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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/5956-0.txt b/5956-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d85a83b --- /dev/null +++ b/5956-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,5070 @@ +Project Gutenberg's Gallegher and Other Stories, by Richard Harding Davis + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Gallegher and Other Stories + +Author: Richard Harding Davis + + +Release Date: June, 2004 [EBook #5956] +This file was first posted on September 29, 2002 +Last Updated: March 4, 2018 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GALLEGHER AND OTHER STORIES *** + + + + +Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Charles Franks and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team + + + + + + + + +GALLEGHER AND OTHER STORIES + +By Richard Harding Davis + + +_Illustrations By Charles Dana Gibson_ + + +Copyright, 1891, By Charles Scribner's Sons + + + + +TO MY MOTHER + + + + +Contents + + +GALLEGHER: A NEWSPAPER STORY + +A WALK UP THE AVENUE + +MY DISREPUTABLE FRIEND, MR. RAEGEN + +THE OTHER WOMAN + +THE TRAILER FOR ROOM NO. 8 + +“THERE WERE NINETY AND NINE” + +THE CYNICAL MISS CATHERWAIGHT + +VAN BIBBER AND THE SWAN-BOATS + +VAN BIBBER'S BURGLAR + +VAN BIBBER AS BEST MAN + + + + +GALLEGHER + +A Newspaper Story + +{Illustration: “Why, it's Gallegher!” said the night editor.} + + +We had had so many office-boys before Gallegher came among us that they +had begun to lose the characteristics of individuals, and became merged +in a composite photograph of small boys, to whom we applied the generic +title of “Here, you”; or “You, boy.” + +We had had sleepy boys, and lazy boys, and bright, “smart” boys, who +became so familiar on so short an acquaintance that we were forced to +part with them to save our own self-respect. + +They generally graduated into district-messenger boys, and occasionally +returned to us in blue coats with nickel-plated buttons, and patronized +us. + +But Gallegher was something different from anything we had experienced +before. Gallegher was short and broad in build, with a solid, muscular +broadness, and not a fat and dumpy shortness. He wore perpetually on his +face a happy and knowing smile, as if you and the world in general were +not impressing him as seriously as you thought you were, and his eyes, +which were very black and very bright, snapped intelligently at you like +those of a little black-and-tan terrier. + +All Gallegher knew had been learnt on the streets; not a very good +school in itself, but one that turns out very knowing scholars. And +Gallegher had attended both morning and evening sessions. He could not +tell you who the Pilgrim Fathers were, nor could he name the thirteen +original States, but he knew all the officers of the twenty-second +police district by name, and he could distinguish the clang of a +fire-engine's gong from that of a patrol-wagon or an ambulance fully two +blocks distant. It was Gallegher who rang the alarm when the Woolwich +Mills caught fire, while the officer on the beat was asleep, and it was +Gallegher who led the “Black Diamonds” against the “Wharf Rats,” + when they used to stone each other to their hearts' content on the +coal-wharves of Richmond. + +I am afraid, now that I see these facts written down, that Gallegher was +not a reputable character; but he was so very young and so very old for +his years that we all liked him very much nevertheless. He lived in +the extreme northern part of Philadelphia, where the cotton-and +woollen-mills run down to the river, and how he ever got home after +leaving the _Press_ building at two in the morning, was one of the +mysteries of the office. Sometimes he caught a night car, and sometimes +he walked all the way, arriving at the little house, where his mother +and himself lived alone, at four in the morning. Occasionally he was +given a ride on an early milk-cart, or on one of the newspaper delivery +wagons, with its high piles of papers still damp and sticky from the +press. He knew several drivers of “night hawks”--those cabs that prowl +the streets at night looking for belated passengers--and when it was a +very cold morning he would not go home at all, but would crawl into one +of these cabs and sleep, curled up on the cushions, until daylight. + +Besides being quick and cheerful, Gallegher possessed a power of amusing +the _Press's_ young men to a degree seldom attained by the ordinary +mortal. His clog-dancing on the city editor's desk, when that gentleman +was up-stairs fighting for two more columns of space, was always a +source of innocent joy to us, and his imitations of the comedians of +the variety halls delighted even the dramatic critic, from whom the +comedians themselves failed to force a smile. + +But Gallegher's chief characteristic was his love for that element +of news generically classed as “crime.” Not that he ever did anything +criminal himself. On the contrary, his was rather the work of the +criminal specialist, and his morbid interest in the doings of all queer +characters, his knowledge of their methods, their present whereabouts, +and their past deeds of transgression often rendered him a valuable ally +to our police reporter, whose daily feuilletons were the only portion of +the paper Gallegher deigned to read. + +In Gallegher the detective element was abnormally developed. He had +shown this on several occasions, and to excellent purpose. + +Once the paper had sent him into a Home for Destitute Orphans which was +believed to be grievously mismanaged, and Gallegher, while playing the +part of a destitute orphan, kept his eyes open to what was going on +around him so faithfully that the story he told of the treatment meted +out to the real orphans was sufficient to rescue the unhappy little +wretches from the individual who had them in charge, and to have the +individual himself sent to jail. + +Gallegher's knowledge of the aliases, terms of imprisonment, and +various misdoings of the leading criminals in Philadelphia was almost as +thorough as that of the chief of police himself, and he could tell to an +hour when “Dutchy Mack” was to be let out of prison, and could identify +at a glance “Dick Oxford, confidence man,” as “Gentleman Dan, petty +thief.” + +There were, at this time, only two pieces of news in any of the papers. +The least important of the two was the big fight between the Champion of +the United States and the Would-be Champion, arranged to take place +near Philadelphia; the second was the Burrbank murder, which was filling +space in newspapers all over the world, from New York to Bombay. + +Richard F. Burrbank was one of the most prominent of New York's railroad +lawyers; he was also, as a matter of course, an owner of much railroad +stock, and a very wealthy man. He had been spoken of as a political +possibility for many high offices, and, as the counsel for a great +railroad, was known even further than the great railroad itself had +stretched its system. + +At six o'clock one morning he was found by his butler lying at the foot +of the hall stairs with two pistol wounds above his heart. He was quite +dead. His safe, to which only he and his secretary had the keys, was +found open, and $200,000 in bonds, stocks, and money, which had been +placed there only the night before, was found missing. The secretary +was missing also. His name was Stephen S. Hade, and his name and his +description had been telegraphed and cabled to all parts of the world. +There was enough circumstantial evidence to show, beyond any question or +possibility of mistake, that he was the murderer. + +It made an enormous amount of talk, and unhappy individuals were +being arrested all over the country, and sent on to New York for +identification. Three had been arrested at Liverpool, and one man just +as he landed at Sydney, Australia. But so far the murderer had escaped. + +We were all talking about it one night, as everybody else was all over +the country, in the local room, and the city editor said it was worth +a fortune to any one who chanced to run across Hade and succeeded +in handing him over to the police. Some of us thought Hade had taken +passage from some one of the smaller seaports, and others were of the +opinion that he had buried himself in some cheap lodging-house in New +York, or in one of the smaller towns in New Jersey. + +“I shouldn't be surprised to meet him out walking, right here in +Philadelphia,” said one of the staff. “He'll be disguised, of course, +but you could always tell him by the absence of the trigger finger on +his right hand. It's missing, you know; shot off when he was a boy.” + +“You want to look for a man dressed like a tough,” said the city editor; +“for as this fellow is to all appearances a gentleman, he will try to +look as little like a gentleman as possible.” + +“No, he won't,” said Gallegher, with that calm impertinence that made +him dear to us. “He'll dress just like a gentleman. Toughs don't wear +gloves, and you see he's got to wear 'em. The first thing he thought of +after doing for Burrbank was of that gone finger, and how he was to hide +it. He stuffed the finger of that glove with cotton so's to make it look +like a whole finger, and the first time he takes off that glove they've +got him--see, and he knows it. So what youse want to do is to look for +a man with gloves on. I've been a-doing it for two weeks now, and I +can tell you it's hard work, for everybody wears gloves this kind of +weather. But if you look long enough you'll find him. And when you think +it's him, go up to him and hold out your hand in a friendly way, like a +bunco-steerer, and shake his hand; and if you feel that his forefinger +ain't real flesh, but just wadded cotton, then grip to it with your +right and grab his throat with your left, and holler for help.” + +There was an appreciative pause. + +“I see, gentlemen,” said the city editor, dryly, “that Gallegher's +reasoning has impressed you; and I also see that before the week is +out all of my young men will be under bonds for assaulting innocent +pedestrians whose only offence is that they wear gloves in midwinter.” + +It was about a week after this that Detective Hefflefinger, of Inspector +Byrnes's staff, came over to Philadelphia after a burglar, of whose +whereabouts he had been misinformed by telegraph. He brought the +warrant, requisition, and other necessary papers with him, but the +burglar had flown. One of our reporters had worked on a New York paper, +and knew Hefflefinger, and the detective came to the office to see if he +could help him in his so far unsuccessful search. + +He gave Gallegher his card, and after Gallegher had read it, and had +discovered who the visitor was, he became so demoralized that he was +absolutely useless. + +“One of Byrnes's men” was a much more awe-inspiring individual to +Gallegher than a member of the Cabinet. He accordingly seized his hat +and overcoat, and leaving his duties to be looked after by others, +hastened out after the object of his admiration, who found his +suggestions and knowledge of the city so valuable, and his company so +entertaining, that they became very intimate, and spent the rest of the +day together. + +In the meanwhile the managing editor had instructed his subordinates to +inform Gallegher, when he condescended to return, that his services +were no longer needed. Gallegher had played truant once too often. +Unconscious of this, he remained with his new friend until late the same +evening, and started the next afternoon toward the _Press_ office. + +As I have said, Gallegher lived in the most distant part of the city, +not many minutes' walk from the Kensington railroad station, where +trains ran into the suburbs and on to New York. + +It was in front of this station that a smoothly shaven, well-dressed man +brushed past Gallegher and hurried up the steps to the ticket office. + +He held a walking-stick in his right hand, and Gallegher, who now +patiently scrutinized the hands of every one who wore gloves, saw that +while three fingers of the man's hand were closed around the cane, the +fourth stood out in almost a straight line with his palm. + +Gallegher stopped with a gasp and with a trembling all over his little +body, and his brain asked with a throb if it could be possible. But +possibilities and probabilities were to be discovered later. Now was the +time for action. + +He was after the man in a moment, hanging at his heels and his eyes +moist with excitement. He heard the man ask for a ticket to Torresdale, +a little station just outside of Philadelphia, and when he was out of +hearing, but not out of sight, purchased one for the same place. + +The stranger went into the smoking-car, and seated himself at one end +toward the door. Gallegher took his place at the opposite end. + +He was trembling all over, and suffered from a slight feeling of nausea. +He guessed it came from fright, not of any bodily harm that might come +to him, but at the probability of failure in his adventure and of its +most momentous possibilities. + +The stranger pulled his coat collar up around his ears, hiding the lower +portion of his face, but not concealing the resemblance in his troubled +eyes and close-shut lips to the likenesses of the murderer Hade. + +They reached Torresdale in half an hour, and the stranger, alighting +quickly, struck off at a rapid pace down the country road leading to the +station. + +Gallegher gave him a hundred yards' start, and then followed slowly +after. The road ran between fields and past a few frame-houses set far +from the road in kitchen gardens. + +Once or twice the man looked back over his shoulder, but he saw only a +dreary length of road with a small boy splashing through the slush in +the midst of it and stopping every now and again to throw snowballs at +belated sparrows. + +After a ten minutes' walk the stranger turned into a side road which led +to only one place, the Eagle Inn, an old roadside hostelry known now as +the headquarters for pothunters from the Philadelphia game market and +the battle-ground of many a cock-fight. + +Gallegher knew the place well. He and his young companions had often +stopped there when out chestnutting on holidays in the autumn. + +The son of the man who kept it had often accompanied them on their +excursions, and though the boys of the city streets considered him a +dumb lout, they respected him somewhat owing to his inside knowledge of +dog and cock-fights. + +The stranger entered the inn at a side door, and Gallegher, reaching +it a few minutes later, let him go for the time being, and set about +finding his occasional playmate, young Keppler. + +Keppler's offspring was found in the wood-shed. + +“'Tain't hard to guess what brings you out here,” said the +tavern-keeper's son, with a grin; “it's the fight.” + +“What fight?” asked Gallegher, unguardedly. + +“What fight? Why, _the_ fight,” returned his companion, with the slow +contempt of superior knowledge. “It's to come off here to-night. You +knew that as well as me; anyway your sportin' editor knows it. He got +the tip last night, but that won't help you any. You needn't think +there's any chance of your getting a peep at it. Why, tickets is two +hundred and fifty apiece!” + +“Whew!” whistled Gallegher, “where's it to be?” + +“In the barn,” whispered Keppler. “I helped 'em fix the ropes this +morning, I did.” + +“Gosh, but you're in luck,” exclaimed Gallegher, with flattering envy. +“Couldn't I jest get a peep at it?” + +“Maybe,” said the gratified Keppler. “There's a winder with a wooden +shutter at the back of the barn. You can get in by it, if you have some +one to boost you up to the sill.” + +“Sa-a-y,” drawled Gallegher, as if something had but just that moment +reminded him. “Who's that gent who come down the road just a bit ahead +of me--him with the cape-coat! Has he got anything to do with the +fight?” + +“Him?” repeated Keppler in tones of sincere disgust. “No-oh, he ain't no +sport. He's queer, Dad thinks. He come here one day last week about ten +in the morning, said his doctor told him to go out 'en the country for +his health. He's stuck up and citified, and wears gloves, and takes his +meals private in his room, and all that sort of ruck. They was saying +in the saloon last night that they thought he was hiding from something, +and Dad, just to try him, asks him last night if he was coming to see +the fight. He looked sort of scared, and said he didn't want to see no +fight. And then Dad says, 'I guess you mean you don't want no fighters +to see you.' Dad didn't mean no harm by it, just passed it as a joke; +but Mr. Carleton, as he calls himself, got white as a ghost an' says, +'I'll go to the fight willing enough,' and begins to laugh and joke. And +this morning he went right into the bar-room, where all the sports were +setting, and said he was going into town to see some friends; and as he +starts off he laughs an' says, 'This don't look as if I was afraid of +seeing people, does it?' but Dad says it was just bluff that made him do +it, and Dad thinks that if he hadn't said what he did, this Mr. Carleton +wouldn't have left his room at all.” + +Gallegher had got all he wanted, and much more than he had hoped for--so +much more that his walk back to the station was in the nature of a +triumphal march. + +He had twenty minutes to wait for the next train, and it seemed an hour. +While waiting he sent a telegram to Hefflefinger at his hotel. It read: +“Your man is near the Torresdale station, on Pennsylvania Railroad; take +cab, and meet me at station. Wait until I come. GALLEGHER.” + +With the exception of one at midnight, no other train stopped at +Torresdale that evening, hence the direction to take a cab. + +The train to the city seemed to Gallegher to drag itself by inches. It +stopped and backed at purposeless intervals, waited for an express to +precede it, and dallied at stations, and when, at last, it reached the +terminus, Gallegher was out before it had stopped and was in the cab and +off on his way to the home of the sporting editor. + +The sporting editor was at dinner and came out in the hall to see him, +with his napkin in his hand. Gallegher explained breathlessly that he +had located the murderer for whom the police of two continents were +looking, and that he believed, in order to quiet the suspicions of the +people with whom he was hiding, that he would be present at the fight +that night. + +The sporting editor led Gallegher into his library and shut the door. +“Now,” he said, “go over all that again.” + +Gallegher went over it again in detail, and added how he had sent for +Hefflefinger to make the arrest in order that it might be kept from the +knowledge of the local police and from the Philadelphia reporters. + +“What I want Hefflefinger to do is to arrest Hade with the warrant he +has for the burglar,” explained Gallegher; “and to take him on to New +York on the owl train that passes Torresdale at one. It don't get to +Jersey City until four o'clock, one hour after the morning papers go to +press. Of course, we must fix Hefflefinger so's he'll keep quiet and not +tell who his prisoner really is.” + +The sporting editor reached his hand out to pat Gallegher on the head, +but changed his mind and shook hands with him instead. + +“My boy,” he said, “you are an infant phenomenon. If I can pull the +rest of this thing off to-night it will mean the $5,000 reward and fame +galore for you and the paper. Now, I'm going to write a note to the +managing editor, and you can take it around to him and tell him what +you've done and what I am going to do, and he'll take you back on +the paper and raise your salary. Perhaps you didn't know you've been +discharged?” + +“Do you think you ain't a-going to take me with you?” demanded +Gallegher. + +“Why, certainly not. Why should I? It all lies with the detective and +myself now. You've done your share, and done it well. If the man's +caught, the reward's yours. But you'd only be in the way now. You'd +better go to the office and make your peace with the chief.” + +“If the paper can get along without me, I can get along without the old +paper,” said Gallegher, hotly. “And if I ain't a-going with you, you +ain't neither, for I know where Hefflefinger is to be, and you don't, +and I won't tell you.” + +“Oh, very well, very well,” replied the sporting editor, weakly +capitulating. “I'll send the note by a messenger; only mind, if you lose +your place, don't blame me.” + +Gallegher wondered how this man could value a week's salary against the +excitement of seeing a noted criminal run down, and of getting the news +to the paper, and to that one paper alone. + +From that moment the sporting editor sank in Gallegher's estimation. + +Mr. Dwyer sat down at his desk and scribbled off the following note: + +“I have received reliable information that Hade, the Burrbank murderer, +will be present at the fight to-night. We have arranged it so that he +will be arrested quietly and in such a manner that the fact may be kept +from all other papers. I need not point out to you that this will be the +most important piece of news in the country to-morrow. + +“Yours, etc., MICHAEL E. DWYER.” + +The sporting editor stepped into the waiting cab, while Gallegher +whispered the directions to the driver. He was told to go first to a +district-messenger office, and from there up to the Ridge Avenue Road, +out Broad Street, and on to the old Eagle Inn, near Torresdale. It was +a miserable night. The rain and snow were falling together, and freezing +as they fell. The sporting editor got out to send his message to the +_Press_ office, and then lighting a cigar, and turning up the collar of +his great-coat, curled up in the corner of the cab. + +“Wake me when we get there, Gallegher,” he said. He knew he had a long +ride, and much rapid work before him, and he was preparing for the +strain. + +To Gallegher the idea of going to sleep seemed almost criminal. From +the dark corner of the cab his eyes shone with excitement, and with the +awful joy of anticipation. He glanced every now and then to where the +sporting editor's cigar shone in the darkness, and watched it as it +gradually burnt more dimly and went out. The lights in the shop windows +threw a broad glare across the ice on the pavements, and the lights from +the lamp-posts tossed the distorted shadow of the cab, and the horse, +and the motionless driver, sometimes before and sometimes behind them. + +After half an hour Gallegher slipped down to the bottom of the cab and +dragged out a lap-robe, in which he wrapped himself. It was growing +colder, and the damp, keen wind swept in through the cracks until the +window-frames and woodwork were cold to the touch. + +An hour passed, and the cab was still moving more slowly over the +rough surface of partly paved streets, and by single rows of new houses +standing at different angles to each other in fields covered with +ash-heaps and brick-kilns. Here and there the gaudy lights of a +drug-store, and the forerunner of suburban civilization, shone from +the end of a new block of houses, and the rubber cape of an occasional +policeman showed in the light of the lamp-post that he hugged for +comfort. + +Then even the houses disappeared, and the cab dragged its way between +truck farms, with desolate-looking glass-covered beds, and pools of +water, half-caked with ice, and bare trees, and interminable fences. + +Once or twice the cab stopped altogether, and Gallegher could hear the +driver swearing to himself, or at the horse, or the roads. At last they +drew up before the station at Torresdale. It was quite deserted, and +only a single light cut a swath in the darkness and showed a portion +of the platform, the ties, and the rails glistening in the rain. They +walked twice past the light before a figure stepped out of the shadow +and greeted them cautiously. + +“I am Mr. Dwyer, of the _Press,_” said the sporting editor, briskly. +“You've heard of me, perhaps. Well, there shouldn't be any difficulty +in our making a deal, should there? This boy here has found Hade, and +we have reason to believe he will be among the spectators at the +fight to-night. We want you to arrest him quietly, and as secretly as +possible. You can do it with your papers and your badge easily enough. +We want you to pretend that you believe he is this burglar you came over +after. If you will do this, and take him away without any one so much as +suspecting who he really is, and on the train that passes here at +1.20 for New York, we will give you $500 out of the $5,000 reward. +If, however, one other paper, either in New York or Philadelphia, or +anywhere else, knows of the arrest, you won't get a cent. Now, what do +you say?” + +The detective had a great deal to say. He wasn't at all sure the man +Gallegher suspected was Hade; he feared he might get himself into +trouble by making a false arrest, and if it should be the man, he was +afraid the local police would interfere. + +“We've no time to argue or debate this matter,” said Dwyer, warmly. “We +agree to point Hade out to you in the crowd. After the fight is over you +arrest him as we have directed, and you get the money and the credit of +the arrest. If you don't like this, I will arrest the man myself, and +have him driven to town, with a pistol for a warrant.” + +Hefflefinger considered in silence and then agreed unconditionally. “As +you say, Mr. Dwyer,” he returned. “I've heard of you for a thoroughbred +sport. I know you'll do what you say you'll do; and as for me I'll do +what you say and just as you say, and it's a very pretty piece of work +as it stands.” + +They all stepped back into the cab, and then it was that they were met +by a fresh difficulty, how to get the detective into the barn where the +fight was to take place, for neither of the two men had $250 to pay for +his admittance. + +But this was overcome when Gallegher remembered the window of which +young Keppler had told him. + +In the event of Hade's losing courage and not daring to show himself in +the crowd around the ring, it was agreed that Dwyer should come to the +barn and warn Hefflefinger; but if he should come, Dwyer was merely to +keep near him and to signify by a prearranged gesture which one of the +crowd he was. + +They drew up before a great black shadow of a house, dark, forbidding, +and apparently deserted. But at the sound of the wheels on the gravel +the door opened, letting out a stream of warm, cheerful light, and a +man's voice said, “Put out those lights. Don't youse know no better +than that?” This was Keppler, and he welcomed Mr. Dwyer with effusive +courtesy. + +The two men showed in the stream of light, and the door closed on them, +leaving the house as it was at first, black and silent, save for the +dripping of the rain and snow from the eaves. + +The detective and Gallegher put out the cab's lamps and led the horse +toward a long, low shed in the rear of the yard, which they now noticed +was almost filled with teams of many different makes, from the Hobson's +choice of a livery stable to the brougham of the man about town. + +“No,” said Gallegher, as the cabman stopped to hitch the horse beside +the others, “we want it nearest that lower gate. When we newspaper men +leave this place we'll leave it in a hurry, and the man who is nearest +town is likely to get there first. You won't be a-following of no hearse +when you make your return trip.” + +Gallegher tied the horse to the very gate-post itself, leaving the gate +open and allowing a clear road and a flying start for the prospective +race to Newspaper Row. + +The driver disappeared under the shelter of the porch, and Gallegher and +the detective moved off cautiously to the rear of the barn. “This must +be the window,” said Hefflefinger, pointing to a broad wooden shutter +some feet from the ground. + +“Just you give me a boost once, and I'll get that open in a jiffy,” said +Gallegher. + +The detective placed his hands on his knees, and Gallegher stood upon +his shoulders, and with the blade of his knife lifted the wooden button +that fastened the window on the inside, and pulled the shutter open. + +Then he put one leg inside over the sill, and leaning down helped to +draw his fellow-conspirator up to a level with the window. “I feel just +like I was burglarizing a house,” chuckled Gallegher, as he dropped +noiselessly to the floor below and refastened the shutter. The barn was +a large one, with a row of stalls on either side in which horses and +cows were dozing. There was a haymow over each row of stalls, and at one +end of the barn a number of fence-rails had been thrown across from one +mow to the other. These rails were covered with hay. + +{Illustration with caption: Gallegher stood upon his shoulders.} + +In the middle of the floor was the ring. It was not really a ring, but a +square, with wooden posts at its four corners through which ran a heavy +rope. The space inclosed by the rope was covered with sawdust. + +Gallegher could not resist stepping into the ring, and after stamping +the sawdust once or twice, as if to assure himself that he was really +there, began dancing around it, and indulging in such a remarkable +series of fistic manoeuvres with an imaginary adversary that the +unimaginative detective precipitately backed into a corner of the barn. + +“Now, then,” said Gallegher, having apparently vanquished his foe, “you +come with me.” His companion followed quickly as Gallegher climbed +to one of the hay-mows, and crawling carefully out on the fence-rail, +stretched himself at full length, face downward. In this position, by +moving the straw a little, he could look down, without being himself +seen, upon the heads of whomsoever stood below. “This is better'n a +private box, ain't it?” said Gallegher. + +The boy from the newspaper office and the detective lay there in +silence, biting at straws and tossing anxiously on their comfortable +bed. + +It seemed fully two hours before they came. Gallegher had listened +without breathing, and with every muscle on a strain, at least a dozen +times, when some movement in the yard had led him to believe that they +were at the door. And he had numerous doubts and fears. Sometimes it was +that the police had learnt of the fight, and had raided Keppler's in his +absence, and again it was that the fight had been postponed, or, worst +of all, that it would be put off until so late that Mr. Dwyer could not +get back in time for the last edition of the paper. Their coming, when +at last they came, was heralded by an advance-guard of two sporting men, +who stationed themselves at either side of the big door. + +“Hurry up, now, gents,” one of the men said with a shiver, “don't keep +this door open no longer'n is needful.” + +It was not a very large crowd, but it was wonderfully well selected. It +ran, in the majority of its component parts, to heavy white coats with +pearl buttons. The white coats were shouldered by long blue coats with +astrakhan fur trimmings, the wearers of which preserved a cliqueness not +remarkable when one considers that they believed every one else present +to be either a crook or a prize-fighter. + +There were well-fed, well-groomed club-men and brokers in the crowd, a +politician or two, a popular comedian with his manager, amateur boxers +from the athletic clubs, and quiet, close-mouthed sporting men from +every city in the country. Their names if printed in the papers would +have been as familiar as the types of the papers themselves. + +And among these men, whose only thought was of the brutal sport to come, +was Hade, with Dwyer standing at ease at his shoulder,--Hade, white, +and visibly in deep anxiety, hiding his pale face beneath a cloth +travelling-cap, and with his chin muffled in a woollen scarf. He had +dared to come because he feared his danger from the already suspicious +Keppler was less than if he stayed away. And so he was there, hovering +restlessly on the border of the crowd, feeling his danger and sick with +fear. + +When Hefflefinger first saw him he started up on his hands and elbows +and made a movement forward as if he would leap down then and there and +carry off his prisoner single-handed. + +“Lie down,” growled Gallegher; “an officer of any sort wouldn't live +three minutes in that crowd.” + +The detective drew back slowly and buried himself again in the straw, +but never once through the long fight which followed did his eyes leave +the person of the murderer. The newspaper men took their places in the +foremost row close around the ring, and kept looking at their watches +and begging the master of ceremonies to “shake it up, do.” + +There was a great deal of betting, and all of the men handled the great +roll of bills they wagered with a flippant recklessness which could only +be accounted for in Gallegher's mind by temporary mental derangement. +Some one pulled a box out into the ring and the master of ceremonies +mounted it, and pointed out in forcible language that as they were +almost all already under bonds to keep the peace, it behooved all to +curb their excitement and to maintain a severe silence, unless they +wanted to bring the police upon them and have themselves “sent down” for +a year or two. + +Then two very disreputable-looking persons tossed their respective +principals' high hats into the ring, and the crowd, recognizing in this +relic of the days when brave knights threw down their gauntlets in +the lists as only a sign that the fight was about to begin, cheered +tumultuously. + +This was followed by a sudden surging forward, and a mutter of +admiration much more flattering than the cheers had been, when the +principals followed their hats, and slipping out of their great-coats, +stood forth in all the physical beauty of the perfect brute. + +Their pink skin was as soft and healthy looking as a baby's, and glowed +in the lights of the lanterns like tinted ivory, and underneath this +silken covering the great biceps and muscles moved in and out and looked +like the coils of a snake around the branch of a tree. + +Gentleman and blackguard shouldered each other for a nearer view; the +coachmen, whose metal buttons were unpleasantly suggestive of police, +put their hands, in the excitement of the moment, on the shoulders +of their masters; the perspiration stood out in great drops on the +foreheads of the backers, and the newspaper men bit somewhat nervously +at the ends of their pencils. + +And in the stalls the cows munched contentedly at their cuds and gazed +with gentle curiosity at their two fellow-brutes, who stood waiting the +signal to fall upon, and kill each other if need be, for the delectation +of their brothers. + +“Take your places,” commanded the master of ceremonies. + +In the moment in which the two men faced each other the crowd became so +still that, save for the beating of the rain upon the shingled roof and +the stamping of a horse in one of the stalls, the place was as silent as +a church. + +“Time,” shouted the master of ceremonies. + +The two men sprang into a posture of defence, which was lost as quickly +as it was taken, one great arm shot out like a piston-rod; there was +the sound of bare fists beating on naked flesh; there was an exultant +indrawn gasp of savage pleasure and relief from the crowd, and the great +fight had begun. + +How the fortunes of war rose and fell, and changed and rechanged that +night, is an old story to those who listen to such stories; and those +who do not will be glad to be spared the telling of it. It was, they +say, one of the bitterest fights between two men that this country has +ever known. + +But all that is of interest here is that after an hour of this desperate +brutal business the champion ceased to be the favorite; the man whom +he had taunted and bullied, and for whom the public had but little +sympathy, was proving himself a likely winner, and under his cruel +blows, as sharp and clean as those from a cutlass, his opponent was +rapidly giving way. + +The men about the ropes were past all control now; they drowned +Keppler's petitions for silence with oaths and in inarticulate shouts of +anger, as if the blows had fallen upon them, and in mad rejoicings. They +swept from one end of the ring to the other, with every muscle leaping +in unison with those of the man they favored, and when a New York +correspondent muttered over his shoulder that this would be the biggest +sporting surprise since the Heenan-Sayers fight, Mr. Dwyer nodded his +head sympathetically in assent. + +In the excitement and tumult it is doubtful if any heard the three +quickly repeated blows that fell heavily from the outside upon the big +doors of the barn. If they did, it was already too late to mend matters, +for the door fell, torn from its hinges, and as it fell a captain of +police sprang into the light from out of the storm, with his lieutenants +and their men crowding close at his shoulder. + +In the panic and stampede that followed, several of the men stood as +helplessly immovable as though they had seen a ghost; others made a +mad rush into the arms of the officers and were beaten back against +the ropes of the ring; others dived headlong into the stalls, among the +horses and cattle, and still others shoved the rolls of money they held +into the hands of the police and begged like children to be allowed to +escape. + +The instant the door fell and the raid was declared Hefflefinger slipped +over the cross rails on which he had been lying, hung for an instant by +his hands, and then dropped into the centre of the fighting mob on the +floor. He was out of it in an instant with the agility of a pickpocket, +was across the room and at Hade's throat like a dog. The murderer, for +the moment, was the calmer man of the two. + +“Here,” he panted, “hands off, now. There's no need for all this +violence. There's no great harm in looking at a fight, is there? There's +a hundred-dollar bill in my right hand; take it and let me slip out of +this. No one is looking. Here.” + +But the detective only held him the closer. + +“I want you for burglary,” he whispered under his breath. “You've got to +come with me now, and quick. The less fuss you make, the better for both +of us. If you don't know who I am, you can feel my badge under my coat +there. I've got the authority. It's all regular, and when we're out of +this d--d row I'll show you the papers.” + +He took one hand from Hade's throat and pulled a pair of handcuffs from +his pocket. + +“It's a mistake. This is an outrage,” gasped the murderer, white and +trembling, but dreadfully alive and desperate for his liberty. “Let me +go, I tell you! Take your hands off of me! Do I look like a burglar, you +fool?” + +“I know who you look like,” whispered the detective, with his face close +to the face of his prisoner. “Now, will you go easy as a burglar, or +shall I tell these men who you are and what I _do_ want you for? Shall +I call out your real name or not? Shall I tell them? Quick, speak up; +shall I?” + +There was something so exultant--something so unnecessarily savage in +the officer's face that the man he held saw that the detective knew him +for what he really was, and the hands that had held his throat slipped +down around his shoulders, or he would have fallen. The man's eyes +opened and closed again, and he swayed weakly backward and forward, and +choked as if his throat were dry and burning. Even to such a hardened +connoisseur in crime as Gallegher, who stood closely by, drinking it in, +there was something so abject in the man's terror that he regarded him +with what was almost a touch of pity. + +“For God's sake,” Hade begged, “let me go. Come with me to my room and +I'll give you half the money. I'll divide with you fairly. We can both +get away. There's a fortune for both of us there. We both can get away. +You'll be rich for life. Do you understand--for life!” + +But the detective, to his credit, only shut his lips the tighter. + +“That's enough,” he whispered, in return. “That's more than I expected. +You've sentenced yourself already. Come!” + +Two officers in uniform barred their exit at the door, but Hefflefinger +smiled easily and showed his badge. + +“One of Byrnes's men,” he said, in explanation; “came over expressly +to take this chap. He's a burglar; 'Arlie' Lane, _alias_ Carleton. I've +shown the papers to the captain. It's all regular. I'm just going to get +his traps at the hotel and walk him over to the station. I guess we'll +push right on to New York to-night.” + +The officers nodded and smiled their admiration for the representative +of what is, perhaps, the best detective force in the world, and let him +pass. + +Then Hefflefinger turned and spoke to Gallegher, who still stood as +watchful as a dog at his side. “I'm going to his room to get the bonds +and stuff,” he whispered; “then I'll march him to the station and take +that train. I've done my share; don't forget yours!” + +“Oh, you'll get your money right enough,” said Gallegher. “And, sa-ay,” + he added, with the appreciative nod of an expert, “do you know, you did +it rather well.” + +Mr. Dwyer had been writing while the raid was settling down, as he had +been writing while waiting for the fight to begin. Now he walked over to +where the other correspondents stood in angry conclave. + +The newspaper men had informed the officers who hemmed them in that they +represented the principal papers of the country, and were expostulating +vigorously with the captain, who had planned the raid, and who declared +they were under arrest. + +{Illustration with caption: “For God's sake,” Hade begged, “let me go!”} + +“Don't be an ass, Scott,” said Mr. Dwyer, who was too excited to be +polite or politic. “You know our being here isn't a matter of choice. We +came here on business, as you did, and you've no right to hold us.” + +“If we don't get our stuff on the wire at once,” protested a New York +man, “we'll be too late for to-morrow's paper, and----” + +Captain Scott said he did not care a profanely small amount for +to-morrow's paper, and that all he knew was that to the station-house +the newspaper men would go. There they would have a hearing, and if the +magistrate chose to let them off, that was the magistrate's business, +but that his duty was to take them into custody. + +“But then it will be too late, don't you understand?” shouted Mr. Dwyer. +“You've got to let us go _now,_ at once.” + +“I can't do it, Mr. Dwyer,” said the captain, “and that's all there is +to it. Why, haven't I just sent the president of the Junior Republican +Club to the patrol-wagon, the man that put this coat on me, and do you +think I can let you fellows go after that? You were all put under bonds +to keep the peace not three days ago, and here you're at it--fighting +like badgers. It's worth my place to let one of you off.” + +What Mr. Dwyer said next was so uncomplimentary to the gallant Captain +Scott that that overwrought individual seized the sporting editor by the +shoulder, and shoved him into the hands of two of his men. + +This was more than the distinguished Mr. Dwyer could brook, and he +excitedly raised his hand in resistance. But before he had time to do +anything foolish his wrist was gripped by one strong, little hand, and +he was conscious that another was picking the pocket of his great-coat. + +He slapped his hands to his sides, and looking down, saw Gallegher +standing close behind him and holding him by the wrist. Mr. Dwyer +had forgotten the boy's existence, and would have spoken sharply if +something in Gallegher's innocent eyes had not stopped him. + +Gallegher's hand was still in that pocket, in which Mr. Dwyer had shoved +his note-book filled with what he had written of Gallegher's work and +Hade's final capture, and with a running descriptive account of the +fight. With his eyes fixed on Mr. Dwyer, Gallegher drew it out, and with +a quick movement shoved it inside his waistcoat. Mr. Dwyer gave a nod of +comprehension. Then glancing at his two guardsmen, and finding that they +were still interested in the wordy battle of the correspondents +with their chief, and had seen nothing, he stooped and whispered to +Gallegher: “The forms are locked at twenty minutes to three. If you +don't get there by that time it will be of no use, but if you're on time +you'll beat the town--and the country too.” + +Gallegher's eyes flashed significantly, and nodding his head to show he +understood, started boldly on a run toward the door. But the officers +who guarded it brought him to an abrupt halt, and, much to Mr. Dwyer's +astonishment, drew from him what was apparently a torrent of tears. + +“Let me go to me father. I want me father,” the boy shrieked, +hysterically. “They've 'rested father. Oh, daddy, daddy. They're a-goin' +to take you to prison.” + +“Who is your father, sonny?” asked one of the guardians of the gate. + +“Keppler's me father,” sobbed Gallegher. “They're a-goin' to lock him +up, and I'll never see him no more.” + +“Oh, yes, you will,” said the officer, good-naturedly; “he's there in +that first patrol-wagon. You can run over and say good night to him, and +then you'd better get to bed. This ain't no place for kids of your age.” + +“Thank you, sir,” sniffed Gallegher, tearfully, as the two officers +raised their clubs, and let him pass out into the darkness. + +The yard outside was in a tumult, horses were stamping, and plunging, +and backing the carriages into one another; lights were flashing from +every window of what had been apparently an uninhabited house, and the +voices of the prisoners were still raised in angry expostulation. + +Three police patrol-wagons were moving about the yard, filled with +unwilling passengers, who sat or stood, packed together like sheep, and +with no protection from the sleet and rain. + +Gallegher stole off into a dark corner, and watched the scene until his +eyesight became familiar with the position of the land. + +Then with his eyes fixed fearfully on the swinging light of a lantern +with which an officer was searching among the carriages, he groped his +way between horses' hoofs and behind the wheels of carriages to the cab +which he had himself placed at the furthermost gate. It was still there, +and the horse, as he had left it, with its head turned toward the city. +Gallegher opened the big gate noiselessly, and worked nervously at the +hitching strap. The knot was covered with a thin coating of ice, and +it was several minutes before he could loosen it. But his teeth finally +pulled it apart, and with the reins in his hands he sprang upon the +wheel. And as he stood so, a shock of fear ran down his back like an +electric current, his breath left him, and he stood immovable, gazing +with wide eyes into the darkness. + +The officer with the lantern had suddenly loomed up from behind a +carriage not fifty feet distant, and was standing perfectly still, with +his lantern held over his head, peering so directly toward Gallegher +that the boy felt that he must see him. Gallegher stood with one foot on +the hub of the wheel and with the other on the box waiting to spring. It +seemed a minute before either of them moved, and then the officer took +a step forward, and demanded sternly, “Who is that? What are you doing +there?” + +There was no time for parley then. Gallegher felt that he had been taken +in the act, and that his only chance lay in open flight. He leaped up +on the box, pulling out the whip as he did so, and with a quick sweep +lashed the horse across the head and back. The animal sprang forward +with a snort, narrowly clearing the gate-post, and plunged off into the +darkness. + +“Stop!” cried the officer. + +So many of Gallegher's acquaintances among the 'longshoremen and mill +hands had been challenged in so much the same manner that Gallegher +knew what would probably follow if the challenge was disregarded. So he +slipped from his seat to the footboard below, and ducked his head. + +The three reports of a pistol, which rang out briskly from behind him, +proved that his early training had given him a valuable fund of useful +miscellaneous knowledge. + +“Don't you be scared,” he said, reassuringly, to the horse; “he's firing +in the air.” + +The pistol-shots were answered by the impatient clangor of a +patrol-wagon's gong, and glancing over his shoulder Gallegher saw its +red and green lanterns tossing from side to side and looking in the +darkness like the side-lights of a yacht plunging forward in a storm. + +“I hadn't bargained to race you against no patrol-wagons,” said +Gallegher to his animal; “but if they want a race, we'll give them a +tough tussle for it, won't we?” + +Philadelphia, lying four miles to the south, sent up a faint yellow glow +to the sky. It seemed very far away, and Gallegher's braggadocio grew +cold within him at the loneliness of his adventure and the thought of +the long ride before him. + +It was still bitterly cold. + +The rain and sleet beat through his clothes, and struck his skin with a +sharp chilling touch that set him trembling. + +Even the thought of the over-weighted patrol-wagon probably sticking +in the mud some safe distance in the rear, failed to cheer him, and the +excitement that had so far made him callous to the cold died out and +left him weaker and nervous. But his horse was chilled with the long +standing, and now leaped eagerly forward, only too willing to warm the +half-frozen blood in its veins. + +“You're a good beast,” said Gallegher, plaintively. “You've got more +nerve than me. Don't you go back on me now. Mr. Dwyer says we've got +to beat the town.” Gallegher had no idea what time it was as he rode +through the night, but he knew he would be able to find out from a +big clock over a manufactory at a point nearly three-quarters of the +distance from Keppler's to the goal. + +He was still in the open country and driving recklessly, for he knew the +best part of his ride must be made outside the city limits. + +He raced between desolate-looking corn-fields with bare stalks and +patches of muddy earth rising above the thin covering of snow, truck +farms and brick-yards fell behind him on either side. It was very lonely +work, and once or twice the dogs ran yelping to the gates and barked +after him. + +Part of his way lay parallel with the railroad tracks, and he drove +for some time beside long lines of freight and coal cars as they stood +resting for the night. The fantastic Queen Anne suburban stations were +dark and deserted, but in one or two of the block-towers he could +see the operators writing at their desks, and the sight in some way +comforted him. + +Once he thought of stopping to get out the blanket in which he had +wrapped himself on the first trip, but he feared to spare the time, and +drove on with his teeth chattering and his shoulders shaking with the +cold. + +He welcomed the first solitary row of darkened houses with a faint cheer +of recognition. The scattered lamp-posts lightened his spirits, and even +the badly paved streets rang under the beats of his horse's feet like +music. Great mills and manufactories, with only a night-watchman's light +in the lowest of their many stories, began to take the place of the +gloomy farm-houses and gaunt trees that had startled him with their +grotesque shapes. He had been driving nearly an hour, he calculated, and +in that time the rain had changed to a wet snow, that fell heavily +and clung to whatever it touched. He passed block after block of trim +workmen's houses, as still and silent as the sleepers within them, and +at last he turned the horse's head into Broad Street, the city's great +thoroughfare, that stretches from its one end to the other and cuts it +evenly in two. + +He was driving noiselessly over the snow and slush in the street, with +his thoughts bent only on the clock-face he wished so much to see, when +a hoarse voice challenged him from the sidewalk. “Hey, you, stop there, +hold up!” said the voice. + +Gallegher turned his head, and though he saw that the voice came from +under a policeman's helmet, his only answer was to hit his horse sharply +over the head with his whip and to urge it into a gallop. + +This, on his part, was followed by a sharp, shrill whistle from the +policeman. Another whistle answered it from a street-corner one block +ahead of him. “Whoa,” said Gallegher, pulling on the reins. “There's +one too many of them,” he added, in apologetic explanation. The horse +stopped, and stood, breathing heavily, with great clouds of steam rising +from its flanks. + +“Why in hell didn't you stop when I told you to?” demanded the voice, +now close at the cab's side. + +“I didn't hear you,” returned Gallegher, sweetly. “But I heard you +whistle, and I heard your partner whistle, and I thought maybe it was me +you wanted to speak to, so I just stopped.” + +“You heard me well enough. Why aren't your lights lit?” demanded the +voice. + +“Should I have 'em lit?” asked Gallegher, bending over and regarding +them with sudden interest. + +“You know you should, and if you don't, you've no right to be driving +that cab. I don't believe you're the regular driver, anyway. Where'd you +get it?” + +“It ain't my cab, of course,” said Gallegher, with an easy laugh. “It's +Luke McGovern's. He left it outside Cronin's while he went in to get a +drink, and he took too much, and me father told me to drive it round to +the stable for him. I'm Cronin's son. McGovern ain't in no condition to +drive. You can see yourself how he's been misusing the horse. He puts it +up at Bachman's livery stable, and I was just going around there now.” + +Gallegher's knowledge of the local celebrities of the district confused +the zealous officer of the peace. He surveyed the boy with a steady +stare that would have distressed a less skilful liar, but Gallegher only +shrugged his shoulders slightly, as if from the cold, and waited with +apparent indifference to what the officer would say next. + +In reality his heart was beating heavily against his side, and he felt +that if he was kept on a strain much longer he would give way and break +down. A second snow-covered form emerged suddenly from the shadow of the +houses. + +“What is it, Reeder?” it asked. + +“Oh, nothing much,” replied the first officer. + +“This kid hadn't any lamps lit, so I called to him to stop and he didn't +do it, so I whistled to you. It's all right, though. He's just taking it +round to Bachman's. Go ahead,” he added, sulkily. + +“Get up!” chirped Gallegher. “Good night,” he added, over his shoulder. + +Gallegher gave an hysterical little gasp of relief as he trotted away +from the two policemen, and poured bitter maledictions on their heads +for two meddling fools as he went. + +“They might as well kill a man as scare him to death,” he said, with +an attempt to get back to his customary flippancy. But the effort was +somewhat pitiful, and he felt guiltily conscious that a salt, warm tear +was creeping slowly down his face, and that a lump that would not keep +down was rising in his throat. + +“'Tain't no fair thing for the whole police force to keep worrying at +a little boy like me,” he said, in shame-faced apology. “I'm not doing +nothing wrong, and I'm half froze to death, and yet they keep a-nagging +at me.” + +It was so cold that when the boy stamped his feet against the footboard +to keep them warm, sharp pains shot up through his body, and when he +beat his arms about his shoulders, as he had seen real cabmen do, the +blood in his finger-tips tingled so acutely that he cried aloud with the +pain. + +He had often been up that late before, but he had never felt so sleepy. +It was as if some one was pressing a sponge heavy with chloroform near +his face, and he could not fight off the drowsiness that lay hold of +him. + +He saw, dimly hanging above his head, a round disc of light that seemed +like a great moon, and which he finally guessed to be the clock-face for +which he had been on the look-out. He had passed it before he realized +this; but the fact stirred him into wakefulness again, and when his +cab's wheels slipped around the City Hall corner, he remembered to +look up at the other big clock-face that keeps awake over the railroad +station and measures out the night. + +He gave a gasp of consternation when he saw that it was half-past two, +and that there was but ten minutes left to him. This, and the many +electric lights and the sight of the familiar pile of buildings, +startled him into a semi-consciousness of where he was and how great was +the necessity for haste. + +He rose in his seat and called on the horse, and urged it into a +reckless gallop over the slippery asphalt. He considered nothing else +but speed, and looking neither to the left nor right dashed off down +Broad Street into Chestnut, where his course lay straight away to the +office, now only seven blocks distant. + +Gallegher never knew how it began, but he was suddenly assaulted by +shouts on either side, his horse was thrown back on its haunches, and +he found two men in cabmen's livery hanging at its head, and patting its +sides, and calling it by name. And the other cabmen who have their stand +at the corner were swarming about the carriage, all of them talking and +swearing at once, and gesticulating wildly with their whips. + +They said they knew the cab was McGovern's, and they wanted to know +where he was, and why he wasn't on it; they wanted to know where +Gallegher had stolen it, and why he had been such a fool as to drive it +into the arms of its owner's friends; they said that it was about time +that a cab-driver could get off his box to take a drink without having +his cab run away with, and some of them called loudly for a policeman to +take the young thief in charge. + +Gallegher felt as if he had been suddenly dragged into consciousness +out of a bad dream, and stood for a second like a half-awakened +somnambulist. + +They had stopped the cab under an electric light, and its glare shone +coldly down upon the trampled snow and the faces of the men around him. + +Gallegher bent forward, and lashed savagely at the horse with his whip. + +“Let me go,” he shouted, as he tugged impotently at the reins. “Let me +go, I tell you. I haven't stole no cab, and you've got no right to stop +me. I only want to take it to the _Press_ office,” he begged. “They'll +send it back to you all right. They'll pay you for the trip. I'm not +running away with it. The driver's got the collar--he's 'rested--and I'm +only a-going to the _Press_ office. Do you hear me?” he cried, his voice +rising and breaking in a shriek of passion and disappointment. “I tell +you to let go those reins. Let me go, or I'll kill you. Do you hear me? +I'll kill you.” And leaning forward, the boy struck savagely with his +long whip at the faces of the men about the horse's head. + +Some one in the crowd reached up and caught him by the ankles, and with +a quick jerk pulled him off the box, and threw him on to the street. But +he was up on his knees in a moment, and caught at the man's hand. + +“Don't let them stop me, mister,” he cried, “please let me go. I didn't +steal the cab, sir. S'help me, I didn't. I'm telling you the truth. Take +me to the _Press_ office, and they'll prove it to you. They'll pay you +anything you ask 'em. It's only such a little ways now, and I've come +so far, sir. Please don't let them stop me,” he sobbed, clasping the man +about the knees. “For Heaven's sake, mister, let me go!” + +The managing editor of the _Press_ took up the india-rubber +speaking-tube at his side, and answered, “Not yet” to an inquiry the +night editor had already put to him five times within the last twenty +minutes. + +Then he snapped the metal top of the tube impatiently, and went +up-stairs. As he passed the door of the local room, he noticed that the +reporters had not gone home, but were sitting about on the tables and +chairs, waiting. They looked up inquiringly as he passed, and the city +editor asked, “Any news yet?” and the managing editor shook his head. + +The compositors were standing idle in the composing-room, and their +foreman was talking with the night editor. + +“Well,” said that gentleman, tentatively. + +“Well,” returned the managing editor, “I don't think we can wait; do +you?” + +“It's a half-hour after time now,” said the night editor, “and we'll +miss the suburban trains if we hold the paper back any longer. We can't +afford to wait for a purely hypothetical story. The chances are all +against the fight's having taken place or this Hade's having been +arrested.” + +“But if we're beaten on it--” suggested the chief. “But I don't think +that is possible. If there were any story to print, Dwyer would have had +it here before now.” + +The managing editor looked steadily down at the floor. + +“Very well,” he said, slowly, “we won't wait any longer. Go ahead,” he +added, turning to the foreman with a sigh of reluctance. The foreman +whirled himself about, and began to give his orders; but the two editors +still looked at each other doubtfully. + +As they stood so, there came a sudden shout and the sound of people +running to and fro in the reportorial rooms below. There was the tramp +of many footsteps on the stairs, and above the confusion they heard the +voice of the city editor telling some one to “run to Madden's and get +some brandy, quick.” + +No one in the composing-room said anything; but those compositors who +had started to go home began slipping off their overcoats, and every one +stood with his eyes fixed on the door. + +It was kicked open from the outside, and in the doorway stood a +cab-driver and the city editor, supporting between them a pitiful little +figure of a boy, wet and miserable, and with the snow melting on his +clothes and running in little pools to the floor. “Why, it's Gallegher,” + said the night editor, in a tone of the keenest disappointment. + +Gallegher shook himself free from his supporters, and took an unsteady +step forward, his fingers fumbling stiffly with the buttons of his +waistcoat. + +“Mr. Dwyer, sir,” he began faintly, with his eyes fixed fearfully on the +managing editor, “he got arrested--and I couldn't get here no sooner, +'cause they kept a-stopping me, and they took me cab from under +me--but--” he pulled the notebook from his breast and held it out with +its covers damp and limp from the rain, “but we got Hade, and here's Mr. +Dwyer's copy.” + +And then he asked, with a queer note in his voice, partly of dread and +partly of hope, “Am I in time, sir?” + +The managing editor took the book, and tossed it to the foreman, who +ripped out its leaves and dealt them out to his men as rapidly as a +gambler deals out cards. + +Then the managing editor stooped and picked Gallegher up in his arms, +and, sitting down, began to unlace his wet and muddy shoes. + +Gallegher made a faint effort to resist this degradation of the +managerial dignity; but his protest was a very feeble one, and his head +fell back heavily on the managing editor's shoulder. + +To Gallegher the incandescent lights began to whirl about in circles, +and to burn in different colors; the faces of the reporters kneeling +before him and chafing his hands and feet grew dim and unfamiliar, and +the roar and rumble of the great presses in the basement sounded far +away, like the murmur of the sea. + +And then the place and the circumstances of it came back to him again +sharply and with sudden vividness. + +Gallegher looked up, with a faint smile, into the managing editor's +face. “You won't turn me off for running away, will you?” he whispered. + +The managing editor did not answer immediately. His head was bent, and +he was thinking, for some reason or other, of a little boy of his own, +at home in bed. Then he said, quietly, “Not this time, Gallegher.” + +Gallegher's head sank back comfortably on the older man's shoulder, and +he smiled comprehensively at the faces of the young men crowded around +him. “You hadn't ought to,” he said, with a touch of his old impudence, +“'cause--I beat the town.” + + + + +A WALK UP THE AVENUE + + +He came down the steps slowly, and pulling mechanically at his gloves. + +He remembered afterwards that some woman's face had nodded brightly +to him from a passing brougham, and that he had lifted his hat through +force of habit, and without knowing who she was. + +He stopped at the bottom of the steps, and stood for a moment +uncertainly, and then turned toward the north, not because he had any +definite goal in his mind, but because the other way led toward his +rooms, and he did not want to go there yet. + +He was conscious of a strange feeling of elation, which he attributed +to his being free, and to the fact that he was his own master again +in everything. And with this he confessed to a distinct feeling of +littleness, of having acted meanly or unworthily of himself or of her. + +And yet he had behaved well, even quixotically. He had tried to leave +the impression with her that it was her wish, and that she had broken +with him, not he with her. + +He held a man who threw a girl over as something contemptible, and he +certainly did not want to appear to himself in that light; or, for her +sake, that people should think he had tired of her, or found her wanting +in any one particular. He knew only too well how people would talk. How +they would say he had never really cared for her; that he didn't know +his own mind when he had proposed to her; and that it was a great deal +better for her as it is than if he had grown out of humor with her +later. As to their saying she had jilted him, he didn't mind that. He +much preferred they should take that view of it, and he was chivalrous +enough to hope she would think so too. + +He was walking slowly, and had reached Thirtieth Street. A great many +young girls and women had bowed to him or nodded from the passing +carriages, but it did not tend to disturb the measure of his thoughts. +He was used to having people put themselves out to speak to him; +everybody made a point of knowing him, not because he was so very +handsome and well-looking, and an over-popular youth, but because he was +as yet unspoiled by it. + +But, in any event, he concluded, it was a miserable business. Still, he +had only done what was right. He had seen it coming on for a month now, +and how much better it was that they should separate now than later, or +that they should have had to live separated in all but location for the +rest of their lives! Yes, he had done the right thing--decidedly the +only thing to do. + +He was still walking up the Avenue, and had reached Thirty-second +Street, at which point his thoughts received a sudden turn. A half-dozen +men in a club window nodded to him, and brought to him sharply what he +was going back to. He had dropped out of their lives as entirely of late +as though he had been living in a distant city. When he had met them he +had found their company uninteresting and unprofitable. He had wondered +how he had ever cared for that sort of thing, and where had been the +pleasure of it. Was he going back now to the gossip of that window, to +the heavy discussions of traps and horses, to late breakfasts and early +suppers? Must he listen to their congratulations on his being one of +them again, and must he guess at their whispered conjectures as to how +soon it would be before he again took up the chains and harness of their +fashion? He struck the pavement sharply with his stick. No, he was not +going back. + +She had taught him to find amusement and occupation in many things +that were better and higher than any pleasures or pursuits he had known +before, and he could not give them up. He had her to thank for that at +least. And he would give her credit for it too, and gratefully. He would +always remember it, and he would show in his way of living the influence +and the good effects of these three months in which they had been +continually together. + +He had reached Forty-second Street now. Well, it was over with, and he +would get to work at something or other. This experience had shown him +that he was not meant for marriage; that he was intended to live alone. +Because, if he found that a girl as lovely as she undeniably was palled +on him after three months, it was evident that he would never live +through life with any other one. Yes, he would always be a bachelor. He +had lived his life, had told his story at the age of twenty-five, and +would wait patiently for the end, a marked and gloomy man. He would +travel now and see the world. He would go to that hotel in Cairo she was +always talking about, where they were to have gone on their honeymoon; +or he might strike further into Africa, and come back bronzed and worn +with long marches and jungle fever, and with his hair prematurely white. +He even considered himself, with great self-pity, returning and finding +her married and happy, of course. And he enjoyed, in anticipation, the +secret doubts she would have of her later choice when she heard on all +sides praise of this distinguished traveller. + +And he pictured himself meeting her reproachful glances with fatherly +friendliness, and presenting her husband with tiger-skins, and buying +her children extravagant presents. + +This was at Forty-fifth Street. + +Yes, that was decidedly the best thing to do. To go away and improve +himself, and study up all those painters and cathedrals with which she +was so hopelessly conversant. + +He remembered how out of it she had once made him feel, and how secretly +he had admired her when she had referred to a modern painting as looking +like those in the long gallery of the Louvre. He thought he knew all +about the Louvre, but he would go over again and locate that long +gallery, and become able to talk to her understandingly about it. + +And then it came over him like a blast of icy air that he could never +talk over things with her again. He had reached Fifty-fifth Street now, +and the shock brought him to a standstill on the corner, where he stood +gazing blankly before him. He felt rather weak physically, and decided +to go back to his rooms, and then he pictured how cheerless they would +look, and how little of comfort they contained. He had used them only to +dress and sleep in of late, and the distaste with which he regarded +the idea that he must go back to them to read and sit and live in them, +showed him how utterly his life had become bound up with the house on +Twenty-seventh Street. + +“Where was he to go in the evening?” he asked himself, with pathetic +hopelessness, “or in the morning or afternoon for that matter?” Were +there to be no more of those journeys to picture-galleries and to +the big publishing houses, where they used to hover over the new book +counter and pull the books about, and make each other innumerable +presents of daintily bound volumes, until the clerks grew to know them +so well that they never went through the form of asking where the books +were to be sent? And those tete-a-tete luncheons at her house when her +mother was upstairs with a headache or a dressmaker, and the long rides +and walks in the Park in the afternoon, and the rush down town to dress, +only to return to dine with them, ten minutes late always, and always +with some new excuse, which was allowed if it was clever, and frowned at +if it was common-place--was all this really over? + +Why, the town had only run on because she was in it, and as he walked +the streets the very shop windows had suggested her to him--florists +only existed that he might send her flowers, and gowns and bonnets in +the milliners' windows were only pretty as they would become her; and as +for the theatres and the newspapers, they were only worth while as they +gave her pleasure. And he had given all this up, and for what, he asked +himself, and why? + +He could not answer that now. It was simply because he had been +surfeited with too much content, he replied, passionately. He had not +appreciated how happy he had been. She had been too kind, too gracious. +He had never known until he had quarrelled with her and lost her how +precious and dear she had been to him. + +He was at the entrance to the Park now, and he strode on along the walk, +bitterly upbraiding himself for being worse than a criminal--a fool, a +common blind mortal to whom a goddess had stooped. + +He remembered with bitter regret a turn off the drive into which they +had wandered one day, a secluded, pretty spot with a circle of box +around it, and into the turf of which he had driven his stick, and +claimed it for them both by the right of discovery. And he recalled how +they had used to go there, just out of sight of their friends in the +ride, and sit and chatter on a green bench beneath a bush of box, +like any nursery maid and her young man, while her groom stood at the +brougham door in the bridle-path beyond. He had broken off a sprig of +the box one day and given it to her, and she had kissed it foolishly, +and laughed, and hidden it in the folds of her riding-skirt, in +burlesque fear lest the guards should arrest them for breaking the +much-advertised ordinance. + +And he remembered with a miserable smile how she had delighted him +with her account of her adventure to her mother, and described them as +fleeing down the Avenue with their treasure, pursued by a squadron of +mounted policemen. + +This and a hundred other of the foolish, happy fancies they had shared +in common came back to him, and he remembered how she had stopped one +cold afternoon just outside of this favorite spot, beside an open iron +grating sunk in the path, into which the rain had washed the autumn +leaves, and pretended it was a steam radiator, and held her slim gloved +hands out over it as if to warm them. + +How absurdly happy she used to make him, and how light-hearted she had +been! He determined suddenly and sentimentally to go to that secret +place now, and bury the engagement ring she had handed back to him under +that bush as he had buried his hopes of happiness, and he pictured how +some day when he was dead she would read of this in his will, and go and +dig up the ring, and remember and forgive him. He struck off from the +walk across the turf straight toward this dell, taking the ring from his +waistcoat pocket and clinching it in his hand. He was walking quickly +with rapt interest in this idea of abnegation when he noticed, +unconsciously at first and then with a start, the familiar outlines and +colors of her brougham drawn up in the drive not twenty yards from their +old meeting-place. He could not be mistaken; he knew the horses well +enough, and there was old Wallis on the box and young Wallis on the +path. + +He stopped breathlessly, and then tipped on cautiously, keeping the +encircling line of bushes between him and the carriage. And then he saw +through the leaves that there was some one in the place, and that it was +she. He stopped, confused and amazed. He could not comprehend it. She +must have driven to the place immediately on his departure. But why? And +why to that place of all others? + +He parted the bushes with his hands, and saw her lovely and +sweet-looking as she had always been, standing under the box bush beside +the bench, and breaking off one of the green branches. The branch parted +and the stem flew back to its place again, leaving a green sprig in her +hand. She turned at that moment directly toward him, and he could see +from his hiding-place how she lifted the leaves to her lips, and that a +tear was creeping down her cheek. + +Then he dashed the bushes aside with both arms, and with a cry that no +one but she heard sprang toward her. + +Young Van Bibber stopped his mail phaeton in front of the club, and went +inside to recuperate, and told how he had seen them driving home through +the Park in her brougham and unchaperoned. + +“Which I call very bad form,” said the punctilious Van Bibber, “even +though they are engaged.” + + + + +MY DISREPUTABLE FRIEND, MR. RAEGEN + + +Rags Raegen was out of his element. The water was his proper +element--the water of the East River by preference. And when it came to +“running the roofs,” as he would have himself expressed it, he was “not +in it.” + +On those other occasions when he had been followed by the police, he +had raced them toward the river front and had dived boldly in from the +wharf, leaving them staring blankly and in some alarm as to his safety. +Indeed, three different men in the precinct, who did not know of +young Raegen's aquatic prowess, had returned to the station-house and +seriously reported him to the sergeant as lost, and regretted having +driven a citizen into the river, where he had been unfortunately +drowned. It was even told how, on one occasion, when hotly followed, +young Raegen had dived off Wakeman's Slip, at East Thirty-third Street, +and had then swum back under water to the landing-steps, while the +policeman and a crowd of stevedores stood watching for him to reappear +where he had sunk. It is further related that he had then, in a spirit +of recklessness, and in the possibility of the policeman's failing +to recognize him, pushed his way through the crowd from the rear and +plunged in to rescue the supposedly drowned man. And that after two or +three futile attempts to find his own corpse, he had climbed up on the +dock and told the officer that he had touched the body sticking in the +mud. And, as a result of this fiction, the river-police dragged the +river-bed around Wakeman's Slip with grappling irons for four hours, +while Rags sat on the wharf and directed their movements. + +But on this present occasion the police were standing between him and +the river, and so cut off his escape in that direction, and as they had +seen him strike McGonegal and had seen McGonegal fall, he had to run for +it and seek refuge on the roofs. What made it worse was that he was not +in his own hunting-grounds, but in McGonegal's, and while any tenement +on Cherry Street would have given him shelter, either for love of him or +fear of him, these of Thirty-third Street were against him and “all that +Cherry Street gang,” while “Pike” McGonegal was their darling and their +hero. And, if Rags had known it, any tenement on the block was better +than Case's, into which he first turned, for Case's was empty and +untenanted, save in one or two rooms, and the opportunities for dodging +from one to another were in consequence very few. But he could not know +this, and so he plunged into the dark hall-way and sprang up the first +four flights of stairs, three steps at a jump, with one arm stretched +out in front of him, for it was very dark and the turns were short. On +the fourth floor he fell headlong over a bucket with a broom sticking +in it, and cursed whoever left it there. There was a ladder leading from +the sixth floor to the roof, and he ran up this and drew it after him as +he fell forward out of the wooden trap that opened on the flat tin roof +like a companion-way of a ship. The chimneys would have hidden him, but +there was a policeman's helmet coming up from another companion-way, +and he saw that the Italians hanging out of the windows of the other +tenements were pointing at him and showing him to the officer. So he +hung by his hands and dropped back again. It was not much of a fall, +but it jarred him, and the race he had already run had nearly taken his +breath from him. For Rags did not live a life calculated to fit young +men for sudden trials of speed. + +He stumbled back down the narrow stairs, and, with a vivid recollection +of the bucket he had already fallen upon, felt his way cautiously with +his hands and with one foot stuck out in front of him. If he had been in +his own bailiwick, he would have rather enjoyed the tense excitement +of the chase than otherwise, for there he was at home and knew all the +cross-cuts and where to find each broken paling in the roof-fences, and +all the traps in the roofs. But here he was running in a maze, and +what looked like a safe passage-way might throw him head on into the +outstretched arms of the officers. + +And while he felt his way his mind was terribly acute to the fact that +as yet no door on any of the landings had been thrown open to him, +either curiously or hospitably as offering a place of refuge. He did not +want to be taken, but in spite of this he was quite cool, and so, +when he heard quick, heavy footsteps beating up the stairs, he stopped +himself suddenly by placing one hand on the side of the wall and the +other on the banister and halted, panting. He could distinguish from +below the high voices of women and children and excited men in the +street, and as the steps came nearer he heard some one lowering the +ladder he had thrown upon the roof to the sixth floor and preparing to +descend. “Ah!” snarled Raegen, panting and desperate, “youse think you +have me now, sure, don't you?” It rather frightened him to find the +house so silent, for, save the footsteps of the officers, descending and +ascending upon him, he seemed to be the only living person in all the +dark, silent building. + +He did not want to fight. + +He was under heavy bonds already to keep the peace, and this last had +surely been in self-defence, and he felt he could prove it. What he +wanted now was to get away, to get back to his own people and to lie +hidden in his own cellar or garret, where they would feed and guard him +until the trouble was over. And still, like the two ends of a vise, the +representatives of the law were closing in upon him. He turned the knob +of the door opening to the landing on which he stood, and tried to push +it in, but it was locked. Then he stepped quickly to the door on the +opposite side and threw his shoulder against it. The door opened, and +he stumbled forward sprawling. The room in which he had taken refuge was +almost bare, and very dark; but in a little room leading from it he saw +a pile of tossed-up bedding on the floor, and he dived at this as though +it was water, and crawled far under it until he reached the wall beyond, +squirming on his face and stomach, and flattening out his arms and legs. +Then he lay motionless, holding back his breath, and listening to the +beating of his heart and to the footsteps on the stairs. The footsteps +stopped on the landing leading to the outer room, and he could hear the +murmur of voices as the two men questioned one another. Then the door +was kicked open, and there was a long silence, broken sharply by the +click of a revolver. + +“Maybe he's in there,” said a bass voice. The men stamped across the +floor leading into the dark room in which he lay, and halted at the +entrance. They did not stand there over a moment before they turned and +moved away again; but to Raegen, lying with blood-vessels choked, and +with his hand pressed across his mouth, it seemed as if they had been +contemplating and enjoying his agony for over an hour. “I was in this +place not more than twelve hours ago,” said one of them easily. “I come +in to take a couple out for fighting. They were yelling 'murder' and +'police,' and breaking things; but they went quiet enough. The man is a +stevedore, I guess, and him and his wife used to get drunk regular and +carry on up here every night or so. They got thirty days on the Island.” + +“Who's taking care of the rooms?” asked the bass voice. The first voice +said he guessed “no one was,” and added: “There ain't much to take care +of, that I can see.” “That's so,” assented the bass voice. “Well,” he +went on briskly, “he's not here; but he's in the building, sure, for he +put back when he seen me coming over the roof. And he didn't pass me, +neither, I know that, anyway,” protested the bass voice. Then the bass +voice said that he must have slipped into the flat below, and added +something that Raegen could not hear distinctly, about Schaffer on the +roof, and their having him safe enough, as that red-headed cop from the +Eighteenth Precinct was watching on the street. They closed the door +behind them, and their footsteps clattered down the stairs, leaving the +big house silent and apparently deserted. Young Raegen raised his head, +and let his breath escape with a great gasp of relief, as when he had +been a long time under water, and cautiously rubbed the perspiration +out of his eyes and from his forehead. It had been a cruelly hot, close +afternoon, and the stifling burial under the heavy bedding, and the +excitement, had left him feverishly hot and trembling. It was already +growing dark outside, although he could not know that until he lifted +the quilts an inch or two and peered up at the dirty window-panes. He +was afraid to rise, as yet, and flattened himself out with an impatient +sigh, as he gathered the bedding over his head again and held back +his breath to listen. There may have been a minute or more of absolute +silence in which he lay there, and then his blood froze to ice in his +veins, his breath stopped, and he heard, with a quick gasp of terror, +the sound of something crawling toward him across the floor of the outer +room. The instinct of self-defence moved him first to leap to his feet, +and to face and fight it, and then followed as quickly a foolish sense +of safety in his hiding-place; and he called upon his greatest strength, +and, by his mere brute will alone, forced his forehead down to the bare +floor and lay rigid, though his nerves jerked with unknown, unreasoning +fear. And still he heard the sound of this living thing coming creeping +toward him until the instinctive terror that shook him overcame his +will, and he threw the bed-clothes from him with a hoarse cry, and +sprang up trembling to his feet, with his back against the wall, +and with his arms thrown out in front of him wildly, and with the +willingness in them and the power in them to do murder. + +The room was very dark, but the windows of the one beyond let in a +little stream of light across the floor, and in this light he saw moving +toward him on its hands and knees a little baby who smiled and nodded at +him with a pleased look of recognition and kindly welcome. + +The fear upon Raegen had been so strong and the reaction was so great +that he dropped to a sitting posture on the heap of bedding and laughed +long and weakly, and still with a feeling in his heart that this +apparition was something strangely unreal and menacing. + +{Illustration with caption: He sprang up trembling to his feet.} + +But the baby seemed well pleased with his laughter, and stopped to throw +back its head and smile and coo and laugh gently with him as though the +joke was a very good one which they shared in common. Then it struggled +solemnly to its feet and came pattering toward him on a run, with both +bare arms held out, and with a look of such confidence in him, and +welcome in its face, that Raegen stretched out his arms and closed the +baby's fingers fearfully and gently in his own. + +He had never seen so beautiful a child. There was dirt enough on its +hands and face, and its torn dress was soiled with streaks of coal and +ashes. The dust of the floor had rubbed into its bare knees, but the +face was like no other face that Rags had ever seen. And then it looked +at him as though it trusted him, and just as though they had known each +other at some time long before, but the eyes of the baby somehow seemed +to hurt him so that he had to turn his face away, and when he looked +again it was with a strangely new feeling of dissatisfaction with +himself and of wishing to ask pardon. They were wonderful eyes, black +and rich, and with a deep superiority of knowledge in them, a knowledge +that seemed to be above the knowledge of evil; and when the baby smiled +at him, the eyes smiled too with confidence and tenderness in them that +in some way frightened Rags and made him move uncomfortably. “Did you +know that youse scared me so that I was going to kill you?” whispered +Rags, apologetically, as he carefully held the baby from him at arm's +length. “Did you?” But the baby only smiled at this and reached out its +hand and stroked Rag's cheek with its fingers. There was something so +wonderfully soft and sweet in this that Rags drew the baby nearer and +gave a quick, strange gasp of pleasure as it threw its arms around his +neck and brought the face up close to his chin and hugged him tightly. +The baby's arms were very soft and plump, and its cheek and tangled +hair were warm and moist with perspiration, and the breath that fell +on Raegen's face was sweeter than anything he had ever known. He felt +wonderfully and for some reason uncomfortably happy, but the silence was +oppressive. + +“What's your name, little 'un?” said Rags. The baby ran its arms more +closely around Raegen's neck and did not speak, unless its cooing in +Raegen's ear was an answer. “What did you say your name was?” persisted +Raegen, in a whisper. The baby frowned at this and stopped cooing +long enough to say: “Marg'ret,” mechanically and without apparently +associating the name with herself or anything else. “Margaret, eh!” said +Raegen, with grave consideration. “It's a very pretty name,” he added, +politely, for he could not shake off the feeling that he was in the +presence of a superior being. “An' what did you say your dad's name +was?” asked Raegen, awkwardly. But this was beyond the baby's patience +or knowledge, and she waived the question aside with both arms and began +to beat a tattoo gently with her two closed fists on Raegen's chin and +throat. “You're mighty strong now, ain't you?” mocked the young giant, +laughing. “Perhaps you don't know, Missie,” he added, gravely, “that +your dad and mar are doing time on the Island, and you won't see 'em +again for a month.” No, the baby did not know this nor care apparently; +she seemed content with Rags and with his company. Sometimes she drew +away and looked at him long and dubiously, and this cut Rags to the +heart, and he felt guilty, and unreasonably anxious until she smiled +reassuringly again and ran back into his arms, nestling her face against +his and stroking his rough chin wonderingly with her little fingers. + +Rags forgot the lateness of the night and the darkness that fell upon +the room in the interest of this strange entertainment, which was so +much more absorbing, and so much more innocent than any other he had +ever known. He almost forgot the fact that he lay in hiding, that he +was surrounded by unfriendly neighbors, and that at any moment the +representatives of local justice might come in and rudely lead him away. +For this reason he dared not make a light, but he moved his position so +that the glare from an electric lamp on the street outside might fall +across the baby's face, as it lay alternately dozing and awakening, +to smile up at him in the bend of his arm. Once it reached inside the +collar of his shirt and pulled out the scapular that hung around his +neck, and looked at it so long, and with such apparent seriousness, that +Rags was confirmed in his fear that this kindly visitor was something +more or less of a superhuman agent, and his efforts to make this +supposition coincide with the fact that the angel's parents were on +Blackwell's Island, proved one of the severest struggles his mind had +ever experienced. He had forgotten to feel hungry, and the knowledge +that he was acutely so, first came to him with the thought that the +baby must obviously be in greatest need of food herself. This pained +him greatly, and he laid his burden down upon the bedding, and after +slipping off his shoes, tip-toed his way across the room on a foraging +expedition after something she could eat. There was a half of a +ham-bone, and a half loaf of hard bread in a cupboard, and on the table +he found a bottle quite filled with wretched whiskey. That the police +had failed to see the baby had not appealed to him in any way, but that +they should have allowed this last find to remain unnoticed pleased him +intensely, not because it now fell to him, but because they had been +cheated of it. It really struck him as so humorous that he stood +laughing silently for several minutes, slapping his thigh with every +outward exhibition of the keenest mirth. But when he found that the room +and cupboard were bare of anything else that might be eaten he sobered +suddenly. It was very hot, and though the windows were open, the +perspiration stood upon his face, and the foul close air that rose from +the court and street below made him gasp and pant for breath. He dipped +a wash rag in the water from the spigot in the hall, and filled a cup +with it and bathed the baby's face and wrists. She woke and sipped up +the water from the cup eagerly, and then looked up at him, as if to ask +for something more. Rags soaked the crusty bread in the water, and put +it to the baby's lips, but after nibbling at it eagerly she shook her +head and looked up at him again with such reproachful pleading in her +eyes, that Rags felt her silence more keenly than the worst abuse he had +ever received. + +It hurt him so, that the pain brought tears to his eyes. + +“Deary girl,” he cried, “I'd give you anything you could think of if +I had it. But I can't get it, see? It ain't that I don't want to--good +Lord, little 'un, you don't think that, do you?” + +The baby smiled at this, just as though she understood him, and touched +his face as if to comfort him, so that Rags felt that same exquisite +content again, which moved him so strangely whenever the child caressed +him, and which left him soberly wondering. Then the baby crawled up onto +his lap and dropped asleep, while Rags sat motionless and fanned her +with a folded newspaper, stopping every now and then to pass the damp +cloth over her warm face and arms. It was quite late now. Outside he +could hear the neighbors laughing and talking on the roofs, and when one +group sang hilariously to an accordion, he cursed them under his breath +for noisy, drunken fools, and in his anger lest they should disturb the +child in his arms, expressed an anxious hope that they would fall off +and break their useless necks. It grew silent and much cooler as the +night ran out, but Rags still sat immovable, shivering slightly every +now and then and cautiously stretching his stiff legs and body. The arm +that held the child grew stiff and numb with the light burden, but he +took a fierce pleasure in the pain, and became hardened to it, and at +last fell into an uneasy slumber from which he awoke to pass his hands +gently over the soft yielding body, and to draw it slowly and closer to +him. And then, from very weariness, his eyes closed and his head fell +back heavily against the wall, and the man and the child in his arms +slept peacefully in the dark corner of the deserted tenement. + +The sun rose hissing out of the East River, a broad, red disc of heat. +It swept the cross-streets of the city as pitilessly as the search-light +of a man-of-war sweeps the ocean. It blazed brazenly into open windows, +and changed beds into gridirons on which the sleepers tossed and +turned and woke unrefreshed and with throats dry and parched. Its glare +awakened Rags into a startled belief that the place about him was on +fire, and he stared wildly until the child in his arms brought him back +to the knowledge of where he was. He ached in every joint and limb, and +his eyes smarted with the dry heat, but the baby concerned him most, for +she was breathing with hard, long, irregular gasps, her mouth was open +and her absurdly small fists were clenched, and around her closed eyes +were deep blue rings. Rags felt a cold rush of fear and uncertainty come +over him as he stared about him helplessly for aid. He had seen babies +look like this before, in the tenements; they were like this when the +young doctors of the Health Board climbed to the roofs to see them, +and they were like this, only quiet and still, when the ambulance came +clattering up the narrow streets, and bore them away. Rags carried the +baby into the outer room, where the sun had not yet penetrated, and laid +her down gently on the coverlets; then he let the water in the sink run +until it was fairly cool, and with this bathed the baby's face and hands +and feet, and lifted a cup of the water to her open lips. She woke at +this and smiled again, but very faintly, and when she looked at him he +felt fearfully sure that she did not know him, and that she was looking +through and past him at something he could not see. + +He did not know what to do, and he wanted to do so much. Milk was the +only thing he was quite sure babies cared for, but in want of this he +made a mess of bits of the dry ham and crumbs of bread, moistened with +the raw whiskey, and put it to her lips on the end of a spoon. The baby +tasted this, and pushed his hand away, and then looked up and gave a +feeble cry, and seemed to say, as plainly as a grown woman could have +said or written, “It isn't any use, Rags. You are very good to me, but, +indeed, I cannot do it. Don't worry, please; I don't blame you.” + +“Great Lord,” gasped Rags, with a queer choking in his throat, “but +ain't she got grit.” Then he bethought him of the people who he still +believed inhabited the rest of the tenement, and he concluded that as +the day was yet so early they might still be asleep, and that while they +slept, he could “lift”--as he mentally described the act--whatever +they might have laid away for breakfast. Excited with this hope, he ran +noiselessly down the stairs in his bare feet, and tried the doors of +the different landings. But each he found open and each room bare and +deserted. Then it occurred to him that at this hour he might even risk +a sally into the street. He had money with him, and the milk-carts and +bakers' wagons must be passing every minute. He ran back to get the +money out of his coat, delighted with the chance and chiding himself for +not having dared to do it sooner. He stood over the baby a moment before +he left the room, and flushed like a girl as he stooped and kissed one +of the bare arms. “I'm going out to get you some breakfast,” he said. +“I won't be gone long, but if I should,” he added, as he paused and +shrugged his shoulders, “I'll send the sergeant after you from the +station-house. If I only wasn't under bonds,” he muttered, as he slipped +down the stairs. “If it wasn't for that they couldn't give me more'n a +month at the most, even knowing all they do of me. It was only a street +fight, anyway, and there was some there that must have seen him pull +his pistol.” He stopped at the top of the first flight of stairs and +sat down to wait. He could see below the top of the open front door, the +pavement and a part of the street beyond, and when he heard the rattle +of an approaching cart he ran on down and then, with an oath, turned and +broke up-stairs again. He had seen the ward detectives standing together +on the opposite side of the street. + +“Wot are they doing out a bed at this hour?” he demanded angrily. “Don't +they make trouble enough through the day, without prowling around before +decent people are up? I wonder, now, if they're after me.” He dropped +on his knees when he reached the room where the baby lay, and peered +cautiously out of the window at the detectives, who had been joined by +two other men, with whom they were talking earnestly. Raegen knew +the new-comers for two of McGonegal's friends, and concluded, with a +momentary flush of pride and self-importance, that the detectives were +forced to be up at this early hour solely on his account. But this was +followed by the afterthought that he must have hurt McGonegal seriously, +and that he was wanted in consequence very much. This disturbed him +most, he was surprised to find, because it precluded his going forth in +search of food. “I guess I can't get you that milk I was looking for,” + he said, jocularly, to the baby, for the excitement elated him. “The sun +outside isn't good for me health.” The baby settled herself in his arms +and slept again, which sobered Rags, for he argued it was a bad sign, +and his own ravenous appetite warned him how the child suffered. When +he again offered her the mixture he had prepared for her, she took it +eagerly, and Rags breathed a sigh of satisfaction. Then he ate some of +the bread and ham himself and swallowed half the whiskey, and stretched +out beside the child and fanned her while she slept. It was something +strangely incomprehensible to Rags that he should feel so keen +a satisfaction in doing even this little for her, but he gave up +wondering, and forgot everything else in watching the strange beauty +of the sleeping baby and in the odd feeling of responsibility and +self-respect she had brought to him. + +He did not feel it coming on, or he would have fought against it, but +the heat of the day and the sleeplessness of the night before, and the +fumes of the whiskey on his empty stomach, drew him unconsciously into +a dull stupor, so that the paper fan slipped from his hand, and he sank +back on the bedding into a heavy sleep. When he awoke it was nearly dusk +and past six o'clock, as he knew by the newsboys calling the sporting +extras on the street below. He sprang up, cursing himself, and filled +with bitter remorse. + +“I'm a drunken fool, that's what I am,” said Rags, savagely. “I've let +her lie here all day in the heat with no one to watch her.” Margaret was +breathing so softly that he could hardly discern any life at all, and +his heart almost stopped with fear. He picked her up and fanned and +patted her into wakefulness again and then turned desperately to the +window and looked down. There was no one he knew or who knew him as far +as he could tell on the street, and he determined recklessly to risk +another sortie for food. + +“Why, it's been near two days that child's gone without eating,” he +said, with keen self-reproach, “and here you've let her suffer to save +yourself a trip to the Island. You're a hulking big loafer, you are,” he +ran on, muttering, “and after her coming to you and taking notice of you +and putting her face to yours like an angel.” He slipped off his shoes +and picked his way cautiously down the stairs. + +As he reached the top of the first flight a newsboy passed, calling the +evening papers, and shouted something which Rags could not distinguish. +He wished he could get a copy of the paper. It might tell him, he +thought, something about himself. The boy was coming nearer, and Rags +stopped and leaned forward to listen. + +“Extry! Extry!” shouted the newsboy, running. “Sun, World, and Mail. +Full account of the murder of Pike McGonegal by Ragsey Raegen.” + +The lights in the street seemed to flash up suddenly and grow dim again, +leaving Rags blind and dizzy. + +“Stop,” he yelled, “stop. Murdered, no, by God, no,” he cried, +staggering half-way down the stairs; “stop, stop!” But no one heard +Rags, and the sound of his own voice halted him. He sank back weak and +sick upon the top step of the stairs and beat his hands together upon +his head. + +“It's a lie, it's a lie,” he whispered, thickly. “I struck him in +self-defence, s'help me. I struck him in self-defence. He drove me to +it. He pulled his gun on me. I done it in self-defence.” + +And then the whole appearance of the young tough changed, and the terror +and horror that had showed on his face turned to one of low sharpness +and evil cunning. His lips drew together tightly and he breathed quickly +through his nostrils, while his fingers locked and unlocked around his +knees. All that he had learned on the streets and wharves and roof-tops, +all that pitiable experience and dangerous knowledge that had made him +a leader and a hero among the thieves and bullies of the river-front he +called to his assistance now. He faced the fact flatly and with the cool +consideration of an uninterested counsellor. He knew that the history of +his life was written on Police Court blotters from the day that he was +ten years old, and with pitiless detail; that what friends he had he +held more by fear than by affection, and that his enemies, who were +many, only wanted just such a chance as this to revenge injuries long +suffered and bitterly cherished, and that his only safety lay in secret +and instant flight. The ferries were watched, of course; he knew that +the depots, too, were covered by the men whose only duty was to watch +the coming and to halt the departing criminal. But he knew of one old +man who was too wise to ask questions and who would row him over the +East River to Astoria, and of another on the west side whose boat was +always at the disposal of silent white-faced young men who might come at +any hour of the night or morning, and whom he would pilot across to the +Jersey shore and keep well away from the lights of the passing ferries +and the green lamp of the police boat. And once across, he had only to +change his name and write for money to be forwarded to that name, and +turn to work until the thing was covered up and forgotten. He rose to +his feet in his full strength again, and intensely and agreeably excited +with the danger, and possibly fatal termination, of his adventure, and +then there fell upon him, with the suddenness of a blow, the remembrance +of the little child lying on the dirty bedding in the room above. + +“I can't do it,” he muttered fiercely; “I can't do it,” he cried, as if +he argued with some other presence. “There's a rope around me neck, +and the chances are all against me; it's every man for himself and no +favor.” He threw his arms out before him as if to push the thought away +from him and ran his fingers through his hair and over his face. All of +his old self rose in him and mocked him for a weak fool, and showed +him just how great his personal danger was, and so he turned and dashed +forward on a run, not only to the street, but as if to escape from the +other self that held him back. He was still without his shoes, and in +his bare feet, and he stopped as he noticed this and turned to go up +stairs for them, and then he pictured to himself the baby lying as he +had left her, weakly unconscious and with dark rims around her eyes, +and he asked himself excitedly what he would do, if, on his return, she +should wake and smile and reach out her hands to him. + +“I don't dare go back,” he said, breathlessly. “I don't dare do it; +killing's too good for the likes of Pike McGonegal, but I'm not fighting +babies. An' maybe, if I went back, maybe I wouldn't have the nerve to +leave her; I can't do it,” he muttered, “I don't dare go back.” But +still he did not stir, but stood motionless, with one hand trembling on +the stair-rail and the other clenched beside him, and so fought it on +alone in the silence of the empty building. + +The lights in the stores below came out one by one, and the minutes +passed into half-hours, and still he stood there with the noise of the +streets coming up to him below speaking of escape and of a long life of +ill-regulated pleasures, and up above him the baby lay in the darkness +and reached out her hands to him in her sleep. + +The surly old sergeant of the Twenty-first Precinct station-house had +read the evening papers through for the third time and was dozing in the +fierce lights of the gas-jet over the high desk when a young man with a +white, haggard face came in from the street with a baby in his arms. + +“I want to see the woman thet look after the station-house--quick,” he +said. + +The surly old sergeant did not like the peremptory tone of the young man +nor his general appearance, for he had no hat, nor coat, and his feet +were bare; so he said, with deliberate dignity, that the char-woman was +up-stairs lying down, and what did the young man want with her? “This +child,” said the visitor, in a queer thick voice, “she's sick. The +heat's come over her, and she ain't had anything to eat for two days, +an' she's starving. Ring the bell for the matron, will yer, and send one +of your men around for the house surgeon.” The sergeant leaned forward +comfortably on his elbows, with his hands under his chin so that the +gold lace on his cuffs shone effectively in the gaslight. He believed he +had a sense of humor and he chose this unfortunate moment to exhibit it. + +“Did you take this for a dispensary, young man?” he asked; “or,” he +continued, with added facetiousness, “a foundling hospital?” + +The young man made a savage spring at the barrier in front of the high +desk. “Damn you,” he panted, “ring that bell, do you hear me, or I'll +pull you off that seat and twist your heart out.” + +The baby cried at this sudden outburst, and Rags fell back, patting +it with his hand and muttering between his closed teeth. The sergeant +called to the men of the reserve squad in the reading-room beyond, and +to humor this desperate visitor, sounded the gong for the janitress. The +reserve squad trooped in leisurely with the playing-cards in their hands +and with their pipes in their mouths. + +“This man,” growled the sergeant, pointing with the end of his cigar to +Rags, “is either drunk, or crazy, or a bit of both.” + +The char-woman came down stairs majestically, in a long, loose wrapper, +fanning herself with a palm-leaf fan, but when she saw the child, her +majesty dropped from her like a cloak, and she ran toward her and caught +the baby up in her arms. “You poor little thing,” she murmured, “and, +oh, how beautiful!” Then she whirled about on the men of the reserve +squad: “You, Conners,” she said, “run up to my room and get the milk out +of my ice-chest; and Moore, put on your coat and go around and tell the +surgeon I want to see him. And one of you crack some ice up fine in a +towel. Take it out of the cooler. Quick, now.” + +Raegen came up to her fearfully. “Is she very sick?” he begged; “she +ain't going to die, is she?” + +“Of course not,” said the woman, promptly, “but she's down with +the heat, and she hasn't been properly cared for; the child looks +half-starved. Are you her father?” she asked, sharply. But Rags did not +speak, for at the moment she had answered his question and had said the +baby would not die, he had reached out swiftly, and taken the child out +of her arms and held it hard against his breast, as though he had lost +her and some one had been just giving her back to him. + +His head was bending over hers, and so he did not see Wade and Heffner, +the two ward detectives, as they came in from the street, looking hot, +and tired, and anxious. They gave a careless glance at the group, and +then stopped with a start, and one of them gave a long, low whistle. + +“Well,” exclaimed Wade, with a gasp of surprise and relief. “So Raegen, +you're here, after all, are you? Well, you did give us a chase, you did. +Who took you?” + +The men of the reserve squad, when they heard the name of the man for +whom the whole force had been looking for the past two days, shifted +their positions slightly, and looked curiously at Rags, and the woman +stopped pouring out the milk from the bottle in her hand, and stared at +him in frank astonishment. Raegen threw back his head and shoulders, and +ran his eyes coldly over the faces of the semicircle of men around him. + +“Who took me?” he began defiantly, with a swagger of braggadocio, and +then, as though it were hardly worth while, and as though the presence +of the baby lifted him above everything else, he stopped, and raised +her until her cheek touched his own. It rested there a moment, while Rag +stood silent. + +“Who took me?” he repeated, quietly, and without lifting his eyes from +the baby's face. “Nobody took me,” he said. “I gave myself up.” + +One morning, three months later, when Raegen had stopped his ice-cart in +front of my door, I asked him whether at any time he had ever regretted +what he had done. + +“Well, sir,” he said, with easy superiority, “seeing that I've shook the +gang, and that the Society's decided her folks ain't fit to take care of +her, we can't help thinking we are better off, see? + +{Illustration with caption: She'd reach out her hands and kiss me.} + +“But, as for my ever regretting it, why, even when things was at the +worst, when the case was going dead against me, and before that cop, you +remember, swore to McGonegal's drawing the pistol, and when I used to +sit in the Tombs expecting I'd have to hang for it, well, even then, +they used to bring her to see me every day, and when they'd lift her up, +and she'd reach out her hands and kiss me through the bars, why--they +could have took me out and hung me, and been damned to 'em, for all I'd +have cared.” + + + + +THE OTHER WOMAN + + +Young Latimer stood on one of the lower steps of the hall stairs, +leaning with one hand on the broad railing and smiling down at her. She +had followed him from the drawing-room and had stopped at the entrance, +drawing the curtains behind her, and making, unconsciously, a dark +background for her head and figure. He thought he had never seen her +look more beautiful, nor that cold, fine air of thorough breeding about +her which was her greatest beauty to him, more strongly in evidence. + +“Well, sir,” she said, “why don't you go?” + +He shifted his position slightly and leaned more comfortably upon the +railing, as though he intended to discuss it with her at some length. + +“How can I go,” he said, argumentatively, “with you standing +there--looking like that?” + +“I really believe,” the girl said, slowly, “that he is afraid; yes, he +is afraid. And you always said,” she added, turning to him, “you were so +brave.” + +“Oh, I am sure I never said that,” exclaimed the young man, calmly. “I +may be brave, in fact, I am quite brave, but I never said I was. Some +one must have told you.” + +“Yes, he is afraid,” she said, nodding her head to the tall clock across +the hall, “he is temporizing and trying to save time. And afraid of a +man, too, and such a good man who would not hurt any one.” + +“You know a bishop is always a very difficult sort of a person,” he +said, “and when he happens to be your father, the combination is just +a bit awful. Isn't it now? And especially when one means to ask him for +his daughter. You know it isn't like asking him to let one smoke in his +study.” + +“If I loved a girl,” she said, shaking her head and smiling up at him, +“I wouldn't be afraid of the whole world; that's what they say in books, +isn't it? I would be so bold and happy.” + +“Oh, well, I'm bold enough,” said the young man, easily; “if I had +not been, I never would have asked you to marry me; and I'm happy +enough--that's because I did ask you. But what if he says no,” continued +the youth; “what if he says he has greater ambitions for you, just as +they say in books, too. What will you do? Will you run away with me? I +can borrow a coach just as they used to do, and we can drive off through +the Park and be married, and come back and ask his blessing on our +knees--unless he should overtake us on the elevated.” + +“That,” said the girl, decidedly, “is flippant, and I'm going to leave +you. I never thought to marry a man who would be frightened at the very +first. I am greatly disappointed.” + +She stepped back into the drawing-room and pulled the curtains to behind +her, and then opened them again and whispered, “Please don't be long,” + and disappeared. He waited, smiling, to see if she would make another +appearance, but she did not, and he heard her touch the keys of the +piano at the other end of the drawing-room. And so, still smiling and +with her last words sounding in his ears, he walked slowly up the stairs +and knocked at the door of the bishop's study. The bishop's room was not +ecclesiastic in its character. It looked much like the room of any man +of any calling who cared for his books and to have pictures about him, +and copies of the beautiful things he had seen on his travels. There +were pictures of the Virgin and the Child, but they were those that are +seen in almost any house, and there were etchings and plaster casts, and +there were hundreds of books, and dark red curtains, and an open fire +that lit up the pots of brass with ferns in them, and the blue and +white plaques on the top of the bookcase. The bishop sat before his +writing-table, with one hand shading his eyes from the light of a +red-covered lamp, and looked up and smiled pleasantly and nodded as the +young man entered. He had a very strong face, with white hair hanging +at the side, but was still a young man for one in such a high office. +He was a man interested in many things, who could talk to men of any +profession or to the mere man of pleasure, and could interest them in +what he said, and force their respect and liking. And he was very good, +and had, they said, seen much trouble. + +“I am afraid I interrupted you,” said the young man, tentatively. + +“No, I have interrupted myself,” replied the bishop. “I don't seem to +make this clear to myself,” he said, touching the paper in front of +him, “and so I very much doubt if I am going to make it clear to any one +else. However,” he added, smiling, as he pushed the manuscript to one +side, “we are not going to talk about that now. What have you to tell me +that is new?” + +The younger man glanced up quickly at this, but the bishop's face +showed that his words had had no ulterior meaning, and that he suspected +nothing more serious to come than the gossip of the clubs or a report of +the local political fight in which he was keenly interested, or on their +mission on the East Side. But it seemed an opportunity to Latimer. + +“I _have_ something new to tell you,” he said, gravely, and with +his eyes turned toward the open fire, “and I don't know how to do it +exactly. I mean I don't just know how it is generally done or how to +tell it best.” He hesitated and leaned forward, with his hands locked +in front of him, and his elbows resting on his knees. He was not in the +least frightened. The bishop had listened to many strange stories, to +many confessions, in this same study, and had learned to take them as a +matter of course; but to-night something in the manner of the young man +before him made him stir uneasily, and he waited for him to disclose the +object of his visit with some impatience. + +“I will suppose, sir,” said young Latimer, finally, “that you know me +rather well--I mean you know who my people are, and what I am doing here +in New York, and who my friends are, and what my work amounts to. You +have let me see a great deal of you, and I have appreciated your +doing so very much; to so young a man as myself it has been a great +compliment, and it has been of great benefit to me. I know that better +than any one else. I say this because unless you had shown me this +confidence it would have been almost impossible for me to say to +you what I am going to say now. But you have allowed me to come here +frequently, and to see you and talk with you here in your study, and to +see even more of your daughter. Of course, sir, you did not suppose that +I came here only to see you. I came here because I found that if I did +not see Miss Ellen for a day, that that day was wasted, and that I spent +it uneasily and discontentedly, and the necessity of seeing her even +more frequently has grown so great that I cannot come here as often as +I seem to want to come unless I am engaged to her, unless I come as her +husband that is to be.” The young man had been speaking very slowly and +picking his words, but now he raised his head and ran on quickly. + +“I have spoken to her and told her how I love her, and she has told me +that she loves me, and that if you will not oppose us, will marry me. +That is the news I have to tell you, sir. I don't know but that I might +have told it differently, but that is it. I need not urge on you my +position and all that, because I do not think that weighs with you; but +I do tell you that I love Ellen so dearly that, though I am not worthy +of her, of course, I have no other pleasure than to give her pleasure +and to try to make her happy. I have the power to do it; but what is +much more, I have the wish to do it; it is all I think of now, and all +that I can ever think of. What she thinks of me you must ask her; but +what she is to me neither she can tell you nor do I believe that I +myself could make you understand.” The young man's face was flushed and +eager, and as he finished speaking he raised his head and watched the +bishop's countenance anxiously. But the older man's face was hidden by +his hand as he leaned with his elbow on his writing-table. His other +hand was playing with a pen, and when he began to speak, which he did +after a long pause, he still turned it between his fingers and looked +down at it. + +“I suppose,” he said, as softly as though he were speaking to himself, +“that I should have known this; I suppose that I should have been better +prepared to hear it. But it is one of those things which men put off--I +mean those men who have children, put off--as they do making their +wills, as something that is in the future and that may be shirked until +it comes. We seem to think that our daughters will live with us always, +just as we expect to live on ourselves until death comes one day and +startles us and finds us unprepared.” He took down his hand and smiled +gravely at the younger man with an evident effort, and said, “I did +not mean to speak so gloomily, but you see my point of view must be +different from yours. And she says she loves you, does she?” he added, +gently. + +Young Latimer bowed his head and murmured something inarticulately in +reply, and then held his head erect again and waited, still watching the +bishop's face. + +“I think she might have told me,” said the older man; “but then I +suppose this is the better way. I am young enough to understand that +the old order changes, that the customs of my father's time differ +from those of to-day. And there is no alternative, I suppose,” he said, +shaking his head. “I am stopped and told to deliver, and have no choice. +I will get used to it in time,” he went on, “but it seems very hard now. +Fathers are selfish, I imagine, but she is all I have.” + +Young Latimer looked gravely into the fire and wondered how long it +would last. He could just hear the piano from below, and he was anxious +to return to her. And at the same time he was drawn toward the older +man before him, and felt rather guilty, as though he really were robbing +him. But at the bishop's next words he gave up any thought of a speedy +release, and settled himself in his chair. + +“We are still to have a long talk,” said the bishop. “There are many +things I must know, and of which I am sure you will inform me freely. +I believe there are some who consider me hard, and even narrow on +different points, but I do not think you will find me so, at least let +us hope not. I must confess that for a moment I almost hoped that you +might not be able to answer the questions I must ask you, but it was +only for a moment. I am only too sure you will not be found wanting, +and that the conclusion of our talk will satisfy us both. Yes, I am +confident of that.” + +His manner changed, nevertheless, and Latimer saw that he was now facing +a judge and not a plaintiff who had been robbed, and that he was in turn +the defendant. And still he was in no way frightened. + +“I like you,” the bishop said, “I like you very much. As you say +yourself, I have seen a great deal of you, because I have enjoyed your +society, and your views and talk were good and young and fresh, and did +me good. You have served to keep me in touch with the outside world, +a world of which I used to know at one time a great deal. I know your +people and I know you, I think, and many people have spoken to me of +you. I see why now. They, no doubt, understood what was coming better +than myself, and were meaning to reassure me concerning you. And they +said nothing but what was good of you. But there are certain things +of which no one can know but yourself, and concerning which no other +person, save myself, has a right to question you. You have promised very +fairly for my daughter's future; you have suggested more than you have +said, but I understood. You can give her many pleasures which I have not +been able to afford; she can get from you the means of seeing more of +this world in which she lives, of meeting more people, and of indulging +in her charities, or in her extravagances, for that matter, as she +wishes. I have no fear of her bodily comfort; her life, as far as that +is concerned, will be easier and broader, and with more power for good. +Her future, as I say, as you say also, is assured; but I want to ask you +this,” the bishop leaned forward and watched the young man anxiously, +“you can protect her in the future, but can you assure me that you can +protect her from the past?” + +Young Latimer raised his eyes calmly and said, “I don't think I quite +understand.” + +“I have perfect confidence, I say,” returned the bishop, “in you as far +as your treatment of Ellen is concerned in the future. You love her and +you would do everything to make the life of the woman you love a happy +one; but this is it, Can you assure me that there is nothing in the past +that may reach forward later and touch my daughter through you--no ugly +story, no oats that have been sowed, and no boomerang that you have +thrown wantonly and that has not returned--but which may return?” + +“I think I understand you now, sir,” said the young man, quietly. “I +have lived,” he began, “as other men of my sort have lived. You know +what that is, for you must have seen it about you at college, and after +that before you entered the Church. I judge so from your friends, who +were your friends then, I understand. You know how they lived. I never +went in for dissipation, if you mean that, because it never attracted +me. I am afraid I kept out of it not so much out of respect for others +as for respect for myself. I found my self-respect was a very good thing +to keep, and I rather preferred keeping it and losing several pleasures +that other men managed to enjoy, apparently with free consciences. I +confess I used to rather envy them. It is no particular virtue on my +part; the thing struck me as rather more vulgar than wicked, and so I +have had no wild oats to speak of; and no woman, if that is what you +mean, can write an anonymous letter, and no man can tell you a story +about me that he could not tell in my presence.” + +There was something in the way the young man spoke which would have +amply satisfied the outsider, had he been present; but the bishop's eyes +were still unrelaxed and anxious. He made an impatient motion with his +hand. + +“I know you too well, I hope,” he said, “to think of doubting your +attitude in that particular. I know you are a gentleman, that is enough +for that; but there is something beyond these more common evils. You +see, I am terribly in earnest over this--you may think unjustly so, +considering how well I know you, but this child is my only child. If her +mother had lived, my responsibility would have been less great; but, as +it is, God has left her here alone to me in my hands. I do not think He +intended my duty should end when I had fed and clothed her, and taught +her to read and write. I do not think He meant that I should only act as +her guardian until the first man she fancied fancied her. I must look to +her happiness not only now when she is with me, but I must assure myself +of it when she leaves my roof. These common sins of youth I acquit you +of. Such things are beneath you, I believe, and I did not even consider +them. But there are other toils in which men become involved, other +evils or misfortunes which exist, and which threaten all men who are +young and free and attractive in many ways to women, as well as men. +You have lived the life of the young man of this day. You have reached +a place in your profession when you can afford to rest and marry and +assume the responsibilities of marriage. You look forward to a life of +content and peace and honorable ambition--a life, with your wife at your +side, which is to last forty or fifty years. You consider where you will +be twenty years from now, at what point of your career you may become a +judge or give up practice; your perspective is unlimited; you even +think of the college to which you may send your son. It is a long, quiet +future that you are looking forward to, and you choose my daughter as +the companion for that future, as the one woman with whom you could live +content for that length of time. And it is in that spirit that you come +to me to-night and that you ask me for my daughter. Now I am going to +ask you one question, and as you answer that I will tell you whether +or not you can have Ellen for your wife. You look forward, as I say, to +many years of life, and you have chosen her as best suited to live that +period with you; but I ask you this, and I demand that you answer me +truthfully, and that you remember that you are speaking to her father. +Imagine that I had the power to tell you, or rather that some superhuman +agent could convince you, that you had but a month to live, and that for +what you did in that month you would not be held responsible either by +any moral law or any law made by man, and that your life hereafter would +not be influenced by your conduct in that month, would you spend it, I +ask you--and on your answer depends mine--would you spend those thirty +days, with death at the end, with my daughter, or with some other woman +of whom I know nothing?” + +Latimer sat for some time silent, until indeed, his silence assumed +such a significance that he raised his head impatiently and said with a +motion of the hand, “I mean to answer you in a minute; I want to be sure +that I understand.” + +The bishop bowed his head in assent, and for a still longer period the +men sat motionless. The clock in the corner seemed to tick more loudly, +and the dead coals dropping in the grate had a sharp, aggressive sound. +The notes of the piano that had risen from the room below had ceased. + +“If I understand you,” said Latimer, finally, and his voice and his +face as he raised it were hard and aggressive, “you are stating a purely +hypothetical case. You wish to try me by conditions which do not exist, +which cannot exist. What justice is there, what right is there, +in asking me to say how I would act under circumstances which are +impossible, which lie beyond the limit of human experience? You cannot +judge a man by what he would do if he were suddenly robbed of all his +mental and moral training and of the habit of years. I am not admitting, +understand me, that if the conditions which you suggest did exist that I +would do one whit differently from what I will do if they remain as they +are. I am merely denying your right to put such a question to me at all. +You might just as well judge the shipwrecked sailors on a raft who eat +each other's flesh as you would judge a sane, healthy man who did such +a thing in his own home. Are you going to condemn men who are ice-locked +at the North Pole, or buried in the heart of Africa, and who have given +up all thought of return and are half mad and wholly without hope, as +you would judge ourselves? Are they to be weighed and balanced as you +and I are, sitting here within the sound of the cabs outside and with +a bake-shop around the corner? What you propose could not exist, could +never happen. I could never be placed where I should have to make such +a choice, and you have no right to ask me what I would do or how I +would act under conditions that are super-human--you used the word +yourself--where all that I have held to be good and just and true would +be obliterated. I would be unworthy of myself, I would be unworthy of +your daughter, if I considered such a state of things for a moment, or +if I placed my hopes of marrying her on the outcome of such a test, and +so, sir,” said the young man, throwing back his head, “I must refuse to +answer you.” + +The bishop lowered his hand from before his eyes and sank back wearily +into his chair. “You have answered me,” he said. + +“You have no right to say that,” cried the young man, springing to his +feet. “You have no right to suppose anything or to draw any conclusions. +I have not answered you.” He stood with his head and shoulders thrown +back, and with his hands resting on his hips and with the fingers +working nervously at his waist. + +“What you have said,” replied the bishop, in a voice that had changed +strangely, and which was inexpressibly sad and gentle, “is merely a +curtain of words to cover up your true feeling. It would have been so +easy to have said, 'For thirty days or for life Ellen is the only woman +who has the power to make me happy.' You see that would have answered me +and satisfied me. But you did not say that,” he added, quickly, as the +young man made a movement as if to speak. + +“Well, and suppose this other woman did exist, what then?” demanded +Latimer. “The conditions you suggest are impossible; you must, you will +surely, sir, admit that.” + +“I do not know,” replied the bishop, sadly; “I do not know. It may +happen that whatever obstacle there has been which has kept you from her +may be removed. It may be that she has married, it may be that she has +fallen so low that you cannot marry her. But if you have loved her once, +you may love her again; whatever it was that separated you in the past, +that separates you now, that makes you prefer my daughter to her, may +come to an end when you are married, when it will be too late, and when +only trouble can come of it, and Ellen would bear that trouble. Can I +risk that?” + +“But I tell you it is impossible,” cried the young man. “The woman is +beyond the love of any man, at least such a man as I am, or try to be.” + +“Do you mean,” asked the bishop, gently, and with an eager look of hope, +“that she is dead?” + +Latimer faced the father for some seconds in silence. Then he raised his +head slowly. “No,” he said, “I do not mean she is dead. No, she is not +dead.” + +Again the bishop moved back wearily into his chair. “You mean then,” he +said, “perhaps, that she is a married woman?” Latimer pressed his lips +together at first as though he would not answer, and then raised his +eyes coldly. “Perhaps,” he said. + +The older man had held up his hand as if to signify that what he was +about to say should be listened to without interruption, when a sharp +turning of the lock of the door caused both father and the suitor to +start. Then they turned and looked at each other with anxious inquiry +and with much concern, for they recognized for the first time that their +voices had been loud. The older man stepped quickly across the floor, +but before he reached the middle of the room the door opened from the +outside, and his daughter stood in the door-way, with her head held down +and her eyes looking at the floor. + +“Ellen!” exclaimed the father, in a voice of pain and the deepest pity. + +The girl moved toward the place from where his voice came, without +raising her eyes, and when she reached him put her arms about him and +hid her face on his shoulder. She moved as though she were tired, as +though she were exhausted by some heavy work. + +“My child,” said the bishop, gently, “were you listening?” There was no +reproach in his voice; it was simply full of pity and concern. + +“I thought,” whispered the girl, brokenly, “that he would be frightened; +I wanted to hear what he would say. I thought I could laugh at him +for it afterward. I did it for a joke. I thought--” she stopped with a +little gasping sob that she tried to hide, and for a moment held herself +erect and then sank back again into her father's arms with her head upon +his breast. + +Latimer started forward, holding out his arms to her. “Ellen,” he said, +“surely, Ellen, you are not against me. You see how preposterous it is, +how unjust it is to me. You cannot mean--” + +The girl raised her head and shrugged her shoulders slightly as though +she were cold. “Father,” she said, wearily, “ask him to go away, Why +does he stay? Ask him to go away.” + +Latimer stopped and took a step back as though some one had struck him, +and then stood silent with his face flushed and his eyes flashing. It +was not in answer to anything that they said that he spoke, but to their +attitude and what it suggested. “You stand there,” he began, “you +two stand there as though I were something unclean, as though I had +committed some crime. You look at me as though I were on trial for +murder or worse. Both of you together against me. What have I done? What +difference is there? You loved me a half-hour ago, Ellen; you said +you did. I know you loved me; and you, sir,” he added, more quietly, +“treated me like a friend. Has anything come since then to change me or +you? Be fair to me, be sensible. What is the use of this? It is a silly, +needless, horrible mistake. You know I love you, Ellen; love you better +than all the world. I don't have to tell you that; you know it, you can +see and feel it. It does not need to be said; words can't make it any +truer. You have confused yourselves and stultified yourselves with this +trick, this test by hypothetical conditions, by considering what is not +real or possible. It is simple enough; it is plain enough. You know I +love you, Ellen, and you only, and that is all there is to it, and all +that there is of any consequence in the world to me. The matter stops +there; that is all there is for you to consider. Answer me, Ellen, speak +to me. Tell me that you believe me.” + +He stopped and moved a step toward her, but as he did so, the girl, +still without looking up, drew herself nearer to her father and shrank +more closely into his arms; but the father's face was troubled and +doubtful, and he regarded the younger man with a look of the most +anxious scrutiny. Latimer did not regard this. Their hands were raised +against him as far as he could understand, and he broke forth again +proudly, and with a defiant indignation: + +“What right have you to judge me?” he began; “what do you know of what +I have suffered, and endured, and overcome? How can you know what I have +had to give up and put away from me? It's easy enough for you to draw +your skirts around you, but what can a woman bred as you have been bred +know of what I've had to fight against and keep under and cut away? It +was an easy, beautiful idyl to you; your love came to you only when it +should have come, and for a man who was good and worthy, and distinctly +eligible--I don't mean that; forgive me, Ellen, but you drive me beside +myself. But he is good and he believes himself worthy, and I say that +myself before you both. But I am only worthy and only good because of +that other love that I put away when it became a crime, when it became +impossible. Do you know what it cost me? Do you know what it meant to +me, and what I went through, and how I suffered? Do you know who this +other woman is whom you are insulting with your doubts and guesses in +the dark? Can't you spare her? Am I not enough? Perhaps it was easy +for her, too; perhaps her silence cost her nothing; perhaps she did not +suffer and has nothing but happiness and content to look forward to for +the rest of her life; and I tell you that it is because we did put +it away, and kill it, and not give way to it that I am whatever I am +to-day; whatever good there is in me is due to that temptation and +to the fact that I beat it and overcame it and kept myself honest and +clean. And when I met you and learned to know you I believed in my heart +that God had sent you to me that I might know what it was to love a +woman whom I could marry and who could be my wife; that you were the +reward for my having overcome temptation and the sign that I had done +well. And now you throw me over and put me aside as though I were +something low and unworthy, because of this temptation, because of this +very thing that has made me know myself and my own strength and that has +kept me up for you.” + +As the young man had been speaking, the bishop's eyes had never left +his face, and as he finished, the face of the priest grew clearer and +decided, and calmly exultant. And as Latimer ceased he bent his head +above his daughter's, and said in a voice that seemed to speak with more +than human inspiration. “My child,” he said, “if God had given me a son +I should have been proud if he could have spoken as this young man has +done.” + +But the woman only said, “Let him go to her.” + +“Ellen, oh, Ellen!” cried the father. + +He drew back from the girl in his arms and looked anxiously and +feelingly at her lover. “How could you, Ellen,” he said, “how could +you?” He was watching the young man's face with eyes full of sympathy +and concern. “How little you know him,” he said, “how little you +understand. He will not do that,” he added quickly, but looking +questioningly at Latimer and speaking in a tone almost of command. “He +will not undo all that he has done; I know him better than that.” But +Latimer made no answer, and for a moment the two men stood watching each +other and questioning each other with their eyes. Then Latimer turned, +and without again so much as glancing at the girl walked steadily to the +door and left the room. He passed on slowly down the stairs and out into +the night, and paused upon the top of the steps leading to the street. +Below him lay the avenue with its double line of lights stretching off +in two long perspectives. The lamps of hundreds of cabs and carriages +flashed as they advanced toward him and shone for a moment at the +turnings of the cross-streets, and from either side came the ceaseless +rush and murmur, and over all hung the strange mystery that covers a +great city at night. Latimer's rooms lay to the south, but he stood +looking toward a spot to the north with a reckless, harassed look in his +face that had not been there for many months. He stood so for a minute, +and then gave a short shrug of disgust at his momentary doubt and ran +quickly down the steps. “No,” he said, “if it were for a month, yes; but +it is to be for many years, many more long years.” And turning his back +resolutely to the north he went slowly home. + + + + +THE TRAILER FOR ROOM NO. 8 + + +The “trailer” for the green-goods men who rented room No. 8 in Case's +tenement had had no work to do for the last few days, and was cursing +his luck in consequence. + +He was entirely too young to curse, but he had never been told so, and, +indeed, so imperfect had his training been that he had never been told +not to do anything as long as it pleased him to do it and made existence +any more bearable. + +He had been told when he was very young, before the man and woman who +had brought him into the world had separated, not to crawl out on the +fire-escape, because he might break his neck, and later, after his +father had walked off Hegelman's Slip into the East River while very +drunk, and his mother had been sent to the penitentiary for grand +larceny, he had been told not to let the police catch him sleeping under +the bridge. + +With these two exceptions he had been told to do as he pleased, which +was the very mockery of advice, as he was just about as well able to do +as he pleased as is any one who has to beg or steal what he eats and has +to sleep in hall-ways or over the iron gratings of warm cellars and has +the officers of the children's societies always after him to put him in +a “Home” and make him be “good.” + +“Snipes,” as the trailer was called, was determined no one should ever +force him to be good if he could possibly prevent it. And he certainly +did do a great deal to prevent it. He knew what having to be good meant. +Some of the boys who had escaped from the Home had told him all about +that. It meant wearing shoes and a blue and white checkered apron, and +making cane-bottomed chairs all day, and having to wash yourself in a +big iron tub twice a week, not to speak of having to move about like +machines whenever the lady teacher hit a bell. So when the green-goods +men, of whom the genial Mr. Alf Wolfe was the chief, asked Snipes to +act as “trailer” for them at a quarter of a dollar for every victim he +shadowed, he jumped at the offer and was proud of the position. + +If you should happen to keep a grocery store in the country, or to +run the village post-office, it is not unlikely that you know what a +green-goods man is; but in case you don't, and have only a vague idea +as to how he lives, a paragraph of explanation must be inserted here +for your particular benefit. Green goods is the technical name for +counterfeit bills, and the green-goods men send out circulars to +countrymen all over the United States, offering to sell them $5,000 +worth of counterfeit money for $500, and ease their conscience by +explaining to them that by purchasing these green goods they are hurting +no one but the Government, which is quite able, with its big surplus, to +stand the loss. They enclose a letter which is to serve their victim as +a mark of identification or credential when he comes on to purchase. + +The address they give him is in one of the many drug-store and +cigar-store post-offices which are scattered all over New York, and +which contribute to make vice and crime so easy that the evil they do +cannot be reckoned in souls lost or dollars stolen. If the letter from +the countryman strikes the dealers in green goods as sincere, they +appoint an interview with him by mail in rooms they rent for the +purpose, and if they, on meeting him there, think he is still in earnest +and not a detective or officer in disguise, they appoint still another +interview, to be held later in the day in the back room of some saloon. + +Then the countryman is watched throughout the day from the moment +he leaves the first meeting-place until he arrives at the saloon. If +anything in his conduct during that time leads the man whose duty it is +to follow him, or the “trailer,” as the profession call it, to believe +he is a detective, he finds when he arrives at the saloon that there +is no one to receive him. But if the trailer regards his conduct as +unsuspicious, he is taken to another saloon, not the one just appointed, +which is, perhaps, a most respectable place, but to the thieves' own +private little rendezvous, where he is robbed in any of the several +different ways best suited to their purpose. + +Snipes was a very good trailer. He was so little that no one ever +noticed him, and he could keep a man in sight no matter how big the +crowd was, or how rapidly it changed and shifted. And he was as patient +as he was quick, and would wait for hours if needful, with his eye on +a door, until his man reissued into the street again. And if the one he +shadowed looked behind him to see if he was followed, or dodged up and +down different streets, as if he were trying to throw off pursuit, or +despatched a note or telegram, or stopped to speak to a policeman or any +special officer, as a detective might, who thought he had his men safely +in hand, off Snipes would go on a run, to where Alf Wolfe was waiting, +and tell what he had seen. + +Then Wolfe would give him a quarter or more, and the trailer would go +back to his post opposite Case's tenement, and wait for another victim +to issue forth, and for the signal from No. 8 to follow him. It was not +much fun, and “customers,” as Mr. Wolfe always called them, had been +scarce, and Mr. Wolfe, in consequence, had been cross and nasty in his +temper, and had batted Snipe out of the way on more than one occasion. +So the trailer was feeling blue and disconsolate, and wondered how it +was that “Naseby” Raegen, “Rags” Raegen's younger brother, had had the +luck to get a two weeks' visit to the country with the Fresh Air Fund +children, while he had not. + +He supposed it was because Naseby had sold papers, and wore shoes, and +went to night school, and did many other things equally objectionable. +Still, what Naseby had said about the country, and riding horseback, +and the fishing, and the shooting crows with no cops to stop you, and +watermelons for nothing, had sounded wonderfully attractive and quite +improbable, except that it was one of Naseby's peculiarly sneaking ways +to tell the truth. Anyway, Naseby had left Cherry Street for good, and +had gone back to the country to work there. This all helped to make +Snipes morose, and it was with a cynical smile of satisfaction that he +watched an old countryman coming slowly up the street, and asking his +way timidly of the Italians to Case's tenement. + +The countryman looked up and about him in evident bewilderment and +anxiety. He glanced hesitatingly across at the boy leaning against the +wall of a saloon, but the boy was watching two sparrows fighting in the +dirt of the street, and did not see him. At least, it did not look as if +he saw him. Then the old man knocked on the door of Case's tenement. +No one came, for the people in the house had learned to leave inquiring +countrymen to the gentleman who rented room No. 8, and as that gentleman +was occupied at that moment with a younger countryman, he allowed the +old man, whom he had first cautiously observed from the top of the +stairs, to remain where he was. + +The old man stood uncertainly on the stoop, and then removed his heavy +black felt hat and rubbed his bald head and the white shining locks of +hair around it with a red bandanna handkerchief. Then he walked very +slowly across the street toward Snipes, for the rest of the street was +empty, and there was no one else at hand. The old man was dressed in +heavy black broadcloth, quaintly cut, with boot legs showing up under +the trousers, and with faultlessly clean linen of home-made manufacture. + +“I can't make the people in that house over there hear me,” complained +the old man, with the simple confidence that old age has in very young +boys. “Do you happen to know if they're at home?” + +“Nop,” growled Snipes. + +“I'm looking for a man named Perceval,” said the stranger; “he lives in +that house, and I wanter see him on most particular business. It isn't +a very pleasing place he lives in, is it--at least,” he hurriedly added, +as if fearful of giving offence, “it isn't much on the outside? Do you +happen to know him?” + +Perceval was Alf Wolfe's business name. + +“Nop,” said the trailer. + +“Well, I'm not looking for him,” explained the stranger, slowly, “as +much as I'm looking for a young man that I kind of suspect is been +to see him to-day: a young man that looks like me, only younger. Has +lightish hair and pretty tall and lanky, and carrying a shiny black bag +with him. Did you happen to hev noticed him going into that place across +the way?” + +“Nop,” said Snipes. + +The old man sighed and nodded his head thoughtfully at Snipes, and +puckered up the corners of his mouth, as though he were thinking deeply. +He had wonderfully honest blue eyes, and with the white hair hanging +around his sun-burned face, he looked like an old saint. But the trailer +didn't know that: he did know, though, that this man was a different +sort from the rest. Still, that was none of his business. + +“What is't you want to see him about?” he asked sullenly, while he +looked up and down the street and everywhere but at the old man, and +rubbed one bare foot slowly over the other. + +The old man looked pained, and much to Snipe's surprise, the question +brought the tears to his eyes, and his lips trembled. Then he swerved +slightly, so that he might have fallen if Snipes had not caught him and +helped him across the pavement to a seat on a stoop. “Thankey, son,” + said the stranger; “I'm not as strong as I was, an' the sun's mighty +hot, an' these streets of yours smell mighty bad, and I've had a +powerful lot of trouble these last few days. But if I could see this +man Perceval before my boy does, I know I could fix it, and it would all +come out right.” + +“What do you want to see him about?” repeated the trailer, suspiciously, +while he fanned the old man with his hat. Snipes could not have told you +why he did this or why this particular old countryman was any different +from the many others who came to buy counterfeit money and who were +thieves at heart as well as in deed. + +“I want to see him about my son,” said the old man to the little boy. +“He's a bad man whoever he is. This 'ere Perceval is a bad man. He sends +down his wickedness to the country and tempts weak folks to sin. He +teaches 'em ways of evil-doing they never heard of, and he's ruined my +son with the others--ruined him. I've had nothing to do with the city +and its ways; we're strict living, simple folks, and perhaps we've been +too strict, or Abraham wouldn't have run away to the city. But I thought +it was best, and I doubted nothing when the fresh-air children came to +the farm. I didn't like city children, but I let 'em come. I took +'em in, and did what I could to make it pleasant for 'em. Poor little +fellers, all as thin as corn-stalks and pale as ghosts, and as dirty as +you. + +“I took 'em in and let 'em ride the horses, and swim in the river, and +shoot crows in the cornfield, and eat all the cherries they could +pull, and what did the city send me in return for that? It sent me this +thieving, rascally scheme of this man Perceval's, and it turned my boy's +head, and lost him to me. I saw him poring over the note and reading it +as if it were Gospel, and I suspected nothing. And when he asked me if +he could keep it, I said yes he could, for I thought he wanted it for a +curiosity, and then off he put with the black bag and the $200 he's been +saving up to start housekeeping with when the old Deacon says he can +marry his daughter Kate.” The old man placed both hands on his knees and +went on excitedly. + +“The old Deacon says he'll not let 'em marry till Abe has $2,000, and +that is what the boy's come after. He wants to buy $2,000 worth of bad +money with his $200 worth of good money, to show the Deacon, just as +though it were likely a marriage after such a crime as that would ever +be a happy one.” + +Snipes had stopped fanning the old man, as he ran on, and was listening +intently, with an uncomfortable feeling of sympathy and sorrow, +uncomfortable because he was not used to it. + +He could not see why the old man should think the city should have +treated his boy better because he had taken care of the city's children, +and he was puzzled between his allegiance to the gang and his desire +to help the gang's innocent victim, and then because he was an innocent +victim and not a “customer,” he let his sympathy get the better of his +discretion. + +“Saay,” he began, abruptly, “I'm not sayin' nothin' to nobody, and +nobody's sayin' nothin' to me--see? but I guess your son'll be around +here to-day, sure. He's got to come before one, for this office closes +sharp at one, and we goes home. Now, I've got the call whether he gets +his stuff taken off him or whether the boys leave him alone. If I say +the word, they'd no more come near him than if he had the cholera--see? +An' I'll say it for this oncet, just for you. Hold on,” he commanded, as +the old man raised his voice in surprised interrogation, “don't ask no +questions, 'cause you won't get no answers 'except lies. You find your +way back to the Grand Central Depot and wait there, and I'll steer your +son down to you, sure, as soon as I can find him--see? Now get along, or +you'll get me inter trouble.” + +“You've been lying to me, then,” cried the old man, “and you're as bad +as any of them, and my boy's over in that house now.” + +He scrambled up from the stoop, and before the trailer could understand +what he proposed to do, had dashed across the street and up the stoop, +and up the stairs, and had burst into room No. 8. + +Snipes tore after him. “Come back! come back out of that, you old fool!” + he cried. “You'll get killed in there!” Snipes was afraid to enter room +No. 8, but he could hear from the outside the old man challenging Alf +Wolfe in a resonant angry voice that rang through the building. + +“Whew!” said Snipes, crouching on the stairs, “there's goin' to be a +muss this time, sure!” + +“Where's my son? Where have you hidden my son?” demanded, the old man. +He ran across the room and pulled open a door that led into another +room, but it was empty. He had fully expected to see his boy murdered +and quartered, and with his pockets inside out. He turned on Wolfe, +shaking his white hair like a mane. “Give me up my son, you rascal you!” + he cried, “or I'll get the police, and I'll tell them how you decoy +honest boys to your den and murder them.” + +“Are you drunk or crazy, or just a little of both?” asked Mr. Wolfe. +“For a cent I'd throw you out of that window. Get out of here! Quick, +now! You're too old to get excited like that; it's not good for you.” + +But this only exasperated the old man the more, and he made a lunge +at the confidence man's throat. Mr. Wolfe stepped aside and caught him +around the waist and twisted his leg around the old man's rheumatic one, +and held him. “Now,” said Wolfe, as quietly as though he were giving a +lesson in wrestling, “if I wanted to, I could break your back.” + +The old man glared up at him, panting. “Your son's not here,” said +Wolfe, “and this is a private gentleman's private room. I could turn +you over to the police for assault if I wanted to; but,” he added, +magnanimously, “I won't. Now get out of here and go home to your wife, +and when you come to see the sights again don't drink so much raw +whiskey.” He half carried the old farmer to the top of the stairs and +dropped him, and went back and closed the door. Snipes came up and +helped him down and out, and the old man and the boy walked slowly and +in silence out to the Bowery. Snipes helped his companion into a car and +put him off at the Grand Central Depot. The heat and the excitement had +told heavily on the old man, and he seemed dazed and beaten. + +He was leaning on the trailer's shoulder and waiting for his turn in +the line in front of the ticket window, when a tall, gawky, good-looking +country lad sprang out of it and at him with an expression of surprise +and anxiety. “Father,” he said, “father, what's wrong? What are you +doing here? Is anybody ill at home? Are _you_ ill?” + +“Abraham,” said the old man, simply, and dropped heavily on the younger +man's shoulder. Then he raised his head sternly and said: “I thought you +were murdered, but better that than a thief, Abraham. What brought you +here? What did you do with that rascal's letter? What did you do with +his money?” + +The trailer drew cautiously away; the conversation was becoming +unpleasantly personal. + +“I don't know what you're talking about,” said Abraham, calmly. “The +Deacon gave his consent the other night without the $2,000, and I took +the $200 I'd saved and came right on in the fust train to buy the ring. +It's pretty, isn't it?” he said, flushing, as he pulled out a little +velvet box and opened it. + +The old man was so happy at this that he laughed and cried alternately, +and then he made a grab for the trailer and pulled him down beside him +on one of the benches. + +“You've got to come with me,” he said, with kind severity. “You're a +good boy, but your folks have let you run wrong. You've been good to +me, and you said you would get me back my boy and save him from those +thieves, and I believe now that you meant it. Now you're just coming +back with us to the farm and the cows and the river, and you can eat +all you want and live with us, and never, never see this unclean, wicked +city again.” + +Snipes looked up keenly from under the rim of his hat and rubbed one of +his muddy feet over the other as was his habit. The young countryman, +greatly puzzled, and the older man smiling kindly, waited expectantly in +silence. From outside came the sound of the car-bells jangling, and the +rattle of cabs, and the cries of drivers, and all the varying rush and +turmoil of a great metropolis. Green fields, and running rivers, and +fruit that did not grow in wooden boxes or brown paper cones, were myths +and idle words to Snipes, but this “unclean, wicked city” he knew. + +“I guess you're too good for me,” he said, with an uneasy laugh. “I +guess little old New York's good enough for me.” + +“What!” cried the old man, in the tones of greatest concern. “You would +go back to that den of iniquity, surely not,--to that thief Perceval?” + +“Well,” said the trailer, slowly, “and he's not such a bad lot, neither. +You see he could hev broke your neck that time when you was choking him, +but he didn't. There's your train,” he added hurriedly and jumping away. +“Good-by. So long, old man. I'm much 'bliged to you jus' for asking me.” + +Two hours later the farmer and his son were making the family weep and +laugh over their adventures, as they all sat together on the porch with +the vines about it; and the trailer was leaning against the wall of a +saloon and apparently counting his ten toes, but in reality watching for +Mr. Wolfe to give the signal from the window of room No. 8. + + + + +“THERE WERE NINETY AND NINE” + + +Young Harringford, or the “Goodwood Plunger,” as he was perhaps better +known at that time, had come to Monte Carlo in a very different spirit +and in a very different state of mind from any in which he had ever +visited the place before. He had come there for the same reason that +a wounded lion, or a poisoned rat, for that matter, crawls away into a +corner, that it may be alone when it dies. He stood leaning against one +of the pillars of the Casino with his back to the moonlight, and with +his eyes blinking painfully at the flaming lamps above the green tables +inside. He knew they would be put out very soon; and as he had something +to do then, he regarded them fixedly with painful earnestness, as a man +who is condemned to die at sunrise watches through his barred windows +for the first gray light of the morning. + +That queer, numb feeling in his head and the sharp line of pain between +his eyebrows which had been growing worse for the last three weeks, was +troubling him more terribly than ever before, and his nerves had thrown +off all control and rioted at the base of his head and at his wrists, +and jerked and twitched as though, so it seemed to him, they were +striving to pull the tired body into pieces and to set themselves free. +He was wondering whether if he should take his hand from his pocket and +touch his head he would find that it had grown longer, and had turned +into a soft, spongy mass which would give beneath his fingers. He +considered this for some time, and even went so far as to half withdraw +one hand, but thought better of it and shoved it back again as he +considered how much less terrible it was to remain in doubt than to find +that this phenomenon had actually taken place. + +The pity of the whole situation was, that the boy was only a boy with +all his man's miserable knowledge of the world, and the reason of it all +was, that he had entirely too much heart and not enough money to make +an unsuccessful gambler. If he had only been able to lose his conscience +instead of his money, or even if he had kept his conscience and won, it +is not likely that he would have been waiting for the lights to go +out at Monte Carlo. But he had not only lost all of his money and more +besides, which he could never make up, but he had lost other things +which meant much more to him now than money, and which could not be +made up or paid back at even usurious interest. He had not only lost the +right to sit at his father's table, but the right to think of the girl +whose place in Surrey ran next to that of his own people, and whose +lighted window in the north wing he had watched on those many dreary +nights when she had been ill, from his own terrace across the trees +in the park. And all he had gained was the notoriety that made him a +by-word with decent people, and the hero of the race-tracks and the +music-halls. He was no longer “Young Harringford, the eldest son of the +Harringfords of Surrey,” but the “Goodwood Plunger,” to whom Fortune had +made desperate love and had then jilted, and mocked, and overthrown. + +As he looked back at it now and remembered himself as he was then, it +seemed as though he was considering an entirely distinct and separate +personage--a boy of whom he liked to think, who had had strong, healthy +ambitions and gentle tastes. He reviewed it passionlessly as he stood +staring at the lights inside the Casino, as clearly as he was capable +of doing in his present state and with miserable interest. How he had +laughed when young Norton told him in boyish confidence that there was +a horse named Siren in his father's stables which would win the Goodwood +Cup; how, having gone down to see Norton's people when the long vacation +began, he had seen Siren daily, and had talked of her until two every +morning in the smoking-room, and had then staid up two hours later to +watch her take her trial spin over the downs. He remembered how they +used to stamp back over the long grass wet with dew, comparing watches +and talking of the time in whispers, and said good night as the sun +broke over the trees in the park. And then just at this time of all +others, when the horse was the only interest of those around him, from +Lord Norton and his whole household down to the youngest stable-boy and +oldest gaffer in the village, he had come into his money. + +And then began the then and still inexplicable plunge into gambling, +and the wagering of greater sums than the owner of Siren dared to risk +himself, the secret backing of the horse through commissioners all +over England, until the boy by his single fortune had brought the odds +against her from 60 to 0 down to 6 to 0. He recalled, with a thrill that +seemed to settle his nerves for the moment, the little black specks at +the starting-post and the larger specks as the horses turned the first +corner. The rest of the people on the coach were making a great deal of +noise, he remembered, but he, who had more to lose than any one or all +of them together, had stood quite still with his feet on the wheel and +his back against the box-seat, and with his hands sunk into his pockets +and the nails cutting through his gloves. The specks grew into horses +with bits of color on them, and then the deep muttering roar of the +crowd merged into one great shout, and swelled and grew into sharper, +quicker, impatient cries, as the horses turned into the stretch with +only their heads showing toward the goal. Some of the people were +shouting “Firefly!” and others were calling on “Vixen!” and others, who +had their glasses up, cried “Trouble leads!” but he only waited until +he could distinguish the Norton colors, with his lips pressed tightly +together. Then they came so close that their hoofs echoed as loudly as +when horses gallop over a bridge, and from among the leaders Siren's +beautiful head and shoulders showed like sealskin in the sun, and the +boy on her back leaned forward and touched her gently with his hand, as +they had so often seen him do on the downs, and Siren, as though he had +touched a spring, leaped forward with her head shooting back and out, +like a piston-rod that has broken loose from its fastening and beats the +air, while the jockey sat motionless, with his right arm hanging at +his side as limply as though it were broken, and with his left moving +forward and back in time with the desperate strokes of the horse's head. + +“Siren wins!” cried Lord Norton, with a grim smile, and “Siren!” the +mob shouted back with wonder and angry disappointment, and “Siren!” the +hills echoed from far across the course. Young Harringford felt as if +he had suddenly been lifted into heaven after three months of purgatory, +and smiled uncertainly at the excited people on the coach about him. It +made him smile even now when he recalled young Norton's flushed face +and the awe and reproach in his voice when he climbed up and whispered, +“Why, Cecil, they say in the ring you've won a fortune, and you never +told us.” And how Griffith, the biggest of the book-makers, with +the rest of them at his back, came up to him and touched his hat +resentfully, and said, “You'll have to give us time, sir; I'm very hard +hit”; and how the crowd stood about him and looked at him curiously, +and the Certain Royal Personage turned and said, “Who--not that boy, +surely?” Then how, on the day following, the papers told of the young +gentleman who of all others had won a fortune, thousands and thousands +of pounds they said, getting back sixty for every one he had ventured; +and pictured him in baby clothes with the cup in his arms, or in an Eton +jacket; and how all of them spoke of him slightingly, or admiringly, as +the “Goodwood Plunger.” + +He did not care to go on after that; to recall the mortification of his +father, whose pride was hurt and whose hopes were dashed by this sudden, +mad freak of fortune, nor how he railed at it and provoked him until the +boy rebelled and went back to the courses, where he was a celebrity and +a king. + +The rest is a very common story. Fortune and greater fortune at first; +days in which he could not lose, days in which he drove back to the +crowded inns choked with dust, sunburnt and fagged with excitement, to +a riotous supper and baccarat, and afterward went to sleep only to see +cards and horses and moving crowds and clouds of dust; days spent in +a short covert coat, with a field-glass over his shoulder and with a +pasteboard ticket dangling from his buttonhole; and then came the change +that brought conscience up again, and the visits to the Jews, and the +slights of the men who had never been his friends, but whom he had +thought had at least liked him for himself, even if he did not like +them; and then debts, and more debts, and the borrowing of money to pay +here and there, and threats of executions; and, with it all, the longing +for the fields and trout springs of Surrey and the walk across the park +to where she lived. + +This grew so strong that he wrote to his father, and was told briefly +that he who was to have kept up the family name had dragged it into the +dust of the race-courses, and had changed it at his own wish to that of +the Boy Plunger--and that the breach was irreconcilable. + +Then this queer feeling came on, and he wondered why he could not eat, +and why he shivered even when the room was warm or the sun shining, and +the fear came upon him that with all this trouble and disgrace his head +might give way, and then that it had given way. This came to him at all +times, and lately more frequently and with a fresher, more cruel thrill +of terror, and he began to watch himself and note how he spoke, and to +repeat over what he had said to see if it were sensible, and to question +himself as to why he laughed, and at what. It was not a question of +whether it would or would not be cowardly; It was simply a necessity. +The thing had to be stopped. He had to have rest and sleep and peace +again. He had boasted in those reckless, prosperous days that if by any +possible chance he should lose his money he would drive a hansom, or +emigrate to the colonies, or take the shilling. He had no patience in +those days with men who could not live on in adversity, and who were +found in the gun-room with a hole in their heads, and whose family asked +their polite friends to believe that a man used to firearms from his +school-days had tried to load a hair-trigger revolver with the muzzle +pointed at his forehead. He had expressed a fine contempt for those men +then, but now he had forgotten all that, and thought only of the +relief it would bring, and not how others might suffer by it. If he did +consider this, it was only to conclude that they would quite understand, +and be glad that his pain and fear were over. + +Then he planned a grand _coup_ which was to pay off all his debts and +give him a second chance to present himself a supplicant at his father's +house. If it failed, he would have to stop this queer feeling in his +head at once. The Grand Prix and the English horse was the final +_coup_. On this depended everything--the return of his fortunes, the +reconciliation with his father, and the possibility of meeting her +again. It was a very hot day he remembered, and very bright; but the +tall poplars on the road to the races seemed to stop growing just at +a level with his eyes. Below that it was clear enough, but all above +seemed black--as though a cloud had fallen and was hanging just over the +people's heads. He thought of speaking of this to his man Walters, who +had followed his fortunes from the first, but decided not to do so, for, +as it was, he had noticed that Walters had observed him closely of late, +and had seemed to spy upon him. The race began, and he looked through +his glass for the English horse in the front and could not find her, +and the Frenchman beside him cried, “Frou Frou!” as Frou Frou passed the +goal. He lowered his glasses slowly and unscrewed them very carefully +before dropping them back into the case; then he buckled the strap, and +turned and looked about him. Two Frenchmen who had won a hundred +francs between them were jumping and dancing at his side. He remembered +wondering why they did not speak in English. Then the sunlight changed +to a yellow, nasty glare, as though a calcium light had been turned +on the glass and colors, and he pushed his way back to his carriage, +leaning heavily on the servant's arm, and drove slowly back to Paris, +with the driver flecking his horses fretfully with his whip, for he had +wished to wait and see the end of the races. + +He had selected Monte Carlo as the place for it, because it was more +unlike his home than any other spot, and because one summer night, when +he had crossed the lawn from the Casino to the hotel with a gay party of +young men and women, they had come across something under a bush which +they took to be a dog or a man asleep, and one of the men had stepped +forward and touched it with his foot, and had then turned sharply and +said, “Take those girls away”; and while some hurried the women back, +frightened and curious, he and the others had picked up the body and +found it to be that of a young Russian whom they had just seen losing, +with a very bad grace, at the tables. There was no passion in his face +now, and his evening dress was quite unruffled, and only a black spot on +the shirt front showed where the powder had burnt the linen. It had +made a great impression on him then, for he was at the height of his +fortunes, with crowds of sycophantic friends and a retinue of dependents +at his heels. And now that he was quite alone and disinherited by even +these sorry companions there seemed no other escape from the pain in his +brain but to end it, and he sought this place of all others as the most +fitting place in which to die. + +So, after Walters had given the proper papers and checks to the +commissioner who handled his debts for him, he left Paris and took the +first train for Monte Carlo, sitting at the window of the carriage, +and beating a nervous tattoo on the pane with his ring until the old +gentleman at the other end of the compartment scowled at him. But +Harringford did not see him, nor the trees and fields as they swept by, +and it was not until Walters came and said, “You get out here, sir,” + that he recognized the yellow station and the great hotels on the hill +above. It was half-past eleven, and the lights in the Casino were still +burning brightly. He wondered whether he would have time to go over to +the hotel and write a letter to his father and to her. He decided, after +some difficult consideration, that he would not. There was nothing +to say that they did not know already, or that they would fail to +understand. But this suggested to him that what they had written to him +must be destroyed at once, before any stranger could claim the right +to read it. He took his letters from his pocket and looked them over +carefully. They were most unpleasant reading. They all seemed to be +about money; some begged to remind him of this or that debt, of which he +had thought continuously for the last month, while others were abusive +and insolent. Each of them gave him actual pain. One was the last letter +he had received from his father just before leaving Paris, and though he +knew it by heart, he read it over again for the last time. That it came +too late, that it asked what he knew now to be impossible, made it none +the less grateful to him, but that it offered peace and a welcome home +made it all the more terrible. + +“I came to take this step through young Hargraves, the new curate,” + his father wrote, “though he was but the instrument in the hands of +Providence. He showed me the error of my conduct toward you, and proved +to me that my duty and the inclination of my heart were toward the +same end. He read this morning for the second lesson the story of the +Prodigal Son, and I heard it without recognition and with no present +application until he came to the verse which tells how the father came +to his son 'when he was yet a great way off.' He saw him, it says, 'when +he was yet a great way off,' and ran to meet him. He did not wait for +the boy to knock at his gate and beg to be let in, but went out to meet +him, and took him in his arms and led him back to his home. Now, my boy, +my son, it seems to me as if you had never been so far off from me +as you are at this present time, as if you had never been so greatly +separated from me in every thought and interest; we are even worse than +strangers, for you think that my hand is against you, that I have closed +the door of your home to you and driven you away. But what I have done +I beg of you to forgive: to forget what I may have said in the past, and +only to think of what I say now. Your brothers are good boys and have +been good sons to me, and God knows I am thankful for such sons, and +thankful to them for bearing themselves as they have done. + +“But, my boy, my first-born, my little Cecil, they can never be to me +what you have been. I can never feel for them as I feel for you; they +are the ninety and nine who have never wandered away upon the mountains, +and who have never been tempted, and have never left their home for +either good or evil. But you, Cecil, though you have made my heart ache +until I thought and even hoped it would stop beating, and though you +have given me many, many nights that I could not sleep, are still dearer +to me than anything else in the world. You are the flesh of my flesh and +the bone of my bone, and I cannot bear living on without you. I cannot +be at rest here, or look forward contentedly to a rest hereafter, unless +you are by me and hear me, unless I can see your face and touch you and +hear your laugh in the halls. Come back to me, Cecil; to Harringford and +the people that know you best, and know what is best in you and love you +for it. I can have only a few more years here now when you will take +my place and keep up my name. I will not be here to trouble you much +longer; but, my boy, while I am here, come to me and make me happy for +the rest of my life. There are others who need you, Cecil. You know +whom I mean. I saw her only yesterday, and she asked me of you with such +splendid disregard for what the others standing by might think, and as +though she dared me or them to say or even imagine anything against you. +You cannot keep away from us both much longer. Surely not; you will come +back and make us happy for the rest of our lives.” + +The Goodwood Plunger turned his back to the lights so that the people +passing could not see his face, and tore the letter up slowly and +dropped it piece by piece over the balcony. “If I could,” he whispered; +“if I could.” The pain was a little worse than usual just then, but it +was no longer a question of inclination. He felt only this desire to +stop these thoughts and doubts and the physical tremor that shook him. +To rest and sleep, that was what he must have, and peace. There was no +peace at home or anywhere else while this thing lasted. He could not see +why they worried him in this way. It was quite impossible. He felt much +more sorry for them than for himself, but only because they could not +understand. He was quite sure that if they could feel what he suffered +they would help him, even to end it. + +He had been standing for some time with his back to the light, but now +he turned to face it and to take up his watch again. He felt quite +sure the lights would not burn much longer. As he turned, a woman came +forward from out the lighted hall, hovered uncertainly before him, and +then made a silent salutation, which was something between a courtesy +and a bow. That she was a woman and rather short and plainly dressed, +and that her bobbing up and down annoyed him, was all that he realized +of her presence, and he quite failed to connect her movements with +himself in any way. “Sir,” she said in French, “I beg your pardon, +but might I speak with you?” The Goodwood Plunger possessed a somewhat +various knowledge of Monte Carlo and its _habitues_. It was not the +first time that women who had lost at the tables had begged a napoleon +from him, or asked the distinguished child of fortune what color or +combination she should play. That, in his luckier days, had happened +often and had amused him, but now he moved back irritably and wished +that the figure in front of him would disappear as it had come. + +“I am in great trouble, sir,” the woman said. “I have no friends here, +sir, to whom I may apply. I am very bold, but my anxiety is very great.” + +The Goodwood Plunger raised his hat slightly and bowed. Then he +concentrated his eyes with what was a distinct effort on the queer +little figure hovering in front of him, and stared very hard. She wore +an odd piece of red coral for a brooch, and by looking steadily at +this he brought the rest of the figure into focus and saw, without +surprise,--for every commonplace seemed strange to him now, and +everything peculiar quite a matter of course,--that she was distinctly +not an _habituee_ of the place, and looked more like a lady's maid than +an adventuress. She was French and pretty,--such a girl as might wait in +a Duval restaurant or sit as a cashier behind a little counter near the +door. + +“We should not be here,” she said, as if in answer to his look and in +apology for her presence. “But Louis, my husband, he would come. I told +him that this was not for such as we are, but Louis is so bold. He said +that upon his marriage tour he would live with the best, and so here +he must come to play as the others do. We have been married, sir, only +since Tuesday, and we must go back to Paris to-morrow; they would give +him only the three days. He is not a gambler; he plays dominos at the +cafes, it is true. But what will you? He is young and with so much +spirit, and I know that you, sir, who are so fortunate and who +understand so well how to control these tables, I know that you will +persuade him. He will not listen to me; he is so greatly excited and so +little like himself. You will help me, sir, will you not? You will speak +to him?” + +The Goodwood Plunger knit his eyebrows and closed the lids once or +twice, and forced the mistiness and pain out of his eyes. It was most +annoying. The woman seemed to be talking a great deal and to say +very much, but he could not make sense of it. He moved his shoulders +slightly. “I can't understand,” he said wearily, turning away. + +“It is my husband,” the woman said anxiously: “Louis, he is playing at +the table inside, and he is only an apprentice to old Carbut the baker, +but he owns a third of the store. It was my _dot_ that paid for it,” she +added proudly. “Old Carbut says he may have it all for 20,000 francs, +and then old Carbut will retire, and we will be proprietors. We have +saved a little, and we had counted to buy the rest in five or six years +if we were very careful.” + +“I see, I see,” said the Plunger, with a little short laugh of relief; +“I understand.” He was greatly comforted to think that it was not so bad +as it had threatened. He saw her distinctly now and followed what she +said quite easily, and even such a small matter as talking with this +woman seemed to help him. + +“He is gambling,” he said, “and losing the money, and you come to me to +advise him what to play. I understand. Well, tell him he will lose what +little he has left; tell him I advise him to go home; tell him--” + +“No, no!” the girl said excitedly; “you do not understand; he has not +lost, he has won. He has won, oh, so many rolls of money, but he will +not stop. Do you not see? He has won as much as we could earn in many +months--in many years, sir, by saving and working, oh, so very hard! And +now he risks it again, and I cannot force him away. But if you, sir, +if you would tell him how great the chances are against him, if you who +know would tell him how foolish he is not to be content with what he +has, he would listen. He says to me, 'Bah! you are a woman'; and he is +so red and fierce; he is imbecile with the sight of the money, but he +will listen to a grand gentleman like you. He thinks to win more and +more, and he thinks to buy another third from old Carbut. Is it not +foolish? It is so wicked of him.” + +“Oh, yes,” said the Goodwood Plunger, nodding, “I see now. You want me +to take him away so that he can keep what he has. I see; but I don't +know him. He will not listen to me, you know; I have no right to +interfere.” + +He turned away, rubbing his hand across his forehead. He wished so much +that this woman would leave him by himself. + +“Ah, but, sir,” cried the girl, desperately, and touching his coat, “you +who are so fortunate, and so rich, and of the great world, you cannot +feel what this is to me. To have my own little shop and to be free, and +not to slave, and sew, and sew until my back and fingers burn with the +pain. Speak to him, sir; ah, speak to him! It is so easy a thing to do, +and he will listen to you.” + +The Goodwood Plunger turned again abruptly. “Where is he?” he said. +“Point him out to me.” + +The woman ran ahead, with a murmur of gratitude, to the open door and +pointed to where her husband was standing leaning over and placing +some money on one of the tables. He was a handsome young Frenchman, +as _bourgeois_ as his wife, and now terribly alive and excited. In the +self-contained air of the place and in contrast with the silence of the +great hall he seemed even more conspicuously out of place. The +Plunger touched him on the arm, and the Frenchman shoved the hand off +impatiently and without looking around. The Plunger touched him again +and forced him to turn toward him. + +“Well!” said the Frenchman, quickly. “Well?” + +“Madame, your wife,” said Cecil, with the grave politeness of an old +man, “has done me the honor to take me into her confidence. She tells me +that you have won a great deal of money; that you could put it to good +use at home, and so save yourselves much drudgery and debt, and all +that sort of trouble. You are quite right if you say it is no concern of +mine. It is not. But really, you know there is a great deal of sense in +what she wants, and you have apparently already won a large sum.” + +The Frenchman was visibly surprised at this approach. He paused for +a second or two in some doubt, and even awe, for the disinherited +one carried the mark of a personage of consideration and of one whose +position is secure. Then he gave a short, unmirthful laugh. + +“You are most kind, sir,” he said with mock politeness and with an +impatient shrug. “But madame, my wife, has not done well to interest a +stranger in this affair, which, as you say, concerns you not.” + +He turned to the table again with a defiant swagger of independence and +placed two rolls of money upon the cloth, casting at the same moment a +childish look of displeasure at his wife. “You see,” said the Plunger, +with a deprecatory turning out of his hands. But there was so much grief +on the girl's face that he turned again to the gambler and touched his +arm. He could not tell why he was so interested in these two. He had +witnessed many such scenes before, and they had not affected him in any +way except to make him move out of hearing. But the same dumb numbness +in his head, which made so many things seem possible that should have +been terrible even to think upon, made him stubborn and unreasonable +over this. He felt intuitively--it could not be said that he +thought--that the woman was right and the man wrong, and so he grasped +him again by the arm, and said sharply this time: + +“Come away! Do you hear? You are acting foolishly.” + +But even as he spoke the red won, and the Frenchman with a boyish gurgle +of pleasure raked in his winnings with his two hands, and then turned +with a happy, triumphant laugh to his wife. It is not easy to convince a +man that he is making a fool of himself when he is winning some hundred +francs every two minutes. His silent arguments to the contrary are +difficult to answer. But the Plunger did not regard this in the least. + +“Do you hear me?” he said in the same stubborn tone and with much the +same manner with which he would have spoken to a groom. “Come away.” + +Again the Frenchman tossed off his hand, this time with an execration, +and again he placed the rolls of gold coin on the red; and again the red +won. + +“My God!” cried the girl, running her fingers over the rolls on the +table, “he has won half of the 20,000 francs. Oh, sir, stop him, stop +him!” she cried. “Take him away.” + +“Do you hear me!” cried the Plunger, excited to a degree of utter +self-forgetfulness, and carried beyond himself; “you've got to come with +me.” + +“Take away your hand,” whispered the young Frenchman, fiercely. “See, +I shall win it all; in one grand _coup_ I shall win it all. I shall win +five years' pay in one moment.” + +He swept all of the money forward on the red and threw himself over the +table to see the wheel. + +“Wait, confound you!” whispered the Plunger, excitedly. “If you will +risk it, risk it with some reason. You can't play all that money; they +won't take it. Six thousand francs is the limit, unless,” he ran on +quickly, “you divide the 12,000 francs among the three of us. You +understand, 6,000 francs is all that any one person can play; but if you +give 4,000 to me, and 4,000 to your wife, and keep 4,000 yourself, we +can each chance it. You can back the red if you like, your wife shall +put her money on the numbers coming up below eighteen, and I will back +the odd. In that way you stand to win 24,000 francs if our combination +wins, and you lose less than if you simply back the color. Do you +understand?” + +“No!” cried the Frenchman, reaching for the piles of money which the +Plunger had divided rapidly into three parts, “on the red; all on the +red!” + +“Good heavens, man!” cried the Plunger, bitterly. “I may not know much, +but you should allow me to understand this dirty business.” He caught +the Frenchman by the wrists, and the young man, more impressed with the +strange look in the boy's face than by his physical force, stood still, +while the ball rolled and rolled, and clicked merrily, and stopped, and +balanced, and then settled into the “seven.” + +“Red, odd, and below,” the croupier droned mechanically. + +“Ah! you see; what did I tell you?” said the Plunger, with sudden +calmness. “You have won more than your 20,000 francs; you are +proprietors--I congratulate you!” + +“Ah, my God!” cried the Frenchman, in a frenzy of delight, “I will +double it.” + +He reached toward the fresh piles of coin as if he meant to sweep them +back again, but the Plunger put himself in his way and with a quick +movement caught up the rolls of money and dropped them into the skirt of +the woman, which she raised like an apron to receive her treasure. + +“Now,” said young Harringford, determinedly, “you come with me.” The +Frenchman tried to argue and resist, but the Plunger pushed him on with +the silent stubbornness of a drunken man. He handed the woman into a +carriage at the door, shoved her husband in beside her, and while the +man drove to the address she gave him, he told the Frenchman, with an +air of a chief of police, that he must leave Monte Carlo at once, that +very night. + +“Do you suppose I don't know?” he said. “Do you fancy I speak without +knowledge? I've seen them come here rich and go away paupers. But you +shall not; you shall keep what you have and spite them.” He sent the +woman up to her room to pack while he expostulated with and browbeat +the excited bridegroom in the carriage. When she returned with the bag +packed, and so heavy with the gold that the servants could hardly lift +it up beside the driver, he ordered the coachman to go down the hill to +the station. + +“The train for Paris leaves at midnight,” he said, “and you will be +there by morning. Then you must close your bargain with this old Carbut, +and never return here again.” + +The Frenchman had turned during the ride from an angry, indignant +prisoner to a joyful madman, and was now tearfully and effusively humble +in his petitions for pardon and in his thanks. Their benefactor, as they +were pleased to call him, hurried them into the waiting train and ran to +purchase their tickets for them. + +“Now,” he said, as the guard locked the door of the compartment, “you +are alone, and no one can get in, and you cannot get out. Go back to +your home, to your new home, and never come to this wretched place +again. Promise me--you understand?--never again!” + +They promised with effusive reiteration. They embraced each other like +children, and the man, pulling off his hat, called upon the good Lord to +thank the gentleman. + +“You will be in Paris, will you not?” said the woman, in an ecstasy of +pleasure, “and you will come to see us in our own shop, will you not? +Ah! we should be so greatly honored, sir, if you would visit us; if you +would come to the home you have given us. You have helped us so greatly, +sir,” she said; “and may Heaven bless you!” + +She caught up his gloved hand as it rested on the door and kissed it +until he snatched it away in great embarrassment and flushing like a +girl. Her husband drew her toward him, and the young bride sat at +his side with her face close to his and wept tears of pleasure and of +excitement. + +“Ah, look, sir!” said the young man, joyfully; “look how happy you have +made us. You have made us happy for the rest of our lives.” + +The train moved out with a quick, heavy rush, and the car-wheels took +up the young stranger's last words and seemed to say, “You have made us +happy--made us happy for the rest of our lives.” + +It had all come about so rapidly that the Plunger had had no time to +consider or to weigh his motives, and all that seemed real to him now, +as he stood alone on the platform of the dark, deserted station, were +the words of the man echoing and re-echoing like the refrain of the +song. And then there came to him suddenly, and with all the force of +a gambler's superstition, the thought that the words were the same as +those which his father had used in his letter, “you can make us happy +for the rest of our lives.” + +“Ah,” he said, with a quick gasp of doubt, “if I could! If I made those +poor fools happy, mayn't I live to be something to him, and to her? O +God!” he cried, but so gently that one at his elbow could not have heard +him, “if I could, if I could!” + +He tossed up his hands, and drew them down again and clenched them in +front of him, and raised his tired, hot eyes to the calm purple sky with +its millions of moving stars. “Help me!” he whispered fiercely, “help +me.” And as he lowered his head the queer numb feeling seemed to go, and +a calm came over his nerves and left him in peace. He did not know what +it might be, nor did he dare to question the change which had come to +him, but turned and slowly mounted the hill, with the awe and fear still +upon him of one who had passed beyond himself for one brief moment into +another world. When he reached his room he found his servant bending +with an anxious face over a letter which he tore up guiltily as his +master entered. “You were writing to my father,” said Cecil, gently, +“were you not? Well, you need not finish your letter; we are going home. + +“I am going away from this place, Walters,” he said as he pulled off his +coat and threw himself heavily on the bed. “I will take the first train +that leaves here, and I will sleep a little while you put up my things. +The first train, you understand--within an hour, if it leaves that +soon.” His head sank back on the pillows heavily, as though he had come +in from a long, weary walk, and his eyes closed and his arms fell easily +at his side. The servant stood frightened and yet happy, with the tears +running down his cheeks, for he loved his master dearly. + +“We are going home, Walters,” the Plunger whispered drowsily. “We are +going home; home to England and Harringford and the governor--and we are +going to be happy for all the rest of our lives.” He paused a moment, +and Walters bent forward over the bed and held his breath to listen. + +“For he came to me,” murmured the boy, as though he was speaking in his +sleep, “when I was yet a great way off--while I was yet a great way off, +and ran to meet me--” + +His voice sank until it died away into silence, and a few hours later, +when Walters came to wake him, he found his master sleeping like a child +and smiling in his sleep. + + + + +THE CYNICAL MISS CATHERWAIGHT + + +Miss Catherwaight's collection of orders and decorations and medals was +her chief offence in the eyes of those of her dear friends who thought +her clever but cynical. + +All of them were willing to admit that she was clever, but some of them +said she was clever only to be unkind. + +Young Van Bibber had said that if Miss Catherwaight did not like dances +and days and teas, she had only to stop going to them instead of making +unpleasant remarks about those who did. So many people repeated this +that young Van Bibber believed finally that he had said something good, +and was somewhat pleased in consequence, as he was not much given to +that sort of thing. + +Mrs. Catherwaight, while she was alive, lived solely for society, and, +so some people said, not only lived but died for it. She certainly did +go about a great deal, and she used to carry her husband away from +his library every night of every season and left him standing in +the doorways of drawing-rooms, outwardly courteous and distinguished +looking, but inwardly somnolent and unhappy. She was a born and trained +social leader, and her daughter's coming out was to have been the +greatest effort of her life. She regarded it as an event in the dear +child's lifetime second only in importance to her birth; equally +important with her probable marriage and of much more poignant interest +than her possible death. But the great effort proved too much for +the mother, and she died, fondly remembered by her peers and tenderly +referred to by a great many people who could not even show a card for +her Thursdays. Her husband and her daughter were not going out, of +necessity, for more than a year after her death, and then felt no +inclination to begin over again, but lived very much together and showed +themselves only occasionally. + +They entertained, though, a great deal, in the way of dinners, and +an invitation to one of these dinners soon became a diploma for +intellectual as well as social qualifications of a very high order. + +One was always sure of meeting some one of consideration there, which +was pleasant in itself, and also rendered it easy to let one's friends +know where one had been dining. It sounded so flat to boast abruptly, “I +dined at the Catherwaights' last night”; while it seemed only natural to +remark, “That reminds me of a story that novelist, what's his name, told +at Mr. Catherwaight's,” or “That English chap, who's been in Africa, was +at the Catherwaights' the other night, and told me--” + +After one of these dinners people always asked to be allowed to look +over Miss Catherwaight's collection, of which almost everybody had +heard. It consisted of over a hundred medals and decorations which Miss +Catherwaight had purchased while on the long tours she made with her +father in all parts of the world. Each of them had been given as a +reward for some public service, as a recognition of some virtue of the +highest order--for personal bravery, for statesmanship, for great genius +in the arts; and each had been pawned by the recipient or sold outright. +Miss Catherwaight referred to them as her collection of dishonored +honors, and called them variously her Orders of the Knights of the +Almighty Dollar, pledges to patriotism and the pawnshops, and honors at +second-hand. + +It was her particular fad to get as many of these together as she could +and to know the story of each. The less creditable the story, the more +highly she valued the medal. People might think it was not a pretty +hobby for a young girl, but they could not help smiling at the stories +and at the scorn with which she told them. + +“These,” she would say, “are crosses of the Legion of Honor; they are of +the lowest degree, that of chevalier. I keep them in this cigar box to +show how cheaply I got them and how cheaply I hold them. I think you +can get them here in New York for ten dollars; they cost more than +that--about a hundred francs--in Paris. At second-hand, of course. The +French government can imprison you, you know, for ten years, if you wear +one without the right to do so, but they have no punishment for those +who choose to part with them for a mess of pottage. + +“All these,” she would run on, “are English war medals. See, on this one +is 'Alma,' 'Balaclava,' and 'Sebastopol.' He was quite a veteran, was he +not? Well, he sold this to a dealer on Wardour Street, London, for five +and six. You can get any number of them on the Bowery for their weight +in silver. I tried very hard to get a Victoria Cross when I was in +England, and I only succeeded in getting this one after a great deal of +trouble. They value the cross so highly, you know, that it is the only +other decoration in the case which holds the Order of the Garter in the +Jewel Room at the Tower. It is made of copper, so that its intrinsic +value won't have any weight with the man who gets it, but I bought this +nevertheless for five pounds. The soldier to whom it belonged had loaded +and fired a cannon all alone when the rest of the men about the battery +had run away. He was captured by the enemy, but retaken immediately +afterward by re-enforcements from his own side, and the general in +command recommended him to the Queen for decoration. He sold his cross +to the proprietor of a curiosity shop and drank himself to death. I felt +rather meanly about keeping it and hunted up his widow to return it to +her, but she said I could have it for a consideration. + +“This gold medal was given, as you see, to 'Hiram J. Stillman, of the +sloop _Annie Barker_, for saving the crew of the steamship _Olivia_, +June 18, 1888,' by the President of the United States and both houses of +Congress. I found it on Baxter Street in a pawnshop. The gallant Hiram +J. had pawned it for sixteen dollars and never came back to claim it.” + +“But, Miss Catherwaight,” some optimist would object, “these men +undoubtedly did do something brave and noble once. You can't get back +of that; and they didn't do it for a medal, either, but because it was +their duty. And so the medal meant nothing to them: their conscience +told them they had done the right thing; they didn't need a stamped coin +to remind them of it, or of their wounds, either, perhaps.” + +“Quite right; that's quite true,” Miss Catherwaight would say. “But how +about this? Look at this gold medal with the diamonds: 'Presented to +Colonel James F. Placer by the men of his regiment, in camp before +Richmond.' Every soldier in the regiment gave something toward that, and +yet the brave gentleman put it up at a game of poker one night, and the +officer who won it sold it to the man who gave it to me. Can you defend +that?” + +Miss Catherwaight was well known to the proprietors of the pawnshops and +loan offices on the Bowery and Park Row. They learned to look for her +once a month, and saved what medals they received for her and tried to +learn their stories from the people who pawned them, or else invented +some story which they hoped would answer just as well. + +Though her brougham produced a sensation in the unfashionable streets +into which she directed it, she was never annoyed. Her maid went with +her into the shops, and one of the grooms always stood at the door +within call, to the intense delight of the neighborhood. And one day she +found what, from her point of view, was a perfect gem. It was a poor, +cheap-looking, tarnished silver medal, a half-dollar once, undoubtedly, +beaten out roughly into the shape of a heart and engraved in script by +the jeweller of some country town. On one side were two clasped hands +with a wreath around them, and on the reverse was this inscription: +“From Henry Burgoyne to his beloved friend Lewis L. Lockwood”; and +below, “Through prosperity and adversity.” That was all. And here it +was among razors and pistols and family Bibles in a pawnbroker's window. +What a story there was in that! These two boy friends, and their boyish +friendship that was to withstand adversity and prosperity, and all that +remained of it was this inscription to its memory like the wording on a +tomb! + +“He couldn't have got so much on it any way,” said the pawnbroker, +entering into her humor. “I didn't lend him more'n a quarter of a dollar +at the most.” + +Miss Catherwaight stood wondering if the Lewis L. Lockwood could be +Lewis Lockwood, the lawyer one read so much about. Then she remembered +his middle name was Lyman, and said quickly, “I'll take it, please.” + +She stepped into the carriage, and told the man to go find a directory +and look for Lewis Lyman Lockwood. The groom returned in a few minutes +and said there was such a name down in the book as a lawyer, and that +his office was such a number on Broadway; it must be near Liberty. “Go +there,” said Miss Catherwaight. + +Her determination was made so quickly that they had stopped in front of +a huge pile of offices, sandwiched in, one above the other, until they +towered mountains high, before she had quite settled in her mind what +she wanted to know, or had appreciated how strange her errand might +appear. Mr. Lockwood was out, one of the young men in the outer office +said, but the junior partner, Mr. Latimer, was in and would see her. +She had only time to remember that the junior partner was a dancing +acquaintance of hers, before young Mr. Latimer stood before her smiling, +and with her card in his hand. + +“Mr. Lockwood is out just at present, Miss Catherwaight,” he said, “but +he will be back in a moment. Won't you come into the other room and +wait? I'm sure he won't be away over five minutes. Or is it something I +could do?” + +She saw that he was surprised to see her, and a little ill at ease as +to just how to take her visit. He tried to make it appear that he +considered it the most natural thing in the world, but he overdid it, +and she saw that her presence was something quite out of the common. +This did not tend to set her any more at her ease. She already regretted +the step she had taken. What if it should prove to be the same Lockwood, +she thought, and what would they think of her? + +“Perhaps you will do better than Mr. Lockwood,” she said, as she +followed him into the inner office. “I fear I have come upon a very +foolish errand, and one that has nothing at all to do with the law.” + +“Not a breach of promise suit, then?” said young Latimer, with a smile. +“Perhaps it is only an innocent subscription to a most worthy charity. I +was afraid at first,” he went on lightly, “that it was legal redress you +wanted, and I was hoping that the way I led the Courdert's cotillion +had made you think I could conduct you through the mazes of the law as +well.” + +“No,” returned Miss Catherwaight, with a nervous laugh; “it has to do +with my unfortunate collection. This is what brought me here,” she said, +holding out the silver medal. “I came across it just now in the Bowery. +The name was the same, and I thought it just possible Mr. Lockwood would +like to have it; or, to tell you the truth, that he might tell me what +had become of the Henry Burgoyne who gave it to him.” + +Young Latimer had the medal in his hand before she had finished +speaking, and was examining it carefully. He looked up with just a touch +of color in his cheeks and straightened himself visibly. + +“Please don't be offended,” said the fair collector. “I know what you +think. You've heard of my stupid collection, and I know you think +I meant to add this to it. But, indeed, now that I have had time to +think--you see I came here immediately from the pawnshop, and I was +so interested, like all collectors, you know, that I didn't stop to +consider. That's the worst of a hobby; it carries one rough-shod over +other people's feelings, and runs away with one. I beg of you, if you do +know anything about the coin, just to keep it and don't tell me, and I +assure you what little I know I will keep quite to myself.” + +Young Latimer bowed, and stood looking at her curiously, with the medal +in his hand. + +“I hardly know what to say,” he began slowly. “It really has a story. +You say you found this on the Bowery, in a pawnshop. Indeed! Well, of +course, you know Mr. Lockwood could not have left it there.” + +Miss Catherwaight shook her head vehemently and smiled in deprecation. + +“This medal was in his safe when he lived on Thirty-fifth Street at +the time he was robbed, and the burglars took this with the rest of the +silver and pawned it, I suppose. Mr. Lockwood would have given more for +it than any one else could have afforded to pay.” He paused a moment, +and then continued more rapidly: “Henry Burgoyne is Judge Burgoyne. Ah! +you didn't guess that? Yes, Mr. Lockwood and he were friends when they +were boys. They went to school in Westchester County. They were Damon +and Pythias and that sort of thing. They roomed together at the State +college and started to practise law in Tuckahoe as a firm, but they made +nothing of it, and came on to New York and began reading law again with +Fuller & Mowbray. It was while they were at school that they had these +medals made. There was a mate to this, you know; Judge Burgoyne had it. +Well, they continued to live and work together. They were both orphans +and dependent on themselves. I suppose that was one of the strongest +bonds between them; and they knew no one in New York, and always spent +their spare time together. They were pretty poor, I fancy, from all +Mr. Lockwood has told me, but they were very ambitious. They were--I'm +telling you this, you understand, because it concerns you somewhat: +well, more or less. They were great sportsmen, and whenever they could +get away from the law office they would go off shooting. I think they +were fonder of each other than brothers even. I've heard Mr. Lockwood +tell of the days they lay in the rushes along the Chesapeake Bay waiting +for duck. He has said often that they were the happiest hours of his +life. That was their greatest pleasure, going off together after duck or +snipe along the Maryland waters. Well, they grew rich and began to know +people; and then they met a girl. It seems they both thought a great +deal of her, as half the New York men did, I am told; and she was the +reigning belle and toast, and had other admirers, and neither met with +that favor she showed--well, the man she married, for instance. But for +a while each thought, for some reason or other, that he was especially +favored. I don't know anything about it. Mr. Lockwood never spoke of it +to me. But they both fell very deeply in love with her, and each thought +the other disloyal, and so they quarrelled; and--and then, though the +woman married, the two men kept apart. It was the one great passion +of their lives, and both were proud, and each thought the other in the +wrong, and so they have kept apart ever since. And--well, I believe that +is all.” + +Miss Catherwaight had listened in silence and with one little gloved +hand tightly clasping the other. + +“Indeed, Mr. Latimer, indeed,” she began, tremulously, “I am terribly +ashamed of myself. I seemed to have rushed in where angels fear to +tread. I wouldn't meet Mr. Lockwood _now_ for worlds. Of course I might +have known there was a woman in the case, it adds so much to the story. +But I suppose I must give up my medal. I never could tell that story, +could I?” + +“No,” said young Latimer, dryly; “I wouldn't if I were you.” + +Something in his tone, and something in the fact that he seemed to avoid +her eyes, made her drop the lighter vein in which she had been speaking, +and rise to go. There was much that he had not told her, she suspected, +and when she bade him good-by it was with a reserve which she had not +shown at any other time during their interview. + +“I wonder who that woman was?” she murmured, as young Latimer turned +from the brougham door and said “Home,” to the groom. She thought about +it a great deal that afternoon; at times she repented that she had given +up the medal, and at times she blushed that she should have been carried +in her zeal into such an unwarranted intimacy with another's story. + +She determined finally to ask her father about it. He would be sure to +know, she thought, as he and Mr. Lockwood were contemporaries. Then +she decided finally not to say anything about it at all, for Mr. +Catherwaight did not approve of the collection of dishonored honors +as it was, and she had no desire to prejudice him still further by a +recital of her afternoon's adventure, of which she had no doubt but he +would also disapprove. So she was more than usually silent during +the dinner, which was a tete-a-tete family dinner that night, and she +allowed her father to doze after it in the library in his great chair +without disturbing him with either questions or confessions. + +{Illustration with caption: “What can Mr. Lockwood be calling upon me +about?”} + +They had been sitting there some time, he with his hands folded on the +evening paper and with his eyes closed, when the servant brought in a +card and offered it to Mr. Catherwaight. Mr. Catherwaight fumbled +over his glasses, and read the name on the card aloud: “'Mr. Lewis L. +Lockwood.' Dear me!” he said; “what can Mr. Lockwood be calling upon me +about?” + +Miss Catherwaight sat upright, and reached out for the card with a +nervous, gasping little laugh. + +“Oh, I think it must be for me,” she said; “I'm quite sure it is +intended for me. I was at his office to-day, you see, to return him some +keepsake of his that I found in an old curiosity shop. Something with +his name on it that had been stolen from him and pawned. It was just a +trifle. You needn't go down, dear; I'll see him. It was I he asked for, +I'm sure; was it not, Morris?” + +Morris was not quite sure; being such an old gentleman, he thought it +must be for Mr. Catherwaight he'd come. + +Mr. Catherwaight was not greatly interested. He did not like to disturb +his after-dinner nap, and he settled back in his chair again and +refolded his hands. + +“I hardly thought he could have come to see me,” he murmured, drowsily; +“though I used to see enough and more than enough of Lewis Lockwood +once, my dear,” he added with a smile, as he opened his eyes and nodded +before he shut them again. “That was before your mother and I were +engaged, and people did say that young Lockwood's chances at that time +were as good as mine. But they weren't, it seems. He was very attentive, +though; _very_ attentive.” + +Miss Catherwaight stood startled and motionless at the door from which +she had turned. + +“Attentive--to whom?” she asked quickly, and in a very low voice. “To my +mother?” + +Mr. Catherwaight did not deign to open his eyes this time, but moved his +head uneasily as if he wished to be let alone. + +“To your mother, of course, my child,” he answered; “of whom else was I +speaking?” + +Miss Catherwaight went down the stairs to the drawing-room slowly, and +paused half-way to allow this new suggestion to settle in her mind. +There was something distasteful to her, something that seemed not +altogether unblamable, in a woman's having two men quarrel about her, +neither of whom was the woman's husband. And yet this girl of whom +Latimer had spoken must be her mother, and she, of course, could do no +wrong. It was very disquieting, and she went on down the rest of the way +with one hand resting heavily on the railing and with the other pressed +against her cheeks. She was greatly troubled. It now seemed to her very +sad indeed that these two one-time friends should live in the same city +and meet, as they must meet, and not recognize each other. She argued +that her mother must have been very young when it happened, or she would +have brought two such men together again. Her mother could not have +known, she told herself; she was not to blame. For she felt sure that +had she herself known of such an accident she would have done something, +said something, to make it right. And she was not half the woman her +mother had been, she was sure of that. + +There was something very likable in the old gentleman who came forward +to greet her as she entered the drawing-room; something courtly and of +the old school, of which she was so tired of hearing, but of which she +wished she could have seen more in the men she met. Young Mr. Latimer +had accompanied his guardian, exactly why she did not see, but she +recognized his presence slightly. He seemed quite content to remain in +the background. Mr. Lockwood, as she had expected, explained that he had +called to thank her for the return of the medal. He had it in his hand +as he spoke, and touched it gently with the tips of his fingers as +though caressing it. + +“I knew your father very well,” said the lawyer, “and I at one time had +the honor of being one of your mother's younger friends. That was before +she was married, many years ago.” He stopped and regarded the girl +gravely and with a touch of tenderness. “You will pardon an old man, old +enough to be your father, if he says,” he went on, “that you are greatly +like your mother, my dear young lady--greatly like. Your mother was +very kind to me, and I fear I abused her kindness; abused it by +misunderstanding it. There was a great deal of misunderstanding; and +I was proud, and my friend was proud, and so the misunderstanding +continued, until now it has become irretrievable.” + +He had forgotten her presence apparently, and was speaking more to +himself than to her as he stood looking down at the medal in his hand. + +“You were very thoughtful to give me this,” he continued; “it was very +good of you. I don't know why I should keep it though, now, although I +was distressed enough when I lost it. But now it is only a reminder of +a time that is past and put away, but which was very, very dear to me. +Perhaps I should tell you that I had a misunderstanding with the friend +who gave it to me, and since then we have never met; have ceased to +know each other. But I have always followed his life as a judge and as a +lawyer, and respected him for his own sake as a man. I cannot tell--I do +not know how he feels toward me.” + +The old lawyer turned the medal over in his hand and stood looking down +at it wistfully. + +The cynical Miss Catherwaight could not stand it any longer. + +“Mr. Lockwood,” she said, impulsively, “Mr. Latimer has told me why +you and your friend separated, and I cannot bear to think that it +was she--my mother--should have been the cause. She could not have +understood; she must have been innocent of any knowledge of the trouble +she had brought to men who were such good friends of hers and to each +other. It seems to me as though my finding that coin is more than a +coincidence. I somehow think that the daughter is to help undo the harm +that her mother has caused--unwittingly caused. Keep the medal and don't +give it back to me, for I am sure your friend has kept his, and I am +sure he is still your friend at heart. Don't think I am speaking hastily +or that I am thoughtless in what I am saying, but it seems to me as if +friends--good, true friends--were so few that one cannot let them go +without a word to bring them back. But though I am only a girl, and a +very light and unfeeling girl, some people think, I feel this very +much, and I do wish I could bring your old friend back to you again as I +brought back his pledge.” + +“It has been many years since Henry Burgoyne and I have met,” said the +old man, slowly, “and it would be quite absurd to think that he still +holds any trace of that foolish, boyish feeling of loyalty that we once +had for each other. Yet I will keep this, if you will let me, and I +thank you, my dear young lady, for what you have said. I thank you from +the bottom of my heart. You are as good and as kind as your mother was, +and--I can say nothing, believe me, in higher praise.” + +He rose slowly and made a movement as if to leave the room, and then, +as if the excitement of this sudden return into the past could not +be shaken off so readily, he started forward with a move of sudden +determination. + +“I think,” he said, “I will go to Henry Burgoyne's house at once, +to-night. I will act on what you have suggested. I will see if this has +or has not been one long, unprofitable mistake. If my visit should +be fruitless, I will send you this coin to add to your collection of +dishonored honors, but if it should result as I hope it may, it will be +your doing, Miss Catherwaight, and two old men will have much to thank +you for. Good-night,” he said as he bowed above her hand, “and--God +bless you!” + +Miss Catherwaight flushed slightly at what he had said, and sat looking +down at the floor for a moment after the door had closed behind him. + +Young Mr. Latimer moved uneasily in his chair. The routine of the office +had been strangely disturbed that day, and he now failed to recognize +in the girl before him with reddened cheeks and trembling eyelashes the +cold, self-possessed young woman of society whom he had formerly known. + +“You have done very well, if you will let me say so,” he began, gently. +“I hope you are right in what you said, and that Mr. Lockwood will not +meet with a rebuff or an ungracious answer. Why,” he went on quickly, “I +have seen him take out his gun now every spring and every fall for the +last ten years and clean and polish it and tell what great shots he and +Henry, as he calls him, used to be. And then he would say he would take +a holiday and get off for a little shooting. But he never went. He would +put the gun back into its case again and mope in his library for days +afterward. You see, he never married, and though he adopted me, in a +manner, and is fond of me in a certain way, no one ever took the place +in his heart his old friend had held.” + +“You will let me know, will you not, at once,--to-night, even,--whether +he succeeds or not?” said the cynical Miss Catherwaight. “You can +understand why I am so deeply interested. I see now why you said I +would not tell the story of that medal. But, after all, it may be the +prettiest story, the only pretty story I have to tell.” + +Mr. Lockwood had not returned, the man said, when young Latimer reached +the home the lawyer had made for them both. He did not know what to +argue from this, but determined to sit up and wait, and so sat smoking +before the fire and listening with his sense of hearing on a strain for +the first movement at the door. + +He had not long to wait. The front door shut with a clash, and he heard +Mr. Lockwood crossing the hall quickly to the library, in which he +waited. Then the inner door was swung back, and Mr. Lockwood came in +with his head high and his eyes smiling brightly. + +There was something in his step that had not been there before, +something light and vigorous, and he looked ten years younger. He +crossed the room to his writing-table without speaking and began tossing +the papers about on his desk. Then he closed the rolling-top lid with a +snap and looked up smiling. + +“I shall have to ask you to look after things at the office for a little +while,” he said. “Judge Burgoyne and I are going to Maryland for a few +weeks' shooting.” + + + + +VAN BIBBER AND THE SWAN-BOATS + + +It was very hot in the Park, and young Van Bibber, who has a good heart +and a great deal more money than good-hearted people generally get, was +cross and somnolent. He had told his groom to bring a horse he wanted to +try to the Fifty-ninth Street entrance at ten o'clock, and the groom had +not appeared. Hence Van Bibber's crossness. + +He waited as long as his dignity would allow, and then turned off into +a by-lane end dropped on a bench and looked gloomily at the Lohengrin +swans with the paddle-wheel attachment that circle around the lake. +They struck him as the most idiotic inventions he had ever seen, and he +pitied, with the pity of a man who contemplates crossing the ocean to +be measured for his fall clothes, the people who could find delight in +having some one paddle them around an artificial lake. + +Two little girls from the East Side, with a lunch basket, and an older +girl with her hair down her back, sat down on a bench beside him and +gazed at the swans. + +The place was becoming too popular, and Van Bibber decided to move on. +But the bench on which he sat was in the shade, and the asphalt walk +leading to the street was in the sun, and his cigarette was soothing, +so he ignored the near presence of the three little girls, and remained +where he was. + +“I s'pose,” said one of the two little girls, in a high, public school +voice, “there's lots to see from those swan-boats that youse can't see +from the banks.” + +“Oh, lots,” assented the girl with long hair. + +“If you walked all round the lake, clear all the way round, you could +see all there is to see,” said the third, “except what there's in the +middle where the island is.” + +“I guess it's mighty wild on that island,” suggested the youngest. + +“Eddie Case he took a trip around the lake on a swan-boat the other day. +He said that it was grand. He said youse could see fishes and ducks, and +that it looked just as if there were snakes and things on the island.” + +“What sort of things?” asked the other one, in a hushed voice. + +“Well, wild things,” explained the elder, vaguely; “bears and animals +like that, that grow in wild places.” + +Van Bibber lit a fresh cigarette, and settled himself comfortably and +unreservedly to listen. + +“My, but I'd like to take a trip just once,” said the youngest, +under her breath. Then she clasped her fingers together and looked up +anxiously at the elder girl, who glanced at her with severe reproach. + +“Why, Mame!” she said; “ain't you ashamed! Ain't you having a good time +'nuff without wishing for everything you set your eyes on?” + +Van Bibber wondered at this--why humans should want to ride around on +the swans in the first place, and why, if they had such a wild desire, +they should not gratify it. + +“Why, it costs more'n it costs to come all the way up town in an open +car,” added the elder girl, as if in answer to his unspoken question. + +The younger girl sighed at this, and nodded her head in submission, but +blinked longingly at the big swans and the parti-colored awning and the +red seats. + +“I beg your pardon,” said Van Bibber, addressing himself uneasily to +the eldest girl with long hair, “but if the little girl would like to go +around in one of those things, and--and hasn't brought the change with +her, you know, I'm sure I should be very glad if she'd allow me to send +her around.” + +“Oh! will you?” exclaimed the little girl, with a jump, and so sharply +and in such a shrill voice that Van Bibber shuddered. But the elder girl +objected. + +“I'm afraid maw wouldn't like our taking money from any one we didn't +know,” she said with dignity; “but if you're going anyway and want +company--” + +“Oh! my, no,” said Van Bibber, hurriedly. He tried to picture himself +riding around the lake behind a tin swan with three little girls from +the East Side, and a lunch basket. + +“Then,” said the head of the trio, “we can't go.” + +There was such a look of uncomplaining acceptance of this verdict on +the part of the two little girls, that Van Bibber felt uncomfortable. He +looked to the right and to the left, and then said desperately, +“Well, come along.” The young man in a blue flannel shirt, who did the +paddling, smiled at Van Bibber's riding-breeches, which were so very +loose at one end and so very tight at the other, and at his gloves +and crop. But Van Bibber pretended not to care. The three little girls +placed the awful lunch basket on the front seat and sat on the middle +one, and Van Bibber cowered in the back. They were hushed in silent +ecstasy when it started, and gave little gasps of pleasure when it +careened slightly in turning. It was shady under the awning, and the +motion was pleasant enough, but Van Bibber was so afraid some one would +see him that he failed to enjoy it. + +But as soon as they passed into the narrow straits and were shut in by +the bushes and were out of sight of the people, he relaxed, and began to +play the host. He pointed out the fishes among the rocks at the edges +of the pool, and the sparrows and robins bathing and ruffling +their feathers in the shallow water, and agreed with them about the +possibility of bears, and even tigers, in the wild part of the island, +although the glimpse of the gray helmet of a Park policeman made such a +supposition doubtful. + +And it really seemed as though they were enjoying it more than he +ever enjoyed a trip up the Sound on a yacht or across the ocean on a +record-breaking steamship. It seemed long enough before they got back to +Van Bibber, but his guests were evidently but barely satisfied. Still, +all the goodness in his nature would not allow him to go through that +ordeal again. + +He stepped out of the boat eagerly and helped out the girl with long +hair as though she had been a princess and tipped the rude young man +who had laughed at him, but who was perspiring now with the work he had +done; and then as he turned to leave the dock he came face to face with +A Girl He Knew and Her brother. + +Her brother said, “How're you, Van Bibber? Been taking a trip around +the world in eighty minutes?” And added in a low voice, “Introduce me to +your young lady friends from Hester Street.” + +“Ah, how're you--quite a surprise!” gasped Van Bibber, while his late +guests stared admiringly at the pretty young lady in the riding-habit, +and utterly refused to move on. “Been taking ride on the lake,” + stammered Van Bibber; “most exhilarating. Young friends of mine--these +young ladies never rode on lake, so I took 'em. Did you see me?” + +“Oh, yes, we saw you,” said Her brother, dryly, while she only smiled at +him, but so kindly and with such perfect understanding that Van Bibber +grew red with pleasure and bought three long strings of tickets for the +swans at some absurd discount, and gave each little girl a string. + +“There,” said Her brother to the little ladies from Hester Street, “now +you can take trips for a week without stopping. Don't try to smuggle in +any laces, and don't forget to fee the smoking-room steward.” + +The Girl He Knew said they were walking over to the stables, and that +he had better go get his other horse and join her, which was to be his +reward for taking care of the young ladies. And the three little girls +proceeded to use up the yards of tickets so industriously that they were +sunburned when they reached the tenement, and went to bed dreaming of +a big white swan, and a beautiful young gentleman in patent-leather +riding-boots and baggy breeches. + + + + +VAN BIBBER'S BURGLAR + + +There had been a dance up town, but as Van Bibber could not find Her +there, he accepted young Travers's suggestion to go over to Jersey City +and see a “go” between “Dutchy” Mack and a colored person professionally +known as the Black Diamond. They covered up all signs of their evening +dress with their great-coats, and filled their pockets with cigars, for +the smoke which surrounds a “go” is trying to sensitive nostrils, and +they also fastened their watches to both key-chains. Alf Alpin, who was +acting as master of ceremonies, was greatly pleased and flattered +at their coming, and boisterously insisted on their sitting on the +platform. The fact was generally circulated among the spectators that +the “two gents in high hats” had come in a carriage, and this and their +patent-leather boots made them objects of keen interest. It was even +whispered that they were the “parties” who were putting up the money +to back the Black Diamond against the “Hester Street Jackson.” This in +itself entitled them to respect. Van Bibber was asked to hold the watch, +but he wisely declined the honor, which was given to Andy Spielman, the +sporting reporter of the _Track and Ring_, whose watch-case was covered +with diamonds, and was just the sort of a watch a timekeeper should +hold. + +It was two o'clock before “Dutchy” Mack's backer threw the sponge +into the air, and three before they reached the city. They had another +reporter in the cab with them besides the gentleman who had bravely +held the watch in the face of several offers to “do for” him; and as +Van Bibber was ravenously hungry, and as he doubted that he could get +anything at that hour at the club, they accepted Spielman's invitation +and went for a porterhouse steak and onions at the Owl's Nest, Gus +McGowan's all-night restaurant on Third Avenue. + +It was a very dingy, dirty place, but it was as warm as the engine-room +of a steamboat, and the steak was perfectly done and tender. It was +too late to go to bed, so they sat around the table, with their chairs +tipped back and their knees against its edge. The two club men had +thrown off their great-coats, and their wide shirt fronts and silk +facings shone grandly in the smoky light of the oil lamps and the +red glow from the grill in the corner. They talked about the life the +reporters led, and the Philistines asked foolish questions, which the +gentleman of the press answered without showing them how foolish they +were. + +“And I suppose you have all sorts of curious adventures,” said Van +Bibber, tentatively. + +“Well, no, not what I would call adventures,” said one of the reporters. +“I have never seen anything that could not be explained or attributed +directly to some known cause, such as crime or poverty or drink. You may +think at first that you have stumbled on something strange and romantic, +but it comes to nothing. You would suppose that in a great city like +this one would come across something that could not be explained away +something mysterious or out of the common, like Stevenson's Suicide +Club. But I have not found it so. Dickens once told James Payn that the +most curious thing he ever saw In his rambles around London was a ragged +man who stood crouching under the window of a great house where the +owner was giving a ball. While the man hid beneath a window on the +ground floor, a woman wonderfully dressed and very beautiful raised the +sash from the inside and dropped her bouquet down into the man's hand, +and he nodded and stuck it under his coat and ran off with it. + +“I call that, now, a really curious thing to see. But I have never come +across anything like it, and I have been in every part of this big city, +and at every hour of the night and morning, and I am not lacking in +imagination either, but no captured maidens have ever beckoned to me +from barred windows nor 'white hands waved from a passing hansom.' +Balzac and De Musset and Stevenson suggest that they have had such +adventures, but they never come to me. It is all commonplace and vulgar, +and always ends in a police court or with a 'found drowned' in the North +River.” + +McGowan, who had fallen into a doze behind the bar, woke suddenly and +shivered and rubbed his shirt-sleeves briskly. A woman knocked at the +side door and begged for a drink “for the love of heaven,” and the man +who tended the grill told her to be off. They could hear her feeling +her way against the wall and cursing as she staggered out of the alley. +Three men came in with a hack driver and wanted everybody to drink +with them, and became insolent when the gentlemen declined, and were +in consequence hustled out one at a time by McGowan, who went to sleep +again immediately, with his head resting among the cigar boxes and +pyramids of glasses at the back of the bar, and snored. + +“You see,” said the reporter, “it is all like this. Night in a great +city is not picturesque and it is not theatrical. It is sodden, +sometimes brutal, exciting enough until you get used to it, but it runs +in a groove. It is dramatic, but the plot is old and the motives and +characters always the same.” + +The rumble of heavy market wagons and the rattle of milk carts told +them that it was morning, and as they opened the door the cold fresh +air swept into the place and made them wrap their collars around +their throats and stamp their feet. The morning wind swept down the +cross-street from the East River and the lights of the street lamps and +of the saloon looked old and tawdry. Travers and the reporter went off +to a Turkish bath, and the gentleman who held the watch, and who had +been asleep for the last hour, dropped into a nighthawk and told the +man to drive home. It was almost clear now and very cold, and Van Bibber +determined to walk. He had the strange feeling one gets when one stays +up until the sun rises, of having lost a day somewhere, and the dance +he had attended a few hours before seemed to have come off long ago, and +the fight in Jersey City was far back in the past. + +The houses along the cross-street through which he walked were as dead +as so many blank walls, and only here and there a lace curtain waved out +of the open window where some honest citizen was sleeping. The street +was quite deserted; not even a cat or a policeman moved on it and Van +Bibber's footsteps sounded brisk on the sidewalk. There was a great +house at the corner of the avenue and the cross-street on which he was +walking. The house faced the avenue and a stone wall ran back to the +brown stone stable which opened on the side street. There was a door +in this wall, and as Van Bibber approached it on his solitary walk it +opened cautiously, and a man's head appeared in it for an instant and +was withdrawn again like a flash, and the door snapped to. Van Bibber +stopped and looked at the door and at the house and up and down the +street. The house was tightly closed, as though some one was lying +inside dead, and the streets were still empty. + +Van Bibber could think of nothing in his appearance so dreadful as to +frighten an honest man, so he decided the face he had had a glimpse of +must belong to a dishonest one. It was none of his business, he assured +himself, but it was curious, and he liked adventure, and he would +have liked to prove his friend the reporter, who did not believe in +adventure, in the wrong. So he approached the door silently, and jumped +and caught at the top of the wall and stuck one foot on the handle of +the door, and, with the other on the knocker, drew himself up and looked +cautiously down on the other side. He had done this so lightly that the +only noise he made was the rattle of the door-knob on which his foot had +rested, and the man inside thought that the one outside was trying to +open the door, and placed his shoulder to it and pressed against it +heavily. Van Bibber, from his perch on the top of the wall, looked down +directly on the other's head and shoulders. He could see the top of the +man's head only two feet below, and he also saw that in one hand he +held a revolver and that two bags filled with projecting articles of +different sizes lay at his feet. + +It did not need explanatory notes to tell Van Bibber that the man below +had robbed the big house on the corner, and that if it had not been for +his having passed when he did the burglar would have escaped with his +treasure. His first thought was that he was not a policeman, and that a +fight with a burglar was not in his line of life; and this was followed +by the thought that though the gentleman who owned the property in the +two bags was of no interest to him, he was, as a respectable member of +society, more entitled to consideration than the man with the revolver. + +The fact that he was now, whether he liked it or not, perched on the top +of the wall like Humpty Dumpty, and that the burglar might see him +and shoot him the next minute, had also an immediate influence on his +movements. So he balanced himself cautiously and noiselessly and dropped +upon the man's head and shoulders, bringing him down to the flagged walk +with him and under him. The revolver went off once in the struggle, but +before the burglar could know how or from where his assailant had come, +Van Bibber was standing up over him and had driven his heel down on his +hand and kicked the pistol out of his fingers. Then he stepped quickly +to where it lay and picked it up and said, “Now, if you try to get up +I'll shoot at you.” He felt an unwarranted and ill-timedly humorous +inclination to add, “and I'll probably miss you,” but subdued it. The +burglar, much to Van Bibber's astonishment, did not attempt to rise, but +sat up with his hands locked across his knees and said: “Shoot ahead. +I'd a damned sight rather you would.” + +His teeth were set and his face desperate and bitter, and hopeless to a +degree of utter hopelessness that Van Bibber had never imagined. + +“Go ahead,” reiterated the man, doggedly, “I won't move. Shoot me.” + +It was a most unpleasant situation. Van Bibber felt the pistol loosening +in his hand, and he was conscious of a strong inclination to lay it down +and ask the burglar to tell him all about it. + +“You haven't got much heart,” said Van Bibber, finally. “You're a pretty +poor sort of a burglar, I should say.” + +“What's the use?” said the man, fiercely. “I won't go back--I won't go +back there alive. I've served my time forever in that hole. If I have to +go back again--s'help me if I don't do for a keeper and die for it. But +I won't serve there no more.” + +“Go back where?” asked Van Bibber, gently, and greatly interested; “to +prison?” + +“To prison, yes!” cried the man, hoarsely: “to a grave. That's where. +Look at my face,” he said, “and look at my hair. That ought to tell you +where I've been. With all the color gone out of my skin, and all the +life out of my legs. You needn't be afraid of me. I couldn't hurt you if +I wanted to. I'm a skeleton and a baby, I am. I couldn't kill a cat. And +now you're going to send me back again for another lifetime. For twenty +years, this time, into that cold, forsaken hole, and after I done my +time so well and worked so hard.” Van Bibber shifted the pistol from one +hand to the other and eyed his prisoner doubtfully. + +“How long have you been out?” he asked, seating himself on the steps +of the kitchen and holding the revolver between his knees. The sun was +driving the morning mist away, and he had forgotten the cold. + +“I got out yesterday,” said the man. + +Van Bibber glanced at the bags and lifted the revolver. “You didn't +waste much time,” he said. + +“No,” answered the man, sullenly, “no, I didn't. I knew this place and +I wanted money to get West to my folks, and the Society said I'd have to +wait until I earned it, and I couldn't wait. I haven't seen my wife +for seven years, nor my daughter. Seven years, young man; think of +that--seven years. Do you know how long that is? Seven years without +seeing your wife or your child! And they're straight people, they are,” + he added, hastily. “My wife moved West after I was put away and took +another name, and my girl never knew nothing about me. She thinks I'm +away at sea. I was to join 'em. That was the plan. I was to join 'em, +and I thought I could lift enough here to get the fare, and now,” he +added, dropping his face in his hands, “I've got to go back. And I had +meant to live straight after I got West,--God help me, but I did! Not +that it makes much difference now. An' I don't care whether you believe +it or not neither,” he added, fiercely. + +“I didn't say whether I believed it or not,” answered Van Bibber, with +grave consideration. + +He eyed the man for a brief space without speaking, and the burglar +looked back at him, doggedly and defiantly, and with not the faintest +suggestion of hope in his eyes, or of appeal for mercy. Perhaps it was +because of this fact, or perhaps it was the wife and child that moved +Van Bibber, but whatever his motives were, he acted on them promptly. “I +suppose, though,” he said, as though speaking to himself, “that I ought +to give you up.” + +“I'll never go back alive,” said the burglar, quietly. + +“Well, that's bad, too,” said Van Bibber. “Of course I don't know +whether you're lying or not, and as to your meaning to live honestly, I +very much doubt it; but I'll give you a ticket to wherever your wife is, +and I'll see you on the train. And you can get off at the next station +and rob my house to-morrow night, if you feel that way about it. Throw +those bags inside that door where the servant will see them before the +milkman does, and walk on out ahead of me, and keep your hands in your +pockets, and don't try to run. I have your pistol, you know.” + +The man placed the bags inside the kitchen door; and, with a doubtful +look at his custodian, stepped out into the street, and walked, as he +was directed to do, toward the Grand Central station. Van Bibber kept +just behind him, and kept turning the question over in his mind as to +what he ought to do. He felt very guilty as he passed each policeman, +but he recovered himself when he thought of the wife and child who lived +in the West, and who were “straight.” + +“Where to?” asked Van Bibber, as he stood at the ticket-office window. +“Helena, Montana,” answered the man with, for the first time, a look of +relief. Van Bibber bought the ticket and handed it to the burglar. “I +suppose you know,” he said, “that you can sell that at a place down town +for half the money.” “Yes, I know that,” said the burglar. There was a +half-hour before the train left, and Van Bibber took his charge into the +restaurant and watched him eat everything placed before him, with his +eyes glancing all the while to the right or left. Then Van Bibber gave +him some money and told him to write to him, and shook hands with him. +The man nodded eagerly and pulled off his hat as the car drew out of +the station; and Van Bibber came down town again with the shop girls and +clerks going to work, still wondering if he had done the right thing. + +He went to his rooms and changed his clothes, took a cold bath, and +crossed over to Delmonico's for his breakfast, and, while the waiter +laid the cloth in the cafe, glanced at the headings in one of the +papers. He scanned first with polite interest the account of the dance +on the night previous and noticed his name among those present. With +greater interest he read of the fight between “Dutchy” Mack and the +“Black Diamond,” and then he read carefully how “Abe” Hubbard, alias +“Jimmie the Gent,” a burglar, had broken jail in New Jersey, and had +been traced to New York. There was a description of the man, and Van +Bibber breathed quickly as he read it. “The detectives have a clew of +his whereabouts,” the account said; “if he is still in the city they are +confident of recapturing him. But they fear that the same friends who +helped him to break jail will probably assist him from the country or to +get out West.” + +“They may do that,” murmured Van Bibber to himself, with a smile of grim +contentment; “they probably will.” + +Then he said to the waiter, “Oh, I don't know. Some bacon and eggs and +green things and coffee.” + + + + +VAN BIBBER AS BEST MAN + + +Young Van Bibber came up to town in June from Newport to see his lawyer +about the preparation of some papers that needed his signature. He found +the city very hot and close, and as dreary and as empty as a house that +has been shut up for some time while its usual occupants are away in the +country. + +As he had to wait over for an afternoon train, and as he was down town, +he decided to lunch at a French restaurant near Washington Square, where +some one had told him you could get particular things particularly well +cooked. The tables were set on a terrace with plants and flowers about +them, and covered with a tricolored awning. There were no jangling +horse-car bells nor dust to disturb him, and almost all the other tables +were unoccupied. The waiters leaned against these tables and chatted in +a French argot; and a cool breeze blew through the plants and billowed +the awning, so that, on the whole, Van Bibber was glad he had come. + +There was, beside himself, an old Frenchman scolding over his late +breakfast; two young artists with Van Dyke beards, who ordered the most +remarkable things in the same French argot that the waiters spoke; and a +young lady and a young gentleman at the table next to his own. The young +man's back was toward him, and he could only see the girl when the youth +moved to one side. She was very young and very pretty, and she seemed in +a most excited state of mind from the tip of her wide-brimmed, pointed +French hat to the points of her patent-leather ties. She was strikingly +well-bred in appearance, and Van Bibber wondered why she should be +dining alone with so young a man. + +“It wasn't my fault,” he heard the youth say earnestly. “How could I +know he would be out of town? and anyway it really doesn't matter. Your +cousin is not the only clergyman in the city.” + +“Of course not,” said the girl, almost tearfully, “but they're not my +cousins and he is, and that would have made it so much, oh, so very much +different. I'm awfully frightened!” + +“Runaway couple,” commented Van Bibber. “Most interesting. Read about +'em often; never seen 'em. Most interesting.” + +He bent his head over an entree, but he could not help hearing what +followed, for the young runaways were indifferent to all around them, +and though he rattled his knife and fork in a most vulgar manner, they +did not heed him nor lower their voices. + +“Well, what are you going to do?” said the girl, severely but not +unkindly. “It doesn't seem to me that you are exactly rising to the +occasion.” + +“Well, I don't know,” answered the youth, easily. “We're safe here +anyway. Nobody we know ever comes here, and if they did they are out of +town now. You go on and eat something, and I'll get a directory and look +up a lot of clergymen's addresses, and then we can make out a list and +drive around in a cab until we find one who has not gone off on his +vacation. We ought to be able to catch the Fall River boat back at +five this afternoon; then we can go right on to Boston from Fall River +to-morrow morning and run down to Narragansett during the day.” + +“They'll never forgive us,” said the girl. + +“Oh, well, that's all right,” exclaimed the young man, cheerfully. +“Really, you're the most uncomfortable young person I ever ran away +with. One might think you were going to a funeral. You were willing +enough two days ago, and now you don't help me at all. Are you sorry?” + he asked, and then added, “but please don't say so, even if you are.” + +“No, not sorry, exactly,” said the girl; “but, indeed, Ted, it is going +to make so much talk. If we only had a girl with us, or if you had a +best man, or if we had witnesses, as they do in England, and a parish +registry, or something of that sort; or if Cousin Harold had only been +at home to do the marrying.” + +The young gentleman called Ted did not look, judging from the expression +of his shoulders, as if he were having a very good time. + +He picked at the food on his plate gloomily, and the girl took out her +handkerchief and then put it resolutely back again and smiled at him. +The youth called the waiter and told him to bring a directory, and as he +turned to give the order Van Bibber recognized him and he recognized Van +Bibber. Van Bibber knew him for a very nice boy, of a very good Boston +family named Standish, and the younger of two sons. It was the elder who +was Van Bibber's particular friend. The girl saw nothing of this mutual +recognition, for she was looking with startled eyes at a hansom that had +dashed up the side street and was turning the corner. + +“Ted, O Ted!” she gasped. “It's your brother. There! In that hansom. I +saw him perfectly plainly. Oh, how did he find us? What shall we do?” + +Ted grew very red and then very white. + +“Standish,” said Van Bibber, jumping up and reaching for his hat, “pay +this chap for these things, will you, and I'll get rid of your brother.” + +Van Bibber descended the steps lighting a cigar as the elder Standish +came up them on a jump. + +“Hello, Standish!” shouted the New Yorker. “Wait a minute; where are you +going? Why, it seems to rain Standishes to-day! First see your brother; +then I see you. What's on?” + +“You've seen him?” cried the Boston man, eagerly. “Yes, and where is he? +Was she with him? Are they married? Am I in time?” + +Van Bibber answered these different questions to the effect that he had +seen young Standish and Mrs. Standish not a half an hour before, and +that they were just then taking a cab for Jersey City, whence they were +to depart for Chicago. + +“The driver who brought them here, and who told me where they were, said +they could not have left this place by the time I would reach it,” said +the elder brother, doubtfully. + +“That's so,” said the driver of the cab, who had listened curiously. “I +brought 'em here not more'n half an hour ago. Just had time to get back +to the depot. They can't have gone long.” + +“Yes, but they have,” said Van Bibber. “However, if you get over to +Jersey City in time for the 2.30, you can reach Chicago almost as soon +as they do. They are going to the Palmer House, they said.” + +“Thank you, old fellow,” shouted Standish, jumping back into his hansom. +“It's a terrible business. Pair of young fools. Nobody objected to the +marriage, only too young, you know. Ever so much obliged.” + +“Don't mention it,” said Van Bibber, politely. + +“Now, then,” said that young man, as he approached the frightened couple +trembling on the terrace, “I've sent your brother off to Chicago. I +do not know why I selected Chicago as a place where one would go on a +honeymoon. But I'm not used to lying and I'm not very good at it. Now, +if you will introduce me, I'll see what can be done toward getting you +two babes out of the woods.” + +Standish said, “Miss Cambridge, this is Mr. Cortlandt Van Bibber, of +whom you have heard my brother speak,” and Miss Cambridge said she +was very glad to meet Mr. Van Bibber even under such peculiarly trying +circumstances. + +“Now what you two want to do,” said Van Bibber, addressing them as +though they were just about fifteen years old and he were at least +forty, “is to give this thing all the publicity you can.” + +“What?” chorused the two runaways, in violent protest. + +“Certainly,” said Van Bibber. “You were about to make a fatal mistake. +You were about to go to some unknown clergyman of an unknown parish, +who would have married you in a back room, without a certificate or +a witness, just like any eloping farmer's daughter and lightning-rod +agent. Now it's different with you two. Why you were not married +respectably in church I don't know, and I do not intend to ask, but +a kind Providence has sent me to you to see that there is no talk nor +scandal, which is such bad form, and which would have got your names +into all the papers. I am going to arrange this wedding properly, and +you will kindly remain here until I send a carriage for you. Now just +rely on me entirely and eat your luncheon in peace. It's all going to +come out right--and allow me to recommend the salad, which is especially +good.” + +Van Bibber first drove madly to the Little Church Around the Corner, +where he told the kind old rector all about it, and arranged to have +the church open and the assistant organist in her place, and a +district-messenger boy to blow the bellows, punctually at three o'clock. +“And now,” he soliloquized, “I must get some names. It doesn't matter +much whether they happen to know the high contracting parties or not, +but they must be names that everybody knows. Whoever is in town will be +lunching at Delmonico's, and the men will be at the clubs.” So he first +went to the big restaurant, where, as good luck would have it, he found +Mrs. “Regy” Van Arnt and Mrs. “Jack” Peabody, and the Misses Brookline, +who had run up the Sound for the day on the yacht _Minerva_ of the +Boston Yacht Club, and he told them how things were and swore them to +secrecy, and told them to bring what men they could pick up. + +At the club he pressed four men into service who knew everybody and whom +everybody knew, and when they protested that they had not been properly +invited and that they only knew the bride and groom by sight, he told +them that made no difference, as it was only their names he wanted. Then +he sent a messenger boy to get the biggest suit of rooms on the Fall +River boat and another one for flowers, and then he put Mrs. “Regy” Van +Arnt into a cab and sent her after the bride, and, as best man, he got +into another cab and carried off the groom. + +“I have acted either as best man or usher forty-two times now,” said Van +Bibber, as they drove to the church, “and this is the first time I ever +appeared in either capacity in russia-leather shoes and a blue serge +yachting suit. But then,” he added, contentedly, “you ought to see the +other fellows. One of them is in a striped flannel.” + +Mrs. “Regy” and Miss Cambridge wept a great deal on the way up town, but +the bride was smiling and happy when she walked up the aisle to meet her +prospective husband, who looked exceedingly conscious before the eyes of +the men, all of whom he knew by sight or by name, and not one of whom he +had ever met before. But they all shook hands after it was over, and +the assistant organist played the Wedding March, and one of the club men +insisted in pulling a cheerful and jerky peal on the church bell in the +absence of the janitor, and then Van Bibber hurled an old shoe and a +handful of rice--which he had thoughtfully collected from the chef at +the club--after them as they drove off to the boat. + +“Now,” said Van Bibber, with a proud sigh of relief and satisfaction, “I +will send that to the papers, and when it is printed to-morrow it will +read like one of the most orthodox and one of the smartest weddings of +the season. And yet I can't help thinking--” + +“Well?” said Mrs. “Regy,” as he paused doubtfully. + +“Well, I can't help thinking,” continued Van Bibber, “of Standish's +older brother racing around Chicago with the thermometer at 102 in the +shade. I wish I had only sent him to Jersey City. It just shows,” he +added, mournfully, “that when a man is not practised in lying, he should +leave it alone.” + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Gallegher and Other Stories, by +Richard Harding Davis + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GALLEGHER AND OTHER STORIES *** + +***** This file should be named 5956-0.txt or 5956-0.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/5/9/5/5956/ + +Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Charles Franks and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Gallegher and Other Stories + +Author: Richard Harding Davis + + +Release Date: June, 2004 [EBook #5956] +This file was first posted on September 29, 2002 +Last Updated: March 4, 2018 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GALLEGHER AND OTHER STORIES *** + + + + +Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Charles Franks and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team + +HTML file produced by David Widger + + + + +</pre> + + <div style="height: 8em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h1> + GALLEGHER AND OTHER STORIES + </h1> + <h2> + By Richard Harding Davis + </h2> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <h4> + <i>Illustrations By Charles Dana Gibson (not availble in this file)</i> + </h4> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <h5> + Copyright, 1891, By Charles Scribner's Sons + </h5> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <h2> + TO MY MOTHER + </h2> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <b>CONTENTS</b> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0002"> GALLEGHER </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0004"> A WALK UP THE AVENUE </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0005"> MY DISREPUTABLE FRIEND, MR. RAEGEN </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0006"> THE OTHER WOMAN </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0007"> THE TRAILER FOR ROOM NO. 8 </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0008"> “THERE WERE NINETY AND NINE” </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0009"> THE CYNICAL MISS CATHERWAIGHT </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0010"> VAN BIBBER AND THE SWAN-BOATS </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0011"> VAN BIBBER'S BURGLAR </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0012"> VAN BIBBER AS BEST MAN </a> + </p> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0002" id="link2H_4_0002"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + GALLEGHER + </h2> + <h3> + A Newspaper Story + </h3> + <p> + {Illustration: “Why, it's Gallegher!” said the night editor.} + </p> + <p> + We had had so many office-boys before Gallegher came among us that they + had begun to lose the characteristics of individuals, and became merged in + a composite photograph of small boys, to whom we applied the generic title + of “Here, you”; or “You, boy.” + </p> + <p> + We had had sleepy boys, and lazy boys, and bright, “smart” boys, who + became so familiar on so short an acquaintance that we were forced to part + with them to save our own self-respect. + </p> + <p> + They generally graduated into district-messenger boys, and occasionally + returned to us in blue coats with nickel-plated buttons, and patronized + us. + </p> + <p> + But Gallegher was something different from anything we had experienced + before. Gallegher was short and broad in build, with a solid, muscular + broadness, and not a fat and dumpy shortness. He wore perpetually on his + face a happy and knowing smile, as if you and the world in general were + not impressing him as seriously as you thought you were, and his eyes, + which were very black and very bright, snapped intelligently at you like + those of a little black-and-tan terrier. + </p> + <p> + All Gallegher knew had been learnt on the streets; not a very good school + in itself, but one that turns out very knowing scholars. And Gallegher had + attended both morning and evening sessions. He could not tell you who the + Pilgrim Fathers were, nor could he name the thirteen original States, but + he knew all the officers of the twenty-second police district by name, and + he could distinguish the clang of a fire-engine's gong from that of a + patrol-wagon or an ambulance fully two blocks distant. It was Gallegher + who rang the alarm when the Woolwich Mills caught fire, while the officer + on the beat was asleep, and it was Gallegher who led the “Black Diamonds” + against the “Wharf Rats,” when they used to stone each other to their + hearts' content on the coal-wharves of Richmond. + </p> + <p> + I am afraid, now that I see these facts written down, that Gallegher was + not a reputable character; but he was so very young and so very old for + his years that we all liked him very much nevertheless. He lived in the + extreme northern part of Philadelphia, where the cotton-and woollen-mills + run down to the river, and how he ever got home after leaving the <i>Press</i> + building at two in the morning, was one of the mysteries of the office. + Sometimes he caught a night car, and sometimes he walked all the way, + arriving at the little house, where his mother and himself lived alone, at + four in the morning. Occasionally he was given a ride on an early + milk-cart, or on one of the newspaper delivery wagons, with its high piles + of papers still damp and sticky from the press. He knew several drivers of + “night hawks”—those cabs that prowl the streets at night looking for + belated passengers—and when it was a very cold morning he would not + go home at all, but would crawl into one of these cabs and sleep, curled + up on the cushions, until daylight. + </p> + <p> + Besides being quick and cheerful, Gallegher possessed a power of amusing + the <i>Press's</i> young men to a degree seldom attained by the ordinary + mortal. His clog-dancing on the city editor's desk, when that gentleman + was up-stairs fighting for two more columns of space, was always a source + of innocent joy to us, and his imitations of the comedians of the variety + halls delighted even the dramatic critic, from whom the comedians + themselves failed to force a smile. + </p> + <p> + But Gallegher's chief characteristic was his love for that element of news + generically classed as “crime.” Not that he ever did anything criminal + himself. On the contrary, his was rather the work of the criminal + specialist, and his morbid interest in the doings of all queer characters, + his knowledge of their methods, their present whereabouts, and their past + deeds of transgression often rendered him a valuable ally to our police + reporter, whose daily feuilletons were the only portion of the paper + Gallegher deigned to read. + </p> + <p> + In Gallegher the detective element was abnormally developed. He had shown + this on several occasions, and to excellent purpose. + </p> + <p> + Once the paper had sent him into a Home for Destitute Orphans which was + believed to be grievously mismanaged, and Gallegher, while playing the + part of a destitute orphan, kept his eyes open to what was going on around + him so faithfully that the story he told of the treatment meted out to the + real orphans was sufficient to rescue the unhappy little wretches from the + individual who had them in charge, and to have the individual himself sent + to jail. + </p> + <p> + Gallegher's knowledge of the aliases, terms of imprisonment, and various + misdoings of the leading criminals in Philadelphia was almost as thorough + as that of the chief of police himself, and he could tell to an hour when + “Dutchy Mack” was to be let out of prison, and could identify at a glance + “Dick Oxford, confidence man,” as “Gentleman Dan, petty thief.” + </p> + <p> + There were, at this time, only two pieces of news in any of the papers. + The least important of the two was the big fight between the Champion of + the United States and the Would-be Champion, arranged to take place near + Philadelphia; the second was the Burrbank murder, which was filling space + in newspapers all over the world, from New York to Bombay. + </p> + <p> + Richard F. Burrbank was one of the most prominent of New York's railroad + lawyers; he was also, as a matter of course, an owner of much railroad + stock, and a very wealthy man. He had been spoken of as a political + possibility for many high offices, and, as the counsel for a great + railroad, was known even further than the great railroad itself had + stretched its system. + </p> + <p> + At six o'clock one morning he was found by his butler lying at the foot of + the hall stairs with two pistol wounds above his heart. He was quite dead. + His safe, to which only he and his secretary had the keys, was found open, + and $200,000 in bonds, stocks, and money, which had been placed there only + the night before, was found missing. The secretary was missing also. His + name was Stephen S. Hade, and his name and his description had been + telegraphed and cabled to all parts of the world. There was enough + circumstantial evidence to show, beyond any question or possibility of + mistake, that he was the murderer. + </p> + <p> + It made an enormous amount of talk, and unhappy individuals were being + arrested all over the country, and sent on to New York for identification. + Three had been arrested at Liverpool, and one man just as he landed at + Sydney, Australia. But so far the murderer had escaped. + </p> + <p> + We were all talking about it one night, as everybody else was all over the + country, in the local room, and the city editor said it was worth a + fortune to any one who chanced to run across Hade and succeeded in handing + him over to the police. Some of us thought Hade had taken passage from + some one of the smaller seaports, and others were of the opinion that he + had buried himself in some cheap lodging-house in New York, or in one of + the smaller towns in New Jersey. + </p> + <p> + “I shouldn't be surprised to meet him out walking, right here in + Philadelphia,” said one of the staff. “He'll be disguised, of course, but + you could always tell him by the absence of the trigger finger on his + right hand. It's missing, you know; shot off when he was a boy.” + </p> + <p> + “You want to look for a man dressed like a tough,” said the city editor; + “for as this fellow is to all appearances a gentleman, he will try to look + as little like a gentleman as possible.” + </p> + <p> + “No, he won't,” said Gallegher, with that calm impertinence that made him + dear to us. “He'll dress just like a gentleman. Toughs don't wear gloves, + and you see he's got to wear 'em. The first thing he thought of after + doing for Burrbank was of that gone finger, and how he was to hide it. He + stuffed the finger of that glove with cotton so's to make it look like a + whole finger, and the first time he takes off that glove they've got him—see, + and he knows it. So what youse want to do is to look for a man with gloves + on. I've been a-doing it for two weeks now, and I can tell you it's hard + work, for everybody wears gloves this kind of weather. But if you look + long enough you'll find him. And when you think it's him, go up to him and + hold out your hand in a friendly way, like a bunco-steerer, and shake his + hand; and if you feel that his forefinger ain't real flesh, but just + wadded cotton, then grip to it with your right and grab his throat with + your left, and holler for help.” + </p> + <p> + There was an appreciative pause. + </p> + <p> + “I see, gentlemen,” said the city editor, dryly, “that Gallegher's + reasoning has impressed you; and I also see that before the week is out + all of my young men will be under bonds for assaulting innocent + pedestrians whose only offence is that they wear gloves in midwinter.” + </p> + <p> + It was about a week after this that Detective Hefflefinger, of Inspector + Byrnes's staff, came over to Philadelphia after a burglar, of whose + whereabouts he had been misinformed by telegraph. He brought the warrant, + requisition, and other necessary papers with him, but the burglar had + flown. One of our reporters had worked on a New York paper, and knew + Hefflefinger, and the detective came to the office to see if he could help + him in his so far unsuccessful search. + </p> + <p> + He gave Gallegher his card, and after Gallegher had read it, and had + discovered who the visitor was, he became so demoralized that he was + absolutely useless. + </p> + <p> + “One of Byrnes's men” was a much more awe-inspiring individual to + Gallegher than a member of the Cabinet. He accordingly seized his hat and + overcoat, and leaving his duties to be looked after by others, hastened + out after the object of his admiration, who found his suggestions and + knowledge of the city so valuable, and his company so entertaining, that + they became very intimate, and spent the rest of the day together. + </p> + <p> + In the meanwhile the managing editor had instructed his subordinates to + inform Gallegher, when he condescended to return, that his services were + no longer needed. Gallegher had played truant once too often. Unconscious + of this, he remained with his new friend until late the same evening, and + started the next afternoon toward the <i>Press</i> office. + </p> + <p> + As I have said, Gallegher lived in the most distant part of the city, not + many minutes' walk from the Kensington railroad station, where trains ran + into the suburbs and on to New York. + </p> + <p> + It was in front of this station that a smoothly shaven, well-dressed man + brushed past Gallegher and hurried up the steps to the ticket office. + </p> + <p> + He held a walking-stick in his right hand, and Gallegher, who now + patiently scrutinized the hands of every one who wore gloves, saw that + while three fingers of the man's hand were closed around the cane, the + fourth stood out in almost a straight line with his palm. + </p> + <p> + Gallegher stopped with a gasp and with a trembling all over his little + body, and his brain asked with a throb if it could be possible. But + possibilities and probabilities were to be discovered later. Now was the + time for action. + </p> + <p> + He was after the man in a moment, hanging at his heels and his eyes moist + with excitement. He heard the man ask for a ticket to Torresdale, a little + station just outside of Philadelphia, and when he was out of hearing, but + not out of sight, purchased one for the same place. + </p> + <p> + The stranger went into the smoking-car, and seated himself at one end + toward the door. Gallegher took his place at the opposite end. + </p> + <p> + He was trembling all over, and suffered from a slight feeling of nausea. + He guessed it came from fright, not of any bodily harm that might come to + him, but at the probability of failure in his adventure and of its most + momentous possibilities. + </p> + <p> + The stranger pulled his coat collar up around his ears, hiding the lower + portion of his face, but not concealing the resemblance in his troubled + eyes and close-shut lips to the likenesses of the murderer Hade. + </p> + <p> + They reached Torresdale in half an hour, and the stranger, alighting + quickly, struck off at a rapid pace down the country road leading to the + station. + </p> + <p> + Gallegher gave him a hundred yards' start, and then followed slowly after. + The road ran between fields and past a few frame-houses set far from the + road in kitchen gardens. + </p> + <p> + Once or twice the man looked back over his shoulder, but he saw only a + dreary length of road with a small boy splashing through the slush in the + midst of it and stopping every now and again to throw snowballs at belated + sparrows. + </p> + <p> + After a ten minutes' walk the stranger turned into a side road which led + to only one place, the Eagle Inn, an old roadside hostelry known now as + the headquarters for pothunters from the Philadelphia game market and the + battle-ground of many a cock-fight. + </p> + <p> + Gallegher knew the place well. He and his young companions had often + stopped there when out chestnutting on holidays in the autumn. + </p> + <p> + The son of the man who kept it had often accompanied them on their + excursions, and though the boys of the city streets considered him a dumb + lout, they respected him somewhat owing to his inside knowledge of dog and + cock-fights. + </p> + <p> + The stranger entered the inn at a side door, and Gallegher, reaching it a + few minutes later, let him go for the time being, and set about finding + his occasional playmate, young Keppler. + </p> + <p> + Keppler's offspring was found in the wood-shed. + </p> + <p> + “'Tain't hard to guess what brings you out here,” said the tavern-keeper's + son, with a grin; “it's the fight.” + </p> + <p> + “What fight?” asked Gallegher, unguardedly. + </p> + <p> + “What fight? Why, <i>the</i> fight,” returned his companion, with the slow + contempt of superior knowledge. “It's to come off here to-night. You knew + that as well as me; anyway your sportin' editor knows it. He got the tip + last night, but that won't help you any. You needn't think there's any + chance of your getting a peep at it. Why, tickets is two hundred and fifty + apiece!” + </p> + <p> + “Whew!” whistled Gallegher, “where's it to be?” + </p> + <p> + “In the barn,” whispered Keppler. “I helped 'em fix the ropes this + morning, I did.” + </p> + <p> + “Gosh, but you're in luck,” exclaimed Gallegher, with flattering envy. + “Couldn't I jest get a peep at it?” + </p> + <p> + “Maybe,” said the gratified Keppler. “There's a winder with a wooden + shutter at the back of the barn. You can get in by it, if you have some + one to boost you up to the sill.” + </p> + <p> + “Sa-a-y,” drawled Gallegher, as if something had but just that moment + reminded him. “Who's that gent who come down the road just a bit ahead of + me—him with the cape-coat! Has he got anything to do with the + fight?” + </p> + <p> + “Him?” repeated Keppler in tones of sincere disgust. “No-oh, he ain't no + sport. He's queer, Dad thinks. He come here one day last week about ten in + the morning, said his doctor told him to go out 'en the country for his + health. He's stuck up and citified, and wears gloves, and takes his meals + private in his room, and all that sort of ruck. They was saying in the + saloon last night that they thought he was hiding from something, and Dad, + just to try him, asks him last night if he was coming to see the fight. He + looked sort of scared, and said he didn't want to see no fight. And then + Dad says, 'I guess you mean you don't want no fighters to see you.' Dad + didn't mean no harm by it, just passed it as a joke; but Mr. Carleton, as + he calls himself, got white as a ghost an' says, 'I'll go to the fight + willing enough,' and begins to laugh and joke. And this morning he went + right into the bar-room, where all the sports were setting, and said he + was going into town to see some friends; and as he starts off he laughs + an' says, 'This don't look as if I was afraid of seeing people, does it?' + but Dad says it was just bluff that made him do it, and Dad thinks that if + he hadn't said what he did, this Mr. Carleton wouldn't have left his room + at all.” + </p> + <p> + Gallegher had got all he wanted, and much more than he had hoped for—so + much more that his walk back to the station was in the nature of a + triumphal march. + </p> + <p> + He had twenty minutes to wait for the next train, and it seemed an hour. + While waiting he sent a telegram to Hefflefinger at his hotel. It read: + “Your man is near the Torresdale station, on Pennsylvania Railroad; take + cab, and meet me at station. Wait until I come. GALLEGHER.” + </p> + <p> + With the exception of one at midnight, no other train stopped at + Torresdale that evening, hence the direction to take a cab. + </p> + <p> + The train to the city seemed to Gallegher to drag itself by inches. It + stopped and backed at purposeless intervals, waited for an express to + precede it, and dallied at stations, and when, at last, it reached the + terminus, Gallegher was out before it had stopped and was in the cab and + off on his way to the home of the sporting editor. + </p> + <p> + The sporting editor was at dinner and came out in the hall to see him, + with his napkin in his hand. Gallegher explained breathlessly that he had + located the murderer for whom the police of two continents were looking, + and that he believed, in order to quiet the suspicions of the people with + whom he was hiding, that he would be present at the fight that night. + </p> + <p> + The sporting editor led Gallegher into his library and shut the door. + “Now,” he said, “go over all that again.” + </p> + <p> + Gallegher went over it again in detail, and added how he had sent for + Hefflefinger to make the arrest in order that it might be kept from the + knowledge of the local police and from the Philadelphia reporters. + </p> + <p> + “What I want Hefflefinger to do is to arrest Hade with the warrant he has + for the burglar,” explained Gallegher; “and to take him on to New York on + the owl train that passes Torresdale at one. It don't get to Jersey City + until four o'clock, one hour after the morning papers go to press. Of + course, we must fix Hefflefinger so's he'll keep quiet and not tell who + his prisoner really is.” + </p> + <p> + The sporting editor reached his hand out to pat Gallegher on the head, but + changed his mind and shook hands with him instead. + </p> + <p> + “My boy,” he said, “you are an infant phenomenon. If I can pull the rest + of this thing off to-night it will mean the $5,000 reward and fame galore + for you and the paper. Now, I'm going to write a note to the managing + editor, and you can take it around to him and tell him what you've done + and what I am going to do, and he'll take you back on the paper and raise + your salary. Perhaps you didn't know you've been discharged?” + </p> + <p> + “Do you think you ain't a-going to take me with you?” demanded Gallegher. + </p> + <p> + “Why, certainly not. Why should I? It all lies with the detective and + myself now. You've done your share, and done it well. If the man's caught, + the reward's yours. But you'd only be in the way now. You'd better go to + the office and make your peace with the chief.” + </p> + <p> + “If the paper can get along without me, I can get along without the old + paper,” said Gallegher, hotly. “And if I ain't a-going with you, you ain't + neither, for I know where Hefflefinger is to be, and you don't, and I + won't tell you.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, very well, very well,” replied the sporting editor, weakly + capitulating. “I'll send the note by a messenger; only mind, if you lose + your place, don't blame me.” + </p> + <p> + Gallegher wondered how this man could value a week's salary against the + excitement of seeing a noted criminal run down, and of getting the news to + the paper, and to that one paper alone. + </p> + <p> + From that moment the sporting editor sank in Gallegher's estimation. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Dwyer sat down at his desk and scribbled off the following note: + </p> + <p> + “I have received reliable information that Hade, the Burrbank murderer, + will be present at the fight to-night. We have arranged it so that he will + be arrested quietly and in such a manner that the fact may be kept from + all other papers. I need not point out to you that this will be the most + important piece of news in the country to-morrow. + </p> + <p> + “Yours, etc., MICHAEL E. DWYER.” + </p> + <p> + The sporting editor stepped into the waiting cab, while Gallegher + whispered the directions to the driver. He was told to go first to a + district-messenger office, and from there up to the Ridge Avenue Road, out + Broad Street, and on to the old Eagle Inn, near Torresdale. It was a + miserable night. The rain and snow were falling together, and freezing as + they fell. The sporting editor got out to send his message to the <i>Press</i> + office, and then lighting a cigar, and turning up the collar of his + great-coat, curled up in the corner of the cab. + </p> + <p> + “Wake me when we get there, Gallegher,” he said. He knew he had a long + ride, and much rapid work before him, and he was preparing for the strain. + </p> + <p> + To Gallegher the idea of going to sleep seemed almost criminal. From the + dark corner of the cab his eyes shone with excitement, and with the awful + joy of anticipation. He glanced every now and then to where the sporting + editor's cigar shone in the darkness, and watched it as it gradually burnt + more dimly and went out. The lights in the shop windows threw a broad + glare across the ice on the pavements, and the lights from the lamp-posts + tossed the distorted shadow of the cab, and the horse, and the motionless + driver, sometimes before and sometimes behind them. + </p> + <p> + After half an hour Gallegher slipped down to the bottom of the cab and + dragged out a lap-robe, in which he wrapped himself. It was growing + colder, and the damp, keen wind swept in through the cracks until the + window-frames and woodwork were cold to the touch. + </p> + <p> + An hour passed, and the cab was still moving more slowly over the rough + surface of partly paved streets, and by single rows of new houses standing + at different angles to each other in fields covered with ash-heaps and + brick-kilns. Here and there the gaudy lights of a drug-store, and the + forerunner of suburban civilization, shone from the end of a new block of + houses, and the rubber cape of an occasional policeman showed in the light + of the lamp-post that he hugged for comfort. + </p> + <p> + Then even the houses disappeared, and the cab dragged its way between + truck farms, with desolate-looking glass-covered beds, and pools of water, + half-caked with ice, and bare trees, and interminable fences. + </p> + <p> + Once or twice the cab stopped altogether, and Gallegher could hear the + driver swearing to himself, or at the horse, or the roads. At last they + drew up before the station at Torresdale. It was quite deserted, and only + a single light cut a swath in the darkness and showed a portion of the + platform, the ties, and the rails glistening in the rain. They walked + twice past the light before a figure stepped out of the shadow and greeted + them cautiously. + </p> + <p> + “I am Mr. Dwyer, of the <i>Press,</i>” said the sporting editor, briskly. + “You've heard of me, perhaps. Well, there shouldn't be any difficulty in + our making a deal, should there? This boy here has found Hade, and we have + reason to believe he will be among the spectators at the fight to-night. + We want you to arrest him quietly, and as secretly as possible. You can do + it with your papers and your badge easily enough. We want you to pretend + that you believe he is this burglar you came over after. If you will do + this, and take him away without any one so much as suspecting who he + really is, and on the train that passes here at 1.20 for New York, we will + give you $500 out of the $5,000 reward. If, however, one other paper, + either in New York or Philadelphia, or anywhere else, knows of the arrest, + you won't get a cent. Now, what do you say?” + </p> + <p> + The detective had a great deal to say. He wasn't at all sure the man + Gallegher suspected was Hade; he feared he might get himself into trouble + by making a false arrest, and if it should be the man, he was afraid the + local police would interfere. + </p> + <p> + “We've no time to argue or debate this matter,” said Dwyer, warmly. “We + agree to point Hade out to you in the crowd. After the fight is over you + arrest him as we have directed, and you get the money and the credit of + the arrest. If you don't like this, I will arrest the man myself, and have + him driven to town, with a pistol for a warrant.” + </p> + <p> + Hefflefinger considered in silence and then agreed unconditionally. “As + you say, Mr. Dwyer,” he returned. “I've heard of you for a thoroughbred + sport. I know you'll do what you say you'll do; and as for me I'll do what + you say and just as you say, and it's a very pretty piece of work as it + stands.” + </p> + <p> + They all stepped back into the cab, and then it was that they were met by + a fresh difficulty, how to get the detective into the barn where the fight + was to take place, for neither of the two men had $250 to pay for his + admittance. + </p> + <p> + But this was overcome when Gallegher remembered the window of which young + Keppler had told him. + </p> + <p> + In the event of Hade's losing courage and not daring to show himself in + the crowd around the ring, it was agreed that Dwyer should come to the + barn and warn Hefflefinger; but if he should come, Dwyer was merely to + keep near him and to signify by a prearranged gesture which one of the + crowd he was. + </p> + <p> + They drew up before a great black shadow of a house, dark, forbidding, and + apparently deserted. But at the sound of the wheels on the gravel the door + opened, letting out a stream of warm, cheerful light, and a man's voice + said, “Put out those lights. Don't youse know no better than that?” This + was Keppler, and he welcomed Mr. Dwyer with effusive courtesy. + </p> + <p> + The two men showed in the stream of light, and the door closed on them, + leaving the house as it was at first, black and silent, save for the + dripping of the rain and snow from the eaves. + </p> + <p> + The detective and Gallegher put out the cab's lamps and led the horse + toward a long, low shed in the rear of the yard, which they now noticed + was almost filled with teams of many different makes, from the Hobson's + choice of a livery stable to the brougham of the man about town. + </p> + <p> + “No,” said Gallegher, as the cabman stopped to hitch the horse beside the + others, “we want it nearest that lower gate. When we newspaper men leave + this place we'll leave it in a hurry, and the man who is nearest town is + likely to get there first. You won't be a-following of no hearse when you + make your return trip.” + </p> + <p> + Gallegher tied the horse to the very gate-post itself, leaving the gate + open and allowing a clear road and a flying start for the prospective race + to Newspaper Row. + </p> + <p> + The driver disappeared under the shelter of the porch, and Gallegher and + the detective moved off cautiously to the rear of the barn. “This must be + the window,” said Hefflefinger, pointing to a broad wooden shutter some + feet from the ground. + </p> + <p> + “Just you give me a boost once, and I'll get that open in a jiffy,” said + Gallegher. + </p> + <p> + The detective placed his hands on his knees, and Gallegher stood upon his + shoulders, and with the blade of his knife lifted the wooden button that + fastened the window on the inside, and pulled the shutter open. + </p> + <p> + Then he put one leg inside over the sill, and leaning down helped to draw + his fellow-conspirator up to a level with the window. “I feel just like I + was burglarizing a house,” chuckled Gallegher, as he dropped noiselessly + to the floor below and refastened the shutter. The barn was a large one, + with a row of stalls on either side in which horses and cows were dozing. + There was a haymow over each row of stalls, and at one end of the barn a + number of fence-rails had been thrown across from one mow to the other. + These rails were covered with hay. + </p> + <p> + {Illustration with caption: Gallegher stood upon his shoulders.} + </p> + <p> + In the middle of the floor was the ring. It was not really a ring, but a + square, with wooden posts at its four corners through which ran a heavy + rope. The space inclosed by the rope was covered with sawdust. + </p> + <p> + Gallegher could not resist stepping into the ring, and after stamping the + sawdust once or twice, as if to assure himself that he was really there, + began dancing around it, and indulging in such a remarkable series of + fistic manoeuvres with an imaginary adversary that the unimaginative + detective precipitately backed into a corner of the barn. + </p> + <p> + “Now, then,” said Gallegher, having apparently vanquished his foe, “you + come with me.” His companion followed quickly as Gallegher climbed to one + of the hay-mows, and crawling carefully out on the fence-rail, stretched + himself at full length, face downward. In this position, by moving the + straw a little, he could look down, without being himself seen, upon the + heads of whomsoever stood below. “This is better'n a private box, ain't + it?” said Gallegher. + </p> + <p> + The boy from the newspaper office and the detective lay there in silence, + biting at straws and tossing anxiously on their comfortable bed. + </p> + <p> + It seemed fully two hours before they came. Gallegher had listened without + breathing, and with every muscle on a strain, at least a dozen times, when + some movement in the yard had led him to believe that they were at the + door. And he had numerous doubts and fears. Sometimes it was that the + police had learnt of the fight, and had raided Keppler's in his absence, + and again it was that the fight had been postponed, or, worst of all, that + it would be put off until so late that Mr. Dwyer could not get back in + time for the last edition of the paper. Their coming, when at last they + came, was heralded by an advance-guard of two sporting men, who stationed + themselves at either side of the big door. + </p> + <p> + “Hurry up, now, gents,” one of the men said with a shiver, “don't keep + this door open no longer'n is needful.” + </p> + <p> + It was not a very large crowd, but it was wonderfully well selected. It + ran, in the majority of its component parts, to heavy white coats with + pearl buttons. The white coats were shouldered by long blue coats with + astrakhan fur trimmings, the wearers of which preserved a cliqueness not + remarkable when one considers that they believed every one else present to + be either a crook or a prize-fighter. + </p> + <p> + There were well-fed, well-groomed club-men and brokers in the crowd, a + politician or two, a popular comedian with his manager, amateur boxers + from the athletic clubs, and quiet, close-mouthed sporting men from every + city in the country. Their names if printed in the papers would have been + as familiar as the types of the papers themselves. + </p> + <p> + And among these men, whose only thought was of the brutal sport to come, + was Hade, with Dwyer standing at ease at his shoulder,—Hade, white, + and visibly in deep anxiety, hiding his pale face beneath a cloth + travelling-cap, and with his chin muffled in a woollen scarf. He had dared + to come because he feared his danger from the already suspicious Keppler + was less than if he stayed away. And so he was there, hovering restlessly + on the border of the crowd, feeling his danger and sick with fear. + </p> + <p> + When Hefflefinger first saw him he started up on his hands and elbows and + made a movement forward as if he would leap down then and there and carry + off his prisoner single-handed. + </p> + <p> + “Lie down,” growled Gallegher; “an officer of any sort wouldn't live three + minutes in that crowd.” + </p> + <p> + The detective drew back slowly and buried himself again in the straw, but + never once through the long fight which followed did his eyes leave the + person of the murderer. The newspaper men took their places in the + foremost row close around the ring, and kept looking at their watches and + begging the master of ceremonies to “shake it up, do.” + </p> + <p> + There was a great deal of betting, and all of the men handled the great + roll of bills they wagered with a flippant recklessness which could only + be accounted for in Gallegher's mind by temporary mental derangement. Some + one pulled a box out into the ring and the master of ceremonies mounted + it, and pointed out in forcible language that as they were almost all + already under bonds to keep the peace, it behooved all to curb their + excitement and to maintain a severe silence, unless they wanted to bring + the police upon them and have themselves “sent down” for a year or two. + </p> + <p> + Then two very disreputable-looking persons tossed their respective + principals' high hats into the ring, and the crowd, recognizing in this + relic of the days when brave knights threw down their gauntlets in the + lists as only a sign that the fight was about to begin, cheered + tumultuously. + </p> + <p> + This was followed by a sudden surging forward, and a mutter of admiration + much more flattering than the cheers had been, when the principals + followed their hats, and slipping out of their great-coats, stood forth in + all the physical beauty of the perfect brute. + </p> + <p> + Their pink skin was as soft and healthy looking as a baby's, and glowed in + the lights of the lanterns like tinted ivory, and underneath this silken + covering the great biceps and muscles moved in and out and looked like the + coils of a snake around the branch of a tree. + </p> + <p> + Gentleman and blackguard shouldered each other for a nearer view; the + coachmen, whose metal buttons were unpleasantly suggestive of police, put + their hands, in the excitement of the moment, on the shoulders of their + masters; the perspiration stood out in great drops on the foreheads of the + backers, and the newspaper men bit somewhat nervously at the ends of their + pencils. + </p> + <p> + And in the stalls the cows munched contentedly at their cuds and gazed + with gentle curiosity at their two fellow-brutes, who stood waiting the + signal to fall upon, and kill each other if need be, for the delectation + of their brothers. + </p> + <p> + “Take your places,” commanded the master of ceremonies. + </p> + <p> + In the moment in which the two men faced each other the crowd became so + still that, save for the beating of the rain upon the shingled roof and + the stamping of a horse in one of the stalls, the place was as silent as a + church. + </p> + <p> + “Time,” shouted the master of ceremonies. + </p> + <p> + The two men sprang into a posture of defence, which was lost as quickly as + it was taken, one great arm shot out like a piston-rod; there was the + sound of bare fists beating on naked flesh; there was an exultant indrawn + gasp of savage pleasure and relief from the crowd, and the great fight had + begun. + </p> + <p> + How the fortunes of war rose and fell, and changed and rechanged that + night, is an old story to those who listen to such stories; and those who + do not will be glad to be spared the telling of it. It was, they say, one + of the bitterest fights between two men that this country has ever known. + </p> + <p> + But all that is of interest here is that after an hour of this desperate + brutal business the champion ceased to be the favorite; the man whom he + had taunted and bullied, and for whom the public had but little sympathy, + was proving himself a likely winner, and under his cruel blows, as sharp + and clean as those from a cutlass, his opponent was rapidly giving way. + </p> + <p> + The men about the ropes were past all control now; they drowned Keppler's + petitions for silence with oaths and in inarticulate shouts of anger, as + if the blows had fallen upon them, and in mad rejoicings. They swept from + one end of the ring to the other, with every muscle leaping in unison with + those of the man they favored, and when a New York correspondent muttered + over his shoulder that this would be the biggest sporting surprise since + the Heenan-Sayers fight, Mr. Dwyer nodded his head sympathetically in + assent. + </p> + <p> + In the excitement and tumult it is doubtful if any heard the three quickly + repeated blows that fell heavily from the outside upon the big doors of + the barn. If they did, it was already too late to mend matters, for the + door fell, torn from its hinges, and as it fell a captain of police sprang + into the light from out of the storm, with his lieutenants and their men + crowding close at his shoulder. + </p> + <p> + In the panic and stampede that followed, several of the men stood as + helplessly immovable as though they had seen a ghost; others made a mad + rush into the arms of the officers and were beaten back against the ropes + of the ring; others dived headlong into the stalls, among the horses and + cattle, and still others shoved the rolls of money they held into the + hands of the police and begged like children to be allowed to escape. + </p> + <p> + The instant the door fell and the raid was declared Hefflefinger slipped + over the cross rails on which he had been lying, hung for an instant by + his hands, and then dropped into the centre of the fighting mob on the + floor. He was out of it in an instant with the agility of a pickpocket, + was across the room and at Hade's throat like a dog. The murderer, for the + moment, was the calmer man of the two. + </p> + <p> + “Here,” he panted, “hands off, now. There's no need for all this violence. + There's no great harm in looking at a fight, is there? There's a + hundred-dollar bill in my right hand; take it and let me slip out of this. + No one is looking. Here.” + </p> + <p> + But the detective only held him the closer. + </p> + <p> + “I want you for burglary,” he whispered under his breath. “You've got to + come with me now, and quick. The less fuss you make, the better for both + of us. If you don't know who I am, you can feel my badge under my coat + there. I've got the authority. It's all regular, and when we're out of + this d—d row I'll show you the papers.” + </p> + <p> + He took one hand from Hade's throat and pulled a pair of handcuffs from + his pocket. + </p> + <p> + “It's a mistake. This is an outrage,” gasped the murderer, white and + trembling, but dreadfully alive and desperate for his liberty. “Let me go, + I tell you! Take your hands off of me! Do I look like a burglar, you + fool?” + </p> + <p> + “I know who you look like,” whispered the detective, with his face close + to the face of his prisoner. “Now, will you go easy as a burglar, or shall + I tell these men who you are and what I <i>do</i> want you for? Shall I + call out your real name or not? Shall I tell them? Quick, speak up; shall + I?” + </p> + <p> + There was something so exultant—something so unnecessarily savage in + the officer's face that the man he held saw that the detective knew him + for what he really was, and the hands that had held his throat slipped + down around his shoulders, or he would have fallen. The man's eyes opened + and closed again, and he swayed weakly backward and forward, and choked as + if his throat were dry and burning. Even to such a hardened connoisseur in + crime as Gallegher, who stood closely by, drinking it in, there was + something so abject in the man's terror that he regarded him with what was + almost a touch of pity. + </p> + <p> + “For God's sake,” Hade begged, “let me go. Come with me to my room and + I'll give you half the money. I'll divide with you fairly. We can both get + away. There's a fortune for both of us there. We both can get away. You'll + be rich for life. Do you understand—for life!” + </p> + <p> + But the detective, to his credit, only shut his lips the tighter. + </p> + <p> + “That's enough,” he whispered, in return. “That's more than I expected. + You've sentenced yourself already. Come!” + </p> + <p> + Two officers in uniform barred their exit at the door, but Hefflefinger + smiled easily and showed his badge. + </p> + <p> + “One of Byrnes's men,” he said, in explanation; “came over expressly to + take this chap. He's a burglar; 'Arlie' Lane, <i>alias</i> Carleton. I've + shown the papers to the captain. It's all regular. I'm just going to get + his traps at the hotel and walk him over to the station. I guess we'll + push right on to New York to-night.” + </p> + <p> + The officers nodded and smiled their admiration for the representative of + what is, perhaps, the best detective force in the world, and let him pass. + </p> + <p> + Then Hefflefinger turned and spoke to Gallegher, who still stood as + watchful as a dog at his side. “I'm going to his room to get the bonds and + stuff,” he whispered; “then I'll march him to the station and take that + train. I've done my share; don't forget yours!” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, you'll get your money right enough,” said Gallegher. “And, sa-ay,” he + added, with the appreciative nod of an expert, “do you know, you did it + rather well.” + </p> + <p> + Mr. Dwyer had been writing while the raid was settling down, as he had + been writing while waiting for the fight to begin. Now he walked over to + where the other correspondents stood in angry conclave. + </p> + <p> + The newspaper men had informed the officers who hemmed them in that they + represented the principal papers of the country, and were expostulating + vigorously with the captain, who had planned the raid, and who declared + they were under arrest. + </p> + <p> + {Illustration with caption: “For God's sake,” Hade begged, “let me go!”} + </p> + <p> + “Don't be an ass, Scott,” said Mr. Dwyer, who was too excited to be polite + or politic. “You know our being here isn't a matter of choice. We came + here on business, as you did, and you've no right to hold us.” + </p> + <p> + “If we don't get our stuff on the wire at once,” protested a New York man, + “we'll be too late for to-morrow's paper, and——” + </p> + <p> + Captain Scott said he did not care a profanely small amount for + to-morrow's paper, and that all he knew was that to the station-house the + newspaper men would go. There they would have a hearing, and if the + magistrate chose to let them off, that was the magistrate's business, but + that his duty was to take them into custody. + </p> + <p> + “But then it will be too late, don't you understand?” shouted Mr. Dwyer. + “You've got to let us go <i>now,</i> at once.” + </p> + <p> + “I can't do it, Mr. Dwyer,” said the captain, “and that's all there is to + it. Why, haven't I just sent the president of the Junior Republican Club + to the patrol-wagon, the man that put this coat on me, and do you think I + can let you fellows go after that? You were all put under bonds to keep + the peace not three days ago, and here you're at it—fighting like + badgers. It's worth my place to let one of you off.” + </p> + <p> + What Mr. Dwyer said next was so uncomplimentary to the gallant Captain + Scott that that overwrought individual seized the sporting editor by the + shoulder, and shoved him into the hands of two of his men. + </p> + <p> + This was more than the distinguished Mr. Dwyer could brook, and he + excitedly raised his hand in resistance. But before he had time to do + anything foolish his wrist was gripped by one strong, little hand, and he + was conscious that another was picking the pocket of his great-coat. + </p> + <p> + He slapped his hands to his sides, and looking down, saw Gallegher + standing close behind him and holding him by the wrist. Mr. Dwyer had + forgotten the boy's existence, and would have spoken sharply if something + in Gallegher's innocent eyes had not stopped him. + </p> + <p> + Gallegher's hand was still in that pocket, in which Mr. Dwyer had shoved + his note-book filled with what he had written of Gallegher's work and + Hade's final capture, and with a running descriptive account of the fight. + With his eyes fixed on Mr. Dwyer, Gallegher drew it out, and with a quick + movement shoved it inside his waistcoat. Mr. Dwyer gave a nod of + comprehension. Then glancing at his two guardsmen, and finding that they + were still interested in the wordy battle of the correspondents with their + chief, and had seen nothing, he stooped and whispered to Gallegher: “The + forms are locked at twenty minutes to three. If you don't get there by + that time it will be of no use, but if you're on time you'll beat the town—and + the country too.” + </p> + <p> + Gallegher's eyes flashed significantly, and nodding his head to show he + understood, started boldly on a run toward the door. But the officers who + guarded it brought him to an abrupt halt, and, much to Mr. Dwyer's + astonishment, drew from him what was apparently a torrent of tears. + </p> + <p> + “Let me go to me father. I want me father,” the boy shrieked, + hysterically. “They've 'rested father. Oh, daddy, daddy. They're a-goin' + to take you to prison.” + </p> + <p> + “Who is your father, sonny?” asked one of the guardians of the gate. + </p> + <p> + “Keppler's me father,” sobbed Gallegher. “They're a-goin' to lock him up, + and I'll never see him no more.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, yes, you will,” said the officer, good-naturedly; “he's there in that + first patrol-wagon. You can run over and say good night to him, and then + you'd better get to bed. This ain't no place for kids of your age.” + </p> + <p> + “Thank you, sir,” sniffed Gallegher, tearfully, as the two officers raised + their clubs, and let him pass out into the darkness. + </p> + <p> + The yard outside was in a tumult, horses were stamping, and plunging, and + backing the carriages into one another; lights were flashing from every + window of what had been apparently an uninhabited house, and the voices of + the prisoners were still raised in angry expostulation. + </p> + <p> + Three police patrol-wagons were moving about the yard, filled with + unwilling passengers, who sat or stood, packed together like sheep, and + with no protection from the sleet and rain. + </p> + <p> + Gallegher stole off into a dark corner, and watched the scene until his + eyesight became familiar with the position of the land. + </p> + <p> + Then with his eyes fixed fearfully on the swinging light of a lantern with + which an officer was searching among the carriages, he groped his way + between horses' hoofs and behind the wheels of carriages to the cab which + he had himself placed at the furthermost gate. It was still there, and the + horse, as he had left it, with its head turned toward the city. Gallegher + opened the big gate noiselessly, and worked nervously at the hitching + strap. The knot was covered with a thin coating of ice, and it was several + minutes before he could loosen it. But his teeth finally pulled it apart, + and with the reins in his hands he sprang upon the wheel. And as he stood + so, a shock of fear ran down his back like an electric current, his breath + left him, and he stood immovable, gazing with wide eyes into the darkness. + </p> + <p> + The officer with the lantern had suddenly loomed up from behind a carriage + not fifty feet distant, and was standing perfectly still, with his lantern + held over his head, peering so directly toward Gallegher that the boy felt + that he must see him. Gallegher stood with one foot on the hub of the + wheel and with the other on the box waiting to spring. It seemed a minute + before either of them moved, and then the officer took a step forward, and + demanded sternly, “Who is that? What are you doing there?” + </p> + <p> + There was no time for parley then. Gallegher felt that he had been taken + in the act, and that his only chance lay in open flight. He leaped up on + the box, pulling out the whip as he did so, and with a quick sweep lashed + the horse across the head and back. The animal sprang forward with a + snort, narrowly clearing the gate-post, and plunged off into the darkness. + </p> + <p> + “Stop!” cried the officer. + </p> + <p> + So many of Gallegher's acquaintances among the 'longshoremen and mill + hands had been challenged in so much the same manner that Gallegher knew + what would probably follow if the challenge was disregarded. So he slipped + from his seat to the footboard below, and ducked his head. + </p> + <p> + The three reports of a pistol, which rang out briskly from behind him, + proved that his early training had given him a valuable fund of useful + miscellaneous knowledge. + </p> + <p> + “Don't you be scared,” he said, reassuringly, to the horse; “he's firing + in the air.” + </p> + <p> + The pistol-shots were answered by the impatient clangor of a + patrol-wagon's gong, and glancing over his shoulder Gallegher saw its red + and green lanterns tossing from side to side and looking in the darkness + like the side-lights of a yacht plunging forward in a storm. + </p> + <p> + “I hadn't bargained to race you against no patrol-wagons,” said Gallegher + to his animal; “but if they want a race, we'll give them a tough tussle + for it, won't we?” + </p> + <p> + Philadelphia, lying four miles to the south, sent up a faint yellow glow + to the sky. It seemed very far away, and Gallegher's braggadocio grew cold + within him at the loneliness of his adventure and the thought of the long + ride before him. + </p> + <p> + It was still bitterly cold. + </p> + <p> + The rain and sleet beat through his clothes, and struck his skin with a + sharp chilling touch that set him trembling. + </p> + <p> + Even the thought of the over-weighted patrol-wagon probably sticking in + the mud some safe distance in the rear, failed to cheer him, and the + excitement that had so far made him callous to the cold died out and left + him weaker and nervous. But his horse was chilled with the long standing, + and now leaped eagerly forward, only too willing to warm the half-frozen + blood in its veins. + </p> + <p> + “You're a good beast,” said Gallegher, plaintively. “You've got more nerve + than me. Don't you go back on me now. Mr. Dwyer says we've got to beat the + town.” Gallegher had no idea what time it was as he rode through the + night, but he knew he would be able to find out from a big clock over a + manufactory at a point nearly three-quarters of the distance from + Keppler's to the goal. + </p> + <p> + He was still in the open country and driving recklessly, for he knew the + best part of his ride must be made outside the city limits. + </p> + <p> + He raced between desolate-looking corn-fields with bare stalks and patches + of muddy earth rising above the thin covering of snow, truck farms and + brick-yards fell behind him on either side. It was very lonely work, and + once or twice the dogs ran yelping to the gates and barked after him. + </p> + <p> + Part of his way lay parallel with the railroad tracks, and he drove for + some time beside long lines of freight and coal cars as they stood resting + for the night. The fantastic Queen Anne suburban stations were dark and + deserted, but in one or two of the block-towers he could see the operators + writing at their desks, and the sight in some way comforted him. + </p> + <p> + Once he thought of stopping to get out the blanket in which he had wrapped + himself on the first trip, but he feared to spare the time, and drove on + with his teeth chattering and his shoulders shaking with the cold. + </p> + <p> + He welcomed the first solitary row of darkened houses with a faint cheer + of recognition. The scattered lamp-posts lightened his spirits, and even + the badly paved streets rang under the beats of his horse's feet like + music. Great mills and manufactories, with only a night-watchman's light + in the lowest of their many stories, began to take the place of the gloomy + farm-houses and gaunt trees that had startled him with their grotesque + shapes. He had been driving nearly an hour, he calculated, and in that + time the rain had changed to a wet snow, that fell heavily and clung to + whatever it touched. He passed block after block of trim workmen's houses, + as still and silent as the sleepers within them, and at last he turned the + horse's head into Broad Street, the city's great thoroughfare, that + stretches from its one end to the other and cuts it evenly in two. + </p> + <p> + He was driving noiselessly over the snow and slush in the street, with his + thoughts bent only on the clock-face he wished so much to see, when a + hoarse voice challenged him from the sidewalk. “Hey, you, stop there, hold + up!” said the voice. + </p> + <p> + Gallegher turned his head, and though he saw that the voice came from + under a policeman's helmet, his only answer was to hit his horse sharply + over the head with his whip and to urge it into a gallop. + </p> + <p> + This, on his part, was followed by a sharp, shrill whistle from the + policeman. Another whistle answered it from a street-corner one block + ahead of him. “Whoa,” said Gallegher, pulling on the reins. “There's one + too many of them,” he added, in apologetic explanation. The horse stopped, + and stood, breathing heavily, with great clouds of steam rising from its + flanks. + </p> + <p> + “Why in hell didn't you stop when I told you to?” demanded the voice, now + close at the cab's side. + </p> + <p> + “I didn't hear you,” returned Gallegher, sweetly. “But I heard you + whistle, and I heard your partner whistle, and I thought maybe it was me + you wanted to speak to, so I just stopped.” + </p> + <p> + “You heard me well enough. Why aren't your lights lit?” demanded the + voice. + </p> + <p> + “Should I have 'em lit?” asked Gallegher, bending over and regarding them + with sudden interest. + </p> + <p> + “You know you should, and if you don't, you've no right to be driving that + cab. I don't believe you're the regular driver, anyway. Where'd you get + it?” + </p> + <p> + “It ain't my cab, of course,” said Gallegher, with an easy laugh. “It's + Luke McGovern's. He left it outside Cronin's while he went in to get a + drink, and he took too much, and me father told me to drive it round to + the stable for him. I'm Cronin's son. McGovern ain't in no condition to + drive. You can see yourself how he's been misusing the horse. He puts it + up at Bachman's livery stable, and I was just going around there now.” + </p> + <p> + Gallegher's knowledge of the local celebrities of the district confused + the zealous officer of the peace. He surveyed the boy with a steady stare + that would have distressed a less skilful liar, but Gallegher only + shrugged his shoulders slightly, as if from the cold, and waited with + apparent indifference to what the officer would say next. + </p> + <p> + In reality his heart was beating heavily against his side, and he felt + that if he was kept on a strain much longer he would give way and break + down. A second snow-covered form emerged suddenly from the shadow of the + houses. + </p> + <p> + “What is it, Reeder?” it asked. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, nothing much,” replied the first officer. + </p> + <p> + “This kid hadn't any lamps lit, so I called to him to stop and he didn't + do it, so I whistled to you. It's all right, though. He's just taking it + round to Bachman's. Go ahead,” he added, sulkily. + </p> + <p> + “Get up!” chirped Gallegher. “Good night,” he added, over his shoulder. + </p> + <p> + Gallegher gave an hysterical little gasp of relief as he trotted away from + the two policemen, and poured bitter maledictions on their heads for two + meddling fools as he went. + </p> + <p> + “They might as well kill a man as scare him to death,” he said, with an + attempt to get back to his customary flippancy. But the effort was + somewhat pitiful, and he felt guiltily conscious that a salt, warm tear + was creeping slowly down his face, and that a lump that would not keep + down was rising in his throat. + </p> + <p> + “'Tain't no fair thing for the whole police force to keep worrying at a + little boy like me,” he said, in shame-faced apology. “I'm not doing + nothing wrong, and I'm half froze to death, and yet they keep a-nagging at + me.” + </p> + <p> + It was so cold that when the boy stamped his feet against the footboard to + keep them warm, sharp pains shot up through his body, and when he beat his + arms about his shoulders, as he had seen real cabmen do, the blood in his + finger-tips tingled so acutely that he cried aloud with the pain. + </p> + <p> + He had often been up that late before, but he had never felt so sleepy. It + was as if some one was pressing a sponge heavy with chloroform near his + face, and he could not fight off the drowsiness that lay hold of him. + </p> + <p> + He saw, dimly hanging above his head, a round disc of light that seemed + like a great moon, and which he finally guessed to be the clock-face for + which he had been on the look-out. He had passed it before he realized + this; but the fact stirred him into wakefulness again, and when his cab's + wheels slipped around the City Hall corner, he remembered to look up at + the other big clock-face that keeps awake over the railroad station and + measures out the night. + </p> + <p> + He gave a gasp of consternation when he saw that it was half-past two, and + that there was but ten minutes left to him. This, and the many electric + lights and the sight of the familiar pile of buildings, startled him into + a semi-consciousness of where he was and how great was the necessity for + haste. + </p> + <p> + He rose in his seat and called on the horse, and urged it into a reckless + gallop over the slippery asphalt. He considered nothing else but speed, + and looking neither to the left nor right dashed off down Broad Street + into Chestnut, where his course lay straight away to the office, now only + seven blocks distant. + </p> + <p> + Gallegher never knew how it began, but he was suddenly assaulted by shouts + on either side, his horse was thrown back on its haunches, and he found + two men in cabmen's livery hanging at its head, and patting its sides, and + calling it by name. And the other cabmen who have their stand at the + corner were swarming about the carriage, all of them talking and swearing + at once, and gesticulating wildly with their whips. + </p> + <p> + They said they knew the cab was McGovern's, and they wanted to know where + he was, and why he wasn't on it; they wanted to know where Gallegher had + stolen it, and why he had been such a fool as to drive it into the arms of + its owner's friends; they said that it was about time that a cab-driver + could get off his box to take a drink without having his cab run away + with, and some of them called loudly for a policeman to take the young + thief in charge. + </p> + <p> + Gallegher felt as if he had been suddenly dragged into consciousness out + of a bad dream, and stood for a second like a half-awakened somnambulist. + </p> + <p> + They had stopped the cab under an electric light, and its glare shone + coldly down upon the trampled snow and the faces of the men around him. + </p> + <p> + Gallegher bent forward, and lashed savagely at the horse with his whip. + </p> + <p> + “Let me go,” he shouted, as he tugged impotently at the reins. “Let me go, + I tell you. I haven't stole no cab, and you've got no right to stop me. I + only want to take it to the <i>Press</i> office,” he begged. “They'll send + it back to you all right. They'll pay you for the trip. I'm not running + away with it. The driver's got the collar—he's 'rested—and I'm + only a-going to the <i>Press</i> office. Do you hear me?” he cried, his + voice rising and breaking in a shriek of passion and disappointment. “I + tell you to let go those reins. Let me go, or I'll kill you. Do you hear + me? I'll kill you.” And leaning forward, the boy struck savagely with his + long whip at the faces of the men about the horse's head. + </p> + <p> + Some one in the crowd reached up and caught him by the ankles, and with a + quick jerk pulled him off the box, and threw him on to the street. But he + was up on his knees in a moment, and caught at the man's hand. + </p> + <p> + “Don't let them stop me, mister,” he cried, “please let me go. I didn't + steal the cab, sir. S'help me, I didn't. I'm telling you the truth. Take + me to the <i>Press</i> office, and they'll prove it to you. They'll pay + you anything you ask 'em. It's only such a little ways now, and I've come + so far, sir. Please don't let them stop me,” he sobbed, clasping the man + about the knees. “For Heaven's sake, mister, let me go!” + </p> + <p> + The managing editor of the <i>Press</i> took up the india-rubber + speaking-tube at his side, and answered, “Not yet” to an inquiry the night + editor had already put to him five times within the last twenty minutes. + </p> + <p> + Then he snapped the metal top of the tube impatiently, and went up-stairs. + As he passed the door of the local room, he noticed that the reporters had + not gone home, but were sitting about on the tables and chairs, waiting. + They looked up inquiringly as he passed, and the city editor asked, “Any + news yet?” and the managing editor shook his head. + </p> + <p> + The compositors were standing idle in the composing-room, and their + foreman was talking with the night editor. + </p> + <p> + “Well,” said that gentleman, tentatively. + </p> + <p> + “Well,” returned the managing editor, “I don't think we can wait; do you?” + </p> + <p> + “It's a half-hour after time now,” said the night editor, “and we'll miss + the suburban trains if we hold the paper back any longer. We can't afford + to wait for a purely hypothetical story. The chances are all against the + fight's having taken place or this Hade's having been arrested.” + </p> + <p> + “But if we're beaten on it—” suggested the chief. “But I don't think + that is possible. If there were any story to print, Dwyer would have had + it here before now.” + </p> + <p> + The managing editor looked steadily down at the floor. + </p> + <p> + “Very well,” he said, slowly, “we won't wait any longer. Go ahead,” he + added, turning to the foreman with a sigh of reluctance. The foreman + whirled himself about, and began to give his orders; but the two editors + still looked at each other doubtfully. + </p> + <p> + As they stood so, there came a sudden shout and the sound of people + running to and fro in the reportorial rooms below. There was the tramp of + many footsteps on the stairs, and above the confusion they heard the voice + of the city editor telling some one to “run to Madden's and get some + brandy, quick.” + </p> + <p> + No one in the composing-room said anything; but those compositors who had + started to go home began slipping off their overcoats, and every one stood + with his eyes fixed on the door. + </p> + <p> + It was kicked open from the outside, and in the doorway stood a cab-driver + and the city editor, supporting between them a pitiful little figure of a + boy, wet and miserable, and with the snow melting on his clothes and + running in little pools to the floor. “Why, it's Gallegher,” said the + night editor, in a tone of the keenest disappointment. + </p> + <p> + Gallegher shook himself free from his supporters, and took an unsteady + step forward, his fingers fumbling stiffly with the buttons of his + waistcoat. + </p> + <p> + “Mr. Dwyer, sir,” he began faintly, with his eyes fixed fearfully on the + managing editor, “he got arrested—and I couldn't get here no sooner, + 'cause they kept a-stopping me, and they took me cab from under me—but—” + he pulled the notebook from his breast and held it out with its covers + damp and limp from the rain, “but we got Hade, and here's Mr. Dwyer's + copy.” + </p> + <p> + And then he asked, with a queer note in his voice, partly of dread and + partly of hope, “Am I in time, sir?” + </p> + <p> + The managing editor took the book, and tossed it to the foreman, who + ripped out its leaves and dealt them out to his men as rapidly as a + gambler deals out cards. + </p> + <p> + Then the managing editor stooped and picked Gallegher up in his arms, and, + sitting down, began to unlace his wet and muddy shoes. + </p> + <p> + Gallegher made a faint effort to resist this degradation of the managerial + dignity; but his protest was a very feeble one, and his head fell back + heavily on the managing editor's shoulder. + </p> + <p> + To Gallegher the incandescent lights began to whirl about in circles, and + to burn in different colors; the faces of the reporters kneeling before + him and chafing his hands and feet grew dim and unfamiliar, and the roar + and rumble of the great presses in the basement sounded far away, like the + murmur of the sea. + </p> + <p> + And then the place and the circumstances of it came back to him again + sharply and with sudden vividness. + </p> + <p> + Gallegher looked up, with a faint smile, into the managing editor's face. + “You won't turn me off for running away, will you?” he whispered. + </p> + <p> + The managing editor did not answer immediately. His head was bent, and he + was thinking, for some reason or other, of a little boy of his own, at + home in bed. Then he said, quietly, “Not this time, Gallegher.” + </p> + <p> + Gallegher's head sank back comfortably on the older man's shoulder, and he + smiled comprehensively at the faces of the young men crowded around him. + “You hadn't ought to,” he said, with a touch of his old impudence, “'cause—I + beat the town.” + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0004" id="link2H_4_0004"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + A WALK UP THE AVENUE + </h2> + <p> + He came down the steps slowly, and pulling mechanically at his gloves. + </p> + <p> + He remembered afterwards that some woman's face had nodded brightly to him + from a passing brougham, and that he had lifted his hat through force of + habit, and without knowing who she was. + </p> + <p> + He stopped at the bottom of the steps, and stood for a moment uncertainly, + and then turned toward the north, not because he had any definite goal in + his mind, but because the other way led toward his rooms, and he did not + want to go there yet. + </p> + <p> + He was conscious of a strange feeling of elation, which he attributed to + his being free, and to the fact that he was his own master again in + everything. And with this he confessed to a distinct feeling of + littleness, of having acted meanly or unworthily of himself or of her. + </p> + <p> + And yet he had behaved well, even quixotically. He had tried to leave the + impression with her that it was her wish, and that she had broken with + him, not he with her. + </p> + <p> + He held a man who threw a girl over as something contemptible, and he + certainly did not want to appear to himself in that light; or, for her + sake, that people should think he had tired of her, or found her wanting + in any one particular. He knew only too well how people would talk. How + they would say he had never really cared for her; that he didn't know his + own mind when he had proposed to her; and that it was a great deal better + for her as it is than if he had grown out of humor with her later. As to + their saying she had jilted him, he didn't mind that. He much preferred + they should take that view of it, and he was chivalrous enough to hope she + would think so too. + </p> + <p> + He was walking slowly, and had reached Thirtieth Street. A great many + young girls and women had bowed to him or nodded from the passing + carriages, but it did not tend to disturb the measure of his thoughts. He + was used to having people put themselves out to speak to him; everybody + made a point of knowing him, not because he was so very handsome and + well-looking, and an over-popular youth, but because he was as yet + unspoiled by it. + </p> + <p> + But, in any event, he concluded, it was a miserable business. Still, he + had only done what was right. He had seen it coming on for a month now, + and how much better it was that they should separate now than later, or + that they should have had to live separated in all but location for the + rest of their lives! Yes, he had done the right thing—decidedly the + only thing to do. + </p> + <p> + He was still walking up the Avenue, and had reached Thirty-second Street, + at which point his thoughts received a sudden turn. A half-dozen men in a + club window nodded to him, and brought to him sharply what he was going + back to. He had dropped out of their lives as entirely of late as though + he had been living in a distant city. When he had met them he had found + their company uninteresting and unprofitable. He had wondered how he had + ever cared for that sort of thing, and where had been the pleasure of it. + Was he going back now to the gossip of that window, to the heavy + discussions of traps and horses, to late breakfasts and early suppers? + Must he listen to their congratulations on his being one of them again, + and must he guess at their whispered conjectures as to how soon it would + be before he again took up the chains and harness of their fashion? He + struck the pavement sharply with his stick. No, he was not going back. + </p> + <p> + She had taught him to find amusement and occupation in many things that + were better and higher than any pleasures or pursuits he had known before, + and he could not give them up. He had her to thank for that at least. And + he would give her credit for it too, and gratefully. He would always + remember it, and he would show in his way of living the influence and the + good effects of these three months in which they had been continually + together. + </p> + <p> + He had reached Forty-second Street now. Well, it was over with, and he + would get to work at something or other. This experience had shown him + that he was not meant for marriage; that he was intended to live alone. + Because, if he found that a girl as lovely as she undeniably was palled on + him after three months, it was evident that he would never live through + life with any other one. Yes, he would always be a bachelor. He had lived + his life, had told his story at the age of twenty-five, and would wait + patiently for the end, a marked and gloomy man. He would travel now and + see the world. He would go to that hotel in Cairo she was always talking + about, where they were to have gone on their honeymoon; or he might strike + further into Africa, and come back bronzed and worn with long marches and + jungle fever, and with his hair prematurely white. He even considered + himself, with great self-pity, returning and finding her married and + happy, of course. And he enjoyed, in anticipation, the secret doubts she + would have of her later choice when she heard on all sides praise of this + distinguished traveller. + </p> + <p> + And he pictured himself meeting her reproachful glances with fatherly + friendliness, and presenting her husband with tiger-skins, and buying her + children extravagant presents. + </p> + <p> + This was at Forty-fifth Street. + </p> + <p> + Yes, that was decidedly the best thing to do. To go away and improve + himself, and study up all those painters and cathedrals with which she was + so hopelessly conversant. + </p> + <p> + He remembered how out of it she had once made him feel, and how secretly + he had admired her when she had referred to a modern painting as looking + like those in the long gallery of the Louvre. He thought he knew all about + the Louvre, but he would go over again and locate that long gallery, and + become able to talk to her understandingly about it. + </p> + <p> + And then it came over him like a blast of icy air that he could never talk + over things with her again. He had reached Fifty-fifth Street now, and the + shock brought him to a standstill on the corner, where he stood gazing + blankly before him. He felt rather weak physically, and decided to go back + to his rooms, and then he pictured how cheerless they would look, and how + little of comfort they contained. He had used them only to dress and sleep + in of late, and the distaste with which he regarded the idea that he must + go back to them to read and sit and live in them, showed him how utterly + his life had become bound up with the house on Twenty-seventh Street. + </p> + <p> + “Where was he to go in the evening?” he asked himself, with pathetic + hopelessness, “or in the morning or afternoon for that matter?” Were there + to be no more of those journeys to picture-galleries and to the big + publishing houses, where they used to hover over the new book counter and + pull the books about, and make each other innumerable presents of daintily + bound volumes, until the clerks grew to know them so well that they never + went through the form of asking where the books were to be sent? And those + tete-a-tete luncheons at her house when her mother was upstairs with a + headache or a dressmaker, and the long rides and walks in the Park in the + afternoon, and the rush down town to dress, only to return to dine with + them, ten minutes late always, and always with some new excuse, which was + allowed if it was clever, and frowned at if it was common-place—was + all this really over? + </p> + <p> + Why, the town had only run on because she was in it, and as he walked the + streets the very shop windows had suggested her to him—florists only + existed that he might send her flowers, and gowns and bonnets in the + milliners' windows were only pretty as they would become her; and as for + the theatres and the newspapers, they were only worth while as they gave + her pleasure. And he had given all this up, and for what, he asked + himself, and why? + </p> + <p> + He could not answer that now. It was simply because he had been surfeited + with too much content, he replied, passionately. He had not appreciated + how happy he had been. She had been too kind, too gracious. He had never + known until he had quarrelled with her and lost her how precious and dear + she had been to him. + </p> + <p> + He was at the entrance to the Park now, and he strode on along the walk, + bitterly upbraiding himself for being worse than a criminal—a fool, + a common blind mortal to whom a goddess had stooped. + </p> + <p> + He remembered with bitter regret a turn off the drive into which they had + wandered one day, a secluded, pretty spot with a circle of box around it, + and into the turf of which he had driven his stick, and claimed it for + them both by the right of discovery. And he recalled how they had used to + go there, just out of sight of their friends in the ride, and sit and + chatter on a green bench beneath a bush of box, like any nursery maid and + her young man, while her groom stood at the brougham door in the + bridle-path beyond. He had broken off a sprig of the box one day and given + it to her, and she had kissed it foolishly, and laughed, and hidden it in + the folds of her riding-skirt, in burlesque fear lest the guards should + arrest them for breaking the much-advertised ordinance. + </p> + <p> + And he remembered with a miserable smile how she had delighted him with + her account of her adventure to her mother, and described them as fleeing + down the Avenue with their treasure, pursued by a squadron of mounted + policemen. + </p> + <p> + This and a hundred other of the foolish, happy fancies they had shared in + common came back to him, and he remembered how she had stopped one cold + afternoon just outside of this favorite spot, beside an open iron grating + sunk in the path, into which the rain had washed the autumn leaves, and + pretended it was a steam radiator, and held her slim gloved hands out over + it as if to warm them. + </p> + <p> + How absurdly happy she used to make him, and how light-hearted she had + been! He determined suddenly and sentimentally to go to that secret place + now, and bury the engagement ring she had handed back to him under that + bush as he had buried his hopes of happiness, and he pictured how some day + when he was dead she would read of this in his will, and go and dig up the + ring, and remember and forgive him. He struck off from the walk across the + turf straight toward this dell, taking the ring from his waistcoat pocket + and clinching it in his hand. He was walking quickly with rapt interest in + this idea of abnegation when he noticed, unconsciously at first and then + with a start, the familiar outlines and colors of her brougham drawn up in + the drive not twenty yards from their old meeting-place. He could not be + mistaken; he knew the horses well enough, and there was old Wallis on the + box and young Wallis on the path. + </p> + <p> + He stopped breathlessly, and then tipped on cautiously, keeping the + encircling line of bushes between him and the carriage. And then he saw + through the leaves that there was some one in the place, and that it was + she. He stopped, confused and amazed. He could not comprehend it. She must + have driven to the place immediately on his departure. But why? And why to + that place of all others? + </p> + <p> + He parted the bushes with his hands, and saw her lovely and sweet-looking + as she had always been, standing under the box bush beside the bench, and + breaking off one of the green branches. The branch parted and the stem + flew back to its place again, leaving a green sprig in her hand. She + turned at that moment directly toward him, and he could see from his + hiding-place how she lifted the leaves to her lips, and that a tear was + creeping down her cheek. + </p> + <p> + Then he dashed the bushes aside with both arms, and with a cry that no one + but she heard sprang toward her. + </p> + <p> + Young Van Bibber stopped his mail phaeton in front of the club, and went + inside to recuperate, and told how he had seen them driving home through + the Park in her brougham and unchaperoned. + </p> + <p> + “Which I call very bad form,” said the punctilious Van Bibber, “even + though they are engaged.” + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0005" id="link2H_4_0005"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + MY DISREPUTABLE FRIEND, MR. RAEGEN + </h2> + <p> + Rags Raegen was out of his element. The water was his proper element—the + water of the East River by preference. And when it came to “running the + roofs,” as he would have himself expressed it, he was “not in it.” + </p> + <p> + On those other occasions when he had been followed by the police, he had + raced them toward the river front and had dived boldly in from the wharf, + leaving them staring blankly and in some alarm as to his safety. Indeed, + three different men in the precinct, who did not know of young Raegen's + aquatic prowess, had returned to the station-house and seriously reported + him to the sergeant as lost, and regretted having driven a citizen into + the river, where he had been unfortunately drowned. It was even told how, + on one occasion, when hotly followed, young Raegen had dived off Wakeman's + Slip, at East Thirty-third Street, and had then swum back under water to + the landing-steps, while the policeman and a crowd of stevedores stood + watching for him to reappear where he had sunk. It is further related that + he had then, in a spirit of recklessness, and in the possibility of the + policeman's failing to recognize him, pushed his way through the crowd + from the rear and plunged in to rescue the supposedly drowned man. And + that after two or three futile attempts to find his own corpse, he had + climbed up on the dock and told the officer that he had touched the body + sticking in the mud. And, as a result of this fiction, the river-police + dragged the river-bed around Wakeman's Slip with grappling irons for four + hours, while Rags sat on the wharf and directed their movements. + </p> + <p> + But on this present occasion the police were standing between him and the + river, and so cut off his escape in that direction, and as they had seen + him strike McGonegal and had seen McGonegal fall, he had to run for it and + seek refuge on the roofs. What made it worse was that he was not in his + own hunting-grounds, but in McGonegal's, and while any tenement on Cherry + Street would have given him shelter, either for love of him or fear of + him, these of Thirty-third Street were against him and “all that Cherry + Street gang,” while “Pike” McGonegal was their darling and their hero. + And, if Rags had known it, any tenement on the block was better than + Case's, into which he first turned, for Case's was empty and untenanted, + save in one or two rooms, and the opportunities for dodging from one to + another were in consequence very few. But he could not know this, and so + he plunged into the dark hall-way and sprang up the first four flights of + stairs, three steps at a jump, with one arm stretched out in front of him, + for it was very dark and the turns were short. On the fourth floor he fell + headlong over a bucket with a broom sticking in it, and cursed whoever + left it there. There was a ladder leading from the sixth floor to the + roof, and he ran up this and drew it after him as he fell forward out of + the wooden trap that opened on the flat tin roof like a companion-way of a + ship. The chimneys would have hidden him, but there was a policeman's + helmet coming up from another companion-way, and he saw that the Italians + hanging out of the windows of the other tenements were pointing at him and + showing him to the officer. So he hung by his hands and dropped back + again. It was not much of a fall, but it jarred him, and the race he had + already run had nearly taken his breath from him. For Rags did not live a + life calculated to fit young men for sudden trials of speed. + </p> + <p> + He stumbled back down the narrow stairs, and, with a vivid recollection of + the bucket he had already fallen upon, felt his way cautiously with his + hands and with one foot stuck out in front of him. If he had been in his + own bailiwick, he would have rather enjoyed the tense excitement of the + chase than otherwise, for there he was at home and knew all the cross-cuts + and where to find each broken paling in the roof-fences, and all the traps + in the roofs. But here he was running in a maze, and what looked like a + safe passage-way might throw him head on into the outstretched arms of the + officers. + </p> + <p> + And while he felt his way his mind was terribly acute to the fact that as + yet no door on any of the landings had been thrown open to him, either + curiously or hospitably as offering a place of refuge. He did not want to + be taken, but in spite of this he was quite cool, and so, when he heard + quick, heavy footsteps beating up the stairs, he stopped himself suddenly + by placing one hand on the side of the wall and the other on the banister + and halted, panting. He could distinguish from below the high voices of + women and children and excited men in the street, and as the steps came + nearer he heard some one lowering the ladder he had thrown upon the roof + to the sixth floor and preparing to descend. “Ah!” snarled Raegen, panting + and desperate, “youse think you have me now, sure, don't you?” It rather + frightened him to find the house so silent, for, save the footsteps of the + officers, descending and ascending upon him, he seemed to be the only + living person in all the dark, silent building. + </p> + <p> + He did not want to fight. + </p> + <p> + He was under heavy bonds already to keep the peace, and this last had + surely been in self-defence, and he felt he could prove it. What he wanted + now was to get away, to get back to his own people and to lie hidden in + his own cellar or garret, where they would feed and guard him until the + trouble was over. And still, like the two ends of a vise, the + representatives of the law were closing in upon him. He turned the knob of + the door opening to the landing on which he stood, and tried to push it + in, but it was locked. Then he stepped quickly to the door on the opposite + side and threw his shoulder against it. The door opened, and he stumbled + forward sprawling. The room in which he had taken refuge was almost bare, + and very dark; but in a little room leading from it he saw a pile of + tossed-up bedding on the floor, and he dived at this as though it was + water, and crawled far under it until he reached the wall beyond, + squirming on his face and stomach, and flattening out his arms and legs. + Then he lay motionless, holding back his breath, and listening to the + beating of his heart and to the footsteps on the stairs. The footsteps + stopped on the landing leading to the outer room, and he could hear the + murmur of voices as the two men questioned one another. Then the door was + kicked open, and there was a long silence, broken sharply by the click of + a revolver. + </p> + <p> + “Maybe he's in there,” said a bass voice. The men stamped across the floor + leading into the dark room in which he lay, and halted at the entrance. + They did not stand there over a moment before they turned and moved away + again; but to Raegen, lying with blood-vessels choked, and with his hand + pressed across his mouth, it seemed as if they had been contemplating and + enjoying his agony for over an hour. “I was in this place not more than + twelve hours ago,” said one of them easily. “I come in to take a couple + out for fighting. They were yelling 'murder' and 'police,' and breaking + things; but they went quiet enough. The man is a stevedore, I guess, and + him and his wife used to get drunk regular and carry on up here every + night or so. They got thirty days on the Island.” + </p> + <p> + “Who's taking care of the rooms?” asked the bass voice. The first voice + said he guessed “no one was,” and added: “There ain't much to take care + of, that I can see.” “That's so,” assented the bass voice. “Well,” he went + on briskly, “he's not here; but he's in the building, sure, for he put + back when he seen me coming over the roof. And he didn't pass me, neither, + I know that, anyway,” protested the bass voice. Then the bass voice said + that he must have slipped into the flat below, and added something that + Raegen could not hear distinctly, about Schaffer on the roof, and their + having him safe enough, as that red-headed cop from the Eighteenth + Precinct was watching on the street. They closed the door behind them, and + their footsteps clattered down the stairs, leaving the big house silent + and apparently deserted. Young Raegen raised his head, and let his breath + escape with a great gasp of relief, as when he had been a long time under + water, and cautiously rubbed the perspiration out of his eyes and from his + forehead. It had been a cruelly hot, close afternoon, and the stifling + burial under the heavy bedding, and the excitement, had left him + feverishly hot and trembling. It was already growing dark outside, + although he could not know that until he lifted the quilts an inch or two + and peered up at the dirty window-panes. He was afraid to rise, as yet, + and flattened himself out with an impatient sigh, as he gathered the + bedding over his head again and held back his breath to listen. There may + have been a minute or more of absolute silence in which he lay there, and + then his blood froze to ice in his veins, his breath stopped, and he + heard, with a quick gasp of terror, the sound of something crawling toward + him across the floor of the outer room. The instinct of self-defence moved + him first to leap to his feet, and to face and fight it, and then followed + as quickly a foolish sense of safety in his hiding-place; and he called + upon his greatest strength, and, by his mere brute will alone, forced his + forehead down to the bare floor and lay rigid, though his nerves jerked + with unknown, unreasoning fear. And still he heard the sound of this + living thing coming creeping toward him until the instinctive terror that + shook him overcame his will, and he threw the bed-clothes from him with a + hoarse cry, and sprang up trembling to his feet, with his back against the + wall, and with his arms thrown out in front of him wildly, and with the + willingness in them and the power in them to do murder. + </p> + <p> + The room was very dark, but the windows of the one beyond let in a little + stream of light across the floor, and in this light he saw moving toward + him on its hands and knees a little baby who smiled and nodded at him with + a pleased look of recognition and kindly welcome. + </p> + <p> + The fear upon Raegen had been so strong and the reaction was so great that + he dropped to a sitting posture on the heap of bedding and laughed long + and weakly, and still with a feeling in his heart that this apparition was + something strangely unreal and menacing. + </p> + <p> + {Illustration with caption: He sprang up trembling to his feet.} + </p> + <p> + But the baby seemed well pleased with his laughter, and stopped to throw + back its head and smile and coo and laugh gently with him as though the + joke was a very good one which they shared in common. Then it struggled + solemnly to its feet and came pattering toward him on a run, with both + bare arms held out, and with a look of such confidence in him, and welcome + in its face, that Raegen stretched out his arms and closed the baby's + fingers fearfully and gently in his own. + </p> + <p> + He had never seen so beautiful a child. There was dirt enough on its hands + and face, and its torn dress was soiled with streaks of coal and ashes. + The dust of the floor had rubbed into its bare knees, but the face was + like no other face that Rags had ever seen. And then it looked at him as + though it trusted him, and just as though they had known each other at + some time long before, but the eyes of the baby somehow seemed to hurt him + so that he had to turn his face away, and when he looked again it was with + a strangely new feeling of dissatisfaction with himself and of wishing to + ask pardon. They were wonderful eyes, black and rich, and with a deep + superiority of knowledge in them, a knowledge that seemed to be above the + knowledge of evil; and when the baby smiled at him, the eyes smiled too + with confidence and tenderness in them that in some way frightened Rags + and made him move uncomfortably. “Did you know that youse scared me so + that I was going to kill you?” whispered Rags, apologetically, as he + carefully held the baby from him at arm's length. “Did you?” But the baby + only smiled at this and reached out its hand and stroked Rag's cheek with + its fingers. There was something so wonderfully soft and sweet in this + that Rags drew the baby nearer and gave a quick, strange gasp of pleasure + as it threw its arms around his neck and brought the face up close to his + chin and hugged him tightly. The baby's arms were very soft and plump, and + its cheek and tangled hair were warm and moist with perspiration, and the + breath that fell on Raegen's face was sweeter than anything he had ever + known. He felt wonderfully and for some reason uncomfortably happy, but + the silence was oppressive. + </p> + <p> + “What's your name, little 'un?” said Rags. The baby ran its arms more + closely around Raegen's neck and did not speak, unless its cooing in + Raegen's ear was an answer. “What did you say your name was?” persisted + Raegen, in a whisper. The baby frowned at this and stopped cooing long + enough to say: “Marg'ret,” mechanically and without apparently associating + the name with herself or anything else. “Margaret, eh!” said Raegen, with + grave consideration. “It's a very pretty name,” he added, politely, for he + could not shake off the feeling that he was in the presence of a superior + being. “An' what did you say your dad's name was?” asked Raegen, + awkwardly. But this was beyond the baby's patience or knowledge, and she + waived the question aside with both arms and began to beat a tattoo gently + with her two closed fists on Raegen's chin and throat. “You're mighty + strong now, ain't you?” mocked the young giant, laughing. “Perhaps you + don't know, Missie,” he added, gravely, “that your dad and mar are doing + time on the Island, and you won't see 'em again for a month.” No, the baby + did not know this nor care apparently; she seemed content with Rags and + with his company. Sometimes she drew away and looked at him long and + dubiously, and this cut Rags to the heart, and he felt guilty, and + unreasonably anxious until she smiled reassuringly again and ran back into + his arms, nestling her face against his and stroking his rough chin + wonderingly with her little fingers. + </p> + <p> + Rags forgot the lateness of the night and the darkness that fell upon the + room in the interest of this strange entertainment, which was so much more + absorbing, and so much more innocent than any other he had ever known. He + almost forgot the fact that he lay in hiding, that he was surrounded by + unfriendly neighbors, and that at any moment the representatives of local + justice might come in and rudely lead him away. For this reason he dared + not make a light, but he moved his position so that the glare from an + electric lamp on the street outside might fall across the baby's face, as + it lay alternately dozing and awakening, to smile up at him in the bend of + his arm. Once it reached inside the collar of his shirt and pulled out the + scapular that hung around his neck, and looked at it so long, and with + such apparent seriousness, that Rags was confirmed in his fear that this + kindly visitor was something more or less of a superhuman agent, and his + efforts to make this supposition coincide with the fact that the angel's + parents were on Blackwell's Island, proved one of the severest struggles + his mind had ever experienced. He had forgotten to feel hungry, and the + knowledge that he was acutely so, first came to him with the thought that + the baby must obviously be in greatest need of food herself. This pained + him greatly, and he laid his burden down upon the bedding, and after + slipping off his shoes, tip-toed his way across the room on a foraging + expedition after something she could eat. There was a half of a ham-bone, + and a half loaf of hard bread in a cupboard, and on the table he found a + bottle quite filled with wretched whiskey. That the police had failed to + see the baby had not appealed to him in any way, but that they should have + allowed this last find to remain unnoticed pleased him intensely, not + because it now fell to him, but because they had been cheated of it. It + really struck him as so humorous that he stood laughing silently for + several minutes, slapping his thigh with every outward exhibition of the + keenest mirth. But when he found that the room and cupboard were bare of + anything else that might be eaten he sobered suddenly. It was very hot, + and though the windows were open, the perspiration stood upon his face, + and the foul close air that rose from the court and street below made him + gasp and pant for breath. He dipped a wash rag in the water from the + spigot in the hall, and filled a cup with it and bathed the baby's face + and wrists. She woke and sipped up the water from the cup eagerly, and + then looked up at him, as if to ask for something more. Rags soaked the + crusty bread in the water, and put it to the baby's lips, but after + nibbling at it eagerly she shook her head and looked up at him again with + such reproachful pleading in her eyes, that Rags felt her silence more + keenly than the worst abuse he had ever received. + </p> + <p> + It hurt him so, that the pain brought tears to his eyes. + </p> + <p> + “Deary girl,” he cried, “I'd give you anything you could think of if I had + it. But I can't get it, see? It ain't that I don't want to—good + Lord, little 'un, you don't think that, do you?” + </p> + <p> + The baby smiled at this, just as though she understood him, and touched + his face as if to comfort him, so that Rags felt that same exquisite + content again, which moved him so strangely whenever the child caressed + him, and which left him soberly wondering. Then the baby crawled up onto + his lap and dropped asleep, while Rags sat motionless and fanned her with + a folded newspaper, stopping every now and then to pass the damp cloth + over her warm face and arms. It was quite late now. Outside he could hear + the neighbors laughing and talking on the roofs, and when one group sang + hilariously to an accordion, he cursed them under his breath for noisy, + drunken fools, and in his anger lest they should disturb the child in his + arms, expressed an anxious hope that they would fall off and break their + useless necks. It grew silent and much cooler as the night ran out, but + Rags still sat immovable, shivering slightly every now and then and + cautiously stretching his stiff legs and body. The arm that held the child + grew stiff and numb with the light burden, but he took a fierce pleasure + in the pain, and became hardened to it, and at last fell into an uneasy + slumber from which he awoke to pass his hands gently over the soft + yielding body, and to draw it slowly and closer to him. And then, from + very weariness, his eyes closed and his head fell back heavily against the + wall, and the man and the child in his arms slept peacefully in the dark + corner of the deserted tenement. + </p> + <p> + The sun rose hissing out of the East River, a broad, red disc of heat. It + swept the cross-streets of the city as pitilessly as the search-light of a + man-of-war sweeps the ocean. It blazed brazenly into open windows, and + changed beds into gridirons on which the sleepers tossed and turned and + woke unrefreshed and with throats dry and parched. Its glare awakened Rags + into a startled belief that the place about him was on fire, and he stared + wildly until the child in his arms brought him back to the knowledge of + where he was. He ached in every joint and limb, and his eyes smarted with + the dry heat, but the baby concerned him most, for she was breathing with + hard, long, irregular gasps, her mouth was open and her absurdly small + fists were clenched, and around her closed eyes were deep blue rings. Rags + felt a cold rush of fear and uncertainty come over him as he stared about + him helplessly for aid. He had seen babies look like this before, in the + tenements; they were like this when the young doctors of the Health Board + climbed to the roofs to see them, and they were like this, only quiet and + still, when the ambulance came clattering up the narrow streets, and bore + them away. Rags carried the baby into the outer room, where the sun had + not yet penetrated, and laid her down gently on the coverlets; then he let + the water in the sink run until it was fairly cool, and with this bathed + the baby's face and hands and feet, and lifted a cup of the water to her + open lips. She woke at this and smiled again, but very faintly, and when + she looked at him he felt fearfully sure that she did not know him, and + that she was looking through and past him at something he could not see. + </p> + <p> + He did not know what to do, and he wanted to do so much. Milk was the only + thing he was quite sure babies cared for, but in want of this he made a + mess of bits of the dry ham and crumbs of bread, moistened with the raw + whiskey, and put it to her lips on the end of a spoon. The baby tasted + this, and pushed his hand away, and then looked up and gave a feeble cry, + and seemed to say, as plainly as a grown woman could have said or written, + “It isn't any use, Rags. You are very good to me, but, indeed, I cannot do + it. Don't worry, please; I don't blame you.” + </p> + <p> + “Great Lord,” gasped Rags, with a queer choking in his throat, “but ain't + she got grit.” Then he bethought him of the people who he still believed + inhabited the rest of the tenement, and he concluded that as the day was + yet so early they might still be asleep, and that while they slept, he + could “lift”—as he mentally described the act—whatever they + might have laid away for breakfast. Excited with this hope, he ran + noiselessly down the stairs in his bare feet, and tried the doors of the + different landings. But each he found open and each room bare and + deserted. Then it occurred to him that at this hour he might even risk a + sally into the street. He had money with him, and the milk-carts and + bakers' wagons must be passing every minute. He ran back to get the money + out of his coat, delighted with the chance and chiding himself for not + having dared to do it sooner. He stood over the baby a moment before he + left the room, and flushed like a girl as he stooped and kissed one of the + bare arms. “I'm going out to get you some breakfast,” he said. “I won't be + gone long, but if I should,” he added, as he paused and shrugged his + shoulders, “I'll send the sergeant after you from the station-house. If I + only wasn't under bonds,” he muttered, as he slipped down the stairs. “If + it wasn't for that they couldn't give me more'n a month at the most, even + knowing all they do of me. It was only a street fight, anyway, and there + was some there that must have seen him pull his pistol.” He stopped at the + top of the first flight of stairs and sat down to wait. He could see below + the top of the open front door, the pavement and a part of the street + beyond, and when he heard the rattle of an approaching cart he ran on down + and then, with an oath, turned and broke up-stairs again. He had seen the + ward detectives standing together on the opposite side of the street. + </p> + <p> + “Wot are they doing out a bed at this hour?” he demanded angrily. “Don't + they make trouble enough through the day, without prowling around before + decent people are up? I wonder, now, if they're after me.” He dropped on + his knees when he reached the room where the baby lay, and peered + cautiously out of the window at the detectives, who had been joined by two + other men, with whom they were talking earnestly. Raegen knew the + new-comers for two of McGonegal's friends, and concluded, with a momentary + flush of pride and self-importance, that the detectives were forced to be + up at this early hour solely on his account. But this was followed by the + afterthought that he must have hurt McGonegal seriously, and that he was + wanted in consequence very much. This disturbed him most, he was surprised + to find, because it precluded his going forth in search of food. “I guess + I can't get you that milk I was looking for,” he said, jocularly, to the + baby, for the excitement elated him. “The sun outside isn't good for me + health.” The baby settled herself in his arms and slept again, which + sobered Rags, for he argued it was a bad sign, and his own ravenous + appetite warned him how the child suffered. When he again offered her the + mixture he had prepared for her, she took it eagerly, and Rags breathed a + sigh of satisfaction. Then he ate some of the bread and ham himself and + swallowed half the whiskey, and stretched out beside the child and fanned + her while she slept. It was something strangely incomprehensible to Rags + that he should feel so keen a satisfaction in doing even this little for + her, but he gave up wondering, and forgot everything else in watching the + strange beauty of the sleeping baby and in the odd feeling of + responsibility and self-respect she had brought to him. + </p> + <p> + He did not feel it coming on, or he would have fought against it, but the + heat of the day and the sleeplessness of the night before, and the fumes + of the whiskey on his empty stomach, drew him unconsciously into a dull + stupor, so that the paper fan slipped from his hand, and he sank back on + the bedding into a heavy sleep. When he awoke it was nearly dusk and past + six o'clock, as he knew by the newsboys calling the sporting extras on the + street below. He sprang up, cursing himself, and filled with bitter + remorse. + </p> + <p> + “I'm a drunken fool, that's what I am,” said Rags, savagely. “I've let her + lie here all day in the heat with no one to watch her.” Margaret was + breathing so softly that he could hardly discern any life at all, and his + heart almost stopped with fear. He picked her up and fanned and patted her + into wakefulness again and then turned desperately to the window and + looked down. There was no one he knew or who knew him as far as he could + tell on the street, and he determined recklessly to risk another sortie + for food. + </p> + <p> + “Why, it's been near two days that child's gone without eating,” he said, + with keen self-reproach, “and here you've let her suffer to save yourself + a trip to the Island. You're a hulking big loafer, you are,” he ran on, + muttering, “and after her coming to you and taking notice of you and + putting her face to yours like an angel.” He slipped off his shoes and + picked his way cautiously down the stairs. + </p> + <p> + As he reached the top of the first flight a newsboy passed, calling the + evening papers, and shouted something which Rags could not distinguish. He + wished he could get a copy of the paper. It might tell him, he thought, + something about himself. The boy was coming nearer, and Rags stopped and + leaned forward to listen. + </p> + <p> + “Extry! Extry!” shouted the newsboy, running. “Sun, World, and Mail. Full + account of the murder of Pike McGonegal by Ragsey Raegen.” + </p> + <p> + The lights in the street seemed to flash up suddenly and grow dim again, + leaving Rags blind and dizzy. + </p> + <p> + “Stop,” he yelled, “stop. Murdered, no, by God, no,” he cried, staggering + half-way down the stairs; “stop, stop!” But no one heard Rags, and the + sound of his own voice halted him. He sank back weak and sick upon the top + step of the stairs and beat his hands together upon his head. + </p> + <p> + “It's a lie, it's a lie,” he whispered, thickly. “I struck him in + self-defence, s'help me. I struck him in self-defence. He drove me to it. + He pulled his gun on me. I done it in self-defence.” + </p> + <p> + And then the whole appearance of the young tough changed, and the terror + and horror that had showed on his face turned to one of low sharpness and + evil cunning. His lips drew together tightly and he breathed quickly + through his nostrils, while his fingers locked and unlocked around his + knees. All that he had learned on the streets and wharves and roof-tops, + all that pitiable experience and dangerous knowledge that had made him a + leader and a hero among the thieves and bullies of the river-front he + called to his assistance now. He faced the fact flatly and with the cool + consideration of an uninterested counsellor. He knew that the history of + his life was written on Police Court blotters from the day that he was ten + years old, and with pitiless detail; that what friends he had he held more + by fear than by affection, and that his enemies, who were many, only + wanted just such a chance as this to revenge injuries long suffered and + bitterly cherished, and that his only safety lay in secret and instant + flight. The ferries were watched, of course; he knew that the depots, too, + were covered by the men whose only duty was to watch the coming and to + halt the departing criminal. But he knew of one old man who was too wise + to ask questions and who would row him over the East River to Astoria, and + of another on the west side whose boat was always at the disposal of + silent white-faced young men who might come at any hour of the night or + morning, and whom he would pilot across to the Jersey shore and keep well + away from the lights of the passing ferries and the green lamp of the + police boat. And once across, he had only to change his name and write for + money to be forwarded to that name, and turn to work until the thing was + covered up and forgotten. He rose to his feet in his full strength again, + and intensely and agreeably excited with the danger, and possibly fatal + termination, of his adventure, and then there fell upon him, with the + suddenness of a blow, the remembrance of the little child lying on the + dirty bedding in the room above. + </p> + <p> + “I can't do it,” he muttered fiercely; “I can't do it,” he cried, as if he + argued with some other presence. “There's a rope around me neck, and the + chances are all against me; it's every man for himself and no favor.” He + threw his arms out before him as if to push the thought away from him and + ran his fingers through his hair and over his face. All of his old self + rose in him and mocked him for a weak fool, and showed him just how great + his personal danger was, and so he turned and dashed forward on a run, not + only to the street, but as if to escape from the other self that held him + back. He was still without his shoes, and in his bare feet, and he stopped + as he noticed this and turned to go up stairs for them, and then he + pictured to himself the baby lying as he had left her, weakly unconscious + and with dark rims around her eyes, and he asked himself excitedly what he + would do, if, on his return, she should wake and smile and reach out her + hands to him. + </p> + <p> + “I don't dare go back,” he said, breathlessly. “I don't dare do it; + killing's too good for the likes of Pike McGonegal, but I'm not fighting + babies. An' maybe, if I went back, maybe I wouldn't have the nerve to + leave her; I can't do it,” he muttered, “I don't dare go back.” But still + he did not stir, but stood motionless, with one hand trembling on the + stair-rail and the other clenched beside him, and so fought it on alone in + the silence of the empty building. + </p> + <p> + The lights in the stores below came out one by one, and the minutes passed + into half-hours, and still he stood there with the noise of the streets + coming up to him below speaking of escape and of a long life of + ill-regulated pleasures, and up above him the baby lay in the darkness and + reached out her hands to him in her sleep. + </p> + <p> + The surly old sergeant of the Twenty-first Precinct station-house had read + the evening papers through for the third time and was dozing in the fierce + lights of the gas-jet over the high desk when a young man with a white, + haggard face came in from the street with a baby in his arms. + </p> + <p> + “I want to see the woman thet look after the station-house—quick,” + he said. + </p> + <p> + The surly old sergeant did not like the peremptory tone of the young man + nor his general appearance, for he had no hat, nor coat, and his feet were + bare; so he said, with deliberate dignity, that the char-woman was + up-stairs lying down, and what did the young man want with her? “This + child,” said the visitor, in a queer thick voice, “she's sick. The heat's + come over her, and she ain't had anything to eat for two days, an' she's + starving. Ring the bell for the matron, will yer, and send one of your men + around for the house surgeon.” The sergeant leaned forward comfortably on + his elbows, with his hands under his chin so that the gold lace on his + cuffs shone effectively in the gaslight. He believed he had a sense of + humor and he chose this unfortunate moment to exhibit it. + </p> + <p> + “Did you take this for a dispensary, young man?” he asked; “or,” he + continued, with added facetiousness, “a foundling hospital?” + </p> + <p> + The young man made a savage spring at the barrier in front of the high + desk. “Damn you,” he panted, “ring that bell, do you hear me, or I'll pull + you off that seat and twist your heart out.” + </p> + <p> + The baby cried at this sudden outburst, and Rags fell back, patting it + with his hand and muttering between his closed teeth. The sergeant called + to the men of the reserve squad in the reading-room beyond, and to humor + this desperate visitor, sounded the gong for the janitress. The reserve + squad trooped in leisurely with the playing-cards in their hands and with + their pipes in their mouths. + </p> + <p> + “This man,” growled the sergeant, pointing with the end of his cigar to + Rags, “is either drunk, or crazy, or a bit of both.” + </p> + <p> + The char-woman came down stairs majestically, in a long, loose wrapper, + fanning herself with a palm-leaf fan, but when she saw the child, her + majesty dropped from her like a cloak, and she ran toward her and caught + the baby up in her arms. “You poor little thing,” she murmured, “and, oh, + how beautiful!” Then she whirled about on the men of the reserve squad: + “You, Conners,” she said, “run up to my room and get the milk out of my + ice-chest; and Moore, put on your coat and go around and tell the surgeon + I want to see him. And one of you crack some ice up fine in a towel. Take + it out of the cooler. Quick, now.” + </p> + <p> + Raegen came up to her fearfully. “Is she very sick?” he begged; “she ain't + going to die, is she?” + </p> + <p> + “Of course not,” said the woman, promptly, “but she's down with the heat, + and she hasn't been properly cared for; the child looks half-starved. Are + you her father?” she asked, sharply. But Rags did not speak, for at the + moment she had answered his question and had said the baby would not die, + he had reached out swiftly, and taken the child out of her arms and held + it hard against his breast, as though he had lost her and some one had + been just giving her back to him. + </p> + <p> + His head was bending over hers, and so he did not see Wade and Heffner, + the two ward detectives, as they came in from the street, looking hot, and + tired, and anxious. They gave a careless glance at the group, and then + stopped with a start, and one of them gave a long, low whistle. + </p> + <p> + “Well,” exclaimed Wade, with a gasp of surprise and relief. “So Raegen, + you're here, after all, are you? Well, you did give us a chase, you did. + Who took you?” + </p> + <p> + The men of the reserve squad, when they heard the name of the man for whom + the whole force had been looking for the past two days, shifted their + positions slightly, and looked curiously at Rags, and the woman stopped + pouring out the milk from the bottle in her hand, and stared at him in + frank astonishment. Raegen threw back his head and shoulders, and ran his + eyes coldly over the faces of the semicircle of men around him. + </p> + <p> + “Who took me?” he began defiantly, with a swagger of braggadocio, and + then, as though it were hardly worth while, and as though the presence of + the baby lifted him above everything else, he stopped, and raised her + until her cheek touched his own. It rested there a moment, while Rag stood + silent. + </p> + <p> + “Who took me?” he repeated, quietly, and without lifting his eyes from the + baby's face. “Nobody took me,” he said. “I gave myself up.” + </p> + <p> + One morning, three months later, when Raegen had stopped his ice-cart in + front of my door, I asked him whether at any time he had ever regretted + what he had done. + </p> + <p> + “Well, sir,” he said, with easy superiority, “seeing that I've shook the + gang, and that the Society's decided her folks ain't fit to take care of + her, we can't help thinking we are better off, see? + </p> + <p> + {Illustration with caption: She'd reach out her hands and kiss me.} + </p> + <p> + “But, as for my ever regretting it, why, even when things was at the + worst, when the case was going dead against me, and before that cop, you + remember, swore to McGonegal's drawing the pistol, and when I used to sit + in the Tombs expecting I'd have to hang for it, well, even then, they used + to bring her to see me every day, and when they'd lift her up, and she'd + reach out her hands and kiss me through the bars, why—they could + have took me out and hung me, and been damned to 'em, for all I'd have + cared.” + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0006" id="link2H_4_0006"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + THE OTHER WOMAN + </h2> + <p> + Young Latimer stood on one of the lower steps of the hall stairs, leaning + with one hand on the broad railing and smiling down at her. She had + followed him from the drawing-room and had stopped at the entrance, + drawing the curtains behind her, and making, unconsciously, a dark + background for her head and figure. He thought he had never seen her look + more beautiful, nor that cold, fine air of thorough breeding about her + which was her greatest beauty to him, more strongly in evidence. + </p> + <p> + “Well, sir,” she said, “why don't you go?” + </p> + <p> + He shifted his position slightly and leaned more comfortably upon the + railing, as though he intended to discuss it with her at some length. + </p> + <p> + “How can I go,” he said, argumentatively, “with you standing there—looking + like that?” + </p> + <p> + “I really believe,” the girl said, slowly, “that he is afraid; yes, he is + afraid. And you always said,” she added, turning to him, “you were so + brave.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, I am sure I never said that,” exclaimed the young man, calmly. “I may + be brave, in fact, I am quite brave, but I never said I was. Some one must + have told you.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, he is afraid,” she said, nodding her head to the tall clock across + the hall, “he is temporizing and trying to save time. And afraid of a man, + too, and such a good man who would not hurt any one.” + </p> + <p> + “You know a bishop is always a very difficult sort of a person,” he said, + “and when he happens to be your father, the combination is just a bit + awful. Isn't it now? And especially when one means to ask him for his + daughter. You know it isn't like asking him to let one smoke in his + study.” + </p> + <p> + “If I loved a girl,” she said, shaking her head and smiling up at him, “I + wouldn't be afraid of the whole world; that's what they say in books, + isn't it? I would be so bold and happy.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, well, I'm bold enough,” said the young man, easily; “if I had not + been, I never would have asked you to marry me; and I'm happy enough—that's + because I did ask you. But what if he says no,” continued the youth; “what + if he says he has greater ambitions for you, just as they say in books, + too. What will you do? Will you run away with me? I can borrow a coach + just as they used to do, and we can drive off through the Park and be + married, and come back and ask his blessing on our knees—unless he + should overtake us on the elevated.” + </p> + <p> + “That,” said the girl, decidedly, “is flippant, and I'm going to leave + you. I never thought to marry a man who would be frightened at the very + first. I am greatly disappointed.” + </p> + <p> + She stepped back into the drawing-room and pulled the curtains to behind + her, and then opened them again and whispered, “Please don't be long,” and + disappeared. He waited, smiling, to see if she would make another + appearance, but she did not, and he heard her touch the keys of the piano + at the other end of the drawing-room. And so, still smiling and with her + last words sounding in his ears, he walked slowly up the stairs and + knocked at the door of the bishop's study. The bishop's room was not + ecclesiastic in its character. It looked much like the room of any man of + any calling who cared for his books and to have pictures about him, and + copies of the beautiful things he had seen on his travels. There were + pictures of the Virgin and the Child, but they were those that are seen in + almost any house, and there were etchings and plaster casts, and there + were hundreds of books, and dark red curtains, and an open fire that lit + up the pots of brass with ferns in them, and the blue and white plaques on + the top of the bookcase. The bishop sat before his writing-table, with one + hand shading his eyes from the light of a red-covered lamp, and looked up + and smiled pleasantly and nodded as the young man entered. He had a very + strong face, with white hair hanging at the side, but was still a young + man for one in such a high office. He was a man interested in many things, + who could talk to men of any profession or to the mere man of pleasure, + and could interest them in what he said, and force their respect and + liking. And he was very good, and had, they said, seen much trouble. + </p> + <p> + “I am afraid I interrupted you,” said the young man, tentatively. + </p> + <p> + “No, I have interrupted myself,” replied the bishop. “I don't seem to make + this clear to myself,” he said, touching the paper in front of him, “and + so I very much doubt if I am going to make it clear to any one else. + However,” he added, smiling, as he pushed the manuscript to one side, “we + are not going to talk about that now. What have you to tell me that is + new?” + </p> + <p> + The younger man glanced up quickly at this, but the bishop's face showed + that his words had had no ulterior meaning, and that he suspected nothing + more serious to come than the gossip of the clubs or a report of the local + political fight in which he was keenly interested, or on their mission on + the East Side. But it seemed an opportunity to Latimer. + </p> + <p> + “I <i>have</i> something new to tell you,” he said, gravely, and with his + eyes turned toward the open fire, “and I don't know how to do it exactly. + I mean I don't just know how it is generally done or how to tell it best.” + He hesitated and leaned forward, with his hands locked in front of him, + and his elbows resting on his knees. He was not in the least frightened. + The bishop had listened to many strange stories, to many confessions, in + this same study, and had learned to take them as a matter of course; but + to-night something in the manner of the young man before him made him stir + uneasily, and he waited for him to disclose the object of his visit with + some impatience. + </p> + <p> + “I will suppose, sir,” said young Latimer, finally, “that you know me + rather well—I mean you know who my people are, and what I am doing + here in New York, and who my friends are, and what my work amounts to. You + have let me see a great deal of you, and I have appreciated your doing so + very much; to so young a man as myself it has been a great compliment, and + it has been of great benefit to me. I know that better than any one else. + I say this because unless you had shown me this confidence it would have + been almost impossible for me to say to you what I am going to say now. + But you have allowed me to come here frequently, and to see you and talk + with you here in your study, and to see even more of your daughter. Of + course, sir, you did not suppose that I came here only to see you. I came + here because I found that if I did not see Miss Ellen for a day, that that + day was wasted, and that I spent it uneasily and discontentedly, and the + necessity of seeing her even more frequently has grown so great that I + cannot come here as often as I seem to want to come unless I am engaged to + her, unless I come as her husband that is to be.” The young man had been + speaking very slowly and picking his words, but now he raised his head and + ran on quickly. + </p> + <p> + “I have spoken to her and told her how I love her, and she has told me + that she loves me, and that if you will not oppose us, will marry me. That + is the news I have to tell you, sir. I don't know but that I might have + told it differently, but that is it. I need not urge on you my position + and all that, because I do not think that weighs with you; but I do tell + you that I love Ellen so dearly that, though I am not worthy of her, of + course, I have no other pleasure than to give her pleasure and to try to + make her happy. I have the power to do it; but what is much more, I have + the wish to do it; it is all I think of now, and all that I can ever think + of. What she thinks of me you must ask her; but what she is to me neither + she can tell you nor do I believe that I myself could make you + understand.” The young man's face was flushed and eager, and as he + finished speaking he raised his head and watched the bishop's countenance + anxiously. But the older man's face was hidden by his hand as he leaned + with his elbow on his writing-table. His other hand was playing with a + pen, and when he began to speak, which he did after a long pause, he still + turned it between his fingers and looked down at it. + </p> + <p> + “I suppose,” he said, as softly as though he were speaking to himself, + “that I should have known this; I suppose that I should have been better + prepared to hear it. But it is one of those things which men put off—I + mean those men who have children, put off—as they do making their + wills, as something that is in the future and that may be shirked until it + comes. We seem to think that our daughters will live with us always, just + as we expect to live on ourselves until death comes one day and startles + us and finds us unprepared.” He took down his hand and smiled gravely at + the younger man with an evident effort, and said, “I did not mean to speak + so gloomily, but you see my point of view must be different from yours. + And she says she loves you, does she?” he added, gently. + </p> + <p> + Young Latimer bowed his head and murmured something inarticulately in + reply, and then held his head erect again and waited, still watching the + bishop's face. + </p> + <p> + “I think she might have told me,” said the older man; “but then I suppose + this is the better way. I am young enough to understand that the old order + changes, that the customs of my father's time differ from those of to-day. + And there is no alternative, I suppose,” he said, shaking his head. “I am + stopped and told to deliver, and have no choice. I will get used to it in + time,” he went on, “but it seems very hard now. Fathers are selfish, I + imagine, but she is all I have.” + </p> + <p> + Young Latimer looked gravely into the fire and wondered how long it would + last. He could just hear the piano from below, and he was anxious to + return to her. And at the same time he was drawn toward the older man + before him, and felt rather guilty, as though he really were robbing him. + But at the bishop's next words he gave up any thought of a speedy release, + and settled himself in his chair. + </p> + <p> + “We are still to have a long talk,” said the bishop. “There are many + things I must know, and of which I am sure you will inform me freely. I + believe there are some who consider me hard, and even narrow on different + points, but I do not think you will find me so, at least let us hope not. + I must confess that for a moment I almost hoped that you might not be able + to answer the questions I must ask you, but it was only for a moment. I am + only too sure you will not be found wanting, and that the conclusion of + our talk will satisfy us both. Yes, I am confident of that.” + </p> + <p> + His manner changed, nevertheless, and Latimer saw that he was now facing a + judge and not a plaintiff who had been robbed, and that he was in turn the + defendant. And still he was in no way frightened. + </p> + <p> + “I like you,” the bishop said, “I like you very much. As you say yourself, + I have seen a great deal of you, because I have enjoyed your society, and + your views and talk were good and young and fresh, and did me good. You + have served to keep me in touch with the outside world, a world of which I + used to know at one time a great deal. I know your people and I know you, + I think, and many people have spoken to me of you. I see why now. They, no + doubt, understood what was coming better than myself, and were meaning to + reassure me concerning you. And they said nothing but what was good of + you. But there are certain things of which no one can know but yourself, + and concerning which no other person, save myself, has a right to question + you. You have promised very fairly for my daughter's future; you have + suggested more than you have said, but I understood. You can give her many + pleasures which I have not been able to afford; she can get from you the + means of seeing more of this world in which she lives, of meeting more + people, and of indulging in her charities, or in her extravagances, for + that matter, as she wishes. I have no fear of her bodily comfort; her + life, as far as that is concerned, will be easier and broader, and with + more power for good. Her future, as I say, as you say also, is assured; + but I want to ask you this,” the bishop leaned forward and watched the + young man anxiously, “you can protect her in the future, but can you + assure me that you can protect her from the past?” + </p> + <p> + Young Latimer raised his eyes calmly and said, “I don't think I quite + understand.” + </p> + <p> + “I have perfect confidence, I say,” returned the bishop, “in you as far as + your treatment of Ellen is concerned in the future. You love her and you + would do everything to make the life of the woman you love a happy one; + but this is it, Can you assure me that there is nothing in the past that + may reach forward later and touch my daughter through you—no ugly + story, no oats that have been sowed, and no boomerang that you have thrown + wantonly and that has not returned—but which may return?” + </p> + <p> + “I think I understand you now, sir,” said the young man, quietly. “I have + lived,” he began, “as other men of my sort have lived. You know what that + is, for you must have seen it about you at college, and after that before + you entered the Church. I judge so from your friends, who were your + friends then, I understand. You know how they lived. I never went in for + dissipation, if you mean that, because it never attracted me. I am afraid + I kept out of it not so much out of respect for others as for respect for + myself. I found my self-respect was a very good thing to keep, and I + rather preferred keeping it and losing several pleasures that other men + managed to enjoy, apparently with free consciences. I confess I used to + rather envy them. It is no particular virtue on my part; the thing struck + me as rather more vulgar than wicked, and so I have had no wild oats to + speak of; and no woman, if that is what you mean, can write an anonymous + letter, and no man can tell you a story about me that he could not tell in + my presence.” + </p> + <p> + There was something in the way the young man spoke which would have amply + satisfied the outsider, had he been present; but the bishop's eyes were + still unrelaxed and anxious. He made an impatient motion with his hand. + </p> + <p> + “I know you too well, I hope,” he said, “to think of doubting your + attitude in that particular. I know you are a gentleman, that is enough + for that; but there is something beyond these more common evils. You see, + I am terribly in earnest over this—you may think unjustly so, + considering how well I know you, but this child is my only child. If her + mother had lived, my responsibility would have been less great; but, as it + is, God has left her here alone to me in my hands. I do not think He + intended my duty should end when I had fed and clothed her, and taught her + to read and write. I do not think He meant that I should only act as her + guardian until the first man she fancied fancied her. I must look to her + happiness not only now when she is with me, but I must assure myself of it + when she leaves my roof. These common sins of youth I acquit you of. Such + things are beneath you, I believe, and I did not even consider them. But + there are other toils in which men become involved, other evils or + misfortunes which exist, and which threaten all men who are young and free + and attractive in many ways to women, as well as men. You have lived the + life of the young man of this day. You have reached a place in your + profession when you can afford to rest and marry and assume the + responsibilities of marriage. You look forward to a life of content and + peace and honorable ambition—a life, with your wife at your side, + which is to last forty or fifty years. You consider where you will be + twenty years from now, at what point of your career you may become a judge + or give up practice; your perspective is unlimited; you even think of the + college to which you may send your son. It is a long, quiet future that + you are looking forward to, and you choose my daughter as the companion + for that future, as the one woman with whom you could live content for + that length of time. And it is in that spirit that you come to me to-night + and that you ask me for my daughter. Now I am going to ask you one + question, and as you answer that I will tell you whether or not you can + have Ellen for your wife. You look forward, as I say, to many years of + life, and you have chosen her as best suited to live that period with you; + but I ask you this, and I demand that you answer me truthfully, and that + you remember that you are speaking to her father. Imagine that I had the + power to tell you, or rather that some superhuman agent could convince + you, that you had but a month to live, and that for what you did in that + month you would not be held responsible either by any moral law or any law + made by man, and that your life hereafter would not be influenced by your + conduct in that month, would you spend it, I ask you—and on your + answer depends mine—would you spend those thirty days, with death at + the end, with my daughter, or with some other woman of whom I know + nothing?” + </p> + <p> + Latimer sat for some time silent, until indeed, his silence assumed such a + significance that he raised his head impatiently and said with a motion of + the hand, “I mean to answer you in a minute; I want to be sure that I + understand.” + </p> + <p> + The bishop bowed his head in assent, and for a still longer period the men + sat motionless. The clock in the corner seemed to tick more loudly, and + the dead coals dropping in the grate had a sharp, aggressive sound. The + notes of the piano that had risen from the room below had ceased. + </p> + <p> + “If I understand you,” said Latimer, finally, and his voice and his face + as he raised it were hard and aggressive, “you are stating a purely + hypothetical case. You wish to try me by conditions which do not exist, + which cannot exist. What justice is there, what right is there, in asking + me to say how I would act under circumstances which are impossible, which + lie beyond the limit of human experience? You cannot judge a man by what + he would do if he were suddenly robbed of all his mental and moral + training and of the habit of years. I am not admitting, understand me, + that if the conditions which you suggest did exist that I would do one + whit differently from what I will do if they remain as they are. I am + merely denying your right to put such a question to me at all. You might + just as well judge the shipwrecked sailors on a raft who eat each other's + flesh as you would judge a sane, healthy man who did such a thing in his + own home. Are you going to condemn men who are ice-locked at the North + Pole, or buried in the heart of Africa, and who have given up all thought + of return and are half mad and wholly without hope, as you would judge + ourselves? Are they to be weighed and balanced as you and I are, sitting + here within the sound of the cabs outside and with a bake-shop around the + corner? What you propose could not exist, could never happen. I could + never be placed where I should have to make such a choice, and you have no + right to ask me what I would do or how I would act under conditions that + are super-human—you used the word yourself—where all that I + have held to be good and just and true would be obliterated. I would be + unworthy of myself, I would be unworthy of your daughter, if I considered + such a state of things for a moment, or if I placed my hopes of marrying + her on the outcome of such a test, and so, sir,” said the young man, + throwing back his head, “I must refuse to answer you.” + </p> + <p> + The bishop lowered his hand from before his eyes and sank back wearily + into his chair. “You have answered me,” he said. + </p> + <p> + “You have no right to say that,” cried the young man, springing to his + feet. “You have no right to suppose anything or to draw any conclusions. I + have not answered you.” He stood with his head and shoulders thrown back, + and with his hands resting on his hips and with the fingers working + nervously at his waist. + </p> + <p> + “What you have said,” replied the bishop, in a voice that had changed + strangely, and which was inexpressibly sad and gentle, “is merely a + curtain of words to cover up your true feeling. It would have been so easy + to have said, 'For thirty days or for life Ellen is the only woman who has + the power to make me happy.' You see that would have answered me and + satisfied me. But you did not say that,” he added, quickly, as the young + man made a movement as if to speak. + </p> + <p> + “Well, and suppose this other woman did exist, what then?” demanded + Latimer. “The conditions you suggest are impossible; you must, you will + surely, sir, admit that.” + </p> + <p> + “I do not know,” replied the bishop, sadly; “I do not know. It may happen + that whatever obstacle there has been which has kept you from her may be + removed. It may be that she has married, it may be that she has fallen so + low that you cannot marry her. But if you have loved her once, you may + love her again; whatever it was that separated you in the past, that + separates you now, that makes you prefer my daughter to her, may come to + an end when you are married, when it will be too late, and when only + trouble can come of it, and Ellen would bear that trouble. Can I risk + that?” + </p> + <p> + “But I tell you it is impossible,” cried the young man. “The woman is + beyond the love of any man, at least such a man as I am, or try to be.” + </p> + <p> + “Do you mean,” asked the bishop, gently, and with an eager look of hope, + “that she is dead?” + </p> + <p> + Latimer faced the father for some seconds in silence. Then he raised his + head slowly. “No,” he said, “I do not mean she is dead. No, she is not + dead.” + </p> + <p> + Again the bishop moved back wearily into his chair. “You mean then,” he + said, “perhaps, that she is a married woman?” Latimer pressed his lips + together at first as though he would not answer, and then raised his eyes + coldly. “Perhaps,” he said. + </p> + <p> + The older man had held up his hand as if to signify that what he was about + to say should be listened to without interruption, when a sharp turning of + the lock of the door caused both father and the suitor to start. Then they + turned and looked at each other with anxious inquiry and with much + concern, for they recognized for the first time that their voices had been + loud. The older man stepped quickly across the floor, but before he + reached the middle of the room the door opened from the outside, and his + daughter stood in the door-way, with her head held down and her eyes + looking at the floor. + </p> + <p> + “Ellen!” exclaimed the father, in a voice of pain and the deepest pity. + </p> + <p> + The girl moved toward the place from where his voice came, without raising + her eyes, and when she reached him put her arms about him and hid her face + on his shoulder. She moved as though she were tired, as though she were + exhausted by some heavy work. + </p> + <p> + “My child,” said the bishop, gently, “were you listening?” There was no + reproach in his voice; it was simply full of pity and concern. + </p> + <p> + “I thought,” whispered the girl, brokenly, “that he would be frightened; I + wanted to hear what he would say. I thought I could laugh at him for it + afterward. I did it for a joke. I thought—” she stopped with a + little gasping sob that she tried to hide, and for a moment held herself + erect and then sank back again into her father's arms with her head upon + his breast. + </p> + <p> + Latimer started forward, holding out his arms to her. “Ellen,” he said, + “surely, Ellen, you are not against me. You see how preposterous it is, + how unjust it is to me. You cannot mean—” + </p> + <p> + The girl raised her head and shrugged her shoulders slightly as though she + were cold. “Father,” she said, wearily, “ask him to go away, Why does he + stay? Ask him to go away.” + </p> + <p> + Latimer stopped and took a step back as though some one had struck him, + and then stood silent with his face flushed and his eyes flashing. It was + not in answer to anything that they said that he spoke, but to their + attitude and what it suggested. “You stand there,” he began, “you two + stand there as though I were something unclean, as though I had committed + some crime. You look at me as though I were on trial for murder or worse. + Both of you together against me. What have I done? What difference is + there? You loved me a half-hour ago, Ellen; you said you did. I know you + loved me; and you, sir,” he added, more quietly, “treated me like a + friend. Has anything come since then to change me or you? Be fair to me, + be sensible. What is the use of this? It is a silly, needless, horrible + mistake. You know I love you, Ellen; love you better than all the world. I + don't have to tell you that; you know it, you can see and feel it. It does + not need to be said; words can't make it any truer. You have confused + yourselves and stultified yourselves with this trick, this test by + hypothetical conditions, by considering what is not real or possible. It + is simple enough; it is plain enough. You know I love you, Ellen, and you + only, and that is all there is to it, and all that there is of any + consequence in the world to me. The matter stops there; that is all there + is for you to consider. Answer me, Ellen, speak to me. Tell me that you + believe me.” + </p> + <p> + He stopped and moved a step toward her, but as he did so, the girl, still + without looking up, drew herself nearer to her father and shrank more + closely into his arms; but the father's face was troubled and doubtful, + and he regarded the younger man with a look of the most anxious scrutiny. + Latimer did not regard this. Their hands were raised against him as far as + he could understand, and he broke forth again proudly, and with a defiant + indignation: + </p> + <p> + “What right have you to judge me?” he began; “what do you know of what I + have suffered, and endured, and overcome? How can you know what I have had + to give up and put away from me? It's easy enough for you to draw your + skirts around you, but what can a woman bred as you have been bred know of + what I've had to fight against and keep under and cut away? It was an + easy, beautiful idyl to you; your love came to you only when it should + have come, and for a man who was good and worthy, and distinctly eligible—I + don't mean that; forgive me, Ellen, but you drive me beside myself. But he + is good and he believes himself worthy, and I say that myself before you + both. But I am only worthy and only good because of that other love that I + put away when it became a crime, when it became impossible. Do you know + what it cost me? Do you know what it meant to me, and what I went through, + and how I suffered? Do you know who this other woman is whom you are + insulting with your doubts and guesses in the dark? Can't you spare her? + Am I not enough? Perhaps it was easy for her, too; perhaps her silence + cost her nothing; perhaps she did not suffer and has nothing but happiness + and content to look forward to for the rest of her life; and I tell you + that it is because we did put it away, and kill it, and not give way to it + that I am whatever I am to-day; whatever good there is in me is due to + that temptation and to the fact that I beat it and overcame it and kept + myself honest and clean. And when I met you and learned to know you I + believed in my heart that God had sent you to me that I might know what it + was to love a woman whom I could marry and who could be my wife; that you + were the reward for my having overcome temptation and the sign that I had + done well. And now you throw me over and put me aside as though I were + something low and unworthy, because of this temptation, because of this + very thing that has made me know myself and my own strength and that has + kept me up for you.” + </p> + <p> + As the young man had been speaking, the bishop's eyes had never left his + face, and as he finished, the face of the priest grew clearer and decided, + and calmly exultant. And as Latimer ceased he bent his head above his + daughter's, and said in a voice that seemed to speak with more than human + inspiration. “My child,” he said, “if God had given me a son I should have + been proud if he could have spoken as this young man has done.” + </p> + <p> + But the woman only said, “Let him go to her.” + </p> + <p> + “Ellen, oh, Ellen!” cried the father. + </p> + <p> + He drew back from the girl in his arms and looked anxiously and feelingly + at her lover. “How could you, Ellen,” he said, “how could you?” He was + watching the young man's face with eyes full of sympathy and concern. “How + little you know him,” he said, “how little you understand. He will not do + that,” he added quickly, but looking questioningly at Latimer and speaking + in a tone almost of command. “He will not undo all that he has done; I + know him better than that.” But Latimer made no answer, and for a moment + the two men stood watching each other and questioning each other with + their eyes. Then Latimer turned, and without again so much as glancing at + the girl walked steadily to the door and left the room. He passed on + slowly down the stairs and out into the night, and paused upon the top of + the steps leading to the street. Below him lay the avenue with its double + line of lights stretching off in two long perspectives. The lamps of + hundreds of cabs and carriages flashed as they advanced toward him and + shone for a moment at the turnings of the cross-streets, and from either + side came the ceaseless rush and murmur, and over all hung the strange + mystery that covers a great city at night. Latimer's rooms lay to the + south, but he stood looking toward a spot to the north with a reckless, + harassed look in his face that had not been there for many months. He + stood so for a minute, and then gave a short shrug of disgust at his + momentary doubt and ran quickly down the steps. “No,” he said, “if it were + for a month, yes; but it is to be for many years, many more long years.” + And turning his back resolutely to the north he went slowly home. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0007" id="link2H_4_0007"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + THE TRAILER FOR ROOM NO. 8 + </h2> + <p> + The “trailer” for the green-goods men who rented room No. 8 in Case's + tenement had had no work to do for the last few days, and was cursing his + luck in consequence. + </p> + <p> + He was entirely too young to curse, but he had never been told so, and, + indeed, so imperfect had his training been that he had never been told not + to do anything as long as it pleased him to do it and made existence any + more bearable. + </p> + <p> + He had been told when he was very young, before the man and woman who had + brought him into the world had separated, not to crawl out on the + fire-escape, because he might break his neck, and later, after his father + had walked off Hegelman's Slip into the East River while very drunk, and + his mother had been sent to the penitentiary for grand larceny, he had + been told not to let the police catch him sleeping under the bridge. + </p> + <p> + With these two exceptions he had been told to do as he pleased, which was + the very mockery of advice, as he was just about as well able to do as he + pleased as is any one who has to beg or steal what he eats and has to + sleep in hall-ways or over the iron gratings of warm cellars and has the + officers of the children's societies always after him to put him in a + “Home” and make him be “good.” + </p> + <p> + “Snipes,” as the trailer was called, was determined no one should ever + force him to be good if he could possibly prevent it. And he certainly did + do a great deal to prevent it. He knew what having to be good meant. Some + of the boys who had escaped from the Home had told him all about that. It + meant wearing shoes and a blue and white checkered apron, and making + cane-bottomed chairs all day, and having to wash yourself in a big iron + tub twice a week, not to speak of having to move about like machines + whenever the lady teacher hit a bell. So when the green-goods men, of whom + the genial Mr. Alf Wolfe was the chief, asked Snipes to act as “trailer” + for them at a quarter of a dollar for every victim he shadowed, he jumped + at the offer and was proud of the position. + </p> + <p> + If you should happen to keep a grocery store in the country, or to run the + village post-office, it is not unlikely that you know what a green-goods + man is; but in case you don't, and have only a vague idea as to how he + lives, a paragraph of explanation must be inserted here for your + particular benefit. Green goods is the technical name for counterfeit + bills, and the green-goods men send out circulars to countrymen all over + the United States, offering to sell them $5,000 worth of counterfeit money + for $500, and ease their conscience by explaining to them that by + purchasing these green goods they are hurting no one but the Government, + which is quite able, with its big surplus, to stand the loss. They enclose + a letter which is to serve their victim as a mark of identification or + credential when he comes on to purchase. + </p> + <p> + The address they give him is in one of the many drug-store and cigar-store + post-offices which are scattered all over New York, and which contribute + to make vice and crime so easy that the evil they do cannot be reckoned in + souls lost or dollars stolen. If the letter from the countryman strikes + the dealers in green goods as sincere, they appoint an interview with him + by mail in rooms they rent for the purpose, and if they, on meeting him + there, think he is still in earnest and not a detective or officer in + disguise, they appoint still another interview, to be held later in the + day in the back room of some saloon. + </p> + <p> + Then the countryman is watched throughout the day from the moment he + leaves the first meeting-place until he arrives at the saloon. If anything + in his conduct during that time leads the man whose duty it is to follow + him, or the “trailer,” as the profession call it, to believe he is a + detective, he finds when he arrives at the saloon that there is no one to + receive him. But if the trailer regards his conduct as unsuspicious, he is + taken to another saloon, not the one just appointed, which is, perhaps, a + most respectable place, but to the thieves' own private little rendezvous, + where he is robbed in any of the several different ways best suited to + their purpose. + </p> + <p> + Snipes was a very good trailer. He was so little that no one ever noticed + him, and he could keep a man in sight no matter how big the crowd was, or + how rapidly it changed and shifted. And he was as patient as he was quick, + and would wait for hours if needful, with his eye on a door, until his man + reissued into the street again. And if the one he shadowed looked behind + him to see if he was followed, or dodged up and down different streets, as + if he were trying to throw off pursuit, or despatched a note or telegram, + or stopped to speak to a policeman or any special officer, as a detective + might, who thought he had his men safely in hand, off Snipes would go on a + run, to where Alf Wolfe was waiting, and tell what he had seen. + </p> + <p> + Then Wolfe would give him a quarter or more, and the trailer would go back + to his post opposite Case's tenement, and wait for another victim to issue + forth, and for the signal from No. 8 to follow him. It was not much fun, + and “customers,” as Mr. Wolfe always called them, had been scarce, and Mr. + Wolfe, in consequence, had been cross and nasty in his temper, and had + batted Snipe out of the way on more than one occasion. So the trailer was + feeling blue and disconsolate, and wondered how it was that “Naseby” + Raegen, “Rags” Raegen's younger brother, had had the luck to get a two + weeks' visit to the country with the Fresh Air Fund children, while he had + not. + </p> + <p> + He supposed it was because Naseby had sold papers, and wore shoes, and + went to night school, and did many other things equally objectionable. + Still, what Naseby had said about the country, and riding horseback, and + the fishing, and the shooting crows with no cops to stop you, and + watermelons for nothing, had sounded wonderfully attractive and quite + improbable, except that it was one of Naseby's peculiarly sneaking ways to + tell the truth. Anyway, Naseby had left Cherry Street for good, and had + gone back to the country to work there. This all helped to make Snipes + morose, and it was with a cynical smile of satisfaction that he watched an + old countryman coming slowly up the street, and asking his way timidly of + the Italians to Case's tenement. + </p> + <p> + The countryman looked up and about him in evident bewilderment and + anxiety. He glanced hesitatingly across at the boy leaning against the + wall of a saloon, but the boy was watching two sparrows fighting in the + dirt of the street, and did not see him. At least, it did not look as if + he saw him. Then the old man knocked on the door of Case's tenement. No + one came, for the people in the house had learned to leave inquiring + countrymen to the gentleman who rented room No. 8, and as that gentleman + was occupied at that moment with a younger countryman, he allowed the old + man, whom he had first cautiously observed from the top of the stairs, to + remain where he was. + </p> + <p> + The old man stood uncertainly on the stoop, and then removed his heavy + black felt hat and rubbed his bald head and the white shining locks of + hair around it with a red bandanna handkerchief. Then he walked very + slowly across the street toward Snipes, for the rest of the street was + empty, and there was no one else at hand. The old man was dressed in heavy + black broadcloth, quaintly cut, with boot legs showing up under the + trousers, and with faultlessly clean linen of home-made manufacture. + </p> + <p> + “I can't make the people in that house over there hear me,” complained the + old man, with the simple confidence that old age has in very young boys. + “Do you happen to know if they're at home?” + </p> + <p> + “Nop,” growled Snipes. + </p> + <p> + “I'm looking for a man named Perceval,” said the stranger; “he lives in + that house, and I wanter see him on most particular business. It isn't a + very pleasing place he lives in, is it—at least,” he hurriedly + added, as if fearful of giving offence, “it isn't much on the outside? Do + you happen to know him?” + </p> + <p> + Perceval was Alf Wolfe's business name. + </p> + <p> + “Nop,” said the trailer. + </p> + <p> + “Well, I'm not looking for him,” explained the stranger, slowly, “as much + as I'm looking for a young man that I kind of suspect is been to see him + to-day: a young man that looks like me, only younger. Has lightish hair + and pretty tall and lanky, and carrying a shiny black bag with him. Did + you happen to hev noticed him going into that place across the way?” + </p> + <p> + “Nop,” said Snipes. + </p> + <p> + The old man sighed and nodded his head thoughtfully at Snipes, and + puckered up the corners of his mouth, as though he were thinking deeply. + He had wonderfully honest blue eyes, and with the white hair hanging + around his sun-burned face, he looked like an old saint. But the trailer + didn't know that: he did know, though, that this man was a different sort + from the rest. Still, that was none of his business. + </p> + <p> + “What is't you want to see him about?” he asked sullenly, while he looked + up and down the street and everywhere but at the old man, and rubbed one + bare foot slowly over the other. + </p> + <p> + The old man looked pained, and much to Snipe's surprise, the question + brought the tears to his eyes, and his lips trembled. Then he swerved + slightly, so that he might have fallen if Snipes had not caught him and + helped him across the pavement to a seat on a stoop. “Thankey, son,” said + the stranger; “I'm not as strong as I was, an' the sun's mighty hot, an' + these streets of yours smell mighty bad, and I've had a powerful lot of + trouble these last few days. But if I could see this man Perceval before + my boy does, I know I could fix it, and it would all come out right.” + </p> + <p> + “What do you want to see him about?” repeated the trailer, suspiciously, + while he fanned the old man with his hat. Snipes could not have told you + why he did this or why this particular old countryman was any different + from the many others who came to buy counterfeit money and who were + thieves at heart as well as in deed. + </p> + <p> + “I want to see him about my son,” said the old man to the little boy. + “He's a bad man whoever he is. This 'ere Perceval is a bad man. He sends + down his wickedness to the country and tempts weak folks to sin. He + teaches 'em ways of evil-doing they never heard of, and he's ruined my son + with the others—ruined him. I've had nothing to do with the city and + its ways; we're strict living, simple folks, and perhaps we've been too + strict, or Abraham wouldn't have run away to the city. But I thought it + was best, and I doubted nothing when the fresh-air children came to the + farm. I didn't like city children, but I let 'em come. I took 'em in, and + did what I could to make it pleasant for 'em. Poor little fellers, all as + thin as corn-stalks and pale as ghosts, and as dirty as you. + </p> + <p> + “I took 'em in and let 'em ride the horses, and swim in the river, and + shoot crows in the cornfield, and eat all the cherries they could pull, + and what did the city send me in return for that? It sent me this + thieving, rascally scheme of this man Perceval's, and it turned my boy's + head, and lost him to me. I saw him poring over the note and reading it as + if it were Gospel, and I suspected nothing. And when he asked me if he + could keep it, I said yes he could, for I thought he wanted it for a + curiosity, and then off he put with the black bag and the $200 he's been + saving up to start housekeeping with when the old Deacon says he can marry + his daughter Kate.” The old man placed both hands on his knees and went on + excitedly. + </p> + <p> + “The old Deacon says he'll not let 'em marry till Abe has $2,000, and that + is what the boy's come after. He wants to buy $2,000 worth of bad money + with his $200 worth of good money, to show the Deacon, just as though it + were likely a marriage after such a crime as that would ever be a happy + one.” + </p> + <p> + Snipes had stopped fanning the old man, as he ran on, and was listening + intently, with an uncomfortable feeling of sympathy and sorrow, + uncomfortable because he was not used to it. + </p> + <p> + He could not see why the old man should think the city should have treated + his boy better because he had taken care of the city's children, and he + was puzzled between his allegiance to the gang and his desire to help the + gang's innocent victim, and then because he was an innocent victim and not + a “customer,” he let his sympathy get the better of his discretion. + </p> + <p> + “Saay,” he began, abruptly, “I'm not sayin' nothin' to nobody, and + nobody's sayin' nothin' to me—see? but I guess your son'll be around + here to-day, sure. He's got to come before one, for this office closes + sharp at one, and we goes home. Now, I've got the call whether he gets his + stuff taken off him or whether the boys leave him alone. If I say the + word, they'd no more come near him than if he had the cholera—see? + An' I'll say it for this oncet, just for you. Hold on,” he commanded, as + the old man raised his voice in surprised interrogation, “don't ask no + questions, 'cause you won't get no answers 'except lies. You find your way + back to the Grand Central Depot and wait there, and I'll steer your son + down to you, sure, as soon as I can find him—see? Now get along, or + you'll get me inter trouble.” + </p> + <p> + “You've been lying to me, then,” cried the old man, “and you're as bad as + any of them, and my boy's over in that house now.” + </p> + <p> + He scrambled up from the stoop, and before the trailer could understand + what he proposed to do, had dashed across the street and up the stoop, and + up the stairs, and had burst into room No. 8. + </p> + <p> + Snipes tore after him. “Come back! come back out of that, you old fool!” + he cried. “You'll get killed in there!” Snipes was afraid to enter room + No. 8, but he could hear from the outside the old man challenging Alf + Wolfe in a resonant angry voice that rang through the building. + </p> + <p> + “Whew!” said Snipes, crouching on the stairs, “there's goin' to be a muss + this time, sure!” + </p> + <p> + “Where's my son? Where have you hidden my son?” demanded, the old man. He + ran across the room and pulled open a door that led into another room, but + it was empty. He had fully expected to see his boy murdered and quartered, + and with his pockets inside out. He turned on Wolfe, shaking his white + hair like a mane. “Give me up my son, you rascal you!” he cried, “or I'll + get the police, and I'll tell them how you decoy honest boys to your den + and murder them.” + </p> + <p> + “Are you drunk or crazy, or just a little of both?” asked Mr. Wolfe. “For + a cent I'd throw you out of that window. Get out of here! Quick, now! + You're too old to get excited like that; it's not good for you.” + </p> + <p> + But this only exasperated the old man the more, and he made a lunge at the + confidence man's throat. Mr. Wolfe stepped aside and caught him around the + waist and twisted his leg around the old man's rheumatic one, and held + him. “Now,” said Wolfe, as quietly as though he were giving a lesson in + wrestling, “if I wanted to, I could break your back.” + </p> + <p> + The old man glared up at him, panting. “Your son's not here,” said Wolfe, + “and this is a private gentleman's private room. I could turn you over to + the police for assault if I wanted to; but,” he added, magnanimously, “I + won't. Now get out of here and go home to your wife, and when you come to + see the sights again don't drink so much raw whiskey.” He half carried the + old farmer to the top of the stairs and dropped him, and went back and + closed the door. Snipes came up and helped him down and out, and the old + man and the boy walked slowly and in silence out to the Bowery. Snipes + helped his companion into a car and put him off at the Grand Central + Depot. The heat and the excitement had told heavily on the old man, and he + seemed dazed and beaten. + </p> + <p> + He was leaning on the trailer's shoulder and waiting for his turn in the + line in front of the ticket window, when a tall, gawky, good-looking + country lad sprang out of it and at him with an expression of surprise and + anxiety. “Father,” he said, “father, what's wrong? What are you doing + here? Is anybody ill at home? Are <i>you</i> ill?” + </p> + <p> + “Abraham,” said the old man, simply, and dropped heavily on the younger + man's shoulder. Then he raised his head sternly and said: “I thought you + were murdered, but better that than a thief, Abraham. What brought you + here? What did you do with that rascal's letter? What did you do with his + money?” + </p> + <p> + The trailer drew cautiously away; the conversation was becoming + unpleasantly personal. + </p> + <p> + “I don't know what you're talking about,” said Abraham, calmly. “The + Deacon gave his consent the other night without the $2,000, and I took the + $200 I'd saved and came right on in the fust train to buy the ring. It's + pretty, isn't it?” he said, flushing, as he pulled out a little velvet box + and opened it. + </p> + <p> + The old man was so happy at this that he laughed and cried alternately, + and then he made a grab for the trailer and pulled him down beside him on + one of the benches. + </p> + <p> + “You've got to come with me,” he said, with kind severity. “You're a good + boy, but your folks have let you run wrong. You've been good to me, and + you said you would get me back my boy and save him from those thieves, and + I believe now that you meant it. Now you're just coming back with us to + the farm and the cows and the river, and you can eat all you want and live + with us, and never, never see this unclean, wicked city again.” + </p> + <p> + Snipes looked up keenly from under the rim of his hat and rubbed one of + his muddy feet over the other as was his habit. The young countryman, + greatly puzzled, and the older man smiling kindly, waited expectantly in + silence. From outside came the sound of the car-bells jangling, and the + rattle of cabs, and the cries of drivers, and all the varying rush and + turmoil of a great metropolis. Green fields, and running rivers, and fruit + that did not grow in wooden boxes or brown paper cones, were myths and + idle words to Snipes, but this “unclean, wicked city” he knew. + </p> + <p> + “I guess you're too good for me,” he said, with an uneasy laugh. “I guess + little old New York's good enough for me.” + </p> + <p> + “What!” cried the old man, in the tones of greatest concern. “You would go + back to that den of iniquity, surely not,—to that thief Perceval?” + </p> + <p> + “Well,” said the trailer, slowly, “and he's not such a bad lot, neither. + You see he could hev broke your neck that time when you was choking him, + but he didn't. There's your train,” he added hurriedly and jumping away. + “Good-by. So long, old man. I'm much 'bliged to you jus' for asking me.” + </p> + <p> + Two hours later the farmer and his son were making the family weep and + laugh over their adventures, as they all sat together on the porch with + the vines about it; and the trailer was leaning against the wall of a + saloon and apparently counting his ten toes, but in reality watching for + Mr. Wolfe to give the signal from the window of room No. 8. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0008" id="link2H_4_0008"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + “THERE WERE NINETY AND NINE” + </h2> + <p> + Young Harringford, or the “Goodwood Plunger,” as he was perhaps better + known at that time, had come to Monte Carlo in a very different spirit and + in a very different state of mind from any in which he had ever visited + the place before. He had come there for the same reason that a wounded + lion, or a poisoned rat, for that matter, crawls away into a corner, that + it may be alone when it dies. He stood leaning against one of the pillars + of the Casino with his back to the moonlight, and with his eyes blinking + painfully at the flaming lamps above the green tables inside. He knew they + would be put out very soon; and as he had something to do then, he + regarded them fixedly with painful earnestness, as a man who is condemned + to die at sunrise watches through his barred windows for the first gray + light of the morning. + </p> + <p> + That queer, numb feeling in his head and the sharp line of pain between + his eyebrows which had been growing worse for the last three weeks, was + troubling him more terribly than ever before, and his nerves had thrown + off all control and rioted at the base of his head and at his wrists, and + jerked and twitched as though, so it seemed to him, they were striving to + pull the tired body into pieces and to set themselves free. He was + wondering whether if he should take his hand from his pocket and touch his + head he would find that it had grown longer, and had turned into a soft, + spongy mass which would give beneath his fingers. He considered this for + some time, and even went so far as to half withdraw one hand, but thought + better of it and shoved it back again as he considered how much less + terrible it was to remain in doubt than to find that this phenomenon had + actually taken place. + </p> + <p> + The pity of the whole situation was, that the boy was only a boy with all + his man's miserable knowledge of the world, and the reason of it all was, + that he had entirely too much heart and not enough money to make an + unsuccessful gambler. If he had only been able to lose his conscience + instead of his money, or even if he had kept his conscience and won, it is + not likely that he would have been waiting for the lights to go out at + Monte Carlo. But he had not only lost all of his money and more besides, + which he could never make up, but he had lost other things which meant + much more to him now than money, and which could not be made up or paid + back at even usurious interest. He had not only lost the right to sit at + his father's table, but the right to think of the girl whose place in + Surrey ran next to that of his own people, and whose lighted window in the + north wing he had watched on those many dreary nights when she had been + ill, from his own terrace across the trees in the park. And all he had + gained was the notoriety that made him a by-word with decent people, and + the hero of the race-tracks and the music-halls. He was no longer “Young + Harringford, the eldest son of the Harringfords of Surrey,” but the + “Goodwood Plunger,” to whom Fortune had made desperate love and had then + jilted, and mocked, and overthrown. + </p> + <p> + As he looked back at it now and remembered himself as he was then, it + seemed as though he was considering an entirely distinct and separate + personage—a boy of whom he liked to think, who had had strong, + healthy ambitions and gentle tastes. He reviewed it passionlessly as he + stood staring at the lights inside the Casino, as clearly as he was + capable of doing in his present state and with miserable interest. How he + had laughed when young Norton told him in boyish confidence that there was + a horse named Siren in his father's stables which would win the Goodwood + Cup; how, having gone down to see Norton's people when the long vacation + began, he had seen Siren daily, and had talked of her until two every + morning in the smoking-room, and had then staid up two hours later to + watch her take her trial spin over the downs. He remembered how they used + to stamp back over the long grass wet with dew, comparing watches and + talking of the time in whispers, and said good night as the sun broke over + the trees in the park. And then just at this time of all others, when the + horse was the only interest of those around him, from Lord Norton and his + whole household down to the youngest stable-boy and oldest gaffer in the + village, he had come into his money. + </p> + <p> + And then began the then and still inexplicable plunge into gambling, and + the wagering of greater sums than the owner of Siren dared to risk + himself, the secret backing of the horse through commissioners all over + England, until the boy by his single fortune had brought the odds against + her from 60 to 0 down to 6 to 0. He recalled, with a thrill that seemed to + settle his nerves for the moment, the little black specks at the + starting-post and the larger specks as the horses turned the first corner. + The rest of the people on the coach were making a great deal of noise, he + remembered, but he, who had more to lose than any one or all of them + together, had stood quite still with his feet on the wheel and his back + against the box-seat, and with his hands sunk into his pockets and the + nails cutting through his gloves. The specks grew into horses with bits of + color on them, and then the deep muttering roar of the crowd merged into + one great shout, and swelled and grew into sharper, quicker, impatient + cries, as the horses turned into the stretch with only their heads showing + toward the goal. Some of the people were shouting “Firefly!” and others + were calling on “Vixen!” and others, who had their glasses up, cried + “Trouble leads!” but he only waited until he could distinguish the Norton + colors, with his lips pressed tightly together. Then they came so close + that their hoofs echoed as loudly as when horses gallop over a bridge, and + from among the leaders Siren's beautiful head and shoulders showed like + sealskin in the sun, and the boy on her back leaned forward and touched + her gently with his hand, as they had so often seen him do on the downs, + and Siren, as though he had touched a spring, leaped forward with her head + shooting back and out, like a piston-rod that has broken loose from its + fastening and beats the air, while the jockey sat motionless, with his + right arm hanging at his side as limply as though it were broken, and with + his left moving forward and back in time with the desperate strokes of the + horse's head. + </p> + <p> + “Siren wins!” cried Lord Norton, with a grim smile, and “Siren!” the mob + shouted back with wonder and angry disappointment, and “Siren!” the hills + echoed from far across the course. Young Harringford felt as if he had + suddenly been lifted into heaven after three months of purgatory, and + smiled uncertainly at the excited people on the coach about him. It made + him smile even now when he recalled young Norton's flushed face and the + awe and reproach in his voice when he climbed up and whispered, “Why, + Cecil, they say in the ring you've won a fortune, and you never told us.” + And how Griffith, the biggest of the book-makers, with the rest of them at + his back, came up to him and touched his hat resentfully, and said, + “You'll have to give us time, sir; I'm very hard hit”; and how the crowd + stood about him and looked at him curiously, and the Certain Royal + Personage turned and said, “Who—not that boy, surely?” Then how, on + the day following, the papers told of the young gentleman who of all + others had won a fortune, thousands and thousands of pounds they said, + getting back sixty for every one he had ventured; and pictured him in baby + clothes with the cup in his arms, or in an Eton jacket; and how all of + them spoke of him slightingly, or admiringly, as the “Goodwood Plunger.” + </p> + <p> + He did not care to go on after that; to recall the mortification of his + father, whose pride was hurt and whose hopes were dashed by this sudden, + mad freak of fortune, nor how he railed at it and provoked him until the + boy rebelled and went back to the courses, where he was a celebrity and a + king. + </p> + <p> + The rest is a very common story. Fortune and greater fortune at first; + days in which he could not lose, days in which he drove back to the + crowded inns choked with dust, sunburnt and fagged with excitement, to a + riotous supper and baccarat, and afterward went to sleep only to see cards + and horses and moving crowds and clouds of dust; days spent in a short + covert coat, with a field-glass over his shoulder and with a pasteboard + ticket dangling from his buttonhole; and then came the change that brought + conscience up again, and the visits to the Jews, and the slights of the + men who had never been his friends, but whom he had thought had at least + liked him for himself, even if he did not like them; and then debts, and + more debts, and the borrowing of money to pay here and there, and threats + of executions; and, with it all, the longing for the fields and trout + springs of Surrey and the walk across the park to where she lived. + </p> + <p> + This grew so strong that he wrote to his father, and was told briefly that + he who was to have kept up the family name had dragged it into the dust of + the race-courses, and had changed it at his own wish to that of the Boy + Plunger—and that the breach was irreconcilable. + </p> + <p> + Then this queer feeling came on, and he wondered why he could not eat, and + why he shivered even when the room was warm or the sun shining, and the + fear came upon him that with all this trouble and disgrace his head might + give way, and then that it had given way. This came to him at all times, + and lately more frequently and with a fresher, more cruel thrill of + terror, and he began to watch himself and note how he spoke, and to repeat + over what he had said to see if it were sensible, and to question himself + as to why he laughed, and at what. It was not a question of whether it + would or would not be cowardly; It was simply a necessity. The thing had + to be stopped. He had to have rest and sleep and peace again. He had + boasted in those reckless, prosperous days that if by any possible chance + he should lose his money he would drive a hansom, or emigrate to the + colonies, or take the shilling. He had no patience in those days with men + who could not live on in adversity, and who were found in the gun-room + with a hole in their heads, and whose family asked their polite friends to + believe that a man used to firearms from his school-days had tried to load + a hair-trigger revolver with the muzzle pointed at his forehead. He had + expressed a fine contempt for those men then, but now he had forgotten all + that, and thought only of the relief it would bring, and not how others + might suffer by it. If he did consider this, it was only to conclude that + they would quite understand, and be glad that his pain and fear were over. + </p> + <p> + Then he planned a grand <i>coup</i> which was to pay off all his debts and + give him a second chance to present himself a supplicant at his father's + house. If it failed, he would have to stop this queer feeling in his head + at once. The Grand Prix and the English horse was the final <i>coup</i>. + On this depended everything—the return of his fortunes, the + reconciliation with his father, and the possibility of meeting her again. + It was a very hot day he remembered, and very bright; but the tall poplars + on the road to the races seemed to stop growing just at a level with his + eyes. Below that it was clear enough, but all above seemed black—as + though a cloud had fallen and was hanging just over the people's heads. He + thought of speaking of this to his man Walters, who had followed his + fortunes from the first, but decided not to do so, for, as it was, he had + noticed that Walters had observed him closely of late, and had seemed to + spy upon him. The race began, and he looked through his glass for the + English horse in the front and could not find her, and the Frenchman + beside him cried, “Frou Frou!” as Frou Frou passed the goal. He lowered + his glasses slowly and unscrewed them very carefully before dropping them + back into the case; then he buckled the strap, and turned and looked about + him. Two Frenchmen who had won a hundred francs between them were jumping + and dancing at his side. He remembered wondering why they did not speak in + English. Then the sunlight changed to a yellow, nasty glare, as though a + calcium light had been turned on the glass and colors, and he pushed his + way back to his carriage, leaning heavily on the servant's arm, and drove + slowly back to Paris, with the driver flecking his horses fretfully with + his whip, for he had wished to wait and see the end of the races. + </p> + <p> + He had selected Monte Carlo as the place for it, because it was more + unlike his home than any other spot, and because one summer night, when he + had crossed the lawn from the Casino to the hotel with a gay party of + young men and women, they had come across something under a bush which + they took to be a dog or a man asleep, and one of the men had stepped + forward and touched it with his foot, and had then turned sharply and + said, “Take those girls away”; and while some hurried the women back, + frightened and curious, he and the others had picked up the body and found + it to be that of a young Russian whom they had just seen losing, with a + very bad grace, at the tables. There was no passion in his face now, and + his evening dress was quite unruffled, and only a black spot on the shirt + front showed where the powder had burnt the linen. It had made a great + impression on him then, for he was at the height of his fortunes, with + crowds of sycophantic friends and a retinue of dependents at his heels. + And now that he was quite alone and disinherited by even these sorry + companions there seemed no other escape from the pain in his brain but to + end it, and he sought this place of all others as the most fitting place + in which to die. + </p> + <p> + So, after Walters had given the proper papers and checks to the + commissioner who handled his debts for him, he left Paris and took the + first train for Monte Carlo, sitting at the window of the carriage, and + beating a nervous tattoo on the pane with his ring until the old gentleman + at the other end of the compartment scowled at him. But Harringford did + not see him, nor the trees and fields as they swept by, and it was not + until Walters came and said, “You get out here, sir,” that he recognized + the yellow station and the great hotels on the hill above. It was + half-past eleven, and the lights in the Casino were still burning + brightly. He wondered whether he would have time to go over to the hotel + and write a letter to his father and to her. He decided, after some + difficult consideration, that he would not. There was nothing to say that + they did not know already, or that they would fail to understand. But this + suggested to him that what they had written to him must be destroyed at + once, before any stranger could claim the right to read it. He took his + letters from his pocket and looked them over carefully. They were most + unpleasant reading. They all seemed to be about money; some begged to + remind him of this or that debt, of which he had thought continuously for + the last month, while others were abusive and insolent. Each of them gave + him actual pain. One was the last letter he had received from his father + just before leaving Paris, and though he knew it by heart, he read it over + again for the last time. That it came too late, that it asked what he knew + now to be impossible, made it none the less grateful to him, but that it + offered peace and a welcome home made it all the more terrible. + </p> + <p> + “I came to take this step through young Hargraves, the new curate,” his + father wrote, “though he was but the instrument in the hands of + Providence. He showed me the error of my conduct toward you, and proved to + me that my duty and the inclination of my heart were toward the same end. + He read this morning for the second lesson the story of the Prodigal Son, + and I heard it without recognition and with no present application until + he came to the verse which tells how the father came to his son 'when he + was yet a great way off.' He saw him, it says, 'when he was yet a great + way off,' and ran to meet him. He did not wait for the boy to knock at his + gate and beg to be let in, but went out to meet him, and took him in his + arms and led him back to his home. Now, my boy, my son, it seems to me as + if you had never been so far off from me as you are at this present time, + as if you had never been so greatly separated from me in every thought and + interest; we are even worse than strangers, for you think that my hand is + against you, that I have closed the door of your home to you and driven + you away. But what I have done I beg of you to forgive: to forget what I + may have said in the past, and only to think of what I say now. Your + brothers are good boys and have been good sons to me, and God knows I am + thankful for such sons, and thankful to them for bearing themselves as + they have done. + </p> + <p> + “But, my boy, my first-born, my little Cecil, they can never be to me what + you have been. I can never feel for them as I feel for you; they are the + ninety and nine who have never wandered away upon the mountains, and who + have never been tempted, and have never left their home for either good or + evil. But you, Cecil, though you have made my heart ache until I thought + and even hoped it would stop beating, and though you have given me many, + many nights that I could not sleep, are still dearer to me than anything + else in the world. You are the flesh of my flesh and the bone of my bone, + and I cannot bear living on without you. I cannot be at rest here, or look + forward contentedly to a rest hereafter, unless you are by me and hear me, + unless I can see your face and touch you and hear your laugh in the halls. + Come back to me, Cecil; to Harringford and the people that know you best, + and know what is best in you and love you for it. I can have only a few + more years here now when you will take my place and keep up my name. I + will not be here to trouble you much longer; but, my boy, while I am here, + come to me and make me happy for the rest of my life. There are others who + need you, Cecil. You know whom I mean. I saw her only yesterday, and she + asked me of you with such splendid disregard for what the others standing + by might think, and as though she dared me or them to say or even imagine + anything against you. You cannot keep away from us both much longer. + Surely not; you will come back and make us happy for the rest of our + lives.” + </p> + <p> + The Goodwood Plunger turned his back to the lights so that the people + passing could not see his face, and tore the letter up slowly and dropped + it piece by piece over the balcony. “If I could,” he whispered; “if I + could.” The pain was a little worse than usual just then, but it was no + longer a question of inclination. He felt only this desire to stop these + thoughts and doubts and the physical tremor that shook him. To rest and + sleep, that was what he must have, and peace. There was no peace at home + or anywhere else while this thing lasted. He could not see why they + worried him in this way. It was quite impossible. He felt much more sorry + for them than for himself, but only because they could not understand. He + was quite sure that if they could feel what he suffered they would help + him, even to end it. + </p> + <p> + He had been standing for some time with his back to the light, but now he + turned to face it and to take up his watch again. He felt quite sure the + lights would not burn much longer. As he turned, a woman came forward from + out the lighted hall, hovered uncertainly before him, and then made a + silent salutation, which was something between a courtesy and a bow. That + she was a woman and rather short and plainly dressed, and that her bobbing + up and down annoyed him, was all that he realized of her presence, and he + quite failed to connect her movements with himself in any way. “Sir,” she + said in French, “I beg your pardon, but might I speak with you?” The + Goodwood Plunger possessed a somewhat various knowledge of Monte Carlo and + its <i>habitues</i>. It was not the first time that women who had lost at + the tables had begged a napoleon from him, or asked the distinguished + child of fortune what color or combination she should play. That, in his + luckier days, had happened often and had amused him, but now he moved back + irritably and wished that the figure in front of him would disappear as it + had come. + </p> + <p> + “I am in great trouble, sir,” the woman said. “I have no friends here, + sir, to whom I may apply. I am very bold, but my anxiety is very great.” + </p> + <p> + The Goodwood Plunger raised his hat slightly and bowed. Then he + concentrated his eyes with what was a distinct effort on the queer little + figure hovering in front of him, and stared very hard. She wore an odd + piece of red coral for a brooch, and by looking steadily at this he + brought the rest of the figure into focus and saw, without surprise,—for + every commonplace seemed strange to him now, and everything peculiar quite + a matter of course,—that she was distinctly not an <i>habituee</i> + of the place, and looked more like a lady's maid than an adventuress. She + was French and pretty,—such a girl as might wait in a Duval + restaurant or sit as a cashier behind a little counter near the door. + </p> + <p> + “We should not be here,” she said, as if in answer to his look and in + apology for her presence. “But Louis, my husband, he would come. I told + him that this was not for such as we are, but Louis is so bold. He said + that upon his marriage tour he would live with the best, and so here he + must come to play as the others do. We have been married, sir, only since + Tuesday, and we must go back to Paris to-morrow; they would give him only + the three days. He is not a gambler; he plays dominos at the cafes, it is + true. But what will you? He is young and with so much spirit, and I know + that you, sir, who are so fortunate and who understand so well how to + control these tables, I know that you will persuade him. He will not + listen to me; he is so greatly excited and so little like himself. You + will help me, sir, will you not? You will speak to him?” + </p> + <p> + The Goodwood Plunger knit his eyebrows and closed the lids once or twice, + and forced the mistiness and pain out of his eyes. It was most annoying. + The woman seemed to be talking a great deal and to say very much, but he + could not make sense of it. He moved his shoulders slightly. “I can't + understand,” he said wearily, turning away. + </p> + <p> + “It is my husband,” the woman said anxiously: “Louis, he is playing at the + table inside, and he is only an apprentice to old Carbut the baker, but he + owns a third of the store. It was my <i>dot</i> that paid for it,” she + added proudly. “Old Carbut says he may have it all for 20,000 francs, and + then old Carbut will retire, and we will be proprietors. We have saved a + little, and we had counted to buy the rest in five or six years if we were + very careful.” + </p> + <p> + “I see, I see,” said the Plunger, with a little short laugh of relief; “I + understand.” He was greatly comforted to think that it was not so bad as + it had threatened. He saw her distinctly now and followed what she said + quite easily, and even such a small matter as talking with this woman + seemed to help him. + </p> + <p> + “He is gambling,” he said, “and losing the money, and you come to me to + advise him what to play. I understand. Well, tell him he will lose what + little he has left; tell him I advise him to go home; tell him—” + </p> + <p> + “No, no!” the girl said excitedly; “you do not understand; he has not + lost, he has won. He has won, oh, so many rolls of money, but he will not + stop. Do you not see? He has won as much as we could earn in many months—in + many years, sir, by saving and working, oh, so very hard! And now he risks + it again, and I cannot force him away. But if you, sir, if you would tell + him how great the chances are against him, if you who know would tell him + how foolish he is not to be content with what he has, he would listen. He + says to me, 'Bah! you are a woman'; and he is so red and fierce; he is + imbecile with the sight of the money, but he will listen to a grand + gentleman like you. He thinks to win more and more, and he thinks to buy + another third from old Carbut. Is it not foolish? It is so wicked of him.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, yes,” said the Goodwood Plunger, nodding, “I see now. You want me to + take him away so that he can keep what he has. I see; but I don't know + him. He will not listen to me, you know; I have no right to interfere.” + </p> + <p> + He turned away, rubbing his hand across his forehead. He wished so much + that this woman would leave him by himself. + </p> + <p> + “Ah, but, sir,” cried the girl, desperately, and touching his coat, “you + who are so fortunate, and so rich, and of the great world, you cannot feel + what this is to me. To have my own little shop and to be free, and not to + slave, and sew, and sew until my back and fingers burn with the pain. + Speak to him, sir; ah, speak to him! It is so easy a thing to do, and he + will listen to you.” + </p> + <p> + The Goodwood Plunger turned again abruptly. “Where is he?” he said. “Point + him out to me.” + </p> + <p> + The woman ran ahead, with a murmur of gratitude, to the open door and + pointed to where her husband was standing leaning over and placing some + money on one of the tables. He was a handsome young Frenchman, as <i>bourgeois</i> + as his wife, and now terribly alive and excited. In the self-contained air + of the place and in contrast with the silence of the great hall he seemed + even more conspicuously out of place. The Plunger touched him on the arm, + and the Frenchman shoved the hand off impatiently and without looking + around. The Plunger touched him again and forced him to turn toward him. + </p> + <p> + “Well!” said the Frenchman, quickly. “Well?” + </p> + <p> + “Madame, your wife,” said Cecil, with the grave politeness of an old man, + “has done me the honor to take me into her confidence. She tells me that + you have won a great deal of money; that you could put it to good use at + home, and so save yourselves much drudgery and debt, and all that sort of + trouble. You are quite right if you say it is no concern of mine. It is + not. But really, you know there is a great deal of sense in what she + wants, and you have apparently already won a large sum.” + </p> + <p> + The Frenchman was visibly surprised at this approach. He paused for a + second or two in some doubt, and even awe, for the disinherited one + carried the mark of a personage of consideration and of one whose position + is secure. Then he gave a short, unmirthful laugh. + </p> + <p> + “You are most kind, sir,” he said with mock politeness and with an + impatient shrug. “But madame, my wife, has not done well to interest a + stranger in this affair, which, as you say, concerns you not.” + </p> + <p> + He turned to the table again with a defiant swagger of independence and + placed two rolls of money upon the cloth, casting at the same moment a + childish look of displeasure at his wife. “You see,” said the Plunger, + with a deprecatory turning out of his hands. But there was so much grief + on the girl's face that he turned again to the gambler and touched his + arm. He could not tell why he was so interested in these two. He had + witnessed many such scenes before, and they had not affected him in any + way except to make him move out of hearing. But the same dumb numbness in + his head, which made so many things seem possible that should have been + terrible even to think upon, made him stubborn and unreasonable over this. + He felt intuitively—it could not be said that he thought—that + the woman was right and the man wrong, and so he grasped him again by the + arm, and said sharply this time: + </p> + <p> + “Come away! Do you hear? You are acting foolishly.” + </p> + <p> + But even as he spoke the red won, and the Frenchman with a boyish gurgle + of pleasure raked in his winnings with his two hands, and then turned with + a happy, triumphant laugh to his wife. It is not easy to convince a man + that he is making a fool of himself when he is winning some hundred francs + every two minutes. His silent arguments to the contrary are difficult to + answer. But the Plunger did not regard this in the least. + </p> + <p> + “Do you hear me?” he said in the same stubborn tone and with much the same + manner with which he would have spoken to a groom. “Come away.” + </p> + <p> + Again the Frenchman tossed off his hand, this time with an execration, and + again he placed the rolls of gold coin on the red; and again the red won. + </p> + <p> + “My God!” cried the girl, running her fingers over the rolls on the table, + “he has won half of the 20,000 francs. Oh, sir, stop him, stop him!” she + cried. “Take him away.” + </p> + <p> + “Do you hear me!” cried the Plunger, excited to a degree of utter + self-forgetfulness, and carried beyond himself; “you've got to come with + me.” + </p> + <p> + “Take away your hand,” whispered the young Frenchman, fiercely. “See, I + shall win it all; in one grand <i>coup</i> I shall win it all. I shall win + five years' pay in one moment.” + </p> + <p> + He swept all of the money forward on the red and threw himself over the + table to see the wheel. + </p> + <p> + “Wait, confound you!” whispered the Plunger, excitedly. “If you will risk + it, risk it with some reason. You can't play all that money; they won't + take it. Six thousand francs is the limit, unless,” he ran on quickly, + “you divide the 12,000 francs among the three of us. You understand, 6,000 + francs is all that any one person can play; but if you give 4,000 to me, + and 4,000 to your wife, and keep 4,000 yourself, we can each chance it. + You can back the red if you like, your wife shall put her money on the + numbers coming up below eighteen, and I will back the odd. In that way you + stand to win 24,000 francs if our combination wins, and you lose less than + if you simply back the color. Do you understand?” + </p> + <p> + “No!” cried the Frenchman, reaching for the piles of money which the + Plunger had divided rapidly into three parts, “on the red; all on the + red!” + </p> + <p> + “Good heavens, man!” cried the Plunger, bitterly. “I may not know much, + but you should allow me to understand this dirty business.” He caught the + Frenchman by the wrists, and the young man, more impressed with the + strange look in the boy's face than by his physical force, stood still, + while the ball rolled and rolled, and clicked merrily, and stopped, and + balanced, and then settled into the “seven.” + </p> + <p> + “Red, odd, and below,” the croupier droned mechanically. + </p> + <p> + “Ah! you see; what did I tell you?” said the Plunger, with sudden + calmness. “You have won more than your 20,000 francs; you are proprietors—I + congratulate you!” + </p> + <p> + “Ah, my God!” cried the Frenchman, in a frenzy of delight, “I will double + it.” + </p> + <p> + He reached toward the fresh piles of coin as if he meant to sweep them + back again, but the Plunger put himself in his way and with a quick + movement caught up the rolls of money and dropped them into the skirt of + the woman, which she raised like an apron to receive her treasure. + </p> + <p> + “Now,” said young Harringford, determinedly, “you come with me.” The + Frenchman tried to argue and resist, but the Plunger pushed him on with + the silent stubbornness of a drunken man. He handed the woman into a + carriage at the door, shoved her husband in beside her, and while the man + drove to the address she gave him, he told the Frenchman, with an air of a + chief of police, that he must leave Monte Carlo at once, that very night. + </p> + <p> + “Do you suppose I don't know?” he said. “Do you fancy I speak without + knowledge? I've seen them come here rich and go away paupers. But you + shall not; you shall keep what you have and spite them.” He sent the woman + up to her room to pack while he expostulated with and browbeat the excited + bridegroom in the carriage. When she returned with the bag packed, and so + heavy with the gold that the servants could hardly lift it up beside the + driver, he ordered the coachman to go down the hill to the station. + </p> + <p> + “The train for Paris leaves at midnight,” he said, “and you will be there + by morning. Then you must close your bargain with this old Carbut, and + never return here again.” + </p> + <p> + The Frenchman had turned during the ride from an angry, indignant prisoner + to a joyful madman, and was now tearfully and effusively humble in his + petitions for pardon and in his thanks. Their benefactor, as they were + pleased to call him, hurried them into the waiting train and ran to + purchase their tickets for them. + </p> + <p> + “Now,” he said, as the guard locked the door of the compartment, “you are + alone, and no one can get in, and you cannot get out. Go back to your + home, to your new home, and never come to this wretched place again. + Promise me—you understand?—never again!” + </p> + <p> + They promised with effusive reiteration. They embraced each other like + children, and the man, pulling off his hat, called upon the good Lord to + thank the gentleman. + </p> + <p> + “You will be in Paris, will you not?” said the woman, in an ecstasy of + pleasure, “and you will come to see us in our own shop, will you not? Ah! + we should be so greatly honored, sir, if you would visit us; if you would + come to the home you have given us. You have helped us so greatly, sir,” + she said; “and may Heaven bless you!” + </p> + <p> + She caught up his gloved hand as it rested on the door and kissed it until + he snatched it away in great embarrassment and flushing like a girl. Her + husband drew her toward him, and the young bride sat at his side with her + face close to his and wept tears of pleasure and of excitement. + </p> + <p> + “Ah, look, sir!” said the young man, joyfully; “look how happy you have + made us. You have made us happy for the rest of our lives.” + </p> + <p> + The train moved out with a quick, heavy rush, and the car-wheels took up + the young stranger's last words and seemed to say, “You have made us happy—made + us happy for the rest of our lives.” + </p> + <p> + It had all come about so rapidly that the Plunger had had no time to + consider or to weigh his motives, and all that seemed real to him now, as + he stood alone on the platform of the dark, deserted station, were the + words of the man echoing and re-echoing like the refrain of the song. And + then there came to him suddenly, and with all the force of a gambler's + superstition, the thought that the words were the same as those which his + father had used in his letter, “you can make us happy for the rest of our + lives.” + </p> + <p> + “Ah,” he said, with a quick gasp of doubt, “if I could! If I made those + poor fools happy, mayn't I live to be something to him, and to her? O + God!” he cried, but so gently that one at his elbow could not have heard + him, “if I could, if I could!” + </p> + <p> + He tossed up his hands, and drew them down again and clenched them in + front of him, and raised his tired, hot eyes to the calm purple sky with + its millions of moving stars. “Help me!” he whispered fiercely, “help me.” + And as he lowered his head the queer numb feeling seemed to go, and a calm + came over his nerves and left him in peace. He did not know what it might + be, nor did he dare to question the change which had come to him, but + turned and slowly mounted the hill, with the awe and fear still upon him + of one who had passed beyond himself for one brief moment into another + world. When he reached his room he found his servant bending with an + anxious face over a letter which he tore up guiltily as his master + entered. “You were writing to my father,” said Cecil, gently, “were you + not? Well, you need not finish your letter; we are going home. + </p> + <p> + “I am going away from this place, Walters,” he said as he pulled off his + coat and threw himself heavily on the bed. “I will take the first train + that leaves here, and I will sleep a little while you put up my things. + The first train, you understand—within an hour, if it leaves that + soon.” His head sank back on the pillows heavily, as though he had come in + from a long, weary walk, and his eyes closed and his arms fell easily at + his side. The servant stood frightened and yet happy, with the tears + running down his cheeks, for he loved his master dearly. + </p> + <p> + “We are going home, Walters,” the Plunger whispered drowsily. “We are + going home; home to England and Harringford and the governor—and we + are going to be happy for all the rest of our lives.” He paused a moment, + and Walters bent forward over the bed and held his breath to listen. + </p> + <p> + “For he came to me,” murmured the boy, as though he was speaking in his + sleep, “when I was yet a great way off—while I was yet a great way + off, and ran to meet me—” + </p> + <p> + His voice sank until it died away into silence, and a few hours later, + when Walters came to wake him, he found his master sleeping like a child + and smiling in his sleep. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0009" id="link2H_4_0009"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + THE CYNICAL MISS CATHERWAIGHT + </h2> + <p> + Miss Catherwaight's collection of orders and decorations and medals was + her chief offence in the eyes of those of her dear friends who thought her + clever but cynical. + </p> + <p> + All of them were willing to admit that she was clever, but some of them + said she was clever only to be unkind. + </p> + <p> + Young Van Bibber had said that if Miss Catherwaight did not like dances + and days and teas, she had only to stop going to them instead of making + unpleasant remarks about those who did. So many people repeated this that + young Van Bibber believed finally that he had said something good, and was + somewhat pleased in consequence, as he was not much given to that sort of + thing. + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Catherwaight, while she was alive, lived solely for society, and, so + some people said, not only lived but died for it. She certainly did go + about a great deal, and she used to carry her husband away from his + library every night of every season and left him standing in the doorways + of drawing-rooms, outwardly courteous and distinguished looking, but + inwardly somnolent and unhappy. She was a born and trained social leader, + and her daughter's coming out was to have been the greatest effort of her + life. She regarded it as an event in the dear child's lifetime second only + in importance to her birth; equally important with her probable marriage + and of much more poignant interest than her possible death. But the great + effort proved too much for the mother, and she died, fondly remembered by + her peers and tenderly referred to by a great many people who could not + even show a card for her Thursdays. Her husband and her daughter were not + going out, of necessity, for more than a year after her death, and then + felt no inclination to begin over again, but lived very much together and + showed themselves only occasionally. + </p> + <p> + They entertained, though, a great deal, in the way of dinners, and an + invitation to one of these dinners soon became a diploma for intellectual + as well as social qualifications of a very high order. + </p> + <p> + One was always sure of meeting some one of consideration there, which was + pleasant in itself, and also rendered it easy to let one's friends know + where one had been dining. It sounded so flat to boast abruptly, “I dined + at the Catherwaights' last night”; while it seemed only natural to remark, + “That reminds me of a story that novelist, what's his name, told at Mr. + Catherwaight's,” or “That English chap, who's been in Africa, was at the + Catherwaights' the other night, and told me—” + </p> + <p> + After one of these dinners people always asked to be allowed to look over + Miss Catherwaight's collection, of which almost everybody had heard. It + consisted of over a hundred medals and decorations which Miss Catherwaight + had purchased while on the long tours she made with her father in all + parts of the world. Each of them had been given as a reward for some + public service, as a recognition of some virtue of the highest order—for + personal bravery, for statesmanship, for great genius in the arts; and + each had been pawned by the recipient or sold outright. Miss Catherwaight + referred to them as her collection of dishonored honors, and called them + variously her Orders of the Knights of the Almighty Dollar, pledges to + patriotism and the pawnshops, and honors at second-hand. + </p> + <p> + It was her particular fad to get as many of these together as she could + and to know the story of each. The less creditable the story, the more + highly she valued the medal. People might think it was not a pretty hobby + for a young girl, but they could not help smiling at the stories and at + the scorn with which she told them. + </p> + <p> + “These,” she would say, “are crosses of the Legion of Honor; they are of + the lowest degree, that of chevalier. I keep them in this cigar box to + show how cheaply I got them and how cheaply I hold them. I think you can + get them here in New York for ten dollars; they cost more than that—about + a hundred francs—in Paris. At second-hand, of course. The French + government can imprison you, you know, for ten years, if you wear one + without the right to do so, but they have no punishment for those who + choose to part with them for a mess of pottage. + </p> + <p> + “All these,” she would run on, “are English war medals. See, on this one + is 'Alma,' 'Balaclava,' and 'Sebastopol.' He was quite a veteran, was he + not? Well, he sold this to a dealer on Wardour Street, London, for five + and six. You can get any number of them on the Bowery for their weight in + silver. I tried very hard to get a Victoria Cross when I was in England, + and I only succeeded in getting this one after a great deal of trouble. + They value the cross so highly, you know, that it is the only other + decoration in the case which holds the Order of the Garter in the Jewel + Room at the Tower. It is made of copper, so that its intrinsic value won't + have any weight with the man who gets it, but I bought this nevertheless + for five pounds. The soldier to whom it belonged had loaded and fired a + cannon all alone when the rest of the men about the battery had run away. + He was captured by the enemy, but retaken immediately afterward by + re-enforcements from his own side, and the general in command recommended + him to the Queen for decoration. He sold his cross to the proprietor of a + curiosity shop and drank himself to death. I felt rather meanly about + keeping it and hunted up his widow to return it to her, but she said I + could have it for a consideration. + </p> + <p> + “This gold medal was given, as you see, to 'Hiram J. Stillman, of the + sloop <i>Annie Barker</i>, for saving the crew of the steamship <i>Olivia</i>, + June 18, 1888,' by the President of the United States and both houses of + Congress. I found it on Baxter Street in a pawnshop. The gallant Hiram J. + had pawned it for sixteen dollars and never came back to claim it.” + </p> + <p> + “But, Miss Catherwaight,” some optimist would object, “these men + undoubtedly did do something brave and noble once. You can't get back of + that; and they didn't do it for a medal, either, but because it was their + duty. And so the medal meant nothing to them: their conscience told them + they had done the right thing; they didn't need a stamped coin to remind + them of it, or of their wounds, either, perhaps.” + </p> + <p> + “Quite right; that's quite true,” Miss Catherwaight would say. “But how + about this? Look at this gold medal with the diamonds: 'Presented to + Colonel James F. Placer by the men of his regiment, in camp before + Richmond.' Every soldier in the regiment gave something toward that, and + yet the brave gentleman put it up at a game of poker one night, and the + officer who won it sold it to the man who gave it to me. Can you defend + that?” + </p> + <p> + Miss Catherwaight was well known to the proprietors of the pawnshops and + loan offices on the Bowery and Park Row. They learned to look for her once + a month, and saved what medals they received for her and tried to learn + their stories from the people who pawned them, or else invented some story + which they hoped would answer just as well. + </p> + <p> + Though her brougham produced a sensation in the unfashionable streets into + which she directed it, she was never annoyed. Her maid went with her into + the shops, and one of the grooms always stood at the door within call, to + the intense delight of the neighborhood. And one day she found what, from + her point of view, was a perfect gem. It was a poor, cheap-looking, + tarnished silver medal, a half-dollar once, undoubtedly, beaten out + roughly into the shape of a heart and engraved in script by the jeweller + of some country town. On one side were two clasped hands with a wreath + around them, and on the reverse was this inscription: “From Henry Burgoyne + to his beloved friend Lewis L. Lockwood”; and below, “Through prosperity + and adversity.” That was all. And here it was among razors and pistols and + family Bibles in a pawnbroker's window. What a story there was in that! + These two boy friends, and their boyish friendship that was to withstand + adversity and prosperity, and all that remained of it was this inscription + to its memory like the wording on a tomb! + </p> + <p> + “He couldn't have got so much on it any way,” said the pawnbroker, + entering into her humor. “I didn't lend him more'n a quarter of a dollar + at the most.” + </p> + <p> + Miss Catherwaight stood wondering if the Lewis L. Lockwood could be Lewis + Lockwood, the lawyer one read so much about. Then she remembered his + middle name was Lyman, and said quickly, “I'll take it, please.” + </p> + <p> + She stepped into the carriage, and told the man to go find a directory and + look for Lewis Lyman Lockwood. The groom returned in a few minutes and + said there was such a name down in the book as a lawyer, and that his + office was such a number on Broadway; it must be near Liberty. “Go there,” + said Miss Catherwaight. + </p> + <p> + Her determination was made so quickly that they had stopped in front of a + huge pile of offices, sandwiched in, one above the other, until they + towered mountains high, before she had quite settled in her mind what she + wanted to know, or had appreciated how strange her errand might appear. + Mr. Lockwood was out, one of the young men in the outer office said, but + the junior partner, Mr. Latimer, was in and would see her. She had only + time to remember that the junior partner was a dancing acquaintance of + hers, before young Mr. Latimer stood before her smiling, and with her card + in his hand. + </p> + <p> + “Mr. Lockwood is out just at present, Miss Catherwaight,” he said, “but he + will be back in a moment. Won't you come into the other room and wait? I'm + sure he won't be away over five minutes. Or is it something I could do?” + </p> + <p> + She saw that he was surprised to see her, and a little ill at ease as to + just how to take her visit. He tried to make it appear that he considered + it the most natural thing in the world, but he overdid it, and she saw + that her presence was something quite out of the common. This did not tend + to set her any more at her ease. She already regretted the step she had + taken. What if it should prove to be the same Lockwood, she thought, and + what would they think of her? + </p> + <p> + “Perhaps you will do better than Mr. Lockwood,” she said, as she followed + him into the inner office. “I fear I have come upon a very foolish errand, + and one that has nothing at all to do with the law.” + </p> + <p> + “Not a breach of promise suit, then?” said young Latimer, with a smile. + “Perhaps it is only an innocent subscription to a most worthy charity. I + was afraid at first,” he went on lightly, “that it was legal redress you + wanted, and I was hoping that the way I led the Courdert's cotillion had + made you think I could conduct you through the mazes of the law as well.” + </p> + <p> + “No,” returned Miss Catherwaight, with a nervous laugh; “it has to do with + my unfortunate collection. This is what brought me here,” she said, + holding out the silver medal. “I came across it just now in the Bowery. + The name was the same, and I thought it just possible Mr. Lockwood would + like to have it; or, to tell you the truth, that he might tell me what had + become of the Henry Burgoyne who gave it to him.” + </p> + <p> + Young Latimer had the medal in his hand before she had finished speaking, + and was examining it carefully. He looked up with just a touch of color in + his cheeks and straightened himself visibly. + </p> + <p> + “Please don't be offended,” said the fair collector. “I know what you + think. You've heard of my stupid collection, and I know you think I meant + to add this to it. But, indeed, now that I have had time to think—you + see I came here immediately from the pawnshop, and I was so interested, + like all collectors, you know, that I didn't stop to consider. That's the + worst of a hobby; it carries one rough-shod over other people's feelings, + and runs away with one. I beg of you, if you do know anything about the + coin, just to keep it and don't tell me, and I assure you what little I + know I will keep quite to myself.” + </p> + <p> + Young Latimer bowed, and stood looking at her curiously, with the medal in + his hand. + </p> + <p> + “I hardly know what to say,” he began slowly. “It really has a story. You + say you found this on the Bowery, in a pawnshop. Indeed! Well, of course, + you know Mr. Lockwood could not have left it there.” + </p> + <p> + Miss Catherwaight shook her head vehemently and smiled in deprecation. + </p> + <p> + “This medal was in his safe when he lived on Thirty-fifth Street at the + time he was robbed, and the burglars took this with the rest of the silver + and pawned it, I suppose. Mr. Lockwood would have given more for it than + any one else could have afforded to pay.” He paused a moment, and then + continued more rapidly: “Henry Burgoyne is Judge Burgoyne. Ah! you didn't + guess that? Yes, Mr. Lockwood and he were friends when they were boys. + They went to school in Westchester County. They were Damon and Pythias and + that sort of thing. They roomed together at the State college and started + to practise law in Tuckahoe as a firm, but they made nothing of it, and + came on to New York and began reading law again with Fuller & Mowbray. + It was while they were at school that they had these medals made. There + was a mate to this, you know; Judge Burgoyne had it. Well, they continued + to live and work together. They were both orphans and dependent on + themselves. I suppose that was one of the strongest bonds between them; + and they knew no one in New York, and always spent their spare time + together. They were pretty poor, I fancy, from all Mr. Lockwood has told + me, but they were very ambitious. They were—I'm telling you this, + you understand, because it concerns you somewhat: well, more or less. They + were great sportsmen, and whenever they could get away from the law office + they would go off shooting. I think they were fonder of each other than + brothers even. I've heard Mr. Lockwood tell of the days they lay in the + rushes along the Chesapeake Bay waiting for duck. He has said often that + they were the happiest hours of his life. That was their greatest + pleasure, going off together after duck or snipe along the Maryland + waters. Well, they grew rich and began to know people; and then they met a + girl. It seems they both thought a great deal of her, as half the New York + men did, I am told; and she was the reigning belle and toast, and had + other admirers, and neither met with that favor she showed—well, the + man she married, for instance. But for a while each thought, for some + reason or other, that he was especially favored. I don't know anything + about it. Mr. Lockwood never spoke of it to me. But they both fell very + deeply in love with her, and each thought the other disloyal, and so they + quarrelled; and—and then, though the woman married, the two men kept + apart. It was the one great passion of their lives, and both were proud, + and each thought the other in the wrong, and so they have kept apart ever + since. And—well, I believe that is all.” + </p> + <p> + Miss Catherwaight had listened in silence and with one little gloved hand + tightly clasping the other. + </p> + <p> + “Indeed, Mr. Latimer, indeed,” she began, tremulously, “I am terribly + ashamed of myself. I seemed to have rushed in where angels fear to tread. + I wouldn't meet Mr. Lockwood <i>now</i> for worlds. Of course I might have + known there was a woman in the case, it adds so much to the story. But I + suppose I must give up my medal. I never could tell that story, could I?” + </p> + <p> + “No,” said young Latimer, dryly; “I wouldn't if I were you.” + </p> + <p> + Something in his tone, and something in the fact that he seemed to avoid + her eyes, made her drop the lighter vein in which she had been speaking, + and rise to go. There was much that he had not told her, she suspected, + and when she bade him good-by it was with a reserve which she had not + shown at any other time during their interview. + </p> + <p> + “I wonder who that woman was?” she murmured, as young Latimer turned from + the brougham door and said “Home,” to the groom. She thought about it a + great deal that afternoon; at times she repented that she had given up the + medal, and at times she blushed that she should have been carried in her + zeal into such an unwarranted intimacy with another's story. + </p> + <p> + She determined finally to ask her father about it. He would be sure to + know, she thought, as he and Mr. Lockwood were contemporaries. Then she + decided finally not to say anything about it at all, for Mr. Catherwaight + did not approve of the collection of dishonored honors as it was, and she + had no desire to prejudice him still further by a recital of her + afternoon's adventure, of which she had no doubt but he would also + disapprove. So she was more than usually silent during the dinner, which + was a tete-a-tete family dinner that night, and she allowed her father to + doze after it in the library in his great chair without disturbing him + with either questions or confessions. + </p> + <p> + {Illustration with caption: “What can Mr. Lockwood be calling upon me + about?”} + </p> + <p> + They had been sitting there some time, he with his hands folded on the + evening paper and with his eyes closed, when the servant brought in a card + and offered it to Mr. Catherwaight. Mr. Catherwaight fumbled over his + glasses, and read the name on the card aloud: “'Mr. Lewis L. Lockwood.' + Dear me!” he said; “what can Mr. Lockwood be calling upon me about?” + </p> + <p> + Miss Catherwaight sat upright, and reached out for the card with a + nervous, gasping little laugh. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, I think it must be for me,” she said; “I'm quite sure it is intended + for me. I was at his office to-day, you see, to return him some keepsake + of his that I found in an old curiosity shop. Something with his name on + it that had been stolen from him and pawned. It was just a trifle. You + needn't go down, dear; I'll see him. It was I he asked for, I'm sure; was + it not, Morris?” + </p> + <p> + Morris was not quite sure; being such an old gentleman, he thought it must + be for Mr. Catherwaight he'd come. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Catherwaight was not greatly interested. He did not like to disturb + his after-dinner nap, and he settled back in his chair again and refolded + his hands. + </p> + <p> + “I hardly thought he could have come to see me,” he murmured, drowsily; + “though I used to see enough and more than enough of Lewis Lockwood once, + my dear,” he added with a smile, as he opened his eyes and nodded before + he shut them again. “That was before your mother and I were engaged, and + people did say that young Lockwood's chances at that time were as good as + mine. But they weren't, it seems. He was very attentive, though; <i>very</i> + attentive.” + </p> + <p> + Miss Catherwaight stood startled and motionless at the door from which she + had turned. + </p> + <p> + “Attentive—to whom?” she asked quickly, and in a very low voice. “To + my mother?” + </p> + <p> + Mr. Catherwaight did not deign to open his eyes this time, but moved his + head uneasily as if he wished to be let alone. + </p> + <p> + “To your mother, of course, my child,” he answered; “of whom else was I + speaking?” + </p> + <p> + Miss Catherwaight went down the stairs to the drawing-room slowly, and + paused half-way to allow this new suggestion to settle in her mind. There + was something distasteful to her, something that seemed not altogether + unblamable, in a woman's having two men quarrel about her, neither of whom + was the woman's husband. And yet this girl of whom Latimer had spoken must + be her mother, and she, of course, could do no wrong. It was very + disquieting, and she went on down the rest of the way with one hand + resting heavily on the railing and with the other pressed against her + cheeks. She was greatly troubled. It now seemed to her very sad indeed + that these two one-time friends should live in the same city and meet, as + they must meet, and not recognize each other. She argued that her mother + must have been very young when it happened, or she would have brought two + such men together again. Her mother could not have known, she told + herself; she was not to blame. For she felt sure that had she herself + known of such an accident she would have done something, said something, + to make it right. And she was not half the woman her mother had been, she + was sure of that. + </p> + <p> + There was something very likable in the old gentleman who came forward to + greet her as she entered the drawing-room; something courtly and of the + old school, of which she was so tired of hearing, but of which she wished + she could have seen more in the men she met. Young Mr. Latimer had + accompanied his guardian, exactly why she did not see, but she recognized + his presence slightly. He seemed quite content to remain in the + background. Mr. Lockwood, as she had expected, explained that he had + called to thank her for the return of the medal. He had it in his hand as + he spoke, and touched it gently with the tips of his fingers as though + caressing it. + </p> + <p> + “I knew your father very well,” said the lawyer, “and I at one time had + the honor of being one of your mother's younger friends. That was before + she was married, many years ago.” He stopped and regarded the girl gravely + and with a touch of tenderness. “You will pardon an old man, old enough to + be your father, if he says,” he went on, “that you are greatly like your + mother, my dear young lady—greatly like. Your mother was very kind + to me, and I fear I abused her kindness; abused it by misunderstanding it. + There was a great deal of misunderstanding; and I was proud, and my friend + was proud, and so the misunderstanding continued, until now it has become + irretrievable.” + </p> + <p> + He had forgotten her presence apparently, and was speaking more to himself + than to her as he stood looking down at the medal in his hand. + </p> + <p> + “You were very thoughtful to give me this,” he continued; “it was very + good of you. I don't know why I should keep it though, now, although I was + distressed enough when I lost it. But now it is only a reminder of a time + that is past and put away, but which was very, very dear to me. Perhaps I + should tell you that I had a misunderstanding with the friend who gave it + to me, and since then we have never met; have ceased to know each other. + But I have always followed his life as a judge and as a lawyer, and + respected him for his own sake as a man. I cannot tell—I do not know + how he feels toward me.” + </p> + <p> + The old lawyer turned the medal over in his hand and stood looking down at + it wistfully. + </p> + <p> + The cynical Miss Catherwaight could not stand it any longer. + </p> + <p> + “Mr. Lockwood,” she said, impulsively, “Mr. Latimer has told me why you + and your friend separated, and I cannot bear to think that it was she—my + mother—should have been the cause. She could not have understood; + she must have been innocent of any knowledge of the trouble she had + brought to men who were such good friends of hers and to each other. It + seems to me as though my finding that coin is more than a coincidence. I + somehow think that the daughter is to help undo the harm that her mother + has caused—unwittingly caused. Keep the medal and don't give it back + to me, for I am sure your friend has kept his, and I am sure he is still + your friend at heart. Don't think I am speaking hastily or that I am + thoughtless in what I am saying, but it seems to me as if friends—good, + true friends—were so few that one cannot let them go without a word + to bring them back. But though I am only a girl, and a very light and + unfeeling girl, some people think, I feel this very much, and I do wish I + could bring your old friend back to you again as I brought back his + pledge.” + </p> + <p> + “It has been many years since Henry Burgoyne and I have met,” said the old + man, slowly, “and it would be quite absurd to think that he still holds + any trace of that foolish, boyish feeling of loyalty that we once had for + each other. Yet I will keep this, if you will let me, and I thank you, my + dear young lady, for what you have said. I thank you from the bottom of my + heart. You are as good and as kind as your mother was, and—I can say + nothing, believe me, in higher praise.” + </p> + <p> + He rose slowly and made a movement as if to leave the room, and then, as + if the excitement of this sudden return into the past could not be shaken + off so readily, he started forward with a move of sudden determination. + </p> + <p> + “I think,” he said, “I will go to Henry Burgoyne's house at once, + to-night. I will act on what you have suggested. I will see if this has or + has not been one long, unprofitable mistake. If my visit should be + fruitless, I will send you this coin to add to your collection of + dishonored honors, but if it should result as I hope it may, it will be + your doing, Miss Catherwaight, and two old men will have much to thank you + for. Good-night,” he said as he bowed above her hand, “and—God bless + you!” + </p> + <p> + Miss Catherwaight flushed slightly at what he had said, and sat looking + down at the floor for a moment after the door had closed behind him. + </p> + <p> + Young Mr. Latimer moved uneasily in his chair. The routine of the office + had been strangely disturbed that day, and he now failed to recognize in + the girl before him with reddened cheeks and trembling eyelashes the cold, + self-possessed young woman of society whom he had formerly known. + </p> + <p> + “You have done very well, if you will let me say so,” he began, gently. “I + hope you are right in what you said, and that Mr. Lockwood will not meet + with a rebuff or an ungracious answer. Why,” he went on quickly, “I have + seen him take out his gun now every spring and every fall for the last ten + years and clean and polish it and tell what great shots he and Henry, as + he calls him, used to be. And then he would say he would take a holiday + and get off for a little shooting. But he never went. He would put the gun + back into its case again and mope in his library for days afterward. You + see, he never married, and though he adopted me, in a manner, and is fond + of me in a certain way, no one ever took the place in his heart his old + friend had held.” + </p> + <p> + “You will let me know, will you not, at once,—to-night, even,—whether + he succeeds or not?” said the cynical Miss Catherwaight. “You can + understand why I am so deeply interested. I see now why you said I would + not tell the story of that medal. But, after all, it may be the prettiest + story, the only pretty story I have to tell.” + </p> + <p> + Mr. Lockwood had not returned, the man said, when young Latimer reached + the home the lawyer had made for them both. He did not know what to argue + from this, but determined to sit up and wait, and so sat smoking before + the fire and listening with his sense of hearing on a strain for the first + movement at the door. + </p> + <p> + He had not long to wait. The front door shut with a clash, and he heard + Mr. Lockwood crossing the hall quickly to the library, in which he waited. + Then the inner door was swung back, and Mr. Lockwood came in with his head + high and his eyes smiling brightly. + </p> + <p> + There was something in his step that had not been there before, something + light and vigorous, and he looked ten years younger. He crossed the room + to his writing-table without speaking and began tossing the papers about + on his desk. Then he closed the rolling-top lid with a snap and looked up + smiling. + </p> + <p> + “I shall have to ask you to look after things at the office for a little + while,” he said. “Judge Burgoyne and I are going to Maryland for a few + weeks' shooting.” + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0010" id="link2H_4_0010"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + VAN BIBBER AND THE SWAN-BOATS + </h2> + <p> + It was very hot in the Park, and young Van Bibber, who has a good heart + and a great deal more money than good-hearted people generally get, was + cross and somnolent. He had told his groom to bring a horse he wanted to + try to the Fifty-ninth Street entrance at ten o'clock, and the groom had + not appeared. Hence Van Bibber's crossness. + </p> + <p> + He waited as long as his dignity would allow, and then turned off into a + by-lane end dropped on a bench and looked gloomily at the Lohengrin swans + with the paddle-wheel attachment that circle around the lake. They struck + him as the most idiotic inventions he had ever seen, and he pitied, with + the pity of a man who contemplates crossing the ocean to be measured for + his fall clothes, the people who could find delight in having some one + paddle them around an artificial lake. + </p> + <p> + Two little girls from the East Side, with a lunch basket, and an older + girl with her hair down her back, sat down on a bench beside him and gazed + at the swans. + </p> + <p> + The place was becoming too popular, and Van Bibber decided to move on. But + the bench on which he sat was in the shade, and the asphalt walk leading + to the street was in the sun, and his cigarette was soothing, so he + ignored the near presence of the three little girls, and remained where he + was. + </p> + <p> + “I s'pose,” said one of the two little girls, in a high, public school + voice, “there's lots to see from those swan-boats that youse can't see + from the banks.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, lots,” assented the girl with long hair. + </p> + <p> + “If you walked all round the lake, clear all the way round, you could see + all there is to see,” said the third, “except what there's in the middle + where the island is.” + </p> + <p> + “I guess it's mighty wild on that island,” suggested the youngest. + </p> + <p> + “Eddie Case he took a trip around the lake on a swan-boat the other day. + He said that it was grand. He said youse could see fishes and ducks, and + that it looked just as if there were snakes and things on the island.” + </p> + <p> + “What sort of things?” asked the other one, in a hushed voice. + </p> + <p> + “Well, wild things,” explained the elder, vaguely; “bears and animals like + that, that grow in wild places.” + </p> + <p> + Van Bibber lit a fresh cigarette, and settled himself comfortably and + unreservedly to listen. + </p> + <p> + “My, but I'd like to take a trip just once,” said the youngest, under her + breath. Then she clasped her fingers together and looked up anxiously at + the elder girl, who glanced at her with severe reproach. + </p> + <p> + “Why, Mame!” she said; “ain't you ashamed! Ain't you having a good time + 'nuff without wishing for everything you set your eyes on?” + </p> + <p> + Van Bibber wondered at this—why humans should want to ride around on + the swans in the first place, and why, if they had such a wild desire, + they should not gratify it. + </p> + <p> + “Why, it costs more'n it costs to come all the way up town in an open + car,” added the elder girl, as if in answer to his unspoken question. + </p> + <p> + The younger girl sighed at this, and nodded her head in submission, but + blinked longingly at the big swans and the parti-colored awning and the + red seats. + </p> + <p> + “I beg your pardon,” said Van Bibber, addressing himself uneasily to the + eldest girl with long hair, “but if the little girl would like to go + around in one of those things, and—and hasn't brought the change + with her, you know, I'm sure I should be very glad if she'd allow me to + send her around.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh! will you?” exclaimed the little girl, with a jump, and so sharply and + in such a shrill voice that Van Bibber shuddered. But the elder girl + objected. + </p> + <p> + “I'm afraid maw wouldn't like our taking money from any one we didn't + know,” she said with dignity; “but if you're going anyway and want company—” + </p> + <p> + “Oh! my, no,” said Van Bibber, hurriedly. He tried to picture himself + riding around the lake behind a tin swan with three little girls from the + East Side, and a lunch basket. + </p> + <p> + “Then,” said the head of the trio, “we can't go.” + </p> + <p> + There was such a look of uncomplaining acceptance of this verdict on the + part of the two little girls, that Van Bibber felt uncomfortable. He + looked to the right and to the left, and then said desperately, “Well, + come along.” The young man in a blue flannel shirt, who did the paddling, + smiled at Van Bibber's riding-breeches, which were so very loose at one + end and so very tight at the other, and at his gloves and crop. But Van + Bibber pretended not to care. The three little girls placed the awful + lunch basket on the front seat and sat on the middle one, and Van Bibber + cowered in the back. They were hushed in silent ecstasy when it started, + and gave little gasps of pleasure when it careened slightly in turning. It + was shady under the awning, and the motion was pleasant enough, but Van + Bibber was so afraid some one would see him that he failed to enjoy it. + </p> + <p> + But as soon as they passed into the narrow straits and were shut in by the + bushes and were out of sight of the people, he relaxed, and began to play + the host. He pointed out the fishes among the rocks at the edges of the + pool, and the sparrows and robins bathing and ruffling their feathers in + the shallow water, and agreed with them about the possibility of bears, + and even tigers, in the wild part of the island, although the glimpse of + the gray helmet of a Park policeman made such a supposition doubtful. + </p> + <p> + And it really seemed as though they were enjoying it more than he ever + enjoyed a trip up the Sound on a yacht or across the ocean on a + record-breaking steamship. It seemed long enough before they got back to + Van Bibber, but his guests were evidently but barely satisfied. Still, all + the goodness in his nature would not allow him to go through that ordeal + again. + </p> + <p> + He stepped out of the boat eagerly and helped out the girl with long hair + as though she had been a princess and tipped the rude young man who had + laughed at him, but who was perspiring now with the work he had done; and + then as he turned to leave the dock he came face to face with A Girl He + Knew and Her brother. + </p> + <p> + Her brother said, “How're you, Van Bibber? Been taking a trip around the + world in eighty minutes?” And added in a low voice, “Introduce me to your + young lady friends from Hester Street.” + </p> + <p> + “Ah, how're you—quite a surprise!” gasped Van Bibber, while his late + guests stared admiringly at the pretty young lady in the riding-habit, and + utterly refused to move on. “Been taking ride on the lake,” stammered Van + Bibber; “most exhilarating. Young friends of mine—these young ladies + never rode on lake, so I took 'em. Did you see me?” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, yes, we saw you,” said Her brother, dryly, while she only smiled at + him, but so kindly and with such perfect understanding that Van Bibber + grew red with pleasure and bought three long strings of tickets for the + swans at some absurd discount, and gave each little girl a string. + </p> + <p> + “There,” said Her brother to the little ladies from Hester Street, “now + you can take trips for a week without stopping. Don't try to smuggle in + any laces, and don't forget to fee the smoking-room steward.” + </p> + <p> + The Girl He Knew said they were walking over to the stables, and that he + had better go get his other horse and join her, which was to be his reward + for taking care of the young ladies. And the three little girls proceeded + to use up the yards of tickets so industriously that they were sunburned + when they reached the tenement, and went to bed dreaming of a big white + swan, and a beautiful young gentleman in patent-leather riding-boots and + baggy breeches. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0011" id="link2H_4_0011"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + VAN BIBBER'S BURGLAR + </h2> + <p> + There had been a dance up town, but as Van Bibber could not find Her + there, he accepted young Travers's suggestion to go over to Jersey City + and see a “go” between “Dutchy” Mack and a colored person professionally + known as the Black Diamond. They covered up all signs of their evening + dress with their great-coats, and filled their pockets with cigars, for + the smoke which surrounds a “go” is trying to sensitive nostrils, and they + also fastened their watches to both key-chains. Alf Alpin, who was acting + as master of ceremonies, was greatly pleased and flattered at their + coming, and boisterously insisted on their sitting on the platform. The + fact was generally circulated among the spectators that the “two gents in + high hats” had come in a carriage, and this and their patent-leather boots + made them objects of keen interest. It was even whispered that they were + the “parties” who were putting up the money to back the Black Diamond + against the “Hester Street Jackson.” This in itself entitled them to + respect. Van Bibber was asked to hold the watch, but he wisely declined + the honor, which was given to Andy Spielman, the sporting reporter of the + <i>Track and Ring</i>, whose watch-case was covered with diamonds, and was + just the sort of a watch a timekeeper should hold. + </p> + <p> + It was two o'clock before “Dutchy” Mack's backer threw the sponge into the + air, and three before they reached the city. They had another reporter in + the cab with them besides the gentleman who had bravely held the watch in + the face of several offers to “do for” him; and as Van Bibber was + ravenously hungry, and as he doubted that he could get anything at that + hour at the club, they accepted Spielman's invitation and went for a + porterhouse steak and onions at the Owl's Nest, Gus McGowan's all-night + restaurant on Third Avenue. + </p> + <p> + It was a very dingy, dirty place, but it was as warm as the engine-room of + a steamboat, and the steak was perfectly done and tender. It was too late + to go to bed, so they sat around the table, with their chairs tipped back + and their knees against its edge. The two club men had thrown off their + great-coats, and their wide shirt fronts and silk facings shone grandly in + the smoky light of the oil lamps and the red glow from the grill in the + corner. They talked about the life the reporters led, and the Philistines + asked foolish questions, which the gentleman of the press answered without + showing them how foolish they were. + </p> + <p> + “And I suppose you have all sorts of curious adventures,” said Van Bibber, + tentatively. + </p> + <p> + “Well, no, not what I would call adventures,” said one of the reporters. + “I have never seen anything that could not be explained or attributed + directly to some known cause, such as crime or poverty or drink. You may + think at first that you have stumbled on something strange and romantic, + but it comes to nothing. You would suppose that in a great city like this + one would come across something that could not be explained away something + mysterious or out of the common, like Stevenson's Suicide Club. But I have + not found it so. Dickens once told James Payn that the most curious thing + he ever saw In his rambles around London was a ragged man who stood + crouching under the window of a great house where the owner was giving a + ball. While the man hid beneath a window on the ground floor, a woman + wonderfully dressed and very beautiful raised the sash from the inside and + dropped her bouquet down into the man's hand, and he nodded and stuck it + under his coat and ran off with it. + </p> + <p> + “I call that, now, a really curious thing to see. But I have never come + across anything like it, and I have been in every part of this big city, + and at every hour of the night and morning, and I am not lacking in + imagination either, but no captured maidens have ever beckoned to me from + barred windows nor 'white hands waved from a passing hansom.' Balzac and + De Musset and Stevenson suggest that they have had such adventures, but + they never come to me. It is all commonplace and vulgar, and always ends + in a police court or with a 'found drowned' in the North River.” + </p> + <p> + McGowan, who had fallen into a doze behind the bar, woke suddenly and + shivered and rubbed his shirt-sleeves briskly. A woman knocked at the side + door and begged for a drink “for the love of heaven,” and the man who + tended the grill told her to be off. They could hear her feeling her way + against the wall and cursing as she staggered out of the alley. Three men + came in with a hack driver and wanted everybody to drink with them, and + became insolent when the gentlemen declined, and were in consequence + hustled out one at a time by McGowan, who went to sleep again immediately, + with his head resting among the cigar boxes and pyramids of glasses at the + back of the bar, and snored. + </p> + <p> + “You see,” said the reporter, “it is all like this. Night in a great city + is not picturesque and it is not theatrical. It is sodden, sometimes + brutal, exciting enough until you get used to it, but it runs in a groove. + It is dramatic, but the plot is old and the motives and characters always + the same.” + </p> + <p> + The rumble of heavy market wagons and the rattle of milk carts told them + that it was morning, and as they opened the door the cold fresh air swept + into the place and made them wrap their collars around their throats and + stamp their feet. The morning wind swept down the cross-street from the + East River and the lights of the street lamps and of the saloon looked old + and tawdry. Travers and the reporter went off to a Turkish bath, and the + gentleman who held the watch, and who had been asleep for the last hour, + dropped into a nighthawk and told the man to drive home. It was almost + clear now and very cold, and Van Bibber determined to walk. He had the + strange feeling one gets when one stays up until the sun rises, of having + lost a day somewhere, and the dance he had attended a few hours before + seemed to have come off long ago, and the fight in Jersey City was far + back in the past. + </p> + <p> + The houses along the cross-street through which he walked were as dead as + so many blank walls, and only here and there a lace curtain waved out of + the open window where some honest citizen was sleeping. The street was + quite deserted; not even a cat or a policeman moved on it and Van Bibber's + footsteps sounded brisk on the sidewalk. There was a great house at the + corner of the avenue and the cross-street on which he was walking. The + house faced the avenue and a stone wall ran back to the brown stone stable + which opened on the side street. There was a door in this wall, and as Van + Bibber approached it on his solitary walk it opened cautiously, and a + man's head appeared in it for an instant and was withdrawn again like a + flash, and the door snapped to. Van Bibber stopped and looked at the door + and at the house and up and down the street. The house was tightly closed, + as though some one was lying inside dead, and the streets were still + empty. + </p> + <p> + Van Bibber could think of nothing in his appearance so dreadful as to + frighten an honest man, so he decided the face he had had a glimpse of + must belong to a dishonest one. It was none of his business, he assured + himself, but it was curious, and he liked adventure, and he would have + liked to prove his friend the reporter, who did not believe in adventure, + in the wrong. So he approached the door silently, and jumped and caught at + the top of the wall and stuck one foot on the handle of the door, and, + with the other on the knocker, drew himself up and looked cautiously down + on the other side. He had done this so lightly that the only noise he made + was the rattle of the door-knob on which his foot had rested, and the man + inside thought that the one outside was trying to open the door, and + placed his shoulder to it and pressed against it heavily. Van Bibber, from + his perch on the top of the wall, looked down directly on the other's head + and shoulders. He could see the top of the man's head only two feet below, + and he also saw that in one hand he held a revolver and that two bags + filled with projecting articles of different sizes lay at his feet. + </p> + <p> + It did not need explanatory notes to tell Van Bibber that the man below + had robbed the big house on the corner, and that if it had not been for + his having passed when he did the burglar would have escaped with his + treasure. His first thought was that he was not a policeman, and that a + fight with a burglar was not in his line of life; and this was followed by + the thought that though the gentleman who owned the property in the two + bags was of no interest to him, he was, as a respectable member of + society, more entitled to consideration than the man with the revolver. + </p> + <p> + The fact that he was now, whether he liked it or not, perched on the top + of the wall like Humpty Dumpty, and that the burglar might see him and + shoot him the next minute, had also an immediate influence on his + movements. So he balanced himself cautiously and noiselessly and dropped + upon the man's head and shoulders, bringing him down to the flagged walk + with him and under him. The revolver went off once in the struggle, but + before the burglar could know how or from where his assailant had come, + Van Bibber was standing up over him and had driven his heel down on his + hand and kicked the pistol out of his fingers. Then he stepped quickly to + where it lay and picked it up and said, “Now, if you try to get up I'll + shoot at you.” He felt an unwarranted and ill-timedly humorous inclination + to add, “and I'll probably miss you,” but subdued it. The burglar, much to + Van Bibber's astonishment, did not attempt to rise, but sat up with his + hands locked across his knees and said: “Shoot ahead. I'd a damned sight + rather you would.” + </p> + <p> + His teeth were set and his face desperate and bitter, and hopeless to a + degree of utter hopelessness that Van Bibber had never imagined. + </p> + <p> + “Go ahead,” reiterated the man, doggedly, “I won't move. Shoot me.” + </p> + <p> + It was a most unpleasant situation. Van Bibber felt the pistol loosening + in his hand, and he was conscious of a strong inclination to lay it down + and ask the burglar to tell him all about it. + </p> + <p> + “You haven't got much heart,” said Van Bibber, finally. “You're a pretty + poor sort of a burglar, I should say.” + </p> + <p> + “What's the use?” said the man, fiercely. “I won't go back—I won't + go back there alive. I've served my time forever in that hole. If I have + to go back again—s'help me if I don't do for a keeper and die for + it. But I won't serve there no more.” + </p> + <p> + “Go back where?” asked Van Bibber, gently, and greatly interested; “to + prison?” + </p> + <p> + “To prison, yes!” cried the man, hoarsely: “to a grave. That's where. Look + at my face,” he said, “and look at my hair. That ought to tell you where + I've been. With all the color gone out of my skin, and all the life out of + my legs. You needn't be afraid of me. I couldn't hurt you if I wanted to. + I'm a skeleton and a baby, I am. I couldn't kill a cat. And now you're + going to send me back again for another lifetime. For twenty years, this + time, into that cold, forsaken hole, and after I done my time so well and + worked so hard.” Van Bibber shifted the pistol from one hand to the other + and eyed his prisoner doubtfully. + </p> + <p> + “How long have you been out?” he asked, seating himself on the steps of + the kitchen and holding the revolver between his knees. The sun was + driving the morning mist away, and he had forgotten the cold. + </p> + <p> + “I got out yesterday,” said the man. + </p> + <p> + Van Bibber glanced at the bags and lifted the revolver. “You didn't waste + much time,” he said. + </p> + <p> + “No,” answered the man, sullenly, “no, I didn't. I knew this place and I + wanted money to get West to my folks, and the Society said I'd have to + wait until I earned it, and I couldn't wait. I haven't seen my wife for + seven years, nor my daughter. Seven years, young man; think of that—seven + years. Do you know how long that is? Seven years without seeing your wife + or your child! And they're straight people, they are,” he added, hastily. + “My wife moved West after I was put away and took another name, and my + girl never knew nothing about me. She thinks I'm away at sea. I was to + join 'em. That was the plan. I was to join 'em, and I thought I could lift + enough here to get the fare, and now,” he added, dropping his face in his + hands, “I've got to go back. And I had meant to live straight after I got + West,—God help me, but I did! Not that it makes much difference now. + An' I don't care whether you believe it or not neither,” he added, + fiercely. + </p> + <p> + “I didn't say whether I believed it or not,” answered Van Bibber, with + grave consideration. + </p> + <p> + He eyed the man for a brief space without speaking, and the burglar looked + back at him, doggedly and defiantly, and with not the faintest suggestion + of hope in his eyes, or of appeal for mercy. Perhaps it was because of + this fact, or perhaps it was the wife and child that moved Van Bibber, but + whatever his motives were, he acted on them promptly. “I suppose, though,” + he said, as though speaking to himself, “that I ought to give you up.” + </p> + <p> + “I'll never go back alive,” said the burglar, quietly. + </p> + <p> + “Well, that's bad, too,” said Van Bibber. “Of course I don't know whether + you're lying or not, and as to your meaning to live honestly, I very much + doubt it; but I'll give you a ticket to wherever your wife is, and I'll + see you on the train. And you can get off at the next station and rob my + house to-morrow night, if you feel that way about it. Throw those bags + inside that door where the servant will see them before the milkman does, + and walk on out ahead of me, and keep your hands in your pockets, and + don't try to run. I have your pistol, you know.” + </p> + <p> + The man placed the bags inside the kitchen door; and, with a doubtful look + at his custodian, stepped out into the street, and walked, as he was + directed to do, toward the Grand Central station. Van Bibber kept just + behind him, and kept turning the question over in his mind as to what he + ought to do. He felt very guilty as he passed each policeman, but he + recovered himself when he thought of the wife and child who lived in the + West, and who were “straight.” + </p> + <p> + “Where to?” asked Van Bibber, as he stood at the ticket-office window. + “Helena, Montana,” answered the man with, for the first time, a look of + relief. Van Bibber bought the ticket and handed it to the burglar. “I + suppose you know,” he said, “that you can sell that at a place down town + for half the money.” “Yes, I know that,” said the burglar. There was a + half-hour before the train left, and Van Bibber took his charge into the + restaurant and watched him eat everything placed before him, with his eyes + glancing all the while to the right or left. Then Van Bibber gave him some + money and told him to write to him, and shook hands with him. The man + nodded eagerly and pulled off his hat as the car drew out of the station; + and Van Bibber came down town again with the shop girls and clerks going + to work, still wondering if he had done the right thing. + </p> + <p> + He went to his rooms and changed his clothes, took a cold bath, and + crossed over to Delmonico's for his breakfast, and, while the waiter laid + the cloth in the cafe, glanced at the headings in one of the papers. He + scanned first with polite interest the account of the dance on the night + previous and noticed his name among those present. With greater interest + he read of the fight between “Dutchy” Mack and the “Black Diamond,” and + then he read carefully how “Abe” Hubbard, alias “Jimmie the Gent,” a + burglar, had broken jail in New Jersey, and had been traced to New York. + There was a description of the man, and Van Bibber breathed quickly as he + read it. “The detectives have a clew of his whereabouts,” the account + said; “if he is still in the city they are confident of recapturing him. + But they fear that the same friends who helped him to break jail will + probably assist him from the country or to get out West.” + </p> + <p> + “They may do that,” murmured Van Bibber to himself, with a smile of grim + contentment; “they probably will.” + </p> + <p> + Then he said to the waiter, “Oh, I don't know. Some bacon and eggs and + green things and coffee.” + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0012" id="link2H_4_0012"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + VAN BIBBER AS BEST MAN + </h2> + <p> + Young Van Bibber came up to town in June from Newport to see his lawyer + about the preparation of some papers that needed his signature. He found + the city very hot and close, and as dreary and as empty as a house that + has been shut up for some time while its usual occupants are away in the + country. + </p> + <p> + As he had to wait over for an afternoon train, and as he was down town, he + decided to lunch at a French restaurant near Washington Square, where some + one had told him you could get particular things particularly well cooked. + The tables were set on a terrace with plants and flowers about them, and + covered with a tricolored awning. There were no jangling horse-car bells + nor dust to disturb him, and almost all the other tables were unoccupied. + The waiters leaned against these tables and chatted in a French argot; and + a cool breeze blew through the plants and billowed the awning, so that, on + the whole, Van Bibber was glad he had come. + </p> + <p> + There was, beside himself, an old Frenchman scolding over his late + breakfast; two young artists with Van Dyke beards, who ordered the most + remarkable things in the same French argot that the waiters spoke; and a + young lady and a young gentleman at the table next to his own. The young + man's back was toward him, and he could only see the girl when the youth + moved to one side. She was very young and very pretty, and she seemed in a + most excited state of mind from the tip of her wide-brimmed, pointed + French hat to the points of her patent-leather ties. She was strikingly + well-bred in appearance, and Van Bibber wondered why she should be dining + alone with so young a man. + </p> + <p> + “It wasn't my fault,” he heard the youth say earnestly. “How could I know + he would be out of town? and anyway it really doesn't matter. Your cousin + is not the only clergyman in the city.” + </p> + <p> + “Of course not,” said the girl, almost tearfully, “but they're not my + cousins and he is, and that would have made it so much, oh, so very much + different. I'm awfully frightened!” + </p> + <p> + “Runaway couple,” commented Van Bibber. “Most interesting. Read about 'em + often; never seen 'em. Most interesting.” + </p> + <p> + He bent his head over an entree, but he could not help hearing what + followed, for the young runaways were indifferent to all around them, and + though he rattled his knife and fork in a most vulgar manner, they did not + heed him nor lower their voices. + </p> + <p> + “Well, what are you going to do?” said the girl, severely but not + unkindly. “It doesn't seem to me that you are exactly rising to the + occasion.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, I don't know,” answered the youth, easily. “We're safe here anyway. + Nobody we know ever comes here, and if they did they are out of town now. + You go on and eat something, and I'll get a directory and look up a lot of + clergymen's addresses, and then we can make out a list and drive around in + a cab until we find one who has not gone off on his vacation. We ought to + be able to catch the Fall River boat back at five this afternoon; then we + can go right on to Boston from Fall River to-morrow morning and run down + to Narragansett during the day.” + </p> + <p> + “They'll never forgive us,” said the girl. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, well, that's all right,” exclaimed the young man, cheerfully. + “Really, you're the most uncomfortable young person I ever ran away with. + One might think you were going to a funeral. You were willing enough two + days ago, and now you don't help me at all. Are you sorry?” he asked, and + then added, “but please don't say so, even if you are.” + </p> + <p> + “No, not sorry, exactly,” said the girl; “but, indeed, Ted, it is going to + make so much talk. If we only had a girl with us, or if you had a best + man, or if we had witnesses, as they do in England, and a parish registry, + or something of that sort; or if Cousin Harold had only been at home to do + the marrying.” + </p> + <p> + The young gentleman called Ted did not look, judging from the expression + of his shoulders, as if he were having a very good time. + </p> + <p> + He picked at the food on his plate gloomily, and the girl took out her + handkerchief and then put it resolutely back again and smiled at him. The + youth called the waiter and told him to bring a directory, and as he + turned to give the order Van Bibber recognized him and he recognized Van + Bibber. Van Bibber knew him for a very nice boy, of a very good Boston + family named Standish, and the younger of two sons. It was the elder who + was Van Bibber's particular friend. The girl saw nothing of this mutual + recognition, for she was looking with startled eyes at a hansom that had + dashed up the side street and was turning the corner. + </p> + <p> + “Ted, O Ted!” she gasped. “It's your brother. There! In that hansom. I saw + him perfectly plainly. Oh, how did he find us? What shall we do?” + </p> + <p> + Ted grew very red and then very white. + </p> + <p> + “Standish,” said Van Bibber, jumping up and reaching for his hat, “pay + this chap for these things, will you, and I'll get rid of your brother.” + </p> + <p> + Van Bibber descended the steps lighting a cigar as the elder Standish came + up them on a jump. + </p> + <p> + “Hello, Standish!” shouted the New Yorker. “Wait a minute; where are you + going? Why, it seems to rain Standishes to-day! First see your brother; + then I see you. What's on?” + </p> + <p> + “You've seen him?” cried the Boston man, eagerly. “Yes, and where is he? + Was she with him? Are they married? Am I in time?” + </p> + <p> + Van Bibber answered these different questions to the effect that he had + seen young Standish and Mrs. Standish not a half an hour before, and that + they were just then taking a cab for Jersey City, whence they were to + depart for Chicago. + </p> + <p> + “The driver who brought them here, and who told me where they were, said + they could not have left this place by the time I would reach it,” said + the elder brother, doubtfully. + </p> + <p> + “That's so,” said the driver of the cab, who had listened curiously. “I + brought 'em here not more'n half an hour ago. Just had time to get back to + the depot. They can't have gone long.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, but they have,” said Van Bibber. “However, if you get over to Jersey + City in time for the 2.30, you can reach Chicago almost as soon as they + do. They are going to the Palmer House, they said.” + </p> + <p> + “Thank you, old fellow,” shouted Standish, jumping back into his hansom. + “It's a terrible business. Pair of young fools. Nobody objected to the + marriage, only too young, you know. Ever so much obliged.” + </p> + <p> + “Don't mention it,” said Van Bibber, politely. + </p> + <p> + “Now, then,” said that young man, as he approached the frightened couple + trembling on the terrace, “I've sent your brother off to Chicago. I do not + know why I selected Chicago as a place where one would go on a honeymoon. + But I'm not used to lying and I'm not very good at it. Now, if you will + introduce me, I'll see what can be done toward getting you two babes out + of the woods.” + </p> + <p> + Standish said, “Miss Cambridge, this is Mr. Cortlandt Van Bibber, of whom + you have heard my brother speak,” and Miss Cambridge said she was very + glad to meet Mr. Van Bibber even under such peculiarly trying + circumstances. + </p> + <p> + “Now what you two want to do,” said Van Bibber, addressing them as though + they were just about fifteen years old and he were at least forty, “is to + give this thing all the publicity you can.” + </p> + <p> + “What?” chorused the two runaways, in violent protest. + </p> + <p> + “Certainly,” said Van Bibber. “You were about to make a fatal mistake. You + were about to go to some unknown clergyman of an unknown parish, who would + have married you in a back room, without a certificate or a witness, just + like any eloping farmer's daughter and lightning-rod agent. Now it's + different with you two. Why you were not married respectably in church I + don't know, and I do not intend to ask, but a kind Providence has sent me + to you to see that there is no talk nor scandal, which is such bad form, + and which would have got your names into all the papers. I am going to + arrange this wedding properly, and you will kindly remain here until I + send a carriage for you. Now just rely on me entirely and eat your + luncheon in peace. It's all going to come out right—and allow me to + recommend the salad, which is especially good.” + </p> + <p> + Van Bibber first drove madly to the Little Church Around the Corner, where + he told the kind old rector all about it, and arranged to have the church + open and the assistant organist in her place, and a district-messenger boy + to blow the bellows, punctually at three o'clock. “And now,” he + soliloquized, “I must get some names. It doesn't matter much whether they + happen to know the high contracting parties or not, but they must be names + that everybody knows. Whoever is in town will be lunching at Delmonico's, + and the men will be at the clubs.” So he first went to the big restaurant, + where, as good luck would have it, he found Mrs. “Regy” Van Arnt and Mrs. + “Jack” Peabody, and the Misses Brookline, who had run up the Sound for the + day on the yacht <i>Minerva</i> of the Boston Yacht Club, and he told them + how things were and swore them to secrecy, and told them to bring what men + they could pick up. + </p> + <p> + At the club he pressed four men into service who knew everybody and whom + everybody knew, and when they protested that they had not been properly + invited and that they only knew the bride and groom by sight, he told them + that made no difference, as it was only their names he wanted. Then he + sent a messenger boy to get the biggest suit of rooms on the Fall River + boat and another one for flowers, and then he put Mrs. “Regy” Van Arnt + into a cab and sent her after the bride, and, as best man, he got into + another cab and carried off the groom. + </p> + <p> + “I have acted either as best man or usher forty-two times now,” said Van + Bibber, as they drove to the church, “and this is the first time I ever + appeared in either capacity in russia-leather shoes and a blue serge + yachting suit. But then,” he added, contentedly, “you ought to see the + other fellows. One of them is in a striped flannel.” + </p> + <p> + Mrs. “Regy” and Miss Cambridge wept a great deal on the way up town, but + the bride was smiling and happy when she walked up the aisle to meet her + prospective husband, who looked exceedingly conscious before the eyes of + the men, all of whom he knew by sight or by name, and not one of whom he + had ever met before. But they all shook hands after it was over, and the + assistant organist played the Wedding March, and one of the club men + insisted in pulling a cheerful and jerky peal on the church bell in the + absence of the janitor, and then Van Bibber hurled an old shoe and a + handful of rice—which he had thoughtfully collected from the chef at + the club—after them as they drove off to the boat. + </p> + <p> + “Now,” said Van Bibber, with a proud sigh of relief and satisfaction, “I + will send that to the papers, and when it is printed to-morrow it will + read like one of the most orthodox and one of the smartest weddings of the + season. And yet I can't help thinking—” + </p> + <p> + “Well?” said Mrs. “Regy,” as he paused doubtfully. + </p> + <p> + “Well, I can't help thinking,” continued Van Bibber, “of Standish's older + brother racing around Chicago with the thermometer at 102 in the shade. I + wish I had only sent him to Jersey City. It just shows,” he added, + mournfully, “that when a man is not practised in lying, he should leave it + alone.” + </p> + <div style="height: 6em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Gallegher and Other Stories, by +Richard Harding Davis + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GALLEGHER AND OTHER STORIES *** + +***** This file should be named 5956-h.htm or 5956-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/5/9/5/5956/ + +Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Charles Franks and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team + +HTML file produced by David Widger + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Gallegher and Other Stories + +Author: Richard Harding Davis + + +Release Date: June, 2004 [EBook #5956] +This file was first posted on September 29, 2002 +Last Updated: April 10, 2013 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GALLEGHER AND OTHER STORIES *** + + + + +Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Charles Franks and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team + + + + + + + + +GALLEGHER AND OTHER STORIES + +By Richard Harding Davis + + +_Illustrations By Charles Dana Gibson_ + + +Copyright, 1891, By Charles Scribner's Sons + + + + +TO MY MOTHER + + + + +Contents + + +GALLEGHER: A NEWSPAPER STORY + +A WALK UP THE AVENUE + +MY DISREPUTABLE FRIEND, MR. RAEGEN + +THE OTHER WOMAN + +THE TRAILER FOR ROOM NO. 8 + +"THERE WERE NINETY AND NINE" + +THE CYNICAL MISS CATHERWAIGHT + +VAN BIBBER AND THE SWAN-BOATS + +VAN BIBBER'S BURGLAR + +VAN BIBBER AS BEST MAN + + + + +GALLEGHER + +A Newspaper Story + +{Illustration: "Why, it's Gallegher!" said the night editor.} + + +We had had so many office-boys before Gallegher came among us that they +had begun to lose the characteristics of individuals, and became merged +in a composite photograph of small boys, to whom we applied the generic +title of "Here, you"; or "You, boy." + +We had had sleepy boys, and lazy boys, and bright, "smart" boys, who +became so familiar on so short an acquaintance that we were forced to +part with them to save our own self-respect. + +They generally graduated into district-messenger boys, and occasionally +returned to us in blue coats with nickel-plated buttons, and patronized +us. + +But Gallegher was something different from anything we had experienced +before. Gallegher was short and broad in build, with a solid, muscular +broadness, and not a fat and dumpy shortness. He wore perpetually on his +face a happy and knowing smile, as if you and the world in general were +not impressing him as seriously as you thought you were, and his eyes, +which were very black and very bright, snapped intelligently at you like +those of a little black-and-tan terrier. + +All Gallegher knew had been learnt on the streets; not a very good +school in itself, but one that turns out very knowing scholars. And +Gallegher had attended both morning and evening sessions. He could not +tell you who the Pilgrim Fathers were, nor could he name the thirteen +original States, but he knew all the officers of the twenty-second +police district by name, and he could distinguish the clang of a +fire-engine's gong from that of a patrol-wagon or an ambulance fully two +blocks distant. It was Gallegher who rang the alarm when the Woolwich +Mills caught fire, while the officer on the beat was asleep, and it was +Gallegher who led the "Black Diamonds" against the "Wharf Rats," +when they used to stone each other to their hearts' content on the +coal-wharves of Richmond. + +I am afraid, now that I see these facts written down, that Gallegher was +not a reputable character; but he was so very young and so very old for +his years that we all liked him very much nevertheless. He lived in +the extreme northern part of Philadelphia, where the cotton-and +woollen-mills run down to the river, and how he ever got home after +leaving the _Press_ building at two in the morning, was one of the +mysteries of the office. Sometimes he caught a night car, and sometimes +he walked all the way, arriving at the little house, where his mother +and himself lived alone, at four in the morning. Occasionally he was +given a ride on an early milk-cart, or on one of the newspaper delivery +wagons, with its high piles of papers still damp and sticky from the +press. He knew several drivers of "night hawks"--those cabs that prowl +the streets at night looking for belated passengers--and when it was a +very cold morning he would not go home at all, but would crawl into one +of these cabs and sleep, curled up on the cushions, until daylight. + +Besides being quick and cheerful, Gallegher possessed a power of amusing +the _Press's_ young men to a degree seldom attained by the ordinary +mortal. His clog-dancing on the city editor's desk, when that gentleman +was up-stairs fighting for two more columns of space, was always a +source of innocent joy to us, and his imitations of the comedians of +the variety halls delighted even the dramatic critic, from whom the +comedians themselves failed to force a smile. + +But Gallegher's chief characteristic was his love for that element +of news generically classed as "crime." Not that he ever did anything +criminal himself. On the contrary, his was rather the work of the +criminal specialist, and his morbid interest in the doings of all queer +characters, his knowledge of their methods, their present whereabouts, +and their past deeds of transgression often rendered him a valuable ally +to our police reporter, whose daily feuilletons were the only portion of +the paper Gallegher deigned to read. + +In Gallegher the detective element was abnormally developed. He had +shown this on several occasions, and to excellent purpose. + +Once the paper had sent him into a Home for Destitute Orphans which was +believed to be grievously mismanaged, and Gallegher, while playing the +part of a destitute orphan, kept his eyes open to what was going on +around him so faithfully that the story he told of the treatment meted +out to the real orphans was sufficient to rescue the unhappy little +wretches from the individual who had them in charge, and to have the +individual himself sent to jail. + +Gallegher's knowledge of the aliases, terms of imprisonment, and +various misdoings of the leading criminals in Philadelphia was almost as +thorough as that of the chief of police himself, and he could tell to an +hour when "Dutchy Mack" was to be let out of prison, and could identify +at a glance "Dick Oxford, confidence man," as "Gentleman Dan, petty +thief." + +There were, at this time, only two pieces of news in any of the papers. +The least important of the two was the big fight between the Champion of +the United States and the Would-be Champion, arranged to take place +near Philadelphia; the second was the Burrbank murder, which was filling +space in newspapers all over the world, from New York to Bombay. + +Richard F. Burrbank was one of the most prominent of New York's railroad +lawyers; he was also, as a matter of course, an owner of much railroad +stock, and a very wealthy man. He had been spoken of as a political +possibility for many high offices, and, as the counsel for a great +railroad, was known even further than the great railroad itself had +stretched its system. + +At six o'clock one morning he was found by his butler lying at the foot +of the hall stairs with two pistol wounds above his heart. He was quite +dead. His safe, to which only he and his secretary had the keys, was +found open, and $200,000 in bonds, stocks, and money, which had been +placed there only the night before, was found missing. The secretary +was missing also. His name was Stephen S. Hade, and his name and his +description had been telegraphed and cabled to all parts of the world. +There was enough circumstantial evidence to show, beyond any question or +possibility of mistake, that he was the murderer. + +It made an enormous amount of talk, and unhappy individuals were +being arrested all over the country, and sent on to New York for +identification. Three had been arrested at Liverpool, and one man just +as he landed at Sydney, Australia. But so far the murderer had escaped. + +We were all talking about it one night, as everybody else was all over +the country, in the local room, and the city editor said it was worth +a fortune to any one who chanced to run across Hade and succeeded +in handing him over to the police. Some of us thought Hade had taken +passage from some one of the smaller seaports, and others were of the +opinion that he had buried himself in some cheap lodging-house in New +York, or in one of the smaller towns in New Jersey. + +"I shouldn't be surprised to meet him out walking, right here in +Philadelphia," said one of the staff. "He'll be disguised, of course, +but you could always tell him by the absence of the trigger finger on +his right hand. It's missing, you know; shot off when he was a boy." + +"You want to look for a man dressed like a tough," said the city editor; +"for as this fellow is to all appearances a gentleman, he will try to +look as little like a gentleman as possible." + +"No, he won't," said Gallegher, with that calm impertinence that made +him dear to us. "He'll dress just like a gentleman. Toughs don't wear +gloves, and you see he's got to wear 'em. The first thing he thought of +after doing for Burrbank was of that gone finger, and how he was to hide +it. He stuffed the finger of that glove with cotton so's to make it look +like a whole finger, and the first time he takes off that glove they've +got him--see, and he knows it. So what youse want to do is to look for +a man with gloves on. I've been a-doing it for two weeks now, and I +can tell you it's hard work, for everybody wears gloves this kind of +weather. But if you look long enough you'll find him. And when you think +it's him, go up to him and hold out your hand in a friendly way, like a +bunco-steerer, and shake his hand; and if you feel that his forefinger +ain't real flesh, but just wadded cotton, then grip to it with your +right and grab his throat with your left, and holler for help." + +There was an appreciative pause. + +"I see, gentlemen," said the city editor, dryly, "that Gallegher's +reasoning has impressed you; and I also see that before the week is +out all of my young men will be under bonds for assaulting innocent +pedestrians whose only offence is that they wear gloves in midwinter." + +It was about a week after this that Detective Hefflefinger, of Inspector +Byrnes's staff, came over to Philadelphia after a burglar, of whose +whereabouts he had been misinformed by telegraph. He brought the +warrant, requisition, and other necessary papers with him, but the +burglar had flown. One of our reporters had worked on a New York paper, +and knew Hefflefinger, and the detective came to the office to see if he +could help him in his so far unsuccessful search. + +He gave Gallegher his card, and after Gallegher had read it, and had +discovered who the visitor was, he became so demoralized that he was +absolutely useless. + +"One of Byrnes's men" was a much more awe-inspiring individual to +Gallegher than a member of the Cabinet. He accordingly seized his hat +and overcoat, and leaving his duties to be looked after by others, +hastened out after the object of his admiration, who found his +suggestions and knowledge of the city so valuable, and his company so +entertaining, that they became very intimate, and spent the rest of the +day together. + +In the meanwhile the managing editor had instructed his subordinates to +inform Gallegher, when he condescended to return, that his services +were no longer needed. Gallegher had played truant once too often. +Unconscious of this, he remained with his new friend until late the same +evening, and started the next afternoon toward the _Press_ office. + +As I have said, Gallegher lived in the most distant part of the city, +not many minutes' walk from the Kensington railroad station, where +trains ran into the suburbs and on to New York. + +It was in front of this station that a smoothly shaven, well-dressed man +brushed past Gallegher and hurried up the steps to the ticket office. + +He held a walking-stick in his right hand, and Gallegher, who now +patiently scrutinized the hands of every one who wore gloves, saw that +while three fingers of the man's hand were closed around the cane, the +fourth stood out in almost a straight line with his palm. + +Gallegher stopped with a gasp and with a trembling all over his little +body, and his brain asked with a throb if it could be possible. But +possibilities and probabilities were to be discovered later. Now was the +time for action. + +He was after the man in a moment, hanging at his heels and his eyes +moist with excitement. He heard the man ask for a ticket to Torresdale, +a little station just outside of Philadelphia, and when he was out of +hearing, but not out of sight, purchased one for the same place. + +The stranger went into the smoking-car, and seated himself at one end +toward the door. Gallegher took his place at the opposite end. + +He was trembling all over, and suffered from a slight feeling of nausea. +He guessed it came from fright, not of any bodily harm that might come +to him, but at the probability of failure in his adventure and of its +most momentous possibilities. + +The stranger pulled his coat collar up around his ears, hiding the lower +portion of his face, but not concealing the resemblance in his troubled +eyes and close-shut lips to the likenesses of the murderer Hade. + +They reached Torresdale in half an hour, and the stranger, alighting +quickly, struck off at a rapid pace down the country road leading to the +station. + +Gallegher gave him a hundred yards' start, and then followed slowly +after. The road ran between fields and past a few frame-houses set far +from the road in kitchen gardens. + +Once or twice the man looked back over his shoulder, but he saw only a +dreary length of road with a small boy splashing through the slush in +the midst of it and stopping every now and again to throw snowballs at +belated sparrows. + +After a ten minutes' walk the stranger turned into a side road which led +to only one place, the Eagle Inn, an old roadside hostelry known now as +the headquarters for pothunters from the Philadelphia game market and +the battle-ground of many a cock-fight. + +Gallegher knew the place well. He and his young companions had often +stopped there when out chestnutting on holidays in the autumn. + +The son of the man who kept it had often accompanied them on their +excursions, and though the boys of the city streets considered him a +dumb lout, they respected him somewhat owing to his inside knowledge of +dog and cock-fights. + +The stranger entered the inn at a side door, and Gallegher, reaching +it a few minutes later, let him go for the time being, and set about +finding his occasional playmate, young Keppler. + +Keppler's offspring was found in the wood-shed. + +"'Tain't hard to guess what brings you out here," said the +tavern-keeper's son, with a grin; "it's the fight." + +"What fight?" asked Gallegher, unguardedly. + +"What fight? Why, _the_ fight," returned his companion, with the slow +contempt of superior knowledge. "It's to come off here to-night. You +knew that as well as me; anyway your sportin' editor knows it. He got +the tip last night, but that won't help you any. You needn't think +there's any chance of your getting a peep at it. Why, tickets is two +hundred and fifty apiece!" + +"Whew!" whistled Gallegher, "where's it to be?" + +"In the barn," whispered Keppler. "I helped 'em fix the ropes this +morning, I did." + +"Gosh, but you're in luck," exclaimed Gallegher, with flattering envy. +"Couldn't I jest get a peep at it?" + +"Maybe," said the gratified Keppler. "There's a winder with a wooden +shutter at the back of the barn. You can get in by it, if you have some +one to boost you up to the sill." + +"Sa-a-y," drawled Gallegher, as if something had but just that moment +reminded him. "Who's that gent who come down the road just a bit ahead +of me--him with the cape-coat! Has he got anything to do with the +fight?" + +"Him?" repeated Keppler in tones of sincere disgust. "No-oh, he ain't no +sport. He's queer, Dad thinks. He come here one day last week about ten +in the morning, said his doctor told him to go out 'en the country for +his health. He's stuck up and citified, and wears gloves, and takes his +meals private in his room, and all that sort of ruck. They was saying +in the saloon last night that they thought he was hiding from something, +and Dad, just to try him, asks him last night if he was coming to see +the fight. He looked sort of scared, and said he didn't want to see no +fight. And then Dad says, 'I guess you mean you don't want no fighters +to see you.' Dad didn't mean no harm by it, just passed it as a joke; +but Mr. Carleton, as he calls himself, got white as a ghost an' says, +'I'll go to the fight willing enough,' and begins to laugh and joke. And +this morning he went right into the bar-room, where all the sports were +setting, and said he was going into town to see some friends; and as he +starts off he laughs an' says, 'This don't look as if I was afraid of +seeing people, does it?' but Dad says it was just bluff that made him do +it, and Dad thinks that if he hadn't said what he did, this Mr. Carleton +wouldn't have left his room at all." + +Gallegher had got all he wanted, and much more than he had hoped for--so +much more that his walk back to the station was in the nature of a +triumphal march. + +He had twenty minutes to wait for the next train, and it seemed an hour. +While waiting he sent a telegram to Hefflefinger at his hotel. It read: +"Your man is near the Torresdale station, on Pennsylvania Railroad; take +cab, and meet me at station. Wait until I come. GALLEGHER." + +With the exception of one at midnight, no other train stopped at +Torresdale that evening, hence the direction to take a cab. + +The train to the city seemed to Gallegher to drag itself by inches. It +stopped and backed at purposeless intervals, waited for an express to +precede it, and dallied at stations, and when, at last, it reached the +terminus, Gallegher was out before it had stopped and was in the cab and +off on his way to the home of the sporting editor. + +The sporting editor was at dinner and came out in the hall to see him, +with his napkin in his hand. Gallegher explained breathlessly that he +had located the murderer for whom the police of two continents were +looking, and that he believed, in order to quiet the suspicions of the +people with whom he was hiding, that he would be present at the fight +that night. + +The sporting editor led Gallegher into his library and shut the door. +"Now," he said, "go over all that again." + +Gallegher went over it again in detail, and added how he had sent for +Hefflefinger to make the arrest in order that it might be kept from the +knowledge of the local police and from the Philadelphia reporters. + +"What I want Hefflefinger to do is to arrest Hade with the warrant he +has for the burglar," explained Gallegher; "and to take him on to New +York on the owl train that passes Torresdale at one. It don't get to +Jersey City until four o'clock, one hour after the morning papers go to +press. Of course, we must fix Hefflefinger so's he'll keep quiet and not +tell who his prisoner really is." + +The sporting editor reached his hand out to pat Gallegher on the head, +but changed his mind and shook hands with him instead. + +"My boy," he said, "you are an infant phenomenon. If I can pull the +rest of this thing off to-night it will mean the $5,000 reward and fame +galore for you and the paper. Now, I'm going to write a note to the +managing editor, and you can take it around to him and tell him what +you've done and what I am going to do, and he'll take you back on +the paper and raise your salary. Perhaps you didn't know you've been +discharged?" + +"Do you think you ain't a-going to take me with you?" demanded +Gallegher. + +"Why, certainly not. Why should I? It all lies with the detective and +myself now. You've done your share, and done it well. If the man's +caught, the reward's yours. But you'd only be in the way now. You'd +better go to the office and make your peace with the chief." + +"If the paper can get along without me, I can get along without the old +paper," said Gallegher, hotly. "And if I ain't a-going with you, you +ain't neither, for I know where Hefflefinger is to be, and you don't, +and I won't tell you." + +"Oh, very well, very well," replied the sporting editor, weakly +capitulating. "I'll send the note by a messenger; only mind, if you lose +your place, don't blame me." + +Gallegher wondered how this man could value a week's salary against the +excitement of seeing a noted criminal run down, and of getting the news +to the paper, and to that one paper alone. + +From that moment the sporting editor sank in Gallegher's estimation. + +Mr. Dwyer sat down at his desk and scribbled off the following note: + +"I have received reliable information that Hade, the Burrbank murderer, +will be present at the fight to-night. We have arranged it so that he +will be arrested quietly and in such a manner that the fact may be kept +from all other papers. I need not point out to you that this will be the +most important piece of news in the country to-morrow. + +"Yours, etc., MICHAEL E. DWYER." + +The sporting editor stepped into the waiting cab, while Gallegher +whispered the directions to the driver. He was told to go first to a +district-messenger office, and from there up to the Ridge Avenue Road, +out Broad Street, and on to the old Eagle Inn, near Torresdale. It was +a miserable night. The rain and snow were falling together, and freezing +as they fell. The sporting editor got out to send his message to the +_Press_ office, and then lighting a cigar, and turning up the collar of +his great-coat, curled up in the corner of the cab. + +"Wake me when we get there, Gallegher," he said. He knew he had a long +ride, and much rapid work before him, and he was preparing for the +strain. + +To Gallegher the idea of going to sleep seemed almost criminal. From +the dark corner of the cab his eyes shone with excitement, and with the +awful joy of anticipation. He glanced every now and then to where the +sporting editor's cigar shone in the darkness, and watched it as it +gradually burnt more dimly and went out. The lights in the shop windows +threw a broad glare across the ice on the pavements, and the lights from +the lamp-posts tossed the distorted shadow of the cab, and the horse, +and the motionless driver, sometimes before and sometimes behind them. + +After half an hour Gallegher slipped down to the bottom of the cab and +dragged out a lap-robe, in which he wrapped himself. It was growing +colder, and the damp, keen wind swept in through the cracks until the +window-frames and woodwork were cold to the touch. + +An hour passed, and the cab was still moving more slowly over the +rough surface of partly paved streets, and by single rows of new houses +standing at different angles to each other in fields covered with +ash-heaps and brick-kilns. Here and there the gaudy lights of a +drug-store, and the forerunner of suburban civilization, shone from +the end of a new block of houses, and the rubber cape of an occasional +policeman showed in the light of the lamp-post that he hugged for +comfort. + +Then even the houses disappeared, and the cab dragged its way between +truck farms, with desolate-looking glass-covered beds, and pools of +water, half-caked with ice, and bare trees, and interminable fences. + +Once or twice the cab stopped altogether, and Gallegher could hear the +driver swearing to himself, or at the horse, or the roads. At last they +drew up before the station at Torresdale. It was quite deserted, and +only a single light cut a swath in the darkness and showed a portion +of the platform, the ties, and the rails glistening in the rain. They +walked twice past the light before a figure stepped out of the shadow +and greeted them cautiously. + +"I am Mr. Dwyer, of the _Press,_" said the sporting editor, briskly. +"You've heard of me, perhaps. Well, there shouldn't be any difficulty +in our making a deal, should there? This boy here has found Hade, and +we have reason to believe he will be among the spectators at the +fight to-night. We want you to arrest him quietly, and as secretly as +possible. You can do it with your papers and your badge easily enough. +We want you to pretend that you believe he is this burglar you came over +after. If you will do this, and take him away without any one so much as +suspecting who he really is, and on the train that passes here at +1.20 for New York, we will give you $500 out of the $5,000 reward. +If, however, one other paper, either in New York or Philadelphia, or +anywhere else, knows of the arrest, you won't get a cent. Now, what do +you say?" + +The detective had a great deal to say. He wasn't at all sure the man +Gallegher suspected was Hade; he feared he might get himself into +trouble by making a false arrest, and if it should be the man, he was +afraid the local police would interfere. + +"We've no time to argue or debate this matter," said Dwyer, warmly. "We +agree to point Hade out to you in the crowd. After the fight is over you +arrest him as we have directed, and you get the money and the credit of +the arrest. If you don't like this, I will arrest the man myself, and +have him driven to town, with a pistol for a warrant." + +Hefflefinger considered in silence and then agreed unconditionally. "As +you say, Mr. Dwyer," he returned. "I've heard of you for a thoroughbred +sport. I know you'll do what you say you'll do; and as for me I'll do +what you say and just as you say, and it's a very pretty piece of work +as it stands." + +They all stepped back into the cab, and then it was that they were met +by a fresh difficulty, how to get the detective into the barn where the +fight was to take place, for neither of the two men had $250 to pay for +his admittance. + +But this was overcome when Gallegher remembered the window of which +young Keppler had told him. + +In the event of Hade's losing courage and not daring to show himself in +the crowd around the ring, it was agreed that Dwyer should come to the +barn and warn Hefflefinger; but if he should come, Dwyer was merely to +keep near him and to signify by a prearranged gesture which one of the +crowd he was. + +They drew up before a great black shadow of a house, dark, forbidding, +and apparently deserted. But at the sound of the wheels on the gravel +the door opened, letting out a stream of warm, cheerful light, and a +man's voice said, "Put out those lights. Don't youse know no better +than that?" This was Keppler, and he welcomed Mr. Dwyer with effusive +courtesy. + +The two men showed in the stream of light, and the door closed on them, +leaving the house as it was at first, black and silent, save for the +dripping of the rain and snow from the eaves. + +The detective and Gallegher put out the cab's lamps and led the horse +toward a long, low shed in the rear of the yard, which they now noticed +was almost filled with teams of many different makes, from the Hobson's +choice of a livery stable to the brougham of the man about town. + +"No," said Gallegher, as the cabman stopped to hitch the horse beside +the others, "we want it nearest that lower gate. When we newspaper men +leave this place we'll leave it in a hurry, and the man who is nearest +town is likely to get there first. You won't be a-following of no hearse +when you make your return trip." + +Gallegher tied the horse to the very gate-post itself, leaving the gate +open and allowing a clear road and a flying start for the prospective +race to Newspaper Row. + +The driver disappeared under the shelter of the porch, and Gallegher and +the detective moved off cautiously to the rear of the barn. "This must +be the window," said Hefflefinger, pointing to a broad wooden shutter +some feet from the ground. + +"Just you give me a boost once, and I'll get that open in a jiffy," said +Gallegher. + +The detective placed his hands on his knees, and Gallegher stood upon +his shoulders, and with the blade of his knife lifted the wooden button +that fastened the window on the inside, and pulled the shutter open. + +Then he put one leg inside over the sill, and leaning down helped to +draw his fellow-conspirator up to a level with the window. "I feel just +like I was burglarizing a house," chuckled Gallegher, as he dropped +noiselessly to the floor below and refastened the shutter. The barn was +a large one, with a row of stalls on either side in which horses and +cows were dozing. There was a haymow over each row of stalls, and at one +end of the barn a number of fence-rails had been thrown across from one +mow to the other. These rails were covered with hay. + +{Illustration with caption: Gallegher stood upon his shoulders.} + +In the middle of the floor was the ring. It was not really a ring, but a +square, with wooden posts at its four corners through which ran a heavy +rope. The space inclosed by the rope was covered with sawdust. + +Gallegher could not resist stepping into the ring, and after stamping +the sawdust once or twice, as if to assure himself that he was really +there, began dancing around it, and indulging in such a remarkable +series of fistic manoeuvres with an imaginary adversary that the +unimaginative detective precipitately backed into a corner of the barn. + +"Now, then," said Gallegher, having apparently vanquished his foe, "you +come with me." His companion followed quickly as Gallegher climbed +to one of the hay-mows, and crawling carefully out on the fence-rail, +stretched himself at full length, face downward. In this position, by +moving the straw a little, he could look down, without being himself +seen, upon the heads of whomsoever stood below. "This is better'n a +private box, ain't it?" said Gallegher. + +The boy from the newspaper office and the detective lay there in +silence, biting at straws and tossing anxiously on their comfortable +bed. + +It seemed fully two hours before they came. Gallegher had listened +without breathing, and with every muscle on a strain, at least a dozen +times, when some movement in the yard had led him to believe that they +were at the door. And he had numerous doubts and fears. Sometimes it was +that the police had learnt of the fight, and had raided Keppler's in his +absence, and again it was that the fight had been postponed, or, worst +of all, that it would be put off until so late that Mr. Dwyer could not +get back in time for the last edition of the paper. Their coming, when +at last they came, was heralded by an advance-guard of two sporting men, +who stationed themselves at either side of the big door. + +"Hurry up, now, gents," one of the men said with a shiver, "don't keep +this door open no longer'n is needful." + +It was not a very large crowd, but it was wonderfully well selected. It +ran, in the majority of its component parts, to heavy white coats with +pearl buttons. The white coats were shouldered by long blue coats with +astrakhan fur trimmings, the wearers of which preserved a cliqueness not +remarkable when one considers that they believed every one else present +to be either a crook or a prize-fighter. + +There were well-fed, well-groomed club-men and brokers in the crowd, a +politician or two, a popular comedian with his manager, amateur boxers +from the athletic clubs, and quiet, close-mouthed sporting men from +every city in the country. Their names if printed in the papers would +have been as familiar as the types of the papers themselves. + +And among these men, whose only thought was of the brutal sport to come, +was Hade, with Dwyer standing at ease at his shoulder,--Hade, white, +and visibly in deep anxiety, hiding his pale face beneath a cloth +travelling-cap, and with his chin muffled in a woollen scarf. He had +dared to come because he feared his danger from the already suspicious +Keppler was less than if he stayed away. And so he was there, hovering +restlessly on the border of the crowd, feeling his danger and sick with +fear. + +When Hefflefinger first saw him he started up on his hands and elbows +and made a movement forward as if he would leap down then and there and +carry off his prisoner single-handed. + +"Lie down," growled Gallegher; "an officer of any sort wouldn't live +three minutes in that crowd." + +The detective drew back slowly and buried himself again in the straw, +but never once through the long fight which followed did his eyes leave +the person of the murderer. The newspaper men took their places in the +foremost row close around the ring, and kept looking at their watches +and begging the master of ceremonies to "shake it up, do." + +There was a great deal of betting, and all of the men handled the great +roll of bills they wagered with a flippant recklessness which could only +be accounted for in Gallegher's mind by temporary mental derangement. +Some one pulled a box out into the ring and the master of ceremonies +mounted it, and pointed out in forcible language that as they were +almost all already under bonds to keep the peace, it behooved all to +curb their excitement and to maintain a severe silence, unless they +wanted to bring the police upon them and have themselves "sent down" for +a year or two. + +Then two very disreputable-looking persons tossed their respective +principals' high hats into the ring, and the crowd, recognizing in this +relic of the days when brave knights threw down their gauntlets in +the lists as only a sign that the fight was about to begin, cheered +tumultuously. + +This was followed by a sudden surging forward, and a mutter of +admiration much more flattering than the cheers had been, when the +principals followed their hats, and slipping out of their great-coats, +stood forth in all the physical beauty of the perfect brute. + +Their pink skin was as soft and healthy looking as a baby's, and glowed +in the lights of the lanterns like tinted ivory, and underneath this +silken covering the great biceps and muscles moved in and out and looked +like the coils of a snake around the branch of a tree. + +Gentleman and blackguard shouldered each other for a nearer view; the +coachmen, whose metal buttons were unpleasantly suggestive of police, +put their hands, in the excitement of the moment, on the shoulders +of their masters; the perspiration stood out in great drops on the +foreheads of the backers, and the newspaper men bit somewhat nervously +at the ends of their pencils. + +And in the stalls the cows munched contentedly at their cuds and gazed +with gentle curiosity at their two fellow-brutes, who stood waiting the +signal to fall upon, and kill each other if need be, for the delectation +of their brothers. + +"Take your places," commanded the master of ceremonies. + +In the moment in which the two men faced each other the crowd became so +still that, save for the beating of the rain upon the shingled roof and +the stamping of a horse in one of the stalls, the place was as silent as +a church. + +"Time," shouted the master of ceremonies. + +The two men sprang into a posture of defence, which was lost as quickly +as it was taken, one great arm shot out like a piston-rod; there was +the sound of bare fists beating on naked flesh; there was an exultant +indrawn gasp of savage pleasure and relief from the crowd, and the great +fight had begun. + +How the fortunes of war rose and fell, and changed and rechanged that +night, is an old story to those who listen to such stories; and those +who do not will be glad to be spared the telling of it. It was, they +say, one of the bitterest fights between two men that this country has +ever known. + +But all that is of interest here is that after an hour of this desperate +brutal business the champion ceased to be the favorite; the man whom +he had taunted and bullied, and for whom the public had but little +sympathy, was proving himself a likely winner, and under his cruel +blows, as sharp and clean as those from a cutlass, his opponent was +rapidly giving way. + +The men about the ropes were past all control now; they drowned +Keppler's petitions for silence with oaths and in inarticulate shouts of +anger, as if the blows had fallen upon them, and in mad rejoicings. They +swept from one end of the ring to the other, with every muscle leaping +in unison with those of the man they favored, and when a New York +correspondent muttered over his shoulder that this would be the biggest +sporting surprise since the Heenan-Sayers fight, Mr. Dwyer nodded his +head sympathetically in assent. + +In the excitement and tumult it is doubtful if any heard the three +quickly repeated blows that fell heavily from the outside upon the big +doors of the barn. If they did, it was already too late to mend matters, +for the door fell, torn from its hinges, and as it fell a captain of +police sprang into the light from out of the storm, with his lieutenants +and their men crowding close at his shoulder. + +In the panic and stampede that followed, several of the men stood as +helplessly immovable as though they had seen a ghost; others made a +mad rush into the arms of the officers and were beaten back against +the ropes of the ring; others dived headlong into the stalls, among the +horses and cattle, and still others shoved the rolls of money they held +into the hands of the police and begged like children to be allowed to +escape. + +The instant the door fell and the raid was declared Hefflefinger slipped +over the cross rails on which he had been lying, hung for an instant by +his hands, and then dropped into the centre of the fighting mob on the +floor. He was out of it in an instant with the agility of a pickpocket, +was across the room and at Hade's throat like a dog. The murderer, for +the moment, was the calmer man of the two. + +"Here," he panted, "hands off, now. There's no need for all this +violence. There's no great harm in looking at a fight, is there? There's +a hundred-dollar bill in my right hand; take it and let me slip out of +this. No one is looking. Here." + +But the detective only held him the closer. + +"I want you for burglary," he whispered under his breath. "You've got to +come with me now, and quick. The less fuss you make, the better for both +of us. If you don't know who I am, you can feel my badge under my coat +there. I've got the authority. It's all regular, and when we're out of +this d--d row I'll show you the papers." + +He took one hand from Hade's throat and pulled a pair of handcuffs from +his pocket. + +"It's a mistake. This is an outrage," gasped the murderer, white and +trembling, but dreadfully alive and desperate for his liberty. "Let me +go, I tell you! Take your hands off of me! Do I look like a burglar, you +fool?" + +"I know who you look like," whispered the detective, with his face close +to the face of his prisoner. "Now, will you go easy as a burglar, or +shall I tell these men who you are and what I _do_ want you for? Shall +I call out your real name or not? Shall I tell them? Quick, speak up; +shall I?" + +There was something so exultant--something so unnecessarily savage in +the officer's face that the man he held saw that the detective knew him +for what he really was, and the hands that had held his throat slipped +down around his shoulders, or he would have fallen. The man's eyes +opened and closed again, and he swayed weakly backward and forward, and +choked as if his throat were dry and burning. Even to such a hardened +connoisseur in crime as Gallegher, who stood closely by, drinking it in, +there was something so abject in the man's terror that he regarded him +with what was almost a touch of pity. + +"For God's sake," Hade begged, "let me go. Come with me to my room and +I'll give you half the money. I'll divide with you fairly. We can both +get away. There's a fortune for both of us there. We both can get away. +You'll be rich for life. Do you understand--for life!" + +But the detective, to his credit, only shut his lips the tighter. + +"That's enough," he whispered, in return. "That's more than I expected. +You've sentenced yourself already. Come!" + +Two officers in uniform barred their exit at the door, but Hefflefinger +smiled easily and showed his badge. + +"One of Byrnes's men," he said, in explanation; "came over expressly +to take this chap. He's a burglar; 'Arlie' Lane, _alias_ Carleton. I've +shown the papers to the captain. It's all regular. I'm just going to get +his traps at the hotel and walk him over to the station. I guess we'll +push right on to New York to-night." + +The officers nodded and smiled their admiration for the representative +of what is, perhaps, the best detective force in the world, and let him +pass. + +Then Hefflefinger turned and spoke to Gallegher, who still stood as +watchful as a dog at his side. "I'm going to his room to get the bonds +and stuff," he whispered; "then I'll march him to the station and take +that train. I've done my share; don't forget yours!" + +"Oh, you'll get your money right enough," said Gallegher. "And, sa-ay," +he added, with the appreciative nod of an expert, "do you know, you did +it rather well." + +Mr. Dwyer had been writing while the raid was settling down, as he had +been writing while waiting for the fight to begin. Now he walked over to +where the other correspondents stood in angry conclave. + +The newspaper men had informed the officers who hemmed them in that they +represented the principal papers of the country, and were expostulating +vigorously with the captain, who had planned the raid, and who declared +they were under arrest. + +{Illustration with caption: "For God's sake," Hade begged, "let me go!"} + +"Don't be an ass, Scott," said Mr. Dwyer, who was too excited to be +polite or politic. "You know our being here isn't a matter of choice. We +came here on business, as you did, and you've no right to hold us." + +"If we don't get our stuff on the wire at once," protested a New York +man, "we'll be too late for to-morrow's paper, and----" + +Captain Scott said he did not care a profanely small amount for +to-morrow's paper, and that all he knew was that to the station-house +the newspaper men would go. There they would have a hearing, and if the +magistrate chose to let them off, that was the magistrate's business, +but that his duty was to take them into custody. + +"But then it will be too late, don't you understand?" shouted Mr. Dwyer. +"You've got to let us go _now,_ at once." + +"I can't do it, Mr. Dwyer," said the captain, "and that's all there is +to it. Why, haven't I just sent the president of the Junior Republican +Club to the patrol-wagon, the man that put this coat on me, and do you +think I can let you fellows go after that? You were all put under bonds +to keep the peace not three days ago, and here you're at it--fighting +like badgers. It's worth my place to let one of you off." + +What Mr. Dwyer said next was so uncomplimentary to the gallant Captain +Scott that that overwrought individual seized the sporting editor by the +shoulder, and shoved him into the hands of two of his men. + +This was more than the distinguished Mr. Dwyer could brook, and he +excitedly raised his hand in resistance. But before he had time to do +anything foolish his wrist was gripped by one strong, little hand, and +he was conscious that another was picking the pocket of his great-coat. + +He slapped his hands to his sides, and looking down, saw Gallegher +standing close behind him and holding him by the wrist. Mr. Dwyer +had forgotten the boy's existence, and would have spoken sharply if +something in Gallegher's innocent eyes had not stopped him. + +Gallegher's hand was still in that pocket, in which Mr. Dwyer had shoved +his note-book filled with what he had written of Gallegher's work and +Hade's final capture, and with a running descriptive account of the +fight. With his eyes fixed on Mr. Dwyer, Gallegher drew it out, and with +a quick movement shoved it inside his waistcoat. Mr. Dwyer gave a nod of +comprehension. Then glancing at his two guardsmen, and finding that they +were still interested in the wordy battle of the correspondents +with their chief, and had seen nothing, he stooped and whispered to +Gallegher: "The forms are locked at twenty minutes to three. If you +don't get there by that time it will be of no use, but if you're on time +you'll beat the town--and the country too." + +Gallegher's eyes flashed significantly, and nodding his head to show he +understood, started boldly on a run toward the door. But the officers +who guarded it brought him to an abrupt halt, and, much to Mr. Dwyer's +astonishment, drew from him what was apparently a torrent of tears. + +"Let me go to me father. I want me father," the boy shrieked, +hysterically. "They've 'rested father. Oh, daddy, daddy. They're a-goin' +to take you to prison." + +"Who is your father, sonny?" asked one of the guardians of the gate. + +"Keppler's me father," sobbed Gallegher. "They're a-goin' to lock him +up, and I'll never see him no more." + +"Oh, yes, you will," said the officer, good-naturedly; "he's there in +that first patrol-wagon. You can run over and say good night to him, and +then you'd better get to bed. This ain't no place for kids of your age." + +"Thank you, sir," sniffed Gallegher, tearfully, as the two officers +raised their clubs, and let him pass out into the darkness. + +The yard outside was in a tumult, horses were stamping, and plunging, +and backing the carriages into one another; lights were flashing from +every window of what had been apparently an uninhabited house, and the +voices of the prisoners were still raised in angry expostulation. + +Three police patrol-wagons were moving about the yard, filled with +unwilling passengers, who sat or stood, packed together like sheep, and +with no protection from the sleet and rain. + +Gallegher stole off into a dark corner, and watched the scene until his +eyesight became familiar with the position of the land. + +Then with his eyes fixed fearfully on the swinging light of a lantern +with which an officer was searching among the carriages, he groped his +way between horses' hoofs and behind the wheels of carriages to the cab +which he had himself placed at the furthermost gate. It was still there, +and the horse, as he had left it, with its head turned toward the city. +Gallegher opened the big gate noiselessly, and worked nervously at the +hitching strap. The knot was covered with a thin coating of ice, and +it was several minutes before he could loosen it. But his teeth finally +pulled it apart, and with the reins in his hands he sprang upon the +wheel. And as he stood so, a shock of fear ran down his back like an +electric current, his breath left him, and he stood immovable, gazing +with wide eyes into the darkness. + +The officer with the lantern had suddenly loomed up from behind a +carriage not fifty feet distant, and was standing perfectly still, with +his lantern held over his head, peering so directly toward Gallegher +that the boy felt that he must see him. Gallegher stood with one foot on +the hub of the wheel and with the other on the box waiting to spring. It +seemed a minute before either of them moved, and then the officer took +a step forward, and demanded sternly, "Who is that? What are you doing +there?" + +There was no time for parley then. Gallegher felt that he had been taken +in the act, and that his only chance lay in open flight. He leaped up +on the box, pulling out the whip as he did so, and with a quick sweep +lashed the horse across the head and back. The animal sprang forward +with a snort, narrowly clearing the gate-post, and plunged off into the +darkness. + +"Stop!" cried the officer. + +So many of Gallegher's acquaintances among the 'longshoremen and mill +hands had been challenged in so much the same manner that Gallegher +knew what would probably follow if the challenge was disregarded. So he +slipped from his seat to the footboard below, and ducked his head. + +The three reports of a pistol, which rang out briskly from behind him, +proved that his early training had given him a valuable fund of useful +miscellaneous knowledge. + +"Don't you be scared," he said, reassuringly, to the horse; "he's firing +in the air." + +The pistol-shots were answered by the impatient clangor of a +patrol-wagon's gong, and glancing over his shoulder Gallegher saw its +red and green lanterns tossing from side to side and looking in the +darkness like the side-lights of a yacht plunging forward in a storm. + +"I hadn't bargained to race you against no patrol-wagons," said +Gallegher to his animal; "but if they want a race, we'll give them a +tough tussle for it, won't we?" + +Philadelphia, lying four miles to the south, sent up a faint yellow glow +to the sky. It seemed very far away, and Gallegher's braggadocio grew +cold within him at the loneliness of his adventure and the thought of +the long ride before him. + +It was still bitterly cold. + +The rain and sleet beat through his clothes, and struck his skin with a +sharp chilling touch that set him trembling. + +Even the thought of the over-weighted patrol-wagon probably sticking +in the mud some safe distance in the rear, failed to cheer him, and the +excitement that had so far made him callous to the cold died out and +left him weaker and nervous. But his horse was chilled with the long +standing, and now leaped eagerly forward, only too willing to warm the +half-frozen blood in its veins. + +"You're a good beast," said Gallegher, plaintively. "You've got more +nerve than me. Don't you go back on me now. Mr. Dwyer says we've got +to beat the town." Gallegher had no idea what time it was as he rode +through the night, but he knew he would be able to find out from a +big clock over a manufactory at a point nearly three-quarters of the +distance from Keppler's to the goal. + +He was still in the open country and driving recklessly, for he knew the +best part of his ride must be made outside the city limits. + +He raced between desolate-looking corn-fields with bare stalks and +patches of muddy earth rising above the thin covering of snow, truck +farms and brick-yards fell behind him on either side. It was very lonely +work, and once or twice the dogs ran yelping to the gates and barked +after him. + +Part of his way lay parallel with the railroad tracks, and he drove +for some time beside long lines of freight and coal cars as they stood +resting for the night. The fantastic Queen Anne suburban stations were +dark and deserted, but in one or two of the block-towers he could +see the operators writing at their desks, and the sight in some way +comforted him. + +Once he thought of stopping to get out the blanket in which he had +wrapped himself on the first trip, but he feared to spare the time, and +drove on with his teeth chattering and his shoulders shaking with the +cold. + +He welcomed the first solitary row of darkened houses with a faint cheer +of recognition. The scattered lamp-posts lightened his spirits, and even +the badly paved streets rang under the beats of his horse's feet like +music. Great mills and manufactories, with only a night-watchman's light +in the lowest of their many stories, began to take the place of the +gloomy farm-houses and gaunt trees that had startled him with their +grotesque shapes. He had been driving nearly an hour, he calculated, and +in that time the rain had changed to a wet snow, that fell heavily +and clung to whatever it touched. He passed block after block of trim +workmen's houses, as still and silent as the sleepers within them, and +at last he turned the horse's head into Broad Street, the city's great +thoroughfare, that stretches from its one end to the other and cuts it +evenly in two. + +He was driving noiselessly over the snow and slush in the street, with +his thoughts bent only on the clock-face he wished so much to see, when +a hoarse voice challenged him from the sidewalk. "Hey, you, stop there, +hold up!" said the voice. + +Gallegher turned his head, and though he saw that the voice came from +under a policeman's helmet, his only answer was to hit his horse sharply +over the head with his whip and to urge it into a gallop. + +This, on his part, was followed by a sharp, shrill whistle from the +policeman. Another whistle answered it from a street-corner one block +ahead of him. "Whoa," said Gallegher, pulling on the reins. "There's +one too many of them," he added, in apologetic explanation. The horse +stopped, and stood, breathing heavily, with great clouds of steam rising +from its flanks. + +"Why in hell didn't you stop when I told you to?" demanded the voice, +now close at the cab's side. + +"I didn't hear you," returned Gallegher, sweetly. "But I heard you +whistle, and I heard your partner whistle, and I thought maybe it was me +you wanted to speak to, so I just stopped." + +"You heard me well enough. Why aren't your lights lit?" demanded the +voice. + +"Should I have 'em lit?" asked Gallegher, bending over and regarding +them with sudden interest. + +"You know you should, and if you don't, you've no right to be driving +that cab. I don't believe you're the regular driver, anyway. Where'd you +get it?" + +"It ain't my cab, of course," said Gallegher, with an easy laugh. "It's +Luke McGovern's. He left it outside Cronin's while he went in to get a +drink, and he took too much, and me father told me to drive it round to +the stable for him. I'm Cronin's son. McGovern ain't in no condition to +drive. You can see yourself how he's been misusing the horse. He puts it +up at Bachman's livery stable, and I was just going around there now." + +Gallegher's knowledge of the local celebrities of the district confused +the zealous officer of the peace. He surveyed the boy with a steady +stare that would have distressed a less skilful liar, but Gallegher only +shrugged his shoulders slightly, as if from the cold, and waited with +apparent indifference to what the officer would say next. + +In reality his heart was beating heavily against his side, and he felt +that if he was kept on a strain much longer he would give way and break +down. A second snow-covered form emerged suddenly from the shadow of the +houses. + +"What is it, Reeder?" it asked. + +"Oh, nothing much," replied the first officer. + +"This kid hadn't any lamps lit, so I called to him to stop and he didn't +do it, so I whistled to you. It's all right, though. He's just taking it +round to Bachman's. Go ahead," he added, sulkily. + +"Get up!" chirped Gallegher. "Good night," he added, over his shoulder. + +Gallegher gave an hysterical little gasp of relief as he trotted away +from the two policemen, and poured bitter maledictions on their heads +for two meddling fools as he went. + +"They might as well kill a man as scare him to death," he said, with +an attempt to get back to his customary flippancy. But the effort was +somewhat pitiful, and he felt guiltily conscious that a salt, warm tear +was creeping slowly down his face, and that a lump that would not keep +down was rising in his throat. + +"'Tain't no fair thing for the whole police force to keep worrying at +a little boy like me," he said, in shame-faced apology. "I'm not doing +nothing wrong, and I'm half froze to death, and yet they keep a-nagging +at me." + +It was so cold that when the boy stamped his feet against the footboard +to keep them warm, sharp pains shot up through his body, and when he +beat his arms about his shoulders, as he had seen real cabmen do, the +blood in his finger-tips tingled so acutely that he cried aloud with the +pain. + +He had often been up that late before, but he had never felt so sleepy. +It was as if some one was pressing a sponge heavy with chloroform near +his face, and he could not fight off the drowsiness that lay hold of +him. + +He saw, dimly hanging above his head, a round disc of light that seemed +like a great moon, and which he finally guessed to be the clock-face for +which he had been on the look-out. He had passed it before he realized +this; but the fact stirred him into wakefulness again, and when his +cab's wheels slipped around the City Hall corner, he remembered to +look up at the other big clock-face that keeps awake over the railroad +station and measures out the night. + +He gave a gasp of consternation when he saw that it was half-past two, +and that there was but ten minutes left to him. This, and the many +electric lights and the sight of the familiar pile of buildings, +startled him into a semi-consciousness of where he was and how great was +the necessity for haste. + +He rose in his seat and called on the horse, and urged it into a +reckless gallop over the slippery asphalt. He considered nothing else +but speed, and looking neither to the left nor right dashed off down +Broad Street into Chestnut, where his course lay straight away to the +office, now only seven blocks distant. + +Gallegher never knew how it began, but he was suddenly assaulted by +shouts on either side, his horse was thrown back on its haunches, and +he found two men in cabmen's livery hanging at its head, and patting its +sides, and calling it by name. And the other cabmen who have their stand +at the corner were swarming about the carriage, all of them talking and +swearing at once, and gesticulating wildly with their whips. + +They said they knew the cab was McGovern's, and they wanted to know +where he was, and why he wasn't on it; they wanted to know where +Gallegher had stolen it, and why he had been such a fool as to drive it +into the arms of its owner's friends; they said that it was about time +that a cab-driver could get off his box to take a drink without having +his cab run away with, and some of them called loudly for a policeman to +take the young thief in charge. + +Gallegher felt as if he had been suddenly dragged into consciousness +out of a bad dream, and stood for a second like a half-awakened +somnambulist. + +They had stopped the cab under an electric light, and its glare shone +coldly down upon the trampled snow and the faces of the men around him. + +Gallegher bent forward, and lashed savagely at the horse with his whip. + +"Let me go," he shouted, as he tugged impotently at the reins. "Let me +go, I tell you. I haven't stole no cab, and you've got no right to stop +me. I only want to take it to the _Press_ office," he begged. "They'll +send it back to you all right. They'll pay you for the trip. I'm not +running away with it. The driver's got the collar--he's 'rested--and I'm +only a-going to the _Press_ office. Do you hear me?" he cried, his voice +rising and breaking in a shriek of passion and disappointment. "I tell +you to let go those reins. Let me go, or I'll kill you. Do you hear me? +I'll kill you." And leaning forward, the boy struck savagely with his +long whip at the faces of the men about the horse's head. + +Some one in the crowd reached up and caught him by the ankles, and with +a quick jerk pulled him off the box, and threw him on to the street. But +he was up on his knees in a moment, and caught at the man's hand. + +"Don't let them stop me, mister," he cried, "please let me go. I didn't +steal the cab, sir. S'help me, I didn't. I'm telling you the truth. Take +me to the _Press_ office, and they'll prove it to you. They'll pay you +anything you ask 'em. It's only such a little ways now, and I've come +so far, sir. Please don't let them stop me," he sobbed, clasping the man +about the knees. "For Heaven's sake, mister, let me go!" + +The managing editor of the _Press_ took up the india-rubber +speaking-tube at his side, and answered, "Not yet" to an inquiry the +night editor had already put to him five times within the last twenty +minutes. + +Then he snapped the metal top of the tube impatiently, and went +up-stairs. As he passed the door of the local room, he noticed that the +reporters had not gone home, but were sitting about on the tables and +chairs, waiting. They looked up inquiringly as he passed, and the city +editor asked, "Any news yet?" and the managing editor shook his head. + +The compositors were standing idle in the composing-room, and their +foreman was talking with the night editor. + +"Well," said that gentleman, tentatively. + +"Well," returned the managing editor, "I don't think we can wait; do +you?" + +"It's a half-hour after time now," said the night editor, "and we'll +miss the suburban trains if we hold the paper back any longer. We can't +afford to wait for a purely hypothetical story. The chances are all +against the fight's having taken place or this Hade's having been +arrested." + +"But if we're beaten on it--" suggested the chief. "But I don't think +that is possible. If there were any story to print, Dwyer would have had +it here before now." + +The managing editor looked steadily down at the floor. + +"Very well," he said, slowly, "we won't wait any longer. Go ahead," he +added, turning to the foreman with a sigh of reluctance. The foreman +whirled himself about, and began to give his orders; but the two editors +still looked at each other doubtfully. + +As they stood so, there came a sudden shout and the sound of people +running to and fro in the reportorial rooms below. There was the tramp +of many footsteps on the stairs, and above the confusion they heard the +voice of the city editor telling some one to "run to Madden's and get +some brandy, quick." + +No one in the composing-room said anything; but those compositors who +had started to go home began slipping off their overcoats, and every one +stood with his eyes fixed on the door. + +It was kicked open from the outside, and in the doorway stood a +cab-driver and the city editor, supporting between them a pitiful little +figure of a boy, wet and miserable, and with the snow melting on his +clothes and running in little pools to the floor. "Why, it's Gallegher," +said the night editor, in a tone of the keenest disappointment. + +Gallegher shook himself free from his supporters, and took an unsteady +step forward, his fingers fumbling stiffly with the buttons of his +waistcoat. + +"Mr. Dwyer, sir," he began faintly, with his eyes fixed fearfully on the +managing editor, "he got arrested--and I couldn't get here no sooner, +'cause they kept a-stopping me, and they took me cab from under +me--but--" he pulled the notebook from his breast and held it out with +its covers damp and limp from the rain, "but we got Hade, and here's Mr. +Dwyer's copy." + +And then he asked, with a queer note in his voice, partly of dread and +partly of hope, "Am I in time, sir?" + +The managing editor took the book, and tossed it to the foreman, who +ripped out its leaves and dealt them out to his men as rapidly as a +gambler deals out cards. + +Then the managing editor stooped and picked Gallegher up in his arms, +and, sitting down, began to unlace his wet and muddy shoes. + +Gallegher made a faint effort to resist this degradation of the +managerial dignity; but his protest was a very feeble one, and his head +fell back heavily on the managing editor's shoulder. + +To Gallegher the incandescent lights began to whirl about in circles, +and to burn in different colors; the faces of the reporters kneeling +before him and chafing his hands and feet grew dim and unfamiliar, and +the roar and rumble of the great presses in the basement sounded far +away, like the murmur of the sea. + +And then the place and the circumstances of it came back to him again +sharply and with sudden vividness. + +Gallegher looked up, with a faint smile, into the managing editor's +face. "You won't turn me off for running away, will you?" he whispered. + +The managing editor did not answer immediately. His head was bent, and +he was thinking, for some reason or other, of a little boy of his own, +at home in bed. Then he said, quietly, "Not this time, Gallegher." + +Gallegher's head sank back comfortably on the older man's shoulder, and +he smiled comprehensively at the faces of the young men crowded around +him. "You hadn't ought to," he said, with a touch of his old impudence, +"'cause--I beat the town." + + + + +A WALK UP THE AVENUE + + +He came down the steps slowly, and pulling mechanically at his gloves. + +He remembered afterwards that some woman's face had nodded brightly +to him from a passing brougham, and that he had lifted his hat through +force of habit, and without knowing who she was. + +He stopped at the bottom of the steps, and stood for a moment +uncertainly, and then turned toward the north, not because he had any +definite goal in his mind, but because the other way led toward his +rooms, and he did not want to go there yet. + +He was conscious of a strange feeling of elation, which he attributed +to his being free, and to the fact that he was his own master again +in everything. And with this he confessed to a distinct feeling of +littleness, of having acted meanly or unworthily of himself or of her. + +And yet he had behaved well, even quixotically. He had tried to leave +the impression with her that it was her wish, and that she had broken +with him, not he with her. + +He held a man who threw a girl over as something contemptible, and he +certainly did not want to appear to himself in that light; or, for her +sake, that people should think he had tired of her, or found her wanting +in any one particular. He knew only too well how people would talk. How +they would say he had never really cared for her; that he didn't know +his own mind when he had proposed to her; and that it was a great deal +better for her as it is than if he had grown out of humor with her +later. As to their saying she had jilted him, he didn't mind that. He +much preferred they should take that view of it, and he was chivalrous +enough to hope she would think so too. + +He was walking slowly, and had reached Thirtieth Street. A great many +young girls and women had bowed to him or nodded from the passing +carriages, but it did not tend to disturb the measure of his thoughts. +He was used to having people put themselves out to speak to him; +everybody made a point of knowing him, not because he was so very +handsome and well-looking, and an over-popular youth, but because he was +as yet unspoiled by it. + +But, in any event, he concluded, it was a miserable business. Still, he +had only done what was right. He had seen it coming on for a month now, +and how much better it was that they should separate now than later, or +that they should have had to live separated in all but location for the +rest of their lives! Yes, he had done the right thing--decidedly the +only thing to do. + +He was still walking up the Avenue, and had reached Thirty-second +Street, at which point his thoughts received a sudden turn. A half-dozen +men in a club window nodded to him, and brought to him sharply what he +was going back to. He had dropped out of their lives as entirely of late +as though he had been living in a distant city. When he had met them he +had found their company uninteresting and unprofitable. He had wondered +how he had ever cared for that sort of thing, and where had been the +pleasure of it. Was he going back now to the gossip of that window, to +the heavy discussions of traps and horses, to late breakfasts and early +suppers? Must he listen to their congratulations on his being one of +them again, and must he guess at their whispered conjectures as to how +soon it would be before he again took up the chains and harness of their +fashion? He struck the pavement sharply with his stick. No, he was not +going back. + +She had taught him to find amusement and occupation in many things +that were better and higher than any pleasures or pursuits he had known +before, and he could not give them up. He had her to thank for that at +least. And he would give her credit for it too, and gratefully. He would +always remember it, and he would show in his way of living the influence +and the good effects of these three months in which they had been +continually together. + +He had reached Forty-second Street now. Well, it was over with, and he +would get to work at something or other. This experience had shown him +that he was not meant for marriage; that he was intended to live alone. +Because, if he found that a girl as lovely as she undeniably was palled +on him after three months, it was evident that he would never live +through life with any other one. Yes, he would always be a bachelor. He +had lived his life, had told his story at the age of twenty-five, and +would wait patiently for the end, a marked and gloomy man. He would +travel now and see the world. He would go to that hotel in Cairo she was +always talking about, where they were to have gone on their honeymoon; +or he might strike further into Africa, and come back bronzed and worn +with long marches and jungle fever, and with his hair prematurely white. +He even considered himself, with great self-pity, returning and finding +her married and happy, of course. And he enjoyed, in anticipation, the +secret doubts she would have of her later choice when she heard on all +sides praise of this distinguished traveller. + +And he pictured himself meeting her reproachful glances with fatherly +friendliness, and presenting her husband with tiger-skins, and buying +her children extravagant presents. + +This was at Forty-fifth Street. + +Yes, that was decidedly the best thing to do. To go away and improve +himself, and study up all those painters and cathedrals with which she +was so hopelessly conversant. + +He remembered how out of it she had once made him feel, and how secretly +he had admired her when she had referred to a modern painting as looking +like those in the long gallery of the Louvre. He thought he knew all +about the Louvre, but he would go over again and locate that long +gallery, and become able to talk to her understandingly about it. + +And then it came over him like a blast of icy air that he could never +talk over things with her again. He had reached Fifty-fifth Street now, +and the shock brought him to a standstill on the corner, where he stood +gazing blankly before him. He felt rather weak physically, and decided +to go back to his rooms, and then he pictured how cheerless they would +look, and how little of comfort they contained. He had used them only to +dress and sleep in of late, and the distaste with which he regarded +the idea that he must go back to them to read and sit and live in them, +showed him how utterly his life had become bound up with the house on +Twenty-seventh Street. + +"Where was he to go in the evening?" he asked himself, with pathetic +hopelessness, "or in the morning or afternoon for that matter?" Were +there to be no more of those journeys to picture-galleries and to +the big publishing houses, where they used to hover over the new book +counter and pull the books about, and make each other innumerable +presents of daintily bound volumes, until the clerks grew to know them +so well that they never went through the form of asking where the books +were to be sent? And those tete-a-tete luncheons at her house when her +mother was upstairs with a headache or a dressmaker, and the long rides +and walks in the Park in the afternoon, and the rush down town to dress, +only to return to dine with them, ten minutes late always, and always +with some new excuse, which was allowed if it was clever, and frowned at +if it was common-place--was all this really over? + +Why, the town had only run on because she was in it, and as he walked +the streets the very shop windows had suggested her to him--florists +only existed that he might send her flowers, and gowns and bonnets in +the milliners' windows were only pretty as they would become her; and as +for the theatres and the newspapers, they were only worth while as they +gave her pleasure. And he had given all this up, and for what, he asked +himself, and why? + +He could not answer that now. It was simply because he had been +surfeited with too much content, he replied, passionately. He had not +appreciated how happy he had been. She had been too kind, too gracious. +He had never known until he had quarrelled with her and lost her how +precious and dear she had been to him. + +He was at the entrance to the Park now, and he strode on along the walk, +bitterly upbraiding himself for being worse than a criminal--a fool, a +common blind mortal to whom a goddess had stooped. + +He remembered with bitter regret a turn off the drive into which they +had wandered one day, a secluded, pretty spot with a circle of box +around it, and into the turf of which he had driven his stick, and +claimed it for them both by the right of discovery. And he recalled how +they had used to go there, just out of sight of their friends in the +ride, and sit and chatter on a green bench beneath a bush of box, +like any nursery maid and her young man, while her groom stood at the +brougham door in the bridle-path beyond. He had broken off a sprig of +the box one day and given it to her, and she had kissed it foolishly, +and laughed, and hidden it in the folds of her riding-skirt, in +burlesque fear lest the guards should arrest them for breaking the +much-advertised ordinance. + +And he remembered with a miserable smile how she had delighted him +with her account of her adventure to her mother, and described them as +fleeing down the Avenue with their treasure, pursued by a squadron of +mounted policemen. + +This and a hundred other of the foolish, happy fancies they had shared +in common came back to him, and he remembered how she had stopped one +cold afternoon just outside of this favorite spot, beside an open iron +grating sunk in the path, into which the rain had washed the autumn +leaves, and pretended it was a steam radiator, and held her slim gloved +hands out over it as if to warm them. + +How absurdly happy she used to make him, and how light-hearted she had +been! He determined suddenly and sentimentally to go to that secret +place now, and bury the engagement ring she had handed back to him under +that bush as he had buried his hopes of happiness, and he pictured how +some day when he was dead she would read of this in his will, and go and +dig up the ring, and remember and forgive him. He struck off from the +walk across the turf straight toward this dell, taking the ring from his +waistcoat pocket and clinching it in his hand. He was walking quickly +with rapt interest in this idea of abnegation when he noticed, +unconsciously at first and then with a start, the familiar outlines and +colors of her brougham drawn up in the drive not twenty yards from their +old meeting-place. He could not be mistaken; he knew the horses well +enough, and there was old Wallis on the box and young Wallis on the +path. + +He stopped breathlessly, and then tipped on cautiously, keeping the +encircling line of bushes between him and the carriage. And then he saw +through the leaves that there was some one in the place, and that it was +she. He stopped, confused and amazed. He could not comprehend it. She +must have driven to the place immediately on his departure. But why? And +why to that place of all others? + +He parted the bushes with his hands, and saw her lovely and +sweet-looking as she had always been, standing under the box bush beside +the bench, and breaking off one of the green branches. The branch parted +and the stem flew back to its place again, leaving a green sprig in her +hand. She turned at that moment directly toward him, and he could see +from his hiding-place how she lifted the leaves to her lips, and that a +tear was creeping down her cheek. + +Then he dashed the bushes aside with both arms, and with a cry that no +one but she heard sprang toward her. + +Young Van Bibber stopped his mail phaeton in front of the club, and went +inside to recuperate, and told how he had seen them driving home through +the Park in her brougham and unchaperoned. + +"Which I call very bad form," said the punctilious Van Bibber, "even +though they are engaged." + + + + +MY DISREPUTABLE FRIEND, MR. RAEGEN + + +Rags Raegen was out of his element. The water was his proper +element--the water of the East River by preference. And when it came to +"running the roofs," as he would have himself expressed it, he was "not +in it." + +On those other occasions when he had been followed by the police, he +had raced them toward the river front and had dived boldly in from the +wharf, leaving them staring blankly and in some alarm as to his safety. +Indeed, three different men in the precinct, who did not know of +young Raegen's aquatic prowess, had returned to the station-house and +seriously reported him to the sergeant as lost, and regretted having +driven a citizen into the river, where he had been unfortunately +drowned. It was even told how, on one occasion, when hotly followed, +young Raegen had dived off Wakeman's Slip, at East Thirty-third Street, +and had then swum back under water to the landing-steps, while the +policeman and a crowd of stevedores stood watching for him to reappear +where he had sunk. It is further related that he had then, in a spirit +of recklessness, and in the possibility of the policeman's failing +to recognize him, pushed his way through the crowd from the rear and +plunged in to rescue the supposedly drowned man. And that after two or +three futile attempts to find his own corpse, he had climbed up on the +dock and told the officer that he had touched the body sticking in the +mud. And, as a result of this fiction, the river-police dragged the +river-bed around Wakeman's Slip with grappling irons for four hours, +while Rags sat on the wharf and directed their movements. + +But on this present occasion the police were standing between him and +the river, and so cut off his escape in that direction, and as they had +seen him strike McGonegal and had seen McGonegal fall, he had to run for +it and seek refuge on the roofs. What made it worse was that he was not +in his own hunting-grounds, but in McGonegal's, and while any tenement +on Cherry Street would have given him shelter, either for love of him or +fear of him, these of Thirty-third Street were against him and "all that +Cherry Street gang," while "Pike" McGonegal was their darling and their +hero. And, if Rags had known it, any tenement on the block was better +than Case's, into which he first turned, for Case's was empty and +untenanted, save in one or two rooms, and the opportunities for dodging +from one to another were in consequence very few. But he could not know +this, and so he plunged into the dark hall-way and sprang up the first +four flights of stairs, three steps at a jump, with one arm stretched +out in front of him, for it was very dark and the turns were short. On +the fourth floor he fell headlong over a bucket with a broom sticking +in it, and cursed whoever left it there. There was a ladder leading from +the sixth floor to the roof, and he ran up this and drew it after him as +he fell forward out of the wooden trap that opened on the flat tin roof +like a companion-way of a ship. The chimneys would have hidden him, but +there was a policeman's helmet coming up from another companion-way, +and he saw that the Italians hanging out of the windows of the other +tenements were pointing at him and showing him to the officer. So he +hung by his hands and dropped back again. It was not much of a fall, +but it jarred him, and the race he had already run had nearly taken his +breath from him. For Rags did not live a life calculated to fit young +men for sudden trials of speed. + +He stumbled back down the narrow stairs, and, with a vivid recollection +of the bucket he had already fallen upon, felt his way cautiously with +his hands and with one foot stuck out in front of him. If he had been in +his own bailiwick, he would have rather enjoyed the tense excitement +of the chase than otherwise, for there he was at home and knew all the +cross-cuts and where to find each broken paling in the roof-fences, and +all the traps in the roofs. But here he was running in a maze, and +what looked like a safe passage-way might throw him head on into the +outstretched arms of the officers. + +And while he felt his way his mind was terribly acute to the fact that +as yet no door on any of the landings had been thrown open to him, +either curiously or hospitably as offering a place of refuge. He did not +want to be taken, but in spite of this he was quite cool, and so, +when he heard quick, heavy footsteps beating up the stairs, he stopped +himself suddenly by placing one hand on the side of the wall and the +other on the banister and halted, panting. He could distinguish from +below the high voices of women and children and excited men in the +street, and as the steps came nearer he heard some one lowering the +ladder he had thrown upon the roof to the sixth floor and preparing to +descend. "Ah!" snarled Raegen, panting and desperate, "youse think you +have me now, sure, don't you?" It rather frightened him to find the +house so silent, for, save the footsteps of the officers, descending and +ascending upon him, he seemed to be the only living person in all the +dark, silent building. + +He did not want to fight. + +He was under heavy bonds already to keep the peace, and this last had +surely been in self-defence, and he felt he could prove it. What he +wanted now was to get away, to get back to his own people and to lie +hidden in his own cellar or garret, where they would feed and guard him +until the trouble was over. And still, like the two ends of a vise, the +representatives of the law were closing in upon him. He turned the knob +of the door opening to the landing on which he stood, and tried to push +it in, but it was locked. Then he stepped quickly to the door on the +opposite side and threw his shoulder against it. The door opened, and +he stumbled forward sprawling. The room in which he had taken refuge was +almost bare, and very dark; but in a little room leading from it he saw +a pile of tossed-up bedding on the floor, and he dived at this as though +it was water, and crawled far under it until he reached the wall beyond, +squirming on his face and stomach, and flattening out his arms and legs. +Then he lay motionless, holding back his breath, and listening to the +beating of his heart and to the footsteps on the stairs. The footsteps +stopped on the landing leading to the outer room, and he could hear the +murmur of voices as the two men questioned one another. Then the door +was kicked open, and there was a long silence, broken sharply by the +click of a revolver. + +"Maybe he's in there," said a bass voice. The men stamped across the +floor leading into the dark room in which he lay, and halted at the +entrance. They did not stand there over a moment before they turned and +moved away again; but to Raegen, lying with blood-vessels choked, and +with his hand pressed across his mouth, it seemed as if they had been +contemplating and enjoying his agony for over an hour. "I was in this +place not more than twelve hours ago," said one of them easily. "I come +in to take a couple out for fighting. They were yelling 'murder' and +'police,' and breaking things; but they went quiet enough. The man is a +stevedore, I guess, and him and his wife used to get drunk regular and +carry on up here every night or so. They got thirty days on the Island." + +"Who's taking care of the rooms?" asked the bass voice. The first voice +said he guessed "no one was," and added: "There ain't much to take care +of, that I can see." "That's so," assented the bass voice. "Well," he +went on briskly, "he's not here; but he's in the building, sure, for he +put back when he seen me coming over the roof. And he didn't pass me, +neither, I know that, anyway," protested the bass voice. Then the bass +voice said that he must have slipped into the flat below, and added +something that Raegen could not hear distinctly, about Schaffer on the +roof, and their having him safe enough, as that red-headed cop from the +Eighteenth Precinct was watching on the street. They closed the door +behind them, and their footsteps clattered down the stairs, leaving the +big house silent and apparently deserted. Young Raegen raised his head, +and let his breath escape with a great gasp of relief, as when he had +been a long time under water, and cautiously rubbed the perspiration +out of his eyes and from his forehead. It had been a cruelly hot, close +afternoon, and the stifling burial under the heavy bedding, and the +excitement, had left him feverishly hot and trembling. It was already +growing dark outside, although he could not know that until he lifted +the quilts an inch or two and peered up at the dirty window-panes. He +was afraid to rise, as yet, and flattened himself out with an impatient +sigh, as he gathered the bedding over his head again and held back +his breath to listen. There may have been a minute or more of absolute +silence in which he lay there, and then his blood froze to ice in his +veins, his breath stopped, and he heard, with a quick gasp of terror, +the sound of something crawling toward him across the floor of the outer +room. The instinct of self-defence moved him first to leap to his feet, +and to face and fight it, and then followed as quickly a foolish sense +of safety in his hiding-place; and he called upon his greatest strength, +and, by his mere brute will alone, forced his forehead down to the bare +floor and lay rigid, though his nerves jerked with unknown, unreasoning +fear. And still he heard the sound of this living thing coming creeping +toward him until the instinctive terror that shook him overcame his +will, and he threw the bed-clothes from him with a hoarse cry, and +sprang up trembling to his feet, with his back against the wall, +and with his arms thrown out in front of him wildly, and with the +willingness in them and the power in them to do murder. + +The room was very dark, but the windows of the one beyond let in a +little stream of light across the floor, and in this light he saw moving +toward him on its hands and knees a little baby who smiled and nodded at +him with a pleased look of recognition and kindly welcome. + +The fear upon Raegen had been so strong and the reaction was so great +that he dropped to a sitting posture on the heap of bedding and laughed +long and weakly, and still with a feeling in his heart that this +apparition was something strangely unreal and menacing. + +{Illustration with caption: He sprang up trembling to his feet.} + +But the baby seemed well pleased with his laughter, and stopped to throw +back its head and smile and coo and laugh gently with him as though the +joke was a very good one which they shared in common. Then it struggled +solemnly to its feet and came pattering toward him on a run, with both +bare arms held out, and with a look of such confidence in him, and +welcome in its face, that Raegen stretched out his arms and closed the +baby's fingers fearfully and gently in his own. + +He had never seen so beautiful a child. There was dirt enough on its +hands and face, and its torn dress was soiled with streaks of coal and +ashes. The dust of the floor had rubbed into its bare knees, but the +face was like no other face that Rags had ever seen. And then it looked +at him as though it trusted him, and just as though they had known each +other at some time long before, but the eyes of the baby somehow seemed +to hurt him so that he had to turn his face away, and when he looked +again it was with a strangely new feeling of dissatisfaction with +himself and of wishing to ask pardon. They were wonderful eyes, black +and rich, and with a deep superiority of knowledge in them, a knowledge +that seemed to be above the knowledge of evil; and when the baby smiled +at him, the eyes smiled too with confidence and tenderness in them that +in some way frightened Rags and made him move uncomfortably. "Did you +know that youse scared me so that I was going to kill you?" whispered +Rags, apologetically, as he carefully held the baby from him at arm's +length. "Did you?" But the baby only smiled at this and reached out its +hand and stroked Rag's cheek with its fingers. There was something so +wonderfully soft and sweet in this that Rags drew the baby nearer and +gave a quick, strange gasp of pleasure as it threw its arms around his +neck and brought the face up close to his chin and hugged him tightly. +The baby's arms were very soft and plump, and its cheek and tangled +hair were warm and moist with perspiration, and the breath that fell +on Raegen's face was sweeter than anything he had ever known. He felt +wonderfully and for some reason uncomfortably happy, but the silence was +oppressive. + +"What's your name, little 'un?" said Rags. The baby ran its arms more +closely around Raegen's neck and did not speak, unless its cooing in +Raegen's ear was an answer. "What did you say your name was?" persisted +Raegen, in a whisper. The baby frowned at this and stopped cooing +long enough to say: "Marg'ret," mechanically and without apparently +associating the name with herself or anything else. "Margaret, eh!" said +Raegen, with grave consideration. "It's a very pretty name," he added, +politely, for he could not shake off the feeling that he was in the +presence of a superior being. "An' what did you say your dad's name +was?" asked Raegen, awkwardly. But this was beyond the baby's patience +or knowledge, and she waived the question aside with both arms and began +to beat a tattoo gently with her two closed fists on Raegen's chin and +throat. "You're mighty strong now, ain't you?" mocked the young giant, +laughing. "Perhaps you don't know, Missie," he added, gravely, "that +your dad and mar are doing time on the Island, and you won't see 'em +again for a month." No, the baby did not know this nor care apparently; +she seemed content with Rags and with his company. Sometimes she drew +away and looked at him long and dubiously, and this cut Rags to the +heart, and he felt guilty, and unreasonably anxious until she smiled +reassuringly again and ran back into his arms, nestling her face against +his and stroking his rough chin wonderingly with her little fingers. + +Rags forgot the lateness of the night and the darkness that fell upon +the room in the interest of this strange entertainment, which was so +much more absorbing, and so much more innocent than any other he had +ever known. He almost forgot the fact that he lay in hiding, that he +was surrounded by unfriendly neighbors, and that at any moment the +representatives of local justice might come in and rudely lead him away. +For this reason he dared not make a light, but he moved his position so +that the glare from an electric lamp on the street outside might fall +across the baby's face, as it lay alternately dozing and awakening, +to smile up at him in the bend of his arm. Once it reached inside the +collar of his shirt and pulled out the scapular that hung around his +neck, and looked at it so long, and with such apparent seriousness, that +Rags was confirmed in his fear that this kindly visitor was something +more or less of a superhuman agent, and his efforts to make this +supposition coincide with the fact that the angel's parents were on +Blackwell's Island, proved one of the severest struggles his mind had +ever experienced. He had forgotten to feel hungry, and the knowledge +that he was acutely so, first came to him with the thought that the +baby must obviously be in greatest need of food herself. This pained +him greatly, and he laid his burden down upon the bedding, and after +slipping off his shoes, tip-toed his way across the room on a foraging +expedition after something she could eat. There was a half of a +ham-bone, and a half loaf of hard bread in a cupboard, and on the table +he found a bottle quite filled with wretched whiskey. That the police +had failed to see the baby had not appealed to him in any way, but that +they should have allowed this last find to remain unnoticed pleased him +intensely, not because it now fell to him, but because they had been +cheated of it. It really struck him as so humorous that he stood +laughing silently for several minutes, slapping his thigh with every +outward exhibition of the keenest mirth. But when he found that the room +and cupboard were bare of anything else that might be eaten he sobered +suddenly. It was very hot, and though the windows were open, the +perspiration stood upon his face, and the foul close air that rose from +the court and street below made him gasp and pant for breath. He dipped +a wash rag in the water from the spigot in the hall, and filled a cup +with it and bathed the baby's face and wrists. She woke and sipped up +the water from the cup eagerly, and then looked up at him, as if to ask +for something more. Rags soaked the crusty bread in the water, and put +it to the baby's lips, but after nibbling at it eagerly she shook her +head and looked up at him again with such reproachful pleading in her +eyes, that Rags felt her silence more keenly than the worst abuse he had +ever received. + +It hurt him so, that the pain brought tears to his eyes. + +"Deary girl," he cried, "I'd give you anything you could think of if +I had it. But I can't get it, see? It ain't that I don't want to--good +Lord, little 'un, you don't think that, do you?" + +The baby smiled at this, just as though she understood him, and touched +his face as if to comfort him, so that Rags felt that same exquisite +content again, which moved him so strangely whenever the child caressed +him, and which left him soberly wondering. Then the baby crawled up onto +his lap and dropped asleep, while Rags sat motionless and fanned her +with a folded newspaper, stopping every now and then to pass the damp +cloth over her warm face and arms. It was quite late now. Outside he +could hear the neighbors laughing and talking on the roofs, and when one +group sang hilariously to an accordion, he cursed them under his breath +for noisy, drunken fools, and in his anger lest they should disturb the +child in his arms, expressed an anxious hope that they would fall off +and break their useless necks. It grew silent and much cooler as the +night ran out, but Rags still sat immovable, shivering slightly every +now and then and cautiously stretching his stiff legs and body. The arm +that held the child grew stiff and numb with the light burden, but he +took a fierce pleasure in the pain, and became hardened to it, and at +last fell into an uneasy slumber from which he awoke to pass his hands +gently over the soft yielding body, and to draw it slowly and closer to +him. And then, from very weariness, his eyes closed and his head fell +back heavily against the wall, and the man and the child in his arms +slept peacefully in the dark corner of the deserted tenement. + +The sun rose hissing out of the East River, a broad, red disc of heat. +It swept the cross-streets of the city as pitilessly as the search-light +of a man-of-war sweeps the ocean. It blazed brazenly into open windows, +and changed beds into gridirons on which the sleepers tossed and +turned and woke unrefreshed and with throats dry and parched. Its glare +awakened Rags into a startled belief that the place about him was on +fire, and he stared wildly until the child in his arms brought him back +to the knowledge of where he was. He ached in every joint and limb, and +his eyes smarted with the dry heat, but the baby concerned him most, for +she was breathing with hard, long, irregular gasps, her mouth was open +and her absurdly small fists were clenched, and around her closed eyes +were deep blue rings. Rags felt a cold rush of fear and uncertainty come +over him as he stared about him helplessly for aid. He had seen babies +look like this before, in the tenements; they were like this when the +young doctors of the Health Board climbed to the roofs to see them, +and they were like this, only quiet and still, when the ambulance came +clattering up the narrow streets, and bore them away. Rags carried the +baby into the outer room, where the sun had not yet penetrated, and laid +her down gently on the coverlets; then he let the water in the sink run +until it was fairly cool, and with this bathed the baby's face and hands +and feet, and lifted a cup of the water to her open lips. She woke at +this and smiled again, but very faintly, and when she looked at him he +felt fearfully sure that she did not know him, and that she was looking +through and past him at something he could not see. + +He did not know what to do, and he wanted to do so much. Milk was the +only thing he was quite sure babies cared for, but in want of this he +made a mess of bits of the dry ham and crumbs of bread, moistened with +the raw whiskey, and put it to her lips on the end of a spoon. The baby +tasted this, and pushed his hand away, and then looked up and gave a +feeble cry, and seemed to say, as plainly as a grown woman could have +said or written, "It isn't any use, Rags. You are very good to me, but, +indeed, I cannot do it. Don't worry, please; I don't blame you." + +"Great Lord," gasped Rags, with a queer choking in his throat, "but +ain't she got grit." Then he bethought him of the people who he still +believed inhabited the rest of the tenement, and he concluded that as +the day was yet so early they might still be asleep, and that while they +slept, he could "lift"--as he mentally described the act--whatever +they might have laid away for breakfast. Excited with this hope, he ran +noiselessly down the stairs in his bare feet, and tried the doors of +the different landings. But each he found open and each room bare and +deserted. Then it occurred to him that at this hour he might even risk +a sally into the street. He had money with him, and the milk-carts and +bakers' wagons must be passing every minute. He ran back to get the +money out of his coat, delighted with the chance and chiding himself for +not having dared to do it sooner. He stood over the baby a moment before +he left the room, and flushed like a girl as he stooped and kissed one +of the bare arms. "I'm going out to get you some breakfast," he said. +"I won't be gone long, but if I should," he added, as he paused and +shrugged his shoulders, "I'll send the sergeant after you from the +station-house. If I only wasn't under bonds," he muttered, as he slipped +down the stairs. "If it wasn't for that they couldn't give me more'n a +month at the most, even knowing all they do of me. It was only a street +fight, anyway, and there was some there that must have seen him pull +his pistol." He stopped at the top of the first flight of stairs and +sat down to wait. He could see below the top of the open front door, the +pavement and a part of the street beyond, and when he heard the rattle +of an approaching cart he ran on down and then, with an oath, turned and +broke up-stairs again. He had seen the ward detectives standing together +on the opposite side of the street. + +"Wot are they doing out a bed at this hour?" he demanded angrily. "Don't +they make trouble enough through the day, without prowling around before +decent people are up? I wonder, now, if they're after me." He dropped +on his knees when he reached the room where the baby lay, and peered +cautiously out of the window at the detectives, who had been joined by +two other men, with whom they were talking earnestly. Raegen knew +the new-comers for two of McGonegal's friends, and concluded, with a +momentary flush of pride and self-importance, that the detectives were +forced to be up at this early hour solely on his account. But this was +followed by the afterthought that he must have hurt McGonegal seriously, +and that he was wanted in consequence very much. This disturbed him +most, he was surprised to find, because it precluded his going forth in +search of food. "I guess I can't get you that milk I was looking for," +he said, jocularly, to the baby, for the excitement elated him. "The sun +outside isn't good for me health." The baby settled herself in his arms +and slept again, which sobered Rags, for he argued it was a bad sign, +and his own ravenous appetite warned him how the child suffered. When +he again offered her the mixture he had prepared for her, she took it +eagerly, and Rags breathed a sigh of satisfaction. Then he ate some of +the bread and ham himself and swallowed half the whiskey, and stretched +out beside the child and fanned her while she slept. It was something +strangely incomprehensible to Rags that he should feel so keen +a satisfaction in doing even this little for her, but he gave up +wondering, and forgot everything else in watching the strange beauty +of the sleeping baby and in the odd feeling of responsibility and +self-respect she had brought to him. + +He did not feel it coming on, or he would have fought against it, but +the heat of the day and the sleeplessness of the night before, and the +fumes of the whiskey on his empty stomach, drew him unconsciously into +a dull stupor, so that the paper fan slipped from his hand, and he sank +back on the bedding into a heavy sleep. When he awoke it was nearly dusk +and past six o'clock, as he knew by the newsboys calling the sporting +extras on the street below. He sprang up, cursing himself, and filled +with bitter remorse. + +"I'm a drunken fool, that's what I am," said Rags, savagely. "I've let +her lie here all day in the heat with no one to watch her." Margaret was +breathing so softly that he could hardly discern any life at all, and +his heart almost stopped with fear. He picked her up and fanned and +patted her into wakefulness again and then turned desperately to the +window and looked down. There was no one he knew or who knew him as far +as he could tell on the street, and he determined recklessly to risk +another sortie for food. + +"Why, it's been near two days that child's gone without eating," he +said, with keen self-reproach, "and here you've let her suffer to save +yourself a trip to the Island. You're a hulking big loafer, you are," he +ran on, muttering, "and after her coming to you and taking notice of you +and putting her face to yours like an angel." He slipped off his shoes +and picked his way cautiously down the stairs. + +As he reached the top of the first flight a newsboy passed, calling the +evening papers, and shouted something which Rags could not distinguish. +He wished he could get a copy of the paper. It might tell him, he +thought, something about himself. The boy was coming nearer, and Rags +stopped and leaned forward to listen. + +"Extry! Extry!" shouted the newsboy, running. "Sun, World, and Mail. +Full account of the murder of Pike McGonegal by Ragsey Raegen." + +The lights in the street seemed to flash up suddenly and grow dim again, +leaving Rags blind and dizzy. + +"Stop," he yelled, "stop. Murdered, no, by God, no," he cried, +staggering half-way down the stairs; "stop, stop!" But no one heard +Rags, and the sound of his own voice halted him. He sank back weak and +sick upon the top step of the stairs and beat his hands together upon +his head. + +"It's a lie, it's a lie," he whispered, thickly. "I struck him in +self-defence, s'help me. I struck him in self-defence. He drove me to +it. He pulled his gun on me. I done it in self-defence." + +And then the whole appearance of the young tough changed, and the terror +and horror that had showed on his face turned to one of low sharpness +and evil cunning. His lips drew together tightly and he breathed quickly +through his nostrils, while his fingers locked and unlocked around his +knees. All that he had learned on the streets and wharves and roof-tops, +all that pitiable experience and dangerous knowledge that had made him +a leader and a hero among the thieves and bullies of the river-front he +called to his assistance now. He faced the fact flatly and with the cool +consideration of an uninterested counsellor. He knew that the history of +his life was written on Police Court blotters from the day that he was +ten years old, and with pitiless detail; that what friends he had he +held more by fear than by affection, and that his enemies, who were +many, only wanted just such a chance as this to revenge injuries long +suffered and bitterly cherished, and that his only safety lay in secret +and instant flight. The ferries were watched, of course; he knew that +the depots, too, were covered by the men whose only duty was to watch +the coming and to halt the departing criminal. But he knew of one old +man who was too wise to ask questions and who would row him over the +East River to Astoria, and of another on the west side whose boat was +always at the disposal of silent white-faced young men who might come at +any hour of the night or morning, and whom he would pilot across to the +Jersey shore and keep well away from the lights of the passing ferries +and the green lamp of the police boat. And once across, he had only to +change his name and write for money to be forwarded to that name, and +turn to work until the thing was covered up and forgotten. He rose to +his feet in his full strength again, and intensely and agreeably excited +with the danger, and possibly fatal termination, of his adventure, and +then there fell upon him, with the suddenness of a blow, the remembrance +of the little child lying on the dirty bedding in the room above. + +"I can't do it," he muttered fiercely; "I can't do it," he cried, as if +he argued with some other presence. "There's a rope around me neck, +and the chances are all against me; it's every man for himself and no +favor." He threw his arms out before him as if to push the thought away +from him and ran his fingers through his hair and over his face. All of +his old self rose in him and mocked him for a weak fool, and showed +him just how great his personal danger was, and so he turned and dashed +forward on a run, not only to the street, but as if to escape from the +other self that held him back. He was still without his shoes, and in +his bare feet, and he stopped as he noticed this and turned to go up +stairs for them, and then he pictured to himself the baby lying as he +had left her, weakly unconscious and with dark rims around her eyes, +and he asked himself excitedly what he would do, if, on his return, she +should wake and smile and reach out her hands to him. + +"I don't dare go back," he said, breathlessly. "I don't dare do it; +killing's too good for the likes of Pike McGonegal, but I'm not fighting +babies. An' maybe, if I went back, maybe I wouldn't have the nerve to +leave her; I can't do it," he muttered, "I don't dare go back." But +still he did not stir, but stood motionless, with one hand trembling on +the stair-rail and the other clenched beside him, and so fought it on +alone in the silence of the empty building. + +The lights in the stores below came out one by one, and the minutes +passed into half-hours, and still he stood there with the noise of the +streets coming up to him below speaking of escape and of a long life of +ill-regulated pleasures, and up above him the baby lay in the darkness +and reached out her hands to him in her sleep. + +The surly old sergeant of the Twenty-first Precinct station-house had +read the evening papers through for the third time and was dozing in the +fierce lights of the gas-jet over the high desk when a young man with a +white, haggard face came in from the street with a baby in his arms. + +"I want to see the woman thet look after the station-house--quick," he +said. + +The surly old sergeant did not like the peremptory tone of the young man +nor his general appearance, for he had no hat, nor coat, and his feet +were bare; so he said, with deliberate dignity, that the char-woman was +up-stairs lying down, and what did the young man want with her? "This +child," said the visitor, in a queer thick voice, "she's sick. The +heat's come over her, and she ain't had anything to eat for two days, +an' she's starving. Ring the bell for the matron, will yer, and send one +of your men around for the house surgeon." The sergeant leaned forward +comfortably on his elbows, with his hands under his chin so that the +gold lace on his cuffs shone effectively in the gaslight. He believed he +had a sense of humor and he chose this unfortunate moment to exhibit it. + +"Did you take this for a dispensary, young man?" he asked; "or," he +continued, with added facetiousness, "a foundling hospital?" + +The young man made a savage spring at the barrier in front of the high +desk. "Damn you," he panted, "ring that bell, do you hear me, or I'll +pull you off that seat and twist your heart out." + +The baby cried at this sudden outburst, and Rags fell back, patting +it with his hand and muttering between his closed teeth. The sergeant +called to the men of the reserve squad in the reading-room beyond, and +to humor this desperate visitor, sounded the gong for the janitress. The +reserve squad trooped in leisurely with the playing-cards in their hands +and with their pipes in their mouths. + +"This man," growled the sergeant, pointing with the end of his cigar to +Rags, "is either drunk, or crazy, or a bit of both." + +The char-woman came down stairs majestically, in a long, loose wrapper, +fanning herself with a palm-leaf fan, but when she saw the child, her +majesty dropped from her like a cloak, and she ran toward her and caught +the baby up in her arms. "You poor little thing," she murmured, "and, +oh, how beautiful!" Then she whirled about on the men of the reserve +squad: "You, Conners," she said, "run up to my room and get the milk out +of my ice-chest; and Moore, put on your coat and go around and tell the +surgeon I want to see him. And one of you crack some ice up fine in a +towel. Take it out of the cooler. Quick, now." + +Raegen came up to her fearfully. "Is she very sick?" he begged; "she +ain't going to die, is she?" + +"Of course not," said the woman, promptly, "but she's down with +the heat, and she hasn't been properly cared for; the child looks +half-starved. Are you her father?" she asked, sharply. But Rags did not +speak, for at the moment she had answered his question and had said the +baby would not die, he had reached out swiftly, and taken the child out +of her arms and held it hard against his breast, as though he had lost +her and some one had been just giving her back to him. + +His head was bending over hers, and so he did not see Wade and Heffner, +the two ward detectives, as they came in from the street, looking hot, +and tired, and anxious. They gave a careless glance at the group, and +then stopped with a start, and one of them gave a long, low whistle. + +"Well," exclaimed Wade, with a gasp of surprise and relief. "So Raegen, +you're here, after all, are you? Well, you did give us a chase, you did. +Who took you?" + +The men of the reserve squad, when they heard the name of the man for +whom the whole force had been looking for the past two days, shifted +their positions slightly, and looked curiously at Rags, and the woman +stopped pouring out the milk from the bottle in her hand, and stared at +him in frank astonishment. Raegen threw back his head and shoulders, and +ran his eyes coldly over the faces of the semicircle of men around him. + +"Who took me?" he began defiantly, with a swagger of braggadocio, and +then, as though it were hardly worth while, and as though the presence +of the baby lifted him above everything else, he stopped, and raised +her until her cheek touched his own. It rested there a moment, while Rag +stood silent. + +"Who took me?" he repeated, quietly, and without lifting his eyes from +the baby's face. "Nobody took me," he said. "I gave myself up." + +One morning, three months later, when Raegen had stopped his ice-cart in +front of my door, I asked him whether at any time he had ever regretted +what he had done. + +"Well, sir," he said, with easy superiority, "seeing that I've shook the +gang, and that the Society's decided her folks ain't fit to take care of +her, we can't help thinking we are better off, see? + +{Illustration with caption: She'd reach out her hands and kiss me.} + +"But, as for my ever regretting it, why, even when things was at the +worst, when the case was going dead against me, and before that cop, you +remember, swore to McGonegal's drawing the pistol, and when I used to +sit in the Tombs expecting I'd have to hang for it, well, even then, +they used to bring her to see me every day, and when they'd lift her up, +and she'd reach out her hands and kiss me through the bars, why--they +could have took me out and hung me, and been damned to 'em, for all I'd +have cared." + + + + +THE OTHER WOMAN + + +Young Latimer stood on one of the lower steps of the hall stairs, +leaning with one hand on the broad railing and smiling down at her. She +had followed him from the drawing-room and had stopped at the entrance, +drawing the curtains behind her, and making, unconsciously, a dark +background for her head and figure. He thought he had never seen her +look more beautiful, nor that cold, fine air of thorough breeding about +her which was her greatest beauty to him, more strongly in evidence. + +"Well, sir," she said, "why don't you go?" + +He shifted his position slightly and leaned more comfortably upon the +railing, as though he intended to discuss it with her at some length. + +"How can I go," he said, argumentatively, "with you standing +there--looking like that?" + +"I really believe," the girl said, slowly, "that he is afraid; yes, he +is afraid. And you always said," she added, turning to him, "you were so +brave." + +"Oh, I am sure I never said that," exclaimed the young man, calmly. "I +may be brave, in fact, I am quite brave, but I never said I was. Some +one must have told you." + +"Yes, he is afraid," she said, nodding her head to the tall clock across +the hall, "he is temporizing and trying to save time. And afraid of a +man, too, and such a good man who would not hurt any one." + +"You know a bishop is always a very difficult sort of a person," he +said, "and when he happens to be your father, the combination is just +a bit awful. Isn't it now? And especially when one means to ask him for +his daughter. You know it isn't like asking him to let one smoke in his +study." + +"If I loved a girl," she said, shaking her head and smiling up at him, +"I wouldn't be afraid of the whole world; that's what they say in books, +isn't it? I would be so bold and happy." + +"Oh, well, I'm bold enough," said the young man, easily; "if I had +not been, I never would have asked you to marry me; and I'm happy +enough--that's because I did ask you. But what if he says no," continued +the youth; "what if he says he has greater ambitions for you, just as +they say in books, too. What will you do? Will you run away with me? I +can borrow a coach just as they used to do, and we can drive off through +the Park and be married, and come back and ask his blessing on our +knees--unless he should overtake us on the elevated." + +"That," said the girl, decidedly, "is flippant, and I'm going to leave +you. I never thought to marry a man who would be frightened at the very +first. I am greatly disappointed." + +She stepped back into the drawing-room and pulled the curtains to behind +her, and then opened them again and whispered, "Please don't be long," +and disappeared. He waited, smiling, to see if she would make another +appearance, but she did not, and he heard her touch the keys of the +piano at the other end of the drawing-room. And so, still smiling and +with her last words sounding in his ears, he walked slowly up the stairs +and knocked at the door of the bishop's study. The bishop's room was not +ecclesiastic in its character. It looked much like the room of any man +of any calling who cared for his books and to have pictures about him, +and copies of the beautiful things he had seen on his travels. There +were pictures of the Virgin and the Child, but they were those that are +seen in almost any house, and there were etchings and plaster casts, and +there were hundreds of books, and dark red curtains, and an open fire +that lit up the pots of brass with ferns in them, and the blue and +white plaques on the top of the bookcase. The bishop sat before his +writing-table, with one hand shading his eyes from the light of a +red-covered lamp, and looked up and smiled pleasantly and nodded as the +young man entered. He had a very strong face, with white hair hanging +at the side, but was still a young man for one in such a high office. +He was a man interested in many things, who could talk to men of any +profession or to the mere man of pleasure, and could interest them in +what he said, and force their respect and liking. And he was very good, +and had, they said, seen much trouble. + +"I am afraid I interrupted you," said the young man, tentatively. + +"No, I have interrupted myself," replied the bishop. "I don't seem to +make this clear to myself," he said, touching the paper in front of +him, "and so I very much doubt if I am going to make it clear to any one +else. However," he added, smiling, as he pushed the manuscript to one +side, "we are not going to talk about that now. What have you to tell me +that is new?" + +The younger man glanced up quickly at this, but the bishop's face +showed that his words had had no ulterior meaning, and that he suspected +nothing more serious to come than the gossip of the clubs or a report of +the local political fight in which he was keenly interested, or on their +mission on the East Side. But it seemed an opportunity to Latimer. + +"I _have_ something new to tell you," he said, gravely, and with +his eyes turned toward the open fire, "and I don't know how to do it +exactly. I mean I don't just know how it is generally done or how to +tell it best." He hesitated and leaned forward, with his hands locked +in front of him, and his elbows resting on his knees. He was not in the +least frightened. The bishop had listened to many strange stories, to +many confessions, in this same study, and had learned to take them as a +matter of course; but to-night something in the manner of the young man +before him made him stir uneasily, and he waited for him to disclose the +object of his visit with some impatience. + +"I will suppose, sir," said young Latimer, finally, "that you know me +rather well--I mean you know who my people are, and what I am doing here +in New York, and who my friends are, and what my work amounts to. You +have let me see a great deal of you, and I have appreciated your +doing so very much; to so young a man as myself it has been a great +compliment, and it has been of great benefit to me. I know that better +than any one else. I say this because unless you had shown me this +confidence it would have been almost impossible for me to say to +you what I am going to say now. But you have allowed me to come here +frequently, and to see you and talk with you here in your study, and to +see even more of your daughter. Of course, sir, you did not suppose that +I came here only to see you. I came here because I found that if I did +not see Miss Ellen for a day, that that day was wasted, and that I spent +it uneasily and discontentedly, and the necessity of seeing her even +more frequently has grown so great that I cannot come here as often as +I seem to want to come unless I am engaged to her, unless I come as her +husband that is to be." The young man had been speaking very slowly and +picking his words, but now he raised his head and ran on quickly. + +"I have spoken to her and told her how I love her, and she has told me +that she loves me, and that if you will not oppose us, will marry me. +That is the news I have to tell you, sir. I don't know but that I might +have told it differently, but that is it. I need not urge on you my +position and all that, because I do not think that weighs with you; but +I do tell you that I love Ellen so dearly that, though I am not worthy +of her, of course, I have no other pleasure than to give her pleasure +and to try to make her happy. I have the power to do it; but what is +much more, I have the wish to do it; it is all I think of now, and all +that I can ever think of. What she thinks of me you must ask her; but +what she is to me neither she can tell you nor do I believe that I +myself could make you understand." The young man's face was flushed and +eager, and as he finished speaking he raised his head and watched the +bishop's countenance anxiously. But the older man's face was hidden by +his hand as he leaned with his elbow on his writing-table. His other +hand was playing with a pen, and when he began to speak, which he did +after a long pause, he still turned it between his fingers and looked +down at it. + +"I suppose," he said, as softly as though he were speaking to himself, +"that I should have known this; I suppose that I should have been better +prepared to hear it. But it is one of those things which men put off--I +mean those men who have children, put off--as they do making their +wills, as something that is in the future and that may be shirked until +it comes. We seem to think that our daughters will live with us always, +just as we expect to live on ourselves until death comes one day and +startles us and finds us unprepared." He took down his hand and smiled +gravely at the younger man with an evident effort, and said, "I did +not mean to speak so gloomily, but you see my point of view must be +different from yours. And she says she loves you, does she?" he added, +gently. + +Young Latimer bowed his head and murmured something inarticulately in +reply, and then held his head erect again and waited, still watching the +bishop's face. + +"I think she might have told me," said the older man; "but then I +suppose this is the better way. I am young enough to understand that +the old order changes, that the customs of my father's time differ +from those of to-day. And there is no alternative, I suppose," he said, +shaking his head. "I am stopped and told to deliver, and have no choice. +I will get used to it in time," he went on, "but it seems very hard now. +Fathers are selfish, I imagine, but she is all I have." + +Young Latimer looked gravely into the fire and wondered how long it +would last. He could just hear the piano from below, and he was anxious +to return to her. And at the same time he was drawn toward the older +man before him, and felt rather guilty, as though he really were robbing +him. But at the bishop's next words he gave up any thought of a speedy +release, and settled himself in his chair. + +"We are still to have a long talk," said the bishop. "There are many +things I must know, and of which I am sure you will inform me freely. +I believe there are some who consider me hard, and even narrow on +different points, but I do not think you will find me so, at least let +us hope not. I must confess that for a moment I almost hoped that you +might not be able to answer the questions I must ask you, but it was +only for a moment. I am only too sure you will not be found wanting, +and that the conclusion of our talk will satisfy us both. Yes, I am +confident of that." + +His manner changed, nevertheless, and Latimer saw that he was now facing +a judge and not a plaintiff who had been robbed, and that he was in turn +the defendant. And still he was in no way frightened. + +"I like you," the bishop said, "I like you very much. As you say +yourself, I have seen a great deal of you, because I have enjoyed your +society, and your views and talk were good and young and fresh, and did +me good. You have served to keep me in touch with the outside world, +a world of which I used to know at one time a great deal. I know your +people and I know you, I think, and many people have spoken to me of +you. I see why now. They, no doubt, understood what was coming better +than myself, and were meaning to reassure me concerning you. And they +said nothing but what was good of you. But there are certain things +of which no one can know but yourself, and concerning which no other +person, save myself, has a right to question you. You have promised very +fairly for my daughter's future; you have suggested more than you have +said, but I understood. You can give her many pleasures which I have not +been able to afford; she can get from you the means of seeing more of +this world in which she lives, of meeting more people, and of indulging +in her charities, or in her extravagances, for that matter, as she +wishes. I have no fear of her bodily comfort; her life, as far as that +is concerned, will be easier and broader, and with more power for good. +Her future, as I say, as you say also, is assured; but I want to ask you +this," the bishop leaned forward and watched the young man anxiously, +"you can protect her in the future, but can you assure me that you can +protect her from the past?" + +Young Latimer raised his eyes calmly and said, "I don't think I quite +understand." + +"I have perfect confidence, I say," returned the bishop, "in you as far +as your treatment of Ellen is concerned in the future. You love her and +you would do everything to make the life of the woman you love a happy +one; but this is it, Can you assure me that there is nothing in the past +that may reach forward later and touch my daughter through you--no ugly +story, no oats that have been sowed, and no boomerang that you have +thrown wantonly and that has not returned--but which may return?" + +"I think I understand you now, sir," said the young man, quietly. "I +have lived," he began, "as other men of my sort have lived. You know +what that is, for you must have seen it about you at college, and after +that before you entered the Church. I judge so from your friends, who +were your friends then, I understand. You know how they lived. I never +went in for dissipation, if you mean that, because it never attracted +me. I am afraid I kept out of it not so much out of respect for others +as for respect for myself. I found my self-respect was a very good thing +to keep, and I rather preferred keeping it and losing several pleasures +that other men managed to enjoy, apparently with free consciences. I +confess I used to rather envy them. It is no particular virtue on my +part; the thing struck me as rather more vulgar than wicked, and so I +have had no wild oats to speak of; and no woman, if that is what you +mean, can write an anonymous letter, and no man can tell you a story +about me that he could not tell in my presence." + +There was something in the way the young man spoke which would have +amply satisfied the outsider, had he been present; but the bishop's eyes +were still unrelaxed and anxious. He made an impatient motion with his +hand. + +"I know you too well, I hope," he said, "to think of doubting your +attitude in that particular. I know you are a gentleman, that is enough +for that; but there is something beyond these more common evils. You +see, I am terribly in earnest over this--you may think unjustly so, +considering how well I know you, but this child is my only child. If her +mother had lived, my responsibility would have been less great; but, as +it is, God has left her here alone to me in my hands. I do not think He +intended my duty should end when I had fed and clothed her, and taught +her to read and write. I do not think He meant that I should only act as +her guardian until the first man she fancied fancied her. I must look to +her happiness not only now when she is with me, but I must assure myself +of it when she leaves my roof. These common sins of youth I acquit you +of. Such things are beneath you, I believe, and I did not even consider +them. But there are other toils in which men become involved, other +evils or misfortunes which exist, and which threaten all men who are +young and free and attractive in many ways to women, as well as men. +You have lived the life of the young man of this day. You have reached +a place in your profession when you can afford to rest and marry and +assume the responsibilities of marriage. You look forward to a life of +content and peace and honorable ambition--a life, with your wife at your +side, which is to last forty or fifty years. You consider where you will +be twenty years from now, at what point of your career you may become a +judge or give up practice; your perspective is unlimited; you even +think of the college to which you may send your son. It is a long, quiet +future that you are looking forward to, and you choose my daughter as +the companion for that future, as the one woman with whom you could live +content for that length of time. And it is in that spirit that you come +to me to-night and that you ask me for my daughter. Now I am going to +ask you one question, and as you answer that I will tell you whether +or not you can have Ellen for your wife. You look forward, as I say, to +many years of life, and you have chosen her as best suited to live that +period with you; but I ask you this, and I demand that you answer me +truthfully, and that you remember that you are speaking to her father. +Imagine that I had the power to tell you, or rather that some superhuman +agent could convince you, that you had but a month to live, and that for +what you did in that month you would not be held responsible either by +any moral law or any law made by man, and that your life hereafter would +not be influenced by your conduct in that month, would you spend it, I +ask you--and on your answer depends mine--would you spend those thirty +days, with death at the end, with my daughter, or with some other woman +of whom I know nothing?" + +Latimer sat for some time silent, until indeed, his silence assumed +such a significance that he raised his head impatiently and said with a +motion of the hand, "I mean to answer you in a minute; I want to be sure +that I understand." + +The bishop bowed his head in assent, and for a still longer period the +men sat motionless. The clock in the corner seemed to tick more loudly, +and the dead coals dropping in the grate had a sharp, aggressive sound. +The notes of the piano that had risen from the room below had ceased. + +"If I understand you," said Latimer, finally, and his voice and his +face as he raised it were hard and aggressive, "you are stating a purely +hypothetical case. You wish to try me by conditions which do not exist, +which cannot exist. What justice is there, what right is there, +in asking me to say how I would act under circumstances which are +impossible, which lie beyond the limit of human experience? You cannot +judge a man by what he would do if he were suddenly robbed of all his +mental and moral training and of the habit of years. I am not admitting, +understand me, that if the conditions which you suggest did exist that I +would do one whit differently from what I will do if they remain as they +are. I am merely denying your right to put such a question to me at all. +You might just as well judge the shipwrecked sailors on a raft who eat +each other's flesh as you would judge a sane, healthy man who did such +a thing in his own home. Are you going to condemn men who are ice-locked +at the North Pole, or buried in the heart of Africa, and who have given +up all thought of return and are half mad and wholly without hope, as +you would judge ourselves? Are they to be weighed and balanced as you +and I are, sitting here within the sound of the cabs outside and with +a bake-shop around the corner? What you propose could not exist, could +never happen. I could never be placed where I should have to make such +a choice, and you have no right to ask me what I would do or how I +would act under conditions that are super-human--you used the word +yourself--where all that I have held to be good and just and true would +be obliterated. I would be unworthy of myself, I would be unworthy of +your daughter, if I considered such a state of things for a moment, or +if I placed my hopes of marrying her on the outcome of such a test, and +so, sir," said the young man, throwing back his head, "I must refuse to +answer you." + +The bishop lowered his hand from before his eyes and sank back wearily +into his chair. "You have answered me," he said. + +"You have no right to say that," cried the young man, springing to his +feet. "You have no right to suppose anything or to draw any conclusions. +I have not answered you." He stood with his head and shoulders thrown +back, and with his hands resting on his hips and with the fingers +working nervously at his waist. + +"What you have said," replied the bishop, in a voice that had changed +strangely, and which was inexpressibly sad and gentle, "is merely a +curtain of words to cover up your true feeling. It would have been so +easy to have said, 'For thirty days or for life Ellen is the only woman +who has the power to make me happy.' You see that would have answered me +and satisfied me. But you did not say that," he added, quickly, as the +young man made a movement as if to speak. + +"Well, and suppose this other woman did exist, what then?" demanded +Latimer. "The conditions you suggest are impossible; you must, you will +surely, sir, admit that." + +"I do not know," replied the bishop, sadly; "I do not know. It may +happen that whatever obstacle there has been which has kept you from her +may be removed. It may be that she has married, it may be that she has +fallen so low that you cannot marry her. But if you have loved her once, +you may love her again; whatever it was that separated you in the past, +that separates you now, that makes you prefer my daughter to her, may +come to an end when you are married, when it will be too late, and when +only trouble can come of it, and Ellen would bear that trouble. Can I +risk that?" + +"But I tell you it is impossible," cried the young man. "The woman is +beyond the love of any man, at least such a man as I am, or try to be." + +"Do you mean," asked the bishop, gently, and with an eager look of hope, +"that she is dead?" + +Latimer faced the father for some seconds in silence. Then he raised his +head slowly. "No," he said, "I do not mean she is dead. No, she is not +dead." + +Again the bishop moved back wearily into his chair. "You mean then," he +said, "perhaps, that she is a married woman?" Latimer pressed his lips +together at first as though he would not answer, and then raised his +eyes coldly. "Perhaps," he said. + +The older man had held up his hand as if to signify that what he was +about to say should be listened to without interruption, when a sharp +turning of the lock of the door caused both father and the suitor to +start. Then they turned and looked at each other with anxious inquiry +and with much concern, for they recognized for the first time that their +voices had been loud. The older man stepped quickly across the floor, +but before he reached the middle of the room the door opened from the +outside, and his daughter stood in the door-way, with her head held down +and her eyes looking at the floor. + +"Ellen!" exclaimed the father, in a voice of pain and the deepest pity. + +The girl moved toward the place from where his voice came, without +raising her eyes, and when she reached him put her arms about him and +hid her face on his shoulder. She moved as though she were tired, as +though she were exhausted by some heavy work. + +"My child," said the bishop, gently, "were you listening?" There was no +reproach in his voice; it was simply full of pity and concern. + +"I thought," whispered the girl, brokenly, "that he would be frightened; +I wanted to hear what he would say. I thought I could laugh at him +for it afterward. I did it for a joke. I thought--" she stopped with a +little gasping sob that she tried to hide, and for a moment held herself +erect and then sank back again into her father's arms with her head upon +his breast. + +Latimer started forward, holding out his arms to her. "Ellen," he said, +"surely, Ellen, you are not against me. You see how preposterous it is, +how unjust it is to me. You cannot mean--" + +The girl raised her head and shrugged her shoulders slightly as though +she were cold. "Father," she said, wearily, "ask him to go away, Why +does he stay? Ask him to go away." + +Latimer stopped and took a step back as though some one had struck him, +and then stood silent with his face flushed and his eyes flashing. It +was not in answer to anything that they said that he spoke, but to their +attitude and what it suggested. "You stand there," he began, "you +two stand there as though I were something unclean, as though I had +committed some crime. You look at me as though I were on trial for +murder or worse. Both of you together against me. What have I done? What +difference is there? You loved me a half-hour ago, Ellen; you said +you did. I know you loved me; and you, sir," he added, more quietly, +"treated me like a friend. Has anything come since then to change me or +you? Be fair to me, be sensible. What is the use of this? It is a silly, +needless, horrible mistake. You know I love you, Ellen; love you better +than all the world. I don't have to tell you that; you know it, you can +see and feel it. It does not need to be said; words can't make it any +truer. You have confused yourselves and stultified yourselves with this +trick, this test by hypothetical conditions, by considering what is not +real or possible. It is simple enough; it is plain enough. You know I +love you, Ellen, and you only, and that is all there is to it, and all +that there is of any consequence in the world to me. The matter stops +there; that is all there is for you to consider. Answer me, Ellen, speak +to me. Tell me that you believe me." + +He stopped and moved a step toward her, but as he did so, the girl, +still without looking up, drew herself nearer to her father and shrank +more closely into his arms; but the father's face was troubled and +doubtful, and he regarded the younger man with a look of the most +anxious scrutiny. Latimer did not regard this. Their hands were raised +against him as far as he could understand, and he broke forth again +proudly, and with a defiant indignation: + +"What right have you to judge me?" he began; "what do you know of what +I have suffered, and endured, and overcome? How can you know what I have +had to give up and put away from me? It's easy enough for you to draw +your skirts around you, but what can a woman bred as you have been bred +know of what I've had to fight against and keep under and cut away? It +was an easy, beautiful idyl to you; your love came to you only when it +should have come, and for a man who was good and worthy, and distinctly +eligible--I don't mean that; forgive me, Ellen, but you drive me beside +myself. But he is good and he believes himself worthy, and I say that +myself before you both. But I am only worthy and only good because of +that other love that I put away when it became a crime, when it became +impossible. Do you know what it cost me? Do you know what it meant to +me, and what I went through, and how I suffered? Do you know who this +other woman is whom you are insulting with your doubts and guesses in +the dark? Can't you spare her? Am I not enough? Perhaps it was easy +for her, too; perhaps her silence cost her nothing; perhaps she did not +suffer and has nothing but happiness and content to look forward to for +the rest of her life; and I tell you that it is because we did put +it away, and kill it, and not give way to it that I am whatever I am +to-day; whatever good there is in me is due to that temptation and +to the fact that I beat it and overcame it and kept myself honest and +clean. And when I met you and learned to know you I believed in my heart +that God had sent you to me that I might know what it was to love a +woman whom I could marry and who could be my wife; that you were the +reward for my having overcome temptation and the sign that I had done +well. And now you throw me over and put me aside as though I were +something low and unworthy, because of this temptation, because of this +very thing that has made me know myself and my own strength and that has +kept me up for you." + +As the young man had been speaking, the bishop's eyes had never left +his face, and as he finished, the face of the priest grew clearer and +decided, and calmly exultant. And as Latimer ceased he bent his head +above his daughter's, and said in a voice that seemed to speak with more +than human inspiration. "My child," he said, "if God had given me a son +I should have been proud if he could have spoken as this young man has +done." + +But the woman only said, "Let him go to her." + +"Ellen, oh, Ellen!" cried the father. + +He drew back from the girl in his arms and looked anxiously and +feelingly at her lover. "How could you, Ellen," he said, "how could +you?" He was watching the young man's face with eyes full of sympathy +and concern. "How little you know him," he said, "how little you +understand. He will not do that," he added quickly, but looking +questioningly at Latimer and speaking in a tone almost of command. "He +will not undo all that he has done; I know him better than that." But +Latimer made no answer, and for a moment the two men stood watching each +other and questioning each other with their eyes. Then Latimer turned, +and without again so much as glancing at the girl walked steadily to the +door and left the room. He passed on slowly down the stairs and out into +the night, and paused upon the top of the steps leading to the street. +Below him lay the avenue with its double line of lights stretching off +in two long perspectives. The lamps of hundreds of cabs and carriages +flashed as they advanced toward him and shone for a moment at the +turnings of the cross-streets, and from either side came the ceaseless +rush and murmur, and over all hung the strange mystery that covers a +great city at night. Latimer's rooms lay to the south, but he stood +looking toward a spot to the north with a reckless, harassed look in his +face that had not been there for many months. He stood so for a minute, +and then gave a short shrug of disgust at his momentary doubt and ran +quickly down the steps. "No," he said, "if it were for a month, yes; but +it is to be for many years, many more long years." And turning his back +resolutely to the north he went slowly home. + + + + +THE TRAILER FOR ROOM NO. 8 + + +The "trailer" for the green-goods men who rented room No. 8 in Case's +tenement had had no work to do for the last few days, and was cursing +his luck in consequence. + +He was entirely too young to curse, but he had never been told so, and, +indeed, so imperfect had his training been that he had never been told +not to do anything as long as it pleased him to do it and made existence +any more bearable. + +He had been told when he was very young, before the man and woman who +had brought him into the world had separated, not to crawl out on the +fire-escape, because he might break his neck, and later, after his +father had walked off Hegelman's Slip into the East River while very +drunk, and his mother had been sent to the penitentiary for grand +larceny, he had been told not to let the police catch him sleeping under +the bridge. + +With these two exceptions he had been told to do as he pleased, which +was the very mockery of advice, as he was just about as well able to do +as he pleased as is any one who has to beg or steal what he eats and has +to sleep in hall-ways or over the iron gratings of warm cellars and has +the officers of the children's societies always after him to put him in +a "Home" and make him be "good." + +"Snipes," as the trailer was called, was determined no one should ever +force him to be good if he could possibly prevent it. And he certainly +did do a great deal to prevent it. He knew what having to be good meant. +Some of the boys who had escaped from the Home had told him all about +that. It meant wearing shoes and a blue and white checkered apron, and +making cane-bottomed chairs all day, and having to wash yourself in a +big iron tub twice a week, not to speak of having to move about like +machines whenever the lady teacher hit a bell. So when the green-goods +men, of whom the genial Mr. Alf Wolfe was the chief, asked Snipes to +act as "trailer" for them at a quarter of a dollar for every victim he +shadowed, he jumped at the offer and was proud of the position. + +If you should happen to keep a grocery store in the country, or to +run the village post-office, it is not unlikely that you know what a +green-goods man is; but in case you don't, and have only a vague idea +as to how he lives, a paragraph of explanation must be inserted here +for your particular benefit. Green goods is the technical name for +counterfeit bills, and the green-goods men send out circulars to +countrymen all over the United States, offering to sell them $5,000 +worth of counterfeit money for $500, and ease their conscience by +explaining to them that by purchasing these green goods they are hurting +no one but the Government, which is quite able, with its big surplus, to +stand the loss. They enclose a letter which is to serve their victim as +a mark of identification or credential when he comes on to purchase. + +The address they give him is in one of the many drug-store and +cigar-store post-offices which are scattered all over New York, and +which contribute to make vice and crime so easy that the evil they do +cannot be reckoned in souls lost or dollars stolen. If the letter from +the countryman strikes the dealers in green goods as sincere, they +appoint an interview with him by mail in rooms they rent for the +purpose, and if they, on meeting him there, think he is still in earnest +and not a detective or officer in disguise, they appoint still another +interview, to be held later in the day in the back room of some saloon. + +Then the countryman is watched throughout the day from the moment +he leaves the first meeting-place until he arrives at the saloon. If +anything in his conduct during that time leads the man whose duty it is +to follow him, or the "trailer," as the profession call it, to believe +he is a detective, he finds when he arrives at the saloon that there +is no one to receive him. But if the trailer regards his conduct as +unsuspicious, he is taken to another saloon, not the one just appointed, +which is, perhaps, a most respectable place, but to the thieves' own +private little rendezvous, where he is robbed in any of the several +different ways best suited to their purpose. + +Snipes was a very good trailer. He was so little that no one ever +noticed him, and he could keep a man in sight no matter how big the +crowd was, or how rapidly it changed and shifted. And he was as patient +as he was quick, and would wait for hours if needful, with his eye on +a door, until his man reissued into the street again. And if the one he +shadowed looked behind him to see if he was followed, or dodged up and +down different streets, as if he were trying to throw off pursuit, or +despatched a note or telegram, or stopped to speak to a policeman or any +special officer, as a detective might, who thought he had his men safely +in hand, off Snipes would go on a run, to where Alf Wolfe was waiting, +and tell what he had seen. + +Then Wolfe would give him a quarter or more, and the trailer would go +back to his post opposite Case's tenement, and wait for another victim +to issue forth, and for the signal from No. 8 to follow him. It was not +much fun, and "customers," as Mr. Wolfe always called them, had been +scarce, and Mr. Wolfe, in consequence, had been cross and nasty in his +temper, and had batted Snipe out of the way on more than one occasion. +So the trailer was feeling blue and disconsolate, and wondered how it +was that "Naseby" Raegen, "Rags" Raegen's younger brother, had had the +luck to get a two weeks' visit to the country with the Fresh Air Fund +children, while he had not. + +He supposed it was because Naseby had sold papers, and wore shoes, and +went to night school, and did many other things equally objectionable. +Still, what Naseby had said about the country, and riding horseback, +and the fishing, and the shooting crows with no cops to stop you, and +watermelons for nothing, had sounded wonderfully attractive and quite +improbable, except that it was one of Naseby's peculiarly sneaking ways +to tell the truth. Anyway, Naseby had left Cherry Street for good, and +had gone back to the country to work there. This all helped to make +Snipes morose, and it was with a cynical smile of satisfaction that he +watched an old countryman coming slowly up the street, and asking his +way timidly of the Italians to Case's tenement. + +The countryman looked up and about him in evident bewilderment and +anxiety. He glanced hesitatingly across at the boy leaning against the +wall of a saloon, but the boy was watching two sparrows fighting in the +dirt of the street, and did not see him. At least, it did not look as if +he saw him. Then the old man knocked on the door of Case's tenement. +No one came, for the people in the house had learned to leave inquiring +countrymen to the gentleman who rented room No. 8, and as that gentleman +was occupied at that moment with a younger countryman, he allowed the +old man, whom he had first cautiously observed from the top of the +stairs, to remain where he was. + +The old man stood uncertainly on the stoop, and then removed his heavy +black felt hat and rubbed his bald head and the white shining locks of +hair around it with a red bandanna handkerchief. Then he walked very +slowly across the street toward Snipes, for the rest of the street was +empty, and there was no one else at hand. The old man was dressed in +heavy black broadcloth, quaintly cut, with boot legs showing up under +the trousers, and with faultlessly clean linen of home-made manufacture. + +"I can't make the people in that house over there hear me," complained +the old man, with the simple confidence that old age has in very young +boys. "Do you happen to know if they're at home?" + +"Nop," growled Snipes. + +"I'm looking for a man named Perceval," said the stranger; "he lives in +that house, and I wanter see him on most particular business. It isn't +a very pleasing place he lives in, is it--at least," he hurriedly added, +as if fearful of giving offence, "it isn't much on the outside? Do you +happen to know him?" + +Perceval was Alf Wolfe's business name. + +"Nop," said the trailer. + +"Well, I'm not looking for him," explained the stranger, slowly, "as +much as I'm looking for a young man that I kind of suspect is been +to see him to-day: a young man that looks like me, only younger. Has +lightish hair and pretty tall and lanky, and carrying a shiny black bag +with him. Did you happen to hev noticed him going into that place across +the way?" + +"Nop," said Snipes. + +The old man sighed and nodded his head thoughtfully at Snipes, and +puckered up the corners of his mouth, as though he were thinking deeply. +He had wonderfully honest blue eyes, and with the white hair hanging +around his sun-burned face, he looked like an old saint. But the trailer +didn't know that: he did know, though, that this man was a different +sort from the rest. Still, that was none of his business. + +"What is't you want to see him about?" he asked sullenly, while he +looked up and down the street and everywhere but at the old man, and +rubbed one bare foot slowly over the other. + +The old man looked pained, and much to Snipe's surprise, the question +brought the tears to his eyes, and his lips trembled. Then he swerved +slightly, so that he might have fallen if Snipes had not caught him and +helped him across the pavement to a seat on a stoop. "Thankey, son," +said the stranger; "I'm not as strong as I was, an' the sun's mighty +hot, an' these streets of yours smell mighty bad, and I've had a +powerful lot of trouble these last few days. But if I could see this +man Perceval before my boy does, I know I could fix it, and it would all +come out right." + +"What do you want to see him about?" repeated the trailer, suspiciously, +while he fanned the old man with his hat. Snipes could not have told you +why he did this or why this particular old countryman was any different +from the many others who came to buy counterfeit money and who were +thieves at heart as well as in deed. + +"I want to see him about my son," said the old man to the little boy. +"He's a bad man whoever he is. This 'ere Perceval is a bad man. He sends +down his wickedness to the country and tempts weak folks to sin. He +teaches 'em ways of evil-doing they never heard of, and he's ruined my +son with the others--ruined him. I've had nothing to do with the city +and its ways; we're strict living, simple folks, and perhaps we've been +too strict, or Abraham wouldn't have run away to the city. But I thought +it was best, and I doubted nothing when the fresh-air children came to +the farm. I didn't like city children, but I let 'em come. I took +'em in, and did what I could to make it pleasant for 'em. Poor little +fellers, all as thin as corn-stalks and pale as ghosts, and as dirty as +you. + +"I took 'em in and let 'em ride the horses, and swim in the river, and +shoot crows in the cornfield, and eat all the cherries they could +pull, and what did the city send me in return for that? It sent me this +thieving, rascally scheme of this man Perceval's, and it turned my boy's +head, and lost him to me. I saw him poring over the note and reading it +as if it were Gospel, and I suspected nothing. And when he asked me if +he could keep it, I said yes he could, for I thought he wanted it for a +curiosity, and then off he put with the black bag and the $200 he's been +saving up to start housekeeping with when the old Deacon says he can +marry his daughter Kate." The old man placed both hands on his knees and +went on excitedly. + +"The old Deacon says he'll not let 'em marry till Abe has $2,000, and +that is what the boy's come after. He wants to buy $2,000 worth of bad +money with his $200 worth of good money, to show the Deacon, just as +though it were likely a marriage after such a crime as that would ever +be a happy one." + +Snipes had stopped fanning the old man, as he ran on, and was listening +intently, with an uncomfortable feeling of sympathy and sorrow, +uncomfortable because he was not used to it. + +He could not see why the old man should think the city should have +treated his boy better because he had taken care of the city's children, +and he was puzzled between his allegiance to the gang and his desire +to help the gang's innocent victim, and then because he was an innocent +victim and not a "customer," he let his sympathy get the better of his +discretion. + +"Saay," he began, abruptly, "I'm not sayin' nothin' to nobody, and +nobody's sayin' nothin' to me--see? but I guess your son'll be around +here to-day, sure. He's got to come before one, for this office closes +sharp at one, and we goes home. Now, I've got the call whether he gets +his stuff taken off him or whether the boys leave him alone. If I say +the word, they'd no more come near him than if he had the cholera--see? +An' I'll say it for this oncet, just for you. Hold on," he commanded, as +the old man raised his voice in surprised interrogation, "don't ask no +questions, 'cause you won't get no answers 'except lies. You find your +way back to the Grand Central Depot and wait there, and I'll steer your +son down to you, sure, as soon as I can find him--see? Now get along, or +you'll get me inter trouble." + +"You've been lying to me, then," cried the old man, "and you're as bad +as any of them, and my boy's over in that house now." + +He scrambled up from the stoop, and before the trailer could understand +what he proposed to do, had dashed across the street and up the stoop, +and up the stairs, and had burst into room No. 8. + +Snipes tore after him. "Come back! come back out of that, you old fool!" +he cried. "You'll get killed in there!" Snipes was afraid to enter room +No. 8, but he could hear from the outside the old man challenging Alf +Wolfe in a resonant angry voice that rang through the building. + +"Whew!" said Snipes, crouching on the stairs, "there's goin' to be a +muss this time, sure!" + +"Where's my son? Where have you hidden my son?" demanded, the old man. +He ran across the room and pulled open a door that led into another +room, but it was empty. He had fully expected to see his boy murdered +and quartered, and with his pockets inside out. He turned on Wolfe, +shaking his white hair like a mane. "Give me up my son, you rascal you!" +he cried, "or I'll get the police, and I'll tell them how you decoy +honest boys to your den and murder them." + +"Are you drunk or crazy, or just a little of both?" asked Mr. Wolfe. +"For a cent I'd throw you out of that window. Get out of here! Quick, +now! You're too old to get excited like that; it's not good for you." + +But this only exasperated the old man the more, and he made a lunge +at the confidence man's throat. Mr. Wolfe stepped aside and caught him +around the waist and twisted his leg around the old man's rheumatic one, +and held him. "Now," said Wolfe, as quietly as though he were giving a +lesson in wrestling, "if I wanted to, I could break your back." + +The old man glared up at him, panting. "Your son's not here," said +Wolfe, "and this is a private gentleman's private room. I could turn +you over to the police for assault if I wanted to; but," he added, +magnanimously, "I won't. Now get out of here and go home to your wife, +and when you come to see the sights again don't drink so much raw +whiskey." He half carried the old farmer to the top of the stairs and +dropped him, and went back and closed the door. Snipes came up and +helped him down and out, and the old man and the boy walked slowly and +in silence out to the Bowery. Snipes helped his companion into a car and +put him off at the Grand Central Depot. The heat and the excitement had +told heavily on the old man, and he seemed dazed and beaten. + +He was leaning on the trailer's shoulder and waiting for his turn in +the line in front of the ticket window, when a tall, gawky, good-looking +country lad sprang out of it and at him with an expression of surprise +and anxiety. "Father," he said, "father, what's wrong? What are you +doing here? Is anybody ill at home? Are _you_ ill?" + +"Abraham," said the old man, simply, and dropped heavily on the younger +man's shoulder. Then he raised his head sternly and said: "I thought you +were murdered, but better that than a thief, Abraham. What brought you +here? What did you do with that rascal's letter? What did you do with +his money?" + +The trailer drew cautiously away; the conversation was becoming +unpleasantly personal. + +"I don't know what you're talking about," said Abraham, calmly. "The +Deacon gave his consent the other night without the $2,000, and I took +the $200 I'd saved and came right on in the fust train to buy the ring. +It's pretty, isn't it?" he said, flushing, as he pulled out a little +velvet box and opened it. + +The old man was so happy at this that he laughed and cried alternately, +and then he made a grab for the trailer and pulled him down beside him +on one of the benches. + +"You've got to come with me," he said, with kind severity. "You're a +good boy, but your folks have let you run wrong. You've been good to +me, and you said you would get me back my boy and save him from those +thieves, and I believe now that you meant it. Now you're just coming +back with us to the farm and the cows and the river, and you can eat +all you want and live with us, and never, never see this unclean, wicked +city again." + +Snipes looked up keenly from under the rim of his hat and rubbed one of +his muddy feet over the other as was his habit. The young countryman, +greatly puzzled, and the older man smiling kindly, waited expectantly in +silence. From outside came the sound of the car-bells jangling, and the +rattle of cabs, and the cries of drivers, and all the varying rush and +turmoil of a great metropolis. Green fields, and running rivers, and +fruit that did not grow in wooden boxes or brown paper cones, were myths +and idle words to Snipes, but this "unclean, wicked city" he knew. + +"I guess you're too good for me," he said, with an uneasy laugh. "I +guess little old New York's good enough for me." + +"What!" cried the old man, in the tones of greatest concern. "You would +go back to that den of iniquity, surely not,--to that thief Perceval?" + +"Well," said the trailer, slowly, "and he's not such a bad lot, neither. +You see he could hev broke your neck that time when you was choking him, +but he didn't. There's your train," he added hurriedly and jumping away. +"Good-by. So long, old man. I'm much 'bliged to you jus' for asking me." + +Two hours later the farmer and his son were making the family weep and +laugh over their adventures, as they all sat together on the porch with +the vines about it; and the trailer was leaning against the wall of a +saloon and apparently counting his ten toes, but in reality watching for +Mr. Wolfe to give the signal from the window of room No. 8. + + + + +"THERE WERE NINETY AND NINE" + + +Young Harringford, or the "Goodwood Plunger," as he was perhaps better +known at that time, had come to Monte Carlo in a very different spirit +and in a very different state of mind from any in which he had ever +visited the place before. He had come there for the same reason that +a wounded lion, or a poisoned rat, for that matter, crawls away into a +corner, that it may be alone when it dies. He stood leaning against one +of the pillars of the Casino with his back to the moonlight, and with +his eyes blinking painfully at the flaming lamps above the green tables +inside. He knew they would be put out very soon; and as he had something +to do then, he regarded them fixedly with painful earnestness, as a man +who is condemned to die at sunrise watches through his barred windows +for the first gray light of the morning. + +That queer, numb feeling in his head and the sharp line of pain between +his eyebrows which had been growing worse for the last three weeks, was +troubling him more terribly than ever before, and his nerves had thrown +off all control and rioted at the base of his head and at his wrists, +and jerked and twitched as though, so it seemed to him, they were +striving to pull the tired body into pieces and to set themselves free. +He was wondering whether if he should take his hand from his pocket and +touch his head he would find that it had grown longer, and had turned +into a soft, spongy mass which would give beneath his fingers. He +considered this for some time, and even went so far as to half withdraw +one hand, but thought better of it and shoved it back again as he +considered how much less terrible it was to remain in doubt than to find +that this phenomenon had actually taken place. + +The pity of the whole situation was, that the boy was only a boy with +all his man's miserable knowledge of the world, and the reason of it all +was, that he had entirely too much heart and not enough money to make +an unsuccessful gambler. If he had only been able to lose his conscience +instead of his money, or even if he had kept his conscience and won, it +is not likely that he would have been waiting for the lights to go +out at Monte Carlo. But he had not only lost all of his money and more +besides, which he could never make up, but he had lost other things +which meant much more to him now than money, and which could not be +made up or paid back at even usurious interest. He had not only lost the +right to sit at his father's table, but the right to think of the girl +whose place in Surrey ran next to that of his own people, and whose +lighted window in the north wing he had watched on those many dreary +nights when she had been ill, from his own terrace across the trees +in the park. And all he had gained was the notoriety that made him a +by-word with decent people, and the hero of the race-tracks and the +music-halls. He was no longer "Young Harringford, the eldest son of the +Harringfords of Surrey," but the "Goodwood Plunger," to whom Fortune had +made desperate love and had then jilted, and mocked, and overthrown. + +As he looked back at it now and remembered himself as he was then, it +seemed as though he was considering an entirely distinct and separate +personage--a boy of whom he liked to think, who had had strong, healthy +ambitions and gentle tastes. He reviewed it passionlessly as he stood +staring at the lights inside the Casino, as clearly as he was capable +of doing in his present state and with miserable interest. How he had +laughed when young Norton told him in boyish confidence that there was +a horse named Siren in his father's stables which would win the Goodwood +Cup; how, having gone down to see Norton's people when the long vacation +began, he had seen Siren daily, and had talked of her until two every +morning in the smoking-room, and had then staid up two hours later to +watch her take her trial spin over the downs. He remembered how they +used to stamp back over the long grass wet with dew, comparing watches +and talking of the time in whispers, and said good night as the sun +broke over the trees in the park. And then just at this time of all +others, when the horse was the only interest of those around him, from +Lord Norton and his whole household down to the youngest stable-boy and +oldest gaffer in the village, he had come into his money. + +And then began the then and still inexplicable plunge into gambling, +and the wagering of greater sums than the owner of Siren dared to risk +himself, the secret backing of the horse through commissioners all +over England, until the boy by his single fortune had brought the odds +against her from 60 to 0 down to 6 to 0. He recalled, with a thrill that +seemed to settle his nerves for the moment, the little black specks at +the starting-post and the larger specks as the horses turned the first +corner. The rest of the people on the coach were making a great deal of +noise, he remembered, but he, who had more to lose than any one or all +of them together, had stood quite still with his feet on the wheel and +his back against the box-seat, and with his hands sunk into his pockets +and the nails cutting through his gloves. The specks grew into horses +with bits of color on them, and then the deep muttering roar of the +crowd merged into one great shout, and swelled and grew into sharper, +quicker, impatient cries, as the horses turned into the stretch with +only their heads showing toward the goal. Some of the people were +shouting "Firefly!" and others were calling on "Vixen!" and others, who +had their glasses up, cried "Trouble leads!" but he only waited until +he could distinguish the Norton colors, with his lips pressed tightly +together. Then they came so close that their hoofs echoed as loudly as +when horses gallop over a bridge, and from among the leaders Siren's +beautiful head and shoulders showed like sealskin in the sun, and the +boy on her back leaned forward and touched her gently with his hand, as +they had so often seen him do on the downs, and Siren, as though he had +touched a spring, leaped forward with her head shooting back and out, +like a piston-rod that has broken loose from its fastening and beats the +air, while the jockey sat motionless, with his right arm hanging at +his side as limply as though it were broken, and with his left moving +forward and back in time with the desperate strokes of the horse's head. + +"Siren wins!" cried Lord Norton, with a grim smile, and "Siren!" the +mob shouted back with wonder and angry disappointment, and "Siren!" the +hills echoed from far across the course. Young Harringford felt as if +he had suddenly been lifted into heaven after three months of purgatory, +and smiled uncertainly at the excited people on the coach about him. It +made him smile even now when he recalled young Norton's flushed face +and the awe and reproach in his voice when he climbed up and whispered, +"Why, Cecil, they say in the ring you've won a fortune, and you never +told us." And how Griffith, the biggest of the book-makers, with +the rest of them at his back, came up to him and touched his hat +resentfully, and said, "You'll have to give us time, sir; I'm very hard +hit"; and how the crowd stood about him and looked at him curiously, +and the Certain Royal Personage turned and said, "Who--not that boy, +surely?" Then how, on the day following, the papers told of the young +gentleman who of all others had won a fortune, thousands and thousands +of pounds they said, getting back sixty for every one he had ventured; +and pictured him in baby clothes with the cup in his arms, or in an Eton +jacket; and how all of them spoke of him slightingly, or admiringly, as +the "Goodwood Plunger." + +He did not care to go on after that; to recall the mortification of his +father, whose pride was hurt and whose hopes were dashed by this sudden, +mad freak of fortune, nor how he railed at it and provoked him until the +boy rebelled and went back to the courses, where he was a celebrity and +a king. + +The rest is a very common story. Fortune and greater fortune at first; +days in which he could not lose, days in which he drove back to the +crowded inns choked with dust, sunburnt and fagged with excitement, to +a riotous supper and baccarat, and afterward went to sleep only to see +cards and horses and moving crowds and clouds of dust; days spent in +a short covert coat, with a field-glass over his shoulder and with a +pasteboard ticket dangling from his buttonhole; and then came the change +that brought conscience up again, and the visits to the Jews, and the +slights of the men who had never been his friends, but whom he had +thought had at least liked him for himself, even if he did not like +them; and then debts, and more debts, and the borrowing of money to pay +here and there, and threats of executions; and, with it all, the longing +for the fields and trout springs of Surrey and the walk across the park +to where she lived. + +This grew so strong that he wrote to his father, and was told briefly +that he who was to have kept up the family name had dragged it into the +dust of the race-courses, and had changed it at his own wish to that of +the Boy Plunger--and that the breach was irreconcilable. + +Then this queer feeling came on, and he wondered why he could not eat, +and why he shivered even when the room was warm or the sun shining, and +the fear came upon him that with all this trouble and disgrace his head +might give way, and then that it had given way. This came to him at all +times, and lately more frequently and with a fresher, more cruel thrill +of terror, and he began to watch himself and note how he spoke, and to +repeat over what he had said to see if it were sensible, and to question +himself as to why he laughed, and at what. It was not a question of +whether it would or would not be cowardly; It was simply a necessity. +The thing had to be stopped. He had to have rest and sleep and peace +again. He had boasted in those reckless, prosperous days that if by any +possible chance he should lose his money he would drive a hansom, or +emigrate to the colonies, or take the shilling. He had no patience in +those days with men who could not live on in adversity, and who were +found in the gun-room with a hole in their heads, and whose family asked +their polite friends to believe that a man used to firearms from his +school-days had tried to load a hair-trigger revolver with the muzzle +pointed at his forehead. He had expressed a fine contempt for those men +then, but now he had forgotten all that, and thought only of the +relief it would bring, and not how others might suffer by it. If he did +consider this, it was only to conclude that they would quite understand, +and be glad that his pain and fear were over. + +Then he planned a grand _coup_ which was to pay off all his debts and +give him a second chance to present himself a supplicant at his father's +house. If it failed, he would have to stop this queer feeling in his +head at once. The Grand Prix and the English horse was the final +_coup_. On this depended everything--the return of his fortunes, the +reconciliation with his father, and the possibility of meeting her +again. It was a very hot day he remembered, and very bright; but the +tall poplars on the road to the races seemed to stop growing just at +a level with his eyes. Below that it was clear enough, but all above +seemed black--as though a cloud had fallen and was hanging just over the +people's heads. He thought of speaking of this to his man Walters, who +had followed his fortunes from the first, but decided not to do so, for, +as it was, he had noticed that Walters had observed him closely of late, +and had seemed to spy upon him. The race began, and he looked through +his glass for the English horse in the front and could not find her, +and the Frenchman beside him cried, "Frou Frou!" as Frou Frou passed the +goal. He lowered his glasses slowly and unscrewed them very carefully +before dropping them back into the case; then he buckled the strap, and +turned and looked about him. Two Frenchmen who had won a hundred +francs between them were jumping and dancing at his side. He remembered +wondering why they did not speak in English. Then the sunlight changed +to a yellow, nasty glare, as though a calcium light had been turned +on the glass and colors, and he pushed his way back to his carriage, +leaning heavily on the servant's arm, and drove slowly back to Paris, +with the driver flecking his horses fretfully with his whip, for he had +wished to wait and see the end of the races. + +He had selected Monte Carlo as the place for it, because it was more +unlike his home than any other spot, and because one summer night, when +he had crossed the lawn from the Casino to the hotel with a gay party of +young men and women, they had come across something under a bush which +they took to be a dog or a man asleep, and one of the men had stepped +forward and touched it with his foot, and had then turned sharply and +said, "Take those girls away"; and while some hurried the women back, +frightened and curious, he and the others had picked up the body and +found it to be that of a young Russian whom they had just seen losing, +with a very bad grace, at the tables. There was no passion in his face +now, and his evening dress was quite unruffled, and only a black spot on +the shirt front showed where the powder had burnt the linen. It had +made a great impression on him then, for he was at the height of his +fortunes, with crowds of sycophantic friends and a retinue of dependents +at his heels. And now that he was quite alone and disinherited by even +these sorry companions there seemed no other escape from the pain in his +brain but to end it, and he sought this place of all others as the most +fitting place in which to die. + +So, after Walters had given the proper papers and checks to the +commissioner who handled his debts for him, he left Paris and took the +first train for Monte Carlo, sitting at the window of the carriage, +and beating a nervous tattoo on the pane with his ring until the old +gentleman at the other end of the compartment scowled at him. But +Harringford did not see him, nor the trees and fields as they swept by, +and it was not until Walters came and said, "You get out here, sir," +that he recognized the yellow station and the great hotels on the hill +above. It was half-past eleven, and the lights in the Casino were still +burning brightly. He wondered whether he would have time to go over to +the hotel and write a letter to his father and to her. He decided, after +some difficult consideration, that he would not. There was nothing +to say that they did not know already, or that they would fail to +understand. But this suggested to him that what they had written to him +must be destroyed at once, before any stranger could claim the right +to read it. He took his letters from his pocket and looked them over +carefully. They were most unpleasant reading. They all seemed to be +about money; some begged to remind him of this or that debt, of which he +had thought continuously for the last month, while others were abusive +and insolent. Each of them gave him actual pain. One was the last letter +he had received from his father just before leaving Paris, and though he +knew it by heart, he read it over again for the last time. That it came +too late, that it asked what he knew now to be impossible, made it none +the less grateful to him, but that it offered peace and a welcome home +made it all the more terrible. + +"I came to take this step through young Hargraves, the new curate," +his father wrote, "though he was but the instrument in the hands of +Providence. He showed me the error of my conduct toward you, and proved +to me that my duty and the inclination of my heart were toward the +same end. He read this morning for the second lesson the story of the +Prodigal Son, and I heard it without recognition and with no present +application until he came to the verse which tells how the father came +to his son 'when he was yet a great way off.' He saw him, it says, 'when +he was yet a great way off,' and ran to meet him. He did not wait for +the boy to knock at his gate and beg to be let in, but went out to meet +him, and took him in his arms and led him back to his home. Now, my boy, +my son, it seems to me as if you had never been so far off from me +as you are at this present time, as if you had never been so greatly +separated from me in every thought and interest; we are even worse than +strangers, for you think that my hand is against you, that I have closed +the door of your home to you and driven you away. But what I have done +I beg of you to forgive: to forget what I may have said in the past, and +only to think of what I say now. Your brothers are good boys and have +been good sons to me, and God knows I am thankful for such sons, and +thankful to them for bearing themselves as they have done. + +"But, my boy, my first-born, my little Cecil, they can never be to me +what you have been. I can never feel for them as I feel for you; they +are the ninety and nine who have never wandered away upon the mountains, +and who have never been tempted, and have never left their home for +either good or evil. But you, Cecil, though you have made my heart ache +until I thought and even hoped it would stop beating, and though you +have given me many, many nights that I could not sleep, are still dearer +to me than anything else in the world. You are the flesh of my flesh and +the bone of my bone, and I cannot bear living on without you. I cannot +be at rest here, or look forward contentedly to a rest hereafter, unless +you are by me and hear me, unless I can see your face and touch you and +hear your laugh in the halls. Come back to me, Cecil; to Harringford and +the people that know you best, and know what is best in you and love you +for it. I can have only a few more years here now when you will take +my place and keep up my name. I will not be here to trouble you much +longer; but, my boy, while I am here, come to me and make me happy for +the rest of my life. There are others who need you, Cecil. You know +whom I mean. I saw her only yesterday, and she asked me of you with such +splendid disregard for what the others standing by might think, and as +though she dared me or them to say or even imagine anything against you. +You cannot keep away from us both much longer. Surely not; you will come +back and make us happy for the rest of our lives." + +The Goodwood Plunger turned his back to the lights so that the people +passing could not see his face, and tore the letter up slowly and +dropped it piece by piece over the balcony. "If I could," he whispered; +"if I could." The pain was a little worse than usual just then, but it +was no longer a question of inclination. He felt only this desire to +stop these thoughts and doubts and the physical tremor that shook him. +To rest and sleep, that was what he must have, and peace. There was no +peace at home or anywhere else while this thing lasted. He could not see +why they worried him in this way. It was quite impossible. He felt much +more sorry for them than for himself, but only because they could not +understand. He was quite sure that if they could feel what he suffered +they would help him, even to end it. + +He had been standing for some time with his back to the light, but now +he turned to face it and to take up his watch again. He felt quite +sure the lights would not burn much longer. As he turned, a woman came +forward from out the lighted hall, hovered uncertainly before him, and +then made a silent salutation, which was something between a courtesy +and a bow. That she was a woman and rather short and plainly dressed, +and that her bobbing up and down annoyed him, was all that he realized +of her presence, and he quite failed to connect her movements with +himself in any way. "Sir," she said in French, "I beg your pardon, +but might I speak with you?" The Goodwood Plunger possessed a somewhat +various knowledge of Monte Carlo and its _habitues_. It was not the +first time that women who had lost at the tables had begged a napoleon +from him, or asked the distinguished child of fortune what color or +combination she should play. That, in his luckier days, had happened +often and had amused him, but now he moved back irritably and wished +that the figure in front of him would disappear as it had come. + +"I am in great trouble, sir," the woman said. "I have no friends here, +sir, to whom I may apply. I am very bold, but my anxiety is very great." + +The Goodwood Plunger raised his hat slightly and bowed. Then he +concentrated his eyes with what was a distinct effort on the queer +little figure hovering in front of him, and stared very hard. She wore +an odd piece of red coral for a brooch, and by looking steadily at +this he brought the rest of the figure into focus and saw, without +surprise,--for every commonplace seemed strange to him now, and +everything peculiar quite a matter of course,--that she was distinctly +not an _habituee_ of the place, and looked more like a lady's maid than +an adventuress. She was French and pretty,--such a girl as might wait in +a Duval restaurant or sit as a cashier behind a little counter near the +door. + +"We should not be here," she said, as if in answer to his look and in +apology for her presence. "But Louis, my husband, he would come. I told +him that this was not for such as we are, but Louis is so bold. He said +that upon his marriage tour he would live with the best, and so here +he must come to play as the others do. We have been married, sir, only +since Tuesday, and we must go back to Paris to-morrow; they would give +him only the three days. He is not a gambler; he plays dominos at the +cafes, it is true. But what will you? He is young and with so much +spirit, and I know that you, sir, who are so fortunate and who +understand so well how to control these tables, I know that you will +persuade him. He will not listen to me; he is so greatly excited and so +little like himself. You will help me, sir, will you not? You will speak +to him?" + +The Goodwood Plunger knit his eyebrows and closed the lids once or +twice, and forced the mistiness and pain out of his eyes. It was most +annoying. The woman seemed to be talking a great deal and to say +very much, but he could not make sense of it. He moved his shoulders +slightly. "I can't understand," he said wearily, turning away. + +"It is my husband," the woman said anxiously: "Louis, he is playing at +the table inside, and he is only an apprentice to old Carbut the baker, +but he owns a third of the store. It was my _dot_ that paid for it," she +added proudly. "Old Carbut says he may have it all for 20,000 francs, +and then old Carbut will retire, and we will be proprietors. We have +saved a little, and we had counted to buy the rest in five or six years +if we were very careful." + +"I see, I see," said the Plunger, with a little short laugh of relief; +"I understand." He was greatly comforted to think that it was not so bad +as it had threatened. He saw her distinctly now and followed what she +said quite easily, and even such a small matter as talking with this +woman seemed to help him. + +"He is gambling," he said, "and losing the money, and you come to me to +advise him what to play. I understand. Well, tell him he will lose what +little he has left; tell him I advise him to go home; tell him--" + +"No, no!" the girl said excitedly; "you do not understand; he has not +lost, he has won. He has won, oh, so many rolls of money, but he will +not stop. Do you not see? He has won as much as we could earn in many +months--in many years, sir, by saving and working, oh, so very hard! And +now he risks it again, and I cannot force him away. But if you, sir, +if you would tell him how great the chances are against him, if you who +know would tell him how foolish he is not to be content with what he +has, he would listen. He says to me, 'Bah! you are a woman'; and he is +so red and fierce; he is imbecile with the sight of the money, but he +will listen to a grand gentleman like you. He thinks to win more and +more, and he thinks to buy another third from old Carbut. Is it not +foolish? It is so wicked of him." + +"Oh, yes," said the Goodwood Plunger, nodding, "I see now. You want me +to take him away so that he can keep what he has. I see; but I don't +know him. He will not listen to me, you know; I have no right to +interfere." + +He turned away, rubbing his hand across his forehead. He wished so much +that this woman would leave him by himself. + +"Ah, but, sir," cried the girl, desperately, and touching his coat, "you +who are so fortunate, and so rich, and of the great world, you cannot +feel what this is to me. To have my own little shop and to be free, and +not to slave, and sew, and sew until my back and fingers burn with the +pain. Speak to him, sir; ah, speak to him! It is so easy a thing to do, +and he will listen to you." + +The Goodwood Plunger turned again abruptly. "Where is he?" he said. +"Point him out to me." + +The woman ran ahead, with a murmur of gratitude, to the open door and +pointed to where her husband was standing leaning over and placing +some money on one of the tables. He was a handsome young Frenchman, +as _bourgeois_ as his wife, and now terribly alive and excited. In the +self-contained air of the place and in contrast with the silence of the +great hall he seemed even more conspicuously out of place. The +Plunger touched him on the arm, and the Frenchman shoved the hand off +impatiently and without looking around. The Plunger touched him again +and forced him to turn toward him. + +"Well!" said the Frenchman, quickly. "Well?" + +"Madame, your wife," said Cecil, with the grave politeness of an old +man, "has done me the honor to take me into her confidence. She tells me +that you have won a great deal of money; that you could put it to good +use at home, and so save yourselves much drudgery and debt, and all +that sort of trouble. You are quite right if you say it is no concern of +mine. It is not. But really, you know there is a great deal of sense in +what she wants, and you have apparently already won a large sum." + +The Frenchman was visibly surprised at this approach. He paused for +a second or two in some doubt, and even awe, for the disinherited +one carried the mark of a personage of consideration and of one whose +position is secure. Then he gave a short, unmirthful laugh. + +"You are most kind, sir," he said with mock politeness and with an +impatient shrug. "But madame, my wife, has not done well to interest a +stranger in this affair, which, as you say, concerns you not." + +He turned to the table again with a defiant swagger of independence and +placed two rolls of money upon the cloth, casting at the same moment a +childish look of displeasure at his wife. "You see," said the Plunger, +with a deprecatory turning out of his hands. But there was so much grief +on the girl's face that he turned again to the gambler and touched his +arm. He could not tell why he was so interested in these two. He had +witnessed many such scenes before, and they had not affected him in any +way except to make him move out of hearing. But the same dumb numbness +in his head, which made so many things seem possible that should have +been terrible even to think upon, made him stubborn and unreasonable +over this. He felt intuitively--it could not be said that he +thought--that the woman was right and the man wrong, and so he grasped +him again by the arm, and said sharply this time: + +"Come away! Do you hear? You are acting foolishly." + +But even as he spoke the red won, and the Frenchman with a boyish gurgle +of pleasure raked in his winnings with his two hands, and then turned +with a happy, triumphant laugh to his wife. It is not easy to convince a +man that he is making a fool of himself when he is winning some hundred +francs every two minutes. His silent arguments to the contrary are +difficult to answer. But the Plunger did not regard this in the least. + +"Do you hear me?" he said in the same stubborn tone and with much the +same manner with which he would have spoken to a groom. "Come away." + +Again the Frenchman tossed off his hand, this time with an execration, +and again he placed the rolls of gold coin on the red; and again the red +won. + +"My God!" cried the girl, running her fingers over the rolls on the +table, "he has won half of the 20,000 francs. Oh, sir, stop him, stop +him!" she cried. "Take him away." + +"Do you hear me!" cried the Plunger, excited to a degree of utter +self-forgetfulness, and carried beyond himself; "you've got to come with +me." + +"Take away your hand," whispered the young Frenchman, fiercely. "See, +I shall win it all; in one grand _coup_ I shall win it all. I shall win +five years' pay in one moment." + +He swept all of the money forward on the red and threw himself over the +table to see the wheel. + +"Wait, confound you!" whispered the Plunger, excitedly. "If you will +risk it, risk it with some reason. You can't play all that money; they +won't take it. Six thousand francs is the limit, unless," he ran on +quickly, "you divide the 12,000 francs among the three of us. You +understand, 6,000 francs is all that any one person can play; but if you +give 4,000 to me, and 4,000 to your wife, and keep 4,000 yourself, we +can each chance it. You can back the red if you like, your wife shall +put her money on the numbers coming up below eighteen, and I will back +the odd. In that way you stand to win 24,000 francs if our combination +wins, and you lose less than if you simply back the color. Do you +understand?" + +"No!" cried the Frenchman, reaching for the piles of money which the +Plunger had divided rapidly into three parts, "on the red; all on the +red!" + +"Good heavens, man!" cried the Plunger, bitterly. "I may not know much, +but you should allow me to understand this dirty business." He caught +the Frenchman by the wrists, and the young man, more impressed with the +strange look in the boy's face than by his physical force, stood still, +while the ball rolled and rolled, and clicked merrily, and stopped, and +balanced, and then settled into the "seven." + +"Red, odd, and below," the croupier droned mechanically. + +"Ah! you see; what did I tell you?" said the Plunger, with sudden +calmness. "You have won more than your 20,000 francs; you are +proprietors--I congratulate you!" + +"Ah, my God!" cried the Frenchman, in a frenzy of delight, "I will +double it." + +He reached toward the fresh piles of coin as if he meant to sweep them +back again, but the Plunger put himself in his way and with a quick +movement caught up the rolls of money and dropped them into the skirt of +the woman, which she raised like an apron to receive her treasure. + +"Now," said young Harringford, determinedly, "you come with me." The +Frenchman tried to argue and resist, but the Plunger pushed him on with +the silent stubbornness of a drunken man. He handed the woman into a +carriage at the door, shoved her husband in beside her, and while the +man drove to the address she gave him, he told the Frenchman, with an +air of a chief of police, that he must leave Monte Carlo at once, that +very night. + +"Do you suppose I don't know?" he said. "Do you fancy I speak without +knowledge? I've seen them come here rich and go away paupers. But you +shall not; you shall keep what you have and spite them." He sent the +woman up to her room to pack while he expostulated with and browbeat +the excited bridegroom in the carriage. When she returned with the bag +packed, and so heavy with the gold that the servants could hardly lift +it up beside the driver, he ordered the coachman to go down the hill to +the station. + +"The train for Paris leaves at midnight," he said, "and you will be +there by morning. Then you must close your bargain with this old Carbut, +and never return here again." + +The Frenchman had turned during the ride from an angry, indignant +prisoner to a joyful madman, and was now tearfully and effusively humble +in his petitions for pardon and in his thanks. Their benefactor, as they +were pleased to call him, hurried them into the waiting train and ran to +purchase their tickets for them. + +"Now," he said, as the guard locked the door of the compartment, "you +are alone, and no one can get in, and you cannot get out. Go back to +your home, to your new home, and never come to this wretched place +again. Promise me--you understand?--never again!" + +They promised with effusive reiteration. They embraced each other like +children, and the man, pulling off his hat, called upon the good Lord to +thank the gentleman. + +"You will be in Paris, will you not?" said the woman, in an ecstasy of +pleasure, "and you will come to see us in our own shop, will you not? +Ah! we should be so greatly honored, sir, if you would visit us; if you +would come to the home you have given us. You have helped us so greatly, +sir," she said; "and may Heaven bless you!" + +She caught up his gloved hand as it rested on the door and kissed it +until he snatched it away in great embarrassment and flushing like a +girl. Her husband drew her toward him, and the young bride sat at +his side with her face close to his and wept tears of pleasure and of +excitement. + +"Ah, look, sir!" said the young man, joyfully; "look how happy you have +made us. You have made us happy for the rest of our lives." + +The train moved out with a quick, heavy rush, and the car-wheels took +up the young stranger's last words and seemed to say, "You have made us +happy--made us happy for the rest of our lives." + +It had all come about so rapidly that the Plunger had had no time to +consider or to weigh his motives, and all that seemed real to him now, +as he stood alone on the platform of the dark, deserted station, were +the words of the man echoing and re-echoing like the refrain of the +song. And then there came to him suddenly, and with all the force of +a gambler's superstition, the thought that the words were the same as +those which his father had used in his letter, "you can make us happy +for the rest of our lives." + +"Ah," he said, with a quick gasp of doubt, "if I could! If I made those +poor fools happy, mayn't I live to be something to him, and to her? O +God!" he cried, but so gently that one at his elbow could not have heard +him, "if I could, if I could!" + +He tossed up his hands, and drew them down again and clenched them in +front of him, and raised his tired, hot eyes to the calm purple sky with +its millions of moving stars. "Help me!" he whispered fiercely, "help +me." And as he lowered his head the queer numb feeling seemed to go, and +a calm came over his nerves and left him in peace. He did not know what +it might be, nor did he dare to question the change which had come to +him, but turned and slowly mounted the hill, with the awe and fear still +upon him of one who had passed beyond himself for one brief moment into +another world. When he reached his room he found his servant bending +with an anxious face over a letter which he tore up guiltily as his +master entered. "You were writing to my father," said Cecil, gently, +"were you not? Well, you need not finish your letter; we are going home. + +"I am going away from this place, Walters," he said as he pulled off his +coat and threw himself heavily on the bed. "I will take the first train +that leaves here, and I will sleep a little while you put up my things. +The first train, you understand--within an hour, if it leaves that +soon." His head sank back on the pillows heavily, as though he had come +in from a long, weary walk, and his eyes closed and his arms fell easily +at his side. The servant stood frightened and yet happy, with the tears +running down his cheeks, for he loved his master dearly. + +"We are going home, Walters," the Plunger whispered drowsily. "We are +going home; home to England and Harringford and the governor--and we are +going to be happy for all the rest of our lives." He paused a moment, +and Walters bent forward over the bed and held his breath to listen. + +"For he came to me," murmured the boy, as though he was speaking in his +sleep, "when I was yet a great way off--while I was yet a great way off, +and ran to meet me--" + +His voice sank until it died away into silence, and a few hours later, +when Walters came to wake him, he found his master sleeping like a child +and smiling in his sleep. + + + + +THE CYNICAL MISS CATHERWAIGHT + + +Miss Catherwaight's collection of orders and decorations and medals was +her chief offence in the eyes of those of her dear friends who thought +her clever but cynical. + +All of them were willing to admit that she was clever, but some of them +said she was clever only to be unkind. + +Young Van Bibber had said that if Miss Catherwaight did not like dances +and days and teas, she had only to stop going to them instead of making +unpleasant remarks about those who did. So many people repeated this +that young Van Bibber believed finally that he had said something good, +and was somewhat pleased in consequence, as he was not much given to +that sort of thing. + +Mrs. Catherwaight, while she was alive, lived solely for society, and, +so some people said, not only lived but died for it. She certainly did +go about a great deal, and she used to carry her husband away from +his library every night of every season and left him standing in +the doorways of drawing-rooms, outwardly courteous and distinguished +looking, but inwardly somnolent and unhappy. She was a born and trained +social leader, and her daughter's coming out was to have been the +greatest effort of her life. She regarded it as an event in the dear +child's lifetime second only in importance to her birth; equally +important with her probable marriage and of much more poignant interest +than her possible death. But the great effort proved too much for +the mother, and she died, fondly remembered by her peers and tenderly +referred to by a great many people who could not even show a card for +her Thursdays. Her husband and her daughter were not going out, of +necessity, for more than a year after her death, and then felt no +inclination to begin over again, but lived very much together and showed +themselves only occasionally. + +They entertained, though, a great deal, in the way of dinners, and +an invitation to one of these dinners soon became a diploma for +intellectual as well as social qualifications of a very high order. + +One was always sure of meeting some one of consideration there, which +was pleasant in itself, and also rendered it easy to let one's friends +know where one had been dining. It sounded so flat to boast abruptly, "I +dined at the Catherwaights' last night"; while it seemed only natural to +remark, "That reminds me of a story that novelist, what's his name, told +at Mr. Catherwaight's," or "That English chap, who's been in Africa, was +at the Catherwaights' the other night, and told me--" + +After one of these dinners people always asked to be allowed to look +over Miss Catherwaight's collection, of which almost everybody had +heard. It consisted of over a hundred medals and decorations which Miss +Catherwaight had purchased while on the long tours she made with her +father in all parts of the world. Each of them had been given as a +reward for some public service, as a recognition of some virtue of the +highest order--for personal bravery, for statesmanship, for great genius +in the arts; and each had been pawned by the recipient or sold outright. +Miss Catherwaight referred to them as her collection of dishonored +honors, and called them variously her Orders of the Knights of the +Almighty Dollar, pledges to patriotism and the pawnshops, and honors at +second-hand. + +It was her particular fad to get as many of these together as she could +and to know the story of each. The less creditable the story, the more +highly she valued the medal. People might think it was not a pretty +hobby for a young girl, but they could not help smiling at the stories +and at the scorn with which she told them. + +"These," she would say, "are crosses of the Legion of Honor; they are of +the lowest degree, that of chevalier. I keep them in this cigar box to +show how cheaply I got them and how cheaply I hold them. I think you +can get them here in New York for ten dollars; they cost more than +that--about a hundred francs--in Paris. At second-hand, of course. The +French government can imprison you, you know, for ten years, if you wear +one without the right to do so, but they have no punishment for those +who choose to part with them for a mess of pottage. + +"All these," she would run on, "are English war medals. See, on this one +is 'Alma,' 'Balaclava,' and 'Sebastopol.' He was quite a veteran, was he +not? Well, he sold this to a dealer on Wardour Street, London, for five +and six. You can get any number of them on the Bowery for their weight +in silver. I tried very hard to get a Victoria Cross when I was in +England, and I only succeeded in getting this one after a great deal of +trouble. They value the cross so highly, you know, that it is the only +other decoration in the case which holds the Order of the Garter in the +Jewel Room at the Tower. It is made of copper, so that its intrinsic +value won't have any weight with the man who gets it, but I bought this +nevertheless for five pounds. The soldier to whom it belonged had loaded +and fired a cannon all alone when the rest of the men about the battery +had run away. He was captured by the enemy, but retaken immediately +afterward by re-enforcements from his own side, and the general in +command recommended him to the Queen for decoration. He sold his cross +to the proprietor of a curiosity shop and drank himself to death. I felt +rather meanly about keeping it and hunted up his widow to return it to +her, but she said I could have it for a consideration. + +"This gold medal was given, as you see, to 'Hiram J. Stillman, of the +sloop _Annie Barker_, for saving the crew of the steamship _Olivia_, +June 18, 1888,' by the President of the United States and both houses of +Congress. I found it on Baxter Street in a pawnshop. The gallant Hiram +J. had pawned it for sixteen dollars and never came back to claim it." + +"But, Miss Catherwaight," some optimist would object, "these men +undoubtedly did do something brave and noble once. You can't get back +of that; and they didn't do it for a medal, either, but because it was +their duty. And so the medal meant nothing to them: their conscience +told them they had done the right thing; they didn't need a stamped coin +to remind them of it, or of their wounds, either, perhaps." + +"Quite right; that's quite true," Miss Catherwaight would say. "But how +about this? Look at this gold medal with the diamonds: 'Presented to +Colonel James F. Placer by the men of his regiment, in camp before +Richmond.' Every soldier in the regiment gave something toward that, and +yet the brave gentleman put it up at a game of poker one night, and the +officer who won it sold it to the man who gave it to me. Can you defend +that?" + +Miss Catherwaight was well known to the proprietors of the pawnshops and +loan offices on the Bowery and Park Row. They learned to look for her +once a month, and saved what medals they received for her and tried to +learn their stories from the people who pawned them, or else invented +some story which they hoped would answer just as well. + +Though her brougham produced a sensation in the unfashionable streets +into which she directed it, she was never annoyed. Her maid went with +her into the shops, and one of the grooms always stood at the door +within call, to the intense delight of the neighborhood. And one day she +found what, from her point of view, was a perfect gem. It was a poor, +cheap-looking, tarnished silver medal, a half-dollar once, undoubtedly, +beaten out roughly into the shape of a heart and engraved in script by +the jeweller of some country town. On one side were two clasped hands +with a wreath around them, and on the reverse was this inscription: +"From Henry Burgoyne to his beloved friend Lewis L. Lockwood"; and +below, "Through prosperity and adversity." That was all. And here it +was among razors and pistols and family Bibles in a pawnbroker's window. +What a story there was in that! These two boy friends, and their boyish +friendship that was to withstand adversity and prosperity, and all that +remained of it was this inscription to its memory like the wording on a +tomb! + +"He couldn't have got so much on it any way," said the pawnbroker, +entering into her humor. "I didn't lend him more'n a quarter of a dollar +at the most." + +Miss Catherwaight stood wondering if the Lewis L. Lockwood could be +Lewis Lockwood, the lawyer one read so much about. Then she remembered +his middle name was Lyman, and said quickly, "I'll take it, please." + +She stepped into the carriage, and told the man to go find a directory +and look for Lewis Lyman Lockwood. The groom returned in a few minutes +and said there was such a name down in the book as a lawyer, and that +his office was such a number on Broadway; it must be near Liberty. "Go +there," said Miss Catherwaight. + +Her determination was made so quickly that they had stopped in front of +a huge pile of offices, sandwiched in, one above the other, until they +towered mountains high, before she had quite settled in her mind what +she wanted to know, or had appreciated how strange her errand might +appear. Mr. Lockwood was out, one of the young men in the outer office +said, but the junior partner, Mr. Latimer, was in and would see her. +She had only time to remember that the junior partner was a dancing +acquaintance of hers, before young Mr. Latimer stood before her smiling, +and with her card in his hand. + +"Mr. Lockwood is out just at present, Miss Catherwaight," he said, "but +he will be back in a moment. Won't you come into the other room and +wait? I'm sure he won't be away over five minutes. Or is it something I +could do?" + +She saw that he was surprised to see her, and a little ill at ease as +to just how to take her visit. He tried to make it appear that he +considered it the most natural thing in the world, but he overdid it, +and she saw that her presence was something quite out of the common. +This did not tend to set her any more at her ease. She already regretted +the step she had taken. What if it should prove to be the same Lockwood, +she thought, and what would they think of her? + +"Perhaps you will do better than Mr. Lockwood," she said, as she +followed him into the inner office. "I fear I have come upon a very +foolish errand, and one that has nothing at all to do with the law." + +"Not a breach of promise suit, then?" said young Latimer, with a smile. +"Perhaps it is only an innocent subscription to a most worthy charity. I +was afraid at first," he went on lightly, "that it was legal redress you +wanted, and I was hoping that the way I led the Courdert's cotillion +had made you think I could conduct you through the mazes of the law as +well." + +"No," returned Miss Catherwaight, with a nervous laugh; "it has to do +with my unfortunate collection. This is what brought me here," she said, +holding out the silver medal. "I came across it just now in the Bowery. +The name was the same, and I thought it just possible Mr. Lockwood would +like to have it; or, to tell you the truth, that he might tell me what +had become of the Henry Burgoyne who gave it to him." + +Young Latimer had the medal in his hand before she had finished +speaking, and was examining it carefully. He looked up with just a touch +of color in his cheeks and straightened himself visibly. + +"Please don't be offended," said the fair collector. "I know what you +think. You've heard of my stupid collection, and I know you think +I meant to add this to it. But, indeed, now that I have had time to +think--you see I came here immediately from the pawnshop, and I was +so interested, like all collectors, you know, that I didn't stop to +consider. That's the worst of a hobby; it carries one rough-shod over +other people's feelings, and runs away with one. I beg of you, if you do +know anything about the coin, just to keep it and don't tell me, and I +assure you what little I know I will keep quite to myself." + +Young Latimer bowed, and stood looking at her curiously, with the medal +in his hand. + +"I hardly know what to say," he began slowly. "It really has a story. +You say you found this on the Bowery, in a pawnshop. Indeed! Well, of +course, you know Mr. Lockwood could not have left it there." + +Miss Catherwaight shook her head vehemently and smiled in deprecation. + +"This medal was in his safe when he lived on Thirty-fifth Street at +the time he was robbed, and the burglars took this with the rest of the +silver and pawned it, I suppose. Mr. Lockwood would have given more for +it than any one else could have afforded to pay." He paused a moment, +and then continued more rapidly: "Henry Burgoyne is Judge Burgoyne. Ah! +you didn't guess that? Yes, Mr. Lockwood and he were friends when they +were boys. They went to school in Westchester County. They were Damon +and Pythias and that sort of thing. They roomed together at the State +college and started to practise law in Tuckahoe as a firm, but they made +nothing of it, and came on to New York and began reading law again with +Fuller & Mowbray. It was while they were at school that they had these +medals made. There was a mate to this, you know; Judge Burgoyne had it. +Well, they continued to live and work together. They were both orphans +and dependent on themselves. I suppose that was one of the strongest +bonds between them; and they knew no one in New York, and always spent +their spare time together. They were pretty poor, I fancy, from all +Mr. Lockwood has told me, but they were very ambitious. They were--I'm +telling you this, you understand, because it concerns you somewhat: +well, more or less. They were great sportsmen, and whenever they could +get away from the law office they would go off shooting. I think they +were fonder of each other than brothers even. I've heard Mr. Lockwood +tell of the days they lay in the rushes along the Chesapeake Bay waiting +for duck. He has said often that they were the happiest hours of his +life. That was their greatest pleasure, going off together after duck or +snipe along the Maryland waters. Well, they grew rich and began to know +people; and then they met a girl. It seems they both thought a great +deal of her, as half the New York men did, I am told; and she was the +reigning belle and toast, and had other admirers, and neither met with +that favor she showed--well, the man she married, for instance. But for +a while each thought, for some reason or other, that he was especially +favored. I don't know anything about it. Mr. Lockwood never spoke of it +to me. But they both fell very deeply in love with her, and each thought +the other disloyal, and so they quarrelled; and--and then, though the +woman married, the two men kept apart. It was the one great passion +of their lives, and both were proud, and each thought the other in the +wrong, and so they have kept apart ever since. And--well, I believe that +is all." + +Miss Catherwaight had listened in silence and with one little gloved +hand tightly clasping the other. + +"Indeed, Mr. Latimer, indeed," she began, tremulously, "I am terribly +ashamed of myself. I seemed to have rushed in where angels fear to +tread. I wouldn't meet Mr. Lockwood _now_ for worlds. Of course I might +have known there was a woman in the case, it adds so much to the story. +But I suppose I must give up my medal. I never could tell that story, +could I?" + +"No," said young Latimer, dryly; "I wouldn't if I were you." + +Something in his tone, and something in the fact that he seemed to avoid +her eyes, made her drop the lighter vein in which she had been speaking, +and rise to go. There was much that he had not told her, she suspected, +and when she bade him good-by it was with a reserve which she had not +shown at any other time during their interview. + +"I wonder who that woman was?" she murmured, as young Latimer turned +from the brougham door and said "Home," to the groom. She thought about +it a great deal that afternoon; at times she repented that she had given +up the medal, and at times she blushed that she should have been carried +in her zeal into such an unwarranted intimacy with another's story. + +She determined finally to ask her father about it. He would be sure to +know, she thought, as he and Mr. Lockwood were contemporaries. Then +she decided finally not to say anything about it at all, for Mr. +Catherwaight did not approve of the collection of dishonored honors +as it was, and she had no desire to prejudice him still further by a +recital of her afternoon's adventure, of which she had no doubt but he +would also disapprove. So she was more than usually silent during +the dinner, which was a tete-a-tete family dinner that night, and she +allowed her father to doze after it in the library in his great chair +without disturbing him with either questions or confessions. + +{Illustration with caption: "What can Mr. Lockwood be calling upon me +about?"} + +They had been sitting there some time, he with his hands folded on the +evening paper and with his eyes closed, when the servant brought in a +card and offered it to Mr. Catherwaight. Mr. Catherwaight fumbled +over his glasses, and read the name on the card aloud: "'Mr. Lewis L. +Lockwood.' Dear me!" he said; "what can Mr. Lockwood be calling upon me +about?" + +Miss Catherwaight sat upright, and reached out for the card with a +nervous, gasping little laugh. + +"Oh, I think it must be for me," she said; "I'm quite sure it is +intended for me. I was at his office to-day, you see, to return him some +keepsake of his that I found in an old curiosity shop. Something with +his name on it that had been stolen from him and pawned. It was just a +trifle. You needn't go down, dear; I'll see him. It was I he asked for, +I'm sure; was it not, Morris?" + +Morris was not quite sure; being such an old gentleman, he thought it +must be for Mr. Catherwaight he'd come. + +Mr. Catherwaight was not greatly interested. He did not like to disturb +his after-dinner nap, and he settled back in his chair again and +refolded his hands. + +"I hardly thought he could have come to see me," he murmured, drowsily; +"though I used to see enough and more than enough of Lewis Lockwood +once, my dear," he added with a smile, as he opened his eyes and nodded +before he shut them again. "That was before your mother and I were +engaged, and people did say that young Lockwood's chances at that time +were as good as mine. But they weren't, it seems. He was very attentive, +though; _very_ attentive." + +Miss Catherwaight stood startled and motionless at the door from which +she had turned. + +"Attentive--to whom?" she asked quickly, and in a very low voice. "To my +mother?" + +Mr. Catherwaight did not deign to open his eyes this time, but moved his +head uneasily as if he wished to be let alone. + +"To your mother, of course, my child," he answered; "of whom else was I +speaking?" + +Miss Catherwaight went down the stairs to the drawing-room slowly, and +paused half-way to allow this new suggestion to settle in her mind. +There was something distasteful to her, something that seemed not +altogether unblamable, in a woman's having two men quarrel about her, +neither of whom was the woman's husband. And yet this girl of whom +Latimer had spoken must be her mother, and she, of course, could do no +wrong. It was very disquieting, and she went on down the rest of the way +with one hand resting heavily on the railing and with the other pressed +against her cheeks. She was greatly troubled. It now seemed to her very +sad indeed that these two one-time friends should live in the same city +and meet, as they must meet, and not recognize each other. She argued +that her mother must have been very young when it happened, or she would +have brought two such men together again. Her mother could not have +known, she told herself; she was not to blame. For she felt sure that +had she herself known of such an accident she would have done something, +said something, to make it right. And she was not half the woman her +mother had been, she was sure of that. + +There was something very likable in the old gentleman who came forward +to greet her as she entered the drawing-room; something courtly and of +the old school, of which she was so tired of hearing, but of which she +wished she could have seen more in the men she met. Young Mr. Latimer +had accompanied his guardian, exactly why she did not see, but she +recognized his presence slightly. He seemed quite content to remain in +the background. Mr. Lockwood, as she had expected, explained that he had +called to thank her for the return of the medal. He had it in his hand +as he spoke, and touched it gently with the tips of his fingers as +though caressing it. + +"I knew your father very well," said the lawyer, "and I at one time had +the honor of being one of your mother's younger friends. That was before +she was married, many years ago." He stopped and regarded the girl +gravely and with a touch of tenderness. "You will pardon an old man, old +enough to be your father, if he says," he went on, "that you are greatly +like your mother, my dear young lady--greatly like. Your mother was +very kind to me, and I fear I abused her kindness; abused it by +misunderstanding it. There was a great deal of misunderstanding; and +I was proud, and my friend was proud, and so the misunderstanding +continued, until now it has become irretrievable." + +He had forgotten her presence apparently, and was speaking more to +himself than to her as he stood looking down at the medal in his hand. + +"You were very thoughtful to give me this," he continued; "it was very +good of you. I don't know why I should keep it though, now, although I +was distressed enough when I lost it. But now it is only a reminder of +a time that is past and put away, but which was very, very dear to me. +Perhaps I should tell you that I had a misunderstanding with the friend +who gave it to me, and since then we have never met; have ceased to +know each other. But I have always followed his life as a judge and as a +lawyer, and respected him for his own sake as a man. I cannot tell--I do +not know how he feels toward me." + +The old lawyer turned the medal over in his hand and stood looking down +at it wistfully. + +The cynical Miss Catherwaight could not stand it any longer. + +"Mr. Lockwood," she said, impulsively, "Mr. Latimer has told me why +you and your friend separated, and I cannot bear to think that it +was she--my mother--should have been the cause. She could not have +understood; she must have been innocent of any knowledge of the trouble +she had brought to men who were such good friends of hers and to each +other. It seems to me as though my finding that coin is more than a +coincidence. I somehow think that the daughter is to help undo the harm +that her mother has caused--unwittingly caused. Keep the medal and don't +give it back to me, for I am sure your friend has kept his, and I am +sure he is still your friend at heart. Don't think I am speaking hastily +or that I am thoughtless in what I am saying, but it seems to me as if +friends--good, true friends--were so few that one cannot let them go +without a word to bring them back. But though I am only a girl, and a +very light and unfeeling girl, some people think, I feel this very +much, and I do wish I could bring your old friend back to you again as I +brought back his pledge." + +"It has been many years since Henry Burgoyne and I have met," said the +old man, slowly, "and it would be quite absurd to think that he still +holds any trace of that foolish, boyish feeling of loyalty that we once +had for each other. Yet I will keep this, if you will let me, and I +thank you, my dear young lady, for what you have said. I thank you from +the bottom of my heart. You are as good and as kind as your mother was, +and--I can say nothing, believe me, in higher praise." + +He rose slowly and made a movement as if to leave the room, and then, +as if the excitement of this sudden return into the past could not +be shaken off so readily, he started forward with a move of sudden +determination. + +"I think," he said, "I will go to Henry Burgoyne's house at once, +to-night. I will act on what you have suggested. I will see if this has +or has not been one long, unprofitable mistake. If my visit should +be fruitless, I will send you this coin to add to your collection of +dishonored honors, but if it should result as I hope it may, it will be +your doing, Miss Catherwaight, and two old men will have much to thank +you for. Good-night," he said as he bowed above her hand, "and--God +bless you!" + +Miss Catherwaight flushed slightly at what he had said, and sat looking +down at the floor for a moment after the door had closed behind him. + +Young Mr. Latimer moved uneasily in his chair. The routine of the office +had been strangely disturbed that day, and he now failed to recognize +in the girl before him with reddened cheeks and trembling eyelashes the +cold, self-possessed young woman of society whom he had formerly known. + +"You have done very well, if you will let me say so," he began, gently. +"I hope you are right in what you said, and that Mr. Lockwood will not +meet with a rebuff or an ungracious answer. Why," he went on quickly, "I +have seen him take out his gun now every spring and every fall for the +last ten years and clean and polish it and tell what great shots he and +Henry, as he calls him, used to be. And then he would say he would take +a holiday and get off for a little shooting. But he never went. He would +put the gun back into its case again and mope in his library for days +afterward. You see, he never married, and though he adopted me, in a +manner, and is fond of me in a certain way, no one ever took the place +in his heart his old friend had held." + +"You will let me know, will you not, at once,--to-night, even,--whether +he succeeds or not?" said the cynical Miss Catherwaight. "You can +understand why I am so deeply interested. I see now why you said I +would not tell the story of that medal. But, after all, it may be the +prettiest story, the only pretty story I have to tell." + +Mr. Lockwood had not returned, the man said, when young Latimer reached +the home the lawyer had made for them both. He did not know what to +argue from this, but determined to sit up and wait, and so sat smoking +before the fire and listening with his sense of hearing on a strain for +the first movement at the door. + +He had not long to wait. The front door shut with a clash, and he heard +Mr. Lockwood crossing the hall quickly to the library, in which he +waited. Then the inner door was swung back, and Mr. Lockwood came in +with his head high and his eyes smiling brightly. + +There was something in his step that had not been there before, +something light and vigorous, and he looked ten years younger. He +crossed the room to his writing-table without speaking and began tossing +the papers about on his desk. Then he closed the rolling-top lid with a +snap and looked up smiling. + +"I shall have to ask you to look after things at the office for a little +while," he said. "Judge Burgoyne and I are going to Maryland for a few +weeks' shooting." + + + + +VAN BIBBER AND THE SWAN-BOATS + + +It was very hot in the Park, and young Van Bibber, who has a good heart +and a great deal more money than good-hearted people generally get, was +cross and somnolent. He had told his groom to bring a horse he wanted to +try to the Fifty-ninth Street entrance at ten o'clock, and the groom had +not appeared. Hence Van Bibber's crossness. + +He waited as long as his dignity would allow, and then turned off into +a by-lane end dropped on a bench and looked gloomily at the Lohengrin +swans with the paddle-wheel attachment that circle around the lake. +They struck him as the most idiotic inventions he had ever seen, and he +pitied, with the pity of a man who contemplates crossing the ocean to +be measured for his fall clothes, the people who could find delight in +having some one paddle them around an artificial lake. + +Two little girls from the East Side, with a lunch basket, and an older +girl with her hair down her back, sat down on a bench beside him and +gazed at the swans. + +The place was becoming too popular, and Van Bibber decided to move on. +But the bench on which he sat was in the shade, and the asphalt walk +leading to the street was in the sun, and his cigarette was soothing, +so he ignored the near presence of the three little girls, and remained +where he was. + +"I s'pose," said one of the two little girls, in a high, public school +voice, "there's lots to see from those swan-boats that youse can't see +from the banks." + +"Oh, lots," assented the girl with long hair. + +"If you walked all round the lake, clear all the way round, you could +see all there is to see," said the third, "except what there's in the +middle where the island is." + +"I guess it's mighty wild on that island," suggested the youngest. + +"Eddie Case he took a trip around the lake on a swan-boat the other day. +He said that it was grand. He said youse could see fishes and ducks, and +that it looked just as if there were snakes and things on the island." + +"What sort of things?" asked the other one, in a hushed voice. + +"Well, wild things," explained the elder, vaguely; "bears and animals +like that, that grow in wild places." + +Van Bibber lit a fresh cigarette, and settled himself comfortably and +unreservedly to listen. + +"My, but I'd like to take a trip just once," said the youngest, +under her breath. Then she clasped her fingers together and looked up +anxiously at the elder girl, who glanced at her with severe reproach. + +"Why, Mame!" she said; "ain't you ashamed! Ain't you having a good time +'nuff without wishing for everything you set your eyes on?" + +Van Bibber wondered at this--why humans should want to ride around on +the swans in the first place, and why, if they had such a wild desire, +they should not gratify it. + +"Why, it costs more'n it costs to come all the way up town in an open +car," added the elder girl, as if in answer to his unspoken question. + +The younger girl sighed at this, and nodded her head in submission, but +blinked longingly at the big swans and the parti-colored awning and the +red seats. + +"I beg your pardon," said Van Bibber, addressing himself uneasily to +the eldest girl with long hair, "but if the little girl would like to go +around in one of those things, and--and hasn't brought the change with +her, you know, I'm sure I should be very glad if she'd allow me to send +her around." + +"Oh! will you?" exclaimed the little girl, with a jump, and so sharply +and in such a shrill voice that Van Bibber shuddered. But the elder girl +objected. + +"I'm afraid maw wouldn't like our taking money from any one we didn't +know," she said with dignity; "but if you're going anyway and want +company--" + +"Oh! my, no," said Van Bibber, hurriedly. He tried to picture himself +riding around the lake behind a tin swan with three little girls from +the East Side, and a lunch basket. + +"Then," said the head of the trio, "we can't go." + +There was such a look of uncomplaining acceptance of this verdict on +the part of the two little girls, that Van Bibber felt uncomfortable. He +looked to the right and to the left, and then said desperately, +"Well, come along." The young man in a blue flannel shirt, who did the +paddling, smiled at Van Bibber's riding-breeches, which were so very +loose at one end and so very tight at the other, and at his gloves +and crop. But Van Bibber pretended not to care. The three little girls +placed the awful lunch basket on the front seat and sat on the middle +one, and Van Bibber cowered in the back. They were hushed in silent +ecstasy when it started, and gave little gasps of pleasure when it +careened slightly in turning. It was shady under the awning, and the +motion was pleasant enough, but Van Bibber was so afraid some one would +see him that he failed to enjoy it. + +But as soon as they passed into the narrow straits and were shut in by +the bushes and were out of sight of the people, he relaxed, and began to +play the host. He pointed out the fishes among the rocks at the edges +of the pool, and the sparrows and robins bathing and ruffling +their feathers in the shallow water, and agreed with them about the +possibility of bears, and even tigers, in the wild part of the island, +although the glimpse of the gray helmet of a Park policeman made such a +supposition doubtful. + +And it really seemed as though they were enjoying it more than he +ever enjoyed a trip up the Sound on a yacht or across the ocean on a +record-breaking steamship. It seemed long enough before they got back to +Van Bibber, but his guests were evidently but barely satisfied. Still, +all the goodness in his nature would not allow him to go through that +ordeal again. + +He stepped out of the boat eagerly and helped out the girl with long +hair as though she had been a princess and tipped the rude young man +who had laughed at him, but who was perspiring now with the work he had +done; and then as he turned to leave the dock he came face to face with +A Girl He Knew and Her brother. + +Her brother said, "How're you, Van Bibber? Been taking a trip around +the world in eighty minutes?" And added in a low voice, "Introduce me to +your young lady friends from Hester Street." + +"Ah, how're you--quite a surprise!" gasped Van Bibber, while his late +guests stared admiringly at the pretty young lady in the riding-habit, +and utterly refused to move on. "Been taking ride on the lake," +stammered Van Bibber; "most exhilarating. Young friends of mine--these +young ladies never rode on lake, so I took 'em. Did you see me?" + +"Oh, yes, we saw you," said Her brother, dryly, while she only smiled at +him, but so kindly and with such perfect understanding that Van Bibber +grew red with pleasure and bought three long strings of tickets for the +swans at some absurd discount, and gave each little girl a string. + +"There," said Her brother to the little ladies from Hester Street, "now +you can take trips for a week without stopping. Don't try to smuggle in +any laces, and don't forget to fee the smoking-room steward." + +The Girl He Knew said they were walking over to the stables, and that +he had better go get his other horse and join her, which was to be his +reward for taking care of the young ladies. And the three little girls +proceeded to use up the yards of tickets so industriously that they were +sunburned when they reached the tenement, and went to bed dreaming of +a big white swan, and a beautiful young gentleman in patent-leather +riding-boots and baggy breeches. + + + + +VAN BIBBER'S BURGLAR + + +There had been a dance up town, but as Van Bibber could not find Her +there, he accepted young Travers's suggestion to go over to Jersey City +and see a "go" between "Dutchy" Mack and a colored person professionally +known as the Black Diamond. They covered up all signs of their evening +dress with their great-coats, and filled their pockets with cigars, for +the smoke which surrounds a "go" is trying to sensitive nostrils, and +they also fastened their watches to both key-chains. Alf Alpin, who was +acting as master of ceremonies, was greatly pleased and flattered +at their coming, and boisterously insisted on their sitting on the +platform. The fact was generally circulated among the spectators that +the "two gents in high hats" had come in a carriage, and this and their +patent-leather boots made them objects of keen interest. It was even +whispered that they were the "parties" who were putting up the money +to back the Black Diamond against the "Hester Street Jackson." This in +itself entitled them to respect. Van Bibber was asked to hold the watch, +but he wisely declined the honor, which was given to Andy Spielman, the +sporting reporter of the _Track and Ring_, whose watch-case was covered +with diamonds, and was just the sort of a watch a timekeeper should +hold. + +It was two o'clock before "Dutchy" Mack's backer threw the sponge +into the air, and three before they reached the city. They had another +reporter in the cab with them besides the gentleman who had bravely +held the watch in the face of several offers to "do for" him; and as +Van Bibber was ravenously hungry, and as he doubted that he could get +anything at that hour at the club, they accepted Spielman's invitation +and went for a porterhouse steak and onions at the Owl's Nest, Gus +McGowan's all-night restaurant on Third Avenue. + +It was a very dingy, dirty place, but it was as warm as the engine-room +of a steamboat, and the steak was perfectly done and tender. It was +too late to go to bed, so they sat around the table, with their chairs +tipped back and their knees against its edge. The two club men had +thrown off their great-coats, and their wide shirt fronts and silk +facings shone grandly in the smoky light of the oil lamps and the +red glow from the grill in the corner. They talked about the life the +reporters led, and the Philistines asked foolish questions, which the +gentleman of the press answered without showing them how foolish they +were. + +"And I suppose you have all sorts of curious adventures," said Van +Bibber, tentatively. + +"Well, no, not what I would call adventures," said one of the reporters. +"I have never seen anything that could not be explained or attributed +directly to some known cause, such as crime or poverty or drink. You may +think at first that you have stumbled on something strange and romantic, +but it comes to nothing. You would suppose that in a great city like +this one would come across something that could not be explained away +something mysterious or out of the common, like Stevenson's Suicide +Club. But I have not found it so. Dickens once told James Payn that the +most curious thing he ever saw In his rambles around London was a ragged +man who stood crouching under the window of a great house where the +owner was giving a ball. While the man hid beneath a window on the +ground floor, a woman wonderfully dressed and very beautiful raised the +sash from the inside and dropped her bouquet down into the man's hand, +and he nodded and stuck it under his coat and ran off with it. + +"I call that, now, a really curious thing to see. But I have never come +across anything like it, and I have been in every part of this big city, +and at every hour of the night and morning, and I am not lacking in +imagination either, but no captured maidens have ever beckoned to me +from barred windows nor 'white hands waved from a passing hansom.' +Balzac and De Musset and Stevenson suggest that they have had such +adventures, but they never come to me. It is all commonplace and vulgar, +and always ends in a police court or with a 'found drowned' in the North +River." + +McGowan, who had fallen into a doze behind the bar, woke suddenly and +shivered and rubbed his shirt-sleeves briskly. A woman knocked at the +side door and begged for a drink "for the love of heaven," and the man +who tended the grill told her to be off. They could hear her feeling +her way against the wall and cursing as she staggered out of the alley. +Three men came in with a hack driver and wanted everybody to drink +with them, and became insolent when the gentlemen declined, and were +in consequence hustled out one at a time by McGowan, who went to sleep +again immediately, with his head resting among the cigar boxes and +pyramids of glasses at the back of the bar, and snored. + +"You see," said the reporter, "it is all like this. Night in a great +city is not picturesque and it is not theatrical. It is sodden, +sometimes brutal, exciting enough until you get used to it, but it runs +in a groove. It is dramatic, but the plot is old and the motives and +characters always the same." + +The rumble of heavy market wagons and the rattle of milk carts told +them that it was morning, and as they opened the door the cold fresh +air swept into the place and made them wrap their collars around +their throats and stamp their feet. The morning wind swept down the +cross-street from the East River and the lights of the street lamps and +of the saloon looked old and tawdry. Travers and the reporter went off +to a Turkish bath, and the gentleman who held the watch, and who had +been asleep for the last hour, dropped into a nighthawk and told the +man to drive home. It was almost clear now and very cold, and Van Bibber +determined to walk. He had the strange feeling one gets when one stays +up until the sun rises, of having lost a day somewhere, and the dance +he had attended a few hours before seemed to have come off long ago, and +the fight in Jersey City was far back in the past. + +The houses along the cross-street through which he walked were as dead +as so many blank walls, and only here and there a lace curtain waved out +of the open window where some honest citizen was sleeping. The street +was quite deserted; not even a cat or a policeman moved on it and Van +Bibber's footsteps sounded brisk on the sidewalk. There was a great +house at the corner of the avenue and the cross-street on which he was +walking. The house faced the avenue and a stone wall ran back to the +brown stone stable which opened on the side street. There was a door +in this wall, and as Van Bibber approached it on his solitary walk it +opened cautiously, and a man's head appeared in it for an instant and +was withdrawn again like a flash, and the door snapped to. Van Bibber +stopped and looked at the door and at the house and up and down the +street. The house was tightly closed, as though some one was lying +inside dead, and the streets were still empty. + +Van Bibber could think of nothing in his appearance so dreadful as to +frighten an honest man, so he decided the face he had had a glimpse of +must belong to a dishonest one. It was none of his business, he assured +himself, but it was curious, and he liked adventure, and he would +have liked to prove his friend the reporter, who did not believe in +adventure, in the wrong. So he approached the door silently, and jumped +and caught at the top of the wall and stuck one foot on the handle of +the door, and, with the other on the knocker, drew himself up and looked +cautiously down on the other side. He had done this so lightly that the +only noise he made was the rattle of the door-knob on which his foot had +rested, and the man inside thought that the one outside was trying to +open the door, and placed his shoulder to it and pressed against it +heavily. Van Bibber, from his perch on the top of the wall, looked down +directly on the other's head and shoulders. He could see the top of the +man's head only two feet below, and he also saw that in one hand he +held a revolver and that two bags filled with projecting articles of +different sizes lay at his feet. + +It did not need explanatory notes to tell Van Bibber that the man below +had robbed the big house on the corner, and that if it had not been for +his having passed when he did the burglar would have escaped with his +treasure. His first thought was that he was not a policeman, and that a +fight with a burglar was not in his line of life; and this was followed +by the thought that though the gentleman who owned the property in the +two bags was of no interest to him, he was, as a respectable member of +society, more entitled to consideration than the man with the revolver. + +The fact that he was now, whether he liked it or not, perched on the top +of the wall like Humpty Dumpty, and that the burglar might see him +and shoot him the next minute, had also an immediate influence on his +movements. So he balanced himself cautiously and noiselessly and dropped +upon the man's head and shoulders, bringing him down to the flagged walk +with him and under him. The revolver went off once in the struggle, but +before the burglar could know how or from where his assailant had come, +Van Bibber was standing up over him and had driven his heel down on his +hand and kicked the pistol out of his fingers. Then he stepped quickly +to where it lay and picked it up and said, "Now, if you try to get up +I'll shoot at you." He felt an unwarranted and ill-timedly humorous +inclination to add, "and I'll probably miss you," but subdued it. The +burglar, much to Van Bibber's astonishment, did not attempt to rise, but +sat up with his hands locked across his knees and said: "Shoot ahead. +I'd a damned sight rather you would." + +His teeth were set and his face desperate and bitter, and hopeless to a +degree of utter hopelessness that Van Bibber had never imagined. + +"Go ahead," reiterated the man, doggedly, "I won't move. Shoot me." + +It was a most unpleasant situation. Van Bibber felt the pistol loosening +in his hand, and he was conscious of a strong inclination to lay it down +and ask the burglar to tell him all about it. + +"You haven't got much heart," said Van Bibber, finally. "You're a pretty +poor sort of a burglar, I should say." + +"What's the use?" said the man, fiercely. "I won't go back--I won't go +back there alive. I've served my time forever in that hole. If I have to +go back again--s'help me if I don't do for a keeper and die for it. But +I won't serve there no more." + +"Go back where?" asked Van Bibber, gently, and greatly interested; "to +prison?" + +"To prison, yes!" cried the man, hoarsely: "to a grave. That's where. +Look at my face," he said, "and look at my hair. That ought to tell you +where I've been. With all the color gone out of my skin, and all the +life out of my legs. You needn't be afraid of me. I couldn't hurt you if +I wanted to. I'm a skeleton and a baby, I am. I couldn't kill a cat. And +now you're going to send me back again for another lifetime. For twenty +years, this time, into that cold, forsaken hole, and after I done my +time so well and worked so hard." Van Bibber shifted the pistol from one +hand to the other and eyed his prisoner doubtfully. + +"How long have you been out?" he asked, seating himself on the steps +of the kitchen and holding the revolver between his knees. The sun was +driving the morning mist away, and he had forgotten the cold. + +"I got out yesterday," said the man. + +Van Bibber glanced at the bags and lifted the revolver. "You didn't +waste much time," he said. + +"No," answered the man, sullenly, "no, I didn't. I knew this place and +I wanted money to get West to my folks, and the Society said I'd have to +wait until I earned it, and I couldn't wait. I haven't seen my wife +for seven years, nor my daughter. Seven years, young man; think of +that--seven years. Do you know how long that is? Seven years without +seeing your wife or your child! And they're straight people, they are," +he added, hastily. "My wife moved West after I was put away and took +another name, and my girl never knew nothing about me. She thinks I'm +away at sea. I was to join 'em. That was the plan. I was to join 'em, +and I thought I could lift enough here to get the fare, and now," he +added, dropping his face in his hands, "I've got to go back. And I had +meant to live straight after I got West,--God help me, but I did! Not +that it makes much difference now. An' I don't care whether you believe +it or not neither," he added, fiercely. + +"I didn't say whether I believed it or not," answered Van Bibber, with +grave consideration. + +He eyed the man for a brief space without speaking, and the burglar +looked back at him, doggedly and defiantly, and with not the faintest +suggestion of hope in his eyes, or of appeal for mercy. Perhaps it was +because of this fact, or perhaps it was the wife and child that moved +Van Bibber, but whatever his motives were, he acted on them promptly. "I +suppose, though," he said, as though speaking to himself, "that I ought +to give you up." + +"I'll never go back alive," said the burglar, quietly. + +"Well, that's bad, too," said Van Bibber. "Of course I don't know +whether you're lying or not, and as to your meaning to live honestly, I +very much doubt it; but I'll give you a ticket to wherever your wife is, +and I'll see you on the train. And you can get off at the next station +and rob my house to-morrow night, if you feel that way about it. Throw +those bags inside that door where the servant will see them before the +milkman does, and walk on out ahead of me, and keep your hands in your +pockets, and don't try to run. I have your pistol, you know." + +The man placed the bags inside the kitchen door; and, with a doubtful +look at his custodian, stepped out into the street, and walked, as he +was directed to do, toward the Grand Central station. Van Bibber kept +just behind him, and kept turning the question over in his mind as to +what he ought to do. He felt very guilty as he passed each policeman, +but he recovered himself when he thought of the wife and child who lived +in the West, and who were "straight." + +"Where to?" asked Van Bibber, as he stood at the ticket-office window. +"Helena, Montana," answered the man with, for the first time, a look of +relief. Van Bibber bought the ticket and handed it to the burglar. "I +suppose you know," he said, "that you can sell that at a place down town +for half the money." "Yes, I know that," said the burglar. There was a +half-hour before the train left, and Van Bibber took his charge into the +restaurant and watched him eat everything placed before him, with his +eyes glancing all the while to the right or left. Then Van Bibber gave +him some money and told him to write to him, and shook hands with him. +The man nodded eagerly and pulled off his hat as the car drew out of +the station; and Van Bibber came down town again with the shop girls and +clerks going to work, still wondering if he had done the right thing. + +He went to his rooms and changed his clothes, took a cold bath, and +crossed over to Delmonico's for his breakfast, and, while the waiter +laid the cloth in the cafe, glanced at the headings in one of the +papers. He scanned first with polite interest the account of the dance +on the night previous and noticed his name among those present. With +greater interest he read of the fight between "Dutchy" Mack and the +"Black Diamond," and then he read carefully how "Abe" Hubbard, alias +"Jimmie the Gent," a burglar, had broken jail in New Jersey, and had +been traced to New York. There was a description of the man, and Van +Bibber breathed quickly as he read it. "The detectives have a clew of +his whereabouts," the account said; "if he is still in the city they are +confident of recapturing him. But they fear that the same friends who +helped him to break jail will probably assist him from the country or to +get out West." + +"They may do that," murmured Van Bibber to himself, with a smile of grim +contentment; "they probably will." + +Then he said to the waiter, "Oh, I don't know. Some bacon and eggs and +green things and coffee." + + + + +VAN BIBBER AS BEST MAN + + +Young Van Bibber came up to town in June from Newport to see his lawyer +about the preparation of some papers that needed his signature. He found +the city very hot and close, and as dreary and as empty as a house that +has been shut up for some time while its usual occupants are away in the +country. + +As he had to wait over for an afternoon train, and as he was down town, +he decided to lunch at a French restaurant near Washington Square, where +some one had told him you could get particular things particularly well +cooked. The tables were set on a terrace with plants and flowers about +them, and covered with a tricolored awning. There were no jangling +horse-car bells nor dust to disturb him, and almost all the other tables +were unoccupied. The waiters leaned against these tables and chatted in +a French argot; and a cool breeze blew through the plants and billowed +the awning, so that, on the whole, Van Bibber was glad he had come. + +There was, beside himself, an old Frenchman scolding over his late +breakfast; two young artists with Van Dyke beards, who ordered the most +remarkable things in the same French argot that the waiters spoke; and a +young lady and a young gentleman at the table next to his own. The young +man's back was toward him, and he could only see the girl when the youth +moved to one side. She was very young and very pretty, and she seemed in +a most excited state of mind from the tip of her wide-brimmed, pointed +French hat to the points of her patent-leather ties. She was strikingly +well-bred in appearance, and Van Bibber wondered why she should be +dining alone with so young a man. + +"It wasn't my fault," he heard the youth say earnestly. "How could I +know he would be out of town? and anyway it really doesn't matter. Your +cousin is not the only clergyman in the city." + +"Of course not," said the girl, almost tearfully, "but they're not my +cousins and he is, and that would have made it so much, oh, so very much +different. I'm awfully frightened!" + +"Runaway couple," commented Van Bibber. "Most interesting. Read about +'em often; never seen 'em. Most interesting." + +He bent his head over an entree, but he could not help hearing what +followed, for the young runaways were indifferent to all around them, +and though he rattled his knife and fork in a most vulgar manner, they +did not heed him nor lower their voices. + +"Well, what are you going to do?" said the girl, severely but not +unkindly. "It doesn't seem to me that you are exactly rising to the +occasion." + +"Well, I don't know," answered the youth, easily. "We're safe here +anyway. Nobody we know ever comes here, and if they did they are out of +town now. You go on and eat something, and I'll get a directory and look +up a lot of clergymen's addresses, and then we can make out a list and +drive around in a cab until we find one who has not gone off on his +vacation. We ought to be able to catch the Fall River boat back at +five this afternoon; then we can go right on to Boston from Fall River +to-morrow morning and run down to Narragansett during the day." + +"They'll never forgive us," said the girl. + +"Oh, well, that's all right," exclaimed the young man, cheerfully. +"Really, you're the most uncomfortable young person I ever ran away +with. One might think you were going to a funeral. You were willing +enough two days ago, and now you don't help me at all. Are you sorry?" +he asked, and then added, "but please don't say so, even if you are." + +"No, not sorry, exactly," said the girl; "but, indeed, Ted, it is going +to make so much talk. If we only had a girl with us, or if you had a +best man, or if we had witnesses, as they do in England, and a parish +registry, or something of that sort; or if Cousin Harold had only been +at home to do the marrying." + +The young gentleman called Ted did not look, judging from the expression +of his shoulders, as if he were having a very good time. + +He picked at the food on his plate gloomily, and the girl took out her +handkerchief and then put it resolutely back again and smiled at him. +The youth called the waiter and told him to bring a directory, and as he +turned to give the order Van Bibber recognized him and he recognized Van +Bibber. Van Bibber knew him for a very nice boy, of a very good Boston +family named Standish, and the younger of two sons. It was the elder who +was Van Bibber's particular friend. The girl saw nothing of this mutual +recognition, for she was looking with startled eyes at a hansom that had +dashed up the side street and was turning the corner. + +"Ted, O Ted!" she gasped. "It's your brother. There! In that hansom. I +saw him perfectly plainly. Oh, how did he find us? What shall we do?" + +Ted grew very red and then very white. + +"Standish," said Van Bibber, jumping up and reaching for his hat, "pay +this chap for these things, will you, and I'll get rid of your brother." + +Van Bibber descended the steps lighting a cigar as the elder Standish +came up them on a jump. + +"Hello, Standish!" shouted the New Yorker. "Wait a minute; where are you +going? Why, it seems to rain Standishes to-day! First see your brother; +then I see you. What's on?" + +"You've seen him?" cried the Boston man, eagerly. "Yes, and where is he? +Was she with him? Are they married? Am I in time?" + +Van Bibber answered these different questions to the effect that he had +seen young Standish and Mrs. Standish not a half an hour before, and +that they were just then taking a cab for Jersey City, whence they were +to depart for Chicago. + +"The driver who brought them here, and who told me where they were, said +they could not have left this place by the time I would reach it," said +the elder brother, doubtfully. + +"That's so," said the driver of the cab, who had listened curiously. "I +brought 'em here not more'n half an hour ago. Just had time to get back +to the depot. They can't have gone long." + +"Yes, but they have," said Van Bibber. "However, if you get over to +Jersey City in time for the 2.30, you can reach Chicago almost as soon +as they do. They are going to the Palmer House, they said." + +"Thank you, old fellow," shouted Standish, jumping back into his hansom. +"It's a terrible business. Pair of young fools. Nobody objected to the +marriage, only too young, you know. Ever so much obliged." + +"Don't mention it," said Van Bibber, politely. + +"Now, then," said that young man, as he approached the frightened couple +trembling on the terrace, "I've sent your brother off to Chicago. I +do not know why I selected Chicago as a place where one would go on a +honeymoon. But I'm not used to lying and I'm not very good at it. Now, +if you will introduce me, I'll see what can be done toward getting you +two babes out of the woods." + +Standish said, "Miss Cambridge, this is Mr. Cortlandt Van Bibber, of +whom you have heard my brother speak," and Miss Cambridge said she +was very glad to meet Mr. Van Bibber even under such peculiarly trying +circumstances. + +"Now what you two want to do," said Van Bibber, addressing them as +though they were just about fifteen years old and he were at least +forty, "is to give this thing all the publicity you can." + +"What?" chorused the two runaways, in violent protest. + +"Certainly," said Van Bibber. "You were about to make a fatal mistake. +You were about to go to some unknown clergyman of an unknown parish, +who would have married you in a back room, without a certificate or +a witness, just like any eloping farmer's daughter and lightning-rod +agent. Now it's different with you two. Why you were not married +respectably in church I don't know, and I do not intend to ask, but +a kind Providence has sent me to you to see that there is no talk nor +scandal, which is such bad form, and which would have got your names +into all the papers. I am going to arrange this wedding properly, and +you will kindly remain here until I send a carriage for you. Now just +rely on me entirely and eat your luncheon in peace. It's all going to +come out right--and allow me to recommend the salad, which is especially +good." + +Van Bibber first drove madly to the Little Church Around the Corner, +where he told the kind old rector all about it, and arranged to have +the church open and the assistant organist in her place, and a +district-messenger boy to blow the bellows, punctually at three o'clock. +"And now," he soliloquized, "I must get some names. It doesn't matter +much whether they happen to know the high contracting parties or not, +but they must be names that everybody knows. Whoever is in town will be +lunching at Delmonico's, and the men will be at the clubs." So he first +went to the big restaurant, where, as good luck would have it, he found +Mrs. "Regy" Van Arnt and Mrs. "Jack" Peabody, and the Misses Brookline, +who had run up the Sound for the day on the yacht _Minerva_ of the +Boston Yacht Club, and he told them how things were and swore them to +secrecy, and told them to bring what men they could pick up. + +At the club he pressed four men into service who knew everybody and whom +everybody knew, and when they protested that they had not been properly +invited and that they only knew the bride and groom by sight, he told +them that made no difference, as it was only their names he wanted. Then +he sent a messenger boy to get the biggest suit of rooms on the Fall +River boat and another one for flowers, and then he put Mrs. "Regy" Van +Arnt into a cab and sent her after the bride, and, as best man, he got +into another cab and carried off the groom. + +"I have acted either as best man or usher forty-two times now," said Van +Bibber, as they drove to the church, "and this is the first time I ever +appeared in either capacity in russia-leather shoes and a blue serge +yachting suit. But then," he added, contentedly, "you ought to see the +other fellows. One of them is in a striped flannel." + +Mrs. "Regy" and Miss Cambridge wept a great deal on the way up town, but +the bride was smiling and happy when she walked up the aisle to meet her +prospective husband, who looked exceedingly conscious before the eyes of +the men, all of whom he knew by sight or by name, and not one of whom he +had ever met before. But they all shook hands after it was over, and +the assistant organist played the Wedding March, and one of the club men +insisted in pulling a cheerful and jerky peal on the church bell in the +absence of the janitor, and then Van Bibber hurled an old shoe and a +handful of rice--which he had thoughtfully collected from the chef at +the club--after them as they drove off to the boat. + +"Now," said Van Bibber, with a proud sigh of relief and satisfaction, "I +will send that to the papers, and when it is printed to-morrow it will +read like one of the most orthodox and one of the smartest weddings of +the season. And yet I can't help thinking--" + +"Well?" said Mrs. "Regy," as he paused doubtfully. + +"Well, I can't help thinking," continued Van Bibber, "of Standish's +older brother racing around Chicago with the thermometer at 102 in the +shade. I wish I had only sent him to Jersey City. It just shows," he +added, mournfully, "that when a man is not practised in lying, he should +leave it alone." + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Gallegher and Other Stories, by +Richard Harding Davis + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GALLEGHER AND OTHER STORIES *** + +***** This file should be named 5956.txt or 5956.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/5/9/5/5956/ + +Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Charles Franks and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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