diff options
| author | nfenwick <nfenwick@pglaf.org> | 2025-01-30 19:56:07 -0800 |
|---|---|---|
| committer | nfenwick <nfenwick@pglaf.org> | 2025-01-30 19:56:07 -0800 |
| commit | 828dd90b640dd974bd23c3adb8d57337a86c506a (patch) | |
| tree | aa180304a1fe961dfcc6a0f44d150df95b4c76d2 | |
| parent | 4b5d70292c91027cb1e8a3a9c872a7b777146dca (diff) | |
| -rw-r--r-- | .gitattributes | 4 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | LICENSE.txt | 11 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | README.md | 2 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/62033-0.txt | 7299 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/62033-0.zip | bin | 144887 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/62033-h.zip | bin | 517888 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/62033-h/62033-h.htm | 10187 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/62033-h/images/cover.jpg | bin | 67764 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/62033-h/images/illus1.jpg | bin | 47965 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/62033-h/images/illus2.jpg | bin | 54892 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/62033-h/images/illus3.jpg | bin | 93213 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/62033-h/images/illus4.jpg | bin | 39505 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/62033-h/images/title.jpg | bin | 61324 -> 0 bytes |
13 files changed, 17 insertions, 17486 deletions
diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..c3df27a --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #62033 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/62033) diff --git a/old/62033-0.txt b/old/62033-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index d955bf6..0000000 --- a/old/62033-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,7299 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Blood Will Tell, by Benj. Rush Davenport - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world 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. If you are not located in the United States, you'll -have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using -this ebook. - - - -Title: Blood Will Tell - The Strange Story of a Son of Ham - -Author: Benj. Rush Davenport - -Illustrator: J. H. Donahey - -Release Date: May 5, 2020 [EBook #62033] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BLOOD WILL TELL *** - - - - -Produced by The Online Distributed Proofreading Team at -https://www.pgdp.net (This book was produced from images -made available by the HathiTrust Digital Library.) - - - - - -Transcriber’s Note: The reader may wish to be warned that this book -contains racial stereotyping more than usually unpleasant even by the -standards of its time. Read as far as the Dedication and use that to -decide whether or not you want to continue. - - - - -[Illustration: “The brutalized features of Walter Burton were revealed.” - -Frontispiece] - - - - - BLOOD WILL TELL - - THE STRANGE STORY OF - A SON OF HAM - - BY - BENJ. RUSH DAVENPORT - AUTHOR OF - Blue and Gray, Uncle Sam’s Cabins, - Anglo-Saxons, Onward, Etc. - - Illustrations - by - J.H. Donahey - - CLEVELAND - Caxton Book Co. - 1902 - - Copyright - by - Benj. Rush Davenport - 1902 - - All rights reserved - - - - -DEDICATION - -To all Americans who deem purity of race an all-important element in the -progress of our beloved country. - -THE AUTHOR - -For obvious reasons the date of this story is not given ... - - - - -List of Illustrations - - - - “The brutalized features of Walter Burton were revealed. Frontispiece - - “Lucy passed her soft, white arm around her grandfather’s - neck.” Page 108 - - “He recklessly rushed in front of Burton.” Page 286 - - “Lucy, I have always loved you.” Page 340 - - - - -BLOOD WILL TELL - - - - -I. - - -Boston was shrouded in a mantle of mist that November day, the north-east -wind bringing at each blast re-enforcement to the all-enveloping and -obscuring mass of gloom that embraced the city in its arms of darkness. - -Glimmering like toy candles in the distance, electric lights, making -halos of the fog, marked a pathway for the hurrying crowds that poured -along the narrow, crooked streets of New England’s grand old city. In one -of the oldest, narrowest and most crooked thoroughfares down near the -wharfs a light burning within the window of an old-fashioned building -brought to sight the name “J. Dunlap” and the words “Shipping and -Banking.” - -No living man in Boston nor the father of any man in Boston had ever -known a day when passing that old house the sign had not been there for -him to gaze upon and lead him to wonder if the Dunlap line would last -unbroken forever. - -In early days of the Republic some Dunlap had in a small way traded with -the West Indian islands, especially Haiti, and later some descendant -of this old trade pathfinder had established a regular line of sailing -ships between Boston and those islands. Then it was that the sign “J. -Dunlap, Shipping and Banking” made its appearance on the front of the old -house. A maxim of the Dunlap family had been that there must always be a -J. Dunlap, hence sons were ever christened John, James, Josiah and such -names only as furnished the everlasting J as the initial. - -“J. Dunlap” had grown financially and commercially in proportion to -the growth of the Republic. There was not room on a single line in the -Commercial Agency books to put A’s enough to express the credit and -financial resources of “J. Dunlap” on this dark November day. Absolutely -beyond the shoals and shallows of the dangerous shore of trade where -small crafts financially are forced to ply, “J. Dunlap” sailed ever -tranquil and serene, neither jars nor shocks disturbing the calm serenity -of the voyage. - -This dismal November day marked an unparalleled experience in the career -of the present “J. Dunlap.” The customary calm was disturbed. J. Dunlap -disagreed and disagreed positively with J. Dunlap concerning an important -event, and that event was a family affair. - -The exterior of “J. Dunlap” may be dark, grimy, dingy and old, but within -all is bright with electric light. Behind glass and wire screens long -lines of clerks and accountants bend over desks and busy pens move across -the pages of huge ledgers and account books—messengers hurry in and out -of two glass partitioned offices. On the door of one is painted “Mr. -Burton, Manager;” on the other “Mr. Chapman, Superintendent.” - -Separated by a narrow passageway from the main office is a large room, -high ceiling, old-fashioned, furnished with leather and mahogany fittings -of ancient make, on the door of which are the words, “J. Dunlap, Private -Office.” This is the _sanctum sanctorum_ in this temple of trade. Within -“J. Dunlap’s” private office before a large grate heaped high with -blazing cannel coal two old men are seated in earnest conversation. They -are “J. Dunlap.” - -Seventy-two years before this November day that enfolded Boston with -London-like fog there were born to one J. Dunlap and his wife twin boys -to whom were given in due season the names of James and John. These boys -had grown to manhood preserving the same likeness to each other that they -had possessed as infants in the cradle. James married early and when his -son was born and was promptly made a J. Dunlap, his twin brother vowed -that there being a J. Dunlap to secure the perpetuation of the name, he -should never marry. - -When the J. Dunlap, father of the twin brothers, died, the twins -succeeded to the business as well as the other property of their father, -share and share alike. To change the name on the office window to Dunlap -Bros. was never even dreamed of; such sacrilege would surely have caused -the rising in wrath of the long line of ghostly “J. Dunlaps” that had -preceded the twins. Hence on this dark day “J. Dunlap” was two instead of -one. - -Handsome men were all the Dunlaps time out of mind, but no ancestor was -ever more handsome than the two clean cut, stalwart, white haired old -men who with eager gestures and earnest voices discussed the point of -difference between them today. - -“My dear brother,” said the one whose face bore traces of a more burning -sun than warms the Berkshire hills, “You know that we have never differed -even in trivial matters, and James, it is awful to think of anything that -could even be called a disagreement, but I loved your poor boy John as -much as I have ever loved you and when he died his motherless little girl -became more to me than even you, James, and it hurts my heart to think -of my darling Lucy being within possible reach of sorrow and shame.” The -fairer one of the brothers bent over and grasping with both hands the -raised hand of him who had spoken said with an emotion that filled his -eyes with moisture: - -“God bless you, John! You dear old fellow! I know that that loving heart -of yours held my poor boy as near to it as did my own, and that Lucy -has ever been the dearest jewel of your great soul, but your love and -tenderness are now conjuring up imaginary dangers that are simply beyond -a possibility of existence. While I will not go so far as to admit that -had I known that there was a trace of negro blood in Burton I should have -forbidden his paying court to my granddaughter, still I will confess -that I should have considered that fact and consulted with you before -consenting to his seeking Lucy’s hand. However, it is too late now, John. -He has won our girl’s heart and knowing her as you do you must appreciate -the consequences of the disclosure of this discovery and the abrupt -termination of her blissful anticipations. It is not only a question of -the health and happiness of our dear girl, but her very life would be -placed in jeopardy.” - -This seemed an unexpected or unrealized phase of the situation to the -first speaker, for he made no reply at once but sat with troubled brow -gazing into the fire for several minutes, then with a sigh so deep that -it was almost a groan, exclaimed: - -“Oh! that I had known sooner! I am an old fool! I might have suspected -this and investigated Burton’s family. John Dunlap, d——n you for the -old idiot that you are,” and rising he began pacing the floor; his -brother watched him with eyes of tender, almost womanly affection until -a suspicious moisture dimmed the sight of his worried second self. Going -to him and taking him by the arm he joined him in his walk back and forth -through the room, saying: - -“John, don’t worry yourself so much old chap, there is nothing to fear; -what if there be a slight strain of negro blood in Burton? It will -disappear in his descendants and even did Lucy know all that you have -learned, she loves him and would marry him anyhow. You know her heart and -her high sense of justice. She would not blame him and really it is no -fault of his.” - -“You say,” broke in his brother, “that the negro blood will disappear -in Burton’s descendants? That is just what may not happen! Both in the -United States and Haiti I have seen cases of breeding back to the type -of a remote ancestor where negro blood, no matter how little, ran in the -veins of the immediate ancestor. In the animal kingdom see the remoteness -of the five toed horse, yet even now sometimes a horse is born with five -toes. Man is but an animal of the highest grade.” - -“Well, even granting what you say about the remote possibility of -breeding back, you know that our ancestors years ago stood shoulder to -shoulder with Garrison, Beecher and those grand heroes who maintained -that the enslavement of the negro was a crime, and that the color of the -skin made no difference—that all men were brothers and equal.” - -“Yes, I know and agree with our forefathers in all of that,” exclaimed -the sun burned J. Dunlap with some show of impatience. “But while slavery -was all wrong and equality before the law is absolutely right, still -I have seen both in this country and in the West Indies such strange -evidence of the inherent barbarism in the negro race that I am almost -ready to paraphrase a saying of Napoleon and declare, ‘Scratch one with -negro blood in him and you find a barbarian.’” - -“Your long residence in disorderly Haiti, where your health and our -interest kept you has evidently prejudiced you,” replied the fair J. -Dunlap. “Remember that for generations our family has extended the -hospitality of our homes to those of negro blood provided they were -educated, cultured people.” - -“Yes, James, Yes! Provided they had the culture and education created -by the white man, and to be frank between ourselves, James, there has -been much affectation about the obliteration of race distinction even in -the case of our own family, and you know it! We Dunlaps have made much -of our apparent liberality and consistency, but in our hearts we are as -much race-proud Aryans as those ancestors who drove the race-inferior -Turanians out of Europe.” - -James Dunlap was as honest as his more impetuous brother. Suddenly -stopping and confronting him with agitated countenance, he said: “You -are right, John, in what you say about our affecting social equality -with those of negro blood. God knows had I been aware of the facts that -you have hastened from Port au Prince to lay before me all might have -been different; our accursed affectation may have misled Burton, who is -an honorable gentleman, no matter if his mother was a quadroon. Social -equality may be all right, but where it leads to the intermarriage of the -races all the Aryan in me protests against it, but it is too late and -we must trust to Divine Providence to correct the consequences of the -Dunlap’s accursed affectation.” - -“I expected Lucy to marry Jack Dunlap, the son of our cousin; then the -old sign might have answered for another hundred years. Lucy and Jack -were fond of each other always, and I thought when two years ago I left -Boston for Haiti that the match was quite a settled affair. Why did you -not foster a marriage that would have been so satisfactory from every -standpoint?” - -“I did hope that Lucy would marry your namesake, dear brother; -don’t blame me; while I believe that the boy was really fond of my -granddaughter, still, being poor, and having the Dunlap pride he -positively declined the position in our office that I offered him. I -wished to keep him near Lucy and to prepare him to succeed us as ‘J. -Dunlap.’ When I made the offer he said in that frank, manly, sailor -man fashion of his that he was worthless in an office and he wished no -sinecure by reason of being our kinsman; that he was a sailor by nature -and loved the sea; that he wished to make his own way in the world; that -if we could fairly advance him in his profession he would thank us, but -that was all that he could accept at our hands.” - -“See that now!” exclaimed the listener. “Blood will tell. The blood of -some old Yankee sailor man named Dunlap spoke when our young kinsman made -that reply. Breed back! Yes indeed we do.” - -“No persuasion could move the boy from the position he had taken and as -he held a master’s certificate and had proven a careful mate I gave him -command of our ship ‘Lucy’ in the China trade. I imagine there was some -exhibition of feeling at the parting of Lucy and John, as my girl seemed -much depressed in spirits after he left. - -“You recall how Walter Burton came to us fifteen years ago with a letter -from his father, our correspondent in Port au Prince, saying that he -wished his son to enter Harvard and asking us to befriend him. The lad -was handsome and clever and we never dreamed of his being other than -of pure blood. He was graduated at the head of his class, brilliant, -amiable, fascinating. Our house was made bright by his frequent visits. - -“When his father died, leaving his great wealth to Walter, he begged -to invest it with us, and liking the lad we were glad to have him with -us. Beginning at the bottom, by sheer force of ability and industry, -within ten years he has become our manager. I am sure John Dunlap, -your namesake, never told Lucy that he loved her before he sailed for -China. The pride of the man would hold back such a declaration to our -heiress. So with Jack away, his love, if it exist, for Lucy untold, it -is not strange that Burton, and he is a most charming man, in constant -attendance upon my granddaughter should have won her heart. He is -handsome, educated, cultured and wealthy. I could imagine no cause for an -objection, so when he asked for Lucy’s hand I assented. The arrangements -are completed and they will be married next month. Lucy wished you to -witness the ceremony and wrote you and you hasten from Haiti home with -this unpleasant discovery. Now, John, think of Lucy and tell me, brother, -what your heart says is our duty.” - -James Dunlap, exhausted by the vehement earnestness that he had put into -this long speech, recounting the events and circumstances that had led -up to the approaching marriage of his granddaughter, dropped into one of -the large armchairs near the fire, waiting for a reply, while his brother -continued his nervous tramp across the room. - -Silence was finally disturbed by a light knock on the door and a -messenger entered, saying that Captain Dunlap begged permission to speak -with the firm a few moments. When the name was announced the two brothers -exchanged glances that seemed to say, “The man I was thinking of.” - -“Show him in, of course,” cried John Dunlap, eagerly stopping in his -monotonous pacing up and down the room. - -The door opened again and there entered the room a man of about -twenty-seven years of age, rather below the medium height of Americans, -but of such breadth of shoulders and depth of chest as to give evidence -of unusual physical strength. A sailor, every inch a sailor, anyone -could tell, from the top of his curly blonde hair to the sole of his -square toed boots. His sunburnt face, while not handsome, according to -the ideals of artists, was frank, manly, bold—a brave, square jawed -Anglo-Saxon face, with eyes of that steely gray that can become as tender -as a mother’s and as fierce as a tiger’s. - -“Come in, Jack,” cried both of the old gentlemen together. - -“Glad to see you my boy,” added John Dunlap. “How did you find your good -mother and the rest of our friends in Bedford? I only landed today; came -from Port au Prince to see the Commons once more; heard that the ‘Lucy’ -and her brave master, my namesake, had arrived a week ahead of me, safe -and sound, from East Indian waters.” - -So saying he grasped both of the sailor’s hands and shook them with the -genuine cordiality of a lad of sixteen. - -“Have you seen my granddaughter since your return, Captain Jack?” -inquired James Dunlap, as he shook the young man’s hand. - -“I was so unfortunate as to call when she was out shopping, and as Mrs. -Church, the housekeeper, told me that she was so busy preparing for the -approaching wedding that she was engaged all the time, I have hesitated -to call again,” replied the sailor, as with a somewhat deeper shade of -red in his sun burned face he seated himself between the twins. - -“Lucy will not thank Mrs. Church for that speech if it is to deprive -her of the pleasure of welcoming her old playmate and cousin back to -Boston and home. You must come and dine with us tomorrow,” said Lucy’s -grandfather. - -“I am much obliged for your kind invitation, sir, but if you will only -grant the request I am about to make of the firm, my next visit to my -cousin will be to say goodby, as well as to receive a welcome home from a -voyage.” - -“Why, what do you mean, lad!” exclaimed both of the brothers -simultaneously. - -Concealment or deception was probably the most difficult of all things -for this frank man with the free spirit of the sea fresh in his soul, so -that while he answered the color surged up stronger and stronger in his -face until the white brow, saved from the sun by his hat, was as red as -his close shaven cheeks. - -“Well, sir, this is what I mean. I learned yesterday that the storm we -encountered crossing the Atlantic coming home had strained my ship so -badly that it will be two months before she is out of the shipwright’s -hands.” - -“What of that, Jack,” broke in the darker J. Dunlap. “Take a rest at -home. I know your mother will be delighted, and speaking from a financial -standpoint, as you know, it makes not the least difference.” - -“I was going to add, sir, that this morning I learned that Captain -Chadwick of your ship ‘Adams,’ now loaded and ready to sail for -Australia, was down with pneumonia and could not take the ship out, -and that there was some difficulty in securing a master that filled -the requirements of your house. I therefore applied to Mr. Burton for -the command of the ‘Adams,’ but he absolutely refused to consider the -application saying that as I had been away for almost two years, that it -would be positively brutal to even permit me to go to sea again so soon, -and that the ‘Adams’ might stay loaded and tied to the dock ten years -rather than I should leave home so speedily.” - -“Burton is exactly right, I endorse every word he has said. You can’t -have the ‘Adams’!” said James Dunlap with emphasis. “What would Martha -Dunlap, your mother, and our dear cousin’s widow, think if we robbed her -of her only son so soon after his return from a long absence from home?” - -“My mother knows, sir, that my stay at home will be very brief. She -expects me to ask to go to sea again almost immediately. I told her -all about it when I first met her upon my return,” and as he spoke the -shipmaster’s gaze was never raised from the nautical cap that he held in -his hand. - -“Well! You are not going to sea again immediately, that is all about -it. You have handled the ‘Lucy’ for two years, away from home, using -your own judgment, in a manner that, even were you not our kinsman, -would entitle you to a long rest at the expense of our house as grateful -shipowners,” said Lucy’s grandfather. - -The young man giving no heed to the compliment contained in the remarks -made by James Dunlap, but looking up and straight into the eyes of the -brother just arrived from Haiti, said so earnestly that there could be no -question of his purpose: - -“I wish to get to sea as soon as possible. If I cannot sail in the -‘Adams,’ much as I dislike to leave you, sirs, I must seek other employ.” - -“The devil you will!” exclaimed his godfather angrily. - -“Why, if you sail now you will miss your cousin’s wedding and disappoint -her,” added James Dunlap. - -“Again, gentlemen, I say that I shall get to sea within a few days. I -either go in the ‘Adams’ or seek other employ,” and all the time he was -speaking not once did the sailor remove his steady gaze from the eyes of -him for whom he was named. - -To say that the Dunlap brothers were astonished is putting it too mildly; -they were amazed. The master of a Dunlap ship was an object of envy -to every shipmaster out of Boston—the pay and employ was the best in -America—that a kinsman and master should even propose to leave their -employ was monstrous. In amazement both of the old gentlemen looked at -the young man in silence. - -Suddenly as old John Dunlap looked into young John Dunlap’s honest eyes -he read something there, for first leaning forward in his chair and -gazing more intently into the gray eyes of the sailor, he sprang to his -feet and grasping the arm of his young kinsman he fairly hauled him to -the window at the other end of the room, then facing him around so that -he could get a good look at his face, he almost whispered: - -“Jack, when did you learn first that Lucy was to be married?” - -“When I came ashore at Boston one week ago.” - -The answer came so quickly that the question must have been read in the -eyes of the older man before uttered. - -“I thought so,” said the old man softly and sadly, as he walked, still -holding the sailor by the arm, back to the fire, and added as he neared -his brother: - -“James, Jack wants the ‘Adams’ and is in earnest. I can’t have him leave -our employ; therefore he must go as master of that ship.” - -“But, brother, think of it,” exclaimed James Dunlap. - -“There is no but about it, James, I wish him to sail in our ship, the -‘Adams,’ as master. I understand his desire and endorse his wish to get -to sea.” - -“Oh! Of course if you really are in earnest just instruct Burton in the -premises, but Jack must dine with us tomorrow and see Lucy or she will -never forgive him or me.” - -“Don’t you see that the lad has always loved Lucy, is heartbroken over -her marriage and wants to get away before the wedding?” cried John -Dunlap, as he turned after closing the door upon Captain Jack’s departing -figure. - -“What a blind old fool I am not to have seen or thought of that!” -exclaimed his brother. - -“How I wish in my soul it was our cousin that my girl was going to marry -instead of Burton, but it is too late, too late.” - -Sadly the darker Dunlap brother echoed the words of Lucy’s grandfather, -as he sank into a chair and covered his face with his hands: - -Too late! Too late! Too late! - - - - -II. - - -“You don’t mean that Mr. Dunlap has consented to your going out to -Australia in charge of the ‘Adams,’ do you, Captain Jack?” - -The man who asked the question, as he rose from the desk at which he -was sitting, was quite half a head taller than the sea captain whom -he addressed. His figure was elegant and graceful, though slim; his -face possessed that rare beauty seen only on the canvas of old Italian -masters, clearly cut features, warm olive complexion in which the color -of the cheeks shows in subdued mellow shadings, soft, velvet-like brown -eyes, a mouth of almost feminine character and proportion filled with -teeth as regular and white as grains of rice. - -Save only that the white surrounding the brown of his beautiful eyes -might have been clearer, that his shapely hands might have been more -perfect, had a bluish tinge not marred the color of his finger nails, and -his small feet might have been improved by more height of instep, Walter -Burton was an ideal picture of a graceful, handsome, cultivated gentleman. - -“Yes, Mr. Burton, I am to sail as master of the ‘Adams.’ How soon can I -get a clearance and put to sea?” - -“It is an absolute outrage to permit you to go to sea again so soon. Why, -Captain, you have had hardly time to get your shore legs. You have not -seen many of your old friends; Miss Dunlap told me last evening that she -had not even seen you.” - -Burton’s voice was as soft, sweet and melodious as the tones of a silver -flute, and the thought of the young sailor’s brief stay at home seemed to -strike a chord of sadness that gave added charm to the words he uttered. - -“I expect to dine with my cousin tomorrow evening and will then give her -greeting upon my home coming and at the same time bid her goodby upon my -departure.” - -“I declare, Jack, this is awfully sad to me, old chap, and I know Lucy -will be sorely disappointed. You know that we are to be married next -month and Lucy has said a dozen times that she wished you to be present; -that you had always been a tower of strength to her and that nothing -could alarm or make her nervous if, as she put it, ‘brave and trustworthy -Jack be near.’” - -The sailor’s face lost some of its color in spite of the tan that sun -and sea had given it, as he listened to words that he had heard Lucy -say when, as a boy and girl, they had climbed New Hampshire’s hills, or -sailed along Massachusetts’ coast together. - -“I shall be sorry if Lucy be disappointed, but I am so much of a sea-swab -now that I am restless and unhappy while ashore.” - -What a poor liar young John Dunlap was. His manner, or something, not -his words, in that instant revealed his secret to Burton, as a flash of -lightning in the darkness discloses a scene, so was Jack’s story and -reason for hurried departure from Boston made plain. - -By some yet unexplained process of mental telegraphy the two young men -understood each other. Spontaneously they extended their hands and in -their warm clasp a bond of silent sympathy was established. Thus they -stood for a moment, then Burton said in that sad, sweet voice of his: - -“Jack, dear old chap, I will get your clearance papers tomorrow and you -may put to sea when you please, but see Lucy before you sail.” - -Ere Dunlap could reply the door of the manager’s office opened and there -entered the room a man of such peculiar appearance as to attract the -attention of the most casual observer. He was thin, even to emaciation. -The skin over his almost hairless head seemed drawn as tightly as the -covering of a drum. The ghastliness of his dead-white face was made more -apparent by the small gleaming black eyes set deep and close to a huge -aquiline nose, and the scarlet, almost bloody stripe that marked the -narrow line of his lips. - -“Beg pardon,” said the man, seeing someone with Burton, and then, -recognizing who the visitor was, added: - -“Oh, how are you, Jack? I did not know that you were with the manager,” -and he seemed to put the faintest bit of emphasis upon the word -“manager.” - -“Well, what is it, Chapman?” said Burton somewhat impatiently. - -“I only wished to inform you that I have secured a master for the -‘Adams.’ Captain Mason, who was formerly in our employ, has applied for -the position and as he was satisfactory when with us before I considered -it very fortunate for us to secure his services just now.” - -“The ‘Adams’ has a master already assigned to her,” interrupted the -manager. - -“Why! When? Who?” inquired the superintendent eagerly. - -“The ‘Adams’ sails in command of Captain Dunlap here.” - -The gleaming black eyes of Chapman seemed to bury their glances into the -very heart of the manager as he stretched his thin neck forward and asked: - -“Did you give him the ship?” - -“J. Dunlap made the assignment of Captain Jack to the ship today at his -own request and contrary to my wishes,” said Burton abruptly, somewhat -annoyed at Chapman’s manner. - -It was now the turn of Jack to stand the battery of those hawk eyes of -the superintendent, who sought to read the honest sailor’s soul as he -shot his glances into Jack’s clear gray eyes. - -“Ah! Cousin Jack going away so soon and our Miss Lucy’s wedding next -month. How strange!” Chapman seemed speaking to himself. - -“If that is all, Chapman, just say to Mason that the firm appointed a -master to the ‘Adams’ without your knowledge; therefore he can’t have the -ship,” said Burton with annoyance in his tone and manner, dismissing the -superintendent with a wave of his hand toward the door. - -When Chapman glided out of the room, the man moved always in such a -stealthy manner that he appeared to glide instead of walk, Burton -exclaimed: - -“Do you know, Jack, that that man Chapman can irritate me more by his -detective demeanor than any man I ever saw could do by open insult. I am -ashamed of myself for allowing such to be the case, but I can’t help it. -To have a chap about who seems to be always playing the Sherlock Holmes -act is wearing on one’s patience. Why, confound it! If he came in this -minute to say that we needed a new supply of postage stamps he would make -such a detective job of it that I should feel the uncomfortable sensation -that the mailing clerk had stolen the last lot purchased.” - -Jack, who disliked the sneaky and secretive as much as any man alive and -had just been irritated himself by Chapman’s untimely scrutiny, said: - -“I am not astonished and don’t blame you. While I have known Chapman all -my life, I somehow, as a boy and man, have always felt when talking to -him that I was undergoing an examination before a police magistrate.” - -“Of course I ought to consider that he has been with the house for more -than forty years and is fidelity and faithfulness personified to ‘J. -Dunlap,’ but he is so absurdly jealous and suspicious that he would wear -out the patience of a saint, and I don’t pretend to be one,” supplemented -Burton. - -“Half the time,” said Jack, glad apparently to discuss Chapman and thus -avoid the subject which beneath the surface of their conversation was -uppermost in the minds of both Burton and himself. - -“I have not the slightest idea what ‘Old Chap,’ as I call him, is driving -at. He goes hunting a hundred miles away for the end of a coil of rope -that is lying at his very feet, and he is the very devil, too, for -finding out anything he wishes to know. Why, when I was a boy and used to -get into scrapes, if ‘Old Chap’ cornered me I knew it was no use trying -to get out of the mess and soon learned to plead guilty at once,” and -Jack smiled in a dreary kind of way at the recollection of some of his -boyish pranks. - -“Well, let old Chapman, the modern Sherlock Holmes, and his searching -disposition go for the present. Promise to be sure to dine with Lucy -tomorrow evening. She expects me to be there also, as she is going to -have one or two young women and needs some of the male sex to talk to -them. I know that she will want you all to herself,” said Burton. - -“Yes, I’ll be on hand all right tomorrow night and you get my papers in -shape during the day, as I will sail as early day after tomorrow as the -tide serves,” replied the captain. - -“By the way, Jack! Send your steward to me when you go aboard to take -charge of the ‘Adams’ in the morning. Tell him to see me personally. You -sailors are such queer chaps and care so little about your larder that I -am going to see to it myself that you don’t eat salt pork and hard tack -on your voyage out, nor drink bilge water, either.” - -“You are awfully kind, Burton, but you need not trouble yourself. I am -sure common sea grub is good enough for any sailor-man.” - -As they walked together toward the front door, when Captain Jack was -leaving the building, in the narrow aisle between the long rows of desks -they came face to face with the superintendent. He stepped aside and -gazing after them, whispered: - -“Strange, very strange, for Jack Dunlap to sail so soon.” - -“Be sure to send that steward of yours to me tomorrow, Jack,” called the -manager of “J. Dunlap” as the sturdy figure of the sailor disappeared in -the fog that filled the crooked street in which Boston’s oldest shipping -and banking house had its office. - -“And no ship ever sailed from Boston provided as yours shall be, poor old -chap,” muttered the manager as he hurried back to his own room in the -office. “There shall be champagne enough on board the ‘Adams,’ Jack, to -drink our health, if you so will, on our wedding day, even though you be -off Cape Good Hope.” - - * * * * * - -In the gloaming that dark November day the Dunlap brothers were seated -close together, side by side, in silence gazing into the heap of coals -that burned in the large grate before them. John Dunlap’s hand rested -upon the arm of his brother, as if in the mere touching of him who had -first seen the light in his company there was comfort. - -Burton thought, as he entered the private office that no finer picture -was ever painted than that made by these two fine old American gentlemen -as the flame from the crackling cannel coal shot up, revealing their -kind, gentle, generous faces in the surrounding gloom of the room. - -“Pardon me, gentlemen,” said the manager, pausing on the threshold, -hesitating to break in upon a scene that seemed almost sacred, “but I was -told that you had sent for me while I was out of the office.” - -“Come in, Burton, you were correctly informed,” said James Dunlap, still -neither changing his position nor removing his gaze from the fire. - -“My brother John and I have determined as a mark of love for our young -kinsman, Captain John Dunlap, and as an evidence of our appreciation -for faithful services rendered to us as mate and master, to make him a -present of our ship ‘Adams,’ now loaded for Australia,” continued James -Dunlap, speaking very low and very softly. - -“You will please have the necessary papers for the transfer made out -tonight. We will execute them in the morning and you will see that the -proper entry is made upon the register at the custom house. Have the full -value of the ship charged to the private accounts of my brother John and -myself, as the gift is a personal affair of ours and others interested in -our house must be fully indemnified,” continued the old man as he turned -his eyes and met his brother’s assenting look. - -The flame blazing up in the grate at that moment cast its light on -Burton’s flushed face as he listened to the closing sentence of Mr. James -Dunlap’s instructions. - -“Forgive me, sir, but I do not comprehend what you mean by ‘others -interested in our house.’ I believe other than yourselves I alone have -the honor to hold an interest in your house,” and moving forward in the -firelight where he would stand before the brothers he continued, almost -indignantly, his voice vibrating with emotion: - -“You do me bitter, cruel injustice if you think that I do not wish, nay -more, earnestly beg, to join in this gift. I have learned that today that -would urge me to plead for permission to share in this deed were it of -ten times the value of the ‘Adams.’” - -Quickly old John Dunlap, rising from his chair, placing his hand on -Burton’s shoulder and regarding him kindly, said: - -“I am glad to hear you say that, Burton, very glad. It proves your -heart to be right, but it cannot be as you wish. Jack is so sensitive -even about receiving aid from us, his kinsmen, that you must conceal the -matter from him, put the transfer and new registration with his clearance -papers and tell him it is our wish that they be not opened until he is -one week at sea.” - -“Could the transfer not be made just in the name of the house without -explanation? He might never think of my being interested,” urged the -manager eagerly. - -“You are mistaken, Walter,” said James Dunlap. “Within a month you might -see the ‘Adams’ sailing back into Boston harbor. I am sorry to deny you -the exercise of your generous impulse; we appreciate the intent, but -think it best not to hamper a gift to this proud fellow with anything -that might cause its rejection.” - -Burton, realizing the truth of the position taken by the brothers and -the hopelessness of gaining Jack Dunlap’s consent to be placed under -obligations to one not of his own blood, could offer no further argument -upon the subject. Dejected and disappointed he turned to leave the room -to accomplish the wishes expressed by the twins. As he reached the door -John Dunlap called to him. - -“Hold on a minute, Burton. Have we any interest in the cargo of the -‘Adams?’” - -“About one-quarter of her cargo is agricultural implements consigned to -our Australian agent for the account of the house,” quickly answered the -manager. - -“Charge that invoice to me and assign it to Jack.” - -“Charge it jointly to us both,” added James Dunlap. - -“No you don’t, James! We only agreed on the ship. John is my godson and -namesake. I have a right to do more than anyone else,” exultantly cried -the kind hearted old fellow, and for the first time that day he laughed -as he slapped his brother on the shoulder and thought of how he had -gotten ahead of him. - -Burton was obliged to smile at the sudden anxiety of Mr. John to get rid -of him when Mr. James began to protest against his brother’s selfishness -in wishing to have no partner in the gift of the cargo. - -“Now, you just hurry up those papers, Burton. Yes, hurry! Run along! Yes, -Yes,” and so saying old Mr. John fairly rushed him out of the room. - -“How I wish I were Captain Jack’s uncle, too,” thought Burton sadly, with -a heart full of generous sympathy for the man who he knew loved the woman -that ere a month would be Mrs. Burton. - - - - -III. - - -Some men have one hobby, some have many and some poor wretches have none. -David Chapman had three hobbies and they occupied his whole mind and -heart. - -First in place and honor was the house of J. Dunlap. “The pillared -firmament” might fall but his fidelity to the firm which he had served -for forty years could never fail. His was the fierce and jealous love -of the tigress for her cub where the house of Dunlap was concerned. He -actually suffered, as from mortal hurt, when any one or any thing seemed -to separate him from this great object of his adoration. - -He had ever regarded the ownership of even a small interest by Walter -Burton as an indignity, an outrage and a sacrilege. He hated him for -defiling the chiefest idol of his religion and life. He was jealous of -him because he separated in a manner the worshiper from the worshiped. - -Because solely of jealous love for this High Joss of his, Chapman would -have gladly, cheerfully suffered unheard of agonies to rid the house of -J. Dunlap of this irreverent interloper who did not bear the sacred name -of Dunlap. - -The discovery of anything concealed, unravelling a mystery, ferreting -out a secret was the next highest hobby in Chapman’s trinity of hobbies. -He was passionately fond of practicing the theory of deduction, and was -marvelously successful at arriving at correct conclusions. No crime, no -mystery furnished a sensation for the Boston newspapers that did not call -into play the exercise of this the second and most peculiar hobby of -Chapman. - -By some strange freak of nature in compounding the elements to form the -character of David Chapman, an inordinate love for music was added to the -incongruous mixture, and became the man’s third and most harmless hobby. -Chapman had devoted years to the study of music, from pure love of sweet -and melodious sounds. In the great and musical city of Boston no one -excelled him as master of his favorite instrument, the violoncello. Like -Balzac’s Herr Smucker, in his hours of relaxation, he bathed himself in -the flood of his own melody. - -Chapman owned, he was not poor, and occupied with his spinster sister, -who was almost as withered as himself, a house well down in the business -section of the city. He could not be induced to live in the more -desirable suburbs. They were too far from the temple of his chiefest -idol, the house of J. Dunlap. - -“Jack Dunlap sails as master of our ship ‘Adams’ day after tomorrow,” -suggested Chapman meditatively, as he sipped his tea and glanced across -the table at the dry, almost fossilized, prim, starchy, old lady seated -opposite him in his comfortable dining room that evening. - -“Impossible, David, the boy has only just arrived.” - -And the little old lady seemed to pick at the words as she uttered them -much as a sparrow does at crumbs of bread. - -“It is not impossible for it is a fact,” replied her brother dryly. - -“What is the reason for his sudden departure? Did the house order him to -sea again?” pecked out the sister. - -“No, that is the strange part of the affair. Jack himself especially -urged his appointment to the ship sailing day after tomorrow.” - -“Then it is to get away from Boston before Lucy is married. I believe he -is in love with her and can’t bear to see her marry Burton.” - -Oh! boastful man, with all your assumed superiority in the realm of -reason and your deductive theories and synthetical systems for forming -correct conclusions. You are but a tyro, a mere infant in that great -field of feeling where love is crowned king. The most withered, stale, -neglected being in whose breast beats a woman’s heart, by that mysterious -and sympathetic something called intuition can lead you like the child -that you are in this, woman’s own province. - -“You are entirely wrong, Arabella, as usual. Jack never thought of Miss -Lucy in that way; besides he and Burton are exceedingly friendly; can’t -you make it convenient to visit your friends in Bedford and see Martha -Dunlap? If anything be wrong with Jack, and I can help him, I shall be -glad to do so. The mother may be more communicative than the son.” - -“I will surely make the attempt to learn if anything be wrong, and -gladly, too; I have always loved that boy Jack, and if he be in trouble -I want you to help him all in your power, David.” The little old maid’s -face flushed in the earnestness of the expression. - -“Burton is still an unsolved problem to me,” and in saying the words -Chapman’s jaws moved with a kind of snap, like a steel trap, while his -eyes had the glitter of a serpent’s in them as he continued, “for years I -have observed him closely and I cannot make him out at all. I am baffled -by sudden changes of mood in the man; at times he is reckless, gay, -thoughtless, frivolous, and I sometimes think lacking in moral stamina; -again he is dignified, kind, courteous, reserved and seems to possess the -highest standard of morals.” - -“I don’t suppose that he is unlike other men; they all have moods. You do -yourself, David, and very unpleasant moods, too,” said Arabella with the -proverbial sourness of the typical New England spinster. - -“Well, I may have moods, as you say, Arabella, but I don’t break out -suddenly in a kind of frenzy of gaiety, sing and shout like a street Arab -and then as quickly relapse into a superlatively dead calm of dignity and -the irreproachable demeanor of a cultured gentleman. - -“Now, David, you are allowing your dislike for Burton and your prejudice -to overdraw the picture,” said prim Miss Arabella, as she daintily raised -the teacup to her lips. - -“I am not overdrawing the picture! I have seen and heard Burton when -he thought that he was alone in the office, and I say that there is -something queer about him; Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde of that old story -are common characters in comparison. I knew his father well; he was -an every-day sort of successful business man; whom his father married -and what she was like I do not know, but I shall find out some day, -as therein may lie the reading of the riddle,” retorted the brother -vehemently. - -“As Lucy Dunlap will be married to the man shortly and it will then be -too late to do anything, no matter what is the result of your inquiry, it -seems to me that you should cease to interest yourself in the matter,” -chirped the bird-like voice of Miss Arabella. - -“I can’t! I am absolutely fascinated by the study of this man’s strange, -incongruous character; you remember what I told you when I returned from -the only visit I ever made at Burton’s house. It was business that forced -me to go there, and I have never forgotten what I saw and heard. I am -haunted by something that I cannot define,” said Chapman, intensity of -feeling causing his pale face and hairless head to assume the appearance -of the bald-eagle or some other bird of prey. - -“Think of it, Arabella! That summer day as I reached the door of his -lonely dwelling, surrounded by that great garden, through the open -windows there came crashing upon my ears such a wild, weird burst of song -that it held me motionless where I stood. The sound of those musical -screams of melodious frenzy, dying away in rythmic cadence until it -seemed the soft summer breeze echoed the sweet harmony in its sighing. -Words, music and expression now wild and unbridled as the shriek of a -panther, and then low, gentle and soothing as the murmuring of a peaceful -brook,” cried Chapman, becoming more intense as his musical memory -reproduced the sounds he sought to describe. - -“David, you know that music is a passion with you, and doubtless your -sensitive ear gave added accent and meaning to the improvised music of a -careless, idle young man,” interrupted Miss Arabella. - -“Not so! Not so! I swear that no careless, idle man ever improvised -such wild melody; it is something unusual in the man; when at last the -outburst ceased, and I summoned strength to ring the bell, there was -something almost supernatural that enabled that frenzied musician to meet -me with the suavity of an ordinary cultured gentleman of Boston as Burton -did when I entered his sitting room.” - -“Brother, I fear that imagination and hatred in this instance are sadly -warping your usually sound judgment,” quietly replied the sedate sister, -seeing the increasing excitement of her brother. - -“Imagination created also, I suppose, the uncanny, barbaric splendor with -which his apartments were decorated which I described to you,” sneered -the man. - -“All young men affect something of that kind, I am told, in the adornment -of their rooms,” rejoined the spinster, mincing her words, and, old as -she was, assuming embarrassment in mentioning young men’s rooms. - -“Nonsense! Arabella, I have seen many of the Harvard men’s rooms. A -few swords, daggers, and other weapons; a skin or two of wild animals; -something of that kind, but Burton’s apartments were differently -decorated; masses of striking colors, gaudy, glaring, yet so blended by -an artistic eye that they were not offensive to the sight. Articles of -furniture of such strange, savage and grotesque shape as to suggest a -barbarian as the designer. The carving on the woodwork, the paneling, the -tone and impression created by sight of it all were such as must have -filled the souls of the Spanish conquerors when they first gazed upon -the barbaric grandeur of the Moors, as exposed to their wondering eyes by -the conquest of Granada.” - -“Don’t get excited, David!” said staid Miss Arabella. “Suppose that you -should discover something to the discredit of Burton, what use could and -would you make of it?” - -The veins in Chapman’s thin neck and bony brow became swollen and -distended as if straining to burst the skin that covered them; his eyes -flashed baleful fire, as extending his arm and grasping the empty air as -if it were his enemy, he fairly hissed: - -“I! I! I would tear him out of the house of J. Dunlap, intruder that he -is, and cast him into the gutter! Yea! though I tore the heartstrings -of a million women such as Lucy Dunlap! What is she or her heart in -comparison with the glory of Boston’s oldest business name?” - -Panting, as a weary hound, who exhausted but exultant, fastens his fangs -in the hunted stag, overcome by the violence of his hatred, David Chapman -dropped down into his chair. - - * * * * * - -Nestling among grand old oaks and profusion of shrubbery, now leafless -in the November air of New England, on the top of the highest hill in -that portion of the suburbs, sat the “Eyrie,” the bachelor home of Walter -Burton. - -Though the house was small, the conservatory adjoining it was one of the -largest in the city. Burton was an ardent lover of flowers, and an active -collector of rare plants. The house stood in the center of an extensive -and well kept garden through which winding paths ran in every direction. - -The place would have seemed lonely to one not possessing within himself -resources sufficient to furnish him entertainment independent of the -society of others. - -Burton never knew loneliness. He was an accomplished musician, an -artist of more than ordinary ability, a zealous horticulturist, and an -omnivorous devourer of books. - -A housekeeper who was cook at the same time, one man and a boy for the -garden and conservatory and a valet constituted the household servants of -the “Eyrie.” - -At the moment that Chapman’s wrathful mind was expressing its -concentrated hate for him, the owner of the white house on the hill -sat before the open grand piano in his music-room, his shapely hands -wandering listlessly over the keys, touching them once in a while in an -aimless manner. The young man’s mind was filled with other thoughts than -music. - -Chapman had drawn an accurate picture of Burton’s apartments in many -respects, yet he had forgotten to mention the many musical instruments -scattered about the rooms. Harp, guitar, mandolin, violin, banjo and -numberless sheets of music, some printed and some written, marked this -as the abode of a natural musician. Burton was equally proficient in the -use of each of the instruments lying about the room, as well as being the -author of original compositions of great beauty and merit. - -The odor of violets perfumed the whole house. Great bunches of these, -Burton’s favorite flower, filled antique and queerly shaped vases in each -room. - -Burton ceased to even sound the keys on which his hands rested, and as -some scene was disclosed to his sympathetic soul, his soft brown eyes -were dimmed by a suspicious moisture. Sighing sadly he murmured: - -“Poor Jack! While I am in a heaven of bliss with the woman I love, -surrounded by all that makes life enjoyable, he, poor old chap, alone, -heartsick and hopeless, will be battling with the stormy waves of the -ocean. Alas! Fate how inscrutable!” - -As his mind drifted onward in this channel of thought, he added more -audibly, “What a heart Jack has! There is a man! He will carry his secret -uncomplaining and in silence to his grave, that, too, without permitting -envy or jealousy to fill his soul with hatred; I would that I could do -something to assuage the pain of that brave heart.” And at the word -“brave” the stream of his wandering fancy seemed to take a new direction. - -“Brave! Men who have sailed with him say he knows no fear; the last -voyage they tell how he sprang into the icy sea, all booted as he was, -waves mountain high, the night of inky blackness, to save a worthless, -brutal Lascar sailor. Tender as a woman, when a mere child as careful -of baby Cousin Lucy as a granddame could be, and ever her sturdy little -knight and champion from babyhood. Poor Jack!” - -Again the current of his thought changed its course. He paused and -whispered to himself, “Lucy, am I worthy of her? Shall I prove as kind, -as true and brave a husband as Jack would be to her? Oh! God, I hope so, -I will try so hard. Sometimes there seems to come a strange inexplicable -spell over my spirit—a something that is beyond my control. A madness -seems to possess my very soul. Involuntarily I say and do that, during -the time that this mysterious influence holds me powerless in its grasp, -that is so foreign to my natural self that I shudder and grow sick at -heart at the thought of the end to which it may lead me.” - -At the recollection of some horror of the past the young man’s face paled -and he shivered as if struck by a cold blast of winter wind. - -“Ought I to tell Lucy of these singular manifestations? Ought I to alarm -my darling concerning something that may partly be imaginary? I am -uncertain what, loving her as I do, is right; I can always absent myself -from her presence when I feel that hateful influence upon me, and perhaps -after I am married I may be freed from the horrible thraldom of that -irresistible power that clutches me in its terrible grasp. I cannot bear -the idea of giving my dear love useless pain or trouble. Had I not better -wait?” - -At that moment some unpleasant fact must have suggested itself or rather -forced itself upon Burton’s mind for he pushed back the piano-stool and -rising walked with impatient steps about the room, saying: - -“It would be ridiculous! Absurd! Really unworthy of both Lucy and myself -even to mention the subject! Long ago that old, nonsensical prejudice had -disappeared, at least among cultivated people in America. There is not -a shade of doubt but that both the Messrs. Dunlap and Lucy are aware of -the fact that my mother was a quadroon. Doubtless that circumstance is -deemed so trivial that it never has occurred to them to mention it to me. -People of education and refinement, regardless of the color of skin, are -welcome in the home of the Dunlaps as everywhere else where enlightenment -has dispelled prejudice.” - -He paused and bursting into a musical and merry laugh at something that -his memory recalled, exclaimed, - -“Why, I have seen men and women as black as the proverbial ‘ace of -spades,’ the guests of honor in Mr. James Dunlap’s house, as elsewhere in -Boston. I shall neither bore nor insult the intelligence of my sweetheart -or her family by introducing the absurd subject of blood in connection -with our marriage. The idea of blood making any difference! Men are -neither hounds nor horses!” - -Laughing at the odd conceit that men, hounds and horses should be -considered akin by any one not absolutely benighted, he resumed his seat -at the piano and began playing a gay waltz tune then popular with the -dancing set of Boston’s exclusive circle. - -As Burton ended the piece of music with a fantastic flourish of his own -composition, he turned and saw his valet standing silently waiting for -his master to cease playing. - -“Ah! Victor, are the hampers packed carefully?” exclaimed Burton. - -“Yes, sir,” replied the valet, pronouncing his words with marked French -accent. “The steward at your club furnished all the articles on the list -that the housekeeper lacked, sir.” - -“You are sure that you put in the hampers the ‘44’ vintage of champagne, -the Burgundy imported by myself, and you examined the cigars to be -certain to get only those of the last lot from Havana?” - -“Quite sure, sir; I packed everything myself, as you told me you were -especially anxious to have only the very best selected,” said the little -Frenchman. - -“Now, listen, Victor; tomorrow I dine away from home, but before I leave -the house I shall arrange a box of flowers, which, with the hampers, -you are to carry in my dog-cart to Dunlap’s wharf and there you are to -have them placed in the cabin of the ship ‘Adams.’ You will open the box -of flowers and arrange them tastefully, as I know you can, about the -master’s stateroom—take a half-dozen vases to put them in.” - -“Very good, sir; it shall be done as you say, sir,” answered the valet -bowing and moving toward the door. - -“Hold on, Victor!” called Burton, “I wish to add just this: if by any -accident, no matter what, you fail to get these things on board the -‘Adams’ before she sails, my gentle youth, I will break your neck.” - -So admonished the servant bowed low and left the room, as his master -turned again to the piano and began to make the room ring with a furious -and warlike march. - - - - -IV. - - -The United States is famous for its beautiful women, but even in that -country where beauty is the common heritage of her daughters, Lucy -Dunlap’s loveliness of face and figure shone as some transcendent planet -in the bright heavens of femininity where all are stars. - -“How can you be so cruel, Jack, as to run away to sea again so soon and -when I need you so much?” - -The great hazel eyes looked so pleadingly into poor Jack’s that he could -not even stammer out an excuse for his departure. - -Sailors possibly appreciate women more than all other classes of men. -They are so much without their society that they never seem to regard -them as landsmen do, and Lucy Dunlap was an exceptional example of -womankind to even the most _blase_ landsman. Small wonder then that -sailor Jack, confused, could only gaze at the lovely being before him. - -Lucy Dunlap, though of the average height of women, seemed taller, so -round, supple and elastic were the proportions of her perfect figure. The -charm of intellectual power gave added beauty to a face whose features -would have caused an artist to realize that the ideal model did not exist -alone in the land of dreams. - -In the spacious drawing-room of Dunlap’s mansion were gathered those -who had enjoyed the sumptuous dinner served that evening in honor of -their seafaring kinsman. Mr. John Dunlap was relating his experiences in -Port au Prince to his old friend, Mrs. Church, while his brother, with -that old-fashioned courtliness that became him so well, was playing the -cavalier to Miss Winthrop, one of his granddaughter’s pretty friends. -Walter Burton was bending over Miss Stanhope, a talented young musician, -who, seated before the piano, was scanning a new piece of music. - -There seemed a mutual understanding between all of those present that -Lucy should monopolize her cousin’s attention on this the first occasion -that she had seen him for two years, and probably the last for a like -period of time. In a far corner of the great room Jack and Lucy were -seated when she asked the question mentioned, to which Jack finally made -awkward answer by saying: - -“Oh! well, Lucy, I am not of much account at social functions. I should -only be in some one’s way. I fancy my proper place is the quarter-deck of -a ship at sea.” - -“Don’t be absurd, Jack! You know much better than that,” said his cousin, -glancing at the manly, frank face beside her, the handsome, curly blonde -head carried high and firm, and the grand chest and shoulders of the man, -made more noticeable by the close fitting dress coat that he wore. - -“Why, half the women of our set in Boston will be in love with you if you -remain for my wedding. Please do, Jack. I will find you the prettiest -sweetheart that your sailor-heart ever pictured.” - -“I am awfully sorry, little cousin, to disappoint you, as you seem to -have expected me to be present at your wedding,” said Jack manfully, -attempting to appear cheerful. - -“And as for the sweetheart part of your suggestion, it may be ungallant -to say so, but I don’t believe there is any place in my log for that kind -of an entry.” - -“How odd it is, Jack, that you have never been in love; why, any woman -could love you, you big-hearted handsome sailor.” - -Lucy’s admiring glances rested upon the face of her cousin as innocently -as when a little maid she had kissed him and said that she loved him. - -“Yes, it is rather odd for a man never to love some woman, but I can’t -say that I agree that any woman could or would love me,” answered Jack -dryly, as he smiled at the earnest face turned toward him. - -Miss Stanhope played a magnificent symphony as only that clever artist -could; Walter Burton’s clear tenor voice rang out in an incomparable solo -from the latest opera, but Lucy and Jack, oblivious to all else, in low -and confidential tones conversed in the far corner of the room. - -As of old when she was a child, Lucy had nestled down close to her -cousin and resting one small hand upon his arm was artlessly pouring -out the whole story of her love for Walter Burton, her bright hopes and -expectations, the joy that filled her soul, the happiness that she saw -along the vista of the future; all with that freedom from reserve that -marks the exchange of confidences between loving sisters. - -The day of the rack and stake has passed, but as long as human hearts -shall beat, the day of torture can never come to a close; Jack listened -to the heart story of the innocent, confiding woman beside him, who, all -unaware of the torture she was inflicting, painted the future in words -that wrung more agony from his soul than rack or stake could have caused -his body. - -How bravely he battled against the pain that every word brought to his -breast! Pierced by a hundred darts he still could meet the artless gaze -of those bright, trusting, hazel eyes and smile in assurance of his -interest and sympathy. - -“But of course my being married must make no difference with you, Cousin -Jack. You must love me as you always have,” she said, as if the thought -of losing something she was accustomed to have just occurred to her mind. - -“I shall always love you, Lucy, as I ever have.” The sailor’s voice came -hoarse and deep from the broad breast that rose and fell like heaving -billows. - -“You know, Jack, that you were always my refuge and strength in time of -trouble or danger when I was a child, and even with dear Walter for my -husband I still should feel lost had I not you to call upon.” Lucy’s -voice trembled a little and she grasped Jack’s strong arm with the hand -that rested there while they had been talking. - -“You may call me from the end of the earth, my dear, and feel sure that -I shall come to you,” said Jack simply, but the earnest manner was more -convincing to the woman at his side than fine phrases would have been. - -“Oh! Jack! what a comfort you are, and how much I rely upon you. It makes -me quite strong and brave to know that my marriage will make no change in -your love for me.” - -“As long as life shall last, my cousin, I shall love you,” replied the -man almost sadly, as he placed his hand over hers that held his arm. - -“Or until some day you marry and your wife becomes jealous,” added Lucy -laughing. - -“Or until I marry and my wife is jealous,” repeated Dunlap with the -faintest kind of emphasis upon “until.” - -Miss Stanhope began to play a waltz of the inspiring nature that almost -makes old and gouty feet to tingle, and is perfectly irresistible to the -young and joyous. Burton and Miss Winthrop in a minute were whirling -around the drawing-room. How perfectly Burton could dance; his easy -rythmic steps were the very poetry of motion. Lucy and Jack paused to -watch the handsome couple as they glided gracefully through the room. - -“Does not Walter dance beautifully?” exclaimed Lucy as she followed the -dancers with admiring glances. - -“Bertie Winthrop, who was at Harvard with Walter, says that when they -were students and had their stag parties if they could catch Walter -in what Bertie calls ‘a gay mood,’ he would astonish them with his -wonderful dancing. Bertie vows that Walter can dance any kind of thing -from a vulgar gig to an exquisite ballet, but he is so awfully modest -about it that he denies Bertie’s story and will not dance anything but -the conventional,” continued Lucy. - -“Take a turn, Jack!” called Burton as he and his partner swept by the -corner where the sailor and his cousin were seated, and added as he -passed, “It is your last chance for some time.” - -“Come on, Jack,” cried Lucy springing up and extending her hands. A -moment more and Jack was holding near his bosom the woman for whom his -heart would beat until death should still it forever. - -Oft midst the howling winds and angry waves, when storm tossed on the -sea, will Jack dream o’er again the heavenly bliss of those few moments -when close to his heart rested she who was the beacon light of his -sailor’s soul. - -When the music of the waltz ended, Jack and his fair partner found -themselves just in front of the settee where John Dunlap and Mrs. Church -were seated. - -“Uncle John, I have been trying to induce Jack to stay ashore until after -my wedding,” said Lucy addressing Mr. John Dunlap who had been following -her and her partner with his eyes, in which was a pained expression, as -they had circled about the room. - -“Won’t you help me, Uncle John?” added the young woman in that pleading -seductive tone that always brought immediate surrender on the part of -both her grandfather and granduncle. - -“I am afraid, Lucy, that I can’t aid you this time,” replied the old -gentleman and there was so much seriousness in his sunburnt face that -Lucy exclaimed anxiously: - -“Why? What is the matter that the house must send Cousin Jack away almost -as soon as he gets home?” - -“Nothing is the matter, dear, but it is an opportunity for your cousin -to make an advancement in his profession, and you must not be selfish in -thinking only of your own happiness, my child. You know men must work and -women must wait,” replied her uncle. - -“Oh! Is that it? Then I must resign myself with good grace to the -disappointment. I would not for the world have any whim of mine mar dear -old Jack’s prospects,” and Lucy clasped both of her dimpled white hands -affectionately on her cousin’s arm, which she still retained after the -waltz ended, as she uttered these sentiments. - -“I know Jack would make any sacrifice for me if I really insisted.” - -“I am sure that he would, Lucy, so don’t insist,” said John Dunlap very -seriously and positively. - -Just then Burton began singing a mournfully sweet song, full of sadness -and pathos, accompanying himself on a guitar that had been lying on the -music stand. All conversation ceased. Every one turned to look at the -singer. What a mellow, rich voice had Walter Burton. What expression he -put into the music and words! - -What a handsome man he was! As he leaned forward holding the instrument, -and lightly touching the strings as he sang, Lucy thought him a perfect -Apollo. Her eyes beamed with pride and love as she regarded her future -husband. - -None noticed the flush and troubled frown on old John Dunlap’s face. -Burton’s crossed legs had drawn his trousers tightly around the limb -below the knee, revealing an almost total absence of calf and that the -little existing was placed higher up than usually is the case. That -peculiarity or something never to be explained had brought some Haitian -scene back to the memory of the flushed and frowning old man and sent a -pang of regret and fear through his kind heart. - -“God bless and keep you, lad! Jack, you are the last of the Dunlaps,” -said Mr. John Dunlap solemnly as they all stood in the hall when the -sailor was leaving. - -“Amen! most earnestly, Amen!” added Mr. James Dunlap, placing his hand on -Jack’s shoulder. - -“Good-by! dear Jack,” said Lucy sorrowfully while tears filled her eyes, -when she stood at the outer door of the hall holding her cousin’s hand. - -“Think of me on the twentieth of next month, my wedding day,” she added, -and then drawing the hand that she held close to her breast as if still -clinging to some old remembrance and anxious to keep fast hold of the -past, fearful that it would escape her, she exclaimed: - -“Remember, you are still my trusty knight and champion, Jack!” - -“Until death, Lucy,” replied the man, as he raised the little white hand -to his lips and reverently kissed it. - -She stood watching the retreating figure until it was hidden by the gloom -of the ghostly elms that lined the avenue. As she turned Burton was at -her side. - -“How horribly lonely Jack must be, Walter,” she said in pitying tones. - -“More so than even you realize, Lucy,” rejoined Burton sadly. - -Alone through the darkness strode a man with a dull, hard, crushing pain -in his brave, faithful heart. - - * * * * * - -“The child will be ruined,” said all the old ladies of the Dunlaps’ -acquaintance when they learned that it had been determined by the child’s -grandfather to keep the motherless and fatherless little creature at home -with him, rather than send her to reside with some remote female members -of her mother’s family. - -“Those two old gentlemen will surely spoil her to that degree that she -will be unendurable when she becomes a young woman,” asserted the women -with feminine positiveness. - -“They will make her Princess of the house of Dunlap, I suppose,” added -the most acrimonious. - -To a degree these predictions were verified by the result, but only to a -degree. The twin brothers almost worshiped the beautiful little maiden, -and did in very fact make her their Princess, and so, too, was she often -called; but possibly through no merit in the management of the brothers, -probably simply because Lucy was not spoilable was the desirable end -arrived at that she grew to be a most amiable and agreeable woman. - -The son of Mr. John Dunlap, the father of Lucy, survived but one year -the death of his wife, which occurred when Lucy was born. Thus her -grandfather and uncle became sole protectors and guardians of the child; -that is until the lad, Jack Dunlap, came to live at the house of his -godfather. - -Young Jack was the only child of a second cousin of the twin brothers; -his father had been lost at sea when Jack was yet a baby. His mother, -Martha Dunlap, had gladly availed herself of the kind offer of the boy’s -kinsman and godfather, when he proposed that the boy should come and -live with him in Boston, where he could obtain better opportunities for -securing an education than he could in the old town of Bedford. - -Jack was twelve years of age when he became an inmate of the Dunlap -mansion, and a robust, sturdy little curly haired chap he was; Princess -Lucy’s conquest was instantaneous. Jack immediately enrolled himself as -the chief henchman, servitor and guard of the pretty fairy-like maid of -six years. No slave was ever more obedient and humble. - -Great games awoke the echoes through Dunlap’s stately old dwelling; -in winter the lawn was converted into a slide, the fish-pond into a -skating-rink; in summer New Hampshire’s hills reverberated with the merry -shouts of Jack and “Princess” Lucy or flying over the blue waters of the -bay in the yacht that his godfather had given him. Jack, aided by Lucy’s -fresh young voice, sang rollicking songs of the sea. - -The old gentlemen dubbed Jack, “Lucy’s Knight,” and were always perfectly -satisfied when the little girl was with her cousin. - -“He is more careful of her than we are ourselves,” they would reply when -speaking of Jack and his guardianship. - -All the fuming of Miss Lucy’s maids and the complaints of Miss Lucy’s -governess availed nothing, for even good old Mrs. Church joined in the -conspiracy of the grandfather and uncle, saying: - -“She is perfectly safe in Jack’s care, and I wish to see rosy cheeks -rather than hear Emersonian philosophy from our pet.” - -Notwithstanding the “lots of fun,” as Jack used to call their frolics, -Lucy and Jack did good hard work with their books, music and “all the -rest of it,” as the young people called drawing and dancing. - -When Jack became twenty years of age, and was prepared to enter Harvard -college, where Mr. John Dunlap proposed to send him, he made his -appearance one day in the city and asked to see his kind kinsman. - -“I thank you, sir, for your great kindness in offering to place me in -Harvard College, as I do for all the countless things you have done for -me, but I can’t accept your generous proposition. You will not be angry, -I am sure, for you know, I hope, how grateful I am for all you have done. -But, sir, I have a widowed mother and I wish to go to work that I may -earn money for her and obtain a start in life for myself,” said Jack with -boyish enthusiasm when admitted to the presence of Mr. John Dunlap. - -Though the old gentleman urged every argument to alter Jack’s -determination, the boy stood firmly by what he had said. - -“You are my namesake, the only male representative of our family; neither -you nor your mother shall ever want. I have more money than I need.” Many -other inducements were offered still the young man insisted upon the -course that he laid out for himself. - -“I am a sailor’s son and have a sailor’s soul; I wish to go to sea,” Jack -finally exclaimed. - -Both of the twins loved Jack. He had been so long in their house and so -closely associated with Lucy that he seemed more to them than a remote -young kinsman. - -Finding Jack’s decision unalterable, a compromise was effected on the -subject. Jack should sail in one of their coasting ships, and when on -shore at Boston continue to make their house his home. - -Great was the grief of Lucy at parting with her Jack, as she called -him. But consoling herself with the thought that she should see him -often and that the next autumn she should be obliged to leave Boston -for some dreadful seminary and thus they would be separated under any -circumstances, she dried her eyes and entered with enthusiasm into his -preparations for sea, saying, “I have a good mind to dress up as a boy -and go with Jack! I declare I would do it, were it not for grandfather -and Uncle John.” - -Jack’s kit on his first voyage was a marvel in the way of a sailor’s -outfit; Lucy had made a bankrupt of herself in the purchase of the most -extraordinary handkerchiefs, caps, shirts and things of that kind that -could be found in Boston, saying proudly to Mrs. Church when displaying -the assortment: - -“Nothing is too good for my sailor boy.” - -After several years of sea service Mr. James Dunlap, during the residence -of his brother in Haiti, had tendered to Jack a position in the office, -hoping that having seen enough of the ocean he would be willing to -remain ashore and possibly with a half-formed hope that Jack would win -Lucy’s hand and thus the house of Dunlap continue to survive for other -generations. - -Much to the chagrin of Lucy’s grandfather, Jack absolutely refused to -entertain the proposition, saying: - -“I should be of no earthly use in the office. I am not competent to fill -any position there, and I positively will not accept a sinecure. If you -wish to advance me, do so in the line of my profession! Make me master -of your ship Lucy and let me take her for a two years’ cruise in Eastern -waters.” - -Thus it happened that Jack was absent from Boston for two years and -returned to find that he had lost that, that all the gold of El Dorado -could not replace—the woman whom he loved. - - - - -V. - - -“Mother Sybella, Mother Sybella! May I approach?” yelled every few -minutes the man seated on a rock half way up the hill that rose steep -from the Port au Prince highway. - -The neglected and broken pavement of the road that remained as a monument -to the long-departed French governors of Haiti was almost hidden by the -rank, luxurious growth of tropical plants on either side of it. As seen -from the hillside, where the man was sitting, it seemed an impracticable -path for even the slowly moving donkeys which here and there crawled -between the overhanging vegetation. - -The man looked neither to the right nor to the left, but throwing back -his head, at intervals of possibly fifteen minutes, as if addressing the -blazing sun above, bawled out at the top of his voice: - -“Mother Sybella! Mother Sybella! May I approach?” - -The man was a mulatto, though with features markedly of the negro type; -around his head he wore a much soiled white handkerchief. His body was -fairly bursting out of a tight-fitting blue coat of military fashion, -adorned with immense brass buttons. His bare feet and long thin shanks -appeared below dirty duck trousers that once had been white. - -There evidently was something awe-inspiring about the name that he -shouted even though the rest of the words were unintelligible to the -natives. The man shouted his request in the English language; the natives -of Haiti used a jargon of French, English and native dialect difficult to -understand and impossible to describe or reproduce in writing. - -If, when the man called, a native were passing along the highway, as -sometimes happened, he would spring forward so violently as to endanger -the safety of the huge basket of fruit or vegetables that he carried upon -his head, and glancing over his shoulder with dread in his distended, -white and rolling eyes, would break into a run and speed forward as if in -mortal terror. - -The man had just given utterance to a louder howl than usual when he felt -the grip of bony claw-like fingers on his shoulder; with one unearthly -yell he sprang to his feet, turned and fell upon his knees before the -figure that so silently had stolen to his side. - -“Has the yellow dog brought a bone to his mother?” The words were spoken -in the patois of the native Haitians with which the man was familiar. - -The speaker was a living, animated but mummified black crone of a woman. -She leaned upon a staff made of three human thigh bones, joined firmly -together by wire. Her fleshless fingers looked like the talons of a -vulture as she gripped the top of her horrid prop and bent forward toward -the man. - -Her age seemed incalculable in decades; centuries appeared to have passed -since she was born. The wrinkles in her face were as gashes in black -and aged parchment, so deep were they. The skin over her toothless jaws -was so drawn and stretched by untold time that the very hinges of the -jaw were plainly traced; in cavernous, inky holes dug deep beneath the -retreating forehead sparkled, like points of flame, eyes so bright and -glittering that sparks of electric fire shot forth in the gaze by which -she transfixed the groveling wretch at her feet. - -“Answer, Manuel; what have you brought for Mother Sybella?” - -Finally the startled and fearful Manuel found courage to reply: - -“The coffee, sugar, ham and calico are in that bundle lying over there, -Mother Sybella,” and the man pointed to a roll of matting near him. - -“And I told you to gather all the gossip and news of Port au Prince. Have -you done so?” queried the hag with a menacing gesture. - -“Yes! yes! Mother; every command has been obeyed. I have learned what -people are talking of, and, too, I have brought some printed talk from -among the Yankees,” cried the mulatto quickly, anxious to propitiate the -crone. - -“Fool, you know I can’t make out the Yankee printed talk,” snarled the -sunken lips. - -“I can though, Mother Sybella; I lived among the Yankees many years. I -will tell you what they talk of concerning our country,” said the man -rising from his knees. - -“I will listen here in the sun’s rays; I am cold. Sit there at my feet,” -mumbled the hag, crouching down on the rock that had been occupied by -Manuel. - -“Begin,” she commanded fiercely, fixing her keen gaze upon the yellow -face below her. - -“Dictator Dupree is unable to obtain money to pay the army; the Yankees -and English will not make a loan unless concessions be made to the -whites.” - -“What says Dupree?” muttered the old woman. - -“Dupree fears an insurrection of the people if he make concessions to the -whites, and an outbreak by the army if he fail to pay the arrears due -to it. He is distracted and knows not which move to make,” answered the -yellow man at the hag’s feet. - -“Dupree is a coward! Let him come to me and see how quickly his -difficulties disappear! The army is worthless, the people powerful,” -cried Sybella. - -“Go on! Squash-head,” she ordered. - -“Twenty priests, with a Bishop at their head, have come from France, and -go among the people urging them to attend the churches, and threatening -them with awful punishment hereafter if they fail to heed the commands of -the priests,” continued Manuel. - -“Much good may it do the black-gowns,” chuckled the old creature, making -a horrible grimace in so doing. - -“My children fear Sybella more than the black-gowns’ hell,” she cackled -exultantly. - -“The priests are trying to persuade the Dictator to give them permission -to re-open those schools that have been closed so long, but Dupree has -not consented yet. He seems to fear the anger of the black party in -Haiti,” said the witch’s newsman. - -“He does well to hesitate!” exclaimed Sybella. - -“If he consent, I shall set up my altar, call my children around me and -then! and then! No matter, he is a coward; he will never dare consent,” -she added. The mulatto here drew from his bosom a newspaper. Shading his -eyes from the sun’s glare, he began searching for any item of news in the -Boston paper that he had secured in Port au Prince, which might interest -his terrifying auditor. - -“Do you wish to know about the Yankee President and Congress?” he asked -humbly, pausing as he turned the sheet of the newspaper. - -“No! you ape, unless they mention our island,” replied the woman, her -watchful eyes looking curiously at the printed paper that the man held. - -“About the ships coming and going between the United States and Haiti?” -he asked anxiously, as if fearing that he might miss something of -importance to the black seeress. - -“No! That is an old story; the accursed Yankees are ever coming and -going, restless fools,” said the woman. - -“Here is a long account of a grand wedding of a wealthy Haitien that has -just taken place in Boston. He married the granddaughter and heiress of -J. Dunlap, who is largely interested in our island,” remarked Manuel -interrogatively. - -“His name! fool, his name!” almost screamed the hag, springing to -her feet with an agility fearful to contemplate in one so decrepit, -suggesting supernatural power to the beholder. Manuel, with trembling -lip, cried, as she fastened him in the shoulder with her claws: - -“Burton! Walter Burton!” - -Without changing, by even a line her fingers from the place where she had -first fixed them in the flesh of the frightened man, she dragged him, -bulky as he was, to his feet, and up the steep, pathless hillside with a -celerity that was awful to the frightened mulatto. - -A deep ravine cutting into the back of the hill formed a precipice. Along -the face of the rocky wall thus formed a narrow, ill-defined footway ran, -almost unsafe for a mountain goat. Nearly a thousand feet below, dark -and forbidding in the gloom of jungle and spectral moss-festooned trees, -roared the sullen mutterings of a mountain torrent. - -When near the top of the hill, with a quick whirl the black crone darted -aside and around the elbow of the hill, dragging Manuel along at a -furious pace, she dashed down the precipitous path with the swiftness and -confidence of an Alpine chamois. - -Half way down the cliff, a ledge of rock made scanty foundation for a hut -of roughly hewn saplings, thatched with the palm plants of the ravine -below. So scarce was room for the hovel that but one step was necessary -to reach the brink of the declivity. - -As the excited hag reached the aperture that served as the doorway of her -den, a hideous, blear-eyed owl, who like an evil spirit kept watch and -ward at the witch’s castle, gave forth a ghostly “Hoot! Hoot!” of welcome -to his mistress. At the unexpected sound the mulatto’s quivering knees -collapsed and he sank down, nearly rolling over the edge of the precipice. - -Sybella seemed not to feel the weight of the prostrate man whom she still -clutched and hauled into the dark interior of her lair. - -Dropping the almost senseless man, she threw some resinous dry brush upon -a fire that was smouldering in the center of the hut. As the flame shot -up Manuel opened his eyes. With a shriek he sprang to his feet, terror -shaking his every limb as he stared about him. - -Two giant rats were tugging at some bone, most human in shape; each -trying to tear it from the teeth of the other, as squealing they circled -around the fire. In corners toads blinked their bead-like eyes, while -darting lizards flashed across the floor. Slowly crawling along between -the unplastered logs of the walls snakes of many colors moved about or -coiled in the thatch of the roof hung head downward and hissed as they -waved their heads from side to side. - -Along the wall a bark shelf stood. On it were two small skulls with -handles made of cane. These ghastly vessels were filled with milk. Conch -shells and utensils made of dried gourds were scattered on the shelf, -among which a huge and ugly buzzard stalked about. - -An immense red drum hung from a pole fixed in a crevice of the rock and -by its side dangled a long and shining knife. A curtain of woven grass -hanging at the rear of the hovel seemed to conceal the entrance to some -cavern within the hill’s rock-ribbed breast. - -When the blaze of the burning fagots cast a glow over the grewsome -interior of this temple of Voo Doo, Sybella, the High Priestess, turned -upon the cowering man, upon whose ashy-hued face stood great drops of -ice-cold sweat, tearing from her head the scarlet turban that had hidden -her bare, deathly skull, and beckoning him with her skeleton hand to -approach, in guttural, hissing voice commanded: - -“Say over what you told me on the hill! Say, if you dare, you dog, here -in my lair where Tu Konk dwells, that my daughter’s grandson, the last of -my blood, has mated with a white cow.” - -Benumbed by the dazzling light that poured from the black pits in her -naked, fleshless skull, the mulatto could not walk, but falling on his -hands and knees he moved toward her; prostrate at her feet, overcome by -fear, he whined faintly: - -“Burton, Walter Burton, married a white woman in Boston the twentieth of -last month.” - -The hag grasping his ears drew his head up toward her face, and thrusting -her terrible head forward she plunged her gaze like sword points down -into the man’s very soul. - -With a cry like that of a wounded wild-cat, she jumped back and throwing -her skinny arms up in the air began waving them above her head, screaming: - -“He does not lie! It is true! It is true!” - -In impotent rage she dug the sharp nails of her fingers into the skin of -her bald head and tore long ridges across its smooth bare surface. - -Suddenly she seized the mulatto, now half-dead from terror, crying: - -“Come! Goat without horns, let us tell Tu Konk.” - -Manuel, limp, scarcely breathing, staggered to his feet. The hag held him -by the bleeding ears that she had half torn from his head. Pushing him -before her they passed behind the curtain suspended against the rock wall -at the rear of the room. - -The cave they entered was of small dimensions. It was illuminated by -four large candles, which stood at each of the four corners of a baby’s -cradle. This misplaced article occupied the center of the space walled in -by the rocky sides of the apartment. The place otherwise was bare. - -Sybella as soon as the curtain fell behind her began a monotonous chant. -Moving slowly with shuffling side-long steps around the cradle, sang: - - “Awake, my Tu Konk, awake and listen; - Hear my story; - My blood long gone to white dogs; - Daughter, granddaughter, all gone to white dogs; - One drop left to me now gone to white cow; - Tu Konk, Tu Konk, awake and avenge me.” - -Manuel saw something move beneath the covering in the cradle. - - “Awake, Oh! my Tu Konk; - Awake and avenge me!” - -Manuel saw a black head thrust itself from below the cover, and rest upon -the dainty pillow in the cradle. The head was covered by an infant’s lacy -cap. - -Sybella saw the head appear. Dashing under the curtain and seizing one of -the skull-cups she returned and filled a nursing bottle that lay in the -cradle. - -The head covered with its cap of lace rose from the pillow. Sybella, -on her knees, with bowed head and adoring gestures, crept to the side -of the cradle and extended the bottle. King of terrors! By all that is -Horrible! - -The nipple disappeared in the scarlet flaming mouth of an immense, fiery -eyed, hissing black-snake. It was Tu Konk! - - “Drink, my Tu Konk.” - “Bring back my black blood.” - “Leave me not childless.” - “Curse then the white cow.” - “Send her the black goat.” - “Give her black kids.” - “Black kids and white teats.” - “Serve thus the white cow.” - -Chanting these words, the Voo Doo priestess struck her head repeatedly -upon the hard surface of the floor of the cave. Blood ran down her face -to mingle with the froth that dropped from her shriveled and distorted -lips. - -The mulatto with bursting, straining eye-balls and chattering teeth -gasped for breath. The hideous grotesqueness of the scene had frozen the -very life-blood in his veins. The vestments of an angel adorning a fiend! -Paralyzed by fear, with bulging eyes nearly popping from their sockets, -the man stared at the horrible head surrounded by those trappings most -closely associated with innocence. - -Human nature could stand no more! With one frenzied shriek Manuel broke -the spell that held him helpless. Tearing aside the curtain he leaped out -of this Temple of Terrors; heedless of the danger of plunging over the -precipice he raced along the treacherous path nor paused for breath until -miles intervened between Tu Konk, Sybella and himself. - - - - -VI. - - -No social event of the season equalled the Burton-Dunlap wedding. -For weeks prior to the date of the ceremony it had been the one -all-engrossing theme of conversation with everybody; that is, everybody -who was anybody, in the metropolis of the Old Bay State. - -The immense settlement, the magnificent gifts, the exquisite trousseau -from Paris, the surpassing beauty of the bride, the culture and -accomplishments of the handsome groom, the exalted position of the -Dunlap family, these formed the almost exclusive topics of Boston’s most -exclusive set for many weeks before the wedding. - -What a grand church wedding it was! The church was a perfect mass of -flowers and plants of the rarest and most expensive kind. The music -grandissimo beyond expression. A bishop assisted by two clergymen -performed the ceremony. The bride, a dream of loveliness in lace, satin -and orange blossoms; the groom a model of grace and chivalry; the tiny -maids, earth-born angels; the ushers Boston’s bluest blooded scions of -the Pilgrim Fathers, and finally everybody who was anybody was there. - -And the reception! The Dunlap mansion and grounds were resplendent in a -blaze of light; the beauty, talent, wealth and great names of New England -were gathered there to congratulate the happy bride, Dunlap’s heiress, -and the fortunate groom. - -“A most appropriate match! How fortunate for all concerned! How -delightful for the two old gentlemen!” declared everybody who was anybody. - -Four special policemen guarded the glittering array of almost priceless -wedding presents; in the splendid refreshment room, brilliant in -glittering glass and silver, Boston’s best and gentlest pledged the happy -bride and groom in many a glass of rarest wine and wished long life and -happiness to that charming, well-mated pair. - -The bride, radiant in her glorious beauty, rejecting as adornment for -this occasion, diamond necklace and tiara, gifts of the groom, selected a -simple coil of snowy pearls. - -“The gift of my Cousin Jack,” she proudly said. “My earliest lover and -most steadfast friend.” - -The savings of years of sailor life had been expended ungrudgingly to lay -this tribute of love on that fair bosom. - -How well assured was the future of this fortunate couple! The prospect -stretched before them like one long, joyous journey of uninterrupted -bliss. Life’s pathway all lined with thornless roses beneath summer’s -smiling sky. - -Naught seemed lacking to make assurance of the future doubly sure. Youth, -health, wealth, social position, culture, refinement, intelligence, -amiability. - -Soft strains of music floated on the perfumed air, bright eyes “spake -love to eyes that spake again,” midst palms and in flower-garlanded -recesses gentle voices whispered words of love to willing ears; in the -center of this unalloyed blissfulness were Burton and his bride. - -“Old bachelors are as excitable concerning marriage as old spinsters -can possibly be. See Mr. John Dunlap, how flushed and nervous he seems! -He hovers about the bride like an anxious mother!” So said two elderly -grand-dames behind their fans while watching the group about Burton’s -fair young wife. - -Among that gay and gallant company moved one restless figure and peering -face. David Chapman, leaving his sister, Miss Arabella, under the -protecting care of Mrs. Church, lest during the confusion of so large a -gathering, some daring cavalier, enamored of her maiden-charms, should -elope with the guileless creature, mingled with the throng of guests, -unobtrusive, but ever vigilant and watchful. - -Chapman’s countenance bore an odd expression, a mixture of satisfied -curiosity, vindictiveness and regret. - -That very day a superannuated sailor who for years had served the house -of Dunlap, and now acted as ship-keeper for vessels in its employ, called -to report to the superintendent some trifling loss. Before leaving he -asked respectfully, knuckling his forehead. - -“Is the manager goin’ to marry ter’day?” - -“Yes; why?” said Chapman sharply. - -“Nothin’ ’cept I’ve often seen his mother and took notice of him here,” -replied the man. - -“Where did you see Mr. Burton’s mother? Who was she?” Chapman asked -eagerly in his keen way. - -“In Port au Prince, mor’n twenty-five year er’go. She was Ducros’, the -sugar planter’s darter, and the puttiest quadroon I ever seen. Yea, the -puttiest woman of any kind I ever seen,” answered the old ship-keeper in -a reminiscent tone. - -Chapman’s eyes fairly sparkled with pleasure as he thus secured a clew -for future investigation, but without asking other questions he dismissed -the retired seaman. It was this information that gave to his face that -singular expression during the reception. - -A private palace car stood on the track in the station waiting for the -coming of the bridal party. Naught less than a special train could be -considered when it was decided that Florida should be the favored spot -where the wealthy Haitien and his bride, the Dunlap heiress, would spend -their honeymoon. - -Soft and balmy are the breezes, that pouring through the open windows of -the car, flood the interior with odors of pine cones and orange blooms, -as Burton’s special train speeds through the Flower State of the Union. - -The car is decked with the fresh and gorgeous blossoms of this snowless -land; yet of all the fairest is that sweet bud that rests on Burton’s -breast. - -“Walter, how sweet is life when one loves and is beloved,” said Burton’s -young wife dreamily, raising her head from his breast and gazing fondly -into her husband’s eyes. - -“Yes, love, life then is heaven on earth, sweet wife,” whispered the -husband clasping closely the yielding figure in his arms. - -“I am so happy, dearest Walter, I love you so dearly,” murmured Lucy -clinging still closer to her lover. - -“You will always love me thus, I hope, my darling,” said Walter, as he -kissed the white forehead of his bride. - -“Of course I shall, my own dear husband,” answered unhesitatingly the -happy, trusting woman. - -“Could nothing, no matter what, however unexpected and unforeseen, shake -your faith in me, or take from me that love I hold so sacred and so -dear?” asked Burton earnestly, pressing his wife to his heart. - -“Nothing could alter my love for you, my husband,” answered Lucy quickly, -as she raised her head and kissed him. - -The special train slows up at a small station. Put on breaks! The whistle -calls, and the train stops until the dispatcher can get a “clear track” -message from the next station. - -The crowd of negroes, male and female, large and small, stare with -wondering admiration at the beautiful being who appears on the rear -platform of the car accompanied by such a perfect Adonis of a man. - -Lucy Burton was an object not likely to escape attention. Her full -round form, slender, yet molded into most delicious curves, was shown -to perfection by the tight-fitting traveling gown of some kind of -soft stuff that she wore; her happy, beautiful face, bright with the -love-light in her hazel eyes, presented a picture calculated to cause -even the most fastidious to stare. To the ignorant black people she was a -revelation of loveliness. - -As the negroes, in opened-mouthed wonder, came closer and clustered -about the steps of the car, their great eyes wide and white, Lucy drew -back a little and somewhat timidly slipped her hand into her husband’s, -whispering: - -“I am afraid of them, they are so black and shocking with their rolling -eyes and thick lips.” - -“Nonsense! sweetheart,” said Walter with a laugh not all together -spontaneous. - -“They are a merry, gentle folk, gay and good-natured; the Southern people -would have no other nurses for their babies. I thought New England people -had long since ceased to notice the color of mankind’s skin.” - -“But, Walter, how horrid they are! We see so few of them in New England -that they don’t seem like these. How dreadfully black and brutal they -are. Let us go inside, I really am afraid!” cried Lucy in a low voice -and started to retreat. - -At that moment a tall and very black woman who held a baby at her breast, -negro-like, carried away by thoughtless good nature and admiration for -the lovely stranger, raised her ink-colored picaninny, and in motherly -pride thrust it forward until its little wooly black head almost touched -Lucy’s bosom. - -With one glance of loathing, terror and unconcealed horror at the object -resting nearly on her breast, Lucy gave a scream of fear and fled. -Throwing herself on one of the settees in the car she buried her face -among the cushions and wept solely from fright and nervousness. - -“Why! sweetheart, what is the matter? There is nothing to fear. Those -poor people were only admiring you, my darling,” cried Burton hurrying to -his young wife’s side and seeking to quiet her fears. - -“I can’t help it, Walter, all those black faces crowded together near to -me was awful, and that dreadful little black thing almost touched me,” -sobbed Lucy nervously. - -“Darling, the dreadful little black thing was only a harmless baby,” -replied the husband soothingly. - -“Baby!” cried the astonished young woman, lifting her head from the -cushions and regarding her companion through her undried tears with -doubt, as if suspecting him of joking. “I thought it was an ape or some -hideous little imp! Baby!” and seeing that there was no joke about what -her husband said, she added: - -“I didn’t know negroes looked like that when babies. I would not touch -that loathsome, horrid thing for worlds. It made my flesh fairly quiver -to see it even near me.” - -Walter Burton succeeded in allaying the alarm of his wife only after the -train had resumed its rapid journey southward. When Lucy, lulled to sleep -by the low music of the guitar which he played to distract her attention -from the unpleasant recollection, no longer demanded his presence, Burton -sought the smoking-room of the car and passed an hour in solemn, profound -meditation, as he puffed continuously fragrant Havanas. - -“I was wrong! She did not know. Now she never shall if I can prevent -it.” Such were the words of Lucy’s husband when throwing away his cigar -he arose to rejoin his young wife. - - * * * * * - -Many hundred miles from flowery Florida across a watery way, a ship was -wildly tossing upon an angry, sullen sea. For three days and nights with -ceaseless toil, in constant danger, the weary crew had battled with -howling winds and tempestuous waves. - -A storm of awe-inspiring fury had burst upon the good ship “Adams,” of -Boston, bound for Melbourne, on the night of December the nineteenth in -that good year of our Lord. - -The superb seamanship of the skipper, combined with the prompt alacrity -of the willing crew, alone saved the ship from adding her broken frame to -that countless multitude which rest beneath the waves. - -The wind was still blowing a gale, but there was perceptibly less force -in it, as shrieking it tore through the rigging and against the almost -bare masts, than there had been in three days. - -Two men stood in the cabin, enveloped in oil-skins, with rubber boots -reaching above their knees. Their eyes were red from wind and watching, -while they answered the heave of the ship wearily as if worn out with the -excessive labor of the last seventy-two hours. The men were the two mates -of the “Adams.” The captain had sent them below for a glass of grog and a -biscuit. There had been no fire in the galley for the three days that the -storm had beaten upon the ship. - -“The skipper must be made of iron,” said the shorter man, Morgan, the -second officer. - -“He has hardly left the deck a minute since the squall struck us, and he -is as quick and strong as a shark,” he continued, munching on the biscuit -and balancing himself carefully as he raised his glass of grog. - -“Every inch a sailor is the skipper,” growled the larger man hoarsely. - -“Sailed with Captain Dunlap in the ‘Lucy,’ and no better master ever trod -a quarter-deck,” added Mr. Brice, the first officer of the “Adams.” - -“He surely knows his business and handles the ship with the ease a -Chinaman does his chopsticks, but he’s the surliest, most silent skipper -I ever sailed with. You told us, Mr. Brice, when you came aboard that he -was the jolliest; was he like this when you were with him on the ‘Lucy’?” -said the second mate inquiringly. - -“No, he wasn’t!” mumbled old Brice in answer. - -“Somethin’ went wrong with him ashore,” adding angrily as he turned and -glared at his young companion: - -“But ’tis none of your blamed business or mine neither what’s up with the -skipper; you didn’t ship for society, did you?” - -“That’s right enough, Mr. Brice, but I tell you what ’tis, the men think -the captain a little out of trim in the sky-sail. They say he walks about -ship at night like a ghost and does queer things. Second day of the -storm, the twentieth, in the evening, while it was blowing great guns and -ship pitching like she’d stick her nose under forever, I was standin’ by -to help Collins at the wheel; we see the skipper come staggering along -aft balancing himself careful as a rope walker an a holdin’ a glass of -wine in his hand. When he gets to the rail at the stern he holds up high -the glass and talks to wind, Davy Jones or somethin’, drinks the wine and -hurls the glass to hell and gone into the sea. How’s that, mate? Collins -looks at me and shakes his head, and I feels creepy myself.” - -For a minute Brice, with red and angry eyes, stared at the second mate, -then he burst out in a roar: - -“I’ll knock the head off ’er Collins, and marlin spike the rest ’er the -bloomin’ sea lawyers in the for’castle if I catch them talkin’ erbout the -skipper, and I tell you, Mr. Second Mate, you keep your mouth well shut -or you’ll get such ’er keel haulin’ you won’t fergit. Captain Dunlap is -no man to projec’k with and he’s mighty rough in er shindy.” - -With that closing admonition the first officer turned and climbed the -reeling stairs that led to the deck. As he emerged from the companion-way -a great wave struck the side of ship heeling her over and hurling the -mate against the man who had formed the topic of discussion in the cabin -below. - -The skipper was wet to the skin; he had thrown aside his oil-skins to -enable him to move more nimbly, his face was worn, drawn and almost of -leaden hue. Deep lines and the dark circles around his eyes told a story -of loss of sleep, fatigue and anxiety. How much of this was due to an -aching pain in the heart only Him to whom all things are revealed could -know. - -Morgan’s story was true. He had described when, how and under what -conditions Jack had pledged Lucy in a glass of wine on her wedding day, -praying God to send blessings and happiness to his lost love. - -Sing sweet mocking birds! Shine genial sun! Bloom fairest flowers of -Sunny Florida! Bliss be thine, loved Lucy! Dream not of the ocean’s angry -roar! The tempest’s cruel blast! - - - - -VII. - - -“I really can hardly realize, grandfather, that I have been married one -year and that today is the anniversary of my wedding,” exclaimed Mrs. -Walter Burton to her grandfather, as lingering over a late breakfast, -they chatted in a desultory manner on many subjects. - -The breakfast-room of the Dunlap mansion was one of the prettiest -apartments in the house; bright and airy, with great windows reaching -from ceiling to floor, which flooded the place with sunshine and -cheerfulness this brilliant snowy New England morning. - -Surely it had been difficult to find anything prettier than the young -matron who presided over the sparkling service with the grace of the -school-girl still visible notwithstanding the recently assumed dignity of -wife. - -Lucy Burton’s face and form possessed that rare quality of seeming -always displayed to best advantage in the last costume she wore. Nothing -could be more becoming than the lace-trimmed breakfast gown of a clinging -silky, pink fabric worn by her this morning. - -The tete-a-tete between grandfather and granddaughter each morning over -the breakfast-table was an established and, to both, a cherished custom -that had grown up since Lucy’s marriage. - -Mr. James Dunlap carried his seventy-three years as lightly as many men -of less rugged constitutions carry fifty. His was a fresh, healthy, -kindly old face, the white hair resting like the snow on some Alpine peak -served but to heighten the charm of those goodly features below. - -“A year to young people means very little, I judge, daughter, but we old -folk regard it differently. You have been away from me during the last -year so much that old man as I am, the time has dragged,” the grandfather -replied laying aside his morning paper and adjusting his glasses that he -might see better the pretty face across the table. - -“Now, that I look at you, my dear, apparently you have not aged to any -alarming extent since you have become a matron,” jocosely added the old -gentleman, his eyes beaming lovingly on his granddaughter. - -“I may not show it, still I have my troubles.” Lucy’s attempt to wrinkle -her smooth brow and draw down the corners of her sweet mouth while she -tried to muster up a sigh was so ridiculous that her companion began to -laugh. - -“Don’t laugh at me, grandfather; it’s unkind,” cried Lucy, with the -childish manner that still crept out when alone with him who had been -both father and mother to her. - -“Very well, deary, I shall not laugh. Tell me of those dire troubles that -afflict you,” rejoined her still smiling grandfather. - -“Well! now there is Walter, obliged to run away so early to that horrid -old office that I never see him at the breakfast-table,” began the young -creature with pretty pettishness. - -“Sad! indeed sad!” said Mr. Dunlap in affected sorrow. “A gay young -couple attend some social function or the theatre nightly and are up -late; the unfortunate young husband is obliged to be at his office at ten -o’clock in the morning to save an old man of seventy odd from routine -labor; the young wife who is fond of a morning nap must breakfast alone, -save the companionship of an old fogy of a grandfather; ’tis the saddest -situation I ever heard of.” - -The laughter in the old gentleman’s throat gurgled like good wine poured -for welcome guest as Lucy puckered up her lips at him. - -“Then that hateful old ‘Eyrie.’ When we were married and you insisted -that we should live here with you, which, of course, I expected to do, I -thought Walter would sell or lease that lonely bachelor den of his, but -he has done no such thing; says he keeps up the establishment for the -sake of the conservatory, which is the finest in the State,” proceeded -the wife ruefully recounting her alleged woes. - -“Walter speaks truly concerning the conservatory at the ‘Eyrie.’ Mr. -Foster Agnew, who is authority on the subject, says that he has never -seen a finer collection of rare and beautiful plants and flowers in any -private conservatory in this country,” replied Mr. Dunlap in defense of -Burton’s action in maintaining his former home. - -“Yes, but there is no reason for Walter’s running up there at all hours -of the night, and sometimes even staying there all night, telling me -that he is anxious about the temperature; that Leopold may fall asleep -or neglect something. I hate that miserable conservatory,” rejoined Lucy -with flushed face and flashing eyes. - -“Oh! Pshaw! you exacting little witch! You are fearfully neglected by -reason of the ‘Eyrie’s’ conservatory, are you? Now, let me see. You were -in Florida and California two months of the last year, and in Europe four -more, leaving just six months that you have spent in Boston since your -marriage. I suppose Walter has spent a half dozen nights at the ‘Eyrie.’ -Great tribulation and trial,” rejoined the amused grandfather. - -“Well, but Walter knows I don’t like his going there at night. Something -might happen to him,” persisted Lucy, woman-like seizing any argument to -gain her point. - -[Illustration: “Lucy passed her soft, white arm around her grandfather’s -neck.” - -Page 108] - -“As Princess Lucy does not like it, she thinks that should be a -sufficient reason for the visits to the ‘Eyrie’ at night to cease. Being -accustomed to that humble and abject obedience rendered to her slightest -wish by the old slaves John and James, and the young slave, Jack Dunlap. -Is that it, Princess?” said the old gentleman making a mocking salaam to -‘Her Highness’ as he sometimes called his pretty _vis-a-vis_. - -“Stop making fun of me, grandfather; I think you are really unkind. I -never made slaves of you and Uncle John and good old Jack. Did I now?” - -Lucy Burton surely was a beauty. Small wonder that the Dunlap men, old -and young, loved her long before Walter Burton came to win her. She -looked so pretty as she asked the last question that her grandfather held -out his hands and said: - -“Come here, my dear, and kiss me. I forgive you if you have been an -exacting ruler.” When Lucy settled herself on the arm of his chair as -some graceful bird of gay plumage perches itself on a twig, the fine old -face was filled with tenderness and love as he kissed her. - -Lucy passed her soft white arm around her grandfather’s neck, and -resting her dimpled cheek on his snowy head, she said seriously: - -“That is not all of my reason for disliking the ‘Eyrie.’ You know, -grandfather, I should not discuss my husband with any one other than -yourself, so this is a secret; I have noticed that whenever Walter -makes an all-night visit to the ‘Eyrie’ that the trip is preceded by an -outburst of unusual hilarity on his part; in fact, on such occasions I am -almost annoyed by something nearly undignified in Walter’s demeanor; he -seems as thoughtless as a child, says and does things that are ridiculous -and silly.” - -“Tut, tut, child, you have a very vivid imagination, and are so anxious -for everyone to regard your husband with the exaggerated admiration that -you have for him, that you are allowing yourself to become hypercritic, -my pet,” rejoined Mr. Dunlap reassuringly. - -“No, grandfather, you are mistaken. I not alone notice something -peculiar about Walter’s periodical outbursts of unseemly mirth; I see -others regard with surprise this departure from his customary reposeful -dignity,” insisted the young wife earnestly with a note of indignation -in her voice when speaking of others observing any thing strange in the -conduct of her husband. - -“Oh! nonsense, Lucy, all young men occasionally cast aside dignity. -In the fullness of youth and vigor they become now and again fairly -exuberant with happiness and forget all about the conventionalities of -society. I have seen nothing about Walter in that particular different -from other young men. Don’t make yourself wretched over nothing, little -girl.” - -“Possibly I observe my husband with more attention than anyone else, even -than you, grandfather, for I certainly perceive a great differentiation -between Walter’s spasmodic mirth and similar exhibitions by other men. -Walter seems different in many ways that mystify me. On every occasion -that he remains all night at the ‘Eyrie,’ after a display of this -extraordinary and boyish merriment, he returns home the next day with -broad dark circles around his eyes, and is in a most depressed state of -spirits,” said the young wife, with real anxiety revealed in the tone of -her voice. - -“Well, really, daughter, if you are anxious concerning what you say, I -shall observe Walter more closely. He may be over exerting himself by -the late hours that he keeps in your company, and the detail work that -he has taken off my hands. However, just as a venture, I will wager a -box of gloves against a kiss, deary, that Walter does not appear in the -condition you have described this evening, notwithstanding that he passed -last night at the ‘Eyrie’ and was markedly mirthful during last evening,” -said Lucy’s grandfather, passing his arm around her slim waist and -drawing his anxious girl to his heart. - -“I am glad you mentioned last evening, for I wish to speak of something -I noticed during the serving of dinner and afterward. Who was that old -gentleman whom you introduced as Professor Charlton?” said the young -woman interrogatively. - -“Oh, that is my old friend and fellow classmate when we were at Harvard. -He is a Georgian and is Dean of the Georgia University and one of the -most learned ethnologists in the world. He is here to consult with -Professor Wright of Harvard concerning a forthcoming book on which -Charlton has been engaged for years. Now, that I have answered fully, why -were you curious about that old book-worm and chum of mine, my pretty -inquisitor?” - -“Simply because he seemed perfectly fascinated by my husband. He appeared -unable to remove his gaze from him even when addressed by you or any one -else. He would peer at him over his glasses, then raise his head and -inspect Walter through them just as botanists do when they come upon some -rare plant.” - -“By Jove! What next will that brown head of yours conjure up to worry -over? Are you jealous of old Charlton’s admiring glances? If he were -a pretty woman I might understand, but old Cobb Charlton. Well! I am -prepared for anything, my pet, so go ahead. What about those glances -seen by your watchful eyes?” said her grandfather, chuckling over some -farcical suggestion in connection with old Professor Thos. Cobb Charlton. - -“Yes, but they were not admiring glances, and I didn’t say so. They -were studious, scrutinizing, investigating, and I thought, insulting,” -indignantly replied Lucy. - -“Ah! Now we are called upon to criticise the quality and kind of glance -with which an old student may regard a gay young fellow who is rattling -gleefully through a somewhat tedious dinner,” said Mr. Dunlap in an -amused manner. - -“You may laugh at me, grandfather, as much as you please, but Walter was -made so nervous and uncomfortable by that old fellow’s disconcerting -scrutiny that he acted almost silly. I have never seen him quite so -ridiculously merry. That old Professor squinted even at Walter’s hands, -as if he wished for a microscope to examine them, and after dinner while -Walter was singing he edged up near the piano and peered down Walter’s -throat, listening intently as if to catch some peculiar note for which -he was waiting, all the time with his old head on one side like an ugly -owl,” said the exasperated young woman. - -Lucy’s description of his old college friend and her manner of setting -forth his idiosyncracies was too much for James Dunlap’s risibility. -He threw back his head and incontinently laughed in his granddaughter’s -pretty flushed face. - -“Oh! my, Oh! my! How old Cobb would enjoy this! My dearest, old Cobb -Charlton is the jolliest, most amiable fellow on earth. He would not -wound the sensibilities of a street-dog, and is one of the best bred -gentlemen alive. Oh! my, Lucy! You’ll be the death of me yet with your -whimsical notions,” cried the fine old fellow leaning back in his chair, -shaking with laughter. - -“Well, I don’t care; it is just as I said, for finally, he seemed to -discover something about Walter for which he had been seeking. I saw a -self-satisfied smile steal over his face as he nodded his bushy white -head. Then he stared at you as if amazed, and then, if I be not blind -and I don’t think that I am, he had the impertinence to look at me with, -actually, pity in his big, staring black eyes,” retorted Lucy angrily as -she recalled the events of the previous evening. - -“Imagination, pure and simple!” exclaimed Mr. Dunlap, continuing to -laugh, enjoying hugely Lucy’s anger. - -“Charlton was possibly thinking about something connected with his -favorite science and probably did not even see us while apparently he was -casting about those peculiar glances that you depict so vividly.” - -“Even so, I think it ill-bred and unkind in him to make my husband the -subject of a study in ethnology.” - -“Ah!” gasped her grandfather, as though a sudden pain had struck his -heart. Some new idea had flashed upon his brain, the laughter vanished -from lips and the color from his face. He straightened up in his chair -while a look of anxiety replaced the merriment that had sparkled in his -eyes. - -“Why, what is the matter, grandfather?” cried Lucy in undisguised alarm -at the change in his countenance. - -“Nothing, my darling, it will pass away. Please hand me a glass of -water,” the old man answered. - -Lucy hastened to fill a glass with water and while she was so engaged -Mr. Dunlap struggled to master some emotion that had caused the sudden -departure of all his jocoseness of the moment before she said that her -husband had been made a subject of a study in ethnology. - -“I am better now, thank you, dear; it was just a little twinge of pain -that caught me unaware of its approach,” said the old gentleman forcing a -smile to his pale lips. - -“And now let us talk about your Cousin Jack, and leave alone the vagaries -of a moth-eaten old scholar whom you will probably never see again,” he -continued, as if eager to banish some disagreeable thought from his mind. - -“Oh, yes! Do tell me some news of dear old Jack. His very name seems to -bring the purity, freshness and freedom of the sea into this hot-house -life one leads in society. Where is he and how is he?” cried Lucy -enthusiastically at mention of the name of her sailor cousin. - -“You recall, do you not, the brief mention that he made in the first -letter that we received after he sailed of a fearful storm encountered by -his ship when not less than a month out from Boston, and that his ship -(so he wrote) had been fortunate enough to rescue some people from a -foundered and sinking vessel during the gale?” asked Mr. Dunlap regaining -gradually his composure as his mind dwelt upon a subject pleasant to -contemplate. - -“Yes, surely, I remember, grandfather, because the storm, I recall, was -at its height on my wedding day and I wondered at the time if in all that -fearful danger Jack even thought of me.” - -“Well, then! to begin with I must let you into a state secret. Your good -Uncle John the day before Jack sailed insisted that he should carry old -Brice, who had been long in our service, as one of his mates. John’s -object was this: knowing Jack’s pride and obstinacy, he feared that he -might need help and not apply to us for it, so he sent for Brice and -bribed him to stick by our young kinsman and keep us informed concerning -his welfare. We have had only glowing accounts of Jack’s success as a -ship-owner from Brice. Yesterday there came a letter and a copy of a -London paper from him that filled my heart with pride and pleasure, and I -know will overjoy your uncle. - -“Do hurry, grandfather. I can’t wait long to hear fine things about my -good, faithful old Jack,” exclaimed Lucy impatiently, as she resumed her -place on the arm of the old man’s chair. - -“This is what the report in the London newspaper states, and is what -neither Jack nor Brice wrote home. The ship that foundered was filled -with emigrants from Ireland bound for Australia. The fourth day of -the storm she was sighted by the ‘Adams.’ While the wind had subsided -somewhat the waves were still rolling mountain high. When Jack called -for volunteers to man the boats the crew hung in the wind, until Jack, -noticing the women and children on the deck of the sinking ship, called -to Brice to come with him, and pushing aside the reluctant crew made -ready to spring into a boat which had been lowered. Then the shamed crew -rushed over the side and insisted that the captain allow them to make -the attempt to rescue the people from the wrecked vessel. With the last -boat-load of the emigrants that came safely on board of the ‘Adams’ was -a little girl who, weeping bitterly, cried that her sick mother had been -left behind. The sailors and Mr. Morgan, the second mate of the ‘Adams,’ -said that the child’s mother was nearly dead, lying in a bunk in the -sick-bay, and that she had smallpox and no one dared lift and carry her -to the boat.” - -“What an awful position! What did Jack say?” cried Lucy, breaking the -thread of her grandfather’s narrative. - -“Jack did not say much, but he did that that makes me proud to call him -my kinsman, a Dunlap and a Yankee sailor. He whispered to the child -not to cry any more, that she should have her mother brought to her. -Then he leaped into the boat and was shoving off to make the trip alone -to the wreck when old Brice tumbled over the ship’s side and took his -place at an oar. Jack brought the woman in his arms from the sick-bay -and laid her in the boat, regaining his own ship, he made the smallpox -patient comfortable in his own cabin, nursed her himself and saved her -life,” said Mr. Dunlap exultantly, relating the report of the rescue as -published in the English journal. - -“Hurrah! for our noble Jack!” cried Lucy, springing up and waving about -her head a napkin that lay upon the table. - -“But hear the end, daughter, in recognition of the humanity of the -generous deed, the Royal Humane Society of England has presented both -Jack and Brice with medals, and as an extraordinary mark of distinction, -the King of England has, with his own hand, written a letter to our -Jack, congratulating him upon the performance of a noble, unselfish and -courageous act,” added the grandfather. - -“Three times three! for brave Jack Dunlap! Hurrah, for the blood of a -good old Yankee race that tells its story in noble deeds,” and waving -the improvised banner above her fair head she bent down and kissed the -glowing cheek of the proud old man. - -“Run along now, dear, and dress. You may take me for a sleigh-ride behind -your fast ponies before I go down to the office.” - -As Lucy went upstairs, there came floating back to her grandfather’s ears -her fresh, musical voice singing: - - It’s a Yankee ship, - It’s a Yankee crew, - That’s first on waters blue. - - - - -VIII. - - -Early in the morning after Mr. Dunlap’s dinner-party in honor of -Professor Charlton, when the newly risen sun had made a dazzling field -of glittering diamonds of the snow that lay white and spotless about the -‘Eyrie,’ Walter Burton threw up the sash of one of the long, low windows -in his sitting-room and stepped out on the balcony. - -With a sigh of relief he drank in deep draughts of the fresh, crisp air, -and exclaimed as he shaded his eyes: - -“What a blessing is fresh air and sunlight after the closeness of the -house and gas-light.” - -The man’s face was haggard and drawn like one who has passed a night of -vigil and suffering. His eyes were surrounded by bands of black that gave -to them a hollow appearance. - -“How utterly idiotic and inexplicable seems my mood and conduct of last -night out here in the sunshine, now that I am my natural self once more.” - -Burton walked down from the balcony on the crackling snow that lay dry -and sparkling on the lawn in front of the house. After a few moments -spent in the exercise of pacing about and swinging his arms, he returned -to his sitting-room refreshed and apparently restored to his usual -condition of mind. - -All around the room that he entered were scattered promiscuously, musical -instruments, books, cushions, flowers and fragments of a late supper, -all in that confusion that could not fail to impress the beholder with -the idea that the room had been recently the scene of reckless orgies. -Pillows heaped upon a sofa still bore the imprint of some one’s head, and -was evidently the couch from which the young man had risen when he went -forth into God’s bright sunlight. - -With supreme disgust depicted on his aesthetic countenance, Walter Burton -gazed at the evidence of his nocturnal revel while in that state of mind -he had named idiotic. - -“These sporadic spells of silliness which come over my spirit are -as revolting to me, when relieved from their influences, as is -incomprehensible the cause of their coming,” muttered Burton, kicking -aside the various articles that littered the floor. - -“What earthly reason could there be for the peculiar effect produced -upon me by the scrutiny of that old professor from the South? There -exists nothing natural to account for the strange sensation caused by the -penetrating gaze of that old Southerner. - -“The cause must be sought in the sphere of the supernatural, a province -wherein reason, education and culture protest against my wandering.” -Pausing the young man strove to recall the scenes and sensations of the -previous night, but in vain. - -“It is useless for me to struggle to bring back the vanished state of -feeling that possessed me last evening. It refuses to pass before the -spectrum of my mind. - -“It is ever thus while the normal condition of my mental faculties -exists. I always fail to catch the fleeting shadow of that distorting -spectre that haunts my spirit with its degrading, masterful influence. - -“Could I but hold that sensation that steals upon me, while my mental -powers are yet unimpaired by its presence, I might make a diagnosis of -the disease, analyze the cause and produce the remedy, but my attempts -are always futile. I fail to reproduce the feeling that was all-pervading -a few short hours before the current of my mind returned to its -accustomed channel.” - -The helplessness and baffled look upon the man’s face as he ended this -self-communion was piteous. Throwing himself into a chair and covering -his face with his hands, he cried almost with a moan: - -“To what depth of degradation, brutality and crime may I not be -carried while actuated by a power foreign and antagonistic to all that -Christianity, morality and education have imparted to me?” - -“My God! How I had hoped that time and marriage would cause a diminution -in the power of these strange spells and the frequency of their visits, -until, at last, I might be freed from a thralldom repugnant to all my -better self.” - -“Vain that hoped for release! Rather do the mysterious visitations -increase in frequency, and alas! also in power.” - -“Like insidious waves that sap and undermine the foundation of some -massive granite cliff, the delusive tide recedes but to return, each -succeeding visit adding to the inroad already made. Though small may be -the gain, they never once relax their firm grip upon the headway won -before, until the toppling mass comes crashing from its majestic height, -vanquished by and victim of unremitting insidiousness.” - -“So I find with each recurrence of the tide of the strange spell that -submerges me. That granite cliff of Christianity whereon I builded -my castle of morality, that bastion of education, those redoubts of -refinement, culture, aesthetics, deemed by me as creating an impregnable -fortress wherein by the aid of civilization I should find secure shelter, -are trembling and toppling, undermined by the waves of that inexplicable, -relentless influence.” - -“Each attack finds me weaker to resist, each advance carries me further -from my fortress; I feel my defense falling; I am drawing nearer to the -brink; shall I fall? Shall I go crashing down, dragged from my high -estate by some fiendish tendency as inexorable as it is degrading?” - -“As yet I am enabled to resist beyond the point of insensate silliness -and folly, but each returning shock is accompanied by ever stronger -suggestion of immorality, brutality and crime. Shall I be strong enough -always to repulse this tireless current of assault? Shall I finally -succumb and fall to the level of the barbarian and the beast? Soul -harrowing thought!” - -“The insane or drink frenzied man is unconscious of his acts, but such -is not my miserable fate, while held in bondage by that unknown power I -appreciate the absurdity of my every act. I still am I, but powerless to -control myself, I catch the look of wonder that fills the eyes of others. -I feel the shame, but am powerless to remove the cause.” - -“And, oh! the horror of seeing and recognizing a look of rebuke and -repulsion in the eyes of those I love and those who love me. To see the -smile of pride vanish and the blush of mortification succeed it on the -face of that being of all the world to me the dearest and fairest.” - -“Last night in my dear Lucy’s eyes I read reproof, rebuke, and on her -cheeks I saw the red flag of shame. Cognizant of the cause, I, like a -leaf upon the current of some mighty cataract, helpless, rushed along -in humiliation and self-disgust. I beat against the stream with all -my remaining strength of mind; I struggled to regain the shore of my -accustomed dignity, but all in vain.” - -“I was carried on and on, until plunging over the brink of the fall -I struck the bottom where lie those self-respect destroying rocks -of disgrace. In ignominy I fled and sought refuge here; ceasing my -unavailing efforts to break the chain that held me I gave free rein to -the influences that governed my mood.” - -“Wild and ribald songs burst from my lips, hilarious and lascivious -music poured from the instruments that I touched, movements, rythmic -but novel, fantastic, barbarous, jerked my limbs about in the measure of -some savage dance. I ate and drank more as an untutored tribesman of the -jungle than a civilized citizen of our cultured country.” - -“All unrestrained and unopposed that mystifying mood bore me on -recklessly, abandoned, until it swept me to the very verge of wickedness -and sin. On the extremist edge of that precipice, below which lies the -gulf of infamy, I found strength to grasp and hold the feeble tendrils of -that higher estate that still clung around me; in every fiber of my being -there surged Satanic suggestions to relinquish my hold upon the fragile -stay to which I desperately clung, and take the plunge into that dark -gulf below.” - -“Go where base associates await you! Where lewdness, lasciviousness, -brutality, beastliness and licensed libidinousness lead to savage satiety -that ends in blood. These were the suggestive words whispered to me by -that fiendish spirit of these strange spells. They vibrated through every -nerve and vein of my racked and straining being.” - -“Thank God! I still had power of soul sufficient to resist, but Lord! how -long shall I be enabled to avert that which is seemingly my doom?” - -Burton arose and for several minutes walked about the apartment with -agitated, nervous tread. Passing before a long mirror that stood between -the windows, he stopped suddenly before it, gazed intently at his image -reflected there, and cried out: - -“The reflection there tells me that I appear to be as other men around -me. In stature and features I seem not essentially at variance with the -average man I meet, perhaps I am even more comely. What then is it that -caused me to fall shamefaced, embarrassed and simpering like a silly -school boy, before the scrutiny of that old scholar last night?” - -“I hold the Christian faith; I possess more than the ordinary degree of -education common in this country; I have acquired proficiency in many -accomplishments; I bear the impress of the culture and refinement of this -most enlightened century, and yet! and yet!” - -“The searching, piercing glance of that old scientist seemed to penetrate -some concealing veil and tearing it aside revealed me in my very -nakedness; I seemed to stand forth an exposed impostor; I felt myself a -self-confessed charlatan, caught in the very act of masquerading in the -stolen trappings of my superiors; I became the buffoon in borrowed gown -and cap of the philosopher, an object of ridicule and wrath.” - -“Before those deep seeing eyes I was no longer self-assured; convicted -of mimicking manners foreign to myself, I seemed to cast aside the -unavailing, purloined mask and mummery and thus reveal myself a fraud. -Seeking safety from the scorn and just resentment of the defrauded I took -refuge in pitiful imbecility and silliness.” - -“Once before the same experience was mine. In Paris, at the American -Ambassador’s reception I met the Liberian minister. As soon as the -gigantic black man fastened his gaze upon me, I became disconcerted. When -we clasped hands all the feeling of superiority that education gives -departed from me, all the refined sentiments created by culture vanished, -I could only simper and chuckle like a child over senseless jokes as did -the negro giant beside me.” - -“On that occasion, fearing to shock and disgust my bride, I stole like -a thief from her side and feigning sudden illness begged a friend to -take my place as escort of my wife, while as one bereft of reason I -raced along the boulevards and buried myself beneath the dark shade of -the trees in the Bois de Boulogne, where, capering and shouting madly I -danced until, exhausted, I fell to the ground.” - -As Burton stood regarding his image reflected in the mirror, he became -suddenly aware of how wan and worn was the face before him and turning -wearily away he exclaimed, - -“I must throw aside these wretched recollections and forebodings. I look -absolutely ill. I shall be in no condition to appear either at the office -or at my home unless I succeed in obliterating some of the evidences of -my suffering last night.” - -When, by a mighty effort, he had acquired sufficient control of his -nerves and voice as not to attract the attention of his valet, he rang -the bell. - -“Victor, prepare my bath, lay out some linen and a proper suit of -clothing. Order my breakfast served as soon as I ring, open the windows -and let fresh air into the room when I leave it,” said Burton to his -attendant, when the valet appeared in answer to his master’s summons. - -A refreshing bath, a liberal indulgence in strong, black coffee, assisted -by the will power of the man enabled Burton to enter the office of “J. -Dunlap” almost entirely restored to his customary appearance. - -The Manager had just finished examining the reports submitted by the -heads of the various departments of the great Shipping and Banking house -when the door of his office opened and the Superintendent entered. - -David Chapman looked even more hawk-like, hungry and eager than when he -had stood one year before in the same place. - -“Beg pardon, Mr. Burton, but I thought you might wish to be informed of -the fact that under instructions from Mr. Dunlap, I am forwarding by -the steamer that leaves today for Hong Kong, a package and some letters -that Mr. Dunlap gave me to send to Captain Jack Dunlap. The package -contains, I believe, a testimonial of Mr. Dunlap’s admiration for the -noble conduct of his kinsman in connection with the rescue from the wreck -of that emigrant ship. As I am availing myself of the opportunity to -communicate my own opinion concerning Captain Jack’s action, I thought -it not improbable that you would wish to send some message,” said the -Superintendent, peering stealthily at Burton as he spoke. - -“I thank you, Chapman, most heartily for letting me know this,” cried -Burton warmly. - -“How much time may I have to prepare a letter and package to accompany -yours and Mr. Dunlap’s?” - -“Mr. Dunlap told me to hold the package until he arrived at the office -as it was likely that his granddaughter would wish to place some -communication for her cousin with his.” - -“And I am sure she will! My wife’s admiration for her cousin Jack -is unbounded. I will hasten to prepare my contribution to the -congratulations sent to Captain Jack. He is a magnificent man and I am -proud to be connected in any way with such a noble character.” - -“You are right, sir. Jack Dunlap is a brave, true man and comes of a -brave, true race. His actions prove that blood will tell,” rejoined -Chapman with more enthusiasm than it seemed possible for one of his -disposition to exhibit. - -“Oh! Pshaw! Nonsense! I give Jack greater credit for his courage and -faithfulness than you do when you announce the absurd doctrine that men -inherit such qualities. I give him alone credit for what he is, not -his race or blood. Blood may be well enough in hounds and horses, but -education and culture make the man not the blood in his veins,” exclaimed -Burton impatiently. - -“The same reason that exists for the superiority of the well-bred horse -or dog, causes the man of a good race to be the superior of the man of -an inferior race,” said Chapman meaningly, with an almost imperceptible -sneer in the tone of his voice. - -“That argument might hold good provided that men like horses carried -jockeys to furnish the intelligence or like hounds had huntsmen to guide -them,” replied the Manager with more heat than seemed justified. - -“Give a mule the most astute jockey on earth and he is no match for the -thorough-bred horse. Give the mongrel cur the craftiest huntsman, he -can neither find nor hold as the hound of pure blood. Give the man of -inferior race every advantage that education and culture can furnish, he -still remains inferior to the man of the purer, better race and blood. -The superiority of the latter lies in the inherent qualities of his -race,” replied Chapman, while a sinister smile distorted his thin scarlet -lips, and a baleful light flashed from his black eyes. For a moment he -waited to see the effect of his last speech, then turned and glided from -the Manager’s office. - - - - -IX. - - -Arabella Chapman was the neatest of housekeepers. The sitting room of -the home of David Chapman was a pattern of tidiness and cleanliness, -the furniture was rubbed and polished until it shone like glass, every -picture, rug and curtain was as speckless as newly fallen snow. - -Miss Arabella seemed especially created to form the central figure of her -surroundings, as seated on a low rocking chair, she plied a neat little -needle on some nice little article of lace-work. - -No tiny, tidy wren was ever brighter and more chipper in its shining -little brass cage than was Miss Arabella, as, bird-like, she peeped at -her brother, when he drew the cover from the violoncello which stood in -one corner of the room. - -“I am glad to see that you intend passing the evening at home, David,” -piped up the ancient maiden. - -“It has really been so long since we had any music that I am delighted -to see you uncover your violoncello,” continued the twin sister of David -Chapman. - -“Well, Arabella, the fact is that in my many excursions during the last -year I have collected such a quantity of food for thought, that, like a -well filled camel I feel it necessary to pause and chew the cud awhile,” -replied David arranging some sheets of music on a stand and passing his -hand lovingly over the chords of the instrument that he held. - -“I must admit that I should prefer to remain hungry mentally forever if -to procure food for thought it were necessary to don the apparel of a -tramp, and prowl around at all hours of the night, seeking, doubtless, -in the vilest dens, among the lowest vagabonds for mental sustenance,” -chirped Arabella sharply, prodding her needlework spitefully. - -“Perhaps, my good sister, you will never quite understand that some -men are born investigators. By nature they are led to investigate any -phenomenon that presents itself.” - -“Then I insist that it is a most unfortunate thing for one so born,” -pecked Miss Arabella with the sharpness of a quarrelsome English sparrow. - -“It causes one to make a Paul Pry of himself and wander about in a very -questionable manner at unseemly hours, to the injury of both health and -reputation. When one of your age, David, is so endowed by nature it is a -positive misfortune.” - -Chapman appeared greatly amused by the irritated manner of his sister, -for he smiled in that ghastly way of his as he leaned back in his chair, -still with his violoncello resting between his legs, and said, - -“You see, Arabella, there may be a great difference in the way we regard -the affairs of life. Doubtless scientific researches may not afford -much pleasure to a spinster of your age, but such researches are very -attractive to me.” - -“All I can add to the opinion already expressed is that when your -so-called scientific researches not alone lead you to assume the -character of an outcast, and cause you to wander about at night like -a homeless cat, but also induce you to make our home a receptacle for -all the stray, vulgar, dirty negroes that happen to come to Boston, I -must certainly protest against indulgence in such researches by you,” -retorted the elderly maiden severely, as she cast her glances about her -immaculately clean apartment, and remembered some disagreeable event of -the last few months. - -David was highly amused by this speech, for he gave utterance to a -cackling kind of laugh and exclaimed, - -“Arabella, you’ll never get to heaven if the road be muddy. You will be -fearful of getting your skirts soiled. I shall be right sorry for your -soul if the path to the other place be clean. I fear in that event that -nothing could hold you back from going straight to Hades.” - -“Don’t be ridiculous, David. You know full well that I am no more -particular about tidiness than every other decent woman.” - -What monomaniac on the subject of cleanliness ever thought otherwise? - -“I insist,” continued Miss Arabella indignantly, “that when one indulges -a fad to the extent of disarranging an entire household, under the -pretense that it is part of a scientific research, it is time to protest -against such proceedings.” - -“Oh, I don’t imagine that the entire household has seriously suffered by -my investigations in the field of ethnology,” replied the brother still -enjoying his sister’s perturbation of mind as she recalled some recent -experiences. - -“It may be highly amusing to you, David. I hope that you enjoy the joke, -but it has been anything but amusing to me and to Bridget, having to -clean, rub and air every article of furniture in the house two or three -times each week, and it is no laughing matter to freeze while the cold -wind blows the disgusting odors left by your guest out of the rooms. -Bridget has notified me that she will leave if you continue to make a -hostelry for dirty darkies out of the house,” said the sister fairly -shivering at the remembrance of the condition in which she had found her -spotless premises after a visit of some of her brother’s newly found -associates. - -“I don’t think that I am the only member of this family that has a hobby, -Arabella,” replied Chapman grinning at the flushed little lady. - -“I am unaware of what you refer to, David. I certainly have no such -uncomfortable idiosyncrasy as a hard ridden hobby.” - -“Don’t you think even cleanliness may become a most pestiferous hobby?” -queried Chapman with assumed guilelessness. - -“Cleanliness and tidiness are but other words for common decency, and can -never be classed with the vagaries of a ‘born investigator,’” said the -spinster sarcastically, sticking her dictum into her needlework, savagely. - -“You doubtless have heard, Arabella, of the woman who possessed so much -of what you call ‘common decency’ that she forced her family to live -in the barn in order that the dwelling might remain clean and tidy,” -answered Chapman, to whom the wrath of Arabella was the greatest pleasure -imaginable. - -“I only wish that we had a barn. I would soon enough force you to -entertain your negro visitors there instead of bringing their odoriferous -persons and filthy accompaniments into this house,” cried the sister -vindictively. - -“You must be reasonable, my most precise sister,” said David. - -“When I became interested in the science of ethnology, I deemed -it expedient to begin by studying the negro race, their habits, -characteristics, manners and tendencies. Being a man born and bred -in a northern state I have never had the opportunities possessed by -southerners, who are surrounded by negroes from infancy, to know the -traits of that most interesting race. Hence I have been forced, on behalf -of science, to go forth and gather such material as was obtainable for -subjects of study and observation.” - -“David, don’t be hypocritical with me; you know that neither ethnology -nor the negro race possessed the slightest interest for you, until you -learned that Walter Burton had a strain of negro blood in his veins.” - -“I do not deny that my zeal was not diminished by that fact,” answered -Chapman shortly and dryly. - -“And I maintain that your zeal is caused entirely by that fact, and I -wish to say further, David Chapman,” exclaimed the withered wisp of -a woman, drawing herself up very straight in her chair and looking -angrily at her brother, “if all this investigation and research lead to -anything that may cause trouble, annoyance or pain to Lucy Dunlap, whom -I have held in these arms as a baby, then I say that you are a wicked, -ungrateful man, and I wish to know nothing of your diabolic designs, nor -of the disgusting science that you call ethnology.” - -God bless the dried-up spinster! God bless thy bony, skinny arms that -held that baby! Thrice blessed be the good and kindly heart that beats -warmly in thy weak and withered little body. - -Seriously and steadily did Chapman gaze for a minute at the vehement, -fragile figure before him, then said meditatively, - -“I believe she loves the Dunlap name as much as I do myself.” - -“More, indeed a great deal more, for I could not cause pain to one of -that name even though I benefited all the other Dunlaps who have ever -been born by so doing,” quickly cried the old maid. - -“Don’t alarm yourself needlessly, sister,” said Chapman earnestly. - -“My investigations are neither undertaken to injure Lucy nor could they -do so even had I that intention. It is too late. I am perfectly frank -and truthful when I state that the subject is exceedingly interesting to -me, and the developments fascinating. Since I have familiarized myself -somewhat with the leading peculiarities of the negro race I recognize -much more of the negro in Burton than I imagined could possibly exist in -one possessing so great a preponderance of the blood of the white race.” - -“I am glad to learn that no harm can come to Lucy by your persistent -pursuit after knowledge of ethnology, but I must say it does not seem to -me a very genteel course of conduct for a man of you age and education to -be spying about and watching an associate in business,” said the candid -Arabella. - -“I assure you that I am not obliged either to play the spy or watch -particularly, for it seems to me that the negro in Burton positively -obtrudes itself daily. In fact I am certain that it is neither because -I am watching for such evidences, nor because I can now recognize -negro traits better than formerly, but simply because the negro in -the man becomes daily more obtrusively apparent,” answered Dunlap’s -superintendent as he began tuning and testing his favorite musical -instrument. - -Even the most prejudiced critic would be forced to admit that whatever -David Chapman undertook to do he accomplished well. He never relaxed in -persistent effort until an assigned task was performed. He became for the -time being absolutely fanatic upon any subject he had before him. His -performance on the violoncello was of the same character as his efforts -in other directions where his attention was demanded. It was artistic, -magnificent, sympathetic and impressive. - -To the violoncello Chapman seemed to tell his soul-story; through it he -breathed those hidden sentiments that were so deeply buried in the secret -recesses of his heart that their existence could never be suspected. -Music seemed the angel guarding with flaming sword the gateway of -this peculiar man’s soul. When music raised the barrier glimpses of -unexpected beauties surprised all those who knew the jealous, prying, -cynical nature of the man. - -As David Chapman began playing his sister with closed eyes rested her -head on the back of the rocking chair and bathed her lonely old heart -in the flood of melody that poured from the instrument in her brother’s -hands. - -How that music spoke to the poor, craving, hungry heart within her flat -and weazen bosom. Youth and hope seemed singing joyous songs of life’s -springtime; love then burst forth blushing while whispering the sweet -serenade of that glorious summer season of womankind. Then in cadence -soft and tender, gently as fall the autumn leaves, the music sadly told -of blighting frosts. Youth and hope like summer roses withered and -vanished. Now the gloom, despair and disappointment of life’s winter -wailing forth filled the heart of the forlorn old maiden; tears rolled -down her wrinkled cheeks unheeded and almost a sob escaped from her -quivering lips. - -Weep no more sad heart. The music in pealing tones of triumph is shouting -the Glad Tidings of that eternity of endless spring, where all is Love -and all is Joy; where the flowers of everlasting summer never fade and -die; where no blighting frost can come to wither the blossoms of Youth -and Hope; where the cold blasts of winter’s gloom and disappointment -never blow to chill and sadden the soul. - -Grandly resound those notes triumphant; open seem the gates of that -promised future, together brother and sister their souls seem ascending; -above all is bright, refulgent with the great light of gladness, now, -coming sweetly, faintly, they catch the sound of welcome, sung above by -that heavenly chorus. - -The music died away in silence. Brother and sister sat for a long -time, each busy with their own thoughts. Who but the All-wise can ever -tell what thoughts come on such occasions to those who in silence hold -self-communion in the sanctuary of their own souls. - -“David, it seems strange to me that one having the tenderness of heart -that you have, should never have found some good woman to love,” said the -sister softly when the silence was finally broken. - -“Indeed, sister, I sometimes think I might have done so and been happier -far than I am, had I not early in life given, in the intense way that -is part of my nature, all the love of my heart and consecrated all my -devotion to the business in which I then engaged and submerged my every -emotion in the glory and honor of the house of ‘J. Dunlap.’” - -“Ah, brother, I often think of that and wonder what would happen if aught -should go wrong with the object of your life-long devotion.” - -“It would kill me, Arabella,” said Chapman quietly. - -The certainty of the result to the man, should misfortune shatter the -idol of his adoration, was more convincingly conveyed to the listener by -that simple sentence and quiet tone than excited exclamation could have -carried; Arabella uttered a sigh as she thought of the unshared place -that ‘J. Dunlap’ held in the strenuous soul of her brother. - -“Brother, you should not allow your mind and heart to become so wrapped -up in the house of Dunlap; remember the two old gentlemen, in the course -of nature, must soon pass away and that then there is no Dunlap to -continue the business, and the career of the firm must come to an end.” - -“No, Arabella, that may not happen,” replied Chapman. His voice, however, -gave no evidence of the pleasure that such a statement from him seemed to -warrant. - -“There was an ante-nuptial contract entered into by Burton, in which -it is agreed that any child born to James Dunlap’s granddaughter shall -bear the name of Dunlap; hence the career of our great house will not -necessarily terminate upon the death of the twin brothers.” - -“I am so glad to know that, David. I have been much concerned for your -sake, brother, fearing the dire consequences of the death of both of the -old gentlemen whom you have served so devotedly for forty odd years.” -The reassured little creature paused and then a thought, all womanly, -occurred to her mind reddening her peaked visage as she exclaimed, - -“What beautiful children the Burton-Dunlaps should be!” - -A worried, anxious, doubtful look came over Chapman’s countenance. He -gazed at the floor thoughtfully for several minutes and then apparently -speaking to himself said, - -“That is the point; there is where I am at sea; it is that question that -gives me most anxiety.” - -“Why, what can you mean, most inscrutable man, Mr. Burton is one of the -handsomest men that I ever saw and surely no prettier woman ever lived -than sweet Lucy Dunlap,” cried the loyal-hearted old maid. - -“It is not a question of beauty, it is a question of blood. If it be only -a matter of appearances Lucy Burton’s children would probably be marvels -of infantine loveliness, but it is a scientific problem,” replied David -seriously and earnestly. - -“What in the name of all that is nonsensical has science to do with -Lucy’s babies if any be sent to her?” cried out Miss Arabella, forgetting -in her excitement that maidenly reserve that was usually hers. - -“I regret to say that science has a great deal to do with the subject,” -answered the brother quietly. “It is a matter of grave doubt in the -minds of many scientific men whether, under any circumstances, an -octoroon married to one of the white race ever can produce descendants; -it is claimed by many respectable authorities that negro blood is not -susceptible of reduction beyond the point attained in the octoroon; that -it must terminate there or breed back through its original channel,” -continued Chapman. - -“It is not true! I don’t believe a word of such stuff,” ejaculated Miss -Arabella, dogmatically. - -“Authorities admit, it is true, that there may be exceptions to the -invariability of this law, but claim that such instances are faults -in nature and likely, as all faults in nature, to produce the most -astounding results. These authorities assert that the progeny of an -octoroon and one of the white race being the outcome of a fault in -nature, are certain to be deficient in strength and vigor, are apt to -be deformed, and even may possibly breed back to a remote coal-black -ancestor,” said Chapman, speaking slowly, punctuating each sentence with -a gasping sound, almost a groan. - -“Stuff and nonsense!” exclaimed his sister rising in indignation from her -chair and moving toward the door, saying, - -“I positively will hear no more of your absurd science. It’s all -foolishness. If that be the idiocy that you learn from ethnology I -think that you had better occupy your time otherwise. Thanks to your -‘authorities’ and their crazy notions, I suppose that I shall dream all -night of monkeys and monsters, but even that is better than sitting her -and listening to my brother, whom I supposed had some brains, talk like -a fit subject for the lunatic asylum.” With the closing sentence, as a -parting shot at her brother the incensed spinster sailed out of the door -and with a whisk went up stairs to her virgin chamber. - - - - -X. - - -“Lucy Burton is a perfect dream tonight, is she not?” exclaimed -enthusiastically Alice Stanhope, gazing admiringly at the fair companion -of her school days who had just entered the room leaning on the arm of -her husband. - -“Almost as pretty as you are,” gallantly replied ‘Bertie’ Winthrop, to -whom the remark of the young woman was addressed. - -“Well, don’t expect me to vie with you in flattery and reply by saying -that Mr. Burton is almost as handsome as you are, for I am like the -father of our country, ‘I can’t tell a lie.’” - -“Oh! Now, that’s good. I am justified in supposing from that speech that -Burton is not nearly as handsome as I am, much obliged,” replied young -Winthrop, laughing and making a profound obeisance to the pretty creature -beside him. - -“You know what I mean you rascal, so don’t try to look innocent. See -with what adoring glances Lucy looks up into her husband’s face,” said -Miss Stanhope again calling her attendant’s attention to the group of -guests near the entrance. - -“Are you going to look at me like that a year from now?” asked ‘Bertie’ -in a quizzical fashion as he slyly squeezed the dimpled elbow near his -side. On dit, Alice Stanhope and Albert Winthrop will soon be married. - -“Bertie, you horrid tease, I don’t believe you will ever deserve to be -looked at except angrily,” retorted the blushing girl and added as she -moved a little further from him, - -“And you behave, sir, or I won’t let you remain by me another minute.” - -“It’s a deuce of a crush you have gotten up,” said ‘Bertie’ promptly -disregarding the warning that he had received by stepping up close to the -side of his fiancee. - -“Where did you get all these people anyway, Alice?” - -“There’s no ‘all these people’ about it, they are the musical set among -my friends in Boston and New York; as Signor Capello and Mme. Cantara -are to sing of course everyone invited was eager to be present.” - -“Never invite all your musical friends to dine with us when we are—” - -“Hush, you embarrassing wretch,” cried Miss Stanhope turning to welcome -some recently arrived guests. - -After considerable diplomatic finessing and resort to that most -efficacious auxiliary, “Papa’s cheque book,” Miss Stanhope had secured -the services of the two great operatic luminaries to sing at a grand -musicale given by her. - -All the “swell set” of Boston and New York thronged the palacious home -of the Stanhope’s on the occasion. The gray-haired, courtly governor of -Massachusetts was chatting as gaily with petite Bessie Winthrop as he had -done with her grandmother a half century before. Foreign diplomatists -and Federal potentates discussed in corners the comparative merits of -Italian and German composers of music; literary lights from all over New -England joined the musical element of New York and Boston in filling the -Stanhope’s halls. - -“I insisted upon coming here tonight, Alice, even though this over-worked -husband of mine did complain of a headache at dinner and I was loathe to -have him accompany me. You remember this is the anniversary of my wedding -and I wished to celebrate the day,” said Lucy Burton to the hostess when -at last Burton had managed to make a way for himself and wife through the -crowded rooms and reached the place where Miss Stanhope was receiving her -guests. - -“I am awfully glad you came, dear. We are sure to have a treat. Signor -Capello has promised to sing something from the new opera by Herman that -has just been produced in Berlin,” and addressing Burton Miss Stanhope -added, - -“I trust that your headache has disappeared.” - -“Thank you, Miss Alice, it has entirely vanished under the influence of -my charming wife’s ministrations, and the brilliant gathering about me -here,” replied Burton. - -“A slight pallor and circles around sad eyes, you know, Mr. Burton, give -an exceedingly interesting and romantic appearance to dark men,” rejoined -Alice Stanhope smiling in spite of her effort not to do so when she -noticed the anxious, worshiping look with which Lucy regarded her husband. - -“Really, I believe Lucy is more in love than she was a year ago,” said -the laughing hostess as she turned to receive the German Ambassador, -who had traveled all the way from Washington in the hope of hearing -selections from Herman’s new opera. - -In all that gathering of fair women and gallant men, there was no couple -so noticeable as the splendid pair who this day one year before were -wedded. - -As Burton and his wife passed through the crowded halls all eyes were -turned toward them, paying mute tribute to the exceeding beauty of both -man and woman. - -Burton, by one of those sudden rebounds of spirit to which he was -subject, inspired by the gaiety about him was in a perfect glow of -intellectual fire. The brilliancy of his well trained mind never -shone more brightly, his wit scintillated in apt epigrams, and -incomparably clever metaphors. He won the heart of the German -Ambassador by discussing with the taste and discrimination of a savant -that distinguished Teuton’s favorite composer, Herman, using the deep -gutturals of the German language with the ease of a native of Prussia. - -He exchanged bon-mots with wicked old Countess DeMille, who declared him -a _preux chevalier_ and the only American whom she had ever met who spoke -her language, so she called French, like a Parisian. - -Lucy’s beaming face and sparkling eyes told of the rapture of pride and -love that filled her heart. She looked indeed the “Princess” as with -her well-turned head, with its gold-brown crown, held high, she proudly -looked upon her lover and her lord and caught the approval and applause -that appeared in every eye about her. - -Never had her husband seemed so much superior to all other men, in Lucy’s -mind, as he did this night. Wherever they paused in their passage around -the rooms, that spot immediately became the center of a group of people -eager to render homage to the regal beauty of the young matron, and to -enjoy the wit and vivacity of the most _distingue_ man present. - -“Ah, Mr. Burton, I see that the splendor of the Rose of Dunlap remains -undiminished, notwithstanding its transference from the garden of its -early growth,” said the gallant Governor of the old Bay State when -greeting the young couple as they stopped near him. - -“The splendor of the roses of Massachusetts is so transcendent that it -would remain unimpaired in any keeping how e’er unworthy,” replied Lucy’s -husband, bowing gracefully to the Executive of the State. - -“When I saw you enter the room, Mrs. Burton, I hoped to see my old -friend, your grandfather, follow. How is James? You see I take the -liberty of still speaking of him as I did many years before your bright -eyes brought light into the Dunlap mansion.” - -“Grandfather is very well, thank you, Governor, but I failed to coax him -away from his easy chair and slippers this evening; beside I think he was -a little ‘grump,’ as I call it, about having lost a wager to a certain -young woman of about my height; he declared it was not the box of gloves -but loss of prestige that he disliked,” answered Lucy merrily as she -looked up at the amused countenance of the Governor. - -“I fear that I shall be obliged to exercise my official prerogative and -give that gay youth, James Dunlap, a lecture if I hear anything more of -his reckless wagers,” said the jocose old gentleman, and then added: - -“By the way, Mrs. Burton, the newspapers this evening contain long -accounts of the magnificent conduct of a New England sea captain, to whom -the King of England has sent a letter of congratulation and praise. As -the name given is Captain John Dunlap, I have been wondering if it can be -that stubborn fellow whom your Uncle John and I endeavored to convince -that he ought to enter Harvard.” - -“It is the same stubborn, dear old cousin Jack who preferred the sea -to being sent to Harvard, and he is the best and bravest sailor on the -waters blue,” answered Lucy quickly, her face flushed by pleasure at -hearing Jack’s praises sung and pride in knowing that he was her kinsman. - -“It seems the lad was wiser than we were when he refused to be convinced -by John and me. A grand sailor might have been spoiled in the making of -a poor scholar. As long as the sailor sons of Uncle Sam can number men of -your cousin Jack’s kind among them we need never fear for honor of the -Gem of the Ocean,” said the Governor quite seriously. - -“I heartily endorse that sentiment, your Excellency, but fear that on -land or sea it would be difficult to discover many men like Jack Dunlap,” -exclaimed Walter Burton warmly. - -“When is he coming home, Lucy? You know that I lost my heart the first -time that I met your bronzed sailor cousin, and am waiting anxiously -for my mariner’s return,” said Bessie Winthrop, her violet-colored eyes -twinkling with the gladness of youth and happiness. _En passant_ she was -a fearful little flirt. - -“He does not say in his letters when we may expect him, but when I write -I’ll tell him what you say, and if he does not hurry home after that -nothing can induce him to do so,” said Lucy as she moved away with her -husband to make room for several admirers of Miss Winthrop who were -eagerly awaiting an opportunity to pay court to that popular young lady. - -Just as Burton and his wife left the Governor and his pretty companion, -the tuning of instruments announced the prelude to the programme for the -evening. Silence fell upon the assembly, the gentlemen sought seats for -the ladies and secured the most available standing room for themselves. - -Surely Signor Capello never sang so grandly before. The superb harmony of -Herman’s great composition filled the souls of that cultivated audience. -The German Ambassador was in a perfect ecstasy of delight, and even the -least appreciative were impressed, while the hypercritic, casting aside -all assumption of _ennui_, became enthusiastic. - -Madame Cantara trilled and warbled in tones so clear, flute-like and -sweet that to close one’s eyes was to imagine the apartment some vast -forest, filled with a myriad of feathered songsters, vying with each -other for woodland supremacy in Apollo’s blessed sphere. - -Miss Stanhope’s musicale was a pronounced and splendid success. Nothing -approaching it had entertained Boston’s fastidious “four hundred” that -season. - -Burton declared that it was the most delightful function he had attended -in years, when Lucy, enwrapped in furs, was closely nestled at his -side in the carriage after the entertainment was over. Burton was _par -excellence_ a judge of such affairs. In fact, he had been accorded the -position of _arbiter elegantiarum_ by a tacit understanding among people -of taste and culture in Boston’s elite society. - -It was among such scenes, surroundings, environments and society as above -described that Burton’s life had been passed since coming to America. It -was in this joyous atmosphere that the first year of Lucy’s married life -glided by so rapidly that the length of time seemed difficult for her to -realize. It was like the dream of a summer’s day, so bright, cloudless -and calm, so fragrant with the perfume of love’s early blossoms, that its -passage was as that of a fleeting shadow. - - * * * * * - -The sinking sun cast lengthening shadows across Manila Bay, where -swinging peacefully at their anchors lay the great war ships of several -nations, and where the tall masts of a fleet of merchantmen caused bars -of shade to stripe the burnished waters of the Bay. - -The starry flag of the great Republic had received that salute, ever -loyally given by the sons of Columbia, as the sun sank beneath the -horizon, and the bugle blew its farewell to the departing orb of day. - -Four majestic, floating fortresses, on whose decks stood uncovered crews -as the proud flag of the union descended, gave notice to the world of -the might of that young giant of the west that held dominion in the -Philippines. - -Striding along in the rapidly darkening twilight, up the main street of -Manila, walked one who would have been known as a sailor by his swinging, -rolling gait, even without the nautical cut and material of the clothing -that he wore. - -As he approached the newly erected, palacious American hotel, around -which ran a broad veranda filled with tables and chairs, the chief resort -of the army and naval officers stationed at Manila, a voice cried from -the balcony above him: - -“Jack Dunlap, by all that is marvelous!” - -The sailor-man looked up and with an exclamation of pleased recognition, -shouted: - -“Tom Maxon, by all that is fortunate!” - -“Come up here this instant, you sea-dog, wet your whistle and swap yarns -with me,” called the first speaker, rising from the table at which he was -seated and hurrying to the top of the half dozen steps that rose from the -sidewalk to the entrance on the veranda. - -The two men shook hands with the warmth and cordiality of old cronies, -when the sailor reached the balcony. The meeting was evidently as -agreeable as it was unexpected. - -The man who had been seated on the veranda, when the sailor approached, -was apparently of the same age as the friend whose coming he had hailed -with delight. He, too, was evidently a son of Neptune, for he wore the -cap and undress uniform of a lieutenant in the United States Navy. - -He was a big, fine man on whose good-looking, tanned face a smile seemed -more natural, and, in fact, was more often seen than a frown. - -“Jack, old man, you can’t imagine how glad I am to run afoul of you. -Had the choice been left to me as to whom I would choose to walk up the -street just now, I’d have bawled out ‘Good old Jack Dunlap!’ Well, how -are you anyway? Where’ve you been? and how are all in Boston? But first -let’s have a drink; what shall it be, bully?” - -All of these questions and ejaculations were made while the naval man -still held Jack’s hand and was towing him along like a huge, puffing -tug toward the table from which the officer sprang up to welcome his -companion. - -“By Jove, Tom, give me time to breathe; you’ve hurled a regular broadside -of questions into my hull. Haul off and hold a minute; cease firing! as -you fighters say,” expostulated our old acquaintance, Captain Jack, as he -was fairly shoved into a chair at the table and opposite the laughing and -red-faced lieutenant. - -“Come here, waiter,” called Maxon to a passing attendant, in high glee -over Jack’s cry for quarter and his own good luck in meeting an old chum -when he was especially lonely and eager to have a talk about home and -friends. - -“Bring us a bottle of champagne and let it be as cold as the Admiral’s -heart when a poor devil of a lieutenant asks for a few day’s shore leave.” - -“Now, my water-logged consort, we will first and foremost drink in a -brimming bumper of ‘Fizz’ the golden dome in Boston and the bonny-bright -eyes of the beauties that beam on it,” exclaimed jolly Tom Maxon, -bubbling over with happiness at having just the man he wished to talk -about Boston with. - -“I say! Tom, have you been studying up on alliteration? You rang in all -the B’s of the hive in that toast,” said the merchant skipper, emptying -his glass in honor of Boston and her fair daughters. - -“I don’t require thought or study to become eloquent when the ‘Hub’ and -her beauties be the theme, but you just up anchor and sail ahead giving -an account of yourself, my hearty,” Tom replied with great gusto. - -“To begin, then, as the typical story writer does, one November day some -thirteen months ago, I sailed away (I’ve caught the complaint. I came -near making a rhyme) from Boston in the good ship ‘Adams.’ When a week -out of harbor as per instructions from the house of Dunlap, I unsealed my -papers to find that the ship had been presented to me by my kinsmen, the -Dunlap brothers.” - -“Stop! Hold, my hearty, until we drink the health of the jolly old twins. -May their shadows never grow less and may the good Lord send along such -kinsmen to poor Tom Maxon,” interrupted the irreverent Tom, filling the -glasses and proceeding to honor the toast by promptly draining his. - -Jack and Tom had been pupils in the same school in Boston when they were -boys. Their tastes and dispositions being much alike they became chums -and warm friends. Like young ducks, both of the lads naturally took -to the water. When they had gotten through with the grammar-school an -appointment to the Annapolis Naval Academy was offered to young Maxon -by the representative of his Congressional district, which he joyfully -accepted, and hence was now a United States officer. Jack had entered the -High School and later the merchant marine service. - -Though seeing but little of each other after their first separation, the -same feeling of friendship and comradeship was maintained between Jack -and Tom that had existed when as Boston schoolboys they chummed together, -and whenever, at rare intervals, they were fortunate enough to meet they -mutually threw off all the reserve that had come to them with age and -became Boston boys once again. - -“Now, heave ahead, my bully-boy!” cried Tom, putting down his empty wine -glass. - -“In addition to the gift of the ship from the firm, I found that my old -cousin John had personally presented me with a large part of the ship’s -cargo.” - -“Again hold! you lucky sea-dog! Here’s to dear old Cousin John, and God -bless him!” called Tom gleefully, his generous sailor-soul as happy over -the good fortune of his friend as if he himself had been the beneficiary -of Mr. John Dunlap’s munificence, again pledging Jack’s kind kinsman in a -glass of iced wine. - -“With all my heart I say, amen! Tom, God never made better men and more -liberal kinsmen than the ‘J. Dunlaps,’” said Jack earnestly as he began -again his recital. - -“When I arrived in Melbourne I disposed of my cargo through our agents, -loaded and sailed for Liverpool, returned to Melbourne, took on a cargo -for Manila, and here I am drinking to long life and good health to my two -old kinsmen with my school fellow Tom Maxon.” - -“And the future programme is what?” said the lieutenant. - -“You have left out lots about yourself, that I know of, concerning your -past movements, so try to be truthful about your future plans,” continued -Maxon, assuming an inquisitorial air. - -“All right, my knowing father confessor,” answered Dunlap, laughing. - -“I have done well as far as making money is concerned, which statement -I wish added to my former deposition. Oh! most wise judge; I propose -sailing within the week for Hong-kong, thence to San Francisco, from the -latter port I desire to clear for Boston, in God’s country, stopping, -however, at Port au Prince, Haiti, both as a matter of business and also -with the design of personally thanking my kind godfather for his gifts. -Finally I hope to reach New England and be with my dear mother while -yet the Yankee hills are blooming with summer flowers. One word further -and my story is finished. My object in returning to Boston is to induce -my mother to return with me to Australia, where I have purchased some -property and where I desire to make my home in future—finis—” - -“Fairly well told, my bold buccaneer; however, I disapprove of your -making Australia your home. Now, sir, what about saving a few smallpox -patients, emigrants, and such like, and receiving a letter from H.M. King -of England, and such trifles as we read of in the newspaper?” demanded -Tom, sententiously. - -“Oh! That just happened, and there has been too much said about it to -find a place on my logbook,” replied Jack, shortly, coloring just a shade. - -“I’m!—well, no matter—I don’t agree with you, but I will shake your hand -once again and say that I find my old chum as modest as I always knew -him to be brave,” rejoined Tom Maxon, rising, reaching over and grasping -Jack’s hand, and bowing gravely and respectfully as he held it. - -Jack’s face was now all fire-red, as he said in great embarrassment: - -“Oh, Pshaw, slack up, Tom, haul off.” - -“You know what the Admiral said when he read the account of what you had -done?” cried out Tom when he settled back in his chair. - -“Of course, you don’t, but it’s a fine ram at the merchant marine. The -Admiral thinks that an officer for sea service can’t be made except at -Annapolis. When he read of what you had done, he exclaimed: ‘That fellow -is almost good enough to be an officer in the United States Navy.’ The -Executive officer who heard the Admiral repeated it, and ever since the -fellows of our mess, who hate some of the ‘snobs’ that Annapolis sends to -us, have been quietly poking fun at the old man about it.” - -“Now, will Lieutenant Thomas Maxon, U.S.N., in all the glory of his -Annapolis seamanship, give an account of himself?” broke in Jack, anxious -to escape further mention of his own affairs. - -“The last time I saw you, Tom, you were dancing at the end of Bessie -Winthrop’s hawser. Though I had never, at the time, met your charmer, I -thought her a pretty craft.” - -“That’s it! Now you touch the raw spot!” cried Tom. - -“I was stationed at Boston, and went about some little. I met Bert -Winthrop’s sister and, like an ass of a sailor that I am, fell in love -with her at the first turn of the wheel. Well, I rolled around after the -beauty like a porpoise in the wake of a dolphin for the whole season. -Finally I mustered up courage to bring the chase to a climax and got a -most graceful conge for my temerity, whereupon I retired in bad order, -and was rejoiced when assigned to the battleship Delaware and sent to -sea.” - -As the rollicking sailor ended his story, he threw back his head and -began softly singing in a sentimental tone, “Oh! Bessie, you have broken -my heart.” - -“Well, I’ll go bail that the fracture won’t kill you, you incorrigible -joker,” said Jack, interrupting the flow of Maxon’s sentimentality. - -“See, now, our best friends never take us seriously, and sympathize with -us when we suffer,” said the lieutenant dolefully. - -“But to continue my sad story. I was ordered to the U.S.S. Delaware, -flag-ship of the Asiatic fleet. Admiral Snave can out-swear Beelzebub, -has the sympathy of a pirate, and would work up all the old iron of a -fleet if there was as much in it as in the mountains of Pennsylvania. So -your poor, delicate friend is tempted to ask to be retired on account -of physical disability.” So saying, Tom began roaring with laughter so -healthful that it shook his stalwart frame. - -“Hold though!” exclaimed the U.S. officer, stopping in the midst of his -outburst of merriment, suddenly thinking of something omitted. - -“You must understand that we all admire the Admiral hugely. He is a -magnificent officer, and a fighter to the end of his plume; carries a -chip on his shoulder when he imagines anyone is spoiling for a fight, or -even looks crossways at grand Old Glory.” - -Thus the two friends talked on, relating their experiences, joking -each other, and laughing in that careless happy way, common alike to -schoolboys and those who sail the sea. - -Captain Dunlap declared that this berth was good enough for him, that -he would drop his anchor right there, and calling a waiter proceeded to -order everything on the menu for dinner, telling the waiter to serve it -where they were and serve slowly so that they might enjoy a rambling -conversation while they dined. - -Eating, drinking, talking and smoking, the chums of boyhood days sat for -hours, until the streets became, as was the veranda, almost deserted. -Suddenly in an interval of silence as they puffed their cigars, a -piercing scream disturbed the quiet of the street below. Again and again -was the cry repeated in an agonized female voice. - -Both men sprang to their feet and peered along the dark avenue that ran -toward the bay. About a block away they discerned just within the outer -circle of light cast by an electric burner a struggling mass of men. -At the instant that Jack and Tom discovered whence came the cries, a -figure broke from the crowd and ran screaming through the illuminated -spot on the avenue pursued by a half dozen men wearing the Russian naval -uniform. The pursued figure was that of a half nude female. - -With an angry growl, Jack Dunlap placed one hand on the low railing -around the veranda and cleared it at a bound, landing on the sidewalk -below, he broke into a run, and dashed toward the group of men under the -electric light, who were struggling with the person whom they had pursued -and recaptured. - -“The flag follows trade in this case,” cried Maxon, who would joke even -on his death-bed, as he, too, sprang to the pavement and raced after Jack. - -The brutal Finnish sailors of the Russian man-of-war in Manila Bay swore -to their mess-mates that ten gigantic Yankees had fallen upon them and -taken away the Malay girl. They thus accounted for their broken noses and -discolored optics. - -Truth is, that it was a rush; the working of four well-trained Yankee -arms like the piston rods of a high-speed engine. Outraged American -manhood and old Aryan courage against the spirit of brutal lustfulness, -ignorance and race inferiority. - -“I say, Jack,” cried out Maxon as he raised his face from the basin in -which he had been bathing a bruise, “Why don’t you go in for the P.R. -championship? You must be a sweet skipper for a crew to go rusty with! -Why, Matey, you had the whole gang going before I even reached you. Look -here, sonny, you are just hell and a hurricane in a shindy of that kind.” - -“Well, I tell you, Tom,” called Jack from the next room, where, seated on -the edge of the bed, he was binding a handkerchief around the bleeding -knuckles of his left hand. - -“That kind of thing always sets my blood boiling, but that in a city -under our flag an outrage of that kind should be attempted made me wild. -I guess from the looks of my hands that maybe I did punch rather hard.” -Rising, Jack walked to the open door between the two bedrooms and added: - -“I don’t mind just a plain fight, or even sometimes a murder, but when -it comes to a brute assaulting a woman or child, I’m damned if I don’t -become like one of Victor Hugo’s characters, ‘I see red.’ Temper seems to -surge in my very blood.” - -Jack’s face, as he spoke, wore an angry scowl, to which the earnest -gesticulations with his bandaged fists gave double meaning. - -“Of course it surges in your blood, old chap, as it does on such -occasions in mine and every other decent descendant of Shem and Japheth -on earth,” replied Tom Maxon. - - - - -XI. - - -The Scottish Bard has written that to see fair Melrose Abbey a-right, -one must visit it in the moon’s pale light. To see New England in its -greatest glory one must visit that section of hallowed memories in the -summer season. - -Then it is that granite hills are wrapped in emerald mantles. Then it is -that hill-sides, slopes and meadows are dimpled with countless daisies, -peeping enticingly from the face of smiling nature. Then it is brooks, -released from winter’s icy bondage, laugh, sing, dance and gambol like -merry maidens in some care-free frolic. - -August, in the second year of Lucy Burton’s married life, found Dunlap’s -mansion still occupied by the entire family. True, the Dunlap estate lay -in the most elevated portion of the suburbs of Boston, and the house -stood in the center of extensive grounds almost park-like in extent and -arrangement, still it was unusual for the house to be occupied by the -family at that season of the year. - -Generations of Dunlaps had sought relief from city life and bustle during -the month of August, either among the Berkshire Hills, where an ornate -villa had been owned by them for decades, or at Old Orchard, where their -summer home was rather a palace than a cottage, though so called by -the family. Burton, too, had a fine establishment at Newport; yet this -eventful August found the family in their city residence. - -Many other things unusual attracted attention and caused comment among -the associates of members of the Dunlap household. Burton and Lucy had -been noticeably absent during the past few months from those public -functions to which, by their presence, they had formerly given so much -eclat. - -The very clerks in the office of J. Dunlap commented upon the jubilant -spirit that had taken possession of, the always genial, manager. Chapman -regarded his apparent joyousness with suspicion, and of all the office -forces alone seemed displeased with its presence. - -To intimate friends Burton spoke of selling the “Eyrie,” saying that it -was of no further use or pleasure to him; that for months he had only -been near it to select some choice flowers from the conservatory for the -vases that adorned his wife’s apartments. - -Mr. James Dunlap, ever the kindest, most considerate of beings, -the gentlest of gentlemen, had become so solicitous concerning his -granddaughter’s comfort and care as to appear almost old womanish. -The anxiety he displayed about all that tended to Lucy’s welfare was -absolutely pathetic. - -Walter Burton’s demeanor toward his young wife might, for all men, serve -as a model of devoted, thoughtful deportment on the part of husbands. -To amuse and entertain her seemed his all-absorbing idea and object. To -exercise his brilliant mental gifts in gay and enlivening conversation -was his chief pleasure. To use all the great musical talent that he -possessed, to drive any momentary shadow of sadness from her spirit. To -stroll about the garden in the moonlight, again whispering those words of -love by which he had first won her, was blissful occupation to him. - -Even good old Uncle John in far-off Haiti imbibed the spirit that seemed -all pervading in the realm about the young matron. Great hampers of -tropical fruits, plants and flowers came by trebly-paid expressage from -the West Indies, speed alone being considered. They must be fresh when -offered to Lucy. Then, too, almost daily messages came over the cable -from Haiti, “How are all today,” signed “John,” and it was ordered at -the office that each day should go a message to Port au Prince, unless -especially forbidden, saying, “All is well,” this to be signed “James.” - -Mrs. Church, the most sedate, composed and stately of old gentlewomen, -too, is in a flutter of suppressed excitement, frequently closeted in -deep and mysterious consultations with medical men and motherly looking -women; giving strange orders about the preparation of certain dishes for -the table, driving the chef almost distracted by forbidding sauces that -should always accompany some favorite entree of that tyrant. - -A suite of rooms in the Dunlap mansion has been newly decorated; nothing -like these decorations has ever been seen before in Boston. In elegance, -taste and beauty they are the _ne plus ultra_ of decorative art. One, -while in the sacred precincts of the recently remodeled apartments, might -readily imagine that spring had been captured and fettered here to make -its sweet, bright presence perpetual in this favored place. Colors of the -tinted sunbeam mingled with the peach blossom’s tender shade to make the -spot a bower of beauty wherein a smiling cupid might pause and fold his -wings to slumber, forgetful of his couch of pink pearl shell. - -The cultured, artistic, delicate taste of Boston’s _arbiter elegantiarum_ -never produced anything approaching the exquisite blending of colors and -unique, airy, harmonious fittings seen in this, the ideal conception of -the abode of angels. - -The delicacy and tenderness of Lucy’s refined and loving spirit -contributed to create an indefinable feeling that this was the chosen -spot where innocence, purity and love should seek repose. Her womanly -instinct had added soft shadings to art’s perfect handiwork. - -The great sea shell, half opened, made of shining silver, lined with -the pearly product of the Eastern Isles, in which lie, soft and white -as snow, downy cushions, filled from the breasts of Orkney’s far-famed -fowls, and these be-trimmed with lace in tracery like frost on window -pane, in texture so gossamery and light that the brief span of life seems -all too short in which to weave one inch, must surely be the nest wherein -some heaven-sent cherub shall nestle down in sleep. - -Some sprite from fairy-land alone may make a toilet with the miniature -articles of Etruscan gold, bejeweled with gems of azure-hued turquois -that fill the gilded dressing case. - -The chiffoniers, tables, chairs and stands are all inlaid with woods -of the rarest kinds and colors, with ivory and polished pearl shells -interwoven in queerly conceived mosaic; mirrors of finest plate here -and there are arranged that they may catch the beauteous image of the -cherubic occupant of this bijou bower, and countlessly reproduce its -angelic features; urns and basins of transparent china-ware, in the -production of which France and Germany have surpassed all former efforts, -beautified by the brushes of world-renowned artists, furnish vessels in -which the rosy, laughing face and dimpled limbs may lave. - -The Western hills have cooled the eager glance of the August sun. Lucy, -softly humming as she assorts and arranges a great basket of choice -buds and blossoms just arrived from the “Eyrie,” is seated alone in a -fantastic garden pagoda, which, trellised by climbing rose bushes, stands -within the grounds of the Dunlap estate. - -As she rocks back and forth in the low chair that is placed there for -her comfort, little gleams of sunshine sifting through the screen of -roses wander amidst her gold-brown tresses and spot the filmy gown of -white she wears with silver splashes. As the lights and shadows of the -gently swaying leaves and roses dance about her, she seems surrounded by -hosts of cherubim in frolicsome attendance on her. Some thought of that -nature came to her, for she let her hands lie still in her lap among the -blossoms and watched the ever fleeting, changeful rays of sunlight and -shade that like an April shower fell upon her. Then she smiled as at some -unseen spirit and smiling grew pensive. - -The limpid light in Lucy’s eyes, as gazing into the future she sees the -coming glory of her womanhood, is that same light that shone along the -road from Galilee to Bethlehem, when she, most blessed of women for all -time, rode humbly on an ass to place an eternal monarch on a throne. - -That light in Lucy’s pensive hazel eyes, that gentle, hopeful expectant -look on her sweet face, has, from the time that men were born on earth -subdued the fiery rage of angry braves in mortal strife engaged, has -turned brutality into cowering shame, and caused the harshest, roughest -and most savage of the human kind to smooth the brow, soften the voice -and gently move aside, rendering ready homage to a being raised higher -far than the throne of the mightiest king on earth. - -As she, who chambered with the cattle on Judah’s hills, opened the -passage from the groaning earth to realms of eternal bliss by what she -gave to men, so ever those crowned with that pellucid halo of expected -maternity stand holding ajar the gates that bar the path from man to that -mysterious source of life and soul called God. - -It is woman in her grandest glory, who draws man and his Maker near -together, with arms outstretched and hands extended she grasps man and -reaches up toward the Divine Author of our beings. - -In simplest attire and humblest station she sanctifies the spot she -stands upon. When most beset by want or danger there lives no man worthy -of the name, who could refuse to heed her lightest call. - -Oh! that wistful, yearning, hopeful, tender, loving look that -transfigured Lucy’s sweet face until resemblance came to it, to that face -that has employed the souls, hearts and hands of those most gifted by -high heaven with pen and brush. - -Out of this trance-like blissfulness the pensive dreamer was aroused by -the coming of her ever constant guardian, her grandfather, who told her -that Miss Arabella Chapman had called, bringing some offering that could -be placed in no other hand than that of the young matron. - -Away hastened Lucy to greet the time-worn maiden, but fresh-hearted -friend, and to hurry with her up to a sealed and sacred apartment, over -whose threshold no male foot must ever step, wherein was hidden heaping -trays and shelves of doll-like garments of marvelous texture and make, -articles the names of which no man ever yet has learned to call, all -so cunningly devised as to create the need of lace, embroidery or such -matter on every edge and corner. - -Silky shawls and fleecy wraps, and funny little caps of spider-spun lace, -and socks of soft stuff so small that Lucy’s tiny thumb could scarce -find room therein, all and much more than man can tell were here stored -carefully away and only shown to closest friends by the fair warder of -that holy keep. - -And, oh! the loving, jealous care of Lucy. No hand but her own could fold -these small garments just right. What awful calamity might befall should -one crease be awry or disturbed; no eye so well could note some need in -that dainty, diminutive collection of fairy underwear as hers; no breast -could beat so tenderly as hers as close she pressed, fondled and kissed -the little gowns for elfin wear. - -Who would for all the gold coined on earth rob her of one jot or tittle -of her half-girlish, all-womanly joy and jealous care? Not one who ever -whispered the word Mother! - -That night the watchman and his faithful dog who guarded the Dunlap -house and grounds, saw at the unseemly hour of two o’clock many lights -suddenly appear within the mansion. The shadow of the family physician, -white-haired and wise, flits by the windows of the room which, for some -weeks, he has occupied. Mrs. Church in wrapper, lamp in hand, hastens by -the great hall window and ascends the stairs, accompanied by an elderly -woman, who a month before came to live in the mansion. Soon a window on -the balcony is raised and Mr. James Dunlap in dressing gown and slippers -steps out, accompanied by Mr. Burton, who seems too nervous to notice Mr. -Dunlap’s soothing hand placed on his shoulder. - -Soon the bell, that warns him to open wide the outer gate, is rung, and -then the watchman and his dog see no more of the commotion within the -house. As he holds back the gate, he asks of the coachman, who, with the -dog-cart and the horse, Dark Dick, is racing by: - -“What’s the matter?” In reply he only catches the words: - -“Another nurse, d—— quick!” - -A standing order of the house of J. Dunlap was that should at any -time neither J. Dunlap nor the manager appear by the noon hour, the -superintendent, Mr. Chapman, should take cab and hasten to the residence -of Mr. James Dunlap for instructions concerning transactions that pressed -for immediate attention. - -Five minutes after noon, on the day when at two o’clock in the morning -the private watchman had seen lights appear within the Dunlap mansion. -David Chapman was seated in a cab speeding toward his employer’s -residence. - -As the cab turned the corner on the avenue that ran before the gate of -the Dunlap place, the horse’s hoof-beats were silenced. Chapman looked -out; the straw-carpeted pavement told the whole story. He ordered -the driver to stop his horse, and springing from the vehicle the -superintendent, walking, proceeded the balance of the distance. - -The vigil and anxiety of the past night had told fearfully on -well-preserved Mrs. Church, thought Chapman as he noted her drawn, white -and frightened face, and listened to the awed tone of her voice, as she -told him that a boy was born to Lucy; that she was very ill; that Mr. -Burton was troubled and wretched over the danger of his wife, and would -see no one; that Mr. Dunlap, exhausted by agony of mind and weakened by -watching, had fainted, was now lying down and must not be disturbed under -any circumstances. - -Chapman in mute amazement stared at the trembling lips that gave an -account of the striking down, within so short a time, of all three -members of the family. Speechless he stood and stared, but could find no -words to express either his surprise or sorrow. As he stood thus, a faint -and husky, yet familiar, voice called from the far end of the wide hall -that ran through the center of the house. - -“David, wait; I want you.” - -With uncertain step, and bowed head, a figure came forward. As Chapman -turned he saw that it was Mr. Dunlap. One moment the old employee gazed -at the approaching man. Then springing toward him, he cried as he caught -sight of the ashen hue on his old master’s blanched and deep-lined face, -and saw the blank look in his kind eyes: - -“You are ill, sir; sit down!” - -“Yes, David; I am not well; I am somewhat weak, but I wish to give -you certain commands that must not, as you value my friendship, be -disobeyed.” The old man paused and painfully sought to gain command of -his voice, and failing, gasped forth: - -“Send a message to my brother saying, ‘It is a boy and all is well,’ and -add—David Chapman, do you understand me?—and add these very words, ‘Do -not come home; it is unnecessary.’ Sign the message ‘James’—and, listen, -Chapman, listen; no word that I am not well or my granddaughter in danger -must reach my brother John.” - -“Your instructions shall be obeyed, sir,” and Chapman’s voice was almost -as indistinct as that of his loved master. - -“What of the business, sir, while Mr. Burton is absent?” the -ever-faithful superintendent asked. - -“Use your own discretion in everything,” and with a dry, convulsive sob -that shook his bended frame, he added in a whisper: - -“It makes no difference now.” - -David Chapman heard the sob, and caught those heartbroken words. In an -instant that strangely constituted man was on his knees at the feet of -him whom of all on earth he worshiped most. - -“Can I help you, sir, in your trouble? Say anything that man can do, and -I shall do it, sir,” cried Chapman piteously. - -“No, David, no; but, David, I thank you. Go, my faithful old friend, and -do what I have requested.” - -Chapman arose and pressed the wan hand that James Dunlap extended, then -hurried from the house. - -Those who saw the superintendent that day wondered why they were unable -to tell whether it was grief or rage that marked the man’s face so deeply. - -The message as dictated was sent that day to Haiti. - - - - -XII. - - -By special concession from the Haitian government, the blacks still -maintaining a prejudice against white people owning real estate in Haiti, -John Dunlap had purchased several acres of land lying in the outskirts of -Port au Prince, and had built a commodious house thereon, constructed in -accordance with the requirements of the warm climate of the island. - -To-night with impatient manner he is walking up and down the veranda -which surrounds the house, accompanied by Captain Jack Dunlap, to whom he -says: - -“I do not like the monotonous sentence that, without change, has come -to me daily for two weeks past. It is not like my brother James, and -something, that I cannot explain, tells me that all is not well at home -in Boston.” - -“Don’t you think that this presentiment is only the result of anxiety; -that you are permitting imaginary evils to disturb you, sir?” put in Jack -respectfully. - -“No, Jack, I do not. From boyhood there has existed an indescribable bond -of sympathy between my brother and myself that has always conveyed to -each of us, no matter how far apart, a feeling of anxiety if trouble or -danger threatened either one. For days this feeling has been increasing -upon me, until it now has become unbearable. I regret that I did not take -passage on the steamer that sailed today for New York. Now I must wait a -week.” As Mr. Dunlap came to the end of his sentence, a chanting, croning -kind of sound was heard coming from some spot just beyond the wall around -his place. - -“Confound that old hag!” cried the impatient old gentleman, as he heard -the first notes of the weird incantation, “for the last month, night and -day, she has been haunting my premises, wailing out some everlasting -song about Tu Konk, white cows, black kids, and such stuff, all in that -infernal jargon of the mountain blacks. She looks more like the devil -than anything else. I tried to bribe her to go away, but the old witch -only laughed in my face. I then ordered her driven away, but the servants -are all afraid of her and can’t be induced to molest her.” - -“She probably is only some half-witted old woman, whom the superstitious -negroes suppose possessed of supernatural power. I don’t think the matter -worthy of your notice,” said Jack. - -“I suppose it is foolish, but her hanging about my place just now, makes -me nervous; but never mind the hag at present. I was going to say to you, -when that howling stopped me, that so strong has become my feeling of -apprehension within the last few hours that could I do so, I should leave -Port au Prince tonight and hurry straight to Boston and my brother. This -cursed Haitian loan, for which the English and American bankers hold our -house morally, if not legally, responsible, has held me in Haiti this -late in the hot season, and, tonight, I would gladly assume the entire -obligation legally, to be placed instantly on Boston Common.” - -The positiveness and seriousness with which his kinsman spoke caused even -Jack’s steady nerves to become somewhat shaken. Just then footsteps were -heard coming rapidly up the walk that led to the roadway. As the two -Dunlaps reached the top step of the veranda a telegraph messenger sprang -up the stairs and handed an envelope to Mr. John Dunlap. With trembling -fingers he opened the paper and going to a lamp that hung in the hallway -read it. Then with a cry of pain he would have fallen to the floor had -not Jack’s strong arms been around him. - -“I knew it, I knew it,” he moaned. - -Jack took the message from the cold, numb hand of the grief-stricken man -and read: - -“Come immediately; your brother dying, Lucy in great danger. David -Chapman.” - -Jack almost carried the groaning old man to a couch that stood in the -hall, placing him upon it he hurried to the side-board in the dinner-room -for a glass of wine or water; when he returned he found Mr. Dunlap -sitting up, with his face hidden in his hands, rocking back and forward -murmuring. - -“A million dollars for a steamer; yea! all I am worth for a ship to carry -me to Boston! Oh! Brother, Brother!” - -Jack, though stricken to the heart by what the message said, still held -firm grip upon his self-command for the sake of the kind old man before -him. When he heard the muttered words of his suffering friend, for one -instant he stood as if suddenly struck by some helpful idea, then cried, - -“You have the fastest sailing ship on the Atlantic, Cousin John. The -‘Adams’ has only half a cargo aboard. She can beat any steamer that sails -from Haiti to America, if there be breeze but sufficient to fill her -canvas. My crew is aboard. Within one hour my water casks can be filled, -the anchor up, the bow-sprit pointing to Boston, and, God send the wind, -we’ll see the Boston lights as soon as any steamer could show them to us, -or I’ll tear the masts out of the ‘Adams’ trying.” - -Like the revivifying effect of an electric shock, the words of the seaman -sent new life into John Dunlap. He sprang to his feet, grabbed for a -hat and coat lying on the hall-table and, ere Jack realized what was -happening, was racing down the pathway, leading to the road, calling -back: - -“Come on, my lad, come on!” - -Soon Jack was by the old man’s side, passing his arm through that of his -godfather, and thus helping him forward, their race toward the water was -continued. - -Not one word was said to the house-servants. The Dunlaps saw no one -before they dashed from the premises; no, not even the evil, flashing -eyes of the old black hag, who, listening to what they said, peered at -them through the low window case. - -“Mr. Brice, call all hands aft,” commanded Captain Dunlap as he stepped -upon the deck of his ship, half an hour after leaving the house of Mr. -Dunlap in Port au Prince. - -“Men,” said the skipper, when the astonished crew had gathered at the -mast and were waiting. - -“Most of you have sailed with me for months, and know I ‘crack on’ every -sail my ship can carry at all times. Now, listen well to what I say. -This old gentleman at my side, my kinsman and friend, and I have those -in Boston whom we love, and we have learned tonight that one of them is -dying and one is in danger. We must reach Boston at the earliest moment -possible. Within the hour I’ll heave my anchor up and sail, such carrying -of sail, in weather fair or foul, no sailor yet has seen as I shall do. -My masts may go. I’ll take the chance of tearing them out of the ship -if I can but gain one hour. No man must sail with me in this wild race -unwillingly or unaware of what I intend to do. Therefore, from mate to -cabin-boy, let him who is unwilling to share the perils of this trip step -forward, take his wages and go over the side into the small boat that -lies beside the ship.” - -The skipper Stopped speaking and waited; for some seconds there was a -scuffling of bare feet and shoving among the knot of seamen, but no man -said aught nor did any one step forward. At last the impatient master -cried out, - -“Well, what’s it to be! Can no man among you find his tongue?” - -Then came more shuffling and shoving and half audible exclamations of -“Say it yourself!” “Why don’t you answer the skipper?” Finally old Brice -moved around from behind the captain and stood between him and the men. -Then addressing the master but looking at the crew, he said, - -“I think, sir, the men wish to say, that they are Yankee sailors, and see -you and Mr. Dunlap half scuttled by your sorrow and that they will stick -by you, and be d——n to the sail you carry! Is that it, men?” - -A hoarse hurrah answered the first officer’s question. - -“The mate says right enough; we’ll stick to the ship and skipper,” came -in chorus from the brazen lungs of the crew. - -Such scampering about the deck was never seen before on board the “Adams” -as that of the next thirty minutes. When the crew manned the capstan and -began hoisting the anchor a strange black bundle, with gleaming eyes, -came tumbling over the bow. The startled crew sprang away from what they -took to be a huge snake, but seeing, when it gathered itself together and -stood upright, that it was an old witch of a black woman, they bawled out -for the mate. - -The old termagant fought like a wild-cat, scratching and tearing at the -eyes of the men as they bundled her over the ship’s side and into the -canoe in which she had come from the shore. All the time the hag was -raving, spitting and swearing by all kinds of heathenish divinities that -she would go to Boston to see “my grandchild,” and muttering all sorts of -imprecations and incantations, in the jargon of the West Indies, upon the -heads of all who attempted to prevent her. - -As the ship gathered headway and swung around, Mr. John Dunlap, who -stood in the stern, heard a weird chant, which he recognized as coming -from below him. He looked over the railing and saw old Sybella standing -upright in the canoe in which she had been thrust by the crew, waving her -skinny bare arms, and chanting, - - “Tu Konk, the great one - Send her the Black Goat - White cow, Black kid - White teat, Black mouth - Tu Konk, Oh, Tu Konk - Black Blood, Oh, Tu Konk - Call back, Oh! Tu Konk.” - -When Sybella saw Mr. Dunlap she ceased her song, and began hurling savage -and barbarous curses upon him and his, which continued until the tortured -old gentleman could neither hear nor see the crone longer. - -There was just enough cargo aboard the “Adams” to steady her and give -her the proper trim. As soon as Jack secured enough offing, in sailors’ -parlance he “cut her loose.” Everything in shape of sail that could draw -was set, the skipper took the deck nor did he leave it again until he -sprang into a yawl in Boston harbor. - -On the second day out from Port au Prince, the wind increased to the fury -of a gale, but still no stitch of cloth was taken from the straining -masts and yards of the “Adams.” Two stalwart sailors struggled with the -wheel, the muscles of their bared and sinewy arms standing out taut, as -toughened steel. The ship pitched and leaped like a thing of life. The -masts sprang before the gale as if in their anguish they would jump clear -out of the ship. - -With steady, hard set eyes, the skipper watched each movement of his -ship. He knew her every motion as huntsman knows the action of his -well-trained hound. His jaws were locked, the square, firm, Anglo-Saxon -chin might have been modeled out of granite, so rock-like did it look. -Away goes a sail, blown into fragments that wildly flap against the yard. -Will the skipper ease her now? - -Old Brice looked toward the master, saw something in his eyes, and saw -him shake his head— - -“Lay along here to clear up the muss, and set another sail!” bawled -Brice, and again he looked toward the skipper; this time Jack nodded. - -Brave old John Dunlap scarcely ever left the deck. He had a sailor’s -heart and he had mingled with those of the sea from babyhood. He saw the -danger and going to his namesake, said, - -“Carry all she’ll bear Jack. If you lose the ship, I’ll give you ten; get -me to Boston quickly, lad, or wreck the ship.” - -“I will,” was all the answer that came from Jack’s tightly pressed lips, -nor did he change his gaze from straight ahead while answering—yet the -old man knew that Jack would make his promise good. - -He, who in the hollow of His hand doth hold the sea, knew of their need -and favoring the object of such speed, did send unto that ship safety -through the storm and favoring winds thereafter. - -No yacht, though for speed alone designed, ever made such time, or ever -will, or ever can, as made the good ship “Adams” from Port au Prince to -Boston harbor. - - * * * * * - -During the two weeks that succeeded the birth of Lucy’s baby, her -grandfather never left the house, but like some wandering spirit of -unrest, moved silently but constantly, in slippered feet, from room to -room, up and down the broad flight of stairs, and back and forth through -the halls. - -Maids and serving men stepped aside when they saw the bent and faltering -figure approaching; James Dunlap had aged more within two weeks than -during any ten years of his life before. His kind and beaming eyes of -but yesterday had lost all save the look of troubled age and weariness. -The ruddy glow bequeathed by temperate youth had vanished from his -countenance in that short time, as mist beneath the rays of the rising -sun. The strong elastic step of seasoned strength had given place to the -shambling gait of aged pantaloon. - -Burton in moody silence kept his room, or venturing out was seen a -changed and altered man, with blood-shot eyes, as if from endless tears, -and haggard, desperate face deeply traced by lines of trouble’s trenches -dug by grief. - -Mrs. Church, the physician, nurse and even the buxom black woman, who -came to give suck to the babe, all, seemed awe struck, distraught, as if -affrighted by some ghostly, awful thing that they had seen. - -And then, too, all seemed to hold some strange, mysterious secret in -common, that in some ways was connected with the recently arrived heir -to the Dunlap proud name and many millions. The frightened conspirators -held so sacred the apartments blessed by the presence of the Dunlap heir, -that none but themselves might enter it, or even, in loyal love for all -who bear their old master’s name, see the babe. One poor maid in loving, -eager curiosity had ventured to peep into the sacred shrine and when -discovered, though she had seen naught of the child, was quickly driven -from the house and lost her cherished employment. - -Lucy Burton from the first hour after the birth of the child was very -ill. For two whole days she hovered, hesitatingly, between life and -death, most of the time entirely unconscious or when not so in a kind of -stupor. But finally, after two days of anxious watching, the physician -and Mrs. Church noticed a change. Lucy opened her eyes and feebly felt -beside her as if seeking something, and finding not what she sought, -weakly motioned Mrs. Church to bend her head down that she might whisper -something in her ear. As her old friend bent over her, she whispered -softly, - -“My baby, bring it.” - -Mrs. Church’s face became so piteous as she turned her appealing eyes -toward the Doctor that, that good man arose and coming to the bedside -took Lucy’s soft white hand in his. He had known her as an infant, and -guessing from Mrs. Church’s face what Lucy wished, he said, - -“Not yet, dear child, you are too ill and weak, and the excitement might -be dangerous in your condition.” - -But Lucy would listen no longer; she shook her head and cried out quite -audibly: - -“Bring me my baby! I want to see it. Every mother wishes to see her -baby.” Tears came rolling from her sweet eyes. - -“But child, the baby boy is not well and to bring him to you might cause -serious conditions to arise.” - -Well did that Doctor know the mother heart. How ready that heart ever -is to suffer and to bleed that the off-spring may be shielded from some -danger or a single pang. - -“I can wait; don’t bring my darling if it will do him harm. A boy! A boy! -My boy! I’ll wait, but where is Walter?” - -The Doctor told the nurse to summon Mr. Burton, but cautioned Lucy not to -excite or agitate herself as she had been quite ill. - -Let him who has seen the look on the condemned felon’s face, when the -poor wretch gazes on the knife within the guillotine, recall that look. -Let him who has seen the last wild, desperate glance of a drowning man, -recall that look, and mingle with these the look of Love at side of -Hope’s death-bed, and thus find the look on Burton’s face when he entered -his wife’s bedroom. - -With arms outstretched she called to the faltering man, - -“Walter, it is a boy! My baby! Your baby! My husband!” - -The man fell, he did not drop, upon his knees by the bedside and burying -his face in the covering wept bitterly. He took her hands, kissed them, -and wet them with his tears. - -“Oh! Don’t weep so, darling. I will soon be well, and Oh! my husband we -have a precious baby boy.” Then she said, as if in the joy of knowing -that her baby was a boy, she had forgotten all else, - -“Tell grandfather to come here. Tell him the boy shall bear his name.” - -The Doctor went himself to bring her grandfather to her. She never -noticed that strange fact. - -James Dunlap, never had you in your seventy-three years of life more need -of strength of mind than now! - -Her grandfather came to her leaning heavily upon the Doctor’s arm. He -bent and kissed her brow, and in so doing dropped a tear upon her cheek. -Quickly she looked up and seeing pain and grief in the white face above -her, she started and in the alarmed voice of a little child, she cried, - -“Am I going to die? Are you all so pale and weep because I am dying? Tell -me Doctor! Why Mamma Church is crying too.” - -She so had called Mrs. Church when a wee maid and sometimes did so still. - -The Doctor seeing that she was flushed and greatly excited hastened to -the bedside and said calmly but most earnestly, - -“No, my dear. You will not die, they are not weeping for that reason, but -you have been very ill and we all love you so much that we weep from -sympathy for you, my dear. Now please lie down. You must my child, and -all must leave the room but nurse and me,” and speaking thus, he gently -pressed the gold-brown head back on the pillows and urged all to leave -the room immediately. - -That night the nurse and Doctor heard the patient often murmur both while -awake and while she slept, - -“My baby, my baby, it’s a boy, my baby.” - -For two or three days after this night Lucy was quite ill again. Her mind -seemed wandering all along the path of her former life, but always the -all over-shadowing subject in all the wanderings of her thoughts was, “My -baby,” “My baby.” Sometimes she called for Jack saying, “Come Jack, and -see my baby,” and then for her uncle, laughing in her sleep and saying -“See, Uncle John, I’ve brought into the world a boy, my baby.” - -When the fever again abated and once more she became conscious her first -words were “My baby, bring it now.” - -For several days the mental resources of the nurse, Doctor and Mrs. -Church were taxed to their utmost in finding excuses for the absence of -the baby. He was not well. He was asleep, she was not well enough and -many other things they told her as reasons for not bringing her baby to -her. - -But, Oh! the piteous pleading in her voice and eyes, as with quivering -lips and fluttering hands extended toward them she would beg, - -“Please bring my baby to me. Every mother wishes to see her baby, to -press it to her breast, to feel its breath upon her cheek, to hold it to -her heart; Oh! Please bring my darling to me.” - -Poor Mrs. Church, no martyr ever suffered more than did that -tender-hearted woman, who loved Lucy with a mother’s heart. - -The Doctor, when he had reassured and quieted, for a little while, his -patient, would leave the room and standing in the hall would wring his -hands and groan, as if in mortal agony. - -One night when Lucy seemed more restful than usual, and was slumbering, -worn out by emotion and watching, the Doctor, lying on a couch in the -hall, fell fast asleep. The nurse, seeing all about her resting, her -charge peacefully and regularly, first became drowsy, nodded and then -slept. - -The gold-brown head was raised cautiously from its pillows, the hazel -eyes wide opened looked about, and seeing that the nurse was sleeping and -that no one was looking, then two little white feet slipped stealthily -from beneath the coverlet, the slim figure rose, left the bed and glided -along the well remembered passage that led from her chamber to that bower -of beauty made for her baby. As she, weak and trembling, stole along, she -smiled and whispered to herself: - -“I will see my baby! I will hold him in my arms, I am his own mother.” - -In the room, that with loving, hopeful hands she had helped to decorate, -the faintest flame gave dim, uncertain light, yet quick she reached the -silver shell-like crib and feeling found no baby there. Hearing a steady, -loud breathing of some one asleep and seeing the indistinct outline -of a bed in one corner of the room, she softly crept to its side and -feeling gently with her soft hands found a tiny figure reposing beside -the snoring sleeper. To gather the baby to the warm breast wherein her -longing, loving heart was beating wildly was the work of only an instant. - -With her babe clutched close to her, she opened her gown and laid its -little head against her soft and snowy bosom, then she stole back, -carrying her treasure to her own chamber. - -Like child that she was, women have much of childish feeling ever in -them. In girlish happiness she closed her eyes and felt her way to the -gas-light, and turned it up full blast, laughing to herself and saying as -she uncovered the baby’s face, - -“I won’t peep. I’ll see my baby’s beauty all at once.” - -She opened her eyes and looked! - -Now, Oh! Mother of the Lord look down! Oh! Christ, who hanging on His -cross for the thief could pity feel, have pity now! - -The thing she held upon her milk white breast was Black—Black with -hideous, misshapen head receding to a point; with staring, rolling eyes -of white set in its inky skin; and features of an apish cast, increased -the horror of the thing. - -My God! That shriek! It pealed through chamber, dome and hall. Again, -again it rang like scream of tortured soul in hell. It roused the horses -in the barn, they neighed in terror, stamped upon the floor and struggled -to be free. The doves in fright forsook their cot. The dogs began to -bark. Yet high above all other sound, that wild, loud scream rang out. - -When the nurse sprang up she dared not move so wild were Lucy’s eyes. The -Doctor, Burton, her grandfather found her standing, hair unbound, glaring -wildly at what crying, lay on the floor. - -“Away, you thieves!” she screamed, and motioned to the door. - -“You have robbed me of my babe, and left that in its stead.” She pointed -at the object on the floor. - -Her grandfather pallid, tottering, moved toward her. - -“Back, old man, back! You stole my child away,” she yelled, her blazing -eyes filled with insane rage and hate. - -“My God! She is mad,” the Doctor cried, and rushing forward caught her as -she fell. - -“Thank God! She has fainted; help me place her on the bed.” - -Burton, petrified by the awfulness of the scene had until that moment -stood like some ghastly, reeling statue, now in an automatic manner he -came forward and helped the Doctor place her on the bed. - -“Look to Mr. Dunlap,” cried the Doctor but ere anyone could reach him the -old man fell forward, crashing on the floor; a stroke of paralysis had -deadened and benumbed his whole right side. - -Chapman was told next day that James Dunlap was dying. Then, for the -first and only time in the life of David Chapman, he disobeyed an order -given by a Dunlap and sent the message to Haiti. - - - - -XIII. - - -“The pilot is mad,” cried one old tar; and said, - -“The master is drunk, or there’s mutiny aboard that ship.” - -Thus spoke among themselves a knot of seafaring men who stood on the -Boston docks watching a ship under almost full sail, that came tearing -before a strong north-east gale into Boston’s crowded harbor. - -The man who held the wheel and guided the ship through the lanes of -sail-less vessels anchored in the harbor, as a skillful driver does his -team in crowded streets, was neither mad nor drunk nor was there mutiny -among the crew. The man was Jack Dunlap; the ship was the “Adams.” - -Jack knew the harbor, as does the dog its kennel. He held a pilot’s -certificate and waiving assistance steered his ship himself in this mad -race with time, that no moment should be lost by lowering sails until the -anchor dropped in Massachusetts sand. - -The crew was ready at the sheets and running gear. Each man at his -station and all attention. Old Brice in the waist stood watching the -skipper ready to pass the word, to “let all go;” Morgan, the second mate, -at the boat davits held the tackle to lower away the yawl the instant the -ship “came round.” - -The skipper at the wheel, stood steady, firm and sure, as though chiseled -from hardest rock. He never shifted his blood-shot eyes from straight -ahead. His strong, determined face, colorless beneath the tan, never -relaxed a line of the intensity that stamped it with sharp angles. The -skipper had not closed his eyes in sleep since leaving Port au Prince nor -had he left the deck for a single hour. - -“Let go all!” the helmsman called and Brice repeated the order. The ship -flew around, like a startled stag and then came, - -“Let go the anchor! Lower away on that boat tackle! Come, Cousin John, -we are opposite Dunlap’s docks. This is Boston harbor, thank God!” So -called Jack Dunlap, springing toward the descending small boat that had -hung at the davits, and dragging the no-way backward old gentleman, John -Dunlap, along with him. - -The only moment lost in Port au Prince before the “Adams” sailed was to -arouse the operator and send a message to Chapman saying that John Dunlap -had left in the “Adams” and was on his way to Boston and his brother’s -bedside. - -When the red ball barred with black streaming from the masthead announced -that a Dunlap ship was entering the port, the information was sent at -once to the city, and an anxious, thin and sorrowing man gave an order -to the driver of the fastest team in the Dunlap stables, to hasten to -Dunlap’s wharf and sprang into the carriage. - -The impatient, scrawny figure of David Chapman caught the eyes of the -two passengers in the yawl, as with lusty strokes the sailors at the -oars urged the small boat toward the steps of the dock. Chapman in his -excitement fairly raced up and down the dock waving his hands toward the -approaching boat. - -“He still lives!” he shouted when they could hear him, instinctively -knowing that, that question was first in the minds of those nearing the -wharf. - -“And Lucy?” said Jack huskily, as he stepped on the dock and grasped -Chapman’s extended hand. Old John Dunlap had said never a word nor looked -right nor left, but springing up the steps with extraordinary agility in -one of his age, had run directly to the waiting carriage. - -“Alive but better dead,” was all that the superintendent could find -breath to say as he ran beside Jack toward the carriage and leaped in. - -“Stop for nothing; put the horses to a gallop,” commanded Mr. Dunlap, -leaning out of the carriage window and addressing the coachman as he -wheeled his horses around and turned upon the street. - -It was at an early hour on Sunday morning when the Dunlaps landed and the -streets were freed from the week day traffic and the number of vehicles -that usually crowded them. - -As the swaying carriage dashed along, Chapman was unable to make the -recently arrived men understand more than that Lucy had suddenly -become deranged as a result of her illness, and that this appalling -circumstance, in connection with his idolized granddaughter’s severe -sickness had produced a paralytic stroke, that had rendered powerless the -entire right side of James Dunlap’s body; that his vitality was so low -and his whole constitution seemed so shaken and undermined by the events -of the last few weeks, that the physicians despaired of his life. - -As the foaming horses were halted before the entrance of the Dunlap -mansion, Mr. John Dunlap jumped from the still swaying vehicle and ran -up the steps, heedless of Mrs. Church and the servants in the hall, he -rushed straight to the well remembered room where, as boys, he and his -brother had slept, and which was still the bed-chamber occupied by Mr. -James Dunlap. - -John Dunlap opened the door and for a moment faltered on the threshold; -then that voice he loved so well called out, - -“Is that my brother John?” The stricken man had recognized his brother’s -footsteps. - -An instant more and John Dunlap had thrown himself across the bed and -his arms were around his brother; for several minutes those two hearts, -which in unison had beaten since first the life-blood pulsated through -them, were pressed together. James Dunlap’s left hand weakly patting his -brother. - -David Chapman had followed, close upon the heels of John Dunlap and -was crouching at the bottom of the bed, with his face hidden by the -bed-clothing that covered his old master’s feet, and was silently -sobbing. When Jack Dunlap entered the hall good Mrs. Church, who had been -a second mother to him while he lived at the Dunlap house in his school -boy days, ran to him and throwing her arms about his neck fell upon his -broad breast, weeping and crying, - -“My boy is home! Thank God for sending you, Jack. We have suffered so, -and needed you so much, my boy!” - -When the sailor man had succeeded in pacifying the distressed old -housekeeper and disengaged himself from her embrace, he hastened after -Chapman. As he entered the room and stepped near the bed he heard a -feeble voice which he scarcely recognized as that of Mr. James Dunlap, -say, - -“It is all my fault John. You, brother, tried to prevent it. I alone am -to blame. I have driven my darling mad and I believe that it will kill -her. I did it Oh God! I did it. Blame no one John; be kind, punish no -one, my brother. I alone am at fault.” - -These words came with the force of a terrible blow to Jack Dunlap, and -halted him in mute and motionless wonder where he was. - -“James, don’t talk that way. I can’t stand it, brother. Whatever you have -done, I know not, and care not, it is noble, just and right and I stand -with you, brother, in whatsoever it may be,” said John Dunlap in a broken -but energetic voice. - -“Has no one told you then, John?” came faintly from the partially -paralyzed lips of him who lay upon the bed. - -“Told me what? Brother James; but no matter what they have to tell, you -are not blamable as you say; I stand by that.” - -Though the voice was husky, there was a challenge in the tone that said, -let no man dare attack my brother. The innate chivalry of the old New -Englander was superior even to his sorrow. - -“Who is in the room beside you, John?” asked James Dunlap, anxious -that something he had to say should not be heard by other than the -trustworthy, and unable to move his head to ascertain. - -“No one, James, but our kinsman, Jack Dunlap, and faithful David -Chapman,” replied his brother. - -The palsied man struggled with some powerful emotion, and by the greatest -effort was only able to utter in a whisper the words, - -“Lucy’s baby is black and impish. The negro blood in Burton caused the -breeding back to a remote ancestor, as, John, you warned me might be the -case. It has driven my granddaughter insane and will cause her death. God -have mercy on me!” The effort and emotion was too much for the weak old -gentleman; his head fell to one side; he had fainted. - -John Dunlap started when he heard these direful words. A look of horror -on his face, but brotherly love stronger than all else caused him to put -aside every thought and endeavor to resuscitate the unconscious man. - -Poor Jack. He had borne manfully much heartache, but the dreadful thing -that he had just heard was too much for even his iron will and nerves. He -collapsed as if a dagger had pierced his heart, and would have fallen to -the floor had he not gripped the bedstead when his legs gave way. - -Chapman raised his head and gazed, with eyes red from weeping, at him -who told the calamitous story of the events that had stricken him down. -There was a dangerous glitter in the red eyes as Chapman sprung to John -Dunlap’s assistance in reviving the senseless man. - -When Jack recovered self-command sufficient to realize what was happening -about him, he found that the physician, who had been summoned, had -administered restoratives and stimulants, and that the patient had -returned to consciousness; that the kind Doctor was trying to comfort the -heartbroken brother of the sufferer even while obliged to admit that the -end of life for James Dunlap was not far distant. - -“Come and get in my bed, Jack,” came in a low and indistinct voice from -the couch of the helpless patient. Captain Dunlap started in surprise, -but old John Dunlap made a motion with his hand and said in a voice -choking with emotion, - -“He always so called me when we were boys,” and lying down by his brother -he put his arms lovingly and protectingly around him. - -Thus the two old men lay side by side as they had done years before in -their cradle. The silence remained for a long time unbroken, save for the -muffled sobs that came from those who watched and grieved in the chamber. - -“How cold it is, Jack, come closer; I’m cold. I broke through the ice -today and got wet but don’t tell mother, she will worry. Jack, don’t tell -on me.” The words were whispered to his brother by the dying man. - -“No, Jim, I’ll not tell, old fellow,” bravely answered John Dunlap, but -a smothered sob shook his shoulders. He knew his brother’s mind was -straying back into the days of their boyhood. - -For what inscrutable cause does the mind of the most aged recur to scenes -and associations of childhood when Death, the dread conqueror, draws -near? Why does the most patriarchal prattle as though still at the mother -knee in that last and saddest hour? Is it because mother, child, in -purity approach nearest to that transcendent pellucidity that surrounds -the throne of Him before whom all must appear? Does the nearness of the -coming hour cast its shadow on the soul, causing it to return to the -period of greatest innocence, and that love that is purest on earth? - -“Jack, hold me, I am slipping, I am going, going, Jack.” - -Alas! James Dunlap had gone on that long, last journey! The noble, kindly -soul had gone to its God. John Dunlap held in his arms the pulseless form -of him who for seventy-three years had been his second self, and whom he -had loved with a devotedness seldom seen in this selfish world of ours. - -To see a strong man weep is painful; to hear him sob is dreadful; but to -listen and look upon the sorrow of a strong and aged man is heartbreaking -and will cause sympathetic tears to flow from eyes of all who are not -flinty-hearted. - -Chapman, when he knew the end had come, clasped the cold feet of his old -employer and wept bitterly; Jack could bear no more. With bursting heart -he fled from the room, but kept the chamber sacred from intrusion, and in -the sole possession of the two old men who sorrowed there. - -The funeral of James Dunlap was attended by the foremost citizens of that -section of the United States, where for so many years he had justly held -a position of honor and prominence. - -The universal gloom and hush that was observable throughout the city of -Boston on the day that the sorrowful cortege followed all that remained -earthly of this esteemed citizen, gave greater evidence of universal -grief than words or weeping could have done. - -While James Dunlap had never held any civic or political position, his -broad charity, unostentatious generosity, kindliness of spirit, constant -thoughtfulness of his fellow men, and the unassuming gentleness of his -lovable disposition and character, gave him an undisputed high place in -the hearts of his fellow citizens of both lofty and lowly condition. - -The chief executive of his native state, jurists, scholars, and -capitalists gathered with rough, weather beaten seafaring men, clerks and -laborers to listen to the final prayer offered up, to Him above, at the -old family vault of the Dunlaps beneath the sighing willow trees. - - * * * * * - -Haggard and worn by the emotions that had wrenched his very soul for the -past two or three weeks, David Chapman dragged himself to the tea-table -where his sister waited on the evening of the day of the funeral -ceremonies. - -With the fidelity of a faithful, loving dog he had held a position during -all of many nights at the feet of him who in life had been his object -of paramount devotion; during those days with unswerving faithfulness -to the house of “J. Dunlap,” he was found leaden hued and worn, but -still attentive, at his desk in the office. The great business must not -suffer, thought the man, even if I drop dead from exhaustion. Neither -John Dunlap nor Walter Burton was in a condition, nor could they force -themselves, to attend to the business of the house no matter how urgent -the need might be. - -When the business of the day ended, Chapman hastened to the Dunlap -mansion, and like a ghostly shadow glided to his position at the feet of -his old employer, speaking to no one and no one saying him nay—it seemed -the sad watcher’s right. - -As David Chapman dropped into a chair at the tea-table, the anxious and -sympathetic sister said, - -“Brother, you really must take some rest. Indeed you must, David, now -that all is over.” - -“Yes, Arabella, I feel utterly exhausted and shall rest.” - -The man’s condition was pitiable; his words came from his throat with the -dry, rasping sound of a file working on hardest steel. - -“What a God-send Jack Dunlap is at this time, sister. He has taken charge -of everything, and in that steady, confident, masterful way of his has -brought order out of the chaos that existed at the mansion. It may be -the training and habits acquired at sea, but no matter what it is the -transformation in the affairs at the house is wonderful. His decisive -manner of directing everything and everybody and the correctness and -promptness with which all people and things are disposed of by him is -phenomenal. I thank Providence for the relief that Jack’s coming has -brought.” - -The total exhaustion of Chapman’s intense energy was best exhibited in -the satisfaction he felt at having some one to assist him even in the -affairs of the Dunlaps. - -“Jack is one of the best and strongest minded men in the world. While -I know that his heart is bleeding for all, especially for Lucy, he has -maintained a self-control that is superb,” said the spinster. - -“When he learned that Lucy’s hallucination led her to believe that -the old family physician had conspired to deprive her of her baby, he -promptly procured the attendance of another doctor, saying positively, -‘Lucy’s mind must not be disturbed by sight of anything or person tending -to aggravate her mental disorder.’ He forbade Mrs. Church going into -Lucy’s apartments, dismissed the nurse and procured a new one, had that -accursed infant put with his nurse into other apartments and did it all -so firmly and quietly that no one dreamed of disputing any order given by -him,” said David wearily, but evidently much relieved with the changes -made by Jack. - -“What of Lucy? How is she?” anxiously questioned Arabella. - -“Her mental faculties are totally disarranged. She has not spoken -coherently since she fell senseless on that dreadful night and was -carried to her bed. Besides, her physical condition is precarious in the -extreme,” replied the brother. - -“Has Jack seen her yet?” inquired the old maid sadly. - -“Yes, and it is very strange how rational she became as soon as she saw -him enter the room. You know, Arabella, the steady, earnest, matter of -fact manner he has. Well, he walked into her room with just that manner, -they say he stopped to steady himself before going in, and said ‘How are -you, Cousin Lucy? I’ve come home to see you,’ and without a quiver took -her extended hands and pressed them to his breast. - -“Lucy knew him at once when he stepped inside the door. She looked -intently at him, then gave a glad, joyful cry and held out her hands, -calling, ‘Jack, Oh Jack! Come to me, my champion! Now all will be well.’ -Then she put her weak, white arms about his neck and began to weep as she -sobbed out, ‘Jack, I have needed you. You said you would come from the -end of the earth to me. I knew you would come; Jack, they have stolen my -angel boy, my baby. Jack, find it, bring it to me. I know you can. You -said until death you would love me, Jack. Oh! find my baby, my darling.’” - -“Poor Lucy! Poor Jack!” broke in the old lady, as tears of pity ran down -her withered cheek. - -“But think of the strength of the man, Arabella. You and I know what -he was suffering. Yet he answered with never a waver in his voice, -‘All right, little cousin, I am here and no harm shall come to you. -I’ll help you, but you must be a good little girl and stay quiet and -get well. Shall I have my mother come to sit with you?’ She cried out -at once, ‘Please do, Jack, Cousin Martha did not steal my baby,’ and -then he insisted that she put her head back on the pillow and close her -eyes. When she did so Jack had the courage to sit on the bedside and -sing softly some old song about the sea that they had sung together when -children. The poor girl fell fast asleep as he sung, but still clung to -Jack’s brown hand.” - -Chapman gave a groan when he finished as if the harrowing scene was -before him. - -“Blessings on the stout hearted boy,” whimpered the old lady. - -“Lucy never calls, as formerly, for her grandfather or husband. In -fact, when Burton entered her room after that awful night she flew -into a perfect frenzy, accusing him of stealing her child and putting -some imp that, at some time, she had seen in Florida, in his place, -notwithstanding his protestations and entreaties. Her mad fury increased -to such a degree that the doctor insisted that Burton should leave the -room, and has forbidden him to again visit his wife until there is a -change in her mental condition. Of course, Lucy knows nothing of the -death of her grandfather.” The man’s voice became choked as he uttered -the last sentence. - -“Have Jack and Mr. Burton been together since Jack’s return?” inquired -Arabella, after a long silence. - -“I think not, except once when they were closeted in the library for two -hours the day after Jack arrived. When they came out I was in the hall -and heard Jack say, as he left the library with Burton, ‘I shall hold -you to your promise. You must wait until my cousin be in a condition of -mind to express her wishes in that matter.’ Jack’s voice was firm and -emphatic and his face was very stern. Burton replied, ‘I gave you my word -of honor.’ He seemed in great distress and mental anguish. My opinion -is that he had proposed disappearing forever, and I think so for the -reason that he had asked me to dispose of a great amount of his personal -securities, and to bring him currency for the proceeds in bills of large -denomination, and Jack must have objected,” rejoined Chapman. - -“I am sorry for Mr. Burton and am glad Jack would not let him go away,” -said the kind spinster. - -“Well I am not,” cried Chapman savagely, notwithstanding his fatigue. - -“They would better let him go. This misfortune is the physical one that -long ago I told you was possible. The next may be spiritual and result in -some emotional or fanatic outburst of barbarous religious fervor that may -again disgrace us all. Then may develop the bestial propensities of the -sensual nature of savages and may result in crime and ruin the house of -Dunlap forever.” - -“David, go to bed and rest. You are worn out and conjure up imaginary -horrors purely by reason of nervousness and weariness,” said the sister -soothingly. - -“You maintained months ago that the danger of breeding back was -imaginary. What do you think now? The other things that I suggest as -possible, are inherent in Burton’s blood and may tell their story yet.” - -Chapman, though weak, became vehement immediately upon the mention of -this unfortunate subject. It required all the persuasion and diplomacy -of his good sister to get him to desist and finally to retire to his bed -room for the rest that was so needed by the worn out man. - - - - -XIV. - - -“You have been a tower of strength to me, Jack, in the grief and trouble -of the last three months. I don’t know what would have become of us all -without your aid and comfort.” - -So spoke Mr. John Dunlap. He appeared many years older than he did when -three months before he arrived in Boston on board the “Adams.” He was -bent, and care worn. Deep sorrow had taken the fire and mirth from his -honest, kindly eyes. - -“I am rejoiced and repaid if I have been able to be of service to those -whom I love, and who have always been so kind to me,” replied Jack Dunlap -simply. - -The two men were seated in the library of the Dunlap mansion in the -closing hour of that late November day, watching the heavy snow flakes -falling without. - -“Jack, I have meditated for several days upon what I am about to say and -can find no way but to beg you to make more sacrifices for us,” said the -old gentleman, after a lapse of several minutes. - -“The condition in which our family is demands the presence of some -younger, stronger head and hand than mine is now. I know the ‘Adams’ is -refitted, after her two years of service, and ready for sea. I know you, -my lad, and your reluctance to remain idle when you think that you should -be at work.” - -“To be frank, sir, you have hit upon a subject about which I desired to -talk with you but have hesitated for several days,” said the young man, -with something of relief in his tone. - -“Well then, Jack, to begin with, I wish to charter your ship for a voyage -and to show that it is no subterfuge to hold you here, I say at once I -wish you to sail in her.” Mr. Dunlap paused for a moment to note the -effect of his proposal and then continued, - -“Let me go over the situation, Jack, and tell me if you do not agree -in my conclusions. Lucy, while apparently restored in a degree to her -former health, is still weak and looks fragile. The physicians advise -me to take her to a warmer climate before our New England Winter sets -in. Her dementia still continues, and while she is perfectly gentle and -harmless, she will neither tolerate the presence of her husband, nor poor -Mrs. Church, and is even not pleased or quiet in my company. I think -my likeness to my beloved brother affects her. She clings to your good -mother and to you, my lad, with the confident affection of a child. When -she is not softly singing, as she rocks and smiles in a heartrending, -far-off-way, some baby lullaby, she is flitting about the house like -some sweet and sorrowful shadow. Can we, Jack, expose our girl in this -condition to the unsympathetic gaze of strangers?” - -“No, no, a thousand times no!” was the quick and emphatic answer of the -younger man. - -“Now listen, Jack. Since the death of that poor, little misshapen black -creature, which innocently brought so much trouble into our lives, and, -Jack, your thoughtfulness in having it buried quietly in Bedford instead -of here is something I shall never forget. But to return to Lucy: Since -that object is out of the way, and after the consultation of those great -specialists in mental disorder cases, I am led to hope that Lucy may be -restored to us in all the glory of her former mental condition.” - -“God speed the day,” exclaimed Jack fervently and reverently. - -“The specialists affirm that as this aberration of mind was produced by -a shock and as there is no inherited insanity involved in the case, that -the restoration may occur at any moment in the most unexpected manner. A -surprise, shock or some accident may instantly produce the joyful change. - -“It is for that very reason that I have insisted that Burton should -remain near at hand, and ready to respond to a call from the restored -wife for her husband’s presence. We must bear in mind the fact that -Lucy, before this hallucination, was devotedly attached to her husband -and grandfather. With the return of her reason we may justly expect the -return of her former affections and feelings,” interrupted Jack by way -of explanation of something he had done. - -“I know that, Jack, and approve of your course, but I am only a weak -human creature, and notwithstanding the injunction of my dying brother -to blame no one, I cannot eradicate from my mind a feeling of animosity -toward Burton. I know that he is not culpable, but still I should be -glad to have him pass out of our lives, if it were not for the probable -effect upon Lucy if she ever be restored to reason. However, I was not -displeased by his decision to return to his own house, the ‘Eyrie,’ until -his presence was required here.” - -“Burton’s position, sir, has been a very trying one. I may say a very -dreadful one, and I think that he has acted in a very manly, courageous -manner, sir, and I think it our duty, as Christian men, to put aside even -our natural repugnance to the author of our misfortune and be lenient -toward one who has suffered as well as ourselves.” - -The young sailor stopped, hesitated, and then jerked out the words - -“And to be frank and outspoken with you, sir, by heavens! I am saving -him for Lucy’s sake; if she wish him, when she know all, she shall have -him safe and sound if it cost my life.” There was a fierce determination -in Jack’s voice that boded no good to Burton should he attempt to -disappear, nor to any one who attempted to injure the man whom Lucy’s -loyal sailor knight was safe-keeping for his hopeless love’s sake. - -“Jack, I love you, lad.” was all that the old Dunlap said, but he knew -and felt the grandeur of the character of the man, who pressed the dagger -down into his own heart, to save a single pang to the woman whom he loved -so unselfishly. - -“But to resume the recital of my plans and our situation,” said the old -gentleman settling back in his chair. He had leaned forward to pat Jack -on the shoulder. - -“We agree that Lucy cannot be subjected to the scrutiny and criticism of -strangers. I propose, that as the physicians advise a warmer climate, -to charter the ‘Adams,’ have the cabin remodeled to accommodate Lucy, -your mother, the nurse and Lucy’s maid, and to take them all with me to -Haiti, just as soon as the changes in the accommodations on your ship can -be made.” - -“Burton goes with us, of course,” said Jack, assertively. - -“Well, I had not determined that point. What do you think?” - -“Decidedly, yes! The business may suffer, but let it. What is business in -comparison to the restoration of Lucy?” cried Jack in an aggressive tone -of voice. - -“It shall be as you think best, my lad. The business will not suffer -in any event, for since Burton’s return to his position as manager, he -has in some extraordinary manner become worthless in the management -of the affairs of the house. He does not inspire the respect that he -did formerly nor does he seem to possess the same self-confidence and -decision of character that marked his manner before the events of the -past few weeks. I don’t know what I should have done had it not been for -Chapman. He has taken full charge of everything and will continue in -control while I am absent, if you decide to take Burton along.” - -“You surprise me, sir. I had noticed no alteration in Burton’s manner,” -exclaimed Jack, sincerely astonished at what he heard. - -“That is quite likely as he seems to regard you with a kind of awed -respect, but nevertheless what I state is an absolute fact. When first he -made his appearance at the office he endeavored by a brave, bold front to -resume his position, but somehow his attempt was a lamentable failure. -He seemed to feel that everyone was aware that there was something -sham about his assumed dignity and authority and like an urchin caught -masquerading in his father’s coat and hat, he has discarded the borrowed -garments and relapsed into the character that nature gave him. Burton’s -succeeding efforts to impress the office force and people with whom we do -business with a sense of his importance have been absurdly laughable,” -said Mr. Dunlap. - -“The secret of the child, and all that concerns our family is confined -to our own people, and a few old and faithful friends, is it not?” asked -Jack in an anxious, troubled voice. - -“Certainly, but that apparently does not lessen Burton’s sense of being -garbed in stolen apparel. I can notice the dignity and culture of the -white race growing less day by day in Burton’s speech and manner, just as -frost-pictures on a window pane lessen each hour in the rays of the sun -until naught remains but the naked and bared glass.” - -“What will be the end of all this, if you be correct?” cried Jack. - -“One by one the purloined habiliments of the superior race will disappear -until finally he will stand forth stripped of the acquired veneering -created by the culture of the white race, a negro. This transformation, -which I think time will effect, recalls to me an example of the -inordinate vanity and love of parading in borrowed plumage common to the -negro race. During one of the numerous insurrections in Haiti I used -to see one of the major generals of the insurgents—they had a dozen -for every hundred privates—a big black fellow, strut about, puffed up -with assumed importance and dignity. In less than one week after the -insurrection was suppressed he was at my door selling fish. While there -he began to ‘pat Juba,’ as he called it, and dance, giggling with -childish glee and winding up the performance by begging me for a quarter. -There you see the negro of it. Prick the balloon and when the borrowed -elevating gas escapes the skin collapses immediately,” said John Dunlap, -with the positiveness of a prophet. - -“God grant that the end be not as you surmise or let God in His mercy -continue our Lucy in her present condition. It were more merciful. -History gives the records of men of the negro race who did not end their -lives in the manner you suggest, however,” replied Jack, extracting a -crumb of comfort from the last statement. - -“True! my lad, true! There have been white elephants and white crows; in -every forest occasionally a rare bird is found. So with the negro race, -rare exceptions to the general rule do appear but so infrequently as to -only accentuate the accuracy of the general rule.” - - * * * * * - -Walter Burton was seated at a table in his bedroom at the “Eyrie.” Before -him were scattered letters, papers and writing material. It was late at -night and he had evidently been engaged in assorting and destroying the -contents of an iron box placed beside him on the floor. His elbows were -on the table and his chin rested in both of his hands while he gazed -meditatively at the flame in the lamp before him. - -“I am, oh! so weary of this farce. How I long to be able to run away and -be free,” he sighed as he said this to himself. After a little while he -continued. - -“The farce has been played to the final act. I know it. What is the use -to continue upon the stage longer? Should Lucy’s mind return to its -normal condition she must be informed of what has transpired and then -my happiness will terminate anyhow. Of what earthly use is it for me to -remain here. She might call for me at first, but only to repulse me at -last. I am tolerated by old John Dunlap, hated or despised by the others -except the noblest of them all, Jack Dunlap. He relies upon my word of -honor. I must not lose his respect. I would to God I had given another -the promise not to disappear.” - -The man paused for some time in his soliloquy and then broke out again -by exclaiming, - -“The moment that the nurse showed the child to me a curtain of darkness -seemed to roll back. I saw clearly what produced the strange spells -that for so long have mystified me. I am a negro. My blood and natural -inclinations are those common to the descendants of Ham. It matters -not that my skin is white, I am still a negro. The acquirement of the -education, culture and refinement of the white race has made no change in -my blood and inherent instincts. I am ever a negro. Like a jaded harlot I -may paint my face with the hues of health but I am like her, a diseased -imitator of the healthy. I may have every outward and visible sign but -the inward and spiritual grace of the white race is not and can never be -mine. I am a wretched sham, fraud and libel upon the white race with my -fair skin and affected manner.” - -The man’s arms fell upon the table and he hid his head in them and -groaned. Thus he remained for a short time, then raised his head and -cried out, - -“I even doubt that my Christianity is genuine and not a hollow mockery! -The doctrine of Mahomet is received more readily, and practiced more -consistently by my native race in its ancient home of Africa than the -pure and elevating teachings of Christ. The laws of Mahomet seem more -consistent with the sensual nature of my race than the chaste commands -of Christ. History relates that Islamism is able to turn an African -negro from idolatry where the Christian religion utterly fails. Are my -protestations of faith in Christianity like my refinement, culture and -manners, merely outward manifestations in imitation of the white race and -as deceitful as is the color of my skin?” - -Burton sat silent for several moments and then said in a tone of sad -reminiscence. - -“I recall how everything in the Christian religion or service that -appealed to the emotional element within me aroused me, but is my -nature as a negro, susceptible of receiving, retaining and appreciating -permanently the truths of that purest and noblest of all faiths?” Again -the man paused as if silently struggling to solve the problem suggested. - -“It has of late, I know, become the fashion to refuse to accept -the Scriptures literally, but there is one prophecy concerning the -descendants of Ham which thousands of years have demonstrated as true.” - -“The sculpture of that oldest of civilizations, the mother of all -culture, the Egyptian, proves beyond a doubt that the children of Ham -came in contact with the source of Greek and Roman culture yet they -advanced not one step. The profiles of some even of the early Pharaohs -as seen on their tombs furnish unmistakable proof of that contact in the -Negroid type of the features of Egypt’s rulers.” - -“The Romans carried civilization to every people whom they conquered and -to those who escaped the Roman domination they bequeathed an impetus that -urged them forward, with the single exception of the accursed Hamites.” - -“The Arabs occupied Northern Africa and kept burning the torch of -civilization in the chaos of the Dark Ages in Europe. The Arabs -fraternized more freely with the sons of Ham than all other branches of -the human race, but failed to push, pull or drive them along the highway -of culture.” - -“The negro race seems bound by that old Scriptural prophecy concerning -the descendants of Ham. It does not advance beyond being the hewers of -wood and drawers of water for the balance of mankind, notwithstanding -five thousand years of opportunity and inducement.” - -“The negro race in Africa, its ancestral land, can point to no ruined -temples, no not even mounds like can the American Indians. It borrowed -not even the art of laying stones from Egypt. It has no written language -though the Phoenicians gave that blessing to the world. It has no -religion worthy of the name, neither laws nor well defined language. -Notwithstanding its association with Egyptian, Roman and Arabian culture -and civilization, fountains for all of the thirsty white race, the negro -race has benefited not at all. It is where it was five thousand years -ago. God’s will be done!” - -Burton paused while a sneer came to his lips when he began again speaking. - -“Haiti, after decades of freedom, starting with the benefits conferred -by the religion and civilization of one of the leading nations of earth, -is the home today of ignorance, slothfulness and superstition. Every -improvement made by the former white rulers neglected and passing away. -In the hands of the white race it had now been a Paradise. Liberia is as -dead, stagnant and torpid as if progress had vanished with the fostering -care of the white nations that founded that republic.” - -The young man ceased in recapitulating the failures of his race, but -added with a sigh, - -“In America! Well one may grow oranges in New England by covering the -trees with glass and heating the conservatory, but break the glass or let -the fire expire and the orange trees die. Break the civilization of the -white race in America like the glass, let the fire of its culture become -extinguished and alas for the exotic race and its artificial progress.” - -“But enough of my race,” exclaimed Burton impatiently as he arose from -the table and began walking about the room. - -“Formerly I tried to curb an inclination that was incomprehensible. Now -that I know the cause I rather enjoy the relapses into my natural self. I -welcome the casting aside of the mask and affectation of the unreal. It -is a relief. The restraint imposed by the presence of those who know me -for what I am, is irksome. I long all day for the freedom of my isolation -here in the ‘Eyrie’ where no prying eye is finely discriminating the -real from the sham. I loath the office and the association there. Each -day I seem to drop a link of the chain that binds me to an artificial -existence.” - -Suddenly an idea seemed to present some new phase to the soliloquizing -man. He put his hand to his head as if in pain, and cried out, - -“But the end! What shall it be?” - - - - -XV. - - -“It was good of you Jack, to have Mr. Dunlap invite me to dine with -him this evening. I am deucedly weary of the ‘off colored,’” exclaimed -Lieutenant Tom Maxon as he and his companion, Captain Jack Dunlap walked -in the twilight through the outskirts of Port au Prince. - -“To tell you the truth, Tom, I was not thinking of your pleasure in the -visit half so much as I was about my old kinsman’s. You see we have been -here a month, and as my Cousin Lucy is an invalid and sees no company, -Mr. Dunlap has divided his great rambling house into two parts. He and -Burton occupy one part and the women folk the other; I join them as -often as possible but as Burton is exceedingly popular with the dusky -Haitians and often absent, my old cousin is apt to be lonely. I thought -your habitual jolliness would do him good, and at the same time secure -you a fine dinner, excellent wine and the best cigars in Haiti; hence the -invitation.” - -“How is Mrs. Burton? I remember her from the days when you, the little -Princess and I used to make ‘Rome howl’ in the Dunlap attic.” - -“Lucy is much improved by the sea voyage and change of climate, but must -have absolute quiet. For that reason my mother keeps up an establishment -in one part of the house to insure against noise, or intrusion,” said -Jack. - -“I hope that you didn’t promise much jollity on my part this evening, old -chum, for the thought of our little Princess being an invalid and under -the same roof knocks all the laugh and joke out of even a mirthful idiot -like Tom Maxon,” said the lieutenant. - -“It’s sailing rather close to tears, I confess, Tom, but I do wish you -to cheer the old gentleman up some if you can,” replied Jack as they -strolled along the highway between dense masses of tropical foliage. - -“I say, Jack, is Mr. Dunlap’s place much further? I don’t half like its -location,” said Maxon as he looked about him and noticed the absence of -houses and the thick underbrush. - -“Why? What’s the matter with it? Are you leg weary already, you -sea-swab?” cried Dunlap laughing. - -“Not a bit; but I’ll tell you something that may be a little imprudent -in a naval officer, but still I think you ought to know. The American -Consul fears some trouble from the blacks on account of the concessions -that Dictator Dupree was forced to grant the whites before the English -and American bankers would make the loan that Mr. Dunlap negotiated. The -rumor is that the ignorant blacks from the mountains blame your kinsman -and mutter threats against him. When Admiral Snave received the order at -Gibraltar to call at Port au Prince on our way home with the flag-ship -Delaware and one cruiser, we all suspected something was up, and after we -arrived and the old fighting-cock placed guards at the American Consulate -we felt sure of it,” replied Lieutenant Tom seriously. - -“Oh! pshaw, these black fellows are always muttering and threatening but -it ends at that,” said Jack with a contemptuous gesture. - -“‘Luff round,’ shipmate,” suddenly called Tom Maxon grabbing hold of -Jack’s arm and pointing through a break in the jungle that lined the -roadway. - -“Isn’t that a queer combination over there by that dead tree?” continued -the officer directing Jack’s gaze to a cleared spot on the edge of the -forest. - -In the dim light could be distinguished the figure of a well-dressed man, -who was not black, in earnest conversation with a bent old hag of a black -woman who rested her hand familiarly and affectionately upon his arm. -Dunlap started when he first glanced at them. The figure and dress of the -man was strangely similar to that of Walter Burton. - -“Some go-between in a dusky love affair doubtless,” said Jack shortly as -he moved on. - -“Well, I think I could select a better looking Cupid,” exclaimed Tom -laughing at the suggestion of the old witch playing the part of love’s -messenger. - -“By the way, Jack, speaking of Cupid, I received a peculiar communication -at Gibraltar. It was only a clipping from some society paper but -this was what it said: ‘Mr. T. DeMontmorency Jones has sailed in his -magnificent yacht the “Bessie” for the Mediterranean, where he will -spend the winter. _En passant_, rumor says the engagement between Mr. -Jones and one of Boston’s most popular belles has been terminated.’ -This same spindle shanked popinjay of a millionaire was sailing in the -wake of my _inamorata_ and was said to have cut me out of the race -after my Trafalgar. So, when I tell you, old chap, that the writing on -the envelope looks suspiciously like the chirography of Miss Elizabeth -Winthrop, you can guess why I can sing - - ‘There’s a sweetheart over the sea’ - ‘And she’s awaiting there for me.’” - -The light-hearted lieutenant aroused the birds from their roosts by the -gusto of his boisterous baritone in his improvised song. He stopped short -and said abruptly, - -“Jack, why the deuce didn’t you fall in love with the little Princess and -marry her yourself?” - -“Hold hard, Tom. My cousin Lucy is the object of too much serious concern -to us all to be made the subject of jest just now, even by you, comrade, -and what you ask is infernal nonsense anyhow,” replied Jack, somewhat -confused and with more heat than seemed justifiable. - -“Oh! I beg your pardon, Jack. You know that I’m such a thoughtless fool, -I didn’t think how the question might sound,” said Tom quickly, in -embarrassment. - -Captain Dunlap made no mistake in promising the lieutenant of the U.S.N. -a good dinner, rare wine and fine cigars. John Dunlap in the desert of -Sahara would have surrounded himself, somehow, with all the accessories -necessary to an ideal host. - -Good-natured Tom Maxon exercised himself to the utmost in cheering the -old gentleman and dispelling any loneliness or gloom that he might -feel. Tom told amusing anecdotes of the irascible admiral, recounted -odd experiences and funny incidents in his term of service among the -Philippinoes and Chinese; he sang queer parodies on popular ballads, -and rollicking, jolly sea songs until the old gentleman, temporarily -forgetting his care and grief, was laughing like a schoolboy. - -When they were seated, feet upon the railing, _a la Americaine_, on the -broad piazza, listening to the songs of the tropical night birds, as they -smoked their cigars, the lieutenant recalled the subject of the location -of Mr. Dunlap’s house, by saying, - -“I mentioned to Jack, while on my way here, sir, that it seemed to me -that you would be safer nearer the American Consulate in case any trouble -should arise concerning the concessions to the whites made by Dupree.” - -“Oh! I don’t think that there is any occasion for alarm. To bluff and -bluster is part of the negro nature. The whole talk is inspired by -the agitation caused by the Voo Doo priests and priestesses among the -superstitious blacks from the mountains. By the way, Jack, our old friend -the witch who wished to sail in your ship with us when we left for -Boston, still haunts my premises.” As if to corroborate what the speaker -had just said, a wailing chant arose on the tranquil night air, coming -from just beyond the wall around the garden, - - “Oh! Tu Konk, my Tu Konk” - “Send back the black blood.” - -“There she is now,” exclaimed Jack and Mr. Dunlap at the same time. - -“My black boy who waits at the table told me that the old crone was -holding meetings nightly in worship of Voo Doo, and that too in the very -suburbs of the city,” said Mr. Dunlap when the sound of old Sybella’s -voice died away in the distance. - -“Where is Burton tonight?” asked Jack as if recalling something. - -“I don’t know. When he does not appear at the established dinner hour I -take it for granted that he is at the club in the city or dining with -some of his newly made friends. He is quite popular here, being a Haitian -himself,” replied the old gentleman. - - * * * * * - -It was late that night when Walter Burton entered the apartments reserved -for his exclusive use in the house of John Dunlap. Throwing off his coat -he sat down in a great easy chair in the moonlight by the open window and -lighted a cigar. - -“I wish that I were free to fly to the mountains and hide myself here in -Haiti among my own people forever,” sighed the young man glancing away -off to the shadowy outline of the hills against the moonlit sky. - -“The sensation of being pitied is humiliating and hateful, and that was -what I endured during the voyage from Boston, and have suffered ever -since I arrived and have been in enforced association with the Dunlaps. -The devoted love for Lucy, my wife, is a source of pain, not pleasure. -Her unreasoning antipathy now is more bearable than will surely be the -repulsion that must arise if, when restored to reason, she learn that I -am the author of the cause of her disappointment, horror and dementia. -Woe is mine under any circumstances! The evil consequences of attempted -amalgamation of the negro and white races are not borne alone by the -white participants but fall as heavily upon those of the negro blood who -share in the abortive effort.” - -Burton seemed to ruminate for a long while, smoking in silence, then he -muttered, - -“Am I much happier when with my own race? Hardly! When I am in the -society of even the most highly cultivated Haitian negroes I am unable -to free myself from the thought that we are much like a lot of monkeys, -such as Italian street musicians carry with them. We negroes are togged -out in the dignity, education and culture of the white race, but we are -only aping the natural, self-evolved civilization and culture of the -whites. The clothing does not fit us, the garments were not cut according -to our mental and moral measurements, and we appear ridiculous when we -don the borrowed trappings of the white race’s mind, and pompously strut -before an amused and jeering world.” - -“When I imagined the mantle that I wore was my own it set lightly and -comfortably on me. Now that I realize that it is the property of another, -it has become cumbersome, unwieldy, awkward and is slipping rapidly from -my shoulders.” - -“On the other side of the subject are equal difficulties. If, weary of -imitation and affectation, I seek the society of my race in all its -natural purity and ignorance, my senses have become so acute, softened -and made tender by the long use of my borrowed mantle that I am shocked, -horrified or disgusted. Oh! Son of Ham, escape from the doom pronounced -against you while yet time was new seems impossible. In My Book it is -writ, saith the Lord!” - -In melancholy musing the man tortured by so many contrary emotions and -feelings, sat silently gazing at the distant stars and then cried out in -anguish of spirit, - -“Oh! that I should be forced to feel that the Creator of all this grand -universe is unjust! That I should regard education and culture as a curse -to those foredoomed to be hewers of wood and drawers of water. That I -should realize that refinement is a cankerous limb, a clog and hindrance -to a negro, unfitting him for association with his own race and yet -impotent to change those innate characteristics inherited by him from his -ancestors, that disqualify him from homogeneousness with the white race.” - -The young man’s voice was full of despair and even something of reproach -as his subtle intellect wove the meshes of the adamantine condition that -bound him helpless, in agony, to the rack of race inferiority. - -“Mother Sybella, who has proven herself my great-grandmother, urges -me to fly and seek among my own people that surcease from suffering -unattainable among the whites. While she fascinates me, she fills me with -horror. I am drawn toward her yet I am repelled by something loathsome -in the association with her. She seems to possess hypnotic power over my -senses; she leads me by some magnetic influence that exerts control over -the negro portion of my nature.” - -“I am ashamed to be seen by the white people, especially the Dunlaps, -in familiar conversation with the grandmother of my mother, but in our -secret and frequent interviews she has told me much that I was unaware -of concerning my ancestors and my mother. I have promised to attend a -meeting of my kinsmen tomorrow night, which will be held in a secluded -spot near the city, whither she herself will guide me. I do not wish to -go. I did not wish to make the promise and appointment to meet her, but -was compelled by the overmastering power she wields over the natural -proclivities within me. I must meet her and go with her.” - -The struggle in the dual nature of the man between the contending forces -of the innate and the acquired was obvious in the reluctant tone in -which, while he admitted that he would obey the innate, he lamented the -abandonment of the acquired. - -“I must go, I feel that I must! My destiny was written ere Shem, Ham -and Japhet separated to people the world. I bow to the inevitable! I am -pledged to Dupree for dinner tomorrow evening, but I shall excuse myself -early, and keep my appointment with Mother Sybella, and accompany her to -the meeting of my kindred.” - - - - -XVI. - - -The cleared spot selected by Mother Sybella as the scene of her mystic -ceremonies and the gathering place of the worshipers of Voo Doo, -though scarcely beyond the outskirts of the city, was so screened by -the umbrageous growth of tropical forest, interlaced with vanilla and -grape-vines that festoon every woodland of Haiti, that its presence was -not even suspected save by the initiated. - -On the night that Dictator Dupree entertained, among other guests the -wealthy Haitian, Walter Burton, partner in the great American house of -“J. Dunlap,” and husband of the heiress to the millions accumulated by -the long line of “J. Dunlaps” which had controlled the Haitian trade with -the United States, a strange and uncanny drama was enacted almost within -sound of the music that enlivened the Dictator’s banquet. - -Through trees entwined by gigantic vines, resembling monstrous writhing -serpents, glided silently many dark forms carrying blazing torches of -resinous wood to guide the flitting figures through the intricacies of -the hardly definable pathways that ran in serpentine indistinctness -toward the clear spot, where Mother Sybella had set up the altar of -Tu Konk, and was calling her children to worship by the booming of an -immense red drum upon which she beat at short intervals. - -In the center of the clearing, coiled upon the stump of a large tree, -was a huge black snake, that occasionally reared its head and, waving it -from side to side, emitted a fearful hissing sound as it shot forth its -scarlet, flame-like tongue. - -Torches and bonfires illuminated the spot and cast gleams of light upon -the dark faces and distended, white and rolling eyes of the men and women -who, squatting in a circle back in the shade of the underbrush, chanted a -monotonous dirge-like invocation to the Voo Doo divinity called by them -Tu Konk, and supposed to dwell in the loathsome body of the serpent on -the stump. - -By almost imperceptible degrees the blows upon the drum increased in -frequency; old Sybella seemed some tireless fiend incarnate as gradually -she animated the multitude and quickened the growing excitement of her -emotional listeners by the ceaseless booming of her improved tom-tom. -Soon the forest began to resound with hollow bellowing of conch shells -carried by many of the squatters about the circle. The chant became -quicker. Shouting took the place of the droning monotonous incantations -to Tu Konk. - -Higher and higher grew the gale of excitement. The shouting grew in -volume and intensity. Wild whoops mingled with the more sonorous shouts -that made the forest reverberate. - -Suddenly the half-clad figure of a man sprang into the circle of light -that girded the stump whereon the now irritated snake was hissing -continuously. The man was bare to the waist and without covering on his -legs and feet below the knees; his eyes glared about him, the revolving -white balls in their ebony colored setting was something terrifying to -behold. The man uttered whoop after whoop and began shuffling sideways -around the stump, every moment adding to the rapidity and violence of his -motions until shortly he was madly bounding into the air and with savage -shouts tearing at the wool on his head, while white foam flecked his bare -black breast. - -The man’s madness became contagious. Figure after figure sprang within -the lighted space about the serpent. Men, women, and even children all -more or less nude, the few garments worn presenting a heterogeneal -kaleidoscope of vivid, garish colors as the frenzied dancers whirled -about in the irregular light of the torches and bonfires. - -Soon spouting streams of red stained the glistening black bodies, and -joined the tide of white foam pouring from the protruding, gaping, -blubber lips of the howling, frantic worshipers. - -The fanatic followers of Voo Dooism were wounding themselves in the -delirium of irresponsible emotion. Blood gushed from long gashes made by -sharp knives on cheeks, breasts, backs and limbs. The gyrations of the -gory, crazed and howling mass were hideous to behold. - -When the tempest of curbless frenzy seemed to have reached a point -beyond which increase appeared impossible, old Sybella rushed forward, -like the wraith of the ancient witch of Endor, dashing the dancers aside, -springing to the stump she seized the snake and winding its shining coils -about her she waved aloft the long, glittering blade of the knife that -she held in hand, and shrieked out, in the voice of an infuriated fiend, - -“Bring forth the hornless goat. Let Tu Konk taste the blood of the -hornless one!” - -A crowd of perfectly naked and bleeding men darted forward bearing in -their midst an entirely nude girl, who in a perfect paroxysm of terror -fought, writhed and struggled fearfully, yelling wildly all the time, in -the grip of her merciless and insensate captors. - -The men stretched the screaming wretch across the stump on which the -snake had rested, pressed back the agonized girl’s head until her slender -neck was drawn taut. Quick as the serpent’s darting tongue, Sybella’s -bright, sharp blade descended, severing at one stroke the head almost -from the quivering body. - -A fiercer, wilder cry arose from the insane devotees as a great tub -nearly full of fiery native rum was placed to catch the gushing stream -that flowed in a crimson torrent from the still twitching body of the -sacrifice to Voo Doo. - -Sybella stirred the horrible mixture of blood and rum with a ladle, made -of an infant’s skull affixed to a shin-bone of an adult human being, and -having replaced the snake upon his throne, on the stump, in an abject -posture presented to the serpent the ladle filled with the nauseating -stuff. The re-incarnate Tu Konk thrust his head repeatedly into the -skull-bowl and scattered drops of the scarlet liquid over his black and -shining coils. - -Then Sybella using the skull-ladle began filling enormous dippers made -of gourds, that the eager, maddened crowd about the Voo Doo altar held -expectantly forth, craving a portion in the libation to Tu Konk. - -The maniacal host gorged themselves with the loathsome fluid, gulped down -in frenzied haste, great draughts of that devilish brew, from the large -calabashes that Sybella filled. - -Now hell itself broke forth. No longer were the worshipers men and -women. The lid was lifted from hell’s deepest, most fiendish caldron. A -crew of damned demons was spewed out upon earth. With demoniac screams -that rent the calmness of the night, they beat and gashed themselves, -their slabbering, thick lips slapping together as they gibbered, like -insane monkeys, sending flying showers of foam over their bare and -bleeding bodies. Human imps of hell’s creation fell senseless to the -ground or writhing in hideous, inhuman convulsions twined their distorted -limbs about the furious dancers who stamped upon their hellish faces and -brought the dancers shrieking to the earth. - -In the midst of this pandemonium, redolent with the odor of inferno, -a dark figure, that, crouched in the deep shade of the clustering -palm plants, and covered with a dark mantle, had remained unnoticed a -spectator of the scene, sprang up, hurled to one side the concealing -cloak and bounded toward the stump whereon the serpent hissed defiance at -his adorers. - -With an unearthly yell, half-groan, half-moan, but all insane, frantic -and wild, the neophyte leaped about in erratic gyrations of adoration -before the snake, that embodiment of Tu Konk, the Voo Doo divinity. - -As whirling and, in an ecstacy of emotion, waving aloft his hands the -howling dancer turned and the light of the bonfire fell upon his face, -the brutalized features of Walter Burton were revealed. - -Those refined, aesthetic features that had made the man “the observed of -all observers” at Miss Stanhope’s musicale in Boston, had scarcely been -recognized as the same in the strangely flattened nose, the thickened -lips, the popped and rolling eyes of the man who, in the forest glade of -Haiti danced before the Voo Doo god Tu Konk the serpent. - -Burton’s evening dress was torn and disarranged, his hair disheveled, his -immaculate linen spotted with blood, his shoes broken and muddy, his face -contorted and agonized, as twisting and squirming in every limb he sprang -and leaped in a fiercely violent dance before the snake. Yells of long -pent-up savage fury rang through the dank night air, as Burton threw back -his head and whooped in barbarous license. - -Sybella’s flashing eyes gleamed with joy as she gazed at this reclaimed -scion of the negro race. She stole toward the flying figure that spun -around, transported to the acme of insane emotion, singing in triumphant -screeches as she crept forward, - - “Tu Konk, the Great one - Tu Konk, I thank thee - Back comes black blood - No longer childless - Tu Konk, I praise thee.” - - * * * * * - -Mr. Dunlap was aroused at daylight by a messenger wearing the naval -uniform of the United States, who waited below with an important -communication from Lieutenant Maxon. - -Two hours before Mr. Dunlap heard the rap on his bedroom door, a pale -and trembling figure, clothed in a dilapidated evening suit, had slunk -stealthily past his chamber and entered the apartments occupied by the -husband of the Dunlap heiress. - - “Dear Mr. Dunlap.—I am instructed by Admiral Snave to inform - you that an uprising of the blacks is imminent; that it will - be impossible to protect you in your exposed position should - such an event take place. The admiral suggests that you remove - your family at once to the American Consulate, where protection - will be furnished all Americans. Very respectfully, - - Thomas Maxon, Lieut. U.S.N.” - - “P.S.—Please adopt the Admiral’s suggestion. I think you had - better let Jack know about this. - - T.M.” - -Such were the contents of the letter of which the U.S. marine was bearer -and it was answered as follows: - - “Dear Mr. Maxon.—Express my gratitude to Admiral Snave for - the suggestion, but be good enough to add that the health - of my niece demands absolute quiet and that I shall remain - here instead of going to the crowded Consulate; that I deem - any disturbance as exceedingly improbable from my intimate - acquaintance with the character of the natives of this island. - - Very respectfully, - - J. Dunlap. - - P.S.—Will notify Jack to bring a man or two from his ship to - guard premises for a night or so.” - -In the evening, as the shadows of night fell upon the house of Mr. John -Dunlap and the owls began to flutter from their roosts and hoot, Mr. -Brice, first officer, and McLeod, the big, bony carpenter of the “Adams” -were seated on the steps of the piazza in quiet contentment, puffing -the good cigars furnished by Mr. Dunlap after, what seemed to them, a -sumptuous banquet. - -“I declare, Jack, were it not that the consequences might be serious, I -should rather enjoy seeing long-limbed Brice and that wild, red-haired -Scotchman of yours, led by you, charging an angry mob of blacks, armed -with those antiquated cutlasses that your fellows brought from the ship. -The blacks would surely run in pure fright at the supposed resurrection -of the ancient buccaneers. No scene in a comic opera could compare with -what you and your men would present,” said Mr. Dunlap in an amused tone, -as he rocked back and forth in an easy chair on the veranda, and chatted -with his namesake, Jack. - -“It might be amusing to you, sir,” replied Jack laughing, “but it -would be death to any black who came within the swing of either of the -cutlasses carried by Brice and McLeod. I picked up a half dozen of those -old swords at a sale in Manila, and decorated my cabin with them. When I -told the men that there might be a fight they could find no other weapons -on board ship so denuded my cabin of its decorations and brought them -along. Of course I have a revolver but in a rush those old cutlasses -could do fearful execution. They are heavy and as sharp as razors.” - -“While I am unwilling to take even a remote risk with Lucy and your -mother in the house, still in my opinion there is not one chance in a -million that anything but bluff and bluster will come of this muttering. -Admiral Snave is always anxious for a fight, and the wish is father of -the thought in this alarm,” said the old gentleman. - -“Why isn’t Burton here?” asked Jack almost angrily. - -“He is up stairs. He has been feeling ill all day and asked not to be -disturbed unless he be needed. I shall let him rest. However, he has a -revolver and is an excellent shot and will prove a valuable aid to us -should the fools attempt to molest the premises.” - -For an hour or two Brice and McLeod exchanged an occasional word -or two but gradually these brief speeches became less frequent and -finally ceased altogether. Mr. Dunlap and Jack carried on a desultory -conversation for some time, but had sat in silent communion with their -own thoughts for possibly an hour when, under the somnific influence -of the night songsters, the Scotch ship-carpenter yawned, rose to his -feet and stretched his long, hairy arms. He paused in the act and thrust -forward his head to catch some indistinct sound, then growled, - -“I hear murmuring like surf on a lee-shore.” - -Brice arose and listened for a minute then called out, - -“Captain, I hear the sound of bare feet pattering on the highway.” - -Jack was on his feet in an instant and ran down the walk to the gate in -the high brick wall that surrounded the premises. He came running back -almost immediately and said in low voice as he reached the piazza. - -“There is a mob coming toward the house, along the road leading from the -mountains. They carry torches and may mean mischief. Cousin John, will -you have Burton called and will you please remain here to look after the -women. Brice you and McLeod get cutlasses and bring me one also. We will -meet the mob at the gate.” - -“Oh! It is nothing Jack, maybe a negro frolic. No use arousing Burton,” -said the elder Dunlap. - -“If you please, sir, do as I ask. I will be prepared in any event,” said -Jack Dunlap tersely. - -“All right, Commander, the laugh will be at your expense,” cried the -amused old gentleman as he ordered a servant to call Burton. - -Jack and his two stalwart supporters had barely reached the gate when the -advance guard of the savage horde of black mountaineers appeared before -it. Instantly it flashed upon the mind of the skipper that if he barred -the gate, that then part of the mob might go around and break over the -wall in the rear of the house and attack the defenceless women. - -“Throw open the gate, McLeod, we will meet them here,” commanded Captain -Dunlap, and turning as some one touched his shoulder, he found Burton at -his side, very pale and but half clad, with a revolver in his hand. - -“Glad you are here, Burton.” - -“I did not have time to put on my shoes.” said Burton. - -The main body of the mob now came up and gathered about the open gate. -The men were armed with clubs and knives and some few, who were evidently -woodsmen, carried axes. Many torches shed their light over the black -and brutal faces, making them appear more ebony by the white and angry -eyes that glared at the men who stood ready to do battle just within the -gateway. - -“I wish you people to understand that if you attempt to enter this gate -many of you will be killed.” - -Young Dunlap spoke in a quiet voice, as he stood between the pillars of -the gate, but there was such an unmistakable menace in the steady tone -that even the ignorant barbarians understood what he meant. - -For the space of a minute of time the mob hesitated. Suddenly a tall -woodsman struck a sweeping, chopping blow with his ax. The skipper sprang -aside just in time, and as quick as a flash of lightning a stream of -flame poured out of the pistol he held in his hand, and that woodsman -would never chop wood again. - -Brice and McLeod had cast aside their coats, and with their long, sinewy -arms bared to the elbows, cutlasses grasped in their strong hands, they -were by Jack’s side in a second. - -As the pistol shot rang out it seemed to give the signal for an assault. -With a howl, like wild and enraged animals, the mob rushed upon the men -at the gate. The rush was met by the rapid discharge of the revolvers -held by Dunlap and Burton; for a moment it was checked, then a shrill -voice was heard screaming high above the howling of the savages, - -“Kill the white cow! She has stolen our son from us! Kill the Yankee -robbers! Spare my black goat!” - -Sybella could be heard though concealed by the tall black men of the -mountains who again hurled themselves on the white men who guarded the -gateway. - -The revolvers were empty. Jack sent his flying into a black face as he -gripped the hilt of his cutlass and joined old Brice and the carpenter in -the deadly reaping they were doing. Burton having no other weapon than -the revolver, threw it aside and seized a club that had dropped from the -hands of one of the slain blacks. - -The sweep of those old cutlasses in the powerful hands that held them was -awful, magnificent; no matter what may have been the history of those -old blades they had never been wielded as now. But numbers began to tell -and the infuriated negroes fought like fiends, urged on by the old siren -Sybella who shrieked out a kind of battle song of the blacks. - -How long the four held back the hundreds none can tell, but it seemed an -age to the fast wearying men who held the gate. A blow from an ax split -McLeod’s head and he fell dead without even a groan. Brice turned as he -heard his shipmate fall and received a stunning smash on the temple from -a club that felled him like an ox in the shambles. - -[Illustration: “He recklessly rushed in front of Burton.” - -Page 286] - -Jack saw Burton, who was fighting furiously, beset by two savage blacks -armed with axes stuck on long poles. In that supreme moment of peril the -thought of Lucy’s sorrow at loss of her husband, should she be restored -to reason, came to the mind of the great hearted sailor. He recklessly -rushed in front of Burton, severed at a stroke of his sword the arm of -one of Burton’s assailants, and caught the descending ax of the other -when within an inch of the head of the man who had taken the place in -Lucy’s love that he had hoped for. - -Jack Dunlap’s cutlass warded off the blow from Burton but the sharp ax -glanced along the blade and was buried in the broad breast of Lucy’s -knight, and he fell across the bodies of his faithful followers, Brice -and McLeod; Jack’s fast deafening ears caught sound of— - -“Follow me, lads, give them cold steel. Don’t shoot. You may hit friends! -Charge!” - -Tom Maxon’s voice was far from jolly now. There was death in every note -of it as, at the head of a body of United States Blue-jackets, he dashed -in among the black barbarians. When he caught sight of the prostrate, -bleeding form of his old school-fellow he raged like a wounded lion -among Sybella’s savage followers. - -As the lieutenant saw that the range of fire was free from his friends, -he cried out, hoarse with passion, - -“Fire at will. Give them hell!” and he emptied his own revolver into the -huddled crowd of mountaineers, who still stood, brave to recklessness, -hesitating about what to do against the new adversaries. - -The repeating rifles of the Americans soon covered the roadway with dark -corpses. Long lanes were cut by the rapid fire through the black mass. -With howls and yells of mingled terror, rage and disappointment the -mob broke and taking to the jungle disappeared in the darkness of the -adjacent forest. - -A sailor kicked aside what he thought was a bundle of rags, and started -back as the torch that he bore revealed the open, fangless mouth and -snake-like, glaring eyes of an old crone of a woman who in death seemed -even more horrible than in life. - -A rifle ball, at close range, had shattered Mother Sybella’s skull. - - - - -XVII. - - -All established rules of the house of “J. Dunlap” were as the laws of the -Medes and Persians to David Chapman, inviolable. When the hour of twelve -struck and neither Mr. John Dunlap nor Mr. Burton appeared at the office, -the Superintendent immediately proceeded to the residence of Mr. Dunlap. - -“I am sorry, Chapman, to have given you the trouble of coming out here, -but the fact is I am not so strong as formerly, and I expected that -Burton would be at the office and thought a day of repose might benefit -me,” remarked Mr. John Dunlap as Chapman entered his library carrying a -bundle of papers this March afternoon. - -“Mr. Burton has only been at the office once within the past week and not -more than a dozen times since you all returned from Haiti some two months -ago,” replied the Superintendent, methodically arranging the various -memoranda on the large library table. - -“First in order of date is as follows: Douglass and McPherson, the -solicitors at Glasgow, write that they have purchased the annuity for -old Mrs. McLeod and that the income secured to her is far larger than -any possible comfort or even luxury can require; they also say that the -lot in the graveyard has been secured and that the mother of the dead -ship carpenter is filled with gratitude for the granite stone you have -provided to mark her son’s grave and that no nobler epitaph for any -Scotsman could be carved than the one suggested by you to be cut on the -stone, ‘Died defending innocent women;’ they expect the body to arrive -within a few days and will follow instructions concerning the reinterment -of the remains of gallant McLeod; they add that beyond all expenditures -ordered they will hold a balance to our credit and ask what is your -pleasure concerning same, that the four thousand pounds remitted by you -was far too large a sum.” - -“Far too small! Tell them to buy a cottage for McLeod’s mother and -draw at sight for more money, that the cottage may be a good one. Why! -Chapman, McLeod was a hero; but they were all of them that. He, however, -gave his life in our defense and there is no money value that can repay -that debt to him and his,” exclaimed Mr. Dunlap earnestly, and leaning -forward in the excitement that the recollection of the past recalled, -continued: - -“David, the dead were heaped about the spot where McLeod, Brice and Jack -fell like corded fire-wood. When I could leave the women, Lieutenant -Maxon and his men had dispersed the blacks, I fairly waded in blood to -reach the place where Maxon and Burton were bending over Jack. It was a -fearful sight. It had been an awful struggle, but it was all awful that -night. I dared not leave the women, yet I knew that even my weak help was -needed at the gate. Had my messenger not met Maxon on the road, to whom -notice of the intended attack had been given by a friendly black, we had -all been killed.” - -The excited old gentleman paused to regain his breath and resumed the -story of that dreadful experience. - -“Martha Dunlap is the kind of woman to be mother of a hero. She was as -calm and brave as her son and helped me like a real heroine in keeping -the others quiet. We told Lucy it was only a jubilee among the natives -and that they were shouting and shooting off firearms in their sport -along the highway. God forgive me for the falsehood, but it served to -keep our poor girl perfectly calm and she does not even now know to the -contrary.” Mr. Dunlap reverently inclined his head when he spoke of that -most excusable lie that he had told. - -“Jack does not get all of his nerve and courage from the Dunlap blood, -that is sure! When the surgeon was examining the great gash in his -breast, Martha stood at his side and held the basin; her hand never -trembled though her tearless face was as white as snow. All the others -of us, I fear, were blubbering like babies, I know, anyhow Tom Maxon was -whimpering more like a lass than the brave and terrible fighter that he -is. When the surgeon gave us the joyful news that the blow of the ax had -been stopped by the strong breast bone over our boy’s brave heart, we -were all ready to shout with gladness, but Martha then, woman like, broke -down and began weeping.” - -There was rather a suspicious moisture in the eyes of the relator of the -scene, as he thought over the occurrences of that night in Haiti. Even -though all danger was past and his beloved namesake, Jack Dunlap, was -now so far recovered as to be able to walk about, true somewhat paler in -complexion and with one arm bound across his breast, but entirely beyond -danger from the blow of the desperate Haitian axman. - -“That fighting devil of an American admiral soon cleared Port au Prince -of the insurgents and wished me to take up my residence at the consulate, -but I had enough of Haiti, for awhile anyway. So as soon as Jack could -safely be moved, and old Brice, whose skull must be made of iron, had -come around sufficiently after that smashing blow in the head, to take -command of the ‘Adams’ and navigate her to Boston, I bundled everybody -belonging to me aboard and sailed for home.” The word home came with a -sigh of relief from Mr. Dunlap’s lips as he settled back in his chair. - -“When we heard of your frightful experience, I had some faint hope that -the shock might have restored Mrs. Burton to her normal condition of -mind,” said Chapman. - -“Well, in the first place Lucy learned nothing concerning the affair, -and was simply told when she called for Jack that he was not well and -would be absent from her for a short time. But even had she received a -nervous shock from the harrowing events of that night, the experts in -mental disorders inform me that it is most unlikely that any good result -could have been produced; that as the primary cause of her dementia is -disappointed hope, expectation, and the recoil of the purest and best -outpouring of her heart, that the only shock at all probable to bring -about the desired change must come from a similar source,” answered Mr. -Dunlap. - -“To proceed with my report,” said the Superintendent glancing over some -papers. - -“Lieutenant Maxon is not wealthy, in fact, has only his pay from the -United States, and while his family is one of the oldest and most highly -respected in Massachusetts all the members of it are far from rich. The -watch ordered made in New York will be finished by the time the U.S. -Ship Delaware arrives, which will not be before next month.” - -“That all being as you have ascertained, I am going to make a requisition -upon your ingenuity, David. You must secure the placing in Maxon’s hands -of twenty one-thousand dollar bills with no other explanation than that -it is from ‘an admirer.’ The handsome, gay fellow may think some doting -old dowager sent it to him. The watch I will present as a slight token -of my friendship when I have him here to dine with me, and he can never -suspect me in the money matter.” Mr. Dunlap chuckled at the deep cunning -of the diabolical scheme. - -Chapman evidently was accustomed to the unstinted munificence of the -house of Dunlap, for he accepted the instruction quite as a mere detail -of the business, made a few notes and with his pen held between his teeth -as he folded the paper, mumbled: - -“I’ll see that he gets the money all right, sir, without knowing where it -comes from.” - -“Here are several things that Mr. Burton, who is familiar with the -preceding transactions, should pass upon, but as he is so seldom at the -office, I have had no opportunity to lay them before him,” continued the -ever vigilant Chapman, turning over a number of documents. - -“I know even less than you do about Burton’s department, so make out the -best way that you can under the circumstances.” - -“Is Mr. Burton ill, sir, or what is the reason why he is absent from -the office so much?” asked Chapman, to whom it seemed that the greatest -deprivation in life must be loss of ability to be present daily in the -office of J. Dunlap. - -“I am utterly at a loss to explain Burton’s conduct, especially since -our return from Haiti. He is morbid, melancholy, and seems to avoid -the society of all those who formerly were his chosen associates and -companions. He calls or sends here daily with religious regularity to -ascertain the condition of Lucy’s health, and occasionally asks Jack -to accompany him on a ride behind his fine team. You know that he is -aware that Jack saved his life by taking the blow on his own breast that -was aimed at Burton’s head. He was devoted to Jack on the voyage home -and here, until Jack’s recovery was assured beyond a doubt, but now he -acts so peculiarly that I don’t know what to make of him,” replied the -perplexed old gentleman. - -“Humph! Humph!” grunted Chapman, in a disparaging tone, and resumed the -examination of the sheets of paper before him. Selecting one, he said: - -“I find Malloy, the father of the girl, who was the victim of that -nameless crime and afterward murdered, to be a respectable, worthy man, -poor, but in need of no assistance. He is a porter at Brown Brothers. -It appears that the girl, who was only fifteen years of age, was one of -the nursery maids in the Greenleaf family, and had obtained permission -to visit her father’s home on the night of the crime and was on her way -there when she was assaulted.” - -“What has been done by the Police Department?” asked Mr. Dunlap eagerly. - -“To tell the truth, very little. The detectives seem mystified by a crime -of so rare occurrence in our section that it has shocked the whole of -New England. However, I know what would have happened had the crowd -assembled around Malloy’s house when the body was brought home, been able -to lay hands on the perpetrator of the deed, the whole police force of -Boston notwithstanding.” - -“What do you mean, David?” - -“I mean that the wretch would have been lynched,” exclaimed Chapman. - -“That had been a disgrace to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts,” said the -old gentleman warmly. - -“That may or may not be, sir. Malloy and his friends are all peaceable, -law-abiding citizens. Malloy was almost a maniac, not at the death of his -child but the rest of the crime, and the agony of the heartbroken father -was too much for the human nature of his neighbors, and human nature is -the same in New England as elsewhere in our land.” - -“But the law will punish crime and must be respected no matter what may -be the provocation to ignore its regular administration of justice,” said -Mr. Dunlap with a judicial air. - -“Truth is, sir, that one can hardly comprehend a father’s feelings under -such circumstances, and I don’t imagine there is a great difference -between the paternal heart in Massachusetts and in Mississippi. Human -nature is much alike in the same race in every clime. Men of the North -may occasionally be slower to wrath but are fearfully in earnest when -aroused by an outrage,” rejoined Chapman. - -“I frankly confess, David, that I recognize that it is one thing for me -to sit here calmly in my library and coolly discuss a crime in which I -have no direct personal interest, and announce that justice according -to written law only should be administered, but it would be quite a -different state of mind with which I should regard this crime if one of -my own family were the victim of the brute’s attack. I fear then I should -forget about my calm theory of allowing the regular execution of justice -and everything else, even my age and hoary head, and be foremost in -seeking quick revenge on the wretch,” said the old New Englander hotly. - -“Knowing you and your family as I do, sir, I’ll make oath that you would -head the mob of lynchers.” - -“My brother James, who was the soul of honor and a citizen of whom -the Commonwealth was justly proud, was very liberal in his opinion of -lynching for this crime. It was the single criminal act for which his -noble, charitable heart could find no excuse. I think even my brother -James, model citizen though he was, would have been a law-forgetting man -under such circumstances.” - -Old John Dunlap’s voice grew soft and tender when he mentioned the -name of his beloved brother, and either Chapman became extraordinarily -near-sighted or the papers in his hand required close scrutiny. - -“I have published the notice of the reward of one thousand dollars -offered by our house for the capture of the perpetrator of the crime,” -said the Superintendent rather huskily, changing the subject from that of -the character of his old master. - -“That is well, we are the oldest business house in Boston, and none can -think it presumptuous that we should be anxious to erase this stain from -the escutcheon of our Commonwealth. I wish every inducement offered that -may lead to the apprehension of the criminal.” Mr. Dunlap stopped short -as if suddenly some new idea had occurred to his mind, and then exclaimed: - -“David, you possess a wonderful faculty for fathoming deep and complex -mysteries. Why don’t you seek to discover the perpetrator of this -horrible crime?” - -David Chapman was not in the habit of blushing, but certainly his -cheeks took on an unusually bright crimson hue, as Mr. Dunlap asked -the question, and he answered in a somewhat abashed manner, as though -detected in some act of youthful folly. - -“I confess, sir, that I am making a little investigation in my own way. -There are a few trifling circumstances and fragments of evidence left by -the criminal that were considered unworthy of attention by the police -that I am tracing up, like an amateur Sherlock Holmes.” - -“Good for you, David! May you succeed in unearthing the brutal villain! -You have carte-blanche to draw on the house for any expense that your -search may entail. Go ahead! I will stand by you!” cried John Dunlap -enthusiastically. - - - - -XVIII. - - -“The abysmal depth of degradation has now been reached; I no longer, even -in my moments of affected refinement, attempt to conceal the fact from -myself, the gauzy veil of acquisition no longer deceives even me, it long -since failed to deceive others.” - -What evil genii of metamorphosis had transformed the debonair Walter -Burton into the wretched, slovenly, brutalized being who, grunting, gave -utterance to such sentiments, while stretched, in unkempt abandonment, on -a disordered couch in the center of the unswept and neglected music-room -in the ‘Eyrie’ early on this March morning? - -Even the linen of the once fastidious model of masculine cleanliness -was soiled, and the delights of the bath seemed quite unknown to the -heavy-eyed, listless lounger on the couch. - -“I have abandoned useless effort to rehabilitate myself in the misfit -garments of a civilization and culture for which the configuration of my -mental structure, by nature, renders me unsuited. My child indicated the -off-springs natural to me. My emotion and actions in the forest of Haiti -gave evidence of the degree of the pure spirit of religion to be found -in my inmost soul, and my conduct, following natural inclinations, since -my return to Boston, has demonstrated how little control civilization, -morality, or pity have over my inherent savage nature.” - -The man seemed in a peculiar way to derive some satisfaction from -rehearsing the story of his hopeless condition, and in the fact that he -had reached the limit of descent. - -“I should have fled to the mountains of Haiti, had I not been led to -fight against my own kinsmen. For the moment I was blinded by the -thread-bare thought that I was of the white instead of black race, and -when I had time to free my mind from that old misleading idea, my hands -were stained with the blood of my own race. I was obliged to leave Haiti -or suffer the fate that ever overtakes a traitor to his race.” - -“There is no hope of the restoration of my wife’s mental faculties, -and even should there be that is all the more reason for my fleeing -from Boston and forever disappearing, I retain enough of the borrowed -refinement of the whites in my recollection to know that as I am now I -should be loathesome to her.” - -“Here, I must shun the sight of those who know me, realizing that I -can no longer appear in the assumed character that I formerly did. -Here, I skulk the streets at night in the apparel of a tramp seeking -gratification of proclivities that are natural to me.” - -“I know that I must leave this city and country as quickly as possible. -The long repressed desires natural to me break forth with a fury that -renders me oblivious to consequences and my own safety. Repression by -civilization and culture foreign to a race but serves to increase the -violence of the outburst when the barrier once is broken.” - -“I will go to the office today, secure some private documents and notify -Mr. Dunlap that I desire to withdraw at once from the firm of J. Dunlap. -I will nerve myself for one more act in the farce. I will don the costume -in which I paraded the stage so long for one more occasion.” - -Burton arose slowly from his recumbent position as if reluctant to resume -even for a day a character that had become tiresome and obnoxious to his -negro nature. - - * * * * * - -David Chapman had on several occasions made suggestions to the head of -the Police Department in Boston that had resulted in the detection and -apprehension of elusive criminals. Unlike many professional detectives, -Chief O’Brien welcomed the aid of amateurs and listened respectfully -to theories, sometimes ridiculous, but occasionally suggestive of the -correct solution of an apparently incomprehensible crime. - -The deductive method of solving the problem of a mysterious crime -employed by Chapman was not alone interesting to the Chief of Detectives, -but appeared wonderful in the correctness of the conclusions obtained. -He therefore gave eager attention to what Chapman communicated to -him while seated in the Chief’s private office on the evening of the -day that Burton visited the office of J. Dunlap to secure his private -correspondence and documents. - -“In the first place, Chief, as soon as I learned the details of this -Malloy crime, I decided that the perpetrator of it was of the negro -race,” said Chapman, methodically arranging a number of slips of paper -on the Chief’s desk, at which he sat confronting O’Brien on the opposite -side. - -“How did you arrive at that decision?” said the detective. - -“Well, as you are aware, for you laughed at me often enough when you ran -across me with my black associates, I ‘slummed’ among the negroes for -months to gain some knowledge of the negro nature”. - -“Yes, I know that and often wondered at your persistent prosecution of -such a disagreeable undertaking,” said O’Brien. - -“I learned in that investigation that beneath the surface of careless, -thoughtless gaiety and good nature there lies a tremendous amount of -cruelty and brutal savagery in the negro nature; that dire results have -been caused by a misconception of the negro character on this point to -those associated with them; that while sensual satiety produces lassitude -in other races, in the negro race it engenders a lust for blood that -almost invariably results in the murder of the victim of a brutal attack. -I checked the correctness of my conclusions by an examination of all -obtainable records and completely verified the accuracy of my deduction.” - -“That had not occurred to me before,” said the Chief frankly; “now that -you mention it, I think from the record of that crime, as it recurs to me -at this moment, that your statement is true.” - -“The next step was to look for the particular individual of the negro -race who could fit in with the trifling evidence in your possession, -which you so readily submitted to me. From the mold taken by your men -of the criminal’s foot-prints it is evident that his feet were small -and clad in expensive shoes. In the shape of the imprints I find -corroboration of my premise that the author of the crime was of the negro -race. The fragment of finger nail embedded in the girl’s throat, under a -microscope reveals the fact that, while the nail was not free from dirt, -it had recently been under the manipulation of a manicure and was not -of thick, coarse grain like a manual laborer’s nails,” said the amateur -detective glancing at his notes. - -“Yes, I agree in all that, Mr. Chapman. Go ahead; what follows?” remarked -O’Brien. - -“We have then a negro, but one not engaged in the usual employment of -the negro residents in Boston, to look for; next you found clutched in -the fingers of the dead girl two threads of brownish color and coarse -material, together with a fragment of paper like a part of an envelope on -which was written a few notes of music.” - -“Yes, and I defy the devil to make anything result from such -infinitesimal particles of evidence,” exclaimed the professional -detective. - -“Well, I’m not the devil.” said Chapman, quietly proceeding to -recapitulate the process adopted by him. - -“From the few notes—you know that I am something of a musician—I began, -_poco a poco_, as they say in music, to reconstruct the tune of which -the few notes were a part. As I proceeded, going over the notes time and -again on my violoncello, I became convinced that I had heard that wild -tune before, and am now able to say where and when.” - -“Wonderful, perfectly wonderful if you can, Chapman,” cried the -thoroughly interested Chief. - -“What next?” O’Brien asked, impatient at the calmness of the man on the -opposite side of the desk. - -“To-day I saw the finger that the fragment of nail found in the girl’s -neck would fit, and one finger-nail had been broken and was gone,” -continued Chapman, by great effort restraining the evidence of the -exultation that he felt. - -“Where, man, where? And whose was the hand?” gasped O’Brien. - -“Wait a moment! Upon reflection I realized that the only part of a man’s -apparel likely to give way in a desperate struggle would be a coat -pocket; that the hand of the girl had grasped the edge of the pocket and -in so doing had closed upon an old envelope in the pocket, which was torn -and remained in her hand with a couple of threads from the cloth of the -coat when the murderer finally wrenched the coat out of her lifeless -fingers.” - -“Quite likely,” exclaimed the Chief impatiently. - -“But hurry along, man,” urged the officer. - -“This afternoon I examined under the most powerful microscope procurable -in Boston the threads that your assistant has in safe keeping. I -recognized the color and material of which those threads are made. I know -the coat whence the threads came, and the owner of the coat,” declared -Chapman emphatically. - -“His name,” almost yelled the astonished detective. - -“David Chapman,” was the cool and triumphant reply. - -The Chief glared at the exultant amateur with wonder, in which a doubt of -the man’s sanity was mingled. - -“It is the coat of the suit I wore while ‘slumming’ in my investigations -concerning the negro race. It has hung in my private closet in the office -until some time within the last two months, when it was abstracted by -some one having keys to the private offices of J. Dunlap. Mr. Dunlap, -Walter Burton and I alone possess such keys. Burton, like me, is tall and -slim, the suit will fit him; Burton is of the negro race; I heard Burton -play the tune of which the few notes are part when I went to his house on -the only occasion that I ever visited the ‘Eyrie;’ Burton’s shoes—I tried -an old one today which was left at the office some months ago—exactly -fit the tracks left by the murderer. Burton having no suit that he could -wear as a disguise while rambling the streets in search of adventure, -found and appropriated my old ‘slumming’ suit. You will find that suit, -blood-stained, the coat pocket torn, now hidden somewhere in the ‘Eyrie’ -if it be not destroyed. Walter Burton is guilty of the Malloy assault -and murder!” Chapman had risen from his chair, his face was aflame with -vindictiveness and passion, his small eyes blazing with satisfied hatred -as he almost yelled, in his excitement, the denunciation of Burton. - -“Great God! man, it can’t be,” gasped the Chief of Detectives, saying as -he regained his breath, - -“Burton and the Dunlaps are not people to make mistakes with in such a -horrible case as this.” - -“Burton has withdrawn from our firm. He has provided himself with a large -sum of currency. He is leaving the country. Tomorrow night he dines -with Mr. Dunlap to complete the arrangements for the severance of his -relations with the house of J. Dunlap. Captain Jack Dunlap will dine with -Mr. Dunlap on that occasion, and I shall be there to draw up any papers -required. The coast will be clear at the ‘Eyrie;’ go there upon the -pretext of arresting Victor, Burton’s valet, on the charge of larceny; -search throughout the premises; if you find the garments, and the coat -is in the condition I describe, come at once to the Dunlap mansion and -arrest the murderer, or it will be too late, the bird will have flown.” -The veins in Chapman’s brow and neck were fairly bursting through the -skin, so intense were the passion and vehemence of the man who, straining -forward, shouted out directions to the detective. - -O’Brien sat for several minutes in silence, buried in deep meditation, -glancing ever and anon at Chapman, who, chafing with impatience, fairly -danced before the desk. The official arose and, walking to the window, -stood for some time gazing out upon the lighted street below. Suddenly he -turned and came back to Chapman, whom he held by the lapel of the coat, -while he said, - -“Chapman, I know that you hate Burton. I know also of your fidelity to -the Dunlaps. You would never have told this to me, even as much as you -hate Burton, if it were not true. This disclosure and disgrace, if it be -as you suspect, will wound those dear to you.” - -This phase of the situation had evidently not occurred to David Chapman -in his zeal for satisfaction to his all-consuming hatred of Burton. He -dropped his eyes, nervously clasped and unclasped his hands, while his -face paled as he faltered out, - -“Well—maybe you had best not act upon my suggestions; I may be all wrong.” - -“There, Mr. Chapman, is where I can’t agree with you. I am a sworn -officer of this commonwealth, and, by heavens! I would arrest the -governor of the state if I knew it to be my duty. Not all the money of -the Dunlaps or in the whole of Massachusetts could prevent me from laying -my hand on Walter Burton and placing him under arrest for the murder of -the Malloy girl, if I find the clothing you mention in the condition you -describe. I shall wait to make the search at the ‘Eyrie’ until tomorrow -night, that if there be a mistake it shall not be an irreparable one,” -said the conscientious Chief of Detectives sternly, in a determined tone -of voice. - -“But I may be mistaken,” urged the agitated amateur detective. - -“You have convinced me that there are grounds for your statements; I know -them now, and, knowing them, by my oath of office, must take action,” -quietly replied O’Brien. - -“Then promise to keep my connection with the case a secret, except what -may be required of me as a witness subpoenaed to appear and testify,” -cried the now remorseful Chapman. - -“That I will, and readily too, as it is but a small favor in comparison -to the great aid you have been to our department, and is not in conflict -with my duty. I shall also collect and hand over to you all of the -reward.” - -“Never mind the reward; keep it for your pension fund,” replied the -regretful Superintendent of J. Dunlap, who had played detective once too -often and too well for his own peace of mind. - - - - -XIX - - -Never had there assembled beneath the roof of the Dunlap mansion since -the old house was constructed, a company so entirely uncomfortable as -that around the table in the library on the night that Walter Burton -dined for the last time with Mr. Dunlap. - -John Dunlap’s mind was filled with doubts concerning what was his duty -with regard to Burton, having due consideration for the memory of his -deceased brother, and as to what would have been the wish of that beloved -brother under existing circumstances. Recognizing, as John Dunlap did, -the influence that his personal antipathy for Burton had upon his -conduct, he was nervous and uncomfortable. - -Burton felt the restraint imposed upon him irksome, even for the time of -this brief and final visit to the home where his best emotions had been -aroused, and the purest delights of his artificial existence enjoyed. He -was anxious to be gone, to be free, to forget, and was impatient of delay. - -Jack Dunlap, pale and somewhat thin, still carrying his arm bound to -his breast, felt the weight of the responsibility resting upon him in -releasing Lucy’s husband from a promise that for months had held him near -her should the husband’s presence be required at any moment, and was -correspondingly silent and meditative. - -Nervous, expectant and fearful, David Chapman sat only half attentive -to what was said or done around him. His ears were strained to catch -the first sound that announced the coming of the visitors which he now -dreaded. - -“The terms of the settlement of my interest in your house, Mr. Dunlap, -are entirely too liberal to me, and I only accept them because of my -anxiety to be freed from the cares of business at the earliest possible -moment, and am unwilling to await the report of examining accountants,” -said Walter Burton as he glanced over the paper submitted to him by -Chapman. - -“Do you expect to leave the city at once?” asked Mr. Dunlap in a -hesitating, doubtful voice. - -“Yes, I will make a tour through the Southern States, probably go to -California and may return and take a trip to Europe. I have promised -Captain Dunlap to keep your house informed of my movements and address at -all times, and shall immediately respond, by promptly returning, if my -presence in Boston be called for,” replied Burton. - -“I confess, Burton, that my mind is not free from doubt as to the -propriety of allowing you to withdraw from our house. I should like to -act as my brother James would have done. His wishes are as binding upon -me now as when he lived,” said Mr. Dunlap in a low and troubled voice. - -“It is needless to rehearse the painful story of the last few months, -Mr. Dunlap. Had your brother lived he must have perceived the total -vanity of some of his most cherished wishes regarding the union of his -granddaughter and myself. Heirs to his name and estate must be impossible -from that union under the unalterable conditions. My wife’s dementia and -her irrational aversion to my presence would have influenced him as it -does you and me, and—I might as well say it—I am aware of the fact and -realize the naturalness of the sentiment. I am _persona non grata_ here.” - -There was a tinge of bitterness in the closing sentence and Burton -accompanied it with a defiant manner that evinced much concealed -resentment. - -As Burton ceased speaking, the eyes of the four men sitting at the table -turned to the door, hearing it open. The footman who had opened it had -hardly crossed the threshold when he was pushed aside by the firm hand of -Chief of Detectives O’Brien, who, in full uniform, followed by a man in -citizens’ dress carrying a bundle under his arm, entered the room. - -Mr. Dunlap hurriedly arose and advancing with outstretched hand exclaimed, - -“Why! Chief, this is an unexpected pleasure—” - -“Mr. Dunlap, stop a moment.” There was a look in the official’s eyes that -froze Mr. Dunlap’s welcome on his lips and nailed him to the spot on -which he stood. Chapman glanced at Burton, on whom O’Brien’s gaze was -fastened. Burton had risen and stood trembling like an aspen leaf without -a single shade of color left in cheeks or lips. Jack Dunlap’s face -flushed somewhat indignantly as he rose and walked forward to the side of -his kinsman. - -“With all due regard for that high respect I entertain for you, Mr. -Dunlap, it has become my painful duty to enter your house tonight in my -official capacity and arrest one accused of the most serious crime known -to the law.” While O’Brien was speaking he moved toward the table, never -removing his eyes from Burton. - -“What do you mean, sir?” cried Jack in a wrathful voice, interposing -himself between O’Brien and the table. - -“Stand aside, Captain Dunlap!” said the Chief sternly. Quickly stepping -to Burton’s side and placing his hand on his shoulder he said, - -“Walter Burton, I arrest you in the name of the Commonwealth, on the -charge of murder.” - -With a movement too quick even for a glance to catch, the Chief jerked -Burton’s hands together and snapped a pair of handcuffs on the wrists of -the rapidly collapsing man. - -The eyes of all present were fixed, in stupified amazement, on O’Brien -and Burton, and had not seen what stood in the open doorway until a low -moan caused Jack to turn his head. He saw then the figure of Lucy slowly -sinking to the floor. - -Lucy in her wanderings about the house was passing through the hall when -the uniformed officer entered. Attracted by the unusual spectacle of a -man in a blue coat ornamented with brass buttons, she had followed the -policeman and overheard all that he had said, and seen what he had done. - -“I will furnish bail in any amount, O’Brien,” exclaimed Mr. Dunlap, -staying the two officers by stepping before them as they almost carried -Burton, unable to walk, from the room. - -“Please stand aside, Mr. Dunlap,” said the Chief kindly. - -“Don’t make it harder than it is now for me to do my duty,” and gently -pushing the old gentleman aside, O’Brien and his assistant bore Burton -from the library and the Dunlap mansion. - -“Help me, quick! Lucy has fainted!” called Jack, who, crippled as he was, -could not raise the unconscious wife of Burton. - -When Mr. Dunlap reached Jack’s bending figure, Lucy opened her eyes, -gazed about wildly for an instant, gasped for breath as if suffocating, -and suddenly sprang unassisted to her feet, as if shot upward by some -hidden mechanism. - -“Walter! My husband! Where is he? Where is grandfather? What has -happened?” she cried out, in a confused way, as one just aroused from a -sound sleep. - -Jack and Mr. Dunlap stared at her for a moment in wonderment; then -something in her eyes gave them the gladsome tidings, in this their hour -of greatest trouble, that reason had resumed its sway over loved Lucy’s -mind; she was restored to sanity. The shock had been to her heart and -restored her senses, as a similar shock had deprived her of them. The -experts had predicted correctly. - -“Walter is in trouble, danger. I heard that policeman say murder! Save my -husband, Jack! Uncle John! Where is my grandfather?” - -Jack finally gathered enough of his scattered composure to reply somehow -to the excited young woman. He said all that he dared say so soon after -the return of reason to her distracted head. - -“Be calm, Cousin Lucy! Your grandfather is absent from the city. You have -been ill. Your Uncle John and I will do all in our power to aid Walter if -he be in danger.” - -She turned her eyes toward her Uncle John and regarded him steadily for -the space of a minute, and then she whirled about and faced Jack, crying -out in clear and ringing tones, - -“I will not trust Uncle John. He dislikes Walter and always has, but you! -you, Jack Dunlap, I trust next to my God and my good grandfather. Will -you promise to aid Walter?” - -“I promise, Lucy. Now be calm,” said Jack gently. - -There was no madness now in Lucy’s bright, gleaming, hazel eyes; womanly -anxiety as a wife was superb in its earnestness. She was grand, sublime -as with the majestic grace of a queen of tragedy she swept close to her -cousin, then raising herself to her greatest height, with her hand -extended upward, pointing to heaven, she commanded as a sovereign might -have done. - -“Swear to me, Jack Dunlap, by God above us and your sacred honor, that -you will stop at nothing in the effort to save my husband. Swear!” - -“I swear,” said the sailor simply as he raised his hand. - -The woman’s manner, speech, and the scene did not seem strange to -those who stood about her. She was suddenly aroused to reason to find -the object of her tenderest love in direst danger; her stay, prop and -reliance, her grandfather, unaccountably absent. In that trying stress of -circumstances, the intensity of the feeling within her wrought-up soul -found expression in excessive demands and exaggerated attitudes. - -“Now go! my Jack; hurry after Walter and help him,” she urged as with -nervous hands she pushed him toward the door. - -Next morning, when the newspapers made the startling announcement that -a member of the firm of J. Dunlap, Boston’s oldest and wealthiest -business house, had been arrested on the charge of that nameless crime -and the murder of the Malloy girl, the entire city was stunned by the -intelligence. - -A crowd quickly gathered around the city jail. Threatful mutterings -were heard as the multitude increased in numbers about the prison. When -Malloy came and his neighbors clustered about the infuriated father of -the outraged victim, that slow and slumbering wrath that lies beneath the -calm, deceptive surface of the New England character began to make itself -evident. “Tear down the gates!” “Lynch the fiend,” and such expressions -were heard among the men, momentarily growing louder, as the cool -exterior of the Northern nature gave away. - -Soon many seafaring men were seen moving among the most excited of the -mob, saying as they passed from one group to another, “It’s not true! You -know the Dunlaps too well!” “Keep quiet, it’s a lie!” “Dunlap offered a -reward for the arrest of the villain; it can’t be as the papers say!” - -One sailor-man, who carried a crippled arm, mounted a box and made a -speech, telling the people there must be a mistake and begging them -to be quiet. When he said that his name was Dunlap, the seafaring men -began to cheer for “Skipper Jack,” and the mob joined in. Seeing one of -the Dunlap name so calm, honest and brave in their very midst, the mob -began to doubt, and shaking their heads the people moved gradually away -and dispersed, persuaded that naught connected with the worthy Dunlap -name could cause such foul wrong and disgrace to the Commonwealth of -Massachusetts. - -The best legal talent of New England was retained that day for the -defense of Burton. When they had examined the circumstantial evidence -against Burton they frankly told Jack Dunlap that an alibi, positively -established, alone could save the accused man. - -The unselfish sailor sought the seclusion of his cabin on board his ship, -that lay at anchor in the harbor, there to ponder over the terrible -information given him by the leading lawyers of Boston. - -Uncomplainingly the man had resigned his hope of the greatest joy that -could come to his strong, unselfish soul—Lucy’s love. For the sake of -her whom he loved he had concealed his suffering. He had smothered the -sorrow that well nigh wrenched the heart out of his bosom, that he might -minister to her in the hour of her mental affliction. He had shed his -blood in shielding with his breast the man whom she had selected in his -stead. All this he had done as ungrudgingly and gladly as he had tended -her slightest bidding when as wee maid she had ruled him. - -Love demanded of this great heart the final and culminating sacrifice. -Could he, would he offer up his honor on the altar of his love? - -To this knight by right of nature, honor and truth were dearer far than -his blood or his life. Would he surrender the one prize he cherished -highest for his hopeless love’s sake? - - “I will swear that you were aboard my ship with me every hour - of the night on which the crime of which you stand accused - was committed. An absolute alibi alone can save you. May - God forgive you! May God forgive me! and may the people of - Massachusetts pardon - - Perjured Jack Dunlap.” - -Such was the letter sent by the sailor, by well paid and trusty hand, -to the successful suitor for Lucy’s hand, now closely mewed within the -prison walls of Boston’s strongest jail. - -Could any man’s love be greater than the love of him who sent that -letter? - - - - -XX - - -The court room was crowded, not only by the casual visitors to such -places, who are ever in search of satisfaction to their morbid curiosity, -but also by the most fashionable of Boston’s elite society. - -The preliminary examination in the case of the Commonwealth vs. Walter -Burton was on the docket for hearing that day. - -Nearly a month had elapsed since the arrest; all that an unlimited amount -of money could accomplish had been done to ameliorate the terrible -position of the prisoner. More than a million dollars was offered in bail -for the accused, and it was hoped that by a preliminary examination such -a strong probability of the establishment of an alibi could be presented, -that the Court would make an order permitting the acceptance of bail for -the appearance of the accused after the report of the Grand Jury. - -Neither old John Dunlap nor Burton’s wife was present. Jack had insisted -that they must not be in the court-room when he was called upon to give -his evidence. - -Lieutenant Thomas Maxon, bronzed, stalwart, and serious, sat beside his -friend Jack Dunlap among the witnesses for the defense. - -With a face of ghastly white, Jack Dunlap, his arm still in a sling, -stared straight before him, heedless of the stir and flutter around -him while the audience was waiting the appearance of the judge and the -accused. - -There was a look of desperate resolve and defiance on Burton’s face as -he entered the court-room between two officers and took his seat at the -counsel table behind the lawyers who appeared for the defense. - -The prosecuting attorney proceeded, when the case was called, to present -the case for the Commonwealth with the coldness and emotionless precision -that marks the movements of an expert surgeon as he digs and cuts among -the vitals of a subject on the operating table. - -Chapman was much embarrassed and very nervous on the witness stand; -his testimony was fairly dragged from his livid, unwilling lips; he -interjected every doubt and possible suspicion that might weigh against -his evidence and weaken the case of the Commonwealth. When he left the -stand he staggered like one intoxicated as he walked back to his seat -among the witnesses. - -When the case of the people was closed, the leading counsel for the -defense, one most learned in the law, arose and, making a few well-chosen -introductory remarks, turned to a bailiff and said, - -“Call Captain John Dunlap.” - -For the first time in his life Jack Dunlap seemed afraid to look men in -the eyes. Neither glancing right nor left, he strode with a determined -air to the witness stand and took his seat. His face wore the hue of -death. His jaws were so clamped together that they seemed to crush his -teeth between them. - -They asked his name, age and occupation and then his whereabout on the -night of the crime for which the prisoner stood accused. - -The witness made answer briefly to each of these questions without -removing his gaze from the wall above the heads of the audience, and -seemed collecting himself for an ordeal yet to come. - -“Who was with you on board your ship, the ‘Adams,’ that night?” was the -next question of the lawyer for the defense. - -“Stop! Do not answer, Jack!” came in clear, commanding tones from the -mouth of the prisoner as he sprang to his feet. His lawyers about him -tried to pull him down into his chair, but he struggled and shook himself -free and stood where all could see him. - -Burton looked around him defiantly at the assembled crowd in the -court-room, holding up his hand with palm turned toward Jack, in protest -against his giving answer to the last question. Then, throwing back his -head, he said in a loud and steady voice, - -“I must and do protest against this further sacrifice in my behalf on -the part of that noble, generous, grand man on the stand. Already he has -far exceeded the belief of the most credulous in sacrificing himself for -those whom he loves. That I may prevent this last and grandest offering, -the honor of that brave man, I tell you all that I am guilty of the -crime as charged, and further, I hurl into your teeth the fact that by -your accursed affectation of social equality between the White and Negro -races, which can never exist, you are responsible in part for my crime, -and you are wholly answerable for much agony to the most innocent and -blameless of mortals on earth. Your canting, maudlin, sentimental cry of -social intercourse between the races has caused wrong, suffering, sorrow, -crime, and now causes my death.” - -As Burton ceased speaking he swiftly threw a powder between his lips and -quickly swallowed it. - -The audience, judge, lawyers, bailiffs, all sat still, chained in a -trance of astonishment as the accused man uttered this unexpected -phillipic against a sometime tradition of New England, and likewise -pronounced his guilt by this open and voluntary confession. - -None seemed to realize that the prisoner’s speech was also his -valedictory to life, until they saw him reel, and, ere the nearest man -could reach him, fall, face downward, upon the court-room floor, dead. - -Like the last ray of the setting sun, Burton’s expiring speech and deed -had been the parting gleam of the nobility begotten by the blood of the -superior race within his veins, and reflected on the bright surface of -the civilization and culture of the white race. The predominance of -animalism in the negro nature precludes the possibility of suicide in -even the extremest cases of conscious debasement. Suicide is almost -unknown among the negro race. - - * * * * * - -“Chapman found dead at his desk in the office! My God! What more must I -bear in my old age! Oh! God, have mercy upon an old man!” - -Poor old John Dunlap fell upon Jack’s shoulder and wept from very -weakness and misery, and so the sailor supported and held him until the -paroxysm of wretchedness had passed; then he gently led the broken old -gentleman to the easiest chair in the parlor of the Dunlap house and -begged him to sit down and compose his overwrought feelings. - -“You say, Jack, that the porter found him seated at his desk this -morning; that he thought he was sleeping, as my faithful employee’s head -rested on his arms, and that it was only when he touched him and noticed -how cold he was that he realized that Chapman was dead. My God! How -awful!” groaned the distressed speaker. - -“Yes, sir, and when the head clerks of the different departments -arrived and raised him they saw lying on his desk before him ready for -publication the notice of the closing of the business career of the house -of J. Dunlap, and they took from the dead man’s stiffened fingers the -long record of the firm to which he clung even in death.” - -“I saw the poor fellow’s face grow pale and his features twitch as if in -pain when I told him that the career of our house was ended. I urged him -to rest here until he was better, but he only shook his head and hurried -from my presence.” - -Mr. Dunlap spoke sadly and after a pause of several minutes, during which -an expression of deepest melancholy settled over his countenance, he -continued sorrowfully, - -“Poor David Chapman, good and faithful servant! He loved the old house -of ‘J. Dunlap’ with all of his soul, and when he knew that the end had -come, it broke that intense heart of his.” - -“Why did you determine, sir, to take the old sign down, and close those -doors that for two hundred years have stood open every day except -holidays?” asked Jack, full of sympathy for the grief-stricken kinsman -beside him. - -“I cannot bear the sight of my loved boyhood’s home, dear old Boston, at -present. It has been the scene of so much agony and horror for me within -the past year that I must, for my own sake, get away from the agonizing -associations all about me here. Lucy absolutely must be taken away now -that her mind is restored to its normal condition, or she will surely go -mad from weeping and grieving. As soon as she is able to travel we shall -go to Europe to be absent months,—years. I am an old man, maybe I shall -never see Boston again.” The old man stopped to choke back a sob and then -said, - -“It is hard, very hard, on me that I should be obliged to close the house -my brother James loved so well, and that has been a glory to the Dunlap -name for two centuries. It may break my heart, too, lad.” - -The white head sunk on the heaving chest and an audible sob now shook the -bended frame. Jack watched his good godfather with manly tears filling -his honest eyes. Then, laying his hand softly on the old man’s arm, he -said, - -“Cousin John, would you feel less wretched if I promised to leave the -sea, and do my best to keep the old sign, ‘J. Dunlap,’ in its place in -the crooked street where it has hung for two hundred years?” - -John Dunlap raised his head almost as soon as his namesake began to -speak, and when Jack had finished he had him around the neck and was -hugging the sturdy sailor, crying all the time, - -“God bless you, boy! Will you do that for your old kinsman? Will you, -lad?” And then wringing Jack’s hand he cried, - -“A young J. Dunlap succeeds the old; all the ships, trade and the capital -remain as before! You and Lucy are sole heirs to everything! The chief -clerks will shout for joy to know that the house still goes on; they will -help you faithfully for love of my brother James and me. And oh! Jack, -when I am far away it will make my heart beat easier to know that the -Dunlap red ball barred with black still floats upon the ocean, and that -the old sign is still here; that I was not the one of my long line to -take it from its place.” - - - - -EPILOGUE. - - -Five times has Boston Common, old, honored in history’s story, slept -beneath its snowy counterpane, all damaskeened by winter sunbeam’s glory. - -Five times have brooks in Yankee vales burst icy chains to flee, with -gladsome shouts of merriment, on joyous journey to the sea. - -Five times have Massachusetts hills and dales been garbed in cloak of -emerald, embroidered wide in gay designs of daffodils and daisies since -the grand old Commonwealth was shocked by the commission of a horrid -crime by one called Burton. - -An old sign still swings before an even older building, in one of -Boston’s most crooked streets. “J. Dunlap, Shipping and Banking,” is what -the passersby may read on the old sign. - -Sometimes an old man is seen to enter the building above the door of -which is suspended this sign; he is much bent and white of hair, but -sturdy still, despite some four-score years. All men of Boston accord -great respect to this handsome old gentleman. - -The man who is head and manager of all the business done within the old -building where that sign is seen, has the tanned and rugged look of one -who had long gazed upon the bright surface of the sea. While he is only -seen in landsmen’s dress, it seems that clothing of a nautical cut would -best befit his stalwart figure. - -This head man at J. Dunlap’s office is cavalier-in-chief to three old -ladies, with whom he often is seen driving in Boston’s beautiful suburbs; -one of these white-haired old dames he addresses as “Mother,” another -as “Mrs. Church,” and the most withered one of the three he calls “Miss -Arabella.” - -He has been seen, too, with a sweet, sad, yet very lovely young woman in -whose glorious crown of gold-brown hair silver silken threads run in and -out. - -[Illustration: “Lucy, I have always loved you.” - -Page 340] - -A big, jovial naval man periodically drives up before the old sign and -shouting out, “Jack, come here and see the latest!” exhibits a baby to -the sailor-looking manager. The last time he roared in greatest glee, -“It’s a girl, named Bessie, for her mother.” - -Kind harvest moon, send forth your tenderest glances, that fall betwixt -the tall elm’s branches on that sad, sweet face that lies so restfully -against a sailor’s loyal bosom. - -“Lucy, I have always loved you!” Jack Dunlap kissed his “Little Princess” -and put his strong arms around her. - -Everlasting time, catch up those words, and bear them on forever, as -motto of most faithful lover. - -An old man, standing at a window in the Dunlap mansion, watched the man -and woman in the moonlight between the elm trees, and what he witnessed -seemed to bring a great joy to his good, kind heart, for he reverently -raised his eyes to heaven and said, - -“My God, I thank Thee!” - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Blood Will Tell, by Benj. Rush Davenport - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BLOOD WILL TELL *** - -***** This file should be named 62033-0.txt or 62033-0.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/6/2/0/3/62033/ - -Produced by The Online Distributed Proofreading Team at -https://www.pgdp.net (This book was produced from images -made available by the HathiTrust Digital Library.) - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law 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. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part -of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm -concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark, -and may not be used if you charge for the eBooks, unless you receive -specific permission. If you do not charge anything for copies of this -eBook, complying with the rules is very easy. You may use this eBook -for nearly any purpose such as creation of derivative works, reports, -performances and research. They may be modified and printed and given -away--you may do practically ANYTHING in the United States with eBooks -not protected by U.S. copyright law. Redistribution is subject to the -trademark license, especially commercial redistribution. - -START: FULL LICENSE - -THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE -PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK - -To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free -distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work -(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project -Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full -Project Gutenberg-tm License available with this file or online at -www.gutenberg.org/license. - -Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works - -1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to -and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property -(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all -the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or -destroy all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your -possession. If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a -Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound -by the terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the -person or entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph -1.E.8. - -1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be -used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who -agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few -things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works -even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See -paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this -agreement and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic works. See paragraph 1.E below. - -1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the -Foundation" or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection -of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual -works in the collection are in the public domain in the United -States. If an individual work is unprotected by copyright law in the -United States and you are located in the United States, we do not -claim a right to prevent you from copying, distributing, performing, -displaying or creating derivative works based on the work as long as -all references to Project Gutenberg are removed. Of course, we hope -that you will support the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting -free access to electronic works by freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm -works in compliance with the terms of this agreement for keeping the -Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with the work. You can easily -comply with the terms of this agreement by keeping this work in the -same format with its attached full Project Gutenberg-tm License when -you share it without charge with others. - -1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern -what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are -in a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, -check the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this -agreement before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, -distributing or creating derivative works based on this work or any -other Project Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no -representations concerning the copyright status of any work in any -country outside the United States. - -1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: - -1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other -immediate access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear -prominently whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work -on which the phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the -phrase "Project Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, -performed, viewed, copied or distributed: - - This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and - most other parts of the world 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. If you are not located in the - United States, you'll have to check the laws of the country where you - are located before using this ebook. - -1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is -derived from texts not protected by U.S. copyright law (does not -contain a notice indicating that it is posted with permission of the -copyright holder), the work can be copied and distributed to anyone in -the United States without paying any fees or charges. If you are -redistributing or providing access to a work with the phrase "Project -Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the work, you must comply -either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 or -obtain permission for the use of the work and the Project Gutenberg-tm -trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. - -1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted -with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution -must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any -additional terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms -will be linked to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works -posted with the permission of the copyright holder found at the -beginning of this work. - -1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm -License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this -work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. - -1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this -electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without -prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with -active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project -Gutenberg-tm License. - -1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, -compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including -any word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access -to or distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format -other than "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official -version posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site -(www.gutenberg.org), you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense -to the user, provide a copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means -of obtaining a copy upon request, of the work in its original "Plain -Vanilla ASCII" or other form. Any alternate format must include the -full Project Gutenberg-tm License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. - -1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, -performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works -unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. - -1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing -access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works -provided that - -* You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from - the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method - you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is owed - to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he has - agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the Project - Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments must be paid - within 60 days following each date on which you prepare (or are - legally required to prepare) your periodic tax returns. Royalty - payments should be clearly marked as such and sent to the Project - Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the address specified in - Section 4, "Information about donations to the Project Gutenberg - Literary Archive Foundation." - -* You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies - you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he - does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm - License. You must require such a user to return or destroy all - copies of the works possessed in a physical medium and discontinue - all use of and all access to other copies of Project Gutenberg-tm - works. - -* You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of - any money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the - electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days of - receipt of the work. - -* You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free - distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. - -1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic work or group of works on different terms than -are set forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing -from both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and The -Project Gutenberg Trademark LLC, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm -trademark. Contact the Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. - -1.F. - -1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable -effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread -works not protected by U.S. copyright law in creating the Project -Gutenberg-tm collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may -contain "Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate -or corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other -intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or -other medium, a computer virus, or computer codes that damage or -cannot be read by your equipment. - -1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right -of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project -Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project -Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all -liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal -fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT -LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE -PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE -TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE -LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR -INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH -DAMAGE. - -1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a -defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can -receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a -written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you -received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium -with your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you -with the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in -lieu of a refund. If you received the work electronically, the person -or entity providing it to you may choose to give you a second -opportunity to receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If -the second copy is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing -without further opportunities to fix the problem. - -1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth -in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS', WITH NO -OTHER WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT -LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. - -1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied -warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of -damages. If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement -violates the law of the state applicable to this agreement, the -agreement shall be interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or -limitation permitted by the applicable state law. The invalidity or -unenforceability of any provision of this agreement shall not void the -remaining provisions. - -1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the -trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone -providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in -accordance with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the -production, promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic works, harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, -including legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of -the following which you do or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this -or any Project Gutenberg-tm work, (b) alteration, modification, or -additions or deletions to any Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any -Defect you cause. - -Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm - -Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of -electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of -computers including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It -exists because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations -from people in all walks of life. - -Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the -assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's -goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will -remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project -Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure -and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future -generations. To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation and how your efforts and donations can help, see -Sections 3 and 4 and the Foundation information page at -www.gutenberg.org Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg -Literary Archive Foundation - -The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit -501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the -state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal -Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification -number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent permitted by -U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. - -The Foundation's principal office is in Fairbanks, Alaska, with the -mailing address: PO Box 750175, Fairbanks, AK 99775, but its -volunteers and employees are scattered throughout numerous -locations. Its business office is located at 809 North 1500 West, Salt -Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887. Email contact links and up to -date contact information can be found at the Foundation's web site and -official page at www.gutenberg.org/contact - -For additional contact information: - - Dr. Gregory B. Newby - Chief Executive and Director - gbnewby@pglaf.org - -Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg -Literary Archive Foundation - -Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide -spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of -increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be -freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest -array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations -($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt -status with the IRS. - -The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating -charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United -States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a -considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up -with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations -where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To SEND -DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any particular -state visit www.gutenberg.org/donate - -While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we -have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition -against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who -approach us with offers to donate. - -International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make -any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from -outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. - -Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation -methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other -ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. To -donate, please visit: www.gutenberg.org/donate - -Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works. - -Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project -Gutenberg-tm concept of a library of electronic works that could be -freely shared with anyone. For forty years, he produced and -distributed Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of -volunteer support. - -Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed -editions, all of which are confirmed as not protected by copyright in -the U.S. unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not -necessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper -edition. - -Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search -facility: www.gutenberg.org - -This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, -including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to -subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. - diff --git a/old/62033-0.zip b/old/62033-0.zip Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 9d84cea..0000000 --- a/old/62033-0.zip +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/62033-h.zip b/old/62033-h.zip Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 3c77577..0000000 --- a/old/62033-h.zip +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/62033-h/62033-h.htm b/old/62033-h/62033-h.htm deleted file mode 100644 index 5351be6..0000000 --- a/old/62033-h/62033-h.htm +++ /dev/null @@ -1,10187 +0,0 @@ -<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" - "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> -<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> - <head> - <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=utf-8" /> - <meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css" /> - <title> - The Project Gutenberg eBook of Blood Will Tell, by Benj. Rush Davenport. - </title> - - <link rel="coverpage" href="images/cover.jpg" /> - -<style type="text/css"> - -a { - text-decoration: none; -} - -body { - margin-left: 10%; - margin-right: 10%; -} - -h1,h2 { - text-align: center; - clear: both; -} - -hr { - margin-top: 2em; - margin-bottom: 2em; - clear: both; - width: 65%; - margin-left: 17.5%; - margin-right: 17.5%; -} - -p { - margin-top: 0.5em; - text-align: justify; - margin-bottom: 0.5em; - text-indent: 1em; -} - -table { - margin: 1em auto 1em auto; - max-width: 45em; - border-collapse: collapse; -} - -td { - padding-left: 2.25em; - padding-right: 0.25em; - vertical-align: top; - text-indent: -2em; -} - -.tdpg { - vertical-align: bottom; - text-align: right; - white-space: nowrap; -} - -.blockquote { - margin: 1.5em 10%; -} - -.caption { - text-align: center; - margin-bottom: 1em; - font-size: 90%; - text-indent: 0em; -} - -.caption-r { - text-align: right; - margin-bottom: 1em; - font-size: 90%; - text-indent: 0em; -} - -.center { - text-align: center; - text-indent: 0em; -} - -.figcenter { - margin: auto; - text-align: center; -} - -.larger { - font-size: 150%; -} - -.noindent { - text-indent: 0; -} - -.pagenum { - position: absolute; - right: 4%; - font-size: smaller; - text-align: right; - font-style: normal; -} - -.poetry-container { - text-align: center; - margin: 1em; -} - -.poetry { - display: inline-block; - text-align: left; -} - -.poetry .verse { - text-indent: -3em; - padding-left: 3em; -} - -.right { - text-align: right; -} - -.smaller { - font-size: 80%; -} - -.tb { - margin-top: 2em; -} - -.titlepage { - text-align: center; - margin-top: 3em; - text-indent: 0em; -} - -.transnote { - background-color: #E6E6FA; - color: black; - text-align: center; - padding: 0.5em; - margin-bottom: 5em; -} - -.w20 { - margin: auto; - max-width: 20em; -} - -@media handheld { - -img { - max-width: 100%; - width: auto; - height: auto; -} - -.poetry { - display: block; - margin-left: 1.5em; -} - -.blockquote { - margin: 1.5em 5%; -} -} - </style> - </head> -<body> - - -<pre> - -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Blood Will Tell, by Benj. Rush Davenport - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world 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. If you are not located in the United States, you'll -have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using -this ebook. - - - -Title: Blood Will Tell - The Strange Story of a Son of Ham - -Author: Benj. Rush Davenport - -Illustrator: J. H. Donahey - -Release Date: May 5, 2020 [EBook #62033] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BLOOD WILL TELL *** - - - - -Produced by The Online Distributed Proofreading Team at -https://www.pgdp.net (This book was produced from images -made available by the HathiTrust Digital Library.) - - - - - - -</pre> - - -<div class="transnote"> -<p><b>Transcriber’s Note:</b> The reader may wish to be warned that this book -contains racial stereotyping more than usually unpleasant even by the -standards of its time. Read as far as the <a href="#Dedication">Dedication</a> and use that to -decide whether or not you want to continue.</p> -</div> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> -<img src="images/cover.jpg" width="500" height="700" alt="Cover image" /> -</div> - -<hr /> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 450px;" id="illus1"> -<img src="images/illus1.jpg" width="450" height="600" alt="" /> -<p class="caption">“The brutalized features of Walter Burton were revealed.”</p> -<p class="caption-r"><a href="#Page_276">Frontispiece</a></p> -</div> - -<hr /> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> - -<img src="images/title.jpg" width="400" height="600" alt="" /> - -<p class="titlepage larger">BLOOD WILL TELL</p> - -<p class="center">THE STRANGE STORY OF<br /> -A SON OF HAM</p> - -<p class="titlepage"><span class="smaller">BY</span><br /> -BENJ. RUSH DAVENPORT<br /> -<span class="smaller">AUTHOR OF</span><br /> -Blue and Gray, Uncle Sam’s Cabins,<br /> -Anglo-Saxons, Onward, Etc.</p> - -<p class="titlepage">Illustrations<br /> -by<br /> -J.H. Donahey</p> - -<p class="titlepage">CLEVELAND<br /> -Caxton Book Co.<br /> -1902</p> - -</div> - -<p class="titlepage">Copyright<br /> -by<br /> -Benj. Rush Davenport<br /> -1902</p> - -<p class="titlepage">All rights reserved</p> - -<hr /> - -<div class="w20"> - -<h2 id="Dedication">DEDICATION</h2> - -<p class="noindent">To all Americans who deem purity -of race an all-important element in -the progress of our beloved country.</p> - -<p class="right">THE AUTHOR</p> - -<p class="noindent">For obvious reasons the date -of this story is not given ...</p> - -</div> - -<hr /> - -<h2>List of Illustrations</h2> - -<table summary="List of illustrations"> - <tr> - <td>“The brutalized features of Walter Burton were revealed.</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus1">Frontispiece</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>“Lucy passed her soft, white arm around her grandfather’s neck.”</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus2">Page 108</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>“He recklessly rushed in front of Burton.”</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus3">Page 286</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>“Lucy, I have always loved you.”</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus4">Page 340</a></td> - </tr> -</table> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[1]</a></span></p> - -<h1>BLOOD WILL TELL</h1> - -<h2>I.</h2> - -<p>Boston was shrouded in a mantle of -mist that November day, the north-east -wind bringing at each blast re-enforcement -to the all-enveloping and obscuring mass -of gloom that embraced the city in its arms of -darkness.</p> - -<p>Glimmering like toy candles in the distance, -electric lights, making halos of the fog, marked -a pathway for the hurrying crowds that poured -along the narrow, crooked streets of New England’s -grand old city. In one of the oldest, -narrowest and most crooked thoroughfares -down near the wharfs a light burning within the -window of an old-fashioned building brought to -sight the name “J. Dunlap” and the words “Shipping -and Banking.”</p> - -<p>No living man in Boston nor the father of any -man in Boston had ever known a day when passing<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[2]</a></span> -that old house the sign had not been there -for him to gaze upon and lead him to wonder if -the Dunlap line would last unbroken forever.</p> - -<p>In early days of the Republic some Dunlap -had in a small way traded with the West Indian -islands, especially Haiti, and later some descendant -of this old trade pathfinder had established -a regular line of sailing ships between Boston -and those islands. Then it was that the sign -“J. Dunlap, Shipping and Banking” made its -appearance on the front of the old house. A -maxim of the Dunlap family had been that there -must always be a J. Dunlap, hence sons were -ever christened John, James, Josiah and such -names only as furnished the everlasting J as the -initial.</p> - -<p>“J. Dunlap” had grown financially and commercially -in proportion to the growth of the Republic. -There was not room on a single line in -the Commercial Agency books to put A’s enough -to express the credit and financial resources of -“J. Dunlap” on this dark November day. Absolutely -beyond the shoals and shallows of the -dangerous shore of trade where small crafts<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[3]</a></span> -financially are forced to ply, “J. Dunlap” sailed -ever tranquil and serene, neither jars nor shocks -disturbing the calm serenity of the voyage.</p> - -<p>This dismal November day marked an unparalleled -experience in the career of the present “J. -Dunlap.” The customary calm was disturbed. J. -Dunlap disagreed and disagreed positively with -J. Dunlap concerning an important event, and -that event was a family affair.</p> - -<p>The exterior of “J. Dunlap” may be dark, -grimy, dingy and old, but within all is bright -with electric light. Behind glass and wire screens -long lines of clerks and accountants bend over -desks and busy pens move across the pages of -huge ledgers and account books—messengers -hurry in and out of two glass partitioned offices. -On the door of one is painted “Mr. Burton, Manager;” -on the other “Mr. Chapman, Superintendent.”</p> - -<p>Separated by a narrow passageway from the -main office is a large room, high ceiling, old-fashioned, -furnished with leather and mahogany -fittings of ancient make, on the door of which -are the words, “J. Dunlap, Private Office.” This<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[4]</a></span> -is the <i lang="la">sanctum sanctorum</i> in this temple of trade. -Within “J. Dunlap’s” private office before a large -grate heaped high with blazing cannel coal two -old men are seated in earnest conversation. They -are “J. Dunlap.”</p> - -<p>Seventy-two years before this November day -that enfolded Boston with London-like fog there -were born to one J. Dunlap and his wife twin -boys to whom were given in due season the -names of James and John. These boys had grown -to manhood preserving the same likeness to each -other that they had possessed as infants in the -cradle. James married early and when his son -was born and was promptly made a J. Dunlap, -his twin brother vowed that there being a J. -Dunlap to secure the perpetuation of the name, -he should never marry.</p> - -<p>When the J. Dunlap, father of the twin brothers, -died, the twins succeeded to the business as -well as the other property of their father, share -and share alike. To change the name on the -office window to Dunlap Bros. was never even -dreamed of; such sacrilege would surely have -caused the rising in wrath of the long line of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[5]</a></span> -ghostly “J. Dunlaps” that had preceded the twins. -Hence on this dark day “J. Dunlap” was two instead -of one.</p> - -<p>Handsome men were all the Dunlaps time out -of mind, but no ancestor was ever more handsome -than the two clean cut, stalwart, white -haired old men who with eager gestures and -earnest voices discussed the point of difference -between them today.</p> - -<p>“My dear brother,” said the one whose face -bore traces of a more burning sun than warms -the Berkshire hills, “You know that we have never -differed even in trivial matters, and James, it is -awful to think of anything that could even be -called a disagreement, but I loved your poor boy -John as much as I have ever loved you and when -he died his motherless little girl became more to -me than even you, James, and it hurts my heart -to think of my darling Lucy being within possible -reach of sorrow and shame.” The fairer -one of the brothers bent over and grasping with -both hands the raised hand of him who had -spoken said with an emotion that filled his eyes -with moisture:</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[6]</a></span></p> - -<p>“God bless you, John! You dear old fellow! -I know that that loving heart of yours held my -poor boy as near to it as did my own, and that -Lucy has ever been the dearest jewel of your -great soul, but your love and tenderness are now -conjuring up imaginary dangers that are simply -beyond a possibility of existence. While I will -not go so far as to admit that had I known that -there was a trace of negro blood in Burton I -should have forbidden his paying court to my -granddaughter, still I will confess that I should -have considered that fact and consulted with you -before consenting to his seeking Lucy’s hand. -However, it is too late now, John. He has won -our girl’s heart and knowing her as you do you -must appreciate the consequences of the disclosure -of this discovery and the abrupt termination -of her blissful anticipations. It is not only -a question of the health and happiness of our -dear girl, but her very life would be placed in -jeopardy.”</p> - -<p>This seemed an unexpected or unrealized -phase of the situation to the first speaker, for he -made no reply at once but sat with troubled<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[7]</a></span> -brow gazing into the fire for several minutes, -then with a sigh so deep that it was almost a -groan, exclaimed:</p> - -<p>“Oh! that I had known sooner! I am an old -fool! I might have suspected this and investigated -Burton’s family. John Dunlap, d——n -you for the old idiot that you are,” and rising he -began pacing the floor; his brother watched -him with eyes of tender, almost womanly affection -until a suspicious moisture dimmed the -sight of his worried second self. Going to him -and taking him by the arm he joined him in his -walk back and forth through the room, saying:</p> - -<p>“John, don’t worry yourself so much old chap, -there is nothing to fear; what if there be a slight -strain of negro blood in Burton? It will disappear -in his descendants and even did Lucy know -all that you have learned, she loves him and -would marry him anyhow. You know her heart -and her high sense of justice. She would not -blame him and really it is no fault of his.”</p> - -<p>“You say,” broke in his brother, “that the negro -blood will disappear in Burton’s descendants? -That is just what may not happen! Both in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[8]</a></span> -United States and Haiti I have seen cases of -breeding back to the type of a remote ancestor -where negro blood, no matter how little, ran in -the veins of the immediate ancestor. In the animal -kingdom see the remoteness of the five toed -horse, yet even now sometimes a horse is born -with five toes. Man is but an animal of the highest -grade.”</p> - -<p>“Well, even granting what you say about the -remote possibility of breeding back, you know -that our ancestors years ago stood shoulder to -shoulder with Garrison, Beecher and those grand -heroes who maintained that the enslavement of -the negro was a crime, and that the color of the -skin made no difference—that all men were -brothers and equal.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, I know and agree with our forefathers -in all of that,” exclaimed the sun burned J. Dunlap -with some show of impatience. “But while -slavery was all wrong and equality before the -law is absolutely right, still I have seen both in -this country and in the West Indies such strange -evidence of the inherent barbarism in the negro -race that I am almost ready to paraphrase a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[9]</a></span> -saying of Napoleon and declare, ‘Scratch one -with negro blood in him and you find a barbarian.’”</p> - -<p>“Your long residence in disorderly Haiti, -where your health and our interest kept you has -evidently prejudiced you,” replied the fair J. -Dunlap. “Remember that for generations our -family has extended the hospitality of our homes -to those of negro blood provided they were educated, -cultured people.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, James, Yes! Provided they had the culture -and education created by the white man, and -to be frank between ourselves, James, there has -been much affectation about the obliteration of -race distinction even in the case of our own family, -and you know it! We Dunlaps have made -much of our apparent liberality and consistency, -but in our hearts we are as much race-proud -Aryans as those ancestors who drove the race-inferior -Turanians out of Europe.”</p> - -<p>James Dunlap was as honest as his more impetuous -brother. Suddenly stopping and confronting -him with agitated countenance, he said: -“You are right, John, in what you say about<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[10]</a></span> -our affecting social equality with those of negro -blood. God knows had I been aware of the facts -that you have hastened from Port au Prince to -lay before me all might have been different; our -accursed affectation may have misled Burton, -who is an honorable gentleman, no matter if his -mother was a quadroon. Social equality may -be all right, but where it leads to the intermarriage -of the races all the Aryan in me protests -against it, but it is too late and we must trust to -Divine Providence to correct the consequences -of the Dunlap’s accursed affectation.”</p> - -<p>“I expected Lucy to marry Jack Dunlap, the -son of our cousin; then the old sign might have -answered for another hundred years. Lucy and -Jack were fond of each other always, and I -thought when two years ago I left Boston for -Haiti that the match was quite a settled affair. -Why did you not foster a marriage that would -have been so satisfactory from every standpoint?”</p> - -<p>“I did hope that Lucy would marry your -namesake, dear brother; don’t blame me; while -I believe that the boy was really fond of my -granddaughter, still, being poor, and having the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[11]</a></span> -Dunlap pride he positively declined the position -in our office that I offered him. I wished to keep -him near Lucy and to prepare him to succeed us -as ‘J. Dunlap.’ When I made the offer he said in -that frank, manly, sailor man fashion of his that -he was worthless in an office and he wished no -sinecure by reason of being our kinsman; that he -was a sailor by nature and loved the sea; that he -wished to make his own way in the world; that -if we could fairly advance him in his profession -he would thank us, but that was all that he could -accept at our hands.”</p> - -<p>“See that now!” exclaimed the listener. “Blood -will tell. The blood of some old Yankee sailor -man named Dunlap spoke when our young kinsman -made that reply. Breed back! Yes indeed -we do.”</p> - -<p>“No persuasion could move the boy from the -position he had taken and as he held a master’s -certificate and had proven a careful mate I gave -him command of our ship ‘Lucy’ in the China -trade. I imagine there was some exhibition of -feeling at the parting of Lucy and John, as my -girl seemed much depressed in spirits after he -left.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[12]</a></span></p> - -<p>“You recall how Walter Burton came to us fifteen -years ago with a letter from his father, our -correspondent in Port au Prince, saying that he -wished his son to enter Harvard and asking us to -befriend him. The lad was handsome and clever -and we never dreamed of his being other than of -pure blood. He was graduated at the head of his -class, brilliant, amiable, fascinating. Our house -was made bright by his frequent visits.</p> - -<p>“When his father died, leaving his great wealth -to Walter, he begged to invest it with us, and liking -the lad we were glad to have him with us. -Beginning at the bottom, by sheer force of ability -and industry, within ten years he has become our -manager. I am sure John Dunlap, your namesake, -never told Lucy that he loved her before he -sailed for China. The pride of the man would -hold back such a declaration to our heiress. So -with Jack away, his love, if it exist, for Lucy -untold, it is not strange that Burton, and he is a -most charming man, in constant attendance upon -my granddaughter should have won her heart. -He is handsome, educated, cultured and wealthy. -I could imagine no cause for an objection, so<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[13]</a></span> -when he asked for Lucy’s hand I assented. The -arrangements are completed and they will be married -next month. Lucy wished you to witness the -ceremony and wrote you and you hasten from -Haiti home with this unpleasant discovery. Now, -John, think of Lucy and tell me, brother, what -your heart says is our duty.”</p> - -<p>James Dunlap, exhausted by the vehement -earnestness that he had put into this long speech, -recounting the events and circumstances that had -led up to the approaching marriage of his granddaughter, -dropped into one of the large armchairs -near the fire, waiting for a reply, while his brother -continued his nervous tramp across the room.</p> - -<p>Silence was finally disturbed by a light knock -on the door and a messenger entered, saying that -Captain Dunlap begged permission to speak with -the firm a few moments. When the name was announced -the two brothers exchanged glances that -seemed to say, “The man I was thinking of.”</p> - -<p>“Show him in, of course,” cried John Dunlap, -eagerly stopping in his monotonous pacing up -and down the room.</p> - -<p>The door opened again and there entered the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[14]</a></span> -room a man of about twenty-seven years of age, -rather below the medium height of Americans, -but of such breadth of shoulders and depth of -chest as to give evidence of unusual physical -strength. A sailor, every inch a sailor, anyone -could tell, from the top of his curly blonde hair -to the sole of his square toed boots. His sunburnt -face, while not handsome, according to the -ideals of artists, was frank, manly, bold—a brave, -square jawed Anglo-Saxon face, with eyes of that -steely gray that can become as tender as a -mother’s and as fierce as a tiger’s.</p> - -<p>“Come in, Jack,” cried both of the old gentlemen -together.</p> - -<p>“Glad to see you my boy,” added John Dunlap. -“How did you find your good mother and the -rest of our friends in Bedford? I only landed today; -came from Port au Prince to see the Commons -once more; heard that the ‘Lucy’ and her -brave master, my namesake, had arrived a week -ahead of me, safe and sound, from East Indian -waters.”</p> - -<p>So saying he grasped both of the sailor’s hands -and shook them with the genuine cordiality of a -lad of sixteen.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[15]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Have you seen my granddaughter since your -return, Captain Jack?” inquired James Dunlap, as -he shook the young man’s hand.</p> - -<p>“I was so unfortunate as to call when she was -out shopping, and as Mrs. Church, the housekeeper, -told me that she was so busy preparing -for the approaching wedding that she was engaged -all the time, I have hesitated to call again,” -replied the sailor, as with a somewhat deeper -shade of red in his sun burned face he seated himself -between the twins.</p> - -<p>“Lucy will not thank Mrs. Church for that -speech if it is to deprive her of the pleasure of -welcoming her old playmate and cousin back to -Boston and home. You must come and dine -with us tomorrow,” said Lucy’s grandfather.</p> - -<p>“I am much obliged for your kind invitation, -sir, but if you will only grant the request I am -about to make of the firm, my next visit to my -cousin will be to say goodby, as well as to receive -a welcome home from a voyage.”</p> - -<p>“Why, what do you mean, lad!” exclaimed both -of the brothers simultaneously.</p> - -<p>Concealment or deception was probably the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[16]</a></span> -most difficult of all things for this frank man -with the free spirit of the sea fresh in his soul, so -that while he answered the color surged up -stronger and stronger in his face until the white -brow, saved from the sun by his hat, was as red -as his close shaven cheeks.</p> - -<p>“Well, sir, this is what I mean. I learned yesterday -that the storm we encountered crossing -the Atlantic coming home had strained my ship -so badly that it will be two months before she is -out of the shipwright’s hands.”</p> - -<p>“What of that, Jack,” broke in the darker J. -Dunlap. “Take a rest at home. I know your -mother will be delighted, and speaking from a -financial standpoint, as you know, it makes not -the least difference.”</p> - -<p>“I was going to add, sir, that this morning I -learned that Captain Chadwick of your ship -‘Adams,’ now loaded and ready to sail for Australia, -was down with pneumonia and could not -take the ship out, and that there was some difficulty -in securing a master that filled the requirements -of your house. I therefore applied to Mr. -Burton for the command of the ‘Adams,’ but he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[17]</a></span> -absolutely refused to consider the application -saying that as I had been away for almost two -years, that it would be positively brutal to even -permit me to go to sea again so soon, and that -the ‘Adams’ might stay loaded and tied to the -dock ten years rather than I should leave home -so speedily.”</p> - -<p>“Burton is exactly right, I endorse every word -he has said. You can’t have the ‘Adams’!” said -James Dunlap with emphasis. “What would -Martha Dunlap, your mother, and our dear -cousin’s widow, think if we robbed her of her only -son so soon after his return from a long absence -from home?”</p> - -<p>“My mother knows, sir, that my stay at home -will be very brief. She expects me to ask to go -to sea again almost immediately. I told her all -about it when I first met her upon my return,” -and as he spoke the shipmaster’s gaze was never -raised from the nautical cap that he held in his -hand.</p> - -<p>“Well! You are not going to sea again immediately, -that is all about it. You have handled -the ‘Lucy’ for two years, away from home, using<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[18]</a></span> -your own judgment, in a manner that, even were -you not our kinsman, would entitle you to a long -rest at the expense of our house as grateful shipowners,” -said Lucy’s grandfather.</p> - -<p>The young man giving no heed to the compliment -contained in the remarks made by James -Dunlap, but looking up and straight into the eyes -of the brother just arrived from Haiti, said so -earnestly that there could be no question of his -purpose:</p> - -<p>“I wish to get to sea as soon as possible. If I -cannot sail in the ‘Adams,’ much as I dislike to -leave you, sirs, I must seek other employ.”</p> - -<p>“The devil you will!” exclaimed his godfather -angrily.</p> - -<p>“Why, if you sail now you will miss your -cousin’s wedding and disappoint her,” added -James Dunlap.</p> - -<p>“Again, gentlemen, I say that I shall get to -sea within a few days. I either go in the ‘Adams’ -or seek other employ,” and all the time he was -speaking not once did the sailor remove his -steady gaze from the eyes of him for whom he -was named.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[19]</a></span></p> - -<p>To say that the Dunlap brothers were astonished -is putting it too mildly; they were amazed. -The master of a Dunlap ship was an object of -envy to every shipmaster out of Boston—the pay -and employ was the best in America—that a kinsman -and master should even propose to leave -their employ was monstrous. In amazement both -of the old gentlemen looked at the young man in -silence.</p> - -<p>Suddenly as old John Dunlap looked into -young John Dunlap’s honest eyes he read something -there, for first leaning forward in his chair -and gazing more intently into the gray eyes of the -sailor, he sprang to his feet and grasping the arm -of his young kinsman he fairly hauled him to the -window at the other end of the room, then facing -him around so that he could get a good look at his -face, he almost whispered:</p> - -<p>“Jack, when did you learn first that Lucy was -to be married?”</p> - -<p>“When I came ashore at Boston one week -ago.”</p> - -<p>The answer came so quickly that the question -must have been read in the eyes of the older man -before uttered.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[20]</a></span></p> - -<p>“I thought so,” said the old man softly and -sadly, as he walked, still holding the sailor by -the arm, back to the fire, and added as he neared -his brother:</p> - -<p>“James, Jack wants the ‘Adams’ and is in earnest. -I can’t have him leave our employ; therefore -he must go as master of that ship.”</p> - -<p>“But, brother, think of it,” exclaimed James -Dunlap.</p> - -<p>“There is no but about it, James, I wish him -to sail in our ship, the ‘Adams,’ as master. I understand -his desire and endorse his wish to get -to sea.”</p> - -<p>“Oh! Of course if you really are in earnest -just instruct Burton in the premises, but Jack -must dine with us tomorrow and see Lucy or -she will never forgive him or me.”</p> - -<p>“Don’t you see that the lad has always loved -Lucy, is heartbroken over her marriage and wants -to get away before the wedding?” cried John -Dunlap, as he turned after closing the door upon -Captain Jack’s departing figure.</p> - -<p>“What a blind old fool I am not to have seen -or thought of that!” exclaimed his brother.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[21]</a></span></p> - -<p>“How I wish in my soul it was our cousin -that my girl was going to marry instead of Burton, -but it is too late, too late.”</p> - -<p>Sadly the darker Dunlap brother echoed the -words of Lucy’s grandfather, as he sank into a -chair and covered his face with his hands:</p> - -<p>Too late! Too late! Too late!</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[22]</a></span></p> - -<h2>II.</h2> - -<p>“You don’t mean that Mr. Dunlap has consented -to your going out to Australia in -charge of the ‘Adams,’ do you, Captain -Jack?”</p> - -<p>The man who asked the question, as he rose -from the desk at which he was sitting, was quite -half a head taller than the sea captain whom he -addressed. His figure was elegant and graceful, -though slim; his face possessed that rare beauty -seen only on the canvas of old Italian masters, -clearly cut features, warm olive complexion in -which the color of the cheeks shows in subdued -mellow shadings, soft, velvet-like brown eyes, a -mouth of almost feminine character and proportion -filled with teeth as regular and white as -grains of rice.</p> - -<p>Save only that the white surrounding the -brown of his beautiful eyes might have been -clearer, that his shapely hands might have been<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[23]</a></span> -more perfect, had a bluish tinge not marred the -color of his finger nails, and his small feet might -have been improved by more height of instep, -Walter Burton was an ideal picture of a graceful, -handsome, cultivated gentleman.</p> - -<p>“Yes, Mr. Burton, I am to sail as master of -the ‘Adams.’ How soon can I get a clearance -and put to sea?”</p> - -<p>“It is an absolute outrage to permit you to go -to sea again so soon. Why, Captain, you have -had hardly time to get your shore legs. You have -not seen many of your old friends; Miss Dunlap -told me last evening that she had not even seen -you.”</p> - -<p>Burton’s voice was as soft, sweet and melodious -as the tones of a silver flute, and the -thought of the young sailor’s brief stay at home -seemed to strike a chord of sadness that gave -added charm to the words he uttered.</p> - -<p>“I expect to dine with my cousin tomorrow evening -and will then give her greeting upon my -home coming and at the same time bid her goodby -upon my departure.”</p> - -<p>“I declare, Jack, this is awfully sad to me, old<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[24]</a></span> -chap, and I know Lucy will be sorely disappointed. -You know that we are to be married next -month and Lucy has said a dozen times that she -wished you to be present; that you had always -been a tower of strength to her and that nothing -could alarm or make her nervous if, as she put it, -‘brave and trustworthy Jack be near.’”</p> - -<p>The sailor’s face lost some of its color in spite -of the tan that sun and sea had given it, as he -listened to words that he had heard Lucy say -when, as a boy and girl, they had climbed New -Hampshire’s hills, or sailed along Massachusetts’ -coast together.</p> - -<p>“I shall be sorry if Lucy be disappointed, but -I am so much of a sea-swab now that I am restless -and unhappy while ashore.”</p> - -<p>What a poor liar young John Dunlap was. His -manner, or something, not his words, in that instant -revealed his secret to Burton, as a flash of -lightning in the darkness discloses a scene, so was -Jack’s story and reason for hurried departure -from Boston made plain.</p> - -<p>By some yet unexplained process of mental -telegraphy the two young men understood each<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[25]</a></span> -other. Spontaneously they extended their hands -and in their warm clasp a bond of silent sympathy -was established. Thus they stood for a moment, -then Burton said in that sad, sweet voice of his:</p> - -<p>“Jack, dear old chap, I will get your clearance -papers tomorrow and you may put to sea when -you please, but see Lucy before you sail.”</p> - -<p>Ere Dunlap could reply the door of the manager’s -office opened and there entered the room -a man of such peculiar appearance as to attract -the attention of the most casual observer. He -was thin, even to emaciation. The skin over his -almost hairless head seemed drawn as tightly as -the covering of a drum. The ghastliness of his -dead-white face was made more apparent by the -small gleaming black eyes set deep and close to -a huge aquiline nose, and the scarlet, almost -bloody stripe that marked the narrow line of his -lips.</p> - -<p>“Beg pardon,” said the man, seeing someone -with Burton, and then, recognizing who the visitor -was, added:</p> - -<p>“Oh, how are you, Jack? I did not know that -you were with the manager,” and he seemed to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[26]</a></span> -put the faintest bit of emphasis upon the word -“manager.”</p> - -<p>“Well, what is it, Chapman?” said Burton -somewhat impatiently.</p> - -<p>“I only wished to inform you that I have secured -a master for the ‘Adams.’ Captain Mason, -who was formerly in our employ, has applied for -the position and as he was satisfactory when with -us before I considered it very fortunate for us to -secure his services just now.”</p> - -<p>“The ‘Adams’ has a master already assigned -to her,” interrupted the manager.</p> - -<p>“Why! When? Who?” inquired the superintendent -eagerly.</p> - -<p>“The ‘Adams’ sails in command of Captain -Dunlap here.”</p> - -<p>The gleaming black eyes of Chapman seemed -to bury their glances into the very heart of the -manager as he stretched his thin neck forward -and asked:</p> - -<p>“Did you give him the ship?”</p> - -<p>“J. Dunlap made the assignment of Captain -Jack to the ship today at his own request and -contrary to my wishes,” said Burton abruptly, -somewhat annoyed at Chapman’s manner.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[27]</a></span></p> - -<p>It was now the turn of Jack to stand the battery -of those hawk eyes of the superintendent, -who sought to read the honest sailor’s soul as he -shot his glances into Jack’s clear gray eyes.</p> - -<p>“Ah! Cousin Jack going away so soon and our -Miss Lucy’s wedding next month. How -strange!” Chapman seemed speaking to himself.</p> - -<p>“If that is all, Chapman, just say to Mason -that the firm appointed a master to the ‘Adams’ -without your knowledge; therefore he can’t have -the ship,” said Burton with annoyance in his tone -and manner, dismissing the superintendent with a -wave of his hand toward the door.</p> - -<p>When Chapman glided out of the room, the -man moved always in such a stealthy manner -that he appeared to glide instead of walk, Burton -exclaimed:</p> - -<p>“Do you know, Jack, that that man Chapman -can irritate me more by his detective demeanor -than any man I ever saw could do by open insult. -I am ashamed of myself for allowing such to be -the case, but I can’t help it. To have a chap about -who seems to be always playing the Sherlock -Holmes act is wearing on one’s patience. Why,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[28]</a></span> -confound it! If he came in this minute to say -that we needed a new supply of postage stamps -he would make such a detective job of it that I -should feel the uncomfortable sensation that the -mailing clerk had stolen the last lot purchased.”</p> - -<p>Jack, who disliked the sneaky and secretive as -much as any man alive and had just been irritated -himself by Chapman’s untimely scrutiny, said:</p> - -<p>“I am not astonished and don’t blame you. -While I have known Chapman all my life, I -somehow, as a boy and man, have always felt -when talking to him that I was undergoing an -examination before a police magistrate.”</p> - -<p>“Of course I ought to consider that he has -been with the house for more than forty years -and is fidelity and faithfulness personified to ‘J. -Dunlap,’ but he is so absurdly jealous and suspicious -that he would wear out the patience of a -saint, and I don’t pretend to be one,” supplemented -Burton.</p> - -<p>“Half the time,” said Jack, glad apparently to -discuss Chapman and thus avoid the subject -which beneath the surface of their conversation -was uppermost in the minds of both Burton and -himself.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[29]</a></span></p> - -<p>“I have not the slightest idea what ‘Old -Chap,’ as I call him, is driving at. He -goes hunting a hundred miles away for the end of -a coil of rope that is lying at his very feet, and he -is the very devil, too, for finding out anything he -wishes to know. Why, when I was a boy and -used to get into scrapes, if ‘Old Chap’ cornered -me I knew it was no use trying to get out of the -mess and soon learned to plead guilty at once,” -and Jack smiled in a dreary kind of way at the -recollection of some of his boyish pranks.</p> - -<p>“Well, let old Chapman, the modern Sherlock -Holmes, and his searching disposition go for the -present. Promise to be sure to dine with Lucy -tomorrow evening. She expects me to be there -also, as she is going to have one or two young -women and needs some of the male sex to talk -to them. I know that she will want you all to -herself,” said Burton.</p> - -<p>“Yes, I’ll be on hand all right tomorrow night -and you get my papers in shape during the day, -as I will sail as early day after tomorrow as the -tide serves,” replied the captain.</p> - -<p>“By the way, Jack! Send your steward to me<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[30]</a></span> -when you go aboard to take charge of the -‘Adams’ in the morning. Tell him to see me -personally. You sailors are such queer chaps -and care so little about your larder that I am -going to see to it myself that you don’t eat salt -pork and hard tack on your voyage out, nor drink -bilge water, either.”</p> - -<p>“You are awfully kind, Burton, but you need -not trouble yourself. I am sure common sea grub -is good enough for any sailor-man.”</p> - -<p>As they walked together toward the front door, -when Captain Jack was leaving the building, in -the narrow aisle between the long rows of desks -they came face to face with the superintendent. -He stepped aside and gazing after them, whispered:</p> - -<p>“Strange, very strange, for Jack Dunlap to -sail so soon.”</p> - -<p>“Be sure to send that steward of yours to me -tomorrow, Jack,” called the manager of “J. Dunlap” -as the sturdy figure of the sailor disappeared -in the fog that filled the crooked street in which -Boston’s oldest shipping and banking house had -its office.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[31]</a></span></p> - -<p>“And no ship ever sailed from Boston provided -as yours shall be, poor old chap,” muttered the -manager as he hurried back to his own room in -the office. “There shall be champagne enough -on board the ‘Adams,’ Jack, to drink our health, -if you so will, on our wedding day, even though -you be off Cape Good Hope.”</p> - -<p class="tb">In the gloaming that dark November day the -Dunlap brothers were seated close together, side -by side, in silence gazing into the heap of coals -that burned in the large grate before them. -John Dunlap’s hand rested upon the arm of his -brother, as if in the mere touching of him who -had first seen the light in his company there was -comfort.</p> - -<p>Burton thought, as he entered the private office -that no finer picture was ever painted than -that made by these two fine old American gentlemen -as the flame from the crackling cannel -coal shot up, revealing their kind, gentle, generous -faces in the surrounding gloom of the -room.</p> - -<p>“Pardon me, gentlemen,” said the manager,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[32]</a></span> -pausing on the threshold, hesitating to break in -upon a scene that seemed almost sacred, “but I -was told that you had sent for me while I was -out of the office.”</p> - -<p>“Come in, Burton, you were correctly informed,” -said James Dunlap, still neither changing -his position nor removing his gaze from the -fire.</p> - -<p>“My brother John and I have determined as a -mark of love for our young kinsman, Captain -John Dunlap, and as an evidence of our appreciation -for faithful services rendered to us as mate -and master, to make him a present of our ship -‘Adams,’ now loaded for Australia,” continued -James Dunlap, speaking very low and very softly.</p> - -<p>“You will please have the necessary papers for -the transfer made out tonight. We will execute -them in the morning and you will see that the -proper entry is made upon the register at the -custom house. Have the full value of the ship -charged to the private accounts of my brother -John and myself, as the gift is a personal affair -of ours and others interested in our house must<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[33]</a></span> -be fully indemnified,” continued the old man as -he turned his eyes and met his brother’s assenting -look.</p> - -<p>The flame blazing up in the grate at that moment -cast its light on Burton’s flushed face as he -listened to the closing sentence of Mr. James -Dunlap’s instructions.</p> - -<p>“Forgive me, sir, but I do not comprehend -what you mean by ‘others interested in our house.’ -I believe other than yourselves I alone have the -honor to hold an interest in your house,” and -moving forward in the firelight where he would -stand before the brothers he continued, almost indignantly, -his voice vibrating with emotion:</p> - -<p>“You do me bitter, cruel injustice if you think -that I do not wish, nay more, earnestly beg, to -join in this gift. I have learned that today that -would urge me to plead for permission to share -in this deed were it of ten times the value of the -‘Adams.’”</p> - -<p>Quickly old John Dunlap, rising from his chair, -placing his hand on Burton’s shoulder and regarding -him kindly, said:</p> - -<p>“I am glad to hear you say that, Burton, very<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[34]</a></span> -glad. It proves your heart to be right, but it -cannot be as you wish. Jack is so sensitive even -about receiving aid from us, his kinsmen, that -you must conceal the matter from him, put the -transfer and new registration with his clearance -papers and tell him it is our wish that they be -not opened until he is one week at sea.”</p> - -<p>“Could the transfer not be made just in the -name of the house without explanation? He -might never think of my being interested,” urged -the manager eagerly.</p> - -<p>“You are mistaken, Walter,” said James Dunlap. -“Within a month you might see the ‘Adams’ -sailing back into Boston harbor. I am sorry to -deny you the exercise of your generous impulse; -we appreciate the intent, but think it best not to -hamper a gift to this proud fellow with anything -that might cause its rejection.”</p> - -<p>Burton, realizing the truth of the position -taken by the brothers and the hopelessness of -gaining Jack Dunlap’s consent to be placed -under obligations to one not of his own blood, -could offer no further argument upon the subject. -Dejected and disappointed he turned to leave the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[35]</a></span> -room to accomplish the wishes expressed by the -twins. As he reached the door John Dunlap -called to him.</p> - -<p>“Hold on a minute, Burton. Have we any interest -in the cargo of the ‘Adams?’”</p> - -<p>“About one-quarter of her cargo is agricultural -implements consigned to our Australian agent for -the account of the house,” quickly answered the -manager.</p> - -<p>“Charge that invoice to me and assign it to -Jack.”</p> - -<p>“Charge it jointly to us both,” added James -Dunlap.</p> - -<p>“No you don’t, James! We only agreed on the -ship. John is my godson and namesake. I have -a right to do more than anyone else,” exultantly -cried the kind hearted old fellow, and for the first -time that day he laughed as he slapped his brother -on the shoulder and thought of how he had gotten -ahead of him.</p> - -<p>Burton was obliged to smile at the sudden -anxiety of Mr. John to get rid of him when Mr. -James began to protest against his brother’s selfishness -in wishing to have no partner in the gift -of the cargo.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[36]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Now, you just hurry up those papers, Burton. -Yes, hurry! Run along! Yes, Yes,” and so -saying old Mr. John fairly rushed him out of the -room.</p> - -<p>“How I wish I were Captain Jack’s uncle, too,” -thought Burton sadly, with a heart full of generous -sympathy for the man who he knew loved -the woman that ere a month would be Mrs. -Burton.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[37]</a></span></p> - -<h2>III.</h2> - -<p>Some men have one hobby, some have -many and some poor wretches have -none. David Chapman had three hobbies -and they occupied his whole mind and heart.</p> - -<p>First in place and honor was the house of J. -Dunlap. “The pillared firmament” might fall but -his fidelity to the firm which he had served for -forty years could never fail. His was the fierce -and jealous love of the tigress for her cub where -the house of Dunlap was concerned. He actually -suffered, as from mortal hurt, when any one or -any thing seemed to separate him from this great -object of his adoration.</p> - -<p>He had ever regarded the ownership of even -a small interest by Walter Burton as an indignity, -an outrage and a sacrilege. He hated him -for defiling the chiefest idol of his religion and -life. He was jealous of him because he separated -in a manner the worshiper from the worshiped.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[38]</a></span></p> - -<p>Because solely of jealous love for this High -Joss of his, Chapman would have gladly, cheerfully -suffered unheard of agonies to rid -the house of J. Dunlap of this irreverent interloper -who did not bear the sacred name of -Dunlap.</p> - -<p>The discovery of anything concealed, unravelling -a mystery, ferreting out a secret was the -next highest hobby in Chapman’s trinity of hobbies. -He was passionately fond of practicing -the theory of deduction, and was marvelously -successful at arriving at correct conclusions. -No crime, no mystery furnished a sensation for -the Boston newspapers that did not call into play -the exercise of this the second and most peculiar -hobby of Chapman.</p> - -<p>By some strange freak of nature in compounding -the elements to form the character of David -Chapman, an inordinate love for music was -added to the incongruous mixture, and became -the man’s third and most harmless hobby. Chapman -had devoted years to the study of music, -from pure love of sweet and melodious sounds. -In the great and musical city of Boston no one<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[39]</a></span> -excelled him as master of his favorite instrument, -the violoncello. Like Balzac’s Herr -Smucker, in his hours of relaxation, he bathed -himself in the flood of his own melody.</p> - -<p>Chapman owned, he was not poor, and occupied -with his spinster sister, who was almost as -withered as himself, a house well down in the -business section of the city. He could not be -induced to live in the more desirable suburbs. -They were too far from the temple of his chiefest -idol, the house of J. Dunlap.</p> - -<p>“Jack Dunlap sails as master of our ship -‘Adams’ day after tomorrow,” suggested Chapman -meditatively, as he sipped his tea and -glanced across the table at the dry, almost fossilized, -prim, starchy, old lady seated opposite -him in his comfortable dining room that evening.</p> - -<p>“Impossible, David, the boy has only just arrived.”</p> - -<p>And the little old lady seemed to pick at the -words as she uttered them much as a sparrow -does at crumbs of bread.</p> - -<p>“It is not impossible for it is a fact,” replied -her brother dryly.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[40]</a></span></p> - -<p>“What is the reason for his sudden departure? -Did the house order him to sea again?” pecked -out the sister.</p> - -<p>“No, that is the strange part of the affair. -Jack himself especially urged his appointment to -the ship sailing day after tomorrow.”</p> - -<p>“Then it is to get away from Boston before -Lucy is married. I believe he is in love with -her and can’t bear to see her marry Burton.”</p> - -<p>Oh! boastful man, with all your assumed superiority -in the realm of reason and your deductive -theories and synthetical systems for forming correct -conclusions. You are but a tyro, a mere -infant in that great field of feeling where love -is crowned king. The most withered, stale, neglected -being in whose breast beats a woman’s -heart, by that mysterious and sympathetic something -called intuition can lead you like the child -that you are in this, woman’s own province.</p> - -<p>“You are entirely wrong, Arabella, as usual. -Jack never thought of Miss Lucy in that way; -besides he and Burton are exceedingly friendly; -can’t you make it convenient to visit your friends -in Bedford and see Martha Dunlap? If anything<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[41]</a></span> -be wrong with Jack, and I can help him, I -shall be glad to do so. The mother may be more -communicative than the son.”</p> - -<p>“I will surely make the attempt to learn if anything -be wrong, and gladly, too; I have always -loved that boy Jack, and if he be in trouble I -want you to help him all in your power, David.” -The little old maid’s face flushed in the earnestness -of the expression.</p> - -<p>“Burton is still an unsolved problem to me,” -and in saying the words Chapman’s jaws moved -with a kind of snap, like a steel trap, while his -eyes had the glitter of a serpent’s in them as he -continued, “for years I have observed him closely -and I cannot make him out at all. I am baffled -by sudden changes of mood in the man; at times -he is reckless, gay, thoughtless, frivolous, and -I sometimes think lacking in moral stamina; -again he is dignified, kind, courteous, reserved -and seems to possess the highest standard of -morals.”</p> - -<p>“I don’t suppose that he is unlike other men; -they all have moods. You do yourself, David, -and very unpleasant moods, too,” said Arabella<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[42]</a></span> -with the proverbial sourness of the typical New -England spinster.</p> - -<p>“Well, I may have moods, as you say, Arabella, -but I don’t break out suddenly in a kind of -frenzy of gaiety, sing and shout like a street Arab -and then as quickly relapse into a superlatively -dead calm of dignity and the irreproachable demeanor -of a cultured gentleman.</p> - -<p>“Now, David, you are allowing your dislike -for Burton and your prejudice to overdraw the -picture,” said prim Miss Arabella, as she daintily -raised the teacup to her lips.</p> - -<p>“I am not overdrawing the picture! I have -seen and heard Burton when he thought that he -was alone in the office, and I say that there is -something queer about him; Dr. Jekyl and Mr. -Hyde of that old story are common characters -in comparison. I knew his father well; he was -an every-day sort of successful business man; -whom his father married and what she was like -I do not know, but I shall find out some day, as -therein may lie the reading of the riddle,” retorted -the brother vehemently.</p> - -<p>“As Lucy Dunlap will be married to the man<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[43]</a></span> -shortly and it will then be too late to do anything, -no matter what is the result of your inquiry, it -seems to me that you should cease to interest -yourself in the matter,” chirped the bird-like -voice of Miss Arabella.</p> - -<p>“I can’t! I am absolutely fascinated by the -study of this man’s strange, incongruous character; -you remember what I told you when I returned -from the only visit I ever made at -Burton’s house. It was business that forced me -to go there, and I have never forgotten what I -saw and heard. I am haunted by something that -I cannot define,” said Chapman, intensity of feeling -causing his pale face and hairless head to -assume the appearance of the bald-eagle or some -other bird of prey.</p> - -<p>“Think of it, Arabella! That summer day as -I reached the door of his lonely dwelling, surrounded -by that great garden, through the open -windows there came crashing upon my ears such -a wild, weird burst of song that it held me motionless -where I stood. The sound of those musical -screams of melodious frenzy, dying away in -rythmic cadence until it seemed the soft summer<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[44]</a></span> -breeze echoed the sweet harmony in its sighing. -Words, music and expression now wild and unbridled -as the shriek of a panther, and then low, -gentle and soothing as the murmuring of a peaceful -brook,” cried Chapman, becoming more intense -as his musical memory reproduced the -sounds he sought to describe.</p> - -<p>“David, you know that music is a passion with -you, and doubtless your sensitive ear gave added -accent and meaning to the improvised music of -a careless, idle young man,” interrupted Miss -Arabella.</p> - -<p>“Not so! Not so! I swear that no careless, -idle man ever improvised such wild melody; it -is something unusual in the man; when at last -the outburst ceased, and I summoned strength -to ring the bell, there was something almost supernatural -that enabled that frenzied musician -to meet me with the suavity of an ordinary cultured -gentleman of Boston as Burton did when -I entered his sitting room.”</p> - -<p>“Brother, I fear that imagination and hatred -in this instance are sadly warping your usually -sound judgment,” quietly replied the sedate sister,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[45]</a></span> -seeing the increasing excitement of her -brother.</p> - -<p>“Imagination created also, I suppose, the uncanny, -barbaric splendor with which his apartments -were decorated which I described to you,” -sneered the man.</p> - -<p>“All young men affect something of that kind, -I am told, in the adornment of their rooms,” rejoined -the spinster, mincing her words, and, old -as she was, assuming embarrassment in mentioning -young men’s rooms.</p> - -<p>“Nonsense! Arabella, I have seen many of the -Harvard men’s rooms. A few swords, daggers, -and other weapons; a skin or two of wild animals; -something of that kind, but Burton’s apartments -were differently decorated; masses of -striking colors, gaudy, glaring, yet so blended by -an artistic eye that they were not offensive to the -sight. Articles of furniture of such strange, savage -and grotesque shape as to suggest a barbarian -as the designer. The carving on the woodwork, -the paneling, the tone and impression created -by sight of it all were such as must have filled -the souls of the Spanish conquerors when they<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[46]</a></span> -first gazed upon the barbaric grandeur of the -Moors, as exposed to their wondering eyes by -the conquest of Granada.”</p> - -<p>“Don’t get excited, David!” said staid Miss -Arabella. “Suppose that you should discover -something to the discredit of Burton, what use -could and would you make of it?”</p> - -<p>The veins in Chapman’s thin neck and bony -brow became swollen and distended as if straining -to burst the skin that covered them; his eyes -flashed baleful fire, as extending his arm and -grasping the empty air as if it were his enemy, -he fairly hissed:</p> - -<p>“I! I! I would tear him out of the house of -J. Dunlap, intruder that he is, and cast him into -the gutter! Yea! though I tore the heartstrings -of a million women such as Lucy Dunlap! What -is she or her heart in comparison with the glory -of Boston’s oldest business name?”</p> - -<p>Panting, as a weary hound, who exhausted -but exultant, fastens his fangs in the hunted stag, -overcome by the violence of his hatred, David -Chapman dropped down into his chair.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[47]</a></span></p> - -<p class="tb">Nestling among grand old oaks and profusion -of shrubbery, now leafless in the November air -of New England, on the top of the highest hill -in that portion of the suburbs, sat the “Eyrie,” -the bachelor home of Walter Burton.</p> - -<p>Though the house was small, the conservatory -adjoining it was one of the largest in the city. -Burton was an ardent lover of flowers, and an -active collector of rare plants. The house stood -in the center of an extensive and well kept garden -through which winding paths ran in every -direction.</p> - -<p>The place would have seemed lonely to one -not possessing within himself resources sufficient -to furnish him entertainment independent of the -society of others.</p> - -<p>Burton never knew loneliness. He was an accomplished -musician, an artist of more than ordinary -ability, a zealous horticulturist, and an -omnivorous devourer of books.</p> - -<p>A housekeeper who was cook at the same time, -one man and a boy for the garden and conservatory -and a valet constituted the household servants -of the “Eyrie.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[48]</a></span></p> - -<p>At the moment that Chapman’s wrathful mind -was expressing its concentrated hate for him, the -owner of the white house on the hill sat before -the open grand piano in his music-room, his -shapely hands wandering listlessly over the keys, -touching them once in a while in an aimless manner. -The young man’s mind was filled with -other thoughts than music.</p> - -<p>Chapman had drawn an accurate picture of -Burton’s apartments in many respects, yet he had -forgotten to mention the many musical instruments -scattered about the rooms. Harp, guitar, -mandolin, violin, banjo and numberless sheets -of music, some printed and some written, marked -this as the abode of a natural musician. Burton -was equally proficient in the use of each of the -instruments lying about the room, as well as -being the author of original compositions of great -beauty and merit.</p> - -<p>The odor of violets perfumed the whole house. -Great bunches of these, Burton’s favorite flower, -filled antique and queerly shaped vases in each -room.</p> - -<p>Burton ceased to even sound the keys on which<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[49]</a></span> -his hands rested, and as some scene was disclosed -to his sympathetic soul, his soft brown eyes were -dimmed by a suspicious moisture. Sighing -sadly he murmured:</p> - -<p>“Poor Jack! While I am in a heaven of bliss -with the woman I love, surrounded by all that -makes life enjoyable, he, poor old chap, alone, -heartsick and hopeless, will be battling with the -stormy waves of the ocean. Alas! Fate how -inscrutable!”</p> - -<p>As his mind drifted onward in this channel of -thought, he added more audibly, “What a heart -Jack has! There is a man! He will carry his -secret uncomplaining and in silence to his grave, -that, too, without permitting envy or jealousy -to fill his soul with hatred; I would that I could -do something to assuage the pain of that brave -heart.” And at the word “brave” the stream of -his wandering fancy seemed to take a new direction.</p> - -<p>“Brave! Men who have sailed with him say -he knows no fear; the last voyage they tell how -he sprang into the icy sea, all booted as he was, -waves mountain high, the night of inky blackness,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[50]</a></span> -to save a worthless, brutal Lascar sailor. -Tender as a woman, when a mere child as careful -of baby Cousin Lucy as a granddame could be, -and ever her sturdy little knight and champion -from babyhood. Poor Jack!”</p> - -<p>Again the current of his thought changed its -course. He paused and whispered to himself, -“Lucy, am I worthy of her? Shall I prove as -kind, as true and brave a husband as Jack would -be to her? Oh! God, I hope so, I will try so -hard. Sometimes there seems to come a strange -inexplicable spell over my spirit—a something -that is beyond my control. A madness seems to -possess my very soul. Involuntarily I say and -do that, during the time that this mysterious -influence holds me powerless in its grasp, that is -so foreign to my natural self that I shudder and -grow sick at heart at the thought of the end to -which it may lead me.”</p> - -<p>At the recollection of some horror of the past -the young man’s face paled and he shivered as -if struck by a cold blast of winter wind.</p> - -<p>“Ought I to tell Lucy of these singular manifestations? -Ought I to alarm my darling concerning<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[51]</a></span> -something that may partly be imaginary? -I am uncertain what, loving her as I do, is right; -I can always absent myself from her presence -when I feel that hateful influence upon me, and -perhaps after I am married I may be freed from -the horrible thraldom of that irresistible power -that clutches me in its terrible grasp. I cannot -bear the idea of giving my dear love useless pain -or trouble. Had I not better wait?”</p> - -<p>At that moment some unpleasant fact must -have suggested itself or rather forced itself upon -Burton’s mind for he pushed back the piano-stool -and rising walked with impatient steps about the -room, saying:</p> - -<p>“It would be ridiculous! Absurd! Really -unworthy of both Lucy and myself even to mention -the subject! Long ago that old, nonsensical -prejudice had disappeared, at least among cultivated -people in America. There is not a shade -of doubt but that both the Messrs. Dunlap and -Lucy are aware of the fact that my mother was -a quadroon. Doubtless that circumstance is -deemed so trivial that it never has occurred to -them to mention it to me. People of education<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[52]</a></span> -and refinement, regardless of the color of skin, -are welcome in the home of the Dunlaps as everywhere -else where enlightenment has dispelled -prejudice.”</p> - -<p>He paused and bursting into a musical and -merry laugh at something that his memory recalled, -exclaimed,</p> - -<p>“Why, I have seen men and women as black -as the proverbial ‘ace of spades,’ the guests of -honor in Mr. James Dunlap’s house, as elsewhere -in Boston. I shall neither bore nor insult the -intelligence of my sweetheart or her family by -introducing the absurd subject of blood in connection -with our marriage. The idea of blood -making any difference! Men are neither hounds -nor horses!”</p> - -<p>Laughing at the odd conceit that men, hounds -and horses should be considered akin by any one -not absolutely benighted, he resumed his seat at -the piano and began playing a gay waltz tune -then popular with the dancing set of Boston’s -exclusive circle.</p> - -<p>As Burton ended the piece of music with a -fantastic flourish of his own composition, he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[53]</a></span> -turned and saw his valet standing silently waiting -for his master to cease playing.</p> - -<p>“Ah! Victor, are the hampers packed carefully?” -exclaimed Burton.</p> - -<p>“Yes, sir,” replied the valet, pronouncing his -words with marked French accent. “The steward -at your club furnished all the articles on the -list that the housekeeper lacked, sir.”</p> - -<p>“You are sure that you put in the hampers the -‘44’ vintage of champagne, the Burgundy imported -by myself, and you examined the cigars -to be certain to get only those of the last lot from -Havana?”</p> - -<p>“Quite sure, sir; I packed everything myself, -as you told me you were especially anxious to -have only the very best selected,” said the little -Frenchman.</p> - -<p>“Now, listen, Victor; tomorrow I dine away -from home, but before I leave the house I shall -arrange a box of flowers, which, with the hampers, -you are to carry in my dog-cart to Dunlap’s -wharf and there you are to have them placed in -the cabin of the ship ‘Adams.’ You will open the -box of flowers and arrange them tastefully, as I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[54]</a></span> -know you can, about the master’s stateroom—take -a half-dozen vases to put them in.”</p> - -<p>“Very good, sir; it shall be done as you say, -sir,” answered the valet bowing and moving toward -the door.</p> - -<p>“Hold on, Victor!” called Burton, “I wish to -add just this: if by any accident, no matter what, -you fail to get these things on board the ‘Adams’ -before she sails, my gentle youth, I will break -your neck.”</p> - -<p>So admonished the servant bowed low and left -the room, as his master turned again to the piano -and began to make the room ring with a furious -and warlike march.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[55]</a></span></p> - -<h2>IV.</h2> - -<p>The United States is famous for its beautiful -women, but even in that country -where beauty is the common heritage of -her daughters, Lucy Dunlap’s loveliness of face -and figure shone as some transcendent planet in -the bright heavens of femininity where all are -stars.</p> - -<p>“How can you be so cruel, Jack, as to run away -to sea again so soon and when I need you so -much?”</p> - -<p>The great hazel eyes looked so pleadingly into -poor Jack’s that he could not even stammer out -an excuse for his departure.</p> - -<p>Sailors possibly appreciate women more than -all other classes of men. They are so much -without their society that they never seem to regard -them as landsmen do, and Lucy Dunlap was -an exceptional example of womankind to even -the most <i lang="fr">blase</i> landsman. Small wonder then<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[56]</a></span> -that sailor Jack, confused, could only gaze at the -lovely being before him.</p> - -<p>Lucy Dunlap, though of the average height of -women, seemed taller, so round, supple and elastic -were the proportions of her perfect figure. -The charm of intellectual power gave added -beauty to a face whose features would have -caused an artist to realize that the ideal model did -not exist alone in the land of dreams.</p> - -<p>In the spacious drawing-room of Dunlap’s -mansion were gathered those who had enjoyed -the sumptuous dinner served that evening in -honor of their seafaring kinsman. Mr. John -Dunlap was relating his experiences in Port au -Prince to his old friend, Mrs. Church, while his -brother, with that old-fashioned courtliness that -became him so well, was playing the cavalier to -Miss Winthrop, one of his granddaughter’s -pretty friends. Walter Burton was bending over -Miss Stanhope, a talented young musician, who, -seated before the piano, was scanning a new -piece of music.</p> - -<p>There seemed a mutual understanding between -all of those present that Lucy should monopolize<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[57]</a></span> -her cousin’s attention on this the first occasion -that she had seen him for two years, and probably -the last for a like period of time. In a far -corner of the great room Jack and Lucy were -seated when she asked the question mentioned, -to which Jack finally made awkward answer by -saying:</p> - -<p>“Oh! well, Lucy, I am not of much account at -social functions. I should only be in some one’s -way. I fancy my proper place is the quarter-deck -of a ship at sea.”</p> - -<p>“Don’t be absurd, Jack! You know much better -than that,” said his cousin, glancing at the -manly, frank face beside her, the handsome, curly -blonde head carried high and firm, and the grand -chest and shoulders of the man, made more noticeable -by the close fitting dress coat that he -wore.</p> - -<p>“Why, half the women of our set in Boston -will be in love with you if you remain for my -wedding. Please do, Jack. I will find you the -prettiest sweetheart that your sailor-heart ever -pictured.”</p> - -<p>“I am awfully sorry, little cousin, to disappoint<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[58]</a></span> -you, as you seem to have expected me to be present -at your wedding,” said Jack manfully, attempting -to appear cheerful.</p> - -<p>“And as for the sweetheart part of your suggestion, -it may be ungallant to say so, but I don’t -believe there is any place in my log for that kind -of an entry.”</p> - -<p>“How odd it is, Jack, that you have never been -in love; why, any woman could love you, you big-hearted -handsome sailor.”</p> - -<p>Lucy’s admiring glances rested upon the face -of her cousin as innocently as when a little maid -she had kissed him and said that she loved him.</p> - -<p>“Yes, it is rather odd for a man never to love -some woman, but I can’t say that I agree that -any woman could or would love me,” answered -Jack dryly, as he smiled at the earnest face -turned toward him.</p> - -<p>Miss Stanhope played a magnificent symphony -as only that clever artist could; Walter Burton’s -clear tenor voice rang out in an incomparable -solo from the latest opera, but Lucy and Jack, -oblivious to all else, in low and confidential tones -conversed in the far corner of the room.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[59]</a></span></p> - -<p>As of old when she was a child, Lucy had nestled -down close to her cousin and resting one -small hand upon his arm was artlessly pouring -out the whole story of her love for Walter Burton, -her bright hopes and expectations, the joy -that filled her soul, the happiness that she saw -along the vista of the future; all with that freedom -from reserve that marks the exchange of -confidences between loving sisters.</p> - -<p>The day of the rack and stake has passed, but -as long as human hearts shall beat, the day of -torture can never come to a close; Jack listened -to the heart story of the innocent, confiding -woman beside him, who, all unaware of the torture -she was inflicting, painted the future in -words that wrung more agony from his soul than -rack or stake could have caused his body.</p> - -<p>How bravely he battled against the pain that -every word brought to his breast! Pierced by -a hundred darts he still could meet the artless -gaze of those bright, trusting, hazel eyes and -smile in assurance of his interest and sympathy.</p> - -<p>“But of course my being married must make -no difference with you, Cousin Jack. You must<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[60]</a></span> -love me as you always have,” she said, as if the -thought of losing something she was accustomed -to have just occurred to her mind.</p> - -<p>“I shall always love you, Lucy, as I ever have.” -The sailor’s voice came hoarse and deep from the -broad breast that rose and fell like heaving billows.</p> - -<p>“You know, Jack, that you were always my -refuge and strength in time of trouble or danger -when I was a child, and even with dear Walter -for my husband I still should feel lost had I not -you to call upon.” Lucy’s voice trembled a little -and she grasped Jack’s strong arm with the hand -that rested there while they had been talking.</p> - -<p>“You may call me from the end of the earth, -my dear, and feel sure that I shall come to you,” -said Jack simply, but the earnest manner was -more convincing to the woman at his side than -fine phrases would have been.</p> - -<p>“Oh! Jack! what a comfort you are, and how -much I rely upon you. It makes me quite strong -and brave to know that my marriage will make -no change in your love for me.”</p> - -<p>“As long as life shall last, my cousin, I shall<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[61]</a></span> -love you,” replied the man almost sadly, as he -placed his hand over hers that held his arm.</p> - -<p>“Or until some day you marry and your wife -becomes jealous,” added Lucy laughing.</p> - -<p>“Or until I marry and my wife is jealous,” -repeated Dunlap with the faintest kind of emphasis -upon “until.”</p> - -<p>Miss Stanhope began to play a waltz of the -inspiring nature that almost makes old and gouty -feet to tingle, and is perfectly irresistible to the -young and joyous. Burton and Miss Winthrop -in a minute were whirling around the drawing-room. -How perfectly Burton could dance; his -easy rythmic steps were the very poetry of motion. -Lucy and Jack paused to watch the handsome -couple as they glided gracefully through -the room.</p> - -<p>“Does not Walter dance beautifully?” exclaimed -Lucy as she followed the dancers with -admiring glances.</p> - -<p>“Bertie Winthrop, who was at Harvard with -Walter, says that when they were students and -had their stag parties if they could catch Walter -in what Bertie calls ‘a gay mood,’ he would astonish<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[62]</a></span> -them with his wonderful dancing. Bertie -vows that Walter can dance any kind of thing -from a vulgar gig to an exquisite ballet, but he -is so awfully modest about it that he denies Bertie’s -story and will not dance anything but the -conventional,” continued Lucy.</p> - -<p>“Take a turn, Jack!” called Burton as he and -his partner swept by the corner where the sailor -and his cousin were seated, and added as he -passed, “It is your last chance for some time.”</p> - -<p>“Come on, Jack,” cried Lucy springing up and -extending her hands. A moment more and Jack -was holding near his bosom the woman for -whom his heart would beat until death should still -it forever.</p> - -<p>Oft midst the howling winds and angry waves, -when storm tossed on the sea, will Jack dream -o’er again the heavenly bliss of those few moments -when close to his heart rested she who -was the beacon light of his sailor’s soul.</p> - -<p>When the music of the waltz ended, Jack and -his fair partner found themselves just in front -of the settee where John Dunlap and Mrs. -Church were seated.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[63]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Uncle John, I have been trying to induce Jack -to stay ashore until after my wedding,” said -Lucy addressing Mr. John Dunlap who had been -following her and her partner with his eyes, in -which was a pained expression, as they had circled -about the room.</p> - -<p>“Won’t you help me, Uncle John?” added the -young woman in that pleading seductive tone -that always brought immediate surrender on the -part of both her grandfather and granduncle.</p> - -<p>“I am afraid, Lucy, that I can’t aid you this -time,” replied the old gentleman and there was -so much seriousness in his sunburnt face that -Lucy exclaimed anxiously:</p> - -<p>“Why? What is the matter that the house -must send Cousin Jack away almost as soon as he -gets home?”</p> - -<p>“Nothing is the matter, dear, but it is an opportunity -for your cousin to make an advancement -in his profession, and you must not be -selfish in thinking only of your own happiness, -my child. You know men must work and -women must wait,” replied her uncle.</p> - -<p>“Oh! Is that it? Then I must resign myself<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[64]</a></span> -with good grace to the disappointment. I would -not for the world have any whim of mine mar -dear old Jack’s prospects,” and Lucy clasped -both of her dimpled white hands affectionately -on her cousin’s arm, which she still retained after -the waltz ended, as she uttered these sentiments.</p> - -<p>“I know Jack would make any sacrifice for me -if I really insisted.”</p> - -<p>“I am sure that he would, Lucy, so don’t insist,” -said John Dunlap very seriously and positively.</p> - -<p>Just then Burton began singing a mournfully -sweet song, full of sadness and pathos, accompanying -himself on a guitar that had been lying -on the music stand. All conversation ceased. -Every one turned to look at the singer. What a -mellow, rich voice had Walter Burton. What -expression he put into the music and words!</p> - -<p>What a handsome man he was! As he leaned -forward holding the instrument, and lightly -touching the strings as he sang, Lucy thought -him a perfect Apollo. Her eyes beamed with -pride and love as she regarded her future husband.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[65]</a></span></p> - -<p>None noticed the flush and troubled frown on -old John Dunlap’s face. Burton’s crossed legs -had drawn his trousers tightly around the limb -below the knee, revealing an almost total absence -of calf and that the little existing was placed -higher up than usually is the case. That peculiarity -or something never to be explained had -brought some Haitian scene back to the memory -of the flushed and frowning old man and sent a -pang of regret and fear through his kind heart.</p> - -<p>“God bless and keep you, lad! Jack, you are -the last of the Dunlaps,” said Mr. John Dunlap -solemnly as they all stood in the hall when the -sailor was leaving.</p> - -<p>“Amen! most earnestly, Amen!” added Mr. -James Dunlap, placing his hand on Jack’s -shoulder.</p> - -<p>“Good-by! dear Jack,” said Lucy sorrowfully -while tears filled her eyes, when she stood at the -outer door of the hall holding her cousin’s hand.</p> - -<p>“Think of me on the twentieth of next month, -my wedding day,” she added, and then drawing -the hand that she held close to her breast as if -still clinging to some old remembrance and anxious<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[66]</a></span> -to keep fast hold of the past, fearful that it -would escape her, she exclaimed:</p> - -<p>“Remember, you are still my trusty knight and -champion, Jack!”</p> - -<p>“Until death, Lucy,” replied the man, as he -raised the little white hand to his lips and reverently -kissed it.</p> - -<p>She stood watching the retreating figure until -it was hidden by the gloom of the ghostly elms -that lined the avenue. As she turned Burton -was at her side.</p> - -<p>“How horribly lonely Jack must be, Walter,” -she said in pitying tones.</p> - -<p>“More so than even you realize, Lucy,” rejoined -Burton sadly.</p> - -<p>Alone through the darkness strode a man with -a dull, hard, crushing pain in his brave, faithful -heart.</p> - -<p class="tb">“The child will be ruined,” said all the old -ladies of the Dunlaps’ acquaintance when they -learned that it had been determined by the child’s -grandfather to keep the motherless and fatherless -little creature at home with him, rather than<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[67]</a></span> -send her to reside with some remote female members -of her mother’s family.</p> - -<p>“Those two old gentlemen will surely spoil -her to that degree that she will be unendurable -when she becomes a young woman,” asserted the -women with feminine positiveness.</p> - -<p>“They will make her Princess of the house of -Dunlap, I suppose,” added the most acrimonious.</p> - -<p>To a degree these predictions were verified by -the result, but only to a degree. The twin -brothers almost worshiped the beautiful little -maiden, and did in very fact make her their Princess, -and so, too, was she often called; but possibly -through no merit in the management of the -brothers, probably simply because Lucy was not -spoilable was the desirable end arrived at that -she grew to be a most amiable and agreeable -woman.</p> - -<p>The son of Mr. John Dunlap, the father of -Lucy, survived but one year the death of his wife, -which occurred when Lucy was born. Thus her -grandfather and uncle became sole protectors and -guardians of the child; that is until the lad, Jack -Dunlap, came to live at the house of his godfather.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[68]</a></span></p> - -<p>Young Jack was the only child of a second -cousin of the twin brothers; his father had been -lost at sea when Jack was yet a baby. His -mother, Martha Dunlap, had gladly availed herself -of the kind offer of the boy’s kinsman and -godfather, when he proposed that the boy should -come and live with him in Boston, where he could -obtain better opportunities for securing an education -than he could in the old town of Bedford.</p> - -<p>Jack was twelve years of age when he became -an inmate of the Dunlap mansion, and a robust, -sturdy little curly haired chap he was; Princess -Lucy’s conquest was instantaneous. Jack immediately -enrolled himself as the chief henchman, -servitor and guard of the pretty fairy-like maid -of six years. No slave was ever more obedient -and humble.</p> - -<p>Great games awoke the echoes through Dunlap’s -stately old dwelling; in winter the lawn was -converted into a slide, the fish-pond into a skating-rink; -in summer New Hampshire’s hills -reverberated with the merry shouts of Jack and -“Princess” Lucy or flying over the blue waters -of the bay in the yacht that his godfather had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[69]</a></span> -given him. Jack, aided by Lucy’s fresh young -voice, sang rollicking songs of the sea.</p> - -<p>The old gentlemen dubbed Jack, “Lucy’s -Knight,” and were always perfectly satisfied -when the little girl was with her cousin.</p> - -<p>“He is more careful of her than we are ourselves,” -they would reply when speaking of Jack -and his guardianship.</p> - -<p>All the fuming of Miss Lucy’s maids and the -complaints of Miss Lucy’s governess availed -nothing, for even good old Mrs. Church joined -in the conspiracy of the grandfather and uncle, -saying:</p> - -<p>“She is perfectly safe in Jack’s care, and I -wish to see rosy cheeks rather than hear Emersonian -philosophy from our pet.”</p> - -<p>Notwithstanding the “lots of fun,” as Jack -used to call their frolics, Lucy and Jack did good -hard work with their books, music and “all the -rest of it,” as the young people called drawing -and dancing.</p> - -<p>When Jack became twenty years of age, and -was prepared to enter Harvard college, where -Mr. John Dunlap proposed to send him, he made<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[70]</a></span> -his appearance one day in the city and asked to -see his kind kinsman.</p> - -<p>“I thank you, sir, for your great kindness in -offering to place me in Harvard College, as I -do for all the countless things you have done for -me, but I can’t accept your generous proposition. -You will not be angry, I am sure, for you know, -I hope, how grateful I am for all you have done. -But, sir, I have a widowed mother and I wish to -go to work that I may earn money for her and -obtain a start in life for myself,” said Jack with -boyish enthusiasm when admitted to the presence -of Mr. John Dunlap.</p> - -<p>Though the old gentleman urged every argument -to alter Jack’s determination, the boy stood -firmly by what he had said.</p> - -<p>“You are my namesake, the only male representative -of our family; neither you nor your -mother shall ever want. I have more money -than I need.” Many other inducements were -offered still the young man insisted upon the -course that he laid out for himself.</p> - -<p>“I am a sailor’s son and have a sailor’s soul; -I wish to go to sea,” Jack finally exclaimed.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[71]</a></span></p> - -<p>Both of the twins loved Jack. He had been -so long in their house and so closely associated -with Lucy that he seemed more to them than a -remote young kinsman.</p> - -<p>Finding Jack’s decision unalterable, a compromise -was effected on the subject. Jack should -sail in one of their coasting ships, and when on -shore at Boston continue to make their house his -home.</p> - -<p>Great was the grief of Lucy at parting with -her Jack, as she called him. But consoling herself -with the thought that she should see him -often and that the next autumn she should be -obliged to leave Boston for some dreadful seminary -and thus they would be separated under any -circumstances, she dried her eyes and entered -with enthusiasm into his preparations for sea, -saying, “I have a good mind to dress up as a boy -and go with Jack! I declare I would do it, were -it not for grandfather and Uncle John.”</p> - -<p>Jack’s kit on his first voyage was a marvel in -the way of a sailor’s outfit; Lucy had made a -bankrupt of herself in the purchase of the most -extraordinary handkerchiefs, caps, shirts and -things of that kind that could be found in Boston,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[72]</a></span> -saying proudly to Mrs. Church when displaying -the assortment:</p> - -<p>“Nothing is too good for my sailor boy.”</p> - -<p>After several years of sea service Mr. James -Dunlap, during the residence of his brother in -Haiti, had tendered to Jack a position in the office, -hoping that having seen enough of the ocean he -would be willing to remain ashore and possibly -with a half-formed hope that Jack would win -Lucy’s hand and thus the house of Dunlap continue -to survive for other generations.</p> - -<p>Much to the chagrin of Lucy’s grandfather, -Jack absolutely refused to entertain the proposition, -saying:</p> - -<p>“I should be of no earthly use in the office. I am -not competent to fill any position there, and I -positively will not accept a sinecure. If you -wish to advance me, do so in the line of my profession! -Make me master of your ship Lucy -and let me take her for a two years’ cruise in -Eastern waters.”</p> - -<p>Thus it happened that Jack was absent from -Boston for two years and returned to find that -he had lost that, that all the gold of El Dorado -could not replace—the woman whom he loved.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[73]</a></span></p> - -<h2>V.</h2> - -<p>“Mother Sybella, Mother Sybella! -May I approach?” yelled every few minutes -the man seated on a rock half way -up the hill that rose steep from the Port au -Prince highway.</p> - -<p>The neglected and broken pavement of the -road that remained as a monument to the long-departed -French governors of Haiti was almost -hidden by the rank, luxurious growth of tropical -plants on either side of it. As seen from the -hillside, where the man was sitting, it seemed -an impracticable path for even the slowly moving -donkeys which here and there crawled between -the overhanging vegetation.</p> - -<p>The man looked neither to the right nor to the -left, but throwing back his head, at intervals of -possibly fifteen minutes, as if addressing the -blazing sun above, bawled out at the top of his -voice:</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[74]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Mother Sybella! Mother Sybella! May I -approach?”</p> - -<p>The man was a mulatto, though with features -markedly of the negro type; around his head he -wore a much soiled white handkerchief. His -body was fairly bursting out of a tight-fitting -blue coat of military fashion, adorned with immense -brass buttons. His bare feet and long -thin shanks appeared below dirty duck trousers -that once had been white.</p> - -<p>There evidently was something awe-inspiring -about the name that he shouted even though the -rest of the words were unintelligible to the natives. -The man shouted his request in the -English language; the natives of Haiti used a -jargon of French, English and native dialect -difficult to understand and impossible to describe -or reproduce in writing.</p> - -<p>If, when the man called, a native were passing -along the highway, as sometimes happened, he -would spring forward so violently as to endanger -the safety of the huge basket of fruit or vegetables -that he carried upon his head, and glancing -over his shoulder with dread in his distended,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[75]</a></span> -white and rolling eyes, would break into a run -and speed forward as if in mortal terror.</p> - -<p>The man had just given utterance to a louder -howl than usual when he felt the grip of bony -claw-like fingers on his shoulder; with one unearthly -yell he sprang to his feet, turned and fell -upon his knees before the figure that so silently -had stolen to his side.</p> - -<p>“Has the yellow dog brought a bone to his -mother?” The words were spoken in the patois -of the native Haitians with which the man was -familiar.</p> - -<p>The speaker was a living, animated but mummified -black crone of a woman. She leaned -upon a staff made of three human thigh bones, -joined firmly together by wire. Her fleshless -fingers looked like the talons of a vulture as she -gripped the top of her horrid prop and bent forward -toward the man.</p> - -<p>Her age seemed incalculable in decades; centuries -appeared to have passed since she was -born. The wrinkles in her face were as gashes -in black and aged parchment, so deep were they. -The skin over her toothless jaws was so drawn<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[76]</a></span> -and stretched by untold time that the very hinges -of the jaw were plainly traced; in cavernous, -inky holes dug deep beneath the retreating -forehead sparkled, like points of flame, eyes so -bright and glittering that sparks of electric fire -shot forth in the gaze by which she transfixed -the groveling wretch at her feet.</p> - -<p>“Answer, Manuel; what have you brought for -Mother Sybella?”</p> - -<p>Finally the startled and fearful Manuel found -courage to reply:</p> - -<p>“The coffee, sugar, ham and calico are in that -bundle lying over there, Mother Sybella,” and the -man pointed to a roll of matting near him.</p> - -<p>“And I told you to gather all the gossip and -news of Port au Prince. Have you done so?” -queried the hag with a menacing gesture.</p> - -<p>“Yes! yes! Mother; every command has been -obeyed. I have learned what people are talking -of, and, too, I have brought some printed talk -from among the Yankees,” cried the mulatto -quickly, anxious to propitiate the crone.</p> - -<p>“Fool, you know I can’t make out the Yankee -printed talk,” snarled the sunken lips.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[77]</a></span></p> - -<p>“I can though, Mother Sybella; I lived among -the Yankees many years. I will tell you what -they talk of concerning our country,” said the -man rising from his knees.</p> - -<p>“I will listen here in the sun’s rays; I am cold. -Sit there at my feet,” mumbled the hag, crouching -down on the rock that had been occupied by -Manuel.</p> - -<p>“Begin,” she commanded fiercely, fixing her -keen gaze upon the yellow face below her.</p> - -<p>“Dictator Dupree is unable to obtain money to -pay the army; the Yankees and English will not -make a loan unless concessions be made to the -whites.”</p> - -<p>“What says Dupree?” muttered the old -woman.</p> - -<p>“Dupree fears an insurrection of the people -if he make concessions to the whites, and an outbreak -by the army if he fail to pay the arrears -due to it. He is distracted and knows not which -move to make,” answered the yellow man at the -hag’s feet.</p> - -<p>“Dupree is a coward! Let him come to me -and see how quickly his difficulties disappear!<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[78]</a></span> -The army is worthless, the people powerful,” -cried Sybella.</p> - -<p>“Go on! Squash-head,” she ordered.</p> - -<p>“Twenty priests, with a Bishop at their head, -have come from France, and go among the people -urging them to attend the churches, and -threatening them with awful punishment hereafter -if they fail to heed the commands of the -priests,” continued Manuel.</p> - -<p>“Much good may it do the black-gowns,” -chuckled the old creature, making a horrible -grimace in so doing.</p> - -<p>“My children fear Sybella more than the black-gowns’ -hell,” she cackled exultantly.</p> - -<p>“The priests are trying to persuade the Dictator -to give them permission to re-open those -schools that have been closed so long, but Dupree -has not consented yet. He seems to fear the -anger of the black party in Haiti,” said the -witch’s newsman.</p> - -<p>“He does well to hesitate!” exclaimed Sybella.</p> - -<p>“If he consent, I shall set up my altar, call my -children around me and then! and then! No -matter, he is a coward; he will never dare consent,”<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[79]</a></span> -she added. The mulatto here drew from -his bosom a newspaper. Shading his eyes from -the sun’s glare, he began searching for any item -of news in the Boston paper that he had secured -in Port au Prince, which might interest his terrifying -auditor.</p> - -<p>“Do you wish to know about the Yankee President -and Congress?” he asked humbly, pausing -as he turned the sheet of the newspaper.</p> - -<p>“No! you ape, unless they mention our island,” -replied the woman, her watchful eyes looking -curiously at the printed paper that the man held.</p> - -<p>“About the ships coming and going between -the United States and Haiti?” he asked anxiously, -as if fearing that he might miss something -of importance to the black seeress.</p> - -<p>“No! That is an old story; the accursed Yankees -are ever coming and going, restless fools,” -said the woman.</p> - -<p>“Here is a long account of a grand wedding -of a wealthy Haitien that has just taken place in -Boston. He married the granddaughter and -heiress of J. Dunlap, who is largely interested -in our island,” remarked Manuel interrogatively.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[80]</a></span></p> - -<p>“His name! fool, his name!” almost screamed -the hag, springing to her feet with an agility -fearful to contemplate in one so decrepit, suggesting -supernatural power to the beholder. -Manuel, with trembling lip, cried, as she fastened -him in the shoulder with her claws:</p> - -<p>“Burton! Walter Burton!”</p> - -<p>Without changing, by even a line her fingers -from the place where she had first fixed them in -the flesh of the frightened man, she dragged -him, bulky as he was, to his feet, and up the -steep, pathless hillside with a celerity that was -awful to the frightened mulatto.</p> - -<p>A deep ravine cutting into the back of the hill -formed a precipice. Along the face of the rocky -wall thus formed a narrow, ill-defined footway -ran, almost unsafe for a mountain goat. Nearly -a thousand feet below, dark and forbidding in -the gloom of jungle and spectral moss-festooned -trees, roared the sullen mutterings of a mountain -torrent.</p> - -<p>When near the top of the hill, with a quick -whirl the black crone darted aside and around -the elbow of the hill, dragging Manuel along at<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[81]</a></span> -a furious pace, she dashed down the precipitous -path with the swiftness and confidence of an Alpine -chamois.</p> - -<p>Half way down the cliff, a ledge of rock made -scanty foundation for a hut of roughly hewn -saplings, thatched with the palm plants of the -ravine below. So scarce was room for the hovel -that but one step was necessary to reach the brink -of the declivity.</p> - -<p>As the excited hag reached the aperture that -served as the doorway of her den, a hideous, -blear-eyed owl, who like an evil spirit kept watch -and ward at the witch’s castle, gave forth a -ghostly “Hoot! Hoot!” of welcome to his mistress. -At the unexpected sound the mulatto’s -quivering knees collapsed and he sank down, -nearly rolling over the edge of the precipice.</p> - -<p>Sybella seemed not to feel the weight of the -prostrate man whom she still clutched and hauled -into the dark interior of her lair.</p> - -<p>Dropping the almost senseless man, she threw -some resinous dry brush upon a fire that was -smouldering in the center of the hut. As the -flame shot up Manuel opened his eyes. With a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[82]</a></span> -shriek he sprang to his feet, terror shaking his -every limb as he stared about him.</p> - -<p>Two giant rats were tugging at some bone, -most human in shape; each trying to tear it from -the teeth of the other, as squealing they circled -around the fire. In corners toads blinked their -bead-like eyes, while darting lizards flashed -across the floor. Slowly crawling along between -the unplastered logs of the walls snakes of many -colors moved about or coiled in the thatch of the -roof hung head downward and hissed as they -waved their heads from side to side.</p> - -<p>Along the wall a bark shelf stood. On it were -two small skulls with handles made of cane. -These ghastly vessels were filled with milk. -Conch shells and utensils made of dried gourds -were scattered on the shelf, among which a huge -and ugly buzzard stalked about.</p> - -<p>An immense red drum hung from a pole fixed -in a crevice of the rock and by its side dangled -a long and shining knife. A curtain of woven -grass hanging at the rear of the hovel seemed -to conceal the entrance to some cavern within -the hill’s rock-ribbed breast.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[83]</a></span></p> - -<p>When the blaze of the burning fagots cast a -glow over the grewsome interior of this temple -of Voo Doo, Sybella, the High Priestess, turned -upon the cowering man, upon whose ashy-hued -face stood great drops of ice-cold sweat, tearing -from her head the scarlet turban that had hidden -her bare, deathly skull, and beckoning him with -her skeleton hand to approach, in guttural, hissing -voice commanded:</p> - -<p>“Say over what you told me on the hill! Say, -if you dare, you dog, here in my lair where Tu -Konk dwells, that my daughter’s grandson, the -last of my blood, has mated with a white cow.”</p> - -<p>Benumbed by the dazzling light that poured -from the black pits in her naked, fleshless skull, -the mulatto could not walk, but falling on his -hands and knees he moved toward her; prostrate -at her feet, overcome by fear, he whined faintly:</p> - -<p>“Burton, Walter Burton, married a white -woman in Boston the twentieth of last month.”</p> - -<p>The hag grasping his ears drew his head up -toward her face, and thrusting her terrible head -forward she plunged her gaze like sword points -down into the man’s very soul.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[84]</a></span></p> - -<p>With a cry like that of a wounded wild-cat, -she jumped back and throwing her skinny arms -up in the air began waving them above her head, -screaming:</p> - -<p>“He does not lie! It is true! It is true!”</p> - -<p>In impotent rage she dug the sharp nails of her -fingers into the skin of her bald head and tore -long ridges across its smooth bare surface.</p> - -<p>Suddenly she seized the mulatto, now half-dead -from terror, crying:</p> - -<p>“Come! Goat without horns, let us tell Tu -Konk.”</p> - -<p>Manuel, limp, scarcely breathing, staggered to -his feet. The hag held him by the bleeding ears -that she had half torn from his head. Pushing -him before her they passed behind the curtain -suspended against the rock wall at the rear of the -room.</p> - -<p>The cave they entered was of small dimensions. -It was illuminated by four large candles, -which stood at each of the four corners of a -baby’s cradle. This misplaced article occupied -the center of the space walled in by the rocky -sides of the apartment. The place otherwise was -bare.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[85]</a></span></p> - -<p>Sybella as soon as the curtain fell behind her -began a monotonous chant. Moving slowly with -shuffling side-long steps around the cradle, sang:</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse">“Awake, my Tu Konk, awake and listen;</div> -<div class="verse">Hear my story;</div> -<div class="verse">My blood long gone to white dogs;</div> -<div class="verse">Daughter, granddaughter, all gone to white dogs;</div> -<div class="verse">One drop left to me now gone to white cow;</div> -<div class="verse">Tu Konk, Tu Konk, awake and avenge me.”</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>Manuel saw something move beneath the covering -in the cradle.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse">“Awake, Oh! my Tu Konk;</div> -<div class="verse">Awake and avenge me!”</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>Manuel saw a black head thrust itself from -below the cover, and rest upon the dainty pillow -in the cradle. The head was covered by an infant’s -lacy cap.</p> - -<p>Sybella saw the head appear. Dashing under -the curtain and seizing one of the skull-cups she -returned and filled a nursing bottle that lay in -the cradle.</p> - -<p>The head covered with its cap of lace rose -from the pillow. Sybella, on her knees, with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[86]</a></span> -bowed head and adoring gestures, crept to the -side of the cradle and extended the bottle. King -of terrors! By all that is Horrible!</p> - -<p>The nipple disappeared in the scarlet flaming -mouth of an immense, fiery eyed, hissing black-snake. -It was Tu Konk!</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse">“Drink, my Tu Konk.”</div> -<div class="verse">“Bring back my black blood.”</div> -<div class="verse">“Leave me not childless.”</div> -<div class="verse">“Curse then the white cow.”</div> -<div class="verse">“Send her the black goat.”</div> -<div class="verse">“Give her black kids.”</div> -<div class="verse">“Black kids and white teats.”</div> -<div class="verse">“Serve thus the white cow.”</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>Chanting these words, the Voo Doo priestess -struck her head repeatedly upon the hard surface -of the floor of the cave. Blood ran down her -face to mingle with the froth that dropped from -her shriveled and distorted lips.</p> - -<p>The mulatto with bursting, straining eye-balls -and chattering teeth gasped for breath. The -hideous grotesqueness of the scene had frozen the -very life-blood in his veins. The vestments of -an angel adorning a fiend! Paralyzed by fear,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[87]</a></span> -with bulging eyes nearly popping from their -sockets, the man stared at the horrible head surrounded -by those trappings most closely associated -with innocence.</p> - -<p>Human nature could stand no more! With -one frenzied shriek Manuel broke the spell that -held him helpless. Tearing aside the curtain he -leaped out of this Temple of Terrors; heedless -of the danger of plunging over the precipice he -raced along the treacherous path nor paused for -breath until miles intervened between Tu Konk, -Sybella and himself.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[88]</a></span></p> - -<h2>VI.</h2> - -<p>No social event of the season equalled -the Burton-Dunlap wedding. For -weeks prior to the date of the ceremony -it had been the one all-engrossing theme of conversation -with everybody; that is, everybody who -was anybody, in the metropolis of the Old Bay -State.</p> - -<p>The immense settlement, the magnificent gifts, -the exquisite trousseau from Paris, the surpassing -beauty of the bride, the culture and accomplishments -of the handsome groom, the exalted -position of the Dunlap family, these formed the -almost exclusive topics of Boston’s most exclusive -set for many weeks before the wedding.</p> - -<p>What a grand church wedding it was! The -church was a perfect mass of flowers and plants -of the rarest and most expensive kind. The -music grandissimo beyond expression. A bishop -assisted by two clergymen performed the ceremony.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[89]</a></span> -The bride, a dream of loveliness in lace, -satin and orange blossoms; the groom a model -of grace and chivalry; the tiny maids, earth-born -angels; the ushers Boston’s bluest blooded scions -of the Pilgrim Fathers, and finally everybody -who was anybody was there.</p> - -<p>And the reception! The Dunlap mansion and -grounds were resplendent in a blaze of light; the -beauty, talent, wealth and great names of New -England were gathered there to congratulate the -happy bride, Dunlap’s heiress, and the fortunate -groom.</p> - -<p>“A most appropriate match! How fortunate -for all concerned! How delightful for the two -old gentlemen!” declared everybody who was -anybody.</p> - -<p>Four special policemen guarded the glittering -array of almost priceless wedding presents; in -the splendid refreshment room, brilliant in glittering -glass and silver, Boston’s best and gentlest -pledged the happy bride and groom in many a -glass of rarest wine and wished long life and -happiness to that charming, well-mated pair.</p> - -<p>The bride, radiant in her glorious beauty, rejecting<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[90]</a></span> -as adornment for this occasion, diamond -necklace and tiara, gifts of the groom, selected -a simple coil of snowy pearls.</p> - -<p>“The gift of my Cousin Jack,” she proudly -said. “My earliest lover and most steadfast -friend.”</p> - -<p>The savings of years of sailor life had been -expended ungrudgingly to lay this tribute of love -on that fair bosom.</p> - -<p>How well assured was the future of this fortunate -couple! The prospect stretched before -them like one long, joyous journey of uninterrupted -bliss. Life’s pathway all lined with thornless -roses beneath summer’s smiling sky.</p> - -<p>Naught seemed lacking to make assurance of -the future doubly sure. Youth, health, wealth, -social position, culture, refinement, intelligence, -amiability.</p> - -<p>Soft strains of music floated on the perfumed -air, bright eyes “spake love to eyes that spake -again,” midst palms and in flower-garlanded recesses -gentle voices whispered words of love to -willing ears; in the center of this unalloyed blissfulness -were Burton and his bride.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[91]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Old bachelors are as excitable concerning -marriage as old spinsters can possibly be. See -Mr. John Dunlap, how flushed and nervous he -seems! He hovers about the bride like an anxious -mother!” So said two elderly grand-dames -behind their fans while watching the group about -Burton’s fair young wife.</p> - -<p>Among that gay and gallant company moved -one restless figure and peering face. David -Chapman, leaving his sister, Miss Arabella, -under the protecting care of Mrs. Church, lest -during the confusion of so large a gathering, -some daring cavalier, enamored of her maiden-charms, -should elope with the guileless creature, -mingled with the throng of guests, unobtrusive, -but ever vigilant and watchful.</p> - -<p>Chapman’s countenance bore an odd expression, -a mixture of satisfied curiosity, vindictiveness -and regret.</p> - -<p>That very day a superannuated sailor who for -years had served the house of Dunlap, and now -acted as ship-keeper for vessels in its employ, -called to report to the superintendent some -trifling loss. Before leaving he asked respectfully, -knuckling his forehead.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[92]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Is the manager goin’ to marry ter’day?”</p> - -<p>“Yes; why?” said Chapman sharply.</p> - -<p>“Nothin’ ’cept I’ve often seen his mother and -took notice of him here,” replied the man.</p> - -<p>“Where did you see Mr. Burton’s mother? -Who was she?” Chapman asked eagerly in his -keen way.</p> - -<p>“In Port au Prince, mor’n twenty-five year -er’go. She was Ducros’, the sugar planter’s -darter, and the puttiest quadroon I ever seen. -Yea, the puttiest woman of any kind I ever seen,” -answered the old ship-keeper in a reminiscent -tone.</p> - -<p>Chapman’s eyes fairly sparkled with pleasure -as he thus secured a clew for future investigation, -but without asking other questions he dismissed -the retired seaman. It was this information -that gave to his face that singular expression -during the reception.</p> - -<p>A private palace car stood on the track in the -station waiting for the coming of the bridal -party. Naught less than a special train could -be considered when it was decided that Florida -should be the favored spot where the wealthy<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[93]</a></span> -Haitien and his bride, the Dunlap heiress, would -spend their honeymoon.</p> - -<p>Soft and balmy are the breezes, that pouring -through the open windows of the car, flood the -interior with odors of pine cones and orange -blooms, as Burton’s special train speeds through -the Flower State of the Union.</p> - -<p>The car is decked with the fresh and gorgeous -blossoms of this snowless land; yet of all the fairest -is that sweet bud that rests on Burton’s -breast.</p> - -<p>“Walter, how sweet is life when one loves and -is beloved,” said Burton’s young wife dreamily, -raising her head from his breast and gazing -fondly into her husband’s eyes.</p> - -<p>“Yes, love, life then is heaven on earth, sweet -wife,” whispered the husband clasping closely -the yielding figure in his arms.</p> - -<p>“I am so happy, dearest Walter, I love you so -dearly,” murmured Lucy clinging still closer to -her lover.</p> - -<p>“You will always love me thus, I hope, my -darling,” said Walter, as he kissed the white -forehead of his bride.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[94]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Of course I shall, my own dear husband,” -answered unhesitatingly the happy, trusting -woman.</p> - -<p>“Could nothing, no matter what, however unexpected -and unforeseen, shake your faith in me, -or take from me that love I hold so sacred and -so dear?” asked Burton earnestly, pressing his -wife to his heart.</p> - -<p>“Nothing could alter my love for you, my husband,” -answered Lucy quickly, as she raised her -head and kissed him.</p> - -<p>The special train slows up at a small station. -Put on breaks! The whistle calls, and the train -stops until the dispatcher can get a “clear track” -message from the next station.</p> - -<p>The crowd of negroes, male and female, large -and small, stare with wondering admiration at -the beautiful being who appears on the rear platform -of the car accompanied by such a perfect -Adonis of a man.</p> - -<p>Lucy Burton was an object not likely to escape -attention. Her full round form, slender, yet -molded into most delicious curves, was shown to -perfection by the tight-fitting traveling gown of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[95]</a></span> -some kind of soft stuff that she wore; her happy, -beautiful face, bright with the love-light in her -hazel eyes, presented a picture calculated to cause -even the most fastidious to stare. To the ignorant -black people she was a revelation of loveliness.</p> - -<p>As the negroes, in opened-mouthed wonder, -came closer and clustered about the steps of the -car, their great eyes wide and white, Lucy drew -back a little and somewhat timidly slipped her -hand into her husband’s, whispering:</p> - -<p>“I am afraid of them, they are so black and -shocking with their rolling eyes and thick lips.”</p> - -<p>“Nonsense! sweetheart,” said Walter with a -laugh not all together spontaneous.</p> - -<p>“They are a merry, gentle folk, gay and good-natured; -the Southern people would have no -other nurses for their babies. I thought New -England people had long since ceased to notice -the color of mankind’s skin.”</p> - -<p>“But, Walter, how horrid they are! We see -so few of them in New England that they don’t -seem like these. How dreadfully black and brutal -they are. Let us go inside, I really am<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[96]</a></span> -afraid!” cried Lucy in a low voice and started -to retreat.</p> - -<p>At that moment a tall and very black woman -who held a baby at her breast, negro-like, carried -away by thoughtless good nature and admiration -for the lovely stranger, raised her ink-colored -picaninny, and in motherly pride thrust -it forward until its little wooly black head almost -touched Lucy’s bosom.</p> - -<p>With one glance of loathing, terror and unconcealed -horror at the object resting nearly on -her breast, Lucy gave a scream of fear and fled. -Throwing herself on one of the settees in the car -she buried her face among the cushions and wept -solely from fright and nervousness.</p> - -<p>“Why! sweetheart, what is the matter? There -is nothing to fear. Those poor people were only -admiring you, my darling,” cried Burton hurrying -to his young wife’s side and seeking to quiet -her fears.</p> - -<p>“I can’t help it, Walter, all those black faces -crowded together near to me was awful, and that -dreadful little black thing almost touched me,” -sobbed Lucy nervously.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[97]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Darling, the dreadful little black thing was -only a harmless baby,” replied the husband soothingly.</p> - -<p>“Baby!” cried the astonished young woman, -lifting her head from the cushions and regarding -her companion through her undried tears -with doubt, as if suspecting him of joking. -“I thought it was an ape or some hideous little -imp! Baby!” and seeing that there was no joke -about what her husband said, she added:</p> - -<p>“I didn’t know negroes looked like that when -babies. I would not touch that loathsome, horrid -thing for worlds. It made my flesh fairly -quiver to see it even near me.”</p> - -<p>Walter Burton succeeded in allaying the alarm -of his wife only after the train had resumed its -rapid journey southward. When Lucy, lulled to -sleep by the low music of the guitar which he -played to distract her attention from the unpleasant -recollection, no longer demanded his presence, -Burton sought the smoking-room of the car and -passed an hour in solemn, profound meditation, -as he puffed continuously fragrant Havanas.</p> - -<p>“I was wrong! She did not know. Now she<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[98]</a></span> -never shall if I can prevent it.” Such were the -words of Lucy’s husband when throwing away -his cigar he arose to rejoin his young wife.</p> - -<p class="tb">Many hundred miles from flowery Florida -across a watery way, a ship was wildly tossing -upon an angry, sullen sea. For three days and -nights with ceaseless toil, in constant danger, the -weary crew had battled with howling winds and -tempestuous waves.</p> - -<p>A storm of awe-inspiring fury had burst upon -the good ship “Adams,” of Boston, bound for -Melbourne, on the night of December the nineteenth -in that good year of our Lord.</p> - -<p>The superb seamanship of the skipper, combined -with the prompt alacrity of the willing -crew, alone saved the ship from adding her -broken frame to that countless multitude which -rest beneath the waves.</p> - -<p>The wind was still blowing a gale, but there -was perceptibly less force in it, as shrieking it -tore through the rigging and against the almost -bare masts, than there had been in three days.</p> - -<p>Two men stood in the cabin, enveloped in oil-skins,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[99]</a></span> -with rubber boots reaching above their -knees. Their eyes were red from wind -and watching, while they answered the -heave of the ship wearily as if worn out with the -excessive labor of the last seventy-two hours. -The men were the two mates of the “Adams.” -The captain had sent them below for a glass of -grog and a biscuit. There had been no fire in -the galley for the three days that the storm had -beaten upon the ship.</p> - -<p>“The skipper must be made of iron,” said the -shorter man, Morgan, the second officer.</p> - -<p>“He has hardly left the deck a minute since the -squall struck us, and he is as quick and strong -as a shark,” he continued, munching on the biscuit -and balancing himself carefully as he raised -his glass of grog.</p> - -<p>“Every inch a sailor is the skipper,” growled -the larger man hoarsely.</p> - -<p>“Sailed with Captain Dunlap in the ‘Lucy,’ -and no better master ever trod a quarter-deck,” -added Mr. Brice, the first officer of the “Adams.”</p> - -<p>“He surely knows his business and handles the -ship with the ease a Chinaman does his chopsticks,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[100]</a></span> -but he’s the surliest, most silent skipper -I ever sailed with. You told us, Mr. Brice, when -you came aboard that he was the jolliest; was -he like this when you were with him on the -‘Lucy’?” said the second mate inquiringly.</p> - -<p>“No, he wasn’t!” mumbled old Brice in answer.</p> - -<p>“Somethin’ went wrong with him ashore,” adding -angrily as he turned and glared at his young -companion:</p> - -<p>“But ’tis none of your blamed business or mine -neither what’s up with the skipper; you didn’t -ship for society, did you?”</p> - -<p>“That’s right enough, Mr. Brice, but I tell you -what ’tis, the men think the captain a little out -of trim in the sky-sail. They say he walks about -ship at night like a ghost and does queer things. -Second day of the storm, the twentieth, in the -evening, while it was blowing great guns and -ship pitching like she’d stick her nose under forever, -I was standin’ by to help Collins at the -wheel; we see the skipper come staggering along -aft balancing himself careful as a rope walker -an a holdin’ a glass of wine in his hand. When<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[101]</a></span> -he gets to the rail at the stern he holds up high -the glass and talks to wind, Davy Jones or somethin’, -drinks the wine and hurls the glass to hell -and gone into the sea. How’s that, mate? Collins -looks at me and shakes his head, and I feels -creepy myself.”</p> - -<p>For a minute Brice, with red and angry eyes, -stared at the second mate, then he burst out in a -roar:</p> - -<p>“I’ll knock the head off ’er Collins, and marlin -spike the rest ’er the bloomin’ sea lawyers in the -for’castle if I catch them talkin’ erbout the skipper, -and I tell you, Mr. Second Mate, you keep -your mouth well shut or you’ll get such ’er keel -haulin’ you won’t fergit. Captain Dunlap is no -man to projec’k with and he’s mighty rough in -er shindy.”</p> - -<p>With that closing admonition the first officer -turned and climbed the reeling stairs that led to -the deck. As he emerged from the companion-way -a great wave struck the side of ship heeling -her over and hurling the mate against the man -who had formed the topic of discussion in the -cabin below.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[102]</a></span></p> - -<p>The skipper was wet to the skin; he had -thrown aside his oil-skins to enable him to move -more nimbly, his face was worn, drawn and almost -of leaden hue. Deep lines and the dark -circles around his eyes told a story of loss of -sleep, fatigue and anxiety. How much of this -was due to an aching pain in the heart only Him -to whom all things are revealed could know.</p> - -<p>Morgan’s story was true. He had described -when, how and under what conditions Jack had -pledged Lucy in a glass of wine on her wedding -day, praying God to send blessings and happiness -to his lost love.</p> - -<p>Sing sweet mocking birds! Shine genial sun! -Bloom fairest flowers of Sunny Florida! Bliss -be thine, loved Lucy! Dream not of the ocean’s -angry roar! The tempest’s cruel blast!</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[103]</a></span></p> - -<h2>VII.</h2> - -<p>“I really can hardly realize, grandfather, -that I have been married one -year and that today is the anniversary -of my wedding,” exclaimed Mrs. Walter Burton -to her grandfather, as lingering over a late breakfast, -they chatted in a desultory manner on many -subjects.</p> - -<p>The breakfast-room of the Dunlap mansion -was one of the prettiest apartments in the house; -bright and airy, with great windows reaching -from ceiling to floor, which flooded the place with -sunshine and cheerfulness this brilliant snowy -New England morning.</p> - -<p>Surely it had been difficult to find anything -prettier than the young matron who presided -over the sparkling service with the grace of the -school-girl still visible notwithstanding the recently -assumed dignity of wife.</p> - -<p>Lucy Burton’s face and form possessed that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[104]</a></span> -rare quality of seeming always displayed to best -advantage in the last costume she wore. Nothing -could be more becoming than the lace-trimmed -breakfast gown of a clinging silky, pink fabric -worn by her this morning.</p> - -<p>The tete-a-tete between grandfather and -granddaughter each morning over the breakfast-table -was an established and, to both, a cherished -custom that had grown up since Lucy’s marriage.</p> - -<p>Mr. James Dunlap carried his seventy-three -years as lightly as many men of less rugged constitutions -carry fifty. His was a fresh, healthy, -kindly old face, the white hair resting like the -snow on some Alpine peak served but to heighten -the charm of those goodly features below.</p> - -<p>“A year to young people means very little, I -judge, daughter, but we old folk regard it differently. -You have been away from me during the -last year so much that old man as I am, the time -has dragged,” the grandfather replied laying -aside his morning paper and adjusting his glasses -that he might see better the pretty face across -the table.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[105]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Now, that I look at you, my dear, apparently -you have not aged to any alarming extent since -you have become a matron,” jocosely added the -old gentleman, his eyes beaming lovingly on his -granddaughter.</p> - -<p>“I may not show it, still I have my troubles.” -Lucy’s attempt to wrinkle her smooth brow and -draw down the corners of her sweet mouth while -she tried to muster up a sigh was so ridiculous -that her companion began to laugh.</p> - -<p>“Don’t laugh at me, grandfather; it’s unkind,” -cried Lucy, with the childish manner that still -crept out when alone with him who had been both -father and mother to her.</p> - -<p>“Very well, deary, I shall not laugh. Tell me -of those dire troubles that afflict you,” rejoined -her still smiling grandfather.</p> - -<p>“Well! now there is Walter, obliged to run -away so early to that horrid old office that I never -see him at the breakfast-table,” began the young -creature with pretty pettishness.</p> - -<p>“Sad! indeed sad!” said Mr. Dunlap in affected -sorrow. “A gay young couple attend -some social function or the theatre nightly and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[106]</a></span> -are up late; the unfortunate young husband is -obliged to be at his office at ten o’clock in the -morning to save an old man of seventy odd from -routine labor; the young wife who is fond of a -morning nap must breakfast alone, save the companionship -of an old fogy of a grandfather; ’tis -the saddest situation I ever heard of.”</p> - -<p>The laughter in the old gentleman’s throat -gurgled like good wine poured for welcome guest -as Lucy puckered up her lips at him.</p> - -<p>“Then that hateful old ‘Eyrie.’ When we were -married and you insisted that we should live here -with you, which, of course, I expected to do, I -thought Walter would sell or lease that lonely -bachelor den of his, but he has done no such -thing; says he keeps up the establishment for the -sake of the conservatory, which is the finest in -the State,” proceeded the wife ruefully recounting -her alleged woes.</p> - -<p>“Walter speaks truly concerning the conservatory -at the ‘Eyrie.’ Mr. Foster Agnew, who is -authority on the subject, says that he has never -seen a finer collection of rare and beautiful plants -and flowers in any private conservatory in this<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[107]</a></span> -country,” replied Mr. Dunlap in defense of Burton’s -action in maintaining his former home.</p> - -<p>“Yes, but there is no reason for Walter’s running -up there at all hours of the night, and sometimes -even staying there all night, telling me that -he is anxious about the temperature; that Leopold -may fall asleep or neglect something. I -hate that miserable conservatory,” rejoined Lucy -with flushed face and flashing eyes.</p> - -<p>“Oh! Pshaw! you exacting little witch! You -are fearfully neglected by reason of the ‘Eyrie’s’ -conservatory, are you? Now, let me see. You -were in Florida and California two months of -the last year, and in Europe four more, leaving -just six months that you have spent in Boston -since your marriage. I suppose Walter has spent -a half dozen nights at the ‘Eyrie.’ Great tribulation -and trial,” rejoined the amused grandfather.</p> - -<p>“Well, but Walter knows I don’t like his going -there at night. Something might happen to -him,” persisted Lucy, woman-like seizing any -argument to gain her point.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 450px;" id="illus2"> -<img src="images/illus2.jpg" width="450" height="600" alt="" /> -<p class="caption">“Lucy passed her soft, white arm around her grandfather’s neck.”</p> -<p class="caption-r"><a href="#Page_108">Page 108</a></p> -</div> - -<p>“As Princess Lucy does not like it, she thinks -that should be a sufficient reason for the visits<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[108]</a></span> -to the ‘Eyrie’ at night to cease. Being accustomed -to that humble and abject obedience rendered -to her slightest wish by the old slaves John -and James, and the young slave, Jack Dunlap. -Is that it, Princess?” said the old gentleman making -a mocking salaam to ‘Her Highness’ as he -sometimes called his pretty <i lang="fr">vis-a-vis</i>.</p> - -<p>“Stop making fun of me, grandfather; I think -you are really unkind. I never made slaves of -you and Uncle John and good old Jack. Did I -now?”</p> - -<p>Lucy Burton surely was a beauty. Small wonder -that the Dunlap men, old and young, loved -her long before Walter Burton came to win her. -She looked so pretty as she asked the last question -that her grandfather held out his hands and -said:</p> - -<p>“Come here, my dear, and kiss me. I forgive -you if you have been an exacting ruler.” When -Lucy settled herself on the arm of his chair as -some graceful bird of gay plumage perches itself -on a twig, the fine old face was filled with tenderness -and love as he kissed her.</p> - -<p>Lucy passed her soft white arm around her<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[109]</a></span> -grandfather’s neck, and resting her dimpled -cheek on his snowy head, she said seriously:</p> - -<p>“That is not all of my reason for disliking the -‘Eyrie.’ You know, grandfather, I should not -discuss my husband with any one other than -yourself, so this is a secret; I have noticed that -whenever Walter makes an all-night visit to the -‘Eyrie’ that the trip is preceded by an outburst -of unusual hilarity on his part; in fact, on such -occasions I am almost annoyed by something -nearly undignified in Walter’s demeanor; he -seems as thoughtless as a child, says and does -things that are ridiculous and silly.”</p> - -<p>“Tut, tut, child, you have a very vivid imagination, -and are so anxious for everyone to regard -your husband with the exaggerated admiration -that you have for him, that you are allowing -yourself to become hypercritic, my pet,” rejoined -Mr. Dunlap reassuringly.</p> - -<p>“No, grandfather, you are mistaken. I not -alone notice something peculiar about Walter’s -periodical outbursts of unseemly mirth; I see -others regard with surprise this departure from -his customary reposeful dignity,” insisted the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[110]</a></span> -young wife earnestly with a note of indignation -in her voice when speaking of others observing -any thing strange in the conduct of her husband.</p> - -<p>“Oh! nonsense, Lucy, all young men occasionally -cast aside dignity. In the fullness of youth -and vigor they become now and again fairly exuberant -with happiness and forget all about the -conventionalities of society. I have seen nothing -about Walter in that particular different from -other young men. Don’t make yourself wretched -over nothing, little girl.”</p> - -<p>“Possibly I observe my husband with more -attention than anyone else, even than you, grandfather, -for I certainly perceive a great differentiation -between Walter’s spasmodic mirth and similar -exhibitions by other men. Walter seems -different in many ways that mystify me. On -every occasion that he remains all night at the -‘Eyrie,’ after a display of this extraordinary and -boyish merriment, he returns home the next day -with broad dark circles around his eyes, and is -in a most depressed state of spirits,” said the -young wife, with real anxiety revealed in the -tone of her voice.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[111]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Well, really, daughter, if you are anxious -concerning what you say, I shall observe Walter -more closely. He may be over exerting himself -by the late hours that he keeps in your company, -and the detail work that he has taken off my -hands. However, just as a venture, I will wager -a box of gloves against a kiss, deary, that Walter -does not appear in the condition you have described -this evening, notwithstanding that he -passed last night at the ‘Eyrie’ and was markedly -mirthful during last evening,” said Lucy’s grandfather, -passing his arm around her slim waist and -drawing his anxious girl to his heart.</p> - -<p>“I am glad you mentioned last evening, for I -wish to speak of something I noticed during the -serving of dinner and afterward. Who was that -old gentleman whom you introduced as Professor -Charlton?” said the young woman interrogatively.</p> - -<p>“Oh, that is my old friend and fellow classmate -when we were at Harvard. He is a Georgian -and is Dean of the Georgia University and one -of the most learned ethnologists in the world. He -is here to consult with Professor Wright of Harvard<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[112]</a></span> -concerning a forthcoming book on which -Charlton has been engaged for years. Now, that -I have answered fully, why were you curious -about that old book-worm and chum of mine, my -pretty inquisitor?”</p> - -<p>“Simply because he seemed perfectly fascinated -by my husband. He appeared unable to -remove his gaze from him even when addressed -by you or any one else. He would peer at him -over his glasses, then raise his head and inspect -Walter through them just as botanists do when -they come upon some rare plant.”</p> - -<p>“By Jove! What next will that brown head -of yours conjure up to worry over? Are you -jealous of old Charlton’s admiring glances? If -he were a pretty woman I might understand, but -old Cobb Charlton. Well! I am prepared for -anything, my pet, so go ahead. What about -those glances seen by your watchful eyes?” said -her grandfather, chuckling over some farcical -suggestion in connection with old Professor -Thos. Cobb Charlton.</p> - -<p>“Yes, but they were not admiring glances, and -I didn’t say so. They were studious, scrutinizing,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[113]</a></span> -investigating, and I thought, insulting,” indignantly -replied Lucy.</p> - -<p>“Ah! Now we are called upon to criticise the -quality and kind of glance with which an old -student may regard a gay young fellow who is -rattling gleefully through a somewhat tedious -dinner,” said Mr. Dunlap in an amused manner.</p> - -<p>“You may laugh at me, grandfather, as much -as you please, but Walter was made so nervous -and uncomfortable by that old fellow’s disconcerting -scrutiny that he acted almost silly. I -have never seen him quite so ridiculously merry. -That old Professor squinted even at Walter’s -hands, as if he wished for a microscope to examine -them, and after dinner while Walter was -singing he edged up near the piano and peered -down Walter’s throat, listening intently as if to -catch some peculiar note for which he was waiting, -all the time with his old head on one side -like an ugly owl,” said the exasperated young -woman.</p> - -<p>Lucy’s description of his old college friend -and her manner of setting forth his idiosyncracies -was too much for James Dunlap’s risibility.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[114]</a></span> -He threw back his head and incontinently -laughed in his granddaughter’s pretty flushed -face.</p> - -<p>“Oh! my, Oh! my! How old Cobb would enjoy -this! My dearest, old Cobb Charlton is the -jolliest, most amiable fellow on earth. He would -not wound the sensibilities of a street-dog, and -is one of the best bred gentlemen alive. Oh! my, -Lucy! You’ll be the death of me yet with your -whimsical notions,” cried the fine old fellow leaning -back in his chair, shaking with laughter.</p> - -<p>“Well, I don’t care; it is just as I said, for -finally, he seemed to discover something about -Walter for which he had been seeking. I saw a -self-satisfied smile steal over his face as he -nodded his bushy white head. Then he stared -at you as if amazed, and then, if I be not blind -and I don’t think that I am, he had the impertinence -to look at me with, actually, pity in his -big, staring black eyes,” retorted Lucy angrily -as she recalled the events of the previous evening.</p> - -<p>“Imagination, pure and simple!” exclaimed -Mr. Dunlap, continuing to laugh, enjoying hugely -Lucy’s anger.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[115]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Charlton was possibly thinking about something -connected with his favorite science and -probably did not even see us while apparently -he was casting about those peculiar glances that -you depict so vividly.”</p> - -<p>“Even so, I think it ill-bred and unkind in him -to make my husband the subject of a study in -ethnology.”</p> - -<p>“Ah!” gasped her grandfather, as though a -sudden pain had struck his heart. Some new -idea had flashed upon his brain, the laughter vanished -from lips and the color from his face. He -straightened up in his chair while a look of anxiety -replaced the merriment that had sparkled in -his eyes.</p> - -<p>“Why, what is the matter, grandfather?” cried -Lucy in undisguised alarm at the change in his -countenance.</p> - -<p>“Nothing, my darling, it will pass away. -Please hand me a glass of water,” the old man -answered.</p> - -<p>Lucy hastened to fill a glass with water and -while she was so engaged Mr. Dunlap struggled -to master some emotion that had caused the sudden<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[116]</a></span> -departure of all his jocoseness of the moment -before she said that her husband had been made -a subject of a study in ethnology.</p> - -<p>“I am better now, thank you, dear; it was just -a little twinge of pain that caught me unaware of -its approach,” said the old gentleman forcing a -smile to his pale lips.</p> - -<p>“And now let us talk about your Cousin Jack, -and leave alone the vagaries of a moth-eaten old -scholar whom you will probably never see again,” -he continued, as if eager to banish some disagreeable -thought from his mind.</p> - -<p>“Oh, yes! Do tell me some news of dear old -Jack. His very name seems to bring the purity, -freshness and freedom of the sea into this hot-house -life one leads in society. Where is he and -how is he?” cried Lucy enthusiastically at mention -of the name of her sailor cousin.</p> - -<p>“You recall, do you not, the brief mention that -he made in the first letter that we received after -he sailed of a fearful storm encountered by his -ship when not less than a month out from Boston, -and that his ship (so he wrote) had been -fortunate enough to rescue some people from a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[117]</a></span> -foundered and sinking vessel during the gale?” -asked Mr. Dunlap regaining gradually his composure -as his mind dwelt upon a subject pleasant -to contemplate.</p> - -<p>“Yes, surely, I remember, grandfather, because -the storm, I recall, was at its height on my wedding -day and I wondered at the time if in all that -fearful danger Jack even thought of me.”</p> - -<p>“Well, then! to begin with I must let you into -a state secret. Your good Uncle John the day -before Jack sailed insisted that he should carry -old Brice, who had been long in our service, as -one of his mates. John’s object was this: knowing -Jack’s pride and obstinacy, he feared that he -might need help and not apply to us for it, so he -sent for Brice and bribed him to stick by our -young kinsman and keep us informed concerning -his welfare. We have had only glowing accounts -of Jack’s success as a ship-owner from Brice. -Yesterday there came a letter and a copy of a -London paper from him that filled my heart with -pride and pleasure, and I know will overjoy your -uncle.</p> - -<p>“Do hurry, grandfather. I can’t wait long to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[118]</a></span> -hear fine things about my good, faithful old -Jack,” exclaimed Lucy impatiently, as she resumed -her place on the arm of the old man’s -chair.</p> - -<p>“This is what the report in the London newspaper -states, and is what neither Jack nor Brice -wrote home. The ship that foundered was filled -with emigrants from Ireland bound for Australia. -The fourth day of the storm she was -sighted by the ‘Adams.’ While the wind had -subsided somewhat the waves were still rolling -mountain high. When Jack called for volunteers -to man the boats the crew hung in the wind, -until Jack, noticing the women and children on -the deck of the sinking ship, called to Brice to -come with him, and pushing aside the reluctant -crew made ready to spring into a boat which had -been lowered. Then the shamed crew rushed -over the side and insisted that the captain allow -them to make the attempt to rescue the people -from the wrecked vessel. With the last boat-load -of the emigrants that came safely on board -of the ‘Adams’ was a little girl who, weeping -bitterly, cried that her sick mother had been left -behind. The sailors and Mr. Morgan, the second<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[119]</a></span> -mate of the ‘Adams,’ said that the child’s -mother was nearly dead, lying in a bunk in the -sick-bay, and that she had smallpox and no one -dared lift and carry her to the boat.”</p> - -<p>“What an awful position! What did Jack -say?” cried Lucy, breaking the thread of her -grandfather’s narrative.</p> - -<p>“Jack did not say much, but he did that that -makes me proud to call him my kinsman, a Dunlap -and a Yankee sailor. He whispered to the -child not to cry any more, that she should have -her mother brought to her. Then he leaped into -the boat and was shoving off to make the trip -alone to the wreck when old Brice tumbled over -the ship’s side and took his place at an oar. Jack -brought the woman in his arms from the sick-bay -and laid her in the boat, regaining his own -ship, he made the smallpox patient comfortable in -his own cabin, nursed her himself and saved her -life,” said Mr. Dunlap exultantly, relating the -report of the rescue as published in the English -journal.</p> - -<p>“Hurrah! for our noble Jack!” cried Lucy, -springing up and waving about her head a napkin -that lay upon the table.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[120]</a></span></p> - -<p>“But hear the end, daughter, in recognition of -the humanity of the generous deed, the Royal -Humane Society of England has presented both -Jack and Brice with medals, and as an extraordinary -mark of distinction, the King of England -has, with his own hand, written a letter to our -Jack, congratulating him upon the performance -of a noble, unselfish and courageous act,” added -the grandfather.</p> - -<p>“Three times three! for brave Jack Dunlap! -Hurrah, for the blood of a good old Yankee race -that tells its story in noble deeds,” and waving -the improvised banner above her fair head she -bent down and kissed the glowing cheek of the -proud old man.</p> - -<p>“Run along now, dear, and dress. You may -take me for a sleigh-ride behind your fast ponies -before I go down to the office.”</p> - -<p>As Lucy went upstairs, there came floating -back to her grandfather’s ears her fresh, musical -voice singing:</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse">It’s a Yankee ship,</div> -<div class="verse">It’s a Yankee crew,</div> -<div class="verse">That’s first on waters blue.</div> -</div> -</div> -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[121]</a></span></p> - -<h2>VIII.</h2> - -<p>Early in the morning after Mr. Dunlap’s -dinner-party in honor of Professor -Charlton, when the newly risen sun had -made a dazzling field of glittering diamonds of -the snow that lay white and spotless about the -‘Eyrie,’ Walter Burton threw up the sash of one -of the long, low windows in his sitting-room and -stepped out on the balcony.</p> - -<p>With a sigh of relief he drank in deep draughts -of the fresh, crisp air, and exclaimed as he -shaded his eyes:</p> - -<p>“What a blessing is fresh air and sunlight after -the closeness of the house and gas-light.”</p> - -<p>The man’s face was haggard and drawn like -one who has passed a night of vigil and suffering. -His eyes were surrounded by bands of -black that gave to them a hollow appearance.</p> - -<p>“How utterly idiotic and inexplicable seems -my mood and conduct of last night out here in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[122]</a></span> -the sunshine, now that I am my natural self once -more.”</p> - -<p>Burton walked down from the balcony on the -crackling snow that lay dry and sparkling on the -lawn in front of the house. After a few moments -spent in the exercise of pacing about and -swinging his arms, he returned to his sitting-room -refreshed and apparently restored to his -usual condition of mind.</p> - -<p>All around the room that he entered were scattered -promiscuously, musical instruments, books, -cushions, flowers and fragments of a late supper, -all in that confusion that could not fail to impress -the beholder with the idea that the room had -been recently the scene of reckless orgies. Pillows -heaped upon a sofa still bore the imprint of -some one’s head, and was evidently the couch -from which the young man had risen when he -went forth into God’s bright sunlight.</p> - -<p>With supreme disgust depicted on his aesthetic -countenance, Walter Burton gazed at the evidence -of his nocturnal revel while in that state -of mind he had named idiotic.</p> - -<p>“These sporadic spells of silliness which come<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[123]</a></span> -over my spirit are as revolting to me, when relieved -from their influences, as is incomprehensible -the cause of their coming,” muttered Burton, -kicking aside the various articles that littered the -floor.</p> - -<p>“What earthly reason could there be for the -peculiar effect produced upon me by the scrutiny -of that old professor from the South? There exists -nothing natural to account for the strange -sensation caused by the penetrating gaze of that -old Southerner.</p> - -<p>“The cause must be sought in the sphere of the -supernatural, a province wherein reason, education -and culture protest against my wandering.” -Pausing the young man strove to recall the -scenes and sensations of the previous night, but -in vain.</p> - -<p>“It is useless for me to struggle to bring back -the vanished state of feeling that possessed me -last evening. It refuses to pass before the spectrum -of my mind.</p> - -<p>“It is ever thus while the normal condition of -my mental faculties exists. I always fail to catch -the fleeting shadow of that distorting spectre that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[124]</a></span> -haunts my spirit with its degrading, masterful -influence.</p> - -<p>“Could I but hold that sensation that steals -upon me, while my mental powers are yet unimpaired -by its presence, I might make a diagnosis -of the disease, analyze the cause and produce the -remedy, but my attempts are always futile. I -fail to reproduce the feeling that was all-pervading -a few short hours before the current of my -mind returned to its accustomed channel.”</p> - -<p>The helplessness and baffled look upon the -man’s face as he ended this self-communion was -piteous. Throwing himself into a chair and covering -his face with his hands, he cried almost -with a moan:</p> - -<p>“To what depth of degradation, brutality and -crime may I not be carried while actuated by a -power foreign and antagonistic to all that Christianity, -morality and education have imparted to -me?”</p> - -<p>“My God! How I had hoped that time and -marriage would cause a diminution in the power -of these strange spells and the frequency of their<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[125]</a></span> -visits, until, at last, I might be freed from a -thralldom repugnant to all my better self.”</p> - -<p>“Vain that hoped for release! Rather do the -mysterious visitations increase in frequency, and -alas! also in power.”</p> - -<p>“Like insidious waves that sap and undermine -the foundation of some massive granite cliff, the -delusive tide recedes but to return, each succeeding -visit adding to the inroad already made. -Though small may be the gain, they never once -relax their firm grip upon the headway won before, -until the toppling mass comes crashing from -its majestic height, vanquished by and victim of -unremitting insidiousness.”</p> - -<p>“So I find with each recurrence of the tide of -the strange spell that submerges me. That -granite cliff of Christianity whereon I builded -my castle of morality, that bastion of education, -those redoubts of refinement, culture, aesthetics, -deemed by me as creating an impregnable fortress -wherein by the aid of civilization I should -find secure shelter, are trembling and toppling, -undermined by the waves of that inexplicable, -relentless influence.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[126]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Each attack finds me weaker to resist, each -advance carries me further from my fortress; I -feel my defense falling; I am drawing nearer to -the brink; shall I fall? Shall I go crashing -down, dragged from my high estate by some -fiendish tendency as inexorable as it is degrading?”</p> - -<p>“As yet I am enabled to resist beyond the -point of insensate silliness and folly, but each -returning shock is accompanied by ever stronger -suggestion of immorality, brutality and crime. -Shall I be strong enough always to repulse this -tireless current of assault? Shall I finally succumb -and fall to the level of the barbarian and -the beast? Soul harrowing thought!”</p> - -<p>“The insane or drink frenzied man is unconscious -of his acts, but such is not my miserable -fate, while held in bondage by that unknown -power I appreciate the absurdity of my every act. -I still am I, but powerless to control myself, I -catch the look of wonder that fills the eyes of -others. I feel the shame, but am powerless to -remove the cause.”</p> - -<p>“And, oh! the horror of seeing and recognizing<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[127]</a></span> -a look of rebuke and repulsion in the eyes of -those I love and those who love me. To see the -smile of pride vanish and the blush of mortification -succeed it on the face of that being of all the -world to me the dearest and fairest.”</p> - -<p>“Last night in my dear Lucy’s eyes I read reproof, -rebuke, and on her cheeks I saw the red -flag of shame. Cognizant of the cause, I, like a -leaf upon the current of some mighty cataract, -helpless, rushed along in humiliation and self-disgust. -I beat against the stream with all my -remaining strength of mind; I struggled to regain -the shore of my accustomed dignity, but all -in vain.”</p> - -<p>“I was carried on and on, until plunging over -the brink of the fall I struck the bottom where -lie those self-respect destroying rocks of disgrace. -In ignominy I fled and sought refuge -here; ceasing my unavailing efforts to break the -chain that held me I gave free rein to the influences -that governed my mood.”</p> - -<p>“Wild and ribald songs burst from my lips, -hilarious and lascivious music poured from the -instruments that I touched, movements, rythmic<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[128]</a></span> -but novel, fantastic, barbarous, jerked my limbs -about in the measure of some savage dance. I -ate and drank more as an untutored tribesman of -the jungle than a civilized citizen of our cultured -country.”</p> - -<p>“All unrestrained and unopposed that mystifying -mood bore me on recklessly, abandoned, until -it swept me to the very verge of wickedness and -sin. On the extremist edge of that precipice, -below which lies the gulf of infamy, I found -strength to grasp and hold the feeble tendrils of -that higher estate that still clung around me; in -every fiber of my being there surged Satanic -suggestions to relinquish my hold upon the fragile -stay to which I desperately clung, and take the -plunge into that dark gulf below.”</p> - -<p>“Go where base associates await you! Where -lewdness, lasciviousness, brutality, beastliness -and licensed libidinousness lead to savage satiety -that ends in blood. These were the suggestive -words whispered to me by that fiendish spirit -of these strange spells. They vibrated through -every nerve and vein of my racked and straining -being.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[129]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Thank God! I still had power of soul sufficient -to resist, but Lord! how long shall I be -enabled to avert that which is seemingly my -doom?”</p> - -<p>Burton arose and for several minutes walked -about the apartment with agitated, nervous tread. -Passing before a long mirror that stood between -the windows, he stopped suddenly before it, -gazed intently at his image reflected there, and -cried out:</p> - -<p>“The reflection there tells me that I appear to -be as other men around me. In stature and -features I seem not essentially at variance with -the average man I meet, perhaps I am even more -comely. What then is it that caused me to fall -shamefaced, embarrassed and simpering like a -silly school boy, before the scrutiny of that old -scholar last night?”</p> - -<p>“I hold the Christian faith; I possess more -than the ordinary degree of education common -in this country; I have acquired proficiency in -many accomplishments; I bear the impress of the -culture and refinement of this most enlightened -century, and yet! and yet!”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[130]</a></span></p> - -<p>“The searching, piercing glance of that old scientist -seemed to penetrate some concealing veil -and tearing it aside revealed me in my very -nakedness; I seemed to stand forth an exposed -impostor; I felt myself a self-confessed charlatan, -caught in the very act of masquerading in the -stolen trappings of my superiors; I became the -buffoon in borrowed gown and cap of the philosopher, -an object of ridicule and wrath.”</p> - -<p>“Before those deep seeing eyes I was no longer -self-assured; convicted of mimicking manners -foreign to myself, I seemed to cast aside the unavailing, -purloined mask and mummery and thus -reveal myself a fraud. Seeking safety from the -scorn and just resentment of the defrauded I took -refuge in pitiful imbecility and silliness.”</p> - -<p>“Once before the same experience was mine. -In Paris, at the American Ambassador’s reception -I met the Liberian minister. As soon as the -gigantic black man fastened his gaze upon me, I -became disconcerted. When we clasped hands -all the feeling of superiority that education gives -departed from me, all the refined sentiments -created by culture vanished, I could only simper<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[131]</a></span> -and chuckle like a child over senseless jokes as -did the negro giant beside me.”</p> - -<p>“On that occasion, fearing to shock and disgust -my bride, I stole like a thief from her side and -feigning sudden illness begged a friend to take -my place as escort of my wife, while as one bereft -of reason I raced along the boulevards and buried -myself beneath the dark shade of the trees in the -Bois de Boulogne, where, capering and shouting -madly I danced until, exhausted, I fell to the -ground.”</p> - -<p>As Burton stood regarding his image reflected -in the mirror, he became suddenly aware of how -wan and worn was the face before him and turning -wearily away he exclaimed,</p> - -<p>“I must throw aside these wretched recollections -and forebodings. I look absolutely ill. I -shall be in no condition to appear either at the -office or at my home unless I succeed in obliterating -some of the evidences of my suffering last -night.”</p> - -<p>When, by a mighty effort, he had acquired sufficient -control of his nerves and voice as not to -attract the attention of his valet, he rang the bell.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[132]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Victor, prepare my bath, lay out some linen -and a proper suit of clothing. Order my breakfast -served as soon as I ring, open the windows -and let fresh air into the room when I leave it,” -said Burton to his attendant, when the valet appeared -in answer to his master’s summons.</p> - -<p>A refreshing bath, a liberal indulgence in -strong, black coffee, assisted by the will power of -the man enabled Burton to enter the office of “J. -Dunlap” almost entirely restored to his customary -appearance.</p> - -<p>The Manager had just finished examining the -reports submitted by the heads of the various departments -of the great Shipping and Banking -house when the door of his office opened and the -Superintendent entered.</p> - -<p>David Chapman looked even more hawk-like, -hungry and eager than when he had stood one -year before in the same place.</p> - -<p>“Beg pardon, Mr. Burton, but I thought you -might wish to be informed of the fact that under -instructions from Mr. Dunlap, I am forwarding -by the steamer that leaves today for Hong Kong, -a package and some letters that Mr. Dunlap gave<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[133]</a></span> -me to send to Captain Jack Dunlap. The package -contains, I believe, a testimonial of Mr. Dunlap’s -admiration for the noble conduct of his kinsman -in connection with the rescue from the wreck -of that emigrant ship. As I am availing myself -of the opportunity to communicate my own opinion -concerning Captain Jack’s action, I thought it -not improbable that you would wish to send some -message,” said the Superintendent, peering -stealthily at Burton as he spoke.</p> - -<p>“I thank you, Chapman, most heartily for letting -me know this,” cried Burton warmly.</p> - -<p>“How much time may I have to prepare a letter -and package to accompany yours and Mr. -Dunlap’s?”</p> - -<p>“Mr. Dunlap told me to hold the package until -he arrived at the office as it was likely that his -granddaughter would wish to place some communication -for her cousin with his.”</p> - -<p>“And I am sure she will! My wife’s admiration -for her cousin Jack is unbounded. I will -hasten to prepare my contribution to the congratulations -sent to Captain Jack. He is a magnificent -man and I am proud to be connected in any way -with such a noble character.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[134]</a></span></p> - -<p>“You are right, sir. Jack Dunlap is a brave, -true man and comes of a brave, true race. His -actions prove that blood will tell,” rejoined Chapman -with more enthusiasm than it seemed possible -for one of his disposition to exhibit.</p> - -<p>“Oh! Pshaw! Nonsense! I give Jack -greater credit for his courage and faithfulness -than you do when you announce the absurd doctrine -that men inherit such qualities. I give him -alone credit for what he is, not his race or blood. -Blood may be well enough in hounds and horses, -but education and culture make the man not the -blood in his veins,” exclaimed Burton impatiently.</p> - -<p>“The same reason that exists for the superiority -of the well-bred horse or dog, causes the man -of a good race to be the superior of the man of -an inferior race,” said Chapman meaningly, with -an almost imperceptible sneer in the tone of his -voice.</p> - -<p>“That argument might hold good provided that -men like horses carried jockeys to furnish the intelligence -or like hounds had huntsmen to guide -them,” replied the Manager with more heat than -seemed justified.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[135]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Give a mule the most astute jockey on earth -and he is no match for the thorough-bred horse. -Give the mongrel cur the craftiest huntsman, he -can neither find nor hold as the hound of pure -blood. Give the man of inferior race every advantage -that education and culture can furnish, -he still remains inferior to the man of the purer, -better race and blood. The superiority of the latter -lies in the inherent qualities of his race,” replied -Chapman, while a sinister smile distorted -his thin scarlet lips, and a baleful light flashed -from his black eyes. For a moment he waited to -see the effect of his last speech, then turned and -glided from the Manager’s office.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[136]</a></span></p> - -<h2>IX.</h2> - -<p>Arabella Chapman was the neatest -of housekeepers. The sitting room -of the home of David Chapman was a -pattern of tidiness and cleanliness, the furniture -was rubbed and polished until it shone like glass, -every picture, rug and curtain was as speckless as -newly fallen snow.</p> - -<p>Miss Arabella seemed especially created to -form the central figure of her surroundings, as -seated on a low rocking chair, she plied a neat little -needle on some nice little article of lace-work.</p> - -<p>No tiny, tidy wren was ever brighter and more -chipper in its shining little brass cage than was -Miss Arabella, as, bird-like, she peeped at her -brother, when he drew the cover from the violoncello -which stood in one corner of the room.</p> - -<p>“I am glad to see that you intend passing the -evening at home, David,” piped up the ancient -maiden.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[137]</a></span></p> - -<p>“It has really been so long since we had any -music that I am delighted to see you uncover -your violoncello,” continued the twin sister of -David Chapman.</p> - -<p>“Well, Arabella, the fact is that in my many -excursions during the last year I have collected -such a quantity of food for thought, that, like a -well filled camel I feel it necessary to pause and -chew the cud awhile,” replied David arranging -some sheets of music on a stand and passing his -hand lovingly over the chords of the instrument -that he held.</p> - -<p>“I must admit that I should prefer to remain -hungry mentally forever if to procure food for -thought it were necessary to don the apparel of a -tramp, and prowl around at all hours of the night, -seeking, doubtless, in the vilest dens, among the -lowest vagabonds for mental sustenance,” chirped -Arabella sharply, prodding her needlework spitefully.</p> - -<p>“Perhaps, my good sister, you will never quite -understand that some men are born investigators. -By nature they are led to investigate any phenomenon -that presents itself.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[138]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Then I insist that it is a most unfortunate -thing for one so born,” pecked Miss Arabella -with the sharpness of a quarrelsome English -sparrow.</p> - -<p>“It causes one to make a Paul Pry of himself -and wander about in a very questionable manner -at unseemly hours, to the injury of both health -and reputation. When one of your age, David, -is so endowed by nature it is a positive misfortune.”</p> - -<p>Chapman appeared greatly amused by the irritated -manner of his sister, for he smiled in that -ghastly way of his as he leaned back in his chair, -still with his violoncello resting between his legs, -and said,</p> - -<p>“You see, Arabella, there may be a great difference -in the way we regard the affairs of life. -Doubtless scientific researches may not afford -much pleasure to a spinster of your age, but such -researches are very attractive to me.”</p> - -<p>“All I can add to the opinion already expressed -is that when your so-called scientific researches -not alone lead you to assume the character of an -outcast, and cause you to wander about at night<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[139]</a></span> -like a homeless cat, but also induce you to make -our home a receptacle for all the stray, vulgar, -dirty negroes that happen to come to Boston, I -must certainly protest against indulgence in such -researches by you,” retorted the elderly maiden -severely, as she cast her glances about her immaculately -clean apartment, and remembered some -disagreeable event of the last few months.</p> - -<p>David was highly amused by this speech, for -he gave utterance to a cackling kind of laugh and -exclaimed,</p> - -<p>“Arabella, you’ll never get to heaven if the -road be muddy. You will be fearful of getting -your skirts soiled. I shall be right sorry for your -soul if the path to the other place be clean. I -fear in that event that nothing could hold you -back from going straight to Hades.”</p> - -<p>“Don’t be ridiculous, David. You know full -well that I am no more particular about tidiness -than every other decent woman.”</p> - -<p>What monomaniac on the subject of cleanliness -ever thought otherwise?</p> - -<p>“I insist,” continued Miss Arabella indignantly, -“that when one indulges a fad to the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[140]</a></span> -extent of disarranging an entire household, under -the pretense that it is part of a scientific research, -it is time to protest against such proceedings.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, I don’t imagine that the entire household -has seriously suffered by my investigations in the -field of ethnology,” replied the brother still enjoying -his sister’s perturbation of mind as she recalled -some recent experiences.</p> - -<p>“It may be highly amusing to you, David. I -hope that you enjoy the joke, but it has been anything -but amusing to me and to Bridget, having -to clean, rub and air every article of furniture in -the house two or three times each week, and it is -no laughing matter to freeze while the cold wind -blows the disgusting odors left by your guest out -of the rooms. Bridget has notified me that she -will leave if you continue to make a hostelry for -dirty darkies out of the house,” said the sister -fairly shivering at the remembrance of the condition -in which she had found her spotless premises -after a visit of some of her brother’s newly found -associates.</p> - -<p>“I don’t think that I am the only member of -this family that has a hobby, Arabella,” replied<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[141]</a></span> -Chapman grinning at the flushed little lady.</p> - -<p>“I am unaware of what you refer to, David. I -certainly have no such uncomfortable idiosyncrasy -as a hard ridden hobby.”</p> - -<p>“Don’t you think even cleanliness may become -a most pestiferous hobby?” queried Chapman -with assumed guilelessness.</p> - -<p>“Cleanliness and tidiness are but other words -for common decency, and can never be classed -with the vagaries of a ‘born investigator,’” said -the spinster sarcastically, sticking her dictum into -her needlework, savagely.</p> - -<p>“You doubtless have heard, Arabella, of the -woman who possessed so much of what you call -‘common decency’ that she forced her family to -live in the barn in order that the dwelling might -remain clean and tidy,” answered Chapman, to -whom the wrath of Arabella was the greatest -pleasure imaginable.</p> - -<p>“I only wish that we had a barn. I would soon -enough force you to entertain your negro visitors -there instead of bringing their odoriferous persons -and filthy accompaniments into this house,” -cried the sister vindictively.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[142]</a></span></p> - -<p>“You must be reasonable, my most precise sister,” -said David.</p> - -<p>“When I became interested in the science of -ethnology, I deemed it expedient to begin by -studying the negro race, their habits, characteristics, -manners and tendencies. Being a man born -and bred in a northern state I have never had the -opportunities possessed by southerners, who are -surrounded by negroes from infancy, to know the -traits of that most interesting race. Hence I have -been forced, on behalf of science, to go forth and -gather such material as was obtainable for subjects -of study and observation.”</p> - -<p>“David, don’t be hypocritical with me; you -know that neither ethnology nor the negro race -possessed the slightest interest for you, until you -learned that Walter Burton had a strain of negro -blood in his veins.”</p> - -<p>“I do not deny that my zeal was not diminished -by that fact,” answered Chapman shortly and -dryly.</p> - -<p>“And I maintain that your zeal is caused entirely -by that fact, and I wish to say further, -David Chapman,” exclaimed the withered wisp of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[143]</a></span> -a woman, drawing herself up very straight in her -chair and looking angrily at her brother, “if all -this investigation and research lead to anything -that may cause trouble, annoyance or pain to -Lucy Dunlap, whom I have held in these arms as -a baby, then I say that you are a wicked, ungrateful -man, and I wish to know nothing of your diabolic -designs, nor of the disgusting science that -you call ethnology.”</p> - -<p>God bless the dried-up spinster! God bless -thy bony, skinny arms that held that baby! -Thrice blessed be the good and kindly heart that -beats warmly in thy weak and withered little -body.</p> - -<p>Seriously and steadily did Chapman gaze for -a minute at the vehement, fragile figure before -him, then said meditatively,</p> - -<p>“I believe she loves the Dunlap name as much -as I do myself.”</p> - -<p>“More, indeed a great deal more, for I could -not cause pain to one of that name even though -I benefited all the other Dunlaps who have ever -been born by so doing,” quickly cried the old -maid.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[144]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Don’t alarm yourself needlessly, sister,” said -Chapman earnestly.</p> - -<p>“My investigations are neither undertaken to -injure Lucy nor could they do so even had I that -intention. It is too late. I am perfectly frank -and truthful when I state that the subject is exceedingly -interesting to me, and the developments -fascinating. Since I have familiarized myself -somewhat with the leading peculiarities of the -negro race I recognize much more of the negro in -Burton than I imagined could possibly exist in -one possessing so great a preponderance of the -blood of the white race.”</p> - -<p>“I am glad to learn that no harm can come to -Lucy by your persistent pursuit after knowledge -of ethnology, but I must say it does not seem to -me a very genteel course of conduct for a man of -you age and education to be spying about and -watching an associate in business,” said the candid -Arabella.</p> - -<p>“I assure you that I am not obliged either to -play the spy or watch particularly, for it seems -to me that the negro in Burton positively obtrudes -itself daily. In fact I am certain that it is neither<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[145]</a></span> -because I am watching for such evidences, nor -because I can now recognize negro traits better -than formerly, but simply because the negro in -the man becomes daily more obtrusively apparent,” -answered Dunlap’s superintendent as he -began tuning and testing his favorite musical instrument.</p> - -<p>Even the most prejudiced critic would be -forced to admit that whatever David Chapman -undertook to do he accomplished well. He never -relaxed in persistent effort until an assigned task -was performed. He became for the time being -absolutely fanatic upon any subject he had before -him. His performance on the violoncello was of -the same character as his efforts in other directions -where his attention was demanded. It was -artistic, magnificent, sympathetic and impressive.</p> - -<p>To the violoncello Chapman seemed to tell his -soul-story; through it he breathed those hidden -sentiments that were so deeply buried in the -secret recesses of his heart that their existence -could never be suspected. Music seemed the -angel guarding with flaming sword the gateway -of this peculiar man’s soul. When music raised<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[146]</a></span> -the barrier glimpses of unexpected beauties surprised -all those who knew the jealous, prying, -cynical nature of the man.</p> - -<p>As David Chapman began playing his sister -with closed eyes rested her head on the back of -the rocking chair and bathed her lonely old heart -in the flood of melody that poured from the instrument -in her brother’s hands.</p> - -<p>How that music spoke to the poor, craving, -hungry heart within her flat and weazen bosom. -Youth and hope seemed singing joyous songs of -life’s springtime; love then burst forth blushing -while whispering the sweet serenade of that glorious -summer season of womankind. Then in -cadence soft and tender, gently as fall the autumn -leaves, the music sadly told of blighting frosts. -Youth and hope like summer roses withered and -vanished. Now the gloom, despair and disappointment -of life’s winter wailing forth filled the -heart of the forlorn old maiden; tears rolled -down her wrinkled cheeks unheeded and almost -a sob escaped from her quivering lips.</p> - -<p>Weep no more sad heart. The music in pealing -tones of triumph is shouting the Glad Tidings<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[147]</a></span> -of that eternity of endless spring, where all is -Love and all is Joy; where the flowers of everlasting -summer never fade and die; where no -blighting frost can come to wither the blossoms -of Youth and Hope; where the cold blasts of -winter’s gloom and disappointment never blow to -chill and sadden the soul.</p> - -<p>Grandly resound those notes triumphant; open -seem the gates of that promised future, together -brother and sister their souls seem ascending; -above all is bright, refulgent with the great light -of gladness, now, coming sweetly, faintly, they -catch the sound of welcome, sung above by that -heavenly chorus.</p> - -<p>The music died away in silence. Brother and -sister sat for a long time, each busy with their -own thoughts. Who but the All-wise can ever tell -what thoughts come on such occasions to those -who in silence hold self-communion in the sanctuary -of their own souls.</p> - -<p>“David, it seems strange to me that one having -the tenderness of heart that you have, should -never have found some good woman to love,” -said the sister softly when the silence was finally -broken.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[148]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Indeed, sister, I sometimes think I might have -done so and been happier far than I am, had I -not early in life given, in the intense way that is -part of my nature, all the love of my heart and -consecrated all my devotion to the business in -which I then engaged and submerged my every -emotion in the glory and honor of the house of -‘J. Dunlap.’”</p> - -<p>“Ah, brother, I often think of that and wonder -what would happen if aught should go wrong -with the object of your life-long devotion.”</p> - -<p>“It would kill me, Arabella,” said Chapman -quietly.</p> - -<p>The certainty of the result to the man, should -misfortune shatter the idol of his adoration, was -more convincingly conveyed to the listener by that -simple sentence and quiet tone than excited exclamation -could have carried; Arabella uttered a -sigh as she thought of the unshared place that ‘J. -Dunlap’ held in the strenuous soul of her brother.</p> - -<p>“Brother, you should not allow your mind and -heart to become so wrapped up in the house of -Dunlap; remember the two old gentlemen, in the -course of nature, must soon pass away and that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[149]</a></span> -then there is no Dunlap to continue the business, -and the career of the firm must come to an end.”</p> - -<p>“No, Arabella, that may not happen,” replied -Chapman. His voice, however, gave no evidence -of the pleasure that such a statement from him -seemed to warrant.</p> - -<p>“There was an ante-nuptial contract entered -into by Burton, in which it is agreed that any -child born to James Dunlap’s granddaughter shall -bear the name of Dunlap; hence the career of our -great house will not necessarily terminate upon -the death of the twin brothers.”</p> - -<p>“I am so glad to know that, David. I have -been much concerned for your sake, brother, fearing -the dire consequences of the death of both of -the old gentlemen whom you have served so devotedly -for forty odd years.” The reassured little -creature paused and then a thought, all womanly, -occurred to her mind reddening her -peaked visage as she exclaimed,</p> - -<p>“What beautiful children the Burton-Dunlaps -should be!”</p> - -<p>A worried, anxious, doubtful look came over -Chapman’s countenance. He gazed at the floor<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[150]</a></span> -thoughtfully for several minutes and then apparently -speaking to himself said,</p> - -<p>“That is the point; there is where I am at sea; -it is that question that gives me most anxiety.”</p> - -<p>“Why, what can you mean, most inscrutable -man, Mr. Burton is one of the handsomest men -that I ever saw and surely no prettier woman -ever lived than sweet Lucy Dunlap,” cried the -loyal-hearted old maid.</p> - -<p>“It is not a question of beauty, it is a question -of blood. If it be only a matter of appearances -Lucy Burton’s children would probably be marvels -of infantine loveliness, but it is a scientific -problem,” replied David seriously and earnestly.</p> - -<p>“What in the name of all that is nonsensical -has science to do with Lucy’s babies if any be -sent to her?” cried out Miss Arabella, forgetting -in her excitement that maidenly reserve that was -usually hers.</p> - -<p>“I regret to say that science has a great deal to -do with the subject,” answered the brother quietly. -“It is a matter of grave doubt in the minds of -many scientific men whether, under any circumstances, -an octoroon married to one of the white<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[151]</a></span> -race ever can produce descendants; it is claimed -by many respectable authorities that negro blood -is not susceptible of reduction beyond the point -attained in the octoroon; that it must terminate -there or breed back through its original channel,” -continued Chapman.</p> - -<p>“It is not true! I don’t believe a word of such -stuff,” ejaculated Miss Arabella, dogmatically.</p> - -<p>“Authorities admit, it is true, that there may be -exceptions to the invariability of this law, but -claim that such instances are faults in nature and -likely, as all faults in nature, to produce the most -astounding results. These authorities assert that -the progeny of an octoroon and one of the white -race being the outcome of a fault in nature, are -certain to be deficient in strength and vigor, are -apt to be deformed, and even may possibly breed -back to a remote coal-black ancestor,” said Chapman, -speaking slowly, punctuating each sentence -with a gasping sound, almost a groan.</p> - -<p>“Stuff and nonsense!” exclaimed his sister rising -in indignation from her chair and moving -toward the door, saying,</p> - -<p>“I positively will hear no more of your absurd<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[152]</a></span> -science. It’s all foolishness. If that be the idiocy -that you learn from ethnology I think that you -had better occupy your time otherwise. Thanks -to your ‘authorities’ and their crazy notions, I -suppose that I shall dream all night of monkeys -and monsters, but even that is better than sitting -her and listening to my brother, whom I supposed -had some brains, talk like a fit subject for the -lunatic asylum.” With the closing sentence, as a -parting shot at her brother the incensed spinster -sailed out of the door and with a whisk went up -stairs to her virgin chamber.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[153]</a></span></p> - -<h2>X.</h2> - -<p>“Lucy Burton is a perfect dream tonight, -is she not?” exclaimed enthusiastically -Alice Stanhope, gazing admiringly -at the fair companion of her school days -who had just entered the room leaning on the -arm of her husband.</p> - -<p>“Almost as pretty as you are,” gallantly replied -‘Bertie’ Winthrop, to whom the remark of the -young woman was addressed.</p> - -<p>“Well, don’t expect me to vie with you in flattery -and reply by saying that Mr. Burton is almost -as handsome as you are, for I am like the -father of our country, ‘I can’t tell a lie.’”</p> - -<p>“Oh! Now, that’s good. I am justified in supposing -from that speech that Burton is not nearly -as handsome as I am, much obliged,” replied -young Winthrop, laughing and making a profound -obeisance to the pretty creature beside him.</p> - -<p>“You know what I mean you rascal, so don’t<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[154]</a></span> -try to look innocent. See with what adoring -glances Lucy looks up into her husband’s face,” -said Miss Stanhope again calling her attendant’s -attention to the group of guests near the entrance.</p> - -<p>“Are you going to look at me like that a year -from now?” asked ‘Bertie’ in a quizzical fashion -as he slyly squeezed the dimpled elbow near his -side. On dit, Alice Stanhope and Albert Winthrop -will soon be married.</p> - -<p>“Bertie, you horrid tease, I don’t believe you -will ever deserve to be looked at except angrily,” -retorted the blushing girl and added as she -moved a little further from him,</p> - -<p>“And you behave, sir, or I won’t let you remain -by me another minute.”</p> - -<p>“It’s a deuce of a crush you have gotten up,” -said ‘Bertie’ promptly disregarding the warning -that he had received by stepping up close to the -side of his fiancee.</p> - -<p>“Where did you get all these people anyway, -Alice?”</p> - -<p>“There’s no ‘all these people’ about it, they are -the musical set among my friends in Boston and -New York; as Signor Capello and Mme. Cantara<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[155]</a></span> -are to sing of course everyone invited was eager -to be present.”</p> - -<p>“Never invite all your musical friends to dine -with us when we are—”</p> - -<p>“Hush, you embarrassing wretch,” cried Miss -Stanhope turning to welcome some recently arrived -guests.</p> - -<p>After considerable diplomatic finessing and -resort to that most efficacious auxiliary, “Papa’s -cheque book,” Miss Stanhope had secured the -services of the two great operatic luminaries to -sing at a grand musicale given by her.</p> - -<p>All the “swell set” of Boston and New York -thronged the palacious home of the Stanhope’s on -the occasion. The gray-haired, courtly governor -of Massachusetts was chatting as gaily with -petite Bessie Winthrop as he had done with her -grandmother a half century before. Foreign -diplomatists and Federal potentates discussed in -corners the comparative merits of Italian and -German composers of music; literary lights from -all over New England joined the musical element -of New York and Boston in filling the Stanhope’s -halls.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[156]</a></span></p> - -<p>“I insisted upon coming here tonight, Alice, -even though this over-worked husband of mine -did complain of a headache at dinner and I was -loathe to have him accompany me. You remember -this is the anniversary of my wedding and I -wished to celebrate the day,” said Lucy Burton -to the hostess when at last Burton had managed -to make a way for himself and wife through the -crowded rooms and reached the place where Miss -Stanhope was receiving her guests.</p> - -<p>“I am awfully glad you came, dear. We are -sure to have a treat. Signor Capello has promised -to sing something from the new opera by -Herman that has just been produced in Berlin,” -and addressing Burton Miss Stanhope added,</p> - -<p>“I trust that your headache has disappeared.”</p> - -<p>“Thank you, Miss Alice, it has entirely vanished -under the influence of my charming wife’s -ministrations, and the brilliant gathering about -me here,” replied Burton.</p> - -<p>“A slight pallor and circles around sad eyes, -you know, Mr. Burton, give an exceedingly interesting -and romantic appearance to dark men,” -rejoined Alice Stanhope smiling in spite of her<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[157]</a></span> -effort not to do so when she noticed the anxious, -worshiping look with which Lucy regarded her -husband.</p> - -<p>“Really, I believe Lucy is more in love than she -was a year ago,” said the laughing hostess as she -turned to receive the German Ambassador, who -had traveled all the way from Washington in the -hope of hearing selections from Herman’s new -opera.</p> - -<p>In all that gathering of fair women and gallant -men, there was no couple so noticeable as the -splendid pair who this day one year before were -wedded.</p> - -<p>As Burton and his wife passed through the -crowded halls all eyes were turned toward them, -paying mute tribute to the exceeding beauty of -both man and woman.</p> - -<p>Burton, by one of those sudden rebounds of -spirit to which he was subject, inspired by the -gaiety about him was in a perfect glow of intellectual -fire. The brilliancy of his well trained -mind never shone more brightly, his wit scintillated -in apt epigrams, and incomparably clever -metaphors. He won the heart of the German<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[158]</a></span> -Ambassador by discussing with the taste and discrimination -of a savant that distinguished Teuton’s -favorite composer, Herman, using the deep -gutturals of the German language with the ease -of a native of Prussia.</p> - -<p>He exchanged bon-mots with wicked old Countess -DeMille, who declared him a <i lang="fr">preux chevalier</i> -and the only American whom she had ever met -who spoke her language, so she called French, -like a Parisian.</p> - -<p>Lucy’s beaming face and sparkling eyes told -of the rapture of pride and love that filled her -heart. She looked indeed the “Princess” as with -her well-turned head, with its gold-brown -crown, held high, she proudly looked upon her -lover and her lord and caught the approval and -applause that appeared in every eye about her.</p> - -<p>Never had her husband seemed so much superior -to all other men, in Lucy’s mind, as he did this -night. Wherever they paused in their passage -around the rooms, that spot immediately became -the center of a group of people eager to render -homage to the regal beauty of the young matron, -and to enjoy the wit and vivacity of the most -<i lang="fr">distingue</i> man present.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[159]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Ah, Mr. Burton, I see that the splendor of the -Rose of Dunlap remains undiminished, notwithstanding -its transference from the garden of its -early growth,” said the gallant Governor of the -old Bay State when greeting the young couple as -they stopped near him.</p> - -<p>“The splendor of the roses of Massachusetts -is so transcendent that it would remain unimpaired -in any keeping how e’er unworthy,” replied -Lucy’s husband, bowing gracefully to the -Executive of the State.</p> - -<p>“When I saw you enter the room, Mrs. Burton, -I hoped to see my old friend, your grandfather, -follow. How is James? You see I take the liberty -of still speaking of him as I did many years -before your bright eyes brought light into the -Dunlap mansion.”</p> - -<p>“Grandfather is very well, thank you, Governor, -but I failed to coax him away from his easy -chair and slippers this evening; beside I think he -was a little ‘grump,’ as I call it, about having lost -a wager to a certain young woman of about my -height; he declared it was not the box of gloves -but loss of prestige that he disliked,” answered<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[160]</a></span> -Lucy merrily as she looked up at the amused -countenance of the Governor.</p> - -<p>“I fear that I shall be obliged to exercise my -official prerogative and give that gay youth, -James Dunlap, a lecture if I hear anything more -of his reckless wagers,” said the jocose old gentleman, -and then added:</p> - -<p>“By the way, Mrs. Burton, the newspapers this -evening contain long accounts of the magnificent -conduct of a New England sea captain, to whom -the King of England has sent a letter of congratulation -and praise. As the name given is Captain -John Dunlap, I have been wondering if it can be -that stubborn fellow whom your Uncle John and -I endeavored to convince that he ought to enter -Harvard.”</p> - -<p>“It is the same stubborn, dear old cousin Jack -who preferred the sea to being sent to Harvard, -and he is the best and bravest sailor on the waters -blue,” answered Lucy quickly, her face flushed by -pleasure at hearing Jack’s praises sung and pride -in knowing that he was her kinsman.</p> - -<p>“It seems the lad was wiser than we were when -he refused to be convinced by John and me. A<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[161]</a></span> -grand sailor might have been spoiled in the making -of a poor scholar. As long as the sailor sons -of Uncle Sam can number men of your cousin -Jack’s kind among them we need never fear for -honor of the Gem of the Ocean,” said the Governor -quite seriously.</p> - -<p>“I heartily endorse that sentiment, your Excellency, -but fear that on land or sea it would be -difficult to discover many men like Jack Dunlap,” -exclaimed Walter Burton warmly.</p> - -<p>“When is he coming home, Lucy? You know -that I lost my heart the first time that I met your -bronzed sailor cousin, and am waiting anxiously -for my mariner’s return,” said Bessie Winthrop, -her violet-colored eyes twinkling with the gladness -of youth and happiness. <i lang="fr">En passant</i> she was -a fearful little flirt.</p> - -<p>“He does not say in his letters when we may -expect him, but when I write I’ll tell him what -you say, and if he does not hurry home after that -nothing can induce him to do so,” said Lucy as -she moved away with her husband to make room -for several admirers of Miss Winthrop who were -eagerly awaiting an opportunity to pay court to -that popular young lady.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[162]</a></span></p> - -<p>Just as Burton and his wife left the Governor -and his pretty companion, the tuning of instruments -announced the prelude to the programme -for the evening. Silence fell upon the assembly, -the gentlemen sought seats for the ladies and secured -the most available standing room for themselves.</p> - -<p>Surely Signor Capello never sang so grandly -before. The superb harmony of Herman’s great -composition filled the souls of that cultivated -audience. The German Ambassador was in a -perfect ecstasy of delight, and even the least appreciative -were impressed, while the hypercritic, -casting aside all assumption of <i lang="fr">ennui</i>, became enthusiastic.</p> - -<p>Madame Cantara trilled and warbled in tones -so clear, flute-like and sweet that to close one’s -eyes was to imagine the apartment some vast forest, -filled with a myriad of feathered songsters, -vying with each other for woodland supremacy in -Apollo’s blessed sphere.</p> - -<p>Miss Stanhope’s musicale was a pronounced -and splendid success. Nothing approaching it -had entertained Boston’s fastidious “four hundred” -that season.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[163]</a></span></p> - -<p>Burton declared that it was the most delightful -function he had attended in years, when Lucy, -enwrapped in furs, was closely nestled at his -side in the carriage after the entertainment was -over. Burton was <i lang="fr">par excellence</i> a judge of such -affairs. In fact, he had been accorded the position -of <i lang="la">arbiter elegantiarum</i> by a tacit understanding -among people of taste and culture in Boston’s -elite society.</p> - -<p>It was among such scenes, surroundings, environments -and society as above described that -Burton’s life had been passed since coming to -America. It was in this joyous atmosphere that -the first year of Lucy’s married life glided by so -rapidly that the length of time seemed difficult -for her to realize. It was like the dream of a summer’s -day, so bright, cloudless and calm, so fragrant -with the perfume of love’s early blossoms, -that its passage was as that of a fleeting shadow.</p> - -<p class="tb">The sinking sun cast lengthening shadows -across Manila Bay, where swinging peacefully -at their anchors lay the great war ships of several -nations, and where the tall masts of a fleet of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[164]</a></span> -merchantmen caused bars of shade to stripe the -burnished waters of the Bay.</p> - -<p>The starry flag of the great Republic had received -that salute, ever loyally given by the sons -of Columbia, as the sun sank beneath the horizon, -and the bugle blew its farewell to the departing -orb of day.</p> - -<p>Four majestic, floating fortresses, on whose -decks stood uncovered crews as the proud flag of -the union descended, gave notice to the world of -the might of that young giant of the west that -held dominion in the Philippines.</p> - -<p>Striding along in the rapidly darkening twilight, -up the main street of Manila, walked one -who would have been known as a sailor by his -swinging, rolling gait, even without the nautical -cut and material of the clothing that he wore.</p> - -<p>As he approached the newly erected, palacious -American hotel, around which ran a broad -veranda filled with tables and chairs, the chief resort -of the army and naval officers stationed at -Manila, a voice cried from the balcony above -him:</p> - -<p>“Jack Dunlap, by all that is marvelous!”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[165]</a></span></p> - -<p>The sailor-man looked up and with an exclamation -of pleased recognition, shouted:</p> - -<p>“Tom Maxon, by all that is fortunate!”</p> - -<p>“Come up here this instant, you sea-dog, wet -your whistle and swap yarns with me,” called the -first speaker, rising from the table at which he -was seated and hurrying to the top of the half -dozen steps that rose from the sidewalk to the -entrance on the veranda.</p> - -<p>The two men shook hands with the warmth -and cordiality of old cronies, when the sailor -reached the balcony. The meeting was evidently -as agreeable as it was unexpected.</p> - -<p>The man who had been seated on the veranda, -when the sailor approached, was apparently of -the same age as the friend whose coming he had -hailed with delight. He, too, was evidently a -son of Neptune, for he wore the cap and undress -uniform of a lieutenant in the United States -Navy.</p> - -<p>He was a big, fine man on whose good-looking, -tanned face a smile seemed more natural, and, -in fact, was more often seen than a frown.</p> - -<p>“Jack, old man, you can’t imagine how glad I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[166]</a></span> -am to run afoul of you. Had the choice been left -to me as to whom I would choose to walk up the -street just now, I’d have bawled out ‘Good old -Jack Dunlap!’ Well, how are you anyway? -Where’ve you been? and how are all in Boston? -But first let’s have a drink; what shall it be, -bully?”</p> - -<p>All of these questions and ejaculations were -made while the naval man still held Jack’s hand -and was towing him along like a huge, puffing -tug toward the table from which the officer -sprang up to welcome his companion.</p> - -<p>“By Jove, Tom, give me time to breathe; you’ve -hurled a regular broadside of questions into my -hull. Haul off and hold a minute; cease firing! -as you fighters say,” expostulated our old acquaintance, -Captain Jack, as he was fairly shoved -into a chair at the table and opposite the laughing -and red-faced lieutenant.</p> - -<p>“Come here, waiter,” called Maxon to a passing -attendant, in high glee over Jack’s cry for -quarter and his own good luck in meeting an old -chum when he was especially lonely and eager to -have a talk about home and friends.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[167]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Bring us a bottle of champagne and let it be -as cold as the Admiral’s heart when a poor devil -of a lieutenant asks for a few day’s shore leave.”</p> - -<p>“Now, my water-logged consort, we will first -and foremost drink in a brimming bumper of -‘Fizz’ the golden dome in Boston and the -bonny-bright eyes of the beauties that beam on -it,” exclaimed jolly Tom Maxon, bubbling over -with happiness at having just the man he wished -to talk about Boston with.</p> - -<p>“I say! Tom, have you been studying up on alliteration? -You rang in all the B’s of the hive in -that toast,” said the merchant skipper, emptying -his glass in honor of Boston and her fair daughters.</p> - -<p>“I don’t require thought or study to become -eloquent when the ‘Hub’ and her beauties be the -theme, but you just up anchor and sail ahead giving -an account of yourself, my hearty,” Tom replied -with great gusto.</p> - -<p>“To begin, then, as the typical story writer -does, one November day some thirteen months -ago, I sailed away (I’ve caught the complaint. -I came near making a rhyme) from Boston in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[168]</a></span> -good ship ‘Adams.’ When a week out of harbor -as per instructions from the house of Dunlap, I -unsealed my papers to find that the ship had been -presented to me by my kinsmen, the Dunlap -brothers.”</p> - -<p>“Stop! Hold, my hearty, until we drink the -health of the jolly old twins. May their shadows -never grow less and may the good Lord send -along such kinsmen to poor Tom Maxon,” interrupted -the irreverent Tom, filling the glasses and -proceeding to honor the toast by promptly draining -his.</p> - -<p>Jack and Tom had been pupils in the same -school in Boston when they were boys. Their -tastes and dispositions being much alike they became -chums and warm friends. Like young -ducks, both of the lads naturally took to the -water. When they had gotten through with the -grammar-school an appointment to the Annapolis -Naval Academy was offered to young Maxon by -the representative of his Congressional district, -which he joyfully accepted, and hence was now a -United States officer. Jack had entered the High -School and later the merchant marine service.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[169]</a></span></p> - -<p>Though seeing but little of each other after -their first separation, the same feeling of friendship -and comradeship was maintained between -Jack and Tom that had existed when as Boston -schoolboys they chummed together, and whenever, -at rare intervals, they were fortunate enough -to meet they mutually threw off all the reserve -that had come to them with age and became Boston -boys once again.</p> - -<p>“Now, heave ahead, my bully-boy!” cried Tom, -putting down his empty wine glass.</p> - -<p>“In addition to the gift of the ship from the -firm, I found that my old cousin John had personally -presented me with a large part of the -ship’s cargo.”</p> - -<p>“Again hold! you lucky sea-dog! Here’s to -dear old Cousin John, and God bless him!” called -Tom gleefully, his generous sailor-soul as happy -over the good fortune of his friend as if he himself -had been the beneficiary of Mr. John Dunlap’s -munificence, again pledging Jack’s kind -kinsman in a glass of iced wine.</p> - -<p>“With all my heart I say, amen! Tom, God -never made better men and more liberal kinsmen<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[170]</a></span> -than the ‘J. Dunlaps,’” said Jack earnestly as he -began again his recital.</p> - -<p>“When I arrived in Melbourne I disposed of -my cargo through our agents, loaded and sailed -for Liverpool, returned to Melbourne, took on a -cargo for Manila, and here I am drinking to long -life and good health to my two old kinsmen with -my school fellow Tom Maxon.”</p> - -<p>“And the future programme is what?” said the -lieutenant.</p> - -<p>“You have left out lots about yourself, that I -know of, concerning your past movements, so -try to be truthful about your future plans,” continued -Maxon, assuming an inquisitorial air.</p> - -<p>“All right, my knowing father confessor,” -answered Dunlap, laughing.</p> - -<p>“I have done well as far as making money is -concerned, which statement I wish added to my -former deposition. Oh! most wise judge; I propose -sailing within the week for Hong-kong, -thence to San Francisco, from the latter port I -desire to clear for Boston, in God’s country, stopping, -however, at Port au Prince, Haiti, both as -a matter of business and also with the design of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[171]</a></span> -personally thanking my kind godfather for his -gifts. Finally I hope to reach New England and -be with my dear mother while yet the Yankee -hills are blooming with summer flowers. One -word further and my story is finished. My object -in returning to Boston is to induce my -mother to return with me to Australia, where I -have purchased some property and where I desire -to make my home in future—finis—”</p> - -<p>“Fairly well told, my bold buccaneer; however, -I disapprove of your making Australia your -home. Now, sir, what about saving a few smallpox -patients, emigrants, and such like, and receiving -a letter from H.M. King of England, and -such trifles as we read of in the newspaper?” demanded -Tom, sententiously.</p> - -<p>“Oh! That just happened, and there has been -too much said about it to find a place on my logbook,” -replied Jack, shortly, coloring just a shade.</p> - -<p>“I’m!—well, no matter—I don’t agree with -you, but I will shake your hand once again and -say that I find my old chum as modest as I always -knew him to be brave,” rejoined Tom -Maxon, rising, reaching over and grasping Jack’s<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[172]</a></span> -hand, and bowing gravely and respectfully as he -held it.</p> - -<p>Jack’s face was now all fire-red, as he said in -great embarrassment:</p> - -<p>“Oh, Pshaw, slack up, Tom, haul off.”</p> - -<p>“You know what the Admiral said when he -read the account of what you had done?” cried -out Tom when he settled back in his chair.</p> - -<p>“Of course, you don’t, but it’s a fine ram at the -merchant marine. The Admiral thinks that an -officer for sea service can’t be made except at -Annapolis. When he read of what you had done, -he exclaimed: ‘That fellow is almost good -enough to be an officer in the United States -Navy.’ The Executive officer who heard the Admiral -repeated it, and ever since the fellows of -our mess, who hate some of the ‘snobs’ that Annapolis -sends to us, have been quietly poking fun -at the old man about it.”</p> - -<p>“Now, will Lieutenant Thomas Maxon, U.S.N., -in all the glory of his Annapolis seamanship, -give an account of himself?” broke in Jack, anxious -to escape further mention of his own affairs.</p> - -<p>“The last time I saw you, Tom, you were<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[173]</a></span> -dancing at the end of Bessie Winthrop’s hawser. -Though I had never, at the time, met your charmer, -I thought her a pretty craft.”</p> - -<p>“That’s it! Now you touch the raw spot!” -cried Tom.</p> - -<p>“I was stationed at Boston, and went about -some little. I met Bert Winthrop’s sister and, -like an ass of a sailor that I am, fell in love with -her at the first turn of the wheel. Well, I rolled -around after the beauty like a porpoise in the -wake of a dolphin for the whole season. Finally -I mustered up courage to bring the chase to a -climax and got a most graceful conge for my -temerity, whereupon I retired in bad order, and -was rejoiced when assigned to the battleship -Delaware and sent to sea.”</p> - -<p>As the rollicking sailor ended his story, he -threw back his head and began softly singing in -a sentimental tone, “Oh! Bessie, you have broken -my heart.”</p> - -<p>“Well, I’ll go bail that the fracture won’t kill -you, you incorrigible joker,” said Jack, interrupting -the flow of Maxon’s sentimentality.</p> - -<p>“See, now, our best friends never take us<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[174]</a></span> -seriously, and sympathize with us when we suffer,” -said the lieutenant dolefully.</p> - -<p>“But to continue my sad story. I was ordered -to the U.S.S. Delaware, flag-ship of the Asiatic -fleet. Admiral Snave can out-swear Beelzebub, -has the sympathy of a pirate, and would work up -all the old iron of a fleet if there was as much in -it as in the mountains of Pennsylvania. So your -poor, delicate friend is tempted to ask to be retired -on account of physical disability.” So saying, -Tom began roaring with laughter so healthful -that it shook his stalwart frame.</p> - -<p>“Hold though!” exclaimed the U.S. officer, -stopping in the midst of his outburst of merriment, -suddenly thinking of something omitted.</p> - -<p>“You must understand that we all admire the -Admiral hugely. He is a magnificent officer, and -a fighter to the end of his plume; carries a chip -on his shoulder when he imagines anyone is -spoiling for a fight, or even looks crossways at -grand Old Glory.”</p> - -<p>Thus the two friends talked on, relating their -experiences, joking each other, and laughing in -that careless happy way, common alike to schoolboys -and those who sail the sea.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[175]</a></span></p> - -<p>Captain Dunlap declared that this berth was -good enough for him, that he would drop his -anchor right there, and calling a waiter proceeded -to order everything on the menu for dinner, -telling the waiter to serve it where they were and -serve slowly so that they might enjoy a rambling -conversation while they dined.</p> - -<p>Eating, drinking, talking and smoking, the -chums of boyhood days sat for hours, until the -streets became, as was the veranda, almost -deserted. Suddenly in an interval of silence as -they puffed their cigars, a piercing scream disturbed -the quiet of the street below. Again and -again was the cry repeated in an agonized female -voice.</p> - -<p>Both men sprang to their feet and peered along -the dark avenue that ran toward the bay. About -a block away they discerned just within the outer -circle of light cast by an electric burner a struggling -mass of men. At the instant that Jack and -Tom discovered whence came the cries, a figure -broke from the crowd and ran screaming through -the illuminated spot on the avenue pursued by a -half dozen men wearing the Russian naval uniform.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[176]</a></span> -The pursued figure was that of a half nude -female.</p> - -<p>With an angry growl, Jack Dunlap placed one -hand on the low railing around the veranda and -cleared it at a bound, landing on the sidewalk below, -he broke into a run, and dashed toward the -group of men under the electric light, who were -struggling with the person whom they had pursued -and recaptured.</p> - -<p>“The flag follows trade in this case,” cried -Maxon, who would joke even on his death-bed, as -he, too, sprang to the pavement and raced after -Jack.</p> - -<p>The brutal Finnish sailors of the Russian man-of-war -in Manila Bay swore to their mess-mates -that ten gigantic Yankees had fallen upon them -and taken away the Malay girl. They thus accounted -for their broken noses and discolored -optics.</p> - -<p>Truth is, that it was a rush; the working of -four well-trained Yankee arms like the piston -rods of a high-speed engine. Outraged American -manhood and old Aryan courage against the -spirit of brutal lustfulness, ignorance and race inferiority.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[177]</a></span></p> - -<p>“I say, Jack,” cried out Maxon as he raised his -face from the basin in which he had been bathing -a bruise, “Why don’t you go in for the P.R. -championship? You must be a sweet skipper for -a crew to go rusty with! Why, Matey, you had -the whole gang going before I even reached you. -Look here, sonny, you are just hell and a hurricane -in a shindy of that kind.”</p> - -<p>“Well, I tell you, Tom,” called Jack from the -next room, where, seated on the edge of the bed, -he was binding a handkerchief around the bleeding -knuckles of his left hand.</p> - -<p>“That kind of thing always sets my blood -boiling, but that in a city under our flag an outrage -of that kind should be attempted made me -wild. I guess from the looks of my hands that -maybe I did punch rather hard.” Rising, Jack -walked to the open door between the two bedrooms -and added:</p> - -<p>“I don’t mind just a plain fight, or even sometimes -a murder, but when it comes to a brute assaulting -a woman or child, I’m damned if I don’t -become like one of Victor Hugo’s characters, ‘I -see red.’ Temper seems to surge in my very -blood.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[178]</a></span></p> - -<p>Jack’s face, as he spoke, wore an angry scowl, -to which the earnest gesticulations with his bandaged -fists gave double meaning.</p> - -<p>“Of course it surges in your blood, old chap, -as it does on such occasions in mine and every -other decent descendant of Shem and Japheth on -earth,” replied Tom Maxon.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[179]</a></span></p> - -<h2>XI.</h2> - -<p>The Scottish Bard has written that to see -fair Melrose Abbey a-right, one must -visit it in the moon’s pale light. To see -New England in its greatest glory one must visit -that section of hallowed memories in the summer -season.</p> - -<p>Then it is that granite hills are wrapped in -emerald mantles. Then it is that hill-sides, slopes -and meadows are dimpled with countless daisies, -peeping enticingly from the face of smiling nature. -Then it is brooks, released from winter’s -icy bondage, laugh, sing, dance and gambol like -merry maidens in some care-free frolic.</p> - -<p>August, in the second year of Lucy Burton’s -married life, found Dunlap’s mansion still occupied -by the entire family. True, the Dunlap estate -lay in the most elevated portion of the suburbs -of Boston, and the house stood in the center of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[180]</a></span> -extensive grounds almost park-like in extent and -arrangement, still it was unusual for the house -to be occupied by the family at that season of the -year.</p> - -<p>Generations of Dunlaps had sought relief from -city life and bustle during the month of August, -either among the Berkshire Hills, where an ornate -villa had been owned by them for decades, or at -Old Orchard, where their summer home was -rather a palace than a cottage, though so called by -the family. Burton, too, had a fine establishment -at Newport; yet this eventful August found the -family in their city residence.</p> - -<p>Many other things unusual attracted attention -and caused comment among the associates of -members of the Dunlap household. Burton and -Lucy had been noticeably absent during the past -few months from those public functions to which, -by their presence, they had formerly given so -much eclat.</p> - -<p>The very clerks in the office of J. Dunlap commented -upon the jubilant spirit that had taken -possession of, the always genial, manager. Chapman -regarded his apparent joyousness with suspicion,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[181]</a></span> -and of all the office forces alone seemed -displeased with its presence.</p> - -<p>To intimate friends Burton spoke of selling the -“Eyrie,” saying that it was of no further use or -pleasure to him; that for months he had only -been near it to select some choice flowers from -the conservatory for the vases that adorned his -wife’s apartments.</p> - -<p>Mr. James Dunlap, ever the kindest, most considerate -of beings, the gentlest of gentlemen, had -become so solicitous concerning his granddaughter’s -comfort and care as to appear almost old -womanish. The anxiety he displayed about all -that tended to Lucy’s welfare was absolutely -pathetic.</p> - -<p>Walter Burton’s demeanor toward his young -wife might, for all men, serve as a model of devoted, -thoughtful deportment on the part of husbands. -To amuse and entertain her seemed his -all-absorbing idea and object. To exercise his -brilliant mental gifts in gay and enlivening conversation -was his chief pleasure. To use all the -great musical talent that he possessed, to drive -any momentary shadow of sadness from her<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[182]</a></span> -spirit. To stroll about the garden in the moonlight, -again whispering those words of love by -which he had first won her, was blissful occupation -to him.</p> - -<p>Even good old Uncle John in far-off Haiti imbibed -the spirit that seemed all pervading in the -realm about the young matron. Great hampers of -tropical fruits, plants and flowers came by trebly-paid -expressage from the West Indies, speed -alone being considered. They must be fresh when -offered to Lucy. Then, too, almost daily messages -came over the cable from Haiti, “How are -all today,” signed “John,” and it was ordered at -the office that each day should go a message to -Port au Prince, unless especially forbidden, saying, -“All is well,” this to be signed “James.”</p> - -<p>Mrs. Church, the most sedate, composed and -stately of old gentlewomen, too, is in a flutter of -suppressed excitement, frequently closeted in -deep and mysterious consultations with medical -men and motherly looking women; giving -strange orders about the preparation of certain -dishes for the table, driving the chef almost distracted -by forbidding sauces that should always<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[183]</a></span> -accompany some favorite entree of that tyrant.</p> - -<p>A suite of rooms in the Dunlap mansion has -been newly decorated; nothing like these decorations -has ever been seen before in Boston. In -elegance, taste and beauty they are the <i lang="la">ne plus -ultra</i> of decorative art. One, while in the sacred -precincts of the recently remodeled apartments, -might readily imagine that spring had been captured -and fettered here to make its sweet, bright -presence perpetual in this favored place. Colors -of the tinted sunbeam mingled with the peach -blossom’s tender shade to make the spot a bower -of beauty wherein a smiling cupid might pause -and fold his wings to slumber, forgetful of his -couch of pink pearl shell.</p> - -<p>The cultured, artistic, delicate taste of Boston’s -<i lang="la">arbiter elegantiarum</i> never produced anything -approaching the exquisite blending of -colors and unique, airy, harmonious fittings seen -in this, the ideal conception of the abode of -angels.</p> - -<p>The delicacy and tenderness of Lucy’s refined -and loving spirit contributed to create an indefinable -feeling that this was the chosen spot where<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[184]</a></span> -innocence, purity and love should seek repose. -Her womanly instinct had added soft shadings to -art’s perfect handiwork.</p> - -<p>The great sea shell, half opened, made of shining -silver, lined with the pearly product of the -Eastern Isles, in which lie, soft and white as -snow, downy cushions, filled from the breasts of -Orkney’s far-famed fowls, and these be-trimmed -with lace in tracery like frost on window pane, in -texture so gossamery and light that the brief -span of life seems all too short in which to weave -one inch, must surely be the nest wherein some -heaven-sent cherub shall nestle down in sleep.</p> - -<p>Some sprite from fairy-land alone may make a -toilet with the miniature articles of Etruscan -gold, bejeweled with gems of azure-hued turquois -that fill the gilded dressing case.</p> - -<p>The chiffoniers, tables, chairs and stands are -all inlaid with woods of the rarest kinds and -colors, with ivory and polished pearl shells interwoven -in queerly conceived mosaic; mirrors of -finest plate here and there are arranged that they -may catch the beauteous image of the cherubic occupant -of this bijou bower, and countlessly reproduce<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[185]</a></span> -its angelic features; urns and basins of -transparent china-ware, in the production of -which France and Germany have surpassed all -former efforts, beautified by the brushes of -world-renowned artists, furnish vessels in which -the rosy, laughing face and dimpled limbs may -lave.</p> - -<p>The Western hills have cooled the eager glance -of the August sun. Lucy, softly humming as she -assorts and arranges a great basket of choice buds -and blossoms just arrived from the “Eyrie,” is -seated alone in a fantastic garden pagoda, which, -trellised by climbing rose bushes, stands within -the grounds of the Dunlap estate.</p> - -<p>As she rocks back and forth in the low chair -that is placed there for her comfort, little gleams -of sunshine sifting through the screen of roses -wander amidst her gold-brown tresses and spot -the filmy gown of white she wears with silver -splashes. As the lights and shadows of the gently -swaying leaves and roses dance about her, she -seems surrounded by hosts of cherubim in frolicsome -attendance on her. Some thought of that -nature came to her, for she let her hands lie still<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[186]</a></span> -in her lap among the blossoms and watched the -ever fleeting, changeful rays of sunlight and -shade that like an April shower fell upon her. -Then she smiled as at some unseen spirit and -smiling grew pensive.</p> - -<p>The limpid light in Lucy’s eyes, as gazing into -the future she sees the coming glory of her womanhood, -is that same light that shone along the -road from Galilee to Bethlehem, when she, most -blessed of women for all time, rode humbly on an -ass to place an eternal monarch on a throne.</p> - -<p>That light in Lucy’s pensive hazel eyes, that -gentle, hopeful expectant look on her sweet face, -has, from the time that men were born on earth -subdued the fiery rage of angry braves in mortal -strife engaged, has turned brutality into cowering -shame, and caused the harshest, roughest and -most savage of the human kind to smooth the -brow, soften the voice and gently move aside, rendering -ready homage to a being raised higher far -than the throne of the mightiest king on earth.</p> - -<p>As she, who chambered with the cattle on -Judah’s hills, opened the passage from the groaning -earth to realms of eternal bliss by what she<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[187]</a></span> -gave to men, so ever those crowned with that -pellucid halo of expected maternity stand holding -ajar the gates that bar the path from man to that -mysterious source of life and soul called God.</p> - -<p>It is woman in her grandest glory, who draws -man and his Maker near together, with arms outstretched -and hands extended she grasps man -and reaches up toward the Divine Author of our -beings.</p> - -<p>In simplest attire and humblest station she -sanctifies the spot she stands upon. When most -beset by want or danger there lives no man -worthy of the name, who could refuse to heed her -lightest call.</p> - -<p>Oh! that wistful, yearning, hopeful, tender, -loving look that transfigured Lucy’s sweet face -until resemblance came to it, to that face that -has employed the souls, hearts and hands of -those most gifted by high heaven with pen and -brush.</p> - -<p>Out of this trance-like blissfulness the pensive -dreamer was aroused by the coming of her ever -constant guardian, her grandfather, who told her -that Miss Arabella Chapman had called, bringing<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[188]</a></span> -some offering that could be placed in no other -hand than that of the young matron.</p> - -<p>Away hastened Lucy to greet the time-worn -maiden, but fresh-hearted friend, and to hurry -with her up to a sealed and sacred apartment, -over whose threshold no male foot must ever step, -wherein was hidden heaping trays and shelves of -doll-like garments of marvelous texture and -make, articles the names of which no man ever -yet has learned to call, all so cunningly devised -as to create the need of lace, embroidery or such -matter on every edge and corner.</p> - -<p>Silky shawls and fleecy wraps, and funny little -caps of spider-spun lace, and socks of soft stuff -so small that Lucy’s tiny thumb could scarce find -room therein, all and much more than man can -tell were here stored carefully away and only -shown to closest friends by the fair warder of that -holy keep.</p> - -<p>And, oh! the loving, jealous care of Lucy. No -hand but her own could fold these small garments -just right. What awful calamity might -befall should one crease be awry or disturbed; no -eye so well could note some need in that dainty,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[189]</a></span> -diminutive collection of fairy underwear as hers; -no breast could beat so tenderly as hers as close -she pressed, fondled and kissed the little gowns -for elfin wear.</p> - -<p>Who would for all the gold coined on earth -rob her of one jot or tittle of her half-girlish, all-womanly -joy and jealous care? Not one who -ever whispered the word Mother!</p> - -<p>That night the watchman and his faithful dog -who guarded the Dunlap house and grounds, -saw at the unseemly hour of two o’clock many -lights suddenly appear within the mansion. The -shadow of the family physician, white-haired and -wise, flits by the windows of the room which, for -some weeks, he has occupied. Mrs. Church in -wrapper, lamp in hand, hastens by the great hall -window and ascends the stairs, accompanied by -an elderly woman, who a month before came to -live in the mansion. Soon a window on the balcony -is raised and Mr. James Dunlap in dressing -gown and slippers steps out, accompanied by Mr. -Burton, who seems too nervous to notice Mr. -Dunlap’s soothing hand placed on his shoulder.</p> - -<p>Soon the bell, that warns him to open wide the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[190]</a></span> -outer gate, is rung, and then the watchman and -his dog see no more of the commotion within the -house. As he holds back the gate, he asks of the -coachman, who, with the dog-cart and the horse, -Dark Dick, is racing by:</p> - -<p>“What’s the matter?” In reply he only catches -the words:</p> - -<p>“Another nurse, d—— quick!”</p> - -<p>A standing order of the house of J. Dunlap -was that should at any time neither J. Dunlap nor -the manager appear by the noon hour, the superintendent, -Mr. Chapman, should take cab and -hasten to the residence of Mr. James Dunlap for -instructions concerning transactions that pressed -for immediate attention.</p> - -<p>Five minutes after noon, on the day when -at two o’clock in the morning the private watchman -had seen lights appear within the Dunlap -mansion. David Chapman was seated in a cab -speeding toward his employer’s residence.</p> - -<p>As the cab turned the corner on the avenue that -ran before the gate of the Dunlap place, the -horse’s hoof-beats were silenced. Chapman looked -out; the straw-carpeted pavement told the whole<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[191]</a></span> -story. He ordered the driver to stop his horse, -and springing from the vehicle the superintendent, -walking, proceeded the balance of the distance.</p> - -<p>The vigil and anxiety of the past night had told -fearfully on well-preserved Mrs. Church, thought -Chapman as he noted her drawn, white and -frightened face, and listened to the awed tone of -her voice, as she told him that a boy was born to -Lucy; that she was very ill; that Mr. Burton was -troubled and wretched over the danger of his -wife, and would see no one; that Mr. Dunlap, exhausted -by agony of mind and weakened by -watching, had fainted, was now lying down and -must not be disturbed under any circumstances.</p> - -<p>Chapman in mute amazement stared at the -trembling lips that gave an account of the striking -down, within so short a time, of all three members -of the family. Speechless he stood and -stared, but could find no words to express either -his surprise or sorrow. As he stood thus, a faint -and husky, yet familiar, voice called from the far -end of the wide hall that ran through the center -of the house.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[192]</a></span></p> - -<p>“David, wait; I want you.”</p> - -<p>With uncertain step, and bowed head, a figure -came forward. As Chapman turned he saw that it -was Mr. Dunlap. One moment the old employee -gazed at the approaching man. Then springing -toward him, he cried as he caught sight of the -ashen hue on his old master’s blanched and deep-lined -face, and saw the blank look in his kind -eyes:</p> - -<p>“You are ill, sir; sit down!”</p> - -<p>“Yes, David; I am not well; I am somewhat -weak, but I wish to give you certain commands -that must not, as you value my friendship, be -disobeyed.” The old man paused and painfully -sought to gain command of his voice, and failing, -gasped forth:</p> - -<p>“Send a message to my brother saying, ‘It is a -boy and all is well,’ and add—David Chapman, -do you understand me?—and add these very -words, ‘Do not come home; it is unnecessary.’ -Sign the message ‘James’—and, listen, Chapman, -listen; no word that I am not well or my granddaughter -in danger must reach my brother -John.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[193]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Your instructions shall be obeyed, sir,” and -Chapman’s voice was almost as indistinct as that -of his loved master.</p> - -<p>“What of the business, sir, while Mr. Burton is -absent?” the ever-faithful superintendent asked.</p> - -<p>“Use your own discretion in everything,” and -with a dry, convulsive sob that shook his bended -frame, he added in a whisper:</p> - -<p>“It makes no difference now.”</p> - -<p>David Chapman heard the sob, and caught -those heartbroken words. In an instant that -strangely constituted man was on his knees at the -feet of him whom of all on earth he worshiped -most.</p> - -<p>“Can I help you, sir, in your trouble? Say anything -that man can do, and I shall do it, sir,” cried -Chapman piteously.</p> - -<p>“No, David, no; but, David, I thank you. Go, -my faithful old friend, and do what I have requested.”</p> - -<p>Chapman arose and pressed the wan hand that -James Dunlap extended, then hurried from the -house.</p> - -<p>Those who saw the superintendent that day<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[194]</a></span> -wondered why they were unable to tell whether -it was grief or rage that marked the man’s face -so deeply.</p> - -<p>The message as dictated was sent that day to -Haiti.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[195]</a></span></p> - -<h2>XII.</h2> - -<p>By special concession from the Haitian -government, the blacks still maintaining -a prejudice against white people -owning real estate in Haiti, John Dunlap had -purchased several acres of land lying in the outskirts -of Port au Prince, and had built a commodious -house thereon, constructed in accordance -with the requirements of the warm climate of the -island.</p> - -<p>To-night with impatient manner he is walking -up and down the veranda which surrounds the -house, accompanied by Captain Jack Dunlap, to -whom he says:</p> - -<p>“I do not like the monotonous sentence that, -without change, has come to me daily for two -weeks past. It is not like my brother James, and -something, that I cannot explain, tells me that all -is not well at home in Boston.”</p> - -<p>“Don’t you think that this presentiment is only<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[196]</a></span> -the result of anxiety; that you are permitting -imaginary evils to disturb you, sir?” put in Jack -respectfully.</p> - -<p>“No, Jack, I do not. From boyhood there has -existed an indescribable bond of sympathy between -my brother and myself that has always -conveyed to each of us, no matter how far apart, -a feeling of anxiety if trouble or danger threatened -either one. For days this feeling has been -increasing upon me, until it now has become unbearable. -I regret that I did not take passage on -the steamer that sailed today for New York. -Now I must wait a week.” As Mr. Dunlap came -to the end of his sentence, a chanting, croning -kind of sound was heard coming from some spot -just beyond the wall around his place.</p> - -<p>“Confound that old hag!” cried the impatient -old gentleman, as he heard the first notes of the -weird incantation, “for the last month, night and -day, she has been haunting my premises, wailing -out some everlasting song about Tu Konk, -white cows, black kids, and such stuff, all in that -infernal jargon of the mountain blacks. She -looks more like the devil than anything else. I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[197]</a></span> -tried to bribe her to go away, but the old witch -only laughed in my face. I then ordered her -driven away, but the servants are all afraid of -her and can’t be induced to molest her.”</p> - -<p>“She probably is only some half-witted old woman, -whom the superstitious negroes suppose -possessed of supernatural power. I don’t think -the matter worthy of your notice,” said Jack.</p> - -<p>“I suppose it is foolish, but her hanging about -my place just now, makes me nervous; but never -mind the hag at present. I was going to say to -you, when that howling stopped me, that so strong -has become my feeling of apprehension within -the last few hours that could I do so, I should -leave Port au Prince tonight and hurry straight -to Boston and my brother. This cursed Haitian -loan, for which the English and American bankers -hold our house morally, if not legally, responsible, -has held me in Haiti this late in the hot -season, and, tonight, I would gladly assume the -entire obligation legally, to be placed instantly -on Boston Common.”</p> - -<p>The positiveness and seriousness with which his -kinsman spoke caused even Jack’s steady nerves<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[198]</a></span> -to become somewhat shaken. Just then footsteps -were heard coming rapidly up the walk that led -to the roadway. As the two Dunlaps reached the -top step of the veranda a telegraph messenger -sprang up the stairs and handed an envelope to -Mr. John Dunlap. With trembling fingers he -opened the paper and going to a lamp that hung -in the hallway read it. Then with a cry of pain -he would have fallen to the floor had not Jack’s -strong arms been around him.</p> - -<p>“I knew it, I knew it,” he moaned.</p> - -<p>Jack took the message from the cold, numb -hand of the grief-stricken man and read:</p> - -<p>“Come immediately; your brother dying, Lucy -in great danger. David Chapman.”</p> - -<p>Jack almost carried the groaning old man to a -couch that stood in the hall, placing him upon -it he hurried to the side-board in the dinner-room -for a glass of wine or water; when he returned -he found Mr. Dunlap sitting up, with his -face hidden in his hands, rocking back and forward -murmuring.</p> - -<p>“A million dollars for a steamer; yea! all I am -worth for a ship to carry me to Boston! Oh! -Brother, Brother!”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[199]</a></span></p> - -<p>Jack, though stricken to the heart by what -the message said, still held firm grip upon his -self-command for the sake of the kind old man -before him. When he heard the muttered words -of his suffering friend, for one instant he stood -as if suddenly struck by some helpful idea, then -cried,</p> - -<p>“You have the fastest sailing ship on the Atlantic, -Cousin John. The ‘Adams’ has only half -a cargo aboard. She can beat any steamer that -sails from Haiti to America, if there be breeze -but sufficient to fill her canvas. My crew is -aboard. Within one hour my water casks can be -filled, the anchor up, the bow-sprit pointing to -Boston, and, God send the wind, we’ll see the -Boston lights as soon as any steamer could show -them to us, or I’ll tear the masts out of the -‘Adams’ trying.”</p> - -<p>Like the revivifying effect of an electric -shock, the words of the seaman sent new life -into John Dunlap. He sprang to his feet, -grabbed for a hat and coat lying on the hall-table -and, ere Jack realized what was happening, -was racing down the pathway, leading to the -road, calling back:</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[200]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Come on, my lad, come on!”</p> - -<p>Soon Jack was by the old man’s side, passing -his arm through that of his godfather, and thus -helping him forward, their race toward the -water was continued.</p> - -<p>Not one word was said to the house-servants. -The Dunlaps saw no one before they dashed -from the premises; no, not even the evil, flashing -eyes of the old black hag, who, listening to -what they said, peered at them through the low -window case.</p> - -<p>“Mr. Brice, call all hands aft,” commanded -Captain Dunlap as he stepped upon the deck of -his ship, half an hour after leaving the house of -Mr. Dunlap in Port au Prince.</p> - -<p>“Men,” said the skipper, when the astonished -crew had gathered at the mast and were waiting.</p> - -<p>“Most of you have sailed with me for months, -and know I ‘crack on’ every sail my ship can -carry at all times. Now, listen well to what I -say. This old gentleman at my side, my kinsman -and friend, and I have those in Boston -whom we love, and we have learned tonight that -one of them is dying and one is in danger. We<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[201]</a></span> -must reach Boston at the earliest moment possible. -Within the hour I’ll heave my anchor up -and sail, such carrying of sail, in weather fair -or foul, no sailor yet has seen as I shall do. My -masts may go. I’ll take the chance of tearing -them out of the ship if I can but gain one hour. -No man must sail with me in this wild race unwillingly -or unaware of what I intend to do. -Therefore, from mate to cabin-boy, let him who -is unwilling to share the perils of this trip step -forward, take his wages and go over the side -into the small boat that lies beside the ship.”</p> - -<p>The skipper Stopped speaking and waited; for -some seconds there was a scuffling of bare feet -and shoving among the knot of seamen, but no -man said aught nor did any one step forward. -At last the impatient master cried out,</p> - -<p>“Well, what’s it to be! Can no man among you -find his tongue?”</p> - -<p>Then came more shuffling and shoving and -half audible exclamations of “Say it yourself!” -“Why don’t you answer the skipper?” Finally -old Brice moved around from behind the captain -and stood between him and the men. Then addressing<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[202]</a></span> -the master but looking at the crew, he -said,</p> - -<p>“I think, sir, the men wish to say, that they -are Yankee sailors, and see you and Mr. Dunlap -half scuttled by your sorrow and that they will -stick by you, and be d——n to the sail you carry! -Is that it, men?”</p> - -<p>A hoarse hurrah answered the first officer’s -question.</p> - -<p>“The mate says right enough; we’ll stick to -the ship and skipper,” came in chorus from the -brazen lungs of the crew.</p> - -<p>Such scampering about the deck was never -seen before on board the “Adams” as that of the -next thirty minutes. When the crew manned -the capstan and began hoisting the anchor a -strange black bundle, with gleaming eyes, came -tumbling over the bow. The startled crew -sprang away from what they took to be a huge -snake, but seeing, when it gathered itself together -and stood upright, that it was an old witch -of a black woman, they bawled out for the mate.</p> - -<p>The old termagant fought like a wild-cat, -scratching and tearing at the eyes of the men<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[203]</a></span> -as they bundled her over the ship’s side and into -the canoe in which she had come from the shore. -All the time the hag was raving, spitting and -swearing by all kinds of heathenish divinities -that she would go to Boston to see “my grandchild,” -and muttering all sorts of imprecations -and incantations, in the jargon of the West Indies, -upon the heads of all who attempted to prevent -her.</p> - -<p>As the ship gathered headway and swung -around, Mr. John Dunlap, who stood in the -stern, heard a weird chant, which he recognized -as coming from below him. He looked over the -railing and saw old Sybella standing upright in -the canoe in which she had been thrust by the -crew, waving her skinny bare arms, and chanting,</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse">“Tu Konk, the great one</div> -<div class="verse">Send her the Black Goat</div> -<div class="verse">White cow, Black kid</div> -<div class="verse">White teat, Black mouth</div> -<div class="verse">Tu Konk, Oh, Tu Konk</div> -<div class="verse">Black Blood, Oh, Tu Konk</div> -<div class="verse">Call back, Oh! Tu Konk.”</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[204]</a></span></p> - -<p>When Sybella saw Mr. Dunlap she ceased her -song, and began hurling savage and barbarous -curses upon him and his, which continued until -the tortured old gentleman could neither hear -nor see the crone longer.</p> - -<p>There was just enough cargo aboard the -“Adams” to steady her and give her the proper -trim. As soon as Jack secured enough offing, -in sailors’ parlance he “cut her loose.” Everything -in shape of sail that could draw was set, -the skipper took the deck nor did he leave it -again until he sprang into a yawl in Boston harbor.</p> - -<p>On the second day out from Port au Prince, -the wind increased to the fury of a gale, but still -no stitch of cloth was taken from the straining -masts and yards of the “Adams.” Two stalwart -sailors struggled with the wheel, the muscles of -their bared and sinewy arms standing out taut, -as toughened steel. The ship pitched and leaped -like a thing of life. The masts sprang before -the gale as if in their anguish they would jump -clear out of the ship.</p> - -<p>With steady, hard set eyes, the skipper<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[205]</a></span> -watched each movement of his ship. He knew -her every motion as huntsman knows the action -of his well-trained hound. His jaws were -locked, the square, firm, Anglo-Saxon chin -might have been modeled out of granite, so rock-like -did it look. Away goes a sail, blown into -fragments that wildly flap against the yard. -Will the skipper ease her now?</p> - -<p>Old Brice looked toward the master, saw -something in his eyes, and saw him shake his -head—</p> - -<p>“Lay along here to clear up the muss, and set -another sail!” bawled Brice, and again he looked -toward the skipper; this time Jack nodded.</p> - -<p>Brave old John Dunlap scarcely ever left the -deck. He had a sailor’s heart and he had mingled -with those of the sea from babyhood. He -saw the danger and going to his namesake, said,</p> - -<p>“Carry all she’ll bear Jack. If you lose the -ship, I’ll give you ten; get me to Boston quickly, -lad, or wreck the ship.”</p> - -<p>“I will,” was all the answer that came from -Jack’s tightly pressed lips, nor did he change his -gaze from straight ahead while answering—yet<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[206]</a></span> -the old man knew that Jack would make his -promise good.</p> - -<p>He, who in the hollow of His hand doth hold -the sea, knew of their need and favoring the object -of such speed, did send unto that ship safety -through the storm and favoring winds thereafter.</p> - -<p>No yacht, though for speed alone designed, -ever made such time, or ever will, or ever can, -as made the good ship “Adams” from Port au -Prince to Boston harbor.</p> - -<p class="tb">During the two weeks that succeeded the birth -of Lucy’s baby, her grandfather never left the -house, but like some wandering spirit of unrest, -moved silently but constantly, in slippered feet, -from room to room, up and down the broad -flight of stairs, and back and forth through the -halls.</p> - -<p>Maids and serving men stepped aside when -they saw the bent and faltering figure approaching; -James Dunlap had aged more within two -weeks than during any ten years of his life before. -His kind and beaming eyes of but yesterday<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[207]</a></span> -had lost all save the look of troubled age and -weariness. The ruddy glow bequeathed by temperate -youth had vanished from his countenance -in that short time, as mist beneath the rays of the -rising sun. The strong elastic step of seasoned -strength had given place to the shambling gait -of aged pantaloon.</p> - -<p>Burton in moody silence kept his room, or -venturing out was seen a changed and altered -man, with blood-shot eyes, as if from endless -tears, and haggard, desperate face deeply traced -by lines of trouble’s trenches dug by grief.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Church, the physician, nurse and even -the buxom black woman, who came to give suck -to the babe, all, seemed awe struck, distraught, -as if affrighted by some ghostly, awful thing -that they had seen.</p> - -<p>And then, too, all seemed to hold some -strange, mysterious secret in common, that in -some ways was connected with the recently arrived -heir to the Dunlap proud name and many -millions. The frightened conspirators held so -sacred the apartments blessed by the presence of -the Dunlap heir, that none but themselves might<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[208]</a></span> -enter it, or even, in loyal love for all who bear -their old master’s name, see the babe. One poor -maid in loving, eager curiosity had ventured -to peep into the sacred shrine and when discovered, -though she had seen naught of the child, -was quickly driven from the house and lost her -cherished employment.</p> - -<p>Lucy Burton from the first hour after the birth -of the child was very ill. For two whole days -she hovered, hesitatingly, between life and -death, most of the time entirely unconscious or -when not so in a kind of stupor. But finally, -after two days of anxious watching, the physician -and Mrs. Church noticed a change. Lucy opened -her eyes and feebly felt beside her as if seeking -something, and finding not what she sought, -weakly motioned Mrs. Church to bend her head -down that she might whisper something in her -ear. As her old friend bent over her, she whispered -softly,</p> - -<p>“My baby, bring it.”</p> - -<p>Mrs. Church’s face became so piteous as she -turned her appealing eyes toward the Doctor -that, that good man arose and coming to the bedside<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[209]</a></span> -took Lucy’s soft white hand in his. He had -known her as an infant, and guessing from Mrs. -Church’s face what Lucy wished, he said,</p> - -<p>“Not yet, dear child, you are too ill and weak, -and the excitement might be dangerous in your -condition.”</p> - -<p>But Lucy would listen no longer; she shook -her head and cried out quite audibly:</p> - -<p>“Bring me my baby! I want to see it. Every -mother wishes to see her baby.” Tears came -rolling from her sweet eyes.</p> - -<p>“But child, the baby boy is not well and to -bring him to you might cause serious conditions -to arise.”</p> - -<p>Well did that Doctor know the mother heart. -How ready that heart ever is to suffer and to -bleed that the off-spring may be shielded from -some danger or a single pang.</p> - -<p>“I can wait; don’t bring my darling if it will -do him harm. A boy! A boy! My boy! I’ll -wait, but where is Walter?”</p> - -<p>The Doctor told the nurse to summon Mr. -Burton, but cautioned Lucy not to excite or agitate -herself as she had been quite ill.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[210]</a></span></p> - -<p>Let him who has seen the look on the condemned -felon’s face, when the poor wretch gazes -on the knife within the guillotine, recall that -look. Let him who has seen the last wild, desperate -glance of a drowning man, recall that -look, and mingle with these the look of Love at -side of Hope’s death-bed, and thus find the look -on Burton’s face when he entered his wife’s bedroom.</p> - -<p>With arms outstretched she called to the faltering -man,</p> - -<p>“Walter, it is a boy! My baby! Your baby! -My husband!”</p> - -<p>The man fell, he did not drop, upon his knees -by the bedside and burying his face in the covering -wept bitterly. He took her hands, kissed -them, and wet them with his tears.</p> - -<p>“Oh! Don’t weep so, darling. I will soon be -well, and Oh! my husband we have a precious -baby boy.” Then she said, as if in the joy of -knowing that her baby was a boy, she had forgotten -all else,</p> - -<p>“Tell grandfather to come here. Tell him the -boy shall bear his name.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[211]</a></span></p> - -<p>The Doctor went himself to bring her grandfather -to her. She never noticed that strange -fact.</p> - -<p>James Dunlap, never had you in your seventy-three -years of life more need of strength of mind -than now!</p> - -<p>Her grandfather came to her leaning heavily -upon the Doctor’s arm. He bent and kissed her -brow, and in so doing dropped a tear upon her -cheek. Quickly she looked up and seeing pain -and grief in the white face above her, she started -and in the alarmed voice of a little child, she -cried,</p> - -<p>“Am I going to die? Are you all so pale and -weep because I am dying? Tell me Doctor! -Why Mamma Church is crying too.”</p> - -<p>She so had called Mrs. Church when a wee -maid and sometimes did so still.</p> - -<p>The Doctor seeing that she was flushed and -greatly excited hastened to the bedside and said -calmly but most earnestly,</p> - -<p>“No, my dear. You will not die, they are not -weeping for that reason, but you have been very -ill and we all love you so much that we weep<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[212]</a></span> -from sympathy for you, my dear. Now please -lie down. You must my child, and all must -leave the room but nurse and me,” and speaking -thus, he gently pressed the gold-brown head -back on the pillows and urged all to leave the -room immediately.</p> - -<p>That night the nurse and Doctor heard the patient -often murmur both while awake and while -she slept,</p> - -<p>“My baby, my baby, it’s a boy, my baby.”</p> - -<p>For two or three days after this night Lucy -was quite ill again. Her mind seemed wandering -all along the path of her former life, but always -the all over-shadowing subject in all the -wanderings of her thoughts was, “My baby,” -“My baby.” Sometimes she called for Jack saying, -“Come Jack, and see my baby,” and then -for her uncle, laughing in her sleep and saying -“See, Uncle John, I’ve brought into the world a -boy, my baby.”</p> - -<p>When the fever again abated and once more -she became conscious her first words were “My -baby, bring it now.”</p> - -<p>For several days the mental resources of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[213]</a></span> -nurse, Doctor and Mrs. Church were taxed to -their utmost in finding excuses for the absence -of the baby. He was not well. He was asleep, -she was not well enough and many other things -they told her as reasons for not bringing her -baby to her.</p> - -<p>But, Oh! the piteous pleading in her voice and -eyes, as with quivering lips and fluttering hands -extended toward them she would beg,</p> - -<p>“Please bring my baby to me. Every mother -wishes to see her baby, to press it to her breast, -to feel its breath upon her cheek, to hold it to -her heart; Oh! Please bring my darling to me.”</p> - -<p>Poor Mrs. Church, no martyr ever suffered -more than did that tender-hearted woman, who -loved Lucy with a mother’s heart.</p> - -<p>The Doctor, when he had reassured and quieted, -for a little while, his patient, would leave -the room and standing in the hall would wring -his hands and groan, as if in mortal agony.</p> - -<p>One night when Lucy seemed more restful -than usual, and was slumbering, worn out by -emotion and watching, the Doctor, lying on a -couch in the hall, fell fast asleep. The nurse,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[214]</a></span> -seeing all about her resting, her charge peacefully -and regularly, first became drowsy, nodded -and then slept.</p> - -<p>The gold-brown head was raised cautiously -from its pillows, the hazel eyes wide opened -looked about, and seeing that the nurse was -sleeping and that no one was looking, then two -little white feet slipped stealthily from beneath -the coverlet, the slim figure rose, left the bed -and glided along the well remembered passage -that led from her chamber to that bower of -beauty made for her baby. As she, weak and -trembling, stole along, she smiled and whispered -to herself:</p> - -<p>“I will see my baby! I will hold him in my -arms, I am his own mother.”</p> - -<p>In the room, that with loving, hopeful hands -she had helped to decorate, the faintest flame -gave dim, uncertain light, yet quick she reached -the silver shell-like crib and feeling found no -baby there. Hearing a steady, loud breathing -of some one asleep and seeing the indistinct outline -of a bed in one corner of the room, she -softly crept to its side and feeling gently with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[215]</a></span> -her soft hands found a tiny figure reposing beside -the snoring sleeper. To gather the baby to -the warm breast wherein her longing, loving -heart was beating wildly was the work of only -an instant.</p> - -<p>With her babe clutched close to her, she -opened her gown and laid its little head against -her soft and snowy bosom, then she stole back, -carrying her treasure to her own chamber.</p> - -<p>Like child that she was, women have much of -childish feeling ever in them. In girlish happiness -she closed her eyes and felt her way to the -gas-light, and turned it up full blast, laughing -to herself and saying as she uncovered the baby’s -face,</p> - -<p>“I won’t peep. I’ll see my baby’s beauty all at -once.”</p> - -<p>She opened her eyes and looked!</p> - -<p>Now, Oh! Mother of the Lord look down! -Oh! Christ, who hanging on His cross for the -thief could pity feel, have pity now!</p> - -<p>The thing she held upon her milk white breast -was Black—Black with hideous, misshapen -head receding to a point; with staring, rolling<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[216]</a></span> -eyes of white set in its inky skin; and features -of an apish cast, increased the horror of the -thing.</p> - -<p>My God! That shriek! It pealed through -chamber, dome and hall. Again, again it rang -like scream of tortured soul in hell. It roused -the horses in the barn, they neighed in terror, -stamped upon the floor and struggled to be free. -The doves in fright forsook their cot. The dogs -began to bark. Yet high above all other sound, -that wild, loud scream rang out.</p> - -<p>When the nurse sprang up she dared not move -so wild were Lucy’s eyes. The Doctor, Burton, -her grandfather found her standing, hair unbound, -glaring wildly at what crying, lay on -the floor.</p> - -<p>“Away, you thieves!” she screamed, and -motioned to the door.</p> - -<p>“You have robbed me of my babe, and left -that in its stead.” She pointed at the object on -the floor.</p> - -<p>Her grandfather pallid, tottering, moved toward -her.</p> - -<p>“Back, old man, back! You stole my child<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[217]</a></span> -away,” she yelled, her blazing eyes filled with -insane rage and hate.</p> - -<p>“My God! She is mad,” the Doctor cried, and -rushing forward caught her as she fell.</p> - -<p>“Thank God! She has fainted; help me place -her on the bed.”</p> - -<p>Burton, petrified by the awfulness of the scene -had until that moment stood like some ghastly, -reeling statue, now in an automatic manner he -came forward and helped the Doctor place her -on the bed.</p> - -<p>“Look to Mr. Dunlap,” cried the Doctor but -ere anyone could reach him the old man fell forward, -crashing on the floor; a stroke of paralysis -had deadened and benumbed his whole right side.</p> - -<p>Chapman was told next day that James Dunlap -was dying. Then, for the first and only time -in the life of David Chapman, he disobeyed an -order given by a Dunlap and sent the message -to Haiti.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[218]</a></span></p> - -<h2>XIII.</h2> - -<p>“The pilot is mad,” cried one old tar; and said,</p> - -<p>“The master is drunk, or there’s mutiny -aboard that ship.”</p> - -<p>Thus spoke among themselves a knot of seafaring -men who stood on the Boston docks -watching a ship under almost full sail, that came -tearing before a strong north-east gale into Boston’s -crowded harbor.</p> - -<p>The man who held the wheel and guided the -ship through the lanes of sail-less vessels anchored -in the harbor, as a skillful driver does -his team in crowded streets, was neither mad nor -drunk nor was there mutiny among the crew. -The man was Jack Dunlap; the ship was the -“Adams.”</p> - -<p>Jack knew the harbor, as does the dog its kennel. -He held a pilot’s certificate and waiving -assistance steered his ship himself in this mad<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[219]</a></span> -race with time, that no moment should be lost -by lowering sails until the anchor dropped in -Massachusetts sand.</p> - -<p>The crew was ready at the sheets and running -gear. Each man at his station and all attention. -Old Brice in the waist stood watching the skipper -ready to pass the word, to “let all go;” Morgan, -the second mate, at the boat davits held the -tackle to lower away the yawl the instant the -ship “came round.”</p> - -<p>The skipper at the wheel, stood steady, firm -and sure, as though chiseled from hardest rock. -He never shifted his blood-shot eyes from -straight ahead. His strong, determined face, -colorless beneath the tan, never relaxed a line -of the intensity that stamped it with sharp angles. -The skipper had not closed his eyes in -sleep since leaving Port au Prince nor had he -left the deck for a single hour.</p> - -<p>“Let go all!” the helmsman called and Brice -repeated the order. The ship flew around, like -a startled stag and then came,</p> - -<p>“Let go the anchor! Lower away on that boat -tackle! Come, Cousin John, we are opposite<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[220]</a></span> -Dunlap’s docks. This is Boston harbor, thank -God!” So called Jack Dunlap, springing toward -the descending small boat that had hung at the -davits, and dragging the no-way backward old -gentleman, John Dunlap, along with him.</p> - -<p>The only moment lost in Port au Prince before -the “Adams” sailed was to arouse the operator -and send a message to Chapman saying that -John Dunlap had left in the “Adams” and was -on his way to Boston and his brother’s bedside.</p> - -<p>When the red ball barred with black streaming -from the masthead announced that a Dunlap -ship was entering the port, the information was -sent at once to the city, and an anxious, thin and -sorrowing man gave an order to the driver of -the fastest team in the Dunlap stables, to hasten -to Dunlap’s wharf and sprang into the carriage.</p> - -<p>The impatient, scrawny figure of David Chapman -caught the eyes of the two passengers in -the yawl, as with lusty strokes the sailors at the -oars urged the small boat toward the steps of the -dock. Chapman in his excitement fairly raced -up and down the dock waving his hands toward -the approaching boat.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[221]</a></span></p> - -<p>“He still lives!” he shouted when they could -hear him, instinctively knowing that, that question -was first in the minds of those nearing the -wharf.</p> - -<p>“And Lucy?” said Jack huskily, as he stepped -on the dock and grasped Chapman’s extended -hand. Old John Dunlap had said never a word -nor looked right nor left, but springing up the -steps with extraordinary agility in one of his -age, had run directly to the waiting carriage.</p> - -<p>“Alive but better dead,” was all that the superintendent -could find breath to say as he ran -beside Jack toward the carriage and leaped in.</p> - -<p>“Stop for nothing; put the horses to a gallop,” -commanded Mr. Dunlap, leaning out of the -carriage window and addressing the coachman -as he wheeled his horses around and turned upon -the street.</p> - -<p>It was at an early hour on Sunday morning -when the Dunlaps landed and the streets were -freed from the week day traffic and the number -of vehicles that usually crowded them.</p> - -<p>As the swaying carriage dashed along, Chapman -was unable to make the recently arrived<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[222]</a></span> -men understand more than that Lucy had suddenly -become deranged as a result of her illness, -and that this appalling circumstance, in connection -with his idolized granddaughter’s severe -sickness had produced a paralytic stroke, that -had rendered powerless the entire right side of -James Dunlap’s body; that his vitality was so -low and his whole constitution seemed so shaken -and undermined by the events of the last few -weeks, that the physicians despaired of his life.</p> - -<p>As the foaming horses were halted before the -entrance of the Dunlap mansion, Mr. John Dunlap -jumped from the still swaying vehicle and -ran up the steps, heedless of Mrs. Church and -the servants in the hall, he rushed straight to -the well remembered room where, as boys, he and -his brother had slept, and which was still the -bed-chamber occupied by Mr. James Dunlap.</p> - -<p>John Dunlap opened the door and for a moment -faltered on the threshold; then that voice -he loved so well called out,</p> - -<p>“Is that my brother John?” The stricken man -had recognized his brother’s footsteps.</p> - -<p>An instant more and John Dunlap had thrown<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[223]</a></span> -himself across the bed and his arms were around -his brother; for several minutes those two hearts, -which in unison had beaten since first the life-blood -pulsated through them, were pressed together. -James Dunlap’s left hand weakly patting -his brother.</p> - -<p>David Chapman had followed, close upon the -heels of John Dunlap and was crouching at the -bottom of the bed, with his face hidden by the -bed-clothing that covered his old master’s feet, -and was silently sobbing. When Jack Dunlap -entered the hall good Mrs. Church, who had -been a second mother to him while he lived at -the Dunlap house in his school boy days, ran -to him and throwing her arms about his neck -fell upon his broad breast, weeping and crying,</p> - -<p>“My boy is home! Thank God for sending -you, Jack. We have suffered so, and needed -you so much, my boy!”</p> - -<p>When the sailor man had succeeded in pacifying -the distressed old housekeeper and disengaged -himself from her embrace, he hastened -after Chapman. As he entered the room and -stepped near the bed he heard a feeble voice<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[224]</a></span> -which he scarcely recognized as that of Mr. -James Dunlap, say,</p> - -<p>“It is all my fault John. You, brother, tried -to prevent it. I alone am to blame. I have -driven my darling mad and I believe that it will -kill her. I did it Oh God! I did it. Blame no -one John; be kind, punish no one, my brother. -I alone am at fault.”</p> - -<p>These words came with the force of a terrible -blow to Jack Dunlap, and halted him in mute -and motionless wonder where he was.</p> - -<p>“James, don’t talk that way. I can’t stand it, -brother. Whatever you have done, I know not, -and care not, it is noble, just and right and I -stand with you, brother, in whatsoever it may -be,” said John Dunlap in a broken but energetic -voice.</p> - -<p>“Has no one told you then, John?” came -faintly from the partially paralyzed lips of him -who lay upon the bed.</p> - -<p>“Told me what? Brother James; but no matter -what they have to tell, you are not blamable -as you say; I stand by that.”</p> - -<p>Though the voice was husky, there was a challenge<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[225]</a></span> -in the tone that said, let no man dare attack -my brother. The innate chivalry of the old -New Englander was superior even to his sorrow.</p> - -<p>“Who is in the room beside you, John?” asked -James Dunlap, anxious that something he had -to say should not be heard by other than the -trustworthy, and unable to move his head to ascertain.</p> - -<p>“No one, James, but our kinsman, Jack Dunlap, -and faithful David Chapman,” replied his -brother.</p> - -<p>The palsied man struggled with some powerful -emotion, and by the greatest effort was -only able to utter in a whisper the words,</p> - -<p>“Lucy’s baby is black and impish. The negro -blood in Burton caused the breeding back to a -remote ancestor, as, John, you warned me might -be the case. It has driven my granddaughter -insane and will cause her death. God have -mercy on me!” The effort and emotion was too -much for the weak old gentleman; his head fell -to one side; he had fainted.</p> - -<p>John Dunlap started when he heard these direful<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[226]</a></span> -words. A look of horror on his face, but -brotherly love stronger than all else caused him -to put aside every thought and endeavor to resuscitate -the unconscious man.</p> - -<p>Poor Jack. He had borne manfully much -heartache, but the dreadful thing that he had -just heard was too much for even his iron will -and nerves. He collapsed as if a dagger had -pierced his heart, and would have fallen to the -floor had he not gripped the bedstead when his -legs gave way.</p> - -<p>Chapman raised his head and gazed, with eyes -red from weeping, at him who told the calamitous -story of the events that had stricken him -down. There was a dangerous glitter in the -red eyes as Chapman sprung to John Dunlap’s -assistance in reviving the senseless man.</p> - -<p>When Jack recovered self-command sufficient -to realize what was happening about him, he -found that the physician, who had been summoned, -had administered restoratives and stimulants, -and that the patient had returned to consciousness; -that the kind Doctor was trying to -comfort the heartbroken brother of the sufferer<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[227]</a></span> -even while obliged to admit that the end of life -for James Dunlap was not far distant.</p> - -<p>“Come and get in my bed, Jack,” came in a -low and indistinct voice from the couch of the -helpless patient. Captain Dunlap started in -surprise, but old John Dunlap made a motion -with his hand and said in a voice choking with -emotion,</p> - -<p>“He always so called me when we were boys,” -and lying down by his brother he put his arms -lovingly and protectingly around him.</p> - -<p>Thus the two old men lay side by side as they -had done years before in their cradle. The silence -remained for a long time unbroken, save -for the muffled sobs that came from those who -watched and grieved in the chamber.</p> - -<p>“How cold it is, Jack, come closer; I’m cold. -I broke through the ice today and got wet but -don’t tell mother, she will worry. Jack, don’t -tell on me.” The words were whispered to his -brother by the dying man.</p> - -<p>“No, Jim, I’ll not tell, old fellow,” bravely answered -John Dunlap, but a smothered sob shook -his shoulders. He knew his brother’s mind was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[228]</a></span> -straying back into the days of their boyhood.</p> - -<p>For what inscrutable cause does the mind of -the most aged recur to scenes and associations -of childhood when Death, the dread conqueror, -draws near? Why does the most patriarchal -prattle as though still at the mother knee in that -last and saddest hour? Is it because mother, -child, in purity approach nearest to that transcendent -pellucidity that surrounds the throne of -Him before whom all must appear? Does the -nearness of the coming hour cast its shadow on -the soul, causing it to return to the period of -greatest innocence, and that love that is purest -on earth?</p> - -<p>“Jack, hold me, I am slipping, I am going, -going, Jack.”</p> - -<p>Alas! James Dunlap had gone on that long, -last journey! The noble, kindly soul had gone -to its God. John Dunlap held in his arms the -pulseless form of him who for seventy-three -years had been his second self, and whom he had -loved with a devotedness seldom seen in this selfish -world of ours.</p> - -<p>To see a strong man weep is painful; to hear<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[229]</a></span> -him sob is dreadful; but to listen and look upon -the sorrow of a strong and aged man is heartbreaking -and will cause sympathetic tears to -flow from eyes of all who are not flinty-hearted.</p> - -<p>Chapman, when he knew the end had come, -clasped the cold feet of his old employer and -wept bitterly; Jack could bear no more. With -bursting heart he fled from the room, but kept -the chamber sacred from intrusion, and in the -sole possession of the two old men who sorrowed -there.</p> - -<p>The funeral of James Dunlap was attended by -the foremost citizens of that section of the -United States, where for so many years he had -justly held a position of honor and prominence.</p> - -<p>The universal gloom and hush that was observable -throughout the city of Boston on the -day that the sorrowful cortege followed all that -remained earthly of this esteemed citizen, gave -greater evidence of universal grief than words -or weeping could have done.</p> - -<p>While James Dunlap had never held any civic -or political position, his broad charity, unostentatious -generosity, kindliness of spirit, constant<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[230]</a></span> -thoughtfulness of his fellow men, and the unassuming -gentleness of his lovable disposition and -character, gave him an undisputed high place in -the hearts of his fellow citizens of both lofty -and lowly condition.</p> - -<p>The chief executive of his native state, jurists, -scholars, and capitalists gathered with rough, -weather beaten seafaring men, clerks and laborers -to listen to the final prayer offered up, to -Him above, at the old family vault of the Dunlaps -beneath the sighing willow trees.</p> - -<p class="tb">Haggard and worn by the emotions that had -wrenched his very soul for the past two or three -weeks, David Chapman dragged himself to the -tea-table where his sister waited on the evening -of the day of the funeral ceremonies.</p> - -<p>With the fidelity of a faithful, loving dog he -had held a position during all of many nights at -the feet of him who in life had been his object -of paramount devotion; during those days with -unswerving faithfulness to the house of “J. Dunlap,” -he was found leaden hued and worn, but -still attentive, at his desk in the office. The<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[231]</a></span> -great business must not suffer, thought the man, -even if I drop dead from exhaustion. Neither -John Dunlap nor Walter Burton was in a condition, -nor could they force themselves, to attend -to the business of the house no matter how urgent -the need might be.</p> - -<p>When the business of the day ended, Chapman -hastened to the Dunlap mansion, and like a -ghostly shadow glided to his position at the feet -of his old employer, speaking to no one and no -one saying him nay—it seemed the sad watcher’s -right.</p> - -<p>As David Chapman dropped into a chair at -the tea-table, the anxious and sympathetic sister -said,</p> - -<p>“Brother, you really must take some rest. Indeed -you must, David, now that all is over.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, Arabella, I feel utterly exhausted and -shall rest.”</p> - -<p>The man’s condition was pitiable; his words -came from his throat with the dry, rasping -sound of a file working on hardest steel.</p> - -<p>“What a God-send Jack Dunlap is at this -time, sister. He has taken charge of everything,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[232]</a></span> -and in that steady, confident, masterful way of -his has brought order out of the chaos that existed -at the mansion. It may be the training and -habits acquired at sea, but no matter what it is -the transformation in the affairs at the house is -wonderful. His decisive manner of directing -everything and everybody and the correctness -and promptness with which all people and things -are disposed of by him is phenomenal. I thank -Providence for the relief that Jack’s coming has -brought.”</p> - -<p>The total exhaustion of Chapman’s intense -energy was best exhibited in the satisfaction he -felt at having some one to assist him even in the -affairs of the Dunlaps.</p> - -<p>“Jack is one of the best and strongest minded -men in the world. While I know that his heart -is bleeding for all, especially for Lucy, he has -maintained a self-control that is superb,” said -the spinster.</p> - -<p>“When he learned that Lucy’s hallucination -led her to believe that the old family physician -had conspired to deprive her of her baby, he -promptly procured the attendance of another<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[233]</a></span> -doctor, saying positively, ‘Lucy’s mind must not -be disturbed by sight of anything or person tending -to aggravate her mental disorder.’ He forbade -Mrs. Church going into Lucy’s apartments, -dismissed the nurse and procured a new one, had -that accursed infant put with his nurse into -other apartments and did it all so firmly and quietly -that no one dreamed of disputing any order -given by him,” said David wearily, but evidently -much relieved with the changes made by Jack.</p> - -<p>“What of Lucy? How is she?” anxiously -questioned Arabella.</p> - -<p>“Her mental faculties are totally disarranged. -She has not spoken coherently since she fell -senseless on that dreadful night and was carried -to her bed. Besides, her physical condition is -precarious in the extreme,” replied the brother.</p> - -<p>“Has Jack seen her yet?” inquired the old -maid sadly.</p> - -<p>“Yes, and it is very strange how rational she -became as soon as she saw him enter the room. -You know, Arabella, the steady, earnest, matter -of fact manner he has. Well, he walked into her -room with just that manner, they say he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[234]</a></span> -stopped to steady himself before going in, and -said ‘How are you, Cousin Lucy? I’ve come -home to see you,’ and without a quiver took her -extended hands and pressed them to his breast.</p> - -<p>“Lucy knew him at once when he stepped inside -the door. She looked intently at him, then gave -a glad, joyful cry and held out her hands, calling, -‘Jack, Oh Jack! Come to me, my champion! -Now all will be well.’ Then she put her weak, -white arms about his neck and began to weep as -she sobbed out, ‘Jack, I have needed you. You -said you would come from the end of the earth -to me. I knew you would come; Jack, they have -stolen my angel boy, my baby. Jack, find it, -bring it to me. I know you can. You said until -death you would love me, Jack. Oh! find my -baby, my darling.’”</p> - -<p>“Poor Lucy! Poor Jack!” broke in the old -lady, as tears of pity ran down her withered -cheek.</p> - -<p>“But think of the strength of the man, Arabella. -You and I know what he was suffering. -Yet he answered with never a waver in his -voice, ‘All right, little cousin, I am here and no<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[235]</a></span> -harm shall come to you. I’ll help you, but you -must be a good little girl and stay quiet and get -well. Shall I have my mother come to sit with -you?’ She cried out at once, ‘Please do, Jack, -Cousin Martha did not steal my baby,’ and then -he insisted that she put her head back on the -pillow and close her eyes. When she did so Jack -had the courage to sit on the bedside and sing -softly some old song about the sea that they had -sung together when children. The poor girl fell -fast asleep as he sung, but still clung to Jack’s -brown hand.”</p> - -<p>Chapman gave a groan when he finished as if -the harrowing scene was before him.</p> - -<p>“Blessings on the stout hearted boy,” whimpered -the old lady.</p> - -<p>“Lucy never calls, as formerly, for her grandfather -or husband. In fact, when Burton entered -her room after that awful night she flew -into a perfect frenzy, accusing him of stealing -her child and putting some imp that, at some -time, she had seen in Florida, in his place, notwithstanding -his protestations and entreaties. -Her mad fury increased to such a degree that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[236]</a></span> -the doctor insisted that Burton should leave the -room, and has forbidden him to again visit his -wife until there is a change in her mental condition. -Of course, Lucy knows nothing of the -death of her grandfather.” The man’s voice -became choked as he uttered the last sentence.</p> - -<p>“Have Jack and Mr. Burton been together since -Jack’s return?” inquired Arabella, after a long -silence.</p> - -<p>“I think not, except once when they were closeted -in the library for two hours the day after -Jack arrived. When they came out I was in the -hall and heard Jack say, as he left the library -with Burton, ‘I shall hold you to your promise. -You must wait until my cousin be in a condition -of mind to express her wishes in that matter.’ -Jack’s voice was firm and emphatic and his face -was very stern. Burton replied, ‘I gave you my -word of honor.’ He seemed in great distress and -mental anguish. My opinion is that he had proposed -disappearing forever, and I think so for -the reason that he had asked me to dispose of a -great amount of his personal securities, and to -bring him currency for the proceeds in bills of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[237]</a></span> -large denomination, and Jack must have objected,” -rejoined Chapman.</p> - -<p>“I am sorry for Mr. Burton and am glad Jack -would not let him go away,” said the kind spinster.</p> - -<p>“Well I am not,” cried Chapman savagely, -notwithstanding his fatigue.</p> - -<p>“They would better let him go. This misfortune -is the physical one that long ago I told you was -possible. The next may be spiritual and result -in some emotional or fanatic outburst of barbarous -religious fervor that may again disgrace us -all. Then may develop the bestial propensities -of the sensual nature of savages and may result -in crime and ruin the house of Dunlap forever.”</p> - -<p>“David, go to bed and rest. You are worn -out and conjure up imaginary horrors purely by -reason of nervousness and weariness,” said the -sister soothingly.</p> - -<p>“You maintained months ago that the danger -of breeding back was imaginary. What do you -think now? The other things that I suggest as -possible, are inherent in Burton’s blood and may -tell their story yet.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[238]</a></span></p> - -<p>Chapman, though weak, became vehement immediately -upon the mention of this unfortunate -subject. It required all the persuasion and diplomacy -of his good sister to get him to desist -and finally to retire to his bed room for the rest -that was so needed by the worn out man.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[239]</a></span></p> - -<h2>XIV.</h2> - -<p>“You have been a tower of strength to -me, Jack, in the grief and trouble of the -last three months. I don’t know what -would have become of us all without your aid -and comfort.”</p> - -<p>So spoke Mr. John Dunlap. He appeared -many years older than he did when three months -before he arrived in Boston on board the -“Adams.” He was bent, and care worn. Deep -sorrow had taken the fire and mirth from his -honest, kindly eyes.</p> - -<p>“I am rejoiced and repaid if I have been able -to be of service to those whom I love, and who -have always been so kind to me,” replied Jack -Dunlap simply.</p> - -<p>The two men were seated in the library of the -Dunlap mansion in the closing hour of that late -November day, watching the heavy snow flakes -falling without.</p> - -<p>“Jack, I have meditated for several days upon<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[240]</a></span> -what I am about to say and can find no way but -to beg you to make more sacrifices for us,” said -the old gentleman, after a lapse of several minutes.</p> - -<p>“The condition in which our family is demands -the presence of some younger, stronger head and -hand than mine is now. I know the ‘Adams’ is -refitted, after her two years of service, and ready -for sea. I know you, my lad, and your reluctance -to remain idle when you think that you -should be at work.”</p> - -<p>“To be frank, sir, you have hit upon a subject -about which I desired to talk with you but have -hesitated for several days,” said the young man, -with something of relief in his tone.</p> - -<p>“Well then, Jack, to begin with, I wish to -charter your ship for a voyage and to show that -it is no subterfuge to hold you here, I say at -once I wish you to sail in her.” Mr. Dunlap -paused for a moment to note the effect of his -proposal and then continued,</p> - -<p>“Let me go over the situation, Jack, and tell -me if you do not agree in my conclusions. Lucy, -while apparently restored in a degree to her former<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[241]</a></span> -health, is still weak and looks fragile. The -physicians advise me to take her to a warmer -climate before our New England Winter sets in. -Her dementia still continues, and while she is -perfectly gentle and harmless, she will neither -tolerate the presence of her husband, nor poor -Mrs. Church, and is even not pleased or quiet in -my company. I think my likeness to my beloved -brother affects her. She clings to your good -mother and to you, my lad, with the confident affection -of a child. When she is not softly singing, -as she rocks and smiles in a heartrending, -far-off-way, some baby lullaby, she is flitting -about the house like some sweet and sorrowful -shadow. Can we, Jack, expose our girl in this -condition to the unsympathetic gaze of strangers?”</p> - -<p>“No, no, a thousand times no!” was the quick -and emphatic answer of the younger man.</p> - -<p>“Now listen, Jack. Since the death of that -poor, little misshapen black creature, which innocently -brought so much trouble into our lives, -and, Jack, your thoughtfulness in having it -buried quietly in Bedford instead of here is<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[242]</a></span> -something I shall never forget. But to return -to Lucy: Since that object is out of the way, and -after the consultation of those great specialists -in mental disorder cases, I am led to hope that -Lucy may be restored to us in all the glory of -her former mental condition.”</p> - -<p>“God speed the day,” exclaimed Jack fervently -and reverently.</p> - -<p>“The specialists affirm that as this aberration -of mind was produced by a shock and as there -is no inherited insanity involved in the case, that -the restoration may occur at any moment in the -most unexpected manner. A surprise, shock or -some accident may instantly produce the joyful -change.</p> - -<p>“It is for that very reason that I have insisted -that Burton should remain near at hand, and -ready to respond to a call from the restored wife -for her husband’s presence. We must bear in -mind the fact that Lucy, before this hallucination, -was devotedly attached to her husband and -grandfather. With the return of her reason -we may justly expect the return of her former -affections and feelings,” interrupted Jack by way<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[243]</a></span> -of explanation of something he had done.</p> - -<p>“I know that, Jack, and approve of your -course, but I am only a weak human creature, -and notwithstanding the injunction of my dying -brother to blame no one, I cannot eradicate from -my mind a feeling of animosity toward Burton. -I know that he is not culpable, but still I should -be glad to have him pass out of our lives, if it -were not for the probable effect upon Lucy if -she ever be restored to reason. However, I was -not displeased by his decision to return to his -own house, the ‘Eyrie,’ until his presence was required -here.”</p> - -<p>“Burton’s position, sir, has been a very trying -one. I may say a very dreadful one, and I think -that he has acted in a very manly, courageous -manner, sir, and I think it our duty, as Christian -men, to put aside even our natural repugnance -to the author of our misfortune and be lenient -toward one who has suffered as well as ourselves.”</p> - -<p>The young sailor stopped, hesitated, and then -jerked out the words</p> - -<p>“And to be frank and outspoken with you, sir,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[244]</a></span> -by heavens! I am saving him for Lucy’s sake; if -she wish him, when she know all, she shall -have him safe and sound if it cost my life.” -There was a fierce determination in Jack’s voice -that boded no good to Burton should he attempt -to disappear, nor to any one who attempted to -injure the man whom Lucy’s loyal sailor knight -was safe-keeping for his hopeless love’s sake.</p> - -<p>“Jack, I love you, lad.” was all that the old -Dunlap said, but he knew and felt the grandeur -of the character of the man, who pressed the -dagger down into his own heart, to save a single -pang to the woman whom he loved so unselfishly.</p> - -<p>“But to resume the recital of my plans and -our situation,” said the old gentleman settling -back in his chair. He had leaned forward to pat -Jack on the shoulder.</p> - -<p>“We agree that Lucy cannot be subjected to -the scrutiny and criticism of strangers. I propose, -that as the physicians advise a warmer climate, -to charter the ‘Adams,’ have the cabin remodeled -to accommodate Lucy, your mother, the -nurse and Lucy’s maid, and to take them all with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[245]</a></span> -me to Haiti, just as soon as the changes in the -accommodations on your ship can be made.”</p> - -<p>“Burton goes with us, of course,” said Jack, -assertively.</p> - -<p>“Well, I had not determined that point. What -do you think?”</p> - -<p>“Decidedly, yes! The business may suffer, -but let it. What is business in comparison to the -restoration of Lucy?” cried Jack in an aggressive -tone of voice.</p> - -<p>“It shall be as you think best, my lad. The -business will not suffer in any event, for since -Burton’s return to his position as manager, he -has in some extraordinary manner become -worthless in the management of the affairs of -the house. He does not inspire the respect that -he did formerly nor does he seem to possess the -same self-confidence and decision of character -that marked his manner before the events of the -past few weeks. I don’t know what I should -have done had it not been for Chapman. He has -taken full charge of everything and will continue -in control while I am absent, if you decide to -take Burton along.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[246]</a></span></p> - -<p>“You surprise me, sir. I had noticed no alteration -in Burton’s manner,” exclaimed Jack, sincerely -astonished at what he heard.</p> - -<p>“That is quite likely as he seems to regard you -with a kind of awed respect, but nevertheless -what I state is an absolute fact. When first he -made his appearance at the office he endeavored -by a brave, bold front to resume his position, but -somehow his attempt was a lamentable failure. -He seemed to feel that everyone was aware that -there was something sham about his assumed dignity -and authority and like an urchin caught masquerading -in his father’s coat and hat, he has discarded -the borrowed garments and relapsed into -the character that nature gave him. Burton’s -succeeding efforts to impress the office force and -people with whom we do business with a sense -of his importance have been absurdly laughable,” -said Mr. Dunlap.</p> - -<p>“The secret of the child, and all that concerns -our family is confined to our own people, and a -few old and faithful friends, is it not?” asked -Jack in an anxious, troubled voice.</p> - -<p>“Certainly, but that apparently does not lessen<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[247]</a></span> -Burton’s sense of being garbed in stolen apparel. -I can notice the dignity and culture of the white -race growing less day by day in Burton’s speech -and manner, just as frost-pictures on a window -pane lessen each hour in the rays of the sun until -naught remains but the naked and bared -glass.”</p> - -<p>“What will be the end of all this, if you be -correct?” cried Jack.</p> - -<p>“One by one the purloined habiliments of the -superior race will disappear until finally he will -stand forth stripped of the acquired veneering -created by the culture of the white race, a negro. -This transformation, which I think time will effect, -recalls to me an example of the inordinate -vanity and love of parading in borrowed plumage -common to the negro race. During one of the -numerous insurrections in Haiti I used to see one -of the major generals of the insurgents—they -had a dozen for every hundred privates—a big -black fellow, strut about, puffed up with assumed -importance and dignity. In less than one -week after the insurrection was suppressed he -was at my door selling fish. While there he began<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[248]</a></span> -to ‘pat Juba,’ as he called it, and dance, giggling -with childish glee and winding up the performance -by begging me for a quarter. There -you see the negro of it. Prick the balloon and -when the borrowed elevating gas escapes the skin -collapses immediately,” said John Dunlap, with -the positiveness of a prophet.</p> - -<p>“God grant that the end be not as you surmise -or let God in His mercy continue our Lucy in -her present condition. It were more merciful. -History gives the records of men of the negro -race who did not end their lives in the manner -you suggest, however,” replied Jack, extracting -a crumb of comfort from the last statement.</p> - -<p>“True! my lad, true! There have been white -elephants and white crows; in every forest occasionally -a rare bird is found. So with the negro -race, rare exceptions to the general rule do appear -but so infrequently as to only accentuate -the accuracy of the general rule.”</p> - -<p class="tb">Walter Burton was seated at a table in his -bedroom at the “Eyrie.” Before him were scattered -letters, papers and writing material. It<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[249]</a></span> -was late at night and he had evidently been engaged -in assorting and destroying the contents -of an iron box placed beside him on the floor. -His elbows were on the table and his chin rested -in both of his hands while he gazed meditatively -at the flame in the lamp before him.</p> - -<p>“I am, oh! so weary of this farce. How I long -to be able to run away and be free,” he sighed as -he said this to himself. After a little while he -continued.</p> - -<p>“The farce has been played to the final act. I -know it. What is the use to continue upon the -stage longer? Should Lucy’s mind return to its -normal condition she must be informed of what -has transpired and then my happiness will terminate -anyhow. Of what earthly use is it for -me to remain here. She might call for me at -first, but only to repulse me at last. I am tolerated -by old John Dunlap, hated or despised by -the others except the noblest of them all, Jack -Dunlap. He relies upon my word of honor. I -must not lose his respect. I would to God I -had given another the promise not to disappear.”</p> - -<p>The man paused for some time in his soliloquy<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[250]</a></span> -and then broke out again by exclaiming,</p> - -<p>“The moment that the nurse showed the child -to me a curtain of darkness seemed to roll back. -I saw clearly what produced the strange spells -that for so long have mystified me. I am a negro. -My blood and natural inclinations are those -common to the descendants of Ham. It matters -not that my skin is white, I am still a negro. The -acquirement of the education, culture and refinement -of the white race has made no change in -my blood and inherent instincts. I am ever a -negro. Like a jaded harlot I may paint my face -with the hues of health but I am like her, a diseased -imitator of the healthy. I may have every -outward and visible sign but the inward and -spiritual grace of the white race is not and can -never be mine. I am a wretched sham, fraud -and libel upon the white race with my fair skin -and affected manner.”</p> - -<p>The man’s arms fell upon the table and he -hid his head in them and groaned. Thus he remained -for a short time, then raised his head and -cried out,</p> - -<p>“I even doubt that my Christianity is genuine<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[251]</a></span> -and not a hollow mockery! The doctrine of Mahomet -is received more readily, and practiced -more consistently by my native race in its ancient -home of Africa than the pure and elevating -teachings of Christ. The laws of Mahomet -seem more consistent with the sensual nature of -my race than the chaste commands of Christ. -History relates that Islamism is able to turn an -African negro from idolatry where the Christian -religion utterly fails. Are my protestations of -faith in Christianity like my refinement, culture -and manners, merely outward manifestations in -imitation of the white race and as deceitful as is -the color of my skin?”</p> - -<p>Burton sat silent for several moments and then -said in a tone of sad reminiscence.</p> - -<p>“I recall how everything in the Christian religion -or service that appealed to the emotional -element within me aroused me, but is my nature -as a negro, susceptible of receiving, retaining -and appreciating permanently the truths of that -purest and noblest of all faiths?” Again the -man paused as if silently struggling to solve the -problem suggested.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[252]</a></span></p> - -<p>“It has of late, I know, become the fashion to -refuse to accept the Scriptures literally, but there -is one prophecy concerning the descendants of -Ham which thousands of years have demonstrated -as true.”</p> - -<p>“The sculpture of that oldest of civilizations, -the mother of all culture, the Egyptian, proves -beyond a doubt that the children of Ham came -in contact with the source of Greek and Roman -culture yet they advanced not one step. The -profiles of some even of the early Pharaohs as -seen on their tombs furnish unmistakable proof -of that contact in the Negroid type of the features -of Egypt’s rulers.”</p> - -<p>“The Romans carried civilization to every -people whom they conquered and to those who -escaped the Roman domination they bequeathed -an impetus that urged them forward, with the -single exception of the accursed Hamites.”</p> - -<p>“The Arabs occupied Northern Africa and kept -burning the torch of civilization in the chaos of -the Dark Ages in Europe. The Arabs fraternized -more freely with the sons of Ham than all -other branches of the human race, but failed to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[253]</a></span> -push, pull or drive them along the highway of -culture.”</p> - -<p>“The negro race seems bound by that old -Scriptural prophecy concerning the descendants -of Ham. It does not advance beyond being the -hewers of wood and drawers of water for the -balance of mankind, notwithstanding five thousand -years of opportunity and inducement.”</p> - -<p>“The negro race in Africa, its ancestral land, -can point to no ruined temples, no not even -mounds like can the American Indians. It borrowed -not even the art of laying stones from -Egypt. It has no written language though the -Phoenicians gave that blessing to the world. It -has no religion worthy of the name, neither laws -nor well defined language. Notwithstanding its -association with Egyptian, Roman and Arabian -culture and civilization, fountains for all of the -thirsty white race, the negro race has benefited -not at all. It is where it was five thousand -years ago. God’s will be done!”</p> - -<p>Burton paused while a sneer came to his lips -when he began again speaking.</p> - -<p>“Haiti, after decades of freedom, starting with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[254]</a></span> -the benefits conferred by the religion and civilization -of one of the leading nations of earth, is -the home today of ignorance, slothfulness and -superstition. Every improvement made by the -former white rulers neglected and passing away. -In the hands of the white race it had now been -a Paradise. Liberia is as dead, stagnant and -torpid as if progress had vanished with the fostering -care of the white nations that founded -that republic.”</p> - -<p>The young man ceased in recapitulating the -failures of his race, but added with a sigh,</p> - -<p>“In America! Well one may grow oranges -in New England by covering the trees with glass -and heating the conservatory, but break the glass -or let the fire expire and the orange trees die. -Break the civilization of the white race in America -like the glass, let the fire of its culture become -extinguished and alas for the exotic race -and its artificial progress.”</p> - -<p>“But enough of my race,” exclaimed Burton -impatiently as he arose from the table and began -walking about the room.</p> - -<p>“Formerly I tried to curb an inclination that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[255]</a></span> -was incomprehensible. Now that I know the -cause I rather enjoy the relapses into my natural -self. I welcome the casting aside of the mask -and affectation of the unreal. It is a relief. The -restraint imposed by the presence of those who -know me for what I am, is irksome. I long all -day for the freedom of my isolation here in the -‘Eyrie’ where no prying eye is finely discriminating -the real from the sham. I loath the office -and the association there. Each day I seem to -drop a link of the chain that binds me to an artificial -existence.”</p> - -<p>Suddenly an idea seemed to present some new -phase to the soliloquizing man. He put his hand -to his head as if in pain, and cried out,</p> - -<p>“But the end! What shall it be?”</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[256]</a></span></p> - -<h2>XV.</h2> - -<p>“It was good of you Jack, to have Mr. -Dunlap invite me to dine with him this -evening. I am deucedly weary of the -‘off colored,’” exclaimed Lieutenant Tom Maxon -as he and his companion, Captain Jack Dunlap -walked in the twilight through the outskirts of -Port au Prince.</p> - -<p>“To tell you the truth, Tom, I was not thinking -of your pleasure in the visit half so much as -I was about my old kinsman’s. You see we have -been here a month, and as my Cousin Lucy is -an invalid and sees no company, Mr. Dunlap has -divided his great rambling house into two parts. -He and Burton occupy one part and the women -folk the other; I join them as often as possible -but as Burton is exceedingly popular with the -dusky Haitians and often absent, my old cousin -is apt to be lonely. I thought your habitual jolliness -would do him good, and at the same time<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[257]</a></span> -secure you a fine dinner, excellent wine and the -best cigars in Haiti; hence the invitation.”</p> - -<p>“How is Mrs. Burton? I remember her from -the days when you, the little Princess and I used -to make ‘Rome howl’ in the Dunlap attic.”</p> - -<p>“Lucy is much improved by the sea voyage -and change of climate, but must have absolute -quiet. For that reason my mother keeps up an -establishment in one part of the house to insure -against noise, or intrusion,” said Jack.</p> - -<p>“I hope that you didn’t promise much jollity -on my part this evening, old chum, for the -thought of our little Princess being an invalid -and under the same roof knocks all the laugh -and joke out of even a mirthful idiot like Tom -Maxon,” said the lieutenant.</p> - -<p>“It’s sailing rather close to tears, I confess, -Tom, but I do wish you to cheer the old gentleman -up some if you can,” replied Jack as they -strolled along the highway between dense masses -of tropical foliage.</p> - -<p>“I say, Jack, is Mr. Dunlap’s place much further? -I don’t half like its location,” said Maxon -as he looked about him and noticed the absence<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[258]</a></span> -of houses and the thick underbrush.</p> - -<p>“Why? What’s the matter with it? Are you -leg weary already, you sea-swab?” cried Dunlap -laughing.</p> - -<p>“Not a bit; but I’ll tell you something that -may be a little imprudent in a naval officer, but -still I think you ought to know. The American -Consul fears some trouble from the blacks on -account of the concessions that Dictator Dupree -was forced to grant the whites before the English -and American bankers would make the loan -that Mr. Dunlap negotiated. The rumor is that -the ignorant blacks from the mountains blame -your kinsman and mutter threats against him. -When Admiral Snave received the order at Gibraltar -to call at Port au Prince on our way home -with the flag-ship Delaware and one cruiser, we -all suspected something was up, and after we -arrived and the old fighting-cock placed guards -at the American Consulate we felt sure of it,” -replied Lieutenant Tom seriously.</p> - -<p>“Oh! pshaw, these black fellows are always -muttering and threatening but it ends at that,” -said Jack with a contemptuous gesture.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[259]</a></span></p> - -<p>“‘Luff round,’ shipmate,” suddenly called -Tom Maxon grabbing hold of Jack’s arm and -pointing through a break in the jungle that lined -the roadway.</p> - -<p>“Isn’t that a queer combination over there by -that dead tree?” continued the officer directing -Jack’s gaze to a cleared spot on the edge of the -forest.</p> - -<p>In the dim light could be distinguished the -figure of a well-dressed man, who was not black, -in earnest conversation with a bent old hag of a -black woman who rested her hand familiarly and -affectionately upon his arm. Dunlap started -when he first glanced at them. The figure and -dress of the man was strangely similar to that -of Walter Burton.</p> - -<p>“Some go-between in a dusky love affair -doubtless,” said Jack shortly as he moved on.</p> - -<p>“Well, I think I could select a better looking -Cupid,” exclaimed Tom laughing at the suggestion -of the old witch playing the part of love’s -messenger.</p> - -<p>“By the way, Jack, speaking of Cupid, I received -a peculiar communication at Gibraltar.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[260]</a></span> -It was only a clipping from some society paper -but this was what it said: ‘Mr. T. DeMontmorency -Jones has sailed in his magnificent yacht -the “Bessie” for the Mediterranean, where he -will spend the winter. <i lang="fr">En passant</i>, rumor says -the engagement between Mr. Jones and one of -Boston’s most popular belles has been terminated.’ -This same spindle shanked popinjay of a -millionaire was sailing in the wake of my <i lang="it">inamorata</i> -and was said to have cut me out of the race -after my Trafalgar. So, when I tell you, old -chap, that the writing on the envelope looks -suspiciously like the chirography of Miss Elizabeth -Winthrop, you can guess why I can sing</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse">‘There’s a sweetheart over the sea’</div> -<div class="verse">‘And she’s awaiting there for me.’”</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>The light-hearted lieutenant aroused the birds -from their roosts by the gusto of his boisterous -baritone in his improvised song. He stopped -short and said abruptly,</p> - -<p>“Jack, why the deuce didn’t you fall in love -with the little Princess and marry her yourself?”</p> - -<p>“Hold hard, Tom. My cousin Lucy is the -object of too much serious concern to us all to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[261]</a></span> -be made the subject of jest just now, even by -you, comrade, and what you ask is infernal nonsense -anyhow,” replied Jack, somewhat confused -and with more heat than seemed justifiable.</p> - -<p>“Oh! I beg your pardon, Jack. You know that -I’m such a thoughtless fool, I didn’t think how -the question might sound,” said Tom quickly, in -embarrassment.</p> - -<p>Captain Dunlap made no mistake in promising -the lieutenant of the U.S.N. a good dinner, rare -wine and fine cigars. John Dunlap in the desert -of Sahara would have surrounded himself, somehow, -with all the accessories necessary to an ideal -host.</p> - -<p>Good-natured Tom Maxon exercised himself -to the utmost in cheering the old gentleman and -dispelling any loneliness or gloom that he might -feel. Tom told amusing anecdotes of the irascible -admiral, recounted odd experiences and -funny incidents in his term of service among the -Philippinoes and Chinese; he sang queer parodies -on popular ballads, and rollicking, jolly sea songs -until the old gentleman, temporarily forgetting -his care and grief, was laughing like a schoolboy.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[262]</a></span></p> - -<p>When they were seated, feet upon the railing, -<i lang="fr">a la Americaine</i>, on the broad piazza, listening to -the songs of the tropical night birds, as they -smoked their cigars, the lieutenant recalled the -subject of the location of Mr. Dunlap’s house, by -saying,</p> - -<p>“I mentioned to Jack, while on my way here, -sir, that it seemed to me that you would be safer -nearer the American Consulate in case any -trouble should arise concerning the concessions -to the whites made by Dupree.”</p> - -<p>“Oh! I don’t think that there is any occasion -for alarm. To bluff and bluster is part of the -negro nature. The whole talk is inspired by the -agitation caused by the Voo Doo priests and -priestesses among the superstitious blacks from -the mountains. By the way, Jack, our old friend -the witch who wished to sail in your ship with -us when we left for Boston, still haunts my premises.” -As if to corroborate what the speaker had -just said, a wailing chant arose on the tranquil -night air, coming from just beyond the wall -around the garden,</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse">“Oh! Tu Konk, my Tu Konk”</div> -<div class="verse">“Send back the black blood.”</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[263]</a></span></p> - -<p>“There she is now,” exclaimed Jack and Mr. -Dunlap at the same time.</p> - -<p>“My black boy who waits at the table told me -that the old crone was holding meetings nightly -in worship of Voo Doo, and that too in the very -suburbs of the city,” said Mr. Dunlap when the -sound of old Sybella’s voice died away in the -distance.</p> - -<p>“Where is Burton tonight?” asked Jack as if -recalling something.</p> - -<p>“I don’t know. When he does not appear at -the established dinner hour I take it for granted -that he is at the club in the city or dining with -some of his newly made friends. He is quite -popular here, being a Haitian himself,” replied -the old gentleman.</p> - -<p class="tb">It was late that night when Walter Burton entered -the apartments reserved for his exclusive -use in the house of John Dunlap. Throwing -off his coat he sat down in a great easy chair in -the moonlight by the open window and lighted a -cigar.</p> - -<p>“I wish that I were free to fly to the mountains<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[264]</a></span> -and hide myself here in Haiti among my own -people forever,” sighed the young man glancing -away off to the shadowy outline of the hills -against the moonlit sky.</p> - -<p>“The sensation of being pitied is humiliating -and hateful, and that was what I endured during -the voyage from Boston, and have suffered ever -since I arrived and have been in enforced association -with the Dunlaps. The devoted love for -Lucy, my wife, is a source of pain, not pleasure. -Her unreasoning antipathy now is more bearable -than will surely be the repulsion that must arise -if, when restored to reason, she learn that I am -the author of the cause of her disappointment, -horror and dementia. Woe is mine under any -circumstances! The evil consequences of attempted -amalgamation of the negro and white -races are not borne alone by the white participants -but fall as heavily upon those of the negro -blood who share in the abortive effort.”</p> - -<p>Burton seemed to ruminate for a long while, -smoking in silence, then he muttered,</p> - -<p>“Am I much happier when with my own race? -Hardly! When I am in the society of even the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[265]</a></span> -most highly cultivated Haitian negroes I am unable -to free myself from the thought that we are -much like a lot of monkeys, such as Italian street -musicians carry with them. We negroes are -togged out in the dignity, education and culture -of the white race, but we are only aping the natural, -self-evolved civilization and culture of the -whites. The clothing does not fit us, the garments -were not cut according to our mental and -moral measurements, and we appear ridiculous -when we don the borrowed trappings of the white -race’s mind, and pompously strut before an -amused and jeering world.”</p> - -<p>“When I imagined the mantle that I wore was -my own it set lightly and comfortably on me. -Now that I realize that it is the property of another, -it has become cumbersome, unwieldy, awkward -and is slipping rapidly from my shoulders.”</p> - -<p>“On the other side of the subject are equal -difficulties. If, weary of imitation and affectation, -I seek the society of my race in all its natural -purity and ignorance, my senses have become so -acute, softened and made tender by the long use -of my borrowed mantle that I am shocked, horrified<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[266]</a></span> -or disgusted. Oh! Son of Ham, escape -from the doom pronounced against you while -yet time was new seems impossible. In My Book -it is writ, saith the Lord!”</p> - -<p>In melancholy musing the man tortured by so -many contrary emotions and feelings, sat silently -gazing at the distant stars and then cried out in -anguish of spirit,</p> - -<p>“Oh! that I should be forced to feel that the -Creator of all this grand universe is unjust! -That I should regard education and culture as a -curse to those foredoomed to be hewers of wood -and drawers of water. That I should realize -that refinement is a cankerous limb, a clog and -hindrance to a negro, unfitting him for association -with his own race and yet impotent to change -those innate characteristics inherited by him from -his ancestors, that disqualify him from homogeneousness -with the white race.”</p> - -<p>The young man’s voice was full of despair and -even something of reproach as his subtle intellect -wove the meshes of the adamantine condition -that bound him helpless, in agony, to the rack of -race inferiority.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[267]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Mother Sybella, who has proven herself my -great-grandmother, urges me to fly and seek -among my own people that surcease from suffering -unattainable among the whites. While she -fascinates me, she fills me with horror. I am -drawn toward her yet I am repelled by something -loathsome in the association with her. She seems -to possess hypnotic power over my senses; she -leads me by some magnetic influence that exerts -control over the negro portion of my nature.”</p> - -<p>“I am ashamed to be seen by the white people, -especially the Dunlaps, in familiar conversation -with the grandmother of my mother, but in our -secret and frequent interviews she has told me -much that I was unaware of concerning my ancestors -and my mother. I have promised to attend -a meeting of my kinsmen tomorrow night, -which will be held in a secluded spot near the -city, whither she herself will guide me. I do not -wish to go. I did not wish to make the promise -and appointment to meet her, but was compelled -by the overmastering power she wields over the -natural proclivities within me. I must meet her -and go with her.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[268]</a></span></p> - -<p>The struggle in the dual nature of the man between -the contending forces of the innate and -the acquired was obvious in the reluctant tone -in which, while he admitted that he would obey -the innate, he lamented the abandonment of the -acquired.</p> - -<p>“I must go, I feel that I must! My destiny -was written ere Shem, Ham and Japhet separated -to people the world. I bow to the inevitable! -I am pledged to Dupree for dinner tomorrow -evening, but I shall excuse myself early, -and keep my appointment with Mother Sybella, -and accompany her to the meeting of my kindred.”</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[269]</a></span></p> - -<h2>XVI.</h2> - -<p>The cleared spot selected by Mother -Sybella as the scene of her mystic -ceremonies and the gathering place -of the worshipers of Voo Doo, though -scarcely beyond the outskirts of the city, -was so screened by the umbrageous growth of -tropical forest, interlaced with vanilla and grape-vines -that festoon every woodland of Haiti, that -its presence was not even suspected save by the -initiated.</p> - -<p>On the night that Dictator Dupree entertained, -among other guests the wealthy Haitian, Walter -Burton, partner in the great American house of -“J. Dunlap,” and husband of the heiress to the -millions accumulated by the long line of “J. Dunlaps” -which had controlled the Haitian trade -with the United States, a strange and uncanny -drama was enacted almost within sound of the -music that enlivened the Dictator’s banquet.</p> - -<p>Through trees entwined by gigantic vines, resembling<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[270]</a></span> -monstrous writhing serpents, glided -silently many dark forms carrying blazing -torches of resinous wood to guide the flitting figures -through the intricacies of the hardly definable -pathways that ran in serpentine indistinctness -toward the clear spot, where Mother Sybella -had set up the altar of Tu Konk, and was calling -her children to worship by the booming of an -immense red drum upon which she beat at short -intervals.</p> - -<p>In the center of the clearing, coiled upon the -stump of a large tree, was a huge black snake, -that occasionally reared its head and, waving it -from side to side, emitted a fearful hissing sound -as it shot forth its scarlet, flame-like tongue.</p> - -<p>Torches and bonfires illuminated the spot and -cast gleams of light upon the dark faces and distended, -white and rolling eyes of the men and -women who, squatting in a circle back in the -shade of the underbrush, chanted a monotonous -dirge-like invocation to the Voo Doo divinity -called by them Tu Konk, and supposed to dwell -in the loathsome body of the serpent on the -stump.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">[271]</a></span></p> - -<p>By almost imperceptible degrees the blows upon -the drum increased in frequency; old Sybella -seemed some tireless fiend incarnate as gradually -she animated the multitude and quickened the -growing excitement of her emotional listeners -by the ceaseless booming of her improved tom-tom. -Soon the forest began to resound with -hollow bellowing of conch shells carried by many -of the squatters about the circle. The chant became -quicker. Shouting took the place of the -droning monotonous incantations to Tu Konk.</p> - -<p>Higher and higher grew the gale of excitement. -The shouting grew in volume and intensity. -Wild whoops mingled with the more sonorous -shouts that made the forest reverberate.</p> - -<p>Suddenly the half-clad figure of a man sprang -into the circle of light that girded the stump -whereon the now irritated snake was hissing continuously. -The man was bare to the waist and -without covering on his legs and feet below the -knees; his eyes glared about him, the revolving -white balls in their ebony colored setting was -something terrifying to behold. The man uttered -whoop after whoop and began shuffling sideways<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">[272]</a></span> -around the stump, every moment adding to the -rapidity and violence of his motions until shortly -he was madly bounding into the air and with -savage shouts tearing at the wool on his head, -while white foam flecked his bare black breast.</p> - -<p>The man’s madness became contagious. Figure -after figure sprang within the lighted space -about the serpent. Men, women, and even children -all more or less nude, the few garments worn -presenting a heterogeneal kaleidoscope of vivid, -garish colors as the frenzied dancers whirled -about in the irregular light of the torches and -bonfires.</p> - -<p>Soon spouting streams of red stained the glistening -black bodies, and joined the tide of white -foam pouring from the protruding, gaping, blubber -lips of the howling, frantic worshipers.</p> - -<p>The fanatic followers of Voo Dooism were -wounding themselves in the delirium of irresponsible -emotion. Blood gushed from long gashes -made by sharp knives on cheeks, breasts, backs -and limbs. The gyrations of the gory, crazed -and howling mass were hideous to behold.</p> - -<p>When the tempest of curbless frenzy seemed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[273]</a></span> -to have reached a point beyond which increase -appeared impossible, old Sybella rushed forward, -like the wraith of the ancient witch of Endor, -dashing the dancers aside, springing to the stump -she seized the snake and winding its shining -coils about her she waved aloft the long, glittering -blade of the knife that she held in hand, and -shrieked out, in the voice of an infuriated fiend,</p> - -<p>“Bring forth the hornless goat. Let Tu Konk -taste the blood of the hornless one!”</p> - -<p>A crowd of perfectly naked and bleeding men -darted forward bearing in their midst an entirely -nude girl, who in a perfect paroxysm of terror -fought, writhed and struggled fearfully, yelling -wildly all the time, in the grip of her merciless -and insensate captors.</p> - -<p>The men stretched the screaming wretch across -the stump on which the snake had rested, pressed -back the agonized girl’s head until her slender -neck was drawn taut. Quick as the serpent’s -darting tongue, Sybella’s bright, sharp blade descended, -severing at one stroke the head almost -from the quivering body.</p> - -<p>A fiercer, wilder cry arose from the insane devotees<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">[274]</a></span> -as a great tub nearly full of fiery native -rum was placed to catch the gushing stream that -flowed in a crimson torrent from the still twitching -body of the sacrifice to Voo Doo.</p> - -<p>Sybella stirred the horrible mixture of blood -and rum with a ladle, made of an infant’s skull -affixed to a shin-bone of an adult human being, -and having replaced the snake upon his throne, -on the stump, in an abject posture presented to -the serpent the ladle filled with the nauseating -stuff. The re-incarnate Tu Konk thrust his head -repeatedly into the skull-bowl and scattered drops -of the scarlet liquid over his black and shining -coils.</p> - -<p>Then Sybella using the skull-ladle began filling -enormous dippers made of gourds, that the eager, -maddened crowd about the Voo Doo altar held -expectantly forth, craving a portion in the libation -to Tu Konk.</p> - -<p>The maniacal host gorged themselves with the -loathsome fluid, gulped down in frenzied haste, -great draughts of that devilish brew, from the -large calabashes that Sybella filled.</p> - -<p>Now hell itself broke forth. No longer were<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">[275]</a></span> -the worshipers men and women. The lid was -lifted from hell’s deepest, most fiendish caldron. -A crew of damned demons was spewed out upon -earth. With demoniac screams that rent the -calmness of the night, they beat and gashed themselves, -their slabbering, thick lips slapping together -as they gibbered, like insane monkeys, -sending flying showers of foam over their bare -and bleeding bodies. Human imps of hell’s creation -fell senseless to the ground or writhing in -hideous, inhuman convulsions twined their distorted -limbs about the furious dancers who -stamped upon their hellish faces and brought -the dancers shrieking to the earth.</p> - -<p>In the midst of this pandemonium, redolent -with the odor of inferno, a dark figure, that, -crouched in the deep shade of the clustering palm -plants, and covered with a dark mantle, had remained -unnoticed a spectator of the scene, sprang -up, hurled to one side the concealing cloak and -bounded toward the stump whereon the serpent -hissed defiance at his adorers.</p> - -<p>With an unearthly yell, half-groan, half-moan, -but all insane, frantic and wild, the neophyte<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">[276]</a></span> -leaped about in erratic gyrations of adoration before -the snake, that embodiment of Tu Konk, the -Voo Doo divinity.</p> - -<p>As whirling and, in an ecstacy of emotion, -waving aloft his hands the howling dancer turned -and the light of the bonfire fell upon his face, the -brutalized features of Walter Burton were revealed.</p> - -<p>Those refined, aesthetic features that had made -the man “the observed of all observers” at Miss -Stanhope’s musicale in Boston, had scarcely been -recognized as the same in the strangely flattened -nose, the thickened lips, the popped and rolling -eyes of the man who, in the forest glade of Haiti -danced before the Voo Doo god Tu Konk the -serpent.</p> - -<p>Burton’s evening dress was torn and disarranged, -his hair disheveled, his immaculate linen -spotted with blood, his shoes broken and muddy, -his face contorted and agonized, as twisting and -squirming in every limb he sprang and leaped in -a fiercely violent dance before the snake. Yells -of long pent-up savage fury rang through the -dank night air, as Burton threw back his head -and whooped in barbarous license.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">[277]</a></span></p> - -<p>Sybella’s flashing eyes gleamed with joy as she -gazed at this reclaimed scion of the negro race. -She stole toward the flying figure that spun -around, transported to the acme of insane emotion, -singing in triumphant screeches as she crept -forward,</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse">“Tu Konk, the Great one</div> -<div class="verse">Tu Konk, I thank thee</div> -<div class="verse">Back comes black blood</div> -<div class="verse">No longer childless</div> -<div class="verse">Tu Konk, I praise thee.”</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="tb">Mr. Dunlap was aroused at daylight by a messenger -wearing the naval uniform of the United -States, who waited below with an important communication -from Lieutenant Maxon.</p> - -<p>Two hours before Mr. Dunlap heard the rap -on his bedroom door, a pale and trembling figure, -clothed in a dilapidated evening suit, had slunk -stealthily past his chamber and entered the apartments -occupied by the husband of the Dunlap -heiress.</p> - -<div class="blockquote"> - -<p>“Dear Mr. Dunlap.—I am instructed by Admiral -Snave to inform you that an uprising of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">[278]</a></span> -the blacks is imminent; that it will be impossible -to protect you in your exposed position should -such an event take place. The admiral suggests -that you remove your family at once to the American -Consulate, where protection will be furnished -all Americans. Very respectfully,</p> - -<p class="right">Thomas Maxon, Lieut. U.S.N.”</p> - -<p>“P.S.—Please adopt the Admiral’s suggestion. -I think you had better let Jack know about this.</p> - -<p class="right">T.M.”</p> - -</div> - -<p>Such were the contents of the letter of which -the U.S. marine was bearer and it was answered -as follows:</p> - -<div class="blockquote"> - -<p>“Dear Mr. Maxon.—Express my gratitude to -Admiral Snave for the suggestion, but be good -enough to add that the health of my niece demands -absolute quiet and that I shall remain here -instead of going to the crowded Consulate; that -I deem any disturbance as exceedingly improbable -from my intimate acquaintance with the -character of the natives of this island.</p> - -<p class="center">Very respectfully,</p> - -<p class="right">J. Dunlap.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">[279]</a></span></p> - -<p>P.S.—Will notify Jack to bring a man or two -from his ship to guard premises for a night or -so.”</p> - -</div> - -<p>In the evening, as the shadows of night fell -upon the house of Mr. John Dunlap and the owls -began to flutter from their roosts and hoot, Mr. -Brice, first officer, and McLeod, the big, bony -carpenter of the “Adams” were seated on the -steps of the piazza in quiet contentment, puffing -the good cigars furnished by Mr. Dunlap after, -what seemed to them, a sumptuous banquet.</p> - -<p>“I declare, Jack, were it not that the consequences -might be serious, I should rather enjoy -seeing long-limbed Brice and that wild, red-haired -Scotchman of yours, led by you, charging -an angry mob of blacks, armed with those antiquated -cutlasses that your fellows brought from -the ship. The blacks would surely run in pure -fright at the supposed resurrection of the ancient -buccaneers. No scene in a comic opera could -compare with what you and your men would -present,” said Mr. Dunlap in an amused tone, as -he rocked back and forth in an easy chair on the -veranda, and chatted with his namesake, Jack.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">[280]</a></span></p> - -<p>“It might be amusing to you, sir,” replied Jack -laughing, “but it would be death to any black -who came within the swing of either of the cutlasses -carried by Brice and McLeod. I picked -up a half dozen of those old swords at a sale in -Manila, and decorated my cabin with them. -When I told the men that there might be a fight -they could find no other weapons on board ship -so denuded my cabin of its decorations and -brought them along. Of course I have a revolver -but in a rush those old cutlasses could do -fearful execution. They are heavy and as sharp -as razors.”</p> - -<p>“While I am unwilling to take even a remote -risk with Lucy and your mother in the house, still -in my opinion there is not one chance in a million -that anything but bluff and bluster will come of -this muttering. Admiral Snave is always anxious -for a fight, and the wish is father of the thought -in this alarm,” said the old gentleman.</p> - -<p>“Why isn’t Burton here?” asked Jack almost -angrily.</p> - -<p>“He is up stairs. He has been feeling ill all -day and asked not to be disturbed unless he be<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">[281]</a></span> -needed. I shall let him rest. However, he has -a revolver and is an excellent shot and will prove -a valuable aid to us should the fools attempt to -molest the premises.”</p> - -<p>For an hour or two Brice and McLeod exchanged -an occasional word or two but gradually -these brief speeches became less frequent and -finally ceased altogether. Mr. Dunlap and Jack -carried on a desultory conversation for some -time, but had sat in silent communion with their -own thoughts for possibly an hour when, under -the somnific influence of the night songsters, the -Scotch ship-carpenter yawned, rose to his feet -and stretched his long, hairy arms. He paused -in the act and thrust forward his head to catch -some indistinct sound, then growled,</p> - -<p>“I hear murmuring like surf on a lee-shore.”</p> - -<p>Brice arose and listened for a minute then -called out,</p> - -<p>“Captain, I hear the sound of bare feet pattering -on the highway.”</p> - -<p>Jack was on his feet in an instant and ran down -the walk to the gate in the high brick wall that -surrounded the premises. He came running back<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">[282]</a></span> -almost immediately and said in low voice as he -reached the piazza.</p> - -<p>“There is a mob coming toward the house, -along the road leading from the mountains. They -carry torches and may mean mischief. Cousin -John, will you have Burton called and will you -please remain here to look after the women. Brice -you and McLeod get cutlasses and bring me one -also. We will meet the mob at the gate.”</p> - -<p>“Oh! It is nothing Jack, maybe a negro frolic. -No use arousing Burton,” said the elder Dunlap.</p> - -<p>“If you please, sir, do as I ask. I will be prepared -in any event,” said Jack Dunlap tersely.</p> - -<p>“All right, Commander, the laugh will be at -your expense,” cried the amused old gentleman -as he ordered a servant to call Burton.</p> - -<p>Jack and his two stalwart supporters had barely -reached the gate when the advance guard of the -savage horde of black mountaineers appeared -before it. Instantly it flashed upon the mind of -the skipper that if he barred the gate, that then -part of the mob might go around and break over -the wall in the rear of the house and attack the -defenceless women.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">[283]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Throw open the gate, McLeod, we will meet -them here,” commanded Captain Dunlap, and -turning as some one touched his shoulder, he -found Burton at his side, very pale and but half -clad, with a revolver in his hand.</p> - -<p>“Glad you are here, Burton.”</p> - -<p>“I did not have time to put on my shoes.” said -Burton.</p> - -<p>The main body of the mob now came up and -gathered about the open gate. The men were -armed with clubs and knives and some few, who -were evidently woodsmen, carried axes. Many -torches shed their light over the black and brutal -faces, making them appear more ebony by the -white and angry eyes that glared at the men who -stood ready to do battle just within the gateway.</p> - -<p>“I wish you people to understand that if you -attempt to enter this gate many of you will be -killed.”</p> - -<p>Young Dunlap spoke in a quiet voice, as he -stood between the pillars of the gate, but there -was such an unmistakable menace in the steady -tone that even the ignorant barbarians understood -what he meant.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">[284]</a></span></p> - -<p>For the space of a minute of time the mob hesitated. -Suddenly a tall woodsman struck a -sweeping, chopping blow with his ax. The skipper -sprang aside just in time, and as quick as a -flash of lightning a stream of flame poured out -of the pistol he held in his hand, and that woodsman -would never chop wood again.</p> - -<p>Brice and McLeod had cast aside their coats, -and with their long, sinewy arms bared to the -elbows, cutlasses grasped in their strong hands, -they were by Jack’s side in a second.</p> - -<p>As the pistol shot rang out it seemed to give -the signal for an assault. With a howl, like -wild and enraged animals, the mob rushed upon -the men at the gate. The rush was met by the -rapid discharge of the revolvers held by Dunlap -and Burton; for a moment it was checked, then a -shrill voice was heard screaming high above the -howling of the savages,</p> - -<p>“Kill the white cow! She has stolen our son -from us! Kill the Yankee robbers! Spare my -black goat!”</p> - -<p>Sybella could be heard though concealed by the -tall black men of the mountains who again hurled<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">[285]</a></span> -themselves on the white men who guarded the -gateway.</p> - -<p>The revolvers were empty. Jack sent his flying -into a black face as he gripped the hilt of his -cutlass and joined old Brice and the carpenter in -the deadly reaping they were doing. Burton -having no other weapon than the revolver, threw -it aside and seized a club that had dropped from -the hands of one of the slain blacks.</p> - -<p>The sweep of those old cutlasses in the powerful -hands that held them was awful, magnificent; -no matter what may have been the history of -those old blades they had never been wielded as -now. But numbers began to tell and the infuriated -negroes fought like fiends, urged on by -the old siren Sybella who shrieked out a kind of -battle song of the blacks.</p> - -<p>How long the four held back the hundreds -none can tell, but it seemed an age to the fast -wearying men who held the gate. A blow from -an ax split McLeod’s head and he fell dead without -even a groan. Brice turned as he heard his -shipmate fall and received a stunning smash on -the temple from a club that felled him like an -ox in the shambles.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 450px;" id="illus3"> -<img src="images/illus3.jpg" width="450" height="600" alt="" /> -<p class="caption">“He recklessly rushed in front of Burton.”</p> -<p class="caption-r"><a href="#Page_286">Page 286</a></p> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286">[286]</a></span></p> - -<p>Jack saw Burton, who was fighting furiously, -beset by two savage blacks armed with axes -stuck on long poles. In that supreme moment of -peril the thought of Lucy’s sorrow at loss of her -husband, should she be restored to reason, came -to the mind of the great hearted sailor. He recklessly -rushed in front of Burton, severed at a -stroke of his sword the arm of one of Burton’s -assailants, and caught the descending ax of the -other when within an inch of the head of the man -who had taken the place in Lucy’s love that he -had hoped for.</p> - -<p>Jack Dunlap’s cutlass warded off the blow from -Burton but the sharp ax glanced along the blade -and was buried in the broad breast of Lucy’s -knight, and he fell across the bodies of his faithful -followers, Brice and McLeod; Jack’s fast -deafening ears caught sound of—</p> - -<p>“Follow me, lads, give them cold steel. Don’t -shoot. You may hit friends! Charge!”</p> - -<p>Tom Maxon’s voice was far from jolly now. -There was death in every note of it as, at the -head of a body of United States Blue-jackets, he -dashed in among the black barbarians. When -he caught sight of the prostrate, bleeding form<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287">[287]</a></span> -of his old school-fellow he raged like a wounded -lion among Sybella’s savage followers.</p> - -<p>As the lieutenant saw that the range of fire -was free from his friends, he cried out, hoarse -with passion,</p> - -<p>“Fire at will. Give them hell!” and he emptied -his own revolver into the huddled crowd of mountaineers, -who still stood, brave to recklessness, -hesitating about what to do against the new adversaries.</p> - -<p>The repeating rifles of the Americans soon -covered the roadway with dark corpses. Long -lanes were cut by the rapid fire through the -black mass. With howls and yells of mingled -terror, rage and disappointment the mob broke -and taking to the jungle disappeared in the darkness -of the adjacent forest.</p> - -<p>A sailor kicked aside what he thought was a -bundle of rags, and started back as the torch that -he bore revealed the open, fangless mouth and -snake-like, glaring eyes of an old crone of a -woman who in death seemed even more horrible -than in life.</p> - -<p>A rifle ball, at close range, had shattered -Mother Sybella’s skull.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288">[288]</a></span></p> - -<h2>XVII.</h2> - -<p>All established rules of the house of “J. -Dunlap” were as the laws of the Medes -and Persians to David Chapman, inviolable. -When the hour of twelve struck and -neither Mr. John Dunlap nor Mr. Burton appeared -at the office, the Superintendent immediately -proceeded to the residence of Mr. Dunlap.</p> - -<p>“I am sorry, Chapman, to have given you the -trouble of coming out here, but the fact is I am -not so strong as formerly, and I expected that -Burton would be at the office and thought a day -of repose might benefit me,” remarked Mr. John -Dunlap as Chapman entered his library carrying -a bundle of papers this March afternoon.</p> - -<p>“Mr. Burton has only been at the office once -within the past week and not more than a dozen -times since you all returned from Haiti some two -months ago,” replied the Superintendent, methodically -arranging the various memoranda on -the large library table.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_289" id="Page_289">[289]</a></span></p> - -<p>“First in order of date is as follows: Douglass -and McPherson, the solicitors at Glasgow, write -that they have purchased the annuity for old Mrs. -McLeod and that the income secured to her is -far larger than any possible comfort or even luxury -can require; they also say that the lot in the -graveyard has been secured and that the mother -of the dead ship carpenter is filled with gratitude -for the granite stone you have provided to mark -her son’s grave and that no nobler epitaph for -any Scotsman could be carved than the one suggested -by you to be cut on the stone, ‘Died defending -innocent women;’ they expect the body -to arrive within a few days and will follow instructions -concerning the reinterment of the remains -of gallant McLeod; they add that beyond -all expenditures ordered they will hold a balance -to our credit and ask what is your pleasure concerning -same, that the four thousand pounds -remitted by you was far too large a sum.”</p> - -<p>“Far too small! Tell them to buy a cottage -for McLeod’s mother and draw at sight for more -money, that the cottage may be a good one. -Why! Chapman, McLeod was a hero; but they<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_290" id="Page_290">[290]</a></span> -were all of them that. He, however, gave his -life in our defense and there is no money value -that can repay that debt to him and his,” exclaimed -Mr. Dunlap earnestly, and leaning forward -in the excitement that the recollection of -the past recalled, continued:</p> - -<p>“David, the dead were heaped about the spot -where McLeod, Brice and Jack fell like corded -fire-wood. When I could leave the women, -Lieutenant Maxon and his men had dispersed -the blacks, I fairly waded in blood to reach -the place where Maxon and Burton were bending -over Jack. It was a fearful sight. It had -been an awful struggle, but it was all awful that -night. I dared not leave the women, yet I knew -that even my weak help was needed at the gate. -Had my messenger not met Maxon on the road, -to whom notice of the intended attack had been -given by a friendly black, we had all been killed.”</p> - -<p>The excited old gentleman paused to regain his -breath and resumed the story of that dreadful -experience.</p> - -<p>“Martha Dunlap is the kind of woman to be -mother of a hero. She was as calm and brave<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_291" id="Page_291">[291]</a></span> -as her son and helped me like a real heroine in -keeping the others quiet. We told Lucy it was -only a jubilee among the natives and that they -were shouting and shooting off firearms in their -sport along the highway. God forgive me for the -falsehood, but it served to keep our poor girl perfectly -calm and she does not even now know to -the contrary.” Mr. Dunlap reverently inclined -his head when he spoke of that most excusable -lie that he had told.</p> - -<p>“Jack does not get all of his nerve and courage -from the Dunlap blood, that is sure! When the -surgeon was examining the great gash in his -breast, Martha stood at his side and held the -basin; her hand never trembled though her tearless -face was as white as snow. All the others -of us, I fear, were blubbering like babies, I know, -anyhow Tom Maxon was whimpering more like -a lass than the brave and terrible fighter that he -is. When the surgeon gave us the joyful news -that the blow of the ax had been stopped by the -strong breast bone over our boy’s brave heart, -we were all ready to shout with gladness, but -Martha then, woman like, broke down and began -weeping.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_292" id="Page_292">[292]</a></span></p> - -<p>There was rather a suspicious moisture in the -eyes of the relator of the scene, as he thought -over the occurrences of that night in Haiti. Even -though all danger was past and his beloved namesake, -Jack Dunlap, was now so far recovered as -to be able to walk about, true somewhat paler -in complexion and with one arm bound across -his breast, but entirely beyond danger from the -blow of the desperate Haitian axman.</p> - -<p>“That fighting devil of an American admiral -soon cleared Port au Prince of the insurgents -and wished me to take up my residence at the -consulate, but I had enough of Haiti, for awhile -anyway. So as soon as Jack could safely be -moved, and old Brice, whose skull must be made -of iron, had come around sufficiently after that -smashing blow in the head, to take command of -the ‘Adams’ and navigate her to Boston, I bundled -everybody belonging to me aboard and -sailed for home.” The word home came with a -sigh of relief from Mr. Dunlap’s lips as he settled -back in his chair.</p> - -<p>“When we heard of your frightful experience, -I had some faint hope that the shock might have<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_293" id="Page_293">[293]</a></span> -restored Mrs. Burton to her normal condition -of mind,” said Chapman.</p> - -<p>“Well, in the first place Lucy learned nothing -concerning the affair, and was simply told when -she called for Jack that he was not well and -would be absent from her for a short time. But -even had she received a nervous shock from the -harrowing events of that night, the experts in -mental disorders inform me that it is most unlikely -that any good result could have been produced; -that as the primary cause of her dementia -is disappointed hope, expectation, and the recoil -of the purest and best outpouring of her heart, -that the only shock at all probable to bring about -the desired change must come from a similar -source,” answered Mr. Dunlap.</p> - -<p>“To proceed with my report,” said the Superintendent -glancing over some papers.</p> - -<p>“Lieutenant Maxon is not wealthy, in fact, has -only his pay from the United States, and while -his family is one of the oldest and most highly -respected in Massachusetts all the members of it -are far from rich. The watch ordered made in -New York will be finished by the time the U.S.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_294" id="Page_294">[294]</a></span> -Ship Delaware arrives, which will not be before -next month.”</p> - -<p>“That all being as you have ascertained, I am -going to make a requisition upon your ingenuity, -David. You must secure the placing in Maxon’s -hands of twenty one-thousand dollar bills with -no other explanation than that it is from ‘an admirer.’ -The handsome, gay fellow may think -some doting old dowager sent it to him. The -watch I will present as a slight token of my -friendship when I have him here to dine with -me, and he can never suspect me in the money -matter.” Mr. Dunlap chuckled at the deep cunning -of the diabolical scheme.</p> - -<p>Chapman evidently was accustomed to the unstinted -munificence of the house of Dunlap, for -he accepted the instruction quite as a mere detail -of the business, made a few notes and with his -pen held between his teeth as he folded the paper, -mumbled:</p> - -<p>“I’ll see that he gets the money all right, sir, -without knowing where it comes from.”</p> - -<p>“Here are several things that Mr. Burton, who -is familiar with the preceding transactions,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_295" id="Page_295">[295]</a></span> -should pass upon, but as he is so seldom at the -office, I have had no opportunity to lay them before -him,” continued the ever vigilant Chapman, -turning over a number of documents.</p> - -<p>“I know even less than you do about Burton’s -department, so make out the best way that you -can under the circumstances.”</p> - -<p>“Is Mr. Burton ill, sir, or what is the reason -why he is absent from the office so much?” asked -Chapman, to whom it seemed that the greatest -deprivation in life must be loss of ability to be -present daily in the office of J. Dunlap.</p> - -<p>“I am utterly at a loss to explain Burton’s conduct, -especially since our return from Haiti. He -is morbid, melancholy, and seems to avoid the -society of all those who formerly were his chosen -associates and companions. He calls or sends -here daily with religious regularity to ascertain -the condition of Lucy’s health, and occasionally -asks Jack to accompany him on a ride behind -his fine team. You know that he is aware that -Jack saved his life by taking the blow on his own -breast that was aimed at Burton’s head. He -was devoted to Jack on the voyage home and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_296" id="Page_296">[296]</a></span> -here, until Jack’s recovery was assured beyond a -doubt, but now he acts so peculiarly that I don’t -know what to make of him,” replied the perplexed -old gentleman.</p> - -<p>“Humph! Humph!” grunted Chapman, in a -disparaging tone, and resumed the examination -of the sheets of paper before him. Selecting one, -he said:</p> - -<p>“I find Malloy, the father of the girl, who was -the victim of that nameless crime and afterward -murdered, to be a respectable, worthy man, poor, -but in need of no assistance. He is a porter at -Brown Brothers. It appears that the girl, who -was only fifteen years of age, was one of the -nursery maids in the Greenleaf family, and had -obtained permission to visit her father’s home on -the night of the crime and was on her way there -when she was assaulted.”</p> - -<p>“What has been done by the Police Department?” -asked Mr. Dunlap eagerly.</p> - -<p>“To tell the truth, very little. The detectives -seem mystified by a crime of so rare occurrence -in our section that it has shocked the whole of -New England. However, I know what would<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_297" id="Page_297">[297]</a></span> -have happened had the crowd assembled around -Malloy’s house when the body was brought home, -been able to lay hands on the perpetrator of the -deed, the whole police force of Boston notwithstanding.”</p> - -<p>“What do you mean, David?”</p> - -<p>“I mean that the wretch would have been -lynched,” exclaimed Chapman.</p> - -<p>“That had been a disgrace to the Commonwealth -of Massachusetts,” said the old gentleman -warmly.</p> - -<p>“That may or may not be, sir. Malloy and -his friends are all peaceable, law-abiding citizens. -Malloy was almost a maniac, not at the death -of his child but the rest of the crime, and the -agony of the heartbroken father was too much -for the human nature of his neighbors, and human -nature is the same in New England as elsewhere -in our land.”</p> - -<p>“But the law will punish crime and must be -respected no matter what may be the provocation -to ignore its regular administration of justice,” -said Mr. Dunlap with a judicial air.</p> - -<p>“Truth is, sir, that one can hardly comprehend<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_298" id="Page_298">[298]</a></span> -a father’s feelings under such circumstances, and -I don’t imagine there is a great difference between -the paternal heart in Massachusetts and in -Mississippi. Human nature is much alike in the -same race in every clime. Men of the North -may occasionally be slower to wrath but are fearfully -in earnest when aroused by an outrage,” -rejoined Chapman.</p> - -<p>“I frankly confess, David, that I recognize that -it is one thing for me to sit here calmly in my -library and coolly discuss a crime in which I have -no direct personal interest, and announce that -justice according to written law only should be -administered, but it would be quite a different -state of mind with which I should regard this -crime if one of my own family were the victim -of the brute’s attack. I fear then I should forget -about my calm theory of allowing the regular -execution of justice and everything else, even my -age and hoary head, and be foremost in seeking -quick revenge on the wretch,” said the old New -Englander hotly.</p> - -<p>“Knowing you and your family as I do, sir, -I’ll make oath that you would head the mob of -lynchers.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_299" id="Page_299">[299]</a></span></p> - -<p>“My brother James, who was the soul of honor -and a citizen of whom the Commonwealth was -justly proud, was very liberal in his opinion of -lynching for this crime. It was the single criminal -act for which his noble, charitable heart -could find no excuse. I think even my brother -James, model citizen though he was, would have -been a law-forgetting man under such circumstances.”</p> - -<p>Old John Dunlap’s voice grew soft and tender -when he mentioned the name of his beloved -brother, and either Chapman became extraordinarily -near-sighted or the papers in his hand required -close scrutiny.</p> - -<p>“I have published the notice of the reward of -one thousand dollars offered by our house for the -capture of the perpetrator of the crime,” said the -Superintendent rather huskily, changing the subject -from that of the character of his old master.</p> - -<p>“That is well, we are the oldest business house -in Boston, and none can think it presumptuous -that we should be anxious to erase this stain -from the escutcheon of our Commonwealth. I -wish every inducement offered that may lead to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_300" id="Page_300">[300]</a></span> -the apprehension of the criminal.” Mr. Dunlap -stopped short as if suddenly some new idea -had occurred to his mind, and then exclaimed:</p> - -<p>“David, you possess a wonderful faculty for -fathoming deep and complex mysteries. Why -don’t you seek to discover the perpetrator of this -horrible crime?”</p> - -<p>David Chapman was not in the habit of blushing, -but certainly his cheeks took on an unusually -bright crimson hue, as Mr. Dunlap asked the -question, and he answered in a somewhat -abashed manner, as though detected in some act -of youthful folly.</p> - -<p>“I confess, sir, that I am making a little investigation -in my own way. There are a few -trifling circumstances and fragments of evidence -left by the criminal that were considered unworthy -of attention by the police that I am tracing -up, like an amateur Sherlock Holmes.”</p> - -<p>“Good for you, David! May you succeed in -unearthing the brutal villain! You have carte-blanche -to draw on the house for any expense -that your search may entail. Go ahead! I will -stand by you!” cried John Dunlap enthusiastically.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_301" id="Page_301">[301]</a></span></p> - -<h2>XVIII.</h2> - -<p>“The abysmal depth of degradation has -now been reached; I no longer, even -in my moments of affected refinement, -attempt to conceal the fact from myself, the -gauzy veil of acquisition no longer deceives even -me, it long since failed to deceive others.”</p> - -<p>What evil genii of metamorphosis had transformed -the debonair Walter Burton into the -wretched, slovenly, brutalized being who, grunting, -gave utterance to such sentiments, while -stretched, in unkempt abandonment, on a disordered -couch in the center of the unswept and -neglected music-room in the ‘Eyrie’ early on this -March morning?</p> - -<p>Even the linen of the once fastidious model of -masculine cleanliness was soiled, and the delights -of the bath seemed quite unknown to the heavy-eyed, -listless lounger on the couch.</p> - -<p>“I have abandoned useless effort to rehabilitate<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_302" id="Page_302">[302]</a></span> -myself in the misfit garments of a civilization -and culture for which the configuration of my -mental structure, by nature, renders me unsuited. -My child indicated the off-springs natural to me. -My emotion and actions in the forest of Haiti -gave evidence of the degree of the pure spirit of -religion to be found in my inmost soul, and my -conduct, following natural inclinations, since my -return to Boston, has demonstrated how little -control civilization, morality, or pity have over -my inherent savage nature.”</p> - -<p>The man seemed in a peculiar way to derive -some satisfaction from rehearsing the story of -his hopeless condition, and in the fact that he had -reached the limit of descent.</p> - -<p>“I should have fled to the mountains of Haiti, -had I not been led to fight against my own kinsmen. -For the moment I was blinded by the -thread-bare thought that I was of the white instead -of black race, and when I had time to free -my mind from that old misleading idea, my hands -were stained with the blood of my own race. I -was obliged to leave Haiti or suffer the fate that -ever overtakes a traitor to his race.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_303" id="Page_303">[303]</a></span></p> - -<p>“There is no hope of the restoration of my -wife’s mental faculties, and even should there be -that is all the more reason for my fleeing from -Boston and forever disappearing, I retain enough -of the borrowed refinement of the whites in my -recollection to know that as I am now I should be -loathesome to her.”</p> - -<p>“Here, I must shun the sight of those who -know me, realizing that I can no longer appear -in the assumed character that I formerly did. -Here, I skulk the streets at night in the apparel -of a tramp seeking gratification of proclivities -that are natural to me.”</p> - -<p>“I know that I must leave this city and country -as quickly as possible. The long repressed desires -natural to me break forth with a fury that -renders me oblivious to consequences and my own -safety. Repression by civilization and culture -foreign to a race but serves to increase the violence -of the outburst when the barrier once is -broken.”</p> - -<p>“I will go to the office today, secure some private -documents and notify Mr. Dunlap that I -desire to withdraw at once from the firm of J.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_304" id="Page_304">[304]</a></span> -Dunlap. I will nerve myself for one more act -in the farce. I will don the costume in which I -paraded the stage so long for one more occasion.”</p> - -<p>Burton arose slowly from his recumbent position -as if reluctant to resume even for a day a -character that had become tiresome and obnoxious -to his negro nature.</p> - -<p class="tb">David Chapman had on several occasions made -suggestions to the head of the Police Department -in Boston that had resulted in the detection and -apprehension of elusive criminals. Unlike many -professional detectives, Chief O’Brien welcomed -the aid of amateurs and listened respectfully to -theories, sometimes ridiculous, but occasionally -suggestive of the correct solution of an apparently -incomprehensible crime.</p> - -<p>The deductive method of solving the problem -of a mysterious crime employed by Chapman was -not alone interesting to the Chief of Detectives, -but appeared wonderful in the correctness of the -conclusions obtained. He therefore gave eager -attention to what Chapman communicated to him<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_305" id="Page_305">[305]</a></span> -while seated in the Chief’s private office on the -evening of the day that Burton visited the office -of J. Dunlap to secure his private correspondence -and documents.</p> - -<p>“In the first place, Chief, as soon as I learned -the details of this Malloy crime, I decided that -the perpetrator of it was of the negro race,” said -Chapman, methodically arranging a number of -slips of paper on the Chief’s desk, at which he -sat confronting O’Brien on the opposite side.</p> - -<p>“How did you arrive at that decision?” said -the detective.</p> - -<p>“Well, as you are aware, for you laughed at -me often enough when you ran across me with -my black associates, I ‘slummed’ among the -negroes for months to gain some knowledge of -the negro nature”.</p> - -<p>“Yes, I know that and often wondered at your -persistent prosecution of such a disagreeable undertaking,” -said O’Brien.</p> - -<p>“I learned in that investigation that beneath -the surface of careless, thoughtless gaiety and -good nature there lies a tremendous amount of -cruelty and brutal savagery in the negro nature;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_306" id="Page_306">[306]</a></span> -that dire results have been caused by a misconception -of the negro character on this point to -those associated with them; that while sensual -satiety produces lassitude in other races, in the -negro race it engenders a lust for blood that almost -invariably results in the murder of the victim -of a brutal attack. I checked the correctness -of my conclusions by an examination of all obtainable -records and completely verified the accuracy -of my deduction.”</p> - -<p>“That had not occurred to me before,” said the -Chief frankly; “now that you mention it, I think -from the record of that crime, as it recurs to me -at this moment, that your statement is true.”</p> - -<p>“The next step was to look for the particular -individual of the negro race who could fit in with -the trifling evidence in your possession, which -you so readily submitted to me. From the mold -taken by your men of the criminal’s foot-prints it -is evident that his feet were small and clad in -expensive shoes. In the shape of the imprints I -find corroboration of my premise that the author -of the crime was of the negro race. The fragment -of finger nail embedded in the girl’s throat,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_307" id="Page_307">[307]</a></span> -under a microscope reveals the fact that, while -the nail was not free from dirt, it had recently -been under the manipulation of a manicure and -was not of thick, coarse grain like a manual -laborer’s nails,” said the amateur detective glancing -at his notes.</p> - -<p>“Yes, I agree in all that, Mr. Chapman. Go -ahead; what follows?” remarked O’Brien.</p> - -<p>“We have then a negro, but one not engaged -in the usual employment of the negro residents -in Boston, to look for; next you found clutched -in the fingers of the dead girl two threads of -brownish color and coarse material, together with -a fragment of paper like a part of an envelope -on which was written a few notes of music.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, and I defy the devil to make anything -result from such infinitesimal particles of evidence,” -exclaimed the professional detective.</p> - -<p>“Well, I’m not the devil.” said Chapman, -quietly proceeding to recapitulate the process -adopted by him.</p> - -<p>“From the few notes—you know that I am -something of a musician—I began, <i lang="it">poco a poco</i>, -as they say in music, to reconstruct the tune of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_308" id="Page_308">[308]</a></span> -which the few notes were a part. As I proceeded, -going over the notes time and again on my violoncello, -I became convinced that I had heard that -wild tune before, and am now able to say where -and when.”</p> - -<p>“Wonderful, perfectly wonderful if you can, -Chapman,” cried the thoroughly interested Chief.</p> - -<p>“What next?” O’Brien asked, impatient at the -calmness of the man on the opposite side of the -desk.</p> - -<p>“To-day I saw the finger that the fragment of -nail found in the girl’s neck would fit, and one -finger-nail had been broken and was gone,” continued -Chapman, by great effort restraining the -evidence of the exultation that he felt.</p> - -<p>“Where, man, where? And whose was the -hand?” gasped O’Brien.</p> - -<p>“Wait a moment! Upon reflection I realized -that the only part of a man’s apparel likely to give -way in a desperate struggle would be a coat -pocket; that the hand of the girl had grasped the -edge of the pocket and in so doing had closed -upon an old envelope in the pocket, which was -torn and remained in her hand with a couple of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_309" id="Page_309">[309]</a></span> -threads from the cloth of the coat when the murderer -finally wrenched the coat out of her lifeless -fingers.”</p> - -<p>“Quite likely,” exclaimed the Chief impatiently.</p> - -<p>“But hurry along, man,” urged the officer.</p> - -<p>“This afternoon I examined under the most -powerful microscope procurable in Boston the -threads that your assistant has in safe keeping. I -recognized the color and material of which those -threads are made. I know the coat whence the -threads came, and the owner of the coat,” declared -Chapman emphatically.</p> - -<p>“His name,” almost yelled the astonished detective.</p> - -<p>“David Chapman,” was the cool and triumphant -reply.</p> - -<p>The Chief glared at the exultant amateur with -wonder, in which a doubt of the man’s sanity -was mingled.</p> - -<p>“It is the coat of the suit I wore while ‘slumming’ -in my investigations concerning the negro -race. It has hung in my private closet in the -office until some time within the last two months,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_310" id="Page_310">[310]</a></span> -when it was abstracted by some one having keys -to the private offices of J. Dunlap. Mr. Dunlap, -Walter Burton and I alone possess such keys. -Burton, like me, is tall and slim, the suit will fit -him; Burton is of the negro race; I heard Burton -play the tune of which the few notes are part -when I went to his house on the only occasion -that I ever visited the ‘Eyrie;’ Burton’s shoes—I -tried an old one today which was left at the -office some months ago—exactly fit the tracks -left by the murderer. Burton having no suit -that he could wear as a disguise while rambling -the streets in search of adventure, found and appropriated -my old ‘slumming’ suit. You will find -that suit, blood-stained, the coat pocket torn, now -hidden somewhere in the ‘Eyrie’ if it be not destroyed. -Walter Burton is guilty of the Malloy -assault and murder!” Chapman had risen from -his chair, his face was aflame with vindictiveness -and passion, his small eyes blazing with satisfied -hatred as he almost yelled, in his excitement, the -denunciation of Burton.</p> - -<p>“Great God! man, it can’t be,” gasped the Chief -of Detectives, saying as he regained his breath,</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_311" id="Page_311">[311]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Burton and the Dunlaps are not people to -make mistakes with in such a horrible case as -this.”</p> - -<p>“Burton has withdrawn from our firm. He -has provided himself with a large sum of currency. -He is leaving the country. Tomorrow -night he dines with Mr. Dunlap to complete the -arrangements for the severance of his relations -with the house of J. Dunlap. Captain Jack Dunlap -will dine with Mr. Dunlap on that occasion, -and I shall be there to draw up any papers required. -The coast will be clear at the ‘Eyrie;’ -go there upon the pretext of arresting Victor, -Burton’s valet, on the charge of larceny; search -throughout the premises; if you find the garments, -and the coat is in the condition I describe, -come at once to the Dunlap mansion and arrest -the murderer, or it will be too late, the bird will -have flown.” The veins in Chapman’s brow and -neck were fairly bursting through the skin, so -intense were the passion and vehemence of the -man who, straining forward, shouted out directions -to the detective.</p> - -<p>O’Brien sat for several minutes in silence, buried<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_312" id="Page_312">[312]</a></span> -in deep meditation, glancing ever and anon -at Chapman, who, chafing with impatience, fairly -danced before the desk. The official arose and, -walking to the window, stood for some time gazing -out upon the lighted street below. Suddenly -he turned and came back to Chapman, whom he -held by the lapel of the coat, while he said,</p> - -<p>“Chapman, I know that you hate Burton. I -know also of your fidelity to the Dunlaps. You -would never have told this to me, even as much -as you hate Burton, if it were not true. This disclosure -and disgrace, if it be as you suspect, will -wound those dear to you.”</p> - -<p>This phase of the situation had evidently not -occurred to David Chapman in his zeal for satisfaction -to his all-consuming hatred of Burton. -He dropped his eyes, nervously clasped and unclasped -his hands, while his face paled as he -faltered out,</p> - -<p>“Well—maybe you had best not act upon my -suggestions; I may be all wrong.”</p> - -<p>“There, Mr. Chapman, is where I can’t agree -with you. I am a sworn officer of this commonwealth, -and, by heavens! I would arrest the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_313" id="Page_313">[313]</a></span> -governor of the state if I knew it to be my duty. -Not all the money of the Dunlaps or in the whole -of Massachusetts could prevent me from laying -my hand on Walter Burton and placing him under -arrest for the murder of the Malloy girl, if -I find the clothing you mention in the condition -you describe. I shall wait to make the search at -the ‘Eyrie’ until tomorrow night, that if there be -a mistake it shall not be an irreparable one,” said -the conscientious Chief of Detectives sternly, in -a determined tone of voice.</p> - -<p>“But I may be mistaken,” urged the agitated -amateur detective.</p> - -<p>“You have convinced me that there are grounds -for your statements; I know them now, and, -knowing them, by my oath of office, must take -action,” quietly replied O’Brien.</p> - -<p>“Then promise to keep my connection with the -case a secret, except what may be required of me -as a witness subpoenaed to appear and testify,” -cried the now remorseful Chapman.</p> - -<p>“That I will, and readily too, as it is but a -small favor in comparison to the great aid you -have been to our department, and is not in conflict<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_314" id="Page_314">[314]</a></span> -with my duty. I shall also collect and hand -over to you all of the reward.”</p> - -<p>“Never mind the reward; keep it for your pension -fund,” replied the regretful Superintendent -of J. Dunlap, who had played detective once too -often and too well for his own peace of mind.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_315" id="Page_315">[315]</a></span></p> - -<h2>XIX</h2> - -<p>Never had there assembled beneath the -roof of the Dunlap mansion since the -old house was constructed, a company -so entirely uncomfortable as that around the table -in the library on the night that Walter Burton -dined for the last time with Mr. Dunlap.</p> - -<p>John Dunlap’s mind was filled with doubts -concerning what was his duty with regard to -Burton, having due consideration for the memory -of his deceased brother, and as to what would -have been the wish of that beloved brother under -existing circumstances. Recognizing, as John -Dunlap did, the influence that his personal antipathy -for Burton had upon his conduct, he was -nervous and uncomfortable.</p> - -<p>Burton felt the restraint imposed upon him irksome, -even for the time of this brief and final -visit to the home where his best emotions had -been aroused, and the purest delights of his artificial<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_316" id="Page_316">[316]</a></span> -existence enjoyed. He was anxious to be -gone, to be free, to forget, and was impatient of -delay.</p> - -<p>Jack Dunlap, pale and somewhat thin, still -carrying his arm bound to his breast, felt the -weight of the responsibility resting upon him in -releasing Lucy’s husband from a promise that -for months had held him near her should the -husband’s presence be required at any moment, -and was correspondingly silent and meditative.</p> - -<p>Nervous, expectant and fearful, David Chapman -sat only half attentive to what was said or -done around him. His ears were strained to -catch the first sound that announced the coming -of the visitors which he now dreaded.</p> - -<p>“The terms of the settlement of my interest in -your house, Mr. Dunlap, are entirely too liberal -to me, and I only accept them because of my -anxiety to be freed from the cares of business at -the earliest possible moment, and am unwilling -to await the report of examining accountants,” -said Walter Burton as he glanced over the paper -submitted to him by Chapman.</p> - -<p>“Do you expect to leave the city at once?”<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_317" id="Page_317">[317]</a></span> -asked Mr. Dunlap in a hesitating, doubtful voice.</p> - -<p>“Yes, I will make a tour through the Southern -States, probably go to California and may return -and take a trip to Europe. I have promised Captain -Dunlap to keep your house informed of my -movements and address at all times, and shall -immediately respond, by promptly returning, if -my presence in Boston be called for,” replied -Burton.</p> - -<p>“I confess, Burton, that my mind is not free -from doubt as to the propriety of allowing you -to withdraw from our house. I should like to -act as my brother James would have done. His -wishes are as binding upon me now as when he -lived,” said Mr. Dunlap in a low and troubled -voice.</p> - -<p>“It is needless to rehearse the painful story of -the last few months, Mr. Dunlap. Had your -brother lived he must have perceived the total -vanity of some of his most cherished wishes regarding -the union of his granddaughter and myself. -Heirs to his name and estate must be impossible -from that union under the unalterable -conditions. My wife’s dementia and her irrational<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_318" id="Page_318">[318]</a></span> -aversion to my presence would have influenced -him as it does you and me, and—I might -as well say it—I am aware of the fact and realize -the naturalness of the sentiment. I am <i lang="la">persona -non grata</i> here.”</p> - -<p>There was a tinge of bitterness in the closing -sentence and Burton accompanied it with a defiant -manner that evinced much concealed resentment.</p> - -<p>As Burton ceased speaking, the eyes of the -four men sitting at the table turned to the door, -hearing it open. The footman who had opened -it had hardly crossed the threshold when he was -pushed aside by the firm hand of Chief of Detectives -O’Brien, who, in full uniform, followed -by a man in citizens’ dress carrying a bundle under -his arm, entered the room.</p> - -<p>Mr. Dunlap hurriedly arose and advancing -with outstretched hand exclaimed,</p> - -<p>“Why! Chief, this is an unexpected pleasure—”</p> - -<p>“Mr. Dunlap, stop a moment.” There was a -look in the official’s eyes that froze Mr. Dunlap’s -welcome on his lips and nailed him to the spot on<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_319" id="Page_319">[319]</a></span> -which he stood. Chapman glanced at Burton, -on whom O’Brien’s gaze was fastened. Burton -had risen and stood trembling like an aspen leaf -without a single shade of color left in cheeks or -lips. Jack Dunlap’s face flushed somewhat indignantly -as he rose and walked forward to the -side of his kinsman.</p> - -<p>“With all due regard for that high respect I -entertain for you, Mr. Dunlap, it has become my -painful duty to enter your house tonight in my -official capacity and arrest one accused of the most -serious crime known to the law.” While O’Brien -was speaking he moved toward the table, never -removing his eyes from Burton.</p> - -<p>“What do you mean, sir?” cried Jack in a -wrathful voice, interposing himself between -O’Brien and the table.</p> - -<p>“Stand aside, Captain Dunlap!” said the Chief -sternly. Quickly stepping to Burton’s side and -placing his hand on his shoulder he said,</p> - -<p>“Walter Burton, I arrest you in the name of -the Commonwealth, on the charge of murder.”</p> - -<p>With a movement too quick even for a glance -to catch, the Chief jerked Burton’s hands together<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_320" id="Page_320">[320]</a></span> -and snapped a pair of handcuffs on the wrists -of the rapidly collapsing man.</p> - -<p>The eyes of all present were fixed, in stupified -amazement, on O’Brien and Burton, and had not -seen what stood in the open doorway until a low -moan caused Jack to turn his head. He saw -then the figure of Lucy slowly sinking to the -floor.</p> - -<p>Lucy in her wanderings about the house was -passing through the hall when the uniformed -officer entered. Attracted by the unusual spectacle -of a man in a blue coat ornamented with -brass buttons, she had followed the policeman -and overheard all that he had said, and seen -what he had done.</p> - -<p>“I will furnish bail in any amount, O’Brien,” -exclaimed Mr. Dunlap, staying the two officers -by stepping before them as they almost carried -Burton, unable to walk, from the room.</p> - -<p>“Please stand aside, Mr. Dunlap,” said the -Chief kindly.</p> - -<p>“Don’t make it harder than it is now for me -to do my duty,” and gently pushing the old gentleman -aside, O’Brien and his assistant bore Burton<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_321" id="Page_321">[321]</a></span> -from the library and the Dunlap mansion.</p> - -<p>“Help me, quick! Lucy has fainted!” called -Jack, who, crippled as he was, could not raise -the unconscious wife of Burton.</p> - -<p>When Mr. Dunlap reached Jack’s bending figure, -Lucy opened her eyes, gazed about wildly -for an instant, gasped for breath as if suffocating, -and suddenly sprang unassisted to her feet, -as if shot upward by some hidden mechanism.</p> - -<p>“Walter! My husband! Where is he? Where -is grandfather? What has happened?” she cried -out, in a confused way, as one just aroused from -a sound sleep.</p> - -<p>Jack and Mr. Dunlap stared at her for a moment -in wonderment; then something in her eyes -gave them the gladsome tidings, in this their -hour of greatest trouble, that reason had resumed -its sway over loved Lucy’s mind; she was restored -to sanity. The shock had been to her heart and -restored her senses, as a similar shock had deprived -her of them. The experts had predicted -correctly.</p> - -<p>“Walter is in trouble, danger. I heard that -policeman say murder! Save my husband, Jack! -Uncle John! Where is my grandfather?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_322" id="Page_322">[322]</a></span></p> - -<p>Jack finally gathered enough of his scattered -composure to reply somehow to the excited young -woman. He said all that he dared say so soon -after the return of reason to her distracted head.</p> - -<p>“Be calm, Cousin Lucy! Your grandfather is -absent from the city. You have been ill. Your -Uncle John and I will do all in our power to aid -Walter if he be in danger.”</p> - -<p>She turned her eyes toward her Uncle John -and regarded him steadily for the space of a minute, -and then she whirled about and faced Jack, -crying out in clear and ringing tones,</p> - -<p>“I will not trust Uncle John. He dislikes -Walter and always has, but you! you, Jack Dunlap, -I trust next to my God and my good grandfather. -Will you promise to aid Walter?”</p> - -<p>“I promise, Lucy. Now be calm,” said Jack -gently.</p> - -<p>There was no madness now in Lucy’s bright, -gleaming, hazel eyes; womanly anxiety as a wife -was superb in its earnestness. She was grand, -sublime as with the majestic grace of a queen -of tragedy she swept close to her cousin, then -raising herself to her greatest height, with her<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_323" id="Page_323">[323]</a></span> -hand extended upward, pointing to heaven, she -commanded as a sovereign might have done.</p> - -<p>“Swear to me, Jack Dunlap, by God above us -and your sacred honor, that you will stop at -nothing in the effort to save my husband. -Swear!”</p> - -<p>“I swear,” said the sailor simply as he raised -his hand.</p> - -<p>The woman’s manner, speech, and the scene -did not seem strange to those who stood about -her. She was suddenly aroused to reason to find -the object of her tenderest love in direst danger; -her stay, prop and reliance, her grandfather, unaccountably -absent. In that trying stress of circumstances, -the intensity of the feeling within -her wrought-up soul found expression in excessive -demands and exaggerated attitudes.</p> - -<p>“Now go! my Jack; hurry after Walter and -help him,” she urged as with nervous hands she -pushed him toward the door.</p> - -<p>Next morning, when the newspapers made the -startling announcement that a member of the -firm of J. Dunlap, Boston’s oldest and wealthiest -business house, had been arrested on the charge<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_324" id="Page_324">[324]</a></span> -of that nameless crime and the murder of the -Malloy girl, the entire city was stunned by the -intelligence.</p> - -<p>A crowd quickly gathered around the city jail. -Threatful mutterings were heard as the multitude -increased in numbers about the prison. When -Malloy came and his neighbors clustered about -the infuriated father of the outraged victim, that -slow and slumbering wrath that lies beneath the -calm, deceptive surface of the New England -character began to make itself evident. “Tear -down the gates!” “Lynch the fiend,” and such -expressions were heard among the men, momentarily -growing louder, as the cool exterior of the -Northern nature gave away.</p> - -<p>Soon many seafaring men were seen moving -among the most excited of the mob, saying as -they passed from one group to another, “It’s not -true! You know the Dunlaps too well!” “Keep -quiet, it’s a lie!” “Dunlap offered a reward for -the arrest of the villain; it can’t be as the papers -say!”</p> - -<p>One sailor-man, who carried a crippled arm, -mounted a box and made a speech, telling the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_325" id="Page_325">[325]</a></span> -people there must be a mistake and begging them -to be quiet. When he said that his name was -Dunlap, the seafaring men began to cheer for -“Skipper Jack,” and the mob joined in. Seeing -one of the Dunlap name so calm, honest and -brave in their very midst, the mob began to -doubt, and shaking their heads the people moved -gradually away and dispersed, persuaded that -naught connected with the worthy Dunlap name -could cause such foul wrong and disgrace to the -Commonwealth of Massachusetts.</p> - -<p>The best legal talent of New England was retained -that day for the defense of Burton. When -they had examined the circumstantial evidence -against Burton they frankly told Jack Dunlap -that an alibi, positively established, alone could -save the accused man.</p> - -<p>The unselfish sailor sought the seclusion of his -cabin on board his ship, that lay at anchor in the -harbor, there to ponder over the terrible information -given him by the leading lawyers of Boston.</p> - -<p>Uncomplainingly the man had resigned his -hope of the greatest joy that could come to his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_326" id="Page_326">[326]</a></span> -strong, unselfish soul—Lucy’s love. For the sake -of her whom he loved he had concealed his suffering. -He had smothered the sorrow that well -nigh wrenched the heart out of his bosom, that -he might minister to her in the hour of her mental -affliction. He had shed his blood in shielding -with his breast the man whom she had selected -in his stead. All this he had done as ungrudgingly -and gladly as he had tended her slightest -bidding when as wee maid she had ruled him.</p> - -<p>Love demanded of this great heart the final -and culminating sacrifice. Could he, would he -offer up his honor on the altar of his love?</p> - -<p>To this knight by right of nature, honor and -truth were dearer far than his blood or his life. -Would he surrender the one prize he cherished -highest for his hopeless love’s sake?</p> - -<div class="blockquote"> - -<p>“I will swear that you were aboard my ship -with me every hour of the night on which the -crime of which you stand accused was committed. -An absolute alibi alone can save you. May -God forgive you! May God forgive me! and -may the people of Massachusetts pardon</p> - -<p class="right">Perjured Jack Dunlap.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_327" id="Page_327">[327]</a></span></p> - -</div> - -<p>Such was the letter sent by the sailor, by -well paid and trusty hand, to the successful suitor -for Lucy’s hand, now closely mewed within the -prison walls of Boston’s strongest jail.</p> - -<p>Could any man’s love be greater than the love -of him who sent that letter?</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_328" id="Page_328">[328]</a></span></p> - -<h2>XX</h2> - -<p>The court room was crowded, not only -by the casual visitors to such places, -who are ever in search of satisfaction to -their morbid curiosity, but also by the most fashionable -of Boston’s elite society.</p> - -<p>The preliminary examination in the case of the -Commonwealth vs. Walter Burton was on the -docket for hearing that day.</p> - -<p>Nearly a month had elapsed since the arrest; -all that an unlimited amount of money could accomplish -had been done to ameliorate the terrible -position of the prisoner. More than a million -dollars was offered in bail for the accused, and -it was hoped that by a preliminary examination -such a strong probability of the establishment of -an alibi could be presented, that the Court would -make an order permitting the acceptance of bail -for the appearance of the accused after the report -of the Grand Jury.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_329" id="Page_329">[329]</a></span></p> - -<p>Neither old John Dunlap nor Burton’s wife -was present. Jack had insisted that they must -not be in the court-room when he was called upon -to give his evidence.</p> - -<p>Lieutenant Thomas Maxon, bronzed, stalwart, -and serious, sat beside his friend Jack Dunlap -among the witnesses for the defense.</p> - -<p>With a face of ghastly white, Jack Dunlap, his -arm still in a sling, stared straight before him, -heedless of the stir and flutter around him while -the audience was waiting the appearance of the -judge and the accused.</p> - -<p>There was a look of desperate resolve and defiance -on Burton’s face as he entered the court-room -between two officers and took his seat at -the counsel table behind the lawyers who appeared -for the defense.</p> - -<p>The prosecuting attorney proceeded, when the -case was called, to present the case for the Commonwealth -with the coldness and emotionless -precision that marks the movements of an expert -surgeon as he digs and cuts among the vitals of a -subject on the operating table.</p> - -<p>Chapman was much embarrassed and very nervous<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_330" id="Page_330">[330]</a></span> -on the witness stand; his testimony was -fairly dragged from his livid, unwilling lips; he -interjected every doubt and possible suspicion -that might weigh against his evidence and weaken -the case of the Commonwealth. When he left -the stand he staggered like one intoxicated as -he walked back to his seat among the witnesses.</p> - -<p>When the case of the people was closed, the -leading counsel for the defense, one most learned -in the law, arose and, making a few well-chosen -introductory remarks, turned to a bailiff and said,</p> - -<p>“Call Captain John Dunlap.”</p> - -<p>For the first time in his life Jack Dunlap seemed -afraid to look men in the eyes. Neither glancing -right nor left, he strode with a determined -air to the witness stand and took his seat. His -face wore the hue of death. His jaws were so -clamped together that they seemed to crush his -teeth between them.</p> - -<p>They asked his name, age and occupation and -then his whereabout on the night of the crime -for which the prisoner stood accused.</p> - -<p>The witness made answer briefly to each of -these questions without removing his gaze from<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_331" id="Page_331">[331]</a></span> -the wall above the heads of the audience, and -seemed collecting himself for an ordeal yet to -come.</p> - -<p>“Who was with you on board your ship, the -‘Adams,’ that night?” was the next question of -the lawyer for the defense.</p> - -<p>“Stop! Do not answer, Jack!” came in clear, -commanding tones from the mouth of the prisoner -as he sprang to his feet. His lawyers about -him tried to pull him down into his chair, but he -struggled and shook himself free and stood where -all could see him.</p> - -<p>Burton looked around him defiantly at the assembled -crowd in the court-room, holding up his -hand with palm turned toward Jack, in protest -against his giving answer to the last question. -Then, throwing back his head, he said in a loud -and steady voice,</p> - -<p>“I must and do protest against this further -sacrifice in my behalf on the part of that noble, -generous, grand man on the stand. Already he has -far exceeded the belief of the most credulous in -sacrificing himself for those whom he loves. That -I may prevent this last and grandest offering, the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_332" id="Page_332">[332]</a></span> -honor of that brave man, I tell you all that I am -guilty of the crime as charged, and further, I -hurl into your teeth the fact that by your accursed -affectation of social equality between the White -and Negro races, which can never exist, you are -responsible in part for my crime, and you are -wholly answerable for much agony to the most -innocent and blameless of mortals on earth. -Your canting, maudlin, sentimental cry of social -intercourse between the races has caused wrong, -suffering, sorrow, crime, and now causes my -death.”</p> - -<p>As Burton ceased speaking he swiftly threw a -powder between his lips and quickly swallowed it.</p> - -<p>The audience, judge, lawyers, bailiffs, all sat -still, chained in a trance of astonishment as the -accused man uttered this unexpected phillipic -against a sometime tradition of New England, -and likewise pronounced his guilt by this open -and voluntary confession.</p> - -<p>None seemed to realize that the prisoner’s -speech was also his valedictory to life, until they -saw him reel, and, ere the nearest man could reach -him, fall, face downward, upon the court-room -floor, dead.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_333" id="Page_333">[333]</a></span></p> - -<p>Like the last ray of the setting sun, Burton’s -expiring speech and deed had been the parting -gleam of the nobility begotten by the blood of the -superior race within his veins, and reflected on -the bright surface of the civilization and culture -of the white race. The predominance of animalism -in the negro nature precludes the possibility -of suicide in even the extremest cases of conscious -debasement. Suicide is almost unknown -among the negro race.</p> - -<p class="tb">“Chapman found dead at his desk in the office! -My God! What more must I bear in my -old age! Oh! God, have mercy upon an old -man!”</p> - -<p>Poor old John Dunlap fell upon Jack’s shoulder -and wept from very weakness and misery, -and so the sailor supported and held him until the -paroxysm of wretchedness had passed; then he -gently led the broken old gentleman to the easiest -chair in the parlor of the Dunlap house and -begged him to sit down and compose his overwrought -feelings.</p> - -<p>“You say, Jack, that the porter found him<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_334" id="Page_334">[334]</a></span> -seated at his desk this morning; that he thought -he was sleeping, as my faithful employee’s head -rested on his arms, and that it was only when he -touched him and noticed how cold he was that he -realized that Chapman was dead. My God! -How awful!” groaned the distressed speaker.</p> - -<p>“Yes, sir, and when the head clerks of the different -departments arrived and raised him they -saw lying on his desk before him ready for publication -the notice of the closing of the business -career of the house of J. Dunlap, and they took -from the dead man’s stiffened fingers the long -record of the firm to which he clung even in -death.”</p> - -<p>“I saw the poor fellow’s face grow pale and -his features twitch as if in pain when I told him -that the career of our house was ended. I urged -him to rest here until he was better, but he only -shook his head and hurried from my presence.”</p> - -<p>Mr. Dunlap spoke sadly and after a pause of -several minutes, during which an expression of -deepest melancholy settled over his countenance, -he continued sorrowfully,</p> - -<p>“Poor David Chapman, good and faithful servant!<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_335" id="Page_335">[335]</a></span> -He loved the old house of ‘J. Dunlap’ -with all of his soul, and when he knew that the -end had come, it broke that intense heart of his.”</p> - -<p>“Why did you determine, sir, to take the old -sign down, and close those doors that for two -hundred years have stood open every day except -holidays?” asked Jack, full of sympathy for -the grief-stricken kinsman beside him.</p> - -<p>“I cannot bear the sight of my loved boyhood’s -home, dear old Boston, at present. It has been -the scene of so much agony and horror for me -within the past year that I must, for my own -sake, get away from the agonizing associations -all about me here. Lucy absolutely must be taken -away now that her mind is restored to its normal -condition, or she will surely go mad from weeping -and grieving. As soon as she is able to travel -we shall go to Europe to be absent months,—years. -I am an old man, maybe I shall never see -Boston again.” The old man stopped to choke -back a sob and then said,</p> - -<p>“It is hard, very hard, on me that I should be -obliged to close the house my brother James loved -so well, and that has been a glory to the Dunlap<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_336" id="Page_336">[336]</a></span> -name for two centuries. It may break my heart, -too, lad.”</p> - -<p>The white head sunk on the heaving chest and -an audible sob now shook the bended frame. -Jack watched his good godfather with manly -tears filling his honest eyes. Then, laying his -hand softly on the old man’s arm, he said,</p> - -<p>“Cousin John, would you feel less wretched if -I promised to leave the sea, and do my best to -keep the old sign, ‘J. Dunlap,’ in its place in the -crooked street where it has hung for two hundred -years?”</p> - -<p>John Dunlap raised his head almost as soon as -his namesake began to speak, and when Jack had -finished he had him around the neck and was -hugging the sturdy sailor, crying all the time,</p> - -<p>“God bless you, boy! Will you do that for -your old kinsman? Will you, lad?” And then -wringing Jack’s hand he cried,</p> - -<p>“A young J. Dunlap succeeds the old; all the -ships, trade and the capital remain as before! -You and Lucy are sole heirs to everything! The -chief clerks will shout for joy to know that the -house still goes on; they will help you faithfully<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_337" id="Page_337">[337]</a></span> -for love of my brother James and me. And oh! -Jack, when I am far away it will make my heart -beat easier to know that the Dunlap red ball -barred with black still floats upon the ocean, and -that the old sign is still here; that I was not the -one of my long line to take it from its place.”</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_338" id="Page_338">[338]</a></span></p> - -<h2>EPILOGUE.</h2> - -<p>Five times has Boston Common, old, honored -in history’s story, slept beneath its snowy counterpane, -all damaskeened by winter sunbeam’s -glory.</p> - -<p>Five times have brooks in Yankee vales burst -icy chains to flee, with gladsome shouts of merriment, -on joyous journey to the sea.</p> - -<p>Five times have Massachusetts hills and dales -been garbed in cloak of emerald, embroidered -wide in gay designs of daffodils and daisies since -the grand old Commonwealth was shocked by -the commission of a horrid crime by one called -Burton.</p> - -<p>An old sign still swings before an even older -building, in one of Boston’s most crooked streets. -“J. Dunlap, Shipping and Banking,” is what -the passersby may read on the old sign.</p> - -<p>Sometimes an old man is seen to enter the -building above the door of which is suspended -this sign; he is much bent and white of hair, but<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_339" id="Page_339">[339]</a></span> -sturdy still, despite some four-score years. All -men of Boston accord great respect to this handsome -old gentleman.</p> - -<p>The man who is head and manager of all the -business done within the old building where that -sign is seen, has the tanned and rugged look of -one who had long gazed upon the bright surface -of the sea. While he is only seen in landsmen’s -dress, it seems that clothing of a nautical cut -would best befit his stalwart figure.</p> - -<p>This head man at J. Dunlap’s office is cavalier-in-chief -to three old ladies, with whom he often -is seen driving in Boston’s beautiful suburbs; -one of these white-haired old dames he addresses -as “Mother,” another as “Mrs. Church,” and the -most withered one of the three he calls “Miss -Arabella.”</p> - -<p>He has been seen, too, with a sweet, sad, yet -very lovely young woman in whose glorious -crown of gold-brown hair silver silken threads -run in and out.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 450px;" id="illus4"> -<img src="images/illus4.jpg" width="450" height="600" alt="" /> -<p class="caption">“Lucy, I have always loved you.”</p> -<p class="caption-r"><a href="#Page_340">Page 340</a></p> -</div> - -<p>A big, jovial naval man periodically drives up -before the old sign and shouting out, “Jack, come -here and see the latest!” exhibits a baby to the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_340" id="Page_340">[340]</a></span> -sailor-looking manager. The last time he roared -in greatest glee, “It’s a girl, named Bessie, for -her mother.”</p> - -<p>Kind harvest moon, send forth your tenderest -glances, that fall betwixt the tall elm’s branches -on that sad, sweet face that lies so restfully -against a sailor’s loyal bosom.</p> - -<p>“Lucy, I have always loved you!” Jack Dunlap -kissed his “Little Princess” and put his strong -arms around her.</p> - -<p>Everlasting time, catch up those words, and -bear them on forever, as motto of most faithful -lover.</p> - -<p>An old man, standing at a window in the Dunlap -mansion, watched the man and woman in the -moonlight between the elm trees, and what he -witnessed seemed to bring a great joy to his good, -kind heart, for he reverently raised his eyes to -heaven and said,</p> - -<p>“My God, I thank Thee!”</p> - - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Blood Will Tell, by Benj. Rush Davenport - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BLOOD WILL TELL *** - -***** This file should be named 62033-h.htm or 62033-h.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/6/2/0/3/62033/ - -Produced by The Online Distributed Proofreading Team at -https://www.pgdp.net (This book was produced from images -made available by the HathiTrust Digital Library.) - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law 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. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part -of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm -concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark, -and may not be used if you charge for the eBooks, unless you receive -specific permission. If you do not charge anything for copies of this -eBook, complying with the rules is very easy. You may use this eBook -for nearly any purpose such as creation of derivative works, reports, -performances and research. They may be modified and printed and given -away--you may do practically ANYTHING in the United States with eBooks -not protected by U.S. copyright law. Redistribution is subject to the -trademark license, especially commercial redistribution. - -START: FULL LICENSE - -THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE -PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK - -To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free -distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work -(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project -Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full -Project Gutenberg-tm License available with this file or online at -www.gutenberg.org/license. - -Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works - -1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to -and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property -(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all -the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or -destroy all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your -possession. If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a -Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound -by the terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the -person or entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph -1.E.8. - -1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be -used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who -agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few -things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works -even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See -paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this -agreement and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic works. See paragraph 1.E below. - -1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the -Foundation" or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection -of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual -works in the collection are in the public domain in the United -States. If an individual work is unprotected by copyright law in the -United States and you are located in the United States, we do not -claim a right to prevent you from copying, distributing, performing, -displaying or creating derivative works based on the work as long as -all references to Project Gutenberg are removed. Of course, we hope -that you will support the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting -free access to electronic works by freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm -works in compliance with the terms of this agreement for keeping the -Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with the work. You can easily -comply with the terms of this agreement by keeping this work in the -same format with its attached full Project Gutenberg-tm License when -you share it without charge with others. - -1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern -what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are -in a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, -check the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this -agreement before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, -distributing or creating derivative works based on this work or any -other Project Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no -representations concerning the copyright status of any work in any -country outside the United States. - -1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: - -1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other -immediate access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear -prominently whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work -on which the phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the -phrase "Project Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, -performed, viewed, copied or distributed: - - This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and - most other parts of the world 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. If you are not located in the - United States, you'll have to check the laws of the country where you - are located before using this ebook. - -1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is -derived from texts not protected by U.S. copyright law (does not -contain a notice indicating that it is posted with permission of the -copyright holder), the work can be copied and distributed to anyone in -the United States without paying any fees or charges. If you are -redistributing or providing access to a work with the phrase "Project -Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the work, you must comply -either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 or -obtain permission for the use of the work and the Project Gutenberg-tm -trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. - -1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted -with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution -must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any -additional terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms -will be linked to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works -posted with the permission of the copyright holder found at the -beginning of this work. - -1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm -License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this -work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. - -1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this -electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without -prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with -active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project -Gutenberg-tm License. - -1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, -compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including -any word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access -to or distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format -other than "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official -version posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site -(www.gutenberg.org), you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense -to the user, provide a copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means -of obtaining a copy upon request, of the work in its original "Plain -Vanilla ASCII" or other form. Any alternate format must include the -full Project Gutenberg-tm License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. - -1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, -performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works -unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. - -1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing -access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works -provided that - -* You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from - the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method - you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is owed - to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he has - agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the Project - Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments must be paid - within 60 days following each date on which you prepare (or are - legally required to prepare) your periodic tax returns. Royalty - payments should be clearly marked as such and sent to the Project - Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the address specified in - Section 4, "Information about donations to the Project Gutenberg - Literary Archive Foundation." - -* You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies - you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he - does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm - License. You must require such a user to return or destroy all - copies of the works possessed in a physical medium and discontinue - all use of and all access to other copies of Project Gutenberg-tm - works. - -* You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of - any money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the - electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days of - receipt of the work. - -* You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free - distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. - -1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic work or group of works on different terms than -are set forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing -from both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and The -Project Gutenberg Trademark LLC, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm -trademark. Contact the Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. - -1.F. - -1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable -effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread -works not protected by U.S. copyright law in creating the Project -Gutenberg-tm collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may -contain "Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate -or corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other -intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or -other medium, a computer virus, or computer codes that damage or -cannot be read by your equipment. - -1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right -of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project -Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project -Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all -liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal -fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT -LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE -PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE -TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE -LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR -INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH -DAMAGE. - -1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a -defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can -receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a -written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you -received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium -with your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you -with the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in -lieu of a refund. If you received the work electronically, the person -or entity providing it to you may choose to give you a second -opportunity to receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If -the second copy is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing -without further opportunities to fix the problem. - -1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth -in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS', WITH NO -OTHER WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT -LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. - -1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied -warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of -damages. If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement -violates the law of the state applicable to this agreement, the -agreement shall be interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or -limitation permitted by the applicable state law. The invalidity or -unenforceability of any provision of this agreement shall not void the -remaining provisions. - -1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the -trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone -providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in -accordance with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the -production, promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic works, harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, -including legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of -the following which you do or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this -or any Project Gutenberg-tm work, (b) alteration, modification, or -additions or deletions to any Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any -Defect you cause. - -Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm - -Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of -electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of -computers including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It -exists because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations -from people in all walks of life. - -Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the -assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's -goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will -remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project -Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure -and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future -generations. To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation and how your efforts and donations can help, see -Sections 3 and 4 and the Foundation information page at -www.gutenberg.org Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg -Literary Archive Foundation - -The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit -501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the -state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal -Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification -number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent permitted by -U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. - -The Foundation's principal office is in Fairbanks, Alaska, with the -mailing address: PO Box 750175, Fairbanks, AK 99775, but its -volunteers and employees are scattered throughout numerous -locations. Its business office is located at 809 North 1500 West, Salt -Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887. Email contact links and up to -date contact information can be found at the Foundation's web site and -official page at www.gutenberg.org/contact - -For additional contact information: - - Dr. Gregory B. Newby - Chief Executive and Director - gbnewby@pglaf.org - -Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg -Literary Archive Foundation - -Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide -spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of -increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be -freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest -array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations -($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt -status with the IRS. - -The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating -charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United -States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a -considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up -with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations -where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To SEND -DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any particular -state visit www.gutenberg.org/donate - -While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we -have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition -against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who -approach us with offers to donate. - -International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make -any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from -outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. - -Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation -methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other -ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. To -donate, please visit: www.gutenberg.org/donate - -Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works. - -Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project -Gutenberg-tm concept of a library of electronic works that could be -freely shared with anyone. For forty years, he produced and -distributed Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of -volunteer support. - -Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed -editions, all of which are confirmed as not protected by copyright in -the U.S. unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not -necessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper -edition. - -Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search -facility: www.gutenberg.org - -This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, -including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to -subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. - - - -</pre> - -</body> -</html> diff --git a/old/62033-h/images/cover.jpg b/old/62033-h/images/cover.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 86cb486..0000000 --- a/old/62033-h/images/cover.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/62033-h/images/illus1.jpg b/old/62033-h/images/illus1.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 77680a6..0000000 --- a/old/62033-h/images/illus1.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/62033-h/images/illus2.jpg b/old/62033-h/images/illus2.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 29cfe69..0000000 --- a/old/62033-h/images/illus2.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/62033-h/images/illus3.jpg b/old/62033-h/images/illus3.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 3c046d6..0000000 --- a/old/62033-h/images/illus3.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/62033-h/images/illus4.jpg b/old/62033-h/images/illus4.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index a3acc49..0000000 --- a/old/62033-h/images/illus4.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/62033-h/images/title.jpg b/old/62033-h/images/title.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 6164ba7..0000000 --- a/old/62033-h/images/title.jpg +++ /dev/null |
