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diff --git a/41137-0.txt b/41137-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..fc8abd2 --- /dev/null +++ b/41137-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,10092 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 41137 *** + + DEAD MAN'S LOVE + + BY TOM GALLON + + _Author of "Tatterley," "Jarwick the Prodigal," "Tinman," etc._ + + + BRENTANO'S + 5TH AVENUE, AND 27TH STREET + NEW YORK CITY + + + + +CONTENTS. + + + CHAPTER PAGE + + I.--I COME TO THE SURFACE OF THINGS 9 + + II.--I AM HANGED--AND DONE FOR 29 + + III.--THE MISSING MAN 49 + + IV.--A LITTLE WHITE GHOST 68 + + V.--I AM DRAWN FROM THE GRAVE 89 + + VI.--I BEHAVE DISGRACEFULLY 109 + + VII.--IN THE CAMP OF THE ENEMY 129 + + VIII.--MISERY'S BEDFELLOW 150 + + IX.--A SHOOTING PARTY 169 + + X.--I TOUCH THE SKIRTS OF HAPPINESS 189 + + XI.--UNCLE ZABDIEL IN PIOUS MOOD 209 + + XII.--AN APPOINTMENT WITH DEATH 228 + + XIII.--"THAT'S THE MAN!" 248 + + XIV.--WILLIAM CAPPER COMES TO LIFE 267 + + XV.--I BID THE DOCTOR FAREWELL 286 + + XVI.--THE BOY WITH THE LONG CURLS 306 + + + + +DEAD MAN'S LOVE. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +I COME TO THE SURFACE OF THINGS. + + +I came out of Penthouse Prison on a certain Monday morning in May. Let +there be no misunderstanding about it; I came out by way of the roof. +And the time was four in the morning; I heard the big clock over the +entrance gates chime in a dull, heavy, sleepy fashion as I lay crouched +on the roof under shadow of the big tower at the north end, and looked +about me. + +Looking back at it now, it seems like a dream, and even then I could not +realise exactly how it had happened. All I know is that there had been +an alarm of fire earlier in the night, and a great running to and fro of +warders, and a battering at doors by frantic locked-in men, with oaths, +and threats, and shrieks. The smell of burning wood had reached my +nostrils, and little whiffs and wreaths of smoke had drifted in through +the ventilator in my door, before that door was opened, and I found +myself huddled outside in the long corridor with other fellow-captives. +And at that time I had not thought of escaping at all, probably from the +fact that I was too frightened to do anything but obey orders. + +But it came about that, even in that well-conducted prison, something +had gone wrong with the fire-hose; and it became a matter of a great +passing of buckets from hand to hand, and I, as a trusted prisoner, and +a model one, too, was put at the end of the line that was the least +guarded. Smoke was all about me, and I could only see the faces of +convicts and warders looming at me through the haze, indistinctly. I +handed the buckets mechanically, as I had done everything else in that +place during the few months I had been there. + +I heard an order shouted in the distance, and I lost the faces that had +seemed to be so near to me; the fire had broken out in a fresh place, +and there was a sudden call for help. I hesitated--the last of the line +of men--for a moment; then I set down my bucket, and turned in the +opposite direction and ran for it. I knew where there was a flight of +stairs; I guessed that one particular door I had seen but once would be +open; the rest I left to chance. With my heart thumping madly I fled up +the stairs, and flung myself against the door; it yielded, and I +stumbled through on to the roof of the prison. + +I could hear down below me a great hubbub, but the roar of the flames +had subsided somewhat, and I knew that the fire had been conquered. That +meant for me a shorter time in which to make good my escape. I went +slipping and sliding along the roof, half wishing myself back inside the +prison, and wondering how I should get from that dizzy height to the +ground. Fortunately I was young, and fit, and strong, and they had put +me to the hardest work in the prison for those first months, thereby +hardening my muscles to their own undoing; and I was active as a cat. +After lying on the roof for what seemed a long time--until, in fact, the +hubbub below had almost subsided entirely--I determined that I could +afford to wait no longer. I raised my head where I lay and peered over +the edge, as I have said, just as the great clock struck four. + +I looked straight into the open mouth of a rain-water pipe a few inches +below me. It was almost full daylight by this time, but a hazy, misty +morning. I worked my way to the very edge of the roof, and lay along it; +then I got my arms over the edge and gripped the broad top of the pipe. +There could be no half measures about such a matter; I threw myself over +bodily, and dropped to the stretch of my arms, and hung there. Then I +quickly lowered one hand and gripped the smooth, round pipe, and began +to slide down. I remember wondering if by some fatality I should drop +into the arms of an expectant warder. + +But that didn't happen. I reached the ground in safety and crouched +there, waiting; there was still the outer wall to scale. In that I was +less fortunate, for although in the grey light I made the circuit of it +inside twice over, I failed to discover anything by which I could mount. +But at last I came upon a shed that was used for storing the oakum, +picked and unpicked; it had a heavy padlock on the wooden door, and the +roof of the shed inclined at an angle against the high wall. It was my +only chance, and there was but one way to do it. + +I stepped back a few paces, and took a running leap for the edge of the +roof, jumping for the padlock. I tried three times, and the third time I +got my foot upon the padlock, and caught the gutter with my hands. +Exerting all my strength, I drew myself up until I lay flat upon the +shelving roof of the shed, scrambled up that, and stood upright against +the outer wall, with the topmost stones about a foot above the reach of +my hands. + +That was the most ticklish work of all, because the first time I tried +to make a jump for the top of the wall I slipped, and nearly rolled off +the sloping roof altogether. The second time I was more successful, and +I got my fingers firmly hitched on to the top of the wall. I hung there +for a moment, fully expecting that I should have to let go; but I heard +a shout--or thought I heard one--from the direction of the prison, and +that urged me on as nothing else could have done. I drew myself up until +I lay flat on the top of the wall, and then I rolled over into freedom. + +Incidentally in my hurry I rolled over on to a particularly hard road, +without much care how I fell. I picked myself up and looked about me, +and began for the first time to realise my desperate situation. What +earthly chance was there for me, clad as I was in convict garb, in a +wild country place, at something after four o'clock in the morning? I +was branded before all men; I was a pariah, to be captured by hook or by +crook; the hand of the meanest thing I might meet would legitimately be +against me. + +But then I was only five-and-twenty, and the coming day had in it a +promise of sweetness and of beauty--and I was free! Even while I cast +about in my mind to know what I should do, I know that I rejoiced in my +strength and in my young manhood; I know that I could have grappled +almost gleefully with any adverse fate that might have risen up against +me. But I recognised that the first thing to do would be to make for +cover of some kind, until I could make shift to get a change of +clothing, or to decide after my hurried flight what the next move was to +be. + +After going some little way I dropped down into a ditch, and looked back +at the prison. It stood up grim and silent against the morning sky, and +there was now no sign of any disturbance about it. Evidently for the +present I had not been missed; only later would come a mustering of the +prisoners, and my number would be called, and there would be no answer. +That gave me time, but not time enough. I determined to make my way +across country as quickly as I could before the world was astir, and so +put as great a distance as possible between myself and the prison. + +But by the time I had run a few miles, and could see in the near +distance the roofs of cottages, I began to realise that in the country +people have a bad habit of rising at a most unearthly hour. It was but +little after five o'clock, and yet already smoke was coming from cottage +chimneys; more than once I had a narrow squeak of it, in coming almost +face to face with some labourer trudging early to his work in the +fields. Daylight was not my time, it was evident; I must wait for the +friendly darkness, even though I waited hungry. + +The record of a great part of that day is easily set down. I lay perdu +in a little wood, where, by raising my head, I could see out on to the +broad highway that was presently in some indefinite fashion to set me on +the greater road for freedom. All day long the sun blazed down on that +road, and all day long from my hiding-place I watched vehicles and +pedestrians passing to and fro; I had much time for thought. Once some +little children toddled down hand-in-hand into the wood, and began to +pick flowers near where I lay hidden; that was the first sight of +anything beautiful I had had for a good long time, as you shall +presently understand. Despite the danger to myself, if they should have +seen me and raised any alarm, I was sorry enough when they toddled away +again. + +There was so much to be thought about, as I lay there on my face, +plucking at the cool green grasses, and drinking in the beauty of the +wood. For I was but five-and-twenty, and yet had never known really what +life was like. I had been shut away all my days in a prison, almost as +grim and as bad as that from which I had this day escaped; and I had +left it for that greater prison where they branded men and set them to +toil like beasts. + +My earliest recollections had been of my uncle--Zabdiel Blowfield. I +seemed to have a vision of him when I was very, very small, and when I +lay quaking in a big bed in a horrible great room, bending over me, and +flaring a candle at me, as though with the amiable intention of starting +my night's rest well with a personal nightmare. Uncle Zabdiel had +brought me up. It seems that I was left on his hands when I was a mere +child; I easily developed and degenerated into his slave. At the age of +fourteen I knew no more of the world than a baby of fourteen months, and +what smattering of education I had had was pressed then into my uncle's +service; I became his clerk. + +He lived in a great house near Barnet, and from there he conducted his +business. It was a paying business, and although I touched at first only +the fringe of it, I came to understand that Zabdiel Blowfield was +something of a human spider, gathering into his clutches any number of +fools who had money to lose, together with others who wanted money, and +were prepared to pay a price for it. He taught me his business, or just +so much of it as should make me useful in the drudgery of it; and, as it +happened, he taught me too much. + +I had ten years of that slavery--ten years, during which I grew to +manhood, and to strength and vigour. For while he thought he suppressed +me, and while, as a matter of fact, he half-starved me, and dressed me +in his own cast-off clothing, and kept my young nose to the grindstone +of his business, I contrived, within the last year or so at least, to +lead something of a double life. I was young, and that alone shall plead +my excuse. If another excuse were wanted, it might be summed up in +this: that the world called me--that world that was a glorious +uncertainty, of which I knew nothing and longed to know a great deal. + +Uncle Zabdiel regarded me as very much of a poor fool; it never entered +into his head for a moment to suspect the machine he had taught to do +certain mechanical things. But I, who never had a penny for my own, +constantly had gold passing through my fingers, and gold spelt a way out +into the great world. I was tempted, and I fell; it was quite easy to +alter the books. + +I had two years of it. They were two years during which I worked as hard +as ever during the day, and escaped from that prison when darkness had +fallen. I always contrived to get back before the dawn, or before my +uncle had come into the place he called his office; and by that time I +had changed back into the shabby, apparently broken, creature he knew +for his slave. For the rest I did nothing very vicious; but I saw +something of the world outside, and I spent what I could get of my +uncle's money. + +The blow fell, as I might have expected--and that, too, by the merest +chance. I had grown reckless; there seemed no possibility of my being +found out. But my Uncle Zabdiel happened to light upon a something that +made him suspicious, and from that he went to something else. Without +saying a word to me, he must have unwound the tangle slowly bit by bit, +until it stood out before him clearly; and then he took to watching. + +I shall never forget the morning when he caught me. I got into my +accustomed window, in those gayer clothes I affected in my brief +holidays, and I came face to face with the old man in my room. He was +sitting on the side of the bed, with his black skull-cap thrust on the +back of his head, and with his chin resting on his stick; and for a long +time after I knew the game was up he neither spoke nor moved. As for +me, I had had my good time, and I simply wondered in a dull fashion what +he was going to do. + +"You needn't say anything, Norton Hyde," said Uncle Zabdiel at last. "I +know quite as much as you can tell me, and perhaps a little more. You're +an ungrateful dog, and like other ungrateful dogs you shall be +punished." + +"I wanted to live like other men," I said sullenly. + +"Haven't I fed you, lodged you, looked after you?" he snapped out. +"Where would you have been, but for me?" + +"I might have been a better man," I answered him. "I've slaved for you +for ten long years, and you've done your best to starve me, body and +soul. I've taken your money, but it isn't as much as you'd have had to +pay me in those ten years, if I'd been some poor devil of a clerk +independent of you!" + +"We won't bandy words," said my uncle, getting up from my bed. "Go to +bed; I'll decide what to do with you in the morning." + +Now, wisely speaking, of course, I ought to have made good my escape +that night. But there was a certain bravado in me--a certain feeling, +however wrong, that I was justified to an extent in what I had done--for +the labourer is worthy of his hire. So I went to bed, and awaited the +morning with what confidence I could. Being young, I slept soundly. + +I was the only living relative of Zabdiel Blowfield, and one would have +thought--one, at least, who did not know him--that he would have shown +some mercy. But mercy was not in his nature, and I had wounded the man +in that tenderest part of him--the pocket. Incredible as it may seem, I +was handed over to justice on a charge of forgery and falsification of +books, and in due course I stood my trial, with my uncle as the chief +witness against me. + +Uncle Zabdiel made a very excellent witness, too, from the point of view +of the prosecution. I--Norton Hyde--stood in the dock, I flatter myself, +rather a fine figure of a young man, tall, and straight, and +dark-haired; the prosecutor--and a reluctant one at that--stood bowed, +and old, and trembling, and told the story of my ingratitude. He had +brought me up, and he had educated me; he had fed, and clothed, and +lodged me; but for him I must have died ignominiously long before. And I +had robbed him, and had spent his money in riotous living. He wept while +he told the tale, for the loss of the money was a greater thing than +most men would suppose. + +The limb of the law he had retained for the prosecution had a separate +cut at me on his account. According to that gentleman I was a monster; I +would have robbed a church; there was scarcely any crime in the calendar +of which I would not have been capable. It was plainly suggested that +the best thing that could happen to society would be to get me out of +the way for as many years as possible. + +The judge took up the case on something of the same lines. He preached a +neat little sermon on the sin of ingratitude, and incidentally wondered +what the youth of the country were coming to in these degenerate days; +he left me with confidence to a jury of respectable citizens, who were, +I was convinced, every man Jack of them, fathers of families. I was +doomed from the beginning, and I refused to say anything in my own +defence. + +So they packed me off quietly out of the way for ten years; and Uncle +Zabdiel, I have no doubt, went back to his old house, and thereafter +engaged a clerk at a starvation wage, and kept a pretty close eye upon +him. I only know that, so far as I was concerned, he sidled up to me as +I was leaving the dock, and whispered, with a leer-- + +"You'll come out a better man, Norton--a very much better man." + +Perhaps I had not realised the tragedy of the business at that time, for +it must be understood that I had not in any sense of the word lived. +Such small excursions as I had made into life had been but mere dippings +into the great sea of it; of life itself I knew nothing. And now they +were to shut me away for ten years--or a little less, if I behaved +myself with decorum--and after that I was to be given an opportunity to +make a real start, if the gods were kind to me. + +However, it is fair to say that up to the actual moment of my escape +from Penthouse Prison I had accepted my fate with some measure of +resignation. I had enough to eat, and work for my hands, and I slept +well; in that sense I was a young and healthy animal, with a past that +had not been interesting, and a future about which I did not care to +think. But as I lay in the wood all that long day better thoughts came +to me; I had hopes and desires such as I had not had before. I saw in a +mental vision sweet country places, and fair homes, and decent men and +women; I was to meet and touch them all some day, when I had worked +myself out of this present tangle. Alas! I did not then know how much I +was to go through first! + +I had lain so long, with but the smallest idea of where I actually was, +and with a ravening hunger upon me, that I had actually seen men +returning from their work to their homes in the late afternoon before I +bestirred myself to think of what I was to do. More than once, as I lay +there, I had seen, speeding along the great road above me, motor-cars +that annihilated space, and were gone in a cloud of dust. I had a +ridiculous feeling that if I were nimble enough I might manage to board +one of those, and so get away beyond the reach of pursuit. For always +the great prison menaced me, standing as it did within a mile or two of +where I lay. I knew that the pursuit must already have started; I +wondered that I had not yet seen a warder. + +And then came deliverance. You may say it was miraculous, if you will; I +can only set down here the fact as it happened. I saw in the distance, +winding down a long hill, a grey monster scarcely darker than the road +over which it swept, and I knew without the telling that the grey +monster was a racing car. As it drew nearer I saw that it had a +sharpened front like an inverted boat, and behind that sharpened front +crouched a man, with his hands upon the wheel and his face masked by +hideous goggles. He swept down towards the place where I lay at a +terrific pace, and, half in wonder at the sight, and half fascinated by +it, I drew myself forward through the bushes until I lay at the very +side of the road, with my chin uplifted and my face literally peering +through the hedge. + +The grey monster came on and on, and the curious thing was that it +slackened speed a little as it got near to me, so that I saw the dusty +outlines of it, and the great bulk of it set low between its wheels, and +caught the sound of its sobbing breath. And then it stopped at the side +of the road, so near to me that I could almost have stretched out a hand +and touched the nearest wheel. + +The man got down stiffly out of his seat, and thrust the goggles up over +his cap and began to pull off his driving-gloves. Something had gone +wrong with the monster, and I heard the man heave a quick sigh as he +bent down to examine the machinery. For a little time his head +disappeared among the works, and then, with a grunt of relief, he +straightened himself and began pulling on his gloves; and so, by a +miracle, turning his head a little, looked down into my upturned face. + +He was a youngish man with a thin, keen, shaven face, tight-lipped and +clear-eyed. He had on a long grey coat, buttoned close about him, and +his appearance, with the cap drawn down over his ears and the goggles +set on the front of it, was not altogether prepossessing. But the man +looked a sportsman, and somehow or other I was attracted to him. +Scarcely knowing what I did, I glanced to right and left along the road, +and then rose to my feet in the ditch. + +He gave a low whistle, and nodded slowly, finished pulling on his +gloves, and set his gloved hands against his sides. "Hullo, my friend," +he said at last, "I heard about you on the hill up yonder. You're wanted +badly." + +"I know that," I said huskily, for my throat was dry, alike from thirst +and from a new fear that had sprung up in me. "Perhaps you'd like to +drive me back to meet them." + +"If you're anxious," he retorted, with a laugh. "Only it happens that +I'm not that sort. It would be playing it rather low down to do that, +wouldn't it?" + +"I should think so," I said, answering his laugh with another that had +something of a sob in it. + +"What's your particular crime?" he asked. "Murder?" + +"Nothing half so bad as that," I answered him. "I stole some money, and +had a good time; now I've been paying the penalty. I've done nearly one +out of my ten years." + +He turned away abruptly, and I heard him mutter something which sounded +like "Poor devil!" but I would not be sure of that. Then, after bending +for a moment again over his car, he said, without looking up at me, "I +take it you'd like to get out of this part of the country, if +possible?" + +"Anywhere!" I exclaimed, in a shaking whisper. "I only want a chance." + +He looked along the lines of the grey monster, and laid his hand upon +the machine affectionately. "Then you can't do better than travel with +me," he said. "I can swing you along at a pace that'll knock the breath +out of you if you're not used to it, and I can drop you a hundred miles +or so along the road. There's no one in sight; get in. Here's a spare +pair of goggles." + +I adjusted the goggles with a shaking hand, and tried to thank him. He +had tossed a short grey coat to me, and that I put about my shoulders. +Almost before I was in the seat beside him the grey car began to move, +and then I saw the landscape slipping past us in two streaks. I tried +once or twice to speak, but the words were driven back into my mouth, +and I could not get anything articulate out. + +My recollection of that journey is dim and obscure. I only know that now +and then, as we flew along, the man jerked out questions at me, and so +discovered that I had had nothing to eat all day, and was practically +famished. He slowed down the car and showed me where, in a tin case +under my feet, were some sandwiches and a flask; and I took in +sandwiches and dust gratefully enough for the next few miles, and gulped +down a little out of the flask. The houses were beginning to be more +frequent, and we met more vehicles on the road, when presently he slowed +down to light his lamps. + +"At what particular spot would you like to be dropped?" he asked, as he +came round my side of the car and bent down over the lamp there. "Choose +for yourself." + +I told him I hardly knew; I think then, for the first time, I realised +that I was in as bad a case as ever, and that, save for my short coat +and the goggles, I was clad exactly as when I had dropped over my +prison wall. I think I told him that all places were alike to me, and +that I would leave it to him. + +So we went on again at a diminishing speed, with the motor horn sounding +continuously; flashed through an outlying village or two, until I saw, +something to my horror, that the man was drawing into London. I turned +to him to protest, but he smiled and shook his head. + +"Don't you worry; I'm going to see you through this--just for the sport +of the thing," he said, raising his voice to a shout, so that he might +be heard above the roar of the flying wheels. "I'm going to take you +slap through London to my place, and I'm going to give you a change of +clothes and some food. To-morrow, if you like, I'll whack you down to +the coast, and ship you off somewhere. You're as safe as houses with me; +I've taken an interest in you." + +I could only sit still, and wonder what good providence had suddenly +tossed this man into my world to do this thing for me. I could have +kissed his hands; I could have worshipped him, as one might worship a +god. I felt that my troubles were over; for the first time in all my +life I had someone to lean upon, someone willing and anxious to help me. + +And then as suddenly the whole thing came to an end. We had got through +a village in safety, and had swung at a terrific pace round a corner, +and there was a huge hay-waggon in the very middle of the road. There +was no time to pull up, and the road was too narrow to allow the car +free passage on either side. I heard the man beside me give a gasp as he +bent over his wheel, and then we swerved to the right, and flew up the +bank at the side of the road, in a mad endeavour to pass the waggon. + +We shot past it somehow, and I thought we should drop to the road again; +instead, the car continued up the bank, seemed to hang there for a +moment, even at the terrific pace we were going, and then began to turn +over. I say began to turn over because in that fraction of a second +events seemed to take hours to finish. I know I jumped, and landed all +in a heap, and seemed to see, as I fell, the car before me turning over; +and then for a moment or two I knew nothing. + +When I recovered consciousness I got slowly to my knees, and looked +about me. My head ached fearfully, but I seemed to have no very great +injuries. A dozen yards in front of me lay the grey monster, with three +wheels left to it, and those three upreared helplessly in the air. My +friend the driver I could not see anywhere. I staggered to my feet, +relieved to find that I could walk, and went forward to the car; and +there, on the other side of it, lay my friend, doubled up and +unconscious. He, too, seemed to have escaped any very great injury as by +a miracle. I straightened him out and touched him here and there, in the +hope to discover if any bones were broken; he only groaned a little, and +even that sound was cheering. The man was not dead. + +I had no thought of my own safety until I heard the rumble of wheels, +and saw the cause of all the disaster--that hay-waggon--coming towards +me. From the opposite direction, too, I heard the sharp toot-toot of a +motor horn, and knew that help was coming. And then, for the first time, +I realised that that help was not for me, and that I must not remain +where I was a moment longer: for if my situation had been bad before, it +was now truly frightful. I was somewhere in the neighbourhood of +London--near to a northern suburb--and I was in convict garb, partially +concealed by a short grey coat, and I was hatless. + +Fortunately for me, by this time it was dark, and I had only seen that +hay-waggon looming up, as it were, against the evening sky. Knowing that +my friend must soon receive better help than I could give him, I +decided that that episode in my life at least was closed. I slipped off +my goggles and dropped them beside him; then, after a momentary glance +round, I decided to try for a fence at one side, opposite that bank that +had been our undoing. It was not very high, just within reach of my +hands. I made a jump for the top and scrambled over, and dropped among +some undergrowth on the further side of it. + +There is a humorous side to everything; even in my plight I was +compelled to laugh at what I now saw through a chink in the fence. I +peered out to see what became of my friend, and as I did so I saw that +another motor-car had stopped by the overturned one, and that the driver +had got down. Greatly to my relief I saw my friend sit up and stare +about him; even saw him smile a little ruefully at the sight of his grey +monster in its present condition. And then, although I could not hear +what he said, I saw that he was asking questions eagerly about me. + +For he had lost me entirely; it was evident that the poor fellow was in +a great state of perplexity. I sincerely hope that some day he may read +these lines, and so may come to an understanding of what happened to me; +I heartily wished, as I looked through the fence then, that I could have +relieved his perplexity. It was evident that after his accident he was +not at all sure whether he had left me on the road at some place or +other, or whether by a miracle I had been in some fashion snatched off +the earth, and so snatched out of my predicament. As I feared, however, +that he and the other man, together with the driver of the waggon, might +begin some regular search for me, I decided that I could no longer +remain where I was. I began to walk away, through thick rank grass and +among trees, going cautiously, and wondering where I was. + +In truth I was so shaken that I staggered and swayed a little as I +walked. I tried to get my ideas into some order, that I might make +myself understand what was the best thing for me to do. I came to the +conclusion that I must first get a change of clothing; there was no hope +for me unless I could do that. By this time telegraph wires would have +carried messages to all parts describing me, and those messages would +have travelled much faster even than that unfortunate racing car by +which I had come so far. If I could break into a house, and by some +great good chance find clothing that would fit me, all might be well. +But at the moment I stood marked and branded for all men to discover. + +Somewhat to my relief and also to my dismay, I found presently that I +was walking in the grounds of a private house. I came upon a large +artificial lake or pond, with stone seats dotted about here and there +near the margin of it; the stone seats were green and brown with moss +and climbing plants that had been allowed to work their will upon them. +In fact, all the grounds had a neglected appearance, and so had the +house, too, when presently I came to it. I was just making up my mind +which was the best window by which I might effect an entry, when I heard +voices quite near to me, and dropped at once on an instinct, and lay +still. + +The two figures, I now discovered, were those of a man and woman, +standing close together in a little clump of trees. They had been so +still that I had walked almost up to them, and might indeed have +blundered against them but for the voices. As I lay now I could hear +distinctly every word they said. The man was speaking. + +"My dear, dear little friend," he said, "you know I would do anything in +all the world to help you. You're not safe here; I dread that man, and +for your sake I fear him. Why don't you let me take you away from this +dreadful house? You know I would be good to you." + +"Yes, I know that, Gregory," replied the girl softly. "But I can't make +up my mind--I can't be sure of myself. I can't be sure even that I love +you well enough to let you take care of me." + +"But you don't love anyone else?" he pleaded. And now, for the first +time, as he turned his head a little, I saw the man's face. He was quite +young, and I noticed that he was tall, and big, and dark, of about the +same style and appearance, and even of the same age, I should +conjecture, as myself. He was holding the girl's hands and looking down +into her eyes. I could not see her face clearly, but I judged her to be +small, and fair, and slight of figure. + +"No, there is no one else I love," she answered him. "Perhaps, some day, +Gregory, I may make up my mind--some day, when things get too terrible +to be borne any longer here. I'm not afraid; I have a greater courage +than you think. And, after all, the man dare not kill me." + +"I'm not so sure of that, Debora," said the man. + +They walked away in the direction of the house, and I lay still among +the dank grasses, watching them as they went. They disappeared round a +corner of it, and still I dared not move. + +After quite a long time I thought I heard in the house itself a sharp +cry. Perhaps I had been half asleep, lying there with my head on my +arms, but the night was very still, and it had seemed to me that I heard +the cry distinctly. At all events it roused me, and startled me to a +purpose. I must get into that house, and I must get a change of +clothing. I made straight for it now, and presently found a window at a +convenient height from the ground, and some thick stems of creeper up +which I could climb to reach it. I stood there on the window-sill for a +moment or two, a grey shadow among grey shadows; then I opened the +window, and, hearing nothing, stepped down into a room. + +I found myself in intense darkness. I left the window open so that I +might make good my escape, and I began to fumble about for something by +which I could get a light. I stumbled against a chair, and stood still +to listen; there seemed to be no sound in the room. And then while I +moved, in the hope to find a fireplace and some matches, I had that +curious skin-stirring feeling that there was someone or something in the +room with me, silent, and watchful, and waiting. I could almost have +sworn that I heard someone breathing, and restraining their breathing at +that. + +I failed to find the mantelshelf, but I stumbled presently against a +table. I stretched out my hands cautiously about it, leaning well +forward over it as I did so, and my forehead struck against something +that moved away and moved back again--something swinging in mid-air +above the table. + +I thought it might be a lamp, and I put out my hand to steady it. But +that which I touched was so surprising and so horrifying that for a +moment I held it, and stood there in the darkness fumbling with it, and +on the verge of shrieking. For it was a man's boot I held, and there was +a foot inside it. Someone was hanging there above me. + +I made straight for the window at once; I felt I was going mad. Needless +to say, I failed to find the window at all, but this time I found the +mantelshelf. There my hand struck against a match-box, and knocked over +a candlestick with a clatter. After two or three tries I got a light, +and stooped with the lighted match in my hands and found the +candlestick, and set it upright on the floor. So soon as I had steadied +my hands to the wick and had got a flame, I looked up at the dreadful +thing above me. + +Suspended from a beam that went across the ceiling was a man hanging by +the neck, dead--and the distorted, livid face was the face of the man I +had seen in the garden but a little time before--the face of the man who +had talked with the girl! + +Nor was that all. Seated at the table was another man, with arms +stretched straight across it, so that the hands were under the dangling +feet of the other, and with his face sunk on the table between the arms. +And this seemed to be an old man with grey hair. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +I AM HANGED--AND DONE FOR. + + +So soon as I could get my eyes away from that thing that swung horribly +above the table, I forced them to find the window. But even then I could +not move. It was as though my limbs were frozen with the sheer horror of +this business into which I had blundered. You will own that I had had +enough of sensations for that day; I wonder now that I was able to get +back to sane thoughts at all. I stood there, with my teeth chattering, +and my hands clutching at the grey coat I wore, striving to pull myself +together, and to decide what was best to be done. To add to the horror +of the thing, the man who lay half across the table began to stir, and +presently sat up slowly, like one waking from a long and heavy sleep. He +sat for some moments, staring in front of him, with his hands spread out +palms downwards on the table. He did not seem to see me at all. I +watched him, wondering what he would do when presently he should look +round and catch sight of me; wondering, for my part, whether, if he +cried out with the shock of seeing me, I should grapple with him, or +make for the window and dash out into the darkness. + +He did a surprising thing at last. He raised his eyes slowly, until they +rested upon what gyrated and swung above him, and then, as his eyes +travelled upwards to the face, he smiled very slowly and very gently; +and almost on the instant turned his head, perhaps at some noise I made, +and looked squarely at me. + +"Good evening, sir!" he said in a low tone. + +Think of it! To be calmly greeted in that fashion, in a room into which +I had blundered, clad grotesquely as I was, and with that dead thing +hanging above us! Idiotically enough I tried to get out an answer to the +man, but I found my tongue staggering about among my teeth and doing +nothing in the way of shaping words. So I stared at him with, I suppose, +a very white face, and pointed to that which hung above us. + +"He's very quiet, sir," said the old man, getting to his feet slowly. "I +was afraid at first--I didn't understand. I was afraid of him. Think of +that!" He laughed again with a laughter that was ghastly. + +"Cut--cut him down!" I stammered in a whisper, holding on to the edge of +the mantelshelf and beginning to feel a horrible nausea stealing over +me. + +He shook his head. "I can't touch him--I'm afraid again," said the old +man, and backed away into a corner. + +What I should have done within a minute or two I do not really know, if +by chance I could have kept my reason at all, but I heard someone moving +in the house, and coming towards the room in which I stood. I did not +think of my danger; everything was so far removed from the ordinary that +it was as though I moved and walked in some dream, from which presently, +with a shudder and a sigh of relief, I should awake. Therefore, even +when I heard footsteps coming towards the room I did not move, nor did +it seem strange that whoever came seemed to step with something of a +jaunty air, singing loudly as he moved, with a rather fine baritone +voice. In just such a fashion a man flung open the door and marched +straight into the room, and stopped there, surveying the picture we +made, the three of us--one dead and two alive--with a pair of very +bright, keen eyes. + +He was a tall, thin man, with sleek black hair gone grey at the temples. +He had a cleanly-shaven face, much lined and wrinkled at the corners of +the eyes and of the mouth; and when he presently spoke I discovered that +his lips parted quickly, showing the line of his white teeth, and yet +with nothing of a smile. It was as though the lips moved mechanically in +some still strong mask; only the eyes were very much alive. And after +his first glance round the room I saw that his eyes rested only on me. + +"Who are you? What do you want?" he demanded sharply. + +I did not answer his question; I pointed weakly to the hanging man. +"Aren't you going--going to do anything with him?" I blurted out. + +He shrugged his shoulders. "He's dead; and the other one,"--he let his +eyes rest for a moment on the old man--"the other one is as good as dead +for anything he understands. The matter is between us, and perhaps I'd +better hear you first." + +"I can't--not with that in the room!" I whispered, striving to steady my +voice. + +He shrugged his shoulders again, and drew from his pocket a knife. +Keeping his eyes fixed on the swaying figure above him, he mounted to a +chair, and so to the table, deftly and strongly lifted the dead man upon +one shoulder while he severed the rope above his head. Then he stepped +down, first to the chair and then to the floor, and laid the thing, not +ungently, on a couch in the corner. I was able now to avert my eyes from +it. + +"Does that please you?" he asked, with something of a sneer. "Get +forward into the light a little; I want to see you." + +I stepped forward, and he looked me up and down; then he nodded slowly, +and showed that white gleam of his teeth. "I see--a convict," he said. +"From what prison?" + +"Many miles from here," I answered him. "I escaped early this morning; +someone brought me as far as this on a motor-car. I broke in--because I +wanted food and a change of clothing. I was desperate." + +"I see--I see," he said, in his smooth voice. "A change of clothing, and +food. Perhaps we may be able to provide you with both." + +"You mean you'll promise to do so, while you communicate with the +police, I suppose?" I answered sullenly. + +He smiled, and shook his head. "That is not my way of doing things at +all," he said. "You are desperate, you tell me, and I have no particular +interest in your recapture. If it comes to that, I have trouble enough +of my own." He glanced for a moment at the body behind him. "I should +like to know how it comes about that you are a convict--for what +particular crime, I mean?" + +I told him, as briefly as I could, the whole story, not painting myself +too black, you may be sure. He listened with deep attention until I had +finished, and then for a minute or two he stood still, with his arms +folded, evidently considering some point deeply. I waited, forgetful of +all else but the man before me, for he seemed to hold my fate in his +hands. All this time the old man I had found in the room stood in a +corner, smiling foolishly, and nibbing his hands one over the other. The +other man who dominated the situation took not the faintest notice of +him. + +"How long have you been hanging about this place, waiting to break in?" +demanded the man who had come into the room last. "Speak the truth." + +"I don't exactly know," I answered. "I fell asleep while I lay in the +grounds, and lost count of time. But I saw him,"--I nodded my head +towards that prone figure on the couch--"I saw him in the grounds." + +"Alone?" He jerked the word out at me. + +"No, there was a lady." + +"Since you know that, you may as well know the rest," he replied. "This +young man has had a most unhappy attachment for a young lady in this +house, who is my ward. He has persecuted her with his attentions; he has +come here under cover of the darkness, over and over again, against my +wishes. She liked him----" + +"I heard her say that," I broke in, incautiously. + +"Then you only confirm my words," he said, after a sharp glance at me. +"Perhaps you may imagine my feelings when to-night I discovered that the +unhappy boy had absolutely taken his revenge upon me, and upon her, by +hanging himself in this very room. So far I have been able to keep the +knowledge from my ward,--I think there's a possibility that I may be +able to keep it from her altogether." + +I did not understand the drift of his thought then, nor did I see in +what way I was to be concerned in the matter. He came a little nearer to +me, and seated himself on the table, and bent his keen glance on me +before going on again. I think I muttered something, for my own part, +about being sorry, but it was a feeble mutter at the best. + +"Perhaps you may wonder why I have not sent at once, in the ordinary +course, for a doctor," he went on. "That is quite easily explained when +I tell you that I am a doctor myself. The situation is absurd, of +course. Perhaps I had better introduce myself. I am Dr. Bardolph Just." +He paused, as though expecting that I should supply information on my +side. + +"My name is Norton Hyde," I said brusquely. + +"And you speak like a gentleman, which is a passport at once to my +favour," he assured me, with a bow. "Now, let us get to business. A +young man comes here to-night and hangs himself in my house. I have a +deep respect and liking for that young man, although I am opposed to the +idea of his aspiring to the hand of my ward. He hangs himself, and at +once scandal springs up, bell-mouthed, to shout the thing to the world. +The name of an innocent girl is dragged in; my name is dragged in; +innocent people suffer for the foolish act of a thoughtless boy. The +question in my mind at once is: Can the penalty be averted from us?" + +I must own the man fascinated me. I began to feel that I would do much +to help him, and to help the girl I had seen that night in the grounds +of the house. Fool that I was then, I did not understand and did not +know what deep game he was playing; indeed, had I known, how could I +have stood against him? + +"I am, I trust, always a friend to the friendless and the helpless," he +went on. "You are friendless, I take it, and very helpless, and although +I am no opponent of the law, I have yet the instinct which tells me that +I should help a fugitive. Now let us understand one another." + +At this point we were interrupted, horribly enough, by a cry from the +old man in the corner--a cry like nothing earthly. He advanced a few +steps towards where we stood, and looked from one to the other of us, +with his hands plucking nervously at his lips. + +"I don't understand, gentlemen--I don't understand," he said, in a +feeble voice. "He was alive and well and strong this morning; he clapped +me on the shoulder, and said--what was it that he said?" The man put +one hand to his head and looked at me in a lost fashion. "I forget what +it was; something seems to have gone here!" He struck his forehead +sharply with his knuckles, and again looked at us with that feeble +smile. + +"Get out of the way!" said Dr. Just fiercely. "Take no notice of him," +he added to me. "He babbles about things he doesn't understand." + +The old man slunk away, and sat down on a chair in the corner and +dropped his forehead in his hands. And from that time he did not move +until my strange interview with Dr. Just was over. + +"Now, what I suggest is this," the doctor said, leaning towards me and +impressing his points upon me by stabbing one white forefinger into the +palm of his other hand. "We will say that you have suffered for a crime +which was not morally a crime at all. We will put it that you, by all +the laws of humanity, had a right to escape from the hideous doom to +which you had been consigned. You have escaped, and by the strangest +chance you have found a friend at the very outset." + +He smiled at me, if that quick baring of his teeth could be called a +smile, and I tried to thank him with broken words. Then he went on +again-- + +"Before you can enter the world again it is necessary that you should +have clothing which does not brand you as that dress does," he said. +"Therefore I want for a moment to put a case clearly to you--to let you +see what is in my mind. Suppose that this convict, fleeing from pursuit, +haunted by the thought that he may be recaptured, and may have to serve +a yet longer period for his escapade--starving, and fainting, and +hopeless; suppose this convict enters a house, and, finding the means +ready to his hand, puts an end to the business once for all, and throws +up the sponge. In other words, suppose that convict hangs himself, and +so gets the laugh of those who are hunting him down. Do you follow me?" + +I was so far from following him that I shook my head feebly, and glanced +first at my own clothes and then at the man who had hanged himself, and +who now lay on the couch. Then I shook my head again. + +The doctor seemed to lose patience. "I'm afraid you haven't a very quick +brain," he exclaimed testily. "Let me make myself more clear. A young +man of good family and good standing in the world, comes in here +to-night and commits suicide; soon after an outcast, flying from +justice, follows him, and breaks in also. In appearance the two are +something alike; both are tall, and strong, and dark; each man--the one +from compulsion--has closely cropped dark hair. Suppose I suggest that, +to avoid a scandal, it is the convict who has hanged himself, and that +the other man has not been here at all. In other words, as you need a +change of clothing, I propose you change with that!" + +I gasped at the mere horror of the idea; I shuddered as I looked at the +dead man. "I couldn't--I couldn't!" I whispered. "Besides, what would +become of me?" + +"I don't ask you to take the place of the other man; that would be too +risky, and would, in fact, be impossible," he said quietly. "I am merely +asking you to assist me to cover up this unfortunate business and at the +same time to save yourself." + +There was no time for me to think; I was like a rat in a trap. +Nevertheless, on an impulse, I refused to have anything to do with so +mad a notion. "I won't do it; it's impossible!" I said. + +"Very good, my friend!" He shrugged his shoulders and moved quietly +across the room towards the bell. "Then my duty is clear--I give you up +to those who must be anxious concerning your safety. I've given you your +chance, and you refuse to take it." + +His hand was on the bell when I called to him, "Stop! is there no other +way?" + +He shook his head. "No other way at all," he replied. "Come, be +reasonable; I'm not going to land you into a trap. Put the matter +clearly to yourself. You are a pariah, outside the pale of civilised +things; I offer you a fresh start. Mr. Norton Hyde, the convict, commits +suicide--I pledge my word to you that the fraud shall not be discovered. +A certain young girl is saved from much trouble, and sorrow, and +anxiety; I also am saved from the consequences of a very rash act, +committed by our dead friend here. So far as you are concerned, you can +start afresh, with your record wiped out. Come--yes or no? + +"I don't trust you," I said. "What do you want to do with me? what +purpose have you in this, apart from the hushing up of a scandal?" + +He became thoughtful at that; presently, looking up, he answered me with +what seemed to be a charming frankness, "You have the right to ask, and +although I might refuse to reply, I want to treat you fairly," he said. +"In a certain business in which I am interested--a certain scheme I have +on hand--I want help. You will be a man who has thrown everything, as it +were, into the melting-pot of life: you will have everything to win, and +nothing to lose. In other words, you are just the creature I want--the +man ready to my hand, to do anything I may suggest. You haven't answered +me yet; is it to be yes or no?" + +I said, "No!" quickly, and he moved towards the bell with an impatient +frown. He had only three steps to take, but in that brief moment I had a +vision of myself handcuffed and going back to my prison; I could not +bear it. He was within an inch of the bell, when I cried out the word +that was to change all my life, and was to set me upon the most +desperate venture I had yet had anything to do with. I cried out, "Yes." + +He smiled, and came back to me. "You should learn to make up your mind +more quickly," he said. "Now, let us see what we have to do. You've +nothing to be afraid of, and you need take no notice of that creature in +the corner there; he knows nothing, and will remember nothing. Strip +yourself to the skin." + +As I began to undress, I glanced at the old man in the corner; he sat in +the same attitude, with his head sunk in his hands. "What is wrong with +him?" I asked. + +Dr. Bardolph Just was bending over the body of the man on the couch; he +did not look round. "Something snapped in his brain a little time ago," +he answered me. "It is as though you had snapped the mainspring of a +watch; the brain in him died at that moment." + +"What caused it?" I asked, still shedding my clothes. + +"Shock. Get your clothes off, and don't talk so much," he snapped. + +He tossed certain garments to me one by one, and I flung him my own in +return. So the change was made, and I presently stood up and looked down +at myself, and saw myself as that young man who had stood in the garden +and had talked to the girl. For, indeed, I was something like him in +figure, and height, and appearance. When the doctor moved away from the +couch I gasped, for there I lay, in the dress I had worn for a year, +branded and numbered--and dead. It was not a pretty sight; I turned away +from it, shuddering. + +But the doctor laughed softly. "It is not given to every man to see +himself as he will one day be," he said. + +"What was his name?" I whispered. + +"Gregory Pennington," he answered, looking at the body. "So you see at +one stroke we get rid of Gregory Pennington, and of a certain +unfortunate convict, named Norton Hyde. So far as your further +christening is concerned, we must arrange that later, for this matter +must be taken with a certain boldness, or weak spots may be discovered +in it. I think you said you were hungry, and I daresay you've had enough +of this room for the present." + +"More than enough," I replied. + +"Then come along, and let us see if we can find something to put better +courage into you," he said. And gratefully enough I followed him from +the room in that new disguise. + +The house was a very large one. We traversed a number of corridors +before coming to a room which seemed to be half-study and half-surgery. +I should not have known as to the latter half of it, but for the fact +that the doctor, who did not seem to care to summon any servants there +may have been, left me there while he went in search of food. I peeped +behind a screen at one end of the room, and saw an array of bottles, and +test tubes in stands, and other paraphernalia. At the further end of the +room were great book cases reaching to the ceiling, and a big desk with +a reading-lamp upon it. But even here, though the furniture was +handsome, the room had a neglected appearance, as, indeed, I afterwards +found every room in that house had. + +Bardolph Just came back in a little while, carrying food and a decanter. +After he had set the food out on a table, and I had fallen to with a +relish, he laughed softly, and said that, after all, he had forgotten +to bring me a glass. He declared, however, that that was a matter soon +remedied, and he went behind the screen, and came out with a tall +measuring-glass in his hand. It seemed an uncanny thing to drink wine +out of; but I had no choice. + +He presently pulled open a drawer in the desk, and took out a cigar, and +lighted it; as I had finished my meal, he tossed one to me, and I +gratefully began to smoke. The man was evidently still turning over some +matter in his mind, for he said nothing while he sat twisting the cigar +round between his lips and looking at me. His back was turned towards +the door of the room, and presently in that house of horror I saw the +door begin slowly to open. + +I suppose I ought to have cried out, but once again I was fascinated by +what might happen at any moment, and perhaps in sheer wonder as to what +was coming in. It was nothing worse, as it turned out, than the little, +old grey-haired man I had seen in the further room, and who had +evidently followed us. He crept in now, step by step, with that curious +smile upon his face, and when he was fairly in the room closed the +door--I noticed that it closed with a sharp little click, as though it +had a spring lock. + +Dr. Bardolph Just did a curious thing. As the lock clicked he suddenly +sat rigid, gripping the arms of his chair, and staring at me as though +from my face he would learn what was behind him. Seeing, I suppose, +nothing in my expression to guide him, he suddenly swung sharply round +and faced the little old man; and I thought at that moment that a quick +sigh broke from him, as of relief. I wondered what he had expected to +see. + +"What the devil do you want?" he demanded, in a voice raised but little +above a whisper. "Why do you follow me about?" + +The old man spread out his hands in a deprecating fashion, and shook his +head. "Nothing, sir," he said, "nothing at all. But he won't speak to +me--and he has never been like that before. I don't understand it. I +knelt beside him just now, and his dress was different--and--and--" I +saw his hands go up to his lips, and pluck at them in that strange +fashion--"and he won't speak to me." + +The doctor turned from him to me, and shrugged his shoulders. "This is a +nice apparition to be following a man about," he said petulantly. "I +can't make him out at all." + +"Who is he?" I ventured to ask in a whisper. + +"The servant of the dead man--one of those faithful old fools that +attach themselves to you, and won't be shaken off, I suppose. He came +here to-night, following his unfortunate master. What the deuce am I to +do with him?" + +"He seems harmless enough," I whispered. "But isn't it rather dangerous +to have him about here, after the fraud that has been committed. Won't +he speak? Won't he say that this dead man is not the escaped convict, +but his master?" + +"There's no fear of that," replied the other. "I tell you something has +snapped in his brain; he doesn't understand. If I turned him out into +the world now, he would remember nothing, and would have no story to +tell, even if he were questioned. But I don't want to turn him out--and +yet he haunts me." + +"You say he changed in a moment?" I asked. + +Dr. Just nodded. "When he saw his master dead, he simply cried out, and +afterwards remained as you see him now. I must dispose of him for the +night, at least," he said, getting to his feet, and approaching the old +man. "Come, Capper, I want you." + +The little old man looked round at him as he said that name, and I saw a +faint fear come into his eyes. He shrank away a little, but the doctor +grasped his arm quickly, and drew him towards the door. He went out in +that grasp passively enough, and I was left alone again. + +I had almost fallen asleep, worn out with the excitements of the day, +when the doctor came back again. I started to my feet drowsily, and +faced him. + +"Good-night!" he said, and held out his hand to me--a cold hand, but +firm and strong in its touch. "You may see and hear strange things in +this house," he added, "but it is not your business to take any notice +of them. You will be, I hope, properly grateful to me--the man who has +saved you, and given you a new lease of life." + +"Yes, I shall be grateful," I promised him. + +He conducted me to a room in what seemed to be an outlying wing of the +house, and left me to my own reflections. In truth, I was too tired to +give much time to thought. I slipped off my clothes and got into bed, +and was asleep in five minutes. + +But I was not destined to sleep well, after all. In the first place, I +was troubled most unaccountably by dreams, in which I saw myself going +through the most extraordinary adventures, and finally hanging to what +seemed to be the roof of Penthouse Prison, with the little old man of +the grey hair grinning up at me from the ground below. And through my +dreams there appeared always to go the light, quick figure of that girl +I had seen in the grounds of the house; and always she went searching +for someone. I dreamed at last that she came straight to me, and took me +by the arms, and stared at me, and cried out that she had found the man +she wanted. And so I sat up in bed in the darkness, struggling with +someone very real, who was gripping me. + +I almost shrieked, as I rolled out of bed, and tried to disengage myself +from the arms of a man who was clinging to me. I contrived to drag him +towards the window, where, by the faint light of the stars outside, I +saw that it was the man Capper--that seemingly half-witted creature who +had been the servant of the dead man. + +"What do you want?" I ejaculated. + +"I've been dreaming," said Capper. + +"Well, what of that?" I demanded testily, "I've been dreaming, too." + +"Yes, but not dreams like mine," whispered the old man, looking +fearfully over his shoulder. "Tell me, do you think they'll come true?" + +"I don't know what they were," I reminded him. + +He clutched me by the arm, and stared up in my face. There seemed almost +a light of madness in his eyes. "I dreamed that it happened a long time +ago--before my head went wrong. I dreamed of a blow struck in the dark; +I thought someone (it might have been myself, but I'm not sure even of +that)--I dreamed that someone screamed, 'Murder!'" + +In a growing excitement he had raised his voice almost to a scream; I +clapped my hand over his lips as he got out the dreadful word. I felt my +hair stirring on my scalp. I wondered if by chance something dreadful +had happened in that house, of which this old man knew, and the memory +of which was locked away in that closed brain of his. + +"Let me stay here to-night," he pleaded, clinging to me. "I'll be still +as a mouse; I'll lie in this corner on the floor." + +So I let him lie there, and I went back to my bed. For a long time I +lay awake, watching him and thinking about him; but gradually towards +the morning I fell asleep, and slept heavily. When I awoke at last, with +the sun shining in at my window, the man was gone, and my door stood +open. + +That was to be a day of happenings. Even now my mind holds but a +confused memory of them, in which I seem to be now myself, and now some +other man; now living on hope, and now sunk into the depths of fear and +despair. For what I have to tell seems so incredible, that only by some +knowledge of the man who carried the plot boldly through can any idea of +how the business was arranged be arrived at. + +Dr. Bardolph Just acted with promptness and decision that day. A +messenger flew down towards London to summon the police; and a telegram +sped over the wires back to Penthouse Prison. The missing convict had +been found; all the world might come to the house of Dr. Bardolph Just, +and see this thing for themselves. At the last, when we actually +expected the enemy to arrive at our gates, as it were, I nervously +plucked the doctor's sleeve, and whispered a question. + +"What about his hair? They'll be sure to notice that." + +He smiled a little pityingly, I thought; but then, to the very end the +man retained some contempt for me. "Come and see for yourself," he said. + +So I went back with him into that room where we had left the dead man, +and there I saw a miracle. For while I slept the doctor had been at +work, and the head of poor Gregory Pennington was cropped as closely as +my own. I shuddered and turned away. + +"How you ever contrived to escape puzzles me," said Bardolph Just. "You +haven't half my courage." + +The man was certainly amazing. He met everything blandly; he was firm, +and quiet, and dignified with this official and with that. He told me +afterwards all that he did, and I had no reason to disbelieve him. For +my own part, of course, I had to keep out of the way, and I spent most +of my time in the spacious grounds surrounding the house. There was an +old ruined summer-house at one corner, under a high wall; and there, +fortified with a few of the doctor's cigars, I awaited quietly the turn +of events. According to the doctor's description to me afterwards, what +happened was this: + +In the first place, the puzzle fitted so neatly together that there was +no feeling of suspicion. A tall, well-built, dark-haired man, in the +clothes of a convict, was roaming over the country; by a miracle a man +answering that description, and dressed in those clothes, and having the +necessary number upon him, had got to this house on the northern heights +above London, and there, in despair of escaping further, had hanged +himself. Dr. Bardolph Just was a man of standing in the scientific +world--a man who had made discoveries; there was no thought of calling +his word in question. This dead man was undoubtedly the escaped +convict--Norton Hyde. + +A very necessary inquest was held, and twelve good men and true settled +that matter once and for all. There had been one curious point in the +evidence, but even that was a point that had been miraculously +explained. The doctor spoke of it airily, and I wondered a little why he +did not explain the matter with more exactitude. + +"It seems," he said, "that they discovered on the head of the +unfortunate man the mark of a blow--a blow which had undoubtedly stunned +him--or so, at least, they thought. It's impossible for me to say how +the unfortunate Gregory Pennington came by such an injury, but at all +events even that was accounted for in the case of Norton Hyde." + +"How?" I asked. + +Dr. Just laughed. "A certain motorist put in an appearance, and frankly +explained that he had picked you up on the roadside near Penthouse +Prison, and had given you a lift as far as this very house. Then there +was an accident, and he and his passenger were both pitched out; he was +convinced that in that way you got your injury. The thing was as simple +as possible--you had recovered consciousness before he did, and had +scrambled over the fence here." + +"But did they swallow the story of my being in the house--of my breaking +in?" I asked. + +"I had thought of that," said the doctor. "So my tale was that you had +hanged yourself from a beam in an outhouse--probably because you failed +in your purpose of breaking into my dwelling. As a doctor, the moment I +discovered you I cut you down, and carried you in, and did my best to +restore animation, but in vain. You will like to know, Mr. Norton Hyde, +that my humanity was warmly commended by the jury and coroner." + +I laughed in a sickly fashion. "But I am not Norton Hyde any longer," I +reminded him. + +"True--and I have thought of a name for you that shall, in a fashion, +mark your entry into another phase of existence. A nice name, and a +short one. What do you say to the title of John New, a personal friend +of my own?" + +I told him that any name would suit me that was not the old one, and so +that matter was settled. + +He displayed so great an anxiety to see the matter ended, and was +altogether so sympathetic with that poor convict who in his despair had +hanged himself, that he even attended the funeral. Which is to say, +that he carried the fraud so far as to go to Penthouse Prison, what time +that disguised body of Godfrey Pennington was carried there, and to see +it interred with all due solemnity within the prison precincts; I +believe he lunched with the governor of the prison on that occasion, +and, altogether, played his part very well. + +It is left to me to record here one other happening of that time, and +one which made a deep impression upon me. On the night of that strange +finishing of the fraud, when Dr. Bardolph Just returned, I was sitting +smoking in the summer-house, and enjoying the evening air, when I heard +what seemed to be the quick, half-strangled cry of a woman. I tossed +aside my cigar and started to my feet and came out of the summer-house. +It was very dark in that corner of the grounds, and the summer-house in +particular had great deep shadows inside it. + +There came towards me, flying among the trees, and looking back in a +scared fashion over her shoulder, the girl I had seen with Gregory +Pennington--the girl he had called Debora. She came straight at me, not +seeing me; and in the distance I saw Bardolph Just running, and heard +him calling to her. On an instinct I caught at her, and laid a finger on +my lips, and thrust her into the summer-house. Bardolph Just came +running up a moment later, and stopped a little foolishly on seeing me. +And by that time I was stretching my arms and yawning. + +He made some casual remark, and turned back towards the house. When he +had gone I called to the girl, and she came out; she was white-faced and +trembling, and there were tears in her eyes. I felt that I hated +Bardolph Just, with a hatred that was altogether unreasonable. + +"I saw you here yesterday," she said, looking at me earnestly. "I need +friends badly--and you have a good, kind face. Will you be my friend?" + +I do not know what words I said; I only know that there, in the dark +garden, as I bent over her little hands and put them to my lips, I vowed +myself in my heart to her service. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +THE MISSING MAN. + + +I find it difficult to write, in my halting fashion, of what my +sensations were at that time. God knows what good was in me, and only +God and time could bring that good out of me; for I had had no +childhood, and my manhood had been a thing thwarted and blighted. + +You have to understand that in a matter of a few days I had lived years +of an ordinary life; had been in prison, and had escaped; had come near +to death; had found myself buried and done with, and yet enlisted on +life under a new name; and, to crown it all, now come face to face with +someone who believed in me and trusted me--broken reed though I was to +lean upon. + +I stood in the dark grounds, holding the girl's hands and looking into +her eyes: and that was a new experience for me. I remembered how someone +else--dead, and shamefully buried in the precincts of a prison--had held +her hands but a little time before, and had begged that he might help +her. Well, he was past all that now; and I, with my poor record behind +me, stood, miraculously enough, in his place. Yet there were things I +must understand, if I would help her at all: I wanted to know why she +had fled from her guardian, and why, in his turn, he had chased her +through the grounds. + +"What were you afraid of?" I asked her gently; and it was pleasant to me +that she should forget to take her hands out of mine. + +"Of him," she said, with a glance towards the house; and I thought she +shivered. "I wonder if you can understand what I feel, and of what I am +afraid?" she went on, looking at me curiously. "I do not even know your +name." + +I laughed a little bitterly. "You must indeed be in need of friends if +you come to me," I answered. + +"But my name is John New, and I am a--a friend of Dr. Just." + +"Oh!" She shrank away from me with a startled look. "I did not +understand that." + +"I am a friend of Dr. Just," I repeated, "because it happens that I am +very much in his power, and I must be his friend if I would live at all. +If that is your case, too, surely we might form some small conspiracy +together against him. You're not fond of the man?" I hazarded. + +She shook her head. "I hate him--and I'm afraid of him," she said +vehemently. "And yet I have to look to him for everything in the world." + +"Sit down, and tell me about it," I said; and I drew her into the +summer-house, and sat by her side while she talked to me. She was like a +child in the ease with which she gave me her confidence; and as I +listened to her, years seemed to separate me from my prison and from the +life I had led. For this was the first gentle soul with whom I had yet +come in contact. + +"You must first tell me," she urged, "why you are in the doctor's power. +Who are you? and what have you done, that he should be able to hold you +in his hands? You are a man; you're not a weak girl." + +It was difficult to answer her. "Well," I began, after a pause, "I did +something, a long time ago, of which the doctor knows; and he holds that +knowledge over me. That's all I can tell you." + +She looked straight into my eyes, and I found, to my relief, that I was +able to look at her with some frankness in return. "I don't believe it +was anything very wrong," she said at last. + +"Thank you," I answered, and I prayed that she might never know what my +sin had been. + +"You see," she went on confidentially, while the shadows grew about us; +"I am really all alone in the world, except for Dr. Just, who is my +guardian. He was made my guardian by my poor, dear father, who died some +two years ago; my father believed in the doctor very much. They had +written a scientific treatise together--because the doctor is very +clever, and father quite looked up to him. So when he died he left +directions that I was to be taken care of by the doctor. That was two +years ago, and I have lived in this house ever since, with one short +interval." + +"And the interval?" I asked. + +"We went down to a country house belonging to the doctor--a place in +Essex, called Green Barn. It's a gloomy old house--worse than this one; +the doctor goes there to shoot." + +"But you haven't told me yet why you were running away from him," I +reminded her. + +She bent her head, so that I could not see her face. "Lately," she said +in a low voice, "his manner to me has changed. At first he was courteous +and kind--he treated me as though I had been his daughter. But now it's +all different; he looks at me in a fashion I understand--and yet don't +understand. To-day he tried to put his arm round me, and to kiss me; +then when I ran away he ran after me." + +I felt that I hated the doctor very cordially; I had an insane desire to +be present if by any chance he should repeat his conduct. I felt my +muscles stiffen as I looked at the girl; in my thoughts I was like some +knight of old, ready to do doughty deeds for this fair, pretty girl, who +was so ready to confide in me. I forgot all about who I was, or what had +happened to me; I had only strangely come out into the world again--into +a world of love. + +But the fact that it was a world of love reminded me that I had had a +rival--another man who had held her hands and looked into her eyes, and +pleaded that he might help her. I could not, of course, ask about him, +because I held the key to his fate, and that fate intimately concerned +my own safety; but I was consumed with curiosity, nevertheless. +Strangely enough, she voiced my thoughts by beginning to speak of him. + +"There is something else that troubles me," she said earnestly. "I have +one friend--a dear, good, loyal fellow; but he has unaccountably gone +away, and I can hear nothing of him." + +I felt myself turning hot and cold; I blessed the darkness of the +summer-house. "What was his name?" I asked. + +"Gregory Pennington," she answered softly. + +"He was my friend before my father died; he followed me here when the +doctor took charge of me. He was afraid of the doctor--not for himself, +but on my account; he had a strange idea, and one that I have tried to +laugh at, that the doctor wanted to kill me." + +She looked at me with smiling eyes, laughing at such a suggestion; but +I, remembering the earnestness of Gregory Pennington's words to the girl +on that first occasion of my coming to the house, seemed now to hear +that warning as though it came indeed from the dead. And I could not +answer her. + +"That was foolish, wasn't it?" she said, with a little laugh. "But then, +I think poor Gregory loves me, and that made him afraid for me. You have +been in the house here for some days; have you seen nothing of him?" + +I was obliged to lie; there was nothing else for it. I shook my head, +and lied stoutly. "No," I replied, "I have never seen him." + +"It's all so strange," she said, as she got to her feet. "The doctor did +not like him, and had forbidden him the house, in spite of my +remonstrances. As he was my friend, Gregory and I used to meet secretly +in these grounds in the evening." + +I remembered how I had seen them together; I remembered, with a shudder, +all that had happened afterwards. But still I said nothing; for what +could I say? + +"It was all so strange," she went on; and her voice sounded ghostly in +the darkness. I had risen, and was standing opposite to her; I seemed to +feel that the air had grown suddenly very chill. "The last time I saw +him he told me that he would go to the house, and would see my guardian. +I did all I could," she proceeded helplessly, "to dissuade him, but he +would not listen. He said he must have an understanding with Dr. Just, +and must take me away; although I think I should never have consented to +that, in any case--because, you see, I did not really love him. He had +always been like a good, kind brother to me, but nothing more." + +"And did he go to the house?" I asked, for the want of something better +to say. + +She nodded. "I would not go in with him," she replied, "but I saw him go +towards the doctor's study. I went off to my own room." + +"And you heard nothing, and saw nothing after that?" I asked +breathlessly. + +"Nothing at all," she whispered. "Early the next morning the doctor +sent me off to Green Barn, with a woman who is his housekeeper; I only +came back to-day. I expected a letter from Gregory--even expected to see +him. It's all so funny; it is just as though he had walked into that +study--and had disappeared from that time." + +"You mustn't think such things as that," I exclaimed hurriedly. "A dozen +things may have happened; he may have been repulsed by the doctor, and +so have decided to go away. If he knew you did not love him, he would +feel pretty hopeless about the matter." + +"That is possible, perhaps," she said. Then, suddenly, she held out her +hand to me. "I have one friend at least," she said, "and his name is Mr. +John New. It's a curious name, and I shan't forget it. You tell me that +you are in trouble, too: so that is a bond between us. Good-night!" + +I watched her as she flitted away through the garden. Even in my relief +at the thought that she did not love Gregory Pennington, there was the +dismal feeling that some day she must learn the truth--the ghastly +thought that I stood there, actually in the clothes of the dead man. The +whole business was a nightmare from beginning to end, in which alone she +stood out as something bright, and fair, and unsullied. + +We were a curious household. There were one or two rather scared-looking +servants, presided over by a woman to whom the doctor referred always as +"Leach"; in fact, he called her by that name when speaking to her. As +she was destined to play rather an important part in that strange +business upon which we were all entering, she deserves a word or two of +description. + +She must have been about forty years of age, and had once been, and +still was, in a way, astonishingly handsome. She was tall and very dark; +she had hair of that blue-black quality that is so rarely seen. Her +eyes were as brilliant as those of Dr. Bardolph Just himself, save that +there was in hers a curious slumbrous quality, quite unlike the sparkle +in the man's. I may best describe her by saying that she suggested to me +that in the very soul of her was something lurking and waiting for +expression--some smouldering fire that a touch or a word might start +into flame. + +So far as I could gather, Dr. Just was exceedingly contemptible of her, +and treated her with a sort of bitter playfulness. He seemed to take a +delight in making her perform the most menial offices; and to me it was +rather pitiful to see the eagerness with which she anticipated his every +wish or command. I did not know at that time what bond there was between +them; only, whenever I think of them in this later time one scene always +rises before my memory. + +It was on a morning soon after I had arrived at the house, and the +doctor was in a ferocious mood. Everything had gone wrong, and I had +seen the woman Leach, who ordinarily waited behind his chair, and by +quick signs directed the servants what to do, cower under the lash of +his words more than once. It happened to be at the breakfast table, and +I was seated at one end, facing the doctor. It was the morning after +that memorable night when I had talked with the girl Debora in the +grounds; and now she sat on my right hand, at one side of the table, +between the doctor and myself. + +Absurd as the suggestion is, it almost seemed to me that the doctor was +striking a balance between the two women for the mortification of them +both. He pressed dishes upon the girl, with suave compliments at one +moment, and in the next turned to Leach behind him with what was almost +a coarse threat. + +"Why the devil don't you wait on your young mistress?" he snapped. "What +do you think I keep you here for? What do I pay you for?" + +He turned to the table again, and, looking down the length of it, I saw +the woman swiftly clench and unclench her hands behind him, as though +she would have struck him. And if ever I saw murder in a face I saw it +then; yet she looked not at the doctor, but at the bowed head of the +girl beside me. + +"Come--move--stir yourself!" cried the man, bringing down his fist with +a bang on the table beside him. "Don't wait for the servants to carry +things; carry them yourself. Take this dish to your mistress--Miss +Debora Matchwick." + +It was the first time I had heard the girl's name in full; but I took +but little notice of it then, so interested was I in watching the little +scene that was going forward. While the doctor sat looking at the girl, +I saw the woman behind him draw herself up, and I saw her nostrils +dilate; then she seemed to swoop to the table, and to catch up the dish +he had indicated. She moved round slowly to where the girl sat, and +purposely handed the dish from the wrong side. And down came Bardolph +Just's fist again on the table. + +"The other side, you jade!" he roared; and with a glance at him she +moved round, and presented it to the girl in the proper fashion. And the +face that bent above the fair hair of the girl was the face of a +devil--of a soul in torment. + +"I want nothing, thank you," said Debora in a low voice. + +"Come, my dear child, we shall have you pining away to a shadow if you +don't eat," broke in the doctor, with a mocking smile. "Is it possible +that you are fretting over something--hungering for someone? We must +have a private talk about this after breakfast; you must confide your +troubles to me. And may I ask," he went on, with bitter politeness, as +he turned to the other woman, "may I ask why you are standing in that +absurd attitude, when your mistress tells you she wants nothing?" + +The woman Leach turned away abruptly, and set down the dish. Debora had +risen from the table, as if to make her escape, and the other woman, +after a quick glance at her, was preparing to go from the room also. But +her humiliation was not yet completed; the doctor called her back. + +"Wait, Leach," he said, and she stopped on the instant. "You are in a +tempestuous humour this morning, and that sort of humour must be +quelled. Ring the bell." + +She gave a quick, nervous glance at him, and then walked across the room +and rang the bell. She waited, with her eyes cast on the ground, until a +servant came in, carrying in his hand a pair of shoes. The doctor turned +round in his chair, and the man carrying the shoes dropped on one knee, +as if to put them on. But Bardolph Just waved him aside. + +"You needn't trouble; get up," he said; and the man rose from his knees, +looking a little bewildered. "Leach, come here!" + +The woman stood still for a moment, and then walked slowly across the +floor, till she stood in front of him. He pointed to the shoes at his +feet, and smiled; and I, who had risen in my place, stood helplessly, +waiting to see what would happen. + +It took her quite a long time to get to her knees, but she did it at +last, and began to put on the shoes. All this time the man-servant stood +gaping, not knowing whether to go or stay. Debora, too, had paused at +the door, in amazement at the scene. And in that oppressive silence the +woman Leach fastened the shoes with fingers that seemed clumsy enough +for that work. Nor were the doctor's words likely to mend her confusion. + +"You're precious slow, I must say! What's the matter with you? are you +getting past your work? You know what happens to people who are no +longer fit to work, don't you? We have to cast them out into the street, +to make a living as best they can--or to die. There--that'll do; you've +been long enough to fasten a dozen pairs of shoes." + +I think he struck her with his foot as she was rising from her knees, +but of that I cannot be sure. I know that she turned away abruptly, but +not before I had had time to see that those great eyes of hers were +blinded with tears. Yet her gait, as she went from the room, was as +stately as ever. + +But perhaps the strangest being in that strange house at that time was +William Capper. He wandered like a lost spirit, and one never knew quite +where he would appear. Knowing what I did as to what had become of the +dead man, this man who looked for him and waited for him was as a ghost +that would not be laid. More than that, he was a ghost who might +suddenly spring into live flesh and blood, and tell what he knew. + +The doctor seemed as disconcerted by his presence as I was, and yet he +made no effort to get rid of the man. Capper wandered about the house +and about the grounds just as he pleased, while those peering eyes of +his seemed always to be searching for his master. But it happened that, +as Debora had been sent away on the very morning following the death of +poor Gregory Pennington, and had only returned now, she had not yet come +in contact with the man Capper. I found myself wondering what would +happen when she did. + +She was destined to meet him under curious circumstances. On that +morning which had seen the degradation of the woman Leach before us +all, Dr. Bardolph Just called me into that room that was half study and +half surgery, and told me quite abruptly that he wanted me to go down +into London for him. I suppose my startled face told its own tale, for +he laughed a little contemptuously. + +"Do you imagine anyone will be seeking you, or even expecting to find +you above ground?" he asked. "Can't you get into your mind the idea that +Norton Hyde is dead and buried in his own prison, and that another +man--John New--has come alive in his place? People only look for what +they expect to find, my dear John New; you are as safe as though by a +miracle you had changed your features. I merely want you to go down into +Holborn, to inquire about a certain scientific book which was promised +to be sent to me and has not arrived. If it has not already been sent, +you can bring it back with you." + +He gave me the address, and money wherewith to travel; and I felt my +heart sink at the prospect of going down, in this bare-faced fashion, +into the great world. In my heart of hearts I determined that I would +not go; the book might arrive in my absence, and the doctor might forget +that he had sent me at all. So I made a feint of going, but in reality +did not pass beyond the grounds. + +It was a slumbrous day in early summer, and the grounds being very wide +and extensive, I had rather an enjoyable forenoon of it. I determined +that I would calculate to a nicety how long it should have taken me to +get down to Holborn and back again, allowing a margin for accidental +delays. Then I would put in an appearance at the house, and tell the +doctor that I had reached the shop, only to find that the book had been +sent off. + +It may have been some sentimental feeling that carried my feet in the +direction of that dark and half-ruined summer-house; or, as I think +now, some direct Providence guiding me. Believing that it would be +deserted, and that I might kill time there with some comfort, I was +making straight for it among the tangled grasses and dead leaves of the +garden, when I stopped, and drew away from it. For I had heard voices. + +I make no attempt to excuse my conduct; I only urge that at that time I +was surrounded by mysteries, and by trickery of every sort, and that I +was, moreover, in hiding, in peril of my liberty. All the world might be +conspiring against me--above all, those in this house, with one +exception, might be only too glad to give me up to justice. I was +fighting for myself; I make no excuse that I crept near to the +summer-house, and listened. More than that, I looked in, for through a +chink of the ruined boarding at the back of it I could see clearly all +that happened. + +Debora Matchwick was seated in a corner, drawn up tense and still, with +her hands gripping the seat on either side of her; and in the doorway, +with his arms folded, completely blocking her way of escape, stood the +doctor. + +It would seem that I had arrived at the very moment the man had +discovered her, for his first words referred to the previous day. +Whatever other words I had heard had been but a mere skirmishing before +the actual battle began. + +"I lost you in this direction yesterday, Debora," said the man; "you +managed to elude me rather cleverly. What makes you afraid of me?" + +"I--I'm not afraid of you," she said, with more bravery than she seemed +to feel. + +He laughed at her, showing his white teeth. "You're very much afraid of +me," he corrected her. "And yet you have no reason to be; we should +never be afraid of those who love us." + +"You are my guardian, and you were my father's friend," she said +quietly. "Beyond that guardianship you have nothing to do with me, and I +will not----" + +"You talk like a child, and you have a child's knowledge of the world," +he broke in roughly. "I that am a man can teach you, as only a man can +teach a woman, what life and the world hold for her. Prudishly you step +aside; with false modesty you refuse to look at facts as they are. You +are a child no longer, in the ordinary sense of things; and I am a man +that loves you. Your father liked me----" + +"To my everlasting sorrow, he did!" she exclaimed passionately. + +"And he would have approved of the arrangement. Above all things, the +management of your extremely troublesome affairs are in my hands, and if +you belonged to me the whole thing would be solidified. I have great +power in regard to your fortune now; I should have greater powers then." + +"It's the fortune that tempts you!" she exclaimed, starting to her feet. +"God forgive me for saying it, but my father must have been mad when he +made up his mind to place me in your care. I hate you--but I'm not +afraid of you. I hate you!" + +Bardolph Just stepped forward quickly, and took her prisoner in his +arms. I had made a sudden movement, recklessly enough, to run round the +summer-house and spring upon the man, as I heard her give a little +gasping cry, when there came a strange interruption; and it came from +outside and from inside the summer-house almost at the same moment. + +I had heard the doctor say, over and over again, with a sort of savage +triumph, as he held her, "You shall love me! You shall love me! You +shall love me!" and I had made that movement of which I speak, when +there broke in the sound of someone singing, in a high querulous voice, +and that someone was moving towards the summer-house. The girl heard +the sound, and she broke away from the man who held her; she seemed +literally to shriek out a name-- + +"Capper!" + +All the rest happened in a flash. Scarcely knowing what I did, I ran +round and confronted them all--and that, too, at the moment that the +girl, breaking from the summer-house, ran swiftly to where the little +grey-headed old man was emerging from the trees. In her agitation she +flung herself at his feet, and caught at his hands, and cried out her +question: + +"Capper, dear, good Capper!--where's your master?" + +We stood there in silence, waiting to see what would happen. For both +Bardolph Just and myself could have answered the question, but what was +the man Capper about to say? This was just such a crisis as I had been +expecting and fearing; it seemed hours before the little grey-haired +man, who had been looking down at her in a bewildered fashion, made any +reply. + +"I don't--don't know," he said, and he smiled round upon us rather +foolishly, I thought. + +"But, Capper--you remember me, Capper; I was your master's friend," went +on the girl despairingly. "You remember that Mr. Pennington came to this +house--oh!--oh, a week ago!" + +She had risen to her feet, and was staring into his eyes. He put a hand +over those eyes for a moment, and seemed to ponder something; then he +looked up, and slowly shook his head. "I can't--I can't remember," he +said. "Something has gone from me--here"--he laid the hand upon his +forehead--"and I can't remember." + +The doctor drew a deep breath, and took a step towards the girl; of me +he seemed to take but little notice. "Don't worry the man, Debora," he +said in a gentle tone; "I can't make him out myself, sometimes. Why he +should remain here, where his master is not, I cannot understand." + +Both Just and the girl spoke of the old man in hushed tones, as they +might have spoken of someone who was ill. But Capper himself stood +looking smilingly from one face to the other, as if his eyes would +question them concerning this mystery in which he was involved. + +"Has he been here ever since--since Mr. Pennington disappeared?" asked +the girl. + +"I don't know what you're talking about," retorted the doctor, with a +perplexed frown. "Disappeared? How could Gregory Pennington disappear? I +refused to allow him to come here; I have seen nothing of him for some +time." + +I knew, of course, that the doctor was keeping from her the knowledge of +the unfortunate young man's suicide--I realised that that knowledge must +be kept from her, for my sake as well, unless disaster was to fall upon +me. But the girl was looking at Bardolph Just keenly, and I wondered how +he could meet her eyes as calmly as he did. + +"The night before I went to Green Barn with Leach," she said slowly, "I +was in these grounds with Gregory. And that night he went into the house +to see you." + +"To see me?" The doctor twisted about from one to the other of us in +apparent perplexity. "To see me? I haven't seen the young man for +months." + +"Then what, in the name of all that's wonderful, is Capper doing here?" +demanded Debora, pointing to that strange, smiling creature, who seemed +the least interested of any of us. + +For a moment even the doctor was nonplussed, for that was a question to +which there seemed to be no possible answer--or, at least, no answer +that should prove satisfactory. It was, indeed, the strangest scene, to +us, at least, who understood the true inwardness of it: that little +grey-haired man, who might carry locked up in his numbed brain something +that presently should leak out; the girl demanding to know the reason of +his presence there; and the doctor and myself with the full knowledge of +what had really happened, and of where Gregory Pennington lay hidden. + +Bardolph Just, however, was the last man to be placed at a disadvantage +for any length of time. In a moment or two he laughed easily, and +shrugged his shoulders. "'Pon my word, I don't know!" he replied, in +reference to the girl's question. "I can make neither head nor tail of +him; but as his master is not here, I scarcely care to turn him out into +the world in his present condition." + +"What's the matter with him?" asked Debora. "I never saw him like this +before." + +"Can't say," retorted the doctor quickly. "But I should judge him to +have had a stroke of some kind. At all events, Debora, I don't want you +to think that I'm a brute; and as Gregory Pennington was a friend of +yours--I should say, is a friend of yours--the old man shall stay here +until--until his master returns." + +I noticed that Capper kept close beside the girl as she moved away +towards the house; he looked up at her trustingly, as a child might have +done who wanted a guide. As they walked away together, Bardolph Just +stepped forward and laid a hand on the girl's arm. I heard what he said +distinctly. + +"I have not said my last word, by any means," he said in his smooth +voice; "nor is this the end." + +"It is the end so far as I am concerned," she retorted, without +slackening her pace. "You shall be my guardian no longer; I'll arrange +something, so that I can get out into the world and live for myself and +in my own fashion." + +"We'll see about that," he retorted, between his teeth. "Go to your +room, and remain there." + +She gave him a glance of contempt, that had yet in it some spice of +fear, as she turned away and made for the house, with old Capper +trotting dog-like beside her. Then the doctor turned to me, and although +I saw that there were certain white spots coming and going at the edges +of his nostrils and on his cheek bones, he yet spoke calmly +enough--indeed, a little amusedly. + +"What do you think of that for pretty defiance?" he asked; then, sinking +his voice to a lower tone, and taking a step nearer to me, he went +on--"She's getting suspicious about that boy; and the madman who's gone +off with her now is likely to cause trouble. I don't know what to do +with him, but I shall have to devise something. Don't forget, my friend, +that if the worst comes to the worst you're in the same boat with me--or +in a worse boat. I've only cheated the authorities for your sake; I can +plead human sympathy and kindliness, and all sorts of things--which you +can't." + +"Is that a threat?" I demanded, for now my gratitude was being fast +swallowed up in a growing dislike of the man. + +"Yes, and no," he replied, with a faint smile. "I'm only suggesting that +you will find it wise, whatever happens, to fight on my side, and on +mine only. I think you understand?" + +I answered nothing; I followed him, sullenly enough, to the house. By +that time I had quite forgotten the errand on which I had been sent, and +which I had made no effort to accomplish; only when we were near to the +house he turned quickly, and startled me by referring to it. + +"By the way, you had your journey for nothing," he said. "The book +arrived while you were gone. Did you meet with any adventures?" + +"None at all," I answered curtly. + +I was destined for another adventure, and a more alarming one, that +night. There was no ceremony used in the doctor's house, and he made no +attempt to dress for dinner. For that matter, I had not as yet seen any +guests, and the doctor, on one or two occasions at least, had had his +meals carried up to his study. So far as dinner was concerned, it +usually happened that in the recesses of the house someone clanged a +dismal bell at the time the food was actually put upon the table, and I +would go down, either to sit alone, or to find the doctor awaiting me. +You will remember that the girl Debora had been away for the whole of +that eventful week. + +The dining-room was dimly lighted by a big, shaded lamp, standing on the +centre of the table; so that when I went in on this night, and looked +about me, I could see figures seated, but could not clearly distinguish +faces. The doctor I saw in his usual place, stooping forward into the +light of the lamp to sup at his soup; I saw the bent head of the girl at +one side of the table. I moved round the table to reach my place, and as +I did so saw that another man was seated opposite the girl, so making a +fourth. I could not see his face, as it was in shadow. I wondered who he +might be. + +The doctor bent forward, so as to look round the lamp at me, called me +(God be praised for it!) by that new name he had given me-- + +"John New, let me introduce you to my friend, Mr. Harvey Scoffold." + +I sat frozen in my chair, keeping my face in shadow, and wondering what +I should do. For I knew the man--had known him intimately on those +occasions when I had broken out of my uncle's house at night, and had +gone on wild excursions. I saw him glance towards me; I knew that he +knew my history, and what had become of me; and I wondered how soon he +was to start up in his place, and cry out who I was, and demand to know +who lay buried in my place. I left my soup untasted, and sat upright, +keeping my face above the light cast by the lamp. + +"Mr. Harvey Scoffold is an old friend of mine," said Bardolph Just, +"although we have not met for some time. A worthy fellow--though he does +not take quite so deep an interest in the serious things of life as I +do." + +"Not I," exclaimed the other man, squaring his shoulders, and giving +vent to a hearty laugh that rang through the room. "I'm a very +butterfly, if a large one; and life's the biggest joke that ever I +tasted. I hope our new friend is of the same order?" + +I mumbled something unintelligible, and, after looking at me intently +for a moment, he turned and began to speak to his host. I think I had +just decided that I had better feign illness, and get up and make a run +for dear life, when he staggered us all by a question, put in his +hearty, careless fashion. + +"By the way," he said, looking from the doctor to the girl, and back +again, "what's become of that youngster I used to see here--Gregory +Pennington? I took quite a fancy to the boy. Does anyone know where he +is?" + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +A LITTLE WHITE GHOST. + + +With the putting of that most awkward question as to what had become of +Gregory Pennington, it may be said that a sort of bombshell fell into +our midst. I leaned further back, determined to gain what respite I +could in the shadows of the room before the inevitable discovery should +fall upon me; and of the four of us only the girl, Debora Matchwick, +leaned forward eagerly, peering round the lamp at the man who had asked +the question. + +"That's what we want to know," she said, in a quick, nervous voice. +"Gregory has disappeared." + +"Nonsense!" It was the doctor who broke in testily, still keeping his +face in shadow. "You mustn't get such ideas into your head, child. Young +men, strong, and well, and healthy, don't disappear in that fashion. I +ordered him away from the house, and he has respected my wishes. Don't +let me hear such nonsensical talk again." + +The girl drew back, with a little quick sigh, and for a moment or two +there was an abashed silence on the part of Scoffold and myself. But +Scoffold was never the man to be abashed long by anything; in a moment +or two he leaned his big body forward over the table, so that I saw his +face fully in the light of the shaded lamp, and glanced quickly from +one to the other of us, and began to put questions. And with each +question it seemed that he probed the matter more deeply. + +"But tell me, what had my young friend done to be forbidden the house?" +he asked. Then, answered in a fashion by the silence about him, he +shrugged his shoulders, and spread out his great hands deprecatingly. + +"Oh, I'm sorry!" he went on. "I see that I'm prying into secrets, and +that was never my way at all. Only I was interested in Gregory--a fine +fellow, with a future before him. A little reckless, perhaps--a little +given to the spending of money; but then, that is ever a fault of the +young. If I did not wish to pry into secrets," he added a little +maliciously, as he peered round the lamp at the girl, "I might suggest +that perhaps his disappearance may have had something to do with Miss +Debora here--eh? There are so many hearts to be broken in this world of +pretty faces, Miss Debora." + +The girl sat rigid and silent; presently the man leaned back in his +chair again, with a little laugh, as the servants entered with the next +course. I saw the woman Leach hovering about near the doorway; I +wondered if we were to have another such scene as we had had that +morning. But nothing happened until the servants had gone, with Leach +following last. Then this unlucky guest had another word to say. + +"I see you still keep your faithful retainer," said Harvey Scoffold, +with a jerk of his great head towards the door. "Remarkable woman, +that--and quite devoted to you, doctor." + +"Servants are servants, and are kept in their places," retorted Bardolph +Just coldly. + +"But, my dear Just," broke in the irrepressible one again, "Leach is +surely more than a servant. How many years has she been with you?" + +"I haven't taken the trouble to count," replied the doctor. "Shall we +change the conversation?" + +Mr. Scoffold abruptly complied, by turning his attention to me, somewhat +to my dismay. "Do you belong to these parts, Mr.--Mr. John New?" he +asked. + +I murmured in a low tone that I belonged to London, and as I spoke I saw +him lean forward quickly, as if to get a better glimpse of me; but I +obstinately kept my face in shadow. + +"Ah!" he went on. "London's a fine place, but with temptations. I often +think that it would be well if we could prevent young men from ever +going to London at all--let 'em wait until they have reached years of +discretion, and know what the world is like. I've seen so much in that +direction--so many lives that have gone down into the shadows, and never +emerged again. I could give you a case in point--rather an interesting +story, if you would not be bored by it." He glanced round the table amid +silence. + +Now, I knew instinctively what story he was going to tell, before ever +he said a word of it; I knew the story was my own. I sat there, +spellbound; I strove to get a glimpse of Bardolph Just at the further +end of the table, but he did not move, and the only face of the four of +us that could be seen was the face, animated and smiling, of Harvey +Scoffold. + +"The story is a little sad--and I detest sad things," the man began, +"but it has the merit of a moral. You are to imagine a young man, of +good education, and with a credulous and doting old man--an uncle, in +fact--as his sole guardian. He rewards the credulous old man by robbing +him right and left, and he spends the proceeds of his robberies in +vicious haunts in London." + +I may here interpolate that the only vicious haunt I had known in London +had been the house of Mr. Harvey Scoffold, and that most of the money I +had stolen had gone, in one way and another, into his pockets--but this +by the way. + +"His name was Norton Hyde," went on Scoffold. "I beg your pardon--did +you speak?" This last was to the doctor, who had leaned forward, so that +I saw his face clearly, and had uttered an exclamation. + +"No," he replied. "Pray proceed with your story." He leaned sideways, +under pretence of filling his glass, and gave me a warning glance down +the length of the table. + +"Well, this Norton Hyde paid the penalty, in due course, of his crime," +went on Scoffold, leaning back in his chair again. "He was sentenced to +a certain term of penal servitude, served part of it, escaped from his +prison----" + +"The story is well known, and we need hear no more, my dear Scoffold," +broke in the doctor. "I don't want to shock Miss Debora, nor to have her +shocked." + +"But I am interested," said the girl, leaning forward. "Please go on, +Mr. Scoffold." + +"You hear--she's interested," said the man with a smile, as he leaned +forward again, and looked round the lamp at the girl. "It's very +dreadful, but very fascinating. You must know, then, Miss Debora, that +the fellow broke prison, and made a desperate attempt to get back to +London; reached a house somewhere on its outskirts; and then, being +evidently hard pressed, gave up the game in despair, and committed +suicide." + +"Poor, poor fellow!" commented the girl, in a low tone; and I felt my +heart go out to her in gratitude. + +"And that was the end of him," went on Mr. Scoffold, with a snap of the +fingers. "They carried him back--dead--to his prison; and they buried +him within its walls. So much for Buckingham!" + +"Now, perhaps, you can contrive to talk of something a little more +pleasant," said the doctor testily. "You've given us all the horrors, +with your talk of imprisonments, and suicides, and what not. You used to +be pleasant company at one time, Harvey." + +"And can be so still," exclaimed the other lightly. "But I'm afraid it's +this dark room of yours that gave that turn to the conversation: one +sits in shadow among shadows. May I move this lamp, or may I at least +take the shade off?" He put a hand to it as he spoke. + +If ever I had trembled in my life, I trembled then; but I sat rigid, and +waited, trusting in that stronger man at the further end of the table. +Nor was my trust in him betrayed. + +"Leave the lamp alone," he said sharply. "It's not safe to be moved; +it's rather an old one, and shaky. Besides, I prefer this light." + +"You always were a queer fellow," said Scoffold, dropping back into his +seat again. "And to-night you're a dull one. I swear I couldn't endure +your company," he proceeded with a laugh, "if it were not for the +charming lady who faces me, and who is mostly hidden by your beast of a +lamp. Even our friend, Mr. New here, hasn't a word to say for himself; +but perhaps he'll come out stronger under the influence of one of your +cigars presently." + +I vowed in my heart that there should be no cigars for me that night in +his company; my brain was active with the thought of how best I could +escape. I was perplexed to know how it was that he had not remembered +that it was in this very house, according to the tale, that Norton Hyde +had committed suicide; but for that point, he had the whole thing in +chapter and verse. I was comforted, however, by the thought that it was +to the interests of Bardolph Just to help me out of the scrape; I saw +that he was as much astonished to learn that Harvey Scoffold knew me as +I was to find the man in that house. + +But for my desperate strait, I must have been amused at the doctor's +perplexity. I saw, just as surely as though he had stated it in words, +that he was working hard at that puzzle: how to get Norton Hyde out of +that room unobserved. Fortunately for the solution of that problem, he +must have known how eager I was to get away; and presently he contrived +the business in the simplest fashion. + +We had come near to the end of the dinner, and it was about time for +Debora to leave us. I knew that he dreaded that if she got up it would +mean a breaking-up of our relative positions at the table, and I must be +discovered. I was dreading that, too, when relief came. + +"I say, New," he called to me down the length of the table, "I know you +have that business of which you spoke to clear up to-night. We're all +friends here, and we'll excuse you." + +I murmured my thanks, and got up, designing to pass behind Harvey +Scoffold, and so escape observation. But, as ill luck would have it, +Debora saw in the movement an opportunity for her own escape; she rose +quickly, and the inevitable happened. Harvey Scoffold blundered to his +feet to open the door. + +And there we were in a moment, above the light of the lamp, and all +making for the door together; for the doctor, in his consternation, had +risen also. Scoffold got to the door before me, and held it open for +the girl; and for one disastrous moment I hesitated. For there was a +light outside in the hall, and I dared not face it. Properly, of course, +I should have followed the girl with my face averted; but even in that I +blundered, and so found myself suddenly looking into the eyes of Harvey +Scoffold, as he stood there holding the door. + +It was as though he had seen a ghost. He gasped, and took a step back; +and the next moment I was out of the room, and had pulled the door close +after me. Even as I did so, I heard his voice raised loudly and +excitedly in the room, and heard the deeper tones of Bardolph Just. + +There was no time to be lost, and I looked about me for the quickest way +of escape. I was groping in the dark, as it were, because I did not even +know whether the man was a chance visitor, and I might safely hide in +some other room of the house, or whether he was staying there, and so +could leave me no choice but to get away altogether. And while I +hesitated, my mind was made up for me, as it has been so often in my +life, in the most curious fashion. + +I saw that Debora had stopped at the foot of the stairs, and was looking +back at me; and in a moment, in the thought of her, I forgot my own +peril. I took a step towards her, and she bent her head towards mine, as +she stood a step or two above me on the stairs, and whispered-- + +"For the love of God, don't leave me alone in this house to-night!" + +Then she was gone, before I could make reply, and I was left there, +standing helplessly looking after her. + +In that moment I lost my chance. The dining-room door was opened, and +the two men came out quickly; it seemed to me that Harvey Scoffold was +speaking excitedly, and that the doctor, who had a hand on his arm, was +striving to soothe him. I made a dart for the stairs--too late, for the +voice of Scoffold called me back. + +"Here, don't run away; I want to talk to you!" he cried. "There's a +mystery here----" + +"Not so loud!" exclaimed the doctor sternly, in a low tone. "If you've +anything to say, don't shout it in the hall in that fashion. I trust +we're gentlemen; let us go and talk quietly in my study. John, you know +the way--lead on." + +So, knowing well what was to follow, I went on up the stairs, until I +came to the door of that room that was half study and half surgery; I +opened the door and went in. To gain time, I went to the further end of +it, and stood looking out of the window into the darkness. I calculated +that it might be a drop of twelve or fourteen feet, if he drove me too +far and I had to take flight. I was prepared for everything, and had for +the moment--God forgive me!--clean forgotten what the girl had said to +me. The two other men came into the room, and the door was closed. I +heard the doctor speak in his most genial tones. + +"Now, my dear Harvey, let's understand what bee you have in your bonnet. +What's this about an escaped convict--and in my house? If I didn't know +you better, I should suggest that my wine had been too much for you." + +"Don't bluff, doctor: it would be far better to ask our friend there to +show us his face clearly. If a man's honest he doesn't turn his back on +his friends." + +At that I threw discretion to the winds; I faced round upon him +savagely. "Friends!" I exclaimed bitterly. "When were you ever a friend +to me, Harvey Scoffold?" + +The man laughed, and shrugged his shoulders. "Truly you are indiscreet," +he said, with a triumphant glance at the doctor. "But youth is ever +impatient, and one cannot expect that you, of all men, should be +cautious. You never were. Come--can't we sit down and talk quietly, and +see what is to be done?" + +"There is nothing to be done--at least nothing that concerns you," said +Bardolph Just quickly, as he stopped in the act of pulling open that +drawer in his desk which held the cigars. "What in the world is it to do +with you?" + +"Oh-o! so _you_ are in the swim, too, eh?" exclaimed Scoffold, turning +upon him with raised eyebrows. "I thought it possible that you might +have been deceived--that our friend here might have come upon you +suddenly, and induced you to help him, without your knowing who he was." + +The doctor shrugged his shoulders, and took out a cigar. In the act of +biting the end of it with his sharp white teeth he looked at the other +man with a smile that was deadly--it was as though he snarled over the +cigar. "I knew all about our friend here from the beginning," he said. +"Be careful, Harvey; you know me by this time, and you know it's better +to have me for a friend than an enemy. Once more I warn you not to ask +questions, and not to interfere in what does not concern you. Take a +cigar, and sit down and smoke." + +Scoffold took the cigar, and stood for a moment or two, while he lighted +it, looking from one to the other of us, as though weighing the matter +carefully in his mind. He voiced his feelings as he put the match to the +cigar, and puffed at it. + +"Norton Hyde escaped from prison"--puff--"Norton Hyde hangs +himself"--puff--"Norton Hyde is duly sat upon by a coroner and a +jury"--puff--"Norton Hyde is buried in a prison grave." He looked at the +lighted end of his cigar carefully, and tossed the match from him. "And +yet my dear friend, Norton Hyde, stands before me. Any answer to that +puzzle?" He looked at me and at the doctor, and laughed quietly. + +Truly the game appeared to be in his hands, and I knew enough of him to +know that he was a man to be feared. It was, of course, a mere +coincidence that the man who had helped me to my ruin was a friend of +this man upon whose hospitality I had so unceremoniously flung myself; +nor did it mend matters to know that he was a friend of the dead boy. I +think we both waited for his next remark, knowing pretty well what it +would be. + +"A natural answer springs up at once to the puzzle," he went on, seeming +literally to swell his great bulk at us in his triumph. "Some man was +buried as Norton Hyde--some man who must have been able to pass muster +for him. What man could that have been?" + +"You're getting on dangerous ground: I tell you you'd better let it +alone," broke in the doctor warningly. + +But the other man went on as though the doctor had not spoken. "Some man +lies in that grave, who has disappeared, and for whom no enquiry has +been made. Now, who can that man be? What man is there that hasn't been +seen for some days--what man is there that is being looked for now?" + +In the tense silence of the room, while the man looked from one to the +other of us, absolutely dominating the situation, there came an +interruption that was so terrible, and so much an answer to what the man +was asking, that I could have shrieked out like a frightened woman. +Behind him, where he stood, I saw the door of the study slowly opening, +and then the smiling face of the little grey-haired man looked round it. +Scoffold did not see him; only the doctor and I turned our startled +faces to the smiling face of Capper. And Capper spoke-- + +"Forgive me, gentlemen"--and Scoffold swung round on the words and faced +him--"I'm looking for my master, Mr. Pennington." + +"Gregory Pennington, by the Lord!" shouted Harvey Scoffold, with a great +clap of his hands together. + +The doctor turned quickly to the door. I saw him thrust Capper outside, +and close the door, and turn the key in it. He put the key in his +pocket, and his eyes looked dangerous; he was as a man driven at bay. + +"Well, you think you've made some great and wonderful discovery," he +snapped. "Perhaps you have--at all events, you shall know the truth of +the matter from beginning to end. I'll keep nothing back." + +"You can't, you know," sneered the other, dropping his great bulk into +an arm-chair, and puffing luxuriously at his cigar. + +I stood with my back to the window while the doctor told the story. He +told it from beginning to end, and quite clearly. Of the coming of the +disappointed Gregory Pennington to the house, after an interview with +the girl; of that mad, rash act of the unsuccessful lover; of the +finding of him hanging dead. He told of my coming, and painted a little +luridly my desperate threats and pleadings; told of how he had given +way, and had dressed poor Gregory Pennington in my shameful clothes. +When he had finished the narrative Harvey Scoffold nodded, as if +satisfied with that part of it, and sat for a time smoking, while we +awaited what he had to say. + +"It never struck me that it was in this house the convict (as the +newspapers called him) hanged himself," he said at last. "Upon my word, +the puzzle fits together very neatly. But what happens, my friends, +when someone enquires for young Pennington? For instance, myself." + +"You've no purpose to serve," I broke in quickly. + +He laughed, and shook his head gaily. "Not so fast, my young friend, not +so fast!" he answered me. "I may have an axe to grind--I have ground +many in my time. Besides--putting me right out of the question--what of +the girl? How do you silence her?" + +"I can find a way even to do that," replied the doctor in a low voice. +"Only let me warn you again, Harvey Scoffold, we are desperate men +here--or at least one of us--fighting for something more even than +liberty. I am fighting to keep this innocent girl's name out of the +business, and to keep scandal away from this house. Let Norton Hyde rest +in his grave; Gregory Pennington is not likely to be enquired for. He +was young and restless; he may have gone abroad--enlisted--anything. +That's our tale for the world, if questions are asked." + +"It only occurs to me that the virtuous uncle of our young friend +here--the man who was robbed so audaciously--would give a great deal to +know that the nephew who robbed him was at large," suggested Harvey +Scoffold musingly over his cigar. + +I took a quick step towards him. "You wouldn't dare!" I exclaimed +threateningly. + +He held up a large protesting hand. "My dear boy, I am your friend; I +was always your friend. You are quite safe with me," he said. Yet I knew +that he lied. + +He made one other comment on the matter before wisely leaving the +subject alone. "It seems to me strange," he observed, with a furtive +look at the doctor, "that you should be so willing to help our young +friend here--a man you have never seen." + +"I do that," replied the other quickly, "because in that way I can cover +up the miserable business of young Pennington. Unless you speak, it is +scarcely likely that anyone else will ever drag that business into the +light of day. Both Gregory Pennington and our friend here happen to have +been particularly alone in the world: in neither case is there anyone +who is likely to make awkward inquiries." + +"Always excepting the girl," Harvey Scoffold reminded him. "So far as I +am concerned, you have nothing to fear from me; I shall merely be an +amused spectator of the little comedy; I don't know yet exactly how it's +going to end." + +He was tactful enough to say nothing more then, and we presently +drifted, almost with cheerfulness, into some more ordinary conversation. +Yet I saw that the man watched us both from between half-closed eyelids +while he smoked and lounged in his chair; and I was far from +comfortable. It was late when the doctor rose, and with a glance at the +clock said that he had still much work to do before he could sleep. He +unlocked the door; at which hint Harvey Scoffold and I left him for the +night. + +The excitement of the meeting had quite thrust out of my mind the +question whether the man was stopping in the house or had merely come +there as a chance visitor; but the question was answered now, when +Harvey Scoffold told me that he had a long walk before him, and was glad +that the night was fine. I felt some sudden uplifting of the heart at +the thought that at least I should be relieved of his presence, only to +feel that heart sinking the next moment, at the remembrance that he +would be free to spread his news in the outer world, if he cared to do +so. For it must be understood that my public trial, and all the +disclosures thereat, had given to the world the address of my uncle, and +my own movements on those secret expeditions of mine; it was possible +for Harvey Scoffold to put that veiled threat of his into instant +execution. + +I knew, moreover, that he was a dangerous man, by reason of the fact +that he was chronically in want of money, and had never hesitated as to +the methods employed to obtain it. However, there was no help for it +now; the murder was out, and I could only trust to that extraordinary +luck that had befriended me up to the present. + +I walked with him out into the grounds, and he shook hands with me at +parting, with some cordiality. "You have had a miraculous escape, dear +boy," he said, in his jovial fashion, "and you are quite a little +romance in yourself. I shall watch your career with interest. And you +have nothing to fear--I shall be as silent as the grave in which you +ought to be lying." + +He laughed noisily at that grim jest, and took his way down the road in +the direction of London. I went back into the house and went to my room, +and slept heavily until late the next morning. + +The doctor had left the house when I went down to breakfast, and I had a +dim hope that I might see the girl alone. But she did not put in an +appearance, nor did I see anything of her until the evening, when the +doctor had returned, and the three of us sat down to dinner. I had been +roaming desolately about the grounds, smoking the doctor's cigars, and +inwardly wondering what I was going to do with the rest of the life that +had been miraculously given back to me; and I did not know at what hour +Bardolph Just had returned. Yet I had a feeling that there had been some +strange interview between the doctor and the girl before I had come upon +the scene--and a stormy interview at that. Bardolph Just sat at his end +of the table, grim and silent, with his brows contracted, and with his +habitual smile gone from his lips; the girl sat white and silent, +sipping a little wine, but touching no food. During the course of a +melancholy meal no single word was heard in the room, for the doctor did +not even address the servants. + +At the end of the meal, however, when the girl rose to quit the room, +the doctor rose also, and barred her way. "Stop!" he said quickly. "I've +got to speak to you. We'll have this matter cleared up--once and for +all." + +"I have nothing more to say," she replied, looking at him steadily. "My +answer is what it has always been--No!" + +"You can go, John New," said the man harshly, turning towards me. "I +want to talk to Miss Matchwick alone." + +"No, no!" exclaimed the girl, stretching out her hands towards me; and +on the instant I stopped on my way to the door, and faced about. + +But the doctor took a quick step towards me, and opened the door, and +jerked his head towards the hall. "I am master here," he said. "Go!" + +I saw that I should not mend matters by remaining, but I determined to +be within call. I passed quickly along the hall after the door was +closed; I knew that just within the great hall door itself was another +smaller door, opening to a verandah which ran round the front of the +dining-room windows, on the old-fashioned early Victorian model. I knew +that the windows were open, and I thought that I might by good fortune +both see and hear what went on in the room. + +And so it turned out. I slipped through that smaller door, and came on +to the verandah; and so stood drawn up in the shadows against the side +of the window, looking in and listening. + +"I have given you the last chance," the doctor was saying, "and now I +shall trouble you no more. There is another way, and perhaps a better +one. I have treated you well. I have offered to make you my wife--to +place you in the position your father would have been glad to see you +occupy. Now I have done with you, and we must try the other way. Look +into my eyes!" + +Then I saw a curious thing happen. At first, while the man looked +intently at her with those extraordinarily bright eyes of his, she +covered her own with her hands, and strove to look away; but after a +moment or two she dropped her hands helplessly, and shivered, and looked +intently at him full. It was like the fascination of some helpless bird +by a snake. I saw her sink slowly into a chair behind her; and still she +never took her eyes from those of the doctor, until at last her lids +fell, and she seemed to lie there asleep. Then I heard the man's voice +saying words that had no meaning for my ears at that time. + +"You will not sleep well to-night, little one," he said, in a curious +crooning voice. "You will rise from your bed, and you will come out in +search of something. Is it not so?" + +Very softly she answered him: "Yes, I understand." + +"You will be restless, and you will seek to get out into the air. But +all the doors will be bolted, and the windows fastened. So you will turn +to the eastern corridor and will pass along there to the end wall. Do +you understand?" + +And again she murmured: "Yes, I understand." + +"And then you will walk on--into the air. You will do this at midnight." + +She murmured, "At midnight"; and on a sudden he snapped his fingers +violently three times before her eyes, and she sprang up, wide awake, +and stared at him, looking at him in perplexity. + +"You've been asleep for ever so long," he said, with a smile. "You must +be tired; go to your room." + +She looked at him in a dazed fashion, and passed her hand across her +forehead. "What were we speaking of?" she asked him, as though referring +to the conversation they had had before he had sent her into that +species of trance. + +"Nothing--nothing that matters now," he said, moving towards the door. + +Fearing that he might come in my direction after he had sent her from +the room, I vaulted over the railing of the verandah, which was only +raised a few feet above the level of the ground. And so presently came +round by the side entrance into the house, and, as was my custom, went +up to the doctor's study to smoke with him. + +I found him pacing up and down, chewing the butt of a cigar that had +long gone out. He glanced up quickly when I entered, and jerked his head +towards the open drawer in the desk where the cigars were. + +"I must ask you to take your cigar and smoke it elsewhere to-night," he +said. "I have work to do, and I am very busy. Good-night." + +I longed to stop and talk with him--cursed my own impotent position, +which gave me no chance of trying conclusions with him and befriending +the girl. I remembered bitterly the words she had said to me at the foot +of the staircase on the previous night, when she had begged me not to +leave her alone in that house. So I went away, reluctantly enough, to +smoke my cigar elsewhere. + +I wandered down into the dining-room, and dropped into a chair, and +closed my eyes. Suddenly I remembered that it was that chair into which +the girl had dropped when the doctor had said those words I did not +understand. I sat up, very wide awake, remembering. + +She was to walk along the eastern corridor, and was to come to a wall at +the end. And yet she was to walk out into the air! What did it all mean? +What trick was the man about to play upon her? What devilry was afoot? + +I got up at once, and threw away my cigar, and set off to explore the +house. I wanted to know where this eastern corridor was, if such a place +existed, and what was meant by the doctor's words. I went up to my own +room first, and made out, as well as I could, by remembering which way +the sun rose, and other matters, in what direction the house was +situated; and so came to the conclusion that the room to which I had +been assigned was at the end of the eastern corridor, nearest to the +great bulk of the house. Which is to say, that if I stood in the doorway +of my room, and faced the corridor, the other rooms of the house would +be on my right hand, while on my left the corridor stretched away into +darkness, past rooms that, so far as I knew, were unoccupied. + +Lest by any chance my windows should be watched, I lit the lamp in my +room and left it; then I came out into the corridor, and closed the +door. I looked over the head of the great staircase; the house was in +complete silence, though not yet in darkness. Listening carefully, I +moved away swiftly into the gathering darkness to the left, until at +last, at the end of the corridor, my outstretched hand touched the wall. +This was exactly as it should be, according to the doctor's words. I now +turned my attention to the wall itself, and found that it was +recessed--much as though at some time or other it had been a window that +had been bricked up. I could make nothing of it, and I went back to my +room, sorely puzzled. + +I must have a torpid brain, for I was ever given to much sleeping. On +this occasion I sank down into a chair, intending to sit there for a +few minutes and think the matter out. In less than five, I was asleep. +When I awoke I felt chilled and stiff, and I blamed myself heartily for +not having gone to bed. While I yawned and stretched my arms, I became +aware of a curious noise going on in the house. With my arms still +raised above my head, I stopped to listen. + +Whatever noise it was came from the end of the corridor where I had +found that blank wall. Some instinct made me put out the light; then in +the darkness I stole towards the door, and cautiously opened it. Outside +the corridor was dark, or seemed to be at my first glance; I dropped to +my knees, and peered round the edge of the door, looking to right and +left. + +To the right all was in darkness; the servants had gone to bed, after +extinguishing the lights and locking up. To the left, strangely enough, +a faint light shone; and as I turned my eyes in that direction I saw +that a small hand-lamp was standing on the floor, and that above it +loomed the figure of a man, casting a grotesque shadow on the walls and +ceiling above him. I made enough of the figure to know that it was the +doctor, and that he was working hard at that end wall. + +I was puzzling my brains to know what he was doing, and was striving +hard to connect his presence there with what he had said to the girl, +when I heard a grinding and a creaking, and suddenly the lamp that stood +beside him was blown out in a gust of wind that came down the corridor +and touched my face softly as I knelt there. Then, to my utter +amazement, I saw the night sky and the stars out beyond where that end +wall had been. + +I had just time to get back into my room and to close the door, when the +doctor came tiptoeing back along the corridor, and vanished like a +shadow into the shadows of the house. I waited for a time, and then +struck a match, and looked at the little clock on the mantelpiece. It +wanted four minutes of midnight. + +I opened the door again, and looked out into the corridor; then, on an +impulse, I stole along towards that newly-opened door, or whatever it +was, and, coming to it, looked out into the night. It was at a greater +height from the ground than I had thought possible, because on that side +of the house the ground shelved away sharply, and there was in addition +a deep, moat-like trough, into which the basement windows looked. More +than ever puzzled, I was retracing my steps, when I heard a slight sound +at the further end, like the light rustle of a garment mingled with the +swift patter of feet. + +I will confess that my nerves were unstrung, and they were therefore +scarcely prepared for the shock they had now to endure. For coming down +the corridor, straight towards where I stood drawn up against the wall, +was a little figure in a white garment, and with fair flowing hair over +its shoulders; and that figure came swiftly straight towards that new +door which opened to the floor. While I stood there, paralysed by the +sight, certain words floated back to my mind. + +"You will be restless, and you will seek to get out into the air. But +all the doors will be bolted, and the windows fastened. So you will turn +to the eastern corridor, and will pass along there to the end wall ... +and then you will walk on into the air.... You will do this at +midnight!" + +With a great horror upon me, I leapt in a moment, though dimly, to what +was meant. The girl was walking to her death, and walking in her sleep. +In what devilish fashion Bardolph Just had contrived the thing, or what +ascendency he had gained over her that he could suggest the very hour at +which she should rise from her bed and do it, I did not understand; but +here was the thing nearly accomplished. She was within a couple of feet +of the opening, and was walking straight out into the air at that giddy +height, when I sprang forward and caught her in my arms. + +She shrieked once--a shriek that seemed to echo through the night; then, +with a long sobbing cry, she sank into my arms, and hid her face on my +shoulder. And at the same moment I heard a door open down below in the +house, and heard running footsteps coming towards me. I knew it was the +doctor, and I knew for what he had waited. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +I AM DRAWN FROM THE GRAVE. + + +You are to picture me, then, standing in that wind-swept corridor, open +at one end to the stars, and holding in my arms the sobbing form of +Debora Matchwick, and waiting the coming of Dr. Bardolph Just. I awaited +that coming with no trepidation, for now it seemed as though I stood an +equal match for the man, by reason of this night's work; for if someone +had shouted "Murder!" in the silence of the house, the thing could not +have been proclaimed more clearly. I saw now that in that trance into +which he had thrown her he had by some devilish art suggested to the +girl what she should do, and at what hour, and then had thrown open the +end of the corridor, that she might step out to her death. + +Exactly how much she suspected herself, or how much she had had time to +grasp, since the moment when I had so roughly awakened her, I could not +tell; but she clung to me, and begged me incoherently not to let her go, +and not to let the man come near her. Feeling that the thing must be met +bravely, I got my arm about her, and advanced with her down the corridor +to meet the doctor. + +He came with a light held above his head; he was panting from excitement +and hurry. I know that he expected to run to the end of that corridor, +and to look out, and to see what should have lain far below him; but he +came upon us advancing towards him instead, and he stopped dead and +lowered his light. + +"What's the matter?" he stammered. + +"You should know that best," I answered him boldly. "Death might have +been the matter. With your leave, I'll take this lady to her room." + +He stood back against the wall, and watched us as we went past him. His +brows were drawn down, and his eyes were glittering, and the faint white +line of his teeth showed between his lips. In that attitude he remained, +like some figure turned to stone, while I drew the girl along, and down +the stairs; I had to ask her the way to her room, for, of course, I did +not know it. Coming to it at last, I took her cold hands in mine and +held them for a moment, and smiled as cheerfully as I could. + +"This is not the time for explanations," I said; "leave all that till +the morning. Go to bed, and try not to remember anything that has +happened; and lock your door." + +I heard the key turn in the lock before I came away; not till then did I +retrace my steps back to the corridor. I was scarcely surprised to find +the man standing almost in the same attitude--only now his head had +lowered a little, and he seemed to be musing. Without moving he looked +up at me, and a queer sort of grin spread over his features. + +"Smart man!" he whispered, with a sneer. "How did it happen? How much do +you know?" + +"More than you would have me know?" I replied. "Would it not be well to +fasten up that door again?" I jerked my head in the direction of the end +of the corridor. + +Without a word he handed the lamp to me, and started towards the +opening. He went so quickly that I thought for the moment he meant to +hurl himself upon that death he had intended for the girl; but he +stopped at the end, and seemed to be fumbling with the doors. + +By that time I had reached him, and, with the aid of the lamp, I could +see that there were two heavy doors opening inwards and fastened with a +great bar that dropped across them, and with bolts at the top and at the +bottom. Quite as though he had forgotten the incidents of the night, he +turned to me, and gave an explanation of the doors. + +"There used to be an iron staircase against the wall of the house, +leading down from here at one time," he said. "It was the whim of some +former owner. I found these doors by accident." + +"And opened them with a purpose," I reminded him. + +He said nothing in reply. Having secured the doors, he motioned to me to +go in front, which I did, carrying the light, and in that order we came +to my room. I would have handed him the lamp at the door, but he +motioned to me to go in, and, following himself, closed the door. I set +down the lamp, and waited for what he had to say. He was a long time +coming to it; he wandered about the room for a time, stopping now and +then, with his back to me, and with his finger tracing out the pattern +of the wall paper. When at last he spoke he was still tracing that +pattern, and he did not look round. + +"You have done me a service to-night, and one I'm not likely to forget," +he said. + +"A service?" I asked in amazement. "I should scarcely have thought you'd +call it that." + +"I do--I do!" he exclaimed, swinging round upon me suddenly. "I meant to +kill her, and you've saved me from that. I thank my God for it!" + +"I don't believe you," I said doggedly. "You planned the thing too well +for that." + +"I did not plan it, except by the opening of the doors," he said. "I +knew that she walked in her sleep sometimes, and I thought----" + +"You lie!" I exclaimed fiercely. "I watched you, and heard you while you +suggested to her that she should walk in this eastern corridor at +midnight, and should come to the end wall. And you knew that there would +be no wall there." + +He looked at me in a bewildered fashion for what seemed a long time; +then he nodded slowly twice. "So you heard that, did you? Well, I +suppose there's nothing for it but confession. I did plan the thing; it +was by a method you don't understand--what we call hypnotic suggestion. +That means that you tell a person that they are to do a certain thing at +a certain hour, and when that hour arrives they must inevitably set +about to do it." + +"Why did you want to kill her?" + +"Why do we always desire to crush the thing that we can't possess?" he +snapped back at me. "Because I love her--because I would sell my +immortal soul--if I have one--to bend her or break her to my will. You +are a sleepy dolt, understanding nothing of passions such as sway +stronger men; you are not likely to understand this. But she maddens me +when she sticks that pretty chin of hers in the air, and I see the +contempt flash out of her eyes. If you saw so much, you probably saw the +beginning of it, when she said she would have nothing further to do with +me, and threatened to get away out of the house. Then the thought came +over me that I would put an end to it all; and I made that suggestion to +her that she should walk here to-night; and I came first, and opened the +old doors. I thank God you saved her!" + +He suddenly dropped his head in his hands and groaned aloud; and my +heart melted a little with pity for him. I guessed something of what a +stormy nature was hidden in the man; and I, who thought I had read +something of love in her eyes for me, could afford to pity the man to +whose pleadings she turned a deaf ear. Fool that I was, I did not +realise the cunning of the creature who stood with hidden face before +me; I did not understand that this was but a bit of play-acting, to put +me off my guard. I was to learn all that later. + +"Do you think you'll help your case by such a business as this of +to-night?" I asked. "It's a poor way to make love, to strive to kill the +woman." + +"She won't know anything about it; she won't guess," he exclaimed +eagerly, looking up at me. "She does not know that I suggested to her +what to do; she will only wonder at finding the doors open. I can give +some explanation of that, if necessary." + +"And what will you do now?" I asked him, as I lighted my own lamp and +put his into his hand. + +"Give up the game," he replied, with a faint smile. "This has taught me +a lesson to-night; it has shown me how near the best of us may come to a +crime. I am sincere in that; I thank you from the bottom of my heart for +what you've done. The lover in me is gone; henceforth I'm her guardian +and the friend of her dead father. There's my hand on it!" + +I looked into his eyes, and once again I believed him; I began to feel +that I had misjudged the man. True, his hand was cold enough in my +grasp, but I paid no heed to that; I seemed to see only before me a +changed and humbled man. He wished me "Good-night!" with much +cordiality, and went off to his own room. For my part, I felt something +of a missionary, and congratulated myself upon the night's work. + +I had made up my mind that I would see Debora as early as possible on +the following morning. I was anxious to know what impression that +startling occurrence of the previous night had made upon her. I wanted +to see her before there was any possibility of Bardolph Just confronting +her; and in that I was successful. + +It was a very fine morning, and I supposed that I should find her in the +grounds. I felt that I might reasonably expect that she would make her +way to that summer-house in which we had met and talked before; and in +that also I was right. Quite early, before breakfast was announced, I +came upon her in the morning sunlight; and for a long time, as it +seemed, we held hands without a word. + +"You slept well?" I asked her. + +She nodded brightly. "Better than I should have done, I suppose," she +said, with a smile; "but then, I was sure of my friend--certain that no +harm could come to me. How much have you to tell me of last night?" + +"Nothing," I said, shaking my head. "There is nothing that you need be +told, now that everything is ended. For the future you have to trust to +me--just as you trusted last night. You said I was your friend; and I am +going to look after you." + +"That makes me very happy. By the way, what am I to call you?" she asked +artlessly. + +I felt the colour mounting in my cheeks. "You know my name," I said. + +"Yes--John," she replied, and we both laughed. + +Now this is, of course, all very shameful, and I had no right to be +standing there, holding her hands, and letting her talk to me in that +fashion; but I did not remember then what I was, or from what I had +come. Indeed, it is more than possible that if I had remembered I should +scarcely have changed my attitude, for but little joy had ever come +into my life. I merely set this down here, in order to record the fact +that, save for one lamentable lapse, we were "John" and "Debora" to each +other from that day forward. + +But I had some instructions to give her for her own safety. She listened +attentively while I gave them. + +"You had better not refer to last night at all," I said. "Let the doctor +imagine that you have forgotten about it, or at least have believed that +it was some ugly dream. Meet him as usual--show him, if anything, a +little more kindness than you have done." + +"I can't do that," she said hastily. + +"You must; it is imperative," I urged. "I can tell you this, at least: I +have his promise that he will not molest you again, and that he will be +for the future simply your guardian, and nothing else." + +"He said that?" she asked in astonishment. + +"Yes, and I believe he means it," I answered steadily. + +"I don't believe it, John; it's a trick," she said, shaking her head. +"I've seen too much of him; I know him too well. He is trying to throw +you off the scent. Don't you understand how helpless we both are? You +tell me that you are in his power, because he knows something about your +past life: how can you fight against him, or help me?" + +"I can, and I will," I assured her. "And you can help, by being +discreet, and by waiting until we have an opportunity to do something in +concert." + +She promised faithfully that she would do that, and she left me, with a +smile and a wave of the hand. I followed her slowly to the house, and +found the doctor in his usual place at the breakfast table, talking +quietly to her. The woman Leach was behind him, as usual. + +It became obvious, in a minute or two, that Bardolph Just was anxious to +find out how much she remembered, or how much she understood, of the +events of the previous night; he had already begun to question Debora +cautiously. He appeared to be in a genial mood, and yet in a softened +mood; he gave me a smile as I took my place. + +"So you slept well?" said Bardolph Just to the girl, as he leaned +towards her. "Not disturbed by anything?" + +She shook her head, and looked at him with raised eyebrows of +perplexity; truly I felt that she had learnt her lesson well. "What +should disturb me?" + +"Nothing, nothing!" he replied, evidently at a loss. "Only I thought +that there was some noise in the house last night; I almost went out to +investigate. But, of course, if you heard nothing----" + +It happened that at that moment I glanced up over his head, and I saw +the woman behind him turn a swift glance out of those dark eyes of hers +at the girl; it was but a momentary thing, and then her eyes were cast +down in the usual humble fashion; but in that instant I had read +something that I had not understood before. I read not only hatred of +the girl, and defiance of her; I saw, as clearly as though it had been +written, that she knew of the events of the night before, and that she +knew that the girl was not speaking the truth. I wondered exactly what +had happened, or in what way she had gained her knowledge: I was to +learn that swiftly enough. + +Somewhat later in the forenoon, I was practically alone in the house. I +knew that Debora had gone off into the grounds with a book, and I did +not care to disturb her. Bardolph Just had gone down into London on +business. I was lounging at my full length in an easy chair in the +dining-room, smoking, and reading the newspaper, when the door opened +softly, and Martha Leach came in. I did not turn my head, but I saw her +moving round the room in a large mirror hanging on the wall opposite my +chair. Indeed, our eyes met in that mirror, before they met elsewhere. +She stopped, and, somewhat to my surprise, spoke. + +"You are a very brave man," she said, with a quick glance at the long +windows, as though fearing interruption. "And a strong man, too." + +"Who told you that?" I asked, without shifting my position. + +"No one tells me anything, and I don't need to be told," she answered. +"I find out things for myself; I watch, and discover." + +I seemed to have a dim inkling of what was coming, but I think my face +betrayed nothing. I lowered the newspaper to my knee, and went on +smoking, and watching her in the mirror. + +"I saw you last night in the eastern corridor; I saw you catch that girl +just in time," she went on, in the same breathless sort of whisper. "A +moment later, and that would have been death." + +"You seem to know a great deal about it," I answered. "Perhaps you can +tell me something else." + +She laughed insolently, and shrugged her shoulders. I kept my eyes upon +her in the mirror. "Anything you like," she replied. + +"Then tell me how you could see anything that happened in the eastern +corridor last night," was my answer. + +"I was in the grounds--I had been there a long time," she whispered, her +eyes growing more excited. "I did not know about the door; I only knew +that something was going to happen, because the doctor kept moving about +all the evening. I watched him go out of his room--I mean that I saw the +light disappear, and knew that he had not put it out; I saw it go +across the windows as he moved. I thought he was going to your room, and +so I went round there; and then I saw your light go out. And then, as by +a miracle, I saw that wall open, and the doctor stood there, like a +spirit. I saw him before the light was puffed out. Then I waited to see +what would happen." + +"Well, I hope you were satisfied with what you saw?" I said carelessly. + +She snapped her fingers quickly, and laughed. "Bah! you think you will +put me off; you think I don't understand," she said. "I tell you I saw +you come to that door and look out; I saw you in the starlight. And then +I saw her come; heard the shriek; saw you catch her in your arms. After +that, the fastening of the door by the doctor, while you held the lamp. +And yet this morning"--her voice changed to a tone of bitter +irony--"this morning, if you please, no one knows anything about it, and +everyone has slept well. Bah!" + +She snapped her fingers again, and it seemed almost as if she waited to +know what I should say. But I realised that this woman was an intimate +of the doctor; and it was my business, then, to fear everyone in that +house, save Debora. So I went on smoking, and, still without turning my +head, talked to the woman I saw in the mirror. + +"Have you anything else to say?" I asked calmly. + +"Oh! a great deal," she flashed back at me, forgetting the cautious +voice in which she had spoken. "I want, first of all, to know who you +are, and how you come to be in this house so mysteriously and so +suddenly; for who saw you arrive? That I shall discover some day for +myself. I discover everything in time. And I want to tell you +something." + +She moved a step nearer to my chair, and now I turned my head and looked +into her eyes. + +"He did not succeed last night; but perhaps the next time he will not +fail. So surely as I stand here, so surely do I know that he will kill +her." She nodded her head with incredible swiftness two or three times, +and drew back from me, with her lips tightly pursed. + +I lost control of myself in the sudden shock of her words; I sprang to +my feet. "What do you mean?" I asked in horror. "What do you know?" + +"Only what I have said," she mocked at me, as she made for the door. "I +would advise you, Mr. Mysterious, to look well after this girl you +love--this frail thing of prettiness. For the doctor will surely kill +her!" Then she was gone, and I was left staring helplessly at the closed +door. + +So much had that thought been in my own mind that her words seemed but +an echo. I thought I saw that this man, Bardolph Just, cheated of his +purpose in securing the girl, had made up his mind to get rid of +her--out of some insane jealousy that prompted him not to allow her to +go to the arms of another man. Yet, when I came to think over the +problem, it occurred to me that if, as he had faintly suggested, he +wanted control of her fortune, this would be but the act of a madman. +The only possibility was that the fortune might in some way be secured +by him without her. + +But now that the matter had been confirmed in this startling fashion I +knew that it was imperative that I should keep a stricter watch than +ever upon Debora. For suddenly it seemed to me that my absurd belief in +the man was no longer justified. I saw that the doctor had merely +adopted that attitude of penitence, the better to put me off my guard. +Yet, even while I promised myself that I would do valiant things, I +could only remember my own helplessness, in being entirely dependent +upon the very man against whom I wished to arm myself. I had in my +pocket but a shilling or two, which he had given me for my journey down +into London--that journey which I had never taken. + +As for any future that might once have seemed bright before me--what +future had I? I was practically in hiding under another name, and I had +no resources save those I might derive from one who knew my secret, and +was, in a great sense, my enemy. I was in love--surely more hopelessly +than mortal man had ever been before; and I was liable at any moment to +be betrayed by the man Harvey Scoffold, who had penetrated my story. +Altogether, as I came to review the position, I could have heartily +wished myself back in my prison again, save for one element in the +business. That element was Debora Matchwick, and I knew that in the +strange game I was playing Fate had destined me to fight on her side, in +a matter of life and death. + +Bardolph Just returned early in the afternoon, and went straight to his +study. Debora I had seen for an instant as she crossed the hall; she +gave me a quick smile, and that was all. There seemed to be brooding +over the whole house an atmosphere of expectancy--quite as though we +waited for something that was to happen, and faced it each in his or her +particular way. I found myself listening for the doctor's step in the +house, while I felt equally certain that for his part he was wondering +what move I should take, and was calmly preparing to meet such a move, +whatever it might be. + +The long day drew to a close, and presently the harsh bell clanged +through the house as a summons to dinner. I happened to be in my room at +the time, and as I stepped out of it to go down the stairs, I saw that +the doctor was waiting at the head of the stairs, and was peering over +into the hall below. He turned his head when he heard my step behind +him, and spoke in a whisper. He spoke as though we were on the +friendliest terms, and almost as if there were some secret understanding +between us. As I stepped up to him he put his hand on my shoulder, and, +laughable as it may seem, I felt a little thrill of gratitude and +tenderness for the man run through me--such was the fascination of him. +All my suspicions of him seemed to go to the wind. + +"I thought I ought to prepare you, John, in case you didn't know," he +whispered. "Two bits of news--Harvey Scoffold has come to dinner, which +may mean mischief; and Capper's missing." + +He imparted that last scrap of information with something so like a +chuckle that I looked at him quickly, with a new suspicion in my mind. +Oddly enough, he must have guessed what I meant, for he shook his head +and grinned. + +"Oh, nothing to do with me, I assure you," he said. "Only he has gone +off without a word to anyone--and I don't quite like it. Of course, I'm +relieved to know that he has gone; the old fool was like a ghost +wandering about the place. But still, I'd like to know where he is." + +"I don't see that it matters very much," I replied. "But what makes you +think that Scoffold may mean mischief?" + +Still keeping his hand on my shoulder, he turned me about, and began to +walk with me down the stairs. "Because it's a long time since he has +visited me until the other night, and now he comes again. You see, he +knows our story, and he's utterly unscrupulous. More than that, he's +always in want of money." + +"I'll try what personal violence will do, if he tries any tricks with +me," I muttered savagely. And once again I heard the doctor chuckle. + +Harvey Scoffold was in the dining-room when we entered, and was talking +to Debora. He was flourishing about in his big, bullying way, with his +hands thrust in his pockets, and his feet wide apart. He turned round to +greet us at once. I noticed that he looked sharply from the doctor to +me, and back again, as though he suspected we had been discussing him; +but the next moment he gripped our hands warmly, and began to pour out +apologies. + +"I hope you don't mind a lonely man coming in, and taking advantage of +your hospitality in this fashion," he began to the doctor. "But it +suddenly occurred to me that I might run over to see you--and I acted on +the impulse of a moment." + +"Delighted, I'm sure," murmured Bardolph Just. Yet he scarcely looked +delighted. "You know you're always welcome, Harvey." + +"Thanks--a thousand thanks!" exclaimed the big man. "You fellows +interested me so much the other night while we smoked our cigars, that I +rather wanted to have that little discussion out with you. You don't +mind?" + +We were seated at the table by this time, and I saw the doctor look up +quickly at him, with something of a scowl on his face. "I mind very +much," he said sharply. "Drop it." + +A little startled, Harvey Scoffold sat upright, looking at him for a +moment; then he nodded slowly. "Very good--then the subject is dropped," +he said. "It would not have been mentioned again by me, but that I +thought I might be of some assistance in the matter." + +There was no reply to that, and we presently drifted into other topics +of conversation. But after a time it seemed as though Harvey Scoffold, +in sheer venom, must get back to that subject, if only by a side door, +for he presently asked a question casually that bore straight upon it. + +"By the way, that quaint old servant, Capper--is he any better?" + +The doctor slowly finished the wine he was drinking, and set the glass +down, and wiped his lips; then, without looking at his questioner, he +answered-- + +"Capper is gone!" he said. + +Two persons at the table echoed that last word together--Harvey Scoffold +and Debora exclaimed, as in one voice, "Gone!" + +"Having had enough of our society, the man has taken himself off as +mysteriously as he came," went on the doctor calmly. "I never understood +his coming; still less do I understand his going, although I confess +that the latter movement is the more reasonable. Perhaps he has +remembered where his master is, and has gone to join him." + +I stole a glance at the startled face of the girl. She seemed strangely +excited. Harvey Scoffold, evidently at a loss for conversation, hummed +the mere shred of an air between his lips, and looked at the ceiling. +The doctor's face I could not see, because he was behind the lamp. I +longed for the dinner to pass, because I wanted to get at my man, and +find out just what game was afoot; I was in a mood to choke whatever +news he had out of him, if necessary. + +Debora rose at last, and went out of the room. No sooner was the door +closed than the doctor shifted his chair a little, so as to bring him +clear of the lamp, and brought a fist down on the table with a bang. + +"Now, Scoffold," he said violently, "what's the move?" + +"Yes, what's the move?" I echoed, leaning towards the man also. + +He glanced from one to the other of us with a look of smiling innocence +on his face. "The move?" he said. "I'm afraid I don't understand. In the +name of all that's marvellous, can't a man come to dinner with friends +without being asked what the move is?" + +"You're not the man to do anything without a purpose," cried Bardolph +Just. "You discovered something the last time you were here, and you +evidently want to discover something else. Let me warn you----" + +"Stop! stop!" broke in Harvey Scoffold, raising his hands protestingly. +"I need no threats and no warnings, because there is nothing to threaten +about, nor to warn about. My hands are clean, and I trust they may +remain so. If I referred to the matter at all to-night, it was simply +because I was naturally very deeply interested in the story I heard, and +I wanted to know what further developments there might be, that is all." + +"Well, there are no further developments," growled the doctor. "I doubt +if there will be any further developments." + +"I'm delighted to hear it, and I'm only worried about one thing--that's +the man Capper. He may make mischief, and he may get himself into +trouble--poor old fellow!--wandering about the world friendless. I'm +quite sorry for Capper." + +The doctor excused himself almost immediately, and went to his study. To +my surprise, Scoffold linked his arm in mine, and drew me with him +towards the door of the house. "It's a fine night, and a walk will do +you good," he said. "Walk back with me to my place." + +"That's rather too far," I said, for I remembered that he had chambers +in the West-end of London. + +"I've taken another lodging," he said, without looking at me. "It's +about a mile from here--or perhaps a little more--in a sort of rural +cottage, where I can smell the roses when I wake in the morning. Cheap +and wholesome, and all that sort of thing. Come along." + +It was still quite early, and I reflected that no harm was likely to +come to the girl in the short time I should be away. Besides, in a +fashion, this man drew me to him, by reason of the fact that I was +afraid of him, and of what he might do or say. So we went out of the +house together, and traversed the dark grounds, and so came arm-in-arm +into the open road. Smoking our cigars like two gentlemen at ease, we +strolled along under the stars. + +I found that he had taken a lodging in a quaint little cottage, with a +long garden in front of it, in a queer little back street in Highgate--I +should scarcely have believed that such a place existed in what was +really London. He fitted his key into the door, and we went into a tiny +passage and up some stairs. As we reached the top of the stairs, a +clean-looking old woman came out of the room below, and called to him. + +"Your servant is waiting up for you, sir," she said. + +"Thank you very much indeed," replied Harvey Scoffold blandly, and the +woman retired. + +I found myself wondering a little what sort of servant he had brought to +such a place as this. I followed him into a little clean sitting-room, +with two doors opening out of it into what were evidently bedrooms. + +At one side of the room a little table was set out with decanters, and +glasses, and syphons: he proceeded to mix for himself and for me. +Looking about him in search of something which he could not find, he +struck his hand on a little bell, and I saw one of the doors open, and +someone come in. I stared with a dropping jaw when I saw that the +mysterious servant who now came in smiling was Capper! + +Capper did not look at me. He received his instructions, and went out of +the room in search of what was wanted. He came noiselessly back in a +moment or two, and during his absence no word was spoken. When the door +was finally closed again, I spoke in a tone I vainly endeavoured to +control. + +"What is the meaning of this?" I demanded. + +"Of what?" asked Harvey Scoffold innocently. "Oh! you mean Capper? +Purely an act of charity, my dear boy. I wouldn't have wished the old +man to starve." + +"You're lying," I said hotly. "You asked all those questions to-night +during dinner, knowing well that the old man was here. Come, what's the +motive?" + +He took a long drink and set down his glass with a sigh of satisfaction. +"The motive is this," he said, with a curious grin stealing over his +features. "While I wish no direct harm to you, my dear boy, I always +like to be prepared for anything that may happen. I am in possession of +your story--I know practically all that I want to know. But in the +fulness of time that story must change and move; something's got to +happen to you at some time or other. Now this man Capper--this creature +of the lost memory--may be a mere pawn in the game, or he may be +something more. Who shall say what is locked away in that numbed brain +of his?--who shall say when or under what circumstances he may wake up? +I shall be curious to know what he will say when he wakes--curious to +understand what the shock was that drove him into his present +condition." + +"Why should you concern yourself about the matter at all?" I demanded. + +"Because I wish to concern myself on your account, my dear fellow," he +said blandly. "Really you ought to be very much obliged to me. Bardolph +Just would have sent the man packing, or would have let him drift out +into the world, with the possibility that at some time or other Capper +would wake up and tell his story, and demand sanely to know where his +master was. Here I have him safely, and if he blurts out the story at +all--always supposing that he has one to blurt out--he can only tell it +to a friend. Don't be hasty, and don't misjudge people." + +Nevertheless, I did not like it. I knew that I was in the power of this +man Scoffold, and I saw, in the line of conduct he was taking, so many +steps towards using me for his own ends. The coming to dinner, the +taking of this lodging so near to where I lived, the securing of the man +Capper. I felt that he was drawing a net about me, out of which I might +not be able to struggle. + +We sat talking for a long time, and gradually, with his plausible +tongue, he persuaded me that he was my friend, and that he meant to help +me. He suspected the doctor, he told me, and his real motive in coming +to that lodging was to be near me in case of necessity. + +"Trust me," he said, "and I will stand your friend. More than that, I +want to show you now that my help shall be of a practical nature. I take +it that you have no money; that you are dependent upon Bardolph Just for +everything?" As I was silent, he nodded, and went on, "Just as I +thought. Well, we'll remedy that; you must let me lend you a little +money." + +I protested feebly for a time, but he was insistent, and at last I +yielded. I took only a few shillings, because I really needed them, and +I did not know at what moment I might be thrown on my own resources, and +left to face the world once more. Then, with something amounting to +friendliness, I left Harvey Scoffold at the little gate in the fence, at +the end of the long garden which led to the cottage, and took my way +back towards the doctor's house. + +It was very late, and very dark. I was going along at a swinging pace, +when I saw a man rise from beside the road and come hobbling towards me, +pleading volubly as he came. Having nothing for beggars, I was pressing +on, while he jogged along beside me, about a foot in my rear, still +pleading. + +"S'welp me, guv'nor, yer might spare a tanner to 'elp a pore bloke to a +night's lodging. I've bin trampin' it all day, an' I've scarcely 'ad a +mouthful of food; it wouldn't 'urt yer to give me a tanner. I wouldn't +be like this 'ere if I 'adn't bin unfort'nit; but wot's a pore bloke to +do wot's been in jail--an' gits chivied abaht----" + +I stopped and wheeled round on him. "You say you've been in prison?" I +asked. "What prison was it?" + +"Pent'ouse," he replied; and on that I thrust the money I had ready in +my hand into his, and turned abruptly and made off. + +But, as ill-luck would have it, we had been standing squarely under a +lamp, and as I turned round I saw the man give a start of surprise. I +was in a mood to run, knowing well that I could out-distance him easily, +but as I went striding away, I heard him come pounding after me, and +heard him shouting something. The mischief was done; there was nothing +for it but to meet him. + +So I turned back slowly and then stood still, and waited for him. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +I BEHAVE DISGRACEFULLY. + + +The man I now faced on that solitary road had all the appearance of a +tramp. By the light of the lamp above us I saw that he was clad in a +dingy old tweed suit, very much frayed at the cuffs and the +trouser-ends, while upon his head was a cap much too large for him, the +peak of which was worn over one ear. And this not from any rakishness, +but rather, as it seemed, as a sullen protest against the more orderly +habits of his fellows. As the game was in his hands for the moment, I +left the first move to him. + +"Well, strike me pink!" he exclaimed under his breath, as he looked me +up and down. "Wot's walkin' to-night--live men or spooks? Jail-bird or +gent--w'ich is it?" + +"I don't know what you mean," I said lamely. "I know nothing about +you----" + +"Come orf it!" he exclaimed, with a disgusted shrug. "If you don't know +nothink abaht me, wot did yer come back for w'en I 'ollered? W'y--we +worked in the same gang!" + +"I never saw you in my life before," I said, feeling now that all was up +with me. + +"Oh, yus, yer did!" he retorted. "You an' me worked in the same gang, +an' slep' at night in cells wot was next to each uvver. An' then one +day you cut yer lucky, an' they brought you back a dead 'un. 'Ere, ketch +'old of my 'and!" + +He stretched out a grimy hand to me as he spoke and quite mechanically I +put my own into it. He gripped it for a moment, and then tossed it from +him with a laugh. + +"You ain't no spook," he said, "an' you ain't no bloomin' twin brother. +You won't kid old George Rabbit." + +"I don't want to kid anybody," I said. "And I shouldn't think you'd be +the sort to go back on a pal. Why, you're free yourself!" + +"Yes, in a proper sort o' way," he retorted. "Got my discharge reg'lar, +an' a nice little pat on the back w'en I come out fer bein' a good boy. +Not that that does yer much good--'cos 'ere I am starving, w'ile the +bloke that comes out through the roof, an' cuts his lucky, dresses like +a toff, an' smokes a cigar you could smell a mile orf. As fer me, it +don't 'ardly run to 'alf a hounce an' a inch of clay." + +"Well, at any rate you're better off now, and as to freedom--well, we +can cry quits as to that," I said. "Here's some more money for you, all +I can spare. I'll wish you good-night." + +"'Arf a mo'--'arf a mo'!" he cried, catching at my sleeve and detaining +me. "Do yer fink I'm goin' to let yer go like that? W'y, there's lots of +fings wants explainin'. 'Ow do you come to be walkin' at large like this +'ere, after they've tolled the bloomin' bell for yer at Pent'ouse?" + +"I can't explain everything to you; it would take too long," I said. +"Suffice it that I've found friends who have helped me; there was +another man buried in my place. And now, Mr. George Rabbit," I added +fiercely, "you'll please to understand that Norton Hyde, convict, lies +buried in a certain grave you know of, and quite another man has given +you money to-night. Get that into your thick head, and once more +'good-night' to you." + +I turned away abruptly to resume my walk. After all, I felt that I was +pretty safe; such a shifty, shambling creature as this would only be +regarded as a madman if he told any tale about me, especially any tale +that would seem as absurd as this one of a man alive that should +properly be dead. So I strode away, whistling. + +But after a moment or two, glancing furtively over my shoulder, I saw +that he was following, coming along on the other side of the road at a +sort of hobbling trot that carried him over the ground as fast as my +longer stride. I stopped, and looked back at him; and in a moment he +stopped too, and waited. + +"You'd better go back," I called across to him threateningly, but he did +not answer. + +On I went again, and once more, as I glanced over my shoulder, I saw him +coming along in the same way, like a grim Fate that would not be shaken +off. I had just made up my mind to try conclusions with him in the shape +of personal violence, and had stopped with that purpose in my mind, when +a voice broke in out of the darkness that startled me even more than it +could have startled Mr. Rabbit. + +"Is that man following you, sir?" + +It was a constable, standing in the shadow of a doorway, and he had +evidently been watching our approach. I knew by the fact that George +Rabbit stood his ground, and even edged a little nearer, that he felt he +had nothing to fear; while, for my part, the mere sight of the uniformed +constable, coming at that juncture, had thrown me into such a sweat of +terror that I could scarcely speak. However, I managed to jerk out some +words which were perhaps the most stupid I could have used, because I +doubt not that had I braved the matter out, George Rabbit would have +taken to his heels, and so have left me in peace. But my words only +strengthened whatever ties the man meant to bind me with. + +"It's all right, constable," I blurted out; "the man's a friend of mine +in--in reduced circumstances. I'm going to find him a lodging." + +So we shuffled on in our original order past the constable, and now I +began to feel that I had indeed taken a load upon me that was more than +I could support. By this time George Rabbit had drawn nearer to me, and +was shuffling along contentedly at my side, and with each step I was +coming nearer to the house of Dr. Bardolph Just. In desperation at last +I turned about, and caught him suddenly by the throat and shook him. I +remember now that he tumbled about in my hands as though he had been the +mere bundle of rags he looked, so that I was a little ashamed of my +violence. + +"You dog!" I exclaimed savagely, "what the devil do you mean by +following me like this? What do you think you'll gain?" + +"I dunno, yet," he said shakily, while his head rolled from side to +side. "I can't be much worse off than wot I am, an' I may be a deal +better." + +"I'll give you all I have in my pockets if you'll turn back now, and +forget you've ever seen me," I said, releasing him. + +He grinned at me. "I've got sich a 'orrible good memory," he said. +"Besides, I couldn't fergit that face under any circs." + +"What do you think you'll get?" I demanded again. + +"I'll put it plain, guv'nor," he said, standing in the road before me, +and looking at me with his head on one side. "I've bin out o' luck a +long time; even my pals don't seem to cotton to me some'ow. Nah, you've +got friends--real tip-toppers, I'll be bound--wot spells it in quids +w'ere I spells it in brown 'uns. Also likewise you don't want it blowed +about that you ain't wot you seem, an' that your proper place fer the +next few years is Pent'ouse, to say nothink of awkward enquiries about +somebody else wot was buried by mistake. In case there's any questions +asked, you want a pal wot'll s'welp 'is never that 'e don't know any +more abaht yer than the King on 'is golding throne. An' that's +me--that's George Rabbit!" + +"I don't want your help," I said. + +"But you've got to 'ave it, all the same," he remarked cheerfully. + +So it happened that I had to go on again, with this ragged retainer +trailing behind. In that order we came to the gate leading into the +grounds, and I went in, still puzzled to know what to do with the man. +By this time I realised that, however much the doctor might resent his +appearance, it was vitally necessary that for his own sake, as well as +for mine, Bardolph Just should assist me in silencing that too free +tongue which wagged in the head of George Rabbit. While I was debating +what to do with the man, he settled that question for himself. + +"It's a nice warm night, guv'nor; if you could give me some place w'ere +I could jist lay meself dahn, an' do a snooze, I should be as comfy as +comfy. Only if I could git summink to eat, an' a drop o' drink fust, I +should be 'appier still." + +"You'd better wait here while I go to the house," I replied. "I'll bring +you out something to eat, and I'll show you where to sleep." + +I left him standing under the trees, and, greatly perturbed in mind, +made my way to the house. I had seen a light in the doctor's study, and +I now made straight for it, for this was a matter in which I must have +advice. Without troubling to knock at the door, I opened it and walked +straight in. + +At first I thought the room was empty, and I was withdrawing again when +I heard voices at the further end of it. The voices proceeded from +behind the screen which hid that part of the room which was the surgery, +and it was evident that whoever was there, believing that they had the +place to themselves, were at no pains to mask their voices. + +The first voice I heard was one which I recognised easily as that of the +woman Martha Leach. She was evidently greatly excited, and labouring +under strong emotion. + +"God help me! why have I clung to you all these years--for you to make a +mock of me now, and to try to fling me aside? What has my life been that +I should stand calmly by and be slighted, and treated like the dirt +under your feet?" + +It was the doctor's voice that broke in, sharply and angrily. "You've +remained with me because it suited your purpose to do so," he said. +"Years ago I befriended you--you know under what circumstances. You know +how I imperilled my position to do it; you know that, but for me, you +would have stood in a criminal dock----" + +"I know--I know!" she cried. "And after that my life was given to you. I +became as something that did not exist for myself, but for another. And +now--now all that is forgotten." + +"It was forgotten years ago, and will never be remembered now," he said. +"If you are not content with your position here, the remedy lies in your +own hands: you can leave the house, and start somewhere again for +yourself." + +"You know I can't do that," she said, in a lower tone. "Only you might +be fair to me; you might let me understand that even if I am nothing, +this girl is less. Why should you degrade me before her?" + +"Because you were growing insolent," he said. "Leave Miss Matchwick's +name out of the question." + +"You tried to kill her," said the woman, sinking her voice yet more. "I +saw that; I know why you opened those doors last night." + +There was a long pause, and then I heard the doctor give a quick laugh. +"Well, doesn't that satisfy you?" he asked. + +She seemed to laugh in response. "But you won't have the courage again," +she taunted him. + +"Won't I?" I heard him move as though he took a step towards her. "I +shall. And next time it will be something more subtle than any such +bungling business of an accident at night. I gave a certificate once, in +the case of a certain Martha Leach, concerning the death----" + +"Don't speak of that!" she exclaimed. + +"And I can give one in the case of the death of a certain +Debora----What's that?" + +I had been so startled that I had stumbled back against the door, +closing it noisily. I had the sense now to open it quickly, and +apparently to march into the room, cheerily whistling. As I did so the +doctor came quickly round the screen and confronted me. + +"Hullo!" I exclaimed. "Forgive my bursting in like that; I wanted to see +you." + +He drew a breath of relief, and smiled in a ghastly fashion; he seemed +strangely shaken. "You did startle me rather," he said. "What's the +matter?" + +Now I knew that the woman Leach was still behind the screen, and that +she must hear every word that I might have to say, and Bardolph Just +knew that also. Yet we must play the game of pretences in such a fashion +as to make each believe that we were certain we were the only two +persons in the room. More than that, having had a sample of the woman's +curiosity that morning, I was in no mood to talk about myself, or of +that fellow jail-bird I had met, within her hearing. Yet I could not +suggest talking with the doctor elsewhere, because that must at once +show him that I knew we had a listener. There was nothing for it but to +speak as vaguely as possible, and to try and get him away from that +room. + +"I've had an adventure to-night, and I rather want to tell you about +it," I said. "I've met a man, by the merest accident, whom I know." + +He glanced quickly at the screen, and then looked again at me. "Won't +your news keep till the morning?" he asked. + +"Well, hardly," I replied, with a laugh. "The friend of whom I speak is +here now." + +"Here?" The doctor looked puzzled. + +"Yes," I said. "You see, it happens that he was with me in a certain +place of which you know, and he is rather anxious to renew an +acquaintance so auspiciously begun." + +The doctor whistled softly, and once more glanced at the screen. "We'll +go downstairs and talk about this," he said. "This room is intolerably +hot." + +He opened the door for me to pass out, and as I preceded him murmured an +excuse that he had forgotten something, and went quickly back. I went +downstairs, and in a moment or two he joined me in the dining-room. I +could scarcely refrain from smiling at my secret knowledge of what had +taken place in the other room, even though I was agitated by dreadful +fears concerning Debora. I had gleaned but a dim notion of what the pair +had been talking about, but it had been enough to show me that Bardolph +Just had by no means repented of his purpose. I shuddered at the +connection of Debora's name with death. Moreover, guessing something of +the character of the woman Leach, and adding to that the remembrance of +what she had said to me that morning, I saw that matters were indeed +desperate. And, to add to my perplexities, there was the man George +Rabbit, waiting all this time under the trees for my reappearance. + +"Now, what has happened?" asked the doctor sharply. + +"I met a man to-night, by the greatest ill-fortune, who worked in the +same gang with me in Penthouse prison," I answered him. "A mean dog, who +intends to trade on the knowledge, and to get what he can out of me. I +tried to shake him off, but he stuck to me like wax." + +"What have you done with him?" he asked. + +"I left him in the grounds; I promised to take food and drink to him," I +said. + +He paced about the room for a moment or two, with his arms folded, and +his chin in the hollow of one hand. "I don't like the look of things at +all; it seems almost as if a net were closing in about us," he said at +last. "Harvey Scoffold was bad enough; now comes someone who, according +to your description, is scarcely likely to prove as reasonable even as +Scoffold might be. This dog scents money, I take it?" + +"He scents everything that means easy living, and no work, and safety," +I answered. + +"Bring him in here; perhaps I may be able to deal with him better than +you," said the doctor suddenly. "We'll feed him, and we'll see what he +has to say for himself. That's the ticket; bring him in here." + +I went out at once into the grounds, and was relieved to see George +Rabbit slouch out from the shadows of the trees, and come towards me. +"Bin a bloomin' long time, you 'ave," he growled resentfully. + +"Don't be impudent," I said sharply. "Come into the house, and I'll give +you a meal." + +He drew back and shook his head. "Not me," he replied. "I ain't goin' to +run into no traps. 'Ow do I know who's inside, or wot's goin' to 'appen +to me? I'm safe 'ere, an' 'ere I'll stop." + +"What's to harm you?" I asked him. "You've nothing to fear; you've +worked out your time, and are a free man. If anyone has to be afraid of +what's going to happen, I think I'm the man." + +"Never mind abaht that; I tell yer I ain't goin' in," he said doggedly. + +I shrugged my shoulders and turned away. "Then stop outside; you'll get +nothing," was my reply. + +As I expected, I had not gone a dozen yards when he came limping after +me. "All right, guv'nor, I'll risk it," he said eagerly, "I'm down on my +luck, an' I must have a bite an' a drink. An' after all, w'en yer come +to think of it, I'm top dog, ain't I?" + +In my own mind I had to acknowledge as much, though I wondered what his +attitude would be when he came face to face with that stronger man, +Bardolph Just. I made my way into the house and into the dining-room, +while George Rabbit shuffled along behind me. He had pulled off his cap, +and now revealed the thin stubble of hair with which his head was +covered. + +As he shuffled in after me into the dining-room he caught sight of the +doctor, standing up with his hands in his pockets, looking at him. He +drew back instantly, and looked very much as though he meant to make a +bolt for it, after all. + +"You can come in, my friend," said the doctor, regarding him steadily. +"I know all about you." + +"I said it was a bloomin' trap," muttered Rabbit, as he shuffled into +the room. + +I saw that the doctor had been busy in my absence. Apparently he had +visited the larder, and had brought therefrom the remains of a pie and +some bread and cheese, all of which were set out on a tray, together +with a bottle and a glass. Our new guest eyed these things hungrily, +forgetful of everything else. At a sign from the doctor he seated +himself at the table, and fell to like a ravening wolf. + +"I thought it better not to disturb the servants," said Bardolph Just +to me in a low tone, "so I foraged for myself. He'll be more amenable +when he's taken the edge off his appetite." + +Mr. George Rabbit feeding was not a pretty sight. Making all allowances +for a tremendous hunger, it was not exactly nice to see him cramming +food into himself with the aid of his knife as well as his fork, and +with an occasional resort to his more primitive fingers; nor did he +forget to apply himself to the bottle at intervals. And all the time he +eyed us furtively, as though wondering what would happen when his meal +was finished. + +But at last even he was satisfied--or perhaps I should put it that the +pie had given out. He sat back in his chair, and wiped his lips with the +lining of his deplorable cap, and heaved a huge sigh of satisfaction. +"That's done me a treat, guv'nors both," he murmured hoarsely. + +"We're pleased, I'm sure," replied Bardolph Just. "Now we can get to +business. It seems that you've got a sort of idea in your head that you +are acquainted with this gentleman?" He indicated me as he spoke. + +George Rabbit winked impudently. "Never forgot a pal in my life, an' I +'ope I never shall," he said. "W'y, me an' Norton 'Ide was unfort'nit +togevver, an' now 'e's struck it rich, it ain't likely I wouldn't stick +to 'im. See?" + +"Now listen to me, my man," said Bardolph Just, coming to the other end +of the table, and leaning his hands on it, and staring down at the other +man. "A great many things happen in this world that it's well to know +nothing about. You've made a mistake; the gentleman you think is Norton +Hyde is not Norton Hyde at all. What do you say to that?" + +"Wot I say to that is--try summink else," answered Rabbit. "You fink +you'll kid me; you fink you'll git rid of me jist fer a supper? Not +much. I know a good thing w'en I see it, an' I'm goin' to freeze on to +it." + +"You will not only have a good supper, but you'll have somewhere to +sleep as well," said the doctor. "More than that, you'll have money." + +"I'll lay I do!" exclaimed the man boisterously. + +Bardolph Just laid a sovereign on the edge of the table, and pushed it +gently towards the man. "You've never seen this gentleman before?" he +hinted. + +George Rabbit shook his head. "Not 'arf enough," he said disdainfully. + +The process was repeated until five sovereigns lay in a little shining +row along the edge of the table. It was too much for George Rabbit; he +leaned forward eagerly. "I don't know the gent from Adam!" he exclaimed. + +"Ah!" The doctor laughed, and drew a deep breath, and then suddenly +dropped his hand down so that the coins were covered. "But not so fast; +there's something else. This money is yours--and you will have a +shakedown for the night--only on condition that you stick to what you've +said. If you give any trouble, or if you start any ridiculous story such +as you hinted at to-night, I shall find a way of dealing with you. Do +you understand?" + +The man looked up at him suspiciously. "You could do a precious lot, I +don't fink!" he exclaimed. + +"I'd do this," said the doctor viciously. "I'd hunt you out of the +country, my friend; I'd look up past records and see what took you into +prison; I'd see if you couldn't be got back there again. How do you +think your word would stand against mine, when it came to a +cock-and-bull story of the wrong man buried and the right man alive? +Think yourself lucky you've been treated as well as you have." + +George Rabbit eyed him resentfully, and had a long look at me; then he +slowly shuffled to his feet. "Give us the rhino, an' show me w'ere I'm +to sleep," he said. "I shall keep me face shut; you needn't be afraid." + +The doctor pushed the coins towards him, and he was in the very act of +gathering them up with some deliberateness, when the door was opened, +and Martha Leach walked in. What she had expected to find, or whether +she had anticipated discovering the doctor alone, it is impossible to +say; certain it is that she stopped dead, taking in the little picture +before her, and something of its meaning. George Rabbit swept the coins +into his hand, and jingled them for a moment, and dropped them into his +pocket. + +"What do you want?" snarled Bardolph Just. + +"Nothing," replied the woman, in some dismay. "I only thought--I only +wondered if you wanted anything more to-night. I'm very sorry." + +"I want nothing. Go to bed," he said curtly; and with another swift +glance round the room that seemed to embrace us all, she walked out of +the room and closed the door. + +"Now, show this man where he can sleep," he said, turning to me. +"There's a loft over the stable, with plenty of straw in it; if he +doesn't set fire to himself he'll be comfortable enough. You know where +it is?" + +I nodded, and signed to George Rabbit to follow me. He made an elaborate +and somewhat ironical bow to the doctor in the doorway of the room. The +doctor called him back for a moment. + +"You can slip away in the morning when you like," he said. "And don't +let us see your ugly face again." + +"Not so much about my face, if yer don't mind," said Mr. Rabbit. "An' I +shan't be at all sorry ter go; I don't 'alf like the company you keep!" + +With this doubtful compliment flung at me, Mr. George Rabbit shuffled +out of the room, with a parting grin at the doctor. I took him out of +the house and across the grounds towards the stable, showed him where, +by mounting a ladder, he could get to his nest among the straw in the +loft. "And don't smoke there," I said, "if only for your own sake." + +"I 'aven't got anythink to smoke," he said, a little disgustedly. "I +never thought of it. I 'aven't so much as a match on me." + +I knew that the stable was deserted, because I had never seen any horses +there, and I knew that the doctor kept none. I left George Rabbit in the +dark, and retraced my steps to the house. I met the doctor in the hall; +he had evidently been waiting for me. + +"Well?" he asked, looking at me with a smile. + +"I don't think he'll trouble us again," I said. "As you suggested, he +won't get anyone to believe his story, even if he tells it, and a great +many things may happen before he gets rid of his five pounds. Take my +word for it, we've seen the last of him." + +I went to my room and prepared for bed. At the last moment it occurred +to me that I had said nothing to the doctor about Capper, or about the +treachery of Harvey Scoffold, and I decided that that omission was +perhaps, after all, for the best. The business of the man Capper was one +which concerned Debora, in a sense, and I knew that the doctor was no +friend to Debora. I determined to say nothing at present. + +It was a particularly warm night, with a suggestion in the air of a +coming storm. I threw back the curtains from my window, and flung the +window wide, and then, as there was light enough for me to undress by +without the lamp, I put that out, and sat in the semi-darkness of the +room, smoking. I was thinking of many things while I slipped off my +upper garments, and only gradually did it dawn upon me that across the +grounds a light was showing where no light should surely be. Taking my +bearings in regard to the position of the house itself, I saw that that +light would come from the loft above the disused stable. + +I cursed George Rabbit and my own folly for trusting him. At the same +time it occurred to me that I did not want to make an enemy of the man, +and that I might well let him alone, to take what risks he chose. The +light was perfectly steady, and there was no suggestion of the flicker +of a blaze; I thought it possible that he might have discovered some old +stable lantern, with an end of candle in it, and so have armed himself +against the terrors of the darkness. Nevertheless, while I leaned on the +window-sill and smoked I watched that light. + +Presently I saw it move, and then disappear; and while I was +congratulating myself on the fact that the man had probably put out the +light, I saw it appear again near the ground, and this time it was +swinging, as though someone carried it. I drew back a little from the +window, lest I should be seen, and watched the light. + +Whoever carried it was coming towards the house, and as it swung I saw +that it was a lantern, and that it was knocking gently, not against the +leg of a man, as I had anticipated, but against the skirts of a woman; +so much I made out clearly. When the light was so close as to be almost +under my window I craned forward, and looked, for it had stopped. + +The next moment I saw what I wanted to see clearly. The lantern was +raised, and opened; a face was set close to it that the light might be +blown out. In the second before the light was puffed out I saw that face +clearly--the face of Martha Leach! + +Long after she had gone into the house I stood there puzzling about the +matter, wondering what she could have had to say to George Rabbit. I +remembered how she had come into the room when he was taking the money +from the table; I remembered, too, her threat to me, at an earlier time, +that she would find out how I came into the house and all about me. And +I knew that, whether she had succeeded or not, she had paid that +nocturnal visit to George Rabbit to find out from him what he knew. + +I found myself wondering whether the man had stood firm, or whether he +had been induced to tell the truth. I knew that in the latter case I had +an enemy in the house more powerful than any I had encountered yet; so +much justice at least I did her. + +At breakfast the next morning the doctor was in a new mood. Something to +my surprise, I found both him and Debora at the breakfast table when I +entered; I may say that I had been to that loft over the stable, only to +find, as I had hoped, that my bird was flown. Now I murmured a word of +apology as I moved round to my place, and was laughingly answered by +Bardolph Just. + +"You should indeed apologise, my dear John, on such an occasion as +this," he said. "And not to me, but to the lady. Don't you know what +to-day is?" + +I think I murmured stupidly that I thought it was Tuesday, but the +doctor caught me up on the word, with another laugh. + +"Yes, but what a Tuesday! It is Debora's birthday!" + +"All my good wishes," I said, turning to her at once; and I was rewarded +by a quick shy glance and a smile. + +"Come, show John what I've given you; let him see it," exclaimed the +doctor. "Or stay--let me put it on!" + +I saw then that there was lying beside her plate a little red morocco +case. Without looking at him, she pushed it along the table until his +hand could reach it, and let her own arm lie passive there afterwards. +He unfastened the case, and displayed a glittering and very beautiful +bracelet. + +"What do you think of that?" he cried. "Fit to adorn the prettiest and +whitest arm in the world." + +It was curious that, while her arm lay along the table, and he took his +time in fitting the bracelet round the wrist, she kept her eyes fixed on +me, so that her head was averted from him. Even when he had finished the +business, and had put her hand to his lips for a moment, she did not +look round; she only withdrew the hand quickly, and put it in her lap +under the table. I saw his face darken at that, and those white dots +come and go in his nostrils. + +"A great day, I assure you, John, and we'll make a great day of it. +We're having a little dinner-party to-night in honour of the event. +Debora doesn't seem to care for pretty things much," he added a little +sourly. + +"Thank you; it is very kind of you," she murmured in a constrained +voice; and put the arm that held the bracelet on the table. + +I felt a poor creature, in more senses than one, in being able to give +her nothing, and I felt that I wanted to tell her that. So I contrived a +meeting in the grounds, out of sight of the house, and there for a +moment I held her hand, and stumbled over what was in my heart. + +"You know all the good things I wish you, dear Debora," I said. "I have +no gift for you, because I'm too poor; besides, I didn't know what day +it was. But my heart goes out to you, in loyalty and in service." + +"I know--I know," she answered simply. "And that is why I want to say +something to you--something that you must not laugh at." + +"I should never do that," I assured her earnestly. + +"John, I am growing desperately afraid," she said, glancing over her +shoulder as she spoke, and shuddering. "It is not that anything fresh +has happened; it is only that I feel somehow that something is hanging +over me. It is in the air--in the doctor's eyes--in the looks of the +woman Leach; it is like some storm brewing, that must presently sweep +down upon me, and sweep me away. I know it--I know it." + +In sheer blind terror at what was in her own thoughts she clung to me, +weeping hysterically, and for my own part I was more shaken than I dared +to say. For that thought had been in my mind, too; and now instantly I +recalled what I had heard behind the screen in the study the night +before. But I would not let her see that I agreed with her; I did my +best to laugh her out of that mood, and to get her into a more cheerful +one. + +In part, at least, I succeeded; I assured her over and over again that +no harm should come to her while I was near. Yet even as I said it I +realised my own helplessness, and how difficult a task I had to fight +against those who were her enemies. For I was convinced that the woman +Leach was, if anything, the greater enemy of the two, by reason of that +mad jealousy to which she had already given expression. + +In the strangest way it was Martha Leach who precipitated matters that +night, as I shall endeavour to explain, in the order of the strange +events as they happened. In the first place, you are to know that Harvey +Scoffold, having doubtless been duly warned, put in an appearance that +night, resplendent in evening dress, while the doctor did equal honour +to the occasion. I had a tweed suit which the doctor had procured for +me; and glad enough I had been, I can assure you, to discard the +garments of the dead man. I thought but little of my dress, however, +that night, so intent was I upon watching what was taking place at the +table. + +Harvey Scoffold took a great quantity of champagne, and the doctor +appeared to do so also; in reality, however, I saw that he drank very +little. He pressed wine upon Debora again and again, and Martha Leach, +who stood behind his chair, was constantly at the girl's elbow with a +freshly-opened bottle. Debora did no more than sip the wine, however, +despite the doctor's entreaties. In a lull in the conversation, while +the servants were out of the room and only Martha Leach was present +behind the doctor's chair, I distinctly saw him noiselessly snap his +fingers, and whisper something to her, and glance towards the girl. It +was as though there was a secret understanding between the man and the +woman. + +Then it was that I came to my resolution; then it was that, to the +astonishment of everyone, I began to get noisy. I had all my wits about +me, for I had drunk but little, and my head was clear; but at my end of +the table it was impossible for them to tell how much I had really +taken. I made a pretence of staggering to my feet and proposing a toast, +only to be pushed down into my seat again by Harvey Scoffold. + +"Be careful," he whispered, with a laugh. "You're not used to this sort +of drink; you've taken too much already." + +I staggered to my feet again, demanding to know what he meant by it, and +asserting my ability, drunkenly, to carry as much as any gentleman. I +saw Debora, with a distressed face, rise from the table and go, and +desperately enough I longed to be able to explain to her what I was +doing. + +I insisted, with threats, upon having more wine, until at last the +doctor and Scoffold got up and made their way upstairs. There, in the +study, Scoffold said that he had a walk before him, and must be going. + +"Well, we'll have Debora in, and you shall wish her many happy returns +of the day once more before you go," said the doctor, as he rang the +bell. "John looks as if he were asleep." + +I was not asleep by any means; but I was sunk all of a heap in an +arm-chair, snoring, and with my eyes apparently shut. It did not escape +me that, on the ringing of that bell, Martha Leach appeared at once, +with a bottle and glasses on a tray; and once again I saw that meaning +glance flash from her to the doctor, and back again. + +Then, very slowly, the door opened, and Debora came in, looking about +her. And I lay in that apparent drunken sleep, with every sense attuned +to what was about to happen, and with my eyes watching through their +half-closed lids. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +IN THE CAMP OF THE ENEMY. + + +As I lay huddled up in that deep arm-chair, watching what was going on, +I noticed with satisfaction that they took no more notice of me than if +I had really been in the drunken slumber in which they assumed me to +be--which was well for my purpose. So carefully and deliberately had I +thought the matter out, that I had even arranged my position in the room +with a view to the proving of my suspicions; for I had seen, in the +bringing of this quite unnecessary bottle of wine, something about to be +done which should concern the girl. And everything in the attitude of +the doctor and Martha Leach seemed to scream "Danger" to my ears. + +The position I had chosen was such that I could see not only the room in +which Harvey Scoffold, the doctor, and Debora were standing grouped +about the table, but also behind the screen which hid the many bottles +in that part of the room I have called the surgery. The better to keep +up the illusion of my drunkenness, I now began feebly to wave my arms, +and to croon a song, as I lay doubled up with my chin sunk on my breast; +and I saw the doctor look at me with some contempt, and shrug his +shoulders, and then glance at Martha Leach, who had remained waiting as +though to assist with the bottle and glasses. The glance he gave her +spoke as plainly as words could do his satisfaction in my +condition--Debora's protector was inert and useless. + +What now happened was this. Harvey Scoffold, who I am convinced had +nothing whatever to do with the business in hand, had engaged the girl +in conversation, and had interposed his broad bulk between her and the +doctor and Leach. He had his legs set wide apart, and his hands were +clasped behind his back, and he was talking in a loud tone to Debora, +who seemed somewhat mystified by the whole proceedings. And the doctor +and Martha Leach had drawn close together, and while the doctor watched +the broad back of Harvey Scoffold, he covertly whispered to the woman. + +"And so, my dear young lady, I am to have the pleasure of toasting you +in a special glass before I retire to my humble bachelor quarters--eh?" +Harvey Scoffold was saying in his loud tones. "This is a new experience +for me--bright eyes--sparkling wine--merry hearts!" + +"I don't think anyone wants any more wine to-night," I heard Debora say +quickly. "One, at least, of us has had more than enough." + +I knew that was meant for me, and my heart was bitter at the thought of +what she must be thinking of the man who had called himself her friend. +But there was no help for it; I had to play the game out to the end, for +her sake. + +The doctor had made a quick sign to Leach, and she had gone behind the +screen. From where I lay, with my hands foolishly and feebly waving, and +my lips crooning out the song, I could see her distinctly; and what I +saw caused my heart almost to stand still. She picked up a small phial +from the corner of a shelf, and slipped it within the folds of her +dress; and the next moment was standing beside the doctor again. I saw +their hands meet, and I saw the phial pass from the one to the other. +Then the doctor slipped both hands into his pockets, and moved towards +the table, which, as it happened, stood between him and Harvey Scoffold. + +He kept his eyes fixed on Scoffold and the girl, and very quietly and +very stealthily drew the phial from his pocket, and opened it. Moving +his hand a little to the right, he dropped the contents of the phial +into the glass nearest to me. It was a mere colourless liquid, and would +not have been noticed in the bottom of the glass. Then the phial was +slipped back into his pocket, and somewhat boisterously he picked up the +bottle and proceeded to open it. Martha Leach, with one long glance at +the girl, passed silently out of the room, and closed the door. + +"Come--just one glass of wine before this merry party separates!" cried +Bardolph Just as the cork popped out. "And we'll have no heel-taps; +we'll drain our glasses. I insist!" + +Harvey Scoffold turned round and advanced to the table. Bardolph Just +had filled that glass into which he had dropped the contents of the +phial, and was filling the second glass. I felt that the time for action +had arrived. Just as he got to the third glass I staggered to my feet, +apparently tripped on the carpet, and went headlong against him and the +table. I heard him splutter out an oath as the table went over and the +glasses fell with a crash to the floor. + +He swung round upon me menacingly, but before he could do anything I had +wrenched the bottle from his hand, and with a wild laugh had swung it +round my head, spilling the wine over me as I did so. Then, with a last +drunken hiccough, I flung the bottle clean against the window, and +heard it crash through, and fall to the ground below. + +"To the devil with all drink!" I exclaimed thickly, and dropped back +into my chair again. + +For a moment the two men stared blankly at each other, and at the wreck +of glass and wine upon the carpet. I was waiting for an attack from the +doctor, and bracing myself for it; but the attack did not come. True, he +made one step towards me, and then drew himself up, and turned with a +smile to Debora. + +"I'm sorry, my child," he said, in his most winning tones. "I did not +mean to have had your pleasure spoilt like this. If you will go to your +room, I will try to get rid of this fellow. Harvey," he added in a lower +tone to Scoffold, "give an eye to him for a moment." + +He followed Debora out of the room, closing the door behind him. I had +determined by this time to show my hand, and Harvey Scoffold gave me the +opportunity. He strode across to me, and took me by the shoulder, and +shook me violently. + +"Come, pull yourself together; it's time you were in bed," he said. + +I sprang to my feet, and thrust him aside. I think I never saw a man so +astonished in all his life as he was, to see me alert and quick and +clear-eyed. "That's all you know about the business," I said. "I'm more +sober than either of you. Now, hold your tongue, and wait; I've a word +to say to Bardolph Just, and it won't keep." + +Bardolph Just opened the door at that moment, and came in. By that time +I was standing, with my hands in my pockets, watching him, and something +in my face and in my attitude seemed to give him pause; he stopped just +inside the door, staring at me. Harvey Scoffold looked from one to the +other of us, as though wondering what game was afoot. + +"Now, Dr. Bardolph Just," I said, "I'll trouble you for that phial. It's +in your right-hand trouser pocket. Pass it over." + +Instead of complying with that request, he suddenly sucked in a deep +breath, and made a rush at me. But he had mistaken his man; I caught him +squarely on the jaw with my fist, and he went down at my feet. After a +moment or two he looked up at me, sitting there foolishly enough on the +floor, and began to tell me what he thought of me. + +"You dog! So this is the way you repay my kindness to you, is it?" he +muttered. "You scum of a jail!--this is what I get for befriending you." + +"Never mind about me," I retorted, "we'll come to my case presently. +Just now I want to talk about Miss Debora Matchwick, and I want to know +exactly what it was you put into the wine destined for her to-night." + +"You're mad!" he said, getting slowly to his feet, and looking at me in +a frightened way. + +"No, I'm not mad; nor am I drunk," I retorted. "You and the woman Leach +thought you were safe enough; look at me now, and tell me how much you +think I have seen. Your fine words mean nothing; murder's your game, and +you know it!" + +All this time Harvey Scoffold had said nothing; he had merely looked +from one to the other of us, with something like a growing alarm in his +face. But now he stepped forward as though he would understand the +matter better, or would at least put an end to the scene. + +"My dear Just, and you, Norton Hyde, what does all this mean? Can't you +be reasonable, and talk over the matter like gentlemen. What's this +talk of phials and stuff put into wine, and murder, and what not?" + +"It's true!" I exclaimed passionately. "This is the second time that man +has tried to kill her, but it shall be the last. The thing is too +bare-faced--too outrageous!" + +"Well, my fine jail-bird, and what are you going to do?" demanded the +doctor, having now regained the mastery over himself. "Fine words and +high sentiments; but they never broke any bones yet. Tell me your +accusation clearly, and I shall know how to meet it." + +So I gave it them then and there, in chapter and verse; thus letting +Harvey Scoffold know, for the first time, of that business of the +eastern corridor, and of the mysterious door that opened only once to +the road to death; moreover, I put it plainly now, that I had seen the +woman Martha Leach take the phial and hand it to him; that I had +pretended drunkenness to lull his suspicions of me, and to be ready when +he least expected me to upset his plot. + +He listened in silence, with his teeth set firmly, and his dark eyes +glittering at me; then he nodded slowly, and spoke. + +"And the man you accuse is one holding a big position in the world--a +man against whom no breath of scandal or suspicion has ever been sent +forth," he said. "A man known in many countries of the world--member of +learned societies--a man with a name to conjure with. And what of his +accuser?" + +I knew that he would say that; I knew before-hand the helplessness of my +position. But I was reckless, and I did not care what I said or what I +did. + +"Your accuser is a fugitive from the law; a man who lives under an +assumed name, and who has taken advantage of the death of an innocent +man to begin life again on his own account. You need not remind me of +that," I went on, "because I admit it all. So far, I am in your power; +but my position, as something outside the pale of ordinary society, +gives me a greater power than you think. I have everything to win; I +have nothing to lose. If you had chosen a better man, and had given him +the chance to pry into your secrets, you might have had some hold upon +him. So far as I am concerned, I am utterly reckless, and utterly +determined to save this girl." + +"Brave words--very brave words!" he said, with a sneer. "And how do you +propose to set about it?" + +"I intend to get her out of this house. I intend to look after her, if I +have to steal to do it. I'm an adept at that, you will remember," I said +bitterly, "only this time I shall do it in a good cause. I mean to get +her out of this house, and it will go ill with you if you try to prevent +me." + +He laughed and shrugged his shoulders; then he turned to Scoffold. "If +he were not so mad he would be amusing, this fellow," he said. But +Harvey Scoffold, somewhat to my surprise, was silent, and did not look +at him. I saw a frown come quickly upon the face of Bardolph Just. + +"And pray what's the matter with _you_?" snapped the doctor at him. + +"Nothing--nothing at all!" said Scoffold, in a constrained tone. "I'll +say good-night!" He turned towards the door, and I noticed that his head +was bowed, and that he looked at the carpet as he moved. + +Bardolph Just stepped suddenly in front of him. "Look here, you're not +going like that?" he said. "I'll have some word from you about this +affair before you leave my house." + +Harvey Scoffold looked up quickly. "Then here's the word," he said +aggressively. "I'm rather inclined to believe your friend here, and I +don't like the business. It's a dirty business, and I've seen enough of +it, and of you. Good-night!" + +He thrust his way past the other man, and swaggered out of the room. I +was so surprised and so relieved that I was in a mood to run after him, +and hug him, in sheer joy at finding an honest man; but I refrained. + +With the closing of the door the doctor stood for a moment, dazed; then +he opened the door again, and ran out after the other. I pitied him for +his weakness in doing that, because I felt absolutely certain in my own +mind that he would not change Harvey Scoffold's opinion of him. I had +hated Harvey Scoffold pretty cordially on my own account, and by reason +of my misfortunes; now I began to see (as, alas! I had seen so often +with other men, and all to my own undoing) that I had cruelly misjudged +him. However, I had said all I wanted to say to the doctor, and I +started off to my room. + +Now, had I been of a suspicious nature, I must have been disturbed at +the sight of the doctor and Harvey Scoffold engaged in earnest talk at +the end of the corridor which led from the study; but as, the moment I +appeared, Scoffold shook himself angrily free of the other's clutch, and +burst out with a shout, I was more than ever convinced that the doctor +had been pleading with him in vain. + +"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with you!" exclaimed Scoffold. "I +wish I'd never come into the house. Not another word; I've done with +you!" + +I heard the great hall door bang, and I knew that Scoffold was gone; the +doctor, retracing his steps, favoured me with a scowl as he went past, +but said never a word; while I, greatly elated at having found a friend +in this business, went off to my room, determined that in some vague +fashion I would put matters right in the morning, and defy Bardolph Just +to do his worst. + +As ill luck would have it, I had forgotten one important point. In the +eyes of Debora I had disgraced myself; she had every reason to believe +me the drunken madman who had hurled bottles, and broken windows, and +upset furniture the night before. I had forgotten that when I entered +the breakfast-room in the morning, and found her standing by the window. +I made my way eagerly to her. To my momentary surprise, she drew back, +as though fearing contact with me. + +"Debora!" I began eagerly; but she drew herself up and looked at me +haughtily. + +"Mr. New, your memory is a poor one," she said. "I'm afraid you don't +remember what happened last night." + +"My dear Debora," I exclaimed eagerly, "I can explain all that--I can +show you----" + +I heard the door open behind me, and I stopped. Bardolph Just came into +the room, and stopped on seeing me, looking at me frowningly. It was +with a very virtuous air that he addressed me. + +"I'm glad to see you are striving to make your peace with Miss +Matchwick," he said. "She has been in the habit of dealing with +gentlemen, and is not used to such scenes as she witnessed last night." + +I gave him a look which showed him I understood his drift; he was silent +for the moment or two that it took us to get to our places at the table. +But he evidently felt that he must labour the point, for he was at me +again before ever I had tasted a mouthful. + +"I expect you'll have but a poor appetite this morning, John New," he +said, "therefore I won't trouble you with food. Take Mr. New a cup of +tea," he added to Martha Leach, who stood behind him. + +I felt that that was rather petty, but somehow worthy of the man. I +drank my tea, and went without the substantial breakfast I should have +been glad to have eaten. After all, I felt that the game was in my +hands, and that I could well afford to let him wreak such petty +vengeance as this upon me. I waited eagerly until the meal was finished; +I meant to get speech with the girl, by hook or by crook, at the +earliest opportunity. I knew how pressing was the need; I knew how +relentless the man at the head of the table and the apparently docile +woman behind him would be in regard to Debora, and how powerless I, a +creature of no real name or position, would be in the matter, unless I +could win the girl to believe me. + +I found that a more difficult task even than I had anticipated. Indeed, +she avoided me for some time, and when at last I came in touch with her, +she drew herself up, with that pretty little lift of her chin I had +noticed before, and warned me away. + +"I want nothing to do with you, Mr. New," she began. But I was not to be +repulsed; the matter was much too urgent for that. I walked close up to +her, determined that I would have the matter out then and there. + +"You must let me explain," I said. "If you don't you will regret it all +your life. You thought I was drunk last night, but I was not." + +I waited for some response from her, but she said nothing. I went on +again eagerly. + +"I was shamming, and with a purpose. Only by that means--only by making +the doctor think that I was practically unconscious of what he was +doing, was I able to observe him clearly. They tried to poison you last +night." + +I suppose she saw the truth in my face; she came suddenly to me, and +laid her hands on my arm, and looked at me with startled eyes. "To +poison me?" she echoed breathlessly. + +"Yes, the doctor and Martha Leach. That was why I upset the table and +flung the wine away. If you had seen me five minutes after you left the +room, you would have known what my real condition was. The doctor knew +it, I can assure you!" I laughed at the recollection. + +Debora looked quickly all round about her, with the frightened air of +one who would escape, but sees no way; there was a hunted look in her +eyes that appalled me. "What shall I do?" she whispered. "I am more +frightened than I care to say, because I know Dr. Just, and I know how +relentless he can be. Don't you understand, John," she went on +piteously, "how utterly powerless I am? Anything may happen to me in +this dreadful house. I may be killed in any one of a dozen ways; and +this well-known physician and scientist, against whom no word of +suspicion would be spoken, can give an easy account of my death. What am +I to do?" + +"I can't for the life of me understand why he should wish to kill you," +I said, "unless it be a mere matter of revenge." + +"It isn't that," she answered me slowly. "You see, my poor father +trusted him so completely, and believed in him so much, that in addition +to placing me under his guardianship he put a clause in his will which, +in the event of my death, leaves the whole of my property to Dr. +Bardolph Just." + +Now, for the first time, I saw into the heart of this amazing business; +I had probed the motive. He would have secured the girl if he could; +failing that, he would secure her property. As he knew that she might, +in any ordinary event, pass out of his life, if only by the common gate +of marriage, he had determined to get rid of her, and so secure easily +what was hers. The whole thing was explained now clearly enough. + +"What you must do," I answered steadily, wondering a little at my own +bravery in suggesting it, "is to come away from this house with me. You +must trust me to look after you." + +I realise now how mad a proposition that was; but I did not see it in +that light then. I loved her, and I dreaded what might happen to her; +more than all else, I saw no greater happiness than in gaining for +myself the dear privilege of watching over her. You may imagine what my +feelings were when I heard her glad and eager assent. + +"Yes, yes, I will come willingly," she said. "Where will you take me?" + +"I don't know," I said a little ruefully, "but we can settle that matter +afterwards. Far better for us to tramp the roads, side by side, in +safety, than for you to remain in this place a day longer. Now listen to +me, while I tell you what my plan is." + +We were pacing up and down a grass-grown walk while we talked; we were +well out of sight of the house. While I write this I seem to see again +her glowing face turned towards mine; to feel the touch of her hands in +mine; to hear the quick, eager whisper with which she answered me. I had +cause to remember that afterwards, with bitterness, as you shall +presently hear. + +"The chances are that we shall be watched," I began, "because I was +foolish enough last night to tell the doctor of my intention. +Consequently, we must not be seen together during the day; we must +escape under cover of darkness. At ten o'clock to-night walk quietly out +of the house, as though you were going for a stroll in the grounds; when +you come to the gate, go out into the road, where I shall be waiting. +After that we must leave the rest to whatever good or ill fortune awaits +us. At some convenient time during the day put whatever you need to take +with you in the old summer-house where we first met; no one visits that, +and you can easily take the things from there when you finally leave the +house." + +So it was settled; and for that time I knew that we should both wait +eagerly. I laughed a little ruefully to myself at the thought of how +little money I had in my pocket; but that matter did not greatly trouble +me. The future must take care of itself; I liked to think that Debora +and I were two waifs, setting out alone together, to explore a great +unknown world in which as yet we had neither of us had any real chance +of living. I painted a wholly impossible future for us both; for my own +part, I think I felt capable of conquering worlds, and carving out a +position for myself and for her. + +The doctor chose to shut himself up in his study during the day, and +although Debora and I had lunch and dinner together in the big +dining-room, the woman Martha Leach never left us for a moment, and our +conversation was, perforce, confined to the most trivial things. To any +outside observer Martha Leach would have appeared to be merely a +highly-trained servant, devoted to us, and anxious to anticipate our +every want; to my clearer understanding she was a spy, eager to bring +about that which the doctor wished, at all costs. I seemed to see her +again slipping the phial into the doctor's hand. + +So closely were we watched during the progress of those meals, and so +careful did we deem it necessary to be in our behaviour towards each +other, that I had no opportunity of learning whether Debora had +succeeded in getting her hat and coat and such things as she might need, +into the safe shelter of the summer-house. Therefore I determined, about +an hour before the time arranged for the girl to meet me, that I would +saunter down to the place, to see for myself that all was well. My +preparations were soon made; I had merely to put my cap in my pocket, +and so saunter out of the house, as though about to stroll in the +grounds. + +So I came to the summer-house, and, walking quickly into it quite +unsuspiciously, came face to face with Mr. Harvey Scoffold, seated on +the bench, with his head leaning back against the wall, and his eyes +closed. He had a cigar between his lips, at which he was lazily puffing. +And beside him on the seat was a little bag, and Debora's hat and coat. + +Here, I felt, was an end of the game--so far, at least, as that day was +concerned. How he had contrived to blunder upon the affair I could not +tell; I only knew that the mere presence of those things there at his +side must have given away the little plot at once. While I stared at him +he opened his eyes, and looked at me with a smile. + +"Well, dear boy, so here you are at last!" he exclaimed pleasantly. +"I've been waiting for you." + +"Much obliged to you," I retorted curtly. "What are you doing here at +all?" + +He shook his head at me, with an air almost of whimsical sadness. + +"My dear boy--my poor, misguided boy!" he said, "why will you always +blunder so infernally over your friends and your enemies?" + +"I can distinguish pretty well between them, thank you," I assured him +with meaning. + +He shook his head again and laughed. "Indeed you can't," he answered. +"Now, at the present moment, you never needed a friend so much in all +your life; and yet you endeavour to insult one who stands waiting to +help you. Didn't I show last night what my real feelings were in regard +to this business?" + +I hesitated, for I remembered how loyal he had seemed to be to Debora, +and how much repugnance he had shown to what the doctor had endeavoured +to do. I suppose now he saw his opportunity, for he began to push the +matter home. + +"My dear boy," he said eagerly, leaning forward towards me, "what +earthly chance will you have of helping this girl, if you set out on a +wild goose-chase through the world with her, without enough to pay even +for a night's lodging? Think for one moment: she has been used to every +comfort, she is a lady in every sense of the word." + +"God knows that's true!" I exclaimed fervently. + +"Very well, then; don't you see how mad it is?" he pleaded. + +"Nevertheless, I mean to do it," I said doggedly. "Besides, how comes it +that you know what we're going to do?" + +He shrugged his shoulders, and laughed. "My dear boy, the thing is so +transparent! I know enough of you to guess that you wouldn't allow her +to stay in this place; and then, by the merest chance, I saw her +creeping through the grounds this evening, and making for this +summer-house. Later I discovered these things which she had left. +There's the whole matter in a nutshell." + +"And I suppose you think you'll prevent our going--or warn the doctor?" +I said, in a threatening tone. + +He threw up his hands with a gesture of despair, and seemed to appeal to +the very trees and the stars against me. "Look at this fellow!" he +exclaimed. "What is one to make of him? As if I had suggested trying to +stop you--or suggested warning Bardolph Just! On the contrary, I swear +to you that I am here to help you." + +He seemed so honest about the matter, and had taken my suspicions so +good-temperedly, that I was disarmed. "Tell me," I said, "what do you +mean to do? How will you help us?" + +He sprang to his feet, and spread out his arms; and then suddenly +touched me lightly with his fingers on each shoulder--almost as though +he would embrace me. "My dear boy," he said in his eager fashion, "I am +all for romance. When I see a boy and a girl taking their way out on to +the great highway of life, ready to walk hand in hand together to the +very end of the road, my heart leaps out towards them. Consequently, +when I guessed your secret, I asked myself what I could do to help you. +And I have found a way." + +"What is the way?" I asked. + +"Our common foe is Dr. Bardolph Just," he said, lowering his voice, and +looking about him as though he feared that even in that secluded spot we +might be overheard. "Now, Dr. Bardolph Just does not know that I have +changed my abode; he is totally unaware of the fact that I reside within +a mile or so of this house. Consequently, what is to prevent your +bringing the young lady to that little cottage of which we both know, +and where there is a decent woman to look after her? Let the future take +care of itself, if you like--but be careful of the present. I will +provide you with what money is necessary, so that while the doctor is +eating his heart out with rage, and is moving heaven and earth to +discover the runaways, you will be lying snug at my place, making your +arrangements for the time to come." + +I began to think that it was a good enough plan. I would, of course, +infinitely have preferred to start off with Debora on some journey of +which we did not even know the end; but that was, perhaps, a foolish +idea, and not one to be encouraged with a young girl to be considered. +More than that, as Harvey Scoffold had blundered upon the story, it was +quite impossible to keep him out of it; and I knew that he was a man of +that temper that, if I curtly refused his offer, he might well betake +himself to Bardolph Just at once, and let him into the whole secret. +There were many reasons urging me to close with his offer, and, although +with reluctance, I did so. + +"Very well, then; I accept," I said. "Only, heaven help you if you play +any tricks with us!" + +He shrugged his shoulders, and laughed again. "I hope some day to be +able to convince you that I am not a scoundrel," he replied lightly. + +That Debora might not be disconcerted by coming upon the man +unexpectedly, I persuaded him to walk on a little towards his house. I +would meet the girl, and follow him. To that he consented, and together +we walked to the gate leading into the road. Mindful of what I had +promised Debora, I stepped out into the road myself, and watched the man +as he strode rapidly away. Then I set myself to wait, with what patience +I could muster, for the coming of Debora. + +It was a fine night, and as I leaned against the wall, waiting, I heard +a clock in the distance chime the hour of ten. Then I heard the click of +the gate, and my heart gave a little leap as I thought of who was +coming. Imagine my surprise when, on turning my head, I saw a man +advancing towards me through the shadows. I was turning abruptly away, +not desiring to be seen by anyone then, when the man quickened his steps +and came after me. + +"'Ere, 'old 'ard!--'old 'ard a bit!" he called; and I stopped and faced +about. + +The man was George Rabbit, and he was in altogether different trim from +anything I had seen before. The shabby clothes were replaced by a suit +of tweeds of a rather smart cut, and a billycock hat of a sporting type +was perched on his head. He nodded impudently, and held out his hand. Of +that I took no notice. + +"Too proud to shake 'ands with a pal--eh?" he said. "There's some people +wants to be learnt a lesson, it seems to me. I've jist bin up to the +'ouse, and 'is nibs there says 'e don't know me, an' don't want anythink +to do wiv me. An' I on'y wanted to touch 'im fer a quid." + +"You've had all the money you'll get out of either of us," I said +sternly. "And you'd better go away now; I don't want to talk to you." + +"That's w'ere we differ, guv'nor," said Mr. Rabbit impudently. "I'm +goin' to stick to you fer a bit, an' see if I can't make summink out of +yer." + +I wondered what I was to do. I knew that in another moment that gate +might open again, and Debora come out; and I was quite certain that +George Rabbit would be only too eager to follow us, and to make capital +out of our adventure. I thought I would try something more than threats; +so I advanced upon the man, and suddenly took him by the throat, and +banged his head lustily with the flat of my hand. + +"When I tell you I want you to go away I mean it," I said between my +teeth, as I towered over him in my wrath. "If you don't get out of this +I'll kick you into the middle of next week." + +He wriggled out of my grasp, and picked up his billycock hat, which had +fallen into the road. He gave me an ugly scowl as he backed away. + +"I'll knife yer one of these days," he whimpered--"see if I don't. You +know wot I could say if I'd a mind to say it--an' I----" + +The door in the wall had clicked again, and I saw Debora coming swiftly +towards me. The voice of George Rabbit died away as he gazed on this new +apparition; he stood still at the other side of the road. I took the bag +from Debora's hand, and turned, and hurried away with her without a +word; but I had an uneasy feeling that Rabbit was following. I stopped +once in the darkness, and looked back; and I was certain that he +stopped, too, and waited. I did not wish to alarm the girl by calling +out to him; I could only hope that we might manage to elude him before +coming to Harvey Scoffold's cottage. + +On the way I told Debora exactly what had happened, and explained to her +that this seemed the best and the only thing for us to do. She was a +little disconcerted, and urged me to remember that Harvey Scoffold was a +personal friend of the doctor; but on that point I endeavoured to +re-assure her, by telling her of the scene in the study the night +before, and of the attitude Scoffold had taken. Looking back on the +matter now, I wish with all my heart that I had adopted her suggestion, +and had flung caution to the winds, and had gone off with her in some +new direction; how much sorrow and misery might have been spared us if +we had done that you shall know hereafter. + +We came at last to the cottage where Harvey Scoffold was lodging, and +there I found the man awaiting us. He was courtesy itself to Debora; put +a finger on his lips mysteriously when she would have thanked him; and +introduced us both to the old woman who kept the house. I was beginning +to think that all was very right, when I heard a knock at the door of +the cottage, and the old woman, who had been preparing supper, came out +of some room at the back to answer the summons. And then for the first +time I remembered George Rabbit. + +It was his voice, sure enough; he wanted to speak to "the gent 'oo'd +jist gorn in." I gave a glance at Harvey Scoffold, and went out into the +passage to speak to the man; for I felt that I was in a tight place. + +"Nah then," said George Rabbit loudly--"you an' me 'as got to come to +some sort of unnerstandin'. I'm a honest man, I am, wot's worked out 'is +time, and done 'is little bit right an' proper; I ain't no blooming +jail-bird, wot's cut 'is lucky afore 'is time." + +I clapped a hand over his mouth; but it was too late. Even as I +struggled with him, I saw the door of the room in which Harvey Scoffold +and the girl were slowly opening, and the face of Harvey Scoffold looked +out. George Rabbit slipped out of my grasp like an eel, and rushed to +the door of the room, and forced his way in. He was absolutely mad with +rage, and not responsible for anything he said. + +"What's to do here--what's to do?" asked Scoffold mildly; yet I thought +he watched Debora as he asked the question. + +"Ask that man 'is name!" cried Rabbit, pointing fiercely to me. "Ask 'im +'is name--an' w'ere 'e come from--an' wot jail 'e broke out of!" + +I stood still, watching Debora; my fate lay in her hands. Very slowly +she came across to me, and looked into my face, and asked me a question. + +"What does the man mean, John?" she asked. "You must please tell me." + +I glanced appealingly at Harvey Scoffold; and in a moment I read in his +grimly set lips that he meant that the exposure should be carried +through. I knew that if I did not tell the tale he would, in some more +garbled fashion. Therefore when I spoke it was to him. + +"If you'll take this man away," I said slowly--"I'll tell her the +truth." + +"The truth is always best, dear boy," he said, with a grin. + +So I waited in a horrible silence, while the two men went out of the +room. Then when the door was closed I turned to the girl, who was more +to me than life itself; and my heart sank at the thought of what I had +to say to her. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +MISERY'S BEDFELLOW. + + +For what seemed a long time, but was after all but a matter of moments, +we stood in that room, facing each other; and perhaps the bitterest +thing to me then, with the knowledge in my mind of what I had to say, +was that when at last she broke silence she should speak to me with +tenderness. + +"John, dear," she said softly, "there is some mystery here that I don't +understand; I want to know all about it--all about you. I trust you as I +trust no other man on earth; there can be nothing you are afraid to tell +me." + +Having struck me that unconscious blow, she sat down calmly, and smiled +at me, and waited; I thought that never had poor prisoner trembled +before his judge as I trembled then. + +"I want you to throw your mind back," I began at last, seeing that I +must get the business over, "to the night when last you saw Gregory +Pennington." + +She started, and looked at me more keenly; leaned forward over the table +beside her, and kept her eyes fixed on my face. + +"I remember the evening well," she said. "We stood together in the +grounds of the house; he left me to go into that house to see my +guardian. And I have never seen him since." + +"When you met Gregory Pennington that night," I went on, "I lay in the +darkness quite near to you, a forlorn and hunted wretch, clad in a dress +such as you have never seen--the dress of a convict." + +She got up quickly from her chair, and retreated from me; yet still she +kept her eyes fixed on my face. And now I began to see that my cause was +hopeless. + +"I had broken out of my prison that day, a prison far away in the +country. I was hunted, and hopeless, and wretched; the hand of every man +was against me. I had taken money that did not belong to me, and I had +received a savage sentence of ten years' imprisonment. I had served but +one, when the life and the manhood in me cried aloud for liberty; and on +that night when you met Pennington in the garden I was free." + +"Why were you in that place at all?" she whispered. + +"That place was as good as any other, if it could provide me with that I +wanted, food and clothing," I answered her. "I saw young Pennington go +into the house; a little later I followed him. Only, as you will +understand, I could not enter by the door; I broke into the place like +the thief I was." + +"I understand that that was necessary," she said, nodding slowly. "I do +not judge you for that." + +"When I got into the house," I went on hurriedly, "I found that a +tragedy had taken place. I implore you to believe that I am telling the +truth and nothing but the truth; I could not lie to you. Your friend +Gregory Pennington had met with an accident." + +She read what was in my face; she drew a deep breath, and caught at the +back of the chair by which she stood. "You mean that he was dead?" she +whispered. + +I nodded. "For what reason I know not, although I can guess; but +Gregory Pennington had hanged himself." + +She closed her eyes for a moment, and I thought as she swayed a little +that she was going to faint. I had taken a step towards her when she +opened her eyes suddenly, and I saw a great anger and indignation +blazing in them. "It's a lie!" she exclaimed, "he was the last person to +do such a thing. He was the brightest, and best, and sweetest lad that +ever loved a girl, and loved her hopelessly." + +"There you have it," I suggested. "Had you not told him that night that +you could not love him?" + +"Yes, but that would not have sent him to his death," she retorted. "But +go on; I want to know what was done, and why I never heard about this +until now." + +"I want you to understand, if you can, two things," I went on steadily. +"First, there was a dead man and a living one; and the living one was a +hunted fugitive. Second, there was, in a slight degree, a faint +resemblance between the dead man and the living, in colouring, and +height, and general appearance." + +She looked at me for a moment or two in silence; then she nodded her +head. "Yes, I see that now," she answered, "although I never noticed it +before." + +"While I was in the room with the dead man, Dr. Just put in an +appearance. To be brief, he wanted to keep the matter from you, because +he knew the boy had been your friend; he took pity on me, and wanted to +save me. He knew that they were hunting for a convict, who might perhaps +be thought to be something like the dead man; at his suggestion I +changed clothes with Gregory Pennington, and started under another +name." + +I turned away from her then; I dared not look at her. For a time there +was a dead silence in the room, broken only by the curious slow ticking +of an old eight-day clock in the corner. I remember that I found myself +mechanically counting the strokes while I waited for her to speak. + +When at last I could bear the tension no longer I looked round at her. +She stood there, frozen, as it were, in the attitude in which I had seen +her, looking at me with a face of horror. Then at last, in a sort of +broken whisper, she got out a sentence or two. + +"You--you changed clothes? Then he--he became the convict--dead? +What--what became of him?" + +"He lies buried--in my name--within the walls of Penthouse Prison." + +She stared at me for a moment as though not understanding; seemed to +murmur the words under her breath. Then she clapped her hands suddenly +over her face. + +"Oh--dear God!" she cried out. + +I began to murmur excuses and pleadings. "The fault was not mine, the +boy was dead, and no further harm could come to him. I wanted to live--I +was so young myself, and I wanted to begin life again. I never +thought----" + +She dropped her hands, and faced me boldly; I saw the tears swimming in +her eyes. "You never thought!" she cried. "You never thought of what it +meant for him, with no sin upon him, to lie in a felon's grave! You +never thought that there was anyone on earth might miss him, and sorrow +for him, and long for him! You wanted to live--you, that had broken +prison--you, a common thief! You coward!" + +I said no more; it seemed almost as if the solid earth was slipping away +from under my feet. I cared nothing for what might happen to me; I knew +that I had lost her, and that I should never touch her hand again in +friendship. I stood there, waiting, as though for the sentence she must +pronounce. + +"I never want to see your face again," she said at last, in a low voice. +"I do not know yet what I shall do; I have not had time to think. But I +want you to go away, to leave me; I have done with you." + +"I will not leave you," I said doggedly. "You are in danger!" + +She laughed contemptuously. "Then I won't be saved by you!" she +exclaimed. "There are honest men in the world; I would not trust you, +nor appeal to you, if I had no other friend on earth." + +"I know the danger better than you do," I answered, "and I will not +leave you." + +"That man who burst into the house just now, he seemed to know you," she +said, after a moment's pause. "Who is he?" + +"A fellow jail-bird of mine," I answered bitterly. + +"Then go to him," she said. "Are you so dense that you don't understand +what I think of you, you thing without a name! Will nothing move you?" + +"Nothing, until I know that you are safe," I answered. + +There was a light cane lying on the table with Harvey Scoffold's hat and +gloves. In a very fury of passion she suddenly dropped her hand upon it, +and caught it up. I know that my face turned darkly red as I saw what +her intention was; but I did not flinch. She struck me full across the +face with it, crying as she did so, "Now go!" dropped the cane, and +burst into tears at the same moment. I could bear no more; I turned +about, and walked out of the room, and out of the house. I did not seem +to remember anything until I found myself walking at a great rate under +the stars, down towards London. + +My feelings then I will not attempt to describe. I seemed to be more +utterly lost than ever; the sorry comedy was played out, and I walked +utterly friendless and alone, caring nothing what became of me. If I +remembered that Debora stood in peril of her life, and had but small +chance of escape from some horrible death, I tried to thrust that +thought away from me; for the blow she had struck me seemed to have cut +deep into my soul. Of all the homeless wretches under the stars that +night, surely I was the one most to be pitied! + +I found myself after a time on Hampstead Heath, and lay down there in a +quiet spot under the trees, and stared up at the stars, wondering a +little, perhaps, why Fate had dealt so hardly with me, and had never +given me a real chance. I remembered my unhappy boyhood, and my long +years of drudgery in my uncle's house; I remembered with bitterness that +now to-night I was a creature with no name and no place in the world, +with no hopes and no ambitions. Tears of self-pity sprung to my eyes as +I lay there in the darkness, wondering what the day was to bring me. + +I had a few shillings in my pocket, and when I knew the dawn was coming +I started off down into London, in the hope to lose myself and my +miseries in the crowded streets. But there I found that apparently +everyone had some business to be engaged upon; everyone was hurrying +hither and thither, far too busy to take note of me or of my downcast +face. The mere instinct to live kept me clear of the traffic, or I must +have been run over a hundred times in the day, so little did I trouble +where I walked, or what became of me. When my body craved for food I +went into an eating-house, and sat shoulder to shoulder with other men, +who little suspected who I was, or what was my strange story. But then +everyone against whom one rubs shoulders in a great city must have some +strange story of their own to tell, if they cared to say what it was. + +I spent the long day in the streets; but at night a curious fascination +drew me across Hampstead Heath, and so in the direction of the cottage +in which Harvey Scoffold lived. I had no hope of seeing the girl; I only +felt it would be some poor satisfaction to me to see the house in which +she was; perhaps my very presence there might serve in some vague way to +shield her from harm; for by this time I had come to the conclusion that +Scoffold was as much her enemy and mine as anyone else by whom she was +surrounded. + +I wandered about unhappily there for more than an hour; I was just +turning away, when the old woman I had seen on the previous night came +out of the door of the cottage, and advanced down the garden to the +little gate in the fence. I think a cat must have got astray; for she +called to some animal fretfully more than once. She was just turning +away again, when I ventured to step up to the gate. + +"I hope the young lady is quite well?" I said, in a low tone. + +She looked at me curiously; looked especially, I thought, at the long +livid weal across my face. "Ah! I remember you now, sir," she said; "I +didn't recognise you for a moment. But, bless you, sir, they've all gone +away." + +"Gone away?" I echoed. + +"Yes, sir. Mr. Scoffold and the young lady went off early this morning, +sir; Mr. Scoffold said that letters were to be addressed to him at the +house of Dr. Bardolph Just. I've got the address inside, sir, if you +should want it." + +I told her I did not want it, and I turned away abruptly. I could not +understand the position at all; I wondered how Harvey Scoffold had +persuaded her to go back to that house, and to the man she so much +dreaded. I saw how badly I had blundered in the matter, and how I had +done the very thing I had striven not to do. She would trust Harvey +Scoffold; she would believe in his honesty, as I had believed in it; and +I was convinced now that he was working hand in glove with Bardolph +Just. I stood out there in the darkness, cursing myself, and the world, +and everyone, with the solitary exception of Debora Matchwick. + +On one point I was resolute; I would go on to the house of the doctor, +and would be near at hand in case the girl wanted me. It was a mad idea, +and I now recognise it as such; but at the time it seemed that I might +be able to do some good. I set off at once, tired out as I was, for +Bardolph Just's house. + +It was not yet late, and the house was still lighted up when at last I +came to it. I opened the gate in the wall noiselessly, and went in; +crept forward among the trees, until I was quite near to the house. I +think I had a sort of vague idea that I would get in somehow, and +confront the doctor; for, after all, nothing much worse could happen to +me than had already befallen me. While I waited irresolutely in the +grounds, a door opened at one side of the house, letting out a little +flood of light for a moment; then the door was closed again, and I saw a +figure coming swiftly towards me through the trees. I drew back behind +one of the trees, and watched; presently the figure passed so close to +me, going steadily in the direction of the gate, that I could see the +face clearly. It was Martha Leach, habited for a journey. + +There was such a grim, set purpose in the face that, after she had gone +a yard or two, I turned on an instinct and followed her. I heard the +latch of the gate click, as she went out, closing the gate after her; +unfortunately it clicked again a moment or two later, when I in turn +passed out in her wake. I flattened myself against the wall, because +Martha Leach had stopped in the road, and had looked back. Fortunately +for me she did not return; after a momentary pause she went on again +rapidly, taking a northern direction. + +Now, by all the laws of the game I ought to have returned to the house +to keep my vigil there; for what earthly purpose could I hope to serve +in chasing this woman about the northern suburbs of London, at something +near to nine o'clock on a summer's evening? But I felt impelled to go on +after her; and my heart sank a little when presently I saw her hail a +four-wheeled cab, and range herself up beside the front wheel, to drive +a bargain with the cabman. Without her knowledge I had come to the back +of the cab, and could hear distinctly what she said. + +I felt at first that I was dreaming when I heard her asking the man if +he could drive her to an address near Barnet; and that address was the +house of my Uncle Zabdiel! After some demur the man agreed; and the +woman got inside, and the cab started. And now I was determined that I +would follow this thing out to the bitter end; for I began to understand +vaguely what her mission was to my uncle. + +As I ran behind the cab, now and then resting myself by perching +perilously on the springs, I had time to think of the events that had +followed the coming of George Rabbit to the doctor's house, and his +discovery of me. I remembered that light I had seen in the loft; I +remembered how Martha Leach had come from that loft, carrying a lantern; +I remembered how she had threatened to find out who I was, and from +whence I came. And I knew now with certainty that she was on her way to +my uncle, with the purpose of letting him know the exact state of +affairs. + +I own that I was puzzled to know why she should be concerning herself in +the matter at all. That she hated Debora I knew, and I could only judge +that she felt I might be dangerous, and had best be got rid of in some +fashion or other. The newspaper reports of my trial and sentence had +made my life, of necessity, common property; she would be able easily to +discover the address of Uncle Zabdiel. That she was working, as she +believed, in the interests of the doctor I could well understand; but +whether by his inspiration or not it was impossible for me to know. + +The cab stopped at last outside that grim old house I remembered so +well, that house from which I had been taken on my uncle's accusation. +By that time, of course, I was some yards away from it, watching from +the shelter of a doorway; but I heard the bell peal in the great, hollow +old place, and presently saw the gate open, and Martha Leach, after some +parley, pass in. Then the gate was closed again, and I was left outside, +to conjecture for myself what was happening within. + +I determined at last that I would get into the place myself; it might be +possible for me to forestall Martha Leach, and take some of the wind out +of her sails. Moreover, the prospect of appearing before my uncle in a +ghostly character rather appealed to me than not; he had given me one or +two bad shocks in my life, and I might return the compliment. For, of +course, I was well aware that he must long since have believed that I +was dead and buried, as had been reported. I went near to the house, and +tried the gate; found, somewhat to my relief, that it was not fastened. +I slipped in, and closed the gate after me, and found myself standing in +the narrow garden that surrounded the house. + +Strange memories came flocking back to me as I stood there looking up at +the dark house. How much had I not suffered in this place, in what +terror of the darkness I had lain, night after night, as a boy, dreading +to hear the footsteps of Uncle Zabdiel, and yet feeling some relief at +hearing them in that grim and silent place! I thought then, as I stood +there, how absolutely alone I was in the great world--how shut out from +everything my strength and manhood seemed to have a right to demand. And +with that thought came a recklessness upon me, greater even than I had +felt before, almost, indeed, a feeling of devilry. + +I had been questioning myself as to my motive in coming there at all; +now I seemed to see it clearly. The woman now in the house was doubtless +giving my uncle chapter and verse concerning my strange coming to life; +left in her hands, I was as good as done for already. I felt sure that +the first thought in Uncle Zabdiel's mind, if he realised the truth of +what she said, would be one of deadly fear for his own safety; for he +believed me reckless and steeped in wickedness, and he knew that I had +no reason to love him. He would seek protection; and in seeking it would +give me up to those who had the right to hold me. + +Nor was this all. In giving me up he must perforce open a certain grave +wherein lay poor Gregory Pennington, and show what that grave contained. +He must drag that miserable story into the light, and must drag Debora +into the light with it. I could see Uncle Zabdiel, in imagination, +rubbing his hands, and telling the whole thing glibly, and making much +of it; and I determined that Uncle Zabdiel's mouth must be closed. + +If in no other fashion, then I felt that I must silence him by threats. +I was an outlaw, fighting a lone hand in a losing cause; he would know +at least that I was scarcely likely to be over-scrupulous in my dealing +with him or anyone else. But the first thing to do was to get into the +house. + +Now, I knew the place well, of course, and, moreover, it will be +remembered that in those night excursions of mine which had led to so +much disaster I had been in the habit of coming and going without his +knowledge. It seems to me that I was born to make use more of windows +than of doors; but then, as you will have gathered by this time, I was +never one for ceremony. On this occasion I recalled old times, and made +my way to a certain window, out of which and into which I had crept many +a night and many a morning. It was a window at the end of a passage +which led to my own old room, in which for so many years I had slept. I +got in in safety, and crept along the passage; and then, out of sheer +curiosity, opened the door of that old room, and went in. + +And then, in a moment, I was grappling in the semi-darkness with what +seemed to be a tall man, who was buffeting me in the wildest fashion +with his fists, and shrieking the very house down with a high, raucous +voice. Indeed, he let off a succession of yells, in which the only words +I could discover were, "Murder!" "Fire!" "Thieves!" and other like +things. And all the while I fought for his mouth with my hands in the +darkness, and threatened all manner of horrible things if he would not +be silent. + +At last I overmastered him, and got him on his back on the floor, and +knelt upon him there, and glared down into his eyes, which I could see +dimly by the light which came through the uncurtained window. + +"Now, then," I panted, "if you want to live, be quiet. I can hear +someone coming. If you say a word about me, I'll blow your brains out. +I'm armed, and I'm desperate." + +He assured me earnestly, as well as he could by reason of my weight upon +him, that he would say not a word about me; and as I heard the steps +coming nearer, I made a dart for the head of the old-fashioned bedstead, +and slipped behind the curtains there. The next moment the room was +filled with light, and I heard Uncle Zabdiel's voice. + +"What's the matter? What's the matter? What the devil are you making all +that bother about? I thought someone was murdering you." + +Peering through a rent in the curtain, I could see that the man I had +grappled with, and who now faced my uncle tremblingly, was a tall, +ungainly youth, so thin and weedy-looking that I wondered he had +resisted me so long. He was clad only in a long white night-shirt, which +hung upon him as though he had been mere skin and bone; he had a weak, +foolish face, and rather long, fair hair. He stood trembling, and saying +nothing, and he was shaking from head to foot. + +"Can't you speak?" snapped Uncle Zabdiel (and how well I remembered +those tones!). + +"I had--had the nightmare," stammered the youth. "Woke myself up with +it, sir." + +"I never knew you have that before," was my uncle's comment. "Get to +bed, and let's hear no more of you. What did you have for supper?" + +"Didn't have any supper," replied the youth. "You know I never do." + +"Then it couldn't have been that," retorted Uncle Zabdiel. "Come, let's +see you get into bed." + +Now, the unfortunate fellow knew that a desperate ruffian was concealed +behind the curtains of the bedstead; yet his dread of that ruffian was +so great that he dared not cry out the truth. More than that, I saw that +he dared not disobey my uncle; and between the two of us he was in a +nice quandary. At last, however, with a sort of groan he made a leap at +the bed, and dived in under the bedclothes and pulled them over his +head. Without a word, Uncle Zabdiel walked out of the room, and closed +the door, leaving us both in the dark. And for quite a long minute there +was no sound in the room. + +I began to feel sorry for the youth in the bed, because I knew what he +must be suffering. I moved to come out into the room, and he gave a sort +of muffled shriek and dived deeper under the clothes. I stood beside +him, and I began to talk to him as gently as I could. + +"Now, look here," I whispered. "I'm not going to hurt you if you keep +quiet. Come out from under those clothes, and let me have a look at you, +and tell me who you are." + +Very slowly he came out from his refuge, and sat up in bed, and looked +at me fearfully; and very ghostly he looked, with his fair hair, and his +white face, and his white garment, against the dark hangings of the bed. + +"I'm old Zabdiel Blowfield's clerk," he said slowly. + +"Well, you're not a very respectful clerk, at all events," I retorted +with a laugh, as I seated myself on the side of the bed. "And you don't +look a very happy one." + +"This ain't exactly a house to be happy in," he said. "It's +grind--grind--grind--from morning till night, and nothing much to +eat--and that not very good. And I'm growing so fast that I seem to need +a lot more than what he does." + +"I know," I responded solemnly. "I've been through it all myself. I was +once old Zabdiel Blowfield's clerk, and I also had the misfortune to be +his nephew." + +"Oh, Lord!" The boy stared at me as though his eyes would drop out of +his head. "Are you the chap that stole the money, and got chokey for +it?" + +I nodded. "I'm that desperate villain," I said, "and I've broken out of +'chokey,' as you call it, and have come back to revisit the glimpses of +the moon. Therefore you see how necessary it was that Uncle Zabdiel +should not see me. Do you tumble to that?" + +He looked me up and down wonderingly, much as though I had been about +eight feet high. "Old Blowfield told me about you when I first came," he +said. "He said it would be a warning to me not to do likewise. But he +put in a bit too much; he said that you were dead." + +"He wanted to make the warning more awful," I suggested, for I did not +feel called upon to give him an explanation concerning that most +mysterious matter. "And don't think," I added, "that I am in any sense +of the word a hero, or that I am anything wonderful. At the present time +I've scarcely a coin in my pocket, and I don't know where I'm to sleep +to-night. It's no fun doing deeds of darkness, and breaking prison, and +all that sort of thing, I can assure you." + +The youth shook his head dismally. "I ain't so sure of that," he said. +"At any rate, I should think it would be better than the sort of life I +lead. There's something dashing about you--but look at me!" + +He spread out his thin arms as he spoke, and looked at me with his +pathetic head on one side. I began to hate my uncle with fresh vigour, +and to wonder when some long-sleeping justice would overtake him. For I +saw that this boy was not made of the stuff that I had been made of; +this was a mere drudge, who would go on being a drudge to the end of his +days. + +"What's your name?" I asked abruptly. + +"Andrew Ferkoe," he replied. + +"Well, Mr. Andrew Ferkoe, and how did you come to drop into this place?" +I asked. + +"My father owed old Blowfield a lot of money; and my father died," he +said slowly. + +"And you were taken in exchange for the debt," I said. "I think I +understand. Well, don't be downhearted about it. By the way, are you +hungry?" + +"I'm never anything else," he replied, with a grin. + +"Then we'll have a feast, for I'm hungry, too." + +I started for the door, with the full determination to raid the larder; +but he called after me in a frightened voice-- + +"Come back, come back!" I turned about, and looked at him. "He'll kill +me if I take anything that doesn't belong to me, or have me locked up." + +"Oh, he'll put it down to me," I assured the boy. "I'm going to +interview him in the morning, and I'll see that you don't get into +trouble." + +I left him sitting up in bed, and I went out into the house, knowing my +way perfectly, in search of food. I knew that in that meagre household I +might find nothing at all, or at all events nothing worth having; but +still, I meant to get something, if possible. I got down into the +basement, and found the larder, and, to my surprise, found it better +stocked than I could have hoped. I loaded my arms with good things, and +started to make my way back to my old room. + +And then it was that I saw Martha Leach and my uncle. The door of the +room in which my uncle used always to work was opened, and the woman +came out first. I was below, in an angle of the stairs leading to the +basement, and I wondered what would have happened if they had known that +I was there. Uncle Zabdiel, looking not a day older than when he had +spoken to me in the court after my sentence, followed the woman out, +bearing a candle in his hand. He had on an ancient dressing-gown, and +the black skull cap in which I think he must always have +slept--certainly I never saw him without it. + +"I'm much obliged to you, my good woman," he said in a low voice--"much +obliged to you, indeed, for your warning. It's upset me, I can assure +you, to hear that the fellow's alive; but he shall be hunted down, and +given back to the law." + +I set my teeth as I listened, and I felt that I might be able to +persuade Uncle Zabdiel to a different purpose. + +"The difficulty will be to get hold of him," said Martha Leach. "I only +heard the real story, as I have told you, from the lips of his +fellow-prisoner--the man they call George Rabbit." + +"Then the best thing you can do," said Uncle Zabdiel, touching her for a +moment on the arm, "the wisest thing you can do, is to get hold of +George Rabbit and send him to me. Tell him I'll pay him well; it'll be a +question of 'set a thief to catch a thief.' He'll track the dog down. +Tell him I'll pay him liberally--I'm known as a liberal man in my +dealings." + +While he went to the door to show the woman out, I crept round the +corner of the stairs, and up to the room where I had left the boy. I +found him awaiting me eagerly; it was pleasant to see the fashion in +which his gaunt face lighted up when I set out the food upon the bed. He +was so greedy with famine that he began to cram the food into his +mouth--almost whimpering over the good things--before I had had time to +begin. + +We feasted well, sitting there in the dark; we were very still as we +heard Zabdiel Blowfield pause at the door on his way upstairs, and +listen to be sure that all was silent. Fortunately for us, he did not +come in; we heard his shuffling feet take their way towards his own +room. + +"Safe for the night!" I whispered. "And now I suppose you feel +better--eh?" + +He nodded gratefully. "I wish I'd got your courage," he answered +wistfully. "But when he looks at me I begin to tremble, and when he +speaks I shake all over." + +"Go to sleep now," I commanded him, "and comfort yourself with the +reflection that in the morning he is going to do the shaking and the +trembling for once. Bless your heart!" I added, "I was once like you, +and dared not call my soul my own. I'll have no mercy on him, I promise +you." + +He smiled and lay down, and was asleep in no time at all. I had removed +the dishes from the bed, meaning to take them downstairs so soon as I +could be sure that Uncle Zabdiel was asleep. I sat down on a chair by +the open window, and looked out into the night, striving perhaps to see +some way for myself--some future in which I might live in some new and +wholly impossible world. + +Most bitterly then did I think of the girl who was lost to me for ever. +My situation had not seemed to be so desperate while I carried the +knowledge in my heart that she believed in me and trusted me; but now +all that was past and done with. In the morning I must begin that fight +with my ancient enemy as to whether I should live, or whether I should +be condemned to that living death from which I had escaped; and I knew +enough now, in this calmer moment, to recognise the cunning of the man +with whom I must fight, and that the power he held was greater than +mine. + +Sitting there, I must at last have fallen asleep, with my head upon the +window sill; it was hours later when I awoke. The dawn was growing in +the sky, and the boy still slept heavily. I gathered up the dishes +silently, and crept out of the room, and put them back in some disorder +into the larder; for to the consumption of that meal I meant to confess +solely on my own account. Then I began to mount the stairs again, to +get back to the room I had left. + +I heard a noise above me in the house, and I knew instinctively that my +uncle had been roused, and was coming down. There was no chance for me +to hide, and above all things I knew that he would search the place from +top to bottom until he found the intruder. More than that, the +inevitable meeting must take place at some time, and this time was as +good as, if not better than, any other. So I mounted the stairs, until +at last I saw him on a landing above me, standing in the grey light of +the morning, with a heavy stick poised in his hands, ready to strike. + +"It's all right, uncle," I said cheerfully, "I was coming to meet you." + +He lowered the stick slowly, and looked at me for a moment or two in +silence; then I heard him chuckle ironically. + +"Good-morning, nephew," he said; "welcome home again!" + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +A SHOOTING PARTY. + + +Now, my Uncle Zabdiel had known me always as something subservient to +his will, and apparently anxious to please him; he was to meet me now in +a different mood. As we stood facing each other, in the grey light of +the morning which filtered through a high window on to the staircase +where we had met, I was able to realise that he would once more play the +bully with me, if he felt it possible to do so, and that it behoved me +to get the upper hand at once if I would bring myself with any credit +out of the tangle. So I spoke sharply after that first ironical greeting +of his; I wanted the man to understand that he had not to deal with the +milk-and-water boy he had known something over a year before. + +"I want a word with you," I said, "and I'll say it where it suits you +best to hear it." + +"By all means, my dear nephew," he said suavely. "If you will allow me +to pass you, I will show you where we can talk in comfort." + +I did not like his tone in the least; I began to understand that he had +had the night in which to think over matters, and had doubtless made +good use of the time. However, I followed him into that room from which +not so long before I had seen Martha Leach emerge; and there I faced +him, with the door shut behind me. + +"You're only partly surprised to see me," I began at once. "You heard +last night that I was alive, and almost in your neighbourhood. A woman +told you." + +That seemed to stagger him a little; he looked at me keenly and with a +new interest. "How do you know that?" he demanded. + +I laughed. "I know the woman who told you; she is no friend of mine, as +you may imagine," I answered him. "It must have been rather a shock to +you to know that the nephew of whom you had got rid so easily, and who +had even apparently had the good sense to put an end to his miserable +existence, was very much alive, and likely to trouble you again. +Therefore I thought I'd follow up the tale by putting in an appearance +at once, the better to relieve your pardonable anxiety." + +He grinned at me in a fashion that would have been disconcerting to +anyone else; but I was no longer afraid of him. "And what are your +demands now?" he asked. + +"I'm glad you use the right word," I retorted. "I do demand one or two +things, and I'm sure that you'll see that it is best to comply with +them. In the first place, I demand your silence as to myself." + +"And if I refuse?" He had seated himself by this time in his usual +chair, and he sat looking at me, with the heavy stick he carried laid +across his knees. "What then?" + +I had made up my mind what to say, and I said it at once, though with no +real intention of ever putting my threat into execution; I merely wanted +to frighten him. + +"Then I shall kill you," I said quietly. "That is no idle threat, as you +may perhaps understand. You're a cleverer man than I am, because I was +never blessed with much brains; and you will see for yourself that, +hunted wretch as I am, it does not matter very much what becomes of me. +Nevertheless, I have the natural desire to live, and I only ask to be +let alone. The Norton Hyde you knew is buried in the prison to which you +sent him; let him rest there. A certain other man, who bears a +resemblance to him, finds it necessary to pay you a visit----" + +"To break into my house, you mean!" he exclaimed violently. "Your own +action is the best answer that can be given to any such suggestion as +you make in regard to secrecy. What safety is there for me while you are +at large in the world? I'm an old and feeble man; you come here with +threats on your lips to begin with." + +"I threaten you only because I know what you intend to do," I replied. +"I overheard you last night, promising the woman that I should be hunted +down; even making arrangements with her as to how best to set about that +hunting down. Consequently I have to protect myself." + +He looked at me sourly for a moment or two, as though making up his mind +how best to work round me. "So you've been in the house all night, have +you?" he said. "I shouldn't have slept quite so soundly if I'd known +that, I can assure you. My duty is clear; respectable citizens must be +protected against escaped jail-birds and vagrants of your order." + +He sprang from his chair, and made a movement towards a great bell rope +that hung at the side of the fireplace. But I was too quick for him; I +caught him by the arm, and swung him away from it, so that he lurched +and staggered towards the other side of the room. There, panting, and +with his stick half raised as though to strike me down, he stood +watching me. + +"Now, I don't want to hurt you," I said; "but in this matter I am +desperate. There is more hangs to it than you can understand. You've +done evil enough; the money I stole from you has been paid for in one +long year of bitter bondage--paid for doubly, by reason of the fact that +I have no name, and no place in the world, and no hope, and no future. +You've taken your toll out of me; all I ask now is to be let alone." + +"I won't do it!" he almost shrieked at me. "You shall go back to your +prison; you shall rot there for just so many years as they will add to +your original sentence. You shan't live among honest men; you shall go +back to your prison." + +I think no shame even now of what I did. My rage against the vindictive +old man was so great that I wonder I did not strike the feeble life out +of him where he stood mouthing at me. I strode up to him and wrenched +the stick out of his hands, took him by the collar of his dressing-gown +and shook him backwards and forwards, until at last, half in terror and +half in weakness, he dropped upon his knees before me. + +"Don't--don't kill me, Norton," he whimpered. + +"Then you must swear to me to let me alone," I said. "Promise that, and +I'll never come near you again, and you shall never hear of me again. +It's an easy thing to do; surely you must see for yourself that I can't +rush into the light of day; I should never have come near you to-night, +but that by the merest chance I found out that the woman Martha Leach +was coming to you, and so guessed what her errand was. Come--swear to +leave me alone!" + +"I swear--I do truly swear!" he said; and I took my hands from him and +let him stagger to his feet. + +He got back to his chair again, and sat there, breathing hard, with his +lips opening and shutting; I saw that he had had a bad fright. I do not +think, after all, that even in my rage I could have killed him, badly as +he had served me; but I was relieved now to see that I had effected my +purpose. I did not think he would be likely to trouble me again with any +threats of exposure; for the first time in his life he appeared to have +a very wholesome dread of me. Indeed, now he began, as soon as he had +got his breath, to seek in some measure to propitiate me. + +"I was excited--annoyed," he said. "Of course, my dear boy, I should +never have done anything against you--not really, you know. But it was a +great shock to me, when that woman came and told me that you were alive +and in the neighbourhood--that was a horrible shock. Not but what, +Norton, I was glad, in a way--glad to know that you were alive again." + +"We'll take that for granted," I said with a laugh. "We have no reason +to love each other, you and I, Uncle Zabdiel; and all I ask is that you +shall forget that you ever saw me after I disappeared into my prison. To +you, and to anyone else in the world who may be interested in the +information, I am John New." + +"Is that the name you have given yourself?" he asked sharply. + +"The name that has been given to me by a certain friend I have found," I +replied. "I spoke just now of a second matter about which I wanted to +talk to you--a matter of serious moment to myself, and one in which you +can do a kindly action." + +He looked at me in the old suspicious manner; yet I saw that in his fear +of me he was anxious to please me. "What is it?" he demanded. "And why +should I do it? I don't believe in kindly actions." + +I seated myself on the table beside him, and laid the heavy stick behind +me. "Uncle Zabdiel," I began, leaning down so as to look into his eyes, +"you're an old man, and, in the ordinary course of things, you can't +have very long to live." + +"What the devil are you talking about?" he exclaimed angrily. "There's +nothing the matter with me; I'm younger and stronger, in my feelings at +least, than I ever was. I'm hale and hearty." + +"You're a weak and defenceless old man, living all alone, with no one in +the world to care for you--with no one to trouble much whether you live +or whether you die," I went on persistently. "God knows you might have +made something of me, if you'd ever set about it in any other fashion +than that you chose to adopt; but you killed Norton Hyde, and he's done +with and forgotten. And you're going on in the same hard, grinding +fashion for the rest of your days, until some day, if nothing happens to +you----" + +He looked at me with gaping mouth. "What should happen to me?" he asked +in a whisper. + +I shrugged my shoulders. "How can I possibly tell?" I answered. "I say +that if nothing happens to you, some fine morning you'll be found lying +out stark and stiff on that great bed of yours upstairs, with your eyes +open or shut, as the case may be; and you'll be just the husk of a poor +old creature who couldn't take his gold with him, and has slipped away +in the night to meet the God whose laws of humanity and tenderness he +had outraged from the beginning. Yes, Uncle Zabdiel, you'll be just a +dead old man, leaving behind you certain property, to be squabbled over +and fought over. And that will be the end of you." + +"You're trying to frighten me," he said, with nervous fingers plucking +at his lips. "I'm very well, and I'm very strong." + +"I'm not trying to frighten you; I'm telling you facts. It is just left +for you to set against all the wrong you have done one little good deed +that may help to balance matters at the finish. And you won't do it." + +"I never said I wouldn't do it," he pleaded. "You take me up so +suddenly, Norton; you've no patience. I am an old man, as you say, and +sometimes my health and strength are not what they were; but, then, +doctors are so infernally expensive. Tell me what you want me to do, my +boy; I'll do it if I can." + +I was so certain that I had absolutely subdued him that I did not +hesitate to lay my plan before him: it was a plan I had had in my mind +all the day before, and for some part at least of that night I had spent +in the house. + +"There is a young lady whom I have met under curious circumstances," I +began earnestly, "and that young lady is in great danger." + +"What's that to do with me?" he snapped, with something of his old +manner. + +"Will you listen?" I asked impatiently. "Just understand that this young +lady is nothing to me, and never can be anything; but I want to help +her. She hasn't a friend in the world except myself, and I want to find +some place to which, in an emergency, I can bring her, and where she +will be safe. I tell you frankly I wouldn't suggest this to you if there +were any other place on earth to which I could take her; but every other +way of escape seems barred. If I can persuade her to trust me, will you +give her shelter here?" + +He looked up at me for a moment or two. I saw that it was in his mind to +refuse flatly to have anything to do with the matter. But he had been +more shaken that night even than I suspected, and he was afraid to +refuse me anything. Nevertheless, he began to beat round the question, +in the hope of evading a direct answer to it. + +"What should I do with a girl here?" he asked. "There's only one old +woman who comes to the house to look after me. This is no place for a +girl; besides, if she's a decent sort of girl, she ought to have a +mother or a father, or some sort of relative, to look after her." + +"I've told you that she's absolutely alone in the world," I replied to +that. + +"And what's her danger?" he asked. "We live in the twentieth century, +and there are the police----" + +"Can _I_ apply to the police?" I asked him. + +"No, I suppose you can't," he acknowledged. "Well, at any rate, let me +know what you want me to do, and how long the girl will stop--and I'll +do the best I can. After all, perhaps what you said about me being an +old man, and being found dead, and all that sort of thing--perhaps it +may have some truth in it. And I've not been so very hard on people, and +even if I have, you seem to think that this kindness to the young lady +will make it all right for me. Because, you know," he added, with a +shake of the head, "it's a great deal to ask anyone to do. Girls are +more nuisance than they're worth. Boys are bad enough--but girls!" He +held up his hands in horror at the mere thought of them. + +I felt very grateful to him, and quite elated at my success. I took one +of his feeble old hands, which he yielded with reluctance, and shook it +warmly. "You're doing a greater kindness than you can imagine," I said. +"I'll let you know if I can persuade the girl to come here; I won't take +you by surprise again." + +"I'm glad to know that, at least," he said. "You've given me an awful +shock as it is. Now I suppose you'll go away again quietly?" + +"Yes," I said, getting down from the table, "I'll go away again. But let +me give you a word of warning, Uncle Zabdiel: even the best of us are +inclined to forget promises in this world. You have sworn that you will +not tell any one my secret." + +"My dear boy," he whined, "do you seriously think that I should betray +you?" + +"No," I answered, "I don't think you would. It would be bad for you if +you did; my vengeance would reach quite a long way." + +"All right, my boy," he replied hastily, as he got to his feet and moved +away from me. "No threats; no threats; they are quite unnecessary." + +When I left him it was fully daylight. I came out of the house into the +narrow, high-walled garden, and left him standing at the door in his +black skull-cap and dressing-gown, peering out at me; then the door was +closed, and the dark house swallowed him up. + +I was now quite determined that I would go back to the house of Bardolph +Just, and would find out for myself what was happening there. I had no +real hope of meeting Debora, save by accident; I knew that since my +disclosure I was less to her than any common tramp she might meet upon +the roadside. But when I thought of her, without a friend, in that great +house, and with one man and one woman at least bent upon her death, I +felt that private considerations must be tossed aside, and that I must +swallow my pride and my sense of injury, and must go to her help. If by +some good fortune I could persuade her that the jail-bird she knew me to +be was swallowed up in the man who hopelessly loved her, and was eager +to help her, I might yet be able to perform that miracle of saving her. +I felt that I had conquered the man I had least hope of +conquering--Uncle Zabdiel; I was less afraid of others than I had been +of him. + +The thought of Martha Leach troubled me most; there was something so +implacable about her enmity. That she meant to destroy the girl, I knew; +and I felt certain, from what I had heard, that she was equally bent on +destroying me. I chuckled to myself at the thought that in that second +business I had defeated her; I was equally confident that I should +defeat her in the first. For in defeating her I knew that my surest +weapon would be the doctor himself, because anything that happened to me +in the way of exposure must bring that dead man from his grave, and must +revive that scandal he was so anxious to cover up. I made a shrewd guess +that the woman, in rushing full tilt against me, was doing so blindly, +and without consulting Bardolph Just. Knowing the power of that man over +her, I thought that I could stop her even more easily than I had stopped +my uncle. + +However, I had blundered badly once or twice by plunging headlong into +matters that required careful consideration; with a new wisdom that was +coming to me, I determined to reform that trait in my character, and to +weigh what I purposed doing for a few hours before setting about it. I +would marshal my facts, and so have them ready at my tongue's end when I +wanted them. + +Thus it happened that I spent a large part of the day wandering about, +and striving to arrive at some definite plan of action. It was late in +the afternoon when I went at last to the house of Bardolph Just, and +opened the outer gate and walked into the grounds. I will confess that +my heart was beating a little heavily, because I knew that I might at +any moment meet Debora, and I could guess what her attitude would be. +However, I came to the house, and rang the bell, and waited to be +admitted. + +The servant who came to the door at last looked at me in some little +surprise, I thought, but greeted me civilly enough. I enquired for the +doctor as I stood in the hall; I thought the man seemed astonished that +I should ask the question. + +"Dr. Just is away, sir. Everybody's away, sir," he said. + +"Away?" I stared at the man in a dazed fashion, wondering what he meant. +"Everybody?" + +"Yes, sir. Dr. Just, and Mr. Scoffold, and Miss Debora. They've all gone +down to Green Barn, in Essex, sir. Quite a large party, sir," went on +the man garrulously. "Mrs. Leach has gone with them." + +I kept my head lowered, that the man might not see the expression on my +face. "When did they go?" I asked slowly. + +"Yesterday, sir. Dr. Just said they would go down for some shooting." + +The man spoke glibly enough as he told his news, and I stood awkwardly +in front of him, wondering what I should do. After a long pause I looked +up, and asked, "Is there no one here at all, except yourself and the +other servants?" + +"Oh, yes, sir! I quite forgot," said the man. "Old Capper is here, and +another party that the doctor left behind to look after him. Rather a +rough sort of party, sir--name of Rabbit." + +"Where are they?" I asked quickly. "I want to see them." + +The man told me that they were in a little room at the back of the +house, and I went there at once. I was more disturbed in my mind about +this than about anything else; filled with perplexity that Capper should +have been brought back to that house, as I guessed he must have been by +Harvey Scoffold; still more puzzled to know why George Rabbit had +appeared on the scene, and what the purpose could be in putting him in +charge of that amiable old madman, Capper. I opened the door of the room +and walked in. + +George Rabbit was lounging on a window-seat by an open window, smoking a +pipe; Capper sat upright on a chair, looking at the other man with that +curious half-wistful, half-puzzled expression that I had seen on his +face before. Mr. Rabbit did not take the trouble to move when I entered; +he merely waved a hand nonchalantly, and went on smoking. + +"What are you doing here?" I demanded of him. + +"Got a noo job--an' a rummy sort o' job at that," he replied, with a +jerk of his head in the direction of Capper. "Plenty to eat an' drink, +'an a nice fevver bed to sleep in, 'an on'y him to keep a eye on. Rum +ole cove, ain't 'e?" + +"I thought I warned you to keep away from this place, and to keep away +from me," I said sternly. + +"You did, 'an you wasn't too nice about the language you put it in," he +said complacently, as he puffed out a huge volume of smoke. "But, yer +see, I wasn't goin' to be ordered abaht by the likes o' you, an' so I +jist made up my mind I'd come along, an' 'ave a little talk wiv the +doctor. Nice man, the doctor--real tip-top gent." + +"But Dr. Just warned you to keep away from here," I reminded him. + +"Yus, but, yer see, I put it plain to the doctor that I might be a bit +useful to 'is nibs--a deal more useful inside, w'ere I couldn't talk, +than outside, w'ere I could. The doctor seemed to see it in the same +way, an' so 'e left me in charge of this ole chap, wot seems to 'ave a +tile loose; an' 'e's gorn orf into the country to 'ave a pot at the +dicky birds, an' the rabbits an' fings." + +"And are you to stop here until he comes back?" I asked. + +"That's the ticket," he replied. "An' wot's yer 'ighness goin' to do?" + +"I don't know; at all events, nothing that concerns you," I answered. + +"Perlite and haffable as ever!" commented Mr. Rabbit. "By the way, I +unnerstood that you'd gorn, an' that we wasn't goin' to see any more of +yer. You might let me know w'ere you're goin' to live--fer the sake of +ole times." + +I guessed why he wanted to know my movements. I shrewdly suspected that +the woman Martha Leach had already given him Zabdiel Blowfield's +message. Therefore, although my mind was pretty firmly made up as to +what I must do, I determined to put him off the scent. + +"Oh, in all probability, I shall remain here for the present," I said. + +"Good!" exclaimed Mr. Rabbit heartily. "Then I shall 'ave company. +Between you an' me, I'm a little tired of ole waxworks 'ere, wot sits +smilin' an' never syin' a word, except to ask about 'is young master. I +tell yer, 'e fair gits on my nerves." + +"I'll go and see if my room's ready," I said; and walked out of the +room. + +Going into the dining-room, I rang the bell, and waited until the +servant who had admitted me put in an appearance; then I asked a +question quite casually. + +"By the way, what place did you say the doctor had gone to? Was it Green +Barn?" + +"Yes, sir. I was down there myself last year. Very pretty place, sir. +Comerford is the station. Essex, sir." + +"Oh, I see!" I answered with a yawn. "By the way, I shall stay here +to-night. Is my room ready?" + +"Just as you left it, sir," said the man. + +I dismissed him, and then proceeded to empty my pockets, to discover +what money I had. I knew that I must get to Comerford that night; I +began to be oppressed with dreadful fears of what might happen in a +lonely country house, with the girl at the mercy of these three people, +all conspiring against her. For by this time I reckoned Harvey Scoffold +as being shoulder to shoulder with the other two in the business. + +I found that I had exactly two shillings and threepence, and there +seemed no prospect of my getting any more. I was desperate by this time, +and I knew that every moment was precious; if I missed the last train I +might as well not go at all. I determined that in such a cause as this +any scruples of conscience I might have must go to the winds; I must +resume my old trade which had once brought me into disaster. + +I looked about for the most valuable article I could discover, and +presently found it, in a beautiful old-fashioned watch, lying upon a +cabinet merely as an ornament; it was a wonderful piece of workmanship, +in three exquisitely engraved and pierced cases. I slipped it into my +pocket, and got my cap and a walking-stick from the hall, and slipped +unobserved out of the house. + +In an old curiosity shop in Heath Street, Hampstead, I sold the +watch--after some haggling I got six pounds for it. Coming out of the +place the richer by that sum, I found a cab, and drove at once to +Liverpool Street Station. There I found, by great good fortune, that a +train was to leave for Comerford in less than a quarter of an hour. I +took my seat, and in due course alighted without further adventure at +the little out-of-the-way station bearing that name. Not wishing to +attract attention in a place where, doubtless, the doctor was well +known, I strolled out of the station into the quiet dusk of the summer +evening, and took my way down into the village. + +You may be sure that I kept a sharp look-out, lest by any chance I +should stumble upon anyone from Green Barn; and I determined that when I +made enquiries for the place it should be from someone not likely to pay +much attention to me or to note my appearance. I meant to move slowly +but steadily, making as few false steps as possible; and I knew that the +first thing to be done was to get to the house and find out what was +happening there. + +In the first place, however, I made up my mind that I would procure a +bed for the night. I chose a little clean inn in a back street, and for +a matter of a shilling or two settled to keep the room as long as I +wanted it. Lounging in the doorway of it with the landlord, I made a +casual enquiry as to what places of interest there were in the +neighbourhood; and the man, after reeling off a long catalogue of places +about which I cared nothing, came at last to Green Barn, and told me +where it lay. I stored that information in my mind, and a little later +strolled out to find the place. + +I found that it lay some little distance from the village, and was +surrounded by very considerable grounds and fields, and a great growth +of trees that might, perhaps, by a stretch be called a wood. In the +twilight I saw rabbits hopping about, and heard the cries of birds among +the trees and bushes. I gathered that there would be there what I +believe is known as "good mixed shooting." + +The house itself stood in a hollow, and I set it down at once as being +decidedly lonely and damp. It had unwholesome-looking green lichens +stuck about it here and there, and the outhouses were in a bad state of +repair. As I moved cautiously round it, keeping well within shelter, I +saw no dogs, nor did I observe any stir of life about it, as one might +expect to see about the country house of a prosperous man. A few lights +were showing in the windows, and when presently I came to the front of +the house, I saw that the great hall door was standing wide open. Once +or twice I saw a servant cross this, and disappear, as though going from +one room to the other. Presently, as I lay hidden, I saw Harvey Scoffold +come out with a big cigar between his lips, and his arms swaying about +lazily above his head, as he stretched himself. He seated himself in a +creaking wicker chair on the porch, and I lay watching the glowing end +of his cigar for a long time. + +Bardolph Just came out presently, and joined him. They sat knee to knee +for a while, with their heads bent forward, talking in low tones; I +could not distinguish what was said. Presently both the heads turned, +and the men glanced towards the lighted hall behind them; then the +doctor sprang up, and pushed back his chair. + +Then I saw Debora come slowly down the hall to the porch. The doctor +spoke to her, and I saw her shake her head. My heart was thumping so +that I had a foolish feeling that they must hear it, and discover me +where I lay hidden. + +The girl came down the few steps from the porch, and turned off into the +grounds. Bardolph Just, after standing looking after her for a long +minute, sat down again, and went on talking to Scoffold. So far as +Debora was concerned, she confined her walk to an avenue among the +trees, up and down which she paced for half an hour, with her hands +hanging loosely at her sides, and with an air of utter desolation and +dejection upon her. During all that time she only stopped once. + +It was at the end of the avenue furthest from the house, and nearest to +where I lay among the bushes. She stopped, and laid an arm against the +trunk of a tree, and put her head against the arm; and so stood for a +long time, as I felt sure, weeping softly. What I suffered in that time +I will not try to explain; I would have given anything and everything to +be able to steal up to her, and to put my arms about her, and to comfort +her. But that was, of course, clearly impossible. + +She went back into the house at last, passing between the two men and +leaving them together on the porch. I determined that I would keep my +vigil as long as they did, even though I could not overhear what was +said. I could see that the doctor was laying down the law upon some +matter to Harvey Scoffold. I could see every now and then first one and +then the other turn sharply and glance into the lighted hall, as though +fearing to be overheard. At last Scoffold, with a gesture of impatience, +got up and came down the steps; the great bulk of him blotted out the +other man for a moment. + +Immediately afterwards the doctor rose, and marched down the steps also, +until he came to where Harvey Scoffold was standing. They moved off +arm-in-arm into that avenue in which but a little time before the girl +had walked so long; and now I strained my ears, in the hope that I might +catch what they said. But only scraps of conversation floated to me. + +"Don't be a fool, Harvey," I heard the doctor say, "there is absolutely +no danger ... the merest accident." + +"I can't say I like it at all; it may seem suspicious. Lonely country +place, and you with an interest in the girl's death. I consider it much +too risky." + +They passed me, and came slowly back again. And what I heard then was +startling enough, in all conscience. It was the doctor who spoke. + +"Gun accidents have happened before to-day, and will happen again, +especially over such land as this." + +I remembered then what I had been told about this shooting party that +had been organised; I wondered what they meant to do. I could only +shrewdly guess that in some fashion the girl was to be drawn into the +matter, and that the doctor had plotted with Harvey Scoffold that an +apparent accident of some sort should take place. I did not need to be +told who the victim was to be. I lay there, long after they had gone +into the house and the door had been closed, wondering what I should do, +and realising more and more with every minute how utterly helpless I +was. To warn the girl was impossible, because, even if I got speech with +her, she would in all probability refuse to believe anything I said. To +set myself face to face with Harvey Scoffold and the doctor would be +absurd, because they would, of course, deny that any such conversation +had taken place, or at least deny the construction I had put upon their +words. I lay there until very late, debating the matter, and at last +came to a desperate resolve. + +If they meant murder, then I determined that murder should be met with +murder. In some way that was at present vague in my mind I determined +that I would follow the party on the morrow, if that was the time +arranged, and if I could only secure some weapon, even if I were not in +time to save her, her death should be avenged. I went home with my head +singing, and with, as it seemed, the sky blood-red above me. + +I thought at first that I would borrow a gun from the landlord of the +inn, but as I looked a peaceful sort of fellow, I came to the conclusion +that that must at once throw suspicion upon me. I determined, just +before I went to bed, that I would go very early to Green Barn in the +morning, and there would let Fate decide for me at the last moment. I +undressed and went to bed, but it was long before my eyes closed in +sleep. + +I was abroad early, and was actually in the grounds before the house was +astir. I guessed that if this was the date on which they meant to put +their plan into execution, they would make for that more secluded wood I +had observed the night before, and I determined that when the time came +I would take my station there. But first I made up my mind that I must +have a weapon, and boldly enough I decided that I would get that, if the +worst came to the worst, from the house itself. With that purpose in +mind, I crept as near to the house as I could, with a view to observing +how the rooms were placed, and in the hope that I might discover the +gun-room, if such a place existed. + +Fortune favoured me. I worked my way gradually round towards the back of +the house, and judged that the party were at breakfast, by the fact that +now and then a servant crossed a small paved yard, bearing dishes. I +counted the number of times she went, and I reckoned my chances on two +things. First, I guessed that some of the servants would be in the +dining-room, and the others in the kitchens, which were detached from +the house; the servant I saw pass to and fro was the messenger between +both. And while I noted that fact, I saw that the gun-room was just off +the small hall into which she went each time she carried anything +across. I could see the shining barrels against the walls distinctly. + +What I purposed doing was this. Counting the time carefully, I would +wait for her to cross the yard and to go into the house; then, when she +had disappeared, I would follow, and would get into the gun-room. Before +she came out of the house again I should have time to select a weapon +and to load it; to remain concealed in the gun-room, into which she was +not likely to look; and to come out and make my way into the grounds +after she had disappeared into the kitchens. + +My plan prospered as well as I had hoped. I slipped into the gun-room as +the girl disappeared into the house, and in a moment I had a gun down +from its place, and had slipped the cartridges into position. Making +sure that all was right, I crouched behind the door, and saw the girl +pass and cross the yard, and disappear; then I stole out, and, getting +clear of the house, ran hard for the woods. There I dropped down into a +little hollow in the thickest part of the trees, and waited. + +In something less than half an hour I saw them coming towards me from +the direction of the house; Harvey Scoffold and the doctor, with Debora +walking between. She was dressed smartly in a shooting costume, and +carried a light gun over her shoulder, as did the others. They made +straight for the woods; and I lay there, with murder in my heart and the +gun gripped in my fingers. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +I TOUCH THE SKIRTS OF HAPPINESS. + + +My feeling of horror at what I instinctively knew was soon to happen was +perhaps increased by the fact that this morning the girl seemed to be in +the brightest possible humour. She was laughing and chatting, turning +first to one man and then to the other, as she stepped gaily along +between them. Nor were Harvey Scoffold and Bardolph Just lacking in +apparent good humour; Harvey Scoffold, in particular, was laughing +boisterously. Every now and then the two men would exchange glances +behind the unconscious girl, as though assuring each other that they +were ready for some signal to pass from one to the other. + +They came straight on down through the wood, with one figure now hidden +for a moment by the trees, and then the three of them fully in sight +again. In the hollow where I lay I now and then heard a quick rustling, +and saw a rabbit dart across and disappear; I realised that I might be +in some danger if the party fired in my direction. But concerning that I +was quite reckless. + +Debora proved to be a capital shot, and Harvey Scoffold was second only +to her. The doctor fired only once, and then he missed; I saw the girl +turn and look at him, and laugh. And his face was not pleasant to see. + +At last I saw what I had expected. Harvey Scoffold and the girl moved +forward a little, and the doctor stopped. I saw Scoffold look back, with +a sharp turn of the head for a moment; saw him glance sideways at the +girl. I raised myself a little, and, with my heart thumping against my +ribs, levelled the gun I held, and looked along the smooth, shining +barrel of it until I had Bardolph Just squarely at the end of it. + +A rabbit darted across, straight in front of Harvey Scoffold and the +girl; I saw it out of the tail of my eye as I watched the doctor. Both +guns spoke, and even as they did so I saw Bardolph Just with his gun to +his shoulder, and the barrel pointing straight at the girl's back, not +five yards in front of him. It was all so sudden--first the bark of the +two guns in front--then my own weapon seemed to go off at the same +moment. In my excitement I let him have both barrels; I saw his own gun +explode harmlessly in the air, and then fall from his hands. He dropped +to his knees with a cry, and held his left wrist with the fingers of his +right hand locked round it. His face was very white, and he rocked +himself backwards and forwards as he knelt there, and bit his lower lip +until I saw a faint trickle of blood down his chin. + +I knew that I had in all probability shattered his wrist; so much at +least I hoped. The others had run back, and the girl was kneeling beside +him, while Scoffold stood staring at him in very genuine amazement. I +saw the doctor turn his head swiftly and look sharply in my direction; +then he said something in a low tone to Scoffold. I could not hear what +was said, but I saw him stagger to his feet, with the help of the girl, +and saw them go slowly towards the house. Harvey Scoffold stood still, +looking after them for a moment; then he turned sharply and faced +towards where I was. I saw him open the breech of his gun and slip a +cartridge in; then he walked straight towards me. + +My gun was of course empty, but when he first caught sight of me I was +kneeling in a very business-like attitude, with the weapon levelled. He +looked straight down the barrels of it. He stopped, and I saw him +fumbling with the trigger of his own. + +"Have a care, Mr. Scoffold," I said quietly. "I have you covered." + +"What are you doing there?" he stammered. + +"I'll tell you presently," I answered him, still keeping my gun raised. +"Now, reverse that gun of yours; come a little nearer. That's it; now +lay it on the grass. Go back a pace or two; now stand still. And +remember that if you play any tricks I'm in a mood to blow your brains +out. I shall shoot _you_ through the head, Mr. Harvey Scoffold--not +through the arm." + +By this time he was standing some paces away, his arms hanging by his +sides. I got up, and stepped forward to where his gun lay, and picked it +up. I dropped my own behind me. "Perhaps you'd like to know," I said, +after I had made sure that the gun I had taken from him was loaded, +"that my own weapon was unloaded. The doctor had both barrels." + +I heard him mutter something under his breath, and I guessed pretty +accurately what it was. He kept his eyes on me, evidently watching for a +way of escape; he shifted his feet uneasily, as he stood there covered +by his own gun. + +"Now, Harvey Scoffold, I'll have a little explanation with you before I +go up to the house," I said. "You were in the plot to murder this young +girl. Be careful how you answer me, for my temper is such at this moment +that my fingers itch for this trigger." + +"My dear fellow--I do assure you----" he began; but at the look in my +eyes he hung his head, and blurted out the truth. + +"What could I do?" he muttered. "I did my best to stop it--to persuade +the doctor to abandon the idea. I only came out this morning because I +thought--because I hoped I might be able to prevent it." + +"You are lying, Harvey Scoffold," I told him. "I have been here both +last night and since early this morning; I have seen everything, and +heard a great deal. You were in the plot; you were to hold the attention +of the girl while murder was done. If I had not been here she would be +lying dead now." + +"It's true," he said. "I'm bound to confess it's true. But I thank God +you came in time!" + +"Bah!" I ejaculated contemptuously. "I don't like your penitence, Mr. +Scoffold. Now turn about and go up to the house. I'll follow you." + +He hesitated for a moment, and then turned and walked towards the house. +I picked up the other gun and followed him, and in that order we came to +the house, and marched up the steps and into the hall. He looked back at +me over his shoulder then. + +"Which way?" he asked sulkily. + +"I want to see the doctor," I replied, setting the guns down in a +corner. "Lead the way; I'll follow you." + +He turned into a room on the right, crossed it, and came to a door at +the other side. Opening this, he passed through, and I followed him. +Directly I got into the room I saw before me a curious little scene, and +one that, even now, in the recollection of it, sends a thrill at once of +pity and of admiration through me, however unwillingly. The doctor was +seated by a table, on which was spread a white cloth; an open case of +surgical instruments was by his side. Leaning across the table was +Martha Leach, doing something with a bowl of water and a small sponge. +Very slowly and calmly Bardolph Just was cleaning the broken flesh and +bone, quite as calmly, save for an occasional spasm of pain that crossed +his face, as though he had been operating on a patient. He turned his +head for a moment as we came into the room, and stopped what he was +doing. + +"Take that fellow away!" he shouted. + +But I stood my ground. "Thanks," I replied, "I prefer to remain. There +is a word or two to be said between us, doctor; but pray don't let me +interrupt what you are doing. Your injury is not quite as bad as I had +hoped; but then I am not much good behind a gun. I hoped to hit a vital +spot." + +"Why did you shoot me?" he asked sullenly. + +"Don't ask idle questions," I retorted. "Get on with your work." + +He rewarded me for that remark with a scowl, and went on again with the +work in hand. Now and then he gave a quick order, half under his breath, +to the obedient Martha Leach, who waited upon him slavishly; under his +direction she presently bound up the arm, after cutting splints for it +according to a fashion he told her. Then, in obedience to a sign from +him, she brought him a small glass of spirits, which he drank quickly; I +saw the colour begin to come back into his white face. + +"That was an ordeal, Harvey," he said. "Upon my word, I didn't think I +had the courage. I think it'll mend all right now; both bones were +shattered." + +He took not the faintest notice of me, as he presently laid his hand in +a sling which the woman Leach dexterously twisted round his neck. He +nodded to her in token that she should go; and she went slowly out of +the room, carrying the cloth and basin with her; she gave me a deadly +look as she passed me. But for her looks I no longer cared. + +Perhaps the least composed of the three of us was Harvey Scoffold; he +fidgeted about from one foot to the other, and strove to whistle a tune; +and all the while glanced furtively at Bardolph Just or at myself. +Bardolph Just, for his part, stood like a man slowly making up his mind +to something; I saw, besides, that he was raging within himself with +pain, and mortification, and chagrin, and could with difficulty control +his feelings. When at last he looked up he repeated that question he had +asked before. + +"Why did you shoot me?" + +"I preferred to shoot you rather than see murder done; I meant to kill +you, if I could, because I counted your life more worthless than that of +Miss Debora Matchwick." + +"I was not going to kill her," he said sullenly. + +"No," I answered him, "there was to be an accident, and no one would +have been more sorry than her dear, devoted guardian at the deplorable +result of that accident! You need not lie to me, Dr. Just; your +accomplice has already given the game away." + +He glanced quickly at Harvey Scoffold, and that gentleman merely +shrugged his shoulders and spread out his hands protestingly; but I saw +that the doctor believed that Scoffold had been made to speak. The +doctor walked across to the window, and stood there looking out for some +time. He spoke at last, without turning his head. + +"You constitute yourself judge and executioner both," he said. "If you +had killed me I think it must have proved a hanging matter for you, Mr. +Jail-bird." + +"But I should have saved the girl," I answered. "What is my life worth, +that I should weigh it in the balance when there is a question of her +safety?" + +"What are you going to do?" he asked, turning his head a little. + +"I am going to see Miss Matchwick, and I am going to put the case fairly +before her," I replied steadily. "I intend to tell her of the three +attempts you have made upon her life; I intend to let her understand +that your game, Dr. Just, is murder." + +"Very fine, and very brave," he remarked; then he suddenly swung round +on me, and barked out a question. "If you are so certain of your facts, +why not go to the police--why not stop this game of murder, as you call +it?" + +"You know I can't do that," I said. "In the first place I cannot even +declare who I am, nor why I'm in your house; and in the second, as you +know, I have no proof." + +He walked across to where Harvey Scoffold was standing, and nudged him +with his free arm in the ribs. "Hark to him, Harvey--hark to this fine +talker! He has no proof--and he dare not show himself as other men +might. This thing without a name is going to do doughty deeds for the +sake of a young girl; he claims already to have saved her three times +from death. What is anybody to make of it, if he chooses to tell his +story?" + +"I make this of it," I broke in hotly. "I am here to see Miss Matchwick; +I will put the thing fairly before her. If I can do nothing else, I can +at least show her where her danger lies, so that she may not walk into +it without her eyes open." + +I never understood the man until long afterwards--at least, I never +understood him fully; perhaps if I had I should have been prepared for +the desperate chances he took, and for the sheer recklessness with which +he carried matters through. He turned now to Scoffold, and said +quickly-- + +"That's a good notion, Harvey; that's a fair and just thing to say. +We've had enough of this fellow, who brags and boasts, and shoots men +from behind bushes. The young lady shall judge for us, and shall give +him his dismissal. It's a good idea, and one that we will see carried +out. Fetch Debora here." + +"Stop!" I cried, as Harvey Scoffold was moving towards the door. "We'll +have no underhand tricks, and no warnings. Ring the bell, and send a +servant for Miss Matchwick." + +Scoffold stopped and looked at the doctor; the latter slowly nodded his +head. So it came about that Scoffold rang the bell, and on the coming of +the servant requested that Miss Debora should be asked to step that way. +After the man had retired, and while we waited in a grim silence for the +coming of Debora, I felt my cheeks begin to flame; almost it seemed as +though I felt again the sharp tingling pain where she had lashed me +across the face. + +When the door opened at last the girl came in quickly. She walked +straight towards where the doctor stood, and spoke at once impulsively. + +"Oh, I am so sorry--so very sorry!" she said. "How did it happen? Have +you found out who did it?" + +Bardolph Just did not speak; he simply looked at me. Following the +direction of his eyes, she turned also and looked at me. I saw her draw +herself up with that quick little lift of her chin; I saw a dawning +smile in the doctor's eyes. + +"What is that man doing here?" she asked. + +"He came, my dear Debora, with a purpose--a purpose which he has partly +accomplished. My broken wrist tells its own tale; had he had his way, I +should probably not be speaking to you now." + +"Had he had his way, Miss Debora," I blurted out, "you would be lying +dead somewhere in this house--as the result of an accident!" + +I saw her face blanch; she turned furtive, frightened eyes for a moment +on the doctor. He shook his head, with a lifting of the eyebrows which +seemed to suggest that he left such a mad accusation to be judged +properly by her; and she flashed round on me. + +"I don't believe it--I don't believe a word of it!" she said. + +"Thank you, my dear child," said Bardolph Just. "I might have known what +your answer would be." + +"Very satisfactory--quite what might have been expected," murmured +Scoffold. + +The girl had turned her head, and was looking at me steadily. What was +in her mind I could not tell, for her face told me nothing. Scorn of me +I could read, and contempt; I felt my heart sink, even while I nerved +myself for the task before me. + +"Is that why I am sent for?" she said. "Is it to hear such an accusation +as this? Is this what you had to say to me?" + +Still her eyes looked contemptuously into mine, where I stood half +abashed before her; still I felt that the doctor was growing momentarily +more sure of his victory. + +"I asked that you might be sent for," I said, beginning my reply +steadily, "in order that you might understand what is being done, and +that you might guard yourself against it. If you think me so poor a +thing that I may not help you, then for God's sake set me aside out of +the matter; get someone else more worthy to assist you. But wake +up--open your eyes--face this Death that is waiting for you at every +turn!" + +She might have been a figure of stone, so little movement did she make. +And now I saw that both Harvey Scoffold and the doctor were watching +her, and not me. + +"I have pleaded with you before; I have told you what I know is being +done against you and against your life," I went on, speaking more +eagerly with every word. "That man has tried to kill you three several +times. He tried to make you walk out of that door at dead of night; he +tried to poison you--of those things I have already told you. I was able +to save you on those two occasions, but after that he sent me away from +you, and I had to leave you to the mercy of these men. Only by the +merest chance did I find out that you had come down here, and were going +on this apparently innocent expedition this morning. Will you not +believe me when I tell you that I heard the whole thing plotted between +them last night?" + +She gave me no answer, although I waited for one. After a pause I went +on-- + +"There was to be an accident this morning; gun accidents have happened +frequently. Mr. Scoffold there received his instructions----" + +"I protest against this madman!" broke in Harvey Scoffold. "I assure +you----" + +"Hold your tongue!" snapped the doctor unexpectedly. "Let him say what +he has to say." + +"So I got a gun from the house," I went on; "for I meant to kill Dr. +Just, if by chance I was quick enough to prevent him carrying out his +scheme. I lay in the woods over there, and I waited; then I saw Harvey +Scoffold walk in front with you, and I saw the doctor step back. As God +is my witness I saw the man raise his gun and point it direct at you; +then I raised my own and fired." + +Very slowly she turned her head, and stole a look at the doctor's face. +I saw him repeat his former gesture, as though it were not worth while +for him to deny the matter; the thing was so absurd. I saw Debora also +glance at Harvey Scoffold, who smiled gaily and shook his head; then she +looked back towards me. I did not understand her; I could not read into +that mind that was behind her unfathomable eyes. If, while I waited for +her judgment, I looked at her with any look of pleading, it was only +that she might, for her own sake, judge me fairly, and judge me to be +honest. + +"I won't trouble to remember the absurd name you bear, a name which is +not your own," she began very quietly. "I will only remember that you +are nobody, and that you forced your way into Dr. Just's house while you +were a criminal flying from the law. Do you think it likely that I +should take your word in such a matter as this?" + +I saw Bardolph Just exchange a quick look with Harvey Scoffold, a look +compounded of gratification as well as amazement. Scoffold, for his +part, was openly grinning. + +"Your zeal for me and for my welfare is quite misplaced, and quite +unnecessary," went on Debora. "I'm sorry you should have thought it +necessary to try and kill my guardian; it is a merciful thing that you +have only injured him. That is all I have to say to you." + +"Debora," I said, looking at her earnestly, "I entreat you to believe +that what I have said is true. I know these men; I know what their +purpose is; I know what must inevitably happen if you will not realise +your own danger." + +"Come--we've had enough of this!" broke in Bardolph Just. "It's quite +time we told this fellow that he'd best get away from the place, and be +seen here no more. He's had his answer, and I hope he's pleased with +it." + +"Debora," I went on, ignoring the man altogether, "I will take you away +from this place, and will put you with friends who will be good to you. +Debora, won't you listen to me?" + +"I have given you my answer, and it is a final one," she said. "Had the +warning come from anyone else I might have been troubled by +it--mystified by it; coming from a man with your record it is worthless. +When I listened to you first I did not understand who you were; now I +know. That is the end of it." + +"It is not the end of it!" I cried fiercely, as she turned away from me. +"I will save you in spite of yourself; I will make you understand your +danger, even if you do not see it now. I shall ask no thanks and seek no +reward. I shall have done it for another reason." I turned to the +doctor, and pointed a finger at him. "As for you, sir, such a +retribution is preparing for you as shall not be long delayed. You think +you have seen the last of me--you have not done that by any means. Don't +forget that I am a desperate man, with nothing to lose in this world +save my liberty; and I shall not count that, if it becomes necessary for +me to declare who I am, and to come forward into the light of day to +protect this girl. That's my last word on the matter." + +"I'm glad to hear it!" retorted the doctor. "Open the door, Harvey, +please." + +Mr. Harvey Scoffold obeyed with alacrity, and, thus dismissed, I went +out of the house, and made my way towards the village. I was sent upon +my way more quickly, perhaps, from hearing a peal of laughter from the +room I had left. I went away with rage and bitterness in my heart. + +I went back to my lodging at the little inn, more perplexed than ever as +to what I should do. I knew that this was a new danger which threatened +the girl, because she would prove an easier victim in any new scheme +which might be maturing, by reason of her belief in the man who meant to +kill her; her trust in him would make her utterly unsuspicious. The +thought of that drove me almost frantic, and I raged up and down my +little room in the inn, tormented by doubts and fears, and seeing my own +helplessness loom more largely before me with every moment. Late in the +afternoon I went out into the village of Comerford, undecided whether to +go back to London, or whether to remain in that place. I wandered +aimlessly about the streets, and finally seated myself on a gate a +little way out, and propped my chin in my hands and gave myself up to +the gloomiest thoughts. + +I became aware, in a curious, detached fashion, of a small country boy, +with a very freckled face and very light hair, who had walked past me +twice, and had observed me narrowly; now I came to think of it, I had +seen him loitering along on the other side of the street some half-hour +previously. I looked at him with a frown now, and asked him what he +wanted. + +To my surprise he asked me if I was Mr. John New. I sat up and looked at +him, and said that I was. From one of his pockets the boy drew out a +twisted piece of paper, flattened it with one grubby hand upon the +other, and spelled out the name. Then to my amazement, he handed the +note to me. + +"Where did you get this from?" I demanded. + +He told me that a lady had given it to him, and had given him also a +shilling to find me. She had told him what I was like, and that I was a +stranger in the village; my aimlessly wandering about the streets had +done the rest, and had shown me to him. I added another shilling to the +boy's new wealth on the spot, and he went away happy. Then I untwisted +the note, and read what was written on it. + + "_I want to see you, and I must see you to-day. There is a place at + the other side of the wood where you lay this morning--an old + chalk-pit, half filled with water. At one side of that is a little + ruined hut. I shall be there this evening at a little after six. I + beg, that you will not fail me._ + + "_DEBORA._" + +So much had I been tricked, and so little faith had I in man or woman +then, that for a moment I believed that this was another trap set, into +which my feet should stumble. But the next moment, I told myself that +surely this village boy would not have lied to me over the matter. A +woman had sent the note, and it could be but one woman. I thrust the +precious paper into my pocket, and set off then and there, with my heart +singing within me, to the place appointed. + +I came to it well before the time, and found it to be just as the note +described. I had kept well away from the wood, and I came easily to the +old disused chalk-pit, which had in it a small pond of stagnant water, +formed by the rains of many seasons. Half-way up one side of it was the +little hut to which Debora had referred. I made my way to it at once. +Sitting down on an old bench, I looked through the open door, and so +could command the way by which she would come. + +The time drew on, and still I saw nothing of her. I was beginning to +think that some one had discovered that she had communicated with me, or +else that, after all, this might be a trap set for me. I blamed myself +that I was here in this lonely place without a weapon. And then +suddenly, far off, I saw what it was that had delayed her. + +The evening was very still and very fine; I could see a long way. +Presently, in the distance, I made out a figure walking backwards and +forwards on the edge of the wood; after quite a long time I made it out +to be the doctor. I knew in a moment that the man stood as a barrier +between the girl in the house and me in the hut, and that while he kept +unconscious guard there it was impossible for us to meet. Yet I was as +helpless as she must be, and I could only wait until it pleased the man +to go back to the house. + +He must have walked there backwards and forwards for more than half an +hour before I suddenly saw him in the clear light stop, and snap the +fingers of his uninjured hand together, with the action of a man coming +to a sudden quick resolution; then he turned, and went off with long +strides in the direction of the house. I wondered what he was going to +do. + +I endured another period of waiting that seemed interminable; and then I +saw her coming quickly through the wood and down towards the chalk-pit. +She skirted the edge of it, and came on quickly towards where I stood in +the doorway of the hut waiting for her. After her declaration in the +house, in the presence of the two men, I could not know in what mood she +came, and I was puzzled how I should greet her. About that, however, I +need not have thought at all, for the miracle of it was that she came +straight towards me, with her eyes shining, and her hands stretched out +towards me, so that in the most wonderful way, and yet in a way most +natural, I took her suddenly in my arms. And she broke at once into a +torrent of prayers and excuses. + +"Oh, my dear! my dear! I was so afraid you would not meet me. I have not +deserved that you should; it might have happened that you would not +understand, and would believe that all the hateful things I said were +meant by me. You didn't believe that, did you?" + +"Well--yes, I did," I stammered. "What else could I believe?" + +"Don't you understand that I should have had no chance at all with those +men, unless I had thrown them off their guard? I hated myself +afterwards, when they laughed and joked about you; I could have killed +them. Then I made up my mind that I must send and find you." + +"It was wonderful that the boy should know me so easily," I answered. +"How did you describe me?" + +She hung her head, and I saw the colour mount from neck to brow. "I told +the boy to look for a man with the mark of a blow across his face," she +whispered; and then, before I could prevent her, even had I wished, she +had put her arms about my neck and had drawn my head down, and was +kissing me passionately on the mark itself. "That's to heal it--and +that--and that--and that!" she whispered. + +We were both more composed presently, and were seated side by side on +the old bench inside the hut. We had no fear of being surprised by +anyone; the side of the chalk-pit went up sheer behind the hut, and from +the edge of it all was open country. Before us, as I have said, +stretched the chalk-pit itself, and the wood, and beyond that the +grounds of the house. So we sat contentedly, and looked into each +other's eyes, and said what we wanted to say. + +"It came upon me suddenly," began Debora, "this morning when I turned +and saw Dr. Just on his knees, holding his wrist. I seemed to know +instinctively that you had shot him. I knew, dear, that you would not +run away, and I had time before they sent for me to make up my mind what +to do. I had not quite realised what he had meant to do. I did not think +he would be daring enough to shoot me in that fashion. But I am glad, +for your sake, that you did not kill him." + +"So am I--now," I replied. "And you do believe, my dearest girl, that he +has really tried on these three occasions to take your life?" + +"I know it," she answered, with a little shiver. "But it is for the last +time. See"--she placed her hands in mine, and looked fearlessly into my +eyes--"for the future you shall look after me--you shall take care of +me. Is that too bold a thing to say?" + +I drew her close to me. "No, Debora mine," I whispered, "because I love +you. I am what you called me--a thing without a name, but in my heart I +am honest; in my heart I love the name that has been given me, because +by that you first knew me." + +I told her of my plans: that we should go away then and there, and that +for that night I would give her the room I had taken at the inn, and +would find a lodging in another place. Then, quite early, before anyone +we need fear was awake, we would start off into the world, on some +impossible mission of making a fortune, and living happily for ever +afterwards. + +"But you forget, John dear--I have a fortune already," she reminded me. +"That belongs to me--that we must get." + +I was troubled at the thought of that, troubled lest she might believe, +even for one fleeting moment, that I set that fortune as of greater +value than herself. I was about to speak of it when she suddenly turned +to me, and began to speak with the deepest earnestness of quite another +matter. + +"There is something I must say to you--now, before we leave this place," +she said. "I want first of all to tell you that I never loved Gregory +Pennington; he was only my dear friend--my brother." + +"I am glad," I answered simply. + +"And I want to tell you now that I am absolutely certain in my own mind +that the boy never killed himself." + +I was so startled that for a moment I could not answer her. She glanced +out of the door of the hut, as though fearing that even in that place +she might be overheard, and then went on speaking at a great rate: + +"It was the last thing he would have done; there was no reason for it at +all. He was happy, because he had always the mistaken hope that he might +persuade me to love him. On the very night of his death--the night when +you came there--he, too, had tried to persuade me to leave the house, +and go away with him; like yourself, he believed that I was not safe +with Dr. Just. Do you believe for a moment that, having said that to me, +he would walk into the house and put a rope about his neck? No, I won't +believe it!" + +"But, my darling, how else could he have died?" I asked. + +She answered me quite solemnly, and with the same deep earnestness I had +heard in her tones before. "He was killed--murdered--by Dr. Just!" + +"But why?" I asked stupidly. + +"For the same reason that would prompt the man to seek your death, if he +could," she said. "Bardolph Just knew that Gregory Pennington wanted to +get me to go away; Gregory probably told him so that night. If I went +away and married anyone, my fortune went with me, and it is my horrible +fortune that has come near to losing me my life. I know, as surely as if +I had seen it done, that the doctor killed Gregory Pennington. That he +hanged him afterwards, to give colour to the idea of suicide, I quite +believe; that would account for his anxiety to let you change places +with the dead man." + +"Another thought occurs to me," I said, after a pause. "Poor Gregory +Pennington's servant--the man Capper--must have seen what happened; the +shock of it has left his mind a blank." + +"I wonder," said Debora slowly, "I wonder if Capper will ever speak!" + +That thought had been in my mind too, but I had been too startled at +what I had heard to speak of it. We left the matter where it was, and as +the twilight was now coming on, came out of the hut and took our way by +a circuitous route back towards the village. I took the girl to the inn, +and left her in charge of the kindly landlady, giving the woman +instructions that under no circumstances was she to let anyone know that +the girl was there. I think the landlady scented a runaway match, for +she smiled and nodded, and put a finger on her lips in token of +silence. + +Nothing happened, however, during that night; and in the morning quite +early Debora stepped out of the little inn into the village street, and +we went off happily together to the railway station. There, by an early +market train, we got to London, coming to it just as all the people were +pouring into the busy city for the day. I took Debora to a little, +old-fashioned hotel that I had heard of near the Charterhouse, and left +her there while I set off on a mission of my own. I had determined that, +before ever I saw my uncle, or availed myself of his promise to look +after the girl, I would go again to that solitary house in which Gregory +Pennington had died, and would find the man Capper. For now I had the +threads of the thing strongly in my fingers; I knew from what point to +start, and I could put certain questions to Capper that he might be able +to answer. + +I came to the house soon after mid-day, and opened the gate in the fence +and went in. Lest I should be refused admission for any reason, I +determined that I would, if possible, slip into the house by the back +way; and I made my way cautiously round there. So it happened that I +came in sight of that open window, on the window-seat of which I had +left Mr. George Rabbit reclining while he kept guard over the little +grey-headed man called Capper. And I was in time to see a curious scene +enacted before my eyes at that very window, just as though it had been a +scene in some play. I was hidden among the trees, so that no one saw me, +but I could both see and hear distinctly. + +Standing with his back to the window, and with his arms folded, was +George Rabbit, and his attitude was evidently one of defiance. Leaning +against the side of the window-frame, watching him, and glancing also at +someone else within the room, stood Capper, with nervous fingers +plucking at his lips, and with that vacant smile upon his face. The man +Rabbit was speaking. + +"I know too much to be turned aht, or to be told to do this or to do +that. I'm much too fly for that, guv'nor, an' so I tell yer. Money's my +game, 'an money I mean to 'ave." + +The voice that replied, to my very great surprise, was the voice of +Bardolph Just. "We'll see about that, you dog!" he shouted. And with +that I ran round at once through the back door, into the house, and made +for the room. + +I darted in, in time to see the doctor with a heavy stick raised in his +right hand; he was in the very act of bringing it down with all his +force, in a very passion of rage, on the head of George Rabbit. The man +put up his arm in time to save his head, and drew back with a cry of +pain, and stopped dead on seeing me. The doctor swung round, too, and +lowered the stick. + +But the strangest thing of all was the sight of the man Capper. As that +blow had fallen, his eyes had been fixed upon the doctor; and I had seen +a great change come suddenly over his face. It was as if the man had +been turned into another being, so strangely had the face lighted up. He +gave what was nothing more nor less than a scream, and leapt straight +for the doctor. As the doctor swung about at the sound, the man Capper +caught him by the throat, and held on, and swayed about with him, and +seemed to be striving to choke him. + +"Murder!" he shrieked, and again yet louder, "Murder!" + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +UNCLE ZABDIEL IN PIOUS MOOD. + + +Dr. Bardolph Just, big, powerful man though he was, seemed practically +helpless in the grasp of William Capper, who hung on to him, and worried +him as some small terrier might worry a dog of larger size. Moreover, +the doctor was hampered with his broken wrist; while George Rabbit and +myself, for the matter of that, were so thunderstruck by the sudden +onslaught of that mild, quiet, little creature, who had hitherto seemed +so harmless, that we stood staring and doing nothing. And the doctor +battled with his one free arm, and shouted to us for help. + +"Pull him off, can't you?" he shouted. "Devil take the man! what is he +at? Let go, I say; do you want to kill me?" + +By that time I had recovered my senses so far as to fling myself upon +Capper, and to drag him off by main force. So soon as I had got hold of +him, he seemed to collapse in the strangest way--dropped into my arms, +and shuddered, and stared from one to the other of us, as though +awakening from some terrible nightmare. His teeth were chattering, and +he looked wildly round, as though wondering what had been happening. + +The doctor was arranging his collar and tie, and looking amazedly at +Capper. "What's the matter with the fellow?" he panted. "What set him +off like that?" He stamped his foot, and looked at the trembling man. +"Answer me--you! What roused you like that?" + +Capper shook his head in a dull way; then pressed the palms of his hands +to his forehead. "I--I don't know," he answered, in something of the +same fashion in which I had always heard him answer questions; "I didn't +mean--" + +His voice trailed off, and he stood there, a drooping, pathetic figure, +staring at the floor. For my part, I could not take my eyes from the +man. I found myself wondering whether that outburst had been the mere +frenzy of a moment, or whether behind it lay something I did not then +understand. In the silence that had fallen upon us the doctor looked at +the man in a queer, puzzled way; I thought he seemed to be asking +himself the same questions that were in my own mind. After a moment or +two he turned his glance resentfully on me, seeming to become aware, for +the first time, of my presence. + +"And what brings _you_ here?" he demanded. I was at a loss how to answer +him. I had had a vague hope that I might be able to see Capper alone, +or, at all events, only in the company of George Rabbit; I could not now +declare my intention of questioning the man. I resorted to subterfuge; I +shrugged my shoulders and made what reply I could. + +"What is a poor wretch to do who has no home, no money, and no +prospects? You turn me out of one place, so I come to the other." + +"Well, you can leave this one, too," he replied sourly. "How did you get +back from Essex? Did you tramp?" + +I saw at once that he must have left the place and come to London on the +previous day; it was obvious that he knew nothing of Debora's +disappearance. Nor had he yet discovered the theft of that old-fashioned +watch. He could have no suspicion that I had money in my pockets. I +answered as carelessly as I could. + +"Yes," I said, "I tramped most of the way. I should not have come in +now, but that I saw some trouble going on with Rabbit here, and thought +I might be of use." + +"I can look after meself, thank you for nothink," retorted Mr. Rabbit +politely. "Seems to me that I'm given all the dirty work to do, an' I +don't git nuffink but thumps for it. If it 'adn't bin fer that plucky +little chap there, I shouldn't 'ave stood much charnce," he added, +scowling at the doctor. "He went for you a fair treat, guv'nor." + +"You must have made him precious fond of you, to take your part like +that," said the doctor, with a glance at Capper. "Did he think I was +going to kill you?" + +I saw that Capper was standing in the old attitude, with his hands +hanging beside him, and his eyes cast to the floor; then I had a curious +feeling that he was listening. So still was he, and so meek and broken, +that it seemed incredible that but a minute or two before he had been +tearing like a demon at the throat of the doctor. Now, while he stood +there, he suddenly began to speak, in a quiet, level voice, but little +raised above a whisper. + +"I hope, sir, that you won't send me away," he said. "I forgot myself; I +wouldn't harm you for the world, sir. If you will let me stay--if you +will let me keep near you--if I might even be your servant? I don't want +to be sent away from you, sir." + +All this without raising his head, and with the air of a shamed boy +pleading for forgiveness. It was the more pitiful because of the +meekness of the figure, and of the thin grey hair that covered the +man's head. To do him justice, the doctor behaved magnanimously. + +"Well, we'll say no more about it, Capper," he replied. "Perhaps you're +not quite yourself. We'll overlook it. For the rest, you shall remain +here, if you behave yourself. You seem a good, faithful sort of fellow, +but you mustn't fly into passions because rogues like this get what they +deserve." He pointed sternly to George Rabbit. + +"Rogues!" Mr. Rabbit looked properly indignant, and lurched forward from +the window towards the doctor. "I ain't so sure as you've put that boot +on the right leg, guv'nor," he said. "I've 'ad enough of this 'ere--this +keepin' me mouf shut, an' not gettin' anyfink for it. Wot's the good of +five quid--you can on'y dream abaht it w'en it's gorn. I'm goin' to take +wot I know w'ere I shall git summink for it--w'ere I shall be paid +'andsome, an' patted on the back, an' told I'm a good boy. I'm a honest +man--that's wot I am; an' I've 'ad enough of seem' jail-birds walking +about in good clobber, an' 'ighly respectable gents givin' 'em shelter, +an' payin' me not 'alf enough not to blab. Yus, Mr. Norton 'Yde, it's +you what I'm talkin' about--an' 'ere goes to make an endin' of it!" + +Before anyone could stop him he had made a run for the window, and had +vaulted over the sill, and was gone. I made a step to go after him, but +the doctor detained me with a gesture. + +"It's no use; if he has made up his mind to speak you can't stop him. +Take my advice, and keep away from here, and away from Green Barn, too. +There's a chance, of course, that the man will say nothing; he may come +whining back here, to try and get money out of me. In any case, Mr. +Norton Hyde, I've had enough of the business; you can shift for +yourself. It may interest you to know that I am winding up my affairs, +and I'm going abroad. And in this instance I shall not go alone." + +I could afford not to notice that sneer, because I knew that I held the +winning hand, and that Debora was mine. So I made no answer; I knew that +there were cards I could play when the time came--cards of which he knew +nothing. My only doubt was as to the man Capper; because, if Debora's +suspicions were true, it was vitally necessary that we should get hold +of the man, and should question him. More than that, I knew that Debora +had in her the spirit to move heaven and earth over the matter of her +dead friend, Gregory Pennington, to discover the manner of his death. + +Yet here was William Capper, for some strange reason, swearing devotion +to the doctor, and begging to be allowed to remain with him. Even if I +could get hold of the man, I knew that in his present state of mind I +could do no good with him; he might in all innocence go to the doctor, +and tell him what my questions had been. There was nothing for it but to +leave the matter alone, and to return to Debora. Accordingly I took my +leave, if such a phrase can be used to describe my going. + +"I shan't trouble you again," I said to Bardolph Just. "For your own +sake, I think you will do your best to ensure that the secret of Gregory +Pennington's death is kept." I glanced quickly at the man Capper as I +spoke; but my words seemed to have no effect upon him, save that once +again I thought he seemed to be listening, and that, too, with some +intentness. But I felt, even in that, that I might be wrong. + +"What do you mean by that?" snapped the doctor, turning upon me in +answer to my remark. + +"You told me once that you were anxious to keep the matter a secret, in +order to avoid giving pain, and to prevent any scandal touching your +house," I answered steadily. "What other meaning should I have?" + +"None, of course," he answered, and looked at me broodingly for a +moment, as though striving to see behind my words. "However, in that +matter you are right; I don't want that business all raked over again. +For both our sakes, you'd better keep out of the way of Mr. George +Rabbit." + +There was nothing else to be done, and without any formal words I turned +and walked out of the house by the way I had come. I felt that I had +finished with Dr. Bardolph Just; I could afford to laugh at him, and +could leave him to settle matters with George Rabbit. + +I went back to that hotel near the Charterhouse in which I had left +Debora; there were many things about which I must talk to her. In the +first place, we had to consider the great question of ways and means; +above all, we had to remember--or perhaps I should say that _I_ had to +remember, for she was utterly trustful of me--that she was in my hands, +and that I had to be careful of her until such time as I could make her +my wife. I had a sort of feeling that I could not go on in this +indefinite way, leaving her in hotels and such-like places. Besides, I +felt absolutely certain that the one person to whom in my dilemma I must +apply was my Uncle Zabdiel, for had I not already prepared him for her +coming? + +While I had no great faith in Uncle Zabdiel, I yet felt that, from sheer +dread of me, he would hesitate before playing tricks. In his eyes I was +a most abandoned villain, capable of anything; he had hanging over him +that threat of mine to kill him--a threat which would remain a threat +only, but a very powerful deterrent if he had any hopes of betraying me. + +This scheme I now laid before Debora, telling her the pros and cons of +it all, and trying to induce her to see it as I saw it. There was but +one flaw in it, and that was that Martha Leach had been to my uncle, and +would therefore know where he was to be found. Yet, on the other hand, I +felt that that made for safety, because the very daring of the scheme +gave it the greatest chance of success. No one would dream that I should +go back to the house that had seen the beginning of all my misfortunes, +still less would anyone dream of looking for Debora Matchwick there. + +"You see, my dearest girl," I pointed out to Debora, "my money won't +last for ever; already it is dwindling alarmingly. I see no prospect of +getting any more at present, unless I hold horses, or sell matches in +the street. More than that, I believe that I have my uncle so much under +control, and so much in dread of me, that he will do nothing against me; +and that great house of his is a very warren of old rooms, in which you +can safely hide. More than that, I think there is a prospect that Uncle +Zabdiel will help me; he seemed to regard me in quite another light when +I saw him recently." + +In all this it will be seen, I fear, that my original simplicity had not +entirely been knocked out of me by rough contact with the world; it will +also be seen that I had a colossal belief in my own powers of +persuasion, moral and otherwise. Perhaps also it is scarcely necessary +for me to say that Debora very willingly believed in me, and seemed to +regard my uncle as a man who might be won round to a better belief in +the goodness of human nature. I did not contradict that suggestion, but +I had my doubts. + +I thought it best, however, to let Uncle Zabdiel know of his intended +visitor; it would never do to take him by surprise. With many promises +of speedy return I set off then and there for that house near Barnet, +wherein so many years of my own life had been passed. I was feeling +more cheerful than I had done for many a long day; I began to realise +that perhaps, after all, my troubles were coming to an end, and some +small measure of happiness was to be mine. Moreover, despite all my +difficulties, it has to be remembered that I was young and in love; and, +I suppose, under those circumstances mere outside troubles sit lightly +on one's shoulders. + +I rang at the bell for a long time before anyone answered, and then it +was the grim old woman who came in by the day to look after my uncle who +answered it. I feared for a moment that she might recognise me, but she +was evidently one of those people to whom the mere duties of the day are +everything; it is probable that had I been the Archbishop of Canterbury +in full rig she would have taken no notice of my appearance. I asked for +Mr. Blowfield, and was left in the dark hall while she went in search of +him. I gave my name as John New. + +In a minute or two she came back, and beckoned to me in a spiritless +way, and without speaking. I went at once by the way I knew so well into +my uncle's room--that room that was half sitting-room and half office, +and there discovered him standing before the empty fireplace waiting for +me. He was not alone in the room; that unfortunate youth, Andrew Ferkoe, +was seated in my old place, at my old desk, scribbling away as if for +dear life. Even before my uncle spoke I intercepted a furtive look out +of the tail of the youth's eye; I strove to give him a warning glance in +response. + +"Good morning, Mr. New," said my uncle, with a touch of sarcasm in his +tone. "Glad to see you, I'm sure. Do you object to the presence of my +clerk?" + +"It is a matter of indifference to me, Mr. Blowfield," I replied. "Of +course I should have preferred to have had a private interview with you, +but if any words of mine on a previous occasion have made you cautious, +by all means let him remain." + +I saw that the old man was absolutely afraid of me; I guessed that he +meant to keep Andrew Ferkoe there, to save even a threat of violence. At +the same time I was relieved to see what I thought was a new and more +kindly light in his eyes. I felt that he might, after all, prove to have +a heart of flesh and blood, and that Debora might move it. + +"Then you can go on with your work, Ferkoe," snapped my uncle; and the +boy, whose pen had been straying, started violently, and went on writing +again. + +It was curious to note during our interview how frequently Andrew +Ferkoe's pen stopped, and how his eyes slowly turned round to feast on +me, and how, at a movement from his master, he brought the pen back to +its proper place and started writing again. I became quite fascinated +with watching him. + +"Sit down, my dear New, sit down," said my uncle smoothly. "Tell me what +I can do for you; I've been expecting to see you." + +I sat down, and asked permission to smoke. My uncle grunted in response, +and frowned; but I took the grunt for permission, and lighted a cigar. +The old man gave a plaintive cough, as though suggesting that this was a +martyrdom to which he must submit, and subsided into his own chair. I +answered his question. + +"I want you to do what you promised to do, Mr. Blowfield," I said. + +"I promised under threats," he broke in grudgingly. "And a promise +extorted under threats isn't binding." + +"This one's got to be," I intimated sharply. "I want the young lady of +whom I spoke to come here, and to find a refuge in this house; I want +her to come to-day. I have not the means to keep her, and she is in +danger of being traced by those who are her enemies. I have chosen you," +I added, with a touch of sarcasm I could not avoid, "because I know your +kindness of heart, and I know how eager you are to do me a service." + +He grinned a little maliciously, then chuckled softly, and rubbed his +bony hands together. "Very well, call it a bargain," he said. "After +all, I'm quite pleased, my dear boy, to be able to help you; if I seem +to have a gruff exterior, it's only because I find so many people trying +to get the better of me." + +I saw Andrew Ferkoe slowly raise his head, and stare at my uncle with a +dropping jaw, as though he had suddenly discovered a ghost. My uncle, +happening to catch him at it, brought his fist down with a bang upon the +desk that caused the youth to spring an inch or two from his stool, and +to resume his writing in such a scared fashion that I am convinced he +must have written anything that first came into his mind. + +"And what the devil is it to do with you?" roared my uncle, quite in his +old fashion. "What do you think I pay you for, and feed you for, and +give you comfortable lodging for? One of these days, Ferkoe, I'll turn +you out into the world, and let you starve. Or I'll have you locked up, +as I once had a graceless nephew of mine locked up," he added, with a +contortion of his face in my direction that I imagine to have been +intended for a wink. + +The boy stole a look at me, and essayed a grin on his own account; +evidently he congratulated himself on his secret knowledge of who I +really was. Uncle Zabdiel, having relieved himself with his outburst, +now turned to me again, still keeping up that pretty fiction of my being +but a casual acquaintance, knowing nothing of any graceless nephew who +had been very properly punished in the past. + +"He's a thankless dog, this clerk of mine," he growled, with a vicious +look at the boy. "He must have starved but for me, and see what thanks I +get. Well, as I was saying, I shall be very pleased--delighted, in +fact--to welcome the young lady here. I've got a soft corner in my heart +for everybody, Mr. New, if I'm only treated fairly. I don't like girls +as a rule; I've no place for 'em in my life; but I've made up my mind to +make the best of it. You see, I haven't very long to live--not as long +as I should like; and I understand you've got to be so very particular +in doing the right sort of thing towards the end. Not that I've done +anything particularly to be ashamed of," he added hastily, "but a great +many people have made it their business to speak ill of me." + +"It's a censorious world," I reminded him. + +"It is, my dear boy, it is," he replied. "Besides," he went on, lowering +his voice a little, "I've dreamt three nights running that I went up +into my old room, and saw myself lying dead--not dead as you +described--but all broken and bloody." He shuddered, and sucked in his +breath hard for a moment, and glanced behind him. + +I did not mind encouraging that thought, because it was all to my +advantage; I knew that unless he remained properly frightened there +would be small chance of his keeping faith with me in the matter of +Debora. Therefore I said nothing now. But once again I saw the youth at +the desk raise his head, and stare at the old man in that startled +fashion, and then drop his eyes suddenly to his work. + +"Not a pleasant dream--not a pleasant dream, by any means," muttered my +uncle, getting up and striding about. "I lay on the floor, with the bed +clothes pulled across me, as if to hide me. And I was all broken and +bloody!" + +"And you've dreamed that three times?" I asked mercilessly. "That's +unlucky." + +"Why, what do you mean?" he whispered in a panic, as he stopped and +looked round at me. + +"Oh! they say if you dream a thing three times, it's bound to come +true," I said. + +"Stuff and nonsense!" he ejaculated. "Dreams go always by contraries; +everybody knows that. I shouldn't have mentioned the thing, only I can't +somehow get it out of my head. It was just as though I were another +person; I stood there looking down at myself. There, there, let's forget +it. In all probability, if I do this thing for you, out of pure kindness +of heart, I shall live quite a long time, and die naturally a good many +years hence. Now, when is the young lady coming?" + +He seemed so perturbed by the recollection of his dream that he listened +only in a dazed fashion while I told him that I intended to bring her +there that day; he might expect her some time that evening. Andrew +Ferkoe seemed interested at the news that anyone was coming to that +dreary house; he kept on glancing up at me while I spoke. And it was +necessary, too, for me to say all over again, because my uncle had +evidently not been listening. + +"Yes, yes, yes, I understand!" he said, rousing himself at last. +"Besides, it'll be better to have someone else in the house--safer for +me, you understand. Nobody will dare come to the place if they know that +I'm not a lonely old man, with only a fool of a boy in the house with +him--a boy that you can't wake for love or money." + +I suppressed a grin. My experience of Andrew Ferkoe had been that he +woke rather too easily. I rose to take my leave, and Uncle Zabdiel, in +his anxiety to please me, came out into the hall with me, and seemed +inclined to detain me even longer. + +"I'll be very good to her," he said; then, suddenly breaking off, he +gripped my arm, and pointed up the dark, uncarpeted stairs behind us. +"You remember my old room," he whispered. "Well, I saw the room, and +everything in it, quite clearly, three separate times, and I lying +there----" + +"You're thinking too much about it," I broke in hastily. For his face +was ghastly. "You be kind to Debora, and you'll find she'll soon laugh +some of your fears out of you. Good-bye for the present; you'll see us +both later in the day." + +He shook my hand quite earnestly, and let me out of the house. I saw +him, as I had seen him before, standing in the doorway, peering out at +me; in that moment I felt a little sorry for him. So much he had +missed--so much he had lost or never known; and now, towards the end of +his days, he was racked by fears of that death that he knew must be +approaching rapidly. + +I started back for London, meaning to fetch Debora to my uncle's house +that night. I was fortunate enough not to have to wait long at the +station for a train, and I presently found myself in an empty +compartment. I was tired out, and excited with the events of the day. I +settled myself in a corner, and closed my eyes, as the train sped on its +way. And presently, while I sat there, I became aware of a most +extraordinary commotion going on in the compartment on the other side of +the partition against which I leaned. There was a noise as of the +stamping of feet, and shouts and cries--altogether a hideous uproar. + +I thought at first that it must be some drunken men, uproarious after a +debauch; but I presently came to the conclusion that some severe +struggle was going on in the next compartment; I distinctly heard cries +for help. I leaned out of the window, in the hope that I might be able +to see into the next carriage; then, on an impulse, I opened the door, +and got out on to the footboard. It was not a difficult matter, because +the train was travelling comparatively slow. I closed the door of the +compartment I had been in, and stepped along the footboard to the next. +Clinging on there, I looked in, and beheld an extraordinary sight. + +Two men were battling fiercely in the carriage; and I saw that the +further door of the carriage was open. As the men wrenched and tugged at +each other, I could not for a moment or two see their faces; but I could +make out clearly that the smaller man of the two was working strenuously +to force the other man out on to the line through the open door. I saw, +too, that the bigger man appeared to be using only one arm to defend +himself; and it was suddenly borne in upon me that I knew with certainty +who the two men were. I tore open the door on my side, and slipped into +the carriage, and shut the door again. Then I flung myself upon the +smaller man, who was no other than William Capper. + +As it happened, I was only just in time. The other man had been driven +to the open door, until he was absolutely half in and half out; he had +dug his nails into the cushions on one side, in a desperate effort to +save himself from falling. And as I pulled Capper off, and flung him to +the other end of the carriage, I naturally pulled his intended victim +with him--and that intended victim was Dr. Bardolph Just! + +How narrow his escape had been was brought home to me the next moment, +when, as I leaned out to close the door, another train tore past on the +next track, going in the opposite direction. I banged the door, and +stood against it, and looked at the two men. + +The doctor had sunk down into a corner, and was nursing his wounded arm, +and staring in a frightened way at Capper. Capper, I noticed, had +suddenly lost all his frenzy, precisely in the same fashion as he had +lost it on that other occasion when he had attacked the same man. He now +sat in the corner into which I had flung him, with his head bowed, and +his hands plucking at his lips, exactly in the attitude of a naughty boy +who had been caught in some wickedness and stopped. He glanced at me +furtively, but said nothing. + +"He--he tried--tried to kill me!" panted the doctor. "He tried--tried to +throw me out of the train! You saw for yourself!" + +"But why?" I asked. "What had you done?" + +"Nothing--absolutely nothing!" he stammered, striving to rearrange his +dress and to smooth his hair. "He suddenly said something--and then +opened the door--and sprang at me." + +"But what did he say?" I insisted. And it was curious that we both spoke +of the man at the other end of the carriage as someone not responsible +for what he had done. + +"Never mind what he said!" exclaimed the doctor pettishly. "You just +came in time. He'd have had me out in another moment." + +In the surprise of his escape, the doctor did not seem astonished at +finding me there so opportunely he merely looked at the dejected Capper +in that frightened way, and kept the greatest possible distance from +him. + +"Why do you take the man about with you, if he's liable to these fits?" +I asked. + +"I don't take him about!" he exclaimed. "He follows me. I can't get rid +of him. He sticks to my heels like a dog. I don't like it; one of these +days it may happen that there's no one there in time--and that'll be the +end of the matter." All this in a whisper, as he leaned forward towards +where I sat. + +"Give him the slip," I suggested; and now I watched the doctor's face +intently. + +"Don't I tell you I can't," he snapped at me. "Besides, I don't want to +lose sight of him; I'm sorry for the poor old fellow. He'd only drift +into some madhouse or workhouse infirmary. I don't know what to do." + +The doctor was dabbling nervously at his forehead with a handkerchief; +he was in a very sweat of terror. And at the further end of the +carriage--huddled up there, listening--sat the little grey-haired man, +like some grim Fate that must dog the steps of the other man to an end +which no one could see. A sudden ghastly theory had entered into my +mind; I determined to probe the matter a little further. + +"You suggest," I said in a whisper, "that he has twice tried to kill +you; surely it is an easy matter to give him into the hands of the +police? If he's insane, he'll be properly looked after; if he is not, he +will be properly punished. And you will be safe." + +Bardolph Just looked out of the window, and slowly shook his head. "You +don't understand; I can't do that," he replied. "I can't explain; +there's a reason." + +We left the matter at that, and presently, when the train drew into the +London station, we all got out. The doctor and I walked away side by +side, and I knew that Capper was following. I knew something else, +too--that I must get away as quickly as possible, back to Debora. For I +realised that as yet the doctor had not been informed that Debora was +missing from Green Barn. + +"Well, you don't want me any more," I said to him, stopping and turning +about. "I'll take my leave." + +"Look here!" he exclaimed, suddenly seizing me with his uninjured hand, +and giving a sideways glance at Capper, "I'll forget everything and +forgive everything if you'll only stick to me. I don't want to be left +alone with this man." + +"I have work of my own to do," I answered him, "and my way is not your +way. Pull yourself together, man; you're in London, among crowds. What +harm can a feeble old creature like that do to you?" + +"You've seen for yourself--twice," he whispered. "I'll do anything you +like--pay you anything you like!" + +I shook myself free. "It's impossible," I said; and a moment later I was +walking rapidly away; I had no desire that the doctor should follow me. + +Looking back, I saw the man with his arm in a sling going at a great +rate across the station, and as he went he glanced back over his +shoulder. And always behind him, going at a little trot to keep up with +him, went William Capper, not to be shaken off. + +I found Debora awaiting me, but I said nothing to her of my startling +encounter in the train. I only told her that all was ready for her +reception at the house of Uncle Zabdiel, and we set off at once, after +settling the score at the hotel. Our journey was without incident, and +in due course I rang the bell at my uncle's gate, and saw the door open +presently to receive the girl. I went in with her for the necessary +introductions. + +To my delight I found Uncle Zabdiel rubbing his hands, and evidently +pleased to have her there. He went so far as to imprint a cold salute on +her cheek, and even to touch her under her soft rounded chin with his +bony finger. + +"It's a pretty bird you've captured," he said, grimacing at me. "I'll +take care of her, never fear." + +I thanked him, and then told him of my intention to seek a lodging +elsewhere. He seemed surprised, as did Debora. I merely told him that I +had business to attend to, and that I could not very well be so far from +London for the next few days at least. My real reason was, however, a +very different one. + +I had made up my mind to pursue this matter of Capper to the very end; +the thing fascinated me, and I could not let it alone. So that, after I +had seen the dark house swallow up my darling, I went off, designing to +find a lodging for myself between that house and the one in which +Bardolph Just lived. It was very late, but I was not over particular as +to where I slept, and I knew that I could easily find a room. + +But I was restless, and had many things to think about; so that it ended +finally in my walking that long distance back to the doctor's house, and +finding myself, something to my surprise, outside its gates at a little +after two o'clock in the morning. All the house was silent, and the +windows darkened. I was turning away, when I almost stumbled over +someone sitting on the high bank at the side of the road opposite the +gate. As I drew back with a muttered apology the man looked up, and I +knew him. + +It was William Capper. In the very instant of his raising his head I had +seen a quick bright look of intelligence come over his face, but now the +mask he habitually wore seemed to be drawn down over his features, and +he smiled in that vacuous way I had before noted. + +"What are you doing here?" I asked. + +"He's turned me out," he said, in the old feeble voice. "I don't know +why." I saw his plucking fingers go up to his lips again, as he feebly +shook his head. + +"Yes, you do," I said sternly. "Come, Capper, you've nothing to fear +from me; why don't you speak the truth? You've twice tried to kill the +man. What is your reason?" + +He shook his head, and smiled at me in the same vacant fashion. "I don't +know--I don't understand," he said. "So much that I've forgotten--so +much that I can't remember, and never shall remember. Something +snapped--here." + +He touched his forehead, and shook his head in that forlorn way; and +presently sank down on the bank again, and put his head in his hands, +and seemed to go to sleep. + +When I came away at last, in despair of finding out anything from him, +he was sitting in the same attitude, and might have appeared, to any +casual observer, as a poor, feeble old creature with a clouded mind. Yet +I knew with certainty that something had happened to the man, and that +he was alive and alert; I knew, too, that grimly enough, and for some +reason unknown to me, he had set out to kill Dr. Bardolph Just. And I +knew that he would succeed. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +AN APPOINTMENT WITH DEATH. + + +It will readily be understood that, by the movements of the various +players in the game in which, in a sense, I was merely a pawn, I had +been placed in such a position that I was to an extent no longer master +of my own actions. I had been compelled, by the turn of events, to place +Debora in the hands of my uncle, and I knew that at any moment now news +might come from Green Barn that the girl was gone. I marvelled that that +news had not arrived ere this. + +Upon that latter point the only conjecture I could arrive at was that +the woman Martha Leach had not yet dared to send her news to Bardolph +Just, and in that act of cowardice she would probably be supported by +Harvey Scoffold. Moreover, I knew that the doctor was too fully occupied +with his own fears concerning the man Capper to give much attention to +anything else. + +Nor, on the other hand, did I feel that I had advanced matters as +rapidly as I could have wished. True, I had got Debora out of the hands +of the doctor and Harvey Scoffold; true again, I had hidden her in the +house of Uncle Zabdiel. But there the matter stood, and I was relying, +in a sense, solely on the help of one whom every instinct taught me to +distrust: I mean, of course, Zabdiel Blowfield. Moreover, I was no +further advanced in regard to any future status on my own account. I had +no prospect of making my way in the world, or of doing anything to help +the girl I loved. It seemed as though I stood in the midst of a great +tangle, twisting this way and that in my efforts to free myself, and +getting more hopelessly involved with each movement. + +In my doubts and perplexities I turned naturally to Debora; I may be +said to have haunted that house wherein she lived. Uncle Zabdiel +appeared to be very friendly, and for two days I came and went as I +liked, seeing Debora often. And even in that short time I came to see +that the deadly old house was having its effect upon the girl, just as +it had upon every one that came within its walls; she began to droop, +and to wear a frightened look, and not all my reassurances would bring +any brightness into her eyes. + +"I'm afraid of the place," she whispered the second day, clinging to me. +"That tall boy creeps about like a ghost----" + +"And looks like one," I broke in with a laugh. "He's the best fellow in +the world, is Andrew Ferkoe; you've nothing to fear from him." + +"And Mr. Blowfield: he looks at me so strangely, and is altogether so +queer," went on Debora. "Last night he begged me to sit up with him in +his study until quite late--kept on asking me if I didn't hear this +noise and that, and was I sure that nothing stirred in the shadows in +the corner? I felt at last as if I should go mad if I wasn't allowed to +scream." + +"My darling girl, it won't be very long now before I'm able to take you +away," I said, more hopefully than I felt. "My uncle's a good fellow, in +his way, but he has lived a lonely life so long that he's not like other +men. Have a little more patience, Debora dear; the sun will shine upon +us both before long, and we shall come out of the shadows." + +"But there is something else," she said. "I was in my room last night, +at the top of the house here, sitting in the dark, thinking. Everything +was very silent; it was as if all the world lay asleep. And then I saw a +curious thing--something that frightened me." + +"What was it?" I asked quickly. + +"On the other side of the road facing the house is a long wall," she +began in a whisper, "and just outside the gate, as you know, is a +lamp-post. From where I sat in my window I could see that the wall was +lit up, and across it again and again, while I watched for more than an +hour, went two shadows." + +"What sort of shadows?" I asked, as lightly as I could; yet I'll own I +was startled. + +"Shadows of men," she replied. "It was evident that they were walking up +and down in the road, watching the house. The shadows were curious, +because one was a very big one, walking stiffly, while the other was +small, and seemed to creep along behind the first. And I know whose the +shadows were--at least, I know one of them." + +"How do you know?" I asked. + +"I know the one man was Dr. Just," she answered me confidently, with a +little quick nod. + +"My dearest girl, how could you possibly know that?" I asked. + +"Because the man walked with an easy stride, and yet his shadow showed +only one arm swinging," she said. "Don't you see what I mean? The other +arm was fastened to him in some way, held close against him." + +I whistled softly, and looked into her eyes. "I see," I said; "that +would be the sling. Now, what in the world has brought him here?" + +"He's come to find you," said Debora quickly. "He will have heard from +Green Barn that I am gone, and that you are gone; he will guess that if +he finds you he may find me. The reason for his waiting outside would be +that he might intercept you going in or coming out." + +"There's something in that," I admitted. "However, of one thing I am +certain in my own mind. Uncle Zabdiel won't give you up, nor will he +admit the man into the house if he can avoid it. I'm not taking any +stand by Uncle Zabdiel's integrity," I added. "I am only certain that he +has a wholesome dread of me, and will not offend me. Rest easy; nothing +will happen to you, my darling." + +Just before my departure I was met by my uncle at the door of his study. +He mysteriously beckoned me in, and closed the door. Then, something to +my surprise, he buttonholed me, and pulled me further into the room, and +stared up into my face with a pathetic expression of entreaty in his +eyes. + +"What's the matter?" I asked. + +"My dear boy--my only nephew--I want you to believe that I'm being +honest with you as far as I can; I don't want you to judge me hastily," +he began. "People get such wrong notions in their heads, and you might +hear something that would bring you rushing back here, and would leave +me no time for explanation. Will you believe what I'm going to tell +you?" + +He was fumbling me all over. I saw that he had been troubled by +something, and that his dread of me had been strongly revived. I was +playing for too great a stake then to make the blunder of being smooth +with him. I frowned and folded my arms, and looked down at him sternly. + +"Come, out with it!" I said. + +"There, now you're beginning to lose your temper before ever I've begun +to say a word," he said, backing away from me. "Do be reasonable!" + +"I don't know what the word is yet," I answered him. "Let's hear it." + +"Well, to put it briefly, that woman Leach has been here." He blurted +out the words, and stood looking at me as though wondering how I should +take the news. + +"Well, what then?" I asked him gravely. "What did you do?" + +"Everything you would have wished me to do," he replied quickly. "I told +her nothing; I sent her away again." + +"Did she enquire about me, or about Debora?" I asked. + +"About you first, and then about Debora," he whispered. "But, oh, I put +her off the scent. I was sharp with her. I asked what sort of man she +took me to be, to admit any minx to my house. And she went away, knowing +nothing." + +"That's good, and I'm very grateful to you," I assured him, now feeling +that I could give him all my confidence. "They'll leave no stone +unturned to get hold of the girl." + +"They?" He looked at me questioningly. + +"Yes, the woman as well as her master. I have just heard that Dr. Just +has been seen hanging about outside the house late last night, with +another man." + +I saw his face blanch, I saw him moisten his lips with his tongue and +clutch with one feeble hand at the back of his chair. I took no +particular notice of that, although long after I wished I had done; I +knew how easily startled he was. + +"You say that two men--two men watched this house last night, very +late?" he muttered. + +"Yes," I answered carelessly. "And one of them at least--this Bardolph +Just--will stick at nothing to get what he wants. He's of the sort that +snaps his fingers at a small matter of death." + +My Uncle Zabdiel twisted the chair round with a nervous movement, and +sank into it. I saw that he was trembling from head to foot. He seemed +to be brooding heavily upon something. Looking at him, I caught his eyes +more than once wandering covertly in my direction. + +"And you think that he would do anything to get hold of this girl?" he +asked. + +"There is not only the girl to be considered by him, but the very large +fortune which belongs to her, and which he also wishes to get hold of. I +tell you he will stick at nothing," I assured him earnestly. + +"He will stick at nothing!" he echoed, drawing a deep breath. + +"By the way, Uncle Zabdiel, have you been troubled with that dream of +yours again?" I asked carelessly. + +To my surprise he started to his feet with what was almost a cry. "No, +no! why should I dream that again?" he stammered, staring at me. +"Haven't I tried to forget it--haven't I persuaded myself that I had +forgotten it. Oh, dear God! that these things should be sent to trouble +a poor old man who has done his best always for everybody!" he moaned. +"There, there--go away; leave me alone! I want time to think--or rather +time not to think." + +I went away and left him, closing the door after me. Just as I reached +the hall door I came upon that tall youth, Andrew Ferkoe. He grinned +amiably. A sudden thought occurring to me, I drew him aside, and +whispered to him-- + +"Look here," I said, "I believe you're a friend of mine, aren't you?" + +"Rather!" he said. "You're so wonderful; you've seen such things, and +done such things." + +"Never mind about that," I said hastily. "I want you to promise to come +to me, if you think Miss Matchwick is in any danger, or if you think +anyone is plotting against her. See, here is my address"--I scribbled +it on a scrap of paper and thrust it into his hands--"and I shall rely +upon you to be faithful, to her as well as to me. Will you?" + +He seemed quite elated at his commission. "Do you really trust me?" he +asked gleefully. "I'd do anything for you, and for her. I feel somehow +that I'm getting braver and stronger. I shan't put up much longer with +old Blowfield's bullying. I feel sometimes when I look at him that I +could do murder!" + +I laughed as I went out of the house. The idea of this weak-kneed, lanky +youth, of all others, "doing murder" seemed too ridiculous. I went on my +way feeling pretty well satisfied with the turn of events, and firmly +convinced that the very fears under which Uncle Zabdiel laboured were +the greatest safeguard Debora and I could have. Moreover, I had gained +one other friend in that strange house, and that was Andrew Ferkoe. + +My lodging was in a little house not very far, as you may have guessed, +from that house belonging to Uncle Zabdiel in which Debora had so +opportunely found shelter. On this particular evening I was in no hurry +to retire to the one little room I had rented. On a sudden impulse I +made up my mind that I would linger a little while in the neighbourhood, +and would see, if possible, for myself whether or not those two shadows +on the wall really belonged to the doctor and to William Capper. So I +took up my station not very far from the house, but in a position from +which I could observe it easily; and there I waited. + +I will not describe my long wait, nor the shadows I saw, which might +have been the shadows of the doctor and Capper, but which were not. I +was disappointed fifty times at least, felt my heart jump as many times +when two men, or even one man, came anywhere in my direction, or +happened by the merest chance to glance towards that house. I had not +fully made up my mind what to do should either man put in an appearance, +and indeed I was saved the trouble of putting into execution any plan I +might have evolved, by reason of the fact that no one I knew came near +the house. + +Once, it is true, from where I watched, I saw an upper window open, and +the head of Uncle Zabdiel, like some extremely ugly gargoyle, obtrude +itself into the night. I guessed, with an inward chuckle, that he might +be looking for those shadows for which I also was on the watch. But soon +afterwards that window was closed, and the house was wrapped in silence +and darkness. I kept my vigil until something towards three in the +morning, and then went off to my lodging. In five minutes I was +undressed and in bed; the rest was a dreamless sleep. + +Lest I should be watched, I determined that I would not go near Zabdiel +Blowfield's house in daylight, or without taking due precautions. I +thought it possible that the woman Martha Leach might make a further +attempt, for the sake of her master, to discover something about me or +about Debora. I determined that I would not play into their hands. I +remembered what Bardolph Just had said about going abroad; I had great +hopes that he might carry that into effect, and so rid us all of his +presence. Perhaps in a saner moment I reflected that he was scarcely the +type of man to give up the game so lightly; but then when one is in love +one is usually optimistic. However, there was nothing for it but to +wait, and to possess my soul in patience. + +I was taking things very easily indeed that evening, lounging in the +window of my room, and smoking, and looking at the early stars that were +peeping out above me, when I became aware of a strange-looking figure +coming slowly up the deserted little street. Without troubling very much +about it, I became interested in the figure, which was that of a tall, +ungainly young man, whose face and head, from my elevated position, were +hidden by a hat which appeared to be many sizes too large for him. He +was craning his neck this way and that, apparently looking for some +particular house; every now and then he referred to a scrap of paper +which he held in his fingers. I was watching him idly, when all at once +I woke from my half-dream and started to my feet; with my hands leaning +on the window-sill I stared down at him intently. + +At that same moment he happened to look up towards me and I recognised +him. It was Andrew Ferkoe. I waved my hand, and nodded to him, and with +every extravagant sign of precaution he looked to right and to left, and +then came to the door of the house. I ran down and admitted him myself; +then I took him up to my room before permitting him to say a word. Once +in the room, with the door shut, I saw to my horror that he was shaking +from head to foot, and was alternately slapping his breast, and striving +to get some words out. + +"What's the matter?" I asked. "Take your time about it; there's nothing +to get excited about." + +He gasped again in that inarticulate fashion once or twice; then he +blurted out his message. + +"She--she's gone!" + +I pushed him into a chair and stood over him, with my hands on my hips, +striving by my own steadiness to put some steadiness into him. For a +time he only moaned, and shook his head and gaped at me, but at last, by +dint of threats and even some coaxing, I got his story out of him. + +"Early this morning old Blowfield sent me with a telegram addressed to a +Dr. Just; it was written out on a piece of paper, and I had to copy it +at the post-office. It was addressed to Dr. Just at a house in +Highgate. + +"Well, well, what did it say?" I asked impatiently. + +"I'm coming to it as fast as I can," said Andrew Ferkoe resentfully. +"You forget I ain't used to this sort of thing. It simply said, 'Come at +once; can give you news of the runaway,' and it was signed 'Z. +Blowfield,' with the address." + +I strangled an oath in my throat; I vowed that Uncle Zabdiel should pay +dearly for his treachery. "And what happened after that?" I demanded. + +"About mid-day a tall, dark man drove up in a great hurry and asked for +old Blowfield--at least, he asked for Mr. Blowfield," went on Ferkoe. "I +was turned out of the room, but they talked together for a long time. +Then the bell was rung, and I was told to go and find the young lady, +and tell her she was wanted. After she'd gone into the room I did what +I'd never done before," he added with a chuckle. "I listened outside." + +"Good lad!" I murmured. + +He went on again, seemingly elated at my praise of him. "They kept on +talking, all three of them, and I heard the young lady say over and over +again, 'I won't! I won't!' and the dark man kept on threatening, and +saying what he would do, and old Blowfield kept on telling her that it +was for the best, and that she'd better go back, though I don't know in +the least where he meant her to go. The door was open just the least +little bit, and I saw and heard everything, because old Blowfield would +never dream that I should dare to do a thing like that." + +"You're very slow!" I cried impatiently. "Tell me what happened then; +what did the young lady do? Did she refuse to leave the house?" + +"Yes, she kept on saying she wouldn't. And I'm being as fast as I can, +only there's such a lot to tell. I should get on faster if you weren't +so impatient." + +I subdued my wrath as best I could. I decided to let him go on in his +own fashion. + +"And then the funniest thing happened," he said, sitting upright in his +chair in his excitement, and staring at me round-eyed. "The dark +man--Dr. Just, I suppose--began to spread out his hands--like this"--he +made a curious fluttering movement with his hands before my face, so +grotesque a movement that I should have laughed under any other +circumstances--"and began to talk in a very low, smooth voice to the +young lady. At first she cried out to him to keep away from her, and +covered up her face with her hands, but after a time she dropped the +hands and stared at him. I saw her drop down into a chair and shut her +eyes. He never left off talking; he seemed to be telling her something +she was to do. He spoke so softly that I couldn't catch everything, but +he said something about a carriage, and about four o'clock in the +afternoon. Then suddenly he clapped his hands, and she jumped up, and +looked at him as if she was frightened." + +"You dolt!" I shouted, shaking him. "This devilish business happened at +mid-day, and here's night, and you've only just arrived to tell the +tale." + +"It wasn't my fault," he whimpered. "You ought to know what that house +is like; I'm watched every minute. I tried over and over again to slip +out, and couldn't; I only managed it, as it was, after it got dark. I've +done my best." + +"I beg your pardon," I said penitently. "I'm quite sure you have. Now +tell me what else happened." + +"Dr. Just went away, and the young lady went off to her room. I went +back to work, and old Blowfield kept on walking up and down the room, +and muttering to himself. Once he stopped, in order to ask me about you. +He wanted to know if I'd seen you." + +"Yes, I should think he would want to know that!" I muttered between my +teeth. + +"He said if you came near the house I wasn't to let you in; I was to go +for the police, or do something else to keep you away. Above all, I was +to give him warning, so that he could lock himself in somewhere." + +I laughed grimly. I knew that I had already secured the allegiance of +this poor warder, and could get at my man when I wanted to do so. I +urged him to go on with his tale. + +"Then, just as four o'clock was striking, and I was working, old +Blowfield gave me an awful fright; he suddenly put his hand on my +shoulder and whispered in my ear. 'Do you hear that?' he said; and I +wondered what he meant. And then I heard someone coming downstairs, +singing as they came." + +I could scarcely contain myself, but I determined I would wait for the +end. In his excitement Andrew Ferkoe had risen to his feet, and was +staring at me in the wildest fashion. + +"Old Blowfield went to the door and opened it, and I had a look out, +too. And there was the young lady," he went on, lowering his voice, +"going along the hall, and taking not the slightest notice of anybody. +She opened the door, and left it open; she walked across the garden; she +opened the gate, and left that open. Old Blowfield and me walked after +her, never so much as saying a word. There was a carriage waiting at the +gate, and she got into it and shut the door; then the carriage drove +away. And all the time she had never said a word. Old Blowfield laughed, +and shut the door, and went back to his room, and I went back too. And +that's the end of it." + +I sank down into a chair, and hid my face in my hands, and gave myself +up to my own bitter thoughts. What power had I against such arts as +these? What could I do, when a man could so steal the very soul out of a +woman and make her do his bidding in this fashion? What might not have +happened in all these hours during which I, drugged into a false +security, had stayed in this place, doing nothing but dream dreams? I +sprang to my feet at last, for I felt that this was no time for idle +dreaming. The time had come for action, and I would step now into the +matter, with no thought for myself, or for what might happen to me. It +must be Debora first, and Debora always; I would save her, if I dipped +my hands in blood to do it. + +"What are you going to do?" asked Andrew, staring at me. + +"I don't know yet," I answered him. "It depends on whether I can get +what I want by peaceful means; I'm going to try that first. After that, +I'm going to surprise certain friends of ours--give them such a +shaking-up as they'll remember to the end of their days." + +"And what are you going to do to old Blowfield?" he asked; and I thought +I saw in his face that he would relish anything that might happen to his +master. + +"What I'm going to do to old Blowfield, as you call him, won't bear +thinking about," I said. "Now, I don't want you to get into trouble; +you'd better cut off. I'm very grateful to you; I'm sorry if I seemed +impatient. Good-night!" + +He gripped my hand, and went downstairs. I followed him and let him out +into the silent street; saw him flutter off round the corner like a +long, awkward ghost. Then I closed the door and went upstairs again. + +I own I was puzzled what to do. My own crude methods had failed +hitherto; I must, if possible, meet subtlety with subtlety. Of what use +was it for me to induce Debora to come willingly to me, if all my plans +could be upset in a moment by Dr. Just, as they had been this day? Yet I +knew that I must first go to that house in which she was imprisoned; my +business with Zabdiel Blowfield could wait, I told myself fiercely. + +I got a tram down to Highgate, cursing its slowness all the way; and so +at last stood outside the house, not having yet made up my mind what to +do. I opened the gate cautiously, and went into the grounds. I saw that +the house, so far as the front, at least, was concerned, was in +darkness. I knew that it would be madness to attempt to obtain +admittance in the usual fashion; I determined to break into the house, +as I had done once before. + +I was on the very point of selecting my window, when I heard a rustling +among the leaves close to me; I drew back and waited. There came into +sight out of the shadows William Capper; but not the William Capper I +seemed to have known. For this man stood alert and ready, and the face I +saw in the light of the stars was the keen, watchful face I had +surprised before. He seemed to be waiting for something; he, too, was +watching the house. Determined to put the matter to the test, I stepped +out quickly from my hiding-place and confronted him. + +The instant change in the man was surprising; but this time it did not +deceive me. I gripped the now drooping figure by the shoulder and shook +him. He looked up at me with that vacant smile on his face, but said +nothing. + +"What's the game, Capper?" I asked quickly in a whisper. "Why are you +pretending you don't understand things, and can't remember things? I +hate this man Just, quite as much as you do; why won't you confide in +me?" + +For a moment I thought he was going to do so; he kept very still under +my grip, and I knew that he was thinking the matter over carefully. It +was almost as though I could see into his mind. But a moment later he +seemed to come to some resolution; he looked up quickly, and shook his +head, with that lost look again in his eyes. + +"I don't understand," he whispered. "I don't remember." + +"Yes, you do," I retorted roughly. "You're as sane as I am; and you've +got some purpose in your mind--and I can guess what it is." + +"You frighten me, sir," he said in a whisper. "I am old and feeble, and +I have forgotten so many things. Please let me alone." + +He did it so well, that for a moment I believed that I had not seen that +change in him; at all events, I saw that I could do nothing with him, +and I watched him as he drifted away among the trees and was lost to my +sight. Then I turned my attention to the house. + +But I found that every door and every window was strongly fastened and +shuttered; evidently they had been expecting a visit from me. I had +nothing with which I could effect an entrance, so that I merely raged +round the place, in a futile fashion, in the darkness, wondering what I +should do. Every now and then I thought I caught sight of the man +Capper, dodging about in the shadows; but even of that I could not be +sure. At last, in desperation, I went to the big hall-door and boldly +rang the bell. + +I waited for a long time, while I heard slight movements within the +house; then there was a whispering behind the closed door. I had made up +my mind that the moment that door was opened I would force my way in, at +whatever risk. I prepared to rush the citadel now, by drawing back a +little, where no light could reach me as the door was opened, so that I +could force anyone who had answered my ringing to peer out. While I +waited, I was certain that I saw Capper waiting, too, a few yards away. + +My ruse succeeded. The door was opened a little way, and the voice of +Martha Leach demanded to know who was there; then there was more +whispering, and the door was opened a little further, and Martha Leach +stepped out under the porch. I made one leap at her, and caught her in +my arms; and before she quite knew what was happening, had literally +rolled with her into the hall, keeping a tight clutch of her. In the +confusion someone slammed the door, and I put my back against it. + +I saw that it would be a matter of three to one, at the least, even +though one of the three was partly disabled. The doctor had backed away +as he saw us come flying in, and I think it must have been Harvey +Scoffold who shut the door. I blurted out at once what I had to say. + +"There's a young lady here--Miss Matchwick--detained against her will. +Where is she?" + +"Turn that fellow out!" shouted the doctor. "Two of you ought to be able +to manage him, I should think. Turn him out!" + +Now, it is a most undignified thing to be tackled by a woman; yet I am +bound to confess that in the rough and tumble that ensued, Martha Leach +did more than her full share. Bardolph Just had run back into the house, +and had set a bell ringing; a couple of men-servants came rushing up. I +did not want to hit the woman; but I longed for one blow at Harvey +Scoffold, and as a matter of fact I contrived to get one or two really +serviceable ones in on his rotund person. But by this time, while we +were all scrambling about together, and while I was raising my voice in +repeated shouts of "Debora," in the hope that I might attract her +attention, the woman had literally wound herself about me, so that I +was powerless. The door was pulled open, and this time we tumbled out +instead of in. And as Martha dexterously released me only when I was +outside, and contrived to trip me up very neatly down the steps, she was +inside again, and the door closed, before I could get to my feet. Then I +heard the bolts shooting into place, and knew that the victory was with +them. + +I had a mind to set the bell ringing again, in the hope to force them to +open the door. But I had the good sense to understand that I should +serve no good purpose in that way; I should, in all probability, bring +some night policeman down upon me, when explanations would be difficult. +For after all, on the face of it, you cannot very well demand that a +young lady shall be fetched out at night from the house of a +highly-respectable guardian by a stranger who can give no really good +account of himself. And that, as you will acknowledge, was exactly the +position of affairs. + +Baffled, I went away again, and was fortunate enough to be able to get +back to Barnet in the same fashion as before. You may imagine my frame +of mind by the time I got to Uncle Zabdiel's house; I was in a state of +ungovernable fury. I marched into the garden, and rang the bell +violently, and waited. After a minute or two, during which I had +repeated the summons, I heard a window raised above me, and, looking up, +saw Uncle Zabdiel's wicked old head looking out. All about me was very +quiet, for the house stood somewhat retired from an unfrequented road, +and I could hear his voice distinctly. + +"Who is it? What do you want?" he demanded. + +"I want to come in," I said, stepping back a little from the door so +that he could see me. "You know me, Uncle Zabdiel." + +"I should think I do," he sneered. "Do you think I should be fool +enough to let you in--you wild beast!--you bully!--I've too great a care +for my own safety for that." + +"You'd better let me in quietly," I warned him. + +"I won't--I won't!" he almost shouted. "I mean to protect myself. And +I'll tell you something else, my young friend," he went on, leaning +further out of the window, and shaking a fist at me. "I've made up my +mind to see you comfortably put away again." + +"Indeed?" I retorted, "and how are you going to manage that?" + +"I've written to the authorities, telling them that if they come here +to-morrow night I can give them a full and true account of a certain +convict called Norton Hyde, supposed to be buried in Penthouse Prison, +but really very much alive. Put that in your pipe and smoke it! I've +cooked your goose, my boy, and I shall sleep peaceful o' nights in +future." + +He slammed down the window, leaving me standing in the darkness, +thinking long thoughts. I saw that it was as hopeless for me to get in +here as it had proved to be at the house of Bardolph Just; I went +sorrowfully out of the gate, realising that all was over. As I turned +into the road, I almost cannoned against a man who seemed to be lounging +there. He turned away his face quickly, and although for a moment I had +a feeling that it was a face that was familiar to me, the thought merely +flitted through my mind for a moment, and was gone as the man lurched +away. I saw that he was dressed roughly, like a labouring man. + +You may be sure that I did not sleep that night. I paced my room, +wondering what I should do; I varied that only by seating myself at the +window, and staring out at the sky, telling myself over and over again +that all I had striven to do had come to naught. To-morrow the true +story would be told to the world; to-morrow Norton Hyde would be a +hunted man again, with three or four people interested in his capture, +who would know all his movements, and could supply a dozen clues towards +finding him. It was impossible for me to do anything to help Debora, +because Bardolph Just's house would be one of the first places to be +watched, if it came to a hunt for me. I was done. + +And then it was that I came to a desperate resolution. I was homeless +and hopeless, and I had failed; I determined that I would keep the +appointment that night, and would meet those who were to see my uncle. I +would give myself up to the authorities, and so end the miserable +business by going back to my prison. There was nothing else for it; I +felt that it was far better to close the matter once and for all time. + +I got to Uncle Zabdiel's house after darkness had set in. Just as I +turned into the road leading to it, I saw two men, respectably dressed +in dark clothing, and with bowler hats, going along in front of me; my +heart gave a little jump, for I thought I knew their errand. They came +to the gate in the wall and opened it. I had determined by this time +that I would waste no time, and so I came up with them as they passed +into the garden. One of them turned and looked at me. + +"What do you want, sir?" he asked. + +"I've come to see Mr. Blowfield," I replied; for I had made up my mind +to see the matter out in my uncle's presence. + +The man said nothing, but joined his companion, who was standing before +the door of the house, and who had just rung the bell. There was no +answer to the summons, and after a time he tugged at the bell-pull +again. In moving to do this he made a discovery. + +"Why, the door's open," he murmured; then he pushed it, and stepped into +the dark hall. + +"Hadn't you better call out?" said the other man. + +The first man lifted his voice, and called out sharply, "Mr. Blowfield! +Mr. Blowfield!" + +His voice echoed in a dreary fashion through the house, and seemed to +come back at us. The first man had by this time touched a shelf which +stood in the hall, and on which was a lamp. Looking about him sharply +while he did so, he dexterously got a light and lit the lamp; then, with +a glance at his companion, he stepped into the room which was the +dining-room. It was empty. + +I followed them from that room into the study, which again was empty. +Then the first man, still carrying the lamp, after muttering something +to his companion which I did not hear, began to ascend the stairs. I was +the last of the trio, and I suddenly heard the first man cry out in an +excited voice. + +"Here, catch hold of this!" he exclaimed, passing the lamp down to the +other man. "There's been an accident!" + +I pressed forward then, and looked. Lying prone upon the staircase, with +his head and shoulders hanging down over the top stairs, lay Uncle +Zabdiel. Beside him was a heavy stick--that stick with which he had once +threatened me--and his head and face were cruelly beaten in. Whoever had +killed him had not been able to bear the sight of him afterwards, for +the clothes from his bed had been dragged out of the room and pulled +across him. + +Uncle Zabdiel's dream had come true. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +"THAT'S THE MAN!" + + +Half-a-dozen surmises seemed to rush through my mind at that first sight +of Uncle Zabdiel lying dead. The first--that he had tried to drive too +hard a bargain with Bardolph Just, and had been caught in his own net; +the next, that that badly-used youth, Andrew Ferkoe, had turned at last +and killed his oppressor. I thought, too, that perhaps some poor +creature he had driven to desperation, and ground hard in his money +mill, had chosen this way to pay his debts. + +One of the men ran off in what I thought was an absurd search for a +doctor; the other stood waiting, and keeping, as I thought, a watchful +eye upon me. In truth, I was not altogether comfortable, for although +Uncle Zabdiel's lips were for ever sealed, I thought it possible that he +might have made the bare statement that his supposedly-dead nephew was +alive, in writing to the authorities. In which case, it might go hard +with me that I should be seen in the neighbourhood of the house in which +he had been so recently killed, and that house, too, with its front door +open. The man had set down the lamp upon the landing, where it lighted +up the dead man horribly; he now began to put a few questions to me. + +"Had you an appointment with this gentleman?" he asked in a low voice. + +"Yes, I had," I answered. "An appointment on a matter of business. I was +coming to the house, when I saw you and the other man on your way here. +May I ask who you are?" For I thought it better to pretend ignorance, +although I knew well that these must be the men for whom Uncle Zabdiel +had sent. + +"We are police officers," said the man, "and _we_ had an appointment +with Mr. Blowfield for this evening. It seems a pity that we were not a +little earlier," he added. + +"You might have been useful," I added drily. "What should Mr. Blowfield +want with you?" + +The man looked at me suspiciously, but did not answer. He turned to look +at the dead man with a thoughtful frown on his face. "This is the sort +of case that absolutely invites murder, in a manner of speaking," he +said. "A lonely old man--probably without a soul in the house--pretty +well off, I expect; that sort of thing soon gets spread about among the +sort of people to whom it's of interest. Of course, I couldn't say +off-hand; but I should judge that robbery was the business here, and +that whoever did it has had to make a mighty quick exit, or they would +scarcely have left the door as we found it. It's been a touch-and-go +business, and, as I say, if we had been a little earlier the old +gentleman might have been alive to tell us what he wanted to tell us." + +Now, although I had been resolute in my determination to end the matter, +and to go back to my prison, I found myself thanking my stars that the +old gentleman had not been alive to say what he had to say. Not that I +should ever have found it in my heart to do him an injury on my own +account, and, indeed, I was a little horrified to find him done to +death in this fashion; but you must understand how great a relief it was +for me. + +By this time the second man had come back, bringing with him a young +doctor. The latter glanced quickly from one to the other of us, and then +knelt down on the stairs to make his examination. The first police +officer stood near to him, holding the lamp; I, with the other man, +stood below. In a moment or two the doctor looked up, with pursed lips, +and nodded quickly to the man with the lamp. + +"Nothing for me to do here," he said quietly. "He's been dead about half +an hour--scarcely more, I should think. A weak old man like this +wouldn't stand much chance when he came face to face with a strong man +armed with that stick. He's had two blows--one clean in front, and the +other at the side. He must have died almost on the instant. Anyone +suspected?" + +The man with the lamp shook his head. "We've only arrived here a matter +of minutes ago," he replied, "having been asked by the old gentleman to +call here to-night." + +"What for?" The doctor, who had risen to his feet, asked the question +sharply. + +"This Mr. Blowfield," answered the man in a perplexed tone, "has written +to Scotland Yard, saying that if someone would call to see him he could +give them information concerning a nephew of his--a man called Norton +Hyde. This nephew robbed him some time ago, and was sentenced to penal +servitude. He escaped, and committed suicide rather than be captured; so +that I don't see what the old gentleman could have had to tell us." + +I determined that I would strike in boldly for myself; it would seem +less suspicious than keeping silence. "Oh, yes!" I exclaimed, a little +scornfully, "he's had that idea for a long time--he was always talking +about it." + +"What idea?" asked the doctor. + +"The idea that his nephew was alive," I said. "I daresay you may +remember the case of the young man?" I added. + +"Perfectly," said the doctor. "I wonder where the old chap got that +notion from?" + +"We'd better go through the house, and see what has been disturbed," +said the first man, moving forward with the lamp. Then suddenly, after a +whispered word to his companion, he turned again to me. "Were you a +friend of Mr. Blowfield?" he asked, and this time I saw the doctor also +looking at me curiously. + +"Oh, yes! I knew him well," I answered readily. "Believe me," I said, +with a little laugh, "I am quite willing to give you every information +in my power concerning myself. My name is John New, and I am lodging +quite near here. I have been in the habit of coming backwards and +forwards on various occasions; as you know, I came in just behind you +to-night." + +"That's true enough, sir," said the other man. + +Now all this time I had quite forgotten the boy Andrew Ferkoe; and +suddenly it leapt into my mind that instead of being in the house, as he +should properly have been, we had seen nothing of him. My heart sank at +that remembrance, for I liked the boy, and had been sorry to think how +badly he was treated. I could sympathise with him more than anyone else +could well do, for had I not suffered just as he had suffered, and had +not I made shipwreck of my life because of this old man who had gone to +his account? I felt certain now in my own mind what had happened; Andrew +Ferkoe had turned at last upon his master, and had beaten him to death, +and then had fled out of the house. + +The man with the lamp turned at the door of a room, and looked back at +me over his shoulder. "Did you know anything about his habits, sir?" he +asked. "Did he live alone?" + +I determined to lie. After all, they might not discover anything about +the wretched boy if I held my peace. "Quite alone, I believe," I said. +"There was an old woman used to come in to clean house for him, and cook +his meals; but only for an hour or two a day." + +"Just as I thought: this sort of party absolutely asks to be murdered!" +he exclaimed. + +We found the place in great disorder. Drawers had been wrenched open, +and the contents scattered in all directions; desks forced, and +cupboards burst open. So far as we could judge, my Uncle Zabdiel must +have been in his bedroom at the time of the attack, and must have heard +a noise, and come out, armed with that heavy stick of his. There could +not have been any struggle, save in the wrenching away of the stick from +his grasp; after that it had been a mere matter of the two blows, as the +doctor had suggested. The robbery afterwards had been a hurried +business, bunglingly done. The great safe in the corner of the +study--that room in which I had toiled so many years--was untouched; +and, from what I knew of my uncle and his ideas regarding property, I +judged that the murderer had got but little for that risking of his +neck. That he had tried to cover up the body from his own sight was +obvious, from the fact that he must have gone back into the bedroom, and +so have dragged out the bed-clothing to put over his victim. + +"We'll go through the rest of the house," said the man; and I suddenly +leapt to the remembrance that they must discover Andrew Ferkoe's room, +and his bed, and must begin to put awkward questions to me. I was on +the point of suggesting that I believed the other rooms to be empty; +but, on second thoughts, I felt it best to hold my tongue, and to trust +that the boy might yet escape. + +So the four of us came to the door of the room, and the man with the +lamp unsuspiciously opened it, and went in. He stopped with a gasp, and +looked back at us. + +"There's someone here!" he whispered. "In bed--and asleep!" + +Wonderingly we went forward into the room. The man with the lamp bent +over the bed and turned back the clothes. Andrew Ferkoe seemed to rouse +himself from sleep, and to stretch his arms; he sat up and yawned at us. +For my part, I felt that he rather overdid the thing. His face was white +and drawn; but then, it was always that. I confess I was a little +contemptuous of the cunning he displayed; I was not quite so sorry for +him as I had been. There we stood, grouped about his bed, while he sat +up and looked round from one to the other of us. + +"What's the matter?" he asked. + +The doctor gave a short laugh. "Matter enough!" he ejaculated. "Do you +mean to say you've been asleep?" + +"Of course," said Andrew Ferkoe. "What else should I go to bed for?" + +"Do you mean to tell us that you've heard nothing to-night?" asked the +man with the lamp sharply. "No struggling--no crying out?" + +Andrew Ferkoe slowly shook his head. "I don't know what you're talking +about," he said. "Who are you? I know that gentleman," he added, +pointing to me. "What do they want, Mr. New?" + +I began to have a sneaking admiration for the boy, even though I +shuddered at him; I thought how wonderfully he played the game. I +answered as calmly as I could. + +"Your master has been murdered, Andrew," I said--"brutally done to +death. Have you really been asleep?--have you heard nothing?" + +"Nothing at all, sir," he said, scrambling out of bed, and standing +ghostlike amongst us in his long night-shirt, and with his thin, bare +feet and ankles showing. "I don't know anything about it." + +He began to whimper, looking from one to the other of us in a terrified +way; I began to have my doubts whether, after all, he was not sincere, +and had not really slept through the horrible business. + +"I thought you said that the old gentleman lived alone?" asked the +police officer, turning to me. + +"When I said that I'd clean forgotten the boy," I answered easily. "You +see, I've never been here except by daylight; how should I know that +anyone else slept in the house?" + +That explanation seemed simple enough, and, in a fashion, satisfactory. +I suggested to the man that Andrew Ferkoe should be allowed to dress; I +pledged my word to look after him. + +"You see, you can hardly leave the boy in the house alone, after what +has occurred," I urged. "You have my address, and you can verify it if +you like. Let me take the boy with me, and I will undertake to produce +him for any enquiry at any time." + +I saw that they hesitated; it was the doctor who put in the final word +on Andrew Ferkoe's behalf. He had been looking at the youth curiously, +had even put a hand on his shoulder, and had twisted him about to look +into his eyes. + +"I shouldn't think much suspicion would attach to our young friend +here," he said. "A bit of a weakling, I should imagine, not very likely +to do any harm to anyone. Certainly it won't do to leave him in this +place. Get dressed, my lad," he added to Andrew. + +As he turned away I heard him whisper to the man with the lamp, "He's +been asleep fast enough. I doubt if the old man even cried out. The +whole attack would be too sudden." + +I waited with Andrew Ferkoe while he got dressed; the others went +downstairs to move the body of Uncle Zabdiel. Once or twice I noticed +that the boy looked at me in a furtive way. I began to think that if he +had been innocent he would in all probability have said something, or +have asked some question. He got into his clothes rapidly, fumbling a +great deal with the buttons, as though his fingers trembled. Once he +looked up, and opened his mouth as if to speak. I shook my head at him. +"Better not say anything, Andrew," I said in a whisper. + +He looked at me in a startled way, but finished his dressing without a +word. We went out of the room together, and on the stairs I met the +doctor and the two men, who were waiting for us. It seemed that one man +was to remain in charge of the house, while the other walked with me to +my lodging to see that the address I had given was a correct one. In a +few minutes Andrew Ferkoe and I were walking along in silence, side by +side, with the police officer a little in the rear. + +In due course we came to my lodgings, and there the man left us. I +roused up the landlady, something to her surprise, and told her that I +must have another bed put into my room. I did not mean to lose sight of +the youth until I had decided what to do with him. + +The woman very obligingly got out a little camp bedstead that was stowed +away in an attic, and I assisted her to rig it up in a corner of my +room. Then she bade us "Good-night," and Andrew Ferkoe and I were left +alone. And for a time there was silence, while I sat on the side of my +bed and smoked, and looked at him. + +"Why do you look at me in that queer way?" he asked at last, in a +trembling voice. + +"Look here, Andrew," I said solemnly, "let me say quite reverently that +at the present moment there's just God and you and me in this room, and +God understands a great deal better even than I do what you have had to +put up with. Don't speak until I've finished," I exclaimed sternly, +"because I want to give you a word of warning. If you want to tell me +anything, let's hear it; if you don't want to tell me anything, go to +bed, and try to sleep. But if you do speak--speak the truth." + +He looked at me round-eyed, and with his mouth wide open, for nearly a +minute; then he gasped out a question. "Do you--do you really think I +did it?" he asked. + +"I don't think about it at all," I answered. "I'm waiting for you to +tell me--if you feel you want to." + +"I didn't do it--I never touched him. I should never have had the +strength or the courage," he began, in a shaking whisper. + +"But you were shamming sleep," I reminded him. + +"Of course I was," was his surprising answer. "What else could I do? I +didn't know who you were, or who was coming into the place, and I'd seen +enough in the way of horrors for one night to last me all my life." He +shuddered, and covered his face with his hands, and dropped down on to +his bed. + +"Seen enough horrors!" I echoed. "What had you seen?" + +He looked up at me, and began his extraordinary story. "I went to bed a +long time before old Blowfield," he said. "I think I went to sleep +almost at once; I generally do, you know. At all events I didn't hear +the old man come up to his room. When I first woke up I heard a noise +down below in the house, just like somebody wrenching open a shutter. I +got horribly frightened, and I put my head under the bedclothes, and +kept very still; it was just like that night when you broke in and came +to my room. After a time the noise stopped, and I began to wonder +whether someone had tried to get in and couldn't, or whether they had +really got into the house. It must have been about a quarter of an hour +after that--only it seemed ever so much longer--that I first heard old +Blowfield cry out." + +I felt certain now that he was speaking the truth. Watching him +narrowly, I saw the terror grow in his eyes at the recollection of what +he had heard and seen in that grim old house. I nodded to him to go on. + +"I heard old Blowfield shout out, 'Who's there?'" went on the youth. "He +shouted that twice, and I got so excited that I crept out of my room in +the dark, and leaned over the rail at the top of the staircase. I saw +old Blowfield standing there, and just below him was a man, and the man +was crouching as if he was going to spring. Old Blowfield struck at him +with the stick--he was holding a candle in his left hand, so that he +could see what he was doing--and the man dodged, and caught the stick, +and pulled it out of his hand. The man struck old Blowfield once, and he +went down and lay still; and then he struck him again." + +"Why didn't you raise an alarm?" I asked, somewhat needlessly. + +"What good would that have been?" murmured Andrew Ferkoe resentfully. "I +could see that the man didn't think there was anyone else in the house. +What chance should I have had if he'd caught sight of me? I don't know +whether I made any noise, but while he stood there with the stick in his +hands he looked up towards where I was, but he didn't see me. Then he +went back into the bedroom and came out, dragging the bedclothes; he +threw them on top of the old man. When he went down into the house I +slipped back into my room and got into bed; I simply dared not move or +make a sound." + +"How long did you stop like that?" I asked. + +"I don't rightly know," was his reply, as he shook his head. "It seemed +a long time, and at first I could hear him moving about the house here +and there, and then there was a silence. I had just got out of bed, +meaning to go down, when I heard another movement in the house, and then +voices. And I lay there, trembling so that I could feel the bed shaking +under me, until at last, after what seemed hours, I heard people coming +up the stairs, and coming into my room. And then I gave myself up for +lost, and tried hard to pray. I thought if I pretended to be asleep they +wouldn't kill me, and so I pretended. You may imagine how relieved I +felt when I opened my eyes and saw you." + +"That's all very well, my young friend," I said, "but why in the world +didn't you tell the truth at once, and say what you'd seen? Why did you +lie, and say that you had been asleep and had heard nothing?" + +He looked at me with an expression of cunning on his lean face. + +"Who was going to believe me?" he asked. "Even you had heard me say how +badly the old man had treated me, and how I wished I had the courage to +kill him; even you believed to-night, first of all, that I had done it. +If I had told any story about a man coming into the place and killing +old Blowfield, and going again, they would have laughed at me. I was in +a tight corner, and the only thing I could do was to pretend that I had +slept through it all." + +I saw the reasonableness of that argument; it might have gone hard with +the boy if for a moment suspicion had fallen upon him. "Did you see the +face of the man clearly?" I asked, after a pause. "What was he like?" + +"He was a small man, stooping a little," said Andrew Ferkoe. "I should +think he would be about forty-five or fifty years of age. He was dressed +like a labourer." + +Instantly I remembered the man I had seen on the previous evening +lurking outside the house; I wished now that I had taken more note of +him. I began to wonder who it could be, and whether it was only some +chance loafer who had selected that house as one likely to suit his +purpose for burglary. It could scarcely have been anyone who knew Uncle +Zabdiel's habits well, or he would not have been surprised on the stairs +as he had been; for the fact that he had to snatch a weapon from the +hand of the old man proved, I thought, that he had not gone there +meaning to kill. For the matter of that, few men enter a place with that +deliberate intention; it is only done in the passion of the moment, when +they must strike and silence another, or suffer the penalty for what +they have done. + +Long after the boy was in bed and asleep I sat there watching him. Even +now my mind was not clear of doubts concerning Andrew Ferkoe, smooth +though his tale was. I wondered if all he had told me was true, or if, +after all, he had seized that occasion to strike down the old man, and +so pay off old scores. I knew that for the present I must leave the +matter, and must wait for time or chance to elucidate the mystery. + +It must have been about the middle of the night when I found myself +sitting up in bed, very wide awake, with one name seeming to din itself +into my ears. I wondered why I had not thought of it before. + +"William Capper!" + +It had been a little man, who walked with drooping shoulders, a man who +might be forty-five or fifty years of age. Well, Capper was older than +that, but then Andrew Ferkoe had only seen the man in the dim light of a +candle. + +And the motive? That was more difficult to arrive at, although even I +thought there I saw my way. Capper I knew was determined to kill +Bardolph Just if he could, and he would know that Bardolph Just had gone +to the house of Zabdiel Blowfield. What more natural than that he should +have seen him arrive, but should have missed him when he went away; that +would explain the man in labouring clothes I had seen hanging about near +the house. Capper would know that he must put on some sort of disguise +in order to bring himself into the presence of the doctor, and in order +to lull the other's dread of him. I was convinced now that it was Capper +who had forced his way into the house late at night, and, finding +himself suddenly confronted by a man who demanded his business, had +aimed a blow at him at the same time, and killed Zabdiel Blowfield on +the impulse of the moment. I lay down again, firmly convinced that I had +arrived at a proper solution of the matter. + +I further questioned Ferkoe in the morning, and all that he told me +served the more to settle the thing in my mind. I wondered if by any +chance Capper would be discovered; I wondered also whether, after all, I +had been mistaken in my estimate of him, and whether the sudden gusts of +passion that had swept over him on the two occasions in regard to +Bardolph Just might not have been real madness, and might, in this last +case, have found their victim in a man with whom Capper had nothing to +do. In that case he was merely a harmful lunatic, dangerous to anyone +when those gusts of passion swept him. + +I found that during the next day or two I was pretty closely watched and +interrogated by one and another, and more than once I trembled for my +liberty, and even for my life. For you will understand that I was +surrounded now, more than ever, by dangers of every sort; if it could +once have been proved or even suggested that I was that convict nephew +of the dead man, it would have gone hard with me. For here was I, +masquerading under another name, and actually walking up to the house on +the night of the murder. And had not Zabdiel Blowfield actually stated +in writing that he could tell the authorities something concerning his +nephew, Norton Hyde? The motive was clear; it had been vitally necessary +that I should silence Uncle Zabdiel at all costs. + +So I argued the matter, and I remembered uneasily enough that that +weakling, Andrew Ferkoe, knew who I really was, and might, in case of +extremity, give my secret away. On the other hand it turned out that the +police had found a scrap of writing in the house, which gave the name +and address of Dr. Bardolph Just, so that that gentleman was brought +into the business, in order that questions might be asked of him. I had +gone down to the house, and there we came face to face. + +There was no necessity for me to ask him what he thought about the +matter; I read in his face that he was certain in his own mind that I +was the man. I should not have spoken to him at all, because when next I +fought him I meant to fight with other weapons than my tongue, but he +came up to me, and looked at me with that evil grin of his. + +"This is a bad business," he said. "I understand that you were here +almost immediately after the thing was done, eh?" + +"Yes, and not before," I replied in a whisper. "You're on the wrong +track, I assure you. I've had nothing to do with the matter." + +I saw that he had something more to say to me. When presently I left the +house he strolled along by my side. His first words were startling +enough, in all conscience. + +"Well, so for the moment you have succeeded," he said quietly. + +I turned and stared at him; I did not understand in the least what he +meant. "In what have I succeeded?" I asked. "Don't I tell you that I'm +not responsible for the business we've just been talking about." + +"You know what I'm referring to," he said, harshly. "I'm speaking of the +girl." + +I had learnt wisdom, and I controlled myself with an effort. "What of +her?" I asked carelessly. + +I saw his eyes flash, and noticed that his teeth were clenched hard as +he strode along beside me. "You've got her!" he burst out at last, "but +you shan't keep her. You've been wise enough, too, to hide her away +somewhere where you don't go yourself. I've had you watched, and I know +that. But I'll find her, and if I don't find her within a certain time, +determined on by myself, I'll tell my story, and you shall hang!" + +I was on the point of blurting out that I knew nothing about the matter, +but on second thoughts I held my tongue. I guessed in a moment that +Debora must have made her escape from the house, and must be somewhere +in hiding, and, of course, she would not know where to communicate with +me. My heart leapt at the thought that she was free; it sank again at +the thought that she might be penniless and unprotected amongst +strangers. At the same time I decided that I would not give him any +undue advantage over me, by letting him understand that I did not know +where the girl was. I merely shrugged my shoulders and laughed. + +"You can take my warning, and make the most of it," he said abruptly. +"If Debora does not return to me within the time I have mapped out--and +I shall not even tell you what that time is--I tell what I know to the +right people." + +I remembered what Debora had said to me about her certainty that this +man had caused the death of Gregory Pennington; I had a shot at that +matter now. "And some explanation will be needed regarding the man you +allowed to be shut away in a grave in Penthouse Prison," I said quietly. + +He turned his head sharply, and looked at me. I regarded him steadily. +"That's a matter you'll have to explain," he said, with a grin. + +"I?" It was my turn to look amazed. + +"Yes--you," he said. "I've got my story ready when the time comes, I +assure you. All I've had to do with it has been the covering up of your +traces; that was only pity for a forlorn wretch, hunted almost to death. +The changing of the clothes was your business. I don't see how it +affects me." + +We had come to a point where he was turning off in one direction and I +going in another. I gave him my final shot at parting. "Not if Gregory +Pennington really committed suicide," I said. + +I looked back when I had gone a little way, and saw Bardolph Just in the +same attitude in which I had left him, looking after me. It was as +though I had stricken him dumb and motionless with what I had said, and +I was now more than ever convinced that Debora had been right in her +conjecture. I had done one good thing, at least; he would scarcely dare +to carry out his threat of exposing me; he might think that I had some +inside knowledge of which he was ignorant. + +Meanwhile I was seriously troubled about Debora. It was impossible for +me to know what had become of her, or where she was; my only hope was +that there might be an accidental meeting between us. The various places +known to us both were known also to our enemies; if Debora had gone to +the house of Uncle Zabdiel she would in all probability have been seen +there by Bardolph Just, or by some one in his pay. Similarly, she would, +of course, keep as far away as possible from his house and from the +cottage where once I had left her with Harvey Scoffold. I roamed the +streets, looking into every face that passed me, yet never seeing the +face for which I longed. + +An inquest on Uncle Zabdiel took place in the ordinary course, and a +certain John New gave evidence of his slight acquaintance with the +murdered gentleman, and of what he had seen on the night of the murder. +The astounding fact that Andrew Ferkoe had slept through the whole +business came out in court, and was the immediate cause of some +extraordinary newspaper headlines, in which more than one reporter +developed a hitherto undiscovered talent for wit at Andrew's expense. It +may be wondered at, perhaps, that I should have persuaded the boy to +stick to his original story, but, apart from anything else, I had strong +reasons for preventing any suspicion falling upon the man Capper, and, +above all, I did not for a moment believe that Andrew Ferkoe's real +story would be believed. I had grown to believe it myself, but I thought +that for many reasons it might be well if Ferkoe left it to be imagined +that he had really slept, and had seen nothing. + +So the matter remained a mystery, with only one curious element in it, +for me at least, and that was a little point that came out in the +evidence. It seemed that no finger prints had been discovered anywhere, +although many things in the house had been handled. It was obvious that +the murderer had worn gloves. That seemed to point to a more +professional hand than that of poor Capper, and served a little to upset +my theory, but on the whole I believed it still. + +I was to be undeceived, nevertheless, and that within a little time. On +the very day of the inquest, when Andrew Ferkoe and myself were walking +away, we turned, with almost a natural impulse, towards the house which +had been the scene of the tragedy--perhaps you may call that a morbid +impulse. It was a place that would always have a curious attraction for +me, by reason of the fact that the greater part of my life had been +spent there, and that I had seen many curious things occur there, and +that once poor Debora had taken refuge in it. It was all ended now with +the death of the man who had worked so much harm to me; I was thinking +about it all as I stood outside the place, when I felt my arm clutched +convulsively, and looked round, to see that Andrew Ferkoe, with a +dropping jaw, was staring at a man who was standing at a little distance +from us, also watching the house--a man dressed as a labourer. + +"What's the matter?" I whispered. I could not see the man's face from +where I stood; his cap was drawn down at one side, so as partially to +conceal it. + +"That's the man!" whispered Andrew, in a shaking voice. "I know the +clothes, and I saw his face for a moment when he turned this way." + +"Pull yourself together, and don't look as if you'd seen a ghost," I +whispered sharply. "We'll follow the man, and see where he goes. As he +hasn't seen you, go on ahead a bit, and then turn so that you can see +his face; then come back to me." + +The youth hurried away; walked past the man with his long stride; then +came back. I saw the man glance at him for a moment sharply as he came +past; then Andrew came up to me, his face white with excitement. + +"That's the man! I'm certain of it," he said. + +We walked for a long way after the man, until at last he seemed to have +some suspicion concerning us. Once or twice he stopped, and, of course, +we stopped also; then at last he turned about, and came straight back +towards where we waited. + +He carried his head low, but I thought I knew the bend of his shoulders; +I was convinced that in a moment he would look up, and I should see +William Capper looking at me. + +But I was wrong. For when he looked up, with a sullen glance of +defiance, I saw that it was George Rabbit! + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +WILLIAM CAPPER COMES TO LIFE. + + +Mr. George Rabbit looked me up and down with a new expression of +countenance. I noticed, too, that some of his alertness was gone, and +that his narrow, shifty eyes avoided mine. He had no reason to think +that I should suspect him of the murder of my Uncle Zabdiel; +nevertheless, he looked at me resentfully, as though, before even I had +spoken, he knew I was going to accuse him of it. + +"Wotjer mean by follerin' a honest man about like this 'ere?" he +demanded savagely. "If I 'ad my rights, I ought to be follerin' you, Mr. +Jail-bird--seein' wot I know abaht yer." Then, as I said nothing, but +looked at him steadily, he broke out more fiercely: "W'y don't yer +speak? Wot 'ave yer got against me, eh?" + +I took him by the arm, and suddenly wrenched his hand round, so that I +could look at the palm of it; then I bent forward, and whispered to him +swiftly: "There's blood on your hands!" + +He struggled faintly for a moment to get free; his face had gone to a +sickly green colour. "You're mad--stark, starin', ravin' mad!" he +exclaimed. "Don't you say sich things against me, or I'll blab--sure as +death!" + +"Death's the word," I retorted. "Now, George Rabbit, we've got to talk +over this thing, and we may as well do it quietly. Take me to some place +where I can say what I have to say." + +He hesitated for a moment, undecided whether to treat the matter with +defiance, or to accede to my demands; at last he shrugged his shoulders, +spat emphatically on the ground, and turned to lead the way. He turned +back again a moment later, and looked at Andrew Ferkoe with a new +resentment. + +"Wot's this chap got to do wiv it?" he asked. "'Ave you bin blabbin' to +'im abaht it?" + +"There was no necessity to do that," I replied quietly. "He saw you do +it. Now, don't stand talking here; it might be dangerous." + +He stood in an amazed silence for a moment, and then turned and walked +away. We followed him rapidly, noticing that every now and then he +turned to look back over his shoulder, as if undecided whether, after +all, he would not turn back altogether, and refuse to go further. But he +went on, nevertheless, and at last brought us to a little public house +in a side street. Thrusting open a door with his shoulder, he went in, +leaving us to follow; and we presently found ourselves in a little room +with a sanded floor--a species of bar parlour. There the three of us sat +down round a little beer-stained table, and after I had ordered +refreshments (with a double quantity for George Rabbit, because he took +the first at a gulp), I began to say what was in my mind. + +"When I saw you first to-day you were looking at a house where an old +man was murdered a few days back," I began. + +"Wot of it?" he demanded. "A lot of people 'ave bin lookin' at that +'ouse; they always does w'en anythink like that's 'appened." + +"You were obliged to go back to it--the man who commits a murder always +must, you know. You wanted to see if any one had suspected you." + +The man glanced nervously round the room, and then thrust his face +towards mine across the table. "Wot's this 'ere talk abaht a murder?" he +whispered. "Wot's this 'ere talk abaht this chap 'aving seen me do it? +Wot's this business abaht takin' away a honest man's character?" + +"When you broke into the house the other night, and came face to face +with Zabdiel Blowfield, and got the stick out of his hand and killed +him, someone was watching you," I answered steadily. + +"Watchin' me! W'y, the ole chap lived alone!" he exclaimed incautiously. +Then, seeing the smile on my face, he went on hurriedly, "Leastways, so +I've bin told, on'y I don't know nothink abaht it." + +"You were sent there first by Martha Leach. My uncle wanted to see you, +because he thought your evidence might be useful in getting me back to +my prison," I went on remorselessly. "That gave you the idea of robbing +the old man; you didn't stick at murder when you were pushed to it. This +lad here"--I indicated Andrew Ferkoe as I spoke--"was asleep in the +house at the time, as you would have heard, if you had been at the +inquest. He got out of bed and saw you. How else do you suppose he was +able to point you out to-day as the man he saw in the house?" + +George Rabbit looked from one to the other of us narrowly; then he began +to speak almost as if to himself. "Now I comes to think of it, I did +'ear a noise up above in the 'ouse. So it was you, was it?" he said, +turning wrathfully on Andrew Ferkoe. "My God! it's a lucky thing for you +I didn't find you; I'd 'ave put your light out!" + +"I know that," answered Andrew quietly. "That was why I didn't make a +noise." + +"Well, an' wot's the little game now?" asked Rabbit impudently, as he +leaned back in his chair and folded his arms. "Mr. Jail-bird, let's 'ear +wot you've got to say. You can't bring a charge like this against a +honest man without some proof. I 'ave 'eard that no finger prints 'ave +bin discovered, so that you won't git much that way." + +"I can find a dozen ways of running you to earth," I replied. "On the +other hand, it may not pay me to do so." + +"Yus, that's the trouble, ain't it?" he said with a sneer. "They might +ask you awkward questions, or I might 'ave a word to say abaht the gent +wot's takin' my character away. Then again, wot's 'is nibs 'ere bin +sayin' at the inquest?" + +I was bound to confess that Andrew had stated that he had slept soundly +on the night of the murder, and had heard nothing and seen nothing. +George Rabbit, growing more confident with every moment, grinned and +kissed his grimy finger-tips in the direction of Andrew. + +"An' now 'e'll 'ave to tell anuvver tale!" he exclaimed. "If it comes to +that, 'oo's to say 'e didn't do the job 'imself; 'e was in the 'ouse." + +It was not my purpose to bring the man to justice; it would go hard with +me, as well, perhaps, with Andrew Ferkoe, if I made any attempt to slip +a noose about the fellow's neck. Yet, much as I loathed the man, I +realised that the killing of my Uncle Zabdiel had not been any +premeditated affair; it had been a blow struck, brutally enough, for his +own liberty by this man who now sat before me. My purpose was to use +him, if possible, as an instrument for myself, to trade upon my +knowledge of what he had done, and so bind him first to silence about +myself and who I was, and next to assist me in the finding of Debora and +the destruction of Bardolph Just's plans. I set about that now without +more ado. + +"As I have said, it would be easy enough to prove the matter," I +answered, "and I should have the satisfaction of seeing you hang; but +that's not my plan. We are the only people who know the truth, and we +shall not speak." + +I saw Andrew Ferkoe glance at me swiftly for a moment; as for Rabbit, he +sat gaping at me as though he had not heard aright. "You mean it?" he +gasped. + +"Of course I do; I'm a man of my word," I answered him. "But there is a +condition attaching to it, and that condition must be respected. I'm not +the man to be played with, and I've got you in a tighter place than you +think. Play with me, and you'll play with fire; of that I warn you." + +"Now, look 'ere, guv'nor," answered the man in an altered tone, "am I +likely to play any tricks, seein' 'ow I'm placed? Gents both, I give yer +my solemn word I never meant to put the old gent's light out. I jist +meant to git wot I could quietly. I 'ad a sort of idea that 'e might +keep money on the premises. As it was, I got next to nuffink, an' wot I +did git I don't dare part wiv, for fear I should be nabbed. I never +thought 'e'd wake up, but w'en 'e come out there, an' tried to 'it me +wiv the stick, I jist jerked it out of 'is 'and, an' gave 'im one for +'imself to keep 'im quiet. I ain't excusin' meself; I know I done it, +an' that's all there is to it." + +"In the first place, you will know me, if you know me at all, always as +John New; the other man, once a fellow-prisoner of yours, lies buried in +that prison. Am I right?" I asked the question sternly. + +"I'll take my oath of it," he asserted solemnly. "W'y, now I come to +look at yer," he added, with a grin, "you ain't no more like Norton 'Yde +than wot I am." + +"Don't overdo it," I suggested. "Now, in the second place, you remember +a young lady--a ward of Dr. Just?" + +"Yus, I know 'er; wot of it?" he asked. + +"She has left the doctor's house--has run away," I answered. "She +doesn't know where to find me, and I don't know where to find her. She +may be wandering about London friendless and without money. Can you help +me to find her?" + +"Do yer mean it?" he asked incredulously. + +I nodded. "Under ordinary circumstances you are the last man in the +world that I would select for such work, but I must use the tools ready +to my hand," I said. "If you play tricks with me, you'll know what to +expect, because our friend here"--I indicated Andrew--"will be only too +ready to speak and to tell what he knows, without bringing me into the +matter at all. But I think, for your own sake, you'll play the game +fairly." + +In his eagerness he began to take all manner of strange oaths as to what +he meant to do, and as to the absolute dependence that was to be placed +upon his word. I interrupted him sharply by telling him that I looked +for deeds, and not words, and quite humbly and gratefully he promised to +do all in his power. I gave him an address at which I could be found, +and presently saw him go lurching away, with his head turned every now +and then to look back at me. I seemed to picture him going through life +like that, remembering always the dead thing he had left lying on +certain stairs in a dismal old house. + +And now I come to that point in my story when my own helplessness was, +for a time at least, borne in upon me more strongly than ever. I had no +very great hopes that where I had failed George Rabbit would succeed, +and I blamed myself for having placed any reliance on him. I wandered +about London restlessly for a day or two, as I had done before, hoping +always that any slight girlish figure going on before me might in a +moment turn its head and show me the face of Debora; but that never +happened. What did happen was that I had an unexpected meeting with +Bardolph Just. + +The newspapers had, of course, given my address, as an important witness +at the inquest on Uncle Zabdiel, so that I was not altogether surprised +to find, one evening when I went back to my little lodging, tired out, +and weary, and dispirited, that Bardolph Just was waiting for me. I was +aware of his presence in my room before ever I got to the house, for as +I came up the street I happened to raise my eyes to the window, and +there he was, lounging half out of it, smoking a cigar and surveying me. +I wondered what his visit might portend. I hoped that he might have +discovered something about Debora, and that I might get the information +from him. + +On opening the door of the room and going in I saw that he was not +alone; Harvey Scoffold sat there, quite as though he had come, in a +sense, as a protector for his patron. I put my back against the closed +door, and looked from one man to the other, and waited for what they had +to say. Harvey Scoffold smiled a little weakly, and waved a hand to me; +Bardolph Just said nothing, but looked me up and down with a fine air of +contempt. I judged that he had news for me, and that, for the moment at +least, he felt that he had triumphed. Almost I seemed to read into his +mind, and to know what that news was. But though I thought I knew the +man well, I was not prepared for the vindictiveness he now displayed. + +"You must excuse this intrusion," he said quietly, "but I felt sure that +you would be anxious concerning my ward, and I thought it best to let +you know at once that she is quite safe. I did you an injustice in +suggesting that she was with you; for that I apologise most humbly." + +"Where is she?" I asked. + +He shrugged his shoulders. "Is it likely that I shall tell you?" he +asked. "I won't tell you where she is; for your satisfaction, however, +you may understand that you have been the cause of her passing several +miserable nights and days penniless in London----" + +"You were the cause of that!" I broke in hotly. + +"Pardon me; had you never appeared upon the scene she would have been +quite content to remain under my care," he retorted. + +"Had I never appeared upon the scene, she would before this have been in +her grave," I said. + +He showed his teeth for a moment in a grin, but said nothing to that. +"She was discovered in almost a dying condition. I was communicated with +and went to her at once," he proceeded. "She is now in a private nursing +home, and so soon as she has recovered I intend to take her abroad. I +need not assure you that she is receiving, and will receive, every +possible attention and luxury that money can command." + +"And you came to tell me this?" I enquired bitterly. + +"Out of pure kindness," he answered with a grin. "I knew you would be +anxious, and I knew that you took a deep interest in the young lady." He +rose to his feet, and carefully polished his hat upon his sleeve, +holding the hat in his right hand, and turning it dexterously round and +round against the arm he still carried in a sling. "But I came also to +say," he went on in a sterner tone, "that with this ends your connection +with her and with me. I am not to be trifled with again; keep out of my +way." + +"One moment, Dr. Just," I interposed, keeping my place before the door. +"As you have been so frank with me, it is fair that I should be as frank +with you. I warn you that I shall take not the faintest notice of your +request, and that I shall, if possible, discover the lady. My power is a +greater one than yours, because my power is from the heart. I shall beat +you yet; I shall save her yet!" + +He laughed and raised his eyebrows, and turned towards Harvey Scoffold. +"Did you ever see such a fellow?" he asked. "He is as full of words as +ever, although he knows that he can do nothing." + +I opened the door, and saw the two men pass out and go down the street. +I watched them gloomily for a moment or two from the open window. I was +almost in a mood to follow them, but I realised that they were scarcely +likely to lead me to Debora. I must be patient; I must hope for a +miracle to happen to show me the way to Debora. + +After all, it was no miracle that happened, for one could scarcely +connect a miracle with the prosaic figure of Andrew Ferkoe. As I looked +from my window I saw Andrew coming down the street, reading a newspaper, +and reading it so intently that he was continually knocking against +people on the same pavement, and continually, as I could see, muttering +apologies, and then resuming his reading. I was not best pleased to see +him at that time; for although he still lodged with me until such time +as I could decide what to do with him, he spent a great part of the day +abroad in the streets. Now, however, after knocking at the door and +being admitted, he came upstairs at a great rate, and burst into my room +with the newspaper in his hand. + +"I've found her!" he exclaimed, excitedly waving the paper. "I've found +her!" + +I snatched the paper from him, and began to read it eagerly at the place +where his trembling finger had pointed. The paragraph was headed, +"Strange Loss of Memory," and referred to a young lady bearing the name +of Debora Matchwick, who had been found in an almost unconscious +condition from privation, on a seat in a public park, and had been +conveyed to the Great Southern Hospital. For a time it had been +impossible to discover who she was, as she appeared to have entirely +forgotten any of the past events of her life, or even her own name; but +at last she had given the name, and enquiries had elicited the fact that +she had a guardian living in the neighbourhood of Highgate. This +gentleman--the famous scientist and retired physician, Dr. Bardolph +Just--had been communicated with, and had at once visited the young +lady. So soon as she had recovered she would go abroad for rest and +change. There seemed to be no doubt that she would ultimately recover +completely. + +I almost hugged Andrew Ferkoe in my delight. I laughed to think how +easily the discovery had been made. I laughed also at the remembrance of +how Dr. Just had spoken of the "private nursing home," and how now I +was, after all, to take the wind out of his sails. I rushed off at once +to the Great Southern Hospital. + +Every sort of difficulty was placed in my way. It was not an ordinary +visiting day, and I could not be admitted. The young lady had been +placed in a private ward, it was true, but the regulations were very +strict. More than that, it was imperative that she should not be excited +in any way. + +"I will not excite her; I am her greatest friend, and I know that she +has been longing to see me," I pleaded. + +"But she has a visitor with her now," the young doctor urged. "That +visitor is her guardian." + +I was now more than ever determined that I would see Debora; I pleaded +again that one extra visitor, under the circumstances, could surely make +no difference. "Besides," I added, "I know Dr. Just very well." + +So at last I had my way, and I followed the young doctor through the +quiet place until I came to the little private room where Debora lay--a +room formed by raising walls nearly to the ceiling in a great ward, +leaving a corridor down the centre. I went in, with my heart beating +heavily; and the first person I faced was Dr. Just. + +I never saw a man so astonished in all my life; I was afraid he was +going to lose his presence of mind, and have me bundled out then and +there, after making something of a scene. But I will do him the justice +to say that his conduct was admirable; he accepted the inevitable, and +bowed slightly in my direction as the doctor left me inside the little +room and closed the door. + +Then, for the first time, I saw Debora, lying white-faced among her +pillows. I noted with gratitude how her eyes lighted up as she turned +slightly in my direction, and held out a white hand towards me. I could +not help it; I fell on my knees beside the bed, and put the hand to my +lips as the tears sprang to my eyes. + +"Thank God!" I said, "thank God!" + +"So you don't heed warnings," said the doctor, in a sarcastic tone. "It +is only for the sake of this dear girl that I have not had you turned +out of the place; I can't understand how in the world you found out +where she was." + +I took no notice of him. I turned to the girl, and, still holding her +hands, began to speak earnestly. + +"Debora," I said, "my sweet Debora, I want you to listen to me, and not +to this man. I have found you, and I do not mean to lose sight of you +again. You will soon be well and strong, and then you will go away from +this place--with me." + +"Yes, with you," she answered, with her eyes turned to mine, and her +hands gripping mine convulsively. "With you!" + +I knew that the time was short, and that at any moment the young doctor +or a nurse might appear, and might cut short our interview. I saw, too, +that Debora was getting excited, and I judged that Bardolph Just might +take it upon himself to act the part of doctor as well as guardian, and +have me turned away. Therefore I said what I had to say quickly. + +"You will wait for me here, Debora; you will not let anyone take you +away without letting me know. See, I am writing my address here, and +that I will give to the doctor I saw just now--he can send for me if +necessary. You are not to go away with anyone else." + +"I promise," she said, weakly. + +"And now listen to me," broke in the harsh voice of Bardolph Just. "This +is a crisis in the lives of the three of us, and I am not to be set +aside. When the time comes that you can be removed, Debora, you are +going away with me!" + +"I am not! I am not!" she cried, still clinging to my hand. + +"You are going away with me, or else your friend there goes back to his +prison. Choose!" He stood looking at her, and I saw as well as she did +that now his mind was made up. + +"You wouldn't do that?" she said breathlessly. + +"I would," he said. "You go away with me, or I follow this man when he +leaves this place, and I give him in charge to the first constable I +meet, as the escaped convict, Norton Hyde. And I follow that charge up +until I see him back within his prison walls, with something more than +nine years of servitude before him. If you want him to keep his liberty, +send him away now." + +She began to weep despairingly, while I, on the horns of this new +dilemma, did my best to comfort her. And suddenly, with all her heart +set on my welfare, she announced her decision. + +"I promise that I will go with you," she said to Bardolph Just in a +whisper. + +"No--no! you must not promise that!" I urged, springing to my feet, and +facing the other man. "You shall not!" + +"I must, I must, for your sake!" she answered. "My dear, it will all +come right in time, if you will be patient. We shall meet when all this +is over and done with. Good-bye!" + +I would have said more then, but at that moment the door opened, and the +young doctor came in. One glance at the girl was sufficient; with an +impatient gesture he ordered Bardolph Just and myself to go, and hastily +summoned the nurse. So we marched out, side by side, without a word +until we reached the street. + +"Understand me," said Bardolph Just quietly, "I shall keep my word." + +"And I shall keep mine," I retorted, as I turned on my heel and left +him. + +Brave words, as you will doubtless think; yet even as I said them I +realised how helpless I was. Debora, for my sake, would go back to that +horrible house, there to live, perhaps, in safety for a time, until the +doctor could devise some cunning death for her. And I supposed that in +due course I should hear of that; and should know the truth, and yet +should be able to say nothing. Almost I was resolved to risk my own neck +in saving her; almost I determined to put that old threat into +execution, and kill the man. But I had no stomach for murder when I came +to think of the matter: I could only beat my brains in a foolish attempt +to find some way out of the tangle. + +Thus nearly a week went by--a miserable week, during which I haunted the +neighbourhood of the hospital and wandered the streets aimlessly, +turning over scheme after scheme, only to reject each one as useless. +Then, at last, one day I went to the hospital, and enquired for Miss +Debora Matchwick, and asked if I might see her. + +I was told that she was gone. Her guardian had called on the previous +day with a carriage, and had taken her home; he had made a generous +donation to the funds of the hospital, in recognition of his gratitude +for the kindness the young lady had received. So I understood that he +had succeeded, and that I had failed. + +The man had succeeded, too, in putting the strongest possible barrier +between the girl and myself, in invoking that bogey of my safety. I knew +that he could hold her more strongly with that than with anything else; +I felt that she would refuse, for my sake, to have anything to do with +me. Nevertheless, I came to the conclusion that I must make one last +desperate effort to see her, or to see Bardolph Just. In a sense, I was +safe, because I knew I was always a standing menace to the man, and that +he feared me. + +I went straight from the hospital to the house at Highgate. I had no +definite plan in my mind; I determined to act just as circumstances +should suggest. I rang the bell boldly, and a servant whom I knew +appeared at the door. He was in the very act of slamming it again in my +face, when I thrust my way in and closed the door behind me. + +"Don't try that game again," I said sternly, "or you'll repent it. +Where's your master?" + +"I have my orders, sir," he began, "and I dare not----" + +"I'll see you don't get into trouble," I broke in. "I want to see Dr. +Just." + +"But he's not here, sir," said the man, and I saw that he was speaking +the truth. "Dr. Just and the young lady have gone away, sir." + +"Do you know where they've gone?" I asked; but the man only shook his +head. + +I stood there debating what to do, and wondering if by chance the doctor +might have carried out his original intention of going abroad. Then a +door opened at the end of the hall, and Martha Leach came out and +advanced towards me. She stopped on seeing who the intruder was; then +with a gesture dismissed the servant, and silently motioned to me to +follow her into another room. It was the dining-room, and when I had +gone in she shut the door, and stood waiting for me to speak. I noticed +that she seemed thinner than of old, and that there were streaks of grey +in her black hair. She stood twisting her white fingers over and over +while she watched me. + +"I came to see the doctor," I said abruptly. "Where is he?" + +"Why do you want to know?" she demanded. "You've been turned out of this +place; you ought not to have been admitted now." + +"I do not forget the assistance you rendered in turning me out," I said. +"Nevertheless I am here now, and I want an answer to my question. I want +to find the girl Debora Matchwick." + +She stood for a long time, as it seemed to me, in a rigid attitude, with +her fingers twining and twisting, and with her eyes bent to the floor. +Then suddenly she looked up, and her manner was changed and eager. + +"I wonder if you would help me?" was her astonishing remark. + +"Try me," I said quietly. + +"I suppose you love this slip of a girl--in a fashion _you_ call love," +she flashed out at me. "I can't understand it myself--but then, my +nature's a different one. You would no more understand what rages here +within me"--she smote herself ruthlessly on the breast with both +hands--"than I can understand how any man can be attracted by a +bread-and-butter child like that. But, perhaps, you can grasp a little +what I suffer when I know that that man and that girl are +together--miles away from here--and that I am here, tied here by his +orders." + +"I think I can understand," I said quietly, determined in my own mind to +play upon that mad jealousy for my own ends. "And I am sorry for you." + +"I don't want your sorrow, and I don't want your pity!" she exclaimed, +fiercely brushing away tears that had gathered in her eyes. "Only I +shall go mad if this goes on much longer; I can't bear it. He insulted +me to my face before her on the day they left for Green Barn +together--yesterday that was." + +"And yet you love him--you would get this girl out of his hands if you +could?" + +"I would kill her if I could," she snarled. "I would tear her limb from +limb; I would mark her prettiness in such a fashion that no man would +look at her again. That's what I'd do." + +"You want me to help you," I reminded her. + +"Why don't you have some pluck?" she demanded fiercely. "Why don't you +tear her out of his hands, and take her away?" + +"There are reasons why I cannot act as I would," I said. "But I'll do +this; I'll go down to Green Barn, and I'll try to persuade her to go +away with me. You've fought against that all the time, or I might have +succeeded before." + +"I know--I know!" she said. "I hoped to please him by doing that; I +hoped that some day he might get tired of her, and might look at me +again as he looked at me in the old days. But now I'm hopeless; I can do +nothing while she is with him. I'm sorry--sorry I fought against you," +she added, in a lower tone. + +"I'll do my best to help you--and the girl," I said. "It may happen that +you may get your wish sooner than you anticipated; I believe that +Bardolph Just means to kill her." + +"If he doesn't, I shall!" she snapped at me as I left the house. + +So far I had done no good, save in discovering where Bardolph Just and +Debora had gone. It was a relief to me to know that they had not gone +abroad; for then I should have been helpless indeed. I determined that I +would go at once down into Essex; it would be some satisfaction at least +to be near her. + +I was walking rapidly away from the house when I heard someone following +me; I turned suspiciously, and saw that it was the man Capper. He came +up to me with that foolish smile hovering over his face, and spoke in +that strange, querulous whisper I had heard so often. + +"Forgive an old man speaking to you, sir," he said--"an old man all +alone in the world, and with no friends. I saw you come from Dr. Just's +house--good, kind Dr. Just!" + +I felt my suspicions of him beginning to rise in my mind again, despite +the fact that the face he turned to me was that of a simpleton. I +recalled Debora's words to me when she had wondered if this man would +ever speak. + +"What do you want?" I asked him, not ungently. + +"I want to find Dr. Just--good, kind Dr. Just," he whispered. "I have +followed him a long time, but have been so unfortunate as to miss him. I +missed him in a crowd in a street; now I find that he is not at his +house." + +"You are very devoted to Dr. Just," I observed. "What do you hope to +gain by it?" + +"To gain?" He stared at me with that curious smile on his face. "What +should I gain?" + +"I don't know," I answered him, "but it seems to me that you may some +day gain what you want." + +"God grant I may!" The answer was given in an entirely different voice, +and I looked at him in a startled way as I realised at last the truth +that for some time at least he had been shamming. I dropped my hand on +his shoulder, and spoke sternly enough. + +"Come now, let this pretence be ended," I said. "You're as sane as I +am--you have all your wits about you. Your brain is clear; you remember +everything." + +We were in a quiet lane near the house, and there was no one in sight. +He clasped his hands, and raised his face--a changed face, stern-set, +grim and relentless--to the sky. "Dear God!" he exclaimed passionately, +"I do remember! I do remember!" + +"What?" I asked. + +He looked at me for a moment intently, as if debating within himself +whether to trust me; then at last he laid a hand tremulously on my arm, +and stared up into my face. + +"I have shammed, sir," he said. "I have lied; I have plotted. I shall +not fail now; I have come out of the darkness into the light. I have +come to life!" + +His excitement, now that he had once let himself go, was tremendous; he +seemed a bigger and a stronger man than I had imagined. He stood there, +shaking his clenched fists above his head, and crying out that he was +alive, and almost weeping with excitement. + +"What are you going to do?" I asked him, breathlessly. + +"I am going to kill Bardolph Just, as he killed my young master, Mr. +Gregory Pennington! I have tried twice; the third time I shall succeed!" +he replied. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +I BID THE DOCTOR FAREWELL. + + +I did my best to calm the man Capper. I feared that in his excitement he +might betray his purpose to someone else, and someone not so well +disposed towards him. I soothed him as well as I could, and presently +got him by the arm and walked him away. For a long way we went in +silence, until at last, having climbed to Hampstead Heath, I led him +into a by-path there, and presently sat beside him on a seat, prepared +to listen to his story. He was calmer by this time; the only evidence of +the passions, so long suppressed and now working in him, was shown when, +every now and then, he ground his right fist into the palm of his other +hand, as though in that action he ground the face of his enemy. + +"I want you to tell me, if you will, sir," he said at last, "where the +man has gone. I was a fool when I lost him; I have not done my work +well." + +"I will tell you presently, when I have heard your story," I said. "You +have made a threat of murder. I don't think it would be quite wise on my +part to let you loose on anyone in your present frame of mind." + +"Then hear me, and judge for yourself, sir," he answered solemnly. + +"What I know is this," I said. "I know that Mr. Gregory Pennington went +to the doctor's house on one particular night, and that he hanged +himself in a room there. I, who found him hanging, found you in the +room, apparently dazed." + +"I have to think back a long way," said Capper, leaning forward on the +seat, and resting his elbows on his knees, and his head in his hands. +"It's all so much like a dream, and yet all so clear. Let me try to tell +you, sir, what happened that night." + +He sat for a long time in that attitude, as though striving to piece +together all his recollections of that time; as though even yet he +feared that his memory might play him false. + +"I don't need to say anything about myself, sir, except just this: that +Mr. Pennington picked me out of the gutter, and made a man of me. If +ever one man worshipped another on this earth, I worshipped him; I would +have died for him. He made me his servant, and yet his friend. He knew +that I had been something better in the days before he found me; he made +me something better again. He was quite alone in the world, and his +income was administered by a trustee, a lawyer. That's all you need know +about it. We wandered about all over the world. He thought nothing of +starting off for the other side of the world, taking me with him always, +at a moment's notice--which, perhaps, accounts for the fact that no one +has made any enquiries about him.'" + +I did not answer that; perhaps the time was coming when I should have to +tell him the sequel to what he was now telling me. + +"Then he met the young lady--Miss Debora Matchwick--and he used often to +go and see her. One night he came home raging, and told me that Dr. Just +had turned him out of the house, and had told him he was not to go there +again. He was very much in love with the young lady, and the affair +upset him a lot. But he told me that he had made up his mind to go there +as often as he thought fit; he meant to defy the doctor." + +He paused so long again that I was almost minded to speak to him; he +seemed to be brooding. All at once he sat upright, and folded his arms, +and went on again. His voice had taken on a new sternness. + +"I took to going with him--or rather following him without his +knowledge," he said slowly. "I didn't like the look of the doctor; I +knew that he meant mischief. Night after night, when Mr. Pennington went +to the house, I hid myself in the grounds, and waited and watched; then +I followed him home again. You see, sir, he was everything to me, all I +had in the world; it drove me mad almost to think that anything might +happen to him. So the time went on, until at last that night arrived +when, as it seemed, I fell asleep and forgot everything. But I remember +that night now perfectly." + +In his rising excitement he got up, and began to pace about, stopping +every now and then to clap his hands together softly, and to nod his +head as some point in the story recurred to his memory. At last he came +back to me, and sat down, and faced me. + +"He had told me before he went out that he intended to see the doctor +that night. 'I'll have a turn-up with him,' he said to me, and laughed. +I dreaded that; I made up my mind that I would be very near to him, +indeed, that night. It was difficult, because if once he had discovered +that I was following him, and watching him like that, he might have been +angry, and might have ordered me to remain at home. So, you see, I had +to be discreet. I went ahead of him on that occasion, and I concealed +myself in the grounds quite near to the house. There I waited, and +waited so long that I came almost to think that he had changed his mind, +and would not come at all." + +"Did you see no one else in the grounds?" I asked, thinking of my own +unceremonious coming on that wonderful night. + +He stared at me, and shook his head. "No one," he said. "Presently Mr. +Pennington arrived, and the young lady crept out of the house to meet +him; I saw them talking together for a long time. Then I saw Mr. +Pennington go towards the house, and enter it." + +I remembered how I had lain in the grass that night, and had seen the +same scene he now described, although from a different point of view. I +knew that Capper must have been between them and the house, whilst I, +for my part, had been on the other side of them, so that they were +between me and this man. + +"Now, I will tell you, as well as I can recollect, exactly what +happened," he said, speaking slowly, and ticking off his points one by +one on his fingers. "I was so nervous that night--nervous for him, I +mean--that I thought, sir, I would go into the house, so as to see that +all was well with him. Everything was very silent, except that I could +hear the murmur of voices--of men talking. You will understand, sir, +that I did not know what the house was like, nor my way about it; but I +found a door unfastened at the back, and I went in. I went towards where +the voices were sounding, and I recognised Mr. Pennington's voice, and +then the doctor's. Both the voices were loud and angry; I guessed that +they were quarrelling." + +"And what did you do then?" I asked him quickly. + +"God help me!" he cried, wringing his hands. "I could not find the room. +The place was in darkness, and I was afraid to make a noise, lest I +should disturb some of the servants, and perhaps be turned out. I groped +my way about among the passages, opening first one door and then +another, and hearing the voices now near to me, and now further away; it +was as though I had been in a maze. And then the voices ceased suddenly, +and I heard the sound of a blow." + +"What sort of blow?" I asked him breathlessly. + +"It was like the sound of a weapon striking a man's head. It was +followed by a sort of quick cry; and then there was silence. In my +agitation I must have turned away from the spot; and I had now nothing +to guide me, as the voices had guided me before. I could only stand +there, waiting, and hoping to hear something. It was all so horrible, +and I so helpless, that I wonder I did not go mad then. I was near to it +when presently I heard a sound as though someone were dragging a heavy +body across a room. I began again to move in the direction of that +sound, and presently came to a door, and after listening to another +sound I did not understand, opened it, and went in. I must be quick now +to tell you what I saw, for it is at this point that the darkness falls +upon me, and I seem to sink down and down into the depths that swallowed +me up for so long a time." + +I was really afraid that he might, indeed, forget before he could tell +me; I watched him eagerly. After but a little pause he went on again, +and now the horror was growing in his face, and stamping it, so that I +could not take my eyes from him. + +"As I opened the door of the room the doctor had his back to me, and he +was hauling on something. I did not understand at first, until I saw +that he was pulling on a rope that ran over a hook in the ceiling. That +which he pulled was hidden from me by himself; I could not see what it +was. It all happened in a second, because as I opened the door he swung +away from me, still clinging to the rope--and then, dear God!--I saw +what it was. Only for a flash did I see up there before me the dead +face of my master--the master I loved, and for whom I would have given +my life; then, as I put up my hand to hide the sight, everything went +from me; and I seemed to fall, as I have said, into some great +blackness, with all my life blotted out! That," he said, with a little, +quick, helpless gesture of the hands--"that is all." + +I felt my blood run cold at the horror of his tale; the whole scene +seemed to be enacted before me, as though I had myself been present. +"And did you really forget everything until a little time ago?" I asked. + +"Everything, sir," he assured me solemnly. "I was like one groping in +the dark. People I had known I knew again--as with Miss Debora; but I +could not remember anything else. I had a vague idea that I had lost my +master somewhere about that house; that made me cling to it. The rest +was a blank. And then one day, when I saw the doctor raise his stick to +strike a man down, it was as though something had been passed across my +brain, and I remembered. If I can make myself clear, sir," went on +Capper eagerly, "it was as though I had gone back to that night; that +was why I sprang at the doctor, and wanted to kill him." + +"And you tried again in the train," I reminded him. "But why on each +occasion did you sham madness?--why did you pretend you were still the +simple creature everyone supposed you to be?" + +"Because I knew that if once Dr. Just guessed that I remembered the +events of that night, he would take means to have me shut up; I might +have been taken for a lunatic, and disposed of for the rest of my life. +I knew that if I could once deceive him into believing that my mind was +gone, he would not be suspicious of me. Unfortunately for my plan, I +gave the game away when I tried to throw him out of that train." + +"How was that?" I asked. + +"I had managed things very well up to that point," he said. "I knew +pretty well how the trains ran, and I knew that if I could throw him out +on the line at a certain spot between the stations it would look like an +accident, and the train on the other line would cut him to pieces. I was +so sure of success that I threw off that disguise I had worn so long, +and I cried out to him that I remembered he had killed my master, and +that I meant to kill him. I dare say you remember, sir, that you asked +him what I had said, and he would not tell you." + +I remembered it distinctly, and I remembered how the doctor had watched +that little drooping figure in the corner of the railway carriage, and +how he had refused to tell me what the man had said before attacking +him. + +"After that, you see, there was no more chance of doing the thing +secretly," went on Capper, speaking of the appalling business in the +most easy and natural fashion. "He shut me out of the house; he would +not let me come near him. Twice I followed him, and the second time I +lost him. Now, sir,"--he clasped his hands, and looked at me with an +agony of entreaty in his eyes--"now, sir, will you let me know where I +can find him?" + +"Answer me one question first," I said, looking into his eager eyes. "If +you kill this man, what will become of you?" + +He spread out his hands, and smiled the strangest smile I have ever +seen. "What does that matter?" he asked simply. "If I am found out they +may say that I am a madman; they may shut me away for life. They may +even hang me. It will not matter--my life finished when the man who +saved me from myself died." + +I did not hesitate any further; I told Capper that Dr. Bardolph Just was +living down at a place called Green Barn, near Comerford, in Essex. He +thanked me in the strangest fashion, with the tears in his eyes; he +asked if he might shake hands with me. I had a weird feeling that he +felt he might be going to his own death as I gripped his hand and let +him go. I watched him for a long time while he went across the heath; he +walked quickly, and without once looking to right or left, or even +looking back at me. And I wondered what manner of death was preparing +for Dr. Just. + +Let it be understood clearly that I was so amazed by the whole business +that for some time I could not decide what to do. There was no thought +in my mind of saving Bardolph Just, or of warning him; I felt that in +this grim business I had no right to interfere. The man who had meted +out death to another man, and had striven so hard to kill an innocent +girl, was no subject for pity. If I had desired to do anything to stop +the business, it would have been on account of the man Capper; and so +far as he was concerned, I knew that I might as well try to turn some +strong river from its course as hold him back. + +But I thought now of Debora. Strange as it may appear, in my own mind I +regarded the death of Dr. Just as something inevitable--something +arranged and settled. Capper had given away his secret to me; I knew +that in some fashion Dr. Just would meet his death at Green Barn, unless +by a miracle it happened that he had already gone away. And even then +Capper was capable of following him, in that deadly hunt, to the other +side of the world. I determined that I must go to Green Barn--not with +any intention of standing between Capper and his intended victim, but +in the hope to be of service to Debora. Debora would be alone with +Bardolph Just, and Bardolph Just was marked for death! + +I hurried back to my lodging, in the hope to find Andrew Ferkoe, and to +let him know what I was doing; but I found that he had not yet returned +to the house, and the landlady had no knowledge of his movements. There +was nothing for it but for me to leave a message, saying that I was +called away into the country, and hoped to be back within a day or so. I +said nothing more definite than that. + +I got out at Comerford Station in a heavy fall of summer rain. I had no +knowledge of whether Capper was in front of me, or behind me in London; +whether he had yet come face to face with the doctor, or whether that +was still to happen. I was passing rapidly through the little +booking-hall when I saw a big man lounging on a seat there, with his +arms folded and his legs stretched out before him. It was Harvey +Scoffold, and half involuntarily I stopped. + +He looked up at me with a scowl, which changed the next moment to a +grin. "Hullo!" he said, with an attempt at joviality, "what brings you +down here?" + +"You should be able to guess," I reminded him. + +"There's no welcome for you--nor for anyone else," he said sourly. "Look +at me, my boy; I'm turned out. Simply given my marching orders, if you +please, and sent packing." + +"Have you been to Green Barn?" I asked him. + +He nodded. "Went down in the friendliest fashion, to see a man I've been +devilish useful to--and what do I get? A meal, of course; then I'm +calmly told that the doctor is in retirement, and is not receiving +guests. More than that, I'll tell you something else that may not be to +your liking." + +He leaned forward, thrusting his heavy face towards me, and dropping a +hand on each knee. I had always disliked the man; I could have struck +him full in his smiling face now for the look it wore. + +"I don't suppose it'll be a bit to your liking, Mr. John New, or +whatever your confounded name is," he said. "But the doctor has sent +everyone away--servants and all--sent 'em packing to-day. He's a bit +mad, I think, over that girl--or else he really means to kill her. But +there they are--just the pair of 'em--alone together in that house. If +you ask me," he added with a leer, "I wouldn't mind changing places with +him, and I should say----" + +I waited for no more; I left the man, and almost ran out of the station +in my excitement. I heard him call after me, but could not know what the +words were; nor did I greatly care. One picture, and one only, possessed +my mind, to the exclusion of everything else. The figure of Capper was +blotted out by that more tragic figure of Debora, at the mercy of +Bardolph Just, in that lonely Essex house. More than all else, I +realised that my hands would be in a sense tied by Debora, because she +would believe that my liberty would be endangered if she left the +doctor. + +I found that to be true enough. So confident was the man of his power +over her that he had given her a certain amount of liberty; so that, to +my surprise and my delight, I suddenly came face to face with her within +an hour of my reaching Green Barn--and that, too, near to the little hut +at the edge of the abandoned chalk pit. + +The meeting was so surprising to both of us that for a time we could +only hold hands, and talk incoherently, each in a great relief at +finding the other safe and well. But at last we came down to more +prosaic things, and she told me something of what was happening. + +Bardolph Just had sworn to carry his threat into execution if she saw me +again, or had anything further to do with me; he had determined to risk +everything, and to give me up to the authorities. I tried to show her +that the man would never dare proceed to that extremity, because of the +danger in which he would place himself by so doing. And then I told her +about Capper, and about Capper's threat. + +"Capper is here!" she exclaimed, startlingly enough. + +"Have you seen him?" I demanded. + +She nodded quickly. "I was walking in the grounds a little while ago, +and I saw him. He came up to me, and said how glad he was to see me, and +asked about the doctor--all quite innocently and simply, I thought." + +"There is no innocence and no simplicity about him," I said. "He means +murder. I don't think anything will turn him from it. That's why I want +you to leave all this behind and to go away." + +"With you?" she asked. + +"No, not with me," I said, reluctantly enough. I could not tell her then +all that was in my mind; I might have broken down in the telling. "I +must remain here until I know what Capper means to do. I must, if +possible, dissuade him from that, if only for his own sake. Tell me, my +dear girl," I went on earnestly, "is there no one to whom you could go, +and who would befriend you? Set the doctor out of your mind altogether; +I have a presentiment that, whatever happens, he will not trouble you +again. Is there no one to whom you could turn?" + +"No one but you in all the world," she said, looking at me curiously. + +"Your father must have had some lawyer--some friend," I suggested. + +"The same lawyer that Dr. Just employs," she said. "He looks after my +money, as well as that of the doctor." + +"I want you to promise, Debora, that if anything happens to me you will +go to that man, and will see to it that he makes proper provision for +you out of your money, and provides you with a settled home. He will do +that for his own sake." + +"But what should happen to you?" she whispered, clinging to me. "And in +any case how will anyone help me if the doctor is here to interfere?" + +"I am only asking you to promise something, in case something +else--something quite impossible, if you like--should happen," I assured +her lightly. + +"Very well then, I promise," she answered. + +It was a more difficult matter to persuade her to run away, and +especially to run away and leave me in that place. For I could not tell +her my reasons, and I saw that she did not think it possible that that +weak little creature Capper could carry out his threat against the +stronger man Bardolph Just; the thing was a sheer impossibility. +Nevertheless, I so worked upon her terrors of the house, and of the man +who had her prisoner there, that at last she consented to go. I pressed +what money I had upon her, and arranged that she should go back to +London that night, and should make her way to the little quiet hotel +near the Charterhouse where she was known; there she could await a +letter from me. I was to keep out of the way until she was gone, that I +might not seem to be connected with her flight. The rest was a matter on +my part of vague promises as to the future. + +And then it was that I held her in my arms as I had never held her +before, and as though I could never let her go. For I had made up my +mind that I would not see her again; it was my purpose to keep away +from her, and to take myself out of her life from that hour. It seemed +to me then as though all the strange business that had brought us +together was closing, and I felt now, as I had not clearly felt before, +that mine was no life to link with hers. She was rich, and she was +young, and she was fair; any love she might have felt for me was more a +matter of gratitude than anything else. I had been able to stand her +friend when no other friend was near, but I was that creature without a +name, who might some day by chance be sent back to his prison. I must +not link my name with hers. + +However, I would not let her suspect that this was the parting of the +ways. I made her repeat her promise to me to go to this lawyer, an +elderly man, as I understood, and one who had dealt honestly with her +father; and with that we parted. I knew that she would slip out of the +house, and would go off to London. From some other place I would write +to her, and would tell her of my decision. I felt also that I might have +news to tell of Dr. Bardolph Just. + +And now I come to that strangest happening of all--the death of that +celebrated physician and scientist, Dr. Bardolph Just. Of all that was +written about it at the time, and the many eulogies that were printed +concerning the man, you will doubtless have heard; but the true story of +it is given here for the first time, and it is only given now because +the man who killed him is dead also, and is beyond the reach of +everyone. + +The thing is presented to me in a series of scenes, so strange and weird +in their character that it is almost as though I had dreamt them, when +now, after years, I strive to recollect them. The gaunt old house, +standing surrounded by its grounds; the solitary man shut up alone in +it, not dreaming that Debora had gone, and that I was so near at hand; +and above all and before all, that strange figure of William Capper. I +find myself shuddering now when I remember all the elements of the +story, and how that story ended. + +I was a mere spectator of the business--something outside it--and I +looked on helplessly through the amazing scenes, with always that +feeling that I was in a dream. Long after Debora had stolen away from +the house that night, I wandered restlessly about the place, wondering a +little at the silence, and remembering always that somewhere among the +shadows lurked Capper, watching this man he had come to kill. I +remembered also that in the strangest fashion Bardolph Just had prepared +the way for him by actually sending everyone who might have protected +him out of the house. + +Exactly how Capper got into the place I was never able to discover. +Whether Bardolph Just had grown careless, and did not think it likely +that the man would discover where he was, or whether Capper, with +cunning, forced an entrance somewhere, I never knew. But it was after +midnight when I heard a cry in the house, and knew that what I dreaded +had begun to happen. A minute or two afterwards the door opened, and +Bardolph Just came out, staggering down the steps, and looking back into +the lighted house. He seemed frightened, and I guessed what had +frightened him. + +He stopped still at a little distance from the house, and then turned +slowly, and retraced his steps. Capper stood framed in the lighted +doorway, looking out at him, but I saw that he appeared to have no +weapon. In the dead silence all about us I heard Bardolph Just's words +clearly. + +"Where the devil did you come from?" he asked in a shrill voice. + +"From my dead master!" came Capper's answer, clear and strong. + +"Get out of my house, you madman!" exclaimed the doctor, taking a step +towards him; but the other did not move. "What do you want with me?" + +"I want to remain near you; I never mean to leave you again on this side +of the grave," said Capper. + +"Are you going to kill me?" asked the other. "Do you mean murder?" + +"I don't mean to kill you--yet," replied the other. In the strangest +fashion he seated himself on the top step, and folded his arms and +waited. + +Bardolph Just walked away a little, and then came back. I could see +that, apart from his dread of the other man, he did not know what to do, +nor how to meet this amazing situation. He took out a cigar from his +case and lighted it, and strolled up and down there, alternately +watching the little man seated above him, and studying the ground as +though seeking for a solution of the difficulty. At last he decided to +drop threatening, and to try if he might not win the man over. + +"Look here, my good Capper," he said, "I've no reason to love you, but I +think you're merely a poor, half-witted creature, who should be more +pitied than blamed. I don't want to have any trouble with you, but most +decidedly I don't want to be subjected to your violence. I want to come +into my house.'" + +"Come in by all means," said the little man, getting to his feet; "and I +will not use violence." + +Seeing that the doctor still hesitated, I thought I might at least show +myself. I was, above all things, anxious to see the end of the business. +My concern was with Capper chiefly. I could not see for the life of me +what he would do in trying conclusions with a man of the physique of +Bardolph Just. Above all things, I did not want it to happen that the +doctor should gain a victory. + +"You're not afraid of the man?" was my somewhat contemptuous greeting of +him. + +"What are _you_ doing here?" he demanded. "Are you in the plot?" + +"I've done with plots," I said. "I am merely a spectator." + +He said nothing about Debora, and I rightly guessed that he had not yet +discovered her absence, but had merely concluded that she had retired +for the night. After looking at me for a moment or two doubtfully, he +took a step or two in my direction, and lowered his voice to a whisper. + +"Look here," he said, with a nervous glance towards the man in the +doorway, "I'm all alone in this house except for a weak girl, and I'm +afraid of this fellow. What shall I do?" + +"He's smaller than you are," I reminded him. "Turn him out!" + +"I'm half afraid to go near him," he said. "You've seen him fly at me on +two occasions; he can be like a wild beast when he likes." + +"He has said that he will offer you no violence," I replied. "I don't +know what he's got in his mind, but it seems to me, if you're afraid to +turn him out, you've got to put up with him. He seems very fond of you," +I added caustically. + +He shot a glance at me, as though wondering what I meant; then turned +and walked towards the house. I saw Capper retreat before him, so as to +give him free entry to the place. On the door-step he turned, and called +out into the darkness to me. + +"You, at any rate, can stop outside; one madman is bad enough." Then the +door was shut, and I was left to wonder what was going on inside. + +I was not to be left long in doubt. In something less than half an hour, +while I was hesitating whether to go, or whether to stay, the door was +pulled open again, and a voice so querulous and nervous that I scarcely +recognised it for that of the doctor called out into the darkness, + +"John New! John New, are you there?" + +I showed myself at once, and he ran down the steps to me. I saw that he +was shaking from head to foot; the hand with which he gripped me, while +he stared over his shoulder back into the house, was a hand of ice. + +"For the love of God," he whispered, "come into the house with me! I +shall go mad if this goes on. I can't shake him off." + +"Lock yourself in your room, and go to bed," I said disdainfully. + +"I can't; he's taken every key of every lock in the house and hidden +them. I can't shut a door against him anywhere; upstairs and downstairs, +wherever I go he is there, just behind me. Will you come in?" + +I went in; the sheer fascination of the thing was growing on me. Capper +took not the faintest notice of me; he was waiting just inside the door, +and he followed us into a room. There he seated himself, with his hands +on his knees, and waited. The doctor made a pretence of drinking, and +even of lighting a cigar, but he set the glass down almost untasted, and +allowed the cigar to go out. No words were exchanged between us, and +still Capper kept up that relentless watch. + +At last Bardolph Just sank down into a chair, and closed his eyes. "If +he won't let me go to bed, I'll sleep here," he murmured. + +But in a moment Capper had sprung up, and had gone to the man and shaken +him roughly by the shoulder. "Wake up!" he ordered. "You'll sleep no +more until you sleep at the last until the Judgment Day." + +I saw then with horror what his purpose was. I knew not what the end was +to be, but I saw that his immediate purpose was to wear the other man +down until he could do what he liked with him. I thought he was a fool +not to understand that in striving to break down the strength of the +other he was breaking himself down too; but that never seemed to occur +to him. For the whole of that night he kept Bardolph Just awake, +followed him from room to room in that house where no door would lock, +and where he gave his victim no time to barricade himself in; he never +left him for a moment. More than once Bardolph Just turned on him, and +then the eyes of Capper flashed, and he drew back as if about to spring; +and the doctor waited. He threw himself on his bed once, in sheer +exhaustion, and Capper made such a din in the room by overturning tables +and smashing things that the wretched man got up and fled downstairs, +and out into the grounds. But Capper fled with him. + +For my part, I slept at intervals, dropping on to a couch, or into a +deep chair, and closing my eyes from sheer weariness. I found myself +murmuring in my sleep sometimes, incoherently begging Capper to give the +game up, and to let the man alone; but he took no notice of me, and I +might indeed have been a shadow in the house, so little did he seem to +be aware of my presence. When I could, after waking from a fitful sleep, +I would stumble about the house in a search for them, and even out into +the grounds; and always there was the man striving for rest, and the +other man keeping him awake. + +Once Bardolph Just armed himself with a stick, and ran out of the house; +Capper snatched up another, and ran after him. I thought that this was +the end; I ran out too, crying to Capper to beware what he did. When I +got to them--and this was the noon of the following day--Bardolph Just +had flung aside his stick, and stood there in a dejected attitude, +looking at his persecutor. + +"It's no good," he said hoarsely, "I give in. Do what you will with me; +ask what you will; this is the end." + +"Not yet," said Capper, leaning upon the stick and watching him. "Not +yet." + +That strange hunt went on for the whole of that day, and during the next +night. I only saw part of it all, because, of course, I fell asleep, and +slept longer than I had done at first. But I saw once the wretched man +fall upon his knees before Capper, and beg for mercy; saw him struggle +with Capper with his uninjured arm, so that the two of them swayed +about, dazed with want of sleep; saw him fall to the ground, and try to +sleep, and the other kick him viciously into a wakeful state again. And +at last came the end, when the doctor went swaying and stumbling up the +stairs towards his bedroom, muttering that the other man could do his +worst, but that he must sleep. So utterly worn out was he that he got no +further than the landing; there he fell, and lay as one dead. + +The sun was streaming in through a high window; it fell upon the +exhausted man, and upon Capper standing beside him. Capper was swaying a +little, but otherwise seemed alert enough. + +"This will serve," he muttered as if to himself. "This is the end." + +He went away, and after a little time came back with a rope and a +hatchet. In my horror at what he might be going to do, I would have +taken the hatchet from him; but now he threatened me with it, with a +snarl like that of a wild beast; and I drew away from him, and watched. +He proceeded to hack away the rails of the landing, leaving only the +broad balustrade; he cut away six rails, and tossed them aside. Then he +made a running noose in the rope, and fastened the other end of it +securely to the balustrade. There was thus left a space under where the +rope was fastened, and sheer down from that a drop into the hall below. +He knelt down beside the unconscious man, and lifted his head, and put +the noose about his neck. He tightened it viciously, but the sleeping +man never even murmured. + +Then I saw him begin to push the sleeping man slowly and with effort +towards the gap he had made in the staircase rail. + + * * * * * + +When I could look (and it was a long time before I could make up my mind +to do so), the body of Bardolph Just swung high above me, suspended by +the neck. On the landing, prone upon the floor, lay William Capper, +sleeping soundly. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +THE BOY WITH THE LONG CURLS. + + +The suicide of that brilliant and cultured man, Dr. Bardolph Just, +caused, as you will remember, a very great sensation at the time, and +there was much wonder expressed as to why the man had hanged himself at +all. But there was no doubt about the question of suicide, because the +whole thing had been so deliberately and carefully planned. + +He had taken care to send everyone away from him--even an old and +trusted friend like Mr. Harvey Scoffold--and had left himself absolutely +alone in that great house. Various theories were put forward as to how +he had managed to tie the knot so successfully, in making that running +noose for his neck; but it was universally agreed that that had been a +matter of teeth and his one uninjured hand. Shuddering accounts, wholly +imaginary, were given of what the man's last hours must have been, and +in what determined fashion he must have hacked away the rails, in order +to make a space through which he could push his way. Everyone seemed to +be perfectly agreed on that matter, and there it ended. + +For the rest, let me say that I waited in that house until, in due +course, William Capper woke up. He went about what he had to do after +that in the most methodical way, restoring all the keys to the doors, +and putting in order such things as had been disturbed during those +long, weary hours when he had followed the other man round the house. He +said but little to me, and at last we came out of the place, and stood +together, with the doors of the house closed upon us. Only when we had +gone through the grounds, and had come out upon the high road did he +speak again, and then without looking at me. + +"This is where we part, sir," he said quietly. "You will be making for +London, and I----" + +"Where will you go?" I asked him as he hesitated. + +"I don't know, and it doesn't matter," he replied, looking out over the +landscape that stretched before him. "I'm an old man, and there may not +be many years for me. It does not matter much where or how I spend them. +If," he added whimsically, "I could be sure that they would send me to +that prison from which you came"--for I had told him that part of the +story--"I would do something that would cause me to be sent there; but +it might be another prison, and that wouldn't do. I should like to be +near him." + +I stretched out my hand to him, on an impulse, in farewell, but he shook +his head. "You might not like to think afterwards that you took my hand, +after what I have done," he said quietly. Then, with a quick nod, this +singular creature turned away and walked off down the road. I lost him +at a turn of it, and I saw him no more. + +I went back to London that night, and at my old lodging found Andrew +Ferkoe awaiting me. I had the task before me of writing to Debora, and +that task, as you may suppose, was not an easy one. Nevertheless I +contrived to put my case before her clearly and without brutality. + +I told her that I should love her all my life; I blessed her for all she +had unconsciously done for me; I told her I was grateful for the sweet +memory of herself that she had left with me. But I reminded her that I +had no name, and no position, and no hopes, and if by any unfortunate +chance my real name was thrust upon me in the future, it would only be +to bring shame and degradation upon me and upon any one with whom I was +associated. And I added that she would have news very soon concerning +the doctor, and I thought it improbable that he would ever trouble her +again. + +I sealed the letter and directed it, and gave it to Andrew Ferkoe. "Run +out and post that," I said. "And never speak to me about the matter +again. You and I are alone together in the world, Andrew, and we shall +have to be sufficient for each other." + +The lad weighed the letter in his hand, studying the address, and +looking from it to me and back again. "I know what you've done," he +said; "you've had a row with the young lady--that's what you've done." + +"You simpleton!" I laughed; "what do you know about such matters? I've +had no row with the young lady, as you express it. I'm only trying to do +the right thing." + +"Isn't she fond of you?" he asked wistfully. + +"I believe she's very fond of me," I replied. "Only there are such +things in this world as honour, and justice, and truth, and it is +written among the laws that men should obey, but do not, that you +mustn't take advantage of a woman's fondness for you. In other words, +Andrew, you must play the game. So that it happens that, as I'm a rank +outsider and a bad lot, and as I have the stain of the prison on me, +I've got to steer clear of a young girl who is as high above me as the +stars. In a little time she will come to think of me with friendly +feelings, but no more than that. So off with you, my boy, and post that +important letter." + +Andrew hesitated a moment or two longer, and shook his head, but at last +he sallied forth on his errand. I had lighted a cigar, and was on the +point of sitting down to enjoy it, and to ruminate luxuriously over my +miseries, when there came a knock at the door, and my landlady put her +head in to announce that a gentleman had come to see me. I was rapidly +running over the names of the extremely few people who even knew of my +whereabouts as the man entered, and disclosed himself as an utter +stranger. He was a little man, dressed in black, and of a precise manner +of speech and action. The landlady withdrew, and the visitor stood +looking at me, as though taking stock of me generally, while he removed +his gloves. + +"Haven't you made a mistake, sir?" I asked. + +"I think not," he replied. "You are Mr. John New, are you not?" + +I told him that I was, and I began to have an unpleasant sensation that +he must be connected with the police in some way. However, he smiled +with satisfaction at this proof that he was right, and took from his +breast pocket a little bundle of papers. + +"You were, I believe, a friend of the late Mr. Zabdiel Blowfield, who +was brutally murdered a short time ago?" he asked, looking up at me. + +"Yes," I said, in some amazement. "I knew him slightly." + +"As you are doubtless aware, Mr. New, the old gentleman was very +eccentric, and took very sudden likes and dislikes. He had no one in the +world belonging to him, his one nephew, after a somewhat disgraceful +career, having died shamefully. It seems, however, that, slight as your +acquaintance with him was, he took a decided liking for you." + +"He never displayed it in life," I said grimly. + +"Then he has made up for any lack in that respect now," said the man. +"Perhaps I should introduce myself, Mr. New. My name is Tipping--James +Tipping--and I was Mr. Blowfield's solicitor for many years. I should +like, Mr. New, to congratulate you; your poor old friend has left you +everything he possessed in the world." + +For a moment or two I gaped at him, not understanding. I tried to frame +words in which to answer, tried to get some grasp of his meaning. While +I stood there, staring stupidly, he smiled indulgently, and went on +speaking. + +"The will in which he left everything to you, and which was duly +witnessed at my office, was prepared only a few days--a few hours +almost--before his death. It was prepared under curious circumstances. +He seemed to have an idea that he had not treated his dead nephew very +well, and he wanted to make amends in some way. He told me that was the +reason that he wanted to leave the money to you, a young man, with his +way to make in the world." + +I own I felt bitterly ashamed. I seemed to see this strange old man +doing what he thought was some tardy act of justice at the very end, and +doing it in such a fashion that my identity should not be revealed. +True, I remembered that in sheer panic he had tried to destroy me +afterwards, but he had not revoked the will. + +"How much is it?" I contrived to ask. + +"Considerably over eighty thousand pounds," said Mr. Tipping unctuously. +"Mr. Blowfield lived very simply, as you are aware, and was extremely +successful in his investments generally. I congratulate you, Mr. New, +with all my heart; I regret if I have been somewhat abrupt, and so have +startled you." + +"It is a little staggering, certainly," I said weakly. + +The man made an appointment for me to see him at his office on the +following day, but meanwhile left a substantial sum in my hands. When +Andrew Ferkoe came back, as he did presently, I told him the great news. + +"Now, look here, Andrew," I said solemnly, "I regard this money as +belonging almost as much to you as it does to me. There's not the +slightest doubt that my Uncle Zabdiel made your father poor, and you +know well enough that he ground you pretty hard afterwards. You toiled, +just as I toiled before you; and now we've got our great reward. You +shall join forces with me; we'll start life together, in a better +fashion than any we have yet enjoyed. Come down with me to see the +lawyer to-morrow, and I'll settle a certain amount on you, and tie it up +tight, so that you can get at it only in instalments; because money's a +dreadful temptation. After that we'll decide what we shall do with our +lives." + +"I wish my poor father had been alive to know you," said the boy +tearfully. + +I slept but little that night; my brain was awhirl with many thoughts. +Now, more than ever, there entered into me the temptation to remember +only that I was a rich man, and by that right, at least, I might +approach Debora. I weighed that aspect of the case carefully through the +long hours of the night--almost making up my mind at times that I would +throw everything else to the winds, and would go to the girl and beg her +now to start life with me in a newer and a better fashion than any she +or I had known. But with the cold light of the dawn hard facts asserted +themselves; and I knew that the brand of my prison was on me, and could +not well be washed out. I rose from my bed, determined that for the +future love or thoughts of love was not for me. + +In due course we called upon Mr. James Tipping, and I listened with +what patience I might to a lecture from that gentleman on the sin of +mistaken generosity. In the end, of course, I had my way, and Andrew +Ferkoe found himself with an income, and with Mr. James Tipping as his +legal guardian. I will not tell you the amount, lest you should regard +me either as too generous or not generous enough; suffice it that Andrew +could look forward to the prospect of passing his days in comfort, no +matter what might happen to me. + +A few days of splendid idleness supervened on that, and I saw London +under a new aspect, and with a heart almost at peace--almost, because it +was utterly impossible for me to shut out of my mind what might have +been and what never could be. So difficult was it, indeed, that at last +my resolution broke down; and one evening I drove straight to the little +hotel near the Charterhouse where I had left Debora. I rehearsed +speeches as I went along, telling myself that she should understand +clearly what the position was, and what she risked, and all the rest of +it; I was very full of the matter by the time the cab stopped outside +the hotel. + +But she was gone. So little had I expected that, that I stared in blank +amazement at the porter, and asked him if he was quite sure. Yes, he was +quite sure; the lady had left two days before, and had not stated where +she was going. + +That was a knock-down blow, and one from which I found it difficult to +recover. My pride was hurt, inconsistently enough; I had never expected +that she would take the matter like that, and so readily adopt the very +forcible arguments I had brought to bear upon the situation in my letter +to her. I had pictured her as resenting the idea fiercely; I had +pictured her broken down, and longing to see me, and to put her own very +different view of the matter before me. This calm acceptance of my +ideas was not what in my heart I had really anticipated. + +Foolishly enough, I went back again and again to the hotel; but there +was no news of her. I did not even know the name of the lawyer to whom I +had recommended her to go, in the event of anything happening to me or +to the doctor. I began to see with bitterness that this young lady +regarded me merely as an episode--merely as a highly undesirable escaped +convict, who had forced his way into her life, and who was now done +with. + +For my part, I had done with London, and I had done with England. I made +up my mind that I would go abroad, and would start again in a new +country, and would endeavour to make something of my miserable +existence. So set was I upon the idea that in a matter of days I had +decided everything, and was buying my outfit. I put the matter before +Andrew Ferkoe; I expected that he would raise objections to our parting. + +He seemed a little upset, but said nothing that bore greatly on the +question. He had great hopes, he told me, of being a doctor, and was +already making arrangements to enter himself at a hospital, with a view +to training. I applauded the idea, for I had not liked to think that the +lad might settle down to doing nothing save the spending of his income. + +Judge of my surprise, therefore, when on the very next day he walked +into my sitting-room in the comfortable hotel in which we had taken up +our quarters, and announced quite another decision. He announced it +firmly, too, and with more daring than I should have given him credit +for. + +"I'm coming with you," he said. + +"You're making a great mistake if you think of doing that," I assured +him. "Here in London you can settle down, and become a great and clever +man; with me you'll probably lead a useless, wandering sort of +existence, and accomplish nothing. Be wise, and stay where you are." + +"I'm coming with you," said Andrew obstinately. "You've been awfully +good to me, and I should be a beast to let you go on alone, to knock +about the world. I've been selfish even to think of it." + +Nor could I shake his determination. I had booked my passage, and I now +had to take another for him. He was nervous of going, he told me, and +would greatly prefer to have a cabin to himself, if that could be +secured. As there were not many passengers by that particular boat, I +was able to arrange that he should be alone in a small cabin. I settled +the matter then and there, and paid his passage money. And so we came to +the last night we were to spend in England. + +"I want to have a run round to-morrow," he said, as we were about to +retire to our rooms. "It'll be the last time I shall see London, I +expect, and I want to make the most of every hour. The vessel doesn't +sail until quite late, and I shall go on board and turn in at once. I'm +dreadfully afraid I shall be ill, and I don't want to wake up until I'm +miles away from the shore; then perhaps I can face it better." + +Having settled that point, the boy prepared to go to bed. When he got to +the door of the room, however, he turned back, and slowly retraced his +steps to where I stood. He seemed bashful and nervous; he did not look +into my eyes. + +"There's never been anyone in the world that's behaved as well to me as +you have," he said. "I shall never be able to thank you enough." + +"Shut up, Andrew, and go to bed!" I broke in. + +"I don't intend to speak about it again, but I must, just this last +time. God bless you, Jack"--I had taught him to call me that--"and may +you be the happiest man in the world, wherever you are." + +Before I could prevent him he had caught my hand in both of his, and had +kissed it passionately; then, with a sound suspiciously like a sob, he +turned and bolted from the room. I had known him always for an odd, +strange creature, but I confess I was moved more strongly then than +perhaps I had ever been moved before. + +Evidently he had made up his mind to make the most of the day; he was +gone from the hotel when I came down in the morning. I took my last look +at London on my own account, feeling not too cheerful at the prospect of +going so far away. Then, towards the hour for sailing, I started for the +ship. My luggage had gone on, and I had nothing to do but to put myself +on board. + +"The young gentleman came on board, and turned in about half an hour +ago, sir," the steward told me. "Dreadful afraid of being seasick, sir; +said he wasn't to be disturbed on any account." + +"Let him alone by all means," I said laughing. I felt relieved to know +that Andrew had got safely out of his adventures of the day. I turned +in, and slept until the morning, by which time we were well out to sea. + +Andrew did not put in an appearance all that day. He sent messages to me +by the steward, to say that he was very ill, and did not want to see +anyone; a little later, that he was getting better. It was quite late in +the evening when I put the steward aside and insisted on seeing the boy. +I was anxious about him. + +The cabin was not particularly well lighted as I stumbled into it. I saw +the boy sitting on the side of his bunk, with his face partly turned +from me. Curiously enough, he was wearing his hat, a soft felt I had +noticed him with the day before we left London. + +"Well, Andrew," I said cheerily, "I'm sorry to see you like this. Much +better for you to put a good face on it, and come on deck." + +"Won't this face do?" + +I started, and stared at the figure of the boy. + +In a moment the boy rose to his feet and tossed aside the felt hat; a +great mass of curls came tumbling down on to his shoulders. I uttered a +cry of amazement. + +It was Debora! + +"Andrew knew all about it all the time," she whispered to me, when +presently we were coherent, and when she had blushingly apologised for +her boy's dress. "He came to me after he had posted the letter you sent +me; then, when I knew that you were going to sail, I made up my mind to +come with you. You foolish fellow! you would only have run away from me +again if I had tried to meet you in any other way; and I wanted to +follow you all over the world." + +"All my world is here!" I whispered, as I kissed her. + + +THE END. + + +WARD, LOCK & CO., LIMITED, LONDON. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Dead Man's Love, by Tom Gallon + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 41137 *** |