p>Sinclair advanced and with quiet protest, touched her on the shoulder. +Quietly she sank back into her seat.</p> + +<p>"I want to say a half-dozen words to you, Miss Camerden. Gilbertine will +pardon us; it is about matters which must be settled to-night. There are +decisions to arrive at and arrangements to be made. Mrs. Armstrong has +instructed me to question you in regard to these, as the one best +acquainted with Mrs. Lansing's affairs and general tastes. We will not +trouble Gilbertine. She has her own decisions to reach. Dear, will you +let me make you comfortable in the conservatory while I talk for five +minutes with Dorothy?"</p> + +<p>He said she met this question with a look so blank and uncomprehending +that he just lifted her and carried her in among the palms.</p> + +<p>"I must speak to Dorothy," he pleaded, placing her in the chair where he +had often seen her sit of her own accord. "Be a good girl; I will not +keep you here long."</p> + +<p>"But why can not I go to my room? I do not understand—I am +frightened—what have you to say to Dorothy you can not say to me?"</p> + +<p>She seemed so excited that for a minute, just a minute, he faltered in +his purpose. Then he took her gravely by the hand.</p> + +<p>"I have told you," said he. Then he kissed her softly on the forehead. +"Be quiet, dear, and rest. See! here are roses."</p> + +<p>He plucked and flung a handful into her lap. Then he crossed back to the +library and shut the conservatory door behind him. I am not surprised +that Gilbertine wondered at her peremptory bridegroom.</p> + +<p>When Sinclair reëntered the library, he found Dorothy standing with her +hand on the knob of the door leading into the hall. Her head was bent +and thoughtful, as though she were inwardly debating whether to stand +her ground or fly. Sinclair gave her no further opportunity for +hesitation. Advancing rapidly, he laid his hand quietly on hers, and +with a gravity which must have impressed her, quietly remarked:</p> + +<p>"I must ask you to stay and hear what I have to say. I wished to spare +Gilbertine; would that I could spare you. But circumstances forbid. You +know and I know that your aunt did not die of apoplexy."</p> + +<p>She gave a violent start and her lips parted. If the hand under his +clasp had been cold, it was now icy. He let his own slip from the +contact.</p> + +<p>"You know!" she echoed, trembling and pallid, her released hand flying +instinctively to her hair.</p> + +<p>"Yes; you need not feel about for the little box. I took it from its +hiding-place when I laid you fainting on the bed. Here it is."</p> + +<p>He drew it from his pocket and showed it to her. She hardly glanced at +it; her eyes were fixed in terror on his face and her lips seemed to be +trying in vain to formulate some inquiry.</p> + +<p>He tried to be merciful.</p> + +<p>"I missed it many hours ago, from the shelf yonder where you all saw me +place it. Had I known that you had taken it, I would have repeated to +you how deadly were the contents, and how dangerous it was to handle the +vial or to let others handle it, much less to put it to the lips."</p> + +<p>She started and instinctively her form rose to its full height.</p> + +<p>"Have you looked in that little box since you took it from my hair?" she +asked.</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"Then you know it to be empty."</p> + +<p>For answer he pressed the spring, and the little lid flew open.</p> + +<p>"It is not empty now, you see." Then more slowly and with infinite +meaning, "But the little flask is."</p> + +<p>She brought her hands together and faced him with a noble dignity which +at once put the interview on a different footing.</p> + +<p>"Where was this vial found?" she demanded.</p> + +<p>He found it difficult to answer. They seemed to have exchanged +positions. When he did speak it was in a low tone and with less +confidence than he had shown before.</p> + +<p>"In the bed with the old lady. I saw it there myself. Mr. Worthington +was with me. Nobody else knows anything about it. I wished to give you +an opportunity to explain. I begin to think you can—but how, God only +knows. The box was hidden in your hair from early evening. I saw your +hand continually fluttering toward it all the time we were dancing in +the parlor."</p> + +<p>She did not lose an iota of her dignity or pride.</p> + +<p>"You are right," she said. "I put it there as soon as I took it from the +cabinet. I could think of no safer hiding-place. Yes, I took it," she +acknowledged as she saw the flush rise to his cheek. "I took it; but +with no worse motive than the dishonest one of having for my own an +object which bewitched me; I was hardly myself when I snatched it from +the shelf and thrust it into my hair."</p> + +<p>He stared at her in amazement, her confession and her attitude so +completely contradicted each other.</p> + +<p>"But I had nothing to do with the vial," she went on. And with this +declaration her whole manner, even her voice changed, as if with the +utterance of these few words she had satisfied some inner demand of +self-respect and could now enter into the sufferings of those about her. +"This I think it right to make plain to you. I supposed the vial to be +in the box when I took it, but when I got to my room and had an +opportunity to examine the deadly trinket, I found it empty, just as you +found it when you took it from my hair. Some one had taken the vial out +before my hand had ever touched the box."</p> + +<p>Like a man who feels himself suddenly seized by the throat, yet who +struggles for the life slowly but inexorably leaving him, Sinclair cast +one heartrending look toward the conservatory, then heavily demanded:</p> + +<p>"Why were you out of your room? Why did they have to look for you? <i>And +who was the person who uttered that scream?</i>"</p> + +<p>She confronted him sadly, but with an earnestness he could not but +respect.</p> + +<p>"I was not in the room because I was troubled by my discovery. I think I +had some idea of returning the box to the shelf from which I had taken +it. At all events, I found myself on the little staircase in the rear +when that cry rang through the house. I do not know who uttered it; I +only know that it did not spring from my lips."</p> + +<p>In a rush of renewed hope he seized her by the hand.</p> + +<p>"It was your aunt!" he whispered. "It was she who took the vial out of +the box; who put it to her own lips; who shrieked when she felt her +vitals gripped. Had you stayed you would have known this. Can't you say +so? Don't you think so? Why do you look at me with those incredulous +eyes?"</p> + +<p>"Because you must not believe a lie. Because you are too good a man to +be sacrificed. It was a younger throat than my aunt's which gave +utterance to that shriek. Mr. Sinclair, be advised; <i>do not be married +to-morrow</i>!"</p> + +<p>Meanwhile I was pacing the hall without in a delirium of suspense. I +tried hard to keep within the bounds of silence. I had turned for the +fiftieth time to face that library door, when suddenly I heard a hoarse +cry break from within and saw the door fly open and Dorothy come +hurrying out. She shrank when she saw me, but seemed grateful that I did +not attempt to stop her, and soon was up the stairs and out of sight. I +rushed at once into the library.</p> + +<p>I found Sinclair sitting before a table with his head buried in his +hands. In an instant I knew that our positions were again reversed and, +without stopping to give heed to my own sensations, I approached him as +near as I dared and laid my hand on his shoulder.</p> + +<p>He shuddered but did not look up, and it was minutes before he spoke. +Then it all came in a rush.</p> + +<p>"Fool! fool that I was! And I saw that she was consumed by fright the +moment it became plain that I was intent upon having some conversation +with Dorothy. Her fingers where they gripped my arm must have left +marks behind them. But I saw only womanly nervousness where a man less +blind would have detected guilt. Walter, I wish that the mere scent of +this empty flask would kill. Then I should not have to reënter that +conservatory door—or look again in her face, or—"</p> + +<p>He had taken out the cursed jewel and was fingering it in a nervous way +which went to my heart of hearts. Gently removing it from his hand, I +asked with all the calmness possible:</p> + +<p>"What is all this mystery? Why have your suspicions returned to +Gilbertine? I thought you had entirely dissociated her with this matter +and that you blamed Dorothy and Dorothy only, for the amethyst's loss?"</p> + +<p>"Dorothy had the empty box; but the vial! the vial!—that had been taken +by a previous hand. Do you remember the white silk train which Mr. +Armstrong saw slipping from this room? I can not talk, Walter; my duty +leads me <i>there</i>."</p> + +<p>He pointed toward the conservatory. I drew back and asked if I should +take up my watch again outside the door.</p> + +<p>He shook his head.</p> + +<p>"It makes no difference; nothing makes any difference. But if you want +to please me, stay here."</p> + +<p>I at once sank into a chair. He made a great effort and advanced to the +conservatory door. I studiously looked another way; my heart was +breaking with sympathy for him.</p> + +<p>But in another instant I was on my feet. I could hear him rushing about +among the palms. Presently I heard his voice shout out the wild cry:</p> + +<p>"She is gone! I forgot there was another door communicating with the +hall."</p> + +<p>I crossed the floor and entered where he stood gazing down at an empty +seat and a trail of scattered roses. Never shall I forget his face. The +dimness of the spot could not hide his deep, unspeakable emotions. To +him this flight bore but one interpretation—guilt.</p> + +<p>I did not advocate Sinclair's pressing the matter further that night. I +saw that he was exhausted and that any further movement would tax him +beyond his strength. We therefore separated immediately after leaving +the library, and I found my way to my own room alone. It may seem +callous in me, but I fell asleep very soon after, and did not wake till +roused by a knock at my door. On opening it I confronted Sinclair, +looking haggard and unkempt. As he entered, the first clear notes of the +breakfast-bell could be heard rising up from the lower hall.</p> + +<p>"I have not slept," he said. "I have been walking the hall all night, +listening by spells at her door, and at other times giving what counsel +I could to the Armstrongs. God forgive me, but I have said nothing to +any one of what has made this affair an awful tragedy to me! Do you +think I did wrong? I waited to give Dorothy a chance. Why should I not +show the same consideration to Gilbertine?"</p> + +<p>"You should." But our eyes did not meet, and neither voice expressed the +least hope.</p> + +<p>"I shall not go to breakfast," he now declared. "I have written this +line to Gilbertine. Will you see that she gets it?"</p> + +<p>For reply I held out my hand. He placed the note in it, and I was +touched to see that it was unsealed.</p> + +<p>"Be sure, when you give it to her, that she will have an opportunity of +reading it alone. I shall request the use of one of the little +reception-rooms this morning. Let her come there if she is so impelled. +She will find a friend as well as a judge."</p> + +<p>I endeavored to express sympathy, urge patience and suggest hope. But he +had no ear for words, though he tried to listen, poor fellow! so I soon +stopped and he presently left the room. I immediately made myself as +presentable as a night of unprecedented emotions would allow, and went +below to do him such service as opportunity offered and the exigencies +of the case permitted.</p> + +<p>I found the lower hall alive with eager guests and a few outsiders. News +of the sad event was slowly making its way through the avenue, and some +of the Armstrongs' nearest neighbors had left their breakfast-tables to +express their interest and to hear the particulars. Among these stood +the lady of the house; but Mr. Armstrong was nowhere within sight. For +him the breakfast waited. Not wishing to be caught in any little swirl +of conventional comment, I remained near the staircase waiting for some +one to descend who could give me news concerning Miss Murray. For I had +small expectation of her braving the eyes of these strangers, and +doubted if even Dorothy would be seen at the breakfast-table. But little +Miss Lane, if small, was gifted with a great appetite. She would be sure +to appear prior to the last summons, and as we were good friends, she +would listen to my questions and give me the answer I needed for the +carrying out of Sinclair's wishes. But before her light footfall was +heard descending I was lured from my plans by an unexpected series of +events. Three men came down, one after the other, followed by Mr. +Armstrong, looking even more grave and ponderous than usual. Two of them +were the physicians who had been called in the night and whom I had +myself seen depart somewhere near three o'clock. The third I did not +know, but he looked like a doctor also. Why were they here again so +early? Had anything new come to light?</p> + +<p>It was a question which seemed to strike others as well as myself. As +Mr. Armstrong ushered them down the hall and out of the front door, many +were the curious glances which followed them, and it was with difficulty +that the courteous host on his return escaped the questions and +detaining hands of some of his more inquisitive guests. A pleasant word, +an amiable smile he had for all, but I was quite certain when I saw him +disappear into the little room he retained for his own use that he had +told them nothing which could in any way relieve their curiosity.</p> + +<p>This filled me with a vague alarm. Something must have +occurred—something which Sinclair ought to know. I felt a great anxiety +and was closely watching the door behind which Mr. Armstrong had +vanished when it suddenly opened and I perceived that he had been +writing a telegram. As he gave it to one of the servants he made a +gesture to the man standing with extended hand by the Chinese gong, and +the summons rang out for breakfast. Instantly the hum of voices ceased, +and young and old turned toward the dining-room, but the host did not +enter with them. Before the younger and more active of his guests could +reach his side he had slid into the room which I have before described +as set apart for the display of Gilbertine's wedding-presents. Instantly +I lost all inclination for breakfast and lingered about in the hall +until every one had passed me, even little Miss Lane, who had come down +unperceived while I was watching Mr. Armstrong's door. Not very well +pleased with myself for having missed the one opportunity which might +have been of service to me, I was asking myself whether I should follow +her and make the best attempt I could at sociability if not at eating, +when Mr. Armstrong approached from the side hall, and, accosting me, +inquired if Mr. Sinclair had come down yet.</p> + +<p>I assured him that I had not seen him and did not think he meant to come +to breakfast, adding that he had been very much affected by the affairs +of the night, and had told me that he was going to shut himself up in +his room and rest.</p> + +<p>"I am sorry, but there is a question I must ask him immediately. It is +about a little Italian trinket which I am told he displayed to the +ladies yesterday afternoon."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="VII" id="VII"></a>VII</h2> + +<h3>CONSTRAINT</h3> + + +<p>So! our dreadful secret was not confined to ourselves as we had +supposed, but was shared or at least suspected, by our host.</p> + +<p>Thankful that it was I, rather than Sinclair, who was called upon to +meet and sustain this shock, I answered with what calmness I could:</p> + +<p>"Yes; Sinclair mentioned the matter to me. Indeed, if you have any +curiosity on the subject, I think I can enlighten you as fully as he +can."</p> + +<p>Mr. Armstrong glanced up the stairs, hesitated, then drew me into his +private room.</p> + +<p>"I find myself in a very uncomfortable position," he began. "A strange +and quite unaccountable change has shown itself in the appearance of +Mrs. Lansing's body during the last few hours; a change which baffles +the physicians and raises in their minds very unfortunate conjectures. +What I want to know is whether Mr. Sinclair still has in his possession +the box which is said to hold a vial of deadly poison, or whether it has +passed into any other hand since he showed it to certain ladies in the +library."</p> + +<p>We were standing directly in the light of an eastern window. Deception +was impossible, even if I had felt like employing it. In Sinclair's +interests, if not in my own, I resolved to be as true to our host as our +positions demanded, yet, at the same time, to save Gilbertine as much as +possible from premature if not final suspicion.</p> + +<p>I therefore replied: "That is a question I can answer as well as +Sinclair." (Happy was I to save him this cross-examination.) "While he +was showing this toy, Mrs. Armstrong came into the room and proposed a +stroll, which drew all of the ladies from the room and called for his +attendance as well. With no thought of the danger involved, he placed +the trinket on a high shelf in the cabinet, and went out with the rest. +When he came back for it, it was gone."</p> + +<p>The usually ruddy aspect of my host's face deepened, and he sat down in +the great armchair which did duty before his writing-table.</p> + +<p>"This is dreadful," was his comment, "entailing I do not know what +unfortunate consequences upon this household and on the unhappy girl—"</p> + +<p>"Girl?" I repeated.</p> + +<p>He turned upon me with great gravity. "Mr. Worthington, I am sorry to +have to admit it, but something strange, something not easily +explainable, took place in this house last night. It has only just come +to light; otherwise, the doctors' conclusions might have been different. +You know there is a detective in the house. The presents are valuable +and I thought best to have a man here to look after them."</p> + +<p>I nodded; I had no breath for speech.</p> + +<p>"That man tells me," continued Mr. Armstrong, "that just a few minutes +previous to the time the whole household was aroused last night, he +heard a step in the hall overhead, then the sound of a light foot +descending the little staircase in the servants' hall. Being anxious to +find out what this person wanted at an hour so late, he lowered the gas, +closed his door and listened. The steps went by his door. Satisfied that +it was a woman he heard, he pulled open the door again and looked out. A +young girl was standing not very far from him in a thin streak of +moonlight. She was gazing intently at something in her hand, and that +something had a purple gleam to it. He is ready to swear to this. Next +moment, frightened by some noise she heard, she fled back and vanished +again in the region of the little staircase. It was soon, very soon +after this that the shriek came. Now, Mr. Worthington, what am I to do +with this knowledge? I have advised this man to hold his peace till I +can make inquiries, but where am I to make them? I can not think that +Miss Camerden—"</p> + +<p>The ejaculation which escaped me was involuntary. To hear her name for +the second time in this association was more than I could bear.</p> + +<p>"Did he say it was Miss Camerden?" I hurriedly inquired as he looked at +me in some surprise. "How should he know Miss Camerden?"</p> + +<p>"He described her," was the unanswerable reply. "Besides, we know that +she was circulating in the halls at that time. I declare I have never +known a worse business," this amiable man bemoaned. "Let me send for +Sinclair; he is more interested than any one else in Gilbertine's +relatives; or stay, what if I should send for Miss Camerden herself? She +should be able to tell how she came by this box."</p> + +<p>I subdued my own instincts, which were all for clearing Dorothy on the +spot, and answered as I thought Sinclair would like me to answer.</p> + +<p>"It is a serious and very perplexing piece of business," said I; "but if +you will wait a short time I do not think you will have to trouble Miss +Camerden. I am sure that explanations will be given. Give the lady a +chance," I stammered. "Imagine what her feelings would be if questioned +on so delicate a topic. It would make a breach which nothing could heal. +Later, if she does not speak, it will be only right for you to ask her +why."</p> + +<p>"She did not come down this morning."</p> + +<p>"Naturally not."</p> + +<p>"If I could take counsel of my wife! But she is of too nervous a +temperament. I am anxious to keep her from knowing this fresh +complication as long as possible. Do you think I can look for Miss +Camerden to explain herself before the doctors return, or before Mrs. +Lansing's physician, for whom I have telegraphed, can arrive from New +York?"</p> + +<p>"I am sure that three hours will not pass before you hear the truth. +Leave me to work out the situation. I promise that if I can not bring it +about to your satisfaction, Sinclair shall be asked to lend his +assistance. Only keep the gossips from Miss Camerden's good name. Words +can be said in a moment that will not be forgotten in years. I tremble +at such a prospect for her."</p> + +<p>"No one knows of her being seen with the box," he remarked. "Every one +probably knows by this time that there is some doubt felt as to the +cause of Mrs. Lansing's death. You can not keep a suspicion of this +nature secret in a house so full of people as this."</p> + +<p>I knew it, but, relieved by his manner if not by his words, I took my +leave of him for the present and made my way at once to the dining-room. +Should I find Miss Lane there? Yes, and what was more, the fortunes of +the day had decreed that the place beside her should be unoccupied.</p> + +<p>I was on my way to that place when I was struck by the extreme quiet +into which the room had fallen. It had been humming with talk when I +first entered; but now not a voice was raised, and scarcely an eye. In +the hurried glance I cast about the board, not a look met mine in +recognition or welcome.</p> + +<p>What did it mean? Had they been talking about me? Possibly; and in a +way, it would seem, that was not altogether flattering to my vanity.</p> + +<p>Unable to hide my sense of the general embarrassment which my presence +had called forth, I passed to the seat I have indicated and let my +inquiring look settle on Miss Lane. She was staring in imitation of the +others straight into her plate, but as I saluted her with a quiet good +morning, she looked up and acknowledged my courtesy with a faint, almost +sympathetic, smile. At once the whole tableful broke again into chatter, +and I could safely put the question with which my mind was full.</p> + +<p>"How is Miss Murray?" I asked. "I do not see her here."</p> + +<p>"Did you expect to? Poor Gilbertine! This is not the bridal day she +expected." Then, with irresistible naïveté entirely in keeping with her +fairy-like figure and girlish face, she added: "I think it was just +horrid in the old woman to die the night before the wedding; don't you?"</p> + +<p>"Indeed, I do," I emphatically rejoined, humoring her in the hope of +learning what I wished to know. "Does Miss Murray still cherish the +expectation of being married to-day? No one seems to know."</p> + +<p>"Nor do I. I haven't seen her since the middle of the night. She didn't +come back to her room. They say she is sobbing out her terror and +disappointment in some attic corner. Think of that for Gilbertine +Murray! But even that is better than—"</p> + +<p>The sentence trailed away into an indistinguishable murmur; the murmur +into silence. Was it because of a fresh lull in the conversation about +us? I hardly think so, for though the talk was presently resumed, she +remained silent, not even giving the least sign of wishing to prolong +this particular topic. I finished my coffee as soon as possible and +quitted the room, but not before many had preceded me. The hall was +consequently as full as before of a gossiping crowd.</p> + +<p>I was on the point of bowing myself through the various groups blocking +my way to the library door, when I noticed renewed signs of +embarrassment on all the faces turned my way. Women who were clustered +about the newel-post drew back, and some others sauntered away into side +rooms with an appearance of suddenly wishing to go somewhere. This +certainly was very singular, especially as these marks of disapproval +did not seem to be directed so much at myself as at some one behind me. +Who could this some one be? Turning quickly, I cast a glance up the +staircase before which I stood and saw the figure of a young girl +dressed in black hesitating on the landing. This young girl was Dorothy +Camerden, and it took but a moment's contemplation of the scene for me +to feel assured that it was against her this feeling of universal +constraint had been directed.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="VIII" id="VIII"></a>VIII</h2> + +<h3>GILBERTINE SPEAKS</h3> + + +<p>Knowing my darling's innocence, I felt the insult shown her in my heart +of hearts, and might in the heat of the moment have been betrayed into +an unwise utterance of my indignation, if at that moment I had not +encountered the eye of Mr. Armstrong, fixed on me from the rear hall. In +the mingled surprise and distress he displayed, I saw that it was not +from any indiscretion of his that this feeling against her had started. +He had not betrayed the trust I had placed in him, yet the murmur had +gone about which virtually ostracized her, and instead of confronting +the eager looks of friends, she found herself met by averted glances and +coldly turned backs, and soon by an almost empty hall.</p> + +<p>She flushed as she realized the effect of her presence and cast me an +agonized look, which, without her expectation, perhaps, roused every +instinct of chivalry within me. Advancing, I met her at the foot of the +stairs, and with one quick word seemed to restore her to herself.</p> + +<p>"Be patient!" I whispered. "To-morrow they will be all around you again. +Perhaps sooner. Go into the conservatory and wait."</p> + +<p>She gave me a grateful pressure of the hand, while I bounded up stairs, +determined that nothing should stop me from finding Gilbertine and +giving her the letter with which Sinclair had intrusted me.</p> + +<p>But this was more easily planned than accomplished. When I had reached +the third floor (an unaccustomed and strange spot for me to find myself +in) I at first found no one who could tell me to which room Miss Murray +had retired. Then, when I did come across a stray housemaid and she, +with an extraordinary stare, had pointed out the door, I found it quite +impossible to gain any response from within, though I could hear a +quick step moving restlessly to and fro and now and then catch the sound +of a smothered sob or low cry. The wretched girl would not heed me, +though I told her who I was and that I had a letter from Mr. Sinclair in +my hand. Indeed, she presently became perfectly quiet and let me knock +again and again, till the situation became ridiculous and I felt obliged +to draw off.</p> + +<p>Not that I thought of yielding. No, I would stay there till her own +fancy drove her to open the door, or till Mr. Armstrong should come up +and force it. A woman upon whom so many interests depended would not be +allowed to remain shut up the whole morning. Her position as a possible +bride forbade it. Guilty or innocent, she must show herself before long. +As if in answer to my expectation, a figure appeared at this very moment +at the other end of the hall. It was Dutton, the butler, and in his hand +he held a telegram. He seemed astonished to see me there, but passed me +with a simple bow and stopped before the door I had so unavailingly +assailed a few minutes before.</p> + +<p>"A telegram, miss," he shouted, as no answer was made to his knock. "Mr. +Armstrong asked me to bring it to you. It is from the bishop and calls +for an immediate reply."</p> + +<p>There was a stir within, but the door did not open. Meanwhile, I had +sealed and thrust forth the letter I had held concealed in my breast +pocket.</p> + +<p>"Give her this, too," I signified, and pointed to the crack under the +door.</p> + +<p>He took the letter, laid the telegram on it, and pushed them both in. +Then he stood up and eyed the unresponsive panels with the set look of a +man who does not easily yield his purpose.</p> + +<p>"I will wait for the answer," he shouted through the keyhole, and +falling back he took up his stand against the opposite wall.</p> + +<p>I could not keep him company there. Withdrawing into a big dormer +window, I waited with beating heart to see if her door would open. +Apparently not, yet as I still lingered, I heard the lock turn, followed +by the sound of a measured but hurried step. Dashing from my retreat, I +reached the main hall in time to see Miss Murray disappear toward the +staircase. This was well, and I was about to follow when, to my +astonishment, I perceived Dutton standing in the doorway she had just +left, staring down at the floor with a puzzled look.</p> + +<p>"She didn't pick up the letters," he cried, in amazement. "She just +walked over them. What shall I do now? It's the strangest thing I ever +saw."</p> + +<p>"Take them to the little boudoir over the porch," I suggested. "Mr. +Sinclair is there and if she is not on her way to join him now she +certainly will be soon."</p> + +<p>Without a word Dutton caught up the letters and made for the stairs.</p> + +<p>Left to await the result, I found myself so worked upon that I wondered +how much longer I should find myself able to endure these shifts of +feeling and constantly recurring moments of extreme suspense. To escape +the torture of my own thoughts, or, possibly, to get some idea of how +Dorothy was sustaining an ordeal which was fast destroying my own +self-possession, I prepared to go down stairs. What was my astonishment +in passing the little boudoir on the second floor, to find its door ajar +and the place empty. Either the interview between Sinclair and +Gilbertine had been very much curtailed, or it had not yet taken place. +With a heart heavy with forebodings I no longer sought to analyze, I +made my way down and reached the lower step of the great staircase just +as a half-dozen girls, rushing from different quarters of the hall, +surrounded the heavy form of Mr. Armstrong coming from his own little +room.</p> + +<p>Their questions made a small hubbub. With a good-natured gesture, he put +them all back and, raising his voice, said to the assembled crowd:</p> + +<p>"It has been decided by Miss Murray that, under the circumstances, it +will be wiser for her to postpone the celebration of her marriage to +some time and place less fraught with mournful suggestions. A telegram +has just been sent to the bishop to that effect, and while we all suffer +from this disappointment, I am sure there is no one here who will not +see the propriety of her decision."</p> + +<p>As he finished, Gilbertine appeared behind him. At the same moment I +caught, or thought I did, the flash of Sinclair's eye from the recesses +of the room beyond; but I could not stop to make sure of this, for +Gilbertine's look and manner were such as to draw my full attention, and +it was with a mixture of almost inexplicable emotions that I saw her +thread her way among her friends, in a state of high feeling which made +her blind to their outstretched hands and deaf to the murmur of interest +and sympathy which instinctively followed her. She was making for the +stairs, and whatever her thoughts, whatever the state of her mind, she +moved superbly, in her pale, yet seemingly radiant abstraction. I +watched her, fascinated, yet when she left the last group and began to +cross the small square of carpet which alone separated us, I stepped +down and aside, feeling that to meet her eye just then without knowing +what had passed between her and Sinclair would be cruel to her and +well-nigh unbearable to myself.</p> + +<p>She saw the movement and seemed to hesitate an instant, then she turned +for one brief instant in my direction, and I saw her smile. Great God! +it was the smile of innocence. Fleeting as it was, the pride that was in +it, the sweet assertion and the joy were unmistakable. I felt like +springing to Sinclair's side in the gladness of my relief, but there was +no time; another door had opened down the hall, another person had +stepped upon the scene, and Miss Murray, as well as myself, recognized +by the hush which at once fell upon every one present that something of +still more startling import awaited us.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Armstrong and ladies!" said this stranger (I knew he was a stranger +by the studied formality of the former's bow). "I have made a few +inquiries since I came here a short time ago, and I find that there is +one young lady in the house who ought to be able to tell me better than +any one else under what circumstances Mrs. Lansing breathed her last. I +allude to her niece, who slept in the adjoining room. Is that young lady +here? Her name, if I remember rightly, is Camerden—Miss Dorothy +Camerden."</p> + +<p>A movement as of denial passed from group to group down the hall, and, +while no one glanced toward the library and some did glance up stairs, I +felt the dart of sudden fear—or was it hope—that Dorothy, hearing her +name called, would leave the conservatory and proudly confront the +speaker in face of this whole suspicious throng. But no Dorothy +appeared. On the contrary, it was Gilbertine who turned, and with an air +of authority for which no one was prepared, asked in tones vibrating +with feeling:</p> + +<p>"Has this gentleman the official right to question who was and who was +not with my aunt when she died?"</p> + +<p>Mr. Armstrong, who showed his surprise as ingenuously as he did every +other emotion, glanced up at the light figure hovering over them from +the staircase and made out to answer:</p> + +<p>"This gentleman has every right, Miss Murray. He is the coroner of the +town, accustomed to inquire into all cases of sudden death."</p> + +<p>"Then," she vehemently rejoined, her pale cheeks breaking out into a +scarlet flush, above which her eyes shone with an almost unearthly +brilliancy, "do not summon Dorothy Camerden. She is not the witness you +want. I am. I am the one who uttered that scream; I am the one who saw +our aunt die. Dorothy can not tell you what took place in her room and +at her bedside, for Dorothy was not there; but <i>I</i> can."</p> + +<p>Amazed, not as others were, at the assertion itself, but at the manner +and publicity of the utterance, I contemplated this surprising girl in +ever-increasing wonder. Always beautiful, always spirited and proud, she +looked at that moment as if nothing in the shape of fear, or even +contumely, could touch her. She faced the astonishment of her best +friends with absolute fearlessness, and before the general murmur could +break into words, added:</p> + +<p>"I feel it my duty to speak thus publicly, because, by keeping silent so +long, I have allowed a false impression to go about. Stunned with +terror, I found it impossible to speak during that first shock. Besides, +I was in a measure to blame for the catastrophe itself and lacked +courage to own it. It was I who took the little crystal flask into my +aunt's room. I had been fascinated by it from the first, fascinated +enough to long to see it closer and to hold it in my hand. But I was +ashamed of this fascination, ashamed, I mean, to have any one know that +I could be moved by such a childish impulse; so, instead of taking the +box itself, which might easily be missed, I simply abstracted the tiny +vial. It strikes me now as a very strange thing for me to do, but then +it seemed a natural enough impulse; and it was with a feeling of decided +satisfaction I carried this coveted object about with me till I got to +my room. Then, when the house was quiet and my room-mate asleep, I took +it out and looked at it, and feeling an irresistible desire to share my +amusement with my cousin, I stole to her room by means of the connecting +balcony, just as I had done many times before when our aunt was in bed +and asleep. But unlike any previous occasion, I found the room empty. +Dorothy was not there; but as the light was burning high I knew she +would soon be back and so ventured to step in. Instantly, I heard my +aunt's voice. She was awake and wanted something. She had evidently +called before, for her voice was sharp with impatience, and she used +some very harsh words. When she heard me in Dorothy's room, she shouted +again, and, as I have always been accustomed to obey her commands, I +hastened to her side, with the little vial concealed in my hand. As she +had expected to see Dorothy and not me, she rose up in unreasoning +anger, asking where my cousin was and why I was not in bed. I attempted +to answer her, but she would not listen to me and bade me turn up the +gas, which I did. Then with her eyes fixed on mine as though she knew I +was trying to conceal something from her, she commanded me to rearrange +her hair and make her more comfortable. This I could not do with the +tiny flask still in my hand, so with a quick movement, which I hoped +would pass unobserved, I slid it behind some bottles standing on a table +by the bedside, and bent to do what she required. But to attempt to +escape her eye was useless. She had seen my action and at once began to +feel about for what I had attempted to hide from her. Coming in contact +with the tiny flask, she seized it, and with a smile I shall never +forget held it up between us. 'What's this?' she cried, showing such +astonishment at its minuteness and perfection of shape that it was +immediately apparent she had heard nothing of the amethyst box displayed +by Mr. Sinclair in the library. 'I never saw a bottle as small as this +before. What is in it and why were you so afraid of my seeing it?' As +she spoke, she attempted to wrench out the stopper. It stuck, so I was +in hopes she would fail in the effort, but she was a woman of uncommon +strength and presently it yielded and I saw the vial open in her hand.</p> + +<p>"Aghast with terror, I caught at the table beside me, fearing to drop +before her eyes. Instantly, her look of curiosity changed to one of +suspicion, and repeating, 'What's in it? What's in it?' she raised the +flask to her nostrils, and when she found she could make out nothing +from the smell, lowered it to her lips, with the intention, I suppose, +of determining its contents by tasting them. As I caught sight of this +fatal action, and beheld the one drop, which Mr. Sinclair had said was +enough to kill a man, slip from its hiding-place of centuries into her +open throat, I felt as if the poison had entered my own veins; I could +neither speak nor move. But when, an instant later, I met the look which +spread suddenly over her face—a look of horror and hatred, accusing +horror and unspeakable hatred mingled with what I dimly felt must mean +death—an agonized cry burst from my lips, after which, panicstricken, I +flew as if for life, back by the way I had come, to my own room. This +was a great mistake. I should have remained with my aunt and boldly met +the results of the tragedy which my folly had brought about. But terror +knows no law, and having once yielded to the instinct of concealment, I +knew no other course than to continue to maintain an apparent ignorance +of what had just occurred. With chattering teeth and an awful numbness +at my heart, I tore off my wrapper and slid into bed. Miss Lane had not +wakened, but every one else had and the hall was full of people. This +terrified me still more, and for the moment I felt that I could never +own the truth and bring down upon myself all this wonder and curiosity. +So I allowed a wrong impression of the event to go about, for which act +of cowardice I now ask the pardon of every one here, as I have already +asked that of Mr. Sinclair and of our kind friend, Mr. Armstrong."</p> + +<p>She paused, and stood for a moment confronting us all with proud eyes +and flaming cheeks, then amid a hubbub which did not seem to affect her +in the least, she stepped down, and approaching the man who, she had +been told, had a right to her full confidence, she said, loud enough for +all who wished to hear her:</p> + +<p>"I am ready to give you whatever further information you may require. +Shall I step into the drawing-room with you?"</p> + +<p>He bowed and as they disappeared from the great hall the hubbub of +voices became tumultuous.</p> + +<p>Naturally I should have joined in the universal expressions of surprise +and the gossip incident to such an unexpected revelation. But I found +myself averse to any kind of talk. Till I could meet Sinclair's eye and +discern in it the happy clearing-up of all his doubts, I should not feel +free to be my own ordinary and sociable self again. But Sinclair showed +every evidence of wishing to keep in the background, and while this was +natural enough, so far as people in general were concerned, I thought it +odd and very unlike him not to give me an opportunity to express my +congratulations at the turn affairs had taken and the frank attitude +assumed by Gilbertine. I own I felt much disturbed by this neglect, and +as the minutes passed and he failed to appear, I found my satisfaction +in her explanations dwindle under the consciousness that they had +failed, in some respects, to account for the situation; and before I +knew it, I was the prey of fresh doubts which I did my best to smother, +not only for the sake of Sinclair, but because I was still too much +under the influence of Gilbertine's imposing personality to wish to +believe aught but what her burning words conveyed. She must have spoken +the truth, but was it the entire truth? I hated myself for asking the +question; hated myself for being more critical with her than I had been +with Dorothy, who certainly had not made her own part in this tragedy as +clear as one who loved her could wish. Ah, Dorothy! it was time some one +told her that Gilbertine had openly vindicated her and that she could +now come forth and face her friends without hesitation and without +dread. Was she still in the conservatory? Doubtless. But it would be +better perhaps for me to make sure.</p> + +<p>Approaching the place by the small door connecting it with the hall-way +in which I stood, I took a hurried look within, and, seeing no one, +stepped boldly down between the palms to the little nook where lovers of +this quiet spot were accustomed to sit. It was empty, and so was the +library beyond. Coming back, I accosted Dutton, whom I found +superintending the removal of the potted plants which encumbered the +passages, and asked him if he knew where Miss Camerden was? He answered +without hesitation that she had stood in the rear hall a little while +before, listening to Miss Murray; that she had then gone up stairs by +the spiral staircase, leaving word with him that if anybody wanted her +she would be found in the small boudoir over the porch.</p> + +<p>I thanked him and was on my way to join her, when Mr. Armstrong called +me. He must have kept me a half-hour in his room, discussing every +aspect of the affair and apologizing for the necessity which he now felt +for bidding farewell to most of his guests, among whom, he was careful +to state, he did not include me. Then, when I thought this topic +exhausted, he began to talk about his wife, and what this dreadful +occurrence was to her and how he despaired of ever reconciling her to +the fact that it had been considered necessary to call in a coroner. +Then he spoke of Sinclair, but with some constraint and a more careful +choice of words, at which, realizing that I was to reap nothing from +this interview, only suffer strong and continual irritation at a delay +which was costing me the inestimable privilege of being the first to +tell Dorothy of her reëstablishment in every one's good opinion, I +exerted myself for release and to such good purpose that I presently +found myself again in the hall, where the first person I ran against was +Sinclair.</p> + +<p>He started and so did I at this unexpected encounter. Then we stood +still, and I stared at him in amazement, for everything about the man +was changed, and—inexplicable fact!—in nothing was this change more +marked than in his attitude toward myself. Yet he tried to be friendly +and meet me on the old footing, and observed as soon as we found +ourselves beyond the hearing of others:</p> + +<p>"You heard what Gilbertine said. There is no reason for doubting her +words. <i>I</i> do not doubt them and you will show yourself my friend +by not doubting them either." Then with some impetuosity and a gleam +in his eye quite foreign to its natural expression, he pursued, with +a pitiful effort to speak dispassionately: "Our wedding is +postponed—indefinitely. There are reasons why this seemed best to Miss +Murray. To you, I will say, that postponed nuptials seldom culminate in +marriage. In fact, I have just released Miss Murray from all obligations +to myself."</p> + +<p>The stare of utter astonishment I gave him called up a flush, the first +and only one I have ever seen on his face. What was I to say, what could +I say, in response to such a declaration, following so immediately upon +his warm assertion of her innocence? Nothing. With that indefinable +chill between us, which had come I knew not how, I felt tongue-tied.</p> + +<p>He saw my embarrassment, possibly my emotion, for he smiled somewhat +bitterly and put a step or so between us before he remarked:</p> + +<p>"Miss Murray has my good wishes. Out of respect to her position I shall +show her a friend's attention while we remain in this house. That is all +I have to say, Walter. You and I have held our last conversation on this +subject."</p> + +<p>He was gone before I had sufficiently recovered to realize that in this +conversation I had had no part, neither had it contained any explanation +of the very facts which had once formed our greatest grounds for doubt, +namely, Beaton's dream, the smothered cry uttered behind Sinclair's +shoulder when he first made known the deadly qualities of the little +vial, and lastly, the strange desire acknowledged to by both these young +ladies to touch and hold an object calculated rather to repel than to +attract the normal feminine heart.</p> + +<p>At every previous stage of this ever-shifting drama, my instinct had +been to set my wits against the facts, and, if I could, puzzle out the +mystery. But I felt no such temptation now. My one desire was to act, +and that immediately. Dorothy, for all Gilbertine's intimation to the +contrary, held the key to the enigma in her own breast. Otherwise, she +would not have ventured upon that surprising and necessarily unpalatable +advice to Sinclair—an advice he seemed to have followed—not to marry +Gilbertine Murray at the time proposed. Nothing, short of a secret +acquaintanceship with facts unknown as yet to the rest of us, could have +nerved her to such an act.</p> + +<p>My one hope, then, of understanding the matter lay with her. To seek her +at once in the place where I had been told she awaited me seemed the +only course to take. If any real gratitude underlay the look of trust +which she had given me at the termination of our last interview, she +would reward my confidence in her by unbosoming herself to me.</p> + +<p>I was at the door of the boudoir immediately upon forming this +resolution. Finding it ajar, I pushed it softly open, and as softly +entered. To my astonishment, the place was very dark. Not only had the +shades been drawn down, but the shutters had been closed, so that it was +with difficulty I detected the slight, black-robed figure which lay, +face down, among the cushions of a lounge. She had evidently not heard +my entrance, for she did not move; and, struck by her pathetic attitude, +I advanced in a whirl of feeling which made me forget all +conventionalities and everything else, in fact, but that I loved her and +had the utmost confidence in her power to make me happy. Laying my hand +softly on her head, I tenderly whispered:</p> + +<p>"Look up, dear. Whatever barrier may have intervened between us has +fallen. Look up and hear how I love you."</p> + +<p>She thrilled as a woman only thrills when her secret soul is moved, and, +rising with a certain grand movement, turned her face upon me, glorious +with a feeling that not even the dimness of the room could hide.</p> + +<p>Why, then, did my brain whirl and my heart collapse?</p> + +<p>It was Gilbertine and not Dorothy who stood before me.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="IX" id="IX"></a>IX</h2> + +<h3>IN THE LITTLE BOUDOIR</h3> + + +<p>Never had a suspicion crossed my mind of any such explanation of our +secret troubles. I had seen as much of one cousin as the other in my +visits to Mrs. Lansing's house, but Gilbertine being from the first day +of our acquaintance engaged to my friend Sinclair, I naturally did not +presume to study her face for any signs of interest in myself, even if +my sudden and uncontrollable passion for Dorothy had left me the heart +to do so. Yet now, in the light of her unmistakable smile, of her +beaming eyes from which all troublous thoughts seemed to have fled for +ever, a thousand recollections forced themselves upon my attention which +not only made me bewail my own blindness, but which served to explain +the peculiar attitude always maintained toward me by Dorothy, and many +other things which a moment before had seemed fraught with impenetrable +mystery.</p> + +<p>All this in the twinkling of an eye. Meanwhile, misled by my words, +Gilbertine drew back a step and with her face still bright with the +radiance I have mentioned, murmured in low, but full-toned accents:</p> + +<p>"Not just yet! it is too soon. Let me simply enjoy the fact that I am +free and that the courage to win my release came from my own suddenly +acquired trust in Mr. Sinclair's goodness. Last night—" and she +shuddered—"I saw only another way—a way the horrors of which I hardly +realized. But God saved me from so dreadful, yea, so unnecessary a +crime, and this morning—"</p> + +<p>It was cruel to let her go on, cruel to stand there and allow this +ardent if mistaken nature to unfold itself so ingenuously, while I with +ear half-turned toward the door, listened for the step of her whom I had +never so much loved as at that moment—possibly because I had only just +come to understand the cause of her seeming vacillations. My instincts +were so imperative, my duty and the obligations of my position so +unmistakable, that I made a move as she reached this point, which caused +Gilbertine first to hesitate, then to stop. How should I fill up this +gap of silence? How tell her of the great, the grievous mistake she had +made? The task was one to try the courage of stouter souls than mine. +But the thought of Dorothy nerved me; perhaps, also, my real friendship +and commiseration for Sinclair.</p> + +<p>"Gilbertine," I began, "I will make no pretense of misunderstanding you. +The situation is too serious, the honor which you do me too great; only, +I am not free to accept that honor. The words which I uttered were meant +for your cousin Dorothy. I expected to find her in this room. I have +long loved your cousin—in secrecy, I own, but honestly and with every +hope of some day making her my wife. I—I—"</p> + +<p>There was no need for me to finish. The warm hand turning to ice in my +clasp, the wide-open, blind-struck eyes, the recoil, the maiden flush +rising, deepening, covering chin and cheek and forehead, then fading out +again till the whole face was white as marble and seemingly as +cold—told me that the blow had gone home and that Gilbertine Murray, +the unequalled beauty, the petted darling of a society who recognized +every charm she possessed save her ardent nature and great heart, had +reached the height of her many miseries and that it was I who had placed +her there.</p> + +<p>Overcome with pity, but conscious, also, of a profound respect, I +endeavored to utter some futile words, which she at once put an end to +by an appealing gesture.</p> + +<p>"You can say nothing," she began. "I have made an awful mistake, the +worst a woman can make, I think." Then, with long pauses, as though her +tongue were clogged by shame—perhaps by some deeper if less apparent +feeling—"You love Dorothy; does Dorothy love you?"</p> + +<p>My answer was an honest one.</p> + +<p>"I have dared to hope so, despite the little opportunity she has given +me to express my feelings. She has always held me back, and that very +decidedly, or my devotion would have been apparent to everybody."</p> + +<p>"Oh, Dorothy!"</p> + +<p>Regret, sorrow, infinite tenderness, all were audible in that cry. +Indeed, it seemed as if for the moment her thoughts were more taken up +with her cousin's unhappiness than with her own.</p> + +<p>"How I must have made her suffer! I have been a curse to those who loved +me. But I am humbled now, and very rightly."</p> + +<p>I began to experience a certain awe of this great nature. There was +grandeur even in her contrition and, as I took in the expression of her +colorless features, sweet with almost an unearthly sweetness in spite of +the anguish consuming her, I suddenly realized what Sinclair's love for +her must be. I also as suddenly realized the depth and extent of his +suffering. To call such a woman his, to lead her almost to the foot of +the altar and then to see her turn aside and leave him! Surely his lot +was an intolerable one, and, though the interference I had unconsciously +made in his wishes had been involuntary, I felt like cursing myself for +not having been more open in my attentions to the girl I really loved.</p> + +<p>Gilbertine seemed to divine my thoughts, for, pausing at the door she +had unconsciously approached, she stood with the knob in her hand, and, +with averted brow, remarked gravely:</p> + +<p>"I am going out of your life. Before I do so, however, I should like to +say a few words in palliation of my conduct. I have never known a +mother. I early fell under my aunt's charge, who, detesting children, +sent me away to school, where I was well enough treated, but never +loved. I was a plain child and felt my plainness. This gave an +awkwardness to my actions, and as my aunt had caused it to be distinctly +understood that her sole intention in sending me to the Academy was to +have me educated for a teacher, my position awakened little interest, +and few hearts, if any, warmed toward me. Meanwhile my breast was +filled with but one thought, one absorbing wish. I longed to love +passionately and be passionately loved in return. Had I found a +mate—but I never did. I was not destined for any such happiness.</p> + +<p>"Years passed. I was a woman, but neither my happiness nor my +self-confidence had kept pace with my growth. Girls who once passed me +with a bare nod now stopped to stare, sometimes to whisper comments +behind my back. I did not understand this change, and withdrew more and +more into myself and the fairy-land made for me by books. Romance was my +life, and I had fallen into the dangerous habit of brooding over the +pleasures and excitements which would have been mine had I been born +beautiful and wealthy, when my aunt suddenly visited the school, saw me +and at once took me away and placed me in the most fashionable school in +New York City. From there I was launched, without any word of motherly +counsel, into the gay society you know so well. Almost with my +coming-out I found the world at my feet and, though my aunt showed me no +love, she evinced a certain pride in my success and cast about to +procure for me a great match. Mr. Sinclair was the victim. He visited +me, took me to theaters and eventually proposed. My aunt was in +ecstasies. I, who felt helpless before her will, was glad that the +husband she had chosen for me was, at least, a gentleman, and, to all +appearances, respectable in his living and nice in his tastes. But he +was not the man I had dwelt on in my dreams, and while I accepted +him—(it was not possible to do anything else, with my aunt controlling +every action, if not every thought)—I cared so little for Mr. Sinclair +himself that I forgot to ask if his many attentions were the result of +any real feeling on his part or only such as he considered due to the +woman he expected to make his wife. You see what girls are. How I +despise myself now for this miserable frivolity!</p> + +<p>"All this time I knew that I was not my aunt's only niece; that Dorothy +Camerden, of whom I knew little but her name, was as closely related to +her as I was. For, true to her heartless code, my aunt had placed us in +separate schools and we had never met. When she found that I was to +leave her and that soon there would be nobody to see that her dresses +were bought with discretion, and her person attended to with something +like care, she sent for Dorothy. I shall never forget my first +impression of her. I had been told that I need not expect much in the +way of beauty and style, but from my first glimpse of her dear face, I +saw that my soul's friend had come and that, marriage or no marriage, I +need never be solitary again.</p> + +<p>"I do not think I made as favorable an impression on my cousin as she +did on me. Dorothy was new to elaborate dressing and to all the follies +of fashionable life, and her look had more of awe than expectation in +it. But I gave her a hearty kiss and in a week she was as brilliantly +equipped as myself.</p> + +<p>"I loved her, but, from blindness of eye or an overwhelming egotism +which God has certainly punished, I did not consider her beautiful. This +I must acknowledge to you, if only to complete my humiliation. I never +imagined for a moment, even after I became the daily witness of your +many attentions to her, that it was on her account you visited the house +so often. I had been so petted and spoiled since entering society that +I thought you were kind to her simply because honor forbade you +to be too kind to me; and seeing in you a man different from the +others—one—who—who pleased me as the heroes of my old romances had +pleased me, I gave you all my heart and, what was worse, <i>confided my +folly to Dorothy</i>.</p> + +<p>"You will have many a talk with her in the future, and some day she may +succeed in proving to you that it was vanity and not badness of heart +which led me to misunderstand your feelings. Having repressed my own +impulses so long, I saw in your reticence the evidences of a like +struggle; and when, immediately upon my break with Mr. Sinclair, you +entered here and said the words you did—Well, we have finished with +this subject for ever.</p> + +<p>"The explanations which I gave below, of the part I played in my aunt's +death were true. I only omitted one detail, which you may consider a +very important one. The fact which paralyzed my hand and voice when I +saw her lift the drop of death to her lips was this: I had meant to die +by this drop myself, in Dorothy's room, and with Dorothy's arms about +me. This was my secret—a secret which no one can blame me for keeping +as long as I could, and one which I should hardly have the courage to +disclose to you now if I had not already parted with it to the coroner, +who would not credit my story till I had told him the whole truth."</p> + +<p>"Gilbertine," I prayed, for I saw her fingers closing upon the knob she +had held lightly till now, "do not go till I have said this. A young +girl does not always know the demands of her own nature. The heart you +have ignored is one in a thousand. Do not let it slip from you. God +never gives a woman such a love twice."</p> + +<p>"I know it," she murmured, and turned the knob.</p> + +<p>I thought she was gone, and let the sigh which had been laboring at my +breast have vent, when suddenly I caught one last word whispered from +the threshold:</p> + +<p>"Throw back the shutters and let in the light. Dorothy is coming. I am +going now to call her."</p> + +<p>An hour had passed, the hour of hours for me, for in it the sun of my +happiness rose full-orbed and Dorothy and I came to understand each +other. We were sitting hand in hand in this blessed little boudoir, when +suddenly she turned her sweet face toward me and gently remarked:</p> + +<p>"This seems like selfishness on our part; but Gilbertine insisted. Do +you know what she is doing now? Helping old Mrs. Cummings and holding +Mrs. Barnstable's baby while her maid packs. She will work like that all +day, and with a smile, too. Oh, it is a rich nature, an ideal nature! I +think we can trust her now."</p> + +<p>I did not like to discuss Gilbertine even with Dorothy, so I said +nothing. But she was too full of her theme to stop. I think she wished +to unburden her mind once and for ever of all that had disturbed it.</p> + +<p>"Our aunt's death," she continued, "will be a sort of emancipation for +her. I don't think you, or any one out of our immediate household, can +realize the control which Aunt Hannah exerted over every one who came +within her daily influence. It would have been the same had she occupied +a dependent position instead of being the wealthy autocrat she was. In +her cold nature dwelt an imperiousness which no one could withstand. You +know how her friends, some of them as rich and influential as herself, +bowed to her will and submitted to her interference. What, then, could +you expect from two poor girls entirely dependent upon her for +everything they enjoyed? Gilbertine, with all her spirit, could not face +Aunt Hannah's frown, while I studied to have no wishes. Had this been +otherwise, had we found a friend instead of a tyrant in the woman who +took us into her home, Gilbertine might have gained more control over +her feelings. It was the necessity she felt of smothering her natural +impulses, and of maintaining in the house and before the world an +appearance of satisfaction in her position as bride-elect, which caused +her to fall into such extremes of despondency and deep despair. Her +self-respect was shocked. She felt that she was living a lie and hated +herself in consequence.</p> + +<p>"You may think I did wrong not to tell her of your affection for myself, +especially, after what you whispered into my ear that night at the +theater. I did do wrong; I see it now. She was really a stronger woman +than I thought and we might all have been saved the horrors which have +befallen us had I acted with more firmness at that time. But I was weak +and frightened. I held you back and let her go on deceiving herself, +which meant deceiving Mr. Sinclair, too. I thought, when she found +herself really married and settled in her own home, she would find it +easier to forget, and that soon, perhaps very soon, all this would seem +like a troubled dream to her. And there was reason for this hope on my +part. She showed a woman's natural interest in her outfit and the plans +for her new house, but when she heard you were to be Mr. Sinclair's best +man, every feminine instinct within her rebelled and it was with +difficulty she could prevent herself from breaking out into a loud No! +in face of aunt and lover. From this moment on her state of mind grew +desperate. In the parlor, at the theater, she was the brilliant girl +whom all admired and many envied; but in my little room at night she +would bury her face in my lap and talk of death, till I moved in a +constant atmosphere of dread. Yet, because she looked gay and laughed, I +turned a like face to the world and laughed also. We felt it was +expected of us, and the very nervous tension we were under made these +ebullitions easy. But I did not laugh so much after coming here. One +night I found her out of her bed long after every one else had retired +for the night. Next morning Mr. Beaton told a dream—I hope it was a +dream—but it frightened me. Then came that moment when Mr. Sinclair +displayed the amethyst box and explained with such a nonchalant air how +a drop from the little flask inside would kill a person. A toy, but so +deadly! I felt the thrill which shot like lightning through her, and +made up my mind she should never have the opportunity of touching that +box. And that is why I stole into the library at the first moment I had +to myself and took down the little box and hid it in my hair. I never +thought to look inside; I did not pause to think that it was the flask +and not the box she wanted, and consequently felt convinced of her +safety so long as I kept the latter successfully concealed in my hair. +You know the rest."</p> + +<p>Yes, I knew it. How she opened the box in her room and found it empty. +How she flew to Gilbertine's room, and, finding the door unlocked, +looked in, and saw Miss Lane lying there asleep but no Gilbertine. How +her alarm grew at this and how, forgetting that her cousin often stole +to her room by means of the connecting balcony, she had wandered over +the house in the hope of coming upon Gilbertine in one of the +down-stairs rooms. How her mind misgave her before she had entered the +great hall, and how she turned back only to hear that awful scream go up +as she was setting foot upon the spiral stair. I had heard it all before +and could imagine her terror and dismay; and why she found it impossible +to proceed any further, but clung to the stair-rail, half-alive and +half-dead, till she was found there by those seeking her and taken up to +her aunt's room. But she never told me, and I do not yet know, what her +thoughts or feelings were when, instead of seeing her cousin +outstretched in death on the bed they led her to, she beheld the +lifeless figure of her aunt. The reserve she maintained on this point +has been always respected by me. Let it continue to be so.</p> + +<p>When therefore she said, "You know the rest," I took her in my arms and +gave her my first kiss. Then I softly released her, and by tacit consent +we each went our way for that day.</p> + +<p>Mine took me into the hall below, which was all alive with the hum of +departing guests. Beaton was among them, and as he stepped out on the +porch I gave him a parting handclasp and quietly whispered:</p> + +<p>"When all dark things are made light, you will find that there was both +more and less to your dream than you were inclined to make out."</p> + +<p>He bowed, and that was the last word which ever passed between us on +this topic.</p> + +<p>But what chiefly impressed me in connection with this afternoon's events +was the short talk I had with Sinclair. I feared I forced this talk, but +I could not let the dreary day settle into still drearier night without +making clear to him a point which, in the new position he held toward +Gilbertine if not toward myself, might seem to be involved in some +doubt. When, therefore, I had the opportunity to accost him I did so, +and, without noting the formal bow with which he strove to hold back all +confidential communication, I said:</p> + +<p>"It is not a very propitious time for me to intrude my personal affairs +upon you, but I feel as if I should like you to know that the clouds +have been cleared away between Dorothy and myself, and that some day we +expect to marry."</p> + +<p>He gave me the earnest look of a man who has recovered his one friend. +Then he grasped my hand warmly, saying with something like his old +fervor:</p> + +<p>"You deserve all the happiness that awaits you. Mine is gone; but if I +can regain it, I will; trust me for that, Worthington."</p> + +<p>The coroner, who had seen much of life and human nature, managed with +much discretion the inquest he felt bound to hold. Mrs. Lansing was +found to have come to her death by a meddlesome interference with one of +her niece's wedding trinkets; and, as every one acquainted with Mrs. +Lansing knew her to be quite capable of such an act of malicious folly, +the verdict was duly accepted and the real heart of this tragedy closed +for ever from every human eye.</p> + +<p>As we were leaving Newport Sinclair stepped up to me.</p> + +<p>"I have reason to know," said he, "that Mrs. Lansing's bequests will be +a surprise, not only to her nieces, but to the world at large. Let me +advise you to announce your engagement before reaching New York."</p> + +<p>I followed his advice and in a few days understood why it had been +given. All the vast property owned by this woman had been left to +Dorothy. Gilbertine had been cut off without a cent.</p> + +<p>We never knew Mrs. Lansing's reason for this act. Gilbertine had always +been considered her favorite, and, had the will been a late one, it +would have been generally thought that she had left her thus unprovided +for solely in consideration of the great match which she expected her to +make. But the will was dated back several years,—long before +Gilbertine had met Mr. Sinclair, long before either niece had come to +live with Mrs. Lansing in New York. Had it always been the latter's +wish, then, to enrich the one and slight the other? It would seem so, +but why should the slighted one be Gilbertine?</p> + +<p>The only explanation I ever heard given was the partiality which Mrs. +Lansing felt for Dorothy's mother, or, rather, her lack of affection for +Gilbertine's. God knows if it is the true one, but whether so or not, +the discrimination she showed in her will put poor Gilbertine in a very +unfortunate position. At least, it would have done so, if Sinclair, with +an adroitness worthy of his love, had not proved to her that a break at +this time in their supposed relations would reflect most seriously upon +his disinterestedness and thus secured for himself opportunities for +urging his suit which ended, as such opportunities often do, in a +renewal of their engagement. But this time mutual love was its basis. +This was evident to any one who saw them together. But how the magic +was wrought, how this hard-to-be-won heart learned at last its true +allegiance, I did not know till later, and then it was told me by +Gilbertine herself.</p> + +<p>I had been married for some months and she for some weeks, when one +evening chance threw us together. Instantly, and as if she had waited +for this hour, she turned upon me with the beautiful smile which has +been hers ever since her new happiness came to her, and said:</p> + +<p>"You once gave me some very good advice, Mr. Worthington, but it was not +that which led me to realize Mr. Sinclair's affection. It was a short +conversation which passed between us on the day my aunt's will was read. +Do you remember my turning to speak to him the moment after that word +<i>all</i> fell from the lawyer's lips?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, Mrs. Sinclair." Alas! did I not! It was one of the most poignant +memories of my life. The look she gave him, and the look he gave her! +Indeed, I did remember.</p> + +<p>"It was to ask him one question,—a question to which misfortune only +could have given so much weight. Had my aunt taken him into her +confidence? Had he known that I had no place in her will? His answer was +very simple; a single word,—'always.' But after that, do I need to say +why I am a wife? why I am <i>his</i> wife?"</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="THE_HOUSE_IN_THE_MIST" id="THE_HOUSE_IN_THE_MIST"></a>THE HOUSE IN THE MIST</h2> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="IA" id="IA"></a>I</h2> + +<h3>AN OPEN DOOR</h3> + + +<p>It was a night to drive any man indoors. Not only was the darkness +impenetrable, but the raw mist enveloping hill and valley made the open +road anything but desirable to a belated wayfarer like myself.</p> + +<p>Being young, untrammeled, and naturally indifferent to danger, I was not +averse to adventure; and having my fortune to make, was always on the +lookout for El Dorado, which, to ardent souls, lies ever beyond the next +turning. Consequently, when I saw a light shimmering through the mist at +my right, I resolved to make for it and the shelter it so opportunely +offered.</p> + +<p>But I did not realize then, as I do now, that shelter does not +necessarily imply refuge, or I might not have undertaken this adventure +with so light a heart. Yet, who knows? The impulses of an unfettered +spirit lean toward daring, and youth, as I have said, seeks the strange, +the unknown and, sometimes, the terrible.</p> + +<p>My path toward this light was by no means an easy one. After confused +wanderings through tangled hedges, and a struggle with obstacles of +whose nature I received the most curious impression in the surrounding +murk, I arrived in front of a long, low building which, to my +astonishment, I found standing with doors and windows open to the +pervading mist, save for one square casement through which the light +shone from a row of candles placed on a long mahogany table.</p> + +<p>The quiet and seeming emptiness of this odd and picturesque building +made me pause. I am not much affected by visible danger, but this silent +room, with its air of sinister expectancy, struck me most unpleasantly, +and I was about to reconsider my first impulse and withdraw again to the +road, when a second look, thrown back upon the comfortable interior I +was leaving, convinced me of my folly and sent me straight toward the +door which stood so invitingly open.</p> + +<p>But half-way up the path, my progress was again stayed by the sight of a +man issuing from the house I had so rashly looked upon as devoid of all +human presence. He seemed in haste and, at the moment my eye first fell +on him, was engaged in replacing his watch in his pocket.</p> + +<p>But he did not shut the door behind him, which I thought odd, especially +as his final glance had been a backward one, and seemed to take in all +the appointments of the place he was so hurriedly leaving.</p> + +<p>As we met, he raised his hat. This likewise struck me as peculiar, for +the deference he displayed was more marked than that usually bestowed on +strangers, while his lack of surprise at an encounter more or less +startling in such a mist was calculated to puzzle an ordinary man like +myself. Indeed, he was so little impressed by my presence there that he +was for passing me without a word or any other hint of good fellowship, +save the bow of which I have spoken. But this did not suit me. I was +hungry, cold, and eager for creature comforts, and the house before me +gave forth not only heat, but a savory odor which in itself was an +invitation hard to ignore. I therefore accosted the man.</p> + +<p>"Will bed and supper be provided me here?" I asked. "I am tired out with +a long tramp over the hills, and hungry enough to pay anything in +reason—"</p> + +<p>I stopped, for the man had disappeared. He had not paused at my appeal +and the mist had swallowed him. But at the break in my sentence, his +voice came back in good-natured tones and I heard:</p> + +<p>"Supper will be ready at nine, and there are beds for all. Enter, sir; +you are the first to arrive, but the others can not be far behind."</p> + +<p>A queer greeting, certainly. But when I strove to question him as to its +meaning, his voice returned to me from such a distance that I doubted if +my words had reached him with any more distinctness than his answer +reached me.</p> + +<p>"Well!" thought I, "it isn't as if a lodging had been denied me. He +invited me to enter, and enter I will."</p> + +<p>The house, to which I now naturally directed a glance of much more +careful scrutiny than before, was no ordinary farm-building, but a +rambling old mansion, made conspicuously larger here and there by +jutting porches and more than one convenient lean-to. Though furnished, +warmed and lighted with candles, as I have previously described, it had +about it an air of disuse which made me feel myself an intruder, in +spite of the welcome I had received. But I was not in a position to +stand upon ceremony, and ere long I found myself inside the great room +and before the blazing logs whose glow had lighted up the doorway and +added its own attraction to the other allurements of the inviting place.</p> + +<p>Though the open door made a draft which was anything but pleasant, I did +not feel like closing it, and was astonished to observe the effect of +the mist through the square thus left open to the night. It was not an +agreeable one, and, instinctively turning my back upon that quarter of +the room, I let my eyes roam over the wainscoted walls and the odd +pieces of furniture which gave such an air of old-fashioned richness to +the place. As nothing of the kind had ever fallen under my eyes before, +I should have thoroughly enjoyed this opportunity of gratifying my taste +for the curious and the beautiful, if the quaint old chairs I saw +standing about me on every side had not all been empty. But the solitude +of the place, so much more oppressive than the solitude of the road I +had left, struck cold to my heart, and I missed the cheer rightfully +belonging to such attractive surroundings. Suddenly I bethought me of +the many other apartments likely to be found in so spacious a dwelling, +and, going to the nearest door, I opened it and called out for the +master of the house. But only an echo came back, and, returning to the +fire, I sat down before the cheering blaze, in quiet acceptance of a +situation too lonely for comfort, yet not without a certain piquant +interest for a man of free mind and adventurous disposition like myself.</p> + +<p>After all, if supper was to be served at nine, someone must be expected +to eat it: I should surely not be left much longer without companions.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile ample amusement awaited me in the contemplation of a picture +which, next to the large fireplace, was the most prominent object in the +room. This picture was a portrait, and a remarkable one. The countenance +it portrayed was both characteristic and forcible, and so interested me +that in studying it I quite forgot both hunger and weariness. Indeed its +effect upon me was such that, after gazing at it uninterruptedly for a +few minutes, I discovered that its various features—the narrow eyes in +which a hint of craft gave a strange gleam to their native intelligence; +the steadfast chin, strong as the rock of the hills I had wearily +tramped all day; the cunning wrinkles which yet did not interfere with +a latent great-heartedness that made the face as attractive as it was +puzzling—had so established themselves in my mind that I continued to +see them before me whichever way I turned, and found it impossible to +shake off their influence even after I had resolutely set my mind in +another direction by endeavoring to recall what I knew of the town into +which I had strayed.</p> + +<p>I had come from Scranton and was now, according to my best judgment, in +one of those rural districts of western Pennsylvania which breed such +strange and sturdy characters. But of this special neighborhood, its +inhabitants and its industries, I knew nothing nor was likely to, so +long as I remained in the solitude I have endeavored to describe.</p> + +<p>But these impressions and these thoughts—if thoughts they +were—presently received a check. A loud "Halloo" rose from somewhere in +the mist, followed by a string of muttered imprecations, which convinced +me that the person now attempting to approach the house was encountering +some of the many difficulties which had beset me in the same +undertaking a few minutes before.</p> + +<p>I therefore raised my voice and shouted out, "Here! this way!" after +which I sat still and awaited developments.</p> + +<p>There was a huge clock in one of the corners, whose loud tick filled up +every interval of silence. By this clock it was just ten minutes to +eight when two gentlemen (I should say men, and coarse men at that) +crossed the open threshold and entered the house.</p> + +<p>Their appearance was more or less note-worthy—unpleasantly so, I am +obliged to add. One was red-faced and obese, the other was tall, thin +and wiry and showed as many seams in his face as a blighted apple. +Neither of the two had anything to recommend him either in appearance or +address, save a certain veneer of polite assumption as transparent as it +was offensive. As I listened to the forced sallies of the one and the +hollow laugh of the other, I was glad that I was large of frame and +strong of arm and used to all kinds of men and—brutes.</p> + +<p>As these two new-comers seemed no more astonished at my presence than +the man I had met at the gate, I checked the question which +instinctively rose to my lips and with a simple bow,—responded to by a +more or less familiar nod from either,—accepted the situation with all +the <i>sang-froid</i> the occasion seemed to demand. Perhaps this was wise, +perhaps it was not; there was little opportunity to judge, for the start +they both gave as they encountered the eyes of the picture before +mentioned drew my attention to a consideration of the different ways in +which men, however similar in other respects, express sudden and +unlooked-for emotion. The big man simply allowed his astonishment, +dread, or whatever the feeling was which moved him, to ooze forth in a +cold and deathly perspiration which robbed his cheeks of color and cast +a bluish shadow over his narrow and retreating temples; while the thin +and waspish man, caught in the same trap (for trap I saw it was), +shouted aloud in his ill-timed mirth, the false and cruel character of +which would have made me shudder, if all expression of feeling on my +part had not been held in check by the interest I immediately +experienced in the display of open bravado with which, in another +moment, these two tried to carry off their mutual embarrassment.</p> + +<p>"Good likeness, eh?" laughed the seamy-faced man. "Quite an idea, that! +Makes him one of us again! Well, he's welcome—in oils. Can't say much +to us from canvas, eh?" And the rafters above him vibrated, as his +violent efforts at joviality went up in loud and louder assertion from +his thin throat.</p> + +<p>A nudge from the other's elbow stopped him and I saw them both cast +half-lowering, half-inquisitive glances in my direction.</p> + +<p>"One of the Witherspoon boys?" queried one.</p> + +<p>"Perhaps," snarled the other. "I never saw but one of them. There are +five, aren't there? Eustace believed in marrying off his gals young."</p> + +<p>"Damn him, yes. And he'd have married them off younger if he had known +how numbers were going to count some day among the Westonhaughs." And he +laughed again in a way I should certainly have felt it my business to +resent, if my indignation as well as the ill-timed allusions which had +called it forth had not been put to an end by a fresh arrival through +the veiling mist which hung like a shroud at the doorway.</p> + +<p>This time it was for me to experience a shock of something like fear. +Yet the personage who called up this unlooked-for sensation in my +naturally hardy nature was old and, to all appearance, harmless from +disability, if not from good will. His form was bent over upon itself +like a bow; and only from the glances he shot from his upturned eyes was +the fact made evident that a redoubtable nature, full of force and +malignity, had just brought its quota of evil into a room already +overflowing with dangerous and menacing passions.</p> + +<p>As this old wretch, either from the feebleness of age or from the +infirmity I have mentioned, had great difficulty in walking, he had +brought with him a small boy, whose business it was to direct his +tottering steps as best he could.</p> + +<p>But once settled in his chair, he drove away this boy with his pointed +oak stick, and with some harsh words about caring for the horse and +being on time in the morning, he sent him out into the mist. As this +little shivering and pathetic figure vanished, the old man drew, with +gasp and haw, a number of deep breaths which shook his bent back and did +their share, no doubt, in restoring his own disturbed circulation. Then, +with a sinister twist which brought his pointed chin and twinkling eyes +again into view, he remarked:</p> + +<p>"Haven't ye a word for kinsman Luke, you two? It isn't often I get out +among ye. Shakee, nephew! Shakee, Hector! And now who's the boy in the +window? My eyes aren't what they used to be, but he don't seem to favor +the Westonhaughs over-much. One of Salmon's four grandchildren, think +'e? Or a shoot from Eustace's gnarled old trunk? His gals all married +Americans, and one of them, I've been told, was a yellow-haired giant +like this fellow."</p> + +<p>As this description pointed directly toward me, I was about to venture a +response on my own account, when my attention, as well as theirs, was +freshly attracted by a loud "Whoa!" at the gate, followed by the hasty +but assured entrance of a dapper, wizen, but perfectly preserved little +old gentleman with a bag in his hand. Looking askance with eyes that +were like two beads, first at the two men who were now elbowing each +other for the best place before the fire, and then at the revolting +figure in the chair, he bestowed his greeting, which consisted of an +elaborate bow, not on them, but upon the picture hanging so +conspicuously on the open wall before him; and then, taking me within +the scope of his quick, circling glance, cried out with an assumption of +great cordiality:</p> + +<p>"Good evening, gentlemen; good evening one, good evening all. Nothing +like being on the tick. I'm sorry the night has turned out so badly. +Some may find it too thick for travel. That would be bad, eh? very +bad—for <i>them</i>."</p> + +<p>As none of the men he openly addressed saw fit to answer, save by the +hitch of a shoulder or a leer quickly suppressed, I kept silent also. +But this reticence, marked as it was, did not seem to offend the +new-comer. Shaking the wet from the umbrella he held, he stood the +dripping article up in a corner and then came and placed his feet on the +fender. To do this he had to crowd between the two men already occupying +the best part of the hearth. But he showed no concern at incommoding +them, and bore their cross looks and threatening gestures with +professional equanimity.</p> + +<p>"You know me?" he now unexpectedly snapped, bestowing another look over +his shoulder at that oppressive figure in the chair. (Did I say that I +had risen when the latter sat?) "I'm no Westonhaugh, I; nor yet a +Witherspoon nor a Clapsaddle. I'm only Smead, the lawyer. Mr. Anthony +Westonhaugh's lawyer," he repeated, with another glance of recognition +in the direction of the picture. "I drew up his last will and testament, +and, until all of his wishes have been duly carried out, am entitled by +the terms of that will to be regarded both legally and socially as his +representative. This you all know, but it is my way to make everything +clear as I proceed. A lawyer's trick, no doubt. I do not pretend to be +entirely exempt from such."</p> + +<p>A grumble from the large man, who seemed to have been disturbed in some +absorbing calculation he was carrying on, mingled with a few muttered +words of forced acknowledgment from the restless old sinner in the +chair, made it unnecessary for me to reply, even if the last comer had +given me the opportunity.</p> + +<p>"It's getting late!" he cried, with an easy garrulity rather amusing, +under the circumstances. "Two more trains came in as I left the depot. +If old Phil was on hand with his wagon, several more members of this +interesting family may be here before the clock strikes; if not, the +assemblage is like to be small. Too small," I heard him grumble a minute +after, under his breath.</p> + +<p>"I wish it were a matter of one," spoke up the big man, striking his +breast in a way to make it perfectly apparent whom he meant by that word +<i>one</i>. And having (if I may judge by the mingled laugh and growl of his +companions) thus shown his hand both figuratively and literally, he +relapsed into the calculation which seemed to absorb all of his +unoccupied moments.</p> + +<p>"Generous, very!" commented the lawyer in a murmur which was more than +audible. "Pity that sentiments of such broad benevolence should go +unrewarded."</p> + +<p>This, because at that very instant wheels were heard in front, also a +jangle of voices, in some controversy about fares, which promised +anything but a pleasing addition to the already none too desirable +company.</p> + +<p>"I suppose that's sister Janet," snarled out the one addressed as +Hector. There was no love in his voice, despite the relationship hinted +at, and I awaited the entrance of this woman with some curiosity.</p> + +<p>But her appearance, heralded by many a puff and pant which the damp air +exaggerated in a prodigious way, did not seem to warrant the interest I +had shown in it. As she stepped into the room, I saw only a big frowsy +woman, who had attempted to make a show with a new silk dress and a hat +in the latest fashion, but who had lamentably failed, owing to the +slouchiness of her figure and some misadventure by which her hat had +been set awry on her head and her usual complacency destroyed. Later, I +noted that her down-looking eyes had a false twinkle in them, and that, +commonplace as she looked, she was one to steer clear of in times of +necessity and distress.</p> + +<p>She, too, evidently expected to find the door open and people assembled, +but she had not anticipated being confronted by the portrait on the +wall, and cringed in an unpleasant way as she stumbled by it into one of +the ill-lighted corners.</p> + +<p>The old man, who had doubtless caught the rustle of her dress as she +passed him, emitted one short sentence.</p> + +<p>"Almost late," said he.</p> + +<p>Her answer was a sputter of words.</p> + +<p>"It's the fault of that driver," she complained. "If he had taken one +drop more at the half-way house, I might really not have got here at +all. That would not have inconvenienced <i>you</i>. But oh! what a grudge I +would have owed that skinflint brother of ours"—here she shook her fist +at the picture—"for making our good luck depend upon our arrival within +two short strokes of the clock!"</p> + +<p>"There are several to come yet," blandly observed the lawyer. But before +the words were well out of his mouth, we all became aware of a new +presence—a woman, whose somber grace and quiet bearing gave distinction +to her unobtrusive entrance, and caused a feeling of something like awe +to follow the first sight of her cold features and deep, heavily-fringed +eyes. But this soon passed in the more human sentiment awakened by the +soft pleading which infused her gaze with a touching femininity. She +wore a long loose garment which fell without a fold from chin to foot, +and in her arms she seemed to carry something.</p> + +<p>Never before had I seen so beautiful a woman. As I was contemplating +her, with respect but yet with a masculine intentness I could not quite +suppress, two or three other persons came in. And now I began to notice +that the eyes of all these people turned mainly one way, and that was +toward the clock. Another small circumstance likewise drew my attention. +Whenever any one entered,—and there were one or two additional arrivals +during the five minutes preceding the striking of the hour,—a frown +settled for an instant on every brow, giving to each and all a similar +look, for the interpretation of which I lacked the key. Yet not on every +brow either. There was one which remained undisturbed and showed only a +grand patience.</p> + +<p>As the hands of the big clock neared the point of eight, a furtive +smile appeared on more than one face; and when the hour rang out, a sigh +of satisfaction swept through the room, to which the little old lawyer +responded with a worldly-wise grunt, as he moved from his place and +proceeded to the door.</p> + +<p>This he had scarcely shut when a chorus of voices rose from without. +Three or four lingerers had pushed their way as far as the gate, only to +see the door of the house shut in their faces.</p> + +<p>"Too late!" growled old man Luke from between the locks of his long +beard.</p> + +<p>"Too late!" shrieked the woman who had come so near being late herself.</p> + +<p>"Too late!" smoothly acquiesced the lawyer, locking and bolting the door +with a deft and assured hand.</p> + +<p>But the four or five persons who thus found themselves barred out did +not accept without a struggle the decision of the more fortunate ones +assembled within. More than one hand began pounding on the door, and we +could hear cries of, "The train was behind time!" "Your clock is fast!" +"You are cheating us; you want it all for yourselves!" "We will have the +law on you!" and other bitter adjurations unintelligible to me from my +ignorance of the circumstances which called them forth.</p> + +<p>But the wary old lawyer simply shook his head and answered nothing; +whereat a murmur of gratification rose from within, and a howl of almost +frenzied dismay from without, which latter presently received point from +a startling vision which now appeared at the casement where the lights +burned. A man's face looked in, and behind it, that of a woman, so wild +and maddened by some sort of heart-break that I found my sympathies +aroused in spite of the glare of evil passions which made both of these +countenances something less than human.</p> + +<p>But the lawyer met the stare of these four eyes with a quiet chuckle, +which found its echo in the ill-advised mirth of those about him; and +moving over to the window where they still peered in, he drew together +the two heavy shutters which hitherto had stood back against the wall, +and, fastening them with a bar, shut out the sight of this despair, if +he could not shut out the protests which ever and anon were shouted +through the keyhole.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile, one form had sat through this whole incident without a +gesture; and on the quiet brow, from which I could not keep my eyes, no +shadows appeared save the perpetual one of native melancholy, which was +at once the source of its attraction and the secret of its power.</p> + +<p>Into what sort of gathering had I stumbled? And why did I prefer to +await developments rather than ask the simplest question of any one +about me?</p> + +<p>Meantime the lawyer had proceeded to make certain preparations. With the +help of one or two willing hands, he had drawn the great table into the +middle of the room and, having seen the candles restored to their +places, began to open his small bag and take from it a roll of paper and +several flat documents. Laying the latter in the center of the table and +slowly unrolling the former, he consulted, with his foxy eyes, the faces +surrounding him, and smiled with secret malevolence, as he noted that +every chair and every form were turned away from the picture before +which he had bent with such obvious courtesy, on entering. I alone stood +erect, and this possibly was why a gleam of curiosity was noticeable in +his glance, as he ended his scrutiny of my countenance and bent his gaze +again upon the paper he held.</p> + +<p>"Heavens!" thought I. "What shall I answer this man if he asks me why I +continued to remain in a spot where I have so little business." The +impulse came to go. But such was the effect of this strange convocation +of persons, at night and in a mist which was itself a nightmare, that I +failed to take action and remained riveted to my place, while Mr. Smead +consulted his roll and finally asked in a business-like tone, quite +unlike his previous sarcastic speech, the names of those whom he had the +pleasure of seeing before him.</p> + +<p>The old man in the chair spoke up first.</p> + +<p>"Luke Westonhaugh," he announced.</p> + +<p>"Very good!" responded the lawyer.</p> + +<p>"Hector Westonhaugh," came from the thin man.</p> + +<p>A nod and a look toward the next.</p> + +<p>"John Westonhaugh."</p> + +<p>"Nephew?" asked the lawyer.</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"Go on, and be quick; supper will be ready at nine."</p> + +<p>"Eunice Westonhaugh," spoke up a soft voice.</p> + +<p>I felt my heart bound as if some inner echo responded to that name.</p> + +<p>"Daughter of whom?"</p> + +<p>"Hudson Westonhaugh," she gently faltered. "My father is dead—died last +night;—I am his only heir."</p> + +<p>A grumble of dissatisfaction and a glint of unrelieved hate came from +the doubled-up figure, whose malevolence had so revolted me.</p> + +<p>But the lawyer was not to be shaken.</p> + +<p>"Very good! It is fortunate you trusted your feet rather than the +train. And now you! What is your name?"</p> + +<p>He was looking, not at me as I had at first feared, but at the man next +to me, a slim but slippery youth, whose small red eyes made me shudder.</p> + +<p>"William Witherspoon."</p> + +<p>"Barbara's son?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"Where are your brothers?"</p> + +<p>"One of them, I think, is outside"—here he laughed;—"the other +is—<i>sick</i>."</p> + +<p>The way he uttered this word made me set him down as one to be +especially wary of when he smiled. But then I had already passed +judgment on him at my first view.</p> + +<p>"And you, madam?"—this to the large, dowdy woman with the uncertain +eye, a contrast to the young and melancholy Eunice.</p> + +<p>"Janet Clapsaddle," she replied, waddling hungrily forward and getting +unpleasantly near the speaker, for he moved off as she approached, and +took his stand in the clear place at the head of the table.</p> + +<p>"Very good, Mistress Clapsaddle. You were a Westonhaugh, I believe?"</p> + +<p>"You <i>believe</i>, sneak-faced hypocrite that you are!" she blurted out. "I +don't understand your lawyer ways. I like plain speaking myself. Don't +you know me, and Luke and Hector, and—and most of us indeed, except +that puny, white-faced girl yonder, whom, having been brought up on the +other side of the Ridge, we have none of us seen since she was a +screaming baby in Hildegarde's arms. And the young gentleman over +there,"—here she indicated me—"who shows so little likeness to the +rest of the family. He will have to make it pretty plain who his father +was before we shall feel like acknowledging him, either as the son of +one of Eustace's girls, or a chip from brother Salmon's hard old block."</p> + +<p>As this caused all eyes to turn upon me, even <i>hers</i>, I smiled as I +stepped forward. The lawyer did not return that smile.</p> + +<p>"What is your name?" he asked shortly and sharply, as if he distrusted +me.</p> + +<p>"Hugh Austin," was my quiet reply.</p> + +<p>"There is no such name on the list," snapped old Smead, with an +authoritative gesture toward those who seemed anxious to enter a +protest.</p> + +<p>"Probably not," I returned, "for I am neither a Witherspoon, a +Westonhaugh nor a Clapsaddle. I am merely a chance wayfarer passing +through the town on my way west. I thought this house was a tavern, or +at least a place I could lodge in. The man I met in the doorway told me +as much, and so I am here. If my company is not agreeable, or if you +wish this room to yourselves, let me go into the kitchen. I promise not +to meddle with the supper, hungry as I am. Or perhaps you wish me to +join the crowd outside; it seems to be increasing."</p> + +<p>"No, no," came from all parts of the room. "Don't let the door be +opened. Nothing could keep Lemuel and his crowd out if they once got +foot over the threshold."</p> + +<p>The lawyer rubbed his chin. He seemed to be in some sort of quandary. +First he scrutinized me from under his shaggy brows with a sharp gleam +of suspicion; then his features softened and, with a side glance at the +young woman who called herself Eunice, (perhaps, because she was worth +looking at, perhaps because she had partly risen at my words), he +slipped toward a door I had before observed in the wainscoting on the +left of the mantelpiece, and softly opened it upon what looked like a +narrow staircase.</p> + +<p>"We can not let you go out," said he; "and we can not let you have a +finger in our viands before the hour comes for serving them; so if you +will be so good as to follow this staircase to the top, you will find it +ends in a room comfortable enough for the wayfarer you call yourself. In +that room you can rest till the way is clear for you to continue your +travels. Better, we can not do for you. This house is not a tavern, but +the somewhat valuable property of—" He turned with a bow and smile, as +every one there drew a deep breath; but no one ventured to end that +sentence.</p> + +<p>I would have given all my future prospects (which, by the way, were not +very great) to remain in that room. The oddity of the situation; the +mystery of the occurrence; the suspense I saw in every face; the +eagerness of the cries I heard redoubled from time to time outside; the +malevolence but poorly disguised in the old lawyer's countenance; and, +above all, the presence of that noble-looking woman, which was the one +off-set to the general tone of villainy with which the room was charged, +filled me with curiosity, if I might call it by no other name, that made +my acquiescence in the demand thus made upon me positively heroic. But +there seemed no other course for me to follow, and with a last lingering +glance at the genial fire and a quick look about me, which happily +encountered hers, I stooped my head to suit the low and narrow doorway +opened for my accommodation, and instantly found myself in darkness. The +door had been immediately closed by the lawyer's impatient hand.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="IIA" id="IIA"></a>II</h2> + +<h3>WITH MY EAR TO THE WAINSCOTING</h3> + + +<p>No move more unwise could have been made by the old lawyer,—that is, if +his intention had been to rid himself of an unwelcome witness. For, +finding myself thrust thus suddenly from the scene, I naturally stood +still instead of mounting the stairs, and, by standing still, discovered +that though shut from sight I was not from sound. Distinctly through the +panel of the door, which was much thinner, no doubt, than the old fox +imagined, I heard one of the men present shout out:</p> + +<p>"Well, that makes the number less by <i>one</i>!"</p> + +<p>The murmur which followed this remark came plainly to my ears, and, +greatly rejoicing over what I considered my good luck, I settled myself +on the lowest step of the stairs in the hope of catching some word +which would reveal to me the mystery of this scene.</p> + +<p>It was not long in coming. Old Smead had now his audience before him in +good shape, and his next words were of a character to make evident the +purpose of this meeting.</p> + +<p>"Heirs of Anthony Westonhaugh, deceased," he began in a sing-song voice +strangely unmusical, "I congratulate you upon your good fortune at being +at this especial moment on the inner rather than outer side of your +amiable relative's front door. His will, which you have assembled to +hear read, is well known to you. By it his whole property—(not so large +as some of you might wish, but yet a goodly property for farmers like +yourselves)—is to be divided this night, share and share alike, among +such of his relatives as have found it convenient to be present here +between the strokes of half-past seven and eight. If some of our friends +have failed us through sloth, sickness or the misfortune of mistaking +the road, they have our sympathy, but they can not have <i>his dollars</i>."</p> + +<p>"Can not have his dollars!" echoed a rasping voice which, from its +smothered sound, probably came from the bearded lips of the old +reprobate in the chair.</p> + +<p>The lawyer waited for one or two other repetitions of this phrase (a +phrase which, for some unimaginable reason, seemed to give him an odd +sort of pleasure), then he went on with greater distinctness and a +certain sly emphasis, chilling in effect but very professional:</p> + +<p>"Ladies and gentlemen: Shall I read this will?"</p> + +<p>"No, no! The division! the division! Tell us what we are to have!" rose +in a shout about him.</p> + +<p>There was a pause. I could imagine the sharp eyes of the lawyer +traveling from face to face as each thus gave voice to his cupidity, and +the thin curl of his lips as he remarked in a slow tantalizing way:</p> + +<p>"There was more in the old man's clutches than you think."</p> + +<p>A gasp of greed shook the partition against which my ear was pressed. +Some one must have drawn up against the wainscoting since my departure +from the room. I found myself wondering which of them it was. Meantime +old Smead was having his say, with the smoothness of a man who perfectly +understands what is required of him.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Westonhaugh would not have put you to so much trouble or had you +wait so long if he had not expected to reward you amply. There are +shares in this bag which are worth thousands instead of hundreds. Now, +now! stop that! hands off! hands off! there are calculations to make +first. How many of you are there? Count up, some of you."</p> + +<p>"Nine!" called out a voice with such rapacious eagerness that the word +was almost unintelligible.</p> + +<p>"Nine." How slowly the old knave spoke! What pleasure he seemed to take +in the suspense he purposely made as exasperating as possible!</p> + +<p>"Well, if each one gets his share, he may count himself richer by two +hundred thousand dollars than when he came in here to-night."</p> + +<p>Two hundred thousand dollars! They had expected no more than thirty. +Surprise made them speechless,—that is, for a moment; then a +pandemonium of hurrahs, shrieks and loud-voiced enthusiasm made the room +ring, till wonder seized them again, and a sudden silence fell, through +which I caught a far-off wail of grief from the disappointed ones +without, which, heard in the dark and narrow place in which I was +confined, had a peculiarly weird and desolate effect.</p> + +<p>Perhaps it likewise was heard by some of the fortunate ones within! +Perhaps one head, to mark which, in this moment of universal elation, I +would have given a year from my life, turned toward the dark without, in +recognition of the despair thus piteously voiced; but if so, no token of +the same came to me, and I could but hope that she had shown, by some +such movement, the natural sympathy of her sex.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile the lawyer was addressing the company in his smoothest and +most sarcastic tones.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Westonhaugh was a wise man, a very wise man," he droned. "He +foresaw what your pleasure would be, and left a letter for you. But +before I read it, before I invite you to the board he ordered to be +spread for you in honor of this happy occasion, there is one appeal he +bade me make to those I should find assembled here. As you know, he was +not personally acquainted with all the children and grandchildren of his +many brothers and sisters. Salmon's sons, for instance, were perfect +strangers to him, and all those boys and girls of the Evans' branch have +never been long enough this side of the mountains for him to know their +names, much less their temper or their lives. Yet his heirs—or such was +his wish, his great wish—must be honest men, righteous in their +dealings, and of stainless lives. If therefore, any one among you feels +that for reasons he need not state, he has no right to accept his share +of Anthony Westonhaugh's bounty, then that person is requested to +withdraw before this letter to his heirs is read."</p> + +<p>Withdraw? Was the man a fool? <i>Withdraw?</i>—these cormorants! these +suckers of blood! these harpies and vultures! I laughed as I imagined +sneaking Hector, malicious Luke or brutal John responding to this naïve +appeal, and then found myself wondering why no echo of my mirth came +from the men themselves. They must have seen much more plainly than I +did the ludicrousness of their weak old kinsman's demand; yet Luke was +still; Hector was still; and even John, and the three or four others I +have mentioned gave forth no audible token of disdain or surprise. I was +asking myself what sentiment of awe or fear restrained these selfish +souls, when I became conscious of a movement within, which presently +resolved itself into a departing footstep.</p> + +<p>Some conscience there had been awakened. Some one was crossing the floor +toward the door. Who? I waited in anxious expectancy for the word which +was to enlighten me. Happily it came soon, and from the old lawyer's +lips.</p> + +<p>"You do not feel yourself worthy?" he queried, in tones I had not heard +from him before. "Why? What have you done that you should forego an +inheritance to which these others feel themselves honestly entitled?"</p> + +<p>The voice which answered gave both my mind and heart a shock. It was +<i>she</i> who had risen at this call. <i>She</i>, the only true-faced person +there!</p> + +<p>Anxiously I listened for her reply. Alas! it was one of action rather +than speech. As I afterward heard, she simply opened her long cloak and +showed a little infant slumbering in her arms.</p> + +<p>"This is my reason," said she. "I have sinned in the eyes of the world, +therefore I can not take my share of Uncle Anthony's money. I did not +know he exacted an unblemished record from those he expected to enrich, +or I would not have come."</p> + +<p>The sob which followed these last words showed at what a cost she thus +renounced a fortune of which she, of all present, perhaps, stood in the +greatest need; but there was no lingering in her step; and to me, who +understood her fault only through the faint sound of infantile wailing +which accompanied her departure, there was a nobility in her action +which raised her in an instant to an almost ideal height of unselfish +virtue.</p> + +<p>Perhaps they felt this, too. Perhaps even these hardened men and the +more than hardened woman whose presence was in itself a blight, +recognized heroism when they saw it; for when the lawyer, with a certain +obvious reluctance, laid his hand on the bolts of the door with the +remark: "This is not my work, you know; I am but following out +instructions very minutely given me," the smothered growls and grunts +which rose in reply lacked the venom which had been infused into all +their previous comments.</p> + +<p>"I think our friends out there are far enough withdrawn, by this time, +for us to hazard the opening of the door," the lawyer now remarked. +"Madam, I hope you will speedily find your way to some comfortable +shelter."</p> + +<p>Then the door opened, and after a moment, closed again in a silence +which at least was respectful. Yet I warrant there was not a soul +remaining who had not already figured in his mind to what extent his own +fortune had been increased by the failure of one of their number to +inherit.</p> + +<p>As for me, my whole interest in the affair was at an end, and I was only +anxious to find my way to where this desolate woman faced the mist with +her unfed baby in her arms.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="IIIA" id="IIIA"></a>III</h2> + +<h3>A LIFE DRAMA</h3> + + +<p>But to reach this wanderer, it was first necessary for me to escape from +the house. This proved simple enough. The up-stairs room toward which I +rushed had a window overlooking one of the many lean-tos already +mentioned. This window was fastened, but I had no difficulty in +unlocking it or in finding my way to the ground from the top of the +lean-to. But once again on terra-firma, I discovered that the mist was +now so thick that it had all the effect of a fog at sea. It was icy cold +as well, and clung about me so that I presently began to shudder most +violently, and, strong man though I was, wish myself back in the little +attic bedroom from which I had climbed in search of one in more unhappy +case than myself.</p> + +<p>But these feelings did not cause me to return. If I found the night +cold, she must find it bitter. If desolation oppressed my naturally +hopeful spirit, must it not be more overwhelming yet to one whose +memories were sad and whose future was doubtful? And the child! What +infant could live in an air like this! Edging away from the house, I +called out her name, but no answer came back. The persons whom we had +heard flitting in restless longing about the house a few moments before +had left in rage and she, possibly, with them. Yet I could not imagine +her joining herself to people of their stamp. There had been a +solitariness in her aspect which seemed to forbid any such +companionship. Whatever her story, at least she had nothing in common +with the two ill-favored persons whose faces I had seen looking in at +the casement. No; I should find her alone, but where? Certainly the ring +of mist, surrounding me at that moment, offered me little prospect of +finding her anywhere, either easily or soon.</p> + +<p>Again I raised my voice, and again I failed to meet with response. +Then, fearing to leave the house lest I should be quite lost amid the +fences and brush lying between it and the road, I began to feel my way +along the walls, calling softly now, instead of loudly, so anxious was I +not to miss any chance of carrying comfort, if not succor, to the woman +I was seeking. But the night gave back no sound, and when I came to the +open door of a shed, I welcomed the refuge it offered and stepped in. I +was, of course, confronted by darkness,—a different darkness from that +without, blanket-like and impenetrable. But when after a moment of +intense listening I heard a soft sound as of weariful breathing, I was +seized anew by hope, and, feeling in my pocket for my match-box, I made +a light and looked around.</p> + +<p>My intuitions had not deceived me; she was there. Sitting on the floor +with her cheek pressed against the wall, she revealed to my eager +scrutiny only the outlines of her pure, pale profile; but in those +outlines and on those pure, pale features, I saw such an abandonment of +hope, mingled with such quiet endurance, that my whole soul melted +before it, and it was with difficulty I managed to say:</p> + +<p>"Pardon! I do not wish to intrude; but I am shut out of the house also; +and the night is raw and cold. Can I do nothing for your comfort or +for—for the child's?"</p> + +<p>She turned toward me and I saw a tremulous gleam of pleasure disturb the +somber stillness of her face; then the match went out in my hand, and we +were again in complete darkness. But the little wail, which at the same +instant rose from between her arms, filled up the pause, as her sweet +"Hush!" filled my heart.</p> + +<p>"I am used to the cold," came in another moment from the place where she +crouched. "It is the child—she is hungry; and I—I walked +here—feeling, hoping that, as my father's heir, I might partake in some +slight measure of Uncle Anthony's money. Though my father cast me out +before he died, and I have neither home nor money, I do not complain. I +forfeited all when—" another wail, another gentle "hush!"—then +silence.</p> + +<p>I lit another match. "Look in my face!" I prayed. "I am a stranger, and +you would be showing only proper prudence not to trust me. But I +overheard your words when you withdrew from the room where your fortune +lay; and I honor you, madam. If food can be got for your little one, I +will get it."</p> + +<p>I caught sight of the convulsive clasp with which she drew to her breast +the tiny bundle she held, then darkness fell again.</p> + +<p>"A little bread," she entreated; "a little milk—ah, baby, baby, hush!"</p> + +<p>"But where can I get it?" I cried. "They are at table inside. I hear +them shouting over their good cheer. But perhaps there are neighbors +near by; do you know?"</p> + +<p>"There are no neighbors," she replied. "What is got must be got here. I +know a way to the kitchen; I used to visit Uncle Anthony when a little +child; if you have the courage—"</p> + +<p>I laughed. This token of confidence seemed to reassure her. I heard her +move; possibly she stood up.</p> + +<p>"In the further corner of this shed," said she, "there used to be a +trap, connecting this floor with an underground passageway. A ladder +stood against the trap, and the small cellar at the foot communicated by +means of an iron-bound door with the large one under the house. Eighteen +years ago the wood of that door was old; now it should be rotten. If you +have the strength—"</p> + +<p>"I will make the effort and see," said I. "But when I am in the cellar, +what then?"</p> + +<p>"Follow the wall to the right; you will come to a stone staircase. As +this staircase has no railing, be careful in ascending it. At the top +you will find a door; it leads into a pantry adjoining the kitchen. Some +one will be in that pantry. Some one will give you a bite for the child; +and when she is quieted and the sun has risen, I will go away. It is my +duty to do so. My uncle was always upright, if cold. He was perfectly +justified in exacting rectitude in his heirs."</p> + +<p>I might have rejoined by asking if she detected rectitude in the faces +of the greedy throng she had left behind her with the guardian of this +estate; but I did not. I was too intent upon following out her +directions. Lighting another match, I sought the trap. Alas! it was +burdened with a pile of sticks and rubbish which looked as if they had +lain there for years. As these had to be removed in total darkness, it +took me some time. But once this debris had been scattered and thrown +aside, I had no difficulty in finding the trap and, as the ladder was +still there, I was soon on the cellar-bottom. When, by the reassuring +shout I gave, she knew that I had advanced thus far, she spoke, and her +voice had a soft and thrilling sound.</p> + +<p>"Do not forget your own needs," she said. "We two are not so hungry that +we can not wait for you to take a mouthful. I will sing to the baby. +Good-by."</p> + +<p>These ten minutes we had spent together had made us friends. The warmth, +the strength which this discovery brought, gave to my arm a force that +made that old oak door go down before me in three vigorous pushes.</p> + +<p>Had the eight fortunate ones above not been indulging in a noisy +celebration of their good luck, they must have heard the clatter of this +door when it fell. But good eating, good drink, and the prospect of an +immediate fortune far beyond their wildest dreams, made all ears deaf; +and no pause occurred in the shouts of laughter and the hum of +good-fellowship which sifted down between the beams supporting the house +above my head. Consequently little or no courage was required for the +completion of my adventure; and before long I came upon the staircase +and the door leading from its top into the pantry. The next minute I was +in front of that door.</p> + +<p>But here a surprise awaited me. The noise which had hitherto been loud +now became deafening, and I realized that, contrary to Eunice +Westonhaugh's expectation, the supper had been spread in the kitchen and +that I was likely to run amuck of the whole despicable crowd in any +effort I might make to get a bite for the famished baby.</p> + +<p>I therefore naturally hesitated to push open the door, fearing to draw +attention to myself; and when I did succeed in lifting the latch and +making a small crack, I was so astonished by the sudden lull in the +general babble, that I drew hastily back and was for descending the +stairs in sudden retreat.</p> + +<p>But I was prevented from carrying out this cowardly impulse, by catching +the sound of the lawyer's voice, addressing the assembled guests.</p> + +<p>"You have eaten and you have drunk," he was saying; "you are therefore +ready for the final toast. Brothers, nephews—heirs all of Anthony +Westonhaugh, I rise to propose the name of your generous benefactor, +who, if spirits walk this earth, must certainly be with us to-night."</p> + +<p>A grumble from more than one throat and an uneasy hitch from such +shoulders as I could see through my narrow vantage-hole testified to the +rather doubtful pleasure with which this suggestion was received. But +the lawyer's tones lost none of their animation as he went on to say:</p> + +<p>"The bottle, from which your glasses are to be replenished for this +final draft, he has himself provided. So anxious was he that it should +be of the very best and altogether worthy of the occasion it is to +celebrate, that he gave into my charge, almost with his dying breath, +this key, telling me that it would unlock a cupboard here in which he +had placed a bottle of wine of the very rarest vintage. This is the key, +and yonder, if I do not mistake, is the cupboard."</p> + +<p>They had already quaffed a dozen toasts. Perhaps this was why they +accepted this proposition in a sort of panting silence, which remained +unbroken while the lawyer crossed the floor, unlocked the cupboard and +brought out before them a bottle which he held up before their eyes with +a simulated glee almost saturnine.</p> + +<p>"Isn't that a bottle to make your eyes dance? The very cobwebs on it are +eloquent. And see! look at this label. Tokay, friends, real Tokay! How +many of you ever had the opportunity of drinking real Tokay before?"</p> + +<p>A long deep sigh from a half-dozen throats in which some strong but +hitherto repressed passion, totally incomprehensible to me, found sudden +vent, rose in one simultaneous sound from about that table, and I heard +one jocular voice sing out:</p> + +<p>"Pass it around, Smead. I'll drink to Uncle Anthony out of that bottle +till there isn't a drop left to tell what was in it!"</p> + +<p>But the lawyer was in no hurry.</p> + +<p>"You have forgotten the letter, for the hearing of which you are called +together. Mr. Anthony Westonhaugh left behind him a letter. The time is +now come for reading it."</p> + +<p>As I heard these words and realized that the final toast was to be +delayed and that some few moments must yet elapse before the room would +be cleared and an opportunity given me for obtaining what I needed for +the famishing mother and child, I felt such impatience with the fact +and so much anxiety as to the condition of those I had left behind me +that I questioned whether it would not be better for me to return to +them empty-handed than to leave them so long without the comfort of my +presence, when the fascination of the scene again seized me and I found +myself lingering to mark its conclusion with an avidity which can only +be explained by my sudden and intense consciousness of what it all might +mean to her whose witness I had thus inadvertently become.</p> + +<p>The careful lawyer began by quoting the injunction with which this +letter had been put in his hands. "'When they are warm with food and +wine, but not too warm,'—thus his adjuration ran, 'then let them hear +my first and only words to them.' I know you are eager for these words. +Folk so honest, so convinced of their own purity and uprightness that +they can stand unmoved while the youngest and most helpless among them +withdraws her claim to wealth and independence rather than share an +unmerited bounty, such folk, I say, must be eager, must be anxious to +know why they have been made the legatees of so great a fortune, under +the easy conditions and amid such slight restrictions as have been +imposed upon them by their munificent kinsman."</p> + +<p>"I had rather go on drinking toasts," babbled one thick voice.</p> + +<p>"I had rather finish my figuring," growled another, in whose grating +tones no echo remained of Hector Westonhaugh's formerly honeyed voice. +"I am making out a list of stock—"</p> + +<p>"Blast your stock! that is, if you mean horses and cows!" screamed a +third. "I'm going in for city life. With less money than we have got, +Andreas Amsberger got to be alderman—"</p> + +<p>"Alderman!" sneered the whole pack; and the tumult became general. "If +more of us had been sick," called out one; "or if Uncle Luke, say, had +tripped into the ditch instead of on the edge of it, the fellows who +came safe through might have had anything they wanted, even to the +governorship of the state or—or—"</p> + +<p>"Silence!" came in commanding tones from the lawyer, who had begun to +let his disgust appear, perhaps because he held under his thumb the +bottle upon which all eyes were now lovingly centered; so lovingly, +indeed, that I ventured to increase, in the smallest perceptible degree, +the crack by means of which I was myself an interested, if unseen, +participator in this scene.</p> + +<p>A sight of Smead, and a partial glimpse of old Luke's covetous profile, +rewarded this small act of daring on my part. The lawyer was standing; +all the rest were sitting. Perhaps he alone retained sufficient +steadiness to stand; for I observed by the control he exercised over +this herd of self-seekers, that he alone had not touched the cup which +had so freely gone about among the others. The woman was hidden from me, +but the change in her voice, when by any chance I heard it, convinced me +that she had not disdained the toasts drunk by her brothers and +nephews.</p> + +<p>"Silence!" the lawyer reiterated, "or I will smash this bottle on the +hearth." He raised it in one threatening hand and every man there seemed +to tremble, while old Luke put out his long fingers with an entreaty +that ill became them. "You want to hear the letter?" old Smead called +out. "I thought so."</p> + +<p>Putting the bottle down again, but still keeping one hand upon it, he +drew a folded paper from his breast. "This," said he, "contains the +final injunctions of Anthony Westonhaugh. You will listen, all of you; +listen till I am done; or I will not only smash this bottle before your +eyes, but I will keep for ever buried in my breast the whereabouts of +certain drafts and bonds in which, as his heirs, you possess the +greatest interest. Nobody but myself knows where these papers can be +found."</p> + +<p>Whether this was so, or whether the threat was an empty one thrown out +by this subtile old schemer for the purpose of safeguarding his life +from their possible hate and impatience, it answered his end with these +semi-intoxicated men, and secured him the silence he demanded. Breaking +open the seal of the envelope he held, he showed them the folded sheet +which it contained, with the remark:</p> + +<p>"I have had nothing to do with the writing of this letter. It is in Mr. +Westonhaugh's own hand, and he was not even so good as to communicate to +me the nature of its contents. I was bidden to read it to such as should +be here assembled under the provisos mentioned in his will; and as you +are now in a condition to listen, I will proceed with my task as +required."</p> + +<p>This was my time for leaving, but a certain brooding terror, latent in +the air, held me chained to the spot, listening with my ears, but +receiving the full sense of what was read from the expression of old +Luke's face, which was probably more plainly visible to me than to those +who sat beside him. For, being bent almost into a bow, as I have said, +his forehead came within an inch of touching his plate, and one had to +look under his arms, as I did, to catch the workings of his evil mouth, +as old Smead gave forth, in his professional sing-song, the following +words from his departed client:</p> + +<p>"Brothers, nephews and heirs! Though the earth has lain upon my breast a +month, I am with you here to-night."</p> + +<p>A snort from old Luke's snarling lips; and a stir—not a comfortable +one—in the jostling crowd, whose shaking arms and clawing hands I could +see projecting here and there over the board.</p> + +<p>"My presence at this feast—a presence which, if unseen, can not be +unfelt, may bring you more pain than pleasure. But if so, it matters +little. You are my natural heirs and I have left you my money; why, when +so little love has characterized our intercourse, must be evident to +such of my brothers as can recall their youth and the promise our father +exacted from us on the day we set foot in this new land.</p> + +<p>"There were nine of us in those days: Luke, Salmon, Barbara, Hector, +Eustace, Janet, Hudson, William and myself; and all save one were +promising, in appearance at least. But our father knew his offspring, +and when we stood, an alien and miserable band in front of Castle +Garden, at the foot of the great city whose immensity struck terror to +our hearts, he drew all our hands together and made us swear by the soul +of our mother, whose body we had left in the sea, that we would keep the +bond of brotherhood intact, and share with mutual confidence whatever +good fortune this untried country might hold in store for us. You were +strong and your voices rang out loudly. Mine was faint, for I was +weak—so weak that my hand had to be held in place by my sister Barbara. +But my oath has never lost its hold upon my heart, while yours—answer +how you have kept it, Luke; or you, Janet; or you Hector, of the smooth +tongue and vicious heart; or you, or you, who, from one stock, recognize +but one law: the law of cold-blooded selfishness which seeks its own in +face of all oaths and at the cost of another man's heart-break.</p> + +<p>"This I say to such as know my story. But lest there be one amongst you +who has not heard from parent or uncle the true tale of him who has +brought you all under one roof to-night, I will repeat it here in words, +that no man may fail to understand why I remembered my oath through life +and beyond death, yet stand above you an accusing spirit while you quaff +me toasts and count the gains my justice divides among you.</p> + +<p>"I, as you all remember, was the weak one—the ne'er-do-weel. When all +of you were grown and had homes of your own, I still remained under the +family roof-tree, fed by our father's bounty and looking to our father's +justice for that share of his savings which he had promised to all +alike. When he died it came to me as it came to you; but I had married +before that day; married, not, like the rest of you, for what a wife +could bring, but for sentiment and true passion. This, in my case, meant +a loving wife, but a frail one; and while we lived a little while on the +patrimony left us, it was far too small to support us long without some +aid from our own hands; and our hands were feeble and could not work. +And so we fell into debt for rent and, ere long, for the commonest +necessities of life. In vain I struggled to redeem myself; the time of +my prosperity had not come and I only sank deeper and deeper into debt +and finally into indigence. A baby came. Our landlord was kind and +allowed us to stay for two weeks under the roof for whose protection we +could not pay; but at the end of that time we were asked to leave; and I +found myself on the road with a dying wife, a wailing infant, no money +in my purse and no power in my arm to earn any. Then when heart and hope +were both failing, I recalled that ancient oath and the six prosperous +homes scattered up and down the very highway on which I stood. I could +not leave my wife; the fever was in her veins and she could not bear me +out of her sight; so I put her on a horse, which a kind old neighbor was +willing to lend me, and holding her up with one hand, guided the horse +with the other, to the home of my brother Luke. He was a straight +enough fellow in those days—physically, I mean—and he looked able and +strong that morning, as he stood in the open doorway of his house, +gazing down at us as we halted before him in the roadway. But his temper +had grown greedy with the accumulation of a few dollars, and he shook +his head as he closed his door, saying he remembered no oath and that +spenders must expect to be beggars.</p> + +<p>"Struck to the heart by a rebuff which meant prolongation of the +suffering I saw in my dear wife's eyes, I stretched up and kissed her +where she sat half-fainting on the horse; then I moved on. I came to +Barbara's home next. She had been a little mother to me once; that is, +she had fed and dressed me, and doled out blows and caresses, and taught +me to read and sing. But Barbara in her father's home and without +fortune was not the Barbara I saw on the threshold of the little cottage +she called her own. She heard my story; looked in the face of my wife +and turned her back. She had no place for idle folk in her little house; +if we would work she would feed us; but we must earn our supper or go +hungry to bed. I felt the trembling of my wife's frame where she leaned +against my arm, and kissing her again, led her on to Salmon's. Luke, +Hector, Janet, have you heard him tell of that vision at his gateway, +twenty-five years ago? He is not amongst you. For twelve years he has +lain beside our father in the churchyard, but his sons may be here, for +they were ever alert when gold was in sight or a full glass to be +drained. Ask <i>them</i>, ask John, whom I saw skulking behind his cousins at +the garden fence that day, what it was they saw as I drew rein under the +great tree which shadowed their father's doorstep.</p> + +<p>"The sunshine had been pitiless that morning, and the head, for whose +rest in some loving shelter I would have bartered soul and body, had +fallen sidewise till it lay on my arm. Pressed to her breast was our +infant, whose little wail struck in pitifully as Salmon called out: +'What's to do here to-day!' Do you remember it, lads? or how you all +laughed, little and great, when I asked for a few weeks' stay under my +brother's roof till we could all get well and go about our tasks again? +<i>I</i> remember. I, who am writing these words from the very mouth of the +tomb, <i>I</i> remember; but I did not curse you. I only rode on to the next. +The way ran uphill now; and the sun which, since our last stop, had been +under a cloud, came out and blistered my wife's cheeks, already burning +red with fever. But I pressed my lips upon them, and led her on. With +each rebuff I gave her a kiss; and her smile, as her head pressed harder +and harder upon my arm now exerting all its strength to support her, +grew almost divine. But it vanished at my nephew Lemuel's.</p> + +<p>"He was shearing sheep, and could give no time to company; and when, +late in the day, I drew rein at Janet's, and she said she was going to +have a dance and could not look after sick folk, the pallid lips failed +to return my despairing embrace; and in the terror which this brought me +I went down, in the gathering twilight, into the deep valley where +William raised his sheep and reckoned, day by day, the increase among +his pigs. Oh, the chill of that descent! Oh, the gloom of the gathering +shadows! As we neared the bottom and I heard a far-off voice shout out a +hoarse command, some instinct made me reach up for the last time and +bestow that faithful kiss, which was at once her consolation and my +prayer. My lips were cold with the terror of my soul, but they were not +so cold as the cheek they touched, and, shrieking in my misery and need, +I fell before William where he halted by the horse-trough and—He was +always a hard man, was William, and it was a shock to him, no doubt, to +see us standing in our anguish and necessity before him; but he raised +the whip in his hand and, when it fell, my arm fell with it and she +slipped from my grasp to the ground, and lay in a heap in the roadway.</p> + +<p>"He was ashamed next minute and pointed to the house near-by. But I did +not carry her in, and she died in the roadway. Do you remember it, +Luke? Do you remember it, Lemuel?</p> + +<p>"But it is not of this I complain at this hour, nor is it for this I ask +you to drink the toast I have prepared for you."</p> + +<p>The looks, the writhings of old Luke and such others as I could now see +through the widening crack my hands unconsciously made in the doorway, +told me that the rack was at work in this room so lately given up to +revelry. Yet the mutterings, which from time to time came to my ears +from one sullen lip or another, did not rise into frightened imprecation +or even into any assertion of sorrow or contrition. It seemed as if some +suspense, common to all, held them speechless if not dumbly +apprehensive; and while the lawyer said nothing in recognition of this, +he could not have been quite blind to it, for he bestowed one curious +glance around the table before he proceeded with old Anthony's words.</p> + +<p>Those words had now become short, sharp, and accusatory.</p> + +<p>"My child lived; and what remained to me of human passion and longing +centered in his frail existence. I managed to earn enough for his eating +and housing, and in time I was almost happy again. This was while our +existence was a struggle; but when, with the discovery of latent powers +in my own mind, I began to find my place in the world and to earn money, +then your sudden interest in my boy taught me a new lesson in human +selfishness; but not, as yet, new fears. My nature was not one to grasp +ideas of evil, and the remembrance of that oath still remained to make +me lenient toward you.</p> + +<p>"I let him see you; not much, not often, but yet often enough for him to +realize that he had uncles and cousins, or, if you like it better, +kindred. And how did you repay this confidence on my part? What hand had +ye in the removal of this small barrier to the fortune my own poor +health warranted you in looking upon, even in those early days, as your +own? To others' eyes it may appear, none; to mine, ye are one and all +his murderers, as certainly as all of you were the murderers of the good +physician hastening to his aid. For his illness was not a mortal one. He +would have been saved if the doctor had reached him; but a precipice +swallowed that good Samaritan, and only I, of all who looked upon the +footprints which harrowed up the road at this dangerous point, knew +whose shoes would fit those marks. God's providence, it was called, and +I let it pass for such; but it was a providence which cost me my boy and +made <i>you</i> my heirs."</p> + +<p>Silence as sullen in character as the men who found themselves thus +openly impeached had, for some minutes now, replaced the muttered +complaints which had accompanied the first portion of this denunciatory +letter. As the lawyer stopped to cast them another of those strange +looks, a gleam from old Luke's sidewise eyes startled the man next him, +who, shrugging a shoulder, passed the underhanded look on, till it had +circled the board and stopped with the man sitting opposite the crooked +sinner who had started it.</p> + +<p>I began to have a wholesome dread of them all and was astonished to see +the lawyer drop his hand from the bottle, which to some degree offered +itself as a possible weapon. But he knew his audience better than I did. +Though the bottle was now free for any man's taking, not a hand trembled +toward it, nor was a single glass held out.</p> + +<p>The lawyer, with an evil smile, went on with his relentless client's +story.</p> + +<p>"Ye had killed my wife; ye had killed my son; but this was not enough. +Being lonesome in my great house, which was as much too large for me as +my fortune was, I had taken a child to replace the boy I had lost. +Remembering the cold blood running in the veins of those nearest me, I +chose a boy from alien stock and, for a while, knew contentment again. +But, as he developed and my affections strengthened, the possibility of +all my money going his way roused my brothers and sisters from the +complacency they had enjoyed since their road to fortune had been +secured by my son's death, and one day—can you recall it, Hudson? can +you recall it, Lemuel?—the boy was brought in from the mill and laid at +my feet, dead! He had stumbled amongst the great belts, but whose was +the voice which had startled him with a sudden 'Halloo!' Can you say, +Luke? Can you say, John? I can say in whose ear it was whispered that +three, if not more of you, were seen moving among the machinery that +fatal morning.</p> + +<p>"Again, God's providence was said to have visited my house; and again +<i>ye</i> were my heirs."</p> + +<p>"Stop there!" broke in the harsh voice of Luke, who was gradually +growing livid under his long gray locks.</p> + +<p>"Lies! lies!" shrieked Hector, gathering courage from his brother.</p> + +<p>"Cut it all and give us the drink!" snarled one of the younger men, who +was less under the effect of liquor than the rest.</p> + +<p>But a trembling voice muttered "Hush!" and the lawyer, whose eye had +grown steely under these comments, took advantage of the sudden silence +which had followed this last objurgation and went steadily on.</p> + +<p>"Some men would have made a will and denounced you. I made a will, but +did not denounce you. <i>I</i> am no breaker of oaths. More than this, I +learned a new trick. I, who hated all subtlety and looked upon craft as +the favorite weapon of the devil, learned to smile with my lips while my +heart was burning with hatred. Perhaps this was why you all began to +smile too, and joke me about certain losses I had sustained, by which +you meant the gains which had come to me. That these gains were many +times greater than you realized added to the sting of this good +fellowship, but I held my peace; and you began to have confidence in a +good-nature which nothing could shake. You even gave me a supper."</p> + +<p><i>A supper!</i></p> + +<p>What was there in these words to cause every man there to stop in +whatever movement he was making and stare, with wide-open eyes, intently +at the reader. He had spoken quietly; he had not even looked up, but +the silence which, for some minutes back, had begun to reign over that +tumultuous gathering, now became breathless, and the seams in Hector's +cheeks deepened to a bluish criss-cross.</p> + +<p>"<i>You remember that supper?</i>"</p> + +<p>As the words rang out again, I threw wide the door; I might have stalked +openly into their circle; not a man there would have noticed me.</p> + +<p>"It was a memorable occasion," the lawyer read on with stoical +impassiveness. "There was not a brother lacking. Luke and Hudson and +William and Hector and Eustace's boys, as well as Eustace himself; Janet +too, and Salmon's Lemuel, and Barbara's son, who, even if his mother had +gone the way of all flesh, had so trained her black brood in the love of +the things of this world that I scarcely missed her when I looked about +among you all for the eight sturdy brothers and sisters who had joined +in one clasp and one oath, under the eye of the true-hearted immigrant, +our father. What I did miss was one true eye lifted to my glance; but I +did not show that I missed it; and so our peace was made and we +separated, you to wait for your inheritance, and I for the death which +was to secure it to you. For, when the cup passed round that night, you +each dropped into it a tear of repentance, and tears make bitter +drinking. I sickened as I quaffed and was never myself again, as you +know. Do you understand me, you cruel, crafty ones?"</p> + +<p>Did they not! Heads quaking, throats gasping, teeth chattering—no +longer sitting—all risen, all looking with wild eyes for the door—was +it not apparent that they understood and only waited for one more word +to break away and flee the accursed house?</p> + +<p>But that word lingered. Old Smead had now grown pale himself and read +with difficulty the lines which were to end this frightful scene. As I +saw the red gleam of terror shine out from his small eyes, I wondered if +he had been but the blind tool of his implacable client and was as +ignorant as those before him of what was to follow this heavy +arraignment. The dread with which he finally proceeded was too marked +for me to doubt the truth of this surmise. This is what he found himself +forced to read:</p> + +<p>"There was a bottle reserved for me. It had a green label on it,—"</p> + +<p>A shriek from every one there and a hurried look up and down at the +bottles standing on the table.</p> + +<p>"A green label," the lawyer repeated, "and it made a goodly appearance +as it was set down before me. But you had no liking for wine with a +green label on the bottle. One by one you refused it, and when I rose to +quaff my final glass alone, every eye before me fell and did not lift +again until the glass was drained. I did not notice this then, but I see +it all now, just as I hear again the excuses you gave for not filling +your glasses as the bottle went round. One had drunk enough; one +suffered from qualms brought on by an unaccustomed indulgence in +oysters; one felt that wine good enough for me was too good for him, +and so on and so on. Not one to show frank eyes and drink with me as I +was ready to drink with him! Why? Because one and all of you knew what +was in that cup, and would not risk an inheritance so nearly within your +grasp."</p> + +<p>"Lies! lies!" again shrieked the raucous voice of Luke, smothered by +terror; while oaths, shouts, imprecations, rang out in horrid tumult +from one end of the table to the other, till the lawyer's face, over +which a startling change was rapidly passing, drew the whole crowd +forward again in awful fascination, till they clung, speechless, arm in +arm, shoulder propping shoulder, while he gasped out in dismay equal to +their own, these last fatal words:</p> + +<p>"That was at your board, my brothers; now you are at mine. You have +eaten my viands, drunk of my cup; and now, through the mouth of the one +man who has been true to me because therein lies his advantage, I offer +you a final glass. Will you drink it? I drank yours. By that old-time +oath which binds us to share each other's fortune, I ask you to share +this cup with me. <i>You will not?</i>"</p> + +<p>"No, no, no!" shouted one after another.</p> + +<p>"Then," the inexorable voice went on, a voice which to these miserable +souls was no longer that of the lawyer, but an issue from the grave they +had themselves dug for Anthony Westonhaugh, "know that your abstinence +comes too late; that you have already drunk the toast destined to end +your lives. The bottle which you must have missed from that board of +yours has been offered you again. A label is easily changed and—Luke, +John, Hector, I know you all so well—that bottle has been greedily +emptied by you; and while I, who sipped sparingly, lived three weeks, +you, who have drunk deep, <i>have not three hours before you, possibly not +three minutes</i>."</p> + +<p>O, the wail of those lost souls as this last sentence issued in a final +pant of horror from the lawyer's quaking lips! Shrieks—howls—prayers +for mercy—groans to make the hair rise—and curses, at sound of which +I shut my ears in horror, only to open them again in dread as, with one +simultaneous impulse, they flung themselves upon the lawyer who, +foreseeing this rush, had backed up against the wall.</p> + +<p>He tried to stem the tide.</p> + +<p>"I knew nothing of the poisoning," he protested. "That was not my reason +for declining the drink. I wished to preserve my senses—to carry out my +client's wishes. As God lives, I did not know he meant to carry his +revenge so far. Mercy! Mer—"</p> + +<p>But the hands which clutched him were the hands of murderers, and the +lawyer's puny figure could not stand up against the avalanche of human +terror, relentless fury and mad vengeance which now rolled in upon it. +As I bounded to his relief he turned his ghastly face upon me. But the +way between us was blocked, and I was preparing myself to see him sink +before my eyes, when an unearthly shriek rose from behind us, and every +living soul in that mass of struggling humanity paused, set and +staring, with stiffened limbs and eyes fixed, not on him, not on me, but +on one of their own number, the only woman amongst them, Janet +Clapsaddle, who, with clutching hands clawing her breast, was reeling in +solitary agony in her place beside the board. As they looked she fell, +and lay with upturned face and staring eyes, in whose glassy depths the +ill-fated ones who watched her could see mirrored their own impending +doom.</p> + +<p>It was an awful moment. A groan, in which was concentrated the despair +of seven miserable souls, rose from that petrified band; then, man by +man, they separated and fell back, showing on each weak or wicked face +the particular passion which had driven them into crime and made them +the victims of this wholesale revenge. There had been some sort of bond +between them till the vision of death rose before each shrinking soul. +Shoulder to shoulder in crime, they fell apart as their doom approached; +and rushing, shrieking, each man for himself, they one and all sought +to escape by doors, windows or any outlet which promised release from +this fatal spot. One rushed by me—I do not know which one—and I felt +as if a flame from hell had licked me, his breath was so hot and the +moans he uttered so like the curses we imagine to blister the lips of +the lost. None of them saw me; they did not even detect the sliding form +of the lawyer crawling away before them to some place of egress of which +they had no knowledge; and, convinced that in this scene of death I +could play no part worthy of her who awaited me, I too rushed away and, +groping my way back through the cellar, sought the side of her who still +crouched in patient waiting against the dismal wall.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="IVA" id="IVA"></a>IV</h2> + +<h3>THE FINAL SHOCK</h3> + + +<p>Her baby had fallen asleep. I knew this by the faint, low sweetness of +her croon; and, shuddering with the horrors I had witnessed, horrors +which acquired a double force from the contrast presented by the peace +of this quiet spot and the hallowing influence of the sleeping +infant,—I threw myself down in the darkness at her feet, gasping out:</p> + +<p>"Oh, thank God and your uncle's seeming harshness, that you have escaped +the doom which has overtaken those others! You and your babe are still +alive; while they—"</p> + +<p>"What of them? What has happened to them? You are breathless, trembling; +you have brought no bread—"</p> + +<p>"No, no. Food in this house means death. Your relatives gave food and +wine to your uncle at a supper; he, though now in his grave, has +returned the same to them. There was a bottle—"</p> + +<p>I stopped, appalled. A shriek, muffled by distance but quivering with +the same note of death I had heard before, had gone up again from the +other side of the wall against which we were leaning.</p> + +<p>"Oh!" she gasped; "and my father was at that supper! my father, who died +last night cursing the day he was born! We are an accursed race. I have +known it all my life; perhaps that was why I mistook passion for love; +and my baby—O God, have mercy! God have mercy!"</p> + +<p>The plaintiveness of that cry, the awesomeness of what I had seen—of +what was going on at that moment almost within the reach of our +arms—the darkness, the desolation of our two souls, affected me as I +had never been affected in my whole life before. In the concentrated +experience of the last two hours I seemed to live years under this +woman's eyes; to know her as I did my own heart; to love her as I did my +own soul. No growth of feeling ever brought the ecstasy of that +moment's inspiration. With no sense of doing anything strange, with no +fear of being misunderstood, I reached out my hand and, touching hers +where it lay clasped about her infant, I said:</p> + +<p>"We are two poor wayfarers. A rough road loses half its difficulties +when trodden by two. Shall we, then, fare on together—we and the little +child?"</p> + +<p>She gave a sob; there was sorrow, longing, grief, hope, in its thrilling +low sound. As I recognized the latter emotion I drew her to my breast. +The child did not separate us.</p> + +<p>"We shall be happy," I murmured, and her sigh seemed to answer a +delicious "Yes," when suddenly there came a shock to the partition +against which we leaned and, starting from my clasp, she cried:</p> + +<p>"Our duty is in there. Shall we think of ourselves or even of each other +while these men, all relatives of mine, are dying on the other side of +this wall?"</p> + +<p>Seizing my hand, she dragged me to the trap; but here I took the lead, +and helped her down the ladder. When I had her safely on the floor at +the foot, she passed in front of me again; but once up the steps and in +front of the kitchen door, I thrust her behind me, for one glance into +the room beyond had convinced me it was no place for her.</p> + +<p>But she would not be held back. She crowded forward beside me, and +together we looked upon the wreck within. It was a never-to-be-forgotten +scene. The demon that was in those men had driven them to demolish +furniture, dishes, everything. In one heap lay what, an hour before, had +been an inviting board surrounded by rollicking and greedy guests. But +it was not upon this overthrow we stopped to look. It was upon something +that mingled with it, dominated it and made of this chaos only a setting +to awful death. Janet's face, in all its natural hideousness and +depravity, looked up from the floor beside this heap; and farther on, +the twisted figure of him they called Hector, with something more than +the seams of greedy longing round his wide, staring eyes and icy +temples. Two in this room! and on the threshold of the one beyond a +moaning third, who sank into eternal silence as we approached; and +before the fireplace in the great room, a horrible crescent that had +once been aged Luke, upon whom we had no sooner turned our backs than we +caught glimpses here and there of other prostrate forms which moved once +under our eyes and then moved no more.</p> + +<p>One only still stood upright, and he was the man whose obtrusive figure +and sordid expression had so revolted me in the beginning. There was no +color now in his flabby and heavily fallen cheeks. The eyes, in whose +false sheen I had seen so much of evil, were glazed now, and his big and +burly frame shook the door it pressed against. He was staring at a small +slip of paper he held, and, from his anxious looks, appeared to miss +something which neither of us had power to supply. It was a spectacle to +make devils rejoice, and mortals fly aghast. But Eunice had a spirit +like an angel and drawing near him, she said:</p> + +<p>"Is there anything I can do for you, Cousin John?"</p> + +<p>He started, looked at her with the same blank gaze he had hitherto cast +at the wall; then some words formed on his working lips and we heard:</p> + +<p>"I can not reckon; I was never good at figures; but if Luke is gone, and +William, and Hector, and Barbara's boy, and Janet,—<i>how much does that +leave for me</i>?"</p> + +<p>He was answered almost the moment he spoke; but it was by other tongues +and in another world than this. As his body fell forward, I tore open +the door before which he had been standing, and, lifting the almost +fainting Eunice in my arms, I carried her out into the night. As I did +so, I caught a final glimpse of the pictured face I had found it so hard +to understand a couple of hours before. I understood it now.</p> + +<p>A surprise awaited us as we turned toward the gate. The mist had lifted +and a keen but not unpleasant wind was driving from the north. Borne on +it, we heard voices. The village had emptied itself, probably at the +alarm given by the lawyer, and it was these good men and women whose +approach we heard. As we had nothing to fear from them, we went forward +to meet them. As we did so, three crouching figures rose from some +bushes we passed and ran scurrying before us through the gateway. They +were the late comers who had shown such despair at being shut out from +this fatal house, and who probably did not yet know the doom they had +escaped.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>There were lanterns in the hands of some of the men who now approached. +As we stopped before them, these lanterns were held up, and by the light +they gave we saw, first, the lawyer's frightened face, then the visages +of two men who seemed to be persons of some authority.</p> + +<p>"What news?" faltered the lawyer, seeing by our faces that we knew the +worst.</p> + +<p>"Bad," I returned; "the poison had lost none of its virulence by being +mixed so long with the wine."</p> + +<p>"How many?" asked the man on his right anxiously.</p> + +<p>"Eight," was my solemn reply.</p> + +<p>"There were but eight," faltered the lawyer; "that means, then, all?"</p> + +<p>"All," I repeated.</p> + +<p>A murmur of horror rose, swelled, then died out in tumult as the crowd +swept on past us.</p> + +<p>For a moment we stood watching these people; saw them pause before the +door we had left open behind us, then rush in, leaving a wail of terror +on the shuddering midnight air. When all was quiet again, Eunice laid +her hand upon my arm.</p> + +<p>"Where shall we go?" she asked despairingly. "I do not know a house that +will open to me."</p> + +<p>The answer to her question came from other lips than mine.</p> + +<p>"I do not know one that will <i>not</i>," spoke up a voice behind our backs. +"Your withdrawal from the circle of heirs did not take from you your +rightful claim to an inheritance which, according to your uncle's will, +could be forfeited only by a failure to arrive at the place of +distribution within the hour set by the testator. As I see the matter +now, this appeal to the honesty of the persons so collected was a test +by which my unhappy client strove to save from the general fate such +members of his miserable family as fully recognized their sin and were +truly repentant."</p> + +<p>It was Lawyer Smead. He had lingered behind the others to tell her this. +She was, then, no outcast, but rich, very rich; how rich I dared not +acknowledge to myself, lest a remembrance of the man who was the last to +perish in that house of death should return to make this calculation +hateful. It was a blow which struck deep, deeper than any either of us +had sustained that night. As we came to realize it, I stepped slowly +back, leaving her standing erect and tall in the middle of the roadway, +with her baby in her arms. But not for long; soon she was close at my +side murmuring softly:</p> + +<p>"Two wayfarers still! Only, the road will be more difficult and the need +of companionship greater. Shall we fare on together, you, I—and the +little one?"</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="THE_RUBY_AND_THE_CALDRON" id="THE_RUBY_AND_THE_CALDRON"></a>THE RUBY AND THE CALDRON</h2> + + +<p>As there were two good men on duty that night, I did not see why I +should remain at my desk, even though there was an unusual stir created +in our small town by the grand ball given at The Evergreens.</p> + +<p>But just as I was preparing to start for home, an imperative ring called +me to the telephone and I heard:</p> + +<p>"Halloo! Is this the police-station?"</p> + +<p>"It is."</p> + +<p>"Well, then, a detective is wanted at once at The Evergreens. He can not +be too clever or too discreet. A valuable jewel has been lost, which +must be found before the guests disperse for home. Large reward if the +matter ends successfully and without too great publicity."</p> + +<p>"May I ask who is speaking to me?"</p> + +<p>"Mrs. Ashley."</p> + +<p>It was the mistress of The Evergreens and giver of the ball.</p> + +<p>"Madam, a man shall be sent at once. Where will you see him?"</p> + +<p>"In the butler's pantry at the rear. Let him give his name as Jennings."</p> + +<p>"Very good. Good-by."</p> + +<p>"Good-by."</p> + +<p>A pretty piece of work! Should I send Hendricks or should I send Hicks? +Hendricks was clever and Hicks discreet, but neither united both +qualifications in the measure demanded by the sensible and +quietly-resolved woman with whom I had just been talking. What +alternative remained? But one; I must go myself.</p> + +<p>It was not late—not for a ball night, at least—and as half the town +had been invited to the dance, the streets were alive with carriages. I +was watching the blink of their lights through the fast falling snow +when my attention was drawn to a fact which struck me as peculiar. These +carriages were all coming my way instead of rolling in the direction of +The Evergreens. Had they been empty this would have needed no +explanation, but, as far as I could see, most of them were full, and +that, too, with loudly talking women and gesticulating men.</p> + +<p>Something of a serious nature must have occurred at The Evergreens. +Rapidly I paced on and soon found myself before the great gates.</p> + +<p>A crowd of vehicles of all descriptions blocked the entrance. None +seemed to be passing up the driveway; all stood clustered at the gates, +and as I drew nearer I perceived many an anxious head thrust forth from +their quickly opened doors and heard many an ejaculation of +disappointment as the short interchange of words went on between the +drivers of these various turnouts and a man drawn up in quiet resolution +before the unexpectedly barred entrance.</p> + +<p>Slipping round to this man's side, I listened to what he was saying. It +was simple but very explicit.</p> + +<p>"Mrs. Ashley asks everybody's pardon, but the ball can't go on +to-night. Something has happened which makes the reception of further +guests impossible. To-morrow evening she will be happy to see you all. +The dance is simply postponed."</p> + +<p>This he had probably repeated forty times, and each time it had probably +been received with the same mixture of doubt and curiosity which now +held the lengthy procession in check.</p> + +<p>Not wishing to attract attention, yet anxious to lose no time, I pressed +up still nearer, and, bending toward him from the shadow cast by a +convenient post, uttered the one word:</p> + +<p>"Jennings."</p> + +<p>Instantly he unlocked a small gate at his right. I passed in and, with +professional <i>sang-froid</i>, proceeded to take my way to the house through +the double row of evergreens bordering the semicircular approach.</p> + +<p>As these trees stood very close together and were, besides, heavily +laden with fresh-fallen snow, I failed to catch a glimpse of the +building itself until I stood in front of it. Then I saw that it was +brilliantly lighted and gave evidence here and there of some festivity; +but the guests were too few for the effect to be very exhilarating and, +passing around to the rear, I sought the special entrance to which I had +been directed.</p> + +<p>A heavy-browed porch, before which stood a caterer's wagon, led me to a +door which had every appearance of being the one I sought. Pushing it +open, I entered without ceremony, and speedily found myself in the midst +of twenty or more colored waiters and chattering housemaids. To one of +the former I addressed the question:</p> + +<p>"Where is the butler's pantry? I am told that I shall find the lady of +the house there."</p> + +<p>"Your name?" was the curt demand.</p> + +<p>"Jennings."</p> + +<p>"Follow me."</p> + +<p>I was taken through narrow passages and across one or two store-rooms to +a small but well-lighted closet, where I was left, with the assurance +that Mrs. Ashley would presently join me. I had never seen this lady, +but I had often heard her spoken of as a woman of superior character and +admirable discretion.</p> + +<p>She did not keep me waiting. In two minutes the door opened and this +fine, well-poised woman was telling her story in the straight-forward +manner I so much admire and so seldom meet with.</p> + +<p>The article lost was a large ruby of singular beauty and great +value—the property of Mrs. Burton, the senator's wife, in whose honor +this ball was given. It had not been lost in the house nor had it been +originally missed that evening. Mrs. Burton and herself had attended the +great foot-ball game in the afternoon, and it was on the college campus +that Mrs. Burton had first dropped her invaluable jewel. But a reward of +five hundred dollars having been at once offered to whoever should find +and restore it, a great search had followed, which ended in its being +picked up by one of the students and brought back as far as the great +step leading up to the front door, when it had again disappeared, and +in a way to rouse conjecture of the strangest and most puzzling +character.</p> + +<p>The young man who had brought it thus far bore the name of John Deane, +and was a member of the senior class. He had been the first to detect +its sparkle in the grass, and those who were near enough to see his face +at that happy moment say that it expressed the utmost satisfaction at +his good luck.</p> + +<p>"You see," said Mrs. Ashley, "he has a sweetheart, and five hundred +dollars looks like a fortune to a young man just starting life. But he +was weak enough to take this girl into his confidence; and on their way +here—for both were invited to the ball—he went so far as to pull it +out of his pocket and show it to her.</p> + +<p>"They were admiring it together and vaunting its beauties to the young +lady friend who had accompanied them, when their carriage turned into +the driveway and they saw the lights of the house flashing before them. +Hastily restoring the jewel to the little bag he had made for it out of +the finger-end of an old glove,—a bag in which he assured me he had +been careful to keep it safely tied ever since picking it up on the +college green,—he thrust it back into his pocket and prepared to help +the ladies out. But just then a disturbance arose in front. A horse +which had been driven up was rearing in a way that threatened to +overturn the light buggy to which he was attached. As the occupants of +this buggy were ladies, and seemed to have no control over the plunging +beast, young Deane naturally sprang to the rescue. Bidding his own +ladies alight and make for the porch, he hurriedly ran forward and, +pausing in front of the maddened animal, waited for an opportunity to +seize him by the rein. He says that as he stood there facing the beast +with fixed eye and raised hand, he distinctly felt something strike or +touch his breast. But the sensation conveyed no meaning to him in his +excitement, and he did not think of it again till, the horse well in +hand and the two alarmed occupants of the buggy rescued, he turned to +see where his own ladies were, and beheld them looking down at him from +the midst of a circle of young people, drawn from the house by the +screaming of the women. Instantly a thought of the treasure he carried +recurred to his mind, and dropping the rein of the now quieted horse, he +put his hand to his pocket. The jewel was gone. He declares that for a +moment he felt as if he had been struck on the head by one of the hoofs +of the frantic horse he had just handled. But immediately the importance +of his loss and the necessity he felt for instant action restored him to +himself, and shouting aloud, 'I have dropped Mrs. Burton's ruby!' begged +every one to stand still while he made a search for it.</p> + +<p>"This all occurred, as you must know, more than an hour and a half ago, +consequently before many of my guests had arrived. My son, who was one +of the few spectators gathered on the porch, tells me that there was +only one other carriage behind the one in which Mr. Deane had brought +his ladies. Both of these had stopped short of the stepping-stone, and +as the horse and buggy which had made all this trouble had by this time +been driven to the stable, nothing stood in the way of his search but +the rapidly accumulating snow which, if you remember, was falling very +thick and fast at the time.</p> + +<p>"My son, who had rushed in for his overcoat, came running down with +offers to help him. So did some others. But, with an imploring gesture, +he begged to be allowed to conduct the search alone, the ground being in +such a state that the delicately-mounted jewel ran great risk of being +trodden into the snow and thus injured or lost. They humored him for a +moment, then, seeing that his efforts bade fair to be fruitless, my son +insisted upon joining him, and the two looked the ground over, inch by +inch, from the place where Mr. Deane had set foot to ground in alighting +from his carriage to the exact spot where he had stood when he had +finally seized hold of the horse. But no ruby. Then Harrison (that is my +son's name) sent for a broom and went over the place again, sweeping +aside the surface snow and examining carefully the ground beneath,—but +with no better results than before. No ruby could be found. My son came +to me panting. Mrs. Burton and myself stood awaiting him in a state of +suspense. Guests and fête were alike forgotten. We had heard that the +jewel had been found on the campus by one of the students and had been +brought back as far as the step in front and then lost again in some +unaccountable manner in the snow, and we hoped, nay expected from moment +to moment, that it would be brought in.</p> + +<p>"When Harrison entered, then, pale, disheveled and shaking his head, +Mrs. Burton caught me by the hand, and I thought she would faint. For +this jewel is of far greater value to her than its mere worth in money, +though that is by no means small.</p> + +<p>"It is a family jewel and was given to her by her husband under special +circumstances. He prizes it even more than she does, and he is not here +to counsel or assist her in this extremity. Besides, she was wearing it +in direct opposition to his expressed wishes. This I must tell you, to +show how imperative it is for us to recover it; also to account for the +large reward she is willing to pay. When he last looked at it he noticed +that the fastening was a trifle slack and, though he handed the trinket +back, he told her distinctly that she was not to wear it till it had +been either to Tiffany's or Starr's. But she considered it safe enough, +and put it on to please the boys, and lost it. Senator Burton is a hard +man and,—in short, the jewel must be found. I give you just one hour in +which to do it."</p> + +<p>"But, madam—" I protested.</p> + +<p>"I know," she put in, with a quick nod and a glance over her shoulder to +see if the door was shut. "I have not finished my story. Hearing what +Harrison had to say, I took action at once. I bade him call in the +guests, whom curiosity or interest still detained on the porch, and seat +them in a certain room which I designated to him. Then, after telling +him to send two men to the gates with orders to hold back all further +carriages from entering, and two others to shovel up and cart away to +the stable every particle of snow for ten feet each side of the front +step, I asked to see Mr. Deane. But here my son whispered something into +my ear, which it is my duty to repeat. It was to the effect that Mr. +Deane believed that the jewel had been taken from him; that he insisted, +in fact, that he had felt a hand touch his breast while he stood +awaiting an opportunity to seize the horse. 'Very good,' said I, 'we'll +remember that, too; but first see that my orders are carried out and +that all approaches to the grounds are guarded and no one allowed to +come in or go out without permission from me.'</p> + +<p>"He left us, and I was turning to encourage Mrs. Burton when my +attention was caught by the eager face of a little friend of mine, who, +quite unknown to me, was sitting in one of the corners of the room. She +was studying my countenance in a sort of subdued anxiety, hardly +natural in one so young, and I was about to call her to my side and +question her when she made a sudden dive and vanished from the room. +Some impulse made me follow her. She is a conscientious little thing, +but timid as a hare, and though I saw she had something to say, it was +with difficulty I could make her speak. Only after the most solemn +assurances that her name should not be mentioned in the matter, would +she give me the following bit of information, which you may possibly +think throws another light upon the affair. It seems that she was +looking out of one of the front windows when Mr. Deane's carriage drove +up. She had been watching the antics of the horse attached to the buggy, +but as soon as she saw Mr. Deane going to the assistance of those in +danger, she let her eyes stray back to the ladies whom he had left +behind him in the carriage.</p> + +<p>"She did not know these ladies, but their looks and gestures interested +her, and she watched them quite intently as they leaped to the ground +and made their way toward the porch. One went on quickly, and without +pause, to the step, but the other,—the one who came last,—did not do +this. She stopped a moment, perhaps to watch the horse in front, perhaps +to draw her cloak more closely about her, and when she again moved on, +it was with a start and a hurried glance at her feet, terminating in a +quick turn and a sudden stooping to the ground. When she again stood +upright, she had something in her hand which she thrust furtively into +her breast."</p> + +<p>"How was this lady dressed?" I inquired.</p> + +<p>"In a white cloak, with an edging of fur. I took pains to learn that, +too, and it was with some curiosity, I assure you, that I examined the +few guests who had now been admitted to the room I had so carefully +pointed out to my son. Two of them wore white cloaks, but one of these +was Mrs. Dalrymple, and I did not give her or her cloak a second +thought. The other was a tall, fine-looking girl, with an air and +bearing calculated to rouse admiration if she had not shown so very +plainly that she was in a state of inner perturbation. Though she tried +to look amiable and pleased, I saw that she had some care on her mind, +which, had she been Mr. Deane's <i>fiancée</i>, would have needed no +explanation; but as she was only Mr. Deane's <i>fiancée's</i> friend, its +cause was not so apparent.</p> + +<p>"The floor of the room, as I had happily remembered, was covered with +crash, and as I lifted each garment off—I allowed no maid to assist me +in this—I shook it well; ostensibly, because of the few flakes clinging +to it, really to see if anything could be shaken out of it. Of course, I +met with no success. I had not expected to, but it is my disposition to +be thorough. These wraps I saw all hung in an adjoining closet, the door +of which I locked,—here is the key,—after which I handed my guests +over to my son who led them into the drawing-room where they joined the +few others who had previously arrived, and went myself to telephone to +<i>you</i>."</p> + +<p>I bowed and asked where the young people were now.</p> + +<p>"Still in the drawing-room. I have ordered the musicians to play, and +consequently there is more or less dancing. But, of course, nothing can +remove the wet blanket which has fallen over us all,—nothing but the +finding of this jewel. Do you see your way to accomplishing this? We +are, from this very moment, at your disposal; only I pray that you will +make no more disturbance than is necessary, and, if possible, arouse no +suspicions you can not back up by facts. I dread a scandal almost as +much as I do sickness and death, and these young people—well, their +lives are all before them, and neither Mrs. Burton nor myself would wish +to throw the shadow of a false suspicion over the least of them."</p> + +<p>I assured her that I sympathized with her scruples and would do my best +to recover the ruby without inflicting undue annoyance upon the +innocent. Then I inquired whether it was known that a detective had been +called in. She seemed to think it was suspected by some, if not by all. +At which my way seemed a trifle complicated.</p> + +<p>We were about to proceed when another thought struck me.</p> + +<p>"Madam, you have not said whether the carriage itself was searched."</p> + +<p>"I forgot. Yes, the carriage was thoroughly overhauled, and before the +coachman left the box."</p> + +<p>"Who did this overhauling?"</p> + +<p>"My son. He would not trust any other hand than his own in a business of +this kind."</p> + +<p>"One more question, madam. Was any one seen to approach Mr. Deane on the +carriage-drive prior to his assertion that the jewel was lost?"</p> + +<p>"No. <i>And there were no tracks in the snow of any such person.</i> My son +looked."</p> + +<p>And I would look, or so I decided within myself, but I said nothing; and +in silence we proceeded toward the drawing-room.</p> + +<p>I had left my overcoat behind me, and always being well-dressed, I did +not present so bad an appearance. Still I was not in party attire and +naturally could not pass for a guest if I had wanted to, which I did +not. I felt that I must rely on insight in this case and on a certain +power I had always possessed of reading faces. That the case called for +just this species of intuition I was positive. Mrs. Burton's ruby was +within a hundred yards of us at this very moment, probably within a +hundred feet; but to lay hands on it and without scandal—well, that was +a problem calculated to rouse the interest of even an old police-officer +like myself.</p> + +<p>A strain of music, desultory, however, and spiritless, like everything +else about the place that night, greeted us as Mrs. Ashley opened the +door leading directly into the large front hall.</p> + +<p>Immediately a scene meant to be festive, but which was, in fact, +desolate, burst upon us. The lights, the flowers and the brilliant +appearance of such ladies as flitted into sight from the almost empty +parlors, were all suggestive of the cheer suitable to a great occasion; +but in spite of this, the effect was altogether melancholy, for the +hundreds who should have graced this scene, and for whom this +illumination had been made and these festoons hung, had been turned away +from the gates, and the few who felt they must remain, because their +hostess showed no disposition to let them go, wore any but holiday +faces, for all their forced smiles and pitiful attempts at nonchalance +and gaiety.</p> + +<p>I scrutinized these faces carefully. I detected nothing in them but +annoyance at a situation which certainly was anything but pleasant.</p> + +<p>Turning to Mrs. Ashley, I requested her to be kind enough to point out +her son, adding that I should be glad to have a moment's conversation +with him, also with Mr. Deane.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Deane is in one of those small rooms over there. He is quite upset. +Not even Mrs. Burton can comfort him. My son—Oh, there is Harrison!"</p> + +<p>A tall, fine-looking young man was crossing the hall. Mrs. Ashley called +him to her, and in another moment we were standing together in one of +the empty parlors.</p> + +<p>I gave him my name and told him my business. Then I said:</p> + +<p>"Your mother has allotted me an hour in which to find the valuable jewel +which has just been lost on these premises." Here I smiled. "She +evidently has great confidence in my ability. I must see that I do not +disappoint her."</p> + +<p>All this time I was examining his face. It was a handsome one, as I have +said, but it had also a very candid expression; the eyes looked straight +into mine, and, while showing anxiety, betrayed no deeper emotion than +the occasion naturally called for.</p> + +<p>"Have you any suggestions to offer? I understand that you were on the +ground almost as soon as Mr. Deane discovered his loss."</p> + +<p>His eyes changed a trifle but did not swerve. Of course he had been +informed by his mother of the suspicious action of the young lady who +had been a member of that gentleman's party, and shrank, as any one in +his position would, from the responsibilities entailed by this +knowledge.</p> + +<p>"No," said he. "We have done all we can. The next move must come from +you."</p> + +<p>"There is one that will settle the matter in a moment," I assured him, +still with my eyes fixed scrutinizingly on his face,—"a universal +search, not of places, but of persons. But it is a harsh measure."</p> + +<p>"A most disagreeable one," he emphasized, flushing. "Such an indignity +offered to guests would never be forgotten or forgiven."</p> + +<p>"True, but if they offered to submit to this themselves?"</p> + +<p>"They? How?"</p> + +<p>"If <i>you</i>, the son of the house,—their host we may say,—should call +them together and, for your own satisfaction, empty out your pockets in +the sight of every one, don't you think that all the men, and possibly +all the women too—" (here I let my voice fall suggestively) "would be +glad to follow suit? It could be done in apparent joke."</p> + +<p>He shook his head with a straight-forward air, which raised him high in +my estimation.</p> + +<p>"That would call for little but effrontery on my part," said he; "but +think what it would demand from these boys who came here for the sole +purpose of enjoying themselves. I will not so much as mention the +ladies."</p> + +<p>"Yet one of the latter—"</p> + +<p>"I know," he quietly acknowledged, growing restless for the first time.</p> + +<p>I withdrew my eyes from his face. I had learned what I wished. +Personally he did not shrink from search, therefore the jewel was not in +his pockets. This left but two persons for suspicion to halt between. +But I disclosed nothing of my thoughts; I merely asked pardon for a +suggestion that, while pardonable in a man accustomed to handle crime +with ungloved hands, could not fail to prove offensive to a gentleman +like himself.</p> + +<p>"We must move by means less open," I concluded. "It adds to our +difficulties, but that can not be helped. I should now like a glimpse of +Mr. Deane."</p> + +<p>"Do you not wish to speak to him?"</p> + +<p>"I should prefer a sight of his face first."</p> + +<p>He led me across the hall and pointed through an open door. In the +center of a small room containing a table and some chairs, I perceived a +young man sitting, with fallen head and dejected air, staring at +vacancy. By his side, with hand laid on his, knelt a young girl, +striving in this gentle but speechless way to comfort him. It made a +pathetic picture. I drew Ashley away.</p> + +<p>"I am disposed to believe in that young man," said I. "If he still has +the jewel, he would not try to carry off the situation in just this way. +He really looks broken-hearted."</p> + +<p>"Oh, he is dreadfully cut up. If you could have seen how frantically he +searched for the stone, and the depression into which he fell when he +realized that it was not to be found, you would not doubt him for an +instant. What made you think he might still have the ruby?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, we police officers think of everything. Then the fact that he +insists that something or some one touched his breast on the driveway +strikes me as a trifle suspicious. Your mother says that no second +person could have been there, or the snow would have given evidence of +it."</p> + +<p>"Yes; I looked expressly. Of course, the drive itself was full of +hoof-marks and wheel-tracks, for several carriages had already passed +over it. Then there were all of Deane's footsteps, but no other man's, +as far as I could see."</p> + +<p>"Yet he insists that he was touched or struck."</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"With no one there to touch or strike him."</p> + +<p>Mr. Ashley was silent.</p> + +<p>"Let us step out and take a view of the place," I suggested. "I should +prefer doing this to questioning the young man in his present state of +mind." Then, as we turned to put on our coats, I asked with suitable +precaution: "Do you suppose that he has the same secret suspicions as +ourselves, and that it is to hide these he insists upon the jewel's +having been taken away from him at a point the ladies are known not to +have approached?"</p> + +<p>Young Ashley bent somewhat startled eyes on mine.</p> + +<p>"Nothing has been said to him of what Miss Peters saw Miss Glover do. I +could not bring myself to mention it. I have not even allowed myself to +believe—"</p> + +<p>Here a fierce gust, blowing in from the door he had just opened, cut +short his words, and neither of us spoke again till we stood on the +exact spot in the driveway where the episode we were endeavoring to +understand had taken place.</p> + +<p>"Oh," I cried as soon as I could look about me; "the mystery is +explained. Look at that bush, or perhaps you call it a shrub. If the +wind were blowing as freshly as it is now, and very probably it was, one +of those slender branches might easily be switched against his breast, +especially if he stood, as you say he did, close against this border."</p> + +<p>"Well, I'm a fool. Only the other day I told the gardener that these +branches would need trimming in the spring, and yet I never so much as +thought of them when Mr. Deane spoke of something striking his breast."</p> + +<p>As we turned back I made this remark:</p> + +<p>"With this explanation of the one doubtful point in his otherwise +plausible account, we can credit his story as being in the main true, +which," I calmly added, "places him above suspicion and narrows our +inquiry down to <i>one</i>."</p> + +<p>We had moved quickly and were now at the threshold of the door by which +we had come out.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Ashley," I continued, "I shall have to ask you to add to your +former favors that of showing me the young lady in whom, from this +moment on, we are especially interested. If you can manage to let me see +her first without her seeing me, I shall be infinitely obliged to you."</p> + +<p>"I do not know where she is. I shall have to search for her."</p> + +<p>"I will wait by the hall door."</p> + +<p>In a few minutes he returned to me. "Come," said he, and led me into +what I judged to be the library.</p> + +<p>With a gesture toward one of the windows, he backed quickly out, leaving +me to face the situation alone. I was rather glad of this. Glancing in +the direction he had indicated, and perceiving the figure of a young +lady standing with her back to me on the farther side of a flowing lace +curtain, I took a few steps toward her, hoping that the movement would +cause her to turn. But it entirely failed to produce this effect, nor +did she give any sign that she noted the intrusion. This prevented me +from catching the glimpse of her face which I so desired, and obliged me +to confine myself to a study of her dress and attitude.</p> + +<p>The former was very elegant, more elegant than the appearance of her two +friends had led me to expect. Though I am far from being an authority on +feminine toilets, I yet had experience enough to know that those +sweeping folds of spotless satin, with their festoons of lace and loops +of shiny trimming, which it would be folly for me to attempt to +describe, represented not only the best efforts of the dressmaker's art, +but very considerable means on the part of the woman wearing such a +gown. This was a discovery which altered the complexion of my thoughts +for a moment; for I had presupposed her a girl of humble means, willing +to sacrifice certain scruples to obtain a little extra money. This +imposing figure might be that of a millionaire's daughter; how then +could I associate her, even in my own mind, with theft? I decided that I +must see her face before giving answer to these doubts.</p> + +<p>She did not seem inclined to turn. She had raised the shade from before +the wintry panes and was engaged in looking out. Her attitude was not +that of one simply enjoying a moment's respite from the dance. It was +rather that of an absorbed mind brooding upon what gave little or no +pleasure; and as I further gazed and noted the droop of her lovely +shoulders and the languor visible in her whole bearing, I began to +regard a glimpse of her features as imperative. Moving forward, I came +upon her suddenly.</p> + +<p>"Excuse me, Miss Smith," I boldly exclaimed; then paused, for she had +turned instinctively and I had seen that for which I had risked this +daring move. "Your pardon," I hastily apologized. "I mistook you for +another young lady," and drew back with a low bow to let her pass, for I +saw that she thought only of escaping both me and the room.</p> + +<p>And I did not wonder at this, for her eyes were streaming with tears, +and her face, which was doubtless a pretty one under ordinary +conditions, looked so distorted with distracting emotions that she was +no fit subject for any man's eye, let alone that of a hard-hearted +officer of the law on the lookout for the guilty hand which had just +appropriated a jewel worth anywhere from eight to ten thousand dollars.</p> + +<p>Yet I was glad to see her weep, for only first offenders weep, and first +offenders are amenable to influence, especially if they have been led +into wrong by impulse and are weak rather than wicked.</p> + +<p>Anxious to make no blunder, I resolved, before proceeding further, to +learn what I could of the character and antecedents of the suspected +one, and this from the only source which offered—Mr. Deane's affianced.</p> + +<p>This young lady was a delicate girl, with a face like a flower. +Recognizing her sensitive nature, I approached her with the utmost +gentleness. Not seeking to disguise either the nature of my business or +my reasons for being in the house, since all this gave me authority, I +modulated my tone to suit her gentle spirit, and, above all, I showed +the utmost sympathy for her lover, whose rights in the reward had been +taken from him as certainly as the jewel had been taken from Mrs. +Burton. In this way I gained her confidence, and she was quite ready to +listen when I observed:</p> + +<p>"There is a young lady here who seems to be in a state of even greater +trouble than Mr. Deane. Why is this? You brought her here. Is her +sympathy with Mr. Deane so great as to cause her to weep over his loss?"</p> + +<p>"Frances? Oh, no. She likes Mr. Deane and she likes me, but not well +enough to cry over our misfortunes. I think she has some trouble of her +own."</p> + +<p>"One that you can tell me?"</p> + +<p>Her surprise was manifest.</p> + +<p>"Why do you ask that? What interest have you (called in, as I +understand, to recover a stolen jewel) in Frances Glover's personal +difficulties?"</p> + +<p>I saw that I must make my position perfectly plain.</p> + +<p>"Only this. She was seen to pick up something from the driveway, where +no one else had succeeded in finding anything."</p> + +<p>"She? When? Who saw her?"</p> + +<p>"I can not answer all these questions at once," I smiled. "She was seen +to do this—no matter by whom,—during your passage from the carriage to +the stoop. As you preceded her, you naturally did not observe this +action, which was fortunate, perhaps, as you would scarcely have known +what to do or say about it."</p> + +<p>"Yes I should," she retorted, with a most unexpected display of spirit. +"I should have asked her what she had found and I should have insisted +upon an answer. I love my friends, but I love the man I am to marry, +better." Here her voice fell and a most becoming blush suffused her +cheek.</p> + +<p>"Quite right," I assented. "Now will you answer my former question? What +troubles Miss Glover? Can you tell me?"</p> + +<p>"That I can not. I only know that she has been very silent ever since +she left the house. I thought her beautiful new dress would please her, +but it does not seem to. She has been unhappy and preoccupied all the +evening. She only roused a bit when Mr. Deane showed us the ruby and +said—Oh, I forgot!"</p> + +<p>"What's that? What have you forgot?"</p> + +<p>"What you said just now. I wouldn't add a word—"</p> + +<p>"Pardon me!" I smilingly interrupted, looking as fatherly as I could, +"but you <i>have</i> added this word and now you must tell me what it means. +You were going to say she showed interest in the extraordinary jewel +which Mr. Deane took from his pocket and—"</p> + +<p>"In what he let fall about the expected reward. That is, she looked +eagerly at the ruby and sighed when he acknowledged that he expected it +to bring him five hundred dollars before midnight. But any girl of no +more means than she might do that. It would not be fair to lay too much +stress on a sigh."</p> + +<p>"Is not Miss Glover wealthy? She wears a very expensive dress, I +observe."</p> + +<p>"I know it and I have wondered a little at it, for her father is not +called very well off. But perhaps she bought it with her own money; I +know she has some; she is an artist in burnt wood."</p> + +<p>I let the subject of Miss Glover's dress drop. I had heard enough to +satisfy me that my first theory was correct. This young woman, +beautifully dressed, and with a face from which the rounded lines of +early girlhood had not yet departed, held in her possession, probably at +this very moment, Mrs. Burton's magnificent jewel. But where? On her +person or hidden in some of her belongings? I remembered the cloak in +the closet and thought it wise to assure myself that the jewel was not +secreted in this garment, before I proceeded to extreme measures. Mrs. +Ashley, upon being consulted, agreed with me as to the desirability of +this, and presently I had this poor girl's cloak in my hands.</p> + +<p>Did I find the ruby? No; but I found something else tucked away in an +inner pocket which struck me as bearing quite pointedly upon this case. +It was the bill—crumpled, soiled and tear-stained—of the dress whose +elegance had so surprised her friends and made me, for a short time, +regard her as the daughter of wealthy parents. An enormous bill, which +must have struck dismay to the soul of this self-supporting girl, who +probably had no idea of how a French dressmaker can foot up items. Four +hundred and fifty dollars! and for one gown! I declare I felt indignant +myself and could quite understand why she heaved that little sigh when +Mr. Deane spoke of the five hundred dollars he expected from Mrs. +Burton, and later, how she came to succumb to the temptation of making +the effort to secure this sum for herself when, in following the +latter's footsteps up the driveway, she stumbled upon this same jewel +fallen, as it were, from his pocket into her very hands. The impulse of +the moment was so strong and the consequences so little anticipated!</p> + +<p>It is not at all probable that she foresaw he would shout aloud his loss +and draw the whole household out on the porch. Of course when he did +this, the feasibility of her project was gone, and I only wished that I +had been present and able to note her countenance, as, crowded in with +others on that windy porch, she watched the progress of the search, +which every moment made it not only less impossible for her to attempt +the restoration upon which the reward depended, but must have caused her +to feel, if she had been as well brought up as all indications showed, +that it was a dishonest act of which she had been guilty and that, +willing or not, she must look upon herself as a thief so long as she +held the jewel back from Mr. Deane or its rightful owner. But how face +the publicity of restoring it now, after this elaborate and painful +search, in which even the son of her hostess had taken part?</p> + +<p>That would be to proclaim her guilt and thus effectually ruin her in the +eyes of everybody concerned. No, she would keep the compromising article +a little longer, in the hope of finding some opportunity of returning it +without risk to her good name. And so she allowed the search to proceed.</p> + +<p>I have entered thus elaborately into the supposed condition of this +girl's mind on this critical evening, that you may understand why I felt +a certain sympathy for her, which forbade harsh measures. I was sure, +from the glimpse I had caught of her face, that she longed to be +relieved from the tension she was under, and that she would gladly rid +herself of this valuable jewel if she only knew how. This opportunity I +proposed to give her; and this is why, on returning the bill to its +place, I assumed such an air of relief on rejoining Mrs. Ashley.</p> + +<p>She saw, and drew me aside.</p> + +<p>"You have not found it!" she said.</p> + +<p>"No," I returned, "but I am positive where it is."</p> + +<p>"And where is that?"</p> + +<p>"Over Miss Glover's uneasy heart."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Ashley turned pale.</p> + +<p>"Wait," said I; "I have a scheme for getting it hence without making her +shame public. Listen!" and I whispered a few words in her ear.</p> + +<p>She surveyed me in amazement for a moment, then nodded, and her face +lighted up.</p> + +<p>"You are certainly earning your reward," she declared; and summoning her +son, who was never far away from her side, she whispered her wishes. He +started, bowed and hurried from the room.</p> + +<p>By this time my business in the house was well-known to all, and I could +not appear in hall or parlor without a great silence falling upon every +one present, followed by a breaking up of the only too small circle of +unhappy guests into agitated groups. But I appeared to see nothing of +all this till the proper moment, when, turning suddenly upon them all, I +cried out cheerfully, but with a certain deference I thought would +please them:</p> + +<p>"Ladies and gentlemen: I have an interesting fact to announce. The snow +which was taken up from the driveway has been put to melt in the great +feed caldron over the stable fire. We expect to find the ruby at the +bottom, and Mrs. Ashley invites you to be present at its recovery. It +has now stopped snowing and she thought you might enjoy the excitement +of watching the water ladled out."</p> + +<p>A dozen girls bounded forward.</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes, what fun! where are our cloaks—our rubbers?"</p> + +<p>Two only stood hesitating. One of these was Mr. Deane's lady love and +the other her friend, Miss Glover. The former, perhaps, secretly +wondered. The latter—but I dared not look long enough or closely enough +in her direction to judge just what her emotions were. Presently these, +too, stepped forward into the excited circle of young people, and were +met by the two maids who were bringing in their wraps. Amid the bustle +which now ensued, I caught sight of Mr. Deane's face peering from an +open doorway. It was all alive with hope. I also perceived a lady +looking down from the second story, who, I felt sure, was Mrs. Burton +herself. Evidently my confident tone had produced more effect than the +words themselves. Every one looked upon the jewel as already recovered +and regarded my invitation to the stable as a ruse by which I hoped to +restore universal good feeling by giving them all a share in my triumph.</p> + +<p>All but one! Nothing could make Miss Glover look otherwise than anxious, +restless and unsettled, and though she followed in the wake of the +rest, it was with hidden face and lagging step, as if she recognized the +whole thing as a farce and doubted her own power to go through it +calmly.</p> + +<p>"Ah, ha! my lady," thought I, "only be patient and you will see what I +shall do for you." And indeed I thought her eye brightened as we all +drew up around the huge caldron standing full of water over the stable +stove. As pains had already been taken to put out the fire in this +stove, the ladies were not afraid of injuring their dresses and +consequently crowded as close as their numbers would permit. Miss Glover +especially stood within reach of the brim, and as soon as I noted this, +I gave the signal which had been agreed upon between Mr. Ashley and +myself. Instantly the electric lights went out, leaving the place in +total darkness.</p> + +<p>A scream from the girls, a burst of hilarious laughter from their +escorts, mingled with loud apologies from their seemingly mischievous +host, filled up the interval of darkness which I had insisted should not +be too soon curtailed; then the lights glowed as suddenly as they had +gone out, and while the glare was fresh on every face, I stole a glance +at Miss Glover to see if she had made good use of the opportunity just +accorded for ridding herself of the jewel by dropping it into the +caldron. If she had, both her troubles and mine were at an end; if she +had not, then I need feel no further scruple in approaching her with the +direct question I had hitherto found it so difficult to put.</p> + +<p>She stood with both hands grasping her cloak which she had drawn tightly +about the rich folds of her new and expensive dress; but her eyes were +fixed straight before her with a soft light in their depths which made +her positively beautiful.</p> + +<p>The jewel is in the pot, I inwardly decided, and ordered the two waiting +stablemen to step forward with their ladles. Quickly those ladles went +in, but before they could be lifted out dripping, half the ladies had +scurried back, afraid of injury to their pretty dresses. But they soon +sidled forward again, and watched with beaming eyes the slow but sure +emptying of the great caldron at whose bottom they anticipated finding +the lost jewel.</p> + +<p>As the ladles were plunged deeper and deeper, the heads drew closer and +so great was the interest shown, that the busiest lips forgot to +chatter, and eyes, whose only business up till now had been to follow +with shy curiosity every motion made by their handsome young host, now +settled on the murky depths of the great pot whose bottom was almost in +sight.</p> + +<p>As I heard the ladles strike this bottom, I instinctively withdrew a +step in anticipation of the loud hurrah which would naturally hail the +first sight of the lost ruby. Conceive, then, my chagrin, my bitter and +mortified disappointment, when, after one look at the broad surface of +the now exposed bottom the one shout which rose was:</p> + +<p>"<i>Nothing!</i>"</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>I was so thoroughly put out that I did not wait to hear the loud +complaints which burst from every lip. Drawing Mr. Ashley aside (who, +by the way, seemed as much affected as myself by the turn affairs had +taken) I remarked to him that there was only one course left open to us.</p> + +<p>"And what is that?"</p> + +<p>"To ask Miss Glover to show me what she picked up from your driveway."</p> + +<p>"And if she refuses?"</p> + +<p>"To take her quietly with me to the station, where we have women who can +make sure that the ruby is not on her person."</p> + +<p>Mr. Ashley made an involuntary gesture of strong repugnance.</p> + +<p>"Let us pray that it will not come to that," he objected hoarsely. "Such +a fine figure of a girl! Did you notice how bright and happy she looked +when the lights sprang up? I declare she struck me as lovely."</p> + +<p>"So she did me, and caused me to draw some erroneous conclusions. I +shall have to ask you to procure me an interview with her as soon as we +return to the house."</p> + +<p>"She shall meet you in the library."</p> + +<p>But when, a few minutes later, she joined me in the room just designated +and I had full opportunity for reading her countenance, I own that my +task became suddenly hateful to me. She was not far from my own +daughter's age and, had it not been for her furtive look of care, +appeared almost as blooming and bright. Would it ever come to pass that +a harsh man of the law would feel it his duty to speak to my Flora as I +must now speak to the young girl before me? The thought made me inwardly +recoil and it was in as gentle a manner as possible that I made my bow +and began with the following remark:</p> + +<p>"I hope you will pardon me, Miss Glover—I am told that is your name. I +hate to disturb your pleasure—" (this with the tears of alarm and grief +rising in her eyes) "but you can tell me something which will greatly +simplify my task and possibly put matters in such shape that you and +your friends can be released to your homes."</p> + +<p>"I?"</p> + +<p>She stood before me with amazed eyes, the color rising in her cheeks. I +had to force my next words, which, out of consideration for her, I made +as direct as possible.</p> + +<p>"Yes, miss. What was the article you were seen to pick up from the +driveway soon after leaving your carriage?"</p> + +<p>She started, then stumbled backward, tripping in her long train.</p> + +<p>"I pick up?" she murmured. Then with a blush, whether of anger or pride +I could not tell, she coldly answered: "Oh, that was something of my +own,—something I had just dropped. I had rather not tell you what it +was."</p> + +<p>I scrutinized her closely. She met my eyes squarely, yet not with just +the clear light I should, remembering Flora, have been glad to see +there.</p> + +<p>"I think it would be better for you to be entirely frank," said I. "It +was the only article known to have been picked up from the driveway +after Mr. Deane's loss of the ruby; and though we do not presume to say +that it was the ruby, yet the matter would look clearer to us all if you +would frankly state what this object was."</p> + +<p>Her whole body seemed to collapse and she looked as if about to sink.</p> + +<p>"Oh, where is Minnie? Where is Mr. Deane?" she moaned, turning and +staring at the door, as if she hoped they would fly to her aid. Then, in +a burst of indignation which I was fain to believe real, she turned on +me with the cry: "It was a bit of paper which I had thrust into the +bosom of my gown. It fell out—"</p> + +<p>"Your dressmaker's bill?" I intimated.</p> + +<p>She stared, laughed hysterically for a moment, then sank upon a near-by +sofa, sobbing spasmodically.</p> + +<p>"Yes," she cried, after a moment; "my dressmaker's bill. You seem to +know all my affairs." Then suddenly, and with a startling impetuosity, +which drew her to her feet: "Are you going to tell everybody that? Are +you going to state publicly that Miss Glover brought an unpaid bill to +the party and that because Mr. Deane was unfortunate enough or careless +enough to drop and lose the jewel he was bringing to Mrs. Burton, she is +to be looked upon as a thief, because she stooped to pick up this bill +which had slipped inadvertently from its hiding-place? I shall die if +you do," she cried. "I shall die if it is already known," she pursued, +with increasing emotion. "Is it? Is it?"</p> + +<p>Her passion was so great, so much greater than any likely to rise in a +breast wholly innocent, that I began to feel very sober.</p> + +<p>"No one but Mrs. Ashley and possibly her son know about the bill," said +I, "and no one shall, if you will go with that lady to her room, and +make plain to her, in the only way you can, that the extremely valuable +article which has been lost to-night is not in your possession."</p> + +<p>She threw up her arms with a scream. "Oh, what a horror! I can not! I +can not! Oh, I shall die of shame! My father! My mother!" And she burst +from the room like one distraught.</p> + +<p>But in another moment she came cringing back. "I can not face them," +she said. "They all believe it; they will always believe it unless I +submit—Oh, why did I ever come to this dreadful place? Why did I order +this hateful dress which I can never pay for and which, in spite of the +misery it has caused me, has failed to bring me the—" She did not +continue. She had caught my eye and seen there, perhaps, some evidence +of the pity I could not but experience for her. With a sudden change of +tone she advanced upon me with the appeal: "Save me from this +humiliation. I have not seen the ruby. I am as ignorant of its +whereabouts as—as Mr. Ashley himself. Won't you believe me? Won't they +be satisfied if I swear—"</p> + +<p>I was really sorry for her. I began to think too that some dreadful +mistake had been made. Her manner seemed too ingenuous for guilt. Yet +where could that ruby be, if not with this young girl? Certainly, all +other possibilities had been exhausted, and her story of the bill, even +if accepted, would never quite exonerate her from secret suspicion while +that elusive jewel remained unfound.</p> + +<p>"You give me no hope," she moaned. "I must go out before them all and +ask to have it proved that I am no thief. Oh, if God would have pity—"</p> + +<p>"Or some one would find—Halloo! What's that?"</p> + +<p>A shout had risen from the hall beyond.</p> + +<p>She gasped and we both plunged forward. Mr. Ashley, still in his +overcoat, stood at the other end of the hall, and facing him were ranged +the whole line of young people whom I had left scattered about in the +various parlors. I thought he looked peculiar; certainly his appearance +differed from that of a quarter of an hour before, and when he glanced +our way and saw who was standing with me in the library doorway, his +voice took on a tone which made me doubt whether he was about to +announce good news or bad.</p> + +<p>But his first word settled that question.</p> + +<p>"Rejoice with me!" he cried. "<i>The ruby has been found!</i> Do you want to +see the culprit?—for there is a culprit. We have him at the door; shall +we bring him in?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, yes," cried several voices, among them that of Mr. Deane, who now +strode forward with beaming eyes and instinctively lifted hand. But some +of the ladies looked frightened, and Mr. Ashley, noting this, glanced +for encouragement toward us.</p> + +<p>He seemed to find it in Miss Glover's eyes. She had quivered and nearly +fallen at that word <i>found</i>, but had drawn herself up by this time and +was awaiting his further action in a fever of relief and hope which +perhaps no one but myself could fully appreciate.</p> + +<p>"A vile thief! A most unconscionable rascal!" vociferated Mr. Ashley. +"You must see him, mother; you must see him, ladies, else you will not +realize our good fortune. Open the door there and bring in the robber!"</p> + +<p>At this command, uttered in ringing tones, the huge leaves of the great +front door swung slowly forward, revealing the sturdy forms of the two +stablemen holding down by main force the towering figure of—<i>a horse</i>!</p> + +<p>The scream of astonishment which went up from all sides, united to Mr. +Ashley's shout of hilarity, caused the animal, unused, no doubt, to +drawing-rooms, to rear to the length of his bridle. At which Mr. Ashley +laughed again and gaily cried:</p> + +<p>"Confound the fellow! Look at him, mother; look at him, ladies! Do you +not see guilt written on his brow? It is he who has made us all this +trouble. First, he must needs take umbrage at the two lights with which +we presumed to illuminate our porch; then, envying Mrs. Burton her ruby +and Mr. Deane his reward, seek to rob them both by grinding his hoofs +all over the snow of the driveway till he came upon the jewel which Mr. +Deane had dropped from his pocket, and taking it up in a ball of snow, +secrete it in his left hind shoe,—where it might be yet, if Mr. +Spencer—" here he bowed to a strange gentleman who at that moment +entered—"had not come himself for his daughters, and, going first to +the stable, found his horse so restless and seemingly lame—(there, +boys, you may take the wretch away now and harness him, but first hold +up that guilty left hind hoof for the ladies to see)—that he stooped to +examine him, and so came upon <i>this</i>."</p> + +<p>Here the young gentleman brought forward his hand. In it was a +nondescript little wad, well soaked and shapeless; but, once he had +untied the kid, such a ray of rosy light burst from his outstretched +palm that I doubt if a single woman there noted the clatter of the +retiring beast or the heavy clang made by the two front doors as they +shut upon the <i>robber</i>. Eyes and tongues were too busy, and Mr. Ashley, +realizing, probably, that the interest of all present would remain, for +a few minutes at least, with this marvelous jewel so astonishingly +recovered, laid it, with many expressions of thankfulness, in Mrs. +Burton's now eagerly outstretched palm, and advancing toward us, paused +in front of Miss Glover and eagerly held out his hand.</p> + +<p>"Congratulate me," he prayed. "All our troubles are over—Oh, what now!"</p> + +<p>The poor young thing, in trying to smile, had turned as white as a +sheet. Before either of us could interpose an arm, she had slipped to +the floor in a dead faint. With a murmur of pity and possibly of inward +contrition, he stooped over her and together we carried her into the +library, where I left her in his care, confident, from certain +indications, that my presence would not be greatly missed by either of +them.</p> + +<p>Whatever hope I may have had of reaping the reward offered by Mrs. +Ashley was now lost, but, in the satisfaction I experienced at finding +this young girl as innocent as my Flora, I did not greatly care.</p> + +<p>Well, it all ended even more happily than may here appear. The horse not +putting in his claim to the reward, and Mr. Spencer repudiating all +right to it, it was paid in full to Mr. Deane, who went home in as +buoyant a state of mind as was possible to him after the great anxieties +of the preceding two hours. Miss Glover was sent back by the Ashleys in +their own carriage and I was told that Mr. Ashley declined to close the +carriage door upon her till she had promised to come again the +following night.</p> + +<p>Anxious to make such amends as I personally could for my share in the +mortification to which she had been subjected, I visited her in the +morning, with the intention of offering a suggestion or two in regard to +that little bill. But she met my first advance with a radiant smile and +the glad exclamation:</p> + +<p>"Oh, I have settled all that! I have just come from Madame Duprè's. I +told her that I had never imagined the dress could possibly cost more +than a hundred dollars, and I offered her that sum if she would take the +garment back. And she did, she did, and I shall never have to wear that +dreadful satin again."</p> + +<p>I made a note of this dressmaker's name. She and I may have a bone to +pick some day. But I said nothing to Miss Glover. I merely exclaimed:</p> + +<p>"And to-night?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, I have an old spotted muslin which, with a few natural flowers, +will make me look festive enough. One does not need fine clothes when +one is—happy."</p> + +<p>The dreamy far-off smile with which she finished the sentence was more +eloquent than words, and I was not surprised when some time later I read +of her engagement to Mr. Ashley.</p> + +<p>But it was not till she could sign herself with his name that she told +me just what underlay the misery of that night. She had met Harrison +Ashley more than once before, and, though she did not say so, had +evidently conceived an admiration for him which made her especially +desirous of attracting and pleasing him. Not understanding the world +very well, certainly having very little knowledge of the tastes and +feelings of wealthy people, she conceived that the more brilliantly she +was attired the more likely she would be to please this rich young man. +So in a moment of weakness she decided to devote all her small savings +(a hundred dollars, as we know) to buying a gown such as she felt she +could appear in at his house without shame.</p> + +<p>It came home, as dresses from French dressmakers are very apt to do, +just in time for her to put it on for the party. The bill came with it +and when she saw the amount—it was all itemized and she could find no +fault with anything but the summing up—she was so overwhelmed that she +nearly fainted. But she could not give up her ball; so she dressed +herself, and, being urged all the time to hurry, hardly stopped to give +one look at the new and splendid gown which had cost so much. The +bill—the incredible, the enormous bill—was all she could think of, and +the figures, which represented nearly her whole year's earnings, danced +constantly before her eyes. How to pay it—but she could not pay it, nor +could she ask her father to do so. She was ruined; but the ball, and Mr. +Ashley—these still awaited her; so presently she worked herself up to +some anticipation of enjoyment, and, having thrown on her cloak, was +turning down her light preparatory to departure, when her eye fell on +the bill lying open on her dresser.</p> + +<p>It would never do to leave it there—never do to leave it anywhere in +her room. There were prying eyes in the house, and she was as ashamed of +that bill as she might have been of a contemplated theft. So she tucked +it in her corsage and went down to join her friends in the carriage.</p> + +<p>The rest we know, all but one small detail which turned to gall whatever +enjoyment she was able to get out of the early evening. There was a +young girl present, dressed in a simple muslin gown. While looking at it +and inwardly contrasting it with her own splendor, Mr. Ashley passed by +with another gentleman and she heard him say:</p> + +<p>"How much better young girls look in simple white than in the elaborate +silks only suitable for their mothers!"</p> + +<p>Thoughtless words, possibly forgotten as soon as uttered, but they +sharply pierced this already sufficiently stricken and uneasy breast and +were the cause of the tears which had aroused my suspicion when I came +upon her in the library, standing with her face to the night.</p> + +<p>But who can say whether, if the evening had been devoid of these +occurrences and no emotions of contrition and pity had been awakened in +her behalf in the breast of her chivalrous host, she would ever have +become Mrs. Ashley?</p> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Amethyst Box, by Anna Katherine Green + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE AMETHYST BOX *** + +***** This file should be named 35424-h.htm or 35424-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/5/4/2/35424/ + +Produced by Chris Curnow, Michael, Mary Meehan and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Amethyst Box + +Author: Anna Katherine Green + +Release Date: February 28, 2011 [EBook #35424] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE AMETHYST BOX *** + + + + +Produced by Chris Curnow, Michael, Mary Meehan and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + + + THE AMETHYST BOX + + _By_ ANNA KATHARINE GREEN + + Author of The Millionaire Baby, The House in the Mist, + The Filigree Ball, etc., etc. + + + INDIANAPOLIS + THE BOBBS-MERRILL COMPANY + PUBLISHERS + + COPYRIGHT 1905 + THE BOBBS-MERRILL COMPANY + + APRIL + + + + +THE AMETHYST BOX + + + + +I + +THE FLASK WHICH HELD BUT A DROP + + +It was the night before the wedding. Though Sinclair, and not myself, +was the happy man, I had my own causes for excitement, and, finding the +heat of the billiard-room insupportable, I sought the veranda for a +solitary smoke in sight of the ocean and a full moon. + +I was in a condition of rapturous, if unreasoning, delight. That +afternoon a little hand had lingered in mine for just an instant longer +than the circumstances of the moment strictly required, and small as the +favor may seem to those who do not know Dorothy Camerden, to me, who +realized fully both her delicacy and pride, it was a sign that my long, +if secret, devotion was about to be rewarded and that at last I was free +to cherish hopes whose alternative had once bid fair to wreck the +happiness of my life. + +I was reveling in the felicity of these anticipations and contrasting +this hour of ardent hope with others of whose dissatisfaction and gloom +I was yet mindful, when a sudden shadow fell across the broad band of +light issuing from the library window, and Sinclair stepped out. + +He had the appearance of being disturbed; very much disturbed, I +thought, for a man on the point of marrying the woman for whom he +professed to entertain the one profound passion of his life; but +remembering his frequent causes of annoyance--causes quite apart from +his bride and her personal attributes--I kept on placidly smoking till I +felt his hand on my shoulder and turned to see that the moment was a +serious one. + +"I have something to say to you," he whispered. "Come where we shall run +less risk of being disturbed." + +"What's wrong?" I asked, facing him with curiosity, if not with alarm. +"I never saw you look like this before. Has the old lady taken this last +minute to--" + +"Hush!" he prayed, emphasizing the word with a curt gesture not to be +mistaken. "The little room over the west porch is empty just now. Follow +me there." + +With a sigh for the cigar I had so lately lighted I tossed it into the +bushes and sauntered in after him. I thought I understood his trouble. +The prospective bride was young--a mere slip of a girl, indeed--bright, +beautiful and proud, yet with odd little restraints in her manner and +language, due probably to her peculiar bringing up and the surprise, not +yet overcome, of finding herself, after an isolated, if not despised, +childhood, the idol of society and the recipient of general homage. The +fault was not with her. But she had for guardian (alas! my dear girl had +the same) an aunt who was a gorgon. This aunt must have been making +herself disagreeable to the prospective bridegroom, and he, being quick +to take offense, quicker than myself, it was said, had probably retorted +in a way to make things unpleasant. As he was a guest in the house, he +and all the other members of the bridal party--(Mrs. Armstrong having +insisted upon opening her magnificent Newport villa for this wedding and +its attendant festivities), the matter might well look black to him. Yet +I did not feel disposed to take much interest in it, even though his +case might be mine some day, with all its accompanying drawbacks. + +But, once confronted with Sinclair in the well-lighted room above, I +perceived that I had better drop all selfish regrets and give my full +attention to what he had to say. For his eye, which had flashed with an +unusual light at dinner, was clouded now, and his manner, when he strove +to speak, betrayed a nervousness I had considered foreign to his nature +ever since the day I had seen him rein in his horse so calmly on the +extreme edge of a precipice where a fall would have meant certain death +not only to himself, but also to the two riders who unwittingly were +pressing closely behind him. + +"Walter," he faltered, "something has happened, something dreadful, +something unprecedented! You may think me a fool--God knows I would be +glad to be proved so, but this thing has frightened me. I--" He paused +and pulled himself together. "I will tell you about it, then you can +judge for yourself. I am in no condition to do so. I wonder if you will +be when you hear--" + +"Don't beat about the bush. Speak up! What's the matter?" + +He gave me an odd look full of gloom, a look I felt the force of, though +I could not interpret it; then coming closer, though there was no one +within hearing, possibly no one any nearer than the drawing-room below, +he whispered in my ear: + +"I have lost a little vial of the deadliest drug ever compounded; a +Venetian curiosity which I was foolish enough to take out and show the +ladies, because the little box which holds it is such an exquisite +example of jewelers' work. There's death in its taste, almost in its +smell; and it's out of my hands and--" + +"Well, I'll tell you how to fix that up," I put in, with my usual frank +decision. "Order the music stopped; call everybody into the drawing-room +and explain the dangerous nature of this toy. After which, if anything +happens, it will not be your fault, but that of the person who has so +thoughtlessly appropriated it." + +His eyes, which had been resting eagerly on mine, shifted aside in +visible embarrassment. + +"Impossible! It would only aggravate matters, or rather, would not +relieve my fears at all. The person who took it knew its nature very +well, and that person--" + +"Oh, then you know who took it!" I broke in, in increasing astonishment. +"I thought from your manner that--" + +"No," he moodily corrected, "I do not know who took it. If I did, I +should not be here. That is, I do not know the exact person. Only--" +Here he again eyed me with his former singular intentness, and +observing that I was nettled, made a fresh beginning. "When I came +here, I brought with me a case of rarities chosen from my various +collections. In looking over them preparatory to making a present to +Gilbertine, I came across the little box I have just mentioned. It is +made of a single amethyst and contains--or so I was assured when I +bought it--a tiny flask of old but very deadly poison. How it came to be +included with the other precious and beautiful articles I had picked out +for her _cadeau_, I can not say; but there it was; and conceiving that +the sight of it would please the ladies, I carried it down into the +library and, in an evil hour, called three or four of those about me to +inspect it. This was while you boys were in the billiard-room, so the +ladies could give their entire attention to the little box which is +certainly worth the most careful scrutiny. + +"I was holding it out on the palm of my hand, where it burned with a +purple light which made more than one feminine eye glitter, when +somebody inquired to what use so small and yet so rich a receptacle +could be put. The question was such a natural one I never thought of +evading it, besides, I enjoy the fearsome delight which women take in +the marvelous. Expecting no greater result than lifted eyebrows or +flushed cheeks, I answered by pressing a little spring in the +filigree-work surrounding the gem. Instantly, the tiniest of lids flew +back, revealing a crystal flask of such minute proportions that the +usual astonishment followed its disclosure. + +"'You see!' I cried, 'it was made to hold _that_!' And moving my hand to +and fro under the gas-jet, I caused to shine in their eyes the single +drop of yellow liquid it still held. 'Poison!' I impressively announced. +'This trinket may have adorned the bosom of a Borgia or flashed from the +arm of some great Venetian lady as she flourished her fan between her +embittered heart and the object of her wrath or jealousy.' + +"The first sentence had come naturally, but the last was spoken at +random and almost unconsciously. For at the utterance of the word +'poison,' a quickly suppressed cry had escaped the lips of some one +behind me, which, while faint enough to elude the attention of any ear +less sensitive than my own, contained such an astonishing, if +involuntary, note of self-betrayal that my mind grew numb with horror, +and I stood staring at the fearful toy which had called up such a +revelation of--what? That is what I am here to ask, first of myself, +then of you. For the two women pressing behind me were--" + +"Who?" I sharply demanded, partaking in some indefinable way of his +excitement and alarm. + +"Gilbertine Murray and Dorothy Camerden:"--his prospective bride and the +woman I loved and whom he knew I loved, though I had kept my secret +quite successfully from every one else! + +The look we exchanged neither of us will ever forget. + +"Describe the sound!" I presently said. + +"I can not," he replied. "I can only give you my impression of it. You, +like myself, fought in more than one skirmish in the Cuban War. Did you +ever hear the cry made by a wounded man when the cup of cool water for +which he has long agonized is brought suddenly before his eyes? Such a +sound, with all that goes to make it eloquent, did I hear from one of +the two girls who leaned over my shoulder. Can you understand this +amazing, this unheard-of circumstance? Can you name the woman, can you +name the grief capable of making either of these seemingly happy and +innocent girls hail the sight of such a doubtful panacea with an +unconscious ebullition of joy? You would clear my wedding-eve of a great +dread if you could, for if this expression of concealed misery came from +Gilbertine--" + +"Do you mean," I cried in vehement protest, "that you really are in +doubt as to which of these two women uttered the cry which so startled +you? That you positively can not tell whether it was Gilbertine +or--or--" + +"I can not; as God lives, I can not. I was too dazed, too confounded by +the unexpected circumstance, to turn at once, and when I did, it was to +see both pairs of eyes shining, and both faces dimpling with real or +affected gaiety. Indeed, if the matter had stopped there, I should have +thought myself the victim of some monstrous delusion; but when a +half-hour later I found this box missing from the cabinet where I had +hastily thrust it at the peremptory summons of our hostess, I knew that +I had not misunderstood the nature of the cry I had heard; that it was +indeed one of secret longing, and that the hand had simply taken what +the heart desired. If a death occurs in this house to-night--" + +"Sinclair, you are mad!" I exclaimed with great violence. No lesser word +would fit either the intensity of my feeling or the confused state of my +mind. "Death _here_! where all are so happy! Remember your bride's +ingenuous face! Remember the candid expression of Dorothy's eye--her +smile--her noble ways! You exaggerate the situation. You neither +understand aright the simple expression of surprise you heard, nor the +feminine frolic which led these girls to carry off this romantic +specimen of Italian deviltry." + +"You are losing time," was his simple comment. "Every minute we allow to +pass in inaction only brings the danger nearer." + +"What! You imagine--" + +"I imagine nothing. I simply know that one of these girls has in her +possession the means of terminating life in an instant; that the girl so +having it is not happy, and that if anything happens to-night it will be +because we rested supine in the face of a very real and possible danger. +Now, as Gilbertine has never given me reason to doubt either her +affection for myself or her satisfaction in our approaching union, I +have allowed myself--" + +"To think that the object of your fears is Dorothy," I finished with a +laugh I vainly strove to make sarcastic. + +He did not answer, and I stood battling with a dread I could neither +conceal nor avow. For preposterous as his idea was, reason told me that +he had some grounds for his doubt. + +Dorothy, unlike Gilbertine Murray, was not to be read at a glance, and +her trouble--for she certainly had a trouble--was not one she chose to +share with any one, even with me. I had flattered myself in days gone by +that I understood it well enough, and that any lack of sincerity I might +observe in her could be easily explained by the position of dependence +she held toward an irascible aunt. But now that I forced myself to +consider the matter carefully I could not but ask if the varying moods +by which I had found myself secretly harrowed had not sprung from a very +different cause--a cause for which my persistent love was more to blame +than the temper of her relative. The aversion she had once shown to my +attentions had yielded long ago to a shy, but seemingly sincere +appreciation of them, and gleams of what I was fain to call real feeling +had shown themselves now and then in her softened manner, culminating +to-day in that soft pressure of my hand which had awakened my hopes and +made me forget all the doubts and caprices of a disturbing courtship. + +But, had I interpreted that strong, nervous pressure aright? Had it +necessarily meant love? Might it not have sprung from a sudden desperate +resolution to accept a devotion which offered her a way out of +difficulties especially galling to one of her gentle but lofty spirit? +Her expression when she caught my look of joy had little of the demure +tenderness of a maiden blushing at her first involuntary avowal. There +was shrinking in it, but it was the shrinking of a frightened woman, not +of an abashed girl; and when I strove to follow her, the gesture with +which she waved me back had that in it which would have alarmed a more +exacting lover. Had I mistaken my darling's feelings? Was her heart +still cold, her affection unwon? Or--thought insupportable!--had she +secretly yielded to another what she had so long denied me and-- + +"Ah!" quoth Sinclair at this juncture, "I see that I have roused you at +last." And unconsciously his tone grew lighter and his eye lost the +strained look which had made it the eye of a stranger. "You begin to see +that a question of the most serious import is before us, and that this +question must be answered before we separate for the night." + +"I do," said I. + +His relief was evident. + +"Then so much is gained. The next point is, how are we to settle our +doubts? We can not approach either of these ladies with questions. A +girl wretched enough to contemplate suicide would be especially careful +to conceal both her misery and its cause. Neither can we order a search +made for an object so small that it can be concealed about the person." + +"Yet this jewel must be recovered. Listen, Sinclair. I will have a talk +with Dorothy, you with Gilbertine. A kind talk, mind you! one that will +soothe, not frighten. If a secret lurks in either breast our tenderness +should find it out. Only, as you love me, promise to show me the same +frankness I here promise to show you. Dear as Dorothy is to me, I swear +to communicate to you the full result of my conversation with her, +whatever the cost to myself or even to her." + +"And I will be equally fair as regards Gilbertine. But, before we +proceed to such extreme measures, let us make sure that there is no +shorter road to the truth. Some one may have seen which of our two dear +girls went back to the library after we all came out of it. That would +narrow down our inquiry and save one of them, at least, from unnecessary +disturbance." + +It was a happy thought, and I told him so, but at the same time bade him +look in the glass and see how impossible it would be for him to venture +below without creating an alarm which might precipitate the dread event +we both feared. + +He replied by drawing me to his side before the mirror and pointing to +my own face. It was as pale as his own. + +Most disagreeably impressed by this self-betrayal, I colored deeply +under Sinclair's eye and was but little, if any, relieved when I +noticed that he colored under mine. For his feelings were no enigma to +me. Naturally he was glad to discover that I shared his apprehensions, +since it gave him leave to hope that the blow he so dreaded was not +necessarily directed toward his own affections. Yet, being a generous +fellow, he blushed to be detected in his egotism, while I--well, I own +that at that moment I should have felt a very unmixed joy at being +assured that the foundations of my own love were secure, and that the +tiny flask Sinclair had missed had not been taken by the hand of the one +to whom I looked for all my earthly happiness. + +And my wedding-day was as yet a vague and distant hope, while his was +set for the morrow. + +"We must carry down stairs very different faces from these," he +remarked, "or we shall be stopped before we reach the library." + +I made an effort at composure, so did he; and both being determined men, +we soon found ourselves in a condition to descend among our friends +without attracting any closer attention than was naturally due him as +prospective bridegroom and myself as best man. + + + + +II + +BEATON'S DREAM + + +Mrs. Armstrong, our hostess, was fond of gaiety, and amusements were +never lacking. As we stepped down into the great hall we heard music in +the drawing-room and saw that a dance was in progress. + +"That is good," observed Sinclair. "We shall run less risk of finding +the library occupied." + +"Shall I not look and see where the girls are? It would be a great +relief to find them both among the dancers." + +"Yes," said he, "but don't allow yourself to be inveigled into joining +them. I could not stand the suspense." + +I nodded and slipped toward the drawing-room. He remained in the +bay-window overlooking the terrace. + +A rush of young people greeted me as soon as I showed myself. But I was +able to elude them and catch the one full glimpse I wanted of the great +room beyond. It was a magnificent apartment, and so brilliantly lighted +that every nook stood revealed. On a divan near the center was a lady +conversing with two gentlemen. Her back was toward me, but I had no +difficulty in recognizing Miss Murray. Some distance from her, but with +her face also turned away, stood Dorothy. She was talking with an +unmarried friend and appeared quite at ease and more than usually +cheerful. + +Relieved, yet sorry that I had not succeeded in catching a glimpse of +their faces, I hastened back to Sinclair, who was watching me with +furtive eyes from between the curtains of the window in which he had +secreted himself. As I joined him a young man, who was to act as usher, +sauntered from behind one of the great pillars forming a colonnade down +the hall, and, crossing to where the music-room door stood invitingly +open, disappeared behind it with the air of a man perfectly contented +with his surroundings. + +With a nervous grip Sinclair seized me by the arm. + +"Was that Beaton?" he asked. + +"Certainly; didn't you recognize him?" + +He gave me a very strange look. + +"Does the sight of him recall anything?" + +"No." + +"You were at the breakfast-table yesterday morning?" + +"I was." + +"Do you remember the dream he related for the delectation of such as +would listen?" + +Then it was my turn to go white. + +"You don't mean--" I began. + +"I thought at the time that it sounded more like a veritable adventure +than a dream; now I am sure that it was such." + +"Sinclair! You do not mean that the young girl he professed himself to +have surprised one moonlit night standing on the verge of the cliff, +with arms upstretched and a distracted air, was a real person?" + +"I do. We laughed at the time; he made it seem so tragic and +preposterous. I do not feel like laughing now." + +I gazed at Sinclair in horror. The music was throbbing in our ears, and +the murmur of gay voices and swiftly moving feet suggested nothing but +joy and hilarity. Which was the dream? This scene of seeming mirth and +happy promise, or the fancies he had conjured up to rob us both of +peace? + +"Beaton mentioned no names," I stubbornly protested. "He did not even +call the vision he encountered a woman. It was a wraith, you remember, a +dream-maiden, a creature of his own imagination, born of some tragedy he +had read." + +"Beaton is a gentleman," was Sinclair's cold reply. "He did not wish to +injure, but to warn the woman for whose benefit he told his tale." + +"Warn?" + +"He doubtless reasoned in this way. If he could make this young and +probably sensitive girl realize that she had been seen and her +intentions recognized, she would beware of such attempts in the future. +He is a kind-hearted fellow. Did you notice which end of the table he +ignored when relating this dramatic episode?" + +"No." + +"If you had we might be better able to judge where his thoughts were. +Probably you can not even tell how the ladies took it?" + +"No, I never thought of looking. Good God! Sinclair, don't let us harrow +up ourselves unnecessarily! I saw them both a moment ago, and nothing in +their manner showed that anything was amiss with either of them." + +For answer he drew me toward the library. + +This room was not frequented by the young people at night. There were +two or three elderly people in the party, notably the husband and the +brother of the lady of the house, and to their use the room was more or +less given up after nightfall. Sinclair wished to show me the cabinet +where the box had been. + +There was a fire in the grate, for the evenings were now more or less +chilly. When the door had closed behind us we found that this same fire +made all the light there was in the room. Both gas-jets had been put out +and the rich yet home-like room glowed with ruddy hues, interspersed +with great shadows. A solitary scene, yet an enticing one. + +Sinclair drew a deep breath. "Mr. Armstrong must have gone elsewhere to +read the evening papers," he remarked. + +I replied by casting a scrutinizing look into the corners. I dreaded +finding a pair of lovers hid somewhere in the many nooks made by the +jutting book-cases. But I saw no one. However, at the other end of the +large room there stood a screen near one of the many lounges, and I was +on the point of approaching this place of concealment when Sinclair drew +me toward a tall cabinet upon whose glass doors the firelight was +shimmering, and, pointing to a shelf far above our heads, cried: + +"No woman could reach that unaided. Gilbertine is tall, but not tall +enough for that. I purposely put it high." + +[Illustration] + +I looked about for a stool. There was one just behind Sinclair. I drew +his attention to it. + +He flushed and gave it a kick, then shivered slightly and sat down in a +near-by chair. I knew what he was thinking. Gilbertine was taller than +Dorothy. This stool might have served Gilbertine if not Dorothy. + +I felt a great sympathy for him. After all, his case was more serious +than mine. The bishop was coming to marry him the next day. + +"Sinclair," said I, "the stool means nothing. Dorothy has more inches +than you think. With this under her feet, she could reach the shelf by +standing tiptoe. Besides, there are the chairs." + +"True, true!" and he started up; "there are the chairs! I forgot the +chairs. I fear my wits have gone wool-gathering. We shall have to take +others into our confidence." Here his voice fell to a whisper. "Somehow +or by some means we must find out if either of them was seen to come +into this room." + +"Leave that to me," said I. "Remember that a word might raise +suspicion, and that in a case like this--Halloo, what's that?" + +A gentle snore had come from behind the screen. + +"We are not alone," I whispered. "Some one is over there on the lounge." + +Sinclair had already bounded across the room. I pressed hurriedly behind +him, and together we rounded the screen and came upon the recumbent +figure of Mr. Armstrong, asleep on the lounge, with his paper fallen +from his hand. + +"That accounts for the lights being turned out," grumbled Sinclair. +"Dutton must have done it." + +Dutton was the butler. + +I stood contemplating the sleeping figure before me. + +"He must have been lying here for some time," I muttered. + +Sinclair started. + +"Probably some little while before he slept," I pursued. "I have often +heard that he dotes on the firelight." + +"I have a notion to wake him," suggested Sinclair. + +"It will not be necessary," said I, drawing back, as the heavy figure +stirred, breathed heavily and finally sat up. + +"I beg pardon," I now entreated, backing politely away. "We thought the +room empty." + +Mr. Armstrong, who, if slow to receive impressions, is far from lacking +intelligence, eyed us with sleepy indifference for a moment, then rose +ponderously to his feet and was, on the instant, the man of manner and +unfailing courtesy we had ever found him. + +"What can I do to oblige you?" he asked; his smooth, if hesitating +tones, sounding strange to our excited ears. + +I made haste to forestall Sinclair, who was racking his brains for words +with which to propound the question he dared not put too boldly. + +"Pardon me, Mr. Armstrong, we were looking about for a small pin dropped +by Miss Camerden." (How hard it was for me to use her name in this +connection only my own heart knew.) "She was in here just now, was she +not?" + +The courteous gentleman bowed, hawed, and smiled a very polite but +unmeaning smile. Evidently he had not the remotest notion whether she +had been in or not. + +"I am sorry, but I am afraid I lost myself for a moment on that lounge," +he admitted. "The firelight always makes me sleepy. But if I can help +you," he cried, starting forward, but almost immediately pausing again +and giving us rather a curious look. "Some one was in the room. I +remember it now. It was just before the warmth and glow of the fire +became too much for me. I can not say that it was Miss Camerden, +however. I thought it was some one of quicker movement. She made quite a +rattle with the chairs." + +I purposely did not look back at Sinclair. + +"Miss Murray?" I suggested. + +Mr. Armstrong made one of his low, old-fashioned bows. This, I doubt +not, was out of deference to the bride-to-be. + +"Does Miss Murray wear white to-night?" + +"Yes," muttered Sinclair, coming hastily forward. + +"Then it may have been she, for as I lay there deciding whether or not +to yield to the agreeable somnolence I felt creeping over me, I caught a +glimpse of her skirt as she passed out of the room. And that skirt was +white--white silk, I suppose you call it. It looked very pretty in the +firelight." + +Sinclair, turning on his heel, stalked in a dazed way toward the door. +To cover this show of abruptness which was quite unusual on his part, I +made the effort of my life, and, remarking lightly, "She must have been +here looking for the pin her friend has lost," I launched forth into an +impromptu dissertation on one of the subjects I knew to be dear to the +heart of the bookworm before me, and kept it up, too, till I saw by his +brightening eye and suddenly freed manner that he had forgotten the +insignificant episode of a minute ago, never in all probability to +recall it again. Then I made another effort and released myself with +something like deftness from the long-drawn-out argument I saw +impending, and, making for the door in my turn, glanced about for +Sinclair. So far as I was concerned the question as to who had taken the +box from the library was settled. + +It was now half-past eight. I made my way from room to room and from +group to group, looking for Sinclair. At last I returned to my old post +near the library door, and was instantly rewarded by the sight of his +figure approaching from a small side passage in company with the butler, +Dutton. His face, as he stepped into the full light of the open hall, +showed discomposure, but not the extreme distress I had anticipated. +Somehow, at sight of it, I found myself seeking the shadow just as he +had done a short time before, and it was in one of the recesses made by +a row of bay trees that we came face to face. + +He gave me one look, then his eyes dropped. + +"Miss Camerden has lost a pin from her hair," he impressively explained +to me. Then turning to Dutton he nonchalantly remarked. "It must be +somewhere in this hall; perhaps you will be good enough to look for it." + +"Certainly," replied the man. "I thought she had lost something when I +saw her come out of the library a little while ago holding her hand to +her hair." + +My heart gave a leap, then sank cold and almost pulseless in my breast. +In the hum to which all sounds had sunk, I heard Sinclair's voice rise +again in the question with which my own mind was full. + +"When was that? After Mr. Armstrong went into the room, or before?" + +"Oh, after he fell asleep. I had just come from putting out the gas when +I saw Miss Camerden slip in and almost immediately come out again. I +will search for the pin very carefully, sir." + +So Mr. Armstrong had made a mistake! It was Dorothy and not Gilbertine +whom he had seen leaving the room. I braced myself up and met Sinclair's +eye. + +"Dorothy's dress is gray to-night; but Mr. Armstrong's eye may not be +very good for colors." + +"It is possible that both were in the room," was Sinclair's reply. But I +could see that he advanced this theory solely out of consideration for +me; that he did not really believe it. "At all events," he went on, "we +can not prove anything this way; we must revert to our original idea. I +wonder if Gilbertine will give me the chance to speak to her." + +"You will have an easier task than I," was my half-sullen retort. "If +Dorothy perceives that I wish to approach her she has but to lift her +eyes to any of the half-dozen fellows here, and the thing becomes +impossible." + +"There is to be a rehearsal of the ceremony at half-past ten. I might +get a word in then; only, this matter must be settled first. I could +never go through the farce of standing up before you all at Gilbertine's +side, with such a doubt as this in my mind." + +"You will see her before then. Insist on a moment's talk. If she +refuses--" + +"Hush!" he here put in. "We part now to meet in this same place again +at ten. Do I look fit to enter among the dancers? I see a whole group of +them coming for me." + +"You will in another moment. Approaching matrimony has made you sober, +that's all." + +It was some time before I had the opportunity, even if I had the +courage, to look Dorothy in the face. When the moment came she was +flushed with dancing and looked beautiful. Ordinarily she was a little +pale, but not even Gilbertine, with her sumptuous coloring, showed a +warmer cheek than she, as, resting from the waltz, she leaned against +the rose-tinted wall and let her eyes for the first time rise slowly to +where I stood talking mechanically to my partner. + +Gentle eyes they were, made for appeal, and eloquent with a subdued +heart language. But they were held in check by an infinite discretion. +Never have I caught them quite off their guard, and to-night they were +wholly unreadable. Yet she was trembling with something more than the +fervor of the dance, and the little hand which had touched mine in +lingering pressure a few hours before was not quiet for a moment. I +could not see it fluttering in and out of the folds of her smoke-colored +dress without a sickening wonder if the little purple box which was the +cause of my horror lay somewhere concealed amid the airy puffs and +ruffles that rose and fell so rapidly over her heaving breast. Could her +eye rest on mine, even in this cold and perfunctory manner, if the drop +which could separate us for ever lay concealed over her heart? She knew +that I loved her. From the first hour we met in her aunt's forbidding +parlor in Thirty-sixth Street, she had recognized my passion, however +perfectly I had succeeded in concealing it from others. Inexperienced as +she was in those days, she had noted as quickly as any society belle the +effect produced upon me by her chill prettiness and her air of meek +reserve under which one felt the heart-break; and though she would never +openly acknowledge my homage and frowned down every attempt on my part +at lover-like speech or attention, I was as sure that she rated my +feelings at their real value, as that she was the dearest, yet most +incomprehensible, mortal my narrow world contained. When, therefore, I +encountered her eyes at the end of the dance I said to myself: + +"She may not love me, but she knows that I love her, and, being a woman +of sympathetic instincts, would never meet my eyes with so calm a look +if she were meditating an act which must infallibly plunge me into +misery." Yet I was not satisfied to go away without a word. So, taking +the bull by the horns, I excused myself to my partner, and crossed to +Dorothy's side. + +"Will you dance the next waltz with me?" I asked. + +Her eyes fell from mine directly and she drew back in a way that +suggested flight. + +"I shall dance no more to-night," said she, her hand rising in its +nervous fashion to her hair. + +I made no appeal. I just watched that hand, whereupon she flushed +vividly and seemed more than ever anxious to escape. At which I spoke +again. + +"Give me a chance, Dorothy. If you will not dance come out on the +veranda and look at the ocean. It is glorious to-night. I will not keep +you long. The lights here trouble my eyes; besides, I am most anxious to +ask you--" + +"No, no," she vehemently objected, very much as if frightened. "I can +not leave the drawing-room--do not ask me--seek some other partner--do, +to-night." + +"You wish it?" + +"Very much." + +She was panting, eager. I felt my heart sink and dreaded lest I should +betray my feelings. + +"You do not honor me then with your regard," I retorted, bowing +ceremoniously as I became assured that we were attracting more attention +than I considered desirable. + +She was silent. Her hand went again to her hair. + +I changed my tone. Quietly, but with an emphasis which moved her in +spite of herself, I whispered: "If I leave you now will you tell me +to-morrow why you are so peremptory with me to-night?" + +With an eagerness which was anything but encouraging, she answered with +suddenly recovered gaiety: + +"Yes, yes, after all this excitement is over." And, slipping her hand +into that of a friend who was passing, she was soon in the whirl again +and dancing--she who had just assured me that she did not mean to dance +again that night. + + + + +III + +A SCREAM IN THE NIGHT + + +I turned and, hardly conscious of my actions, stumbled from the room. A +bevy of young people at once surrounded me. What I said to them I hardly +know. I only remember that it was several minutes before I found myself +again alone and making for the little room into which Beaton had +vanished a half-hour before. It was the one given up to card-playing. +Did I expect to find him seated at one of the tables? Possibly; at all +events I approached the doorway and was about to enter when a heavy step +shook the threshold before me and I found myself confronted by the +advancing figure of an elderly lady whose portrait it is now time for me +to draw. It is no pleasurable task, but one I can not escape. + +Imagine, then, a broad, weighty woman of not much height, with a face +whose features were usually forgotten in the impression made by her +great cheeks and falling jowls. If the small eyes rested on you, you +found them sinister and strange, but if they were turned elsewhere, you +asked in what lay the power of the face, and sought in vain amid its +long wrinkles and indeterminate lines for the secret of that spiritual +and bodily repulsion which the least look into this impassive +countenance was calculated to produce. She was a woman of immense means, +and an oppressive consciousness of this spoke in every movement of her +heavy frame, which always seemed to take up three times as much space as +rightfully belonged to any human creature. Add to this that she was +seldom seen without a display of diamonds which made her broad bust look +like the bejeweled breast of some Eastern idol, and some idea may be +formed of this redoubtable woman whom I have hitherto confined myself to +speaking of as _the gorgon_. + +The stare she gave me had something venomous and threatening in it. +Evidently for the moment I was out of her books, and while I did not +understand in what way I had displeased her, for we always had met +amicably before, I seized upon this sign of displeasure on her part as +explanatory, perhaps, of the curtness and show of contradictory feelings +on the part of her dependent niece. Yet why should the old woman frown +on me? I had been told more than once that she regarded me with great +favor. Had I unwittingly done something to displease her, or had the +game of cards she had just left gone against her, ruffling her temper +and making it imperative for her to choose some object on which to vent +her spite? I entered the room to see. Two men and one woman stood in +rather an embarrassed silence about a table on which lay some cards, +which had every appearance of having been thrown down by an impatient +hand. One of the men was Will Beaton, and it was he who now remarked: + +"She has just found out that the young people are enjoying themselves. +I wonder upon which of her two unfortunate nieces she will expend her +ill-temper to-night?" + +"Oh, there's no question about that," remarked the lady who stood near +him. "Ever since she has had a reasonable prospect of working Gilbertine +off her hands, she has devoted herself quite exclusively to her +remaining burden. I hear," she impulsively continued, craning her neck +to be sure that the object of her remarks was quite out of earshot, +"that the south hall was blue to-day with the talk she gave Dorothy +Camerden. No one knows what about, for the girl evidently tries to +please her. But some women have more than their own proper share of +bile; they must expend it on some one." And she in turn threw down her +cards, which up till now she had held in her hand. + +I gave Beaton a look and stepped out on the veranda. In a minute he +followed me, and in the corner facing the ocean, where the vines cluster +the thickest, we held our conversation. + +I began it, with a directness born of my desperation. + +"Beaton," said I, "we have not known each other long, but I recognize a +man when I see him, and I am disposed to be frank with you. I am in +trouble. My affections are engaged, deeply engaged, in a quarter where I +find some mystery. You have helped make it." (Here a gesture escaped +him.) "I allude to the story you related the other morning of the young +girl you had seen hanging over the verge of the cliff, with every +appearance of intending to throw herself over." + +"It was as a dream I related that," he gravely remarked. + +"That I am aware of. But it was no dream to me, Beaton. I fear I know +that young girl; I also fear that I know what drove her into +contemplating so rash an act. The conversation just held in the +card-room should enlighten you. Beaton, am I wrong?" + +The feeling I could not suppress trembled in my tones. He may have been +sensitive to it or he may have been simply good-natured. Whatever the +cause, this is what he said in reply: + +"It was a dream. Remember that I insist upon its being a dream. But some +of its details are very clear in my mind. When I stumbled upon this +dream-maiden in the moonlight her face was turned from me toward the +ocean, and I did not see her features then or afterwards. Startled by +some sound I made, she crouched, drew back and fled to cover. That +cover, I have good reason to believe, was this very house." + +I reached out my hand and touched him on the arm. + +"This dream-maiden was a woman?" I inquired. "One of the women now in +this house." + +He replied reluctantly. + +"She was a young woman and she wore a long cloak. My dream ends there. I +can not even say whether she was fair or dark." + +I recognized that he had reached the limit of his explanations, and, +wringing his hand, I started for the nearest window, which proved to be +that of the music-room. I was about to enter when I saw two women +crossing to the opposite doorway, and paused with a full heart to note +them, for one was Mrs. Lansing and the other Dorothy. The aunt had +evidently come for the niece and they were leaving the room together. +Not amicably, however. Harsh words had passed, or I am no judge of the +human countenance. Dorothy especially bore herself like one who finds +difficulty in restraining herself from some unhappy outburst, and as she +disappeared from my sight in the wake of her formidable companion my +attention was again called to her hands, which she held clenched at her +sides. + +I was stepping into the room when my impulse was again checked. Another +person was sitting there, a person I had been most anxious to see ever +since my last interview with Sinclair. It was Gilbertine Murray, sitting +alone in an attitude of deep, and possibly not altogether happy +thought. + +I paused to study the sweet face. Truly she was a beautiful woman. I had +never before realized how beautiful. Her rich coloring, her noble traits +and the spirited air, which gave her such marked distinction, bespoke at +once an ardent nature and a pure soul. + +I did not wonder that Sinclair had succumbed to charms so pronounced and +uncommon, and as I gazed longer and noted the tremulous droop of her +ripe lips and the faraway look of eyes which had created a great stir in +the social world when they first flashed upon it. I felt that if +Sinclair could see her now he would never doubt her again, despite the +fact that the attitude into which she had fallen was one of great +fatigue, if not despondency. + +She held a fan in her hand, and as I stood looking at her she dropped +it. As she stooped to pick it up, her eyes met mine, and a startling +change passed over her. Springing up, she held out her hands in wordless +appeal--then let them drop again as if conscious that I would not be +likely to understand either herself or her mood. She was very beautiful. + +Entering the room, I approached her. Had Sinclair managed to have his +little conversation with her? Something must have happened, for never +had I seen her in such a state of suppressed excitement, and I had seen +her many times, both here and in her aunt's house when I was visiting +Dorothy. Her eyes were shining, not with a brilliant, but a soft light, +and the smile with which she met my advance had something in it +strangely tremulous and expectant. + +"I am glad to have a moment in which to speak to you alone," I said. "As +Sinclair's oldest and closest friend, I wish to tell you how truly you +can rely both on his affection and esteem. He has an infinitely good +heart." + +She did not answer as brightly and as quickly as I expected. Something +seemed to choke her, something which she finally mastered, though only +by an effort which left her pale, but self-contained and even more +lovely, if that is possible, than before. + +"Thank you," she then said, "my prospects are very happy. No one but +myself knows how happy." And she smiled again, but with an expression +which recalled to my mind Sinclair's fears. + +I bowed; some one was calling her name; evidently our interview was to +be short. + +"I am obliged," she murmured. Then quickly, "I have not seen the moon +to-night. Is it beautiful? Can you see it from this veranda?" + +But before I could answer, she was surrounded and dragged off by a knot +of young people, and I was left free to keep my engagement with +Sinclair. + +I did not find him at his post nor could any one tell me where he had +vanished. + +It was plain that his conduct was looked upon as strange, and I felt +some anxiety lest it should appear more so before the evening was over. +I found him at last in his room sitting with his head buried in his +arms. He started up as I entered. + +"Well?" he asked sharply. + +"I have learned nothing decisive." + +"Nor I." + +"I exchanged some words with both ladies and I tackled Beaton; but the +matter remains just about where it was. It may have been Dorothy who +took the box and it may have been Gilbertine. But there seems to be +greater reason for suspecting Dorothy. She lives a hell of a life with +that aunt." + +"And Gilbertine is on the point of escaping that bondage. I know; I have +thought of that. Walter, you are a generous fellow;" and for a moment +Sinclair looked relieved. Before I could speak, however, he was sunk +again in his old despondency. "But the doubt," he cried, "the doubt! How +can I go through this rehearsal with such a doubt in my mind? I can not +and will not. Go tell them I am ill and can not come down again +to-night. God knows you will tell no untruth." + +I saw that he was quite beside himself, but ventured upon one +remonstrance. + +"It will be unwise to rouse comment," I said. "If that box was taken +for the death it holds, the one restraint most likely to act upon the +young girl who retains it will be the conventionalities of her position +and the requirements of the hour. Any break in the settled order of +things--anything which would give her a moment by herself--might +precipitate the dreadful event we fear. Remember, one turn of the hand +and all is lost. A drop is quickly swallowed." + +"Frightful!" he murmured, the perspiration oozing from his forehead. +"What a wedding-eve! And they are laughing down there; listen to them. I +even imagine I hear Gilbertine's voice. Is there unconsciousness in it +or just the hilarity of a distracted mind bent on self-destruction? I +can not tell; the sound conveys no meaning to me." + +"She has a sweet, true face," I said, "and she wears a very beautiful +smile to-night." + +He sprang to his feet. + +"Yes, yes; a smile that maddens me; a smile that tells me nothing, +nothing! Walter, Walter, don't you see that, even if that cursed box +remains unopened and nothing ever comes of its theft, the seeds of +distrust are sown thick in my breast, and I must always ask: 'Was there +a moment when my young bride shrank from me enough to dream of death?' +That is why I can not go through the mockery of this rehearsal." + +"Can you go through the ceremony of marriage?" + +"I must--if nothing happens to-night." + +"And then?" + +I spoke involuntarily. I was thinking not of him, but of myself. But he +evidently found in my words an echo of his own thought. + +"Yes, it is the _then_," he murmured. "Well may a man quail before that +_then_." + +He did go down stairs, however, and later on, went through the rehearsal +very much as I had expected him to do, quietly and without any outward +show of emotion. + +As soon as possible after this the company separated, Sinclair making me +an imperceptible gesture as he went up stairs. I knew what it meant, +and was in his room as soon as the fellows who accompanied him had left +him alone. + +"The danger is from now on," he cried, as soon as I had closed the door +behind me. "I shall not undress to-night." + +"Nor I." + +"Happily we both have rooms by ourselves in this great house. I shall +put out my light and then open my door as far as need be. Not a move in +the house will escape me." + +"I will do the same." + +"Gilbertine--God be thanked--is not alone in her room. Little Miss Lane +shares it with her." + +"And Dorothy?" + +"Oh, she is under the strictest bondage night and day. She sleeps in a +little room off her aunt's. Do you know her door?" + +I shook my head. + +"I will pass down the hall and stop an instant before the two doors we +are most interested in. When I pass Gilbertine's I will throw out my +right hand." + +I stood on the threshold of his room and watched him. When the two doors +were well fixed in my mind, I went to my own room and prepared for my +self-imposed watch. When quite ready, I put out my light. It was then +eleven o'clock. + +The house was very quiet. There had been the usual bustle attending the +separation of a party of laughing, chattering girls for the night, but +this had not lasted long, for the great doings of the morrow called for +bright eyes and fresh cheeks, and these can only be gained by sleep. In +this stillness twelve o'clock struck and the first hour of my anxious +vigil was at an end. I thought of Sinclair. He had given no token of the +watch he was keeping, but I knew he was sitting with his ear to the +door, listening for the alarm which must come soon if it came at all. + +But would it come at all? Were we not wasting strength and a great deal +of emotion on a dread which had no foundation in fact? What were we two +sensible and, as a rule, practical men thinking of, that we should +ascribe to either of these dainty belles of a conventional and shallow +society the wish to commit a deed calling for the vigor and daring of +some wilful child of nature? It was not to be thought of in this sober, +reasoning hour. We had given ourselves over to a ghastly nightmare and +would yet awake. + +Why was I on my feet? Had I heard anything? + +Yes, a stir, a very faint stir somewhere down the hall--the slow, +cautious opening of a door, then a footfall--or had I imagined the +latter? I could hear nothing now. + +Pushing open my own door, I looked cautiously out. Only the pale face of +Sinclair confronted me. He was peering from the corner of an adjacent +passageway, the moonlight at his back. Advancing, we met in silence. For +the moment we seemed to be the only persons awake in the vast house. + +"I thought I heard a step," was my cautious whisper after a moment of +intense listening. + +"Where?" + +I pointed toward that portion of the house where the ladies' rooms were +situated. + +"That is not what I heard," was his murmured protest, "what I heard was +a creak in the small stairway running down at the end of the hall where +my room is." + +"One of the servants," I ventured, and for a moment we stood irresolute. +Then we both turned rigid as some sound arose in one of the far-off +rooms, only to quickly relax again as that sound resolved itself into a +murmur of muffled voices. Where there was talking there could be no +danger of the special event we feared. Our relief was so great we both +smiled. Next instant his face and, I have no doubt, my own, turned the +color of clay and Sinclair went reeling back against the wall. + +A scream had risen in this sleeping house--a piercing and insistent +scream such as raises the hair and curdles the blood. + + + + +IV + +WHAT SINCLAIR HAD TO SHOW ME + + +This scream seemed to come from the room where we had just heard voices. +With a common impulse, Sinclair and I both started down the hall, only +to find ourselves met by a dozen wild interrogations from behind as many +quickly opened doors. Was it fire? Had burglars got in? What was the +matter? Who had uttered that dreadful shriek? Alas! that was the +question which we of all men were most anxious to hear answered. Who? +Gilbertine or Dorothy? + +Gilbertine's door was reached first. In it stood a short, slight figure, +wrapped in a hastily-donned shawl. The white face looked into ours as we +stopped, and we recognized little Miss Lane. + +"What has happened?" she gasped. "It must have been an awful cry to +waken everybody so!" + +We never thought of answering her. + +"Where is Gilbertine?" demanded Sinclair, thrusting his hand out as if +to put her aside. + +She drew herself up with sudden dignity. + +"In bed," she replied. "It was she who told me that somebody had +shrieked. I didn't wake." + +Sinclair uttered a sigh of the greatest relief that ever burst from a +man's overcharged breast. + +"Tell her we will find out what it means," he replied kindly, drawing me +rapidly away. + +By this time Mr. and Mrs. Armstrong were aroused, and I could hear the +slow and hesitating tones of the former in the passage behind us. + +"Let us hasten," whispered Sinclair. "Our eyes must be the first to see +what lies behind that partly-opened door." + +I shivered. The door he had designated was Dorothy's. + +Sinclair reached it first and pushed it open. Pressing up behind him, I +cast a fearful look over his shoulder. Only emptiness confronted us. +Dorothy was not in the little chamber. With an impulsive gesture +Sinclair pointed to the bed--it had not been lain in; then to the +gas--it was still burning. The communicating room, in which Mrs. Lansing +slept, was also lighted, but silent as the one in which we stood. This +last struck us as the most incomprehensible fact of all. Mrs. Lansing +was not the woman to sleep through a disturbance. Where was she, then? +and why did we not hear her strident and aggressive tones rising in +angry remonstrance at our intrusion? Had she followed her niece from the +room? Should we in another minute encounter her ponderous figure in the +group of people we could now hear hurrying toward us? I was for +retreating and hunting the house over for Dorothy. But Sinclair, with +truer instinct, drew me across the threshold of this silent room. + +Well was it for us that we entered there together, for I do not know +how either of us, weakened as we were by our forebodings and all the +alarms of this unprecedented night, could have borne alone the sight +that awaited us. + +On the bed situated at the right of the doorway lay a form--awful, +ghastly, and unspeakably repulsive. The head, which lay high but inert +upon the pillow, was surrounded with the gray hairs of age, and the +eyes, which seemed to stare into ours, were glassy with reflected light +and not with inward intelligence. This glassiness told the tale of the +room's grim silence. It was death we looked on; not the death we had +anticipated and for which we were in a measure prepared, but one fully +as awful, and having for its victim not Dorothy Camerden nor even +Gilbertine Murray, but the heartless aunt, who had driven them both like +slaves, and who now lay facing the reward of her earthly deeds, _alone_. + +As a realization of the awful truth came upon me, I stumbled against the +bedpost, looking on with almost blind eyes as Sinclair bent over the +rapidly whitening face, whose naturally ruddy color no one had ever +before seen disturbed. And I was still standing there when Mr. Armstrong +and all the others came pouring in. Nor have I any distinct remembrance +of what was said or how I came to be in the ante-chamber again. All +thought, all consciousness even, seemed to forsake me, and I did not +really waken to my surroundings till some one near me whispered: + +"Apoplexy!" + +Then I began to look about me and peer into the faces crowding up on +every side, for the only one which could give me back my +self-possession. But though there were many girlish countenances to be +seen in the awestruck groups huddled in every corner, I beheld no +Dorothy, and was therefore but little astonished when in another moment +I heard the cry go up: + +"Where is Dorothy? Where was she when her aunt died?" + +Alas! there was no one there to answer, and the looks of those about, +which hitherto had expressed little save awe and fright, turned to +wonder, and more than one person left the room as if to look for her. I +did not join them. I was rooted to the place. Nor did Sinclair stir a +foot, though his eye, which had been wandering restlessly over the faces +about him, now settled inquiringly on the doorway. For whom was he +looking? Gilbertine or Dorothy? Gilbertine, no doubt, for he visibly +brightened as her figure presently appeared clad in a _negligee_, which +emphasized her height and gave to her whole appearance a womanly +sobriety unusual to it. + +She had evidently been told what had occurred, for she asked no +questions, only leaned in still horror against the door-post, with her +eyes fixed on the room within. Sinclair, advancing, held out his arm. +She gave no sign of seeing it. Then he spoke. This seemed to rouse her, +for she gave him a grateful look, though she did not take his arm. + +"There will be no wedding to-morrow," fell from her lips in +self-communing murmur. + +Only a few minutes had passed since they had started to find Dorothy, +but it seemed an age to me. My body remained in the room, but my mind +was searching the house for the girl I loved. Where was she hidden? +Would she be found huddled but alive in some far-off chamber? Or was +another and more dreadful tragedy awaiting us? I wondered that I could +not join the search. I wondered that even Gilbertine's presence could +keep Sinclair from doing so. Didn't he know what, in all probability, +this missing girl had with her? Didn't he know what I had suffered, was +suffering--ah, what now? She is coming! I can hear them speaking to her. +Gilbertine moves from the door, and a young man and woman enter with +Dorothy between them. + +But what a Dorothy! Years could have made no greater change in her. She +looked and she moved like one who is done with life, yet fears the few +remaining moments left her. Instinctively we fell back before her; +instinctively we followed her with our eyes as, reeling a little at the +door, she cast a look of inconceivable shrinking, first at her own bed, +then at the group of older people watching her with serious looks from +the room beyond. As she did so I noted that she was still clad in her +evening dress of gray, and that there was no more color on cheek or lip +than in the neutral tints of her gown. + +Was it our consciousness of the relief which Mrs. Lansing's death, +horrible as it was, must bring to this unhappy girl and of the +inappropriateness of any display of grief on her part, which caused the +silence with which we saw her pass with forced step and dread +anticipation into the room where that image of dead virulence awaited +her? Impossible to tell. I could not read my own thoughts. How, then, +the thoughts of others! + +But thoughts, if we had any, all fled when, after one slow turn of her +head toward the bed, this trembling young girl gave a choking shriek and +fell, face down, on the floor. Evidently she had not been prepared for +the look which made her aunt's still face so horrible. How could she +have been? Had it not imprinted itself upon my mind as the one revolting +vision of my life? How, then, if this young and tender-hearted girl had +been insensible to it! As her form struck the floor Mr. Armstrong rushed +forward; I had not the right. But it was not by his arms she was lifted. +Sinclair was before him, and it was with a singularly determined look I +could not understand and which made us all fall back, that he raised her +and carried her in to her own bed, where he laid her gently down. Then, +as if not content with this simple attention, he hovered over her for a +moment arranging the pillows and smoothing her disheveled hair. When at +last he left her, the women rushed forward. + +"Not too many of you," was his final adjuration, as, giving me a look, +he slipped out into the hall. + +I followed him immediately. He had gained the moon-lighted corridor near +his own door, where he stood awaiting me with something in his hand. As +I approached, he drew me to the window and showed me what it was. It +was the amethyst box, open and empty, and beside it, shining with a +yellow instead of a purple light, the little vial void of the one drop +which used to sparkle within it. + +"I found the vial in the bed with the old woman," said he. "The box I +saw glittering among Dorothy's locks before she fell. That was why I +lifted her." + + + + +V + +THREE O'CLOCK IN THE MORNING + + +As he spoke, youth with its brilliant hopes, illusions and beliefs +passed from me, never to return in the same measure again. I stared at +the glimmering amethyst, I stared at the empty vial and, as a full +realization of all his words implied seized my benumbed faculties, I +felt the icy chill of some grisly horror moving among the roots of my +hair, lifting it on my forehead and filling my whole being with +shrinking and dismay. + +Sinclair, with a quick movement, replaced the tiny flask in its old +receptacle, and then thrusting the whole out of sight, seized my hand +and wrung it. + +"I am your friend," he whispered. "Remember, under all circumstances and +in every exigency, your friend." + +"What are you going to do with _those_?" I demanded when I regained +control of my speech. + +"I do not know." + +"What are you going to do with--with Dorothy?" + +He drooped his head; I could see his fingers working in the moonlight. + +"The physicians will soon be here. I heard the telephone going a few +minutes ago. When they have pronounced the old woman dead we will give +the--the lady you mention an opportunity to explain herself." + +Explain herself, she! Simple expectation. Unconsciously I shook my head. + +"It is the least we can do," he gently persisted. "Come, we must not be +seen with our heads together--not yet. I am sorry that we two were found +more or less dressed at the time of the alarm. It may cause comment." + +"She was dressed, too," I murmured, as much to myself as to him. + +"Unfortunately, yes," was the muttered reply, with which he drew off +and hastened into the hall, where the now thoroughly-aroused household +stood in a great group about the excited hostess. + +Mrs. Armstrong was not the woman for an emergency. With streaming hair +and tightly-clutched kimono, she was gesticulating wildly and bemoaning +the break in the festivities which this event must necessarily cause. As +Sinclair approached, she turned her tirade on him, and as all stood +still to listen and add such words of sympathy or disappointment as +suggested themselves in the excitement of the moment, I had an +opportunity to note that neither of the two girls most interested was +within sight. This troubled me. Drawing up to the outside of the circle, +I asked Beaton, who was nearest to me, if he knew how Miss Camerden was. + +"Better, I hear. Poor girl, it was a great shock to her." + +I ventured nothing more. The conventionality of his tone was not to be +mistaken. Our conversation on the veranda was to be ignored. I did not +know whether to feel relief at this or an added distress. I was in a +whirl of emotion which robbed me of all discrimination. As I realized my +own condition, I concluded that my wisest move would be to withdraw +myself for a time from every eye. Accordingly, and at the risk of +offending more than one pretty girl who still had something to say +concerning this terrible mischance, I slid away to my room, happy to +escape the murmurs and snatches of talk rising on every side. One bitter +speech, uttered by I do not know whom, rang in my ears and made all +thinking unendurable. It was this: + +"Poor woman! she was angry once too often. I heard her scolding Dorothy +again after she went to her room. That is why Dorothy is so overcome. +She says it was the violence of her aunt's rage which killed her,--a +rage of which she unfortunately was the cause." + +So there were words again between these two after the door closed upon +them for the night! Was this what we heard just before that scream went +up? It would seem so. Thereupon, quite against my will, I found myself +thinking of Dorothy's changed position before the world. Only yesterday +a dependent slave; to-day, the owner of millions. Gilbertine would have +her share, a large one, but there was enough to make them both wealthy. +Intolerable thought! Would that no money had been involved! I hated to +think of those diamonds and-- + +Oh, anything was better than this! Dashing from my room I joined one of +the groups into which the single large circle had now broken up. The +house had been lighted from end to end, and some effort had been made at +a more respectable appearance by such persons as I now saw; some even +were fully dressed. All were engaged in discussing the one great topic. +Listening and not listening, I waited for the front door bell to ring. +It sounded while one woman was saying to another: + +"The Sinclairs will now be able to take their honeymoon on their own +yacht." + +I made my way to where I could watch Sinclair while the physicians were +in the room. I thought his face looked very noble. The narrowness of his +own escape, the sympathy for me which the event, so much worse than +either of us anticipated, had awakened in his generous breast, had +called out all that was best in his naturally reserved and +not-always-to-be-understood nature. A tower of strength he was to me +that hour. I knew that mercy and mercy only would influence his conduct. +He would be guilty of no rash or inconsiderate act. He would give this +young girl a chance. + +Therefore when the physicians had pronounced the case one of apoplexy (a +conclusion most natural under the circumstances), and the excitement +which had held together the various groups of uneasy guests had begun to +subside, it was with perfect confidence I saw him approach and address +Gilbertine. She was standing fully dressed at the stairhead, where she +had stopped to hold some conversation with the retiring physicians; and +the look she gave him in return and the way she moved off in obedience +to his command or suggestion assured me that he was laying plans for an +interview with Dorothy. Consequently I was quite ready to obey him when +he finally stepped up to me and said: + +"Go below, and if you find the library empty, as I have no doubt you +will, light one gas-jet and see that the door to the conservatory is +unlocked. I require a place in which to make Gilbertine comfortable +while I have some words with her cousin." + +"But how will you be able to influence Miss Camerden to come down?" +Somehow, the familiar name of Dorothy would not pass my lips. "Do you +think she will recognize your right to summon her to an interview?" + +"Yes." + +I had never seen his lip take that firm line before, yet I had always +known him to be a man of great resolution. + +"But how can you reach her? She is shut up in her own room, under the +care, I am told, of Mrs. Armstrong's maid." + +"I know, but she will escape that dreadful place as soon as her feet +will carry her. I shall wait in the hall till she is seen to enter it, +then I will say 'Come!' and she will come, attended by Gilbertine." + +"And I? Do you mean me to be present at an interview so painful, nay, so +serious and so threatening? It would cut short every word you hope to +hear. I--can not--" + +"I have not asked you to. It is imperative that I should see Miss +Camerden alone." (He could not call her Dorothy, either.) "I shall ask +Gilbertine to accompany us, so that appearances may be preserved. I want +you to be able to inform any one who approaches the door that you saw me +go in there with Miss Murray." + +"Then I am to stay in the hall?" + +"If you will be so kind." + +The clock struck three. + +"It is very late," I exclaimed. "Why not wait till morning?" + +"And have the whole house about our ears? No. Besides, some things will +not keep an hour, a moment. I must hear what this young girl has to say +in response to my questions. Remember, I am the owner of the flask whose +contents killed the old woman!" + +"You believe she died from swallowing that drop?" + +"Absolutely." + +I said no more, but hastened down stairs to do his bidding. + +I found the lower hall partly lighted, but none of the rooms. + +Entering the library, I lit the gas as Sinclair had requested. Then I +tried the conservatory door. It was unlocked. Casting a sharp glance +around, I made sure that the lounges were all unoccupied and that I +could safely leave Sinclair to hold his contemplated interview without +fear of interruption. Then, dreading a premature arrival on his part, I +slid quickly out and moved down the hall to where the light of the one +burning jet failed to penetrate. "I will watch from here," thought I, +and entered upon the quick pacing of the floor which my impatience and +the overwrought condition of my nerves demanded. + +But before I had turned on my steps more than half a dozen times, the +single but brilliant ray coming from some half-open door in the rear +caught my eye, and I had the curiosity to step back and see if any one +was sharing my watch. In doing so I came upon the little spiral +staircase which, earlier in the evening, Sinclair had heard creak under +some unknown footstep. Had this footstep been Dorothy's, and if so, what +had brought her into this remote portion of the house? Fear? Anguish? +Remorse? A flying from herself or from _it_? I wished I knew just where +she had been found by the two young persons who had brought her back +into her aunt's room. No one had volunteered the information, and I had +not seen the moment when I felt myself in a position to demand it. + +Proceeding further, I stood amazed at my own forgetfulness. The light +which had attracted my attention came from the room devoted to the +display of Miss Murray's wedding-gifts. This I should have known +instantly, having had a hand in their arrangement. But all my faculties +were dulled that night, save such as responded to dread and horror. +Before going back I paused to look at the detective whose business it +was to guard the room. He was sitting very quietly at his post, and if +he saw me he did not look up. Strange that I had forgotten this man when +keeping my own vigil above. I doubted if Sinclair had remembered him +either. Yet he must have been unconsciously sharing our watch from start +to finish; must even have heard the cry as only a waking man could hear +it. Should I ask him if this was so? No. Perhaps I had not the courage +to hear his answer. + +Shortly after my return into the main hall I heard steps on the grand +staircase. Looking up, I saw the two girls descending, followed by +Sinclair. He had been successful, then, in inducing Dorothy to come +down. What would be the result? Could I stand the suspense of the +impending interview? + +As they stepped within the rays of the solitary gas-jet already +mentioned, I cast one quick look into Gilbertine's face, then a long one +into Dorothy's. I could read neither. If it was horror and horror only +which rendered both so pale and fixed of feature, then their emotion was +similar in character and intensity. But if in either breast the one +dominant sentiment was fear--horrible, blood-curdling fear--then was +that fear confined to Dorothy; for while Gilbertine advanced bravely, +Dorothy's steps lagged, and at the point where she should have turned +into the library, she whirled sharply about and made as if she would fly +back up stairs. + +But one stare from Gilbertine, one word from Sinclair, recalled her to +herself and she passed in and the door closed upon the three. I was left +to prevent possible intrusion and to eat out my heart in intolerable +suspense. + + + + +VI + +DOROTHY SPEAKS + + +I shall not subject you to the ordeal from which I suffered. You shall +follow my three friends into the room. According to Sinclair's +description, the interview proceeded thus: + +As soon as the door had closed upon them, and before either of the girls +had a chance to speak, he remarked to Gilbertine: + +"I have brought you here because I wish to express to you, in the +presence of your cousin, my sympathy for the bereavement which in an +instant has robbed you both of a lifelong guardian. I also wish to say +in the light of this sad event, that I am ready, if propriety so exacts, +to postpone the ceremony which I hoped would unite our lives to-day. +Your wish shall be my wish, Gilbertine; though I would suggest that +possibly you never more needed the sympathy and protection which only a +husband can give than you do to-day." + +He told me afterward that he was so taken up with the effect of this +suggestion on Gilbertine that he forgot to look at Dorothy, though the +hint he strove to convey of impending trouble was meant as much for her +as for his affianced bride. In another moment he regretted this, +especially when he saw that Dorothy had changed her attitude and was now +looking away from them both. + +"What do you say, Gilbertine?" he asked earnestly, as she sat flushing +and paling before him. + +"Nothing. I have not thought--it is a question for others to +decide--others who know what is right better than I. I appreciate your +consideration," she suddenly burst out--"and should be glad to tell you +at this moment what to expect; but--give me a little time--let me see +you later--in the morning, Mr. Sinclair, after we are all somewhat +rested and when I can see you quite alone." + +Dorothy rose. + +"Shall I go?" she asked. + +Sinclair advanced and with quiet protest, touched her on the shoulder. +Quietly she sank back into her seat. + +"I want to say a half-dozen words to you, Miss Camerden. Gilbertine will +pardon us; it is about matters which must be settled to-night. There are +decisions to arrive at and arrangements to be made. Mrs. Armstrong has +instructed me to question you in regard to these, as the one best +acquainted with Mrs. Lansing's affairs and general tastes. We will not +trouble Gilbertine. She has her own decisions to reach. Dear, will you +let me make you comfortable in the conservatory while I talk for five +minutes with Dorothy?" + +He said she met this question with a look so blank and uncomprehending +that he just lifted her and carried her in among the palms. + +"I must speak to Dorothy," he pleaded, placing her in the chair where he +had often seen her sit of her own accord. "Be a good girl; I will not +keep you here long." + +"But why can not I go to my room? I do not understand--I am +frightened--what have you to say to Dorothy you can not say to me?" + +She seemed so excited that for a minute, just a minute, he faltered in +his purpose. Then he took her gravely by the hand. + +"I have told you," said he. Then he kissed her softly on the forehead. +"Be quiet, dear, and rest. See! here are roses." + +He plucked and flung a handful into her lap. Then he crossed back to the +library and shut the conservatory door behind him. I am not surprised +that Gilbertine wondered at her peremptory bridegroom. + +When Sinclair reentered the library, he found Dorothy standing with her +hand on the knob of the door leading into the hall. Her head was bent +and thoughtful, as though she were inwardly debating whether to stand +her ground or fly. Sinclair gave her no further opportunity for +hesitation. Advancing rapidly, he laid his hand quietly on hers, and +with a gravity which must have impressed her, quietly remarked: + +"I must ask you to stay and hear what I have to say. I wished to spare +Gilbertine; would that I could spare you. But circumstances forbid. You +know and I know that your aunt did not die of apoplexy." + +She gave a violent start and her lips parted. If the hand under his +clasp had been cold, it was now icy. He let his own slip from the +contact. + +"You know!" she echoed, trembling and pallid, her released hand flying +instinctively to her hair. + +"Yes; you need not feel about for the little box. I took it from its +hiding-place when I laid you fainting on the bed. Here it is." + +He drew it from his pocket and showed it to her. She hardly glanced at +it; her eyes were fixed in terror on his face and her lips seemed to be +trying in vain to formulate some inquiry. + +He tried to be merciful. + +"I missed it many hours ago, from the shelf yonder where you all saw me +place it. Had I known that you had taken it, I would have repeated to +you how deadly were the contents, and how dangerous it was to handle the +vial or to let others handle it, much less to put it to the lips." + +She started and instinctively her form rose to its full height. + +"Have you looked in that little box since you took it from my hair?" she +asked. + +"Yes." + +"Then you know it to be empty." + +For answer he pressed the spring, and the little lid flew open. + +"It is not empty now, you see." Then more slowly and with infinite +meaning, "But the little flask is." + +She brought her hands together and faced him with a noble dignity which +at once put the interview on a different footing. + +"Where was this vial found?" she demanded. + +He found it difficult to answer. They seemed to have exchanged +positions. When he did speak it was in a low tone and with less +confidence than he had shown before. + +"In the bed with the old lady. I saw it there myself. Mr. Worthington +was with me. Nobody else knows anything about it. I wished to give you +an opportunity to explain. I begin to think you can--but how, God only +knows. The box was hidden in your hair from early evening. I saw your +hand continually fluttering toward it all the time we were dancing in +the parlor." + +She did not lose an iota of her dignity or pride. + +"You are right," she said. "I put it there as soon as I took it from the +cabinet. I could think of no safer hiding-place. Yes, I took it," she +acknowledged as she saw the flush rise to his cheek. "I took it; but +with no worse motive than the dishonest one of having for my own an +object which bewitched me; I was hardly myself when I snatched it from +the shelf and thrust it into my hair." + +He stared at her in amazement, her confession and her attitude so +completely contradicted each other. + +"But I had nothing to do with the vial," she went on. And with this +declaration her whole manner, even her voice changed, as if with the +utterance of these few words she had satisfied some inner demand of +self-respect and could now enter into the sufferings of those about her. +"This I think it right to make plain to you. I supposed the vial to be +in the box when I took it, but when I got to my room and had an +opportunity to examine the deadly trinket, I found it empty, just as you +found it when you took it from my hair. Some one had taken the vial out +before my hand had ever touched the box." + +Like a man who feels himself suddenly seized by the throat, yet who +struggles for the life slowly but inexorably leaving him, Sinclair cast +one heartrending look toward the conservatory, then heavily demanded: + +"Why were you out of your room? Why did they have to look for you? _And +who was the person who uttered that scream?_" + +She confronted him sadly, but with an earnestness he could not but +respect. + +"I was not in the room because I was troubled by my discovery. I think I +had some idea of returning the box to the shelf from which I had taken +it. At all events, I found myself on the little staircase in the rear +when that cry rang through the house. I do not know who uttered it; I +only know that it did not spring from my lips." + +In a rush of renewed hope he seized her by the hand. + +"It was your aunt!" he whispered. "It was she who took the vial out of +the box; who put it to her own lips; who shrieked when she felt her +vitals gripped. Had you stayed you would have known this. Can't you say +so? Don't you think so? Why do you look at me with those incredulous +eyes?" + +"Because you must not believe a lie. Because you are too good a man to +be sacrificed. It was a younger throat than my aunt's which gave +utterance to that shriek. Mr. Sinclair, be advised; _do not be married +to-morrow_!" + +Meanwhile I was pacing the hall without in a delirium of suspense. I +tried hard to keep within the bounds of silence. I had turned for the +fiftieth time to face that library door, when suddenly I heard a hoarse +cry break from within and saw the door fly open and Dorothy come +hurrying out. She shrank when she saw me, but seemed grateful that I did +not attempt to stop her, and soon was up the stairs and out of sight. I +rushed at once into the library. + +I found Sinclair sitting before a table with his head buried in his +hands. In an instant I knew that our positions were again reversed and, +without stopping to give heed to my own sensations, I approached him as +near as I dared and laid my hand on his shoulder. + +He shuddered but did not look up, and it was minutes before he spoke. +Then it all came in a rush. + +"Fool! fool that I was! And I saw that she was consumed by fright the +moment it became plain that I was intent upon having some conversation +with Dorothy. Her fingers where they gripped my arm must have left +marks behind them. But I saw only womanly nervousness where a man less +blind would have detected guilt. Walter, I wish that the mere scent of +this empty flask would kill. Then I should not have to reenter that +conservatory door--or look again in her face, or--" + +He had taken out the cursed jewel and was fingering it in a nervous way +which went to my heart of hearts. Gently removing it from his hand, I +asked with all the calmness possible: + +"What is all this mystery? Why have your suspicions returned to +Gilbertine? I thought you had entirely dissociated her with this matter +and that you blamed Dorothy and Dorothy only, for the amethyst's loss?" + +"Dorothy had the empty box; but the vial! the vial!--that had been taken +by a previous hand. Do you remember the white silk train which Mr. +Armstrong saw slipping from this room? I can not talk, Walter; my duty +leads me _there_." + +He pointed toward the conservatory. I drew back and asked if I should +take up my watch again outside the door. + +He shook his head. + +"It makes no difference; nothing makes any difference. But if you want +to please me, stay here." + +I at once sank into a chair. He made a great effort and advanced to the +conservatory door. I studiously looked another way; my heart was +breaking with sympathy for him. + +But in another instant I was on my feet. I could hear him rushing about +among the palms. Presently I heard his voice shout out the wild cry: + +"She is gone! I forgot there was another door communicating with the +hall." + +I crossed the floor and entered where he stood gazing down at an empty +seat and a trail of scattered roses. Never shall I forget his face. The +dimness of the spot could not hide his deep, unspeakable emotions. To +him this flight bore but one interpretation--guilt. + +I did not advocate Sinclair's pressing the matter further that night. I +saw that he was exhausted and that any further movement would tax him +beyond his strength. We therefore separated immediately after leaving +the library, and I found my way to my own room alone. It may seem +callous in me, but I fell asleep very soon after, and did not wake till +roused by a knock at my door. On opening it I confronted Sinclair, +looking haggard and unkempt. As he entered, the first clear notes of the +breakfast-bell could be heard rising up from the lower hall. + +"I have not slept," he said. "I have been walking the hall all night, +listening by spells at her door, and at other times giving what counsel +I could to the Armstrongs. God forgive me, but I have said nothing to +any one of what has made this affair an awful tragedy to me! Do you +think I did wrong? I waited to give Dorothy a chance. Why should I not +show the same consideration to Gilbertine?" + +"You should." But our eyes did not meet, and neither voice expressed the +least hope. + +"I shall not go to breakfast," he now declared. "I have written this +line to Gilbertine. Will you see that she gets it?" + +For reply I held out my hand. He placed the note in it, and I was +touched to see that it was unsealed. + +"Be sure, when you give it to her, that she will have an opportunity of +reading it alone. I shall request the use of one of the little +reception-rooms this morning. Let her come there if she is so impelled. +She will find a friend as well as a judge." + +I endeavored to express sympathy, urge patience and suggest hope. But he +had no ear for words, though he tried to listen, poor fellow! so I soon +stopped and he presently left the room. I immediately made myself as +presentable as a night of unprecedented emotions would allow, and went +below to do him such service as opportunity offered and the exigencies +of the case permitted. + +I found the lower hall alive with eager guests and a few outsiders. News +of the sad event was slowly making its way through the avenue, and some +of the Armstrongs' nearest neighbors had left their breakfast-tables to +express their interest and to hear the particulars. Among these stood +the lady of the house; but Mr. Armstrong was nowhere within sight. For +him the breakfast waited. Not wishing to be caught in any little swirl +of conventional comment, I remained near the staircase waiting for some +one to descend who could give me news concerning Miss Murray. For I had +small expectation of her braving the eyes of these strangers, and +doubted if even Dorothy would be seen at the breakfast-table. But little +Miss Lane, if small, was gifted with a great appetite. She would be sure +to appear prior to the last summons, and as we were good friends, she +would listen to my questions and give me the answer I needed for the +carrying out of Sinclair's wishes. But before her light footfall was +heard descending I was lured from my plans by an unexpected series of +events. Three men came down, one after the other, followed by Mr. +Armstrong, looking even more grave and ponderous than usual. Two of them +were the physicians who had been called in the night and whom I had +myself seen depart somewhere near three o'clock. The third I did not +know, but he looked like a doctor also. Why were they here again so +early? Had anything new come to light? + +It was a question which seemed to strike others as well as myself. As +Mr. Armstrong ushered them down the hall and out of the front door, many +were the curious glances which followed them, and it was with difficulty +that the courteous host on his return escaped the questions and +detaining hands of some of his more inquisitive guests. A pleasant word, +an amiable smile he had for all, but I was quite certain when I saw him +disappear into the little room he retained for his own use that he had +told them nothing which could in any way relieve their curiosity. + +This filled me with a vague alarm. Something must have +occurred--something which Sinclair ought to know. I felt a great anxiety +and was closely watching the door behind which Mr. Armstrong had +vanished when it suddenly opened and I perceived that he had been +writing a telegram. As he gave it to one of the servants he made a +gesture to the man standing with extended hand by the Chinese gong, and +the summons rang out for breakfast. Instantly the hum of voices ceased, +and young and old turned toward the dining-room, but the host did not +enter with them. Before the younger and more active of his guests could +reach his side he had slid into the room which I have before described +as set apart for the display of Gilbertine's wedding-presents. Instantly +I lost all inclination for breakfast and lingered about in the hall +until every one had passed me, even little Miss Lane, who had come down +unperceived while I was watching Mr. Armstrong's door. Not very well +pleased with myself for having missed the one opportunity which might +have been of service to me, I was asking myself whether I should follow +her and make the best attempt I could at sociability if not at eating, +when Mr. Armstrong approached from the side hall, and, accosting me, +inquired if Mr. Sinclair had come down yet. + +I assured him that I had not seen him and did not think he meant to come +to breakfast, adding that he had been very much affected by the affairs +of the night, and had told me that he was going to shut himself up in +his room and rest. + +"I am sorry, but there is a question I must ask him immediately. It is +about a little Italian trinket which I am told he displayed to the +ladies yesterday afternoon." + + + + +VII + +CONSTRAINT + + +So! our dreadful secret was not confined to ourselves as we had +supposed, but was shared or at least suspected, by our host. + +Thankful that it was I, rather than Sinclair, who was called upon to +meet and sustain this shock, I answered with what calmness I could: + +"Yes; Sinclair mentioned the matter to me. Indeed, if you have any +curiosity on the subject, I think I can enlighten you as fully as he +can." + +Mr. Armstrong glanced up the stairs, hesitated, then drew me into his +private room. + +"I find myself in a very uncomfortable position," he began. "A strange +and quite unaccountable change has shown itself in the appearance of +Mrs. Lansing's body during the last few hours; a change which baffles +the physicians and raises in their minds very unfortunate conjectures. +What I want to know is whether Mr. Sinclair still has in his possession +the box which is said to hold a vial of deadly poison, or whether it has +passed into any other hand since he showed it to certain ladies in the +library." + +We were standing directly in the light of an eastern window. Deception +was impossible, even if I had felt like employing it. In Sinclair's +interests, if not in my own, I resolved to be as true to our host as our +positions demanded, yet, at the same time, to save Gilbertine as much as +possible from premature if not final suspicion. + +I therefore replied: "That is a question I can answer as well as +Sinclair." (Happy was I to save him this cross-examination.) "While he +was showing this toy, Mrs. Armstrong came into the room and proposed a +stroll, which drew all of the ladies from the room and called for his +attendance as well. With no thought of the danger involved, he placed +the trinket on a high shelf in the cabinet, and went out with the rest. +When he came back for it, it was gone." + +The usually ruddy aspect of my host's face deepened, and he sat down in +the great armchair which did duty before his writing-table. + +"This is dreadful," was his comment, "entailing I do not know what +unfortunate consequences upon this household and on the unhappy girl--" + +"Girl?" I repeated. + +He turned upon me with great gravity. "Mr. Worthington, I am sorry to +have to admit it, but something strange, something not easily +explainable, took place in this house last night. It has only just come +to light; otherwise, the doctors' conclusions might have been different. +You know there is a detective in the house. The presents are valuable +and I thought best to have a man here to look after them." + +I nodded; I had no breath for speech. + +"That man tells me," continued Mr. Armstrong, "that just a few minutes +previous to the time the whole household was aroused last night, he +heard a step in the hall overhead, then the sound of a light foot +descending the little staircase in the servants' hall. Being anxious to +find out what this person wanted at an hour so late, he lowered the gas, +closed his door and listened. The steps went by his door. Satisfied that +it was a woman he heard, he pulled open the door again and looked out. A +young girl was standing not very far from him in a thin streak of +moonlight. She was gazing intently at something in her hand, and that +something had a purple gleam to it. He is ready to swear to this. Next +moment, frightened by some noise she heard, she fled back and vanished +again in the region of the little staircase. It was soon, very soon +after this that the shriek came. Now, Mr. Worthington, what am I to do +with this knowledge? I have advised this man to hold his peace till I +can make inquiries, but where am I to make them? I can not think that +Miss Camerden--" + +The ejaculation which escaped me was involuntary. To hear her name for +the second time in this association was more than I could bear. + +"Did he say it was Miss Camerden?" I hurriedly inquired as he looked at +me in some surprise. "How should he know Miss Camerden?" + +"He described her," was the unanswerable reply. "Besides, we know that +she was circulating in the halls at that time. I declare I have never +known a worse business," this amiable man bemoaned. "Let me send for +Sinclair; he is more interested than any one else in Gilbertine's +relatives; or stay, what if I should send for Miss Camerden herself? She +should be able to tell how she came by this box." + +I subdued my own instincts, which were all for clearing Dorothy on the +spot, and answered as I thought Sinclair would like me to answer. + +"It is a serious and very perplexing piece of business," said I; "but if +you will wait a short time I do not think you will have to trouble Miss +Camerden. I am sure that explanations will be given. Give the lady a +chance," I stammered. "Imagine what her feelings would be if questioned +on so delicate a topic. It would make a breach which nothing could heal. +Later, if she does not speak, it will be only right for you to ask her +why." + +"She did not come down this morning." + +"Naturally not." + +"If I could take counsel of my wife! But she is of too nervous a +temperament. I am anxious to keep her from knowing this fresh +complication as long as possible. Do you think I can look for Miss +Camerden to explain herself before the doctors return, or before Mrs. +Lansing's physician, for whom I have telegraphed, can arrive from New +York?" + +"I am sure that three hours will not pass before you hear the truth. +Leave me to work out the situation. I promise that if I can not bring it +about to your satisfaction, Sinclair shall be asked to lend his +assistance. Only keep the gossips from Miss Camerden's good name. Words +can be said in a moment that will not be forgotten in years. I tremble +at such a prospect for her." + +"No one knows of her being seen with the box," he remarked. "Every one +probably knows by this time that there is some doubt felt as to the +cause of Mrs. Lansing's death. You can not keep a suspicion of this +nature secret in a house so full of people as this." + +I knew it, but, relieved by his manner if not by his words, I took my +leave of him for the present and made my way at once to the dining-room. +Should I find Miss Lane there? Yes, and what was more, the fortunes of +the day had decreed that the place beside her should be unoccupied. + +I was on my way to that place when I was struck by the extreme quiet +into which the room had fallen. It had been humming with talk when I +first entered; but now not a voice was raised, and scarcely an eye. In +the hurried glance I cast about the board, not a look met mine in +recognition or welcome. + +What did it mean? Had they been talking about me? Possibly; and in a +way, it would seem, that was not altogether flattering to my vanity. + +Unable to hide my sense of the general embarrassment which my presence +had called forth, I passed to the seat I have indicated and let my +inquiring look settle on Miss Lane. She was staring in imitation of the +others straight into her plate, but as I saluted her with a quiet good +morning, she looked up and acknowledged my courtesy with a faint, almost +sympathetic, smile. At once the whole tableful broke again into chatter, +and I could safely put the question with which my mind was full. + +"How is Miss Murray?" I asked. "I do not see her here." + +"Did you expect to? Poor Gilbertine! This is not the bridal day she +expected." Then, with irresistible naivete entirely in keeping with her +fairy-like figure and girlish face, she added: "I think it was just +horrid in the old woman to die the night before the wedding; don't you?" + +"Indeed, I do," I emphatically rejoined, humoring her in the hope of +learning what I wished to know. "Does Miss Murray still cherish the +expectation of being married to-day? No one seems to know." + +"Nor do I. I haven't seen her since the middle of the night. She didn't +come back to her room. They say she is sobbing out her terror and +disappointment in some attic corner. Think of that for Gilbertine +Murray! But even that is better than--" + +The sentence trailed away into an indistinguishable murmur; the murmur +into silence. Was it because of a fresh lull in the conversation about +us? I hardly think so, for though the talk was presently resumed, she +remained silent, not even giving the least sign of wishing to prolong +this particular topic. I finished my coffee as soon as possible and +quitted the room, but not before many had preceded me. The hall was +consequently as full as before of a gossiping crowd. + +I was on the point of bowing myself through the various groups blocking +my way to the library door, when I noticed renewed signs of +embarrassment on all the faces turned my way. Women who were clustered +about the newel-post drew back, and some others sauntered away into side +rooms with an appearance of suddenly wishing to go somewhere. This +certainly was very singular, especially as these marks of disapproval +did not seem to be directed so much at myself as at some one behind me. +Who could this some one be? Turning quickly, I cast a glance up the +staircase before which I stood and saw the figure of a young girl +dressed in black hesitating on the landing. This young girl was Dorothy +Camerden, and it took but a moment's contemplation of the scene for me +to feel assured that it was against her this feeling of universal +constraint had been directed. + + + + +VIII + +GILBERTINE SPEAKS + + +Knowing my darling's innocence, I felt the insult shown her in my heart +of hearts, and might in the heat of the moment have been betrayed into +an unwise utterance of my indignation, if at that moment I had not +encountered the eye of Mr. Armstrong, fixed on me from the rear hall. In +the mingled surprise and distress he displayed, I saw that it was not +from any indiscretion of his that this feeling against her had started. +He had not betrayed the trust I had placed in him, yet the murmur had +gone about which virtually ostracized her, and instead of confronting +the eager looks of friends, she found herself met by averted glances and +coldly turned backs, and soon by an almost empty hall. + +She flushed as she realized the effect of her presence and cast me an +agonized look, which, without her expectation, perhaps, roused every +instinct of chivalry within me. Advancing, I met her at the foot of the +stairs, and with one quick word seemed to restore her to herself. + +"Be patient!" I whispered. "To-morrow they will be all around you again. +Perhaps sooner. Go into the conservatory and wait." + +She gave me a grateful pressure of the hand, while I bounded up stairs, +determined that nothing should stop me from finding Gilbertine and +giving her the letter with which Sinclair had intrusted me. + +But this was more easily planned than accomplished. When I had reached +the third floor (an unaccustomed and strange spot for me to find myself +in) I at first found no one who could tell me to which room Miss Murray +had retired. Then, when I did come across a stray housemaid and she, +with an extraordinary stare, had pointed out the door, I found it quite +impossible to gain any response from within, though I could hear a +quick step moving restlessly to and fro and now and then catch the sound +of a smothered sob or low cry. The wretched girl would not heed me, +though I told her who I was and that I had a letter from Mr. Sinclair in +my hand. Indeed, she presently became perfectly quiet and let me knock +again and again, till the situation became ridiculous and I felt obliged +to draw off. + +Not that I thought of yielding. No, I would stay there till her own +fancy drove her to open the door, or till Mr. Armstrong should come up +and force it. A woman upon whom so many interests depended would not be +allowed to remain shut up the whole morning. Her position as a possible +bride forbade it. Guilty or innocent, she must show herself before long. +As if in answer to my expectation, a figure appeared at this very moment +at the other end of the hall. It was Dutton, the butler, and in his hand +he held a telegram. He seemed astonished to see me there, but passed me +with a simple bow and stopped before the door I had so unavailingly +assailed a few minutes before. + +"A telegram, miss," he shouted, as no answer was made to his knock. "Mr. +Armstrong asked me to bring it to you. It is from the bishop and calls +for an immediate reply." + +There was a stir within, but the door did not open. Meanwhile, I had +sealed and thrust forth the letter I had held concealed in my breast +pocket. + +"Give her this, too," I signified, and pointed to the crack under the +door. + +He took the letter, laid the telegram on it, and pushed them both in. +Then he stood up and eyed the unresponsive panels with the set look of a +man who does not easily yield his purpose. + +"I will wait for the answer," he shouted through the keyhole, and +falling back he took up his stand against the opposite wall. + +I could not keep him company there. Withdrawing into a big dormer +window, I waited with beating heart to see if her door would open. +Apparently not, yet as I still lingered, I heard the lock turn, followed +by the sound of a measured but hurried step. Dashing from my retreat, I +reached the main hall in time to see Miss Murray disappear toward the +staircase. This was well, and I was about to follow when, to my +astonishment, I perceived Dutton standing in the doorway she had just +left, staring down at the floor with a puzzled look. + +"She didn't pick up the letters," he cried, in amazement. "She just +walked over them. What shall I do now? It's the strangest thing I ever +saw." + +"Take them to the little boudoir over the porch," I suggested. "Mr. +Sinclair is there and if she is not on her way to join him now she +certainly will be soon." + +Without a word Dutton caught up the letters and made for the stairs. + +Left to await the result, I found myself so worked upon that I wondered +how much longer I should find myself able to endure these shifts of +feeling and constantly recurring moments of extreme suspense. To escape +the torture of my own thoughts, or, possibly, to get some idea of how +Dorothy was sustaining an ordeal which was fast destroying my own +self-possession, I prepared to go down stairs. What was my astonishment +in passing the little boudoir on the second floor, to find its door ajar +and the place empty. Either the interview between Sinclair and +Gilbertine had been very much curtailed, or it had not yet taken place. +With a heart heavy with forebodings I no longer sought to analyze, I +made my way down and reached the lower step of the great staircase just +as a half-dozen girls, rushing from different quarters of the hall, +surrounded the heavy form of Mr. Armstrong coming from his own little +room. + +Their questions made a small hubbub. With a good-natured gesture, he put +them all back and, raising his voice, said to the assembled crowd: + +"It has been decided by Miss Murray that, under the circumstances, it +will be wiser for her to postpone the celebration of her marriage to +some time and place less fraught with mournful suggestions. A telegram +has just been sent to the bishop to that effect, and while we all suffer +from this disappointment, I am sure there is no one here who will not +see the propriety of her decision." + +As he finished, Gilbertine appeared behind him. At the same moment I +caught, or thought I did, the flash of Sinclair's eye from the recesses +of the room beyond; but I could not stop to make sure of this, for +Gilbertine's look and manner were such as to draw my full attention, and +it was with a mixture of almost inexplicable emotions that I saw her +thread her way among her friends, in a state of high feeling which made +her blind to their outstretched hands and deaf to the murmur of interest +and sympathy which instinctively followed her. She was making for the +stairs, and whatever her thoughts, whatever the state of her mind, she +moved superbly, in her pale, yet seemingly radiant abstraction. I +watched her, fascinated, yet when she left the last group and began to +cross the small square of carpet which alone separated us, I stepped +down and aside, feeling that to meet her eye just then without knowing +what had passed between her and Sinclair would be cruel to her and +well-nigh unbearable to myself. + +She saw the movement and seemed to hesitate an instant, then she turned +for one brief instant in my direction, and I saw her smile. Great God! +it was the smile of innocence. Fleeting as it was, the pride that was in +it, the sweet assertion and the joy were unmistakable. I felt like +springing to Sinclair's side in the gladness of my relief, but there was +no time; another door had opened down the hall, another person had +stepped upon the scene, and Miss Murray, as well as myself, recognized +by the hush which at once fell upon every one present that something of +still more startling import awaited us. + +"Mr. Armstrong and ladies!" said this stranger (I knew he was a stranger +by the studied formality of the former's bow). "I have made a few +inquiries since I came here a short time ago, and I find that there is +one young lady in the house who ought to be able to tell me better than +any one else under what circumstances Mrs. Lansing breathed her last. I +allude to her niece, who slept in the adjoining room. Is that young lady +here? Her name, if I remember rightly, is Camerden--Miss Dorothy +Camerden." + +A movement as of denial passed from group to group down the hall, and, +while no one glanced toward the library and some did glance up stairs, I +felt the dart of sudden fear--or was it hope--that Dorothy, hearing her +name called, would leave the conservatory and proudly confront the +speaker in face of this whole suspicious throng. But no Dorothy +appeared. On the contrary, it was Gilbertine who turned, and with an air +of authority for which no one was prepared, asked in tones vibrating +with feeling: + +"Has this gentleman the official right to question who was and who was +not with my aunt when she died?" + +Mr. Armstrong, who showed his surprise as ingenuously as he did every +other emotion, glanced up at the light figure hovering over them from +the staircase and made out to answer: + +"This gentleman has every right, Miss Murray. He is the coroner of the +town, accustomed to inquire into all cases of sudden death." + +"Then," she vehemently rejoined, her pale cheeks breaking out into a +scarlet flush, above which her eyes shone with an almost unearthly +brilliancy, "do not summon Dorothy Camerden. She is not the witness you +want. I am. I am the one who uttered that scream; I am the one who saw +our aunt die. Dorothy can not tell you what took place in her room and +at her bedside, for Dorothy was not there; but _I_ can." + +Amazed, not as others were, at the assertion itself, but at the manner +and publicity of the utterance, I contemplated this surprising girl in +ever-increasing wonder. Always beautiful, always spirited and proud, she +looked at that moment as if nothing in the shape of fear, or even +contumely, could touch her. She faced the astonishment of her best +friends with absolute fearlessness, and before the general murmur could +break into words, added: + +"I feel it my duty to speak thus publicly, because, by keeping silent so +long, I have allowed a false impression to go about. Stunned with +terror, I found it impossible to speak during that first shock. Besides, +I was in a measure to blame for the catastrophe itself and lacked +courage to own it. It was I who took the little crystal flask into my +aunt's room. I had been fascinated by it from the first, fascinated +enough to long to see it closer and to hold it in my hand. But I was +ashamed of this fascination, ashamed, I mean, to have any one know that +I could be moved by such a childish impulse; so, instead of taking the +box itself, which might easily be missed, I simply abstracted the tiny +vial. It strikes me now as a very strange thing for me to do, but then +it seemed a natural enough impulse; and it was with a feeling of decided +satisfaction I carried this coveted object about with me till I got to +my room. Then, when the house was quiet and my room-mate asleep, I took +it out and looked at it, and feeling an irresistible desire to share my +amusement with my cousin, I stole to her room by means of the connecting +balcony, just as I had done many times before when our aunt was in bed +and asleep. But unlike any previous occasion, I found the room empty. +Dorothy was not there; but as the light was burning high I knew she +would soon be back and so ventured to step in. Instantly, I heard my +aunt's voice. She was awake and wanted something. She had evidently +called before, for her voice was sharp with impatience, and she used +some very harsh words. When she heard me in Dorothy's room, she shouted +again, and, as I have always been accustomed to obey her commands, I +hastened to her side, with the little vial concealed in my hand. As she +had expected to see Dorothy and not me, she rose up in unreasoning +anger, asking where my cousin was and why I was not in bed. I attempted +to answer her, but she would not listen to me and bade me turn up the +gas, which I did. Then with her eyes fixed on mine as though she knew I +was trying to conceal something from her, she commanded me to rearrange +her hair and make her more comfortable. This I could not do with the +tiny flask still in my hand, so with a quick movement, which I hoped +would pass unobserved, I slid it behind some bottles standing on a table +by the bedside, and bent to do what she required. But to attempt to +escape her eye was useless. She had seen my action and at once began to +feel about for what I had attempted to hide from her. Coming in contact +with the tiny flask, she seized it, and with a smile I shall never +forget held it up between us. 'What's this?' she cried, showing such +astonishment at its minuteness and perfection of shape that it was +immediately apparent she had heard nothing of the amethyst box displayed +by Mr. Sinclair in the library. 'I never saw a bottle as small as this +before. What is in it and why were you so afraid of my seeing it?' As +she spoke, she attempted to wrench out the stopper. It stuck, so I was +in hopes she would fail in the effort, but she was a woman of uncommon +strength and presently it yielded and I saw the vial open in her hand. + +"Aghast with terror, I caught at the table beside me, fearing to drop +before her eyes. Instantly, her look of curiosity changed to one of +suspicion, and repeating, 'What's in it? What's in it?' she raised the +flask to her nostrils, and when she found she could make out nothing +from the smell, lowered it to her lips, with the intention, I suppose, +of determining its contents by tasting them. As I caught sight of this +fatal action, and beheld the one drop, which Mr. Sinclair had said was +enough to kill a man, slip from its hiding-place of centuries into her +open throat, I felt as if the poison had entered my own veins; I could +neither speak nor move. But when, an instant later, I met the look which +spread suddenly over her face--a look of horror and hatred, accusing +horror and unspeakable hatred mingled with what I dimly felt must mean +death--an agonized cry burst from my lips, after which, panicstricken, I +flew as if for life, back by the way I had come, to my own room. This +was a great mistake. I should have remained with my aunt and boldly met +the results of the tragedy which my folly had brought about. But terror +knows no law, and having once yielded to the instinct of concealment, I +knew no other course than to continue to maintain an apparent ignorance +of what had just occurred. With chattering teeth and an awful numbness +at my heart, I tore off my wrapper and slid into bed. Miss Lane had not +wakened, but every one else had and the hall was full of people. This +terrified me still more, and for the moment I felt that I could never +own the truth and bring down upon myself all this wonder and curiosity. +So I allowed a wrong impression of the event to go about, for which act +of cowardice I now ask the pardon of every one here, as I have already +asked that of Mr. Sinclair and of our kind friend, Mr. Armstrong." + +She paused, and stood for a moment confronting us all with proud eyes +and flaming cheeks, then amid a hubbub which did not seem to affect her +in the least, she stepped down, and approaching the man who, she had +been told, had a right to her full confidence, she said, loud enough for +all who wished to hear her: + +"I am ready to give you whatever further information you may require. +Shall I step into the drawing-room with you?" + +He bowed and as they disappeared from the great hall the hubbub of +voices became tumultuous. + +Naturally I should have joined in the universal expressions of surprise +and the gossip incident to such an unexpected revelation. But I found +myself averse to any kind of talk. Till I could meet Sinclair's eye and +discern in it the happy clearing-up of all his doubts, I should not feel +free to be my own ordinary and sociable self again. But Sinclair showed +every evidence of wishing to keep in the background, and while this was +natural enough, so far as people in general were concerned, I thought it +odd and very unlike him not to give me an opportunity to express my +congratulations at the turn affairs had taken and the frank attitude +assumed by Gilbertine. I own I felt much disturbed by this neglect, and +as the minutes passed and he failed to appear, I found my satisfaction +in her explanations dwindle under the consciousness that they had +failed, in some respects, to account for the situation; and before I +knew it, I was the prey of fresh doubts which I did my best to smother, +not only for the sake of Sinclair, but because I was still too much +under the influence of Gilbertine's imposing personality to wish to +believe aught but what her burning words conveyed. She must have spoken +the truth, but was it the entire truth? I hated myself for asking the +question; hated myself for being more critical with her than I had been +with Dorothy, who certainly had not made her own part in this tragedy as +clear as one who loved her could wish. Ah, Dorothy! it was time some one +told her that Gilbertine had openly vindicated her and that she could +now come forth and face her friends without hesitation and without +dread. Was she still in the conservatory? Doubtless. But it would be +better perhaps for me to make sure. + +Approaching the place by the small door connecting it with the hall-way +in which I stood, I took a hurried look within, and, seeing no one, +stepped boldly down between the palms to the little nook where lovers of +this quiet spot were accustomed to sit. It was empty, and so was the +library beyond. Coming back, I accosted Dutton, whom I found +superintending the removal of the potted plants which encumbered the +passages, and asked him if he knew where Miss Camerden was? He answered +without hesitation that she had stood in the rear hall a little while +before, listening to Miss Murray; that she had then gone up stairs by +the spiral staircase, leaving word with him that if anybody wanted her +she would be found in the small boudoir over the porch. + +I thanked him and was on my way to join her, when Mr. Armstrong called +me. He must have kept me a half-hour in his room, discussing every +aspect of the affair and apologizing for the necessity which he now felt +for bidding farewell to most of his guests, among whom, he was careful +to state, he did not include me. Then, when I thought this topic +exhausted, he began to talk about his wife, and what this dreadful +occurrence was to her and how he despaired of ever reconciling her to +the fact that it had been considered necessary to call in a coroner. +Then he spoke of Sinclair, but with some constraint and a more careful +choice of words, at which, realizing that I was to reap nothing from +this interview, only suffer strong and continual irritation at a delay +which was costing me the inestimable privilege of being the first to +tell Dorothy of her reestablishment in every one's good opinion, I +exerted myself for release and to such good purpose that I presently +found myself again in the hall, where the first person I ran against was +Sinclair. + +He started and so did I at this unexpected encounter. Then we stood +still, and I stared at him in amazement, for everything about the man +was changed, and--inexplicable fact!--in nothing was this change more +marked than in his attitude toward myself. Yet he tried to be friendly +and meet me on the old footing, and observed as soon as we found +ourselves beyond the hearing of others: + +"You heard what Gilbertine said. There is no reason for doubting her +words. _I_ do not doubt them and you will show yourself my friend +by not doubting them either." Then with some impetuosity and a gleam +in his eye quite foreign to its natural expression, he pursued, with +a pitiful effort to speak dispassionately: "Our wedding is +postponed--indefinitely. There are reasons why this seemed best to Miss +Murray. To you, I will say, that postponed nuptials seldom culminate in +marriage. In fact, I have just released Miss Murray from all obligations +to myself." + +The stare of utter astonishment I gave him called up a flush, the first +and only one I have ever seen on his face. What was I to say, what could +I say, in response to such a declaration, following so immediately upon +his warm assertion of her innocence? Nothing. With that indefinable +chill between us, which had come I knew not how, I felt tongue-tied. + +He saw my embarrassment, possibly my emotion, for he smiled somewhat +bitterly and put a step or so between us before he remarked: + +"Miss Murray has my good wishes. Out of respect to her position I shall +show her a friend's attention while we remain in this house. That is all +I have to say, Walter. You and I have held our last conversation on this +subject." + +He was gone before I had sufficiently recovered to realize that in this +conversation I had had no part, neither had it contained any explanation +of the very facts which had once formed our greatest grounds for doubt, +namely, Beaton's dream, the smothered cry uttered behind Sinclair's +shoulder when he first made known the deadly qualities of the little +vial, and lastly, the strange desire acknowledged to by both these young +ladies to touch and hold an object calculated rather to repel than to +attract the normal feminine heart. + +At every previous stage of this ever-shifting drama, my instinct had +been to set my wits against the facts, and, if I could, puzzle out the +mystery. But I felt no such temptation now. My one desire was to act, +and that immediately. Dorothy, for all Gilbertine's intimation to the +contrary, held the key to the enigma in her own breast. Otherwise, she +would not have ventured upon that surprising and necessarily unpalatable +advice to Sinclair--an advice he seemed to have followed--not to marry +Gilbertine Murray at the time proposed. Nothing, short of a secret +acquaintanceship with facts unknown as yet to the rest of us, could have +nerved her to such an act. + +My one hope, then, of understanding the matter lay with her. To seek her +at once in the place where I had been told she awaited me seemed the +only course to take. If any real gratitude underlay the look of trust +which she had given me at the termination of our last interview, she +would reward my confidence in her by unbosoming herself to me. + +I was at the door of the boudoir immediately upon forming this +resolution. Finding it ajar, I pushed it softly open, and as softly +entered. To my astonishment, the place was very dark. Not only had the +shades been drawn down, but the shutters had been closed, so that it was +with difficulty I detected the slight, black-robed figure which lay, +face down, among the cushions of a lounge. She had evidently not heard +my entrance, for she did not move; and, struck by her pathetic attitude, +I advanced in a whirl of feeling which made me forget all +conventionalities and everything else, in fact, but that I loved her and +had the utmost confidence in her power to make me happy. Laying my hand +softly on her head, I tenderly whispered: + +"Look up, dear. Whatever barrier may have intervened between us has +fallen. Look up and hear how I love you." + +She thrilled as a woman only thrills when her secret soul is moved, and, +rising with a certain grand movement, turned her face upon me, glorious +with a feeling that not even the dimness of the room could hide. + +Why, then, did my brain whirl and my heart collapse? + +It was Gilbertine and not Dorothy who stood before me. + + + + +IX + +IN THE LITTLE BOUDOIR + + +Never had a suspicion crossed my mind of any such explanation of our +secret troubles. I had seen as much of one cousin as the other in my +visits to Mrs. Lansing's house, but Gilbertine being from the first day +of our acquaintance engaged to my friend Sinclair, I naturally did not +presume to study her face for any signs of interest in myself, even if +my sudden and uncontrollable passion for Dorothy had left me the heart +to do so. Yet now, in the light of her unmistakable smile, of her +beaming eyes from which all troublous thoughts seemed to have fled for +ever, a thousand recollections forced themselves upon my attention which +not only made me bewail my own blindness, but which served to explain +the peculiar attitude always maintained toward me by Dorothy, and many +other things which a moment before had seemed fraught with impenetrable +mystery. + +All this in the twinkling of an eye. Meanwhile, misled by my words, +Gilbertine drew back a step and with her face still bright with the +radiance I have mentioned, murmured in low, but full-toned accents: + +"Not just yet! it is too soon. Let me simply enjoy the fact that I am +free and that the courage to win my release came from my own suddenly +acquired trust in Mr. Sinclair's goodness. Last night--" and she +shuddered--"I saw only another way--a way the horrors of which I hardly +realized. But God saved me from so dreadful, yea, so unnecessary a +crime, and this morning--" + +It was cruel to let her go on, cruel to stand there and allow this +ardent if mistaken nature to unfold itself so ingenuously, while I with +ear half-turned toward the door, listened for the step of her whom I had +never so much loved as at that moment--possibly because I had only just +come to understand the cause of her seeming vacillations. My instincts +were so imperative, my duty and the obligations of my position so +unmistakable, that I made a move as she reached this point, which caused +Gilbertine first to hesitate, then to stop. How should I fill up this +gap of silence? How tell her of the great, the grievous mistake she had +made? The task was one to try the courage of stouter souls than mine. +But the thought of Dorothy nerved me; perhaps, also, my real friendship +and commiseration for Sinclair. + +"Gilbertine," I began, "I will make no pretense of misunderstanding you. +The situation is too serious, the honor which you do me too great; only, +I am not free to accept that honor. The words which I uttered were meant +for your cousin Dorothy. I expected to find her in this room. I have +long loved your cousin--in secrecy, I own, but honestly and with every +hope of some day making her my wife. I--I--" + +There was no need for me to finish. The warm hand turning to ice in my +clasp, the wide-open, blind-struck eyes, the recoil, the maiden flush +rising, deepening, covering chin and cheek and forehead, then fading out +again till the whole face was white as marble and seemingly as +cold--told me that the blow had gone home and that Gilbertine Murray, +the unequalled beauty, the petted darling of a society who recognized +every charm she possessed save her ardent nature and great heart, had +reached the height of her many miseries and that it was I who had placed +her there. + +Overcome with pity, but conscious, also, of a profound respect, I +endeavored to utter some futile words, which she at once put an end to +by an appealing gesture. + +"You can say nothing," she began. "I have made an awful mistake, the +worst a woman can make, I think." Then, with long pauses, as though her +tongue were clogged by shame--perhaps by some deeper if less apparent +feeling--"You love Dorothy; does Dorothy love you?" + +My answer was an honest one. + +"I have dared to hope so, despite the little opportunity she has given +me to express my feelings. She has always held me back, and that very +decidedly, or my devotion would have been apparent to everybody." + +"Oh, Dorothy!" + +Regret, sorrow, infinite tenderness, all were audible in that cry. +Indeed, it seemed as if for the moment her thoughts were more taken up +with her cousin's unhappiness than with her own. + +"How I must have made her suffer! I have been a curse to those who loved +me. But I am humbled now, and very rightly." + +I began to experience a certain awe of this great nature. There was +grandeur even in her contrition and, as I took in the expression of her +colorless features, sweet with almost an unearthly sweetness in spite of +the anguish consuming her, I suddenly realized what Sinclair's love for +her must be. I also as suddenly realized the depth and extent of his +suffering. To call such a woman his, to lead her almost to the foot of +the altar and then to see her turn aside and leave him! Surely his lot +was an intolerable one, and, though the interference I had unconsciously +made in his wishes had been involuntary, I felt like cursing myself for +not having been more open in my attentions to the girl I really loved. + +Gilbertine seemed to divine my thoughts, for, pausing at the door she +had unconsciously approached, she stood with the knob in her hand, and, +with averted brow, remarked gravely: + +"I am going out of your life. Before I do so, however, I should like to +say a few words in palliation of my conduct. I have never known a +mother. I early fell under my aunt's charge, who, detesting children, +sent me away to school, where I was well enough treated, but never +loved. I was a plain child and felt my plainness. This gave an +awkwardness to my actions, and as my aunt had caused it to be distinctly +understood that her sole intention in sending me to the Academy was to +have me educated for a teacher, my position awakened little interest, +and few hearts, if any, warmed toward me. Meanwhile my breast was +filled with but one thought, one absorbing wish. I longed to love +passionately and be passionately loved in return. Had I found a +mate--but I never did. I was not destined for any such happiness. + +"Years passed. I was a woman, but neither my happiness nor my +self-confidence had kept pace with my growth. Girls who once passed me +with a bare nod now stopped to stare, sometimes to whisper comments +behind my back. I did not understand this change, and withdrew more and +more into myself and the fairy-land made for me by books. Romance was my +life, and I had fallen into the dangerous habit of brooding over the +pleasures and excitements which would have been mine had I been born +beautiful and wealthy, when my aunt suddenly visited the school, saw me +and at once took me away and placed me in the most fashionable school in +New York City. From there I was launched, without any word of motherly +counsel, into the gay society you know so well. Almost with my +coming-out I found the world at my feet and, though my aunt showed me no +love, she evinced a certain pride in my success and cast about to +procure for me a great match. Mr. Sinclair was the victim. He visited +me, took me to theaters and eventually proposed. My aunt was in +ecstasies. I, who felt helpless before her will, was glad that the +husband she had chosen for me was, at least, a gentleman, and, to all +appearances, respectable in his living and nice in his tastes. But he +was not the man I had dwelt on in my dreams, and while I accepted +him--(it was not possible to do anything else, with my aunt controlling +every action, if not every thought)--I cared so little for Mr. Sinclair +himself that I forgot to ask if his many attentions were the result of +any real feeling on his part or only such as he considered due to the +woman he expected to make his wife. You see what girls are. How I +despise myself now for this miserable frivolity! + +"All this time I knew that I was not my aunt's only niece; that Dorothy +Camerden, of whom I knew little but her name, was as closely related to +her as I was. For, true to her heartless code, my aunt had placed us in +separate schools and we had never met. When she found that I was to +leave her and that soon there would be nobody to see that her dresses +were bought with discretion, and her person attended to with something +like care, she sent for Dorothy. I shall never forget my first +impression of her. I had been told that I need not expect much in the +way of beauty and style, but from my first glimpse of her dear face, I +saw that my soul's friend had come and that, marriage or no marriage, I +need never be solitary again. + +"I do not think I made as favorable an impression on my cousin as she +did on me. Dorothy was new to elaborate dressing and to all the follies +of fashionable life, and her look had more of awe than expectation in +it. But I gave her a hearty kiss and in a week she was as brilliantly +equipped as myself. + +"I loved her, but, from blindness of eye or an overwhelming egotism +which God has certainly punished, I did not consider her beautiful. This +I must acknowledge to you, if only to complete my humiliation. I never +imagined for a moment, even after I became the daily witness of your +many attentions to her, that it was on her account you visited the house +so often. I had been so petted and spoiled since entering society that +I thought you were kind to her simply because honor forbade you +to be too kind to me; and seeing in you a man different from the +others--one--who--who pleased me as the heroes of my old romances had +pleased me, I gave you all my heart and, what was worse, _confided my +folly to Dorothy_. + +"You will have many a talk with her in the future, and some day she may +succeed in proving to you that it was vanity and not badness of heart +which led me to misunderstand your feelings. Having repressed my own +impulses so long, I saw in your reticence the evidences of a like +struggle; and when, immediately upon my break with Mr. Sinclair, you +entered here and said the words you did--Well, we have finished with +this subject for ever. + +"The explanations which I gave below, of the part I played in my aunt's +death were true. I only omitted one detail, which you may consider a +very important one. The fact which paralyzed my hand and voice when I +saw her lift the drop of death to her lips was this: I had meant to die +by this drop myself, in Dorothy's room, and with Dorothy's arms about +me. This was my secret--a secret which no one can blame me for keeping +as long as I could, and one which I should hardly have the courage to +disclose to you now if I had not already parted with it to the coroner, +who would not credit my story till I had told him the whole truth." + +"Gilbertine," I prayed, for I saw her fingers closing upon the knob she +had held lightly till now, "do not go till I have said this. A young +girl does not always know the demands of her own nature. The heart you +have ignored is one in a thousand. Do not let it slip from you. God +never gives a woman such a love twice." + +"I know it," she murmured, and turned the knob. + +I thought she was gone, and let the sigh which had been laboring at my +breast have vent, when suddenly I caught one last word whispered from +the threshold: + +"Throw back the shutters and let in the light. Dorothy is coming. I am +going now to call her." + +An hour had passed, the hour of hours for me, for in it the sun of my +happiness rose full-orbed and Dorothy and I came to understand each +other. We were sitting hand in hand in this blessed little boudoir, when +suddenly she turned her sweet face toward me and gently remarked: + +"This seems like selfishness on our part; but Gilbertine insisted. Do +you know what she is doing now? Helping old Mrs. Cummings and holding +Mrs. Barnstable's baby while her maid packs. She will work like that all +day, and with a smile, too. Oh, it is a rich nature, an ideal nature! I +think we can trust her now." + +I did not like to discuss Gilbertine even with Dorothy, so I said +nothing. But she was too full of her theme to stop. I think she wished +to unburden her mind once and for ever of all that had disturbed it. + +"Our aunt's death," she continued, "will be a sort of emancipation for +her. I don't think you, or any one out of our immediate household, can +realize the control which Aunt Hannah exerted over every one who came +within her daily influence. It would have been the same had she occupied +a dependent position instead of being the wealthy autocrat she was. In +her cold nature dwelt an imperiousness which no one could withstand. You +know how her friends, some of them as rich and influential as herself, +bowed to her will and submitted to her interference. What, then, could +you expect from two poor girls entirely dependent upon her for +everything they enjoyed? Gilbertine, with all her spirit, could not face +Aunt Hannah's frown, while I studied to have no wishes. Had this been +otherwise, had we found a friend instead of a tyrant in the woman who +took us into her home, Gilbertine might have gained more control over +her feelings. It was the necessity she felt of smothering her natural +impulses, and of maintaining in the house and before the world an +appearance of satisfaction in her position as bride-elect, which caused +her to fall into such extremes of despondency and deep despair. Her +self-respect was shocked. She felt that she was living a lie and hated +herself in consequence. + +"You may think I did wrong not to tell her of your affection for myself, +especially, after what you whispered into my ear that night at the +theater. I did do wrong; I see it now. She was really a stronger woman +than I thought and we might all have been saved the horrors which have +befallen us had I acted with more firmness at that time. But I was weak +and frightened. I held you back and let her go on deceiving herself, +which meant deceiving Mr. Sinclair, too. I thought, when she found +herself really married and settled in her own home, she would find it +easier to forget, and that soon, perhaps very soon, all this would seem +like a troubled dream to her. And there was reason for this hope on my +part. She showed a woman's natural interest in her outfit and the plans +for her new house, but when she heard you were to be Mr. Sinclair's best +man, every feminine instinct within her rebelled and it was with +difficulty she could prevent herself from breaking out into a loud No! +in face of aunt and lover. From this moment on her state of mind grew +desperate. In the parlor, at the theater, she was the brilliant girl +whom all admired and many envied; but in my little room at night she +would bury her face in my lap and talk of death, till I moved in a +constant atmosphere of dread. Yet, because she looked gay and laughed, I +turned a like face to the world and laughed also. We felt it was +expected of us, and the very nervous tension we were under made these +ebullitions easy. But I did not laugh so much after coming here. One +night I found her out of her bed long after every one else had retired +for the night. Next morning Mr. Beaton told a dream--I hope it was a +dream--but it frightened me. Then came that moment when Mr. Sinclair +displayed the amethyst box and explained with such a nonchalant air how +a drop from the little flask inside would kill a person. A toy, but so +deadly! I felt the thrill which shot like lightning through her, and +made up my mind she should never have the opportunity of touching that +box. And that is why I stole into the library at the first moment I had +to myself and took down the little box and hid it in my hair. I never +thought to look inside; I did not pause to think that it was the flask +and not the box she wanted, and consequently felt convinced of her +safety so long as I kept the latter successfully concealed in my hair. +You know the rest." + +Yes, I knew it. How she opened the box in her room and found it empty. +How she flew to Gilbertine's room, and, finding the door unlocked, +looked in, and saw Miss Lane lying there asleep but no Gilbertine. How +her alarm grew at this and how, forgetting that her cousin often stole +to her room by means of the connecting balcony, she had wandered over +the house in the hope of coming upon Gilbertine in one of the +down-stairs rooms. How her mind misgave her before she had entered the +great hall, and how she turned back only to hear that awful scream go up +as she was setting foot upon the spiral stair. I had heard it all before +and could imagine her terror and dismay; and why she found it impossible +to proceed any further, but clung to the stair-rail, half-alive and +half-dead, till she was found there by those seeking her and taken up to +her aunt's room. But she never told me, and I do not yet know, what her +thoughts or feelings were when, instead of seeing her cousin +outstretched in death on the bed they led her to, she beheld the +lifeless figure of her aunt. The reserve she maintained on this point +has been always respected by me. Let it continue to be so. + +When therefore she said, "You know the rest," I took her in my arms and +gave her my first kiss. Then I softly released her, and by tacit consent +we each went our way for that day. + +Mine took me into the hall below, which was all alive with the hum of +departing guests. Beaton was among them, and as he stepped out on the +porch I gave him a parting handclasp and quietly whispered: + +"When all dark things are made light, you will find that there was both +more and less to your dream than you were inclined to make out." + +He bowed, and that was the last word which ever passed between us on +this topic. + +But what chiefly impressed me in connection with this afternoon's events +was the short talk I had with Sinclair. I feared I forced this talk, but +I could not let the dreary day settle into still drearier night without +making clear to him a point which, in the new position he held toward +Gilbertine if not toward myself, might seem to be involved in some +doubt. When, therefore, I had the opportunity to accost him I did so, +and, without noting the formal bow with which he strove to hold back all +confidential communication, I said: + +"It is not a very propitious time for me to intrude my personal affairs +upon you, but I feel as if I should like you to know that the clouds +have been cleared away between Dorothy and myself, and that some day we +expect to marry." + +He gave me the earnest look of a man who has recovered his one friend. +Then he grasped my hand warmly, saying with something like his old +fervor: + +"You deserve all the happiness that awaits you. Mine is gone; but if I +can regain it, I will; trust me for that, Worthington." + +The coroner, who had seen much of life and human nature, managed with +much discretion the inquest he felt bound to hold. Mrs. Lansing was +found to have come to her death by a meddlesome interference with one of +her niece's wedding trinkets; and, as every one acquainted with Mrs. +Lansing knew her to be quite capable of such an act of malicious folly, +the verdict was duly accepted and the real heart of this tragedy closed +for ever from every human eye. + +As we were leaving Newport Sinclair stepped up to me. + +"I have reason to know," said he, "that Mrs. Lansing's bequests will be +a surprise, not only to her nieces, but to the world at large. Let me +advise you to announce your engagement before reaching New York." + +I followed his advice and in a few days understood why it had been +given. All the vast property owned by this woman had been left to +Dorothy. Gilbertine had been cut off without a cent. + +We never knew Mrs. Lansing's reason for this act. Gilbertine had always +been considered her favorite, and, had the will been a late one, it +would have been generally thought that she had left her thus unprovided +for solely in consideration of the great match which she expected her to +make. But the will was dated back several years,--long before +Gilbertine had met Mr. Sinclair, long before either niece had come to +live with Mrs. Lansing in New York. Had it always been the latter's +wish, then, to enrich the one and slight the other? It would seem so, +but why should the slighted one be Gilbertine? + +The only explanation I ever heard given was the partiality which Mrs. +Lansing felt for Dorothy's mother, or, rather, her lack of affection for +Gilbertine's. God knows if it is the true one, but whether so or not, +the discrimination she showed in her will put poor Gilbertine in a very +unfortunate position. At least, it would have done so, if Sinclair, with +an adroitness worthy of his love, had not proved to her that a break at +this time in their supposed relations would reflect most seriously upon +his disinterestedness and thus secured for himself opportunities for +urging his suit which ended, as such opportunities often do, in a +renewal of their engagement. But this time mutual love was its basis. +This was evident to any one who saw them together. But how the magic +was wrought, how this hard-to-be-won heart learned at last its true +allegiance, I did not know till later, and then it was told me by +Gilbertine herself. + +I had been married for some months and she for some weeks, when one +evening chance threw us together. Instantly, and as if she had waited +for this hour, she turned upon me with the beautiful smile which has +been hers ever since her new happiness came to her, and said: + +"You once gave me some very good advice, Mr. Worthington, but it was not +that which led me to realize Mr. Sinclair's affection. It was a short +conversation which passed between us on the day my aunt's will was read. +Do you remember my turning to speak to him the moment after that word +_all_ fell from the lawyer's lips?" + +"Yes, Mrs. Sinclair." Alas! did I not! It was one of the most poignant +memories of my life. The look she gave him, and the look he gave her! +Indeed, I did remember. + +"It was to ask him one question,--a question to which misfortune only +could have given so much weight. Had my aunt taken him into her +confidence? Had he known that I had no place in her will? His answer was +very simple; a single word,--'always.' But after that, do I need to say +why I am a wife? why I am _his_ wife?" + + + + +THE HOUSE IN THE MIST + + + + +I + +AN OPEN DOOR + + +It was a night to drive any man indoors. Not only was the darkness +impenetrable, but the raw mist enveloping hill and valley made the open +road anything but desirable to a belated wayfarer like myself. + +Being young, untrammeled, and naturally indifferent to danger, I was not +averse to adventure; and having my fortune to make, was always on the +lookout for El Dorado, which, to ardent souls, lies ever beyond the next +turning. Consequently, when I saw a light shimmering through the mist at +my right, I resolved to make for it and the shelter it so opportunely +offered. + +But I did not realize then, as I do now, that shelter does not +necessarily imply refuge, or I might not have undertaken this adventure +with so light a heart. Yet, who knows? The impulses of an unfettered +spirit lean toward daring, and youth, as I have said, seeks the strange, +the unknown and, sometimes, the terrible. + +My path toward this light was by no means an easy one. After confused +wanderings through tangled hedges, and a struggle with obstacles of +whose nature I received the most curious impression in the surrounding +murk, I arrived in front of a long, low building which, to my +astonishment, I found standing with doors and windows open to the +pervading mist, save for one square casement through which the light +shone from a row of candles placed on a long mahogany table. + +The quiet and seeming emptiness of this odd and picturesque building +made me pause. I am not much affected by visible danger, but this silent +room, with its air of sinister expectancy, struck me most unpleasantly, +and I was about to reconsider my first impulse and withdraw again to the +road, when a second look, thrown back upon the comfortable interior I +was leaving, convinced me of my folly and sent me straight toward the +door which stood so invitingly open. + +But half-way up the path, my progress was again stayed by the sight of a +man issuing from the house I had so rashly looked upon as devoid of all +human presence. He seemed in haste and, at the moment my eye first fell +on him, was engaged in replacing his watch in his pocket. + +But he did not shut the door behind him, which I thought odd, especially +as his final glance had been a backward one, and seemed to take in all +the appointments of the place he was so hurriedly leaving. + +As we met, he raised his hat. This likewise struck me as peculiar, for +the deference he displayed was more marked than that usually bestowed on +strangers, while his lack of surprise at an encounter more or less +startling in such a mist was calculated to puzzle an ordinary man like +myself. Indeed, he was so little impressed by my presence there that he +was for passing me without a word or any other hint of good fellowship, +save the bow of which I have spoken. But this did not suit me. I was +hungry, cold, and eager for creature comforts, and the house before me +gave forth not only heat, but a savory odor which in itself was an +invitation hard to ignore. I therefore accosted the man. + +"Will bed and supper be provided me here?" I asked. "I am tired out with +a long tramp over the hills, and hungry enough to pay anything in +reason--" + +I stopped, for the man had disappeared. He had not paused at my appeal +and the mist had swallowed him. But at the break in my sentence, his +voice came back in good-natured tones and I heard: + +"Supper will be ready at nine, and there are beds for all. Enter, sir; +you are the first to arrive, but the others can not be far behind." + +A queer greeting, certainly. But when I strove to question him as to its +meaning, his voice returned to me from such a distance that I doubted if +my words had reached him with any more distinctness than his answer +reached me. + +"Well!" thought I, "it isn't as if a lodging had been denied me. He +invited me to enter, and enter I will." + +The house, to which I now naturally directed a glance of much more +careful scrutiny than before, was no ordinary farm-building, but a +rambling old mansion, made conspicuously larger here and there by +jutting porches and more than one convenient lean-to. Though furnished, +warmed and lighted with candles, as I have previously described, it had +about it an air of disuse which made me feel myself an intruder, in +spite of the welcome I had received. But I was not in a position to +stand upon ceremony, and ere long I found myself inside the great room +and before the blazing logs whose glow had lighted up the doorway and +added its own attraction to the other allurements of the inviting place. + +Though the open door made a draft which was anything but pleasant, I did +not feel like closing it, and was astonished to observe the effect of +the mist through the square thus left open to the night. It was not an +agreeable one, and, instinctively turning my back upon that quarter of +the room, I let my eyes roam over the wainscoted walls and the odd +pieces of furniture which gave such an air of old-fashioned richness to +the place. As nothing of the kind had ever fallen under my eyes before, +I should have thoroughly enjoyed this opportunity of gratifying my taste +for the curious and the beautiful, if the quaint old chairs I saw +standing about me on every side had not all been empty. But the solitude +of the place, so much more oppressive than the solitude of the road I +had left, struck cold to my heart, and I missed the cheer rightfully +belonging to such attractive surroundings. Suddenly I bethought me of +the many other apartments likely to be found in so spacious a dwelling, +and, going to the nearest door, I opened it and called out for the +master of the house. But only an echo came back, and, returning to the +fire, I sat down before the cheering blaze, in quiet acceptance of a +situation too lonely for comfort, yet not without a certain piquant +interest for a man of free mind and adventurous disposition like myself. + +After all, if supper was to be served at nine, someone must be expected +to eat it: I should surely not be left much longer without companions. + +Meanwhile ample amusement awaited me in the contemplation of a picture +which, next to the large fireplace, was the most prominent object in the +room. This picture was a portrait, and a remarkable one. The countenance +it portrayed was both characteristic and forcible, and so interested me +that in studying it I quite forgot both hunger and weariness. Indeed its +effect upon me was such that, after gazing at it uninterruptedly for a +few minutes, I discovered that its various features--the narrow eyes in +which a hint of craft gave a strange gleam to their native intelligence; +the steadfast chin, strong as the rock of the hills I had wearily +tramped all day; the cunning wrinkles which yet did not interfere with +a latent great-heartedness that made the face as attractive as it was +puzzling--had so established themselves in my mind that I continued to +see them before me whichever way I turned, and found it impossible to +shake off their influence even after I had resolutely set my mind in +another direction by endeavoring to recall what I knew of the town into +which I had strayed. + +I had come from Scranton and was now, according to my best judgment, in +one of those rural districts of western Pennsylvania which breed such +strange and sturdy characters. But of this special neighborhood, its +inhabitants and its industries, I knew nothing nor was likely to, so +long as I remained in the solitude I have endeavored to describe. + +But these impressions and these thoughts--if thoughts they +were--presently received a check. A loud "Halloo" rose from somewhere in +the mist, followed by a string of muttered imprecations, which convinced +me that the person now attempting to approach the house was encountering +some of the many difficulties which had beset me in the same +undertaking a few minutes before. + +I therefore raised my voice and shouted out, "Here! this way!" after +which I sat still and awaited developments. + +There was a huge clock in one of the corners, whose loud tick filled up +every interval of silence. By this clock it was just ten minutes to +eight when two gentlemen (I should say men, and coarse men at that) +crossed the open threshold and entered the house. + +Their appearance was more or less note-worthy--unpleasantly so, I am +obliged to add. One was red-faced and obese, the other was tall, thin +and wiry and showed as many seams in his face as a blighted apple. +Neither of the two had anything to recommend him either in appearance or +address, save a certain veneer of polite assumption as transparent as it +was offensive. As I listened to the forced sallies of the one and the +hollow laugh of the other, I was glad that I was large of frame and +strong of arm and used to all kinds of men and--brutes. + +As these two new-comers seemed no more astonished at my presence than +the man I had met at the gate, I checked the question which +instinctively rose to my lips and with a simple bow,--responded to by a +more or less familiar nod from either,--accepted the situation with all +the _sang-froid_ the occasion seemed to demand. Perhaps this was wise, +perhaps it was not; there was little opportunity to judge, for the start +they both gave as they encountered the eyes of the picture before +mentioned drew my attention to a consideration of the different ways in +which men, however similar in other respects, express sudden and +unlooked-for emotion. The big man simply allowed his astonishment, +dread, or whatever the feeling was which moved him, to ooze forth in a +cold and deathly perspiration which robbed his cheeks of color and cast +a bluish shadow over his narrow and retreating temples; while the thin +and waspish man, caught in the same trap (for trap I saw it was), +shouted aloud in his ill-timed mirth, the false and cruel character of +which would have made me shudder, if all expression of feeling on my +part had not been held in check by the interest I immediately +experienced in the display of open bravado with which, in another +moment, these two tried to carry off their mutual embarrassment. + +"Good likeness, eh?" laughed the seamy-faced man. "Quite an idea, that! +Makes him one of us again! Well, he's welcome--in oils. Can't say much +to us from canvas, eh?" And the rafters above him vibrated, as his +violent efforts at joviality went up in loud and louder assertion from +his thin throat. + +A nudge from the other's elbow stopped him and I saw them both cast +half-lowering, half-inquisitive glances in my direction. + +"One of the Witherspoon boys?" queried one. + +"Perhaps," snarled the other. "I never saw but one of them. There are +five, aren't there? Eustace believed in marrying off his gals young." + +"Damn him, yes. And he'd have married them off younger if he had known +how numbers were going to count some day among the Westonhaughs." And he +laughed again in a way I should certainly have felt it my business to +resent, if my indignation as well as the ill-timed allusions which had +called it forth had not been put to an end by a fresh arrival through +the veiling mist which hung like a shroud at the doorway. + +This time it was for me to experience a shock of something like fear. +Yet the personage who called up this unlooked-for sensation in my +naturally hardy nature was old and, to all appearance, harmless from +disability, if not from good will. His form was bent over upon itself +like a bow; and only from the glances he shot from his upturned eyes was +the fact made evident that a redoubtable nature, full of force and +malignity, had just brought its quota of evil into a room already +overflowing with dangerous and menacing passions. + +As this old wretch, either from the feebleness of age or from the +infirmity I have mentioned, had great difficulty in walking, he had +brought with him a small boy, whose business it was to direct his +tottering steps as best he could. + +But once settled in his chair, he drove away this boy with his pointed +oak stick, and with some harsh words about caring for the horse and +being on time in the morning, he sent him out into the mist. As this +little shivering and pathetic figure vanished, the old man drew, with +gasp and haw, a number of deep breaths which shook his bent back and did +their share, no doubt, in restoring his own disturbed circulation. Then, +with a sinister twist which brought his pointed chin and twinkling eyes +again into view, he remarked: + +"Haven't ye a word for kinsman Luke, you two? It isn't often I get out +among ye. Shakee, nephew! Shakee, Hector! And now who's the boy in the +window? My eyes aren't what they used to be, but he don't seem to favor +the Westonhaughs over-much. One of Salmon's four grandchildren, think +'e? Or a shoot from Eustace's gnarled old trunk? His gals all married +Americans, and one of them, I've been told, was a yellow-haired giant +like this fellow." + +As this description pointed directly toward me, I was about to venture a +response on my own account, when my attention, as well as theirs, was +freshly attracted by a loud "Whoa!" at the gate, followed by the hasty +but assured entrance of a dapper, wizen, but perfectly preserved little +old gentleman with a bag in his hand. Looking askance with eyes that +were like two beads, first at the two men who were now elbowing each +other for the best place before the fire, and then at the revolting +figure in the chair, he bestowed his greeting, which consisted of an +elaborate bow, not on them, but upon the picture hanging so +conspicuously on the open wall before him; and then, taking me within +the scope of his quick, circling glance, cried out with an assumption of +great cordiality: + +"Good evening, gentlemen; good evening one, good evening all. Nothing +like being on the tick. I'm sorry the night has turned out so badly. +Some may find it too thick for travel. That would be bad, eh? very +bad--for _them_." + +As none of the men he openly addressed saw fit to answer, save by the +hitch of a shoulder or a leer quickly suppressed, I kept silent also. +But this reticence, marked as it was, did not seem to offend the +new-comer. Shaking the wet from the umbrella he held, he stood the +dripping article up in a corner and then came and placed his feet on the +fender. To do this he had to crowd between the two men already occupying +the best part of the hearth. But he showed no concern at incommoding +them, and bore their cross looks and threatening gestures with +professional equanimity. + +"You know me?" he now unexpectedly snapped, bestowing another look over +his shoulder at that oppressive figure in the chair. (Did I say that I +had risen when the latter sat?) "I'm no Westonhaugh, I; nor yet a +Witherspoon nor a Clapsaddle. I'm only Smead, the lawyer. Mr. Anthony +Westonhaugh's lawyer," he repeated, with another glance of recognition +in the direction of the picture. "I drew up his last will and testament, +and, until all of his wishes have been duly carried out, am entitled by +the terms of that will to be regarded both legally and socially as his +representative. This you all know, but it is my way to make everything +clear as I proceed. A lawyer's trick, no doubt. I do not pretend to be +entirely exempt from such." + +A grumble from the large man, who seemed to have been disturbed in some +absorbing calculation he was carrying on, mingled with a few muttered +words of forced acknowledgment from the restless old sinner in the +chair, made it unnecessary for me to reply, even if the last comer had +given me the opportunity. + +"It's getting late!" he cried, with an easy garrulity rather amusing, +under the circumstances. "Two more trains came in as I left the depot. +If old Phil was on hand with his wagon, several more members of this +interesting family may be here before the clock strikes; if not, the +assemblage is like to be small. Too small," I heard him grumble a minute +after, under his breath. + +"I wish it were a matter of one," spoke up the big man, striking his +breast in a way to make it perfectly apparent whom he meant by that word +_one_. And having (if I may judge by the mingled laugh and growl of his +companions) thus shown his hand both figuratively and literally, he +relapsed into the calculation which seemed to absorb all of his +unoccupied moments. + +"Generous, very!" commented the lawyer in a murmur which was more than +audible. "Pity that sentiments of such broad benevolence should go +unrewarded." + +This, because at that very instant wheels were heard in front, also a +jangle of voices, in some controversy about fares, which promised +anything but a pleasing addition to the already none too desirable +company. + +"I suppose that's sister Janet," snarled out the one addressed as +Hector. There was no love in his voice, despite the relationship hinted +at, and I awaited the entrance of this woman with some curiosity. + +But her appearance, heralded by many a puff and pant which the damp air +exaggerated in a prodigious way, did not seem to warrant the interest I +had shown in it. As she stepped into the room, I saw only a big frowsy +woman, who had attempted to make a show with a new silk dress and a hat +in the latest fashion, but who had lamentably failed, owing to the +slouchiness of her figure and some misadventure by which her hat had +been set awry on her head and her usual complacency destroyed. Later, I +noted that her down-looking eyes had a false twinkle in them, and that, +commonplace as she looked, she was one to steer clear of in times of +necessity and distress. + +She, too, evidently expected to find the door open and people assembled, +but she had not anticipated being confronted by the portrait on the +wall, and cringed in an unpleasant way as she stumbled by it into one of +the ill-lighted corners. + +The old man, who had doubtless caught the rustle of her dress as she +passed him, emitted one short sentence. + +"Almost late," said he. + +Her answer was a sputter of words. + +"It's the fault of that driver," she complained. "If he had taken one +drop more at the half-way house, I might really not have got here at +all. That would not have inconvenienced _you_. But oh! what a grudge I +would have owed that skinflint brother of ours"--here she shook her fist +at the picture--"for making our good luck depend upon our arrival within +two short strokes of the clock!" + +"There are several to come yet," blandly observed the lawyer. But before +the words were well out of his mouth, we all became aware of a new +presence--a woman, whose somber grace and quiet bearing gave distinction +to her unobtrusive entrance, and caused a feeling of something like awe +to follow the first sight of her cold features and deep, heavily-fringed +eyes. But this soon passed in the more human sentiment awakened by the +soft pleading which infused her gaze with a touching femininity. She +wore a long loose garment which fell without a fold from chin to foot, +and in her arms she seemed to carry something. + +Never before had I seen so beautiful a woman. As I was contemplating +her, with respect but yet with a masculine intentness I could not quite +suppress, two or three other persons came in. And now I began to notice +that the eyes of all these people turned mainly one way, and that was +toward the clock. Another small circumstance likewise drew my attention. +Whenever any one entered,--and there were one or two additional arrivals +during the five minutes preceding the striking of the hour,--a frown +settled for an instant on every brow, giving to each and all a similar +look, for the interpretation of which I lacked the key. Yet not on every +brow either. There was one which remained undisturbed and showed only a +grand patience. + +As the hands of the big clock neared the point of eight, a furtive +smile appeared on more than one face; and when the hour rang out, a sigh +of satisfaction swept through the room, to which the little old lawyer +responded with a worldly-wise grunt, as he moved from his place and +proceeded to the door. + +This he had scarcely shut when a chorus of voices rose from without. +Three or four lingerers had pushed their way as far as the gate, only to +see the door of the house shut in their faces. + +"Too late!" growled old man Luke from between the locks of his long +beard. + +"Too late!" shrieked the woman who had come so near being late herself. + +"Too late!" smoothly acquiesced the lawyer, locking and bolting the door +with a deft and assured hand. + +But the four or five persons who thus found themselves barred out did +not accept without a struggle the decision of the more fortunate ones +assembled within. More than one hand began pounding on the door, and we +could hear cries of, "The train was behind time!" "Your clock is fast!" +"You are cheating us; you want it all for yourselves!" "We will have the +law on you!" and other bitter adjurations unintelligible to me from my +ignorance of the circumstances which called them forth. + +But the wary old lawyer simply shook his head and answered nothing; +whereat a murmur of gratification rose from within, and a howl of almost +frenzied dismay from without, which latter presently received point from +a startling vision which now appeared at the casement where the lights +burned. A man's face looked in, and behind it, that of a woman, so wild +and maddened by some sort of heart-break that I found my sympathies +aroused in spite of the glare of evil passions which made both of these +countenances something less than human. + +But the lawyer met the stare of these four eyes with a quiet chuckle, +which found its echo in the ill-advised mirth of those about him; and +moving over to the window where they still peered in, he drew together +the two heavy shutters which hitherto had stood back against the wall, +and, fastening them with a bar, shut out the sight of this despair, if +he could not shut out the protests which ever and anon were shouted +through the keyhole. + +Meanwhile, one form had sat through this whole incident without a +gesture; and on the quiet brow, from which I could not keep my eyes, no +shadows appeared save the perpetual one of native melancholy, which was +at once the source of its attraction and the secret of its power. + +Into what sort of gathering had I stumbled? And why did I prefer to +await developments rather than ask the simplest question of any one +about me? + +Meantime the lawyer had proceeded to make certain preparations. With the +help of one or two willing hands, he had drawn the great table into the +middle of the room and, having seen the candles restored to their +places, began to open his small bag and take from it a roll of paper and +several flat documents. Laying the latter in the center of the table and +slowly unrolling the former, he consulted, with his foxy eyes, the faces +surrounding him, and smiled with secret malevolence, as he noted that +every chair and every form were turned away from the picture before +which he had bent with such obvious courtesy, on entering. I alone stood +erect, and this possibly was why a gleam of curiosity was noticeable in +his glance, as he ended his scrutiny of my countenance and bent his gaze +again upon the paper he held. + +"Heavens!" thought I. "What shall I answer this man if he asks me why I +continued to remain in a spot where I have so little business." The +impulse came to go. But such was the effect of this strange convocation +of persons, at night and in a mist which was itself a nightmare, that I +failed to take action and remained riveted to my place, while Mr. Smead +consulted his roll and finally asked in a business-like tone, quite +unlike his previous sarcastic speech, the names of those whom he had the +pleasure of seeing before him. + +The old man in the chair spoke up first. + +"Luke Westonhaugh," he announced. + +"Very good!" responded the lawyer. + +"Hector Westonhaugh," came from the thin man. + +A nod and a look toward the next. + +"John Westonhaugh." + +"Nephew?" asked the lawyer. + +"Yes." + +"Go on, and be quick; supper will be ready at nine." + +"Eunice Westonhaugh," spoke up a soft voice. + +I felt my heart bound as if some inner echo responded to that name. + +"Daughter of whom?" + +"Hudson Westonhaugh," she gently faltered. "My father is dead--died last +night;--I am his only heir." + +A grumble of dissatisfaction and a glint of unrelieved hate came from +the doubled-up figure, whose malevolence had so revolted me. + +But the lawyer was not to be shaken. + +"Very good! It is fortunate you trusted your feet rather than the +train. And now you! What is your name?" + +He was looking, not at me as I had at first feared, but at the man next +to me, a slim but slippery youth, whose small red eyes made me shudder. + +"William Witherspoon." + +"Barbara's son?" + +"Yes." + +"Where are your brothers?" + +"One of them, I think, is outside"--here he laughed;--"the other +is--_sick_." + +The way he uttered this word made me set him down as one to be +especially wary of when he smiled. But then I had already passed +judgment on him at my first view. + +"And you, madam?"--this to the large, dowdy woman with the uncertain +eye, a contrast to the young and melancholy Eunice. + +"Janet Clapsaddle," she replied, waddling hungrily forward and getting +unpleasantly near the speaker, for he moved off as she approached, and +took his stand in the clear place at the head of the table. + +"Very good, Mistress Clapsaddle. You were a Westonhaugh, I believe?" + +"You _believe_, sneak-faced hypocrite that you are!" she blurted out. "I +don't understand your lawyer ways. I like plain speaking myself. Don't +you know me, and Luke and Hector, and--and most of us indeed, except +that puny, white-faced girl yonder, whom, having been brought up on the +other side of the Ridge, we have none of us seen since she was a +screaming baby in Hildegarde's arms. And the young gentleman over +there,"--here she indicated me--"who shows so little likeness to the +rest of the family. He will have to make it pretty plain who his father +was before we shall feel like acknowledging him, either as the son of +one of Eustace's girls, or a chip from brother Salmon's hard old block." + +As this caused all eyes to turn upon me, even _hers_, I smiled as I +stepped forward. The lawyer did not return that smile. + +"What is your name?" he asked shortly and sharply, as if he distrusted +me. + +"Hugh Austin," was my quiet reply. + +"There is no such name on the list," snapped old Smead, with an +authoritative gesture toward those who seemed anxious to enter a +protest. + +"Probably not," I returned, "for I am neither a Witherspoon, a +Westonhaugh nor a Clapsaddle. I am merely a chance wayfarer passing +through the town on my way west. I thought this house was a tavern, or +at least a place I could lodge in. The man I met in the doorway told me +as much, and so I am here. If my company is not agreeable, or if you +wish this room to yourselves, let me go into the kitchen. I promise not +to meddle with the supper, hungry as I am. Or perhaps you wish me to +join the crowd outside; it seems to be increasing." + +"No, no," came from all parts of the room. "Don't let the door be +opened. Nothing could keep Lemuel and his crowd out if they once got +foot over the threshold." + +The lawyer rubbed his chin. He seemed to be in some sort of quandary. +First he scrutinized me from under his shaggy brows with a sharp gleam +of suspicion; then his features softened and, with a side glance at the +young woman who called herself Eunice, (perhaps, because she was worth +looking at, perhaps because she had partly risen at my words), he +slipped toward a door I had before observed in the wainscoting on the +left of the mantelpiece, and softly opened it upon what looked like a +narrow staircase. + +"We can not let you go out," said he; "and we can not let you have a +finger in our viands before the hour comes for serving them; so if you +will be so good as to follow this staircase to the top, you will find it +ends in a room comfortable enough for the wayfarer you call yourself. In +that room you can rest till the way is clear for you to continue your +travels. Better, we can not do for you. This house is not a tavern, but +the somewhat valuable property of--" He turned with a bow and smile, as +every one there drew a deep breath; but no one ventured to end that +sentence. + +I would have given all my future prospects (which, by the way, were not +very great) to remain in that room. The oddity of the situation; the +mystery of the occurrence; the suspense I saw in every face; the +eagerness of the cries I heard redoubled from time to time outside; the +malevolence but poorly disguised in the old lawyer's countenance; and, +above all, the presence of that noble-looking woman, which was the one +off-set to the general tone of villainy with which the room was charged, +filled me with curiosity, if I might call it by no other name, that made +my acquiescence in the demand thus made upon me positively heroic. But +there seemed no other course for me to follow, and with a last lingering +glance at the genial fire and a quick look about me, which happily +encountered hers, I stooped my head to suit the low and narrow doorway +opened for my accommodation, and instantly found myself in darkness. The +door had been immediately closed by the lawyer's impatient hand. + + + + +II + +WITH MY EAR TO THE WAINSCOTING + + +No move more unwise could have been made by the old lawyer,--that is, if +his intention had been to rid himself of an unwelcome witness. For, +finding myself thrust thus suddenly from the scene, I naturally stood +still instead of mounting the stairs, and, by standing still, discovered +that though shut from sight I was not from sound. Distinctly through the +panel of the door, which was much thinner, no doubt, than the old fox +imagined, I heard one of the men present shout out: + +"Well, that makes the number less by _one_!" + +The murmur which followed this remark came plainly to my ears, and, +greatly rejoicing over what I considered my good luck, I settled myself +on the lowest step of the stairs in the hope of catching some word +which would reveal to me the mystery of this scene. + +It was not long in coming. Old Smead had now his audience before him in +good shape, and his next words were of a character to make evident the +purpose of this meeting. + +"Heirs of Anthony Westonhaugh, deceased," he began in a sing-song voice +strangely unmusical, "I congratulate you upon your good fortune at being +at this especial moment on the inner rather than outer side of your +amiable relative's front door. His will, which you have assembled to +hear read, is well known to you. By it his whole property--(not so large +as some of you might wish, but yet a goodly property for farmers like +yourselves)--is to be divided this night, share and share alike, among +such of his relatives as have found it convenient to be present here +between the strokes of half-past seven and eight. If some of our friends +have failed us through sloth, sickness or the misfortune of mistaking +the road, they have our sympathy, but they can not have _his dollars_." + +"Can not have his dollars!" echoed a rasping voice which, from its +smothered sound, probably came from the bearded lips of the old +reprobate in the chair. + +The lawyer waited for one or two other repetitions of this phrase (a +phrase which, for some unimaginable reason, seemed to give him an odd +sort of pleasure), then he went on with greater distinctness and a +certain sly emphasis, chilling in effect but very professional: + +"Ladies and gentlemen: Shall I read this will?" + +"No, no! The division! the division! Tell us what we are to have!" rose +in a shout about him. + +There was a pause. I could imagine the sharp eyes of the lawyer +traveling from face to face as each thus gave voice to his cupidity, and +the thin curl of his lips as he remarked in a slow tantalizing way: + +"There was more in the old man's clutches than you think." + +A gasp of greed shook the partition against which my ear was pressed. +Some one must have drawn up against the wainscoting since my departure +from the room. I found myself wondering which of them it was. Meantime +old Smead was having his say, with the smoothness of a man who perfectly +understands what is required of him. + +"Mr. Westonhaugh would not have put you to so much trouble or had you +wait so long if he had not expected to reward you amply. There are +shares in this bag which are worth thousands instead of hundreds. Now, +now! stop that! hands off! hands off! there are calculations to make +first. How many of you are there? Count up, some of you." + +"Nine!" called out a voice with such rapacious eagerness that the word +was almost unintelligible. + +"Nine." How slowly the old knave spoke! What pleasure he seemed to take +in the suspense he purposely made as exasperating as possible! + +"Well, if each one gets his share, he may count himself richer by two +hundred thousand dollars than when he came in here to-night." + +Two hundred thousand dollars! They had expected no more than thirty. +Surprise made them speechless,--that is, for a moment; then a +pandemonium of hurrahs, shrieks and loud-voiced enthusiasm made the room +ring, till wonder seized them again, and a sudden silence fell, through +which I caught a far-off wail of grief from the disappointed ones +without, which, heard in the dark and narrow place in which I was +confined, had a peculiarly weird and desolate effect. + +Perhaps it likewise was heard by some of the fortunate ones within! +Perhaps one head, to mark which, in this moment of universal elation, I +would have given a year from my life, turned toward the dark without, in +recognition of the despair thus piteously voiced; but if so, no token of +the same came to me, and I could but hope that she had shown, by some +such movement, the natural sympathy of her sex. + +Meanwhile the lawyer was addressing the company in his smoothest and +most sarcastic tones. + +"Mr. Westonhaugh was a wise man, a very wise man," he droned. "He +foresaw what your pleasure would be, and left a letter for you. But +before I read it, before I invite you to the board he ordered to be +spread for you in honor of this happy occasion, there is one appeal he +bade me make to those I should find assembled here. As you know, he was +not personally acquainted with all the children and grandchildren of his +many brothers and sisters. Salmon's sons, for instance, were perfect +strangers to him, and all those boys and girls of the Evans' branch have +never been long enough this side of the mountains for him to know their +names, much less their temper or their lives. Yet his heirs--or such was +his wish, his great wish--must be honest men, righteous in their +dealings, and of stainless lives. If therefore, any one among you feels +that for reasons he need not state, he has no right to accept his share +of Anthony Westonhaugh's bounty, then that person is requested to +withdraw before this letter to his heirs is read." + +Withdraw? Was the man a fool? _Withdraw?_--these cormorants! these +suckers of blood! these harpies and vultures! I laughed as I imagined +sneaking Hector, malicious Luke or brutal John responding to this naive +appeal, and then found myself wondering why no echo of my mirth came +from the men themselves. They must have seen much more plainly than I +did the ludicrousness of their weak old kinsman's demand; yet Luke was +still; Hector was still; and even John, and the three or four others I +have mentioned gave forth no audible token of disdain or surprise. I was +asking myself what sentiment of awe or fear restrained these selfish +souls, when I became conscious of a movement within, which presently +resolved itself into a departing footstep. + +Some conscience there had been awakened. Some one was crossing the floor +toward the door. Who? I waited in anxious expectancy for the word which +was to enlighten me. Happily it came soon, and from the old lawyer's +lips. + +"You do not feel yourself worthy?" he queried, in tones I had not heard +from him before. "Why? What have you done that you should forego an +inheritance to which these others feel themselves honestly entitled?" + +The voice which answered gave both my mind and heart a shock. It was +_she_ who had risen at this call. _She_, the only true-faced person +there! + +Anxiously I listened for her reply. Alas! it was one of action rather +than speech. As I afterward heard, she simply opened her long cloak and +showed a little infant slumbering in her arms. + +"This is my reason," said she. "I have sinned in the eyes of the world, +therefore I can not take my share of Uncle Anthony's money. I did not +know he exacted an unblemished record from those he expected to enrich, +or I would not have come." + +The sob which followed these last words showed at what a cost she thus +renounced a fortune of which she, of all present, perhaps, stood in the +greatest need; but there was no lingering in her step; and to me, who +understood her fault only through the faint sound of infantile wailing +which accompanied her departure, there was a nobility in her action +which raised her in an instant to an almost ideal height of unselfish +virtue. + +Perhaps they felt this, too. Perhaps even these hardened men and the +more than hardened woman whose presence was in itself a blight, +recognized heroism when they saw it; for when the lawyer, with a certain +obvious reluctance, laid his hand on the bolts of the door with the +remark: "This is not my work, you know; I am but following out +instructions very minutely given me," the smothered growls and grunts +which rose in reply lacked the venom which had been infused into all +their previous comments. + +"I think our friends out there are far enough withdrawn, by this time, +for us to hazard the opening of the door," the lawyer now remarked. +"Madam, I hope you will speedily find your way to some comfortable +shelter." + +Then the door opened, and after a moment, closed again in a silence +which at least was respectful. Yet I warrant there was not a soul +remaining who had not already figured in his mind to what extent his own +fortune had been increased by the failure of one of their number to +inherit. + +As for me, my whole interest in the affair was at an end, and I was only +anxious to find my way to where this desolate woman faced the mist with +her unfed baby in her arms. + + + + +III + +A LIFE DRAMA + + +But to reach this wanderer, it was first necessary for me to escape from +the house. This proved simple enough. The up-stairs room toward which I +rushed had a window overlooking one of the many lean-tos already +mentioned. This window was fastened, but I had no difficulty in +unlocking it or in finding my way to the ground from the top of the +lean-to. But once again on terra-firma, I discovered that the mist was +now so thick that it had all the effect of a fog at sea. It was icy cold +as well, and clung about me so that I presently began to shudder most +violently, and, strong man though I was, wish myself back in the little +attic bedroom from which I had climbed in search of one in more unhappy +case than myself. + +But these feelings did not cause me to return. If I found the night +cold, she must find it bitter. If desolation oppressed my naturally +hopeful spirit, must it not be more overwhelming yet to one whose +memories were sad and whose future was doubtful? And the child! What +infant could live in an air like this! Edging away from the house, I +called out her name, but no answer came back. The persons whom we had +heard flitting in restless longing about the house a few moments before +had left in rage and she, possibly, with them. Yet I could not imagine +her joining herself to people of their stamp. There had been a +solitariness in her aspect which seemed to forbid any such +companionship. Whatever her story, at least she had nothing in common +with the two ill-favored persons whose faces I had seen looking in at +the casement. No; I should find her alone, but where? Certainly the ring +of mist, surrounding me at that moment, offered me little prospect of +finding her anywhere, either easily or soon. + +Again I raised my voice, and again I failed to meet with response. +Then, fearing to leave the house lest I should be quite lost amid the +fences and brush lying between it and the road, I began to feel my way +along the walls, calling softly now, instead of loudly, so anxious was I +not to miss any chance of carrying comfort, if not succor, to the woman +I was seeking. But the night gave back no sound, and when I came to the +open door of a shed, I welcomed the refuge it offered and stepped in. I +was, of course, confronted by darkness,--a different darkness from that +without, blanket-like and impenetrable. But when after a moment of +intense listening I heard a soft sound as of weariful breathing, I was +seized anew by hope, and, feeling in my pocket for my match-box, I made +a light and looked around. + +My intuitions had not deceived me; she was there. Sitting on the floor +with her cheek pressed against the wall, she revealed to my eager +scrutiny only the outlines of her pure, pale profile; but in those +outlines and on those pure, pale features, I saw such an abandonment of +hope, mingled with such quiet endurance, that my whole soul melted +before it, and it was with difficulty I managed to say: + +"Pardon! I do not wish to intrude; but I am shut out of the house also; +and the night is raw and cold. Can I do nothing for your comfort or +for--for the child's?" + +She turned toward me and I saw a tremulous gleam of pleasure disturb the +somber stillness of her face; then the match went out in my hand, and we +were again in complete darkness. But the little wail, which at the same +instant rose from between her arms, filled up the pause, as her sweet +"Hush!" filled my heart. + +"I am used to the cold," came in another moment from the place where she +crouched. "It is the child--she is hungry; and I--I walked +here--feeling, hoping that, as my father's heir, I might partake in some +slight measure of Uncle Anthony's money. Though my father cast me out +before he died, and I have neither home nor money, I do not complain. I +forfeited all when--" another wail, another gentle "hush!"--then +silence. + +I lit another match. "Look in my face!" I prayed. "I am a stranger, and +you would be showing only proper prudence not to trust me. But I +overheard your words when you withdrew from the room where your fortune +lay; and I honor you, madam. If food can be got for your little one, I +will get it." + +I caught sight of the convulsive clasp with which she drew to her breast +the tiny bundle she held, then darkness fell again. + +"A little bread," she entreated; "a little milk--ah, baby, baby, hush!" + +"But where can I get it?" I cried. "They are at table inside. I hear +them shouting over their good cheer. But perhaps there are neighbors +near by; do you know?" + +"There are no neighbors," she replied. "What is got must be got here. I +know a way to the kitchen; I used to visit Uncle Anthony when a little +child; if you have the courage--" + +I laughed. This token of confidence seemed to reassure her. I heard her +move; possibly she stood up. + +"In the further corner of this shed," said she, "there used to be a +trap, connecting this floor with an underground passageway. A ladder +stood against the trap, and the small cellar at the foot communicated by +means of an iron-bound door with the large one under the house. Eighteen +years ago the wood of that door was old; now it should be rotten. If you +have the strength--" + +"I will make the effort and see," said I. "But when I am in the cellar, +what then?" + +"Follow the wall to the right; you will come to a stone staircase. As +this staircase has no railing, be careful in ascending it. At the top +you will find a door; it leads into a pantry adjoining the kitchen. Some +one will be in that pantry. Some one will give you a bite for the child; +and when she is quieted and the sun has risen, I will go away. It is my +duty to do so. My uncle was always upright, if cold. He was perfectly +justified in exacting rectitude in his heirs." + +I might have rejoined by asking if she detected rectitude in the faces +of the greedy throng she had left behind her with the guardian of this +estate; but I did not. I was too intent upon following out her +directions. Lighting another match, I sought the trap. Alas! it was +burdened with a pile of sticks and rubbish which looked as if they had +lain there for years. As these had to be removed in total darkness, it +took me some time. But once this debris had been scattered and thrown +aside, I had no difficulty in finding the trap and, as the ladder was +still there, I was soon on the cellar-bottom. When, by the reassuring +shout I gave, she knew that I had advanced thus far, she spoke, and her +voice had a soft and thrilling sound. + +"Do not forget your own needs," she said. "We two are not so hungry that +we can not wait for you to take a mouthful. I will sing to the baby. +Good-by." + +These ten minutes we had spent together had made us friends. The warmth, +the strength which this discovery brought, gave to my arm a force that +made that old oak door go down before me in three vigorous pushes. + +Had the eight fortunate ones above not been indulging in a noisy +celebration of their good luck, they must have heard the clatter of this +door when it fell. But good eating, good drink, and the prospect of an +immediate fortune far beyond their wildest dreams, made all ears deaf; +and no pause occurred in the shouts of laughter and the hum of +good-fellowship which sifted down between the beams supporting the house +above my head. Consequently little or no courage was required for the +completion of my adventure; and before long I came upon the staircase +and the door leading from its top into the pantry. The next minute I was +in front of that door. + +But here a surprise awaited me. The noise which had hitherto been loud +now became deafening, and I realized that, contrary to Eunice +Westonhaugh's expectation, the supper had been spread in the kitchen and +that I was likely to run amuck of the whole despicable crowd in any +effort I might make to get a bite for the famished baby. + +I therefore naturally hesitated to push open the door, fearing to draw +attention to myself; and when I did succeed in lifting the latch and +making a small crack, I was so astonished by the sudden lull in the +general babble, that I drew hastily back and was for descending the +stairs in sudden retreat. + +But I was prevented from carrying out this cowardly impulse, by catching +the sound of the lawyer's voice, addressing the assembled guests. + +"You have eaten and you have drunk," he was saying; "you are therefore +ready for the final toast. Brothers, nephews--heirs all of Anthony +Westonhaugh, I rise to propose the name of your generous benefactor, +who, if spirits walk this earth, must certainly be with us to-night." + +A grumble from more than one throat and an uneasy hitch from such +shoulders as I could see through my narrow vantage-hole testified to the +rather doubtful pleasure with which this suggestion was received. But +the lawyer's tones lost none of their animation as he went on to say: + +"The bottle, from which your glasses are to be replenished for this +final draft, he has himself provided. So anxious was he that it should +be of the very best and altogether worthy of the occasion it is to +celebrate, that he gave into my charge, almost with his dying breath, +this key, telling me that it would unlock a cupboard here in which he +had placed a bottle of wine of the very rarest vintage. This is the key, +and yonder, if I do not mistake, is the cupboard." + +They had already quaffed a dozen toasts. Perhaps this was why they +accepted this proposition in a sort of panting silence, which remained +unbroken while the lawyer crossed the floor, unlocked the cupboard and +brought out before them a bottle which he held up before their eyes with +a simulated glee almost saturnine. + +"Isn't that a bottle to make your eyes dance? The very cobwebs on it are +eloquent. And see! look at this label. Tokay, friends, real Tokay! How +many of you ever had the opportunity of drinking real Tokay before?" + +A long deep sigh from a half-dozen throats in which some strong but +hitherto repressed passion, totally incomprehensible to me, found sudden +vent, rose in one simultaneous sound from about that table, and I heard +one jocular voice sing out: + +"Pass it around, Smead. I'll drink to Uncle Anthony out of that bottle +till there isn't a drop left to tell what was in it!" + +But the lawyer was in no hurry. + +"You have forgotten the letter, for the hearing of which you are called +together. Mr. Anthony Westonhaugh left behind him a letter. The time is +now come for reading it." + +As I heard these words and realized that the final toast was to be +delayed and that some few moments must yet elapse before the room would +be cleared and an opportunity given me for obtaining what I needed for +the famishing mother and child, I felt such impatience with the fact +and so much anxiety as to the condition of those I had left behind me +that I questioned whether it would not be better for me to return to +them empty-handed than to leave them so long without the comfort of my +presence, when the fascination of the scene again seized me and I found +myself lingering to mark its conclusion with an avidity which can only +be explained by my sudden and intense consciousness of what it all might +mean to her whose witness I had thus inadvertently become. + +The careful lawyer began by quoting the injunction with which this +letter had been put in his hands. "'When they are warm with food and +wine, but not too warm,'--thus his adjuration ran, 'then let them hear +my first and only words to them.' I know you are eager for these words. +Folk so honest, so convinced of their own purity and uprightness that +they can stand unmoved while the youngest and most helpless among them +withdraws her claim to wealth and independence rather than share an +unmerited bounty, such folk, I say, must be eager, must be anxious to +know why they have been made the legatees of so great a fortune, under +the easy conditions and amid such slight restrictions as have been +imposed upon them by their munificent kinsman." + +"I had rather go on drinking toasts," babbled one thick voice. + +"I had rather finish my figuring," growled another, in whose grating +tones no echo remained of Hector Westonhaugh's formerly honeyed voice. +"I am making out a list of stock--" + +"Blast your stock! that is, if you mean horses and cows!" screamed a +third. "I'm going in for city life. With less money than we have got, +Andreas Amsberger got to be alderman--" + +"Alderman!" sneered the whole pack; and the tumult became general. "If +more of us had been sick," called out one; "or if Uncle Luke, say, had +tripped into the ditch instead of on the edge of it, the fellows who +came safe through might have had anything they wanted, even to the +governorship of the state or--or--" + +"Silence!" came in commanding tones from the lawyer, who had begun to +let his disgust appear, perhaps because he held under his thumb the +bottle upon which all eyes were now lovingly centered; so lovingly, +indeed, that I ventured to increase, in the smallest perceptible degree, +the crack by means of which I was myself an interested, if unseen, +participator in this scene. + +A sight of Smead, and a partial glimpse of old Luke's covetous profile, +rewarded this small act of daring on my part. The lawyer was standing; +all the rest were sitting. Perhaps he alone retained sufficient +steadiness to stand; for I observed by the control he exercised over +this herd of self-seekers, that he alone had not touched the cup which +had so freely gone about among the others. The woman was hidden from me, +but the change in her voice, when by any chance I heard it, convinced me +that she had not disdained the toasts drunk by her brothers and +nephews. + +"Silence!" the lawyer reiterated, "or I will smash this bottle on the +hearth." He raised it in one threatening hand and every man there seemed +to tremble, while old Luke put out his long fingers with an entreaty +that ill became them. "You want to hear the letter?" old Smead called +out. "I thought so." + +Putting the bottle down again, but still keeping one hand upon it, he +drew a folded paper from his breast. "This," said he, "contains the +final injunctions of Anthony Westonhaugh. You will listen, all of you; +listen till I am done; or I will not only smash this bottle before your +eyes, but I will keep for ever buried in my breast the whereabouts of +certain drafts and bonds in which, as his heirs, you possess the +greatest interest. Nobody but myself knows where these papers can be +found." + +Whether this was so, or whether the threat was an empty one thrown out +by this subtile old schemer for the purpose of safeguarding his life +from their possible hate and impatience, it answered his end with these +semi-intoxicated men, and secured him the silence he demanded. Breaking +open the seal of the envelope he held, he showed them the folded sheet +which it contained, with the remark: + +"I have had nothing to do with the writing of this letter. It is in Mr. +Westonhaugh's own hand, and he was not even so good as to communicate to +me the nature of its contents. I was bidden to read it to such as should +be here assembled under the provisos mentioned in his will; and as you +are now in a condition to listen, I will proceed with my task as +required." + +This was my time for leaving, but a certain brooding terror, latent in +the air, held me chained to the spot, listening with my ears, but +receiving the full sense of what was read from the expression of old +Luke's face, which was probably more plainly visible to me than to those +who sat beside him. For, being bent almost into a bow, as I have said, +his forehead came within an inch of touching his plate, and one had to +look under his arms, as I did, to catch the workings of his evil mouth, +as old Smead gave forth, in his professional sing-song, the following +words from his departed client: + +"Brothers, nephews and heirs! Though the earth has lain upon my breast a +month, I am with you here to-night." + +A snort from old Luke's snarling lips; and a stir--not a comfortable +one--in the jostling crowd, whose shaking arms and clawing hands I could +see projecting here and there over the board. + +"My presence at this feast--a presence which, if unseen, can not be +unfelt, may bring you more pain than pleasure. But if so, it matters +little. You are my natural heirs and I have left you my money; why, when +so little love has characterized our intercourse, must be evident to +such of my brothers as can recall their youth and the promise our father +exacted from us on the day we set foot in this new land. + +"There were nine of us in those days: Luke, Salmon, Barbara, Hector, +Eustace, Janet, Hudson, William and myself; and all save one were +promising, in appearance at least. But our father knew his offspring, +and when we stood, an alien and miserable band in front of Castle +Garden, at the foot of the great city whose immensity struck terror to +our hearts, he drew all our hands together and made us swear by the soul +of our mother, whose body we had left in the sea, that we would keep the +bond of brotherhood intact, and share with mutual confidence whatever +good fortune this untried country might hold in store for us. You were +strong and your voices rang out loudly. Mine was faint, for I was +weak--so weak that my hand had to be held in place by my sister Barbara. +But my oath has never lost its hold upon my heart, while yours--answer +how you have kept it, Luke; or you, Janet; or you Hector, of the smooth +tongue and vicious heart; or you, or you, who, from one stock, recognize +but one law: the law of cold-blooded selfishness which seeks its own in +face of all oaths and at the cost of another man's heart-break. + +"This I say to such as know my story. But lest there be one amongst you +who has not heard from parent or uncle the true tale of him who has +brought you all under one roof to-night, I will repeat it here in words, +that no man may fail to understand why I remembered my oath through life +and beyond death, yet stand above you an accusing spirit while you quaff +me toasts and count the gains my justice divides among you. + +"I, as you all remember, was the weak one--the ne'er-do-weel. When all +of you were grown and had homes of your own, I still remained under the +family roof-tree, fed by our father's bounty and looking to our father's +justice for that share of his savings which he had promised to all +alike. When he died it came to me as it came to you; but I had married +before that day; married, not, like the rest of you, for what a wife +could bring, but for sentiment and true passion. This, in my case, meant +a loving wife, but a frail one; and while we lived a little while on the +patrimony left us, it was far too small to support us long without some +aid from our own hands; and our hands were feeble and could not work. +And so we fell into debt for rent and, ere long, for the commonest +necessities of life. In vain I struggled to redeem myself; the time of +my prosperity had not come and I only sank deeper and deeper into debt +and finally into indigence. A baby came. Our landlord was kind and +allowed us to stay for two weeks under the roof for whose protection we +could not pay; but at the end of that time we were asked to leave; and I +found myself on the road with a dying wife, a wailing infant, no money +in my purse and no power in my arm to earn any. Then when heart and hope +were both failing, I recalled that ancient oath and the six prosperous +homes scattered up and down the very highway on which I stood. I could +not leave my wife; the fever was in her veins and she could not bear me +out of her sight; so I put her on a horse, which a kind old neighbor was +willing to lend me, and holding her up with one hand, guided the horse +with the other, to the home of my brother Luke. He was a straight +enough fellow in those days--physically, I mean--and he looked able and +strong that morning, as he stood in the open doorway of his house, +gazing down at us as we halted before him in the roadway. But his temper +had grown greedy with the accumulation of a few dollars, and he shook +his head as he closed his door, saying he remembered no oath and that +spenders must expect to be beggars. + +"Struck to the heart by a rebuff which meant prolongation of the +suffering I saw in my dear wife's eyes, I stretched up and kissed her +where she sat half-fainting on the horse; then I moved on. I came to +Barbara's home next. She had been a little mother to me once; that is, +she had fed and dressed me, and doled out blows and caresses, and taught +me to read and sing. But Barbara in her father's home and without +fortune was not the Barbara I saw on the threshold of the little cottage +she called her own. She heard my story; looked in the face of my wife +and turned her back. She had no place for idle folk in her little house; +if we would work she would feed us; but we must earn our supper or go +hungry to bed. I felt the trembling of my wife's frame where she leaned +against my arm, and kissing her again, led her on to Salmon's. Luke, +Hector, Janet, have you heard him tell of that vision at his gateway, +twenty-five years ago? He is not amongst you. For twelve years he has +lain beside our father in the churchyard, but his sons may be here, for +they were ever alert when gold was in sight or a full glass to be +drained. Ask _them_, ask John, whom I saw skulking behind his cousins at +the garden fence that day, what it was they saw as I drew rein under the +great tree which shadowed their father's doorstep. + +"The sunshine had been pitiless that morning, and the head, for whose +rest in some loving shelter I would have bartered soul and body, had +fallen sidewise till it lay on my arm. Pressed to her breast was our +infant, whose little wail struck in pitifully as Salmon called out: +'What's to do here to-day!' Do you remember it, lads? or how you all +laughed, little and great, when I asked for a few weeks' stay under my +brother's roof till we could all get well and go about our tasks again? +_I_ remember. I, who am writing these words from the very mouth of the +tomb, _I_ remember; but I did not curse you. I only rode on to the next. +The way ran uphill now; and the sun which, since our last stop, had been +under a cloud, came out and blistered my wife's cheeks, already burning +red with fever. But I pressed my lips upon them, and led her on. With +each rebuff I gave her a kiss; and her smile, as her head pressed harder +and harder upon my arm now exerting all its strength to support her, +grew almost divine. But it vanished at my nephew Lemuel's. + +"He was shearing sheep, and could give no time to company; and when, +late in the day, I drew rein at Janet's, and she said she was going to +have a dance and could not look after sick folk, the pallid lips failed +to return my despairing embrace; and in the terror which this brought me +I went down, in the gathering twilight, into the deep valley where +William raised his sheep and reckoned, day by day, the increase among +his pigs. Oh, the chill of that descent! Oh, the gloom of the gathering +shadows! As we neared the bottom and I heard a far-off voice shout out a +hoarse command, some instinct made me reach up for the last time and +bestow that faithful kiss, which was at once her consolation and my +prayer. My lips were cold with the terror of my soul, but they were not +so cold as the cheek they touched, and, shrieking in my misery and need, +I fell before William where he halted by the horse-trough and--He was +always a hard man, was William, and it was a shock to him, no doubt, to +see us standing in our anguish and necessity before him; but he raised +the whip in his hand and, when it fell, my arm fell with it and she +slipped from my grasp to the ground, and lay in a heap in the roadway. + +"He was ashamed next minute and pointed to the house near-by. But I did +not carry her in, and she died in the roadway. Do you remember it, +Luke? Do you remember it, Lemuel? + +"But it is not of this I complain at this hour, nor is it for this I ask +you to drink the toast I have prepared for you." + +The looks, the writhings of old Luke and such others as I could now see +through the widening crack my hands unconsciously made in the doorway, +told me that the rack was at work in this room so lately given up to +revelry. Yet the mutterings, which from time to time came to my ears +from one sullen lip or another, did not rise into frightened imprecation +or even into any assertion of sorrow or contrition. It seemed as if some +suspense, common to all, held them speechless if not dumbly +apprehensive; and while the lawyer said nothing in recognition of this, +he could not have been quite blind to it, for he bestowed one curious +glance around the table before he proceeded with old Anthony's words. + +Those words had now become short, sharp, and accusatory. + +"My child lived; and what remained to me of human passion and longing +centered in his frail existence. I managed to earn enough for his eating +and housing, and in time I was almost happy again. This was while our +existence was a struggle; but when, with the discovery of latent powers +in my own mind, I began to find my place in the world and to earn money, +then your sudden interest in my boy taught me a new lesson in human +selfishness; but not, as yet, new fears. My nature was not one to grasp +ideas of evil, and the remembrance of that oath still remained to make +me lenient toward you. + +"I let him see you; not much, not often, but yet often enough for him to +realize that he had uncles and cousins, or, if you like it better, +kindred. And how did you repay this confidence on my part? What hand had +ye in the removal of this small barrier to the fortune my own poor +health warranted you in looking upon, even in those early days, as your +own? To others' eyes it may appear, none; to mine, ye are one and all +his murderers, as certainly as all of you were the murderers of the good +physician hastening to his aid. For his illness was not a mortal one. He +would have been saved if the doctor had reached him; but a precipice +swallowed that good Samaritan, and only I, of all who looked upon the +footprints which harrowed up the road at this dangerous point, knew +whose shoes would fit those marks. God's providence, it was called, and +I let it pass for such; but it was a providence which cost me my boy and +made _you_ my heirs." + +Silence as sullen in character as the men who found themselves thus +openly impeached had, for some minutes now, replaced the muttered +complaints which had accompanied the first portion of this denunciatory +letter. As the lawyer stopped to cast them another of those strange +looks, a gleam from old Luke's sidewise eyes startled the man next him, +who, shrugging a shoulder, passed the underhanded look on, till it had +circled the board and stopped with the man sitting opposite the crooked +sinner who had started it. + +I began to have a wholesome dread of them all and was astonished to see +the lawyer drop his hand from the bottle, which to some degree offered +itself as a possible weapon. But he knew his audience better than I did. +Though the bottle was now free for any man's taking, not a hand trembled +toward it, nor was a single glass held out. + +The lawyer, with an evil smile, went on with his relentless client's +story. + +"Ye had killed my wife; ye had killed my son; but this was not enough. +Being lonesome in my great house, which was as much too large for me as +my fortune was, I had taken a child to replace the boy I had lost. +Remembering the cold blood running in the veins of those nearest me, I +chose a boy from alien stock and, for a while, knew contentment again. +But, as he developed and my affections strengthened, the possibility of +all my money going his way roused my brothers and sisters from the +complacency they had enjoyed since their road to fortune had been +secured by my son's death, and one day--can you recall it, Hudson? can +you recall it, Lemuel?--the boy was brought in from the mill and laid at +my feet, dead! He had stumbled amongst the great belts, but whose was +the voice which had startled him with a sudden 'Halloo!' Can you say, +Luke? Can you say, John? I can say in whose ear it was whispered that +three, if not more of you, were seen moving among the machinery that +fatal morning. + +"Again, God's providence was said to have visited my house; and again +_ye_ were my heirs." + +"Stop there!" broke in the harsh voice of Luke, who was gradually +growing livid under his long gray locks. + +"Lies! lies!" shrieked Hector, gathering courage from his brother. + +"Cut it all and give us the drink!" snarled one of the younger men, who +was less under the effect of liquor than the rest. + +But a trembling voice muttered "Hush!" and the lawyer, whose eye had +grown steely under these comments, took advantage of the sudden silence +which had followed this last objurgation and went steadily on. + +"Some men would have made a will and denounced you. I made a will, but +did not denounce you. _I_ am no breaker of oaths. More than this, I +learned a new trick. I, who hated all subtlety and looked upon craft as +the favorite weapon of the devil, learned to smile with my lips while my +heart was burning with hatred. Perhaps this was why you all began to +smile too, and joke me about certain losses I had sustained, by which +you meant the gains which had come to me. That these gains were many +times greater than you realized added to the sting of this good +fellowship, but I held my peace; and you began to have confidence in a +good-nature which nothing could shake. You even gave me a supper." + +_A supper!_ + +What was there in these words to cause every man there to stop in +whatever movement he was making and stare, with wide-open eyes, intently +at the reader. He had spoken quietly; he had not even looked up, but +the silence which, for some minutes back, had begun to reign over that +tumultuous gathering, now became breathless, and the seams in Hector's +cheeks deepened to a bluish criss-cross. + +"_You remember that supper?_" + +As the words rang out again, I threw wide the door; I might have stalked +openly into their circle; not a man there would have noticed me. + +"It was a memorable occasion," the lawyer read on with stoical +impassiveness. "There was not a brother lacking. Luke and Hudson and +William and Hector and Eustace's boys, as well as Eustace himself; Janet +too, and Salmon's Lemuel, and Barbara's son, who, even if his mother had +gone the way of all flesh, had so trained her black brood in the love of +the things of this world that I scarcely missed her when I looked about +among you all for the eight sturdy brothers and sisters who had joined +in one clasp and one oath, under the eye of the true-hearted immigrant, +our father. What I did miss was one true eye lifted to my glance; but I +did not show that I missed it; and so our peace was made and we +separated, you to wait for your inheritance, and I for the death which +was to secure it to you. For, when the cup passed round that night, you +each dropped into it a tear of repentance, and tears make bitter +drinking. I sickened as I quaffed and was never myself again, as you +know. Do you understand me, you cruel, crafty ones?" + +Did they not! Heads quaking, throats gasping, teeth chattering--no +longer sitting--all risen, all looking with wild eyes for the door--was +it not apparent that they understood and only waited for one more word +to break away and flee the accursed house? + +But that word lingered. Old Smead had now grown pale himself and read +with difficulty the lines which were to end this frightful scene. As I +saw the red gleam of terror shine out from his small eyes, I wondered if +he had been but the blind tool of his implacable client and was as +ignorant as those before him of what was to follow this heavy +arraignment. The dread with which he finally proceeded was too marked +for me to doubt the truth of this surmise. This is what he found himself +forced to read: + +"There was a bottle reserved for me. It had a green label on it,--" + +A shriek from every one there and a hurried look up and down at the +bottles standing on the table. + +"A green label," the lawyer repeated, "and it made a goodly appearance +as it was set down before me. But you had no liking for wine with a +green label on the bottle. One by one you refused it, and when I rose to +quaff my final glass alone, every eye before me fell and did not lift +again until the glass was drained. I did not notice this then, but I see +it all now, just as I hear again the excuses you gave for not filling +your glasses as the bottle went round. One had drunk enough; one +suffered from qualms brought on by an unaccustomed indulgence in +oysters; one felt that wine good enough for me was too good for him, +and so on and so on. Not one to show frank eyes and drink with me as I +was ready to drink with him! Why? Because one and all of you knew what +was in that cup, and would not risk an inheritance so nearly within your +grasp." + +"Lies! lies!" again shrieked the raucous voice of Luke, smothered by +terror; while oaths, shouts, imprecations, rang out in horrid tumult +from one end of the table to the other, till the lawyer's face, over +which a startling change was rapidly passing, drew the whole crowd +forward again in awful fascination, till they clung, speechless, arm in +arm, shoulder propping shoulder, while he gasped out in dismay equal to +their own, these last fatal words: + +"That was at your board, my brothers; now you are at mine. You have +eaten my viands, drunk of my cup; and now, through the mouth of the one +man who has been true to me because therein lies his advantage, I offer +you a final glass. Will you drink it? I drank yours. By that old-time +oath which binds us to share each other's fortune, I ask you to share +this cup with me. _You will not?_" + +"No, no, no!" shouted one after another. + +"Then," the inexorable voice went on, a voice which to these miserable +souls was no longer that of the lawyer, but an issue from the grave they +had themselves dug for Anthony Westonhaugh, "know that your abstinence +comes too late; that you have already drunk the toast destined to end +your lives. The bottle which you must have missed from that board of +yours has been offered you again. A label is easily changed and--Luke, +John, Hector, I know you all so well--that bottle has been greedily +emptied by you; and while I, who sipped sparingly, lived three weeks, +you, who have drunk deep, _have not three hours before you, possibly not +three minutes_." + +O, the wail of those lost souls as this last sentence issued in a final +pant of horror from the lawyer's quaking lips! Shrieks--howls--prayers +for mercy--groans to make the hair rise--and curses, at sound of which +I shut my ears in horror, only to open them again in dread as, with one +simultaneous impulse, they flung themselves upon the lawyer who, +foreseeing this rush, had backed up against the wall. + +He tried to stem the tide. + +"I knew nothing of the poisoning," he protested. "That was not my reason +for declining the drink. I wished to preserve my senses--to carry out my +client's wishes. As God lives, I did not know he meant to carry his +revenge so far. Mercy! Mer--" + +But the hands which clutched him were the hands of murderers, and the +lawyer's puny figure could not stand up against the avalanche of human +terror, relentless fury and mad vengeance which now rolled in upon it. +As I bounded to his relief he turned his ghastly face upon me. But the +way between us was blocked, and I was preparing myself to see him sink +before my eyes, when an unearthly shriek rose from behind us, and every +living soul in that mass of struggling humanity paused, set and +staring, with stiffened limbs and eyes fixed, not on him, not on me, but +on one of their own number, the only woman amongst them, Janet +Clapsaddle, who, with clutching hands clawing her breast, was reeling in +solitary agony in her place beside the board. As they looked she fell, +and lay with upturned face and staring eyes, in whose glassy depths the +ill-fated ones who watched her could see mirrored their own impending +doom. + +It was an awful moment. A groan, in which was concentrated the despair +of seven miserable souls, rose from that petrified band; then, man by +man, they separated and fell back, showing on each weak or wicked face +the particular passion which had driven them into crime and made them +the victims of this wholesale revenge. There had been some sort of bond +between them till the vision of death rose before each shrinking soul. +Shoulder to shoulder in crime, they fell apart as their doom approached; +and rushing, shrieking, each man for himself, they one and all sought +to escape by doors, windows or any outlet which promised release from +this fatal spot. One rushed by me--I do not know which one--and I felt +as if a flame from hell had licked me, his breath was so hot and the +moans he uttered so like the curses we imagine to blister the lips of +the lost. None of them saw me; they did not even detect the sliding form +of the lawyer crawling away before them to some place of egress of which +they had no knowledge; and, convinced that in this scene of death I +could play no part worthy of her who awaited me, I too rushed away and, +groping my way back through the cellar, sought the side of her who still +crouched in patient waiting against the dismal wall. + + + + +IV + +THE FINAL SHOCK + + +Her baby had fallen asleep. I knew this by the faint, low sweetness of +her croon; and, shuddering with the horrors I had witnessed, horrors +which acquired a double force from the contrast presented by the peace +of this quiet spot and the hallowing influence of the sleeping +infant,--I threw myself down in the darkness at her feet, gasping out: + +"Oh, thank God and your uncle's seeming harshness, that you have escaped +the doom which has overtaken those others! You and your babe are still +alive; while they--" + +"What of them? What has happened to them? You are breathless, trembling; +you have brought no bread--" + +"No, no. Food in this house means death. Your relatives gave food and +wine to your uncle at a supper; he, though now in his grave, has +returned the same to them. There was a bottle--" + +I stopped, appalled. A shriek, muffled by distance but quivering with +the same note of death I had heard before, had gone up again from the +other side of the wall against which we were leaning. + +"Oh!" she gasped; "and my father was at that supper! my father, who died +last night cursing the day he was born! We are an accursed race. I have +known it all my life; perhaps that was why I mistook passion for love; +and my baby--O God, have mercy! God have mercy!" + +The plaintiveness of that cry, the awesomeness of what I had seen--of +what was going on at that moment almost within the reach of our +arms--the darkness, the desolation of our two souls, affected me as I +had never been affected in my whole life before. In the concentrated +experience of the last two hours I seemed to live years under this +woman's eyes; to know her as I did my own heart; to love her as I did my +own soul. No growth of feeling ever brought the ecstasy of that +moment's inspiration. With no sense of doing anything strange, with no +fear of being misunderstood, I reached out my hand and, touching hers +where it lay clasped about her infant, I said: + +"We are two poor wayfarers. A rough road loses half its difficulties +when trodden by two. Shall we, then, fare on together--we and the little +child?" + +She gave a sob; there was sorrow, longing, grief, hope, in its thrilling +low sound. As I recognized the latter emotion I drew her to my breast. +The child did not separate us. + +"We shall be happy," I murmured, and her sigh seemed to answer a +delicious "Yes," when suddenly there came a shock to the partition +against which we leaned and, starting from my clasp, she cried: + +"Our duty is in there. Shall we think of ourselves or even of each other +while these men, all relatives of mine, are dying on the other side of +this wall?" + +Seizing my hand, she dragged me to the trap; but here I took the lead, +and helped her down the ladder. When I had her safely on the floor at +the foot, she passed in front of me again; but once up the steps and in +front of the kitchen door, I thrust her behind me, for one glance into +the room beyond had convinced me it was no place for her. + +But she would not be held back. She crowded forward beside me, and +together we looked upon the wreck within. It was a never-to-be-forgotten +scene. The demon that was in those men had driven them to demolish +furniture, dishes, everything. In one heap lay what, an hour before, had +been an inviting board surrounded by rollicking and greedy guests. But +it was not upon this overthrow we stopped to look. It was upon something +that mingled with it, dominated it and made of this chaos only a setting +to awful death. Janet's face, in all its natural hideousness and +depravity, looked up from the floor beside this heap; and farther on, +the twisted figure of him they called Hector, with something more than +the seams of greedy longing round his wide, staring eyes and icy +temples. Two in this room! and on the threshold of the one beyond a +moaning third, who sank into eternal silence as we approached; and +before the fireplace in the great room, a horrible crescent that had +once been aged Luke, upon whom we had no sooner turned our backs than we +caught glimpses here and there of other prostrate forms which moved once +under our eyes and then moved no more. + +One only still stood upright, and he was the man whose obtrusive figure +and sordid expression had so revolted me in the beginning. There was no +color now in his flabby and heavily fallen cheeks. The eyes, in whose +false sheen I had seen so much of evil, were glazed now, and his big and +burly frame shook the door it pressed against. He was staring at a small +slip of paper he held, and, from his anxious looks, appeared to miss +something which neither of us had power to supply. It was a spectacle to +make devils rejoice, and mortals fly aghast. But Eunice had a spirit +like an angel and drawing near him, she said: + +"Is there anything I can do for you, Cousin John?" + +He started, looked at her with the same blank gaze he had hitherto cast +at the wall; then some words formed on his working lips and we heard: + +"I can not reckon; I was never good at figures; but if Luke is gone, and +William, and Hector, and Barbara's boy, and Janet,--_how much does that +leave for me_?" + +He was answered almost the moment he spoke; but it was by other tongues +and in another world than this. As his body fell forward, I tore open +the door before which he had been standing, and, lifting the almost +fainting Eunice in my arms, I carried her out into the night. As I did +so, I caught a final glimpse of the pictured face I had found it so hard +to understand a couple of hours before. I understood it now. + +A surprise awaited us as we turned toward the gate. The mist had lifted +and a keen but not unpleasant wind was driving from the north. Borne on +it, we heard voices. The village had emptied itself, probably at the +alarm given by the lawyer, and it was these good men and women whose +approach we heard. As we had nothing to fear from them, we went forward +to meet them. As we did so, three crouching figures rose from some +bushes we passed and ran scurrying before us through the gateway. They +were the late comers who had shown such despair at being shut out from +this fatal house, and who probably did not yet know the doom they had +escaped. + + * * * * * + +There were lanterns in the hands of some of the men who now approached. +As we stopped before them, these lanterns were held up, and by the light +they gave we saw, first, the lawyer's frightened face, then the visages +of two men who seemed to be persons of some authority. + +"What news?" faltered the lawyer, seeing by our faces that we knew the +worst. + +"Bad," I returned; "the poison had lost none of its virulence by being +mixed so long with the wine." + +"How many?" asked the man on his right anxiously. + +"Eight," was my solemn reply. + +"There were but eight," faltered the lawyer; "that means, then, all?" + +"All," I repeated. + +A murmur of horror rose, swelled, then died out in tumult as the crowd +swept on past us. + +For a moment we stood watching these people; saw them pause before the +door we had left open behind us, then rush in, leaving a wail of terror +on the shuddering midnight air. When all was quiet again, Eunice laid +her hand upon my arm. + +"Where shall we go?" she asked despairingly. "I do not know a house that +will open to me." + +The answer to her question came from other lips than mine. + +"I do not know one that will _not_," spoke up a voice behind our backs. +"Your withdrawal from the circle of heirs did not take from you your +rightful claim to an inheritance which, according to your uncle's will, +could be forfeited only by a failure to arrive at the place of +distribution within the hour set by the testator. As I see the matter +now, this appeal to the honesty of the persons so collected was a test +by which my unhappy client strove to save from the general fate such +members of his miserable family as fully recognized their sin and were +truly repentant." + +It was Lawyer Smead. He had lingered behind the others to tell her this. +She was, then, no outcast, but rich, very rich; how rich I dared not +acknowledge to myself, lest a remembrance of the man who was the last to +perish in that house of death should return to make this calculation +hateful. It was a blow which struck deep, deeper than any either of us +had sustained that night. As we came to realize it, I stepped slowly +back, leaving her standing erect and tall in the middle of the roadway, +with her baby in her arms. But not for long; soon she was close at my +side murmuring softly: + +"Two wayfarers still! Only, the road will be more difficult and the need +of companionship greater. Shall we fare on together, you, I--and the +little one?" + + + + +THE RUBY AND THE CALDRON + + +As there were two good men on duty that night, I did not see why I +should remain at my desk, even though there was an unusual stir created +in our small town by the grand ball given at The Evergreens. + +But just as I was preparing to start for home, an imperative ring called +me to the telephone and I heard: + +"Halloo! Is this the police-station?" + +"It is." + +"Well, then, a detective is wanted at once at The Evergreens. He can not +be too clever or too discreet. A valuable jewel has been lost, which +must be found before the guests disperse for home. Large reward if the +matter ends successfully and without too great publicity." + +"May I ask who is speaking to me?" + +"Mrs. Ashley." + +It was the mistress of The Evergreens and giver of the ball. + +"Madam, a man shall be sent at once. Where will you see him?" + +"In the butler's pantry at the rear. Let him give his name as Jennings." + +"Very good. Good-by." + +"Good-by." + +A pretty piece of work! Should I send Hendricks or should I send Hicks? +Hendricks was clever and Hicks discreet, but neither united both +qualifications in the measure demanded by the sensible and +quietly-resolved woman with whom I had just been talking. What +alternative remained? But one; I must go myself. + +It was not late--not for a ball night, at least--and as half the town +had been invited to the dance, the streets were alive with carriages. I +was watching the blink of their lights through the fast falling snow +when my attention was drawn to a fact which struck me as peculiar. These +carriages were all coming my way instead of rolling in the direction of +The Evergreens. Had they been empty this would have needed no +explanation, but, as far as I could see, most of them were full, and +that, too, with loudly talking women and gesticulating men. + +Something of a serious nature must have occurred at The Evergreens. +Rapidly I paced on and soon found myself before the great gates. + +A crowd of vehicles of all descriptions blocked the entrance. None +seemed to be passing up the driveway; all stood clustered at the gates, +and as I drew nearer I perceived many an anxious head thrust forth from +their quickly opened doors and heard many an ejaculation of +disappointment as the short interchange of words went on between the +drivers of these various turnouts and a man drawn up in quiet resolution +before the unexpectedly barred entrance. + +Slipping round to this man's side, I listened to what he was saying. It +was simple but very explicit. + +"Mrs. Ashley asks everybody's pardon, but the ball can't go on +to-night. Something has happened which makes the reception of further +guests impossible. To-morrow evening she will be happy to see you all. +The dance is simply postponed." + +This he had probably repeated forty times, and each time it had probably +been received with the same mixture of doubt and curiosity which now +held the lengthy procession in check. + +Not wishing to attract attention, yet anxious to lose no time, I pressed +up still nearer, and, bending toward him from the shadow cast by a +convenient post, uttered the one word: + +"Jennings." + +Instantly he unlocked a small gate at his right. I passed in and, with +professional _sang-froid_, proceeded to take my way to the house through +the double row of evergreens bordering the semicircular approach. + +As these trees stood very close together and were, besides, heavily +laden with fresh-fallen snow, I failed to catch a glimpse of the +building itself until I stood in front of it. Then I saw that it was +brilliantly lighted and gave evidence here and there of some festivity; +but the guests were too few for the effect to be very exhilarating and, +passing around to the rear, I sought the special entrance to which I had +been directed. + +A heavy-browed porch, before which stood a caterer's wagon, led me to a +door which had every appearance of being the one I sought. Pushing it +open, I entered without ceremony, and speedily found myself in the midst +of twenty or more colored waiters and chattering housemaids. To one of +the former I addressed the question: + +"Where is the butler's pantry? I am told that I shall find the lady of +the house there." + +"Your name?" was the curt demand. + +"Jennings." + +"Follow me." + +I was taken through narrow passages and across one or two store-rooms to +a small but well-lighted closet, where I was left, with the assurance +that Mrs. Ashley would presently join me. I had never seen this lady, +but I had often heard her spoken of as a woman of superior character and +admirable discretion. + +She did not keep me waiting. In two minutes the door opened and this +fine, well-poised woman was telling her story in the straight-forward +manner I so much admire and so seldom meet with. + +The article lost was a large ruby of singular beauty and great +value--the property of Mrs. Burton, the senator's wife, in whose honor +this ball was given. It had not been lost in the house nor had it been +originally missed that evening. Mrs. Burton and herself had attended the +great foot-ball game in the afternoon, and it was on the college campus +that Mrs. Burton had first dropped her invaluable jewel. But a reward of +five hundred dollars having been at once offered to whoever should find +and restore it, a great search had followed, which ended in its being +picked up by one of the students and brought back as far as the great +step leading up to the front door, when it had again disappeared, and +in a way to rouse conjecture of the strangest and most puzzling +character. + +The young man who had brought it thus far bore the name of John Deane, +and was a member of the senior class. He had been the first to detect +its sparkle in the grass, and those who were near enough to see his face +at that happy moment say that it expressed the utmost satisfaction at +his good luck. + +"You see," said Mrs. Ashley, "he has a sweetheart, and five hundred +dollars looks like a fortune to a young man just starting life. But he +was weak enough to take this girl into his confidence; and on their way +here--for both were invited to the ball--he went so far as to pull it +out of his pocket and show it to her. + +"They were admiring it together and vaunting its beauties to the young +lady friend who had accompanied them, when their carriage turned into +the driveway and they saw the lights of the house flashing before them. +Hastily restoring the jewel to the little bag he had made for it out of +the finger-end of an old glove,--a bag in which he assured me he had +been careful to keep it safely tied ever since picking it up on the +college green,--he thrust it back into his pocket and prepared to help +the ladies out. But just then a disturbance arose in front. A horse +which had been driven up was rearing in a way that threatened to +overturn the light buggy to which he was attached. As the occupants of +this buggy were ladies, and seemed to have no control over the plunging +beast, young Deane naturally sprang to the rescue. Bidding his own +ladies alight and make for the porch, he hurriedly ran forward and, +pausing in front of the maddened animal, waited for an opportunity to +seize him by the rein. He says that as he stood there facing the beast +with fixed eye and raised hand, he distinctly felt something strike or +touch his breast. But the sensation conveyed no meaning to him in his +excitement, and he did not think of it again till, the horse well in +hand and the two alarmed occupants of the buggy rescued, he turned to +see where his own ladies were, and beheld them looking down at him from +the midst of a circle of young people, drawn from the house by the +screaming of the women. Instantly a thought of the treasure he carried +recurred to his mind, and dropping the rein of the now quieted horse, he +put his hand to his pocket. The jewel was gone. He declares that for a +moment he felt as if he had been struck on the head by one of the hoofs +of the frantic horse he had just handled. But immediately the importance +of his loss and the necessity he felt for instant action restored him to +himself, and shouting aloud, 'I have dropped Mrs. Burton's ruby!' begged +every one to stand still while he made a search for it. + +"This all occurred, as you must know, more than an hour and a half ago, +consequently before many of my guests had arrived. My son, who was one +of the few spectators gathered on the porch, tells me that there was +only one other carriage behind the one in which Mr. Deane had brought +his ladies. Both of these had stopped short of the stepping-stone, and +as the horse and buggy which had made all this trouble had by this time +been driven to the stable, nothing stood in the way of his search but +the rapidly accumulating snow which, if you remember, was falling very +thick and fast at the time. + +"My son, who had rushed in for his overcoat, came running down with +offers to help him. So did some others. But, with an imploring gesture, +he begged to be allowed to conduct the search alone, the ground being in +such a state that the delicately-mounted jewel ran great risk of being +trodden into the snow and thus injured or lost. They humored him for a +moment, then, seeing that his efforts bade fair to be fruitless, my son +insisted upon joining him, and the two looked the ground over, inch by +inch, from the place where Mr. Deane had set foot to ground in alighting +from his carriage to the exact spot where he had stood when he had +finally seized hold of the horse. But no ruby. Then Harrison (that is my +son's name) sent for a broom and went over the place again, sweeping +aside the surface snow and examining carefully the ground beneath,--but +with no better results than before. No ruby could be found. My son came +to me panting. Mrs. Burton and myself stood awaiting him in a state of +suspense. Guests and fete were alike forgotten. We had heard that the +jewel had been found on the campus by one of the students and had been +brought back as far as the step in front and then lost again in some +unaccountable manner in the snow, and we hoped, nay expected from moment +to moment, that it would be brought in. + +"When Harrison entered, then, pale, disheveled and shaking his head, +Mrs. Burton caught me by the hand, and I thought she would faint. For +this jewel is of far greater value to her than its mere worth in money, +though that is by no means small. + +"It is a family jewel and was given to her by her husband under special +circumstances. He prizes it even more than she does, and he is not here +to counsel or assist her in this extremity. Besides, she was wearing it +in direct opposition to his expressed wishes. This I must tell you, to +show how imperative it is for us to recover it; also to account for the +large reward she is willing to pay. When he last looked at it he noticed +that the fastening was a trifle slack and, though he handed the trinket +back, he told her distinctly that she was not to wear it till it had +been either to Tiffany's or Starr's. But she considered it safe enough, +and put it on to please the boys, and lost it. Senator Burton is a hard +man and,--in short, the jewel must be found. I give you just one hour in +which to do it." + +"But, madam--" I protested. + +"I know," she put in, with a quick nod and a glance over her shoulder to +see if the door was shut. "I have not finished my story. Hearing what +Harrison had to say, I took action at once. I bade him call in the +guests, whom curiosity or interest still detained on the porch, and seat +them in a certain room which I designated to him. Then, after telling +him to send two men to the gates with orders to hold back all further +carriages from entering, and two others to shovel up and cart away to +the stable every particle of snow for ten feet each side of the front +step, I asked to see Mr. Deane. But here my son whispered something into +my ear, which it is my duty to repeat. It was to the effect that Mr. +Deane believed that the jewel had been taken from him; that he insisted, +in fact, that he had felt a hand touch his breast while he stood +awaiting an opportunity to seize the horse. 'Very good,' said I, 'we'll +remember that, too; but first see that my orders are carried out and +that all approaches to the grounds are guarded and no one allowed to +come in or go out without permission from me.' + +"He left us, and I was turning to encourage Mrs. Burton when my +attention was caught by the eager face of a little friend of mine, who, +quite unknown to me, was sitting in one of the corners of the room. She +was studying my countenance in a sort of subdued anxiety, hardly +natural in one so young, and I was about to call her to my side and +question her when she made a sudden dive and vanished from the room. +Some impulse made me follow her. She is a conscientious little thing, +but timid as a hare, and though I saw she had something to say, it was +with difficulty I could make her speak. Only after the most solemn +assurances that her name should not be mentioned in the matter, would +she give me the following bit of information, which you may possibly +think throws another light upon the affair. It seems that she was +looking out of one of the front windows when Mr. Deane's carriage drove +up. She had been watching the antics of the horse attached to the buggy, +but as soon as she saw Mr. Deane going to the assistance of those in +danger, she let her eyes stray back to the ladies whom he had left +behind him in the carriage. + +"She did not know these ladies, but their looks and gestures interested +her, and she watched them quite intently as they leaped to the ground +and made their way toward the porch. One went on quickly, and without +pause, to the step, but the other,--the one who came last,--did not do +this. She stopped a moment, perhaps to watch the horse in front, perhaps +to draw her cloak more closely about her, and when she again moved on, +it was with a start and a hurried glance at her feet, terminating in a +quick turn and a sudden stooping to the ground. When she again stood +upright, she had something in her hand which she thrust furtively into +her breast." + +"How was this lady dressed?" I inquired. + +"In a white cloak, with an edging of fur. I took pains to learn that, +too, and it was with some curiosity, I assure you, that I examined the +few guests who had now been admitted to the room I had so carefully +pointed out to my son. Two of them wore white cloaks, but one of these +was Mrs. Dalrymple, and I did not give her or her cloak a second +thought. The other was a tall, fine-looking girl, with an air and +bearing calculated to rouse admiration if she had not shown so very +plainly that she was in a state of inner perturbation. Though she tried +to look amiable and pleased, I saw that she had some care on her mind, +which, had she been Mr. Deane's _fiancee_, would have needed no +explanation; but as she was only Mr. Deane's _fiancee's_ friend, its +cause was not so apparent. + +"The floor of the room, as I had happily remembered, was covered with +crash, and as I lifted each garment off--I allowed no maid to assist me +in this--I shook it well; ostensibly, because of the few flakes clinging +to it, really to see if anything could be shaken out of it. Of course, I +met with no success. I had not expected to, but it is my disposition to +be thorough. These wraps I saw all hung in an adjoining closet, the door +of which I locked,--here is the key,--after which I handed my guests +over to my son who led them into the drawing-room where they joined the +few others who had previously arrived, and went myself to telephone to +_you_." + +I bowed and asked where the young people were now. + +"Still in the drawing-room. I have ordered the musicians to play, and +consequently there is more or less dancing. But, of course, nothing can +remove the wet blanket which has fallen over us all,--nothing but the +finding of this jewel. Do you see your way to accomplishing this? We +are, from this very moment, at your disposal; only I pray that you will +make no more disturbance than is necessary, and, if possible, arouse no +suspicions you can not back up by facts. I dread a scandal almost as +much as I do sickness and death, and these young people--well, their +lives are all before them, and neither Mrs. Burton nor myself would wish +to throw the shadow of a false suspicion over the least of them." + +I assured her that I sympathized with her scruples and would do my best +to recover the ruby without inflicting undue annoyance upon the +innocent. Then I inquired whether it was known that a detective had been +called in. She seemed to think it was suspected by some, if not by all. +At which my way seemed a trifle complicated. + +We were about to proceed when another thought struck me. + +"Madam, you have not said whether the carriage itself was searched." + +"I forgot. Yes, the carriage was thoroughly overhauled, and before the +coachman left the box." + +"Who did this overhauling?" + +"My son. He would not trust any other hand than his own in a business of +this kind." + +"One more question, madam. Was any one seen to approach Mr. Deane on the +carriage-drive prior to his assertion that the jewel was lost?" + +"No. _And there were no tracks in the snow of any such person._ My son +looked." + +And I would look, or so I decided within myself, but I said nothing; and +in silence we proceeded toward the drawing-room. + +I had left my overcoat behind me, and always being well-dressed, I did +not present so bad an appearance. Still I was not in party attire and +naturally could not pass for a guest if I had wanted to, which I did +not. I felt that I must rely on insight in this case and on a certain +power I had always possessed of reading faces. That the case called for +just this species of intuition I was positive. Mrs. Burton's ruby was +within a hundred yards of us at this very moment, probably within a +hundred feet; but to lay hands on it and without scandal--well, that was +a problem calculated to rouse the interest of even an old police-officer +like myself. + +A strain of music, desultory, however, and spiritless, like everything +else about the place that night, greeted us as Mrs. Ashley opened the +door leading directly into the large front hall. + +Immediately a scene meant to be festive, but which was, in fact, +desolate, burst upon us. The lights, the flowers and the brilliant +appearance of such ladies as flitted into sight from the almost empty +parlors, were all suggestive of the cheer suitable to a great occasion; +but in spite of this, the effect was altogether melancholy, for the +hundreds who should have graced this scene, and for whom this +illumination had been made and these festoons hung, had been turned away +from the gates, and the few who felt they must remain, because their +hostess showed no disposition to let them go, wore any but holiday +faces, for all their forced smiles and pitiful attempts at nonchalance +and gaiety. + +I scrutinized these faces carefully. I detected nothing in them but +annoyance at a situation which certainly was anything but pleasant. + +Turning to Mrs. Ashley, I requested her to be kind enough to point out +her son, adding that I should be glad to have a moment's conversation +with him, also with Mr. Deane. + +"Mr. Deane is in one of those small rooms over there. He is quite upset. +Not even Mrs. Burton can comfort him. My son--Oh, there is Harrison!" + +A tall, fine-looking young man was crossing the hall. Mrs. Ashley called +him to her, and in another moment we were standing together in one of +the empty parlors. + +I gave him my name and told him my business. Then I said: + +"Your mother has allotted me an hour in which to find the valuable jewel +which has just been lost on these premises." Here I smiled. "She +evidently has great confidence in my ability. I must see that I do not +disappoint her." + +All this time I was examining his face. It was a handsome one, as I have +said, but it had also a very candid expression; the eyes looked straight +into mine, and, while showing anxiety, betrayed no deeper emotion than +the occasion naturally called for. + +"Have you any suggestions to offer? I understand that you were on the +ground almost as soon as Mr. Deane discovered his loss." + +His eyes changed a trifle but did not swerve. Of course he had been +informed by his mother of the suspicious action of the young lady who +had been a member of that gentleman's party, and shrank, as any one in +his position would, from the responsibilities entailed by this +knowledge. + +"No," said he. "We have done all we can. The next move must come from +you." + +"There is one that will settle the matter in a moment," I assured him, +still with my eyes fixed scrutinizingly on his face,--"a universal +search, not of places, but of persons. But it is a harsh measure." + +"A most disagreeable one," he emphasized, flushing. "Such an indignity +offered to guests would never be forgotten or forgiven." + +"True, but if they offered to submit to this themselves?" + +"They? How?" + +"If _you_, the son of the house,--their host we may say,--should call +them together and, for your own satisfaction, empty out your pockets in +the sight of every one, don't you think that all the men, and possibly +all the women too--" (here I let my voice fall suggestively) "would be +glad to follow suit? It could be done in apparent joke." + +He shook his head with a straight-forward air, which raised him high in +my estimation. + +"That would call for little but effrontery on my part," said he; "but +think what it would demand from these boys who came here for the sole +purpose of enjoying themselves. I will not so much as mention the +ladies." + +"Yet one of the latter--" + +"I know," he quietly acknowledged, growing restless for the first time. + +I withdrew my eyes from his face. I had learned what I wished. +Personally he did not shrink from search, therefore the jewel was not in +his pockets. This left but two persons for suspicion to halt between. +But I disclosed nothing of my thoughts; I merely asked pardon for a +suggestion that, while pardonable in a man accustomed to handle crime +with ungloved hands, could not fail to prove offensive to a gentleman +like himself. + +"We must move by means less open," I concluded. "It adds to our +difficulties, but that can not be helped. I should now like a glimpse of +Mr. Deane." + +"Do you not wish to speak to him?" + +"I should prefer a sight of his face first." + +He led me across the hall and pointed through an open door. In the +center of a small room containing a table and some chairs, I perceived a +young man sitting, with fallen head and dejected air, staring at +vacancy. By his side, with hand laid on his, knelt a young girl, +striving in this gentle but speechless way to comfort him. It made a +pathetic picture. I drew Ashley away. + +"I am disposed to believe in that young man," said I. "If he still has +the jewel, he would not try to carry off the situation in just this way. +He really looks broken-hearted." + +"Oh, he is dreadfully cut up. If you could have seen how frantically he +searched for the stone, and the depression into which he fell when he +realized that it was not to be found, you would not doubt him for an +instant. What made you think he might still have the ruby?" + +"Oh, we police officers think of everything. Then the fact that he +insists that something or some one touched his breast on the driveway +strikes me as a trifle suspicious. Your mother says that no second +person could have been there, or the snow would have given evidence of +it." + +"Yes; I looked expressly. Of course, the drive itself was full of +hoof-marks and wheel-tracks, for several carriages had already passed +over it. Then there were all of Deane's footsteps, but no other man's, +as far as I could see." + +"Yet he insists that he was touched or struck." + +"Yes." + +"With no one there to touch or strike him." + +Mr. Ashley was silent. + +"Let us step out and take a view of the place," I suggested. "I should +prefer doing this to questioning the young man in his present state of +mind." Then, as we turned to put on our coats, I asked with suitable +precaution: "Do you suppose that he has the same secret suspicions as +ourselves, and that it is to hide these he insists upon the jewel's +having been taken away from him at a point the ladies are known not to +have approached?" + +Young Ashley bent somewhat startled eyes on mine. + +"Nothing has been said to him of what Miss Peters saw Miss Glover do. I +could not bring myself to mention it. I have not even allowed myself to +believe--" + +Here a fierce gust, blowing in from the door he had just opened, cut +short his words, and neither of us spoke again till we stood on the +exact spot in the driveway where the episode we were endeavoring to +understand had taken place. + +"Oh," I cried as soon as I could look about me; "the mystery is +explained. Look at that bush, or perhaps you call it a shrub. If the +wind were blowing as freshly as it is now, and very probably it was, one +of those slender branches might easily be switched against his breast, +especially if he stood, as you say he did, close against this border." + +"Well, I'm a fool. Only the other day I told the gardener that these +branches would need trimming in the spring, and yet I never so much as +thought of them when Mr. Deane spoke of something striking his breast." + +As we turned back I made this remark: + +"With this explanation of the one doubtful point in his otherwise +plausible account, we can credit his story as being in the main true, +which," I calmly added, "places him above suspicion and narrows our +inquiry down to _one_." + +We had moved quickly and were now at the threshold of the door by which +we had come out. + +"Mr. Ashley," I continued, "I shall have to ask you to add to your +former favors that of showing me the young lady in whom, from this +moment on, we are especially interested. If you can manage to let me see +her first without her seeing me, I shall be infinitely obliged to you." + +"I do not know where she is. I shall have to search for her." + +"I will wait by the hall door." + +In a few minutes he returned to me. "Come," said he, and led me into +what I judged to be the library. + +With a gesture toward one of the windows, he backed quickly out, leaving +me to face the situation alone. I was rather glad of this. Glancing in +the direction he had indicated, and perceiving the figure of a young +lady standing with her back to me on the farther side of a flowing lace +curtain, I took a few steps toward her, hoping that the movement would +cause her to turn. But it entirely failed to produce this effect, nor +did she give any sign that she noted the intrusion. This prevented me +from catching the glimpse of her face which I so desired, and obliged me +to confine myself to a study of her dress and attitude. + +The former was very elegant, more elegant than the appearance of her two +friends had led me to expect. Though I am far from being an authority on +feminine toilets, I yet had experience enough to know that those +sweeping folds of spotless satin, with their festoons of lace and loops +of shiny trimming, which it would be folly for me to attempt to +describe, represented not only the best efforts of the dressmaker's art, +but very considerable means on the part of the woman wearing such a +gown. This was a discovery which altered the complexion of my thoughts +for a moment; for I had presupposed her a girl of humble means, willing +to sacrifice certain scruples to obtain a little extra money. This +imposing figure might be that of a millionaire's daughter; how then +could I associate her, even in my own mind, with theft? I decided that I +must see her face before giving answer to these doubts. + +She did not seem inclined to turn. She had raised the shade from before +the wintry panes and was engaged in looking out. Her attitude was not +that of one simply enjoying a moment's respite from the dance. It was +rather that of an absorbed mind brooding upon what gave little or no +pleasure; and as I further gazed and noted the droop of her lovely +shoulders and the languor visible in her whole bearing, I began to +regard a glimpse of her features as imperative. Moving forward, I came +upon her suddenly. + +"Excuse me, Miss Smith," I boldly exclaimed; then paused, for she had +turned instinctively and I had seen that for which I had risked this +daring move. "Your pardon," I hastily apologized. "I mistook you for +another young lady," and drew back with a low bow to let her pass, for I +saw that she thought only of escaping both me and the room. + +And I did not wonder at this, for her eyes were streaming with tears, +and her face, which was doubtless a pretty one under ordinary +conditions, looked so distorted with distracting emotions that she was +no fit subject for any man's eye, let alone that of a hard-hearted +officer of the law on the lookout for the guilty hand which had just +appropriated a jewel worth anywhere from eight to ten thousand dollars. + +Yet I was glad to see her weep, for only first offenders weep, and first +offenders are amenable to influence, especially if they have been led +into wrong by impulse and are weak rather than wicked. + +Anxious to make no blunder, I resolved, before proceeding further, to +learn what I could of the character and antecedents of the suspected +one, and this from the only source which offered--Mr. Deane's affianced. + +This young lady was a delicate girl, with a face like a flower. +Recognizing her sensitive nature, I approached her with the utmost +gentleness. Not seeking to disguise either the nature of my business or +my reasons for being in the house, since all this gave me authority, I +modulated my tone to suit her gentle spirit, and, above all, I showed +the utmost sympathy for her lover, whose rights in the reward had been +taken from him as certainly as the jewel had been taken from Mrs. +Burton. In this way I gained her confidence, and she was quite ready to +listen when I observed: + +"There is a young lady here who seems to be in a state of even greater +trouble than Mr. Deane. Why is this? You brought her here. Is her +sympathy with Mr. Deane so great as to cause her to weep over his loss?" + +"Frances? Oh, no. She likes Mr. Deane and she likes me, but not well +enough to cry over our misfortunes. I think she has some trouble of her +own." + +"One that you can tell me?" + +Her surprise was manifest. + +"Why do you ask that? What interest have you (called in, as I +understand, to recover a stolen jewel) in Frances Glover's personal +difficulties?" + +I saw that I must make my position perfectly plain. + +"Only this. She was seen to pick up something from the driveway, where +no one else had succeeded in finding anything." + +"She? When? Who saw her?" + +"I can not answer all these questions at once," I smiled. "She was seen +to do this--no matter by whom,--during your passage from the carriage to +the stoop. As you preceded her, you naturally did not observe this +action, which was fortunate, perhaps, as you would scarcely have known +what to do or say about it." + +"Yes I should," she retorted, with a most unexpected display of spirit. +"I should have asked her what she had found and I should have insisted +upon an answer. I love my friends, but I love the man I am to marry, +better." Here her voice fell and a most becoming blush suffused her +cheek. + +"Quite right," I assented. "Now will you answer my former question? What +troubles Miss Glover? Can you tell me?" + +"That I can not. I only know that she has been very silent ever since +she left the house. I thought her beautiful new dress would please her, +but it does not seem to. She has been unhappy and preoccupied all the +evening. She only roused a bit when Mr. Deane showed us the ruby and +said--Oh, I forgot!" + +"What's that? What have you forgot?" + +"What you said just now. I wouldn't add a word--" + +"Pardon me!" I smilingly interrupted, looking as fatherly as I could, +"but you _have_ added this word and now you must tell me what it means. +You were going to say she showed interest in the extraordinary jewel +which Mr. Deane took from his pocket and--" + +"In what he let fall about the expected reward. That is, she looked +eagerly at the ruby and sighed when he acknowledged that he expected it +to bring him five hundred dollars before midnight. But any girl of no +more means than she might do that. It would not be fair to lay too much +stress on a sigh." + +"Is not Miss Glover wealthy? She wears a very expensive dress, I +observe." + +"I know it and I have wondered a little at it, for her father is not +called very well off. But perhaps she bought it with her own money; I +know she has some; she is an artist in burnt wood." + +I let the subject of Miss Glover's dress drop. I had heard enough to +satisfy me that my first theory was correct. This young woman, +beautifully dressed, and with a face from which the rounded lines of +early girlhood had not yet departed, held in her possession, probably at +this very moment, Mrs. Burton's magnificent jewel. But where? On her +person or hidden in some of her belongings? I remembered the cloak in +the closet and thought it wise to assure myself that the jewel was not +secreted in this garment, before I proceeded to extreme measures. Mrs. +Ashley, upon being consulted, agreed with me as to the desirability of +this, and presently I had this poor girl's cloak in my hands. + +Did I find the ruby? No; but I found something else tucked away in an +inner pocket which struck me as bearing quite pointedly upon this case. +It was the bill--crumpled, soiled and tear-stained--of the dress whose +elegance had so surprised her friends and made me, for a short time, +regard her as the daughter of wealthy parents. An enormous bill, which +must have struck dismay to the soul of this self-supporting girl, who +probably had no idea of how a French dressmaker can foot up items. Four +hundred and fifty dollars! and for one gown! I declare I felt indignant +myself and could quite understand why she heaved that little sigh when +Mr. Deane spoke of the five hundred dollars he expected from Mrs. +Burton, and later, how she came to succumb to the temptation of making +the effort to secure this sum for herself when, in following the +latter's footsteps up the driveway, she stumbled upon this same jewel +fallen, as it were, from his pocket into her very hands. The impulse of +the moment was so strong and the consequences so little anticipated! + +It is not at all probable that she foresaw he would shout aloud his loss +and draw the whole household out on the porch. Of course when he did +this, the feasibility of her project was gone, and I only wished that I +had been present and able to note her countenance, as, crowded in with +others on that windy porch, she watched the progress of the search, +which every moment made it not only less impossible for her to attempt +the restoration upon which the reward depended, but must have caused her +to feel, if she had been as well brought up as all indications showed, +that it was a dishonest act of which she had been guilty and that, +willing or not, she must look upon herself as a thief so long as she +held the jewel back from Mr. Deane or its rightful owner. But how face +the publicity of restoring it now, after this elaborate and painful +search, in which even the son of her hostess had taken part? + +That would be to proclaim her guilt and thus effectually ruin her in the +eyes of everybody concerned. No, she would keep the compromising article +a little longer, in the hope of finding some opportunity of returning it +without risk to her good name. And so she allowed the search to proceed. + +I have entered thus elaborately into the supposed condition of this +girl's mind on this critical evening, that you may understand why I felt +a certain sympathy for her, which forbade harsh measures. I was sure, +from the glimpse I had caught of her face, that she longed to be +relieved from the tension she was under, and that she would gladly rid +herself of this valuable jewel if she only knew how. This opportunity I +proposed to give her; and this is why, on returning the bill to its +place, I assumed such an air of relief on rejoining Mrs. Ashley. + +She saw, and drew me aside. + +"You have not found it!" she said. + +"No," I returned, "but I am positive where it is." + +"And where is that?" + +"Over Miss Glover's uneasy heart." + +Mrs. Ashley turned pale. + +"Wait," said I; "I have a scheme for getting it hence without making her +shame public. Listen!" and I whispered a few words in her ear. + +She surveyed me in amazement for a moment, then nodded, and her face +lighted up. + +"You are certainly earning your reward," she declared; and summoning her +son, who was never far away from her side, she whispered her wishes. He +started, bowed and hurried from the room. + +By this time my business in the house was well-known to all, and I could +not appear in hall or parlor without a great silence falling upon every +one present, followed by a breaking up of the only too small circle of +unhappy guests into agitated groups. But I appeared to see nothing of +all this till the proper moment, when, turning suddenly upon them all, I +cried out cheerfully, but with a certain deference I thought would +please them: + +"Ladies and gentlemen: I have an interesting fact to announce. The snow +which was taken up from the driveway has been put to melt in the great +feed caldron over the stable fire. We expect to find the ruby at the +bottom, and Mrs. Ashley invites you to be present at its recovery. It +has now stopped snowing and she thought you might enjoy the excitement +of watching the water ladled out." + +A dozen girls bounded forward. + +"Oh, yes, what fun! where are our cloaks--our rubbers?" + +Two only stood hesitating. One of these was Mr. Deane's lady love and +the other her friend, Miss Glover. The former, perhaps, secretly +wondered. The latter--but I dared not look long enough or closely enough +in her direction to judge just what her emotions were. Presently these, +too, stepped forward into the excited circle of young people, and were +met by the two maids who were bringing in their wraps. Amid the bustle +which now ensued, I caught sight of Mr. Deane's face peering from an +open doorway. It was all alive with hope. I also perceived a lady +looking down from the second story, who, I felt sure, was Mrs. Burton +herself. Evidently my confident tone had produced more effect than the +words themselves. Every one looked upon the jewel as already recovered +and regarded my invitation to the stable as a ruse by which I hoped to +restore universal good feeling by giving them all a share in my triumph. + +All but one! Nothing could make Miss Glover look otherwise than anxious, +restless and unsettled, and though she followed in the wake of the +rest, it was with hidden face and lagging step, as if she recognized the +whole thing as a farce and doubted her own power to go through it +calmly. + +"Ah, ha! my lady," thought I, "only be patient and you will see what I +shall do for you." And indeed I thought her eye brightened as we all +drew up around the huge caldron standing full of water over the stable +stove. As pains had already been taken to put out the fire in this +stove, the ladies were not afraid of injuring their dresses and +consequently crowded as close as their numbers would permit. Miss Glover +especially stood within reach of the brim, and as soon as I noted this, +I gave the signal which had been agreed upon between Mr. Ashley and +myself. Instantly the electric lights went out, leaving the place in +total darkness. + +A scream from the girls, a burst of hilarious laughter from their +escorts, mingled with loud apologies from their seemingly mischievous +host, filled up the interval of darkness which I had insisted should not +be too soon curtailed; then the lights glowed as suddenly as they had +gone out, and while the glare was fresh on every face, I stole a glance +at Miss Glover to see if she had made good use of the opportunity just +accorded for ridding herself of the jewel by dropping it into the +caldron. If she had, both her troubles and mine were at an end; if she +had not, then I need feel no further scruple in approaching her with the +direct question I had hitherto found it so difficult to put. + +She stood with both hands grasping her cloak which she had drawn tightly +about the rich folds of her new and expensive dress; but her eyes were +fixed straight before her with a soft light in their depths which made +her positively beautiful. + +The jewel is in the pot, I inwardly decided, and ordered the two waiting +stablemen to step forward with their ladles. Quickly those ladles went +in, but before they could be lifted out dripping, half the ladies had +scurried back, afraid of injury to their pretty dresses. But they soon +sidled forward again, and watched with beaming eyes the slow but sure +emptying of the great caldron at whose bottom they anticipated finding +the lost jewel. + +As the ladles were plunged deeper and deeper, the heads drew closer and +so great was the interest shown, that the busiest lips forgot to +chatter, and eyes, whose only business up till now had been to follow +with shy curiosity every motion made by their handsome young host, now +settled on the murky depths of the great pot whose bottom was almost in +sight. + +As I heard the ladles strike this bottom, I instinctively withdrew a +step in anticipation of the loud hurrah which would naturally hail the +first sight of the lost ruby. Conceive, then, my chagrin, my bitter and +mortified disappointment, when, after one look at the broad surface of +the now exposed bottom the one shout which rose was: + +"_Nothing!_" + + * * * * * + +I was so thoroughly put out that I did not wait to hear the loud +complaints which burst from every lip. Drawing Mr. Ashley aside (who, +by the way, seemed as much affected as myself by the turn affairs had +taken) I remarked to him that there was only one course left open to us. + +"And what is that?" + +"To ask Miss Glover to show me what she picked up from your driveway." + +"And if she refuses?" + +"To take her quietly with me to the station, where we have women who can +make sure that the ruby is not on her person." + +Mr. Ashley made an involuntary gesture of strong repugnance. + +"Let us pray that it will not come to that," he objected hoarsely. "Such +a fine figure of a girl! Did you notice how bright and happy she looked +when the lights sprang up? I declare she struck me as lovely." + +"So she did me, and caused me to draw some erroneous conclusions. I +shall have to ask you to procure me an interview with her as soon as we +return to the house." + +"She shall meet you in the library." + +But when, a few minutes later, she joined me in the room just designated +and I had full opportunity for reading her countenance, I own that my +task became suddenly hateful to me. She was not far from my own +daughter's age and, had it not been for her furtive look of care, +appeared almost as blooming and bright. Would it ever come to pass that +a harsh man of the law would feel it his duty to speak to my Flora as I +must now speak to the young girl before me? The thought made me inwardly +recoil and it was in as gentle a manner as possible that I made my bow +and began with the following remark: + +"I hope you will pardon me, Miss Glover--I am told that is your name. I +hate to disturb your pleasure--" (this with the tears of alarm and grief +rising in her eyes) "but you can tell me something which will greatly +simplify my task and possibly put matters in such shape that you and +your friends can be released to your homes." + +"I?" + +She stood before me with amazed eyes, the color rising in her cheeks. I +had to force my next words, which, out of consideration for her, I made +as direct as possible. + +"Yes, miss. What was the article you were seen to pick up from the +driveway soon after leaving your carriage?" + +She started, then stumbled backward, tripping in her long train. + +"I pick up?" she murmured. Then with a blush, whether of anger or pride +I could not tell, she coldly answered: "Oh, that was something of my +own,--something I had just dropped. I had rather not tell you what it +was." + +I scrutinized her closely. She met my eyes squarely, yet not with just +the clear light I should, remembering Flora, have been glad to see +there. + +"I think it would be better for you to be entirely frank," said I. "It +was the only article known to have been picked up from the driveway +after Mr. Deane's loss of the ruby; and though we do not presume to say +that it was the ruby, yet the matter would look clearer to us all if you +would frankly state what this object was." + +Her whole body seemed to collapse and she looked as if about to sink. + +"Oh, where is Minnie? Where is Mr. Deane?" she moaned, turning and +staring at the door, as if she hoped they would fly to her aid. Then, in +a burst of indignation which I was fain to believe real, she turned on +me with the cry: "It was a bit of paper which I had thrust into the +bosom of my gown. It fell out--" + +"Your dressmaker's bill?" I intimated. + +She stared, laughed hysterically for a moment, then sank upon a near-by +sofa, sobbing spasmodically. + +"Yes," she cried, after a moment; "my dressmaker's bill. You seem to +know all my affairs." Then suddenly, and with a startling impetuosity, +which drew her to her feet: "Are you going to tell everybody that? Are +you going to state publicly that Miss Glover brought an unpaid bill to +the party and that because Mr. Deane was unfortunate enough or careless +enough to drop and lose the jewel he was bringing to Mrs. Burton, she is +to be looked upon as a thief, because she stooped to pick up this bill +which had slipped inadvertently from its hiding-place? I shall die if +you do," she cried. "I shall die if it is already known," she pursued, +with increasing emotion. "Is it? Is it?" + +Her passion was so great, so much greater than any likely to rise in a +breast wholly innocent, that I began to feel very sober. + +"No one but Mrs. Ashley and possibly her son know about the bill," said +I, "and no one shall, if you will go with that lady to her room, and +make plain to her, in the only way you can, that the extremely valuable +article which has been lost to-night is not in your possession." + +She threw up her arms with a scream. "Oh, what a horror! I can not! I +can not! Oh, I shall die of shame! My father! My mother!" And she burst +from the room like one distraught. + +But in another moment she came cringing back. "I can not face them," +she said. "They all believe it; they will always believe it unless I +submit--Oh, why did I ever come to this dreadful place? Why did I order +this hateful dress which I can never pay for and which, in spite of the +misery it has caused me, has failed to bring me the--" She did not +continue. She had caught my eye and seen there, perhaps, some evidence +of the pity I could not but experience for her. With a sudden change of +tone she advanced upon me with the appeal: "Save me from this +humiliation. I have not seen the ruby. I am as ignorant of its +whereabouts as--as Mr. Ashley himself. Won't you believe me? Won't they +be satisfied if I swear--" + +I was really sorry for her. I began to think too that some dreadful +mistake had been made. Her manner seemed too ingenuous for guilt. Yet +where could that ruby be, if not with this young girl? Certainly, all +other possibilities had been exhausted, and her story of the bill, even +if accepted, would never quite exonerate her from secret suspicion while +that elusive jewel remained unfound. + +"You give me no hope," she moaned. "I must go out before them all and +ask to have it proved that I am no thief. Oh, if God would have pity--" + +"Or some one would find--Halloo! What's that?" + +A shout had risen from the hall beyond. + +She gasped and we both plunged forward. Mr. Ashley, still in his +overcoat, stood at the other end of the hall, and facing him were ranged +the whole line of young people whom I had left scattered about in the +various parlors. I thought he looked peculiar; certainly his appearance +differed from that of a quarter of an hour before, and when he glanced +our way and saw who was standing with me in the library doorway, his +voice took on a tone which made me doubt whether he was about to +announce good news or bad. + +But his first word settled that question. + +"Rejoice with me!" he cried. "_The ruby has been found!_ Do you want to +see the culprit?--for there is a culprit. We have him at the door; shall +we bring him in?" + +"Yes, yes," cried several voices, among them that of Mr. Deane, who now +strode forward with beaming eyes and instinctively lifted hand. But some +of the ladies looked frightened, and Mr. Ashley, noting this, glanced +for encouragement toward us. + +He seemed to find it in Miss Glover's eyes. She had quivered and nearly +fallen at that word _found_, but had drawn herself up by this time and +was awaiting his further action in a fever of relief and hope which +perhaps no one but myself could fully appreciate. + +"A vile thief! A most unconscionable rascal!" vociferated Mr. Ashley. +"You must see him, mother; you must see him, ladies, else you will not +realize our good fortune. Open the door there and bring in the robber!" + +At this command, uttered in ringing tones, the huge leaves of the great +front door swung slowly forward, revealing the sturdy forms of the two +stablemen holding down by main force the towering figure of--_a horse_! + +The scream of astonishment which went up from all sides, united to Mr. +Ashley's shout of hilarity, caused the animal, unused, no doubt, to +drawing-rooms, to rear to the length of his bridle. At which Mr. Ashley +laughed again and gaily cried: + +"Confound the fellow! Look at him, mother; look at him, ladies! Do you +not see guilt written on his brow? It is he who has made us all this +trouble. First, he must needs take umbrage at the two lights with which +we presumed to illuminate our porch; then, envying Mrs. Burton her ruby +and Mr. Deane his reward, seek to rob them both by grinding his hoofs +all over the snow of the driveway till he came upon the jewel which Mr. +Deane had dropped from his pocket, and taking it up in a ball of snow, +secrete it in his left hind shoe,--where it might be yet, if Mr. +Spencer--" here he bowed to a strange gentleman who at that moment +entered--"had not come himself for his daughters, and, going first to +the stable, found his horse so restless and seemingly lame--(there, +boys, you may take the wretch away now and harness him, but first hold +up that guilty left hind hoof for the ladies to see)--that he stooped to +examine him, and so came upon _this_." + +Here the young gentleman brought forward his hand. In it was a +nondescript little wad, well soaked and shapeless; but, once he had +untied the kid, such a ray of rosy light burst from his outstretched +palm that I doubt if a single woman there noted the clatter of the +retiring beast or the heavy clang made by the two front doors as they +shut upon the _robber_. Eyes and tongues were too busy, and Mr. Ashley, +realizing, probably, that the interest of all present would remain, for +a few minutes at least, with this marvelous jewel so astonishingly +recovered, laid it, with many expressions of thankfulness, in Mrs. +Burton's now eagerly outstretched palm, and advancing toward us, paused +in front of Miss Glover and eagerly held out his hand. + +"Congratulate me," he prayed. "All our troubles are over--Oh, what now!" + +The poor young thing, in trying to smile, had turned as white as a +sheet. Before either of us could interpose an arm, she had slipped to +the floor in a dead faint. With a murmur of pity and possibly of inward +contrition, he stooped over her and together we carried her into the +library, where I left her in his care, confident, from certain +indications, that my presence would not be greatly missed by either of +them. + +Whatever hope I may have had of reaping the reward offered by Mrs. +Ashley was now lost, but, in the satisfaction I experienced at finding +this young girl as innocent as my Flora, I did not greatly care. + +Well, it all ended even more happily than may here appear. The horse not +putting in his claim to the reward, and Mr. Spencer repudiating all +right to it, it was paid in full to Mr. Deane, who went home in as +buoyant a state of mind as was possible to him after the great anxieties +of the preceding two hours. Miss Glover was sent back by the Ashleys in +their own carriage and I was told that Mr. Ashley declined to close the +carriage door upon her till she had promised to come again the +following night. + +Anxious to make such amends as I personally could for my share in the +mortification to which she had been subjected, I visited her in the +morning, with the intention of offering a suggestion or two in regard to +that little bill. But she met my first advance with a radiant smile and +the glad exclamation: + +"Oh, I have settled all that! I have just come from Madame Dupre's. I +told her that I had never imagined the dress could possibly cost more +than a hundred dollars, and I offered her that sum if she would take the +garment back. And she did, she did, and I shall never have to wear that +dreadful satin again." + +I made a note of this dressmaker's name. She and I may have a bone to +pick some day. But I said nothing to Miss Glover. I merely exclaimed: + +"And to-night?" + +"Oh, I have an old spotted muslin which, with a few natural flowers, +will make me look festive enough. One does not need fine clothes when +one is--happy." + +The dreamy far-off smile with which she finished the sentence was more +eloquent than words, and I was not surprised when some time later I read +of her engagement to Mr. Ashley. + +But it was not till she could sign herself with his name that she told +me just what underlay the misery of that night. She had met Harrison +Ashley more than once before, and, though she did not say so, had +evidently conceived an admiration for him which made her especially +desirous of attracting and pleasing him. Not understanding the world +very well, certainly having very little knowledge of the tastes and +feelings of wealthy people, she conceived that the more brilliantly she +was attired the more likely she would be to please this rich young man. +So in a moment of weakness she decided to devote all her small savings +(a hundred dollars, as we know) to buying a gown such as she felt she +could appear in at his house without shame. + +It came home, as dresses from French dressmakers are very apt to do, +just in time for her to put it on for the party. The bill came with it +and when she saw the amount--it was all itemized and she could find no +fault with anything but the summing up--she was so overwhelmed that she +nearly fainted. But she could not give up her ball; so she dressed +herself, and, being urged all the time to hurry, hardly stopped to give +one look at the new and splendid gown which had cost so much. The +bill--the incredible, the enormous bill--was all she could think of, and +the figures, which represented nearly her whole year's earnings, danced +constantly before her eyes. How to pay it--but she could not pay it, nor +could she ask her father to do so. She was ruined; but the ball, and Mr. +Ashley--these still awaited her; so presently she worked herself up to +some anticipation of enjoyment, and, having thrown on her cloak, was +turning down her light preparatory to departure, when her eye fell on +the bill lying open on her dresser. + +It would never do to leave it there--never do to leave it anywhere in +her room. There were prying eyes in the house, and she was as ashamed of +that bill as she might have been of a contemplated theft. So she tucked +it in her corsage and went down to join her friends in the carriage. + +The rest we know, all but one small detail which turned to gall whatever +enjoyment she was able to get out of the early evening. There was a +young girl present, dressed in a simple muslin gown. While looking at it +and inwardly contrasting it with her own splendor, Mr. Ashley passed by +with another gentleman and she heard him say: + +"How much better young girls look in simple white than in the elaborate +silks only suitable for their mothers!" + +Thoughtless words, possibly forgotten as soon as uttered, but they +sharply pierced this already sufficiently stricken and uneasy breast and +were the cause of the tears which had aroused my suspicion when I came +upon her in the library, standing with her face to the night. + +But who can say whether, if the evening had been devoid of these +occurrences and no emotions of contrition and pity had been awakened in +her behalf in the breast of her chivalrous host, she would ever have +become Mrs. Ashley? + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Amethyst Box, by Anna Katherine Green + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE AMETHYST BOX *** + +***** This file should be named 35424.txt or 35424.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/5/4/2/35424/ + +Produced by Chris Curnow, Michael, Mary Meehan and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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