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diff --git a/39731-h/39731-h.htm b/39731-h/39731-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..21a35ea --- /dev/null +++ b/39731-h/39731-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,9873 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> +<!-- $Id: header.txt 236 2009-12-07 18:57:00Z vlsimpson $ --> + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> + <head> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1" /> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css" /> + <title> + The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Marriage of Esther, by Guy Boothby. + </title> + <style type="text/css"> + +body { + margin-left: 15%; + margin-right: 15%; +} + + h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 { + text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ + clear: both; +} + +h1 { + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; +} + +h2 { + font-size: 120%; + font-weight: normal; +} + +p { + margin-top: .75em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; +} + +/* Dropcaps */ +p.cap:first-letter { float: left; clear: left; + margin: 0 0.1em 0 0; + padding-right:2em; + line-height: .70em; font-size: 250%; } + +.ps { + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; +} + +.pt { + margin-top: 2em; +} + +.pb { + margin-bottom: 2em; +} + + + + +.hang2 { + text-indent: -2em; + margin-left: 2em; +} + + + +.smallest { + font-size: 60%; +} + +.smaller { + font-size: 75%; +} + +.small { + font-size: 90%; +} + + + +.notes { + background-color: #eeeeee; + color: #000; + padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 2em; + padding-left: 2em; padding-right: 1em; + margin-left: 5%; margin-right: 5%; +} + +hr { + width: 33%; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + clear: both; +} + +table { + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; +} + +.tdl { + text-align: left; + text-indent: -1em; + margin-left: 1em; +} + +.tdr { + text-align: right; + padding-right: 2em; +} + +.pagenum { /* uncomment the next line for invisible page numbers */ + /* visibility: hidden; */ + position: absolute; + left: 92%; + font-size: 75%; text-indent: 0em; + background-color: inherit; font-weight: normal; + font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; + text-decoration: none; +} /* page numbers */ + + + +.blockquote { + margin-left: 50%; + margin-right: 10%; +} + + + +.center {text-align: center;} + +.smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + + + +/* Images */ +.figcenter { + margin: auto; + text-align: center; +} + + + + + +/* Poetry */ +.poem { + margin-left:10%; + margin-right:10%; + text-align: left; +} + +.poem br {display: none;} + +.poem .stanza {margin: 1em 0em 1em 0em;} + + +.poem span.i4 { + display: block; + margin-left: 4em; + padding-left: 3em; + text-indent: -3em; +} + + +.poem span.i4q { + display: block; + margin-left: 3.5em; + padding-left: 3em; + text-indent: -3em; +} /*smaller indent for quote marks*/ + +.poem span.i5 { + display: block; + margin-left: 5em; + padding-left: 3em; + text-indent: -3em; +} + + </style> + </head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Marriage of Esther, by Guy Boothby + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Marriage of Esther + +Author: Guy Boothby + +Release Date: May 19, 2012 [EBook #39731] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE MARRIAGE OF ESTHER *** + + + + +Produced by Cathy Maxam and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images generously made available by The +Internet Archive) + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<div class="figcenter"><a id="icover" name="icover"></a> +<img src="images/icover.jpg" alt="cover" /> +</div> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<h1>THE<br /> + +MARRIAGE OF ESTHER</h1> + + +<p class="center smaller pt">BY</p> +<p class="center">GUY BOOTHBY</p> +<p class="center smaller pb">AUTHOR OF ON THE WALLABY, ETC.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"><a id="i_002" name="i_002"></a> +<img src="images/i_002.jpg" alt="logo" /> +</div> + +<p class="center small">NEW YORK</p> +<p class="center small">D. APPLETON AND COMPANY</p> +<p class="center small">1895</p> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + + + +<p class="center smallest">Copyright, 1895,</p> + +<p class="center smaller">By D. APPLETON AND COMPANY.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_iii" id="Page_iii">[Pg iii]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CONTENTS.</h2> + + +<table class="small" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="4" summary="contents"> + + +<tr> +<td class="center">CHAPTER </td> <td> </td> <td class="tdr">PAGE</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdr">I.</td> <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_I"><span class="smcap">Two Men—A Fight—And a Series of +Calamitous Circumstances</span></a>,</td> <td class="tdr">1</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="tdr">II.</td> <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_II"><span class="smcap">A Woman—A Recovery—Transformations +and Two Resolves</span></a>,</td> <td class="tdr">33</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="tdr">III.</td> <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_III"><span class="smcap">The World, the Flesh, and the Devil</span></a>,</td> <td class="tdr">59</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="tdr">IV.</td> <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_IV"><span class="smcap">Destiny—An Accident—And a Betrothal</span></a>,</td> <td class="tdr">90</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="tdr">V.</td> <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_V"><span class="smcap">A Wedding—A Conversation—And an Episode</span></a>,</td> <td class="tdr">108</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="tdr">VI.</td> <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_VI"><span class="smcap">A Temptation—A Fall—And a Series of +Emotions</span></a>,</td> <td class="tdr">118</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="tdr">VII.</td> <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_VII"><span class="smcap">Satisfaction—Dissatisfaction—And a Contemplated +Arrival</span></a>,</td> <td class="tdr">134</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="tdr">VIII.</td> <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_VIII"><span class="smcap">A Vision and a Reality</span></a>,</td> <td class="tdr">148</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="tdr">IX.</td> <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_IX"><span class="smcap">Happiness—Unhappiness—And a Man of +the World</span></a>,</td> <td class="tdr"> 162</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="tdr">X.</td> <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_X"><span class="smcap">Delirium—A Recognition—A Departure +and a Return</span></a>,</td> <td class="tdr">191</td> + +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdr">XI.</td> <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_XI"><span class="smcap">Battle and Murder</span></a>,</td> <td class="tdr">227</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="tdr">XII.</td> <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_XII"><span class="smcap">Conclusion and Epilogue</span></a>,</td> <td class="tdr">246</td> + +</tr> + + +</table> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>THE MARRIAGE OF ESTHER</h2> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I"></a>CHAPTER I.</h2> + +<p class="center ps">TWO MEN—A FIGHT—AND A SERIES OF +CALAMITOUS CIRCUMSTANCES.</p> + + +<blockquote class="small"><p><span class="smcap">Scene.</span>—The bar of the Hotel of All Nations, Thursday +Island. Time, 9.35, one hot evening towards the end of +summer. The room contains about twenty men, in various +stages of undress; an atmosphere like the furnace +doors of Sheol; two tatterdemalions lolling, apart from +the rest, at the end of a long counter; a babel of voices, +with the thunder of the surf, on the beach outside, +over all.</p></blockquote> + +<p>There was surely complete evidence before the +house that the two ragamuffins particularised +above were unpopular. So far the silent but contemptuous +superiority of the taller, and the +drunken and consequently more outspoken insolence +of his companion, had failed to prepossess one +single soul in their favour. Even the barman, +upon whose professional affability the most detested +might, during moments of the world's disaffection, +rely with some degree of certainty, had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[Pg 2]</a></span> +not been able to bring himself to treat them otherwise +than with the most studied coldness. This +fact was in itself significant, not only because it +showed the state of his own feelings regarding +them, but inasmuch as it served to give the customers +of the Hotel of All Nations their cue, upon +which they were not slow to model their own behaviour. +Men are peculiarly imitative animals at +times.</p> + +<p>But, however much his manners might fall short +of the ideal, the taller of the twain was certainly +not ill-looking. In stature he might have been +described as distinctly tall; his inches would have +totalled considerably over six feet. His frame was +large, his limbs plainly muscular; his head was not +only well set upon his shoulders, but admirably +shaped; while his features, with the exception of a +somewhat pronounced nose, were clearly cut, and, if +one may be permitted the expression, exceedingly +harmonious. His eyes were of an almost greeny +shade of blue, and his hair, brown like his moustache, +fell back off his forehead in graceful curls, as +if the better to accentuate the fact that his ears +were small and flat, and, what is uncommon in +those organs, packed in close to his head. On the +other hand, however, his costume, judged even by +Thursday Island standards, was not so satisfactory.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</a></span> +It consisted of a pair of much worn moleskin +trousers, a patched shirt of doubtful texture and +more than doubtful hue, open at the neck and revealing +to the world's gaze a waste of sunburnt +chest, and a cabbage-tree hat that had long since +ceased to be either new or waterproof. His extremities +were bare, and, at the moment of our +introduction, for want of something better to do +he was engaged in idly tracing Euclid's <i>Pons +Asinorum</i> in the sand of the floor with the big toe +of his right foot. So much for Cuthbert Ellison, +the principal figure in our story.</p> + +<p>Silas Murkard, his companion, was fashioned on +totally different lines. <i>His</i> height was as much +below the average as his companion's was above it; +his back was broad, but ill-shaped; while his legs, +which were altogether too long for his body, had +a peculiar habit of knocking themselves together at +the knees as he walked. It was for this reason +that he wore the two leather patches inside, and +halfway up, his trouser legs, that had been the +subject of so much ironical comment earlier in the +day. But, since the patches had been put in, the +garment had shrunk almost out of recognition, and +consequently they were no longer of use in checking +the friction. As a result, two ominous holes +were assisting still further in the business of dis<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</a></span>integration +going on all over his raiment. It was +peculiar also, that in spite of the workmanship +once bestowed upon his threadbare coat, the hump +between his abnormally broad shoulder-blades gave +his head an appearance of being always craned +forward in search of something, which notion of +inquisitiveness was not lessened by the pinched +sharpness of his face. Indeed, it might almost be +said that his features backed up the impression +thus given, and hinted that he was one of that +peculiar class of persons who, having much to conceal +in their own lives, are never really happy unless +they are engaged in discovering something of +an equally detrimental character in those of their +neighbours. But in this respect Dame Nature +had maligned him. He had many faults—few men +more—but whatever else he might have been, he +certainly was not inquisitive. Doubtless, had he +been questioned on the subject, he would have +replied with the Apocrypha, "The curiosity of +knowing things has been given to man for a +scourge." And even if he had not anything else to +boast of, he had, at least, his own ideas of the use +and properties of scourges!</p> + +<p>The two men had appeared in the settlement +that morning for the first time. Up to the moment +of their debarkation from the trading schooner<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span> +<i>Merry Mermaid</i>, not one of the inhabitants had, to +his knowledge, ever set eyes on them before. +Who they were, and what the reason of their destitution, +were problems presenting equal difficulties +of solution. But Thursday Island has not the +reputation of being a fastidious place, and it is +probable that, had their behaviour not been such as +to excite remark, their presence would have passed +unnoticed. But, as I have already said, the smaller +of the pair was unfortunately under the influence +of liquor; and, as if to be in harmony with his own +distorted outline, it was a curious form that his +inebriation took. Had the observer chanced upon +him casually, he would, in nine cases out of ten, +have taken it for his normal condition. He stood +leaning against the counter, his head craned forward, +slowly and deliberately talking to himself, +criticising the appearance and manners of those +about him. And though every word he uttered +could be plainly heard all over the bar, his companion +did not seek to check him. Indeed, it was +very possible, being buried in his own thoughts, +that he did not hear him.</p> + +<p>"The depth of a man's fall," Murkard was saying, +with drunken deliberation, "can be best +gauged by an investigation of the company he +keeps. To think that I should fall as low as this<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span> +spawn!" Here he looked round the room, and +having spat in disgust upon the floor, said in conclusion, +"How long, my God, how long?"</p> + +<p>A big pearler, known in the settlement by reason +of his fighting powers as Paddy the Lasher, rolled +heavily along the counter and confronted him.</p> + +<p>"Look here, my duck," he said warningly, "I +don't want to interfere with you, but if our company +aint good enough for the likes of you and +your mate there, I don't know as how it wouldn't +be best for us to part."</p> + +<p>But the little man only sighed, and then remarked +somewhat inconsequently to the moths fluttering +round the lamp above his head:</p> + +<div class="poem small"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i4q">"The honest heart that's free from a'<br /></span> +<span class="i5">Intended fraud or guile,<br /></span> +<span class="i4">However Fortune kick the ba',<br /></span> +<span class="i5">Has aye some cause to smile."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Paddy the Lasher's reply was a blow direct from +the shoulder. It caught the other half an inch +above the left eyebrow, and felled him to the +ground like a log. In an instant the whole bar +was alive; men rose from their seats inside, and +more poured into the room from the benches outside. +There was every prospect of a fight, and as +the company had stood in need of some sort of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span> +excitement for a considerable time past, they did +not attempt to stop it.</p> + +<p>Murkard lay just as he had fallen, but his companion +was not so comatose. He picked the inanimate +figure up and placed him in a corner. +Then, without the slightest sign of emotion, rolling +up his tattered shirt-sleeves as he went, he stepped +across to where the hitter waited the course of +events.</p> + +<p>"I believe I shall be obliged to have your blood +for that blow," he said, as calmly as if it were a +matter of personal indifference.</p> + +<p>"You mean to say you think you'll have a try. +Well, all things considered, I don't know as how +I'm not willing to oblige you! Come outside."</p> + +<p>Without another word they passed from the +reeking, stifling barroom into the fragrant summer +night. Overhead the Southern Cross and myriads +of other stars shone lustrous and wonderful, their +effulgence being reflected in the coal-black waters +of the bay until it had all the appearance of an +ebony floor powdered with finest gold-dust. Not a +voice was to be heard, only the roll of the surf upon +the beach, the faint music of a concertina from +somewhere on the hillside, and the rustling of the +night wind among the palms.</p> + +<p>Having made a ring, the combatants faced each<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span> +other. They were both powerful men, and, though +temporarily the worse for the liquor they had absorbed, +in perfect condition. The fight promised +to be a more than usually exciting one; and, realising +this, two little Kanaka boys shoved their way +in through the circle to obtain a better view.</p> + +<p>Half an hour later Ellison had sent his adversary +home with a broken jaw. As for himself, he had +for the time being lost the use of one eye and a +thumb, and was mopping a cut on his left ear with +a handkerchief borrowed from his old enemy the +barman. Everybody admitted that never before, +in the history of the island, had a more truly +gorgeous and satisfactory fight been seen.</p> + +<p>And it was curious what a difference the contest +made in the attitude of the public towards him. +Before it had occurred openly despised, Ellison +now found himself the most courted in the saloon; +there could be no doubt that the fair and open +manner in which he had taken upon himself the +insult to his friend, the promptness with which +he had set about avenging it, and the final satisfactory +result had worked wonders with the on-lookers. +He could have been drunk twice over +without cost to himself, had he complied with the +flattering requests made to him. Even the barman +invited him to name his favourite beverage.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span> +But he would accept nothing. Hardly replying to +the congratulations showered upon him, he reentered +the bar and hastened towards his now +recovering companion. Passing his arm round +him, he raised him to his feet, and then drew him +from the house. Together they picked their way +through the circle of benches outside, and making +towards the east, disappeared into the darkness of +the night.</p> + +<p>Without talking, on and on they walked, slowing +down now and again to enable Ellison to mop the +blood that trickled down his neck. The path was +difficult to find, and very hard to keep when found; +but almost without attention, certainly without +interest, they plodded on. Only when they had +left the last house behind them and had entered the +light scrub timber on the hillside did they call +a halt. Then Murkard seized the opportunity, and +threw himself upon the ground with a sigh of +relief.</p> + +<p>At first Ellison did not seem to notice his action; +he stood for some moments looking down upon +the star-spangled sea in a brown study. Presently, +however, he returned to consciousness, and then, +also with a sigh, sat down a few yards away from +his companion. Still neither spoke, and after a +little while Murkard fell asleep. In the same pos<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span>ture, +his elbows on his knees and his chin in his +hands, the other sat on and on, gazing with eyes +that saw nothing of the Present into the tangled +wilderness of his Past.</p> + +<p>The waves broke on the shingle among the mangroves +with continuous rhythm—a night-bird hooted +dolefully in the branches above his head—the wind +moaned round the hillside; but still he sat oblivious +of everything—thinking, thinking, thinking. He +seemed unconscious of the passage of time, unconscious +of what was going on around him, of everything +but the acute and lasting pain and horror of +his degradation. The effect of the liquor he had +drunk was fast clearing off his brain, showing him +his present position in colours of double-dyed distinctness. +He had once been what the world calls +"a gentleman," and it was part of his punishment +that every further fall from grace should cut deeper +and deeper into his over-sensitive soul.</p> + +<p>The question he was asking himself was one of +paramount importance: Was he past pulling up? +And if he did manage to stop himself before it was +too late, would his stand against Fate be of any +avail? Would he ever be able to rid his mind of +the remembrance of these days of shame? He very +much doubted it! If that were so, then where +would be the advantage of pulling up? Like a good<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span> +many men in a similar position, he had discovered +that it was one thing to commit acts which he knew +to be degrading, and quite another to be saddled +with the continual remembrance of them. Jean +Paul argues that "remembrance is the only Paradise +from which we cannot be driven"; Ellison +would have described it as "the only hell from +which there is no escape." Moreover, he was the +possessor of one besetting sin, of which he had +good reason to be aware, and the existence of that +peccability was the chief terror of his existence. +It crowded his waking hours, spoilt his dreams, +operated on all his thoughts and utterances, was +a source of continual danger and self-humiliation, +alienated his friends, reduced the value of his assertions +to a minimum; and yet with it all he considered +himself an honourable man.</p> + +<p>His had been a gradual fall. Coming to Australia +with a considerable sum of money and valuable introductions, +he had quickly set to work to dissipate +the one and to forfeit any claim upon the other. +His poverty forced uncongenial employment upon +him when the first departed; and his pride prevented +him from deriving any benefit from the +second, when his hunger and destitution called +upon him to make use of them. In sheer despair +he drifted into the bush, and, by reason of his very<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span> +incompetence, had been obliged to herd with the +lowest there. At the end of six months, more of +a beast than a human, he had drifted back into the +towns, to become that most hopeless of all the +hopeless—a Remittance man. At first he had +earnestly desired employment, but try how he would +he could discover none; when he did find it the +desire to work had left him. His few friends, +tried past endurance, having lost what little faith +they had ever had in him, now turned their backs +upon him in despair. So, from being an ordinary +decayed gentleman, he had degenerated into a dead-beat +beach-comber of the most despised description. +And the difference is even greater than the +lay mind would at first suppose. By the time he +had come down to sleeping in tanks on wharves, +and thinking himself lucky to get one to himself; +to existing on cabmen's broken victuals, and prowling +round dust-bins for a meal, he had brought +himself to understand many and curious things. +It was at this juncture that he met Silas Murkard, +a man whose fall had been, if possible, even greater +than his own. After a period of mutual distrust +they had become friends, migrated together into +Queensland, tried their hands at a variety of +employments, and at last found their way as far +north as Torres Straits, and its capital, Thursday<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span> +Island. What their next move was going to be +they could not have told. Most probably they had +not given the matter a thought. Blind Fate had a +good deal to do with their lives and actions. +"Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof," had +become their motto, and for that reason they had +no desire to be made aware of what further misery +the morrow had in store for them.</p> + +<p>After a while Ellison rose and went across to +where his companion lay asleep, his arms stretched +out and his head several inches lower than his +body. He looked down at him with a feeling that +would be difficult to analyse. There was something +gruesomely pathetic about the man's posture—it +betokened a total loss of self-respect, an absence +of care for the future, and a general moral +abandonment that was not describable in words. +Once while Ellison watched he rolled his head +over and moaned softly. That was too much for +the other; he thought for a moment, and then +went across to where he could just discern some +tall reeds growing against the sky. Pulling an +armful he returned to the spot, and, having made +them into a pillow, placed them beneath the +sleeper's head. Then, leaving the little plateau, he +descended to the shore and commenced a vigorous +sentry-go that lasted until dawn. The effect of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span> +the liquor he had drunk that evening had now +quite departed from him, leaving his brain, so it +seemed to him, clearer than it had been for months +past. As a result of that clearness, the argument +upon which he had been engaging himself before +wheeled back upon him. That same mysterious +monitor was urging him to bestir himself before it +was too late, to emerge from the life of shameful +degradation that held him before its toils closed +upon him forever. Surely he could do it! It +only needed the rousing of that pride he had once +boasted he possessed. Then friendless, powerless, +backed only by the strength of his complete despair, +he would show the world that he had still a +little pluck left in him. Yes, with the rising sun +he would begin a new life, and having made this +last desperate stand, it should go hard with him if +he did not succeed in it.</p> + +<p>As he made his resolution he espied the first +signs of breaking day. The stars were paling in +the east; a strange weird light was slowly creeping +over the hill from the gateway of the dawn; +the waves seemed to break upon the shingle with a +sound that was almost a moan; the night-bird fled +her tree with a mocking farewell; even the wind +sighed through the long grass with a note of sadness +he had not before discerned in it. Distant<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span> +though he was from it, some eighty yards, he could +make out Murkard's recumbent figure, huddled up +exactly as he had left it. There was even a sort of +reproach in that. Yes; he would uprouse himself, +he would prove himself still a fighter. The world +should not be able to say that he was beaten. +There must surely be chances of employment if +only he could find them. He could set about the +search at once.</p> + +<p>Every moment the light was widening, and with +it a thick mist was rising on the lower lands. To +escape this he ascended the hill and approached +his companion. He was still wrapped in the same +heavy sleep, so he did not wake him, but sat down +and looked about him. The sea below was pearly +in its smoothness, the neighbouring islands seemed +to have come closer in this awesome light; a +pearling lugger, astir with the day, was drawing +slowly through the Pass, and, while he watched, +the sun, with a majesty untranslatable, rose in his +strength, and day was born.</p> + +<p>About seven o'clock Murkard woke and stared +about him. He regarded his companion steadily +for half a minute, and then sat up. Their location +seemed to puzzle him. He looked at Ellison +for an explanation.</p> + +<p>"What the deuce are we doing up here?"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I don't know. We came, I'm sure I couldn't +tell you why. You were most uncommonly drunk +last night, if that could have had anything to do +with it."</p> + +<p>"I suppose I must have been; at any rate I feel +most uncommonly bad this morning. Anything +happen?"</p> + +<p>"You insulted a man; he hit you, I hit him."</p> + +<p>"Result—you?"</p> + +<p>"This! And this!"</p> + +<p>"He?"</p> + +<p>"Broken jaw!"</p> + +<p>"I'm obliged to you. This is not the first debt +of the kind I owe you. At the same time I suppose +I ought to apologise?"</p> + +<p>"Pray spare yourself the trouble."</p> + +<p>"Thank you, I think I will. I hate being under +obligations to any man, particularly a friend. And +now, <i>mon ami</i>, what are we going to do next? I +have a sort of hazy idea that we did not make +ourselves as popular as we might have done +yesterday."</p> + +<p>"I think you managed to openly insult nine-tenths +of the population, if that's what you mean."</p> + +<p>"Very likely. It's the effect of a public school +education, you know. But to return to my question, +what are we going to do next?"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Directly civilization gets up I'm going into the +township."</p> + +<p>"In search of breakfast?"</p> + +<p>"No; in search of employment."</p> + +<p>"The deuce! I must indeed have been drunk +yesterday not to have noticed this change coming +over you. And pray what do you want to work +for?"</p> + +<p>"Because I have made up my mind to have done +with this sort of life; because I want to save +myself while there's time; because I want to be +able to look the world in the face again. If you +really are so anxious to know, that's why."</p> + +<p>"You remind me of our old friend the village +blacksmith. Hadn't he some ambition that way, eh?</p> + +<div class="poem small"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i4q">"'He looked the whole world in the face,<br /></span> +<span class="i4">For he owed not any man!'<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Wasn't that it? I always did think him a bad +business man. He didn't seem to realize that +credit is the backbone of the commercial anatomy. +Anyhow yours is a foolish reasoning—a very foolish +reasoning. What possible desire can a man +of your training have to look the world in the +face? What will you see when you do look there? +Only inquiries into your past, a distrust of your +present, and a resolve to have no more to do with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span> +your future than is absolutely necessary. Personally, +I find the world's back a good deal worthier +of cultivation."</p> + +<p>"All the same I intend to try to find something +to do."</p> + +<p>"Pray don't let me stop you. One more question, +however: What does your Serene Mightiness +intend for me? I doubt if I am a good worker, +but I am at liberty to accept any remunerative +post within your gift, Chancellorship of one of +your Duchies, for instance; Mastership of your +Imperial Majesty's Hounds; Keeper of the Privy +Purse; Lord Cham——"</p> + +<p>"You can scoff as much as you please; you +won't alter my determination. I am going now. +Good-morning!"</p> + +<p>"Your majesty will find me still in waiting when +you return unsuccessful."</p> + +<p>"Good-morning!"</p> + +<p>"If your Majesty has time to think about such +mundane matters, your Majesty might endeavour to +induce one of your confiding subjects to lend the Imperial +kitchen a little flour. If I had it now I might +be making a damper during your Majesty's absence."</p> + +<p>"Good-morning!"</p> + +<p>"Good-morning!"</p> + +<p>Ellison turned his face in the direction of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span> +settlement and strode off round the hill. He had +not the slightest expectation of finding any lucrative +employment when he got there, but he was +full of the desire to work. If he failed this time it +should not be imputed against him as his own +fault. He at least was eager, and if society did +not give him the wherewithal upon which to spend +his energy, then it must be set against his score +with society. In the devotion of the present it +seemed to him that all his past was atoned for and +blotted out. And under the influence of this sudden +glow of virtuous resolution he left the hill and +entered the township.</p> + +<p>Already the sea-front was astir with the business +of the new-born day. As he approached the principal +store he descried the bulky figure of the proprietor +upon the jetty, superintending the unloading +of some cases from a boat lying alongside it. +Pulling himself together he crossed the road and +accosted him.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Tugwell, I believe?" he began, raising his +tattered cabbage-tree with a touch of his old politeness.</p> + +<p>The merchant turned and looked him up and +down.</p> + +<p>"Yes, that is certainly my name. What can I +do for you?"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I am in search of employment. I thought perhaps +you could help me."</p> + +<p>"I don't seem to remember your face, somehow. +You are a stranger in the island?"</p> + +<p>"I only arrived yesterday. I am an Englishman. +I don't want to whine, but I might add that +I was once an English gentleman."</p> + +<p>"Dear me! You look as if you had been making +rough weather of it lately."</p> + +<p>"Very. As a proof, I may tell you that I have +not eaten a mouthful since I landed from my boat +yesterday morning."</p> + +<p>"What can you do? I am in want of an experienced +hand to pack shell. Can you qualify?"</p> + +<p>"I have never tried, but I dare say I could soon +learn."</p> + +<p>"Ah, that's a horse of a different colour. I have +no time to waste teaching you. It's a pity, but +that's the only way I can help you. Stay, here's +something that will enable you to get a breakfast."</p> + +<p>He balanced a shilling on the ends of his fingers. +The morning sunlight sparkled on its milled edge. +For a moment Ellison looked longingly at it, then +he turned on his heel.</p> + +<p>"I asked you for work, not for charity. Good-morning!"</p> + +<p>"You are foolish. Good-morning!"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span></p> + +<p>Leaving the jetty Ellison went on up the beach. +But before he had gone a hundred yards a thought +struck him. He turned again and hurried back. +The merchant was just entering the store.</p> + +<p>"I have come back to beg your pardon," he said +hastily; "I acted like a cad. It will go hard with +me if I lose my manners as well as my birthright. +You will forgive me, I hope?"</p> + +<p>"Willingly, on one condition."</p> + +<p>"What is that?"</p> + +<p>"That you will let me make the amount half a +crown."</p> + +<p>"You are very generous, but I cannot accept +alms, thank you."</p> + +<p>With an apology for having so long detained +him, Ellison continued his walk down the beach. +Hong Kong Joe was in his boat-building yard, +laying the keel of a new lugger. Approaching +him he came to the point straight away:</p> + +<p>"I am in search of work. Have you any to +give me?"</p> + +<p>The boat-builder straightened himself up, looked +his questioner in the face, ran his eye round the +tattered shirt, and arrived at the moleskin trousers. +When he got higher up the bruised eye seemed to +decide him.</p> + +<p>"Not with that eye, thank you," he said. "When<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span> +I want one, I can get my pick of fighting-men in +the settlement without employing a stranger."</p> + +<p>"Then you don't want me?"</p> + +<p>"No, thank you."</p> + +<p>"You can't put me in the way of finding any +employment, I suppose? God knows I want it +pretty badly."</p> + +<p>"Try Mah Poo's store on the Front. I heard +him say yesterday he wanted a steady, respectable +chap, so you should just about qualify. No harm +in trying, anyway."</p> + +<p>Thanking him for his advice, and ignoring the +sarcasm contained in it, Ellison walked on to the +Chinaman's shop. The Celestial was even less +complimentary than the boat-builder, for without +waiting to answer the applicant's inquiries, he +went into his house and slammed the door. At +any time it hurts to have a door banged in one's +face, but when it is done by a Chinaman the insult +is double-edged. Ellison, however, meekly +pocketed the affront and continued his walk. He +tried two or three other places, with the same +result—nobody wanted him. Those who might +have given him work were dissuaded by the +bruises; while those who had no intention of +doing so, advised him to desist from his endeavours +until they had passed away. He groaned at the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span> +poverty of his luck, and walked down the hill to +the end of the new jetty, to stare into the green +water whose colour contrasted so well with the +saffron sands and the white wings of the wheeling +gulls.</p> + +<p>A British India mail-boat was steaming down +the bay to her anchorage alongside the hulk, and +innumerable small craft were passing to and fro +between the islands. He looked at the water, the +birds, the steamer, and the islands, without being +really conscious that he saw them. Somehow he +was filled with a great wonderment at his position, +at the obstinate contrariness of his luck. Over +and over again in days gone by he had been +offered positions of trust, beside which packing +pearl shell and assisting boat-builders would have +been as nothing. He had refused them because +he did not want to work. It was the revenge of +Fate that now he had resolved to turn over a new leaf +he could hear of nothing. As this thought entered +his brain he looked down at the transparent green +water rising and falling round the copper-sheathed +piles of the pier, and a fit of desperation came +over him. Was it any use living? Life had evidently +nothing to offer him now in exchange for +what his own folly had thrown away. Why should +he not drop quietly over the side, disappear into<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span> +that cool green water, and be done with it forever? +The more he considered this way out of his troubles +the more he liked it. But then the old doubt +came back upon him,—the doubt that had been +his undoing in so many previous struggles,—might +not the future have something better in store for +him? He resolved to test his luck for the last +time. But how? After a moment's thought he +decided on a plan.</p> + +<p>There was not a soul within a couple of hundred +yards of the jetty. He would arrange it thus: if +anyone set foot on it before the mail-boat let go +her anchor he would give life another chance; if +not, well, then he would try and remember some +sort of prayer and go quietly over the side, give +in without a struggle, and be washed up by the +next tide. From every appearance luck favoured +the latter chance. So much the better omen, then, +if the other came uppermost. He looked at the +mail-boat and then at the shore. Not a soul was +to be seen. Another five minutes would decide it +all for him. Minute after minute went by; the boat +steamed closer to the hulk. He could see the hands +forrard on the fo'c'sle-head ready to let go the anchor, +he could even make out the thin column of steam +issuing from the escape-pipe in the cable range. +Another minute, or at most two, would settle every<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span>thing. +And yet there was no sign of excitement +in his tired face, only a certain grim and terrible +earnestness in the lines about the mouth. The +steamer was close enough now for him to hear the +order from the bridge and the answer from the +officer in charge of the cable. Another two or +three seconds and he might reckon the question +settled and the game played out. He turned for +the last time to look along the jetty, but there was +no hope there, not a living being was anywhere +near it.</p> + +<p>"Well, this settles it, once and forever," he said +to himself, following his speech with a little sigh, +for which he could not account. Then, as if to +carry out his intention, he crossed to the steps +leading down to the other side of the jetty. As +he did so he almost shouted with surprise, for there, +on the outer edge, hidden from his line of sight +where he had stood before, lay a little Kanaka boy +about ten years of age fast asleep. <i>He had been +there all the time.</i> Ellison's luck had triumphed in +a most unexpected manner! As he realised it he +heard the cable on board the mail-boat go tearing +through the hawsehole, and next moment the +officer's cry, "Anchor gone, sir!" At the same +instant the ship's bell struck eight (twelve o'clock).</p> + +<p>With the change in his prospects, for he was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span> +resolved to consider it a change, he remembered +that Murkard was on the hillside waiting for him. +Instantly he wheeled about and started back on his +tracks for the side of the island he had first come +from. The sun was very warm, the path a rough +one, and by the time he reached it his bare feet +had had about enough of it. He found Murkard +sitting in the same spot and almost in the same +attitude as when he had left him nearly five hours +before. The expression of amusement on the +latter's face changed a little as he noticed that his +friend carried nothing in his hand.</p> + +<p>"And so, my dear fellow, you have come back. +Well, do you know, I felt convinced you would. +Nothing offered, I suppose?"</p> + +<p>"Nothing. But stay, I'm wrong. I was offered +a shilling to get myself a breakfast."</p> + +<p>"Good for you? So you have eaten your fill."</p> + +<p>"No; I refused it. I wanted work, not charity!"</p> + +<p>"So it would appear. Well I <i>must</i> say I admire +your fortitude. Perhaps in better days I might +have done the same. Under present circumstances, +however, I am inclined to fancy I should have taken +the money."</p> + +<p>"Possibly. I acted differently, you see."</p> + +<p>"You're not angry with me for laughing at you +this morning, are you, Ellison?"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Angry? My dear old fellow, what on earth +put that in your head? Why should I be angry? +As it happens, you were quite right."</p> + +<p>"That's the very reason I thought you might +have been angry. We're never so easily put out of +temper as when we're proved to be in the wrong. +That's what is called the Refining Influence of +Civilization."</p> + +<p>"And what's to be done now? We can't live up +here on this hillside forever. And, as far as I can +see, we stand a very poor show of having anything +given us down yonder."</p> + +<p>"We must cut our tracks again, that's all. But +how we're to get away, and where we're to go to +is more than I can say. We've tried Adelaide, +Melbourne, Sydney, and Brisbane; Rockhampton +turned us out, Townsville and Cooktown proved +as bad. Now Thursday Island turns its back on +us. There's something rotten in the state of Denmark, +my friend. Don't get cast-down over it, +however; we've succeeded before, we'll do so +again. As the proverb has it, '<i>Le desespoir redouble +les forces</i>.'"</p> + +<p>"What do you propose?"</p> + +<p>"Something practicable! I've been thinking. +Don't laugh. It's a habit of mine. As I think +best when I'm hungry, I become a perfect Soc<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span>rates +when I'm starving. Do you see that island +over there?"</p> + +<p>"Yes—Prince of Wales. What about it?"</p> + +<p>"There's a pearling station round the bay. +You can just catch a glimpse of it from here—a +white roof looking out from among the trees. You +see it? Very good! It belongs to an old man, +McCartney by name, who is at present away with +his boat, somewhere on the other side of New +Guinea."</p> + +<p>"Well, then, that stops our business right off. +If the boss is away, how can it help us?"</p> + +<p>"What a chicken it is, to be sure. My boy, +that station is run, in the old man's absence, by his +daughter Esther—young, winsome, impulsive, and +impressionable. A rare combination. We visit it +in this way. As near as I can calculate it is half +a mile across the strait, so we swim it. I am nearly +drowned, you save my life. You leave me on the +beach, and go up to the house for assistance. +Arriving there you ask to see her, tell your story, +touch her heart. She takes us in, nurses me; I +sing your praises; we remain until the father +returns—after that permanently."</p> + +<p>"You don't mean to tell me you think all that +humbug is likely to succeed?"</p> + +<p>"If it's well enough done, certainly!"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span></p> + +<p>"And hasn't it struck you that so much deception +is playing it rather low down upon the girl?"</p> + +<p>"It will be playing it still lower down upon us if +it doesn't succeed. It's our last chance, remember. +We must do it or starve. You've grown very +squeamish all of a sudden."</p> + +<p>"I don't like acting a lie."</p> + +<p>"Since when? Look here, my dear fellow, +you're getting altogether too good for this world. +You almost take <i>me</i> in. Last night, before I grew +too drunk to chronicle passing events, I heard you +tell one of the most deliberate, cold-blooded lies +any man ever gave utterance to—and, what was +worse, for no rhyme or reason as far as I could +see."</p> + +<p>"You have no right to talk to me like this!"</p> + +<p>"Very probably that's why I do it. Another of +my habits. But forgive me; don't let us quarrel +on the eve of an enterprise of such importance. +Are you going into it with me or not?"</p> + +<p>"Since you are bent on it, of course! You +know that."</p> + +<p>"Very good; then let us prepare for the swim. +It will be a long one, and I am not in very great +trim just now. I have also heard that sharks are +numerous. I pity the shark that gets my legs; +my upper half would not be so bad, but my lower<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span> +would be calculated to give even a mummy +dyspepsia."</p> + +<p>While speaking, he had rolled his trousers up to +his knees. Then, having discarded his jacket, he +announced himself ready for the swim. All the +time he had been making his preparations Ellison +had been standing with his back to him, looking +across the strait. He was still brooding on the +accusation his companion had a moment before +given utterance to. He was aware that he <i>had</i> told +a lie on the previous night—wilfully and deliberately +lied, without hope of gain to himself, or even +without any desire of helping himself. He had +represented himself to be something he was not, for +no earthly reason that he could account for save +a craving for exciting interest and sympathy. It +was his one sin, his one blemish, this fatal trick of +lying, and he could not break himself of it, try how +he would. And yet, as I have already insisted, +weak as he was in this, in all other matters he was +the very soul of honour. It rankled in his mind, +as the after-knowledge always did, to think that +this man, whom he had learned to fear as well as to +despise, should have found him out. He nodded +to show that he was ready, and together they set +out for the beach. On the way, Murkard placed +his hand upon Ellison's arm, and looked into his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span> +face with a queer expression that was almost one +of pity.</p> + +<p>"Ellison," he said, "you are thinking over what +I said just now. I'm sorry I let it slip. But, +believe me, I meant no harm by it. I suppose +every man has his one little failing—God knows, +I'm conscious enough of mine. Don't think any +the worse of me for having been so candid, will +you?"</p> + +<p>"The subject is distasteful to me; let's drop it."</p> + +<p>"By all means. Now we've got our swim before +us. Talk of Hero and Leander! I don't suppose +there can be much doubt as to which of us is +destined to be Leander."</p> + +<p>Side by side they waded out till the water reached +their shoulders; then they began their swim. +Both were past masters in the art; but it was a +long struggle, and they soon discovered that there +was a stiff current setting against them. It began +to look as if they would be washed past their goal +before they could reach it.</p> + +<p>When they were three parts of the way across, +Ellison was ahead, Murkard some half dozen yards +behind him. Suddenly the former heard a cry; he +turned his head in time to see Murkard throw up +his arms and disappear. Without a moment's hesitation +he swam back to the spot, reaching it just as<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span> +the other was disappearing for the third and last +time. With a strength born of despair he clutched +him by the hair and raised his head above the surface. +Then, holding him at a safe distance, he continued +his swim for the shore. The piece of acting +designed to carry out their plot looked as if it were +likely to become downright earnest, after all.</p> + +<p>It was a long swim, and, being saddled with this +additional burden, it taxed Ellison's strength and +endurance to the uttermost. When he touched the +beach on the opposite side, it was as much as he +could do to carry the unfortunate body up out of +the reach of the water. This done, his strength +gave way entirely, and he threw himself down +exhausted on the sand.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II"></a>CHAPTER II.</h2> + +<p class="center ps">A WOMAN—A RECOVERY—TRANSFORMATIONS +AND TWO RESOLVES.</p> + + +<p>When Ellison felt himself able to move again, +he rose to his feet and looked about him. He discovered +that they had landed on the shore of a +little bay, bounded on one side by a miniature +cliff and on the other by a dense tropical jungle; +through this latter looked out the white roofs of +the boat-sheds and houses of the pearling station +of which they had come in search. Two columns +of palest blue smoke rose above the palms, and +after a glance at his still insensible companion he +started towards them.</p> + +<p>Leaving the white sandy foreshore of the bay, +he entered the thicket by what was certainly a well-worn +path. This circled round the headland, and +eventually brought him out on the hill above the +beach. Stepping clear of the undergrowth, he +found himself confronted by a number of buildings +of all sizes and descriptions. The nearest he +settled in his own mind was a store-shed; that ad<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span>joining +it, to the left, was the Kanakas' hut; that +to the left, again, their kitchen; that to the right, +rather higher on the hill, with its long low roof, the +station house itself. As he approached it, two or +three mongrel curs ran out and barked vociferous +defiance, but he did not heed them. He passed +the store, and made towards the veranda. As he +came closer, a strange enough figure in his dripping +rags, he saw that he was observed. A young +woman, possibly not more than three-and-twenty, +was standing on the steps awaiting him. She was, +if one may judge by what the world usually denominates +beauty, rather handsome than beautiful, +but there was also something about her that was +calculated to impress the mind far more than mere +pink and white prettiness. Her figure was tall and +shapely; her features pronounced, but regular; +her eyes were the deepest shade of brown; and +her wealth of nut-brown hair, upon which a struggling +ray of sunlight fell, was carelessly rolled +behind her head in a fashion that added to, rather +than detracted from, her general appearance.</p> + +<p>Ellison lifted his hat as he came towards her. +She looked him up and down with the conscious +air of a superior, and was the first to speak.</p> + +<p>"Well, my man," she said, without embarrassment, +"what do you want here?"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span></p> + +<p>"In the first place, I want your help. I tried to +swim the straits with a companion; he was nearly +drowned, and is now lying unconscious on the +shore down yonder."</p> + +<p>He pointed in the direction he had come.</p> + +<p>"Good gracious! and you're wasting time on +words." She picked up a sun-bonnet lying on a +chair beside her, and put it on, calling: "Mrs. +Fenwick, Mrs. Fenwick!"</p> + +<p>In answer, an elderly person wearing a widow's +cap appeared from the house.</p> + +<p>"Have blankets warmed and put in the hut over +yonder. Don't lose a minute." Then turning to +the astonished Ellison she said: "I'll be with you +in one moment," and departed into the house.</p> + +<p>Before he had time to speculate as to her errand, +she reappeared with a bottle of brandy in her +hand.</p> + +<p>"Now, come along. If he's as bad as you say, +there's not a moment to lose."</p> + +<p>They set off down the path, and as they passed +the Kanakas' hut, she cried:</p> + +<p>"Jimmy Rhotoma!"</p> + +<p>A big Kanaka rolled out of the kitchen.</p> + +<p>"Man drowned along Alligator Bay. Look +sharp!"</p> + +<p>Then signing to her companion to follow, she<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span> +set off at a run across the space between the huts +and along the scrub-path towards the sea. Ellison +followed close behind her, dimly conscious of the +graceful figure twisting and turning through the +undergrowth ahead of him. When she reached +the open land on the other side of the headland, +she paused and looked about her; then, making +out the figure stretched upon the sands, she ran +towards it. With a swiftness that betokened considerable +experience she placed her hand upon his +heart. No, he was not dead; it was not too late to +save him. As she came to this conclusion, Jimmy +Rhotoma appeared, and the trio set to work to +restore animation. It was some time before their +efforts were rewarded. Then Murkard sighed +wearily, half-opened his eyes, and rolled his head +over to the other side.</p> + +<p>"He'll do now, poor fellow," said the woman, +still chafing his left hand. "But it was a very +close thing. What on earth induced you to try +and swim the straits?"</p> + +<p>"Despair, I suppose. We're both of us as +nearly done for as it is possible for men to be. +We tried the settlement yesterday for work, but +nothing offered. Then we heard of your station, +and thought we'd swim across on chance."</p> + +<p>"I don't know that I altogether like the look of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span> +either of you. Beach-combers, I fancy, aren't +you?"</p> + +<p>"We're Englishmen who have experienced the +slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, with a +vengeance. I suppose <i>you</i> would call us beach-combers, +now I come to think of it. However, if +you can give us work, I can promise you we'll do +it, and do it faithfully. If you can't—well, perhaps +you'll give us a meal a piece, just to put strength +into us for the swim back."</p> + +<p>"Well, I'll think about it. In the meantime we +must get your mate up to the station. Jimmy, you +take his head, you—by the way, what's your name?"</p> + +<p>"Ellison—Cuthbert Ellison."</p> + +<p>"Very well then, Ellison, you take his heels. +That's right, now bring him along."</p> + +<p>Between them, and led by the woman, they +carried Murkard up the path to the station. Arriving +at a hut, near that from which the Kanaka had +been summoned, she stopped, took a key from a +bunch in her pocket, unlocked the door, and threw +it open. It was small, but scrupulously clean. +Two camp bedsteads were ranged beside the wall, +furnished with coarse blue blankets; a tin wash-hand +basin stood on a box at the far end, alongside +it a small wooden table, with a six-inch looking-glass +above that again.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span></p> + +<p>"You can occupy this hut for the present. Put +him down on that bed, so! Before I take it away +give him a drop more brandy. That's right. I +think he'll do now. If you don't want a spell +yourself you'd better come with me."</p> + +<p>Ellison arranged Murkard's head upon his +pillow, glanced almost unconsciously at himself in +the square of glass, and then followed her out +of the hut, and across the yard to the veranda +opposite. Arriving there she seated herself in a +hammock, that swung across the corner, and once +more looked him up and down.</p> + +<p>"I don't think you need have told me you were +an Englishman!" she said at length.</p> + +<p>"Why not?" he asked, without any real +curiosity. He was watching the shapely feet and +ankles swinging beneath the hammock.</p> + +<p>"Because I could see it for myself. Your voice +is the voice of an Englishman, your face is the face +of an Englishman, and, if I wanted any further +proof, I should convince myself by your walk. +Have you ever noticed that your countrymen" +(she spoke as if Australians were not Englishmen), +"Britishers, I mean, walk in quite a different +fashion from our men? You haven't noticed it, +I see. Well, I'm afraid, then, you haven't cultivated +the faculty of observation."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I have had things of more importance to think +about lately."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I beg your pardon! I had quite forgotten. +Sit down for one moment."</p> + +<p>She pointed to a long cane-chair. He seated +himself, and she disappeared inside the house. In +less than five minutes she returned with a bundle in +her arms.</p> + +<p>"Here you are—some clothes for you and your +mate. You needn't thank me for them. They +belonged to a man from your own country, who +went to the bottom six months ago in one of our +luggers, a degree east of the D'Entrecasteaux +group. Take them over to the hut and change. +When you've done that come back here, and I'll +have some lunch ready for you."</p> + +<p>As soon as she had given him the bundle she +turned on her heel and vanished into the house, +without giving him an opportunity of uttering an +expression of his thanks. He looked after her as +if he would like to have said something, but +changed his mind and crossed to his hut. Murkard +was still asleep, so he did not disturb him. +Throwing the bundle on his own bed, he started +to examine it. To the man who has lived in rags +there is something that is apt to be almost discomposing +in the sudden possession of a decent ward<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span>robe. +Ellison turned the dead man's effects over +with a strange thrill. Ashamed as he was of his +sordid rags, there was something to him indescribably +beautiful about these neat tweeds, linen shirts, +collars, socks, and white canvas shoes. Selecting +those which looked nearest his own size, he prepared +to make his toilet. A razor lay upon the +dressing-table, a shaving brush stood on a tiny +bracket above the tin wash-hand basin. A shave +was a luxury he had not indulged in for some time. +He lathered his face, stropped the razor on his belt, +and fell to work. In three minutes the ugly stubble +on his cheeks and chin had disappeared. Five +minutes later he was dressed and a new man. +With the help of water, a well-worn hair-brush, and +his fingers, his matted locks were reduced to something +like order, his luxuriant brown mustache +received an extra twirl, and he was prepared to +face the world once more, in outward appearance +at least, a gentleman. Esther McCartney watched +him cross the path from a window opposite, and +noticed that he carried himself with a new swing. +She allowed a smile, that was one of half pity, to +flicker across her face as she saw it, and then went +into the veranda to receive him.</p> + +<p>"They fit you beautifully," said she, referring to +the clothes. "You look like a new man."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span></p> + +<p>"How can I thank you? I feel almost like my +old self once more. I tremble to think what a figure +I must have cut half an hour ago."</p> + +<p>"Never mind that. Now come and have something +to eat."</p> + +<p>He followed her into the sitting room. It was a +pretty place, and showed on all sides evidences of +a woman's controlling hand. The weatherboard +walls were nicely stained, a painted canvas cloth +took the place of a plaster ceiling; numerous +pictures, mostly water-colours, and many of them +of considerable merit, hung on either hand, interspersed +with curiosities of the deep, native weapons, +and other odds and ends accumulated from among +the thousand and one islands of the Southern seas. +In the furthest corner Ellison noticed an open +piano, with a piece of music on the rest. But the +thing which fascinated him beyond all others was +the meal spread upon the centre-table. Its profusion +nearly took his breath away—beef, tomato +salad, pickles, cheese, and a bottle of home-brewed +beer. At her command he seated himself and +ravenously set to work. All the time he was +eating she sat in a deep chair by the window and +watched him with an amused smile upon her face. +When he had taken off the first raw edge, she +spoke:<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Do you know, I don't think that black eye is +exactly becoming to you."</p> + +<p>Ellison made as if he would like to cover it +up.</p> + +<p>"Oh, you can't hide it now. I noticed it directly +you showed yourself this morning. I wonder who +gave it you? for of course you've been fighting. +I don't like a quarrelsome man!"</p> + +<p>"I'm sorry I should appear before you in such a +bad light, for naturally I want to stand well with +you."</p> + +<p>"I understand. You mean about the billet. +Well, will you tell me how you got it—the eye, +I mean?"</p> + +<p>"Willingly, if you think it will make my case any +better."</p> + +<p>"I'm not quite sure that it will, but you'd better +go on."</p> + +<p>She laid herself back in the great chair and folded +her hands behind her head. Her face struck him in +a new light. There was an expression on it he had +not expected to find there; its presence harmonised +with the pictures and the piano and made him pause +before he spoke. In that moment he changed his +mind and let the words he was about to speak die +unuttered.</p> + +<p>"The story is simple enough. I was drawn into<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span> +a quarrel and obliged to fight a man. I broke his +jaw, he gave me this and this."</p> + +<p>He pointed first to his eye and then to his ear. +She nodded her head and smiled.</p> + +<p>"Do you know that you have come out of that +test very well?"</p> + +<p>"I'm afraid I don't quite understand."</p> + +<p>"Well, then, let me tell you. I was trying you. +I didn't really want to know how you got that +bruise, because—well, because, you see, I knew +beforehand. I've heard the whole story. You +stood up for your deformed friend and thrashed the +man who was coward enough to strike him. That +is the correct version, I think, isn't it? Ah, I see +it is. Well, Paddy the Lasher, the man you fought, +is one of our hands. I had only just returned from +making inquiries about him when you turned up +this morning. I like your modesty, and if you'll let +me, I think I'll shake hands with you on it!"</p> + +<p>Without knowing exactly why he did it, Ellison +rose and gravely shook hands with her. In these +good clothes his old manner, in a measure, came +back to him, and he felt able to do things with +a grace that had long been foreign to his actions. +He sat down again, drank off his beer, and turned +once more to her.</p> + +<p>"How can I thank you enough for your goodness<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span> +to me? I have never enjoyed a meal so much in +my life."</p> + +<p>"I am glad of that. I think you look better than +you did an hour ago. It must be awful to be so +hungry."</p> + +<p>"It is, and I am more than grateful to you for +relieving it. I hope you will believe that."</p> + +<p>"I think I do. And now about your friend. +Don't you think you had better go and look after +him? I have told the cook to send some food +across to the hut. Will you see that he eats it?"</p> + +<p>"Of course I will. I'll go at once."</p> + +<p>He rose and went towards the door. She had +risen too, and now stood with one hand upon the +mantelpiece, the other toying with the keys hanging +from her belt. The fresh breeze played through +the palm fronds beyond the veranda, and whisked +the dry sand on to the clean white boards. He +wanted to set one matter right before he left.</p> + +<p>"As I said just now, I'm afraid I don't appear to +very great advantage in your eyes," he remarked.</p> + +<p>"I'm not exactly sure that you do," she answered +candidly. "But I'll see if I can't let by-gones be +by-gones. Remember, however, if I do take you +on you must both show me that my trust is not +misplaced."</p> + +<p>"For myself I will promise that."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span></p> + +<p>"It may surprise you to hear that I am not so +much afraid of your mate as of yourself. I have +seen his face, and I think I like it."</p> + +<p>"I'm certain you're right. I am a weak man; +he is not. If either of us fails you, I don't think it +will be Murkard."</p> + +<p>"I like you better for sticking up for your friend."</p> + +<p>"I am sorry for that, because you may think I +do it for effect."</p> + +<p>"I'll be better able to tell you about that later +on. Now go."</p> + +<p>He raised his hat and crossed from the veranda +to the hut. Murkard was awake and was sitting +up on the bed.</p> + +<p>"Thank Heaven you've come back, old man. +Where the deuce am I, and how did I get here? +My memory's gone all to pieces, and, from the +parched condition of my tongue, my interior must +be following it. Have I been ill, or what?"</p> + +<p>"You've been jolly near drowned, if that's any +consolation to you. We were swimming the strait, +don't you remember, when you suddenly collapsed. +You gave me an awful fright."</p> + +<p>"Then you saved my life?"</p> + +<p>"I suppose folk would call it by that name."</p> + +<p>"All right. That's another nick in the score. +I'm obliged to you. You have a big reckoning<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span> +against me for benefits conferred. Be sure, however, +I'll not forget it if ever the opportunity occurs. +And now what does this pile of goodly raiment +mean? By Jove! methinks I smell food, and it +makes me ravenous."</p> + +<p>The door opened and Rhotoma Jimmy appeared +with a tray.</p> + +<p>"Young missis send this longa you."</p> + +<p>"All right, old man, put it down over there. I +believe I'm famished enough to eat both the +victuals and the tray."</p> + +<p>"Go ahead, and while you're eating I'll talk. +In the first place, your scheme has succeeded +admirably. I have spoken to the girl, interested +her in us, and I think she'll take us on."</p> + +<p>"Good! You're a diplomatist after my own +heart."</p> + +<p>"But, old man, there must be no hanky-panky +over this. If we get the billets we must play fair +by her—we must justify her confidence."</p> + +<p>"As bad as all that, and in this short time, eh? +Well, I suppose it's all right. Yes, we'll play fair."</p> + +<p>"Don't run away with any nonsense of that sort. +The girl is a decent little thing, but nothing more. +She has been very good to us, and I'd rather clear +out at once than let any harm come to her from +either of us—do you understand?"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Perfectly." He finished his meal in silence, +and then threw himself down upon the bed. +"Now let me get to sleep again. I'm utterly +played out. Drunk last night and nearly +drowned to-day is a pretty fair record, in all +conscience."</p> + +<p>Ellison left the hut, and that he might not meet +his benefactress again so soon, went for a stroll +along the beach. The tide was out and the sand +was firm walking. He had his own thoughts for +company, and they were in the main pleasant ones. +He had landed on his feet once more, just when +he deemed he had reached the end of his tether. +Whatever else it might be, this would probably be +his last bid for respectability; it behooved him, +therefore, to make the most of it. He seated himself +on a rock just above high-water mark and proceeded +to think it out.</p> + +<p>Murkard slept for another hour, and then set to +work to dress himself. Like Ellison, he found the +change of raiment very acceptable. When he was +ready he looked at himself in the glass with a new +interest, which passed off his face in a sneer as his +eyes fell upon the reflection of his ungainly, inartistic +back.</p> + +<p>"Certainly there's devilish little to recommend +me in that," he said meditatively. "And yet there<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span> +was a time when my society was sought after. I +wonder what the end of it all will be?"</p> + +<p>He borrowed a pair of scissors from the Kanaka +cook, and with them trimmed his beard to a point. +Then, selecting a blue silk scarf from among the +things sent him, he tied it in a neat bow under his +white collar, donned his coat, which accentuated +rather than, diminished the angularity of his hump, +and went out into the world. Esther McCartney +was sitting in the veranda sewing. She looked +up on hearing his step and motioned him towards +her. He glanced at her with considerable curiosity, +and he noticed that under his gaze she drooped +her eyes. Her hands were not as white as certain +hands he had aforetime seen, but they were well +shaped—and one of the nails upon the left hand +had a tiny white spot upon it that attracted his +attention.</p> + +<p>"You had a narrow escape this morning. Your +friend only just got you ashore in time."</p> + +<p>"So I believe. I am also in <i>your</i> debt for kindnesses +received—this change of raiment, and possibly +my life. It is a faculty of mine to be always +in debt to somebody. I may probably repay you +when I can; in the meantime it will be better for +us both if I endeavour to forget all about it."</p> + +<p>"Isn't that rather a strange way of talking?"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Very possibly. But you see I am a strange +man. Nature has ordained that I should not be +like other men. I don't know altogether whether +I'm the worse for it. I'm a little weak after my +trouble this morning; have you any objection to +my sitting down?"</p> + +<p>"Take that seat, you'll find it more comfortable."</p> + +<p>She pointed to a loose canvas-backed chair near +the steps. He smiled as he had done in the hut +when he had looked at his image in the glass. The +other chairs were hard-backed, and it proved that +she had been thinking of his deformity when she +chose this one. He seated himself and placed his +hat on the floor beside him. She took in at a +glance his pale, sensitive face, curious eyes, and +long white fingers, and as she looked she came to +a conclusion.</p> + +<p>"Your friend, Mr. Ellison, wants me to give you +employment. Until a minute ago I had not made +up my mind. Now I think I shall do so."</p> + +<p>"I knew you would."</p> + +<p>"How did you know it?"</p> + +<p>"By the way you dropped your hand on the back +of that chair just now. Well, I'm very glad. It is +good of you. You know nothing about us, however, +remember that. Don't trust us too far until +you are more certain of our honesty. Sir Walter<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span> +Raleigh, I would have you not forget, says, 'No +man is wise or safe but he that is honest.' It is for +you to find our honesty out."</p> + +<p>"You talk as if you were taking me into your +employ, instead of its being the other way about."</p> + +<p>"So you noticed it? I was just thinking the +same thing myself. It's a habit of mine. Forgive +it."</p> + +<p>"Somehow I think I shall like you. You talk in +a way I'm not quite used to, but I fancy we shall +hit it off together."</p> + +<p>"I make no promises. I have some big faults, +but I'll do my best to amend them. You have +heard of one of them."</p> + +<p>"I have, but how did you know?"</p> + +<p>"By your eyes and the way your lips curled when +I used the word 'faults.' Yes, unhappily I am a +drunkard. I need make no secret of it. I have +fought against it, how hard you would never +guess; but it beats me every time. It killed my +first life, and I'm not quite sure it won't kill my +second."</p> + +<p>"Your first life! What do you mean?"</p> + +<p>"Exactly what I say. I am a creature of two +lives. You don't surely suppose I was always the +beach-comber you see before you now?"</p> + +<p>"I did not think about it."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Forgive me! That is not quite true. It was +one of the first thoughts in your mind when you +saw me come out of the hut yonder."</p> + +<p>"How is it you can read my thoughts like this?"</p> + +<p>"Practice in the study of faces, that's all. +Another bad habit."</p> + +<p>"But if I take you on you will give up the liquor, +won't you? It seems such a pity that a man should +throw himself away like that when there's so much +in the world worth living for."</p> + +<p>"That's, of course, if there is. Suppose, for the +sake of argument, there is nothing? Suppose that +a man has forfeited all right to self-respect—suppose +he has been kicked out of house and home, +deprived of his honour, disowned even by those who +once loved him best—would you think it foolish if +he attempted to find a City of Refuge in the Land +of Alcohol?"</p> + +<p>"Are you that man?"</p> + +<p>Her face grew very gentle and her voice soft, as +she put the question.</p> + +<p>"I simply instance an example to confute your +argument. May I change the subject? What is +my work to be? Much must of course depend on +that. Like the elephant, my strength is in my +head rather than my hands, certainly not in my +legs."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Our store-keeper and book-keeper left us a +month ago. Since then I have been doing his work. +Are you good at figures?"</p> + +<p>"Fairly; that sort of work would suit me admirably, +and would, I believe, enable me to give you +satisfaction. And, my friend——But here he +comes to ask for himself."</p> + +<p>Ellison was sauntering slowly up the path. He +looked a fine figure of a man in the evening sunlight. +His borrowed plumes fitted and suited him +admirably. He lifted his hat with the air of a +court chamberlain when he came to the veranda +steps.</p> + +<p>"I am glad to see you about again," he said to +Murkard, who was examining him critically, "you +certainly look better."</p> + +<p>"I am, as I have already said, a different man."</p> + +<p>"You look happier, certainly."</p> + +<p>"I have just received my appointment to a position +of trust."</p> + +<p>Ellison glanced at the woman. She laughed and +nodded.</p> + +<p>"Yes, I have put him on as book-keeper and +store-man. It's a billet worth a pound a week and +his keep."</p> + +<p>"It is very generous of you."</p> + +<p>"Oh, but that's not all. If you care to stay you<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span> +can do so as general knockabout hand on the same +terms. There will be a good deal that will want +looking to now that you've disabled Paddy the +Lasher. You can occupy the hut where you are +now, and I'll tell Rhotoma Jimmy to serve your +meals in the barracks across the way."</p> + +<p>"I hope we shall show ourselves worthy of your +trust."</p> + +<p>"I hope you will; but no more black eyes, +remember. The sooner you get rid of the one +you're wearing the better I shall like you. You'll +find my father, when he returns, will take to you +sooner without it. And now you'd better go and +get your teas."</p> + +<p>She rose to go inside. They stepped from the +veranda. Ellison happened to look round. Her +head was half turned, and she was watching him. +Their eyes met, and the next moment she had +vanished into the house.</p> + +<p>The two men walked across to their hut in +silence. When they reached it, they sat themselves +down on their respective beds and looked at each +other. Murkard opened the conversation.</p> + +<p>"You were going to say that you cannot imagine +why she has done this? Isn't that so?"</p> + +<p>"Yes. I <i>was</i> just going to do so. How on +earth did you guess it?"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Never mind that. But you've got hold of the +wrong end of the stick, my boy. She's not doing +it for the reason you suppose. Would it surprise +you very much to be told that in all probability it +is done for <i>my</i> sake. No, don't laugh; and yet I +really do think it is, and I'll tell you why. There +was uncertainty written in her face and, well, if I +must say it, a little bit of distrust of you, until I +appeared upon the scene. Then you know my way +with women. I told her the plain, unvarnished +truth, without any compliments or gilt edging of +any sort. Painted myself as a gentleman gone +a-mucker, hopeless cripple, etc., etc. Then she +dropped that infernal business air, and her womanly +side came uppermost. That decided for us—I am +appointed Paymaster-General; while you, if you +play your cards well, may be anything from Grand +Vizier downward. I think you have reason to +congratulate yourself."</p> + +<p>"Murkard, you are playing fair, aren't you?"</p> + +<p>Murkard turned white as death.</p> + +<p>"Playing fair! you are playing fair, aren't you? +What the devil makes you use those infernal words +to me again? My God, man! do you want to send +me into hell a raving lunatic?"</p> + +<p>He ran his fingers through his long hair and +glared at his companion, who sat too astonished at<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span> +this sudden outburst to speak. But after a few +moments he cooled down and resumed his natural, +half-cynical tone:</p> + +<p>"I beg your pardon. Hope I didn't startle you +very much. Habit of mine. What beastly things +words are. How they bring up like a flash the +very things one's been trying for years to forget. +Yes, yes! I intend to do my duty by this girl. I +promise you that. By the way, that's the second +time you've asked me that question this afternoon."</p> + +<p>"I wanted to make certain, that was all. What +are you staring at? Are you mad?"</p> + +<p>"No, I think not. I was only wondering."</p> + +<p>Ellison rose and went to the door. Leaning +against the post he had an uninterrupted view of +the still waters of the bay. Hardly a ripple disturbed +its surface. The sun was in the last act of +sinking into his crimson bed, and as he went he +threw a parting shaft of blood-red light across the +deep. Everything stood out with an unusual distinctness. +Across the straits, so full of importance +to them that day, he could see the settlement of +Thursday—count the houses and even distinguish +people walking upon the sea-front. The peaceful +beauty of the evening soothed his soul like sweetest +music. He was happier than he had been for +months, nay, years past. It seemed to him that he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span> +was in a new world—a world as far removed from +that of the morning as is heaven from hell. He +almost found it difficult to believe that he, the well-dressed, +well-fed man, leaning against the doorpost, +was the same being who only that morning +had contemplated suicide on the pier-head over +yonder, in that abject and black despair engendered +of starvation. With this feeling of wonderment +still upon him he turned his head in the direction +of the station house—a lamp was just lighted in the +sitting room, and by moving a step further to the +left he could discern the loosely rolled brown hair +of a woman's head. Almost unconsciously he +sighed. It was a long time since any woman had +manifested so much interest in him. Had he got +past the desire to be worthy of it? No, he hoped +not! He had told himself repeatedly since midday +this was certainly his last chance, and come +what might, having obtained it, he would make a +struggle to win back the respect he had begun to +believe he had lost forever.</p> + +<p>The evening drew on. The night wind rose and +played through the palm fronds above the hut, +rubbing against the thatch with soothing sweep. +Murkard was lying on his bed inside, smoking. +Esther had brought her work on to the veranda, +but had discarded it when the light failed, and now<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span> +sat looking out across the sea. Ellison made no +attempt to speak to her, and she gave no sign to +show that she saw him. Some time afterward he +heard Murkard put down his pipe, and come out +to stand beside him.</p> + +<p>"A beautiful night. Look at that last gleam of +crimson low down upon the horizon. What are +you thinking of, old man?"</p> + +<p>Ellison did not make any reply for a minute, +and then he said quietly:</p> + +<p>"Of a night like this eight years ago! That's all."</p> + +<p>"You ought not to have let her tell you."</p> + +<p>"I couldn't help myself. It was done before I +knew it. And then I had her guilty secret to keep +as well as my own. Bah! what a fool I was. But +what am I saying! How did you come to know +anything of her?"</p> + +<p>"Another of my guesses, that's all."</p> + +<p>"Murkard, there's something devilish uncanny +about you."</p> + +<p>"Because you don't understand me, eh? No, +no; don't be afraid, old man, you will never have +cause to fear me. I owe you too much ever +to prove myself ungrateful. Bear with my +crotchets—for as surely as I stand before you now, +the day will come when you will regret any harsh +word you have ever spoken to me. My destiny is<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span> +before me written in letters of fire—I cannot +escape it, and God knows I would not if I could."</p> + +<p>"What on earth do you mean?"</p> + +<p>"Don't ask me, or try to find out. When I saw +your face for the first time that wet night on the +wharf in Sydney, I knew you to be the man for +whom I was sent into the world. There is a year +of grace before us, let us enjoy it—then—well <i>then +I shall do my duty</i>."</p> + +<p>Ellison put his hand on the small man's deformed +shoulder.</p> + +<p>"Silas, I don't grasp what you're driving at!"</p> + +<p>"Then, as I say, don't seek to know. Believe +that I'm a dreamer. Believe that I'm a little mad. +I shall never speak of it to you again. But to-night +I felt as if I must speak out—the hand of the +Future was upon me. Good-night!"</p> + +<p>"Good-night!"</p> + +<p>As Murkard went in the woman rose from her +chair, advanced to the veranda rails, and once +more stood looking out across the bay. A clock in +the Kanakas' hut struck ten. Then she too turned +to go in. But before doing so she looked across at +Ellison, and said kindly, "Good-night!"</p> + +<p>"Good-night!" he called in return.</p> + +<p>And all the silence of the world seemed to echo +that "Good-night!"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III"></a>CHAPTER III.</h2> + +<p class="center ps">THE WORLD, THE FLESH, AND THE DEVIL.</p> + + +<p>Long before the first month was ended both +men had settled down comfortably to their work-a-day +existence. They had arrived at a thorough +understanding of their duties, had made friends +with their fellow-workers, and found it difficult to +believe that they could be the same two men +who were the beach-combers of the previous +month. As for Murkard he derived the keenest +pleasure from the daily, almost monotonous, routine +of his office. He discovered abundance of work +to keep him busy, his keen instinct detected endless +opportunities of creating additional business, +and he hoped that, when the owner of the station +should return from his pearling venture, he might +not only be in a position to convince him that his +daughter's appointment was fully justified, but to +demonstrate to him that it was likely to prove the +stepping-stone to a sound commercial future. To +Esther the man himself was a complete and continual +mystery. Try how she would, she could not<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span> +understand him. On one occasion a combination +of circumstances led her to attempt to set him +right on a certain matter connected with his own +department. Much to her surprise and discomfiture +she found him not only firmly resolved to +assert his own independence, and to resist to the +utmost any attempt at interference, but even prepared +to instruct if need be. Routed on every +side she had fled the field ignominiously, but though +mortified at her rebuff, still she could not find it in +her heart to quarrel with the man. To tell the +truth, she was more than a little afraid of him, as +he intended she should be. His sharp tongue and +peculiar faculty of quiet ridicule were particularly +distasteful to her. She preferred venting her +abuse upon his inoffensive companion—who, it +would appear, absolutely failed to do anything to +her complete satisfaction.</p> + +<p>To Ellison, in spite of his joy at having found +employment at last, that first month was not altogether +one of happiness. He was too keenly conscious +of his limited powers to be thoroughly at his +ease, and yet he did his work from morning till +night with dog-like faithfulness, grudging himself +no labour, sparing himself no pains to ensure the +faithful discharge of the duties entrusted to him. +Not only that, but he often went out of his way to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span> +find work. She watched him and invariably found +fault. So surely as his hard day's work was ended, +would she discover something left undone. This +she would never fail to point out to him, and the +result well-nigh drove him distracted. And yet +there were times when she was more than kind, +bright days in his calendar that shone with a +greater lustre, perhaps, because they were so few +and far between. As instance the following:</p> + +<p>His own work being over for the day, he had +crossed to the wood pile behind the kitchen and +set to work sawing logs for the cook's fire. The +wood was tough and the labour hard, but he kept +the saw going with endless perseverance. As he +came near the end of the supply, Esther chanced +upon him. It was the first time he had seen her +since the early morning.</p> + +<p>"Good afternoon," he said, but did not desist +from his labour.</p> + +<p>"Good afternoon," she returned, regarding him +for a moment, and then seating herself upon an upturned +box beside him. "I think you will remember +that I asked you for some screws for a corner +bracket this morning."</p> + +<p>"I beg your pardon; I think you asked if I could +find any in the boat-house. I remembered having +seen some, and offered to procure them. You then<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span> +determined that you would wait until to-morrow +for them."</p> + +<p>"Ah, yes! so I did. I had forgotten that."</p> + +<p>"As you are clearly in the wrong, you might beg +my pardon, I think."</p> + +<p>"I don't see why. It is my duty to keep you up +to your work."</p> + +<p>"Very well, then we'll say no more. The screws +shall be on your table on the veranda at ten o'clock +to-morrow morning."</p> + +<p>"Without fail?"</p> + +<p>"Without fail. I always keep my word."</p> + +<p>He went on with his sawing. She sat and +watched him, and for the first time became aware +of the elegance and symmetry of his figure.</p> + +<p>"Not always, I think. I asked you yesterday +to tell me what brought you to Australia; you said +you would, but you have evidently forgotten your +promise."</p> + +<p>"Again you misinterpreted my speech. I +think I said I could not bore you with it until I +knew you better."</p> + +<p>"And by that I am to understand that you won't +tell me?"</p> + +<p>"Not yet."</p> + +<p>The saw cut through the log with a little whine, +and the end dropped to the ground.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span></p> + +<p>"You don't know me well enough yet to trust me, +I suppose?"</p> + +<p>"I know you as well as I suppose I ever shall +know you. You are not a difficult person to +understand."</p> + +<p>"Have you so much experience of my sex, +then?"</p> + +<p>"More than most men, perhaps. God help +me!"</p> + +<p>"You don't seem to realise that that is a dangerous +admission to make to a woman."</p> + +<p>"Why? You let me see very plainly yesterday +that our ways lie far apart. In fact, that whatever +my rank may once have been, I am now only your +father's servant."</p> + +<p>She rose from the box on which she had been +sitting and stamped her foot. He looked up and +saw that indignant tears stood in her eyes.</p> + +<p>"You are very unjust and very unkind. I'm sure +I never said or implied anything of the sort."</p> + +<p>"Then I must crave your pardon once more for +misunderstanding you. I certainly understood that +to be your meaning."</p> + +<p>She sat down again and fell to scraping up the +shavings and litter with her foot. He resumed his +sawing. For the space of about three minutes +neither spoke. Then she said timidly:<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I notice that you are very patient and persevering."</p> + +<p>He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye +suspiciously. This was too novel and satisfactory +not to make him a little distrustful.</p> + +<p>"And pray what makes you think that?"</p> + +<p>"For many reasons. One because you don't saw +wood like most men I have seen. You go right +through till the cut is even and the end drops off +of its own weight. Most men saw it three parts +through, then drive in a wedge, and break off the +rest. It saves time, but it means laziness. I +think I like your way best."</p> + +<p>"It is very kind of you to say so."</p> + +<p>"Oh, not at all. I thought as I've scolded you +so often I ought to tell you of something I approve, +that's all."</p> + +<p>Decidedly he was a handsome man. She liked +his colour, she liked his glow of health and +strength, and she was not quite certain that she +did not like his eyes; but she wasn't going to let +him think she had the very smallest grain of +admiration for him. He wondered what was coming +next.</p> + +<p>"All the same, you're not a very quick worker. +I don't know that it's quite a profitable occupation +for you. One of the boys would have done twice<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span> +as much in half the time—not so neatly perhaps, +but it would have burned just as well."</p> + +<p>That was the way with her. He never made any +advance but she drove him back further than he +was originally. She saw how her last remark was +affecting him, and a smile flickered over her face +that was not altogether one of discouragement. +He looked up just in time to catch it. The result +was disastrous. He missed his thrust—the saw +slipped and cut his hand. It was not a deep +wound, but it bled profusely—into the white slit of +wood, and, drop by drop, down upon the little +heap of saw-dust at his feet. She saw it as soon +as he did, and gave a little cry of alarm.</p> + +<p>"Oh, you have cut yourself, and all through my +stupidity! Quick, give me your handkerchief and +let me tie it up."</p> + +<p>Before he had properly realised what had happened, +she had drawn her own handkerchief from +her pocket, taken his hand, and was binding it up.</p> + +<p>"I'm so very, very sorry. It was all my fault. +I should not have stayed here worrying you with +my silly talk. Can you forgive me?"</p> + +<p>He looked into her face—with its great brown +eyes so close to his—this time without the least embarrassment. +And what beautiful eyes they were!</p> + +<p>"You are not to blame. It was the result of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span> +my own carelessness. I should have looked at the +saw instead of your face."</p> + +<p>"Very possibly; but you must not cut any more +wood. I forbid it! Do you think you will remember +what I say?"</p> + +<p>"I'm very much afraid so."</p> + +<p>Not another word passed between them. She +went into the house, and he, with a sea of happiness +surging at his heart that he would have been +puzzled to account for, back to the store.</p> + +<p>But that evening all the enjoyment he had got +out of the afternoon was destined to be taken +away from him. After dinner, Murkard had some +work in the office he wished to finish in time for +the China mail next day, so Ellison wandered down +to the shore alone. The moon was just rising +over the headland, and the evening was very still; +there was hardly enough wind to stir the palm +leaves on the hill-top. Further round the island +alligators were numerous, and as he stepped on to +the beach Ellison thought he could make out one +lying on the sand ahead of him. He stepped +across to obtain a closer view, only to find that it +was the trunk of a sandal-wood tree washed up by +the tide. As he turned to retrace his steps he +heard someone coming through the long grass +behind him. It was Esther.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Good-evening!" he said, raising his hat. +"What a perfect night for a stroll it is. Just look +at the effect of the moonlight on the water +yonder."</p> + +<p>"How is your hand?"</p> + +<p>"Progressing very satisfactorily, thank you. It +is very good of you to take so much interest in my +tiny accident."</p> + +<p>"I don't see why! I should have been just as +interested in anyone else. I pity the woman who +could fail to be affected by an ugly cut like that. +Good-night!"</p> + +<p>She resumed her walk, and as he had nothing to +say in answer to her speech, he looked across the +stretch of water at the twinkling lights of Thursday. +He had received a well-merited snub, he +told himself—one he would not be likely to forget +for a few days to come. He had presumed too +much on her kindness of the afternoon. Who +was he that he might expect from her anything +more than ordinary civility? He was her father's +servant, paid by the week to do odd jobs about +the place; a position only found for him out of +charity by a kind-hearted girl. With a gesture of +anger he went briskly across the sands, plunged +into the thicket, and strode back towards the house. +He was not of course to know that after leaving<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span> +him she had stopped in her walk and watched him +until he disappeared. When she, in her turn, +wended her way homeward, it was, illogically +enough, with an equally heavy heart. She did not, +perhaps, regret her action, but her mind was torn +with doubts.</p> + +<p>"If only I could be certain," she kept repeating +to herself. "If only I could be certain!"</p> + +<p>But that didn't mend matters very much. That +she had angered him, at least, was certain. Then +came the question which was destined to keep her +awake half the night. Had she played with him +too much? She could see that he was thoroughly +angered.</p> + +<p>On arriving at the hut Ellison discovered Murkard +in the act of going to bed. He was seated +on his couch, one boot on, the other in his hand. +He looked up as his friend entered, and one glance +at his face told him all he wanted to know. Placing +the boot he held in his hand carefully on the +floor, he removed the other and arranged it beside +its fellow. Then, addressing himself to the ceiling +cloth, he said:</p> + +<p>"I have often noticed that when a man imagines +himself happiest he is in reality most miserable, and +<i>vice versa</i>. Last night my friend was supremely +happy,—don't ask me how I knew I saw it,—and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span> +yet he sighed in his sleep half the night. This +evening he would have me believe that he is miserable, +and yet there's a look in his eyes that tells me at +the bottom he is really happy."</p> + +<p>"You're quite out of your reckoning, my friend, +as far as to-night is concerned. I am miserable, +miserable in heart and soul, and for two pins I'd +leave the place to-morrow."</p> + +<p>"I should."</p> + +<p>"The devil! and why?"</p> + +<p>"Because you're going deliberately to work to +make an ass of yourself, if you want it in plain, +unvarnished English. You're falling head over +ears in love with a woman you've only known a +month, and what's the result to be?"</p> + +<p>"What do you think?"</p> + +<p>"Why, that you'll go a-mucker. Old man, I +don't know your history. I don't even know your +name. You're no more Ellison, however, than I +am. I've known that ages. You're a public school +and Oxford man, that's plain to those with the +least discernment, and from those facts and certain +others I surmise you belong to that detestable class; +miscalled the English aristocracy. I don't care a +jot what brought you to grief—something pretty +bad I haven't a doubt—but believe me, and I'm +not joking when I say it, if you marry this girl,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span> +without really loving her, you'll commit the cruellest +action of your life, and what's worse ten thousand +times, you'll never cease to regret it. She's +a nice girl, a very nice girl, I don't deny that, but +if ever you think there's a chance of your going +home, if you ever want to go, or dream of going, +you're in honour bound to give her up. Go away, +clear out, forget you ever saw her; but for +mercy's sake don't drag her down to your hell. +Give her a chance, if you won't give yourself one."</p> + +<p>"You speak pretty plainly."</p> + +<p>"I speak exactly as I feel, knowing both you +and the girl. Do you think I haven't seen all this +coming on? Do you fancy I'm blind? Knowing +what I know of your face, do you think I haven't +read you like a book. At first you looked at it as +an investment. You thought the old man, her +father, might have money; you half determined to +go in for the girl. But about 8.30 last Thursday +week night you had a bout with your conscience. +You came into the store and talked politics—Queensland +politics, too, of all things in the world—to +distract your thoughts. I let you meander +on, but I knew of what you were thinking. After +that you gave up the mercenary notion and talked +vaguely of trying your luck on the mainland. +Then she began to snub you, and you to find new<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span> +beauties in her character. You may remember +that we discussed her, sitting on the cliff yonder, +for nearly three hours on Wednesday evening. +You held some original notions about her intellect, +if I remember aright. Now, because you're afraid +of her, you're imagining yourself over head and +ears in love with her. Go away, my boy, go away +for a month, on any excuse. I'll get them to keep +your billet open for you if you want to return. +You'll know your own mind by that time. What +do you think?"</p> + +<p>"I'll do it. I'll give her a week and then go."</p> + +<p>"That's the style. You'll repent and want to +cry off your bargain in the morning, but for the +present that's the style."</p> + +<p>So saying, this guide, philosopher, and friend +drew on his boots again and went out into the still +hot night. Having reached the store veranda he +seated himself on a box and lit his pipe.</p> + +<p>"This torture is getting more and more acute +every day," he began, as a sort of apology to himself +for coming out, "and yet they must neither of +them ever know. If they suspected I should be +obliged to go. And why not? What good can it +ever do me to stay on here looking at happiness +through another man's eyes. For she loves him. +If he were not so blindly wrapped up in his own<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span> +conceit he would see it himself, and the worst of it +is he has no more notion of her worth than I have +of heaven. With me it is 'Mr. Murkard this, and +Mr. Murkard that'—kindness and confidence +itself—but oh, how widely different from what I +would have her say. My God! if you are a +God, why do you torture me so? Is my sin not +expiated yet? How long am I to drag on in this +earthly hell? How long, O Lord, how long?"</p> + +<p>The night breeze whispering among the leaves +brought back the words in mockery: "How +long, how long?"</p> + +<p>After an hour's communion with his own +thoughts he returned to the hut. Ellison was in +bed sleeping quietly, one strong arm thrown round +his head and a faint smile upon his lips. Murkard, +lamp in hand, stood and looked down on +him, and as he looked, his lips formed a sentence.</p> + +<p>"Whatever is before us, old friend, have no fear. +Come what may, I make my sacrifice for you. +Remember that—for you!"</p> + +<p>Then, as if he had shouted his shameless secret +to the mocking world, he, too, went hastily to bed.</p> + +<p>For a week after that eventful night Ellison saw +little of Esther. She hardly ventured near him, +and when necessity compelled that she should +seek him, it was only to complete her business<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span> +with all possible dispatch and hurry away again. +No more did she enter into conversation with him +about his work. No more did she chaff him about +his scrupulous care and trouble. Their estrangement +seemed complete. Murkard noticed it, and +being wise in his generation, thought much but +said little.</p> + +<p>One evening after dinner, towards the end of the +week, Ellison had strolled down to the beach to +smoke his after-dinner pipe when he heard his +name called. He recognised the voice immediately +and, turning, went across to where Esther +was standing by the tiny jetty. Her face was very +pale, and she spoke with hesitation.</p> + +<p>"Are you very busy for a few minutes, Mr. +Ellison?"</p> + +<p>"Not at all. My day's work is over. Can I be +of any service to you?"</p> + +<p>"Would it be too much to ask you to row me +across the straits to the township?"</p> + +<p>"I will do so with pleasure. Are you ready +now?"</p> + +<p>"Quite ready."</p> + +<p>Without another word he ran a boat into the +water, and with a few strokes of the oar brought +it alongside the steps for her to embark. She +stepped daintily in and, seating herself in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span> +stern-sheets, assumed possession of the tiller. +The expression on his face was one of annoyed +embarrassment. She saw it, and her colour came +and went across her face like clouds across an +April sky.</p> + +<p>"I'm afraid I am trespassing on your good-nature," +she remarked at length, feeling she must +say something. "I ought to have asked one of the +boys to take me over."</p> + +<p>"And have had to visit all the saloons to find +him when you wanted to return," he replied. "No, +no! Miss McCartney, I am glad you asked me."</p> + +<p>She looked at him nervously; but his face told +her nothing. He appeared to be fully occupied +with the management of the boat. She put her +hand overboard and played with the water alongside, +casting furtive glances at him ever and anon. +The silence became more and more embarrassing.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Ellison, I am afraid you think very badly +of me?" she said, in sheer desperation.</p> + +<p>"My dear Miss McCartney, what on earth can +have made you imagine such a thing?"</p> + +<p>"But I know you do. I'm afraid I was very +rude to you the other day. I have never forgiven +myself for it. It was very ungrateful of me after +all the kind things you have done for me since I +have known you."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span></p> + +<p>"But, I assure you, you are quite mistaken. +Your treatment of me may have been a little +unkind, but it was certainly not rude. Besides, +what I have done for you has all been done out +of pure selfishness, because, you see, it gives me +pleasure to serve you."</p> + +<p>"Mr. Murkard hinted to me this morning that +you are thinking of leaving us. Is that true?"</p> + +<p>"I <i>was</i> thinking of doing so, but——"</p> + +<p>"But you will forgive me before you go, won't +you? Let us be friends again for the little time +that is left to us."</p> + +<p>She held out her dry hand towards him; he +leaned forward gravely and took it, after which they +were silent again for some time. The crisis was +passed, but the situation was still sufficiently awkward +to deprive them both of conversation. By +the time they had recovered enough to resume it, +they had passed the hulk and were approaching +the township jetty. He brought the boat alongside +in a masterly fashion, and held it close to +the steps for his companion to disembark.</p> + +<p>"Thank you, Mr. Ellison," she said, as she +stepped out. "I have enjoyed myself very much. +I hope you will have a pleasant sail back!"</p> + +<p>"I am going to wait for you."</p> + +<p>"Indeed you are not. I could not think of such<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span> +a thing. I shall be sure to find someone who will +put me across."</p> + +<p>"I am going to wait for you. It will be very +pleasant sitting here; and, remember, we have just +made friends. You must not quarrel with me so +soon again."</p> + +<p>"Very well, since you wish it. I will try not to +be any longer than I can help."</p> + +<p>She tripped up the wooden steps and disappeared +along the jetty. He made the boat fast, +and seating himself in the place she had just +vacated, lit his pipe.</p> + +<p>For nearly an hour he sat and smoked. The +heavens were bright with stars above him; the +sleeping waters rose and fell round the piers with +gentle gurgling noises. A number of pearling +luggers rode at anchor on either hand of him, and +the township lights twinkled merrily ashore. His +heart was happier than it had been for some time +past, and yet again and again Murkard's words of +warning rose upon his recollection. Did the girl +love him? And more important still, if she did, +did he love her as she deserved to be loved? He +asked himself these two questions repeatedly, and +each time he could not answer either of them to +his satisfaction.</p> + +<p>Was his affection for her a sincere one, founded<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span> +on a genuine admiration? He had been piqued +by her behaviour; his vanity (poor remnant of a +feeling) had been hurt by it. Since then he had +brought himself to believe he loved her. Was he +prepared to sacrifice everything for her? Again +the torturing doubt. It would be passing sweet to +love her; but could he do so with a clear conscience? +He knew his failing—could he lie to +himself? The night affected him; the moon, just +rising blood-red above the hill-top, spoke to him of +love. Not the love of a lifetime, not the love that +will give and take, bear and forbear, thinking no +ill, and enduring for all eternity; but of love-talk, +of a woman's face against his, of gratified vanity +perhaps, at all events of a love of possession. No, +he knew in his inmost heart, his conscience told +him, that he did not care for her as, in the event of +his making her his wife, he felt she would have a +right to expect.</p> + +<p>Besides, there was another, and even more +important, point to be considered. Was he worthy +of a good woman's love? he, until lately an adventurer—a——No, +no! If he were a man of honour +he would go away; he would go out into the +world again, and, in forgetting her, enable her to +forget him. And yet the temptation to stay—to +hear from her own lips that she loved him—was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span> +upon him, calling him in tenderest accents to +remain. He sat and thought it out as dispassionately +as he was able, and his final resolve was to +go. In this case, at least, he would not think of +himself, he would think only of what was best for +her. Yes, he would go! Suddenly away down +the jetty he heard the patter of shoe heels. His +heart throbbed painfully. She was coming back. +They came closer and closer. She appeared on +the sky-line, and, descending the steps, took his +hand to jump into the boat.</p> + +<p>"I'm afraid you must have grown very tired of +waiting for me."</p> + +<p>"I'm very glad to see you, certainly; but I +don't think I can say I'm tired. It is a beautiful +evening. Look at that glorious moon. We shall +have a perfect sail home."</p> + +<p>He hoisted the canvas, and they pushed off. In +spite of the resolve he had just made it was vastly +pleasant to be seated beside her, to feel the pressure +of her warm soft body against his on the little +seat. There was a fair breeze, and the water bubbling +under the boat's sharp bows was like tinkling +music as they swept from the shadow of the pier +into the broad moonlight. Again, for want of +something to do, she put her hand into the water; +and the drops from her fingers when she lifted<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span> +them shone like silver. As if in contradiction of +her affected unconcern, she was palpably nervous. +Once he could almost have sworn he felt her +tremble.</p> + +<p>"You are not cold, I hope?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, dear, no! What could make you think +so?"</p> + +<p>"I thought I felt you shiver."</p> + +<p>"It was nothing. I am perfectly warm."</p> + +<p>"All the same I shall put this spare sail over +your knees—so."</p> + +<p>He took a piece of canvas from behind him, and +spread it round her. She made no attempt at +resistance. In spite of her show of independence, +there was something infinitely pleasant to her in +being thus tended and cared for by this great +strong man.</p> + +<p>In five minutes they were passing close under the +nearest point of their own island. High cliffs rose +above them, crowned with a wealth of vegetation. +She looked up at them, and then turned to her +companion.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Ellison, do you know the story of that +bluff?"</p> + +<p>"No. I must plead guilty to not being aware +that it possessed one. May I hear it?"</p> + +<p>"It has a strange fascination for me—that place.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span> +I never pass it without thinking of the romance +connected with it. Do you see that tall palm to +the right there?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"Well, under that palm is a grave; the resting-place +of a man whom I can remember seeing very +often when I was only a little child."</p> + +<p>"What sort of a man?"</p> + +<p>"Ah, that's a question a good many would have +liked to have answered. Though it's years ago, I +can see him now as plainly as if it were but yesterday. +He was very tall and very handsome. Possibly +forty years old, though at first sight he looked +more than that, for the reason that his hair and +moustache were as white as snow. He lived in a +hut on that bluff far away from everybody. In all +the years he was there he was never known to +cross the straits to the settlement, but once every +three months he used to come down to our store +for rations and two English letters. I believe we +were the only souls he ever spoke to, and then he +never said any more than was absolutely necessary. +The pearlers used to call him the Hermit of +the Bluff."</p> + +<p>"Do you think he was quite sane?"</p> + +<p>"I'm sure of it. I think now he must have +been the victim of some great sorrow, or, perhaps,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span> +some man of family exiled from his country for +no fault of his own."</p> + +<p>"What makes you imagine that?"</p> + +<p>"Why, because it was my father who found him +lying lifeless on the floor of his hut. He had been +dead some days and nobody any the wiser. Hoping +to find something to tell him who he was, my +father searched the hut, but without success. But +when, however, he lifted the poor body, he caught +a glimpse of something fastened round his neck. +It was a large gold locket, with a crown or coronet +upon the cover. Inside it was a photograph of +some great lady—but though he recognised her, +my father would never tell me her name—and a +little slip of paper, on which was written these +words: 'Semper fidelis: Thank God, I can forgive. +It is our fate. Good-bye.' They buried +him under the palm yonder and the locket with +him."</p> + +<p>"Poor wretch! Another victim of fate! I +wonder who he could have been."</p> + +<p>"That is more than anyone will ever know, until +the last great Judgment Day. But, believe me, he +is not the only one of that class out here. I could +tell you of half a dozen others that I remember. +There was Bombay Pete; it was said he was a +fashionable preacher in London, and was nearly<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span> +made a bishop. He died—bewitched, he said—in +a Kanaka's hut over yonder behind the settlement. +Then there was the Gray Apollo—but who <i>he</i> was +nobody ever knew; at any rate he was the handsomest +and most reckless man on the island until +he was knifed in the Phillipines; and the man +from New Guinea; and Sacramento Dick; and the +Scholar; and John Garfitt, who turned out to be a +lord. Oh, I could tell you of dozens of others. +Poor miserable, miserable men."</p> + +<p>"You have a sympathy for them, then?"</p> + +<p>"Who could help it? I pity them from the +bottom of my heart. Fancy their degradation. +Fancy having been brought up in the enjoyment +of every luxury, started with every advantage in +life, and then to come out here to consort with all +the riff-raff of the world and to die, cut off from +kith and kin, in some hovel over yonder. It is too +awful."</p> + +<p>Ellison sighed. She looked at him, and then +said very softly:</p> + +<p>"Mr. Ellison, I do not want to pry into your +secret, but is there no hope for you?"</p> + +<p>He appeared not to have heard her. A great +temptation was upon him. He was going away to-morrow: +she would never see him again. She had +evidently a romantic interest in these shattered<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span> +lives—could he not allow himself the enjoyment of +that sympathy just for a few brief hours? Why +not? Ah, yes, why not?</p> + +<p>"Miss McCartney," he said, after a long pause, +"do you know, while you were away to-night, and +I was sitting waiting for you, I subjected myself to +a severe cross-examination?"</p> + +<p>"On what subject?"</p> + +<p>"Partly yourself, partly myself."</p> + +<p>"What sort of cross-examination do you mean, +Mr. Ellison?"</p> + +<p>"Well, that is rather a difficult question to answer, +and for the following reason: In the first +place, to tell you would necessitate my doing a +thing I had made up my mind never to do again."</p> + +<p>"What is that?"</p> + +<p>"To unlock the coffers of my memory and to +take out the history of my past. Eight years ago +I swore that I would forget certain things—the +first was my real name, the second was the life I +had once led, and the third was the reason that +induced me to give up both."</p> + +<p>"Well?"</p> + +<p>"I have tried to remember that you have only +known me a month, that you really know nothing +of myself, my disposition, or my history."</p> + +<p>"But I think I do know."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I fear that is impossible. But, Miss McCartney, +since I see your sympathy for others, I have +a good mind to tell you everything, and let you +judge for yourself. You are a woman whose word +I would take against all the world. You will +swear that whatever I reveal to you shall never +pass your lips."</p> + +<p>"I swear!"</p> + +<p>She was trembling in real earnest now. To +prolong their interview he put the boat over on +another tack, one that would bring her close under +the headland by the station. Esther raised no +objection, but sat looking before her with parted +lips and rather startled eyes. She noticed that his +voice, when he spoke, took another tone. She +attributed it to nervousness, when in reality it was +only unconscious acting.</p> + +<p>"Miss McCartney, living here in this out-of-the-way +part of the world, you can have no idea what +my life has been. Thrown into temptation as a +child, is it to be wondered at that I fell? Brought +up to consider myself heir to untold wealth, is +it to be wondered that I became extravagant? +Courted by everybody, can you be surprised that +I thought my own attractions irresistible? My +father was a proud and headstrong man, who +allowed me to gang my own gait without let or<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span> +hindrance. When I left Eton, I left it a prig; +when I left Oxford, I left it a man of pleasure, useless +to the world and hurtful to myself and everybody +with whom I fell in contact. But not absolutely +and wholly bad with it all, you must understand. +Mind you, Miss McCartney, I do not +attempt to spare myself in the telling; I want you +to judge fairly of my character."</p> + +<p>"I promise you I will. Go on."</p> + +<p>"With a supreme disregard for consequences, I +plunged into absurd speculations, incurred enormous +liabilities, and when my creditors came down +upon me for them I went to my father for relief. +He laughed in my face and told me he was ruined; +that I was a pauper and must help myself; sneered +in my face, in fact, and told me to go to the devil +my own way as fast as I was able. I went to my +brothers, who jeered at me. I went to all my +great friends, who politely but firmly showed me +their doors. I went to men who at other times +had lent me money, but they had heard of my +father's embarrassments, and refused to throw +good money after bad. Checkmated at every +turn, I became desperate. Then to crown it all a +woman came to me, a titled lady, in the dead of +night; she told me a story, so base, so shameful, +that I almost blush now to think of it. She said<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span> +she had heard I was going to fly the country. My +name was talked of with her—I alone could save +her. In a moment of recklessness I agreed to +take her shame upon myself. What was my good +name to me? At least I could help her. It was +the one and only good action of my life. The +next day I left England a pauper, and what is +worse, a defaulter, doomed never to return to it, +and never to bear my own name again. That is +how I came to be a loafer, the dead-beat, the +beach-comber I was when you took compassion +upon me."</p> + +<p>"And—and your name?"</p> + +<p>"I—I am the Marquis of St. Burden; my father +is the Duke of Avonturn."</p> + +<p>"You—you—Mr. Ellison, a—marquis!"</p> + +<p>"Heaven help me—yes! But why do you look +at me like that? You surely do not hate me now +that you have heard my wretched story?"</p> + +<p>"Hate you! Oh, no, no! I only pity you from +the bottom of my heart."</p> + +<p>Her voice was very low and infinitely, hopelessly +sad. He was looking out to sea. Suddenly he +bowed his head and seemed to gasp for breath. +Then, turning to her again, he seized her hand +with a gesture that was almost one of despair.</p> + +<p>"Esther, Esther! My God, what have I done?<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span> +Forget what I have said. Blot it out from your +memory forever. I was mad to have told you. +Oh, Heavens, how can I make you forget the +mischief my treacherous tongue has dragged me +into!"</p> + +<p>"Your secret is safe with me, never fear. No +mortal shall ever dream that I know your history. +But, my lord, you will go back some day?"</p> + +<p>Instantly his voice came back to him clear and +strong:</p> + +<p>"Never! never! Living or dead, I will never +go back to England again. That is my irrevocable +determination."</p> + +<p>"Then may God help you!"</p> + +<p>"Esther, can't you guess now why I must go +away from here, why I must leave to-morrow?"</p> + +<p>He could hardly recognise the voice that answered.</p> + +<p>"Yes, yes, I see. It is impossible for you to be +my father's servant any longer."</p> + +<p>"That was not what I meant. I meant because +I am afraid to stay with you, lest my evil life should +contaminate yours."</p> + +<p>"That is impossible! How can you hurt +me?"</p> + +<p>He pressed the hand he held in his almost +savagely.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I mean that I love you. You must have known +it long since. I mean that you are dearer to me +than all the world."</p> + +<p>"Oh, let me go! I cannot listen to you!"</p> + +<p>"But you must! you must!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, let me go!"</p> + +<p>"You do not love me, then?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, let me go, let me go!"</p> + +<p>But he held her fast, pressing her closer and +closer to him.</p> + +<p>"I will not let you go until you tell me!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, I can't tell you! Can't you see that what +you have told me makes all the difference in the +world?"</p> + +<p>"I beg your pardon. I should have expected +this. Forgive me and forget me; I will go away +to-morrow."</p> + +<p>Her only reply was a choking sob. He put the +boat back on her course, and in five minutes they +had grounded on the beach; having helped her to +disembark, he turned to pull the boat up out of +reach of the tide. This done, he looked to find +her waiting for him, but she was gone. He could +see her white dress flitting up the path towards the +house. Without attempting to follow her, he left +the beach and strode away round the hill into the +interior of the island. When he had gone about a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span> +mile he came to an abrupt halt and looked towards +the sea.</p> + +<p>"Again, again!" he cried, with a great and exceeding +bitter cry. "Oh, God! I was tempted and +I fell; forgive me, for I can never forgive myself!"</p> + +<p>As if in answer to his cry a night-hawk hooted +among the rocks. He wheeled about and strode +off in a different direction. In that instant he +seemed to have learned a secret he had never even +guessed at before.</p> + +<p>The sun was in the act of making his appearance +above the horizon when he reached the station +again. He was utterly worn-out, both mentally +and physically. Without undressing he threw himself +upon his bed, and slept a dreamless sleep for an +hour. Then he got up and looked out upon the +world. It was the beginning of his last day at the +station.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV"></a>CHAPTER IV.</h2> + +<p class="center ps">DESTINY—AN ACCIDENT—AND A BETROTHAL.</p> + + +<p>Early as it was, Ellison discovered that Murkard +was out before him. Pulling himself together +as well as he was able, he took his towel and went +down to the beach to bathe. It was an exquisite +morning, a fresh breeze played among the palms +and shrubs; the blue sea danced and glistened in +the sunshine; columns of palest blue smoke rose, +curling and twisting, into the sweet morning air. +Ellison alone was sad. Even a swim failed to raise +his spirits. He dressed himself and went back to +breakfast with a face that was like that of a doomed +man. So far he had seen no sign of Esther, nor +had he any expectation of doing so until he went +in to say good-bye to her. As the clanging bell +called to breakfast, Murkard made his appearance. +<i>He</i> also seemed out of sorts, and nodded to Ellison +without a word as he seated himself at the table. +The other was hardly prepared for this treatment +of his trouble.</p> + +<p>"Why, what on earth's wrong with you this<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span> +morning?" Ellison asked irritably. "Has the +whole world gone dismal mad?"</p> + +<p>"I'm very worried about something. Don't ask +me what, old man. I'm trying to fight it down, +and if you leave me alone I shall be all right +directly."</p> + +<p>"I'm afraid I shan't be here to see it, then. I'm +leaving in an hour's time—for good and all."</p> + +<p>Murkard sprang to his feet with a new face.</p> + +<p>"Then that puts me right at once. God bless +you, Ellison, you could not have given me better +news! I knew you'd do what was right!"</p> + +<p>"Have you been fretting about me, then?"</p> + +<p>"A little. But more about that girl over yonder. +Of course, whatever happened, I should stand by +you—you know that, don't you? But—well, the +long and the short of it is, I couldn't bear to see +the poor child getting to care for you more and +more every day, when I knew that your affection +was not the kind to satisfy her craving. Poor little +thing, it will be hard on her, devilish hard, but all +the same I believe you're doing what is best and +happiest for both of you."</p> + +<p>"Do you think so, honour bright?"</p> + +<p>"I don't think, I'm sure of it!"</p> + +<p>"Then I'll go. But you don't know, old man, +what a bitter fight it has been. Since you laughed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span> +at me a week ago I've been arguing it over, and the +result is, I'm beginning to think I <i>do</i> care for her, +after all."</p> + +<p>"If you only <i>think</i>, you're still on the wrong side +of the stream. No, no; we must go. There is no +question about that. I'll put our few traps together +after breakfast, and then we'll say farewell and +adieu to respectability once more."</p> + +<p>"But you are not coming too. I could never +allow that!"</p> + +<p>"You'll have no option. Of course I must come! +Didn't I tell you the other day that we're bound +up together? My destiny is in your hands. I +must never leave you. I had an idea the +end would have come here, but it seems I'm +mistaken."</p> + +<p>"I wish you'd be a little more explicit sometimes."</p> + +<p>"It would probably amuse you if I were, and +though I'm not the sort of man who fears ridicule, +as a general rule, I could not bear to have you +laugh at this."</p> + +<p>"I should not laugh; it seems to me I shall +never laugh again. Tell me, Murkard, what you +mean."</p> + +<p>"I will tell you."</p> + +<p>He rose and walked up and down the little<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span> +room for some minutes. Then he stopped, and +leaning against the smoke-coloured mantelpiece, +spoke.</p> + +<p>"In the first place, I suppose you will admit that +there are some men in this extraordinary world of +ours more delicately constructed than others. You +agree to that. Very good. Well, that being so, +I am perhaps more sensitive than you—possibly, +though I don't say absolutely, accounted for by my +deformity. I look at commonplace things in a different +way; my brain receives different impressions +from passing events. I don't say whether +my impressions are right or wrong. At any rate, +they are there. Directly I set eyes on you, that +first night of our meeting, I knew you were my +fate. Don't ask me how I knew it. It is sufficient +that I <i>did</i> know it. Something inside here seemed +to tell me that our lives were bound up together; in +fact, that you were the man for whose sake I was +sent into the world. You remember we were +starving at the time, and that we slept under a +Moreton Bay fig in the Domain. Well, perhaps +as the result of that hunger, I dreamed a dream. +Something came to me and bade me to go with +you, bade me be by your side continually because I +was necessary to your life, and because my death +would be by your hands."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Good gracious, Murkard, think what you're +saying!"</p> + +<p>"I have thought, and I know. I don't mean +that you will murder me, but I <i>do</i> mean that it will +be in connection with you that I shall meet my +death. The same dream told me that a chance +would be given us. That chance has come. Also +the dream told me that my only hope of heaven lay +in saving you by laying down my own life. That +time has not come yet—but it will come as surely +as we are now located in this hut. In the meantime +there is another life between us. That life +we have not met yet; what or whose it is I have no +notion, but I dread it night and day."</p> + +<p>"You don't mean to tell me you believe all that +you're telling me?"</p> + +<p>"As implicitly as I believe that I am standing +before you now. And so will you when it is too +late—not before."</p> + +<p>"But think, man, think! How can such a thing +be contemplated for a moment? Your life by my +hands! No, no!"</p> + +<p>"Let it drop. Forget that I ever told you. We +shall see whether it turns out as I say. Moreover, +something tells me that although we are preparing +to leave this place, we shall not go!"</p> + +<p>Without further argument he opened the door<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span> +and went out. Ellison in his turn began to pace +the room.</p> + +<p>"He is mad, the man is undoubtedly mad. And +yet God knows why he should be. If vileness has +anything to do with it, I am despicable enough to +do anything he might dream! Surely there never +was so miserable a wretch as I! But we will go +from here. Of that I am determined."</p> + +<p>He began feverishly to put together the few little +odds and ends he had collected during the past +month. It was not a lengthy business, but it cut +him to the heart to have to do it. If he left this +place, where for a month he had been so happy, +what would his future be? Turned out to seek +employment again, would he drift back into the old +vagabond life or not? And if he did, he asked +himself, what would it matter? Who was there in +the world to care? He tied up his bundle, threw +it on the bed, and then in his turn left the hut. +Esther was on the veranda of her own house. He +crossed the path to speak to her.</p> + +<p>"Miss McCartney," he said, "have you been +able to find it in your heart to forgive me for my +rudeness last night?"</p> + +<p>Her hand shook and her voice trembled as she +answered, with downcast eyes, "There is nothing +to forgive, my lord."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span></p> + +<p>"No, no; you must not call me that!"</p> + +<p>He raised his hand as if to ward off a blow. She +noticed the look of pain that leaped into his eyes.</p> + +<p>"Forgive me in your turn. I am sorry I hurt +you."</p> + +<p>"Do you think it matters? My life will be all +one long pain now. I am going away; I have come +to say good-bye to you."</p> + +<p>"You are—really—going—away?"</p> + +<p>"Yes; I cannot live here after what I told you +last night. It is impossible for both of us. I must +go out into the world again and try to win back +the self-respect I have lost. But before I go I want +to thank you for all you have done for me; for a +month you have enabled me to shake hands with +happiness. I can never be sufficiently grateful to +you."</p> + +<p>"Where—where shall you go when you leave +here?"</p> + +<p>"I haven't the remotest notion. On to the mainland +most probably; out to some station in the far +West, where I can forget and be forgotten. What +does it matter where I go?"</p> + +<p>"Does—does it never strike you that in thus +dooming yourself to hopeless misery you are being +very cruel to me?"</p> + +<p>"It is only to be kind. God knows I have<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span> +thought of you before myself, and the only conclusion +I can come to is that it would be worse for you +if I stayed."</p> + +<p>"Then good-bye, and may God bless you and +protect you always!"</p> + +<p>He looked into her face; it was pale as death. +She held out her hand, and he raised it to his lips. +The knowledge that had come to him the previous +night was confirmed now. In that second he +learned how much he loved her.</p> + +<p>"Good-bye—good-bye!"</p> + +<p>He watched her pass into the house, and was in +the act of leaving the spot himself when he heard a +heavy fall within. In an instant he had divined its +meaning, and was inside the room, to find Esther +upon the floor in a dead faint. Raising her in his +arms he carried her to a sofa and laid her on it; +then, procuring water, he bathed her forehead and +chafed her hands till she returned to consciousness. +When her eyes opened she looked at him with a +frightened stare.</p> + +<p>"Oh, what has happened?"</p> + +<p>"The sun was too much for you out there. You +fainted; fortunately I heard you fall and carried +you here. Are you better?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, thank you. I am almost all right again."</p> + +<p>"You are quite sure?"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Quite."</p> + +<p>He took up his hat and left the house. As he +crossed the veranda he noticed a stir in the station. +The Kanakas had turned out of their hut and were +staring in the direction of the bay. From the place +where he stood he could see two luggers approaching +the jetty.</p> + +<p>"Her father has returned," he said to himself, +almost without interest, and went down to the +shore. His supposition proved correct. But from +the way the last of the boats manœuvred there was +evidently something wrong. He waited until it got +alongside, and then walked down the jetty to find +out what this peculiarity might mean. A little +crowd was collected on the second boat; those +Kanakas who knew him made way for him to step +on board. The crew of the boat itself regarded +him with some surprise.</p> + +<p>"What is the matter?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"The boss has met with an accident," explained +the oldest of the men, "and we don't know how to +let his daughter know."</p> + +<p>"Where is he?"</p> + +<p>"In the cabin aft. Step below and see him for +yourself."</p> + +<p>Ellison did as he was directed, and went down +the companion into the box of a cabin. An elderly<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span> +man, with gray hair and beard, bearing an unmistakable +likeness to Esther, lay on a roughly constructed +bed placed on the port side. He looked +up as Ellison entered.</p> + +<p>"And who may you be?" he asked faintly.</p> + +<p>"My name is Ellison," the other replied. "I +have been a month in your employ—your daughter +took me on as a carpenter and general hand in +place of Paddy the Lasher, discharged."</p> + +<p>"You talk like a gentleman."</p> + +<p>"I was considered one once."</p> + +<p>"Then you may be able to do me a good turn. +I have met with a serious accident—slipped on +those steps there and injured my back. From the +numbness of my lower half, I'm almost afraid it's a +hopeless case; but I don't want to frighten my +daughter without need. Will you go up and break +the news to her?"</p> + +<p>"If you wish it. But surely it's not as bad as +you say. Perhaps it's only a severe sprain."</p> + +<p>"I fear not. As I tell you, I'm dead below the +waist."</p> + +<p>"Will you stay here till I come back, or shall we +carry you up now?"</p> + +<p>"I'll stay here. But don't be longer than you +can help, and break the news as gently as you can +to her."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span></p> + +<p>"You may trust me."</p> + +<p>Ellison went up the steps again, passed through +the little crowd, and made his way back towards +the house. He was only just in time, for Esther +had seen the boats come in, and was on her way to +meet her father. She was surprised to see the +man to whom she had just said "Good-bye" coming +along the path towards her. Something in his +face must have warned her that he was the bearer +of evil tidings, for she stopped, and he heard her +catch her breath with a little convulsive sob.</p> + +<p>"My father has returned, and you have bad +news for me?"</p> + +<p>"That of course depends upon how you take it. +Yes, your father has returned, but—well, the long +and short of it is, he is <i>not</i> very well."</p> + +<p>"My father—not well! He was never ill in his +life. It must be something serious, or he would +not have sent you to tell me."</p> + +<p>"He has met with a bit of an accident—a fall. +He asked me to come on in advance and let you +know, lest you should be frightened when you saw +them carrying him up."</p> + +<p>"That is not all; he is worse than you say. +Oh, Mr. Ellison, for Heaven's sake, don't deceive +me—tell me all! I can bear it, believe me."</p> + +<p>"I am not deceiving you. God knows I would<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span> +be the last to do that. You shall see him for +yourself in a minute or two. But had you not +better first run back and have a bed prepared for +him. I will go down and help them carry him +up."</p> + +<p>"How good you are to me!"</p> + +<p>She went back to the house, while he returned +to the boat. Before he arrived Murkard had put +in an appearance, and with his usual foresight had +set to work upon a rough litter in which to carry +the sick man up to the house. This constructed, +he was placed upon it, and between them they bore +him up the hill. Ellison and Murkard carried +him across the veranda into the room his daughter +had prepared for him. She received him with +greater bravery than Ellison had expected. The +father's courage was wonderful.</p> + +<p>"This is a nice way to come home, my girl!" he +said, with an attempt at cheerfulness. "You're +not accustomed to seeing your father carried, are +you?"</p> + +<p>With her eyes full of tears she stooped and +kissed him. Perhaps the coldness of his forehead +told her something of the truth, for she started +and looked at Ellison in terrified surprise. The +two men laid him on the bed, and while she was in +another room removed his clothes. It was a diffi<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span>cult +business, but once it was accomplished the +patient felt infinitely relieved. As they were leaving +the house Esther met them. She drew Ellison +aside.</p> + +<p>"Someone must cross to the settlement for the +doctor immediately. It is useless to attempt to +blind me as to his condition. I can see it for +myself."</p> + +<p>"I will go over, and bring him back with me."</p> + +<p>"God bless you! I feel so terribly lonely now; +it is good to know that I have a friend in you."</p> + +<p>"A friend faithful to the death. Esther, will +you answer me one question? Would it make you +happier if I stayed with you a little longer—say, +till your father is able to get about again?"</p> + +<p>She hung her head, but his eager ears caught +the timid little "Yes" that escaped her lips.</p> + +<p>"Then so be it. Now I will go for the doctor."</p> + +<p>She held out her hand; he took it, and for the +second time that morning raised it to his lips. +Then he strode away in the direction of the store. +Murkard was not surprised at the news. He +accompanied him to the beach, and helped him to +push his boat into the water. When Ellison was +past the jetty he returned to his work, muttering:</p> + +<p>"I knew something would happen to prevent it. +This is the hand of Destiny again."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span></p> + +<p>Ellison pulled swiftly across to the township, +beached his boat opposite the Chinese quarter, and +after inquiring the direction of the doctor's house, +set off for it without a moment's delay. He discovered +the medico smoking on his veranda, and +in less than three minutes had given him a complete +summary of the case. They returned to the +boat together, and Ellison, after pulling him +across, conducted him straightway to the sick +man's bedroom. He did not go in himself, but +waited on the veranda. In half an hour the +doctor emerged and beckoned him out of hearing +of the house. Ellison read the worst in his +face.</p> + +<p>"Is there no hope?"</p> + +<p>"Not a scrap. I tell you this straightforwardly. +Of course I presume, from your anxiety, you are +an interested party, and as such have a right to +know. The man's spine is fatally injured. +Paralysis has already set in in the lower limbs. It +is only a matter of time with him now."</p> + +<p>"How long do you think he may live?"</p> + +<p>"It is impossible to say—six hours, possibly +eight, certainly not more. If you have any business +to consult him upon, I advise you to do it at +once; he may not be conscious very long."</p> + +<p>"You have not told his daughter?"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Only that the case is serious. I have told +him, and I think he will tell her."</p> + +<p>"Thank you for being so candid. It is really +no business of mine, but I must try and help that +poor girl to bear her sorrow. Shall you see him +again?"</p> + +<p>"I think so, though I am convinced it is hopeless. +Still, I shall look over in the course of the +afternoon. Who will put me across?"</p> + +<p>"I will."</p> + +<p>They got into the boat and pushed off. When +he had landed the doctor, Ellison pulled slowly +back. His brain was staggering under a multitude +of thoughts. What was he to do? What +must his duty be now? Should he go away and +leave this girl to bear her sorrow alone? Or +should he take the bull by the horns, ask her +father to be allowed to make her his wife, and +trust to Providence for the rest? He didn't +know, he couldn't tell—both seemed equally +impossible. He resolved to leave it, as he had +done before, to the decision of blind Fate. In the +meantime he pulled back to the jetty, secured the +boat, and went up to the house. Esther saw him +pass the window, and came quietly out on the +veranda.</p> + +<p>"He is sleeping now," she almost whispered;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span> +"but it doesn't seem a natural sleep. I cannot +tell you how terrified I am about him."</p> + +<p>"Poor girl! what can I say to you save that +you have my sincerest, my most heartfelt +sympathy? If you should want any assistance, +remember that I am here to give it you, come what +may."</p> + +<p>Her only answer was to press the hand that +rested on the veranda rail with her soft fingers. +Her touch thrilled him through and through, and +he went into the hut for lunch with a look in his +face that had never been there before. He was +beginning to understand his position more clearly +now.</p> + +<p>Towards the middle of the afternoon he was +employing himself among the boats, when he saw +her coming breathlessly towards him. He dropped +the adze he held in his hand and went to meet her.</p> + +<p>"He wants you to come to him," she managed +to gasp. "Oh, I don't know how to tell you the +agony of fear I'm suffering. He seems so much +weaker. Come at once."</p> + +<p>She accompanied him into the house, and to the +door of her father's chamber. The change in the +patient's face staggered him. It was ghastly white +and drawn; approaching dissolution was staring +from the restless eyes.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Mr. Ellison," he said faintly, "I have sent for +you, and I must be quick with what I have to say, +for the end is near. Though I only saw you for +the first time this morning, I seem to know you +thoroughly. My daughter has told me of the +kindness you and your friend have shown to her. +She has also informed me that you told her last +night of your love for her. Is that true, on your +oath to a dying man?"</p> + +<p>"Yes. It is true! I know now that I do love +her."</p> + +<p>"With your whole heart and soul, so help you +God!"</p> + +<p>"With my whole heart and soul, so help me +God!"</p> + +<p>"Is there anything to prevent you making her +your wife?"</p> + +<p>"In a legal sense, nothing. In a moral—well, +perhaps I have not led the sort of life I might +have done; but if you will trust her to me I swear +before God, as I hope for heaven, that I will do my +duty to her all the days of my life. I will endeavour +to make her life happy at any cost to myself."</p> + +<p>"She will be poor, remember. There is nothing +for me to leave her save a few hundred pounds, +this station, and the boats. You will have to work +hard to support her."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I will work my hands to the bone."</p> + +<p>"Then as you deal with my motherless and +fatherless girl, so may God deal with you. He has +sent you to take my place, in her hour of need. +If you stand firm by her he will not desert you in +yours. As a dying man I trust you; that is enough. +Now send her to me."</p> + +<p>Ellison went to the door and called the girl. +She came in, and the dying man gave them his +blessing. After which he told them he would +rather sleep.</p> + +<p>When the doctor reached the house half an hour +later Ellison met him on the threshold.</p> + +<p>"How is he now?"</p> + +<p>"You have come too late, doctor. He is +dead!"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V"></a>CHAPTER V.</h2> + +<p class="center ps">A WEDDING—A CONVERSATION—AND AN EPISODE.</p> + + +<p>Towards sundown the following afternoon the +remains of Alexander McCartney were conveyed +across the straits and interred in the little cemetery +above the township of Port Kennedy. A week +later his daughter became Cuthbert Ellison's wife. +It had been the dead man's wish that there should +be no delay in the marriage. He was anxious to +have his daughter's safety assured within as short a +time of his demise as possible. Nor had either of +them any objection to raise. The wedding took +place in the little church on the hill-side, and Silas +Murkard acted as his friend's best man. After the +ceremony they sailed quietly home in one of their +own boats to receive the congratulations of Mrs. +Fenwick and the station, and to take up the old +life once more.</p> + +<p>As Ellison lifted his wife out of the boat on to +the little jetty he looked into her eyes. There was +only pure happiness and unutterable trust written +there. He lowered his own before her gaze and +heaved a heavy sigh.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span></p> + +<p>When she had passed into the house, proudly +escorted by Mrs. Fenwick, Murkard came up to +him and took his hand.</p> + +<p>"Cuthbert, I have waited my chance to congratulate +you. We are alone now, and from the +bottom of my heart I wish you happiness."</p> + +<p>"Thank you. You have been a good friend to +me, Silas."</p> + +<p>"There is no question of <i>friendship</i> between us. +It is more than that. But there is one thing I +want to say to you."</p> + +<p>"Say on."</p> + +<p>"You will not be offended with me?"</p> + +<p>"Never. I don't think it is in your power to do +that, old friend."</p> + +<p>"Very well, then I will say it. Cuthbert Ellison, +you think you know the woman who has this day +become your wife?"</p> + +<p>Ellison nodded. He wondered what was coming.</p> + +<p>"You would be surprised and perhaps angry if +I told you that I know her a thousand times better +than you do or ever will know her. I can read her +nature as I can read yours. And for this reason I +warn you. That woman has one of the purest +and most beautiful minds ever given by God to +any human being. Beware how you act towards +her, beware of what you say! Remember, though<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span> +you may mean nothing by what you say, she will +never forget one single word. You have only to +look into her eyes to see what she thinks of you +<i>now</i>. She believes in you heart and soul, she +worships the very ground you walk on; it remains +with you to say whether she shall retain that trust +or not. What you have said to her already cling to +as a shipwrecked man clings to a spar; what you +say in the future must be your own concern. I will +help you if ever help be needed, but in the meantime +watch yourself, and if there is a God watching +over us may he bless and keep you both. I have +spoken!"</p> + +<p>Having said this he turned on his heel and +walked quickly away in the direction of his own +solitary hut. He entered and closed the door.</p> + +<p>The evening meal finished, Ellison and Esther +passed out to the veranda together. The day had +been fine, but the night was dark and stormy; +thick clouds obscured the heavens, big waves +broke on the beach with ominous grumblings, and +now and again swift streaks of lightning flashed +across the sky. Husband and wife sat side by +side. The man was reviewing in his mind the +events of the day, and wondering at the strange +conversation he had had with Murkard that evening. +In spite of his supreme happiness a vague<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span> +feeling of sadness was upon him that would not be +dispelled. Esther was all content. Woman-like +she derived an intense pleasure from mere personal +contact with the being she adored. She could just +see the outline of his face against the sky, and she +wondered at its sadness. At last she spoke:</p> + +<p>"Of what are you thinking, husband mine?"</p> + +<p>He started as if she had stung him, and hastened +to reply:</p> + +<p>"Can't you guess? I was thinking of you and +of all you have done for me."</p> + +<p>"Perhaps a little of me, but not altogether, I +fear. Cuthbert, do you believe you will ever +regret?"</p> + +<p>"No, no! ten thousand times, no! Would a +man ever regret having been given a chance of +heaven?"</p> + +<p>"You are begging the question! I mean, my +husband,"—her voice dwelt with infinite tenderness +upon the name,—"do you think you will ever have +cause to wish you had never seen me, when you +see what other cleverer and prettier women you +might have married?"</p> + +<p>"I should never have married any other. You +are my destiny. I was born into the world to +marry you, and no one else. How could it possibly +have been otherwise?"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span></p> + +<p>"You are very silly. I want to talk seriously."</p> + +<p>"That <i>is</i> talking seriously."</p> + +<p>"It is nonsense. But listen, dear. You must +forgive me for bringing up the subject on this night, +of all others, but I cannot let it rest. I will never +speak of it again if you wish it. But you must +answer me truthfully for the last time."</p> + +<p>He bit his lip to keep back the cry of fear that +almost escaped him. He knew what was coming, +and dreaded it like the cutting of a flashing knife.</p> + +<p>"Go on!"</p> + +<p>"Cuthbert, if you ever went back to your old +world and saw women, as I say, cleverer and more +beautiful than I am, you might wish you had never +seen me. You would not tell me so, and you would +not, if you could help it, let me guess it, but my +woman's instinct would warn me—and then what +should I do? I should be chained to you, and +you would be chained to me. I should be a drag +upon you—a curse—instead of the help I wish to +be. I should love you just the same, because I +could never love anyone else; but think what the +depth of my despair would be!"</p> + +<p>A large tear fell on the back of his hand. He +drew her to him with almost a fierceness.</p> + +<p>"I told you the other day I should never go +back to my old world. I am dead to it, and it is<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span> +dead to me. I am Cuthbert Ellison, the pearler, +your husband, and I wish to be no other. Forget, +for mercy's sake, that I ever had a past; let us +live only for my present and the future. Let me +be to you the husband I would wish to be; let me +work, toil, knowing no weariness in what is done +for you; let me build up a new life of honour for +your sake, and let the dead past bury its dead. +I love you, and I want no world that has not you +in it. Let us never speak on this subject again."</p> + +<p>"You are not angry with me for saying what I +did."</p> + +<p>"Angry, no! I am sorry, full of remorse that I +ever told you that story. God must help me to +atone for it. I shall never be able to rid myself of +the fear that you will hate me for it."</p> + +<p>"You are unjust to yourself, and even, I think, a +little unjust to me. Had you not told me, there +would always have been a barrier between us. +Now I know everything, and, believe me, I do not +honour you the less for telling me."</p> + +<p>She raised his hand to her mouth and imprinted +a kiss upon it. That kiss stung him to the quick. +Like the look of trust upon her face when he had +helped her from the boat, it was almost a reproach. +It was the beginning of his punishment. He made +shift to change the course of the conversation.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Darling," he said, "have you thought seriously +yet of what our marriage means to us? Have you +thought what you have made of the man who only +a month ago stood before you in this very veranda, +in rags and tatters, asking for employment to keep +body and soul together? That man is now your +husband. Linked to you not for to-day or to-morrow, +next week or next month, but for all time, +for all eternity. Your husband—part of your own +self: surely that should be sufficient passport for +me into heaven itself. My interests are to be +your interests, your hopes my hopes—in fact, your +life is mine, and my life yours. There is an awful +solemnity about it. If I could only grasp the drift +of it all!"</p> + +<p>"Grasp the drift? You are the drift. You must +help me to make my life, I must help you to make +yours; that is what it means. If we do our duty to +each other, surely we ought, then, to pull through?"</p> + +<p>"I am afraid of myself, Esther. Not afraid of +my love for you, but afraid of the slowness of +Time, of the gradual development of things."</p> + +<p>"Are we not getting a little out of our depth, +love? I want to know nothing but your love for +me, that is all. Let us leave the subject. See how +vivid the lightning is getting. I fear we are in for +a storm."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span></p> + +<p>And in truth the flashes were growing almost +alarming. Heavy thunder echoed among the +islands, and the wind was every moment increasing +in violence. Suddenly an awful flash seemed to +tear the very heavens asunder. In that brief instant +Ellison made out the figure of a man standing +in the open before them, not more than forty +yards from the veranda steps. His back was +towards them, and his hands were uplifted above his +head. Esther saw him too, and uttered a little cry.</p> + +<p>"Who can it be?" she exclaimed in alarm. +"Cuthbert, call him in! He will be struck by the +lightning!"</p> + +<p>She had hardly spoken before another flash rent +the darkness. Still the figure stood before them +exactly where they had first seen it. But this time +his identity was unmistakable. <i>It was Murkard!</i> +When the next flash came he was gone.</p> + +<p>"What could he have been doing?" Esther +asked, as the thunder rolled away. To her +Murkard's ways were always a matter of much +mystery.</p> + +<p>"I can't think. Thank goodness, he doesn't +often act in that fashion."</p> + +<p>"I am afraid of him, Cuthbert. I have never +been able to make myself take to him as I took to +you."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span></p> + +<p>"He is a difficult man to know, that is why, little +woman. But he is as good as gold! A queer fish, +perhaps a little mad, but with it all a better man +than I am."</p> + +<p>"That I will never believe."</p> + +<p>"God grant you may never have reason to think +otherwise. But don't worry yourself about Murkard. +He is and always has been my truest +friend."</p> + +<p>"And what am I, my lord and master?"</p> + +<p>"You are my wife—part of myself!"</p> + +<p>She nestled lovingly against his side.</p> + +<p>"Part of yourself! How sweet that sounds! I +wonder if any other woman was ever so happy +as I?"</p> + +<p>Once more Ellison sighed. At that moment the +lightning flashed out again, just in time to show +them the same mysterious figure emerging from +the group of palms and moving towards the hut, +Esther saw it, and gave another little cry. Ellison +rose.</p> + +<p>"I must go and find out what he means by it. +Don't be afraid, I'll be back in a minute."</p> + +<p>As he left the veranda the storm broke, and the +rain came pouring down. Presently he was running +back. For a moment he could hardly speak. +His face was as pale as death.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Well, what did he say?"</p> + +<p>"Nothing; he is fast asleep! I never knew he +was a somnambulist before."</p> + +<p>"But you are trembling, and you are as white as +a sheet. Something is troubling you, Cuthbert. +Tell me what it is."</p> + +<p>"It is nothing, dearest, believe me. I was only +a little frightened at the risk he had run. He +might have been struck by lightning at any moment. +Poor Murkard!"</p> + +<p>A few minutes later she went inside and turned +up the lamp. The rain was still pouring on the +roof. But, though he was looking straight before +him into the night, he hardly noticed it. He was +saying to himself over and over again a sentence +he had heard Murkard mutter in his sleep. It was +an old Bible warning, one with which he had been +familiar from his youth up, but to-night it had the +power to shake him to his very core. It ran as +follows:</p> + +<p> +"<i>Be sure your sin will find you out!</i>"<br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI"></a>CHAPTER VI.</h2> + +<p class="center ps">A TEMPTATION—A FALL—AND A SERIES OF +EMOTIONS.</p> + + +<p>Six months had elapsed since the wedding—six +months of <i>almost</i> perfect happiness for Ellison. I +am compelled to say almost, for the reason that an +influx of business worries during that period had +caused him a very considerable amount of anxiety, +and had, in a measure, necessarily detracted from +his domestic peace. The pearling season had not +turned out as well as had been expected of it. +Continual stormy weather had militated against the +boats at sea, and a gradual but appreciable decline +in the price of shell had had the same effect on +shore. As he could only regard himself in the +light of a trustee of his wife's estate, this run of +bad luck struck him in a tender place. But +through it all Esther proved herself a most perfect +wife. He found it an inestimable boon after a +long and hard day's work to be able to go to her +for sympathy and advice, both of which she was +quite competent to give. She was, by long expe<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span>rience, +a past mistress of all the details of the business, +and her shrewd common sense and womanly +penetration enabled her to grasp things and advise +on them long before her more matter-of-fact husband +had mastered their first general elements. +His respect for her talents became almost enthusiastic. +She was now no longer the old Esther of the +past, but a new and glorious womanhood, figuring +in his eyes more as a leader than a wife.</p> + +<p>As the year advanced, instead of bettering themselves +things grew steadily worse. Acting on the +advice of his wife and Murkard, he had curtailed +expenses in every direction, forced himself to do +without many things that at other times would +have been classed as absolute necessaries, and discharged +as many hands as could possibly be spared. +This lightened the load for a while; but it soon +became painfully evident that, unless more capital +was soon forthcoming, the pearling station must +inevitably close its doors. But in what direction +could they look for such assistance? The banks +were already dropping hints as to long-standing +overdrafts, and, seeing the losses they were daily +sustaining, it would be impossible to expect any +mercy from them. On all sides companies were +abandoning stations, or transferring their business +elsewhere. It was a time of serious financial<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span> +danger, and night and day Ellison worried himself +to know how it was all to end. It was not for himself +he cared; it was for Esther—only for Esther. +Indeed, the anxiety was telling seriously upon his +health. He could not sleep for its weight upon his +mind. If only he could raise a couple of thousand +pounds, he continually argued, he might place the +station in a position by which it might not only +weather the storm, but enable it to do even a larger +business than before when the reaction set in. +Again and again he discussed the matter with his +wife and Murkard, but without arriving at any +satisfactory conclusion.</p> + +<p>One night after dinner, just as he was going out +to the veranda for his customary smoke, Murkard +called him outside.</p> + +<p>"Come over to the store with me for a little +while," he said. "I want a serious conversation +with you."</p> + +<p>Ellison followed him into the hut, and shut the +door.</p> + +<p>"Look here," said the smaller man, perching +himself on the high stool behind his desk, and taking +a letter from a pigeon-hole above him, "things +have come to a climax. But there, you know that +perhaps even better than I do."</p> + +<p>"God help us! I think I do, and the anxiety is<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span> +almost killing me. What we are to do I can't for +the life of me see."</p> + +<p>"There is a lot of bills coming due next month, +and we've got an even smaller return for that last +shell than I expected. To cap it all, here's a letter +from the bank over the way. It came before +dinner, but you looked so precious miserable then +that I thought I'd keep it till after you'd had your +meal. It's a facer, and no mistake."</p> + +<p>"Read it."</p> + +<p>Murkard spread the paper out on the desk, and, +clearing his throat in an effort to gain time, did as +he was commanded.</p> + +<p>In plain English, it was to the effect that unless +the overdraft could be reduced by one-half within +an absurdly short space of time, the bank would +be compelled to realise upon its security, which +would mean that the station would be closed, +and Ellison and his wife thrown upon the +world.</p> + +<p>Ellison sank his head upon his hands, and +groaned like a wounded bull.</p> + +<p>"If only I could raise two thousand pounds," +he sighed for the thousandth time.</p> + +<p>"That's exactly what we must do at once. And +why not? Is it so very impossible?"</p> + +<p>"Of course; you must know that it is. Haven't<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span> +we discussed the question over and over again, in +all its lights, for the last six weeks?"</p> + +<p>"I know that as well as you do. But I've been +thinking on a different tack these last two days."</p> + +<p>"With what result? For mercy's sake don't play +with me! I believe I'd kill you if you did. What +have you been thinking?"</p> + +<p>"Why, look here, Ellison, the position's just this: +You are a married man, and you are likely soon to +be more than that. Must you think of yourself just +now, or are you bound to think of your wife?"</p> + +<p>"To think of my wife, of course. Have I thought +of myself at all since I've been married?"</p> + +<p>"No, I'll grant you've been wonderfully unselfish. +Well, this is the crux of it all. Are you prepared to +make a big sacrifice for her sake? Are you prepared +to make a sacrifice that will humble your pride to +the very ground, but will probably be the means of +saving the life you love? Are you prepared to do +this, I say?"</p> + +<p>"Of course I am. There is nothing in the world +I would not do to save her. Surely you know me +well enough by this time to know that!"</p> + +<p>"Very good. That being so, we will proceed to +business." He took up a pen and fell to tracing +circles on the blotting-pad in front of him. "In +the first place, do you remember the night you<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span> +rowed her to the township and brought her back +by moonlight?"</p> + +<p>Ellison's face became suddenly pale. He shifted +on his seat uneasily.</p> + +<p>"Yes, I remember. What about it?"</p> + +<p>"I was lonely that evening and went for a walk. +I strolled down to Alligator Point and sat on the +rocks above the water."</p> + +<p>"Well?"</p> + +<p>"The sea was as calm as a mill-pond, and the +night was so still that I could almost hear people +talking across the strait. I saw you leave the +township, and I watched you sail towards where I +sat. Your voices were plainly audible to me, and, +forgive me, Ellison, but—I heard——"</p> + +<p>"Say no more—I know what you heard, you +cursed, eavesdropping spy—I know what you +heard!"</p> + +<p>"You are hardly just to me, but under the circumstances +I will forgive your harshness. And +what did I hear?"</p> + +<p>"You heard the wretched story I told the woman +I loved!"</p> + +<p>"I did. And—ever since—that moment—I have +known your secret."</p> + +<p>There was complete silence between them for +some minutes—Murkard went on tracing circles on<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span> +the blotting-paper as if his life depended on it, +while Ellison rose from his seat and went over to +the door. His hand trembled so that he could +hardly control its movements. Murkard looked at +him with a queer expression, half sympathy, half +contempt upon his face. Suddenly Ellison wheeled +round and confronted him.</p> + +<p>"Plainly, Murkard, what is your object in telling +me that you heard it?"</p> + +<p>"Because I want to save you. That is why!"</p> + +<p>"How can that save me? You mean because +you want to damn me, body and soul. But you +shan't! by God, you shan't! I'm desperate, I +tell you that, desperate!"</p> + +<p>"Hush, hush! She'll hear you if you shout like +that. Come back and let us talk quietly. Good +Heavens, Ellison, can't you see how great my love +for you is? Haven't I shown it to you times out of +number? Do you think, then, that I should turn on +you in your hour of need? Surely you know me +better than that?"</p> + +<p>Ellison regarded him in silence for a minute. +Then he went across and held out his hand.</p> + +<p>"Forgive me, Silas. I am not myself to-night; I +hardly know what I say. You don't know how +much I have upon my mind. Don't you see how +everything seems to be coming to a climax with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span> +me? But for her sake, and that of the child that is +coming, I would willingly be dead. And yet I can't +alarm her, and I can't let anything happen that +would deprive her of a home—now. At any cost +I must keep a roof over her head."</p> + +<p>He went back to his seat by the counter and sat +staring before him with a face drawn and haggard +almost out of recognition.</p> + +<p>"I am trying to save both for you," said Murkard +quietly.</p> + +<p>Ellison seized at the hope as a drowning man +would catch at a life-buoy.</p> + +<p>"I know you are, Murkard. I know it, and trust +you to the bottom of my heart. What are you +thinking of? What can I do? For mercy's sake, +tell me; don't wait to weigh words."</p> + +<p>"Steady, steady, old man. Be quiet and I will +tell you. You are the Marquis of St. Burden. I +heard you say so—there is no getting away from +that. Believe me, your secret will never pass my +lips. Your father is the Duke of Avonturn!"</p> + +<p>Ellison said not a word, but it seemed to him +that the beating of his heart must soon choke him. +Murkard eyed him curiously.</p> + +<p>"Well?"</p> + +<p>"Well, what I propose is, that you shall communicate +with your father; tell him that you have<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span> +settled down out here to a steady, honest, respectable +life, tell him that difficulties beset you, and +ask him for five thousand pounds."</p> + +<p>"Never!"</p> + +<p>Again there was a pause; try as he would, Ellison +could not even bring his mind to think.</p> + +<p>"And pray why not?"</p> + +<p>"Because I refuse, once and for all; absolutely +and implicitly I refuse, and you shall never make +me budge from it."</p> + +<p>"I shall not let you. You cannot help yourself."</p> + +<p>"I can and will help myself. I refuse to do +what you wish. I refuse—I refuse!"</p> + +<p>His voice rose almost to a shriek in his excitement. +He got up and looked towards the door as +if he would settle the question by leaving the hut. +Murkard sprang from his seat and held him by +the arm. Both were grimly in earnest.</p> + +<p>"Ellison, I believe in you. Your wife believes +in you. You told her your history, you cannot +draw back now if you would. It would kill her if +she thought you had lied to her. She would never +honour or trust you again. But you haven't. It +is only your stiff-necked pride that brings you to +this decision; but you must put it aside, I tell +you; you must, man, to save her life."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span></p> + +<p>"But I cannot; it is impossible! Don't you +hear me? I cannot!"</p> + +<p>"You both can and must. I intend to make +you. Do you love your wife? I know you do. +Then do you wish to be responsible for her death, +and do you wish to kill the child as well? Is not +one murder enough for you, for I tell you plainly +if she has to leave this place, and you and she are +thrown penniless upon the world, as you certainly +will be within the next two months unless you find +this money somewhere, so certainly will it kill her, +and the unborn child too. And you will have +only your stubborn, obstinate, guilty pride to +thank for it."</p> + +<p>"But I cannot do it; you don't know all."</p> + +<p>"I know quite enough to be certain that it is +your duty to save your wife's life at any cost to +yourself."</p> + +<p>"At whatever cost to myself—do you mean +that? On your word of honour—may God strike +you dead if you lie?"</p> + +<p>"I do mean it. At whatever cost to yourself it +is your duty to save your wife's life."</p> + +<p>"You will remember what you have just said, +'<i>At any cost to myself!</i>'"</p> + +<p>"I will remember."</p> + +<p>"But there, what is the use of our talking like<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span> +this. The duke will pay no attention to my +appeal."</p> + +<p>"You are wrong, he will pay every attention."</p> + +<p>"How do you know that?"</p> + +<p>"Because I have a scheme in my brain that will +make him."</p> + +<p>"Will you tell me what it is?"</p> + +<p>"Later on, perhaps, not now; you must trust +to my honour."</p> + +<p>"Very good. Then it shall be done. I will put +aside all thought of myself. I will do what you +wish. I will sin—for, remember, it is a sin—to +save the woman I love. And remember also, that +whatever happens in the future, whatever comes of +it, misery to me, or to her, it is your doing."</p> + +<p>"I will remember, and if any thing <i>does</i> come of +it I will not only take the blame, but I will stand +the punishment. Will you shake hands with me +on it?"</p> + +<p>"No, I will not. You have tempted me and I +have fallen. God help me! After to-night we +shall be no longer friends."</p> + +<p>"Ellison!"</p> + +<p>"I mean what I say. I have sinned before, perhaps +in a worse way than this. But when I married +I swore that nothing should ever tempt me to +do so again. I have kept my word until to-night.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span> +To-night I sin deliberately, and in cold blood, for +my wife's sake, God bless her!"</p> + +<p>He raised his hat reverently as he spoke the last +words. Then he sat down with the air of a man +who had signed his own death-warrant, and asked:</p> + +<p>"What am I to do?"</p> + +<p>"Leave it all to me. To-morrow morning I +will go across to the island, call upon the Government +Resident, who knows me well enough by this +time, tell him your story under pledge of secrecy, +and get him to cable to your father for the +money."</p> + +<p>"He will refuse."</p> + +<p>"I think not. He believes in my honour. +Have you any objection to my doing so?"</p> + +<p>"I object to nothing. I am past that. Only +make it as certain of success as you can. The end +will come soon enough in any case."</p> + +<p>"You take it in a curious way. Ellison, is there +anything you are hiding from me?"</p> + +<p>"Only—only the pain you are giving me. But +I suppose that hardly enters into your calculations."</p> + +<p>"Ellison, I forgive you; but a day will come +when you will never forgive yourself for what you +are saying now. Remember, I am doing this only +for your sake. As I promised you just now, so I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span> +promise again, whatever blame is to be taken for +this I will take, whatever punishment is meted out—if +any—I will bear. I only ask in return that +you will believe in the honesty of my affection for +you."</p> + +<p>"Do you wish me to write any letter?"</p> + +<p>"No. Leave everything to me."</p> + +<p>"You do not want me any more to-night?"</p> + +<p>"No. That is all. But, Ellison, you are not +going to leave me like this?"</p> + +<p>"In what way would you have me leave you? +If I dared I would tell you everything, but I am +too great a coward even for that. Good-night!"</p> + +<p>Murkard only answered with a sigh. Ellison +went out, closing the door after him. Once in the +fresh air he looked up at the stars, then at the sea, +then at the lamp-lit windows of his own house. +Esther was seated at the table, sewing. He knew +upon what work she was engaged, and a spasm of +terror swept over him at the knowledge that even +that little life, not yet born into the world, might +some day be tempted to despise him. Instinctively +he turned upon his heel, and for the second +time since his arrival at the station strode away +into the heart of the island, in an endeavour to +dispel his own gloomy thoughts. On and on he +walked, regardless of pace or destination. His<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span> +whole being was consumed with horror at what he +was doing. What did it mean? What would it +mean? What had induced him to do it? Was it +blind Fate, or what reason could be assigned to it? +No! It was none of these things—it was to save +his wife! Bitterly he upbraided himself for the +first folly that had occasioned it, but it was too +late now, too late, too late! If he went to his +wife and confessed all, confessed that he had lied +to her, that he was not the man he pretended to +be, that he was only a common swindler and cheat, +she would forgive him, because she was a good +woman and loved him, but she would never trust +him or believe in him again. In that case their +ruin would be complete! If he persisted in the +present course, and Murkard's plan proved successful, +they would be saved for a little time, but +the inevitable result would be worse than the first destruction. +On neither side was there such a thing +as safety. On one side was his wife's life, on the +other her trust in him; there was no middle course. +He was between the devil and the deep sea with a +vengeance. God help him for a miserable man!</p> + +<p>By the time he arrived at this conclusion he was +on the headland above the station. A thrill of +superstitious terror swept over him as he realised +that the spot on which he was standing was the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span> +site of the Hermit's hut. In the glorious moonlight +he could plainly discern the ruins of the +blackened hearth, the boundary walls, and under +the tall palm, nearer the cliff edge, the grave of +the mysterious Unknown himself. What had led +him in that direction on the one night of all others +he would most have desired to avoid it? It seemed +to him that the dead man's ghost was moving +about the place taunting him with his sin, and +pointing to a similar abandoned end in the inglorious +future. Down on the shore below him he +could hear the roll of the surf, but up here all was +ghostly still. At last, unable to control himself +any longer, he took to his heels and fled down the +hill towards the station, craving to be with his kind +once more. To his surprise he could see the light +still burning in the sitting room. Late though it +was, his wife had not yet gone to bed. Could she +be sitting up for him?</p> + +<p>As he entered the room she rose to meet him.</p> + +<p>"My poor boy," she said, "how tired you look!"</p> + +<p>"I have been worried nearly past endurance," +he replied, "and went for a walk to try and think +my difficulties out. I would not have gone had I +thought you would sit up for me."</p> + +<p>"I went over to the store when you did not +come in, to see if you were there. Mr. Murkard<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span> +said you had said good-night to him nearly two +hours before, so I knew you had gone for a walk. +You are very tired, I can see."</p> + +<p>She leaned over his chair and ran her hand +through his curly hair. Her touch, soft as it was, +seemed to tear his very heart-strings. He could +hardly bear to look her in the face. He left his +seat and went across to the fireplace.</p> + +<p>"Esther," he said, "difficulties are surrounding +us on every side. If things don't change soon, +goodness only knows what will happen to us."</p> + +<p>"But they will change. God will help us, husband +mine. Come what may, let us put our trust +in him. He has not deserted us hitherto, and I +am not afraid that he ever will."</p> + +<p>"If only I had your faith. Oh, Esther, my own +dear wife, I wonder if you will ever come to think +badly of me."</p> + +<p>"Never, Cuthbert, never! I shall believe in +your honesty and goodness until my life's end."</p> + +<p>She pulled his head down and kissed him on the +forehead. Before he could answer she had left the +room. He went out to the veranda and leaned +against the rails, saying slowly to himself, over +and over again:</p> + +<p>"'I shall believe in your honesty and goodness +until my life's end!'"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII"></a>CHAPTER VII.</h2> + +<p class="center ps">SATISFACTION—DISSATISFACTION—AND A +CONTEMPLATED ARRIVAL.</p> + + +<p>First thing next morning Murkard went off to +the township. He was gone about an hour, and +during that time Ellison seemed to live a lifetime. +Fearing that his face might frighten his wife, he +found work for himself in the store and among the +boats. Everything seemed to conspire to remind +him of his position, and every few moments the +inevitable result would rise before him in a new +light and fairly take his breath away. Times out +of number his patience got the better of him, and +he went down to the shore to see if there were any +sign of the boat's return. When at last he did +make it out, his heart seemed first to stand still +and then to throb until it felt as if it would burst +his chest asunder. Nearer and nearer came the +white sail, gleaming like a flake of ivory on the +warm sunlit sea. When she drew alongside the +jetty one glimpse of Murkard's face told him that +the errand had been satisfactorily accomplished.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span> +He waited for him to beach the boat, and then +they set off together for the store.</p> + +<p>"Well," asked Ellison anxiously, as soon as +they were inside and had shut the door, "how +have you succeeded?"</p> + +<p>"Admirably, so far. I have dispatched the +cablegram, and by this time to-morrow we shall +know our fate."</p> + +<p>"But what proof have you that they will believe +your tale?"</p> + +<p>"The Government Resident's word. He has +guaranteed the truth of my statement."</p> + +<p>Not another syllable did Ellison utter. His lips +moved, but no sound came from them. Then +suddenly, with a little cry, he stretched out his +arms towards the counter as if to sustain himself, +and missing that, fell prone in a dead faint upon +the floor.</p> + +<p>In a minute or two Murkard had brought him +back to consciousness.</p> + +<p>"What on earth's the matter with you, Ellison?" +he cried. "You're surely not going to give way +now that the business is accomplished?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know," the other replied shamefacedly, +as soon as he was sufficiently recovered to talk. +"I suppose the anxiety has been too much for me. +My wife must know nothing of this, remember."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Trust me. And now I shall advise you to +keep very quiet until the answer comes. There is +nothing to be gained by knocking yourself up, and +everything, whichever way you look at it, by being +calm."</p> + +<p>"But, Murkard, for the life of me I don't understand +how you managed it. No family in the world +would advance such a sum without full and strict +inquiry."</p> + +<p>"Can you trust me, Ellison?"</p> + +<p>"Implicitly—but——"</p> + +<p>"There must be no 'buts,' I have taken the +matter in hand. The Government Resident, who +believes in me, strangely enough, has guaranteed +the authenticity of what I have said. I have put +the matter clearly before your family, and I leave +it to their sense of justice to do what we ask. +Remember if, as I said last night, there is any +blame to be incurred by anyone, I take it."</p> + +<p>"Murkard, I am not fit to look you in the face. +I am a cur of the worst kind."</p> + +<p>"Hush! hush! you mustn't say such things of +yourself."</p> + +<p>"But I mean it! I mean every word I say! I +am not fit to——"</p> + +<p>"Whatever you are, Cuthbert, I don't want to +know it. I have told you before, and I tell you<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span> +again, our destinies, yours and mine, are one. +Come what may, I <i>must</i> help you."</p> + +<p>"You have been the truest friend that mortal +man ever had."</p> + +<p>"And I shall continue to be until the day of my +death. Whatever you may do, right or wrong, I +shall stand by you. Never doubt that."</p> + +<p>"Silas, I have a good mind to make a clean +breast of everything to you."</p> + +<p>"No, no! Don't tell me anything. I would +rather not hear. All I want to know, I know. +The rest lies outside the pale, and is no concern +of mine."</p> + +<p>"But it <i>does</i> concern you. It concerns you very +vitally, more vitally than you think."</p> + +<p>"Then I refuse to hear it. If you attempt to +make me, I shall be compelled to leave the place, +to go away from the island."</p> + +<p>"You are very obstinate."</p> + +<p>"No, old friend. It is only kindness to you and +your wife that makes me do it. Now I must get +to my books. If this money is to arrive, we must +be prepared for it. I see a golden future ahead +of us."</p> + +<p>Ellison passed out of the door saying to himself, +"And I only ruin and disgrace."</p> + +<p>He spent the rest of that day as one in a dream.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span> +He went about his work unconsciously, a great fear +hanging over him like a suspended sword. Again +and again he argued the case with himself. In a +moment of sudden mental aberration—vanity, perhaps, +at any rate, he could hardly say what—he +had represented himself to be someone he was not. +He had intended to leave the place next day; he +had no intention or wish to deceive for any criminal +or base purpose of his own. He had simply +craved the girl's interest and sympathy, and then +the deed was done. What could he do now? As +he had told himself last night, if he went to his +wife and confessed everything, she would loathe +and despise him for the rest of his existence. He +would be a detected liar and cheat without excuse +of any kind. Now that Murkard had taken this +course, the same inevitable result would ensue, only +increased by the fact that his crime would be +known to the whole world, and he would suffer the +penalty, thereby bringing ruin and disgrace unspeakable +upon those who loved him best. But, on +the other hand, his wife had to be saved, and he +had done it with his eyes open. It was too late to +draw back now, and the blow might fall at any +time. Yet, come what might, he could not tell +Esther while she was in this critical condition. +Small wonder, then, that he hung his head and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span> +looked as if all joy had passed out of his existence +forever.</p> + +<p>Next morning Murkard again set off for the +township. In an hour he returned jubilant. Ellison +saw his boat approach, from the store veranda, +and hastened down to meet him, his heart beating +wildly. Murkard waved to him from the boat.</p> + +<p>"It is done!" he cried, as he stepped ashore, his +usually pale face aglow with excitement. "The +cable arrived last night! A thousand pounds is +placed to your credit in the bank. The rest will +follow in a month. Good Heaven, Cuthbert, what +is the matter?"</p> + +<p>Ellison had thrown himself upon the sand, and +was sobbing like a little child.</p> + +<p>"Poor old chap!" said Murkard, seating himself +beside him. "You're overwrought. The waiting +has been too much for you. Never mind, now +we are safe. The money is here, our credit is +restored. Shell has gone up in the London market, +and now we'll begin to make up for lost time. +Come, come, you mustn't behave like this. Supposing +any of the hands should see you?"</p> + +<p>"It must all be repaid," Ellison answered almost +fiercely, as soon as he recovered his composure, +"every penny of it! I shall never rest until I have +done that. Tell me everything, from first to last.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span> +Don't hide a word or detail from me. I must +know everything!"</p> + +<p>"You will know nothing more than I have +already told you. Cuthbert, you must trust me. +You have known me a long time now. Is your +trust in my fidelity strong enough to convince you +that I would do nothing that could bring you to +any harm?"</p> + +<p>"I am sure of that. But it is not enough to +satisfy my fears for myself. I am making myself +responsible for all this money. I must know exactly +how you obtained it from—from my people, +and on what terms. I <i>must</i> know it!"</p> + +<p>"I got it from them on the plea that you had +settled down to a respectable, honest, reputable +business out here. That you had married a quiet, +ladylike girl. That times were bad, and unless you +could raise the amount of money asked for, you +would be thrown upon the world again, and all +your good resolutions scattered to the winds. The +Government Resident and Blake the banker corroborated +my assertions, and I made myself a +surety, a poor one perhaps, but still a surety for +the amount. Your father, the duke, cabled through +his bankers to Blake that you might draw on him +to the extent of one thousand pounds, and that the +rest of the money would be dispatched during the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span> +present week. I have the papers for the one +thousand pounds in my pocket now. You must +sign them. In the meantime I have taken the +liberty of cabling your thanks home."</p> + +<p>"It was to save her—only to save her. Whatever +happens, remember that!"</p> + +<p>"What do you mean? You look as glum as a +man about to be hanged. Come, come, Cuthbert, +put a happier face on it, if only out of compliment +to me. You are saved now! You can improve +your business; you can send out more boats and +do what you have been hankering after for a long +time now, establish a floating station for your +fleet."</p> + +<p>"Yes, yes; we can certainly do more. But at +what a cost?"</p> + +<p>"My dear fellow, the cost will be nothing to the +gains. Besides, you can always repay."</p> + +<p>"I was not thinking of that cost. You don't +know what an awful business this has been to me. +The agony I have been through these past two +days has made me an old man."</p> + +<p>"Eating humble-pie, you mean? I can understand +your feelings. But still it's done now, and +what is better, well done. Now come to the store +with me and sign those papers."</p> + +<p>They went up the hill together, and with a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span> +trembling hand Ellison signed what was asked of +him. This done, he tottered rather than walked +out of the store towards his own abode. He went +into the dining room and filled himself half a +tumbler of whiskey, which he drank almost neat. +The spirit pulled him together, and he departed in +search of his wife. By the time he found her the +liquor had begun to take effect. He became +almost excited. She was sewing in the shade of +the back veranda. He seated himself beside her, +and with his left hand smoothed her soft brown +hair.</p> + +<p>"Little woman," he said, "I have great news for +you. The happiest of happy news. We are +saved; the overdraft will be paid off, and we are +in smooth water again. In other words, the +money has arrived."</p> + +<p>"From your father, Cuthbert? Oh, you don't +mean that?"</p> + +<p>"But I do. The good Murkard was worked it +admirably. A cablegram arrived this morning +authorising me to draw on him for a thousand +pounds. A draft for four thousand more will +leave London this week."</p> + +<p>"Thank God for his mercy! Oh, Cuthbert, +what can I say to show you how pleased I am? +And you deserve it too, you poor, hard-working<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span> +boy. Your face has been so long and solemn +lately that I have been more than anxious about +you."</p> + +<p>"You need not be so any longer then, my sweet. +The crisis is past. Now we will begin to put the +money to practical use. I have all sorts of +schemes in my mind. Dearie, you must say something +nice to Murkard about it. For it is his +cleverness that has brought it all about."</p> + +<p>"You are very generous to that man, my +husband."</p> + +<p>"And I fear, forgive my saying so, that you are +not generous enough to him. That man, as you +call him would cut off his own right hand if he +thought that by so doing he could help me."</p> + +<p>"I know it, and perhaps that is why I am a +little jealous of him. I am selfish enough to think +I should like to be the only person in the whole +world who could do anything for you."</p> + +<p>"You are part of myself, little wife. It is for +your sake I work. It was for your sake I——"</p> + +<p>"What? What else have you done for my sake +that you suddenly look so glum about it?"</p> + +<p>He sank his voice almost to a whisper, when he +replied:</p> + +<p>"For your sake I have done in this business +what I have done. Whatever comes of it, never<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span> +lose sight of that. It is the only bright spot in the +whole miserable affair."</p> + +<p>"I shall never forget that; you need not be +afraid of it."</p> + +<p>He stroked her hair for a moment, and then +once more went down the garden path towards the +store. Murkard was not there. On inquiring of +the Kanakas, he discovered that he had gone +across to the settlement in his boat.</p> + +<p>In order to have something to distract his +thoughts Ellison went down to the carpenter's +shed, and set to work upon some business he had +long neglected. It was a relief to him to have +something to do, and he derived a peculiar peace +from the chirrup of the plane, and a restfulness +from the trailing shavings that had been a +stranger to him for longer than he cared to +remember. As he worked his thoughts took in all +that had happened to him since his arrival in the +settlement. He remembered that first night in the +Hotel of All Nations; the fight and his curious +resolve upon the hill-side; his search for work the +following morning—their swim across the strait, +and his first introduction to the girl who was now +his wife. The death of her father came next; +then their marriage; the difficulties and disasters +of their business, and——But here his recollec<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span>tions +came to an abrupt halt. He did not dare +think of what had followed after. Oh, how bitterly +he cursed himself for that one false step, and to the +cowardice to which it had given birth! If only he +had had the moral courage to own himself a liar at +once, what awful after misery he might have saved +himself. But, no! it was not to be—not to be. +The saddest of all sad words—not to be. Now +even if he managed to repay every farthing, there +would always be the remembrance of his sin to +haunt him. He put down the tools he was using, +and turned to look across the straits. The afternoon's +sun was hardly a hand's breadth above the +horizon. A little fleet of luggers was tacking +down, under a light breeze, towards the anchorage, +their white sails gleaming picturesquely in the +warm sunlight. The ripple of the waves on the +beach came up to him like softest music, and he +was just thinking how fair it all was when he heard +footsteps hurrying on the hard-beaten path outside. +Next moment old Mrs. Fenwick stood +before him, hardly able to speak with excitement. +In a flash Ellison divined her errand. +Seizing her by the arm, he shook her almost +savagely.</p> + +<p>"What is it? What do you want? Is he +wanted? Quick, quick!"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span></p> + +<p>She nodded emphatically, unable to find breath +to speak.</p> + +<p>"Out of my way! I will go at once!"</p> + +<p>He picked up his hat, dashed through the door +and down the path towards the jetty. A boat lay +moored alongside a lugger. He sprang into it, +had cast her loose, and was sculling madly in the +direction of the township before Mrs. Fenwick had +time to wonder what had become of him. In a +quarter of an hour he was ringing the medico's +bell, and in half an hour they were back together +at the station. As they approached the +house the doctor stopped and looked at his companion.</p> + +<p>"My friend," said he, "if I were you I should +go for a long walk or a row. Don't come back +for at least two hours. You can do nothing here, +and you will only be in the way. If you stay I +shall have you on my hands next."</p> + +<p>Ellison looked at him as if he would like to +argue the point with him.</p> + +<p>"Man, man!" he said viciously, "you don't +know the state I'm in. If anything happens to +that woman it will kill me."</p> + +<p>"I know, I know! I've had the same feeling +myself. It's very commendable—very. But——"</p> + +<p>"Oh, d—— your sentimental twaddle! No!<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span> +no! Forgive my rudeness, you can see I'm not +myself at all."</p> + +<p>"That's why I order you to go for a row. Now +be off, and don't let me see your face again for +hours. Your wife will be quite safe in my hands."</p> + +<p>"God grant she may be!"</p> + +<p>He picked his hat up from where it had fallen, +and without another protest walked back to the +shore. Again he embarked aboard his boat, and +once more he set sail, this time down the Pass in +the opposite direction, and out into the open sea.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VIII" id="CHAPTER_VIII"></a>CHAPTER VIII.</h2> + +<p class="center ps">A VISION AND A REALITY.</p> + + +<p>If Cuthbert Ellison ever forgets any portion of +his eventful career, it will certainly not be the part +connected with his sail that evening. The sun lay +like a disc of fire upon the horizon's edge as he +left the bay; his ruddy glare lit up the sea, the +islands, and the cloudless heavens, and the effect +grew even more weird and wonderful the further +he sank into his crimson bed. Ellison put his +boat about and steered directly for the sinking +orb, the water churning into foam under the little +vessel's bows as he progressed. He seemed +hardly conscious of his actions. He sat in the +stern-sheets staring straight ahead of him, seeing +little or nothing of the sea around him, looking +only through his mind's-eye at his home and the +momentous event that was occurring there. His +own sin and its consequences seemed as nothing +to him now in the white light of his new and +greater anxiety. If anything disastrous should +befall his wife in his absence, if she should die<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span> +before he could get back to her, what would +happen to him then? In that case the sooner he +himself died the better. The very idea of such a +thing set him trembling like a leaf. He knew now +exactly how much he cared for his wife, and in his +present state that knowledge was not a soothing +one. He realised what the world, his world, would +be to him without her.</p> + +<p>The sun sank lower and lower until only a flake +of gold remained to show where he was taking his +departure. With his total disappearance the wind +dropped entirely, and the boat stood pulseless upon +the pearly levels of the deep. Then from the +corners of the world great shadows stole out to +meet him. The evening star trembled in its place, +and one by one her sisters came to watch with +her. Sometimes a big fish rose near the boat, and +disappeared again with a sullen splash, awed perhaps +by the silence and solemnity of the world +upon the surface. Far away to starboard he could +discern the dim outline of the land, but all around +him was only water—water—water. He furled the +sail, and, to defend himself against the terror of his +own thoughts, took to the oars. It was a heavy +boat to pull, but he found comfort in thus tiring +himself.</p> + +<p>For nearly an hour he rowed on and on, the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span> +night closing in around him as he went. At last, +thoroughly wearied, he drew in his oars, and again +took his place in the stern. By this time it was +quite dark. The stars shone now, not by ones or +twos, but in their countless thousands. They were +not, however, to shine for long, for in the east a +curious trembling faintness foretold the rising of +the moon. Little by little this indistinctness spread +across the sky, and one by one the stars fell under +its subtle influence and went back to their coffers +in the treasure house of night. Then, with a +beauty indescribable, a rim of gold looked up above +the edge of the world, and grew every moment +larger. It was the moon—the great round glorious +tropic moon, and with her coming a broad track of +silver was thrown by a giant hand across the ocean. +On this the boat seemed but a tiny speck, a frail +atom in that immensity of water. Not a sign of +land was now to be seen anywhere, and to Ellison +it seemed as if, in his anxiety, he had said good-bye +to it forever. He stood up and looked around +him. Still to right and left, before him and behind, +was only water slowly heaving in the moonlight.</p> + +<p>It had a curious effect upon his overstrung +nerves, this expanse of moonlit water. A peculiar +giddiness seized him. He sat down again and +buried his face in his hands. Then suddenly some<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span>thing +inside his head seemed to give way, and he +looked up again. Whether he was mad for the +time being, and really thought he saw the things he +describes so vividly now, or whether he was dreaming, +is a matter only for conjecture. At any rate, +it seemed to him that from the place where he +was, far removed from all the influences of the +world, he saw a vision, the vision of the world's +dead rising up to meet him. Sitting in the stern of +his tiny boat, grasping the thwarts with either +hand and looking out across the water, he watched +and trembled. He saw the greatness of the deep +opened as by a mighty hand. And from the void +thus made, he witnessed a procession of the world's +dead troop forth upon the silent waters like men +walking on a silver road. There was no sound +with them, not a footfall, neither a voice nor a +rustle of garments. They came out of the east a +mighty army, such as no man could number. They +passed him where he sat and marched on again, +still without a sound, towards the west. Every age +and every nationality—semi-humans from the prehistoric +ages, Israelites, Egyptians, Ethiopians, +Medes, Persians, Assyrians, Babylonians, Goths, +Greeks, Romans, Huns, and Norsemen; every race +and every colour from the world's first death to the +tiniest child giving up its little life at the moment<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span> +that he looked was represented there. There were +old men bowed down with the weight of years, +young men in all the pride of manly strength, aged +women, gentle matrons and young girls, children, +and even tiny babes. Men slain in battle with their +wounds still gaping on their shattered bodies; men +drowned at sea, with the weeds of ocean twined +about them; kings and nobles in their robes of +state, priests in their sacred vestments, and peasants +in their homespun; holy men in flowing +garments, martyrs and those who fought with +beasts at Ephesus; English wives and dark +skinned African mothers—all were there. They +approached him, looked at him, and then passed +upon their way. Some had hope written in their +faces, some despair, some ineffable peace, some the +imprint of everlasting remorse. Not one but bore +some mark to witness to the life he or she had pursued +on earth. On and on they passed; already +the procession seemed to stretch from pole to pole, +and every moment was adding to their number. +But there was no sound at all with them.</p> + +<p>Suddenly an intense fear and dread came over +Ellison, such as he had never experienced in his +life before. Had this vision been sent to prepare +him for some great sorrow? Was it possible that +Esther could be among them? Surely if she were<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span> +she would come to him. Hardly conscious of +what he was doing, he clambered forrard in the +boat, and resting his hands upon the gunwale, +stared at the passing multitude. There were +mothers in plenty with infants in their arms—but +Esther was not among them. He searched and +searched, and still the relentless march went +on—still they stretched out across the seas. All +the dead of the earth, century and century and bygone +ages; all the dead of the sea and under the +sea paraded before him, and still the march went +on. From every quarter of the globe the army +was recruited, and everyone paused to look at this +distracted man. In sheer weariness of movement +he called upon them to stop—to stop if only for +a minute. His voice rang out across the deep, +again and again. But there was no change; there +could be no halting in that march of death. As +fast as the last ranks appeared thousands more +came from all quarters to carry it on again. At +first he had been all dumb, senseless wonderment. +Then suddenly his ears were opened, and a second +awful terror seized and held him spell-bound. He +tried to shut his eyes to them, but they would not +be shut out; he tried to stop his ears, but now the +tramp of that mighty army could not be prevented. +On and on and on it went, clashing and clanging,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span> +rolling and thundering, coming out of the east and +disappearing into the west. And over it all the +moon shone down pitiless and cold as steel. He +tried to cry for mercy, but this time his voice +refused to answer to his call. He stretched out his +hands in feeble, despairing supplication, but still +the march went on. At last he could hold out no +longer; he stood up, raised his arms to Heaven, +and pleaded piteously. As if in answer his +senses deserted him, and he fell back into the +bottom of his boat in a dead faint.</p> + +<p>When he recovered himself the sky was overcast +with clouds. He looked about him half expecting +to see the procession still parading past his boat, +but it was gone. He was alone once more upon +the waters, and, to add to his feeling of desolation, +a soft rain was wetting him to the skin. How long +he had lain there unconscious he could not tell. +He looked at his watch, but it had stopped at half-past +eight—the moment of his fall. A smart +breeze was blowing, and, in a frenzy of recollection, +he turned the boat's head for home, resolved +to know the worst. In a moment he was tearing +through the water like a thing possessed. This +sense of rapid movement was just what his spirits +needed; he could not go fast enough. A brisk +sea was running, but over it his craft dashed like a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span> +flying stag. He could not be more than a dozen +miles from the station at the very most—an hour's +smart sailing. He shook out the reef he had +taken in the canvas and let the boat do her best.</p> + +<p>With a heart like this tiny cockle-shell borne +upon the tossing, tumbling sea, one moment uplifted +by hope, and the next falling deep down +into the trough of despair, he sailed on and on. +Every second was bringing him nearer and nearer +to his home. Already through the haze he could +make out the bold outline of the island. Ten +minutes later he was abreast of it, skimming safely +along out of reach of that white line of dashing +breakers. Rounding the point, he caught a +glimpse of the lights of the station. With a rush +his fear gripped hold of him again, not to leave +him till he knew the best or worst. Like a +drunken man he drove his boat ashore, leaped out +on the sands, and commenced to haul her up. It +was only when he had done this that he became +aware of something lying on the sand just above +high-water mark. It was the body of a man +stretched out at full length. Wondering whether +he could be still under the influence of the nightmare +that had held him so at sea, he approached +it. To his intense surprise it was Murkard—<i>dead +drunk</i>. Kneeling by his side, he shook him vigor<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span>ously, +but without result. He was insensible, and +from all appearances likely to remain so for some +hours to come. But even this did not strike Ellison +as it would have done at any other time; it +appeared to him to be part and parcel of the nightmare +under the influence of which he had so long +been labouring. Rising to his feet he bent over +the man, took him in his arms, and bore him up the +hill to the hut.</p> + +<p>No sound came from his own dwelling; indeed, +had it not been for the light burning in the little +sitting room window it might have been uninhabited. +Having laid his burden on the bed, he +retraced his steps and went across to know his fate. +As he approached the house he became conscious +of a figure sitting in the veranda. When it rose, +and came softly out to meet him, he recognised +his friend the doctor. Ellison's tongue refused its +office, his throat was like a lime-kiln. The other +saw his state, and in a whisper said:</p> + +<p>"I have waited here to congratulate you. You +ought to be a happy man. Your wife <i>and son</i> are +doing excellently well."</p> + +<p>Ellison reeled as if he had received a blow.</p> + +<p>"Mother and son!" he managed to gasp. +"Oh, my God, you're not deceiving me?"</p> + +<p>As if in answer a little thin wail stole out from<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span> +the house into the darkness, a little cry that went +straight and plump to the very centre of the +father's heart. It was true, then? There could +be no deception about that!</p> + +<p>"Oh, thank God! thank God!"</p> + +<p>Again that feeble little voice came out to them, +and again Ellison's nature was stirred to its lowest +depths. All the world seemed centred in that +tiny wail.</p> + +<p>"And how is she? There is no danger? For +mercy's sake tell me candidly. You don't know +what I've suffered these last few hours."</p> + +<p>"Your wife is doing wonderfully well. You +need have no fear now. The old woman who is +with her is an excellent nurse, and I shall come +across first thing in the morning. I only waited +to have the pleasure of telling you this myself."</p> + +<p>"How can I thank you? And you have been +sitting here so long in the dark without anyone to +look after you. You must think me inhospitable +to the last degree. Come inside now."</p> + +<p>They went into the room, and Ellison set +refreshment before the doctor. He would, however, +not touch a drop himself.</p> + +<p>"I dare not," he said, in reply to the other's +look of astonishment. "In the state I'm in I +should be dead drunk if I drank a thimbleful. I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span> +can tell you I wouldn't live this night again for +something."</p> + +<p>"I wouldn't be answerable for your brain if you +did," the doctor replied, glancing at the haggard +face before him. "What on earth have you been +doing with yourself! You look as if you'd been +communing with the Legions of the Dead."</p> + +<p>"So I have—so I have. You've just hit it. +That's what I <i>have</i> been doing. I've seen the dead +of all the world troop past me to-night."</p> + +<p>"Give me your wrist."</p> + +<p>He spoke in a tone of command, and almost +unconsciously Ellison extended one arm. The +doctor placed his finger on the pulse.</p> + +<p>"Nothing much the matter there. You only +want a good night's sleep now the anxiety's over, +and I prophesy you'll be as fit as a fiddle to-morrow. +I shouldn't be at all surprised if you tell +me you're the proudest father in the hemisphere. +Bless you, I know your sort!"</p> + +<p>Ellison laughed softly, but for all that it was +a mirthless laugh. He had not recovered yet from +the shock of all he had undergone that evening.</p> + +<p>"When may I see her?"</p> + +<p>"She is asleep now. When she wakes, perhaps. +The nurse, however, will settle that point. You +must abide strictly by what she says for a week or<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span> +two. Above all you must not frighten your wife +with that face. Make that more cheerful before +you go in, or I'll keep you away from her for a +month."</p> + +<p>"I'd break your neck if you did. And I'm +pretty muscular even now."</p> + +<p>"I'll take that assertion on trust. Now I must +be going."</p> + +<p>"I'll see you down to your boat."</p> + +<p>They walked to the shore together. One of the +Kanaka hands was in waiting to put the doctor +across. When the little craft had disappeared +from view, Ellison went back to the house. He +was bathing in a sea of happiness. His fondest +dream was realised. He went into the sitting +room and threw himself upon the sofa. He had +hardly been there a minute before the door +opened, and Mrs. Fenwick appeared bearing in +her arms a bundle. He sprang to his feet once +more, trembling in every limb.</p> + +<p>"I'm sure I wish you joy, sir," she began, as +she came towards him. "He's the noblest boy I've +seen these many years; I ought to know, for I've +nursed a-many."</p> + +<p>She parted the blankets that enshrined the +treasure, and Ellison looked down on the little +face.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Take him in your own arms, sir. It's a proud +father you ought to be."</p> + +<p>For the first time in his life Ellison held his son +in his arms. How sweet and desirable the world +seemed to him then. In spite of everything that +had gone before he would not have changed places +with any man who breathed. But he was not to +be permitted the honour of holding the infant long.</p> + +<p>"When may I see my wife?" he asked, as he +laid the babe back in his nurse's arms.</p> + +<p>"I'll call you when she wakes, sir."</p> + +<p>For nearly an hour he was left alone. The little +clock on the mantelpiece ticked off the score. Not +a sound came from the outer world save the monotonous +thunder of the surf upon the reef. He contrasted +this night with that when, after the fight at +the Hotel of All Nations, he had waited on the side +of the hill, wondering what the morrow would +bring forth, and whether it was too late for him to +pull up and save himself. But he had pulled up, +and now he——</p> + +<p>Again a knock came to the door, and once more +Mrs. Fenwick entered the room.</p> + +<p>"She is awake now, sir. If you would like to +see her for a moment, you can do so. But you +must be careful not to excite her."</p> + +<p>Ellison gave his promise, and followed the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span> +woman into his wife's room. Esther looked very +white and thin; but it was evident she was glad to +see him. Her pretty hair straggled across the +pillow, and her great eyes looked into his with a +love that nothing could ever quench. One hand +lay on the coverlet; he took it softly in his, and +raised it to his lips. A little smile of intense +happiness hovered round her mouth. Suddenly +he seemed to remember. Turning to the nurse, +he whispered:</p> + +<p>"Give me the child."</p> + +<p>Without a word she did as she was ordered, and +again Cuthbert Ellison held his new-born son in +his arms. Then stooping, with all the tenderness +his nature was capable of, he laid the sleeping +babe within the hollow of the mother's arm. And +bending over her, he kissed her on the lips.</p> + +<p>"God bless and keep you both," he said, and +softly hurried from the room, his heart overflowing +with joy and thankfulness.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IX" id="CHAPTER_IX"></a>CHAPTER IX.</h2> + +<p class="center ps">HAPPINESS—UNHAPPINESS—AND A MAN OF THE +WORLD.</p> + + +<p>The birth of his son opened up to Ellison a new +world. For the first month of that baby life +everything connected with his own past was forgotten +in one intense joy of possession. He +began to understand that hitherto he had only +vegetated; now he lived the life of a man who +was not only a husband but a parent. The thread +of his existence was a continuous one, woven and +drawn in by the pink tenderness of a baby fingers. +And as he noticed the growth of intelligence in +those little eyes—the first faint dawning of the +human soul within—his pleasure and delight +increased a thousand-fold. He could hardly +believe that the child was his own, his very own, +bound to him by all the ties of flesh and blood—a +veritable human, with a soul to be lost or to be +saved by his influence. On the strength of his +happiness he began to build gigantic castles in the +air, and, what was more, to handsomely furnish +them.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span></p> + +<p>As for Esther, the motherhood that had come to +her added a charm to her sweetness that her husband, +much as he loved her, had neither known nor +guessed that she possessed. The child was a perpetual +mystery to her, and a never-ending charm. +And yet with it all her husband was always the +chiefest in her eyes. There was a difference in the +love she felt for them—a difference that she could +hardly account for or understand. One was <i>of</i> the +other, yet not <i>the</i> other. One was a love she had +in a measure created for herself; the other was +nothing more nor less than herself. Indeed, their +home life was now almost as perfect as it was +possible for it to be. With a substantial banking +account—how obtained Ellison never allowed himself +to think; the new pearling season approaching +with glowing prospects; a tender, loving wife to +care for and protect; a son and heir to bind them +closer to each other, he might indeed esteem himself +a lucky man. Murkard found occasion, one +morning, to tell him so in the store.</p> + +<p>"Everything seems to prosper with you now, +Ellison. If I had such a wife and son to work for, +there'd be nothing I couldn't do."</p> + +<p>"There shall be nothing <i>I</i> can't do. If things +<i>have</i> changed, so much the better. I will make hay +while the sun shines, and you must help me."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span></p> + +<p>"There is nothing I would do more willingly. +You know you may always count on my hearty cooperation."</p> + +<p>Ellison shook him warmly by the hand.</p> + +<p>"I know," he said. "You have been a good +friend to me, Murkard."</p> + +<p>"And you will forget it all in a moment."</p> + +<p>"What do you mean?"</p> + +<p>"Nothing. I'm only looking ahead. A habit of +mine. Forget it." He turned to the desk at which +he had been writing, and took up some papers. +"Now let us talk business. The season is beginning, +as you know. Are you ready for it?"</p> + +<p>"Quite. The boats are in first-class trim; the +two new divers will be here to-morrow; we shall +get to sea on Thursday morning, all being well."</p> + +<p>"And you still intend going with them?"</p> + +<p>"On this particular trip—yes! I want to see +how things work out yonder, and what chances +there are for a floating station."</p> + +<p>A floating station, in pearling parlance, is a larger +vessel than the ordinary diving lugger, capable of +anchoring in the vicinity of the fleet, of carrying +stores sufficient to supply the boats during their +operations, and of taking over their cargoes of shell +when obtained. By this means the time which +would otherwise be occupied in sailing the distance<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span> +backward and forward to the land station, not unfrequently +a distance of some hundreds of miles, +would be saved, and the luggers enabled to go on +working uninterruptedly. A floating station is also +capable of meeting ships in the open sea, and of +transhipping to them her cargo of shell, packed and +addressed direct to the London markets, by this +means again saving agents' fees, storage, wharfage, +etc., etc., in Thursday Island. The advantages to +be gained by employing such a vessel must be +obvious.</p> + +<p>"I wonder you like to tear yourself away just at +present," said Murkard, after a little pause.</p> + +<p>"I don't like it. I am dreading it like the coward +I am; but it's got to be done, Murkard. Try as I +will I can't blink that fact. As I told you a month +ago, I intend to put my shoulder to the wheel now +with a vengeance. I think I've proved since we +came here that I'm made of the right sort of stuff. +Well, I'm going to do twice as much now in support +of that assertion. I have made one firm +resolve?"</p> + +<p>"And that is?"</p> + +<p>"That save for the purposes of my business, in +the strictest sense of the word, I will not touch a +penny of that five thousand pounds. And I will +deny myself no toil and no thrift that can help me<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span> +to repay every farthing of what I <i>do</i> take, and with +interest. Then it shall go back to England."</p> + +<p>"But, man, you must be mad! It's your own +money. As much yours as the child in yonder."</p> + +<p>"Not the two in the same breath, as you love +your life, Murkard. No! When I took the money +I took it as a loan, and only as a loan. By God's +help I will repay every farthing of it, and with +interest. So only can I hope to satisfy my conscience."</p> + +<p>Murkard looked at him. There was determination +in every line of Ellison's face. He lifted his hand +from the desk, and put it on the other's shoulder.</p> + +<p>"Ellison, you're a brave man, and I respect you +for it."</p> + +<p>"That's because you don't know everything."</p> + +<p>"I know quite enough to convince me of the +justice of what I have just said. If there's any +more at the back of it—I'll respect you the more +for that too."</p> + +<p>"Well, at any rate, that's enough on the subject +for the present. Of course, while I'm away you +will be in charge here. You understand that, don't +you? I leave everything in your hands, including +the safety of my wife and child. I need not say I +trust you."</p> + +<p>"You need have no fears on that score. I will<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span> +guard them as if they were my own. How long do +you expect to be away?"</p> + +<p>"At least a month. It is no use going so far +for less. If we have much luck I may stay longer; +but it is very doubtful."</p> + +<p>"Very doubtful, I should think."</p> + +<p>Ellison picked up his hat and left the store. On +returning to the house he found Esther seated on +the veranda, the baby sleeping in a cradle by her +side. He took the hammock and stretched himself +out. Without speaking she signed to him, by +taking his hand, to look; then stooping she drew +the mosquito netting back from the cradle head, +and showed him the child lying fast asleep. Hand +in hand they looked down upon the little pink +face; and the one little arm outside the quilt, with +its tiny fist tight clenched, seemed to draw the +father's and mother's hearts if possible closer even +than before. Then she dropped the net again, and +turned towards her husband. She saw that his +face was preternaturally solemn.</p> + +<p>"You have something to tell me," she said.</p> + +<p>"Something rather unpleasant, I'm afraid," he +murmured in reply. "And yet, after all, looked +straight in the face, it is not very much. I meant +to have told you before, but I've been putting it +off from day to day. The fact is, Esther, I'm<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span> +going away with the luggers the day after to-morrow +for a month."</p> + +<p>"You—going—away—and—for—a month! +Oh, Cuthbert!"</p> + +<p>It was the first real parting since their marriage, +and the news came as an unpleasant shock to her. +But Esther knew she must be brave, and not try +to hinder him from what was evidently his duty. +Calling Mrs. Fenwick out to the veranda, she gave +the child to her; then, taking her husband's arm, +she went with him down the path towards the +shore.</p> + +<p>"It is weak of me to think I can expect to keep +you with me always," she said, when they had gone +a little way. "But baby and I will miss you +dreadfully."</p> + +<p>"It must be, darling. You see, I must work +now even harder than before."</p> + +<p>"Why must you? We are doing well enough as +it is, surely?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, things have improved, certainly; but +while that loan hangs over me I shall know no +peace. It haunts me night and day. You would +not have me idle my time away here on the +strength of that money, would you?"</p> + +<p>"Of course not. But I fear whatever you did, I +should think right."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Forgive my doubting that assertion. I'm certain, +darling, if you saw me idle, even your love +would not be above telling me so."</p> + +<p>"But I should only tell you because I loved +you."</p> + +<p>"That is precisely why I am going away. I +want to work hard, that I may prevent your ever +being called upon to tell me."</p> + +<p>"We are getting a little out of our depths, are +we not?"</p> + +<p>They had reached a little clearing in the jungle. +Here she stopped, and taking his great brown +hand in hers, stroked it with her own white fingers. +Then, looking up into his face with a faint little +smile, through which the tears threatened at any +moment to burst, she said:</p> + +<p>"Go, and may God prosper your labours!"</p> + +<p>That was the last of her opposition.</p> + +<p>Two days later Ellison gave the signal for +departure, and the three luggers weighed anchor +and stood out of the bay. His own boat was the +last to leave, and until the headland shut her from +his sight, Ellison waved a farewell to the white +figure standing in the veranda. Then the sea took +him into her arms, and for a month the station +knew him no more.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</a></span></p><hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>It was sundown on the twenty-third day at sea. +Work was almost over. The sun was little more +than a hand's breadth above the horizon, and +another hour would find him gone. Hardly a +ripple disturbed the pearly serenity of the ocean; +the only spot of land to be seen was a tiny island +just peeping up on the sky-line away to starboard. +Ellison sat upon the combing of the main hatch, +holding the diver's life-line in his hand, watching +the movements of the other boats, and listening to +the throbbing of the air-pump on the deck beside +him. It was nearly time for the diver to ascend.</p> + +<p>Suddenly the line he held twitched violently in +his hand. It was a signal to haul up the canvas +bag containing the oysters gathered. He hauled +in, and having emptied the contents on the deck, +lowered the bag to be re-filled. Then with his +knife he set to work to open the oysters. The first +and second were valuable shells, but destitute of +pearls; the third contained an almost insignificant +gem; the fourth he opened carefully, with a sort of +premonition that it would be found to contain +something valuable. If the truth were known, he +was thinking more of Esther than the work upon +which he was engaged. When he did look inside, +he almost dropped the shell in amazement. +Tangled among the beard, and half hidden from<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span> +his sight, was an enormous black pearl, perfect, so +far as he could make out, in symmetry, and larger +than a hazel-nut. Trembling with eagerness, yet +without allowing a sign to escape him to show his +crew that he had made a find out of the ordinary, +he disentangled the gem from its bearded setting, +and with exquisite care removed it altogether from +the shell. He could hardly believe his good fortune. +Perfect in shape, of enormous size, and, as +far as he could tell, without a flaw, it was a jewel +fit for a royal crown. He was afraid to think of +its value, but from what he knew of pearls, five +thousand pounds would hardly buy it.</p> + +<p>He had barely time to conceal it in his pocket +and order one of the Kanakas to stow the shells in +their proper places, when the diver signalled that +he was coming up. As soon as he had seen him +disrobed he descended to his cabin, and after +another careful examination of the gem, put it +away in a place of safety. If his calculation of its +value proved anything like correct, he would now +be able to pay off his debt, relieve his mind of its +weight of anxiety, and start again with a fresh +sheet. But even without this marvellous bit of +good fortune their trip had been phenomenally +successful; now, with this additional piece of good +luck, he felt that he was justified in weighing<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span> +anchor the following morning and setting sail for +home.</p> + +<p>And what a home-coming it was, to be sure! +What questions had to be asked and answered; how +every change in the son and heir had to be described +and noted. And indeed, as Ellison was +only too glad to admit to himself, he was indeed a +bonny boy. His heart throbbed with joy and pride +as he held him in his arms.</p> + +<p>And who shall paint Esther's delight in having +her husband with her again? She could hardly +bear him out of her sight.</p> + +<p>When luncheon was over, and they had adjourned +to the veranda, she came to business.</p> + +<p>"You have not yet told me what success you met +with, Cuthbert? I have prayed that you might be +fortunate—night and morning."</p> + +<p>"Then your prayers have been answered, darling, +as any prayers of yours would be."</p> + +<p>He led her back into the sitting room, and having +made certain that no one was near to spy upon +them, took from his pocket the little box which +contained the pearl. In her soft white hand the +gem looked as black as night.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Cuthbert!" she cried, in supreme astonishment; +"a black pearl! and such a large one. +Oh, this is the greatest luck that could pos<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</a></span>sibly +befall us. Have you any idea what it is +worth!"</p> + +<p>"I hardly know, but at least I should think +enough to liquidate that debt, and lay the foundation +of our future fortunes."</p> + +<p>"As much as that? Oh, husband mine, it is indeed +an answer to my prayers. And now you will +be quite free?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, free—quite free."</p> + +<p>His voice took a fuller tone as he said it. He +threw his head back and laughed like his old happy +self. Then, seating himself beside her, he began to +question her on other subjects.</p> + +<p>"It's a funny thing that Murkard should have +chanced to be away just when I arrived. What +time did he cross to the township?"</p> + +<p>"About eleven o'clock, I think. Cuthbert, I +want to talk to you about him."</p> + +<p>"Well," he said, looking at her laughingly, +"what has the old fellow been up to while I've +been away? Making love to you? I'll certainly +break his head for him if he has."</p> + +<p>"Don't be silly! I want to talk to you seriously; +I am alarmed about him. He frightens me terribly +at times."</p> + +<p>"Come, come, you mustn't be silly. There's +nothing but what's honest about Murkard, I'll stake<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</a></span> +my life on that. He wouldn't willing hurt a fly. +But in what way does he frighten you?"</p> + +<p>"He looks so queer, and once or twice when I've +sent for him he hasn't been able to come. I have +serious suspicions that he has been drinking heavily +lately."</p> + +<p>"Is that so? Well, I'll soon stop that. And yet +we must not be too hard on him, poor fellow, he +has much to put up with. Hark! that sounds like +his voice."</p> + +<p>He rose and looked out across the veranda. +Murkard was standing at his hut door, calling to a +Kanaka on the beach. Ellison put on his hat and +went across to him. Hearing steps behind him, +Murkard turned round, and the other saw his face. +It was of a whitey-gray colour, almost that of zinc; +the pouches under his eyes were dark and swollen, +while the eyes themselves had a shifty trick of +roaming about as he talked. His hair was now +almost entirely gray over the temples. His hands +shook violently. He seemed to have aged years in +that one month.</p> + +<p>"Why, Murkard, how's it with you?" Ellison +began briskly, resolved not to show that he noticed +the queerness of his greeting. "But you're not +looking well, man."</p> + +<p>"I am quite well—quite well. I've had a touch<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</a></span> +of fever lately, but I'm better now. I'm glad to +see you back. I hope you think I've taken +proper care of your wife and child in your +absence."</p> + +<p>"I'm sure you have, old man. And now take +my arm and come in here for a chat. I've great +news for you."</p> + +<p>They went into the store together, and Ellison +seated himself on a bale of rope. Murkard picked +idly at the edge of the counter with nervous, +trembling hands. A figure passed the door, but +neither of them saw it.</p> + +<p>"Murkard, this has been a wonderful month +for me."</p> + +<p>"How—how? Why don't you speak out? Why +do you keep me in suspense?"</p> + +<p>"Nerves," said Ellison to himself. "I must stop +this as soon as possible." Then aloud he continued, +taking out the gem and placing it on the counter: +"Three hundred pounds' worth of shell in the +luggers, and that beauty."</p> + +<p>Murkard picked up and turned the great black +pearl over and over without answering. Finally he +said:</p> + +<p>"I suppose you will be a rich man now?"</p> + +<p>"I shall be able, at least, to square that debt +and start afresh, if that's what you mean. It's the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</a></span> +greatest luck that ever came to a man. Congratulate +me, old chap."</p> + +<p>"I do congratulate you, from the bottom of my +heart. You'll be able to square that debt, you say? +Well, well, perhaps so—perhaps so."</p> + +<p>"I feel as if a new life had been given me."</p> + +<p>"Nonsense, nonsense, nonsense! We want no +new lives. What should we do with new lives, +when we don't know how to make use of those +we've got? It's hell-fire for some of us, I tell you—hell-fire."</p> + +<p>"Steady, old man, steady!"</p> + +<p>"Listen to me, Cuthbert Ellison." He leaned +over the counter, and dropped his voice to a whisper. +"What's the worth of money when your immortal +soul's in danger? Look at me and answer +me that; look at me, I say. Stung with empoisonment +and robed in fire, as somebody says:</p> + +<div class="poem small"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i4q">"'What was their tale of someone on a summit?<br /></span> +<span class="i5">Looking, I think, upon the endless sea;<br /></span> +<span class="i4">One with a fate, and sworn to overcome it,<br /></span> +<span class="i5">One who was fettered and who should be free.'"<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>He sawed the air with his hands, while Ellison +gazed at him in complete astonishment.</p> + +<p>"My dear fellow, what on earth's the matter +with you?"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</a></span></p> + +<p>Murkard laughed nervously, and tried to pull +himself together.</p> + +<p>"Nothing—nothing; why should there be? I'm +not very well to-day, that's all. Glad to see you +home again—can't you understand?"</p> + +<p>"I understand that. But I know also that you +must go steady, old man. You're trembling like +a day-old kitten. This won't do at all, you know."</p> + +<p>"I shall be better to-morrow. It's only transi—trans—what +the devil word do I want?—transitory."</p> + +<p>"And now about this beauty," Ellison tapped +the pocket containing the pearl. "We must put +it away somewhere where it will be safe. In the +meantime, 'mum's' the word; do you understand?"</p> + +<p>Murkard nodded, and moved towards the safe +standing in a corner of the office. Again the figure +passed the door unnoticed.</p> + +<p>"You'd better put it in here," suggested Murkard, +placing the key in the lock, and swinging the heavy +door open. Suddenly he jumped back as if he had +been shot, and stood trembling against the counter.</p> + +<p>"What's wrong with you now, man?" Ellison +cried almost angrily.</p> + +<p>"Can't you see? can't you see? For Heaven's +sake, come back!" He seized Ellison by the +shoulder, and pulled him back towards the other<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</a></span> +side of the hut. "Can't you see that the floor's +giving way, and if we're not careful we shall both +fall into the pit? The sea washes under it, and it's +over two thousand feet deep!"</p> + +<p>His face was the colour of note-paper, and great +beads of perspiration stood upon his forehead.</p> + +<p>"Nonsense!" said Ellison. "The floor's as +strong as I am, and there's no pit to fall into, even +if it did give way. Murkard, my friend, I don't +like the look of this at all. I shall have to put you +to bed."</p> + +<p>"Stuff! I'm as well as you are. I see my mistake +now; it was the shadow that frightened me. +But for the moment I really did think the floor +was giving way. My nerves are not quite the +thing. It's overwork. I must have a tonic."</p> + +<p>Ellison put the pearl in the lower drawer of the +safe, and then securely locked the door again. +Both he and Murkard held keys, and for the +moment he was in some doubt as to whether he +should give the duplicate back to the other in his +present state. Yet he hardly liked to refuse, for +fear of offending him.</p> + +<p>"Are you afraid to trust me with my key again, +<i>Mr.</i> Ellison?" snarled Murkard.</p> + +<p>"Afraid to trust <i>you</i>—what are you thinking +about? Of course not; there's your key? Now<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</a></span> +you just come along with me, and I'll put you +to bed."</p> + +<p>"Bosh! I'm not going to bed; I've got my +work to do, and I'll thank you to mind your own +business. When I want your sympathy I'll ask +you for it. In the meantime, be so good as to +spare me the indignity of offering it."</p> + +<p>"It is certainly time I looked after him," said +Ellison to himself. "This is the liquor again, with +a vengeance!"</p> + +<p>But in spite of his first refusal, Murkard allowed +himself to be led to his hut. Once there, he threw +himself on his bed, and announced his intention of +going to sleep.</p> + +<p>"The best thing you can possibly do. I'll come +back in a little while and have a look at you."</p> + +<p>He left him picking at the pattern on his counterpane, +and went back to the house. When he got +there, to his surprise he discovered his wife sitting +in the veranda talking to a stranger—a tall man +about thirty years of age, neatly dressed, and +boasting a handsome, aristocratic face.</p> + +<p>As Ellison approached he heard his wife say:</p> + +<p>"This is my husband."</p> + +<p>The stranger rose, and came across the veranda +to meet him. He lifted his hat politely, and smiled +in a most bewitching manner.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</a></span></p> + +<p>Ellison thought he had seldom seen a pleasanter +face.</p> + +<p>"Good afternoon, Mr. Ellison. I have the +pleasure of bearing a letter of introduction to you +from the Government Resident over yonder."</p> + +<p>He took a letter from the breast-pocket of his +coat, and gave it to Ellison. On the envelope was +written, "Introducing the Hon. George Merton."</p> + +<p>"Won't you sit down, Mr. Merton? I am very +pleased to have the opportunity of making your +acquaintance. Have you been long in the settlement?"</p> + +<p>"I arrived in the China boat last week. I am +globe-trotting, I may as well tell you—though it +will probably prejudice you against me. I have +been three months in Japan, and am now on my +way to Melbourne."</p> + +<p>"Don't you find your stay in Thursday Island +rather uninteresting?"</p> + +<p>"On the contrary, I am so far interested that I +am thinking of spending another month here. I +want to see all I can of the pearling industry in +that time."</p> + +<p>"Then perhaps I can help you."</p> + +<p>"The Resident was kind enough to say he felt +sure you would."</p> + +<p>"If you will give us the pleasure of your com<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</a></span>pany, +my wife and I will try to make your stay as +pleasant as possible."</p> + +<p>"I am vastly obliged to you. You are really a +most hospitable people. I hope, if ever you visit +England, you'll let me return the compliment."</p> + +<p>"Thank you. We're rough and ready, but we're +always glad to see folk from the outside world. +Our intellectual circle, you see, is rather limited."</p> + +<p>Esther rose to go into the house. She turned to +their guest:</p> + +<p>"You will hear a great deal about shell, copra, +bęche-de-mer, etc., before you leave us. But I +hope it won't bore you. Now I will go and prepare +your room for you. Cuthbert, will you send one +of the boys across to the settlement for Mr. +Merton's bag?"</p> + +<p>"With pleasure."</p> + +<p>"It's really very good of you to take me in like +this," said Mr. Merton, when they were alone.</p> + +<p>Ellison replied in suitable terms. Hospitality +was one of his strong points, and the stranger was +evidently a cultivated man. He looked forward to +a week or so of very pleasant intercourse. It was +years since he had enjoyed an intellectual conversation.</p> + +<p>"You have a pretty place here, Mr. Ellison," +said the other, after a brief stroll. "The jungle<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</a></span> +on the hill, and the cluster of houses among the +palms at the foot, present a charming effect."</p> + +<p>"I hope you will be able to say you like it when +you have seen more of it. It is pretty, but one is +apt to find it a little quiet."</p> + +<p>"How many men do you employ?"</p> + +<p>"About a dozen; mostly Kanakas."</p> + +<p>"But surely I saw you walking with a white man +just now. Rather afflicted, I think."</p> + +<p>"Ah, yes; my storekeeper, Mr. Murkard. A +very old friend. I'm sorry to say he's not well +enough to assist in welcoming you. By the same +token, I think if you'll excuse me for a few minutes, +I'll go across and see how he is. I'm rather +anxious about him."</p> + +<p>"Do, by all means. I'll walk back to the house." +Ellison went down the path to the hut. He +listened for a moment at the door, but only the +sound of heavy breathing came from within. He +went in, to find Murkard lying prone upon the +floor insensible. The hut reeked of brandy, and +Ellison was not surprised when he found an empty +bottle underneath the bed.</p> + +<p>"This is getting to be too much of a good thing, +my friend," he said, addressing the recumbent +figure. "I shall have to keep a sharper eye on you +for the future, I can see."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</a></span></p> + +<p>He lifted him up, and placed him on the bed. +Then he began his search for concealed spirit. At +the end of five minutes he was almost convinced +that the bottle he had discovered was the only one. +And yet it seemed hardly likely that it could be +so. Suddenly his eye lighted on a hole in the +palm leaf thatch. Standing on a box he could +thrust his hand into it. He did so, and felt the +smooth cold side of a bottle. He drew it out—an +unopened bottle of Hennessey's Cognac. Again +he inserted his hand, and again he drew out a +bottle—another—and still another. There was +enough concealed there to kill a man in Murkard's +present state. He wrapped them up in a towel, so +that none of the hands should suspect, and conveyed +them across to his own room. Once there, +he sat down to think.</p> + +<p>"He'll not move for an hour or two, then he'll +wake and look for these. When he can't find 'em +he'll probably go off his head right away, and we +shall have to watch him in grim earnest. Poor old +Murkard! Poor old chap!"</p> + +<p>Fortunately for his spirits that evening, Merton +proved a most sympathetic and agreeable companion. +He ingratiated himself with Ellison by +praising his wife, and he won Esther to his side by +the interest and admiration he displayed for the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</a></span> +baby. He was a fluent and clever conversationalist, +and by the time dinner was over both husband +and wife had agreed that he was a very pleasant +addition to their party. But the triumph of the +stranger was yet to come. They sat smoking in +the veranda, watching the wonderful southern stars +and listening to the murmur of the wavelets on the +beach. Only their pipes showed their whereabouts, +and when Esther joined them she could +hardly distinguish between her husband and their +guest.</p> + +<p>"Won't you play us something, Mrs. Ellison?" +Merton said, after a few moments. "I feel sure +you are a musician. Indeed, I saw a pile of music +by the piano."</p> + +<p>"Do you play or sing, Mr. Merton?" she said, +as she turned to comply with his request.</p> + +<p>"A little," he replied. "If you will perform +first, I will do my best to follow you."</p> + +<p>"A bargain," said Ellison. And his wife sat +down to the piano.</p> + +<p>When she had finished both men thanked her, +and Merton rose from his chair and went in to +fulfil his promise.</p> + +<p>Esther seated herself by her husband's side and +her hand found his. Merton struck a few chords +and then began to sing. The attention of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</a></span> +couple in the veranda was riveted immediately. +Few men could sing as Merton sang; his voice +was a tenor of the richest quality, his execution +faultless. He sang as one inspired, and the song +he chose suited him exactly; it was "Si j'etais +Roi!" When he had finished not a sound came +from the veranda; he smiled to himself. That +silence was greater praise than any thanks. He +knew his power, and he had discovered by intuition +that the man and woman were in sympathy with +him. He began to play again; this time the song +was an English one. The music was his own, the +words some of the most beautiful Tennyson ever +wrote:</p> + +<div class="poem small"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i4q">"Sweet is true Love tho' given in vain, in vain;<br /></span> +<span class="i4">And sweet is Death who puts an end to pain:<br /></span> +<span class="i4">I know not which is sweeter, no, not I.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i4q">"Love, art thou sweet? Then bitter Death must be:<br /></span> +<span class="i4">Love, thou art bitter; sweet is Death to me.<br /></span> +<span class="i4">Oh, Love, if Death be sweeter, let me die.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i4q">"Sweet Love, that seems not made to fade away,<br /></span> +<span class="i4">Sweet Death, that seems to make us loveless clay,<br /></span> +<span class="i4">I know not which is sweeter, no, not I.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i4q">"I fain would follow Love, if that could be;<br /></span> +<span class="i4">I needs must follow Death, who calls for me;<br /></span> +<span class="i4">Call and I follow, I follow! Let me die."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>His voice sank almost to a whisper as he uttered +the last words. They seemed to hang and tremble<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</a></span> +upon the silent air for some seconds after he had +finished; the effect was complete upon his audience. +He left the piano and came out again to +the veranda.</p> + +<p>"Thank you. You are a wonderful singer," said +Esther, tears still wet upon her eyelashes. "I +have never heard anything like your voice before, +and yet we have had many well-known singers +among the pearlers in the settlement."</p> + +<p>Ellison was silent. The influence of the music +and the wail of the song were still upon him, and +he could not shake them off. They seemed in +some mysterious fashion to remind him of his dead +but not forgotten past.</p> + +<p>Merton seated himself, and turned the conversation +into another channel. He had created the +effect he desired, and that was sufficient for the +present. He did not want to appear conceited.</p> + +<p>"Hark!" said Esther suddenly, holding up her +hand. "I thought I heard someone calling."</p> + +<p>They all listened, but no sound rewarded their +attention.</p> + +<p>"The sea," said her husband, "or a night-bird +in the scrub."</p> + +<p>"Where is Mr. Murkard to-night?" asked +Esther. "I have not seen him since you returned."</p> + +<p>Merton suddenly leaned forward, and then as<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</a></span> +suddenly sat back. Ellison noticed his action, but +attached no importance to it.</p> + +<p>"He's not at all well, dear. As I'm rather +anxious about him, I induced him to go to bed."</p> + +<p>Merton sat suddenly upright.</p> + +<p>"You were quite right, Mrs. Ellison. <i>I</i> heard +someone call then. Who can it be?"</p> + +<p>Again they listened, this time with more success. +It was the voice of a man in deadly terror, and it +came from the hut opposite. Ellison sprang to his +feet.</p> + +<p>"Murkard!" he cried. "I must go to him."</p> + +<p>He dashed across the veranda and down the path +to the hut. On the threshold, and before opening +the door, he paused to light a match. When he +entered, the room was in total darkness. He knew +a candle stood on the table near the door, and having +found it, he lit it; then holding it aloft, he +looked about him. The bed was disordered, half +the clothes were lying on the floor. A moment +later he sighted the man of whom he was in search. +He was crouched in the furthest corner, staring +wildly before him. His long legs were drawn up +close to his chin—his broad shoulders seemed to +overlap his body. But his eyes were his chief +horror; they seemed to be starting from their +sockets. Streams of perspiration—the perspira<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</a></span>tion +of living fear—rolled down his cheeks, and +every now and then he uttered a cry of abject +terror.</p> + +<p>"Hold me back—hold me back!" he yelled. +"I'm falling—falling—falling! Is there no help—my +God—no help! Help! Help! Help!"</p> + +<p>Ellison put down the candle and ran towards him.</p> + +<p>"Murkard, what on earth does this mean? Pull +yourself together! You're all right!"</p> + +<p>But the man took no notice. He only drew himself +further into his corner and clutched at the +woodwork of the wall.</p> + +<p>"Don't come near me," he cried; "for pity's +sake, don't come near me! You're shaking me, +you're loosening my hold, and I shall fall!" His +voice went up to a shriek again. "I shall fall! +I'm falling, falling, falling! Help! Help! Help!"</p> + +<p>Again and again he shrieked. Then he suddenly +sprang to his feet, tottered to and fro, and next +moment fell forward unconscious. At the same +moment Ellison heard a footstep behind him. +Looking round he saw Merton standing in the +doorway.</p> + +<p>"What is the matter with him?" he asked. +"Can I be of any assistance?"</p> + +<p>"D. T., I'm afraid. And a pretty bad case, I +think. What can we do?"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Get him on to his bed, I should say, and send +for the doctor."</p> + +<p>"Well, let's try."</p> + +<p>Between them they picked him up and carried +him to his bed. Having laid him there, Ellison +said:</p> + +<p>"Would you mind staying with him for a minute +while I send a hand across to the settlement for +the medico?"</p> + +<p>"Go ahead, I'll watch him."</p> + +<p>Ellison went out and left them alone together. +As soon as the door had closed upon him Merton +leaned over the bed and looked fixedly at the man +stretched upon it.</p> + +<p>"Yes," he said, when he had finished his scrutiny, +"I thought I couldn't be mistaken. It's the very +man himself. This is getting interesting. My +friend,—what do you call yourself? Oh, Murkard—when +you recover your wits again you'll +have a little surprise in store for you. In the +meantime I've got to play my cards carefully, or +that fool may suspect."</p> + +<p>Five minutes later Ellison returned. Merton +turned to him.</p> + +<p>"What are you going to do now?"</p> + +<p>"Watch him till the doctor comes. Don't you +stay. Go to bed and try to forget all about him."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Sure I can be of no use?"</p> + +<p>"Certain."</p> + +<p>"Then I think I will take your advice and say +good-night!"</p> + +<p>"Good-night!"</p> + +<p>As he went across to the house Merton smiled to +himself.</p> + +<p>"Forget him? When I forget him may my +right hand forget its cunning. No, no, my +friend, you and I have a score to settle before we +can forget! In the meantime Diplomacy must be +my watchword."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_X" id="CHAPTER_X"></a>CHAPTER X.</h2> + +<p class="center ps">DELIRIUM—A RECOGNITION—A DEPARTURE AND +A RETURN.</p> + + +<p>Many times during Murkard's illness Ellison +found cause to bless Merton's coming. Not only +was his cheerful nature calculated to counteract +the horrors of the patient's delirium, but without +being asked he took upon himself the invalid's +work and made himself invaluable in the store. +He was a clever fellow, able to turn his hand to +anything; and before he had been a week in the +house he had brought himself to be looked upon +as quite a member of the family. His singing was +a great source of delight to both his host and +hostess. Esther, in particular, seemed never tired +of listening to him, and it was noticeable that when +she was in his audience he sang his best. But he +was more than a talented musician, he was a clever +talker, had read everything that was worth reading, +and boasted a most capacious memory. He +could recite, conjure, and ventriloquise better than +most professionals, and however hard he might<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</a></span> +have been working during the day, when evening +came he always exerted his talents to please. +Once or twice he had volunteered to sit with Murkard, +but Ellison could not be brought to permit +it. He was afraid to leave them alone together, +lest by any chance Murkard should let slip something +which it would be inadvisable the other +should know. He need not have worried himself, +however, for even in his worst delirium Murkard +was singularly reticent about the station affairs. +Once or twice he spoke of his own past history, +but only in the vaguest fashion. His main delusion +seemed to be that he had done somebody a +grievous wrong by not speaking out on a certain +subject, and on this he harped continually.</p> + +<p>"You <i>must</i> tell him!" he would reiterate times +out of number. "He will never find it out otherwise. +You <i>must</i> tell him!" A pause. "Oh, +coward! coward! coward! Have you fallen so +low?"</p> + +<p>Ellison racked his brains to discover the meaning +of this constant self-accusation, but in vain. +At times he thought it referred to himself, but +what had Murkard to tell him that could cause +him so much pain. Then he would ascribe it to +some detail of his past, but it was too real and +recent for that. In the silence of the night, with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</a></span> +only the moan of the waves on the beach, the +monotonous voice would cry:</p> + +<p>"You <i>must</i> tell him! He is suffering so. He +will never find out otherwise. Oh, coward! coward! +coward! Have you fallen so low?"</p> + +<p>Once or twice Ellison tried to question him. +But it was of little or no use. Only on one occasion +could he get anything approaching a clear +response from him.</p> + +<p>"What is it, old man," he asked, directly the sick +man had completed his customary speech, "that +you must tell? Can I help you?"</p> + +<p>Murkard leaned out of his bed and took his +friend by the wrist. His eyes were still strangely +bright, and his face was hard set as flint.</p> + +<p>"Tell him," he almost hissed, "tell him at +once and save his soul. D'you think I haven't +watched—aye, watched day and night. The man +must be saved, I tell you, and for her sake! For +her sake, don't you hear, you fool, you dolt, you +ninny? Can't you understand Queen's English +when you hear it?" He dropped his voice to a +whisper. "The man must be saved for the +woman's sake, and the woman for the man's, and +both for the child's. Three in one, and one in +three. Isn't that plain enough? God help you if +you can't see it as plainly as I can!"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</a></span></p> + +<p>Ellison put the next question with almost a +tremble in his voice:</p> + +<p>"Who is the man, old friend? Tell me, and let +me help you with your trouble."</p> + +<p>Murkard picked at the counterpane with quivering +fingers.</p> + +<p>"In the Hebrew he is called Abaddon, but the +Greek hath it Apollyon, ribbed with chains of fire +and hung about with chains of gold, silver, and +ivory. I wish you could see it as I see it.</p> + +<div class="poem small"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i4q">"'Her folded wings as of a mighty eagle,<br /></span> +<span class="i4">But all too impotent to lift the regal<br /></span> +<span class="i4">Robustness of her earth-born strength and pride.'<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>It's a pity that you don't understand Queen's +English. I don't know exactly that I do myself, +because you see my head's a little queer. When I +want to think I have to pull my brains round from +the back of my head, so to speak. And that's very +painful,"—a pause,—"painful for you, dear love, +but total extinction for me. I must go away for +your honour's sake, don't you see, out into the +lonely world. But it really can make no possible +difference. <i>Ich hab' Dich geliebt und liebe Dich +noch.</i></p> + +<div class="poem small"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i4q">"'I loved thee once, I love thee still,<br /></span> +<span class="i5">And, fell this world asunder,<br /></span> +<span class="i4">My love's eternal flame would rise<br /></span> +<span class="i5">'Midst chaos, crash, and thunder.'<br /></span> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</a></span></div></div> + +<p>'Chaos, crash, and thunder!' Cuthbert, you fool, +why didn't you trust me from the very beginning?"</p> + +<p>"Trust you about what, old friend?"</p> + +<p>Murkard lay back on the pillows again with a +sigh.</p> + +<p>"You'll excuse me, sir, but I don't think I have +the pleasure of your acquaintance.... My lord, I +grant you circumstances are against me, but I give +you my word——Bah, what's my word worth? +I tell you I am not a thief. Guilty, or not guilty? +If I plead not guilty it must all come out, and her +reputation will be gone forever." He sat up in +bed and called with a loud voice: "Guilty, my +lord!"</p> + +<p>From across the road, in the dead silence that +followed, Ellison could hear Merton singing. The +song he had chosen was, "Come, live with me and +be my love." Evidently Murkard was listening +too.</p> + +<p>"That voice!" he said slowly. "Now, where the +devil have I heard that voice?"</p> + +<p>"Lie down, old chap, and try and get some +sleep. That'll do you more good than any +singing."</p> + +<p>Like a little child Murkard did as he was +ordered, and in five minutes was fast asleep again.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</a></span> +Ellison made everything safe in the hut, and then +went quietly back to his own house. Merton had +stopped singing, and was now holding a skein of +wool for Esther to wind. There was a look on +her face that Ellison could not quite understand. It +troubled him, and yet he could not exactly tell why.</p> + +<p>"Thanks for your music, Merton," he said, as he +seated himself in a chair; "I could hear it across +the way."</p> + +<p>"How is your patient to-night?"</p> + +<p>"Asleep now, but he's been very restless."</p> + +<p>Merton removed one of his hands to disentangle +the wool.</p> + +<p>"I suppose you will get rid of the man when +he's well enough to go? In my opinion it's hardly +safe for Mrs. Ellison to have such a fellow about +the place."</p> + +<p>Ellison frowned. It was a curious speech for a +stranger to make. But then, of course, the other +was unaware of the position in which the two men +stood to each other. He was about to reply in +sharp terms, in spite of the look of fear in Esther's +face, when Merton broke in again:</p> + +<p>"Forgive me. I know it's like my impertinence +to intrude on your affairs. I was only thinking of +Mrs. Ellison's safety."</p> + +<p>"You may be sure I will take good care of that.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</a></span> +I can quite understand your feelings, but you see +the trouble is that you don't know all about us. +There is a tie between that man and myself that +nothing can ever loose."</p> + +<p>"I beg your pardon, then, for speaking about it +at all."</p> + +<p>Esther had risen, and now said "Good-night." +She did not look at Merton, merely gave him her +hand and then passed from the room. A few +moments later Merton wished his host good-night +and in his turn departed. Ellison lit his pipe at +the lamp, and went into the veranda, preparatory +to crossing to the hut, where he had been sleeping +of late. Esther was waiting there to say good-night +to him. She was leaning against the +veranda rails gazing down on the star-lit sea. +Ellison stationed himself beside her.</p> + +<p>"I thought you had gone to bed, dearie."</p> + +<p>"I intended to go, but the house is so hot. I +thought I would come out and get cool first."</p> + +<p>"I'm afraid you're not very well to-night, little +woman?"</p> + +<p>"What makes you think that? Yes, I am quite +well, thank you. A little tired, perhaps, but quite +well."</p> + +<p>He passed his arm round her waist. She started +as if with surprise.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Why, what's the matter?" he asked anxiously.</p> + +<p>"I did not know what it was," she answered. +"You frightened me."</p> + +<p>"That makes me certain you're not very well. +I must have the doctor over to see you to-morrow +morning, if you don't feel better."</p> + +<p>"I shall be all right in the morning. I think I +am over-tired to-night."</p> + +<p>"Perhaps Merton's music has given you a headache. +I think he thumps a little hard for my +taste."</p> + +<p>This was scarcely the truth. He had never +really thought so, but he wanted to find some reason +for her downcast demeanour. She did not +answer. Then suddenly, and without any apparent +reason, she turned to him, and throwing her arms +round his neck, sobbed upon his shoulder as if her +heart were breaking.</p> + +<p>"Why, Esther, my darling," he cried, this time +in real alarm, "what on earth does this all mean? +You frighten me, dearest. Try and tell me what +is the matter with you." He led her to a chair, +placed her in it, and seated himself beside her. +"Come, try and tell me what it is, and let me help +you. You frighten me dreadfully."</p> + +<p>"It is nothing, nothing, nothing; Oh, Cuthbert, +my husband, bear with me to-night. Don't be<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</a></span> +angry with me, I beseech you. You don't know +how the memory of this night will always remain +with me."</p> + +<p>"You are very mysterious to-night. I can't +think what you mean."</p> + +<p>"Don't ask to be told. Indeed, I could not tell +you. I don't know myself. I only know that I +am more miserable to-night than I have ever been +in my life before."</p> + +<p>"And you can't tell me why? Esther, that puts +us such a long way apart. I thought we were to +be everything to each other, in sorrow as well as +happiness!"</p> + +<p>"It is ungenerous of you to taunt me with that +now, just because I will not gratify your curiosity."</p> + +<p>She rose with an offended air, and made as if she +would go to her room. He caught her by the +wrist and held her. She turned on him almost +fiercely!</p> + +<p>"You are hurting me! Let me go!"</p> + +<p>"Esther, you are very cruel to me to-night. Do +you know that?"</p> + +<p>"Have you been so kind that you can bring +that accusation against me? But there, I won't +quarrel with you, even though you seem to want +to make me."</p> + +<p>"I want to make you quarrel with me, Esther?<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</a></span> +You know that is not true. You wrong me, on my +soul, you do!"</p> + +<p>She began to cry again, and fell back into the +chair.</p> + +<p>"I know I do, I know I do! I cannot do anything +right to-night. I can't even think, my brain +seems asleep. Oh, forgive me, forgive me!"</p> + +<p>He smoothed back her hair and kissed her on +the forehead.</p> + +<p>"There is nothing to forgive, darling. It was +altogether my fault. I wanted to sympathise with +you, and I did it in my usual clumsy fashion. It is +you who must forgive me."</p> + +<p>She still hung her head. Suddenly she raised it +and looked him in the face.</p> + +<p>"Some day you will hate and despise me, I +know. You will curse my name. But before God +to-night I swear that—that—that——No, I can't +say it. It must go through eternity unsaid, one +little word unspoken."</p> + +<p>"Dear girl, do you know what you are saying? +Don't you think you had better go to bed?"</p> + +<p>Without another word she rose and went down +the veranda to her room. He sat like a man +dazed, turning and twisting her behaviour this way +and that in an endeavour to pierce the cloud that +seemed to be settling on him. What did she mean<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</a></span> +by her last speech? What was to be the upshot of +all these vague allusions? What was it she had intended +to say, and then thought better of? He +racked his brains for a solution of the problem, but +without success. He could hit on nothing feasible. +In a state of perfect bewilderment he went across +to the hut and spent a miserable night, only to find +at breakfast next morning that she had quite recovered +and was her old self once more.</p> + +<p>After that night Murkard might be considered +convalescent. Like a shadow of the man he used +to be, he managed to creep out into the sunshine of +the beach, to sit there for hours every day. The +bout had been a severe one, and it would be some +time before he could be himself again. All this +time Ellison allowed no word of reproach to fall +from his lips, nor did Murkard offer any apology. +But there was a wistfulness in his eyes when they +lighted on the other that told a tale of gratitude +and of devotion that was plainer than anything +words could have uttered. On the third morning +of his convalescence he was sitting in his usual spot +just below the headland, looking across the blue +straits dotted here and there with the sails of luggers, +and at the white roofs of the township, when +he heard steps approaching. The pedestrian, whoever +he might be, was evidently in merry pin, for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</a></span> +he was whistling a gay <i>chanson</i>, and seemed to be +in the best conceit, not only with himself, but with +all the world. Turning the corner, he came directly +upon Murkard, who looked up full and fair +into his face. It was Merton. If the latter seemed +surprised, the effect upon Murkard was doubly so. +His eyes almost started from his head, his mouth +opened, and his jaw dropped, his colour became +ashen in its pallor.</p> + +<p>"You—you here!" he cried. "Oh, my God! +Is this a horrible dream? I thought you were dead +long since."</p> + +<p>The other was also a little pale, but he managed +to laugh with a pretence of merriment.</p> + +<p>"My dear boy, this is the most delightful surprise +I have ever experienced. I hope you're not +sorry to see me. May I sit down? Well, what a +funny thing this is, to be sure. To think that we +should meet like this, and here of all places in +the world. You've been seriously ill, I'm sorry to +hear."</p> + +<p>"How long have you been in this place?"</p> + +<p>"Nearly a fortnight now. I've seen you a good +many times, but you never knew me!"</p> + +<p>"I wish I could say that I don't know you now. +And what devil's business are you up to here?"</p> + +<p>"Amusing myself, as usual. Studying men and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</a></span> +manners. Your friends here are very entertaining, +the woman particularly so."</p> + +<p>"Do they know who you are?"</p> + +<p>"George Merton of Brankforth Manor, near +Exeter, County Devon, at your service."</p> + +<p>He threw himself down on the sands with +another merry laugh.</p> + +<p>"It's extraordinary, isn't it? our meeting like +this. I've often laughed over it. And so your +name's Murkard? Silas too, if I'm not mistaken. +What a rum beggar you are, to be sure. Do you +still take life as seriously as you used to in the old +days?"</p> + +<p>"You're evidently as cold-blooded a devil as +when I last found you out."</p> + +<p>"Found me out? My dear fellow, aren't you +rather confusing things? Wasn't it the other way +round? But seriously, Bur——"</p> + +<p>"Silence! My name is Murkard."</p> + +<p>"What did I say? Oh, I forgot; pray forgive +me. It shan't occur again. Seriously, Murkard, +I want you to believe that I have never ceased to +regret that terrible business. You must remember +you put me in such a position that, though it cut +me to the heart to do it, I had no option but to +expose you."</p> + +<p>"If you had told all you knew you might have<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</a></span> +saved me. As it was, I had to take the course I +did. I could not help myself."</p> + +<p>"'Pon my honour, I knew nothing more. The +stones were lost. I happened to stumble quite by +accident on the baggage and found them there. +The baggage was yours—what could I do?"</p> + +<p>"Very well. I have at least paid the penalty; +we need not discuss the subject further. But one +thing must be settled now and forever. What are +you going to do?"</p> + +<p>"When? Now, do you mean? Well, I think I +shall stay here for a month or so longer; and then—well, +then I don't quite know what I shall do."</p> + +<p>"You will leave here at once—in an hour's time."</p> + +<p>"My dear fellow, impossible. Not to be thought +of, I assure you."</p> + +<p>"Either you or I must go. We cannot both +remain."</p> + +<p>"Still taking life seriously, I see. Well, I fear in +that case it will have to be you. I'm sorry, but it +can't be helped. I have reasons for staying on. A +holiday will do you no harm."</p> + +<p>"Supposing I tell Ellison all I know of you."</p> + +<p>"He <i>might</i> believe you, but I should think it +extremely doubtful. On the other hand, what if I +tell him all I know about you? Who you are, for +instance, and what drove you out of England?"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</a></span></p> + +<p>Murkard turned, if possible, even paler than +before.</p> + +<p>"You could not, surely, blackguard as you are, +be villain enough for that!"</p> + +<p>"My dear fellow, I would do it in an instant if it +suited me—and I rather think it would. You see, +I have a game to play here, and, by Jove! come +what may, I intend to play it. Your presence is +detrimental to my interests. I may have to rid +myself of you."</p> + +<p>"I shall go to Ellison at once, and tell him all."</p> + +<p>"You will spike your own guns then, I promise +you, and without doing yourself a hap'orth of good. +Besides, you will in all probability be putting me to +the unpleasant necessity of—but there, you won't—you +can't do it."</p> + +<p>"Have you let him suspect who I am?"</p> + +<p>"Not by one single word or deed. As far as I +am concerned, he knows nothing."</p> + +<p>"On your honour?—but there, I forget; you +have no honour."</p> + +<p>"What an extraordinary little chap it is, to be +sure! Of course I've no honour. In this commercial +age nobody outside the covers of books has. +But all the same, I am not in the humour just now +to be trifled with. As I say, he knows nothing, and +he <i>shall</i> know nothing if you do as I wish. Why<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</a></span> +not go away for a holiday? you need a change. +Come back in a month; I shall be gone then. +There's a compact for you. Give me a clear field +for a month, and I'll give you my promise not to +reveal the fact that I know anything of your past. +Will you agree?"</p> + +<p>"I must think it over. But what devilry are +you up to here? I must know that before I decide. +Do you think I'm going to leave him to your mercy? +If you do, you're mistaken."</p> + +<p>"I am up to no devilry, as you term it. I've got +a speculation on hand, and I must watch it. I see +a chance of doing a big stroke of business in the +pearl market, that was what brought me out here; +if you don't interfere I shall make my fortune; if +you do I shall take steps to rid myself of you, as I +have said. Can't you see you haven't a card in +your hand worth playing. If you're a sensible man +you'll adopt my suggestion and go away for a day +or two, regain your health, then come back, take +up your old life again, and everything will go on +as before. It's not a very difficult course to steer, +surely?"</p> + +<p>"If I could only be certain that you are speaking +the truth."</p> + +<p>"I can't give you my word, because as I am a +man without honour you wouldn't accept it as evi<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</a></span>dence. +But if you want proof as to my business—see +here."</p> + +<p>He took from his pocket a number of letters. +Selecting one that bore an English postage stamp, +he tossed it across to Murkard. It was from a +well-known firm of London pearl merchants, and +notified the fact, to whom it might concern, that +the bearer, Mr. Merton, was authorised to conduct +certain negotiations on their behalf.</p> + +<p>"Well," said Murkard, when he had perused the +document, "this looks genuine enough. But I +don't see that it makes your position here any +plainer."</p> + +<p>"You surely don't expect me to enter into particulars, +do you? At any rate, that's my offer, and +consider it well, for it's the last I'll make. If you +don't decide to-night, I must tell your employer +everything I know about you to-morrow morning. +Make no mistake about that."</p> + +<p>"I will give you my decision by sundown."</p> + +<p>"Very good. In the meantime, let me offer you +a cigarette. No? Don't you smoke? A pity! +Well, I have the honour to wish you a very good-day."</p> + +<p>He raised his hat with ironical politeness, and +resumed his walk along the beach, humming as +before.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</a></span></p> + +<p>Murkard lay where he was, trying to pull his +thoughts together. This was the last straw. He +saw all the plans he had formed, all the honourable +future he had built up for himself, shattered at one +blow. His past had risen and struck him in the +face. What was to be done now? Could he trust +this man whom he had always known to be unfaithful? +He had no option—no option at all. He +<i>must</i> go away, or Ellison would discover everything, +and then all would be irretrievably lost.</p> + +<p>And so the afternoon wore on. The sun sank +lower and lower, until he disappeared entirely +beneath the horizon. As he sank from view, +Murkard made up his mind and rose to his feet. +Merton was coming back along the beach. He +signalled to him, and they passed together into the +shelter of the trees that ran down to the shore. +Once there, Murkard turned on him.</p> + +<p>"I have been thinking over what you said to me +just now."</p> + +<p>The other bowed and smiled.</p> + +<p>"And with what result?"</p> + +<p>"I don't quite know. First and foremost I want +you to tell me, in the event of my declining to +leave the island, what you will tell my friend +about me?"</p> + +<p>"Shall I really tell you? You mean it? Very<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</a></span> +well, then, I will. I'm not going to let you know +how I became aware of things—you must guess +that for yourself."</p> + +<p>"Not so many words. Answer my question."</p> + +<p>"In the first place, answer me this: Who is +your friend? He calls himself Cuthbert Ellison, +but who is he?"</p> + +<p>Murkard looked away. This was what he had +dreaded.</p> + +<p>"How should I know?"</p> + +<p>"Well, I'll tell you at least who he is <i>not</i>. He is +<i>not</i> the Marquis of St. Burden. When he told his +wife that he <i>was</i> he lied to her, as he has lied +before, and as he will probably lie again."</p> + +<p>"How do you know that he told his wife he +was? At least, she has not told you."</p> + +<p>"Very probably not. But still I know. Perhaps +I learned it from you in your delirium."</p> + +<p>Murkard groaned. The man's possession of +this secret was the very thing he had feared.</p> + +<p>"Now, supposing in addition to telling Ellison +who <i>you</i> are, I tell her who he is not—what would +you say?"</p> + +<p>"I should say you were the most inhuman +wretch that ever trod God's earth, and it would be +the truth. Don't you know—haven't you seen that +that woman worships the very ground he treads on,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</a></span> +that she believes every word that falls from his +lips? Would you shatter her happiness and trust +forever, at one blow, and only to gratify your own +miserable ends?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, do you know, now I think of it, I even +believe I should. But you seem to forget that it +would be you who had driven me to it. If you go +away it will be to my interest not to tell her. I +wish to remain on good terms with both of them until +my business here is accomplished. Will you go?"</p> + +<p>"Yes; I will go."</p> + +<p>"When?"</p> + +<p>"To-night. At once. You need have no fear."</p> + +<p>"I have none, I assure you. I thought just now +you were going to make a fool of yourself. I'm +glad you can see reason. And look here, my——Oh, +very well, if you would rather not, I won't say +it. I shall be at home in three months. If I +chance upon any members of your family, shall +I tell them where they can find you?"</p> + +<p>"You need not trouble yourself. They know."</p> + +<p>"Very good. Then our business is accomplished. +Now let us part."</p> + +<p>"Go on. I will follow you. I decline to be +seen in your company."</p> + +<p>"My dear boy, that is rude, for you will not +have another opportunity."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</a></span></p> + +<p>Without going back to his hut, Murkard walked +down to the beach, and asked one of the Kanakas +he found there to row him across to the settlement. +The man did so, and on his return to +the station reported the fact to Ellison, who marvelled, +but said nothing. He was expecting that +night an important visitor in the shape of a globe-trotting +pearl dealer, to whom he had written +regarding the black pearl, and he had, therefore, +small concern for Murkard's doings. The mail +boat had arrived that afternoon, and as she was to +go on the same night, their appointment was for +six o'clock. Even as the fact of Murkard's +absence was reported to him by the native, the +dealer's boat was to be seen making its way across +the straits. He went down to the beach to receive +him.</p> + +<p>The newcomer was a tall, gray-haired man, with +quick, penetrating eyes, and a general air of +shrewdness that his business capabilities did not +belie. He greeted Ellison with considerable cordiality, +and they walked up to the house together. +Merton was lying in the hammock in the veranda, +smoking and reading an ancient English +newspaper. He got up as the men approached, +and Ellison introduced him to the stranger. +They then entered the house together. After a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[Pg 212]</a></span> +little refreshment and conversation Ellison proposed +going down to the store. This they accordingly +did, leaving Merton to resume his literary +studies. He looked after them and smiled, then +throwing the paper down he went into the house, +where Esther joined him.</p> + +<p>When they were alone in the store, Ellison +unlocked the safe, and took out the box containing +the pearl.</p> + +<p>"Your ventures seem to have prospered, Mr. +Ellison," said the stranger, as he watched him +undo the box containing his treasure. "A black +pearl of the size you describe yours to be is indeed +a gem worth having."</p> + +<p>"Yes, and it could not have come at a better +time," replied Ellison. "Things have been very +bad here, I can assure you, within the last twelve +or fourteen months."</p> + +<p>The first box undone, he came upon a second; +this was full of cotton wool, but in the centre of it, +carefully wrapped up, was the treasure he sought. +With obvious care and pride he took it out, and +placed it on a sheet of white note-paper upon the +counter. It lay there full and black, staring them +in the face, as large a pearl as had ever been +found in those seas. The dealer was enchanted.</p> + +<p>"A wonder—a monster—a marvel!" was all he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[Pg 213]</a></span> +could say. He took it up, and looked at it from +every light; put it down again, and stood off to +test its beauty from another standpoint. Then +taking it in his hands, he carried it to the door, +the better to appraise its value. The light was +failing inside the building, but Ellison watched +him with an eager face. So much depended on +the sale of this pearl. Suddenly the dealer +coughed in a peculiar manner, took off, dusted, +and put on his glasses again. His mouth went +down at one corner, and he scratched his right +cheek with the forefinger of his right hand. +Still Ellison watched him. He was growing anxious. +Was there a flaw in it that he had failed +to notice? Finally the stranger walked back to +the counter, and put the pearl in its box.</p> + +<p>"Well?" said Ellison at last, unable to contain +himself any longer, "what do you think is its +value?"</p> + +<p>The stranger paused before replying. Then he +spoke; his tone made Ellison stare harder than +before.</p> + +<p>"As a jewel or as a curiosity?"</p> + +<p>"As a jewel, of course."</p> + +<p>"Nothing; absolutely nothing! As a curiosity, +possibly half a crown. Mr. Ellison, you will, I +hope, forgive a little natural irritation on my part,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</a></span> +but I cannot help feeling sorry that one of our +most trusted customers should play us such a +trick."</p> + +<p>"What do you mean? Good God, man! what +are you insinuating?"</p> + +<p>"I am not insinuating anything. If you wish +me to state my meaning in a clearer way, I can +only say that I marvel at your impudence in trying +to palm off an imitation on us—a good imitation, +I'll grant you, for it deceived me for a moment, +but nevertheless an imitation."</p> + +<p>Ellison fell back against the counter ashen to +the lips. "An imitation!" he, cried. "You tell +me that that pearl is an imitation? Why I opened +the oyster with my own hands!"</p> + +<p>The dealer smiled incredulously.</p> + +<p>"I'm afraid I must be getting back to the settlement. +My boat sails to-night, you know."</p> + +<p>"D—— your boat! Oh, my gracious! can it +be possible that you are right?"</p> + +<p>His breath came from him in great jerks, the +veins on his temples stood out like whipcord. +The dealer glanced at him curiously. His did not +look like the face of a guilty man.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Ellison, either you have attempted to +deceive us or you have been the victim of a heartless +swindle. I cannot say which, but by the look<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[Pg 215]</a></span> +of your face I incline to the latter belief. That +pearl—at least that imitation—is remarkably clever. +If the gem you found was anything like it in size, +shape, and colour, I would willingly have given +you a very large sum for it. As it is, that is +worthless. But I must really be going now."</p> + +<p>Ellison was too stunned to reply. The dealer +walked back to his boat alone. He did not quite +know what to make of it.</p> + +<p>"At any rate," he said to himself, "if he's the +guilty party he won't try that game on us again."</p> + +<p>Meanwhile, Ellison sat in the store too dazed +and sick to be conscious of anything but his loss. +He had been grossly and cruelly swindled by +somebody. He had yet to find out who that somebody +was. As it was, he was now unable to pay +off that loan, that guilt had come back upon his +soul to roost. And every day the time was coming +closer. He was——But there, he could not think +of it now. He must try and pull himself together, +or his reason would go as well. He had no +thought of time, no thought of anything but his +loss. He began to pace the hut with feverish +impatience. What should he do first? To whom +should he turn for advice and help? Why had +Murkard not been there to assist him? As he +thought this, he heard steps on the path outside.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[Pg 216]</a></span> +It was Merton. As usual, he was in the best of +spirits.</p> + +<p>"My dear old fellow, are you in here in the +dark? Mrs. Ellison and I have been wondering +what on earth had become of you. Dinner has +been on the table this half hour. Where's your +mysterious friend? Wouldn't he like to come to +my room to wash his hands?"</p> + +<p>"He's gone, Merton. And I'm in awful +trouble."</p> + +<p>"I'm sorry to hear it. I began to fancy something +was up when you didn't make your appearance. +Here, let's have a light on the scene."</p> + +<p>He struck a match and lit the office lamp. +Having done so, he looked at Ellison. His surprise +found vent in a little cry.</p> + +<p>"My dear chap, you do looked hipped indeed. +Hold on a second."</p> + +<p>He fled the scene, to return two minutes later +with the whiskey bottle and a glass. Having given +him a strong dose of the spirit, he said:</p> + +<p>"Sit yourself down and try and tell me all about +it. Who knows but what I may be in a position +to help you?"</p> + +<p>Thereupon Ellison told him everything.</p> + +<p>"By Jove!" was the rejoinder, "I don't like +the look of things at all. It's a bad business—a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[Pg 217]</a></span> +very bad business. Somebody has evidently found +out about the pearl, got a duplicate made, and +palmed it off on you. Is it possible to have one +made here, d'you think?"</p> + +<p>"Nothing easier. Any of the Cinghalese over +the way could make one."</p> + +<p>"Then he must have got one there, taken the +real one, and substituted this in place of it. Now +whom have you told about it? Think well."</p> + +<p>"Nobody—bar Murkard, and of course he does +not count. Why, I have never even told you."</p> + +<p>"I'm precious glad you haven't, or you might +have fancied I had purloined it. Well, we must +dismiss Murkard from our minds; he is like +Cćsar's wife, above suspicion. Now who had admittance +to that safe? Any duplicate keys?"</p> + +<p>"Only one."</p> + +<p>"And who has that?"</p> + +<p>"Murkard. It is necessary that he should have +one, as I am so often away."</p> + +<p>"Humph! This is certainly a tangled skein. +Has anyone been away from the island within the +last few days?"</p> + +<p>"Not a soul."</p> + +<p>"Well, we must roust out Murkard, and see if +he can help us."</p> + +<p>"He's not here."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Not here—what d'ye mean? I saw him here +this afternoon."</p> + +<p>"He went across to the township at sundown, +just before the dealer came."</p> + +<p>Merton whistled.</p> + +<p>"Look here, Ellison, you believe, though I've +only known you a short time, that I'm a firm friend +of yours, don't you?"</p> + +<p>"Of course I do. You need not ask that."</p> + +<p>"Well, I'm going to hit you pretty hard on a +soft spot. You'll hate me for it, but as things are +now I can't help that. This is not a time for half +measures."</p> + +<p>"What are you driving at?"</p> + +<p>"Hold on, and you'll see. How long have you +known Murkard?"</p> + +<p>"No, no! it won't do, Merton. That dog +won't fight. You needn't bring Murkard into the +business at all. He knows nothing of it, I'll stake +my life."</p> + +<p>"Don't be foolish. I only ask you how long +you've known him?"</p> + +<p>"About three years."</p> + +<p>"What was he when you knew him first?"</p> + +<p>"Well, to tell the truth, he was in very much the +same condition as myself."</p> + +<p>"A dead-beat—beach-comber?"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Well, if you put it like that—yes!"</p> + +<p>"You know nothing of his history?"</p> + +<p>"Nothing. He's not the sort of man to talk of +his past."</p> + +<p>"I believe you. Well, look here, Ellison, I'm +going to tell you his past."</p> + +<p>"How do you know it?"</p> + +<p>"Never mind, it is enough that I do know it."</p> + +<p>"Well, I don't want to hear it. You'll never +make me think him guilty, so don't waste your +breath trying."</p> + +<p>"Perhaps not, but you <i>must</i> know his career. +You owe it to yourself, and, pardon my saying so, +you owe it to your wife to hear it."</p> + +<p>"We'll leave my wife out of the question, thank +you."</p> + +<p>"Very good. That is of course your own affair. +I will be as brief as I can. You must put two and +two together yourself. In the first place, Murkard +is not his name—what it is, does not matter. I'm +an old friend of his family, so I dare not tell you. +He started life with everything in his favour, consequently +his fall was the greater."</p> + +<p>"How did he fall?"</p> + +<p>"He was deeply in debt. To get out of his +difficulties he appropriated—I won't use a stronger +term—some diamonds belonging to a lady in whose<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</a></span> +house he was staying. She was reluctantly compelled +to prosecute, and he received a sentence of +five years' penal servitude. He served his time, +and then vanished from England and the ken of all +those who knew him."</p> + +<p>"Is this true, or are you lying to me?"</p> + +<p>"Ellison, if you were not a little off your balance, +I should resent that question. I am a man of +honour, and I don't tell lies."</p> + +<p>"I beg your pardon. I am not myself by a +great deal to-night. Forgive me. Poor Murkard!"</p> + +<p>"Poor devil! Yes, you may well say that. But +don't you see, Ellison, if that happened once it +might happen again. What is the evidence? You +would not cheat yourself out of a valuable pearl, +would you? What else could get at the safe? +Only Murkard. He has been ill—delirious. Perhaps +the value of the thing preyed upon his mind, +and he may have taken it out of the safe while off +his head. That is the charitable conclusion to +come to. At any rate, his disappearance to-day is +a point against him, you must admit that. If I +were you I would certainly not believe him guilty +till I had proved it, but just as certainly I should +try to find him and see if he knows anything about +it. D'you know, I rather think you owe as much,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</a></span> +in common fairness, to him. If he denies any +knowledge of the affair—well, in that case you +must decide for yourself whether you know him +well enough to believe him. Don't you think I'm +right?"</p> + +<p>"I do. Honestly, I do."</p> + +<p>"Very well then. Pack your traps, pull yourself +together, and go across and see if you can find him. +You'll know the truth the sooner—or, perhaps, what +would be better, let me go."</p> + +<p>"No, no! that's not to be thought of. I'll go +at once. But may I be forgiven for entertaining +a doubt of him."</p> + +<p>He picked up his hat, which had fallen from his +head in his excitement, and went out of the store +and down the hill towards the boats. Springing +into one he shoved off and set to work to pull himself +across to the settlement. It was quite dark, +but the lights from the houses guided him, and +before he had made up his mind where first to look +for Murkard he was alongside the jetty. His +thoughts flew back across the year to the night +when he had waited there at those self-same steps +for Esther. How his life had changed since then!</p> + +<p>Tying up the boat, he set off for the Hotel of +All Nations, expecting to find Murkard there. +But he had left the place, and it was said had gone<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[Pg 222]</a></span> +along the beach in the direction of the Pearlers' +Rest. He followed and inquired in the bar, but +again without success. He had not been seen +there. From that hostelry he passed on to +another and yet another, but with no greater +result. Murkard was not to be found. At last, on +the sea-front again, he chanced upon a pearler who +had met him heading round the hill-side. This +was a clue, and throwing new energy into his walk +he set off after him. It was the same road they +had followed together the evening of the famous +fight, and it looked as if he should find Murkard +at the self-same spot where they had camped that +night. Nor was he disappointed. As he turned +the bend of the hill he caught sight of a figure outlined +against the starlight. There was no mistaking +that angular back. He pushed on the faster, +calling "Murkard!" As he came towards it, the +figure turned and said:</p> + +<p>"What do you want with me?"</p> + +<p>"My dear old fellow, what a chase you have +given me. What is the matter with you? What +on earth made you leave us as you did? I can tell +you I have been quite anxious about you."</p> + +<p>Murkard came towards him and placed his hand +upon his shoulder.</p> + +<p>"That is not the reason you are here, Ellison.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[Pg 223]</a></span> +You cannot deceive me. There is something +behind it all. What is the matter? Nothing +wrong with your wife?"</p> + +<p>He spoke with feverish eagerness.</p> + +<p>"No, there is nothing the matter with my wife. +But, my gracious, something else is terribly wrong!"</p> + +<p>Murkard clutched him by the arm and looked +into his face.</p> + +<p>"Well—well—why don't you go on? Why don't +you tell me all?"</p> + +<p>"Because I can't, old friend, I can't. I despise +myself enough as it is for having listened to such +a thing."</p> + +<p>"I can see something pretty bad has happened, +and Merton has suggested to you that I am the +guilty party. Good! Now tell me with what I +am charged? Don't be afraid. I shall not think +the worse of you."</p> + +<p>"The Black Pearl!"</p> + +<p>"Gone? Yes, gone! I can read it in your +face. The thief, oh, the infernal, lying, traitorous +thief! I see it all now. Oh, Ellison! you have +been trapped—cruelly, heartlessly trapped! But, +please God, it is not too late to set it right, whatever +the cost may be."</p> + +<p>"How? Speak out. What do you mean? +What fresh villainy am I to discover now?"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[Pg 224]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Listen to me. Has that man told you my +history?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"Who I really am?"</p> + +<p>"No. But he told me that you were convicted +of a theft in England, and received five years' +penal servitude. Forgive me, Murkard, for listening +to him—but I could not help it."</p> + +<p>"You were right to listen, and he told the truth. +I was convicted, and I served the sentence, but now +you shall know everything. I ought to have warned +you months ago, but I thought you would never find +it out. For pity's sake, don't think too harshly of +me—but—but—well, I am the man you pretended +to be. I—am—the—Marquis of St. Burdan!"</p> + +<p>Ellison did not speak, but he made a noise as if +he were choking. Murkard again put his hand on +his shoulder.</p> + +<p>"You were a true friend to me. I heard you +tell the lie, and I saw how the woman who is now +your wife worshipped and trusted you. I knew it +would kill her faith in you if she found you out, so +I resolved not to betray myself or you. When +you wanted money I forgot the pride that had +made me swear never to take anything from my +family's hands again, and cabled through the Government +Resident for assistance. Why I made<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[Pg 225]</a></span> +you take that step I cannot tell you—you must +only guess, at any rate! That money I placed to +your credit in the bank, and day by day, knowing +your secret, I have watched and loved you for +your repentance and for the brave way you slaved +to repay it. Then this man came and somehow +learned your secret. He ordered me to leave the +station, or he would tell your wife that you had—had +lied to her, and were not the man she believed +you to be. To-night, for your sake, I came away, +and walked here to think out what course I should +pursue. Enlightenment has come. I see everything +now. While I was ill that man, who must +have found out about the pearl, stole my key, +unlocked the safe, had a counterfeit made, and +intends to bolt with the real one. Are you aware +that he has been making love to your wife?"</p> + +<p>"I know that now. While you have been speaking +I, too, have had my eyes opened. It is not +necessary to say I believe what you have told me, +Murkard; but from the bottom of my heart I +thank you. I will go back now and deal with him."</p> + +<p>"You forgive me, Cuthbert?"</p> + +<p>"Forgive you? No, no! It must be the other +way about, it is for you to forgive me!"</p> + +<p>"Freely, freely, if I have anything to forgive. +Now what do you intend to do?"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[Pg 226]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Go home and turn him off the place. That's +what I shall do."</p> + +<p>"No! You must do nothing of the kind. +Somebody must watch him, and I will do it. Possibly +we may find out what he has done with the +pearl. Then we shall catch him in his own toils, +and I shall be even with him for his treachery +to me."</p> + +<p>"What did he once do to you?"</p> + +<p>"I cannot tell you the real shame, but it was on +his evidence that I was condemned. He was staying +in the house at the time."</p> + +<p>"Murkard, I could give my oath you were not +guilty."</p> + +<p>"And you would be right. I was not. But I +had to plead guilty all the same to save what a +worthless woman miscalled her honour. That +man knew my secret, and traded on it to my ruin."</p> + +<p>"Come, let us get back to the station. I cannot +breathe freely until I have rid myself of him."</p> + +<p>"When we get there—you must not let my presence +be known. I shall hide and watch him."</p> + +<p>"I agree. Let us be going."</p> + +<p>They went back round the hill and by a circuitous +track to the jetty. In less than a quarter of an hour +they were back at the station and walking up the +path towards the house.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[Pg 227]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XI" id="CHAPTER_XI"></a>CHAPTER XI.</h2> + +<p class="center ps">BATTLE AND MURDER.</p> + + +<p>A warm flood of lamplight streamed from the +sitting room window out on the path as Ellison +approached the house. He could make out Merton's +voice inside raised in argument, and at intervals +his wife's replying in tones that were as +unnatural to her as they were terrible to him to +hear. He drew into the shadow of the veranda +and watched and listened. Esther was seated on +the sofa near the fireplace, Merton was kneeling +by her side holding her hand. She had turned her +head away from him, but as it was in the direction +of the place where her husband lay concealed, he +could see that big tears were coursing down her +cheeks. He ground his teeth with rage as he +noticed the look upon Merton's face. For the first +time he saw the man's real nature written in plain +and unmistakable characters.</p> + +<p>"Esther, you cannot mean it. You cannot be so +cruel to me as to persist in your refusal. Think +what you are to me, and think what you may be in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[Pg 228]</a></span> +the days before us. True, I have only known you +a little while, but in that little while I have learned +to love you as no other man could ever do. Body +and soul I am yours, and you are mine. You love +me—I know it—I am certain of it. Then you will +not draw back now?"</p> + +<p>She tried to rise but he held her down.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Merton, I have told you before, and I tell +you again, that I cannot, and will not listen to you. +If you love me as you say, and I pray with my +whole miserable heart that it may not be true, you +will not drive me to desperation. Think of what +you would make of my life, think of the awful +wrong you would do to your friend, my husband."</p> + +<p>"Your husband was only my friend before I +learned to love you. Now he is my bitterest foe. +No man can be a friend of mine who loves you. +I must have your love, and I alone. Oh, Esther, +remember what I said to you last night. You were +not so cold and hard to me then!"</p> + +<p>"I was the wickedest and weakest woman on +earth to let you say it. You have a stronger will +than I have, and you made me do it. It may make +you understand something of how I feel towards +you when I tell you that I have not ceased for a +single instant to hate and upbraid myself for listening +to it. Do you know, Mr. Merton, what you<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[Pg 229]</a></span> +have done? Do you know that by listening to you +for that one moment, I can never look my husband +or child truthfully in the face again? And my +husband trusted me so! Oh, God, have mercy +upon me!"</p> + +<p>"You say you cannot look your husband in the +face again. No; but you shall look one in the +face, Esther, who loves you ten thousand times +more than your husband is even capable of loving +you; one who worships the very ground you walk +on, whose only wish is to be your humble servant to +the death. Come, Esther, there is time yet, the +mail-boat does not sail till midnight. You can +pack a few things together, I know, in a minute or +two. Do that, and let us escape to the township +before your husband returns. By morning we +shall be on board the steamer, and hundreds of +miles away. We will leave her in Batavia. They +will never trace us. You can surely have no fear +of the future when you know that I will give you +such love as man never gave to woman yet! Isn't +it worth it, Esther?"</p> + +<p>He passed one arm round her waist, and tried to +draw her towards him. Again she attempted to +rise, and again he forced her to retain her seat.</p> + +<p>"Let me go, Mr. Merton, let me go! How dare +you hold me like this? Let me go!"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[Pg 230]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Not until you have promised, Esther. Quickly +make up your mind; there is not a moment to lose. +Come, I can see it written in your face that you +will not disappoint me."</p> + +<p>"I refuse!—I refuse!—I refuse! Let me go, +sir, you have done me wrong enough already! Do +you call yourself a man, that you can treat a +wretched woman so? Take your arm from round +my waist before I strike you. Oh, you cur! you +dastard! you coward! Isn't it enough for you that +you should cut me off from a man whose shoes you +are not worthy to unlace? Isn't it enough that +you should drive me from my happy home? Isn't +it enough that you should make me an unworthy +mother to my child? Must you kill my soul as +well as my heart? Let me go, I say, let me go! +or, as I live, I'll strike you!"</p> + +<p>"Hush, hush, Esther! for mercy's sake, be calm. +Do you want to rouse the whole station?"</p> + +<p>"I don't care what I do; I am desperate—I am +mad with shame and loathing of you!"</p> + +<p>"And you will go back to this lying traitor of a +husband, I suppose, this great man, who won you +by a lie, who has only deceived you as he has +deceived others, a common fraud and trickster—you +will go back to him, I suppose, and fawn on him, +and tell him that you love him, when I have——"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[Pg 231]</a></span></p> + +<p>With her right hand she struck him a blow upon +the mouth.</p> + +<p>"There, that is my answer to you; now go +before I call for help and have you thrashed off the +island!"</p> + +<p>He sprang to his feet, his face black with rage. +Ellison rose too, and approached the French window +which led into the room. Merton's voice quivered +with passion.</p> + +<p>"You have struck me—good; you have fooled +me—better! Now you shall understand me +properly; I will have such vengeance for that blow, +for that fooling, as never man had before. You +little know my power, my lady; but I tell you this, +that I will crush you to the earth, and that worm, +your husband, with you, till you groan for mercy. +In the meantime——"</p> + +<p>He stopped and looked up to discover Ellison +standing in the doorway.</p> + +<p>"In the meantime," said Ellison, advancing into +the room, "as there is a God above me, I intend +to kill you."</p> + +<p>Esther stood paralysed with fear, unable to move +hand or foot, unable even to speak. Once she +tried to find her voice, but the words she strove to +utter died away unspoken in her throat. Merton +glared from one to the other like a wild beast.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[Pg 232]</a></span></p> + +<p>"It may interest you to know, Mr. Merton, that +I have overheard all your conversation. Out in +this part of the world, so far removed, as you were +good enough to observe the other day, from the +cramping influences of older civilisation, when we +find centipedes in our houses we crush them under +heel to prevent them doing mischief. You are +more treacherous even than a centipede, and I +intend to kill you without delay."</p> + +<p>As he spoke, he took off his coat and threw it +from him. Merton watched, and his eyes betrayed +his fear. Esther took a step forward, and then +stood still. Her eyes were open, but they did not +seem to see. Ellison moved towards his foe.</p> + +<p>"This would probably be the best place. My +wife can see fair play."</p> + +<p>Suddenly Esther found her voice and her power +of movement. With a scream she threw herself +upon her husband, and clung to him with all the +strength of despair.</p> + +<p>"Cuthbert—Cuthbert! for God's sake, forbear! +Let him go, I implore you! He is not worthy to +be touched by your little finger."</p> + +<p>"Let me go, woman, let me go! How dare you +stop me!"</p> + +<p>"I dare anything now! I will not let you go +until you have sworn not to raise your hand against<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[Pg 233]</a></span> +that man." Then, facing round on the other, she +cried: "As for you, fly while you are safe, and +may the curse of an unhappy woman follow you to +your grave!"</p> + +<p>Merton did not need telling twice. With one +bound he reached the veranda, and in another +second he was outside the house, and flying towards +the beach at the top of his speed. Ellison looked +on like one in a dream; he did not seem to know +what to do. Then slowly he felt Esther's arms +untwining; her head fell forward on his shoulder. +She had fainted. Springing to the door, he called +to Mrs. Fenwick, who came running out.</p> + +<p>"Your mistress is not well. Attend to her."</p> + +<p>Then placing her on the sofa, he too left the +house, and ran swiftly towards the beach. As he +approached the jetty he saw a man pushing a boat +into the water. At first he thought it was the man +he wanted, but on nearer approach he saw that it +was Murkard, who pointed out to sea.</p> + +<p>"There he goes, the cowardly cur, rowing for his +life."</p> + +<p>"What are you going to do?"</p> + +<p>"Hasten after him. You may be sure I shall +not let him out of my sight until I know where he +has hidden that pearl. Listen to me. He has not +been off the island for a week; he has not had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[Pg 234]</a></span> +time to take anything with him now. Either he +has it about him, or it is still here; in that case when +all is quiet he'll come back for it. We must watch +and wait; I'll follow him, you guard the station."</p> + +<p>"I cannot; I must go after him. You don't +know what a wrong that villain has done me. I +must have vengeance!"</p> + +<p>"No, no; you must not go after him with that +look in your face. Stay here, I will do the rest. I +feel convinced he will come back." As he spoke, +he ran the boat into the water and leaped into it. +"Give me your word you will not attempt to +follow."</p> + +<p>"I promise; but I will have vengeance here."</p> + +<p>"So do, if you still wish it."</p> + +<p>Murkard pulled out, and Ellison went back to +the store. Alone there, he took down a Winchester +repeater from a shelf, cleaned, and loaded it; then +he went out again, securely locking the door behind +him. From the store he followed the little path +that led through the scrub to the headland. It was +the same path he had followed on the morning +of his arrival at the station, the morning that he +had first seen Esther. Following it along until it +opened out on to the little knoll above the sands, +he seated himself on a fallen tree and scanned the +offing. By this time, his enemy must have landed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[Pg 235]</a></span> +on the other side. What would his next move be? +At any rate, sleuth-hound Murkard was on his +trail—that at least was one comfort. But why had +he not gone himself? Why had he let Murkard +go? To have followed him himself would have +been altogether more satisfactory; he might have +had his own vengeance then. But surely God +would be good to him, and let him have it yet.</p> + +<p>He looked up at the heavens studded with stars, +and then down at the smooth water of the straits. +Only the ripple of the wavelets on the shore and +the occasional call of a night-bird in the scrub +behind him disturbed the stillness; it was a perfect +night. For what seemed an eternity he sat on, +thinking and thinking; but though he tried to think +coherently, he was too excited to work out his actual +situation. There was only the one real craving +in his brain, and that was for vengeance. He +wanted the actual grip of his antagonist, to make +him suffer bodily pain in return for the mental +agony he had inflicted. The desire for personal +vengeance is a whole-souled one, and, like the love +of opium, when once it takes possession all else +has to go.</p> + +<p>And so he sat on and on, watching the star-powdered +water, and listening for any sound that +might proclaim the return of his foe. But nothing<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[Pg 236]</a></span> +came, only the swish of the waves on the strand, +and now and again faint music of the ships' bells +across the water.</p> + +<p>Twelve o'clock struck, and just as the sound died +away his eyes caught something moving in the +water opposite where he sat. What it was he could +not determine, but he would soon be able to, for it +was every moment coming closer. At length it +came near enough for him to see that it was a man +swimming. Who could it be? Could it be Merton? +To make sure, he crawled out on to the edge +of the little cliff, and throwing himself down upon +the ground, leaned over and watched.</p> + +<p>Closer and closer the figure came until the +swimmer touched bottom. Yes, it was Merton! +After pausing a moment to regain his breath, he +pulled himself together and waded ashore. Just as +he left the water, Ellison caught sight of another +figure out at sea. This must be Murkard. Fortunately +the first man did not see him. He seated +himself for a while, and then made off and disappeared +round the headland towards the station, just +as the second figure found a footing on the beach. +Ellison took it all in in a second; as Murkard expected, +he had come to recover the pearl, believing +everybody to be asleep.</p> + +<p>Eager to be doing, Ellison watched Murkard<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[Pg 237]</a></span> +leave the water and follow the other round the +promontory, and then he himself set off through +the scrub to intercept him on the other side. It +was a difficult matter to steer through the thick +jungle in the dark; but eventually he managed it, +reaching the huts just as Merton was approaching +the store. What was he going to do? Could the +pearl, after all, be concealed in there? Reflecting +that if he waited and left him undisturbed he would +probably find out everything for himself, he paused +for a few moments and watched. He saw the man +look carefully round, to be sure that he was unobserved, +and then approach the door. A minute +later he entered the building. At the same instant +the other shadow crept up towards the door. Seeing +this, Ellison picked up his heels and ran towards +it too; but the night was dark, and in the middle +of his career his foot came into collision with a discarded +cable lying in the grass. He tripped and +fell, one cartridge of the rifle he carried in his hand +going off with a murderous report. For half a +minute the breath was knocked out of his body, +and he lay where he had fallen. Then picking himself +up, he prepared to continue his advance.</p> + +<p>But the report had given the alarm, and when +he looked again, a strange scene was being enacted +before him. From where he stood he could see the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[Pg 238]</a></span> +bright light streaming from the store door, and hear +a sound of voices coming from within. Next moment +two men, locked together in deadliest embrace, came +staggering out into the open. There was no noise +now, only the two locked bodies twisting and twining, +this way and that, round and round over the open +space before the door. It needed little discernment +to see that both men were fighting for their lives. +Like wildcats they clung to each other, each exerting +every muscle to bring the other down. But, as +Ellison half-consciously reflected, what match could +Murkard hope to be for such a man as Merton? +One was a big, powerful <i>man</i>, the other only a parody +of the name. With this thought in his mind, he +dashed across to them; but he was too late. He +saw an arm go up, and a knife descend; again it +went up in the lamplight, and again it descended. +Then Murkard's hold gave way, and he fell to the +ground; next moment his antagonist was speeding +towards the beach. Ellison took it all in at a glance, +and then set off as fast as his legs could carry him +by another path to intercept his flight. So far, the +man had not seen him; he would take him by surprise, +or perish in the attempt.</p> + +<p>The path he followed was one that gave him a +decided start, and he was able to reach the shore +and take advantage of the shelter of a bush before<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[Pg 239]</a></span> +the other turned the corner of the headland. He +heard him coming closer and closer, breathing +heavily after the struggle he had just undergone. +Then Ellison stepped out of the shadow and confronted +him, rifle in hand.</p> + +<p>"It's no good, Merton, you haven't a chance. +Put up your hands, or I fire!"</p> + +<p>The other came to a dead halt, and without a +second thought did as he was ordered. But +overcome with astonishment though he was, +his habitual nonchalance returned to him in an +instant.</p> + +<p>"You're a little smarter than usual, Mr. Ellison. +I didn't bargain for this!"</p> + +<p>"You'd better not talk. Keep your hands up, or +I'll drill you through and through. There are eight +more cartridges under my finger, and I'll shoot without +a second thought. Right about face, and walk +up the middle of the path. Don't attempt any +escape, or you're a dead man."</p> + +<p>Merton did as he was ordered, and in this fashion +they returned to the store. As they approached +it they could discern a small crowd collected round +the door. The report of the rifle had brought the +hands from their huts, and between them they had +carried Murkard into the building.</p> + +<p>"Straight on, Merton. Keep your hands up, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[Pg 240]</a></span> +don't turn to the right or left, or stop till I give you +permission."</p> + +<p>They came up to the store door, and the crowd +fell back on either side to let them pass.</p> + +<p>"My lads," said Ellison, "this is a very bad business, +as you can see. Two of you catch hold of this +man, and take care that he doesn't escape. Jimmy +Rhotoma, go into the store and bring me a pair +of handcuffs you'll see hanging on a nail above my +desk. Long Pete, you take a boat and pull across +to the township for the doctor and a policeman. +Bring them back with you, and be as quick as +you can."</p> + +<p>The handcuffs were soon forthcoming, and Ellison +himself adjusted them on Merton's wrists.</p> + +<p>"Now, boys, take him into your own hut and +watch him there till I call. If he wants to talk tell +him to hold his jaw. If he tries to bolt, kill him +with the first thing you find handy. Two of you +remain with me."</p> + +<p>An angry growl from the men evidenced the +reception Merton might expect to meet with if he +attempted to escape, and he was wise enough to see +that it would be impossible. When he had been +led away Ellison entered the store. He found +Murkard lying on the floor, his head pillowed on +a couple of chair-cushions. The pool of blood by<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[Pg 241]</a></span> +his side proclaimed the fact that he was seriously +wounded. Moreover, he was unconscious. Ellison +knelt beside him, and having found the wound on +his breast, endeavoured to staunch the bleeding; but +it was a hopeless task. Taking the whiskey bottle +from the table, where it had remained since Merton +had brought it down to him that evening, he tried +to force some of the spirit into his mouth. A +moment after he did so Murkard opened his eyes +and looked about him.</p> + +<p>"What has happened?" he asked faintly. Then +his memory came back to him. "Oh, I remember. +He has not escaped, Ellison?"</p> + +<p>"Not he. We have him safe enough. But, oh, +Murkard, to think that you should be wounded +like this!"</p> + +<p>"I told you what it would be, old man. This is +the fulfilment of my prophecy. I knew it would +come."</p> + +<p>He moved his hand and let it fall to his side.</p> + +<p>"I'm all wet," he went on, after a long pause. +"By Jove! it's blood. Then it's hopeless. Well, +I don't know that I'm sorry. But there is something +else we have to do. When I came in he was +burrowing behind that box there. Look for yourself. +Don't bother about me."</p> + +<p>He pointed to a box in the corner, and Ellison<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[Pg 242]</a></span> +went towards it, and pulled it into the centre of +the room.</p> + +<p>"What do you see?"</p> + +<p>"Nothing at all. Stay, there's a matchbox +here."</p> + +<p>He stooped and picked it up.</p> + +<p>"Open it quickly—quickly!"</p> + +<p>Ellison did as he was ordered.</p> + +<p>"The pearl—the pearl! Here it is safe and +sound!"</p> + +<p>"I thought as much. The scoundrel! Now +I can die happy. Give me some more whiskey."</p> + +<p>Ellison thrust the pearl back into the safe, and +then gave Murkard another drink of the spirit. It +put fresh life into him for the moment.</p> + +<p>"Ellison," he said, taking his friend's hand, +"you've been a true friend to me."</p> + +<p>"I have not been half as true a friend as you +have been to me. My God, Murkard, is there +nothing I can do for you until the doctor comes? +I cannot let you die like this!"</p> + +<p>"It's hopeless, old man. I can feel it. Let us +talk while we have the chance. I want to tell you +about that money. You see my family sent it to +me, myself. They don't know you in the matter +at all. I deceived you there. If you would like +to pay it back and start afresh send it to them<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[Pg 243]</a></span> +from me. Tell them, too,"—he paused,—"tell +them, too,—that I died—doing my duty. Do you +understand? It will surprise them, but I should +like them to know it."</p> + +<p>"They shall know that you died like a hero, +giving your life for mine."</p> + +<p>"Don't pile on the agony, old fellow. They'd +not believe it; we're by nature a sceptical race. I +don't want the matter turned to ridicule."</p> + +<p>"Is there nothing I can do to make you easier?"</p> + +<p>"Nothing, old man, except to give me more +liquor. Thank you. I'm getting weaker every +minute. I wonder what they'll do to that fellow +Merton?"</p> + +<p>"Hang him if I can do anything to forward it."</p> + +<p>"Poor devil! And yet he was only sent into +the world for this. Look, Ellison, bring him here +for a minute—I must speak to him."</p> + +<p>"I'll send for him."</p> + +<p>Ellison went to the door, and sent one of the +hands for Merton. The night was almost spent; +the stars were paling in the eastern heavens. A +cold, cheerless wind blew up from the sea.</p> + +<p>In less time than it takes to tell Merton entered +the hut, carefully guarded. He looked at the man +lying on the floor, and a half-contemptuous smile +passed across his face.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[Pg 244]</a></span></p> + +<p>"What do you bring me here for?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"Murkard wishes to speak to you," said Ellison, +and went outside leaving the pair together.</p> + +<p>Three minutes later Merton emerged again, his +face white as the death that was swiftly coming to +the other. He was saying to himself over and +over again, as the men led him away:</p> + +<p>"God help me! If I had only known in time!"</p> + +<p>Ellison went in again. One glance told him the +end was very near at hand.</p> + +<p>"Ellison, it's a rum world, isn't it? Do you +know, I touched that fellow on his only tender +spot, and I know now why he has always been so +bitter against me. Poor devil, he never knew +that——" He let the sentence die unfinished. +Then he said, as if addressing someone present: +"You need not have had any fear. I should not +have betrayed you, dear. But five years is a long +time to wait." A pause, during which his wits +seemed to come back to him. "Would you mind +holding my hand, Ellison. I've got rather a +rocky place to pull through, and, after all, I'm a +bit of a coward. Somehow I think I'm going to +have a little sleep now. Remember—we've got—to—get—those—accounts +away—by—the mail—to-morrow——"</p> + +<p>He closed his eyes, and a moment later the other<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[Pg 245]</a></span> +knew that Silas Murkard's soul's account had gone +to be audited by the Auditor of Heaven.</p> + +<p>Ellison, having placed the hand he held gently +down by the dead man's side, rose to his feet, and +with a great mist between his eyes and a choking +sensation in his throat went out of the hut. The +doctor and two police-officers were climbing the +hill. He waited and returned with them into the +store. To the police officials he said:</p> + +<p>"This is the victim; the murderer is in custody +in the hut yonder." To the doctor he only said: +"I am sorry to have troubled you. You have +come too late. He died five minutes ago."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[Pg 246]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XII" id="CHAPTER_XII"></a>CHAPTER XII.</h2> + +<p class="center ps">CONCLUSION AND EPILOGUE.</p> + + +<p>When the doctor, policemen, and prisoner had +left the island, Ellison went up to his own house. +Though it only wanted a few minutes of sunrise, +the lamp was still burning in the sitting room. He +pushed open the door and walked in. To his surprise +Esther stood before him. She did not look +into his face, but waited with downcast eyes for +him to speak. He gazed at her for a moment, and +then led her to a chair.</p> + +<p>"Esther," he said, kneeling beside her, "can you +ever forgive me?"</p> + +<p>"Forgive you what?" she asked, almost in a +whisper.</p> + +<p>"For the lie I told you. The lie that was the +beginning of all this misery."</p> + +<p>"I forgive you. I had forgotten all about it. +Now let me go. It is daylight, and I must get +away before anyone sees me."</p> + +<p>"Go away? What do you mean? Where are +you going to?"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[Pg 247]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I don't know—I don't care. But it must be +somewhere where no one will know my name. You +will find everything in order here, and Mrs. Fenwick +knows all your wants. The boy is asleep in +the room there. You will not let him even learn +the story of my shame, will you?"</p> + +<p>He put his arm around her waist, but she put it +off with a little shiver.</p> + +<p>"No! You must not do that now."</p> + +<p>"Why not? In God's name, why not?"</p> + +<p>"Because of what has happened to-night. I am +the cause of it all. I know you cannot forgive me +now; but oh, some day, for the child's sake, you +may not think so hardly of me."</p> + +<p>He moved on to the sofa and tried to hold her, +but she fell on her knees at his feet and burst into +a storm of passionate weeping.</p> + +<p>"Esther, you are deceiving yourself. I have +nothing to forgive. I love you as fondly now—nay, +I am wrong, I love you more fondly now than ever. +Fortunately I heard all that man said to you. I +heard you refuse and repulse him. It was then +that I interfered. You are as much my own true +wife as you ever were. I love you still, and, as +God hears me, I have never doubted you, not for +one single moment."</p> + +<p>"You have never doubted me?"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[Pg 248]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Never, so help me God!"</p> + +<p>He took her in his arms and kissed her tears +away. She did not repulse him this time, but +clung to him like one returned from the dead.</p> + +<p>"Oh, my husband! my husband!" was all that +she could say. "Now that I know you love me +still, I can bear anything. Tell me, Cuthbert, all +that has happened? Don't spare me."</p> + +<p>Without more ado he told her everything—who +Murkard really was; how Merton had cherished +such a deadly hatred of him; the loss of the pearl; +Merton's return to the island, and all the events +connected with that fatal night. With the exception +of the murder he told her everything. When +he had finished, she said;</p> + +<p>"And Murkard—where is he? My thanks are +due to him."</p> + +<p>"He will never receive them, dearest. He is +dead."</p> + +<p>"Dead!" she cried, in horrified amazement. +"Oh, this is too horrible! How did he die?"</p> + +<p>"Merton killed him in the store."</p> + +<p>Her head dropped on to her hands, and again +she sat white and trembling.</p> + +<p>"A thief and a murderer, and what did he want +to make me?"</p> + +<p>"Hush, hush! you must never think of that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[Pg 249]</a></span> +again; it could not have been. You are the +mother of my boy, and I am not afraid for you."</p> + +<p>"But, Cuthbert, you don't know all; you don't +know how he fascinated me. I seemed to have no +will at all when he was talking to me. When he +looked into my eyes I had to do his bidding. I +was very wicked and weak to listen to him; but +try how I would to escape I could not get away."</p> + +<p>"He will fascinate no more women; he is safely +under lock and key by this time. Now you must +go to bed, and try to sleep, or you will be seriously +ill after all this excitement. And think what that +will mean for me."</p> + +<p>She stooped and kissed his forehead, and then, +struggling with her tears, departed to her room. +Ellison went out into the cool veranda. The sun +was just rising above the horizon, and already the +Kanaka cook was bustling in and out of his kitchen +preparing breakfast for the hands as if nothing out +of the ordinary had happened. Ellison descended +the steps and went across to the store. With a +feeling of intense awe he opened the door and +passed in. Removing the blanket that covered the +figure lying so stiff and cold upon the floor, he +stood and looked down at the face he had grown +to love so well. Poor Murkard, and yet rather +happy, happy Murkard in his last great act of self-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[Pg 250]</a></span>sacrifice. +As he looked down at him his own sin +rose before him in all its shame. Then by the +dead body of his friend, who had given his life for +him, he registered a solemn vow that never again +would he yield to temptation. He had suffered +bitterly for this one mistake, and now the whole +future should be spent in endeavouring to make +amends for it. He re-drew the blanket and left +the store.</p> + +<p>Shortly after breakfast a hand came to tell him +that a police-officer desired to see him. He +went out and asked the slim young official his +business.</p> + +<p>"I have been sent across, Mr. Ellison, to see you +regarding the prisoner we removed from here last +night on a charge of murder."</p> + +<p>"Well, what about him?"</p> + +<p>"He is dead—drowned."</p> + +<p>"Drowned!" cried Ellison. "What do you +mean? When was he drowned?"</p> + +<p>"Crossing the straits last night. We'd got him +halfway across; my mate pulling, the prisoner +sitting amidships, the doctor and myself astern. +Suddenly he gave a yell, jumped up, and threw +himself overboard before we could stop him. +There and then he sank, for his hands were handcuffed +behind him, you see; and—well, we've not<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[Pg 251]</a></span> +set eyes on him since, and I don't suppose we're +likely to until his body's washed up."</p> + +<p>"Good gracious!"</p> + +<p>For a few seconds Ellison was so stunned by this +intelligence that he could hardly think, and yet +when he did come to think it out he could not +help seeing that even in this Fate had been very +good to him. Except for the fact that he had +killed Murkard, he had no desire for Merton's +death, and as it was now, even that result had been +achieved. Merton would trouble nobody again. +He had gone to hear his verdict at a higher court +than that presided over by any Queensland judge, +and Ellison could not but own that it was as well. +He thanked the police-officer for his intelligence, +and went in to tell Esther. She received the news +calmly enough. Indeed, it seemed as if she were +almost beyond being surprised at anything.</p> + +<p>"We seem bereft of everything," she said at +length; "friends, as well as enemies."</p> + +<p>"But we still have each other, and we have the +little one asleep in there. Does that count for +something, dear?"</p> + +<p>"It counts for everything," she said, and softly +kissed his hands.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[Pg 252]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p class="center ps">EPILOGUE.</p> + + +<p>Eighteen months or so ago I happened to be +in Tahiti, the capital of the Society Group. I had +business in Papeete, and, while walking on the +beautiful Broom Road one day, who should I +chance upon but Ellison and his wife, picknicking +among the palms. We walked down to the town +together and dined in company. Afterwards I was +invited to a trading schooner lying in the harbour.</p> + +<p>"A beautiful boat," I remarked to her owner, +when I had gained the deck. "Why, she's more +like a Royal Cowes Yacht Squadron craft than a +simple South Sea trader."</p> + +<p>"It is our home, you see," he answered. "The +pearling station, after Murkard's death, grew distasteful +to us, and as I was fortunate enough to be +able to sell it to great advantage, I bought this +boat. Since then we have made it our home, and +our life is spent cruising about these lovely seas. +It suits my wife and the boy admirably, and for +that reason, of course, it suits me. Won't you +come and see our son?"</p> + +<p>I followed him down the companion into the +prettiest little cuddy it has ever been my good +fortune to behold. Two large and beautifully<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[Pg 253]</a></span> +fitted up cabins led off it, and in a corner of one +of them hung a cradle. Mrs. Ellison conducted us +to it, and drew aside the curtain, disclosing the +tiny occupant asleep.</p> + +<p>"What a really beautiful child!" I cried, in an +outburst of sincere admiration, "and pray what +may be his name?"</p> + +<p>"Murkard," said the father quietly, and without +another remark led me back on deck again.</p> + +<p>The name, and the tone in which it was uttered, +puzzled me very considerably. But I was destined +to be enlightened later on.</p> + +<p>That night, when we sat under the awning on +deck, smoking, and watching the lights of Papeete +glittering ashore, and only the gentle gurgle of the +water rising and falling alongside disturbed our +talk, Ellison told me the story I have here told you.</p> + +<p>When he had finished I felt constrained to say:</p> + +<p>"With a little alteration of names and places, +what a good book it would make."</p> + +<p>"Wouldn't it," he answered seriously. "But +my life's far too full of other interests now to +write it."</p> + +<p>"Will you let me try my hand on it?" I asked +eagerly.</p> + +<p>"If you like. But before you do it you must +promise me two things."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[Pg 254]</a></span></p> + +<p>"What are they?"</p> + +<p>"That you will do my wife and Murkard justice."</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes! I'll promise that and more with +pleasure. And the other?"</p> + +<p>"That you'll let me down as lightly as possible."</p> + +<p>"I'll promise that also."</p> + +<p>"Very good then; go ahead."</p> + +<p>I set to work, and in due time the book was written. +The next time I met him was in Levuka, Fiji. +The schooner was leaving for the Carolines the following +morning, and I went on board to wish them +God speed. Just as I was pushing off from the +gangway on my return to the shore, Ellison, who +with his wife alongside him was leaning on the taff-rail, +called out:</p> + +<p>"Oh, I say! what about your book, my friend?"</p> + +<p>"It is finished."</p> + +<p>"Hearty congratulations. I wish you all good +luck with it. And pray what do you intend its +name to be?"</p> + +<p>"That's a difficult question to answer off-hand; +but, all things considered, I think the most appropriate +title would be <i>The Marriage of Esther</i>."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p class="center ps">THE END.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p class="center">APPLETONS' TOWN AND COUNTRY LIBRARY.</p> + +<p class="center small">PUBLISHED SEMIMONTHLY.</p> + + +<p class="smaller"> +1. <i>The Steel Hammer.</i> By <span class="smcap">Louis Ulbach</span>.<br /> + +2. <i>Eve.</i> A Novel. By <span class="smcap">S. Baring-Gould</span>.<br /> + +3. <i>For Fifteen Years.</i> A Sequel to The Steel Hammer. By <span class="smcap">Louis Ulbach</span>.<br /> + +4. <i>A Counsel of Perfection.</i> A Novel. By <span class="smcap">Lucas Malet</span>.<br /> + +5. <i>The Deemster.</i> A Romance. By <span class="smcap">Hall Caine</span>.<br /> + +6. <i>A Virginia Inheritance.</i> By <span class="smcap">Edmund Pendleton</span>.<br /> + +7. <i>Ninette</i>: An Idyll of Provence. By the author of Véra.<br /> + +8. <i>"The Right Honourable."</i> By <span class="smcap">Justin McCarthy</span> and Mrs. <span class="smcap">Campbell-Praed</span>.<br /> + +9. <i>The Silence of Dean Maitland.</i> By <span class="smcap">Maxwell Gray</span>.<br /> + +10. <i>Mrs. Lorimer</i>: A Study in Black and White. By <span class="smcap">Lucas Malet</span>.<br /> + +11. <i>The Elect Lady.</i> By <span class="smcap">George MacDonald</span>.<br /> + +12. <i>The Mystery of the "Ocean Star."</i> By <span class="smcap">W. Clark Russell</span>.<br /> + +13. <i>Aristocracy.</i> A Novel.<br /> + +14. <i>A Recoiling Vengeance.</i> By <span class="smcap">Frank Barrett</span>. With Illustrations.<br /> +15. <i>The Secret of Fontaine-la-Croix.</i> By <span class="smcap">Margaret Field</span>.<br /> + +16. <i>The Master of Rathkelly.</i> By <span class="smcap">Hawley Smart</span>.<br /> + +17. <i>Donovan</i>: A Modern Englishman. By <span class="smcap">Edna Lyall</span>.<br /> + +18. <i>This Mortal Coil.</i> By <span class="smcap">Grant Allen</span>.<br /> + +19. <i>A Fair Emigrant.</i> By <span class="smcap">Rosa Mulholland</span>.<br /> + +20. <i>The Apostate.</i> By <span class="smcap">Ernest Daudet</span>.<br /> + +21. <i>Raleigh Westgate</i>: or, Epimenides in Maine. By <span class="smcap">Helen Kendrick Johnson</span>.<br /> + +22. <i>Arius the Libyan</i>: A Romance of the Primitive Church.<br /> + +23. <i>Constance</i>, and <i>Calbot's Rival</i>. By <span class="smcap">Julian Hawthorne</span>.<br /> + +24. <i>We Two.</i> By <span class="smcap">Edna Lyall</span>.<br /> + +25. <i>A Dreamer of Dreams.</i> By the author of Thoth.<br /> + +26. <i>The Ladies' Gallery.</i> By <span class="smcap">Justin McCarthy</span> and Mrs. <span class="smcap">Campbell-Praed</span>.<br /> + +27. <i>The Reproach of Annesley.</i> By <span class="smcap">Maxwell Gray</span>.<br /> + +28. <i>Near to Happiness.</i><br /> + +29. <i>In the Wire-Grass.</i> By <span class="smcap">Louis Pendleton</span>.<br /> + +30. <i>Lace.</i> A Berlin Romance. By <span class="smcap">Paul Lindau</span>.<br /> + +31. <i>American Coin.</i> A Novel. By the author of Aristocracy.<br /> + +32. <i>Won by Waiting.</i> By <span class="smcap">Edna Lyall</span>.<br /> + +33. <i>The Story of Helen Davenant.</i> By <span class="smcap">Violet Fane</span>.<br /> + +34. <i>The Light of Her Countenance.</i> By <span class="smcap">H. H. Boyesen</span>.<br /> + +35. <i>Mistress Beatrice Cope.</i> By <span class="smcap">M. E. Le Clerc</span>.<br /> + +36. <i>The Knight-Errant.</i> By <span class="smcap">Edna Lyall</span>.<br /> + +37. <i>In the Golden Days.</i> By <span class="smcap">Edna Lyall</span>.<br /> + +38. <i>Giraldi</i>: or, The Curse of Love. By <span class="smcap">Ross George Dering</span>.<br /> + +39. <i>A Hardy Norseman.</i> By <span class="smcap">Edna Lyall</span>.<br /> + +40. <i>The Romance of Jenny Harlowe</i>, and <i>Sketches of Maritime Life</i>. By <span class="smcap">W. Clark Russell</span>.<br /> + +41. <i>Passion's Slave.</i> By <span class="smcap">Richard Ashe-King</span>.<br /> + +42. <i>The Awakening of Mary Fenwick.</i> By <span class="smcap">Beatrice Whitby</span>.<br /> + +43. <i>Countess Loreley.</i> Translated from the German of <span class="smcap">Rudolf Menger</span>.<br /> + +44. <i>Blind Love.</i> By <span class="smcap">Wilkie Collins</span>.<br /> + +45. <i>The Dean's Daughter.</i> By <span class="smcap">Sophie F. F. Veitch</span>.<br /> + +46. <i>Countess Irene.</i> A Romance of Austrian Life. By <span class="smcap">J. Fogerty</span>.<br /> + +47. <i>Robert Browning's Principal Shorter Poems.</i><br /> + +48. <i>Frozen Hearts.</i> By <span class="smcap">G. Webb Appleton</span>.<br /> + +49. <i>Djambek the Georgian.</i> By <span class="smcap">A. G. von Suttner</span>.<br /> + +50. <i>The Craze of Christian Engelhart.</i> By <span class="smcap">Henry Faulkner Darnell</span>.<br /> + +51. <i>Lal.</i> By <span class="smcap">William A. Hammond, M. D.</span><br /> + +52. <i>Aline.</i> A Novel. By <span class="smcap">Henry Gréville</span>.<br /> + +53. <i>Joost Avelingh.</i> A Dutch Story. By <span class="smcap">Maarten Maartens</span>.<br /> + +54. <i>Katy of Catoctin.</i> By <span class="smcap">George Alfred Townsend</span>.<br /> + +55. <i>Throckmorton.</i> A Novel. By <span class="smcap">Molly Elliot Seawell</span>.<br /> + +56. <i>Expatriation.</i> By the author of Aristocracy.<br /> + +57. <i>Geoffrey Hampstead.</i> By <span class="smcap">T. S. Jarvis</span>.<br /> + +58. <i>Dmitri.</i> A Romance of Old Russia. By <span class="smcap">F. W. Bain, M. A.</span><br /> + +59. <i>Part of the Property.</i> By <span class="smcap">Beatrice Whitby</span>.<br /> + +60. <i>Bismarck in Private Life.</i> By a Fellow-Student.<br /> + +61. <i>In Low Relief.</i> By <span class="smcap">Morley Roberts</span>.<br /> + +62. <i>The Canadians of Old.</i> A Historical Romance. By <span class="smcap">Philippe Gaspé</span>.<br /> + +63. <i>A Squire of Low Degree.</i> By <span class="smcap">Lily A. Long</span>.<br /> + +64. <i>A Fluttered Dovecote.</i> By <span class="smcap">George Manville Fenn</span>.<br /> + +65. <i>The Nugents of Carriconna.</i> An Irish Story. By <span class="smcap">Tighe Hopkins</span>.<br /> + +66. <i>A Sensitive Plant.</i> By E. and <span class="smcap">D. Gerard</span>.<br /> + +67. <i>Dońa Luz.</i> By <span class="smcap">Juan Valera</span>. Translated by Mrs. <span class="smcap">Mary J. Serrano</span>.<br /> + +68. <i>Pepita Ximenez.</i> By <span class="smcap">Juan Valera</span>. Translated by Mrs. <span class="smcap">Mary J. Serrano</span>.<br /> + +69. <i>The Primes and their Neighbors.</i> By <span class="smcap">Richard Malcolm Johnston</span>.<br /> + +70. <i>The Iron Game.</i> By <span class="smcap">Henry F. Keenan</span>.<br /> + +71. <i>Stories of Old New Spain.</i> By <span class="smcap">Thomas A. Janvier</span>.<br /> + +72. <i>The Maid of Honor.</i> By Hon. <span class="smcap">Lewis Wingfield</span>.<br /> + +73. <i>In the Heart of the Storm.</i> By <span class="smcap">Maxwell Gray</span>.<br /> + +74. <i>Consequences.</i> By <span class="smcap">Egerton Castle</span>.<br /> + +75. <i>The Three Miss Kings.</i> By <span class="smcap">Ada Cambridge</span>.<br /> + +76. <i>A Matter of Skill.</i> By <span class="smcap">Beatrice Whitby</span>.<br /> + +77. <i>Maid Marian, and other Stories.</i> By <span class="smcap">Molly Elliot Seawell</span>.<br /> + +78. <i>One Woman's Way.</i> By <span class="smcap">Edmund Pendleton</span>.<br /> + +79. <i>A Merciful Divorce.</i> By <span class="smcap">F. W. Maude</span>.<br /> + +80. <i>Stephen Ellicott's Daughter.</i> By Mrs. <span class="smcap">J. H. Needell</span>.<br /> + +81. <i>One Reason Why.</i> By <span class="smcap">Beatrice Whitby</span>.<br /> + +82. <i>The Tragedy of Ida Noble.</i> By <span class="smcap">W. Clark Russell</span>.<br /> + +83. <i>The Johnstown Stage, and other Stories.</i> By <span class="smcap">Robert H. Fletcher</span>.<br /> + +84. <i>A Widower Indeed.</i> By <span class="smcap">Rhoda Broughton</span> and <span class="smcap">Elizabeth Bisland</span>.<br /> + +85. <i>The Flight of the Shadow.</i> By <span class="smcap">George MacDonald</span>.<br /> + +86. <i>Love or Money.</i> By <span class="smcap">Katharine Lee</span>.<br /> + +87. <i>Not All in Vain.</i> By <span class="smcap">Ada Cambridge</span>.<br /> + +88. <i>It Happened Yesterday.</i> By <span class="smcap">Frederick Marshall</span>.<br /> + +89. <i>My Guardian.</i> By <span class="smcap">Ada Cambridge</span>.<br /> + +90. <i>The Story of Philip Methuen.</i> By Mrs. <span class="smcap">J. H. Needell</span>.<br /> + +91. <i>Amethyst</i>: The Story of a Beauty. By <span class="smcap">Christabel R. Coleridge</span>.<br /> + +92. <i>Don Braulio.</i> By <span class="smcap">Juan Valera</span>. Translated by <span class="smcap">Clara Bell</span>.<br /> + +93. <i>The Chronicles of Mr. Bill Williams.</i> By <span class="smcap">Richard Malcolm Johnston</span>.<br /> + +94. <i>A Queen of Curds and Cream.</i> By <span class="smcap">Dorothea Gerard</span>.<br /> + +95. <i>"La Bella" and Others.</i> By <span class="smcap">Egerton Castle</span>.<br /> + +96. <i>"December Roses."</i> By Mrs. <span class="smcap">Campbell-Praed</span>.<br /> + +97. <i>Jean de Kerdren.</i> By <span class="smcap">Jeanne Schultz</span>.<br /> + +98. <i>Etelka's Vow.</i> By <span class="smcap">Dorothea Gerard</span>.<br /> + +99. <i>Cross Currents.</i> By <span class="smcap">Mary A. Dickens</span>.<br /> + +100. <i>His Life's Magnet.</i> By <span class="smcap">Theodora Elmslie</span>.<br /> + +101. <i>Passing the Love of Women.</i> By Mrs. <span class="smcap">J. H. Needell</span>.<br /> + +102. <i>In Old St. Stephen's.</i> By <span class="smcap">Jeanie Drake</span>.<br /> + +103. <i>The Berkeleys and their Neighbors.</i> By <span class="smcap">Molly Elliot Seawell</span>.<br /> + +104. <i>Mona Maclean, Medical Student.</i> By <span class="smcap">Graham Travers</span>.<br /> + +105. <i>Mrs. Bligh.</i> By <span class="smcap">Rhoda Broughton</span>.<br /> + +106. <i>A Stumble on the Threshold.</i> By <span class="smcap">James Payn</span>.<br /> + +107. <i>Hanging Moss.</i> By <span class="smcap">Paul Lindau</span>.<br /> + +108. <i>A Comedy of Elopement.</i> By <span class="smcap">Christian Reid</span>.<br /> + +109. <i>In the Suntime of her Youth.</i> By <span class="smcap">Beatrice Whitby</span>.<br /> + +110. <i>Stories in Black and White.</i> By <span class="smcap">Thomas Hardy</span> and Others.<br /> + +110½. <i>An Englishman in Paris.</i> Notes and Recollections.<br /> + +111. <i>Commander Mendoza.</i> By <span class="smcap">Juan Valera</span>.<br /> + +112. <i>Dr. Paull's Theory.</i> By Mrs. <span class="smcap">A. M. Dirhl</span>.<br /> + +113. <i>Children of Destiny.</i> By <span class="smcap">Molly Elliot Seawell</span>.<br /> + +114. <i>A Little Minx.</i> By <span class="smcap">Ada Cambridge</span>.<br /> + +115. <i>Capt'n Davy's Honeymoon.</i> By <span class="smcap">Hall Caine</span>.<br /> + +116. <i>The Voice of a Flower.</i> By <span class="smcap">E. Gerard</span>.<br /> + +117. <i>Singularly Deluded.</i> By <span class="smcap">Sarah Grand</span>.<br /> + +118. <i>Suspected.</i> By <span class="smcap">Louisa Stratenus</span>.<br /> + +119. <i>Lucia, Hugh, and Another.</i> By Mrs. <span class="smcap">J. H. Needell</span>.<br /> + +120. <i>The Tutor's Secret.</i> By <span class="smcap">Victor Chebbuliez</span>.<br /> + +121. <i>From the Five Rivers.</i> By Mrs. <span class="smcap">F. A. Steel</span>.<br /> + +122. <i>An Innocent Impostor, and Other Stories.</i> By <span class="smcap">Maxwell Gray</span>.<br /> + +123. <i>Ideala.</i> By <span class="smcap">Sarah Grand</span>.<br /> + +124. <i>A Comedy of Masks.</i> By <span class="smcap">Ernest Dowson</span> and <span class="smcap">Arthur Moore</span>.<br /> + +125. <i>Relics.</i> By <span class="smcap">Frances MacNab</span>.<br /> + +126. <i>Dodo: A Detail of the Day.</i> By <span class="smcap">E. F. Benson</span>.<br /> + +127. <i>A Woman of Forty.</i> By <span class="smcap">Esmč Stuart</span>.<br /> + +128. <i>Diana Tempest.</i> By <span class="smcap">Mary Cholmondeley</span>.<br /> + +129. <i>The Recipe for Diamonds.</i> By <span class="smcap">C. J. Cutcliffe Hyne</span>.<br /> + +130. <i>Christina Chard.</i> By Mrs. <span class="smcap">Campbell-Praed</span>.<br /> + +131. <i>A Gray Eye or So.</i> By <span class="smcap">Frank Frankfort Moore</span>.<br /> + +132. <i>Earlscourt.</i> By <span class="smcap">Alexander Allardyce</span>.<br /> + +133. <i>A Marriage Ceremony.</i> By <span class="smcap">Ada Cambridge</span>.<br /> + +134. <i>A Ward in Chancery.</i> By Mrs. <span class="smcap">Alexander</span>.<br /> + +135. <i>Lot 13.</i> By <span class="smcap">Dorothea Gerard</span>.<br /> + +136. <i>Our Manifold Nature.</i> By <span class="smcap">Sarah Grand</span>.<br /> + +137. <i>A Costly Freak.</i> By <span class="smcap">Maxwell Gray</span>.<br /> + +138. <i>A Beginner.</i> By <span class="smcap">Rhoda Broughton</span>.<br /> + +139. <i>A Yellow Aster.</i> By Mrs. <span class="smcap">Mannington Caffyn</span> ("<span class="smcap">Iota</span>").<br /> + +140. <i>The Rubicon.</i> By <span class="smcap">E. F. Benson</span>.<br /> + +141. <i>The Trespasser.</i> By <span class="smcap">Gilbert Parker</span>.<br /> + +142. <i>The Rich Miss Riddell.</i> By <span class="smcap">Dorothea Gerard</span>.<br /> + +143. <i>Mary Fenwick's Daughter.</i> By <span class="smcap">Beatrice Whitby</span>.<br /> + +144. <i>Red Diamonds.</i> By <span class="smcap">Justin McCarthy</span>.<br /> + +145. <i>A Daughter of Music.</i> By <span class="smcap">G. Colmore</span>.<br /> + +146. <i>Outlaw and Lawmaker.</i> By Mrs. <span class="smcap">Campbell-Praed</span>.<br /> + +147. <i>Dr. Janet of Harley Street.</i> By <span class="smcap">Arabella Kenealy</span>.<br /> + +148. <i>George Mandeville's Husband.</i> By <span class="smcap">C. E. Raimond</span>.<br /> + +149. <i>Vashti and Esther.</i><br /> + +150. <i>Timor's Two Worlds.</i> By <span class="smcap">M. Jokai</span>.<br /> + +151. <i>A Victim of Good Luck.</i> By <span class="smcap">W. E. Norris</span>.<br /> + +152. <i>The Trail of the Sword.</i> By <span class="smcap">Gilbert Parker</span>.<br /> + +153. <i>A Mild Barbarian.</i> By <span class="smcap">Edgar Fawcett</span>.<br /> + +154. <i>The God in the Car.</i> By <span class="smcap">Anthony Hope</span>.<br /> + +155. <i>Children of Circumstance.</i> By Mrs. <span class="smcap">M. Caffyn</span> ("<span class="smcap">Iota</span>").<br /> + +156. <i>At the Gate of Samaria.</i> By <span class="smcap">William J. Locke</span>.<br /> + +157. <i>The Justification of Andrew Lebrun.</i> By <span class="smcap">Frank Barrett</span>.<br /> + +158. <i>Dust and Laurels.</i> By <span class="smcap">Mary L. Pendered</span>.<br /> + +159. <i>The Good Ship Mohock.</i> By <span class="smcap">W. Clark Russell</span>.<br /> + +160. <i>Noemi.</i> By <span class="smcap">S. Baring-Gould</span>.<br /> + +161. <i>The Honour of Savelli.</i> By <span class="smcap">S. Levett Yeats</span>.<br /> + +162. <i>Kitty's Engagement.</i> By <span class="smcap">Florence Warden</span>.<br /> + +163. <i>The Mermaid.</i> By <span class="smcap">L. Dougall</span>.<br /> + +164. <i>An Arranged Marriage.</i> By <span class="smcap">Dorothea Gerard</span>.<br /> + +165. <i>Eve's Ransom.</i> By <span class="smcap">George Gissing</span>.<br /> + +166. <i>The Marriage of Esther.</i> By <span class="smcap">Guy Boothby</span>.<br /> +</p> + + +<p class="smaller">"The red-brown covers of Appletons' Town and Country Library have come +to be an almost infallible sign of a story worth reading. In the series a poor book +has not yet been published."—<i>Toledo Bee.</i></p> + +<p class="smaller">"The publishers of the Town and Country Library have been either particularly +sagacious or very fortunate in the selection of the novels that have thus +far appeared in this excellent series. Not one is lacking in positive merit, and +the majority are much above the average fiction of the day. Any person who likes +a good story well told can buy any issue in the Town and Country Library with +the utmost confidence of finding something well worth while."—<i>Boston Beacon.</i></p> + + +<p class="center">Each, 12mo, paper cover, 50 cents; cloth, $1.00.</p> + + +<p class="smallest"><i>For sale by all booksellers; or will be sent by mail on receipt of price by the +publishers.</i></p> + +<p class="small center">New York: D. APPLETON & CO., 72 Fifth Avenue.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p class="center">D. APPLETON & CO.'S PUBLICATIONS.</p> + + +<p class="hang2 cap"><i>ROUND THE RED LAMP.</i> By <span class="smcap">A. Conan Doyle</span>, +author of "The White Company," "The Adventures of Sherlock +Holmes," "The Refugees," etc. 12mo. Cloth, $1.50.</p> + +<p class="smaller">The "Red Lamp," the trade-mark, as it were, of the English country practitioner's +office, is the central point of these dramatic stories of professional life. There are no +secrets for the surgeon, and, a surgeon himself as well as a novelist, the author has +made a most artistic use of the motives and springs of action revealed to him in a field +of which he is the master.</p> + +<p class="smaller">"A volume of bright, clever sketches, ... an array of facts and fancies of medical +life, and contains some of the gifted author's best work."—<i>London Daily News.</i></p> + + +<p class="hang2 cap"><i>A FLASH OF SUMMER.</i> By Mrs. <span class="smcap">W. K. CLIFFORD</span>, +author of "Love Letters of a Worldly Woman," "Aunt +Anne," etc. 12mo. Cloth, $1.50.</p> + +<p class="smaller">"The story is well written and interesting, the style is limpid and pure as fresh +water, and is so artistically done that it is only a second thought that notices it."—<i>San +Francisco Call.</i></p> + + +<p class="hang2 cap"><i>THE LILAC SUNBONNET. A Love Story.</i> By +<span class="smcap">S. R. Crockett</span>, author of "The Stickit Minister," "The +Raiders," etc. 12mo. Cloth, $1.50.</p> + +<p class="smaller">"A love story pure and simple, one of the old-fashioned, wholesome, sunshiny kind, +with a pure-minded, sound-hearted hero, and a heroine who is merely a good and beautiful +woman; and if any other love story half so sweet has been written this year it has +escaped us."—<i>New York Times.</i></p> + + +<p class="hang2 cap"><i>MAELCHO.</i> By the Hon. <span class="smcap">Emily Lawless</span>, author +of "Grania," "Hurrish," etc. 12mo. Cloth, $1.50.</p> + +<p class="smaller">"A paradox of literary genius. It is not a history, and yet has more of the stuff +of history in it, more of the true national character and fate, than any historical monograph +we know. It is not a novel, and yet fascinates us more than any novel."—<i>London +Spectator.</i></p> + + +<p class="hang2 cap"><i>THE LAND OF THE SUN. Vistas Mexicanas.</i> +By <span class="smcap">Christian Reid</span>, author of "The Land of the Sky," "A +Comedy of Elopement," etc. Illustrated. 12mo. Cloth, $1.75.</p> + +<p class="smaller">In this picturesque travel romance the author of "The Land of the Sky" +takes her characters from New Orleans to fascinating Mexican cities like +Guanajuato, Zacatecas, Aguas Calientes, Guadalajara, and of course the City +of Mexico. What they see and what they do are described in a vivacious +style which renders the book most valuable to those who wish an interesting +Mexican travel-book unencumbered with details, while the story as a story +sustains the high reputation of this talented author.</p> + +<p class="small center">New York: D. APPLETON & CO., 72 Fifth Avenue.</p> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p class="center small">NOVELS BY HALL CAINE.</p> + + +<p class="hang2 cap"><i>THE MANXMAN.</i> By <span class="smcap">Hall Caine</span>. 12mo. +Cloth, $1.50.</p> + +<p class="smaller">"A story of marvelous dramatic intensity, and in its ethical meaning has a force +comparable only to Hawthorne's 'Scarlet Letter.'"—<i>Boston Beacon.</i></p> + +<p class="smaller">"A work of power which is another stone added to the foundation of enduring fame +to which Mr. Caine is yearly adding."—<i>Public Opinion.</i></p> + +<p class="smaller">"A wonderfully strong study of character; a powerful analysis of those elements +which go to make up the strength and weakness of a man, which are at fierce warfare +within the same breast: contending against each other, as it were, the one to raise him +to fame and power, the other to drag him down to degradation and shame. Never in +the whole range of literature have we seen the struggle between these forces for +supremacy over the man more powerfully, more realistically delineated, than Mr. Caine +pictures it."—<i>Boston Home Journal.</i></p> + +<p class="smaller">"'The Manxman' is one of the most notable novels of the year, and is unquestionably +destined to perpetuate the fame of Hall Caine for many a year to come."—<i>Philadelphia +Telegraph.</i></p> + +<p class="smaller">"The author exhibits a mastery of the elemental passions of life that places him +high among the foremost of present writers of fiction."—<i>Philadelphia Inquirer.</i></p> + + +<p class="hang2 cap"><i>THE DEEMSTER. A Romance of the Isle of +Man.</i> By <span class="smcap">Hall Caine</span>. 12mo. Cloth, $1.50.</p> + +<p class="smaller">"Hall Caine has already given us some very strong and fine work, and 'The +Deemster' is a story of unusual power.... Certain passages and chapters have an +intensely dramatic grasp, and hold the fascinated reader with a force rarely excited +nowadays in literature."—<i>The Critic.</i></p> + +<p class="smaller">"One of the strongest novels which has appeared for many a day."—<i>San Francisco +Chronicle.</i></p> + +<p class="smaller">"Fascinates the mind like the gathering and bursting of a storm."—<i>Illustrated +London News.</i></p> + +<p class="smaller">"Deserves to be ranked among the remarkable novels of the day."—<i>Chicago +Times.</i></p> + +<p class="smaller">"Remarkably powerful, and is undoubtedly one of the strongest works of fiction of +our time. Its conception and execution are both very fine."—<i>Philadelphia Inquirer.</i></p> + +<p class="hang2 cap"><i>CAPT'N DAVY'S HONEYMOON. A Manx +Yarn.</i> By <span class="smcap">Hall Caine</span>. 12mo. Paper, 50 cts.; cloth, $1.00.</p> + +<p class="smaller">"A new departure by this author. Unlike his previous works, this little tale is +almost wholly humorous, with, however, a current of pathos underneath. It is not +always that an author can succeed equally well in tragedy and in comedy, but it looks +as though Mr. Hall Caine would be one of the exceptions."—<i>London Literary +World.</i></p> + +<p class="smaller">"It is pleasant to meet the author of 'The Deemster' in a brightly humorous little +story like this.... It shows the same observation of Manx character, and much of +the same artistic skill."—<i>Philadelphia Times.</i></p> +<p class="small center">New York: D. APPLETON & CO., 72 Fifth Avenue.</p> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p class="center small">NOVELS BY MAARTEN MAARTENS.</p> + + +<p class="hang2 cap"><i>THE GREATER GLORY. A Story of High Life.</i> +By <span class="smcap">Maarten Maartens</span>, author of "God's Fool," "Joost +Avelingh," etc. 12mo. Cloth, $1.50.</p> + +<p class="smaller">"Until the Appletons discovered the merits of Maarten Maartens, the foremost of +Dutch novelists, it is doubtful if many American readers knew that there were Dutch +novelists. His 'God's Fool' and 'Joost Avelingh' made for him an American reputation. +To our mind this just published work of his is his best.... He is a master of +epigram, an artist in description, a prophet in insight."—<i>Boston Advertiser.</i></p> + +<p class="smaller">"It would take several columns to give any adequate idea of the superb way in +which the Dutch novelist has developed his theme and wrought out one of the most +impressive stories of the period.... It belongs to the small class of novels which +one can not afford to neglect."—<i>San Francisco Chronicle.</i></p> + +<p class="smaller">"Maarten Maartens stands head and shoulders above the average novelist of the +day in intellectual subtlety and imaginative power."—<i>Boston Beacon.</i></p> + +<p class="hang2 cap"><i>GOD'S FOOL.</i> By <span class="smcap">Maarten Maartens</span>. 12mo. +Cloth, $1.50.</p> + +<p class="smaller">"Throughout there is an epigrammatic force which would make palatable a less +interesting story of human lives or one less deftly told."—<i>London Saturday Review.</i></p> + +<p class="smaller">"Perfectly easy, graceful, humorous.... The author's skill in character-drawing +is undeniable."—<i>London Chronicle.</i></p> + +<p class="smaller">"A remarkable work."—<i>New York Times.</i></p> + +<p class="smaller">"Maarten Maartens has secured a firm footing in the eddies of current literature.... +Pathos deepens into tragedy in the thrilling story of 'God's Fool.'"—<i>Philadelphia +Ledger.</i></p> + +<p class="smaller">"Its preface alone stamps the author as one of the leading English novelists of +to-day."—<i>Boston Daily Advertiser.</i></p> + +<p class="smaller">"The story is wonderfully brilliant.... The interest never lags; the style is +realistic and intense; and there is a constantly underlying current of subtle humor.... +It is, in short, a book which no student of modern literature should fail to read."—<i>Boston +Times.</i></p> + +<p class="smaller">"A story of remarkable interest and point."—<i>New York Observer.</i></p> + +<p class="hang2 cap"><i>JOOST AVELINGH.</i> By <span class="smcap">Maarten Maartens</span>. +12mo. Cloth, $1.50.</p> + +<p class="smaller">"So unmistakably good as to induce the hope that an acquaintance with the Dutch +literature of fiction may soon become more general among us."—<i>London Morning +Post.</i></p> + +<p class="smaller">"In scarcely any of the sensational novels of the day will the reader find more +nature or more human nature."—<i>London Standard.</i></p> + +<p class="smaller">"A novel of a very high type. At once strongly realistic and powerfully idealistic."—<i>London +Literary World.</i></p> + +<p class="smaller">"Full of local color and rich in quaint phraseology and suggestion."—<i>London +Telegraph.</i></p> + +<p class="smaller">"Maarten Maartens is a capital story-teller."—<i>Pall Mall Gazette.</i></p> + +<p class="smaller">"Our English writers of fiction will have to look to their laurels."—<i>Birmingham +Daily Post.</i></p> +<p class="small center">New York: D. APPLETON & CO., 72 Fifth Avenue.</p> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p class="hang2 cap"><i>MANY INVENTIONS.</i> By <span class="smcap">Rudyard Kipling</span>. +Containing fourteen stories, several of which are now published +for the first time, and two poems. 12mo, 427 pages. +Cloth, $1.50.</p> + +<p class="smaller">"The reader turns from its pages with the conviction that the author has no superior +to-day in animated narrative and virility of style. He remains master of a power +in which none of his contemporaries approach him—the ability to select out of countless +details the few vital ones which create the finished picture. He knows how, with a +phrase or a word, to make you see his characters as he sees them, to make you feel +the full meaning of a dramatic situation."—<i>New York Tribune.</i></p> + +<p class="smaller">"'Many Inventions' will confirm Mr. Kipling's reputation.... We would cite +with pleasure sentences from almost every page, and extract incidents from almost +every story. But to what end? Here is the completest book that Mr. Kipling has yet +given us in workmanship, the weightiest and most humane in breadth of view."—<i>Pall +Mall Gazette.</i></p> + +<p class="smaller">"Mr. Kipling's powers as a story-teller are evidently not diminishing. We advise +everybody to buy 'Many Inventions,' and to profit by some of the best entertainment +that modern fiction has to offer."—<i>New York Sun.</i></p> + +<p class="smaller">"'Many Inventions' will be welcomed wherever the English language is spoken.... +Every one of the stories bears the imprint of a master who conjures up incident +as if by magic, and who portrays character, scenery, and feeling with an ease which is +only exceeded by the boldness of force."—<i>Boston Globe.</i></p> + +<p class="smaller">"The book will get and hold the closest attention of the reader."—<i>American +Bookseller.</i></p> + +<p class="smaller">"Mr. Rudyard Kipling's place in the world of letters is unique. He sits quite aloof +and alone, the incomparable and inimitable master of the exquisitely fine art of short-story +writing. Mr. Robert Louis Stevenson has perhaps written several tales which +match the run of Mr. Kipling's work, but the best of Mr. Kipling's tales are matchless, +and his latest collection, 'Many Inventions,' contains several such."—<i>Philadelphia +Press.</i></p> + +<p class="smaller">"Of late essays in fiction the work of Kipling can be compared to only three—Blackmore's +'Lorna Doone,' Stevenson's marvelous sketch of Villon in the 'New +Arabian Nights,' and Thomas Hardy's 'Tess of the D'Urbervilles.'... It is probably +owing to this extreme care that 'Many Inventions' is undoubtedly Mr. Kipling's best +book."—<i>Chicago Post.</i></p> + +<p class="smaller">"Mr. Kipling's style is too well known to American readers to require introduction, +but it can scarcely be amiss to say there is not a story in this collection that does not +more than repay a perusal of them all."—<i>Baltimore American.</i></p> + +<p class="smaller">"As a writer of short stories Rudyard Kipling is a genius. He has had imitators, +but they have not been successful in dimming the luster of his achievements by contrast.... +'Many Inventions' is the title. And they are inventions—entirely original +in incident, ingenious in plot, and startling by their boldness and force."—<i>Rochester +Herald.</i></p> + +<p class="smaller">"How clever he is! This must always be the first thought on reading such a +collection of Kipling's stories. Here is art—art of the most consummate sort. Compared +with this, the stories of our brightest young writers become commonplace."—<i>New +York Evangelist.</i></p> + +<p class="smaller">"Taking the group as a whole, it may be said that the execution is up to his best +in the past, while two or three sketches surpass in rounded strength and vividness of +imagination anything else he has done."—<i>Hartford Courant.</i></p> + +<p class="smaller">"Fifteen more extraordinary sketches, without a tinge of sensationalism, it would +be hard to find.... Every one has an individuality of its own which fascinates the +reader."—<i>Boston Times.</i></p> +<p class="small center">New York: D. APPLETON & CO., 72 Fifth Avenue.</p> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p class="hang2 cap"><i>A JOURNEY IN OTHER WORLDS. A Romance +of the Future.</i> By <span class="smcap">John Jacob Astor</span>. With 9 full-page +Illustrations by Dan Beard. 12mo. Cloth, $1.50.</p> + +<p class="smaller">"An interesting and cleverly devised book.... No lack of imagination.... +Shows a skillful and wide acquaintance with scientific facts."—<i>New York Herald.</i></p> + +<p class="smaller">"The author speculates cleverly and daringly on the scientific advance of the earth, +and he revels in the physical luxuriance of Jupiter; but he also lets his imagination +travel through spiritual realms, and evidently delights in mystic speculation quite as +much as in scientific investigation. If he is a follower of Jules Verne, he has not forgotten +also to study the philosophers."—<i>New York Tribune.</i></p> + +<p class="smaller">"A beautiful example of typographical art and the bookmaker's skill.... To +appreciate the story one must read it."—<i>New York Commercial Advertiser.</i></p> + +<p class="smaller">"The date of the events narrated in this book is supposed to be 2000 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span> The +inhabitants of North America have increased mightily in numbers and power and +knowledge. It is an age of marvelous scientific attainments. Flying machines have +long been in common use, and finally a new power is discovered called 'apergy,' +the reverse of gravitation, by which people are able to fly off into space in any direction, +and at what speed they please."—<i>New York Sun.</i></p> + +<p class="smaller">"The scientific romance by John Jacob Astor is more than likely to secure a distinct +popular success, and achieve widespread vogue both as an amusing and interesting +story, and a thoughtful endeavor to prophesy some of the triumphs which science +is destined to win by the year 2000. The book has been written with a purpose, and +that a higher one than the mere spinning of a highly imaginative yarn. Mr. Astor has +been engaged upon the book for over two years, and has brought to bear upon it a +great deal of hard work in the way of scientific research, of which he has been very fond +ever since he entered Harvard. It is admirably illustrated by Dan Beard."—<i>Mail and +Express.</i></p> + +<p class="smaller">"Mr. Astor has himself almost all the qualities imaginable for making the science of +astronomy popular. He knows the learned maps of the astrologers. He knows the +work of Copernicus. He has made calculations and observations. He is enthusiastic, +and the spectacular does not frighten him."—<i>New York Times.</i></p> + +<p class="smaller">"The work will remind the reader very much of Jules Verne in its general plan of +using scientific facts and speculation as a skeleton on which to hang the romantic +adventures of the central figures, who have all the daring ingenuity and luck of Mr. +Verne's heroes. Mr. Astor uses history to point out what in his opinion science may +be expected to accomplish. It is a romance with a purpose."—<i>Chicago Inter-Ocean.</i></p> + +<p class="smaller">"The romance contains many new and striking developments of the possibilities +of science hereafter to be explored, but the volume is intensely interesting, both as a +product of imagination and an illustration of the ingenious and original application of +science."—<i>Rochester Herald.</i></p> +<p class="small center">New York: D. APPLETON & CO., 72 Fifth Avenue.</p> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p class="hang2 cap"><i>BENEFITS FORGOT.</i> By <span class="smcap">Wolcott Balestier</span>, +author of "Reffey," "A Common Story," etc. 12mo. Cloth, +$1.50.</p> + +<p class="smaller">"A credit to American literature and a monument to the memory of the author."—<i>Boston +Beacon.</i></p> + +<p class="smaller">"The author places his reader at the very pulse of the human machine when that +machine is throbbing most tumultuously."—<i>London Chronicle.</i></p> + +<p class="smaller">"The author manages a difficult scene in a masterly way, and his style is brilliant +and finished."—<i>Buffalo Courier.</i></p> + +<p class="smaller">"An ambitious work.... The author's style is clear and graceful."—<i>New York +Times.</i></p> + +<p class="smaller">"Mr. Balestier has done some excellent literary work, but we have no hesitation in +pronouncing this, his latest work, by far his best."—<i>Boston Advertiser.</i></p> + + +<p class="hang2 cap"><i>DUFFELS.</i> By <span class="smcap">Edward Eggleston</span>, author of "The +Faith Doctor," "Roxy," "The Hoosier Schoolmaster," etc. +12mo. Cloth, $1.25.</p> + +<p class="smaller">"A collection of stories each of which is thoroughly characteristic of Dr. Eggleston +at his best."—<i>Baltimore American.</i></p> + +<p class="smaller">"Destined to become very popular. The stories are of infinite variety. All are +pleasing, even fascinating, studies of the character, lives, and manners of the periods +with which they deal."—<i>Philadelphia Item.</i></p> + + +<p class="hang2 cap"><i>THE FAITH DOCTOR.</i> By <span class="smcap">Edward Eggleston</span>, +author of "The Hoosier Schoolmaster," "The Circuit Rider," +etc. 12mo. Cloth, $1.50.</p> + +<p class="smaller">"One of <i>the</i> novels of the decade."—<i>Rochester Union and Advertiser.</i></p> + +<p class="smaller">"The author of 'The Hoosier Schoolmaster' has enhanced his reputation by this +beautiful and touching study of the character of a girl to love whom proved a liberal +education to both of her admirers."—<i>London Athenćum.</i></p> + +<p class="smaller">"'The Faith Doctor' is worth reading for its style, its wit, and its humor, and not +less, we may add, for its pathos."—<i>London Spectator.</i></p> + +<p class="smaller">"Much skill is shown by the author in making these 'fads' the basis of a novel of +great interest.... One who tries to keep in the current of good novel-reading must +certainly find time to read 'The Faith Doctor.'"—<i>Buffalo Commercial.</i></p> + + +<p class="hang2 cap"><i>"LA BELLA" AND OTHERS.</i> By <span class="smcap">Egerton Castle</span>, +author of "Consequences." Paper, 50 cents; cloth, $1.00.</p> + +<p class="smaller">"The stories will be welcomed with a sense of refreshing pungency by readers +who have been cloyed by a too long succession of insipid sweetness and familiar +incident."—<i>London Athenćum.</i></p> + +<p class="smaller">"The author is gifted with a lively fancy, and the clever plots he has devised gain +greatly in interest, thanks to the unfamiliar surroundings in which the action for the +most part takes place."—<i>London Literary World.</i></p> + +<p class="smaller">"Eight stories, all exhibiting notable originality in conception and mastery of art, +the first two illustrating them best. They add a dramatic power that makes them +masterpieces. Both belong to the period when fencing was most skillful, and illustrate +its practice."—<i>Boston Globe.</i></p> +<p class="small center">New York: D. APPLETON & CO., 72 Fifth Avenue.</p> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + + +<p class="hang2 cap"><i>THE THREE MUSKETEERS.</i> By <span class="smcap">Alexandre +Dumas</span>. An <i>édition de luxe</i> (limited to 750 copies), with 250 +Illustrations by Maurice Leloir. In two volumes. Royal 8vo. +Buckram, with specially designed cover. $12.00.</p> +<table summary="ad"> +<tr> +<td><div class="figcenter"><a id="i269" +name="i269"></a> +<img src="images/i269.jpg" alt="i269" /> +</div></td> + +<td colspan="2"><p class="smaller">By arrangement with the French +publishers. Messrs. D. Appleton +& Company have secured the +American rights for this, the +finest edition of Dumas's immortal +romance which has +been published. The illustrations +are carefully printed +from the original blocks, and +this edition therefore has an +unapproachable distinction +in point of pictorial quality.</p></td> + + + +</tr> +<tr><td> +<p class="smaller">The translation has been scrupulously +revised, and every effort has +been made to present a perfect edition +of Dumas's masterpiece.</p> +</td></tr> +</table> + + + +<p class="smaller">The translation has been scrupulously +revised, and every effort has +been made to present a perfect edition +of Dumas's masterpiece.</p> + + + + + +<p class="smaller">"Such a book lends itself to the draughtsman's art, and both requires +and rewards decoration. But it must be decoration of the best; and it has +waited long. At length, however—I have it before me now—an edition has +been prepared which should satisfy both the lovers of black and white and +the lovers of picturesque fiction.... It is scarcely too much to say that +were Alexandre Dumas alive to-day, to see this latest form of his greatest +work—first published exactly fifty years ago—he who loved the sumptuous +with an almost tropical fervor, and built a grand theater for the production +of his own dramas, would weep tears of joy over his offspring."—<span class="smcap">Stanley +J. Weyman</span>, in <i>The Book Buyer</i>.</p> +<p class="small center">New York: D. APPLETON & CO., 72 Fifth Avenue.</p> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p class="hang2 cap"><i>PAUL AND VIRGINIA.</i> By <span class="smcap">Bernardin de Saint-Pierre</span>. +With a Biographical Sketch, and numerous Illustrations +by Maurice Leloir. 8vo. Cloth, gilt top, uniform with +"Picciola," "The Story of Colette," and "An Attic Philosopher +in Paris." $1.50.</p> + +<p class="smaller">It is believed that this standard edition of "Paul and Virginia" with Leloir's charming +illustrations will prove a most acceptable addition to the series of illustrated foreign +classics in which D. Appleton & Co. have published "The Story of Colette," "An +Attic Philosopher in Paris," and "Picciola." No more sympathetic illustrator than +Leloir could be found, and his treatment of this masterpiece of French literature invests +it with a peculiar value.</p> + + +<p class="hang2 cap"><i>PICCIOLA.</i> By <span class="smcap">X. B. Saintine</span>. With 130 Illustrations +by <span class="smcap">J. F. Gueldry</span>. 8vo. Cloth, gilt top, $1.50.</p> + +<p class="smaller">"Saintine's 'Picciola,' the pathetic tale of the prisoner who raised a flower between +the cracks of the flagging of his dungeon, has passed definitely into the list of classic +books.... It has never been more beautifully housed than in this edition, with its fine +typography, binding, and sympathetic illustrations."—<i>Philadelphia Telegraph.</i></p> + +<p class="smaller">"The binding is both unique and tasteful, and the book commends itself strongly as +one that should meet with general favor in the season of gift-making."—<i>Boston Saturday +Evening Gazette.</i></p> + +<p class="smaller">"Most beautiful in its clear type, cream-laid paper, many attractive illustrations, +and holiday binding."—<i>New York Observer.</i></p> + + +<p class="hang2 cap"><i>AN ATTIC PHILOSOPHER IN PARIS; or, A +Peep at the World from a Garret.</i> Being the Journal of a +Happy Man. By <span class="smcap">Émile Souvestre</span>. With numerous Illustrations. +8vo. Cloth, gilt top, $1.50.</p> + +<p class="smaller">"A suitable holiday gift for a friend who appreciates refined literature."—<i>Boston +Times.</i></p> + +<p class="smaller">"The influence of the book is wholly good. The volume is a particularly handsome +one."—<i>Philadelphia Telegraph.</i></p> + +<p class="smaller">"It is a classic. It has found an appropriate reliquary. Faithfully translated, +charmingly illustrated by Jean Claude with full-page pictures, vignettes in the text, and +head and tail pieces, printed in graceful type on handsome paper, and bound with an +art worthy of Matthews, in half-cloth, ornamented on the cover, it is an exemplary book, +fit to be 'a treasure for aye.'"—<i>New York Times.</i></p> + + +<p class="hang2 cap"><i>THE STORY OF COLETTE.</i> A new large-paper +edition. With 36 Illustrations. 8vo. Cloth, gilt top, $1.50.</p> + +<p class="smaller">"One of the handsomest of the books of fiction for the holiday season."—<i>Philadelphia +Bulletin.</i></p> + +<p class="smaller">"One of the gems of the season.... It is the story of the life of young womanhood +in France, dramatically told, with the light and shade and coloring of the genuine +artist, and is utterly free from that which mars too many French novels. In its literary +finish it is well-nigh perfect, indicating the hand of the master."—<i>Boston Traveller.</i></p> + + +<p class="hang2 cap"><i>THE PYGMIES.</i> By <span class="smcap">A. de Quatrefages</span>, late +Professor of Anthropology at the Museum of Natural History, +Paris. With numerous Illustrations. 12mo. Cloth, $1.75.</p> + +<p class="smaller">In this interesting volume the author has gathered the results of careful +studies of the small black races of Africa, and he shows what the pygmies +of antiquity really were. The peculiar intellectual, moral, and religious +characteristics of these races are also described.</p> + + +<p class="hang2 cap"><i>WOMAN'S SHARE IN PRIMITIVE CULTURE.</i> +By <span class="smcap">Otis Tufton Mason, A. M.</span>, Curator of the Department +of Ethnology in the United States National Museum. +With numerous Illustrations. 12mo. Cloth, $1.75.</p> + +<p class="smaller">"A most interesting <i>résumé</i> of the revelations which science has made concerning +the habits of human beings in primitive times, and especially as to the place, the +duties, and the customs of women."—<i>Philadelphia Inquirer.</i></p> + +<p class="smaller">"Mr. Mason's volume secures for woman her glory as a civilizer in the past, and +by no means denies her a glorious future."—<i>New York Tribune.</i></p> + + +<p class="hang2 cap"><i>SCHOOLS AND MASTERS OF SCULPTURE.</i> +By <span class="smcap">A. G. Radcliffe</span>, author of "Schools and Masters of +Painting." With 35 full-page Illustrations. 12mo. Cloth, +$3.00.</p> + +<p class="smaller">"The art lover will find in Miss Radcliffe's work a book of fascinating interest, and +a thoroughly painstaking and valuable addition to the stock of knowledge which he +may possess on the history of the noble art of sculpture."—<i>Philadelphia Item.</i></p> + +<p class="smaller">"It would be difficult to name another work that would be so valuable to the +general reader on the same subject as this book."—<i>San Francisco Bulletin.</i></p> + +<p class="smaller">"The work is free of all needless technicalities, and will be of intense interest to +every intelligent reader, while of inestimable value to the student of art."—<i>Boston +Home Journal.</i></p> + + +<p class="center pt small"><i>BY THE SAME AUTHOR.</i></p> + +<p class="hang2 cap"><i>SCHOOLS AND MASTERS OF PAINTING.</i> +With numerous Illustrations and an Appendix on the Principal +Galleries of Europe. New edition, fully revised, and in part +rewritten. 12mo. Cloth, $3.00; half calf, $5.00.</p> + +<p class="smaller">"The volume is one of great practical utility, and may be used to advantage as an +artistic guide book by persons visiting the collections of Italy, France, and Germany +for the first time."—<i>New York Tribune.</i></p> +<p class="small center">New York: D. APPLETON & CO., 72 Fifth Avenue.</p> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<div class="notes small"> +<p>TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE:</p> + +<p>Inconsistencies in the author's spelling, use of hyphens and other +punctuation have been retained as in the original publication.</p> + +<p>Obvious typos and printer errors have been corrected without comment.</p> + +<p>In addition to obvious errors, the following changes have been made:</p> + +<blockquote><p class="hang2">Page 18: "renumerative" changed to "remunerative" in the phrase, "... accept any renumerative +post...."</p> + +<p class="hang2">Page 24: "colomn" changed to "column" in the phrase, "... thin column of +steam...."</p> + +<p class="hang2">Page 39: " , " changed to " . " in the phrase, "I had quite +forgotten. Sit down...."</p> + +<p class="hang2">Page 98: " ? " changed to " . " in the phrase, "... we don't know how to +let his daughter know."</p> + +<p class="hang2">Page 153: "relentness" changed to "relentless" in the phrase, "... still the relentless march...."</p> + +<p class="hang2">Page 231: "to" changed to "too" in the phrase, "Ellison rose too, and...."</p> + +<p class="hang2">Page 247: "that" changed to "than" in the phrase, "I love you more fondly now than ever."</p></blockquote> +</div> + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Marriage of Esther, by Guy Boothby + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE MARRIAGE OF ESTHER *** + +***** This file should be named 39731-h.htm or 39731-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/9/7/3/39731/ + +Produced by Cathy Maxam and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images generously made available by The +Internet Archive) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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