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diff --git a/647-h/647-h.htm b/647-h/647-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..2fab57c --- /dev/null +++ b/647-h/647-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,8494 @@ +<!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=US-ASCII" /> +<title>The Dynamiter, by Robert Louis Stevenson</title> + <style type="text/css"> +/*<![CDATA[ XML blockout */ +<!-- + P { margin-top: .75em; + margin-bottom: .75em; + } + P.gutsumm { margin-left: 5%;} + P.poetry {margin-left: 3%; } + H1, H2 { + text-align: center; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + } + H3, H4, H5 { + text-align: center; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em; + } + BODY{margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + } + table { border-collapse: collapse; } +table {margin-left:auto; margin-right:auto;} + td { vertical-align: top; border: 1px solid black;} + td p { margin: 0.2em; } + .blkquot {margin-left: 4em; margin-right: 4em;} /* block indent */ + + .smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + + .pagenum {position: absolute; + left: 92%; + font-size: small; + text-align: right; + font-weight: normal; + color: gray; + } + img { border: none; } + img.dc { float: left; width: 50px; height: 50px; } + div.gapspace { height: 0.8em; } + div.gapline { height: 0.8em; width: 30%; } + div.gapshortdoubleline { height: 0.3em; width: 20%; + margin-left: 40%; border-top: 1px solid; + border-bottom: 1px solid; } + div.gapdoubleline { height: 0.3em; width: 50%; + margin-left: 25%; border-top: 1px solid; + border-bottom: 1px solid;} + div.gapshortline { height: 0.3em; width: 20%; margin-left:40%; + border-top: 1px solid; } + .citation {vertical-align: super; + font-size: .8em; + text-decoration: none;} + img.floatleft { float: left; + margin-right: 1em; + margin-top: 0.5em; margin-bottom: 0.5em; } + img.floatright { float: right; + margin-left: 1em; margin-top: 0.5em; + margin-bottom: 0.5em; } + img.clearcenter {display: block; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0.5em; + margin-bottom: 0.5em} + --> + /* XML end ]]>*/ + </style> +</head> +<body> +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Dynamiter, by Robert Louis Stevenson, et +al + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: The Dynamiter + More New Arabian Nights + + +Author: Robert Louis Stevenson + + + +Release Date: January 3, 2011 [eBook #647] +This file was first posted on September 13, 1996 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE DYNAMITER*** +</pre> +<p>Transcribed from the 1903 Longmans, Green And Co. edition by +David Price, email ccx074@pglaf.org</p> +<p style="text-align: center"><i>MORE NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS</i></p> +<h1>THE DYNAMITER</h1> +<p style="text-align: center"><span class="smcap">by</span></p> +<p style="text-align: center">ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON<br /> +<span class="smcap">and</span><br /> +FANNY VAN <span class="smcap">de</span> GRIFT STEVENSON</p> +<p style="text-align: center"> +<a href="images/p0b.jpg"> +<img alt= +"The Silver Library" +title= +"The Silver Library" +src="images/p0s.jpg" /> +</a></p> +<p style="text-align: center"><span class="smcap"><i>new +impression</i></span></p> +<div class="gapspace"> </div> +<p style="text-align: center">LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO.<br /> +39 <span class="smcap">paternoster row</span>, <span +class="smcap">london</span><br /> +<span class="smcap">new york and bombay</span></p> +<p style="text-align: center">1903</p> +<p style="text-align: center"><i>All rights reserved</i></p> +<div class="gapspace"> </div> +<p style="text-align: center"><!-- page iv--><a +name="pageiv"></a><span class="pagenum">p. iv</span><span +class="smcap"><i>bibliographic note</i></span></p> +<p style="text-align: center"><i>First Edition</i>, <i>April +1885</i>; <i>Reprinted May 1885</i>, <i>July 1885</i>.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"><i>Silver Library Edition</i>, +<i>January 1895</i>; <i>Reprinted March 1897</i>, <i>July +1899</i>, <i>August 1903</i>.</p> +<h2><!-- page v--><a name="pagev"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +v</span>TO<br /> +MESSRS. COLE AND COX,<br /> +<span class="smcap">police officers</span></h2> +<p><i>Gentlemen,—In the volume now in your hands</i>, +<i>the authors have touched upon that ugly devil of crime</i>, +<i>with which it is your glory to have contended</i>. <i>It +were a waste of ink to do so in a serious spirit</i>. +<i>Let us dedicate our horror to acts of a more mingled +strain</i>, <i>where crime preserves some features of +nobility</i>, <i>and where reason and humanity can still relish +the temptation</i>. <i>Horror</i>, <i>in this case</i>, +<i>is due to Mr. Parnell</i>: <i>he sits before posterity +silent</i>, <i>Mr. Forster’s appeal echoing down the +ages</i>. <i>Horror is due to ourselves</i>, <i>in that we +have so long coquetted with political crime</i>; <i>not seriously +weighing</i>, <i>not acutely following it from cause to +consequence</i>; <i>but with a generous</i>, <i>unfounded heat of +sentiment</i>, <i>like the schoolboy with the penny tale</i>, +<i>applauding what was specious</i>. <i>When it touched +ourselves</i> (<i>truly in a vile shape</i>), <i>we proved false +to the imaginations</i>; <i>discovered</i>, <i>in a clap</i>, +<i>that crime was no less cruel and no less ugly under sounding +names</i>; <i>and recoiled from our false deities</i>.</p> +<p><!-- page vi--><a name="pagevi"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +vi</span><i>But seriousness comes most in place when we are to +speak of our defenders</i>. <i>Whoever be in the right in +this great and confused war of politics</i>; <i>whatever elements +of greed</i>, <i>whatever traits of the bully</i>, <i>dishonour +both parties in this inhuman contest</i>;—<i>your side</i>, +<i>your part</i>, <i>is at least pure of doubt</i>. +<i>Yours is the side of the child</i>, <i>of the breeding +woman</i>, <i>of individual pity and public trust</i>. +<i>If our society were the mere kingdom of the devil</i> (<i>as +indeed it wears some of his colours</i>) <i>it yet embraces many +precious elements and many innocent persons whom it is a glory to +defend</i>. <i>Courage and devotion</i>, <i>so common in +the ranks of the police</i>, <i>so little recognised</i>, <i>so +meagrely rewarded</i>, <i>have at length found their +commemoration in an historical act</i>. <i>History</i>, +<i>which will represent Mr. Parnell sitting silent under the +appeal of Mr. Forster</i>, <i>and Gordon setting forth upon his +tragic enterprise</i>, <i>will not forget Mr. Cole carrying the +dynamite in his defenceless hands</i>, <i>nor Mr. Cox coming +coolly to his aid</i>.</p> +<p style="text-align: right"><i>ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON</i></p> +<p style="text-align: right"><i>FANNY VAN </i><span +class="smcap"><i>de</i></span><i> GRIFT STEVENSON</i></p> +<h2><!-- page vii--><a name="pagevii"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. vii</span>CONTENTS<br /> +<i>THE DYNAMITER</i></h2> +<table> +<tr> +<td><p> </p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span +class="smcap">page</span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p><span class="smcap">Prologue of the Cigar Divan</span></p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page1">1</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p><span class="smcap">Challoner’s +Adventure</span>:</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"> </p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p> <span class="smcap">The Squire of +Dames</span></p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page13">13</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p> <span class="smcap">Story of the +Destroying Angel</span></p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page27">27</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p><span class="smcap">The Squire of Dames</span> +(<i>continued</i>)</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page76">76</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p><span class="smcap">Summerset’s +Adventure</span>:</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"> </p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p> <span class="smcap">The Superfluous +Mansion</span></p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page100">100</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p> <span class="smcap">Narrative of the +Spirited Old Lady</span></p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page108">108</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p><span class="smcap">The Superfluous Mansion</span> +(<i>continued</i>)</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page145">145</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p> <span class="smcap">Zero’s Tale of +the Explosive Bomb</span></p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page195">195</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p><span class="smcap">Desborough’s +Adventure</span>:</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"> </p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p> <span class="smcap">The Brown +Box</span></p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page209">209</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p> <span class="smcap">Story of the Fair +Cuban</span></p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page219">219</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p><span class="smcap">The Brown Box</span> +(<i>continued</i>)</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page269">269</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p><span class="smcap">The Superfluous Mansion</span> +(<i>continued</i>)</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page286">286</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p><span class="smcap">Epilogue of the Cigar Divan</span></p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page299">299</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +</table> +<h2><!-- page viii--><a name="pageviii"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. viii</span>A NOTE FOR THE READER</h2> +<p>It is within the bounds of possibility that you may take up +this volume, and yet be unacquainted with its predecessor: the +first series of <span class="smcap">New Arabian +Nights</span>. The loss is yours—and mine; or to be +more exact, my publishers’. But if you are thus +unlucky, the least I can do is to pass you a hint. When you +shall find a reference in the following pages to one Theophilus +Godall of the Bohemian Cigar Divan in Rupert Street, Soho, you +must be prepared to recognise, under his features, no less a +person than Prince Florizel of Bohemia, formerly one of the +magnates of Europe, now dethroned, exiled, impoverished, and +embarked in the tobacco trade.</p> +<p style="text-align: right">R. L. S.</p> +<h2><!-- page 1--><a name="page1"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +1</span><i>PROLOGUE OF THE CIGAR DIVAN</i></h2> +<p>In the city of encounters, the Bagdad of the West, and, to be +more precise, on the broad northern pavement of Leicester Square, +two young men of five- or six-and-twenty met after years of +separation. The first, who was of a very smooth address and +clothed in the best fashion, hesitated to recognise the pinched +and shabby air of his companion.</p> +<p>‘What!’ he cried, ‘Paul Somerset!’</p> +<p>‘I am indeed Paul Somerset,’ returned the other, +‘or what remains of him after a well-deserved experience of +poverty and law. But in you, Challoner, I can perceive no +change; and time may be said, without hyperbole, to write no +wrinkle on your azure brow.’</p> +<p>‘All,’ replied Challoner, ‘is not gold that +glitters. But we are here in an ill posture for +confidences, and interrupt the movement of these ladies. +Let us, if you please, find a more private corner.’</p> +<p>‘If you will allow me to guide you,’ replied +Somerset, ‘I will offer you the best cigar in +London.’</p> +<p>And taking the arm of his companion, he led him in silence and +at a brisk pace to the door of a quiet establishment in Rupert +Street, Soho. The entrance was adorned with one of those +gigantic Highlanders of wood which have almost risen to the +standing of antiquities; and across the window-glass, which +sheltered the usual display of pipes, tobacco, and cigars, there +ran the gilded legend: ‘Bohemian Cigar Divan, by T. +Godall.’ The interior of the shop was small, but +commodious and ornate; the salesman grave, smiling, and urbane; +and the two young men, each puffing a select regalia, had soon +taken their places on a sofa of mouse-coloured plush and +proceeded to exchange their stories.</p> +<p>‘I am now,’ said Somerset, ‘a barrister; but +Providence and the attorneys have hitherto denied me the +opportunity to shine. A select society at the Cheshire +Cheese engaged my evenings; my afternoons, as Mr. Godall could +testify, have been generally passed in this divan; and my +mornings, I have taken the precaution to abbreviate by not rising +before twelve. At this rate, my little patrimony was very +rapidly, and I am proud to remember, most agreeably +expended. Since then a gentleman, who has really nothing +else to recommend him beyond the fact of being my maternal uncle, +deals me the small sum of ten shillings a week; and if you behold +me once more revisiting the glimpses of the street lamps in my +favourite quarter, you will readily divine that I have come into +a fortune.’</p> +<p>‘I should not have supposed so,’ replied +Challoner. ‘But doubtless I met you on the way to +your tailors.’</p> +<p>‘It is a visit that I purpose to delay,’ returned +Somerset, with a smile. ‘My fortune has definite +limits. It consists, or rather this morning it consisted, +of one hundred pounds.’</p> +<p>‘That is certainly odd,’ said Challoner; +‘yes, certainly the coincidence is strange. I am +myself reduced to the same margin.’</p> +<p>‘You!’ cried Somerset. ‘And yet +Solomon in all his glory—’</p> +<p>‘Such is the fact. I am, dear boy, on my last +legs,’ said Challoner. ‘Besides the clothes in +which you see me, I have scarcely a decent trouser in my +wardrobe; and if I knew how, I would this instant set about some +sort of work or commerce. With a hundred pounds for +capital, a man should push his way.’</p> +<p>‘It may be,’ returned Somerset; ‘but what to +do with mine is more than I can fancy. Mr. Godall,’ +he added, addressing the salesman, ‘you are a man who knows +the world: what can a young fellow of reasonable education do +with a hundred pounds?’</p> +<p>‘It depends,’ replied the salesman, withdrawing +his cheroot. ‘The power of money is an article of +faith in which I profess myself a sceptic. A hundred pounds +will with difficulty support you for a year; with somewhat more +difficulty you may spend it in a night; and without any +difficulty at all you may lose it in five minutes on the Stock +Exchange. If you are of that stamp of man that rises, a +penny would be as useful; if you belong to those that fall, a +penny would be no more useless. When I was myself thrown +unexpectedly upon the world, it was my fortune to possess an art: +I knew a good cigar. Do you know nothing, Mr. +Somerset?’</p> +<p>‘Not even law,’ was the reply.</p> +<p>‘The answer is worthy of a sage,’ returned Mr. +Godall. ‘And you, sir,’ he continued, turning +to Challoner, ‘as the friend of Mr. Somerset, may I be +allowed to address you the same question?’</p> +<p>‘Well,’ replied Challoner, ‘I play a fair +hand at whist.’</p> +<p>‘How many persons are there in London,’ returned +the salesman, ‘who have two-and-thirty teeth? Believe +me, young gentleman, there are more still who play a fair hand at +whist. Whist, sir, is wide as the world; ’tis an +accomplishment like breathing. I once knew a youth who +announced that he was studying to be Chancellor of England; the +design was certainly ambitious; but I find it less excessive than +that of the man who aspires to make a livelihood by +whist.’</p> +<p>‘Dear me,’ said Challoner, ‘I am afraid I +shall have to fall to be a working man.’</p> +<p>‘Fall to be a working man?’ echoed Mr. +Godall. ‘Suppose a rural dean to be unfrocked, does +he fall to be a major? suppose a captain were cashiered, would he +fall to be a puisne judge? The ignorance of your middle +class surprises me. Outside itself, it thinks the world to +lie quite ignorant and equal, sunk in a common degradation; but +to the eye of the observer, all ranks are seen to stand in +ordered hierarchies, and each adorned with its particular +aptitudes and knowledge. By the defects of your education +you are more disqualified to be a working man than to be the +ruler of an empire. The gulf, sir, is below; and the true +learned arts—those which alone are safe from the +competition of insurgent laymen—are those which give his +title to the artisan.’</p> +<p>‘This is a very pompous fellow,’ said Challoner, +in the ear of his companion.</p> +<p>‘He is immense,’ said Somerset.</p> +<p>Just then the door of the divan was opened, and a third young +fellow made his appearance, and rather bashfully requested some +tobacco. He was younger than the others; and, in a somewhat +meaningless and altogether English way, he was a handsome +lad. When he had been served, and had lighted his pipe and +taken his place upon the sofa, he recalled himself to Challoner +by the name of Desborough.</p> +<p>‘Desborough, to be sure,’ cried Challoner. +‘Well, Desborough, and what do you do?’</p> +<p>‘The fact is,’ said Desborough, ‘that I am +doing nothing.’</p> +<p>‘A private fortune possibly?’ inquired the +other.</p> +<p>‘Well, no,’ replied Desborough, rather +sulkily. ‘The fact is that I am waiting for something +to turn up.’</p> +<p>‘All in the same boat!’ cried Somerset. +‘And have you, too, one hundred pounds?’</p> +<p>‘Worse luck,’ said Mr. Desborough.</p> +<p>‘This is a very pathetic sight, Mr. Godall,’ said +Somerset: ‘Three futiles.’</p> +<p>‘A character of this crowded age,’ returned the +salesman.</p> +<p>‘Sir,’ said Somerset, ‘I deny that the age +is crowded; I will admit one fact, and one fact only: that I am +futile, that he is futile, and that we are all three as futile as +the devil. What am I? I have smattered law, smattered +letters, smattered geography, smattered mathematics; I have even +a working knowledge of judicial astrology; and here I stand, all +London roaring by at the street’s end, as impotent as any +baby. I have a prodigious contempt for my maternal uncle; +but without him, it is idle to deny it, I should simply resolve +into my elements like an unstable mixture. I begin to +perceive that it is necessary to know some one thing to the +bottom—were it only literature. And yet, sir, the man +of the world is a great feature of this age; he is possessed of +an extraordinary mass and variety of knowledge; he is everywhere +at home; he has seen life in all its phases; and it is impossible +but that this great habit of existence should bear fruit. I +count myself a man of the world, accomplished, +<i>cap-à-pie</i>. So do you, Challoner. And +you, Mr. Desborough?’</p> +<p>‘Oh yes,’ returned the young man.</p> +<p>‘Well then, Mr. Godall, here we stand, three men of the +world, without a trade to cover us, but planted at the strategic +centre of the universe (for so you will allow me to call Rupert +Street), in the midst of the chief mass of people, and within +ear-shot of the most continuous chink of money on the surface of +the globe. Sir, as civilised men, what do we do? I +will show you. You take in a paper?’</p> +<p>‘I take,’ said Mr. Godall solemnly, ‘the +best paper in the world, the <i>Standard</i>.’</p> +<p>‘Good,’ resumed Somerset. ‘I now hold +it in my hand, the voice of the world, a telephone repeating all +men’s wants. I open it, and where my eye first +falls—well, no, not Morrison’s Pills—but here, +sure enough, and but a little above, I find the joint that I was +seeking; here is the weak spot in the armour of society. +Here is a want, a plaint, an offer of substantial gratitude: +“<i>Two hundred Pounds Reward</i>.—The above reward +will be paid to any person giving information as to the identity +and whereabouts of a man observed yesterday in the neighbourhood +of the Green Park. He was over six feet in height, with +shoulders disproportionately broad, close shaved, with black +moustaches, and wearing a sealskin great-coat.” +There, gentlemen, our fortune, if not made, is +founded.’</p> +<p>‘Do you then propose, dear boy, that we should turn +detectives?’ inquired Challoner.</p> +<p>‘Do I propose it? No, sir,’ cried +Somerset. ‘It is reason, destiny, the plain face of +the world, that commands and imposes it. Here all our +merits tell; our manners, habit of the world, powers of +conversation, vast stores of unconnected knowledge, all that we +are and have builds up the character of the complete +detective. It is, in short, the only profession for a +gentleman.’</p> +<p>‘The proposition is perhaps excessive,’ replied +Challoner; ‘for hitherto I own I have regarded it as of all +dirty, sneaking, and ungentlemanly trades, the least and +lowest.’</p> +<p>‘To defend society?’ asked Somerset; ‘to +stake one’s life for others? to deracinate occult and +powerful evil? I appeal to Mr. Godall. He, at least, +as a philosophic looker-on at life, will spit upon such +philistine opinions. He knows that the policeman, as he is +called upon continually to face greater odds, and that both worse +equipped and for a better cause, is in form and essence a more +noble hero than the soldier. Do you, by any chance, deceive +yourself into supposing that a general would either ask or +expect, from the best army ever marshalled, and on the most +momentous battle-field, the conduct of a common constable at +Peckham Rye?’ <a name="citation9"></a><a href="#footnote9" +class="citation">[9]</a></p> +<p>‘I did not understand we were to join the force,’ +said Challoner.</p> +<p>‘Nor shall we. These are the hands; but +here—here, sir, is the head,’ cried Somerset. +‘Enough; it is decreed. We shall hunt down this +miscreant in the sealskin coat.’</p> +<p>‘Suppose that we agreed,’ retorted Challoner, +‘you have no plan, no knowledge; you know not where to seek +for a beginning.’</p> +<p>‘Challoner!’ cried Somerset, ‘is it possible +that you hold the doctrine of Free Will? And are you devoid +of any tincture of philosophy, that you should harp on such +exploded fallacies? Chance, the blind Madonna of the Pagan, +rules this terrestrial bustle; and in Chance I place my sole +reliance. Chance has brought us three together; when we +next separate and go forth our several ways, Chance will +continually drag before our careless eyes a thousand eloquent +clues, not to this mystery only, but to the countless mysteries +by which we live surrounded. Then comes the part of the man +of the world, of the detective born and bred. This clue, +which the whole town beholds without comprehension, swift as a +cat, he leaps upon it, makes it his, follows it with craft and +passion, and from one trifling circumstance divines a +world.’</p> +<p>‘Just so,’ said Challoner; ‘and I am +delighted that you should recognise these virtues in +yourself. But in the meanwhile, dear boy, I own myself +incapable of joining. I was neither born nor bred as a +detective, but as a placable and very thirsty gentleman; and, for +my part, I begin to weary for a drink. As for clues and +adventures, the only adventure that is ever likely to occur to me +will be an adventure with a bailiff.’</p> +<p>‘Now there is the fallacy,’ cried Somerset. +‘There I catch the secret of your futility in life. +The world teems and bubbles with adventure; it besieges you along +the street: hands waving out of windows, swindlers coming up and +swearing they knew you when you were abroad, affable and doubtful +people of all sorts and conditions begging and truckling for your +notice. But not you: you turn away, you walk your seedy +mill round, you must go the dullest way. Now here, I beg of +you, the next adventure that offers itself, embrace it in with +both your arms; whatever it looks, grimy or romantic, grasp +it. I will do the like; the devil is in it, but at least we +shall have fun; and each in turn we shall narrate the story of +our fortunes to my philosophic friend of the divan, the great +Godall, now hearing me with inward joy. Come, is it a +bargain? Will you, indeed, both promise to welcome every +chance that offers, to plunge boldly into every opening, and, +keeping the eye wary and the head composed, to study and piece +together all that happens? Come, promise: let me open to +you the doors of the great profession of intrigue.’</p> +<p>‘It is not much in my way,’ said Challoner, +‘but, since you make a point of it, amen.’</p> +<p>‘I don’t mind promising,’ said Desborough, +‘but nothing will happen to me.’</p> +<p>‘O faithless ones!’ cried Somerset. +‘But at least I have your promises; and Godall, I perceive, +is transported with delight.’</p> +<p>‘I promise myself at least much pleasure from your +various narratives,’ said the salesman, with the customary +calm polish of his manner.</p> +<p>‘And now, gentlemen,’ concluded Somerset, +‘let us separate. I hasten to put myself in +fortune’s way. Hark how, in this quiet corner, London +roars like the noise of battle; four million destinies are here +concentred; and in the strong panoply of one hundred pounds, +payable to the bearer, I am about to plunge into that +web.’</p> +<h2><!-- page 13--><a name="page13"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +13</span>CHALLONER’S ADVENTURE</h2> +<h3><i>THE SQUIRE OF DAMES</i></h3> +<p>Mr. Edward Challoner had set up lodgings in the suburb of +Putney, where he enjoyed a parlour and bedroom and the sincere +esteem of the people of the house. To this remote home he +found himself, at a very early hour in the morning of the next +day, condemned to set forth on foot. He was a young man of +a portly habit; no lover of the exercises of the body; bland, +sedentary, patient of delay, a prop of omnibuses. In +happier days he would have chartered a cab; but these luxuries +were now denied him; and with what courage he could muster he +addressed himself to walk.</p> +<p>It was then the height of the season and the summer; the +weather was serene and cloudless; and as he paced under the +blinded houses and along the vacant streets, the chill of the +dawn had fled, and some of the warmth and all the brightness of +the July day already shone upon the city. He walked at +first in a profound abstraction, bitterly reviewing and repenting +his performances at whist; but as he advanced into the labyrinth +of the south-west, his ear was gradually mastered by the +silence. Street after street looked down upon his solitary +figure, house after house echoed upon his passage with a ghostly +jar, shop after shop displayed its shuttered front and its +commercial legend; and meanwhile he steered his course, under +day’s effulgent dome and through this encampment of diurnal +sleepers, lonely as a ship.</p> +<p>‘Here,’ he reflected, ‘if I were like my +scatter-brained companion, here were indeed the scene where I +might look for an adventure. Here, in broad day, the +streets are secret as in the blackest night of January, and in +the midst of some four million sleepers, solitary as the woods of +Yucatan. If I but raise my voice I could summon up the +number of an army, and yet the grave is not more silent than this +city of sleep.’</p> +<p>He was still following these quaint and serious musings when +he came into a street of more mingled ingredients than was common +in the quarter. Here, on the one hand, framed in walls and +the green tops of trees, were several of those discreet, +<i>bijou</i> residences on which propriety is apt to look +askance. Here, too, were many of the brick-fronted barracks +of the poor; a plaster cow, perhaps, serving as ensign to a +dairy, or a ticket announcing the business of the mangler. +Before one such house, that stood a little separate among walled +gardens, a cat was playing with a straw, and Challoner paused a +moment, looking on this sleek and solitary creature, who seemed +an emblem of the neighbouring peace. With the cessation of +the sound of his own steps the silence fell dead; the house stood +smokeless: the blinds down, the whole machinery of life arrested; +and it seemed to Challoner that he should hear the breathing of +the sleepers.</p> +<p>As he so stood, he was startled by a dull and jarring +detonation from within. This was followed by a monstrous +hissing and simmering as from a kettle of the bigness of St. +Paul’s; and at the same time from every chink of door and +window spirted an ill-smelling vapour. The cat disappeared +with a cry. Within the lodging-house feet pounded on the +stairs; the door flew back, emitting clouds of smoke; and two men +and an elegantly dressed young lady tumbled forth into the street +and fled without a word. The hissing had already ceased, +the smoke was melting in the air, the whole event had come and +gone as in a dream, and still Challoner was rooted to the +spot. At last his reason and his fear awoke together, and +with the most unwonted energy he fell to running.</p> +<p>Little by little this first dash relaxed, and presently he had +resumed his sober gait and begun to piece together, out of the +confused report of his senses, some theory of the +occurrence. But the occasion of the sounds and stench that +had so suddenly assailed him, and the strange conjunction of +fugitives whom he had seen to issue from the house, were +mysteries beyond his plummet. With an obscure awe he +considered them in his mind, continuing, meanwhile, to thread the +web of streets, and once more alone in morning sunshine.</p> +<p>In his first retreat he had entirely wandered; and now, +steering vaguely west, it was his luck to light upon an +unpretending street, which presently widened so as to admit a +strip of gardens in the midst. Here was quite a stir of +birds; even at that hour, the shadow of the leaves was grateful; +instead of the burnt atmosphere of cities, there was something +brisk and rural in the air; and Challoner paced forward, his eyes +upon the pavement and his mind running upon distant scenes, till +he was recalled, upon a sudden, by a wall that blocked his +further progress. This street, whose name I have forgotten, +is no thoroughfare.</p> +<p>He was not the first who had wandered there that morning; for +as he raised his eyes with an agreeable deliberation, they +alighted on the figure of a girl, in whom he was struck to +recognise the third of the incongruous fugitives. She had +run there, seemingly, blindfold; the wall had checked her career: +and being entirely wearied, she had sunk upon the ground beside +the garden railings, soiling her dress among the summer +dust. Each saw the other in the same instant of time; and +she, with one wild look, sprang to her feet and began to hurry +from the scene.</p> +<p>Challoner was doubly startled to meet once more the heroine of +his adventure, and to observe the fear with which she shunned +him. Pity and alarm, in nearly equal forces, contested the +possession of his mind; and yet, in spite of both, he saw himself +condemned to follow in the lady’s wake. He did so +gingerly, as fearing to increase her terrors; but, tread as +lightly as he might, his footfalls eloquently echoed in the empty +street. Their sound appeared to strike in her some strong +emotion; for scarce had he begun to follow ere she paused. +A second time she addressed herself to flight; and a second time +she paused. Then she turned about, and with doubtful steps +and the most attractive appearance of timidity, drew near to the +young man. He on his side continued to advance with similar +signals of distress and bashfulness. At length, when they +were but some steps apart, he saw her eyes brim over, and she +reached out both her hands in eloquent appeal.</p> +<p>‘Are you an English gentleman?’ she cried.</p> +<p>The unhappy Challoner regarded her with consternation. +He was the spirit of fine courtesy, and would have blushed to +fail in his devoirs to any lady; but, in the other scale, he was +a man averse from amorous adventures. He looked east and +west; but the houses that looked down upon this interview +remained inexorably shut; and he saw himself, though in the full +glare of the day’s eye, cut off from any human +intervention. His looks returned at last upon the +suppliant. He remarked with irritation that she was +charming both in face and figure, elegantly dressed and gloved; a +lady undeniable; the picture of distress and innocence; weeping +and lost in the city of diurnal sleep.</p> +<p>‘Madam,’ he said, ‘I protest you have no +cause to fear intrusion; and if I have appeared to follow you, +the fault is in this street, which has deceived us +both.’ An unmistakable relief appeared upon the +lady’s face. ‘I might have guessed it!’ +she exclaimed. ‘Thank you a thousand times! But +at this hour, in this appalling silence, and among all these +staring windows, I am lost in terrors—oh, lost in +them!’ she cried, her face blanching at the words. +‘I beg you to lend me your arm,’ she added with the +loveliest, suppliant inflection. ‘I dare not go +alone; my nerve is gone—I had a shock, oh, what a +shock! I beg of you to be my escort.’</p> +<p>‘My dear madam,’ responded Challoner heavily, +‘my arm is at your service.’</p> +<p>‘She took it and clung to it for a moment, struggling +with her sobs; and the next, with feverish hurry, began to lead +him in the direction of the city. One thing was plain, +among so much that was obscure: it was plain her fears were +genuine. Still, as she went, she spied around as if for +dangers; and now she would shiver like a person in a chill, and +now clutch his arm in hers. To Challoner her terror was at +once repugnant and infectious; it gained and mastered, while it +still offended him; and he wailed in spirit and longed for +release.</p> +<p>‘Madam,’ he said at last, ‘I am, of course, +charmed to be of use to any lady; but I confess I was bound in a +direction opposite to that you follow, and a word of +explanation—’</p> +<p>‘Hush!’ she sobbed, ‘not here—not +here!’</p> +<p>The blood of Challoner ran cold. He might have thought +the lady mad; but his memory was charged with more perilous +stuff; and in view of the detonation, the smoke and the flight of +the ill-assorted trio, his mind was lost among mysteries. +So they continued to thread the maze of streets in silence, with +the speed of a guilty flight, and both thrilling with +incommunicable terrors. In time, however, and above all by +their quick pace of walking, the pair began to rise to firmer +spirits; the lady ceased to peer about the corners; and +Challoner, emboldened by the resonant tread and distant figure of +a constable, returned to the charge with more of spirit and +directness.</p> +<p>‘I thought,’ said he, in the tone of conversation, +‘that I had indistinctly perceived you leaving a villa in +the company of two gentlemen.’</p> +<p>‘Oh!’ she said, ‘you need not fear to wound +me by the truth. You saw me flee from a common +lodging-house, and my companions were not gentlemen. In +such a case, the best of compliments is to be frank.’</p> +<p>‘I thought,’ resumed Challoner, encouraged as much +as he was surprised by the spirit of her reply, ‘to have +perceived, besides, a certain odour. A noise, too—I +do not know to what I should compare it—’</p> +<p>‘Silence!’ she cried. ‘You do not know +the danger you invoke. Wait, only wait; and as soon as we +have left those streets, and got beyond the reach of listeners, +all shall be explained. Meanwhile, avoid the topic. +What a sight is this sleeping city!’ she exclaimed; and +then, with a most thrilling voice, ‘“Dear God,” +she quoted, “the very houses seem asleep, and all that +mighty heart is lying still.”’</p> +<p>‘I perceive, madam,’ said he, ‘you are a +reader.’</p> +<p>‘I am more than that,’ she answered, with a +sigh. ‘I am a girl condemned to thoughts beyond her +age; and so untoward is my fate, that this walk upon the arm of a +stranger is like an interlude of peace.’</p> +<p>They had come by this time to the neighbourhood of the +Victoria Station and here, at a street corner, the young lady +paused, withdrew her arm from Challoner’s, and looked up +and down as though in pain or indecision. Then, with a +lovely change of countenance, and laying her gloved hand upon his +arm—</p> +<p>‘What you already think of me,’ she said, ‘I +tremble to conceive; yet I must here condemn myself still +further. Here I must leave you, and here I beseech you to +wait for my return. Do not attempt to follow me or spy upon +my actions. Suspend yet awhile your judgment of a girl as +innocent as your own sister; and do not, above all, desert +me. Stranger as you are, I have none else to look to. +You see me in sorrow and great fear; you are a gentleman, +courteous and kind: and when I beg for a few minutes’ +patience, I make sure beforehand you will not deny me.’</p> +<p>Challoner grudgingly promised; and the young lady, with a +grateful eye-shot, vanished round the corner. But the force +of her appeal had been a little blunted; for the young man was +not only destitute of sisters, but of any female relative nearer +than a great-aunt in Wales. Now he was alone, besides, the +spell that he had hitherto obeyed began to weaken; he considered +his behaviour with a sneer; and plucking up the spirit of revolt, +he started in pursuit. The reader, if he has ever plied the +fascinating trade of the noctambulist, will not be unaware that, +in the neighbourhood of the great railway centres, certain early +taverns inaugurate the business of the day. It was into one +of these that Challoner, coming round the corner of the block, +beheld his charming companion disappear. To say he was +surprised were inexact, for he had long since left that sentiment +behind him. Acute disgust and disappointment seized upon +his soul; and with silent oaths, he damned this commonplace +enchantress. She had scarce been gone a second, ere the +swing-doors reopened, and she appeared again in company with a +young man of mean and slouching attire. For some five or +six exchanges they conversed together with an animated air; then +the fellow shouldered again into the tap; and the young lady, +with something swifter than a walk, retraced her steps towards +Challoner. He saw her coming, a miracle of grace; her +ankle, as she hurried, flashing from her dress; her movements +eloquent of speed and youth; and though he still entertained some +thoughts of flight, they grew miserably fainter as the distance +lessened. Against mere beauty he was proof: it was her +unmistakable gentility that now robbed him of the courage of his +cowardice. With a proved adventuress he had acted strictly +on his right; with one who, in spite of all, he could not quite +deny to be a lady, he found himself disarmed. At the very +corner from whence he had spied upon her interview, she came upon +him, still transfixed, and—‘Ah!’ she cried, +with a bright flush of colour. ‘Ah! +Ungenerous!’</p> +<p>The sharpness of the attack somewhat restored the Squire of +Dames to the possession of himself.</p> +<p>‘Madam,’ he returned, with a fair show of +stoutness, ‘I do not think that hitherto you can complain +of any lack of generosity; I have suffered myself to be led over +a considerable portion of the metropolis; and if I now request +you to discharge me of my office of protector, you have friends +at hand who will be glad of the succession.’</p> +<p>She stood a moment dumb.</p> +<p>‘It is well,’ she said. ‘Go! go, and +may God help me! You have seen me—me, an innocent +girl! fleeing from a dire catastrophe and haunted by sinister +men; and neither pity, curiosity, nor honour move you to await my +explanation or to help in my distress. Go!’ she +repeated. ‘I am lost indeed.’ And with a +passionate gesture she turned and fled along the street.</p> +<p>Challoner observed her retreat and disappear, an almost +intolerable sense of guilt contending with the profound sense +that he was being gulled. She was no sooner gone than the +first of these feelings took the upper hand; he felt, if he had +done her less than justice, that his conduct was a perfect model +of the ungracious; the cultured tone of her voice, her choice of +language, and the elegant decorum of her movements, cried out +aloud against a harsh construction; and between penitence and +curiosity he began slowly to follow in her wake. At the +corner he had her once more full in view. Her speed was +failing like a stricken bird’s. Even as he looked, +she threw her arm out gropingly, and fell and leaned against the +wall. At the spectacle, Challoner’s fortitude gave +way. In a few strides he overtook her and, for the first +time removing his hat, assured her in the most moving terms of +his entire respect and firm desire to help her. He spoke at +first unheeded; but gradually it appeared that she began to +comprehend his words; she moved a little, and drew herself +upright; and finally, as with a sudden movement of forgiveness, +turned on the young man a countenance in which reproach and +gratitude were mingled. ‘Ah, madam,’ he cried, +‘use me as you will!’ And once more, but now +with a great air of deference, he offered her the conduct of his +arm. She took it with a sigh that struck him to the heart; +and they began once more to trace the deserted streets. But +now her steps, as though exhausted by emotion, began to linger on +the way; she leaned the more heavily upon his arm; and he, like +the parent bird, stooped fondly above his drooping convoy. +Her physical distress was not accompanied by any failing of her +spirits; and hearing her strike so soon into a playful and +charming vein of talk, Challoner could not sufficiently admire +the elasticity of his companion’s nature. ‘Let +me forget,’ she had said, ‘for one half hour, let me +forget;’ and sure enough, with the very word, her sorrows +appeared to be forgotten. Before every house she paused, +invented a name for the proprietor, and sketched his character: +here lived the old general whom she was to marry on the fifth of +the next month, there was the mansion of the rich widow who had +set her heart on Challoner; and though she still hung wearily on +the young man’s arm, her laughter sounded low and pleasant +in his ears. ‘Ah,’ she sighed, by way of +commentary, ‘in such a life as mine I must seize tight hold +of any happiness that I can find.’</p> +<p>When they arrived, in this leisurely manner, at the head of +Grosvenor Place, the gates of the park were opening and the +bedraggled company of night-walkers were being at last admitted +into that paradise of lawns. Challoner and his companion +followed the movement, and walked for awhile in silence in that +tatterdemalion crowd; but as one after another, weary with the +night’s patrolling of the city pavement, sank upon the +benches or wandered into separate paths, the vast extent of the +park had soon utterly swallowed up the last of these intruders; +and the pair proceeded on their way alone in the grateful quiet +of the morning.</p> +<p>Presently they came in sight of a bench, standing very open on +a mound of turf. The young lady looked about her with +relief.</p> +<p>‘Here,’ she said, ‘here at last we are +secure from listeners. Here, then, you shall learn and +judge my history. I could not bear that we should part, and +that you should still suppose your kindness squandered upon one +who was unworthy.’</p> +<p>Thereupon she sat down upon the bench, and motioning Challoner +to take a place immediately beside her, began in the following +words, and with the greatest appearance of enjoyment, to narrate +the story of her life.</p> +<h3><!-- page 27--><a name="page27"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +27</span><i>STORY OF THE DESTROYING ANGEL</i></h3> +<p>My father was a native of England, son of a cadet of a great, +ancient, but untitled family; and by some event, fault or +misfortune, he was driven to flee from the land of his birth and +to lay aside the name of his ancestors. He sought the +States; and instead of lingering in effeminate cities, pushed at +once into the far West with an exploring party of +frontiersmen. He was no ordinary traveller; for he was not +only brave and impetuous by character, but learned in many +sciences, and above all in botany, which he particularly +loved. Thus it fell that, before many months, Fremont +himself, the nominal leader of the troop, courted and bowed to +his opinion.</p> +<p>They had pushed, as I have said, into the still unknown +regions of the West. For some time they followed the track +of Mormon caravans, guiding themselves in that vast and +melancholy desert by the skeletons of men and animals. Then +they inclined their route a little to the north, and, losing even +these dire memorials, came into a country of forbidding +stillness.</p> +<p>I have often heard my father dwell upon the features of that +ride: rock, cliff, and barren moor alternated; the streams were +very far between; and neither beast nor bird disturbed the +solitude. On the fortieth day they had already run so short +of food that it was judged advisable to call a halt and scatter +upon all sides to hunt. A great fire was built, that its +smoke might serve to rally them; and each man of the party +mounted and struck off at a venture into the surrounding +desert.</p> +<p>My father rode for many hours with a steep range of cliffs +upon the one hand, very black and horrible; and upon the other an +unwatered vale dotted with boulders like the site of some +subverted city. At length he found the slot of a great +animal, and from the claw-marks and the hair among the brush, +judged that he was on the track of a cinnamon bear of most +unusual size. He quickened the pace of his steed, and still +following the quarry, came at last to the division of two +watersheds. On the far side the country was exceeding +intricate and difficult, heaped with boulders, and dotted here +and there with a few pines, which seemed to indicate the +neighbourhood of water. Here, then, he picketed his horse, +and relying on his trusty rifle, advanced alone into that +wilderness.</p> +<p>Presently, in the great silence that reigned, he was aware of +the sound of running water to his right; and leaning in that +direction, was rewarded by a scene of natural wonder and human +pathos strangely intermixed. The stream ran at the bottom +of a narrow and winding passage, whose wall-like sides of rock +were sometimes for miles together unscalable by man. The +water, when the stream was swelled with rains, must have filled +it from side to side; the sun’s rays only plumbed it in the +hour of noon; the wind, in that narrow and damp funnel, blew +tempestuously. And yet, in the bottom of this den, +immediately below my father’s eyes as he leaned over the +margin of the cliff, a party of some half a hundred men, women, +and children lay scattered uneasily among the rocks. They +lay some upon their backs, some prone, and not one stirring; +their upturned faces seemed all of an extraordinary paleness and +emaciation; and from time to time, above the washing of the +stream, a faint sound of moaning mounted to my father’s +ears.</p> +<p>While he thus looked, an old man got staggering to his feet, +unwound his blanket, and laid it, with great gentleness, on a +young girl who sat hard by propped against a rock. The girl +did not seem to be conscious of the act; and the old man, after +having looked upon her with the most engaging pity, returned to +his former bed and lay down again uncovered on the turf. +But the scene had not passed without observation even in that +starving camp. From the very outskirts of the party, a man +with a white beard and seemingly of venerable years, rose upon +his knees, and came crawling stealthily among the sleepers +towards the girl; and judge of my father’s indignation, +when he beheld this cowardly miscreant strip from her both the +coverings and return with them to his original position. +Here he lay down for a while below his spoils, and, as my father +imagined, feigned to be asleep; but presently he had raised +himself again upon one elbow, looked with sharp scrutiny at his +companions, and then swiftly carried his hand into his bosom and +thence to his mouth. By the movement of his jaws he must be +eating; in that camp of famine he had reserved a store of +nourishment; and while his companions lay in the stupor of +approaching death, secretly restored his powers.</p> +<p>My father was so incensed at what he saw that he raised his +rifle; and but for an accident, he has often declared, he would +have shot the fellow dead upon the spot. How different +would then have been my history! But it was not to be: even +as he raised the barrel, his eye lighted on the bear, as it +crawled along a ledge some way below him; and ceding to the +hunters instinct, it was at the brute, not at the man, that he +discharged his piece. The bear leaped and fell into a pool +of the river; the canyon re-echoed the report; and in a moment +the camp was afoot. With cries that were scarce human, +stumbling, falling and throwing each other down, these starving +people rushed upon the quarry; and before my father, climbing +down by the ledge, had time to reach the level of the stream, +many were already satisfying their hunger on the raw flesh, and a +fire was being built by the more dainty.</p> +<p>His arrival was for some time unremarked. He stood in +the midst of these tottering and clay-faced marionettes; he was +surrounded by their cries; but their whole soul was fixed on the +dead carcass; even those who were too weak to move, lay, +half-turned over, with their eyes riveted upon the bear; and my +father, seeing himself stand as though invisible in the thick of +this dreary hubbub, was seized with a desire to weep. A +touch upon the arm restrained him. Turning about, he found +himself face to face with the old man he had so nearly killed; +and yet, at the second glance, recognised him for no old man at +all, but one in the full strength of his years, and of a strong, +speaking, and intellectual countenance stigmatised by weariness +and famine. He beckoned my father near the cliff, and +there, in the most private whisper, begged for brandy. My +father looked at him with scorn: ‘You remind me,’ he +said, ‘of a neglected duty. Here is my flask; it +contains enough, I trust, to revive the women of your party; and +I will begin with her whom I saw you robbing of her +blankets.’ And with that, not heeding his appeals, my +father turned his back upon the egoist.</p> +<p>The girl still lay reclined against the rock; she lay too far +sunk in the first stage of death to have observed the bustle +round her couch; but when my father had raised her head, put the +flask to her lips, and forced or aided her to swallow some drops +of the restorative, she opened her languid eyes and smiled upon +him faintly. Never was there a smile of a more touching +sweetness; never were eyes more deeply violet, more honestly +eloquent of the soul! I speak with knowledge, for these +were the same eyes that smiled upon me in the cradle. From +her who was to be his wife, my father, still jealously watched +and followed by the man with the grey beard, carried his +attentions to all the women of the party, and gave the last +drainings of his flask to those among the men who seemed in the +most need.</p> +<p>‘Is there none left? not a drop for me?’ said the +man with the beard.</p> +<p>‘Not one drop,’ replied my father; ‘and if +you find yourself in want, let me counsel you to put your hand +into the pocket of your coat.’</p> +<p>‘Ah!’ cried the other, ‘you misjudge +me. You think me one who clings to life for selfish and +commonplace considerations. But let me tell you, that were +all this caravan to perish, the world would but be lightened of a +weight. These are but human insects, pullulating, thick as +May-flies, in the slums of European cities, whom I myself have +plucked from degradation and misery, from the dung-heap and +gin-palace door. And you compare their lives with +mine!’</p> +<p>‘You are then a Mormon missionary?’ asked my +father.</p> +<p>‘Oh!’ cried the man, with a strange smile, +‘a Mormon missionary if you will! I value not the +title. Were I no more than that, I could have died without +a murmur. But with my life as a physician is bound up the +knowledge of great secrets and the future of man. This it +was, when we missed the caravan, tried for a short cut and +wandered to this desolate ravine, that ate into my soul, and, in +five days, has changed my beard from ebony to silver.’</p> +<p>‘And you are a physician,’ mused my father, +looking on his face, ‘bound by oath to succour man in his +distresses.’</p> +<p>‘Sir,’ returned the Mormon, ‘my name is +Grierson: you will hear that name again; and you will then +understand that my duty was not to this caravan of paupers, but +to mankind at large.’</p> +<p>My father turned to the remainder of the party, who were now +sufficiently revived to hear; told them that he would set off at +once to bring help from his own party; ‘and,’ he +added, ‘if you be again reduced to such extremities, look +round you, and you will see the earth strewn with +assistance. Here, for instance, growing on the under side +of fissures in this cliff, you will perceive a yellow moss. +Trust me, it is both edible and excellent.’</p> +<p>‘Ha!’ said Doctor Grierson, ‘you know +botany!’</p> +<p>‘Not I alone,’ returned my father, lowering his +voice; ‘for see where these have been scraped away. +Am I right? Was that your secret store?’</p> +<p>My father’s comrades, he found, when he returned to the +signal-fire, had made a good day’s hunting. They were +thus the more easily persuaded to extend assistance to the Mormon +caravan; and the next day beheld both parties on the march for +the frontiers of Utah. The distance to be traversed was not +great; but the nature of the country, and the difficulty of +procuring food, extended the time to nearly three weeks; and my +father had thus ample leisure to know and appreciate the girl +whom he had succoured. I will call my mother Lucy. +Her family name I am not at liberty to mention; it is one you +would know well. By what series of undeserved calamities +this innocent flower of maidenhood, lovely, refined by education, +ennobled by the finest taste, was thus cast among the horrors of +a Mormon caravan, I must not stay to tell you. Let it +suffice, that even in these untoward circumstances, she found a +heart worthy of her own. The ardour of attachment which +united my father and mother was perhaps partly due to the strange +manner of their meeting; it knew, at least, no bounds either +divine or human; my father, for her sake, determined to renounce +his ambitions and abjure his faith; and a week had not yet passed +upon the march before he had resigned from his party, accepted +the Mormon doctrine, and received the promise of my +mother’s hand on the arrival of the party at Salt Lake.</p> +<p>The marriage took place, and I was its only offspring. +My father prospered exceedingly in his affairs, remained faithful +to my mother; and though you may wonder to hear it, I believe +there were few happier homes in any country than that in which I +saw the light and grew to girlhood. We were, indeed, and in +spite of all our wealth, avoided as heretics and half-believers +by the more precise and pious of the faithful: Young himself, +that formidable tyrant, was known to look askance upon my +father’s riches; but of this I had no guess. I dwelt, +indeed, under the Mormon system, with perfect innocence and +faith. Some of our friends had many wives; but such was the +custom; and why should it surprise me more than marriage +itself? From time to time one of our rich acquaintances +would disappear, his family be broken up, his wives and houses +shared among the elders of the Church, and his memory only +recalled with bated breath and dreadful headshakings. When +I had been very still, and my presence perhaps was forgotten, +some such topic would arise among my elders by the evening fire; +I would see them draw the closer together and look behind them +with scared eyes; and I might gather from their whisperings how +some one, rich, honoured, healthy, and in the prime of his days, +some one, perhaps, who had taken me on his knees a week before, +had in one hour been spirited from home and family, and vanished +like an image from a mirror, leaving not a print behind. It +was terrible, indeed; but so was death, the universal law. +And even if the talk should wax still bolder, full of ominous +silences and nods, and I should hear named in a whisper the +Destroying Angels, how was a child to understand these +mysteries? I heard of a Destroying Angel as some more happy +child might hear in England of a bishop or a rural dean, with +vague respect and without the wish for further information. +Life anywhere, in society as in nature, rests upon dread +foundations; I beheld safe roads, a garden blooming in the +desert, pious people crowding to worship; I was aware of my +parents’ tenderness and all the harmless luxuries of my +existence; and why should I pry beneath this honest seeming +surface for the mysteries on which it stood?</p> +<p>We dwelt originally in the city; but at an early date we moved +to a beautiful house in a green dingle, musical with splashing +water, and surrounded on almost every side by twenty miles of +poisonous and rocky desert. The city was thirty miles away; +there was but one road, which went no further than my +father’s door; the rest were bridle-tracks impassable in +winter; and we thus dwelt in a solitude inconceivable to the +European. Our only neighbour was Dr. Grierson. To my +young eyes, after the hair-oiled, chin-bearded elders of the +city, and the ill-favoured and mentally stunted women of their +harems, there was something agreeable in the correct manner, the +fine bearing, the thin white hair and beard, and the piercing +looks of the old doctor. Yet, though he was almost our only +visitor, I never wholly overcame a sense of fear in his presence; +and this disquietude was rather fed by the awful solitude in +which he lived and the obscurity that hung about his +occupations. His house was but a mile or two from ours, but +very differently placed. It stood overlooking the road on +the summit of a steep slope, and planted close against a range of +overhanging bluffs. Nature, you would say, had here desired +to imitate the works of man; for the slope was even, like the +glacis of a fort, and the cliffs of a constant height, like the +ramparts of a city. Not even spring could change one +feature of that desolate scene; and the windows looked down +across a plain, snowy with alkali, to ranges of cold stone +sierras on the north. Twice or thrice I remember passing +within view of this forbidding residence; and seeing it always +shuttered, smokeless, and deserted, I remarked to my parents that +some day it would certainly be robbed.</p> +<p>‘Ah, no,’ said my father, ‘never +robbed;’ and I observed a strange conviction in his +tone.</p> +<p>At last, and not long before the blow fell on my unhappy +family, I chanced to see the doctor’s house in a new +light. My father was ill; my mother confined to his +bedside; and I was suffered to go, under the charge of our +driver, to the lonely house some twenty miles away, where our +packages were left for us. The horse cast a shoe; night +overtook us halfway home; and it was well on for three in the +morning when the driver and I, alone in a light waggon, came to +that part of the road which ran below the doctor’s +house. The moon swam clear; the cliffs and mountains in +this strong light lay utterly deserted; but the house, from its +station on the top of the long slope and close under the bluff, +not only shone abroad from every window like a place of festival, +but from the great chimney at the west end poured forth a coil of +smoke so thick and so voluminous, that it hung for miles along +the windless night air, and its shadow lay far abroad in the +moonlight upon the glittering alkali. As we continued to +draw near, besides, a regular and panting throb began to divide +the silence. First it seemed to me like the beating of a +heart; and next it put into my mind the thought of some giant, +smothered under mountains and still, with incalculable effort, +fetching breath. I had heard of the railway, though I had +not seen it, and I turned to ask the driver if this resembled +it. But some look in his eye, some pallor, whether of fear +or moonlight on his face, caused the words to die upon my +lips. We continued, therefore, to advance in silence, till +we were close below the lighted house; when suddenly, without one +premonitory rustle, there burst forth a report of such a bigness +that it shook the earth and set the echoes of the mountains +thundering from cliff to cliff. A pillar of amber flame +leaped from the chimney-top and fell in multitudes of sparks; and +at the same time the lights in the windows turned for one instant +ruby red and then expired. The driver had checked his horse +instinctively, and the echoes were still rumbling farther off +among the mountains, when there broke from the now darkened +interior a series of yells—whether of man or woman it was +impossible to guess—the door flew open, and there ran forth +into the moonlight, at the top of the long slope, a figure clad +in white, which began to dance and leap and throw itself down, +and roll as if in agony, before the house. I could no more +restrain my cries; the driver laid his lash about the +horse’s flank, and we fled up the rough track at the peril +of our lives; and did not draw rein till, turning the corner of +the mountain, we beheld my father’s ranch and deep, green +groves and gardens, sleeping in the tranquil light.</p> +<p>This was the one adventure of my life, until my father had +climbed to the very topmost point of material prosperity, and I +myself had reached the age of seventeen. I was still +innocent and merry like a child; tended my garden or ran upon the +hills in glad simplicity; gave not a thought to coquetry or to +material cares; and if my eye rested on my own image in a mirror +or some sylvan spring, it was to seek and recognise the features +of my parents. But the fears which had long pressed on +others were now to be laid on my youth. I had thrown +myself, one sultry, cloudy afternoon, on a divan; the windows +stood open on the verandah, where my mother sat with her +embroidery; and when my father joined her from the garden, their +conversation, clearly audible to me, was of so startling a nature +that it held me enthralled where I lay.</p> +<p>‘The blow has come,’ my father said, after a long +pause.</p> +<p>I could hear my mother start and turn, but in words she made +no reply.</p> +<p>‘Yes,’ continued my father, ‘I have received +to-day a list of all that I possess; of all, I say; of what I +have lent privately to men whose lips are sealed with terror; of +what I have buried with my own hand on the bare mountain, when +there was not a bird in heaven. Does the air, then, carry +secrets? Are the hills of glass? Do the stones we +tread upon preserve the footprint to betray us? Oh, Lucy, +Lucy, that we should have come to such a country!’</p> +<p>‘But this,’ returned my mother, ‘is no very +new or very threatening event. You are accused of some +concealment. You will pay more taxes in the future, and be +mulcted in a fine. It is disquieting, indeed, to find our +acts so spied upon, and the most private known. But is this +new? Have we not long feared and suspected every blade of +grass?’</p> +<p>‘Ay, and our shadows!’ cried my father. +‘But all this is nothing. Here is the letter that +accompanied the list.’</p> +<p>I heard my mother turn the pages, and she was some time +silent.</p> +<p>‘I see,’ she said at last; and then, with the tone +of one reading: ‘“From a believer so largely blessed +by Providence with this world’s goods,”’ she +continued, ‘“the Church awaits in confidence some +signal mark of piety.” There lies the sting. Am +I not right? These are the words you fear?’</p> +<p>‘These are the words,’ replied my father. +‘Lucy, you remember Priestley? Two days before he +disappeared, he carried me to the summit of an isolated butte; we +could see around us for ten miles; sure, if in any quarter of +this land a man were safe from spies, it were in such a station; +but it was in the very ague-fit of terror that he told me, and +that I heard, his story. He had received a letter such as +this; and he submitted to my approval an answer, in which he +offered to resign a third of his possessions. I conjured +him, as he valued life, to raise his offering; and, before we +parted, he had doubled the amount. Well, two days later he +was gone—gone from the chief street of the city in the hour +of noon—and gone for ever. O God!’ cried my +father, ‘by what art do they thus spirit out of life the +solid body? What death do they command that leaves no +traces? that this material structure, these strong arms, this +skeleton that can resist the grave for centuries, should be thus +reft in a moment from the world of sense? A horror dwells +in that thought more awful than mere death.’</p> +<p>‘Is there no hope in Grierson?’ asked my +mother.</p> +<p>‘Dismiss the thought,’ replied my father. +‘He now knows all that I can teach, and will do naught to +save me. His power, besides, is small, his own danger not +improbably more imminent than mine; for he, too, lives apart; he +leaves his wives neglected and unwatched; he is openly cited for +an unbeliever; and unless he buys security at a more awful +price—but no; I will not believe it: I have no love for +him, but I will not believe it.’</p> +<p>‘Believe what?’ asked my mother; and then, with a +change of note, ‘But oh, what matters it?’ she +cried. ‘Abimelech, there is but one way open: we must +fly!’</p> +<p>‘It is in vain,’ returned my father. +‘I should but involve you in my fate. To leave this +land is hopeless: we are closed in it as men are closed in life; +and there is no issue but the grave.’</p> +<p>‘We can but die then,’ replied my mother. +‘Let us at least die together. Let not Asenath <a +name="citation43"></a><a href="#footnote43" +class="citation">[43]</a> and myself survive you. Think to +what a fate we should be doomed!’</p> +<p>My father was unable to resist her tender violence; and though +I could see he nourished not one spark of hope, he consented to +desert his whole estate, beyond some hundreds of dollars that he +had by him at the moment, and to flee that night, which promised +to be dark and cloudy. As soon as the servants were asleep, +he was to load two mules with provisions; two others were to +carry my mother and myself; and, striking through the mountains +by an unfrequented trail, we were to make a fair stroke for +liberty and life. As soon as they had thus decided, I +showed myself at the window, and, owning that I had heard all, +assured them that they could rely on my prudence and +devotion. I had no fear, indeed, but to show myself +unworthy of my birth; I held my life in my hand without alarm; +and when my father, weeping upon my neck, had blessed Heaven for +the courage of his child, it was with a sentiment of pride and +some of the joy that warriors take in war, that I began to look +forward to the perils of our flight.</p> +<p>Before midnight, under an obscure and starless heaven, we had +left far behind us the plantations of the valley, and were +mounting a certain canyon in the hills, narrow, encumbered with +great rocks, and echoing with the roar of a tumultuous +torrent. Cascade after cascade thundered and hung up its +flag of whiteness in the night, or fanned our faces with the wet +wind of its descent. The trail was breakneck, and led to +famine-guarded deserts; it had been long since deserted for more +practicable routes; and it was now a part of the world untrod +from year to year by human footing. Judge of our dismay, when +turning suddenly an angle of the cliffs, we found a bright +bonfire blazing by itself under an impending rock; and on the +face of the rock, drawn very rudely with charred wood, the great +Open Eye which is the emblem of the Mormon faith. We looked +upon each other in the firelight; my mother broke into a passion +of tears; but not a word was said. The mules were turned +about; and leaving that great eye to guard the lonely canyon, we +retraced our steps in silence. Day had not yet broken ere +we were once more at home, condemned beyond reprieve.</p> +<p>What answer my father sent I was not told; but two days later, +a little before sundown, I saw a plain, honest-looking man ride +slowly up the road in a great pother of dust. He was clad +in homespun, with a broad straw hat; wore a patriarchal beard; +and had an air of a simple rustic farmer, that was, in my eyes, +very reassuring. He was, indeed, a very honest man and +pious Mormon; with no liking for his errand, though neither he +nor any one in Utah dared to disobey; and it was with every mark +of diffidence that he had had himself announced as Mr. Aspinwall, +and entered the room where our unhappy family was gathered. +My mother and me, he awkwardly enough dismissed; and as soon as +he was alone with my father laid before him a blank signature of +President Young’s, and offered him a choice of services: +either to set out as a missionary to the tribes about the White +Sea, or to join the next day, with a party of Destroying Angels, +in the massacre of sixty German immigrants. The last, of +course, my father could not entertain, and the first he regarded +as a pretext: even if he could consent to leave his wife +defenceless, and to collect fresh victims for the tyranny under +which he was himself oppressed, he felt sure he would never be +suffered to return. He refused both; and Aspinwall, he +said, betrayed sincere emotion, part religious, at the spectacle +of such disobedience, but part human, in pity for my father and +his family. He besought him to reconsider his decision; and +at length, finding he could not prevail, gave him till the moon +rose to settle his affairs, and say farewell to wife and +daughter. ‘For,’ said he, ‘then, at the +latest, you must ride with me.’</p> +<p>I dare not dwell upon the hours that followed: they fled all +too fast; and presently the moon out-topped the eastern range, +and my father and Mr. Aspinwall set forth, side by side, on their +nocturnal journey. My mother, though still bearing an +heroic countenance, had hastened to shut herself in her +apartment, thenceforward solitary; and I, alone in the dark +house, and consumed by grief and apprehension, made haste to +saddle my Indian pony, to ride up to the corner of the mountain, +and to enjoy one farewell sight of my departing father. The +two men had set forth at a deliberate pace; nor was I long behind +them, when I reached the point of view. I was the more +amazed to see no moving creature in the landscape. The +moon, as the saying is, shone bright as day; and nowhere, under +the whole arch of night, was there a growing tree, a bush, a +farm, a patch of tillage, or any evidence of man, but one. +From the corner where I stood, a rugged bastion of the line of +bluffs concealed the doctor’s house; and across the top of +that projection the soft night wind carried and unwound about the +hills a coil of sable smoke. What fuel could produce a +vapour so sluggish to dissipate in that dry air, or what furnace +pour it forth so copiously, I was unable to conceive; but I knew +well enough that it came from the doctor’s chimney; I saw +well enough that my father had already disappeared; and in +despite of reason, I connected in my mind the loss of that dear +protector with the ribbon of foul smoke that trailed along the +mountains.</p> +<p>Days passed, and still my mother and I waited in vain for +news; a week went by, a second followed, but we heard no word of +the father and husband. As smoke dissipates, as the image +glides from the mirror, so in the ten or twenty minutes that I +had spent in getting my horse and following upon his trail, had +that strong and brave man vanished out of life. Hope, if +any hope we had, fled with every hour; the worst was now certain +for my father, the worst was to be dreaded for his defenceless +family. Without weakness, with a desperate calm at which I +marvel when I look back upon it, the widow and the orphan awaited +the event. On the last day of the third week we rose in the +morning to find ourselves alone in the house, alone, so far as we +searched, on the estate; all our attendants, with one accord, had +fled: and as we knew them to be gratefully devoted, we drew the +darkest intimations from their flight. The day passed, +indeed, without event; but in the fall of the evening we were +called at last into the verandah by the approaching clink of +horse’s hoofs.</p> +<p>The doctor, mounted on an Indian pony, rode into the garden, +dismounted, and saluted us. He seemed much more bent, and +his hair more silvery than ever; but his demeanour was composed, +serious, and not unkind.</p> +<p>‘Madam,’ said he, ‘I am come upon a weighty +errand; and I would have you recognise it as an effect of +kindness in the President, that he should send as his ambassador +your only neighbour and your husband’s oldest friend in +Utah.’</p> +<p>‘Sir,’ said my mother, ‘I have but one +concern, one thought. You know well what it is. +Speak: my husband?’</p> +<p>‘Madam,’ returned the doctor, taking a chair on +the verandah, ‘if you were a silly child, my position would +now be painfully embarrassing. You are, on the other hand, +a woman of great intelligence and fortitude: you have, by my +forethought, been allowed three weeks to draw your own +conclusions and to accept the inevitable. Farther words +from me are, I conceive, superfluous.’</p> +<p>My mother was as pale as death, and trembled like a reed; I +gave her my hand, and she kept it in the folds of her dress and +wrung it till I could have cried aloud. ‘Then, +sir,’ said she at last, ‘you speak to deaf +ears. If this be indeed so, what have I to do with +errands? What do I ask of Heaven but to die?’</p> +<p>‘Come,’ said the doctor, ‘command +yourself. I bid you dismiss all thoughts of your late +husband, and bring a clear mind to bear upon your own future and +the fate of that young girl.’</p> +<p>‘You bid me dismiss—’ began my mother. +‘Then you know!’ she cried.</p> +<p>‘I know,’ replied the doctor.</p> +<p>‘You know?’ broke out the poor woman. +‘Then it was you who did the deed! I tear off the +mask, and with dread and loathing see you as you are—you, +whom the poor fugitive beholds in nightmares, and awakes +raving—you, the Destroying Angel!’</p> +<p>‘Well, madam, and what then?’ returned the +doctor. ‘Have not my fate and yours been +similar? Are we not both immured in this strong prison of +Utah? Have you not tried to flee, and did not the Open Eye +confront you in the canyon? Who can escape the watch of +that unsleeping eye of Utah? Not I, at least. +Horrible tasks have, indeed, been laid upon me; and the most +ungrateful was the last; but had I refused my offices, would that +have spared your husband? You know well it would not. +I, too, had perished along with him; nor would I have been able +to alleviate his last moments, nor could I to-day have stood +between his family and the hand of Brigham Young.’</p> +<p>‘Ah!’ cried I, ‘and could you purchase life +by such concessions?’</p> +<p>‘Young lady,’ answered the doctor, ‘I both +could and did; and you will live to thank me for that +baseness. You have a spirit, Asenath, that it pleases me to +recognise. But we waste time. Mr. Fonblanque’s +estate reverts, as you doubtless imagine, to the Church; but some +part of it has been reserved for him who is to marry the family; +and that person, I should perhaps tell you without more delay, is +no other than myself.’</p> +<p>At this odious proposal my mother and I cried out aloud, and +clung together like lost souls.</p> +<p>‘It is as I supposed,’ resumed the doctor, with +the same measured utterance. ‘You recoil from this +arrangement. Do you expect me to convince you? You +know very well that I have never held the Mormon view of +women. Absorbed in the most arduous studies, I have left +the slatterns whom they call my wives to scratch and quarrel +among themselves; of me, they have had nothing but my purse; such +was not the union I desired, even if I had the leisure to pursue +it. No: you need not, madam, and my old +friend’—and here the doctor rose and bowed with +something of gallantry—‘you need not apprehend my +importunities. On the contrary, I am rejoiced to read in +you a Roman spirit; and if I am obliged to bid you follow me at +once, and that in the name, not of my wish, but of my orders, I +hope it will be found that we are of a common mind.’</p> +<p>So, bidding us dress for the road, he took a lamp (for the +night had now fallen) and set off to the stable to prepare our +horses.</p> +<p>‘What does it mean?—what will become of us?’ +I cried.</p> +<p>‘Not that, at least,’ replied my mother, +shuddering. ‘So far we can trust him. I seem to +read among his words a certain tragic promise. Asenath, if +I leave you, if I die, you will not forget your miserable +parents?’</p> +<p>Thereupon we fell to cross-purposes: I beseeching her to +explain her words; she putting me by, and continuing to recommend +the doctor for a friend. ‘The doctor!’ I cried +at last; ‘the man who killed my father?’</p> +<p>‘Nay,’ said she, ‘let us be just. I do +believe before, Heaven, he played the friendliest part. And +he alone, Asenath, can protect you in this land of +death.’</p> +<p>At this the doctor returned, leading our two horses; and when +we were all in the saddle, he bade me ride on before, as he had +matter to discuss with Mrs. Fonblanque. They came at a +foot’s pace, eagerly conversing in a whisper; and presently +after the moon rose and showed them looking eagerly in each +other’s faces as they went, my mother laying her hand upon +the doctor’s arm, and the doctor himself, against his usual +custom, making vigorous gestures of protest or asseveration.</p> +<p>At the foot of the track which ascended the talus of the +mountain to his door, the doctor overtook me at a trot.</p> +<p>‘Here,’ he said, ‘we shall dismount; and as +your mother prefers to be alone, you and I shall walk together to +my house.’</p> +<p>‘Shall I see her again?’ I asked.</p> +<p>‘I give you my word,’ he said, and helped me to +alight. ‘We leave the horses here,’ he +added. ‘There are no thieves in this stone +wilderness.’</p> +<p>The track mounted gradually, keeping the house in view. +The windows were once more bright; the chimney once more vomited +smoke; but the most absolute silence reigned, and, but for the +figure of my mother very slowly following in our wake, I felt +convinced there was no human soul within a range of miles. +At the thought, I looked upon the doctor, gravely walking by my +side, with his bowed shoulders and white hair, and then once more +at his house, lit up and pouring smoke like some industrious +factory. And then my curiosity broke forth. ‘In +Heaven’s name,’ I cried, ‘what do you make in +this inhuman desert?’</p> +<p>He looked at me with a peculiar smile, and answered with an +evasion—</p> +<p>‘This is not the first time,’ said he, ‘that +you have seen my furnaces alight. One morning, in the small +hours, I saw you driving past; a delicate experiment miscarried; +and I cannot acquit myself of having startled either your driver +or the horse that drew you.’</p> +<p>‘What!’ cried I, beholding again in fancy the +antics of the figure, ‘could that be you?’</p> +<p>‘It was I,’ he replied; ‘but do not fancy +that I was mad. I was in agony. I had been scalded +cruelly.’</p> +<p>We were now near the house, which, unlike the ordinary houses +of the country, was built of hewn stone and very solid. +Stone, too, was its foundation, stone its background. Not a +blade of grass sprouted among the broken mineral about the walls, +not a flower adorned the windows. Over the door, by way of +sole adornment, the Mormon Eye was rudely sculptured; I had been +brought up to view that emblem from my childhood; but since the +night of our escape, it had acquired a new significance, and set +me shrinking. The smoke rolled voluminously from the +chimney top, its edges ruddy with the fire; and from the far +corner of the building, near the ground, angry puffs of steam +shone snow-white in the moon and vanished.</p> +<p>The doctor opened the door and paused upon the +threshold. ‘You ask me what I make here,’ he +observed. ‘Two things: Life and Death.’ +And he motioned me to enter.</p> +<p>‘I shall await my mother,’ said I.</p> +<p>‘Child,’ he replied, ‘look at me: am I not +old and broken? Of us two, which is the stronger, the young +maiden or the withered man?’</p> +<p>I bowed, and passing by him, entered a vestibule or kitchen, +lit by a good fire and a shaded reading-lamp. It was +furnished only with a dresser, a rude table, and some wooden +benches; and on one of these the doctor motioned me to take a +seat; and passing by another door into the interior of the house, +he left me to myself. Presently I heard the jar of iron +from the far end of the building; and this was followed by the +same throbbing noise that had startled me in the valley, but now +so near at hand as to be menacing by loudness, and even to shake +the house with every recurrence of the stroke. I had scarce +time to master my alarm when the doctor returned, and almost in +the same moment my mother appeared upon the threshold. But +how am I to describe to you the peace and ravishment of that +face? Years seemed to have passed over her head during that +brief ride, and left her younger and fairer; her eyes shone, her +smile went to my heart; she seemed no more a woman but the angel +of ecstatic tenderness. I ran to her in a kind of terror; +but she shrank a little back and laid her finger on her lips, +with something arch and yet unearthly. To the doctor, on +the contrary, she reached out her hand as to a friend and helper; +and so strange was the scene that I forgot to be offended.</p> +<p>‘Lucy,’ said the doctor, ‘all is +prepared. Will you go alone, or shall your daughter follow +us?’</p> +<p>‘Let Asenath come,’ she answered, ‘dear +Asenath! At this hour, when I am purified of fear and +sorrow, and already survive myself and my affections, it is for +your sake, and not for mine, that I desire her presence. +Were she shut out, dear friend, it is to be feared she might +misjudge your kindness.’</p> +<p>‘Mother,’ I cried wildly, ‘mother, what is +this?’</p> +<p>But my mother, with her radiant smile, said only +‘Hush!’ as though I were a child again, and tossing +in some fever-fit; and the doctor bade me be silent and trouble +her no more. ‘You have made a choice,’ he +continued, addressing my mother, ‘that has often strangely +tempted me. The two extremes: all, or else nothing; never, +or this very hour upon the clock—these have been my +incongruous desires. But to accept the middle term, to be +content with a half-gift, to flicker awhile and to burn +out—never for an hour, never since I was born, has +satisfied the appetite of my ambition.’ He looked +upon my mother fixedly, much of admiration and some touch of envy +in his eyes; then, with a profound sigh, he led the way into the +inner room.</p> +<p>It was very long. From end to end it was lit up by many +lamps, which by the changeful colour of their light, and by the +incessant snapping sounds with which they burned, I have since +divined to be electric. At the extreme end an open door +gave us a glimpse into what must have been a lean-to shed beside +the chimney; and this, in strong contrast to the room, was +painted with a red reverberation as from furnace-doors. The +walls were lined with books and glazed cases, the tables crowded +with the implements of chemical research; great glass +accumulators glittered in the light; and through a hole in the +gable near the shed door, a heavy driving-belt entered the +apartment and ran overhead upon steel pulleys, with clumsy +activity and many ghostly and fluttering sounds. In one +corner I perceived a chair resting upon crystal feet, and +curiously wreathed with wire. To this my mother advanced +with a decisive swiftness.</p> +<p>‘Is this it?’ she asked.</p> +<p>The doctor bowed in silence.</p> +<p>‘Asenath,’ said my mother, ‘in this sad end +of my life I have found one helper. Look upon him: it is +Doctor Grierson. Be not, oh my daughter, be not ungrateful +to that friend!’</p> +<p>She sate upon the chair, and took in her hands the globes that +terminated the arms.</p> +<p>‘Am I right?’ she asked, and looked upon the +doctor with such a radiancy of face that I trembled for her +reason. Once more the doctor bowed, but this time leaning +hard against the wall. He must have touched a spring. +The least shock agitated my mother where she sat; the least +passing jar appeared to cross her features; and she sank back in +the chair like one resigned to weariness. I was at her +knees that moment; but her hands fell loosely in my grasp; her +face, still beatified with the same touching smile, sank forward +on her bosom: her spirit had for ever fled.</p> +<p>I do not know how long may have elapsed before, raising for a +moment my tearful face, I met the doctor’s eyes. They +rested upon mine with such a depth of scrutiny, pity, and +interest, that even from the freshness of my sorrow, I was +startled into attention.</p> +<p>‘Enough,’ he said, ‘to lamentation. +Your mother went to death as to a bridal, dying where her husband +died. It is time, Asenath, to think of the survivors. +Follow me to the next room.’</p> +<p>I followed him, like a person in a dream; he made me sit by +the fire, he gave me wine to drink; and then, pacing the stone +floor, he thus began to address me—</p> +<p>‘You are now, my child, alone in the world, and under +the immediate watch of Brigham Young. It would be your lot, +in ordinary circumstances, to become the fiftieth bride of some +ignoble elder, or by particular fortune, as fortune is counted in +this land, to find favour in the eyes of the President +himself. Such a fate for a girl like you were worse than +death; better to die as your mother died than to sink daily +deeper in the mire of this pit of woman’s +degradation. But is escape conceivable? Your father +tried; and you beheld yourself with what security his jailers +acted, and how a dumb drawing on a rock was counted a sufficient +sentry over the avenues of freedom. Where your father +failed, will you be wiser or more fortunate? or are you, too, +helpless in the toils?’</p> +<p>I had followed his words with changing emotion, but now I +believed I understood.</p> +<p>‘I see,’ I cried; ‘you judge me +rightly. I must follow where my parents led; and oh! I am +not only willing, I am eager!’</p> +<p>‘No,’ replied the doctor, ‘not death for +you. The flawed vessel we may break, but not the +perfect. No, your mother cherished a different hope, and so +do I. I see,’ he cried, ‘the girl develop to +the completed woman, the plan reach fulfilment, the +promise—ay, outdone! I could not bear to arrest so +lively, so comely a process. It was your mother’s +thought,’ he added, with a change of tone, ‘that I +should marry you myself.’ I fear I must have shown a +perfect horror of aversion from this fate, for he made haste to +quiet me. ‘Reassure yourself, Asenath,’ he +resumed. ‘Old as I am, I have not forgotten the +tumultuous fancies of youth. I have passed my days, indeed, +in laboratories; but in all my vigils I have not forgotten the +tune of a young pulse. Age asks with timidity to be spared +intolerable pain; youth, taking fortune by the beard, demands joy +like a right. These things I have not forgotten; none, +rather, has more keenly felt, none more jealously considered +them; I have but postponed them to their day. See, then: +you stand without support; the only friend left to you, this old +investigator, old in cunning, young in sympathy. Answer me +but one question: Are you free from the entanglement of what the +world calls love? Do you still command your heart and +purposes? or are you fallen in some bond-slavery of the eye and +ear?’</p> +<p>I answered him in broken words; my heart, I think I must have +told him, lay with my dead parents.</p> +<p>‘It is enough,’ he said. ‘It has been +my fate to be called on often, too often, for those services of +which we spoke to-night; none in Utah could carry them so well to +a conclusion; hence there has fallen into my hands a certain +share of influence which I now lay at your service, partly for +the sake of my dead friends, your parents; partly for the +interest I bear you in your own right. I shall send you to +England, to the great city of London, there to await the +bridegroom I have selected. He shall be a son of mine, a +young man suitable in age and not grossly deficient in that +quality of beauty that your years demand. Since your heart +is free, you may well pledge me the sole promise that I ask in +return for much expense and still more danger: to await the +arrival of that bridegroom with the delicacy of a +wife.’</p> +<p>I sat awhile stunned. The doctor’s marriages, I +remembered to have heard, had been unfruitful; and this added +perplexity to my distress. But I was alone, as he had said, +alone in that dark land; the thought of escape, of any equal +marriage, was already enough to revive in me some dawn of hope; +and in what words I know not, I accepted the proposal.</p> +<p>He seemed more moved by my consent than I could reasonably +have looked for. ‘You shall see,’ he cried; +‘you shall judge for yourself.’ And hurrying to +the next room he returned with a small portrait somewhat coarsely +done in oils. It showed a man in the dress of nearly forty +years before, young indeed, but still recognisable to be the +doctor. ‘Do you like it?’ he asked. +‘That is myself when I was young. My—my boy +will be like that, like but nobler; with such health as angels +might condescend to envy; and a man of mind, Asenath, of +commanding mind. That should be a man, I think; that should +be one among ten thousand. A man like that—one to +combine the passions of youth with the restraint, the force, the +dignity of age—one to fill all the parts and faculties, one +to be man’s epitome—say, will that not satisfy the +needs of an ambitious girl? Say, is not that +enough?’ And as he held the picture close before my +eyes, his hands shook.</p> +<p>I told him briefly I would ask no better, for I was +transpierced with this display of fatherly emotion; but even as I +said the words, the most insolent revolt surged through my +arteries. I held him in horror, him, his portrait, and his +son; and had there been any choice but death or a Mormon +marriage, I declare before Heaven I had embraced it.</p> +<p>‘It is well,’ he replied, ‘and I had rightly +counted on your spirit. Eat, then, for you have far to +go.’ So saying, he set meat before me; and while I +was endeavouring to obey, he left the room and returned with an +armful of coarse raiment. ‘There,’ said he, +‘is your disguise. I leave you to your +toilet.’</p> +<p>The clothes had probably belonged to a somewhat lubberly boy +of fifteen; and they hung about me like a sack, and cruelly +hampered my movements. But what filled me with +uncontrollable shudderings, was the problem of their origin and +the fate of the lad to whom they had belonged. I had +scarcely effected the exchange when the doctor returned, opened a +back window, helped me out into the narrow space between the +house and the overhanging bluffs, and showed me a ladder of iron +footholds mortised in the rock. ‘Mount,’ he +said, ‘swiftly. When you are at the summit, walk, so +far as you are able, in the shadow of the smoke. The smoke +will bring you, sooner or later, to a canyon; follow that down, +and you will find a man with two horses. Him you will +implicitly obey. And remember, silence! That +machinery, which I now put in motion for your service, may by one +word be turned against you. Go; Heaven prosper +you!’</p> +<p>The ascent was easy. Arrived at the top of the cliff, I +saw before me on the other side a vast and gradual declivity of +stone, lying bare to the moon and the surrounding +mountains. Nowhere was any vantage or concealment; and +knowing how these deserts were beset with spies, I made haste to +veil my movements under the blowing trail of smoke. +Sometimes it swam high, rising on the night wind, and I had no +more substantial curtain than its moon-thrown shadow; sometimes +again it crawled upon the earth, and I would walk in it, no +higher than to my shoulders, like some mountain fog. But, +one way or another, the smoke of that ill-omened furnace +protected the first steps of my escape, and led me unobserved to +the canyon.</p> +<p>There, sure enough, I found a taciturn and sombre man beside a +pair of saddle-horses; and thenceforward, all night long, we +wandered in silence by the most occult and dangerous paths among +the mountains. A little before the dayspring we took refuge +in a wet and gusty cavern at the bottom of a gorge; lay there all +day concealed; and the next night, before the glow had faded out +of the west, resumed our wanderings. About noon we stopped +again, in a lawn upon a little river, where was a screen of +bushes; and here my guide, handing me a bundle from his pack, +bade me change my dress once more. The bundle contained +clothing of my own, taken from our house, with such necessaries +as a comb and soap. I made my toilet by the mirror of a +quiet pool; and as I was so doing, and smiling with some +complacency to see myself restored to my own image, the mountains +rang with a scream of far more than human piercingness; and while +I still stood astonished, there sprang up and swiftly increased a +storm of the most awful and earth-rending sounds. Shall I +own to you, that I fell upon my face and shrieked? And yet +this was but the overland train winding among the near mountains: +the very means of my salvation: the strong wings that were to +carry me from Utah!</p> +<p>When I was dressed, the guide gave me a bag, which contained, +he said, both money and papers; and telling me that I was already +over the borders in the territory of Wyoming, bade me follow the +stream until I reached the railway station, half a mile +below. ‘Here,’ he added, ‘is your ticket +as far as Council Bluffs. The East express will pass in a +few hours.’ With that, he took both horses, and, +without further words or any salutation, rode off by the way that +we had come.</p> +<p>Three hours afterwards, I was seated on the end platform of +the train as it swept eastward through the gorges and thundered +in tunnels of the mountain. The change of scene, the sense +of escape, the still throbbing terror of pursuit—above all, +the astounding magic of my new conveyance, kept me from any +logical or melancholy thought. I had gone to the +doctor’s house two nights before prepared to die, prepared +for worse than death; what had passed, terrible although it was, +looked almost bright compared to my anticipations; and it was not +till I had slept a full night in the flying palace car, that I +awoke to the sense of my irreparable loss and to some reasonable +alarm about the future. In this mood, I examined the +contents of the bag. It was well supplied with gold; it +contained tickets and complete directions for my journey as far +as Liverpool, and a long letter from the doctor, supplying me +with a fictitious name and story, recommending the most guarded +silence, and bidding me to await faithfully the coming of his +son. All then had been arranged beforehand: he had counted +upon my consent, and what was tenfold worse, upon my +mother’s voluntary death. My horror of my only +friend, my aversion for this son who was to marry me, my revolt +against the whole current and conditions of my life, were now +complete. I was sitting stupefied by my distress and +helplessness, when, to my joy, a very pleasant lady offered me +her conversation. I clutched at the relief; and I was soon +glibly telling her the story in the doctor’s letter: how I +was a Miss Gould, of Nevada City, going to England to an uncle, +what money I had, what family, my age, and so forth, until I had +exhausted my instructions, and, as the lady still continued to +ply me with questions, began to embroider on my own +account. This soon carried one of my inexperience beyond +her depth; and I had already remarked a shadow on the +lady’s face, when a gentleman drew near and very civilly +addressed me.</p> +<p>‘Miss Gould, I believe?’ said he; and then, +excusing himself to the lady by the authority of my guardian, +drew me to the fore platform of the Pullman car. +‘Miss Gould,’ he said in my ear, ‘is it +possible that you suppose yourself in safety? Let me +completely undeceive you. One more such indiscretion and +you return to Utah. And, in the meanwhile, if this woman +should again address you, you are to reply with these words: +“Madam, I do not like you, and I will be obliged if you +will suffer me to choose my own associates.”’</p> +<p>Alas, I had to do as I was bid; this lady, to whom I already +felt myself drawn with the strongest cords of sympathy, I +dismissed with insult; and thenceforward, through all that day, I +sat in silence, gazing on the bare plains and swallowing my +tears. Let that suffice: it was the pattern of my +journey. Whether on the train, at the hotels, or on board +the ocean steamer, I never exchanged a friendly word with any +fellow-traveller but I was certain to be interrupted. In +every place, on every side, the most unlikely persons, man or +woman, rich or poor, became protectors to forward me upon my +journey, or spies to observe and regulate my conduct. Thus +I crossed the States, thus passed the ocean, the Mormon Eye still +following my movements; and when at length a cab had set me down +before that London lodging-house from which you saw me flee this +morning, I had already ceased to struggle and ceased to hope.</p> +<p>The landlady, like every one else through all that journey, +was expecting my arrival. A fire was lighted in my room, +which looked upon the garden; there were books on the table, +clothes in the drawers; and there (I had almost said with +contentment, and certainly with resignation) I saw month follow +month over my head. At times my landlady took me for a walk +or an excursion, but she would never suffer me to leave the house +alone; and I, seeing that she also lived under the shadow of that +widespread Mormon terror, felt too much pity to resist. To +the child born on Mormon soil, as to the man who accepts the +engagements of a secret order, no escape is possible; so I had +clearly read, and I was thankful even for this respite. +Meanwhile, I tried honestly to prepare my mind for my approaching +nuptials. The day drew near when my bridegroom was to visit +me, and gratitude and fear alike obliged me to consent. A +son of Doctor Grierson’s, be he what he pleased, must still +be young, and it was even probable he should be handsome; on more +than that, I felt I dared not reckon; and in moulding my mind +towards consent I dwelt the more carefully on these physical +attractions which I felt I might expect, and averted my eyes from +moral or intellectual considerations. We have a great power +upon our spirits; and as time passed I worked myself into a frame +of acquiescence, nay, and I began to grow impatient for the +hour. At night sleep forsook me; I sat all day by the fire, +absorbed in dreams, conjuring up the features of my husband, and +anticipating in fancy the touch of his hand and the sound of his +voice. In the dead level and solitude of my existence, this +was the one eastern window and the one door of hope. At +last, I had so cultivated and prepared my will, that I began to +be besieged with fears upon the other side. How if it was I +that did not please? How if this unseen lover should turn +from me with disaffection? And now I spent hours before the +glass, studying and judging my attractions, and was never weary +of changing my dress or ordering my hair.</p> +<p>When the day came I was long about my toilet; but at last, +with a sort of hopeful desperation, I had to own that I could do +no more, and must now stand or fall by nature. My +occupation ended, I fell a prey to the most sickening impatience, +mingled with alarms; giving ear to the swelling rumour of the +streets, and at each change of sound or silence, starting, +shrinking, and colouring to the brow. Love is not to be +prepared, I know, without some knowledge of the object; and yet, +when the cab at last rattled to the door and I heard my visitor +mount the stairs, such was the tumult of hopes in my poor bosom +that love itself might have been proud to own their +parentage. The door opened, and it was Doctor Grierson that +appeared. I believe I must have screamed aloud, and I know, +at least, that I fell fainting to the floor.</p> +<p>When I came to myself he was standing over me, counting my +pulse. ‘I have startled you,’ he said. +‘A difficulty unforeseen—the impossibility of +obtaining a certain drug in its full purity—has forced me +to resort to London unprepared. I regret that I should have +shown myself once more without those poor attractions which are +much, perhaps, to you, but to me are no more considerable than +rain that falls into the sea. Youth is but a state, as +passing as that syncope from which you are but just awakened, +and, if there be truth in science, as easy to recall; for I find, +Asenath, that I must now take you for my confidant. Since +my first years, I have devoted every hour and act of life to one +ambitious task; and the time of my success is at hand. In +these new countries, where I was so long content to stay, I +collected indispensable ingredients; I have fortified myself on +every side from the possibility of error; what was a dream now +takes the substance of reality; and when I offered you a son of +mine I did so in a figure. That son—that husband, +Asenath, is myself—not as you now behold me, but restored +to the first energy of youth. You think me mad? It is +the customary attitude of ignorance. I will not argue; I +will leave facts to speak. When you behold me purified, +invigorated, renewed, restamped in the original image—when +you recognise in me (what I shall be) the first perfect +expression of the powers of mankind—I shall be able to +laugh with a better grace at your passing and natural +incredulity. To what can you aspire—fame, riches, +power, the charm of youth, the dear-bought wisdom of +age—that I shall not be able to afford you in +perfection? Do not deceive yourself. I already excel +you in every human gift but one: when that gift also has been +restored to me you will recognise your master.’</p> +<p>Hereupon, consulting his watch, he told me he must now leave +me to myself; and bidding me consult reason, and not girlish +fancies, he withdrew. I had not the courage to move; the +night fell and found me still where he had laid me during my +faint, my face buried in my hands, my soul drowned in the darkest +apprehensions. Late in the evening he returned, carrying a +candle, and, with a certain irritable tremor, bade me rise and +sup. ‘Is it possible,’ he added, ‘that I +have been deceived in your courage? A cowardly girl is no +fit mate for me.’</p> +<p>I flung myself before him on my knees, and with floods of +tears besought him to release me from this engagement, assuring +him that my cowardice was abject, and that in every point of +intellect and character I was his hopeless and derisible +inferior.</p> +<p>‘Why, certainly,’ he replied. ‘I know +you better than yourself; and I am well enough acquainted with +human nature to understand this scene. It is addressed to +me,’ he added with a smile, ‘in my character of the +still untransformed. But do not alarm yourself about the +future. Let me but attain my end, and not you only, +Asenath, but every woman on the face of the earth becomes my +willing slave.’</p> +<p>Thereupon he obliged me to rise and eat; sat down with me to +table; helped and entertained me with the attentions of a +fashionable host; and it was not till a late hour, that, bidding +me courteously good-night, he once more left me alone to my +misery.</p> +<p>In all this talk of an elixir and the restoration of his +youth, I scarce knew from which hypothesis I should the more +eagerly recoil. If his hopes reposed on any base of fact, +if indeed, by some abhorrent miracle, he should discard his age, +death were my only refuge from that most unnatural, that most +ungodly union. If, on the other hand, these dreams were +merely lunatic, the madness of a life waxed suddenly acute, my +pity would become a load almost as heavy to bear as my revolt +against the marriage. So passed the night, in alternations +of rebellion and despair, of hate and pity; and with the next +morning I was only to comprehend more fully my enslaved +position. For though he appeared with a very tranquil +countenance, he had no sooner observed the marks of grief upon my +brow than an answering darkness gathered on his own. +‘Asenath.’ he said, ‘you owe me much already; +with one finger I still hold you suspended over death; my life is +full of labour and anxiety; and I choose,’ said he, with a +remarkable accent of command, ‘that you shall greet me with +a pleasant face.’ He never needed to repeat the +recommendation; from that day forward I was always ready to +receive him with apparent cheerfulness; and he rewarded me with a +good deal of his company, and almost more than I could bear of +his confidence. He had set up a laboratory in the back part +of the house, where he toiled day and night at his elixir, and he +would come thence to visit me in my parlour: now with passing +humours of discouragement; now, and far more often, radiant with +hope. It was impossible to see so much of him, and not to +recognise that the sands of his life were running low; and yet +all the time he would be laying out vast fields of future, and +planning, with all the confidence of youth, the most unbounded +schemes of pleasure and ambition. How I replied I know not; +but I found a voice and words to answer, even while I wept and +raged to hear him.</p> +<p>A week ago the doctor entered my room with the marks of great +exhilaration contending with pitiful bodily weakness. +‘Asenath,’ said he, ‘I have now obtained the +last ingredient. In one week from now the perilous moment +of the last projection will draw nigh. You have once before +assisted, although unconsciously, at the failure of a similar +experiment. It was the elixir which so terribly exploded +one night when you were passing my house; and it is idle to deny +that the conduct of so delicate a process, among the million jars +and trepidations of so great a city, presents a certain element +of danger. From this point of view, I cannot but regret the +perfect stillness of my house among the deserts; but, on the +other hand, I have succeeded in proving that the singularly +unstable equilibrium of the elixir, at the moment of projection, +is due rather to the impurity than to the nature of the +ingredients; and as all are now of an equal and exquisite nicety, +I have little fear for the result. In a week then from +to-day, my dear Asenath, this period of trial will be +ended.’ And he smiled upon me in a manner unusually +paternal.</p> +<p>I smiled back with my lips, but at my heart there raged the +blackest and most unbridled terror. What if he +failed? And oh, tenfold worse! what if he succeeded? +What detested and unnatural changeling would appear before me to +claim my hand? And could there, I asked myself with a +dreadful sinking, be any truth in his boasts of an assured +victory over my reluctance? I knew him, indeed, to be +masterful, to lead my life at a sign. Suppose, then, this +experiment to succeed; suppose him to return to me, hideously +restored, like a vampire in a legend; and suppose that, by some +devilish fascination . . . My head turned; all former fears +deserted me: and I felt I could embrace the worst in preference +to this.</p> +<p>My mind was instantly made up. The doctor’s +presence in London was justified by the affairs of the Mormon +polity. Often, in our conversation, he would gloat over the +details of that great organisation, which he feared even while +yet he wielded it; and would remind me, that even in the humming +labyrinth of London, we were still visible to that unsleeping eye +in Utah. His visitors, indeed, who were of every sort, from +the missionary to the destroying angel, and seemed to belong to +every rank of life, had, up to that moment, filled me with +unmixed repulsion and alarm. I knew that if my secret were +to reach the ear of any leader my fate were sealed beyond +redemption; and yet in my present pass of horror and despair, it +was to these very men that I turned for help. I waylaid +upon the stair one of the Mormon missionaries, a man of a low +class, but not inaccessible to pity; told him I scarce remember +what elaborate fable to explain my application; and by his +intermediacy entered into correspondence with my father’s +family. They recognised my claim for help, and on this very +day I was to begin my escape.</p> +<p>Last night I sat up fully dressed, awaiting the result of the +doctor’s labours, and prepared against the worst. The +nights at this season and in this northern latitude are short; +and I had soon the company of the returning daylight. The +silence in and around the house was only broken by the movements +of the doctor in the laboratory; to these I listened, watch in +hand, awaiting the hour of my escape, and yet consumed by anxiety +about the strange experiment that was going forward +overhead. Indeed, now that I was conscious of some +protection for myself, my sympathies had turned more directly to +the doctor’s side; I caught myself even praying for his +success; and when some hours ago a low, peculiar cry reached my +ears from the laboratory, I could no longer control my +impatience, but mounted the stairs and opened the door.</p> +<p>The doctor was standing in the middle of the room; in his hand +a large, round-bellied, crystal flask, some three parts full of a +bright amber-coloured liquid; on his face a rapture of gratitude +and joy unspeakable. As he saw me he raised the flask at +arm’s length. ‘Victory!’ he cried. +‘Victory, Asenath!’ And then—whether the +flask escaped his trembling fingers, or whether the explosion +were spontaneous, I cannot tell—enough that we were thrown, +I against the door-post, the doctor into the corner of the room; +enough that we were shaken to the soul by the same explosion that +must have startled you upon the street; and that, in the brief +space of an indistinguishable instant, there remained nothing of +the labours of the doctor’s lifetime but a few shards of +broken crystal and those voluminous and ill-smelling vapours that +pursued me in my flight.</p> +<h2><!-- page 76--><a name="page76"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +76</span><i>THE SQUIRE OF DAMES</i><br /> +(<i>Concluded</i>)</h2> +<p>What with the lady’s animated manner and dramatic +conduct of her voice, Challoner had thrilled to every incident +with genuine emotion. His fancy, which was not perhaps of a +very lively character, applauded both the matter and the style; +but the more judicial functions of his mind refused assent. +It was an excellent story; and it might be true, but he believed +it was not. Miss Fonblanque was a lady, and it was +doubtless possible for a lady to wander from the truth; but how +was a gentleman to tell her so? His spirits for some time +had been sinking, but they now fell to zero; and long after her +voice had died away he still sat with a troubled and averted +countenance, and could find no form of words to thank her for her +narrative. His mind, indeed, was empty of everything beyond +a dull longing for escape. From this pause, which grew the +more embarrassing with every second, he was roused by the sudden +laughter of the lady. His vanity was alarmed; he turned and +faced her; their eyes met; and he caught from hers a spark of +such frank merriment as put him instantly at ease.</p> +<p>‘You certainly,’ he said, ‘appear to bear +your calamities with excellent spirit.’</p> +<p>‘Do I not?’ she cried, and fell once more into +delicious laughter. But from this access she more speedily +recovered. ‘This is all very well,’ said she, +nodding at him gravely, ‘but I am still in a most +distressing situation, from which, if you deny me your help, I +shall find it difficult indeed to free myself.’</p> +<p>At this mention of help Challoner fell back to his original +gloom.</p> +<p>‘My sympathies are much engaged with you,’ he +said, ‘and I should be delighted, I am sure. But our +position is most unusual; and circumstances over which I have, I +can assure you, no control, deprive me of the power—the +pleasure—Unless, indeed,’ he added, somewhat +brightening at the thought, ‘I were to recommend you to the +care of the police?’</p> +<p>She laid her hand upon his arm and looked hard into his eyes; +and he saw with wonder that, for the first time since the moment +of their meeting, every trace of colour had faded from her +cheek.</p> +<p>‘Do so,’ she said, ‘and—weigh my words +well—you kill me as certainly as with a knife.’</p> +<p>‘God bless me!’ exclaimed Challoner.</p> +<p>‘Oh,’ she cried, ‘I can see you disbelieve +my story and make light of the perils that surround me; but who +are you to judge? My family share my apprehensions; they +help me in secret; and you saw yourself by what an emissary, and +in what a place, they have chosen to supply me with the funds for +my escape. I admit that you are brave and clever and have +impressed me most favourably; but how are you to prefer your +opinion before that of my uncle, an ex-minister of state, a man +with the ear of the Queen, and of a long political +experience? If I am mad, is he? And you must allow +me, besides, a special claim upon your help. Strange as you +may think my story, you know that much of it is true; and if you +who heard the explosion and saw the Mormon at Victoria, refuse to +credit and assist me, to whom am I to turn?’</p> +<p>‘He gave you money then?’ asked Challoner, who had +been dwelling singly on that fact.</p> +<p>‘I begin to interest you,’ she cried. +‘But, frankly, you are condemned to help me. If the +service I had to ask of you were serious, were suspicious, were +even unusual, I should say no more. But what is it? +To take a pleasure trip (for which, if you will suffer me, I +propose to pay) and to carry from one lady to another a sum of +money! What can be more simple?’</p> +<p>‘Is the sum,’ asked Challoner, +‘considerable?’</p> +<p>She produced a packet from her bosom; and observing that she +had not yet found time to make the count, tore open the cover and +spread upon her knees a considerable number of Bank of England +notes. It took some time to make the reckoning, for the +notes were of every degree of value; but at last, and counting a +few loose sovereigns, she made out the sum to be a little under +£710 sterling. The sight of so much money worked an +immediate revolution in the mind of Challoner.</p> +<p>‘And you propose, madam,’ he cried, ‘to +intrust that money to a perfect stranger?’</p> +<p>‘Ah!’ said she, with a charming smile, ‘but +I no longer regard you as a stranger.’</p> +<p>‘Madam,’ said Challoner, ‘I perceive I must +make you a confession. Although of a very good +family—through my mother, indeed, a lineal descendant of +the patriot Bruce—I dare not conceal from you that my +affairs are deeply, very deeply involved. I am in debt; my +pockets are practically empty; and, in short, I am fallen to that +state when a considerable sum of money would prove to many men an +irresistible temptation.’</p> +<p>‘Do you not see,’ returned the young lady, +‘that by these words you have removed my last +hesitation? Take them.’ And she thrust the +notes into the young man’s hand.</p> +<p>He sat so long, holding them, like a baby at the font, that +Miss Fonblanque once more bubbled into laughter.</p> +<p>‘Pray,’ she said, ‘hesitate no further; put +them in your pocket; and to relieve our position of any shadow of +embarrassment, tell me by what name I am to address my +knight-errant, for I find myself reduced to the awkwardness of +the pronoun.’</p> +<p>Had borrowing been in question, the wisdom of our ancestors +had come lightly to the young man’s aid; but upon what +pretext could he refuse so generous a trust? Upon none he +saw, that was not unpardonably wounding; and the bright eyes and +the high spirits of his companion had already made a breach in +the rampart of Challoner’s caution. The whole thing, +he reasoned, might be a mere mystification, which it were the +height of solemn folly to resent. On the other hand, the +explosion, the interview at the public-house, and the very money +in his hands, seemed to prove beyond denial the existence of some +serious danger; and if that were so, could he desert her? +There was a choice of risks: the risk of behaving with +extraordinary incivility and unhandsomeness to a lady, and the +risk of going on a fool’s errand. The story seemed +false; but then the money was undeniable. The whole +circumstances were questionable and obscure; but the lady was +charming, and had the speech and manners of society. While +he still hung in the wind, a recollection returned upon his mind +with some of the dignity of prophecy. Had he not promised +Somerset to break with the traditions of the commonplace, and to +accept the first adventure offered? Well, here was the +adventure.</p> +<p>He thrust the money into his pocket.</p> +<p>‘My name is Challoner,’ said he.</p> +<p>‘Mr. Challoner,’ she replied, ‘you have come +very generously to my aid when all was against me. Though I +am myself a very humble person, my family commands great +interest; and I do not think you will repent this handsome +action.’</p> +<p>Challoner flushed with pleasure.</p> +<p>‘I imagine that, perhaps, a consulship,’ she +added, her eyes dwelling on him with a judicial admiration, +‘a consulship in some great town or capital—or +else—But we waste time; let us set about the work of my +delivery.’</p> +<p>She took his arm with a frank confidence that went to his +heart; and once more laying by all serious thoughts, she +entertained him, as they crossed the park, with her agreeable +gaiety of mind. Near the Marble Arch they found a hansom, +which rapidly conveyed them to the terminus at Euston Square; and +here, in the hotel, they sat down to an excellent +breakfast. The young lady’s first step was to call +for writing materials and write, upon one corner of the table, a +hasty note; still, as she did so, glancing with smiles at her +companion. ‘Here,’ said she, ‘here is the +letter which will introduce you to my cousin.’ She +began to fold the paper. ‘My cousin, although I have +never seen her, has the character of a very charming woman and a +recognised beauty; of that I know nothing, but at least she has +been very kind to me; so has my lord her father; so have +you—kinder than all—kinder than I can bear to think +of.’ She said this with unusual emotion; and, at the +same time, sealed the envelope. ‘Ah!’ she +cried, ‘I have shut my letter! It is not quite +courteous; and yet, as between friends, it is perhaps better +so. I introduce you, after all, into a family secret; and +though you and I are already old comrades, you are still unknown +to my uncle. You go then to this address, Richard Street, +Glasgow; go, please, as soon as you arrive; and give this letter +with your own hands into those of Miss Fonblanque, for that is +the name by which she is to pass. When we next meet, you +will tell me what you think of her,’ she added, with a +touch of the provocative.</p> +<p>‘Ah,’ said Challoner, almost tenderly, ‘she +can be nothing to me.’</p> +<p>‘You do not know,’ replied the young lady, with a +sigh. ‘By-the-bye, I had forgotten—it is very +childish, and I am almost ashamed to mention it—but when +you see Miss Fonblanque, you will have to make yourself a little +ridiculous; and I am sure the part in no way suits you. We +had agreed upon a watchword. You will have to address an +earl’s daughter in these words: “<i>Nigger</i>, +<i>nigger</i>, <i>never die</i>;” but reassure +yourself,’ she added, laughing, ‘for the fair +patrician will at once finish the quotation. Come now, say +your lesson.’</p> +<p>‘“Nigger, nigger, never die,”’ +repeated Challoner, with undisguised reluctance.</p> +<p>Miss Fonblanque went into fits of laughter. +‘Excellent,’ said she, ‘it will be the most +humorous scene.’ And she laughed again.</p> +<p>‘And what will be the counterword?’ asked +Challoner stiffly.</p> +<p>‘I will not tell you till the last moment,’ said +she; ‘for I perceive you are growing too +imperious.’</p> +<p>Breakfast over, she accompanied the young man to the platform, +bought him the <i>Graphic</i>, the <i>Athenæum</i>, and a +paper-cutter, and stood on the step conversing till the whistle +sounded. Then she put her head into the carriage. +‘<i>Black face and shining eye</i>!’ she whispered, +and instantly leaped down upon the platform, with a thrill of gay +and musical laughter. As the train steamed out of the great +arch of glass, the sound of that laughter still rang in the young +man’s ears.</p> +<p>Challoner’s position was too unusual to be long welcome +to his mind. He found himself projected the whole length of +England, on a mission beset with obscure and ridiculous +circumstances, and yet, by the trust he had accepted, irrevocably +bound to persevere. How easy it appeared, in the +retrospect, to have refused the whole proposal, returned the +money, and gone forth again upon his own affairs, a free and +happy man! And it was now impossible: the enchantress who +had held him with her eye had now disappeared, taking his honour +in pledge; and as she had failed to leave him an address, he was +denied even the inglorious safety of retreat. To use the +paper-knife, or even to read the periodicals with which she had +presented him, was to renew the bitterness of his remorse; and as +he was alone in the compartment, he passed the day staring at the +landscape in impotent repentance, and long before he was landed +on the platform of St. Enoch’s, had fallen to the lowest +and coldest zones of self-contempt.</p> +<p>As he was hungry, and elegant in his habits, he would have +preferred to dine and to remove the stains of travel; but the +words of the young lady, and his own impatient eagerness, would +suffer no delay. In the late, luminous, and lamp-starred +dusk of the summer evening, he accordingly set forward with brisk +steps.</p> +<p>The street to which he was directed had first seen the day in +the character of a row of small suburban villas on a hillside; +but the extension of the city had long since, and on every hand, +surrounded it with miles of streets. From the top of the +hill a range of very tall buildings, densely inhabited by the +poorest classes of the population and variegated by drying-poles +from every second window, overplumbed the villas and their little +gardens like a sea-board cliff. But still, under the grime +of years of city smoke, these antiquated cottages, with their +venetian blinds and rural porticoes, retained a somewhat +melancholy savour of the past.</p> +<p>The street when Challoner entered it was perfectly +deserted. From hard by, indeed, the sound of a thousand +footfalls filled the ear; but in Richard Street itself there was +neither light nor sound of human habitation. The appearance +of the neighbourhood weighed heavily on the mind of the young +man; once more, as in the streets of London, he was impressed +with the sense of city deserts; and as he approached the number +indicated, and somewhat falteringly rang the bell, his heart sank +within him.</p> +<p>The bell was ancient, like the house; it had a thin and +garrulous note; and it was some time before it ceased to sound +from the rear quarters of the building. Following upon this +an inner door was stealthily opened, and careful and catlike +steps drew near along the hall. Challoner, supposing he was +to be instantly admitted, produced his letter, and, as well as he +was able, prepared a smiling face. To his indescribable +surprise, however, the footsteps ceased, and then, after a pause +and with the like stealthiness, withdrew once more, and died away +in the interior of the house. A second time the young man +rang violently at the bell; a second time, to his keen +hearkening, a certain bustle of discreet footing moved upon the +hollow boards of the old villa; and again the fainthearted +garrison only drew near to retreat. The cup of the +visitor’s endurance was now full to overflowing; and, +committing the whole family of Fonblanque to every mood and shade +of condemnation, he turned upon his heel and redescended the +steps. Perhaps the mover in the house was watching from a +window, and plucked up courage at the sight of this desistance; +or perhaps, where he lurked trembling in the back parts of the +villa, reason in its own right had conquered his alarms. +Challoner, at least, had scarce set foot upon the pavement when +he was arrested by the sound of the withdrawal of an inner bolt; +one followed another, rattling in their sockets; the key turned +harshly in the lock; the door opened; and there appeared upon the +threshold a man of a very stalwart figure in his shirt +sleeves. He was a person neither of great manly beauty nor +of a refined exterior; he was not the man, in ordinary moods, to +attract the eyes of the observer; but as he now stood in the +doorway, he was marked so legibly with the extreme passion of +terror that Challoner stood wonder-struck. For a fraction +of a minute they gazed upon each other in silence; and then the +man of the house, with ashen lips and gasping voice, inquired the +business of his visitor. Challoner replied, in tones from +which he strove to banish his surprise, that he was the bearer of +a letter to a certain Miss Fonblanque. At this name, as at +a talisman, the man fell back and impatiently invited him to +enter; and no sooner had the adventurer crossed the threshold, +than the door was closed behind him and his retreat cut off.</p> +<p>It was already long past eight at night; and though the late +twilight of the north still lingered in the streets, in the +passage it was already groping dark. The man led Challoner +directly to a parlour looking on the garden to the back. +Here he had apparently been supping; for by the light of a tallow +dip the table was seen to be covered with a napkin, and set out +with a quart of bottled ale and the heel of a Gouda cheese. +The room, on the other hand, was furnished with faded solidity, +and the walls were lined with scholarly and costly volumes in +glazed cases. The house must have been taken furnished; for +it had no congruity with this man of the shirt sleeves and the +mean supper. As for the earl’s daughter, the earl and +the visionary consulships in foreign cities, they had long ago +begun to fade in Challoner’s imagination. Like Doctor +Grierson and the Mormon angels, they were plainly woven of the +stuff of dreams. Not an illusion remained to the +knight-errant; not a hope was left him, but to be speedily +relieved from this disreputable business.</p> +<p>The man had continued to regard his visitor with undisguised +anxiety, and began once more to press him for his errand.</p> +<p>‘I am here,’ said Challoner, ‘simply to do a +service between two ladies; and I must ask you, without further +delay, to summon Miss Fonblanque, into whose hands alone I am +authorised to deliver the letter that I bear.’</p> +<p>A growing wonder began to mingle on the man’s face with +the lines of solicitude. ‘I am Miss +Fonblanque,’ he said; and then, perceiving the effect of +this communication, ‘Good God!’ he cried, ‘what +are you staring at? I tell you, I am Miss +Fonblanque.’</p> +<p>Seeing the speaker wore a chin-beard of considerable length, +and the remainder of his face was blue with shaving, Challoner +could only suppose himself the subject of a jest. He was no +longer under the spell of the young lady’s presence; and +with men, and above all with his inferiors, he was capable of +some display of spirit.</p> +<p>‘Sir,’ said he, pretty roundly, ‘I have put +myself to great inconvenience for persons of whom I know too +little, and I begin to be weary of the business. Either you +shall immediately summon Miss Fonblanque, or I leave this house +and put myself under the direction of the police.’</p> +<p>‘This is horrible!’ exclaimed the man. +‘I declare before Heaven I am the person meant, but how +shall I convince you? It must have been Clara, I perceive, +that sent you on this errand—a madwoman, who jests with the +most deadly interests; and here we are incapable, perhaps, of an +agreement, and Heaven knows what may depend on our +delay!’</p> +<p>He spoke with a really startling earnestness; and at the same +time there flashed upon the mind of Challoner the ridiculous +jingle which was to serve as password. ‘This may, +perhaps, assist you,’ he said, and then, with some +embarrassment, ‘“Nigger, nigger, never +die.”’</p> +<p>A light of relief broke upon the troubled countenance of the +man with the chin-beard. ‘“Black face and +shining eye”—give me the letter,’ he panted, in +one gasp.</p> +<p>‘Well,’ said Challoner, though still with some +reluctance, ‘I suppose I must regard you as the proper +recipient; and though I may justly complain of the spirit in +which I have been treated, I am only too glad to be done with all +responsibility. Here it is,’ and he produced the +envelope.</p> +<p>The man leaped upon it like a beast, and with hands that +trembled in a manner painful to behold, tore it open and unfolded +the letter. As he read, terror seemed to mount upon him to +the pitch of nightmare. He struck one hand upon his brow, +while with the other, as if unconsciously, he crumpled the paper +to a ball. ‘My gracious powers!’ he cried; and +then, dashing to the window, which stood open on the garden, he +clapped forth his head and shoulders, and whistled long and +shrill. Challoner fell back into a corner, and resolutely +grasping his staff, prepared for the most desperate events; but +the thoughts of the man with the chin-beard were far removed from +violence. Turning again into the room, and once more +beholding his visitor, whom he appeared to have forgotten, he +fairly danced with trepidation. ‘Impossible!’ +he cried. ‘Oh, quite impossible! O Lord, I have +lost my head.’ And then, once more striking his hand +upon his brow, ‘The money!’ he exclaimed. +‘Give me the money.’</p> +<p>‘My good friend,’ replied Challoner, ‘this +is a very painful exhibition; and until I see you reasonably +master of yourself, I decline to proceed with any +business.’</p> +<p>‘You are quite right,’ said the man. +‘I am of a very nervous habit; a long course of the dumb +ague has undermined my constitution. But I know you have +money; it may be still the saving of me; and oh, dear young +gentleman, in pity’s name be expeditious!’ +Challoner, sincerely uneasy as he was, could scarce refrain from +laughter; but he was himself in a hurry to be gone, and without +more delay produced the money. ‘You will find the +sum, I trust, correct,’ he observed ‘and let me ask +you to give me a receipt.’</p> +<p>But the man heeded him not. He seized the money, and +disregarding the sovereigns that rolled loose upon the floor, +thrust the bundle of notes into his pocket.</p> +<p>‘A receipt,’ repeated Challoner, with some +asperity. ‘I insist on a receipt.’</p> +<p>‘Receipt?’ repeated the man, a little +wildly. ‘A receipt? Immediately! Await me +here.’</p> +<p>Challoner, in reply, begged the gentleman to lose no +unnecessary time, as he was himself desirous of catching a +particular train.</p> +<p>‘Ah, by God, and so am I!’ exclaimed the man with +the chin-beard; and with that he was gone out of the room, and +had rattled upstairs, four at a time, to the upper story of the +villa.</p> +<p>‘This is certainly a most amazing business,’ +thought Challoner; ‘certainly a most disquieting affair; +and I cannot conceal from myself that I have become mixed up with +either lunatics or malefactors. I may truly thank my stars +that I am so nearly and so creditably done with it.’ +Thus thinking, and perhaps remembering the episode of the +whistle, he turned to the open window. The garden was still +faintly clear; he could distinguish the stairs and terraces with +which the small domain had been adorned by former owners, and the +blackened bushes and dead trees that had once afforded shelter to +the country birds; beyond these he saw the strong retaining wall, +some thirty feet in height, which enclosed the garden to the +back; and again above that, the pile of dingy buildings rearing +its frontage high into the night. A peculiar object lying +stretched upon the lawn for some time baffled his eyesight; but +at length he had made it out to be a long ladder, or series of +ladders bound into one; and he was still wondering of what +service so great an instrument could be in such a scant +enclosure, when he was recalled to himself by the noise of some +one running violently down the stairs. This was followed by +the sudden, clamorous banging of the house door; and that again, +by rapid and retreating footsteps in the street.</p> +<p>Challoner sprang into the passage. He ran from room to +room, upstairs and downstairs; and in that old dingy and +worm-eaten house, he found himself alone. Only in one +apartment, looking to the front, were there any traces of the +late inhabitant: a bed that had been recently slept in and not +made, a chest of drawers disordered by a hasty search, and on the +floor a roll of crumpled paper. This he picked up. +The light in this upper story looking to the front was +considerably brighter than in the parlour; and he was able to +make out that the paper bore the mark of the hotel at Euston, and +even, by peering closely, to decipher the following lines in a +very elegant and careful female hand:</p> +<blockquote><p>‘<span class="smcap">Dear +M‘Guire</span>,—It is certain your retreat is +known. We have just had another failure, clockwork thirty +hours too soon, with the usual humiliating result. Zero is +quite disheartened. We are all scattered, and I could find +no one but the <i>solemn ass</i> who brings you this and the +money. I would love to see your meeting.—Ever +yours,</p> +<p style="text-align: right"><span class="smcap">Shining +Eye</span>.’</p> +</blockquote> +<p>Challoner was stricken to the heart. He perceived by +what facility, by what unmanly fear of ridicule, he had been +brought down to be the gull of this intriguer; and his wrath +flowed forth in almost equal measure against himself, against the +woman, and against Somerset, whose idle counsels had impelled him +to embark on that adventure. At the same time a great and +troubled curiosity, and a certain chill of fear, possessed his +spirit. The conduct of the man with the chin-beard, the +terms of the letter, and the explosion of the early morning, +fitted together like parts in some obscure and mischievous +imbroglio. Evil was certainly afoot; evil, secrecy, terror, +and falsehood were the conditions and the passions of the people +among whom he had begun to move, like a blind puppet; and he who +began as a puppet, his experience told him, was often doomed to +perish as a victim.</p> +<p>From the stupor of deep thought into which he had glided with +the letter in his hand, he was awakened by the clatter of the +bell. He glanced from the window; and, conceive his horror +and surprise when he beheld, clustered on the steps, in the front +garden and on the pavement of the street, a formidable posse of +police! He started to the full possession of his powers and +courage. Escape, and escape at any cost, was the one idea +that possessed him. Swiftly and silently he redescended the +creaking stairs; he was already in the passage when a second and +more imperious summons from the door awoke the echoes of the +empty house; nor had the bell ceased to jangle before he had +bestridden the window-sill of the parlour and was lowering +himself into the garden. His coat was hooked upon the iron +flower-basket; for a moment he hung dependent heels and head +below; and then, with the noise of rending cloth, and followed by +several pots, he dropped upon the sod. Once more the bell +was rung, and now with furious and repeated peals. The +desperate Challoner turned his eyes on every side. They +fell upon the ladder, and he ran to it, and with strenuous but +unavailing effort sought to raise it from the ground. +Suddenly the weight, which was thus resisting his whole strength, +began to lighten in his hands; the ladder, like a thing of life, +reared its bulk from off the sod; and Challoner, leaping back +with a cry of almost superstitious terror, beheld the whole +structure mount, foot by foot, against the face of the retaining +wall. At the same time, two heads were dimly visible above +the parapet, and he was hailed by a guarded whistle. +Something in its modulation recalled, like an echo, the whistle +of the man with the chin-beard.</p> +<p>Had he chanced upon a means of escape prepared beforehand by +those very miscreants whose messenger and gull he had +become? Was this, indeed, a means of safety, or but the +starting-point of further complication and disaster? He +paused not to reflect. Scarce was the ladder reared to its +full length than he had sprung already on the rounds; hand over +hand, swift as an ape, he scaled the tottering stairway. +Strong arms received, embraced, and helped him; he was lifted and +set once more upon the earth; and with the spasm of his alarm yet +unsubsided, found himself in the company of two rough-looking +men, in the paved back yard of one of the tall houses that +crowned the summit of the hill. Meanwhile, from below, the +note of the bell had been succeeded by the sound of vigorous and +redoubling blows.</p> +<p>‘Are you all out?’ asked one of his companions; +and, as soon as he had babbled an answer in the affirmative, the +rope was cut from the top round, and the ladder thrust roughly +back into the garden, where it fell and broke with clattering +reverberations. Its fall was hailed with many broken cries; +for the whole of Richard Street was now in high emotion, the +people crowding to the windows or clambering on the garden +walls. The same man who had already addressed Challoner +seized him by the arm; whisked him through the basement of the +house and across the street upon the other side; and before the +unfortunate adventurer had time to realise his situation, a door +was opened, and he was thrust into a low and dark +compartment.</p> +<p>‘Bedad,’ observed his guide, ‘there was no +time to lose. Is M’Guire gone, or was it you that +whistled?</p> +<p>‘M’Guire is gone,’ said Challoner.</p> +<p>The guide now struck a light. ‘Ah,’ said he, +‘this will never do. You dare not go upon the streets +in such a figure. Wait quietly here and I will bring you +something decent.’</p> +<p>With that the man was gone, and Challoner, his attention thus +rudely awakened, began ruefully to consider the havoc that had +been worked in his attire. His hat was gone; his trousers +were cruelly ripped; and the best part of one tail of his very +elegant frockcoat had been left hanging from the iron crockets of +the window. He had scarce had time to measure these +disasters when his host re-entered the apartment and proceeded, +without a word, to envelop the refined and urbane Challoner in a +long ulster of the cheapest material, and of a pattern so gross +and vulgar that his spirit sickened at the sight. This +calumnious disguise was crowned and completed by a soft felt hat +of the Tyrolese design, and several sizes too small. At +another moment Challoner would simply have refused to issue forth +upon the world thus travestied; but the desire to escape from +Glasgow was now too strongly and too exclusively impressed upon +his mind. With one haggard glance at the spotted tails of +his new coat, he inquired what was to pay for this +accoutrement. The man assured him that the whole expense +was easily met from funds in his possession, and begged him, +instead of wasting time, to make his best speed out of the +neighbourhood.</p> +<p>The young man was not loath to take the hint. True to +his usual courtesy, he thanked the speaker and complimented him +upon his taste in greatcoats; and leaving the man somewhat +abashed by these remarks and the manner of their delivery, he +hurried forth into the lamplit city. The last train was +gone ere, after many deviations, he had reached the +terminus. Attired as he was he dared not present himself at +any reputable inn; and he felt keenly that the unassuming dignity +of his demeanour would serve to attract attention, perhaps mirth +and possibly suspicion, in any humbler hostelry. He was +thus condemned to pass the solemn and uneventful hours of a whole +night in pacing the streets of Glasgow; supperless; a figure of +fun for all beholders; waiting the dawn, with hope indeed, but +with unconquerable shrinkings; and above all things, filled with +a profound sense of the folly and weakness of his conduct. +It may be conceived with what curses he assailed the memory of +the fair narrator of Hyde Park; her parting laughter rang in his +ears all night with damning mockery and iteration; and when he +could spare a thought from this chief artificer of his confusion, +it was to expend his wrath on Somerset and the career of the +amateur detective. With the coming of day, he found in a +shy milk-shop the means to appease his hunger. There were +still many hours to wait before the departure of the South +express; these he passed wandering with indescribable fatigue in +the obscurer by-streets of the city; and at length slipped +quietly into the station and took his place in the darkest corner +of a third-class carriage. Here, all day long, he jolted on +the bare boards, distressed by heat and continually reawakened +from uneasy slumbers. By the half return ticket in his +purse, he was entitled to make the journey on the easy cushions +and with the ample space of the first-class; but alas! in his +absurd attire, he durst not, for decency, commingle with his +equals; and this small annoyance, coming last in such a series of +disasters, cut him to the heart.</p> +<p>That night, when, in his Putney lodging, he reviewed the +expense, anxiety, and weariness of his adventure; when he beheld +the ruins of his last good trousers and his last presentable +coat; and above all, when his eye by any chance alighted on the +Tyrolese hat or the degrading ulster, his heart would overflow +with bitterness, and it was only by a serious call on his +philosophy that he maintained the dignity of his demeanour.</p> +<h2><!-- page 100--><a name="page100"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 100</span>SOMERSET’S ADVENTURE</h2> +<h3><i>THE SUPERFLUOUS MANSION</i></h3> +<p>Mr. Paul Somerset was a young gentleman of a lively and fiery +imagination, with very small capacity for action. He was +one who lived exclusively in dreams and in the future: the +creature of his own theories, and an actor in his own +romances. From the cigar divan he proceeded to parade the +streets, still heated with the fire of his eloquence, and +scouting upon every side for the offer of some fortunate +adventure. In the continual stream of passers-by, on the +sealed fronts of houses, on the posters that covered the +hoardings, and in every lineament and throb of the great city, he +saw a mysterious and hopeful hieroglyph. But although the +elements of adventure were streaming by him as thick as drops of +water in the Thames, it was in vain that, now with a beseeching, +now with something of a braggadocio air, he courted and provoked +the notice of the passengers; in vain that, putting fortune to +the touch, he even thrust himself into the way and came into +direct collision with those of the more promising +demeanour. Persons brimful of secrets, persons pining for +affection, persons perishing for lack of help or counsel, he was +sure he could perceive on every side; but by some contrariety of +fortune, each passed upon his way without remarking the young +gentleman, and went farther (surely to fare worse!) in quest of +the confidant, the friend, or the adviser. To thousands he +must have turned an appealing countenance, and yet not one +regarded him.</p> +<p>A light dinner, eaten to the accompaniment of his impetuous +aspirations, broke in upon the series of his attempts on fortune; +and when he returned to the task, the lamps were already lighted, +and the nocturnal crowd was dense upon the pavement. Before +a certain restaurant, whose name will readily occur to any +student of our Babylon, people were already packed so closely +that passage had grown difficult; and Somerset, standing in the +kennel, watched, with a hope that was beginning to grow somewhat +weary, the faces and the manners of the crowd. Suddenly he +was startled by a gentle touch upon the shoulder, and facing +about, he was aware of a very plain and elegant brougham, drawn +by a pair of powerful horses, and driven by a man in sober +livery. There were no arms upon the panel; the window was +open, but the interior was obscure; the driver yawned behind his +palm; and the young man was already beginning to suppose himself +the dupe of his own fancy, when a hand, no larger than a +child’s and smoothly gloved in white, appeared in a corner +of the window and privily beckoned him to approach. He did +so, and looked in. The carriage was occupied by a single +small and very dainty figure, swathed head and shoulders in +impenetrable folds of white lace; and a voice, speaking low and +silvery, addressed him in these words—</p> +<p>‘Open the door and get in.’</p> +<p>‘It must be,’ thought the young man with an almost +unbearable thrill, ‘it must be that duchess at +last!’ Yet, although the moment was one to which he +had long looked forward, it was with a certain share of alarm +that he opened the door, and, mounting into the brougham, took +his seat beside the lady of the lace. Whether or no she had +touched a spring, or given some other signal, the young man had +hardly closed the door before the carriage, with considerable +swiftness, and with a very luxurious and easy movement on its +springs, turned and began to drive towards the west.</p> +<p>Somerset, as I have written, was not unprepared; it had long +been his particular pleasure to rehearse his conduct in the most +unlikely situations; and this, among others, of the patrician +ravisher, was one he had familiarly studied. Strange as it +may seem, however, he could find no apposite remark; and as the +lady, on her side, vouchsafed no further sign, they continued to +drive in silence through the streets. Except for alternate +flashes from the passing lamps, the carriage was plunged in +obscurity; and beyond the fact that the fittings were luxurious, +and that the lady was singularly small and slender in person, +and, all but one gloved hand, still swathed in her costly veil, +the young man could decipher no detail of an inspiring +nature. The suspense began to grow unbearable. Twice +he cleared his throat, and twice the whole resources of the +language failed him. In similar scenes, when he had +forecast them on the theatre of fancy, his presence of mind had +always been complete, his eloquence remarkable; and at this +disparity between the rehearsal and the performance, he began to +be seized with a panic of apprehension. Here, on the very +threshold of adventure, suppose him ignominiously to fail; +suppose that after ten, twenty, or sixty seconds of still +uninterrupted silence, the lady should touch the check-string and +re-deposit him, weighed and found wanting, on the common +street! Thousands of persons of no mind at all, he +reasoned, would be found more equal to the part; could, that very +instant, by some decisive step, prove the lady’s choice to +have been well inspired, and put a stop to this intolerable +silence.</p> +<p>His eye, at this point, lighted on the hand. It was +better to fall by desperate councils than to continue as he was; +and with one tremulous swoop he pounced on the gloved fingers and +drew them to himself. One overt step, it had appeared to +him, would dissolve the spell of his embarrassment; in act, he +found it otherwise: he found himself no less incapable of speech +or further progress; and with the lady’s hand in his, sat +helpless. But worse was in store. A peculiar +quivering began to agitate the form of his companion; the hand +that lay unresistingly in Somerset’s trembled as with ague; +and presently there broke forth, in the shadow of the carriage, +the bubbling and musical sound of laughter, resisted but +triumphant. The young man dropped his prize; had it been +possible, he would have bounded from the carriage. The +lady, meanwhile, lying back upon the cushions, passed on from +trill to trill of the most heartfelt, high-pitched, clear and +fairy-sounding merriment.</p> +<p>‘You must not be offended,’ she said at last, +catching an opportunity between two paroxysms. ‘If +you have been mistaken in the warmth of your attentions, the +fault is solely mine; it does not flow from your presumption, but +from my eccentric manner of recruiting friends; and, believe me, +I am the last person in the world to think the worse of a young +man for showing spirit. As for to-night, it is my intention +to entertain you to a little supper; and if I shall continue to +be as much pleased with your manners as I was taken with your +face, I may perhaps end by making you an advantageous +offer.’</p> +<p>Somerset sought in vain to find some form of answer, but his +discomfiture had been too recent and complete.</p> +<p>‘Come,’ returned the lady, ‘we must have no +display of temper; that is for me the one disqualifying fault; +and as I perceive we are drawing near our destination, I shall +ask you to descend and offer me your arm.’</p> +<p>Indeed, at that very moment the carriage drew up before a +stately and severe mansion in a spacious square; and Somerset, +who was possessed of an excellent temper, with the best grace in +the world assisted the lady to alight. The door was opened +by an old woman of a grim appearance, who ushered the pair into a +dining-room somewhat dimly lighted, but already laid for supper, +and occupied by a prodigious company of large and valuable +cats. Here, as soon as they were alone, the lady divested +herself of the lace in which she was enfolded; and Somerset was +relieved to find, that although still bearing the traces of great +beauty, and still distinguished by the fire and colour of her +eye, her hair was of a silvery whiteness and her face lined with +years.</p> +<p>‘And now, <i>mon preux</i>,’ said the old lady, +nodding at him with a quaint gaiety, ‘you perceive that I +am no longer in my first youth. You will soon find that I +am all the better company for that.’</p> +<p>As she spoke, the maid re-entered the apartment with a light +but tasteful supper. They sat down, accordingly, to table, +the cats with savage pantomime surrounding the old lady’s +chair; and what with the excellence of the meal and the gaiety of +his entertainer, Somerset was soon completely at his ease. +When they had well eaten and drunk, the old lady leaned back in +her chair, and taking a cat upon her lap, subjected her guest to +a prolonged but evidently mirthful scrutiny.</p> +<p>‘I fear, madam,’ said Somerset, ‘that my +manners have not risen to the height of your preconceived +opinion.’</p> +<p>‘My dear young man,’ she replied, ‘you were +never more mistaken in your life. I find you charming, and +you may very well have lighted on a fairy godmother. I am +not one of those who are given to change their opinions, and +short of substantial demerit, those who have once gained my +favour continue to enjoy it; but I have a singular swiftness of +decision, read my fellow men and women with a glance, and have +acted throughout life on first impressions. Yours, as I +tell you, has been favourable; and if, as I suppose, you are a +young fellow of somewhat idle habits, I think it not improbable +that we may strike a bargain.’</p> +<p>‘Ah, madam,’ returned Somerset, ‘you have +divined my situation. I am a man of birth, parts, and +breeding; excellent company, or at least so I find myself; but by +a peculiar iniquity of fate, destitute alike of trade or +money. I was, indeed, this evening upon the quest of an +adventure, resolved to close with any offer of interest, +emolument, or pleasure; and your summons, which I profess I am +still at some loss to understand, jumped naturally with the +inclination of my mind. Call it, if you will, impudence; I +am here, at least, prepared for any proposition you can find it +in your heart to make, and resolutely determined to +accept.’</p> +<p>‘You express yourself very well,’ replied the old +lady, ‘and are certainly a droll and curious young +man. I should not care to affirm that you were sane, for I +have never found any one entirely so besides myself; but at least +the nature of your madness entertains me, and I will reward you +with some description of my character and life.’</p> +<p>Thereupon the old lady, still fondling the cat upon her lap, +proceeded to narrate the following particulars.</p> +<h3><!-- page 108--><a name="page108"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 108</span><i>NARRATIVE OF THE SPIRITED OLD +LADY</i></h3> +<p>I was the eldest daughter of the Reverend Bernard Fanshawe, +who held a valuable living in the diocese of Bath and +Wells. Our family, a very large one, was noted for a +sprightly and incisive wit, and came of a good old stock where +beauty was an heirloom. In Christian grace of character we +were unhappily deficient. From my earliest years I saw and +deplored the defects of those relatives whose age and position +should have enabled them to conquer my esteem; and while I was +yet a child, my father married a second wife, in whom (strange to +say) the Fanshawe failings were exaggerated to a monstrous and +almost laughable degree. Whatever may be said against me, +it cannot be denied I was a pattern daughter; but it was in vain +that, with the most touching patience, I submitted to my +stepmother’s demands; and from the hour she entered my +father’s house, I may say that I met with nothing but +injustice and ingratitude.</p> +<p>I stood not alone, however, in the sweetness of my +disposition; for one other of the family besides myself was free +from any violence of character. Before I had reached the +age of sixteen, this cousin, John by name, had conceived for me a +sincere but silent passion; and although the poor lad was too +timid to hint at the nature of his feelings, I had soon divined +and begun to share them. For some days I pondered on the +odd situation created for me by the bashfulness of my admirer; +and at length, perceiving that he began, in his distress, rather +to avoid than seek my company, I determined to take the matter +into my own hands. Finding him alone in a retired part of +the rectory garden, I told him that I had divined his amiable +secret, that I knew with what disfavour our union was sure to be +regarded; and that, under the circumstances, I was prepared to +flee with him at once. Poor John was literally paralysed +with joy; such was the force of his emotions, that he could find +no words in which to thank me; and that I, seeing him thus +helpless, was obliged to arrange, myself, the details of our +flight, and of the stolen marriage which was immediately to crown +it. John had been at that time projecting a visit to the +metropolis. In this I bade him persevere, and promised on +the following day to join him at the Tavistock Hotel.</p> +<p>True, on my side, to every detail of our arrangement, I arose, +on the day in question, before the servants, packed a few +necessaries in a bag, took with me the little money I possessed, +and bade farewell for ever to the rectory. I walked with +good spirits to a town some thirty miles from home, and was set +down the next morning in this great city of London. As I +walked from the coach-office to the hotel, I could not help +exulting in the pleasant change that had befallen me; beholding, +meanwhile, with innocent delight, the traffic of the streets, and +depicting, in all the colours of fancy, the reception that +awaited me from John. But alas! when I inquired for Mr. +Fanshawe, the porter assured me there was no such gentleman among +the guests. By what channel our secret had leaked out, or +what pressure had been brought to bear on the too facile John, I +could never fathom. Enough that my family had triumphed; +that I found myself alone in London, tender in years, smarting +under the most sensible mortification, and by every sentiment of +pride and self-respect debarred for ever from my father’s +house.</p> +<p>I rose under the blow, and found lodgings in the neighbourhood +of Euston Road, where, for the first time in my life, I tasted +the joys of independence. Three days afterwards, an +advertisement in the <i>Times</i> directed me to the office of a +solicitor whom I knew to be in my father’s +confidence. There I was given the promise of a very +moderate allowance, and a distinct intimation that I must never +look to be received at home. I could not but resent so +cruel a desertion, and I told the lawyer it was a meeting I +desired as little as themselves. He smiled at my courageous +spirit, paid me the first quarter of my income, and gave me the +remainder of my personal effects, which had been sent to me, +under his care, in a couple of rather ponderous boxes. With +these I returned in triumph to my lodgings, more content with my +position than I should have thought possible a week before, and +fully determined to make the best of the future.</p> +<p>All went well for several months; and, indeed, it was my own +fault alone that ended this pleasant and secluded episode of +life. I have, I must confess, the fatal trick of spoiling +my inferiors. My landlady, to whom I had as usual been +overkind, impertinently called me in fault for some particular +too small to mention; and I, annoyed that I had allowed her the +freedom upon which she thus presumed, ordered her to leave my +presence. She stood a moment dumb, and then, recalling her +self-possession, ‘Your bill,’ said she, ‘shall +be ready this evening, and to-morrow, madam, you shall leave my +house. See,’ she added, ‘that you are able to +pay what you owe me; for if I do not receive the uttermost +farthing, no box of yours shall pass my threshold.’</p> +<p>I was confounded at her audacity, but as a whole +quarter’s income was due to me, not otherwise affected by +the threat. That afternoon, as I left the solicitor’s +door, carrying in one hand, and done up in a paper parcel, the +whole amount of my fortune, there befell me one of those decisive +incidents that sometimes shape a life. The lawyer’s +office was situate in a street that opened at the upper end upon +the Strand, and was closed at the lower, at the time of which I +speak, by a row of iron railings looking on the Thames. +Down this street, then, I beheld my stepmother advancing to meet +me, and doubtless bound to the very house I had just left. +She was attended by a maid whose face was new to me, but her own +was too clearly printed on my memory; and the sight of it, even +from a distance, filled me with generous indignation. +Flight was impossible. There was nothing left but to +retreat against the railing, and with my back turned to the +street, pretend to be admiring the barges on the river or the +chimneys of transpontine London.</p> +<p>I was still so standing, and had not yet fully mastered the +turbulence of my emotions, when a voice at my elbow addressed me +with a trivial question. It was the maid whom my +stepmother, with characteristic hardness, had left to await her +on the street, while she transacted her business with the family +solicitor. The girl did not know who I was; the opportunity +too golden to be lost; and I was soon hearing the latest news of +my father’s rectory and parish. It did not surprise +me to find that she detested her employers; and yet the terms in +which she spoke of them were hard to bear, hard to let pass +unchallenged. I heard them, however, without dissent, for +my self-command is wonderful; and we might have parted as we met, +had she not proceeded, in an evil hour, to criticise the +rector’s missing daughter, and with the most shocking +perversions, to narrate the story of her flight. My nature +is so essentially generous that I can never pause to +reason. I flung up my hand sharply, by way, as well as I +remember, of indignant protest; and, in the act, the packet +slipped from my fingers, glanced between the railings, and fell +and sunk in the river. I stood a moment petrified, and +then, struck by the drollery of the incident, gave way to peals +of laughter. I was still laughing when my stepmother +reappeared, and the maid, who doubtless considered me insane, ran +off to join her; nor had I yet recovered my gravity when I +presented myself before the lawyer to solicit a fresh +advance. His answer made me serious enough, for it was a +flat refusal; and it was not until I had besought him even with +tears, that he consented to lend me ten pounds from his own +pocket. ‘I am a poor man,’ said he, ‘and +you must look for nothing farther at my hands.’</p> +<p>The landlady met me at the door. ‘Here, +madam,’ said she, with a curtsey insolently low, +‘here is my bill. Would it inconvenience you to +settle it at once?’</p> +<p>‘You shall be paid, madam,’ said I, ‘in the +morning, in the proper course.’ And I took the paper +with a very high air, but inwardly quaking.</p> +<p>I had no sooner looked at it than I perceived myself to be +lost. I had been short of money and had allowed my debt to +mount; and it had now reached the sum, which I shall never +forget, of twelve pounds thirteen and fourpence halfpenny. +All evening I sat by the fire considering my situation. I +could not pay the bill; my landlady would not suffer me to remove +my boxes; and without either baggage or money, how was I to find +another lodging? For three months, unless I could invent +some remedy, I was condemned to be without a roof and without a +penny. It can surprise no one that I decided on immediate +flight; but even here I was confronted by a difficulty, for I had +no sooner packed my boxes than I found I was not strong enough to +move, far less to carry them.</p> +<p>In this strait I did not hesitate a moment, but throwing on a +shawl and bonnet, and covering my face with a thick veil, I +betook myself to that great bazaar of dangerous and smiling +chances, the pavement of the city. It was already late at +night, and the weather being wet and windy, there were few abroad +besides policemen. These, on my present mission, I had wit +enough to know for enemies; and wherever I perceived their moving +lanterns, I made haste to turn aside and choose another +thoroughfare. A few miserable women still walked the +pavement; here and there were young fellows returning drunk, or +ruffians of the lowest class lurking in the mouths of alleys; but +of any one to whom I might appeal in my distress, I began almost +to despair.</p> +<p>At last, at the corner of a street, I ran into the arms of one +who was evidently a gentleman, and who, in all his appointments, +from his furred great-coat to the fine cigar which he was +smoking, comfortably breathed of wealth. Much as my face +has changed from its original beauty, I still retain (or so I +tell myself) some traces of the youthful lightness of my +figure. Even veiled as I then was, I could perceive the +gentleman was struck by my appearance: and this emboldened me for +my adventure.</p> +<p>‘Sir,’ said I, with a quickly beating heart, +‘sir, are you one in whom a lady can confide?’</p> +<p>‘Why, my dear,’ said he, removing his cigar, +‘that depends on circumstances. If you will raise +your veil—’</p> +<p>‘Sir,’ I interrupted, ‘let there be no +mistake. I ask you, as a gentleman, to serve me, but I +offer no reward.’</p> +<p>‘That is frank,’ said he; ‘but hardly +tempting. And what, may I inquire, is the nature of the +service?’</p> +<p>But I knew well enough it was not my interest to tell him on +so short an interview. ‘If you will accompany +me,’ said I, ‘to a house not far from here, you can +see for yourself.’</p> +<p>He looked at me awhile with hesitating eyes; and then, tossing +away his cigar, which was not yet a quarter smoked, ‘Here +goes!’ said he, and with perfect politeness offered me his +arm. I was wise enough to take it; to prolong our walk as +far as possible, by more than one excursion from the shortest +line; and to beguile the way with that sort of conversation which +should prove to him indubitably from what station in society I +sprang. By the time we reached the door of my lodging, I +felt sure I had confirmed his interest, and might venture, before +I turned the pass-key, to beseech him to moderate his voice and +to tread softly. He promised to obey me: and I admitted him +into the passage and thence into my sitting-room, which was +fortunately next the door.</p> +<p>‘And now,’ said he, when with trembling fingers I +had lighted a candle, ‘what is the meaning of all +this?’</p> +<p>‘I wish you,’ said I, speaking with great +difficulty, ‘to help me out with these boxes—and I +wish nobody to know.’</p> +<p>He took up the candle. ‘And I wish to see your +face,’ said he.</p> +<p>I turned back my veil without a word, and looked at him with +every appearance of resolve that I could summon up. For +some time he gazed into my face, still holding up the +candle. ‘Well,’ said he at last, ‘and +where do you wish them taken?’</p> +<p>I knew that I had gained my point; and it was with a tremor in +my voice that I replied. ‘I had thought we might +carry them between us to the corner of Euston Road,’ said +I, ‘where, even at this late hour, we may still find a +cab.’</p> +<p>‘Very good,’ was his reply; and he immediately +hoisted the heavier of my trunks upon his shoulder, and taking +one handle of the second, signed to me to help him at the other +end. In this order we made good our retreat from the house, +and without the least adventure, drew pretty near to the corner +of Euston Road. Before a house, where there was a light +still burning, my companion paused. ‘Let us +here,’ said he, ‘set down our boxes, while we go +forward to the end of the street in quest of a cab. By +doing so, we can still keep an eye upon their safety, and we +avoid the very extraordinary figure we should otherwise +present—a young man, a young lady, and a mass of baggage, +standing castaway at midnight on the streets of +London.’ So it was done, and the event proved him to +be wise; for long before there was any word of a cab, a policeman +appeared upon the scene, turned upon us the full glare of his +lantern, and hung suspiciously behind us in a doorway.</p> +<p>‘There seem to be no cabs about, policeman,’ said +my champion, with affected cheerfulness. But the +constable’s answer was ungracious; and as for the offer of +a cigar, with which this rebuff was most unwisely followed up, he +refused it point-blank, and without the least civility. The +young gentleman looked at me with a warning grimace, and there we +continued to stand, on the edge of the pavement, in the beating +rain, and with the policeman still silently watching our +movements from the doorway.</p> +<p>At last, and after a delay that seemed interminable, a +four-wheeler appeared lumbering along in the mud, and was +instantly hailed by my companion. ‘Just pull up here, +will you?’ he cried. ‘We have some baggage up +the street.’</p> +<p>And now came the hitch of our adventure; for when the +policeman, still closely following us, beheld my two boxes lying +in the rain, he arose from mere suspicion to a kind of certitude +of something evil. The light in the house had been +extinguished; the whole frontage of the street was dark; there +was nothing to explain the presence of these unguarded trunks; +and no two innocent people were ever, I believe, detected in such +questionable circumstances.</p> +<p>‘Where have these things come from?’ asked the +policeman, flashing his light full into my champion’s +face.</p> +<p>‘Why, from that house, of course,’ replied the +young gentleman, hastily shouldering a trunk.</p> +<p>The policeman whistled and turned to look at the dark windows; +he then took a step towards the door, as though to knock, a +course which had infallibly proved our ruin; but seeing us +already hurrying down the street under our double burthen, +thought better or worse of it, and followed in our wake.</p> +<p>‘For God’s sake,’ whispered my companion, +‘tell me where to drive to.’</p> +<p>‘Anywhere,’ I replied with anguish. ‘I +have no idea. Anywhere you like.’</p> +<p>Thus it befell that, when the boxes had been stowed, and I had +already entered the cab, my deliverer called out in clear tones +the address of the house in which we are now seated. The +policeman, I could see, was staggered. This neighbourhood, +so retired, so aristocratic, was far from what he had +expected. For all that, he took the number of the cab, and +spoke for a few seconds and with a decided manner in the +cabman’s ear.</p> +<p>‘What can he have said?’ I gasped, as soon as the +cab had rolled away.</p> +<p>‘I can very well imagine,’ replied my champion; +‘and I can assure you that you are now condemned to go +where I have said; for, should we attempt to change our +destination by the way, the jarvey will drive us straight to a +police-office. Let me compliment you on your nerves,’ +he added. ‘I have had, I believe, the most horrible +fright of my existence.’</p> +<p>But my nerves, which he so much misjudged, were in so strange +a disarray that speech was now become impossible; and we made the +drive thenceforward in unbroken silence. When we arrived +before the door of our destination, the young gentleman alighted, +opened it with a pass-key like one who was at home, bade the +driver carry the trunks into the hall, and dismissed him with a +handsome fee. He then led me into this dining-room, looking +nearly as you behold it, but with certain marks of bachelor +occupancy, and hastened to pour out a glass of wine, which he +insisted on my drinking. As soon as I could find my voice, +‘In God’s name,’ I cried, ‘where am +I?’</p> +<p>He told me I was in his house, where I was very welcome, and +had no more urgent business than to rest myself and recover my +spirits. As he spoke he offered me another glass of wine, +of which, indeed, I stood in great want, for I was faint, and +inclined to be hysterical. Then he sat down beside the +fire, lit another cigar, and for some time observed me curiously +in silence.</p> +<p>‘And now,’ said he, ‘that you have somewhat +restored yourself, will you be kind enough to tell me in what +sort of crime I have become a partner? Are you murderer, +smuggler, thief, or only the harmless and domestic moonlight +flitter?’</p> +<p>I had been already shocked by his lighting a cigar without +permission, for I had not forgotten the one he threw away on our +first meeting; and now, at these explicit insults, I resolved at +once to reconquer his esteem. The judgment of the world I +have consistently despised, but I had already begun to set a +certain value on the good opinion of my entertainer. +Beginning with a note of pathos, but soon brightening into my +habitual vivacity and humour, I rapidly narrated the +circumstances of my birth, my flight, and subsequent +misfortunes. He heard me to an end in silence, gravely +smoking. ‘Miss Fanshawe,’ said he, when I had +done, ‘you are a very comical and most enchanting creature; +and I can see nothing for it but that I should return to-morrow +morning and satisfy your landlady’s demands.’</p> +<p>‘You strangely misinterpret my confidence,’ was my +reply; ‘and if you had at all appreciated my character, you +would understand that I can take no money at your +hands.’</p> +<p>‘Your landlady will doubtless not be so +particular,’ he returned; ‘nor do I at all despair of +persuading even your unconquerable self. I desire you to +examine me with critical indulgence. My name is Henry +Luxmore, Lord Southwark’s second son. I possess nine +thousand a year, the house in which we are now sitting, and seven +others in the best neighbourhoods in town. I do not believe +I am repulsive to the eye, and as for my character, you have seen +me under trial. I think you simply the most original of +created beings; I need not tell you what you know very well, that +you are ravishingly pretty; and I have nothing more to add, +except that, foolish as it may appear, I am already head over +heels in love with you.’</p> +<p>‘Sir,’ said I, ‘I am prepared to be +misjudged; but while I continue to accept your hospitality that +fact alone should be enough to protect me from insult.’</p> +<p>‘Pardon me,’ said he: ‘I offer you +marriage.’ And leaning back in his chair he replaced +his cigar between his lips.</p> +<p>I own I was confounded by an offer, not only so unprepared, +but couched in terms so singular. But he knew very well how +to obtain his purposes, for he was not only handsome in person, +but his very coolness had a charm; and to make a long story +short, a fortnight later I became the wife of the Honourable +Henry Luxmore.</p> +<p>For nearly twenty years I now led a life of almost perfect +quiet. My Henry had his weaknesses; I was twice driven to +flee from his roof, but not for long; for though he was easily +over-excited, his nature was placable below the surface, and with +all his faults, I loved him tenderly. At last he was taken +from me; and such is the power of self-deception, and so strange +are the whims of the dying, he actually assured me, with his +latest breath, that he forgave the violence of my temper!</p> +<p>There was but one pledge of the marriage, my daughter +Clara. She had, indeed, inherited a shadow of her +father’s failing; but in all things else, unless my partial +eyes deceived me, she derived her qualities from me, and might be +called my moral image. On my side, whatever else I may have +done amiss, as a mother I was above reproach. Here, then, +was surely every promise for the future; here, at last, was a +relation in which I might hope to taste repose. But it was +not to be. You will hardly credit me when I inform you that +she ran away from home; yet such was the case. Some whim +about oppressed nationalities—Ireland, Poland, and the +like—has turned her brain; and if you should anywhere +encounter a young lady (I must say, of remarkable attractions) +answering to the name of Luxmore, Lake, or Fonblanque (for I am +told she uses these indifferently, as well as many others), tell +her, from me, that I forgive her cruelty, and though I will never +more behold her face, I am at any time prepared to make her a +liberal allowance.</p> +<p>On the death of Mr. Luxmore, I sought oblivion in the details +of business. I believe I have mentioned that seven +mansions, besides this, formed part of Mr. Luxmore’s +property: I have found them seven white elephants. The +greed of tenants, the dishonesty of solicitors, and the +incapacity that sits upon the bench, have combined together to +make these houses the burthen of my life. I had no sooner, +indeed, begun to look into these matters for myself, than I +discovered so many injustices and met with so much studied +incivility, that I was plunged into a long series of lawsuits, +some of which are pending to this day. You must have heard +my name already; I am the Mrs. Luxmore of the Law Reports: a +strange destiny, indeed, for one born with an almost cowardly +desire for peace! But I am of the stamp of those who, when +they have once begun a task, will rather die than leave their +duty unfulfilled. I have met with every obstacle: insolence +and ingratitude from my own lawyers; in my adversaries, that +fault of obstinacy which is to me perhaps the most distasteful in +the calendar; from the bench, civility indeed—always, I +must allow, civility—but never a spark of independence, +never that knowledge of the law and love of justice which we have +a right to look for in a judge, the most august of human +officers. And still, against all these odds, I have +undissuadably persevered.</p> +<p>It was after the loss of one of my innumerable cases (a +subject on which I will not dwell) that it occurred to me to make +a melancholy pilgrimage to my various houses. Four were at +that time tenantless and closed, like pillars of salt, +commemorating the corruption of the age and the decline of +private virtue. Three were occupied by persons who had +wearied me by every conceivable unjust demand and legal +subterfuge—persons whom, at that very hour, I was moving +heaven and earth to turn into the street. This was perhaps +the sadder spectacle of the two; and my heart grew hot within me +to behold them occupying, in my very teeth, and with an insolent +ostentation, these handsome structures which were as much mine as +the flesh upon my body.</p> +<p>One more house remained for me to visit, that in which we now +are. I had let it (for at that period I lodged in a hotel, +the life that I have always preferred) to a Colonel Geraldine, a +gentleman attached to Prince Florizel of Bohemia, whom you must +certainly have heard of; and I had supposed, from the character +and position of my tenant, that here, at least, I was safe +against annoyance. What was my surprise to find this house +also shuttered and apparently deserted! I will not deny +that I was offended; I conceived that a house, like a yacht, was +better to be kept in commission; and I promised myself to bring +the matter before my solicitor the following morning. +Meanwhile the sight recalled my fancy naturally to the past; and +yielding to the tender influence of sentiment, I sat down +opposite the door upon the garden parapet. It was August, +and a sultry afternoon, but that spot is sheltered, as you may +observe by daylight, under the branches of a spreading chestnut; +the square, too, was deserted; there was a sound of distant music +in the air; and all combined to plunge me into that most +agreeable of states, which is neither happiness nor sorrow, but +shares the poignancy of both.</p> +<p>From this I was recalled by the arrival of a large van, very +handsomely appointed, drawn by valuable horses, mounted by +several men of an appearance more than decent, and bearing on its +panels, instead of a trader’s name, a coat-of-arms too +modest to be deciphered from where I sat. It drew up before +my house, the door of which was immediately opened by one of the +men. His companions—I counted seven of them in +all—proceeded, with disciplined activity, to take from the +van and carry into the house a variety of hampers, +bottle-baskets, and boxes, such as are designed for plate and +napery. The windows of the dining-room were thrown widely +open, as though to air it; and I saw some of those within laying +the table for a meal. Plainly, I concluded, my tenant was +about to return; and while still determined to submit to no +aggression on my rights, I was gratified by the number and +discipline of his attendants, and the quiet profusion that +appeared to reign in his establishment. I was still so +thinking when, to my extreme surprise, the windows and shutters +of the dining-room were once more closed; the men began to +reappear from the interior and resume their stations on the van; +the last closed the door behind his exit; the van drove away; and +the house was once more left to itself, looking blindly on the +square with shuttered windows, as though the whole affair had +been a vision.</p> +<p>It was no vision, however; for, as I rose to my feet, and thus +brought my eyes a little nearer to the level of the fanlight over +the door, I saw that, though the day had still some hours to run, +the hall lamps had been lighted and left burning. Plainly, +then, guests were expected, and were not expected before +night. For whom, I asked myself with indignation, were such +secret preparations likely to be made? Although no prude, I +am a woman of decided views upon morality; if my house, to which +my husband had brought me, was to serve in the character of a +<i>petite maison</i>, I saw myself forced, however unwillingly, +into a new course of litigation; and, determined to return and +know the worst, I hastened to my hotel for dinner.</p> +<p>I was at my post by ten. The night was clear and quiet; +the moon rode very high and put the lamps to shame; and the +shadow below the chestnut was black as ink. Here, then, I +ensconced myself on the low parapet, with my back against the +railings, face to face with the moonlit front of my old home, and +ruminating gently on the past. Time fled; eleven struck on +all the city clocks; and presently after I was aware of the +approach of a gentleman of stately and agreeable demeanour. +He was smoking as he walked; his light paletôt, which was +open, did not conceal his evening clothes; and he bore himself +with a serious grace that immediately awakened my +attention. Before the door of this house he took a pass-key +from his pocket, quietly admitted himself, and disappeared into +the lamplit hall.</p> +<p>He was scarcely gone when I observed another and a much +younger man approaching hastily from the opposite side of the +square. Considering the season of the year and the genial +mildness of the night, he was somewhat closely muffled up; and as +he came, for all his hurry, he kept looking nervously behind +him. Arrived before my door, he halted and set one foot +upon the step, as though about to enter; then, with a sudden +change, he turned and began to hurry away; halted a second time, +as if in painful indecision; and lastly, with a violent gesture, +wheeled about, returned straight to the door, and rapped upon the +knocker. He was almost immediately admitted by the first +arrival.</p> +<p>My curiosity was now broad awake. I made myself as small +as I could in the very densest of the shadow, and waited for the +sequel. Nor had I long to wait. From the same side of +the square a second young man made his appearance, walking slowly +and softly, and like the first, muffled to the nose. Before +the house he paused, looked all about him with a swift and +comprehensive glance; and seeing the square lie empty in the moon +and lamplight, leaned far across the area railings and appeared +to listen to what was passing in the house. From the +dining-room there came the report of a champagne cork, and +following upon that, the sound of rich and manly laughter. +The listener took heart of grace, produced a key, unlocked the +area gate, shut it noiselessly behind him, and descended the +stair. Just when his head had reached the level of the +pavement, he turned half round and once more raked the square +with a suspicious eyeshot. The mufflings had fallen lower +round his neck; the moon shone full upon him; and I was startled +to observe the pallor and passionate agitation of his face.</p> +<p>I could remain no longer passive. Persuaded that +something deadly was afoot, I crossed the roadway and drew near +the area railings. There was no one below; the man must +therefore have entered the house, with what purpose I dreaded to +imagine. I have at no part of my career lacked courage; and +now, finding the area gate was merely laid to, I pushed it gently +open and descended the stairs. The kitchen door of the +house, like the area gate, was closed but not fastened. It +flashed upon me that the criminal was thus preparing his escape; +and the thought, as it confirmed the worst of my suspicions, lent +me new resolve. I entered the house; and being now quite +reckless of my life, I shut and locked the door.</p> +<p>From the dining-room above I could hear the pleasant tones of +a voice in easy conversation. On the ground floor all was +not only profoundly silent, but the darkness seemed to weigh upon +my eyes. Here, then, I stood for some time, having thrust +myself uncalled into the utmost peril, and being destitute of any +power to help or interfere. Nor will I deny that fear had +begun already to assail me, when I became aware, all at once and +as though by some immediate but silent incandescence, of a +certain glimmering of light upon the passage floor. Towards +this I groped my way with infinite precaution; and having come at +length as far as the angle of the corridor, beheld the door of +the butler’s pantry standing just ajar and a narrow thread +of brightness falling from the chink. Creeping still +closer, I put my eye to the aperture. The man sat within +upon a chair, listening, I could see, with the most rapt +attention. On a table before him he had laid a watch, a +pair of steel revolvers, and a bull’s-eye lantern. +For one second many contradictory theories and projects whirled +together in my head; the next, I had slammed the door and turned +the key upon the malefactor. Surprised at my own decision, +I stood and panted, leaning on the wall. From within the +pantry not a sound was to be heard; the man, whatever he was, had +accepted his fate without a struggle, and now, as I hugged myself +to fancy, sat frozen with terror and looking for the worst to +follow. I promised myself that he should not be +disappointed; and the better to complete my task, I turned to +ascend the stairs.</p> +<p>The situation, as I groped my way to the first floor, appealed +to me suddenly by my strong sense of humour. Here was I, +the owner of the house, burglariously present in its walls; and +there, in the dining-room, were two gentlemen, unknown to me, +seated complacently at supper, and only saved by my promptitude +from some surprising or deadly interruption. It were +strange if I could not manage to extract the matter of amusement +from so unusual a situation.</p> +<p>Behind this dining-room, there is a small apartment intended +for a library. It was to this that I cautiously groped my +way; and you will see how fortune had exactly served me. +The weather, I have said, was sultry; in order to ventilate the +dining-room and yet preserve the uninhabited appearance of the +mansion to the front, the window of the library had been widely +opened, and the door of communication between the two apartments +left ajar. To this interval I now applied my eye.</p> +<p>Wax tapers, set in silver candlesticks, shed their chastened +brightness on the damask of the tablecloth and the remains of a +cold collation of the rarest delicacy. The two gentlemen +had finished supper, and were now trifling with cigars and +maraschino; while in a silver spirit lamp, coffee of the most +captivating fragrance was preparing in the fashion of the +East. The elder of the two, he who had first arrived, was +placed directly facing me; the other was set on his left +hand. Both, like the man in the butler’s pantry, +seemed to be intently listening; and on the face of the second I +thought I could perceive the marks of fear. Oddly enough, +however, when they came to speak, the parts were found to be +reversed.</p> +<p>‘I assure you,’ said the elder gentleman, ‘I +not only heard the slamming of a door, but the sound of very +guarded footsteps.’</p> +<p>‘Your highness was certainly deceived,’ replied +the other. ‘I am endowed with the acutest hearing, +and I can swear that not a mouse has rustled.’ Yet +the pallor and contraction of his features were in total discord +with the tenor of his words.</p> +<p>His highness (whom, of course, I readily divined to be Prince +Florizel) looked at his companion for the least fraction of a +second; and though nothing shook the easy quiet of his attitude, +I could see that he was far from being duped. ‘It is +well,’ said he; ‘let us dismiss the topic. And +now, sir, that I have very freely explained the sentiments by +which I am directed, let me ask you, according to your promise, +to imitate my frankness.’</p> +<p>‘I have heard you,’ replied the other, ‘with +great interest.’</p> +<p>‘With singular patience,’ said the prince +politely.</p> +<p>‘Ay, your highness, and with unlooked-for +sympathy,’ returned the young man. ‘I know not +how to tell the change that has befallen me. You have, I +must suppose, a charm, to which even your enemies are +subject.’ He looked at the clock on the mantelpiece +and visibly blanched. ‘So late!’ he +cried. ‘Your highness—God knows I am now +speaking from the heart—before it be too late, leave this +house!’</p> +<p>The prince glanced once more at his companion, and then very +deliberately shook the ash from his cigar. ‘That is a +strange remark,’ said he; ‘and <i>á propos de +bottes</i>, I never continue a cigar when once the ash is fallen; +the spell breaks, the soul of the flavour flies away, and there +remains but the dead body of tobacco; and I make it a rule to +throw away that husk and choose another.’ He suited +the action to the words.</p> +<p>‘Do not trifle with my appeal,’ resumed the young +man, in tones that trembled with emotion. ‘It is made +at the price of my honour and to the peril of my life. +Go—go now! lose not a moment; and if you have any kindness +for a young man, miserably deceived indeed, but not devoid of +better sentiments, look not behind you as you leave.’</p> +<p>‘Sir,’ said the prince, ‘I am here upon your +honour; assure you upon mine that I shall continue to rely upon +that safeguard. The coffee is ready; I must again trouble +you, I fear.’ And with a courteous movement of the +hand, he seemed to invite his companion to pour out the +coffee.</p> +<p>The unhappy young man rose from his seat. ‘I +appeal to you,’ he cried, ‘by every holy sentiment, +in mercy to me, if not in pity to yourself, begone before it is +too late.’</p> +<p>‘Sir,’ replied the prince, ‘I am not readily +accessible to fear; and if there is one defect to which I must +plead guilty, it is that of a curious disposition. You go +the wrong way about to make me leave this house, in which I play +the part of your entertainer; and, suffer me to add, young man, +if any peril threaten us, it was of your contriving, not of +mine.’</p> +<p>‘Alas, you do not know to what you condemn me,’ +cried the other. ‘But I at least will have no hand in +it.’ With these words he carried his hand to his +pocket, hastily swallowed the contents of a phial, and, with the +very act, reeled back and fell across his chair upon the +floor. The prince left his place and came and stood above +him, where he lay convulsed upon the carpet. ‘Poor +moth!’ I heard his highness murmur. ‘Alas, poor +moth! must we again inquire which is the more +fatal—weakness or wickedness? And can a sympathy with +ideas, surely not ignoble in themselves, conduct a man to this +dishonourable death?’</p> +<p>By this time I had pushed the door open and walked into the +room. ‘Your highness,’ said I, ‘this is +no time for moralising; with a little promptness we may save this +creature’s life; and as for the other, he need cause you no +concern, for I have him safely under lock and key.’</p> +<p>The prince had turned about upon my entrance, and regarded me +certainly with no alarm, but with a profundity of wonder which +almost robbed me of my self-possession. ‘My dear +madam,’ he cried at last, ‘and who the devil are +you?’</p> +<p>I was already on the floor beside the dying man. I had, +of course, no idea with what drug he had attempted his life, and +I was forced to try him with a variety of antidotes. Here +were both oil and vinegar, for the prince had done the young man +the honour of compounding for him one of his celebrated salads; +and of each of these I administered from a quarter to half a +pint, with no apparent efficacy. I next plied him with the +hot coffee, of which there may have been near upon a quart.</p> +<p>‘Have you no milk?’ I inquired.</p> +<p>‘I fear, madam, that milk has been omitted,’ +returned the prince.</p> +<p>‘Salt, then,’ said I; ‘salt is a +revulsive. Pass the salt.’</p> +<p>‘And possibly the mustard?’ asked his highness, as +he offered me the contents of the various salt-cellars poured +together on a plate.</p> +<p>‘Ah,’ cried I, ‘the thought is +excellent! Mix me about half a pint of mustard, drinkably +dilute.’</p> +<p>Whether it was the salt or the mustard, or the mere +combination of so many subversive agents, as soon as the last had +been poured over his throat, the young sufferer obtained +relief.</p> +<p>‘There!’ I exclaimed, with natural triumph, +‘I have saved a life!’</p> +<p>‘And yet, madam,’ returned the prince, ‘your +mercy may be cruelty disguised. Where the honour is lost, +it is, at least, superfluous to prolong the life.’</p> +<p>‘If you had led a life as changeable as mine, your +highness,’ I replied, ‘you would hold a very +different opinion. For my part, and after whatever +extremity of misfortune or disgrace, I should still count +to-morrow worth a trial.’</p> +<p>‘You speak as a lady, madam,’ said the prince; +‘and for such you speak the truth. But to men there +is permitted such a field of license, and the good behaviour +asked of them is at once so easy and so little, that to fail in +that is to fall beyond the reach of pardon. But will you +suffer me to repeat a question, put to you at first, I am afraid, +with some defect of courtesy; and to ask you once more, who you +are and how I have the honour of your company?’</p> +<p>‘I am the proprietor of the house in which we +stand,’ said I.</p> +<p>‘And still I am at fault,’ returned the +prince.</p> +<p>But at that moment the timepiece on the mantel-shelf began to +strike the hour of twelve; and the young man, raising himself +upon one elbow, with an expression of despair and horror that I +have never seen excelled, cried lamentably, ‘Midnight! oh, +just God!’ We stood frozen to our places, while the +tingling hammer of the timepiece measured the remaining strokes; +nor had we yet stirred, so tragic had been the tones of the young +man, when the various bells of London began in turn to declare +the hour. The timepiece was inaudible beyond the walls of +the chamber where we stood; but the second pulsation of Big Ben +had scarcely throbbed into the night, before a sharp detonation +rang about the house. The prince sprang for the door by +which I had entered; but quick as he was, I yet contrived to +intercept him.</p> +<p>‘Are you armed?’ I cried.</p> +<p>‘No, madam,’ replied he. ‘You remind +me appositely; I will take the poker.’</p> +<p>‘The man below,’ said I, ‘has two +revolvers. Would you confront him at such odds?’</p> +<p>He paused, as though staggered in his purpose.</p> +<p>‘And yet, madam,’ said he, ‘we cannot +continue to remain in ignorance of what has passed.’</p> +<p>‘No!’ cried I. ‘And who proposes +it? I am as curious as yourself, but let us rather send for +the police; or, if your highness dreads a scandal, for some of +your own servants.’</p> +<p>‘Nay, madam,’ he replied, smiling, ‘for so +brave a lady, you surprise me. Would you have me, then, +send others where I fear to go myself?’</p> +<p>‘You are perfectly right,’ said I, ‘and I +was entirely wrong. Go, in God’s name, and I will +hold the candle!’</p> +<p>Together, therefore, we descended to the lower story, he +carrying the poker, I the light; and together we approached and +opened the door of the butler’s pantry. In some sort, +I believe, I was prepared for the spectacle that met our eyes; I +was prepared, that is, to find the villain dead, but the rude +details of such a violent suicide I was unable to endure. +The prince, unshaken by horror as he had remained unshaken by +alarm, assisted me with the most respectful gallantry to regain +the dining-room.</p> +<p>There we found our patient, still, indeed, deadly pale, but +vastly recovered and already seated on a chair. He held out +both his hands with a most pitiful gesture of interrogation.</p> +<p>‘He is dead,’ said the prince.</p> +<p>‘Alas!’ cried the young man, ‘and it should +be I! What do I do, thus lingering on the stage I have +disgraced, while he, my sure comrade, blameworthy indeed for +much, but yet the soul of fidelity, has judged and slain himself +for an involuntary fault? Ah, sir,’ said he, +‘and you too, madam, without whose cruel help I should be +now beyond the reach of my accusing conscience, you behold in me +the victim equally of my own faults and virtues. I was born +a hater of injustice; from my most tender years my blood boiled +against heaven when I beheld the sick, and against men when I +witnessed the sorrows of the poor; the pauper’s crust stuck +in my throat when I sat down to eat my dainties, and the cripple +child has set me weeping. What was there in that but what +was noble? and yet observe to what a fall these thoughts have led +me! Year after year this passion for the lost besieged me +closer. What hope was there in kings? what hope in these +well-feathered classes that now roll in money? I had +observed the course of history; I knew the burgess, our ruler of +to-day, to be base, cowardly, and dull; I saw him, in every age, +combine to pull down that which was immediately above and to prey +upon those that were below; his dulness, I knew, would ultimately +bring about his ruin; I knew his days were numbered, and yet how +was I to wait? how was I to let the poor child shiver in the +rain? The better days, indeed, were coming, but the child +would die before that. Alas, your highness, in surely no +ungenerous impatience I enrolled myself among the enemies of this +unjust and doomed society; in surely no unnatural desire to keep +the fires of my philanthropy alight, I bound myself by an +irrevocable oath.</p> +<p>‘That oath is all my history. To give freedom to +posterity I had forsworn my own. I must attend upon every +signal; and soon my father complained of my irregular hours and +turned me from his house. I was engaged in betrothal to an +honest girl; from her also I had to part, for she was too shrewd +to credit my inventions and too innocent to be entrusted with the +truth. Behold me, then, alone with conspirators! +Alas! as the years went on, my illusions left me. +Surrounded as I was by the fervent disciples and apologists of +revolution, I beheld them daily advance in confidence and +desperation; I beheld myself, upon the other hand, and with an +almost equal regularity, decline in faith. I had sacrificed +all to further that cause in which I still believed; and daily I +began to grow in doubts if we were advancing it indeed. +Horrible was the society with which we warred, but our own means +were not less horrible.</p> +<p>‘I will not dwell upon my sufferings; I will not pause +to tell you how, when I beheld young men still free and happy, +married, fathers of children, cheerfully toiling at their work, +my heart reproached me with the greatness and vanity of my +unhappy sacrifice. I will not describe to you how, worn by +poverty, poor lodging, scanty food, and an unquiet conscience, my +health began to fail, and in the long nights, as I wandered +bedless in the rainy streets, the most cruel sufferings of the +body were added to the tortures of my mind. These things +are not personal to me; they are common to all unfortunates in my +position. An oath, so light a thing to swear, so grave a +thing to break: an oath, taken in the heat of youth, repented +with what sobbings of the heart, but yet in vain repented, as the +years go on: an oath, that was once the very utterance of the +truth of God, but that falls to be the symbol of a meaningless +and empty slavery; such is the yoke that many young men joyfully +assume, and under whose dead weight they live to suffer worse +than death.</p> +<p>‘It is not that I was patient. I have begged to be +released; but I knew too much, and I was still refused. I +have fled; ay, and for the time successfully. I reached +Paris. I found a lodging in the Rue St. Jacques, almost +opposite the Val de Grâce. My room was mean and bare, +but the sun looked into it towards evening; it commanded a peep +of a green garden; a bird hung by a neighbour’s window and +made the morning beautiful; and I, who was sick, might lie in bed +and rest myself: I, who was in full revolt against the principles +that I had served, was now no longer at the beck of the council, +and was no longer charged with shameful and revolting +tasks. Oh! what an interval of peace was that! I +still dream, at times, that I can hear the note of my +neighbour’s bird.</p> +<p>‘My money was running out, and it became necessary that +I should find employment. Scarcely had I been three days +upon the search, ere I thought that I was being followed. I +made certain of the features of the man, which were quite strange +to me, and turned into a small café, where I whiled away +an hour, pretending to read the papers, but inwardly convulsed +with terror. When I came forth again into the street, it +was quite empty, and I breathed again; but alas, I had not turned +three corners, when I once more observed the human hound pursuing +me. Not an hour was to be lost; timely submission might yet +preserve a life which otherwise was forfeit and dishonoured; and +I fled, with what speed you may conceive, to the Paris agency of +the society I served.</p> +<p>‘My submission was accepted. I took up once more +the hated burthen of that life; once more I was at the call of +men whom I despised and hated, while yet I envied and admired +them. They at least were wholehearted in the things they +purposed; but I, who had once been such as they, had fallen from +the brightness of my faith, and now laboured, like a hireling, +for the wages of a loathed existence. Ay, sir, to that I +was condemned; I obeyed to continue to live, and lived but to +obey.</p> +<p>‘The last charge that was laid upon me was the one which +has to-night so tragically ended. Boldly telling who I was, +I was to request from your highness, on behalf of my society, a +private audience, where it was designed to murder you. If +one thing remained to me of my old convictions, it was the hate +of kings; and when this task was offered me, I took it +gladly. Alas, sir, you triumphed. As we supped, you +gained upon my heart. Your character, your talents, your +designs for our unhappy country, all had been +misrepresented. I began to forget you were a prince; I +began, all too feelingly, to remember that you were a man. +As I saw the hour approach, I suffered agonies untold; and when, +at last, we heard the slamming of the door which announced in my +unwilling ears the arrival of the partner of my crime, you will +bear me out with what instancy I besought you to depart. +You would not, alas! and what could I? Kill you, I could +not; my heart revolted, my hand turned back from such a +deed. Yet it was impossible that I should suffer you to +stay; for when the hour struck and my companion came, true to his +appointment, and he, at least, true to our design, I could +neither suffer you to be killed nor yet him to be arrested. +From such a tragic passage, death, and death alone, could save +me; and it is no fault of mine if I continue to exist.</p> +<p>‘But you, madam,’ continued the young man, +addressing himself more directly to myself, ‘were doubtless +born to save the prince and to confound our purposes. My +life you have prolonged; and by turning the key on my companion, +you have made me the author of his death. He heard the hour +strike; he was impotent to help; and thinking himself forfeit to +honour, thinking that I should fall alone upon his highness and +perish for lack of his support, he has turned his pistol on +himself.’</p> +<p>‘You are right,’ said Prince Florizel: ‘it +was in no ungenerous spirit that you brought these burthens on +yourself; and when I see you so nobly to blame, so tragically +punished, I stand like one reproved. For is it not strange, +madam, that you and I, by practising accepted and inconsiderable +virtues, and commonplace but still unpardonable faults, should +stand here, in the sight of God, with what we call clean hands +and quiet consciences; while this poor youth, for an error that I +could almost envy him, should be sunk beyond the reach of +hope?</p> +<p>‘Sir,’ resumed the prince, turning to the young +man, ‘I cannot help you; my help would but unchain the +thunderbolt that overhangs you; and I can but leave you +free.’</p> +<p>‘And, sir,’ said I, ‘as this house belongs +to me, I will ask you to have the kindness to remove the +body. You and your conspirators, it appears to me, can +hardly in civility do less.’</p> +<p>‘It shall be done,’ said the young man, with a +dismal accent.</p> +<p>‘And you, dear madam,’ said the prince, +‘you, to whom I owe my life, how can I serve +you?’</p> +<p>‘Your highness,’ I said, ‘to be very plain, +this is my favourite house, being not only a valuable property, +but endeared to me by various associations. I have endless +troubles with tenants of the ordinary class: and at first +applauded my good fortune when I found one of the station of your +Master of the Horse. I now begin to think otherwise: +dangers set a siege about great personages; and I do not wish my +tenement to share these risks. Procure me the resiliation +of the lease, and I shall feel myself your debtor.’</p> +<p>‘I must tell you, madam,’ replied his highness, +‘that Colonel Geraldine is but a cloak for myself; and I +should be sorry indeed to think myself so unacceptable a +tenant.’</p> +<p>‘Your highness,’ said I, ‘I have conceived a +sincere admiration for your character; but on the subject of +house property, I cannot allow the interference of my +feelings. I will, however, to prove to you that there is +nothing personal in my request, here solemnly engage my word that +I will never put another tenant in this house.’</p> +<p>‘Madam,’ said Florizel, ‘you plead your +cause too charmingly to be refused.’</p> +<p>Thereupon we all three withdrew. The young man, still +reeling in his walk, departed by himself to seek the assistance +of his fellow-conspirators; and the prince, with the most +attentive gallantry, lent me his escort to the door of my +hotel. The next day, the lease was cancelled; nor from that +hour to this, though sometimes regretting my engagement, have I +suffered a tenant in this house.</p> +<h2><!-- page 145--><a name="page145"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 145</span><i>THE SUPERFLUOUS MANSION</i><br /> +(<i>Continued</i>).</h2> +<p>As soon as the old lady had finished her relation, Somerset +made haste to offer her his compliments.</p> +<p>‘Madam,’ said he, ‘your story is not only +entertaining but instructive; and you have told it with infinite +vivacity. I was much affected towards the end, as I held at +one time very liberal opinions, and should certainly have joined +a secret society if I had been able to find one. But the +whole tale came home to me; and I was the better able to feel for +you in your various perplexities, as I am myself of somewhat +hasty temper.’</p> +<p>‘I do not understand you,’ said Mrs. Luxmore, with +some marks of irritation. ‘You must have strangely +misinterpreted what I have told you. You fill me with +surprise.’</p> +<p>Somerset, alarmed by the old lady’s change of tone and +manner, hurried to recant.</p> +<p>‘Dear Mrs. Luxmore,’ said he, ‘you certainly +misconstrue my remark. As a man of somewhat fiery humour, +my conscience repeatedly pricked me when I heard what you had +suffered at the hands of persons similarly +constituted.’</p> +<p>‘Oh, very well indeed,’ replied the old lady; +‘and a very proper spirit. I regret that I have met +with it so rarely.’</p> +<p>‘But in all this,’ resumed the young man, ‘I +perceive nothing that concerns myself.’</p> +<p>‘I am about to come to that,’ she returned. +‘And you have already before you, in the pledge I gave +Prince Florizel, one of the elements of the affair. I am a +woman of the nomadic sort, and when I have no case before the +courts I make it a habit to visit continental spas: not that I +have ever been ill; but then I am no longer young, and I am +always happy in a crowd. Well, to come more shortly to the +point, I am now on the wing for Evian; this incubus of a house, +which I must leave behind and dare not let, hangs heavily upon my +hands; and I propose to rid myself of that concern, and do you a +very good turn into the bargain, by lending you the mansion, with +all its fittings, as it stands. The idea was sudden; it +appealed to me as humorous: and I am sure it will cause my +relatives, if they should ever hear of it, the keenest possible +chagrin. Here, then, is the key; and when you return at two +to-morrow afternoon, you will find neither me nor my cats to +disturb you in your new possession.’</p> +<p>So saying, the old lady arose, as if to dismiss her visitor; +but Somerset, looking somewhat blankly on the key, began to +protest.</p> +<p>‘Dear Mrs. Luxmore,’ said he, ‘this is a +most unusual proposal. You know nothing of me, beyond the +fact that I displayed both impudence and timidity. I may be +the worst kind of scoundrel; I may sell your +furniture—’</p> +<p>‘You may blow up the house with gunpowder, for what I +care!’ cried Mrs. Luxmore. ‘It is in vain to +reason. Such is the force of my character that, when I have +one idea clearly in my head, I do not care two straws for any +side consideration. It amuses me to do it, and let that +suffice. On your side, you may do what you please—let +apartments, or keep a private hotel; on mine, I promise you a +full month’s warning before I return, and I never fail +religiously to keep my promises.’</p> +<p>The young man was about to renew his protest, when he observed +a sudden and significant change in the old lady’s +countenance.</p> +<p>‘If I thought you capable of disrespect!’ she +cried.</p> +<p>‘Madam,’ said Somerset, with the extreme fervour +of asseveration, ‘madam, I accept. I beg you to +understand that I accept with joy and gratitude.’</p> +<p>‘Ah well,’ returned Mrs. Luxmore, ‘if I am +mistaken, let it pass. And now, since all is comfortably +settled, I wish you a good-night.’</p> +<p>Thereupon, as if to leave him no room for repentance, she +hurried Somerset out of the front door, and left him standing, +key in hand, upon the pavement.</p> +<p>The next day, about the hour appointed, the young man found +his way to the square, which I will here call Golden Square, +though that was not its name. What to expect, he knew not; +for a man may live in dreams, and yet be unprepared for their +realisation. It was already with a certain pang of surprise +that he beheld the mansion, standing in the eye of day, a solid +among solids. The key, upon trial, readily opened the front +door; he entered that great house, a privileged burglar; and, +escorted by the echoes of desertion, rapidly reviewed the empty +chambers. Cats, servant, old lady, the very marks of +habitation, like writing on a slate, had been in these few hours +obliterated. He wandered from floor to floor, and found the +house of great extent; the kitchen offices commodious and well +appointed; the rooms many and large; and the drawing-room, in +particular, an apartment of princely size and tasteful +decoration. Although the day without was warm, genial, and +sunny, with a ruffling wind from the quarter of Torquay, a chill, +as it were, of suspended animation inhabited the house. +Dust and shadows met the eye; and but for the ominous procession +of the echoes, and the rumour of the wind among the garden trees, +the ear of the young man was stretched in vain.</p> +<p>Behind the dining-room, that pleasant library, referred to by +the old lady in her tale, looked upon the flat roofs and netted +cupolas of the kitchen quarters; and on a second visit, this room +appeared to greet him with a smiling countenance. He might +as well, he thought, avoid the expense of lodging: the library, +fitted with an iron bedstead which he had remarked, in one of the +upper chambers, would serve his purpose for the night; while in +the dining-room, which was large, airy, and lightsome, looking on +the square and garden, he might very agreeably pass his days, +cook his meals, and study to bring himself to some proficiency in +that art of painting which he had recently determined to +adopt. It did not take him long to make the change: he had +soon returned to the mansion with his modest kit; and the cabman +who brought him was readily induced, by the young man’s +pleasant manner and a small gratuity, to assist him in the +installation of the iron bed. By six in the evening, when +Somerset went forth to dine, he was able to look back upon the +mansion with a sense of pride and property. Four-square it +stood, of an imposing frontage, and flanked on either side by +family hatchments. His eye, from where he stood whistling +in the key, with his back to the garden railings, reposed on +every feature of reality; and yet his own possession seemed as +flimsy as a dream.</p> +<p>In the course of a few days, the genteel inhabitants of the +square began to remark the customs of their neighbour. The +sight of a young gentleman discussing a clay pipe, about four +o’clock of the afternoon, in the drawing-room balcony of so +discreet a mansion; and perhaps still more, his periodical +excursion to a decent tavern in the neighbourhood, and his +unabashed return, nursing the full tankard: had presently raised +to a high pitch the interest and indignation of the liveried +servants of the square. The disfavour of some of these +gentlemen at first proceeded to the length of insult; but +Somerset knew how to be affable with any class of men; and a few +rude words merrily accepted, and a few glasses amicably shared, +gained for him the right of toleration.</p> +<p>The young man had embraced the art of Raphael, partly from a +notion of its ease, partly from an inborn distrust of +offices. He scorned to bear the yoke of any regular +schooling; and proceeded to turn one half of the dining-room into +a studio for the reproduction of still life. There he +amassed a variety of objects, indiscriminately chosen from the +kitchen, the drawing-room, and the back garden; and there spent +his days in smiling assiduity. Meantime, the great bulk of +empty building overhead lay, like a load, upon his +imagination. To hold so great a stake and to do nothing, +argued some defect of energy; and he at length determined to act +upon the hint given by Mrs. Luxmore herself, and to stick, with +wafers, in the window of the dining-room, a small handbill +announcing furnished lodgings. At half-past six of a fine +July morning, he affixed the bill, and went forth into the square +to study the result. It seemed, to his eye, promising and +unpretentious; and he returned to the drawing-room balcony, to +consider, over a studious pipe, the knotty problem of how much he +was to charge.</p> +<p>Thereupon he somewhat relaxed in his devotion to the art of +painting. Indeed, from that time forth, he would spend the +best part of the day in the front balcony, like the attentive +angler poring on his float; and the better to support the tedium, +he would frequently console himself with his clay pipe. On +several occasions, passers-by appeared to be arrested by the +ticket, and on several others ladies and gentlemen drove to the +very doorstep by the carriageful; but it appeared there was +something repulsive in the appearance of the house; for with one +accord, they would cast but one look upward, and hastily resume +their onward progress or direct the driver to proceed. +Somerset had thus the mortification of actually meeting the eye +of a large number of lodging-seekers; and though he hastened to +withdraw his pipe, and to compose his features to an air of +invitation, he was never rewarded by so much as an inquiry. +‘Can there,’ he thought, ‘be anything repellent +in myself?’ But a candid examination in one of the +pier-glasses of the drawing-room led him to dismiss the fear.</p> +<p>Something, however, was amiss. His vast and accurate +calculations on the fly-leaves of books, or on the backs of +playbills, appeared to have been an idle sacrifice of time. +By these, he had variously computed the weekly takings of the +house, from sums as modest as five-and-twenty shillings, up to +the more majestic figure of a hundred pounds; and yet, in despite +of the very elements of arithmetic, here he was making literally +nothing.</p> +<p>This incongruity impressed him deeply and occupied his +thoughtful leisure on the balcony; and at last it seemed to him +that he had detected the error of his method. +‘This,’ he reflected, ‘is an age of generous +display: the age of the sandwich-man, of Griffiths, of +Pears’ legendary soap, and of Eno’s fruit salt, +which, by sheer brass and notoriety, and the most disgusting +pictures I ever remember to have seen, has overlaid that +comforter of my childhood, Lamplough’s pyretic +saline. Lamplough was genteel, Eno was omnipresent; +Lamplough was trite, Eno original and abominably vulgar; and here +have I, a man of some pretensions to knowledge of the world, +contented myself with half a sheet of note-paper, a few cold +words which do not directly address the imagination, and the +adornment (if adornment it may be called) of four red +wafers! Am I, then, to sink with Lamplough, or to soar with +Eno? Am I to adopt that modesty which is doubtless becoming +in a duke? or to take hold of the red facts of life with the +emphasis of the tradesman and the poet?’</p> +<p>Pursuant upon these meditations, he procured several sheets of +the very largest size of drawing-paper; and laying forth his +paints, proceeded to compose an ensign that might attract the +eye, and at the same time, in his own phrase, directly address +the imagination of the passenger. Something taking in the +way of colour, a good, savoury choice of words, and a realistic +design setting forth the life a lodger might expect to lead +within the walls of that palace of delight: these, he perceived, +must be the elements of his advertisement. It was possible, +upon the one hand, to depict the sober pleasures of domestic +life, the evening fire, blond-headed urchins and the hissing urn; +but on the other, it was possible (and he almost felt as if it +were more suited to his muse) to set forth the charms of an +existence somewhat wider in its range or, boldly say, the +paradise of the Mohammedan. So long did the artist waver +between these two views, that, before he arrived at a conclusion, +he had finally conceived and completed both designs. With +the proverbially tender heart of the parent, he found himself +unable to sacrifice either of these offsprings of his art; and +decided to expose them on alternate days. ‘In this +way,’ he thought, ‘I shall address myself +indifferently to all classes of the world.’</p> +<p>The tossing of a penny decided the only remaining point; and +the more imaginative canvas received the suffrages of fortune, +and appeared first in the window of the mansion. It was of +a high fancy, the legend eloquently writ, the scheme of colour +taking and bold; and but for the imperfection of the +artist’s drawing, it might have been taken for a model of +its kind. As it was, however, when viewed from his +favourite point against the garden railings, and with some touch +of distance, it caused a pleasurable rising of the artist’s +heart. ‘I have thrown away,’ he ejaculated, +‘an invaluable motive; and this shall be the subject of my +first academy picture.’</p> +<p>The fate of neither of these works was equal to its +merit. A crowd would certainly, from time to time, collect +before the area-railings; but they came to jeer and not to +speculate; and those who pushed their inquiries further, were too +plainly animated by the spirit of derision. The racier of +the two cartoons displayed, indeed, no symptom of attractive +merit; and though it had a certain share of that success called +scandalous, failed utterly of its effect. On the day, +however, of the second appearance of the companion work, a real +inquirer did actually present himself before the eyes of +Somerset.</p> +<p>This was a gentlemanly man, with some marks of recent +merriment, and his voice under inadequate control.</p> +<p>‘I beg your pardon,’ said he, ‘but what is +the meaning of your extraordinary bill?’</p> +<p>‘I beg yours,’ returned Somerset hotly. +‘Its meaning is sufficiently explicit.’ And +being now, from dire experience, fearful of ridicule, he was +preparing to close the door, when the gentleman thrust his cane +into the aperture.</p> +<p>‘Not so fast, I beg of you,’ said he. +‘If you really let apartments, here is a possible tenant at +your door; and nothing would give me greater pleasure than to see +the accommodation and to learn your terms.’</p> +<p>His heart joyously beating, Somerset admitted the visitor, +showed him over the various apartments, and, with some return of +his persuasive eloquence, expounded their attractions. The +gentleman was particularly pleased by the elegant proportions of +the drawing-room.</p> +<p>‘This,’ he said, ‘would suit me very +well. What, may I ask, would be your terms a week, for this +floor and the one above it?’</p> +<p>‘I was thinking,’ returned Somerset, ‘of a +hundred pounds.’</p> +<p>‘Surely not,’ exclaimed the gentleman.</p> +<p>‘Well, then,’ returned Somerset, +‘fifty.’</p> +<p>The gentleman regarded him with an air of some +amazement. ‘You seem to be strangely elastic in your +demands,’ said he. ‘What if I were to proceed +on your own principle of division, and offer +twenty-five?’</p> +<p>‘Done!’ cried Somerset; and then, overcome by a +sudden embarrassment, ‘You see,’ he added +apologetically, ‘it is all found money for me.’</p> +<p>‘Really?’ said the stranger, looking at him all +the while with growing wonder. ‘Without extras, +then?’</p> +<p>‘I—I suppose so,’ stammered the keeper of +the lodging-house.</p> +<p>‘Service included?’ pursued the gentleman.</p> +<p>‘Service?’ cried Somerset. ‘Do you +mean that you expect me to empty your slops?’</p> +<p>The gentleman regarded him with a very friendly +interest. ‘My dear fellow,’ said he, ‘if +you take my advice, you will give up this business.’ +And thereupon he resumed his hat and took himself away.</p> +<p>This smarting disappointment produced a strong effect on the +artist of the cartoons; and he began with shame to eat up his +rosier illusions. First one and then the other of his great +works was condemned, withdrawn from exhibition, and relegated, as +a mere wall-picture, to the decoration of the dining-room. +Their place was taken by a replica of the original wafered +announcement, to which, in particularly large letters, he had +added the pithy rubric: ‘<i>No service</i>.’ +Meanwhile he had fallen into something as nearly bordering on low +spirits as was consistent with his disposition; depressed, at +once by the failure of his scheme, the laughable turn of his late +interview, and the judicial blindness of the public to the merit +of the twin cartoons.</p> +<p>Perhaps a week had passed before he was again startled by the +note of the knocker. A gentleman of a somewhat foreign and +somewhat military air, yet closely shaven and wearing a soft hat, +desired in the politest terms to visit the apartments. He +had (he explained) a friend, a gentleman in tender health, +desirous of a sedate and solitary life, apart from interruptions +and the noises of the common lodging-house. ‘The +unusual clause,’ he continued, ‘in your announcement, +particularly struck me. “This,” I said, +“is the place for Mr. Jones.” You are yourself, +sir, a professional gentleman?’ concluded the visitor, +looking keenly in Somerset’s face.</p> +<p>‘I am an artist,’ replied the young man +lightly.</p> +<p>‘And these,’ observed the other, taking a side +glance through the open door of the dining-room, which they were +then passing, ‘these are some of your works. Very +remarkable.’ And he again and still more sharply +peered into the countenance of the young man.</p> +<p>Somerset, unable to suppress a blush, made the more haste to +lead his visitor upstairs and to display the apartments.</p> +<p>‘Excellent,’ observed the stranger, as he looked +from one of the back windows. ‘Is that a mews behind, +sir? Very good. Well, sir: see here. My friend +will take your drawing-room floor; he will sleep in the back +drawing-room; his nurse, an excellent Irish widow, will attend on +all his wants and occupy a garret; he will pay you the round sum +of ten dollars a week; and you, on your part, will engage to +receive no other lodger? I think that fair.’</p> +<p>Somerset had scarcely words in which to clothe his gratitude +and joy.</p> +<p>‘Agreed,’ said the other; ‘and to spare you +trouble, my friend will bring some men with him to make the +changes. You will find him a retiring inmate, sir; receives +but few, and rarely leaves the house, except at night.’</p> +<p>‘Since I have been in this house,’ returned +Somerset, ‘I have myself, unless it were to fetch beer, +rarely gone abroad except in the evening. But a man,’ +he added, ‘must have some amusement.’</p> +<p>An hour was then agreed on; the gentleman departed; and +Somerset sat down to compute in English money the value of the +figure named. The result of this investigation filled him +with amazement and disgust; but it was now too late; nothing +remained but to endure; and he awaited the arrival of his tenant, +still trying, by various arithmetical expedients, to obtain a +more favourable quotation for the dollar. With the approach +of dusk, however, his impatience drove him once more to the front +balcony. The night fell, mild and airless; the lamps shone +around the central darkness of the garden; and through the tall +grove of trees that intervened, many warmly illuminated windows +on the farther side of the square, told their tale of white +napery, choice wine, and genial hospitality. The stars were +already thickening overhead, when the young man’s eyes +alighted on a procession of three four-wheelers, coasting round +the garden railing and bound for the Superfluous Mansion. +They were laden with formidable boxes; moved in a military order, +one following another; and, by the extreme slowness of their +advance, inspired Somerset with the most serious ideas of his +tenant’s malady.</p> +<p>By the time he had the door open, the cabs had drawn up beside +the pavement; and from the two first, there had alighted the +military gentleman of the morning and two very stalwart +porters. These proceeded instantly to take possession of +the house; with their own hands, and firmly rejecting +Somerset’s assistance, they carried in the various crates +and boxes; with their own hands dismounted and transferred to the +back drawing-room the bed in which the tenant was to sleep; and +it was not until the bustle of arrival had subsided, and the +arrangements were complete, that there descended, from the third +of the three vehicles, a gentleman of great stature and broad +shoulders, leaning on the shoulder of a woman in a widow’s +dress, and himself covered by a long cloak and muffled in a +coloured comforter.</p> +<p>Somerset had but a glimpse of him in passing; he was soon shut +into the back drawing-room; the other men departed; silence +redescended on the house; and had not the nurse appeared a little +before half-past ten, and, with a strong brogue, asked if there +were a decent public-house in the neighbourhood, Somerset might +have still supposed himself to be alone in the Superfluous +Mansion.</p> +<p>Day followed day; and still the young man had never come by +speech or sight of his mysterious lodger. The doors of the +drawing-room flat were never open; and although Somerset could +hear him moving to and fro, the tall man had never quitted the +privacy of his apartments. Visitors, indeed, arrived; +sometimes in the dusk, sometimes at intempestuous hours of night +or morning; men, for the most part; some meanly attired, some +decently; some loud, some cringing; and yet all, in the eyes of +Somerset, displeasing. A certain air of fear and secrecy +was common to them all; they were all voluble, he thought, and +ill at ease; even the military gentleman proved, on a closer +inspection, to be no gentleman at all; and as for the doctor who +attended the sick man, his manners were not suggestive of a +university career. The nurse, again, was scarcely a +desirable house-fellow. Since her arrival, the fall of +whisky in the young man’s private bottle was much +accelerated; and though never communicative, she was at times +unpleasantly familiar. When asked about the patient’s +health, she would dolorously shake her head, and declare that the +poor gentleman was in a pitiful condition.</p> +<p>Yet somehow Somerset had early begun to entertain the notion +that his complaint was other than bodily. The ill-looking +birds that gathered to the house, the strange noises that sounded +from the drawing-room in the dead hours of night, the careless +attendance and intemperate habits of the nurse, the entire +absence of correspondence, the entire seclusion of Mr. Jones +himself, whose face, up to that hour, he could not have sworn to +in a court of justice—all weighed unpleasantly upon the +young man’s mind. A sense of something evil, +irregular and underhand, haunted and depressed him; and this +uneasy sentiment was the more firmly rooted in his mind, when, in +the fulness of time, he had an opportunity of observing the +features of his tenant. It fell in this way. The +young landlord was awakened about four in the morning by a noise +in the hall. Leaping to his feet, and opening the door of +the library, he saw the tall man, candle in hand, in earnest +conversation with the gentleman who had taken the rooms. +The faces of both were strongly illuminated; and in that of his +tenant, Somerset could perceive none of the marks of disease, but +every sign of health, energy, and resolution. While he was +still looking, the visitor took his departure; and the invalid, +having carefully fastened the front door, sprang upstairs without +a trace of lassitude.</p> +<p>That night upon his pillow, Somerset began to kindle once more +into the hot fit of the detective fever; and the next morning +resumed the practice of his art with careless hand and an +abstracted mind. The day was destined to be fertile in +surprises; nor had he long been seated at the easel ere the first +of these occurred. A cab laden with baggage drew up before +the door; and Mrs. Luxmore in person rapidly mounted the steps +and began to pound upon the knocker. Somerset hastened to +attend the summons.</p> +<p>‘My dear fellow,’ she said, with the utmost +gaiety, ‘here I come dropping from the moon. I am +delighted to find you faithful; and I have no doubt you will be +equally pleased to be restored to liberty.’</p> +<p>Somerset could find no words, whether of protest or welcome; +and the spirited old lady pushed briskly by him and paused on the +threshold of the dining-room. The sight that met her eyes +was one well calculated to inspire astonishment. The +mantelpiece was arrayed with saucepans and empty bottles; on the +fire some chops were frying; the floor was littered from end to +end with books, clothes, walking-canes and the materials of the +painter’s craft; but what far outstripped the other wonders +of the place was the corner which had been arranged for the study +of still-life. This formed a sort of rockery; conspicuous +upon which, according to the principles of the art of +composition, a cabbage was relieved against a copper kettle, and +both contrasted with the mail of a boiled lobster.</p> +<p>‘My gracious goodness!’ cried the lady of the +house; and then, turning in wrath on the young man, ‘From +what rank in life are you sprung?’ she demanded. +‘You have the exterior of a gentleman; but from the +astonishing evidences before me, I should say you can only be a +greengrocer’s man. Pray, gather up your vegetables, +and let me see no more of you.’</p> +<p>‘Madam,’ babbled Somerset, ‘you promised me +a month’s warning.’</p> +<p>‘That was under a misapprehension,’ returned the +old lady. ‘I now give you warning to leave at +once.’</p> +<p>‘Madam,’ said the young man, ‘I wish I +could; and indeed, as far as I am concerned, it might be +done. But then, my lodger!’</p> +<p>‘Your lodger?’ echoed Mrs. Luxmore.</p> +<p>‘My lodger: why should I deny it?’ returned +Somerset. ‘He is only by the week.’</p> +<p>The old lady sat down upon a chair. ‘You have a +lodger?—you?’ she cried. ‘And pray, how +did you get him?’</p> +<p>‘By advertisement,’ replied the young man. +‘O madam, I have not lived unobservantly. I +adopted’—his eyes involuntarily shifted to the +cartoons—‘I adopted every method.’</p> +<p>Her eyes had followed his; for the first time in +Somerset’s experience, she produced a double eye-glass; and +as soon as the full merit of the works had flashed upon her, she +gave way to peal after peal of her trilling and soprano +laughter.</p> +<p>‘Oh, I think you are perfectly delicious!’ she +cried. ‘I do hope you had them in the window. +M’Pherson,’ she continued, crying to her maid, who +had been all this time grimly waiting in the hall, ‘I lunch +with Mr. Somerset. Take the cellar key and bring some +wine.’</p> +<p>In this gay humour she continued throughout the luncheon; +presented Somerset with a couple of dozen of wine, which she made +M’Pherson bring up from the cellar—‘as a +present, my dear,’ she said, with another burst of tearful +merriment, ‘for your charming pictures, which you must be +sure to leave me when you go;’ and finally, protesting that +she dared not spoil the absurdest houseful of madmen in the whole +of London, departed (as she vaguely phrased it) for the continent +of Europe.</p> +<p>She was no sooner gone, than Somerset encountered in the +corridor the Irish nurse; sober, to all appearance, and yet a +prey to singularly strong emotion. It was made to appear, +from her account, that Mr. Jones had already suffered acutely in +his health from Mrs. Luxmore’s visit, and that nothing +short of a full explanation could allay the invalid’s +uneasiness. Somerset, somewhat staring, told what he +thought fit of the affair.</p> +<p>‘Is that all?’ cried the woman. ‘As +God sees you, is that all?’</p> +<p>‘My good woman,’ said the young man, ‘I have +no idea what you can be driving at. Suppose the lady were +my friend’s wife, suppose she were my fairy godmother, +suppose she were the Queen of Portugal; and how should that +affect yourself or Mr. Jones?’</p> +<p>‘Blessed Mary!’ cried the nurse, ‘it’s +he that will be glad to hear it!’</p> +<p>And immediately she fled upstairs.</p> +<p>Somerset, on his part, returned to the dining-room, and with a +very thoughtful brow and ruminating many theories, disposed of +the remainder of the bottle. It was port; and port is a +wine, sole among its equals and superiors, that can in some +degree support the competition of tobacco. Sipping, +smoking, and theorising, Somerset moved on from suspicion to +suspicion, from resolve to resolve, still growing braver and +rosier as the bottle ebbed. He was a sceptic, none prouder +of the name; he had no horror at command, whether for crimes or +vices, but beheld and embraced the world, with an immoral +approbation, the frequent consequence of youth and health. +At the same time, he felt convinced that he dwelt under the same +roof with secret malefactors; and the unregenerate instinct of +the chase impelled him to severity. The bottle had run low; +the summer sun had finally withdrawn; and at the same moment, +night and the pangs of hunger recalled him from his dreams.</p> +<p>He went forth, and dined in the Criterion: a dinner in +consonance, not so much with his purse, as with the admirable +wine he had discussed. What with one thing and another, it +was long past midnight when he returned home. A cab was at +the door; and entering the hall, Somerset found himself face to +face with one of the most regular of the few who visited Mr. +Jones: a man of powerful figure, strong lineaments, and a +chin-beard in the American fashion. This person was +carrying on one shoulder a black portmanteau, seemingly of +considerable weight. That he should find a visitor removing +baggage in the dead of night, recalled some odd stories to the +young man’s memory; he had heard of lodgers who thus +gradually drained away, not only their own effects, but the very +furniture and fittings of the house that sheltered them; and now, +in a mood between pleasantry and suspicion, and aping the manner +of a drunkard, he roughly bumped against the man with the +chin-beard and knocked the portmanteau from his shoulder to the +floor. With a face struck suddenly as white as paper, the +man with the chin-beard called lamentably on the name of his +maker, and fell in a mere heap on the mat at the foot of the +stairs. At the same time, though only for a single instant, +the heads of the sick lodger and the Irish nurse popped out like +rabbits over the banisters of the first floor; and on both the +same scare and pallor were apparent.</p> +<p>The sight of this incredible emotion turned Somerset to stone, +and he continued speechless, while the man gathered himself +together, and, with the help of the handrail and audibly thanking +God, scrambled once more upon his feet.</p> +<p>‘What in Heaven’s name ails you?’ gasped the +young man as soon as he could find words and utterance.</p> +<p>‘Have you a drop of brandy?’ returned the +other. ‘I am sick.’</p> +<p>Somerset administered two drams, one after the other, to the +man with the chin-beard; who then, somewhat restored, began to +confound himself in apologies for what he called his miserable +nervousness, the result, he said, of a long course of dumb ague; +and having taken leave with a hand that still sweated and +trembled, he gingerly resumed his burthen and departed.</p> +<p>Somerset retired to bed but not to sleep. What, he asked +himself, had been the contents of the black portmanteau? +Stolen goods? the carcase of one murdered? or—and at the +thought he sat upright in bed—an infernal machine? He +took a solemn vow that he would set these doubts at rest; and +with the next morning, installed himself beside the dining-room +window, vigilant with eye; and ear, to await and profit by the +earliest opportunity.</p> +<p>The hours went heavily by. Within the house there was no +circumstance of novelty; unless it might be that the nurse more +frequently made little journeys round the corner of the square, +and before afternoon was somewhat loose of speech and gait. +A little after six, however, there came round the corner of the +gardens a very handsome and elegantly dressed young woman, who +paused a little way off, and for some time, and with frequent +sighs, contemplated the front of the Superfluous Mansion. +It was not the first time that she had thus stood afar and looked +upon it, like our common parents at the gates of Eden; and the +young man had already had occasion to remark the lively slimness +of her carriage, and had already been the butt of a chance arrow +from her eye. He hailed her coming, then, with pleasant +feelings, and moved a little nearer to the window to enjoy the +sight. What was his surprise, however, when, as if with a +sensible effort, she drew near, mounted the steps and tapped +discreetly at the door! He made haste to get before the +Irish nurse, who was not improbably asleep, and had the +satisfaction to receive this gracious visitor in person.</p> +<p>She inquired for Mr. Jones; and then, without transition, +asked the young man if he were the person of the house (and at +the words, he thought he could perceive her to be smiling), +‘because,’ she added, ‘if you are, I should +like to see some of the other rooms.’ Somerset told +her he was under an engagement to receive no other lodgers; but +she assured him that would be no matter, as these were friends of +Mr. Jones’s. ‘And,’ she continued, moving +suddenly to the dining-room door, ‘let us begin +here.’ Somerset was too late to prevent her entering, +and perhaps he lacked the courage to essay. +‘Ah!’ she cried, ‘how changed it is!’</p> +<p>‘Madam,’ cried the young man, ‘since your +entrance, it is I who have the right to say so.’</p> +<p>She received this inane compliment with a demure and conscious +droop of the eyelids, and gracefully steering her dress among the +mingled litter, now with a smile, now with a sigh, reviewed the +wonders of the two apartments. She gazed upon the cartoons +with sparkling eyes, and a heightened colour, and in a somewhat +breathless voice, expressed a high opinion of their merits. +She praised the effective disposition of the rockery, and in the +bedroom, of which Somerset had vainly endeavoured to defend the +entry, she fairly broke forth in admiration. ‘How +simple and manly!’ she cried: ‘none of that +effeminacy of neatness, which is so detestable in a +man!’ Hard upon this, telling him, before he had time +to reply, that she very well knew her way, and would trouble him +no further, she took her leave with an engaging smile, and +ascended the staircase alone.</p> +<p>For more than an hour the young lady remained closeted with +Mr. Jones; and at the end of that time, the night being now come +completely, they left the house in company. This was the +first time since the arrival of his lodger, that Somerset had +found himself alone with the Irish widow; and without the loss of +any more time than was required by decency, he stepped to the +foot of the stairs and hailed her by her name. She came +instantly, wreathed in weak smiles and with a nodding head; and +when the young man politely offered to introduce her to the +treasures of his art, she swore that nothing could afford her +greater pleasure, for, though she had never crossed the +threshold, she had frequently observed his beautiful pictures +through the door. On entering the dining-room, the sight of +a bottle and two glasses prepared her to be a gentle critic; and +as soon as the pictures had been viewed and praised, she was +easily persuaded to join the painter in a single glass. +‘Here,’ she said, ‘are my respects; and a +pleasure it is, in this horrible house, to see a gentleman like +yourself, so affable and free, and a very nice painter, I am +sure.’ One glass so agreeably prefaced, was sure to +lead to the acceptance of a second; at the third, Somerset was +free to cease from the affectation of keeping her company; and as +for the fourth, she asked it of her own accord. ‘For +indeed,’ said she, ‘what with all these clocks and +chemicals, without a drop of the creature life would be +impossible entirely. And you seen yourself that even +M’Guire was glad to beg for it. And even himself, +when he is downhearted with all these cruel disappointments, +though as temperate a man as any child, will be sometimes crying +for a glass of it. And I’ll thank you for a +thimbleful to settle what I got.’ Soon after, she +began with tears to narrate the deathbed dispositions and lament +the trifling assets of her husband. Then she declared she +heard ‘the master’ calling her, rose to her feet, +made but one lurch of it into the still-life rockery, and with +her head upon the lobster, fell into stertorous slumbers.</p> +<p>Somerset mounted at once to the first story, and opened the +door of the drawing-room, which was brilliantly lit by several +lamps. It was a great apartment; looking on the square with +three tall windows, and joined by a pair of ample folding-doors +to the next room; elegant in proportion, papered in sea-green, +furnished in velvet of a delicate blue, and adorned with a +majestic mantelpiece of variously tinted marbles. Such was +the room that Somerset remembered; that which he now beheld was +changed in almost every feature: the furniture covered with a +figured chintz; the walls hung with a rhubarb-coloured paper, and +diversified by the curtained recesses for no less than seven +windows. It seemed to himself that he must have entered, +without observing the transition, into the adjoining house. +Presently from these more specious changes, his eye condescended +to the many curious objects with which the floor was +littered. Here were the locks of dismounted pistols; clocks +and clockwork in every stage of demolition, some still busily +ticking, some reduced to their dainty elements; a great company +of carboys, jars and bottles; a carpenter’s bench and a +laboratory-table.</p> +<p>The back drawing-room, to which Somerset proceeded, had +likewise undergone a change. It was transformed to the +exact appearance of a common lodging-house bedroom; a bed with +green curtains occupied one corner; and the window was blocked by +the regulation table and mirror. The door of a small closet +here attracted the young man’s attention; and striking a +vesta, he opened it and entered. On a table several wigs +and beards were lying spread; about the walls hung an incongruous +display of suits and overcoats; and conspicuous among the last +the young man observed a large overall of the most costly +sealskin. In a flash his mind reverted to the advertisement +in the <i>Standard</i> newspaper. The great height of his +lodger, the disproportionate breadth of his shoulders, and the +strange particulars of his instalment, all pointed to the same +conclusion.</p> +<p>The vesta had now burned to his fingers; and taking the coat +upon his arm, Somerset hastily returned to the lighted +drawing-room. There, with a mixture of fear and admiration, +he pored upon its goodly proportions and the regularity and +softness of the pile. The sight of a large pier-glass put +another fancy in his head. He donned the fur-coat; and +standing before the mirror in an attitude suggestive of a Russian +prince, he thrust his hands into the ample pockets. There +his fingers encountered a folded journal. He drew it out, +and recognised the type and paper of the <i>Standard</i>; and at +the same instant, his eyes alighted on the offer of two hundred +pounds. Plainly then, his lodger, now no longer mysterious, +had laid aside his coat on the very day of the appearance of the +advertisement.</p> +<p>He was thus standing, the tell-tale coat upon his back, the +incriminating paper in his hand, when the door opened and the +tall lodger, with a firm but somewhat pallid face, stepped into +the room and closed the door again behind him. For some +time, the two looked upon each other in perfect silence; then Mr. +Jones moved forward to the table, took a seat, and still without +once changing the direction of his eyes, addressed the young +man.</p> +<p>‘You are right,’ he said. ‘It is for +me the blood money is offered. And now what will you +do?’</p> +<p>It was a question to which Somerset was far from being able to +reply. Taken as he was at unawares, masquerading in the +man’s own coat, and surrounded by a whole arsenal of +diabolical explosives, the keeper of the lodging-house was +silenced.</p> +<p>‘Yes,’ resumed the other, ‘I am he. I +am that man, whom with impotent hate and fear, they still hunt +from den to den, from disguise to disguise. Yes, my +landlord, you have it in your power, if you be poor, to lay the +basis of your fortune; if you be unknown, to capture honour at +one snatch. You have hocussed an innocent widow; and I find +you here in my apartment, for whose use I pay you in stamped +money, searching my wardrobe, and your hand—shame, +sir!—your hand in my very pocket. You can now +complete the cycle of your ignominious acts, by what will be at +once the simplest, the safest, and the most +remunerative.’ The speaker paused as if to emphasise +his words; and then, with a great change of tone and manner, thus +resumed: ‘And yet, sir, when I look upon your face, I feel +certain that I cannot be deceived: certain that in spite of all, +I have the honour and pleasure of speaking to a gentleman. +Take off my coat, sir—which but cumbers you. Divest +yourself of this confusion: that which is but thought upon, thank +God, need be no burthen to the conscience; we have all harboured +guilty thoughts: and if it flashed into your mind to sell my +flesh and blood, my anguish in the dock, and the sweat of my +death agony—it was a thought, dear sir, you were as +incapable of acting on, as I of any further question of your +honour.’ At these words, the speaker, with a very +open, smiling countenance, like a forgiving father, offered +Somerset his hand.</p> +<p>It was not in the young man’s nature to refuse +forgiveness or dissect generosity. He instantly, and almost +without thought, accepted the proffered grasp.</p> +<p>‘And now,’ resumed the lodger, ‘now that I +hold in mine your loyal hand, I lay by my apprehensions, I +dismiss suspicion, I go further—by an effort of will, I +banish the memory of what is past. How you came here, I +care not: enough that you are here—as my guest. Sit +ye down; and let us, with your good permission, improve +acquaintance over a glass of excellent whisky.’</p> +<p>So speaking, he produced glasses and a bottle: and the pair +pledged each other in silence.</p> +<p>‘Confess,’ observed the smiling host, ‘you +were surprised at the appearance of the room.’</p> +<p>‘I was indeed,’ said Somerset; ‘nor can I +imagine the purpose of these changes.’</p> +<p>‘These,’ replied the conspirator, ‘are the +devices by which I continue to exist. Conceive me now, +accused before one of your unjust tribunals; conceive the various +witnesses appearing, and the singular variety of their +reports! One will have visited me in this drawing-room as +it originally stood; a second finds it as it is to-night; and +to-morrow or next day, all may have been changed. If you +love romance (as artists do), few lives are more romantic than +that of the obscure individual now addressing you. Obscure +yet famous. Mine is an anonymous, infernal glory. By +infamous means, I work towards my bright purpose. I found +the liberty and peace of a poor country, desperately abused; the +future smiles upon that land; yet, in the meantime, I lead the +existence of a hunted brute, work towards appalling ends, and +practice hell’s dexterities.’</p> +<p>Somerset, glass in hand, contemplated the strange fanatic +before him, and listened to his heated rhapsody, with +indescribable bewilderment. He looked him in the face with +curious particularity; saw there the marks of education; and +wondered the more profoundly.</p> +<p>‘Sir,’ he said—‘for I know not whether +I should still address you as Mr. Jones—’</p> +<p>‘Jones, Breitman, Higginbotham, Pumpernickel, Daviot, +Henderland, by all or any of these you may address me,’ +said the plotter; ‘for all I have at some time borne. +Yet that which I most prize, that which is most feared, hated, +and obeyed, is not a name to be found in your directories; it is +not a name current in post-offices or banks; and, indeed, like +the celebrated clan M’Gregor, I may justly describe myself +as being nameless by day. But,’ he continued, rising +to his feet, ‘by night, and among my desperate followers, I +am the redoubted Zero.’</p> +<p>Somerset was unacquainted with the name, but he politely +expressed surprise and gratification. ‘I am to +understand,’ he continued, ‘that, under this alias, +you follow the profession of a dynamiter?’ <a +name="citation176"></a><a href="#footnote176" +class="citation">[176]</a></p> +<p>The plotter had resumed his seat and now replenished the +glasses.</p> +<p>‘I do,’ he said. ‘In this dark period +of time, a star—the star of dynamite—has risen for +the oppressed; and among those who practise its use, so thick +beset with dangers and attended by such incredible difficulties +and disappointments, few have been more assiduous, and not +many—’ He paused, and a shade of embarrassment +appeared upon his face—‘not many have been more +successful than myself.’</p> +<p>‘I can imagine,’ observed Somerset, ‘that, +from the sweeping consequences looked for, the career is not +devoid of interest. You have, besides, some of the +entertainment of the game of hide and seek. But it would +still seem to me—I speak as a layman—that nothing +could be simpler or safer than to deposit an infernal machine and +retire to an adjacent county to await the painful +consequences.’</p> +<p>‘You speak, indeed,’ returned the plotter, with +some evidence of warmth, ‘you speak, indeed, most +ignorantly. Do you make nothing, then, of such a peril as +we share this moment? Do you think it nothing to occupy a +house like this one, mined, menaced, and, in a word, literally +tottering to its fall?’</p> +<p>‘Good God!’ ejaculated Somerset.</p> +<p>‘And when you speak of ease,’ pursued Zero, +‘in this age of scientific studies, you fill me with +surprise. Are you not aware that chemicals are proverbially +fickle as woman, and clockwork as capricious as the very +devil? Do you see upon my brow these furrows of +anxiety? Do you observe the silver threads that mingle with +my hair? Clockwork, clockwork has stamped them on my +brow—chemicals have sprinkled them upon my locks! No, +Mr. Somerset,’ he resumed, after a moment’s pause, +his voice still quivering with sensibility, ‘you must not +suppose the dynamiter’s life to be all gold. On the +contrary, you cannot picture to yourself the bloodshot vigils and +the staggering disappointments of a life like mine. I have +toiled (let us say) for months, up early and down late; my bag is +ready, my clock set; a daring agent has hurried with white face +to deposit the instrument of ruin; we await the fall of England, +the massacre of thousands, the yell of fear and execration; and +lo! a snap like that of a child’s pistol, an offensive +smell, and the entire loss of so much time and plant! +If,’ he concluded, musingly, ‘we had been merely able +to recover the lost bags, I believe with but a touch or two, I +could have remedied the peccant engine. But what with the +loss of plant and the almost insuperable scientific difficulties +of the task, our friends in France are almost ready to desert the +chosen medium. They propose, instead, to break up the +drainage system of cities and sweep off whole populations with +the devastating typhoid pestilence: a tempting and a scientific +project: a process, indiscriminate indeed, but of idyllical +simplicity. I recognise its elegance; but, sir, I have +something of the poet in my nature; something, possibly, of the +tribune. And, for my small part, I shall remain devoted to +that more emphatic, more striking, and (if you please) more +popular method, of the explosive bomb. Yes,’ he +cried, with unshaken hope, ‘I will still continue, and, I +feel it in my bosom, I shall yet succeed.’</p> +<p>‘Two things I remark,’ said Somerset. +‘The first somewhat staggers me. Have you, +then—in all this course of life, which you have sketched so +vividly—have you not once succeeded?’</p> +<p>‘Pardon me,’ said Zero. ‘I have had +one success. You behold in me the author of the outrage of +Red Lion Court.’</p> +<p>‘But if I remember right,’ objected Somerset, +‘the thing was a <i>fiasco</i>. A scavenger’s +barrow and some copies of the <i>Weekly Budget</i>—these +were the only victims.’</p> +<p>‘You will pardon me again,’ returned Zero with +positive asperity: ‘a child was injured.’</p> +<p>‘And that fitly brings me to my second point,’ +said Somerset. ‘For I observed you to employ the word +“indiscriminate.” Now, surely, a +scavenger’s barrow and a child (if child there were) +represent the very acme and top pin-point of indiscriminate, and, +pardon me, of ineffectual reprisal.’</p> +<p>‘Did I employ the word?’ asked Zero. +‘Well, I will not defend it. But for efficiency, you +touch on graver matters; and before entering upon so vast a +subject, permit me once more to fill our glasses. +Disputation is dry work,’ he added, with a charming gaiety +of manner.</p> +<p>Once more accordingly the pair pledged each other in a +stalwart grog; and Zero, leaning back with an air of some +complacency, proceeded more largely to develop his opinions.</p> +<p>‘The indiscriminate?’ he began. ‘War, +my dear sir, is indiscriminate. War spares not the child; +it spares not the barrow of the harmless scavenger. No +more,’ he concluded, beaming, ‘no more do I. +Whatever may strike fear, whatever may confound or paralyse the +activities of the guilty nation, barrow or child, imperial +Parliament or excursion steamer, is welcome to my simple +plans. You are not,’ he inquired, with a shade of +sympathetic interest, ‘you are not, I trust, a +believer?’</p> +<p>‘Sir, I believe in nothing,’ said the young +man.</p> +<p>‘You are then,’ replied Zero, ‘in a position +to grasp my argument. We agree that humanity is the object, +the glorious triumph of humanity; and being pledged to labour for +that end, and face to face with the banded opposition of kings, +parliaments, churches, and the members of the force, who am +I—who are we, dear sir—to affect a nicety about the +tools employed? You might, perhaps, expect us to attack the +Queen, the sinister Gladstone, the rigid Derby, or the dexterous +Granville; but there you would be in error. Our appeal is +to the body of the people; it is these that we would touch and +interest. Now, sir, have you observed the English +housemaid?’</p> +<p>‘I should think I had,’ cried Somerset.</p> +<p>‘From a man of taste and a votary of art, I had expected +it,’ returned the conspirator politely. ‘A type +apart; a very charming figure; and thoroughly adapted to our +ends. The neat cap, the clean print, the comely person, the +engaging manner; her position between classes, parents in one, +employers in another; the probability that she will have at least +one sweet-heart, whose feelings we shall address:—yes, I +have a leaning—call it, if you will, a weakness—for +the housemaid. Not that I would be understood to despise +the nurse. For the child is a very interesting feature: I +have long since marked out the child as the sensitive point in +society.’ He wagged his head, with a wise, pensive +smile. ‘And talking, sir, of children and of the +perils of our trade, let me now narrate to you a little incident +of an explosive bomb, that fell out some weeks ago under my own +observation. It fell out thus.’</p> +<p>And Zero, leaning back in his chair, narrated the following +simple tale.</p> +<h3><!-- page 182--><a name="page182"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 182</span><i>ZERO’S TALE OF THE +EXPLOSIVE BOMB</i>. <a name="citation182"></a><a +href="#footnote182" class="citation">[182]</a></h3> +<p>I dined by appointment with one of our most trusted agents, in +a private chamber at St. James’s Hall. You have seen +the man: it was M’Guire, the most chivalrous of creatures, +but not himself expert in our contrivances. Hence the +necessity of our meeting; for I need not remind you what enormous +issues depend upon the nice adjustment of the engine. I set +our little petard for half an hour, the scene of action being +hard by; and the better to avert miscarriage, employed a device, +a recent invention of my own, by which the opening of the +Gladstone bag in which the bomb was carried, should instantly +determine the explosion. M’Guire was somewhat dashed +by this arrangement, which was new to him: and pointed out, with +excellent, clear good sense, that should he be arrested, it would +probably involve him in the fall of our opponents. But I +was not to be moved, made a strong appeal to his patriotism, gave +him a good glass of whisky, and despatched him on his glorious +errand.</p> +<p>Our objective was the effigy of Shakespeare in Leicester +Square: a spot, I think, admirably chosen; not only for the sake +of the dramatist, still very foolishly claimed as a glory by the +English race, in spite of his disgusting political opinions; but +from the fact that the seats in the immediate neighbourhood are +often thronged by children, errand-boys, unfortunate young ladies +of the poorer class and infirm old men—all classes making a +direct appeal to public pity, and therefore suitable with our +designs. As M’Guire drew near his heart was inflamed +by the most noble sentiment of triumph. Never had he seen +the garden so crowded; children, still stumbling in the impotence +of youth, ran to and fro, shouting and playing, round the +pedestal; an old, sick pensioner sat upon the nearest bench, a +medal on his breast, a stick with which he walked (for he was +disabled by wounds) reclining on his knee. Guilty England +would thus be stabbed in the most delicate quarters; the moment +had, indeed, been well selected; and M’Guire, with a +radiant provision of the event, drew merrily nearer. +Suddenly his eye alighted on the burly form of a policeman, +standing hard by the effigy in an attitude of watch. My +bold companion paused; he looked about him closely; here and +there, at different points of the enclosure, other men stood or +loitered, affecting an abstraction, feigning to gaze upon the +shrubs, feigning to talk, feigning to be weary and to rest upon +the benches. M’Guire was no child in these affairs; +he instantly divined one of the plots of the Machiavellian +Gladstone.</p> +<p>A chief difficulty with which we have to deal, is a certain +nervousness in the subaltern branches of the corps; as the hour +of some design draws near, these chicken-souled conspirators +appear to suffer some revulsion of intent; and frequently +despatch to the authorities, not indeed specific denunciations, +but vague anonymous warnings. But for this purely +accidental circumstance, England had long ago been an historical +expression. On the receipt of such a letter, the Government +lay a trap for their adversaries, and surround the threatened +spot with hirelings. My blood sometimes boils in my veins, +when I consider the case of those who sell themselves for money +in such a cause. True, thanks to the generosity of our +supporters, we patriots receive a very comfortable stipend; I +myself, of course, touch a salary which puts me quite beyond the +reach of any peddling, mercenary thoughts; M’Guire, again, +ere he joined our ranks, was on the brink of starving, and now, +thank God! receives a decent income. That is as it should +be; the patriot must not be diverted from his task by any base +consideration; and the distinction between our position and that +of the police is too obvious to be stated.</p> +<p>Plainly, however, our Leicester Square design had been +divulged; the Government had craftily filled the place with +minions; even the pensioner was not improbably a hireling in +disguise; and our emissary, without other aid or protection than +the simple apparatus in his bag, found himself confronted by +force; brutal force; that strong hand which was a character of +the ages of oppression. Should he venture to deposit the +machine, it was almost certain that he would be observed and +arrested; a cry would arise; and there was just a fear that the +police might not be present in sufficient force, to protect him +from the savagery of the mob. The scheme must be +delayed. He stood with his bag on his arm, pretending to +survey the front of the Alhambra, when there flashed into his +mind a thought to appal the bravest. The machine was set; +at the appointed hour, it must explode; and how, in the interval, +was he to be rid of it?</p> +<p>Put yourself, I beseech you, into the body of that +patriot. There he was, friendless and helpless; a man in +the very flower of life, for he is not yet forty; with long years +of happiness before him; and now condemned, in one moment, to a +cruel and revolting death by dynamite! The square, he said, +went round him like a thaumatrope; he saw the Alhambra leap into +the air like a balloon; and reeled against the railing. It +is probable he fainted.</p> +<p>When he came to himself, a constable had him by the arm.</p> +<p>‘My God!’ he cried.</p> +<p>‘You seem to be unwell, sir,’ said the +hireling.</p> +<p>‘I feel better now,’ cried poor M’Guire: and +with uneven steps, for the pavement of the square seemed to lurch +and reel under his footing, he fled from the scene of this +disaster. Fled? Alas, from what was he fleeing? +Did he not carry that from which he fled along with him? and had +he the wings of the eagle, had he the swiftness of the ocean +winds, could he have been rapt into the uttermost quarters of the +earth, how should he escape the ruin that he carried? We +have heard of living men who have been fettered to the dead; the +grievance, soberly considered, is no more than sentimental; the +case is but a flea-bite to that of him who should be linked, like +poor M’Guire, to an explosive bomb.</p> +<p>A thought struck him in Green Street, like a dart through his +liver: suppose it were the hour already. He stopped as +though he had been shot, and plucked his watch out. There +was a howling in his ears, as loud as a winter tempest; his sight +was now obscured as if by a cloud, now, as by a lightning flash, +would show him the very dust upon the street. But so brief +were these intervals of vision, and so violently did the watch +vibrate in his hands, that it was impossible to distinguish the +numbers on the dial. He covered his eyes for a few seconds; +and in that space, it seemed to him that he had fallen to be a +man of ninety. When he looked again, the watch-plate had +grown legible: he had twenty minutes. Twenty minutes, and +no plan!</p> +<p>Green Street, at that time, was very empty; and he now +observed a little girl of about six drawing near to him, and as +she came, kicking in front of her, as children will, a piece of +wood. She sang, too; and something in her accent recalling +him to the past, produced a sudden clearness in his mind. +Here was a God-sent opportunity!</p> +<p>‘My dear,’ said he, ‘would you like a +present of a pretty bag?’</p> +<p>The child cried aloud with joy and put out her hands to take +it. She had looked first at the bag, like a true child; but +most unfortunately, before she had yet received the fatal gift, +her eyes fell directly on M’Guire; and no sooner had she +seen the poor gentleman’s face, than she screamed out and +leaped backward, as though she had seen the devil. Almost +at the same moment a woman appeared upon the threshold of a +neighbouring shop, and called upon the child in anger. +‘Come here, colleen,’ she said, ‘and +don’t be plaguing the poor old gentleman!’ With +that she re-entered the house, and the child followed her, +sobbing aloud.</p> +<p>With the loss of this hope M’Guire’s reason +swooned within him. When next he awoke to consciousness, he +was standing before St. Martin’s-in-the-Fields, wavering +like a drunken man; the passers-by regarding him with eyes in +which he read, as in a glass, an image of the terror and horror +that dwelt within his own.</p> +<p>‘I am afraid you are very ill, sir,’ observed a +woman, stopping and gazing hard in his face. ‘Can I +do anything to help you?’</p> +<p>‘Ill?’ said M’Guire. ‘O +God!’ And then, recovering some shadow of his +self-command, ‘Chronic, madam,’ said he: ‘a +long course of the dumb ague. But since you are so +compassionate—an errand that I lack the strength to carry +out,’ he gasped—‘this bag to Portman +Square. Oh, compassionate woman, as you hope to be saved, +as you are a mother, in the name of your babes that wait to +welcome you at home, oh, take this bag to Portman Square! I +have a mother, too,’ he added, with a broken voice. +‘Number 19, Portman Square.’</p> +<p>I suppose he had expressed himself with too much energy of +voice; for the woman was plainly taken with a certain fear of +him. ‘Poor gentleman!’ said she. +‘If I were you, I would go home.’ And she left +him standing there in his distress.</p> +<p>‘Home!’ thought M’Guire, ‘what a +derision!’ What home was there for him, the victim of +philanthropy? He thought of his old mother, of his happy +youth; of the hideous, rending pang of the explosion; of the +possibility that he might not be killed, that he might be cruelly +mangled, crippled for life, condemned to lifelong pains, blinded +perhaps, and almost surely deafened. Ah, you spoke lightly +of the dynamiter’s peril; but even waiving death, have you +realised what it is for a fine, brave young man of forty, to be +smitten suddenly with deafness, cut off from all the music of +life, and from the voice of friendship, and love? How +little do we realise the sufferings of others! Even your +brutal Government, in the heyday of its lust for cruelty, though +it scruples not to hound the patriot with spies, to pack the +corrupt jury, to bribe the hangman, and to erect the infamous +gallows, would hesitate to inflict so horrible a doom: not, I am +well aware, from virtue, not from philanthropy, but with the fear +before it of the withering scorn of the good.</p> +<p>But I wander from M’Guire. From this dread glance +into the past and future, his thoughts returned at a bound upon +the present. How had he wandered there? and how +long—oh, heavens! how long had he been about it? He +pulled out his watch; and found that but three minutes had +elapsed. It seemed too bright a thing to be believed. +He glanced at the church clock; and sure enough, it marked an +hour four minutes faster than the watch.</p> +<p>Of all that he endured, M’Guire declares that pang was +the most desolate. Till then, he had had one friend, one +counsellor, in whom he plenarily trusted; by whose advertisement, +he numbered the minutes that remained to him of life; on whose +sure testimony, he could tell when the time was come to risk the +last adventure, to cast the bag away from him, and take to +flight. And now in what was he to place reliance? His +watch was slow; it might be losing time; if so, in what +degree? What limit could he set to its derangement? and how +much was it possible for a watch to lose in thirty minutes? +Five? ten? fifteen? It might be so; already, it seemed +years since he had left St. James’s Hall on this so +promising enterprise; at any moment, then, the blow was to be +looked for.</p> +<p>In the face of this new distress, the wild disorder of his +pulses settled down; and a broken weariness succeeded, as though +he had lived for centuries and for centuries been dead. The +buildings and the people in the street became incredibly small, +and far-away, and bright; London sounded in his ears stilly, like +a whisper; and the rattle of the cab that nearly charged him +down, was like a sound from Africa. Meanwhile, he was +conscious of a strange abstraction from himself; and heard and +felt his footfalls on the ground, as those of a very old, small, +debile and tragically fortuned man, whom he sincerely pitied.</p> +<p>As he was thus moving forward past the National Gallery, in a +medium, it seemed, of greater rarity and quiet than ordinary air, +there slipped into his mind the recollection of a certain entry +in Whitcomb Street hard by, where he might perhaps lay down his +tragic cargo unremarked. Thither, then, he bent his steps, +seeming, as he went, to float above the pavement; and there, in +the mouth of the entry, he found a man in a sleeved waistcoat, +gravely chewing a straw. He passed him by, and twice +patrolled the entry, scouting for the barest chance; but the man +had faced about and continued to observe him curiously.</p> +<p>Another hope was gone. M’Guire reissued from the +entry, still followed by the wondering eyes of the man in the +sleeved waistcoat. He once more consulted his watch: there +were but fourteen minutes left to him. At that, it seemed +as if a sudden, genial heat were spread about his brain; for a +second or two, he saw the world as red as blood; and thereafter +entered into a complete possession of himself, with an incredible +cheerfulness of spirits, prompting him to sing and chuckle as he +walked. And yet this mirth seemed to belong to things +external; and within, like a black and leaden-heavy kernel, he +was conscious of the weight upon his soul.</p> +<blockquote><p>I care for nobody, no, not I,<br /> +And nobody cares for me,</p> +</blockquote> +<p>he sang, and laughed at the appropriate burthen, so that the +passengers stared upon him on the street. And still the +warmth seemed to increase and to become more genial. What +was life? he considered, and what he, M’Guire? What +even Erin, our green Erin? All seemed so incalculably +little that he smiled as he looked down upon it. He would +have given years, had he possessed them, for a glass of spirits; +but time failed, and he must deny himself this last +indulgence.</p> +<p>At the corner of the Haymarket, he very jauntily hailed a +hansom cab; jumped in; bade the fellow drive him to a part of the +Embankment, which he named; and as soon as the vehicle was in +motion, concealed the bag as completely as he could under the +vantage of the apron, and once more drew out his watch. So +he rode for five interminable minutes, his heart in his mouth at +every jolt, scarce able to possess his terrors, yet fearing to +wake the attention of the driver by too obvious a change of plan, +and willing, if possible, to leave him time to forget the +Gladstone bag.</p> +<p>At length, at the head of some stairs on the Embankment, he +hailed; the cab was stopped; and he alighted—with how glad +a heart! He thrust his hand into his pocket. All was +now over; he had saved his life; nor that alone, but he had +engineered a striking act of dynamite; for what could be more +pictorial, what more effective, than the explosion of a hansom +cab, as it sped rapidly along the streets of London. He +felt in one pocket; then in another. The most crushing +seizure of despair descended on his soul; and struck into abject +dumbness, he stared upon the driver. He had not one +penny.</p> +<p>‘Hillo,’ said the driver, ‘don’t seem +well.’</p> +<p>‘Lost my money,’ said M’Guire, in tones so +faint and strange that they surprised his hearing.</p> +<p>The man looked through the trap. ‘I dessay,’ +said he: ‘you’ve left your bag.’</p> +<p>M’Guire half unconsciously fetched it out; and looking +on that black continent at arm’s length, withered inwardly +and felt his features sharpen as with mortal sickness.</p> +<p>‘This is not mine,’ said he. ‘Your +last fare must have left it. You had better take it to the +station.’</p> +<p>‘Now look here,’ returned the cabman: ‘are +you off your chump? or am I?’</p> +<p>‘Well, then, I’ll tell you what,’ exclaimed +M’Guire; ‘you take it for your fare!’</p> +<p>‘Oh, I dessay,’ replied the driver. +‘Anything else? What’s <i>in</i> your +bag? Open it, and let me see.’</p> +<p>‘No, no,’ returned M’Guire. ‘Oh +no, not that. It’s a surprise; it’s prepared +expressly: a surprise for honest cabmen.’</p> +<p>‘No, you don’t,’ said the man, alighting +from his perch, and coming very close to the unhappy +patriot. ‘You’re either going to pay my fare, +or get in again and drive to the office.’</p> +<p>It was at this supreme hour of his distress, that +M’Guire spied the stout figure of one Godall, a tobacconist +of Rupert Street, drawing near along the Embankment. The +man was not unknown to him; he had bought of his wares, and heard +him quoted for the soul of liberality; and such was now the +nearness of his peril, that even at such a straw of hope, he +clutched with gratitude.</p> +<p>‘Thank God!’ he cried. ‘Here comes a +friend of mine. I’ll borrow.’ And he +dashed to meet the tradesman. ‘Sir,’ said he, +‘Mr. Godall, I have dealt with you—you doubtless know +my face—calamities for which I cannot blame myself have +overwhelmed me. Oh, sir, for the love of innocence, for the +sake of the bonds of humanity, and as you hope for mercy at the +throne of grace, lend me two-and-six!’</p> +<p>‘I do not recognise your face,’ replied Mr. +Godall; ‘but I remember the cut of your beard, which I have +the misfortune to dislike. Here, sir, is a sovereign; which +I very willingly advance to you, on the single condition that you +shave your chin.’</p> +<p>M’Guire grasped the coin without a word; cast it to the +cabman, calling out to him to keep the change; bounded down the +steps, flung the bag far forth into the river, and fell headlong +after it. He was plucked from a watery grave, it is +believed, by the hands of Mr. Godall. Even as he was being +hoisted dripping to the shore, a dull and choked explosion shook +the solid masonry of the Embankment, and far out in the river a +momentary fountain rose and disappeared.</p> +<h2><!-- page 195--><a name="page195"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 195</span><i>THE SUPERFLUOUS MANSION</i><br /> +(<i>Continued</i>)</h2> +<p>Somerset in vain strove to attach a meaning to these +words. He had, in the meanwhile, applied himself +assiduously to the flagon; the plotter began to melt in twain, +and seemed to expand and hover on his seat; and with a vague +sense of nightmare, the young man rose unsteadily to his feet, +and, refusing the proffer of a third grog, insisted that the hour +was late and he must positively get to bed.</p> +<p>‘Dear me,’ observed Zero, ‘I find you very +temperate. But I will not be oppressive. Suffice it +that we are now fast friends; and, my dear landlord, <i>au +revoir</i>!’</p> +<p>So saying the plotter once more shook hands; and with the +politest ceremonies, and some necessary guidance, conducted the +bewildered young gentleman to the top of the stair.</p> +<p>Precisely, how he got to bed, was a point on which Somerset +remained in utter darkness; but the next morning when, at a blow, +he started broad awake, there fell upon his mind a perfect +hurricane of horror and wonder. That he should have +suffered himself to be led into the semblance of intimacy with +such a man as his abominable lodger, appeared, in the cold light +of day, a mystery of human weakness. True, he was caught in +a situation that might have tested the aplomb of +Talleyrand. That was perhaps a palliation; but it was no +excuse. For so wholesale a capitulation of principle, for +such a fall into criminal familiarity, no excuse indeed was +possible; nor any remedy, but to withdraw at once from the +relation.</p> +<p>As soon as he was dressed, he hurried upstairs, determined on +a rupture. Zero hailed him with the warmth of an old +friend.</p> +<p>‘Come in,’ he cried, ‘dear Mr. +Somerset! Come in, sit down, and, without ceremony, join me +at my morning meal.’</p> +<p>‘Sir,’ said Somerset, ‘you must permit me +first to disengage my honour. Last night, I was surprised +into a certain appearance of complicity; but once for all, let me +inform you that I regard you and your machinations \with +unmingled horror and disgust, and I will leave no stone unturned +to crush your vile conspiracy.’</p> +<p>‘My dear fellow,’ replied Zero, with an air of +some complacency, ‘I am well accustomed to these human +weaknesses. Disgust? I have felt it myself; it +speedily wears off. I think none the worse, I think the +more of you, for this engaging frankness. And in the +meanwhile, what are you to do? You find yourself, if I +interpret rightly, in very much the same situation as Charles the +Second (possibly the least degraded of your British sovereigns) +when he was taken into the confidence of the thief. To +denounce me, is out of the question; and what else can you +attempt? No, dear Mr. Somerset, your hands are tied; and +you find yourself condemned, under pain of behaving like a cad, +to be that same charming and intellectual companion who delighted +me last night.’</p> +<p>‘At least,’ cried Somerset, ‘I can, and do, +order you to leave this house.’</p> +<p>‘Ah!’ cried the plotter, ‘but there I fail +to follow you. You may, if you please, enact the part of +Judas; but if, as I suppose, you recoil from that extremity of +meanness, I am, on my side, far too intelligent to leave these +lodgings, in which I please myself exceedingly, and from which +you lack the power to drive me. No, no, dear sir; here I +am, and here I propose to stay.’</p> +<p>‘I repeat,’ cried Somerset, beside himself with a +sense of his own weakness, ‘I repeat that I give you +warning. I am the master of this house; and I emphatically +give you warning.’</p> +<p>‘A week’s warning?’ said the imperturbable +conspirator. ‘Very well: we will talk of it a week +from now. That is arranged; and in the meanwhile, I observe +my breakfast growing cold. Do, dear Mr. Somerset, since you +find yourself condemned, for a week at least, to the society of a +very interesting character, display some of that open favour, +some of that interest in life’s obscurer sides, which stamp +the character of the true artist. Hang me, if you will, +to-morrow; but to-day show yourself divested of the scruples of +the burgess, and sit down pleasantly to share my meal.’</p> +<p>‘Man!’ cried Somerset, ‘do you understand my +sentiments?’</p> +<p>‘Certainly,’ replied Zero; ‘and I respect +them! Would you be outdone in such a contest? will you +alone be partial? and in this nineteenth century, cannot two +gentlemen of education agree to differ on a point of +politics? Come, sir: all your hard words have left me +smiling; judge then, which of us is the philosopher!’</p> +<p>Somerset was a young man of a very tolerant disposition and by +nature easily amenable to sophistry. He threw up his hands +with a gesture of despair, and took the seat to which the +conspirator invited him. The meal was excellent; the host +not only affable, but primed with curious information. He +seemed, indeed, like one who had too long endured the torture of +silence, to exult in the most wholesale disclosures. The +interest of what he had to tell was great; his character, +besides, developed step by step; and Somerset, as the time fled, +not only outgrew some of the discomfort of his false position, +but began to regard the conspirator with a familiarity that +verged upon contempt. In any circumstances, he had a +singular inability to leave the society in which he found +himself; company, even if distasteful, held him captive like a +limed sparrow; and on this occasion, he suffered hour to follow +hour, was easily persuaded to sit down once more to table, and +did not even attempt to withdraw till, on the approach of +evening, Zero, with many apologies, dismissed his guest. +His fellow-conspirators, the dynamiter handsomely explained, as +they were unacquainted with the sterling qualities of the young +man, would be alarmed at the sight of a strange face.</p> +<p>As soon as he was alone, Somerset fell back upon the humour of +the morning. He raged at the thought of his facility; he +paced the dining-room, forming the sternest resolutions for the +future; he wrung the hand which had been dishonoured by the touch +of an assassin; and among all these whirling thoughts, there +flashed in from time to time, and ever with a chill of fear, the +thought of the confounded ingredients with which the house was +stored. A powder magazine seemed a secure smoking-room +alongside of the Superfluous Mansion.</p> +<p>He sought refuge in flight, in locomotion, in the flowing +bowl. As long as the bars were open, he travelled from one +to another, seeking light, safety, and the companionship of human +faces; when these resources failed him, he fell back on the +belated baked-potato man; and at length, still pacing the +streets, he was goaded to fraternise with the police. Alas, +with what a sense of guilt he conversed with these guardians of +the law; how gladly had he wept upon their ample bosoms; and how +the secret fluttered to his lips and was still denied an +exit! Fatigue began at last to triumph over remorse; and +about the hour of the first milkman, he returned to the door of +the mansion; looked at it with a horrid expectation, as though it +should have burst that instant into flames; drew out his key, and +when his foot already rested on the steps, once more lost heart +and fled for repose to the grisly shelter of a coffee-shop.</p> +<p>It was on the stroke of noon when he awoke. Dismally +searching in his pockets, he found himself reduced to +half-a-crown; and when he had paid the price of his distasteful +couch, saw himself obliged to return to the Superfluous +Mansion. He sneaked into the hall and stole on tiptoe to +the cupboard where he kept his money. Yet half a minute, he +told himself, and he would be free for days from his obseding +lodger, and might decide at leisure on the course he should +pursue. But fate had otherwise designed: there came a tap +at the door and Zero entered.</p> +<p>‘Have I caught you?’ he cried, with innocent +gaiety. ‘Dear fellow, I was growing quite +impatient.’ And on the speaker’s somewhat +stolid face, there came a glow of genuine affection. +‘I am so long unused to have a friend,’ he continued, +‘that I begin to be afraid I may prove +jealous.’ And he wrung the hand of his landlord.</p> +<p>Somerset was, of all men, least fit to deal with such a +greeting. To reject these kind advances was beyond his +strength. That he could not return cordiality for +cordiality, was already almost more than he could carry. +That inequality between kind sentiments which, to generous +characters, will always seem to be a sort of guilt, oppressed him +to the ground; and he stammered vague and lying words.</p> +<p>‘That is all right,’ cried Zero—‘that +is as it should be—say no more! I had a vague alarm; +I feared you had deserted me; but I now own that fear to have +been unworthy, and apologise. To doubt of your forgiveness +were to repeat my sin. Come, then; dinner waits; join me +again and tell me your adventures of the night.’</p> +<p>Kindness still sealed the lips of Somerset; and he suffered +himself once more to be set down to table with his innocent and +criminal acquaintance. Once more, the plotter plunged up to +the neck in damaging disclosures: now it would be the name and +biography of an individual, now the address of some important +centre, that rose, as if by accident, upon his lips; and each +word was like another turn of the thumbscrew to his unhappy +guest. Finally, the course of Zero’s bland monologue +led him to the young lady of two days ago: that young lady, who +had flashed on Somerset for so brief a while but with so +conquering a charm; and whose engaging grace, communicative eyes, +and admirable conduct of the sweeping skirt, remained imprinted +on his memory.</p> +<p>‘You saw her?’ said Zero. ‘Beautiful, +is she not? She, too, is one of ours: a true enthusiast: +nervous, perhaps, in presence of the chemicals; but in matters of +intrigue, the very soul of skill and daring. Lake, +Fonblanque, de Marly, Valdevia, such are some of the names that +she employs; her true name—but there, perhaps, I go too +far. Suffice it, that it is to her I owe my present +lodging, and, dear Somerset, the pleasure of your +acquaintance. It appears she knew the house. You see +dear fellow, I make no concealment: all that you can care to +hear, I tell you openly.’</p> +<p>‘For God’s sake,’ cried the wretched +Somerset, ‘hold your tongue! You cannot imagine how +you torture me!’</p> +<p>A shade of serious discomposure crossed the open countenance +of Zero.</p> +<p>‘There are times,’ he said, ‘when I begin to +fancy that you do not like me. Why, why, dear Somerset, +this lack of cordiality? I am depressed; the touchstone of +my life draws near; and if I fail’—he gloomily +nodded—‘from all the height of my ambitious schemes, +I fall, dear boy, into contempt. These are grave thoughts, +and you may judge my need of your delightful company. +Innocent prattler, you relieve the weight of my concerns. +And yet . . . and yet . . .’ The speaker pushed away +his plate, and rose from table. ‘Follow me,’ +said he, ‘follow me. My mood is on; I must have air, +I must behold the plain of battle.’</p> +<p>So saying, he led the way hurriedly to the top flat of the +mansion, and thence, by ladder and trap, to a certain leaded +platform, sheltered at one end by a great stalk of chimneys and +occupying the actual summit of the roof. On both sides, it +bordered, without parapet or rail, on the incline of slates; and, +northward above all, commanded an extensive view of housetops, +and rising through the smoke, the distant spires of churches.</p> +<p>‘Here,’ cried Zero, ‘you behold this field +of city, rich, crowded, laughing with the spoil of continents; +but soon, how soon, to be laid low! Some day, some night, +from this coign of vantage, you shall perhaps be startled by the +detonation of the judgment gun—not sharp and empty like the +crack of cannon, but deep-mouthed and unctuously solemn. +Instantly thereafter, you shall behold the flames break +forth. Ay,’ he cried, stretching forth his hand, +‘ay, that will be a day of retribution. Then shall +the pallid constable flee side by side with the detected +thief. Blaze!’ he cried, ‘blaze, derided +city! Fall, flatulent monarchy, fall like Dagon!’</p> +<p>With these words his foot slipped upon the lead; and but for +Somerset’s quickness, he had been instantly precipitated +into space. Pale as a sheet, and limp as a +pocket-handkerchief, he was dragged from the edge of downfall by +one arm; helped, or rather carried, down the ladder; and +deposited in safety on the attic landing. Here he began to +come to himself, wiped his brow, and at length, seizing +Somerset’s hand in both of his, began to utter his +acknowledgments.</p> +<p>‘This seals it,’ said he. ‘Ours is a +life and death connection. You have plucked me from the +jaws of death; and if I were before attracted by your character, +judge now of the ardour of my gratitude and love! But I +perceive I am still greatly shaken. Lend me, I beseech you, +lend me your arm as far as my apartment.’</p> +<p>A dram of spirits restored the plotter to something of his +customary self-possession; and he was standing, glass in hand and +genially convalescent, when his eye was attracted by the +dejection of the unfortunate young man.</p> +<p>‘Good heavens, dear Somerset,’ he cried, +‘what ails you? Let me offer you a touch of +spirits.’</p> +<p>But Somerset had fallen below the reach of this material +comfort.</p> +<p>‘Let me be,’ he said. ‘I am lost; you +have caught me in the toils. Up to this moment, I have +lived all my life in the most reckless manner, and done exactly +what I pleased, with the most perfect innocence. And +now—what am I? Are you so blind and wooden that you +do not see the loathing you inspire me with? Is it possible +you can suppose me willing to continue to exist upon such +terms? To think,’ he cried, ‘that a young man, +guilty of no fault on earth but amiability, should find himself +involved in such a damned imbroglio!’ And placing his +knuckles in his eyes, Somerset rolled upon the sofa.</p> +<p>‘My God,’ said Zero, ‘is this +possible? And I so filled with tenderness and +interest! Can it be, dear Somerset, that you are under the +empire of these out-worn scruples? or that you judge a patriot by +the morality of the religious tract? I thought you were a +good agnostic.’</p> +<p>‘Mr. Jones,’ said Somerset, ‘it is in vain +to argue. I boast myself a total disbeliever, not only in +revealed religion, but in the data, method, and conclusions of +the whole of ethics. Well! what matters it? what signifies +a form of words? I regard you as a reptile, whom I would +rejoice, whom I long, to stamp under my heel. You would +blow up others? Well then, understand: I want, with every +circumstance of infamy and agony, to blow up you!’</p> +<p>‘Somerset, Somerset!’ said Zero, turning very +pale, ‘this is wrong; this is very wrong. You pain, +you wound me, Somerset.’</p> +<p>‘Give me a match!’ cried Somerset wildly. +‘Let me set fire to this incomparable monster! Let me +perish with him in his fall!’</p> +<p>‘For God’s sake,’ cried Zero, clutching hold +of the young man, ‘for God’s sake command +yourself! We stand upon the brink; death yawns around us; a +man—a stranger in this foreign land—one whom you have +called your friend—’</p> +<p>‘Silence!’ cried Somerset, ‘you are no +friend, no friend of mine. I look on you with loathing, +like a toad: my flesh creeps with physical repulsion; my soul +revolts against the sight of you.’</p> +<p>Zero burst into tears. ‘Alas!’ he sobbed, +‘this snaps the last link that bound me to humanity. +My friend disowns—he insults me. I am indeed +accurst.’</p> +<p>Somerset stood for an instant staggered by this sudden change +of front. The next moment, with a despairing gesture, he +fled from the room and from the house. The first dash of +his escape carried him hard upon half-way to the next +police-office: but presently began to droop; and before he +reached the house of lawful intervention, he fell once more among +doubtful counsels. Was he an agnostic? had he a right to +act? Away with such nonsense, and let Zero perish! ran his +thoughts. And then again: had he not promised, had he not +shaken hands and broken bread? and that with open eyes? and if so +how could he take action, and not forfeit honour? But +honour? what was honour? A figment, which, in the hot +pursuit of crime, he ought to dash aside. Ay, but +crime? A figment, too, which his enfranchised intellect +discarded. All day, he wandered in the parks, a prey to +whirling thoughts; all night, patrolled the city; and at the peep +of day he sat down by the wayside in the neighbourhood of Peckham +and bitterly wept. His gods had fallen. He who had +chosen the broad, daylit, unencumbered paths of universal +scepticism, found himself still the bondslave of honour. He +who had accepted life from a point of view as lofty as the +predatory eagle’s, though with no design to prey; he who +had clearly recognised the common moral basis of war, of +commercial competition, and of crime; he who was prepared to help +the escaping murderer or to embrace the impenitent thief, found, +to the overthrow of all his logic, that he objected to the use of +dynamite. The dawn crept among the sleeping villas and over +the smokeless fields of city; and still the unfortunate sceptic +sobbed over his fall from consistency.</p> +<p>At length, he rose and took the rising sun to witness. +‘There is no question as to fact,’ he cried; +‘right and wrong are but figments and the shadow of a word; +but for all that, there are certain things that I cannot do, and +there are certain others that I will not stand.’ +Thereupon he decided to return to make one last effort of +persuasion, and, if he could not prevail on Zero to desist from +his infernal trade, throw delicacy to the winds, give the plotter +an hour’s start, and denounce him to the police. Fast +as he went, being winged by this resolution, it was already well +on in the morning when he came in sight of the Superfluous +Mansion. Tripping down the steps, was the young lady of the +various aliases; and he was surprised to see upon her countenance +the marks of anger and concern.</p> +<p>‘Madam,’ he began, yielding to impulse and with no +clear knowledge of what he was to add.</p> +<p>But at the sound of his voice she seemed to experience a shock +of fear or horror; started back; lowered her veil with a sudden +movement; and fled, without turning, from the square.</p> +<p>Here then, we step aside a moment from following the fortunes +of Somerset, and proceed to relate the strange and romantic +episode of <span class="smcap">The Brown Box</span>.</p> +<h2><!-- page 209--><a name="page209"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 209</span>DESBOROUGH’S ADVENTURE</h2> +<h3><i>THE BROWN BOX</i></h3> +<p>Mr. Harry Desborough lodged in the fine and grave old quarter +of Bloomsbury, roared about on every side by the high tides of +London, but itself rejoicing in romantic silences and city +peace. It was in Queen Square that he had pitched his tent, +next door to the Children’s Hospital, on your left hand as +you go north: Queen Square, sacred to humane and liberal arts, +whence homes were made beautiful, where the poor were taught, +where the sparrows were plentiful and loud, and where groups of +patient little ones would hover all day long before the hospital, +if by chance they might kiss their hand or speak a word to their +sick brother at the window. Desborough’s room was on +the first floor and fronted to the square; but he enjoyed +besides, a right by which he often profited, to sit and smoke +upon a terrace at the back, which looked down upon a fine forest +of back gardens, and was in turn commanded by the windows of an +empty room.</p> +<p>On the afternoon of a warm day, Desborough sauntered forth +upon this terrace, somewhat out of hope and heart, for he had +been now some weeks on the vain quest of situations, and prepared +for melancholy and tobacco. Here, at least, he told himself +that he would be alone; for, like most youths, who are neither +rich, nor witty, nor successful, he rather shunned than courted +the society of other men. Even as he expressed the thought, +his eye alighted on the window of the room that looked upon the +terrace; and to his surprise and annoyance, he beheld it +curtained with a silken hanging. It was like his luck, he +thought; his privacy was gone, he could no longer brood and sigh +unwatched, he could no longer suffer his discouragement to find a +vent in words or soothe himself with sentimental whistling; and +in the irritation of the moment, he struck his pipe upon the rail +with unnecessary force. It was an old, sweet, seasoned +briar-root, glossy and dark with long employment, and justly dear +to his fancy. What, then, was his chagrin, when the head +snapped from the stem, leaped airily in space, and fell and +disappeared among the lilacs of the garden?</p> +<p>He threw himself savagely into the garden chair, pulled out +the story-paper which he had brought with him to read, tore off a +fragment of the last sheet, which contains only the answers to +correspondents, and set himself to roll a cigarette. He was +no master of the art; again and again, the paper broke between +his fingers and the tobacco showered upon the ground; and he was +already on the point of angry resignation, when the window swung +slowly inward, the silken curtain was thrust aside, and a lady, +somewhat strangely attired, stepped forth upon the terrace.</p> +<p>‘Señorito,’ said she, and there was a rich +thrill in her voice, like an organ note, ‘Señorito, +you are in difficulties. Suffer me to come to your +assistance.’</p> +<p>With the words, she took the paper and tobacco from his +unresisting hands; and with a facility that, in +Desborough’s eyes, seemed magical, rolled and presented him +a cigarette. He took it, still seated, still without a +word; staring with all his eyes upon that apparition. Her +face was warm and rich in colour; in shape, it was that piquant +triangle, so innocently sly, so saucily attractive, so rare in +our more northern climates; her eyes were large, starry, and +visited by changing lights; her hair was partly covered by a lace +mantilla, through which her arms, bare to the shoulder, gleamed +white; her figure, full and soft in all the womanly contours, was +yet alive and active, light with excess of life, and slender by +grace of some divine proportion.</p> +<p>‘You do not like my cigarrito, Señor?’ she +asked. ‘Yet it is better made than +yours.’ At that she laughed, and her laughter trilled +in his ear like music; but the next moment her face fell. +‘I see,’ she cried. ‘It is my manner that +repels you. I am too constrained, too cold. I am +not,’ she added, with a more engaging air, ‘I am not +the simple English maiden I appear.’</p> +<p>‘Oh!’ murmured Harry, filled with inexpressible +thoughts.</p> +<p>‘In my own dear land,’ she pursued, ‘things +are differently ordered. There, I must own, a girl is bound +by many and rigorous restrictions; little is permitted her; she +learns to be distant, she learns to appear forbidding. But +here, in free England—oh, glorious liberty!’ she +cried, and threw up her arms with a gesture of inimitable +grace—‘here there are no fetters; here the woman may +dare to be herself entirely, and the men, the chivalrous +men—is it not written on the very shield of your nation, +<i>honi soit</i>? Ah, it is hard for me to learn, hard for +me to dare to be myself. You must not judge me yet awhile; +I shall end by conquering this stiffness, I shall end by growing +English. Do I speak the language well?’</p> +<p>‘Perfectly—oh, perfectly!’ said Harry, with +a fervency of conviction worthy of a graver subject.</p> +<p>‘Ah, then,’ she said, ‘I shall soon learn; +English blood ran in my father’s veins; and I have had the +advantage of some training in your expressive tongue. If I +speak already without accent, with my thorough English +appearance, there is nothing left to change except my +manners.’</p> +<p>‘Oh no,’ said Desborough. ‘Oh pray +not! I—madam—’</p> +<p>‘I am,’ interrupted the lady, ‘the +Señorita Teresa Valdevia. The evening air grows +chill. Adios, Señorito.’ And before +Harry could stammer out a word, she had disappeared into her +room.</p> +<p>He stood transfixed, the cigarette still unlighted in his +hand. His thoughts had soared above tobacco, and still +recalled and beautified the image of his new acquaintance. +Her voice re-echoed in his memory; her eyes, of which he could +not tell the colour, haunted his soul. The clouds had risen +at her coming, and he beheld a new-created world. What she +was, he could not fancy, but he adored her. Her age, he +durst not estimate; fearing to find her older than himself, and +thinking sacrilege to couple that fair favour with the thought of +mortal changes. As for her character, beauty to the young +is always good. So the poor lad lingered late upon the +terrace, stealing timid glances at the curtained window, sighing +to the gold laburnums, rapt into the country of romance; and when +at length he entered and sat down to dine, on cold boiled mutton +and a pint of ale, he feasted on the food of gods.</p> +<p>Next day when he returned to the terrace, the window was a +little ajar, and he enjoyed a view of the lady’s shoulder, +as she sat patiently sewing and all unconscious of his +presence. On the next, he had scarce appeared when the +window opened, and the Señorita tripped forth into the +sunlight, in a morning disorder, delicately neat, and yet somehow +foreign, tropical, and strange. In one hand she held a +packet.</p> +<p>‘Will you try,’ she said, ‘some of my +father’s tobacco—from dear Cuba? There, as I +suppose you know, all smoke, ladies as well as gentlemen. +So you need not fear to annoy me. The fragrance will remind +me of home. My home, Señor, was by the +sea.’ And as she uttered these few words, Desborough, +for the first time in his life, realised the poetry of the great +deep. ‘Awake or asleep, I dream of it: dear home, +dear Cuba!’</p> +<p>‘But some day,’ said Desborough, with an inward +pang, ‘some day you will return?’</p> +<p>‘Never!’ she cried; ‘ah, never, in +Heaven’s name!’</p> +<p>‘Are you then resident for life in England?’ he +inquired, with a strange lightening of spirit.</p> +<p>‘You ask too much, for you ask more than I know,’ +she answered sadly; and then, resuming her gaiety of manner: +‘But you have not tried my Cuban tobacco,’ she +said.</p> +<p>‘Señorita,’ said he, shyly abashed by some +shadow of coquetry in her manner, ‘whatever comes to +me—you—I mean,’ he concluded, deeply flushing, +‘that I have no doubt the tobacco is delightful.’</p> +<p>‘Ah, Señor,’ she said, with almost mournful +gravity, ‘you seemed so simple and good, and already you +are trying to pay compliments—and besides,’ she +added, brightening, with a quick upward glance, into a smile, +‘you do it so badly! English gentlemen, I used to +hear, could be fast friends, respectful, honest friends; could be +companions, comforters, if the need arose, or champions, and yet +never encroach. Do not seek to please me by copying the +graces of my countrymen. Be yourself: the frank, kindly, +honest English gentleman that I have heard of since my childhood +and still longed to meet.’</p> +<p>Harry, much bewildered, and far from clear as to the manners +of the Cuban gentlemen, strenuously disclaimed the thought of +plagiarism.</p> +<p>‘Your national seriousness of bearing best becomes you, +Señor,’ said the lady. ‘See!’ +marking a line with her dainty, slippered foot, ‘thus far +it shall be common ground; there, at my window-sill, begins the +scientific frontier. If you choose, you may drive me to my +forts; but if, on the other hand, we are to be real English +friends, I may join you here when I am not too sad; or, when I am +yet more graciously inclined, you may draw your chair beside the +window and teach me English customs, while I work. You will +find me an apt scholar, for my heart is in the task.’ +She laid her hand lightly upon Harry’s arm, and looked into +his eyes. ‘Do you know,’ said she, ‘I am +emboldened to believe that I have already caught something of +your English aplomb? Do you not perceive a change, +Señor? Slight, perhaps, but still a change? Is +my deportment not more open, more free, more like that of the +dear “British Miss” than when you saw me +first?’ She gave a radiant smile; withdrew her hand +from Harry’s arm; and before the young man could formulate +in words the eloquent emotions that ran riot through his +brain—with an ‘Adios, Señor: good-night, my +English friend,’ she vanished from his sight behind the +curtain.</p> +<p>The next day Harry consumed an ounce of tobacco in vain upon +the neutral terrace; neither sight nor sound rewarded him, and +the dinner-hour summoned him at length from the scene of +disappointment. On the next it rained; but nothing, neither +business nor weather, neither prospective poverty nor present +hardship, could now divert the young man from the service of his +lady; and wrapt in a long ulster, with the collar raised, he took +his stand against the balustrade, awaiting fortune, the picture +of damp and discomfort to the eye, but glowing inwardly with +tender and delightful ardours. Presently the window opened, +and the fair Cuban, with a smile imperfectly dissembled, appeared +upon the sill.</p> +<p>‘Come here,’ she said, ‘here, beside my +window. The small verandah gives a belt of +shelter.’ And she graciously handed him a +folding-chair.</p> +<p>As he sat down, visibly aglow with shyness and delight, a +certain bulkiness in his pocket reminded him that he was not come +empty-handed.</p> +<p>‘I have taken the liberty,’ said he, ‘of +bringing you a little book. I thought of you, when I +observed it on the stall, because I saw it was in Spanish. +The man assured me it was by one of the best authors, and quite +proper.’ As he spoke, he placed the little volume in +her hand. Her eyes fell as she turned the pages, and a +flush rose and died again upon her cheeks, as deep as it was +fleeting. ‘You are angry,’ he cried in +agony. ‘I have presumed.’</p> +<p>‘No, Señor, it is not that,’ returned the +lady. ‘I—’ and a flood of colour once +more mounted to her brow—‘I am confused and ashamed +because I have deceived you. Spanish,’ she began, and +paused—‘Spanish is, of course, my native +tongue,’ she resumed, as though suddenly taking courage; +‘and this should certainly put the highest value on your +thoughtful present; but alas, sir, of what use is it to me? +And how shall I confess to you the truth—the humiliating +truth—that I cannot read?’</p> +<p>As Harry’s eyes met hers in undisguised amazement, the +fair Cuban seemed to shrink before his gaze. +‘Read?’ repeated Harry. ‘You!’</p> +<p>She pushed the window still more widely open with a large and +noble gesture. ‘Enter, Señor,’ said +she. ‘The time has come to which I have long looked +forward, not without alarm; when I must either fear to lose your +friendship, or tell you without disguise the story of my +life.’</p> +<p>It was with a sentiment bordering on devotion, that Harry +passed the window. A semi-barbarous delight in form and +colour had presided over the studied disorder of the room in +which he found himself. It was filled with dainty stuffs, +furs and rugs and scarves of brilliant hues, and set with elegant +and curious trifles-fans on the mantelshelf, an antique lamp upon +a bracket, and on the table a silver-mounted bowl of cocoa-nut +about half full of unset jewels. The fair Cuban, herself a +gem of colour and the fit masterpiece for that rich frame, +motioned Harry to a seat, and sinking herself into another, thus +began her history.</p> +<h3><!-- page 219--><a name="page219"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 219</span><i>STORY OF THE FAIR CUBAN</i></h3> +<p>I am not what I seem. My father drew his descent, on the +one hand, from grandees of Spain, and on the other, through the +maternal line, from the patriot Bruce. My mother, too, was +the descendant of a line of kings; but, alas! these kings were +African. She was fair as the day: fairer than I, for I +inherited a darker strain of blood from the veins of my European +father; her mind was noble, her manners queenly and accomplished; +and seeing her more than the equal of her neighbours, and +surrounded by the most considerate affection and respect, I grew +up to adore her, and when the time came, received her last sigh +upon my lips, still ignorant that she was a slave, and alas! my +father’s mistress. Her death, which befell me in my +sixteenth year, was the first sorrow I had known: it left our +home bereaved of its attractions, cast a shade of melancholy on +my youth, and wrought in my father a tragic and durable +change. Months went by; with the elasticity of my years, I +regained some of the simple mirth that had before distinguished +me; the plantation smiled with fresh crops; the negroes on the +estate had already forgotten my mother and transferred their +simple obedience to myself; but still the cloud only darkened on +the brows of Señor Valdevia. His absences from home +had been frequent even in the old days, for he did business in +precious gems in the city of Havana; they now became almost +continuous; and when he returned, it was but for the night and +with the manner of a man crushed down by adverse fortune.</p> +<p>The place where I was born and passed my days was an isle set +in the Caribbean Sea, some half-hour’s rowing from the +coasts of Cuba. It was steep, rugged, and, except for my +father’s family and plantation, uninhabited and left to +nature. The house, a low building surrounded by spacious +verandahs, stood upon a rise of ground and looked across the sea +to Cuba. The breezes blew about it gratefully, fanned us as +we lay swinging in our silken hammocks, and tossed the boughs and +flowers of the magnolia. Behind and to the left, the +quarter of the negroes and the waving fields of the plantation +covered an eighth part of the surface of the isle. On the +right and closely bordering on the garden, lay a vast and deadly +swamp, densely covered with wood, breathing fever, dotted with +profound sloughs, and inhabited by poisonous oysters, man-eating +crabs, snakes, alligators, and sickly fishes. Into the +recesses of that jungle, none could penetrate but those of +African descent; an invisible, unconquerable foe lay there in +wait for the European; and the air was death.</p> +<p>One morning (from which I must date the beginning of my +ruinous misfortune) I left my room a little after day, for in +that warm climate all are early risers, and found not a servant +to attend upon my wants. I made the circuit of the house, +still calling: and my surprise had almost changed into alarm, +when coming at last into a large verandahed court, I found it +thronged with negroes. Even then, even when I was amongst +them, not one turned or paid the least regard to my +arrival. They had eyes and ears for but one person: a +woman, richly and tastefully attired; of elegant carriage, and a +musical speech; not so much old in years, as worn and marred by +self-indulgence: her face, which was still attractive, stamped +with the most cruel passions, her eye burning with the greed of +evil. It was not from her appearance, I believe, but from +some emanation of her soul, that I recoiled in a kind of fainting +terror; as we hear of plants that blight and snakes that +fascinate, the woman shocked and daunted me. But I was of a +brave nature; trod the weakness down; and forcing my way through +the slaves, who fell back before me in embarrassment, as though +in the presence of rival mistresses, I asked, in imperious tones: +‘Who is this person?’</p> +<p>A slave girl, to whom I had been kind, whispered in my ear to +have a care, for that was Madam Mendizabal; but the name was new +to me.</p> +<p>In the meanwhile the woman, applying a pair of glasses to her +eyes, studied me with insolent particularity from head to +foot.</p> +<p>‘Young woman,’ said she, at last, ‘I have +had a great experience in refractory servants, and take a pride +in breaking them. You really tempt me; and if I had not +other affairs, and these of more importance, on my hand, I should +certainly buy you at your father’s sale.’</p> +<p>‘Madam—’ I began, but my voice failed +me.</p> +<p>‘Is it possible that you do not know your +position?’ she returned, with a hateful laugh. +‘How comical! Positively, I must buy her. +Accomplishments, I suppose?’ she added, turning to the +servants.</p> +<p>Several assured her that the young mistress had been brought +up like any lady, for so it seemed in their inexperience.</p> +<p>‘She would do very well for my place of business in +Havana,’ said the Señora Mendizabal, once more +studying me through her glasses; ‘and I should take a +pleasure,’ she pursued, more directly addressing myself, +‘in bringing you acquainted with a whip.’ And +she smiled at me with a savoury lust of cruelty upon her +face.</p> +<p>At this, I found expression. Calling by name upon the +servants, I bade them turn this woman from the house, fetch her +to the boat, and set her back upon the mainland. But with +one voice, they protested that they durst not obey, coming close +about me, pleading and beseeching me to be more wise; and, when I +insisted, rising higher in passion and speaking of this foul +intruder in the terms she had deserved, they fell back from me as +from one who had blasphemed. A superstitious reverence +plainly encircled the stranger; I could read it in their changed +demeanour, and in the paleness that prevailed upon the natural +colour of their faces; and their fear perhaps reacted on +myself. I looked again at Madam Mendizabal. She stood +perfectly composed, watching my face through her glasses with a +smile of scorn; and at the sight of her assured superiority to +all my threats, a cry broke from my lips, a cry of rage, fear, +and despair, and I fled from the verandah and the house.</p> +<p>I ran I knew not where, but it was towards the beach. As +I went, my head whirled; so strange, so sudden, were these events +and insults. Who was she? what, in Heaven’s name, the +power she wielded over my obedient negroes? Why had she +addressed me as a slave? why spoken of my father’s +sale? To all these tumultuary questions I could find no +answer; and in the turmoil of my mind, nothing was plain except +the hateful leering image of the woman.</p> +<p>I was still running, mad with fear and anger, when I saw my +father coming to meet me from the landing-place; and with a cry +that I thought would have killed me, leaped into his arms and +broke into a passion of sobs and tears upon his bosom. He +made me sit down below a tall palmetto that grew not far off; +comforted me, but with some abstraction in his voice; and as soon +as I regained the least command upon my feelings, asked me, not +without harshness, what this grief betokened. I was +surprised by his tone into a still greater measure of composure; +and in firm tones, though still interrupted by sobs, I told him +there was a stranger in the island, at which I thought he started +and turned pale; that the servants would not obey me; that the +stranger’s name was Madam Mendizabal, and, at that, he +seemed to me both troubled and relieved; that she had insulted +me, treated me as a slave (and here my father’s brow began +to darken), threatened to buy me at a sale, and questioned my own +servants before my face; and that, at last, finding myself quite +helpless and exposed to these intolerable liberties, I had fled +from the house in terror, indignation, and amazement.</p> +<p>‘Teresa,’ said my father, with singular gravity of +voice, ‘I must make to-day a call upon your courage; much +must be told you, there is much that you must do to help me; and +my daughter must prove herself a woman by her spirit. As +for this Mendizabal, what shall I say? or how am I to tell you +what she is? Twenty years ago, she was the loveliest of +slaves; to-day she is what you see her—prematurely old, +disgraced by the practice of every vice and every nefarious +industry, but free, rich, married, they say, to some reputable +man, whom may Heaven assist! and exercising among her ancient +mates, the slaves of Cuba, an influence as unbounded as its +reason is mysterious. Horrible rites, it is supposed, +cement her empire: the rites of Hoodoo. Be that as it may, +I would have you dismiss the thought of this incomparable witch; +it is not from her that danger threatens us; and into her hands, +I make bold to promise, you shall never fall.’</p> +<p>‘Father!’ I cried. ‘Fall? Was +there any truth, then, in her words? Am I—O father, +tell me plain; I can bear anything but this suspense.’</p> +<p>‘I will tell you,’ he replied, with merciful +bluntness. ‘Your mother was a slave; it was my +design, so soon as I had saved a competence, to sail to the free +land of Britain, where the law would suffer me to marry her: a +design too long procrastinated; for death, at the last moment, +intervened. You will now understand the heaviness with +which your mother’s memory hangs about my neck.’</p> +<p>I cried out aloud, in pity for my parents; and in seeking to +console the survivor, I forgot myself.</p> +<p>‘It matters not,’ resumed my father. +‘What I have left undone can never be repaired, and I must +bear the penalty of my remorse. But, Teresa, with so +cutting a reminder of the evils of delay, I set myself at once to +do what was still possible: to liberate yourself.’</p> +<p>I began to break forth in thanks, but he checked me with a +sombre roughness.</p> +<p>‘Your mother’s illness,’ he resumed, +‘had engaged too great a portion of my time; my business in +the city had lain too long at the mercy of ignorant underlings; +my head, my taste, my unequalled knowledge of the more precious +stones, that art by which I can distinguish, even on the darkest +night, a sapphire from a ruby, and tell at a glance in what +quarter of the earth a gem was disinterred—all these had +been too long absent from the conduct of affairs. Teresa, I +was insolvent.’</p> +<p>‘What matters that?’ I cried. ‘What +matters poverty, if we be left together with our love and sacred +memories?’</p> +<p>‘You do not comprehend,’ he said gloomily. +‘Slave, as you are, young—alas! scarce more than +child!—accomplished, beautiful with the most touching +beauty, innocent as an angel—all these qualities that +should disarm the very wolves and crocodiles, are, in the eyes of +those to whom I stand indebted, commodities to buy and +sell. You are a chattel; a marketable thing; and +worth—heavens, that I should say such words!—worth +money. Do you begin to see? If I were to give you +freedom, I should defraud my creditors; the manumission would be +certainly annulled; you would be still a slave, and I a +criminal.’</p> +<p>I caught his hand in mine, kissed it, and moaned in pity for +myself, in sympathy for my father.</p> +<p>‘How I have toiled,’ he continued, ‘how I +have dared and striven to repair my losses, Heaven has beheld and +will remember. Its blessing was denied to my endeavours, +or, as I please myself by thinking, but delayed to descend upon +my daughter’s head. At length, all hope was at an +end; I was ruined beyond retrieve; a heavy debt fell due upon the +morrow, which I could not meet; I should be declared a bankrupt, +and my goods, my lands, my jewels that I so much loved, my slaves +whom I have spoiled and rendered happy, and oh! tenfold worse, +you, my beloved daughter, would be sold and pass into the hands +of ignorant and greedy traffickers. Too long, I saw, had I +accepted and profited by this great crime of slavery; but was my +daughter, my innocent unsullied daughter, was <i>she</i> to pay +the price? I cried out—no!—I took Heaven to +witness my temptation; I caught up this bag and fled. Close +upon my track are the pursuers; perhaps to-night, perhaps +to-morrow, they will land upon this isle, sacred to the memory of +the dear soul that bore you, to consign your father to an +ignominious prison, and yourself to slavery and dishonour. +We have not many hours before us. Off the north coast of +our isle, by strange good fortune, an English yacht has for some +days been hovering. It belongs to Sir George Greville, whom +I slightly know, to whom ere now I have rendered unusual +services, and who will not refuse to help in our escape. Or +if he did, if his gratitude were in default, I have the power to +force him. For what does it mean, my child—what means +this Englishman, who hangs for years upon the shores of Cuba, and +returns from every trip with new and valuable gems?’</p> +<p>‘He may have found a mine,’ I hazarded.</p> +<p>‘So he declares,’ returned my father; ‘but +the strange gift I have received from nature, easily transpierced +the fable. He brought me diamonds only, which I bought, at +first, in innocence; at a second glance, I started; for of these +stones, my child, some had first seen the day in Africa, some in +Brazil; while others, from their peculiar water and rude +workmanship, I divined to be the spoil of ancient temples. +Thus put upon the scent, I made inquiries. Oh, he is +cunning, but I was cunninger than he. He visited, I found, +the shop of every jeweller in town; to one he came with rubies, +to one with emeralds, to one with precious beryl; to all, with +this same story of the mine. But in what mine, what rich +epitome of the earth’s surface, were there conjoined the +rubies of Ispahan, the pearls of Coromandel, and the diamonds of +Golconda? No, child, that man, for all his yacht and title, +that man must fear and must obey me. To-night, then, as +soon as it is dark, we must take our way through the swamp by the +path which I shall presently show you; thence, across the +highlands of the isle, a track is blazed, which shall conduct us +to the haven on the north; and close by the yacht is +riding. Should my pursuers come before the hour at which I +look to see them, they will still arrive too late; a trusty man +attends on the mainland; as soon as they appear, we shall behold, +if it be dark, the redness of a fire, if it be day, a pillar of +smoke, on the opposing headland; and thus warned, we shall have +time to put the swamp between ourselves and danger. +Meantime, I would conceal this bag; I would, before all things, +be seen to arrive at the house with empty hands; a blabbing slave +might else undo us. For see!’ he added; and holding +up the bag, which he had already shown me, he poured into my lap +a shower of unmounted jewels, brighter than flowers, of every +size and colour, and catching, as they fell, upon a million +dainty facets, the ardour of the sun.</p> +<p>I could not restrain a cry of admiration.</p> +<p>‘Even in your ignorant eyes,’ pursued my father, +‘they command respect. Yet what are they but pebbles, +passive to the tool, cold as death? Ingrate!’ he +cried. ‘Each one of these—miracles of +nature’s patience, conceived out of the dust in centuries +of microscopical activity, each one is, for you and me, a year of +life, liberty, and mutual affection. How, then, should I +cherish them! and why do I delay to place them beyond +reach! Teresa, follow me.’</p> +<p>He rose to his feet, and led me to the borders of the great +jungle, where they overhung, in a wall of poisonous and dusky +foliage, the declivity of the hill on which my father’s +house stood planted. For some while he skirted, with +attentive eyes, the margin of the thicket. Then, seeming to +recognise some mark, for his countenance became immediately +lightened of a load of thought, he paused and addressed me. +‘Here,’ said he, ‘is the entrance of the secret +path that I have mentioned, and here you shall await me. I +but pass some hundreds of yards into the swamp to bury my poor +treasure; as soon as that is safe, I will return.’ It +was in vain that I sought to dissuade him, urging the dangers of +the place; in vain that I begged to be allowed to follow, +pleading the black blood that I now knew to circulate in my +veins: to all my appeals he turned a deaf ear, and, bending back +a portion of the screen of bushes, disappeared into the +pestilential silence of the swamp.</p> +<p>At the end of a full hour, the bushes were once more thrust +aside; and my father stepped from out the thicket, and paused and +almost staggered in the first shock of the blinding +sunlight. His face was of a singular dusky red; and yet for +all the heat of the tropical noon, he did not seem to sweat.</p> +<p>‘You are tired,’ I cried, springing to meet +him. ‘You are ill.’</p> +<p>‘I am tired,’ he replied; ‘the air in that +jungle stifles one; my eyes, besides, have grown accustomed to +its gloom, and the strong sunshine pierces them like +knives. A moment, Teresa, give me but a moment. All +shall yet be well. I have buried the hoard under a cypress, +immediately beyond the bayou, on the left-hand margin of the +path; beautiful, bright things, they now lie whelmed in slime; +you shall find them there, if needful. But come, let us to +the house; it is time to eat against our journey of the night: to +eat and then to sleep, my poor Teresa: then to +sleep.’ And he looked upon me out of bloodshot eyes, +shaking his head as if in pity.</p> +<p>We went hurriedly, for he kept murmuring that he had been gone +too long, and that the servants might suspect; passed through the +airy stretch of the verandah; and came at length into the +grateful twilight of the shuttered house. The meal was +spread; the house servants, already informed by the boatmen of +the master’s return, were all back at their posts, and +terrified, as I could see, to face me. My father still +murmuring of haste with weary and feverish pertinacity, I hurried +at once to take my place at table; but I had no sooner left his +arm than he paused and thrust forth both his hands with a strange +gesture of groping. ‘How is this?’ he cried, in +a sharp, unhuman voice. ‘Am I blind?’ I +ran to him and tried to lead him to the table; but he resisted +and stood stiffly where he was, opening and shutting his jaws, as +if in a painful effort after breath. Then suddenly he +raised both hands to his temples, cried out, ‘My head, my +head!’ and reeled and fell against the wall.</p> +<p>I knew too well what it must be. I turned and begged the +servants to relieve him. But they, with one accord, denied +the possibility of hope; the master had gone into the swamp, they +said, the master must die; all help was idle. Why should I +dwell upon his sufferings? I had him carried to a bed, and +watched beside him. He lay still, and at times ground his +teeth, and talked at times unintelligibly, only that one word of +hurry, hurry, coming distinctly to my ears, and telling me that, +even in the last struggle with the powers of death, his mind was +still tortured by his daughter’s peril. The sun had +gone down, the darkness had fallen, when I perceived that I was +alone on this unhappy earth. What thought had I of flight, +of safety, of the impending dangers of my situation? Beside +the body of my last friend, I had forgotten all except the +natural pangs of my bereavement.</p> +<p>The sun was some four hours above the eastern line, when I was +recalled to a knowledge of the things of earth, by the entrance +of the slave-girl to whom I have already referred. The poor +soul was indeed devotedly attached to me; and it was with +streaming tears that she broke to me the import of her +coming. With the first light of dawn a boat had reached our +landing-place, and set on shore upon our isle (till now so +fortunate) a party of officers bearing a warrant to arrest my +father’s person, and a man of a gross body and low manners, +who declared the island, the plantation, and all its human +chattels, to be now his own. ‘I think,’ said my +slave-girl, ‘he must be a politician or some very powerful +sorcerer; for Madam Mendizabal had no sooner seen them coming, +than she took to the woods.’</p> +<p>‘Fool,’ said I, ‘it was the officers she +feared; and at any rate why does that beldam still dare to +pollute the island with her presence? And O Cora,’ I +exclaimed, remembering my grief, ‘what matter all these +troubles to an orphan?’</p> +<p>‘Mistress,’ said she, ‘I must remind you of +two things. Never speak as you do now of Madam Mendizabal; +or never to a person of colour; for she is the most powerful +woman in this world, and her real name even, if one durst +pronounce it, were a spell to raise the dead. And whatever +you do, speak no more of her to your unhappy Cora; for though it +is possible she may be afraid of the police (and indeed I think +that I have heard she is in hiding), and though I know that you +will laugh and not believe, yet it is true, and proved, and known +that she hears every word that people utter in this whole vast +world; and your poor Cora is already deep enough in her black +books. She looks at me, mistress, till my blood turns +ice. That is the first I had to say; and now for the +second: do, pray, for Heaven’s sake, bear in mind that you +are no longer the poor Señor’s daughter. He is +gone, dear gentleman; and now you are no more than a common +slave-girl like myself. The man to whom you belong calls +for you; oh, my dear mistress, go at once! With your youth +and beauty, you may still, if you are winning and obedient, +secure yourself an easy life.’</p> +<p>For a moment I looked on the creature with the indignation you +may conceive; the next, it was gone: she did but speak after her +kind, as the bird sings or cattle bellow. ‘Go,’ +said I. ‘Go, Cora. I thank you for your kind +intentions. Leave me alone one moment with my dead father; +and tell this man that I will come at once.’</p> +<p>She went: and I, turning to the bed of death, addressed to +those deaf ears the last appeal and defence of my beleaguered +innocence. ‘Father,’ I said, ‘it was your +last thought, even in the pangs of dissolution, that your +daughter should escape disgrace. Here, at your side, I +swear to you that purpose shall be carried out; by what means, I +know not; by crime, if need be; and Heaven forgive both you and +me and our oppressors, and Heaven help my +helplessness!’ Thereupon I felt strengthened as by +long repose; stepped to the mirror, ay, even in that chamber of +the dead; hastily arranged my hair, refreshed my tear-worn eyes, +breathed a dumb farewell to the originator of my days and +sorrows; and composing my features to a smile, went forth to meet +my master.</p> +<p>He was in a great, hot bustle, reviewing that house, once +ours, to which he had but now succeeded; a corpulent, sanguine +man of middle age, sensual, vulgar, humorous, and, if I judged +rightly, not ill-disposed by nature. But the sparkle that +came into his eye as he observed me enter, warned me to expect +the worst.</p> +<p>‘Is this your late mistress?’ he inquired of the +slaves; and when he had learnt it was so, instantly dismissed +them. ‘Now, my dear,’ said he, ‘I am a +plain man: none of your damned Spaniards, but a true blue, +hard-working, honest Englishman. My name is +Caulder.’</p> +<p>‘Thank you, sir,’ said I, and curtsied very +smartly as I had seen the servants.</p> +<p>‘Come,’ said he, ‘this is better than I had +expected; and if you choose to be dutiful in the station to which +it has pleased God to call you, you will find me a very kind old +fellow. I like your looks,’ he added, calling me by +my name, which he scandalously mispronounced. ‘Is +your hair all your own?’ he then inquired with a certain +sharpness, and coming up to me, as though I were a horse, he +grossly satisfied his doubts. I was all one flame from head +to foot, but I contained my righteous anger and submitted. +‘That is very well,’ he continued, chucking me good +humouredly under the chin. ‘You will have no cause to +regret coming to old Caulder, eh? But that is by the +way. What is more to the point is this: your late master +was a most dishonest rogue, and levanted with some valuable +property that belonged of rights to me. Now, considering +your relation to him, I regard you as the likeliest person to +know what has become of it; and I warn you, before you answer, +that my whole future kindness will depend upon your +honesty. I am an honest man myself, and expect the same in +my servants.’</p> +<p>‘Do you mean the jewels?’ said I, sinking my voice +into a whisper.</p> +<p>‘That is just precisely what I do,’ said he, and +chuckled.</p> +<p>‘Hush!’ said I.</p> +<p>‘Hush?’ he repeated. ‘And why +hush? I am on my own place, I would have you to know, and +surrounded by my own lawful servants.’</p> +<p>‘Are the officers gone?’ I asked; and oh! how my +hopes hung upon the answer!</p> +<p>‘They are,’ said he, looking somewhat +disconcerted. ‘Why do you ask?’</p> +<p>‘I wish you had kept them,’ I answered, solemnly +enough, although my heart at that same moment leaped with +exultation. ‘Master, I must not conceal from you the +truth. The servants on this estate are in a dangerous +condition, and mutiny has long been brewing.’</p> +<p>‘Why,’ he cried, ‘I never saw a +milder-looking lot of niggers in my life.’ But for +all that he turned somewhat pale.</p> +<p>‘Did they tell you,’ I continued, ‘that +Madam Mendizabal is on the island? that, since her coming, they +obey none but her? that if, this morning, they have received you +with even decent civility, it was only by her orders—issued +with what after-thought I leave you to consider?’</p> +<p>‘Madam Jezebel?’ said he. ‘Well, she +is a dangerous devil; the police are after her, besides, for a +whole series of murders; but after all, what then? To be +sure, she has a great influence with you coloured folk. But +what in fortune’s name can be her errand here?’</p> +<p>‘The jewels,’ I replied. ‘Ah, sir, had +you seen that treasure, sapphire and emerald and opal, and the +golden topaz, and rubies red as the sunset—of what +incalculable worth, of what unequalled beauty to the +eye!—had you seen it, as I have, and alas! as <i>she</i> +has—you would understand and tremble at your +danger.’</p> +<p>‘She has seen them!’ he cried, and I could see by +his face, that my audacity was justified by its success.</p> +<p>I caught his hand in mine. ‘My master,’ said +I, ‘I am now yours; it is my duty, it should be my +pleasure, to defend your interests and life. Hear my +advice, then; and, I conjure you, be guided by my prudence. +Follow me privily; let none see where we are going; I will lead +you to the place where the treasure has been buried; that once +disinterred, let us make straight for the boat, escape to the +mainland, and not return to this dangerous isle without the +countenance of soldiers.’</p> +<p>What free man in a free land would have credited so sudden a +devotion? But this oppressor, through the very arts and +sophistries he had abused, to quiet the rebellion of his +conscience and to convince himself that slavery was natural, fell +like a child into the trap I laid for him. He praised and +thanked me; told me I had all the qualities he valued in a +servant; and when he had questioned me further as to the nature +and value of the treasure, and I had once more artfully inflamed +his greed, bade me without delay proceed to carry out my plan of +action.</p> +<p>From a shed in the garden, I took a pick and shovel; and +thence, by devious paths among the magnolias, led my master to +the entrance of the swamp. I walked first, carrying, as I +was now in duty bound, the tools, and glancing continually behind +me, lest we should be spied upon and followed. When we were +come as far as the beginning of the path, it flashed into my mind +I had forgotten meat; and leaving Mr. Caulder in the shadow of a +tree, I returned alone to the house for a basket of +provisions. Were they for him? I asked myself. +And a voice within me answered, No. While we were face to face, +while I still saw before my eyes the man to whom I belonged as +the hand belongs to the body, my indignation held me bravely +up. But now that I was alone, I conceived a sickness at +myself and my designs that I could scarce endure; I longed to +throw myself at his feet, avow my intended treachery, and warn +him from that pestilential swamp, to which I was decoying him to +die; but my vow to my dead father, my duty to my innocent youth, +prevailed upon these scruples; and though my face was pale and +must have reflected the horror that oppressed my spirits, it was +with a firm step that I returned to the borders of the swamp, and +with smiling lips that I bade him rise and follow me.</p> +<p>The path on which we now entered was cut, like a tunnel, +through the living jungle. On either hand and overhead, the +mass of foliage was continuously joined; the day sparingly +filtered through the depth of super-impending wood; and the air +was hot like steam, and heady with vegetable odours, and lay like +a load upon the lungs and brain. Underfoot, a great depth +of mould received our silent footprints; on each side, mimosas, +as tall as a man, shrank from my passing skirts with a continuous +hissing rustle; and but for these sentient vegetables, all in +that den of pestilence was motionless and noiseless.</p> +<p>We had gone but a little way in, when Mr. Caulder was seized +with sudden nausea, and must sit down a moment on the path. +My heart yearned, as I beheld him; and I seriously begged the +doomed mortal to return upon his steps. What were a few +jewels in the scales with life? I asked. But no, he said; +that witch Madam Jezebel would find them out; he was an honest +man, and would not stand to be defrauded, and so forth, panting +the while, like a sick dog. Presently he got to his feet +again, protesting he had conquered his uneasiness; but as we +again began to go forward, I saw in his changed countenance, the +first approaches of death.</p> +<p>‘Master,’ said I, ‘you look pale, deathly +pale; your pallor fills me with dread. Your eyes are +bloodshot; they are red like the rubies that we seek.’</p> +<p>‘Wench,’ he cried, ‘look before you; look at +your steps. I declare to Heaven, if you annoy me once again +by looking back, I shall remind you of the change in your +position.’</p> +<p>A little after, I observed a worm upon the ground, and told, +in a whisper, that its touch was death. Presently a great +green serpent, vivid as the grass in spring, wound rapidly across +the path; and once again I paused and looked back at my +companion, with a horror in my eyes. ‘The coffin +snake,’ said I, ‘the snake that dogs its victim like +a hound.’</p> +<p>But he was not to be dissuaded. ‘I am an old +traveller,’ said he. ‘This is a foul jungle +indeed; but we shall soon be at an end.’</p> +<p>‘Ay,’ said I, looking at him, with a strange +smile, ‘what end?’</p> +<p>Thereupon he laughed again and again, but not very heartily; +and then, perceiving that the path began to widen and grow +higher, ‘There!’ said he. ‘What did I +tell you? We are past the worst.’</p> +<p>Indeed, we had now come to the bayou, which was in that place +very narrow and bridged across by a fallen trunk; but on either +hand we could see it broaden out, under a cavern of great arms of +trees and hanging creepers: sluggish, putrid, of a horrible and +sickly stench, floated on by the flat heads of alligators, and +its banks alive with scarlet crabs.</p> +<p>‘If we fall from that unsteady bridge,’ said I, +‘see, where the caiman lies ready to devour us! If, +by the least divergence from the path, we should be snared in a +morass, see, where those myriads of scarlet vermin scour the +border of the thicket! Once helpless, how they would swarm +together to the assault! What could man do against a +thousand of such mailed assailants? And what a death were +that, to perish alive under their claws.’</p> +<p>‘Are you mad, girl?’ he cried. ‘I bid +you be silent and lead on.’</p> +<p>Again I looked upon him, half relenting; and at that he raised +the stick that was in his hand and cruelly struck me on the +face. ‘Lead on!’ he cried again. +‘Must I be all day, catching my death in this vile slough, +and all for a prating slave-girl?’</p> +<p>I took the blow in silence, I took it smiling; but the blood +welled back upon my heart. Something, I know not what, fell +at that moment with a dull plunge in the waters of the lagoon, +and I told myself it was my pity that had fallen.</p> +<p>On the farther side, to which we now hastily scrambled, the +wood was not so dense, the web of creepers not so solidly +convolved. It was possible, here and there, to mark a patch +of somewhat brighter daylight, or to distinguish, through the +lighter web of parasites, the proportions of some soaring +tree. The cypress on the left stood very visibly forth, +upon the edge of such a clearing; the path in that place widened +broadly; and there was a patch of open ground, beset with +horrible ant-heaps, thick with their artificers. I laid +down the tools and basket by the cypress root, where they were +instantly blackened over with the crawling ants; and looked once +more in the face of my unconscious victim. Mosquitoes and +foul flies wove so close a veil between us that his features were +obscured; and the sound of their flight was like the turning of a +mighty wheel.</p> +<p>‘Here,’ I said, ‘is the spot. I cannot +dig, for I have not learned to use such instruments; but, for +your own sake, I beseech you to be swift in what you +do.’</p> +<p>He had sunk once more upon the ground, panting like a fish; +and I saw rising in his face the same dusky flush that had +mantled on my father’s. ‘I feel ill,’ he +gasped, ‘horribly ill; the swamp turns around me; the drone +of these carrion flies confounds me. Have you not +wine?’</p> +<p>I gave him a glass, and he drank greedily. ‘It is +for you to think,’ said I, ‘if you should further +persevere. The swamp has an ill name.’ And at +the word I ominously nodded.</p> +<p>‘Give me the pick,’ said he. ‘Where +are the jewels buried?’</p> +<p>I told him vaguely; and in the sweltering heat and closeness, +and dim twilight of the jungle, he began to wield the pickaxe, +swinging it overhead with the vigour of a healthy man. At +first, there broke forth upon him a strong sweat, that made his +face to shine, and in which the greedy insects settled +thickly.</p> +<p>‘To sweat in such a place,’ said I. ‘O +master, is this wise? Fever is drunk in through open +pores.’</p> +<p>‘What do you mean?’ he screamed, pausing with the +pick buried in the soil. ‘Do you seek to drive me +mad? Do you think I do not understand the danger that I +run?’</p> +<p>‘That is all I want,’ said I: ‘I only wish +you to be swift.’ And then, my mind flitting to my +father’s deathbed, I began to murmur, scarce above my +breath, the same vain repetition of words, ‘Hurry, hurry, +hurry.’</p> +<p>Presently, to my surprise, the treasure-seeker took them up; +and while he still wielded the pick, but now with staggering and +uncertain blows, repeated to himself, as it were the burthen of a +song, ‘Hurry, hurry, hurry;’ and then again, +‘There is no time to lose; the marsh has an ill name, ill +name;’ and then back to ‘Hurry, hurry, hurry,’ +with a dreadful, mechanical, hurried, and yet wearied utterance, +as a sick man rolls upon his pillow. The sweat had +disappeared; he was now dry, but all that I could see of him, of +the same dull brick red. Presently his pick unearthed the +bag of jewels; but he did not observe it, and continued hewing at +the soil.</p> +<p>‘Master,’ said I, ‘there is the +treasure.’ He seemed to waken from a dream. +‘Where?’ he cried; and then, seeing it before his +eyes, ‘Can this be possible?’ he added. +‘I must be light-headed. Girl,’ he cried +suddenly, with the same screaming tone of voice that I had once +before observed, ‘what is wrong? is this swamp +accursed?’</p> +<p>‘It is a grave,’ I answered. ‘You will +not go out alive; and as for me, my life is in God’s +hands.’</p> +<p>He fell upon the ground like a man struck by a blow, but +whether from the effect of my words, or from sudden seizure of +the malady, I cannot tell. Pretty soon, he raised his +head. ‘You have brought me here to die,’ he +said; ‘at the risk of your own days, you have condemned +me. Why?’</p> +<p>‘To save my honour,’ I replied. ‘Bear +me out that I have warned you. Greed of these pebbles, and +not I, has been your undoer.’</p> +<p>He took out his revolver and handed it to me. ‘You +see,’ he said, ‘I could have killed you even +yet. But I am dying, as you say; nothing could save me; and +my bill is long enough already. Dear me, dear me,’ he +said, looking in my face with a curious, puzzled, and pathetic +look, like a dull child at school, ‘if there be a judgment +afterwards, my bill is long enough.’</p> +<p>At that, I broke into a passion of weeping, crawled at his +feet, kissed his hands, begged his forgiveness, put the pistol +back into his grasp and besought him to avenge his death; for +indeed, if with my life I could have bought back his, I had not +balanced at the cost. But he was determined, the poor soul, +that I should yet more bitterly regret my act.</p> +<p>‘I have nothing to forgive,’ said he. +‘Dear heaven, what a thing is an old fool! I thought, +upon my word, you had taken quite a fancy to me.’</p> +<p>He was seized, at the same time, with a dreadful, swimming +dizziness, clung to me like a child, and called upon the name of +some woman. Presently this spasm, which I watched with +choking tears, lessened and died away; and he came again to the +full possession of his mind. ‘I must write my +will,’ he said. ‘Get out my +pocket-book.’ I did so, and he wrote hurriedly on one +page with a pencil. ‘Do not let my son know,’ +he said; ‘he is a cruel dog, is my son Philip; do not let +him know how you have paid me out;’ and then all of a +sudden, ‘God,’ he cried, ‘I am blind,’ +and clapped both hands before his eyes; and then again, and in a +groaning whisper, ‘Don’t leave me to the +crabs!’ I swore I would be true to him so long as a +pulse stirred; and I redeemed my promise. I sat there and +watched him, as I had watched my father, but with what different, +with what appalling thoughts! Through the long afternoon, +he gradually sank. All that while, I fought an uphill +battle to shield him from the swarms of ants and the clouds of +mosquitoes: the prisoner of my crime. The night fell, the +roar of insects instantly redoubled in the dark arcades of the +swamp; and still I was not sure that he had breathed his +last. At length, the flesh of his hand, which I yet held in +mine, grew chill between my fingers, and I knew that I was +free.</p> +<p>I took his pocket-book and the revolver, being resolved rather +to die than to be captured, and laden besides with the basket and +the bag of gems, set forward towards the north. The swamp, +at that hour of the night, was filled with a continuous din: +animals and insects of all kinds, and all inimical to life, +contributing their parts. Yet in the midst of this turmoil +of sound, I walked as though my eyes were bandaged, beholding +nothing. The soil sank under my foot, with a horrid, +slippery consistence, as though I were walking among toads; the +touch of the thick wall of foliage, by which alone I guided +myself, affrighted me like the touch of serpents; the darkness +checked my breathing like a gag; indeed, I have never suffered +such extremes of fear as during that nocturnal walk, nor have I +ever known a more sensible relief than when I found the path +beginning to mount and to grow firmer under foot, and saw, +although still some way in front of me, the silver brightness of +the moon.</p> +<p>Presently, I had crossed the last of the jungle, and come +forth amongst noble and lofty woods, clean rock, the clean, dry +dust, the aromatic smell of mountain plants that had been baked +all day in sunlight, and the expressive silence of the +night. My negro blood had carried me unhurt across that +reeking and pestiferous morass; by mere good fortune, I had +escaped the crawling and stinging vermin with which it was alive; +and I had now before me the easier portion of my enterprise, to +cross the isle and to make good my arrival at the haven and my +acceptance on the English yacht. It was impossible by night +to follow such a track as my father had described; and I was +casting about for any landmark, and, in my ignorance, vainly +consulting the disposition of the stars, when there fell upon my +ear, from somewhere far in front, the sound of many voices +hurriedly singing.</p> +<p>I scarce knew upon what grounds I acted; but I shaped my steps +in the direction of that sound; and in a quarter of an +hour’s walking, came unperceived to the margin of an open +glade. It was lighted by the strong moon and by the flames +of a fire. In the midst, there stood a little low and rude +building, surmounted by a cross: a chapel, as I then remembered +to have heard, long since desecrated and given over to the rites +of Hoodoo. Hard by the steps of entrance was a black mass, +continually agitated and stirring to and fro as if with +inarticulate life; and this I presently perceived to be a heap of +cocks, hares, dogs, and other birds and animals, still +struggling, but helplessly tethered and cruelly tossed one upon +another. Both the fire and the chapel were surrounded by a +ring of kneeling Africans, both men and women. Now they +would raise their palms half-closed to heaven, with a peculiar, +passionate gesture of supplication; now they would bow their +heads and spread their hands before them on the ground. As +the double movement passed and repassed along the line, the heads +kept rising and falling, like waves upon the sea; and still, as +if in time to these gesticulations, the hurried chant +continued. I stood spellbound, knowing that my life +depended by a hair, knowing that I had stumbled on a celebration +of the rites of Hoodoo.</p> +<p>Presently, the door of the chapel opened, and there came forth +a tall negro, entirely nude, and bearing in his hand the +sacrificial knife. He was followed by an apparition still +more strange and shocking: Madam Mendizabal, naked also, and +carrying in both hands and raised to the level of her face, an +open basket of wicker. It was filled with coiling snakes; +and these, as she stood there with the uplifted basket, shot +through the osier grating and curled about her arms. At the +sight of this, the fervour of the crowd seemed to swell suddenly +higher; and the chant rose in pitch and grew more irregular in +time and accent. Then, at a sign from the tall negro, where +he stood, motionless and smiling, in the moon and firelight, the +singing died away, and there began the second stage of this +barbarous and bloody celebration. From different parts of +the ring, one after another, man or woman, ran forth into the +midst; ducked, with that same gesture of the thrown-up hand, +before the priestess and her snakes; and with various +adjurations, uttered aloud the blackest wishes of the +heart. Death and disease were the favours usually invoked: +the death or the disease of enemies or rivals; some calling down +these plagues upon the nearest of their own blood, and one, to +whom I swear I had been never less than kind, invoking them upon +myself. At each petition, the tall negro, still smiling, +picked up some bird or animal from the heaving mass upon his +left, slew it with the knife, and tossed its body on the +ground. At length, it seemed, it reached the turn of the +high-priestess. She set down the basket on the steps, moved +into the centre of the ring, grovelled in the dust before the +reptiles, and still grovelling lifted up her voice, between +speech and singing, and with so great, with so insane a fervour +of excitement, as struck a sort of horror through my blood.</p> +<p>‘Power,’ she began, ‘whose name we do not +utter; power that is neither good nor evil, but below them both; +stronger than good, greater than evil—all my life long I +have adored and served thee. Who has shed blood upon thine +altars? whose voice is broken with the singing of thy praises? +whose limbs are faint before their age with leaping in thy +revels? Who has slain the child of her body? +I,’ she cried, ‘I, Metamnbogu! By my own name, +I name myself. I tear away the veil. I would be +served or perish. Hear me, slime of the fat swamp, +blackness of the thunder, venom of the serpent’s +udder—hear or slay me! I would have two things, O +shapeless one, O horror of emptiness—two things, or +die! The blood of my white-faced husband; oh! give me that; +he is the enemy of Hoodoo; give me his blood! And yet +another, O racer of the blind winds, O germinator in the ruins of +the dead, O root of life, root of corruption! I grow old, I +grow hideous; I am known, I am hunted for my life: let thy +servant then lay by this outworn body; let thy chief priestess +turn again to the blossom of her days, and be a girl once more, +and the desired of all men, even as in the past! And, O +lord and master, as I here ask a marvel not yet wrought since we +were torn from the old land, have I not prepared the sacrifice in +which thy soul delighteth—the kid without the +horns?’</p> +<p>Even as she uttered the words, there was a great rumour of joy +through all the circle of worshippers; it rose, and fell, and +rose again; and swelled at last into rapture, when the tall +negro, who had stepped an instant into the chapel, reappeared +before the door, carrying in his arms the body of the slave-girl, +Cora. I know not if I saw what followed. When next my +mind awoke to a clear knowledge, Cora was laid upon the steps +before the serpents; the negro with the knife stood over her; the +knife rose; and at this I screamed out in my great horror, +bidding them, in God’s name, to pause.</p> +<p>A stillness fell upon the mob of cannibals. A moment +more, and they must have thrown off this stupor, and I infallibly +have perished. But Heaven had designed to save me. +The silence of these wretched men was not yet broken, when there +arose, in the empty night, a sound louder than the roar of any +European tempest, swifter to travel than the wings of any Eastern +wind. Blackness engulfed the world; blackness, stabbed +across from every side by intricate and blinding lightning. +Almost in the same second, at one world-swallowing stride, the +heart of the tornado reached the clearing. I heard an +agonising crash, and the light of my reason was overwhelmed.</p> +<p>When I recovered consciousness, the day was come. I was +unhurt; the trees close about me had not lost a bough; and I +might have thought at first that the tornado was a feature in a +dream. It was otherwise indeed; for when I looked abroad, I +perceived I had escaped destruction by a +hand’s-breadth. Right through the forest, which here +covered hill and dale, the storm had ploughed a lane of +ruin. On either hand, the trees waved uninjured in the air +of the morning; but in the forthright course of its advance, the +hurricane had left no trophy standing. Everything, in that +line, tree, man, or animal, the desecrated chapel and the +votaries of Hoodoo, had been subverted and destroyed in that +brief spasm of anger of the powers of air. Everything, but +a yard or two beyond the line of its passage, humble flower, +lofty tree, and the poor vulnerable maid who now knelt to pay her +gratitude to heaven, awoke unharmed in the crystal purity and +peace of the new day.</p> +<p>To move by the path of the tornado was a thing impossible to +man, so wildly were the wrecks of the tall forest piled together +by that fugitive convulsion. I crossed it indeed; with such +labour and patience, with so many dangerous slips and falls, as +left me, at the further side, bankrupt alike of strength and +courage. There I sat down awhile to recruit my forces; and +as I ate (how should I bless the kindliness of Heaven!) my eye, +flitting to and fro in the colonnade of the great trees, alighted +on a trunk that had been blazed. Yes, by the directing hand +of Providence, I had been conducted to the very track I was to +follow. With what a light heart I now set forth, and +walking with how glad a step, traversed the uplands of the +isle!</p> +<p>It was hard upon the hour of noon, when I came, all tattered +and wayworn, to the summit of a steep descent, and looked below +me on the sea. About all the coast, the surf, roused by the +tornado of the night, beat with a particular fury and made a +fringe of snow. Close at my feet, I saw a haven, set in +precipitous and palm-crowned bluffs of rock. Just outside, +a ship was heaving on the surge, so trimly sparred, so glossily +painted, so elegant and point-device in every feature, that my +heart was seized with admiration. The English colours blew +from her masthead; and from my high station, I caught glimpses of +her snowy planking, as she rolled on the uneven deep, and saw the +sun glitter on the brass of her deck furniture. There, +then, was my ship of refuge; and of all my difficulties only one +remained: to get on board of her.</p> +<p>Half an hour later, I issued at last out of the woods on the +margin of a cove, into whose jaws the tossing and blue billows +entered, and along whose shores they broke with a surprising +loudness. A wooded promontory hid the yacht; and I had +walked some distance round the beach, in what appeared to be a +virgin solitude, when my eye fell on a boat, drawn into a natural +harbour, where it rocked in safety, but deserted. I looked +about for those who should have manned her; and presently, in the +immediate entrance of the wood, spied the red embers of a fire, +and, stretched around in various attitudes, a party of slumbering +mariners. To these I drew near: most were black, a few +white; but all were dressed with the conspicuous decency of +yachtsmen; and one, from his peaked cap and glittering buttons, I +rightly divined to be an officer. Him, then, I touched upon +the shoulder. He started up; the sharpness of his movement +woke the rest; and they all stared upon me in surprise.</p> +<p>‘What do you want?’ inquired the officer.</p> +<p>‘To go on board the yacht,’ I answered.</p> +<p>I thought they all seemed disconcerted at this; and the +officer, with something of sharpness, asked me who I was. +Now I had determined to conceal my name until I met Sir George; +and the first name that rose to my lips was that of the +Señora Mendizabal. At the word, there went a shock +about the little party of seamen; the negroes stared at me with +indescribable eagerness, the whites themselves with something of +a scared surprise; and instantly the spirit of mischief prompted +me to add, ‘And if the name is new to your ears, call me +Metamnbogu.’</p> +<p>I had never seen an effect so wonderful. The negroes +threw their hands into the air, with the same gesture I remarked +the night before about the Hoodoo camp-fire; first one, and then +another, ran forward and kneeled down and kissed the skirts of my +torn dress; and when the white officer broke out swearing and +calling to know if they were mad, the coloured seamen took him by +the shoulders, dragged him on one side till they were out of +hearing, and surrounded him with open mouths and extravagant +pantomime. The officer seemed to struggle hard; he laughed +aloud, and I saw him make gestures of dissent and protest; but in +the end, whether overcome by reason or simply weary of +resistance, he gave in—approached me civilly enough, but +with something of a sneering manner underneath—and touching +his cap, ‘My lady,’ said he, ‘if that is what +you are, the boat is ready.’</p> +<p>My reception on board the <i>Nemorosa</i> (for so the yacht +was named) partook of the same mingled nature. We were +scarcely within hail of that great and elegant fabric, where she +lay rolling gunwale under and churning the blue sea to snow, +before the bulwarks were lined with the heads of a great crowd of +seamen, black, white, and yellow; and these and the few who +manned the boat began exchanging shouts in some <i>lingua +franca</i> incomprehensible to me. All eyes were directed +on the passenger; and once more I saw the negroes toss up their +hands to heaven, but now as if with passionate wonder and +delight.</p> +<p>At the head of the gangway, I was received by another officer, +a gentlemanly man with blond and bushy whiskers; and to him I +addressed my demand to see Sir George.</p> +<p>‘But this is not—’ he cried, and paused.</p> +<p>‘I know it,’ returned the other officer, who had +brought me from the shore. ‘But what the devil can we +do? Look at all the niggers!’</p> +<p>I followed his direction; and as my eye lighted upon each, the +poor ignorant Africans ducked, and bowed, and threw their hands +into the air, as though in the presence of a creature half +divine. Apparently the officer with the whiskers had +instantly come round to the opinion of his subaltern; for he now +addressed me with every signal of respect.</p> +<p>‘Sir George is at the island, my lady,’ said he: +‘for which, with your ladyship’s permission, I shall +immediately make all sail. The cabins are prepared. +Steward, take Lady Greville below.’</p> +<p>Under this new name, then, and so captivated by surprise that +I could neither think nor speak, I was ushered into a spacious +and airy cabin, hung about with weapons and surrounded by +divans. The steward asked for my commands; but I was by +this time so wearied, bewildered, and disturbed, that I could +only wave him to leave me to myself, and sink upon a pile of +cushions. Presently, by the changed motion of the ship, I +knew her to be under way; my thoughts, so far from clarifying, +grew the more distracted and confused; dreams began to mingle and +confound them; and at length, by insensible transition, I sank +into a dreamless slumber.</p> +<p>When I awoke, the day and night had passed, and it was once +more morning. The world on which I reopened my eyes swam +strangely up and down; the jewels in the bag that lay beside me +chinked together ceaselessly; the clock and the barometer wagged +to and fro like pendulums; and overhead, seamen were singing out +at their work, and coils of rope clattering and thumping on the +deck. Yet it was long before I had divined that I was at +sea; long before I had recalled, one after another, the tragical, +mysterious, and inexplicable events that had brought me where +was.</p> +<p>When I had done so, I thrust the jewels, which I was surprised +to find had been respected, into the bosom of my dress; and +seeing a silver bell hard by upon a table, rang it loudly. +The steward instantly appeared; I asked for food; and he +proceeded to lay the table, regarding me the while with a +disquieting and pertinacious scrutiny. To relieve myself of +my embarrassment, I asked him, with as fair a show of ease as I +could muster, if it were usual for yachts to carry so numerous a +crew?</p> +<p>‘Madam,’ said he, ‘I know not who you are, +nor what mad fancy has induced you to usurp a name and an +appalling destiny that are not yours. I warn you from the +soul. No sooner arrived at the island—’</p> +<p>At this moment he was interrupted by the whiskered officer, +who had entered unperceived behind him, and now laid a hand upon +his shoulder. The sudden pallor, the deadly and sick fear, +that was imprinted on the steward’s face, formed a +startling addition to his words.</p> +<p>‘Parker!’ said the officer, and pointed towards +the door.</p> +<p>‘Yes, Mr. Kentish,’ said the steward. +‘For God’s sake, Mr. Kentish!’ And +vanished, with a white face, from the cabin.</p> +<p>Thereupon the officer bade me sit down, and began to help me, +and join in the meal. ‘I fill your ladyship’s +glass,’ said he, and handed me a tumbler of neat rum.</p> +<p>‘Sir,’ cried I, ‘do you expect me to drink +this?’</p> +<p>He laughed heartily. ‘Your ladyship is so much +changed,’ said he, ‘that I no longer expect any one +thing more than any other.’</p> +<p>Immediately after, a white seaman entered the cabin, saluted +both Mr. Kentish and myself, and informed the officer there was a +sail in sight, which was bound to pass us very close, and that +Mr. Harland was in doubt about the colours.</p> +<p>‘Being so near the island?’ asked Mr. Kentish.</p> +<p>‘That was what Mr. Harland said, sir,’ returned +the sailor, with a scrape.</p> +<p>‘Better not, I think,’ said Mr. Kentish. +‘My compliments to Mr. Harland; and if she seem a lively +boat, give her the stars and stripes; but if she be dull, and we +can easily outsail her, show John Dutchman. That is always +another word for incivility at sea; so we can disregard a hail or +a flag of distress, without attracting notice.’</p> +<p>As soon as the sailor had gone on deck, I turned to the +officer in wonder. ‘Mr. Kentish, if that be your +name,’ said I, ‘are you ashamed of your own +colours?’</p> +<p>‘Your ladyship refers to the <i>Jolly Roger</i>?’ +he inquired, with perfect gravity; and immediately after, went +into peals of laughter. ‘Pardon me,’ said he; +‘but here for the first time I recognise your +ladyship’s impetuosity.’ Nor, try as I pleased, +could I extract from him any explanation of this mystery, but +only oily and commonplace evasion.</p> +<p>While we were thus occupied, the movement of the +<i>Nemorosa</i> gradually became less violent; its speed at the +same time diminished; and presently after, with a sullen plunge, +the anchor was discharged into the sea. Kentish immediately +rose, offered his arm, and conducted me on deck; where I found we +were lying in a roadstead among many low and rocky islets, +hovered about by an innumerable cloud of sea-fowl. +Immediately under our board, a somewhat larger isle was green +with trees, set with a few low buildings and approached by a pier +of very crazy workmanship; and a little inshore of us, a smaller +vessel lay at anchor.</p> +<p>I had scarce time to glance to the four quarters, ere a boat +was lowered. I was handed in, Kentish took place beside me, +and we pulled briskly to the pier. A crowd of villainous, +armed loiterers, both black and white, looked on upon our +landing; and again the word passed about among the negroes, and +again I was received with prostrations and the same gesture of +the flung-up hand. By this, what with the appearance of +these men, and the lawless, sea-girt spot in which I found +myself, my courage began a little to decline, and clinging to the +arm of Mr. Kentish, I begged him to tell me what it meant?</p> +<p>‘Nay, madam,’ he returned, ‘<i>you</i> +know.’ And leading me smartly through the crowd, +which continued to follow at a considerable distance, and at +which he still kept looking back, I thought, with apprehension, +he brought me to a low house that stood alone in an encumbered +yard, opened the door, and begged me to enter.</p> +<p>‘But why?’ said I. ‘I demand to see +Sir George.’</p> +<p>‘Madam,’ returned Mr. Kentish, looking suddenly as +black as thunder, ‘to drop all fence, I know neither who +nor what you are; beyond the fact that you are not the person +whose name you have assumed. But be what you please, spy, +ghost, devil, or most ill-judging jester, if you do not +immediately enter that house, I will cut you to the +earth.’ And even as he spoke, he threw an uneasy +glance behind him at the following crowd of blacks.</p> +<p>I did not wait to be twice threatened; I obeyed at once, and +with a palpitating heart; and the next moment, the door was +locked from the outside and the key withdrawn. The interior +was long, low, and quite unfurnished, but filled, almost from end +to end, with sugar-cane, tar-barrels, old tarry rope, and other +incongruous and highly inflammable material; and not only was the +door locked, but the solitary window barred with iron.</p> +<p>I was by this time so exceedingly bewildered and afraid, that +I would have given years of my life to be once more the slave of +Mr. Caulder. I still stood, with my hands clasped, the +image of despair, looking about me on the lumber of the room or +raising my eyes to heaven; when there appeared outside the window +bars, the face of a very black negro, who signed to me +imperiously to draw near. I did so, and he instantly, and +with every mark of fervour, addressed me a long speech in some +unknown and barbarous tongue.</p> +<p>‘I declare,’ I cried, clasping my brow, ‘I +do not understand one syllable.’</p> +<p>‘Not?’ he said in Spanish. ‘Great, +great, are the powers of Hoodoo! Her very mind is +changed! But, O chief priestess, why have you suffered +yourself to be shut into this cage? why did you not call your +slaves at once to your defence? Do you not see that all has +been prepared to murder you? at a spark, this flimsy house will +go in flames; and alas! who shall then be the chief priestess? +and what shall be the profit of the miracle?’</p> +<p>‘Heavens!’ cried I, ‘can I not see Sir +George? I must, I must, come by speech of him. Oh, +bring me to Sir George!’ And, my terror fairly +mastering my courage, I fell upon my knees and began to pray to +all the saints.</p> +<p>‘Lordy!’ cried the negro, ‘here they +come!’ And his black head was instantly withdrawn +from the window.</p> +<p>‘I never heard such nonsense in my life,’ +exclaimed a voice.</p> +<p>‘Why, so we all say, Sir George,’ replied the +voice of Mr. Kentish. ‘But put yourself in our +place. The niggers were near two to one. And upon my +word, if you’ll excuse me, sir, considering the notion they +have taken in their heads, I regard it as precious fortunate for +all of us that the mistake occurred.’</p> +<p>‘This is no question of fortune, sir,’ returned +Sir George. ‘It is a question of my orders, and you +may take my word for it, Kentish, either Harland, or yourself, or +Parker—or, by George, all three of you!—shall swing +for this affair. These are my sentiments. Give me the +key and be off.’</p> +<p>Immediately after, the key turned in the lock; and there +appeared upon the threshold a gentleman, between forty and fifty, +with a very open countenance, and of a stout and personable +figure.</p> +<p>‘My dear young lady,’ said he, ‘who the +devil may you be?’</p> +<p>I told him all my story in one rush of words. He heard +me, from the first, with an amazement you can scarcely picture, +but when I came to the death of the Señora Mendizabal in +the tornado, he fairly leaped into the air.</p> +<p>‘My dear child,’ he cried, clasping me in his +arms, ‘excuse a man who might be your father! This is +the best news I ever had since I was born; for that hag of a +mulatto was no less a person than my wife.’ He sat +down upon a tar-barrel, as if unmanned by joy. ‘Dear +me,’ said he, ‘I declare this tempts me to believe in +Providence. And what,’ he added, ‘can I do for +you?’</p> +<p>‘Sir George,’ said I, ‘I am already rich: +all that I ask is your protection.’</p> +<p>‘Understand one thing,’ he said, with great +energy. ‘I will never marry.’</p> +<p>‘I had not ventured to propose it,’ I exclaimed, +unable to restrain my mirth; ‘I only seek to be conveyed to +England, the natural home of the escaped slave.’</p> +<p>‘Well,’ returned Sir George, ‘frankly I owe +you something for this exhilarating news; besides, your father +was of use to me. Now, I have made a small competence in +business—a jewel mine, a sort of naval agency, et +cætera, and I am on the point of breaking up my company, +and retiring to my place in Devonshire to pass a plain old age, +unmarried. One good turn deserves another: if you swear to +hold your tongue about this island, these little bonfire +arrangements, and the whole episode of my unfortunate marriage, +why, I’ll carry you home aboard the +<i>Nemorosa</i>.’ I eagerly accepted his +conditions.</p> +<p>‘One thing more,’ said he. ‘My late +wife was some sort of a sorceress among the blacks; and they are +all persuaded she has come alive again in your agreeable +person. Now, you will have the goodness to keep up that +fancy, if you please; and to swear to them, on the authority of +Hoodoo or whatever his name may be, that I am from this moment +quite a sacred character.’</p> +<p>‘I swear it,’ said I, ‘by my father’s +memory; and that is a vow that I will never break.’</p> +<p>‘I have considerably better hold on you than any +oath,’ returned Sir George, with a chuckle; ‘for you +are not only an escaped slave, but have, by your own account, a +considerable amount of stolen property.’</p> +<p>I was struck dumb; I saw it was too true; in a glance, I +recognised that these jewels were no longer mine; with similar +quickness, I decided they should be restored, ay, if it cost me +the liberty that I had just regained. Forgetful of all +else, forgetful of Sir George, who sat and watched me with a +smile, I drew out Mr. Caulder’s pocket-book and turned to +the page on which the dying man had scrawled his testament. +How shall I describe the agony of happiness and remorse with +which I read it! for my victim had not only set me free, but +bequeathed to me the bag of jewels.</p> +<p>My plain tale draws towards a close. Sir George and I, +in my character of his rejuvenated wife, displayed ourselves +arm-in-arm among the negroes, and were cheered and followed to +the place of embarkation. There, Sir George, turning about, +made a speech to his old companions, in which he thanked and bade +them farewell with a very manly spirit; and towards the end of +which he fell on some expressions which I still remember. +‘If any of you gentry lose your money,’ he said, +‘take care you do not come to me; for in the first place, I +shall do my best to have you murdered; and if that fails, I hand +you over to the law. Blackmail won’t do for me. +I’ll rather risk all upon a cast, than be pulled to pieces +by degrees. I’ll rather be found out and hang, than +give a doit to one man-jack of you.’ That same night +we got under way and crossed to the port of New Orleans, whence, +as a sacred trust, I sent the pocket-book to Mr. Caulder’s +son. In a week’s time, the men were all paid off; new +hands were shipped; and the <i>Nemorosa</i> weighed her anchor +for Old England.</p> +<p>A more delightful voyage it were hard to fancy. Sir +George, of course, was not a conscientious man; but he had an +unaffected gaiety of character that naturally endeared him to the +young; and it was interesting to hear him lay out his projects +for the future, when he should be returned to Parliament, and +place at the service of the nation his experience of marine +affairs. I asked him, if his notion of piracy upon a +private yacht were not original. But he told me, no. +‘A yacht, Miss Valdevia,’ he observed, ‘is a +chartered nuisance. Who smuggles? Who robs the salmon +rivers of the West of Scotland? Who cruelly beats the +keepers if they dare to intervene? The crews and the +proprietors of yachts. All I have done is to extend the +line a trifle, and if you ask me for my unbiassed opinion, I do +not suppose that I am in the least alone.’</p> +<p>In short, we were the best of friends, and lived like father +and daughter; though I still withheld from him, of course, that +respect which is only due to moral excellence.</p> +<p>We were still some days’ sail from England, when Sir +George obtained, from an outward-bound ship, a packet of +newspapers; and from that fatal hour my misfortunes +recommenced. He sat, the same evening, in the cabin, +reading the news, and making savoury comments on the decline of +England and the poor condition of the navy, when I suddenly +observed him to change countenance.</p> +<p>‘Hullo!’ said he, ‘this is bad; this is +deuced bad, Miss Valdevia. You would not listen to sound +sense, you would send that pocket-book to that man +Caulder’s son.’</p> +<p>‘Sir George,’ said I, ‘it was my +duty.’</p> +<p>‘You are prettily paid for it, at least,’ says he; +‘and much as I regret it, I, for one, am done with +you. This fellow Caulder demands your +extradition.’</p> +<p>‘But a slave,’ I returned, ‘is safe in +England.’</p> +<p>‘Yes, by George!’ replied the baronet; ‘but +it’s not a slave, Miss Valdevia, it’s a thief that he +demands. He has quietly destroyed the will; and now accuses +you of robbing your father’s bankrupt estate of jewels to +the value of a hundred thousand pounds.’</p> +<p>I was so much overcome by indignation at this hateful charge +and concern for my unhappy fate that the genial baronet made +haste to put me more at ease.</p> +<p>‘Do not be cast down,’ said he. ‘Of +course, I wash my hands of you myself. A man in my +position—baronet, old family, and all that—cannot +possibly be too particular about the company he keeps. But +I am a deuced good-humoured old boy, let me tell you, when not +ruffled; and I will do the best I can to put you right. I +will lend you a trifle of ready money, give you the address of an +excellent lawyer in London, and find a way to set you on shore +unsuspected.’</p> +<p>He was in every particular as good as his word. Four +days later, the <i>Nemorosa</i> sounded her way, under the cloak +of a dark night, into a certain haven of the coast of England; +and a boat, rowing with muffled oars, set me ashore upon the +beach within a stone’s throw of a railway station. +Thither, guided by Sir George’s directions, I groped a +devious way; and finding a bench upon the platform, sat me down, +wrapped in a man’s fur great-coat, to await the coming of +the day. It was still dark when a light was struck behind +one of the windows of the building; nor had the east begun to +kindle to the warmer colours of the dawn, before a porter +carrying a lantern, issued from the door and found himself face +to face with the unfortunate Teresa. He looked all about +him; in the grey twilight of the dawn, the haven was seen to lie +deserted, and the yacht had long since disappeared.</p> +<p>‘Who are you?’ he cried.</p> +<p>‘I am a traveller,’ said I.</p> +<p>‘And where do you come from?’ he asked.</p> +<p>‘I am going by the first train to London,’ I +replied.</p> +<p>In such manner, like a ghost or a new creation, was Teresa +with her bag of jewels landed on the shores of England; in this +silent fashion, without history or name, she took her place among +the millions of a new country.</p> +<p>Since then, I have lived by the expedients of my lawyer, lying +concealed in quiet lodgings, dogged by the spies of Cuba, and not +knowing at what hour my liberty and honour may be lost.</p> +<h2><!-- page 269--><a name="page269"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 269</span><i>THE BROWN BOX</i><br /> +(<i>Concluded</i>)</h2> +<p>The effect of this tale on the mind of Harry Desborough was +instant and convincing. The Fair Cuban had been already the +loveliest, she now became, in his eyes, the most romantic, the +most innocent, and the most unhappy of her sex. He was +bereft of words to utter what he felt: what pity, what +admiration, what youthful envy of a career so vivid and +adventurous. ‘O madam!’ he began; and finding +no language adequate to that apostrophe, caught up her hand and +wrung it in his own. ‘Count upon me,’ he added, +with bewildered fervour; and getting somehow or other out of the +apartment and from the circle of that radiant sorceress, he found +himself in the strange out-of-doors, beholding dull houses, +wondering at dull passers-by, a fallen angel. She had +smiled upon him as he left, and with how significant, how +beautiful a smile! The memory lingered in his heart; and +when he found his way to a certain restaurant where music was +performed, flutes (as it were of Paradise) accompanied his +meal. The strings went to the melody of that parting smile; +they paraphrased and glossed it in the sense that he desired; and +for the first time in his plain and somewhat dreary life, he +perceived himself to have a taste for music.</p> +<p>The next day, and the next, his meditations moved to that +delectable air. Now he saw her, and was favoured; now saw +her not at all; now saw her and was put by. The fall of her +foot upon the stair entranced him; the books that he sought out +and read were books on Cuba, and spoke of her indirectly; nay, +and in the very landlady’s parlour, he found one that told +of precisely such a hurricane, and, down to the smallest detail, +confirmed (had confirmation been required) the truth of her +recital. Presently he began to fall into that prettiest +mood of a young love, in which the lover scorns himself for his +presumption. Who was he, the dull one, the commonplace +unemployed, the man without adventure, the impure, the +untruthful, to aspire to such a creature made of fire and air, +and hallowed and adorned by such incomparable passages of +life? What should he do, to be more worthy? by what +devotion, call down the notice of these eyes to so terrene a +being as himself?</p> +<p>He betook himself, thereupon, to the rural privacy of the +square, where, being a lad of a kind heart, he had made himself a +circle of acquaintances among its shy frequenters, the +half-domestic cats and the visitors that hung before the windows +of the Children’s Hospital. There he walked, +considering the depth of his demerit and the height of the adored +one’s super-excellence; now lighting upon earth to say a +pleasant word to the brother of some infant invalid; now, with a +great heave of breath, remembering the queen of women, and the +sunshine of his life.</p> +<p>What was he to do? Teresa, he had observed, was in the +habit of leaving the house towards afternoon: she might, +perchance, run danger from some Cuban emissary, when the presence +of a friend might turn the balance in her favour: how, then, if +he should follow her? To offer his company would seem like +an intrusion; to dog her openly were a manifest impertinence; he +saw himself reduced to a more stealthy part, which, though in +some ways distasteful to his mind, he did not doubt that he could +practise with the skill of a detective.</p> +<p>The next day he proceeded to put his plan in action. At +the corner of Tottenham Court Road, however, the Señorita +suddenly turned back, and met him face to face, with every mark +of pleasure and surprise.</p> +<p>‘Ah, Señor, I am sometimes fortunate!’ she +cried. ‘I was looking for a messenger;’ and +with the sweetest of smiles, she despatched him to the East End +of London, to an address which he was unable to find. This +was a bitter pill to the knight-errant; but when he returned at +night, worn out with fruitless wandering and dismayed by his +<i>fiasco</i>, the lady received him with a friendly gaiety, +protesting that all was for the best, since she had changed her +mind and long since repented of her message.</p> +<p>Next day he resumed his labours, glowing with pity and +courage, and determined to protect Teresa with his life. +But a painful shock awaited him. In the narrow and silent +Hanway Street, she turned suddenly about and addressed him with a +manner and a light in her eyes that were new to the young +man’s experience.</p> +<p>‘Do I understand that you follow me, +Señor?’ she cried. ‘Are these the +manners of the English gentleman?’</p> +<p>Harry confounded himself in the most abject apologies and +prayers to be forgiven, vowed to offend no more, and was at +length dismissed, crestfallen and heavy of heart. The check +was final; he gave up that road to service; and began once more +to hang about the square or on the terrace, filled with remorse +and love, admirable and idiotic, a fit object for the scorn and +envy of older men. In these idle hours, while he was +courting fortune for a sight of the beloved, it fell out +naturally that he should observe the manners and appearance of +such as came about the house. One person alone was the +occasional visitor of the young lady: a man of considerable +stature, and distinguished only by the doubtful ornament of a +chin-beard in the style of an American deacon. Something in +his appearance grated upon Harry; this distaste grew upon him in +the course of days; and when at length he mustered courage to +inquire of the Fair Cuban who this was, he was yet more dismayed +by her reply.</p> +<p>‘That gentleman,’ said she, a smile struggling to +her face, ‘that gentleman, I will not attempt to conceal +from you, desires my hand in marriage, and presses me with the +most respectful ardour. Alas, what am I to say? I, +the forlorn Teresa, how shall I refuse or accept such +protestations?’</p> +<p>Harry feared to say more; a horrid pang of jealousy transfixed +him; and he had scarce the strength of mind to take his leave +with decency. In the solitude of his own chamber, he gave +way to every manifestation of despair. He passionately +adored the Señorita; but it was not only the thought of +her possible union with another that distressed his soul, it was +the indefeasible conviction that her suitor was unworthy. +To a duke, a bishop, a victorious general, or any man adorned +with obvious qualities, he had resigned her with a sort of bitter +joy; he saw himself follow the wedding party from a great way +off; he saw himself return to the poor house, then robbed of its +jewel; and while he could have wept for his despair, he felt he +could support it nobly. But this affair looked +otherwise. The man was patently no gentleman; he had a +startled, skulking, guilty bearing; his nails were black, his +eyes evasive; his love perhaps was a pretext; he was perhaps, +under this deep disguise, a Cuban emissary!</p> +<p>Harry swore that he would satisfy these doubts; and the next +evening, about the hour of the usual visit, he posted himself at +a spot whence his eye commanded the three issues of the +square.</p> +<p>Presently after, a four-wheeler rumbled to the door, and the +man with the chin-beard alighted, paid off the cabman, and was +seen by Harry to enter the house with a brown box hoisted on his +back. Half an hour later, he came forth again without the +box, and struck eastward at a rapid walk; and Desborough, with +the same skill and caution that he had displayed in following +Teresa, proceeded to dog the steps of her admirer. The man +began to loiter, studying with apparent interest the wares of the +small fruiterer or tobacconist; twice he returned hurriedly upon +his former course; and then, as though he had suddenly conquered +a moment’s hesitation, once more set forth with resolute +and swift steps in the direction of Lincoln’s Inn. At +length, in a deserted by-street, he turned; and coming up to +Harry with a countenance which seemed to have become older and +whiter, inquired with some severity of speech if he had not had +the pleasure of seeing the gentleman before.</p> +<p>‘You have, sir,’ said Harry, somewhat abashed, but +with a good show of stoutness; ‘and I will not deny that I +was following you on purpose. Doubtless,’ he added, +for he supposed that all men’s minds must still be running +on Teresa, ‘you can divine my reason.’</p> +<p>At these words, the man with the chin-beard was seized with a +palsied tremor. He seemed, for some seconds, to seek the +utterance which his fear denied him; and then whipping sharply +about, he took to his heels at the most furious speed of +running.</p> +<p>Harry was at first so taken aback that he neglected to pursue; +and by the time he had recovered his wits, his best expedition +was only rewarded by a glimpse of the man with the chin-beard +mounting into a hansom, which immediately after disappeared into +the moving crowds of Holborn.</p> +<p>Puzzled and dismayed by this unusual behaviour, Harry returned +to the house in Queen Square, and ventured for the first time to +knock at the fair Cuban’s door. She bade him enter, +and he found her kneeling with rather a disconsolate air beside a +brown wooden trunk.</p> +<p>‘Señorita,’ he broke out, ‘I doubt +whether that man’s character is what he wishes you to +believe. His manner, when he found, and indeed when I +admitted that I was following him, was not the manner of an +honest man.’</p> +<p>‘Oh!’ she cried, throwing up her hands as in +desperation, ‘Don Quixote, Don Quixote, have you again been +tilting against windmills?’ And then, with a laugh, +‘Poor soul!’ she added, ‘how you must have +terrified him! For know that the Cuban authorities are +here, and your poor Teresa may soon be hunted down. Even +yon humble clerk from my solicitor’s office may find +himself at any moment the quarry of armed spies.’</p> +<p>‘A humble clerk!’ cried Harry, ‘why, you +told me yourself that he wished to marry you!’</p> +<p>‘I thought you English like what you call a joke,’ +replied the lady calmly. ‘As a matter of fact, he is +my lawyer’s clerk, and has been here to-night charged with +disastrous news. I am in sore straits, Señor +Harry. Will you help me?’</p> +<p>At this most welcome word, the young man’s heart +exulted; and in the hope, pride, and self-esteem that kindled +with the very thought of service, he forgot to dwell upon the +lady’s jest. ‘Can you ask?’ he +cried. ‘What is there that I can do? Only tell +me that.’</p> +<p>With signs of an emotion that was certainly unfeigned, the +fair Cuban laid her hand upon the box. ‘This +box,’ she said, ‘contains my jewels, papers, and +clothes; all, in a word, that still connects me with Cuba and my +dreadful past. They must now be smuggled out of England; +or, by the opinion of my lawyer, I am lost beyond remedy. +To-morrow, on board the Irish packet, a sure hand awaits the box: +the problem still unsolved, is to find some one to carry it as +far as Holyhead, to see it placed on board the steamer, and +instantly return to town. Will you be he? Will you +leave to-morrow by the first train, punctually obey orders, bear +still in mind that you are surrounded by Cuban spies; and without +so much as a look behind you, or a single movement to betray your +interest, leave the box where you have put it and come straight +on shore? Will you do this, and so save your friend?’</p> +<p>‘I do not clearly understand . . .’ began +Harry.</p> +<p>‘No more do I,’ replied the Cuban. ‘It +is not necessary that we should, so long as we obey the +lawyer’s orders.’</p> +<p>‘Señorita,’ returned Harry gravely, +‘I think this, of course, a very little thing to do for +you, when I would willingly do all. But suffer me to say +one word. If London is unsafe for your treasures, it cannot +long be safe for you; and indeed, if I at all fathom the plan of +your solicitor, I fear I may find you already fled on my +return. I am not considered clever, and can only speak out +plainly what is in my heart: that I love you, and that I cannot +bear to lose all knowledge of you. I hope no more than to +be your servant; I ask no more than just that I shall hear of +you. Oh, promise me so much!’</p> +<p>‘You shall,’ she said, after a pause. +‘I promise you, you shall.’ But though she +spoke with earnestness, the marks of great embarrassment and a +strong conflict of emotions appeared upon her face.</p> +<p>‘I wish to tell you,’ resumed Desborough, +‘in case of accidents. . . .’</p> +<p>‘Accidents!’ she cried: ‘why do you say +that?’</p> +<p>‘I do not know,’ said he, ‘you may be gone +before my return, and we may not meet again for long. And +so I wished you to know this: That since the day you gave me the +cigarette, you have never once, not once, been absent from my +mind; and if it will in any way serve you, you may crumple me up +like that piece of paper, and throw me on the fire. I would +love to die for you.’</p> +<p>‘Go!’ she said. ‘Go now at once. +My brain is in a whirl. I scarce know what we are +talking. Go; and good-night; and oh, may you come +safe!’</p> +<p>Once back in his own room a fearful joy possessed the young +man’s mind; and as he recalled her face struck suddenly +white and the broken utterance of her last words, his heart at +once exulted and misgave him. Love had indeed looked upon +him with a tragic mask; and yet what mattered, since at least it +was love—since at least she was commoved at their +division? He got to bed with these parti-coloured thoughts; +passed from one dream to another all night long, the white face +of Teresa still haunting him, wrung with unspoken thoughts; and +in the grey of the dawn, leaped suddenly out of bed, in a kind of +horror. It was already time for him to rise. He +dressed, made his breakfast on cold food that had been laid for +him the night before; and went down to the room of his idol for +the box. The door was open; a strange disorder reigned +within; the furniture all pushed aside, and the centre of the +room left bare of impediment, as though for the pacing of a +creature with a tortured mind. There lay the box, however, +and upon the lid a paper with these words: ‘Harry, I hope +to be back before you go. Teresa.’</p> +<p>He sat down to wait, laying his watch before him on the +table. She had called him Harry: that should be enough, he +thought, to fill the day with sunshine; and yet somehow the sight +of that disordered room still poisoned his enjoyment. The +door of the bed-chamber stood gaping open; and though he turned +aside his eyes as from a sacrilege, he could not but observe the +bed had not been slept in. He was still pondering what this +should mean, still trying to convince himself that all was well, +when the moving needle of his watch summoned him to set forth +without delay. He was before all things a man of his word; +ran round to Southampton Row to fetch a cab; and taking the box +on the front seat, drove off towards the terminus.</p> +<p>The streets were scarcely awake; there was little to amuse the +eye; and the young man’s attention centred on the dumb +companion of his drive. A card was nailed upon one side, +bearing the superscription: ‘Miss Doolan, passenger to +Dublin. Glass. With care.’ He thought +with a sentimental shock that the fair idol of his heart was +perhaps driven to adopt the name of Doolan; and as he still +studied the card, he was aware of a deadly, black depression +settling steadily upon his spirits. It was in vain for him +to contend against the tide; in vain that he shook himself or +tried to whistle: the sense of some impending blow was not to be +averted. He looked out; in the long, empty streets, the cab +pursued its way without a trace of any follower. He gave +ear; and over and above the jolting of the wheels upon the road, +he was conscious of a certain regular and quiet sound that seemed +to issue from the box. He put his ear to the cover; at one +moment, he seemed to perceive a delicate ticking: the next, the +sound was gone, nor could his closest hearkening recapture +it. He laughed at himself; but still the gloom continued; +and it was with more than the common relief of an arrival, that +he leaped from the cab before the station.</p> +<p>Probably enough on purpose, Teresa had named an hour some +thirty minutes earlier than needful; and when Harry had given the +box into the charge of a porter, who sat it on a truck, he +proceeded briskly to pace the platform. Presently the +bookstall opened; and the young man was looking at the books when +he was seized by the arm. He turned, and, though she was +closely veiled, at once recognised the Fair Cuban.</p> +<p>‘Where is it?’ she asked; and the sound of her +voice surprised him.</p> +<p>‘It?’ he said. ‘What?’</p> +<p>‘The box. Have it put on a cab instantly. I +am in fearful haste.’</p> +<p>He hurried to obey, marvelling at these changes, but not +daring to trouble her with questions; and when the cab had been +brought round, and the box mounted on the front, she passed a +little way off upon the pavement and beckoned him to follow.</p> +<p>‘Now,’ said she, still in those mechanical and +hushed tones that had at first affected him, ‘you must go +on to Holyhead alone; go on board the steamer; and if you see a +man in tartan trousers and a pink scarf, say to him that all has +been put off: if not,’ she added, with a sobbing sigh, +‘it does not matter. So, good-bye.’</p> +<p>‘Teresa,’ said Harry, ‘get into your cab, +and I will go along with you. You are in some distress, +perhaps some danger; and till I know the whole, not even you can +make me leave you.’</p> +<p>‘You will not?’ she asked. ‘O Harry, +it were better!’</p> +<p>‘I will not,’ said Harry stoutly.</p> +<p>She looked at him for a moment through her veil; took his hand +suddenly and sharply, but more as if in fear than tenderness; and +still holding him, walked to the cab-door.</p> +<p>‘Where are we to drive?’ asked Harry.</p> +<p>‘Home, quickly,’ she answered; ‘double +fare!’ And as soon as they had both mounted to their +places, the vehicle crazily trundled from the station.</p> +<p>Teresa leaned back in a corner. The whole way Harry +could perceive her tears to flow under her veil; but she +vouchsafed no explanation. At the door of the house in +Queen Square, both alighted; and the cabman lowered the box, +which Harry, glad to display his strength, received upon his +shoulders.</p> +<p>‘Let the man take it,’ she whispered. +‘Let the man take it.’</p> +<p>‘I will do no such thing,’ said Harry cheerfully; +and having paid the fare, he followed Teresa through the door +which she had opened with her key. The landlady and maid +were gone upon their morning errands; the house was empty and +still; and as the rattling of the cab died away down Gloucester +Street, and Harry continued to ascend the stair with his burthen, +he heard close against his shoulders the same faint and muffled +ticking as before. The lady, still preceding him, opened +the door of her room, and helped him to lower the box tenderly in +the corner by the window.</p> +<p>‘And now,’ said Harry, ‘what is +wrong?’</p> +<p>‘You will not go away?’ she cried, with a sudden +break in her voice and beating her hands together in the very +agony of impatience. ‘O Harry, Harry, go away! +Oh, go, and leave me to the fate that I deserve!’</p> +<p>‘The fate?’ repeated Harry. ‘What is +this?’</p> +<p>‘No fate,’ she resumed. ‘I do not know +what I am saying. But I wish to be alone. You may +come back this evening, Harry; come again when you like; but +leave me now, only leave me now!’ And then suddenly, +‘I have an errand,’ she exclaimed; ‘you cannot +refuse me that!’</p> +<p>‘No,’ replied Harry, ‘you have no +errand. You are in grief or danger. Lift your veil +and tell me what it is.’</p> +<p>‘Then,’ she said, with a sudden composure, +‘you leave but one course open to me.’ And +raising the veil, she showed him a countenance from which every +trace of colour had fled, eyes marred with weeping, and a brow on +which resolve had conquered fear. ‘Harry,’ she +began, ‘I am not what I seem.’</p> +<p>‘You have told me that before,’ said Harry, +‘several times.’</p> +<p>‘O Harry, Harry,’ she cried, ‘how you shame +me! But this is the God’s truth. I am a +dangerous and wicked girl. My name is Clara Luxmore. +I was never nearer Cuba than Penzance. From first to last I +have cheated and played with you. And what I am I dare not +even name to you in words. Indeed, until to-day, until the +sleepless watches of last night, I never grasped the depth and +foulness of my guilt.’</p> +<p>The young man looked upon her aghast. Then a generous +current poured along his veins. ‘That is all +one,’ he said. ‘If you be all you say, you have +the greater need of me.’</p> +<p>‘Is it possible,’ she exclaimed, ‘that I +have schemed in vain? And will nothing drive you from this +house of death?’</p> +<p>‘Of death?’ he echoed.</p> +<p>‘Death!’ she cried: ‘death! In that +box that you have dragged about London and carried on your +defenceless shoulders, sleep, at the trigger’s mercy, the +destroying energies of dynamite.’</p> +<p>‘My God!’ cried Harry.</p> +<p>‘Ah!’ she continued wildly, ‘will you flee +now? At any moment you may hear the click that sounds the +ruin of this building. I was sure M’Guire was wrong; +this morning, before day, I flew to Zero; he confirmed my fears; +I beheld you, my beloved Harry, fall a victim to my own +contrivances. I knew then I loved you—Harry, will you +go now? Will you not spare me this unwilling +crime?’</p> +<p>Harry remained speechless, his eyes fixed upon the box: at +last he turned to her.</p> +<p>‘Is it,’ he asked hoarsely, ‘an infernal +machine?’</p> +<p>Her lips formed the word ‘Yes,’ which her voice +refused to utter.</p> +<p>With fearful curiosity, he drew near and bent above the box; +in that still chamber, the ticking was distinctly audible; and at +the measured sound, the blood flowed back upon his heart.</p> +<p>‘For whom?’ he asked.</p> +<p>‘What matters it,’ she cried, seizing him by the +arm. ‘If you may still be saved, what matter +questions?’</p> +<p>‘God in heaven!’ cried Harry. ‘And the +Children’s Hospital! At whatever cost, this damned +contrivance must be stopped!’</p> +<p>‘It cannot,’ she gasped. ‘The power of +man cannot avert the blow. But you, Harry—you, my +beloved—you may still—’</p> +<p>And then from the box that lay so quietly in the corner, a +sudden catch was audible, like the catch of a clock before it +strikes the hour. For one second the two stared at each +other with lifted brows and stony eyes. Then Harry, +throwing one arm over his face, with the other clutched the girl +to his breast and staggered against the wall.</p> +<p>A dull and startling thud resounded through the room; their +eyes blinked against the coming horror; and still clinging +together like drowning people, they fell to the floor. Then +followed a prolonged and strident hissing as from the indignant +pit; an offensive stench seized them by the throat; the room was +filled with dense and choking fumes.</p> +<p>Presently these began a little to disperse: and when at length +they drew themselves, all limp and shaken, to a sitting posture, +the first object that greeted their vision was the box reposing +uninjured in its corner, but still leaking little wreaths of +vapour round the lid.</p> +<p>‘Oh, poor Zero!’ cried the girl, with a strange +sobbing laugh. ‘Alas, poor Zero! This will +break his heart!’</p> +<h2><!-- page 286--><a name="page286"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 286</span><i>THE SUPERFLUOUS MANSION</i><br /> +(<i>Concluded</i>)</h2> +<p>Somerset ran straight upstairs; the door of the drawing-room, +contrary to all custom, was unlocked; and bursting in, the young +man found Zero seated on a sofa in an attitude of singular +dejection. Close beside him stood an untasted grog, the +mark of strong preoccupation. The room besides was in +confusion: boxes had been tumbled to and fro; the floor was +strewn with keys and other implements; and in the midst of this +disorder lay a lady’s glove.</p> +<p>‘I have come,’ cried Somerset, ‘to make an +end of this. Either you will instantly abandon all your +schemes, or (cost what it may) I will denounce you to the +police.’</p> +<p>‘Ah!’ replied Zero, slowly shaking his head. +‘You are too late, dear fellow! I am already at the +end of all my hopes, and fallen to be a laughing-stock and +mockery. My reading,’ he added, with a gentle +despondency of manner, ‘has not been much among romances; +yet I recall from one a phrase that depicts my present state with +critical exactitude; and you behold me sitting here “like a +burst drum.”’</p> +<p>‘What has befallen you?’ cried Somerset.</p> +<p>‘My last batch,’ returned the plotter wearily, +‘like all the others, is a hollow mockery and a +fraud. In vain do I combine the elements; in vain adjust +the springs; and I have now arrived at such a pitch of +disconsideration that (except yourself, dear fellow) I do not +know a soul that I can face. My subordinates themselves +have turned upon me. What language have I heard to-day, +what illiberality of sentiment, what pungency of +expression! She came once; I could have pardoned that, for +she was moved; but she returned, returned to announce to me this +crushing blow; and, Somerset, she was very inhumane. Yes, +dear fellow, I have drunk a bitter cup; the speech of females is +remarkable for . . . well, well! Denounce me, if you will; +you but denounce the dead. I am extinct. It is +strange how, at this supreme crisis of my life, I should be +haunted by quotations from works of an inexact and even fanciful +description; but here,’ he added, ‘is another: +“Othello’s occupation’s gone.” Yes, +dear Somerset, it is gone; I am no more a dynamiter; and how, I +ask you, after having tasted of these joys, am I to condescend to +a less glorious life?’</p> +<p>‘I cannot describe how you relieve me,’ returned +Somerset, sitting down on one of several boxes that had been +drawn out into the middle of the floor. ‘I had +conceived a sort of maudlin toleration for your character; I have +a great distaste, besides, for anything in the nature of a duty; +and upon both grounds, your news delights me. But I seem to +perceive,’ he added, ‘a certain sound of ticking in +this box.’</p> +<p>‘Yes,’ replied Zero, with the same slow weariness +of manner, ‘I have set several of them going.’</p> +<p>‘My God!’ cried Somerset, bounding to his +feet.</p> +<p>‘Machines?’</p> +<p>‘Machines!’ returned the plotter bitterly. +‘Machines indeed! I blush to be their author. +Alas!’ he said, burying his face in his hands, ‘that +I should live to say it!’</p> +<p>‘Madman!’ cried Somerset, shaking him by the +arm. ‘What am I to understand? Have you, +indeed, set these diabolical contrivances in motion? and do we +stay here to be blown up?’</p> +<p>‘“Hoist with his own petard?”’ +returned the plotter musingly. ‘One more quotation: +strange! But indeed my brain is struck with numbness. +Yes, dear boy, I have, as you say, put my contrivance in +motion. The one on which you are sitting, I have timed for +half an hour. Yon other—’</p> +<p>‘Half an hour!—’ echoed Somerset, dancing +with trepidation. ‘Merciful Heavens, in half an +hour?’</p> +<p>‘Dear fellow, why so much excitement?’ inquired +Zero. ‘My dynamite is not more dangerous than toffy; +had I an only child, I would give it him to play with. You +see this brick?’ he continued, lifting a cake of the +infernal compound from the laboratory-table. ‘At a +touch it should explode, and that with such unconquerable energy +as should bestrew the square with ruins. Well now, +behold! I dash it on the floor.’</p> +<p>Somerset sprang forward, and with the strength of the very +ecstasy of terror, wrested the brick from his possession. +‘Heavens!’ he cried, wiping his brow; and then with +more care than ever mother handled her first-born withal, +gingerly transported the explosive to the far end of the +apartment: the plotter, his arms once more fallen to his side, +dispiritedly watching him.</p> +<p>‘It was entirely harmless,’ he sighed. +‘They describe it as burning like tobacco.’</p> +<p>‘In the name of fortune,’ cried Somerset, +‘what have I done to you, or what have you done to +yourself, that you should persist in this insane behaviour? +If not for your own sake, then for mine, let us depart from this +doomed house, where I profess I have not the heart to leave you; +and then, if you will take my advice, and if your determination +be sincere, you will instantly quit this city, where no further +occupation can detain you.’</p> +<p>‘Such, dear fellow, was my own design,’ replied +the plotter. ‘I have, as you observe, no further +business here; and once I have packed a little bag, I shall ask +you to share a frugal meal, to go with me as far as to the +station, and see the last of a broken-hearted man. And +yet,’ he added, looking on the boxes with a lingering +regret, ‘I should have liked to make quite certain. I +cannot but suspect my underlings of some mismanagement; it may be +fond, but yet I cherish that idea: it may be the weakness of a +man of science, but yet,’ he cried, rising into some +energy, ‘I will never, I cannot if I try, believe that my +poor dynamite has had fair usage!’</p> +<p>‘Five minutes!’ said Somerset, glancing with +horror at the timepiece. ‘If you do not instantly +buckle to your bag, I leave you.’</p> +<p>‘A few necessaries,’ returned Zero, ‘only a +few necessaries, dear Somerset, and you behold me +ready.’</p> +<p>He passed into the bedroom, and after an interval which seemed +to draw out into eternity for his unfortunate companion, he +returned, bearing in his hand an open Gladstone bag. His +movements were still horribly deliberate, and his eyes lingered +gloatingly on his dear boxes, as he moved to and fro about the +drawing-room, gathering a few small trifles. Last of all, +he lifted one of the squares of dynamite.</p> +<p>‘Put that down!’ cried Somerset. ‘If +what you say be true, you have no call to load yourself with that +ungodly contraband.’</p> +<p>‘Merely a curiosity, dear boy,’ he said +persuasively, and slipped the brick into his bag; ‘merely a +memento of the past—ah, happy past, bright past! You +will not take a touch of spirits? no? I find you very +abstemious. Well,’ he added, ‘if you have +really no curiosity to await the event—’</p> +<p>‘I!’ cried Somerset. ‘My blood boils +to get away.’</p> +<p>‘Well, then,’ said Zero, ‘I am ready; I +would I could say, willing; but thus to leave the scene of my +sublime endeavours—’</p> +<p>Without further parley, Somerset seized him by the arm, and +dragged him downstairs; the hall-door shut with a clang on the +deserted mansion; and still towing his laggardly companion, the +young man sped across the square in the Oxford Street +direction. They had not yet passed the corner of the +garden, when they were arrested by a dull thud of an +extraordinary amplitude of sound, accompanied and followed by a +shattering <i>fracas</i>. Somerset turned in time to see +the mansion rend in twain, vomit forth flames and smoke, and +instantly collapse into its cellars. At the same moment, he +was thrown violently to the ground. His first glance was +towards Zero. The plotter had but reeled against the garden +rail; he stood there, the Gladstone bag clasped tight upon his +heart, his whole face radiant with relief and gratitude; and the +young man heard him murmur to himself: ‘<i>Nunc +dimittis</i>, <i>nunc dimittis</i>!’</p> +<p>The consternation of the populace was indescribable; the whole +of Golden Square was alive with men, women, and children, running +wildly to and fro, and like rabbits in a warren, dashing in and +out of the house doors. And under favour of this confusion, +Somerset dragged away the lingering plotter.</p> +<p>‘It was grand,’ he continued to murmur: ‘it +was indescribably grand. Ah, green Erin, green Erin, what a +day of glory! and oh, my calumniated dynamite, how triumphantly +hast thou prevailed!’</p> +<p>Suddenly a shade crossed his face; and pausing in the middle +of the footway, he consulted the dial of his watch.</p> +<p>‘Good God!’ he cried, ‘how mortifying! seven +minutes too early! The dynamite surpassed my hopes; but the +clockwork, fickle clockwork, has once more betrayed me. +Alas, can there be no success unmixed with failure? and must even +this red-letter day be chequered by a shadow?’</p> +<p>‘Incomparable ass!’ said Somerset, ‘what +have you done? Blown up the house of an unoffending old +lady, and the whole earthly property of the only person who is +fool enough to befriend you!’</p> +<p>‘You do not understand these matters,’ replied +Zero, with an air of great dignity. ‘This will shake +England to the heart. Gladstone, the truculent old man, +will quail before the pointing finger of revenge. And now +that my dynamite is proved effective—’</p> +<p>‘Heavens, you remind me!’ ejaculated +Somerset. ‘That brick in your bag must be instantly +disposed of. But how? If we could throw it in the +river—’</p> +<p>‘A torpedo,’ cried Zero, brightening, ‘a +torpedo in the Thames! Superb, dear fellow! I +recognise in you the marks of an accomplished anarch.’</p> +<p>‘True!’ returned Somerset. ‘It cannot +so be done; and there is no help but you must carry it away with +you. Come on, then, and let me at once consign you to a +train.’</p> +<p>‘Nay, nay, dear boy,’ protested Zero. +‘There is now no call for me to leave. My character +is now reinstated; my fame brightens; this is the best thing I +have done yet; and I see from here the ovations that await the +author of the Golden Square Atrocity.’</p> +<p>‘My young friend,’ returned the other, ‘I +give you your choice. I will either see you safe on board a +train or safe in gaol.’</p> +<p>‘Somerset, this is unlike you!’ said the +chymist. ‘You surprise me, Somerset.’</p> +<p>‘I shall considerably more surprise you at the next +police office,’ returned Somerset, with something bordering +on rage. ‘For on one point my mind is settled: either +I see you packed off to America, brick and all, or else you dine +in prison.’</p> +<p>‘You have perhaps neglected one point,’ returned +the unoffended Zero: ‘for, speaking as a philosopher, I +fail to see what means you can employ to force me. The +will, my dear fellow—’</p> +<p>‘Now, see here,’ interrupted Somerset. +‘You are ignorant of anything but science, which I can +never regard as being truly knowledge; I, sir, have studied life; +and allow me to inform you that I have but to raise my hand and +voice—here in this street—and the +mob—’</p> +<p>‘Good God in heaven, Somerset,’ cried Zero, +turning deadly white and stopping in his walk, ‘great God +in heaven, what words are these? Oh, not in jest, not even +in jest, should they be used! The brutal mob, the savage +passions . . . Somerset, for God’s sake, a +public-house!’</p> +<p>Somerset considered him with freshly awakened curiosity. +‘This is very interesting,’ said he. ‘You +recoil from such a death?’</p> +<p>‘Who would not?’ asked the plotter.</p> +<p>‘And to be blown up by dynamite,’ inquired the +young man, ‘doubtless strikes you as a form of +euthanasia?’</p> +<p>‘Pardon me,’ returned Zero: ‘I own, and +since I have braved it daily in my professional career, I own it +even with pride: it is a death unusually distasteful to the mind +of man.’</p> +<p>‘One more question,’ said Somerset: ‘you +object to Lynch Law? why?’</p> +<p>‘It is assassination,’ said the plotter calmly, +but with eyebrows a little lifted, as in wonder at the +question.</p> +<p>‘Shake hands with me,’ cried Somerset. +‘Thank God, I have now no ill-feeling left; and though you +cannot conceive how I burn to see you on the gallows, I can quite +contentedly assist at your departure.’</p> +<p>‘I do not very clearly take your meaning,’ said +Zero, ‘but I am sure you mean kindly. As to my +departure, there is another point to be considered. I have +neglected to supply myself with funds; my little all has perished +in what history will love to relate under the name of the Golden +Square Atrocity; and without what is coarsely if vigorously +called stamps, you must be well aware it is impossible for me to +pass the ocean.’</p> +<p>‘For me,’ said Somerset, ‘you have now +ceased to be a man. You have no more claim upon me than a +door scraper; but the touching confusion of your mind disarms me +from extremities. Until to-day, I always thought stupidity +was funny; I now know otherwise; and when I look upon your idiot +face, laughter rises within me like a deadly sickness, and the +tears spring up into my eyes as bitter as blood. What +should this portend? I begin to doubt; I am losing faith in +scepticism. Is it possible,’ he cried, in a kind of +horror of himself—‘is it conceivable that I believe +in right and wrong? Already I have found myself, with +incredulous surprise, to be the victim of a prejudice of personal +honour. And must this change proceed? Have you robbed +me of my youth? Must I fall, at my time of life, into the +Common Banker? But why should I address that head of +wood? Let this suffice. I dare not let you stay among +women and children; I lack the courage to denounce you, if by any +means I may avoid it; you have no money: well then, take mine, +and go; and if ever I behold your face after to-day, that day +will be your last.’</p> +<p>‘Under the circumstances,’ replied Zero, ‘I +scarce see my way to refuse your offer. Your expressions +may pain, they cannot surprise me; I am aware our point of view +requires a little training, a little moral hygiene, if I may so +express it; and one of the points that has always charmed me in +your character is this delightful frankness. As for the +small advance, it shall be remitted you from +Philadelphia.’</p> +<p>‘It shall not,’ said Somerset.</p> +<p>‘Dear fellow, you do not understand,’ returned the +plotter. ‘I shall now be received with fresh +confidence by my superiors; and my experiments will be no longer +hampered by pitiful conditions of the purse.’</p> +<p>‘What I am now about, sir, is a crime,’ replied +Somerset; ‘and were you to roll in wealth like Vanderbilt, +I should scorn to be reimbursed of money I had so scandalously +misapplied. Take it, and keep it. By George, sir, +three days of you have transformed me to an ancient +Roman.’</p> +<p>With these words, Somerset hailed a passing hansom; and the +pair were driven rapidly to the railway terminus. There, an +oath having been exacted, the money changed hands.</p> +<p>‘And now,’ said Somerset, ‘I have bought +back my honour with every penny I possess. And I thank God, +though there is nothing before me but starvation, I am free from +all entanglement with Mr. Zero Pumpernickel Jones.’</p> +<p>‘To starve?’ cried Zero. ‘Dear fellow, +I cannot endure the thought.’</p> +<p>‘Take your ticket!’ returned Somerset.</p> +<p>‘I think you display temper,’ said Zero.</p> +<p>‘Take your ticket,’ reiterated the young man.</p> +<p>‘Well,’ said the plotter, as he returned, ticket +in hand, ‘your attitude is so strange and painful, that I +scarce know if I should ask you to shake hands.’</p> +<p>‘As a man, no,’ replied Somerset; ‘but I +have no objection to shake hands with you, as I might with a +pump-well that ran poison or bell-fire.’</p> +<p>‘This is a very cold parting,’ sighed the +dynamiter; and still followed by Somerset, he began to descend +the platform. This was now bustling with passengers; the +train for Liverpool was just about to start, another had but +recently arrived; and the double tide made movement +difficult. As the pair reached the neighbourhood of the +bookstall, however, they came into an open space; and here the +attention of the plotter was attracted by a <i>Standard</i> +broadside bearing the words: ‘Second Edition: Explosion in +Golden Square.’ His eye lighted; groping in his +pocket for the necessary coin, he sprang forward—his bag +knocked sharply on the corner of the stall—and instantly, +with a formidable report, the dynamite exploded. When the +smoke cleared away the stall was seen much shattered, and the +stall keeper running forth in terror from the ruins; but of the +Irish patriot or the Gladstone bag no adequate remains were to be +found.</p> +<p>In the first scramble of the alarm, Somerset made good his +escape, and came out upon the Euston Road, his head spinning, his +body sick with hunger, and his pockets destitute of coin. +Yet as he continued to walk the pavements, he wondered to find in +his heart a sort of peaceful exultation, a great content, a +sense, as it were, of divine presence and the kindliness of fate; +and he was able to tell himself that even if the worst befell, he +could now starve with a certain comfort since Zero was +expunged.</p> +<p>Late in the afternoon, he found himself at the door of Mr. +Godall’s shop; and being quite unmanned by his long fast, +and scarce considering what he did, he opened the glass door and +entered.</p> +<p>‘Ha!’ said Mr. Godall, ‘Mr. Somerset! +Well, have you met with an adventure? Have you the promised +story? Sit down, if you please; suffer me to choose you a +cigar of my own special brand; and reward me with a narrative in +your best style.’</p> +<p>‘I must not take a cigar,’ said Somerset.</p> +<p>‘Indeed!’ said Mr. Godall. ‘But now I +come to look at you more closely, I perceive that you are +changed. My poor boy, I hope there is nothing +wrong?’</p> +<p>Somerset burst into tears.</p> +<h2><!-- page 299--><a name="page299"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 299</span><i>EPILOGUE OF THE CIGAR +DIVAN</i></h2> +<p>On a certain day of lashing rain in the December of last year, +and between the hours of nine and ten in the morning, Mr. Edward +Challoner pioneered himself under an umbrella to the door of the +Cigar Divan in Rupert Street. It was a place he had visited +but once before: the memory of what had followed on that visit +and the fear of Somerset having prevented his return. Even +now, he looked in before he entered; but the shop was free of +customers.</p> +<p>The young man behind the counter was so intently writing in a +penny version-book, that he paid no heed to Challoner’s +arrival. On a second glance, it seemed to the latter that +he recognised him.</p> +<p>‘By Jove,’ he thought, ‘unquestionably +Somerset!’</p> +<p>And though this was the very man he had been so sedulously +careful to avoid, his unexplained position at the receipt of +custom changed distaste to curiosity.</p> +<p>‘“Or opulent rotunda strike the sky,”’ +said the shopman to himself, in the tone of one considering a +verse. ‘I suppose it would be too much to say +“orotunda,” and yet how noble it were! +“Or opulent orotunda strike the sky.” But that +is the bitterness of arts; you see a good effect, and some +nonsense about sense continually intervenes.’</p> +<p>‘Somerset, my dear fellow,’ said Challoner, +‘is this a masquerade?’</p> +<p>‘What? Challoner!’ cried the shopman. +‘I am delighted to see you. One moment, till I finish +the octave of my sonnet: only the octave.’ And with a +friendly waggle of the hand, he once more buried himself in the +commerce of the Muses. ‘I say,’ he said +presently, looking up, ‘you seem in wonderful preservation: +how about the hundred pounds?’</p> +<p>‘I have made a small inheritance from a great aunt in +Wales,’ replied Challoner modestly.</p> +<p>‘Ah,’ said Somerset, ‘I very much doubt the +legitimacy of inheritance. The State, in my view, should +collar it. I am now going through a stage of socialism and +poetry,’ he added apologetically, as one who spoke of a +course of medicinal waters.</p> +<p>‘And are you really the person of +the—establishment?’ inquired Challoner, deftly +evading the word ‘shop.’</p> +<p>‘A vendor, sir, a vendor,’ returned the other, +pocketing his poesy. ‘I help old Happy and +Glorious. Can I offer you a weed?’</p> +<p>‘Well, I scarcely like . . . ’ began +Challoner.</p> +<p>‘Nonsense, my dear fellow,’ cried the +shopman. ‘We are very proud of the business; and the +old man, let me inform you, besides being the most egregious of +created beings from the point of view of ethics, is literally +sprung from the loins of kings. “<i>De Godall je suis +le fervent</i>.” There is only one Godall.—By +the way,’ he added, as Challoner lit his cigar, ‘how +did you get on with the detective trade?’</p> +<p>‘I did not try,’ said Challoner curtly.</p> +<p>‘Ah, well, I did,’ returned Somerset, ‘and +made the most incomparable mess of it: lost all my money and +fairly covered myself with odium and ridicule. There is +more in that business, Challoner, than meets the eye; there is +more, in fact, in all businesses. You must believe in them, +or get up the belief that you believe. Hence,’ he +added, ‘the recognised inferiority of the plumber, for no +one could believe in plumbing.’</p> +<p>‘<i>A propos</i>,’ asked Challoner, ‘do you +still paint?’</p> +<p>‘Not now,’ replied Paul; ‘but I think of +taking up the violin.’</p> +<p>Challoner’s eye, which had been somewhat restless since +the trade of the detective had been named, now rested for a +moment on the columns of the morning paper, where it lay spread +upon the counter.</p> +<p>‘By Jove,’ he cried, ‘that’s +odd!’</p> +<p>‘What is odd?’ asked Paul.</p> +<p>‘Oh, nothing,’ returned the other: ‘only I +once met a person called M’Guire.’</p> +<p>‘So did I!’ cried Somerset. ‘Is there +anything about him?’</p> +<p>Challoner read as follows: ‘<i>Mysterious death in +Stepney</i>. An inquest was held yesterday on the body of +Patrick M’Guire, described as a carpenter. Doctor +Dovering stated that he had for some time treated the deceased as +a dispensary patient, for sleeplessness, loss of appetite, and +nervous depression. There was no cause of death to be +found. He would say the deceased had sunk. Deceased +was not a temperate man, which doubtless accelerated death. +Deceased complained of dumb ague, but witness had never been able +to detect any positive disease. He did not know that he had +any family. He regarded him as a person of unsound +intellect, who believed himself a member and the victim of some +secret society. If he were to hazard an opinion, he would +say deceased had died of fear.’</p> +<p>‘And the doctor would be right,’ cried Somerset; +‘and my dear Challoner, I am so relieved to hear of his +demise, that I will—Well, after all,’ he added, +‘poor devil, he was well served.’</p> +<p>The door at this moment opened, and Desborough appeared upon +the threshold. He was wrapped in a long waterproof, +imperfectly supplied with buttons; his boots were full of water, +his hat greasy with service; and yet he wore the air of one +exceeding well content with life. He was hailed by the two +others with exclamations of surprise and welcome.</p> +<p>‘And did you try the detective business?’ inquired +Paul.</p> +<p>‘No,’ returned Harry. ‘Oh yes, by the +way, I did though: twice, and got caught out both times. +But I thought I should find my—my wife here?’ he +added, with a kind of proud confusion.</p> +<p>‘What? are you married?’ cried Somerset.</p> +<p>‘Oh yes,’ said Harry, ‘quite a long time: a +month at least.’</p> +<p>‘Money?’ asked Challoner.</p> +<p>‘That’s the worst of it,’ Desborough +admitted. ‘We are deadly hard up. But the +Pri--- Mr. Godall is going to do something for us. That is +what brings us here.’</p> +<p>‘Who was Mrs. Desborough?’ said Challoner, in the +tone of a man of society.</p> +<p>‘She was a Miss Luxmore,’ returned Harry. +‘You fellows will be sure to like her, for she is much +cleverer than I. She tells wonderful stories, too; better +than a book.’</p> +<p>And just then the door opened, and Mrs. Desborough +entered. Somerset cried out aloud to recognise the young +lady of the Superfluous Mansion, and Challoner fell back a step +and dropped his cigar as he beheld the sorceress of Chelsea.</p> +<p>‘What!’ cried Harry, ‘do you both know my +wife?’</p> +<p>‘I believe I have seen her,’ said Somerset, a +little wildly.</p> +<p>‘I think I have met the gentleman,’ said Mrs. +Desborough sweetly; ‘but I cannot imagine where it +was.’</p> +<p>‘Oh no,’ cried Somerset fervently: ‘I have +no notion—I cannot conceive—where it could have +been. Indeed,’ he continued, growing in emphasis, +‘I think it highly probable that it’s a +mistake.’</p> +<p>‘And you, Challoner?’ asked Harry, ‘you +seemed to recognise her too.’</p> +<p>‘These are both friends of yours, Harry?’ said the +lady. ‘Delighted, I am sure. I do not remember +to have met Mr. Challoner.’</p> +<p>Challoner was very red in the face, perhaps from having groped +after his cigar. ‘I do not remember to have had the +pleasure,’ he responded huskily.</p> +<p>‘Well, and Mr. Godall?’ asked Mrs. Desborough.</p> +<p>‘Are you the lady that has an appointment with +old—’ began Somerset, and paused blushing. +‘Because if so,’ he resumed, ‘I was to announce +you at once.’</p> +<p>And the shopman raised a curtain, opened a door, and passed +into a small pavilion which had been added to the back of the +house. On the roof, the rain resounded musically. The +walls were lined with maps and prints and a few works of +reference. Upon a table was a large-scale map of Egypt and +the Soudan, and another of Tonkin, on which, by the aid of +coloured pins, the progress of the different wars was being +followed day by day. A light, refreshing odour of the most +delicate tobacco hung upon the air; and a fire, not of foul coal, +but of clear-flaming resinous billets, chattered upon silver +dogs. In this elegant and plain apartment, Mr. Godall sat +in a morning muse, placidly gazing at the fire and hearkening to +the rain upon the roof.</p> +<p>‘Ha, my dear Mr. Somerset,’ said he, ‘and +have you since last night adopted any fresh political +principle?’</p> +<p>‘The lady, sir,’ said Somerset, with another +blush.</p> +<p>‘You have seen her, I believe?’ returned Mr. +Godall; and on Somerset’s replying in the affirmative, +‘You will excuse me, my dear sir,’ he resumed, +‘if I offer you a hint. I think it not improbable +this lady may desire entirely to forget the past. From one +gentleman to another, no more words are necessary.’</p> +<p>A moment after, he had received Mrs. Desborough with that +grave and touching urbanity that so well became him.</p> +<p>‘I am pleased, madam, to welcome you to my poor +house,’ he said; ‘and shall be still more so, if what +were else a barren courtesy and a pleasure personal to myself, +shall prove to be of serious benefit to you and Mr. +Desborough.’</p> +<p>‘Your Highness,’ replied Clara, ‘I must +begin with thanks; it is like what I have heard of you, that you +should thus take up the case of the unfortunate; and as for my +Harry, he is worthy of all that you can do.’ She +paused.</p> +<p>‘But for yourself?’ suggested Mr. +Godall—‘it was thus you were about to continue, I +believe.’</p> +<p>‘You take the words out of my mouth,’ she +said. ‘For myself, it is different.’</p> +<p>‘I am not here to be a judge of men,’ replied the +Prince; ‘still less of women. I am now a private +person like yourself and many million others; but I am one who +still fights upon the side of quiet. Now, madam, you know +better than I, and God better than you, what you have done to +mankind in the past; I pause not to inquire; it is with the +future I concern myself, it is for the future I demand +security. I would not willingly put arms into the hands of +a disloyal combatant; and I dare not restore to wealth one of the +levyers of a private and a barbarous war. I speak with some +severity, and yet I pick my terms. I tell myself +continually that you are a woman; and a voice continually reminds +me of the children whose lives and limbs you have +endangered. A woman,’ he repeated +solemnly—‘and children. Possibly, madam, when +you are yourself a mother, you will feel the bite of that +antithesis: possibly when you kneel at night beside a cradle, a +fear will fall upon you, heavier than any shame; and when your +child lies in the pain and danger of disease, you shall hesitate +to kneel before your Maker.’</p> +<p>‘You look at the fault,’ she said, ‘and not +at the excuse. Has your own heart never leaped within you +at some story of oppression? But, alas, no! for you were +born upon a throne.’</p> +<p>‘I was born of woman,’ said the Prince; ‘I +came forth from my mother’s agony, helpless as a wren, like +other nurselings. This, which you forgot, I have still +faithfully remembered. Is it not one of your English poets, +that looked abroad upon the earth and saw vast circumvallations, +innumerable troops manoeuvring, warships at sea and a great dust +of battles on shore; and casting anxiously about for what should +be the cause of so many and painful preparations, spied at last, +in the centre of all, a mother and her babe? These, madam, +are my politics; and the verses, which are by Mr. Coventry +Patmore, I have caused to be translated into the Bohemian +tongue. Yes, these are my politics: to change what we can, +to better what we can; but still to bear in mind that man is but +a devil weakly fettered by some generous beliefs and impositions, +and for no word however nobly sounding, and no cause however just +and pious, to relax the stricture of these bonds.’</p> +<p>There was a silence of a moment.</p> +<p>‘I fear, madam,’ resumed the Prince, ‘that I +but weary you. My views are formal like myself; and like +myself, they also begin to grow old. But I must still +trouble you for some reply.’</p> +<p>‘I can say but one thing,’ said Mrs. Desborough: +‘I love my husband.’</p> +<p>‘It is a good answer,’ returned the Prince; +‘and you name a good influence, but one that need not be +conterminous with life.’</p> +<p>‘I will not play at pride with such a man as you,’ +she answered. ‘What do you ask of me? not +protestations, I am sure. What shall I say? I have +done much that I cannot defend and that I would not do +again. Can I say more? Yes: I can say this: I never +abused myself with the muddle-headed fairy tales of +politics. I was at least prepared to meet reprisals. +While I was levying war myself—or levying murder, if you +choose the plainer term—I never accused my adversaries of +assassination. I never felt or feigned a righteous horror, +when a price was put upon my life by those whom I attacked. +I never called the policeman a hireling. I may have been a +criminal, in short; but I never was a fool.’</p> +<p>‘Enough, madam,’ returned the Prince: ‘more +than enough! Your words are most reviving to my spirits; +for in this age, when even the assassin is a sentimentalist, +there is no virtue greater in my eyes than intellectual +clarity. Suffer me, then, to ask you to retire; for by the +signal of that bell, I perceive my old friend, your mother, to be +close at hand. With her I promise you to do my +utmost.’</p> +<p>And as Mrs. Desborough returned to the Divan, the Prince, +opening a door upon the other side, admitted Mrs. Luxmore.</p> +<p>‘Madam and my very good friend,’ said he, +‘is my face so much changed that you no longer recognise +Prince Florizel in Mr. Godall?’</p> +<p>‘To be sure!’ she cried, looking at him through +her glasses. ‘I have always regarded your Highness as +a perfect man; and in your altered circumstances, of which I have +already heard with deep regret, I will beg you to consider my +respect increased instead of lessened.’</p> +<p>‘I have found it so,’ returned the Prince, +‘with every class of my acquaintance. But, madam, I +pray you to be seated. My business is of a delicate order, +and regards your daughter.’</p> +<p>‘In that case,’ said Mrs. Luxmore, ‘you may +save yourself the trouble of speaking, for I have fully made up +my mind to have nothing to do with her. I will not hear one +word in her defence; but as I value nothing so particularly as +the virtue of justice, I think it my duty to explain to you the +grounds of my complaint. She deserted me, her natural +protector; for years, she has consorted with the most +disreputable persons; and to fill the cup of her offence, she has +recently married. I refuse to see her, or the being to whom +she has linked herself. One hundred and twenty pounds a +year, I have always offered her: I offer it again. It is +what I had myself when I was her age.’</p> +<p>‘Very well, madam,’ said the Prince; ‘and be +that so! But to touch upon another matter: what was the +income of the Reverend Bernard Fanshawe?’</p> +<p>‘My father?’ asked the spirited old lady. +‘I believe he had seven hundred pounds in the +year.’</p> +<p>‘You were one, I think, of several?’ pursued the +Prince.</p> +<p>‘Of four,’ was the reply. ‘We were +four daughters; and painful as the admission is to make, a more +detestable family could scarce be found in England.’</p> +<p>‘Dear me!’ said the Prince. ‘And you, +madam, have an income of eight thousand?’</p> +<p>‘Not more than five,’ returned the old lady; +‘but where on earth are you conducting me?’</p> +<p>‘To an allowance of one thousand pounds a year,’ +replied Florizel, smiling. ‘For I must not suffer you +to take your father for a rule. He was poor, you are +rich. He had many calls upon his poverty: there are none +upon your wealth. And indeed, madam, if you will let me +touch this matter with a needle, there is but one point in common +to your two positions: that each had a daughter more remarkable +for liveliness than duty.’</p> +<p>‘I have been entrapped into this house,’ said the +old lady, getting to her feet. ‘But it shall not +avail. Not all the tobacconists in Europe . . .’</p> +<p>‘Ah, madam,’ interrupted Florizel, ‘before +what is referred to as my fall, you had not used such +language! And since you so much object to the simple +industry by which I live, let me give you a friendly hint. +If you will not consent to support your daughter, I shall be +constrained to place that lady behind my counter, where I doubt +not she would prove a great attraction; and your son-in-law shall +have a livery and run the errands. With such young blood my +business might be doubled, and I might be bound in common +gratitude to place the name of Luxmore beside that of +Godall.’</p> +<p>‘Your Highness,’ said the old lady, ‘I have +been very rude, and you are very cunning. I suppose the +minx is on the premises. Produce her.’</p> +<p>‘Let us rather observe them unperceived,’ said the +Prince; and so saying he rose and quietly drew back the +curtain.</p> +<p>Mrs. Desborough sat with her back to them on a chair; Somerset +and Harry were hanging on her words with extraordinary interest; +Challoner, alleging some affair, had long ago withdrawn from the +detested neighbourhood of the enchantress.</p> +<p>‘At that moment,’ Mrs. Desborough was saying, +‘Mr Gladstone detected the features of his cowardly +assailant. A cry rose to his lips: a cry of mingled triumph +. . .’</p> +<p>‘That is Mr. Somerset!’ interrupted the spirited +old lady, in the highest note of her register. ‘Mr. +Somerset, what have you done with my house-property?’</p> +<p>‘Madam,’ said the Prince, ‘let it be mine to +give the explanation; and in the meanwhile, welcome your +daughter.’</p> +<p>‘Well, Clara, how do you do?’ said Mrs. +Luxmore. ‘It appears I am to give you an +allowance. So much the better for you. As for Mr. +Somerset, I am very ready to have an explanation; for the whole +affair, though costly, was eminently humorous. And at any +rate,’ she added, nodding to Paul, ‘he is a young +gentleman for whom I have a great affection, and his pictures +were the funniest I ever saw.’</p> +<p>‘I have ordered a collation,’ said the +Prince. ‘Mr. Somerset, as these are all your friends, +I propose, if you please, that you should join them at +table. I will take the shop.’</p> +<h2>Footnotes</h2> +<p><a name="footnote9"></a><a href="#citation9" +class="footnote">[9]</a> Hereupon the Arabian author enters +on one of his digressions. Fearing, apparently, that the +somewhat eccentric views of Mr. Somerset should throw discredit +on a part of truth, he calls upon the English people to remember +with more gratitude the services of the police; to what +unobserved and solitary acts of heroism they are called; against +what odds of numbers and of arms, and for how small a reward, +either in fame or money: matter, it has appeared to the +translators, too serious for this place.</p> +<p><a name="footnote43"></a><a href="#citation43" +class="footnote">[43]</a> In this name the accent falls +upon the <i>e</i>; the <i>s</i> is sibilant.</p> +<p><a name="footnote176"></a><a href="#citation176" +class="footnote">[176]</a> The Arabian author of the +original has here a long passage conceived in a style too +oriental for the English reader. We subjoin a specimen, and +it seems doubtful whether it should be printed as prose or verse: +‘Any writard who writes dynamitard shall find in me a +never-resting fightard;’ and he goes on (if we correctly +gather his meaning) to object to such elegant and obviously +correct spellings as lamp-lightard, corn-dealard, apple-filchard +(clearly justified by the parallel—pilchard) and opera +dancard. ‘Dynamitist,’ he adds, ‘I could +understand.’</p> +<p><a name="footnote182"></a><a href="#citation182" +class="footnote">[182]</a> The Arabian author, with that +quaint particularity of touch which our translation usually +prætermits, here registers a somewhat interesting +detail. Zero pronounced the word ‘boom;’ and +the reader, if but for the nonce, will possibly consent to follow +him.</p> +<p>***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE DYNAMITER***</p> +<pre> + + +***** This file should be named 647-h.htm or 647-h.zip****** + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/6/4/647 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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. 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