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diff --git a/41592-0.txt b/41592-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..69c2eec --- /dev/null +++ b/41592-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,7421 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 41592 *** + +Note: Images of the original pages are available through + Internet Archive. See + http://archive.org/details/laughingmillando00hawtiala + + +Transcriber's note: + + Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_). + + + + + +THE LAUGHING MILL + +And Other Stories. + +by + +JULIAN HAWTHORNE. + + + + + + + +London: +Macmillan and Co. +1879. +[The right of Translation is reserved.] + + + + +CHARLES DICKENS AND EVANS, +CRYSTAL PALACE PRESS. + + + + +PREFACE. + + +What is called the human interest in fiction is doubtless more absorbing +than any other, but other legitimate sources of interest exist. The +marvellous always possesses a fascination, and justly; for while it is +neither human nature nor fact, it ministers to an æsthetic appetite of +the mind which neither fact nor human nature can gratify. Superstition +has been well abused; but that were a sad day which should behold +the destruction in us of the quality which keeps superstition alive. +Fortunately that day can never come--least of all under a Positivist +administration. + +Such works as "The Tempest," "Faust," and "Consuelo" show their authors +at their best, because, being obliged by the subject to soar above the +level of vulgar possibility, the writers catch a gleam of transcendent +sunlight on their wings. And he who would mirror in his works the whole +of man must needs include the impossible along with the rest. Whoever +has lived thoughtfully feels that there has been something in his +experience beyond what appears in "Tom Jones," "Adam Bede," and "Vanity +Fair." They are earth without sky. I do not refer to that goody-goody +Sunday-school sky which weeps and smirks over the mimic worlds of so +many worthy novelists, male and female; but to that unfathomed mystery +opening all around us--the sky of Shakespeare and Dante, of Goethe and +Georges Sand. A reader with a healthy sense of justice feels that an +occasional excursion mystery-ward is no more than he has a right to +demand. And such excursions are wholesome for literature no less than +for him. For the story-teller, sensible of the risk he runs of making +his supernatural element appear crude and ridiculous, exerts himself to +the utmost, and his style and method purify and wax artistic under the +strain. + +These remarks must smooth the way to the confession that in the present +volume no "human interest" will be found, or has been attempted. The +gist of the work (or at least of three-fourths of it) is to show how the +impossible might occur. Now, in order to appreciate the delicate flavour +of a ghost, it is indispensable that the palate should not be cloyed by +a contemporary diet of flesh and blood. In other words, the reality of +the personages amidst whom the disembodied spirit appears should be +insisted upon no further than is necessary to the telling them apart; +only that side of the human figures which is most in accord with the +superhuman should be made prominent. If the writer has managed this part +of his business properly, he is open to criticism only in so far as he +may have sinned in the way of conception and literary execution; and +upon those points he is happily spared the necessity of pronouncing +judgment. He may however be permitted to observe that the following +stories are among the very lightest and least profound of their class; +there are no tears or terrors in them; barely even a smile or a sigh; +and, in short, their success--should they achieve any--will be mainly +due to the fact that with such small pretensions failure would actually +become difficult. + +One of the tales, it should be added, is a mere _jeu d'esprit_, the +presence of which in the collection is justifiable only on the plea +that it makes believe to be what the others are--relieving a note too +monotonously sounded by lowering it to the key of mockery. Possibly, +nevertheless, it may turn out to be the float which will save the +weightier portion of the cargo from going too speedily to the bottom. +All the stories have appeared, during the last four years, in various +periodicals, to the editors of which my acknowledgments are due for +leave to reproduce them. + + _January, 1879._ + + + + +CONTENTS. + + + PAGE + THE LAUGHING MILL 3 + + CALBOT'S RIVAL 105 + + MRS. GAINSBOROUGH'S DIAMONDS 177 + + THE CHRISTMAS GUEST. A Myth 295 + + + + +THE LAUGHING MILL. + + +I. + +Among the pleasantest memories of my earlier days is one of an old +gabled farmhouse overlooking the sea. It is a July afternoon, calm and +hot. The sea is pale blue and its surface glassy smooth; but the passage +of a storm somewhere to the eastward causes long slumberous undulations +to lapse shorewards. They break upon the Devil's Ribs--that low black +reef about half a mile out--and the sound is borne to our ears some +seconds after the white-foam line has marked itself against the blue and +vanished. There is a fine throb of sun-loving insects in the air, which +we may hear if we listen for it; but more immediately audible is the +guttural drawing of old Jack Poyntz's meerschaum pipe, and the delicate +clicking of his sweet daughter Agatha's polished knitting-needles. From +within doors comes the fillip of water and the clink of chinaware--good +Mrs. Poyntz washing up the dinner-things. For we have just dined, and +the blessing of a good digestion is upon all of us. + +Yes; there we three sit, in my memory, side by side upon the stone +bench outside the farmhouse door. The projecting eaves throw a quiet, +transparent shadow over us. Two or three venerable hens are scratching +and nestling in the hot sandy soil near yonder corner, and conversing +together in long-drawn comfortable croakings. The fragrant smoke from +Poyntz's pipe-bowl circles upwards on the air, until it takes the +sunlight high over head. Truly a pleasant time, whose peacefulness is +still present with me after so many years. I am old, who then was young; +but that July sunshine is warm in my heart to-day. + +Poyntz was an ancient mariner--not lean and uncanny, however; but burly, +jovial, and brown; with a huge grizzled beard spreading over his mighty +chest, a voice as deep and mellow as a sea-lion's, and eyes as blue and +clear as the ocean upon which they had looked for more than sixty years. +He had been a successful sailor, had visited many lands and brought home +many cargoes, and was, in a rough simple way, a thorough cosmopolitan. +After his last voyage he had settled down in the ancestral farmhouse, +and applied himself to agriculture. He was as prosperous, contented, and +respected a man as any in the neighbourhood; and during the fortnight +or so that I had lodged beneath his roof, I had grown into a hearty +liking for him. While as to Agatha--ah, it was not liking that I felt +for her! Strange that that fair, finely-moulded, queenly creature was +only a sailor's daughter! Much as I honoured Poyntz, I could not help +sometimes feeling surprised at it. At all events, she was as perfect +a lady as ever stepped on high-arched feet; and I fancied that the +old mariner and his wife treated her in a manner more befitting a +distinguished visitor than a child of their own. There was sturdy little +Peter, now--he whose brown legs were visible beneath the low spreading +bough of a scrub-oak beside the mill-stream yonder--there could be no +doubt as to _him_. But what a brother for Agatha! + +How well I recall her aspect, though it is more than twenty years since +that day. Her shapely head was bound about with a turban of her bright +yellow hair, but her eyes and eyebrows were dark. Her neck was round +and slender, and supported its burden in unconscious poses of maidenly +dignity. The contours of her figure were full, yet refined; her wrists +were small, and her hand was shaped like that which lies on the bosom +of Canova's Venus. Her manners breathed simplicity and sweet composure, +yet were reserved and serious withal, and sometimes they were tinged +with a shadow of melancholy. At such moments her hands would fall into +her lap, her head would droop a little forward, and her dark eyes +gravely fix themselves upon some sunlit sail that flecked the pale +horizon. So would she remain until, perhaps, the sail sank below the +verge, or became invisible in shadow; then, with a sigh, the soft +fetters of her preoccupation would seem to fall away from her. What +were her thoughts during those reveries? and why should they be sad +ones? I had never ventured to question her much as yet; her mystery was +itself a fascination. + +One thing about her had attracted my particular notice from the +first--the curious pearl-shell necklace that she always wore clasped +round her smooth throat. It was composed of very small shells of a +peculiar species, not found in that part of the world. These were woven +into a singular pattern of involved curves, and were fastened with a +broad gold clasp, in the centre of which was set a large pearl. Handsome +as the ornament was, however, and becoming to its wearer, it would not +have so riveted my attention but for a circumstance to which I must here +make a passing allusion. + +Among my most precious possessions at that time was a fine oil portrait +of my great-grandmother, who was a famous beauty in her day. My +family, I should have said, is of Danish extraction, though the +name--Feuerberg--was, after the emigration of the elder branch to +America, translated to the present Firemount. In my great-grandmother's +days there had been a bitter family quarrel; the younger brother had +attempted to cast doubts upon the legitimacy of the firstborn, and when +he failed to make good his claim, he had fraudulently seized upon a +large portion of the inheritance and made his escape--whither was not +known, for no effort was made to pursue him. It was believed that he +went to Germany and married there; and that afterwards he or his son +had made another remove, since which even conjecture had been silent +concerning them. But to return to the portrait. It was a half-length, +and had the quaint headdress and costume of the period, one detail only +being out of the fashion; but this it was that had always possessed most +interest for me. It was the curious pearl-shell necklace, woven in a +strange pattern, and fastened with a golden clasp, which was represented +upon my great-grandmother's statuesque bosom. This necklace had for +centuries been a family heirloom, and many quaint traditions were +connected with it. It was said to have been given to the founder of +our race by a water-witch, or some such mythologic being; and sundry +mysterious virtues were supposed to belong to it. Precisely what +these virtues were I cannot tell, nor does it happen to be of much +consequence. One saying only I remember--that the wearing of it would +ensure us happiness and prosperity so long as no member of the family +brought dishonour on the name; but thereafter it would bring ruin. +Now the necklace had been handed on from one prosperous generation to +another, until the date of the quarrel above alluded to; and then, all +at once, it had disappeared; and my great-grandmother was the last +person known to have worn it. She mentioned it on her deathbed, and +foretold that no good fortune was to be expected for the Feuerbergs +until the sacred heirloom was recovered, and made a symbol of the +healing of the family feud. + +The negative part of the prophecy had certainly been verified. The +elder branch of the Feuerbergs never got over the effects of the blow +inflicted upon it by the younger brother. They gradually subsided from +their original high estate; and were at last compelled to abandon the +ancestral homestead, and try their luck in the New World. At the time of +my birth we were in decently comfortable circumstances, which improved +upon the whole as I grew towards manhood. I passed through college, +and was afterwards admitted to the Bar, which by-and-by afforded me a +tolerable income. But one spring I fancied myself ailing, and resolved +to try the sea air; and so it happened that I became acquainted with +Jack Poyntz, and with Agatha, and with her pearl-shell necklace. + +Of course, all idea of recovering the original necklace had long ago +been abandoned. It had been conjectured that the seceding brother of +old times had appropriated it along with many other things that did +not belong to him; but there was no proof of this, other than that its +disappearance had been simultaneous with his own. Moreover, if the fact +must be told, I had outgrown the easy credulity of boyhood, and rather +inclined to suspect that the whole picturesque old tradition was three +parts imagination to one of truth. It might soothe my family pride to +ascribe our decadence to the loss of a trinket, or I might excuse my +indolence by declaring that fortune was attainable only on condition of +its being found again; but if I descended to hard matter-of-fact, as a +lawyer should do, I must admit there was nothing cross-questionable in +such an old-wives' tale. + +Cross-questionable or not, it will readily be conceived that the sight +of Agatha's pearl-shells gave me a thrill of surprise, and deepened my +interest in one who needed no such accidental attraction to render her +irresistible. The necklace so closely resembled the one in the portrait, +that the latter might have been painted from it. It was possible, no +doubt, that my great-grandmother's necklace was not unique; that a +duplicate--nay, many duplicates--existed. But it was not upon the face +of it probable, nor was I disposed to accept any such commonplace +solution of the problem. I loved Agatha, and I loved to think (for have +I not hinted that I was romantic, though a lawyer?)--I say it suited me +to believe that the necklace linked her, however unaccountably, with +me. It was evident that she herself looked upon it as a most precious +possession. She wore it continually, as she might have worn a talisman, +and touched it often, twisting the golden clasp about, or following the +woven pattern with meditative finger-tips. Once, when suddenly alarmed, +I saw her grasp it quickly in her hand, as if either seeking protection +from it, or instinctively yielding it protection; and another time, +during a storm, when a vessel was labouring in the offing, and seemed in +danger of being carried upon the Devil's Ribs, I came upon her just as +she kissed the great pearl in the clasp, as a Catholic would have kissed +the crucifix to avert misfortune. + +"Water-witch! water-witch! be thy spells wholesome?" I said in Danish, +for a knowledge of the ancestral tongue has always been kept alive in +the family. + +She turned round, started, and to my no small surprise, answered in the +same language: "Doubt not the spell, if the danger be daunted!" + +And then, seeming to recollect herself, she blushed, and said in +English: "It was a song my old nurse taught me. I should like to be a +witch, if I might save people from being shipwrecked." + +I made no reply, and we stood silently watching the struggle of the +vessel with the storm for perhaps ten minutes. At length it succeeded in +tacking at the very moment when all seemed lost, and bore safely away. +Agatha's eyes met mine for an instant; there were both smiles and tears +in them. She kissed her pearl again and moved away. But my digression +has already gone farther than I intended. Let us return to the stone +bench beneath the eaves, and the hot July sunshine. + + +II. + +"Mr. Poyntz," said I, clasping my hands behind my head, and crossing +one knee over the other, "how happens your house to be set up directly +opposite the Devil's Ribs, and at least a mile and a half from the +village? It's well enough in summer of course, but in winter, when the +snow is on the ground, I should think you'd want to be nearer your +butcher, not to speak of the meeting-house." + +"Ay, surely!" answered Mr. Poyntz, taking the pipe from his mouth, and +smoothing down the great sheaf of his beard. "But, d'ye see, sir, 'twas +not I set the house here, nor my father before me, and maybe there was +no butcher, nor yet no meeting-house along in those times. And another +thing, since you've set me a-going, sir; you see the lighthouse on the +point yonder?" indicating an abrupt rocky promontory half a mile to the +right of our position, which lay athwart the shore like a vast wall, +separating us from the little fishing hamlet on the other side. "Ye see +the lighthouse on tip-end of Gloam's Point, don't ye? Well, sir, old as +that lighthouse looks to you now, I, that am a deal older than you are, +can remember when 'twa'nt there. And that brings me round to what I was +going to say. Along in those times, sir, when there wa'nt no regular +lighthouse, but no bit less danger of craft running ashore, they used to +rig up a sort of a jury-light, if I might so call it, in the front of +our old gable. Ye may see the fixings now if ye steps forward a bit and +look up there. Ay, ay, every dark night, more especially every dirty +night, some of us would mount the garret shrouds, d'ye see, and show the +lantern. And many a ship we saved, no doubt; but they'd come ashore once +in a while, for the best we could do." + +"That's a suggestive name--Devil's Ribs. I suppose the bones of many a +good man and vessel lie swallowed up in them." + +"Ay, surely," returned the ancient mariner, swathing his head in a haze +of tobacco-smoke. "The more since the currents and whirlpools thereabout +mostly keep back the floating bits--spars, bodies, and such like--from +getting to the beach. Whatever strikes there, sinks there, speaking in a +general way. And forasmuch as there's five-and-thirty fathom clear water +there, and always a tidy bit of surf on, 'tain't very popular work +dredging." + +"That's an ugly thought," I observed; "a great ship might go down there, +and nothing ever be found to show what she was or who sailed in her." + +I happened to glance at Agatha as I made this observation, and noticed +that she paled a little and let her hands fall in her lap, and after a +few moments she got up and entered the house, leaving Mr. Poyntz and +me to ourselves. I fancied--but I may have been mistaken--that as she +passed the threshold she laid her finger upon the pearl-shell necklace. + +"Miss Agatha doesn't like to hear of wrecks," I remarked after a pause. + +"Why no, sir," said Poyntz slowly, his blue eyes fixed upon the +surf-whitened reef; "and perhaps 'tis natural she should not--specially +those wrecks that the Devil's Ribs is to blame for." + +"Has that necklace of hers anything to do with it?" I asked--though I +cannot tell what possessed me to put so inconsequent a question. Partly +to justify myself, I added: "It looks as if it might have been washed up +out of the sea." + +Poyntz threw a sharp look at me out of the corner of his weather-eye. +"Ye've noticed the necklace, have ye?" said he; "and ye've a quick wit +of your own, as they say is the way with lawyers. Howbeit, I think Jack +Poyntz knows an honest man when he sights him, and hoping ye'll excuse +the freedom, sir, methinks you are one. Now there's a bit of a yarn I'd +like to spin ye--you being beknown amongst the great gentlefolks down to +New York and elsewhere--about a wreck that once was on the Devil's Ribs. +Maybe some of those you do business for can throw light upon it like; +for what the ship was that was wrecked, or whence she sailed, was +never known; for only that necklace that Agatha wears--only that +and--something else, ever came to land. Ye guessed right, sir, d'ye see, +and in hopes of your guessing yet more, I'll spin ye the yarn, leastways +if ye've no objection. But afore starting, if ye'll kindly allow me, +sir, I'll load my pipe, for with me the words come ever easier when +there's smoke behind 'em." + +I said nothing, but Poyntz saw well enough that I was very much +interested, and, like all incorrigible yarn-spinners, he found a +humorous pleasure in prolonging his hearer's suspense. It was five +minutes before his pipe was cleaned out, refilled, and lighted to his +satisfaction, and then, having spread out his great arms along the back +of the bench, stretched his mighty legs in front of him, and fixed his +gaze upon the lighthouse--his favourite yarn-spinning attitude--he +appeared to wait for an inspiration. + +"How long ago was it?" I asked at length, to set him going. + +"Well, sir, it might be five-and-twenty years ago that that wreck took +place. You was hardly more than out of your nursery then, I'm thinking. +As for me, I was a chap of maybe forty--or maybe not so much; my old +father he had just parted his last cable, as I might say, and I had just +come in from a voyage to the Pacific Coast for hides, and was living in +this house alone by myself. I'd come home, sir, to find the girl as had +given me her word spliced to another man; and so it happened that I +stayed a bachelor till after the age when many find themselves grandads. +But I wedded at last, sir, as ye see, and never had cause to think the +worse of myself for doing it!" + +"I should think not, indeed," I assented, laughing. But meanwhile I was +telling myself that Agatha must be nearly twenty years old, and that if +Poyntz had wedded only at the age of a grandfather, she could hardly +be his own offspring by marriage. Were the doubts which her aspect had +already suggested to me well founded, then? I prudently waited, in the +hope that this question likewise might find its answer in the course of +my host's story. + +"It was along about that time, sir," Poyntz continued, having +acknowledged my compliment with a friendly nod, "that I first came +acquainted with Scholar Gloam, as the folks called him; him that yonder +point's named after, and that lived at the Laughing Mill, over there, +back of the wood. But now I come for to think on it," broke off the old +yarn-spinner, pulling his meerschaum out of the corner of his mouth and +looking round at me, "did I ever chance to speak to ye of Scholar Gloam +afore?" + +"I don't think you ever did; but I always like to hear about anything +that has a picturesque nickname, as almost everything hereabouts seems +to have." + +The hale old man laughed, and raked his brown fingers through his +spreading beard. "In an out-of-the-way place like this, sir," said he, +"where's few enough things anyway, nicknames come natural. Well, now, as +touching Scholar Gloam, he died nigh a score of years ago; leastways he +knocked off living in the body. For there be those," lowering his voice +and wrinkling his brows, "there be those--superstitious like--ready to +take affidavit of having seen him, certain days in the year, a prowling +round the Laughing Mill. His grave is near by, right under the Black +Oak; and maybe the place is a bit skeery. + +"Howsoever, that don't concern us now. When I knew Scholar Gloam, he was +a middling-sized, slender-built young gentleman, having queer hair not +all of the same colour, and a trick of talking to himself in a sort of a +low mumbling way, as it might be the bubbling of water under a ship's +stern, if ye know what I mean, sir. He was a comely favoured man of the +pale sort, and grave and silent, though always the gentleman in his +manners, as by blood and breeding. For the Gloams was the great family +here fifty years ago, and was landlords of most of the farms roundabout; +but they steered a bad course, as I might say, and died out, so as +Scholar Gloam was the last of 'em. Old Harold, the Scholar's father, he +was a reckless devil if any man ever was; and when he died 'twas found +that Gloam Hall and all belonging thereto must go to the auction. The +only bit left was the Laughing Mill itself, and an acre or two of land +round about it." + +"What did the mill laugh at, Mr. Poyntz? its own prosperity?" + +"Nay, sir!" returned the burly mariner, shaking his head. "I heard it +laugh once, and I'd as soon crack jokes with Davy Jones as listen to +it again. 'Twas a mad, wild scream more than a laugh, and like nothing +human, praise goodness, that ever I heard! There was ugly yarns about +that mill, d'ye see; folks said as how it had killed a man, and +afterwards had got possessed with his evil spirit that was always +roaming about seeking whom it might devour ... or maybe I've got +things a bit mixed!" + +"Who was it that was killed?" I suggested. + +"Ay, surely," said Mr. Poyntz thoughtfully, "I should have told ye that. +It was the man that was married to old Squire Harold's housekeeper. +And that housekeeper, sir, when she was a young one, was about as +well-favoured a wench as a man would care to speak with on a week day; +and 'twas said," hitching himself nearer to me on the bench and rumbling +in my ear, "that the Squire had a fancy to her, and that after a time +she was married off in a hurry and sent to live at the mill, and that +her baby was born six months from the wedding. Well, all I know is, +little enough that child looked like him as passed for its father; and +now comes the ugliest part of it. A year after the child's birth the +miller was found dead one morning underneath his own mill-wheel. Seems +he'd fallen in the mill-race by some mishap, and so had the life crushed +out of him. But bad things was said ... and the widow and child they +went back to the Hall, and lived there many years, till the Squire died. +The child got all his growth and training there, and folks used to say +he'd have been more like the Squire if he hadn't been most like his +mother. Well, the Squire being gone at last, and the estate all sold +saving just the mill, as I told ye, what does the housekeeper and her +son do but go back to the mill again. The son--David he was called--was +then a likely young chap of maybe seventeen; and he took right hold and +began for to run the mill, and a very fair profit he made out of it, +taking one year with another. And Scholar Gloam, he was living in the +mill-house along with them, having his room to himself, and his books +and instruments quite cosy." + +"Wasn't that rather an odd thing for him to do, Mr. Poyntz, under the +circumstances?" + +"Ay, surely; but ye must keep it in mind, sir, that Scholar Gloam was a +wondrous odd man. He'd been his whole life shut up with his books and +his studies, and no doubt had a vast deal of that sort of learning; but +of worldly knowledge, as I might say, he'd none at all whatever, no more +than a child. Little he'd heard of his father's doings, be it with the +handsome housekeeper or anything else; and little he dreamed--ye can +make affidavit--that her son had any claim to call himself his brother, +though 'twas told him once afterwards, as we'll come to presently. Nay, +but my thought of him is, he was a simple, honest gentleman at that +time, kind of heart and thinking ill of no one; only a bit strange and +distant, d'ye see, as was no harm in the world for him to be. And being +quite the same thing to him whether he lived in a palace or a mud hut, +so long as he might study his fill, why, likely he'd an easy enough time +of it. + +"And 'twould have been smooth enough sailing for the whole of them only +for one thing, which is to say as how, ever and anon, in the mid of a +big run of luck, that there mill would take on a spell of its laughing; +and with that folks would be giving it a wide berth, and business would +slack up again. It was no use the old woman and David a swearing that a +bit of rust on the axle was the cause of it all; for, mind ye, there was +no steering round that black fact of the old miller's having met his +death on the wheel; and, too, though they was never done hunting for +that bit of a rust spot, they never found it, or if ever they thought +they had, lo! there'd be the laugh in their faces again, so to say, the +next morning. Ay, 'twas a bad, unholy sound that, sir; but the Scholar, +strange to be told, seemed less to mind it than anyone; the cause being, +mayhap, as how he was a wondrous absent-minded man anyway, and the only +one as had never been told the true story of how the old miller came by +his end. + +"So now, sir, having dropped ye this bit of a hint of who Scholar Gloam +was, I'll go on with the yarn of the wreck on the Devil's Ribs and the +necklace. + + +III. + +"But, first and foremost," continued Mr. Poyntz, after having revived +his failing pipe with a dozen or so of quick whiffs, "first and foremost +I must mention a queer habit he had--Scholar Gloam, I mean--and by which +it was as I first came acquainted with him. As long as the sun was over +the horizon line he'd stay indoors, behind the lock of his study door; +but at nightfall out he'd walk, foul weather or fair, and through the +wood back yonder, down across the rocky pasture to the sea, a trip of +maybe a mile and over. And often at midnight, as I've been pulling +shorewards from the offing in my fishing dory, I've seen him standing +a-top of the point, where the lighthouse stands now, the sky being +light behind him, and he looking black, and bigger than any human +creature; and sometimes he'd be tossing his arms about, and shouting +out some un-Christian lingo, though there was no one there to talk +to--leastways that I could see. 'Twas a queer thing, I say, for a +slender, delicate-looking gentleman like him to be out so by night, in +all weathers, seeming not to know the difference whether it blew, or +rained, or snowed, or all three together. Some folks used for to shake +their heads over it, and say he was gone daft; others there was (the +superstitious kind, d'ye see) would have it as how Davy Jones, whose +black bones had been the end of many a good ship and cargo, was in the +custom of coming nightly to the point to hold parley with him, as it +might be to strike a bargain whereby Davy should get the Scholar his +estates and riches again in change for his soul. + +"But Jack Poyntz never troubled his head with such fancies, sir; and +times, when I'd stowed my boat away, I'd hail him, and have him down to +the house; and sitting snug together by the kitchen fire, many a strange +yarn has he spun me, the like of which never was heard before--leastways +not outside of the books that were hid in his library--and of which many +were writ in strange tongues as are not spoken in our Christian times. +But it's not for me to be repeating of 'em now, only, as I was a-telling +ye, it was such-like things brought us acquainted; and very good chums +we were, allowing for his being a young gentleman scholar, and me a +sailor as had no great book-learning, though knowing more of men and +things than a hundred such as him. And by the end of a couple of years +or so, meeting him that way off and on, I knew him as well as ever +anybody knew him--as well, maybe, as he knew himself. + +"Well, things being this way, one day, about the last week in September, +it came on to blow. There was no rain, but no moon either, and the air +was thick; and night coming on, it was as black as my hat. It wasn't +long afore there was a heavy sea running, and ye could have heard the +surf on them Devil's Ribs five miles inland. I shipped the lantern up in +the fore gable as usual, though knowing it couldn't show far in such a +night; and, thinks I, see it or not, any ship that gets caught in the +tide this weather is bound to wreck; so I'll hope, says I to myself, +that they'll give us a wide berth. Howbe, I wasn't sleepy, so I loaded +my pipe, and, thinks I, I'll have a snug smoke and a drop of grog +alongside the kitchen fire afore turning in. No chance, thinks I, of my +Scholar happening in this night; he never could beat up against that +wind, not if he had Davy Jones himself to pilot him. Well, there I +sat for maybe an hour, the noise of the storm getting ever louder and +louder, so at times I could hardly hear the rattle of my spoon as I +stirred up the grog in the tumbler. Then all of a sudden there comes +a knocking at the door, quick and heavy, and up I jumps and opens +it, and lo! there was the Scholar, with no hat and no coat, and that +strange-coloured hair of his blown up wild about his head, and his eyes +wide open and bright as a binnacle. + +"'Why don't you come in, sir?' shouts I, loud as if I was a-hailing him +at the maintop, such a noise the wind made; 'ye'll get the heart and +lungs blown clean out of ye if ye stop there!' + +"Seemed like he answered me something, I couldn't make out what; but he +laid hold on my sleeve with that thin white hand of his, that gripped +like a vice, as if he'd pull me out into the storm with him, instead of +coming in to me. And by his face I could see there was a storm within +him as stirred him more than the one without; and then he pointed down +seawards, and, thinks I, 'tis a ship he's seen or heard on the Devil's +Ribs. And though I knew well we could no more help any poor wrecked +souls than if they was in the moon, yet it wasn't in me to back out of +going with him to see what there was to see. So just laying hold of my +tarpaulin and a flask of rum, off we starts on the run, dead in the +wind's eye. How he managed for to scud over the ground at that rate is +more than I could make out; the wind seemed to take no hold on him, but +just let him through easy, though all the time it was near blowing my +ears off. + +"Well, down we came to the beach at last, at a place about a cable's +length this side of the point. I'd kept my man in sight up to this time +by reason of the white shirt he had on, his coat, as I told ye, being +off him, but whither gone I'd not remembered for to ask him. But now, +all of a sudden, I found he'd disappeared, and all I could see was the +pale froth of the surf that came leaping up the beach, with a sound from +the black wave behind it like the going off of a big gun. Howsoever, +I presently stumbled round the corner of a big boulder--ye may see it +yonder, sir, in a line with the face of the lighthouse and the top of +the pine stump--and there he was on his knees beside something wrapped +up and still; and when I looked, 'twas seemingly a young girl, about +twelve to thirteen years old, with no life in her. She had come ashore +on a bit of planking, and the Scholar he had seen her coming, and had +scrambled down from the cliff in time to haul her in and under the lea +of the boulder. How he did it the Lord only knows, for ten men working +together might have failed in it. But there she lay, with no mark of +harm or bruise upon her, and yet (as my heart misgave me) lifeless from +the washing of the waves through which she had voyaged to land. + +"I saw 'twould be no use trying to give her rum yet awhile, so I stoops +to lift her up along with the bit of planking that she lay upon; and +Scholar Gloam he helped, though neither of us spoke, by reason of the +thundering noise of the surf and the wind that half deafened us. It took +us maybe a quarter of an hour, and then we were at home, and had her +down before the fire, and wrapped in hot blankets, and everything done +that could be done; and after nigh a couple of hours' work, she moved +the least mite in the world, and fetched a sigh. With that I sings out +like I'd come upon a chest full of gold dollars, and says I, 'All's +well, Scholar Gloam; she's a-coming to, and she'll live to smile on us +yet!' And then what does he do, sir, but just throws his head back with +a little laugh, and topples over in a dead faint. 'Twas the exhaustion, +ye must understand, as had come on all at once after the suspense of +whether she was alive or dead was over. So there was I with the two of +'em to doctor. Well, I soon had the Scholar all right again; but when he +saw as how the child was a-doing well, he drops off suddenly to sleep, +being tired right out and unable for to keep his eyes open; and I didn't +wake him, but just threw a blanket over him, and let him sleep it out. + +"It was, maybe, half an hour after that that the little girl spoke; she +had been opening her eyes and then shutting them several times, and +wondering where she was got to, I suppose, poor little dear. She was +pretty and white, with yellow hair and big blue eyes, and soft little +feet and hands, and pointed fingers; and round her neck was the +pearl-shell necklace that ye've seen Agatha wearing, sir. Well, she +looked at me for a bit, and seemed like to cry, not knowing who I was, +or where she'd got to, d'ye see; and then she said something, repeating +it over twice or thrice; but I couldn't understand her, by reason of her +speaking some foreign lingo as was unknown to me. Howsoever, I took for +granted that it must be some of her people she was asking after; so I +pointed to the back room, and made believe as they were in there, but +asleep, and not to be disturbed then. She believed me, poor little soul, +and presently after dropped quietly asleep, with the tears yet under her +eyelids, and the firelight flickering over her sweet face and yellow +hair. + +"Well, I sat there between the two, for I wasn't sleepy at all myself, +and kept the fire alight, and my own pipe a-going, till morning, by +which time the storm was mostly cleared off. So I got the old lantern +down from the gable, and stirred about to get breakfast ready; and at +sunrise, the two being still sleeping, I walked out to see if so be as +anything of the wreck was visible. But the Devil's Ribs was only a bank +of foam, and when I came to the beach there was naught there but a few +shattered timbers and bits of spars and rigging; whatever else there +may have been had gone down within the whirlpool of the Devil's Ribs, +and would never see daylight more; nor was there anything to tell where +the wrecked ship hailed from, or what she was, or whither she was bound. +Nay, a man might well have doubted whether there'd been any wreck at +all; and superstitious folks might have thought that the pretty child we +had found was a sea-nymph or a mermaid, who had come on the shoulders +of waves to bring us good luck--or bad, maybe! Not that I'd have ye to +think, sir, that I'm of the superstitious kind, being a man as has +seen much of the world, and lived a number of years in it. But 'twas a +strange thing altogether, and stranger yet was to follow, as ye shall +hear. + +"In my walk I happened by the boulder where I'd been with the Scholar +overnight, and there I picked up a small iron box, with a big lock on +it; it was lashed to four bits of wood, so as it might float, and I +think it must have come ashore along with the raft that brought the +little girl. Just as I laid hands on it, and cut away the lashings, I +sighted one of the villagers a-coming over the cliff path towards me. +So, not caring to be hailed at that time, I slipped the box in the +pocket of my jacket, and steered for the house. + +"And lo! there was the fair child sitting in the chair, and the Scholar +he was kneeling in front of her, with her hands in his, and they were +a-talking together in that same foreign lingo as she had spoken in to +me; for, d'ye see, he had learnt it all from his books, and understood +it as well as she who was born to it. The child was a bit scared and +tearful still, and he seemed to be a-comforting of her; and as I came +in, says he, 'Don't let on that her folks are drowned, Jack; for I've +told her they're but borne away to another harbour, and will return one +day to claim her. So meanwhile,' says he, 'she'll come to live with me +at the mill, and be my little girl; for is she not my little girl now, +since 'twas I brought her forth from the ocean that would have robbed +her sweet young life?' With that he kisses her little hands, and says +somewhat to her again in her own tongue. It touched my heart to see the +two together, sir; for, d'ye see, the Scholar had never seemed to be +aware, as I may say, of women or children until now; he had moved +through life without seeing them or speaking to them, save at times +in an absent, dreamy sort of a way, as though they were in different +worlds. But now he was full of earnestness and a kind of joyful +trembling surprise, as one who had all of a sudden opened his eyes to a +great treasure, and was delighting in it all the more for that he had +been unknowing of it before. He was all in all a changed man, and +softened, and waked up inside, so that his eyes seemed to be a-seeing +the things that was round him, and not things in a dream; and methought +there was a difference in his voice, too; it was deeper and tenderer +like, and made you feel as how he had grown to be a man more than a +scholar. I thought he was as a ship that had long been lingering in cold +dark waters, baffled with winds that set towards no pleasant harbour, +but which had at last found its sails filled with a fair fresh breeze, +as was blowing her to warm southern seas and tropic islands full of heat +and life. Ye'll maybe laugh, sir, to hear an old sailor talk like this; +but surely I had loved the man, and pitied him, too, for his loneliness; +and it touched me, as I said, to see that he had found a good thing in +the world, and could feel the happiness of it. + +"'Pretty soon, Jack,' says he again, 'ye must help me carry her to the +mill this morning, before the village folks are astir; and don't tell +them that she's there, or whence she came. She's my own, and her past is +all gone for ever; God has sent her to me for my own. I shall make her +love me as I now love her, and no other shall have any part in her. I +will be to her all that she has lost, and more; and I will cherish her +always and make her happy. And when the village folks find out that I +have her (as soon of course they must), they shall be told that she is +a good fairy come to bring me fortune and delight. I'd say that she rose +up one morning out of the deep clear pool just above the mill-race; and +that though appearing as a human being, she is in very truth not mortal, +but has consented to live with me so long as I continue worthy of +her companionship. But when the time comes--which God forbid it ever +should!--that I prove unworthy, then shall she vanish back to her +natural abode, and I be more desolate than before she came. And as +for this necklace,' says he, 'it is a talisman; and should fate ever +separate us, yet this be left me, 'twill be a pledge that'...." + +"What's happened?" + + +IV. + +The yarn broke off abruptly enough. Poyntz and I had both started to our +feet, our eyes and ears straining towards the mill-stream, where little +Peter had during the last hour been quietly fishing. The sound of a +quick scramble, a heavy plunge, and simultaneously a lusty scream, had +sharply broken the repose of the summer afternoon. + +"'Tis the brat has toppled in!" cried Poyntz, the sunburnt ruddiness of +his complexion turning to a tawny sallow hue. "He can't swim; haste ye +lower down, sir; I'll to the pool; but if as he's carried over the fall, +ye'll stop him at the rapid." + +We had already set off on a run towards the bank, and we now separated +in accordance with Poyntz's suggestion. I saw no more of the latter, +being wholly absorbed in carrying out my part of the programme; and in a +few moments I was standing panting beside the rushing water, trying to +select the best point from which to take my plunge. Just then I heard a +swift rustling step behind me, and there was Agatha, her lovely face and +eyes aglow with terrified excitement. Then it passed through my mind +that she had always evinced a particular tenderness and affection for +poor little Peter; and at the thought I must confess that my resolve to +save him at all risks became tenfold as strong as it had been before. + +It was all a whirl and confusion; and only by comparing notes afterwards +did we make out the order of events. Master Peter, it seems, after much +unfruitful angling, had at last succeeded in hooking a huge trout, and +straightway had lost first his mental and then his bodily balance. The +fish being fairly on the hook, and pulling hard, the little man had +rather chosen to go in after it, rod and all, than save himself at +the cost of losing it. His scream, however, had startled not only his +father and myself but Agatha and his mother likewise; and the latter had +followed her husband, as Agatha did me. When Poyntz reached the brink of +the pool, the young fisherman had just risen for the second time, and +was circling helplessly in the eddy. Poyntz sprang forward; but his foot +catching in a vine, he fell prone, his head in the water and the rest of +his body on dry land. + +Before he could disentangle himself (an operation which the well-meant +but too convulsive efforts of Mrs. Poyntz only served to retard) the +child had drifted into the current and was carried over the fall. It was +now that Agatha and I first caught sight of him. She pressed impulsively +forward, and had I not retained her would have leaped into the headlong +rapids herself. As I caught her arm, I felt rather than saw her +glance at me, as though measuring my ability to do what must be done. +Apparently her decision was in my favour, for she stepped back; and +an instant after I was staggering breast deep in the boiling stream, +watching the swift but topsy-turvy onset of Master Peter. Down he swept; +and to make a long story short, I succeeded in catching hold of him +without losing my footing, and thereby in saving his life and my own. +Agatha helping from the bank, we were soon landed high and dry, or +rather, very wet. Then ensued a great and indescribable hullaballo, +wherein the first distinguishable words burst from Mr. Poyntz: + +"Look ye here, wife!" cried he, laughing and weeping in the same breath, +"look if the lad hasn't stuck to his fish through it all!" + +And so it proved; Peter had rivalled the childish exploit of his +predecessor, stout little Kit North. There was the rod, still lightly +gripped in his small fist; and a three-pound trout was flapping and +gasping at the end of the line. + +"He's but a chip of the old block, Mr. Poyntz," said I, when the shouts +that greeted the discovery had somewhat subsided. "What is that sticking +in the corner of your mouth?" + +The old mariner put up his hand and took the thing out, and after +staring at it for a moment in comical dismay, he burst into a laugh, in +which everybody joined. It was the stem of his well-loved meerschaum, +held unconsciously between his teeth throughout the entire turmoil; the +bowl had probably been snapped off when he fell on the brink of the +pool. So we all retraced our way to the house, the trout resting +triumphantly in Peter's arms, who was himself carried by his father. +Agatha and I walked side by side; neither spoke to the other, and I knew +not what thoughts were in her mind; but for my own part I had never +been more light of heart, and I regarded Peter and his trout as the best +friends that ever lover had. My achievement had been trifling enough, +Heaven knows; but such as it was, it had been done before her eyes, and +partly at least for her sake. When we had reached the house-door, and +the others had passed in before us, she paused on the threshold and +turned to me, smiling, with her finger upon the necklace-clasp. + +"I kissed it to save you ... and Peter!" she added hastily, and with a +light in her dark eyes that was half mischievous, half earnest. + +"And now that we're saved, I suppose you are going to kiss ... Peter?" +I dared to reply, for my ducking had given me courage. + +She blushed, but looked straight at me; and the next moment was gone +into the house, leaving me uncertain whether I had gone too far or not +far enough. But, ah! happy Peter. A few bruises, and the involuntary +swallowing of a gallon or two of water, were the extent of his injuries; +while his blessings were beyond estimation. When I came downstairs half +an hour later, after changing my clothes, I found him bundled up in an +old pea-jacket of his father's, and sitting in Agatha's arms. He was +watching his mother clean the big trout, the prize of his valour; and +as I passed by, Agatha glanced up at me and kissed him! + +I stole out by the kitchen-door and looked about for Mr. Poyntz; for his +yarn had, for several reasons, begun to interest me exceedingly, and I +was most anxious to hear the end of it. But he was nowhere to be seen; +he had gone off to attend to something on the farm, and would as likely +as not be absent till supper-time. It was a long time till then, and +meanwhile I was without anything to amuse me. My mind was restless and +excited, and I would have been thankful for any distraction. Nothing +turned up, however, and at length--without being at the pains even to +notice what direction I was taking--I set off on an objectless tramp, +and was soon out of sight of the farmhouse. + +I had plenty to think about--so much, indeed, that I could think +coherently about nothing. Ideas crowded incongruously upon one another, +now this one and now that catching my attention for a moment, and then +receding to the background. From the picture of my late adventure in the +mill-stream, I slid to a review of Agatha--my relations with her; did +she care for me? had my lucky exploit really advantaged me? and ought I +to have stolen a kiss upon the doorstep? Instead of considering these +questions, I was pondering the tale which Poyntz had begun to tell. Was +it all true? would he ever finish it? and what would be its upshot? But +now the pearl-shell necklace ruled my thoughts. Was it possibly the same +as that which my great-grandmother had lost? and if so, would Agatha be +likely to know anything about it? The next moment a vision of Scholar +Gloam had risen before me. How had he come to die, and be buried beneath +the Black Oak? and why was the old mill considered haunted? David--the +handsome housekeeper's son--what had become of him? and, above all, +what had been the fate of the little sea-nymph? Then the necklace once +more--how came Agatha to attach such talismanic virtues to it? and was +not her doing so evidence that she must know its ancient history? Again, +was Agatha Poyntz's own daughter? and if so, who and what had been her +mother? for she must be the child of a union prior to that which had +resulted in Peter. The speculation gave place in turn to the idea of +the mill-wheel possessed by the devil, or by the soul of the murdered +miller--Poyntz had seemed uncertain which. Had its "laugh" really been +so terrible? or had not an originally harmless, if disagreeable noise, +acquired a supernatural horror only because listened to across a gap +of twenty years? Ah well, what matter to me were all these idle, +unanswerable queries? Behind all things--before all things, I seemed to +meet the sweet fascination of Agatha's dark eyes, and to catch the gleam +of her yellow hair. Yes, ever and ever, as the pendulum swings outwards +and returns, does my thought come back to Agatha! + +Immersed in such disjointed musings, I had journeyed on I know not how +long, when all at once I became conscious, so to speak, of the outward +world, and looked up and on all sides of me. Where was I? In no place +certainly that I had ever visited before. The sea was nowhere visible; +the surface of the ground was rocky and irregular, and in nearly every +direction the view was shut in by thick growths of pine, birch, and oak. +From beyond a clump of the latter, southward from where I stood, I +thought I detected the noise of falling water; and glancing eastwards, +I could trace the course of a stream which was itself unseen, by the +hedge of stunted timber that fringed its banks. The aspect of the +neighbourhood was wild and remote; it seemed to lie apart from men's +ways; and certainly he would have been an unsocial spirit who should +have chosen such a spot to live in. On the other hand, anyone in search +of a good place to do a murder in, or hold a witch meeting, need not +have looked farther. A corpse might lie amongst these rocks and bushes +for twenty years without a chance of being discovered; and ghost and +witches might scream their eeriest unheard by mortal ear. + +Meanwhile I walked on to the other side of the clump of oak trees, when +I suddenly found myself gazing on a scene that involuntarily brought me +to a standstill. + + +V. + +I was now standing on the bank of a stream which, coming from the west, +took its course past my feet eastwards. For some distance its approach +was between gradually rising walls of rock, which were highest just +where I stood. Thence was a precipitous descent into a small gorge about +one hundred paces in length, whose steep sides opened out towards the +east, their meeting-point being my present station. Through the natural +gateway which it had cut for itself in the face of the precipice, the +stream fell cataract-wise into a deep pool below, whence overflowing +it rushed down a rugged incline, and, having leapt another fall, raced +along the middle of the little glen, and so hurried with foam and noise +onward to the sea. + +There were vestiges of a rude bridge, long since broken down, across the +natural gateway just mentioned; and I even fancied that I could detect +traces of an ancient footpath which had its beginning somewhere in the +west, and, crossing the stream at this point, had then clambered down +the slope to the bottom of the gorge. The bridge had not been entirely +of stone; but a stout plank had probably spanned the flood, secured +at either end by rough masonry. It must have been a ticklish passage +without a handrail, for a false step, followed by a plunge over the +cataract, would have been almost certain death. If Master Peter had +tumbled in here instead of at the other pool miles lower down, not +Poyntz, nor Agatha, nor I, nor all the luck in the world could have got +him out alive. + +The hollow of the gorge was much overgrown with bushes and brambles, and +along the margin of the noisy stream the grass was high and rank. At the +opening of the little valley farthest from where I stood rose an immense +oak-tree--the only tree of anything like its size to be seen within a +mile--whose wide-spreading branches cast a deep shadow on the earth +beneath. So thickly clustered the leaves on the stalwart boughs, and so +dark was their tint of green, the whole great tree seemed to have been +steeped in night. The gorge, though full of sunlight and verdure, and +vocal with the splash of the cataracts, wrought on me even at the first +glance an impression of loneliness and desolation. The blue sky seemed +farther away from this than from other parts of the earth's surface, and +methought the sun shone upon it rather in mockery than in love. + +Nearly midway down the hollow, and just under the second cataract, hung +a huge water-wheel. It hung there motionless, and plainly many a year +had passed since it had revolved upon its ponderous axle. It was +built of wood, on a clumsy and old-fashioned model, and had become so +blackened by age and weather that one might have fancied it charred +by fire. Its parts were fastened together with great nails and clamps +of iron, the strength of which, however, was now but a deceptive +appearance, for the metal was eaten away by red rust, so that a hearty +shake would probably have caused the whole structure to tumble into +ruin. The rain and snow of unrecorded seasons had spread the rust in +streaks and blotches over the swarthy rottenness of the woodwork until I +could almost have believed it dabbled with unsightly stains of blood. + +Side by side with these ominous discolorations, however, were growing +patches of tender green moss; and thick tufts of grass bent gracefully +over the heavy rim of the wheel, where it impended above the rushing +water. A delicate vine of convolvulus had become rooted somewhere +above, and had wreathed itself in and out among the rigid spokes. It +seemed as though Nature were striving, with but partial success, to win +back to her own fresh bosom this gaunt relic of man's handiwork. With +but partial success; for all the magic of her beautiful adornments +could not annul the odd feeling of repulsion--or was it perverted +fascination?--with which this sullen wheel began to affect me. I +know not how to interpret, even to my own mind, the nature of this +impression. Solitary as I stood there, I yet could not rid myself of +the notion that I was not (in the ordinary sense of the word) alone. +That wheel--there was something about it more than belongs to mere +negative brute matter. It seemed not devoid of a low and evil form +of consciousness--almost of personality. I recognised the morbid +extravagance of the idea at the same time that I was powerless to do +away with it. Everyone, probably, has had some similar experience; and +the fact that reason cannot account for the sensation does not lessen +its impressiveness. + +The wheel had caught my eye from the first, and, as it were, commanded +my main attention. But after a few minutes I looked away from it, not +without a conscious effort of will, and gave a closer examination to +other objects in the glen. The mill to which the wheel appertained +stood on the right bank of the stream, but was now little more than +a heap of ruins. The wooden part was wholly decayed, and the stone +foundations were displaced and shattered, and covered with weeds +and rubbish. A few paces farther back, huddled against the southern +acclivity of the gorge, was the carcase of a dismantled and deserted +house. The roof had fallen in, the window frames and sashes were gone, +and the lifeless rooms stood open to the air. The stone walls had +formerly been overlaid with plaster, but this had mostly fallen away, +and what patches remained here and there were stained with greenish +mould. A tall clump of barberry bushes was growing just within the +threshold of the doorway, as if to dispute the entrance of any chance +intruder; and a vigorous plantation of some species of yellow flowers +was waving above the remains of the chimney. The spectacle was in every +respect forlorn and depressing; no barren desert, that had never been +trodden by the foot of man, could have so repelled and saddened the +observer. Man feels no sympathy for what has never known life; but +that which once has lived and now is dead, yet retains in death some +semblance of its extinct vitality,--that it is which brings the true +feeling of desolation home to us. + +After a time I climbed cautiously down from my coign of vantage, and +making my way between loose stones and tangled shrubbery, I passed +the black wheel and arrived at length beneath the shadow of the great +oak. And here, for the first time, I began to feel very weary, with a +weariness as much of the mind as of the body. In fact, what with my +adventure with Peter, my long walk, and the excitement produced by +old Jack Poyntz's strange yarn, I had been through a good deal for an +invalid, and had earned the right to a little rest. Looking about me for +a seat, my eye fell upon a small mound which lay between me and the base +of the oak, with a bit of gray stone jutting out from one end of it. It +might once have been a bench; at all events it would serve my turn, so +I threw myself down at full length and pillowed my head and shoulders +against it. As I lay, my face was turned towards the open end of the +gorge, and away from the house and mill-wheel. These, however, dwelt in +my memory; and on closing my eyes, I found that the scene of the ruin +stood distinctly before my mental sight, more weird than the reality, +because the phantom sunshine appeared pallid and ineffective. + +The sound of a breeze stirring amid the thick leaves over my head +mingled with the gurgle of the stream, until it seemed as if some voice +were speaking in a low minor key--a tone without passion and without +hope. As I listened, and fancifully attempted to fashion words and +sentences out of the inarticulate murmur, that odd sensation of not +being alone (which had all along been hovering about me) suddenly +intensified itself to the pitch of conviction. Sitting up with something +of a start, I glanced nervously towards the mill, and at once had the +pleasure of seeing my conviction justified. The figure of a man was +actually standing on the opposite side of the stream, one hand resting +upon the wheel, while he fixed upon me the gaze of a pair of black eyes. +He had probably been there from the first, or if not precisely there, +then in the near vicinity; there were hiding-places enough amongst the +ruins. Nevertheless I felt an unreasonable anger against him. He had +come upon me unawares; and a surprise, if it be not agreeable, is apt to +be very much the reverse. + +He was a person of medium height, perhaps a little below it, and was +clad in a shabby old-fashioned coat and small-clothes. He wore no hat, +and the black hair which grew thickly upon his high head was curiously +variegated with large patches of white. His countenance showed +refinement and sensitiveness but the expression stamped upon it was +singularly painful. I cannot better describe it than by saying that it +seemed to indicate loss, loss beyond remedy either in this world or +the next. Its effect upon me resembled that wrought by the desolate +house, but was more potent, because humanised. The man seemed beyond +middle-age, judging from the furrows on his brow and the stoop on his +shoulders; and yet there was a kind of immaturity in his aspect. He was +as one whose intellectual much outweighed his actual experience; who had +dwelt amidst theories and eschewed reality. Such a combination of age +and youth needs a strong seasoning of sincerity and simplicity to make +it palatable; but in the present case these qualities were wanting, and +instead there was an indefinable flavour of moral perversion. + +When we had regarded each other for several moments, the man crossed the +mill-race and advanced towards me, making a gesture of greeting with his +hand. His manner was well-bred and quiet, and left no doubt that he was +a gentleman; notwithstanding which I felt an antipathy against him, and +was half-minded to admonish him that his presence was unwelcome. That I +did not yield to this impulse was due, perhaps, less to courtesy than to +the strong sentiment of curiosity with which the stranger had already +inspired me. In other words, he was a magnet that attracted me with one +pole while repelling me with the other; and the attraction was, for the +moment, the stronger force of the two. + +At this juncture it occurred to me--I know not how I had failed to +think of it before--that these ruins must be what was left of the +Laughing Mill, to which Poyntz had made allusion in his interrupted +yarn. The recognition gave me a thrill of a kind not altogether +agreeable; I was glad that the sun shone instead of the moon. Nor did +I, under these changed conditions, so much regret the presence of a +companion. I was in a nervous and abnormal state, and though far from +superstitious--no lawyer could venture to be that--I preferred society +to solitude in a place which had the reputation of being haunted. +It was healthier to converse about such follies--even with an +unsympathetic interlocutor--than to brood over them in private. This +old-fashioned personage, moreover, had the air of being familiar with +the neighbourhood; perhaps he was in the habit of coming here, and +could give me some information about its former inhabitants--Scholar +Gloam and the rest. I repented my former rude intentions, and resolved +to be friends with him, and draw him out. Accordingly I returned his +salute, and commanded my features to an expression of affability. + + +VI. + +Within about three paces of me he stopped, and passed his hand two or +three times through the black and white masses of his hair. He had the +air of trying to rouse himself from a mood of painful preoccupation. At +length he spoke in a faint, unaccented tone, like a voice heard far off. + +"I want your sympathy," said he. + +"Have we met before?" I asked, rather taken aback. "I really don't +remember--but I believe I've been half asleep, and am hardly awake yet." + +He shook his head slowly, his black eyes curiously perusing my face. +"You have chosen an ill place to sleep in," he remarked after a pause. +"Many a year have I sought repose there--in vain." + +"Indeed? Well, I came here quite by accident, and judging by the aspect +of the place, I shouldn't have supposed it would have been often +visited." + +"You are right, few come hither now; but as many as do so are liable to +meet with me." + +I looked more narrowly at my queer companion, and all at once the +thought struck me, the man is mad! Yes, it must be so. How otherwise +could the strangeness of his appearance, behaviour, and conversation be +accounted for? He did not look dangerous, probably he was incapable of +doing harm, and therefore permitted to wander about as he liked. In the +moral atmosphere of these ruins he was sensible of somewhat congenial +to his own forlornness, and hence haunted them rather than any +more cheerful spot. Certainly, this was an appropriate haunt for a +madman--for one whose mind had fallen into that ugliest chaos which was +once beauty and order. But I liked the spectacle of mental even less +than that of material decay; and though the poor gentleman had asked me +for my sympathy, I scarcely knew how to give it to him. + +By I know not what faculty of divination, he appeared to suspect what +was passing in my mind. + +"I am not mad," he said quietly, but with a tremor of the finely-cut +though irresolute lips. "I am not mad, I have passed beyond insanity. +Let me sit down here and talk to you. Nay--do not rise! Recline as you +were doing, and close your eyes if you will; I need only your ears." + +While speaking thus he passed behind me, and apparently seated himself +at the foot of the oak-tree, outside of my range of vision. But no +sooner was he out of plain sight, than I was seized with an odd fantasy +that he had actually vanished into thin air, and that were I to look +round, I should not find him. His voice only was left, and even that now +seemed unearthly. Was it a human voice? and not rather the rustling of +leaves and the gurgling of water, translated by my feverish imagination +into weird speech? + +"You were dreaming," resumed the voice; "what dreams had you of the +wheel?" + +"What dreams had I of the wheel?" I repeated, leaning back on the mound, +and clasping my hands across my eyes. Here was another instance of my +new friend's insight. How had he known that the wheel was in my thoughts +at all! Yet it was true that I had given rein to all sorts of fanciful +speculations concerning it, and was now, moreover, quite in the mood +to give them utterance. And what better auditor could I desire than a +madman, whom the wildest extravagance could not disconcert, nor the most +palpable absurdities annoy? The opportunity was too fair to lose. + +"What dreamt I of the wheel?" I exclaimed again: "I dreamt it was the +mighty Wheel of Fortune, who, weary of trundling it about the world, had +left it here amidst the sedge and spray of the waterfall. Henceforth, +therefore, there shall be no more ups and downs in life, but mankind +shall move for ever across one level plain, unchecked by darkness and +uncheered by light!" + +"Would you have it thus?" + +"Oh no--not I! Come back, fair goddess! come back and wrest thy wheel +from amidst those clinging vines and brambles--the arms wherewith +reluctant nature strives to hold it back! Bring it forth once again +upon the dusty road, and turn it as you go, lest our sluggish hearts +forget to beat, and we cease to draw the very breath of life, and our +souls, torpid and uninspired, grovel earthwards, nor dream of climbing +higher than themselves! Bring forth thy wheel, and turn it for ever even +as the world turns; for thy fickleness is the life of our lives!" + +"Methinks the wheel of misfortune were its truer title; for it turns +ever between a fool above and a corpse beneath; and the laugh of madness +sounds before, and behind is a track of blood!" + +"Nay, name it how you will; since all of human joy and grief, and life +and death, have clustered round its course, as the moss and the vines +cluster about it now. See how Nature seeks to make the awful symbol of +destiny into a plaything for her own beautiful idleness! How fearlessly +the light and shadow rest upon it! Yet it is bloodstained. Those rank +ferns bend and peer in quest of some lurking horror? What is it? I feel +its influence upon me." + +"Aye, you feel it!" murmured my unseen companion, tremulously; "and how +could you help but feel it? Do not the tragedies of human life instil +their essence into the things we call inanimate? You have shuddered when +handling the rack and the Iron Virgin of the Inquisition, and felt faint +at the sight of the guillotine and the gallows. You were awed by an +evil influence breathed from the actual wood and iron--not by the mere +knowledge of ghastly scenes in which they had borne a part." + +"How came the influence there?" I asked, humouring his grotesque theory. + +"That which has existed in an atmosphere of revenge, hatred, and +despair, becomes at last impregnated with a malignant intelligence +derived from them; an intelligence both devilish in itself and able to +endow you with its own deformity. And if you hold not aloof from it, you +shall surely be destroyed--in soul, if not in body likewise!" + +"But do we feel this influence unless aware beforehand that it is +there?" + +"Fix your thought constantly upon yonder wheel," was the reply, "and +mark if it does not answer you." + +Still with my hands clasped across my eyes, I concentrated my mind +as directed, and presently felt my veins crawl with a slow chill of +dismay--a chill which deprived me of control over my faculties, while +awakening them to unnatural activity. That the wheel had a conscious +personality, instinct with evil, seemed no longer open to doubt. Now the +plash and gurgle of the water changed to the stealthy drip of blood; +and I shrank from the breeze that moved my hair as from a pestilential +breath. Was I going mad too? My will seemed to falter; a tremor which I +could not repress passed through me from head to foot. + +"Aye, you feel it," murmured the voice again. "You are answered!" + +By a determined effort I regained command of myself. Perhaps it was none +too soon. Nothing is easier than to indulge this morbid vein, and few +indulgences, I believe, are more perilous. With my change of mood came a +change of tone; I cast aside the hysteric style, and adopted one more +brusque and matter-of-fact, to which the reaction from sentimentality +may have added a touch of asperity. + +"Come, come!" I said. "We are overdoing this folly. I know well enough +what place this is; Mr. Poyntz began to tell me about it this afternoon. +An amusing story--all about the Laughing Mill, and the fellow who was +drowned, and the nymph of the pearl-shell necklace. You see, I know what +I am talking about! But the tale broke off in the middle; perhaps you +can finish it?" + +"It is you who must finish it!" returned the other. "But I want your +sympathy; so let me tell my part." + +"Do so," said I, "by all means. When I know you better, I shall be +better able to sympathise with you. As to my finishing the story, I +think I'm more likely to succeed as a listener than as a narrator; +however, if it must be so, I'll give it the best ending I can. And I do +sympathise with you already," I added, after a pause, in a less flippant +tone. "I am a man, and I believe in human brotherhood." + +My eccentric companion made no rejoinder, though I fancied he gave a +sigh. Presently he began to speak in the same evenly-pitched, far-away +voice that he had used throughout. The effect was rather as of a weary +reader reading from a book than as of one who talks spontaneously, +there was no hesitation, no rise and fall, no fire, no faltering. Yet +the recital moved me more deeply than if it had been delivered with +impassioned eloquence. Through the sad colourless medium I seemed to +behold the direct movement of events, and almost to take part in them. +Moreover, as the narrator proceeded, the notion more than once possessed +me that his words reached my ears from some inward source--that I was +merely thinking the things I seemed to hear. His tone was so attuned +to the desolateness of the surroundings, as to appear like the mystic +interpretation of their significance, such as might result from intense +brooding over them. Indeed, taking into consideration all that I had +seen, heard, and fancied that day, I almost believe I could have fallen +asleep and dreamed just such a story as he told me. Certainly no dream +could have been stranger than the things he told. + + +VII. + +They brought the yellow-haired little maiden to the mill (ran the +story), and Gloam called her Swanhilda. Jael, the old housekeeper, +looked at her sharply, and asked what good such a little creature could +be among poor people? the girl was of no use herself, and would only +hinder those who had to work. + +Gloam answered, "Heaven has sent her to us. She shall be our +inspiration, and the symbol of our good. Treat her with reverence, and +tenderly, as you would treat the best and purest aspiration of your +heart. If we wrong her, it will be our deadliest sin. If we cherish +her, the sins we have committed may be forgiven us." + +"She is a gentleman's daughter, at all events," said Jael. "Look at the +shape of her hands and feet! No, she never worked, nor did her mother +before her. Well, maybe her family will come after her some day, and +pay us well for taking care of her. Or who knows but she may turn out +heiress to some great estate, when she grows up? If that were so.... +David, son, come hither. See--she's a pretty little thing." + +Handsome David stooped down and took the child's small soft hand. "And +so she is--a little beauty!" he exclaimed, looking into her blue eyes. +"Can't speak English, eh? That's a pity; but live and learn. Right glad +am I that you brought her here, sir," he added to Gloam. "Where did you +pick her up?" + +"She's the rainbow after the storm," Gloam answered, smiling. "But I +shall not teach her English. Let her speak only the language which she +has brought with her." And he led the child away. + +"That may do for him," muttered David, "but it won't do for me. He can +talk with her and I can't; so if he won't teach her English I will. +Devil take me if she isn't a sweet little fairy; and she's quite +enchanted the Scholar already. He's a changed man since yesterday. But +he shan't have all the fun to himself." + +"She looks thirteen, don't you think?" said Jael. "She won't be a child +much longer, David. Why, come three years or so, she'll be old enough to +be married." + +"Ay, old woman; but I shall be too old to marry her," he answered, with +a keen look and a laugh. + +"I tell you, son, she's a lady, and good enough to mate with any man." + +"That's your notion, and likely enough it's true. But good blood isn't +all I want--I've got that already, thanks to your good looks; what I +want and haven't got is money. And Miss Swanhilda, pretty as she is, has +less money even than I." + +"But she has relations--rich relations; her own father and mother may be +alive for all we know. If she was saved off a ship where all the rest +were lost, of course there'll be no telling for some time to come. But +it's worth waiting for." + +"Did no papers come ashore--nothing to help identify her?" + +"I asked Poyntz that," said Jael, "and so far as I can make out, I think +there hasn't been anything." + +"Well, I'll make sure of that next time I go over. We might advertise in +the foreign papers after awhile. A right pretty little thing she is, and +no mistake. But I'm not a-going to run any risks, old woman. Supposing I +was to get tied down to her for life, and then find out that she'd got +nothing, what would I do then?" + +"There's no need of supposing any such thing, David. As if you couldn't +make the girl fond of you so as she wouldn't marry any but you; then +you'd have her safe, and if all turned out well, 'twould be time enough +to put the ring on her finger." + +"Ay, that's about the idea, I suppose. Well, the Scholar's got the start +of us now; and 'twon't do to let him see what we're up to; luckily he +never did see what's going on under his nose. By-the-way, that's a +quaint bit of a necklace the child wears; mayhaps that'll help us to +find out something----" + +He broke off suddenly, with an oath, and he and his mother stood +listening, pale-faced. His eyes were angry, but terror lurked in those +of the woman. + +A strange jarring sound filled the air; it seemed to come from every +side, and screamed harshly into the listeners' ears. If a fiend had +burst into a long fit of malignant laughter close at hand the effect +could not have been more hateful and discordant. + +"The laugh again!" David muttered between his teeth. "It would be just +our luck if it scared our best customer away. Devil take me if I don't +begin to believe it is the soul of that cursed husband of yours, that +you treated so affectionately. I'll swear there's not a spot of rust on +the machinery as big as a pin's head." + +"Oh, son, don't look that way at me," said the woman, in a shaken voice. +"I would prevent it if I could; what can I do?" + +"You might jump in and follow your husband; that's what he wants, I +suppose," returned the son, angrily. "It's you that wronged him, not I; +and as long as you're here we'll have no luck. That's the long and short +of it!" + +The laugh had died away, and Jael, pressing her hand above her heart, +turned aside and passed out. She loved her son, and would have shed her +blood for him; but this was not the first time he had spoken thus. + +After she was gone, David stood at the window, biting his lips and +muttering to himself. Suddenly he heard Gloam's step behind him, and +looked round in surprise. + +"What was that noise?" Gloam asked. + +"Why, nothing new, sir. The same old story. Something wrong with the +wheel again, I suppose." + +"I remember no such sound before," said Gloam, excitedly. "It is +hideous, like the shriek of an evil spirit. Let it never come again; it +frightens Swanhilda, and comes between us like a prophecy of woe. Let it +never come again!" + +"You have taken to hearing through her ears and feeling through her +senses--that's all the matter," answered David, smiling. "It sounds bad +to you because it makes her head ache. As to stopping it, I'd do so, and +gladly, if I but knew how. It loses us half our custom, for folks say +the devil's at the bottom of it, sure enough." + +"It is a wicked sound!" exclaimed Gloam again, "full of mockery and +bitterness. Swanhilda was born to hear divine harmonies, and she will +leave us if we greet her with such hideous discord." + +"She was born to take her chance with the rest of the world, Mr. Gloam," +replied the younger man, in a harder tone. Then he smiled again and +added, in his muttering way, as he left the room, "She'll get used to it +fast enough, never fear." + +But a long time passed without the recurrence of the hateful sound, +and meanwhile Swanhilda was recovering from her first melancholy and +home-sickness. Gloam had told her that she would see her father and +mother again some day, and by degrees her anxiety calmed down to a quiet +and not uncheerful expectation. She seemed to know little of the history +of her family, or else was averse from discussing it; for amidst all her +winning sweetness and pure sincerity she retained a maidenly reserve and +dignity not lightly to be overcome. But the guileless fascination which +she unconsciously exercised upon all she met was impossible to resist. +She gladdened all eyes and hearts, and the mill became a storehouse of +beauty and gladness as well as of grain and meal. People came from all +the surrounding neighbourhood to see Scholar Gloam's water-nymph; and at +last, when the Laughing Mill was mentioned, they thought of Swanhilda's +airy merriment--not of the ill-omened sound that had first given it +that name, but was already being fast forgotten. So the prosperity of +handsome David increased, and was greater than it had ever been before; +he had as many customers as the mill could supply, and bade fair, in the +course of years, to become a wealthy man. He and Jael treated the little +water-nymph with every kindness, as well they might; and what Gloam had +said seemed likely to come true--that she would be the means of their +regeneration. + +And Gloam himself was as a man transfigured. He lived no longer amidst +his books, but made himself free to all; and the neighbours wondered +to find him so genial and gladsome. He and Swanhilda were constantly +together; they played and laughed like children; they went on long +rambles hand-in-hand; in winter they pelted each other with snow-balls; +in summer and autumn they gathered flowers and berries and nuts. He +treated her with the most reverent and entire affection; he was ready to +sacrifice anything for her sake, to give her anything--unless it were, +perhaps, the freedom to be to another all that she was to him. But +apparently she was well content. Gloam was the only one who spoke her +language, and the only one, therefore, with whom she could converse +unrestrainedly. He would not teach her English, and if others attempted +to do so it was without his knowledge or consent. He believed, it +may be, that no one but himself could appreciate her full worth, and +thought it would be a kind of desecration to let another approach her +too nearly. Certainly they were happy together. That part of his nature +to which she appealed was not less youthful than she was herself; and in +her society he felt himself immortally young. He forgot that there were +lines upon his brow, and that his figure was bent, and that his hair had +begun to be prematurely white. And he doubted not that as he felt so he +seemed to her. + +Was his confidence justified? Had this child who was just beginning to +be a young woman, penetration to see the fresh soul within the imperfect +body? A more experienced man would have had misgivings, knowing that +young women are apt to judge by appearances, and to be more swayed by +downright power and passion than by abstract right and beauty. But +Gloam's experience had not taught him this. He did not dream that she +could ever learn to deceive him, or to give him less than the first +place in her heart. But he dreamed that some day, distant perhaps, at +least indefinite--they would be married. By all rights they belonged to +each other, and when they had played their childish games to the end, +and had wearied of them, then would they enter upon that new phase of +life. Meanwhile he would not speak to her of the deeper love, lest she +should be startled, and the frankness of their present intercourse be +impaired. But women have been lost ere now through fear of startling +them. + +So more than two years slipped away, and the child Swanhilda had grown +to be a tall and graceful maiden; which seemed half a miracle, so +quickly had the time passed. Her blue eyes had waxed larger and deeper, +and in moments of excitement they became almost black. Her hair was +yellow as an evening cloud; her face and bearing full of life and +warmth. Her nature was strengthening and expanding; she was beginning to +measure herself against her associates. Though so gentle, she was all +untamed; no one had ever mastered or controlled her. She knew neither +her own strength nor weakness, but the time approached when she would +seek to know them. Every woman is both weaker and stronger than she +believes, and it is well for her, when the trial comes, if her strength +be not the betrayer of her weakness. + + +VIII. + +At this point in the story the voice of the narrator grew fainter and +then made a pause. I still kept my reclining position, with my hands +clasped above my closed eyes. In fact, it would have required a greater +effort than I at the moment cared to make to have sat up and looked +about me. The sun, I knew, had already sunk below the crest of the +slope; the gorge lay in shadow, and beneath the oak it was almost dark. +As I lay waiting for the tale to recommence, the sombre influence of the +wheel asserted itself more strongly than ever. There it loomed, in my +imagination, black, grim, and portentous. Its huge spokes stretched out +like rigid arms, and the long grass which streamed along the gurgling +water resembled the hair of a drowned woman's head.... But now the voice +began again. + +One summer afternoon Gloam and Swanhilda were sitting on the wooden +bench beside the mill, watching the heavy revolutions of the great +wheel. They were alone. David was in the mill-room finishing the day's +work, and Jael was preparing supper in the kitchen. For several minutes +neither of them had spoken. + +"Do you remember," said Swanhilda at last, using her native tongue, "the +first day I came here, how there came a terrible sound that made me +miserably frightened? I have never heard it since then. What was it?" + +"Only a rusty axle; at least, so I suppose. That careless David had +forgotten to oil it properly. But I gave him such a scolding that there +has been no more trouble." + +"David is not careless--he works very hard, and I love him," retorted +Swanhilda, tossing back her yellow hair. "Besides, such a noise could +not be made by an axle." + +"You may like David, but you mustn't love him; you are a little +princess, and he is only the housekeeper's son." + +"What is the difference between loving and liking?" inquired Swanhilda, +folding her hands in her lap, and turning round on her companion. + +He took her hand and answered, "I shall teach you that when you are +older." + +"I am not so young as you think. I am old enough to be taught now." + +"No, no, no!" said Gloam, shaking his head and laughing; "you are +nothing but a child yet. There is plenty of time, little water-nymph." + +"If you will not teach me, I'll find someone else who will teach me. I +will ask David; he has taught me some things already." + +"He? What have you learnt from him?" cried Gloam. + +Swanhilda hesitated. "I should not have said that--but it's nothing, +only that I am learning to speak English. He didn't want you to know +until I was quite perfect, so as to make it a surprise to you." + +"He had no right to do it. Why should you learn to speak with anyone but +me?" exclaimed Gloam passionately. + +"Do you think I belong to you?" demanded Swanhilda, lifting her head in +half-earnest, half-laughing defiance. "No; I am my own, and there are +other places besides this in the world, and other people. I will go back +to my own country." + +"Oh, Swanhilda," said Gloam, his voice husky with dismay, "you will +never leave us? I cannot live without you." + +"I will, if you are unkind to me.... Well, then, you must not be angry +because David taught me English; and you must let him teach me the +difference between liking and loving; I'm sure he knows what it is!" + +"Do not ask him--do not ask him! That is my right; no one can take it +from me! I saved you, Swanhilda; I brought you back to life, and that +new life belongs to me!" The hand that held hers had turned cold, and he +was pale and trembling. "I have kept you for myself; I have given up my +own life--the life that I used to live--for you. But I cannot return to +it, if you leave me." + +"I did not ask you to give it up," she returned, waywardly. Then she +relented, and said, "Well, you may teach me about loving, if you want +to. Only, afterwards, you must let me love anyone I please!" + +Gloam looked upon her for several moments, his black eyes lingering over +every line of her face and figure. "You belong to me," he repeated at +last. "If you left me for another, I should wish that your pearl-shells +had drawn you down----" + +Before he could finish uttering the thought that was in his heart, the +words were drowned in a throbbing yell as of demoniac laughter. The +evil spirit of the wheel, after biding its time so long in silence, +had seemingly leapt exultingly into life at the first premonition of +meditated wrong. Swanhilda shuddered, and hid her face in her hands. +David thrust his head out of the mill-room window, and saw Gloam make +a gesture of rage and defiance. + +"Aha!" he muttered to himself, "so the children's games are over, are +they? Can it be the devil's game that my beloved brother thinks of +beginning now?" + + * * * * * + +Another year passed, and again a man and a woman were sitting together +on the bench beside the mill. It was night, and a few stars twinkled +between the rifts of cloud overhead. The gorge was so dark that the +mill-stream gurgled past invisibly, save where occasionally a rising +eddy caught the dim starlight. The tall wheel, motionless now, and only +discernible as a blacker imprint on the darkness, lurked like a secret +enemy in ambush. The man's arm was clasped round the woman's waist; her +head rested on his shoulder, and her soft fingers were playing with the +pearl-shell necklace that encircled her neck. They spoke together in +whispers, as though fearful of being overheard. + +"You silly little goose!" the man said; "a few months ago nothing would +make you happy but learning what love was; and now you have found out +you must ever be whimpering and paling. Why, what are you afraid of?" + +"You know I am happy in loving you, David," was the tremulous answer; +"but must lovers always hide their love, and pretend before others that +they do not feel it? When I first dreamed of love, it seemed to me like +the blue sky and the sunshine, and the songs of birds; but our love is +secret and silent, like the night." + +"Pooh! nonsense, and so much the better! Our love is nobody's business +but our own, my lass. You wouldn't have Gloam find it out, would you, +and part us? What! have you forgotten the fit he was in at my teaching +you English a year ago? He wants you all to himself, the old miser! You +weren't happier with him than you have been with me, were you?" + +"Oh, David," whispered the girl, clinging to him, "that was so +different! I was happy, then, like a wave on the beach in summer. I +had no deep thoughts, and my heart never beat as you make it beat, and +my breath never came in long sighs as it does often now. Gloam used to +say that he had brought me back from death to life; but it was not so. +I lived first when I loved you. And the old happiness was not real +happiness, for there was no sadness in it; it never made me cry, as +this does." + +He drew her to him with a little laugh. "When you've lived a little more +and got used to it, you'll stop sighing and crying, and be as bright and +saucy as you were with Gloam. But you won't want to tell him ... eh?" + +She hid her face on his shoulder. "Oh no, no, no; I could not; I should +feel ashamed. But why do I feel ashamed, David? Is not loving right?" + +"Right? to be sure it is. Nothing more so! And the pleasantest kind of +right, too, to my thinking. Eh, little one?" + +"David, I have heard--are not people who love each other married--at +least sometimes? and after that they are not afraid, or sad, or +ashamed?" + +A smile hovered on David's handsome lips. "Married, yes, stupid people +get married. Timid folks, who are afraid to manage their own affairs, +and can't be easy till they've called in the parson to help them out. +They're the folks that don't love each other right down hard, as you and +I do. They're suspicious, and afraid of being left in the lurch; so they +stand up in a church and tie themselves together by a troublesome knot +they call marriage. No, no; we've nothing to do with that; we're much +better off as it is." + +"But my father and mother were married, and they were not suspicious," +ventured Swanhilda again, after a pause. + +"Oh, ay, they were married," assented David; adding, half to himself, +"and if they were alive, too, and anxious to fill a son-in-law's +pockets, I'd open mine, and gladly. But my father and mother were not +married," he resumed to Swanhilda, with another smile, "so you see +we've a good example either way." + +She made no reply, but lifted her head from his shoulder and sat +twisting the necklace between her restless fingers, her eyes fixed +absently on the darkness. The clasps of the necklace came unawares +apart, and it slipped from her bosom to the ground. She uttered a little +cry, and stood up with her hands clasped, all of a tremble. + +"I have lost it!" she said. "David, some harm is coming to me!" + +"Nonsense! here it is, as good as ever." He picked it up as he spoke, +and drawing her down beside him, fastened it again round her neck, and +then kissed her face and lips. "There, there, you're all right. Did you +think it was dropped in the mill-race?" + +"Some harm is coming," she repeated. "It has never fallen from me since +my mother put it on my shoulders, and said it would keep me from being +hurt or drowned, but that I must never part from it. But I trust you, +oh, my love! I trust you. Something seems wrong somehow; I have given +you all myself...." + +"Lean close up to me, little one; rest that soft little cheek of yours +against mine, and have done with crying now, or I'll think you mean to +melt all away and leave me; and what would I do then?" + +She turned and clasped her arms around him with a kind of fierceness. +"I leave you, David? Oh--ha, ha, ha! Oh, but you must never leave me, +my love--love--love! Oh, what should I do if you were to leave me?" + +"Hush, girl; hush! you'll rouse the house, laughing and crying in the +same minute! Don't you know I won't leave you? There--hush! You'll wake +Gloam else." + +"He loved me, too; he wouldn't leave me; but he thought I wasn't old +enough--not old enough, ha, ha!... David, does God know about us?" + +"Not enough to trouble Him much, I expect," said the young man, with +a short laugh. "If anything knows about us, it's the old wheel there, +waiting like a black devil to carry us off. Come, we must creep back to +the house." + +They rose, Swanhilda stood before him, her sweet sad face glimmering +shadowy pale through the darkness. "Say, 'I love you, Swanhilda, and I +will never leave you!'" she whispered. + +He hesitated, laughed, stroked her hair, and stooping, gazed deep into +her eyes, as on the day when they first met. Did his heart falter for +a moment, realising how utterly she was his own? "You trusted me just +now," said he; "are you getting suspicious again?" + +"No; but I am afraid--always afraid now. When you are not with me, I am +afraid of everyone I meet; I think they will see our secret in my eyes. +When I lie alone at night I am afraid to pray to God, as I used to do. +What is it? Why do I feel so? It must be that we have done some wrong. +My poor love! have I made you do any wrong? I would rather be dead." + +"Little darling--no! You couldn't do wrong if you tried. There is no +wrong--I swear there isn't. Listen, now in your ear: I love you, +Swanhilda, and I will never leave you! Satisfied now?" + +Low as the words were whispered, they were heard beyond the stars, and +stamped themselves upon the eternal records. But their only palpable +witness was the mill wheel. A log of wood, carried over the fall, came +forcibly in contact with the low-impending rim. It swung the heavy +structure partly round upon its axle. And straightway, upon the hollow +night, echoed a faint yet appalling sound as of jeering laughter. Slowly +it died away, and silence closed in once more, like darkness after a +midnight lightning flash. But it vibrated still in the startled hearts +of the man and the woman, who crept so stealthily back to the house, and +vanished in the blackness of the doorway, and it revisited their unquiet +dreams. + + +IX. + +Summer and winter came and went, and were followed by a gloomy and +dismal spring. The late-lying snow was dissolved by heavy rains so that +the mill stream was swollen beyond precedent, and rolled thundering +through the gorge with the force of a full-grown cataract. But the mill +was idle, and the wheel stood still. None came for flour now, nor to +bring grist; for many a week all work had been foregone. + +Yet the house was not deserted. An elderly woman, with a forbidding face +that had once been handsome, moved to and fro behind the windows; and a +man, bent and feeble, with strangely-grizzled hair, sat motionless for +hours at a time in his study-chair. Sometimes, in his loneliness, he +would set his teeth edge to edge, and clench his thin hands desperately, +and utter an inarticulate sound of menace. But at a certain hour of the +evening he would arise and walk with noiseless steps to the door of a +darkened chamber. There he would pause and lean and listen. Presently +from within would be heard the shrill, petulant crying of an infant, +and anon the voice of its young mother, sad and tender, soothing and +pathetic: "Baby, baby, don't cry; hush, hush, hush! father will come to +us soon; he will come, he will come! he loves us and will never leave +us; hush, hush, hush!" + +At these sounds the pallid visage of the man would quiver and darken, +and he would press his clenched hands upon his breast. Returning at +length to his study, he got upon his knees and stretched his arms +upwards. + +"God--God of evil or of good, whichever you are--give my enemy into my +power! Let my curse work upon him till it destroy him: let my eyes see +him perish! He has robbed me of my love, and my hope, and my salvation; +he has defiled and dishonoured that which was mine; he has made my life +a desert and an abomination! Yet I would live, and suffer all this and +more, if he might perish by my curse, body and soul, for ever! Grant me +this, God or Devil, and after do with me what you will!" + +Such was his prayer. But he never entered the darkened chamber where the +child and its young mother lay; he never looked upon them or spoke to +them, nor did his heart forgive them. He could not forgive till he had +had revenge. Since that hour in which he had first learnt the truth, and +with hysteric fury had sprung at the seducer's throat, his soul had been +empoisoned against them and all the world. He was possessed by that +devil to which he prayed, and good was evil to him. + +One day he was standing in a kind of stupor at his window staring out +at the black mill-wheel, which was now the only object in the world +with which he felt himself in sympathy. There came a knock at the +door, and Jael, the housekeeper, entered. Since the calamity which had +befallen, her manner towards Gloam had undergone a change. She had +before exercised a kind of authority over him, such as a compact and +unsympathetic nature easily acquires over one of wider culture but +more sensitive than itself. But Gloam had become more terrible in his +desolation than a less naturally gentle man would have been; and Jael +feared him. She felt that he might murder her; and minded her steps, +lest in some sudden paroxysm he should leap out upon her. + +She advanced a little way into the room, and stopped. He did not turn, +or show that he was aware of her presence. After a few moments she said: + +"Master, he is coming back; David's coming home again, sir. He's going +to make it all right with Swanhilda--he means to marry her!" + +Gloam did not stir; but as Jael watched him narrowly, she fancied that +his limbs and body slowly stiffened, until they became quite rigid; only +his head had a slight shivering motion. The woman shrank back a step, +with a feeling of alarm. + +It seemed a long while before Gloam spoke, and the same slight, +involuntary shiver pervaded his voice. He still kept his face carefully +averted. + +"David coming back?" + +"Yes, sir; I had a message from him this morning." + +"To ... marry her!" + +"Yes, indeed, sir; he'll make an honest woman of her. What he has done +has laid heavy on his conscience ever since. And so he says he hopes +you'll forgive and forget, and that we'll all prosper and be happy in +the future." + +Gloam's chest began to heave, and he folded his arms tightly across it. +There was another long pause, as though he feared to trust his voice to +speak. Finally the words came between his shut teeth: + +"When--when--when?" + +"Did you mean, when will he be here, sir? Well, he was expecting to +reach the next town late this afternoon; and from there he'd foot it +over here; and that wouldn't bring him here till nigh midnight. But +likely he'll wait over, and get here to-morrow morning. Luckily though +there's a moon to-night, to show him where to step, in case he comes +right on." + +Gloam unfolded his arms, and raising his hands to his head, passed them +several times slowly through his hair; staring downwards, meanwhile, at +the wheel. The rigidity had passed away, and he seemed to be recovering +from the agitation into which the first shock of the news had thrown +him. Jael's mind was a good deal relieved at the absence of any signs of +hostility on his part against David; and she was just about withdrawing, +when Gloam turned quickly about and stepped after her. + +For the first time in the interview she now saw his face; and the sight +so far startled her firm nerves as to draw from her a short low cry. It +was not that the face was pallid, furrowed, and wasted; it had been all +that from the first; but what appalled her was the ghastly expression of +the mouth and eyes. It was not a smile, unless an evil spirit smiles, +foreseeing the destruction of its victim. Evil it was--delightedly evil, +like the triumph of long-baffled hate. It was a cruel, hungry, debased +expression, hideously at variance with the passionate and ill-regulated +but refined character of the man. It suggested the idea that Gloam was +possessed by a strange spirit, more potent and more wicked than his own, +which commanded his body to what uses it pleased, in spite of all that +he could do. + +For it was evident that he himself understood the cause of Jael's +dismay; and he made a violent effort to drive the awful look out of his +face. So far from succeeding, however, he was forced to break out into +a frantic laugh, which echoed shrilly through the silent house, and +seemed, to Jael's scared ears, a copy of the infernal cachinnation which +was wont to issue from the bewitched mill! + +"Don't mind it, Jael," he said, as soon as he could speak; "it's +nervousness--it's the reaction from suspense! Wait,--have you told...?" + +"Swanhilda, sir? not yet,--I thought I'd best break it gradually----" + +"Don't tell her! don't hint it to her!" He spoke in a harsh whisper, +bending forwards towards her: "Because--because he might not come after +all!" Then the mocking devil seized upon him again; and though he folded +his arms and held down his head, the unholy laughter which he strove to +suppress shook his whole body and turned his white face dark. + +The housekeeper was glad to escape from the room; for she thought +Gloam must have gone mad, and knew not what insane violence he might +commit. Her first impulse was to run out and summon help, but after +her immediate panic had cooled down, she thought better of such a +proceeding. The explanation of his behaviour which Gloam himself had +given seemed, upon reflection, reasonable enough. The abrupt manner +in which she had told the news had thrown him for the moment off his +balance. It was, upon the whole, rather a good sign than a bad one, +for it showed him not so much deadened by suffering as he had appeared +to be. When he had had time to rally, he would be his own gentle and +manageable self once more. + +Meanwhile she made preparations to receive David on his return. The +young man's conduct towards Swanhilda had so angered his mother that +she had more than acquiesced in the banishment which Gloam's rage had +forced upon him. Not that she loved Swanhilda much; nor did the mere +immorality of her son's deed greatly afflict her. But she had never +ceased to have faith that, sooner or later, news would come of the +yellow-haired maiden's relatives beyond the sea. It would come, perhaps, +in the form of a wealthy and open-hearted gentleman; or of a lady, with +diamonds sparkling on her hands and bosom. They would say, "We have +learnt that the little niece or cousin whom we had thought lost, was +saved, and is living here with you." "Yes," Jael would reply; "and she +has been brought up as true a lady as if she were in a queen's palace; +for we knew she had blue blood in her veins, and would come by her own +at last." Then Swanhilda would appear, and captivate them with her +beauty and simplicity. But when they offered to take her away, the girl +would say, "Not without David, for I love him!" Whereupon, no doubt, +there would be objections and remonstrances; but David's handsome face +and engaging manners would half disarm them; and at the last Jael +herself would arise, and sacrificing the woman to the mother, would +declare openly, "He too is of gentle blood; his father was old Harold +Gloam; he is the descendant of gentlemen, and not unworthy of the girl +who loves him." So would resistance finally be overcome, and all +concerned be enriched. + +Such had been Jael's dream; and her resentment at the revelation of +David's crime had been mainly aroused by the fact that it involved +the frustration of a chance of fortune her own espousal of which had +rendered especially dear to her. When the scheme was first conceived, +the young man had, indeed, acquiesced in it, but as time went on, and +inquiries proved fruitless, he had abandoned the hope of obtaining +wealth and station through Swanhilda's means. Yet the girl loved him, +and was very beautiful; much of their time was of necessity passed in +each other's society; and in the end the sin was sinned. Doubtless +he had regretted her ruin; but to make her honourable amends had not +been compatible with the projects of his ambition: and when Gloam's +unexpectedly violent outbreak had driven him forth upon the world, he +had perhaps deemed his banishment a not inconvenient pretext for freeing +himself from the encumbrances, such as they were, which might otherwise +have impeded him. He left Swanhilda behind, to pass her dark hour alone. + +But, this being so, what was the occasion of his sudden change of +purpose? Was he penitent? or had he found that honour and expediency +could be made compatible after all? The letter which he had written to +Jael did not explicitly answer this question; but from hints which it +contained, the housekeeper had drawn favourable inferences; and she +looked forward to his coming with agreeable anxiety. She had told Gloam +the news, intending (should he refuse a reconciliation) to acknowledge +to him that his father was David's likewise. But his strange behaviour +had frightened this purpose out of her head; and when she recollected +it again, it seemed most advisable that the revelation should for the +present be postponed. + + +X. + +About sunset Jael was surprised by the beginning of a jarring and +rumbling noise, the like of which had not been heard in the gorge for a +number of weeks past. Half incredulous of the evidence of her own ears, +she paused to listen. Certainly there was no mistake--the mill was +going! She stepped to the window and looked out. Yes, there revolved the +great black wheel heavily upon its axle, churning the headlong torrent +into foam, and hurling the white froth from its rigid rims. As she +gazed, astonished, she saw Gloam issue from the mill and stand beside +the boiling mill-race, watching, with manifest excitement, the sullen +churning of the huge machine. He wore no hat, his hair was tossed and +tangled, his bearing reckless and wild. All at once (for the machinery, +having been so long out of use, had doubtless become very rusty) an +unearthly peal of laughter--or what seemed such--was launched upon the +evening air. It partly died away; then it again burst forth, clinging to +the listener's ears and stabbing them, and leaving a sting that rankled +there long afterwards. In the midst of the infernal din, Jael saw Gloam +toss up his arms and abandon himself to a sympathetic paroxysm of grisly +merriment. The man and the machinery were possessed by one and the same +demon. + +"Master--Master Gloam!" cried the woman, throwing open the window and +lifting her voice to her shrillest pitch, "what is the matter? Why have +you set the mill going?" + +He glanced up at her with wild eyes, and waved his hand. "It is a season +of rejoicing," he answered. "The prayer that I prayed is coming to pass. +Therefore let the wheel go round. Hear it, how it laughs and rejoices!" + +"But there is no grist--the mill is empty." + +"It will not be empty long; the grist is coming. It comes! it comes! Let +the great wheel go round and grind it to powder!" + +Jael drew back with a sickening apprehension at her heart. Gloam was too +plainly in a state of delirious frenzy, if he were not actually mad. She +longed for David's appearance, and yet dreaded it; she knew not whether +the meeting between the two men would issue well or ill. And then her +mind reverted to Swanhilda, and she asked herself what the effect of her +lover's presence would be upon her. Ever since the first week following +upon his departure the young mother had maintained a singularly passive +demeanour, only occasionally disturbed by seasons of vague and tremulous +anxiety. The housekeeper had looked in upon her several times that +afternoon. She lay quietly in one position, her eyes open and fixed, +save when the baby claimed her attention. She did not speak, and seemed +scarcely aware of outward things. Even the uproar of the mill, when that +began, commanded her notice but for a short time, and appeared rather to +gratify than to distress her. She perhaps associated it with the thought +of David, and fancied it in some way indicative of that home-return +which she had all along never allowed herself to despair of. But she +was as one partly entranced, whose ears and eyes, as some believe, are +opened to things beyond the ordinary ken of human senses. + +The evening was cloudy, and night came on apace. Gloam had re-entered +the house shortly after dark, and Jael presently went to his room to ask +him where he would take his evening meal. But he met her in the upper +passage-way. He seemed to carry something in his hand. She could not +make out what it was, and he immediately hid it beneath his coat. To her +inquiries he replied that he was going forth to resume his old practice +of walking, and that he would sup with David after his return. Jael, in +her uneasiness, would gladly have persuaded him to remain at home; but +he was obstinate against all entreaties, and finally pushed roughly by +her and was gone. + +Meanwhile the mill was still in motion. The housekeeper had an impulse, +soon after Gloam's departure, to go out and uncouple the machinery; but +she feared lest he might resent her interference, and forebore. The +noise, and the suspense she was in, combined to keep her in a state of +feverish restlessness. Her thoughts busied themselves, against her will, +with all manner of gloomy and painful memories and speculations. The +vision of her youth rose up before her, and filled her with vain, +remorseful terrors. She strove to cheer herself with picturing her son's +arrival; but even that had now become a source of apprehension rather +than of comfort. All the time she was oppressed by an indefinable +sensation that someone was prowling about outside the house; and once, +after the wheel had delivered itself of an outpouring of inhuman mirth, +Jael fancied the strain was taken up in a no less wild, though not so +penetrating key. Was it possible that Gloam was lurking in the gorge? +And, if so, what could he be doing there? Cautiously she peered out of +the window; but the moon was as yet obscured by clouds, and nothing was +certainly distinguishable. She returned to the fireside; yet paused +and listened again, because--or else her excited imagination deceived +her--another and a different sound had reached her from without: a +sharp, grating sound, like that made by a rusty saw eating its way +through close-grained timber. Ere she could be certain about the matter, +however, the noise stopped, and returned no more. + +An hour or so later, it wanting then only a few minutes of midnight, +Swanhilda suddenly awoke from her half-trance, and sat upright in +her bed. The house resounded dully to the muffled throbbing of the +machinery, but otherwise there was no stir. The little baby had fallen +sound asleep, and lay at its mother's side, with its tiny hands folded +beneath its chin, and grasping the pearl-shell necklace, which +was its favourite plaything. After sitting tense and still for a +moment, Swanhilda got out of bed, huddled on some clothes, kissed the +unconscious baby twice or thrice, and then silently left the room. In +another minute she had stolen down the stairs, and was standing between +the house and the stream in the open air. She looked first one way and +then another, and finally, without any hesitation in her manner, but +with an assured and joyful bearing, bent her steps towards the top of +the gorge. A narrow footpath led up thither, and at the highest point +turned to the right, and was carried across the torrent by a narrow +bridge formed of a single plank. When Swanhilda came to the turn, she +did not go over the bridge, but sat down upon a stone amidst the +shrubbery, and waited. + +How had she known that there was anyone to wait for? Jael, certainly, +had told her nothing; still less could she have learned anything from +Gloam. Nevertheless, there she sat, waiting, and knowing beyond question +that her lover was near, and was rapidly coming nearer. In a few minutes +she would hear his steps; then he would be upon the bridge, and she +would rise and meet him there. Had he not promised, months ago, that he +would never leave her? and though he had been driven away for a time, +she had never doubted that he would return. He loved her; soon, soon +she would feel his arms about her, his kisses on her lips. Ah! what +happiness after all this pain; what measureless content! How glad would +be their meeting; and when she showed him their little baby, the cup of +joy would be full. Nay, it was so already. In all Swanhilda's life she +had never known a moment so free from all earthly trouble as was this! + +It was near the end. She stood up; she had heard a footstep; yes, there +again! He must be close at hand; if it were not so dark she would have +already seen him. And now the clouds which had so long obscured the moon +broke away, and the pale sphere hung poised in dark purple space, and +shed a dim lustre over the little gorge. The light glanced on the curve +of the cataract, and twinkled in the eddies of the pool, and danced +along the tumultuous rapid, and glistened upon the froth of the +mill-race. There the black wheel still plunged to its work, whirling its +gaunt arms about as if grasping for a victim. In the bushes close beside +it crouched a man with white face and staring eyes. He had laid his +trap, and was waiting the issue. He had not seen Swanhilda leave the +house and climb the little path; his eyes and thoughts had been turned +elsewhither. + +David came swiftly along the upland path, whistling to himself as he +walked. We will not search his thoughts, seeing he was so near the +end of his journey. When he arrived at the brow of the gorge, and +was within a few paces of the bridge, he halted and peered forward +earnestly. What figure was that that seemed to stand expectantly on the +other side? It could not be Swanhilda--ay, but it was! He gave a little +laugh, and then his hard heart softened and warmed towards her. "How she +does love me, poor little thing!" he muttered. "And I've treated her +devilish badly, no mistake. Well, well, I'll make it up to her, if all +goes well, see if I don't!" + +He came on to the bridge, and Swanhilda also hurried forward. Then the +man below among the bushes started up, dry-mouthed and breathless. In an +instant he sent forth a great, terrible cry of warning and agony; but +before it could be uttered the lovers had met upon the narrow plank, +and Swanhilda had received her kiss. While their lips yet touched, the +plank, sawn in two all but a finger's breadth, broke downwards, and they +fell, clasped in each other's arms--headlong down over the fall, down +to the bottom of the eddying pool; up again, and over in the rapids, +whirling round and round, dashed against the jagged stones, bleeding +piteously; stunned, let us trust, already, but still clinging to each +other. Now the last plunge: and so, at length, with a final shriek of +heaven-defying laughter, the hungry demon of the wheel grappled its +prey. Ay, snatch at them, tear, break, grind them down and hold them +there; they are past feeling now. But not so the man upon the bank, with +uncovered hair showing black and white in the moonlight, who has looked +on at this scene, powerless to help, but awake to every swift phase +of the tragedy, losing not a struggle or a pang, realising his own +unspeakable horror and anguish, and foreseeing no comfort or pardon +through all time to come. + +The wheel stopped suddenly. Jael came breathless out of the mill-house, +and shrinkingly approached the margin. A formless mass of something was +wedged beneath the lower rim of the wheel and the bed of the stream, +and a long mass of yellow hair floated out along the black water, and +gleamed in the lustre of the untroubled moon. The man on the other side +was kneeling down, and seemed to be gazing idly into the current. + +"He was your brother," said Jael, sobbing with rage and misery. "Your +father was his. You have murdered him. God curse you! I wish you lay +where he is." + +"Why, Jael," returned Gloam, smiling at her, "you invoke a curse and a +blessing in the same breath! My brother?--well. Swanhilda loved him and +not me. Thank God I was the brother of the man she loved; the same blood +ran in our veins--she loved a part of me in him. But why do you trouble +yourself to curse me, Jael? I ask the charity of all men, and their +sympathy!"... + +I unclasped my hands from above my eyes, and started to my feet. No, +there was no one near me; I was quite alone. It was deep twilight, but +objects were still discernible: yet nowhere, neither beneath the Black +Oak, nor beside the Laughing Wheel, nor anywhere in the gorge, could I +see a trace of my late companion--of him whose last words were even then +ringing in my ears: "I ask the charity of all men, and their sympathy!" + + +XI. + +The next morning I was down late to breakfast. It was glorious weather, +and the blue sparkle of the sea came through the open window, bringing +with it a limitless inspiration of hope and wholesomeness. It was +difficult to believe that there had ever been any sorrow or wrong in the +world. + +"Ye're not looking right hearty," said Mr. Poyntz, with bluff geniality, +while his good wife set before me a huge plate of daintily fried bacon +and eggs, and a smoking cup of coffee. "Maybe ye walked a bit too far +last night? 'Twas powerful late afore ye got home, anyhow." + +"Yes," said I, glancing at Agatha, who was knitting a pair of stockings +for Peter in the eastern window, the morning sun glistening on the broad +plaits of her yellow hair. "Yes, Mr. Poyntz, I think I must have made a +very long journey last evening. By-the-way, is not to-day Sunday?" + +"Ay, surely!" exclaimed husband and wife in a breath; and then the +former added, "Ye'll be wanting to go to church, I suppose?" + +"No, not this Sunday; though I hope to go before long, if Miss Agatha is +willing to show me the way." I glanced at her again as I said this, but +she would not look up, and I could not even be sure whether she were +listening. "What I want," I continued, "is for you, Mr. Poyntz, since +you'll be at leisure, to take a stroll with me a little way up the +stream. It will be a novelty, perhaps almost as much so to you as to +me." + +"Up the stream, is it?" returned he, pausing in the operation of cutting +up a piece of tobacco, and turning his blue eyes on me; "why, truly, +sir, that's a trip I've not made for a number of years. Howsoever, none +knows the road better than I do, and if so be as naught else 'll do ye, +why, I'm your man!" + +Accordingly, so soon as I had done breakfast, the sturdy old mariner +mounted a wonderful glazed hat and a new pea-jacket of blue pilot +cloth, took a fresh clay pipe from the mantelpiece, with a sigh and a +shake of the head over the destruction of his beloved meerschaum, and +professed himself ready. + +"Good-bye, Agatha," I said, passing the window. "Is there anything you +would like me to bring you when we come back?" + +"Oh, a great many!" answered she, looking up gravely; "but nothing, I'm +afraid, that you can get for me. Though--you'll bring yourself back to +dinner, I suppose, won't you?" + +She bent over her knitting as she said it, and her mouth and downcast +eyelids were very demure. Nevertheless, I was encouraged to fancy that +my former remark about church-going had not fallen so entirely unheeded +as it had appeared to do. Before I could hammer out a fitting answer (my +brain always seemed to work with really abnormal sluggishness when I +most wanted to do myself credit with Agatha), Poyntz rolled out in his +deep, jovial voice, "Back to Sunday dinner? Well, I should hope so. +Why, the old woman is baking a pie as I'd sail round the Horn to get a +snack of! Come on, Mr. Firemount; it'll go hard but we fetches back an +appetite as 'll warm the women's hearts to look at." + +We trudged off at a tolerably round pace, and soon struck into a narrow +grass-grown lane which led towards the east; and had proceeded some +distance along it before I said: + +"Do you know, Mr. Poyntz, that your daughter is one of the loveliest +women in the world?" + +"Ye mean Agatha? Ay, surely, that she is, heaven bless her! She was +always that. A tiny bit of a lass, I remember her, not so long as my +arm; as pretty a baby she was then as she's a woman now." + +"Has she any thought of getting married soon? Such a face and character +must have suitors enough." + +"Well, as touching that, sir," said Poyntz, taking his pipe out of his +mouth and looking at it carefully, "ye mustn't think of Agatha just the +same as of the fishermen's girls you meet round about. Good, honest +girls they all are, I'm saying naught against that; but Agatha, d'ye +see, is a bit different. Ye'll maybe think it queer I should say it, +sir; but say it I will that Agatha is a lady. She may live in our house, +and put up with our ways--nay, and love us too, which sure I am she +does; but all the same, if ye notice, she don't speak the same as me and +the old woman do, nor she don't think the same neither. She's built on +other lines, as I may say--a clipper yacht, while we're but fishing +smacks, or trading schooners at best. And that being so as it is, the +young fellows of our neighbourhood don't find they've got much show +alongside of her somehow. They're afraid of her, that's the long and +short of it. Not but she treats 'em kind enough, ye understand, as a +lady should; but 'tis the kindness of a lady, and not of an equal, and +there's not one of 'em staunch enough to hold out against it. And how be +they're fine lads, many of them, I can't truly say as I'm sorry for it, +if so as Agatha is content." + +"Nor can I," I echoed to myself, with devout earnestness. "She does seem +of a different stock from most I see here," I said aloud. "I have seen +women somewhat like her at Copenhagen; though I don't know whether I +should have thought of that if I hadn't happened to say something in +Danish, yesterday, and she answered me in the same language." + +"Did she now!" said Poyntz, tipping forward his hat and scratching the +back of his head. "And if I might ask it, sir, how came ye to speak +Danish your own self?" + +"My family was Danish before I was born; and I was taught the language +almost before I knew English. Our name used to be Feuerberg; but we've +translated it since we've emigrated, you see." + +"Ay, surely--Feuerberg," said Poyntz, puffing his pipe preoccupiedly. + +We walked on for awhile in silence. So great was my desire that the +evidence I had been arranging in my mind should be borne out by the +facts, that I was almost afraid to put the matter definitely to the +proof; while Poyntz, on the other hand, was evidently taken by surprise, +and had not got his ideas quite settled. At length, however, I thought +I would hazard one hint more. + +"I've been thinking of that yarn you were spinning yesterday +afternoon--in fact, I believe I dreamt of it last night; and I should +imagine that the little yellow-haired girl, if she grew up, would have +looked enough like Agatha to be her sister--or her mother, at any rate." + +"And I've been thinking, sir, of the accident that stopped me from +finishing that there yarn ye speak of, and of the hearty thanks I owe ye +for the stout heart and ready hand that saved my Peter. But thanks is +easily said; and I mean more than words come to. I'd not have ye suppose +as I'd give all trust and confidence to a man just because he's done a +brave act for me and mine. But as I told you once afore, and speaking +out man to man, I like the looks of ye, and ever did; and seeing as how +ye've found out a good bit of our little secret already, and seem like +you'd an interest to know more of it; for that, and likewise because of +another thing, as I've just found out myself, and it may be as important +as any--well, I'll tell ye what about Agatha there is to tell." + +At this moment, however, we passed round a clump of oak trees, and found +ourselves right at the entrance of the little gorge where I had had my +adventure the night before. Poyntz halted, and fixed his eyes gravely +upon the scene for several moments. "Ay, the same old harbour," said he; +"it's changed a bit now, but it brings it all back to me the last time I +was here. This is the Laughing Mill, Mr. Feuerberg. And this here is the +Black Oak, and here is poor Gloam's grave, d'ye see? with the bit of +gray stone a-sticking out of the end of it." + +"Why was he buried here?" + +"Well, 'twas his wish; that's all. He was crazed the last years of his +life, with grieving on the death of the young girl as he'd picked up on +the beach, that I was telling you of. A sad thing it was altogether. She +went wrong, d'ye see, with the fellow David, the Scholar's brother, and +was drowned here along with him; but how that came to pass was never +rightly known. 'Tis thought the Scholar had meant for to marry the girl +himself. And so would David have married her, I doubt, if he'd known +what I know." + +"About the family?" + +"Ay, sir, that. Ye maybe 'll remember the iron box as I picked up? +Well, I didn't tell anyone about it then, not even the Scholar; and soon +after the night of the storm I shipped for Rio, and was away a matter +of two years. When I came back I heard as how David was thick with the +girl--Swanhilda they called her. Then I opened the box, not having done +it before, and found papers in it telling who she was, and that folks of +hers were living in Germany, having emigrated there from Denmark; and +from what I could make out--for 'twas in a foreign lingo, and I was +forced to borrow a lexicon to it--it seemed likely as how they was well +off. Now, I had my opinion of David, that he was a worthless sort of a +chap, though clever and handsome; so thinks I, I won't tell him of this, +for if so be as I do, he'll wed the girl in the hope of money, and not +for true love of her, who was worthy the love of better than he. But +what I'll do, I'll write to those her folks in Germany, telling them as +how she's here; and when they come, then they can do for her as they +find best, and it'll be out of my hands. And so I did, but had never an +answer, why I don't know. But it never came in my mind, sir, that the +fellow David would ever be so black a scoundrel as to lead the poor +innocent girl wrong. How be, when he had done it, thinks I, I'll tell +him of her folks now, because now the best can happen will be that they +marry, though the best is bad enough; and if I tell him, maybe he'll +make her an honest woman, as the saying is. And tell him I did, with a +piece of my mind touching my thought of him, into the bargain. And he +promised me as he'd go and make it right the next day--this being spoke +in the town above here, whither I'd gone for to see him. And it can't +be said but what he kept his word; only he and she was drowned in the +night, and crushed under that there wheel, as never has turned since, +to this day." + +"What became of her baby--she had a baby?" + +"Ay, and so she did, sir. Well, 'twas cared for by the housekeeper--she +being grandmother to it and so having first right, the more as the +Scholar was crazed, though not dangerous, but mild and melancholy-like. +But in years the old woman she came to the poor-house, and there died; +and I took the baby, and gave her what best I had to give, and better +schooling than the lasses care for hereabouts. And as luck would have +it, an elderly woman of Danish blood being come by a chance to the +village, I got her to be nurse to the little one, and so grew up to a +knowledge of her native tongue, d'ye see, and the fairy tales and such +like thereto belonging. And--ay, I see you've guessed it long already, +sir--that's Agatha." + +I had intended relating my vision to Mr. Poyntz on the spot where it +occurred; but I know not what reluctance prevented me. It was too solemn +and inexplicable an experience to bear discussion so soon. So, instead +of that, I told him, as we trudged homewards together, the history of +the Feuerberg family, and how all tended to ratify my conviction that +Agatha and I were cousins, though far removed. And I may remark here +that he and I between us had afterwards no difficulty (what with his +documents and my knowledge) in establishing the relationship beyond a +doubt. "But," I added, as we stood on the brow of the slope overlooking +the old house, and saw Agatha appear round the corner and kiss her hand +to us, "but she and I are the last of our race, and there is no great +fortune awaiting us, that I know of. Only, Mr. Poyntz, I love her with +my whole heart; if she can love me, will you trust her to me?" + +"Nay, ye mustn't ask me," replied the ancient mariner, grasping my hand, +with tears in his old blue eyes. "I doubt she loves you well, already. +And so do we all, for ye're a man, all be a quiet one. 'Twill be hard +parting with her, as has been sunshine to us this many a year; but ye'll +bring her to see the old folks, as time serves; and I'm bold for to +believe ye'll be as happy as the day is long." + +It is twenty years since then, and old Jack Poyntz's prophecy has proved +true. My wife is wont to say, with a smile in her dark eyes, that our +prosperity is due to the restored virtue of the pearl-shell necklace, +which still rests upon her bosom. To me, however, the necklace seems but +as the symbol of the true love whose radiance has blessed our lives, and +brought us better luck than any witchcraft can bestow. + + + + +CALBOT'S RIVAL. + + +I. + +The bitter cold weather out of doors made the cosy glow of my little +library even more than usually grateful. I had carried the warm and +bright anticipation of it close-buttoned under my top-coat throughout +my cold drive in the hansom from the South-Western Railway Station to +my rooms on the Thames Embankment. But now, as I stepped in and shut +the door behind me, I found I had done it less than justice. + +The four comfortable walls gave a broad smile of welcome, which was +multitudinously repeated from the well-known back of every beloved +book. Softly gleamed the Argand burner from the green-topped study +table; hospitably flickered the blazing Wallsend from the wide-mouthed +grate; seductive was the invitation extended me by padded easy-chair, +fox-skin hearthrug, and toasted slippers; crisp was the greeting of +the evening's _Pall Mall_ lying on the table; and solid the promise of +the latest _Contemporary_, containing, as I knew, my article on +"Unrecognisable Truths in their Relation to Non-existent Phenomena." +Bethinking myself, moreover, of the decanter of matchless old +port-wine in the right-hand cupboard of the table, and of the box of +prime Cabanas, made to my own order in Habana, in the drawer on the +left, I was not so much disposed to envy Calbot his late betrothal to +the beautiful Miss Burleigh, the news whereof he had triumphantly +poured into my bachelor ears a week or two before. + +"Never mind, Drayton, old fellow," I muttered to myself, as I pushed +off my boots and slid my feet into the toasted slippers; "what matter +though love, courtship, and marriage be not for thee? Thou hast yet +thy luxuries"--here I sank slowly into my easy-chair, "thy creature +comforts"--here I got out the wine and the cigars, "and thy beloved +offspring!"--here I glanced at "Unrecognisable Truths," &c., printed on +the cover of the _Contemporary_. + +While I am pouring out and tasting a mellow glass of port, let me +briefly recall what and whence I am. + +Snugness, comfort, and privacy are my _desiderata_. My visible +possessions must be few, intrinsically valuable, and so disposed as to +lie within the scope of two or three paces and an outstretched arm. My +being a bachelor (and at the age of forty, I think I may add a confirmed +one) enables me to indulge these and other whims conveniently and +without embarrassment. + +My forefathers kept large establishments and had big families--and +plenty of bother and discomfort into the bargain. But when my turn came, +I sold out everything (except a few old heirlooms, and a part of the +library, and an ancestral portrait or two), put the cash proceeds in the +Funds, and myself, with my literary tastes and æsthetic culture, into +the rooms which I now occupy. I might live in a much more grandiose +style if I pleased, but in my opinion I am very well off as I am. I can +find my way to Freemasons' Tavern on occasions; my essays are a power in +the philosophic and theologic worlds; and I can count on a friend or two +worth their weight in gold, morally, mentally, and materially. Poor +Calbot, to be sure--but more of him anon. + +That is old Dean Drayton's portrait, over the mantelpiece--taken one +hundred and fifty years ago: an ancestor and namesake of mine. He wrote +a pamphlet on witchcraft, or something of that sort, which made a stir +in its day. I had thoughts of entering the ministry myself a long while +ago; I think it was about the time of my engagement to Miss Seraphine +Angell--the Bishop of Maresnest's daughter. But when she jil---- when +the affair was discontinued I had second thoughts, ending in the resolve +to let both women and the ministry severely alone for the future. So the +name of Drayton dies with me. + +There is, I fancy, at once a curious similarity and dissimilarity +between the Dean and his descendant. For one thing, we are both of us +singularly liable to be made confidants of delicate subjects; with this +difference, however, that whereas the Dean is--or was--an old busybody +(I am quoting history, not my private judgment), my natural tendency +is not only to mind my own business, but to tell other people to mind +theirs. It's no use, though--they only babble the more; and were I +to lose all my fortune, I could, by turning black-mailer, ensure a +permanent income twice as large as the one I have now. + +Another thing. The Dean was an alchemist--so tradition says; and his +descendant has a marked taste for scientific subjects, though not of the +occult kind. One of the family heirlooms, by-the-way, was a monument +of the Dean's alchemic skill; it was a large sealed vase or phial, +ornamented with cabalistic figures and inscriptions, and affirmed to +contain the veritable Elixir Vitæ, manufactured after years of labour +by the old gentleman, and corked up and put away for future use. It +unfortunately happened, however, that he was killed by an upset of his +coach, away from home; and the vase remained sealed ever afterwards. I +have often thought of taking a little out and analysing it; for even +should it turn out not to be the water of life, I thought it might +possibly resolve itself into a bottle of excellent brandy. But I delayed +too long; and at last the mysterious phial very unexpectedly analysed +itself, and dissipated itself at the same moment--but, again, let me not +anticipate. + + +II. + +I finished my first glass of wine, poured out another, and taking up +the _Contemporary_ turned to the masterly discussion of "Unrecognisable +Truths," &c. Before I had reached the close of the opening period, +however, I heard the postman's knock. + +I ought to have mentioned that I had been down to Richmond that +afternoon--an unusual thing for me to do at that time of year. But the +fact was that a distant connection of mine had died a short time before, +and his effects were announced to be sold at auction. I had reason +to believe that among these effects were some old relics of my +family--documents and so forth--which I was interested to recover; +indeed, but that some foolish quarrel or other had parted my relative +and me years ago, I might doubtless have had them at any time for the +asking. Of the precise nature of the documents in question I was not +precisely informed; Armstrong--such was my relative's name--had taken +care not to enlighten me on the subject. When I read the announcement +of his death in _The Times_ I had half expected that he might have +bequeathed me the old things; but it turned out that he had made no will +at all, having, as it appeared, no very great property to dispose of. +He was a queer fellow, and came of a queer family; half insane I always +considered them; and I know they were suspected of witchcraft as long +ago as the time of our old Dean. Nay, the Dean himself was whispered to +have been the least bit overshadowed at that epoch, owing, I understand, +to one fussy habit he had of encouraging confidences. One of these +Armstrong witches had communicated some devilish secret or other to the +reverend gentleman, I suppose, and thus brought ill-repute upon him. +However, the Dean was no fool, and got out of the scrape by writing that +pamphlet on witchcraft. + +Well, I was about to say that when I heard of the sale I resolved to run +over to Richmond and see what I could pick up. I got there just in time +to see the last lot knocked down. It was shockingly stupid of me to +have mistaken the hour--such a cold day, too, and I so unaccustomed to +running about the country at that time of year. But there was no help +for it; I had to return as wise as I started, and the poorer by the loss +of my temper and expectations. I was beginning to get in a good humour +again, however, what with my fire, and my cigar, and my article on +"Truths," &c, and partly, no doubt, by reason of the genial effect of +that old port-wine; besides, I am by no means of a sour disposition, +naturally; when all of a sudden came the postman's knock, making +me start so that the ash of my cigar fell on the open page of the +_Contemporary_ and scorched a hole in it. Postmen have always been a +horror to me; I have never enjoyed receiving letters since the date of a +certain missive from--from someone who is now the wife of another man; +and on this particular evening I was more than commonly averse to any +such interruption. I laid my book on my knees, leaned back in my chair, +and blew an irritated cloud of smoke towards the painted countenance of +my ecclesiastical ancestor over the fireplace. It curled and twisted +about his respectable visage, until I could almost have believed that he +winked one eye and moved his ancient lips as if to speak. + +The servant brought in a square packet done up in brown wrapping-paper, +and sealed in half-a-dozen places. It was about the size and shape of +the magazine I had been reading--a little thicker, perhaps, and heavier. +I put my name to the receipt accompanying the parcel, and the servant +went out. + +At first I was disposed to let the thing lie unopened till the next day, +being well assured that it would not repay examination: and I actually +did put it aside and attempt to resume my reading as though no +interruption had occurred. But I found it impossible to get on, or to +fix my thoughts upon anything except just that parcel. What could be in +it? Who could have sent it? I looked at the direction, but could make +nothing out of that; it was written in an ordinary business hand, quite +characterless and non-committal. I felt it carefully all over; it was +stiffer than ordinary paper, but not hard like wood. Meanwhile I glanced +up at my pictured ancestor, and was struck with the expression of +anxious interest which appeared to have come over his features. Perhaps +he knew what the packet contained; or more probably his ruling passion +of curiosity, strong in death, was making his old painted fingers itch +to break the seals and take a peep at the mystery. The idea provoked me, +and with a sudden impulse I held the packet out over the blazing +Wallsend, two-thirds minded to drop it in. But the next moment I was +more provoked at my own childish folly. I drew the thing back, took my +penknife from my pocket, and cut the strings that tied it. Unwrapping +the paper, there was disclosed to view a very antique-looking leather +case or cover--a pocketbook or portfolio to all appearance. I undid +the worn strap that fastened it, and it fell open, showing a number +of leaves of musty parchment, written over with a quaint and crabbed +chirography, such as could not have been in vogue for a good deal more +than a century, to say the least. + + +III. + +I am something of an antiquary, and not entirely without experience of +MS. older even than this appeared to be. Having convinced myself by a +cursory inspection that the matter was worth looking into, I lost no +time in composing myself to its perusal. + +It was written in Latin--a fortunate circumstance, since there was none +of the difficulty attendant upon old-fashioned bad spelling to contend +with. The substance of the writing consisted, so far as I was able to +make out, of extracts from a number of private letters, supplemented +by passages from the pages of a journal and by occasional observations +made apparently in the transcriber's own person. The combination formed +a tolerably consecutive and logical history of three individuals--a +woman and two men--who lived and loved and hated with the antiquated +vehemence of a century and a half ago. + +An odd circumstance which was immediately noticeable in the compilation +was a systematic omission of the names of all the actors in the events +narrated. A blank space of some length was left for each one, as though +the writer had intended filling them in afterwards, but, for whatever +cause, had failed to do so. Even the scribe himself--he was a friend +or confidential adviser, as it seemed, of the principal figure in the +narrative--had suffered himself to remain as nameless as the rest. + +This omission affected me strangely. So far from alienating my interest, +it greatly augmented it; and although the body of the writing was +couched in terms sufficiently dry and matter-of-fact, the blank spaces +gave rein to the imagination, and lent the story a present and almost +a personal vitality and significance. It almost seemed to me that the +matter was, in some way or other, my individual concern--that I was, or +had been, involved in the incidents here set forth, and had still to +look forward to the catastrophe. The potent port, I fancy, must have a +little o'ercrowed my spirit; but I believe I ascribed it, at the same +time, to the peculiar influence exerted over me by the portrait of my +reverend ancestor. He seemed positively to be alive, and preparing to +come down from his frame and take the MS. into his own possession. + +I spent a long time in trying to find out whence the MS. came, and +why it had been sent to me. But to this problem there was no apparent +clue--no tangible evidence, external or internal. Of course I was sure +that the secret lay in the blank spaces; and was half inclined to cut +the knot by filling them up with my own name and with those of the first +three friends of mine that happened to come into my head. However, after +quite working myself into a fever, and ruining the flavour of my Cabana +by letting it go out and then relighting it, I finally contented myself +by stopping the pregnant gaps with the first four letters of the +alphabet; and thus furnished forth, I buckled earnestly and steadily to +my work, progressing so rapidly that in less than three hours' time I +had mastered the whole narrative. + +It was an unpleasant story, certainly, but there was nothing +particularly weird or remarkable, after all, in the incidents related. +From a literary point of view, it was greatly lacking in point and +completeness; for though it ended with the death of the chief character +and the marriage of the other two, yet the interest of the reader +advanced beyond the written limits, and demanded a more definite +conclusion. Things were left at such loose ends, in spite of death and +marriage, that it was hard not to believe that more remained behind. +In the heated and excited condition of my imagination, I felt strongly +tempted to snatch up my pen and improvise an ending on my own +responsibility. + +The longer I mused over the matter the more convinced did I become that +all had not been told. Moreover, I could almost fancy that I had some +occult perception of what the true and ultimate conclusion really +was; nay, even that the authorship of this very MS., which had been +penned considerably more than a hundred years before I was born, was +nevertheless mystically my own. I repeat, there seemed to be something +of myself in it; and the events had an inexplicable sort of familiarity +to my mind, as though they were long forgotten, rather than now known +for the first time. And all the while that alchemic progenitor of mine +kept up his mysterious winking and nodding. + +It would be too long and tedious to transcribe the tale as I read it; I +will therefore give, as briefly as possible, an abstract of the leading +points round which it was woven. + + +IV. + +Shortly before the beginning of the last century, a wealthy +gentleman--let us call him A.--made a proposal for the hand of a young +lady living in the neighbourhood of London, the daughter of an excellent +family, though at that time somewhat reduced in circumstances, probably +in consequence of political jealousies. Judging from what is said of +her, this young lady--Miss B.--must have been a famous beauty; and it +would not therefore be surprising if A. had met with some rivalry in his +suit. To all appearances, however, the course of true love flowed as +smooth as oil. The B. family, in spite of their political disaffection, +did not oppose the marriage of their daughter to so wealthy and +respectable a suitor; and if she herself had any disinclination to him, +she very probably and prudently said nothing about it, but treated Mr. +A. very graciously. + +A.'s property, and the general management of his business affairs, were +entrusted by him to the care of a talented young barrister, C. by name; +who, indeed, largely owed his prosperity and brilliant prospects to A.'s +kindness, the latter having aided him in his preparation for the Bar, +and afterwards put a great deal of business in his way, which otherwise +he would have obtained but slowly. In fact, A's attitude towards this +young man was almost parental; and no wonder if he felt himself secure +in trusting his most private concerns to one who owed him so deep a debt +of gratitude. + +Nevertheless, it would doubtless have been wiser in him, a man somewhat +advanced in life, not to have made C. the bearer and utterer of +his loving messages to the lady of his heart, quite so often or so +unreservedly as he appears to have done. C., who was probably a +well-favoured and fascinating fellow enough, must have seen more of Miss +B. than did her lover; and in his capacity of the latter's recognised +confidant, he could easily have obtained access to her at any moment. +Perhaps the young beauty was not averse to a little flirtation with the +handsome and clever barrister. Perhaps she encouraged him; the evidence, +such as it is, would seem to point that way. Be that as it may, we must +admit that C. was exposed to pretty strong temptation. His virtue, be +he who he might, must have had a struggle for it; and if we imagine him +rather warm-blooded and tolerably weak-principled, we may be justly +anxious as to virtue's victory. + +Having made what allowances we will, there is no denying that C. turned +out a great scoundrel. A. one morning took his carriage and went up to +London, and the coachman stopped at the door of the Court jeweller. Out +steps Mr. A., with his velvet cloak, his silk stockings, his plumed hat, +and his peaked beard; and, with his long rapier dangling at his side, +and his lace ruffles half concealing his white hands, he makes his +stately entry into the bowing tradesman's shop. There he spends a long +time examining, with all the whimsical particularity of an elderly +lover, the trays upon trays of rare, rich, and costly nicknacks which +are set before him. It seems as though he would never be suited. The +pompous horses, standing outside, shake their rattling head-gear and +stamp their proud hoofs impatiently; the obsequious jeweller racks +his brain and exhausts his eloquence unavailingly. Never was there +so difficult a customer. At length the man of jewels picks up a +quaint-looking little locket, and is just on the point of putting it +down again, as not even worth the trouble of offering, when Mr. A. +exclaims: + +"Hold, Mr. Jeweller, that is what we are looking for. What is the price +of that locket?" + +"Oh sir," replies the shrewd man of business, quickly recovering from +his first surprise, "I see you need not be informed of what is truly +valuable. This little locket, which most persons would look upon as +commonplace, is in fact, in more senses than one, the jewel of my stock. +It is made, you perceive, out of a simple brown tourmaline, exquisitely +cut in relief. The workmanship is really matchless, and the tourmaline +itself--as perhaps you are aware--is believed to be endowed with certain +mystic properties----" + +"Yes, yes, Mr. Jeweller," interrupts the dark-visaged customer, in a +somewhat testy tone; "I know the nature and properties of the trinket +quite as well as you do. What I desired of you was to name your price." + +The tradesman hesitated for a moment, and then, summoning all his +audacity to his aid, mentioned a sum which made his own heart beat and +his eyes water. But the composure of Mr. A. was not dashed a whit. He +even appeared to smile a little satirically, as though to intimate that +he considered himself as having altogether the best of the bargain. He +paid the money without a moment's demur, and taking up the locket before +the excited jeweller had time to put it in a box for him, Mr. A. saluted +him gravely and stalked out of the shop. + +"Well," thought the tradesman, as he watched the heavy coach roll away, +"if he's satisfied, I'm sure I ought to be. And yet--I wonder what that +locket was after all! I don't remember having ever noticed it amongst +the stock before to-day. It really was finely enchased, and may have +been more valuable than I supposed. But pshaw! fifty guineas! Such a +stroke of business was never heard of before. If the locket had been a +witch's amulet, with power to drive men mad or raise the Devil, I should +still have made a good profit!" + +Meanwhile Mr. A. was speeding on his way to his betrothed. The fact is, +they were to be married on the morrow, and the honest gentleman had +bought the locket as a pre-nuptial gift. Probably the horses, fleet and +well-conditioned as they were, were somewhat put to it to keep pace with +their owner's eagerness to be at the end of his journey. In due time, +however, behold them reined snorting up at the gateway of the B. +mansion, and Mr. A., locket in hand, preparing to alight. + +But, alas! it is too evident that some disaster has occurred. The +servant who opens the door is pale and scared; the household is in +disorder. Twice does the visitor demand news of the master and mistress +before he can elicit a reply. + +"Present them my compliments, if they are at leisure," continues Mr. A., +"and ask whether I may request the honour of an interview with their +daughter." + +"Lord bless me, sir!" falters the trembling servant, "haven't you +heard----" + +"Heard what?" says A., turning pale; "what is the matter, fellow? Is the +young lady ill?" + +"Ill, sir? Lord bless me, sir, she--she's gone!" + +Mr. A. recoiled, and seemed to gasp for breath for a moment. His face, +from pale, became suddenly overspread with a deep crimson flush, and the +veins on his forehead swelled. At length he burst out in a terrible +voice: + +"Gone? Where? With whom?" + +But at this point the appearance of the master and mistress relieved the +wretched footman from his unenviable position. The miserable story was +soon told. The young lady to whom Mr. A. had entrusted his heart and +honour, to whom he was to have been united the next day, whose wedding +gift he even then held in his hand, had eloped the night before in the +good old-fashioned manner, and was by this time far beyond the reach of +pursuit, could pursuit have availed. The flight had been six hours old +before it was discovered by the young lady's mother. + +"But with whom? with whom? Who was the villain who dared to rob me?" +cried Mr. A., storming up and down the hall in ungovernable fury. "Who +was it, madam, I say? Stop your wretched whimpering and speak!" + +"Dear me, Mr. A.," quavered the poor lady, struggling with her sobs, +"can't you think? Why, it's that young Mr. C. of yours, of course. Who +else could it be?" + +At this reply, which he seems not in the least to have expected, Mr. +A. became suddenly and appallingly calm. During a short space he made +neither sound nor movement. At length he slowly uplifted one clenched +hand above his head, and shook it there with a kind of sluggish +deliberation. To the frightened and hushed spectators it seemed as if +the air grew dark around him as he did it. Still without uttering a word +he now partly unclosed his hand, and there was seen to proceed from it a +dusky glow or gleam, as of phosphorescence. Drawing in a deep breath, he +exhaled it slowly over this phosphorescent appearance, as if desirous of +inspiring it with the very essence of his being. If the account is to be +believed, the glow became more lurid, and the tall figure of Mr. A. more +sombre, with the action. + +Whatever this odd ceremony might mean, it had the good effect of +restoring the betrayed suitor to his wonted courteous and grave +self-possession. In a manner at once earnest and dignified he besought +Mr. and Mrs. B. to pardon and overlook his late violent and passionate +demeanour. + +"I have erred deeply," added he, "in permitting, even for a short time, +that evil spirit which is ever at hand to ensnare the rash and unwary to +gain dominion over me. For, alas! what right have I to be angry? Your +daughter, methinks, has better reason to upbraid me than I her. What +charm could such a one as she is find in a graybeard like myself? Truly, +I blame her not, and sorrow only that she did not frankly make known to +me her disfavour, rather than thus violently and suddenly cast me off. +And as for the partner of her flight, how can I do otherwise than pardon +him? Have I not trusted him and loved him as a son? Nay, nay, I have +been an old fool--an old fool; but I will not be an unforgiving one. +See," he went on, in the same quiet and colourless tone in which he had +spoken throughout, "here is a trifle which I had purposed presenting +to your daughter as a symbol of my affection. It is a jewel, curiously +carven as you see, and fabled to exert a benign and wholesome influence +over the wearer. How that may be, I know not; but sure am I that aught +freighted, like this, with the deepest prayers and most earnest hopes +of him who had thought (a foolish thought--I see it now!) to win +the highest place in her regard, will not be refused by her when, +acknowledging my error, I beg her to accept it as the gift of elder +friend to friend. Permit me, madam"--he laid the locket in Mrs. B.'s +hand, she half shrinkingly receiving it; "you will soon hear from your +daughter and her husband"--this word he pronounced with a certain grave +emphasis--"and your reply, let me venture to hope, will tend to a +speedy reconciliation. Present her, in my name and with my blessing, +with this gem; bid her transmit it as an heirloom to her descendants; +and believe that, so long as it retains its form and virtue, my spirit +will not forget this solemn hour." + +Having delivered himself of this long-winded and not altogether +unambiguous speech, good Mr. A. bowed himself out, and rumbled away in +his stately coach. Shortly afterwards the abdication of James II. was +known throughout England. The B.'s rose at once from their position of +political obscurity to an honoured and powerful place under the new +_régime_. C., who now turned out to have been for a long time a plotter +for the successful cause, was not long afterwards installed as a Court +favourite, and his beautiful wife became the idol of society. Poor +Mr. A., on the other hand, had a sour time of it. He had been bitterly +opposed to the Prince of Orange, and naturally found his present +predicament an embarrassing one. He appears to have met with quite an +Iliad of misfortunes and reverses; and a few years after William's +accession he died. + +The general opinion was that he had devoted his latter days to religious +exercises. Certain it is, that he was on terms of intimacy with an +eminent divine of the day; indeed, a careful analysis of references +satisfied me that the compiler of the mysterious MS. and this divine +could be no other than one and the same person. And the inference thence +that he had died in the odour of sanctity would have been easy enough, +save for one discordant and sinister circumstance. + +This was reserved for the very last paragraph of the narrative, and shed +a peculiar and ill-omened light over all that had gone before. It was +related in the transcriber's own person; and after describing with +some minuteness the last hours of Mr. A., it concluded as follows. I +translate from the original Latin: + +"Mr. A. having long lain without motion, breathing hoarsely, and with +his eyes half open, and of a rigid and glazed appearance, as of a man +already dead--all at once raised himself up in bed, with a strength and +deliberation altogether unexpected; and having once or twice passed his +hand over his brow, and coughed slightly in his throat, he said to me: + +"'Take your pen, friend, and write. I will now dictate my last will and +testament.' + +"It appeared to me that he must be delirious both because he had, +several hours previous, caused his will to be brought to him and read in +his ear (this will bore date before the date of his intended marriage +with Miss B.), and also because his aspect, notwithstanding the +strength of his movements and voice, was more that of a corpse than of a +living man; and he might have been believed, by those who put faith in +such superstitions, to be animated by some unhallowed spirit not his +own. + +"But when I showed him that former will, supposing him to have forgotten +it, he bade me put it in the fire; and when this had been done, and the +will consumed, he bade me write thus: + +"'I, ---- A., being nowe about to die, yet knowynge well the nature of +this my act, doe herebye bequeathe my ondyinge Hatred to C. and to his +wife (formerly Miss B.), to them and to their Posteritie. And I doe +herebye pray Almighty God that the Revenge which my Soule hath desired +and conceived, be fulfilled to the uttermoste, whether soon or +hereafter: yea, at the perill of my Salvation. Amen!'" + +This Satanic composition was duly signed, sealed, and witnessed as A.'s +last will and testament; and the latest earthly act of the wretched man +was the affixing his signature to an instrument which, whatever other +end it might accomplish, could hardly fail of exercising its deadliest +venom against himself. + + +V. + +I lit a fresh cigar, poured out another glass of wine, and gave myself +up to meditation. Those blank spaces completely mystified me. For what +other object had this lengthy transcription been made than to record +A.'s "last will," and the causes leading up to and (so far as that was +possible) justifying it? Yet, on the other hand, the careful omission +of every clue whereby the persons concerned might have been identified +seemed to annul and stultify the laborious record of their actions. Or +if the composition were a mere fiction, why not have invented names as +well as incidents? + +But fiction, I was satisfied, it could not be. It was not the fashion to +compose such fictions a hundred and fifty or more years ago. And it was +not within the scope of such an arid old specimen of the antique clergy +as he whose stilted Latin and angular chirography I had just examined to +follow such a fashion even had it existed. No, no. Account for it how I +might, the things here set down were facts, not fancies. + +The will was the only part of the compilation written in English, as +though it were especially commended to the knowledge of all men; and it +was certainly not the sort of thing a dying man would be apt to compose +and have attested purely for his own amusement. Yet, as it stood, it was +no more than a lifeless formula. But, indeed, so far as this feature of +the narrative was concerned, the subtlest casuistry failed to enlighten +me as to what Mr. A.'s proposed revenge had been, and how he expected it +to be accomplished. An attempt to make the tourmaline locket serve as a +key to the enigma promised well at first, but could not quite be induced +to fit the lock after all. Either the problem was too abstruse, or my +head was not in the best condition for solving it. The longer I puzzled +over it, the more plainly did my inefficiency appear; and at last I came +to the very sensible determination to go to bed, and hope for clearer +faculties on the morrow. + +I had just finished winding up my watch, which marked half-past ten, +when there was a violent ring at my door-bell, followed by a rattling +appeal to the knocker. + +"A telegram!" I exclaimed, falling back in my chair. "The only thing I +detest more than a postman. Well, the postman brought an enigma; perhaps +the telegram may contain the solution." + +It was not a telegram, but Calbot, to whom I have already made +incidental allusion. He opened the library door without knocking, came +swiftly in, and walked up to the fire. This abruptness of manner, which +was by no means proper to him, added to something very peculiar in his +general aspect and expression, gave me quite a start. + +He was dressed in light in-door costume, and, in spite of the cold, wore +neither top-coat nor gloves. His face had a pallor which would have been +extraordinary in anyone, but in a man whose cheek was ordinarily so +ruddy and robust as Calbot's, it was almost ghastly. He said nothing +for some moments, but seemed to be struggling with an irrepressible and +exaggerated physical tremor, resembling St. Vitus's dance. I must +say that my nerves have never been more severely tried than by this +unexpected apparition, in so strange a guise, of a friend whom I had +always looked upon as about the most imperturbable and common-sensible +one I had. He was a young man, but older than his years, clear-headed, +practical, clever, an excellent lawyer, and a fine fellow. Eccentricity +of any kind was altogether foreign to his character. Something very +unpleasant, I apprehended, must be at the bottom of his present profound +and uncontrollable agitation. + +Of course I jumped up after the first shock, and shook his hand--which, +notwithstanding the cold weather and his own paleness, was dry and hot. +I fancied Calbot hardly knew where he was or what he was doing; not +that he seemed delirious, but rather overwhelmingly preoccupied about +something altogether hateful and ugly. + +"What's the matter, John?" I said, instinctively using a sharp tone, and +laying my hand heavily on his shoulder. "Are you ill?" Then a thought +struck me, and I added: "Nothing wrong about Miss Burleigh, I hope?" + +"Drayton," said my friend--his utterance was interrupted somewhat by the +nervous starts and twitches which still mastered his efforts to control +them--"something terrible has happened. I wanted to tell you. I can't +fathom it. Drayton, I've seen---- May I take a glass of wine?" + +He drank two glasses in quick succession. As he hardly ever touched +wine, there was no little significance in the act. The rich old liquor +evidently did him good. To tell the truth, I would rather have given him +some brandy. He was not in a state to appreciate a fine flavour, and my +port was as rare as it was good. However, I was really concerned about +him, and would gladly have given the whole decanterful to set him right +again. + +He would not take a chair, but stood on the rug with his back to the +fire. As I sat looking up at his tall figure, I caught the painted +eye of my priestly ancestor over his shoulder, and it seemed to me to +twinkle with saturnine humour. + +"Well, what have you seen, Calbot?" + +"Some evil thing has come between Miss Burleigh and me, and has parted +us. I have seen it--two or three times. She has felt it. It's killing +her, Drayton. As for me.... You know me pretty well, and you know what +my life has been thus far. I've not been a good man, of course--quite +the contrary; I've done any quantity of bad things, but I don't know +that I've committed any such hideous sin as ought to bring a punishment +like this upon me--not to speak of _her_! I'm not a parricide, nor an +adulterer; I never sold my salvation to the devil--did I, Drayton?" + +"No, no, of course not, my dear Calbot. You have a fever, that's all. +Don't get excited. Just lie down on the sofa for half an hour, and quiet +yourself a little." + +"I see you think I'm out of my head, and no wonder. I behave like a +madman. But I'm not mad at all; I wish I could think I were. This +shuddering--it won't last--but I tell you, Drayton, when you see a man +of my health and strength stricken this way in two days, you may believe +it would have driven many a man to madness, or to suicide----" + +"Let me pour it out for you; your hand shakes so. I can give you some +splendid French cognac, if you'd prefer it? Well. Hadn't you better lie +down?" + +"Come, I can control myself, now--I will!" said Calbot, through his +teeth, and putting a strong constraint upon himself. For about a minute +he kept silent, the blood gradually coming into his cheeks and the +nervous twitchings growing less frequent. + +"That's better," said I, encouragingly. "You don't look so much as +though you'd seen a ghost, now. How is that Chancery case of yours +getting on?" + +"A ghost? You speak lightly enough, and I suppose your idea of a ghost +is some conventional bogey such as children are scared with. We laugh +at such things--heaven knows why! An evil, sin-breathing spirit, coming +from hell to take vengeance, for some dead and buried wrong, upon living +men and women--what is there laughable in that?" + +"Really, Calbot," I said, with a smile--a rather uneasy smile, be it +admitted--"I never laughed at a ghost, for the simple reason that I +never saw one to laugh at." + +"You never saw one, and you mean to hint, I suppose, that there are none +to see?" + +"Well," returned I, still maintaining a precarious grimace, "I'm not a +spiritualist, you know----" + +"Nor I," interrupted Calbot, in a lower and quieter tone than he had +yet used. He took a chair, and, sitting down close in front of me, bent +forward and whispered in my ear: "But I saw the soul of a dead man +yesterday; and this afternoon I saw it again, and chased it from the +Burleighs' house in Mayfair, along the Strand, and through the heart of +London, to its grave in St. G----'s churchyard. I copied the inscription +on the stone: it is a very old one, as you will see by the date." + +A far bolder man than I have ever claimed to be might have felt his +heart stand still at this speech; and its effect on me was greatly +heightened by Calbot's tone and manner, and by the way he fastened +his eyes upon me. Nor were the circumstances in other respects +reassuring--alone at night, with a man three or four times my physical +equal, who was wholly emancipated from rational control. I sat quite +still for a few moments--very long moments they seemed to me--staring +helplessly at Calbot, who took a small notebook out of his pocket, tore +out a leaf with something scrawled on it, and handed it to me. I read it +mechanically--"Archibald Armstrong. Died February 6th, 1698." Meanwhile +Calbot helped himself to another glass of wine; but I was too much +unnerved to restrain him, and, indeed, too much bewildered. + +"Archibald Armstrong," muttered I, repeating the name aloud; "died +February 6th--yes; but it was this present year 1875--not 1698. Why, I +went to the auction-sale of his effects this very afternoon!" + +"Keep the paper," said Calbot, not noticing my observation, "it +may possibly lead to something. And now I wish you to listen to +my statement. I am neither crazy, Drayton, nor intoxicated. But I +am not the same man you have known heretofore; my life has been +seared--blasted. Perhaps you think my language extravagant; but after +what I have experienced there can be no such thing as extravagance for +me. It is an awful thing," he added, with a long involuntary sigh, "to +have been face to face with an evil spirit!" + +"In Heaven's name, Calbot," cried I, starting up from my chair, and +trembling all over, I believe, from nervous excitement, "don't go on +talking and looking like that. If you can tell me a straightforward, +consistent story, I'll listen to it; but these hints and interjections +of yours will drive me mad!" + +"I'm going to tell you, Drayton, though it will be the next worst thing +to meeting that----Thing----itself, to tell about it. But the matter +is too grim earnest to allow of trifling. You have a great deal of +knowledge on queer and out-of-the-way subjects, Drayton, and I thought +it not impossible that you might make some suggestions, for there must +be some reason for this hideous visitation--some cause for it; and +though all is over for me now, there would be a kind of satisfaction in +knowing what that reason was. Besides, I must speak to someone, and you +are a dear friend, and an old one." + +I was a good deal relieved to hear Calbot speak thus affectionately of +our relations with each other; and indeed he appeared no way inclined to +violence. Accordingly, having offered him a Cabana (which he refused), I +put the box and the decanter back in the cupboard, and locked the door. +Then, relighting my own cigar, and putting a lump or two of coal on the +fire, I resumed my chair, and bade my friend begin his story. + + +VI. + +"There was an intermarriage between the Burleighs and the Calbots four +or five generations ago," said he; "I found the record of it in our +family papers, shortly before Miss Burleigh and I were engaged; but it +appears not to have turned out well. I don't know whether the husband +and wife quarrelled, or whether their troubles came from some outside +interference; but they had not been long married before a separation +took place--not a regular divorce, but the wife went quietly back to her +fathers house, and my ancestor is supposed to have gone abroad. But this +was not the end of it, Drayton; for, some years later, the husband +returned, and he and his wife lived together again." + +"Was there any further estrangement between them, afterwards?" + +"It is an ugly story," said Calbot, gloomily, getting up from his chair, +and taking his old place before the fire. "No; they lived together--as +long as they did live! But it was about the era of the witchcraft +mania--or delusion, if you choose to call it so--and it is strongly +hinted in some of the documents in my possession that the Calbots +were--not witches--but victims of witchcraft. They accused no one, but +they seemed to have been shunned by everybody like persons under the +shadow of a curse. Well--it wasn't a great while before Mrs. Calbot +died, and her husband went mad soon afterwards. There were two children. +One of them, the son, was born before the first separation. The other, a +daughter, came into the world after the reunion, and she was an idiot!" + +"An ugly story, sure enough," said I, shrugging my shoulders with a +chilly sensation; "but what has it to do with your business?" + +"Perhaps nothing; but there is one thing which would go for nothing in +the way of legal evidence, but which has impressed me, nevertheless. The +date of the second coming-together of my ancestor and his wife was +1698." + +"Well?" + +"If you look at that paper I gave you you'll see the date of Armstrong's +death is also 1698." + +"Still I don't see the point." + +"It's simply this: the--Thing I saw was the condemned soul of that +Archibald Armstrong. Who he may have been I don't know; but I can't help +believing that my ancestor knew him when he was still in the flesh. They +had a feud, perhaps--maybe about this very marriage--of course you +understand I'm only supposing a case. Well, Calbot gets the better of +his rival, and is married. Then Armstrong exerts his malignant ingenuity +to set them at odds with each other. He may have played on the +superstitious fancies which they probably shared with others of that +age, and at last we may suppose he accomplished their separation." + +"An ingenious idea," I admitted, "but what about your date?" + +"Why, on hearing of his death, they would naturally suppose all danger +over, and that they might live together unmolested. And from this point +you may differ with me or not, as you choose. I believe that it was only +after Armstrong was dead that his power for evil became commensurate +with his will. I believe, Drayton," said Calbot, drawing himself up to +his full height, and emphasising his words with the slow gesture of his +right arm, "that the soul of that dead man haunted that wretched couple +from the day of his death until the whole tragedy was consummated--until +the woman died and the man went mad. And I believe that his devilish +malignity has lived on to this day, and wreaked itself, a second time, +on Miss Burleigh and myself." + +There was a short pause, during which my poor friend stood tapping one +foot on the hearth-rug, his eyes bent downwards in sombre abstraction. + +"Look here, my dear John," I said at length, speaking with an effort, +for there was a sensation of heavy oppression on my chest; "listen +to me, old fellow. You've had time to cool down and bethink yourself: +so far as I can judge you appear, as you say, neither crazy nor +intoxicated. Now I wish you, remembering that we are sensible, +enlightened men, living in London in this year 1875, to tell me honestly +whether I am to understand you as deliberately asserting a belief in +visitations from the other world. Because, really, you know, that +is what anyone would infer from the way you have been talking this +evening." + +"I see there would be little use, Drayton, in my answering your question +directly; but I will give you a deliberate and honest account of my +personal experiences during these last two days: there will be no +danger of your mistaking my meaning then. You won't mind my walking up +and down the room while I'm speaking, will you? The subject is a painful +one, and motion seems to make it easier, somehow." + +I did mind it very much, it made me as nervous as a water-beetle; but, +of course, I forbore to say so, and Calbot went on: + +"I said I found out all this ancestral trouble some time before I was +engaged; and, as you may imagine, I kept silence about it to Miss +Burleigh. I think now it was a mistake to do so; but my ideas on many +subjects have undergone modification of late. I believe I had forgotten +all about the discovery by the time I had made up my mind to risk an +avowal: at any rate, I had no misgivings about it; and when I came out +from my interview with her--the happiest man in England!--ah Drayton, it +seemed to me then that there could be no more pains nor shadows in life +for me thence-forward for ever!" + +I devoutly wished, not for the first time that evening, that Calbot +would not be so painfully in earnest. In his normal state it was +difficult to get a serious word out of him; he was brimming over with +quaint humour and fun; but, as he himself had remarked, he was another +man to-day. After walking backwards and forwards once or twice in +silence, he continued: + +"You know how happy I was those first few days. I daresay you wished me +and my happiness in Jericho, when I insisted on deluging you with an +account of it. Think! Drayton, that was hardly a week ago. Well, as soon +as I had got a little bit used to the feeling of being engaged, I began +to think what I should give her--Edna, you know--for a betrothal gift. A +ring, of course, is the usual thing; but I couldn't be satisfied with a +ring: I wanted my gift to be something rare--unique; in short, something +different from what any other fellow could give his mistress; for I +loved her more than any woman was ever loved before. After a good deal +of fruitless bother, I suddenly bethought myself of a jewel-box which +had belonged to my mother--God bless her!--and which she had bequeathed +to me, intending, very likely, that I should use it for the very purpose +I was now thinking of. I got out the box, and overhauled it. There was a +lot of curious old trinkets in it; but the thing which at once took my +eye was a delicately wrought gold necklace, that looked as though it had +been made expressly for Edna's throat. There was a locket attached to +it, which I at first meant to take off; but on examining it closely, +I found it was quite worthy of the chain--was an exquisite work of +art, indeed. It was made of a dark yellow or brownish sort of stone, +semi-transparent, and was engraven with a very finely-wrought +bas-relief." + +"Calbot!" exclaimed I, starting upright in my chair, "what sort of a +stone did you say that locket was made of?" + +"What is the matter?" returned he, stopping short in his walk and facing +me with a glance partly apprehensive, partly expectant. "I never saw +exactly such a stone before--but why?" + +"Oh, nothing," said I, after a moment's excited thought; "it certainly +is very strange! But, never mind, go on," I added, throwing a glance at +the old manuscript which lay open on the table; "go on. I'll tell you +afterwards; I must turn it over in my mind a bit." + +"The reason I described it so minutely," remarked Calbot, "was that I +got a notion into my head that it had something to do with what happened +afterwards, and the reason of that notion is, that almost from the +very moment that Edna took the necklace--I clasped it round her neck +myself--the strange awful influence--visitation--call it what you +like--began to be apparent. + +"Oh Drayton, you can never know how lovely, how divine she looked that +evening. She had on what they call, I believe, a demi-toilette; open +at the throat, you know, and half the arm showing. No woman could have +looked more beautiful than she, before I put on the chain and locket; +yet when they were on, she looked as handsome again. It was really +wonderful--the effect they had. Her eyes deepened, and an indescribable +change or modulation--imperceptible, very likely, to anyone beside +myself, her lover--came over her face. I think it was a shade of +sadness--of mystery--no, I can only repeat, that it was indescribable; +but it gave her beauty just the touch that made it, humanly speaking, +perfect. I daresay this is all very tiresome to you, Drayton, but I +can't help it!" + +"Oh, go on, my dear fellow," said I warmly; for, indeed, I was moved as +well as excited. "Won't you sit down? Here, take my chair!" + +But he would not. + +"As I fastened the clasp, I said: 'You are fettered for ever now, Edna!' +and she said, with her eyes sparkling: 'Yes, I am the thrall of the +locket; the giver may lead me in triumph where he will!' Just as the +words passed her lips, Drayton, I felt a sensation of coldness and +depression; I gave an involuntary shudder, and looking quickly in +Edna's eyes, I saw there the very reflection of my own feeling! We were +alone, and yet there seemed to be a third person present--cold, hateful, +malevolent. He seemed to be between us--to be pressing us irresistibly +apart; and I felt powerless to contend against the insidious influence; +and so was she. For an instant or two we gazed fearfully and strangely +at each other; then she said faintly: 'Come to me--take me!' and half +held out her arms, her face and lips all pale. Drayton, I cannot tell +you what a desperate struggle I had with myself then! My whole soul +leapt out towards her with a passion such as I had never known before; +and yet my body seemed paralysed. I had felt something similar to it in +dreams before then; but the dream pain was nothing to the real pain. A +cold dead hand was on my heart, dragging it backward, deadening it; and +another at my throat, stifling me. But I fought against it--it seemed +to me I sweated drops of blood--but I overcame. I put my arm round her +waist--I kissed her; and yet, though I seemed to hold her--though our +lips seemed to meet--still that Thing was between us--we did not really +touch each other! With all our love, we were like lifeless clay to one +another's caress. It was a mockery--our souls could meet no more." Here +Calbot covered his eyes with his hand for a short time. "It was the last +time I ever kissed her," said he. + +I said nothing; my sympathy with my hapless friend was keen. Yet I must +confess to a secret sensation of relief that there was to be no more +kissing. It was natural, under the circumstances, that Calbot--poor +fellow!--should speak recklessly; but I am a bachelor, a confirmed +bachelor, and such descriptions distress me; they make me restless, +wakeful, and unhappy. Yes, I was glad we had had the last of them. + +"It all passed very quickly, and a third person would perhaps have seen +no change in us; probably the change was more inward than outward, after +all. It was peculiar that we, both of us, by a tacit understanding, +forbore to speak to each other of this dismal mystery that had so +suddenly grown up between us. It was too real, and at the same time too +hopeless; but to have acknowledged it would have been to pronounce it +hopeless indeed. We would not do that yet. We sat apart, quietly and +conventionally making observations on ordinary topics, as though we had +been newly introduced. And yet my betrothal gift was round her neck, +moving as she breathed; and we loved each other, and our hearts were +breaking. Oh, it is cruel!" + +In exclaiming thus, my friend (being at the farther end of the room at +the time) struck his foot sharp against the leg of a small antique table +which stood against the wall. Like many other valuable things, the +table was fragile, and the leg broke. The table tipped over, and a vase +(the ancestral vase, containing the elixir of life), fell off to the +floor. + +Calbot--I think it was much to his credit--found room amidst his proper +anguish to be sincerely distressed at this accident. On picking up the +vase, however, he immediately exclaimed that it was unbroken. This was +fortunate: the table could be mended, but the vase, not to speak of its +contents, would have been irreplaceable. Calbot put it carefully on the +study table, beside the MS.; set the invalid table in a corner; and +then, to my great satisfaction, drew up a chair to the fire, and +continued his sad story in a civilised posture. + + +VII. + +"I did not stay long after this; and ours was a strange parting that +evening, if our hearts could have been seen. We felt it a relief to +separate, and yet the very relief was a finer kind of pain. We knew +not what had befallen us; but, perhaps, we both had a hope, then, that +another day would somehow set things right. + +"I only took her hand in saying good-bye; but again it seemed as if her +soft fingers were not actually in contact with mine--as if some rival +hand were interposed. And I noticed (as I had done once or twice before +during our latter conversation) that, even while the farewell words were +being spoken, she turned her head abruptly with a startled, listening +expression, as though another voice had spoken close at her ear. I could +hear nothing, nor understand the dimly terrified look in her eyes--a +look appealing and yet shrinking. But afterwards I understood it all. +When I reached the street, I turned back and caught a glimpse of Edna +at the window. Beside her I fancied I distinguished the half-defined +outlines of a strange figure--that of a man who appeared to be +gesticulating in an extravagant manner. But before I could decide +whether it were a shadow or a reality, Edna had turned away, and the +apparition vanished with her." + +"Her father, of course," I threw in, with a glance over my shoulder; +"or perhaps it was the footman." Calbot made no reply. + +"I got up yesterday morning," said he, "convinced that the whole +thing was a delusion. I took a brisk walk round Hyde Park, ate a good +breakfast, and by eleven o'clock was on my way to her house, sure that +I should find her as cheerfully disposed to laugh at our dolorous +behaviour the night before as I myself was. I went down Piccadilly in +the best of spirits; but on turning the corner of Park Lane, I very +plainly saw three persons coming down towards me." + +Here Calbot paused so long that I could hardly refrain from springing +out of my chair. I had never heard him argue a case before a jury; but +had I been the presiding judge himself, I was convinced that Calbot +could have moulded my opinions to whatsoever issue he had pleased. But, +on the other hand, I doubt whether he was aware of his own best powers. +The effect he was now producing on me was certainly not the result of +any premeditated artifice. + +"I saw Edna," he finally went on, speaking in a husky labouring tone, +and gazing intently over my shoulder, as if he saw her _there_. "She +was walking in the centre, with a weary lifeless step, her head bent +downwards: on her right was her father, as jolly and portly as ever; and +on her left, Drayton, was the same strange figure of which I fancied I +had caught a glimpse the night before. It was no shadow now, however, +but looked as real and palpable as General Burleigh himself. It appeared +to be diligently addressing itself to Edna, occasionally even stooping +to speak in her ear; and once I saw it put its arm round her waist, and +apparently press its bearded cheek to her own." + +"Why, in Heaven's name, Calbot, didn't you----" But there was something +in my friend's eyes, as he turned them on me, which made me break off +just there. + +"When I first turned the corner the three were sixty or seventy yards +distant. It struck me at once that Edna seemed to have no direct +consciousness of the stranger's presence. That is, she did not act as if +he were visible to her; though, at the same time, I could hardly doubt +that the _idea_ of him was present to her mind; and from her manner of +involuntary shrinking and starting when the Thing became particularly +demonstrative in its manner, I fancied that the words which it appeared +to address to her insinuated themselves into her brain under the form +of dismal and hateful thoughts. Perhaps, Drayton, the base or wicked +notions that sometimes creep into our minds unawares, asserting +themselves our own, are whispered to us by some evil spirit, invisible +to our sight, but capable of impressing the immaterial part of us all +the more effectively. + +"As they drew near, I could no longer doubt that the Thing was viewless, +not only to Edna, but to everyone else besides myself alone. Had it +been otherwise, the figure's remarkable costume, no less than its many +eccentricities, would have drawn a great crowd in a few moments. It was +a tall fantastic apparition, clad in a black velvet cloak and doublet, +silk hose, and high-heeled shoes. On its head was a broad-brimmed hat, +with heavy plumes; there were lace ruffles at its wrists and round +its throat. A long rapier dangled by its side; its beard was gray and +peaked, but a copious powdered wig flowed out beneath the hat and rested +on the shoulders. + +"Its gait, as it stalked along the pavement, was mincing and affected, +and under other circumstances I might have laughed at it. Its manner and +gestures were absurdly exaggerated and fantastic. It was continually +bowing and scraping to Edna, and seemingly making hot love to her; but +as often as she winced or shrank from it, it appeared hugely delighted, +throwing up its arms, wagging its head, and contorting its body, as if +carried away by an immoderate fit of laughter. + +"The sun was shining broadly, but none of its rays seemed to fall on the +sable garments of this singular personage. In fact, though I saw him as +plainly as I now see you, Drayton, I was, nevertheless, well aware that +here was something more or less than flesh and blood. It was a being of +another state than this mortal one of ours. I say I saw him; and yet I +do not believe that it was with my natural eyesight. A deeper sense of +vision had been temporarily opened within me, and this spectre came +within its scope. + +"For a spectre it was. General Burleigh, striding bluffly along by the +other side of his daughter, swinging his cane, twisting his moustaches, +and ever and anon smiling and bowing to a passing friend, was +ludicrously unconscious of there being anything supernatural in his +vicinity. Moreover, I saw at least twenty persons pass the apparition +shoulder to shoulder, evidently without seeing it; though they would +often shiver, and wrap their top-coats or shawls more closely round +them, as if a sudden blast of icy air had penetrated them. All this time +the three were approaching slowly, and were now but little more than +twenty paces distant. I had not moved a step since first coming in view +of them, and had kept my eyes fixed point-blank upon the apparition. + +"At this moment I was puzzled to observe that the black-garmented figure +was a good deal less distinctly discernible than when it had been +farther off. The sun was still as bright as ever, the air as clear, but +the outline of the shape was blurred and undefined, as though seen out +of focus through a telescope. General Burleigh now caught sight of +me for the first time, and his cordial gesture of salute caused Edna +quickly to raise her eyes. We saw despair in each other's looks, +and then she dropped her eyes again, and moved wearily onward. +Simultaneously with her glance the spectre (which appeared to be as +unconscious of everything save Edna and myself, as everyone except +us was of it)--the spectre also directed its gaze at me. I can never +forget that face, Drayton. I seemed to grow older and more miserable +as I confronted it. And all the while it was getting less and less +perceptible; now it was magnified, clouded, and distorted; but the +devilish expression of it was still recognisable. Now it faded or +expanded into vagueness; only a foggy shadow seemed gliding by Edna's +side; and when she was within ten paces, and her father's voice was +speaking out its hearty welcome to me, every trace even of the shadow +had disappeared; nothing was left but that chilliness and horror of the +heart which I had felt the night previous, but now vastly intensified, +because I was no longer ignorant of the cause of it. Edna and I would +never again be alone together. This devil was to haunt us henceforth, +mocking our love by its hideous mimicry and derision, marring and +polluting our most sacred secrets, sickening our hearts and paralysing +our hope and reliance in each other. We could neither escape it nor +resist it; and its invisibility when we were together was not the +least fearful thing about it. To see it, awful as it was, must be less +unendurable than to imagine it, unseen; and the certainty that, so +often as I left Edna, I should leave this devil in her company, visible +once more the moment he was out of my reach, but never to be met and +grappled with hand to hand--this was hard to bear! Had ever mortal man +before such a rival? + +"All this, of course, was but dimly apprehended by my mind at the time; +but I had sufficient opportunity to muse upon it afterwards. General +Burleigh seized my hand, and shook the head of his cane at me. + +"'Shall be obliged to court-martial you, young man! What have you been +doing to my daughter, sir? Why, no one can get a word or a smile out +of her, since you came with your tomfooleries! She keeps all her good +humour for you, confound you! It's witchcraft--you've bewitched my +little girl with your lockets and your necklaces and your tomfooleries! +You've bewitched her--and I'll have you court-martialed, and executed +for witchcraft, by Jove! Ha, ha, ha! Ha, ha, ha!' And with that he +gripped my hand again, and vowing that the club was the only place for +him since I had appeared with my tomfooleries and witchcraft, he swung +round on his heel and strode away, his broad military shoulders shaking +with jollity; and left Edna alone with me--and my rival! + +"We strolled off along Piccadilly, and I daresay every man we met was +envying me from the bottom of his heart. But though her arm was in mine, +I knew I might as well have been miles away from her. And we both were +reticent of our words on all matters lying near our hearts, as if that +third presence had been as palpable and visible as it was otherwise +real. We spoke constrainedly and coldly; nay, we even tried not to +_think_ of our love or of our misery, lest it might possess power to see +our thoughts as well as hear our voices. We walked on, seldom looking at +one another, for fear of catching a glimpse of it in each other's eyes. +I saw, however, that Edna still wore her locket--indeed, she had told +me, the night before, that she would never take it off, until I bade her +do so. + +"'So your father thinks you bewitched, Edna,' I said at length, trying +to throw off the incubus a little. + +"'I am not very well, I think.' + +"'He seemed to fancy the spell was connected with that old locket,' I +continued; my very disinclination to the subject driving me to tamper +with it. + +"'Perhaps it is,' returned Edna listlessly, lifting her hand for a +moment to her throat. 'I am not quite used to it yet.' + +"'To witchcraft, do you mean? You have seen no phantoms, have you?' + +"I felt her little hand clutch my arm with an involuntary start. I +looked down, and she met my eye with a blush, and at the same time with +a terrified shrinking expression that was bitter to behold. + +"'I see nothing with my open eyes,' she said, scarcely above a whisper; +'but at night--I cannot help my dreams; and they follow me into the +day.' + +"It was as I had thought, therefore; the spectre was not objectively +visible to her. She could not get away from her own self, and hence +could gain no point of vantage whence her persecutor could be seen. +There was little doubt, nevertheless, that her mental picture of him +agreed with my ocular experience. It seemed to me, on the whole, that +her burden must be far harder to bear than mine. There is a kind of +relief in being able to face a horror; and my own feelings, since seeing +this evil spirit which was haunting us, had been in a certain sense more +tolerable, if more hopeless, than the night before. But how did I know +what agony she might suffer? Even her innocent sleep was not sacred from +this evil thing; all her maiden reserve and delicacy were outraged; she +could be safe nowhere--no one could protect her; and with me, who would +have given my life to please a whim of hers, her suffering and exposure +must be less endurable than anywhere else. I could well understand her +blush, poor girl--poor girl!" + +Not for many years--not since, in fact, certain sad experiences of my +own early days--had I been so deeply stirred as by this recital of +Calbot's. His voice had great compass and expression, and the needs of +his profession had given its natural powers every cultivation. He +had a way of dwelling on certain words, and of occasionally pausing, +or appearing to hesitate, which greatly added to the effect of his +narrative. All this might be acquired by art, but not so the ever +and anon recurring falterings and breaks, into which, as now, he was +unexpectedly betrayed. I felt that it was unwise in me to listen to +him, to sympathise with him, as I was doing; yet could I not find it in +my heart to stop him. All fears of violence on his part had been for +some time past allayed. I was well aware that my encouragement of his +confidences could only result in my passing a feverish uncomfortable +night, and a listless dismal morrow; and yet I forbore to interrupt him. +Ah! it is we old bachelors who have hearts after all. + +I blew my nose, Calbot cleared his throat, and continued. + + +VIII. + +"Well, Drayton, I shan't keep you much longer. From Piccadilly we turned +into Bond Street, and were walking up the side-walk on the left-hand +side, when suddenly Edna stopped, and clasped both her hands round my +arm. She uttered a low exclamation, and trembled perceptibly. Her face, +as I looked at it, was quite rigid and colourless. I did not know what +was the matter, but fearing she was about to swoon, I looked round for a +cab. In so doing my eye caught my own reflection in a mirror, fixed at a +shop entrance on the other side of the street. It was in this direction +that Edna also was gazing, and the next moment I no longer wondered +at her ghastly aspect. Close by her shoulder appeared the fantastic +black-garmented figure which I had seen awhile before in Park Lane. He +was making the wildest and most absurd gestures--grinning, throwing +about his arms, making profound mock obeisances, and evidently in an +ecstasy of enjoyment. I looked suddenly round, but the place which +should have been occupied by the original of the reflection appeared +entirely empty. Looking back to the mirror, however, there was the +spectre again, actually capering with ugly glee. + +"Meantime people were beginning to notice the strange behaviour of Edna +and myself, and I was thankful when a passing cab enabled me to shield +her from their scrutiny. No sooner were we seated than she fainted away, +and only recovered a few moments before we stopped at her door. As I +helped her out she looked me sadly in the face, and said: + +"'Come to me to-morrow afternoon--for the last time.' + +"I could say nothing against her decision, Drayton; I felt we should be +really more united, living apart, than were we to force ourselves to +outward association. Our calamity was too strong for us; separation +might appease the mysterious malice of the phantom, and cause him to +return whither he belonged. The persecution of our long-dead ancestors +now recurred to me, as I had read it a few months before in those dusty +old documents, and I could not help seeing a strange similarity between +their fate and ours. Yet we had an advantage in not being married, and +in having the warning of their history before us. You see," observed +Calbot, somewhat bitterly, "even I can talk of advantages! + +"I went to her house to-day and had a short interview. I cannot tell you +in detail what we said, but it seems to me as though the memory of it +would gradually oust all other memories from my mind. I told her that +passage of history. We agreed to part--for ever in this world. I took +back the chain and locket which I had given her but so short a time +before. We said good-bye, in cold and distant words. We could not +gratify the evil spirit, which we knew was watching us, by any embrace +or show of grief and passion. We could be proud in our despair." + +"One moment, Calbot," said I, interrupting him at this point; "you say +she gave you back the locket?" + +"Yes." + +"Is it in your possession now?" + +"It is at the bottom of the Thames." + +"Good! And have you or Miss Burleigh seen anything of your phantom since +then?" + +"You forget that we parted only this afternoon. But I understand your +question. No, Drayton, it is there that the fate of our ancestors gives +us timely warning. We must never meet again." + +"I don't consider the cases parallel; and besides," I added, with a +glance at my MS., "there is perhaps another point to be considered. +However, finish your story, if there be any more to tell." + +"A little more, and then my story will be finished indeed! I am going +with the new expedition to the North Pole, and it will be my own fault +if I return. Well, after leaving her, I came straight downstairs and +hurried out. I felt as though I must go mad, or kill someone--myself +perhaps. As I stood on the doorstep, mechanically buttoning up my +ulster, I felt that creeping sickening chill once more, and knew that +the unholy Thing had passed me. I looked sharply about, and in a moment +or two I saw it, as plainly as ever. It stood on the sunlit pavement, +about fifty yards away, and appeared to be beckoning me to approach. + +"I watched it for perhaps a minute, and then a sudden fury took +possession of me. My hatred against this devil which had blighted my +life and Edna's must have leapt up in my eyes, for I fancied, from +the way the phantom leered at me, that he meant to claim a sort of +relationship with me--as though I were become a devil too. Well, if I +were a devil, perhaps I might be able to inflict some torture on this my +fellow. I sprang down the steps, and set off towards it. It waited until +I had passed over more than half the intervening distance, and then it +suddenly turned and walked onward before me. So a chase began." + +"Good gracious, Calbot," remonstrated I; "you don't mean to tell me you +ran after it--in the face of all London too?" + +"I would have followed it to its own hell if it had led me there," +he returned. "At first it stalked along swiftly but easily, only +occasionally cutting a grotesque caper in the air, with a flourish +of its arms and legs. It kept always the same distance in front of +me--with no effort could I lessen the interval. Nevertheless, I +gradually increased my speed almost to a run, much to the apparent +delight of the hobgoblin, who skipped with frantic glee over the cold +pavements, occasionally half facing about to wave me on. It turned the +corner of Piccadilly, and I lost sight of it for a moment; but, hurrying +up, there it was again, a short distance up the street. It made me a +profound mock obeisance, and immediately set off anew. + +"As I need not tell you, the figure which I was pursuing was visible +only to myself. The street was full of people, there were all the usual +noise, bustle, and gaiety of the city at that hour; but though it passed +through the midst of the crowd, in all the fantastic singularity of its +costume and manner, no one stepped out of its way or turned to gaze +at it. That it should be so terrible a reality to me, and at the same +time so completely non-existent to the rest of the world, affected me +strangely. Here was a new bond of relationship between me and it. +My misery and I were one; but the link which united us was a cap of +invisibility for the demon. + +"_I_ was not invisible, however, nor unnoticed. I was conscious that +everyone was staring at me--and no wonder! I must have presented an +odd spectacle, hurrying onward with no apparent object, and with an +expression of face which may well have been startling to behold. But so +long as no attempt was made to stop me, I was indifferent to remark. I +had determined to follow my black friend in the plumed hat, no matter +where the chase might lead me. + +"The pace grew quicker and quicker. We went down the Haymarket, and were +now in the throng of the Strand. All the places which I know so well +passed by like remembered dreams. They seemed illusions, and the only +real substance in the world was this Thing that I pursued. The dark +shape continued to glide forward with easy speed, ever and anon giving +me a glimpse of the pallid malignance of its evil visage; but my own +breath was beginning to come hard, and the difficulty of forcing a path +through the press became greater as we neared the heart of the city. +Passing beneath Temple Bar, the spectre stopped a moment and stamped its +foot imperiously, at the same time beckoning to me with an impatient +gesture. I sprang forward, yearning to grapple with it; but it was +gone again, and seemed to flit like a shadow along the sidewalk. Its +merriment, however, now forsook all bounds--it appeared to be in a +ceaseless convulsion of chuckling laughter. We fled onward, but so +absorbed in my pursuit had I now become, that I recollect nothing +distinctly until the tower of St. G----'s came into view. I think a +premonition of what was to occur entered my mind then. The hobgoblin +disappeared--seemingly through the iron railing of the contracted +graveyard which bounds the northern side of the church. I came up to +the railing and looked within. It was sitting on an ancient headstone, +blackened by London smoke and worn by time; it sat with its elbows on +its knees, and its head in its hands. A sombre shadow fell about it, +which the cheerful sunshine could not penetrate; but its awful eyes +emitted a dusky phosphorescent glare, dimly illuminating the leering +features. As I looked, a change came over them--they were now those of a +corpse already mouldering in decay, crumbling into nothingness before my +eyes. The whole figure gradually faded or darkened away: I cannot tell +how or when it vanished. Presently I was staring fixedly at an old +tombstone, with a name and a date upon it; but the churchyard was +empty." + + +IX. + +Of my own accord I now reproduced my decanter of port-wine, and Calbot +and I finished it before either of us spoke another word. + +What he was thinking of meanwhile I know not; for my part, I was +endeavouring to put in order a number of disjointed ideas, imbibed at +various epochs during this evening, whose logical arrangement, I was +convinced, would go far towards elucidating much of the mystery. As to +the positively supernatural part of Calbot's experience, of course I had +no way of accounting for that; but I fancied there were materials at +hand tolerably competent to raise a ghost, allowing such a thing as a +ghost to be possible. + +"I am glad, Calbot," I began, "that you came to me. Your good sense--or +instinct, perhaps--directed you aright. Do not despair: I should not be +surprised were we to manage between us to discover that your happiness, +so far from being at an end, was just on the point of establishing +itself upon a trustworthy foundation." Calbot shook his head gloomily. +"Well, well," resumed I, "let us see. In the first place--as regards +that locket. It will perhaps surprise you to learn that I had heard of +it before you came this evening--had read quite a minute description of +it, in fact." + +"Where?" demanded my friend, raising his eyes. + +"That will appear later. I must first ask you whether, in the old family +documents you spoke of, the personal appearance of this Archibald +Armstrong was particularly delineated?" + +"I hardly know; I have no recollection of any especial passage--and yet +I fancy it must have been given with some fulness; because when I saw +the hobgoblin, its costume and aspect seemed curiously familiar." + +"And had I seen it, there is little doubt in my mind that I should have +recognised it also." + +"Indeed!" exclaimed Calbot, sitting upright in his chair, "how happens +that?" + +"Wait a moment, I am merely collecting evidence. Now, have you any +reason to suppose that a connection of any sort--friendly, business, +or other--subsisted between your unhappy ancestor and this Armstrong +previous to the former's marriage?" + +"Do you mean whether he was under any obligations to Armstrong?" + +"Yes." + +"He may have been--but the idea is new to me. How----" + +"I am not done yet. Now, did it never occur to you--or, I should say, +does it not seem probable--that the locket which you had found hidden +away in your mother's jewel-box was in some way connected with the +family tragedy you told me of?" + +"I have thought of it, Drayton; there is no difficulty in imagining such +a thing; the trouble is, we haven't the slightest evidence of it." + +"I was about to say," I rejoined, "that there is direct evidence of +precisely such a locket having been bought, in the latter part of the +seventeenth century, by precisely such a looking man as the hobgoblin +you saw to-day. It was to be a wedding-gift to the woman he was to marry +the next day." + +"Drayton!" + +"That woman deceived him, and eloped on the eve of her marriage with +a protégé of his. He professed forgiveness, and sent the locket as a +pledge of it." + +"Odd!" + +"He died in 1698, and his last recorded words were a curse invoked +upon those whom he had before professed to pardon--upon them and their +posterity." + +"But, Drayton--what----" + +"It is my opinion that his forgiveness was merely a cloak to his deadly +and unrelenting hatred. It is my opinion, Calbot, that the pledge he +gave was poisonous with evil and malicious influences. The locket +was made of tourmaline, which has mysterious properties. No doubt he +believed it a veritable witch's talisman; and from the sufferings which +afterwards befell his enemies (not to speak of your own experience), one +might almost fancy witchcraft to be not entirely a delusion after all." + +"One might, indeed! But if, as you seem to imply, this locket enabled +Armstrong to persecute Calbot and his wife, why did not they send it +back or destroy it?" + +"Simply because they were not aware of its evil nature, and fancied that +Armstrong's (if it were his) profession of forgiveness had been genuine. +Very likely Mrs. Calbot habitually wore it on her bosom, as Miss +Burleigh did again yesterday, more than a century later. The persecutor +must have been a devil incarnate, from the time he learnt his lady's +faithlessness until his death; and after that----" + +"A plain devil. But to come to the point, you think that the locket was +the sole medium of his power over them?" + +"Undoubtedly. Then, after their death, it remained in the family, but +never happened to be used again: it is not a jewel to catch the eye by +any means. It remained perdu until you fished it out for Miss Burleigh, +and thereby stirred up the old hobgoblin to play his devilish tricks +once more. But by a lucky combination of accidents you parted with her +in time; she returned you the locket, thus freeing _herself_ from the +spectre; and you, by throwing it in the Thames, have secured him against +ever being able to make his appearance again." + +"It may be so, Drayton," cried Calbot in great excitement. "I remember, +too, that when I gave her the locket she promised fealty _to the giver_! +Now, in fact, not I but this cursed Armstrong was the real giver; and +so Edna was actually surrendering herself to his power. But, supposing +your explanation correct, why may not Edna and I come together again?" + +"Well, my dear fellow," replied I, as I lit another Cabana, "unless you +have acquired a very decided aversion to each other during the last few +hours, I really don't see why you shouldn't." + +"Drayton, I'm afraid to believe this true! Tell me how you came upon +your evidence, and what degree of reliance may be placed upon it." + +I told him briefly about the MS., and added the conviction (at which I +had arrived during his narrative) that it must have been sent to me by +my former friend, Armstrong's executor; and probably comprised the very +papers which I had made an ineffectual attempt to secure at the auction +sale. "The only lame point about the matter," I added, "is, that the +MS. is wholly anonymous. All the names are blanks, and though I have no +doubt, now, that they are Armstrong, Burleigh, and Calbot, there is no +direct proof of it." + +My friend's face fell. "There, it may be only a coincidence after all!" + +"Nonsense! a coincidence indeed! If you have credulity enough to believe +in such a 'coincidence' as that, you have certainly mistaken your +profession." + +"If you were a lawyer," returned he, "you would know that there is no +limit to the strangeness of coincidences. But let me see the MS." + +"It is there on the table, at your elbow." + +Calbot turned and took it up. + +"How's this--it's wet, soaking wet!" he exclaimed. "Drayton, I'm afraid +I must have cracked that old vase of yours. It has been leaking, and the +table is flooded." + +It was too true. The precious water of life had been preserved through +so many generations merely for the sake of spoiling the morocco of my +study table at last. Vanished were my hopes of earthly immortality. +Cautiously lifting the vase, in the hope that somewhat of the precious +ichor might yet be saved, the whole bottom fell out. Calbot was sorry, +of course, but he had no conception of the extent of the misfortune. He +observed that the vase could easily be mended, as if the vase were the +chief treasure. + +"Never mind," said I, rather soberly, after we had sopped up the +inestimable elixir, as well as we could, with our handkerchiefs. "I +shall die an eternity or two the sooner, and shall have to get my table +new covered, that's all. I hope, Calbot, that the good which your visit +here has done you, will be a small fraction as great as the loss it has +inflicted on me. Well, and how has the MS. come out of the scrape? All +washed out, I suppose." + +With a penitent eye Calbot took it up once more, and ran his eye over +the last page. I saw his expression change. He knit his brows--looked +up at me with a quick questioning glance--looked back to the page, and +finally said: "Oh!" + +"What?" + +"It seems you had filled in the blanks before I came?" + +"With the first four letters of the alphabet. Yes!" + +"With the names in full!" + +"What names?" + +"Why, Drayton, the first thing I looked at was this record of 'ondyinge +Hatred,' &c. It contains all the four names--yours as one of the +witnesses of Armstrong's signature. They are written out in pale red +ink, as plain as can be----" + +I had jumped from my chair and taken the MS. from Calbot's hand. It +was impossible--it was inconceivable, but it was true. The page was +thoroughly wetted through, but there were the three names--the _four_ +names, for my own was added, in the character of compiler of the +work--plainly traced out in light red ink. Could I have done it in a fit +of abstraction? No, for the chirography was not mine--it was identical +with all the rest of the writing. In my utter bewilderment, I raised +my eyes to the wall, where hung the picture of my ecclesiastical +ancestor--he, the alchemist, the busybody, the death-bed confidant, the +suspected wizard--and my own namesake--we were the only two Toxophiluses +in all the line of Draytons. Once more, for the third or fourth time +that evening, it struck me that he looked excessively knowing and sly. + +Who can analyse the lightning evolutions of human thought? I knew the +truth before I could explain it. It crystallised in my brain all in a +moment. A glance at the front of the MS., which had not been wetted, +confirmed me. + +I threw down the MS., clapped Calbot on the shoulder, and burst into an +immoderate fit of laughter, which his astonished and concerned aspect +served only to aggravate. It was some minutes before I could speak. + +"It is a simple matter after all," I said. "My old progenitor, there on +the wall, was a friend--confidential friend--of Armstrong's. It was he +who wrote that MS., and left the blanks, which are not blanks, but names +written in invisible ink. He prepared, then, the chemical reagent for +the purpose of making the invisible writing visible whenever the time +should come. Perhaps he meant to apply it himself some day; but, +unluckily, death snatched him all unawares from the scene of his pious +intrigues. The MS. got into the hands of Armstrong's heirs (from whom +I this day received it). The reagent stayed with the Draytons. This +evening you came and brought the two together in your own inimitable +style. You see, wherever the paper is wet, the blanks are filled in: +the untouched parts are blanks still. Oh John, John! I wish this had +happened before I printed my article on 'Unrecognisable Truths:' it is +a peculiarly apt illustration." + +"Didn't I tell you," said Calbot, after a pause, "that there was nothing +in the world so strange as coincidences?" + +"There is the hobgoblin still unaccounted for," answered I; "but I have +done my part; I leave the rest to you." + + * * * * * + +The next day but one came a note from my friend. It ran: + + "What did I do at your rooms last night? Was I queer at all? I had + intended calling on you that day, to tell you that Edna and I were + going to be married April 1st, and to get you for my best man. _Did_ + I tell you? Because, if not, I do now. The fact is, you see, I had + been reading over some curious old family documents (I think I spoke + to you about them), and then I went up to Edna's and frightened her + half to death with telling her ghost stories about the locket I'd + given her as a betrothal gift (a queer little thing it is. Did I ever + mention it to you?) Well, going home I met young De Quincey, and he + proposed--he's always up to some devilry or other--he proposed doing + something which I shall never do again; I was a fool to try it at + all, but I had no notion how it would act. I'm afraid I may have + annoyed you. I have an idea I upset your ink-bottle, and that I got + it into my head that the ghost story I had been telling Edna was + true. How was it? I know I felt deathly sick the next morning; I'm + not certain whether it was the port-wine I drank, or that confounded + hasheesh that I took with young De Quincey. I promised Edna I'd never + take any more. Well, you won't object to being my best man, will you? + + "J. C." + +So far from explaining the essential mystery--the Ghostly Rival--this +letter of John's only makes it, to my mind, more inscrutable than ever. +Talk about coincidences! For my part, I prefer to believe in ghosts. + + + + +MRS. GAINSBOROUGH'S DIAMONDS. + + +I. + +"Superb! I don't know when I have seen finer, Tom, really!" + +"Ah!" said Tom, complacently handling his left whisker. "And," he added, +after a moment or two, "and thereby hangs a tale!" + +It was after dinner--after one of Tom Gainsborough's snug, inimitable +little dinners; only we three--Tom, his wife, and myself: and a couple +of negro attendants, as well trained and less overpowering than the best +of the native English stock; and that charming dining-room, just big +enough, just cool enough, soft-carpeted, clear-walled, and the steady +white radiance of the argand burners descending upon the damask +tablecloth, crowned with fruits and flowers; and an agreeable shadow +over the rest of the room, so that those sable servitors could perform +their noiseless evolutions unseen; and a pervading sense of unconscious +good-breeding and unobtrusive wealth; and----but I will not speak of the +china; I will not descant upon Tom's wines; I don't wish to make other +people envious. Only it was all inexpressibly good, from fascinating +Mrs. Gainsborough and her diamonds, down. + +I felt a peculiar interest in Mrs. Gainsborough, because, in addition +to her other attractions, she was a countrywoman of mine--that is to +say, an American. She was brunette, slender, graceful; with a weird +expression of the eyes under straight black eyebrows, an expression +which somehow suggested mesmerism--or perhaps a liability on her part +to be mesmerised; faultless throat and shoulders; and hands and wrists +that she could talk with, almost. Where had Tom found her? I never had +thought of asking him; she was a Virginian very likely--an "F. F. V."; +and they had doubtless met upon the Continent. This was the first +occasion on which I had seen her in her diamonds. Indeed, Tom and she +had only been married a year or two, and had been settled in that +_bijou_ residence of theirs scarcely six months; and this was but my +third or fourth dinner there. Well, her diamonds became her, and she +them; they somehow matched that weird light in her eyes; and I told Tom +as much when, after dinner, she withdrew and left us over our wine. + +"And thereby hangs a tale," repeated he, thoughtfully reaching his hand +towards the decanter, and filling my glass and his own. + +Now, it seemed to me entirely in accordance with young Mrs. +Gainsborough's "style" that there should have been something odd and +romantic in the circumstances of her first acquaintance with Tom, and +that diamonds should be mixed up with it. Therefore I was more than +willing to give ear to the strange story which he proceeded to relate to +me. Imagine the servants dismissed, a fresh lump of coal in the grate, +the decanter between us, and our legs and elbows disposed in the most +comfortable manner possible. Then, this is the story. + + +II. + +"The diamonds, you must know, have been ever so long in our family. It +is said they were brought from India, in the time of Marco Polo, by an +ancestor of mine. But that is neither here nor there; and sure enough +they were only put into their present shape quite recently. I can +remember when half of them were uncut, or cut in some barbarous oriental +manner, picturesque enough, but not fashionable. And some were mounted +as nose-rings, some as clasps, some in the hilts of daggers, and in +all sorts of other ways. When I was a child, I was sometimes allowed +to play with some of the loose ones, as a treat; until, at last, I +contrived to lose one of the biggest. You may not believe it, but the +governor actually horsed me and gave me a birching; and the diamonds +were locked up from that day. It was only a few years ago that my dear +mother, now no more, got them out, and insisted upon their being made up +into a regular set by some skilful jeweller. We were thinking of going +to Rome at the time, to spend six or eight months, and the first idea +was to give the job to Castellani. But then it appeared that my mother +had got her eye fixed upon a certain man in Paris, whom she had been +told was the first lapidary in Europe. He, and none but he, should set +our diamonds. You know my mother generally had her way; and she had it +in this case. The fellow certainly did understand his business; his work +was well done, as you may have noticed this evening. A queer, pale, +nervous little chap he was; not a Frenchman at all, but a Saxon, born in +Dresden, I believe, or some village in that neighbourhood. His name was +Rudolph--Heinrich Rudolph. He lived and worked in a little dark shop in +the Latin Quarter. + +"He and I became quite intimate. You see, I had been commissioned to +attend to this diamond business, and to remain in Paris until it was +done. I was to watch it through all its stages, and be sure that my +mother's directions regarding the style of the setting were accurately +followed. When all was finished, I was to pay the bill and bring the +diamonds on to Rome, where the family would by that time be established. +Well, I was a young fellow, and probably I was not so much cast down +at the prospect of spending a month or two alone in Paris as you might +suppose. But I doubt whether I should have attended to my ostensible +business so faithfully as I actually did, had I not been so greatly +taken with my little friend Rudolph. He and I twigged one another, as +boys say, from the first. I used to sit and watch him work for hours at +a time; and as he worked, he would talk; and very queer captivating talk +a good deal of it was. He was a thorough artist and enthusiast, and +seemed to care for nothing outside of his profession. He did not appear +to me to be in the way of making much money, and it occurred to me that +it might be acceptable were I, in an unobtrusive way, to introduce him +to some wealthy customers. I knew few people in Paris; but there was a +Mr. Birchmore, an American gentleman, staying at my hotel, with whom I +had forgathered over a cup of coffee and a cigar once or twice: he was a +handsome middle-aged man, with an atmosphere of refined affluence about +him such as would have befitted a duke. Not a bit like your traditional +Yankee; in fact, I'm not sure that I should have suspected him, if I +hadn't seen his address--'Fifth Avenue, New York City, U.S.A.'--in the +hotel register, about a week after my arrival. He was an agreeable man +enough, though not at all the sort to take liberties with; however, I +made up my mind that I would get him to Rudolph's on the first pretext +that offered. + +"Well, I had an excellent pretext before long. Mr. Birchmore came into +the café one afternoon, with rather an annoyed look, and made some +inquiries of the waiter. François raised his eyebrows and shrugged +his shoulders; there was some further conference, and then he and Mr. +Birchmore began searching about the floor of the room. It presently +transpired that he had lost a diamond out of his ring, which had +contained three matched brilliants. It was nowhere to be found. + +"'I don't mind the loss of the stone itself,' said Mr. Birchmore at +last, sitting down near my table; 'but it's one of a set, matched with +great difficulty, and I'm afraid I may never replace it.' + +"Here was my opportunity. I set forth the wisdom, skill, and resources +of my little Saxon friend in glowing colours; mentioned the work he was +doing for me, and declared that if any man in Europe could help Mr. +Birchmore to repair his loss, Rudolph was he. Mr. Birchmore at first +paid little heed to my representations; but finally I induced him to +accompany me to the Latin Quarter, and at least make the attempt. The +next morning, accordingly, we set forth; and as we sauntered along the +wide pleasant boulevards, our conversation became more free and affable +than it had been hitherto. I found my companion could be exceedingly +entertaining when he chose it, and had a vast fund of experience and +adventure to draw upon. He had been almost everywhere; he had made +himself familiar with all varieties of civilised and uncivilised men; as +a matter of course, too, he was a versatile linguist. The only direction +in which he gave any evidence of comparative deficiency was in that of +literature and the fine arts. His life had been essentially an active +one; he cared little for Tennyson and Swinburne, for Matthew Arnold +and Carlyle. He had, however, read and appreciated 'Macbeth,' and some +others of Shakespeare's plays; and he was well acquainted with several +of the romances of 'Unabashed Defoe.' I did not discover all this in +the course of that one stroll over to the Latin Quarter, but it leaked +out during our subsequent acquaintance, which was destined to become +more intimate and prolonged than I had any idea of then. As I have +intimated, Mr. Birchmore was quite frank and open in his talk, except +upon one topic--himself. Of his inner life and circumstances I could +learn nothing. Though he never was obtrusively reticent, yet he +contrived never to refer to his own private affairs. I could not satisfy +myself whether he were married or single, whether he were a Catholic +or Atheist--hardly whether he were rich or poor. Some shadow of grief, +some incubus of fear or calamity, seemed to overwhelm him, and impose +silence. The most I could do was to draw inferences; and my inference +was that he was a bachelor, a millionaire, a sceptic, and a man who, at +some period of his life, had committed, either deliberately or by force +of circumstances, a terrible crime! You will see presently how far my +estimate was from the truth, or how near to it. + +"However, I am anticipating, as it is. We arrived in due time at +Rudolph's little shop, and I introduced him to Birchmore. I had +previously told the latter about my diamonds, and now I made Rudolph +produce them. The man of the world examined the gems with evident +interest, and with a knowledge of their value and qualities which +surprised me, and caused the little jeweller to eye my friend with a +jealous keenness. + +"'These are all Indian stones,' was Birchmore's first remark. 'There is +not an American among them--or stay! What is this? neither an American +nor an Indian! An African, I declare, and one of the finest I have +seen!' + +"'Der Herr hat recht!' muttered Rudolph, with a glance at me. 'Er +versteht ja alles.' + +"'You know German?'--he says, 'What you don't know about diamonds isn't +worth knowing,' I put in. Birchmore nodded with a half smile. + +"'I ought to know something about precious stones,' he said. 'I spent +three years in a diamond mine, for one thing.' He seemed on the point of +saying more, but checked himself, and went on scrutinising the stones, +most of which were already in their new setting. 'A costly parure that,' +he remarked at length. 'It wouldn't sell for a penny under thirty +thousand pounds.' + +"'Five hundred eighty-five thousand francs, with the setting,' replied +Rudolph, to whom the words had been addressed. 'Monsieur's estimate +would have been correct, but that this stone here is a little off +colour, and this one has a slight flaw, which is now in part concealed +by the setting.' + +"'You travel under proper precautions, I trust?' said Birchmore, after a +pause, turning gravely to me. 'I know the confidence you young fellows +have in your courage and cleverness; but a dozen or a score of thieves +might conspire together for such a prize as this, and against their +skill and address no single man would stand a chance. Ah! I know +something of it. I was robbed once.' + +"'Do tell me about it!' I exclaimed, with an impulsive betrayal of +interest that made me smile the next moment. + +"'Another time,' said he, shaking his head; and presently he added: 'You +will pardon me for presuming to counsel you?' + +"'My dear sir, I am much obliged to you. My idea is that the simplest +precautions are the best. I shall carry the stones in an inner pocket, +and I shall go armed. No one will suspect me; and if I am attacked, I +shall make a good defence at all events.' + +"Mr. Birchmore said nothing more, and indeed seemed scarcely to listen +to my remarks. I now suggested to him that he might show Rudolph +his ring. He put his hand to his waistcoat pocket, and gave a +half-suppressed ejaculation of disappointment and annoyance. He had left +the ring at home! + +"'No matter; I will call to-morrow, Herr Rudolph,' he observed. 'I've no +doubt I shall find what I want here, if anywhere. Good-morning--that is, +if you are ready, Mr. Gainsborough. By the way, Rudolph, I suppose you +put your treasures in a safe at night?' + +"'Oh, by all means, Herr,' replied the little Saxon. 'And I have a +watchman also, who guards all night long.' + +"'A prudent fellow: yes, that will do,' murmured Mr. Birchmore, in an +undertone to himself. Then, with a parting nod and smile, to which the +jeweller did not respond, he sauntered out, I following him. We walked +back to the hotel. I did not see him again until after dinner, when he +offered me a cigar; and when we had smoked together awhile in silence, +he said abruptly: + +"'I've found that stone.' + +"I looked at him inquiringly. + +"'The diamond out of my ring. In my trouser pocket, of all places in the +world! Fell out while I was groping for my keys, I suppose. Sorry to +have raised false hopes in your friend Rudolph. By the way, he'll have +finished that job of yours before very long?' + +"'In about a week, I fancy. I shall be sorry to leave Paris.' + +"'Yes? Well, it is a nice place; but one gets tired of the nicest places +in time. I do. I like to be moving.' + +"'I shall have a month to spend on my way to Rome. This is almost +my first experience of the Continent. I wish I had some travelling +companion who knew the ropes.' This hint I let fall in the hope that +he might propose to join me; but as he made no rejoinder, I at length +ventured to put it more plainly. I gave a rough sketch of the route I +proposed to follow, asked his opinion upon it, and finally said that, +should his inclination lead him also in that direction, I should be very +glad of his company. + +"'Well, sir, I'm obliged to you,' replied Mr. Birchmore, after a pause +of some moments. 'You couldn't pay a man a better compliment than to ask +him to travel with you; and I would accept your offer as frankly and +fearlessly as you make it, only--well, the fact is, I'm not so entirely +at my own disposal as I may appear to you to be. I have been through a +good many experiences in life, and some of the consequences are upon +me still. When you have reached my age--if you ever do reach it--you +will understand me better. I suppose I may be fifteen years your +senior; well, fifteen years means a good deal--a good deal.' He puffed +a meditative cloud or two, and then added, 'You're not hurt? You see +how it is? I would really like to accompany you--but I can't.' + +"Of course, I warmly disavowed all resentment and felt inwardly ashamed +of having forced him, by the freedom of my advances, into making this +explanation. Meanwhile, I could not help liking him better than ever, +and feeling more than ever interested, not to say curious, about him. +It was now certain that some mystery or other attached to him. I cast +covert glances at him, in the vain attempt to read something of his +secret through his outward aspect. But he was inscrutable, or rather, +there was nothing especially noticeable in him. His face, as I have +said, was handsome in its contours; he wore a heavy moustache and a +short pointed beard on his chin. His forehead was wide across the +temples, but low; and dark brown hair, rather stiff, and streaked here +and there with gray, grew thickly over his head. His hands were large, +and hairy up to the second joints of the fingers, but they were finely +and powerfully formed, and the fingers tapered beautifully, with nails +smoothly cut and polished. In figure he was above the medium size, and +appeared strongly built, though he had complained to me more than once +of rheumatism or some other bodily failing. In walking, he took rather +short steps for a tall man, and without any swaying of the shoulders; +his hands being generally thrust in the side pockets of his coat, and +his face inclined towards the ground. But his eyes, large, bright, and +restless, were his most remarkable feature. They appeared to take note +of everything: they were seldom fixed and never introspective. Compared +with the general immobility of the rest of his countenance, these eyes +of Mr. Birchmore seemed to have a life of their own--and a very intense +and watchful one. Whenever they met mine fully (which was but seldom, +and then only for a moment at a time) I was conscious of a kind of start +or thrill, as if a fine spray of icy water had swept my face. What had +those eyes looked upon? or what was it that lurked behind them? + +"'We may run across each other again--hope we may,' said Mr. Birchmore, +when he shook hands with me at parting, a few days later. 'Glad to have +met you, Mr. Gainsborough--very glad, sir.' + +"'Thanks; I am glad to have met you. Your acquaintance has profited me +not a little.' + +"'Oh, as to that,' said Mr. Birchmore, with a smile, and one of those +startling straightforward glances into my eyes, 'as to that, the profit +will have been mutual, to say the least of it. Good-bye!' + + +III. + +"My route to Italy was rather a roundabout one. Instead of running +down to Marseilles and so on _viâ_ Civita Vecchia to Rome, I +set off eastwards, and crossed Germany, passing through Cologne, +Frankfort-on-the-Main, and Nuremberg; thence I proceeded to Leipzig, and +at length brought up in Dresden. It was my intention to go from there +southwards through Switzerland to Venice, and thus to make my approach +to the Eternal City. + +"Dresden, however, detained me longer than I had expected. It was in +August that I reached it: there were not many people in town, but I was +delighted with the Gallery, with the picturesque sweep of the river, and +with the green shade and good music of the Grosser Garten. There were +several charming drives, too, in the neighbourhood; and as for the beer, +it was really a revelation to a man who had never known anything less +heavy and solid than Allsopp's pale ale. + +"I had put up at the Hotel de Saxe, a broadsided old building on one +side of a large irregular 'platz,' called, I believe, the Neumarkt. +My landlord, who was a young gentleman of great personal attractions, +interested himself a good deal about my amusements; and one day he +happened to ask me whether I had visited a region known as Saxon +Switzerland. This, it appeared, was a mountainous district some twenty +miles up the Elbe, in which was solved the problem of putting the +greatest amount of romantic picturesqueness into the smallest possible +compass. It was a land of savage rocks, wild precipices, and profound +gorges, conveniently grouped within the limits of a good day's tramp. +It comprised all the sublime and startling features of your Yellowstone +Valley in California with an area about equal to the summit of one of +the table bluffs in that region. + +"I packed my valise for a sojourn of two or three days among these +pocket Alps, put my diamonds in that secure inner pocket, and took a +droschkey for the railway station. The trip to Schandau (the principal +village of Saxon Switzerland) can also be made by steamer; but after +discussing the pros and cons of rival routes with my host of the hotel +the evening previous, I had decided to go by rail, which provides nearly +half as much pretty scenery as the river road, and takes up less than a +fourth as much time. I alighted at the station door somewhat late, and +having given my trunk in charge to a porter, was hurrying to get my +ticket, when my attention was caught by a young lady, who was standing +on the platform in an attitude that bespoke suspense and anxiety. Her +veil was down, but from the slender elegance of her figure and the +harmonious perfection of her costume, I could not doubt that her face +was beautiful. Evidently she was not a German; had she been a thought +less tastefully dressed, I should have said she was an English girl; as +it was, she might be either an Austrian or an American. Even then, I +rather inclined to the latter hypothesis. + +"She appeared to be entirely alone; but she was scanning with +ill-concealed eagerness the crowd that was entering the station, as if +in search of a familiar face. When her glance fell upon me, I fancied +that she took an impulsive step in my direction; but she checked herself +immediately, and looked away. While I was hastily debating within myself +whether or not it would be 'the thing' for me to go up and ask her if +she needed any assistance, I saw a _dientsman_, or carrier, come up the +steps, and taking off his cap, deliver her a note. She tore it nervously +open, threw back her veil impatiently, and ran her eyes over the +contents. Beautiful she was, indeed! My anticipations had been behind +the truth on that score. Such strange, mystical, dark eyes underneath +level black eyebrows I had never seen. But just then there was an +expression of dismay and distress in them that made me half forget to +remember their fascination. + +"She now addressed the carrier, seemingly in broken German, for he +evidently did not well understand her, and the answer he made appeared +to increase her embarrassment. Her slender foot tapped the stone +pavement; she read the note once more, crushed it up in her hand, +and then her arms fell listlessly at her sides with an air almost of +despair. She looked this way and that helplessly. + +"By this time several persons besides myself had observed her +bewilderment, and I thought I perceived that a certain fat old Jew, +wearing a number of glittering rings and a very massive watch-chain, +was inclined to take advantage of it. This decided me on my course of +action: I came quickly forward, as if I had just caught sight of her, +and lifting my hat with an air of respectful acquaintanceship, I said +in French: + +"'If mademoiselle will permit me, I may perhaps be of some use.' + +"Her veil, either accidentally or of design, dropped again over her face +as she turned it towards me. I knew that she was scrutinising me with +a woman's intuitive insight, and I tried to look as guileless and +respectful as I am sure I felt. In a moment she asked: + +"'Monsieur est-il Français?' + +"'I'm an Englishman,' I answered, blushing a little, I dare say, at her +implied criticism of my imperfect accent. + +"'Oh, I am glad! I, too, am almost English--I am American. But I don't +know how I can be helped, really!' + +"'Some friend has missed an appointment----?' + +"'Yes, indeed! Oh dear! it's worse than that. It's my father.' + +"'You were going by the train----' + +"'There has been some stupid mistake. I'm sure I don't know what I +shall do. We had arranged to start at ten o'clock this morning, and I +started first, because I wanted to do some shopping on the way down. I +understood that we were to rendezvous here. But he did not come at ten, +and I sent a dientsman to the hotel; and now he has brought word from +the hotel-keeper that papa started by the ten o'clock steamboat. I had +not understood that it was to be the steamboat, you see; and I'm left +here all alone.' + +"'But if you took the next train, you would still arrive two or three +hours before him; that is--may I ask where you were going?' + +"'Oh, I think Schandau is the name of the place.' + +"'Schandau? Oh, then it's all right. There is a train starts +immediately.' + +"'Yes--but--no; I'm afraid I can't do that.' + +"I was puzzled. 'Perhaps you would like to telegraph him to come back +here for you?' + +"'I don't know where to telegraph, so that he would get it; besides---- +But, excuse me, sir. You are very kind; but I won't trouble you with my +affairs. I dare say I shall get on very well.' + +"She turned away with a slight bow; but she was so evidently nonplussed, +that I determined to make another effort to gain her confidence. There +was not much time to lose; the first bell was already ringing. + +"'I am going on to Schandau,' I said. 'If you like, I will send you back +to your hotel in a droschkey; and when I get to Schandau, I will hunt up +your father and tell him the mistake he has made. Here is my card.' + +"She looked at it, and her manner at once changed. A half-repressed +smile glimmered on her face. I felt that we were on a right footing at +last, though I could not at the time understand how it had happened. + +"'I will confess to you, Mr. Gainsborough,' she said, glancing up at me +with a charming trustfulness in her manner. 'My papa is so forgetful. We +were not coming back to Dresden. After Schandau we were going on to +Prague; and he has gone off with all our luggage, and--and he has left +me without even any money to buy my ticket! At least, I did have enough, +but I spent it all in my shopping.' + +"This cleared up matters at once. 'How stupid of me not to have seen it +all before!' I exclaimed. 'Now, we have just time to get the train,' I +hurried her on with me as I spoke, bought our tickets in the twinkling +of an eye, and without waiting for the change, convoyed her rapidly +across the platform, and, with the assistance of a guard, we found +ourselves safely ensconced in a first-class carriage just as the +train moved off. My beautiful companion, breathless, smiling, and yet +seemingly a little frightened, sank back on the cushions, and felt for +the fan at her girdle. I wished to give her plenty of time to recover +her composure, and to feel assured that I had no intention of taking +undue advantage of our position; so, having arranged the windows to suit +her convenience, I betook myself to the other end of the carriage, and +diligently stared at the prospect for fully five minutes. Nature could +endure no more, and at the end of that time I was fain to change my +posture. I stole a glance at my fair American. She, too, was absorbed +in the prospect on her side, which consisted at the moment of a +perpendicular cutting about ten feet distant from her window. Her +attitude as she sat there was the perfection of feminine grace. Her left +hand, loosely holding the fan, drooped on her lap; her sleeve, slightly +pushed up, revealed the lovely curve of her arm and wrist. I am a +particular admirer of beautiful wrists and hands, and here I saw my +ideal. How exquisitely the glove fitted! and how artistically the colour +harmonised with the rest of her costume! The other little hand supported +her chin: I could just see the rounded outline of her small cheek, and +the movement of the dark eyelash projecting beyond it. Beneath her hat +the black hair turned in a careless coil, and charming little downy +curls nestled in the nape of her neck. She was a thorough brunette, +pale, and yet pervaded with warm colour. Beneath the skirt of her +crisp dress peeped the pointed toe of an ineffable little boot, which +occasionally lifted itself and tapped the floor softly. Suddenly, in the +midst of my admiring inspection, she turned round upon me, and our eyes +met. There was an instant's constraint, and then we both laughed, and +the constraint passed away, not to return. + +"'I was going to ask you,' said I, 'whether you wouldn't prefer sitting +on this side. You will find the river better worth looking at than that +stone wall.' + +"'I am under your orders, sir, for the present; you put me here; and +now, if you tell me I am to go elsewhere, I shall obey.' + +"She rose as she spoke; the jolting of the carriage caused her to lose +her balance; I held out my hand to assist her, and so she tottered +across and seated herself opposite me. + +"'Now are you satisfied?' she asked demurely, folding her hands in her +lap, and sending a flash into me from those mystical eyes. + +"'Yes, indeed, if you are. Did you ever travel this way before?' + +"'If you mean, alone with a gentleman I never met before--no!' + +"'Oh, what I meant was----' + +"'I know--I was only making fun. Yes, I believe I was in this part of +the country once, when I was a very little girl; that was before I went +to the Convent, you know.' + +"'To the Convent?' + +"She gave a charming impromptu laugh. 'I wasn't quite a nun--I don't +want to make you believe that! Only I was brought up in a convent near +Paris; educated there, as many young ladies are. I was there seven +years--wasn't that long? and I only got out a little while ago.' + +"'It must have been awfully dull.' + +"'Oh, I liked it in a sort of way; they were very kind to me there; but +then I didn't know how pleasant it was outside! You would never believe +how delightful the world is, if you were only told about it. My papa +used to tell me about it sometimes; and he is a great traveller--he has +been everywhere. But I didn't realise it until I saw for myself.' + +"'Have you been to America since leaving the Convent?' + +"'Oh yes. I went to New York, and saw my cousins there. Papa went with +me, but he came back to Paris first, and I followed later. I met him +again in Paris only a week ago. He will be surprised to see you here, +Mr. Gainsborough. What a funny way you have chosen to go from Paris to +Rome--through Dresden!' + +"'Yes, I--but, by-the-bye, how did you know I was going to Rome? and why +will your papa be surprised----?' + +"Again she laughed, and regarded me with so delightfully mischievous +a glance that I felt convinced I must in some way be making a fool of +myself. What did it all mean? I bit my lip, and the colour came into my +face from provocation at my own evident thick-headedness. + +"'If you had only waited a little longer in Paris,' she continued, still +smiling enigmatically, 'perhaps we might have met in a more regular +way, and perhaps, then, you would have let me have had a look at +your--diamonds!' + +"My diamonds! That explained the mystery in a flash. + +"'Is your father Mr. Birchmore?' + +"'I am Miss Birchmore, if you please, sir. You never asked me for my +card, and I didn't like to force it on you. It was so kind of you to +take me on trust, without making sure that I was all right first. I +thought Englishmen were more cautious and reserved.' + +"I could now join in the laugh against myself with full appreciation of +the excellence of the jest. Mr. Birchmore, then, had been a married man +after all. Of course he was; why had I not before remarked the strong +family likeness between him and his daughter? Take her on trust, +forsooth! How I longed to retort that I was ready to take her for better +for worse, then and there, if she would have me. If she were a fair +specimen of American girls, what a nation of houris they must be, +indeed! But, then, they were not all brought up in French convents. It +was that that added to Miss Birchmore the last irresistible charm. +That it was that gave her that naïveté, that innocent frankness, that +unconscious freedom. And this lovely creature had actually known me, by +report, before we met. Her father had told her of me, and evidently he +had not given me a bad character. And this accounted for the favourable +change in her manner when she saw my card. Well, it was altogether +delightful; I had been guided by a happy destiny; thank fortune I had so +conducted myself as at least not to prejudice Miss Birchmore against +me. Verily, good manners are never thrown away; and, moreover, I prided +myself (as I fancy most gentlemen do) on my ability to detect a true +lady at a glance. + +"We now resumed our conversation on a still more confidential footing +than heretofore. Miss Birchmore related many amusing anecdotes of her +late experience in New York, as well as of her earlier days in the +Convent, and even some passages of her child-life previous to the latter +epoch. I observed, however, that ever and anon she would check herself, +seeming to pass over certain passages in her history in silence; and +this reminded me of the similar behaviour which I had noted in her +father. That secret--that mystery, whatever it was, that weighed upon +him--had cast its shadow over her young heart likewise. Honestly did +I sympathise with her unknown trouble, and ardently did I long--all +vulgar curiosity aside--to have the knowledge of it imparted to me. Few +calamities are so heavy as that, by earnest and friendly help, they +may not be lightened. What could it be? In vain I asked myself that +question. Here was this lovely girl, in the first fresh bloom of +existence, just beginning to taste, with eager uncloyed palate, all the +sweet joys and novelties of life--health, youth, a happy temperament, +and ample wealth ranked on her side; and yet this bitterness of a +misfortune, not by rights her own, must needs communicate its blighting +influence to her! It was tragical to think of. Yes, ever and anon I +could mark its traces in her vivid face and winning bearing. A passing +gloom of sadness in those wonderful eyes; a quiver of apprehension about +the lips; an involuntary gesture of nervousness or lassitude; many +trifling signs, scarcely perceptible, perhaps, to a regard less keen +and watchful than mine had already become. Already?--but time in an +acquaintance like this is not to be measured by hours or minutes. It is +a trite saying, and yet how true, that those who are under the influence +of a strong emotion may live years in a few heart-beats. + +"'Please--oh, please don't look so solemn, Mr. Gainsborough! What has +happened? I should think, to look at you, that you had been robbed of +your diamonds at the very least?' + +"'No; they are safe enough,' said I, calling up as cheerful a tone and +aspect as I could muster, and putting my hand over the inner pocket as +I spoke. 'Are you fond of diamonds?' + +"'Oh, did you ever hear of a girl who wasn't? I think there is nothing +so beautiful. Papa has a great many, but he says I mustn't wear them +until after I am married. Isn't that hard?' + +"'But perhaps you think of being married before long?' I inquired, with +positively a jealous throb at my heart. + +"'No; that's the trouble; I know I shall never be married.' These words +were uttered in a lower and graver tone, and once more I thought I could +discern the flitting traces of that mysterious melancholy. But she +brightened up when I said: + +"'Well, he won't object to your seeing my diamonds, at any rate; not +even to your putting them on, perhaps!' + +"'Just for a minute--may I? that will be splendid! Papa says that some +of them are the finest he ever saw.' + +"'For longer than a minute, Miss Birchmore, if you are willing--I mean +if he----' What did I mean, pray? Was I going to make an offer of my +hand, heart, and diamonds, on less than an hour's acquaintance, in a +railway carriage? and was I going to forget that the diamonds did not +belong to me at all, but to my respected mother, who would probably see +me cut off with a shilling before granting me the disposal of them? +Luckily for my self-possession and self-respect, the train drew up +just then at the station known as Krippen, on the bank of the river +immediately opposite Schandau. The guard opened the door; we alighted, +and the first person we saw was Mr. Birchmore, and close behind him a +short, ungainly, beetle-browed fellow, a valet or footman apparently, +with a campstool, an umbrella, and a small basket of fruit on his arm. + + +IV. + +"Mr. Birchmore shook my hand cordially, yet I fancied that he betrayed +signs of embarrassment or uneasiness. He seemed glad to meet me on my +own account, and yet to feel constrained by my presence. Had he any +reason for wishing to conceal from me the fact that he had a daughter? +It now occurred to me for the first time that in her conversation with +me Miss Birchmore had never alluded to her mother. Perhaps her mother +was dead--had died in her child's infancy. Perhaps the silence +concerning her arose from some other and less avowable cause; there +might be some matrimonial disgrace or tragedy at the bottom of the +father and daughter's reserve. The idea had a certain plausibility, and +yet I found it unsatisfactory. The true explanation of the mystery might +not be worse than this, but I fancied it must be different--it must be +something more unusual and strange. + +"'This is an unexpected pleasure,' said I, for the sake of saying +something, as we descended the steps down the river embankment to the +ferry-boat. + +"'The world is not so large a place as people pretend,' replied Mr. +Birchmore. 'Have you been long in Dresden?' + +"'A week or so. I've been doing the neighbourhood, and was told that +Saxon Switzerland must not be left out of the list. I came near going by +the boat----' Here I suddenly recollected that if Mr. Birchmore had gone +by boat, as his daughter said he had, his presence in Schandau before +us was wholly inexplicable. 'How did you manage to get here so quickly?' +I exclaimed; 'the steamer can't be due for three hours yet!' + +"He looked at me in apparent perplexity; Miss Birchmore seemed to share +my own surprise. There was a pause of a few moments; then she said in a +low tone: + +"'You know, papa, I got word that, from some misunderstanding, you had +taken the steamer instead of the train.' + +"'Ah, to be sure,' he rejoined, with a short laugh; 'I see the +difficulty. You must look upon me, I suppose, as a sort of magician, +able to transport myself about the country on some new telegraphic +principle. Well, I'm afraid I can't lay claim to any such supernatural +power. I shall lose credit by the explanation, but you shall have it +nevertheless.' + +"'No, no! give us room for the exercise of our imagination,' cried I, +laughing. The fact was, I felt as if my query had been in some way +unfortunate. There was a certain effort in Mr. Birchmore's manner, and a +want of spontaneity in his laugh. In my ignorance of the true lay of the +land, I was continually making some irritating blunder; and the more I +tried to make myself agreeable, the worse was my success. + +"Mr. Birchmore, notwithstanding that I deprecated it, chose to make his +explanation. 'Kate was right,' said he; 'my first intention was to go +by train. Afterwards I decided on the boat, and left the hotel with the +purpose of getting our passage that way, and sending Kate word to meet +me at the landing. But the boat turned out to be so crowded that I +changed my mind again: it was then so late that I hadn't time to reach +the central railway station; my only chance of catching the train +was to jump into a droschkey at the steamboat landing and drive as +the _kutcher_ never drove before, for the lower station, which was +half-a-mile nearer. I got there barely in time; and Kate, it seems, +was waiting at the central all the while!' + +"'And of course,' added Miss Birchmore, 'the people at the hotel fancied +he _had_ gone by the boat, and sent me word so. Oh yes, I understand it +all now; don't you, Mr. Gainsborough?' + +"'I don't take it kindly of your father to strip away the illusions from +life so pitilessly,' returned I, in a humorous tone; 'I should have been +much happier in believing that he had flown through the air on the +Arabian king's wishing-carpet.' This sally sufficed to raise the smile +of which we all seemed so greatly in want, and so we got into the +ferry-boat in a comparatively easy frame of mind. + +"The valet to whom I have already alluded sat on a thwart near the bows, +in such a position that I had a full view of him. A more unconciliating +object I have seldom beheld. His body and arms were long, but his legs +were short, and bowed outwards. His features were harsh, forbidding, and +strongly marked; but there was an expression of power stamped upon them +which fascinated my gaze in spite of the ugliness which would otherwise +have made me glad to look away. It was not the power of intellect, for +although there was plenty of a saturnine kind of intelligence in the +countenance, it was not to be supposed that a fellow in his position of +life would be remarkable for brains. No, this power was of another kind; +I do not know how to describe it; but I believe some people would get +out of the difficulty by calling it magnetic. Whatever it was, it +produced a very disagreeable impression on me, and I could not but +wonder that Mr. Birchmore should have chosen to take such a creature +into his employ. I had the sense, however, on this occasion to keep my +speculations to myself; I was resolved not to make a fool of myself +again if I could help it--at least, not with this particular family. I +noticed that whenever Mr. Birchmore had occasion to address this man, he +did so in a peculiarly severe and peremptory tone, very different from +his usual low-voiced style. There was seemingly no great affection for +him on his master's part, therefore; and certainly the valet looked +incapable of a tender feeling towards any human creature. Possibly, +however, he was invaluable as a servant, and his unpropitiating exterior +might cover an honest and faithful heart. Only should such turn out to +be the case, I would never again put faith either in physiognomy or +my own instinct of aversion. I disliked to think of this ill-favoured +mortal being in daily association with my lovely Kate Birchmore--for +already, in my secret soul, I called her mine! and I made up my mind +that if ever fortune granted me the privilege of making her what I +called her, I would see to it that monsieur the valet formed a part of +anyone's household rather than ours. + +"Meanwhile the ferryman had poled and paddled us across the river, on +the shore of which a swarm of hotel-porters stood ready to rend us limb +from limb. But Mr. Birchmore put them all aside save one, to whom he +pointed out my trunk, and gave him some directions which I did not hear. + +"'I take the liberty,' he then said, turning to me, 'to so far do the +honours of this place as to recommend you to the most agreeable hotel in +it--the Badehaus, at the farther end of the village, and about half a +mile up the valley. These hotels that front the river would give you +better fare, perhaps, and less unpretending accommodation; but if quiet +and coolness are what you are after--not to mention the medicinal spring +water and a private brass band--the Badehaus is the thing.' + +"'The Badehaus be it, by all means.' This attention surprised me, not +because I misdoubted my friend's courtesy, but because I had imagined +that his courtesy would not stand in the way of an unobtrusive attempt +to withdraw himself and his daughter from my immediate companionship. +Yet so far was this from being the case, that he had taken some pains to +secure our being together--for of course the Badehaus must be his own +quarters. I glanced at Kate, who had taken her father's arm, and was +pacing beside him thoughtfully, with downcast eyes. Was she glad as well +as I? + +"We passed through a narrow alley between two friendly buildings, which +seemed strongly inclined to lean on one another's shoulders; crossed the +rough cobble-stones of the little market-place, and, gaining the farther +side of the bridge, found ourselves on a broad level walk which skirted +the southern side of the small valley wherein the village lies. On our +right hand was a series of stuccoed villas, built against the steep +side of the hill; on our left a strip of meadow, with a brook brawling +through it; and beyond this again the straggling array of the village, +and the hill on the other side. Overhead, the spreading branches of low +trees kept off the glare of the sun. Had Kate and I been there alone, +methought, the charm of the place would have been complete. + +"'What delightful little villas these are!' I exclaimed. 'Aren't they +better than any hotel--even the Badehaus?' + +"'If you think of spending any great time here--I believe they don't let +for less than a week. But probably these are all full at this season. +Higher up the valley, two or three miles beyond the hotel, you would +find detached farmhouses, whose owners no doubt would be glad of a +lodger. If you are not broken in to a traveller's hardships, though, +you'll prefer the Badehaus.' + +"'I think I shall prefer it as long as you are there.' + +"'Well, I'm sorry to say that won't be long--we shall move to-morrow +morning. If I had expected you, I--I should have been happy to have +arranged matters otherwise. But the fact is, I have engaged rooms at one +of the farmhouses I spoke of, and to-morrow they will expect us.' + +"My spirits fell at this news like a feather in a vacuum, and I daresay +my face showed it. There could be no doubt now that Mr. Birchmore was +resolved to get rid of me. That he would go to-morrow to some distant +farmhouse I did not question; but as to his having intended any such +thing before he saw me alight from the train, I confess I didn't believe +it. It was an unpremeditated expedient; and his inviting me up to the +Badehaus was only a polite mitigation of the shock. + +"'I am very sorry!' was all I could say. + +"Kate turned her face a little towards me at the words, and her eyes +met mine sidelong. Only that look--she did not speak; but I saw, or +thought I saw, enough in it to make our parting at such brief notice a +sentimental impossibility. At whatever sacrifice of the laws of ceremony +and civilised reserve, I determined that my acquaintance with her, so +well begun, should not thus be nipped in the bud. I would sooner win her +as a barbarian than lose her as a man of the world. How to execute my +determination was a problem to be solved at my leisure. + +"We sauntered on to the hotel, chatting discursively; my mind was too +much preoccupied to be thoroughly aware what we were talking about. +Arrived at our destination, I followed my trunk to my room, having +arranged to take an early dinner with my friends. It was nearly two +hours before we met again. The dinner passed with the same sort of +desultory conversation that we had affected during our walk. Mr. +Birchmore's manner was serious and rather cold. Kate, too, was subdued +and grave; not the brilliant laughing Kate of the railway carriage. We +were waited upon at table by the saturnine valet whom his master called +Slurk--a name that seemed to me to suit him excellently well. He waited +on us in perfect silence from the beginning of the meal to the end, +though several times peremptorily addressed by his master. There +was to me something disagreeably impressive in the fellow's very +taciturnity--it seemed to indicate reserved power. Kate, I noticed, +was careful never to speak to him, but I saw his glance several times +directed fixedly upon her. + +"After dinner Mr. Birchmore produced a cigar and said: + +"'I must take a droschkey over to our farmhouse. Do you young people +care to come, or would you rather stay here?' + +"'I think I'll stay, papa, please,' answered Kate. + +"'And I, to see that nobody runs away with her,' I added with an easy +smile. + +"'Slurk, get me a carriage,' said Mr. Birchmore; and nodding a good-bye +to us he went out. + +"'How far is it from here--this farmhouse, Miss Birchmore?' I asked, +when we were alone. + +"'I believe about two miles.' + +"'I should like to know its exact situation.' + +"'Why didn't you go with papa, then?' + +"'Can't you imagine?' + +"She had been absently puckering her handkerchief into folds in her lap. +Now she looked up. + +"'Why do you wish to know where we are going?' + +"'Because I've taken a great fancy to--to Mr. Slurk, and I can't bear to +think of losing sight of him!' + +"I had expected her to laugh and perhaps blush; instead of that an +expression of something like terror swept over her face, and she laid +her finger on her lip. + +"'Don't talk of him!' she whispered. + +"Her emotion had so surprised me that I could only stare in silence. +Here was another mystery--or stay! could it be that Slurk was at the +bottom of all those strange signs and enigmas that I had been puzzling +myself over from the first? I was prepared to believe whatever amount +of evil concerning the fellow might be required. But what could he +have done, or have it in his power to do, that could so affect Miss +Birchmore? Had he held her life or fortune at the mercy of a word she +could hardly have betrayed more dismay at my jesting satire. + +"'It's nothing,' she said, recovering herself after a moment. 'Only I +don't like him much, and you--and I wasn't expecting to hear his name +just then.' + +"'Heaven knows, it is a very different name I should have spoken!' + +"'No, no, no. You have amused yourself with me to-day; and to-morrow, +you must find someone else to amuse you, that's all!' + +"'Amused myself, Miss Birchmore!' + +"'Well, Mr. Gainsborough, I'm sorry if I failed to entertain you. I'm +sure I tried hard. But it's so difficult to entertain an Englishman!' + +"'Upon my word, I believe you've been laughing at me from the beginning! +But however ridiculous I may be, Miss Birchmore, I can have thoughts and +feelings that are not ridiculous----' + +"'Oh, please--please don't be angry. And I'm sure I never thought you +ridiculous, I--oh, anything but that!' + +"The tone, the look which accompanied these last words made me forget +caution and self-possession for the moment. 'Miss Birchmore--oh Kate! I +cannot lose sight of you--I cannot lose you! Do you care--is it nothing +to you if we never meet after to-day? Kate, I love you!' + +"Had the confession come too soon? Was she offended? She shrank away +from me with a searching glance. + +"'Do not forget yourself, sir! You are an honourable English gentleman. +What have you said?' + +"'I love you--yes, love you!' + +"'Love me!' she repeated slowly, and caught her breath; her eyes fixed +themselves on me with an inward look, as of intense reverie. 'It must +not be--it must not be! but he does love me!' Her hands fell in her lap; +there were tears now in her eyes, but a smile quivered over her lips. + +"'Why do you say it must not be, Kate? It is! It shall be!' I took her +hand, which she scarcely attempted to withdraw; I felt that I had won +her, and would hold her against all comers. Just then a knock came at +the door; she snatched her hand away and rose to her feet. Mr. Slurk +entered. + +"'The band is going to play in the court,' he said in German. 'I have +kept chairs and a table for the lady and gentleman beneath the trees.' +He made a low obeisance as he spoke, but his malignant glance never +swerved from Kate; and she, half turning towards him, seemed impelled +by a power stronger than her own will to meet it, though slightly +shivering the while with pure aversion. For my own part, I longed with +all my heart to kick the varlet into the hall, or throw him out of the +window. But prudence warned me to bide my time. If I obtained the +footing to which I aspired in Mr. Birchmore's family, I would settle +summarily with Mr. Slurk; meanwhile, I should best consult my interests +by conducting myself with all due quietness and decorum. I offered Kate +my arm to lead her from the room; but with a barely perceptible gesture +she declined it, and walked swiftly before me through the doorway, +Slurk making another deep obeisance as we passed. The fellow had a +smooth unimpeachable way of getting the better of one that made my +blood boil; I commanded myself not without an effort, and nursed my +wrath to keep it warm. + +"When we reached the court, the brass band had established itself in the +little pagoda erected there for its accommodation, and was just striking +up; and there, sure enough, were a table and chairs awaiting us beneath +the trees. But neither of us was in a humour to face a crowd of people; +and by a tacit agreement we turned to the right, and crossing the little +plank bridge which spanned the narrow stream that skirted the hotel +grounds, we found ourselves in the high-road leading up the valley. +Along this we walked for some distance, both of us silent; at length +the opening of a path presented itself, which climbed by a zigzag route +to the summit of the pine-clad hill. Into this we turned, and in a +few moments were out of sight of alien eyes amidst the thick-growing +hemlocks. The ascent was steep, and at the first turning in the path my +beautiful companion paused for breath. + +"'Will you take my arm now, Kate?' I said. + +"With a faint smile she complied. 'Just for this once,' I heard her +murmur, seemingly speaking to herself. 'Never again--but this once I +will!' + +"'Now, Kate,' I said resolutely, bending forward so as to catch her +eye, 'let us have done with mysteries. No more "never-agains" and +"just-this-onces," if you please! First, I want you tell me whether you +love me?' + +"She drew her breath hard. 'I can tell you nothing, Mr. +Gainsborough----' + +"'You shall not call me "Mr. Gainsborough." If you can't call me "Tom," +call me nothing; but I will never be "Mr. Gainsborough" to you again!' + +"'I thought we were to have no more "never-agains?"' she rejoined, with +a passing sparkle of the former playfulness in her air. + +"'None of yours, I meant.' + +"'I will call you "Tom," if you please, on one condition.' + +"'What condition?' + +"'That you let it be "just this once!"' + +"'Kate, do you love me?' + +"'Oh, you are cruel!' she cried, with passionate emphasis, slipping her +hand from my arm and facing me with glowing looks. 'I wish I could say I +hate you! You are a man of the world, and I a poor girl from a convent, +who know nothing. I am trying to do right, and you oppose me--you make +it hard and bitter to me. If you loved me as I--as I would love if I +were a man, you would not press me so. I tell you, it must not be!' + +"'What is, shall be, Kate! Dear Kate, we love each other; and who in the +world shall prevent it, or forbid our being married?' + +"'Hush! hush!' She came a step nearer to me, and caught my sleeve with +her little hand, as a timorous child might do; glancing nervously over +her shoulder as if something fearful were hidden amongst the trees. 'Did +you hear nothing?' she whispered. 'Did not someone call me?' + +"'Only I have called you, dear. I called you "Kate;" and I want to call +you "wife!"' + +"She continued to stand motionless, with that frightened listening +expression still on her face; and yet my words had apparently passed +unheard. What was it, then, that her ears were strained to catch? To +my sense, the forest was full of shadowy stillness, tempered only by a +faint whispering of leaves, and now and then a bird-note high overhead. + +"Gradually the strange preoccupation left her. Her breathing, which had +been irregular and laboured, now came evenly and gently once more. She +glanced sidelong at me for a moment; then, with a swift tender movement +she came yet a trifle closer, and laid her other hand upon my arm. + +"'Tom--Tom dear! I will say it, for we shall be parted soon, and then, +if I am alive, I shall be comforted a little to think that I did say it! +Listen--Tom dear, I love you! Never forget that I said it--Tom, I love +you!' + +"I was taken deliciously by surprise. You must not expect me to tell how +I felt or what I said. I can only remember that I took her in my arms +and kissed her. The bird that warbled over our heads seemed to utter the +ecstasy that I felt. + +"Presently we began to move on again. I don't know why I didn't speak; +perhaps I thought that our kiss had been the seal of her surrender, and +that therefore words were for the moment impertinent; by-and-by the +converse would be renewed from a fresh basis. Besides, my thoughts were +flying too fast, just then, for speech to overtake them. I was thinking +how singular had been the manner and progress of our acquaintance. +It was scarcely in accordance with what I believed to be my normal +temperament and disposition to plunge so abruptly and almost recklessly +into a new order and responsibility of life. I had fancied myself too +cautious, too cool-headed, for such an impulsive act. But it was done, +and the fact that Kate's feelings had responded to my own seemed to +justify the apparent risk. We were meant for each other, and had come +together in sheer despite of all combinations of circumstances to keep +us apart. Knowing, as we did, scarcely anything of each other as worldly +knowledge goes, we had yet felt that inward instinct and obligation to +union which made the most thorough worldly knowledge look like folly. +What would my mother say to it? How would the news be relished by her +father? I cared not; I foresaw difficulties enough in store, but none +that appalled me. After all, an honourable man and woman, honestly in +love with each other, are a match against the world, or superior to it. +Union is strength, and the union of loving hearts is the strongest +strength of all. + +"'And do you want to marry me really, Tom?' + +"We had gained the summit of the steep hill, and were now pacing along +the ridge. The narrow winding valley lay sheer beneath us on the right, +with the white road and the dark stream lying side by side at the +bottom of it. The crest of the opposing hillside seemed but a short +stone's-throw distant; the aroma of our privacy was the sweeter for the +pigmy droschkey, with its mannikin inmate, which was crawling along +through the dust so far below. We commanded the world, while we were +ourselves hidden from it. + +"'I should rather think I did, Kate!' + +"'I thought Englishmen only married as a matter of business; that they +married settlements and dowries and rank and influence, and added women +merely as a matter of custom and politeness.' + +"'I am satisfied to marry for love; if that's un-English, so much the +better for me!' + +"'You would take me without anything but just myself?' + +"'What is worth having, compared with you?' + +"'Oh Tom! But then, you cannot have just myself alone. Nobody in the +world is independent of everything--not even an American--not even an +American girl who has lived seven years in a convent! I may not be +able to bring you anything good--anything that would make me more +acceptable; but what if I were to bring you something bad--something +terrible--something that would make you shudder at me if I were ten +times as lovable as you say I am?' + +"'Why then, I should have to love you twenty times more than ever I +suppose, that's all!' I answered, with a laugh. + +"'You don't mean what you say--at least you don't know what you say. You +are not so brave as you think you are, sir! What do you know of me?' She +spoke these sentences in a lower, graver tone than the previous ones, +which had been uttered in a vein of half-wayward, fanciful playfulness. +Almost immediately, however, she roused herself again, as though +unwilling to let the lightsome humour escape so soon. + +"'Well, let us pretend that you have married me, for better or worse, +and that it is all settled. Now, where will you take me to first?' + +"'Where do you wish to go?' + +"'Oh, it must be somewhere where nobody could come after us,' she +exclaimed, with a curious subdued laugh. 'Nobody that either of us has +ever known; neither your mother, nor my father, nor--nor anybody! And +there we must stay always; because as soon as we came out, we should +lose each other, and never find each other again. And that would be +sadder than never to have met, wouldn't it?' + +"'But, my darling Kate,' interposed I, laughing again, 'where on earth, +in this age of railways and steamboats and telegraphs and balloons, are +we to find such a very retired spot? Unless we took a voyage to the +moon, or could find our way down to the centre of the earth, we should +hardly feel safe, I fear!' + +"'Oh, well, you must arrange about that; only it is as I tell you; and +you see marrying me is not such a simple matter after all. Well, now, +suppose we have reached the place, wherever it is--what would you give +me for a wedding present?' + +"'What would you like?' + +"'No--you are to decide that. It wouldn't be proper for your wife to +choose her own wedding present, you know.' + +"'I believe such a thing does sometimes happen though, when the people +are very fashionable and aristocratic.' + +"'But I am not aristocratic; I am an American. Now, what will you give +me?' + +"'What do you say to the diamonds?' + +"'Well, I think I will take the diamonds,' she said meditatively, as +though weighing the question in her mind. 'Yes, papa said I might wear +diamonds after I was married. But might not your mother object?' + +"'Not when she knows whom they are for; and, at any rate, she is going +to leave them to me in her will.' + +"'Oh! and you expect that the news of our marriage will kill her?' + +"'It ought rather to give her a new lease of life. But you shall have +the diamonds all the same. Will you try them on now?' + +"'Why, have you got them with you?' + +"'Certainly: I always carry them in this pocket.' + +"'How careless! You might lose them.' + +"'No: the pocket buttons up; see!' and turning back the flap of my coat, +I showed her how all was made secure. + +"'But what if robbers were to attack you?' + +"'Then I should talk to them with this,' I rejoined, taking my revolver +from another pocket, and holding it up. + +"'Oh, that's a derringer! they have those in America. What a pretty one! +Let me look at it.' + +"'No,' said I, replacing it in my pocket; 'it has a hair-trigger, and +every barrel is loaded. You shall look at something much prettier, and +not dangerous at all. Here--sit down on this stump, and take off your +hat, and I'll put them on for you.' + +"The stump of which I spoke stood at the end of the path we had been +following, and within a few rods of the brink of a precipitous gorge, +which entered the side of the steep mountain-spur nearly at right +angles. Across this gorge (which, though seventy to one hundred feet in +depth, was scarcely more than half as wide at the top) a wooden bridge +had formerly been thrown; but age or accident had broken it down, until +only a single horizontal beam remained, spanning the chasm from side to +side, and supported by three or four upright and transverse braces. The +beam itself was scarcely nine inches in width; and the whole structure +was a dizzy thing to look at. My nerves were trained to steadiness by +a good deal of gymnastic experience; but it would have needed a strong +inducement to get me across that beam on foot. + +"Kate sat down on the stump as I directed; but her manner had become +languid and indifferent; the brightness and sparkle of her late mood +were gone. As she looked up at me, her level eyebrows were slightly +contracted, and the corners of her mouth drooped. Her hands were folded +listlessly in her lap. She was dressed in some soft white material, +through which was visible the warm gleam of her arms and shoulders; the +skirt was caught up in such a way as to allow freedom in walking; she +wore a broad-brimmed white hat over her black hair; a yellow sash +confined her waist, and her hands were bare. I untied the ribbons of her +hat, she permitting me to do so without resistance; and then, kneeling +before her, I unbuttoned the diamonds from my pocket, and laid them, in +their case, upon her lap. + +"'Now, dear, shall I put them on you, or will you do it yourself?' + +"She opened the case, and the gems flashed in the checkered sunshine +that filtered down between the leaves of the trees. The sight seemed to +rouse her somewhat; a faint spot of colour showed in either cheek, and +she drew in a long breath. + +"'They are splendid!' she said. 'I never saw anything like them. No, +your mother would need to die before giving up these.' + +"'They won't look their best until you have put them on. Come!' + +"'Oh, I'm afraid! what if----' + +"'Afraid of what?' + +"'What if someone were to come and see----' + +"'Nonsense, my darling! There's no one within half a mile of us; and if +there were, they would only see a lovely girl looking her loveliest.' + +"'How nicely you talk to me! Well then--you put them on me. I won't +touch them myself.' + +"The parure consisted of a necklace and a pair of earrings. I lifted +them, flashing, from the case; clasped the necklace round her throat, +she sitting motionless, and hung the earrings in her ears. A light, that +matched their marvellous gleam, seemed to enter into her eyes as I did +so. + +"'You and these diamonds were made for each other!' I said; and bending +forwards, I kissed her on the lips. + +"For more than a minute she sat there quite still, I kneeling in front +of her; we were looking straight into one another's eyes. Then, all +at once, a troubled anxious look came into her face. She rose with a +startled gesture to her feet. + +"'Hush! hush! did you hear?' + +"'What's the matter?' cried I, jumping up in surprise. + +"'Hush! someone calling--calling me!' + +"Again that strange fancy! What did it mean? I could not repress a +certain thrill at the heart as I gazed at her. It was very weird and +strange. + +"As I gazed, a singular change crept over her. Her face was now quite +colourless, and its pallor was intensified by the blackness of her +mystical eyes. Those eyes slowly grew fixed--immovable, as if frozen. +The lids trembled for a moment, then drooped, then lifted again to their +widest extent, and so remained. Her lips, slightly parted, showed the +white teeth set edge to edge behind them. The rigidity descended through +her whole body; she was like a marble statue. She breathed low and +deeply, as one who is in profound slumber. + +"'Kate, what has happened to you?' I cried in alarm, putting my hand on +her shoulder. Her arm was fixed like iron; she seemed to hear nothing, +feel nothing. She was as much beyond any power of mine to influence her +as if she had been dead. The diamonds that glittered on her bosom were +not more insensible than she. + +"I must confess that I was somewhat unnerved by the situation. Kate was +evidently in some sort of trance; but what had put her into that state, +and how was she to be got out of it? For aught I knew, it might be the +prelude to a fit or other seizure of that nature, involving consequences +dangerous if not fatal. In the bewilderment of the moment the only +remedy that I could think of was cold water; to dash her with water +might be of use, and could scarcely make matters worse. About thirty +paces from where we were standing a small rill meandered amongst the +roots of the trees, and trickled at last in a tiny cascade down the +rocky side of the gorge. Towards this I ran, and stooping down, +attempted to scoop up some of the refreshing element in the crown of +my straw hat. + +"Rising with the dripping hat in my hands, I turned to go back; but the +sight that then met my eyes caused me to drop everything and spring +forward with a gasp of horror. + +"Moving as if in obedience to some power external or at least foreign to +herself, as a mechanical figure might move, steadily, deliberately, and +yet blindly, Kate had advanced directly towards the narrow chasm, and +when I first beheld her she already seemed balancing on the brink. +Before I could cover half the distance that separated us, she had set +foot on the long beam which spanned the abyss, and had begun to walk +along it. By the time I reached the hither end, she was halfway over, +stepping as unconsciously as if she were on an ordinary sidewalk, though +the slightest deflection from a straight course would have sent her down +a hundred feet to the jagged boulders below. + +"Standing on the hither verge, every nerve so tensely strung that I +seemed to hear the blood humming through my brain, I watched the passage +of those small feet, which I had admired that morning as they peeped +coquettishly from beneath her dress in the railway carriage--I watched +them pass, step after step, along that awful beam. I suppose the transit +must have been accomplished in less than a minute, but it seemed to me +that I was watching it for hours. I uttered no sound, lest it might +rouse her from her trance and insure the catastrophe that else she might +escape; I did not attempt to overtake her, fearful lest the beam should +fail to support our united weight. I saw her pass on, rigid, unbending, +but sure of foot as a rope-dancer; and at last I saw her reach the +opposite side, and stand once more on solid earth, preserved from death +as it seemed by a miracle. I have no distinct recollection of how I +followed; I only know that a few seconds afterwards I was standing +beside her, with my arm round her waist. + +"I led her forwards a few paces out of sight of the ravine, the mere +thought of which now turned me sick, and brought her to a plot of +soft turf, beneath a tree with low spreading branches. The trance was +evidently passing away; her limbs no longer had that unnatural rigidity; +her eyelids drooped heavily, and her jaw relaxed. A violent trembling +seized upon her; she sank down on the turf as if all power of +self-support had gone out of her. At that moment I fancied I heard a +slight crackle among the shrubbery not far off; I looked quickly up, and +saw--or thought I saw--a short ungainly figure obscurely stealing away +through the underbush. Almost immediately he vanished amidst the trees, +leaving me in doubt whether my eyesight had not after all played me +false. + +"As I turned again to Kate, she was sitting up against the trunk of +the tree, the diamonds flashing at her throat and ears, and a puzzled +questioning expression on her face. + +"'What makes you look so strange?' she murmured. 'Where is your hat! How +did we come here, Tom? I thought----' + +"She stopped abruptly, and rose slowly to her feet. Her eyes were cast +down shamefacedly, and she bit her lip. She lifted her hand to her +throat, and felt the diamonds there. Then, with an apprehensive, almost +a cowering glance, she peered stealthily round through the trees, as +though expecting to see something that she dreaded. Finally she turned +again, appealingly, to me, but said nothing. + +"I thought I partly understood the significance of this dumb-show. She +was subject to these somnambulistic trances, and was ashamed of them. +She knew not, on this occasion, what extravagance she might have +committed in the presence of me, her lover. She feared the construction +I might put upon it, yet was too timid--or, it might be, too proud--to +speak. But her misgiving did me injustice. Shocked and grieved though I +was, I loved her more than ever. + +"'You were faint, my dear, that's all,' I said, cheerfully and +affectionately. 'I brought you under this tree, and now you're all +right.' + +"She shook her head, with a piteous smile. 'I know what has been the +matter with me, Mr. Gainsborough,' she said, with an attempt at reserve +and coldness in her tone. 'I had hoped I might have parted from you +before you knew, but--it was not to be so! It is very good of you to +pretend to ignore it, and I thank you--I thank you. Here,' she added, +nervously unclasping the necklace and removing the earrings, 'I have +worn these too long. Take them, please.' + +"'Kate, you shall wear them forever!' cried I, passionately. + +"'I must not begin yet, at all events,' she returned more firmly. 'Take +them, please, or you will make me feel more humiliated than I do now.' +She put them in my unwilling hands. 'And now we'll get our hats and go +back to the hotel,' she continued, with a smile which was pathetic in +its effort to seem indifferent and unconstrained. 'Where are they? Ah!' + +"She had just caught sight of her white hat lying beside the stump on +the farther side of the gorge. The suppressed scream and the start +indicated that she now for the first time realised by what a perilous +path she had come hither. She remained for a moment gazing at the beam +with a sort of fascination; then, moving forward to the brink, looked +down the sheer precipice to the rocks below. + +"'I wish I had fallen!' she said, almost below her breath; 'or,' she +added, after a short pause, in a tone still lower, but of intense +emphasis, 'I wish he had!' + +"'You wish I had?' + +"'I did not know you were so near,' she answered, drawing back from the +verge. 'No, no--not you! Come, we must walk round this place. Tell me,' +she said, facing me suddenly, 'did you see anyone?' + +"'I think not. I fancied I heard----' + +"'We must get back to the hotel,' she interrupted excitedly; 'at least, +I must get back. I don't like to be here. I wish you would leave me. I +would rather say good-bye to you here than there.' + +"'I never mean to say good-bye to you at all, Kate. If this is the +trouble you hinted at, you overrate it entirely. Why, two people out of +every seven are somnambulists. It is as common as to have black hair. +Besides, you will outgrow it in a few years; it is only a nervous +affection, which any doctor can cure.' + +"'It is not that; you don't understand,' she said, with a sigh. + +"'Whatever it is, I'm determined not to lose you. I shall tell your +father, when I see him, that I love you, and that wherever he takes you +I shall follow. No one can or shall keep us apart.' + +"The resolution with which I spoke seemed to impress her somewhat. 'You +can speak to him if you will. But, oh! it is no use. It cannot be; +you don't understand. Let me go; good-bye. No, do not come with me; +please do not! I have a reason for asking it. I will see you once +more--to-morrow, before we leave. But let me go alone now, if you love +me.' + +"She went, walking quickly away through the wood. I watched her for a +few moments, and then returned to the grass plot beneath the tree, and +threw myself down there in a very dissatisfied frame of mind. The sun +had set before I returned to the hotel. + + +V. + +"I saw nothing more of Kate that day; but I came across Slurk several +times, and there was a peculiar look on the fellow's countenance which +made me renew my longing to chastise him. I was anxious to know whether +Mr. Birchmore had returned; but, as I could not bring myself to make any +inquiries of his valet, and did not care to let him see me asking anyone +else, I was obliged to remain in ignorance. However, as I sat out under +the trees at dusk, a tall figure, with a lighted cigar in his mouth, +appeared in the doorway of the hotel, and, on my saluting him, he +sauntered up to my table, and complied with my invitation to sit down. + +"The waiter brought us coffee; and under its stimulus I ventured to +introduce the subject which lay nearest my heart to Mr. Birchmore's +notice. No doubt I put my best foot foremost, and spoke as eloquently +as was consistent with my downright earnestness and sincerity. Mr. +Birchmore heard me almost in silence, only giving evidence by an +occasional word or interjection that he was giving me his attention. +Once or twice, too, I was aware of his having given me one of those +sharp icy glances for which he was remarkable. When I had spoken, he +fingered the pointed beard on his chin meditatively, and puffed his +cigar. + +"'This is a very fair and honourable offer that you make, Gainsborough,' +he said at length. 'I liked you before; I like you better now. You take +it for granted, I suppose, that I'm pretty well off. There, you needn't +say anything; I've no doubt of your disinterestedness; but these matters +would have to be mentioned, sooner or later, if the affair went on. I +say "if," because--I may as well tell you at once; it will save us all +pain--because it can't go on: it must stop right here; and I can only +regret, for both your sakes, that it has gone so far.' + +"'Mr. Birchmore, I cannot take this for an answer. You have given me no +reasons. If you want confirmation of my account of myself, I can----' + +"'I want nothing of the sort; on the contrary, I feel complimented that +you should accept _us_, not only without confirmation, but without +question. But you can't marry my daughter, Gainsborough, much as I +like you, and much as I daresay she does. When you are older, you will +understand that men cannot always follow that course in the world which +appears to them most desirable.' + +"'However young or old I may be, Mr. Birchmore, I am old enough to know +my own mind, and to require good reasons for changing it. If you have +any such reasons, I wish you'd show your liking for me by telling me +what they are.' + +"'Do you remember a talk we once had in Paris, when you hinted that +I should accompany you on your jaunt? I told you then that the past +life of a man sometimes had a hold over his present, constraining his +freedom, whether he would or no. And can't you imagine that those +circumstances, however cogent they may be, or, very likely, just because +they are so cogent, might be very inconvenient to talk about? To speak +plainly, Gainsborough, I don't see how your loving my daughter obliges +me to tell you all the secrets of my life.' + +"'I don't want to know your secrets, sir; I wish to marry Miss +Birchmore.' + +"Mr. Birchmore laughed. + +"'Well, you're a pretty determined wooer,' said he. 'I can't give my +consent to the match, because--well, because I cannot; but if you won't +take No for an answer, nor profit by the warning I hereby give you, +I'll tell you what I will do. I will allow you yourself to discover and +acknowledge the causes which make your marriage with Kate impossible. +You must not blame me if the discovery gives you pain, and the +acknowledgment causes you mortification. I have given you fair warning. +And I will only add, sir, that the pain and mortification won't be all +on your side. I could not give you a stronger pledge of my friendship +and liking for you than in thus letting you find out what has hitherto +been hidden from all the world. And I only demand one condition--that +you promise, when you have made your discovery, and left us, never to +mention to any human being what our secret was.' + +"'I give that promise with pleasure. As to my leaving you of my own free +will, that is--begging your pardon--impossible and absurd.' + +"He laughed again, and shot another of his startling looks at me. 'Very +well, young sir, I've nothing more to say. Come with us to the farmhouse +to-morrow; there's plenty of room there, and they are used to being +accommodating. Stay with us until you're satisfied, and then--don't +forget your promise!' + +"He rose as he finished speaking, and flung away the remains of his +cigar. + +"'Good-night!' he said, holding out his large well-shaped hand. + +"'Good-night! and thanks for your confidence, which you will never +regret, Mr. Birchmore.' + +"'Qui vivra, verra!' was all his answer, as he walked away, with his +hands in his coat-pockets and his singular short steps. He was an enigma +sure enough, and yet my belief in him was as intuitive and inalienable +as in Kate herself. His mysterious hints and warnings were powerless to +disturb me: I trusted in the ability of us three combined to overthrow +any antagonist. I sat late beneath the trees, smoking, and brooding +over my passion, as young men will, and ever and anon glancing up at a +certain window, behind the lamp-illumined curtain of which I had reason +to suppose my darling was. Was she thinking of me now? Even as I asked +myself this, and gazed upwards, a shadow fell upon the curtain; it was +pushed aside, and the window was swung back on its hinges. + +"With a throb of the heart I sprang to my feet and wafted a kiss from my +finger-tips towards the face that peeped out upon me. Stay! was it +Kate's face after all? The arms and shoulders now appeared, and the form +leant upon the window-sill. A lucifer-match flashed, and I had the +pleasure of beholding the sinister visage of Mr. Slurk lit up by a +sulphurous gleam, as he leisurely lit his pipe and stared down at me. + +"'Schöne gute Nacht, Herr Gainsborough!' + + +VI. + +"We made a late start the next morning, and did not reach the farmhouse +before four o'clock. I had little opportunity of speaking to Kate on the +way; in fact, the presence of Slurk, who sat on the box of the vehicle, +and once in a while threw a glance at us over his shoulder, irritated +me to such a degree that more tender sentiments were temporarily pushed +into the background. Kate herself, though she attempted to appear +cheerful, betrayed signs of inward anxiety and nervousness; while Mr. +Birchmore conversed with a volubility and discursiveness greater than I +had ever remarked in him before. + +"The farmhouse stood quite alone, on an unfrequented by-road, in a +little angle of the hills. It was not exactly a picturesque building, +with its four walls covered with rough plaster and pierced with dozens +of small windows, and its enormous red-tiled roof, with those quaint +narrow apertures, like half-opened eyes, disclosing a single pane of +glass, which do duty as dormers. It stood flush with the road, as German +houses are fond of doing; but behind was a large enclosed farmyard, +roughly paved with round stones and well walled in. The front door, +though rather pretentiously painted and ornamented, with some religious +versicle or other written up on the lintel, was not used as a means of +entrance or exit. It was, as I afterwards discovered, not only locked +and bolted, but actually screwed up on the inside; and the only way of +getting into the house was by a side door opening into the courtyard. As +the courtyard itself was provided with a heavy gate, you will see that +the farmhouse, close to the road though it was, was by no means so easy +of ingress or egress as it appeared, supposing, of course, that it was +the humour of the inmates to declare a state of siege. I mention these +particulars merely by the way: they are common to three houses out of +five in this region. + +"The Birchmores' luggage had, it appeared, already been carried over +from the hotel; but a man, in rough peasant's costume, who announced +himself as the master of the house, now came out to take charge of my +trunk. I was, or fancied myself (as you may have noticed), a quick judge +of faces, and this peasant's face failed to commend itself to me. It was +at once heavy and gloomy, while a scar at one corner of his mouth caused +that feature to twist itself into a perfunctory grimace, grotesquely at +variance with his normal expression. In person he was much above the +common size, and to judge by the ease with which he slung my heavy trunk +over his shoulder, he must have been as strong as Augustus the Stark +himself, whose brazen statue domineers over the market-place in +Dresden. + +"'Guten Morgen, Herr Rudolph!' said Slurk, hailing this giant affably. +The two seemed to be on some sort of terms of comradeship, having, +perhaps, struck up an acquaintance during the previous negotiations for +lodgings. I must say they looked to me to be a not ill-matched pair. + +"We alighted, and were welcomed in with surly courtesy by Herr Rudolph. +Kate, confessing to a headache, went at once to her room, whence she did +not again emerge; Slurk disappeared into the kitchen regions with the +landlord; Mr. Birchmore presently went out for a stroll before dinner: +and I, finding myself thrown temporarily on my own resources, decided to +make a virtue of my loneliness by writing some letters which had been +long owing. I accordingly groped my way up the darksome stone staircase, +and so along an eccentric passage to my room. + +"I did not know then, nor could I, even now, accurately describe the +arrangement of rooms in that farmhouse. There were at least three +separate passages, not running at right angles to one another, but +seeming to wander about irregularly, now and then turning awkward +corners, descending or ascending short flights of steps, or eddying +into a little _cul-de-sac_, with, perhaps, only a closet door at the +end of it. The consequence was, it was nearly impossible to say whose +room adjoined whose. It might be a long distance from one to another, +measured along the passage, and yet they might actually be separated +only by the thickness of a wall. Where the farmer and his family slept +I know not, but I have reason to believe that all our party, including +Slurk, were accommodated upon the same floor. + +"On opening the door of my room, I found someone already there. This +person was a comely young woman, the farmer's daughter evidently, busy +in the benevolent occupation of putting things in order. She had moved +my trunk beneath the window, she had put fresh water in the ewer, she +had straightened out the slips of drugget on the rough-board floor, +she had placed some flowers in the window, and she was now engaged in +tucking a clean sheet on the bed. I said she was comely; on second looks +she was better than that. She was positively pretty, with the innocent +blonde prettiness of some German peasant-girls. Her fair hair, smoothed +compactly over her small head, and wound up in a funny little pug +behind, possessed a faint golden lustre; her eyes were of as pure and +serene a blue as any I ever looked upon; her smooth cheeks, slightly +browned by much sunshine which had rested on them, were tinged with +healthful bloom; her mouth might have been smaller, but the full lips +were well-shaped, and there were white even teeth behind them. Her +figure, like that of most Saxon peasant-girls of her age, was robust and +vigorous; she wore a simple bodice and skirt, and her feet and legs were +bare. Altogether I thought her a very agreeable apparition. + +"'Good-morning, honoured Herr Gainsborough,' she said gravely, in +German, as I entered. + +"'Good-morning, pretty maiden,' returned I gallantly. 'You seem to know +my name, though I don't know yours: what is it?' + +"'I am called Christina--Christina Rudolph. It is some time that I have +known Herr Gainsborough's name,' she added. + +"'Really! how comes that?' I asked, by no means displeased. + +"'The honoured Herr has been kind to a relation of mine--a very near +relation,' replied Christina, with the same gravity. + +"'Have I? I'm glad to hear it! Was she as pretty as thou?' inquired I, +venturing upon the familiar form of address. + +"She blushed, and answered: 'It was not a woman--it was my brother.' + +"'Oh, thy brother! And where did I meet thy brother?' + +"'In Paris, Herr Gainsborough.' + +"'In Paris! Rudolph! What, art thou the sister of Heinrich Rudolph, who +lives in the Latin Quarter, and is considered the cleverest jeweller in +the city?' + +"'Yes, honoured Herr,' returned Christina, smiling for the first time, +and showing her pretty teeth and a dimple on either cheek. 'My brother +Heinrich cut and arranged the diamonds in the parure of the honoured +Herr's mother.' + +"'So he did, Christina, and he did it better than anyone except him +could have done it. And so thou art really his sister! How did he tell +thee of me?' + +"'He wrote to me while you were still in Paris, and described the pretty +stones, and told how Herr Gainsborough used to come and sit with him, +and see him work, and talk a great deal with him.' + +"'Yes, he was well worth talking with! And I remember now that he said +he was born in this neighbourhood, and that he had a sister and a father +living here. It was stupid of me not to have thought of that when I +heard your name. Well, Christina, I'm afraid I wasn't of much use to him +after all. I tried to get him customers, but I knew very few people in +Paris; and the only person I did succeed in introducing to him--by the +way! it was this gentleman who is with me now.' + +"'Herr Birchmore; yes, my brother spoke also of him,' said Christina, +her gravity returning. 'But he did not speak of the young lady, or of +the servant.' + +"'No, I believe they weren't with him at the time. I only met them +myself since I came to Schandau.' + +"'The young lady is Herr Birchmore's--wife?' + +"'His wife? Dear heavens, no! His daughter, of course, Christina.' + +"Christina said nothing, being occupied in neatly smoothing out the +pillow, and laying the wadded counterpane over the sheet. + +"'Will Herr Gainsborough stay with us long?' she asked, after a pause. + +"'As long as Herr Birchmore does, I suppose,' said I carelessly. + +"'And Herr Birchmore's daughter?' subjoined Christina, with a twinkle of +mischief so demure that I could hardly be sure whether she meant it or +not. + +"'Thou art as clever as thy brother, Christina,' I laughed, colouring a +little too however, I daresay, 'It is true I have not known them long, +but--but people see a good deal of one another in travelling together.' + +"'I have heard it said that travelling makes people acquainted with----' +she paused, and looked down thoughtfully at her bare feet. Presently she +lifted her blue eyes straight to mine and asked: + +"'Herr Gainsborough has his diamonds with him?' + +"'Undoubtedly! They are never away from me.' + +"'In going about this place, the Herr should be cautious. Some of these +hills and valleys are very lonely. There are spots, not far from here, +where no one goes for sometimes many months.' + +"'Well, I'll be very careful, Christinchen,' I rejoined laughing, and in +truth not a little amused at the care my friends took of me. 'But thou +must remember that no one in Germany, except Herr Birchmore, and his +daughter, and thyself, knows that any such diamonds as these are in +existence--much less that they are in my pocket!' + +"Christina raised her finger to her lips, as if to caution me to speak +lower. 'There is at least one other who knows--the man Slurk!' she said. + +"'Well, perhaps he may,' I replied, somewhat struck by her observation; +'and as I see thou hast taken a dislike to the fellow, I will confide +to thee that I consider him an atrocious brute. But brute though he is, +there's no harm in him of _that_ kind. He is an old servant of Herr +Birchmore, I believe, and would of course be dismissed at once if there +were anything serious against him.' + +"'Naturally!' was all Christina's answer; she made no pretence of +arguing the point with me. 'Adieu, honoured sir!' she said at the door. +But with her hand upon the latch she paused, turned round, and added +rather confusedly: + +"'Will Herr Gainsborough go on any expedition with his friends to-day?' + +"'Why, I hardly think so, Christina.' + +"'But to-morrow, perhaps?' she persisted, lifting her blue eyes to mine +again. + +"'Perhaps,' I admitted, with a smile. + +"'Then--if he can trust me--would the Herr mind leaving the diamonds +with me, until he comes back again?' + +"'Nay, Christinchen, I cannot give them up, even to thee--and although +I trust thee as much as thy brother, or myself. But thou mightst +lose them--and if they are to be lost at all, I would rather the +responsibility should be mine. Besides,' I continued, showing my +revolver, 'I go always with this. But I thank thee all the same, +Christinchen, and I would like to do something--to----' + +"I stepped towards her: the fact is, I suppose I meant to kiss her. But +her expression changed in a manner not encouraging to such an advance; +she looked both grave and hurt, and I paused. + +"'I was going to say--if thou wouldst like to see the diamonds, it would +give me great pleasure to show them to thee.' + +"'Many thanks, honoured sir! I would rather not.' And with a formal +curtsy the fair-haired little maid opened the door and disappeared, +leaving me feeling rather foolish. + +"'The pretty peasant has a pride of her own!' I said to myself, as +I opened my trunk and got out my writing materials. 'She's actually +offended because I wouldn't constitute her guardian of thirty thousand +pounds' worth of diamonds. Good gracious! why, that father of hers, if I +know anything of faces, would cut all our throats for as many groschen. +But what an unmistakable scamp my friend Slurk must be to have aroused +the suspicions of such an innocent unsophisticated little creature as +Christinchen! By Jove, though, anybody might be suspicious of a leer and +a slouch like his! What if there should be anything in it? Just suppose +such a thing for a moment, eh? It's impossible, to be sure; but the +impossible does sometimes happen. How on earth did Birchmore ever happen +to have such a fellow about him? I tell you I've always had a notion +that he may be at the bottom of all this mystery that Birchmore and Kate +are so much exercised by. Now, what if he--but pshaw! + +"'There is one thing I'm resolved to do, however,' I continued to +myself, as I settled down with paper, pens, and ink at the table in the +window. 'I'll buttonhole Birchmore this very afternoon, and get out of +him everything he knows about his precious valet. It can do no harm to +have the matter cleared up. The thing is absurd, of course; still, the +situation out here is rather lonely; and with two such lovely neighbours +as Papa Rudolph and Slurk--_par nobile fratrum_--it may be as well to be +on the safe side. Yes, that shall be cleared up to-day!' + +"Having arrived at this sapient determination, I set to work writing my +letters, and scribbled away diligently for an hour or two. At length, +as I was looking vacantly up from my paper, at a loss for something +interesting to set down upon it, my eyes happened to rest upon the pane +of my open window. + +"Like nearly all German windows, it opened inwards on hinges, instead of +running up and down in grooves. The pane on my left, therefore, having +the dark room as a background, acted as a mirror of the sunlit landscape +outside on the right, showing me a portion thereof which was directly +invisible to me from where I sat, and to any person standing in which I +must myself be invisible. + +"Now my window was on the southern side of the house, which fronted +westward on the road. On the opposite side of the road was a narrow +strip of land planted with vegetables, and above this rose the abrupt +side of a hill, ascended by a winding path partly hidden by the trees. +I could not see this hill and path without leaning out of the window and +looking towards the right; but a considerable part of it was reflected +in my window-pane mirror, and could thus be readily observed without +rising from my chair. Happening, then, as I said, to cast my eyes upon +this mirror, I saw two persons standing together on the path upon the +hillside, and conversing in a very animated manner. + +"I had no difficulty in recognising them: they were Mr. Birchmore and +his valet. So far there was nothing surprising in the spectacle. That +which did surprise and even astonish me, however, was the mutual bearing +of the two men towards each other. + +"I have already mentioned the peremptory tone in which Mr. Birchmore +uniformly addressed the man Slurk, and the generally overbearing +attitude he assumed towards him; but in the conversation now going +forward all this was changed. To judge by appearances, I should have +said that Slurk was the master, and Mr. Birchmore the valet. The former +was gesticulating forcibly, and evidently laying down the law in a very +decided and autocratic way. His square ungainly figure seemed to dilate, +and take on a masterful and almost hectoring air; while Mr. Birchmore +stood with his hands in his coat-pockets, undemonstrative and +submissive, apparently accepting with meekness all that the other +advanced, and only occasionally interpolating a remark or a suggestion, +to which Slurk would pay but slight or impatient attention. Both were +evidently talking in a low tone; for though they were not more than +fifty or sixty yards from where I sat, I could not catch a single word, +nor even so much as an inarticulate murmur, unless by deliberately +straining my ears. But I did not need nor care to hear anything: what I +saw was quite enough to startle and mystify me. + +"After a few minutes the two interlocutors moved slowly on up the path, +and were soon beyond the field of my mirror. But the unexpected scene +which I had witnessed did not so soon pass out of my mind. + +"I got up from my table and began walking about the room, with the +restlessness of one who cannot make his new facts tally with his +preconceived ideas. Who and what was Slurk, and how had he obtained +ascendancy over a man like Birchmore? Certainly it could not be a +natural ascendancy. Birchmore must have put himself in the other's +power. In other words, Slurk must be blackmailing him. And this +was the trouble, was it?--this was the mystery? It was an ugly and +awkward business, certainly; but the main question remained after all +unanswered. What was it that Birchmore had done to give Slurk a hold +upon him? and had that act, whatever it was, compromised his daughter +along with him? For now that I gathered up in my memory all the hints +and signs which had come under my notice in relation to this affair, +I could not help thinking that Kate's attitude had in it something +suggestive of more than mere filial sympathy with her father's +misfortune. In that misfortune or disgrace she had a personal and +separate in addition to a sympathetic share. And yet, in what +conceivable way could a low villain like Slurk fasten his gripe upon a +pure and spotless young girl? and what a hideous thought--that such a +girl should be in any way at his mercy! The more I turned the matter +over in my mind, the more ugly did it appear. No wonder that father and +daughter had warned me away. Some men in my position, having seen thus +far, might have shrunk back and given up the enterprise. But I was not +in that category. I was more than ever determined to see the adventure +to its end; nay, to gain my own end in it too. The conditions of the +contest were at all events narrowing themselves down to recognisable +form. It was to be a trial of strength mainly between myself and +Slurk--between an educated plucky Englishman, and a base German +ruffian--between one, moreover, who had right, moral and legal, on his +side, and love as his goal--and one armed only with underhand cunning +and terrorism, and aiming at nothing higher than the extortion of money. +This was the way I read the situation, and I flattered myself that I was +equal to the emergency. + +"Upon consideration, however, I decided to alter my intention of asking +Mr. Birchmore about his valet. It was tolerably clear that he was not in +a position to give me any information; and besides, I had already learnt +everything except the particulars. Those particulars, if I did not +succeed in discovering them unaided, must be extracted from Kate. She +would not withhold them from me, if I questioned her resolutely and +directly, enforcing my inquiries with disclosure of the knowledge I +had already obtained. This then should be my next step. I sealed up my +letters, locked them in my desk, and, it being now nearly seven o'clock, +I went down to supper. + + +VII. + +"But at supper there was no Kate; Mr. Birchmore and I were served by +Christina, while the voices of Slurk and our landlord could be heard in +the kitchen. My conversation was naturally somewhat constrained; Mr. +Birchmore had a good deal to say about some excursion which he had in +view for the morrow, but I failed to pay very close attention to his +remarks. Once, however, I caught Christina's eyes fixed upon me, and +smiled as I remembered her warnings respecting the supposed danger of +solitary rambles. + +"After supper I felt more restless than ever. Mr. Birchmore brought +out his invariable cigars, expecting me to join him in a smoke; but I +was not in the mood for it, neither did I feel at ease in his company +until things should have begun to look a little more comprehensible. +I left him, therefore, and wandered aimlessly about outside the house, +exploring the farmyard and buildings, and then coming round to the road, +and pacing up and down on a beat about a quarter of a mile in length. It +was a clear moonlight night, and so warm as to be almost oppressive. At +length I returned to the house, it being then after nine o'clock. Mr. +Birchmore had apparently retired; Christina was nowhere to be seen; +so I got a lamp from my surly landlord, and found my way without much +difficulty to my own chamber. + +"The warmth within doors was still more oppressive than outside. I +opened both the windows, drew up my bed between them, and placed the +table with the lamp on it near the bed's head. I had previously thrown +off my coat and waistcoat, and laid them across one end of the table. +The diamonds were still in the pocket of the coat; I intended taking +them out before going to sleep, and putting them under my pillow, or in +some equally secure place. My revolver I also placed beside the lamp. +Then, having provided myself with a book out of my trunk, and drawn the +bolt of the door, I reclined on the outside of the bed and began to +read. + +"I could not, however, fix my mind upon the page. First my attention +and then my eyes would wander: I took a futile and absurd interest in +scrutinising all the details of the room. I recollect them distinctly +now. The walls were not papered, but the plaster was washed over with a +dark gray tint, which rubbed off on the fingers, and the uniformity of +which was relieved by vertical bands of dull red painted at intervals +of about five feet from floor to ceiling. The ceiling was low--about +eight feet from the floor--and whitewashed. In one corner stood the +china stove, a glistening, pallid structure of plain tiles, built up +four-square nearly to the top of the room. On the side of the room +opposite the two windows and the bed was fastened a tall looking-glass, +formed of three plates set one above the other, edge to edge, in such +a manner as painfully to cut up and distort whatever was reflected in +them. In front of the looking-glass was a lilliputian washstand, and +beside it a straight-legged chair without rungs. In a word, a room more +utterly devoid of every kind of picturesque or ornamental attraction +could not be imagined; yet I could not keep my eyes from vacantly +traversing and retraversing its vacancy. The door was behind me, as I +lay turned towards the little table on which the lamp stood, but I could +see the free edge of it brokenly reflected in the mirror, with the +cracked black porcelain latch-handle and the iron bolt which I had shot +into its place. + +"I was anything but sleepy: the heat, and the pest of midges and beetles +which the light attracted in through the windows, would have sufficed to +keep me awake even had my mind been at ease. In order to disperse the +insects I finally extinguished the lamp; the moonlight in the room was +so bright that I could almost have seen to read by it. I closed the +book, however, and clasping my hands under my head, I gave myself up +to meditation. Not a sound of any kind was audible except the muffled +ticking of the watch in my waistcoat pocket, and the faint rustle of +the pillow as I breathed. The white moonlight seemed to augment the +stillness; the whole great night, and the house with it, seemed silently +and intently listening; and at length I found myself listening intently +too! For what? I could not tell; but I listened nevertheless. + +"By-and-by I fancied a sound came--a sound from somewhere within the +house. It was a very faint sound, and did not come again; but it was +such as might have been caused by the light pressure of a foot in one +of the passages outside. Instinctively I reached forth my hand and laid +hold of my revolver; but I did not rise from the bed nor otherwise alter +my position. I still lay as if asleep, with the revolver in one hand, +the other beneath my head, and my eyes fixed upon the edge of the door, +which was obscurely visible in the mirror. + +"Several minutes passed thus, and there was no return of the noise. Then +I saw the handle of the door move and turn. The latch clicked slightly; +the door, bolted though it was, opened as if on oiled hinges, admitting +an indistinct figure in a long robe of soft gray. So much I saw in +the mirror. Then the door was closed again, and the figure, advancing +towards the bed, ceased to be reflected in the glass. It advanced close +to the bed, and paused there a moment; I could hear its deep regular +breathing. All this time I had not moved, but lay with my back turned, +feigning slumber. + +"Presently the figure passed round the foot of the bed and came up the +other side. The full white light of the moon fell upon it. It was Kate, +as I had known it was from the first moment she entered the room. She +was clad in a dressing-gown of soft flowing material, which was fastened +at the throat and trailed on the ground. It had wide sleeves, one of +which fell back from the bare smooth arm and hand that carried a lamp. +The lamp was not lighted. Her black hair hung down on her shoulders, and +on each side of her pale face. Her eyes were wide open, but fixed and +vacant. Her breathing was long and measured, as of one sound asleep. + +"She put the lamp down on the table beside mine, and then stood quite +still in the moonlight, her face wholly expressionless and without +motion. It was an appalling thing to see her thus. I, too, remained +motionless, but it was because I knew not what to do. To awaken her +might bring on the worst consequences. If she were not disturbed, she +might possibly retire as quietly and unconsciously as she had come. But +the mystery of her being there at all appeared utterly inexplicable. +What had led her, in her trance, to visit my room? how had she ever +known where it was? What had she dreamt of doing here? and above all, +how had she contrived to enter through a bolted door with as much ease +as though she had been a spirit? Perhaps this was but a spirit--or a +phantom of my own brain! Was I awake? + +"She stretched out her hand, not following its motion with her eyes, but +mechanically and as it were involuntarily. She laid it on my coat--on +the pocket which contained the diamonds. Then, slowly and deliberately, +and still with averted face and eyes, and that long-drawn, slumberous +breathing, she unbuttoned the fastenings one after one, and her soft +tapering fingers closed upon the case. + +"Meanwhile my mind had been rapidly canvassing all the pros and cons of +action; and I had come to the conclusion that it would be better for +her that I should interfere. Of my personal interest in the matter I +believe I did not think; indeed, knowing that the diamonds would not +be lost, there was no reason why I should. But it would not do to risk +compromising Kate. It was dangerous enough that she should be here +at all; but that she should carry away the diamonds with her was +inadmissible. I rose from my bed and laid my hand gently on her wrist. + +"She was no spirit, but warm flesh and blood. For a few moments the +restraint in which I held her seemed to baffle and distress her; I +fancied I could feel her pulse beat under my fingers: a kind of spasm +crossed her face, her eyelids quivered and the eyes moved in their +sockets. Then her breathing became irregular, and caught in her throat +in a kind of sob. The moment of her awakening was evidently at hand, and +I dreaded its coming, lest she should scream out and rouse the house. +But fortunately she uttered no sound. Slowly speculation grew within +her eyes; she fixed them on me, first with an expression of strange +pleasure, soon changing to bewilderment and fear. Then, with a cry +that was none the less thrilling because it was a whisper, she drooped +forwards into my arms. It was a delicious moment, for all its peril. + +"'You are perfectly safe,' I whispered in her ear; 'only make no noise.' + +"'Tom,' she said, suddenly freeing herself from my arms, and putting a +hand on either shoulder, while her wild black eyes searched my face, +'you understand--you don't think----?' + +"'Of course I understand, my poor darling!' + +"'What shall I do--what shall I do? Let me kill myself!' + +"With a motion swift as the glide of a serpent, she reached towards the +revolver, which I had left on the bed. I was barely in time to catch her +arm. The look in the girl's face at that moment was terrible. + +"'Let me!--I will!' + +"'Hush, Kate! You never shall.' + +"'Oh, what shall I do!' she murmured again slipping down on her knees +and running both hands through her thick black hair. 'Tom, if you loved +me you would kill me!' + +"'Kate, everyone in the house is asleep. You can go back to your room, +and no one know. Only be calm.' + +"'And no one know? You think that?' + +"'I am sure of it!' + +"'I know better! Someone knows it now: he made it happen!' + +"'Don't kneel there, dear. You're not yourself yet. You don't know what +you're saying.' I said this reassuringly, but her words had inspired me +with a vague alarm that I ventured not to define. I brought a chair and +made her sit upon it, and sat down beside her. + +"'Not here!' she whispered, drawing back out of the moonlight into the +shadow. 'Come here, Tom. He may be looking!' + +"'Why, Kate, who can see us here? The door is shut.' + +"'Oh--why was not the door bolted?' + +"'It was. I can't conceive how you opened it.' + +"'Oh the villain! how I hate him!' + +"'Kate, I love you, and whoever you hate must have to do with me.' + +"'You can do nothing--no one can do anything!--unless you'll help me to +kill him!' + +"'Whom? Do you mean Slurk?--tell me that!' + +"'Yes!' she answered with a shiver; not looking me in the face, but with +her hands clasped tight between her knees. 'I do mean--him!' + +"'Now tell me all that he has done, dear,' said I, quietly. 'I must +know everything; and then I promise you that you shall be freed from +him.' + +"'He is my master!' she said, in a frightened whisper. 'He has been so +ever so long! He makes me do what he will--he sent me here to-night. He +shames me and destroys me--he loves to do it! He makes me sleep, and +then I cannot help myself. I wake, and find it done; and he has no +mercy.' + +"'Why does he do this?' + +"'It was when I was only a little girl that he first got that power over +me. He knew my father was rich, and he wanted me to be promised to him +for his--wife, Tom. Then my father put me in the convent, and I stayed +there seven years, till we thought he had lost the power, or was dead +perhaps. But he found me in America, and made me come back; and now it's +worse than ever.' + +"'Why doesn't your father have him arrested and imprisoned? It can be +done.' + +"'Oh my poor father! He cannot, Tom; do not ask me that!' + +"'I must ask it, Kate. Remember, I love you! Why is it?' + +"'My father is afraid of him too,' she said, chafing one hand with the +other with a piteous expression of pain. 'If he did anything against +him, he would be ruined. My father cannot help me, Tom.' + +"'But I do not understand. What has your father done that he should be +afraid of such a scoundrel as Slurk?' I demanded sternly. + +"She hesitated long before answering, moving her hands and head +restlessly and fetching many troubled sighs. At last she laid her hand +shrinkingly on mine, and I grasped it firmly. 'I will tell you, Tom,' +she said in a faltering voice; 'but you know I would tell no one in the +world but you. My dear papa did not do wrong himself; but there were +people connected with him who did, and made the blame seem to be his. +And there were some papers of papa's which--which--oh----' + +"'Yes, yes, I understand, darling; and Slurk stole the papers?' + +"'Yes--that is--no; it was worse than that, for he didn't know where the +papers were kept; no one knew that but I. Tom, he made me sleep, and in +my sleep he made me go to the place where they were, and take them out, +and give them to him. He made me rob my own father--put my own dear +papa in his hateful power. I would rather have died! And papa forgave +me--think of that!' + +"'Then Slurk has the papers in his possession? and he uses them for +blackmail? But have you never thought of trying to--it sounds badly, but +it would be perfectly justifiable--to steal them back again?' + +"'I can do nothing. He can make me helpless by a look; and he always +carries them with him. But, Tom, if it could be done without being found +out, I would tell papa to kill him. But I cannot let my dear papa be +hanged for that wretch; and, you see, we have no evidence.' + +"'Good God! What a fearful thing it is!' I muttered. What help, what +consolation could I offer? A refined and sensitive girl under the +mesmeric control of a ruffian; her father subject to his extortions and +insults; and the only escape a worse misery even than this--Kate to +yield herself to him in marriage! Faugh! the thought sickened me; but it +enraged me, too! Kate was right; death, sudden and merciless, was the +proper measure to be meted out to Slurk. If he had appeared at that +moment, I believe I would have shot him unhesitatingly, and rejoiced in +the deed. Murder would be a righteous work when wrought on such as he; +and if the murder were brought home to me, could I suffer in a better +cause? + +"Kate had risen slowly from her chair, and was now fronting me, scanning +my face and bearing with curious eagerness. She held her hands across +her bosom, alternately interlacing the tips of the fingers and pulling +them free again. Her lips moved as if in speech, but no sound came from +them. + +"I got up presently, looking I daresay very solemn, as indeed I felt. +Her eyes followed mine as I rose; and now we gazed straight at each +other for some moments. + +"'I promised you that you should be freed,' I said, 'and you shall be. +I shall be sorry to have any man's blood on my hands; but if you can +be saved in no other way, it must be so.' + +"'You do love me, indeed!' she murmured, with a sort of sad exultation +in her tone. But she added: 'I cannot let you do it. I cannot lose you, +even to be freed from him. It is my father's fault, after all. +Besides----' + +"'I take it upon myself,' interrupted I, with a dignity which may have +been absurd, but which did not seem so to me at the time. + +"'But it would be murder--at any rate, the law would call it so. No, you +must not be called a murderer, Tom. But I--they would not hang a woman: +let me do it! I should love to do it!' + +"And she spoke with a look that confirmed the words. + +"Before I could reply, however, her expression changed again. She +appeared to think intensely for a few moments, and then her face lighted +up. Suddenly she caught my hand and kissed it! + +"'And kiss me, Tom!' she cried, excitedly. 'Kiss me, for I deserve it! +I have thought of a way that will save us all!' + +"Much startled, and half fearing that the girl's mind had given way +under the pressure of trouble, I was attempting to quiet her; but she +silenced me by an impetuous gesture, and went on speaking eagerly and +rapidly. + +"'To-morrow we had planned to go to Kohlstein for a picnic. It's a +great, immense rock, where robbers lived hundreds of years ago. Hardly +anyone ever goes there now. I have been there, and I remember that on +the top it is full of deep clefts and holes; and I thought how, if +anyone were to fall into one, they might lie there for months without +being found; and they could never get out of themselves. So now--listen! +We will go up there--you and I and--he; and I will lead him near the +brink of one of those clefts, and then you must rush forward and take +him, and drop him down--down to the bottom! So we shall get what we +want, and yet there need be no murder.' + +"'Not be murder, Kate?' + +"'It need not be; for when he was safe down there, rather than be left +to starve, he would give up those papers. Don't you think he would?' + +"She was trembling with excitement, and her state communicated itself +in some degree to me, so that I was scarcely able to think coherently. +But there certainly seemed to be plausibility in her scheme; at the +worst, it would be better than shooting the man outright. But would the +recovery of the papers put an end to Slurk's persecution of Kate as +well as of her father? Would not his power over her remain? + +"'But we can have him imprisoned then, you see,' was her answer to my +objection; 'and for fear of that, he would never dare to trouble me +again. He would have been in prison long ago but for the papers.' + +"'It certainly seems a good plan,' I said, after a confused attempt +to turn the matter over in my mind. 'We'll ask your father's opinion +to-morrow.' + +"'Oh, he must know nothing of it!' she exclaimed, with a gesture of +vehement dissent. 'He would betray it. You don't know how--what a power +that villain has over him. Slurk treats him like a child when they are +alone. No, Tom; we must do it all ourselves, or it will fail. Only when +it is done will dear papa get back his courage.' + +"I knew more about how Mr. Birchmore was treated by his valet in +private than Kate was aware; but I made no allusion to this. The more I +reflected upon the enterprise, the more inclined I was to assent to it. +It was wild, fantastic, unconventional; but it had important practical +merits nevertheless. Moreover, it possessed the powerful recommendation +(as I deemed it) of allowing for a fair man-to-man struggle between +Slurk and myself. I was to overpower him by main strength; and from +what I had observed of the fellow, I fancied he would be able to make +resistance enough to save my self-respect. On the other hand, he might +be able to do more than this; and if the worst came to the worst, +of course I might be compelled to maim him with my revolver. But +altogether, the prospect kindled my imagination; I was stimulated by +the thought of distinguishing myself by my personal prowess before +my mistress's eyes, in conflict with her dastardly oppressor. And as +I looked at her standing there before me, so lovely and so full of +courageous fire, I said to myself that no knight of yore ever did battle +in the lists for a worthier lady-love! + +"However, I realised that this was neither the place nor the hour to +enter upon a detailed discussion of our plans. Every moment that Kate +remained with me increased her peril, especially if, as she seemed to +think was the case, Slurk had despatched her thither. As to his motive +in so doing, I had no difficulty in forming an opinion. There was little +doubt that he meant to use her as an unconscious cat's-paw to steal the +diamonds, as, before, to purloin the papers compromising her father. +Had I been asleep, the device could hardly have failed of success. But +as Kate seemed herself not to suspect the real nature of her involuntary +errand, I would not additionally distress her by alluding to it; it was +enough that it furnished me with a sufficient pretext, had others been +wanting, for inflicting chastisement on the valet. + +"Kate said, in answer to my inquiry as to the proposed time of our +starting on the picnic expedition the next day, that it would probably +be about eleven in the forenoon; we would, therefore, have ample time to +settle the particulars of our scheme before the hour of action arrived. +At parting, she clung to me with peculiar tenderness; nor had I ever +loved her so well as that moment, when I looked forward to liberating +her for ever from the evil spell that had been blighting her young life. + +"After she had gone, I had the curiosity to examine the bolt on the +door. The explanation of its mysterious opening proved simple enough. +The screws whereby the socket of the bolt had been fastened to the +door-frame had been removed, and the holes so enlarged that they could +be slipped in and out without difficulty. Socket and screws had then +been replaced, so that the bolt could be shot as readily as before. But +the security was only an illusion; for, the latch being turned, a slight +push would bring away the socket and screws attached to the bolt; and +thus the supposed means of safety be ingeniously used to disguise the +real absence thereof. + + +VIII. + +"It occurred to me next morning that, considering the nature of the work +that was cut out for me, it might be prudent to depart from my usual +custom by leaving the diamonds at home in Christina's charge, as she had +herself suggested; and I took the earliest opportunity of mentioning +this proposal to Kate. To my surprise she at once expressed a decided +dissent from the arrangement, and indeed seemed so much perturbed by it, +that I at once relinquished the idea. But I begged her to tell me the +reasons of her objection. + +"'Not now,' she said hastily; 'I hear papa coming; wait till after +breakfast, and then you shall know.' + +"We were standing at the gate of the courtyard, breathing the fresh +morning air. She left me, and returned to the house, whence Mr. +Birchmore almost immediately issued, and saluted me with more than his +usual cordiality. I wondered what his behaviour would have been had he +known of the transactions of the past night, or of what was in store +for us during the day! He began to talk about Kohlstein, and related +several anecdotes of the bandits, by whom it was said formerly to have +been inhabited. 'I have been up there more than once,' he remarked, 'and +the traces of their occupation are still visible. I remember one feature +that particularly impressed me--a narrow cleft or chasm of considerable +depth, into which the old fellows are said to have thrown their +prisoners when they became refractory.' + +"'Would the fall kill them?' + +"'I should say not; the bottom seemed full of chopped brushwood and +other such rubbish. But no human being could have got out unaided; +and probably a day or two's lonely sojourn there would bring the most +resolute malcontent to terms. It would be a ghastly fate to fall in +there, nowadays, and have one's skeleton fished out again the following +year, perhaps, and a sensational paragraph in the newspapers. You young +folks must pick your steps carefully to-day.' + +"'Forewarned is forearmed!' rejoined I, with a short laugh. Further +conversation was cut short by a summons to breakfast. On this occasion +Slurk waited at table, and I observed him with more than usual attention +and toleration, as one with whom I was so soon to try desperate +conclusions. He was certainly a villanous-looking character; but he +appeared to be, for reasons best known to himself, in excellent spirits +this morning; a circumstance which stirred up an unwilling kind of +compassion within me, reflecting what a speedy and final end was going +to be put to all his possibilities of enjoyment. Vile though his life +had been, it was the only one he had. + +"Kate likewise had the semblance of unusual gaiety, but I could see +that it was either feigned, or the result of nervous excitement. And my +judgment was justified when, after breakfast, she overtook me as I was +on the way upstairs to my room to make my final preparations, and said, +in a voice unsteady with emotion: + +"'Tom dear, you asked me why you might not leave your diamonds with +Christina. You do not know what danger you were in last night! On my way +back to my room I heard--two people talking together, and they mentioned +your name; so I stopped and listened. One said: "The bolt is all right: +I had better go in and risk it; he'll be certain to be asleep by this +time!" And then the other said: "He has his revolver; leave it to me; he +believes he can trust me. To-morrow, when he goes out, I'll get him to +leave them with me for safety!" and then they both laughed. My darling, +this house is a den of thieves!' + +"'Were the persons you heard--who were they?' + +"'Christina, and that creature she calls her father. Hush! there she +comes. She must not see us together;' and in a moment Kate had glided +away. I went on up the stairs with a heavy heart. I would almost rather +not have heard this last revelation; my confidence in my penetration had +received a humiliating shock. To think that Christina's innocent face +and modest maidenly air concealed the heart of a thief, or, worse still, +of a decoy-duck, was a blow to my vanity as well as to my faith in human +nature. How artful she had been, when I fancied her most ingenuous and +kind! And then it all at once flashed upon me--what if Heinrich Rudolph +himself were in the plot! what if he had written them to be on the +look-out for me! and what if Slurk, being secretly in league with him, +had contrived to get the Birchmores, and me along with them, into the +house, intending to divide the spoil with Herr Rudolph and Christina! +Many signs seemed to point to this as a true deduction from the +circumstances; and even as I was rather grimly considering the matter, a +new confirmation of Kate's discovery awaited me. Christina was standing +at my room door, and, as I came up, she curtsied and said: + +"'I was wishing to speak a moment to Herr Gainsborough, if he would +permit me.' + +"'What do you want?' I asked somewhat roughly. + +"'Does the honoured Herr remember what I said yesterday----?' + +"'That you wished me to give you my diamonds for safe keeping? Yes; and +I have to answer, that I am not quite so trustful as you seem to think!' + +"The scornful and severe tone in which I spoke evidently startled +her; but she still affected not to understand. 'It was for Herr +Gainsborough's own sake----' she began; but I interrupted her. + +"'Do you remember what _I_ said yesterday? that I went armed; well, I +am armed to-day, and whoever tries to teach me how to take care of my +diamonds may happen to get a bullet instead; so let him beware. If Herr +Rudolph is anxious about me, you can tell him that!' + +"'Herr Gainsborough will be sorry to have spoken so,' said Christina, +colouring deeply, and with tremulous lip. + +"'I am sorry to have to say it, Christina. But, can you tell me how the +bolt of this door came to be in this condition?' and I pulled out the +loose socket as I spoke, and the screws fell to the floor. + +"'Indeed I did not know this!' exclaimed she; but the dismay and +confusion which were but too plainly visible on her face belied her +words. + +"'You will understand, however, that a house whose fastenings are so +much out of order would not be a proper place to keep treasures in. +Well, good-bye, Christina. I am going to Kohlstein, and probably I shan't +spend another night here. When you write to your brother in Paris, you +may tell him that the diamonds are quite safe, though they may have been +in danger.' + +"'Will Herr Gainsborough let me say one word?' + +"'It's too late--I have no time,' returned I, with an emphasis all the +more coldly contemptuous because of the secret inclination I felt--in +view of her youth and prettiness--to be compassionate and forgiving; and +perhaps I was half sorry that she attempted no further self-vindication; +but, obeying my gesture of dismissal, passed out of the door and down +the passage, with her bare feet, and her blue eyes downcast, and no +backward glance. When she was gone, I shut the door in no enviable mood, +and walked to and fro about my room like a surly bull in a pound. For +the first (though not for the last) time I heartily cursed the diamonds; +they seemed to raise the devil wherever I carried them. In the midst +of my anathemas Mr. Birchmore knocked at the door, and told me that +everything was ready downstairs for the start. + +"'And, by-the-bye, Gainsborough,' he added, with one of his point-blank, +icy glances, 'I have arranged that our luggage shall be removed to-day; +and if you leave yours here, I advise you to seal it up in my presence. +I found the lock of my door in rather a strange condition this morning. +I have my own opinion of what our landlord may be.' + +"'Who recommended you to this place, Mr. Birchmore?' I demanded curtly; +for I was getting to feel something like contempt for my intended +father-in-law. It was not easy to respect a man who, under whatever +stress of circumstances, allows another man to make a slave of him. + +"'It was that fellow Slurk; and he deserves a good horsewhipping for +it!' replied Birchmore, thrusting his hands resolutely into his pockets. + +"'I think he deserves at least that,' I rejoined with a significant +laugh; 'and whenever you're inclined to operate on him, I'll stand by +you.' + +"Mr. Birchmore said no more, and we went downstairs in silence. Kate +was already seated in the carriage; Slurk was on the box, with a large +basket containing our provisions for the day beside him. Mr. Birchmore +and I took our places--one of us at least with a heavy heart. The +landlord stood at the door and nodded us a surly farewell. + +"'Where is Christina?' I asked him. + +"'She has gone to the town to sell eggs: did the Herr want anything?' + +"'I should like to have sent for a screwdriver; but probably I can get +one on our way back,' was my answer; and with that we drove away. + +"In about half an hour, proceeding by unfrequented roads, we came in +sight of Kohlstein. It was a vast four-sided mass of gray rock, seamed +with deep clefts and fissures running horizontally and vertically, so +that it appeared to have been built of gigantic blocks of stone. It was +considerably over one hundred feet in sheer height, and it stood upon a +rising ground of shifting sand. Slender trees grew here and there out +of the crevices of its headlong sides, and straggled nakedly along its +level summit, outlined against the sky. It was an ideal place for a +robber stronghold; impregnable, certainly, to any attack save that of +the heaviest modern artillery. + +"'We must get out and walk from here,' remarked Mr. Birchmore. 'There's +only one way of getting to the top, and that's on the other side. I have +got a touch of my rheumatics to-day, and hardly think I shall be able to +do the climbing. However, that needn't interfere with you young people, +of course.' + +"I exchanged a covert look with Kate as I helped her to descend from +the carriage; and she pressed my hand and smiled. I admired her courage +as much as I lamented the apparent lack of it in her father. The horse +having been unharnessed and tethered where some cool grass grew beside +a stream, we struck off across the sandy upland; Slurk carrying the big +basket, Mr. Birchmore walking with a rather feeble step near him, and +Kate and I in front. It was an even hotter day than yesterday, and the +tramp was a wearisome one. By the time we arrived at the foot of the +Stein, we were quite ready to rest a few minutes in the shadow of the +rock, for coolness and breath. + +"'No, I can't do it!' said Mr. Birchmore, wiping his forehead and +glancing hopelessly up at the narrow white footpath that seemed to mount +almost straight upward to the distant summit. 'Just leave me here, with +a few sandwiches and a bottle of hock, and I shall do very comfortably +till you come back.' + +"It was certainly very arduous work clambering up that ladder-like path, +and I doubt whether Kate's determination and mine would have held out, +had the motive which urged us been merely one of curiosity. But the top +was gained at last, and we threw ourselves down on the dry grass to rest +and to be fanned by the welcome breeze that blew there. Slurk placed the +basket in a little hollow where some bushes kept off the direct rays of +the sun, and stretched himself at full length beside it. + +"'Now, let us walk about,' suggested Kate at length in an undertone; +'we must see what there is to be seen.' + +"We had already arranged all the steps by which we were to proceed +to the achievement of our purpose, and we felt that the sooner it was +ended now the better. The surface on which we stood, though preserving +a general level, was full of irregularities and unevennesses; it was +overgrown with low bushes and parched grass, with perhaps half-a-dozen +starved and meagre trees. Here and there the naked rock jutted forth +from the thin soil, crumbling and weatherworn, its surface stained in +places with dry lichens. The entire table was scarcely two-thirds of an +acre in area; and a more forlorn and uncongenial spot, even in the midst +of summer, it would be hard to find. The cave in which the robbers lived +was somewhere lower down; we had passed its entrance on our way up; but +it was here, probably, that an outlook was kept over the country, to +spy out the approach of victims or of enemies. It struck me that it was +hardly worth while to be a bandit, if one must put up with such bleak +and unattractive quarters in which to carry on the business. + +"Kate and I wandered over this barren summit hand in hand. The moment +was now very near that was to make a great change in the world for both +of us. We felt, somehow, as if we were taking leave of a certain part +of our lives then. At least, I remember gazing out across the wide +expanse of sunlit country that stretched far away on every side, and +wondering whether it would look the same an hour hence. Slurk all the +while lay beside his basket, and appeared to be asleep. + +"We came to the brow of a sort of shelf or shallow declivity, descending +which we found ourselves on a lower level by some six or seven feet; and +so much of the area as lay behind us ceased to be visible. Advancing a +few paces farther, we paused abruptly on the edge of a dark, profound +cleft, which gaped right at our feet. It was so narrow that one might +easily leap across it at its widest part; but it was so deep that, for +all that I could see, it might descend to the very base of the Stein. +Peering downwards earnestly, however, my eyes, becoming accustomed to +the gloom, could dimly discern what seemed to be a bottom at a depth of +not more than twenty feet. + +"'It's an awful thing to do, after all!' I murmured after a long +inspection, looking up at Kate. + +"'Are you ready?' was all her answer. + +"'Yes,' said I, shamed by her resolution. 'Let him come.' + +"She mounted the little ridge, and stood with her graceful figure +silhouetted against the blue heavens. I, below, turned up the cuffs of +my sleeves and buttoned my coat across my chest. + +"'Slurk!' called she, in a clear penetrating tone, 'bring the basket +here, if you please. We mean to take our luncheon on this side.' + +"She remained standing there, with her back towards me. From my lower +position I could not see whether Slurk were answering her summons with +alacrity or not; but since it would be his last opportunity of obeying +her orders, I was content to let him take his time. By-and-by he +appeared, with the basket on his arm; he descended the ledge, and Kate +followed him, with her eyes on me. + +"'Set it down there, near the edge of this pit; not quite so near, +please. Now take hold of him!' + +"The last words were spoken in a sharp, ringing tone; and at the same +moment the girl drew a long knife from beneath the overskirt of her +dress, and stood with it in her hand. Surprised at her action, I +hesitated half an instant; in that half-instant Slurk had thrown himself +towards me and grasped me round the body with his long powerful arms. +Almost simultaneously with his attack, I felt myself borne down by a +heavy weight from behind, and my arms pinioned. The struggle for a +minute or two was tremendous, but I felt that I was overpowered. A hand +was pressing hard against my windpipe. Kate stood there with her knife, +a new and strange expression on her face; but she did not stir. + +"At length a panting voice close to my ear--a voice which I knew well, +and which, heard now, so amazed me that I almost ceased to resist--said: + +"'I've got him safe here, Captain; have you got his legs?' + +"A grunt from Slurk intimated that he had. + +"'Now then, Kittie,' continued Mr. Birchmore; 'be quick there, will +you?' + +"Kate came towards me with her knife. At that sight I uttered a yell of +animal rage, and made one more desperate effort to be free. + +"'Hold him tight, can't you?' said Kate, in a voice that I scarcely +recognised as hers; 'I don't want to hurt him.' + +"They mastered me; and then, with a rapidity and deftness that showed +the practised professional, Kate made a circular cut through the breast +of my coat and drew out the diamonds. + +"'That's all right,' remarked Birchmore. 'Now the rope!' + +"She went to the basket, and took from it a coil of fine rope. The two +men threw me upon my face, and bound my arms and my feet securely. I +made little resistance, but submitted in sullen silence. + +"'Don't forget his revolver,' said Birchmore, when this was done; and +turning me over, they took the weapon from my pocket. + +"'How do you feel now, young gentleman?' inquired the fellow, addressing +me with a smile. 'This is the result of plotting to throw unfortunate +valets into deep pits, and of flirting with strange young women. I +warned you, you remember, to keep out of our way; but idle curiosity has +been your ruin. Kittie, put on the diamonds; he says they become you!' + +"Slurk grinned at this sally, but the girl said moodily: 'Don't bother +the boy, Jack; he behaved like a gentleman all through; he'd make a +great deal better husband than you do! Heigho!' + +"'Well, Captain,' continued Birchmore, addressing Slurk in English, +'what are your orders? Shall we lower away now, and be off? It's nearly +half-past one, and we've a good distance to go before three.' + +"'Listen to me, Mr. Gainsborough,' said Slurk, also speaking in English, +though with a foreign accent; 'we've got what we wanted out of you, and +we don't want to do you any more harm than is necessary. But we must +have time to get safe away, and to do that we must allow twenty-four +hours. We shall leave you at the bottom of this pit, with some +provisions; and I shall loosen your arms enough so that you can feed +yourself. After we are safe, I shall write to your friends at the +farmhouse, who are very honest persons I believe, and they will come +here and get you out. That is the best we can do for you. Now then, +Jack!' + +"They loosed the cord a little round my arms; then, taking it by the +slack end, they lowered me into that dark chasm until I rested at the +bottom. Then I saw Kate's face above the edge, between me and the sky, +with something wrapped up in paper in her hand. + +"'Here's some sandwiches for you, my poor boy,' said she. 'I'm sorry to +say good-bye to you in this way, really! But I don't suppose you'd have +me now, even if Jack weren't my husband already. Well, good-bye. Don't +flirt too much with that silly little Christina when you get out. There +are the sandwiches.' + +"She let them fall beside me, nodded, and was gone. I lay on my back, +with nothing to look at but the narrow strip of blue sky overhead. It +was quite cool where I lay, on a bed of sand and rubbish; and it was +still as death. I was buried alive to all intents and purposes, and the +chance of my ever being disinterred rested upon a basis of probability +so narrow, that I judged it wisest not to hope. I lay there, gazing up +at the sky, and thinking over my adventure; beginning at the beginning, +with my meeting with Birchmore at the hotel, and tracing the progress +of the conspiracy step by step to its conclusion here. It was very +ingenious, and very well carried through. It had taught me a lesson that +I was likely to profit by, if I ever got out. + +"I don't know how long I lay there; probably but a short time. All at +once another face intervened between me and the sky. It was not Kate's +this time; it was a very different one--Christina's. + +"After peering anxiously downward for several moments, she asked: + +"'Is Herr Gainsborough there?' + +"'Yes.' + +"'The Herr is not badly hurt?' + +"'Not a bit, Christina!' + +"'Gott sei Dank!' she exclaimed, heartily; and adding: 'it is all well; +you will be helped out immediately,' she vanished. + +"Soon other faces appeared, with beards and helmets--the faces of the +'Polizei.' In a few minutes, by the aid of ropes and stout arms, I was +drawn up once more to the light of day, blinking like an awkward bat. + +"Before me stood nearly a dozen persons: a squad of police-officers, +with their swords and carbines; Herr Rudolph and Christina; and three +prisoners--a woman and two men, whose faces were unpleasantly familiar +to me. + +"Some little official ceremony of identification, and so forth, having +been gone through with, we all started for our various places of +destination. The trial took place not long afterwards in Dresden; the +prisoners were all convicted, and sentenced to----I don't care to +remember what. They were a dangerous gang of thieves, whom the police +of several countries had long been vainly endeavouring to capture. But +meanwhile, I went back to spend the night at the farmhouse of Herr +Rudolph. I need not say that I scarcely had the courage to look him +and his daughter in the face. Herr Rudolph was a most excellent and +blameless person; and as for Christina----! I knew not in what terms to +begin my apologies to her. + +"It appeared that my little friend Heinrich, in Paris, had had his +suspicions of the man calling himself Birchmore from the first, and, +in writing to his father and sister, had mentioned as much. When, +therefore, the Birchmore party unexpectedly turned up at the farmhouse, +along with the owner of the diamonds, a good deal of perturbation was +created. Afraid openly to warn me, in the absence of direct evidence, +Christina had done what she could indirectly to excite suspicions in +my mind. Failing in this, the girl had actually gone down to Schandau, +on the evening of my interview with Kate in my chamber, and laid her +information at the police bureau. The next morning she met the officers +by appointment at some distance from the house, and they followed us to +Kohlstein. After seeing the whole party of us to the top of the Stein +(Birchmore followed a few minutes after myself and the others), they +formed a cordon at the foot of the path, and one of their number went up +to reconnoitre. Peeping over the edge of the plateau, he saw Birchmore +just making his attack, and immediately signalled to those below to +approach. Thus it happened that the thieves, as they were making off +with their plunder, found themselves confronted by an impassable cordon +of six loaded carbines. Resistance was out of the question, and they +surrendered at discretion. + +"'And what can I do, Christina,' I said, 'to show you how much I thank +you? Of course I don't speak of cancelling the obligation--that nothing +could do; but I should like to leave you something to--to remind you +that you saved my life and my diamonds. Would you wear a diamond ring +for me, or a pair of earrings?' + +"'No, many thanks, Herr Gainsborough,' replied the little maiden, +gravely. 'You owe me nothing; and as for diamonds, I shall never like +them, since I have seen them the cause of so much trouble and danger.' + +"'But unless you let me do something, Christina, I must think you refuse +to forgive me for my inexcusable impertinence and stupidity.' + +"She looked down at her bare feet, and smoothed her apron. 'Well, lieber +Herr, I would not like to have you think that, truly; I do forgive you +with all my heart; and just before you go away to-morrow--just when +you are ready to start--perhaps, if you please, I will ask you for +something.' + +"'You shall have it, whatever it is!' I answered. + +"So, the next day, when the droschkey was at the door, and my trunk +packed and put on the box, I left Herr Rudolph conversing with the +driver, and went back into the house to find Christina. She was standing +in a shadowy corner of the kitchen, so absorbed in scouring plates that +she did not appear to notice me until I spoke. + +"'I am come to say good-bye, and to claim your promise, Christina.' + +"She put down her plate, and blushed, with downcast eyes. + +"'Herr Gainsborough will not be offended? it is something I have no +right to ask--only--it will show I am not unforgiving--and--it would be +better for me than the diamonds.' + +"'What is it, dear Christina?' + +"She looked up in my face, shyly and yet frankly, and said: + +"'Kiss me!'" + + +IX. + +This (as nearly as I can recollect it) is the story told me by my friend +Tom Gainsborough, as we sat over a decanter of claret after one of his +inimitable little dinners. When it was over I gave a grunt, and flung +the but-end of my cigar into the grate. + +"There's one thing I don't understand about this story," I then +remarked; "and it has misled me all along. Your description of +that creature, Kate--her eyes and eyebrows, complexion, hands, and +nationality--all persuaded me it was the present Mrs. Gainsborough. +Yet it appears she was nothing of the sort!" + +"I should think not, indeed!" exclaimed Tom, laughing. "They are as +different, even in appearance, as two straight-browed brunettes could +possibly be. It is not my fault if you were misled by a description--you +who know so well how incurably vague the best descriptions are. Were you +to see them side by side, you would acknowledge that they are as little +alike as you and I are. As to the American part of it--the truth is they +were not really Americans at all: Birchmore and the girl were French; +and I in my ignorance mistook their French accent for the Yankee twang. +When, several years later, I met some real Americans--and married one of +them--I realised my error." + +"Humph! Well, I daresay you were not more stupid than the majority of +your countrymen would have been in your place. But another thing--was +all that mesmeric business genuine, or a part of the conspiracy?" + +"Conspiracy, of course! It was the stock expedient of the gang--and a +very ingenious one, I think; for of course the mesmerised one might turn +up anywhere, and if she were not discovered, well and good; while if she +were, all she had to say was that she was in a mesmeric trance. As it +happened, the latter alternative occurred in both their attempts on me; +but I give the girl credit for turning it off excellently well. In fact, +she took a real artistic interest in her business. You see, she had been +trained as a rope-dancer in her childhood, and afterwards she was on +the stage for a time. She certainly had marvellous dramatic talent, and +thoroughly enjoyed "taking a part." The realistic element that entered +into her performances no doubt rendered them much more exciting than +ordinary stage work, and perhaps, sometimes, she almost deceived +herself." + +"Ah! I should not wonder. Well, and what was the meaning of that +confusion about the steamboat and the train, and Birchmore's +explanations?" + +"A mistake on their part--that's all. Accidents will happen, you know. +I daresay my unexpected questions disconcerted them greatly; but I was +unsuspicious enough, Heaven knows. What I admire as much as anything in +their management of the affair was the skill with which they made me +believe, from the outset, that I was forcing my company upon _them_, +when in reality it was they who were leading me round by the nose." + +"Missus Gainsborough say de tea ready, sah!" said the sable servitor, +opening the door. + +"Let's go up at once!" I exclaimed, rising from chair. "I shall +hereafter feel a new interest in looking at Mrs. Gainsborough's +diamonds!" + + + + +THE CHRISTMAS GUEST: + +A MYTH. + + +They were ideal young people, and lived in a fairy farmhouse, in the +Eldorado of lovers. Everything went happily with them; no troublesome +grown-up people thwarted or annoyed them; they could be together as much +as they liked, and had never in their whole lives heard of such a thing +as impropriety. They had no enemies, nor so much as a single friend with +conscientious ideas of duty. In spite of all this they were remarkably +content with each other and with the world at large, and never did any +wrong, to speak of, from week's end to week's end. For the rest, they +had lived and played together ever since they could remember, had never +quarrelled except to provide a pretext for a reconciliation; and she had +always called him Eros, and he had always called her Psyche. They loved +each other with all their hearts, and were a living refutation of the +folly of those who would persuade us that pain and struggle are the +necessary discipline of human beings. To see these two was enough to +make one believe in the feasibility of setting up a new Garden of Eden +on a durable basis. + +Notwithstanding their fanciful nicknames, and exceptional surroundings +and circumstances, Psyche and Eros were as thoroughly human in their +thoughts and emotions as if they had lived in the most commonplace of +country villages, and, although they had always been together, their +temperaments were as wide asunder as the poles. Psyche was imaginative, +dreamy, and sensitive to both mental and physical impressions; her +gentle brown eyes would fill with tears at the lightest touch of pity or +pathos, and the delicate bloom in her cheeks would fade and her girlish +figure droop after but an hour's illness. Yet she was entirely wholesome +and healthy both in mind and body, and though her voice was low and +soft, and her manner tender and appealing, she had a strength and +courage in the cause of right and truth such as a son of Anak might +have envied. Eros, on the other hand, took practical views of life, and +prided himself upon his solid common sense. Being now on the verge of +his twenty-first birthday, he affected a manly and dogmatic tone, as of +one who knew the world, and had arrived at the maturity of his judgment. +He was a red-cheeked, fair-haired, blue-eyed youth; sturdy, vigorous, +and jocund. Psyche loved him devotedly, and took every occasion to +persuade herself that he was the wisest as well as the dearest of +mankind. But she could not help suspecting sometimes that he was not +always quite amenable to reason, and would feel very guilty when the +conviction was occasionally forced upon her that she had taken a higher +view of this or that question than he had. On the whole, however, she +continued to maintain the sense of her own inferiority unimpaired, and +the more inferior she felt the better was she pleased. + +Now it so happened that Eros would come of age on Christmas Day; and +as if the falling together of these two celebrations were not enough, +it had been decided to enhance their joyfulness by the addition of a +third--which was to be neither more nor less than the young people's +wedding! Here, surely, was bliss enough to be crowded into one short +twenty-four hours; and moreover, as Psyche observed, looking into her +lover's blue eyes with the frank shyness of her own brown ones, "What +Christmas present could we make to each other so appropriate as the +surrender of ourselves into each other's keeping?" + +Yes, this was bliss enough even for ideal young people who lived in a +fairy farmhouse in the Eldorado of lovers. Nevertheless--if it will be +believed--even this was not all! A fourth cause of rejoicing, and one to +which Eros and Psyche looked forward with scarcely less delight than to +their own near union, was the promised advent of an old and intimate +friend of theirs, from whom they had been separated many years, but +whom they had never forgotten, or ceased to reverence and love. He had +been a young man when they were children, and they had looked upon him +then, and did now, as a dear elder brother. He had been their confidant +and adviser, the unweariable promoter and companion of their childish +merrymakings; a teller of splendid stories, a man ardent, gay, +sweet-tempered, wise. They had adored him as only children can adore +such a friend; all his sayings were to them oracular, and all his doings +superhuman. They fancied--with cause or without, it matters not--that +but for him they would not even have loved each other as they did. He +had brought out the best that was in them, and inspired that best to +become better. He had shown Psyche the manliness that was in Eros, and +had opened the eyes of Eros to the rare loveliness of Psyche. What did +they not owe to him? And since he went away he had become transfigured +in their memories. + +Nine years had he been absent, a missionary among the heathen. But he +had also travelled much in civilised lands, and had seen all manner of +men and customs. Meantime he had written scores of delightful letters +to the young friends who loved him--letters which they read and re-read +scores of times, and thought more wonderful than his best stories in the +old days. Throughout this long period he had never given up the purpose +of seeing them again, and, if possible, to part no more. But still the +intended meeting had been put off; for Mortimer--such was his name--had +so much work to do in illuminating darkened souls, as to leave but a +distant hope of ever being able to indulge his own personal desires. At +length, however, the much-wished-for opportunity had presented itself, +and Mortimer was really coming. A few days before Christmas the young +people received a letter from him, telling the great news. This letter +was addressed to Psyche, who, as was her right, insisted upon having +it all to herself, and would not allow Eros to lay a finger on it. +She indeed vouchsafed to read it aloud to him, but tantalised him by +pretending to reserve certain passages to herself; because, as she +archly averred, they contained secrets for her private ear. Eros, as +her future lord and master, was half disposed to take umbrage at this +exclusion, and, had the letter been from any other being in the wide +world except Mortimer, there is no saying whether he might not actually +have been jealous! But since he was debarred from jealousy, he solaced +his discomfiture by putting on an air of complacent indifference, +stroking his eyebrows with his forefinger, and twisting the ends of an +almost imperceptible moustache. Psyche saw through his pretences, and +knew that he was annoyed, and she hated to annoy him. Why, then, did she +not hand him over the letter? + +"I am on the point of setting sail," the letter ran, "and probably shall +arrive soon after you receive this. At all events, I am resolved to be +with you on Christmas Eve--your marriage eve! Death alone can forestall +me in that pleasure. I have said good-bye to my barbarians, who were +very sorry to lose me, and fear that I shall never return to them. +But I will; and I mean to bring you two--or you one, as you will be by +that time--with me. Yes, my good old people; for though your home is +Eldorado, mine is Paradise! Never was so beautiful a country--so tender +and serene a climate; such gentle-hearted and Christian barbarians! It +is a real Paradise, large enough and lovely enough to tempt all good +souls to migrate thither; and I come forth into the world to find +colonists, and bring them back with me. You will come, Psyche? and then +I shall make sure that Eros will follow you, sooner or later! + +"And so you are waiting for me to marry you? Well, I believe you are +meant for each other, and I will do what I may to render your union +sacred and perpetual. Not that I think mere earthly union is always the +highest good for those who love. You know the old proverb; and there +are lovers whose hearts never quite realise one another's worth until +separation has taught it them. Do you love your old friend, who used to +go nutting, boating, snow-balling, and story-telling with you, any the +less because you haven't seen him for nine years? And would not you, +Eros, love Psyche a thousand times better were some chance to part you +from her awhile? You have never had her out of your sight, except when +your eyes were shut, and you don't half know how dear she is to you. It +would do you good were I to take her with me to my Paradise, and leave +you behind. Until you know what it is to be alone, and to see what you +most want beyond your immediate reach, you do not know everything. But +perhaps you will be content not to know?" + +All this, and much more, did Psyche read to Eros. But at the end of +the letter there was a postscript, having glanced at which she looked +up towards her lover with a sudden apprehension in her eyes. His own +happened to be averted; and after an instant's hesitation, she folded +up the letter and said, "The rest is a secret!" + +"All right!" returned Eros, yawning, and getting up; "no woman can be +entirely happy without a secret. Every man knows that; so I'll make you +a Christmas present of this one." And with that he sauntered off, his +hands in his pockets. + +When he was gone Psyche unfolded the letter and read the postscript +again. + +"I sail to-morrow," it said, "and am glad of it on more accounts than +one. It is a long overland journey from my home to this port, and I did +not know until I got here that a strange and fatal epidemic is wont to +make its appearance in the town about this time of year. During the last +few days it has broken out with great virulence, and people are dying +all around me. It kills in a few hours, and gives no warning, save a +passing chill. Well, I have no fears; I have passed unharmed through a +hundred pestilences. Still, if I should fail to sit by your fireside +next Christmas Eve, do not blame my will." + +"Dear old Mort!" Psyche murmured, tears standing in her eyes. "What if +he had died, just as he was on his way to meet us after all these years! +I won't tell Eros; no, not even if it makes him angry. It's better he +should be angry than anxious. If anyone is to be anxious, let me be so. +Only if Mort doesn't come on Christmas Eve, then Eros must know. But he +will come, I know; and we shall all be happy." + +It lacked scarcely three days to Christmas, and the house had to be +arranged and decorated for the festivities. It was a house of a thousand +to hold merrymakings in, and seemed really to take a genial interest +in the preparations that were going forward, and to give it all the +assistance that was in its power. Gray and weatherbeaten without, within +it was warm and home-like. Square oaken beams divided the low ceilings +of the rambling rooms; the deep fireplaces were dusky with the smoke +of ten thousand fires; the mellow old kitchen was a world in itself; +and the shadowy bed-chambers, with their great four-post bedsteads, +were just the place to play hide-and-seek in with ghosts and goblins. +Moreover, the best of feelings prevailed between the venerable mansion +and the natural and elemental surroundings amidst which it had so long +existed. The forest grouped itself artistically in the background; the +hillside sloped lovingly towards it on the right; at a little distance, +a clear-eyed pond smiled placid goodwill. And the rough spirits of Wind +and Rain, Snow and Frost, seemed to grow soft and tractable in their +sports with this time-honoured structure. "Merry Christmas!" they +whispered, wept, and glistened; and the house glowed back a hearty +response out of its diamond-paned lattices, and its clustered chimney +breathed forth smoky satisfaction. + +Meanwhile Eros and Psyche laboured with all their hearts and hands, +and made the rooms green with ivy, holly, and laurel. In the parlour, +beneath the cluster of mistletoe that hung from the ceiling, was +arranged a little platform, with a daïs, and an altar-table covered with +white samite. It was here that the marriage ceremony was to take place. +By mid-day of Christmas Eve all the preparations were complete, and the +two lovers were sitting together in the deep bay-window, half hidden by +the ample curtains, and head-over-ears in lovers' talk. They were big +with the charming self-importance that belongs to young people in +their condition. Love burned for them in the centre of all things--it +illumined, warmed, and perfumed the whole world. For them the great +earth turned more smoothly on her axis, and moved in a fairer orbit; the +setting sun sank splendidly amidst his clouds for their sake; for their +delight yonder rosy-cheeked boy ploughed his whistling way through the +snow, and the sleigh-bells jingled so merrily from the distant road. If +only Mortimer were there, their happiness would be complete. And now he +must arrive every moment, so Eros kept saying, looking out of the window +with confident expectation; but Psyche scarcely replied. Her soft +little hands were cold and tremulous, and the corners of her sweet lips +drooped as she thought of the secret that harboured in her breast. It +was the first secret she had ever kept from Eros. Oh that it might +resolve itself happily, and not--not as she now began to dread! For +evening was coming on apace, and their friend had not yet come. He did +not come, though he had promised that Death only should forestall him. +As minute after minute slipped by, Psyche felt an almost irresistible +impulse to snatch forth the letter from her bosom, where she had hidden +it, and give it to her lover, that he might share and perhaps cheer her +suspense. But she forebore; she was strong enough to suffer alone, and +she felt, though hardly admitting it even to herself, that Eros was not +so strong in that kind of strength as she. He would laugh at a blow from +a fist such as would knock her senseless, but the blows of mental pain +and disappointment he was but ill-fitted to endure. Thus thinking, the +gentle Psyche crushed her trouble down, and even strove to forget it, +or believe it unfounded and imaginary, if so she might answer her lover +cheerfully, and in no way cast a shadow upon his Christmas Eve. But +still that strange coldness crept at intervals through her veins, making +her hands and her voice vibrate. + +"Why, it's quite dark already!" exclaimed Eros at length. "Surely the +man means to be here by supper-time? I wonder how near he is now." + +"There may have been a delay. The snow is very deep, you know, in some +places. Perhaps he won't find it possible to get here before to-morrow." + +"Pooh! my dear little Psyche. You have forgotten the kind of man that +our Mort is. When he says he'll do a thing, he does it--if he's alive. +And in that very letter of yours, which you make such a mystery about, +but which I know perfectly well has nothing in it more than you read to +me--he says in that very letter that only Death would stand in the way +of his getting here to-night. And since he's a man in perfect health and +in the prime of life, I don't see what doubt there can be that he'll +keep his word. Only I do wish he'd told us the very hour, so that we +mightn't have had this suspense to bother us." + +"Do you suppose we shall recognise his face when he comes?" asked +Psyche, after a little pause. + +"Recognise him? Of course we shall!" returned Eros, positively, as +became his masculine superiority. "He'll be considerably changed, to be +sure; very likely he'll have a big black beard, and there'll be a few +lines across his forehead and round his eyes; but you mustn't mind +that. That sort of thing is bound to come on a man as he grows old. I'm +beginning to find that out myself; and Mort--why he's nearly forty by +this time!" + +"How very wise he will be!" murmured Psyche, thoughtfully. "He was the +wisest person in the world before he went away; we shall be almost +afraid of him now." + +"Well, as to that," said Eros, rubbing his downy upper lip and smiling, +"as to that, my dear Psyche, you must speak for yourself. Undoubtedly +Mort, the dear old fellow, has an immense deal of information, and +plenty of good sense to back it--which is more than always happens, I +can assure you. But when a man reaches his majority, and is on the point +of becoming a family man into the bargain--give me another, dear----what +was I going to say? Oh, well, I don't think _I_ shall be much afraid of +him, or of anybody else, that's all." + +"Eros," whispered Psyche, feeling his strong young arm round her, and +his hand on hers, "should you be willing to have him take us back with +him to his Paradise, as he speaks of doing in the letter?" + +"Well, my dear, that must depend a great deal upon circumstances. I +shall talk with Mort, and see what he has to say about his place. We +mustn't forget that we're very well situated as we are, and ought not to +move unless we're certain of bettering ourselves. The sort of society +he speaks of might not suit us, you know; we're not missionaries, and +don't care about barbarians as such. Mort, wise as he is, hasn't much +practical sense in some ways; not so much as--some men I know. He's +all for the loftiest and most ideal thing possible, without reflecting +whether or not it's inconvenient or uncomfortable too. In short, unless +his Paradise turns out to be a finer place than I think it will, I shall +feel inclined to keep hold on what we have. Besides, Psyche, any place +that you are in will be Paradise to me." + +This compliment fairly merited the reward which Eros immediately claimed +and took for it, and which, by its potent effect upon both giver and +receiver, made speech seem impertinent for a time. Psyche sat gazing out +across the darkened snow with her tender brown eyes, and Eros looked +fondly on her, thinking that he loved her more than anything in the +world, and that life would be a blank without her. Surely, were she to +be taken from him, all his light and warmth would depart along with her. +That passage in Mortimer's letter which suggested that it might be well +sometimes for lovers to be parted had received his unqualified, though +unuttered, disapproval. Why should such a thing have been written? +Often, since Psyche had read it to him, Eros had resolved to dismiss the +idea from his mind; but such is the perversity of human minds that the +idea remained in spite of him. It made him feel now and then really +almost uneasy. The feeling, of course, was a morbid one; common sense +and wholesome reason forbade him to entertain it. Had he no more +confidence in Providence than to believe that it would take his Psyche +from him--his Psyche, who had grown up with him from infancy? Would +the good God be so cruel as to deprive him--and at this moment of all +others--of the companionship of her whom he so loved? But the misgiving +was unworthy of him. If he could not forget it, why then he would face +it, and face it down. + +He bent towards Psyche, and discovered, by some method known to lovers, +that her eyes were wet with tears. When Love is in supreme command, the +soul is more tenderly alive to various influences, and hence more prone +to sadness of a certain kind, than at any other epoch of life. But Eros +had never understood Psyche's constitutional tendency to melancholy, and +just now he found it especially inopportune. + +"What makes you unhappy?" he exclaimed. "Aren't we together, and haven't +we everything we want? And ought not this evening to be the most joyful +we ever yet spent?" + +She leaned her head on his shoulder, hiding a sigh. "I was wondering, +dear," she said, "whether, when we go to the real Paradise, we shall +meet and know each other there as we do now. Do you believe we shall?" + +There were few problems too profound for the plummet of Eros's common +sense to sound them. "Certainly we shall, my dear!" he answered +emphatically. "What put such a question into your head?" + +"But shall you love me then? And shall I be your own wife there, Eros, +as I am to be here?" + +"I really don't see the use, my dear little Psyche, of bothering our +heads with such gratuitous puzzles as that. There's quite enough to +attend to in this life, without trying to guess what may happen to us +in the next. For my part, it's enough to know that we love each other +in the body, and are to be husband and wife here in this farmhouse. +There'll be time enough to speculate about other states when we are in +them." + +"Ah! but, Eros," said she, lifting her gentle face from his shoulder +and looking in his eyes, "suppose that I were to die to-night--this very +night, before our wedding! Could you be content to wait--could you rest +satisfied with the love that we have already loved in this world, and +with the knowledge that I was still loving you in Paradise, and would be +yours when you came there?" + +Eros felt an impulse of impatience, which he repressed so far as not to +give it words; but he turned his face away. Those theories of delicate +tissue and transcendental application, which Psyche was given to +entertaining, irritated and silenced him. He loved Psyche, as an honest +man should love a woman--better than any other man ever loved a woman, +he thought; and what more could be expected of him? Besides, was it not +being ungrateful for the blessings in their possession to be borrowing +trouble from an improbable or unimaginable condition of things to come? +It was really too bad, thought Eros, and he turned his face away and +looked down the avenue, leaving Psyche unanswered. + +It would have been quite dark now but for the whiteness of the snow. The +wind was rising, and the window-seat was getting chilly, and Psyche's +hand, which still lay in his own, was cold as ice, and she herself +seemed to shiver. The blinds must be closed, and they would go back to +the fire, for Mortimer might not come till midnight, for all they knew. +Stay!--what was that shadow moving this way up the avenue? Was it---- + +"Psyche! Psyche! look!" cried Eros, starting to his feet in joyous +excitement. "That must be--isn't it? Yes, it must be Mortimer--it is our +dear old Mort!" + +"Oh Eros, I believe it is!" she answered, peering tremulously through +the darkness. "I can't see clearly; I had a vision of Death--that Death +was coming instead of him!" + +"Death, indeed!" exclaimed Eros, with a laugh. "Let this be a lesson to +you, my dear, not to indulge in silly fancies again. But come on! We +must receive the dear fellow at the door." + +He ran into the hall, Psyche following, and flung wide the heavy portal. +A gust of icy wind burst in, as though it had been lying in wait for +them on the threshold; and Psyche seemed to shrink away before it, and +Eros himself could scarce repress a shiver. But they pressed forward +again, and gazed out earnestly on the night. Yes, there could be no +doubt about it now. There came their friend--he who was most honoured +and trusted by them both, yet who, for nearly half their lives, had been +a stranger to them--there he came, striding swiftly towards them across +the snow. Only a dark, lofty shape he seemed; but the step, the bearing, +were unmistakable; they were Mortimer's own. By a simultaneous impulse +the two young lovers threw one arm round each other, and extended the +other to the advancing form. They could not cry out in welcome. Was it +their great joy that silenced them? for joy will sometimes bind the +faculties like awe. It was very dark, and neither had remembered to +bring a light. Almost before they were aware of it their strange friend +was standing close in front of them. How icy cold was the wind! + +In moments of high feeling and excitement we do and say things as in a +dream, and afterwards hardly remember how we acted. So was it now with +Eros and Psyche. Did Mortimer take Eros's hand in a grasp as soft and +cold as snow? Did he kiss Psyche's forehead with lips that sent a happy +shudder to her heart? Did he speak to them in mellow, loving tones that +sounded at once strange and familiar? And did they answer him? Or was +it all a dream? Be that as it may, the spell soon passed off, and they +found themselves in clear possession of their several senses once more. +The long-expected guest had crossed their threshold, thrown aside his +heavy cloak, and removed the soft fur cap from his black hair, and, +Eros leading the way, the three friends had entered the warm, firelit +parlour. + +"Sit down, all of us!" cried the host, rubbing his hands together. +"Draw up to the fire, and get warm, if you can. My stars, what a night! +Psyche, you look as if you'd been kissed by an icicle; and you, Mort, +you are as cold as death!" + +They sat down round the broad hearth, the guest between the lovers; and +as the firelight flickered over them, so flickered and fell and rose +again their conversation. It often happens that, when we anticipate +saying most, we find the least to say; and somewhat thus did it fall +out in the present instance: or, perhaps, because in a meeting like +this, however thoroughly foreshadowed and anticipated, there is apt +to be a good deal of strangeness and unexpected diffidence to be +overcome,--perhaps it was for this reason that speech flowed but +intermittently for a while. Nevertheless, the lovers could feel +that they were every moment growing more and more into sympathy and +understanding with their new old friend, and doing so even more speedily +and completely than might have been possible through the uncertain +medium of words. He diffused around him, without effort, and apparently +without being conscious of it, a gentle and winning influence which was +fairly irresistible; so that by-and-by Psyche and Eros fancied that +never before had they known him so well as now. At the same time, +however, Psyche was inwardly aware of a great, yet indescribable, change +from that Mortimer who had bidden her farewell nine years before. The +principle, the genius of the man remained; but it existed now within the +sphere of such a mighty and grand personality as transcended all she had +previously known or conceived. It was as if some beneficent angel had +stooped from heaven to visit them, and, lest his celestial splendour +should overwhelm them, had assumed the guise and tone of that human +being in whom they felt the most affectionate trust. Through his manner +and aspect, and the low resounding melody of his utterance, she seemed +to catch glimpses of a power and wisdom almost superhuman; but blended +with a deep kindliness and charity, and a sublimity of nature that were +more human than humanity itself. She looked up to him, not in fear, but +with a loving, familiar kind of reverence; and would have confided to +him the choicest secrets of her heart. + +The influence that he exercised was not of that kind which belongs to +superior age. There was in him all the fire and vigour of unquenchable +youth. His lofty figure was as alert and lightsome as it was majestic. +His manner was instinct with gentle sprightliness and playfulness, and +it was impossible not to feel cheery and hopeful in his company. The +curve of his lips, and ever and anon the sudden kindling in his eyes, +betrayed the fiery soul within; yet in everything that he said or did +were visible the traces of a serene and absolute self-control. + +"We are glad you came in time," observed Eros at last. "We should never +have got married, I believe, if you had not been here to tie the knot." + +"At least," added Psyche, in her clear, subdued voice, "you will make it +seem more beautiful and indissoluble, and give it a deeper significance, +than anyone else could have done. Yes, I am glad you came in time. Do +you know, Eros, I did not think Mortimer would come at all? That passage +in the letter that I did not read you spoke of a strange pestilence, and +immediately it came into my mind that Mortimer was dead. And even now," +she continued, turning to the guest, and half-timidly meeting his +strong, unfathomable eyes with her own, "even now, though I see you here +between us, I cannot feel as if our Mortimer were in this world. Are you +really he? or a messenger come to tell us that he is gone?" + +"I am alive--am I not?" answered the guest, with a particularly radiant +smile; "and if I am, then your Mortimer is also. As to my getting here +at the right time, I am always sure to do that; it would be a sad +business, indeed, if I were not. But are you both certain that you are +glad to have me here?" + +"It would not be merry Christmas if you were not!" exclaimed Eros, +heartily. + +"I am not always so well received," the other resumed. "I have been in +all sorts of places, and have met all sorts of people, and almost all +have called me abrupt and unceremonious. But then, not many know me for +what I really am." + +"I think I know you," said Psyche, after a pause; "and I cannot imagine +myself so happy that your coming would not make me happier." + +"You need not fear to know me, Psyche," returned the guest, with grave +gentleness; "and really I am not so unsympathetic as I must often seem. +But I have a task in the world which brings me less credit in the +performance than in the after result. Mankind, you know, Eros, are not +always wise and far-sighted enough to recognise at the moment what is +most for their good in the long run." + +"Yes, I know that; but for my part I think I can tell what I need more +quickly and surely than most people. For instance--that Psyche must be +my wife, and that you must make her so." + +"You rate my powers too high," rejoined their friend, smiling again. +"God only can make a man and woman one." + +"Oh, I don't trouble myself with such fine-drawn distinctions. If you +pronounce the service over us, I will take the rest for granted. As I +was telling Psyche the other day, it's not worth while looking beyond +this world. If she is mine here, I'll risk our getting separated +hereafter." + +"Hereafter may not be far off," said the guest, more gravely than he had +yet spoken. "You were best not to leave it out of the account." + +"Death is my enemy--I can see no good in him!" declared Eros; "and I +will do the best I can to have my happiness in spite of him." + +"He doesn't mean it!" exclaimed Psyche to their friend, in a low, +appealing tone. "He knows that only Death can make Love immortal." + +"I must tell you," observed the guest, after a pause, "that I cannot +stay here long; I shall be gone to-night. What I came to do, therefore, +must be done soon." + +"To-night!" cried Eros, in astonishment that was half incredulous. +Psyche said nothing, but hid her face in her hands and shivered a +little. + +"I wished to make you happy--happier than you have ever been--if you +would let me," resumed the previous speaker. "Whoever has lofty beliefs +will have a lofty fate. If your idea of marriage is high enough, you +will not hesitate to come with me to my Paradise. How is it with you, +Eros?" + +"Not yet," replied Eros, laughing and shaking his head. "It's too far +off, and the journey is too cold. If you are really determined to leave +us, you must go without me. Surely you can't expect me to be ready to +start at such short notice? No, no! I mean to stay by this comfortable +fireside for a long time yet, and so shall Psyche." + +"Death has summoned men on shorter notice than this," said the other. +"Think again before you decide." + +"I have decided; and I never change my mind," said Eros, obstinately. + +And truly his preference was not an unnatural one. The old parlour +presented a most attractive aspect. The great log which had been burning +on the broad hearth had now fallen into glowing fragments, over which +small yellow and bluish flames danced intermittently. Everything was +warm, home-like, and familiar. Out of doors the stars shone crisp and +white, and the snow glistened pure as a maiden's soul. But ah! it was so +terribly cold; the beauty of the prospect could be enjoyed much better +from the genial vantage-ground of the hearthstone. + +"If that is your decision, you must abide by it," said the guest, and +something in the words, and in the manner they were uttered, awed Eros +for the moment. Then, turning to Psyche, he continued: "But even your +Eros cannot choose for you. What is your preference? Are you, too, +willing to postpone Paradise for the fireside?" + +Psyche was naturally more imaginative than most young girls, and +possibly there was something in the shadowy mystery of the hour, and in +her own physical and mental condition, that wrought upon her mood. A +creeping languor and a chill which the heat of the embers could not +counteract were gaining possession of her, and filling her brain with +weird fancies. Insensibly, he who sat beside her, and whose icy lips she +had felt upon her brow, had become clothed to her apprehension with an +unearthly, superhuman personality. No man was he, but an angel of tender +and mighty sway, stooping from heaven on the eve of Christmas, to hold +high argument with two mortal lovers on those questions which most +nearly concern their welfare. As she spoke her voice sounded faint and +ethereal, while her eyes sought to penetrate the shadow which had fallen +over the face of Eros. + +"It is pleasant here," she said; "yet if, in Paradise, our union may be +eternal and secure, it is surely better to be there." + +"You will meet Eros where we are going," returned the strange friend, +gently, taking her hand in his own. "If not this Eros whom you have +known here, then another and a worthier one than he." + +"Oh, not another," whispered Psyche, entreatingly; "it must be this +Eros--my own dear Eros whom I have always loved. I have lived with him, +and our hearts are grown together. He is better and nobler than he +seems." + +"It is not for me to decide," was the answer. "But do you speak to him, +Psyche. If he loves you, he will lay your words to heart." + +Psyche rose from her chair, and, stepping somewhat feebly, crossed to +where Eros sat, and stood before him, her hands clasped. The room had +become more dusky, so that the three figures appeared rather like +shadows than beings of flesh and blood. For a moment or two there was +silence, and only Psyche's beseeching attitude seemed to speak. + +"Eros," she said at length, "I feel that I must go--I must go with this +friend of ours. Do you know him, Eros? He is your friend as well as +mine. You might have gone with us; but that was not to be. We shall not +know marriage here, and we shall seem to be separated for a time. But +if your love for me has been as great as mine for you, the memory of it, +and the faith in what is to come, will heal the worst of the parting. +Oh, my love, say it shall be so!" + +"You are crazy--both of you!" cried Eros, wrestling with the fear that +beset him, and striving to speak in an assured and masterful tone. "What +has Mortimer to do with you, Psyche? You are mine, and whoever pretends +to take you from me is my enemy!" + +"Eros--Eros!" exclaimed the girl, with passionate earnestness, "it is +you who are crazy, my poor darling. Mortimer is dead; and the letter +which he wrote--the letter that I alone read and touched--had in it the +contagion of the pestilence. It was the message of my death; and now my +death has come." + +"Death shall not have you!" cried Eros, starting to his feet; and such +was the vehemence of his rebellious anger that he felt ready to defy +even Omnipotence. "What have I done that I should lose you? I have loved +you truly and faithfully--why should not my love have its rightful +fulfilment? It shall not go for naught and end in dust and ashes! As +for this future you talk about, what is it? a misty possibility--an +indefinite surmise--nothing! I say it is unjust and tyrannical, and I +will not submit! Come to me, Psyche!" + +He reached towards her through the dusk, but she seemed to falter +backwards from him, and when he would have followed, the tall form of +the mysterious guest rose between, and beneath that mighty and majestic +gaze the eyes of Eros wavered, though the rebellion in him was +unconquered still. + +"You must yield her to me," said those deep, reverberating tones; "yet +it is not I that parts you. True lovers can be parted only through want +of faith. Upon yourself alone, therefore, does it depend whether she +leaves you for a time or for ever." + +Eros pressed his hands to his head. Every good and evil impulse of his +soul was in deadly struggle for the mastery. Was his love greater than +Death? or had the past been a delusion? Was the future to be a blank? He +was but a man, with a man's weaknesses. He must rise to higher levels +through bitter trial, if at all; and except there were in him some +elements of generous nobleness, to turn his stubborn self-will at the +crisis of the conflict, the demon of mistrust would gain the victory. +Had he such allies? + +"Speak to him again, Psyche," murmured the lofty presence, "you may yet +prevail." + +"Eros," she said, throwing all the tenderness of her loving soul into +the word, "this is more than our friend--he is our brother. Love and +Death should glorify each other. If they are enemies, Death becomes +cruel and Love degraded. Yield me up now that you may possess me for +ever. Oh, quick, my love--quick!" + +The struggling man uttered a cry, heartrending, full of anguish. He +was faint and giddy, and the world seemed to reel beneath his feet. He +stretched out his arms. "I love you, Psyche," he uttered. "Do not leave +me behind; let me go with you!" + +He felt her hand again within his own. "You are my own Eros," she +whispered in his ear. "I shall not altogether leave you; you will see +me in dreams, and you will know that the Paradise I go to is near this +earthly home of ours. At last--perhaps not for a long time--but at last +we shall meet there. And now ... take me to our marriage-altar, and let +us say farewell there." + +They came to the little samite-covered table, Psyche supported between +the other two. The lovers knelt down together, and the form of the +mysterious guest bended beneficently above them. Then Psyche slowly +drooped sideways, and Eros caught her in his arms. Yet no--she was not +there! + +Still kneeling, he looked upwards through the window into the clear +winter night, and saw where two cloud-shapes seemed to flit hand in +hand across the starlit purple of the heavens. A strange peace entered +his lately tortured soul. The doubt in his love's immortality was gone, +and the struggle was ended. + +"Take her, friend!" he cried, in a voice trembling with a deeper than +earthly happiness. "So great is my love, that not in this world, nor +with this mortal body, can I give it fit and full expression." + +He was left alone in the old parlour, with the dead embers of the fire +upon the hearthstone. Christmas bells were ushering in what was to have +been his wedding-day; but, like their sweet notes, his mortal hopes had +been caught up to heaven, but were not lost there. It is many years +since then, yet every returning Christmas has found the same light of +peace in his face that first dawned there so long ago. No brooding +sullenness or failing faith has changed it into gloom. + +But who was the mysterious guest, and why did he bear the likeness +of him whom, above all others, Eros and Psyche had loved? That is a +question which answers itself in all our lives. For when the time +comes--as come it must--that this majestic Presence is met face to face, +shall we not trust that the countenance which will, perhaps, seem awful, +may at least not be as that of a stranger whom we know not, and whose +heart is indifferent towards us? Would it not be pleasant, at that hour, +to recognise in him who must herald our entrance into a new society, +the well-known features of one whom our previous life had made our most +secure and faithful friend? + + +CHARLES DICKENS AND EVANS, CRYSTAL PALACE PRESS. + + + + + * * * * * + + + + +Transcriber's note: + +Double story titles on seperate pages have been removed. + +The following corrections have been made, on page + + 30 ' moved ("'Pretty soon, Jack,' says he again) + 31 " added (a pledge that'....") + 31 "IV." added (section header) + 39 "eëriest" changed to "eeriest" (ghost and witches might scream + their eeriest unheard by) + 53 ? changed to ! (It is you who must finish it!) + 62 "maybe" changed to "may be" (He believed, it may be, that no one) + 160 "egs" changed to "legs" (with a flourish of its arms and legs) + 161 "waive" changed to "wave" (half facing about to wave me on.) + 165 " added ("Wait a moment, I am merely) + 169 "your" changed to "you" (If you were a lawyer) + 185 ' added and , changed to . (You know German?'--he says.) + 185 "..." changed to '...' ('What you don't know about diamonds + isn't worth knowing,' I put in.) + 195 ' added ("'I don't know where to telegraph) + 206 . added (the worse was my success.) + 246 ' added (as thy brother, Christina,' I laughed) + 246 , added (I daresay, 'It is true). + +Otherwise the original has been preserved, including inconsistent +hyphenation. + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 41592 *** |