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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of An Oregon Girl, by Alfred Ernest Rice
+
+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: An Oregon Girl
+       A Tale of American Life in the New West
+
+Author: Alfred Ernest Rice
+
+Illustrator: Colista M. Dowling
+
+Release Date: November 15, 2011 [EBook #38019]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AN OREGON GIRL ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Roger Frank and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This book was
+produced from images made available by the HathiTrust
+Digital Library.)
+
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: Virginia "cautiously pushed aside the portiere, then
+entered the room."]
+
+
+
+
+An Oregon Girl
+
+Alfred Ernest Rice
+
+1914
+
+
+
+
+SCENES: Portland, Oregon, and environs.
+
+TIME: Within the last fifteen years.
+
+PERSONAE:
+
+  John Thorpe: Director, Investment Co.
+  Constance: His wife
+  Virginia: His sister, An Oregon Girl
+  Dorothy: His five-year-old daughter
+  Hazel Brooke: His niece
+  Smith: His Irish coachman
+  Philip Rutley: Ex-president, Investment Co.
+  Jack Shore: Ex-secretary Investment Co.
+  James Harris: Retired merchant
+  Mrs. Harris: His wife
+  Sam Harris: His nephew, and hero
+  Joe Corway: Secretly engaged to Virginia, but forsakes her for Hazel
+  Mr. Williams: Attorney at Law
+  Dr. Mackay: The Harris family physician
+  Simms: A detective
+  Wells: Harris' coachman
+  Gene, Spike: Boys
+  Ship's officers, and others
+
+
+
+
+INTRODUCTORY
+
+
+In the year 19-- a legend adorned with gold and bearing the significant
+words, "The Securities Investment Association, Mr. Philip Rutley,
+President, Mr. Jack Shore, Secretary-Treasurer," appeared on the glass
+panel of a certain office door on Third street, in the city of
+Portland, Oregon.
+
+These two men were middle-aged bachelors, and moved in select society.
+Through their social standing they had persuaded two wealthy men of
+the city to lend their names as stockholders and directors in the
+company; but the Investment Company's business failed to meet the
+expenses which the social living of the two promoters felt were
+demanded of them, and the inevitable happened, viz., a resort to
+dishonest manipulations of sundry bond transactions by which the two
+wealthy directors had to "make good."
+
+It resulted, on discovery, in the immediate closing of the office and
+prosecution of the offenders was ordered; but because of their social
+standing and promise to leave the city at once, criminal proceedings
+were suspended.
+
+Three years elapsed. In the medium-sized room of a plainly furnished
+flat, in a genteel suburb of the "Bay City," a man sat brooding over
+the ill luck which had pursued him for the past few years. This man,
+as he sat with elbows on his knees and chin resting on his hands, was
+looking through the open window and out over the bay, out over that
+far off rugged ridge of purple and gray and white that projected up in
+the clear ethereal blue, northward, gazing with eyes fixed into
+nothingness, for he was deeply absorbed in a review of his past career
+and of the sunny time he had enjoyed while living in Portland.
+
+His straw colored hair, verging to a sandy hue, framed a smooth shaven
+face of marked strength and intelligence. His eyes of a bluish gray,
+were bright when shielded by spectacles, worn more from fashion than
+necessity, glittered with keenness and energy.
+
+Jack Shore rarely allowed his naturally aggressive and buoyant spirits
+to remain for long depressed by a gloomy retrospect; but the purpose
+of his prolonged stare at vacancy on this occasion was attributable to
+the necessity of another visit to Mr. Loan-on-personal-property.
+
+His reverie was ended by the abrupt entry of his companion, Philip
+Rutley, who drawled out in quiet tones: "Jack--Aw--I beg pardon. I see
+you are engaged."
+
+Jack looked at his visitor, noted his dignified bearing and unwonted
+coolness as he removed his gloves; noted the smile of cunning pleasure
+that played about his mouth and, from experience, concluded that some
+deep scheme had been thought out and a line of action forming.
+
+"Well, Phil," he replied, "what game is on now?"
+
+"A well dressed lady and gentleman, strangers," began Phil, "halted me
+on Market Street and addressed me as 'My Lord Beauchamp.' They warmly
+shook my hand and gushingly insisted that I promise them the pleasure
+of presenting our very dear friends,--Mr. and Mrs. Orthodox--to Lord
+Beauchamp at the Palace tonight."
+
+"Of course, you consented!" quietly laughed Jack.
+
+"Ahem! Unfortunately I had instructed my secretary to 'clear' the
+yacht for the north this evening, and as all arrangements were
+complete, must beg, with profound regrets" (and he bent low with
+courtly grace) "to decline the pleasure. Should you be visiting
+England next summer, my cordial invitation to rest a month or so
+at--a--Beauchamp, Isle of Wight."
+
+"And you--"
+
+"Beckoned a passing cab; bade them 'adieu' and drove on a few blocks."
+
+"I congratulate you on your iron-clad nerve," laughingly remarked
+Jack. "And you withdrew with your new title,--a--me Lord Beauchamp,
+sitting jauntily, like a chip on your shoulder,--undisturbed."
+
+"How could I do otherwise? You know I am opposed to shocks, but
+seriously, Jack, the incident has suggested a way out of our
+embarrassment."
+
+"How?"
+
+"By carrying the thing on and be a lord in fact, with you as my
+secretary."
+
+Jack laughed, low and yet with a heartiness that was rollicking in its
+abandon, and then added by way of parenthesis:
+
+"I shall announce 'Your Grace's' intention to visit Portland."
+
+"Precisely! You are well aware of the great esteem in which Me Lord
+Beauchamp is likely to be held there, particularly by our friends, The
+Thorpes, Harrises, et al."
+
+"A proper entry will create quite a stir among the fashionable set,"
+remarked Jack reflectively.
+
+"And give us opportunities to 'work' them some."
+
+"Are you agreed?"
+
+"Yes," responded Jack. "It will be a damn good joke, anyway," and
+again he laughed, for as the horn of plenty flitted before his vision
+his spirits soared once more, above the measly depths of want and
+anxiety. "As an American," he continued, "you have as much right to
+play the role of Lord, General or Judge as any other name by which
+your friends may be pleased to 'dub' you."
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+
+Within the perimeter of a great semi-circle window in a large
+luxuriously furnished room of a fashionable residence not far from
+6666 Hill, in the city of Portland, two women sat reading.
+
+It was an autumn afternoon, just after a light shower, a little warm
+but rarely matched for the unusual splendor of its soft, dreamy
+atmosphere--calm and clear as infinite space.
+
+The incessant roar of the city's commerce floated up and through the
+screened windows in muffled echoes, but the readers being accustomed
+to the sound, were undisturbed.
+
+At length one of the readers, a girl who had not seen more than twenty
+summers, closed the book she had just finished reading and broke the
+silence with the remark: "Most interesting! A great story!"
+
+"Yes," exclaimed her companion, looking up, "particularly in its
+treatment of the bogus Count. Indeed, it is realistic enough to be
+true."
+
+"So it appears!" replied the maid, "but just imagine such a thing to
+happen--as for instance a tramp to impersonate successfully Lord
+Beauchamp!"
+
+"My Lord is a gentleman 'to the manor born,' and impossible of
+counterfeit."
+
+"I understand the reception by Mrs. Harris is to be given in his
+honor?"
+
+"Yes," replied Mrs. Thorpe, and smiling she went on: "He has promised
+to take tea with us today."
+
+"And do you know," said Hazel in an awed tone, "he's a Knight of the
+Order of the Garter? It is reported that he is to be married to a
+beautiful San Francisco girl."
+
+"I have heard it mentioned, but I hardly think his Lordship seeks a
+wife in America, because he is very wealthy."
+
+"But, Constance,--love is sometimes eccentric!"
+
+"Quite true, when its underlying motive is mercenary. You remember
+Philip Rutley."
+
+"Constance!" exclaimed the girl, with a stamp of her foot. "You know
+the wise proverb, 'Let sleeping dogs lie.'"
+
+It was then that Philip Rutley, impersonating Lord Beauchamp, was
+ushered in, accompanied by Mr. Joseph Corway.
+
+"Ah! My Lord," greeted Constance arising from her seat. "This
+delightful corner has lured us to forget to welcome you at the portal
+of our home. Allow me the pleasure of introducing Miss Hazel Brooke,
+and you, Mr. Corway,--well you know we are always 'at home' to you."
+
+As Rutley deliberately placed a monocle to his eye, he said, "A corner
+with such an entrancing vista," carelessly waving his hand toward the
+open, "is a pardonable lure to dreamy forgetfulness."
+
+Then he stared at the girl and, as he supposed, conveyed the desired
+impression, muttered: "Charming!" and that word, uttered with quiet
+and apparently involuntary emphasis, at once made Hazel Brooke his
+friend, and, to add to the favorable impression which Rutley perceived
+he had created, he bowed low and said suavely: "Miss Brooke will
+permit me to say, I rejoice in her acquaintance."
+
+"Your Lordship may find me a deceiver."
+
+"I shall not believe so winsome a flower can be unreal." And he again
+fixed the monocle to his eye and stared at her in pleased assurance.
+
+"Art simulates many charming things of nature," remarked Mrs. Thorpe,
+and she slyly glanced at Hazel.
+
+The girl almost laughed; but her gentle breeding came to the rescue,
+and she bore Rutley's stare with admirable nonchalance, until Mr.
+Corway, feeling a little amused at Lord Beauchamp's monopoly of the
+girl's attention answered Mrs. Thorpe: "Yet nature cannot be excelled
+in anything that is beautiful in art."
+
+For which he received from the girl a smile that thrilled him with a
+conviction that no lord, no croesus, nor commoner, could dethrone him
+from her heart.
+
+The ordeal in which Hazel found herself under Rutley's disconcerting
+stare, was terminated by Mrs. Thorpe.
+
+"Your Lordship must be familiar with many beautiful things of nature.
+By the way, I want you to visit our conservatory. We have some choice
+exotics there from the Orinoco."
+
+Rutley removed his monocle, and turned to Mrs. Thorpe. "My secretary
+obtained some rare specimens in Bogota, nevertheless I shall consider
+it a pleasure to visit your collection, for indeed it must be superb,
+judging from such natural beauty already in evidence."
+
+"You are coming, too," said Mrs. Thorpe, turning to Hazel and Mr.
+Corway.
+
+"Thanks!--that is,--we shall join you presently," stammered Mr. Corway,
+looking at Hazel with a half smile.
+
+Mrs. Thorpe looked amused as she said: "Oh, very well," and then,
+halting on the threshold, turned again and added: "Hazel, dear, don't
+forget the conservatory."
+
+Rutley and Mrs. Thorpe had scarcely gone when Hazel exclaimed: "Well!
+I'm waiting for you."
+
+"Of course," Corway replied haltingly; then, after a pause, "Hazel!"
+
+"Miss Brooke--please," she corrected, with a tantalizing smile.
+
+"Oh--confound it. Hazel"--he began again.
+
+"Are you coming?" she interrupted, moving away, but with an
+aggravating smile playing fitfully about her face.
+
+Whereupon he bowed low, with mock formality, approached her offering
+his arm. "I crave the honor."
+
+The girl placed her hand in his arm with a promptness that flushed his
+face, but immediately blanched it with the teasing remark: "It's to be
+only as far as the conservatory, you know."
+
+"And from there around the grounds," he replied tenderly.
+
+"Oh!" she exclaimed. "You insist on going the rounds with me? Oh, very
+well!" and they laughed together.
+
+Shortly after they had gone, the portieres of an entrance to the left
+were cautiously parted and a young girl peeped in, then entered the
+room. She was the embodiment of youth, happiness and expectancy.
+
+She was dressed in the whitest of white muslin. A narrow band of
+magenta-colored silk encircled her slender waist, the long, loose ends
+of the bow flowing almost to her feet, while her mass of raven black
+hair drawn back from her fair white forehead, and coiled at the back
+of her shapely head lent a queenly grace to a divinely moulded form.
+
+The suppleness of her carriage, intensified by the simplicity of her
+soft, faultless dress, was a poem of delight which needed no skill of
+adornment to beautify; no touch of art to dignify.
+
+Across the room she stole, as lightly as though her feet were winged,
+and listened at the door.
+
+"I am sure I heard his voice!" Then with a smile of joy, she tripped
+to the open window overlooking the piazza, and looked out,
+murmuring--"how I long to see him. My Joe! Handsome, manly Joe, I adore
+you. And these, his flowers--his favorite flower, our beautiful rose,"
+drawing from her hair two red roses, which she kissed again and again.
+
+"I hurried home because I could not remain away from you, and now--oh,
+the joy of a glad surprise--I hear footsteps!" and she listened
+expectantly, then turned to behold Mrs. Harris, an elderly lady of
+portly bearing and elegantly dressed, who was at that moment entering
+from the piazza.
+
+"Why, Virginia, I am delighted. You look the happiest girl in the
+land," taking her hand and kissing her. "Oregon peach-bloom on your
+cheeks, too; I'll wager you are just in from the farm, you hayseed."
+
+"Yes, and I've had the most delightful time," replied the girl softly.
+"Romped over the fields of sweet-smelling clover, and through the
+orchards, and helped in the hay-field, too," she laughed joyously.
+
+"Hands up! I mean the palms," said Mrs. Harris, in mock severity. "It
+must have been a silver rake you handled in the hay-field," she
+resumed, after scrutinizing the palms of Virginia's outstretched
+hands, "for there isn't even a callous."
+
+"It is harvest time," replied the girl, laughing, "and the harvest
+moon is death to callouses, you know."
+
+"We've missed you, dear, at Seaside," said Mrs. Harris. "But still you
+look just as charming as though you had been there the entire season."
+
+"You rude flatterer. The seaside is nice, but I love our dear old farm
+home in the valley, best. Yet"--Virginia continued, demurely, with
+downcast eyes, "it seemed a little dull this year, and, you see, I
+have a reason for coming in before the harvest is over."
+
+As the girl stood with downcast eyes, her countenance appeared
+exquisitely regular, dignified and very beautiful.
+
+"Ah, dear!" exclaimed Mrs. Harris, with admiration. "An affair of the
+heart--a man in it, eh, dear?--I know him. He will be here in a few
+moments--lucky fellow!"
+
+"Will he?--are you sure?"
+
+"Dear me! How joyful you are!" said Mrs. Harris, staring kindly at
+her.
+
+"Oh, if you had been away from your sweetheart for so long a time as I
+have been from mine"--
+
+"Ha! ha! ha! ha!" laughed Mrs. Harris. "Why, Virginia dear, only two
+weeks! Really you carry me back to my own girlish days, just after I
+met James--I remember well--my heart nearly fluttered out of its place."
+
+"My heart fluttered out of its place weeks and weeks ago, and will not
+flutter back, unless"--
+
+"Unless what, dear?"
+
+"Unless he despises it," she said, with a sigh.
+
+"Well, the dear boy is pining to see you. That I know, so there is a
+pair of you."
+
+"Is he getting thin?" questioned Virginia, eagerly.
+
+"Not exactly, but--listen!" And Mrs. Harris held up a warning finger as
+she looked out over the piazza.
+
+"He is coming!"
+
+"Oh, dear!" exclaimed Virginia, in an ecstacy of joy. "I shall hide
+and surprise him. Oh! his favorites have wilted. I will pluck fresh
+ones in the conservatory, and hasten back--don't tell!" and with that
+she flew out of the room through the portieres.
+
+As Mrs. Harris stood alone in a contemplative mood, she said aloud to
+herself: "Oh, dear! These hearts of ours! How foolish they make us at
+times--I have often thought our Sam was a 'lady killer,' now I am sure
+of it."
+
+Just then Sam Harris stepped across the piazza and entered the room.
+
+Sam was a young man just having passed his twenty-fourth birthday. His
+strong chin was indicative of fidelity to his friends, and his mass of
+reddish, curly hair lent expression to a jovial expression of
+countenance.
+
+Sam was particularly joyous in anticipation of meeting Virginia
+Thorpe. "Have you seen her, Auntie?" and he straightway opened a door
+leading to the library and looked in; then he closed it.
+
+Mrs. Harris quietly watched him and became disturbed with misgivings,
+lest his zeal in his present frame of mind would impair the dignity
+she considered so essential to his enterprise as well as to the
+position the Harrises held in society.
+
+It was therefore necessary to impress on him the importance of
+"proper" form, which she immediately undertook, and addressed him with
+calm stateliness.
+
+"Now, Sam, I warn you to be careful how you greet Virginia. Remember,
+though but twenty-two, she is an accomplished young lady."
+
+"Don't I know it!" he replied, with a satisfied smile.
+
+"Don't touch the portieres, Sam! Sam!" she exclaimed in alarm, but her
+command was unheeded, and Sam spread them wide apart, much to his
+aunt's consternation.
+
+No one being behind the portiere, she appeared amazed, but quickly
+recovering her composure, continued:
+
+"Dear me! How very strange! Oh, yes, I forgot. She has gone to the
+conservatory." Then she muttered in low tones:
+
+"Now I have said it, and she told me not to tell."
+
+"Well, I'm off to the conservatory, too--eh, Auntie! Don't follow me,"
+and he strode toward the piazza.
+
+"Sam! Sam! Remain here. I have something to say to you."
+
+"Well, be quick, Auntie. You know I am crazy to see her. Eh! I guess
+so."
+
+"'Crazy!' Well, remember the least display of rudeness or unseemly
+eagerness will be promptly met with a frown of displeasure."
+
+"Auntie, she's finer than the petals of a rose."
+
+"But, like a rose, too, she is just as sensitive," cautioned Mrs.
+Harris, as she majestically moved over to the mantel--and then she
+abruptly turned, at a fresh thought. "Sam, for the sake of our social
+prestige--for my own hope that your affection shall be reciprocated"--
+
+"Love, Auntie!" interrupted Sam. "That's the word. It's short and to
+the point. Eh?"
+
+Quite undisturbed by the interruption, she continued: "And for the
+supreme pleasure it would afford me to see the house of Harris united
+to the house of Thorpe, I desire that you give me an example of the
+manner you intend to approach Virginia."
+
+The idea appeared so grotesque to Sam that he gave a slight
+inclination of his head, a habit he had somehow acquired in the
+"Desert," and exclaimed in startled emphasis: "Ea-Ah! How?"
+
+"By addressing me as you would her."
+
+With a smile broadening his face and a roguish twinkle of the eye, he
+exclaimed: "Can't be done, Auntie! You ain't the real thing. Can't
+work up any excitement over a counterfeit."
+
+"Sam! It grieves me to say that I fear for your success. Her rejection
+of your suit would mean humiliation for us. Therefore I insist that
+you remember what I have told you and address Virginia as I shall
+instruct you."
+
+Sam was too shrewd to oppose his aunt's determination--a previous
+experience having taught him the desirability of quietly agreeing with
+her notions, so with a smile of acquiescence he answered:
+
+"All right, Auntie! Fire away."
+
+Drawing herself up in a stately pose, she passed to the end of the
+room, turned, and again faced him. "Now, Sam, I request you to impress
+upon your memory every word I utter, so that you may salute your
+lady-love in a similar manner. Do you comprehend?"
+
+"I think so, Auntie," and thereupon thrust his hands in his trouser
+pockets.
+
+"Sam, remove your hands from your pockets. It is neither good form nor
+in accordance with polite usage, for a gentleman to bury his hands in
+his trouser pockets, when in the presence of a lady."
+
+"All right, Auntie!" and he grinned broadly as he removed the
+offending hands.
+
+With a most affable smile, yet maintaining a dignified carriage, she
+advanced down the room, halted midway, and gracefully bowed, then
+continuing, extended her hand, which Sam took. She again bowed and
+carried his hand to her lips; then taking both his hands in hers and
+looking straight into his eyes, smiled and said:
+
+"I am delighted to have the honor of congratulating Miss Thorpe on her
+safe return." She then released his hands and proceeded across the
+room.
+
+"Is that all?" came from Sam, in a burst of dismay.
+
+Mrs. Harris turned sharply and emphatically exclaimed: "Yes, Sam. In
+your conversation with Virginia beware of gushing familiarity. Nothing
+to my mind is more likely to jeopardize your suit than absurd
+vulgarity." So saying, she again turned and proceeded toward the door.
+
+"Auntie, I can do better than that. Why, you left out the best part."
+And his eyes twinkled mischieviously, while a laugh on his face was
+suppressed with difficulty.
+
+She turned quickly, and in much surprise exclaimed: "Dear me! I didn't
+know it. What is it?"
+
+"I will show you." With that Sam passed to the end of the room and
+turned. "Now, Auntie, I'll try to think that you are my sweetheart,
+Virginia."
+
+Smiling, he proceeded down the room, halted midway, bowed and then
+continued toward his aunt, took her right hand, clasped it between his
+two, and looked into her eyes. He then raised her hand to his left
+shoulder and while he held it there, pressed her waist with his right
+arm--"I am delighted to welcome you home again." Pressing her closer to
+him--"Believe me--I--I can never forget--that I--I,"--then he became
+absent-minded and, to save himself, suddenly blurted out--"I love
+you--there!" And he kissed her lips and embraced her vigorously. Then,
+with a whirl, he released her, laughing as he did so, and exclaimed:
+"Ah ha! I guess so, eh, Auntie?"
+
+Mrs. Harris recovered herself, in the middle of the room, and gasped
+out: "Oh, dear! What a shock. I am sure I am twisted all out of
+shape."
+
+Sam stood with a satisfied grin on his face, and thrust his hands in
+his trouser pockets, and watched her. "That was love! The real
+thing--eh, Auntie!"
+
+"Dear me," she exclaimed, between her labored breathing. "I was never
+treated to anything so rude in my life. Your arm, Sam. Assist me to
+the piazza. I must have more air."
+
+"Auntie, you wait till I try it on Virginia. Oh, my! Eh!"
+
+Meanwhile a little scene was being enacted in the conservatory,
+destined to produce the gravest consequences to others than those
+directly concerned. After examining the rare plants, Mrs. Thorpe and
+My Lord had passed out to an attractive bed of massed chrysanthemums,
+fringed with geraniums, then in full flower--leaving Hazel and Corway
+alone.
+
+Propitious fate again granted him the opportunity he so ardently
+desired.
+
+They were looking at some violet buds, concealed by giant Canna leaves
+and a profusion of palms, when there passed through the girl's frame
+one of those mysterious thrills--which man designates magnetic, but
+which Providence has really made inscrutable to the human
+understanding.
+
+"I wonder," she faintly exclaimed, and slowly turning her head--their
+lips met.
+
+Though stolen, it was delicately done--one of those exquisite little
+gems of cause and effect, which naturally happen to true sweethearts.
+
+They stood looking at each other in surprised silence.
+
+"I did not grant you that privilege," at length broke from Hazel, in a
+faltering manner--her cheeks flushing and her soft blue eyes dancing.
+
+"I could not resist the temptation," and taking her two hands in his,
+added: "Hazel, I love you! Will you be mine?"
+
+"Why, Mr. Corway!" replied the maid, disengaging herself.
+
+She spoke and acted quietly, while a bewitching smile shone in her
+eyes.
+
+At that moment, unnoticed by them, a shadow suddenly darkened the
+doorway. It did not tarry long, and swiftly disappeared.
+
+Unseen herself, Virginia had entered the conservatory, her footfalls
+as light as her joyous young heart, the happiest of the happy.
+
+Hearing that voice, she had paused, then gently parted some leaves
+and--the smile died on her lips.
+
+She stood for a moment like one transfixed, listening in an amazed
+wonder, then, undiscovered, she silently withdrew into deeper foliage.
+
+"Why draw away from me, Hazel?" went on Corway.
+
+"Because! You may not be sincere!" replied the girl, shyly.
+
+"Not sincere? Hazel, from the first moment that I beheld you I felt
+that I stood in the presence of my fate."
+
+"But, Mr. Corway,"--she returned, with that provoking smile still
+lurking about the corners of her pretty mouth--"don't you love any
+other?"
+
+"No," he softly replied.
+
+"Are you sure?"
+
+"Sure!"
+
+"Not even Virginia?"
+
+"I respect her, but do not love her--Oh, Hazel, do not keep me in
+suspense. Tell me you requite my love--promise to be mine, to cherish
+and protect forever"--and again he took her unresisting hand in his and
+drew her near him.
+
+"Well, this is so serious that--don't you think that I should have a
+little time to consider it?"
+
+Her face had taken on a half-serious look, but the little cloud was
+quickly chased away by a happy smile.
+
+Nor did it escape the eager eye of her sweet-heart. He saw that her
+hesitation was not to be taken seriously, and as a test he said in
+soft, tremulous accents: "Then the girl I would die for does not love
+me, does not care for me--"
+
+Turning half around to him, in a pleading and half-reproachful way,
+she tenderly emphasized: "Oh, I do love you, Joe, with all my heart."
+And throwing wide her arms, fell on his breast, with the joy of a
+maiden's first love flushing her face.
+
+And then their lips met--deep in the sweet intoxication of love's first
+confiding trust.
+
+"Thou perfect flower! To express the fullness of my heart would be
+impossible," he joyfully exclaimed.
+
+And thus, while pressing her hand on his shoulder and feeling a ring
+on her finger, he gently removed it.
+
+"Oh! that's Virginia's ring; that is, I got it from her," she
+protested feebly, her head pillowed on his breast.
+
+"It shall be a 'Mizpah' of trust, dearest, and shall come back to you
+with an engagement ring," he softly replied, as he slipped it into his
+vest pocket.
+
+In one of Virginia's happy girlish moments, she had picked up the ring
+from Constance's dressing table, and admiring its beauty, smilingly
+slipped it upon her own finger, with the owner's permission to wear it
+awhile, but with the injunction to "be careful not to lose it, dear,
+for I value it very highly. It was John's gift to me before we were
+married"--and then later, on that same day, with Hazel's arm clasping
+her waist and her own arm clasping Hazel's, the two happy girls
+strolling through the grounds--to have Hazel remove it in the same
+admiring fashion and slip it on her own finger, Virginia yielding to
+her young cousin, just as Constance, in perfect trust, yielded to her.
+And then in the morning, all forgetful of the ring, she left for the
+Valley farm.
+
+And now, on her sudden return, she beheld that same ring taken by
+Corway as a size for Hazel's engagement ring, and heard him declare
+"it shall be a Mizpah of trust, dearest."
+
+A sigh unconsciously escaped her; a sigh freighted with the blood of
+fibers as love tore itself away from her heart.
+
+Hazel heard it, and in alarm said to Corway: "What is that? Did you
+hear it? So like a moan?"
+
+He looked around. "You were mistaken, dearest; there is none here but
+you and me."
+
+"Oh, yes, I heard it"--and with a timidity in which a slight sense of
+fear was discernible, said: "Let us go out in the open."
+
+But he held her firm, loath to release the beautiful being clasped
+close to his heart.
+
+"This is for truest love"--and he kissed her again, as she looked up
+through eyes of unswerving fidelity. "This for never-faltering
+constancy"--and again their lips met--"And this, a sacred pledge of
+life's devotion, God helping me, forever more"--and their lips met yet
+once again.
+
+Then they passed out to join Mrs. Thorpe and Rutley.
+
+Virginia had witnessed the pledge that meant the blighting of her
+life's fond hopes, and she had heard his passionate declaration.
+
+With straining eyes and a very white face, she watched them depart,
+till there welled up and gathered thick-falling tears that mercifully
+shut him out from her sight. She sat down on a bench.
+
+She thought of the honeyed words and eager attention with which he
+wooed her, and made captive her young heart's deepest, most ardent
+passion, and now his perfidy was laid bare.
+
+With an effort she became more composed, and exclaimed aloud: "So, the
+almighty dollar is the object of Joseph Corway's devotion." And as her
+indignation increased, she sprang from her seat, and with quivering
+voice, said: "Oh, God! and I did confide in him so fondly, trusted him
+so guilelessly, and now our engagement is ended and all is over
+between us--forever." And notwithstanding her effort to suppress them,
+sob after sob burst forth.
+
+Strong-minded and of powerful emotions, Virginia Thorpe was a queenly
+woman, a woman whose friendship was prized by her acquaintances, and
+whose wealth of intellect was a charm to a strikingly graceful figure;
+and the love that was in her nature once awakened, grew and
+intensified day by day till at last a steadfast blaze of trust and
+confidence glorified her personality.
+
+Such she bore for Corway--until she discovered he loved Hazel. Oh, what
+a change then came over her, as her heart yielded up its dearest
+desire in tears of scalding bitterness.
+
+"Oh, Joe! tenderly I loved you, passionately I adored you, and you led
+me to believe that you loved none but me, yet all the time your heart
+had gone out to another, and this is no doubt the real reason you
+wanted our engagement to be kept a secret, and my love, which no woman
+had greater, was but a plaything!" she thought to herself.
+
+She looked at the roses she had unconsciously held in her hand, with
+infinite tenderness, then crushed them, and broke them.
+
+"Farewell, sweet emblems of truth and love." And throwing the flowers,
+which she had so fondly kissed but a few moments before, among dead
+leaves on the ground, said in a voice that trembled with the pathos of
+the death of love's young dream:
+
+"Thus perish all my young life's happy hopes. Gone! Gone among the
+things that are dead." Sobs of bitterest disappointment again burst
+from her lips.
+
+Suddenly she brushed her hand across her eyes--it was then that
+Virginia's transformation took place.
+
+From the guileless, joyful, winsome maid, emerged a woman--beautiful,
+but alas, subtle, alert and avenging. With a stamp of her foot she
+said, with sudden determination:
+
+"Away with these tears. What have I to do with human feelings now? I
+will conquer this weakness, though in the process my heart be changed
+to stone.
+
+"Now, Corway, beware of me, for you shall know that the love you have
+toyed with has changed to hate, an unappeasable, undying hate, and you
+shall learn, too, that a woman's revenge will pause at nothing that
+will help to gratify it." Then she slipped out of the conservatory,
+with the intention to get to her room, if possible, unobserved, but
+was halted by hearing Constance say: "Virginia, dear! I wish to make
+you acquainted with Lord Beauchamp."
+
+There was no chance for evasion or escape. Virginia had not noticed
+them as she passed, for they were hidden by the angle of the
+conservatory, and she was quite close to them when addressed by
+Constance.
+
+Quick of wit, the girl realized that some excuse was necessary to
+account for the appearance of her tear-stained face. Halting in her
+flight, she drew her handkerchief and commenced to rub her eyes, and
+speaking with faltering lips, for the wound in her heart was yet raw
+and tender, she said: "Your Lordship finds me at an awkward
+moment--something has gotten into my eye, and causes me acute pain, but
+please believe, I esteem it an honor to number Your Grace among my
+acquaintances."
+
+"Dear heart!" exclaimed Constance, at once proceeding to examine the
+girl's eye. "Let me try to relieve you!"
+
+As Virginia felt the touch of loving fingers on her eyelids, she felt
+powerless to restrain her emotion, and great tears welled up. Her
+weary head fell forward upon her friend's shoulder, and she sobbed:
+"Oh, Constance, dear, the world to me is one black charnel house."
+
+The gentle nature of Constance leaped out in sympathy which, for the
+moment, smothered her surprise. She threw her arms around Virginia and
+kissed her on the temple.
+
+That Virginia suffered was enough, she felt instinctively that such an
+outburst of grief was from a far deeper source than that produced by
+the mote in her eye.
+
+Virginia always had confided in Constance. That desire to communicate,
+so natural in youth, was strong in the girl. In Hazel, she had been
+met with a sort of pity, till she ceased to touch upon girlish secrets
+with her altogether, but in Constance she found one who would not
+chide even folly, and so these two were, by the nature of things, very
+close friends.
+
+"There, dear heart," soothingly said Constance, "rest awhile, for I
+know the pain must be severe."
+
+Rutley was an involuntary witness to this bit of feminine sympathy,
+and, no doubt, recalled it to memory in the events that were to come.
+His immediate concern, however, expressed itself in a cold,
+matter-of-fact manner. "Oftentimes," he said, "the protection supplied
+by nature to the human eye seems insufficient, and consequent
+suffering must be endured. I trust Miss Thorpe will soon find relief."
+
+"Oh! I am sure the pain is only temporary," half rebelliously replied
+Virginia, drawing away from Constance, and rapidly recovering her
+self-possession, as she brushed the tears from her eyes. "There," she
+said, "it is passing away now, and I can see quite distinctly already.
+Why, how like your lordship resembles a past acquaintance," she
+remarked, as she eyed him critically.
+
+"Indeed, if the acquaintance you mention was not consigned to the
+gallows, it might be no sin to resemble him," responded Rutley,
+stroking his Vandyke beard.
+
+"Oh! his offense was quite serious, poor fellow! Some shady bond
+transaction with an investment association, in which he, and one Jack
+Shore, were the officers. I have heard that the directors agreed not
+to prosecute them on condition that they left the city and never
+returned."
+
+"In England, were it not for the color of my hair, I should have been
+taken often for the Marquis of Revelstoke," and to the girl's dismay,
+he stiffened up and directed on her a most austere and frigid look,
+then deliberately fixed the monocle to his eye, and remarked, as his
+frame faintly quivered, as with a slight chill--"It's deuced draughty,
+don't-che-know!"
+
+He then removed the monocle, and suddenly resumed his habitually suave
+manner. Picking up a binocle, which lay on the table, he turned to
+look toward Mt. Hood--"Sublime!" he exclaimed.
+
+"It is very beautiful and white today," remarked Constance.
+
+"Indeed," assured Rutley, "it seems close enough to touch with my
+outstretched hand."
+
+"My lord's arm would need to be thirty miles long," smiled Mrs.
+Thorpe, who was then ascending the steps.
+
+"A long reach," responded Rutley, lowering the glass.
+
+"The illusion is due to our clear atmosphere," replied Mrs. Thorpe.
+
+"I presume so," agreed Rutley.
+
+"At times the air is phenomenally clear. One day this past Summer I
+fancied I could make out the 'Mazamas,' who were then ascending the
+mountain," quietly remarked Virginia.
+
+"Aw, indeed, very likely; quite so," continued Rutley, handing the
+glass to Constance, and then turning to Virginia with an alluring
+smile, added: "And then, the ladies--are so bewitchingly entertaining."
+
+"Presumably your idea of American girls has suggested the art of
+flattery."
+
+"No, no!" he replied. "It's no flattery, I assure you."
+
+Just then Hazel and Mr. Corway approached the group standing on the
+piazza.
+
+Virginia saw them, and with an affected sigh, she turned to John
+Thorpe, who was standing at the head of the piazza steps, and who also
+was looking at the approaching couple, and taking him aside, said in a
+low voice: "John, has it occurred to you that Corway is a handsome
+man?"
+
+"He certainly is good looking and well proportioned, too," replied
+Thorpe, with a quizzical stare at his sister, and his stare developed
+a smile, as he added, pleasantly: "But why?--are you, too, becoming
+enamored of this handsome man?"
+
+With downcast eyes, and sudden flushed cheeks, that betrayed the shame
+she felt at the part she had elected to assume, her answer was given
+in a low, serious voice: "I have reason to warn you as my cousin's
+guardian, that his intentions are not of the best."
+
+Thorpe felt a strange gripping sensation creep into his heart, and
+then he, too, looked serious, but his seriousness quickly passed, as
+he thoughtfully muttered: "No, no, 'tis impossible!" and then, in a
+more unperturbed manner, said slowly: "His reputation for honor and
+rectitude is above reproach."
+
+Though his muttering was scarcely audible, Virginia heard him. "Are
+you sure?" she replied, in a voice equally subdued, and with a flash
+of anger in her meaning glance. "You may find that he will bear
+watching. And you also may find that his attention to Hazel is an
+insult to our family honor."
+
+The possibility of Hazel, his guileless orphan niece, of whom he was
+so proud, could be the victim of a base deception, had never entered
+his mind, and so it happened that the first shadow that had darkened
+the serenity of his trust, was, strangely enough, projected by his
+sister.
+
+As his eyes again fell upon Hazel's sweet, sensible face, then lifted
+to the manly, honest countenance of her companion, he at once banished
+the fear from his mind, and impatiently exclaimed: "Oh, this is
+nonsense!" Then he turned on his heel, hesitated, and again turned,
+and looked furtively at Corway, muttering: "Yet I cannot banish the
+thought. I wonder what causes Virginia--no, I have never suspected him
+of vice." Then he slowly disappeared through the vestibule.
+
+As Corway and Hazel approached the steps, Virginia seemed to stiffen
+and slightly shudder. She felt like ice, and disdained the slightest
+recognition which he made to her. She turned away with a look of
+ineffable contempt, and moved slowly over to Rutley and Constance.
+
+Corway instinctively felt that she had been a witness to his scene
+with Hazel, but he affected unconcern, and allowed the incident to
+pass without comment.
+
+During the brief time this significant episode was being enacted,
+Hazel's attention was attracted to Sam and Dorothy approaching on the
+drive, so she was unaware of the change that had come over her cousin.
+
+"You must come in, Sam, 'cause I like you, and you haven't been to see
+us for a long time--Oh, mamma, we have had such fine fun, Sam and
+I"--and there appeared from around the corner of the piazza Dorothy
+Thorpe pulling Sam Harris along by the sleeve.
+
+"Well, Sam," said Mrs. Thorpe, overlooking him from the piazza, "we
+thought you had forgotten us."
+
+"No, indeed," replied Sam, and as he discovered Virginia, he added
+under his breath: "At least not while that fair party is around."
+
+"Of course, you have acted as Mrs. Harris' escort?"
+
+"My aunt is on the lawn," he answered, and then as he ascended the
+steps, greeted Virginia. "Miss Thorpe will permit me to congratulate
+her upon her safe return."
+
+"I have had quite a journey," replied Virginia coldly.
+
+"Well, you have enjoyed it?" ventured Sam, and then he noted a swift
+questioning glance of anger.
+
+In his dilemma, he felt an awkwardness creeping over him and grinned
+broadly, and then stupidly faltered: "That is, I guess so!"
+
+"You guess wide of the mark."
+
+"Aha," replied Sam, with a roguish twinkle of the eye, "my eyes do not
+deceive me, eh?"
+
+"Flattery is embarrassing to me. I beg of you to avoid it." And she
+thereupon, with a look of weariness, turned and disappeared through
+the vestibule.
+
+"I guess so! I guess so!" exclaimed Sam, abashed, and a flush of
+mortification overspread his face.
+
+"Do you like auntie, Sam?" abruptly questioned the child.
+
+She had softly stolen to his side, unperceived, and her voice sounded
+so close as to startle him.
+
+"Ea, ah!--well, I should think so," he unconsciously muttered.
+
+"Mercy!" exclaimed Mrs. Thorpe, who could ill repress a
+smile--"Dorothy, dear! I think the robins are calling for you out in
+the sunshine."
+
+"Come, little one," said Sam, glad of an opportunity to escape from an
+awkward position. "And while you are listening to the feathered
+songsters, I'll keep a sharp lookout for the fair party you call
+auntie. Come," and he took the child's hand and the two ran down the
+steps. Darting around the corner, they almost collided with John
+Thorpe and Mrs. Harris, who were approaching to join the company on
+the piazza.
+
+"Ha--democratic Hazel in the role of 'noblesse oblige,' is something
+new--congratulations, my lord, on the conquest!" said Mrs. Harris.
+
+"I am proud of the acquaintance of so fair a a democrat," and
+confronting Mrs. Harris, he continued: "England's nobility lays homage
+at the feet of your fair democrats, for they are the golden links in
+the chain of conquest."
+
+"And it is my hope that soon one of the golden links will bear the
+distinguished title, Lady Beauchamp," replied Mrs. Harris, while her
+eyes flashed a merry twinkle in the direction of Hazel.
+
+"Of course," remarked Mr. Corway, who, flushed with jealousy resented
+the allusion. "His lordship doubtless since his arrival in the country
+has been overwhelmed with offerings of the youth and beauty of
+America."
+
+"It seems to me that you are talking in mysteries," remarked Hazel.
+
+Mr. Corway moved toward her. "I appeal to the shrine of beauteous Hebe
+for vindication."
+
+"Ha! ha! ha! ha!" laughed the girl. "Wouldn't it be a surprise if the
+appeal should be negative?"
+
+"But the shrine of Hebe is not often invincible," rejoined Constance.
+"You must remember there is hope and there is perseverence--but this is
+irrelevant," and, turning to Mrs. Harris, continued: "Have you left
+Mr. Harris at Rosemont?"
+
+"Oh, no! James is out in the flower garden, discussing rose culture
+with Virginia."
+
+"Then I propose that we join them," said Mrs. Thorpe.
+
+"And I suggest a stroll through the lovely lawn, under the glory of
+Autumn foliage," added Rutley, who immediately turned and offered
+Constance his arm, and the two passed down the steps.
+
+Hazel and Corway were following Rutley, when John Thorpe attracted the
+girl's attention by quietly exclaiming: "Hazel!"
+
+She at once turned to Corway: "I shall be with you directly--uncle has
+something to say to me."
+
+As Mr. Corway and Mrs. Harris passed down the steps, John Thorpe and
+Hazel entered the house.
+
+"You have something to say to me, Uncle?"
+
+"Yes, Hazel," and as they passed into the drawing room he bit his lip
+in an endeavor to appear unperturbed.
+
+With a girl's intuition, she scented something unpleasant, and with a
+timid and startled look, she faltered: "What--is it Uncle?"
+
+"Hazel," he began, and his eyes rested on his beautiful niece--very
+beautiful just then, her eyes bright and clear and "peach-bloom" of
+health, the famed Oregon coloring so becoming to the sex, and as he
+looked at her he became suddenly conscious of a struggle raging in his
+breast. A struggle between doubt and confidence--but he stumbled on
+slowly--"I think--you show more--concern for--a--the company of Mr. Corway
+than prudence--I mean--Hazel!"
+
+At that moment Virginia pushed aside the portiere and silently stepped
+into the room.
+
+John Thorpe paused, for he saw the girl's face whiten, and her eyes
+look into his with an expression of wonderment, and then his heart
+seemed to leap to his throat, and choke him with a sense of shame at
+his implication.
+
+He put his arm gently about her, looked into the depths of her blue
+eyes, and said, kindly: "As you love the memory of your father and
+your mother, Hazel, beware that you do not make too free in the
+society of Corway. Let your conduct be hedged about with propriety"----
+
+"Uncle!" she interrupted, drawing away from him like a startled fawn
+hit from ambush.
+
+Virginia saw her opportunity to sever the friendship between her
+brother and Corway.
+
+Before her transformation she would have been shocked beyond measure
+at so wicked a falsehood, as she then decided to launch. Impelled by a
+consuming desire for revenge, no blush of shame checked her mad
+course, and "no still small voice" warned her of her sin.
+
+She said: "John, if our family honor is to be protected from scandal,
+you will prevent your niece from having further to do with Mr.
+Corway."
+
+Both John and Hazel turned toward her. A deep silence ensued.
+
+Implicit trust and confidence, the confidence begotten in perfect
+domestic peace and contentment, had followed John Thorpe--but now, for
+the first time, he found a tinge of shame and indignation had crept
+into his heart--and he could not banish it.
+
+At last he gravely broke the silence--"Have you no answer to this,
+Hazel?"
+
+The girl's eyes flashed resentment, but she refrained from angry
+expression, for to her uncle she always showed the greatest deference,
+yet her voice trembled a little as she said, with girlish dignity: "I
+decline to reply to such an absurdity."
+
+"Hazel!" warned Virginia, "you are dangerously near ruin when in the
+company of that man, for his reputation is anything but clean."
+
+Again a painful silence followed, Hazel, appearing incapable of
+clearly understanding just what it was all about, stood dumb with
+astonishment, while John's varied emotions were seen plainly through
+the thin veneer of tranquility he tried to maintain.
+
+John Thorpe was jealous of the honor of his house. The mere thought of
+its possible violation bruised and lacerated him.
+
+Proud of his high position in society; proud of his high rectitude;
+proud of his father's untarnished life; proud of the fact that not the
+faintest shadow of scandal could ever attach to his house or name--the
+hinted criminations of his his orphan niece, maintained in his home as
+one of the family, beat upon him with much the same effect as the
+horrifying wings of a bat upon the face of a frightened child.
+
+Virginia saw and felt that the crisis of her ruse was near. Again a
+flush of daring sprang into her eyes, ominous of deeper sin, but John
+unconsciously spared her from further commitment. Doubt was master at
+last, for he chose to lean toward Virginia.
+
+"Hazel!" he exclaimed, his white, grave face betraying a keen sense of
+his shame. "Your rash fondness for that man is a sacrifice of
+affection, and I shall forbid him visiting our house."
+
+"A wise precaution," commented Virginia.
+
+At last Hazel's indignation broke through all restraint.
+
+"I am astonished at your implications," she retorted, her voice
+becoming pathetic with the sense of her wounded honor. "My 'rash
+fondness'! Uncle!" and she drew her slight form up erect, her eyes
+flashing defiance: "If to believe in Mr. Corway's preferment is a
+sacrifice of affection, then that sacrifice is to me an exalted honor,
+for I have consented to become his wife!"
+
+"Hazel!" gasped John Thorpe, amazed and dismayed at her declaration.
+
+"I have suspected such a calamity would happen--but even now it is not
+too late to prevent it!" exclaimed Virginia, sharply.
+
+"Why, Virginia," reproached Hazel, with a stamp of her foot. "You
+insult me!" and she turned away to conceal the tears that arose.
+
+During a short, impressive silence, Mrs. Harris abruptly entered the
+room, followed by Corway and Sam. "Dear me!" she exclaimed, as she
+smilingly surveyed the trio, "James has often gone into raptures over
+the domestic cooing of the Thorpes, but I was quite unaware that it
+made them careless of the wishes of their guests.
+
+"Thorpe, your arm"--and she swept down the room and seized his arm.
+"Hazel, I have brought you an escort," and with a smile at Virginia,
+"I don't think that Sam is far away. You cannot refuse to come now."
+
+Hazel proudly accepted Corway's arm. Then they turned to leave the
+room. As they neared the door, Virginia exclaimed, with low but
+startling irony: "Il. cavalier is careful to make it appear he is
+delighted with the society of his affianced. No doubt feeling an
+honorable justification for his mercenary felicity. Ho, ho," Virginia
+laughed, her lips quivering with scorn. "The situation is charming.
+Ha, ha, ha, ha."
+
+The principals to this little drama understood its meaning perfectly,
+but while Mrs. Harris paused for an instant in wonderment, her easy
+nature forbade worry--and so the incident quickly passed out of her
+memory, and Sam was too shrewd to show that he heard it, and with his
+round face beaming with unquenchable admiration, bowed and offered his
+arm to her, accompanied by the characteristic side movement of his
+head--"Ea, ha, I guess so--eh, Auntie?"
+
+The joyous manner of utterance was like a shaft of sunshine bursting
+through the dark, tragic clouds of impending storm.
+
+Virginia's first attack fell short of accomplishing the purpose
+intended, yet the seed of doubt, of suspicion and fear of family
+disgrace had been grounded in her brother's mind, and it would be
+strange, indeed, if Corway's position proved invulnerable to more
+carefully-planned attacks.
+
+It must be remembered that an opportunity had come at an unexpected
+moment, and she impulsively seized upon it. Through it all, however,
+Virginia must be credited with a sincere belief that Corway's
+intentions toward Hazel were as insincere and mercenary as they had
+been to her.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+
+The night of the Harris reception at "Rosemont," in honor of Lord
+Beauchamp, was beautiful. Dark, yet serene and tranquil as the
+illimitable void through which the myriad of glittering stars swept
+along on their steady course.
+
+The long, gentle, sloping, velvety lawn, stretching away from the
+broad steps of the great columned piazza, down to the placid waters of
+the Willamette, was artistically beautified by clusters of magnolias
+and chestnut trees and native oaks and firs, while the soft sway of
+advanced Autumn was disclosed in the mellow, gorgeous tints of the oak
+and maple leaf projected against the dark evergreen of the stately
+fir; and afar off, to the north, through vistas in the foliage,
+gleamed the steady electric arc lights of the city.
+
+Marble statuary glistened in white repose, and groups of majestic
+palms and ferns and holly stood illumined in the soft light of frosted
+electric globes and quaint Oriental lanterns.
+
+Out from the deep shadow of a wide-spreading oak, and remote from the
+range of illumination, an old, decrepit and poorly clad man emerged,
+peering cautiously about, as if afraid of discovery. As he approached
+near the house and came under the gleams of light, it could be seen
+that he was gray-haired and a cripple, for he hobbled slowly with the
+aid of a stout stick. He proceeded to a clump of ferns and close to a
+high-back, rustic seat, behind which he stood partially concealed.
+
+Feeling satisfied that he had not been seen, and that he was alone,
+that part of the grounds being temporarily deserted, he muttered
+impatiently: "Where the devil does Rutley keep himself? I've been
+dodging about these grounds for an hour trying to locate him, and to
+get posted."
+
+The words had scarcely escaped his lips when down behind the seat he
+ducked.
+
+Simultaneously, Virginia Thorpe and William Harris appeared,
+descending the piazza steps.
+
+"Congratulations, Mr. Harris, on your reception. It is a brilliant
+affair, and the grounds are simply beautiful."
+
+"I am delighted at receiving congratulations from a lady whose taste
+is acknowledged without a peer."
+
+"Now, Mr. Harris, you know I object to flattery," responded Virginia,
+in a deprecating tone of voice. "Why, I have lost my fan. How
+unfortunate! I fear I have dropped it in the ball-room."
+
+"I shall try to find it immediately. No, no; no trouble whatever."
+
+"Thanks, Mr. Harris. I shall await your return here."
+
+As Mr. Harris hastened up the steps, Virginia leisurely moved a few
+yards, and then sat down on a seat, quite unconscious of the figure
+crouched in hiding behind it.
+
+The proximity of Virginia did not suit the fellow, and he forthwith
+endeavored to sneak away unseen, but the noise, faint as he made,
+attracted her attention.
+
+She sprang to her feet with a slight, terrified shriek, but quickly
+recovering her self-possession, as she noted his aged and bent
+condition, gently said: "Poor old man, your intrusion on these
+premises may be unwelcome." After a pause, evidently for an answer,
+she went on kindly: "Do you seek alms?"
+
+Leaning on his stick he humbly removed his hat, and said in abject
+tones: "Pitty da sorrar dees old-a da gray hairs. Eesa mak-a da bolda
+to come a da here, so much-a da rich-a kind-a people to da poor old-a
+men lik-a da me. Ten-a years eesa black-a da boot; saw da-ood, sella
+da ba-nan, turnoppsis, carrotsis, ca-babbages; do any-ting for
+mak-a-da mon, go back-a da sunny Italy. Look-a da lame! Canna da
+work--mussa da beg, sweet-a da lady--kind-a charity."
+
+"Dear me!" replied Virginia, regretfully. "I haven't a coin with me,
+but let me advise you to begone, for you must know that if you are
+discovered here your age will not protect you."
+
+The old man bowed low. "Essa many tanks, kind-a lady. Essa da go."
+
+"And mark me, sir," added Mr. Harris, who had quickly returned with
+the fan. "Should I find you loitering around these grounds again
+tonight, officers will take care of you."
+
+"Oh, Signor! Dona tell a da po-lis. Da poor a da old a man essa much
+da hunger. Begga do mon to buy a da bread. Eesa da all-a Signor. Eesa
+da all."
+
+"Oh, Mr. Harris, please lend me a coin for him. I fear he really is in
+need," broke in Virginia.
+
+"There!" responded Mr. Harris, throwing him a coin. "You can thank
+this benevolent lady, whose presence affords you liberty. Not a word.
+Off with you from these grounds. Begone."
+
+The old fellow picked up the half-dollar piece, and hobbling away,
+soon disappeared into the shadow.
+
+"It is a pleasure to return your fan. I found it in the vestibule
+uninjured."
+
+"Thanks, Mr. Harris," said Virginia, receiving the fan. "I shall be
+more careful of it hereafter."
+
+"Ea-ah, I guess so, eh, Uncle!" broke in Sam, striding toward them.
+
+"Oh, oh, Sam! Really!" laughed Mr. Harris, as he looked meaningly at
+him. "Ah! You seem delighted."
+
+"I think so, eh, Uncle," accompanied by the habitual side movement of
+his head. "Congratulate me on having found Miss Thorpe after a long
+search," and turning to Virginia, he added, with a smile broadening
+his face--"you have promised to dance with me. May I indulge in the
+pleasure now?"
+
+"Yes, Sam," she replied, with an air of fatigue, "but I would rather
+you defer the pleasure."
+
+"Miss Thorpe is fatigued and Sam is too much of a gallant to deny her
+a little rest," appealed Mr. Harris.
+
+"Cert!" answered Sam, as a shade of disappointment flitted across his
+face. "Anything I can do to serve Miss Thorpe shall be done."
+
+"Thank you, Sam," replied Virginia, relieved.
+
+"I will call upon Miss Thorpe to favor me with her company later, eh,
+Uncle?" and Sam bowed and quickly disappeared.
+
+"Sam is a noble-hearted fellow! Ranged the Texas plains a few years,
+didn't he?"
+
+"Yes," replied Mr. Harris. "When a lad he was threatened with
+consumption, and physicians recommended a few years of out-door life
+in Texas. It cured him, but he became a little fixed in the customs.
+Sterling fellow, though--great heart--all heart. Be seated," pointing to
+the seat which she had previously occupied.
+
+At that moment there appeared descending the piazza steps Mr. Corway,
+with Hazel and Constance on either side of him.
+
+"Your reason, Corway, for doubting his title of lord?" interrogated
+Constance.
+
+"I possess no proofs," replied Corway. "I but express an opinion," and
+he discreetly refrained from further utterance on the subject, though
+his thoughts were insistent on his identity of Lord Beauchamp as
+Philip Rutley.
+
+"But you must have some grounds even for an opinion," persisted
+Constance.
+
+"Well, if he is not a lord," hazarded Hazel, who, purposely or
+otherwise, by her joining the discussion, released Mr. Corway from an
+embarrassing reply, which at that time he was loath to make, "he
+certainly should be one, for he is such a dear, sweet man, so
+eminently exact and proper."
+
+"And so distinguished, don't-che-know," finished Mr. Corway, with such
+peculiarly keen mimicry and smiling abandon as to draw from Hazel a
+flash of admiration, and from Mrs. Thorpe a ripple of laughter with
+the remark, "Satire unmasked by Cupid."
+
+Further conversation was interrupted by Beauchamp himself, who
+appeared alone, descending the broad piazza steps. "It's so warm in
+there I decided to refresh a little in the cool air."
+
+He halted a moment on one of the steps, fixed the monocle to his left
+eye, and lordly surveyed the two groups.
+
+After evidently satisfying himself as to their personnel, he
+deliberately removed the monocle from his eye and resumed his passage
+down the steps. "Miss Thorpe here, and Mr. Harris, and Mrs. Thorpe,
+and the fair Hazel"--and ignoring Corway, he went on--"then I shall have
+no need to commune alone with my thoughts."
+
+"I am sure my Lord Beauchamp is too much of a devotee to the 'tripping
+muse' to absent himself very long from the ball-room?" volunteered
+Constance.
+
+"Indeed it would be difficult for me to enjoy myself for any length of
+time away from the place where, as Byron puts it, 'Youth and Beauty
+meet, to chase the glowing hours with flying feet.'" And moving over
+to Hazel, he said: "By the way, you have promised me the pleasure of
+dancing with you the next waltz."
+
+"Indeed!" replied the maid, eyeing him archly, "the honor of a waltz
+with my lord is too rare a favor to be neglected."
+
+The gracious and suave smile with which Rutley answered her was not at
+all appreciated by Mr. Corway.
+
+And as Rutley glanced his way, their eyes met. Virginia saw it. She
+instantly grasped the full meaning of that glance--the deadly hatred of
+rivals.
+
+Rutley, with familiarity begotten of mutual esteem, as he fondly
+hoped, linked Hazel's yielding arm in his and led her toward the
+piazza. "By the way," and he spoke very confidently, "Mr. Corway seems
+to have a warm attachment for Mrs. Thorpe"--
+
+The girl halted and looked questioningly at him.
+
+"I mean," continued Rutley, in a sort of apologetic tone, "he is
+apparently quite the lion with her."
+
+Passing a few feet near them were John Thorpe and Mrs. Harris, who had
+appeared unnoticed from another part of the grounds.
+
+John Thorpe plainly heard Rutley's allusion to Corway and his wife,
+and became profoundly sensible of that same strange feeling infolding
+him, as he experienced when Virginia first intimated Corway's
+questionable character. "Is it possible that, after all, Constance,
+and not Hazel, is the real object of his attention?"
+
+He was conscious of a sense of jealousy arising within him, and so
+strong and virulent as to be beyond control, and compelled him to turn
+aside, to conceal the anger that must be depicted on his face. He
+halted while Mrs. Harris joined Virginia and Mr. Harris.
+
+"Mrs. Thorpe is most attractive," Hazel at length replied.
+
+"I have heard that not long ago he was attached to Miss Thorpe, but
+lately has transferred his affection to another," continued Rutley.
+
+"Virginia was fond of his society, yet 'tis not always, you may
+remember, that those who have won our love return it."
+
+The strains of dreamy music drifted out upon the air.
+
+"Well, at present, Corway seems persistent in his attentions to Mrs.
+Thorpe."
+
+Again John Thorpe winced at the connection of his wife's name with
+Corway.
+
+And then Rutley felt himself pushed aside, while Corway offered his
+arm to Hazel.
+
+"Will you accompany me to the ball-room?"
+
+Hazel drew a step aside and exclaimed, half angrily, yet seemingly
+rather pleased at Corway's audacity.
+
+"Joe!"
+
+"Hazel!" he responded with just the faintest suggestion of command in
+his voice.
+
+It was his first assumption of authority over his affianced, and he
+won--for unlike the "feminine forwards" of the new school, she
+appreciated his strong character and showed it by clinging to his arm.
+
+Neither of these two men could be considered handsome, though Corway
+had the advantage of being more youthful and taller of stature, with
+large, bright eyes and dark curly hair, which with clear-cut, manly
+features, seemed to charm the fancy and captivate the maiden's eye.
+
+While Rutley's graceful and pliant frame carried more elegance, an
+assumed superb superiority, a cold, ironical disdain and lofty ease,
+bespoke an imperious nature, indifferent to that soft, beguilement so
+charming to women.
+
+Corway turned to Rutley, and, bowing low, exclaimed, with studied
+politeness: "I beg my lord's pardon," and so saying, he passed up the
+piazza steps with Hazel and disappeared within.
+
+They were closely followed by Mr. Harris and Mrs. Thorpe.
+
+Rutley fixed the monocle to his eye and stared at the retreating
+Corway in blank amazement.
+
+Meanwhile, John Thorpe was absorbed in profound thought, and oblivious
+of his surroundings, said to himself: "What can his lordship mean?
+Corway's persistent attention to my wife! Was that mere accidental
+gossip? He shall explain!" And he looked fixedly at Rutley.
+
+It was at that moment that Mrs. Harris, having reached his side, said:
+"Your arm, Thorpe. Dear me!" And she started back at seeing his gloomy
+face. "Why, I declare, the frowning 'Ajax' could not look more
+unsociable."
+
+For a moment Thorpe displayed confusion, but by a strong effort
+subdued his agitation and offered his arm. "Of late," he explained,
+"my nervous system has been subject to momentary shocks." Leading her
+toward the piazza, "I beg your pardon."
+
+"I am afraid that unless you provide yourself with a mask for such
+occasions the shock is likely to become contagious," she remarked, as
+they passed up the steps.
+
+Meanwhile Rutley, having removed the monocle from his eye, allowed his
+frigidity to dissolve, and, slowly stepping a few paces toward the
+east end of the house, paused under the shadow of a magnolia, and at
+once seemed to plunge in deep reflection, to be startled a few moments
+later by hearing Virginia close to him, in a low tone, saying: "How
+does my lord propose to resent that insult?"
+
+Seeing him alone, she had noiselessly and unperceived, stolen to his
+side, convinced by what she had just discovered, that he was
+meditating some sort of revenge on Corway, and she determined to
+ascertain its nature.
+
+Her fertile brain had already conceived Rutley her ally, and it was
+with no uncertain or wavering purpose that she approached him with a
+question pregnant with sinister import.
+
+Rutley looked at her steadily, as though trying to penetrate her
+motive, then, without moving his eyes from hers, said deliberately:
+"Well, if he doesn't apologize, my friend will call on him."
+
+"You mean a shooting affair?"
+
+"I do not say, but I understand that is a popular way in this country
+to avenge an outrage."
+
+"Yes, that is true," she said, "particularly in our West, but it is
+fast going out of fashion. In fact, on the Coast, it is seldom
+practiced now. Besides, my lord, I advise you not to try it. I've
+heard he's a dead shot," and she abruptly stopped and looked furtively
+about, and then, in a more discreet tone of voice, said: "Will you
+walk?"
+
+He instantly comprehended her desire to confide something of interest
+to him, and as they slowly proceeded over the soft, velvety grass, and
+without betraying haste to know what she was evidently anxious to
+disclose, he replied, sneeringly:
+
+"Ah, he is! Well, these affairs are settled in an honorable way in a
+gentleman's country."
+
+"I again warn you not to try it," she said. "If you do, you will
+likely find yourself a subject for some hospital surgeon."
+
+"Indeed!" laughed Rutley, with a sarcastic ring in his voice.
+
+She halted, turned to him, and continued in a low tone. "Yes, there is
+a better plan--that insult can be wiped out in a more effectual
+manner."
+
+"How?"
+
+For one moment Virginia looked far off across the placid waters of the
+Willamette, over and beyond the rugged hills shrouded in gloomy
+repose. Was it the "still small voice within her crying in anguish
+'beware, beware'," if so, it was unheeded, drowned in the impetuous
+desire for revenge.
+
+Shocked and enraged by the discovery of what she considered Corway's
+perfidy, a strain of virulent passion possessed her, and subdued her
+softer and otherwise most charming personality.
+
+"Corway has done me a wrong I never will forget, and I shall not pause
+at any opportunity to avenge it. My cousin, Hazel, is betrothed to
+him. My brother has a rash, impetuous temper, and is exceedingly
+jealous of our family honor. By insinuating Corway's insincere
+attachment to Hazel, his money-mad impecuniosity, and so forth, you
+will produce a coolness between John and Corway that may end in their
+complete estrangement. We are watched," she whispered. "Let us move
+on." Her alert eyes had discovered Sam standing alone on the piazza
+steps, shading his eyes with his hand as he looked at them.
+
+She guessed his purpose, but was too far away to hear him say angrily:
+"If that lord attempts any fooling with that fair party, I'll give him
+some eye-shutters, I guess so!"
+
+Without heeding the episode, Rutley replied: "But you must know that
+your brother has not insulted me, and you must also be aware that the
+attempt to influence him may fail."
+
+"If you will follow my directions John will consider you his friend.
+If properly managed you need have no fear of its ultimate success. For
+several months last year John was in China. During that time Corway
+paid frequent visits to his home."
+
+"But"--interposed Rutley, quickly.
+
+"Do not misunderstand my meaning," responded Virginia, with an
+involuntary flash of indignation. "Corway is a man of great moral
+probity. But John may be brought to think him something the reverse.
+Do you understand?"
+
+"I will have satisfaction!" exclaimed Rutley.
+
+"Somebody is following us," whispered Virginia.
+
+"Where?" queried Rutley. "I fail to see anyone."
+
+"It may have been the shadow of the swinging light," at length she
+remarked, reassured, and, dismissing the thought from her mind,
+continued: "I have already warned you of a duel. To prove how
+insincere Corway's affection is for Hazel, you may call my brother's
+attention to a ring that he wears on the little finger of his left
+hand. I let Hazel have it for a short time because she admired it, and
+begged it from me, and Corway took it from her."
+
+"Has the ring any peculiar feature by which it may be distinguished
+from others?"
+
+"Yes, a single diamond set in a double heart of pearls."
+
+"Is it yours?" he asked, softly.
+
+"No," Virginia promptly answered, but she added in a hesitating
+manner, as though weighing the propriety of further explanation--"that
+is--well--it is mine for the purpose. I let Hazel have it unknown to
+Constance."
+
+And so it happened, a slip of the tongue, one inadvertent, indiscreet
+admission, gave him his cue. A vision opened to his mind and he
+immediately speculated on its possibilities.
+
+"Then the ring belongs to Mrs. Thorpe?" he questioned, insidiously.
+
+"Yes," Virginia affirmed, in a halting way. "John gave it to Constance
+before they were married."
+
+"Oh, indeed!" Rutley exclaimed, and he muttered low and meaningly,
+while the whites of his eyes gleamed with sinister import. "Corway
+wears a ring given by John Thorpe to his wife."
+
+Soon as he had spoken Virginia heard and instinctively felt that she
+had been indiscreet in admitting the ring belonged to Constance, and
+said by way of caution: "Of course, I trust in the honor of your
+lordship to refrain from connecting Mrs. Thorpe's name with the ring,
+or to, in any manner, let it be known that you know it is not mine."
+
+Evidently Rutley did not hear her, for he was absorbed in
+thought--thought that produced an evil gleam in his eyes.
+
+A slight pause followed, and taking it for granted my lord would not
+betray the trust she reposed in him, she said, as looking in his eyes
+with significant daring: "Draw John's notice to it as confirming
+Corway's bold and deceitful attention to Hazel."
+
+Virginia was aware that John would recognize the ring as his wife's,
+but she under-rated the violence of the storm it would precipitate,
+and she trusted too much in her own ability to control it in the
+direction she desired. She likewise rated Beauchamp as a weak,
+egotistical, effeminate sort of man. She was now to experience her
+great mistake.
+
+Rutley in his turn fixed his gaze steadfastly upon her, and which
+became so intense, so mysteriously searching, as to cause her,
+strong-minded woman as she was, to feel she was but a weak thing
+beside him.
+
+He spoke quietly and without the faintest tremor in his voice. "Do you
+know to whom you suggested this?"
+
+"Lord Beauchamp," she timidly responded. And then there suddenly
+sprang into her eyes a new light, accompanied by a slight start.
+
+"Why do you start?" asked Rutley, not for a moment removing his eyes
+from hers.
+
+"No, 'tis impossible. You cannot be Philip Rutley?" she gasped, as she
+drew back amazed. "For you have already denied him once to me."
+
+"Yes, I am he!" he exclaimed.
+
+There followed a moment of profound silence. Rutley watching the
+effect of his disclosure upon her.
+
+And she, at first astounded by his audacious nerve, at length grasped
+his position, and finally smiled, as though in admiration of his arch
+achievement. "You are a master imposter," she broke in. "Be as clever
+with the material I have given you, and Corway will not long stand in
+your way."
+
+"Did Hazel tell you of my proposal to her three years ago?"
+
+"Yes," she answered promptly.
+
+"I believe she rejected me at that time because of Corway," he
+musingly added.
+
+"Your opportunity is at hand," she affirmed.
+
+"I accept it;" and then he cautioned in a low tone: "Be careful never
+to breathe my real name."
+
+"And you--you will continue to be?"--and she smiled quizically as she
+put the question.
+
+"My Lord Beauchamp."
+
+"A most consummate scoundrel!" she added pleasantly.
+
+"The scoundrel begs to share the compliment with his colleague, Miss
+Virginia Thorpe," he ironically replied, again bowing low.
+
+That accentuated remark by Rutley revealed to her with sudden
+vividness the detestable character she was developing.
+
+Acutely sensitive, the stigma smote her with a repugnance that stung
+and smarted as quivering flesh under the sharp cut of a lash; and
+being naturally of a fiery temper, she passionately retorted, "It's
+false!"
+
+The words had scarcely escaped her lips when she realized her
+indiscretion, and faltered, "I--I--mean--" and then unable to recover
+from her sudden flight of passion, or to completely subdue her
+agitation, she burst out aloud, in utter disregard of her
+surroundings, "Oh! It is awful, awful!"
+
+Rutley was alarmed, and hastily gripped her wrist, and in low tones
+cautioned, "For God's sake, hush! Don't shout it to the winds!
+Remember, you urged this damnable business upon me. Do you want me to
+give it to the world?"
+
+His artifice succeeded, and under his influence she became quieter.
+"No! No! No!" she whispered. "Don't, please!" Then again she stared at
+the ground as though dazed with some vague terror. Suddenly she
+covered her face with her hands and moaned, "What have I done?"
+
+Then, arising from a place of concealment close by, the old Italian
+Cripple previously mentioned doffed his hat and said, "Eesa da bet,
+much-a keep-a do mon! Do poor old-a man, Eesa beg-a da mon, a da
+charity Signora, Signor."
+
+Tossing him a coin, Rutley said, "This is an unseasonable place for
+your calling, old man." Then, turning to Virginia--"Permit me to escort
+you to the house."
+
+"I don't like that old man," she replied. "He is prying about
+everywhere. Do you think he heard me?"
+
+"I have no fear of that," replied Rutley, as they moved on toward the
+house. "He appears quite old and no doubt is partially deaf."
+
+"Very well," responded Virginia, "and now that we understand each
+other, I think it time for me to mingle with the guests."
+
+As they disappeared in the distance, the old cripple followed them,
+flitting from shadow to shadow, with catlike agility, astonishing in
+such an apparently old man.
+
+Having arrived at the piazza steps, Rutley and Virginia parted.
+
+Returning some distance into the shadow, he softly laughed. "A little
+startled, eh? Didn't think I could impersonate a peer of England's
+realm. Well, she knows the secret now and I can safely rely on her
+assistance because Corway has cast her aside for Hazel. She has given
+me material with which to strike at him and I will strike home--but not
+as she suggests. Oh, no!" and again a sinister smile crept over his
+face. "Dangerous, but Hazel's wealth is worth the risk.
+
+"Meanwhile, I am getting short of funds, and cannot keep up the pace
+much longer, unless my other plan succeeds. But should I fail
+altogether----" and he became absorbed in deep study, silent and
+motionless as the statue of Lincoln by which he stood, but only for a
+moment. "Everybody here lionizes me, believing I am a genuine
+nobleman." And then he looked up with a far-off, triumphant expression
+in his eyes and a cunning smile on his lips, "My lord will borrow a
+few thousand on his--name--just for a temporary accommodation, and then
+he will vanish."
+
+A slight noise behind startled him and caused him to look about; but,
+discovering no one, he regained his composure. To make sure, however,
+he called in a low voice, "Jack! Jack!"
+
+Whereupon the old cripple again stood forth from his concealment, this
+time from behind the trunk of the wide spreading oak and, leaning on
+his stick, obsequiously doffed his hat. "I uncover to a prince of
+villainy."
+
+"Ha, ha, to my arms, you rascally imposter!" joyfully exclaimed
+Rutley, as he embraced him.
+
+Halting and drawing away in pretended surprise, Jack exclaimed with
+dreamy reflection, "Naw, Eesa, not-a bees-a da imposeator. Eesa be
+Ital-e-own!"
+
+"Splendid, Jack!" exclaimed Rutley with admiration. "Your disguise is
+perfect, but"--and Rutley laughed--"a little pale about the gills, eh?"
+
+"Eesa look-a like-a ma fadder," and Jack proudly expanded himself.
+"Make-a da great-a soldier. Note-a da pale here--Naw," touching his
+ears. "Garibaldi geev-a ma fadder dees-s da Palestrino," and Jack
+threw open his coat and proudly displayed a medal.
+
+"Palestrino!" exclaimed Rutley gleefully. "Jack, things are coming our
+way with a rush. Did you hear her--the maiden fair, with the blue black
+hair, how she plays into our hands?"
+
+Jack grinned and chuckled, "Ah, ah--a Portland rose, Phil!"
+
+"Incomparably beautiful, Jack! But, oh, such devilish thorns!"
+
+"Good for twenty thousand simoleons at any rate? Eh, Phil?"
+
+"Twenty thousand or bust, Jack," grinned Rutley. "You watch me do the
+trick. I'll make Thorpe wish he were dead. I shall connect his wife's
+name instead of Hazel's with Corway."
+
+"What!" gasped Jack, dismayed by Rutley's daring.
+
+"By a little juggling of facts, as it were, I'll make Thorpe believe
+Corway wears the ring given him as a love token by Constance. It was
+Thorpe's gift to his wife. Do you comprehend? Now, do you understand
+how simple a thing it will be to make Thorpe wish he were dead?
+Remember how he and old Harris broke up our investment company?
+
+"Maybe I don't," replied Jack dolefully, rubbing his stomach in a
+significant manner.
+
+"And, Jack!" and Rutley glinted at him meaningly and said very
+seriously, "That fellow Corway suspects me."
+
+"The devil he does! We must get him out of our way."
+
+"Tomorrow!"--and for the space of perhaps five seconds they looked
+meaningly at each other. Then Rutley broke the silence.
+
+"The child is in the house," continued Rutley seriously and in a low
+voice.
+
+"Good!" responded Jack. "I was afraid your tableau scheme had failed
+and Dorothy remained at home."
+
+"Not at all. They jumped at the idea," laughed Rutley, "and on my
+suggestion Mrs. Harris begged for Dorothy's presence at the 'Fete'."
+
+"Fate!" corrected Jack.
+
+"Too pointed," calmly remarked Rutley.
+
+"Well, the tableau was a great success, 'Hebe' attended by 'Circe' and
+'Cupid'."
+
+"Dorothy as 'Circe' posed splendidly; she is the pet of the
+guests"--and, lowering his voice, Rutley continued gravely:
+
+"I have persuaded her indulgent mother to let the child remain up and
+enjoy her honors a little longer; she may be out and around now at any
+moment."
+
+"She wears a white dress and with a light brown sash about her waist.
+Long golden hair--oh, you know her."
+
+"I shall keep a sharp lookout and take her the first opportunity."
+
+"Skip!" suddenly cautioned Rutley. "Somebody's coming. Keep in the
+deep shadow."
+
+"Trust me." And as Jack turned to move away he said to himself,
+"Tonight there'll be things doing, for the devil is at work and hell's
+a-brewing."
+
+Rutley watched Jack vanish in the gloom, then muttered to himself,
+"Why this fear? Out with it and to my purpose."
+
+Some readers would call it fate, others would probably have construed
+it as accidental, while yet again others of a more scientific turn of
+mind would have reasoned it a result of that strange magnetic
+attraction whereby two minds, simultaneously engaged in deep absorbing
+thought on the same subject, are mysteriously drawn toward each other.
+
+That John Thorpe was alone at that moment descending the steps of the
+piazza, was proof of the phenomenon, there could be no question, and
+that he was deeply thinking of a subject very near and dear to him was
+also evident, for he paused on one of the steps and clapped his hand
+to his forehead as though to draw out some evil thing that lay leaden
+within.
+
+Once he shivered as if shaken with a cold of the shadow of some
+indefinable disaster about to overwhelm him, and then he passed on
+down the steps muttering to himself in an abstracted manner, "Doubt;
+terrible, torturing doubt; I cannot endure it!"
+
+"Welcome, Mr. Thorpe," came from Rutley in the mild regularly
+moderated voice of a man content with his surroundings. "It only needs
+the quiet tones of a gifted conversationalist to make this beautiful
+spot supremely pleasant. All honor to Mrs. Harris and her companion."
+
+Mrs. Harris, accompanied by Virginia, had just then appeared from
+around the east side of the house--"Ah, my lord, your absence from the
+ballroom occasions much inquiry," said Mrs. Harris.
+
+"Mrs. Harris will confer a favor by satisfying the inquirers with the
+excuse that his lordship is enjoying a smoke with a friend. Does my
+lord approve the answer?" replied John Thorpe, eyeing Rutley
+furtively.
+
+"Most decidedly!" he affirmed.
+
+"Then Virginia and myself will be spectators of the next waltz. Your
+lordship will favor us with your company soon? Mr. Thorpe, you will
+not forget your promise to Constance for the Newport?"
+
+"Just in time, eh, auntie, I guess so!" cut in the cheerful voice of
+strenuous Sam, who had bounded down the steps and stood in front of
+them before they could turn around.
+
+"Oh, horrors!" gasped Virginia under her breath.
+
+"Why, Sam!" laughed Mrs. Harris, "you want me to dance with you again
+and Virginia here?"
+
+"Oh, no, not you! I mean her, auntie. If you please," and he bowed to
+Virginia as he offered her his arm.
+
+Without an instant's hesitation she accepted his arm and at the same
+time so artfully masked her real feelings that the hot blood raced
+with joyous glee to the very roots of his hair and caused him to say
+proudly, "Ha, ha! at last, eh, auntie!"
+
+"I shall be a witness, Sam," replied his aunt in a tone which conveyed
+a warning.
+
+On ascending the steps Virginia paused to gather up her skirt, turned
+half around and looked very significantly at Rutley.
+
+He met her glance and bowed. The action brought Mrs. Harris also to a
+stop.
+
+Observing the halt, Mr. Thorpe exclaimed, "His Grace and myself will
+be along presently. Au revoir."
+
+And as the party moved on, Sam rejoined under his breath, "I guess so,
+but not with his fair party, not if Sam knows it."
+
+In the silence that followed for both men, now being alone, were
+alert, instinctively apprehending danger, John Thorpe drew from the
+inside pocket of his coat a small cigar case and tendered it to
+Rutley.
+
+Silently and with studied poise, Rutley took therefrom a cigar and
+returned the case.
+
+Thorpe then took from the case a match, lighted and offered it to
+Rutley, who, having meanwhile clipped the end of the cigar with a
+penknife, accepted the light and then broke the silence with, "Are you
+not going to smoke, Thorpe?"
+
+"Not at present. A stroll through the grounds is more to my fancy."
+
+"Agreed!" promptly responded Rutley, who added, "and may the exercise
+lighten your spirits, which appear heavy tonight."
+
+"Yes, unfortunately I have never been able to conceal my emotions,
+hence the correctness of your conjecture. My spirits are heavy
+tonight," replied Thorpe in a low voice and with a deep, long drawn
+sigh.
+
+It was plain to Rutley that Thorpe was evading an abrupt approach to
+some potent question in his mind, feverishly eager, yet dreading the
+kind of information it might elicit.
+
+"Bad digestion, Thorpe. Headaches, troubled dreams and the like
+fellow," suggested Rutley in his jerky manner.
+
+"Deeper!" added Thorpe in a low voice.
+
+"Ha!" exclaimed Rutley significantly, as he eyed his companion
+askance. "Family!"
+
+"Oh, God! what shall I do?" suddenly broke from Thorpe in a stifled
+cry of anguish. "I cannot carry the load!" And then he did that which
+some readers might term a cowardly thing. No doubt he was actuated by
+motives irresistibly impelling in a man of his peculiarly sensitive
+nature.
+
+With head bent low, much as a culprit condoning his infamy, humbled as
+was his pride, to thus confide his misgivings to a stranger, he began
+in a low voice:
+
+"My Lord, a few moments since I casually heard you drop a remark
+suggesting a knowledge of my domestic affairs. I speak to you in
+confidence, and I am sure Your Grace will spare me the humiliation of
+feeling that confidence is misplaced. Your position gives you at times
+the advantage of hearing--a--things said of others that is of no moment
+or concern to you."
+
+Rutley's first thought was, "My opportunity to strike at Corway has
+come," and if Thorpe at that moment could have seen the cunning leer
+play about the corners of Rutley's mouth and the flash of exultation
+that sprang into his eyes, he might have hesitated, nay, ceased to
+have conversed with him further on such a grave subject.
+
+But the fleeting smile went unseen, the exultant flash as quickly
+disappeared, and in its place a very serious look came over Rutley's
+face, as in a low voice he replied, slowly but very distinctly.
+"Really, Thorpe, I am at a loss to understand your motives in
+questioning me on matters relative to your domestic affairs, and
+though I may possess information in which I am not particularly
+interested, still to asperse the character of any person on mere rumor
+is not compatible with the dignity or honor of my house; however, if
+you will be explicit on the subject of your singular request, I shall,
+through sympathy, communicate all I have heard to relieve or confirm
+your mind of a--I fancy--a terrible suspicion."
+
+For a few moments Thorpe could not control his agitation. Overpowered
+by a sense of shame, his imagination at once conjured up dreadful
+thoughts.
+
+"Sympathy! a--a--to relieve or confirm a terrible suspicion! My God!
+what does he mean?" And he placed his left hand tightly over his
+breast as if something hurt him there, while a cold sweat stood out on
+his brow. Then with a forced calmness, said:
+
+"A--a--have you heard any disparaging remarks about--a--Mr. Corway?"
+
+"Well, Thorpe, you know 'tis not honorable to repeat the 'chic'
+scandals one hears, though to satisfy you I will say that if you will
+look at the little finger of Corway's left hand, you will see a gold
+ring with a single diamond set in a double heart, which he at
+times--a--carelessly displays."
+
+"A ring with a single diamond! What of it?" impatiently questioned
+Thorpe.
+
+"Oh!" replied Rutley, with an imperturbable stare, "it was a love
+token from Mrs. John Thorpe."
+
+"You lie!" exclaimed Thorpe, the nails of his fingers imprinting
+deeply in the flesh of his tightly clenched fists, with the fierceness
+of the passion that had flamed within him.
+
+"I do not lie!" Rutley calmly and slowly replied, as he looked
+steadily into Thorpe's eyes.
+
+"You confound my wife with Hazel," hoarsely accused Thorpe.
+
+"I reiterate," responded Rutley, in the same even tone of voice, "the
+particular ring in question was a gift from Constance, John Thorpe's
+wife, and not from Hazel."
+
+Gasping for breath, Thorpe turned his head aside and groaned as he
+remembered it was his gift to Constance before they were married.
+
+Suddenly he gripped Rutley by the sleeve. They halted and confronted
+each other. And the dark formless shadow that had followed them also
+halted.
+
+"From whom have you your information?" queried Thorpe, looking into
+Rutley's eyes.
+
+"I do not feel at liberty to mention, but it can be substantiated."
+
+"By whom?" demanded Thorpe.
+
+"Well, I don't know of any person more capable than a--a--Mr. Thorpe's
+wife!" replied Rutley in a most nonchalant and matter-of-fact manner.
+
+And even through the depth of the gloom that surrounded them he saw
+the scarlet flush of rage and shame flame across Thorpe's white brow
+as he bowed his head, humbled to the dust.
+
+For a moment not a word was spoken by either of the men. Suddenly
+Thorpe looked up and hoarsely said:
+
+"My wife! Give me two or three, one which she can substantiate."
+
+"My dear Thorpe," deprecatingly pleaded Rutley. "You have called upon
+me to undertake a very unpleasant task."
+
+"Your Lordship has gone too far to recede. I must know all"--and there
+was imminent danger in Thorpe's quivering voice, which Rutley felt was
+not to be trifled with.
+
+"Well--one thing--Corway's close and steady attention to her during your
+absence in China."
+
+"You mean to Hazel?" said Thorpe, with a look so deeply concentrated
+that the movement of a single hair of Rutley's eyelash would have
+meant an instant blow on the mouth.
+
+"No, I mean--to your wife," accentuated Rutley. "Their secret and
+protracted wanderings offended your sister. Reproofs, reproaches and
+warnings were unavailing and ended in Corway being refused admittance
+to your house, which resulted in frequent quarrels between your wife
+and your sister."
+
+Thorpe here recalled Virginia's warning, "Corway will bear watching,"
+and he moaned, "Oh, God!"
+
+"He tried many pretenses to regain communication with your wife,"
+resumed Rutley, "one being to visit Hazel Brooke, for whom, except for
+her money, he has no regard whatever. At length on the discovery of
+secret correspondence, Virginia became aghast at his boldness and
+contemplated seeking legal aid when you returned. Of course, she
+retired and left the matter in your hands and she was unwilling at
+that time to shock your home-coming with a knowledge of the truth."
+
+"Enough! Enough! Oh, God, what a vile thing has nestled here!" And
+John Thorpe pressed both hands tightly over his heart in a vain
+endeavor to suppress the emotion that filled his throat and choked his
+utterances, and tears of shame gathered in his eyes as he continued
+slowly:
+
+"When--I--wedded Constance--I took to myself the purest angel out of
+heaven. But now--! Farewell happiness--farewell peace--forever! Oh,
+Corway, I want to clutch you by the throat!"
+
+Turning to Rutley, he added tensely, "Follow me."
+
+"Now for satisfaction," muttered Rutley exultantly, and with a
+sinister smile on his lips he followed John Thorpe up the broad steps
+and into the blaze of the brilliantly lighted ballroom.
+
+A shadow straightened itself up behind a bed of massed asters,
+deepened, grew thicker and resolved itself into the solid form of a
+man. It was Jack Shore. He had dodged them unseen and overheard their
+conversation.
+
+Perhaps it was through hearing the conspiracy and its masterly
+execution that shocked him into moralizing on man's inhumanity to man.
+
+At any rate, he exclaimed half aloud, "As cold-blooded a bit of
+villainy as possible to conceive. I didn't think Phil had it in him."
+Suddenly he shrugged his shoulders.
+
+"I say, old man," cut in Sam, appearing from the east side of the
+piazza, "you want to look alive there. You are getting too near the
+front. First thing you know uncle will have you sent up as a vag."
+
+Though taken by surprise, Jack, having just turned to move off into
+the deeper shadow, halted and, removing his hat, faced Sam in an
+assumed most humble and abject terror, "Signor, I don-a mean to come-a
+da close. Jess-a tried to get-a da peep ov-a da grand-a fete of-a
+much-a da rich people. Eesa da all, Signor."
+
+"It's all right, old man, but take my advice and keep off the grounds.
+'Twill be better for your health."
+
+In the meantime Dorothy had fluttered down the great steps and ran
+toward Sam.
+
+"Hello, little one! Having lots of fun, eh!"
+
+And with the same, he caught Dorothy's hands and he commenced to dance
+her about as he sang the words, "Little Bo-peep had lost her sheep and
+couldn't tell where to find them."
+
+"Oh, don't Sam; I want to find papa!" replied the child, impatiently.
+
+"You do, eh? Now, don't you want me to be your escort?"
+
+"Come, I'll tell you how to find him. You shall sit on my shoulder and
+be the tallest queen of the party, while I be the horse to 'lope about
+in search of your papa."
+
+"Thank you, Sam, but I can't stay for a ride now. I'm in such a hurry;
+some other time," and the child turned from him and ran toward the
+slowly retreating form of Jack.
+
+"You are, eh? All right, and while you are looking for papa, I'm going
+to look for the fair party you call auntie. I guess so!" Whereupon Sam
+quickly sprang up the steps. Arriving on the piazza he halted, turned
+around and looked toward the child as though the premonition of
+something wrong--something associated with the child's insecurity,
+being alone--had suddenly darted into his brain; but seeing others of
+the guests at that moment emerging from the east front of the house on
+the well lighted grounds, he dismissed the "still small voice" of
+warning from his mind and passed in among the dancers.
+
+"Papa, papa! Where is my papa?" called Dorothy.
+
+Jack, while pretending to leave the grounds, had kept a sly eye on
+Sam, and upon that individual's disappearance, at once turned and
+answered the child in a voice soft and gentle, and soothing as that of
+dreamy Italy.
+
+"Yous-a tink-a your-a papa was-a da here-a. What eesa da name?"
+
+"Thorpe!" replied Dorothy, without the faintest fear or hesitation.
+"That is my name, too. I want to find him right away. Can you tell me
+where he is? Mama sent me to ask him to come and dance."
+
+"Yes-a da child-a. Eesa da know where eesa papa be. Eef-a youse-a be
+note-a fraid and will-a come wid-a me, Eesa take-a youse-a da papa,"
+and the sly old man looked into her eyes with such beaming kindness
+that at once won her confidence.
+
+"I'm not afraid of you. I like old men. Mama says we should respect
+old men. But I'm in such a hurry, you know. Mama is waiting for me."
+
+"Well, geeve-a me youse-a da hand and Eesa take-a you straight-a da
+heem."
+
+Without the least suspicion or timidity, she instantly placed her
+little hand in his and the two proceeded toward the river, much faster
+than his supposed crippled condition would lead an older person to
+expect.
+
+"Youse-a love-a da papa and da mama much-a, donn-a youse?" he
+continued.
+
+"Oh, yes! Ever so much."
+
+"Eesa good-a girl. We'll soon-a da fine eem," and he added to himself,
+"when the horn of plenty pours its golden stream into Jack's pocket."
+
+While they were crossing a depression, or rather a long hollow
+formation in the contour of the grassy slope, and close to some locust
+trees, the thick foliage of which threw a deep shadow on the spot,
+Jack thrust his free hand into his pocket and removed the stopper from
+a bottle of chloroform which he had provided for this occasion, and
+saturated a colored handkerchief with it. Some of it passed through
+the lining of his pocket and immediately impregnated the air with its
+odor.
+
+Dorothy got a whiff of it and drew away with the remark, "Dear me,
+what a funny smell!"
+
+"Naw, eesa--nicey da smell, jes like-a da poppy, so beautiful-a da
+flower," replied Jack, reassuringly.
+
+"Well, I don't like it, anyway," she said.
+
+At that moment she was standing a couple of yards from him, they had
+come to a halt, and it was necessary for him to act adroitly and with
+promptness, to reassure her and avoid arousing her suspicion, so he
+pretended to stumble and then fell to the ground.
+
+Arising to his knees, he groaned as though in seeming pain, and
+gripped his right wrist with his left hand.
+
+"Oh, oh! Eesa da hurt-a bad. Break-a da arm; oh, oh!" And in order to
+get her close to him, he said, "Get-a da bot' in-a da pock'."
+
+The cunning fellow knew well how to touch the chord of sympathy that
+is ever present in the guileless heart of innocent childhood.
+
+The response came in a wondering look of infinite tenderness and
+compassion, for the child did not clearly comprehend Jack's request
+and she asked:
+
+"Did you break your arm?"
+
+"Eesa da hurt-a bad. Oh, oh!" he groaned, "get-a da bot', da bot'-a,
+child; get-a da bot'."
+
+"Poor man! Shall I run for the doctor?"
+
+"No, no, no, note-a da dock! Help-a me get-a da bot' in-a da pock!
+Quick-a, deeze-a side. Put in-a da hand. Take eem out--oh, oh!"
+
+Perceiving that he meant her to take something out of his pocket, on
+the right side of his coat, and not understanding the significance of
+the word "bot," she drew near to thrust in her hand.
+
+That instant Jack's left arm encircled her form and his right hand
+clapped the saturated handkerchief over her mouth and nostrils and
+held her to him.
+
+She struggled in his arms to free herself, but without avail.
+
+As a feeling of stupor stole over her senses, Jack, still on his
+knees, watched her with the keenest of eyes, and muttered soothingly,
+"Eesa nice-a da girl. Nice-a da smell lak-a da dreamy Italy."
+
+Some rascals would have made short work of the matter, but Jack was by
+nature very tender and considerate of children, which accounted for
+his slow application of the powerful drug. It soon had her under its
+influence, and when she became limp and nerveless he laid her on the
+grass. Again he saturated the handkerchief and held it to her
+nostrils, and with distended, tragic eyes watched her doze into
+unconsciousness.
+
+Feeling satisfied that she would not speedily recover, he let the
+handkerchief lie loose on her nostrils and mouth, then he arose to his
+feet and with the stealthy, catlike tread of an Indian, skulked from
+shadow to shadow until he had made a complete circuit of the spot.
+
+Having assured himself that no one was in the vicinity, he swiftly
+turned and again fell on his knees beside the child.
+
+He looked intently in her face and noted the sweet expression of
+childish innocence and trust in the repose. "She sleeps, beautiful
+child! As sweetly innocent and confiding as God ever inspired with the
+breath of life."
+
+Then from under his coat, where a hump appeared in the back, he drew
+out a grey woolen cloth about four feet square and folded it about the
+child, gathered her in his arms and arose to his feet.
+
+"Mine, mine, though no harm shall come to you, pretty one! Twenty
+thousand dollars shall be the price of your liberty."
+
+And, keeping in the shadows and away from the lights as much as
+possible, he wended his way toward the river and soon became obscured
+in the distant gloom.
+
+
+
+
+When John Thorpe, closely followed by Rutley, entered the great
+ballroom in search of Corway, the guests who saw him were struck with
+the pallor of his face and the strangely piercing yet lustreless dark
+eyes that shone out from beneath his shaggy, frowning eyebrows. His
+cold, stony look repelled all smiles and discouraged all questions.
+Through the room he strode, regardless alike of the timid whisperings
+of women and offended stare of men. He cared not what they thought,
+for every sentiment of rudeness or discourtesy, every tender feeling
+of grief or pain, was drowned by his one great mad, overpowering
+passion to wreak summary vengeance on the author of his bitter shame.
+
+Not for a moment had he suspected "My Lord's" integrity and utter
+disinterestedness, and the maddening fire of his disgrace kindled
+within him and fanned to a crucible heat by Rutley burned with
+unquenchable fury.
+
+Men of the temperament of John Thorpe are not blessed with a stoical
+mind in moments of great excitement, nor are they apt to pause and
+tranquilly reason out the pros and cons of this most prolific source
+of human tragedies.
+
+He had loved his wife too fondly and too well to go and openly charge
+her with unfaithfulness.
+
+His life heretofore had been very happy, but now the first "damned
+spot" in the clear blue of his domestic horizon would not out, the
+feeling of suspicion would not smother. And it grew and enlarged with
+amazing rapidity, and haunted him till the very thought of Corway
+aroused his latent jealousy to a pitch that became unbearable. Rutley
+had developed the demon within him.
+
+The love that had become a fixed part of his being, flooding him with
+its radiance, had been violently wrenched from his heart, and his
+only, all-absorbing, insatiable desire was to confront the man who was
+responsible for it.
+
+Oh, for the frailty of human happiness!
+
+Out near the steps of the east piazza a group of ladies and gentlemen,
+composed of Mr. and Mrs. Harris, Mr. Corway and Hazel were chatting
+merrily about the new waltz and incidentally they had referred to the
+prolonged absence of "My Lord" and John Thorpe from the ballroom. Mrs.
+Harris discovered them on the piazza approaching the steps and
+exclaimed, "Ah, here come the truants."
+
+Without a moment's hesitation, John Thorpe descended the steps alone,
+Rutley remaining on the piazza.
+
+"Mr. Harris," said John Thorpe in a husky voice, "in the name of the
+society whom he contaminates, I demand that you eject that man from
+this place."
+
+This peremptory and extraordinary demand, coupled with its
+insinuation, stunned the hearers, who looked from one to the other in
+startled amazement.
+
+The dead silence that followed was broken by Mr. Harris, who answered
+in a grave, dazed way, as thoughts of Thorpe's sanity flitted through
+his brain, "But, Thorpe! I--what--I don't think--my hearing is not
+exactly right of late. I did not understand--"
+
+Without removing his steady gaze from Corway, Mr. Thorpe reiterated
+his words slowly and with stinging accentuation, "I demand that you
+eject that man from this place," and he pointed his finger
+dramatically at Corway, while glints of merciless intent shot from his
+eyes.
+
+The red flushed into Mr. Harris's face as he realized the indignity
+his guests and himself were being subjected to.
+
+"Thorpe--John--you are insulting all of us. Mr. Corway is my guest. What
+is the meaning of this affront to my hospitality?"
+
+"To defend my honor!" cried the distracted man, lost to all sense of
+propriety or decorum, "or to add my blood to the other crimes that
+disgrace him."
+
+"In the name of all that's astounding, what do you mean, Thorpe?"
+exclaimed Corway.
+
+"I mean that I intend to avenge the irreparable wrong I have
+suffered," replied Mr. Thorpe, fairly hissing the words from between
+his teeth.
+
+"Irreparable wrong! To whom do you refer?"
+
+"To you, scoundrel! Tell how you came by that ring!"
+
+Mr. Harris had listened to the two men with ill-concealed impatience,
+but when Mr. Thorpe called Mr. Corway, one of his guests, a scoundrel,
+and dangerous business appearing imminent, he could control his
+indignation no longer and shouted, "Mr. Thorpe's carriage immediately!
+Here, Sam, your assistance. Wells, get some more help to maintain
+order."
+
+The words had scarcely been uttered, when Sam, who had appeared with
+Virginia on the piazza, sprang down the steps to his uncle's
+assistance. They were quickly joined by the coachman and gardener who,
+having chanced to meet in a nearby secluded angle of the porch, had
+heard the loud, passionate words and were at once available for duty.
+
+"Hold, Mr. Harris!" spoke up Corway, who seemed to be less disturbed
+than either Thorpe or his host, "don't be hasty in this matter! Mr.
+Thorpe is certainly laboring under some delusion."
+
+"I will not listen to you," replied Mr. Harris, now worked up to a
+fury. "Mr. Thorpe's conduct is outrageous. Away with him to his
+carriage."
+
+"I guess so!" responded Sam, pulling off his coat and looking at his
+uncle sideways, "stampede the corral, eh, uncle? That's what you
+want!"
+
+"Away with him!" repeated Mr. Harris, gesticulating with his arms
+wildly.
+
+The two lackeys advanced, encouraged no doubt by the assurance of
+Sam's assistance.
+
+They were brought to an abrupt halt by Corway, who stepped in front of
+them and declared with heat, "Stand back! I demand an explanation!"
+
+In a low, hoarse voice that quivered with the intensity of his
+passion, with ghastly white face, and glittering eyes that flashed the
+lie to his forced calmness, Thorpe replied: "You shall have
+it--blackguard, liar, and coward!" With which he struck Corway on the
+mouth with the back of his closed hand.
+
+Corway passionately rushed at him and attempted to strike, but Mr.
+Harris sprang between them and caught his upraised arm, and with the
+help of Sam, separated them.
+
+When Sam sprang down the steps to his uncle's assistance, Virginia was
+left standing on the piazza watching the progress of the quarrel with
+intense interest and also evidently alarmed at the violent passion her
+brother displayed.
+
+With a woman's intuition, she surmised that Rutley had worked on
+John's jealous susceptibilities with merciless finesse.
+
+Rutley, who was watching her, noted her alarmed expression, and
+feeling it to be a sign of weakening purpose, stepped over and stood
+beside her, so silently that she was quite unaware of his presence.
+
+"It's a horrible wrong," she muttered.
+
+The words were caught by Rutley, and he whispered, so close as to
+startle her, "Remember the wrong Corway has done you."
+
+The excited men barely had been separated when Corway spoke with
+passionate emphasis, "You shall hear from me."
+
+"Quite soon enough for your courage," sneered Thorpe.
+
+"No, no, my brother shall not fight with him!" exclaimed Virginia,
+appalled at the magnitude the quarrel had assumed.
+
+Swiftly she glanced at Rutley and said with tremulous lips: "What have
+you told him to cause such fearful passion?"
+
+"What you bade me," he coolly replied, and with a gloating smile on
+his lips, added: "The result is what you wanted, isn't it?"
+
+"Not so terrible," she gasped. "There must be some awful mistake."
+
+And Rutley's smile deepened, but as he looked into her horrified eyes
+and blanched face, and noted the change from vengeance to anxiety and
+consternation fast coming over her, he knew but too well when the
+change was complete, in a moment of frenzied zeal to explain and save
+her brother, she, womanlike, was likely to undo and wreck all his
+work.
+
+He realized that the moment was fraught with the gravest danger to his
+plans and person, and he acted quickly, but with the utmost coolness.
+
+Her hand held straight down by her side was closed tightly, expressive
+of immediate and determined action.
+
+He gripped her wrist. It hurt her. The action concealed from others by
+the folds of her dress, succeeded in diverting her attention, and he
+followed it up by whispering, so that she alone heard him,
+"Remember--the material you gave me; Corway has met his deserts and you
+are avenged!"
+
+And then the voice of Constance cleft the air, in a wild, terrifying
+scream. "John, John! Save Dorothy! She's adrift on the water."
+
+Her piercing cry freighted with a mother's anguish, at once filled all
+who heard it with consternation, in the midst of which Mrs. Harris
+exclaimed, "Dear me, how dreadful it all is!"
+
+All turned in the direction of the cry and almost immediately
+Constance, in an agony of despair, and deathly white, frantically
+rushed among them.
+
+She looked appealingly from one to the other, her heart in her throat
+and pathos in her voice. "I heard her cry, 'Mama! Papa! Help! Save
+me!' Oh, will no one rescue my darling?"
+
+"I'm off," said Sam, in his short, sententious way, and rushed toward
+the river.
+
+The sudden strain on her nerves was greater than Constance could bear.
+
+Naturally of a weak constitution, the ordeal was overpowering; the
+mother's affection, forming a magnetic part of her heart, leapt out to
+her child and left her numb and cold almost unto death, and then her
+limbs trembled, and with Sam's words ringing in her ears, down she
+sank, a senseless being.
+
+Virginia's consternation was complete. She rushed down the steps,
+knelt beside her prostrate form, thrust her arm lovingly under her
+head and sobbed: "Constance! Dear Constance! Don't give way so.
+Dorothy will be found."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+
+When Constance revived, she found herself in a quiet room remote from
+noise or intrusion, whither she had been tenderly carried. Virginia
+was with her, and with the aid of a professional nurse, who lived near
+by and was called in by Mrs. Harris, had been successful in restoring
+her to consciousness.
+
+The reception was still swinging along at its full height, and while a
+few of the guests had heard in an indifferent way of some trouble on
+the lawn, the reports were so varied and coupled with the fact that no
+names were obtainable to give the reports zest, the incident was soon
+forgotten, and by the great mass of the guests was not even heard of.
+
+It was a sore spot in her breast that throbbed and beat heavily upon
+the door of its prison as later she was being driven home in her
+carriage. Not a word from John to soothe the aching void. She did not
+even inquire about him, contenting herself with the simple assurance
+that he was doing his best to find Dorothy.
+
+For two days the strain was upon her, breaking down by its heart
+violence her constitution, already frail to the declining point.
+Scarcely more than a year had passed since Constance had been stricken
+down with typhoid fever of a malignant type.
+
+She had never regained her usual health and strength, and though the
+family physician had pronounced her recovery complete, there were
+those of her friends who, with bated breath, questioned his conclusion
+and predicted an after effect which in time would develop some strange
+and serious ailment.
+
+Telephone inquiries regarding the lost child began to come in the
+second day, but none of any comfort to the distracted mother.
+
+Not one intimation of her husband's quarrel with Corway had reached
+her. Mrs. Harris had been careful, upon Constance's recovery at the
+reception, not to breathe a word, or to allow, where she could control
+it, the faintest whisper likely to arouse her suspicion.
+
+And as for Hazel, she had not clearly understood Mr. Thorpe's drift
+when he assaulted Corway. Nevertheless, she somehow had a vague idea
+that Constance was the cause; but being a discreet young woman, she
+had refrained from mentioning anything about it to her, thus leaving
+Constance completely ignorant of the true cause of John Thorpe's
+absence from home.
+
+Perhaps if she had not been so absorbed in the recovery of Dorothy,
+her attention would have been arrested on perusing one of the daily
+papers by an ambiguous paragraph referring to a choice morsel of
+scandal on the "tapis" in a prominent family, and which was likely to
+terminate in a tragedy. It was a society paragraph separate from the
+report of the probable drowning of the child, Dorothy Thorpe. Several
+personal acquaintances had become aware, through the crafty Rutley, of
+a serious difference having arisen between John Thorpe and his
+beautiful wife, and some of these personal acquaintances, with
+significant looks, at once connected it with the mysterious
+disappearance of the child.
+
+The fact that none of the fashionable set had visited her since the
+reception did not suggest a thought of being shunned. And so she
+waited for news of her child--waited with heart leaden with the chill
+of hope deferred--waited in momentary expectation of the home-coming of
+John.
+
+She watched for him through the window, foreshadowing by his
+appearance on the walk gladness or sorrow.
+
+"It is now the second day," she muttered, "since that eventful night,
+and yet no relief from this awful suspense. No word to cheer, or lead
+me to hope that Dorothy lives."
+
+"It is no use grieving so much, Constance," broke in Hazel, who had
+just entered the room. "Dorothy may be safe with her father,
+somewhere. Try, dear, to think so, anyway. It is much the best."
+
+"I cannot put away that winsome face from my mind, Hazel. Something
+tells me that I shall see her no more," and tears came into her eyes,
+despite her efforts to restrain them.
+
+"There, yees be at it again, sure mam, yees do be makin' us all feel
+miserable."
+
+It was Smith who spoke, in a soft, appealing voice, full of sympathy
+and tenderness, the common heritage of his race. He had entered the
+room by the parlor door, and stood with his hat in his hand--a short,
+thick-set man, with a full, smooth-shaven, ruddy face, strong in its
+lines of "true to a trust." His thin hair was tinged with gray. He
+wore a black frock coat that had seen considerable wear; in fact, that
+style of a coat was worn by him for the double purpose of partly
+concealing the "humiliating" curves of his short bent legs, and also
+the dignity he fancied it lent to his stature. He had been the family
+coachman for some years, and was familiarly called "Smith."
+
+As Constance turned to him, he continued with a look suggestive of
+tearful sympathy.
+
+"Will yees try to forget the trouble, and be the token av it, may it
+plaise ye mam, just wipe away that tear, do, dear."
+
+"You have always been a good soul, Smith," and Constance tried to
+smile through her tears.
+
+"Of course, but we are anxious to know the result of your search,"
+remarked Hazel.
+
+He was silent for a moment, and nervously commenced to fidget with his
+hat.
+
+"Sure, ave yees'l wait till I think ave all the places I whint to, and
+all the people I sphoke to"--and he dolefully muttered under his
+breath--"Sure I dunno what I'll rayport at all, at all--"
+
+"You are very thoughtful and persistent, Smith," responded Constance.
+
+"Yis, indade, mam, I try to be that very same. Sure, wasn't I up at
+Rose-a-mant and walked the bache there and watched the boats, but
+niver a sight did I git ave Mr. Thorpe."
+
+"I know John is leaving no stone unturned to find Dorothy," assured
+Constance, "but you, poor man, you must be tired with your long walk."
+
+"The walk was long, but me heart was warrum for yees, and I didn't
+moind it at all, at all. Sure, the child may not be in the water at
+all. Will yees try to think so, dear?" And again the beseeching look
+came over his expressive face.
+
+"Do you think so, Smith?" interrogated Hazel.
+
+"Well, I 'ave me own ideas, Miss, and to be plain, and not hurtin'
+yees failin's, I think she was kidnapped."
+
+"You do?" questioned Hazel, surprised, for such a possibility had
+never crossed her mind.
+
+"I do," he replied.
+
+"Sure, I have no rason to think so, Miss, at all, at all; but says I
+to myself, says I, 'I'll just flim-flam around the 'dago' quarters in
+South Portland, on me own account, keeping a sharp lookout betimes.'"
+
+"What did you find there?" again asked the girl.
+
+"Nothin' I wanted, Miss, unless it war a sassy fellow wid a big black
+moustache, and a skin full ave greenbile."
+
+"But you were not looking for him," replied Hazel.
+
+"Not wan bit, Miss, though I do belave now he do be lookin' for me.
+Indade, Miss, I was not failin' well at all, at all. Sure, wasn't the
+little darlint missin', and between the sorrow at home and the failin'
+in me heart, and the long walk, and the cowld mornin', and the sassy
+look the fellow gave me--"
+
+"What were you doing that so offended him?" interrupted Hazel.
+
+"Indade, I was just walkin' around Carbut Strate and Hood Strate for a
+little divarsion--not wan bit more or less, Miss--an' he axed me what I
+wanted. Says I to him, says I, respectful-like, 'Maybe yees can tell
+me did yees see a little girl strayin' about widout a home. A lady
+sint me to inquire.'
+
+"He immejetly made some raymark, quick an' sharp-like, about the dam
+desavin' wimmen--"
+
+"Oh!" Hazel exclaimed, interrupting him.
+
+"Shocking!" exclaimed Constance.
+
+[Illustration: Smith--"Indade Miss, Oi followed wid wan on the soule
+ave his plexus."]
+
+"Sure--and I beg yees pardon fir sayin' it, darlints, but that's just
+what he towld me and niver a wink whint wid it, the blackguard!
+
+"I up and axed him who he'd be refarrin' to, because I had in my moind
+a sartin lady wid trouble ave her own.
+
+"He says, says he, wid a snarl, 'None ave yees business.'
+
+"Widout thinkin' whether he meant anything by it or not, I tould him
+he was a gintleman and a liar, too. So I did."
+
+"You insulted him!" exclaimed Hazel, astounded.
+
+"Indade I did, Miss, in foine style, sure"--and he spoke softly to
+Hazel--"he got it right betwix the two eyes, and I followed it wid wan
+on the soule ave his plexis."
+
+"You did!" Hazel exclaimed, amazed, yet with an irrepressible smile
+that flickered about her pretty mouth.
+
+"I did!" he replied gravely.
+
+"Is the soul of one's plexus in his eyes, Smith?" interrogated Hazel.
+
+"Sure, some say it do be the cramps; but I think it do be trouble ave
+the bowels, Miss," he answered.
+
+"Poor man!" exclaimed Constance, and she looked at Smith
+reproachfully.
+
+He quickly turned to her with a disgusted look on his face, and slowly
+exclaimed, "Yis mam!"
+
+During the silence that followed Smith realized that he had spoken
+hastily and rude, and the disgust so palpably in evidence quickly
+merged into a look of grave concern.
+
+His native wit, however, came to his aid in a singular apology.
+
+"While the fellow hunted for a soft spot on the pavement, I called up
+a nearby doctor to help him," he said.
+
+"You shall be repaid," Constance assured him in an absent manner.
+
+"Plaise God, it will not be the 'dago' who'll do it!" he solemnly
+replied, and then he softly asked.
+
+"Be there any more arders, mam?"
+
+"No, Smith, you must be in need of rest. Thank you for all your
+kindness," and Constance turned from him with grief, unaffected, still
+on her face. "God bless yees!" he replied, and then as he turned to
+leave the room, said to himself, "I shud loike to see the wan--bad luck
+to him--who brought all this trouble on the poor missus," and he shut
+his teeth tight in silent rage.
+
+After he had gone Constance pressed her hand down on the top of her
+head and said distractedly, "Still no word of encouragement; no relief
+to this strain that seems to be tearing my brain asunder!"
+
+Under the circumstances, inaction, to one of Hazel's temperament, was
+anything but pleasant, and the young girl was to be condoned rather
+than censured for desiring to get away from the distress that pervaded
+the house. Moreover, she felt that something must be done to relieve
+the strain that weighed so heavily upon Constance.
+
+"Don't you think I had better see Mrs. Harris, dear?" she said, with a
+wistful look of sympathy at Constance. "Perhaps she may have something
+to tell."
+
+"Very well," replied Constance. "Do, dear, if you think some good may
+come from your visit. Virginia may be home soon and I shall not be
+alone."
+
+"I shall get my wraps."
+
+After Hazel had left the room, Constance, dispirited and sadly out of
+harmony with Smith's simple recital of his search for Dorothy, stepped
+out on the piazza, as though the air of the close room oppressed her.
+
+The sky was cloudy, the air raw and cold.
+
+Dorothy's pet canary, with its bill thrust under its wing, rested on
+the perch of its cage, glum and inert, immediately before her.
+
+"Poor thing!" she exclaimed tenderly. "Sweet, sweet! Look up, pet!"
+
+The dainty little beauty, with a throat of silky mellowness, looked
+curiously about, gave a "cheep" of recognition and then again buried
+its bill under its wing.
+
+"Even my darling's pet will not be comforted." And tears stole into
+her eyes as she turned away from the bird. "Oh, Sam, I've been so
+anxious to hear from you! Have you found my darling?"
+
+Sam had approached the steps unseen by her, and when she turned away
+from the bird he stood directly in front of her, though at a little
+distance.
+
+Her mind at once recalled his words, which rang in her ears as she
+sank to the ground on that fateful night of the reception, and it was
+therefore the first and most natural question uppermost in her mind
+when she saw him.
+
+He started back in evident surprise and answered confusedly:
+
+"Well--I--I am sure, Mrs. Thorpe, if I had found her, I should only be
+too glad to--to tell you."
+
+"And you have no tidings of her? But--come in, I am sure something
+important brought you here."
+
+She entered the house, followed by Sam, who muttered to himself,
+"She's conjuring tears already, but I'm proof, were they to fall like
+rain. I guess so!"
+
+Upon entering the room he looked at her steadfastly and quizically.
+
+There was something in his look, too, that bore the imprint of
+effrontery.
+
+She stared at him and asked timidly with alarm in her voice. "Oh, what
+do you know of her?"
+
+"I--I--beg your pardon, Mrs. Thorpe, but--well, the truth is, I called to
+know if you have any information of her."
+
+"How can you ask that question of me?" replied Constance brokenly,
+while again the tears welled up in her eyes.
+
+"You see, madam--ahem! You won't be offended with me, for God knows I
+do not mean any offense to you, but--ahem--you see, madam, you are the
+unhappy cause of as fine a hearted gentleman as was ever born being a
+broken-spirited, a--a--blighted man!"
+
+"Sam!" she affrightedly exclaimed. "What are you saying?"
+
+"This," continued he, with dauntless determination, "and I'll tell you
+the truth. You are the talk of the town, and they say you--you--you've
+secured the child from your husband."
+
+Her face became ashy white as the meaning of John's absence from home
+dawned on her mind. She staggered, then sank into a chair. Presently
+she looked up with a sort of dazed, wandering expression and tried to
+smile through watery eyes. "My cup of woe is very full, Sam! Please
+don't jest with me!"
+
+He wiped the perspiration from his brow, for he felt his resolution to
+accomplish what he had set out to do was fast crumbling.
+
+He rushed on, "I am not jesting. No, I guess not! I know I am paining
+you, but I have a duty to do which I shall do, as I have always done
+through my life. And as this affair occurred at my uncle's place, they
+say he knows more about it than he cares to tell, which he doesn't.
+And I have come to see if you really don't know something of the
+whereabouts of Dorothy, as that would relieve my uncle and aunt of
+much embarrassment--at least--I guess so!"
+
+Her lips trembled with the pathos of her reply: "Did I know of the
+fate of my child, heaven could not bless me with a more joyful
+desire--to let you know, to let your aunt know, that Dorothy is--is
+safe. As it is, I would to heaven that I were dead and with my
+darling." And her head fell forward on the table as a burst of
+heart-rending agony shook her frame.
+
+It was evident Sam was uneasy and much affected by her distress. He
+coughed and tried to clear his throat again and again. "Ahem!--you must
+excuse me, Mrs. Thorpe--ahem! But--but, Lord--Lord! I can't bear to hear
+you take on that way. Ahem! Ahem! I'm rough and thoughtless in my way,
+and it seems harsh and brutal to speak to you as I have done--I guess
+so!--and if any man in my hearing says you have hidden your child--why,
+by Heavens, I'll knock the lie back through his teeth."
+
+Sam had forgotten his resolution to resist the influence of a woman's
+tears; moreover, he felt convinced he was standing in the presence of
+a true, atrociously wronged and much slandered woman, and in his
+eagerness to undo the wrong he had done her by practically charging
+her with the wrecking of her husband's happiness and connivance at the
+child's disappearance, had lost control of that gentleness he felt due
+to the weaker sex, especially this bereaved woman. He stammered an
+apology in a soft regretful tone of voice.
+
+"I--I--beg your pardon. I--I could not help it. These expressions will
+slip out now and again, won't they? I guess so. I am satisfied you are
+deeply grieved about Dorothy, and I'm interested in her, too. The fact
+is, I was so anxious on my aunt's account that I have behaved like a
+brute. Now please understand me, you are not friendless, for I shall
+do my best for you, and if Dorothy is out of water I'm going to find
+her. I'm off now, so good-bye!"
+
+And he was gone--glad to get away from the distress that raised a lump
+in his throat which all his labored coughing could not dislodge.
+
+Sam had entered her presence a scoffer. He had made up his mind that
+her grief was as deceitful as her reputed double life. He departed,
+her firm friend and almost choked with disgust at his own readiness to
+believe the foul reports, magnified by gossiping busybodies.
+
+Gradually Constances' emotion subsided. She sat upright in the chair.
+A significant dryness had come into her eyes as she stared at the wall
+with profound abstraction. Out of the haze John Thorpe's picture
+gradually emerged.
+
+Suddenly she exclaimed in strangely low tones, almost a whisper--tones
+in which a woman's life was projected on the horoscope of
+faithfulness, immutable as the "Rock of Ages":
+
+"John! John! You are breaking my heart!"
+
+Then her mind began to settle upon one object--to see her husband, John
+Thorpe.
+
+"It must be some mistake!" she muttered. "It cannot be so. John would
+never treat me thus. I will have Smith seek him and deliver a message
+at once."
+
+She went to her desk and wrote a hasty note, requesting John to come
+home to her immediately. With the sealed note in her hand, she hurried
+out to find Smith. She found him fast asleep on an old couch just
+inside the coach-house door, and remembering his tired look, softly
+said: "Poor man! How fatigued he must be! After all, what matters it
+for a few hours?" And then, instead of arousing him, she took his coat
+off the rack and gently covered him, murmuring in a broken voice that
+betrayed the pathos of her trouble: "Asleep, with the peace of God
+resting on his face. Heaven bless and reward your faithful heart.
+Sleep on."
+
+Returning to the house, she sat down at the table to think of a
+possible something she had done to cause John's unkind behavior.
+
+A shadow darkened the doorway. She turned mechanically. A tall, grave
+and elderly gentleman, with stooping shoulders and bared head, stood
+in the entrance.
+
+Constance arose. He approached her and said softly: "I beg to
+apologize for the intrusion. The door being open, and seeing you
+within, I entered unannounced."
+
+"Oh, Mr. Williams! Have you any tidings of Dorothy?"
+
+"I regret not being able to bring any tidings of your child. The river
+has been carefully dragged for a considerable distance in front of
+'Rosemont.' I fear she is drowned and the body carried down to the
+Columbia."
+
+"My poor darling!"
+
+"There is yet hope, however, that your child lives. An old cripple--a
+disreputable looking vagabond--was seen lurking about the grounds the
+night she was lost. He has not been seen since. Detectives are baffled
+in tracing him. He may have abducted your child. It's the only hope
+that she is alive, though I admit, a frail one."
+
+"Heaven give me strength to hope it is so. But who could be so cruel
+as to steal away my little darling? No, no, she is drowned!"
+
+"I have to announce a disagreeable errand," and he paused, not quite
+satisfied of the propriety of the moment for so serious a declaration
+as he was about to make; but he at length continued hesitatingly:
+
+"As--as your--legal adviser--." Again he paused.
+
+Constance looked at him timidly. A cold, creepy fear of something
+dreadful about to happen chilled her. Her blanched face and beseeching
+eyes warned him of very grave consequences.
+
+"What is it, Judge?" she whispered with parched lips, "speak out; tell
+me what you have come for."
+
+"Are you strong enough?--I think--perhaps--I had better defer--"
+
+"Oh, yes, my strength is not great--but--the suspense--I cannot bear. Let
+me hear--what it is." He hesitated no longer.
+
+"As your attorney, I have been served with a notice of an application
+for a divorce, by John Thorpe, from his wife, Constance."
+
+With bowed head he laid the document on the table.
+
+She clasped her hand to her head, clutched the back of a chair for
+support, for the suddenness and weight of the blow staggered her. She,
+however, managed to bear herself bravely up.
+
+"And--could--he really believe this of me?" she said distractedly.
+
+"He has, at the same time, placed at your disposal in the National
+Bank a sum of money for your immediate wants." He paused. A solemn
+quietness pervaded the room.
+
+At length he continued in a low, grave tone: "I am prepared to receive
+instructions. Shall I give notice of your intention to resist his
+application for divorce?"
+
+Still leaning on the chair for support, and without lifting her bowed
+head, or raising her downcast eyes, she said in a voice barely
+articulate with the huskiness and tremor of threatened physical
+collapse, "Please leave me for awhile. Providence has seen fit to
+afflict me so sorely that I must beg a little time to try to think.
+But, stay!" And her voice gathered a little strength in an effort to
+keep from breaking down altogether:
+
+"I desire to receive nothing from John. I shall not reply to his
+complaint, and you will return the money he has placed to my credit in
+the bank. Now, please leave me; I desire to be alone."
+
+During his professional experience, the "Judge" had been a witness to
+many painful scenes, and familiarity had calloused somewhat his sense
+of sympathy. But as he gazed upon the white, spiritually chaste face
+of this frail woman, a conviction that a great wrong was being done to
+her forced and crowded itself upon his brain.
+
+"Someone must answer for it before a higher than human court," he
+thought, and then with bent head he left her, feeling that he would
+value beyond price the power to effect a little gleam of sunshine to
+heal her broken heart.
+
+"Dorothy! Dorothy!" he muttered, and he passed out from her presence
+with words of Tennyson on his lips:
+
+  "Oh, for the touch of a vanished hand,
+  The sound of a voice that is still!"
+
+After he had gone, Constance remained motionless. She was strangely
+quiet, yet wrapt in thoughts of bitterest shame and grief, the world
+had little left for her to care for.
+
+A sense of gloom enveloped her. Its shadow bore heavily upon her
+oppressed spirits, smothering by its weight the stifled cry of her
+heart's anguish.
+
+It was therefore with a wondrously calm voice, pregnant with tragic
+pathos, that she at length broke the stillness: "I am sure of the
+cause of John's absence now, and the very worst has come to me. What
+now can compensate me for the humiliation of being thought by him so
+shameless and debased? Oh, how wretched I am!" and with a moan, she
+placed her hand on the top of her head.
+
+"Oh, heaven spare my reason--yet--what is reason to me now? Or--life? My
+darling is drowned. John has left me, and with them hope and happiness
+are gone forever."
+
+It was then a strange, uncanny, desperate flash leapt into her eyes.
+Suddenly she withdrew her hand from the top of her head, but instantly
+pressed it to her brow.
+
+In a moment her appearance underwent a great change. Under the
+continuous strain, the strands of grief and despair had at last
+snapped asunder and up rushed an exultation that instantly overwhelmed
+all opposition to a suddenly conceived and terrible purpose. She
+whispered with an earnestness intense as it was significant: "There is
+a way out." Then she suddenly burst into a frenzy of pathetic joy as
+she thought of the phial of laudanum in the medicine chest in her
+room.
+
+"A passage to my darling beyond!"
+
+She did not see Virginia standing in the doorway, nor did she pause as
+some do to take a last farewell look at earth and sky. Her mind was
+set upon the swift accomplishment of an object.
+
+Upon reaching her room, she took up the phial of laudanum and then, as
+she fell on her knees, locked her hands together, and her voice
+softened into tenderness--softened in inexpressibly sweet and plaintive
+tones, as she cried out in a whisper of her soul's anguish:
+
+"Rock of Ages, cleft for me!"
+
+She was standing in the shadow of the valley of death.
+
+Strangely coincident, the inspiring notes of the "Star Spangled
+Banner" softly broke upon the air from a piano in the music room
+below. As the grand strains swelled upward, they were met with a break
+in the clouds through which the sun poured down a flood of dazzling
+glory.
+
+At that moment Dorothy's pet canary began to sing. The delicate little
+feathered thing, that had nestled its bill under its wing in the raw
+cold of the morning, felt the warm influence of the sunshine that fell
+upon it, and looked up, twittered, lifted its voice in surprised
+gladness, and then in response to the soft strains that were pealing
+forth from the music room, broke into song.
+
+Higher and higher it swelled, cleaving the air with its exultant
+melody.
+
+Oh! the wild soaring flight of that joyous song!
+
+Through the partly closed window it burst and flooded the room with
+its gladness and cheer. Death stayed his hand.
+
+The little silken feathered throat of her darling's pet had turned
+aside the "Grim Sickle."
+
+She heard it. Out over the entrancing beauty of Autumn-dyed
+vegetation, her sad eyes wandered--wandered wistfully over nature
+bathed in the splendor of the sun's radiance. She heeded the call, and
+then, appalled at her contemplated sin, she cowered--bowed down--lower,
+lower. In tones of resignation--tones tremulous with awe of the
+Omnipotent, she said: "Have pity upon me, Merciful Heaven!"
+
+And then very softly Virginia knelt beside her, gently encircling her
+waist with her arm, and looked into her spiritual face with eyes
+overflowing with tears. In a broken voice, scarcely articulate through
+a great sob, she said: "Oh, Constance! Constance, dear, I am punished
+enough already!"
+
+
+
+
+After Hazel had completed her attire for a visit to Mrs. Harris, she
+descended the stairs with the same feeling of gloom and depression
+upon her.
+
+Slow and hesitating as was her action--as though undecided as to the
+propriety of leaving Constance, and while drawing on her gloves, she
+aimlessly wandered into the music room and listlessly sat on the piano
+stool. Then, with her head turned looking out of the window, she let
+her fingers ramble over the keys of the instrument. Then she saw
+Virginia pass up the walk and enter the house, but after the lapse of
+a few moments and her cousin not appearing, Hazel entered the drawing
+room to greet her--but too late. Through the open door she heard a step
+on the main stairs above. Hazel followed. On passing the table the
+divorce bill caught her eye. For a moment she paused and picked it up;
+then laid it down, her breath coming in gasps, for she instantly
+realized a crisis of a very grave moment had appeared. She ran
+upstairs, surmising that Virginia was connected with the "divorce
+bill," for she had not seen Mr. Williams.
+
+And then she heard Virginia's voice. Softly she stole to the door and
+looked in. There, kneeling on the floor, were Constance and Virginia,
+looking into each other's eyes, Constance drawn back in timid alarm,
+and Virginia blinded with tears, clasping the hand that held the
+laudanum phial, her free arm thrown lovingly around Constance's waist.
+
+Hazel silently drew back, an overpowering emotion suffusing her eyes
+with tears. "Poor Constance! Her trouble thickens fast. What will the
+end be?"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+
+Rutley had found time during the frantic appearance of Constance at
+the "fete," to threaten Virginia with public exposure if she failed to
+keep their secret. It was that threat that induced her to pause in a
+momentary conceived intention to demand an explanation from her
+brother. The passionate earnestness--the uncontrollable fury she
+discovered in her brother--produced an awe, and aroused her to a sense
+of some terrible mistake, and of the far-reaching effect her
+conspiracy with Rutley was likely to have. Each moment, instead of
+exultation, increased her sorrow at the course she had pursued.
+
+Between fear of publicity of the part she had played, coupled with her
+hatred of Corway, and consequent satisfaction in her triumph at his
+discomfiture--at the same time alarmed at her brother's imminent danger
+in a probably tragic affair--all contributed to indecision, and she
+realized to her dismay that she had placed herself in the power of a
+man who had proved himself a master "Iago."
+
+Her intuition caused her to shrink from him. He comprehended and
+pressed closer. Despite her powerful will and keen perception, and
+possession of those womanly attributes of sympathy and kindness to
+suffering humanity, she felt herself incapable, just then, of defying
+him.
+
+The cry of Constance that Dorothy was in the water scattered the
+quarreling party, which rushed to the river's edge.
+
+Virginia and Mrs. Harris remained with Constance, but Rutley made it
+his business to keep his eyes on her and under pretense of searching
+the grounds, remained near by, in order to restrain her from
+approaching her brother.
+
+Her opportunity to undo all, which under a more prompt determination
+would have succeeded--was lost, simply because it had taken her some
+time to care for Constance, and also to arrive at a fixed conclusion,
+irrespective of the threats or cajoling of Rutley--and then John Thorpe
+disappeared. Two days she diligently searched for him, surmising that
+he was searching for Dorothy, but all her efforts to locate him were
+fruitless. She had just returned from a stubborn search of the hotels,
+when she heard the frenzied cry of, "A passage to my darling beyond."
+She recognized the voice and stole through the doorway, just in time
+to see Constance pass upstairs.
+
+As Virginia entered the room, she passed the table on which lay the
+divorce paper. The printed word attracted her attention, and at once
+arrested her onward course. She picked it up. "John Thorpe, from his
+wife, Constance." Horror and dismay swept across her face with
+lightning rapidity. Here, then, was the key to Rutley's horrible
+revenge. Now she knew that Constance was made to stand for Hazel.
+
+The document dropped from her nerveless hand, and with wildly beating
+heart she flew up the stairs after Constance. Noiselessly she opened
+the door. Before her--on her knees, with bowed head, the phial of
+laudanum between her clasped hands, was the woman who had received the
+terrible blow intended for Corway.
+
+Virginia's heart seemed to still its beating. Her blood seemed to be
+congealing to ice as she stood incapable of motion, and listened to
+the piteous appeal from that pure, broken heart.
+
+In a moment she understood it all--the intent--the arresting hand of
+fate--the startled submission of a meek and contrite spirit to the
+Divine will, and below--the divorce paper.
+
+Satisfied that Constance would not again attempt an act of
+self-destruction, and unequal, in her present frame of mind, to the
+task of ministering comfort to the woman whose grief must be partially
+laid to her door--for it must be remembered that Virginia had not in
+any manner contributed to the abduction of Dorothy, and was as much at
+a loss to account for the child's disappearance as her mother--she
+withdrew, her mission unfilled--her atonement inconceivably harder to
+accomplish. She seemed overcome with a suffocating sensation. She must
+have air. Out of the house she mechanically passed. Down the steps and
+around the grounds--under the silent falling vine and russet and
+golden-colored leaves she hurried, neither looking to the right nor to
+the left.
+
+Born on her father's Willamette Valley farm, yet this city home, of
+her childhood and of her womanhood, now so enchantingly beautiful in
+its Autumn glory, its fragrant coying whisper had no charm to impede
+her onward flight, no power to lift her bowed head.
+
+She was thinking of the one within. "And it is all my fault. I feel
+sure of that, for it would have been impossible for Rutley to have
+angered John so much with any other name. I must have been mad ever to
+have confided in him that it was Constance's ring.
+
+"Oh, what shall I do? What shall I do? God forgive me!" she moaned, as
+she sought solace under a maple. But there was no rest for her. She
+returned to the house. Mechanically she opened the door and with one
+longing heartsore purpose--to seek the seclusion of her apartment--to
+throw herself on the couch and bury her face in her hands in a vain
+hope to get relief in tears. But there, just inside the door, on the
+hall table, she saw through moist-swollen eyes, something white.
+
+She picked it up. It was a letter addressed to her, in a coarse
+scrawl. She fled to her room, there she sat on a chair near the window
+and opened the letter. The characters were bold, but slovenly written,
+and almost illegible, and then somehow the light did not appear strong
+or bright as it should be. She bent over close to the window--no
+better, save that she could make out the word "Virginia."
+
+Becoming more interested, she turned on the electric light, and even
+then her eyes seemed weak, and the letters so run together as to
+appear blurred. She took up a magnifying glass that lay on the table,
+and by its aid was at last able to decipher the note.
+
+  Virginia, ther party as sends er this kin tell yer somethink about
+  er party yer wud lie ter knows, perwiden yer meets me nere the top
+  of the long steps at or eleven ternight--alone, mind yer--alone in
+  ther city park. Yerl be safe if alone.
+
+She was at once convinced that the note had a deep significance. She
+turned it over and over and read and re-read it again and again.
+
+It was clearly meant for a clandestine meeting--with whom? Ha!
+
+The handwriting was evidently disguised, for it was quite different
+from that on the envelop, and the illiteracy plainly intended to
+deceive. Nevertheless the information might be of inestimable
+value--perhaps John, maybe of Dorothy.
+
+Her mind was almost in a state of frenzy at her impotent efforts to
+undo the mischief she had wrought, and even this "straw" gave a
+certain measure of relief, by offering work for solution.
+
+"I will go!" she said aloud. Having made up her mind to take the risk,
+her spirits lightened perceptibly.
+
+As the envelop bore no postmark, she at once plied the housemaid with
+questions. Who delivered the letter? How had it come on the hall
+table? The questions were put in a quiet, indifferent manner, so as
+not to excite curiosity.
+
+At the usual time the maid had taken it from the private mail box,
+which was of iron and old-fashioned, and fastened to the porch
+buttress, and she guessed that the mail carrier had brought it with
+the other mail. Virginia spoke kindly to the girl, and after casually
+commenting on the beautiful sunshine, returned to her room and
+prepared for the adventure. She utterly disregarded in her mind that
+the mail carrier had brought the letter. Since it was not postmarked,
+it could not have passed through the postoffice.
+
+Some one had sneaked in some time during the night or early in the
+morning and placed it in the box. That was her decision.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+
+That night, heavily veiled, she entered the park, alone. She was
+familiar with the contour and walks and knew the location of the long
+steps, but in her agitation, she thoughtlessly took to the walk on the
+left of the main entrance.
+
+The darkness was not deep. Above could be seen stray fleecy clouds,
+flitting athwart the vast realms of space, while the atmosphere near
+the earth's surface was laden with a thin vapor. Down low on the
+horizon, above the line of hills, swung the half-moon, aglow with soft
+pale light, while the nearby electric arcs were scarcely affected by
+the haze that enveloped them. Every element seemed to have conspired
+to make the night a fit one in its baneful purpose.
+
+As she proceeded, endeavoring to control her fears, though her heart
+beat wildly with misgivings, the stillness of the night was broken
+only by the sound of her own footfalls on the cement pavement, and
+ever and anon were mingled with the distant attenuated sounds of
+belated cosmopolitan life. At times her walk would be rapid, then slow
+and hesitating, almost a halt, as she approached some indefinite
+object, and as the clouds sped hurriedly across the face of the moon,
+grotesque shadows loomed up suddenly, shying her into moments of
+terror until discovered to be fantastic bushes or other odd-shaped
+growths.
+
+Her sustained, keen, alert watchfulness preyed severely upon her tense
+nerves. At length she arrived at the place she thought designated in
+the note. She stepped off the walk onto the grass, and stood under the
+deeper darkness of a cedar. The stillness was profound; so much so
+that she fancied she could hear the throb of her own tumultuous heart.
+
+And to add to the unseasonable moment, the weird, uncanny howl of a
+jackal, confined in the park menagerie, pierced the night air and
+caused cold shivers to race up and down her frame.
+
+"It's a lonely spot," she whispered to herself. "And this is the top
+of the long walk. Now the time--yet! I can see no one. I do not feel
+safe."
+
+Just then a man moved slowly from the shadows near the fountain. He
+leisurely walked toward the reservoir. She watched him for a moment,
+until the pale moonlight again faded away, and darkness shut him from
+view. Then, as if by inspiration, she suddenly remembered that the
+note directed her to the top of the "long steps." In her excitement,
+she had taken the wrong direction, and was then at the top of the long
+walk.
+
+Cautiously as possible, she crept down the bank, crossed the bridge,
+that spanned the park's main artery, and though confusing in the
+darkness, she at last found her way to the appointed place without
+meeting or seeing anyone, but with nerves almost snapping asunder, and
+so fatigued that her limbs trembled.
+
+She sat on a bench near a clump of small firs to get a little rest,
+and while peering through the darkness, which at that point was
+faintly illumined by the mass of distant lights spread over the city
+before and beneath her, she made out the figure of a man walking
+leisurely on the drive below where she was sitting.
+
+She arose to her feet, and silently stepped in the deep shadow of a
+clump of trees, and watched him. She took him to be the same man she
+had seen a little while before near the fountain. As she watched him,
+another man, who had been concealed in the grove of trees, recently
+trimmed out to make way for the traditional group of Indians in
+bronze, "The Coming of the White Man," and which now graces the
+spot--stole up with cat-like tread behind her, and then, quite close,
+halted, and silently stood regarding her.
+
+Virginia was watching the stranger on the road, almost directly below
+her, with such intense eagerness as to be quite unconscious of the
+dark shadow behind her.
+
+"Perhaps I am being watched," she thought. "I will go down the steps."
+She turned about, and was terrified to discover a roughly-clad man at
+her elbow. Her heart seemed to stop its beat.
+
+"What do you mean? Who are you?" she gasped.
+
+The man lifted his hat, bowed and softly said: "Bees a-note a da
+fraid, Signora de Virginia. Eesa nota-a do you-a da harm. I come to da
+meet-a you."
+
+His easy, respectful manner reassured her. Relieved, she said: "Then
+it was you who sent me the note this morning?"
+
+"He, he, he, he," he chuckled low, but exultantly. "Eesa tole-a da
+self a-da letta would-a da fetch a-you."
+
+"What do you want--what am I--who are you?"
+
+He turned his head aside, and muttered to himself. "She doesn't
+recognize me as the old cripple," and evaded a direct answer by asking
+her: "Donna you da know-a me?"
+
+"Your voice sounds like"--and she thought of the old cripple who
+intruded on Mr. Harris' grounds a few nights since. "Yes--what"-- And
+she halted, unable to frame her thoughts into words.
+
+He laughed low and gutturally. "He, he, he, he, eesa be a da fine-a
+artiste. Make-a da boss actor--like-a Salvina--bime by, eh?"
+
+"You--you--you kidnapped little Dorothy," she almost shrieked,
+forgetting her fear, and searching him with glittering eyes.
+
+Jack Shore, for it was he, chuckled gleefully.
+
+"You make-a da wild-a guessa, Signora, Eesa not-a da old-a cripple."
+
+"You were in disguise, a beggar. I gave you money. What have you done
+with the child?"
+
+"What-a da child-a?" he asked, gruffly.
+
+"Dorothy Thorpe!"
+
+"He, he, he, he," he again chuckled, and sharply turned on her: "Who
+tole-a you, Eesa gott-a da kid?"
+
+"What did you want to meet me here for? Was it not to tell me where
+Dorothy is?"
+
+"Oh, he, he, he, he," he laughed. "Eesa jessa da thought-a youda
+like-a see me--alone--at night, Signora." And he watched her from the
+corners of his eyes, as, with bent head, he muttered:
+
+"Turnoppsis, carrotsis, ca-babbages, black-a da boots, steal-a da
+chil. Anyting dees-a gett-a da mon. Go back a da sunny Italy!"
+
+"What was your motive for kidnapping the child?" she asked, without
+heeding his significant answer.
+
+"Da mon!" he promptly replied. Up to that moment he had equivocated.
+
+"You are frank," she rejoined, and then asked: "Is Dorothy safe?"
+
+"Youse-a da bet she's a da safe," he proudly replied.
+
+"Ah!" It was a sigh of glad relief that she uttered, for she believed
+the man's statement to be true, and with the information her spirits
+rose.
+
+"How many of you are there in this?" she quietly asked.
+
+"Eesa not-a da beeze, jess-a da myself."
+
+"You told me you sent the note requesting this meeting. Who wrote it?
+It was not you!" she demanded.
+
+Jack was not expecting so pointed a question and was thrown somewhat
+off his guard by her abrupt eagerness. He answered thoughtlessly--or,
+it may have been, indifference to the importance.
+
+"Eesa my good-a da friend."
+
+"So there are at least two of you in this 'over the road' business?"
+
+Chagrined, he thought how easily he had been trapped. "Hang it! I
+didn't mean to make a break like that." And then he exclaimed, between
+his teeth, for he realized too late the slip of his tongue.
+
+"See-a da here. Da mon. Eesa want. How much-a you-a da give to gett-a
+back-a da kid? Speak a da quick."
+
+Virginia perceived he was getting angry and restless.
+
+It was about that time that Sam, who was lying on his stomach in a
+slight depression, peered over the rise in the ground a short distance
+from the two. He was a little too far away to hear distinctly, except
+occasional words, as their voices were pitched in a low key.
+
+"How much will I give?" replied Virginia, surprised, and then her
+voice lowered again.
+
+"You are a poor man, no doubt, but you have your liberty, which is
+priceless, and I warn you of the severe penalty for the offense you
+are committing. It is most dangerous business."
+
+"Liberty, wid out-a da mon! Eesa be damn! Say, Signora, yous-a come-a
+down wid a da handsome da mon--Eesa take de kid--wid da longa golda hair
+so nicey da shiney, and da bigg-a da brown eyes."
+
+"Dorothy, I am sure!" she thought.
+
+"Well, what do you call the handsome mon?"
+
+"Eesa note-a bees-a da hard. Eesa cheap at-a da twenty thous."
+
+"Twenty thous--what!"
+
+"Bigg-a da round flat dollairs!"
+
+"Twenty thousand dollars!" angrily exclaimed Virginia, for the moment
+forgetting herself, and then again her voice fell almost to a whisper.
+
+"You dare ask that from me! Knowing that I have but to call and the
+police would hound you to prison."
+
+Jack swiftly wheeled about and rolled his eyes in alarm. The word
+police startled him, and for the moment he verily believed they were
+within call, a circumstance he at once set down to his lax
+watchfulness, but he soon felt reassured, and, turning upon her said,
+sarcastically:
+
+"Oh, that-a beesa a lettle a da game-a. He, he, he, he," he laughed
+low and gleefully, in strange contrast to the white of his eyeballs,
+which shone with sinister effect as he leered at her.
+
+"Two play-a dees-a da trick, Signora! Wouldn't yous-a look-a da well
+bees-a compan-e-on ove-a mine, in a da pen, eh, Signora. He, he, he,
+he," he again laughed.
+
+"Eesa don-a da know some-a da ting about eesa da Duc, eh! Eesa don-a
+da hear a da game between ee mand a da Signora da Virginia, eh!
+Sacremento!" He fairly ground out the last word between his teeth.
+
+Virginia shuddered and then involuntarily exclaimed: "Villain!"
+
+Jack turned upon her swiftly, ceremoniously bowed, and again leered at
+her. Then, with a most offensive smirk playing about his mouth, said:
+"Tank-a da Signora, my a da pard."
+
+Her face burned with the red that flushed up. She felt that even the
+darkness could not conceal her flaming cheeks. She bent her head in
+humiliation and shame at the all too well merited rebuke.
+
+For a moment there followed intense stillness. She thought of what he
+had possibly heard at the Harris reception. "His disclosure would
+incriminate me with Rutley. Still, it matters not. My duty to my God,
+my home and Constance is to make reparation for the wrong I have
+done."
+
+She broke the silence in an assumed, haughty tone. "Well, as you are
+poor and in need, I will give you five hundred dollars upon return of
+the child; but if you do not comply by noon tomorrow I shall inform
+the police."
+
+"Eesa bett-a note!" he replied, with an unmistakable menace in his
+voice. "Eef yourse da squeal on a da ma, Signora--look-a da out!" And
+so saying, he slowly drew his finger across his throat.
+
+The action was most significant. "Eesa bett-a da keep a da mum!
+Understand-a! Youse-a geeve a me a da twenty da thouse-a dollair,
+youse-a take a da kid--but youse-a da squeal!" and he drew close and
+hissed at her--"Bett-a da look a for her eesa mong a da weeds in a da
+Willamette."
+
+His attitude was so threatening, and his speech uttered with such
+savage earnestness, that it drove all courage from her heart. Again
+she felt, as once before, at the Harris reception, how puny a thing
+she was in the presence of a strong, masculine rascal.
+
+She, however, quickly mastered the momentary sickening alarm that had
+seized her, and assuming a bold, threatening manner, in which she
+astonished herself, for she felt anything but defiant just then, said
+in a voice low and determined:
+
+"Scoundrel! If you harm that child, I, myself, will weave the rope to
+hang you!"
+
+Jack leered at her. "So Signora"--laughed, laughed low and derisively.
+"Ha, ha, ha, Signora lak-a da job, eh? Eesa mak-a da boss a hang-a
+man, eh?"
+
+Jack could not repress a smile of admiration at her courage, and his
+lips quivered to exclaim: "God, she is game!"
+
+"An-a deesea lettle white-a da hands-a," he sneered. "Stain 'em all a
+da red, eh?" and he chuckled low, as though amused. "Oh, ha, ha, ha."
+Suddenly he changed his tone and again continued threateningly. "Now
+look-a da ere. Eef-a youse-a da want a kid, gett-a da mon a da
+quick--twenty da thous, for eesa tink a da move-a da way. May bees
+gett-a da organ en-a da monk, go down South Amereek. Eef youse-a danna
+da squeal, da kid bees-a da safe; but effe youse-a da tell a po-lis,
+eesa mak-a da me a devil," and he again drew close to her and hissed
+out between his teeth.
+
+"When eesa be lik-a dat, Eesa does a da murda," and so saying, he
+thrust his hand inside his double-breasted short coat, and partially
+drew out a glittering knife. "Eesa you da see?"--and he leaned over to
+her, a sinister glint shooting from the corner of his eye--"Eesa slit
+more's a da one-a windpipe." As he replaced the knife, a low whistle
+sounded off toward the right. It startled him, for he muttered as if
+alarmed. "Ha, some one is watching me." And without another word or
+moment of delay, glided off southward, and disappeared in the
+darkness.
+
+Sam having seen the glitter of a knife against the dim city lights,
+unconsciously gave a low whistle of warning, and sprang to his feet.
+He believed Virginia was in imminent peril.
+
+For a moment he stood irresolute, unwilling to uncover his identity to
+her or to in any wise have her think he had been shadowing her. Then
+feeling satisfied she was not hurt, he sped away on the track of the
+Italian.
+
+Virginia was alone. She, also, had seen the figure of a man suddenly
+loom up on the right and then hasten after the supposed Italian.
+
+The terror that now had seized her, the strain that gave artificial
+courage, so worked upon her nerves as to produce a trembling of her
+limbs, and to avoid a threatened collapse she sank down on the grass.
+
+Her strength gradually returned, her agitation quieted and she began
+to think with lucidity. She had been followed by whom? Most likely a
+detective in the pay of her brother.
+
+"Thank God!" His unknown presence at a perilous moment had been
+sweetly welcome. "Dorothy is not dead," she thought. "Thank Heaven for
+that, too; but she is in the hands of a murderous scoundrel, who would
+not hesitate to shed innocent blood were his own safety jeoparded."
+
+An attempt at rescue by the police would, no doubt, result in the
+death of Dorothy. She must act alone, act at once. Having arrived at
+that conclusion, she arose to her feet. To get Dorothy home was the
+first thing to be done--the mother's life depended upon that.
+
+How could she get twenty thousand dollars to pay the ransom? She bent
+her head in thought. She had been instrumental in the ruin and
+disgrace of her only brother's happy home. If it was in human power to
+restore happiness to that home, she would do it. The Italian is in
+desperate need of money. She could hypothecate her income; sell her
+jewels.
+
+"I will offer him all I can possibly obtain--then, if he will not
+release Dorothy," and her voice took on a soft, strange, resolute
+calmness. "God helping me, I will take her from him, even though," and
+she looked at her own little white hands, "these do become stained red
+in the work."
+
+Then she made her way out of the park, and returned to her home.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+
+Sam had followed Virginia and stood unseen within ten yards of her
+when that morning she sat under the maple after she had left
+Constance. He noted how absorbed she was in thought--noted her grave,
+white, shocked face, and her bowed head. His sympathy went out to her.
+Oh, what wouldn't he then have given to be able to clasp her in his
+arms, to comfort her--the woman he so madly loved! Though free and
+impulsive in his manner with other women, to her he was as coy and
+modest and respectful as a boy of fifteen.
+
+He lingered near the premises for a time, from an impelling sympathy
+to be near her in her trouble, and hoping she would re-appear, but in
+that he was disappointed.
+
+He returned again in the evening, resolved to call on her. He ascended
+the piazza steps and crossed to the door, but somehow at the moment
+could not muster courage to push the button. After meditating for a
+moment, he turned and softly passed along the piazza. On reaching the
+south extension he halted, for the sound of a door softly closing
+caught his ear, and then he saw Virginia emerging from the side
+entrance, closely veiled. In a moment Sam was all alertness.
+
+He wondered at her veiled appearance at that hour, about half past
+ten, and at her avoiding the main front entrance. He followed at a
+distance and saw her enter a Washington and Twenty-third street car.
+He boarded the next one that came along.
+
+Fortunately the interval between the two cars was short, there having
+been a breakdown on Fifth and Washington streets, resulting in the
+cars being bunched. Sam stood at the front end of the car beside the
+motorman, and in the darkness--the front inside blinds being down--was
+able to keep a sharp lookout at the car just ahead.
+
+At the intersection of Washington and Twenty-third streets, the
+forward car stopped, and he distinctly saw a woman alight. "Virginia!"
+he muttered, and as his car passed on, he saw her walking toward the
+park entrance. One block further along Twenty-third street Sam
+alighted, and rapidly retraced his steps to Washington street. On
+rounding the corner, and coming into view of the park entrance, where
+blazed an arc light, he caught sight of her again, entering the
+gateway.
+
+Sam briskly covered the distance, keeping well under the line of
+shadows.
+
+"Did you notice the path a lady took, who entered the park a minute
+since?" he inquired of a park policeman.
+
+"Yes; that way!" and the policeman waved his hand to the left.
+
+"Thank you," and Sam followed the direction indicated. A strange
+foreboding hurried him on. He was then fully aroused to something
+extraordinary about to happen. He walked on the grass whenever
+possible to muffle the sound of his footfalls, and soon was rewarded
+by making out the dim form of a woman some distance ahead, being still
+in the range of the gate arc light. There was no mistaking the figure.
+From that moment he never lost sight of her.
+
+To avoid suspicion of shadowing her, he took a diverging path and
+boldly clambered over the hill, and proceeded toward the children's
+playgrounds, apparently away from her. Passing on and in the direction
+of the reservoirs, he at length stopped at the fountain.
+
+He was the "man near the fountain" whom she discovered while she was
+standing under the cedar.
+
+Sam had stopped but a moment when, to his amazement, he discovered
+Virginia suddenly had disappeared down the hillside. He at once
+followed her, and was the man she again saw on the driveway beneath
+her. Again she disappeared, and he shrewdly suspected, into the deep
+shadow of the clump of firs nearby.
+
+He was straining his eyes diagonally up the slope, trying to penetrate
+the gloom, when a low scream of terror assailed his ears, and was
+quickly followed by a low, reassuring masculine voice. He determined
+to get near them. He threw himself flat against the bank and, shielded
+some by the unmowed grassy slope, dragged himself along for about
+fifty feet, to where the driveway, rounding westward, divided them
+from the long flight of steps. He passed within fifty feet of the
+couple, then cautiously pulled himself near the summit. The ridge was
+strategically of great value. It enabled him to flank them unseen.
+
+He immediately availed himself of its cover and sneaked slowly and
+cautiously along the side of the crest to a point which he judged to
+be near enough to them, and then he peered above the summit. The
+couple were between him and the dim city lights. He strained his ears
+to catch their words, and drew himself closer, inch by inch, fearing
+discovery, yet desperately anxious to catch the purpose of the
+meeting, and when he saw the glittering knife, his alarm gave
+expression in the low whistle.
+
+When he sprang on in pursuit of Jack, it was with a determination to
+ascertain who he was, where he lived, and, if possible, to gain some
+knowledge of his purpose in this meeting with Virginia at such an
+unseasonable time and place.
+
+The few words of low-spoken conversation he had heard gave him no clue
+to the real object of the meeting; but he was convinced that some
+grave and momentous purpose was involved to have induced Virginia to
+keep so perilous an appointment alone.
+
+"Did she make the appointment?" The thought was no sooner uttered than
+it gave place to another equally as suggestive, for just then thoughts
+raced through Sam's brain with amazing rapidity. "Or, rather, was she
+not compelled to meet the stranger by some power which he had obtained
+over her--some secret of her life which she feared--a deathly fear, of
+disclosure, and which this man knew, and its power he knew only too
+well, how to wield."
+
+The more he thought about it, the more the mystery, for such it
+appeared to him, deepened. He determined to fathom it. Inured to a
+rough, open-air life on the Texas plains, his constitution was hard
+and tough, and well seasoned for the job presented--and, it must be
+confessed, it was to his liking.
+
+Sam felt his blood tingle as his enthusiasm rose to the prospect of a
+genuine adventure, and he hurried along, over the soft, yielding
+grass, to catch sight of the fellow ahead. A clump of low bushes
+suddenly confronted him. It was an unusually dark spot, and then, for
+the first time, he thought of the ugly knife the stranger had
+displayed, and realized that he himself was unarmed.
+
+He almost halted--wary of running into an ambush, and cautiously made a
+wide detour, meanwhile alert for any sudden surprise from the
+direction of the bush. Discovering no sign of a crouching figure
+there, he hastened on, and finally caught sight of a moving shadow, as
+it crossed a faint shaft of light shot from a window of a dwelling on
+Ford street, to his left.
+
+"Ah, I guess so. That's the party," he muttered to himself, and from
+that moment Sam was as keen on the trail as a sleuth on the scent,
+never losing sight of his quarry, but himself avoiding, as he
+believed, discovery.
+
+Occasionally, as the moon cleared from an obscuring cloud, he could
+make out the man halting under the shelter of a fir or clump of
+saplings, evidently to listen for sounds of a pursuer, and then,
+seemingly satisfied, again move on.
+
+So far the direction of his course was toward the reservoir, but of a
+sudden he turned, and sharply cutting across Sam's front, swiftly
+entered the deep gloom of a cluster of cedars, where he was lost to
+the eyes of the pursuer.
+
+It was plain that his man intended to avoid exit by the main gate, or
+by Park avenue, a circumstance to cause Sam keen chagrin, for he hoped
+by an adroit move to get a good square look at the fellow's face as he
+would pass under the entrance arc light.
+
+To the right, a foot path wound its way to the main gate. To the left
+of a cluster of dark firs stretched a comparative level, past the bear
+pit, and right down to the deer corral; but what park features lay
+beyond and between the firs and corral, he could not determine. In his
+effort to mislead Sam, the fugitive had doubled on his track, and at
+that moment was but a short distance west of the starting point. Sam
+reasoned that this man would not cross that smooth, grassy plot, nor
+emerge from his retreat and go down the path, but most likely would
+take a direct course through the cluster of firs, and under the
+shelter of their dark shadow strike the fence directly opposite, and
+so reach the Barnes road, a hundred yards or so west of the park gate.
+
+It was obvious that time was an important factor. There being no
+possible place of concealment between his present position and the
+firs, he must either go back and take a circuitous route, or boldly
+approach by the path. He chose the latter. Skirting the firs--for he
+dared not enter the cluster's gloomy precincts in his defenseless
+condition--he soon passed them and discovered a succession of
+odd-looking shrubs, trained to fantastic growths by the gardener. They
+afforded excellent cover right down past the bear pit to the deer
+corral fence, which ran along the brow of the hill; farther down, a
+second fence, which still exists, bounded the deer corral and
+separated the park from the Barnes road. A little further along and
+against the upper picket fence (since removed), a mass of tangled ivy
+and Virginia creeper foliage, revelled in wild luxuriance.
+
+The vines had seized upon and had grown about and over some dwarf
+locust trees, forming a series of natural bowers, rather picturesque
+by daylight, but at night, dismally dark and forbidding.
+
+Sam hesitated, which was well for him, for under the shadow of these
+dark vines, Rutley and Jack Shore had met by previous arrangement.
+They were silently watching him.
+
+"I cannot shake him off. He tracks me like a bloodhound," Jack
+informed his companion, in a whisper.
+
+"The meddlesome fool!" replied Rutley. "If he will not stop following
+you--why--he carries his life in his hands."
+
+"No, no! Not that. We don't want any killing in ours, Phil, anything
+but that. Who is he?"
+
+"Sam Harris. I saw him follow Virginia and was sure he would run foul
+of you."
+
+"The simpleton is harmless anyway. He is moving to the fence. See him?
+Hist!"
+
+After studying the wild growth for a few moments, Sam decided to
+approach it by way of the fence. There he suddenly dropped to his
+knees and crept noiselessly--very close beside the fence, toward the
+tangle. As he neared it he could make out its black cavernous
+recesses. Twice he paused, his eyes strained with the utmost tension
+of watchfulness against a surprise, for he now fully believed that the
+man he was attempting to shadow was a desperate character.
+
+However, he crept nearer, hardly stirring a blade of grass, so
+cautious was his progress--so silent his movements. He listened
+intently, scarcely breathing, lest its sound should betray his
+presence. His hands gently touched a vine to part the leaves--instantly
+he was greeted with a hiss and a rattle, and then something glittered
+close to his eyes, which in the moment of his startled alarm he
+believed to be the glitter of a reptile's fangs. It caused him to bolt
+suddenly with a panicky feeling at his heart, and then it brought from
+Jack a soft chuckle of merriment.
+
+"He's not as plucky as the girl. We must throw him off the scent at
+any cost," whispered Rutley, "or we will be trapped." Suddenly he laid
+his hand on Jack's arm and continued with a low, sardonic laugh: "I
+have it, Jack. You lead him down on the Barnes road; I'll meet him
+there," and without any further delay Rutley slipped down the steep
+slope to his automobile, which lay in the deep shadow of the canyon
+walls, a little further to the west, where he waited with the evil
+purpose in his heart for the climax.
+
+Sam was no coward. He had faced dangerous situations fearlessly, but
+that hiss and rattle, in the stillness of a dark, lonely and
+forbidding place, fairly raised his hair, and lent a lightness to his
+feet that amazed him, when he halted and noted the distance covered in
+the few moments of his flight.
+
+"One of those deadly reptiles got out of the park zoo," he thought,
+"sneaked his way into that jungle--I guess so!" and he wiped the beads
+of perspiration from his face as he added aloud: "An almighty close
+call! But," and he looked up at the dark sky, and then around and
+about, and as gathering confidence returned to him, continued: "I
+shall not give up yet, not yet. I guess not."
+
+Yet it was apparent his pursuit of the stranger had signally failed,
+and he stood motionless wondering what course then best for him to
+adopt.
+
+True, he was in a dilemma, and instinctively realized that to remain
+in the park was useless. So, without forming any practical conclusion,
+and for the purpose of keeping active, he again moved toward the
+fence. It was then he conceived the notion to climb over the fence and
+make a short descent to the gate, in order to catch sight of Virginia,
+for she could not be far away yet, and to follow her and secretly to
+protect her on her return to her home. With that object in mind, he
+climbed the fence, and, securing a position on its top, looked
+cautiously about. He was some distance to the west of the tangle of
+vines, from which he was screened by the foliage of a small tree that
+grew nearby.
+
+[Illustration: Sam--"One of those deadly reptiles got out of the Park
+Zoo."]
+
+The gate light threw a faint glimmer along the fence, and on the
+Barnes road in the gorge below. He peered down the steep hillside, and
+looked up and down the road. There being no one in sight, he let his
+legs slip quietly down the other side of the fence, and gradually
+lowered himself, without sustaining other injury than a few trivial
+scratches. As he brushed mechanically the debris which had clung to
+his clothes, he was surprised to see the figure of a man step out,
+seemingly from the fence itself, and slip down the hillside, and
+climbing the lower fence, cross the almost dry bed of the stream,
+close to the road, and proceed cityward.
+
+Sam was sure the man, whoever he was, had not been on the corral side
+of the fence a moment before, and to give the mysterious appearance a
+deeper significance, the point of exit was about the location of the
+tangled vines. The appearance of the man differed from the one he had
+followed, inasmuch that one had on a long coat and bushy beard, the
+other wore a short pilot coat and mustache. For a moment Sam was
+puzzled, and he scratched his head. Suddenly he broke out in an
+unconscious whisper to himself, as though urged on by some
+supernatural agency, for afterward it surprised him when he thought of
+that moment: "Damned if I don't think he's the same party I've been
+after, disguised."
+
+And he made straight for the place, as near as he could estimate,
+where the man had emerged.
+
+It was a few moments before he found it, but a close examination soon
+revealed two yielding pickets of the fence. True, just sufficient to
+admit a man's body sideways, but there it was, as he afterwards
+discovered, and perfectly screened from observation by masses of
+slender leaf-laded branches and twigs. The inner, bushy part being
+skilfully cut away. The trick employed to evade him was now palpable.
+The hiss, the buzzing rattle, the glitter--"Ah; it was the glitter of a
+steel blade"--and at the thought he shivered, as with an icy chill, for
+he realized how dangerously near a death-trap he had ventured. As the
+reaction came, his face flamed with the hot blood of indignation and
+chagrin at the smart dodge by which he had been temporarily baffled.
+
+In the distance, down near the park entrance, was still dimly visible
+the retreating form of a man. Sam determined to follow him.
+
+He slid and partly tumbled down the steep hillside, sprang over the
+lower fence, and crossed the bed of the creek and on to the road--and
+was so intent on his mission that he did not hear or see, until it was
+almost upon him, a dark, noiseless machine, approaching from the rear.
+He moved hastily aside to let it pass, but to his intense
+astonishment, the automobile followed him with evident intention of
+running him down. Again he sprang aside, but too late. The front wheel
+grazed his left leg and swung him around on to the rear wheel, which
+hurled him violently to the ground.
+
+Having accomplished his purpose, Rutley at once stopped the machine,
+alighted, and examined Sam.
+
+He was soon joined by Jack, who asked, in a low voice: "Have you
+killed him?"
+
+"I don't think so. Bad gash on the side of his head, though."
+
+"Dangerous?"
+
+"Impossible for me to say."
+
+"Just unconscious?" anxiously inquired Jack.
+
+"Yes; but I don't think he will interfere with us again for some time.
+What shall we do with him?"
+
+"Take him home."
+
+"Good idea," grunted Rutley. "It becomes you decidedly well, Jack,
+after being a villain, to play the good Samaritan. Well, take this
+handkerchief and bind his wound," and he raised Sam's head while Jack
+bound up the wound.
+
+"It will make old Harris feel under an obligation to me."
+
+"And you can touch him for the loan of ten thousand, to square
+accounts," added Jack. And again Rutley laughed.
+
+"Come, let's pack him on to the machine."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+
+Shortly after the insult forced upon him by John Thorpe at the Harris
+reception, and finding it impossible to enjoy the spirit of the gay
+throng, Mr. Corway took his departure.
+
+Disappointed in his endeavor to communicate with Hazel, who deemed it
+discreet to avoid his presence until after the affair had been cleared
+up--and actuated by the purest motives, he could not but feel that he
+was the mistaken victim of some foul play with which fate had
+strangely connected him.
+
+He recalled the profound respect he had always entertained for and on
+every occasion he had shown Mrs. Thorpe. And as his thoughts of the
+affair deepened, his natural fire of resentment softened and died out
+as effectually as though he had been summoned to stand beside the
+deathbed of some very dear friend. And the more he thought of it, the
+more disagreeable and repugnant a quarrel with John Thorpe appeared to
+him; yet his honor as a gentleman grossly insulted, forbade any other
+way out of it.
+
+Finally he decided to consult Mr. Harris on the best course to pursue,
+and for that purpose determined to visit Rosemont the next day.
+
+It was well on in the afternoon that he left his hotel for the
+Jefferson street depot, and while walking along First street he
+noticed a closed "hack," drawn by a pair of black horses, rapidly
+proceeding in the same direction.
+
+As it passed him, he felt sure that he had caught a glimpse of Lord
+Beauchamp's profile, through the small, glazed lookout at the back of
+the vehicle.
+
+It was late when Corway returned from Rosemont, and strangely
+coincident, as he stepped down off the car he saw that same "hack"
+move off, and that same face inside, made plain by a chance gleam of
+light from a street lamp, that quivered athwart the casement of the
+door. But except for a thought of "devilish queer, unless 'me lord'
+was expecting some one," he attached no further importance to it, and
+dismissed it from his mind.
+
+He proceeded up Jefferson street with head bent low, engrossed in deep
+meditation, for Mr. Harris was unable to give him any concrete advice
+on the matter, and he was recalling to memory every conceivable act he
+had committed, or words he had uttered that could have been possibly
+misconstrued by Mr. Thorpe to urge the latter to a frenzy and so
+violent an outburst, when he was abruptly halted by a peremptory
+order: "Hands up!"
+
+Simultaneously two masked men stepped out from the shadow of a gloomy
+recess of a building between Second and Third streets, and one of them
+poked the muzzle of an ugly-looking revolver in his face.
+
+At that moment Mr. Corway had his hands thrust deep in his light
+overcoat pockets, and the suddenness of the demand made at a time when
+his mind was in a perturbed, chaotic state, evidently was not clearly
+comprehended. At any rate, he failed to comply instantly, with the
+result that he received a heavy blow on the back of his head with some
+blunt instrument, which felled him like a log. His unquestioned
+personal courage, and his reputation of being a dead shot at twenty
+paces availed him nothing. He was not permitted time, short as was
+needed, to wrest his mind from its pre-occupied business to grasp a
+mode of defense, before he was struck down. He thought he had met
+with, what many others before him have met on the streets of Portland
+after dark, a "holdup."
+
+
+
+
+When he recovered consciousness the smell of tar and whiskey was
+strong about him. To his dazed senses, for his brain had not
+completely cleared of a stunned sensation in his head, this smell was
+incomprehensible, and suddenly becoming startled, he cried out, half
+aloud: "For the love of God, where am I?" And then a recollection of
+the apparent "holdup" dawned on his mind.
+
+He lay still for a moment trying to trace his actions following the
+blow he had received, but in vain; all was a blank. It was very dark
+where he was lying, and he fancied he heard the swish of waters. He
+put out his right hand and felt the wooden side of a berth. He put out
+his left hand and felt a wooden wall. Then he tried to sit up, but the
+pain in his head soon compelled him to desist.
+
+He lay quiet again and distinctly heard a sound of straining, creaking
+timbers. He at once concluded he was on a ship. "Why! Wherefore! Good
+God, have I been shanghaied?" were the thoughts that leaped to his
+mind, and notwithstanding the pain in his head, he attempted to sit
+up, but his head bumped violently against some boards just above him,
+and he fell back again, stunned. He had struck the wooden part of the
+upper berth. He, however, soon recovered and commenced to think
+lucidly again. He knew how prevalent the practice of forcibly taking
+men to fill an ocean ship's crew had become in Portland and other
+Coast cities by seamen's boarding house hirelings, and he felt
+satisfied that he was one of their victims.
+
+He put his hand in his pocket for a match; there was none; and his
+clothes felt damp, then a fresh whiskey odor entered his nostrils.
+"Have I been intoxicated?" The question startled him, but he could not
+remember taking any liquor. "No; I am sure of that, but why this odor;
+perhaps this berth has been occupied by some 'drunk'."
+
+A feeling of disgust urged him to get out of it at once, and he threw
+his leg over the side of the berth and stood upright.
+
+The pain in the back of his head throbbed so fiercely that he clapped
+his hand over it, which afforded only temporary relief. He then
+thought of his handkerchief, which he found in his pocket, and though
+smelling of whiskey, he bound it about his head.
+
+Being now in full possession of his faculties, and feeling strong on
+his legs, he determined to investigate his quarters. "Oh, for a
+light!"
+
+Again he felt in his pockets for a match and found none, but he
+discovered that his watch was gone, and a further search revealed that
+every cent of his money was gone.
+
+At this time, in addition to occasional indistinct sounds of the swish
+of waters against the bow, he heard some tramping about overhead, as
+by barefooted men, acting seemingly under orders from a hoarse voice
+farther away.
+
+His first impulse was to shout to apprise them of his presence, but on
+second thought decided to remain silent for a time, or until he could
+determine their character.
+
+So he proceeded to grope around, first extending his foot in different
+directions, and then his hands. He found three berths, one above the
+other, and then, fearful of bumping his head against some projecting
+beam or other obstacle, put out his left hand as a feeler before him,
+and slowly worked along by the side of the berths.
+
+Soon his foot struck something hard, unlike wood, for it appeared to
+give a little, and putting down his hand, felt it to be a coil of
+rope. It was in an open space at the end of the berths. A little
+further his foot struck some wood, and feeling about with his hand,
+found it was a partition wall. On rounding the partition a very thin
+ray of light issued from a crevice in front, and then he discovered
+steps.
+
+He crawled up to a door, opened it, and peered out on a pile of
+lumber. Above it masts towered up into the darkness, with sails
+hoisted, but unset and flapping lazily to and fro in the wake of the
+breeze.
+
+It was near the dawn, light clouds almost transparent and partly
+obscuring the moon, drifted along in the sky, while here and there,
+through openings of deepest blue, glittered countless stars.
+
+The air was fresh, too, a little raw and chill, but good to inhale
+after the dead rank odor from which he had just escaped.
+
+An open space in the lumber pile just in front of the forecastle door,
+and left to facilitate ingress and egress, gave him room to stretch.
+The light that glimmered faintly through a chink in the door was from
+a lantern that hung on the fore mast, a few feet above the deck-load
+of lumber.
+
+By the aid of this light he looked over and along the surface of the
+lumber aft to where some men were dimly silhouetted against the aft
+sail, then swinging abeam, by a lantern on the poop.
+
+Without hesitation he mounted the lumber and was immediately accosted
+by a gruff voice from behind: "Where away now shipmate?"
+
+"That's something I should like to know," replied Corway, turning
+around and facing the questioner.
+
+Then he saw that the ship was being towed down the Columbia River, of
+which he was certain by its width, by a steamer, and the man who had
+addressed him was leaning on the boom that swung over the forecastle.
+
+"You'll know soon enough when your 'watch' comes," said the man with a
+grunt that may have been meant for a laugh.
+
+"I say, friend," went on Corway, pleadingly, "I am not a sailor, and
+as there must be some mistake about me being on this ship, may I ask
+what means were used to get me aboard?"
+
+"Well, that's a rummie," said the fellow, leering at Corway, and after
+a moment of seeming reflection, he continued: "Well, I reckon it's not
+a mate's place to give out information, but bein' you've a sore top
+an' wearin' city clothes, I will say this much: you had stowed away
+such a bally lot of booze that you come to the ship like a gentleman,
+sir. Yes, sir. And nothing short of a hack with a pair of blacks to
+draw it, would do for you, sir."
+
+"In a hack, you say!" exclaimed Corway, alertly.
+
+"Yes, sir; in a hack, just as we cast off from the sawmill wharf at
+Portland."
+
+"Strange! The hack I saw yesterday afternoon, and again at the depot
+last night, was drawn by black horses," muttered Corway to himself,
+and after a moment of deep reflection, went on: "Looks like a
+conspiracy to get me out of the way. I say, my good fellow, do you
+remember the time I was brought on board and how many were in the
+party?"
+
+"That's none o' my business," replied the mate, turning away.
+
+"Oh, come now," said Corway, pleadingly, for he believed this man
+could tell more about the affair than he cared to.
+
+"Well, all I seen was three swabs that said they was from the Sailor
+boardin' house, chuck you aboard about two bells," replied the mate,
+indifferently, as he straightened himself up.
+
+Corway then noted the huge proportions of the fellow and thought:
+"What a terrorizing bully he could be to the poor sailors that chanced
+to anger him at sea."
+
+"But I never was in a sailor boarding house in my life."
+
+"Oh, tryin' to crawfish from your bargain, eh?" laughed the big
+fellow. "It won't go; ship's bally well short-handed, long vige, too,
+and the capt'n had to do it!"
+
+"Do what?" Corway sharply snapped.
+
+"Why, he pays over the money afore they'd h'ist ye over the rail.
+Better talk to the capt'n. He's comin' for'ard now," and the mate
+stepped over and leaned on the bulwark.
+
+Corway at once turned and moved toward the captain, who was
+approaching with his first officer, from amidships, smoking a cigar.
+
+"Yes, I am the captain. What do you want?"
+
+"To be put ashore!" Corway demanded. "I've been sandbagged and robbed,
+and evidently sold to you for a sailor, which I am not."
+
+"Not a sailor, eh," the captain said, taking the cigar from his mouth
+and looking sharply at Corway. "What did you sign the articles for?"
+
+"I never signed any articles." By this time Corway was fully alive to
+his position and spoke with rising heat and ill-suppressed
+indignation.
+
+"Oh, yes you did!" sneered the first officer, "but you were too drunk
+to remember it."
+
+"Repeat that, and I'll choke the words back down your throat," and
+Corway stepped menacingly toward him.
+
+The captain held up his hand warningly and looked at Corway as if he
+was daffy, then said slowly and meaningly: "Be careful, young man;
+that is insubordination; a repetition will land you in irons. The
+boarding-house master swore that he saw you sign the articles, and he
+had other witnesses to your signature to satisfy me before I paid him
+your wages for six months in advance on your order."
+
+"I signed no articles, and I know nothing about it," fumed Corway.
+"And I again demand, as an American citizen, that you put me ashore,
+or I shall libel this ship for abduction."
+
+"Ah, ah, ah," sneered the first officer, who was unable to conceal his
+ill-will to Corway since the latter's threat to choke him. "Give the
+dandy a lady's handkerchief, and he'll believe the ship's a jolly good
+wine cask."
+
+Corway struck him square on the mouth. "Take that for your insolence,
+you contemptible puppy," and following him up with clenched fists, as
+the officer stumbled back, said wrathfully: "If you speak to me that
+way again, I'll break in your anatomy."
+
+"Here, Judd," called the captain to the mate on the forecastle. "Take
+this fellow to the strong room and keep him there on 'hardtack' for
+three days."
+
+"Aye, aye, sir," replied Judd.
+
+Hearing the captain's orders, and seeing the commotion he had created,
+Corway saw that his only chance for escape was to go overboard, and
+without further hesitation sprang toward the side of the ship for a
+plunge, but his toe caught on the edge of a warped board and down he
+went sprawling.
+
+The big mate jumped on him, and though he fought desperately, he was
+overpowered, and the last he remembered was being dragged by the
+collar over the lumber toward the forecastle.
+
+When he next got on deck the ship was far out to sea and bowling along
+in a stiff breeze.
+
+It is said that it is an ill wind that doesn't blow somebody good.
+
+So with Mr. Corway, for though the boarding-house toughs had nearly
+given him his quietus and sent him on a long journey, they had
+conveniently done him the effective service of quashing an encounter
+with John Thorpe.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+
+When Sam regained consciousness it was to find himself on a couch in
+his uncle's home, with the odor of ammonia in his nostrils. For a
+couple of minutes he lay very still, collecting his scattered senses,
+and then, as the clouds that darkened his brain cleared away, the
+events of the night dawned upon his memory.
+
+Two men were in the room conversing in low tones. They were standing
+near the dressing-case, back of the couch, which had been drawn out to
+the middle of the room to facilitate examination of his injuries. One
+of the speakers he recognized by the voice as his uncle. The other he
+soon made out to be the family doctor.
+
+"Then you are quite satisfied he is not badly hurt?"
+
+"So far as I have been able to examine him, yes. The concussion, when
+he struck the hard roadbed, produced insensibility. The cut of the
+cuticle covering the left parietal bone, just above the ear, is not
+dangerous, since there is no fracture. I do not anticipate any serious
+result, fortunately. It might have been worse--it might have been
+worse!"
+
+"Quite true; still we should have more confidence in his recovery if
+we were certain the worst has passed."
+
+"All passed, Uncle--I guess so!" spoke up Sam, in cheery tones, and he
+sat up on the couch.
+
+"Ha, ha, Sam, my boy; not so fast. Glad to hear your voice again, but
+you must rest; you must rest. You need it. The doctor insists," and
+Mr. Harris hastened to his side to urge him again to lie down.
+
+Nevertheless Sam arose to his feet and remarked: "All right, Uncle! A
+little sore up there," and he motioned to the sore side of his head.
+"But that's all--I guess."
+
+"You must avoid excitement," cautioned the doctor. "And I advise you
+at once to take to your bed and remain there until I make a thorough
+diagnosis of your case, which I shall do in the morning."
+
+"Not if I know it. Not much--I guess not!" mentally noted Sam.
+
+Turning to Mr. Harris, he asked: "How long have I been unconscious,
+Uncle, and who brought me home?"
+
+The question was put by Sam with an eagerness bordering on excitement.
+
+It was noticed by both the gentlemen.
+
+"I insist that you go to bed, Sam," pleaded Mr. Harris.
+
+"The very best thing you can do, sir," added the doctor.
+
+"Of course, Uncle, I shall do so to please you; but the only soreness
+I feel is on the side of my head, and I've often felt worse. But you
+have not answered my questions."
+
+"You were unconscious for about two hours. My Lord Beauchamp brought
+you home in an automobile. It seems he was returning from a spin out
+on the Barnes road and accidentally ran his machine against you. He,
+like the perfect gentleman he is, immediately stopped and went to your
+aid. He recognized you and brought you home with all speed."
+
+"Ah! Very queer!" exclaimed Sam, significantly.
+
+"What is queer, Sam?" Mr. Harris interrogated, with a keen,
+penetrating, yet puzzled look.
+
+"Why, that fellow," and Sam checked himself from making a grave
+charge, by indifferently remarking: "Oh, it seems queer to be run
+over," and then he looked up and continued: "Doctor, I thank you for
+your attention; good night.
+
+"Uncle, good night; I'm going to bed."
+
+"Very sensible, Sam; good night."
+
+"This powder is an opiate and will act to produce sound sleep, which
+is very essential to counter the shock your nervous system has
+received," said the doctor, as he laid out the potion. "Take it, after
+getting into bed."
+
+"Thank you," and Sam fingered the powder gingerly. "Good night,
+Doctor."
+
+"Good night, sir."
+
+As Mr. Harris and the doctor left the room Sam stood for a moment in
+deep thought, then muttered to himself: "That fellow out there near
+midnight. No lights or gong on his machine. Deliberately ran me
+down--and Virginia about! Did he know she was to be there?" He shook
+his head--"It looks queer." And then he lifted his eyes in a quick,
+resolute way.
+
+"I'll be back in the park at dawn--I guess so!"
+
+With that he flipped the opiate out of the window.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+
+It was in the gray of the dawn when Sam alighted from the first
+outbound car at the junction of Twenty-third and Washington streets
+and immediately struck out for the City park.
+
+He was desirous of being the first visitor there, and he was
+inordinately curious to examine by the light of day the ground he had
+traversed a few hours previous, and particularly the spot where
+Virginia had met the mysterious stranger, as also the tangle of vines
+in which he was satisfied had lurked most deadly danger.
+
+He had been urged on by an indefinable something, a sort of
+presentiment that quickened to impatience, his desire for an early
+trip to the park, and pursuing his way steadily along, afraid of no
+ambush now, for he was armed, he at length arrived at the spot which
+he recognized by the clump of firs close to the row of the esplanade
+benches. He examined the ground as carefully as the uncertain light
+would permit. Discovering nothing unusual, he was about to abandon the
+search and make his way over to the tangle of vines, when on second
+thought he decided to wait awhile for stronger light. Producing a
+cigar, he contentedly sat on a bench--the very same Virginia had
+occupied--near a tree.
+
+Sam was not of a romantic turn of mind, yet his attention was arrested
+by the sublime grandeur of the scene confronting him. The morning was
+emerging from the deep darkness of night, mild, clean and fresh. The
+base of the distant eastern hills was yet shrouded in inky blackness--a
+blackness intensified by a vast superimposed floating mass of thin
+fog, seemingly motionless in the noticeably still air.
+
+The billowy crest of this fleecy, semi-transparent mass of vapor
+reflected a mellow chastity, while the irregular points of the rugged
+mountain tops were sharply defined against the soft emerald,
+golden-pink light that streaked and massed the sky in the advance of a
+promising Autumn morn.
+
+The huge, glistening white peaks of Hood and Adams and St. Helens,
+towered in lofty majesty, clear and individually distinct above the
+high altitudes of the range that encompassed them, and even as he
+looked, a soft, rose-red tinge tipped the apex of Mount Hood, which
+appeared unusually close, and crept softly down the glacis of its
+snow-covered, precipitous sides.
+
+And nearer, at his feet, in a basin--the city spread out far and wide.
+
+The silvery green waters of the Willamette River, cutting through the
+city's center, silently glided along its sinuous course to the
+Columbia; while patches of thin mist flitted timidly about on its
+placid surface, to vanish like tardy spirits of a departing night.
+
+The grand panorama gave his usually buoyant spirits pause.
+
+Gradually the light of his eyes changed from absorbing admiration to a
+reflective mood, in which the strange behavior of Virginia Thorpe was
+the predominating subject.
+
+That money, possibly blackmail, was the object of the
+stranger--scoundrel. Sam could think of him in no other light after the
+night's experience. There was no doubt, for he had plainly heard her
+say in a loud, surprised tone, "Twenty thousand dollars."
+
+Suddenly the hoarse whistle of a far-off industrial establishment
+vibrated the air and aroused him from his deep reverie. The morning
+was well advanced.
+
+As the light in his eyes quickened from a pensive stare at the ground
+a few paces from his feet, he perceived a shred of red peeping between
+the blades of short grass. He picked it up. It was a narrow piece of
+soiled and worn ribbon, but attached to it was an old oxidized bronze
+medal, about the size of a silver quarter-dollar. The inscription upon
+its rim was in Latin, but Sam clearly made out one word, "Garibaldi,"
+from which he concluded its late owner must be an Italian.
+
+From the smooth condition of the medal, and unweathered appearance of
+the ribbon, he judged it must have been recently lost.
+
+"What if it had been accidentally dropped by the man talking to
+Virginia last night?" The idea was fraught with great possibilities.
+
+"A clue! A sure clue, as I live," and Sam's enthusiasm soared with the
+recollection of seeing the man thrust his hand into the inside breast
+of his coat to show the knife, when it was quite possible the medal
+either became unfastened from its clasp, or being loose in his pocket,
+had been drawn out with the knife and slipped noiselessly to the
+ground.
+
+Somehow Sam's thoughts flew back to the night of his uncle's
+reception, and connected the old Italian beggar loitering about the
+grounds with the medal.
+
+"Was he the owner of the medal? And, if so, was he the same party that
+met Virginia, and whom he had followed last night?"
+
+"Heavens! Could he have kidnapped Dorothy?" A train of thought had
+been started and rushed through Sam's brain with prodigious alacrity.
+
+"Was the twenty thousand dollars he had heard Virginia mention with
+surprise, a ransom?"
+
+"If Virginia knew that Dorothy was in the hands of the Dago, why did
+she keep it secret? And what business had Beauchamp out on the Barnes
+road last night?" Sam derided the idea of him being out there alone,
+for a spin.
+
+With these thoughts, and others, pregnant with momentous
+possibilities, he continued the search. Finding nothing more, he
+sprang onto the path that led to the tangle of vines. There was the
+very spot. No mistaking it. Along that fence he had crept in the
+darkness of night. Those the leaves he had touched with his hands, and
+he thrust his stout cane among them, but no hiss, or rattle, or
+glitter of something sinister, greeted his probing now.
+
+Into the gloomy recess of the jungle he made his way, derisively
+fearless of any possible lurking danger.
+
+He parted the overhanging foliage to let in more light. Ah, it was all
+plain now.
+
+There close to his elbow was the artfully concealed exit through the
+foliage, and the pickets loose at the bottom. There the man had
+stood--not more than a foot of space separating them when Sam's hand
+touched the leaves, and the glitter--well, it was the vicious glint of
+an ugly knife. Of that Sam now felt perfectly satisfied.
+
+Pushing the leaves further apart to enlarge the opening overhead, so
+as to admit more light, he discovered several strands of hair of a
+brownish color clinging to the end of a broken twig in the cavity of
+the tangle, which he at once conjectured had been torn from the man's
+false beard. These strands of hair Sam carefully gathered and placed
+between the leaves of his notebook. "Maybe, maybe they'll be useful
+some day. I guess so," he muttered.
+
+He resumed the search, but with the exception of a few indistinct
+shoeprints on the soft soil, found nothing more to interest him, and
+squeezing himself through the aperture in the fence, he quickly
+emerged on the Barnes road, well satisfied with his morning's work.
+
+
+
+
+One hour later, with his hat jauntily set on the side of his head,
+effectually concealing the wound, Sam was walking on Third street, in
+front of the "Plaza" blocks, where several vegetable vendors
+rendezvous preparatory for their morning's work. Several bustling
+women, hotel stewards and others were out early, marketing. As he
+wended his way through the bargain-driving throng, the loud voice of
+an olive-skinned huckster standing on the rear footboard of his
+heavily-laden wagon, attracted his attention. It was a covered,
+one-horse express wagon, common on the city streets, and contained a
+motley assortment of oranges, bruised bananas, melons and the like.
+
+He was putting in a paper bag some bananas he had sold to a woman, who
+stood by, at the same time talking volubly--evidently in an effort to
+fend off her too curiously searching eyes from the over-ripe fruit.
+
+"Eesa good-a da lady. Nice-a da ripe-a."
+
+"Oh, they are too ripe! Put in those other ones, they don't look so
+soft."
+
+"Eesa note-a da soft-a; only a da black-a da skin. Look-a," and he
+peeled a diminutive banana.
+
+"How nice and clean those are in that wagon over there. I think I'll
+buy some of them. You needn't mind putting those up for me."
+
+"Sacre, Tar-rah-rah! Eesa beg-a da pardon, good-a da lady. Take eem
+all for a ten-a da cent-a," and he thrust the bag of fruit into her
+hands. "Eesa 'chink' wagon. Show all-a da good-a side, hide-a da
+rotten side. Da morrow, Eesa sell-a da turnoppsis, carrottsis,
+cababages, every kind-a da veg-a-ta-bles. Some-a time Eesa black-a da
+boots. Saw da ood. Do anyting gett-a da mon. Go back-a da sunny
+Italy."
+
+He was so insistent, with fear of being made a subject for coarse
+remonstrance, she paid him his price and departed. Whereupon he again
+began to bawl out in his peculiar Dago dialect: "Or-ran-ges! Ba-nans!
+Nice-a da ripe-a banans. Ten-a cents-a doz-z. Me-lo-nas!
+War-ter-me-lo-nas! Nice-a da ripe-a Musha Me-lonas!" and he suddenly
+lowered his voice on observing Sam halt in front of him.
+
+"Eesa tenna cent-a da one. Nice-a da ripe-a, my friend. Take-a eem a
+da home, two for-a da fifteen-a da centa." And he handled a couple of
+small melons.
+
+"Sacre, da damn," and his voice again rose to a high pitch, as he
+shouted: "Me-lo-nas! Ba-nans! Nice-a da ripe-a da Ba-nans. Tenn-a
+cents-a doz!"
+
+The peculiar idioms of the fellow, and his manner of delivery seemed
+strangely familiar, and as Sam moved along slowly, a pace or two,
+rumaging his brain for identification, he suddenly remembered the old
+cripple at his uncle's reception, and also, only last night, the
+mysterious stranger in the park.
+
+It may be pertinent to remark that Jack Shore had obtained most of his
+dago dialect from a close study of this very man. The similarity of
+speech and voice, therefore, was accountable for Sam's mistake of
+identification.
+
+A moment later, among a passing throng, Sam stopped and pretended to
+pick up a small copper-colored medal appended to a bit of soiled
+ribbon. He halted and ostentatiously displayed it, turning it over and
+over in his hands while examining it. It attracted the attention of an
+Italian nearby, who at once claimed the medal.
+
+"If it is yours, no doubt you can describe certain marks which appear
+on its surface?"
+
+"I don-a have to. Eets a Garibaldi! Giv-a da me!"
+
+"What else?" Sam pressed for more definite information, for he
+immediately became convinced that this claimant was not the real
+owner.
+
+The word Garibaldi attracted a second Italian, a short, fat man, with
+huge, flat face, who was at once apprised of the find. He asked Sam to
+let him have it for examination.
+
+Sam refused to let it pass from his hands, explaining that this man
+had claimed it, but seemingly was unable to identify it. "I will
+deliver it to the officer," and he beckoned a policeman to approach.
+
+There followed instantly a lively colloquy between the two Italians,
+the second one declaring it belonged to Giuseppe--for he had seen him
+with it, and he turned to Sam.
+
+"That man," indicating the fruit vendor, on express wagon license
+number 346, "is own it. I'm sure he will it tell-a you so," and he
+shouted, "Giuseppe!"
+
+Giuseppe heard and shouted back, "Ta-rah-rah!"
+
+As they moved toward him the short man continued to address Sam. "His
+fadder was wit Garibaldi at Palestrino."
+
+"Giuseppe, have you lost your fadder's medal?"
+
+Giuseppe had stepped from his wagon to the curb. With a surprised look
+he instantly replied, "No! Eesa len eem to deeza fren."
+
+"When you len eem?" the short, fat man asked.
+
+"Eesa bout five-six day. Why for youse-a ax deeze-a question?"
+
+There was no mistaking the fact that Giuseppe's frank response
+conveyed the truth.
+
+Sam believed him.
+
+The short man again spoke. "This man pick eem up there. It belong to
+you. Ask eem for it."
+
+"Geeve it-a da me, boss."
+
+"This man has claimed it as his. Yet he cannot identify it," replied
+Sam. "Now, to prove it is yours, tell me its size, and the letters on
+its two sides."
+
+"Eesa bout as big as-a deeze." And Giuseppe produced an American
+quarter dollar. "Look-a da close. Eesa one-a da side 'Emanual Rex.'
+Below eet a Garibaldi. In-a da middle eesa solidar holding a flag."
+
+"So far, good!" exclaimed Sam, eyeing the man searchingly and
+committing to memory his every lineament.
+
+Giuseppe continued, "Eesa da odder side, 'Palestrino, MDCCCXLIX.' In a
+da middle, 'Liber.'"
+
+"Correct!" said Sam.
+
+"What color is the bit of ribbon?" asked the policeman.
+
+"Eesa be da red. A leetle-a da faded," was the answer.
+
+Sam was convinced that Giuseppe was the real owner of the medal. A
+possible important discovery. And he smiled as their eyes met full,
+face to face. And the Italian smiled at Sam's open-faced frankness;
+but utterly unsuspecting the splendidly concealed satisfaction that
+prompted the smile from Sam.
+
+"Where does the man live to whom you loaned this?" asked Sam.
+
+Giuseppe appeared puzzled. He looked up the street, then down the
+street, but finally said, "I dunno, eesa move away las week."
+
+"Where did he live?"
+
+"In-a da cabin--odder side Nort Pacific Mill, at-a da Giles lak."
+
+"What is his name?"
+
+"George-a da Golda!"
+
+Sam was careful to appear unconcerned, and, to avoid questions that
+might arouse suspicions of something "crooked"--"Well," he continued,
+"I have no doubt the medal is yours, but it is a valuable souvenir,
+and as Mr. Golda may have something to say, I shall leave my address
+with this officer." He thereupon handed the officer a card, remarking,
+"Please file it at your headquarters."
+
+Then again turning to Giuseppe, Sam continued, "You notify Mr. Golda
+to call at the police station and put in his claim and I will be on
+hand with the medal at any time the authorities apprise me of Mr.
+Golda's arrival."
+
+The Italian's disgust was plain and he ejaculated, "Sacre da-be damn!
+Eesa mak George-a Golda fetch eem back. Garibaldi geeve eet-a ma
+fadder."
+
+Without further question, Sam proceeded on his way to Simm's office.
+That Giuseppe was not the man Sam was after, appeared certain, but
+that he was well acquainted with the fellow, there seemed no doubt.
+
+Giuseppe must be watched, for he would find Golda to get the medal
+back, as it was evident Giuseppe treasured it as an heirloom.
+
+While deeply engrossed on this line of thought, Sam was starting down
+Third street on his way to Detective Simms' office, and had nearly
+reached Alder street when his reverie was interrupted by a familiar
+voice, exclaiming, "Good marnin', sor!"
+
+"How are you?" responded Sam, recognizing Smith.
+
+"Sure, I'm failin' foine, axcipt"--and a wistful look came into his
+eyes--"axcipt for a sore spot in me heart. God shield her!" and he bent
+his head reverently.
+
+Sam knew full well the object of Smith's allusion, and said
+sympathetically, "You share in the sorrow of your house?"
+
+"Indade: I do, sor! Tin years ave I known her swate disposition. Sure,
+didn't I drive her coach to the church whin she married him? And she
+was kind to my poor wife, too, whin she suffered betimes wid
+brankites. God rest her soule! She's wid the angels now! But I see
+yeese do be hurted!"
+
+"A bruise! An accident last night, but it's nothing, I guess! Are you
+out for a bracer this morning?"
+
+"Just a little sthrole, wid me eye open for signs."
+
+"Signs of what?"
+
+"Oh, the dinsity of the cratchur! Sure, I do be always lookin' fer the
+little wan."
+
+"Why don't you search the river?" suggested Sam significantly; "her
+mother says she is drowned."
+
+"Yis! Poor woman! And she belaives it, too, so she do. But says I to
+myself, says I, some blackguard thaif has sthole the little sunbeam of
+her heart, which do be nearly broken entirely, so it do!" and Smith
+turned his head away to hide the tears that came unbidden to his eyes.
+
+"Do you think so?"
+
+"I do."
+
+"Do you?"
+
+"I do, by me faith, I do, and ave I could lay me hands on the wan who
+is raysponsible fer it, sure there'd be somethin' doin'!"
+
+
+
+
+Sam had slim faith in George Golda calling at the police station to
+claim the medal, but he believed it possible to locate him by diligent
+and discreet inquiry. With that idea he beckoned Smith into a lobby of
+an adjacent building, which at that early hour was untenanted, and
+produced the medal from his vest pocket. Handing it to Smith, he said
+guardedly, "I found it in the City Park this morning."
+
+"Sure I can't rade Frinch at all, at all!" said Smith, examining the
+bronze.
+
+"It's a Garibaldi medal. I can trust you with it?"
+
+"Phwat d'yees mane?" Smith responded with a snap.
+
+"This," and Sam added confidentially in a low voice, "circulate among
+the shanties and scow dwellers below the North Pacific mill. Show the
+medal, prudently, mind, but never let it pass out of your hands."
+
+"I want!" responded Smith, thrusting it in his inside coat pocket. "Be
+it raysponsible for yees hurt?"
+
+"Of that--well, no matter--I fear where the fellow who lost the bronze
+lives--there will be found the little one." Sam had spoken in a voice
+so soft and low and grave that it startled Smith.
+
+During the pause that followed, he looked at Sam in steadfast amaze.
+
+"Do yees belave it?" he finally asked.
+
+"I do!"
+
+"Sure, yees do be after me own hart. I tould thim some thaivin'
+blackguard----"
+
+"Hush!" Sam interrupted, "not so loud. If a fellow by the name of
+George Golda claims it"----
+
+"George Golda!" repeated Smith.
+
+"Yes; if George Golda claims it bring him to me. If he will not come,
+track him, and let me know where he lives as soon as possible. Do it
+quietly."
+
+"Sure, I will that. D'yees think he's the wan?" whispered Smith,
+intensely interested.
+
+"We shall see," replied Sam. "But don't part with the bronze. You will
+remember?"
+
+"I will, be me soul, I will, and be the token ave it, I'll"--and Smith
+spat on his hands and made other significant manifestations quite
+understandable to descendants of a fighting nation.
+
+Immediately thereafter Sam continued on to Simms' office, and there,
+closeted with the detective, related his experience.
+
+Twenty minutes later, a quiet, unassuming, seedy-looking man
+carelessly lounged about in the vicinity of the Plaza fountain, and no
+matter what position he occupied, or where he loitered, express No.
+346 and its driver never escaped from his sight.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+
+The sun had traversed half the distance from the horizon to the zenith
+when Rutley called at Rosemont for information concerning the
+seriousness of Sam's injuries, and incidentally to have a chat with
+Hazel, for he was very fond of the girl.
+
+"We appreciate your lordship's anxiety to learn of Sam's condition,
+and I am sure Sam will express to you his gratefulness for promptly
+bringing him home," added Mrs. Harris.
+
+"I am glad he is able to be about," continued Rutley, looking at the
+floor, "though I should imagine a few days of quiet rest after such a
+vigorous shake-up would be attended by beneficial results."
+
+"I am sure of it," said Mr. Harris; "for immediately he regained
+consciousness there seemed to come over him a worry about something--"
+
+"Dear me!" exclaimed Mrs. Harris, in surprise. "I cannot conceive Sam
+being worried about anything."
+
+"Nevertheless, my dear, the boy did appear worried last night, or
+rather early this morning, and though he spoke and acted quite
+rational, still it has given me much concern." Again turning to
+Rutley, "And imagine my astonishment, too, when on going to his room
+early this morning I found he had gone."
+
+"He hadn't even been in bed--had evidently not undressed--just flung
+himself down on the couch."
+
+"You don't apprehend the wound exerts undue pressure on the brain?"
+queried Rutley, in the most carefully studied manner, as he looked
+meaningly at Mr. Harris.
+
+"James, you should have insisted on the doctor remaining with the dear
+boy over night."
+
+"My dear, Sam would not listen to it. I think nervousness and a
+gloriously fresh morning urged him to an early walk, and his return
+has been delayed by meeting some friends."
+
+"Quite likely," responded Rutley.
+
+"If Sam continues to worry, I shall advise a trip to Texas. The
+bracing air of that latitude has heretofore proven very beneficial to
+his constitution."
+
+"A happy idea, Mr. Harris," and the grave, concerned look that had
+settled on Rutley's face relaxed and vanished in a smile of cunning
+satisfaction, as he thought how agreeable it would be to have that
+troublesome fellow out of the way. "I have crossed that country and
+can testify to the purity, dryness and health invigorating quality of
+its air. Indeed, I do not think you could suggest a more wholesome
+vacation than a month of rollicking, free life on the Texas plains."
+
+"A trip to Texas may all be very well in its way, but I know something
+of the dear boy's malady and believe that no climatic change,
+temporary or prolonged, can be of the least benefit to him,"
+impressively broke in Mrs. Harris.
+
+"Well, well! Now I do remember that when a boy Sam fell and severely
+hurt his left knee; and so the old complaint is asserting itself
+again, eh? You see, Your Lordship"----
+
+"Dear me! How stupid men are!" interrupted Mrs. Harris, with much
+dignity.
+
+"Ah! James, the dear boy's affliction is of deeper moment. It
+lacerates the very source and fountain of life. It is, I may add, an
+affair of the heart."
+
+"Oh! You don't tell Sam is--is--ahem, ahem!"--and to suppress a smile Mr.
+Harris coughed.
+
+"It is possible you misconceive your most estimable lady's meaning,"
+suggested Rutley, with a smile. "Perhaps it is a case of heart
+failure."
+
+"Nonsense!"
+
+"James!" quickly retorted Mrs. Harris, with asperity.
+
+Mr. Harris looked meaningly at her, then turned to Rutley. "I beg Your
+Lordship's pardon. I did not mean to ridicule your suggestion. At the
+time I used the word 'nonsense' I was thinking of the fact, the one of
+love," replied Mr. Harris.
+
+"James! I never thought when I plighted my love to you it was
+nonsense!" and Mrs. Harris brushed a handkerchief across her eyes.
+
+"There, there, dear heart!" and Mr. Harris stepped to her side,
+tenderly turned her face upward and kissed her lips. "That day was the
+happiest of my life, though I have been happy ever since."
+
+"Heart of gold!" exclaimed Mrs. Harris, smiling through her tears.
+"And I have never wished I had turned from that altar of our happy
+union."
+
+"I perceive the cause of Sam's worry now, dear," and the irrepressible
+Mr. Harris turned to Rutley, "You see, My Lord, it is this way, a
+lovely young lady guest--since Mr. Corway's strange disappearance--is an
+inadvertent companion of our Sam, and his troubles were brought on by
+the sly darts of a little fellow with wings."
+
+"Wrong again!" asserted Mrs. Harris. "James, let me assure you in all
+candor that Hazel Brooke is not the lady our Sam is worrying about, as
+the fair democrat can testify."
+
+Just then Hazel entered the room, a poem of grace; a rose glow
+overspread her soft cheeks, while her eyes sparkled with health and
+vivacity.
+
+Rutley's eyes at once betrayed his admiration.
+
+The girl was quick to notice it and immediately evinced her pleasure
+by advancing straight to his side.
+
+"Good morning, My Lord. When I plucked this beauty," displaying a
+slender stemmed white chrysanthemum which was held between her
+fingers, "I instinctively felt that it was to adorn the breast of a
+distinguished friend, and now see where it flies for rest," and she
+smilingly fastened the flower to the lapel of his coat.
+
+"I shall proudly treasure it, for without doubt its chrysalis chastity
+is jealous of its human rival, hence the parting of the two flowers.
+Is it not so?" questioned Rutley, with the most winsome, yet grave
+smile he could fashion.
+
+"Hazel--the Lady Beauchamp, sounds quite recherche," Mrs. Harris
+whispered to Mr. Harris.
+
+"Looks as if it might be a go," he responded in like tones.
+
+"It is white and pretty," Hazel murmured, casting a demure glance at
+her own faultlessly white dress and then naively remarked, while a
+serious question stole over her countenance:
+
+"I have just come from the water front, where I have been watching the
+men drag for poor little Dorothy."
+
+"Poor child! So sad to be drowned!" said Mrs. Harris, in a reflective
+mood.
+
+"Or stolen!" exclaimed Mr. Harris. "I shall not give up hope until
+that old cripple is located."
+
+Only Hazel noticed the swift glance Rutley shot at Mr. Harris, but she
+gave it no significance.
+
+"Poor fellow, he feels the loss of his child very deeply," continued
+Mr. Harris. "Yesterday Thorpe was in one of the boats for three hours.
+My Lord may see them dragging the river from the piazza." Whereupon
+Mr. Harris and Rutley went out on the piazza, leaving Mrs. Harris and
+Hazel by themselves.
+
+"Hazel, dear," spoke Mrs. Harris softly and confidentially, "there is
+a lady's tiara awaiting you, if my judgment is not faulty."
+
+"He seems to be a nice sort of man," replied the girl.
+
+"A nice sort of man!" remarked Mrs. Harris, astonished. "Why, Hazel!
+He is one of the nobility. Superior, distinguished! Do you note his
+condescending air? It is hereditary, my dear. Conscious of being above
+us, yet every look and move indicates a study to make a descent to our
+level."
+
+"Notwithstanding--I think--well--I prefer Joe!" demurely insisted the
+maid. "He is not quite so polished, but--I like him better, anyway."
+
+"What! A commoner to a lord? A straw hat to a lady's tiara? Why,
+Hazel!"
+
+"That is my choice," replied the girl, quietly but firmly.
+
+Hazel's calm dignity irritated Mrs. Harris, and she remarked with a
+puzzled expression of countenance, "Dear me! I never could understand
+the fountain of your democratic ideas, Hazel; and the enigma is deeper
+to me now than ever."
+
+Hazel's reply, muttered with the same quiet dignity, was as puzzling
+to Mrs. Harris as ever. "I am an American, and I love our country too
+well to leave it for some foreign land."
+
+Further conversation was cut short by Mr. Harris, who addressed Hazel.
+
+"Did you notice John Thorpe in one of the boats, Hazel?"
+
+"I think so; they were too far away to say positively," replied the
+girl.
+
+"Well, here comes Sam, and--and--yes, it's Virginia Thorpe!" exclaimed
+Mr. Harris exultantly turning to Mrs. Harris.
+
+"Did I not say it was possible he had met with a friend? Look how
+proud and joyous he seems walking by her side. No kink in his knee
+now. Sound as a bell."
+
+"James, I beg again to correct you. Sam is not lame. His malady has
+something to do with the charming lady by his side," remarked Mrs.
+Harris.
+
+"Oh, I see. She has a pull on him, eh?"
+
+"Yes, a most strenuous one, I may add, as you mere merchants speak of
+it."
+
+When Sam entered the room, he was greeted by Mr. and Mrs. Harris with
+much fervor.
+
+Sam had removed his hat in the vestibule and unconsciously displayed
+the evidence of his night's encounter with the automobile. The sight
+of the plastered wound on his head caused Mrs. Harris to exclaim:
+
+"Oh, my boy, my boy!" and she put her motherly arms about his neck.
+
+"All right, aunty!" said Sam, as he lightly kissed her on the
+forehead. "Never felt better. Just a scratch. Might have been worse.
+Eh? I guess so!" and he held her at arms' length and grinned at her
+affectionately.
+
+"Where is Virginia? I am sure we saw her with you, Sam!" questioned
+Mr. Harris.
+
+"She wouldn't come in, uncle. Gone on down to the shore. She expressed
+a wish to find you there."
+
+"Oh!" exclaimed Mr. Harris, with alacrity. "I shan't disappoint her.
+Splendid young lady. Brainy, good-looking, very fetching, eh, Sam?"
+and so saying, he turned, bowed to Rutley and left the room.
+
+"I am thankful you were not killed, and think how much we owe his
+lordship for having so promptly brought you home," continued Mrs.
+Harris.
+
+Sam looked sharply at Rutley, not having noticed him in the room
+before.
+
+Rutley met his stare with a most affable bow and remarked, "I am
+pleased to see that Mr. Samuel Harris is able to be about."
+
+There was a bit of keen cynicism, a sort of faltering regret in
+Rutley's delivery, which did not escape detection by Sam.
+
+It almost confirmed him in his suspicion that My Lord had run him down
+in a deliberate attempt to kill or disable him. The impression caused
+him momentarily to withhold speech, even in his aunt's presence. The
+incident was noticed by Mrs. Harris, who at once concluded something
+was amiss with Sam, and visions of dementia occasioned by the wound
+flitted across her brain.
+
+"Dear me! What is coming over him?" she remarked in an awed voice. "He
+never acted so queer before. Sam!" and she shook him and looked in his
+face as though she feared some distressing discovery.
+
+Rutley was perceptibly uneasy under Sam's steady stare and suddenly
+assumed a pose of freezing haughtiness, deliberately and with studied
+ceremony adjusted the monocle to his eye and fixed a stony stare at
+Sam.
+
+Then he turned to Hazel, the very apotheosis of stilted grace and,
+offering her his arm, said in his most suave and gracious manner:
+
+"I shall be deeply sensible of the honor of your company for a stroll
+on the lawn."
+
+For a moment the girl hesitated, as though undecided between courtesy
+due her hostess and friendliness to My Lord.
+
+Observing the embarrassed expression of Mrs. Harris caused by Sam's
+rudeness, she chose to accept Rutley's arm, remarking, "It is so very
+beautiful this morning that I love to be out in the soft sunshine."
+
+Then through the room they passed--passed Mrs. Harris, to whom Rutley
+bent his head, passed Sam, who might as well have been in the
+Antipodes, for all Rutley seemed to see of him, though he looked
+directly at him, through him, and beyond him, out into the sunshine,
+with a triumphant smile playing about the corners of his mouth.
+
+"Oh, Sam! you have humiliated me beyond anything I could ever dream
+of," said Mrs. Harris, whose pain and bewilderment was plainly
+evident.
+
+"Aunty!" and Sam stooped and gently kissed her forehead.
+
+"I'm sorry my rudeness got the best of me. I did not mean to offend or
+pain you; but I shall never apologize to that fellow. Never! Never!"
+
+His earnestness was so intense, so unlike his usual self, that his
+aunt abruptly arose from the chair and in a startled voice said, "Dear
+me! Why, what do you know, Sam?"
+
+"Why!"--and Sam's face broke into a broad smile, his usual buoyant
+spirit asserting itself--"why, bless your dear soul, aunty, he's a
+villain!"
+
+"Lord Beauchamp a villain!" she exclaimed, horrified, and she
+straightened up in offended dignity.
+
+"Sam, permit me to declare you shock me with your irreverence."
+
+"Well, he gave me the jolt"----
+
+"Not another word!" and she held up her warning finger. "I perceive it
+my duty, a duty unhappily too long deferred, to instruct you in the
+art of proper form, especially when in the presence of the nobility,"
+and so saying, she swept down the room with all the stately majesty of
+a grand dame.
+
+At the mantle she turned and continued, "The case being important, I
+shall read you a lesson on deportment by--by, dear me! I have forgotten
+the author's name. But that is immaterial. I shall get the book from
+the library. Don't leave the room," and so saying she entered the
+library, to his great relief.
+
+Sam was in a very serious frame of mind. The night's work had
+developed tragic possibilities, and anything of a lugubrious nature
+interposing in his trend of thought was dismissed at once.
+
+It was, therefore, no easy task for him to assume readily an air of
+nonchalance, even in the presence of his aunt, who had schooled him in
+the art. So the moment he was alone his thoughts plunged again into
+the absorbing events of the night, and presently he found himself
+considering the policy of making his aunt a confidant.
+
+"Had I better tell her my suspicions?" he thought; "she will ask
+awkward questions. No, it will not do! Not yet!"
+
+He was aroused from his reverie by a low, deep whispered "Sst!"
+Looking up, he saw Smith peeping from behind the half open vestibule
+door.
+
+Smith dared not enter the room for fear of disturbing Mrs. Harris and
+exciting her curiosity. He saw her enter the library and then he
+signaled to Sam. Having caught his attention, he held up a warning
+finger and again repeated "Sst!" adding in a whisper, "Ave some
+impartant news to tell yees."
+
+It was well that Smith enjoined caution, for his eyes were expanded
+and aglow with excitement, and the muscles of his face, tense with
+serious import, twitched nervously.
+
+Sam's exclamation of concern died on his lips, and he at once stepped
+into the vestibule, alert with expectation. Softly closing the door,
+he said, "What is it, Smith? Speak low and be quick. Aunty is in
+there"--and he indicated with his thumb the library.
+
+"Sure, she's in good company, God presarve them. Will yees listen,
+plaise?"
+
+"Yes, hurry!"
+
+"Whill. I flim-flammed around the scow dwellin's an' shanties on the
+neck ave lant betwix Giles Lak an' the river--just beyant the Narth
+Pacific Mills, but divil a wan be the name ave Garge Golda cud I foind
+at all. Sure, I was nearly dishartened entirely, so I wus, whin who
+shud bump forninst me but me frint Kelly."
+
+"Well?" grunted Sam.
+
+"Kelly is a longshoreman, and he understands his business, too, so he
+do; but he says he's too big and fat to wurruk much, an' I belaive
+him, too, so I do."
+
+"Well, go on!" again grunted Sam, impatiently.
+
+"Sure, I showed him the Garibaldi you gave me this marnin. 'Where did
+yees foind that?' says he, careless like.
+
+"'I didn't foind it at all,' says I; 'my frint found it.'
+
+"'Where at?' says he.
+
+"'In the City Park,' says I. 'Some fellow lost it last night.'
+
+"'Sure?' says he, an' he looked at me hard.
+
+"'Sure!' says I. 'Phwat wud I be lyin' to yees fer?'
+
+"'An' phwat was the owner doin' out in the City Park last night?' says
+he.
+
+"'Divil a bit do I know,' says I.
+
+"'D'yees know him?' says he.
+
+"'Faith, an' I do not; d'yees?' says I.
+
+"'Indade I do,' says he.
+
+"'Yees do?' says I.
+
+"'I do,' says he, 'fer a black-browed, black-moustached, divil-skinned
+dago.'
+
+"'Where may be his risidence?' says I, not wan bit anxious, but with
+me best efforts to kape me heart from jumpin' up in me mout'.
+
+"'He lives in a scow cabin up beyant there, at Ross Island,' says he.
+
+"'He do, do he?' says I.
+
+"'He do!' says he. 'Sure, ave I not talked wit him over that same bit
+ave bronze but yisterday?'"
+
+"'Will yees show me the scow cabin?' says I.
+
+"'Indade I'll do that same,' says he, 'and wan thing more,' says he.
+
+"Hist!" and Smith spoke very low and cautiously. "He heard a child
+cry--or maybe it was a cat. Kelly didn't know which, not bein'
+interested."
+
+The two stared at each other for a moment in silence, then Sam said:
+"How long has your friend Kelly known him?"
+
+"I don't knaw--sure, I didn't ax him, but I thought it was impartant to
+tell yees at once. Kelly is waitin' down be the shipyard. Will yees
+come?"
+
+"I'll meet both of you there in an hour. Sh! Aunty is coming. Mum is
+the word, Smith!"
+
+"Sure, the ould divil himself cudn't make me tell it to yees aunt." As
+he was leaving, Smith said in a whisper, "We'll wait for yees."
+
+"I'll be along soon," replied Sam, and he muttered thoughtfully, "May
+be something in it."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+
+Suddenly Sam became all attention, for he heard the voice of Mrs.
+Harris, who then reappeared with an open book in her hand.
+
+"The work is entitled 'Chesterfieldian Deportment,' by Garrilus Gibbs,
+Ph.D. D. D., Now, Sam, I desire your strict attention to this
+paragraph," and she read from the book.
+
+"'Nothing so militates against the first impression of a gentleman as
+ingratitude for a special service rendered; for example'"--and she
+looked at Sam very significantly, as she lowered the book, "His Grace
+was so solicitous about your hurt that, regardless of convenience and
+also of prior appointments, he hastened to make a personal call,
+rather than use the 'phone."
+
+"Particularly so," Sam added, provoked to grin, "when a right pretty
+and wealthy maid is in the corral. Eh, aunty?"
+
+"That is my lord's prerogative, but I shall permit of no digression,"
+she severely remarked. "To continue--'nothing to mind so convincingly
+proclaims the ignorance of an ill-bred commoner than vulgar liberty in
+the presence of a peer of England's realm!' You follow me?"
+
+"I guess I do, aunty," Sam replied, with his characteristic side
+movement of the head, and then, as he stood in an expectant attitude,
+carelessly fingered, with both hands, his watch chain.
+
+"Sam, stop fidgeting with your watch chain. It is characteristic of a
+nervous gawk. The very reverse of good form and quite unbecoming a
+well-bred, polite gentleman."
+
+"All right, aunty, fire away." And Sam's eyes twinkled mischievously,
+as his hands fell by his side.
+
+"In order that the house of Harris shall not be defamed through an act
+of discourtesy to one of its guests, I insist, first of all, that you
+give me an example of your expression of gratitude to his Lordship for
+his great humanitarian act and kindness to you in your hour of
+insensibility."
+
+"Ea--ah! Eh!" ejaculated Sam in laughing surprise, but much as he
+disliked to comply, he felt there was no use trying to dodge the
+issue.
+
+His aunt was determined and experience had taught him that in order to
+retain the indulgence of the "best and fondest aunt on earth," a
+discreet concurrence in her whims was imperative. So with an agreeable
+smile, he added, "All right, aunty, here goes."
+
+"For the purpose of approach, you may address me as 'my lord,'"
+interjected Mrs. Harris.
+
+"Ha! That's easier, aunty," and a smile of satisfaction spread over
+his face.
+
+"Proceed!" exclaimed his aunt, sententiously.
+
+"I beg to express to your lordship"--
+
+"Sam!" said Mrs. Harris, interrupting him, "you have omitted the very
+pith and essence of initiatory greeting."
+
+"Ea--ha! How?" exclaimed Sam, surprised.
+
+"By neglecting to make obeisance."
+
+"To you, aunty?"
+
+"To me. Now, Sam, beware of shyness. Bow naturally and with unaffected
+ease."
+
+"All ready?" inquired Sam.
+
+"Proceed!"
+
+With that he bowed--bowed with a charm of grace that brought a look of
+pleased surprise from Mrs. Harris. It was evident she was already
+mollified.
+
+"I beg your lordship will permit me the honor personally to express my
+appreciation, and to tender to you my heartfelt thanks for your kind
+services to me last night."
+
+The smile of unaffected pleasure that brightened his face, at the
+knowledge that his aunt was pleased, assisted him wonderfully through
+the ordeal, for such he considered it.
+
+"My compliments, Sam!" exclaimed Mrs. Harris, who appeared immensely
+pleased.
+
+"Aw--deuced well delivered, don't che know!"
+
+They turned and beheld Rutley and Hazel standing in the doorway.
+
+Sam's chagrin was very great, and conscious of his inability to
+conceal his disgusted facial expression, turned aside and muttered,
+"Wouldn't that fizz you?"
+
+Mrs. Harris was evidently much gratified, for she pointedly remarked,
+"Your lordship must now concede that our boy was not intentionally
+rude."
+
+As for Sam, his vexation was great, and though he discreetly kept
+silence, the hot blood reddened his face perceptibly. He had
+unwittingly humbled himself to a man, who, he felt instinctively, was
+his enemy.
+
+Just what brought Rutley and Hazel to the doorway in time to hear
+Sam's expression of thanks was never explained. But it may be presumed
+he had some announcement to make which the unexpected apology from Sam
+had made unnecessary.
+
+Its effect on Rutley was instantaneous, for his frigidity melted as
+snow beneath a summer sun. The monocle came down from his eye and a
+gracious, condescending smile overspread his face.
+
+"I am very sorry the accident happened, and I beg you to believe I
+have been deeply concerned about your hurt."
+
+"We are sure your lordship has suffered great mental anguish over the
+unfortunate affair," responded Mrs. Harris, relieved by Rutley's
+condescension.
+
+"Late yesterday evening," he went on, "I received information that a
+child resembling Dorothy, and accompanied by a lady whose face was
+veiled, were seen entering a certain residence out near the park,"
+explained Rutley, continuing. "I beg you to understand that I
+entertain a deep interest in the fate of the child, and since the
+river has not yielded up its secret, and the voice of scandal is rife
+in innuendoes, I immediately set out to investigate.
+
+"Unsuccessful, I had passed along the road and was returning, no doubt
+at higher speed than justified by the darkness of the night. Absorbed
+in meditation, I must have temporarily been negligent of proper
+vigilance, when to my horror, the form of a man suddenly loomed up a
+few paces directly ahead."
+
+"Dear me, how unfortunate!" exclaimed Mrs. Harris, shivering.
+
+"Impossible to stop the swift moving machine, in the short space that
+separated us, I swerved to the right.
+
+"At that moment the man must have discovered me, for he, too, sprang
+to the right. The impact was inevitable. I hastened to the unfortunate
+one's assistance, and you may appreciate my amazement when I
+recognized my friend, your own relative. Of course, I conveyed him
+home at once."
+
+"How very good of you," said Hazel, with admiring eyes.
+
+"We shall never be able sufficiently to thank your lordship," added
+Mrs. Harris, "and we hope that our dear boy will not expose himself to
+so great a danger again."
+
+As to what Sam thought of the explanation, he kept silent;
+nevertheless he turned half around and would have whistled
+significantly had he not at that moment checked himself, for fear of
+again embarrassing his aunt.
+
+It was at this moment Virginia entered the room, insistently ushered
+in by Mr. Harris, who, profuse in politeness, said:
+
+"Please do me the honor to be seated, for I know you must be
+fatigued."
+
+But Virginia, on discovering Rutley, seemed to be suddenly overcome
+with a timidity quite foreign to her usual self-possession, and shrank
+away as if to leave the room. Observing her evident embarrassment and,
+of course, ignorant of the true cause, Mr. Harris concluded she had
+conceived him as declining her request, and he at once, in a
+confidential whisper, attempted to reassure her.
+
+"I can accommodate you with a check for five thousand today, and more
+in a week."
+
+"Oh, I--I thank you very much," she replied, and though her nervousness
+was apparent, she managed to control herself. Mr. Harris gently led
+her to a seat, remarking in a whisper, "I'll write the check for you
+at once."
+
+She turned upon him very grateful eyes, but almost instantly a shadow
+crept across her face as she said, "The security I have to offer----"
+
+Mr. Harris looked pained, and lifting his hand, he interrupted her
+with, "Don't, please don't let the security trouble you."
+
+Again Virginia's eyes unconsciously fastened upon Rutley, who at the
+same time was regarding her with a keen inquiring gaze. It was the
+first time they had met since the night of Thorpe's quarrel with
+Corway, and although Virginia had resolved to cast off all fear of his
+threat of incriminating disclosures, she nevertheless, while in his
+presence, felt a subtle influence change her rebellious disposition
+into a timorous apprehension. The sensation was so strange, so creepy,
+and at the same time so convincing, that she arose from the seat and
+muttered in broken accents, "I--I'll await you outside, Mr. Harris. The
+air in this room is--is so close."
+
+She had turned half around toward the door, when Mrs. Harris addressed
+her.
+
+"Virginia, dear! Don't go! Most interesting. My lord has just related
+how last night he accidentally knocked Sam down near the City Park."
+
+Virginia unconsciously repeated, "Last night, he accidentally knocked
+Sam down, near the City Park."
+
+The information was so startling and her curiosity so keen that she
+stared at Rutley and Sam alternately, while they in turn stared at
+each other and at her most significantly.
+
+Mrs. Harris observed the wonderment her information had created, but
+without troubling her easy brains to penetrate the meaning, added,
+after due pause, "Yes, dear--a bandaged head, as you see, was the
+result."
+
+"It was very dark, near midnight, and his lordship was driving an
+automobile fast."
+
+Heedless of Mrs. Harris' further remarks and so absorbed in an effort
+to solve the puzzle that Virginia thought:
+
+"What business had he out there at that time of night? Did he know I
+was there? And Sam there, too! It must have been he who followed
+me,"--and she shot such a swift meaning glance at him that had he
+caught it the effect must have been disconcerting.
+
+"Queer, how late at night young men carry on their larks nowadays,"
+broke in Mr. Harris with fine humor.
+
+Mrs. Harris was quick to correct him. "Dear me! James, it was on
+urgent business, no less than a search for Dorothy, but unfortunately
+unsuccessful."
+
+"I myself am also inclined to the belief Dorothy was stolen. No doubt
+a demand will soon be made for her ransom," said Mr. Harris.
+
+"Such a notion seems to me as far-fetched, as it is unlikely, for I do
+not believe the family has an enemy in the world," promptly rejoined
+Mrs. Harris.
+
+"Vague insinuations of kidnapping find credence through the
+estrangement of the parents being given publicity," suggested Rutley,
+in a soft, serious, yet bland manner, which brought from Hazel an
+explosive reply, "I am sure Constance had no knowledge of it."
+
+"Impossible for Constance to plot at an abduction of her own child,
+and as for John Thorpe, his grief is too great to permit the faintest
+suspicion to rest on him," suavely admonished Mrs. Harris warmly.
+
+"John!" gasped Virginia. She was the first to see Thorpe standing in
+the vestibule, the doors of which had been left open. John Thorpe had
+entered so quietly that none in the room saw him approach, and their
+conversation at the moment was so concentrated upon the mystery of
+Dorothy's disappearance that none of them heard his weary footfalls
+draw near. He was careworn and haggard.
+
+If John Thorpe felt any emotion on seeing Virginia and hearing her
+startled voice, he gave no sign. Unmoved, he coldly let his aching
+eyes rest on her, and then he lifted them to Mr. Harris. In that brief
+space of time, Rutley saw in Virginia's abashed eagerness to address
+her brother, a shadow of peril threaten him. The situation called for
+immediate action. He had previously noted his magnetic power over her
+and at once brought into requisition the wonderful "nerve" distinctly
+his heritage, and which had so often befriended him in moments of
+danger. Under cover of the fresh interest manifested in Mr. Thorpe's
+appearance, he coolly, quietly, and without the least hesitation,
+quickly placed himself beside her, and whispered in her ear: "Beware!"
+
+His tone was so menacing, though concealed by an unctious personality,
+that Virginia shrank from him, yet with the low, rebellious
+exclamation: "Scoundrel!"
+
+Nevertheless, she timidly deemed it discreet to arrange a meeting with
+John alone.
+
+Mr. Harris silently grasped Mr. Thorpe by the hand. They had been
+close friends, socially and in business affairs for many years, and
+the hopeless, haggard, careless appearance of his long time friend
+touched Mr. Harris deeply.
+
+"Poor fellow," he said, sympathetically. "You look all in."
+
+"Sleepless nights and wearisome days have doubtless produced results,"
+languidly replied Mr. Thorpe. "Mr. Harris, I have come to beg your
+hospitality for an hour's rest."
+
+"Welcome to 'Rosemont,' thrice welcome, my dear friend. I shall have a
+quiet room prepared at once. Make yourself comfortable for a few
+moments until I return," and the energetic Mr. Harris immediately set
+out on his mission.
+
+"Dear me!" commented Mrs. Harris, "If we could but unravel the mystery
+of Dorothy's disappearance, what a relief it would be. Do you think it
+possible the child was abducted, Mr. Thorpe?"
+
+"Would to God I could believe it true," he gravely replied.
+
+"I am loath to believe that the mother was aware of it," interposed
+Rutley, in his soft, lazy, drawling voice, "but"----
+
+Surprised, Mrs. Harris promptly interrupted him with: "Dear me, have
+you heard that Constance had intrigued for her child's disappearance?"
+
+Rutley fixed his gaze on Virginia, then transferred it to John Thorpe
+as he falteringly replied to Mrs. Harris' question: "Circumstances of
+a--a suspicious character tend to--a--implicate her."
+
+A dead silence followed. So silent, that Sam suddenly cast an alarmed
+look at Virginia, as though he feared she had heard him hiss--"The
+contemptible sissy!"--and was surprised that no response met his silent
+thought, either by look or word.
+
+Virginia was speechless. Yet she was bursting to tell them Dorothy was
+alive, but in captivity. She remembered the terrible threat made by
+the Italian in the park. It burned into her brain and made her tremble
+with anxiety lest the secret should get out and the child's life
+jeopardized thereby.
+
+But, how to deny the vile lie that Constance was a party to the
+kidnapping? It was a question that baffled completely all the
+ingenuity that had aided her in other situations.
+
+While she was racking her brains for some guiding thought, to silence
+slanderous tongues, she heard John Thorpe very gravely say: "My lord
+must be mistaken."
+
+It was such sweet relief to know that he did not believe Constance was
+guilty of the crime that Virginia unconsciously exclaimed: "Thank
+Heaven!"
+
+After John Thorpe had expressed his disbelief in his wife's guilt, he
+slowly turned on his heel, intending to leave the room, for the
+conversation was painful to him and the company too closely associated
+with his unhappiness, for the quiet rest he so much needed. He had
+scarcely turned toward the door when he was halted by Mr. Harris, who
+had just entered from the hall, and announced a restful room in
+readiness for his immediate use.
+
+To his surprise, John Thorpe turned and wearisomely said: "I thank
+you, Mr. Harris, but an important matter that I have neglected has
+just come to my mind. I beg to apologize for the needless trouble I
+have caused you." And he turned slowly and went toward the door.
+
+Virginia perceived that unless immediate steps were taken, her
+opportunity to arrange a meeting with John would be lost. It was,
+therefore, with a startled cry of disappointment that she addressed
+him: "John! I have something"--she hesitated.
+
+Thorpe halted on the threshold and half turned around. Aghast,
+Virginia arose from her seat, when Rutley drawled out in his most
+suave accents:
+
+"Miss Thorpe is manifestly fatigued from over-exertion," and instantly
+taking her by the arm, led her reluctantly, and in timidity, to a seat
+on a divan, the end of which he wheeled forward, ostensibly to give
+her a better view of the lawn, then inundated with sunshine, but in
+reality to avert her eyes from the face of her brother.
+
+John Thorpe gazed inquiringly for a second and then, with head bent,
+slowly and gravely left the house.
+
+Mr. Harris started to accompany Thorpe, to press him to rest awhile,
+but on recalling his obligation to Virginia, checked himself and
+turned into the library.
+
+Sam's indignation at the vile, unkind thrust made on the character of
+a bereaved woman, spoke eloquently in his blazing eyes, nevertheless
+out of regard for his aunt's wishes he closed his teeth tightly in
+silence, but on seeing the pseudo lord's insistent familiarity with
+Virginia, and noting her strange hesitant submission as he rather more
+than familiarly escorted her to the divan, Sam's rage burst through
+his discretion and his manly, straight-forwardness asserted itself, in
+utter disregard of his aunt's warnings.
+
+Rutley had evidently thrown out the base insinuation as a feeler, but
+the manner in which Sam met it--met it squarely in the "Wild West way,"
+quickly disabused his mind of any idea he may have had that Constance
+was friendless.
+
+"Sir!" Sam said; "I know but one little word that fitly characterizes
+your insinuation concerning Mrs. Thorpe," and unwilling to resist the
+natural gravity of his feet toward Rutley, sidled up close to him,
+and, with a quiver of contempt in his voice, finished: "And down in
+Texas they taught me to brand it 'a damned lie'!"
+
+Sam was rewarded in a manner he little anticipated, and by the woman
+who had heretofore despised him, for with eyes that sparkled with
+admiration and lips that parted in a smile of glad surprise, she
+involuntarily murmured: "Splendid, Sam!" His silly, boyish side had
+vanished, and in its place his true, strong, sterling character stood
+revealed. In that one moment he knew that he had won from her a
+tribute of esteem, but he did not at that time realize that it was a
+long step toward the consummation of his devout desire--to win her
+heart.
+
+If an electric bolt had at that moment descended from the clear,
+ethereal blue, and wrecked the house, Mrs. Harris' consternation could
+not have been greater.
+
+"Oh!" she faintly gasped. "Dear me! Oh, Sam, how could you!" and then
+she staggered almost to collapse in his arms.
+
+For a moment Rutley was astounded, then drawing himself up in a pose
+of statuesque haughtiness, again most studiously adjusted his monocle
+to his eye and directed at alert Sam a stony stare of ineffable
+disdain. Then he languidly drawled, without a muscle of his white,
+bloodless face moving:
+
+"Aw, it's deuced draughty, don't-che know!"
+
+A few minutes later Mr. Harris beckoned Virginia into the library.
+After delivering her the check he had promised, they together went out
+in search for John Thorpe, but he had disappeared.
+
+Had they looked more closely and further up the hillside, they might
+have seen a haggard man sitting in the shadow of a fir, apparently
+weary of the world, and pondering on the vicissitudes of life.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+
+In the meantime Virginia had been doing her utmost, in a quiet way, to
+obtain the necessary amount of Dorothy's ransom.
+
+Conscious of an imperative demand likely to be made upon her at any
+moment, she had partially prepared for it by secretly borrowing some
+five thousand dollars upon her jewelry and income, and she had
+obtained five thousand more from Mr. Harris, who was eager to favor
+her, because of the obligations it would place her under to his
+family, particularly Sam.
+
+It was useless to approach Hazel for assistance, as John Thorpe was
+administrator of her estate. However, she was in a fair way to get
+more on a trust deed for some real estate that was in her name--when
+the summons came, peremptory and threatening.
+
+She pondered over the situation long and profoundly, and having at
+length thoroughly made up her mind on a line of procedure, she
+prepared for the meeting.
+
+Of delicate mould, carefully educated, and accustomed to vivacious and
+accomplished companions, Virginia was little intended for the
+desperate enterprise she had determined to undertake, in the dead hour
+of the coming night. More than once she shuddered at the thought, but
+that vision of Constance in the shadow of the "grim sickle," nerved
+her on to the rescue, and it also afforded her a sense of relief from
+the distress her mind endured. Overwhelmed at the magnitude of the
+misfortune so suddenly overtaken Constance, she hesitated not for an
+instant to risk her life in its undoing.
+
+Personality, social position, beauty, youth, refinement--all were cast
+aside, unconsidered and unthought of in the execution of the one
+perilous act that confronted her.
+
+The intention to rescue Dorothy may be construed under the conditions
+surrounding her as commendable, but in one so young and fair, it would
+appear hair-brained, impracticable and, worst of all, dangerously
+indiscreet. Virginia had not been in any manner contributory to the
+disappearance of Dorothy, and yet be it remembered, only a heroine
+pure and simple would dare brave the act. Moreover, she had permitted
+Constance to accompany her, thus immensely increasing her hazard and
+responsibility.
+
+That afternoon, thinking to cheer the mother, who was plunged in
+silent grief, Virginia had intimated a suspicion that Dorothy was a
+captive. Instantly an unnatural calm possessed Constance, and changed
+her sweet and tractable nature into a determined and obstinate
+resolution to accompany Virginia. It was useless for the girl to plead
+additional peril. No excuse, no matter how artfully conceived or
+ingeniously framed, could turn Constance from her purpose, to share in
+the danger. And what danger would not the mother brave to rescue her
+darling?
+
+So insistent, yet so strangely calm, as to cause a fear that the
+fevered excitement that burned so fiercely beneath the forced
+tranquility, would in a measure break out and jeopardize all--that
+Virginia only at last reluctantly consented. But not before she had
+exacted a promise from Constance to maintain the strictest silence.
+
+On their arrival at the foot of Ellsworth street, they made their way
+cautiously along to a little cove above Bundy's boathouse, where they
+discovered a small skiff with oars in row-locks. Virginia had been
+informed that a boat would be provided for her at a certain spot, and
+therefore did not hesitate to avail herself of its use. Whether
+anybody was watching her mattered little in her suppressed, excited
+state of mind. Quietly she slipped the line and was in the act of
+drawing the skiff in position for Constance to get in, when from afar,
+across the water, seemingly from the depth of the island woods, the
+cry of a crow penetrated the silent air.
+
+They stood still and listened--listened intently--with a vague,
+terrified notion that it was meant as a signal of danger.
+
+Again she heard the cry, as distinct as before. Constance gripped
+Virginia's arm for support.
+
+[Illustration: "Virginia realized that in her own calmness and
+self-possession lay the surest support to her companion's strength."]
+
+"What does it portend?" Virginia asked herself. "Why should it come
+from the woods if it was a signal of her starting to cross the water.
+It may have been an answer to a flash from some one concealed nearby."
+She looked above, about, but the same darkness, the same quietness
+prevailed. Not a leaf stirred to disturb the deep repose of night.
+Afar off, down the river, a steamer whistled for the steel bridge
+draw.
+
+It startled her out of her reverie, and finally she concluded the
+"caw," which seemingly sounded from the opposite woods, was really at
+the shore, and resulted from the peculiar condition of the atmosphere.
+Without further pause, and quietly as possible, they stepped into the
+boat, and at once commenced the passage.
+
+The water was calm and mirror-like, and Virginia, having had some
+experience in handling a skiff, dipped the muffled blades with
+scarcely a sound. Silently, slowly, cautiously, she propelled the boat
+along, ever and again turning her head to peer into the deep darkness
+shrouding the island.
+
+She headed the boat diagonally across the water, so as to strike near
+the middle of the island. She adopted that course in order that the
+cabin, which was quite invisible under the deeper shadow of the woods,
+would come in line between her and the harbor lights. Her reckoning
+was correct. She had passed the object of her venture without
+discovering it, but as the island loomed denser and darker on drawing
+near, it enabled her to locate the craft with precision. She turned
+the boat, and keeping within the deep shadow that fringed the rim of
+the island, made straight for the cabin.
+
+As they approached it, the strain on Constance became tense. Virginia
+watched her narrowly, fearful for the consequences of a
+disappointment, and she realized, too, that in her own calmness and
+self-possession, lay the surest support to her companion's strength.
+The consciousness of that power nerved, steadied and aided her
+wonderfully.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+
+"Caw! Caw!" sounded with startling distinctness in the still, dark
+wooded depths of Ross island. For a moment the silence was intense;
+then it was broken again by the familiar, long-drawn out, guttural
+cry, "Caw! caw!" of the black scavenger bird. And silence once more
+settled down upon the scene, and seemed deeper, thicker and more
+profound than before.
+
+It may have been a half a minute after the second cry when an answer,
+faint, though clearly audible, was echoed from a neighboring part of
+the woods.
+
+"Come on!" quietly exclaimed Sam Harris, who, with John Thorpe, stood
+beside the trunk of a fir that grew midway on the island near its
+north end.
+
+"An uncanny signal!" remarked Mr. Thorpe, in the same low tones.
+
+"Yes, somehow I feel as though it betokens serious business," softly
+replied Sam. "Be careful. A thick vine here. Step clear," he
+whispered, as they moved cautiously along.
+
+They had proceeded in silence some distance, part of the time groping
+their way by the aid of a match, lighted now and again, but artfully
+concealed, for the darkness was very deep, when through a rift in the
+wild growth of underbrush a man's form was seen to move.
+
+"Wait!" suddenly whispered Sam, in a warning tone. "There is a man
+ahead of us."
+
+There was no mistaking it, for as they stood stock-still in their
+tracks, they saw a man's form occasionally obtruding between them and
+an electric light that shed its rays from afar off, across the water.
+
+"Do you think he is the detective?" asked Thorpe, in a low voice.
+
+"Wait!" and Sam placed his two hands over his mouth so as to form a
+hollow, and called out in moderate tones: "Caw! caw!"
+
+It was answered by a single "caw," low, but seemingly so near that
+they were startled, and for a moment felt that they were being
+deceived.
+
+They remained motionless and silent--Sam with his hand grasping the
+butt of a revolver.
+
+The "caw" was repeated low, but with reassuring effect, for they now
+discovered that while the sound was apparently near, due to
+atmospheric conditions, it was in reality fully two hundred feet away.
+
+"Detective Simms," whispered Sam. "He is waiting for us."
+
+"Then let's hurry," urged his companion.
+
+The words had scarcely left his lips when Thorpe's boot caught in a
+vine and down he went, making considerable noise as he stumbled and
+fell on his hip.
+
+"You must be more careful," enjoined Sam, in a low tone, as he helped
+Thorpe to his feet.
+
+"Much haste, less speed, and then a little noise may endanger our
+success, I fear. Are you hurt?"
+
+"No, thanks. Let's go on," impatiently replied Thorpe.
+
+As they drew near the detective, in order to make doubly sure of
+avoiding a trap, Sam uttered in a low voice the word "Hope!" It was a
+watchword previously arranged and provided as an additional precaution
+against a possible contingency of deep darkness rendering prompt
+recognition difficult.
+
+It was answered by the word "Good," uttered in equally low and
+cautious tones, and which at once put them at their ease.
+
+Almost immediately they met the detective at the edge of the clearing.
+Before them, a little to the left, dimly but clearly outlined against
+the harbor lights, was a typical Willamette River cabin, commonly
+known on the waterfront as a "scow dwelling," moored about fifty feet
+from the shore, broadside on. It was the object of their venture.
+
+So intent were they on sizing it up, and the problem of boarding it,
+that they were quite insensible to the magnificent panorama spread out
+beyond, and further to the left of Portland by night. At their feet
+the dark, shimmering Willamette silently glided along its course to
+the mighty Columbia; the great bridges on which the street cars, in a
+blaze of light, swiftly crossed and recrossed the gloomy river; the
+darkly-outlined towering masts of the ocean shipping in the lower
+harbor, the great industrial landmarks that reared their lofty shadows
+in different parts of the city. The myriad of bluish electric lights,
+that shone out like diamonds in the clear, balmy night, spread out
+over the city and up and up, in terraces and by gradual stages, to the
+hills, and along the heights that stretched away north-westerly. For
+miles on either side of the river the lights spread out, till at
+length, in diminishing brilliancy, they were lost in the shadow of the
+distant rugged hills, whose irregular dark-wooded crests were sharply
+defined against the rare splendor of the firmament, then aglow with
+glittering stars.
+
+In fact, all the grandeur of the far-stretching panorama was neglected
+and lost to them in the intensity of their gaze upon the humble
+dwelling before them, built on a raft of logs.
+
+(Booms of saw-logs are now moored abreast the cabin anchorage.)
+
+Sam left Thorpe and the detective and wormed his way nearer the shore,
+to a position where he could obtain a better view of the cabin. Lying
+flat on his stomach, and concealed as much as possible, behind some
+driftwood and low, dead brush, he listened intently, and studied the
+situation with the practical eye of the frontiersman. He made out the
+cabin to be about twenty-four feet long, seven or eight feet high,
+with two small windows on the side which was nearest him. There being
+a light in one of the windows, he concluded the cabin was divided into
+at least two parts. The logs upon which the cabin was built projected
+some four feet at either end, on which was a platform, but no
+protecting railing. Proof that the occupant was not a family man, as
+"scow-dwellers" with children are careful to have railings about their
+craft.
+
+He judged that the logs were large and water-soaked, and securely
+fastened together, and by their combined weight effected a certain
+stability and steadiness to the cabin resting thereon, during bad
+weather.
+
+There appeared no means of reaching the cabin except by boat or
+swimming, and the mud of the river bottom at that point was evidently
+deep. Now and again he heard voices in the cabin, seemingly in
+altercation. But the distance was too great for him to distinguish the
+words. The quietness was profound except for the gentle lapping of the
+water, and disturbed occasionally by ripping sounds from a sawmill
+some distance down the river, which, if anything, added to the
+stillness instead of diminishing it.
+
+Once he started at what sounded like a moan very near him, but it was
+so indistinct, so much like a faint whispering whistle, and it was
+immediately succeeded by the buzzing whirr of a bat as it darted
+about, and deep silence again environing him, that he dismissed the
+sound as a fantasy.
+
+He was mentally calculating upon the chances of a surprise and rescue,
+and in an attempt to drag himself a few feet nearer the water-line to
+catch, if possible, some words of the conversation going on in the
+cabin. He stretched out his right hand to grasp what appeared to be a
+piece of driftwood, to aid in pulling himself along. His hand fell
+upon the dry, warm body of some animal.
+
+He almost yelled aloud, so great was his fright. For a moment his
+heart beat madly. But the same strength of will that rushed to his aid
+in smothering the yell also quieted his agitation and restored his
+confidence.
+
+The incident had almost jeopardized the favorable prospect of their
+enterprise. But nothing untoward happening, he again put out his hand
+and touched the body. It was warm and did not stir. The animal was
+lying on its side, and he plainly felt a faint throbbing of its heart.
+He ran his hand down its legs, then along its spine to a large limb of
+a tree that lay across its neck. He concluded that it was a little dog
+when his hand felt a small rope wound tightly about the limb.
+
+His curiosity being fully aroused, he determined upon further
+investigation. Not daring to light a match he did the next best thing
+that occurred to him. Still retaining his prone position, Sam passed
+his hand along the dog's spine to the fore shoulder, and under the
+piece of wood, to its neck. Then he discovered the poor thing was in
+the last throes of strangulation. Its breathing was scarcely
+perceptible. Its tongue, swollen thick, protruded from its mouth.
+
+Instantly his sympathy for the little sufferer became acute, and,
+without thinking of possible results should the dog recover quickly,
+whipped out his knife and severed the coils of rope about the limb.
+Using his left hand as a lever, his elbow being a pivot, he pried up
+the weighty limb and with his right hand drew the dog from under it
+and to him. He quickly unwound the few remaining coils from around its
+neck, and as he did so, smiled with pleasurable emotion--for he was
+sure that he felt a feeble lick of the dog's tongue on his hand.
+
+A dog's life is an inconsequential thing, according to some people's
+way of thinking, but here was proof that under Sam's rough and
+unpolished exterior there throbbed a heart full of gentleness and
+sympathy for suffering animals. He took the dog, which he then
+recognized as a small, shaggy Scotch terrier, under his arm and stole
+back to the detective and Mr. Thorpe.
+
+In discussing the affair afterward, it was deemed probable that the
+detective, finding his long vigil at the edge of the woods tiresome,
+had unconsciously fallen asleep; though he indignantly denied it, and
+during that time the dog had been taken on shore and tied to a heavy
+piece of driftwood to give warning of the approach of strangers by
+night, but the poor thing had become tangled in the brush, and in its
+efforts to extricate itself had tightly twisted the rope about its
+neck, and the heavy limb had rolled over and pinioned it to the
+ground.
+
+In the meantime Mr. Thorpe and the detective were engaged in low,
+earnest conversation.
+
+"Are you satisfied the child is my little Dorothy?" asked Mr. Thorpe.
+
+"I am not positive, but I believe so. I have watched all the afternoon
+in hopes of catching a glimpse of her. Once I heard a child cry."
+
+"Yet the child may not be Dorothy!"
+
+"True!" replied the detective, "but whether the child be yours or not,
+I am satisfied the little thing in that cabin is there against its
+will."
+
+"Did you note any visitors to the cabin this evening?"
+
+"Yes; a man rowed over from the direction of 'Bundy's' about half an
+hour ago. He is in there now."
+
+"Do you think the Italian, his visitor and the child are the only ones
+there?"
+
+"I am positive they are the only ones in that cabin at this moment."
+
+"Then let's wade out there," urged Mr. Thorpe.
+
+"Careful!" cautioned Sam, who had just come up. "I know the Dago to be
+a cunning and dangerous man. We could not wade out that far any way,
+in the soft mud and tangled roots of that bottom. We must have the
+small boat."
+
+"What have you there?" It was the detective who spoke.
+
+"Our first rescue. A mascot!" and then Sam related the incident.
+
+"Good!" exclaimed Mr. Thorpe. "Its bark would have betrayed us."
+
+The three then held a brief consultation. Shortly afterward Sam
+retraced his steps along the trail, back to the steam launch, with the
+"mascot" steadily recovering, but still under his arm.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+
+Within the cabin, so zealously watched by the detective prior to the
+journey of Thorpe and Sam across the island, were the occupants--Jack
+Shore and his little captive, Dorothy Thorpe. The child was carefully
+and secretly guarded, and at the same time made as comfortable as the
+limited quarters of her captor would permit.
+
+Jack Shore was kind to the child, and though fully conscious of the
+severe penalty of his desperate undertaking should he be discovered,
+he nevertheless allowed her a certain freedom of the abode in which he
+had placed her, of course always providing for securely bolted outer
+doors.
+
+During the preceding night she had been secretly and quietly removed
+from her first hiding place to the cabin. Her silence was obtained by
+the promise of being taken home should she be a good little girl, and
+not make a disturbance. But as a precaution she had been wrapped up in
+a manner so as completely to blindfold her, and in her childish
+confidence was conveyed without any trouble, in the dead hour of
+night, to the cabin.
+
+The interior of the cabin was divided into two rooms. The small one
+was used as a sleeping apartment, having two roughly-constructed
+bunks, one above the other. On one wall was a small four-paned window
+that gave light to the room. A small mirror, and a man's clothing hung
+on the wall, and a short, well-worn strip of carpet covered the floor.
+The large room served the purpose of a kitchen, dining room, pantry,
+laundry and general utility combined. There was a small cook stove in
+the corner near the dividing partition. One dishcloth and a couple of
+towels hung on a line across the corner of the room over the stove. A
+shallow box about three feet square, and nailed to the wall beside the
+window, served as a cupboard for provisions. A table, an old chair, a
+three-legged stool and a box constituted the remaining furniture.
+
+At night a lighted lamp rested on a bracket above the table, and on
+this particular night Jack's coat hung beside the lamp.
+
+The main entrance door of the cabin was at the kitchen end, and opened
+inward. There was also a door at the bedroom end of the cabin,
+securely locked and bolted. The door in the partition between the two
+rooms was in line with the other doors, and had a small pane of glass,
+six by six inches, in the upper panel.
+
+On this eventful night Dorothy was seated on the chair, her head
+resting on her arms on the end of the table, indifferently watching
+Jack. He, with a cigar in his mouth and in his gray shirtsleeves, was
+standing in front of the table wiping a dishpan, the last of the
+evening cleanup. Putting the pan away under the shelf, he hung the
+dishcloth beside its mate on the line, and carefully stretched it out
+to dry. Then, as he sat down on the stool at the end of the table
+opposite Dorothy, a smile of satisfaction stole over his dark, swarthy
+face when he surveyed the result of his work--a clean and tidy
+appearing room.
+
+"Eesa be so nice-a da clean. So bute-a da corner. Eesa like-a da
+fine-a house. Tar-rah-rah! Tink-a eesa get-a da fote-da-graph of eet a
+made. Put eem in-a Sunny da paper. Eh-a da Daize! What a use-a da
+tink? Eh!"
+
+Dorothy raised her head and looked at him in offended, childish
+dignity.
+
+"My name is not A da Daize; it is Dorothy!"
+
+"Eesa like-a da Daize a bet! What youse-a tink? Eesa nicey da room, eh
+Daize?"
+
+Then the child indifferently looked at the corner with its stove and
+adjuncts. She had been detained in his company now--for four days, and,
+childlike, was intuitively quick in interpreting the broken, stumbling
+Dago utterances of Jack.
+
+"It is not so nice as our kitchen," she naively replied. "But maybe
+the photo will make people think you are a good cook!"
+
+"A da cook-a!--naw, eesa be damn! Turnoppsis! Carrotsis! Cababbages!
+Black-a da boots"--
+
+"Well, then," interrupted the child, pouting, "a rich man if you like;
+I don't care."
+
+"Eesa mores-a da bet," and he smiled approvingly. "And a Sunny-a da
+paper print under da fote-da-graph some-a ting like-a deeze--A da
+corner ova-a da dining room--maybees-a da den wud look-a da bet," he
+muttered reflectively. "In deeze-a home ova-a a Signor George-a da
+Golda--house-a dat, eh, a Daize?"
+
+"Is that your name?" she inquired.
+
+"Eesa good-a da name? A Daize."
+
+"May I stay in here when the photo man comes?"
+
+"Sure-a Daize!"
+
+"Oh, good!" and the child clapped her little hands and laughed
+gleefully.
+
+Jack looked at her quizzically, and then, seating himself on the
+stool, took the child between his knees.
+
+"Tell-a me, da Daize, what-a da for youse-a like-a da picture take-a
+here, eh?"
+
+"Cause!" she answered shyly.
+
+"Cause-a da what? Speak-a Daize."
+
+"I don't like to."
+
+"A Daize! Youse a know I bees-a da friend, speak-a."
+
+"Well, then my papa would know where to find me."
+
+"I deez-a thought so. Daize, youse-a tink I beez a da bad-a man. Eh,
+why?"
+
+"'Cause you promised to take me home and you have not."
+
+"Well-a Daize, your-a good-a da girl, and--eef-a da papa donn-a da come
+bees-a da morn, we'll-a go for-a da fine him, eh! Now youse-a da
+like-a me now? Eh, a Daize?"
+
+"Oh, I like you ever so much for that, and we'll go home tomorrow?
+
+"Sure-a Daize! Now tell-a me some-a ting about a da Virginia."
+
+"If I do you'll sure take me home tomorrow?"
+
+"Sure-a Daize! Eesa beez a da good a da woman, eh? Much a da like a
+you. Eh, a da Daize?"
+
+"Oh, yes; she would do anything for me, and I love my aunt, too."
+
+"Eesa look a da nicey. Mose a beez a da rich, eh-a Daize?"
+
+"My aunt does oil paintings, too."
+
+"Eesa got a much a da mon, eh a Daize?"
+
+"Oh, yes; a pocket full," replied the unsuspecting child.
+
+"Everybody says that she is rich, and I guess that it must be true,"
+muttered Jack, and he could not suppress a smile of satisfaction the
+child's information gave him.
+
+"Eesa time to go a da bed, a Daize. Kiss a me good a da night."
+
+"If I do, you won't forget your promise?"
+
+"What a da promise?"
+
+"To take me home tomorrow."
+
+"Sure a Daize. I donna forget."
+
+Then the child kissed him, and at the contact of her soft, warm lips
+with his--like a stream of sunshine, the child innocence of purest
+lips, pierced his heart with a shaft of kindly sympathy.
+
+"Good a da night, a Daize," he said in a voice soft and gentle. Then
+he released the child and arose to his feet. It drew from her a look
+of steady admiration, and then she replied:
+
+"Good night!" On the threshold of the sleeping apartment she turned
+and said:
+
+"I shall pray for you tonight, Mister Golda. I shall pray for you not
+to forget tomorrow." And she softly closed the door.
+
+As Jack mildly stared at the child, the light in his eyes changed to a
+look far off, and there gradually stole over his face an aspect of
+infinite sadness, reminiscent of the days of his childhood.
+
+On resuming his presence of mind, he went to the cupboard and took
+from there a bottle. After removing the stopper he took a straight
+draught of liquor, turned low the light and tip-toed to the bedroom
+door, listened, and heard Dorothy say:
+
+"Oh, dear Jesus, make George Golda good; help him remember his promise
+to take me home tomorrow."
+
+Jack was deeply moved by the child's sweet disposition, and he turned
+away disgusted at the despicable role he was enacting, and muttered
+reflectively: "Good God, that I should come to this! From
+secretary-treasurer of the Securities Investment Association to be a
+kidnapper of babes!
+
+"Jack Shore, the kidnapper! What a fall is here! Yes, I have sunk so
+low as to abduct from a fond, suffering mother one of the purest gems
+of flesh and blood that ever blest a home. And for what? The almighty
+dollar! Only that, and nothing more! Curse the damned dollar that
+drives men to crime!
+
+"Curse it for cramming hell with lost souls. I'll wash my hands of
+this whole business; I'll have no more of it; I'll take the child
+home!"
+
+The resolution was so cheering, so fruitful of kindly intent, and
+urged on by the "still, small voice" within him to do right, that he
+decided to fortify himself with a second drink of liquor. Then a
+contra train of reflection seized him, and he whispered, as one
+suddenly confronted with an appalling calamity:
+
+"Ah, ah! What am I saying? And I have scarcely a dollar in the world!
+Have gone hungry for the want of it--and here is twenty thousand of the
+beautiful golden things actually in sight--almost at my finger tips!"
+and with the thought blank concern spread over his face, and the
+kindly purpose, the human compassion for his fellow being in its
+transient passage to his heart, again took flight and the "still,
+small voice" within him shrank abashed to silence.
+
+"Out with this sentimental nonsense! The Thorpes can stand the loss of
+a few thousand without a twitch of an eyelash."
+
+The sound of a couple of gentle taps on the starboard side of the
+cabin broke his train of audible thoughts and claimed his quick
+attention.
+
+The taps were repeated distinctly. He answered them with three light
+taps on the wall, given by the joint of his finger. Then he quietly
+opened the door, and Philip Rutley, with the collar of his coat turned
+up closely about his face, stood in the opening.
+
+"All skookum, Jack?" he questioned, in low tones, on entering.
+
+"All skookum, Phil," answered Jack, as he locked and bolted the door.
+
+"Good! I love to look at the little darling. Jack, she is a gold
+mine." And, so saying, Rutley took the lamp from over the shelf and
+cautiously opening the door, peered within.
+
+"Isn't she pretty?" Then he quietly closed the door, replaced the lamp
+on the shelf, turned down his coat collar and said in a low, pleased
+voice: "Well, old boy, our troubles are nearly over. Virginia will
+come tonight."
+
+"Alone?" queried Jack, in low tones, and he looked significantly at
+his colleague.
+
+"Yes, and with the ducats! I caused her to be secretly informed that
+she must meet you here by twelve o'clock this night, and prepared to
+pay the ransom. Any liquor handy, Jack? I'm feeling a bit nervous
+after that pull. The boat sogged along as heavy as though a bunch of
+weeds trailed across her prow."
+
+Jack smiled, but proceeded to the cupboard and produced a bottle,
+together with a glass. Removing the cork, he offered both bottle and
+glass to Rutley with the remark: "Old Kaintuck--dead shot! The best
+ever. Help yourself!"
+
+"That's an affectionate beauty spot about your right eye, Jack,"
+remarked Rutley, taking the bottle and tumbler from him.
+
+"You haven't told me how it happened."
+
+"I was out on Corbett street when that damned Irish coachman of
+Thorpe's sauntered along as though he had a chip on his shoulder, and
+he had the nerve to ask me if I had seen the child."
+
+"Do you think he suspected you?" queried Rutley, pausing with the
+glass and bottle in his hands.
+
+"No; it was a random shot. But it made me hot, and--well, the long and
+the short of it was the doctor worked over me an hour before I was
+able to walk."
+
+"I see," commented Rutley, pouring some liquor into the glass and
+setting the bottle on the table. "A sudden and unexpected attack, eh!
+May the fickle jade smile on us tonight," and so saying, he drank the
+liquor with evident relish, and handed the glass to Jack.
+
+Jack, misunderstanding his quotation of the "fickle jade,"
+interpreting it as meant for Virginia, at once replied:
+
+"The jade may smile and smile, and be a villain, but she must 'pungle'
+up the 'dough.'" And pouring some liquor in the glass he drained it.
+
+Jack's misapplication of the popular quotation caused Phil to smile,
+then to chuckle. "Ha, ha, ha, ha, the jade!"
+
+Then he produced a couple of cigars from his vest pocket, and offering
+one to Jack, continued: "She deserves no mercy."
+
+"None whatever," replied Jack, as he took the cigar.
+
+"If she had not weakened, we should never have selected her to pay the
+ransom," resumed Rutley.
+
+"Ha, ha, ha, ha," laughed Jack, as he put a match to the cigar. "Her
+penitent mood makes her an easy mark. The price of her atonement'll be
+twenty thousand dollars."
+
+Again Rutley chuckled, chuckled convivially, for evidently the
+softening influence of the liquor relaxed his tensely attuned nerves.
+"Ha, my boy, she shall not enjoy the bliss of restoring the child to
+her mother. I shall be the hero in this case," and he lowered his
+voice. "After Virginia has paid the ransom, I shall take the child to
+her father." Then he looked at Jack significantly and laughed--laughed
+in a singularly sinister, yet highly pitched suppressed key.
+
+Jack penetrated Rutley's purpose at once and the prodigious nerve of
+the fellow caused him likewise to laugh. But Jack's laugh was
+different from Rutley's, in so much that it conveyed, though
+suppressed and soft, an air of rollicking abandon.
+
+"And get the reward of ten thousand dollars offered for the child's
+recovery."
+
+"Precisely," laughed Rutley.
+
+His laugh seemed infectious, for Jack joined him with a "Ha, ha, ha,
+ha. And borrow ten thousand more from old Harris for being a Good
+Samaritan to his nephew, Sam, eh! Have another, Phil," and again he
+laughed as he offered the glass.
+
+Rutley took the glass and filled it. "A forty thousand cleanup, Jack,
+just for a bit of judicious nerve! He, he, he, he," and then his
+laughter ceased, for the simple reason that his lips could not perform
+the act of drinking and laughing at the same time.
+
+"Ha, ha, ha, ha," laughed Jack, in response. "A damned good thing, eh,
+Phil?" and he took the glass, filled it, and drank. "Has anybody heard
+from Corway?"
+
+"Shanghaied," laconically replied Rutley.
+
+"He's off on the British bark Lochlobin. No fear of any trouble from
+him for several months."
+
+"How, in the name of God, did you do it?" asked Jack, fairly
+enthralled with Rutley's nerve.
+
+"Oh, it was easy. Fixed it up with some sailor boarding-house toughs,
+but I only got $50 out of it all told, including his watch. But, my
+dear boy, that is not all I have planned in this plunge. You know I am
+desperately in love with the orphan?"
+
+"Hazel!" exclaimed Jack. "Ho, that was plain long ago," and he laughed
+again.
+
+"She's the sweetest little girl in the world, Jack, and the best part
+of it is, she has a cool hundred thousand in her own right."
+
+"Marry her," promptly advised Jack.
+
+"That is my intention, Jack, and the day after tomorrow I visit
+Rosemont to persuade her to elope with me. Quite a society
+thrill--don't you know?"
+
+"Thrill!" replied Jack, astonished. "You mean sensation. Hazel eloped
+with me Lord Beauchamp, Knight of the Garter. Have one on that, Phil."
+
+"Oh, she's a darling, Jack, and now that Corway is out of the way--I
+think she'd like--to wear the garter," and he grinned jovially.
+
+"A garter is fetching, Phil."
+
+"Success to the garter! May Lady Hazel never let it fall; ha, ha," and
+Jack laughed merrily as he filled the glass.
+
+"Evil be to him who evil thinks. My garter, Jack! He, he, he, he."
+There was no mistaking the fact that the two men were verging on the
+hilarious, and though fully aware of the importance of conversing in
+low tones, they continued, because they felt satisfied the critical
+period of their operations had passed and success was assured.
+
+Again Rutley laughed. "Jack, I've had an itching palm today."
+
+"So have I. See how red it is with scratching, and the sole of my left
+foot has been tickled to fits."
+
+"The signs are right, Jack. I congratulate you on your luck, and if it
+is as good as your judgment of liquor--it is a damned good thing." He
+laughed as he seized the glass. "This is the proof," and he forthwith
+tossed it off, and handed the glass to Jack.
+
+Jack's convivial spirits were quite willing. He took the glass, filled
+it, and laughingly said: "What is good for the devil, applies to his
+imp." Then he drained the glass and again laughed.
+
+Rutley joined in. "You make me blush! Did you say your left foot
+tickled?"
+
+"Yes!"
+
+"You will change domiciles. What do you say to secretary-treasurer of
+the Securities Investment Association?"
+
+"What? Resurrect the old S. I. A.?" Jack replied, and he stared at
+Rutley with amazement.
+
+"Yes! Thorpe and Harris put us out of business. Why not use their
+'simoleons' to start up again?" And he chuckled with evident
+satisfaction.
+
+"Agreed, Phil! Start her up with a full page ad in a Sunday paper, eh?
+Ha, ha, ha, ha--a damned good thing."
+
+"Precisely! Ahem," coughed Rutley. "We are pleased to announce that
+our former fellow townsmen, Mr. Philip Rutley and Mr. Jack Shore have
+returned very wealthy."
+
+"And were received with open arms," added Jack, and he laughed.
+"Damned good joke, Phil; damned good joke. Have one on that!" And he
+turned and picked up bottle and glass from the table and offered them
+to his colleague.
+
+Rutley always maintained a dignified bearing, yet his manners were
+quite unconventional, and suave, and easy, and it must be understood
+that neither of them on this occasion became boisterous. He took the
+proffered bottle and glass, poured liquor in the glass, and after
+setting the bottle on the table, said: "Thirty days later, a-hem! We
+congratulate the stockholders of the reorganized Securities Investment
+Association on the able and efficient management of your officers,
+Manager Philip Rutley and Secretary-Treasurer Jack Shore." He then
+drained the glass and handed it to Jack.
+
+"Ha, ha, ha, ha," laughed Jack, as he took the glass and poured the
+liquor in it, and pointedly added: "Addenda! It affords us much
+pleasure to apologize for our former charge of wilful dishonesty
+against the gentlemen above mentioned. Signed: John Thorpe, James
+Harris, committee." And Jack drained the glass.
+
+"He, he, he, he," softly laughed Rutley. "Very proper, my boy; quite
+so!"
+
+"It only needs the measly 'yellow goods' to make it practical,"
+suggested Jack.
+
+"My dear, ahem, Mr. Secretary, don't let that trifle worry you. The
+'yellow goods' are coming as sure as day follows night."
+
+"I hope the day will not again plunge us into night," laughed Jack.
+
+"Oh, don't put it that way," testily rejoined Rutley. "Disagreeably
+suggestive, you know--damned bad taste."
+
+Rutley's supersensitiveness, in their present situation, was greeted
+by Jack with a burst of suppressed laughter. "When Eve tempted and
+Adam bit, he took his medicine without a fit. Have another, Phil."
+
+Without accepting the bottle, and seemingly without heeding the
+remark, Rutley inquired, a bit seriously: "Is the dog on guard?"
+
+"Yes," replied Jack, standing stock still, with the bottle in one hand
+and the tumbler in the other. "Tied to a stick of driftwood on shore.
+No interlopers while Snooks is on watch. Why?" The question was asked
+rather soberly.
+
+"I received a tip that you are shadowed and trouble may come before
+dawn. When it comes the little one must not be here."
+
+"I agree with you," responded Jack. "I've lost that medal somewhere,
+too."
+
+"Ye Gods!" gravely replied Rutley, with an alarmed look. "If it falls
+into the hands of a detective, it may serve as a clue. Curious, too. I
+recall now that the dog didn't bark or growl when I approached the
+cabin."
+
+"I wonder!" exclaimed Jack. "Maybe Snooks has got loose and is
+wandering about the island. We had better make sure."
+
+Setting the bottle and tumbler on the table, he opened the cabin door
+and stepped somewhat unsteadily on the platform. Closing the door, he
+peered shoreward, then softly whistled. After listening intently, and
+hearing nothing, he called, in a low voice:
+
+"Snooks! Snooks!" Receiving no response, and being unable to identify
+shapeless objects on the shore, through the darkness, he re-entered
+the cabin, quietly as possible, and with a concerned look on his face.
+
+"I believe the dog has got away. I'll go ashore and investigate."
+
+"I'll go with you," assured Rutley. "Jack, better see that the child's
+asleep."
+
+Jack took the lamp from the bracket, opened the partition door, looked
+in at the sleeping child, and closed the door as gently as he had
+opened it. "Sound asleep," he whispered. Then he replaced the lamp,
+blew out the light, and made his way out onto the platform,
+accompanied by Rutley.
+
+Quietly they stepped into a small boat, fastened to the logs, and
+pushed off towards the shore.
+
+It was then Jack remembered that he had not locked the door, and
+wanted to return for that purpose, but Rutley demurred.
+
+"Time is precious," he murmured, rather thickly. "Besides we shall be
+gone only a few minutes, and it is unlikely that the child will stir
+in the darkness."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+
+They had scarcely reached the shore when another small boat came
+gliding noiselessly along down toward the cabin. The boat contained
+Virginia and Constance. As they approached near, propulsion ceased,
+and the boat drifted along. Virginia turned half around on her seat,
+listened intently, and looked at the dark cabin, with eyes that fairly
+sparkled, in her effort to penetrate its interior. Slowly the boat
+drew along the platform. Quietly and cautiously they stepped out, and
+after fastening the line which held the boat to an iron ring which had
+been driven into one of the logs for that purpose, Virginia took
+Constance by the hand, which she felt tremble, and caused her to
+whisper: "Courage, dear." Then she tapped gently on the door.
+
+Receiving no response, she tapped again, then tried the knob, and, to
+her amazement, the door opened.
+
+For a moment they stood on the threshold, irresolute. A whiff of
+tobacco smoke brushed their nostrils.
+
+Virginia timidly stepped within, followed closely by Constance. The
+darkness was intense, the stillness profound. "Whew!" Virginia
+ejaculated, in a whisper. "The den reeks with tobacco smoke. He must
+be asleep."
+
+She softly closed the door and lighted one of the matches which she
+had been careful to provide herself with.
+
+"There is no one here," whispered Constance, in tones of terrifying
+disappointment.
+
+Up to that time she had religiously kept her promise to observe the
+strictest silence, but when in the dim light produced by the match,
+her eyes swiftly took in the untenanted room, her heart sank in chilly
+numbness.
+
+Virginia noted the famished, haunted look that had crept into her
+eyes, and as she turned away with a fresh pang in her heart,
+discovered the bottle and tumbler on the table.
+
+It suggested a clue, and she replied, in low tones, and in the most
+matter-of-fact manner, that, surprised herself, "He must be
+intoxicated, the beast."
+
+The coolness of the utterance had the effect, in a measure, of
+reassuring Constance, who then, discovering a closed door directly in
+front, breathlessly exclaimed: "That door must open to another room."
+
+It was at that moment that the light died out. Virginia stood stock
+still and listened. She pressed her left hand tight against her heart
+to still the terrible throbbing.
+
+She heard Constance grope her way to the partition door. She heard the
+nervous fingers on the framework. She heard the latch click.
+
+"Be careful, dear. Oh, be careful, dear!" admonished Virginia, in a
+whisper of frenzied anxiety--and then she heard the door pushed open.
+
+A moment of profound silence and then followed the sound of a step
+within. Constance stood beside Dorothy--with only the deep darkness and
+two feet of empty space separating them.
+
+Who shall say that the subtle power which impelled the mother on in
+the dense darkness, first to the door, then to open it, and then to
+step within beside her child, was not magnetic intuition?
+
+Virginia softly followed her to the door, produced a match and rubbed
+it against the casing.
+
+At that moment Constance was standing inside the threshold, her right
+hand still on the open door latch; her back to Virginia. She was
+looking straight ahead into the darkness.
+
+The scraping of the match caused her to turn her head.
+
+"Oh, Dorothy, darling!" was all that the poor heart-broken mother
+could utter.
+
+So sudden and great was the transport called forth by the discovery of
+Dorothy quietly sleeping near her elbow, that her senses grew dizzy,
+and as she sank to the floor on her trembling knees, convulsively
+outstretched her hands to clasp the face of her child.
+
+It was a favor of fate that placed them at that moment alone with the
+child, for whom Virginia was prepared to sacrifice her life to rescue.
+A decree that paid homage to the act of a heroine.
+
+True, the unhappy cause that impelled her to act was indirectly of her
+own making, and a sense of justice and remorse urged her to remedy it.
+Nevertheless the act itself, for daring the rescue, was most heroic.
+
+When Constance threw her hands out to clasp Dorothy, the child
+awakened with a start, and at the same time the match light became
+extinguished.
+
+After her prayer, Dorothy laid down on the bunk without undressing, as
+had been her custom, since in the custody of Jack, and almost
+immediately fell asleep.
+
+Her guileless little heart, cherishing confidence in his promise,
+provoked a smile of spiritual beauty that settled on her sweet young
+face--unflect by earthly misgivings. As she slept there came into her
+dream a vision of terraces, grown over with lovely flowers, and there
+were green, grassy plots and gorgeous colored butterflies darting in
+and out among the flowers and golden sunshine. And out from somewhere,
+in the serene hazy distance, came the silvery song of her own canary
+bird. Where? And as she looked and listened, a butterfly, oh, so large
+and beautiful, with semi-transparent rose, pearl wings dotted and
+fringed with emerald gems, hovered tantalizingly near her. She was
+tempted to catch it, but each time, though perilously near, it evaded
+her tiny clutch, and so drew her on over velvety lawns and grassy
+slopes to a babbling brook.
+
+The prismatic winged thing fluttered over some pebbles and alighted on
+a slender willow twig. She stood on a stone, reached out to clutch the
+beauty, and just as her little fingers were about to close on it, the
+voice of her mother rang out in frantic warning--"Dorothy! Dorothy!"
+
+And then her foot slipped, and as she was falling she felt herself
+suddenly clasped in strong arms, and borne upward, to awake with the
+cry of "Dorothy" ringing in her ears.
+
+For a moment or two the child lay perfectly still, then gradually to
+her returning senses, the room smelled of tobacco smoke, and supposing
+that it was her captor's hand that clasped her face, said: "Oh, Mr.
+Golda, the room is full of smoke!"
+
+"Hush, dear," cautioned Virginia. "Your mother and Aunt Virginia are
+here."
+
+"Oh, Mamma and Aunty!" joyfully exclaimed Dorothy, for she recognized
+Virginia's well-known voice, and sitting up, said:
+
+"You've come to take me home, haven't you?"
+
+Again the match light faded out.
+
+The voice of Dorothy seemed to thrill Constance with new energy, for,
+with a frantic effort, she partially recovered her composure. She
+struggled to her feet, and in a rapture of thanksgiving, folded the
+child to her heart.
+
+"Oh, my darling, my darling, please God, they shall never take you
+from me again. No, never again." And she kissed her with a passionate
+joy, such as only a fond mother can feel for her helpless infant.
+
+"Oh, mamma, I am so glad," responded Dorothy, clasping her little arms
+about her mother's neck.
+
+"Dorothy, dear, where is he?" questioned Virginia, in a whisper.
+
+"He was in the room when I came to bed, Auntie."
+
+"He is not there now. He must be away." And a prospect of getting the
+child away without a struggle nerved her to instant action.
+
+"Come," she exclaimed, "we must go at once. Don't speak, sweetheart.
+Silence; come, Constance, quick!"
+
+"Yes, yes; go on," was Constance's almost hysterical reply.
+
+And so, with the child in her arms and Virginia pulling at her sleeves
+to guide and hasten her, they groped as cautiously as possible in the
+darkness, towards the cabin door.
+
+They had proceeded a few paces when Virginia, in her eagerness, rubbed
+against the table; she stepped aside to clear it, and in doing so,
+jolted Constance.
+
+It was then, under the strain of the stiffled emotions of the past few
+days, and the great excitement attendant on the present enterprise,
+together with the sudden reactionary joy of again clasping her child,
+that the first symptom of the mother's mental breakdown occurred.
+
+"Oh," she faintly screamed, "the boat rocks," and she would have
+fallen to the floor had not a chair, the only one in the cabin,
+luckily stood nearby. She stumbled against it and sank upon the seat,
+with Dorothy tightly clasped in her arms.
+
+Unable in the darkness to comprehend the pause, Virginia tugged
+urgently at Constance's sleeve.
+
+"Come along, dear, we must be quick."
+
+"Very well! Why don't you use the paddles?" replied Constance, in an
+altered tone, a strange metallic ring in her voice, and with less
+agitation than she had recently displayed.
+
+Still unable, or rather refusing herself to think anything was wrong,
+and with a panicky impatience to be gone from the den, Virginia again
+urged Constance to hasten.
+
+"Don't sit there, dear! Come along! We have not a moment to lose.
+Shall I carry Dorothy?"
+
+The answer startled her; a new terror had appeared.
+
+"Don't you see that I am holding my heart tight. I cannot let go to
+help you. Make the boat go faster. Why don't you paddle."
+
+Virginia's heart leaped to her throat. "Her mind is giving away," she
+exclaimed, with a gasp.
+
+There, then, the typhoid aftermath, which had been predicted would
+develop in time in Constance some strange and serious ailment, had
+found a lodgement, and now, bursting into life, lay siege to nature's
+most wonderful creation, the human brain. A moment of terrifying
+consternation followed.
+
+"What shall I do now?" Virginia distractedly exclaimed.
+
+"Paddle, paddle, paddle," feebly responded Constance.
+
+Unmindful of the reply, Virginia stood as if transfixed with despair.
+She racked her brain for a way out. The situation was fast verging on
+the tragic.
+
+"I will barricade the door!" she determined. "No, he may smash in the
+roof or sink us; I must get them away somehow."
+
+"Oh, Constance, dear, try to be strong. Fight down this weakness. The
+boat is waiting. We must escape. Help me! Oh, God, help! Help!"
+
+Her voice began in a subdued, frantic appeal, and ended in a sob of
+heart-rending despair for succor.
+
+Like a shaft of sunshine bursting through a rift in the dark, lowering
+clouds of dismay, came the answer from Constance:
+
+"I will! I will! Let me think! Oh, yes, we had better go now. Lead on!
+Hasten!" And she arose from the seat.
+
+"Thank Heaven. The dark spot has gone," Virginia fervently exclaimed.
+"Her brain has cleared again."
+
+How joyfully she struck another match further to accelerate their
+passage.
+
+"Keep close to me, dear. Are you tired? Let me help you." And she
+placed her right arm about the waist of Constance, the match held
+forward in her left hand lighting the way. They had proceeded a few
+steps when the door opened. She drew back with a slight, terrified
+exclamation: "Oh!"
+
+Jack Shore stood in the doorway.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+
+The men had been ashore, had found the rope cut in several places, and
+the dog gone. The circumstances were so suspicious and frought with so
+much danger to them, that they decided upon the immediate removal of
+the child. On their return toward the cabin, Rutley discovered a faint
+glimmer of light within, and in a whisper, called Jack's attention to
+it.
+
+"I am sure I blew it out," Jack whispered, alarmed.
+
+"Do you think the child awakened and struck a match?" again whispered
+Rutley.
+
+"No; no matches within her reach. Perhaps Virginia has come. Hello! A
+strange boat here."
+
+"The light moves," continued Rutley, in a whisper.
+
+"I will get out here," whispered Jack, and he sprang out of the boat
+quietly onto the platform. "Take the boat to the other end of the
+cabin."
+
+As he opened the door, the profile of the women and child appeared,
+dimly outlined by the match light held in Virginia's hand.
+
+As she staggered back, surprised and terrified, for the moment, Jack
+pushed his way in, closed the door, bolted and locked it, and put the
+key in his pocket. Then he struck a match and lighted the lamp.
+
+[Illustration: "Virginia drew back with a slight terrified exclamation,
+'Oh!' Jack Shore stood in the doorway."]
+
+After surveying the group, he gruffly laughed.
+
+"Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, Signora make a da bold a break in a da house, eh?
+Ha, ha, ha, ha. Eesa try tak a Daize from a da nicey home, eh? Ha, ha,
+ha, ha."
+
+"Yes," she replied, without hesitation or a qualm of fear in her
+voice. "That was my intention, but the devil's emissary has blocked
+it."
+
+Without a trace of fear, quietly and strangely free from agitation,
+Constance made her way to the door, and laid her hand on the bolt to
+unfasten it.
+
+Jack took hold of her small, round wrist, turned her about and pushed
+her back a few paces. "Note a beez in a da hurry, Signora."
+
+"Who are you?" she timidly asked.
+
+"Ha, ha, ha, hic, Eesa compan-e-on say I beez a da devil," Jack
+laughed jeeringly.
+
+"Oh, very well," she replied, mildly. "The devil is always hungry for
+someone. Who do you want now?"
+
+"A Daize, a da Daize. Yous a lak a me, eh, a Daize?"
+
+"No, no; the devil shall not have my heart. My precious darling now."
+And Constance shrank from him, pressing the little form tighter to her
+breast.
+
+"But you may have money," she indifferently added.
+
+Jack smiled and bowed obsequiously.
+
+"Ten-na years eesa sella da banans, turnoppsis, carrottsis,
+cababbages--mak a da mon, naw! Now eesa steal a da kid, do anyting for
+a mak a da mon. Da mon, da mon," he repeated slowly three times, with
+deep-toned Dago emphasis. "Then eesa-go back a da sunny Italia," a
+phrase that escaped his lips as though shot from a rapid firer.
+
+In the meantime Rutley had entered from the other door, locked it, and
+softly crept to the partition door, where he stood listening and
+noting, through the small glass panel, the situation within.
+
+Scorning preliminaries, Virginia said:
+
+"I have brought you all that I could get. Take it!" And she laid a
+package of crisp banknotes on the table. Jack's eyes bulged and
+glistened at the sight of so much money within his grasp. He eagerly
+picked up the package, which was fastened in the middle by a band of
+paper, flipped the ends of the banknotes back and forth with his
+finger, then proceeded to count the money. His action was
+business-like.
+
+Without unfastening the band, he held one end of the package firmly
+down on the table with the knuckles of his left hand, doubled the
+other end back, and held it with his fingers and let each note slip
+back separately to a flat position on the table, until he counted them
+all.
+
+Meanwhile Virginia had gently pushed Constance to the seat, and as she
+watched him she muttered, as though speaking to herself: "I could get
+no more than ten thousand dollars. If that will not satisfy him, then
+let fate come to the rescue, for a life hangs on the issue tonight."
+
+"Turnoppsis, Carrottsis, Ca-babbages, Ta-rah-rah. Eesa fat a da pack,"
+said Jack, as he thrust the package of money inside his vest. "Saw da
+ood, hic"--But it appearing loose and risky to keep it there, he took
+it out, rolled it up and forced it in his trousers' back pocket.
+"Black a da boots, hic." Still feeling dissatisfied with the security
+of either pocket he at last put it in the inside pocket of his coat,
+hanging near the lamp over the table. And then he turned to Virginia.
+
+"Eesa part a da mon? Hic. Much a beez a da tanks, Signora."
+
+"You will now liberate the child?" she pleaded, in faltering speech.
+
+"Ta-rah-rah! You sa fetch a me only a da half!" exclaimed Jack,
+feigning surprise at her request.
+
+"Yousa da rich. Gotta da mon a plent. Go, Signora, get a moores a da
+mon. Leave a Daize a da here."
+
+"Mr. Golda, I'll not stay. I am going home with mamma!" and Dorothy
+pouted indignantly.
+
+Seeing him obdurate, and fearing the effect of a forcible separation
+from her mother now so fondly clasped in her arms, Virginia resolved
+to try persuasion once more, before putting into execution the plans
+she had matured as a last and desperate resort. With blanched face,
+its very seriousness compelling attention, she said, in a faltering
+voice:
+
+"If your heart is human you cannot look upon that stricken mother
+without feeling that in the last great day the Judge of all will judge
+you as you now deal with her."
+
+He turned from her without a word, derision betrayed in his face,
+contempt in his action. It, however, placed Jack in a dilemma. There
+the mother, for whom he felt a kindly interest, quietly resting with
+her lost darling in her arms, yet ever and anon a scared, haunted look
+flitted from her eyes.
+
+He looked at the girl a moment, then broke into low, derisive
+laughter.
+
+"Ha, ha, ha, ha. Eesa fine a da lady. He, he, he, he. Signora beez a
+da accomplice ova da conspirator to break a up a da brodder's home,
+eh? Signora good a da lady."
+
+"Ha, ha, ha, ha," and suddenly lowering his voice, said:
+
+"Turnoppsis, Carrottsis, Ca-babbages," then paused and picked up the
+bottle to take a drink. "If the child goes home now," he thought,
+"Phil gets no reward; no," and he set the bottle down on the table
+with a bang, without taking the premeditated drink.
+
+"No, Ma sees a Daize a beez a da safe. Ma sees no a da harm come a
+Daize."
+
+"I have brought you all the money I could obtain, and now I demand
+that you release the child," Virginia said, firmly.
+
+"Eesa be damn! Yous a fetch a me a da mon, a da rest, ten a thous, an
+an--a Daise beez a da liber. Eesa da late a now, Signora. Much a bet
+for a youse a da go home, hic."
+
+Virginia's blanched but resolute face indicated that the critical
+moment had arrived. Then her voice quivered slightly, as with
+suppressed, quiet dignity, she said: "I shall give you no more."
+
+The declaration aroused Constance. She looked up. "Yes, oh, yes; give
+him more!" she exclaimed, in plaintive alarm. "He shall have a
+million, two million; I will get it for him."
+
+The extravagant offer, the soft, troubled, pensive stare, caused Jack
+to straighten up and gaze directly at her.
+
+Virginia's alert eyes at once caught the superstitious fear that had
+suddenly betrayed itself in his face.
+
+"Don't you see her mind is giving way!" she exclaimed, and while he
+stood staring at Constance, she seized the occasion as one favorable
+for escape.
+
+"Come dear," she urged, "he will not stop us now."
+
+"It is dangerous," was the soft, helpless reply. "The clouds are
+thickening, and the storm will soon burst."
+
+"Courage, dear, the clouds will soon roll by. Come," Virginia urged,
+half lifting her to her feet.
+
+"Oh, very well, we must go," was the indifferent response.
+
+A step forward, and again that timid, startled, fawn-like terror
+overcame her. "Oh, dear," she plaintively exclaimed, "the boat rocks;
+hold fast to me, sweetheart." And she halted with a swinging motion,
+as though her limbs were incapable of firmly sustaining her.
+
+With distended eyes. Jack stared at her. "Heavens!" he thought; "I
+cannot separate that poor mother from her child. I cannot do it. If
+Phil wants the reward he must take the child home himself."
+
+The thought was scarcely developed when the voice of his partner rang
+out from the other room, hoarse, disguised, and peremptory:
+
+"What's the matter with you? Separate them! Take the kid and turn the
+woman out."
+
+Then it was Virginia realized that she had two men to deal with
+instead of one.
+
+Undaunted, her courage arose to the occasion. She had come prepared
+for trouble of a most serious nature, and in her determination to
+succeed, it mattered little, now that she had shaken off the first
+trembling of fear, whether one or more men stood in her way.
+
+She stepped over close to Jack, bent forward and looked up sideways in
+his face, a magnetic fire scintillating from her eyes that seemed to
+pierce his inmost thought, and slowly drew his gaze to her. Under the
+spell Jack forgot his assumed character, for once he forgot to use the
+Dago dialect.
+
+"Don't look at me in that way; it was not all my work," he said,
+apologetically.
+
+He had spoken in plain English. Yet in Virginia's tensely excited
+frame of mind it passed unchallenged.
+
+"You acknowledge a share in it. And if you lay a hand on her child,
+I'll call down upon you the blasphemy of a madhouse."
+
+The art she employed to play upon his heightened imagination was
+intensely eloquent, and exquisitely enacted. On the impulse of the
+moment the threat served to unnerve him completely and had Jack been
+the only one to deal with, their escape at that moment would have been
+certain.
+
+A prey to his own secret superstition, though openly ridiculed
+theosophy, Jack stood spellbound, his fear distorted by the influence
+of the liquor he had drunk.
+
+True, Rutley had braced him some, but Virginia threw about him a glow
+of such awesome consequences that he again weakened and unconsciously
+repeated under his breath: "The curse of a madhouse! Oh, I can't do
+it! I'm a bit human yet."
+
+Then came a second roar from Rutley, impatient and contemptuous.
+
+"Separate them, you chicken-hearted knave! Separate them, damn you,
+and be quick about it, too!" A slight jar at that moment struck the
+cabin.
+
+Jack came out of his semi-trance with a shudder and, recovering his
+nerve, seemed to be disgusted at his momentary weakness, and forthwith
+he attempted to get between the women and the cabin door, addressing
+the child:
+
+"A Daize a mus stay a dare. Yous a lak a me, eh a Daize?"
+
+"Wretch, stand back!" Virginia commanded. She realized that the
+supreme moment had come.
+
+Jack leered at her. Without further heed he addressed the child:
+
+"A Daize, yous a da know I beez a kind to you," and he took hold of
+her arms. "Let a da go Eesa say hic. Let a da go da kid."
+
+"No, no!" Constance cried, as she resisted his effort to separate
+them. "You shall not have my darling! You shall not take her again."
+
+"Take your villainous hands off!" ordered Virginia, and at the same
+time she dealt him a stinging blow in the face, which caused him to
+loose his hold on Dorothy and stagger back.
+
+At that moment, too, he was startled by footsteps on the roof. He
+paused with a confused idea whether the sound on the roof had not
+really emanated from Rutley in the other room. Concluding in favor of
+the latter, he continued: "Yous a da defy a me eh, hic, sacramente!
+Eesa mak a da let a go da kid, or eesa break a da arm."
+
+Meanwhile Virginia had placed herself between Constance and Jack and,
+drawing a revolver from under her jacket, leveled it at him.
+
+Utterly reckless of her own danger, and her eyes ablaze with daring
+she exclaimed in a voice low and thrilling with intense determination,
+"Stand where you are, you vile epitome of a man! Dare try to bar our
+way out, and witness heaven, I'll rid the earth of a scoundrel too
+long infesting it!"
+
+A quaking pause followed, more trying to her nerves than the peril of
+the situation itself, and she backed toward the door.
+
+Her action provoked an exclamation from Jack. "God, the girl's game!"
+He stood mentally measuring the space that separated them, while a
+cunning leer developed on his face. He was about to spring, when Sam's
+shuffling on the roof became distinct.
+
+"Another accomplice! God protect the child!" murmured Virginia. And
+then in the moment of her dismay, Jack sprang forward and grasped her
+pistol hand. She fired, but the excitement had unnerved her, and the
+bullet went wide of its mark.
+
+In the struggle that ensued he forced her down on her knees, wrenched
+the weapon from her hand. As he was placing it in his pocket, it
+slipped from his grasp and slid along the floor, where it lay beyond
+his reach, near the partition door. Then he leered at her, and
+pinioned her hands behind her. "Now kiss a da me."
+
+Notwithstanding the danger of her position, she managed to suppress
+her terror, and she exclaimed defiantly, "Never!" and with one
+concentrated desperate effort in which all the suppleness, strength
+and agility of youth were called into action, succeeded in breaking
+his grasp, and sprang to her feet.
+
+Deprived of her revolver, yet she had foreseen such a contingency, and
+had provided a last means of defense. She produced a small dagger from
+her corsage. Her fingers tightened convulsively around the handle, and
+she said in a trembling voice:
+
+"Back, you ruffian! The point is poisoned! Beware!"
+
+The action was so quick, and the blade glittered aloft with such
+deadly intent, that Jack leaped back.
+
+Meanwhile Rutley's attention had been absorbed by the struggle going
+on between Jack and Virginia, but when he heard the footsteps on the
+roof his alarm became manifest. "I must get the child at once, or all
+will be lost," he muttered.
+
+Hastily taking a handkerchief from his pocket, he tied it about the
+lower part of his face, then he swung open the partition door and
+entered, the same instant that Jack had forced Virginia to her knees.
+
+Without a pause, he promptly made for Constance, grasped the child and
+tried to tear her from her mother.
+
+Constance, too affrighted to scream, resisted with all her might.
+
+"Let go, damn you--let go, or I'll drown her!" and with savage hands he
+wrenched Dorothy away from her. Trying to escape with Dorothy in his
+arms, Rutley confronted Virginia.
+
+"Release her!" she demanded.
+
+He looked at the dagger, quivering ominously in her hand, and Dorothy
+dropped from his nerveless hands and he jumped back beside Jack,
+hoarsely exclaiming, "God, she's a tartar!"
+
+"Run to your mother, Dorothy! To the boat, Constance, quick!" urged
+Virginia, as she stood erect, fearless and tragic between the men and
+their prey.
+
+"Are we curs to be daunted by this Oregon girl, this slip of a woman?"
+exclaimed Rutley hoarsely.
+
+"Beware! The edge is sharp, the poison deadly!" cautioned Virginia, in
+a voice that thrilled and which left no doubt as to her determination
+to use the weapon to the limit of her ability.
+
+Jack laughed--laughed low, hoarse and sarcastically. "He, he, he, he,
+he. Scarce da fine a lady--wid a da white a nice a hand. Mak-a eem all
+a da carmine, eh? He, he, he, he, he, he."
+
+She made no reply, yet there darted from her eyes a lightning flash of
+desperate purpose.
+
+Rutley clearly understood the sign and, leaning over close to Jack,
+whispered: "We must get the knife from her at all hazards."
+
+"Signora, good a da lady, eh! Mak a da bloody fista, eh!" Jack leered
+as he concentrated his gaze upon the girlish form drawn up to her
+fullest height before him.
+
+Again he laughed low and hoarsely:
+
+"Ha, ha, ha, ha! Eesa know a da way to fix 'em!"
+
+Swiftly opening the partition door, he thrust in his hand, pulled a
+covering off from the bunk, then after closing the door, he proceeded
+rapidly to tie the corners together, muttering meanwhile, "Eesa mak a
+da loop, lak a da bag. See! Ha, ha, ha, ha!"
+
+To Virginia the trap appeared so simple and ingenious, its application
+so promising of success, that as she watched its preparation her heart
+leaped to the opportunity presented as a last chance.
+
+"Attack them now--attack them now!" urged her judgment with startling
+force. Louder it seemed to grow, till at last, maddened by the very
+repugnance of its conception, a sickening sense of fear overpowered
+her, her nerves suddenly collapsed, and she seemed to lose the power
+of action.
+
+Having completed the snare, which had taken only a few moments to
+prepare. Jack bent forward, showing the white of his teeth as a wolf
+of its fangs when about to spring on its prey.
+
+"Now together!" he whispered.
+
+Virginia saw her danger and realized the crisis of all her efforts to
+make atonement for the wrong she had caused Constance was at hand.
+
+Again the affrighted despairing cry burst in an audible whisper from
+her lips.
+
+"Help! Help! Oh, God in heaven, help!" Just what Jack would have done
+in his fury it is impossible to say, for the liquor had frenzied him,
+and Virginia's stubborn resistance had aroused in him a latent devil.
+His intention, whatever it may have been, was frustrated by Sam, who
+at that moment smashed in the window, covered him with his revolver
+and shouted, "Throw up your hands!"
+
+The crash of broken glass arrested Jack's attention, and upon looking
+around he discovered the muzzle of a large caliber revolver thrust
+through the broken window and leveled straight at him.
+
+So sudden was the surprise, so unexpected and imminent the danger,
+that he automatically flung up his hands.
+
+Upon crossing the island, after leaving Thorpe and the detective at
+the edge of the wood, Sam had immediately boarded the launch, and
+stowing the dog in a comfortable position on cotton waste in the
+"fo-castle," directed the engineer to proceed to the north end of the
+island.
+
+On arriving at the point agreed upon, aside from the cabin's range of
+city lights, Sam got into a small boat, provided for the occasion, and
+pushed ashore, after having conveyed Thorpe and the detective on board
+the launch.
+
+A consultation was held, and it was arranged that the detective and
+Smith, who had remained in the launch, should go in the small boat,
+assail the south door and cut off escape in that direction, while
+Thorpe and Sam in the launch would take a position at the main door of
+the cabin.
+
+After securing an axe from the launch, the detective and Smith
+proceeded as quickly as possible on their mission. Instead of rowing,
+they paddled along, Indian fashion, the dip of the blades scarcely
+disturbing the silence that enveloped them. The launch steamed slowly
+along in the boat's wake, and just as noiselessly, and was the first
+to touch one of the logs which supported the cabin.
+
+They heard voices within that seemed feminine and familiar to both Sam
+and Thorpe, though uncertain on account of the low tone.
+
+As prearranged, Sam stealthily clambered up on the roof and crawled to
+the starboard side, where he lay flat on his stomach, and peered head
+down, in through the loose curtained four-paned window. What he saw
+prompted him to instantaneous action, and the crash of broken glass
+followed.
+
+Rutley immediately grasped the situation as one fraught with the
+gravest peril. He saw that Sam's revolver covered Jack, and saw, too,
+that a few feet nearer the partition door would place him in a
+position out of line of Sam's aim, as the small cupboard, beside the
+window, formed an angle that sheltered that part of the room. On the
+instant, therefore, he leaped toward the partition door. As he sprang
+toward the door, his eyes fastened on Jack's coat. To secure the
+package of money from its pocket was, for his deft fingers, but the
+work of a moment; then into the sleeping room he darted and closed the
+door.
+
+While Jack's hands were up, Thorpe called from the outside to open the
+door. At the same time he shook it violently, and began to batter it
+with the axe.
+
+During this time Constance stood with her back to the wall, her arms
+straight down by her side, with the palms of her hands flattened
+against the boards, as one seeks support at times on a ship at sea.
+She appeared insensible alike to fear or position. Yet the horror of
+the affair shone in her distended eyes.
+
+"The boat rocks, the storm is upon us," she muttered.
+
+At the moment Smith commenced to batter the other door of the cabin,
+Jack took the chance, and sprang to one side, out of line of Sam's
+revolver.
+
+"It's the police!" he exclaimed wildly, and in the panic that seized
+him he quite forgot his assumed character.
+
+He picked up the revolver that he had wrenched from Virginia, and
+which lay upon the floor, and his attitude became so threatening and
+malignant as to cause her to utter a slight terrified scream.
+
+Even Dorothy's large innocent eyes blazed, and she struck at him in
+defense of Virginia. "Mr. Golda, you're a bad, bad man."
+
+The child's voice raised in Jack a "forlorn hope," for he muttered,
+"Dorothy shall be my guarantee of escape."
+
+Simultaneously the door flew open under Thorpe's blows, and he stood
+in the entrance.
+
+"Oh, papa, papa!" cried Dorothy, as she ran toward him.
+
+Seeing his opportunity, Jack desperately clutched the child with his
+left hand. Swinging Dorothy in front of him, and before her father, he
+pointed the revolver at her head, and in that position addressed him
+in a sort of screeching yell, "Stop!"
+
+Thorpe stood horror-stricken. His heart leaped to his throat. "My God!
+madman, what will you do?" he hoarsely exclaimed, and motioned as if
+to rescue the child.
+
+With a tighter clutch, and a more maddening menace, Jack again
+addressed him, "Stop, not a step nearer!" And to emphasize his
+purpose, he placed the muzzle of the revolver close to her head.
+
+Observing the desperate peril in which Dorothy was placed, and with a
+courage born of horror and despair, Virginia stole to Jack's back, and
+with a wild frantic scream of "Save her!" seized his pistol hand
+between both her own, and in the struggle that immediately ensued, and
+in which all her strength was exerted, the weapon fell to the floor.
+
+And then Sam tore open the broken window, swung himself through to the
+floor, and instantly grappled with Jack.
+
+Virginia's attack forced Jack to release Dorothy, who was immediately
+gathered in her father's arms.
+
+"Safe, my blessed child, safe!" he fervently exclaimed.
+
+And then poor Virginia, courageous, strong-minded, kind-hearted,
+passionate Virginia, having sustained the frightful nervous strain
+till the last moment, swayed, and sank to the floor in a swoon.
+
+Meanwhile Constance stood beside the cabin door, staring at the men in
+a dazed and vacant manner. She had heard Virginia, and repeated
+mechanically, "Save Dorothy!" and now repeated after Mr. Thorpe, in
+tones as though a very dear voice had kindled a spark calling back
+loving recollections. She drew her hand across her brow, as though
+trying to clear away some web that obscured her memory, and stared at
+her husband like one suddenly awakened from a dream. A moment after
+and she whispered with awe in her voice, "John! John!"
+
+Almost immediately Rutley had returned to the room without the child,
+but with Jack's money, the door near him was being battered. He at
+once concluded that the game was up, and his own safety necessitated
+an immediate escape. How? He must decide at once.
+
+How many surrounded the cabin? Ha! If he only knew, and then the hatch
+occurred to him.
+
+He knew the big logs upon which the cabin was built raised it some ten
+or twelve inches above water. There lay his way--out--quick. He lifted
+the cover, and silently sank beneath the floor between the logs.
+
+Then he let the trap door fall back in position above him, just as the
+cabin door gave way and the detective entered, followed by Smith, who
+handled an axe.
+
+It was then that Constance seemed to recover suddenly her reason, for
+she rushed toward her husband with outstretched arms, exclaiming in a
+voice fraught with rapturous thanksgiving, "John! John and Dorothy!"
+An inexpressible joy shone in her eyes.
+
+But her advance was met with a cold, stern frown and a backward wave
+of the hand. Not a word escaped him.
+
+For a moment she stood irresolute; then she passed the tips of her
+fingers across her brow again and again--"Oh, this horrible dream that
+I cant' shake off!" Again she seemed to recover her reason and her
+voice, soft and sobbing, said, "John, you don't believe me shameless
+and debased, do you? You can't believe it, for it is false, false, I
+say! and the boat won't clear from it! Let me help"--and her voice
+hardening, she went on--"Give me a paddle. We must escape. Save
+Dorothy!" and she threw out her hands to him appealingly.
+
+A swift compassionate look swept across Thorpe's face. The first doubt
+of his wife's guilt had seized upon his brain, and he said chokingly,
+"My God, is it possible my wife is innocent?"
+
+He had half turned around to her, but on remembering the ring, his
+face again set stern, then without another word he waved her back with
+a single motion of his hand.
+
+But the sound of his voice had once more stirred up a filament of
+intelligence and she sobbed, "John! John!" She got no further. She saw
+him turn away and, placing her hand to her side, trembled, and with a
+moan on her lips, sank down beside Virginia.
+
+And at that moment the detective appeared in the partition doorway and
+was followed closely by Smith, who, upon seeing the prostrate woman,
+senseless on the floor, at once concluded a foul crime had been
+committed, and exclaimed, with horror and rage on his face:
+
+"Oh, the murtherin' blackguard!"
+
+In the struggle Jack broke from Sam and stooped to pick up the
+revolver. But Sam, coached in Texas, had him covered with his own
+revolver in a twinkling, and with the characteristic side movement of
+his head, said with a grin of satisfaction, "If you touch it, I'll
+send a bullet through your brain!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+
+After Jack Shore had been securely handcuffed, and after a hasty but
+bootless search for his partner in crime, Detective Simms hustled him
+into the launch, and desiring to get him behind the prison bars
+without delay, ordered the engineer to run the boat across the river
+at once so as to avoid any attempt at release by possible
+confederates.
+
+A hasty examination of both Constance and Virginia convinced Mr.
+Thorpe that they were not seriously hurt, and were rendered senseless
+only by a shock of great mental excitement.
+
+To remain until after their recovery would only add torture to a
+painful situation; he therefore made them as comfortable as the
+limited means at hand would allow, and then taking Dorothy with him,
+boarded the launch, leaving Sam and Smith to watch over and care for
+his wife and sister until the arrival of a physician, whom he intended
+to dispatch to their aid as quickly as possible. Dorothy objected to
+leaving her mother, but was sternly overruled and awed into submission
+by her father.
+
+Ten minutes after her rescue the boat was speeding toward Madison
+Street landing with John Thorpe and Dorothy, Jack Shore and Detective
+Simms, taciturn and grave.
+
+As the boat drew away, both Sam and Smith silently contemplated the
+two insensible women on the floor. For some moments neither spoke a
+word, profoundly absorbed in a grave contemplation of the questionable
+necessity of the two women undertaking so dangerous a mission.
+
+To Sam it appeared plain they had very recently learned of Dorothy's
+place of captivity; but why they had not imparted the information to
+some of their male friends, why they had kept her place of concealment
+secret, and why, also, they had undertaken her release just prior to
+the arrival of her father on the scene, was a mystery. It only
+resulted in a suspicion that they had somehow heard of John Thorpe's
+premeditated attempt at rescue, and were alarmed lest Dorothy should
+fall into his hands.
+
+Smith's mind was not of an analytical nature; in fact, he did not
+think their presence was attributable to anything other than a
+mother's natural heart-breaking longing to recover her darling as
+swiftly as possible, and in the enterprise Virginia had joined her.
+
+And as he thought of the indifference and cruel desertion of John
+Thorpe with her child, for whom she had made such a sacrifice, a
+solemn, serious look of sadness gathered on his face and deepened into
+contempt and anger. And the compassion in his heart welled up and at
+length broke from between his lips, in unconscious mutterings. "Sure,
+he tuk her darlint from her an' left her lyin' there, too, so he do,
+on the hard flure, wid her sinses gone out from her hid complately.
+The heartless man!"
+
+"The trouble between them is serious," Sam replied, as he knelt down
+beside Virginia and commenced to chafe her hands.
+
+"Sure, don't I know it, so I do!" rejoined Smith, as he followed Sam's
+example and set to chafing Constance's hands between his own. "An'
+he's broke her heart entirely, so he ave," he went on, "an' her hands
+do be numb wid no life in thim at all."
+
+Then he was silent for a time and worked industriously to bring back
+into her hands the warmth that had fled.
+
+Suddenly he asked Sam in an eager, anxious whisper, "Do yees belave
+she'd do wrong?"
+
+"No!" Sam promptly replied.
+
+"Naither do I. Indade she's as swate an' innocint a lady as wan ave
+hivin's angels. Sure, she cudn't do wrong at all, at all."
+
+"Not at all!" responded Sam gravely.
+
+"An' the mister shud ave better sinse than to trate her so unkind,
+don't yees think so now?"
+
+"Thorpe is a damned fool, I guess!" Sam answered gloomily.
+
+"Indade, I do belave it, too, so I do!"
+
+Again there was silence. Again it was broken by Smith, who said in a
+low, confidential tone: "I'll tell yees, I belave it do be some
+attracious divil ave come betwain thim."
+
+"You do!" Sam snapped at him, as though he interpreted Smith's
+allusion a direct reference to Virginia.
+
+"Indade I do, so I do!"
+
+"Why do you think so?" Sam asked, a tinge of annoyance at Smith's
+persistence still appearing in the manner of asking.
+
+"Isn't she an angel? An' it's only the divil cud sipporate an angel
+from her husband. Sure, man, dear, what more do yees want to prove
+it?"
+
+A twitching of Virginia's eyelids at that moment caught Sam's
+attention. It was nature's first harbinger of approaching
+consciousness. He held up his hand for Smith to be silent. The
+twitching, however, ceased, and her eyelid remaining closed, again
+became motionless.
+
+"A false alarm!" he muttered, and proceeded to chafe her hands more
+industriously than before. It was evident that Sam liked the
+occupation; for this young lady had unconsciously woven a mesh of
+enthralling servitude about his heart, and his idolizing; passionate
+fondness had at last been rewarded by unexpectedly finding himself
+permitted to caress her at will; to stroke her hair, to contemplate
+her fair face, to press her hands between his own.
+
+Sam shrewdly suspected that Virginia was somehow the cause of Thorpe's
+estrangement from his wife, but wherefore and why, were parts that she
+alone could explain, and her lips were sealed.
+
+That she was also mysteriously connected with the abduction of the
+child, he felt was a moral certainty. And her meeting with the Italian
+in the lonely park at dead of night could have offered no other
+solution. It had acted as a temporary restraining factor upon the
+ardor of his love and admiration. But now, as she lay so still and
+insensible in his care and protection; now, as he gazed on her fair
+features, all his doubts of her chastity and loyalty to those she
+loved vanished, and an all conquering fondness suddenly burst in a
+flood of radiance upon him, sweeping away all his misgivings before
+it, irresistible and impetuous as the flight of an avalanche.
+
+It was very quiet at that moment; so still that the rippling water, as
+it lapped along the logs which supported the cabin, sounded very
+distinct. Smith imagined he heard a splash, and assuming a listening
+attitude, said cautiously, "Phwat may that mane?"
+
+After a pause, Sam alertly remarked, "We have not kept a lookout. What
+if the dago's partner should steal in on us?"
+
+Smith's eyes blazed with anger. Laying Constance's hand down, he
+sprang to his feet. "Be the power ave justice," he exclaimed between
+his teeth, "sure, an' it do be a divil ave a bad job the rogue'll take
+on, to boord us now."
+
+"If you see anybody lurking near, call me," said Sam.
+
+"Niver yees moind! Just lave the thavin' blackguard to me! I'll attind
+to him!" Smith answered, a savage joy betrayed on his face, and,
+seizing hold of the axe, he crept softly to the door. After listening
+a moment, he opened it and stepped out, closing the door behind him.
+
+Again there was silence. Again Sam tenderly smoothed away Virginia's
+abundant silky black hair from her face, and fondly chafed her
+temples. And as he thought of her swift recovery, a recovery that
+would place a great gulf between him and this one girl who could make
+him the happiest being on all God's green earth, he muttered; "Oh, for
+one touch of those ruby colored lips--even if it be stolen."
+
+Virginia's face was very close to him, and as he looked at her he
+detected a faint warmth in her cheeks; noted the fine mold, the
+delicate tracery of blue veins through her clear white skin--the
+temptation was very great. His heart thumped wildly and then--unmindful
+of the impropriety, or unwilling to resist the natural inclination of
+his arm to slip under her full, round, snowy neck--raised her head and
+touched her lips with his. The contact germinated a magnetic spark
+that raced through her veins and instantly awoke her to life.
+
+She sprang to her feet, the red blood of active youth flushing her
+face to crimson. For one moment she looked indignant, fully conscious
+of the liberty he had taken. Sam bent his head abashed, and said
+apologetically--said in tones and manner that left no mistake as to his
+honest love and deep respect for her--"You looked so beautiful
+that--really now--I could not help it--forgive me!"
+
+Her mobile face, that had set in a shock of alarm, indignation and
+scorn, softened and, as the events of the night flooded her memory,
+changed to a smile. For one moment it loitered in her eyes and on her
+lips, and then again changed to a grave, serious look that developed
+tears in her beautiful blue eyes. She held out her hand to him. Were
+his eyes deceiving him? Could he believe it? Yes, and he stood dazed
+with overpowering joy that she was not offended at the liberty.
+
+He took her hand and gently carried it to his lips. Then she turned to
+the aid of Constance, knelt beside her, felt her hands, her face, her
+neck, and asked him. "Who was so mean to strike her down?"
+
+For answer he sadly shook his head, and replied gravely, "She sank to
+the floor after John Thorpe refused her."
+
+Then bitter tears trickled down Virginia's face as she continued to
+chafe her hands; but finding her efforts to restore warmth were
+unavailing, the same gripping at her heartstrings again possessed her.
+She raised her eyes to him, a frantic pleading in her voice, "Help me,
+Sam; oh, help me bring back the life that has nearly fled!"
+
+"Help you!" he repeated proudly, as he stood in front of the girl who
+had for the first time asked of him a favor in her distress, the favor
+of a "good samaritan."
+
+And then, looking straight at her, he said, very seriously, as he
+knelt and took Constance's other hand, "The strength that God has
+given me is at your service, now and forever!"
+
+She understood, and he noted with pleasure that no swift questioning
+glance of anger, no look of weariness and turning away, as once
+before, followed his magnanimity.
+
+At that moment Smith, who stood on the platform just outside the cabin
+door, was heard to say in a loud voice:
+
+"Move on there! The channel be over beyant, in the middle ave the
+water! Kape yees head more sout be aste!" Then he was heard muttering
+indistinctly, with only such disjointed words as "blackguard,"
+"whillip" and "divilish rat," clearly audible.
+
+It was soon, however, followed by angry words delivered in an
+aggressively belligerent voice: "Be hivins, don't yees come near us!
+Kape off, sure, d'yees moind, yees blackguards, or I'll put a hole
+through yees bottom that'll sink yees down to the place where yees do
+belong, so ye do!"
+
+Suddenly changing his voice to an anxious tone, said, "Phwat d'yees
+want? Phwat's that? Doctor, sure! Praise be to God! Oh, we've been
+waitin' for yees, doctor dear, till our hearts do be broken entirely.
+Be me soul, it's the thruth; not wan bit more nor less. Come, dear,
+yees do be wanted quick!"
+
+A lurch at the cabin told that the launch had arrived. The door was
+hastily opened and Smith pushed the doctor in.
+
+"There they be, sure, lyin' en the flure wid no sinse in thim at all,
+at all. Do yees be quick, doctor, and hivin'll reward yees!"
+
+Skillful application of proven restoratives, however, failed to
+produce sensibility, and the doctor considered the case so grave that
+he ordered Constance be removed to her home as quickly as possible.
+
+She was, therefore, tenderly taken on board the launch and conveyed
+home.
+
+The sun's rays had burst through and dispersed the early morning mists
+before Constance recovered from the shock, but, alas! with the shadow
+of a wreck enveloping her.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+
+The next morning Sam determined upon a personal interview with the
+prisoner. Upon arrival at the County jail, where the prisoner had been
+transferred, Sam encountered Smith, who was standing on the curb
+talking to a policeman.
+
+"How dy yus do, Sor?" was Smith's greeting.
+
+"Getting along as fast as could be expected," he answered.
+
+"It do be surprisin' the number ave blackguards there do be infesting
+the straits ove Portland after dark these days. Houldups, an'
+'break-o-day Johnnies' an' 'shanghoin' an'--an' kidnappin'--an' what
+bates me, all the worrk to be had at good wages the while--whill wan
+ave the rogues do be off his bait for a time, so he do!"
+
+"Sure, Smith, no mistake about that," Sam laughed. "We slipped it over
+him in fine shape last night. Have you seen him this morning?"
+
+"Indade oi 'ave, Sor, and he's the very wan that run the soule ave his
+plexis ferninst me hand the other day for spakin' disrespectful ave a
+lady."
+
+"I came to see him," Sam said, with a smile at Smith's chivalry.
+
+"Indade! Sure yees'll not recognize him as the wan we tuk last night
+at all, fir the color ave hair do be turnin' from black to a faded
+straw, so it do."
+
+"Through terror of his position, I suppose."
+
+"Not wan bit, sor. It came out in the wash. It do be this way. Yees
+see, the orficers cudn't get him to spake wan worrd an' no sweatbox or
+other terror ave the force did he fear, at all, sure! So they turned
+the water on him, after takin' off his clothes with the aid of two
+'trustys,' and it was raymarked by the jailer that his skin do look
+uncommon fair, an the hair on his limbs was a sandy color, an' not
+black, like the hair on his hid, and his mustache oily black, too, so
+it do."
+
+"Artificial coloring," suggested Sam.
+
+"Sure, that's jist phat the jailor sid, the very same worrds, although
+do yees naw the color blend av his nick from the color bone up was a
+beautiful bit of worrk, as nate an' natural as anything yees would
+want to see."
+
+"He is possibly an Italian artist."
+
+"Sure, he's no Italian at all, fir the trustys soaped an' lathered an'
+scrubbed all the Dago off ave him. He raysisted loike a madman, but it
+was no use, and whin they held him under the shower bath his heavy
+black mustache fell off onto the floor. Wan ave the trustys picked it
+up and said, says he: 'By jimminy, he's no Dago at all; he's a
+scoogy.' An' I say so, too, so I do. And the jailer raymarked it was
+just as he expected, and then he tould them to get the scoogy into his
+duds."
+
+"I will try and get permission to see him."
+
+Sam then entered the office, followed by Smith. They were readily
+allowed to see the prisoner, and upon approaching his cell, Sam
+recognized him at once, and the Sheriff wrote on the record, opposite
+the name of George Golda--"Alias, Jack Shore."
+
+An hour later Sam Harris was closeted with Detective Simms, in his
+office.
+
+"I believe the fellow who escaped from the cabin last night," said
+Sam, "was Jack Shore's partner Philip Rutley, otherwise known as 'Lord
+Beauchamp'."
+
+"Why do you suspect the lord to be Philip Rutley?" inquired the
+detective.
+
+"Because they were partners in business, and inseparable chums
+socially," replied Sam. "And where one was to be found, the other was
+not far away."
+
+"You say he got ten thousand dollars from the bank on your uncle's
+indorsement?" inquired the detective.
+
+"Yes," replied Sam, "and tomorrow afternoon he is to be uncle's guest
+at Rosemont."
+
+"Well, tonight my lord will attempt to leave the city, but he will
+find it impracticable," remarked the detective, dryly. "I desire you
+to keep strictly mum on this matter for twenty-four hours, and I
+promise you positive identification of his lordship."
+
+Later, Detective Simms, smoking a cigar, sauntered carelessly into the
+"sweatbox," where Jack Shore was still confined, and dumb as a stone
+statue on the question of kidnapping.
+
+After silently looking at Jack for a time, he said with a smile: "If
+you had been shrewd you would not be here. You were sold."
+
+"Then I am either a knave or a fool?" interrogated Jack, carelessly.
+
+"To be frank," laughed Simms, "you are both. A knave for trusting
+Rutley, and a fool for doing his dirty work. I suppose you will think
+it is a lie when I say he 'tipped' us to the cabin for the ten
+thousand dollars reward offered by Mr. Thorpe for recovery of the
+child, and a promise of immunity from imprisonment."
+
+"Who is Rutley?" nonchalantly asked Jack.
+
+"Why, your partner; that fellow who has been masquerading as a lord."
+
+"Lord who?"
+
+"Come, now," Simms laughed. "Why, me Lord Beauchamp! Surprised, eh?"
+and again Simms laughed and looked at Jack questioningly. "Well," he
+continued at length, "you must be a cheap guy to believe that fellow
+true to you. See here, he gave the whole thing away. Don't believe it,
+eh? Well, I'll prove it. We knew the time Miss Thorpe was to be at the
+cabin. We knew the dog was on watch and removed it. We knew the exact
+time Rutley was to be with you, and arranged for him to get away
+without your suspicion. Why, our man was waiting with a boat as soon
+as he got out of the cabin."
+
+"Did he get away?" It was the first question that Jack had asked,
+though non-committal, in which Simms detected a faint anxiety. Simms
+was the very embodiment of coolness and indifference. "Not from us,
+no; but he is out on bail."
+
+That assertion was a masterstroke of ingenuity, and he followed it up
+with the same indifference. "Would you like to know who his sureties
+are?"
+
+Jack maintained a gloomy silence.
+
+"Just to convince you that I am not joking, I will show you the
+document." And Simms turned lazily on his heel and left him. Returning
+a few moments later with a document, he held it for Jack to look at.
+
+"Do you note the amount? And the signatures?--James Harris, John
+Thorpe. You must be familiar with them," and the detective smiled as
+he thought of the trick he was employing to fool the prisoner, for he
+had himself written the signatures for the purpose.
+
+"Jack's breathing was heavier and his face somewhat whiter, yet by a
+superhuman effort he still maintained a gloomy frown of apparent
+indifference.
+
+"The reward was paid to him this morning," continued the detective,
+between his puffs of smoke.
+
+"How much?" asked Jack, unconcerned.
+
+"Ten thousand dollars!"
+
+"Quite a hunk!" Jack said, carelessly. For he thought of the package
+that Rutley had deftly abstracted from his pocket in the cabin, and he
+was glad of it, for it would be used in his defense. And then he
+muttered to himself: "This 'duffer' is slick and thinks he can work
+me, but I'll fool him."
+
+"The fellow is pretty well fixed," continued the detective, as he eyed
+Jack inquisitively.
+
+"Clear of this case with twenty thousand dollars in his pocket."
+
+"What!" exclaimed Jack, for the first time amazed, and then checking
+himself, said negligently:
+
+"I understood you to say the reward was ten thousand dollars?"
+
+"So I did. Ten thousand reward and that ransom money of Miss
+Thorpe's."
+
+"The devil he has!"
+
+Jack was beginning to waver. He thought of Rutley holding back the
+"tip" that he was shadowed, and also about the dog not barking at his
+approach, for some time after he had entered the cabin. Either of
+which incidents, had it been mentioned immediately upon entry, would
+have made escape possible. It seemed to corroborate the detective's
+assertion--that he was sold. His jaws set hard.
+
+"Can you prove that to me?"
+
+"Sure!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX.
+
+
+On the afternoon of the second day following the rescue of Dorothy,
+Mr. Thorpe, accompanied by his child, visited Mr. Harris by urgent
+invitation. The trees were still dressed in their leafy glow of autumn
+glory and, with the luxuriant green velvety grass of the lawn, invited
+a pause for contemplation of the entrancingly serene and happy
+condition earth intended her children to enjoy. Above was a clear,
+infinitely beautiful blue sky, through which the radiant orb of day
+poured down its golden shafts of light in masses of exuberant splendor
+and warmth.
+
+It was an environment singularly touching and persuasive in its appeal
+to human nature for "Peace on earth and good will toward men."
+
+As John Thorpe and his child walked up the path toward the house and
+arrived near the spot where his quarrel with Mr. Corway had taken
+place, just one week previous, he could not but halt, sensitive to the
+insidious influence so softly streaming about him--so gentle, yet so
+powerful in contra-distinction to the unhappy change that had so
+recently come into his life. Oh, for something to banish the bitter
+memories conjured up as his gaze riveted on the "damned spot" where
+his wife's inconstancy had been told to him.
+
+And as he looked, a far-off dreamy stare settled in his eyes, as there
+unrolled before his vision the sweet bliss of happy years fled--gone,
+as he thought, never to return.
+
+"Oh, God!" he exclaimed, overwhelmed with sudden emotion, and he
+clapped his hand to his forehead as an involuntary groan of anguish
+welled up from his heart.
+
+His composure slowly returned to him, but the eroding effect of his
+smothered anguish would not obliterate, and he found himself thinking,
+"It was unwise to come to this place--here where memory is embittered
+by recollections of what has been. Terrible revelation! Terrible!
+Yet--I could not have been brought to credit it but for the evidence of
+my eyes."
+
+These words seemed to startle him with a new light, for he paused, and
+then in a voice almost reduced to a whisper, fruitful with eager
+doubt, said, "What have my eyes proved to me? Is there room for a
+possibility of a mistake? No, no! The ring is evidence of her guilt.
+Oh, Constance, when I needed you, the world owned no purer or more
+perfect woman; but now--fallen, fallen, fallen!"
+
+While deeply absorbed in sad reflection, Dorothy stole to his side
+and, looking up, wistfully, in his face, said:
+
+"Dear papa, isn't mama here, either?"
+
+The question from the child, uppermost in her mind, aroused him from
+his heart-aching reverie. He looked at her sternly. "Mama," he
+repeated; "child, breathe that name no more! Banish it from your
+memory! Oh, no, no, no! I did not mean that!" and he turned his head
+aside with downcast eyes, shocked and ashamed at his passionate
+outburst in the presence of his little child.
+
+He sat down on a bench and put her on his knee, and as he did so
+became conscious of the child again looking wistfully in his eyes.
+
+"Well, you are sorry for leaving mama in that old cabin, aren't you?"
+
+It forced him to turn his eyes away from her, and with a tremor of
+pain in his voice, muttered: "Twenty times the child has said that to
+me today," and, turning to her, he said gently and with infinite
+compassion:
+
+"Dorothy, you are too young to comprehend. It is my intention to
+remove you from the home of your birth, to take you East, and educate
+you there. Now, don't trouble me with questions, dear," and he kissed
+the fair young brow and, looking into her sweet innocent brown eyes,
+he saw reflected in them her mother's.
+
+Then he turned his head aside and muttered: "So much like her mother!
+Oh, Constance! Constance! My judgment condemns you, but my heart--my
+heart will not leave you!"
+
+Down from the house leisurely strolled Mr. Harris and Hazel.
+
+"His Grace has just communicated to me the most amazing information
+about Virginia. It is so absurd that I felt quite angry with him for
+mentioning it," Hazel said quite seriously.
+
+"And what did he tell you?" inquired Mr. Harris. "If it is no secret?"
+
+"He told me that it is common talk that she was found in the cabin
+with Constance at the time of Dorothy's rescue by her father, having
+just rewarded the Italian for abducting the child, and that they both
+swooned when uncle found them there."
+
+"Lord Beauchamp must have been misinformed," broke in Mr. Harris, with
+a grave face. "If such were the case Sam would have told me. All idle
+tattle--mischievous gossip!"
+
+"Ah! Mr. Thorpe and Dorothy!"
+
+"Oh, darling!" exclaimed Hazel, and she gathered the child in her
+arms, kissed her, and flew off to the house with her.
+
+"Well, John, I am glad to meet you again," shaking his hand, "though
+to tell the truth, I did not expect you."
+
+"It has cost me bitter memories, Mr. Harris."
+
+"I have long since discovered," continued Mr. Harris, "that while time
+cannot heal a deep-rooted sorrow, it softens many of its asperities.
+When do you depart for the East?"
+
+"I have made arrangements to leave tomorrow."
+
+"You are doing just what would prompt any man in like position to do.
+I trust we shall hear from you occasionally."
+
+"It is now my purpose, after arranging for Dorothy's education, to
+travel abroad for an indefinite period, but I shall endeavor to keep
+in communication with you."
+
+Linking his arm in that of his guest, Mr. Harris said: "Come, John,
+let us join Mrs. Harris on the piazza. She is anxious to have a chat
+with you."
+
+Turning in the direction of the house, to their surprise they
+confronted Virginia. Mr. Thorpe at once withdrew his arm from that of
+Mr. Harris, and stepping aside with an offended dignity, remarked
+reproachfully:
+
+"I was not aware of having merited the honor you do me."
+
+Mr. Harris threw up his hands deprecatingly. He understood the purport
+of the allusion and was dumb. He had been quite unaware of the
+presence of Virginia, and knowing of the estrangement between brother
+and sister, felt embarrassed. He was rescued from his dilemma by
+Virginia, who addressed him in a grave voice.
+
+"Please leave us, Mr. Harris."
+
+His respect and esteem for her was sincere and great. Her good sense
+and becoming modesty had often impressed him as a woman of sterling
+qualities. Utterly disbelieving and discrediting the insinuations and
+innuendoes which Rutley had set afloat to his own advantage concerning
+her antagonistic relation with her brother, he conceived her to be the
+unhappy subject of a combination of circumstances over which she had
+no influence. A prey to anxiety, she retained little of the color and
+less of the vivacity formerly so conspicuously her heritage; yet her
+broad brow glistened white with an intellectuality that beautified her
+with spiritual chastity.
+
+He was struck, too, with her very serious and pallid face, and his
+heart went out to her. He bowed low in answer to her request, and
+without a word gravely turned away and left them.
+
+John Thorpe saw that Virginia was suffering from some great mental
+strain, nevertheless he chose to appear icily indifferent. He
+attributed her contrite appearance to the fact that he had surprised
+her and Constance in the cabin with the abductor of his child. He
+could conceive of no reason for them being there other than collusion
+with the Italian, for he believed they were cognizant of Dorothy's
+place of imprisonment all the time, and while it was possible the
+Italian held the child for ransom, they kept her place of concealment
+secret, under the belief that she was safer from seizure by Thorpe
+than at home or with friends, and also that it would draw the sympathy
+of acquaintances to Constance, and though Dorothy told him in her
+childish way that Virginia had given George Golda money, a minute
+search of his clothes and about the cabin failed to disclose it, and
+John Thorpe interpreted her defense of Dorothy as an unexpected
+contingency arising from the frenzied fury of the Italian to save
+himself from capture when he found escape cut off.
+
+When Virginia swooned, it mercifully relieved her from a most
+embarrassing and painful position.
+
+Such were his thoughts as he directed a stony stare of freezing
+haughtiness upon her--the woman, his sister, whom he now regarded as
+beyond the pale of blood relationship.
+
+"I did not expect to meet you here," he said in a voice grave with a
+sense of the worry from which he was suffering and from which wrong he
+could not, no matter how he reasoned, disassociate the name of his
+sister.
+
+"I have tried to find you--to meet you--to--in short, to demand an
+explanation of this affair; but until now I have been unsuccessful."
+
+She spoke hesitatingly and with a slight tremor in her voice,
+otherwise there was no indication of the great emotion that she was
+laboring under. In short, her demeanor, while firm and of simple
+dignity, was of the gravest character imaginable.
+
+"You have broken all ties between us," he answered slowly.
+
+"John, John! Don't turn away! Stop!" and she held up a warning finger
+as, stepping in front of him, she barred his way.
+
+"You shall hear me. For I believe what I have to tell you is of the
+utmost importance. But first, what cause have you for divorcing
+Constance?"
+
+"You ask that question?" he slowly emphasized.
+
+"Yes, I ask that question," as steadily and definitely she regarded
+him.
+
+"If on my return from China you had not concealed from me her
+infatuation for that man--that fellow Corway--this unhappy trouble would
+have been over long ago."
+
+"I have concealed nothing from you! John, I am sure it is all a
+mistake."
+
+"All a mistake?" he angrily repeated. "You concealed nothing from me!
+When her notoriety was of such common gossip that strangers were
+familiar with details!"
+
+"If you had not degraded Constance by so meanly believing the palpable
+artifice of a--a stranger," quietly and gravely replied Virginia--"if
+you had but given her an opportunity to defend herself, you would have
+found no cause for divorce; no cause even to fear the tainted breath
+of scandal could ever attach to Constance. Oh, John, it is all wrong!
+Constance is innocent! She has never been untrue to you!"
+
+Excitedly he turned to her, his face ablaze with the fervor of his
+amazement, as he repeated:
+
+"Innocent--Constance! Constance innocent!"
+
+"Yes," promptly responded Virginia. "I who know it, swear it is
+true--swear it is the truth in the sight of that high throne before
+which we shall all stand in the Judgment Day.
+
+"It was I who originated the dreadful insinuations against Mr.
+Corway."
+
+"Yes, yes! That may be true--but--" and Thorpe's manner again relapsed
+to a heart-aching resignation, as he sadly added: "He wore my wife's
+ring!"
+
+"Yes, that is true, John, but unknown to her and most assuredly
+without her consent," eagerly asserted Virginia, and she related the
+manner Corway obtained the ring, and how she subsequently had
+indiscreetly informed Beauchamp it was "your gift to Constance."
+
+Those of poor wayward humanity who, in moments of great passion have
+done a great wrong, know what torture is silently endured as day and
+night, in moments awake and in dreams asleep, the crime haunts them,
+and knocks, knocks, knocks, without ceasing, upon the soul's door for
+release of the secret.
+
+Such were Virginia's feelings, and the sweet happiness experienced
+when she confessed her sin shone in her face with convincing
+truthfulness.
+
+John listened to her with ever increasing amazement, and when she had
+concluded, his cold, austere demeanor had perceptibly softened. Yet
+Thorpe breathed hard.
+
+"You vilified Corway's character and I have heard recently of his--of
+her mad infatuation for him and of his frequent visits to our home
+while I was away in China."
+
+"The source of your information was a lie. You received it
+gratuitously from Beauchamp, did you not?"
+
+"I have not mentioned the source of my information. Why do you think
+he was my informant?"
+
+"Because he hated Corway."
+
+"And you conspired with him to ruin my home," quickly interrupted
+Thorpe, and again coldly turned from her.
+
+"You shall hear me!" and Virginia insistently gripped his coat sleeve
+and turned him toward her. "I have sought you too long to explain this
+unhappy affair, and now that I have found you, you must hear me out."
+
+Smothering his impatience, Thorpe said: "Well!"
+
+"I loved Corway, oh, so fondly!--but, alas, too well, and I allowed
+myself to cherish the belief that in his endearing manifestations he
+reciprocated my love. But on my premature return from the farm, I
+unexpectedly heard him declare his passion for Hazel. Then an all
+absorbing desire for revenge possessed me.
+
+"I resolved to break their engagement and first endeavor to estrange
+him--from your friendship. To accomplish that end I traduced his
+character and created a suspicion that his attention to Hazel was
+insincere and mercenary, expecting that after Corway was denied access
+to your home, I could smooth over the unpleasantness between you and
+Hazel and eventually annul his betrothal to her. But your informant
+juggled the names, made Constance the subject of Corway's affection
+instead of Hazel, and led you to believe the ring was a love token
+from her to him."
+
+"He insisted and repeated that Constance was the guilty one and not
+Hazel," dubiously commented Thorpe.
+
+"I understand now, it was out of revenge," she laconically replied.
+
+"Revenge! What wrong have I done Lord Beauchamp?" questioned Thorpe,
+amazed at Virginia's disclosures.
+
+"You will understand when I disclose, as I have recently learned that
+he is Philip Rutley, masquerading as Lord Beauchamp."
+
+"God of our fathers!" exclaimed Thorpe, clapping his hand to his white
+forehead, to still the pain of sudden doubt of his wife's inconstancy,
+that had seized him.
+
+"What punishment is this inflicted on me?"
+
+Then turning to Virginia with fierce light in his eyes, he sprang at
+her. In one bound he clutched her by the wrist, glared in her eyes,
+and said:
+
+"And you, my only sister, have known all this and permitted him to
+wreak his vengeance upon my innocent wife, who never bore him malice,
+or did him wrong by thought, word or deed."
+
+"I did not think that harm would fall on Constance." Yet even before
+she had finished speaking, a change came over Thorpe, and his grip on
+her wrist loosened. A victim of doubt and suspicion, his moods were as
+changing and variable as the coloring of a chameleon. Apparently he
+was not yet satisfied of the complete innocence of his wife or of the
+truthfulness of his sister, for he said, in a voice saddened by
+reflection: "That does not explain your connection with the abduction
+of Dorothy."
+
+"I have them with me," she muttered, appreciating the importance of
+clearing herself. "Yes, they are here," and she hastily produced from
+her corsage an envelope having had the foresight to preserve them as
+most precious testimony in case of need.
+
+The moment had come and found her prepared. Handing him the two notes,
+with a winsome expression of thankfulness, she said:
+
+"Read them, John, this one first, and you will know why I was in the
+cabin."
+
+She had handed to him the two notes received from George Golda, though
+in reality they had been penned by his colleague, Rutley. The first
+note asked for a meeting in the City park. The second demanded the
+amount of ransom that night on penalty of removal of Dorothy.
+
+"The time was urgent in the extreme," she continued. "Unable to secure
+the amount of ransom demanded, I resolved to go alone to the cabin,
+determined to rescue Dorothy."
+
+"You entered then."
+
+"But you were not alone; Constance was with you," he corrected.
+
+"When I told her my purpose, she pleaded so hard. Oh, so hard to go
+with me, that I could not deny her. I have told you all."
+
+John Thorpe was not the only listener to Virginia's pleading.
+Intensely interested, neither of them noticed Sam Harris approach, and
+with him the little Scotch terrier, which had completely recovered
+from its painful experience on the launch at Ross Island. When he
+first caught sight of them confronting each other, he gave a low
+whistle of surprise, and then, as he drew near to address them,
+involuntarily he heard her last words. His eyelids twitched with
+pleasure as he listened to the idol of his heart vindicate Constance.
+Smothering a cry of joy, he turned and at once withdrew, muttering to
+himself: "Lord, how light my heart feels! Virginia is doing the right
+thing now, I guess. Come, Doctor"--the name he had given to the
+dog--"we'll leave them for awhile, eh?" And the brown eyes of the
+grateful canine looked up at him with almost human intelligence and
+affection.
+
+John Thorpe's demeanor had undergone a great change in the few minutes
+he had listened to Virginia. His frigid haughtiness had softened,
+through successive stages, to a gentleness bordering on compassion.
+
+"I will take care of these," said he, in a voice of tenderness, as he
+placed the notes in his pocket. "But, oh, God in Heaven! What shall I
+say to my beloved wife?"
+
+"You believe me, John?" Virginia cried, in a tone of heartfelt
+thankfulness--her eager gaze fastened on his face. Her pleading touched
+him deeply. He took her in his arms, gently kissed her fair brow, and
+in a broken voice, said:
+
+"Virginia, we are only human, with human failings; but in your honor
+and truthfulness of this dreadful affair, God bear witness to my
+faith!"
+
+A devout joy flushed the pallor of her beautiful face, as she
+responded with a thankful heart, purified as gold with fire: "My
+prayers are answered, and my brother is himself again."
+
+"Yes, Virginia," he continued, with the fervor of family pride, as he
+thought of the part she had taken in Dorothy's rescue--"And in that
+book which shall be opened in the last great day, there will be
+pointed out by the Recording Angel--my sister's atonement." Then,
+without releasing her, he went on in an altered, anxious voice: "And
+my darling wife! Where is Constance? Tell me, Virginia, that I may go
+to her at once and plead her forgiveness."
+
+"What shall I say?" she whispered, awestruck, caught in a moment of
+forgetfulness of the woman who suffered for it all. "I must not tell
+him where she is. No, no, no! Not yet!" and she battled to subdue her
+agitation that she might invent some plea to postpone the meeting with
+his wife. "Not now; not now, John," and drawing away from him,
+unconsciously put out her hand as though to ward off some impending
+evil.
+
+"Why not?" he asked in surprised tones. "I must see her. I must know
+where my darling wife is at once!"
+
+A flash of pain shot athwart the girl's features as she muttered under
+her breath: "Oh, dear! What shall I tell him, what shall I say? What
+shall I do now?"
+
+Thorpe hastily stepped forward to her assistance, and with concern in
+his voice, said: "Virginia, you are ill!"
+
+"Let me rest for a moment or two"--trying her utmost to appear
+unperturbed, and as she sank on a bench, continued brokenly: "I shall
+be all right presently. The long walk--the terrible strain"--
+
+"My dear sister, you need assistance," interrupted Thorpe. "You must
+let me help you to the house and obtain proper care for you," and he
+tenderly attempted to lift her to her feet.
+
+"No, no, no!" she quickly responded; "I--shall be better in a few
+moments. Just a little--quiet rest, John, and alone, please. I shall
+soon be well again."
+
+"As you desire, Virginia; but I shall tell Mrs. Harris."
+
+"No, no, John! Don't tell her! I wish to be alone for awhile."
+
+"Very well, dear; as I have a message for Mr. Harris, shall seek him
+at the house; but I will return in a few moments," and then,
+considerate for her wish to be alone, he left her.
+
+Helpless to resist the impetus of her consuming desire to reunite John
+and his wife, Constance, she yet dreaded the aftermath of the shock
+his discovery must surely produce. Virginia knew not which way to turn
+or what course to pursue.
+
+"Oh, Auntie! Auntie! I'm so glad you've come. Mamma is coming to see
+me, too. Isn't she?" and Dorothy, having caught sight of Virginia, ran
+to her, and then, not to be denied, in her childish way climbed up on
+the bench beside her and affectionately clasped her little arms about
+her neck.
+
+"Papa doesn't like her," she proceeded, in a low, serious,
+confidential manner, "and wants me not to like her, too. But I shall
+like her. I shall always love-dear mamma-as-long-as-I-live!" The last
+few words were uttered in a quivering voice, but with a decision that
+appeared marvelous in one so young.
+
+Folding her arms about the child, Virginia fondly looked into her
+eyes. "God bless you, sweet, winsome soul!" And then they kissed.
+
+"Aunty, won't you take me to mamma?" pleaded the child. A ray of light
+had at last unexpectedly illumined a path for Virginia to pursue.
+Suddenly releasing the child, she arose to her feet and said, with
+animation: "Some good may come of it. I will seek Mrs. Harris and have
+her detain John while I bring Constance--and Dorothy together--before he
+meets her. Yes, darling," she said, taking Dorothy's hand; "you shall
+see your mother."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX.
+
+
+On a low point of land formed by a bend in the Willamette, a couple of
+boys were playing at what is termed "skipping." The exercise consisted
+in throwing a stone so as to make it skim along the surface of the
+water in a series of long skips, the greater number of skips attesting
+the skill of the thrower. The surface of the river was very smooth and
+placid, which was a factor in tempting the boys to the exercise. They
+had been at it for some time and, boy-like, in their enthusiasm, had
+overdone it, and consequently were beginning to fag, when one of them
+suddenly spied an exceptionally smooth, round flat stone, suitable for
+the purpose, and stooped to pick it up. The other boy, a short
+distance behind him, seeing his opportunity, cried out in a
+frolicksome spirit:
+
+"Hi! Gene! Hold, there." And he immediately ran and, placing his two
+hands on the stooping boy's back, lightly leaped over him, straddle
+fashion, and then himself took a stooping position further on, subject
+to a like performance.
+
+At once the sport known as "leap-frog" was entered into with zest by
+the boys. It carried them some distance along the river shore, and
+they were so engrossed with the new exercise, which sustained in their
+case, at all events, the old adage that, "A change of occupation is a
+good recreation," as to be entirely oblivious of approaching a
+solitary woman dressed in sober gray, sitting on a stump of driftwood
+near the water's edge and gazing vacantly on the river.
+
+One of the boys, named Gene, big-limbed, loose-jointed and clumsy, in
+doing his turn, and while astraddle the "frog," lost his balance and
+tumbled sideways, dragging the under boy over with him. The smaller
+boy, named Spike, got to his feet first, and with a fire in his eye,
+angrily said: "Youse do it again and I'll smash you one."
+
+"I couldn't help it. It was your fault, anyway, Why didn't you hold
+steady," replied Gene.
+
+"You big lubber; youse done it on purpose." said Spike, rubbing his
+shin. "I'm not going to play any more," and as he turned away,
+muttered to himself: "I've a notion to soak him one."
+
+"Oh, look!" cried Gene. "A woman's agoing in swimming with her clothes
+on!" The boys at once forgot their differences, drew close together
+and watched her with much curiosity.
+
+"Say, but the water is cold. I was in yesterday and couldn't stay a
+minute," said Gene. "Gee, but I got my clothes on quick! I was near
+froze."
+
+"She's skeart already; see how she's looking about--must-a lost
+somethin'."
+
+"Let's ask her," said Gene.
+
+"Youse shut up, won't you."
+
+"She's saying something. Hear?"
+
+"Sounds like 'Dorothy,'" said Spike. "Look at her dig them hands in
+the water."
+
+"Say, she's crazy, sure!" whispered Gene.
+
+At which they drew back awe-struck, yet fascinated by the grotesque
+buffoonery inseparable from the insane.
+
+"Somebody'd better go and phone the cops," whispered Spike, excitedly.
+"She'll get drowned, and then we'll get in a bar'l of trubble."
+
+"I'll go," said Gene, half frightened, and glad of an excuse to get
+away from the uncanny spectacle. "Who's got a phone near here?" he
+asked.
+
+"Up at the big house, yonder. Harris'. They's got one, but youse don't
+want to leave me here alone with that crazy woman. She's coming
+ashore. Kin youse hear what she's saying?" They listened intently.
+
+"I'm sure I saw her," she said in tones strangely pitiful. "Her golden
+hair floated on the surface like a silken mesh--then sank down,
+down--ah, there it is again." And she outstretched her hand and tried
+to grasp something.
+
+"Gone again! Oh! I wish someone would help me get her. I am so tired
+and the river is so deep and cold," and as she stepped out from the
+water onto the shingle, her frame shivered as with a chill. She sat on
+the stump of driftwood, fatigued by exertion.
+
+"Let's go and talk to her," whispered Gene.
+
+"Youse better not. Youse can't tell what them crazy people will do
+sometimes. They ack queer mighty sudden."
+
+"Say! She wouldn't hurt anything. Ain't she nice looking! I'll bet she
+was kind when she was all right," said Gene.
+
+"Talks of golden hair. Must be her baby drowned has made her crazy,"
+said Spike.
+
+"I'm going to speak to her, anyway," and so saying, Gene boldly
+approached her.
+
+"Say, lady! What are you looking for?" he asked, as he timidly stood
+in front of her.
+
+"Dorothy," she softly answered, and then slowly shifted her wistful
+eyes from the water to the boys.
+
+"Whose Dorothy?" asked Spike, with an air of quiet respect, as he
+joined Gene and stood in front of her.
+
+"The sweetest babe in all the world. See, in this--her likeness," and
+she drew from the bosom of her dress a medallion and held it for the
+boys to look at.
+
+"Sure! She's a beaut!" exclaimed Spike, admiringly.
+
+"Say, that picture is just like you," remarked Gene, looking over the
+medallion at the face before him.
+
+"Yous dress is wet, Missus," said Spike.
+
+"Were you looking for your baby there?" queried Gene, nodding toward
+the river.
+
+She suddenly arose to her feet and listened, meanwhile tenderly
+replacing the medallion in her corsage.
+
+"I must not rest longer. The storm will soon be on us. The boat
+rocks."
+
+She paused in a listening attitude: "Her voice! I hear it again. She
+is calling, 'Mamma, papa, help! Save me!' There! There!"--and she
+pointed over the water. "See that golden web glistening in the
+sunshine. It's her hair. She's beckoning me! Give me the paddles!--the
+paddles, quick!" And then she cried out with a gasp that sounded very
+much like a sob: "Save Dorothy!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI.
+
+
+When John Thorpe left Virginia in search of Mr. Harris, he found him
+in conversation with Sam, at the foot of the piazza steps. Above them,
+on the piazza, was seated Mrs. Harris.
+
+"I understand," remarked Mr. Harris to Sam, "that there was another
+man in the cabin, but somehow he escaped."
+
+"There was another man there," replied Sam, "but he went down through
+a trap door in the floor, Uncle."
+
+"Did he drown," questioned Mr. Harris.
+
+"Oh, no! The logs raised the floor of the cabin about a foot above the
+water. He got away between them and swam ashore. We didn't find it out
+until he had made good his escape."
+
+It was then Mr. Thorpe addressed Mr. and Mrs. Harris. It being the
+first opportunity presented to perform a duty, that was clearly
+incumbent on him, and without further hesitation, he said: "Mr. and
+Mrs. Harris and Sam, who heard me abuse Mr. Corway on this ground last
+Wednesday night, I wish now to recall what I then said. If an entire
+misapprehension of facts can be an excuse for the animosity with which
+I then spoke, I am anxious to apologize for my behavior, as
+circumstances have made me aware how unjust were my aspersions. I
+regret that Mr. Corway is not present to receive my apology and to
+shake hands with him, for there is not a man in Oregon for whom I have
+greater respect."
+
+Mr. Harris was unable to conceal his gratification at the sudden
+ending of an unpleasant dilemma, and exclaimed: "John, I heartily
+congratulate you on the agreeable termination of an ugly affair."
+
+"Dear me! I am really delighted," added Mrs. Harris, who, having
+gotten up from her chair at the first few words uttered by John
+Thorpe, and leaning forward on the piazza railing, stared at the men
+below in rapt attention. And Sam joined in the general joy by
+exclaiming, with a broad grin and a whirl of his hat: "Whoop! Let's
+celebrate the burial of the hatchet, eh, Auntie."
+
+"How vulgar," quietly remarked Mrs. Harris, as she straightened up,
+and with severity plainly graven on her face, said: "Sam, I desire a
+word with you after dinner."
+
+"Ya-ah! May good digestion wait on appetite, eh Auntie! I guess so,"
+replied Sam, with a roguish twinkle of his eye and the inimitable side
+movement of his head.
+
+"Dear me," continued Mrs. Harris, "I may as well be resigned to the
+inevitable, for I fear the 'Texas brand' will never groom out."
+
+"I must go home," exclaimed Mr. Thorpe. "My impatience to meet
+Constance is consuming me. Mrs. Harris and gentlemen, pray pardon my
+haste," and, lifting his hat, he withdrew.
+
+Then Sam related in detail the bath and discovery of Jack Shore at the
+jail.
+
+"Fact, Uncle," he continued, "a regular fiend."
+
+"What! Jack Shore, of the Securities Investment Association!"
+exclaimed Mr. Harris, with surprise.
+
+"The same identical chap, Uncle."
+
+"Dear me; who was his confederate?" questioned Mrs. Harris.
+
+"We have yet to discover, but suspect a certain person well known to
+you."
+
+"Whom do you suspect?" sharply demanded Mrs. Harris.
+
+"A much-honored member of society," replied Sam, with fine sarcasm.
+
+"But we must have his name," insisted Mrs. Harris. She was promptly
+supported by Mr. Harris, who said: "By all means, we must know who he
+is."
+
+"My Lord Beauchamp!" Sam answered, with emphasis.
+
+"Dear me," gasped Mrs. Harris. "What a shock!" and then, recovering
+herself, she repeated doubtfully: "Lord Beauchamp an imposter?"
+
+"He's a villain anyhow, Auntie!" exclaimed Sam. "The same 'gent' who
+ran me down when I was tracking the Dago up there near the City
+park--thought he put me out of business."
+
+"What proof have you that he is an imposter?" demanded Mrs. Harris,
+sternly.
+
+"Yes, proof, proof! That is what we want!" exclaimed James Harris,
+visibly agitated.
+
+"To satisfy himself the detective cabled our Ambassador at London to
+make inquiry. This morning he received a reply." And so saying, Sam
+took from his pocket an envelop containing a cablegram and handed it
+to Mr. Harris, with the remark: "Uncle, the detective turned it over
+to me at noon."
+
+Mr. Harris took from the envelop the cablegram, and adjusting his
+eyeglasses, read aloud:
+
+"There's only one Lord Beauchamp in England's peerage, and he, with
+whom I am personally acquainted, was at the embassy yesterday."
+
+It was signed "White."
+
+Then Mr. Harris looked over the paper in his hand--over the eyeglasses
+into nothingness, with an expression on his face of deep chagrin, and
+in a low voice, as though muttering to himself, indiscreetly said:
+
+"Damn the luck! The fellow is into me for ten thousand dollars."
+
+The words had scarcely escaped from his lips when Mrs. Harris, her
+eyes staring with astonishment, sharply exclaimed:
+
+"Ten thousand dollars! Why, James Henry, you must have been
+hypnotized!"
+
+It caused Sam to smile, and remark with a look of reproach: "Auntie!"
+
+"He came to me with a plausible story and many regrets, unexpectedly
+ran short of funds; produced a cablegram purporting to come from his
+brother, the Duke Villier, only yesterday, authorizing him to draw for
+two thousand pounds. To oblige him I indorsed the draft, went with him
+to the bank, and it was immediately honored. I will phone for a
+policeman at once," and Mr. Harris turned away to put his purpose into
+effect, when Sam intercepted him.
+
+"Stay, Uncle; I have taken upon myself the duty of swearing out a
+warrant for his arrest, and in order there shall be no possibility of
+his escape, I have arranged with detectives, having Jack Shore in
+charge, to identify and arrest him."
+
+"James, do not wait a moment!" impatiently exclaimed Mrs. Harris.
+"Have him arrested at once."
+
+"Auntie, he cannot escape the officers, who are concealed, waiting
+signal," Sam assured her.
+
+And then, as if fate had so ordered, the object of their anathemas--in
+the company of Hazel, complacently sauntered from the tennis lawn,
+and, rounding the angle of the house, suddenly appeared close to the
+group.
+
+"It was so stupid of me. I am sure your lordship did not enjoy the
+game at all," said the girl. It was at that game of tennis that Rutley
+found opportunity to propose marriage to Hazel, for he believed that
+she was so disappointed at Corway's disappearance, and which he took
+care to insinuate was through cowardice, and that she was so impressed
+with his rank, wealth and manners, that it would be easy to persuade
+her; but he found the girl repelled his advances so firmly and
+decisively that he at once abandoned the idea of attempting to entice
+her to elope, and abruptly ended the game. And so, because of his love
+for this girl, he had delayed his purpose to escape from the city, and
+jeopardized his chances accordingly.
+
+When Rutley's eyes first rested on James Harris, he involuntarily
+started at the change in his looks, but though seemingly perturbed for
+an instant, his self-possession never really deserted him. Straight on
+to the broad steps he strode with a suavity of manner quite in keeping
+with his usual phlegmatic bearing. Whatever distrust or apprehension
+may have troubled his thoughts, no exterior indication was visible.
+His face was impassive and inscrutable as the "Sphinx." His nerves
+were steel, his acting superb.
+
+"I find in Miss Brooke an expert tennis player," he said, addressing
+Mrs. Harris, who was leaning forward, her hands resting on the rail,
+staring at him.
+
+"It's an outrage, sir! A damned outrage!" explosively exclaimed Mr.
+Harris, who was unable to control his indignation.
+
+Still unperturbed, Rutley turned to Mr. Harris and said: "I quite
+agree with you, Sir, for the scandal is deplorable, and Corway should
+be punished." Turning to Mrs. Harris, he continued:
+
+"Indeed, Mrs. Harris, you Americans seem to excel in most everything
+where skill and brains are essential."
+
+There was not a flaw or tremor in his voice to betray an uneasy mind
+or prescience of a coming storm. It was then, however, he realized
+that something was wrong, for he noticed that they were looking coldly
+at him. Slowly drawing himself up with a haughty bearing, he carefully
+adjusted the monocle in his left eye and turned slowly about as he
+stared at each of them, and said in slow, sharp, biting accents:
+
+"It's deuced--draughty--don't--che--know!"
+
+"Yes, quite chilly, isn't it, old chappie! I guess so!" declared Sam,
+patronizingly.
+
+"I demand, sir, the return of ten thousand dollars that you swindled
+me out of yesterday," said Mr. Harris, with indignation flushing his
+face.
+
+"And I demand, in the name of the law, ten thousand dollars that you
+stole from--a--George Golda, while in the scow-dwelling night before
+last," said Sam.
+
+Still unperturbed, Rutley merely shifted his eyes from one to the
+other without moving his head or a muscle of his body, much in the
+manner of an automaton, and answered with a drawl:
+
+"Aw, a money swindle! And a--a--theft of money from a scow-dwelling!
+Really, gentlemen, this is--a--a--a--deuced good joke!" And then he
+laughed, laughed in a shrill, screechy falsetto key, unnatural, and
+chilling as an icy breath from the Arctic.
+
+"This is no joke, sir, as you will soon realize."
+
+"You have been detected. Your villainy is exposed, and your damned
+rascality is at an end," said the irate Mr. Harris.
+
+"For twenty years in the pen at Salem, eh, old chappie!" said Sam,
+with a grin of satisfaction.
+
+"Curse the luck," muttered Rutley to himself. "What a fool I was not
+to have vanished last night. It's deuced ugly, don't-che know," he
+continued aloud, in the same cutting accents. "Let me warn you,
+gentlemen, there is a limit to one's forbearance!"
+
+"You are a cheat, a villain, an imposter!" fumed Mr. Harris. "And
+there is the proof," and he flourished the cablegram in Rutley's face.
+"You are imposing on the public under the cloak of an assumed title,
+and unless you immediately hand over to me ten thousand dollars I
+shall give you into custody."
+
+"Of the officers of the law, eh, Auntie?" and as Sam uttered the last
+words, up went his right hand extended straight with the index finger
+pointing aloft.
+
+It was the signal agreed upon for the officers to appear, and
+forthwith they emerged with Jack Shore between them, and Smith
+following, from a vine inclosed arbor, partially concealed by a group
+of trees a few rods down the hill.
+
+Pretending not to notice the approach of the officers and their
+prisoner, Sam grinned at Rutley and banteringly said:
+
+"Come now, own up, you intentionally put me 'out of business' with the
+automobile. But it was a bungled job, wasn't it, old chappie?"
+
+Rutley yielded not an iota of his haughty bearing. Totally
+unsuspecting the near approach of the officers from behind, he
+directed a frigid, steady, contemptuous stare at his accusers, and
+with an air of puzzled understanding, said:
+
+"What is the meaning of this insult to my honor? I again warn you,
+gentlemen, of your liability for libel."
+
+"Law is a venturesome sport, my lord," ironically exclaimed Sam. "Let
+me introduce Mr. George Golda"--
+
+Rutley leisurely turned and stared at Jack.
+
+--"Alias, Jack Shore," continued Sam, with a laugh.
+
+"Well, my poor man. What is your mission?" interrogated Rutley.
+
+Jack stared steadily at Rutley, but kept silent.
+
+"Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha," derisively laughed Rutley. Then turning to the
+group, said: "What new joke is this, gentlemen?" Again he turned
+toward Jack in pretense of a closer scrutiny.
+
+That Rutley was surprised was quite evident, and he stepped forward
+with some object in view. Mr. Harris seemed to imagine some purpose in
+Rutley's movement, and stepping in front of him, said: "Hold, your
+little game is up!"
+
+"I guess so," quickly added Sam, who stood ready to assist.
+
+Realizing he was at bay, Rutley recovered his self-possession as
+quickly as he had lost it.
+
+Again he laughed in that high-pitched, screechy key of ineffable
+disdain. "He, he, he, he," and turning to Mr. Harris said,
+sarcastically: "The idea! You, a retired merchant, a successful
+business man; experienced in the qualities of keen perception, of fine
+discrimination, of the most perfect discernment and adroitness, to
+support this outrage," and he waved his hand toward Jack. And again
+drawing himself up erect, haughtily fixed his cold gray eyes steadily
+on Mr. Harris, and continued in a drawl: "It's deuced ugly, don't-che
+know; deuced ugly, by Jove."
+
+While Rutley had been speaking, Virginia appeared on the scene. "Ha,
+Virginia," sharply called out Mrs. Harris, and she beckoned to her to
+hasten. "Now we shall prove his villainy."
+
+"Ha, ha," sneered Rutley. "Now you shall realize how foully you have
+slandered me. The lady will prove that I am Lord Beauchamp."
+
+As Virginia approached near, Mrs. Harris being unable to contain her
+impatience, again addressed her: "Virginia, dear! Can you enlighten us
+as to that man's identity?"
+
+Rutley tried to catch her eye, and at last, having succeeded, lifted
+his eyebrows meaningly, then nearly closed his eyes as he fixed on her
+a stare of glittering concentration.
+
+"Madam," he ejaculated significantly, "beware! These gentlemen and
+ladies have dared to question my right to the title of Lord Beauchamp,
+and I have assured them that you know me, of course you do, and will
+tell them so." His manner was confident and insinuating, but he had
+over-rated his power of hypnotic influence over the girl.
+
+She looked at him steadily, in which freezing haughtiness, contempt
+and pity were commingled. Her fear of him had passed. She did not
+falter now.
+
+"Yes, I know you; and you are known to all present, but, unhappily,
+not as thoroughly as you are known to me."
+
+"Who is he?" demanded Mrs. Harris.
+
+"Beware!" cautioned Rutley, "for what you say you must prove in a
+court of law."
+
+Defiant, the girl spoke, her enunciation clear and faultless. "His
+name is Philip Rutley, and he is masquerading as my Lord Beauchamp for
+fraudulent and unlawful purposes."
+
+"Ha, ha, ha," laughed Rutley, sarcastically. "Delightfully refreshing,
+gentlemen."
+
+"Oh!" came from Hazel, and then, as if doubting the announcement,
+exclaimed: "But the color of Rutley's hair is on the pumpkin order."
+
+"When the dye is washed out it will be on the pumpkin order again,"
+laughed Sam.
+
+"He of the investment company?" questioned Mrs. Harris, with a puzzled
+expression of countenance.
+
+"The very same chap, Auntie," said Sam.
+
+"Dear me, such ingratitude!" and Mrs. Harris looked disgusted. "Why,
+the rascal promised never to return if we would not prosecute him."
+
+"He, he, he, he, how very funny," derisively laughed Rutley, in that
+high-pitched, screechy falsetto key he was so well trained in, and at
+times he nervously stroked his Vandyke beard.
+
+"I shall at once bring an action at law against you for malicious
+libel," upon which he started to pass Mr. Harris. His purpose was
+understood and frustrated by Sam, who promptly seized him by the
+collar. "I guess not!"
+
+"Well done, Sam!" exclaimed Mrs. Harris.
+
+"Take your hands off!" demanded Rutley, who began to scuffle violently
+with Sam.
+
+"Hold him fast, Sam," cheerfully encouraged Mr. Harris, who rushed to
+Sam's assistance, followed by Smith.
+
+"I guess so."
+
+At that moment, by a dexterous movement, Rutley slipped out of his
+coat, swiftly turned, and exclaimed:
+
+"Damn your eyes, take that," and violently struck at Sam, who adroitly
+dodged the blow, dropped the coat and squared up to him.
+
+"I'm your huckleberry; I guess. Good time to square that little
+run-down now. Come down the hill out of the sight of the ladies."
+
+"I'll go wid yees," volunteered Smith. "Sure, an' I'll see fair play,
+an' may the divvil take me lord."
+
+Mr. Harris picked up Rutley's coat and there fell out of one of the
+pockets two packages of banknotes. He let the coat fall and picked up
+the packages. Flourishing them about his head, he laughed--"Ha, ha, ha,
+ha."
+
+The detective turned to Jack and said, quietly: "You wanted the proof:
+there it is," and he pointed to the money held by Mr. Harris. "He will
+be pinched, but Mr. Thorpe is to secure his release."
+
+"Why, there are twenty thousand dollars here!" exclaimed Mr. Harris,
+examining the packages of money.
+
+"Now you believe me, don't you?" said the detective to Jack.
+
+"Yes," replied Jack, "you were right," and then he stepped forward
+alone, close to Rutley, and with a sneer on his face, confronted him.
+"So, my noble partner! You gave me the kiss of 'Judas' for ten
+thousand shekels, eh?"
+
+Rutley was amazed, but maintaining his imperturbability, exclaimed:
+"You propound a riddle, my poor man. I don't know you."
+
+"Ha, ha, ha, ha," laughed Jack, bitterly. "The riddle should be plain
+with the key in your keeping. But I know _you_, me Lord Beauchamp,
+alias Philip Rutley. Now, damn you, take the medicine your treachery
+awards you."
+
+Rutley straightened up, his mortification was very great. Naturally
+astute, shrewd and alert, for once he had been caught napping. With
+distended, staring eyes, he whispered, aghast: "Jack, Jack," and then,
+recovering himself, composedly said: "A--my poor fellow, you are
+mistaken; I don't know you," and then he swung himself about and
+laughed in that peculiar, high-pitched key--"He, he, he, he; he must be
+crazy."
+
+"Crazy, eh!" and Jack laughed low, hoarsely and derisively. "Ha, ha,
+ha, ha. The detective told me you had sold me for the reward offered
+for recovery of the child, but I would not believe him. Now! I know he
+told the truth. For the proof is there," and he pointed to the money
+in the hands of Mr. Harris. "The proof that you betrayed your
+partner"--
+
+"You lie! You lie! Damn you, you lie!" exclaimed Rutley bitterly, as
+he swiftly turned to Jack, and then muttered to himself: "Ye Gods, I
+have been trapped by a fluke." Then, with marvellous nerve, declared:
+"Oh, this is preposterous; I will immediately bring some friends and
+prove that you malign me," and so saying he turned to move off.
+
+"Detective Simms, he is your man; arrest him!" said Mrs. Harris.
+
+On seeing his chance of escape lessening every moment Rutley abandoned
+all idea of further defense, and made a grab for his coat.
+
+Quick as was his action, he could not outmaneuver Sam, who promptly
+threw himself upon Rutley's back, and locked his arms about him,
+pinioning him as in a vice. And while in that position the detective
+slipped on the handcuffs.
+
+On releasing him, Sam turned with a broad grin of satisfaction to his
+aunt--"How is that for the Texas brand, eh, Auntie?"
+
+He got for his answer a smile, and an exclamation that pleased him
+immensely. "Splendid, Sam."
+
+"The neatest bit of work done since his partner tried to find a soft
+spot on Carbit strait pavement," added Smith, with a look of
+admiration.
+
+In the meantime Mr. Harris had been examining the packages of money,
+turning them over and over, looking first at one and then at another.
+Of a sudden his face lit up with a smile, as he exclaimed: "Why, this
+is mine; the identical package that he obtained from the bank on my
+indorsement. I can swear to it. But this?" And he looked meaningly at
+Virginia.
+
+"It looks like the package of notes I gave the Italian for Dorothy's
+ransom," she replied.
+
+"He never sold me after all," muttered Jack, who became painfully
+astonished on hearing Mr. Harris declare that Rutley had obtained one
+of the packages of money from the bank on his indorsement. And as the
+plan by which he was tricked into betrayal of his accomplice became
+evident, his chagrin deepened to grief. He turned to Rutley and said,
+brokenly: "Phil, I take it all back," and then he muttered absently as
+he realized the futility of regret. "But it is too late--I have been
+tricked into a confession."
+
+"The jig is up," replied Rutley. "I shall take my medicine like a
+man."
+
+"That money must remain in the custody of the police until the court
+decides for the owner," said the detective.
+
+"Certainly," affirmed Mr. Harris, who handed him the two packages.
+
+"This one is mine, and contains ten thousand dollars. And this
+contains a like amount and belongs to Miss Thorpe. I shall apply to
+the court for restitution tomorrow," remarked Mr. Harris.
+
+"Very well, sir. Now please hand me that coat and we will go," said
+the detective.
+
+Mr. Harris picked up the coat and handed it to the detective.
+
+"Keep it, old man," advised Rutley, with lofty disdain. "Keep it as a
+memento of how you were once charmed by one of England's nobility," he
+laughed derisively.
+
+"I will have no gift from a thief," indignantly exclaimed Mr. Harris,
+as he handed over the coat. "Officers, away with them."
+
+"Good-bye Charles, Reginald, De Coursy, West-ma-coate Cosmos, me Lord
+Beauchamp. Fare thee well," said Sam, with a grin.
+
+It was at that time that the little Scotch terrier began to sniff at
+Jack's trouser legs inquisitively. The dog had wandered near him,
+attracted by the sound of his familiar voice, and though it evidently
+scented something intimate, could not recognize his former master in
+the changed appearance resultant on his enforced bath. And so the dog
+sniffed and sniffed while the glint of its upward turned eyes
+ominously resented any friendly overture.
+
+Jack had noticed the dog about, and now that it was sniffing at his
+leg, he softly spoke to it, saying: "Good-bye, Snooks," whereupon to
+his surprise the dog growled at him. Again he said, soothingly: "Good
+bye Snooks," putting out his hand to fondle it, but the dog, in one of
+those singularly unsympathetic moods rare to its nature, would have
+none of him, and barked at him furiously.
+
+It was the finishing stroke to his shame and degradation. "An outcast,
+a stranger, so low I have fallen that my own dog barks at me."
+
+"Come along," urged the detective to Rutley and Jack. But Rutley
+halted and turned to Hazel, with the same marvellous air that had won
+for him confidence in critical moments of "my lord's" career.
+
+"Ta, ta, pet," said he, in his softest blandishment to Hazel. "That
+was a ravishing kiss you gave me in the conservatory awhile ago. Ta,
+ta," and he threw her a kiss with his free hand and followed it with a
+tragic scowl at Sam.
+
+"The horrid man," indignantly exclaimed Hazel.
+
+"Good-bye, Virginia," and he smiled patronizingly at her. "You
+'peached' on your pal, but rogues do that sometimes. Tra-la."
+
+"Officer, away with them," ordered Mr. Harris, with disgust.
+
+"Get a move on, old chappie," said Sam.
+
+"Come along," urged the detective.
+
+But Rutley balked, and looking at Mrs. Harris, laughed, the same
+high-pitched, uncanny laugh he had used previously.
+
+"I had almost forgotten you, Auntie," he drawled in his most suave and
+engaging manner. "You know that it is bad form to take one's leave
+without saying 'adieu,' and believe me," and he again laughed, "I
+thank you for your lavish reception in honor of the fake lord."
+
+"Officer, away with them," stormed Mr. Harris.
+
+Though Rutley was forced away a step or two he still kept his eyes
+fixed on Mrs. Harris, and managed to hold his ground long enough to
+add, ironically: "Adieu, Auntie! Ta, ta!"
+
+"March yees blackguards, march," said Smith, pushing the men along.
+
+"How very rude! I have never had anything so scurrilous said to me
+before in my life."
+
+"He wasn't a real lord, Auntie. Only tried to act like one, eh, I
+guess so," and Sam inwardly chuckled at the balm he offered for her
+discomfiture.
+
+"Sam, you had better assist the officers to the railway station,"
+suggested Mr. Harris.
+
+"Oh, quite to my fancy, Uncle!" and Sam immediately proceeded after
+the detectives and their prisoners.
+
+The silence that fell on the group as they watched the prisoners move
+down the hill was broken by Hazel, who, turning to Mr. Harris, said:
+"It was clever of Sam. Indeed, Uncle, it seems to him is due the honor
+of breaking the spell of a pretender."
+
+"I am satisfied now that my lord will serve a 'spell' with his partner
+in the state penitentiary," replied Mr. Harris.
+
+"A fate that deservedly overtakes adventurers and imposters," remarked
+Mrs. Harris.
+
+"And a most pungent warning to the frantic race society runs to
+entertain titled swindlers!" added Mr. Harris, gravely.
+
+At that moment Sam hurriedly reappeared and approached Mr. Harris, who
+hastened to meet him. "What is wrong, Sam?" "Has he got away?" was the
+anxious inquiry.
+
+"I guess not, Uncle," replied Sam, who seemed excited, and then
+nodding his head toward the river, said, in an undertone. "Something
+out of gear down there. A boy just told me a woman was wading in the
+water trying to find her drowned baby--and--and I thought"--
+
+"What! Who do you think she can be, eh? It cannot be"--And they
+exchanged significant glances.
+
+Sam tapped his head impressively. "The boy said she plunged her hands
+in the water, talked queer, and heard her call 'Dorothy.'"
+
+"If it should be her! Good God! And John must be hereabouts, too. Let
+us go to her at once. Quietly, make no fuss. Come along," and Mr.
+Harris turned hastily.
+
+"What is the trouble now, James?" called out Mrs. Harris.
+
+"No time," was all the satisfaction she got, and the two hastened down
+to the shingle.
+
+"Dear me! Something serious has happened, I am sure!" and seeing a boy
+standing irresolute on the walk, addressed him:
+
+"Here boy, do you know what is going on down there?"
+
+"A crazy woman," the boy answered, drawing near. "She's wading in the
+river."
+
+"Poor thing!" sympathetically exclaimed Mrs. Harris. "What is she
+wading in the river for? Did you hear her speak?"
+
+"Yes'm, a little; but I was afraid and didn't stay but a minute. I
+came up to phone the police."
+
+"Dear me! What did the poor creature say?"
+
+"She said her baby was drowned. I'm pretty sure she called it
+Dorothy."
+
+An agonizing shriek of "Constance!" broke from the three women
+simultaneously, and horror and consternation was depicted on every
+countenance.
+
+"Almighty Heaven!" exclaimed Virginia, whose face had blanched at the
+news. "She has followed me here. I'll get some wraps, for poor
+Constance must be chilled through and through," and with that she
+hastened into the house.
+
+"Virginia, dear!" Mrs. Harris called after her, "you will find wraps
+in my room."
+
+Hazel had already started toward the river, and noting the girl's
+impatience, she went on: "Hazel and I will not wait for you."
+
+As Mrs. Harris followed after Hazel, she kept muttering: "Dear me!
+What a shock! What a shock to one's nerves!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII.
+
+
+The officers, with their prisoners, had reached the railway track, and
+were leisurely walking toward the little station when a commotion in a
+group of people on the shingle, a couple of hundred yards ahead,
+attracted their attention. Smith, who had accompanied the officers,
+started to investigate. He had proceeded but a short distance when his
+movement was accelerated by seeing Mr. Harris and Sam hastening down
+the slope toward the little group before mentioned.
+
+Upon arrival at the station, one of the officers, Simms, hurried
+forward to ascertain the cause of the trouble, for evidently something
+serious had happened. The two prisoners were thus left, handcuffed, it
+is true, but under guard of only one officer, whose attention was also
+attracted by the excitement ahead. The officer gave his prisoners
+little attention, for he believed they were perfectly secure, as
+Jack's right wrist was handcuffed to the officer and Rutley was linked
+to Jack.
+
+Rutley soon found that he could "slip the bracelet" and, nudging Jack,
+displayed his free hand. Jack gave him a significant wink, at the same
+time gently nodded his head for him to "break." For an instant Rutley
+was tempted to strike down the unsuspecting officer, and attempt to
+release Jack, but the chance of detection in the act, and inviting
+instant pursuit was so great, that he decided to try to escape alone.
+Silently he stepped apart; farther, then he slipped behind the
+station.
+
+A swift, noiseless dash to a culvert, through it and up along a small
+ravine, soon put him out of sight of the officers. His last view of
+them convinced him that they were still unmindful of his escape.
+
+Arriving at a considerable elevation, to where a clump of brush
+concealed him from the view of those below, he paused and took a hasty
+glance around. The sweep of the slope was too clear and unobstructed
+for any possibility of escape to the woods that covered the hill a
+couple of hundred yards distant, without him being seen. His
+determination was daring and instant.
+
+He would enter "Rosemont house," seek a hiding place, secure some sort
+of disguise, and in the night effect his escape.
+
+Following the depression he soon appeared on a level with the house.
+Taking advantage of such cover as was afforded by shrubbery and
+hedges, and cowering close to earth, he quickly traversed the space
+that had separated him from the house. Throwing himself prostrate
+among some ivy that grew in thick profusion along the basement of the
+south side as a protection from the Winter rain, he lay there
+effectually concealed and listened with tense nerves for sounds of
+pursuit.
+
+The silence was unbroken save for the spasmodic whirr of a lawn mower
+on a distant part of the grounds. Having recovered his wind, he looked
+up. Above him was an open window, but screened. If he could enter by
+that window he might gain the loft without discovery, and once there
+he felt satisfied that a good hiding place could be found. The front
+entrance would be easier, but the risk of being seen crossing the
+piazza was too great. He decided to try the window. Arising from his
+concealment, and refreshed by his short rest, enthusiasm bounded
+through his veins.
+
+"I will get away yet," he muttered between his clenched teeth. "I saw
+the women following Harris down to the shore and the house must be
+deserted by all save the servants, and they are likely in the
+kitchen."
+
+Another swift glance at the window, and mentally estimating its height
+from the ground, he felt certain that an entrance through it was
+practicable. There was no time to be lost.
+
+The "water table" afforded a footing, and by the aid of an iron
+trellis erected to support a climbing vine, he reached the window.
+There an obstacle was encountered. He tried to raise the screen, but
+it would not budge. In his exasperation he nearly tore his finger
+nails off trying to raise it from the bottom. Realizing that he was
+becoming excited he at once forced a calmness which he deemed highly
+essential, if he was to succeed. Every moment, too, was fraught with
+danger of discovery.
+
+Pushing his hand against one side of the screen edgewise in an attempt
+to loosen it, the thing suddenly fell in. The thick carpet smothered
+the noise. He had unwittingly pressed against the edge that inclosed
+the springs, and in so doing released the other edge of the screen
+from the groove. Noiselessly he sprang inside. It was the library. He
+turned and cautiously scanned the hillside. No persons were in sight.
+Then he quietly replaced the screen.
+
+His daring coolness and nerve were now under full control. He stole
+out of the room, into the hall, with every sense alert to avoid
+discovery. His goal was the attic. He knew that the only way to reach
+it was by the service stairs, which he could use from the second
+floor. Before him was the main stairs. Without a moment of hesitation
+he leaped up the soft, thick, velvet-covered steps, his footfalls as
+silent as the tread of a cat.
+
+A door was ajar on his left; he cautiously pushed it open and entered.
+He saw at once that it was Sam's room. He glanced about, then opened a
+dresser drawer. "Ha, a revolver!" It was the work of a moment to
+examine the magazine.
+
+"Empty!" he exclaimed, with disgust, and was about to replace it when,
+on second thought: "It may do for a bluff." Another hasty look and he
+picked up a hunting knife, which he also appropriated. A slight noise
+at that moment startled him and caused him to look around alarmed. He
+slipped behind a door for concealment. After a moment of tense
+suspense, and the quietness continuing unbroken, he stole out of the
+room.
+
+So far everything was in his favor. Further along two doors, a few
+feet apart, were open. He had passed one on his way to the attic
+stair, when, of a sudden, he heard a slight sound, as of a person
+moving lightly in the room. He instantly turned aside and passed
+through the second open doorway. Virginia stood before him. She was at
+that moment hastening from the room, absorbed in thoughts of
+Constance.
+
+With a stifled, painful cry of "Oh!" she shrank from him in a vague
+terror. Her face paled and her eyes expanded in manifest fright.
+Speech deserted her. The power of motion fled and the shawl intended
+for Constance fell from her arm. She appeared paralyzed.
+
+Rutley softly closed the door behind him and locked it and put the key
+in his pocket. The dressing room door received the same attention.
+Then he turned to her. He was surprised to meet her, but observing the
+terror his presence inspired, he at once determined to force her to
+aid him to escape. He misjudged her character. For one moment he stood
+silently watching her. All the sharp intensity of his gaze
+concentrated on her frightened eyes; then he laughed low and
+gloatingly--"Ha, ha, ha. The girl that took on cold feet and betrayed
+her pal! I meant to say 'colleague,'" he corrected, with a sneer of
+apology. The smirk of his offensive stare and more offensive words
+irritated. She began to recover from her sudden fright and became
+immediately aware that her present situation required not only
+coolness but the most adroit handling. She accordingly nerved herself
+for the encounter.
+
+Again he leered at her, and continued in the same soft, guarded, but
+suave voice: "To be caught alone and in a trap with her intended
+victim is one of the dispensations of an inscrutable and just
+Providence."
+
+Virginia was regaining her self-possession every moment now. Courage
+was surging through her nerves in increasing power. Her eyes commenced
+to blaze.
+
+"Your effrontery is offensive. Your meaning an enigma!" she
+indignantly replied.
+
+"Indeed! Then I'll make it plain," he hissed. "I want you to cover my
+flight for liberty.
+
+"You see I have escaped," he went on rapidly. "The officers are
+baffled--my trail so far is undiscovered."
+
+"You mistake!" she corrected, with surprising coolness and decision.
+"By the dispensation of an inscrutable, but just Providence, the
+blackguard's trail is blazed--the trap is sprung and you cannot
+escape!"
+
+Rutley's eyes snapped fire. He saw that a policy of sneering and
+bullying persuasion to aid him would fail ignominiously. He must use
+force. His aspect became black and threatening.
+
+"Damn you!" he hissed. "See here, moments are precious. The game too
+desperate. Beware! You must find a place of concealment for me. The
+loft has storerooms. Come, and in the darkness of tonight you must aid
+me to clear from the premises."
+
+"Never!" she resolutely exclaimed, her eyes ablaze with indignation.
+
+"Soft! Not so loud, my fair partner," Rutley cautioned. "You led me
+into this scrape. You must help me out of it."
+
+"Let me pass!" And she motioned for him to stand aside.
+
+He did not move.
+
+"Do you deny me?" she said, sternly.
+
+"Not so fast, my dear. I intend to keep you near me, as a hostage for
+my escape. No harm shall befall you if you are tractable," he went on.
+"And I again warn you that you must speak guardedly and softly or I
+shall be compelled to gag you and bind you and carry you to a place of
+concealment. Oh, I'll see to it that you shall not have the
+satisfaction of betraying my hiding place."
+
+"Incarnate monster; dare you imprison me?"
+
+"Only for a few hours, until the dead of night blackens all objects
+alike--then I shall go forth, leaving a note to announce your hiding
+place. Do you prefer to be hidden in a trunk, or shall it be among the
+old rummage in the loft?" Though his manner of address was faultlessly
+polite, his face was as colorless and impassive as marble, and his
+voice low, calculating and cold.
+
+Virginia paled as she took in the meaning of this purpose, and her
+voice quivered with a note of fear, as drawing her slender form erect
+in semblance of defiance she said: "Would you strike down a
+defenseless girl?"
+
+"I am troubled with no qualms of conscience when dealing with an
+enemy, be that enemy man, woman or a scorpion. Come! We have wasted
+too much time already."
+
+He stepped lightly toward her.
+
+Virginia anticipated his move and placed the table between them. Many
+small articles incident to a lady's toilet were on the table. Rutley
+perceived that should the table be upset in a scuffle, he could not
+hope for time to gather up and rearrange the toilet articles, and then
+the spilt powders and perfumes on the carpet would surely indicate a
+struggle having occurred in the room.
+
+Virginia was also alert to the importance of the table in the
+situation. Her fine instinct of the purport of his thoughts quickened
+her measure of defense. She grasped the edge of the table with both
+her hands. Rutley saw her purpose, drew back and side-stepped.
+Virginia also side-stepped, but kept close to the table and directly
+opposite him. She realized that the danger of her position was very
+great.
+
+In the cabin she had been armed and prepared for an extreme emergency.
+Now she was without defensive weapons of any kind save her native wit,
+her courage and the table to which she clung.
+
+Never taking his eyes from her, Rutley stood for a moment, indecisive
+and silent. Yet his mind was working furiously.
+
+"A woman stands in my way," he inaudibly muttered with clinched teeth.
+"Time is pressing. I will force her into submission!"
+
+The intense strain on his nerves drew a cold dew of perspiration that
+glistened on his brow. Slowly he drew the revolver from his pocket.
+Slowly he raised it and pointed it at her, then hissed, as he glared
+at her: "Remove your hands from the table and assist me to escape."
+
+Virginia again drew herself erect, her eyes sparkling with defiance
+and her face aglow with courage.
+
+"I know my death would only add one more crime to your record," she
+said, with a faint quiver in her soft voice, and after a slight pause,
+she went on more steadily: "But you dare not shoot and your threats
+are vain."
+
+As he gazed on her slight form drawn erect; those pure, brave,
+steadfast, blue eyes; those features, delicate and tense with a sense
+of the danger of her position, she affected him strongly; thrilled him
+with an admiration which, with all his virile power and hardened
+senses, he could not mask. "You are daring a desperate man," he
+resumed. "One who means to halt at no crime to secure his flight to
+liberty."
+
+The softened expression of his features, softened in spite of himself,
+led Virginia to think that his words were not meant to be taken too
+seriously, and so hope and fear alternated with amazing swiftness on
+her expressive face, which at last settled into a look of credulity
+and prompted her to hazard a smile at his threat.
+
+"Beware!" he hissed, struggling to appear fierce. "Do not mistake me!"
+
+"Oh, no; I do not mistake you," she replied, again smiling faintly,
+"for I know you are too much of a man to redden your hands with the
+life of a puny, defenseless girl."
+
+The artless play of her features to entice him from his desperate
+purpose was exquisite, and not without temporary success.
+
+"Her witchery is unnerving me," he silently muttered, as he felt his
+will-power was dominant no longer.
+
+As their eyes remained fastened on each other he felt an awe seize
+him, and he for the moment forgot his design. He drew back and said,
+almost submissively: "God, you are brave, and beautiful as brave. I
+can't harm you." And he slowly lowered the revolver.
+
+Even then a sudden recovery from his weakness developed a new plan of
+attack. Virginia's unerring instinct, however, warned her to mistrust
+his flattering declaration. "It's a subterfuge," she thought,
+"cunningly devised to draw me away from the table." She remained
+silent, but more watchful, if possible, than before.
+
+On abandoning a bullying policy, Rutley had moved step by step toward
+the table opposite to Virginia, and finally placed his left hand on
+it. His assumed admiration was well sustained and his changed line of
+persuasion, though its sincerity she doubted, promised in the end
+success.
+
+"The wrongs I have done," he continued, "had better not have been
+done, I acknowledge, but they are mended. Worse might have been. Our
+meeting in this room was accidental. My presence in this house is
+known only to you. Will you aid me to escape?"
+
+"Aid you to escape!" she repeated, in tones that had lost their
+agitation, and which now seemed natural and only to carry a note of
+indignation. "You, the man who nearly wrecked my brother's home,
+betrayed his trust and would have robbed him of his life. You, the man
+who kidnapped his child, caused his wife to lose her reason, and whose
+death may yet add murder to your other crimes--dare ask me to help you
+escape?"
+
+"Yes," he slowly replied. And feeling that his hand rested firmly on
+the table, he began cautiously to lean forward, meanwhile saying in a
+soft, insinuating voice: "I dare ask you to help me escape, for I
+mistake if in a nature where such courage and gentleness exist there
+beats a heart irresponsive to the cry of distress.
+
+"I am down, and standing on the threshold of a long term of
+imprisonment. Again I appeal to you and offer this weapon as a pledge
+of good faith," and he laid the revolver on the table.
+
+The tension on Virginia's nerves relaxed, her voice became steadier,
+calmer and more natural. "Why did you vilify the character of
+Constance, a frail, innocent woman, whose piety and goodness made her
+incapable of doing you harm by thought, word or deed?"
+
+"Revenge on Thorpe," he replied, "for closing my office."
+
+As the words slowly issued from between his lips, his weight on the
+table increased--he felt his control of it was now sure.
+
+Virginia's eyes searched him thoroughly, and aside from the fact that
+flattery was distasteful to her, his cold, calculating, unemotional
+eyes glittering with a sinister purpose, startled her and confirmed
+her impression of his insincerity.
+
+To maintain a safe distance, but still clinging to the table, she
+instinctively drew backward, suspicious of some sudden movement, but
+she made no effort to secure the revolver. Rutley noticed the change
+and coolly pressed forward.
+
+Virginia drew further backward. She saw through his artifice and once
+more began to fear him. The strain on her nerves was becoming severe
+and her countenance warmed with contending emotions. He had pleaded
+for aid to escape and expressed himself as sorry for his misdeeds. Yet
+she believed his protestations were not sincere.
+
+Nevertheless, considering how much she was in his power, the great
+scandal his testimony in court would create, the complete undoing of
+all his wicked schemes, and the possibility of him leading a better
+life, was fast weighing in his favor, besides only brute revenge would
+be gratified by his long imprisonment, and his punishment, therefore,
+only an empty satisfaction.
+
+Rutley read her thoughts and a cunning smile played about his mouth.
+He never really intended to trust his liberty in her keeping, and
+since she was the only person with actual knowledge of his
+whereabouts, he did not propose to jeopardize his chance of escape by
+allowing her freedom. For his own safety, he was bound to conceal her
+as well as himself, at least until darkness set in. His humble appeal
+was but a ruse to gain her sympathy, and his simulated penitence for
+his wickedness was an artifice, but it succeeded in touching the
+tender cords of the girl's heart.
+
+Her vigilance abated. Her hand slipped from the table. She
+straightened up and cast her eyes to the floor, as one often does when
+mentally absorbed in weighing the potency of some great question. The
+moment he had maneuvered for, and waited for, and watched for, had
+arrived.
+
+The spring of a cat upon an unsuspecting mouse could not have been
+swifter, more sudden or unerring. The cloven hoof was revealed. Before
+she had time to even guess at his purpose, his hand was upon her
+mouth, while his other arm was thrown around her form, binding her
+arms to her sides. He forced her into a wicker chair that stood
+conveniently near and held her down sideways with the aid of his knee.
+
+This method permitted him to withdraw his arm from around her form and
+to snatch a doily from the table which he quickly wadded and forced
+into her mouth, gagging her effectively. Then his eyes swept the room
+for something that would serve as a cord to bind her.
+
+[Illustration: Rutley--"I could even kiss those red, ripe, cherry
+lips."]
+
+On the floor, distant a couple of yards, lay the shawl that Virginia
+had let fall from her nerveless arm when Rutley entered the room. He
+wriggled the chair toward it, and by extending his foot drew the shawl
+to his grasp.
+
+It was a summer shawl, of generous proportions. The fabric was
+silk-wool mixture, of fine network weave, and consequently light and
+strong. Twisting it into a rope he bound her arms and limbs, meantime
+saying in a low, guarded voice, and with the utmost sauvity and
+coolness:
+
+"I'll not be ruder or rougher than is necessary, my beauty. There! Now
+you are secure. I could even kiss those red, ripe cherry lips without
+fear of protest, but I'll not contaminate them by contact with those
+of a blackguard. No, no! Don't thank me for that, honey dear, for I'm
+content to witness your mute appreciation of my motive."
+
+After he had bound her, he drew back a pace or two and critically
+surveyed his work.
+
+"You must pardon me, dear heart, for deeming it prudent to make that
+gag a little more secure," and taking a handkerchief from his pocket
+he bound it over her mouth, knotting the ends at the back of her head.
+"Rest assured, brave little girl," he resumed, in that same low,
+hissing voice, "I'm not a sneak thief, a burglar or a rake, though I
+do aspire to membership in that proud and great American order 'The
+Honorable Grafter'."
+
+Having completed gagging her, he stood off a pace and chuckled.
+"There, I think that will do!"
+
+In the silence that followed Rutley was startled to hear a low,
+cautious voice on the lawn below say: "He is either in the house or up
+there in the timber."
+
+"They've tracked me here," Rutley viciously hissed, his manner changed
+to intense alertness. He grasped the revolver and went on, "While I
+have been dallying with you, precious time was lost, damn you! I'll
+see that you don't stand between me and liberty again!"
+
+Virginia was again terrified and helpless at a moment when aid of the
+most determined and daring character was within call.
+
+Then a second voice said: "The officers do be kapin' a lookout down be
+the river, and if he's in the water, sure they'll nab him. D'yees
+think he'd likely be up on the hill top in the brush?"
+
+"I cannot say," replied the first voice, "but it looks to me as though
+he could not have crossed that open space unseen."
+
+Both of the men had spoken in low and serious tones and were
+recognized by the intent listeners in the room above as Sam and Smith.
+
+They were evidently baffled and in a quandary as to the direction
+Rutley had taken after escape from the officer, and approached the
+house to warn the servants of Rutley's escape.
+
+"Maybees," resumed Smith in the same low, cautious voice, "he whint up
+the hill be way ave the ravine, over beyant there."
+
+Sam made no reply. He had caught sight of the profile of Virginia's
+face. Her eyes, terrified and tensely drawn, were askance and looking
+in his direction. The handkerchief over her mouth he first mistook as
+an evidence of physical suffering. He stepped back a pace, thinking to
+obtain a better view. He was disappointed.
+
+What he had seen was a reflection of her face in the "dresser mirror,"
+that by some strange chance had been adjusted at an angle which
+deflected objects downward.
+
+He had aimlessly halted at a point directly in line of the reflection
+cast by the mirror over the casement, and upon looking up saw through
+the screened window the reflection.
+
+Those terrified eyes he had seen, suddenly set him in a ferment.
+"Probably--by God!" he muttered under his breath.
+
+"Phwat be yees lookin' at? Sure, I can say nothin'," exclaimed Smith.
+
+"I'll just step in the house and 'phone for a sheriff's posse to
+search the timber, and prevent his escape from the hill. You wait
+near-by for me."
+
+Sam had spoken loud as a ruse to deceive Rutley, for he felt morally
+certain that the cause of that frightened look in Virginia's eyes was
+the presence of the man he was after.
+
+"Sure, I will that, and kape me eyes on the ravine, too."
+
+As Sam started for the front door, Smith stalked about, with a stick
+in his hand, warily glancing from side to side and ready to fight on
+the instant.
+
+Rutley prepared for a struggle, for he believed that Sam would ramble
+through the house. "Virginia must be concealed, but where?" He could
+not carry her to the attic, for Sam might meet him with her in his
+arms. "Ah, the closet!"
+
+Thrusting the revolver in his pocket, he swiftly opened the door. Then
+he placed a chair within for her comfort, and without further
+hesitation gathered her in his arms and carried her to the closet.
+After seating her on the chair, and while drawing some of Mrs. Harris'
+skirts about her, he said to her in a low voice: "After I dispose of
+that meddlesome fool, I'll carry you to the loft and doubtless we'll
+find room in one of the large trunks stored there to conceal you; and
+I warn you, on peril of your life, to sit still!"
+
+He then cautiously closed the door.
+
+His next step was to remove the revolver from his pocket and carefully
+examine it. "It's a desperate bluff, but I'll try it."
+
+There were two doors to the room other than the door of the closet;
+one opened into the hall, the other into a large bathroom and through
+to the bedroom beyond. He took the keys from his pocket and unlocked
+both doors, which he had fastened on meeting Virginia, and then placed
+the large cane arm chair, which he piled with cushions, to the right
+side of the table and a few feet from the hall door.
+
+His movements were swift, silent and deliberate. Down behind the back
+of the chair he crouched and watched both doors with tigerish
+steadiness. He had barely taken his position when footsteps were heard
+in the hall. They passed the door, then returned, halted, and the next
+instant low taps sounded on the door.
+
+Simultaneously the closet door back of Rutley cautiously opened and
+Virginia stepped forth gagless and free. She had been more frightened
+than hurt or helpless, and had not discovered it until imprisoned in
+the closet. Left to herself, she immediately struggled to free her
+limbs from bondage. One foot was unexpectedly loosed and then the
+other. Her hands quickly followed, and the twisted shawl fell to the
+floor.
+
+Rutley had depended partly on her fear of him to remain passive, for
+the shawl was not long enough to permit her limbs being bound together
+and securely tied with a knot. Having freed her hands, it was the work
+of a moment to remove the gag from her mouth.
+
+She stood motionless and silent save for the palpitation of her heart,
+which seemed thunderous in its beat. Rutley had not heard her, his
+attention being wholly absorbed by the sounds in the hall, and being
+back of him, she had time to quiet her agitation and analyze the
+situation.
+
+Again low raps sounded on the door.
+
+"What shall I do?" she inaudibly muttered, "for to aid me Sam will
+walk in to his death. Oh, heaven inspire me!"
+
+As the hall door slowly opened, she tried in her agony to shriek a
+warning, but not a sound escaped her lips. Terror and apprehension had
+for the moment bereft her of voice.
+
+Suddenly, like a divine flash, she remembered Jack Shore's blanket
+device in the cabin at Ross Island. She turned half around, silently
+stooped and picked up the shawl from the closet floor. She was very
+nervous and her agitation caused a trifling delay, which to her
+appeared hours, in untwisting the wrap and spreading it out, suspended
+on her two hands before her.
+
+Sam cautiously appeared around the door. He was keenly alert, for he
+fully expected an encounter with Rutley, being quite satisfied that no
+other person would dare to gag Virginia, but when in that swift glance
+he saw her only in the room, and she with the gag removed and
+fingering a shawl, his surprise was so great that he forgot his
+caution. He pushed the door open wider and entered the room. His lips
+parted to speak.
+
+That instant Rutley said sharply, "Hands up!"
+
+Sam's hands went up, and he looked into the muzzle of a revolver,
+pointed at him from behind the chair.
+
+Rutley stood up. At almost the same moment Virginia swiftly approached
+from behind and threw the net over his head, and shrieked, "Help!
+Help!"
+
+In the furiousness of his rage to throw off the shawl, Rutley's hands
+became entangled in the net, and he shouted, "Oh, hell!"
+
+Sam sprang upon him and wrenched the revolver from his hand. Then, as
+he leaped back a couple of paces, said to Rutley: "Hands up! It's my
+turn now, old chappie!"
+
+Rutley paid no heed to the command and at last cleared from the net
+with a snarl.
+
+"He, he, he--a devil is toothless when hell is without fire!" Then with
+a fiendish leer, drew the knife from his breast pocket. "Damn you!"
+said he, crouching for a spring on Sam, "you've crossed my path once
+too often!"
+
+Swiftly Sam looked at the revolver and exclaimed with deep chagrin,
+"Empty!" He, however, gripped it by the muzzle and prepared for the
+encounter.
+
+The men slowly circled each other for an opening. Suddenly they
+clinched, and in the struggle Sam was fortunate to seize Rutley's
+knife hand.
+
+It was then that Virginia again proved her great courage and
+resourcefulness. Watching her chance, she hooked her left forearm
+under Rutley's chin about his throat, and simultaneously pressing her
+little right clenched fist against the small of his back, pulled his
+head backward, and screamed, "Help! Help!" [The act is a form of
+garrotte used in asylums and when resolutely applied quickly reduces
+the most powerful and refractory subject to submission.]
+
+The suddenness of the attack and from such an unexpected quarter,
+accompanied by the choking pressure on his throat, caused Rutley to
+loosen his grip on the knife, which fell to the floor, and he
+exclaimed with a gurgling sound, "Oh, God!"
+
+Sam instantly locked his arms around his body.
+
+Rutley was powerless. His arms were firmly bound to his sides in a
+grip of iron. Meantime Smith stalked back and forth looking for
+trouble. He had arrived in front of the main entrance when the cry of
+"Help, help!" broke upon the still air. It proceeded from the second
+story of the house, and he at once recognized it as the voice of
+Virginia.
+
+"By hivvins, the girl do be in throuble!" he muttered anxiously. "Ave
+it do be the blackguard we be lookin' for--sure!" And without further
+hesitation, Smith rushed up the steps and into the house.
+
+Again the cry of "Help!" rang out.
+
+"I'll help ye, darlint, be me soul, I will that. Hould him for wan
+minnit, and I'll attind to him. Oh, the skulkin' blackguard! 'E do be
+a bad divil, so 'e do. Just lave him to me, darlint; lave him to me,
+and I'll settle his nerves wid this bit of fir."
+
+By this time Smith had mounted the stairs, when he was again startled
+to hear her cry: "Help! Oh, hasten, or blood will be shed!"
+
+"I'm comin', darlint. Hould him wan minnit and I'll attind to him."
+Upon entering the room, he at once seized Rutley's hands and twisted
+them behind his back.
+
+"A bit of stout cord, miss, is what we want to bind the divil."
+
+"Hold him!" and she flew to the linen closet.
+
+"Hould him, is it!" exclaimed Smith, with a laugh. "Sure, miss, yees
+nadn't hint that to me at all, at all. Indade, miss, it's a nate bit
+ave wurruk well done, and I do be proud of yees, too, so I do."
+
+Virginia soon entered the room with a stout piece of cord, which she
+handed to Sam, saying, "Oh, I'm so thankful for your opportune
+arrival!"
+
+On seeing Rutley thoroughly secured, and her excitement subsiding,
+Virginia expressed her gratefulness to Sam and Smith for rescuing her
+from what she believed to be a terrible fate, then snatching up the
+shawl from the floor, flew down the stairs with a cry of pain on her
+lips for Constance.
+
+Having at last securely bound Rutley's hands, Sam signalized the event
+with a broad grin.
+
+"There, old chappie! I don't think you will break away a second time."
+
+"Sure, ave 'e do, 'twill be after this bit of Arigin fir's been
+splintered on his hid," answered Smith.
+
+Rutley made no reply. He seemed absorbed in thought, and though
+chagrin and disgust on his face betrayed a sense of his plight, no
+expression of bitterness escaped him. His dauntless, debonair spirit
+was still unbroken.
+
+"I had her bound and shut up in the closet," he muttered to himself.
+It was an involuntary exclamation in an undertone, and at the moment
+he seemed quite oblivious to his position.
+
+"Yees did!" explosively exclaimed Smith. "The likes of yees, a dirty,
+thavin' blackguard, to bind the young lady and shut her up in a
+closet! Sure, if I had seen yees do it, there'd be somethin' doin'."
+And Smith flourished his stick in a threatening manner.
+
+"The sissy is no match for a fool-killer," grinned Sam, as he wound
+the cord several additional turns around Rutley's arms and body.
+
+"Outclassed by a slip of a girl," Rutley muttered abstractedly, and
+enslaved by her witchery; "surely hell hath no cunning to match her
+genius for strategems!"
+
+"Indade, the divil's imp is azey mark for the wit ave an Arigin girl,
+an' be the token ave it, yees'l go back and jine yees mate with the
+bracelets," said Smith ironically.
+
+"Aunty is coming!" exclaimed Sam in a listening attitude. "We must get
+him out of the house at once!"
+
+"March, yees blackguard, march!" promptly ordered Smith, laying his
+hand roughly on Rutley's arm to urge him along.
+
+"Hands off!" sharply exclaimed the latter, shaking Smith's hand off
+and regarding him with a haughty stare; then, in a cutting
+high-pitched voice, he went on: "No liberties, flannel-mouthed
+cur--scat!"
+
+"He is game," muttered Sam.
+
+The stigma uttered in tones of withering contempt fairly lashed Smith
+into a foaming passion. He instantly dropped his stick, tore off his
+coat, spat on his hands, and while squaring off to Rutley, pranced
+about, beside himself with rage, and when he at last found speech, he
+said explosively: "Flannel-mouthed cur, is it yees be callin' me?
+Sure, Oi'll attind to yees blackguard. Och, sure Oi wouldn't strike
+yees wid yees hands tied, ye murtherin' villain! Oi mane to be fair
+wid yees, too, so Oi do, though ye little desarve it, and be the token
+ave it, Oi'll sit ye free to recave the batin' that will make yees
+respect my nation!" and in the heat of his rage and quite forgetful of
+place and environment, furiously untied the knot Sam had made to
+fasten the cord which he wound several times around Rutley's body, and
+then giving it a vigorous pull, sent Rutley spinning around like a
+top.
+
+The thing was done so quick that Sam in his surprise was unable to
+check Smith, and had difficulty in restraining him from untying
+Rutley's hands also.
+
+"Hold, Smith! Have it out with him some other time, not now or here,"
+he said, laying his hand on Smith's arm, and then observing Smith with
+an angry stare, directed at him, Sam grinned and went on mockingly:
+
+"His lordship wants you to keep your hands off."
+
+"'E do, do 'e?" replied Smith, his anger abating, and breaking into a
+hoarse laugh; "sure, Oi would not touch yees at all, at all except wid
+a pair ave steel nippers." Then he put on his coat, picked up the
+stick and commenced to poke Rutley toward the door, saying meanwhile,
+much to Rutley's frowning mortification, but helpless resistance:
+"March, yees blue-blooded gintleman, with the appetite for a
+pinitintiary risidence. March, yees thavin' ruffian, march!"
+
+Scowling and turning, yet maintaining his always haughty bearing,
+Rutley passed "off the stage" by the back stairs, accompanied by his
+guards, but as Sam had declared, "game to the last."
+
+In order to avoid creating excitement by appearing within view of the
+little sorrowful group, now near the front of the house, they placed
+him in a vine-covered arbor, which was convenient and, leaving Smith
+to guard him, Sam hurried off to inform the officers of their capture.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII.
+
+
+Down on the beach they found her--the woman upon whom the blow had
+fallen so cruelly, and from whom the "grim sickle" had so recently
+turned aside.
+
+She was sitting on a low grassy knoll, gentle and pensive, a vacant
+stare in her sweet brown eyes as they wistfully scanned the surface of
+the water.
+
+"Oh, heavens! We must get her to the house at once! Go, Sam, bring the
+carriage down. Haste, haste!" urged Mr. Harris.
+
+And then John Thorpe saw her. Absorbed in deep meditation of his wrong
+to his innocent wife, ashamed and sorrowful, he was proceeding to the
+little depot, when, observing the frantic rush down the slope, and
+desiring to ascertain its cause, yet with an indefinable panicky
+feeling that seemed to freeze the very blood in his veins, he followed
+on. Without an instant of delay, in a moment, he had leaped to her
+side, tenderly clasped her to his heart, and with a voice trembling
+with emotion, said:
+
+"Oh, my darling wife, my pure, sweet, injured Constance! Forgive me!
+It was all a terrible mistake!"
+
+"I must go now. The storm is nearly over. I know that she is in the
+water, and the lilies are hiding her from me. But I shall find her.
+Give me the paddles. Save Dorothy."
+
+Constance had spoken in a soft, quiet voice. It had no touch of
+bitterness, no plaint of sadness; yet the yearning note of a heart dry
+with most intense grief was there--sounded on the chord of dethroned
+reason.
+
+When she began to speak, he looked into her eyes with an eager,
+appealing tenderness, expecting a responsive, forgiving tear, but
+instead he met a gentle, strange, vacant stare. As she proceeded he
+held her from him at arms' length, bewildered and confused for the
+moment in his interpretation of her meaning, and then the truth burst
+upon him. Shocked and horrified, he cried out in the anguish of his
+heart, "Merciful heaven, she is mad!" And then his eyes fell on her
+wet garments.
+
+"God forgive me, darling! I know you never can!" he said in a voice
+made husky with a great sob that rose up in his throat. Without
+further delay, he gathered her unresisting form in his arms and
+tenderly bore her up to the house. The grave little procession
+followed.
+
+He had arrived with his precious burden close to the great steps of
+the piazza, when she struggled from his arms, and stood half turned
+about, her wistful brown eyes looking blankly at him.
+
+It was then that Virginia appeared on the piazza, her face deathly
+white and her eyes still bearing traces of the terrifying ordeal she
+had so recently gone through with Rutley. On seeing Constance, down
+the steps she flew and folding the shawl about her stricken friend's
+shoulders, clasped her arms about her and said chokingly: "Oh, why
+have you followed me, poor suffering heart?"
+
+"I'm so cold," was all Constance said, and she shook as with an ague.
+
+"Oh, this is too appalling to be true! Speak, dear! Throw off that
+meaningless stare, and assume intellect's rightful light," beseeched
+Thorpe, and as he paused and gazed upon her sweet pensive face,
+awaiting recognition, great tears welled up in his eyes and silently
+rolled down his cheeks. Again he spoke to her: "Constance, do you not
+know me?" and then he turned his head away with an indescribable
+sickness at heart.
+
+"Yes! Oh, yes! I know you! You want ransom money for my Dorothy. Very
+well, you shall have it!" and she thrust her hand into her corsage,
+and took therefrom some scraps of paper, a few of them falling on the
+grass. "There are ten thousand"--and she handed the papers to him, in a
+manner so gentle yet so full of unaffected artfulness, that he took
+them, while his heart seemed to still its beat and sink leaden and
+numb with the torture of his own accusing conscience.
+
+"You shall have more," she continued with plaintive assurance, "all I
+can get." Then her eyes fell on the scraps of paper on the grass. She
+picked them up and pushed them with the others into his hand. "There
+are more thousands. Take it all for my Dorothy--my darling! Now give me
+the paddles, the paddles! Where are the paddles? Hasten, save
+Dorothy!"
+
+There were no dry eyes in the little gathering of friends--all friends
+now--who heard her, and even Sam, who had halted on his way to the
+officers, was forced to turn aside and wipe his eyes and remark in an
+unsteady voice:
+
+"I don't know what makes my eyes water so."
+
+"God help me!" exclaimed Virginia. "Henceforth my life is consecrated
+to watch over and care for her."
+
+"I am equally guilty," solemnly continued Mr. Thorpe. "I should not
+have acted with such anger. This is the blackening left by jealousy's
+burning passion, the essence of which will cling to my soul long after
+my heart becomes insensible clay."
+
+"It is not insanity of an incurable kind," gravely remarked Mr.
+Harris. "I have closely watched her facial expression and it appears
+to me the trace of reason is not entirely gone. I think she is
+delirious, and I have read that when persons are delirious some slight
+token, perchance a flower, a chord of melody, a face, a name, brought
+forcibly to bear on the mind may recall it to moments of reason. If it
+is so, then her intellect will recover from the shock. We will bring
+this to proof, Mrs. Thorpe," he proceeded, "look at these friends
+about you; do you not remember any of us?"
+
+"I must not rest longer," Constance said suddenly; "I thought I had
+her once, but the water was so deep I could not reach her."
+
+"We must get her into the house and into bed at once," said Virginia,
+clasping her tenderly about the waist.
+
+"Dear me! Yes, I am sure her wet garments will jeopardize her health,"
+said Mrs. Harris in support of Virginia.
+
+But Constance resisted, and in doing so sat down on the bench. Hazel
+addressed her: "Constance, do you not know me? Do you not remember
+Hazel? Try to think, dear Constance, you surely cannot forget me!"
+
+She slowly shook her head and said plaintively: "The storm is over.
+Make the boat go faster. We must be quick. There, she is
+calling--'Mama! Papa! Mama! Help!' Listen, Virginia, dear, do you not
+hear her?" And sure, enough, the voice of Dorothy was heard, saying:
+"Oh, Sam! Where is mama? Tell me."
+
+And around from the conservatory, with a snow white aster in her hand,
+ran the child, followed by Sam, who, fearing the child in her rambles
+was likely to discover the presence of Rutley, induced her to appear
+on the front lawn by telling her that her mother was not far away. The
+child did not stop, but continued right up to her mother and clasped
+her arms about her neck.
+
+"Oh, mama! Dear mama! I'm so glad you have come! Aren't you going to
+kiss me?"
+
+Receiving no immediate response, the child unclasped her arms and drew
+back a pace offended.
+
+"That voice!" said Constance, startled. She drew the tips of her
+fingers across her forehead, very much like one clutching at the filmy
+shreds of a vanishing dream. "Oh, the boat rocks!"
+
+"Mama, aren't you going to speak to me?" and tears began to gather in
+the child's eyes. Again Constance started, and her frame trembled, as
+her eyes rested on Dorothy. She raised her hands slowly and covered
+her face. Again she removed her hands and muttered: "It's a spectre--a
+thing unreal which haunts me. Leave me. Pity me, oh, pity me, shade of
+my darling! You pain me! You make my heart ache! Go, go!"
+
+Dorothy wept, and turning to Virginia, said: "Mama won't kiss me, nor
+speak to me," and the heartbroken child buried her head sobbing in the
+folds of Virginia's dress.
+
+Constance pressed her hand over her heart and muttered: "Oh, John, I
+have been faithful to you, yet you doubted me--spurned me on that
+dreadful night I found Dorothy! She is gone from me now--gone, gone,
+gone!" and she bent forward, covering her face with her hands, and
+sobbed bitterly.
+
+"Thank heaven!" exclaimed Virginia, "reason's floodgates have opened
+at last."
+
+Sam again turned away to wipe his eyes, saying, "I cannot think what
+makes my eyes so sore."
+
+And John Thorpe exclaimed, with trembling lips, "My God, have mercy! I
+cannot bear this!" And he, too, turned as though to walk away.
+
+Mr. Harris held up a warning finger for him to stay.
+
+"My poor mama!" and Dorothy again went close to her, comprehending in
+her childish way that her mother was sorely distressed. The sound of
+the child's voice caught Constance's attention. She lifted her head
+and fixed her eyes on Dorothy. Then she fell forward on her knees,
+stretched out her hands and murmured: "Not gone, still here!" She
+touched the child's hands and uttered a low cry, continuing in
+quavering accents of fear, of hope, of joy:
+
+"Solid flesh; warm, pulsating life!" and she gently clasped the
+child's face between her two hands. "You cannot be a phantom! In the
+name of heaven, speak!"
+
+"Indeed, mama, I am your own Dorothy. Aren't you going to kiss me?"
+and the child again entwined her arms about her mother's neck and
+looked into her eyes with a wistful appeal.
+
+"Dorothy, my darling Dorothy, alive!"
+
+It was a moment of absorbing interest. For an instant she held the
+child at arms' length, with eyes devouring her lineaments. Then in a
+rapture of joy and thanksgiving she folded Dorothy to her heart and
+kissed her again and again.
+
+"Oh, heaven, I thank thee!" were the only words she could utter, as
+she strained the little form tighter to her heart. And as she looked
+upward, and the mist cleared from her eyes, she saw John bending
+toward her--saw him lift his arms and outstretch them to her--saw his
+lips part, and heard him say, as though his heart were in his mouth,
+"Constance, forgive me!"
+
+Oh, such sweet relief! Her gaze was steadfast for an instant, then
+arising to her feet, she fell on his breast and clasped her arms about
+his neck and sobbed, "John! My own dear John! I've had such a horrid
+dream!"
+
+He folded his arms about her and pressed her very close to his breast,
+and as his lips tremulously touched her forehead, said with heartfelt
+fervor: "God grant that we may never part again. No, nevermore, my
+darling Constance."
+
+"Thank heaven, she was only delirious!" fervently exclaimed Mr.
+Harris.
+
+"I guess so, eh, aunty?" and Sam, with a look of immense satisfaction,
+suddenly threw his arms about Virginia and gave her a tremendous hug,
+and to his inexpressible joy and amazement she reciprocated his
+caress.
+
+"Noble Sam, my hero, you have won my heart at last!"
+
+Her words were of tremendous meaning to Sam. His joy knew no bounds.
+He looked over to his aunt, amazement, intense satisfaction and
+admiration sparkling in his eyes. "At last, eh, aunty!" and then his
+lips touched Virginia's in a kiss of undying fidelity.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV.
+
+
+The exposure and wet garments, which Constance had worn during the
+most critical period of her delirium, had the customary effect. She
+had been quickly ushered into the house, the wet clothes removed, her
+limbs and feet chafed by tender hands, and under the influence of a
+stimulant, and warmly wrapped and in bed, the poor, worn, exhausted
+soul soon fell asleep. She awoke six hours later in a raging fever.
+
+The doctor had anticipated that something of the kind would happen,
+and was in the house at the time of her awakening. In so fragile a
+constitution, weakened by grief and trouble, it was not strange that
+the fever made prodigious headway, and swiftly reached its height. The
+crisis arrived several hours after the attack.
+
+She lay very still, apparently on the confines of death. The most
+profound stillness pervaded the room. The doctor, watch in hand, held
+her wrist and noted her pulse. Its beat was so feeble that only his
+experienced fingers could detect it at all. John Thorpe stood at the
+side of the bed opposite the doctor, bending over and watching her
+half open lips with an intensity of anxiety impossible to describe.
+Beside him stood Dorothy, with tears trickling down her face, for the
+child, though too young to comprehend its meaning, was affected by the
+solemnity of the scene, and by her aunt's quiet grief.
+
+Virginia was kneeling at the foot of the bed, her face buried in her
+hands, in an endeavor to stifle her sobs, while Mrs. Harris looked
+ruefully out of the window.
+
+Several times the doctor moved only to place his ear close to
+Constance's heart, and again he would place his hand there and press
+gently. Now and again he moistened her lips with a piece of ice and
+cooled the damp cloth on her hot brow.
+
+At a moment when least expected, she moaned and then her chest heaved
+with a light breath. Quietly she opened her eyes and looked slowly
+around. There, before her, stood John and Dorothy. Her eyes rested on
+them. She recognized them and smiled faintly and said feebly, scarcely
+above a whisper, "Dorothy, darling, and John!"
+
+"Safe," announced the doctor, and his face, beaming with confidence,
+carried joy to the little group of anxious watchers.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXV.
+
+
+One day, shortly after Constance had started on the road to recovery,
+and before she had been removed from "Rosemont" to her home, Virginia,
+Hazel and Sam were grouped on the piazza discussing in low tones the
+probable sentence of Rutley and Jack Shore. Sam held the morning paper
+in his hand, which he casually perused. Virginia was particularly
+happy and vivacious, and indeed, had she not reason in the
+reconciliation of John Thorpe and Constance; the rescue of Dorothy;
+the recovery by Constance of her reason, so threatening and dire in
+its flight, and the passing of that awful consuming fever that had
+seized upon the frail mind and body of Constance--was productive of
+such devout and fervent gladness that she felt at peace with the
+world. Even that old bitterness, so virulent and overpowering toward
+Corway, had gone out from her heart completely, and as she pondered on
+his sudden disappearance, the thought that he may have come to a
+violent death caused tears to spring into her beautiful eyes. It was a
+mute but an inexpressibly sad testimony to the final closing of love's
+first dream.
+
+At that moment Sam exclaimed, "Well, what do you think of this?" and
+then he looked over the paper and grinned at Hazel knowingly.
+
+The girl stood his stare for a moment, then impatiently said, "Why
+don't you read it?"
+
+And Sam read: "The item is headed, 'A Bottle Picked Up at Sea. As the
+bar tug Hercules was cruising beyond the bar, farther out than usual,
+last Tuesday, Captain Patterson espied a bottle bobbing about in the
+wash of a swell and picked it up. On being opened, it was found to
+contain a sealed message to a young Portland woman, with instructions
+for the finder please to deliver at once.
+
+"'The bottle had been cast overboard September 15th, from the British
+bark Lochlobin, two days out, bound for Sydney.'"
+
+Expressions of wonder and speculation from the young ladies were
+scarcely ended when a messenger boy was seen approaching. At the foot
+of the piazza steps he produced two letters and, tipping his cap to
+the group above, enquired for Miss Hazel Brooke.
+
+Yes--a message from the deep.
+
+He delivered one of the letters which he held in his hand to Hazel,
+and then said: "The other letter is for Miss Virginia Thorpe," which
+the housekeeper at Mr. Thorpe's home, where he had first enquired for
+Miss Brooke, had asked him to deliver at Rosemont, too.
+
+The boy touched his cap respectfully and left. Sam accompanied him a
+short distance, and slipped a gold piece into his hand. The boy
+thanked him, and took his departure whistling.
+
+Meanwhile Hazel opened the letter, and her eyes raced over the
+contents; then she fairly danced with joy.
+
+"Oh, such good news, Virginia!" she exclaimed, without taking her eyes
+from the letter. "It's from Joe. Poor Joe! He was sandbagged or
+shanghaied, whatever that is, but he is well now, on a ship bound for
+Australia, and will be home in about three months."
+
+But the glad message to one fell on the unreceptive ears of the other.
+Virginia had also opened the letter addressed to her. She had noted
+the bold letters and familiar writing, glanced at the postmark, and
+noted its date; dated at Portland over two weeks past; but, undeterred
+save by a slight fluttering at her heart, she read:
+
+  "Dear Virginia: For some time past; in fact, since our hasty
+  engagement, I have been searching the depths of my heart, to see if
+  my love for you is genuine, and I am sorry to say that I have found
+  the love I had rashly expressed is not deeply felt, and in spite of
+  all my determination to think only of you, my heart would stray to
+  another.
+
+  "Dear Virginia, I implore you to consider me a trifler, quite
+  unworthy of the exalted love that is in your noble nature to bestow;
+  and I beg of you to release me from our engagement, which, if
+  insisted on being maintained, must result in a life of unhappiness
+  for us both. Let us be to each other as brother and sister, and I
+  shall ever bless you and pray for you.
+
+                  "Joseph Corway."
+
+She did not tear the letter to shreds, nor stamp it under her feet.
+She stood with it in her hand, which slowly fell down by her side,
+while a look of sadness and of reminiscence stole into her eyes. And
+she commenced to experience, too, the greatest difficulty in
+restraining a dewy profuseness that would arise and cloud her sight.
+She had thought that her heart was steeled against any expression of
+tenderness for him that might assail it, but she discovered that she
+was still a young girl with a girl's emotions, impossible of
+subjection.
+
+An overpowering desire to be alone until she could master her emotion
+and clear away the mist from her eyes caused her to descend the steps.
+The sense of motion steadied her, and it enabled her to think and to
+say unconsciously, half aloud to herself, "If father had burst his
+cerements and arisen from his grave to tell me this, I should have
+refused to believe him," and with the thought of what Constance had
+suffered, a moan unconsciously escaped her.
+
+Here, then, was the key to Virginia's transformation. This delayed
+letter--cruel, it was true--was addressed to her at the farm three days
+before her sudden return home, and had as slowly followed her, for
+rural postal facilities were at that time dependent on the farmer
+going to town for his mail.
+
+Hazel heard the moan, and looked up from the note which she had read
+and re-read, and kissed time and again. She saw Virginia in apparent
+pain, and at once flew down the steps, crying, "Oh, Virginia, dear!
+What has caused you so much grief?" and she sought to caress her.
+
+But Virginia, with an effort subduing her emotions, drew away,
+answering, "Nothing, dear, nothing; it's all past, all gone now!"
+
+Sam came up just then. He cast a swift glance at her distressed face,
+and then to the letter which she held in her hand, and surmised that
+it had to do with her trouble. His first thought was, "Damn that
+messenger boy!" He, however, made no attempt to break in on her mood.
+
+Virginia returned his look almost defiantly at first, as though his
+questioning glance was rude, but the little cloud quickly vanished,
+when Hazel said, "Something serious, dear? Won't you let me share your
+trouble?"
+
+"Oh, no! It's all past, all gone," she answered firmly. "I'm quite
+strong now, and to prove it, we will have a little bonfire. Sam, have
+you a light?"
+
+Quietly Sam produced a match-box from his pocket, took a match,
+lighted it and handed it over.
+
+Virginia applied the fire to the letter. As it burned down to the last
+bit, which she dropped from her hand, and disappeared in smoke, she
+looked up and as her eyes fell on the transcendently beautiful autumn
+vista, and then rested on Sam's strong and at that moment deeply
+apprehensive face, there gradually came into them a steadfast look of
+admiration and loyalty.
+
+Sam caught the wondrous expression. He stepped forward, his arms
+opened, and she fell on his shoulder, her arms about his neck.
+
+"Will it ever return, darling?" he said soothingly.
+
+"Never again, Sam," and as she turned her face up to him their lips
+met in a seal of absolute trust and affection.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVI.
+
+
+Philip Rutley and Jack Shore were duly arraigned for abduction and
+felony, tried and convicted on both counts, and each was sentenced to
+a maximum penalty of twenty years in the state penitentiary at Salem.
+
+Even then Rutley's penchant for conspiracy asserted itself. One
+afternoon, just four months after the prison doors closed on them, the
+inner corridor guard was killed, a second overpowered and knocked
+unconscious. So swiftly and silently was the work done that before
+discovery six convicts had escaped to the outer court. There, however,
+on a general alarm being sounded, three of them were shot down from
+the walls. The others surrendered.
+
+One of the convicts who was shot and died almost instantly was Philip
+Rutley.
+
+When last heard of, Jack Shore was still serving his time in an
+industrial department, devoting his talents to the manufacture of
+stoves, and reducing his sentence by good behavior.
+
+The first act of Mr. Thorpe after his happiness had been restored was
+to recognize substantially Smith's invaluable service to the family.
+Sufficient to say that Smith was presented with a ticket good for one
+first-class passage to the "Emerald Isle" and return, and in addition
+to his four months' vacation on full pay, a goodly sum in cash for
+incidental expenses.
+
+That Smith appreciated Mr. Thorpe's generosity, is begging the
+question. On arrival in the old country, he found conditions had
+changed since he left there thirty years ago. The old haunts of his
+boyhood days had been transformed. The old folks had long since
+departed this life--"God rest their souls!" His friends and
+acquaintances had disappeared from the county or were no more--strange
+faces everywhere--all had changed save the old parish church; that
+alone remained undefined by the ravages of time.
+
+"And now, my duty done, Oi'll go back to America." On taking his
+farewell, sad and impressive thoughts occupied his mind. "Shall I
+niver see the ould sod again, the dear ould land that gave me birth,
+the grain ave its hills, and the dear little shamrock--long life to
+it." And as a mist gathered in his eyes, he reverently knelt, lower he
+bent, till his lips touched the grassy ground, which he lovingly
+kissed.
+
+"Farewell, an' may it plaise God to bring yees from the gloom ave
+tribulation into the sunshine ave happiness and prosperity. Farewell,
+dear ould Erin, my heart'll be wid ye always."
+
+The End.
+
+
+
+
+About the book:
+
+    Title: An Oregon Girl
+    Subtitle: A Tale of American Life in the New West
+    Author: Alfred Ernest Rice
+    Illustrator: Colista M. Dowling
+    Original Publisher: Glass & Prudhomme Co., Portland, Oregon, 1914
+    Original Copyright: 1914, by Alfred Ernest Rice
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of An Oregon Girl, by Alfred Ernest Rice
+
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