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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/6917.txt b/6917.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..83e9ff4 --- /dev/null +++ b/6917.txt @@ -0,0 +1,5610 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Gerrard Street Mystery and Other Weird +Tales, by John Charles Dent + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most +other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions +whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of +the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at +www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have +to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. + +Title: The Gerrard Street Mystery and Other Weird Tales + +Author: John Charles Dent + +Posting Date: January 5, 2015 [EBook #6917] +Release Date: November, 2004 +First Posted: February 10, 2003 +Last Updated: March 9, 2003 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GERRARD STREET MYSTERY *** + + + + +Produced by David Moynihan, Charles Franks and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team. + + + + + + + + + + +THE +GERRARD STREET MYSTERY +AND OTHER +WEIRD TALES. + +BY + +JOHN CHARLES DENT. + + + + +PREFATORY SKETCH. + +John Charles Dent, the author of the following remarkable stories, was +born in Kendal, Westmorland, England, in 1841. His parents emigrated to +Canada shortly after that event, bringing with them, of course, the +youth who was afterwards to become the Canadian author and historian. +Mr. Dent received his primary education in Canadian schools, and +afterwards studied law, becoming in due course a member of the Upper +Canada Bar. He only practised for a few years. He found the profession +profitable enough but uncongenial--as it could not well help being, in +an obscure Canadian, village, twenty years ago--and very probably he +was already cherishing ambitious dreams of literary labors, which he +was eager to begin in the world's literary centre, London. He +accordingly relinquished his practice as soon as he felt himself in a +position to do so, and went to England. He had not miscalculated his +powers, as too many do under like circumstances. He soon found +remunerative literary work, and as he became better known, was engaged +to write for several high-class periodicals, notably, _Once a +Week_, for which he contributed a series of articles on interesting +topics. But in England Mr. Dent produced no very long or ambitious +work. Perhaps he found that the requisite time for such an undertaking +could not be spared. At this period he had a wife and family depending +on him for support, and it speaks well for his abilities, that he was +able to amply provide for them out of the profits solely derived from +his literary labours. But of course to do this he had to devote himself +to work that could be thrown off readily, and which could be as readily +sold. + +After remaining in England for several years, Mr. Dent and his family +returned to America. He obtained a position in Boston, which he held +for about two years. But he finally relinquished it and came to +Toronto, having accepted a position on the editorial staff of the +_Telegram_, which was then just starting. For several years Mr. +Dent devoted himself to journalistic labours on various newspapers, but +principally the _Toronto Weekly Globe_. To that journal he +contributed a very notable series of biographical sketches on "Eminent +Canadians." Shortly after the death of the Hon. George Brown, Mr. Dent +severed his connection with the _Globe_, and immediately +thereafter commenced his first ambitious undertaking, _The Canadian +Portrait Gallery_, which ran to four large volumes. It proved to be +a most creditable and successful achievement. Of course in a brief +sketch no detailed criticism of either this or the succeeding works can +be attempted. Suffice it to say that the biographies of Canadian public +men, living and dead, were carefully prepared, and written from an +un-partisan standpoint. In this book there was no padding; every +individual admitted had achieved something of national value, and the +biographies are, therefore, of importance to the student of Canadian +history. This book deserved and attained a considerable circulation, +and brought to its author a comparatively large sum of money. + +Mr. Dent's second book was "The Last Forty Years: Canada since the +Union of 1841." This work has been highly praised in all quarters, and +is in every way a credit to its author's really brilliant powers as a +literary artist. + +The third work was a "History of the Rebellion in Upper Canada." +Although written in his best manner, with the greatest possible care, +from authentic sources of information not hitherto accessible, this +work has had the misfortune to meet with undeservedly severe criticism. +When Mr. Dent began his studies for the book he held William-Lyon +Mackenzie in high esteem, but he found it necessary afterwards to +change his opinion. He was able to throw a flood of new light on the +characters of the men who took part in the struggle, and if the facts +tended to darken the fair fame of some of them, the historian certainly +ought not to be censured for it. The tendency of the book was decidedly +in opposition to the ideas entertained to this day by the partizans of +the "Old Family Compact" on the one side, and also to the friends and +admirers of William Lyon Mackenzie on the other. + +But the severe criticism the work sustained, has left it stronger than +before, and it will stand undoubtedly as by far the best history of the +"Rebellion" that has appeared. + +In addition to these important works on which his reputation as a +writer will rest, Mr. Dent has written from time to time a great many +sketches, essays and stories, some of which are exceedingly interesting +and worthy of being preserved. All of Mr. Dent's work contains a charm +of its own. In writing, history, he was in accord with Macaulay. He +always believed that a true story should be told as agreeably as a +fictitious one; "that the incidents of real life, whether political or +domestic, admit of being so arranged as, without detriment to accuracy, +to command all the interest of an artificial series of facts; that the +chain of circumstances which constitute history may be as finely and +gracefully woven as any tale of fancy." Acting upon this theory, he has +made Canadian history very interesting reading. He is to my mind the +only historian, beside Mr. Parkman, who has been able to make Canadian +events so dry in detail, fascinating throughout. + +In private life, Mr. Dent was a most estimable man. He possessed +qualities of mind and heart, having their visible outcome in a +courteous, genial manner that endeared him very closely to his friends. +With all his wealth of learning, which was very great, he was +light-hearted, witty and companionable, and his early death leaves a +gap not very easily closed. + +The four stories composing the present volume were contributed by their +author at considerable intervals to different periodicals. Some time +prior to his death he contemplated publishing them in book form, and +actually selected and carefully revised them with that purpose in view. +He thought they were worthy of being rescued from obscurity, and if we +compare them with much of a similar class of work constantly issuing +from the press, we cannot think that his judgment erred. They are now +published in accordance with his wish, to take their chances in the +great world of literature. + + R. W. D. + +TORONTO, Oct. 25th, 1888. + + + + +CONTENTS + + + THE GERRARD STREET MYSTERY + GAGTOOTH'S IMAGE + THE HAUNTED HOUSE ON DUCHESS STREET + SAVAREEN'S DISAPPEARANCE + + + + +THE GERRARD STREET MYSTERY. + +I. + + +My name is William Francis Furlong. My occupation is that of a +commission merchant, and my place of business is on St. Paul Street, in +the City of Montreal. I have resided in Montreal ever since shortly +after my marriage, in 1862, to my cousin, Alice Playter, of Toronto. My +name may not be familiar to the present generation of Torontonians, +though I was born in Toronto, and passed the early years of my life +there. Since the days of my youth my visits to the Upper Province have +been few, and--with one exception--very brief; so that I have doubtless +passed out of the remembrance of many persons with whom I was once on +terms of intimacy. Still, there are several residents of Toronto whom I +am happy to number among my warmest personal friends at the present +day. There are also a good many persons of middle age, not in Toronto +only, but scattered here and there throughout various parts of Ontario, +who will have no difficulty in recalling my name as that of one of +their fellow-students at Upper Canada College. The name of my late +uncle, Richard Yardington, is of course well known to all old residents +of Toronto, where he spent the last thirty-two years of his life. He +settled there in the year 1829, when the place was still known as +Little York. He opened a small store on Yonge Street, and his +commercial career was a reasonably prosperous one. By steady degrees +the small store developed into what, in those times, was regarded as a +considerable establishment. In the course of years the owner acquired a +competency, and in 1854 retired from business altogether. From that +time up to the day of his death he lived in his own house on Gerrard +Street. + +After mature deliberation, I have resolved to give to the Canadian +public an account of some rather singular circumstances connected +with my residence in Toronto. Though repeatedly urged to do so, I +have hitherto refrained from giving any extended publicity to those +circumstances, in consequence of my inability to see any good to +be served thereby. The only person, however, whose reputation can be +injuriously affected by the details has been dead for some years. He +has left behind him no one whose feelings can be shocked by the +disclosure, and the story is in itself sufficiently remarkable to be +worth the telling. Told, accordingly, it shall be; and the only +fictitious element introduced into the narrative shall be the name of +one of the persons most immediately concerned in it. + +At the time of taking up his abode in Toronto--or rather in Little +York--my uncle Richard was a widower, and childless; his wife having +died several months previously. His only relatives on this side of the +Atlantic were two maiden sisters, a few years younger than himself. He +never contracted a second matrimonial alliance, and for some time after +his arrival here his sisters lived in his house, and were dependent +upon him for support. After the lapse of a few years both of them +married and settled down in homes of their own. The elder of them +subsequently became my mother. She was left a widow when I was a mere +boy, and survived my father only a few months. I was an only child, +and as my parents had been in humble circumstances, the charge of my +maintenance devolved upon my uncle, to whose kindness I am indebted for +such educational training as I have received. After sending me to +school and college for several years, he took me into his store, and +gave me my first insight into commercial life. I lived with him, and +both then and always received at his hands the kindness of a father, in +which light I eventually almost came to regard him. His younger +sister, who was married to a watchmaker called Elias Playter, lived +at Quebec from the time of her marriage until her death, which took +place in 1846. Her husband had been unsuccessful in business, and +was moreover of dissipated habits. He was left with one child--a +daughter--on his hands; and as my uncle was averse to the idea of his +sister's child remaining under the control of one so unfit to provide +for her welfare, he proposed to adopt the little girl as his own. To +this proposition Mr. Elias Playter readily assented, and little Alice +was soon domiciled with her uncle and myself in Toronto. + +Brought up, as we were, under the same roof, and seeing each other +every day of our lives, a childish attachment sprang up between my +cousin Alice and myself. As the years rolled by, this attachment +ripened into a tender affection, which eventually resulted in an +engagement between us. Our engagement was made with the full and +cordial approval of my uncle, who did not share the prejudice +entertained by many persons against marriages between cousins. He +stipulated, however, that our marriage should be deferred until I had +seen somewhat more of the world, and until we had both reached an age +when we might reasonably be presumed to know our own minds. He was +also, not unnaturally, desirous that before taking upon myself the +responsibility of marriage I should give some evidence of my ability to +provide for a wife, and for other contingencies usually consequent upon +matrimony. He made no secret of his intention to divide his property +between Alice and myself at his death; and the fact that no actual +division would be necessary in the event of our marriage with each +other was doubtless one reason for his ready acquiescence in our +engagement. He was, however, of a vigorous constitution, strictly +regular and methodical in all his habits, and likely to live to an +advanced age. He could hardly be called parsimonious, but, like most +men who have successfully fought their own way through life, he was +rather fond of authority, and little disposed to divest himself of his +wealth until he should have no further occasion for it. He expressed +his willingness to establish me in business, either in Toronto or +elsewhere, and to give me the benefit of his experience in all +mercantile transactions. + +When matters had reached this pass I had just completed my twenty-first +year, my cousin being three years younger. Since my uncle's retirement +I had engaged in one or two little speculations on my own account, +which had turned out fairly successful, but I had not devoted +myself to any regular or fixed pursuit. Before any definite +arrangements had been concluded as to the course of my future life, a +circumstance occurred which seemed to open a way for me to turn to good +account such mercantile talent as I possessed. An old friend of my +uncle's opportunely arrived in Toronto from Melbourne, Australia, +where, in the course of a few years, he had risen from the position of +a junior clerk to that of senior partner in a prominent commercial +house. He painted the land of his adoption in glowing colours, and +assured my uncle and myself that it presented an inviting field for a +young man of energy and business capacity, more especially if he had a +small capital at his command. The matter was carefully debated in our +domestic circle. I was naturally averse to a separation from Alice, but +my imagination took fire at Mr. Redpath's glowing account of his own +splendid success. I pictured myself returning to Canada after an +absence of four or five years with a mountain of gold at my command, as +the result of my own energy and acuteness. In imagination, I saw myself +settled down with Alice in a palatial mansion on Jarvis Street, and +living in affluence all the rest of my days. My uncle bade me consult +my own judgment in the matter, but rather encouraged the idea than +otherwise. He offered to advance me L500, and I had about half that +sum as the result of my own speculations. Mr. Redpath, who was just +about returning to Melbourne, promised to aid me to the extent of his +power with his local knowledge and advice. In less than a fortnight +from that time he and I were on our way to the other side of the globe. + +We reached our destination early in the month of September, 1857. My +life in Australia has no direct bearing upon the course of events to be +related, and may be passed over in a very few words. I engaged in +various enterprises, and achieved a certain measure of success. If none +of my ventures proved eminently prosperous, I at least met with no +serious disasters. At the end of four years--that is to say, in +September, 1861--I made up my account with the world, and found I was +worth ten thousand dollars. I had, however, become terribly homesick, +and longed for the termination of my voluntary exile. I had, of course, +kept up a regular correspondence with Alice and Uncle Richard, and of +late they had both pressed me to return home. "You have enough," wrote +my uncle, "to give you a start in Toronto, and I see no reason why +Alice and you should keep apart any longer. You will have no +housekeeping expenses, for I intend you to live with me. I am getting +old, and shall be glad of your companionship in my declining years. You +will have a comfortable home while I live, and when I die you will get +all I have between you. Write as soon as you receive this, and let us +know how soon you can be here,--the sooner the better." + +The letter containing this pressing invitation found me in a mood very +much disposed to accept it. The only enterprise I had on hand which +would be likely to delay me was a transaction in wool, which, as I +believed, would be closed by the end of January or the beginning of +February. By the first of March I should certainly be in a condition to +start on my homeward voyage, and I determined that my departure should +take place about that time. I wrote both to Alice and my uncle, +apprising them of my intention, and announcing my expectation to reach +Toronto not later than the middle of May. + +The letters so written were posted on the 19th of September, in time +for the mail which left on the following day. On the 27th, to my huge +surprise and gratification, the wool transaction referred to was +unexpectedly concluded, and I was at liberty, if so disposed, to start +for home by the next fast mail steamer, the _Southern Cross_, +leaving Melbourne on the 11th of October. I _was_ so disposed, and made +my preparations accordingly. It was useless, I reflected, to write to +my uncle or to Alice, acquainting them with the change in my plans, for +I should take the shortest route home, and should probably be in +Toronto as soon as a letter could get there. I resolved to telegraph +from New York, upon my arrival there, so as not to take them altogether +by surprise. + +The morning of the 11th of October found me on board the _Southern +Cross_, where I shook hands with Mr. Redpath and several other +friends who accompanied me on board for a last farewell. The +particulars of the voyage to England are not pertinent to the story, +and may be given very briefly. I took the Red Sea route, and arrived at +Marseilles about two o'clock in the afternoon of the 29th of November. +From Marseilles I travelled by rail to Calais, and so impatient was I +to reach my journey's end without loss of time, that I did not even +stay over to behold the glories of Paris. I had a commission to execute +in London, which, however, delayed me there only a few hours, and I +hurried down to Liverpool, in the hope of catching the Cunard Steamer +for New York. I missed it by about two hours, but the _Persia_ was +detailed to start on a special trip to Boston on the following day. I +secured a berth, and at eight o'clock the next morning steamed out of +the Mersey on my way homeward. + +The voyage from Liverpool to Boston consumed fourteen days. All I need +say about it is, that before arriving at the latter port I formed an +intimate acquaintance with one of the passengers--Mr. Junius H. Gridley, +a Boston merchant, who was returning from a hurried business trip to +Europe. He was--and is--a most agreeable companion. We were thrown +together a good deal during the voyage, and we then laid the foundation +of a friendship which has ever since subsisted between us. Before the +dome of the State House loomed in sight he had extracted a promise from +me to spend a night with him before pursuing my journey. We landed at +the wharf in East Boston on the evening of the 17th of December, and I +accompanied him to his house on West Newton Street, where I remained +until the following morning. Upon consulting the time-table, we found +that the Albany express would leave at 11.30 a.m. This left several +hours at my disposal, and we sallied forth immediately after breakfast +to visit some of the lions of the American Athens. + +In the course of our peregrinations through the streets, we dropped +into the post-office, which had recently been established in the +Merchants' Exchange Building, on State Street. Seeing the countless +piles of mail-matter, I jestingly remarked to my friend that there +seemed to be letters enough there to go around the whole human family. +He replied in the same mood, whereupon I banteringly suggested the +probability that among so many letters, surely there ought to be one +for me. + +"Nothing more reasonable," he replied. "We Bostonians are always +bountiful to strangers. Here is the General Delivery, and here is the +department where letters addressed to the Furlong family are kept in +stock. Pray inquire for yourself." + +The joke I confess was not a very brilliant one; but with a grave +countenance I stepped up to the wicket and asked the young lady in +attendance: + +"Anything for W. F. Furlong?" + +She took from a pigeon-hole a handful of correspondence, and proceeded +to run her eye over the addresses. When about half the pile had been +exhausted she stopped, and propounded the usual inquiry in the case of +strangers: + +"Where do you expect letters from?" + +"From Toronto," I replied. + +To my no small astonishment she immediately handed me a letter, bearing +the Toronto post-mark. The address was in the peculiar and well-known +handwriting of my uncle Richard. + +Scarcely crediting the evidence of my senses I tore open the envelope, +and read as follows:-- + + + + "TORONTO, 9th December, 1861. + +"MY DEAR WILLIAM--I am so glad to know that you are coming home so much +sooner than you expected when you wrote last, and that you will eat +your Christmas dinner with us. For reasons which you will learn when +you arrive, it will not be a very merry Christmas at our house, but +your presence will make it much more bearable than it would be without +you. I have not told Alice that you are coming. Let it be a joyful +surprise for her, as some compensation for the sorrows she has had to +endure lately. You needn't telegraph. I will meet you at the G. W. R. +station. + + "Your affectionate uncle, + "RICHARD YARDINGTON." + +"Why, what's the matter?" asked my friend, seeing the blank look of +surprise on my face. "Of course the letter is not for you; why on earth +did you open it?" + +"It _is_ for me," I answered. "See here, Gridley, old man; have +you been playing me a trick? If you haven't, this is the strangest +thing I ever knew in my life." + +Of course he hadn't been playing me a trick. A moment's reflection +showed me that such a thing was impossible. Here was the envelope, with +the Toronto post-mark of the 9th of December, at which time he had been +with me on board the _Persia_, on the Banks of Newfoundland. +Besides, he was a gentleman, and would not have played so poor and +stupid a joke upon a guest. And, to put the matter beyond all +possibility of doubt, I remembered that I had never mentioned my +cousin's name in his hearing. + +I handed him the letter. He read it carefully through twice over, and +was as much mystified at its contents as myself; for during our passage +across the Atlantic I had explained to him the circumstance under which +I was returning home. + +By what conceivable means had my uncle been made aware of my departure +from Melbourne? Had Mr. Redpath written to him, as soon as I acquainted +that gentleman with my intentions? But even if such were the case, the +letter could not have left before I did, and could not possibly have +reached Toronto by the 9th of December. Had I been seen in England by +some one who knew me, and had not one written from there? Most +unlikely; and even if such a thing had happened, it was impossible that +the letter could have reached Toronto by the 9th. I need hardly inform +the reader that there was no telegraphic communication at that time. +And how could my uncle know that I would take the Boston route? And if +he _had_ known, how could he foresee that I would do anything so absurd +as to call at the Boston post-office and inquire for letters? "_I +will meet you at the G. W. R. station_." How was he to know by what +train I would reach Toronto, unless I notified him by telegraph? And +that he expressly stated to be unnecessary. + +We did no more sight-seeing. I obeyed the hint contained in the letter, +and sent no telegram. My friend accompanied me down to the Boston and +Albany station, where I waited in feverish impatience for the departure +of the train. We talked over the matter until 11.30, in the vain hope +of finding some clue to the mystery. Then I started on my journey. Mr. +Gridley's curiosity was aroused, and I promised to send him an +explanation immediately upon my arrival at home. + +No sooner had the train glided out of the station than I settled myself +in my seat, drew the tantalizing letter from my pocket, and proceeded +to read and re-read it again and again. A very few perusals sufficed to +fix its contents in my memory, so that I could repeat every word with +my eyes shut. Still I continued to scrutinize the paper, the +penmanship, and even the tint of the ink. For what purpose, do you ask? +For no purpose, except that I hoped, in some mysterious manner, to +obtain more light on the subject. No light came, however. The more I +scrutinized and pondered, the greater was my mystification. The paper +was a simple sheet of white letter-paper, of the kind ordinarily used +by my uncle in his correspondence. So far as I could see, there was +nothing peculiar about the ink. Anyone familiar with my uncle's writing +could have sworn that no hand but his had penned the lines. His +well-known signature, a masterpiece of involved hieroglyphics, was there +in all its indistinctness, written as no one but himself could ever have +written it. And yet, for some unaccountable reason, I was half disposed +to suspect forgery. Forgery! What nonsense. Anyone clever enough to +imitate Richard Yardington's handwriting would have employed his +talents more profitably than indulging in a mischievous and purposeless +jest. Not a bank in Toronto but would have discounted a note with that +signature affixed to it. + +Desisting from all attempts to solve these problems, I then tried to +fathom the meaning of other points in the letter. What misfortune had +happened to mar the Christmas festivities at my uncle's house? And what +could the reference to my cousin Alice's sorrows mean? She was not ill. +_That_, I thought, might be taken for granted. My uncle would hardly +have referred to her illness as "one of the sorrows she had to endure +lately." Certainly, illness may be regarded in the light of a sorrow; +but "sorrow" was not precisely the word which a straight-forward man +like Uncle Richard would have applied to it. I could conceive of no +other cause of affliction in her case. My uncle was well, as was evinced +by his having written the letter, and by his avowed intention to meet me +at the station. Her father had died long before I started for Australia. +She had no other near relation except myself, and she had no cause for +anxiety, much less for "sorrow," on my account. I thought it singular, +too, that my uncle, having in some strange manner become acquainted with +my movements, had withheld the knowledge from Alice. It did not square +with my preconceived ideas of him that he would derive any satisfaction +from taking his niece by surprise. + +All was a muddle together, and as my temples throbbed with the +intensity of my thoughts, I was half disposed to believe myself in a +troubled dream from which I should presently awake. Meanwhile, on +glided the train. + +A heavy snow-storm delayed us for several hours, and we reached +Hamilton too late for the mid-day express for Toronto. We got there, +however, in time for the accommodation leaving at 3.15 p.m., and we +would reach Toronto at 5.05. I walked from one end of the train to the +other in hopes of finding some one I knew, from whom I could make +enquiries about home. Not a soul. I saw several persons whom I knew to +be residents of Toronto, but none with whom I had ever been personally +acquainted, and none of them would be likely to know anything about my +uncle's domestic arrangements. All that remained to be done under these +circumstances was to restrain my curiosity as well as I could until +reaching Toronto. By the by, would my uncle really meet me at the +station, according to his promise? Surely not. By what means could he +possibly know that I would arrive by this train? Still, he seemed to +have such accurate information respecting my proceedings that there was +no saying where his knowledge began or ended. I tried not to think +about the matter, but as the train approached Toronto my impatience +became positively feverish in its intensity. We were not more than +three minutes behind time, as we glided in front of the Union Station, +I passed out on to the platform of the car, and peered intently through +the darkness. Suddenly my heart gave a great bound. There, sure enough, +standing in front of the door of the waiting-room, was my uncle, +plainly discernible by the fitful glare of the overhanging lamps. +Before the train came to a stand-still, I sprang from the car and +advanced towards him. He was looking out for me, but his eyes not being +as young as mine, he did not recognize me until I grasped him by the +hand. He greeted me warmly, seizing me by the waist, and almost raising +me from the ground. I at once noticed several changes in his +appearance; changes for which I was wholly unprepared. He had aged very +much since I had last seen him, and the lines about his mouth had +deepened considerably. The iron-grey hair which I remembered so well +had disappeared; its place being supplied with a new and rather +dandified-looking wig. The oldfashioned great-coat which he had worn +ever since I could remember had been supplanted by a modern frock of +spruce cut, with seal-skin collar and cuffs. All this I noticed in the +first hurried greetings that passed between us. + +"Never mind your luggage, my boy," he remarked. "Leave it till to-morrow, +when we will send down for it. If you are not tired we'll walk +home instead of taking a cab. I have a good deal to say to you before +we get there." + +I had not slept since leaving Boston, but was too much excited to be +conscious of fatigue, and as will readily be believed, I was anxious +enough to hear what he had to say. We passed from the station, and +proceeded up York Street, arm in arm. + +"And now, Uncle Richard," I said, as soon as we were well clear of the +crowd,--"keep me no longer in suspense. First and foremost, is Alice +well?" + +"Quite well, but for reasons you will soon understand, she is in deep +grief. You must know that--" + +"But," I interrupted, "tell me, in the name of all that's wonderful, +how you knew I was coming by this train; and how did you come to write +to me at Boston?" + +Just then we came to the corner of Front Street, where was a lamp-post. +As we reached the spot where the light of the lamp was most brilliant, +he turned half round, looked me full in the face, and smiled a sort of +wintry smile. The expression of his countenance was almost ghastly. + +"Uncle," I quickly said, "What's the matter? Are you not well?" + +"I am not as strong as I used to be, and I have had a good deal to try +me of late. Have patience and I will tell you all. Let us walk more +slowly, or I shall not finish before we get home. In order that you may +clearly understand how matters are, I had better begin at the +beginning, and I hope you will not interrupt me with any questions till +I have done. How I knew you would call at the Boston post-office, and +that you would arrive in Toronto by this train, will come last in +order. By the by, have you my letter with you?" + +"The one you wrote to me at Boston? Yes, here it is," I replied, taking +it from my pocket-book. + +"Let me have it." + +I handed it to him, and he put it into the breast pocket of his inside +coat. I wondered at this proceeding on his part, but made no remark +upon it. + +We moderated our pace, and he began his narration. Of course I don't +pretend to remember his exact words, but they were to this effect. +During the winter following my departure to Melbourne, he had formed +the acquaintance of a gentleman who had then recently settled in +Toronto. The name of this gentleman was Marcus Weatherley, who had +commenced business as a wholesale provision merchant immediately upon +his arrival, and had been engaged in it ever since. For more than three +years the acquaintance between him and my uncle had been very slight, +but during the last summer they had had some real estate transactions +together, and had become intimate. Weatherley, who was comparatively a +young man and unmarried, had been invited to the house on Gerrard +Street, where he had more recently become a pretty frequent visitor. +More recently still, his visits had become so frequent that my uncle +suspected him of a desire to be attentive to my cousin, and had thought +proper to enlighten him as to her engagement with me. From that day his +visits had been voluntarily discontinued. My uncle had not given much +consideration to the subject until a fortnight afterwards, when he had +accidently become aware of the fact that Weatherley was in embarrassed +circumstances. + +Here my uncle paused in his narrative to take breath. He then added, in +a low tone, and putting his mouth almost close to my ear: + +"And, Willie, my boy, I have at last found out something else. He has +forty-two thousand dollars falling due here and in Montreal within the +next ten days, and _he has forged my signature to acceptances for +thirty-nine thousand seven hundred and sixteen dollars and twenty-four +cents_." + +Those to the best of my belief, were his exact words. We had walked up +York Street to Queen, and then had gone down Queen to Yonge, when we +turned up the east side on our way homeward. At the moment when the +last words were uttered we had got a few yards north of Crookshank +Street, immediately in front of a chemist's shop which was, I think, +the third house from the corner. The window of this shop was well +lighted, and its brightness was reflected on the sidewalk in front. +Just then, two gentlemen walking rapidly in the opposite direction to +that we were taking brushed by us; but I was too deeply absorbed in my +uncle's communication to pay much attention to passers-by. Scarcely had +they passed, however, ere one of them stopped and exclaimed: + +"Surely that is Willie Furlong!" + +I turned, and recognised Johnny Gray, one of my oldest friends. I +relinquished my uncle's arm for a moment, and shook hands with Gray, +who said: + +"I am surprised to see you. I heard only a few days ago, that you were +not to be here till next spring." + +"I am here," I remarked, "somewhat in advance of my own expectations." +I then hurriedly enquired after several of our common friends, to which +enquiries he briefly replied. + +"All well," he said; "but you are in a hurry, and so am I. Don't let me +detain you. Be sure and look in on me to-morrow. You will find me at +the old place, in the Romain Buildings." + +We again shook hands, and he passed on down the street with the +gentleman who accompanied him. I then turned to re-possess myself of my +uncle's arm. The old gentleman had evidently walked on, for he was not +in sight. I hurried along, making sure of overtaking him before +reaching Gould Street, for my interview with Gray had occupied barely a +minute. In another minute I was at the corner of Gould Street. No signs +of Uncle Richard. I quickened my pace to a run, which soon brought me +to Gerrard Street. Still no signs of my uncle. I had certainly not +passed him on my way, and he could not have got farther on his homeward +route than here. He must have called in at one of the stores; a strange +thing for him to do under the circumstances. I retraced my steps all +the way to the front of the chemist's shop, peering into every window +and doorway as I passed along. No one in the least resembling him was +to be seen. + +I stood still for a moment, and reflected. Even if he had run at full +speed--a thing most unseemly for him to do--he could not have reached +the corner of Gerrard Street before I had done so. And what should he +run for? He certainly did not wish to avoid me, for he had more to tell +me before reaching home. Perhaps he had turned down Gould Street. At +any rate, there was no use waiting for him. I might as well go home at +once. And I did. + +Upon reaching the old familiar spot, I opened the gate passed on up the +steps to the front door, and rang the bell. The door was opened by a +domestic who had not formed part of the establishment in my time, and +who did not know me; but Alice happened to be passing through the hall, +and heard my voice as I inquired for Uncle Richard. Another moment and +she was in my arms. With a strange foreboding at my heart I noticed +that she was in deep mourning. We passed into the dining-room, where +the table was laid for dinner. + +"Has Uncle Richard come in?" I asked, as soon as we were alone. "Why +did he run away from me?" + +"Who?" exclaimed Alice, with a start; "what do you mean, Willie? Is it +possible you have not heard?" + +"Heard what?" + +"I see you have _not_ heard," she replied. "Sit down, Willie, and +prepare yourself for painful news. But first tell me what you meant by +saying what you did just now,--who was it that ran away from you?" + +"Well, perhaps I should hardly call it running away, but he certainly +disappeared most mysteriously, down here near the corner of Yonge and +Crookshank Streets." + +"Of whom are you speaking?" + +"Of Uncle Richard, of course." + +"Uncle Richard! The corner of Yonge and Crookshank Streets! When did +you see him there?" + +"When? A quarter of an hour ago. He met me at the station and we walked +up together till I met Johnny Gray. I turned to speak to Johnny for a +moment, when--" + +"Willie, what on earth are you talking about? You are labouring under +some strange delusion. _Uncle Richard died of apoplexy more than six +weeks ago, and lies buried in St. James's Cemetery_." + + + + +II. + + +I don't know how long I sat there, trying to think, with my face buried +in my hands. My mind had been kept on a strain during the last thirty +hours, and the succession of surprises to which I had been subjected +had temporarily paralyzed my faculties. For a few moments after Alice's +announcement I must have been in a sort of stupor. My imagination, I +remember, ran riot about everything in general, and nothing in +particular. My cousin's momentary impression was that I had met with an +accident of some kind, which had unhinged my brain. The first distinct +remembrance I have after this is, that I suddenly awoke from my stupor +to find Alice kneeling at my feet, and holding me by the hand. Then my +mental powers came back to me, and I recalled all the incidents of the +evening. + +"When did uncle's death take place?" I asked. + +"On the 3rd of November, about four o'clock in the afternoon. It was +quite unexpected, though he had not enjoyed his usual health for some +weeks before. He fell down in the hall, just as he was returning from a +walk, and died within two hours. He never spoke or recognised any one +after his seizure." + +"What has become of his old overcoat?" I asked. + +"His old overcoat, Willie--what a question?" replied Alice, evidently +thinking that I was again drifting back into insensibility. + +"Did he continue to wear it up to the day of his death?" I asked. + +"No. Cold weather set in very early this last fall, and he was +compelled to don his winter clothing earlier than usual. He had a new +overcoat made within a fortnight before he died. He had it on at the +time of his seizure. But why do you ask?" + +"Was the new coat cut by a fashionable tailor, and had it a fur collar +and cuffs?" + +"It was cut at Stovel's, I think. It had a fur collar and cuffs." + +"When did he begin to wear a wig?" + +"About the same time that he began to wear his new overcoat. I wrote +you a letter at the time, making merry over his youthful appearance and +hinting--of course only in jest--that he was looking out for a young +wife. But you surely did not receive my letter. You must have been on +your way home before it was written." + +"I left Melbourne on the 11th of October. The wig, I suppose, was +buried with him?" + +"Yes." + +"And where is the overcoat?" + +"In the wardrobe upstairs, in uncle's room." + +"Come and show it to me." + +I led the way upstairs, my cousin following. In the hall on the first +floor we encountered my old friend Mrs. Daly, the housekeeper. She +threw up her hands in surprise at seeing me. Our greeting was very +brief; I was too intent on solving the problem which had exercised my +mind ever since receiving the letter at Boston, to pay much attention +to anything else. Two words, however, explained to her where we were +going, and at our request she accompanied us. We passed into my uncle's +room. My cousin drew the key of the wardrobe from a drawer where it was +kept, and unlocked the door. There hung the overcoat. A single glance +was sufficient. It was the same. + +The dazed sensation in my head began to make itself felt again. The +atmosphere of the room seemed to oppress me, and closing the door of +the wardrobe, I led the way down stairs again to the dining-room, +followed by my cousin. Mrs. Daly had sense enough to perceive that we +were discussing family matters, and retired to her own room. + +I took my cousin's hand in mine, and asked: + +"Will you tell me what you know of Mr. Marcus Weatherley?" + +This was evidently another surprise for her. How could I have heard of +Marcus Weatherley? She answered, however, without hesitation: + +"I know very little of him. Uncle Richard and he had some dealings a +few months since, and in that way he became a visitor here. After a +while he began to call pretty often, but his visits suddenly ceased a +short time before uncle's death. I need not affect any reserve with +you. Uncle Richard thought he came after me, and gave him a hint that +you had a prior claim. He never called afterwards. I am rather glad +that he didn't, for there is something about him that I don't quite +like. I am at a loss to say what the something is; but his manner +always impressed me with the idea that he was not exactly what he +seemed to be on the surface. Perhaps I misjudged him. Indeed, I think I +must have done so, for he stands well with everybody, and is highly +respected." + +I looked at the clock on the mantel piece. It was ten minutes to seven, +I rose from my seat. + +"I will ask you to excuse me for an hour or two, Alice. I must find +Johnny Gray." + +"But you will not leave me, Willie, until you have given me some clue +to your unexpected arrival, and to the strange questions you have been +asking? Dinner is ready, and can be served at once. Pray don't go out +again till you have dined." + +She clung to my arm. It was evident that she considered me mad, and +thought it probable that I might make away with myself. This I could +not bear. As for eating any dinner, that was simply impossible in my +then frame of mind, although I had not tasted food since leaving +Rochester. I resolved to tell her all. I resumed my seat. She placed +herself on a stool at my feet, and listened while I told her all that I +have set down as happening to me subsequently to my last letter to her +from Melbourne. + +"And now, Alice, you know why I wish to see Johnny Gray." + +She would have accompanied me, but I thought it better to prosecute my +inquiries alone. I promised to return sometime during the night, and +tell her the result of my interview with Gray. That gentleman had +married and become a householder on his own account during my absence +in Australia. Alice knew his address, and gave me the number of his +house, which was on Church Street. A few minutes' rapid walking brought +me to his door. I had no great expectation of finding him at home, as I +deemed it probable he had not returned from wherever he had been going +when I met him; but I should be able to find out when he was expected, +and would either wait or go in search of him. Fortune favored me for +once, however; he had returned more than an hour before. I was ushered +into the drawing-room, where I found him playing cribbage with his +wife. + +"Why, Willie," he exclaimed, advancing to welcome me, "this is kinder +than I expected. I hardly looked for you before to-morrow. All the +better; we have just been speaking of you. Ellen, this is my old +friend, Willie Furlong, the returned convict, whose banishment you have +so often heard me deplore." + +After exchanging brief courtesies with Mrs. Gray, I turned to her +husband. + +"Johnny, did you notice anything remarkable about the old gentleman who +was with me when we met on Young Street this evening?" + +"Old gentleman! who? There was no one with you when I met you." + +"Think again, He and I were walking arm in arm, and you had passed us +before you recognized me, and mentioned my name." + +He looked hard in my face for a moment, and then said positively: + +"You are wrong, Willie. You were certainly alone when we met. You were +walking slowly, and I must have noticed if any one had been with you." + +"It is you who are wrong," I retorted, almost sternly. "I was +accompanied by an elderly gentleman, who wore a great coat with fur +collar and cuffs, and we were conversing earnestly together when you +passed us." + +He hesitated an instant, and seemed to consider, but there was no shade +of doubt on his face. + +"Have it your own way, old boy," he said. "All I can say is, that I saw +no one but yourself, and neither did Charley Leitch, who was with me. +After parting from you we commented upon your evident abstraction, and +the sombre expression of your countenance, which we attributed to your +having only recently heard of the sudden death of your Uncle Richard. +If any old gentleman had been with you we could not possibly have +failed to notice him." + +Without a single word by way of explanation or apology, I jumped from +my seat, passed out into the hall, seized my hat, and left the house. + + + + +III. + + +Out into the street I rushed like a madman, banging the door after me. +I knew that Johnny would follow me for an explanation, so I ran like +lightning round the next corner, and thence down to Yonge Street. Then +I dropped into a walk, regained my breath, and asked myself what I +should do next. + +Suddenly I bethought me of Dr. Marsden, an old friend of my uncle's. I +hailed a passing cab, and drove to his house. The doctor was in his +consultation-room, and alone. + +Of course he was surprised to see me, and gave expression to some +appropriate words of sympathy at my bereavement. "But how is it that I +see you so soon?" he asked--"I understood that you were not expected +for some months to come." + +Then I began my story, which I related with great circumstantiality of +detail, bringing it down to the moment of my arrival at his house. He +listened with the closest attention, never interrupting me by a single +exclamation until I had finished. Then he began to ask questions, some +of which I thought strangely irrelevant. + +"Have you enjoyed your usual good health during your residence abroad?" + +"Never better in my life. I have not had a moment's illness since you +last saw me." + +"And how have you prospered in your business enterprises?" + +"Reasonably well; but pray doctor, let us confine ourselves to the +matter in hand. I have come for friendly, not professional, advice." + +"All in good time, my boy," he calmly remarked. This was tantalizing. +My strange narrative did not seem to have disturbed his serenity in the +least degree. + +"Did you have a pleasant passage?" he asked, after a brief pause. "The +ocean, I believe, is generally rough at this time of year." + +"I felt a little squeamish for a day or two after leaving Melbourne," I +replied, "but I soon got over it, and it was not very bad even while it +lasted. I am a tolerably good sailor." + +"And you have had no special ground of anxiety of late? At least not +until you received this wonderful letter"--he added, with a perceptible +contraction of his lips, as though trying to repress a smile. + +Then I saw what he was driving at. + +"Doctor," I exclaimed, with some exasperation in my tone--"pray dismiss +from your mind the idea that what I have told you is the result of +diseased imagination. I am as sane as you are. The letter itself +affords sufficient evidence that I am not quite such a fool as you take +me for." + +"My dear boy, I don't take you for a fool at all, although you are a +little excited just at present. But I thought you said you returned the +letter to--ahem--your uncle." + +For a moment I had forgotten that important fact. But I was not +altogether without evidence that I had not been the victim of a +disordered brain. My friend Gridley could corroborate the receipt of +the letter and its contents. My cousin could bear witness that I had +displayed an acquaintance with facts which I would not have been likely +to learn from any one but my uncle. I had referred to his wig and +overcoat, and had mentioned to her the name of Mr. Marcus Weatherley--a +name which I had never heard before in my life. I called Dr. Marsden's +attention to these matters, and asked him to explain them if he could. + +"I admit," said the doctor, "that I don't quite see my way to a +satisfactory explanation just at present. But let us look the matter +squarely in the face. During an acquaintance of nearly thirty years, I +always found your uncle a truthful man, who was cautious enough to make +no statements about his neighbours that he was not able to prove. Your +informant, on the other hand, does not seem to have confined himself to +facts. He made a charge of forgery against a gentleman whose moral and +commercial integrity are unquestioned by all who know him. I know +Marcus Weatherley pretty well, and am not disposed to pronounce him a +forger and a scoundrel upon the unsupported evidence of a shadowy old +gentleman who appears and disappears in the most mysterious manner, and +who cannot be laid hold of and held responsible for his slanders in a +court of law. And it is not true, as far as I know and believe, that +Marcus Weatherley is embarrassed in his circumstances. Such confidence +have I in his solvency and integrity that I would not be afraid to take +up all his outstanding paper without asking a question. If you will +make inquiry, you will find that my opinion is shared by all the +bankers in the city. And I have no hesitation in saying that you will +find no acceptances with your uncle's name to them, either in this +market or elsewhere." + +"That I will try to ascertain to-morrow," I replied. "Meanwhile, Dr. +Marsden, will you oblige your old friend's nephew by writing to Mr. +Junius Gridley, and asking him to acquaint you with the contents of the +letter, and the circumstances under which I received it?" + +"It seems an absurd thing to do," he said, "but I will if you like. +What shall I say?" and he sat down at his desk to write the letter. + +It was written in less than five minutes. It simply asked for the +desired information, and requested an immediate reply. Below the +doctor's signature I added a short postscript in these words:-- + +"My story about the letter and its contents is discredited. Pray answer +fully, and at once.--W. F. F." + +At my request the doctor accompanied me to the Post-office, on Toronto +Street, and dropped the letter into the box with his own hands. I bade +him good night, and repaired to the Rossin House. I did not feel like +encountering Alice again until I could place myself in a more +satisfactory light before her. I despatched a messenger to her with a +short note stating that I had not discovered anything important, and +requesting her not to wait up for me. Then I engaged a room and went +to bed. + +But not to sleep. All night long I tossed about from one side of the +bed to the other; and at daylight, feverish and unrefreshed, I strolled +out. I returned in time for breakfast, but ate little or nothing. I +longed for the arrival of ten o'clock, when the banks would open. + +After breakfast I sat down in the reading-room of the hotel, and vainly +tried to fix my attention upon the local columns of the morning's +paper. I remember reading over several items time after time, without +any comprehension of their meaning. After that I remember--nothing. + +Nothing? All was blank for more than five weeks. When consciousness +came back to me I found myself in bed in my own old room, in the house +on Gerrard Street, and Alice and Dr. Marsden were standing by my +bedside. + +No need to tell how my hair had been removed, nor about the bags of ice +that had been applied to my head. No need to linger over any details of +the "pitiless fever that burned in my brain." No need, either, to +linger over my progress back to convalescence, and thence to complete +recovery. In a week from the time I have mentioned, I was permitted to +sit up in bed, propped up by a mountain of pillows. My impatience would +brook no further delay, and I was allowed to ask questions about what +had happened in the interval which had elapsed since my over wrought +nerves gave way under the prolonged strain upon them. First, Junius +Gridley's letter in reply to Dr. Marsden was placed in my hands. I have +it still in my possession, and I transcribe the following copy from the +original now lying before me:-- + + + "BOSTON, Dec. 22nd, 1861. + +"DR. MARSDEN: + +"In reply to your letter, which has just been received, I have to say +that Mr. Furlong and myself became acquainted for the first time during +our recent passage from Liverpool to Boston, in the _Persia_, +which arrived here Monday last. Mr. Furlong accompanied me home, and +remained until Tuesday morning, when I took him to see the Public +Library, the State House, the Athenaeum, Faneuil Hall, and other points +of interest. We casually dropped into the post-office, and he remarked +upon the great number of letters there. At my instigation--made, of +course, in jest--he applied at the General Delivery for letters for +himself. He received one bearing the Toronto post-mark. He was +naturally very much surprised at receiving it, and was not less so at +its contents. After reading it he handed it to me, and I also read it +carefully. I cannot recollect it word for word, but it professed to +come from 'his affectionate uncle, Richard Yardington.' It expressed +pleasure at his coming home sooner than had been anticipated, and +hinted in rather vague terms at some calamity. He referred to a lady +called Alice, and stated that she had not been informed of Mr. +Furlong's intended arrival. There was something too, about his +presence at home being a recompense to her for recent grief which she +had sustained. It also expressed the writer's intention to meet his +nephew at the Toronto railway station upon his arrival, and stated that +no telegram need be sent. This, as nearly as I can remember, was about +all there was in the letter. Mr. Furlong professed to recognise the +handwriting as his uncle's. It was a cramped hand, not easy to read, +and the signature was so peculiarly formed that I was hardly able to +decipher it. The peculiarity consisted of the extreme irregularity in +the formation of the letters, no two of which were of equal size; and +capitals were interspersed promiscuously, more especially throughout +the surname. + +"Mr. Furlong was much agitated by the contents of the letter, and was +anxious for the arrival of the time of his departure. He left by the B. +& A. train at 11.30. This is really all I know about the matter, and I +have been anxiously expecting to hear from him ever since he left. I +confess that I feel curious, and should be glad to hear from him--that +is, of course, unless something is involved which it would be +impertinent for a comparative stranger to pry into. + + "Yours, &c., + "JUNIUS H. GRIDLEY." + + +So that my friend has completely corroborated my account, so far as +the letter was concerned. My account, however, stood in no need of +corroboration, as will presently appear. + +When I was stricken down, Alice and Dr. Marsden were the only persons +to whom I had communicated what my uncle had said to me during our walk +from the station. They both maintained silence in the matter, except to +each other. Between themselves, in the early days of my illness, they +discussed it with a good deal of feeling on each side. Alice implicitly +believed my story from first to last. She was wise enough to see that I +had been made acquainted with matters that I could not possibly have +learned through any ordinary channels of communication. In short, she +was not so enamoured of professional jargon as to have lost her common +sense. The doctor, however, with the mole-blindness of many of his +tribe, refused to believe. Nothing of this kind had previously come +within the range of his own experience, and it was therefore +impossible. He accounted for it all upon the hypothesis of my impending +fever. He is not the only physician who mistakes cause for effect, and +_vice versa_. + +During the second week of my prostration, Mr. Marcus Weatherley +absconded. This event so totally unlooked for by those who had had +dealings with him, at once brought his financial condition to light. It +was found that he had been really insolvent for several months past. +The day after his departure a number of his acceptances became due. +These acceptances proved to be four in number, amounting to exactly +forty-two thousand dollars. So that that part of my uncle's story was +confirmed. One of the acceptances was payable in Montreal, and was for +$2,283.76. The other three were payable at different banks in Toronto. +These last had been drawn at sixty days, and each of them bore a +signature presumed to be that of Richard Yardington. One of them was +for $8,972.11; another was for $10,114.63; and the third and last was +for $20,629.50. A short sum in simple addition will show us the +aggregate of these three amounts-- + + $ 8,972.11 + 10,114.63 + 20,629.50 + --------- + $39,716.24 + +which was the amount for which my uncle claimed that his name had been +forged. + +Within a week after these things came to light a letter addressed to +the manager of one of the leading banking institutions of Toronto +arrived from Mr. Marcus Weatherley. He wrote from New York, but stated +that he should leave there within an hour from the time of posting his +letter. He voluntarily admitted having forged the name of my uncle to +the three acceptances above referred to and entered into other details +about his affairs, which, though interesting enough to his creditors at +that time, would have no special interest to the public at the present +day. The banks where the acceptances had been discounted were wise +after the fact, and detected numerous little details wherein the forged +signatures differed from the genuine signatures of my Uncle Richard. In +each case they pocketed the loss and held their tongues, and I dare say +they will not thank me for calling attention to the matter, even at +this distance of time. + +There is not much more to tell. Marcus Weatherley, the forger, met his +fate within a few days after writing his letter from New York. He took +passage at New Bedford, Massachusetts, in a sailing vessel called the +_Petrel_ bound for Havana. The _Petrel_ sailed from port on the +12th of January, 1862, and went down in mid-ocean with all hands on the +23rd of the same month. She sank in full sight of the captain and crew +of the _City of Baltimore_ (Inman Line), but the hurricane +prevailing was such that the latter were unable to render any +assistance, or to save one of the ill-fated crew from the fury of the +waves. + +At an early stage in the story I mentioned that the only fictitious +element should be the name of one of the characters introduced. The +name is that of Marcus Weatherley himself. The person whom I have so +designated really bore a different name--one that is still remembered +by scores of people in Toronto. He has paid the penalty of his +misdeeds, and I see nothing to be gained by perpetuating them in +connection with his own proper name. In all other particulars the +foregoing narrative is as true as a tolerably retentive memory has +enabled me to record it. + +I don't propose to attempt any psychological explanation of the events +here recorded, for the very sufficient reason that only one explanation +is possible. The weird letter and its contents, as has been seen, do +not rest upon my testimony alone. With respect to my walk from the +station with Uncle Richard, and the communication made by him to me, +all the details are as real to my mind as any other incidents of my +life. The only obvious deduction is, that I was made the recipient of +a communication of the kind which the world is accustomed to regard as +supernatural. + +Mr. Owen's publishers have my full permission to appropriate this story +in the next edition of his "Debatable Land between this World and the +Next." Should they do so, their readers will doubtless be favoured with +an elaborate analysis of the facts, and with a pseudo-philosophic +theory about spiritual communion with human beings. My wife, who is an +enthusiastic student of electro-biology, is disposed to believe that +Weatherley's mind, overweighted by the knowledge of his forgery, was in +some occult manner, and unconsciously to himself, constrained to act +upon my own senses. I prefer, however, simply to narrate the facts. I +may or may not have my own theory about those facts. The reader is at +perfect liberty to form one of his own if he so pleases. I may mention +that Dr. Marsden professes to believe to the present day that my mind +was disordered by the approach of the fever which eventually struck me +down, and that all I have described was merely the result of what he, +with delightful periphrasis, calls "an abnormal condition of the +system, induced by causes too remote for specific diagnosis." + +It will be observed that, whether I was under an hallucination or not, +the information supposed to be derived from my uncle was strictly +accurate in all its details. The fact that the disclosure subsequently +became unnecessary through the confession of Weatherley does not seem +to me to afford any argument for the hallucination theory. My uncle's +communication was important at the time when it was given to me; and we +have no reason for believing that "those who are gone before" are +universally gifted with a knowledge of the future. + +It was open to me to make the facts public as soon as they became known +to me, and had I done so, Marcus Weatherley might have been arrested +and punished for his crime. Had not my illness supervened, I think I +should have made discoveries in the course of the day following my +arrival in Toronto which would have led to his arrest. + +Such speculations are profitless enough, but they have often formed the +topic of discussion between my wife and myself. Gridley, too, whenever +he pays us a visit, invariably revives the subject, which he long ago +christened "The Gerrard Street Mystery," although it might just as +correctly be called "The Yonge Street Mystery," or, "The Mystery of the +Union Station." He has urged me a hundred times over to publish the +story; and now, after all these years, I follow his counsel, and adopt +his nomenclature in the title. + + + + +GAGTOOTH'S IMAGE. + + +About three o'clock in the afternoon of Wednesday, the fourth of +September, 1884, I was riding up Yonge Street, in the city of Toronto, +on the top of a crowded omnibus. The omnibus was bound for Thornhill, +and my own destination was the intermediate village of Willowdale. +Having been in Canada only a short time, and being almost a stranger in +Toronto, I dare say I was looking around me with more attention and +curiosity than persons who are "native here, and to the manner born," +are accustomed to exhibit. We had just passed Isabella Street, and +were rapidly nearing Charles Street, when I noticed on my right hand a +large, dilapidated frame building, standing in solitary isolation a few +feet back from the highway, and presenting the appearance of a +veritable Old Curiosity Shop. + +A business was carried on here in second hand furniture of the poorest +description, and the object of the proprietor seemed to have been to +collect about him all sorts of worn-out commodities, and objects which +were utterly unmarketable. Everybody who lived in Toronto at the time +indicated will remember the establishment, which, as I subsequently +learned, was owned and carried on by a man named Robert Southworth, +familiarly known to his customers as "Old Bob." I had no sooner arrived +abreast of the gateway leading into the yard immediately adjoining the +building to the southward, than my eyes rested upon something which +instantly caused them to open themselves to their very widest capacity, +and constrained me to signal the driver to stop; which he had no sooner +done than I alighted from my seat and requested him to proceed on his +journey without me. The driver eyed me suspiciously, and evidently +regarded me as an odd customer, but he obeyed my request, and drove on +northward, leaving me standing in the middle of the street. + +From my elevated seat on the roof of the 'bus, I had caught a hurried +glimpse of a commonplace-looking little marble figure, placed on the +top of a pedestal, in the yard already referred to, where several other +figures in marble, wood, bronze, stucco and what not, were exposed for +sale. + +The particular figure which had attracted my attention was about +fifteen inches in height, and represented a little child in the +attitude of prayer. Anyone seeing it for the first time would probably +have taken it for a representation of the Infant Samuel. I have called +it commonplace; and considered as a work of art, such it undoubtedly +was; yet it must have possessed a certain distinctive individuality, +for the brief glance which I had caught of it, even at that distance, +had been sufficient to convince me that the figure was an old +acquaintance of mine. It was in consequence of that conviction that I +had dismounted from the omnibus, forgetful, for the moment, of +everything but the matter which was uppermost in my mind. + +I lost no time in passing through the gateway leading into the yard, +and in walking up to the pedestal upon which the little figure was +placed. Taking the latter in my hand, I found, as I had expected, that +it was not attached to the pedestal, which was of totally different +material, and much more elaborate workmanship. Turning the figure +upside down, my eyes rested on these words, deeply cut into the little +circular throne upon which the figure rested:--JACKSON: PEORIA, 1854. + +At this juncture the proprietor of the establishment walked up to where +I was standing beside the pedestal. "Like to look at something in that +way, sir?" he asked--"we have more inside." + +"What is the price of this?" I asked, indicating the figure in my hand. + +"That, sir; you may have that for fifty cents--of course without the +pedestal, which don't belong to it." + +"Have you had it on hand long?" + +"I don't know, but if you'll step inside for a moment I can tell you. +This way, sir." + +Taking the figure under my arm, I followed him into what he called "the +office"--a small and dirty room, crowded with old furniture in the last +stage of dilapidation. From a desk in one corner he took a large tome +labelled "Stock Book," to which he referred, after glancing at a +hieroglyphical device pasted on the figure which I held under my arm. + +"Yes, sir--had that ever since the 14th of March, 1880--bought it at +Morris & Blackwell's sale, sir." + +"Who and what are Messrs. Morris & Blackwell?" I enquired. + +"They _were_ auctioneers, down on Adelaide Street, in the city, +sir. Failed sometime last winter. Mr. Morris has since died, and I +believe Blackwell, the other partner went to the States." + +After a few more questions, finding that he knew nothing whatever about +the matter beyond what he had already told me, I paid over the fifty +cents; and, declining with thanks his offer to send my purchase home to +me, I marched off with it down the street, and made the best of my way +back to the Rossin House, where I had been staying for some days +before. + +From what has been said, it will be inferred that I--a stranger in +Canada--must have had some special reason for incumbering myself in my +travels with an intrinsically worthless piece of common Columbia +marble. + +I _had_ a reason. I had often seen that little figure before; and +the last time I had seen it, previous to the occasion above mentioned, +had been at the town of Peoria, in the State of Illinois, sometime in +the month of June, 1855. + +There is a story connected with that little praying figure; a story, +which, to me, is a very touching one; and I believe myself to be the +only human being capable of telling it. Indeed, _I_ am only able +to tell a part of it. How the figure came to be sold by auction, in the +city of Toronto, at Messrs. Morris & Blackwell's sale on the 14th of +March, 1880, or how it ever came to be in this part of the world at +all, I know no more than the reader does; but I can probably tell all +that is worth knowing about the matter. + +In the year 1850, and for I know not how long previously, there lived +at Peoria, Illinois, a journeyman-blacksmith named Abner Fink. I +mention the date, 1850, because it was in that year that I myself +settled in Peoria, and first had any knowledge of him; but I believe he +had then been living there for some length of time. He was employed at +the foundry of Messrs. Gowanlock and Van Duzer, and was known for an +excellent workman, of steady habits, and good moral +character--qualifications which were by no means universal, nor even +common, among persons of his calling and degree of life, at the time +and place of which I am writing. But he was still more conspicuous (on +the _lucus a non lucendo_ principle) for another quality--that of +reticence. It was very rarely indeed that he spoke to anyone, except +when called upon to reply to a question; and even then it was noticeable +that he invariably employed the fewest and most concise words in his +vocabulary. If brevity were the body, as well as the soul of wit, Fink +must have been about the wittiest man that ever lived, the Monosyllabic +Traveller not excepted. He never received a letter from any one during +the whole time of his stay at Peoria; nor, so far as was known, did he +ever write to any one. Indeed, there was no evidence that he was able +to write. He never went to church, nor even to "meeting;" never +attended any public entertainment; never took any holidays. All his +time was spent either at the foundry where he worked, or at the +boarding-house where he lodged. In the latter place, the greater part +of his hours of relaxation were spent in looking either out of the +window or into the fire; thinking, apparently, about nothing +particular. All endeavours on the part of his fellow boarders to draw +him into conversation were utterly fruitless. No one in the place knew +anything about his past life, and when his fellow-journeymen in the +workshop attempted to inveigle him into any confidence on that subject, +he had a trick of calling up a harsh and sinister expression of +countenance which effectually nipped all such experiments in the bud. +Even his employers failed to elicit anything from him on this head, +beyond the somewhat vague piece of intelligence that he hailed from +"down east." The foreman of the establishment with a desperate attempt +at facetiousness, used to say of him, that no one knew who he was, +where he came from, where he was going to, or what he was going to do +when he got there. + +And yet, this utter lack of sociability could scarcely have arisen from +positive surliness or unkindness of disposition. Instances were not +wanting in which he had given pretty strong evidence that he carried +beneath that rugged and uncouth exterior a kinder and more gentle heart +than is possessed by most men. Upon one occasion he had jumped at the +imminent peril of his life, from the bridge which spans the Illinois +river just above the entrance to the lake, and had fished up a drowning +child from its depths and borne it to the shore in safety. In doing so +he had been compelled to swim through a swift and strong current which +would have swamped any swimmer with one particle less strength, +endurance and pluck. At another time, hearing his landlady say, at +dinner, that an execution was in the house of a sick man with a large +family, at the other end of the town, he left his dinner untouched, +trudged off to the place indicated, and--though the debtor was an utter +stranger to him--paid off the debt and costs in full, without taking +any assignment of the judgment or other security. Then he went quietly +back to his work. From my knowledge of the worthless and impecunious +character of the debtor, I am of opinion that Fink never received a +cent in the way of reimbursement. + +In personal appearance he was short and stout. His age, when I first +knew him, must have been somewhere in the neighbourhood of thirty-five. +The only peculiarity about his face was an abnormal formation of one of +his front teeth, which protruded, and stuck out almost horizontally. +This, as may be supposed, did not tend to improve an expression of +countenance which in other respects was not very prepossessing. One of +the anvil-strikers happening to allude to him one day in his absence by +the name of "Gagtooth," the felicity of the sobriquet at once commended +itself to the good taste of the other hands in the shop, who thereafter +commonly spoke of him by that name, and eventually it came to be +applied to him by every one in the town. + +My acquaintance with him began when I had been in Peoria about a week. +I may premise that I am a physician and surgeon--a graduate of Harvard. +Peoria was at that time a comparatively new place, but it gave promise +of going ahead rapidly; a promise, by the way, which it has since amply +redeemed. Messrs. Gowanlock and Van Duzer's foundry was a pretty +extensive one for a small town in a comparatively new district. They +kept about a hundred and fifty hands employed all the year round, and +during the busy season this number was more than doubled. It was in +consequence of my having received the appointment of medical attendant +to that establishment that I buried myself in the west, instead of +settling down in my native State of Massachusetts. + +Poor Gagtooth was one of my first surgical patients. It came about in +this wise. At the foundry, two days in the week, viz., Tuesdays and +Fridays, were chiefly devoted to what is called "casting." On these +days it was necessary to convey large masses of melted iron, in vessels +specially manufactured for that purpose, from one end of the moulding +shop to the other. It was, of course, very desirable that the metal +should not be allowed to cool while in transit, and that as little time +as possible should be lost in transferring it from the furnace to the +moulds. For this purpose Gagtooth's services were frequently called +into requisition, as he was by far the strongest man about the place, +and could without assistance carry one end of one of the vessels, which +was considered pretty good work for two ordinary men. + +Well, one unlucky Friday afternoon he was hard at work at this +employment, and as was usual with all the hands in the moulding shop at +such times, he was stripped naked from the waist upwards. He was +gallantly supporting one end of one of the large receptacles already +mentioned, which happened to be rather fuller than usual of the red-hot +molten metal. He had nearly reached the moulding-box into which the +contents of the vessel were to be poured, when he stumbled against a +piece of scantling which was lying in his way. He fell, and as a +necessary consequence his end of the vessel fell likewise, spilling the +contents all over his body, which was literally deluged by the red, +hissing, boiling liquid fire. It must have seemed to the terror-stricken +onlookers like a bath of blood. + +Further details of the frightful accident, and of my treatment of the +case, might be interesting to such of the readers of this book as +happen to belong to my own profession; but to general readers such +details would be simply shocking. How even his tremendous vitality and +vigour of constitution brought him through it all is a mystery to me to +this day. I am thirty-six years older than I was at that time. Since +then I have acted as surgeon to a fighting regiment all through the +great rebellion. I have had patients of all sorts of temperaments and +constitutions under my charge, but never have I been brought into +contact with a case which seemed more hopeless in my eyes. He must +surely have had more than one life in him. I have never had my hands on +so magnificent a specimen of the human frame as his was; and better +still--and this doubtless contributed materially to his recovery--I +have never had a case under my management where the patient bore his +sufferings with such uniform fortitude and endurance. Suffice it to say +that he recovered, and that his face bore no traces of the frightful +ordeal through which he had passed. I don't think he was ever quite the +same man as before his accident. I think his nervous system received a +shock which eventually tended to shorten his life. But he was still +known as incomparably the strongest man in Peoria, and continued to +perform the work of two men at the moulding-shop on casting days. In +every other respect he was apparently the same; not a whit more +disposed to be companionable than before his accident. I used +frequently to meet him on the street, as he was going to and fro +between his boarding-house and the work-shop. He was always alone, and +more than once I came to a full stop and enquired after his health, or +anything else that seemed to afford a feasible topic for conversation. +He was uniformly civil, and even respectful, but confined his remarks +to replying to my questions, which, as usual, was done in the fewest +words. + +During the twelve months succeeding his recovery, so far as I am aware, +nothing occurred worthy of being recorded in Gagtooth's annals. About +the expiration of that time, however, his landlady, by his authority, +at his request, and in his presence, made an announcement to the +boarders assembled at the dinner-table which, I should think, must +literally have taken away their breaths. + +Gagtooth was going to be married! + +I don't suppose it would have occasioned greater astonishment if it had +been announced as an actual fact that The Illinois river had commenced +to flow backwards. It was surprising, incredible, but, like many other +surprising and incredible things, it was true. Gagtooth was really and +truly about to marry. The object of his choice was his landlady's +sister, by name Lucinda Bowlsby. How or when the wooing had been +carried on, how the engagement had been led up to, and in what terms +the all-important question had been propounded, I am not prepared to +say. I need hardly observe that none of the boarders had entertained +the faintest suspicion that anything of the kind was impending. The +courtship, from first to last, must have been somewhat of a piece with +that of the late Mr. Barkis. But alas! Gagtooth did not settle his +affections so judiciously, nor did he draw such a prize in the +matrimonial lottery as Barkis did. Two women more entirely dissimilar, +in every respect, than Peggotty and Lucinda Bowlsby can hardly be +imagined. Lucinda was nineteen years of age. She was pretty, and, for a +girl of her class and station in life, tolerably well educated. But she +was notwithstanding a light, giddy creature--and, I fear, something +worse, at that time. At all events, she had a very questionable sort of +reputation among the boarders in the house, and was regarded with +suspicion by everyone who knew anything about her poor Gagtooth alone +excepted. + +In due time the wedding took place. It was solemnized at the +boarding-house; and the bride and bridegroom disdaining to defer to the +common usage, spent their honeymoon in their own house. Gagtooth had +rented and furnished a little frame dwelling on the outskirts of the +town, on the bank of the river; and thither the couple retired as soon +as the hymeneal knot was tied. Next morning the bridegroom made his +appearance at his forge and went to work as usual, as though nothing +had occurred to disturb the serenity of his life. + +Time passed by. Rumours now and then reached my ears to the effect that +Mrs. Fink was not behaving herself very well, and that she was leading +her husband rather a hard life of it. She had been seen driving out +into the country with a young lawyer from Springfield, who occasionally +came over to Peoria to attend the sittings of the District Court. She +moreover had the reputation of habitually indulging in the contents of +the cup that cheers and likewise inebriates. However, in the regular +course of things, I was called upon to assist at the first appearance +upon life's stage of a little boy, upon whom his parents bestowed the +name of Charlie. + +The night of Charlie's birth was the first time I had ever been in the +house, and if I remember aright it was the first time I had ever set +eyes on Mrs. Fink since her marriage. I was not long in making up my +mind about her; and I had ample opportunity for forming an opinion as +to her character, for she was unable to leave her bed for more than a +month, during which time I was in attendance upon her almost daily. +I also attended little Charlie through measels, scarlet-rash, +whooping-cough, and all his childish ailments; and in fact I was a +pretty regular visitor at the house from the time of his birth until +his father left the neighbourhood, as I shall presently have to relate. +I believe Mrs. Fink to have been not merely a profligate woman, but a +thoroughly bad and heartless one in every respect. She was perfectly +indifferent to her husband, whom she shamefully neglected, and almost +indifferent to her child. She seemed to care for nothing in the world +but dress and strong waters; and to procure these there was no depth of +degradation to which she would not stoop. + +As a result of my constant professional attendance upon his mother +during the first month of little Charlie's life, I became better +acquainted with his father than anyone in Peoria had ever done. He +seemed to know that I saw into and sympathized with his domestic +troubles, and my silent sympathy seemed to afford him some consolation. +As the months and years passed by, his wife's conduct became worse and +worse, and his affections centered themselves entirely upon his child, +whom he loved with a passionate affection to which I have never seen a +parallel. + +And Charlie was a child made to be loved. When he was two years old he +was beyond all comparison the dearest and most beautiful little fellow +I have ever seen. His fat, plump, chubby little figure, modelled after +Cupid's own; his curly flaxen hair; his matchless complexion, fair and +clear as the sky on a sunny summer day; and his bright, round, +expressive eyes, which imparted intelligence to his every feature, +combined to make him the idol of his father, the envy of all the +mothers in town, and the admiration of every one who saw him. At noon, +when the great foundry-bell rang, which was the signal for the workmen +to go to dinner Charlie might regularly be seen, toddling as fast as +his stout little legs could spin, along the footpath leading over the +common in the direction of the workshops. When about halfway across, he +would be certain to meet his father, who, taking the child up in his +bare, brawny, smoke-begrimed arms, would carry him home--the contrast +between the two strongly suggesting Vulcan and Cupid. At six o'clock in +the evening, when the bell announced that work was over for the day, a +similar little drama was enacted. It would be difficult to say whether +Vulcan or Cupid derived the greater amount of pleasure from these +semi-daily incidents. After tea, the two were never separate for a +moment. While the mother was perhaps busily engaged in the perusal of +some worthless novel, the father would sit with his darling on his +knee, listening to his childish prattle, and perhaps so far going out +of himself as to tell the child a little story. It seemed to be an +understood thing that the mother should take no care or notice of the +boy during her husband's presence in the house. Regularly, when the +clock on the chimney-piece struck eight, Charlie would jump down from +his father's knee and run across the room for his night-dress, +returning to his father to have it put on. When this had been done he +would kneel down and repeat a simple little prayer, in which One who +loved little children like Charlie was invoked to bless father and +mother and make him a good boy; after which his father would place him +in his little crib, where he soon slept the sleep of happy childhood. + +My own house was not far from theirs, and I was so fond of Charlie that +it was no uncommon thing for me to drop in upon them for a few minutes, +when returning from my office in the evening. Upon one occasion I +noticed the child more particularly than usual while he was in the act +of saying his prayers. His eyes were closed, his plump little hands +were clasped, and his cherubic little face was turned upwards with an +expression of infantile trustfulness and adoration which I shall never +forget. I have never seen, nor do I ever expect to see, anything else +half so beautiful. When he arose from his knees and came up to me to +say "Good Night," I kissed his upturned little face with even greater +fervour than usual. After he had been put to bed I mentioned the matter +to his father, and said something about my regret that the child's +expression had not been caught by a sculptor and fixed in stone. + +I had little idea of the effect my remarks were destined to produce. A +few evenings afterwards he informed me, much to my surprise, that he +had determined to act upon the idea which my words had suggested to his +mind, and that he had instructed Heber Jackson, the marble-cutter, to +go to work at a "stone likeness" of little Charlie, and to finish it up +as soon as possible. He did not seem to understand that the proper +performance of such a task required anything more than mere mechanical +skill, and that an ordinary tomb-stone cutter was scarcely the sort of +artist to do justice to it. + +However, when the "stone-likeness" was finished and sent home, I +confess I was astonished to see how well Jackson had succeeded. He had +not, of course, caught the child's exact expression. It is probable, +indeed, that he never saw the expression on Charlie's face, which had +seemed so beautiful to me, and which had suggested to me the idea of +its being "embodied in marble," as the professionals call it. But the +image was at all events, according to order, a "likeness." The true +lineaments were there and I would have recognised it for a +representation of my little friend at the first glance, wherever I +might have seen it. In short, it was precisely one of those works of +art which have no artistic value whatever for any one who is +unacquainted with, or uninterested in, the subject represented; but +knowing and loving little Charlie as I did, I confess that I used to +contemplate Jackson's piece of workmanship with an admiration and +enthusiasm which the contents of Italian gallaries have failed to +arouse in me. + +Well, the months flew by until some time in the spring of 1855, when +the town was electrified by the sudden and totally unexpected failure +of Messrs. Gowanlock and Van Duzer, who up to that time were currently +reported to be one of the wealthiest and most thriving firms in the +State. Their failure was not only a great misfortune for the workmen, +who were thus thrown out of present employment--for the creditors did +not carry on the business--but was regarded as a public calamity to the +town and neighbourhood, the prosperity whereof had been enhanced in no +inconsiderable degree by the carrying on of so extensive an +establishment in their midst, and by the enterprise and energy of the +proprietors, both of whom were first-rate business men. The failure was +in no measure attributed either to dishonesty or want of prudence on +the part of Messrs. Gowanlock and Van Duzer, but simply to the +invention of a new patent which rendered valueless the particular +agricultural implement which constituted the specialty of the +establishment, and of which there was an enormous stock on hand. There +was not the shadow of a hope of the firm being able to get upon its +legs again. The partners surrendered everything almost to the last +dollar, and shortly afterwards left Illinois for California. + +Now, this failure, which more or less affected the entire population of +Peoria, was especially disastrous to poor Fink. For past years he had +been saving money, and as Messrs. Gowanlock and Van Duzer allowed +interest at a liberal rate upon all deposits left in their hands by +their workmen, all his surplus earnings remained untouched. The +consequence was that the accumulations of years were swamped at one +fell swoop, and he found himself reduced to poverty. And as though +misfortune was not satisfied with visiting him thus heavily, the very +day of the failure he was stricken down by typhoid fever: not the +typhoid fever known in Canada--which is bad enough--but the terrible +putrid typhoid of the west, which is known nowhere else on the face of +the globe, and in which the mortality in some years reaches forty per +cent. + +Of course I was at once called in. I did my best for the patient, which +was very little. I tried hard, however, to keep his wife sober, and to +compel her to nurse him judiciously. As for little Charlie, I took him +home with me to my own house, where he remained until his father was so +far convalescent as to prevent all fear of infection. Meanwhile I knew +nothing about Gagtooth's money having been deposited in the hands of +his employers, and consequently was ignorant of his loss. I did not +learn this circumstance for weeks afterwards, and of course had no +reason for supposing that his wife was in anywise straitened for money. +Once, when her husband had been prostrated for about a fortnight, I saw +her with a roll of bank notes in her hand. Little did I suspect how +they had been obtained. + +Shortly after my patient had begun to sit up in his arm-chair for a +little while every day, he begged so hard for little Charlie's presence +that, as soon as I was satisfied that all danger of infection was past, +I consented to allow the child to return to his own home. In less than +a month afterwards the invalid was able to walk out in the garden for a +few minutes every day when the weather was favourable, and in these +walks Charlie was his constant companion. The affection of the poor +fellow for his flaxen-haired darling was manifested in every glance of +his eye, and in every tone of his voice. He would kiss the little chap +and pat him on the head a hundred times a day. He would tell him +stories until he himself was completely exhausted; and although I knew +that this tended to retard his complete recovery, I had not the heart +to forbid it. I have often since felt thankful that I never made any +attempt to do so. + +At last the fifteenth of September arrived. On the morning of that day +Messrs. Rockwell and Dunbar's Combined Circus and Menagerie made a +triumphal entry into Peoria, and was to exhibit on the green, down by +the river bank. The performance had been ostentatiously advertised and +placarded on every dead wall in town for a month back, and all the +children in the place, little Charlie included, were wild on the +subject. Signor Martigny was to enter a den containing three full-grown +lions, and was to go through the terrific and disgusting ordeal usual +on such occasions. Gagtooth, of course, was unable to go; but, being +unwilling to deny his child any reasonable pleasure, he had consented +to Charlie's going with his mother. I happened to be passing the house +on my way homewards to dinner, just as the pair were about to start, +and called in to say good-bye to my patient. Never shall I forget the +embrace and the kiss which the father bestowed upon the little fellow. +I can see them now, after all these years, almost as distinctly as I +saw them on that terrible fifteenth of September, 1855. They perfectly +clung to each other, and seemed unwilling to part even for the two or +three hours during which the performance was to last. I can see the +mother too, impatiently waiting in the doorway, and telling Charlie +that if he didn't stop that nonsense they would be too late to see +Sampson killing the lion. She--Heaven help her!--thought nothing and +cared nothing about the pleasure the child was to derive from the +entertainment. She was only anxious on her own account; impatient to +shew her good looks and her cheap finery to the two thousand and odd +people assembled under the huge tent. + +At last they started. Gagtooth got up and walked to the door, following +them with his eye as far as he could see them down the dusty street. +Then he returned and sat down in his chair. Poor fellow! he was +destined never to see either of them alive again. + +Notwithstanding her fear lest she might not arrive in time for the +commencement of the performance, Mrs. Fink and her charge reached the +ground at least half an hour before the ticket office was opened; and I +regret to say that that half hour was sufficient to enable her to form +an acquaintance with one of the property men of the establishment, to +whom she contrived to make herself so agreeable that he passed her and +Charlie into the tent free of charge. She was not admitted at the front +entrance, but from the tiring-room at the back whence the performers +enter. She sat down just at the left of this entrance, immediately +adjoining the lion's cage. Ere long the performance commenced. Signor +Martigny, when his turn came, entered the cage as per announcement; but +he was not long in discovering by various signs not to be mistaken that +his charges were in no humour to be played with on that day. Even the +ring master from his place in the centre of the ring, perceived that +old King of the Forest, the largest and most vicious of the lions, was +meditating mischief, and called to the Signor to come out of the cage. +The Signor, keeping his eye steadily fixed on the brute, began a +retrograde movement from the den. He had the door open, and was swiftly +backing through, when, with a roar that seemed to shake the very earth, +old King sprang upon him from the opposite side of the cage, dashing +him to the ground like a ninepin, and rushed through the aperture into +the crowd. Quick as lightning the other two followed, and thus three +savage lions were loose and unshackled in the midst of upwards of two +thousand men, women and children. + +I wish to linger over the details as briefly as possible. I am thankful +to say that I was not present, and that I am unable to describe the +occurrence from personal observation. + +Poor little Charlie and his mother, sitting close to the cage, were the +very first victims. The child himself, I think, and hope, never knew +what hurt him. His skull was fractured by one stroke of the brute's +paw. Signor Martigny escaped with his right arm slit into ribbons. Big +Joe Pentland, the clown, with one well-directed stroke of a crowbar, +smashed Old King of the Forest's jaw into a hundred pieces, but not +before it had closed in the left breast of Charlie's mother. She lived +for nearly an hour afterwards, but never uttered a syllable. I wonder +if she was conscious. I wonder if it was permitted to her to realize +what her sin--for sin it must have been, in contemplation, if not in +deed--had brought upon herself and her child. Had she paid her way into +the circus, and entered in front, instead of coquetting with the +property-man, she would have been sitting under a different part of the +tent, and neither she nor Charlie would have sustained any injury, for +the two younger lions were shot before they had leapt ten paces from +the cage door. Old King was easily despatched after Joe Pentland's +tremendous blow. Besides Charlie and his mother, two men and one woman +were killed on the spot: another woman died next day from the injuries +received, and several other persons were more or less severely hurt. + +Immediately after dinner I had driven out into the country to pay a +professional visit, so that I heard nothing about what had occurred +until some hours afterwards. I was informed of it, however, before I +reached the town, on my way homeward. To say that I was inexpressibly +shocked and grieved would merely be to repeat a very stupid platitude, +and to say that I was a human being. I had learned to love poor +little Charlie almost as dearly as I loved my own children. And his +father--what would be the consequence to him? + +I drove direct to his house, which was filled with people--neighbours +and others who had called to administer such consolation as the +circumstances would admit of. I am not ashamed to confess that the +moment my eyes rested upon the bereaved father I burst into tears. He +sat with his child's body in his lap, and seemed literally transformed +into stone. A breeze came in through the open doorway and stirred his +thin iron-gray locks, as he sat there in his arm chair. He was +unconscious of everything--even of the presence of strangers. His eyes +were fixed and glazed. Not a sound of any kind, not even a moan, passed +his lips; and it was only after feeling his pulse that I was able to +pronounce with certainty that he was alive. One single gleam of +animation overspread his features for an instant when I gently removed +the crushed corpse from his knees, and laid it on the bed, but he +quickly relapsed into stolidity. I was informed that he had sat thus +ever since he had first received the corpse from the arms of Joe +Pentland, who had brought it home without changing his clown's dress. +Heaven grant that I may never look upon such a sight again as the poor, +half-recovered invalid presented during the whole of that night and for +several days afterwards. + +For the next three days I spent all the time with him I possibly could, +for I dreaded either a relapse of the fever or the loss of his reason. +The Neighbours were very kind, and took upon themselves the burden of +everything connected with the funeral. As for Fink himself, he seemed +to take everything for granted, and interfered with nothing. When the +time arrived for fastening down the coffin lids, I could not bear to +permit that ceremony to be performed without affording him an +opportunity of kissing the dead lips of his darling for the last time. +I gently led him up to the side of the bed upon which the two coffins +were placed. At sight of his little boy's dead face, he fainted, and +before he revived I had the lids fastened down. It would have been +cruelty to subject him to the ordeal a second time. + +The day after the funeral he was sufficiently recovered from the shock +to be able to talk. He informed me that he had concluded to leave the +neighbourhood, and requested me to draw up a poster, advertising all +his furniture and effects for sale by auction. He intended, he said, to +sell everything except Charlie's clothes and his own, and these, +together with a lock of the child's hair and a few of his toys, were +all he intended to take away with him. + +"But of course," I remarked, "you don't intend to sell the stone +likeness?" + +He looked at me rather strangely, and made no reply. I glanced around +the room, and, to my surprise, the little statue was nowhere to be +seen. It then occurred to me that I had not noticed it since Gagtooth +had been taken ill. + +"By the by, where is it?" I enquired--"I don't see it." + +After a moment's hesitation he told me the whole story. It was then +that I learned for the first time that he had lost all his savings +through the failure of Messrs. Gowanlock and Van Duzer, and that the +morning when he had been taken ill there had been only a dollar in the +house. On that morning he had acquainted his wife with his loss, but +had strictly enjoined secrecy upon her, as both Gowanlock and Van Duzer +had promised him most solemnly that inasmuch as they regarded their +indebtedness to him as being upon a different footing from their +ordinary liabilities, he should assuredly be paid in full out of the +first money at their command. He had implicit reliance upon their word, +and requested me to take charge of the money upon its arrival, and to +keep it until he instructed me, by post or otherwise, how to dispose of +it. To this I, of course, consented. The rest of the story he could +only repeat upon the authority of his wife, but I have no reason for +disbelieving any portion of it. It seems that a day or two after his +illness commenced, and after he had become insensible, his wife had +been at her wits' end for money to provide necessaries for the house, +and I dare say she spent more for liquor than for necessaries. She +declared that she had made up her mind to apply to me for a loan, when +a stranger called at the house, attracted, as he said, by the little +image, which had been placed in the front window, and was thus visible +to passers by. He announced himself as Mr. Silas Pomeroy, merchant, of +Myrtle Street, Springfield. He said that the face of the little image +strikingly reminded him of the face of a child of his own which had +died some time before. He had not supposed that the figure was a +likeness of any one, and had stepped in, upon the impulse of the +moment, in the hope that he might be able to purchase it. He was +willing to pay a liberal price. The negotiation ended in his taking the +image away with him, and leaving a hundred dollars in its stead; on +which sum Mrs. Fink had kept house ever since. Her husband, of course, +knew nothing of this for weeks afterwards. When he began to get better, +his wife had acquainted him with the facts. He had found no fault with +her, as he had determined to repurchase the image at any cost, so soon +as he might be able to earn money enough. As for getting a duplicate, +that was out of the question, for Heber Jackson had been carried off by +the typhoid epidemic, and Charlie had changed considerably during the +fifteen months which had elapsed since the image had been finished. And +now poor little Charlie himself was gone, and the great desire of his +father's heart was to regain possession of the image. With that view, +as soon as the sale should be over he would start for Springfield, tell +his story to Pomeroy, and offer him his money back again. As to any +further plans, he did not know, he said, what he would do, or where he +would go; but he would certainly never live in Peoria again. + +In a few days the sale took place, and Gagtooth started for Springfield +with about three hundred dollars in his pocket. Springfield is seventy +miles from Peoria. He was to return in about ten days, by which time a +tombstone was to be ready for Charlie's grave. He had not ordered one +for his wife, who was not buried in the same grave with the child, but +in one just beside him. + +He returned within the ten days. His journey had been a fruitless one. +Pomeroy had become insolvent, and had absconded from Springfield a +month before. No one knew whither he had gone, but he must have taken +the image with him, as it was not among the effects which he had left +behind him. His friends knew that he was greatly attached to the image, +in consequence of its real or fancied resemblance to his dead child. +Nothing more reasonable then than to suppose that he had taken it away +with him. + +Gagtooth announced to me his determination of starting on an expedition +to find Pomeroy, and never giving up the search while his money held +out. He had no idea where to look for the fugitive, but rather thought +he would try California first. He could hardly expect to receive any +remittance from Gowanlock and Van Duzer for some months to come, but he +would acquaint me with his address from time to time, and, if anything +arrived from them I could forward it to him. + +And so, having seen the tombstone set up over little Charlie's grave, +he bade me good-bye, and that was the last time I ever saw him, alive. + +There is little more to tell. I supposed him to be in the far west, +prosecuting his researches, until one night in the early spring of the +following year. Charlie and his mother had been interred in a corner of +the churchyard adjoining the second Baptist Church, which at that time +was on the very outskirts of the town, in a lonely, unfrequented spot, +not far from the iron bridge. Late in the evening of the seventh of +April, 1856, a woman passing along the road in the cold, dim twilight, +saw a bulky object stretched out on Charlie's grave. She called at the +nearest house, and stated her belief that a man was lying dead in the +churchyard. Upon investigation, her surmise proved to be correct. + +And that man was Gagtooth. + +Dead; partially no doubt, from cold and exposure; but chiefly, I +believe, from a broken heart. Where had he spent the six months which +had elapsed since I bade him farewell? + +To this question I am unable to reply; but this much was evident: he +had dragged himself back just in time to die on the grave of the little +boy whom he had loved so dearly, and whose brief existence had probably +supplied the one bright spot in his father's life. + +I had him buried in the same grave with Charlie; and there, on the +banks of the Illinois river, "After life's fitful fever he sleeps +well." + +I never received any remittance from his former employers, nor did I +ever learn anything further of Silas Pomeroy. Indeed, so many years +have rolled away since the occurrence of the events above narrated; +years pregnant with great events to the American Republic; events, I am +proud to say, in which I bore my part: that the wear and tear of life +had nearly obliterated all memory of the episode from my mind, until, +as detailed in the opening paragraphs of this story, I saw "Gagtooth's +Image," from the top of a Thornhill omnibus. That image is now in my +possession, and no extremity less urgent than that under which it was +sold to Silas Pomeroy, of Myrtle Street, Springfield, will ever induce +me to part with it. + + + + +THE Haunted House on Duchess Street. + +BEING A NARRATION OF CERTAIN STRANGE EVENTS ALLEGED TO HAVE +TAKEN PLACE AT YORK, UPPER CANADA, IN OR ABOUT THE YEAR 1823. + + "O'er all there hung the Shadow of a Fear; + A sense of mystery the spirit daunted; + And said, as plain as whisper in the ear, + The place is haunted."--HOOD. + +I.--OUTSIDE THE HOUSE. + +I suppose there are at least a score of persons living in Toronto at +the present moment who remember that queer old house on Duchess street. +Not that there was anything specially remarkable about the house +itself, which indeed, in its best days, presented an aspect of rather +snug respectability. But the events I am about to relate invested it +with an evil reputation, and made it an object to be contemplated at a +safe distance, rather than from any near approach. Youngsters on their +way to school were wont to eye it askance as they hurried by on their +way to their daily tasks. Even children of a larger growth manifested +no unbecoming desire to penetrate too curiously into its inner +mysteries, and for years its threshold was seldom or never crossed by +anybody except Simon Washburn or some of his clerks, who about once in +every twelvemonth made a quiet entry upon the premises and placed in +the front windows announcements to the effect that the place was "For +Sale or To Let." The printing of these announcements involved a useless +expenditure of capital, for, from the time when the character of the +house became matter of notoriety, no one could be induced to try the +experiment of living in it. In the case of a house, no less than in +that of an individual, a bad name is more easily gained than lost, and +in the case of the house on Duchess street its uncanny repute clung to +it with a persistent grasp which time did nothing to relax. It was +distinctly and emphatically a place to keep away from. + +The house was originally built by one of the Ridout family--I think by +the Surveyor-General himself--soon after the close of the war of 1812, +and it remained intact until a year or two after the town of York +became the city of Toronto, when it was partly demolished and converted +into a more profitable investment. The new structure, which was a +shingle or stave factory, was burned down in 1843 or 1844, and the site +thenceforward remained unoccupied until comparatively recent times. +When I visited the spot a few weeks since I encountered not a little +difficulty in fixing upon the exact site, which is covered by an +unprepossessing row of dark red brick, presenting the aspect of having +stood there from time immemorial, though as I am informed, the houses +have been erected within the last quarter of a century. Unattractive as +they appear, however, they are the least uninviting feature in the +landscape, which is prosaic and squalid beyond description. Rickety, +tumble-down tenements of dilapidated lath and plaster stare the +beholder in the face at every turn. During the greater part of the day +the solitude of the neighbourhood remains unbroken save by the tread of +some chance wayfarer like myself, and a general atmosphere of the +abomination of desolation reigns supreme. Passing along the +unfrequented pavement, one finds it difficult to realize the fact that +this was once a not unfashionable quarter of the capital of Upper +Canada. + +The old house stood forty or fifty feet back from the roadway, on the +north side, overlooking the waters of the bay. The lot was divided from +the street by a low picket fence, and admission to the enclosure was +gained by means of a small gate. In those remote times there were few +buildings intervening between Duchess street and the water front, and +those few were not very pretentious; so that when the atmosphere was +free from fog you could trace from the windows of the upper story the +entire hithermost shore of the peninsula which has since become The +Island. The structure itself, like most buildings then erected in York, +was of frame. It was of considerable dimensions for those days, and +must have contained at least eight or nine rooms. It was two stories +high, and had a good deal of painted fret-work about the windows of +the upper story. A stately elm stood immediately in the rear, and its +wide-spreading branches overshadowed the greater part of the back yard +and outbuildings. And that is all I have been able to learn about the +exterior aspect of the place. + + + + +II.--INSIDE THE HOUSE. + +A small porch-door, about half way down the western side, furnished the +ordinary mode of entrance to and exit from the house. This door opened +into an apartment which served the double purpose of sitting-room and +dining-room, and which was connected by an inner door with the kitchen +and back premises. There was, however, a rather wide-mouthed front +entrance, approached by a short flight of wooden steps, and opening +into a fair-sized hall. To the right of the hall, as you entered, a +door opened into what served as a drawing-room, which was seldom used, +as the occupants of the house were not given to receiving much +fashionable company. To the left of the hall, another door opened into +the dining-room already mentioned. A stairway facing the front +entrance, conducted you to the upper story, which consisted of several +bed-rooms and a large apartment in front. This latter must have been by +long odds the pleasantest room in the house. It was of comfortable +dimensions, well lighted, and cheerful as to its outlook. Two front +windows commanded a prospect of the bay and the peninsula, while a +third window on the eastern side overlooked the valley of the Don, +which was by no means the stagnant pool which it was destined to become +in later years. The only entrance to this chamber was a door placed +directly to the right hand at the head of the stairway, which stairway, +it may be mentioned, consisted of exactly seventeen steps. A small +bedroom in the rear was accessible only by a separate door at the back +of the upper hallway, and was thus not directly connected with the +larger apartment. + +I am not informed as to the precise number and features of the other +rooms in the upper story, except that is they were bedrooms; nor is any +further information respecting them essential to a full comprehension +of the narrative. Why I have been so precise as to what may at first +appear trivial details will hereafter appear. + + + + +III.--THE TENANTS OF THE HOUSE. + +As already mentioned, the house was probably built by Surveyor-General +Ridout;--but it does not appear that either he or any member of his +family ever resided there. The earliest occupant of whom I have been +able to find any trace was Thomas Mercer Jones--the gentleman, I +presume, who was afterwards connected with the Canada Land Company. +Whether he was the first tenant I am unable to say, but a gentleman +bearing that name dwelt there during the latter part of the year 1816, +and appears to have been a well-known citizen of Little York. In 1819 +the tenant was a person named McKechnie, as to whom I have been unable +to glean any information whatever beyond the bare fact that he was a +pewholder in St. James's church. He appears to have given place to one +of the numerous members of the Powell family. + +But the occupant with whom this narrative is more immediately concerned +was a certain ex-military man named Bywater, who woke up the echoes of +York society for a few brief months, between sixty and seventy years +ago, and who, after passing a lurid interval of his misspent life in +this community, solved the great problem of human existence by falling +down stairs and breaking his neck. Captain Stephen Bywater was a +_mauvais sujet_ of the most pronounced stamp. He came of a good +family in one of the Midland Counties of England; entered the army at +an early age, and was present on a certain memorable Sunday at +Waterloo, on which occasion he is said to have borne himself gallantly +and well. But he appears to have had a deep vein of ingrained vice in +his composition, which perpetually impelled him to crooked paths. +Various ugly stories were current about him, for all of which there was +doubtless more or less foundation. It was said that he had been caught +cheating at play, and that he was an adept in all the rascalities of +the turf. The deplorable event which led to the resignation of his +commission made considerable noise at the time of its occurrence. A +young brother officer whom he had swindled out of large sums of money, +was forced by him into a duel, which was fought on the French coast, in +the presence of two seconds and a military surgeon. There seems to have +been no doubt that the villainous captain fired too soon. At any rate, +the youth who had been inveigled into staking his life on the issue was +left dead on the field, while the aggressor rode off unscathed, +followed by the execrations of his own second. A rigid enquiry was +instituted, but the principal witnesses were not forthcoming, and the +murderer--for as such he was commonly regarded--escaped the punishment +which everybody considered he had justly merited. The severance of his +connection with the army was a foregone conclusion, and he was formally +expelled from his club. He was socially sent to Coventry, and his +native land soon became for him a most undesirable place of abode. Then +he crossed the Atlantic and made his way to Upper Canada, where, after +a while, he turned up at York, and became the tenant of the house on +Duchess street. + +At the time of his arrival in this country, which must have been some +time in 1822, or perhaps early in 1823, Captain Bywater was apparently +about forty years of age. He was a bachelor and possessed of some +means. For a very brief period he contrived to make his way into the +select society of the Provincial capital; but it soon became known that +he was the aristocratic desperado who had so ruthlessly shot down young +Remy Errington on the sands near Boulogne, and who had the reputation +of being one of the most unmitigated scamps who ever wore uniform. York +society in those days could swallow a good deal in a man of good birth +and competent fortune, but it could not swallow even a well-to-do +bachelor of good family and marriageable age who had been forced +to resign his commission, and had been expelled from a not too +straight-laced London club, by a unanimous vote of the committee. +Captain Bywater was dropped with a suddenness and severity which he +could not fail to understand. He received no more invitations from +mothers with marriageable daughters, and when he presented himself at +their doors informally and forbidden he found nobody at home. Ladies +ceased to recognise him on the street, and gentlemen received his bows +with a response so frigid that he readily comprehended the state of +affairs. He perceived that his day of grace was past, and accepted his +fate with a supercilious shrug of his broad shoulders. + +But the Captain was a gregarious animal, to whom solitude was +insupportable. Society of some sort was a necessity of his existence, +and as the company of ladies and gentlemen, was no longer open to him, +he sought consolation among persons of a lower grade in the social +scale. He began to frequent bar-rooms and other places of public +resort, and as he was free with his money he had no difficulty in +finding companions of a certain sort who were ready and willing enough +to drink at his expense, and to listen to the braggadocio tales of the +doughty deeds achieved by him during his campaign in the Peninsula. In +a few weeks he found himself the acknowledged head and front of a +little coterie which assembled nightly at the George Inn, on King +street. This, however, did not last long, as the late potations and +ribald carousings of the company disturbed the entire neighborhood, and +attracted attention to the place. The landlord received a stern +admonition to keep earlier hours and less uproarious guests. When +Boniface sought to carry this admonition into effect Captain Bywater +mounted his high horse, and adjourned to his own place, taking his five +or six boon companions with him. From that time forward the house on +Duchess street was the regular place of meeting. + + + + +IV.--THE ORGIES IN THE HOUSE. + +Captain Bywater, upon his first arrival at York, had taken up his +quarters at a public house. The York inns of the period had an +unenviable reputation, and were widely different from the Queen's and +Rossin of the present day. Some of my readers will doubtless remember +John Gait's savage fling at them several years later. To parody Dr. +Johnson's characterization of the famous leg of mutton, they were +ill-looking, ill-smelling, ill-provided and ill-kept. In a word, they +were unendurable places of sojourn for a man of fastidious tastes and +sensitive nerves. Perhaps the Captain's tastes were fastidious, though +I can hardly believes that his nerves were sensitive. Possibly he +wished to furnish clear evidence that he was no mere sojourner in a +strange land, but that he had come here with a view to permanent +settlement. At all events his stay at an inn was of brief duration. He +rented the house on Duchess street and furnished it in a style which +for those days might be called expensive, more especially for a +bachelor's establishment. The greater part of the furniture was sent up +from Montreal, and the Captain proclaimed his intention of giving a +grand house-warming at an early date. He had hardly become settled in +the place, however, before his character and antecedent life became +known, as already mentioned, and the project was abandoned. + +His household consisted of a man-servant named Jim Summers, whom he had +picked up at Montreal, and the wife of the latter, who enjoyed the +reputation of being an excellent cook, in which capacity she was +afterwards employed at the Government House during the regime of Sir +John Colborne. At first this couple had a tolerably easy time of it. +The Captain was not exigeant, and allowed them to run the establishment +pretty much as they chose. He always rose late, and went out +immediately after breakfast, accompanied by his large Newfoundland dog +Nero, the only living possession he had brought with him from beyond +the sea. Master and dog were seen no more until dinner-time, which was +five o'clock. Between seven and eight in the evening the pair would +betake themselves to the George, where the Captain drank and howled +himself hoarse until long past midnight. But he was a seasoned vessel, +and generally had pretty fair control over his limbs. He could always +find his way home without assistance, and used to direct his man not to +wait up for him. The dog was his companion whenever he stirred out of +doors. + +But when the venue was changed from the tap-room of the George Inn to +the Captain's own house, the troubles of Jim Summers and his wife +began. The guests commonly arrived within a few minutes of each other, +and were all in their places by eight o'clock. They met in the large +upper room, and their sessions were prolonged far into the night, or +rather into the morning, for it happened often enough that daylight +peeped in through the eastern window and found the company still +undispersed. Ribald jests, drunken laughter and obscene songs were kept +up the whole night through. The quantity of rum, whisky, brandy and +beer consumed in the course of a week must have been something to +wonder at. The refreshments were provided at the expense of the host, +and as it was Jim's business to keep up the supply of spirits, lemons +and hot water, he had no sinecure on his hands. It might well be +supposed that he might, if so minded, have found a more congenial +situation, but as a matter of fact, he was not over scrupulous as to +the nature of his employment, and probably had his full share of the +fun. The Captain paid good wages, and was lavish in gratuities when he +was in good humor. On the whole Jim considered that he had not such a +bad place of it, and was by no means disposed to quarrel with his bread +and butter. His wife took a different view of affairs, and ere long +refused to remain on the premises during the nightly orgies. This +difficulty was got over by an arrangement whereby she was permitted to +quit the house at eight o'clock in the evening, returning on the +following morning in time to prepare the Captain's breakfast. She spent +her nights with a married sister who lived a short distance away, and +by this means she avoided what to any woman of respectability must have +been an unbearable infliction. + +The orgies, in process of time, became a reproach to the neighborhood +and a scandal to the town. They were, however, kept up with few +interruptions, for several months. More than one townsman declared that +so intolerable a nuisance must be abated, but no one liked to be the +first to stir in such an unpleasant business, and the bacchanalians +continued to "vex with mirth the drowsy ear of night," unchecked by +more cleanly-living citizens. But just about the time when these +carousings had become absolutely intolerable to the community, they +were put a stop to without any outside interference. + + + + +V.--THE CATASTROPHE IN THE HOUSE. + +On a certain Sunday night, which was destined to be memorable in the +annals of the Duchess street house, the number of Captain Bywater's +guests was smaller than usual. They consisted of only three persons: + +1. Henry John Porter, an articled clerk in the office of Simon +Washburn. Mr. Washburn was a well-known lawyer of those times, whose +office was on the corner of Duke and George streets. He acted +professionally for the Ridout family, and had the letting and sale of +the Duchess street property. It was probably through this circumstance +that his clerk had become acquainted with Captain Bywater. + +2. James McDougall, who was employed in some subordinate capacity in +the Civil Service. + +3. Alfred Jordan Pilkey, whose occupation seems to have been nothing in +particular. + +What had become of the other regular attendants does not appear. Not +only were the guests few in number on this particular evening, but the +proceedings themselves seem to have been of a much less noisy character +than ordinary. It was noticed that the host was somewhat out of humor, +and that he displayed signs of ill-temper which were not usual with +him. His demeanor reflected itself upon his company, and the fun was +neither fast nor furious. In fact the time passed somewhat drearily, +and the sederunt broke up at the unprecedentedly early hour of eleven +o'clock. The man-servant saw the company out, locked the door, and +repaired to the room up-stairs where his master still lingered, to see +if anything more was required of him. + +The Captain sat in a large armchair by the fire, sipping a final glass +of grog. He seemed gloomy and dispirited, as though he had something on +his mind. In response to Jim's enquiry whether he wanted anything he +growled out: "No, go to bed, and be hanged to you." Jim took him at his +word, so far as the first clause of the injunction was concerned. He +went to bed in his room on the opposite side of the hallway. In passing +through the hall he perceived Nero lying asleep on the mat in front of +his master's bedroom, which was the small room in the rear of the large +apartment where the meetings were held. + +Jim had not been in bed many minutes and was in a tranquil state +between sleeping and waking, when he heard his master emerge from the +front room, and pass along the hallway, as though about to enter his +bed-chamber. Another moment and he was roused from his half-somnolent +condition by the hearing of the sharp report of a pistol shot, followed +by a sound from Nero, something between a moan and a howl. He sprang to +the floor, but ere he could make his way into the hall he was well-nigh +stunned by hearing a tremendous crash, as though some large body had +been hurled violently down the stairs from top to bottom. A vague +thought of robbers flashed through his brain, and he paused for a +moment, as he himself afterwards admitted, half paralyzed with fright. +He called aloud upon his master and then upon the dog, but received no +response from either. The crash of the falling body was succeeded by +absolute silence. Pulling his nerves together he struck a match, +lighted his candle and passed in fear and trembling into the hallway. +The first sight that greeted his eyes was the seemingly lifeless body +of Nero lying stretched out at the head of the stairs. Upon approaching +the body he found blood trickling from a wound in the poor brute's +throat. One of the Captain's pistols lay on the floor, close by. But +where was the Captain himself? Shading his eyes and holding the candle +before him he peered fearfully down the stairway, but the darkness was +too profound to admit of his seeing to the bottom. By this time a +foreshadowing of the truth had made its way to his understanding. He +crept gingerly down the stairs, slowly step by step, holding the candle +far in advance, and anon calling upon his master by name. He had passed +more than half the way down before he received full confirmation of his +forebodings. + +There, lying at full length across the hallway, between the foot of the +stairs and the front door, was the body of Remy Errington's murderer, +with the sinister, evil face turned up to the ceiling. His left arm, +still grasping a candlestick, was doubled under him, and his body, in +its impetuous descent, had torn away the lower portion of the +balustrade. The distraught serving-man raised the head on his arm, and, +by such means as occurred to him, sought to ascertain whether any life +still lingered there. He could find no pulsation at the wrist, but upon +applying his ear to the left side he fancied he could detect a slight +fluttering of the heart. Then he rushed to the kitchen, and returned +with a pitcher of water, which he dashed in the prostrate face. As this +produced no apparent effect he ran back upstairs to his bedroom, threw +on part of his clothes, and made his way at full speed to the house of +Dr. Pritchard on Newgate street. + +The doctor was a late bird, and had not retired to rest. He at once set +out for Duchess street, Jim Summers going round by the house of his +sister-in-law on Palace street to arouse his wife, who slept there. +Upon receiving his wife's promise to follow him as soon as she could +huddle on her clothing, Jim ran on in advance, and reached the Duchess +street house, only a minute or two later than Dr. Pritchard. The doctor +had been there long enough, however, to ascertain that the Captain's +neck was broken, and that he was where no human aid could reach him. He +would preside over no more orgies in the large room on the upper story. + + + + +VI.--THE INQUEST IN THE HOUSE. + +There was an inquest. That, under the circumstances, was a matter of +course, but nothing of importance was elicited beyond what has already +been noted. Porter, Macdougall and Pilkey all attended, and gave +evidence to the effect, that Captain Bywater was tolerably drunk when +they left him at eleven, but that he was upon the whole the most sober +of the party and appeared quite capable of taking care of himself. They +had noticed his uncongenial mood, but could afford no conjecture as to +the cause. It was impossible to suspect anything in the shape of foul +play. The obvious conclusion to be arrived at was that the Captain's +long drinking bouts had produced their legitimate result, and that at +the moment when he met his death he was suffering from, or on the verge +of delirium tremens. He generally carried a loaded pistol in his breast +pocket. He had found the dog asleep on the mat before his bedchamber. +It was probably asleep, or, at all events, it did not hasten to get out +of his way, and in a moment of insane fury or drunken stupidity he had +drawn forth his weapon, and shot the poor brute dead. He had just then +been standing near the top of the stairs. The quantity of liquor he had +drunk was sufficient to justify the conclusion that he was not as +steady on his pins as a sober man would have been. He had over-balanced +himself, and--and that was the whole story. The coroner's jury brought +in a verdict in accordance with the facts, and the Captain's body was +put to bed with the sexton's spade. + +A will, drawn up in due form in the office of Mr. Washburn, and +properly signed and attested, had been made by the deceased a short +time after taking possession of the place on Duchess street. His +fortune chiefly consisted of an income of five hundred pounds sterling +per annum, secured on real estate situated in Gloucestershire, England. +This income lapsed upon his death, and it had thus been unnecessary to +make any testamentary provision respecting it, except as to the portion +which should accrue between the last quarter-day and the death of the +testator. This portion was bequeathed to an elder brother residing in +Gloucestershire. All the other property of the deceased was bequeathed +to Mr. Washburn, in trust to dispose of such personal belongings as did +not consist of ready money, and to transmit the proceeds, together with +all the cash in hand, to the said elder brother in Gloucestershire. + +The latter provisions were duly carried into effect by Mr. Washburn +within a few days after the funeral, and it might well have been +supposed that the good people of York had heard the last of Captain +Bywater and his affairs. + +But they hadn't. + + + + +VII.--THE BLACK DOG AND HIS MASTER. + +At the sale of Captain Bywater's effects a portion of the furniture +belonging to the dining-room, kitchen and one bedroom were purchased by +Jim Summers, who, with his wife, continued to reside in the Duchess +street house pending the letting of it to a new tenant. These temporary +occupants thus lived in three rooms, their sleeping apartment being on +the upper story at the northern side of the house, and on the opposite +side of the hall from the large room which had been the scene of so +much recent dissipation. All the rest of the house was left bare, and +the doors of the unoccupied rooms were kept locked. Summers found +employment as porter and assistant in Hammell's grocery store, but his +wife was always on hand to show the premises to anyone who might wish +to see them. + +All went on quietly until nearly a month after the funeral. Mrs. +Summers had an easy time of it, as no intending tenants presented +themselves, and her only visitor was her married sister, who +occasionally dropped in for an hour's chat. Jim was always at home by +seven in the evening, and the time glided by without anything occurring +to disturb the smooth current of their lives. + +But this state of things was not to be of long continuance. One night +when Mr. Washburn was busy over his briefs in his study at home he was +disturbed by a loud knocking at his front door. As it was nearly +midnight, and as everyone else in the house had retired to rest, he +answered the summons in person. Upon unfastening the door he found Jim +and his wife at the threshold. They were only half dressed, and their +countenances were colorless as Pallida Mors. They stumbled impetuously +into the hall, and were evidently laboring under some tremendous +excitement. The lawyer conducted them into the study, where they poured +into his astonished ears a most singular tale. + +Their story was to the effect that they had been disturbed for several +nights previously by strange and inexplicable noises in the house +occupied by them on Duchess street. They had been aroused from sleep at +indeterminate hours by the sound of gliding footsteps just outside of +the door of their bedroom. Once they had distinctly heard the sound of +voices, which seemed to come from the large front room across the hall. +As the door of that room was last closed and locked, they had not been +able to distinguish the particular words, but they both declared that +the voice was marvellously like that of Captain Bywater. They were +persons of fairly steady nerves, but their situation, all things +considered, was solitary and peculiar, and they had not by any means +relished these unaccountable manifestations. On each occasion, however, +they had controlled themselves sufficiently to institute a vigorous +investigation of the premises, but had discovered nothing to throw any +light upon the subject. They had found all the doors and the windows +securely fastened and there was no sign of the presence of anything or +anybody to account for the gliding footsteps. + +They had unlocked and entered the front room, and found it bare and +deserted as it had been left ever since the removal of the furniture +after the sale. They had even gone to the length of unlocking and +entering every other room in the house, but had found no clue to the +mysterious sounds which had disturbed them. Then they had argued +themselves into the belief that imagination had imposed upon them, or +that there was some natural but undiscovered cause for what had +occurred. They were reluctant to make themselves the laughingstock of +the town by letting the idea get abroad that they were afraid of +ghosts, and they determined to hold their tongues. But the +manifestations had at last assumed a complexion which rendered it +impossible to pursue such a course any longer, and they vehemently +protested that they would not pass another night in the accursed house +for any bribe that could be offered them. + +They had spent the preceding evening at home, as usual, and had gone to +bed a little before ten o'clock. The recent manifestations had probably +left some lingering trace upon their nerves, but they had no +premonitions of further experiences of the same character, and had soon +dropped asleep. They knew not how long they had slept when they were +suddenly and simultaneously rendered broad awake by a succession of +sounds which could not possibly be explained by any reference to mere +imagination. They heard the voice of their late master as distinctly as +they had ever heard it during his life. As before, it emanated from the +front room, but this time there was no possibility of their being +deceived, as they caught not only the sound of his voice, but also +certain words which they had often heard from his lips in bygone times. +"Don't spare the liquor, gentlemen," roared the Captain, "there's +plenty more where that came from. More sugar and lemon, you scoundrel, +and be handy there with the hot water." Then was heard the jingling +of glasses and loud rapping as if made with the knuckles of the hand +upon the table. Other voices were now heard joining in conversation, +but too indistinctly for the now thoroughly frightened listeners to +catch any of the actual words. There could, however, be no mistake. +Captain Bywater had certainly come back from the land of shadows and +re-instituted the old orgies in the old spot. The uproar lasted for at +least five minutes, when the Captain gave one of his characteristic +drunken howls, and of a sudden all was still and silent as the grave. + +As might naturally have been expected, the listeners were +terror-stricken. For a few moments after the cessation of the +disturbance, they lay there in silent, open-mouthed wonderment and fear. +Then, before they could find their voices, their ears were assailed by +a loud noise in the hall below, followed by the muffled "bow-wow" of a +dog, the sound of which seemed to come from the landing at the head of +the stairway. Jim could stand the pressure of the situation no longer. +He sprang from the bed, lighted a candle, and rushed out into the hall. +This he did, as he afterwards admitted, not because he felt brave, but +because he was too terrified to remain in bed, and seemed to be +impelled by a resolve to face the worst that fate might have in store +for him. Just as he passed from the door into the hall, a heavy +footstep was heard slowly ascending the stairs. He paused where he +stood, candle in hand. The steps came on, on, on, with measured tread. +A moment more and he caught sight of the ascending figure. Horror of +horrors! It was his late master--clothes, cane and all--just as he had +been in life; and at the head of the stairs stood Nero, who gave vent +to another low bark of recognition. When the Captain reached the +landing place he turned halfway round, and the light of the candle fell +full on his face. Jim saw the whole outline with the utmost clearness, +even to the expression in the eyes, which was neither gay nor sad, but +rather stolid and stern--just what he had been accustomed to see there. +The dog crouched back against the wall, and after a brief halt near the +stair-head, Captain Bywater turned the knob of his bed-room door and +passed in. The dog followed, the door was closed, and once more all was +silent. Jim turned and encountered the white face of his wife. She had +been standing behind him all the while, and had seen everything just +as it had been presented to his own eyes. Moreover, impelled by some +inward prompting for which she could never account, she had counted the +footsteps as they had ascended the stairs. They had been exactly +seventeen! + +The pair re-entered their room and took hurried counsel together. They +had distinctly seen the Captain turn the knob and pass into his +bed-room, followed by the semblance of Nero. As they well knew, the door +of that room was locked, and the key was at that moment in the pocket of +Mrs. Summers' dress. In sheer desperation they resolved at all hazards +to unlock the door and enter the room. Mrs. Summers produced the key +and handed it to her husband. She carried the candle and accompanied +him to the stair-head. He turned the lock and pushed the door wide open +before him, and both advanced into the room. It was empty, and the +window was found firmly fastened on the inside, as it had been left +weeks before. + +They returned to their own bedroom, and agreed that any further stay in +such a house of horrors was not to be thought of. Hastily arraying +themselves in such clothing as came readily to hand, they passed down +the stair-way, unbolted the front door, blew out the light, and made +their way into the open air. Then they relocked the door from outside +and left the place. Their intended destination was the house of Mrs. +Summers' sister, but they determined to go round by Mr. Washburn's and +tell him their story, as they knew he kept late hours and would most +likely not have gone to bed. + +Mr. Washburn, stolid man of law though he was, could not listen to such +a narrative without perceptable signs of astonishment. After thinking +over the matter a few moments, he requested his visitors to pass the +night under his roof, and to keep their own counsel for the present +about their strange experiences. As he well knew, if the singular story +got wind there would be no possibility of finding another tenant for +the vacant house. The young couple acceded to the first request, and +promised compliance with the second. They were then shown to a spare +room, and the marvels of that strange night were at an end. + +Next morning at an early hour the lawyer and the ex-serving man +proceeded to the Duchess street house. Everything was as it had been +left the night before, and no clue could be found to the mysterious +circumstances so solemnly attested to by Jim Summers and his spouse. +The perfect sincerity of the couple could not be doubted, but Mr. +Washburn was on the whole disposed to believe that they had in some way +been imposed upon by designing persons who wished to frighten them off +the premises, or that their imaginations had played them a scurvy +trick. With a renewed caution as to silence he dismissed them, and they +thenceforth took up their abode in the house of Mrs. Summers' sister on +Palace street. + +Mr. and Mrs. Summers kept their mouths as close as, under the +circumstances, could reasonably have been expected of them. But it was +necessary to account in some way for their sudden desertion of the +Duchess street house, and Mrs. Summers' sister was of an inquisitive +disposition. By degrees she succeeded in getting at most of the facts, +but to do her justice she did not proclaim them from the housetops, and +for some time the secret was pretty well kept. The story would probably +not have become generally known at all, but for a succession of +circumstances which took place when the haunted house had been vacant +about two months. + +An American immigrant named Horsfall arrived at York with a view of +settling there and opening out a general store. He was a man of family +and of course required a house to live in. It so happened that the +store rented to him on King street had no house attached to it, and it +was therefore necessary for him to look out for a suitable place +elsewhere. Hearing that a house on Duchess street was to let, he called +and went over the premises with Mr. Washburn, who naturally kept silent +as to the supernatural appearances which had driven the Summerses from +the door in the middle of the night. The inspection proved +satisfactory, and Mr. Horsfall took the place for a year. His household +consisted of his wife, two grown-up daughters, a son in his fifteenth +year, and a black female servant. They came up from Utica in advance of +Mr. Horsfall's expectations, and before the house was ready for them, +but matters were pushed forward with all possible speed, and on the +evening of the second day after their arrival they took possession of +the place. The furniture was thrown in higgledy-piggledy, and all +attempts to put things to rights were postponed until the next day. The +family walked over after tea from the inn at which they had been +staying, resolving to rough it for a single night in their new home in +preference to passing another night amid countless swarms of "the +pestilence that walketh in darkness." Two beds were hastily made up on +the floor of the drawing-room, one for the occupation of Mr. and Mrs. +Horsfall, and the other for the two young women. A third bed was +hastily extemporized on the floor of the dining-room for the occupation +of Master George Washington, and Dinah found repose on a lounge in the +adjacent kitchen. The entire household went to bed sometime between ten +and eleven o'clock, all pretty well tired, and prepared for a +comfortable night's rest. They had been in bed somewhat more than an +hour when the whole family was aroused by the barking of a dog in the +lower hall. This was, not unnaturally, regarded as strange, inasmuch as +all the doors and windows had been carefully fastened by Mr. Horsfall +before retiring, and there had certainly been no dog in the house then. +The head of the family lost no time in lighting a candle and opening +the door into the hall. At the same moment young G. W. opened the door +on the opposite side. Yes, there, sure enough, was a large, black +Newfoundland dog, seemingly very much at home, as though he belonged to +the place. As the youth advanced towards him he retreated to the +stairway, up which he passed at a great padding pace. How on earth had +he gained an entrance? Well, at all events he must be got rid of; but +he looked as if he would be an awkward customer to tackle at close +quarters and Mr. Horsfall deemed it prudent to put on a part of his +clothing before making any attempt to expel him. While he was dressing, +the tread of the animal on the floor of the upper hall could be +distinctly heard, and ever and anon he emitted a sort of low, barking +sound, which was ominous of a disposition to resent any interference +with him. By this time all the members of the household were astir and +clustering about the lower hall. Mr. Horsfall, with a lighted candle in +one hand and a stout cudgel in the other, passed up the stairs and +looked along the passage. Why, what on earth had become of the dog! It +was nowhere to be seen! Where could it have hidden itself? It was +certainly too large an animal to have taken refuge in a rat-hole. Had +it entered one of the rooms? Impossible, for they were all closed, +though not locked. Mr. H. himself having unlocked them in the course of +the afternoon, when some furniture had been taken into them. He, +however, looked into each room in succession, only to find "darkness +there and nothing more." Then he concluded that the brute must have +gone down stairs while he had been putting on his clothes in the room +below. No, that could not be, for George Washington had never left the +foot of the stairway from the moment the dog first passed up. Had it +jumped through one of the windows? No, they were all fast and intact. +Had it gone up the chimney of the front room? No; apart from the +absurdity of the idea, the hole was not large enough to admit of a dog +one-fifth its size. In vain the house was searched through and through. +Not a sign of the huge disturber of the domestic peace was to be seen +anywhere. + +After a while, Mr. Horsfall, at a loss for anything better to exercise +his faculties upon, opened both the front and back doors and looked all +over the premises, alternately calling Carlo! Watch! and every other +name which occurred to him as likely to be borne by a dog. There was no +response, and in sheer disgust he re-entered the house and again sought +his couch. In a few minutes more the household was again locked in +slumber. But they were not at the end of their annoyances. About half +an hour after midnight they were once more aroused.--this time by the +sound of loud voices in the large upper room. "I tell you we will all +have glasses round," roared a stentorian voice--"I will knock down the +first man who objects!" Everybody in the house heard the voice and the +words. This was apparently more serious than the dog. Mr. H. regretted +that he had left his pistols at the inn, but he determined to rid the +place of the intruders whoever they might be. Grasping the cudgel he +again made his way up-stairs, candle in hand. When more than half way +up he caught sight of a tall, heavily-built, red-faced man, who had +apparently emerged from the larger room, and who was just on the point +of opening the door of the back bedroom. "Who are you, you scoundrel?" +exclaimed Mr. H. The man apparently neither saw nor heard him, but +opened the door with tranquil unconcern and passed into the room. Mr. +H. followed quickly at his very heels--only to find that he had been +beguiled with a counterfeit, and that there was no one there. Then he +stepped back into the hallway, and entered the larger room with cudgel +raised, fully expecting to find several men there. To his unspeakable +astonishment he found nobody. Again he hurried from room to room, +upstairs and downstairs. Again he examined the doors and windows to see +if the fastenings had been tampered with. No, all was tight and snug. +The family were again astir, hurrying hither and thither, in quest of +they knew not what; but they found nothing to reward their search, and +after a while all gathered together half-clad in the dining room, where +they began to ask each other what these singular disturbances could +mean. + +Mr. Horsfall was a plain, matter of fact personage, and up to this +moment no idea of any supernatural visitation had so much as entered +his mind. Even now he scouted the idea when it was timidly broached by +his wife. He, however, perceived plainly enough that this was something +altogether out of the common way, and he announced his intention of +going to bed no more that night. The others lay down again, but we may +readily believe that they slept lightly, if at all, though nothing more +occurred to disturb them. Soon after daylight all the family rose and +dressed for the day. Once more they made tour after tour through all +the rooms, only to find that everything remained precisely as it had +been left on the preceding night. + +After an early breakfast Mr. H. proceeded to the house of Mr. Washburn, +where he found that gentleman was still asleep, and that he could not +be disturbed. The visitor was a patient man and declared his intention +of waiting. In about an hour Mr. Washburn came down stairs, and heard +the extraordinary story which his tenant had to relate. He had +certainly not anticipated anything of this sort, and gave vehement +utterance to his surprise. In reply to Mr. H.'s enquiries about the +house, however, he gave him a brief account of the life and death of +Captain Bywater, and supplemented the biography by a narration of the +singular experiences of Jim Summers and his wife. Then the American +fired up, alleging that his landlord had had no right to let him the +house, and to permit him to remove his family into it, without +acquainting him with the facts beforehand. The lawyer admitted that he +had perhaps been to blame, and expressed his regret. The tenant +declared that he then and there threw up his tenancy, and that he would +vacate the house in the course of the day. Mr. Washburn felt that a +court of law would probably hesitate to enforce a lease under such +circumstances, and assented that the arrangement between them should be +treated as cancelled. + + + + +VIII.--THE LAST OF THE HOUSE. + +And cancelled it was. Mr. Horsfall temporarily took his family and his +other belongings back to the inn, but soon afterwards secured a house +where no guests, canine, or otherwise, were in the habit of intruding +themselves uninvited in the silent watches of the night. He kept a +store here for some years, and, I believe, was buried at York. A son of +his, as I am informed--probably the same who figures in the foregoing +narrative--is, or lately was, a well-to-do resident of Syracuse, N. Y. + +Mr. Horsfall made no secret of his reasons for throwing up his tenancy, +and his adventures were soon noised abroad throughout the town. He was +the last tenant of the sombre house. Thenceforward no one could be +induced to rent it or even to occupy it rent free. It was commonly +regarded as a whisht, gruesome spot, and was totally unproductive to +its owners. Its subsequent history has already been given. + +And now what more is there to tell? Only this: that the main facts of +the foregoing story are true. Of course I am not in a position to vouch +for them from personal knowledge, any more than I am in a position to +personally vouch for the invasion of England by William of Normandy. +But they rest on as good evidence as most other private events of +sixty-odd years ago, and there is no reason for doubting their literal +truth. With regard to the supernatural element, I am free to confess +that I am not able to accept it in entirety. This is not because I +question the veracity of those who vouch for the alleged facts, but +because I have not received those facts at first hand, and because I am +not very ready to believe in the supernatural at all. I think that, in +the case under consideration, an intelligent investigation at the time +might probably have brought to light circumstances as to which the +narrative, as it stands, is silent. Be that as it may, the tale is +worth the telling, and I have told it. + + + + +SAVAREEN'S DISAPPEARANCE. + +A HALF-FORGOTTEN CHAPTER IN THE HISTORY OF AN UPPER CANADIAN +TOWNSHIP. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +THE PLACE AND THE MAN. + + +Near the centre of one of the most flourishing of the western counties +of Ontario, and on the line of the Great Western branch of the Grand +Trunk Railway, stands a pleasant little town, which, for the purposes +of this narrative, may be called Millbrook. Not that its real name is +Millbrook, or any thing in the least similar thereto; but as this +story, so far as its main events are concerned, is strictly true, and +some of the actors in it are still living, it is perhaps desirable not +to be too precise in the matter of locality. The strange disappearance +of Mr. Savareen made a good deal of noise at the time, not only in the +neighborhood, but throughout Upper Canada. It was a nine days' wonder, +and was duly chronicled and commented upon by the leading provincial +newspapers of the period; but it has long since passed out of general +remembrance, and the chain of circumstances subsequently arising out of +the event have never been made known beyond the limited circle +immediately interested. The surviving members of that circle would +probably not thank me for once more dragging their names conspicuously +before the public gaze. I might certainly veil their personalities +under the thin disguise of initial letters, but to this mode of +relating a story I have always entertained a decided objection. The +chief object to be aimed at in story-telling is to hold the attention +of the reader, and, speaking for myself, I am free to confess that I +have seldom been able to feel any absorbing interest in characters who +figure merely as the M. or N. of the baptismal service. I shall +therefore assign fictitious names to persons and places, and I cannot +even pretend to mathematical exactness as to one or two minor details. +In reporting conversations, for instance, I do not profess to reproduce +the _ipsissima verba_ of the speakers, but merely to give the +effect and purport of their discourses. I have, however, been at some +pains to be accurate, and I think I may justly claim that in all +essential particulars this story of Savareen's disappearance is as true +as any report of events which took place a good many years ago can +reasonably be expected to be. + +First: As to the man. Who was he? + +Well, that is easily told. He was the second son of a fairly well-to-do +English yeoman, and had been brought up to farming pursuits on the +paternal acres in Hertfordshire. He emigrated to Upper Canada in or +about the year 1851, and had not been many weeks in the colony before +he became the tenant of a small farm situated in the township of +Westchester, three miles to the north of Millbrook. At that time he +must have been about twenty-five or twenty-six years of age. So far as +could be judged by those who came most frequently into personal +relations with him, he had no very marked individuality to distinguish +him from others of his class and station in life. He was simply a young +English farmer who had migrated to Canada with a view to improving his +condition and prospects. + +In appearance he was decidedly prepossessing. He stood five feet eleven +inches in his stockings; was broad of shoulder, strong of arm, and well +set up about the limbs. His complexion was fair and his hair had a +decided inclination to curl. He was proficient in most athletics; could +box and shoot, and if put upon his mettle, could leap bodily over a +five-barred gate. He was fond of good living, and could always be +depended upon to do full justice to a well-provided dinner. It cannot +be denied that he occasionally drank more than was absolutely necessary +to quench a normal thirst, but he was as steady as could be expected of +any man who has from his earliest boyhood been accustomed to drink beer +as an ordinary beverage, and has always had the run of the buttery +hatch. He liked a good horse, and could ride anything that went on four +legs. He also had a weakness for dogs, and usually had one or two of +those animals dangling near his heels whenever he stirred out of doors. +Men and things in this country were regarded by him from a strictly +trans-Atlantic point of view, and he was frequently heard to remark +that this, that, and the other thing were "nothink to what we 'ave at +'ome." + +He was more or less learned in matters pertaining to agriculture, and +knew something about the current doctrines bearing on the rotation of +crops. His literary education, moreover, had not been wholly neglected. +He could read and write, and could cast up accounts which were not of +too involved and complicated a character. It cannot truly be said that +he had read Tom Jones, Roderick Random, and Pierce Egan's Life in London. +He regarded Cruikshank's illustrations to the last named work--more +particularly that one depicting Corinthian Tom "getting the best +of Charley,"--as far better worth looking at than the whole collection +in the National Gallery, a place where he had once whirled away a +tedious hour or two during a visit to town. + +Then, he was not altogether ignorant concerning several notable events +in the history of his native land. That is to say, he knew that a +certain king named Charles the First had been beheaded a good many +years ago, and that a disreputable personage named Oliver Cromwell had +somehow been mixed up in the transaction. He understood that the +destinies of Great Britain were presided over by Queen Victoria and two +Houses of Parliament, called respectively the House of Lords and the +House of Commons; and he had a sort of recollection of having heard +that those august bodies were called Estates of the Realm. In his eyes, +everything English was _ipso facto_ to be commended and admired, +whereas everything un-English was _ipso facto_ to be proportionately +condemned and despised. Any misguided person who took a different view +of the matter was to be treated as one who had denied the faith, and +was worse than an infidel. + +I have said that his appearance was prepossessing, and so it was in the +ordinary course of things, though he had a broad scar on his left +cheek, which, on the rare occasions when he was angry, asserted itself +somewhat conspicuously, and imparted, for the nonce, a sinister +expression to his countenance. This disfigurement, as I have heard, had +been received by him some years before his arrival in Canada. During a +visit to one of the market towns in the neighborhood of his home, he +had casually dropped into a gymnasium, and engaged in a fencing bout +with a friend who accompanied him. Neither of the contestants had ever +handled a foil before, and they were of course unskilled in the use of +such dangerous playthings. During the contest the button had slipped +from his opponent's weapon, just as the latter was making a vigorous +lunge. As a consequence Savareen's cheek had been laid open by a wound +which left its permanent impress upon him. He himself was in the habit +of jocularly alluding to this disfigurement as his "bar sinister." + +For the rest, he was stubborn as a mule about trifles which did not in +the least concern him, but as regarded the affairs of every-day life he +was on the whole pleasant and easy-going, more especially when nothing +occurred to put him out. When anything of the kind _did_ occur, he +could certainly assume the attitude of an ugly customer, and on such +occasions the wound on his cheek put on a lurid hue which was not +pleasant to contemplate. His ordinary discourse mainly dealt with the +events of his everyday life. It was not intellectually stimulating, and +for the most part related to horses, dogs, and the crop prospects of +the season. In short, if you have ever lived in rural England, or if +you have been in the habit of frequenting English country towns on +market-days, you must have encountered scores of jolly young farmers +who, to all outward seeming, with the solitary exception of the +sinister scar, might pretty nearly have stood for his portrait. + +Such was Reginald Bourchier Savareen, and if you have never come across +anybody possessing similar characteristics--always excepting the +scar--your experience of your fellow-creatures has been more limited than +might be expected from a reader of your age and manifest intelligence. + +His farm--_i.e._, the farm rented by him--belonged to old Squire +Harrington, and lay in a pleasant valley on the western side of the +gravel road leading northward from Millbrook to Spotswood. The Squire +himself lived in the red brick mansion which peeped out from the clump +of maples a little further down on the opposite side of the road. The +country thereabouts was settled by a thrifty and prosperous race of +pioneers, and presented a most attractive appearance. Alternate +successions of hill and dale greeted the eye of the traveller as he +drove along the hard-packed highway, fifteen miles in length, which +formed the connecting link between the two towns above mentioned. The +land was carefully tilled, and the houses, generally speaking, were of +a better class than were to be found in most rural communities in Upper +Canada at that period. Savareen's own dwelling was unpretentious +enough, having been originally erected for one of the squire's "hired +men," but it was sufficient for his needs, as he had not married until +a little more than a year before the happening of the events to be +presently related, and his domestic establishment was small. His entire +household consisted of himself, his young wife, an infant in arms, a +man servant and a rustic maid of all work. In harvest time he, of +course, employed additional help, but the harvesters were for the most +part residents of the neighborhood, who found accommodation in their +own homes. The house was a small frame, oblong building, of the +conventional Canadian farm-house order of architecture, painted of a +drab color and standing a hundred yards or so from the main road. The +barn and stable stood a convenient distance to the rear. About midway +between house and barn was a deep well, worked with a windlass and +chain. During the preceding season a young orchard had been planted out +in the space intervening between the house and the road. Everything +about the place was kept in spick and span order. The tenant was fairly +successful in his farming operations, and appeared to be holding his +own with the world around him. He paid his rent promptly, and was on +excellent terms with his landlord. He was, in fact, rather popular with +his neighbors generally, and was regarded as a man with a fair future +before him. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +THE NEIGHBORHOOD. + + +About a quarter of a mile to the north of Savareen's abode was a +charming little hostelry, kept by a French Canadian named Jean Baptiste +Lapierre. It was one of the snuggest and cosiest of imaginable inns; +by no means the sort of wayside tavern commonly to be met with in +Western Canada in those times, or even in times much more recent. The +landlord had kept a high-class restaurant in Quebec in the old days +before the union of the Provinces, and piqued himself upon knowing what +was what. He was an excellent cook, and knew how to cater to the +appetites of more exacting epicures than he was likely to number among +his ordinary patrons in a rural community like that in which he had +piched his quarters. When occasion required, he could serve up a dinner +or supper at which Brillat Savarian himself would have had no excuse +for turning up his nose. It was seldom that any such exigeant demand as +this was made upon his skill, but even his ordinary fare was good +enough for any city sir or madam whom chance might send beneath his +roof, and such persons never failed to carry away with them pleasant +remembrances of the place. + +The creaking sign which swayed in the breeze before the hospitable door +proclaimed it to be The Royal Oak, but it was commonly known throughout +the whole of that country-side as Lapierre's. The excellence of its +larder was proverbial, insomuch that professional men and others used +frequently to drive out from town expressly to dine or sup there. Once +a week or so--usually on Saturday nights--a few of the choice spirits +thereabouts used to meet in the cosy parlor and hold a decorous sort of +free-and-easy, winding up with supper at eleven o'clock. On these +occasions, as a matter of course, the liquor flowed with considerable +freedom, and the guests had a convivial time of it; but there was +nothing in the shape of wild revelry--nothing to bring reproach upon +the good name of the house. Jean Baptiste had too much regard for his +well-earned reputation to permit these meetings to degenerate into mere +orgies. He showed due respect for the sanctity of the Sabbath, and took +care to make the house clear of company before the stroke of midnight. +By such means he not only kept his guests from indulging in riotous +excesses, but secured their respect for himself and his establishment. + +Savareen was a pretty regular attendant at these convivial gatherings, +and was indeed a not infrequent visitor at other times. He always met +with a warm welcome, for he could sing a good song, and paid his score +with commendable regularity. His Saturday nights' potations did not +interfere with his timely appearance on Sunday morning in his pew in +the little church which stood on the hill a short distance above +Lapierre's. His wife usually sat by his side, and accompanied him to +and fro. Everything seemed to indicate that the couple lived happily +together, and that they were mutually blessed in their domestic +relations. With regard to Mrs. Savareen, the only thing necessary to +be mentioned about her at present is that she was the daughter of a +carpenter and builder resident in Millbrook. + +There was a good deal of travel on the Millbrook and Spotswood road, +more especially in the autumn, when the Dutch farmers from the +settlements up north used to come down in formidable array, for the +purpose of supplying themselves with fruit to make cider and +"applesass" for the winter. The great apple-producing district of the +Province begins in the townships lying a few miles to the south of +Westchester, and the road between Millbrook and Spotswood was, and is, +the most direct route thither from the Dutch settlements. The garb and +other appointments of the stalwart Canadian Teuton of those days were +such as to make him easily distinguishable from his Celtic or Saxon +neighbor. He usually wore a long, heavy, coat of coarse cloth, reaching +down to his heels. His head was surmounted by a felt hat with a brim +wide enough to have served, at a pinch, for the tent of a side-show. +His wagon was a great lumbering affair, constructed, like himself, +after an ante-diluvian pattern, and pretty nearly capacious enough for +a first-rate man-of-war. In late September and early October it was no +unprecedented thing to see as many as thirty or forty of these +ponderous vehicles moving southward, one at the tail of the other, in a +continuous string. They came down empty, and returned a day or two +afterwards laden with the products of the southern orchards. On the +return journey the wagons were full to overflowing. Not so the drivers, +who were an exceedingly temperate and abstemious people, too +parsimonious to leave much of their specie at the Royal Oak. It was +doubtless for this reason that mine host Lapierre regarded, and was +accustomed to speak of them with a good deal of easy contempt, not to +say aversion. They brought little or no grist to his mill, and he was +fond of proclaiming that he did not keep a hotel for the accommodation +of such _canaille_. The emphasis placed by him on this last word +was something quite refreshing to hear. + +The road all the way from Millbrook to Spotswood, corresponds to the +mathematical definition of a straight line. It forms the third +concession of the township, and there is not a curve in it anywhere. +The concessions number from west to east, and the sidelines, running at +right angles to them are exactly two miles apart. At the northwestern +angle formed by the intersection of the gravel road with the first side +line north of Millbrook stood a little toll-gate, kept, at the period +of the story, by one Jonathan Perry. Between the toll-gate and +Savareen's on the same side of the road were several other houses to +which no more particular reference is necessary. On the opposite side +of the highway, somewhat more than a hundred yards north of the +toll-gate, was the abode of a farmer named Mark Stolliver. Half a mile +further up was John Calder's house, which was the only one until you +came to Squire Harrington's. To the rear of the Squire's farm was a +huge morass about fifty acres in extent, where cranberries grew in +great abundance, from which circumstance it was known as Cranberry +Swamp. + +Now you have the entire neighborhood before you, and if you will cast +your eye on the following rough plan you will have no difficulty in +taking in the scene at a single glance:-- + +[Illustration: map of the area described in preceding text] + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +A JOURNEY TO TOWN. + + +In the early spring of the year 1854 a letter reached Savareen from +his former home in Hertfordshire, containing intelligence of the sudden +death of his father. The old gentleman had been tolerably well off in +this world's gear, but he had left a numerous family behind him, so +that there was no great fortune in store for Reginald. The amount +bequeathed to him, however, was four hundred pounds sterling clear of +all deductions--a sum not to be despised, as it would go far toward +enabling him to buy the farm on which he lived, and would thus give a +material impetus to his fortunes. The executors lost no time in winding +up and distributing the estate, and during the second week in July a +letter arrived from their solicitors enclosing a draft on the Toronto +agency of the Bank of British North America for the specified sum. +Savareen made arrangements with the local bank at Millbank to collect +the proceeds, and thus save him the expense of a journey to Toronto. +Meanwhile he concluded a bargain with Squire Harrington for the +purchase of the farm. The price agreed upon was $3,500, half of which +was to be paid down upon the delivery of the deed, the balance being +secured by mortgage. The cash would be forthcoming at the bank not +later than the 18th of the month, and accordingly that was the date +fixed upon for the completion of the transaction. Lawyer Miller was +instructed to have the documents ready for execution at noon, when the +parties and their respective wives were to attend at his office in +Millbrook. + +The morning of Monday, the 17th, was wet and gave promise of a rainy +day. As there seemed to be no prospect of his being able to do any +outside work on the farm, Savareen thought he might as well ride into +town and ascertain if the money had arrived. He saddled his black mare, +and started for Millbrook--about ten in the forenoon. His two dogs +showed a manifest desire to accompany him, but he did not think fit to +gratify their desire and ordered them back. Before he had ridden far +the rain ceased, and the sun came out warm and bright, but he was in an +idle mood, and didn't think it worth while to turn back. It seems +probable indeed, that he had merely wanted an excuse for an idle day in +town; as there was no real necessity for such a journey. Upon reaching +the front street he stabled his mare at the Peacock Inn, which was his +usual house of call when in Millbrook. He next presented himself at the +bank, where he made enquiry about his draft. Yes, the funds were there +all right. The clerk, supposing that he wanted to draw the amount there +and then, counted the notes out for him, and requested him to sign the +receipt in the book kept for such purposes. Savareen then intimated +that he had merely called to enquire about the matter, and that he +wished to leave the money until next day. The clerk, who was out of +humor about some trifle or other, and who was, moreover, very busy that +morning, spoke up sharply, remarking that he had had more bother about +that draft than the transaction was worth. His irritable turn and +language nettled Savareen, who accordingly took the notes, signed the +receipt and left the bank, declaring that "that shop" should be +troubled by no further business of his. The clerk, as soon as he had +time to think over the matter, perceived that he had been rude, and +would have tendered an apology, but his customer had already shaken the +dust of the bank off his feet and taken his departure, so that there +was no present opportunity of accommodating the petty quarrel. As +events subsequently turned out it was destined never to be accommodated +in this world, for the two never met again on this side the grave. + +Instead of returning home immediately as he ought to have done, +Savareen hung about the tavern all day, drinking more than was good for +his constitution, and regaling every boon companion he met with an +account of the incivility to which he had been subjected at the hands +of the bank clerk. Those to whom he told the story thought he attached +more importance to the affair than it deserved, and they noticed that +the scar on his cheek came out in its most lurid aspect. He dined at +the Peacock and afterwards indulged in sundry games of bagatelle and +ten-pins; but the stakes consisted merely of beer and cigars, and he +did not get rid of more than a few shillings in the course of the +afternoon. Between six and seven in the evening his landlady regaled +him with a cup of strong tea, after which he seemed none the worse for +his afternoon's relaxations. A few minutes before dusk he mounted his +mare and started on his way homeward. + +The ominous clouds of the early morning had long since passed over. The +sun had shone brightly throughout the afternoon, and had gone down amid +a gorgeous blaze of splendour. The moon would not rise till nearly +nine, but the evening was delightfully calm and clear, and the +horseman's way home was as straight as an arrow, over one of the best +roads in the country. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +GONE. + +At precisely eight o'clock in the evening of this identical Monday, +July 17th, 1854, old Jonathan Perry sat tranquilly smoking his pipe at +the door of the toll-gate two miles north of Millbrook. + +The atmosphere was too warm to admit of the wearing of any great +display of apparel, and the old man sat hatless and coatless on a sort +of settle at the threshold. He was an inveterate old gossip, and was +acquainted with the business of everybody in the neighborhood. He knew +all about the bargain entered into between Savareen and Squire +Harrington, and how it was to be consummated on the following day. +Savareen, when riding townwards that morning, had informed him of the +ostensible purpose of his journey, and it now suddenly occurred to the +old man to wonder why the young farmer had not returned home. + +While he sat there pondering, the first stroke of the town bell +proclaiming the hour was borne upon his ear. Before the ringing had +ceased, he caught the additional sound of a horse's hoofs rapidly +advancing up the road. + +"Ah," said he to himself, "here he comes. I reckon his wife'll be apt +to give him fits for being so late." + +In another moment the horseman drew up before him, but only to exchange +a word of greeting, as the gate was thrown wide open, and there was +nothing to bar his progress. The venerable gate-keeper had conjectured +right. It was Savareen on his black mare. + +"Well, Jonathan, a nice evening," remarked the young farmer. + +"Yes, Mr. Savareen--a lovely night. You've had a long day of it in +town. They'll be anxious about you at home. Did you find the money all +right, as you expected?" + +"O, the money was there, right enough, and I've got it in my pocket. I +had some words with that conceited puppy, Shuttleworth, at the bank. +He's altogether too big for his place, and I can tell you he'll have +the handling of no more money of mine." And then, for about the +twentieth time within the last few hours, he recounted the particulars +of his interview with the bank clerk. + +The old man expressed his entire concurrence in Savareen's estimate of +Shuttleworth's conduct. "I have to pay the gate-money into the bank on +the first of every month," he remarked, "and that young feller always +acts as if he felt too uppish to touch it. I wonder you didn't drop +into 'un." + +"O, I wasn't likely to do that," was the reply--"but I gave him a bit +of my mind, and I told him it 'ud be a long time afore I darkened the +doors of his shop again. And so it will. I'd sooner keep my bit o' +money, when I have any, in the clock-case at home. There's never any +housebreaking hereabouts." + +Jonathan responded by saying that, in so far as he knew, there hadn't +been a burglary for many a year. + +"But all the same," he continued, "I shouldn't like to keep such a sum +as four hundred pound about me, even for a single night. No more I +shouldn't like to carry such a pot o' money home in the night time, +even if nobody knew as I had it on me. Ride you home, Mr. Savareen, and +hide it away in some safe place till to-morrow morning--that's +_my_ advice." + +"And very good advice it is, Jonathan," was the response. "I'll act +upon it without more words. Good night!" And so saying, Savareen +continued his course homeward at a brisk trot. + +The old man watched him as he sped away up the road, but could not keep +him in view more than half a minute or so, as by this time the light of +day had wholly departed. He lighted his pipe, which had gone out during +the conversation, and resumed his seat on the settle. Scarcely had he +done so ere he heard the clatter of horse's hoofs moving rapidly +towards the gate from the northward. "Why," said he to himself, "this +must be Savareen coming back again. What's the matter now, I wonder?" + +But this time he was out in his conjecture. When the horseman reached +the gate, he proved to be not Savareen, but mine host Lapierre, mounted +on his fast-trotting nag, Count Frontenac--a name irreverently +abbreviated by the sportsmen of the district into "Fronty." The rider +drew up with a boisterous "Woa!" and reached out towards the gate-keeper +a five-cent piece by way of toll, saying as he did so: + +"Vell, Mister Perry, how coes everytings wiss you?" + +"O, good evening, Mr. Lapierre; I didn't know you till you spoke. My +eyesight's getting dimmer every day, I think. Bound for town?" + +"Yes, I want to see what has cot Mr. Safareen. He went to town early +this morning to see about some money matters, and promised to pe pack +in a couple of hours, put he ain't pack yet. Mrs. Safareen cot so +uneasy apout him to-night, that she came up to my place and pegged me +to ride down and hunt him up. I suppose you saw him on his way down?" + +"Saw him! On his way down! What are you talking about? Didn't you meet +him just now?" + +"Meet who?" + +"Savareen." + +"Where? When?" + +"Why, not two minutes ago. He passed through here on his way home just +before you came up." + +"How long pefore?" + +"How long! Why, don't I tell you, not two minutes. He hadn't hardly got +out o' sight when I heerd your horse's feet on the stones, and thought +it was him a-coming back again. You must a met him this side o' +Stolliver's." + +Then followed further explanations on the part of old Jonathan, who +recounted the conversation he had just had with Savareen. + +Well, of course, the key to the situation was not hard to find. +Savareen had left the toll-gate and proceeded northward not more than +two or three minutes before Lapierre, riding southward along the same +road, had reached the same point. The two had not encountered each +other. Therefore, one of them had deviated from the road. There had +been no deviation on the part of Lapierre, so the deviator must +necessarily have been Savareen. But the space of time which had elapsed +was too brief to admit of the latter's having ridden more than a +hundred yards or thereabouts. The only outlet from the road within four +times that distance was the gateway leading into Stolliver's house. The +explanation, consequently, was simple enough. Savareen had called in at +Stollivers. Q. E. D. + +Strange, though, that he had said nothing to old Jonathan about his +intention to call there. He had ridden off as though intent upon +getting home without delay, and hiding his money away in a safe place +for the night. And, come to think of it, it was hard to understand what +possible reason he could have for calling at Stolliver's. He had never +had any business or social relations of any kind with Stolliver, and in +fact the two had merely a nodding acquaintance. Still another strange +thing was that Savareen should have taken his horse inside the gate, as +there was a tying-post outside, and he could not have intended to make +any prolonged stay. However, there was no use raising difficult +problems, which could doubt less be solved by a moment's explanation. +It was absolutely certain that Savareen was at Stolliver's because he +could not possibly have avoided meeting Lapierre if he had not called +there. It was Lapierre's business to find him and take him home. +Accordingly the landlord of the Royal Oak turned his horse's head and +cantered back up the road till he reached the front of Stolliver's +place. + +Stolliver and his two boys were sitting out on the front fence, having +emerged from the house only a moment before. They had been working in +the fields until past sundown, and had just risen from a late supper. +Old Stolliver was in the habit of smoking a pipe every night after his +evening meal, and in pleasant weather he generally chose to smoke it +out of doors, as he was doing this evening, although the darkness had +fallen. Lapierre, as he drew rein, saw the three figures on the fence, +but could not in the darkness, distinguish one from, another. + +"Is that Mister Stollifer?" he asked. + +"Yes; who be _you_?" was the ungracious response, delivered in a gruff +tone of voice. Old Stolliver was a boorish, cross-grained customer, who +paid slight regard to the amenities, and did not show to advantage in +conversation. + +"Don't you know me? I am Mister Lapierre." + +"O, Mr. Lapierre, eh? Been a warm day." + +"Yes. Hass Mister Safareen gone?" + +"Mister who?" + +"Mister Safareen. Wass he not here shoost now?" + +"Here? What fur?" + +The landlord was by this time beginning to feel a little disgusted at +the man's boorish incivility. "Will you pe so coot as to tell me," he +asked, "if Mister Safareen hass peen here?" + +"Not as I know of. Hain't seen him." + +Lapierre was astounded. He explained the state of affairs to his +interlocuter, who received the communication with his wonted stolidity, +and proceeded to light his pipe, as much as to say that the affair was +none of his funeral. + +"Well," he remarked, with exasperating coolness, "I guess you must 'a' +passed him on the road. We hain't been out here more'n a minute or two. +Nobody hain't passed since then." + +This seemed incredible. Where, then, was Savareen? Had he sunk into the +bowels of the earth, or gone up, black mare and all, in a balloon? Of +course it was all nonsense about the landlord having passed him on the +road without seeing or hearing anything of him. But what other +explanation did the circumstances admit of? At any rate, there was +nothing for Lapierre to do but ride back to Savareen's house and see if +he had arrived there. Yes, one other thing might be done. He might +return to the toll gate and ascertain whether Jonathan Perry was +certain as to the identity of the man from whom he had parted a few +minutes before. So Count Frontenac's head was once more turned +southward. A short trot brought him again to the toll-house. The +gatekeeper was still sitting smoking at the door. A moment's conference +with him was sufficient to convince Lapierre that there could be no +question of mistaken identity. "Why," said Jonathan, "I know Mr. +Savareen as well as I know my right hand. And then, didn't he tell me +about his row with Shuttleworth, and that he had the four hundred +pounds in his pocket. Why, dark as it was, I noticed the scar on his +cheek when he was talking about it.--I say, Missus, look here," he +called in a louder tone, whereupon his wife presented herself at the +threshold. "Now," resumed the old man, "just tell Mr. Lapierre whether +you saw Mr. Savareen talking to me a few minutes since, and whether you +saw him ride off up the road just before Mr. Lapierre came down. Did +you, or did you not?" + +Mrs. Perry's answer was decisive, and at the same time conclusive as to +the facts. She had not only seen Savareen sitting on his black mare at +the door, immediately after the town bell ceased ringing for eight +o'clock; but she had listened to the conversation between him and her +husband, and had heard pretty nearly every word. Lapierre cross +examined her, and found that her report of the interview exactly +corresponded with what he had already heard from old Jonathan. "Why," +said she, "there is no more doubt of its being Mr. Savareen than there +is of that gate-post being there on the road-side. 'Very good advice it +is,' says he, 'and I'll act upon it without more words.' Then he said +'good night,' and off he went up the road. Depend upon it, Mr. +Lapierre, you've missed him somehow in the darkness, and he's safe and +sound at home by this time." + +"Yes, yes, Mr. Lapierre, not a doubt on it," resumed old Jonathan, +"you've a passed him on the road athout seein' 'im. It was dark, and +you were both in a hurry. I've heerd o' lots o' stranger things nor +that." + +Lapierre couldn't see it. He knew well enough that it was no more +possible for him to pass a man on horseback on that narrow highway, on +a clear night, without seeing him--more especially when he was out for +the express purpose of finding that very man--than it was possible for +him to serve out _un petit verre_ of French brandy in mistake for +a gill of Hollands. The facts, however, seemed to be wholly against +him, as he bade the old couple a despondent good-night and put Count +Frontenac to his mettle. He stayed not for brook--there _was_ a +brook a short distance up the road--and he stopped not for stone, but +tore along at a break-neck pace as though he was riding for a wager. In +five minutes he reached Savareen's front gate. + +Mrs. Savareen was waiting there, on the look-out for her husband. No, +of course he had not got home. She had neither seen nor heard anything +of him, and was by this time very uneasy. You may be sure that her +anxiety was not lessened when she heard the strange tale which Lapierre +had to tell her. + +Even then, however, she did not give up the hope of her husband's +arrival sometime during the night. Lapierre promised to look in again +in an hour or two, and passed on to his own place, where he regaled the +little company he found there with the narrative of his evening's +exploits. Before bedtime the story was known all over the neighborhood. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +ONE HUNDRED POUNDS REWARD. + + +Mrs. Savareen sat up waiting for her lord until long past midnight, but +her vigil was in vain. Lapierre, after closing up his inn for the +night, dropped in, according to his promise, to see if any news of the +absentee had arrived. Nothing further could be done in the way of +searching for the latter personage until daylight. + +It was getting on pretty well towards morning when Mrs. Savareen sought +her couch, and when she got there her slumber was broken and disturbed. +She knew not what to think, but she was haunted by a dread that she +would never again see her husband alive. + +Next morning, soon after daylight, the whole neighborhood was astir, +and the country round was carefully searched for any trace of the +missing man. Squire Harrington went down to town and made inquiries at +the bank, where he ascertained that the story told by Savareen to old +Jonathan Perry, as to his altercation with Shuttleworth, was +substantially correct. This effectually disposed of any possible theory +as to Jonathan and his wife having mistaken somebody else for Savareen. +Squire Harrington likewise learned all about the man's doings on the +previous afternoon, and was able to fix the time at which he had +started for home. He had ridden from the door of the Peacock at about a +quarter to eight. This would bring him to the toll-gate at eight +o'clock--the hour at which Perry professed to have seen and conversed +with him. There was no longer any room for doubt. That interview and +conversation had actually taken place at eight o'clock on the previous +evening, and Savareen had ridden northward from the gate within +five minutes afterwards. He could not have proceeded more than a +hundred--or, at the very outside, two hundred--yards further, or he must +inevitably have been encountered by Lapierre. How had he contrived to +vanish so suddenly out of existence? And it was not only the man, but +the horse, which had disappeared in this unaccountable manner. It +seemed improbable that two living substances of such bulk should pass +out of being and leave no trace behind them. They must literally have +melted into thin air. + +No, they hadn't. At least the black mare hadn't, for she was discovered +by several members of the searching-party a little before noon. When +found, she was quietly cropping the damp herbage at the edge of the +cranberry swamp at the rear of Squire Harrington's farm. She was +wholly uninjured, and had evidently spent the night there. The bit had +been removed from her mouth, but the bridle hung intact round her neck. +The saddle, however, like its owner, had disappeared from her back. + +Then the men began a systematic search in the interior of the swamp. +They soon came upon the saddle, which had apparently been deliberately +unbuckled, removed from off the mare, and deposited on a dry patch of +ground, near the edge of the morass. A little further in the interior +they came upon a man's coat, made of dark brown stuff. This garment was +identified by one of the party as belong to Savareen. It was wet and +besmirched with mud, and, in fact was lying half in and half out of a +little puddle of water when it was found. Then the searchers made sure +of finding the body. + +But in this they were disappointed. They explored the recesses of the +swamp from end to end and side to side with the utmost thoroughness, +but found nothing further to reward their search. The ground was too +soft and marshy to retain any traces of footsteps, and the mare and +saddle furnished the only evidence that the object of their quest had +been in the neighborhood of the swamp--and of course this evidence was +of the most vague and inconclusive character. + +Then the party proceeded in a body to the missing man's house. Here +another surprise awaited them. The coat was at once recognised by Mrs. +Savareen as belonging to her husband, but IT WAS NOT THE COAT WORN BY +HIM AT THE TIME OF HIS DISAPPEARANCE. Of this there was no doubt +whatever. In fact, he had not worn it for more than a week previously. +His wife distinctly remembered having folded and laid it away in the +top of a large trunk on the Saturday of the week before last, since +which time she had never set eyes on it. Here was a deepening of the +mystery. + +The search was kept up without intermission for several days, nearly +all of the farmers in the vicinity taking part in it, even to the +neglect of the harvest work which demanded their attention. Squire +Harrington was especially active, and left no stone unturned to unravel +the mystery. Lapierre gave up all his time to the search, and left the +Royal Oak to the care of its landlady. The local constabulary bestirred +themselves as they had never done before. Every place, likely and +unlikely, where a man's body might possibly lie concealed; every tract +of bush and woodland; every barn and out building; every hollow and +ditch; every field and fence corner, was explored with careful +minuteness. Even the wells of the district were peered into and +examined for traces of the thirteen stone of humanity which had so +unaccountably disappeared from off the face of the earth. Doctor Scott, +the local coroner, held himself in readiness to summon a coroner's jury +at the shortest notice. When all these measures proved unavailing, a +public meeting of the inhabitants was convened, and funds were +subscribed to still further prosecute the search. A reward of a hundred +pounds was offered for any information which should lead to the +discovery of the missing man, dead or alive, or, which should throw any +light upon his fate. Hand-bills proclaiming this reward, and describing +the man's personal appearance, were exhibited in every bar room and +other conspicuous place throughout Westchester and the adjacent +townships. Advertisements, setting forth the main facts, were inserted +in the principal newspapers of Toronto, Hamilton and London, as well as +in those of several of the nearest county towns. + +All to no purpose. Days--weeks--months passed by, and furnished not the +shadow of a clue to the mysterious disappearance of Reginald Bourchier +Savareen on the night of Monday, the 17th of July, 1854. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +SPECULATIONS. + + +For a long time subsequent to the night of the disappearance a more +puzzled community than the one settled along the Millbrook and +Spotswood road would have been hard to find in Upper Canada. At first +sight it seemed probable that the missing man had been murdered for his +money. On the afternoon of the day when he was last seen in Millbrook +the fact of his having four hundred pounds in bank bills in his +possession was known to a great many people, for, as already intimated, +he told the story of his dispute at the bank to pretty nearly everyone +with whom he came in contact during the subsequent portion of the day, +and he in every instance wound up his narration by proclaiming to all +whom it might concern that he had the notes in his pocket. But it was +difficult to fix upon any particular individual as being open to +suspicion. There had been no attempt on the part of any of his +associates on that afternoon to detain him in town, and his remaining +there until the evening had been entirely due to his own inclinations. +So far as was known, he had not been followed by any person after his +departure from the Peacock at 7.45. Anyone following would have had no +prospect of overtaking him unless mounted on a good horse, and must +perforce have passed through the toll-gate. According to the testimony +of Perry and his wife, nobody had passed through the gate in his wake, +nor for more than an hour after him. But--mystery of mysteries--where +had he managed to hide himself and his mare during the two or three +minutes which had elapsed between his departure from the gate and the +arrival there of Lapierre? And, if he had been murdered, what had +become of his body? + +Had it been at all within the bounds of reason to suspect Stolliver, +suspicion would certainly have fallen upon that personage. But any idea +of the kind was altogether out of the question. Stolliver was a +boorish, uncompanionable fellow, but a more unlikely man to commit such +a serious crime could not have been found in the whole country side. +Again, he could not have had any conceivable motive for making away +with Savareen, as he had been working all day in the fields and knew +nothing about the four hundred pounds. Besides, a little quiet +investigation proved the thing to be an absolute impossibility. At the +time of Savareen's disappearance, Stolliver had been sitting at his own +table, in the company of his wife, his family, and a grown-up female +servant. He had sat down to table at about a quarter to eight, and had +not risen therefrom until several minutes after the town bell had +ceased to ring. On rising, he had gone out with his two boys--lads of +thirteen and fifteen years of age respectively--and had barely taken up +a position with them on the front fence when Lapierre came along and +questioned him, as related in a former chapter. So it was certainly not +worth while to pursue that branch of enquiry any farther. + +The only other persons upon whom the shadow of suspicion could by any +possibility fall were Lapierre and Jonathan Perry. Well, so far as the +latter was concerned the idea was too absurd for serious consideration. +To begin with, Jonathan was seventy-six years of age, feeble and almost +decrepid. Then, he was a man of excellent character, and, +notwithstanding his humble station in life, was liked and respected by +all who knew him. Finally, he could not have done away with Savareen +without the knowledge and concurrence of his wife, a gentle, kindly old +soul, who found her best consolation between the covers of her bible, +and who would not have raised her finger against a worm. So that branch +of the enquiry might also be considered as closed. + +As to Lapierre, the idea was at least as preposterous as either of the +others. The jovial landlord of the Royal Oak was on the whole about as +likely a man to commit robbery or murder as the bishop of the diocese. +He was of a cheery, open nature; was not greedy or grasping; had a +fairly prosperous business, and was tolerably well-to-do. On the night +of the 17th, he had undertaken to go down town and bring home the +absent man, but he had done so at the pressing request of the man's +wife, and out of pure kindness of heart. When setting out on his +mission he knew nothing about the altercation at the bank, and was +consequently ignorant that Savareen had any considerable sum of money +on his person. His first knowledge on these subjects had been +communicated to him by Perry, and before that time the man had +disappeared. It also counted for something that Savareen and he had +always been on the most friendly terms, and that Savareen was one of +his best customers. But, even if he had been the most bloodthirsty of +mankind, he had positively had no time to perpetrate a murder. The +two or three minutes elapsing between Savareen's departure from the +toll-gate and Lapierre's arrival there had been too brief to admit of +the latter's having meanwhile killed the former and made away with his +body; to say nothing of his having also made such a disposition of the +black mare as to enable it to be found in Cranberry Swamp on the +following day. + +After a while people began to ask whether it was probable that any +murder at all had been committed. The finding of the coat was an +unfathomable mystery, but it really furnished no evidence one way or +the other. And if there had been a murder, how was it that no traces of +the body were discoverable? How was it that no cry or exclamation of +any kind had been heard by old Jonathan, sitting there at the door in +the open air on a still night? It was certain that his ears had been +wide open, and ready enough to take in whatever was stirring, for he +had heard the sound of Count Frontenac's hoofs as they came clattering +down the road. + +Such questions as these were constantly in the mouths of the people of +that neighborhood for some days after the disappearance, but they met +with no satisfactory answer from any quarter, and as the time passed by +it began to be believed that no light would ever be thrown upon the +most mysterious occurrence that had ever taken place since that part of +the country had been first settled. One of the constables, discouraged +by repeated failures, ventured in all seriousness to express a +suspicion that Savareen had been bodily devoured by his mare. How else +could you account for no trace of him being visible anywhere? + +By an unaccountable oversight, Shuttleworth had kept no memorandum of +the number of the notes paid over to Savareen, and it was thus +impossible to trace them. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +"A WIDOW, HUSBANDLESS, SUBJECT TO FEARS." + + +The position of the missing man's wife was a particularly trying and +painful one--a position imperatively calling for the sympathy of the +community in which she lived. That sympathy was freely accorded to her, +but time alone could bring any thing like tranquillity to a mind +harrassed by such manifold anxieties as hers. After a lapse of a few +weeks Squire Harrington generously offered to take the farm off her +hands, but to this proposal she was for some time loath to assent. In +spite of her fears and misgivings, fitful gleams of hope that her +husband would return to her flitted across her mind. If he came back he +should find her at her post. Meanwhile the neighbors showed her much +kindness. They voluntarily formed an organisation of labor, and +harvested her crops, threshed them out and conveyed them to market for +her. Her brother, a young man of eighteen, came out from town and took +up his abode with her, so that she would not be left wholly desolate +among strangers. And so the summer and autumn glided by. + +But this state of things could not last. The strange solitude of her +destiny preyed sorely upon her and when the first snows of winter +arrived, bringing with them no tidings of the absent one, the fortitude +of the bereaved woman broke down. She gave up the farm, and with her +little baby boy and such of her household belongings as she chose to +retain, went back to the home of her parents in Millbrook. She was a +few hundred dollars better off in this world's goods than she had been +when she had left that home about thirteen months before, but her +spirit was sadly bent, if not altogether broken, and the brightness +seemed to have utterly faded out of her life. + +In process of time she became in some degree accustomed, if not +reconciled to her lot. But her situation was, to say the least, +anomalous. Her parents were, on the whole, kind and considerate, but +she was conscious of being, after a fashion, isolated from them and +from all the rest of the world. She felt, as one who was, in the +language of the proverb, neither maid, wife nor widow. She knew +not whether her child's father was living or dead. She was barely +twenty-three years of age, but she was not free to form a second +marriage, even if she had had any inclination for such a union, which, +to do her justice, she had not, for she cherished the memory of her +absent lord with fond affection, and persisted in believing that, even +if he were living, it was through no fault of his own that he remained +away from her. She lived a very quiet and secluded life. In spite of +her mother's importunities, she seldom stirred out of doors on week +days, and saw few visitors. She was a regular attendant at church +on Sundays, and sought to find relief from mental depression in the +consolations of religion. Her chief consolation, however, lay in her +child, upon whom she lavished all the tenderness of a soft and gentle +nature. She fondly sought to trace in the little fellow's bright +features some resemblance to the lineaments of him she had loved and +lost. To do this successfully required a rather strong effort of the +imagination, for, to tell the truth, the boy favored his mother's side +of the house, and was no more like his father than he was like the +twelve patriarchs. But a fond mother often lives in an ideal world +of her own creation, and can trace resemblances invisible to ordinary +mortals. So it was with this mother, who often declared that her boy +had a way of "looking out of his eyes," as she expressed it, which +forcibly brought back the memory of happy days which had forever passed +away. + +Of course Savareen's relatives in the old country received due notice +of his strange disappearance, and of the various circumstances +connected with that event. Mrs. Savareen had herself communicated the +facts, and had also sent over a copy of the Millbrook _Sentinel_, +containing a long and minute account of the affair. A letter arrived +from Herefordshire in due course, acknowledging the receipt of these +missives, and enquiring whether the lost had been found. Several +communications passed to and fro during the first few months, after +which, as there was really nothing further to write about, the +correspondence fell off; it being of course understood that should any +new facts turn up, they should be promptly made known. + +The stars do not pause in their spheres to take note of the afflictions +of us mortals here below. To the bereaved woman it seemed unaccountable +that the succeeding months should come and go as formerly, and as +though nothing had occurred to take the saltness and savor out of her +young life. Ever and anon her slumbers were disturbed by weird dreams, +in which the lost one was presented before her in all sorts of +frightful situations. In these dreams which came to her in the silent +watches of the night, she never seemed to look upon her husband as +dead. He always seemed to be living, but surrounded by inextricable +complications involving great trouble and danger. She sometimes awoke +from these night visions with a loud cry which startled the household, +and proved how greatly her nerves had been shaken by the untoward +circumstances of her fate. + +In the early spring of the ensuing year she sustained another painful +bereavement through the death of her mother. This event imparted an +additional element of sadness to her already cloudy existence; but it +was not without certain attendant compensations, as it rendered +necessary a more active course of life on her part, and so left her +less time to brood over her earlier sorrow. No Benvolio was needed to +tell us that + + "One fire burns out another's burning: + One pain is lessened by another's anguish." + +Most of us have at one time or another been forced to learn that hard +truth for ourselves. This forlorn woman had probably never read the +passage, but her experience brought abundant confirmation of it home to +her at this time. She was driven to assume the internal management of +the household, and found grateful solace in the occupations which the +position involved. She once more began to take an interest in the +prosaic affairs of everyday life, and became less addicted to looking +forward to a solitary, joyless old age. So that, all things considered, +this second bereavement was not to be regarded in the light of an +affliction absolutely without mitigation. + +It might well have been supposed that the place she was now called upon +to fill would have been the means of drawing closer the ties between +her surviving parent and herself. For a time it certainly had that +effect. Her presence in his house must have done much to soften the +blow to her father, and her practical usefulness was made manifest +every hour of the day. She carefully ministered to his domestic needs, +and did what she could to alleviate the burden which had been laid upon +him. But the old, old story was once more repeated. In little more than +a year from the time her mother had been laid in her grave, she was +made aware of the fact that the household was to receive a new +mistress. In other words, she was to be introduced to a stepmother. The +event followed hard upon the announcement. As a necessary consequence +she was compelled to assume a secondary place in her father's house. + +It may be true that first marriages are sometimes made in Heaven. It is +even possible that second marriages may now and then be forged in the +same workshop. But it was soon brought home to Mrs. Savareen that this +particular marriage was not among the number. Her stepmother, who was +not much older than herself, proved a veritable thorn in her side. She +was made to perceive that she and her little boy were regarded in the +light of encumbrances, to be tolerated until they could be got rid of. +But not passively tolerated. The stepmother was a rather coarse-grained +piece of clay--an unsympathetic, unfeeling woman, who knew how to say +and to do unpleasant things without any apparent temper or ill-will. +The immortal clockmaker, when he was in a more quaintly sententious +humor than common, once propounded the doctrine that the direct road to +a mother's heart is through her child. He might have added the equally +incontestable proposition that the most effectual method of torturing a +mother's heart is through the same medium. The mother who has an only +child, who is all the world to her, is actually susceptible to anything +in the shape of interference with her maternal prerogatives. Such +interference, by whomsoever exercised, is wholly intolerable to her. +This susceptibility may perhaps be a feminine weakness, but it is a +veritable maternal instinct, and one with which few who have observed +it will have the heart to find fault. In Mrs. Savareen's bosom this +foible existed in a high state of development, and her stepmother so +played upon it as to make life under the same roof with her a cross too +hard to be borne. After a few months' trial, the younger of the two +women resolved that a new home must be found for herself and her little +boy. The carrying out of this resolve rendered some consideration +necessary, for her own unaided means were inadequate for her support. +Her father, though not what could be called a poor man, was far from +rich, and he had neither the means nor the will to maintain two +establishments, however humble. But she was expert with her needle, and +did not despair of being able to provide for the slender wants of +herself and child. She rented and furnished a small house in the town, +where she found that there was no ground for present anxiety as to her +livelihood. There was plenty of needlework to be had to keep her nimble +fingers busy from morn till night, and her income from the first was in +excess of her expenditure. She was constrained to lead a humdrum sort +of existence, but it was brightened by the presence and companionship +of her boy, who was a constant source of pride and delight to her. +Whenever she caught herself indulging in a despondent mood, she took +herself severely to task for repining at a lot which might have lacked +this element of brightness, and which lacking that, would, it seemed to +her, have been too dreary for human endurance. + +No useful purpose would be served by lingering over this portion of the +narrative. Suffice it to say that the current of the lonely woman's +life flowed smoothly on several years, during which she received no +tidings of her lost husband and heard nothing to throw the faintest +scintilla of light upon his mysterious disappearance. Little Reginald +grew apace, and continued to be the one consolation in her great +bereavement--the solitary joy which reconciled her to her environment. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +A GUEST ARRIVES AT THE ROYAL OAK. + + +It was getting on towards the middle of the month of August, 1859. The +harvest all along the Millbrook and Spotswood road was in full +progress. And a bounteous harvest it was, even for that favored region. +Squire Harrington confidently counted upon a yield of fifty bushels of +wheat to the acre. True, he was a model farmer, and knew how to make +the most of a good season, but his neighbors were not far behind him, +and were looking forward to full granaries when threshing should be +over. For once there was little or no grumbling at the dispensations of +Providence. The weather had been as propitious as though the local +tillers of the soil had themselves had a voice in the making of it, and +even gruff Mark Stolliver was constrained to admit that there were +fewer grounds for remonstrating with the Great Disposer of events than +usual at this season of the year. Every wheat field in the township +presented an active spectacle throughout the day. The cradles were +busily plied from early morn till nightfall, and the swaths of golden +grain furnished heavy work for the rakers and binders. The commercial +crisis of 1857 had made itself felt in the district, as well as in all +other parts of Upper Canada. Many of the farmers had fallen +considerably behindhand, and had for once in a way felt the grip of +hard times. But the prolific crops which were now being gathered in +bade fair to extricate them from such obligations as they had been +compelled to incur, and the prevailing tone was one of subdued though +heartfelt satisfaction. + +On the evening of Saturday, the 13th of the month, sundry of the yeomen +who lived thereabouts assembled at Lapierre's, after a hard week's +work, to congratulate one another on the prospects of the harvest, and +to discuss a few tankards of the reaming ale for which the Royal Oak +was famous throughout the township. The landlord himself was on hand as +usual, to dispense the hospitalities of his bar and larder. The five +years which had rolled over his head since that memorable night of +Savareen's disappearance had left but slight traces of their passage +upon his jovial countenance. He had never been able to fathom the +impenetrable secret of that strange July night, but he had all along +been wont to remark that the mystery would be cleared up some day, and +that he confidently expected to hear some tidings of the missing man +before he died. As for his guests, though most of them had resided in +the neighborhood at the time of his disappearance, they had long ceased +to give themselves any particular concern about the matter. So long as +there had seemed to be any prospect of getting at the bottom of the +affair they had taken a vigorous part in the search, and had exerted +themselves to bring the mystery to light; but when month succeeded +month without supplying any clue to the puzzle, they had gradually +resigned themselves to the situation, and, except when the topic came +up for discussion at their Saturday night meetings, they seldom +indulged in anything more than a passing allusion to it. + +Ten o'clock had struck, and it seemed improbable that any further +company would arrive. The assembled guests, to the number of seven or +eight, sat in their accustomed places around a goodly-sized table in +the room behind the bar. Lapierre occupied an easy chair, placed near +the door communicating with the bar, so as to be handy in case of his +being needed there. Farmer Donaldson had just regaled the circle with +his favorite ditty, The Roast Beef of Old England, which he flattered +himself he could render with fine effect. Having concluded his +performance, he sat modestly back in his elbow-chair, and bowed to the +vociferous plaudits accorded to him. The tankards were then charged +afresh, and each man devoted himself to the allaying of his thirst for +the next minute or two. Mine host had promised to give Faintly as Tolls +the Evening Chime in the course of the evening, and was now called upon +to redeem his pledge. + +"Ah," he remarked, "that vas alvays a faforite song of mine. And ton't +you remember how font of it our frient Safareen used to pe? He used to +call for it regular efery Saturday night, schoost pefore supper in the +old times. Ah, put that wass a strange peesiness. I haf never peen aple +to think of it without perspiring." And so saying, he dived into the +pocket of his white linen jacket, and produced therefrom a red silk +handkerchief, with which he mopped his beaming countenance until it +shone again. + +"Ay," responded Farmer Donaldson, "that was the strangest thing as ever +happened in these parts. I wonder if it will ever be cleared up." + +"You know my opinion apout that," resumed the host, "I alvays said he +vould turn up. But it is--let me see--yes, it is more that fife years +ago. It wass on the night of the sefenteenth of Chooly, 1854; and here +it is, the mittle of Aucust, 1859. Vell, vell, how the years go py! +Safareen was a coot sort. I thought much of him, and woot like to see +him once acain." + +"I don't say but what he was a good fellow," remarked one of the +company; "but I can tell you he had a devil of a temper of his own when +his blood was up. I remember one night in this very room when he had +some words with Sam Dolsen about that black mare o' his'n. He fired up +like a tiger, and that scar on his cheek glowed like a carbuncle. It +seemed as if it was going to crack open. I made sure he was going to +drop into Sam, and he would 'a done, too, if our landlord hadn't +interfered and calmed him down." + +"Yes, yes," interrupted Farmer Donaldson; "Savareen had his tempers, no +doubt, when he had been drinking more free than common; but he was a +jolly feller, all the same. I wish he was with us at this moment." + +This sentiment was pretty generally re-echoed all round the festive +board. Just then a rather heavy footstep was heard to enter the +adjoining bar-room from outside. The landlord rose and passed out +through the doorway, to see if his services were required. The door of +communication was left open behind him, so that the company in the +inner room had no difficulty in seeing and hearing everything that took +place. + +In the middle of the bar room stood a short heavy-set man, whose dress +and bearing pronounced him to be a stranger in those parts. He was +apparently middle-aged--say somewhere between thirty-five and forty. +His clothing was of expensive material, but cut after a style more +_prononce_ than was then seen in Canada, or has ever since been +much in vogue here. His hat was a broad-brimmed Panama, which cost +twenty dollars if it cost a penny. His coat, so far as could be seen +under his thin summer duster--was of fine bluish cloth, short of waist, +long of skirt, and--the duster notwithstanding--plentifully besprinkled +and travel-stained with dust. The waistcoat, which seemed to be of the +same material as the coat, was very open-breasted, and displayed a +considerable array of shirt front. Across the left side was hung a +heavy gold watch-chain, from which depended two great bulbous-looking +seals. On his feet he wore a pair of gaiters of patent leather, white +from the dust of the road. In one hand he carried a light, jaunty +Malacca cane, while the other grasped a Russian-leather portmanteau, +called by him and by persons of his kind a valise. He wore no gloves--a +fact which enabled you to see on the middle finger of his left hand a +huge cluster diamond ring, worth any price from a thousand dollars +upwards. His face was closely shaven, except for a prominent moustache. +He had crisp, curling black hair, worn tolerably short. His eyes were +rather dull and vacant, not because he was either slow or stupid, but +because he felt or affected to feel, a sublime indifference to all +things sublunary. You would have taken him for a man who had run the +gauntlet of all human experiences--a man to whom nothing presented +itself in the light of a novelty, and who disdained to appear much +interested in anything you might say or do. Taken altogether he had +that foreign or rather cosmopolitan look characteristic of the citizen +of the United States who has led an unsettled, wandering life. His +aspect was fully borne out by his accent, when he began to speak. + +"Air you the landlord?" he asked, as the host stepped forward to greet +him. + +He received a reply in the affirmative. + +"This, then, is the Royal Oak tavern, and your name is Lapierre?" + +Two nods signified the host's further assent to these undeniable +propositions. + +"Have you got a spare bedroom, and can you put me up from now till +Monday morning?" + +The landlord again signified his assent, whereupon the stranger put +down his cane and portmanteau on a bench and proceeded to divest +himself of his wrapper. + +"You haf had supper?" asked Lapierre. + +"Well, I had a light tea down to Millbrook, but I know your Saturday +night customs at the Royal Oak, and if you hain't got any objections +I'd like to take a hand in your eleven o'clock supper. To tell the +truth, I'm sharp-set, and I know you always have a bite of something +appetizing about that time." + +Upon being informed that supper would be ready at the usual hour, and +that he would be welcome to a seat at the board, he signified a desire +to be shown to his room, so that he could wash and make himself +presentable. In response to an enquiry about his horse, he intimated +that that animal for the present consisted of Shank's mare; that he had +ridden up from town with Squire Harrington, and dismounted at that +gentleman's gate. "The Squire offered to drive me on as far as here," +he added; "but as it was only a short walk I reckoned I'd come on +afoot." + +Without further parley the guest was shown to his chamber, whence he +emerged a few minutes later, and presented himself before the company +assembled in the room behind the bar. + +"Hope I ain't intruding, gentlemen," he remarked, as he took a vacant +seat at the lower end of the table; "I've often heard of the good times +you have here on Saturday nights. Heard of 'em when I was a good many +hundred miles from here, and when I didn't expect ever to have the +pleasure of joining your mess. Guess I'd better introduce myself. My +name's Thomas Jefferson Haskins. I live at Nashville, Tennessee, where +I keep a hotel and do a little in horseflesh now an' agin. Now, I shall +take it as a favor if you'll allow the landlord to re-fill your glasses +at my expense, and then drink good-luck to my expedition." All this +with much volubility, and without a trace of bashfulness. + +The company all round the table signified their hearty acquiescence, +and while the landlord was replenishing the tankards, the stranger +proceeded to further enlighten them respecting his personal affairs. He +informed them that a man had cleared out from Nashville about six +months ago, leaving him, the speaker, in the lurch to the tune of +twenty-seven hundred dollars. A few days since he had learned that the +fugitive had taken up his quarters at Spotswood, in Upper Canada, and +he had accordingly set out for that place with intent to obtain a +settlement. He had reached Millbrook by the seven o'clock express this +evening, only to find that he was still fifteen miles from his +destination. Upon inquiry, he learned that the stage from Millbrook for +Spotswood ran only once a day, leaving Millbrook at seven o'clock in +the morning. There would not be another stage until Monday morning. He +was on the point of hiring a special conveyance, and of driving through +that night, when all of a sudden he had remembered that Lapierre's +tavern was on the Millbrook and Spotswood road, and only three miles +away. He had long ago heard such accounts of the Royal Oak and its +landlord, and particularly of the Saturday night suppers, that he had +resolved to repair thither and remain over for Monday's stage. "I was +going to hire a livery to bring me out here," he added, "but a +gentleman named Squire Harrington, who heard me give the order for the +buggy, told me he lived close by the Royal Oak, and that I was welcome +to ride out with him, as he was just going to start for home. That +saved me a couple of dollars. And so, here I be." + +Lapierre could not feel otherwise than highly flattered by the way the +stranger referred to his establishment, but he was wholly at a loss to +understand how the fame of the Royal Oak, and more especially of the +Saturday night suppers, had extended to so great a distance as +Nashville. In response to his inquiries on these points, however, Mr. +Thomas Jefferson Haskins gave a clear and lucid explanation, which will +be found in the next chapter. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +THE GUEST CREATES A SENSATION AT THE ROYAL OAK. + + +"Well," said Haskins, "I didn't hear of you quite so far off as +Nashville. It was when I was travelling in Kentucky buying horses, last +year. At Lexington I fell in with an English chap named Randall, who +used to live in this neighborhood. I hired him to buy horses for me. He +was with me about three months, an' if I could only 'a' kept him sober +he'd been with me yet, for he was about as keen a judge of a horse as +ever I came across in my born days, and knew mighty well how to make a +bargain. Well, we hadn't been together a week afore he begun to tell me +about a place where he used to live in Canada West, where he said a +little money went a long way, and where good horses could be bought +cheap. He wanted me to send him up here to buy for me, and I don't know +but I should 'a' done it if I'd found he was to be trusted. But he +would drink like all creation when he had money. Old Bourbon was a +thing he couldn't resist. He had an awful poor opinion of all the rest +of our American institootions, and used to say they wa'n't o' no +account as compared to what he used to have to home in England; but +when it come to Bourbon whisky, he was as full-mouthed as Uncle Henry +Clay himself. He 'lowed there wa'n't anything either in England or in +Canada to touch it. An' when he got four or five inches of it inside +him, there was no gittin' along with him nohow. There wa'n't anything +on airth he wouldn't do to git a couple of inches more, and when he got +them he was the catawamptiousest critter I ever did see. You couldn't +place any more dependence on him than on a free nigger. Besides, he +used to neglect his wife, and a man who neglects his wife ain't a man +to trust with a couple o' thousand dollars at a time. No sir-ree! Not +much, he ain't. But, as I was sayin', the way he used to harp on this +place o' Lapierre's was a caution. Whenever we used to git planted down +in one of our cross-road taverns, he'd turn up his nose till you could +see clean down his throat into his stommick. The fact is, our country +taverns ain't up to much, an' sometimes I could hardly stand 'em +myself. When we'd come in after a hard day's ridin', and git sot down +to a feed of heavy short-cake and fat pork, then Randall 'ud begin to +blow about the grub up here at Lapierre's. He used to tell about the +hot suppers served up here to a passel o' farmers on Saturday nights +till I most got sick o' hearing him. But I see your mugs air empty +again, gentlemen. Landlord, please to do your dooty, and score it up to +yours truly." + +During this long harangue the assembled guests alternately scanned the +speaker and each other with inquiring but vacant countenances. They +were puzzling themselves to think who this Randall could be, as no man +of that name had ever been known in that community. When Mr. Haskins +paused in his discourse, and gave his order for replenishment, Farmer +Donaldson was about to remonstrate against this second treat at the +expense of a stranger, and to propose that he himself should stand +sponsor for the incoming refreshments. But before he could get out a +word, the landlord suddenly sprang from his seat with a white, agitated +face. + +"Tell me," he said, addressing the stranger--"What like is this +Rantall? Please to tescripe his features." + +"Well," drawled the person addressed, after a short pause--"there +ain't much to describe about him. He's a tallish feller--fully four +inches taller'n I be. He's broad and stout--a big man ginerally. +Weighs, I should say, not much under a hundred and ninety. Ruther light +complected, and has a long cut in his face that shows awful white when +he gits his back up. Thunder! he pretty nearly scared me with that +gash one night when he was drunk. It seemed to open and shut like a +clam-shell, and made him look like a Voodoo priest! You'd think the +blood was goan to spurt out by the yard." + +By this time every pair of eyes in the room was staring into the +speaker's face with an expression of bewildered astonishment. Not a man +there but recognized the description as a vivid, if somewhat +exaggerated portraiture of the long-lost Reginald Bourchier Savareen. + +The stranger from Tennessee readily perceived that he had produced a +genuine sensation. He gazed from one to another for a full minute +without speaking. Then he gave vent to his surcharged feelings by the +exclamation: "For the land's sake!" + +An air of speechless bewilderment still pervaded the entire group. They +sat silent as statues, without motion, and almost without breath. + +Lapierre was the first to recover himself. By a significant gesture he +imposed continued silence upon the company, and began to ask questions. +He succeeded in eliciting some further pertinent information. + +Haskins was unable to say when Randall had acquired a familiarity with +the ways and doings of the people residing in the vicinity of the Royal +Oak, but it must have been some time ago, as he had lived in the States +long enough to have become acquainted with various localities there. As +to when and why he had left Canada the stranger was also totally +ignorant. He knew, however, that Randall was living in the city of New +York about three months ago, as he had seen him there, and had visited +him at his lodgings on Amity street in May, when he (Haskins) had +attended as a delegate to a sporting convention. At that time Randall +had been employed in some capacity in Hitchcock's sale stable, and +made a few dollars now and again by breeding dogs. He lived a needy +hand-to-mouth existence, and his poor wife had a hard time of it. His +drinking habits prevented him from getting ahead in the world, and he +never staid long in one place, but the speaker had no doubt that he +might still be heard of at Hitchcock's by anybody who wanted to hunt him +up. "But," added Mr. Haskins, "I hope I haven't got him into trouble by +coming here to-night. Has he done anything? Anything criminal, I mean?" + +After a moment's deliberation, Lapierre told the whole story. There was +no doubt in the mind of any member of the company that Randall and +Savareen were "parts of one stupendous whole." The one important +question for consideration was: What use ought to be made of the facts +thus strangely brought to light? + +By this time supper was announced, and the stranger's news, exciting as +it was, did not prevent the guests from doing ample justice to it. +Haskins was loud in his praises of the "spread," as he termed it. "Jack +Randall," he remarked, "could lie when he had a mind to, but he told +the holy truth when he bragged you up as far ahead of the Kentucky +cooks. Yes, I don't mind if I do take another mossel of that +frickersee. Dog me if it don't beat canvas-backs." + +Before the meeting broke up it was agreed on all hands that for the +present it would be advisable for the guests to allow the morrow to +pass before saying anything to their wives or anyone else about Mr. +Haskins' disclosures. It was further resolved that that gentleman +should accompany Lapierre to Millbrook after breakfast in the morning, +and that Mrs. Savareen's father should be made acquainted with the +known facts. It was just possible, after all, that Jack Randall might +be Jack Randall, and not Savareen, in which case it was desirable to +save the lost man's wife from cruel agitation to no purpose. It would +be for her father, after learning all that they knew, to communicate +the facts to her or to withhold them, as might seem best to him. On +this understanding the company broke up on the stroke of midnight. I am +by no means prepared to maintain that their pledges were in all cases +kept, and that they each and every one went to sleep without taking +their wives into confidence respecting the strange disclosures of the +night. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +NO. 77 AMITY STREET. + +The next day was Sunday, but this circumstance did not deter Lapierre +from hitching up his horse and conveying his guest down to Millbrook at +an early hour. The pair called at the house of Mrs. Savareen's father +before ten o'clock, and had a long interview with him. Church services +began at eleven, but it was remarked by the Methodist congregation, and +commented upon as a thing almost without precedent, that Mrs. Savareen +and her father were both absent on that day. + +The old gentleman was much disturbed by what he heard from Mr. Haskins. +His daughter had passed through an ordeal of great suffering, and had +finally become reconciled to her lot. To tell her this news would be to +open the old wounds afresh, and to bring back the domestic grief which +time had about dispelled. Yet his course seemed clear. To tell her the +truth was an imperative duty. It would be shameful to permit her to go +on mourning for one who was in every way unworthy, and who might turn +up at any unexpected moment to the destruction of her peace of mind. +Moreover, the secret was already known to too many persons to admit of +any hope that it would be permanently kept. She must be told, and there +could be no question that her father was the proper person to tell her. +She would, however, wish to personally see and converse with the man +who had brought the news, so there was no time to be lost. Leaving his +two visitors to await his return, the old man set out with a sad heart +for his daughter's house. He found her and her little boy just ready to +set out for church, but the first glance at her father's face told her +that something had happened, and that there would be no church-going +for that day. She sat pale and trembling as she listened, and the old +man himself was not much more composed. He broke the news as gently as +he could, and she bore it better than he had expected, suppressing her +agitation and taking in all the details without interruption. Even when +all the circumstances had been laid before her, her self-command did +not desert her. Yes, she must see the stranger from Tennessee. Possibly +she might extract something from him which others had failed to elicit. +Her father accordingly went back to his own home, and brought Mr. +Haskins over. The three spent several hours in talking of the affair, +but the stranger had nothing more to tell, and finally took his leave, +promising to call on his way back from Spotswood. + +Father and daughter spent the evening together, and tried to reach some +definite conclusion as to what, if anything, ought to be done. There +could be no reasonable doubt that Randall and Savareen were one. Since +there was just the shadow of doubt, and the want of absolute certainty, +made it impossible for Mrs. Savareen to leave the matter as it stood. +She felt that she must know the whole truth. + +A course was finally decided upon. Father and daughter would start for +New York without delay and probe the matter to the bottom. The news +could not wholly be kept from the stepmother, but she was enjoined to +maintain a strict silence on the subject until further light should be +thrown upon it. Master Reginald was temporarily left in her charge. + +They started for New York by the mid-day express on Monday, and reached +their destination on Tuesday afternoon. Lodgings were secured at a +quiet, respectable hotel, and then the old man set out alone to hunt up +Hitchcock's stable. He had no difficulty in finding it, and the man in +charge of the office readily gave him the information he sought. Jack +Randall was no longer employed at the establishment, but he lodged with +his wife at No. 77 Amity street. The best time to catch him at home was +early in the morning. He was of a convivial turn, and generally spent +his evenings about town. He was supposed to be pretty hard up, but that +was his chronic condition, and, so far as known, he was not in absolute +want. With these tidings the father returned to his daughter. + +Mrs. Savareen could not bear the idea of permitting the evening to pass +without some further effort. She determined to pay a visit to 77 Amity +street, in person, and if possible to see the man's wife for herself. A +servant-maid in the hotel undertook to pilot her to her destination, +which was but a short distance away. It was about eight o'clock when +she set out and the light of day was fast disappearing. Upon reaching +the corner of Amity street and Broadway, she dismissed her attendant +and made the rest of the journey alone. The numbers on the doors of the +houses were a sufficient direction for her, and she soon found herself +ringing at the bell of 77. + +Her summons was answered by a seedy-looking porter. Yes, Mrs. Randall +was upstairs in her room on the third story. Mr. Randall was out. The +lady could easily find the way for herself. Second door to the left on +the third flat. Straight up. And so saying the man disappeared into the +darkness at the rear of the house, leaving the visitor to group her way +up two dimly-lighted stairways as best she could. + +The place was evidently a lodging-house of very inferior description to +be so near the palatial temples of commerce just round the corner. The +halls were uncarpeted, and, indeed, without the least sign of furniture +of any sort. As Mrs. Savareen slowly ascended one flight of stairs +after another, she began to wonder if she had not done an unwise thing +in venturing alone into a house and locality of which she knew nothing. +Having reached the third story she found herself in total darkness, +except for such faint twilight as found its way through a back window. +This however was just sufficient to enable her to perceive the second +door on the left. She advanced towards it and knocked. A female voice +responded by an invitation to enter. She quietly turned the knob of the +door and advanced into the room. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +AN INTERVIEW BY CANDLELIGHT. + + +The apartment in which the "bold discoverer in an unknown sea" found +herself presented an appearance far from cheerful or attractive. It was +of small dimensions, but too large for the meagre supply of furniture +it contained. The unpapered walls displayed a monotonous surface of +bare whitewash in urgent need of renewal. In one corner was an +impoverished looking bed, on which reposed an infant of a few months +old. At the foot of the bed was a cheap toilet stand, with its +accessories. In the adjacent corner was a door apparently opening into +a closet or inner receptacle of some kind, against which was placed a +battered leather trunk with a broken hasp. A small table of stained +pine, without any covering, stood near the middle of the room, and two +or three common wooden chairs were distributed here and there against +the walls. The faint light of expiring day found admission by means of +a window looking out upon the roofs to the rear of the house. The only +artificial light consisted of a solitary candle placed on the table, at +the far end of which sat a woman engaged in sewing. + +The light, dim and ineffectual as it was, served to show that this +woman was in a state of health which her friends, if she had any, must +have deemed to be anything but satisfactory. It was easy to perceive +that she had once possessed an attractive and rather pretty face. Some +portion of her attractiveness still remained, but the beauty had been +washed away by privation and misery, leaving behind nothing but a faint +simulacrum of its former self. She was thin and fragile to the point of +emaciation, insomuch that her print dress hung upon her as loosely as a +morning wrapper. Her cheeks were sunken and hollow, and two dark +patches beneath a pair of large blue eyes plainly indicated serious +nervous waste. In addition to these manifest signs of a low state of +bodily health, her pinched features had a worn, weary expression which +told a sad tale of long and continuous suffering. Most of these things +her visitor, with feminine quickness of perception, took in at the +first momentary glance, and any pre-conceived feeling of hostility +which may have had a place in her heart gave way to a sentiment of +womanly sympathy. Clearly enough, any display of jealous anger would be +wholly out of place in such a presence and situation. + +Mrs. Savareen had not given much pre-consideration as to her line of +action during the impending interview. She had merely resolved to be +guided by circumstances, and what she saw before her made her errand +one of some difficulty. Her main object, of course, was to ascertain, +beyond the possibility of doubt, whether the man calling himself Jack +Randall was the man known to her as Reginald Bourchier Savareen. + +The tenant of the room rose as her visitor entered, and even that +slight exertion brought on a hollow cough which was pitiful to hear. + +"I am sorry to see," gently remarked the visitor, "that you are far +from well." + +"Yes," was the reply; "I've got a cold, and ain't very smart. Take a +chair." And so saying, she placed a chair in position, and made a not +ungraceful motion towards it with her hand. + +Mrs. Savareen sat down, and began to think what she would say next. Her +hostess saved her from much thought on the matter by enquiring whether +she had called to see Mr. Randall. + +"Yes," replied Mrs. Savareen, "I would like to see him for a few +moments, if convenient." + +"Well, _I_ am sorry he's out, and I don't suppose he'll be in for +some time. He's generally out in the fore part of the evening; but he's +most always home in the morning. Is it anything I can tell him?" + +Here was a nice complication. Had Mrs. Savareen been a student of +Moliere, the fitting reply to such a question under such circumstances +would doubtless have risen to her lips. But I shrewdly suspect that she +had never heard of the famous Frenchman, whose works were probably an +unknown quantity in Millbrook in those days. After a momentary +hesitation she fenced with the question, and put one in her turn. + +"Do you know if he has heard from his friends in Hertfordshire lately?" + +"Hertfordshire? O, that is the place he comes from in the Old Country. +No, he never hears from there. I have often wanted him to write to his +friends in England, but he says it is so long since he left that they +have forgotten all about him." Here the speaker was interrupted by +another fit of coughing. + +"No," she resumed, "he never even wrote to England to tell his friends +when we were married. He was only a boy when he left home, and he was a +good many years in Canady before he came over to the States." + +Just at this point it seemed to occur to Mrs. Randall that she was +talking rather freely about her husband to a person whom she did not +know, and she pulled herself up with a rather short turn. She looked +intently into her visitor's face for a moment, as though with an inward +monition that something was wrong. + +"But," she resumed, after a brief pause, "do you know my husband? I +can't remember as I ever seen you before. You don't live in New York: I +can see that. I guess you come from the West." + +Then Mrs. Savareen felt that some explanation was necessary. She fairly +took the animal by the extreme tip of his horns. + +"Yes," she responded, "I live in the West, and I have only been in New +York a very short time. I accidentally heard that Mr. Randall lived +here, and I wish to ascertain if he is the same gentleman I once knew +in Canada. If he is, there is something of importance I should like to +tell him. Would you be so kind as to describe his personal appearance +for me?" + +The woman again inspected her very carefully, with eyes not altogether +free from suspicion. + +"I don't exactly understand," she exclaimed. "You don't want to do him +any harm, do you? You haven't got anything agin him? We are in deep +enough trouble as it is." + +The last words were uttered in a tone very much resembling a wail of +despair. By this time the visitor's sympathies were thoroughly aroused +on behalf of the poor broken creature before her. + +She felt that she had not the heart to add to the burden of grief which +had been imposed upon the frail woman who sat there eyeing her with +anxiety depicted upon her weary, anxious face. + +"I can assure you," responded Mrs. Savareen, "that I have no intention +of doing any harm either to him or to you. I would much rather do you a +kindness, if I could. I can see for myself that you stand in great need +of kindness." + +The last words were spoken in a tone which disarmed suspicion, and +which at the same time stimulated curiosity. The shadow on Mrs. +Randall's face passed away. + +"Well," said she, "I beg your pardon for mistrusting you, but my +husband has never told me much about his past life, and I was afraid +you might be an enemy. But I am sure, now I look at you, that you +wouldn't do harm to anybody. I'll tell you whatever you want to know, +if I can." + +"Thank you for your good opinion. Will you be good enough, then, to +describe Mr. Randall's personal appearance? I have no other object than +to find out if he is the person I used to know in Canada." + +"How long ago did you know him in Canady?" + +"I saw him last in the summer of 1854--about five years ago." + +"Well, at that rate I've known him pretty near as long as you hev. It's +more'n four years since I first got acquainted with him down, in Ole +Virginny, where I was raised. Why, come to think of it, I've got his +likeness, took just before we was married. That'll show you whether +he's the man you knew." + +As she spoke, she rose and opened the leather trunk in the corner by +the closet door. After rummaging among its contents, she presently +returned with a small oval daguerreotype in her hand. Opening the case +she handed it to Mrs. Savareen. "There he is," she remarked, "an' it's +considered an awful good likeness." + +Mrs. Savareen took the daguerreotype and approached the candle. The +first glance was amply sufficient. It was the likeness of her husband. + +She made up her mind as to her line of action on the instant. Her love +for the father of her child died away as she gazed on his picture. It +was borne in upon her that he was a heartless scoundrel, unworthy of +any woman's regard. Before she withdrew her glance from the +daguerreotype, her love for him was dead and buried beyond all +possibility of revivification. What would it avail her to still further +lacerate the heart of the unhappy woman in whose presence she stood? +Why kill her outright by revealing the truth? There was but a step--and +evidently the step was a short one--between her and the grave. The +distance should not be abridged by any act of the lawful wife. + +She closed the case and quietly handed it back to the woman, whom it +will still be convenient to call Mrs. Randall. "I see there has been +some misunderstanding," she said. "This is not the Mr. Randall I knew +in Canada." + +In her kind consideration for the invalid, she deliberately conveyed a +false impression, though she spoke nothing more than the simple truth. +There had indeed been "some misunderstanding," and Savareen's likeness +was certainly not the likeness of Mr. Randall. As matter of fact, Mrs. +Savareen had really known a Mr. Randall in Millbrook, who bore no +resemblance whatever to her husband. Thus, she spoke the literal truth, +while she at the same time deceived her hostess for the latter's own +good. Affliction had laid its blighting hand there heavily enough +already. Her main object now was to get away from the house before the +return of the man who had so villainously wrecked two innocent lives. +But a warm sympathy for the betrayed and friendless woman had sprung up +in her heart, and she longed to leave behind some practical token of +her sympathy. While she was indulging in these reflections the infant +on the bed awoke and set up a startled little cry. Its mother advanced +to where it lay, took it up in her arms, sat down on the edge of the +bed, and stilled its forlorn little wails by the means known to mothers +from time immemorial. When it became quiet she again deposited it on +the bed and resumed her seat by the table. + +Mrs. Savareen continued standing. + +"I am sorry to have disturbed you unnecessarily," she remarked "and +will now take my leave. Is there anything I can do for you? I should be +glad if I could be of any use. I am afraid you are not very comfortably +off, and you are far from well in health. It is not kind of Mr. Randall +to leave you alone like this. You need rest and medical advice." + +These were probably the first sympathetic words Mrs. Randall had heard +from one of her own sex for many a long day. The tears started to her +tired eyes, as she replied: + +"I guess there ain't no rest for me this side o' the grave. I haven't +any money to git medical advice, and I don't suppose a doctor could do +me any good. I'm pretty well run down and so is baby. I'm told it can't +live long, and if it was only laid to rest I wouldn't care how soon my +time came. You're right about our being awful hard up. But don't you be +too hard on my husband. He has his own troubles as well as me. He +hain't had no cash lately, and don't seem to be able to git none." + +"But he could surely stay at home and keep you company at nights, when +you are so ill. It must be very lonely for you." + +"Well, you see, I ain't much company for him. He's ben brought up +different to what I hev, an's ben used to hevin' things comfortable. I +ain't strong enough to do much of anything myself, with a sick baby. +I'm sure I don't know what's to be the end of it all. Es a gineral +thing he don't mean to be unkind, but----" + +Here the long-suffering woman utterly broke down, and was convulsed by +a succession of sobs, which seemed to exhaust the small stock of +vitality left to her. The visitor approached the chair where she sat, +knelt by her side, and took the poor wasted form in her arms. + +They mingled their tears together. For some time neither of them was +able to speak a word, but the sympathy of the stronger of the two acted +like a cordial upon her weaker sister, who gradually became calm and +composed. The sobs died away, and the shattered frame ceased to +tremble. Then they began to talk. Mrs. Savareen's share in the +conversation was chiefly confined to a series of sympathetic questions, +whereby she extracted such particulars as furnished a key to the +present situation. It appeared that the _soi-disant_ Jack Randall +had made the acquaintance of his second victim within a short time +after his departure from Canada. He had then been engaged in business +on his own account as a dealer in horses in Lexington, Kentucky, where +the father of the woman whose life he had afterwards blighted kept a +tavern. He had made soft speeches to her, and had won her heart, +although, even then, she had not been blind to his main defect--a +fondness for old Bourbon. After a somewhat protracted courtship she had +married him, but the sun of prosperity had never shone upon them after +their marriage, for his drinking habit had grown upon him, and he had +soon got to the end of what little money he had. He had been compelled +to give up business, and to take service with anyone who would employ +him. Then matters had gone from bad to worse. He had been compelled to +move about from one town to another, for his habits would not admit of +his continuing long in any situation. She had accompanied him wherever +he went with true wifely devotion, but had been constrained to drink +deeply of the cup of privation, and had never been free from anxiety. +About six months ago they had come to New York, where he had at first +found fairly remunerative employment in Hitchcock's sale stable. But +there, as elsewhere, he had wrecked his prospects by drink and neglect +of business, and for some time past the unhappy pair had been entirely +destitute. The baby had been born soon after they had taken up their +quarters in New York. The mother's health, which had been far from +strong before this event, completely broke down, and she had never +fully recovered. The seeds of consumption, which had probably been +implanted in her before her birth, had rapidly developed themselves +under the unpromising regimen to which she had been subjected, and it +was apparent that she had not long to live. She was unable to afford +proper nourishment to her child, which languished from day to day, and +the only strong desire left to her was that she might survive long +enough to see it fairly out of the world. + +Such was the sad tale poured into the sympathetic ears of Mrs. +Savareen, as she knelt there with the poor creature's head against her +boson. She, for the time, lost sight of her own share in the misery +brought about by the man who, in the eye of the law, was still her +husband. She spoke such words of comfort and consolation as suggested +themselves to her, but the case was a hopeless one, and it was evident +that no permanent consolation could ever again find a lodgment in the +breast of the woman who supposed herself to be Mrs. Randall. The best +that was left to her in this world was to hear the sad rites pronounced +over her babe, and then to drop gently away into that long, last sleep, +wherein, it was to be hoped, she would find that calm repose which a +cruel fate had denied her so long as she remained on earth. + +Mrs. Savareen, it will be remembered, was a pious woman. In such a +situation as that in which she found herself, we may feel sure that she +did not omit all reference to the consolations of religion. She poured +into the ear of this sore-tried soul a few of those words at which +thinkers of the modern school are wont to sneer, but which for eighteen +centuries have brought balm to the suffering and the afflicted of every +clime. Moreover, she did not neglect to administer consolation of a +material kind. She emptied her purse into the invalid's lap. It +contained something like thirty dollars--more money, probably, than +Mrs. Randall had ever called her own before. "Keep this for your own +use," she said--"it will buy many little comforts for you and baby. No, +I will not take any of it back. I am comfortably off and shall not want +it." Then, with a final embrace, and a few hurried words of farewell, +she stepped to the bedside and imprinted a kiss on the little waif +lying there, all unconscious of the world of sin and sorrow in which it +held so precarious a dwelling place. Her mission was at an end. She +silently passed from the room, closing the door behind her. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +STILL A MYSTERY. + + +At the head of the stairway she paused for a moment to collect herself +before passing down and out into the street. What she had left behind +her was of a nature well fitted to excite emotion, and her bosom rose +and fell with a gentle tenderness and pity. But she had learned self +control in the school of experience, and her delay was a brief one. +Mastering her emotions, she walked steadily down the two flights of +stairs, opened the front door for herself, and was just about to cross +the threshold when a man entered. The light of the street lamp fell +full upon his face. It was the face of the man whose mysterious +disappearance five years before had created such a profound sensation +throughout Western Canada. There was no possibility of mistaking it, +though it was greatly changed for the worse. Five years had wrought +terrible havoc upon it. The scar on the left cheek was more conspicuous +than of yore, and the features seemed to have settled into a perpetual +frown. But, worst of all, the countenance was bloated and besotted. The +nose had become bulbous and spongy, the eyes watery and weak. The man's +clothes were patched and seedy, and presented a general aspect of being +desperately out at elbows. His unsteady step indicated that he was at +least half drunk at that moment. He did not see; or at any rate did not +take any notice of the woman who gazed into his face so intently. As he +staggered on his way upstairs he stumbled and narrowly escaped falling. +Could it be possible that this disreputable object was the man whom she +had once loved as her husband? She shuddered as she passed out on to +the pavement. Truly, his sin had found him out. + +She had no difficulty in finding her way back to the hotel, without +asking questions of anybody. Upon reaching it she conferred for a +moment with the office clerk, and then passed up to a small general +sitting-room where she found her father. The old gentleman was +beginning to be anxious at her long absence. + +"Well, father, I find there is an express for Suspension Bridge at +midnight. I think we had better take it. It is now half-past ten. I +have learned all I wanted to know, and there is no use for us to stay +here on expense. But perhaps you are tired, and would like a night's +rest." + +"Found out all you wanted to know? Do you mean to say you have seen +him?" + +"Yes, and I never wish to see or hear of him again in this world. Don't +question me now. I will tell you all before we get home, and after that +I hope you will never mention his name in my presence. When shall we +start?" + +Finding her really anxious to be gone, the old man assented to her +proposition, and they started on their way homeward by the midnight +train. They reached Millbrook in due course, the father having +meanwhile been informed of all that his daughter had to tell him. +Savareen's disappearance remained as profound a mystery to them as +ever, but it had at any rate been made clear that he had absconded of +his own free will, and that in doing so he must have exercised a good +deal of shrewdness and cunning. + +The question as to how far it was advisable to take the public into +their confidence exercised the judgment of both father and daughter. +The conclusion arrived at was that as little as possible should be said +about the matter. Their errand to New York was already known, and could +not be wholly ignored. The fact of Savareen's existence would have to +be admitted. It would inevitably be chronicled by the _Sentinel_, +and the record would be transferred to the columns of other newspapers. +The subject would be discussed among the local quidnuncs, and the +excitement of five years since would to some extent be revived. All +this must naturally be expected, and would have to be endured as best +it might; but it was resolved that people should not be encouraged to +ask questions, and that they should be made to understand that the +topic was not an agreeable one to the persons immediately concerned. It +might reasonably be hoped that gossip would sooner or later wear itself +out. For the present it would be desirable for Mrs. Savareen to keep +within doors, and to hold as little communication with her neighbors as +possible. + +This programme was strictly adhered to, and everything turned out +precisely as had been expected. Mr. Haskins reached Millbrook on his +way home to Tennessee within a day or two after the return of father +and daughter from New York. He was informed by the father that Randall +and Savareen were identical, but that the family wished to suppress all +talk about the affair as far as possible. He took the hint, and +departed on his way homeward, without seeking to probe further into +matters in which he had no personal concern. + +It was hardly to be supposed, however, that the local population would +show equal forbearance. Curiosity was widespread, and was not to be +suppressed from a mere sentiment of delicacy. No sooner did it become +known that the father and daughter had returned than the former was +importuned by numerous friends and acquaintances to disclose the result +of his journey. He so far responded to these importunities as to admit +that the missing man was living in the States under an assumed name, +but he added that neither his daughter nor himself was inclined to talk +about the matter. He said in effect: "My daughter's burden is a heavy +one to bear, and any one who has any consideration for either her or me +will never mention the matter in the presence of either of us. Anyone +who does so will thereby forfeit all right to be regarded as a friend +or well-wisher." This did not silence gossiping tongues, but it at +least prevented them from propounding their questions directly to +himself. He was promptly interviewed by the editor of the +_Sentinel_, who received exactly the same information as other +people, and no more. The next number of the paper contained a leading +article on the subject, in which the silence of Mrs. Savareen and her +father was animadverted upon. The public, it was said, were entitled to +be told all that there was to tell. Savareen's disappearance had long +since become public property, and the family were not justified in +withholding any information which might tend to throw light on that +dark subject. This article was freely copied by other papers, and for +several weeks the topic was kept conspicuously before the little world +of western Canada. Nowhere was the interest in the subject more keenly +manifested than at the Royal Oak, where it furnished the theme of +frequent and all-but-interminable discussion. Not a day passed but mine +host Lapierre publicly congratulated himself upon his acumen in having +all along believed and declared that Savareen was still in the land of +the living. This landlord shared the prevalent opinion that the family +should be more communicative. "I haf always," said he, "peen a coot +frient to Mrs. Safareen. I respect her fery mooch, put I think she +might let us know sometings more apout her discoferies in New York." +Scores of other persons harped to the same monotonous tune. But father +and daughter submitted to this as to a necessary penalty of their +situation, and by degrees the excitement quieted down. I am not +prepared to say whether the stepmother received further enlightenment +than other people, but if she did she kept her tongue between her teeth +like a sensible woman. As for Mrs. Savareen herself, she consistently +refrained from speaking on the subject to anyone, and even the most +inveterate gossips showed sufficient respect for her feelings to ask +her no questions. She held the even tenor of her way, doing her work +and maintaining herself as usual, but she lived a secluded life, and +was seldom seen outside her own house. + +Thus, several months passed away without the occurrence of any event +worthy of being recorded. The mystery of Savareen's disappearance +remained a mystery still. But the time was approaching when all that +had so long been dark was to be made clear, and when the strange +problem of five years before was to be solved. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +COALS OF FIRE. + + +The gloomy month of November, 1859, was drawing to its close. The +weather, as usual at that time of the year, was dull and sober, and the +skies were dark and lowering. More than three months had elapsed since +the journey to New York, and Mrs. Savareen and her affairs had ceased +to be the engrossing topics of discussion among the people of Millbrook +and its neighborhood. She continued to live a very secluded life, and +seldom stirred beyond the threshold of her own door. Almost her only +visitors were her father and brother, for her stepmother rarely +intruded upon her domain, and indeed was not much encouraged to do so, +as her presence never brought comfort with it. The little boy continued +to grow apace, and it seemed to the fond mother that he became dearer +to her every day. He was the sole light and joy of her life, and in him +were bound up all her hopes for the future. Of late she had ceased to +scan his features in the hope of tracing there some resemblance of his +absent father. Since her visit to Amity street, _that_ fond +illusion had wholly departed, never to return. She had ceased even to +speak to him about his other parent, and had begun to regard herself in +the light of an actual widow. Such was the state of affairs when the +humdrum of her existence was broken in upon by a succession of +circumstances which it now becomes necessary to unfold. + +It was rapidly drawing towards six o'clock in the evening, and the +darkness of night had already fallen upon the outer landscape. Mrs. +Savareen sat in her little parlor with her boy upon her knee, as it was +her custom to sit at this hour. The lamp had not been lighted, but the +fireplace sent forth a ruddy blaze, making the countless shadows +reflect themselves on the floor, and in the remote corners of the room. +To both the mother and the child, this hour, "between the dark and the +daylight" was incomparably the most delightful of the twenty-four, for +it was consecrated to story-telling. Then it was that the boy was first +introduced to those old-time legends which in one form or another have +thrilled the bosoms of happy childhood for so many hundreds of years, +and which will continue to thrill them through centuries yet unborn. +Then it was that he made the acquaintance of Little Red Riding Hood, +Jack the Giant Killer, and the Seven Champions of Christendom. The +mingled lights and shades from the blazing logs of hickory in the +fireplace lent additional charm to the thousand and one stories which +the mother recounted for the child's edification, and I doubt not that +Jack's wonderful bean-stalk is still associated in Master Reggie's mind +with that cosy little room with its blended atmosphere of cheerful +twilight and sombre shadow. + +A few minutes more and it would be tea time. It would never do, +however, to break off the story of the Babes in the Wood just at the +time when the two emissaries of the wicked uncle began to quarrel in +the depths of the forest. The child's sympathies had been thoroughly +aroused, and he would not tamely submit to be left in suspense. No, the +gruesome old tale must be told out, or at least as far as where the +robin redbreasts, after mourning over the fate of the hapless infants +"did cover them with leaves." And so the mother went on with the +narrative. She had just reached the culminating point when an +approaching footstep was heard outside. Then came a knock at the door, +followed by the entrance of Mrs. Savareen's father. It was easy to see +from his face that this was no mere perfunctory call. Evidently he had +news to tell. + +"Something has happened, father," said Mrs. Savareen, as calmly as she +could. + +"Well, yes, something has happened. It is nothing very dreadful, but +you had better prepare yourself to hear unpleasant news." + +"It is that man--he has come." + +"Yes, he has come to town." + +"Is he at the door?" + +"No, he is at my house. I thought I had better come over and tell you, +instead of letting him come himself and take you by surprise." + +"What has he come for, and what does he want?" inquired Mrs. Savareen, +in a harder tone of voice than she was accustomed to use. + +"Well, for one thing he wants to see you, and I suppose you can't very +well avoid seeing him. He is your husband, you know. He knows nothing +about the journey to New York. He has no means, and looks shabby and +sickly. I shouldn't wonder if he isn't long for this world." + +"So you didn't tell him anything about the New York trip?" + +"No, I didn't exactly know what your views might be, and he looked such +a worn-out, pitiful object that I held my tongue about it. I think you +had better see him and hear what he has to say." + +It appeared that Savareen had arrived at Millbrook by the 4:15 p.m. +train from New York, and that he had slunk round by the least +frequented streets to his father-in-law's house without being +recognised by any one. It might be doubted, indeed, whether any of his +old friends would have recognised him, even if they had met him face +to face in broad daylight, for he was by no means the ruddy, robust, +self-complacent looking personage they had been accustomed to see in +the old days when he was wont to ride into town on his black mare. His +clothes were seamy and worn, and his physical proportions had shrunk so +much that the shabby garments seemed a world too wide for him. His face, +which three months ago had been bloated and sodden, had become pale and +emaciated, and the scar upon his left cheek seemed to have developed +until it was the most noticeable thing about him. His step was feeble +and tremulous, and it was evident that his health had completely broken +down. He was in fact in a state bordering on collapse, and was hardly +fit to be going about. His financial condition was on a par with his +bodily state. He had expended his last dime in the purchase of his +railway ticket, and at the moment of reaching his father-in-law's door +he had been well-nigh famished for want of food. When a loaf of bread +and some slices of cold meat had been set before him, he had fallen to +with the voracity of a jungle tiger. He had vouchsafed no explanation +of his presence, except that he felt he was going to die, and that he +wanted to see his wife and child. As he was tired out and sorely in +need of rest, he had been put to bed, and his father-in-law, after +seeing him snugly stowed away between the sheets, had set out to bear +the news to his wife. + +There could be no doubt as to what was the proper thing to be done. +Mrs. Savareen made the fire safe, put on her bonnet and shawl and +locked up the house. Then, taking her little boy by the hand, she +accompanied her father to the old house where, six or seven years +before, the handsome young farmer had been in the habit of visiting and +paying court to her. On arriving she found the invalid buried in the +deep, profound sleep of exhaustion. Consigning her boy to the care of +her stepmother, she took her place by the bedside and waited. Her vigil +was a protracted one, for the tired-out sleeper did not awaken until +the small hours of the next morning. Then with a long drawn +respiration, he opened his eyes, and fixed them upon the watcher with a +weak, wandering expression, as though he was unable to fully grasp the +situation. + +The truth found its way to him by degrees. He shifted himself uneasily, +as though he would have been glad to smother himself beneath the +bedclothes, was it not for lack of resolution. A whipped hound never +presented a more abject appearance. + +His wife was the first to speak. "Do you feel rested?" she asked in a +gentle tone. + +"Rested? O, yes, I remember now. We are at your father's." + +"Yes; but don't talk any more just now, if it tires you. Try to go to +sleep again." + +"You are good to me; better than I deserve," he responded, after a +pause. Then great tears welled up to his eyes, and coursed one after +another down his thin, worn face. It was easy to see that he was weak +as water. His long journey by rail without food had been too much for +him, and in his state of health it was just possible he might never +rally. + +The womanly nature of the outraged wife came uppermost, as it always +does under such circumstances. Her love for the miserable creature +lying there before her had been killed and crucified long ago, never to +be revived. But she could not forget that she had once loved him, and +that he was the father of her child. No matter how deeply he had +wronged her, he was ill and suffering--perhaps dying. His punishment +had come upon him without any act of hers. She contrasted his present +bearing with that of other days. He was bent, broken, crushed. Nothing +there to remind her of the stalwart, manly young fellow whose voice had +once stirred her pulse to admiration and love. All the more reason why +she should be good to him now, all undeserving as he might be. Our +British Homer showed a true appreciation of the best side of feminine +nature when he wrote-- + + "O woman, in our hour of ease, + Uncertain, coy, and hard to please; + When pain and anguish wring thy brow, + A ministering angel thou!" + +She rose and approached the bed, while her gaze rested mildly upon his +face. Drawing forth her handkerchief, she wiped the salt tears from his +cheeks with a caressing hand. To him lying there in his helplessness, +she seemed no unfit earthly representative of that Divine Beneficence +"whose blessed task," says Thackeray, "it will one day be to wipe the +tear from every eye." Her gentleness caused the springs to well forth +afresh, and the prostrate form was convulsed by sobs. She sat by his +side on the bed, and staunched the miniature flood with a tender touch. +By-and-by calm returned, and he sank into a profound and apparently +dreamless sleep. + +When he again awoke it was broad daylight. The first object on which +his eyes rested was the patient watcher who had never left her post the +whole night long, and who still sat in an armchair at his bedside, +ready to minister to his comfort. As soon as she perceived that he was +awake she approached and took his wasted hand in her own. He gazed +steadily in her face, but could find no words to speak. + +"You are rested now, are you not?" she murmured, scarcely above her +breath. + +After a while he found his voice and asked how long he had slept. Being +enlightened on the point, he expressed his belief that it was time for +him to rise. + +"Not yet," was the response; "you shall have your breakfast first, and +then it will be time enough to think about getting up. I forbid you to +talk until you have had something to eat," she added, playfully. "Lie +still for a few minutes, while I go and see about a cup of tea." And so +saying she left him to himself. + +Presently she returned, bearing a tray and eatables. She quietly raised +him to a sitting posture, and placed a large soft pillow at his back. +He submitted to her ministrations like a child. It was long since he +had been tended with such care, and the position doubtless seemed a +little strange to him. After drinking a cup of tea and eating several +morsels of the good things set before him he evidently felt refreshed. +His eyes lost somewhat of their lack-lustre air of confirmed +invalidism, and his voice regained a measure of its natural tone. When +he attempted to rise and dress himself, however, he betrayed such a +degree of bodily feebleness that his wife forbade him to make further +exertions. He yielded to her importunities, and remained in bed, which +was manifestly the best place for him. He was pestered by no +unnecessary questions to account for his presence, Mrs. Savareen +rightly considering that it was for him to volunteer any explanations +he might have to make whenever he felt equal to the task. + +After a while his little boy was brought in to see the father of whom +he dimly remembered to have heard. His presence moved the sick man to +further exhibitions of tearful sensibility, but seemed, on the whole, +to have a salutary effect. Long absence and a vagabond life had not +quenched the paternal instinct, and the little fellow was caressed with +a fervor too genuine to admit of the possibility of its being assumed. +Master Reggie received these ebullitions of affection without much +corresponding demonstrativeness. He could not be expected to feel any +vehement adoration for one whom he had never seen since his earliest +babyhood, and whose very name for some months past had been permitted +to sink out of sight. His artless prattle, however, was grateful in the +ears of his father, who looked and listened as if entranced by sweet +strains of music. His wasted--worse than wasted--past seemed to rise +before him, as the child's accents fell softly upon his ear, and he +seemed to realize more than ever how much he had thrown away. + +In the course of the forenoon Mrs. Savareen's stepmother took her place +in the sick chamber, and she herself withdrew to another room to take +the rest of which she was by this time sorely in need. The invalid +would not assent to the proposal to call in a physician. He declared +that he was only dead tired, and that rest and quiet would soon restore +him without medicine, in so far as any restoration was possible. And so +the day passed by. + +In the evening the wife again took her place at the bedside, and she +had not been there long ere her husband voluntarily began his chapter +of explanations. His story was a strange one, but there was no room to +doubt the truth of any portion of it. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +THE BAD HALF CROWN. + + +He began by comparing himself to the bad half-crown, which always finds +its way back, but which has no right to expect a warm welcome on its +return. "Were it not," said he, "that I feel myself to be pretty near +the end of my earth's journey, I could not have the face to tell you my +story at all. But I feel that I am worn out, and don't think it likely +that I shall ever leave this room except for the grave. You shall know +everything, even more fully than I have ever known it myself until +within the last few hours. They say that when a man is nearing his end +he sees more clearly than at any other time of his life. For my part I +now see for the first time that I have never been anything but a +worthless lout from my cradle. I have never been fit to walk alone, and +if health and strength were to come back to me I should not be one whit +better than I have hitherto been. I don't know whether I ever told you +that I have a streak of gipsy blood in my veins. My grandmother was a +Romany, picked up by my grandfather on Wandsworth Common. I don't offer +this fact as any excuse for my conduct, but I have sometimes thought +that it may have something to do with the pronounced vagabondism which +has always been one of my most distinctive features. So long as I was +at home in my father's house he kept me from doing anything very +outrageous, but I was always a creature of impulse, ready to enter into +any hair-brained scheme without counting the cost. I never looked a +week ahead in my life. It was sufficient for me if the present was +endurable, and if the general outlook for the future promised something +new. My coming to this country in the first place was a mere impulse, +inspired by a senseless liking for adventure and a wish to see strange +faces and scenes. My taking Squire Harrington's farm was an impulse, +very largely due to its proximity to Lapierre's, who is a jolly +landlord and knows how to make his guests comfortable. I had no special +aptitude for farm life; no special desire to get on in the world; no +special desire to do anything except pass the time as pleasantly as I +could, without thought or care for the future. And as I have fully made +up my mind to make a clean breast of it, I am going to tell you +something which will make you despise me more than you ever despised me +yet. When I married you I did so from impulse. Don't mistake me. I +liked you better than any other woman I had ever seen. I liked your +pretty face, and your gentle, girlish ways. I knew that you were good, +and would make an excellent wife. But I well knew that I had no such +feeling towards you as a man should have towards the woman whom he +intends to make the companion of his life--no such feeling, for +instance, as I have for you at this moment. Well, I married you and we +lived together as happily as most young couples do. I knew that I had a +good wife, and you didn't know, or even suspect, what a brainless, +heartless clod you had for your husband. Our married life glided by +without anything particular happening to disturb it. But the thing +became monotonous to me, and I had the senseless vagabond's desire for +change. We did fairly well on the farm, but once or twice I was on the +point of proposing to you that we should emigrate to the Western +States. I began to drink more than was good for me, and two or three +times when I came home half-sees over you reproached me, and looked at +me in a way I didn't like. This I inwardly resented, like the besotted +fool I was. It seemed to me that you might have held your tongue. The +feeling wasn't a very strong one with me, and if it hadn't been for +that cursed four hundred pounds, things might have gone on for some +time longer. Of course I kept all this to myself, for I was at least +sensible enough to feel ashamed of my want of purpose, and knew that I +deserved to be horsewhipped for not caring more for you and baby. + +"The legacy from my father, if properly used, would have placed us on +our feet. With a farm of my own, I might reasonably hope to become a +man of more importance in our community than I had been. For a time +this was the only side of the picture that presented itself to my mind. +I began to contemplate myself as a landed proprietor, and the +contemplation was pleasant enough. I bought the farm from Squire +Harrington in good faith, and with no other intention than to carry out +the transaction. When I left home on the morning of that 17th of July, +I had no more intention of absconding than I now have of running for +Parliament. The idea never so much as entered my mind. The morning was +wet, and it seemed likely that we should have a rainy day. I was in a +more loaferish mood than usual, and thought I might as well ride to +town to pass the time. The hired man, whose name I have forgotten, was +not within call at the moment, so I went out to the stable to saddle +Black Bess for myself. Then I found that the inner front padding of the +saddle had been torn by rats during the night, and that the metal plate +was exposed. To use it in that state would have galled the mare's back, +and it was necessary to place something beneath it. I looked about me +in the stable, but saw nothing suitable, so I returned into the house +to get some kind of an old cloth for the purpose. If you had been there +I should have asked for what I wanted, but you were not to be seen, and +when I called out your name you did not answer. Then, in a fit of +momentary stupid petulance, I went into the front bedroom, opened my +trunk, and took out the first thing that came uppermost. I should have +taken and used it for what I wanted just then, even if it had been a +silk dress or petticoat; but it happened to be a coat of my own. I took +it out to the stable, placed it under the saddle, and rode off. Before +reaching the front gate I saw how it was that you had not answered my +call, for, as you doubtless remember, you were out in the orchard with +baby in your arms, at some distance from the house. I nodded to you as +I rode past, little thinking that years would elapse before I should +see you again. + +"I suppose you know all about how I spent the day. I had a bit of a +quarrel with the clerk at the bank, and that put me out of humor. I had +not intended to draw the money, but to leave it on deposit till next +morning. + +"Shuttleworth's ill-tempered remarks nettled me. I took the notes in a +huff, and left the bank with them in my pocket. I ought to have had +sense enough to ride home at once, but I went to the Peacock and +muddled myself with drink. I felt elated at having such a large sum of +money about me, and carried on like a fool and a sot all afternoon. I +didn't start for home till a few minutes before dark. Up to that moment +the idea of clearing out had never presented itself to my mind. But as +I cantered along the quiet road I began to think what a good time I +could have with four hundred pounds in my pocket, in some far-off place +where I was not known, and where I should be free from incumbrances of +every kind. + +"In the half-befuddled condition in which I then was, the idea quickly +took possession of my stupid imagination. I rode along, however, +without coming to any fixed determination, till I reached Jonathan +Perry's toll-gate. I exchanged a few words with him, and then resumed +my journey. Suddenly it flashed upon me that, if I was really going to +make a strike for it, nothing was to be gained by delaying my flight. +What was the use of going home? If I ever got there I should probably +be unable to summon up sufficient resolution to go at all. Just then I +heard the sound of a horse's feet advancing rapidly down the road. An +impulse seized me to get out of the way. But to do this was not easy. +There was a shallow ditch along each side of the road, and the fence +was too high for a leap. Before I could let down the rails and betake +myself to the fields the horseman would be on the spot. As I cast rapid +glances this way and that, I came in front of the gateway of the lane +leading down by the side of Stolliver's house to his barnyard. As it +happened, the gate was open. On came the horse clattering down the +road, and not a second was to be lost if I wished to remain unseen. I +rode in, dismounted, shut to the gate, and led my mare a few yards down +the lane to an overhanging black cherry tree, beneath which I ensconced +myself. Scarcely had I taken up my position there when the horse and +his rider passed at a swift trot down the road. It was too dark for me +to tell at that distance who the rider was, but, as you shall hear, I +soon found out. I stood still and silent, with my hand on Bess's mane, +cogitating what to do next. While I did so, Stolliver's front door +opened, and he and his boys walked out to the front fence, where the +old man lighted his pipe. Then I heard the horse and his rider coming +back up the road from the tollgate. In another moment the rider drew up +and began to talk to Stolliver. I listened with breathless attention, +and heard every word of the conversation, which related to myself. I +feared that Bess would neigh or paw the ground, in which case the +attention of the speakers would have been drawn to my whereabouts. But, +as my cursed fate would have it, the mare made no demonstration of any +kind, and I was completely hidden from view by the darkness and also by +the foliage of the cherry tree under which I stood. The horseman, as +you probably know, was Lapierre, who had been despatched by you to +bring me home. This proceeding on your part I regarded, in my then +frame of mind, in the light of an indignity. A pretty thing, truly, if +I was to be treated as though I was unable to take care of myself, and +if my own wife was to send people to hunt for me about the +neighborhood! I waited in silence till Lapierre had paid his second +visit to the toll-gate and ridden off homewards. Still I waited, until +old Stolliver and his boys returned into the house. Then I led the mare +as softly as I could down the lane, and around to the back of the barn, +where we were safe from observation. + +"I chuckled with insane glee at having eluded Lapierre, and then I +determined on a course of action. Like the egotistical villain I was, I +had no more regard for your feelings than if you had been a stick or a +stone. You should never suspect that I had wilfully deserted you, and +should be made to believe that I had been murdered. Having formed my +plans, I led the mare along the edges of the fields, letting down the +fences whenever it was necessary to do so, and putting them carefully +up again after passing through. I made my way down past the rear end of +John Calder's lot, and so on to the edge of the swamp behind Squire +Harrington's. Bess would take no harm there during the night and would +be found safe enough on the morrow. I removed the bit from her mouth, +so that she could nibble the grass, and left the bridle hanging round +her neck, securing it so that she would not be likely to trip or throw +herself. I showed far more consideration for her than I did for the +wife of my bosom. I removed the saddle so that she could lie down and +roll, if she felt that way disposed. I took the coat I had used for a +pad, and carried it a short distance into the swamp and threw it into a +puddle of water. I deliberated whether I should puncture the end of my +finger with my jack-knife and stain my coat with the blood, but +concluded that such a proceeding was unnecessary. I knew that you would +be mystified by the coat as you knew quite well that I had not worn it +when I left home in the morning. Then I bade farewell to poor Bess, +and, unaccountable as it may seem to you, I was profoundly touched at +parting from her in such a way. I embraced her neck and kissed her on +the forehead. As I tore myself away from her I believe I was within an +ace of shedding tears. Yet, not a thought of compunction on your +account penetrated my selfish soul. I picked my way through the swamp +to the fourth concession, and then struck out across unfrequented +fields for Harborough station, eight miles away. + +"The moon was up, and the light shone brightly all the way, but I +skulked along the borders of out-of-the-way fields, and did not +encounter a human being. As I drew near the station I secreted myself +on the dark side of an old shed, and lay in wait for the first train +which might stop there. I did not have to remain more than about half +an hour. A mixed train came along from the west, and as it drew up I +sprang on the platform of the last car but one. To the best of my +knowledge nobody saw me get aboard. I was not asked for my ticket until +the train approached Hamilton, when I pretended that I had lost it, and +paid my fare from Dundas, where I professed to have boarded the train. +I got off at Hamilton, and waited for the east-bound express, which +conveyed me to New York." + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +REGINALD BOURCHIER SAVAREEN DISCOVERS THE GREAT SECRET. + + +Thus far Savareen had been permitted to tell his own story. I do not, +of course, pretend that it came from his lips in the precise words set +down in the foregoing chapter, but for the sake of brevity and +clearness, I have deemed it best to present the most salient portion of +the narrative in the first person. It was related to me years +afterwards by Mrs. Savareen herself, and I think I am warranted in +saying that I have given the purport of her relation with tolerable +accuracy. There is no need to present the sequel in the same fashion, +nor with anything like the same fulness of detail. The man unburdened +himself with all the appearance of absolute sincerity, and made no +attempt to palliate or tone down anything that told against himself. He +admitted that upon reaching New York he had entered upon a career of +wild dissipation. He drank, gambled and indulged in debauchery to such +an extent that in less than six weeks he had got pretty nearly to the +end of his four hundred pounds. He assumed a false name and carefully +abstained from ever looking at the newspapers, so that he remained in +ignorance of all that had taken place in the neighborhood of his home +after his departure. Becoming tired of the life he was leading in the +great city, he proceeded southward, and spent some months wandering +about through the Southern States. His knowledge of horse-flesh enabled +him to pick up a livelihood, and even at times to make money; but his +drinking propensities steadily gained the mastery over him and stood in +the way of his permanent success in any pursuit. During a sojourn at a +tavern in Lexington, Kentucky, he had formed an attachment for the +daughter of his landlord. She was a good girl in her way, and knew how +to take care of herself; but Mr. Jack Randall passed for a bachelor, +and seemed to be several grades above the ordinary frequenters of her +father's place. Their marriage and subsequent adventures have been +sufficiently detailed by the unhappy woman herself, during her +conference with Mrs. Savareen at No. 77 Amity street. + +The _soi-disant_ Randall had gone on from bad to worse, until he +had become the degraded creature of whom his wife had caught a +momentary glimpse under the glare of gas lamp on her departure from the +Amity street lodgings. The woman who supposed herself to be his wife +had informed him that a strange lady had called and been very kind to +her, but she had told him nothing about the lady having come from +Canada. Why she was thus reticent I am unable to say with certainty. +Perhaps it was because she attached no importance to the circumstance, +after the lady's declaration that the daguerreotype did not represent +the man whom she wished to find. Perhaps she had some inkling of the +truth, and dreaded to have her suspicions confirmed. She knew that she +had but a short time to live, and may very well have desired to sleep +her last sleep without making any discovery detrimental to her peace of +mind. Whatever the cause may have been, she kept silent to everything +but the main fact that a kind lady had called and supplied her with a +small store of money to provide for herself and the child. Savareen +never learned or even suspected, that the lady who ministered to the +wants of his victims was his own wife, until the truth was told to him +by the wife herself. Small difference to him however, where the money +came from. He had no scruples about taking a part of it to buy drink +for himself and one or two loafers he numbered among his personal +acquaintances. But there was sufficient left to provide for all the +earthly needs of the dying woman and her child. The little one breathed +its last within two days of Mrs. Savareen's visit, and the mother +followed it to the grave a week later. + +Since then "Jack Randall" had dragged on a solitary existence in New +York, and had been on the very brink of starvation. Every half dime he +could lay hold of, by hook or by brook--and I fear it was sometimes by +both--was spent in the old way. Then his health suddenly broke down, +and for the first time he knew what it was to be weak and ill. Finally +he had been compelled to admit to himself that he was utterly beaten in +the race of life; and with a profound depth of meanness which +transcended any of his former acts, he had made up his mind to return +in his want and despair, to the wife whom he had so basely deserted. +Since leaving Westchester he had heard nothing of her, direct or +indirect; but he doubted not that she was supplied with the necessaries +of life, and that she would yield him her forgiveness. + +It is possible to sympathize with the prodigal son, but whose heart is +wide enough to find sympathy for such a prodigal husband as this? + +His wife heard him patiently out to the very end. Then she told him of +the arrival of Mr. Thomas Jefferson Haskins at the Royal Oak, and the +consequent visit to New York. The recital did not greatly move him. The +telling of his own story had again reduced him to a state of extreme +exhaustion, and he was for the time being incapable of further emotion. +He soon after dropped asleep, and as he was tolerably certain not to +awake until next morning, there was no occasion for further attendance +upon him. Mrs. Savareen drew to another apartment to ponder a while, +before retiring to rest, on the strange tale which she had heard. + +Next morning it was apparent that Savareen was alarmingly ill, and that +his illness did not arise solely from exhaustion. A doctor was called +in, and soon pronounced his verdict. The patient was suffering from +congestion of the lungs. The malady ran a rapid course, and in another +week he lay white and cold in his coffin, the scar on his cheek, +showing like a great pale ridge on a patch of hoar-frost. + + * * * * * + + +My story is told. The young widow donned the conventional weeds--"the +trappings and the suits of woe"--prescribed by custom under such +circumstances. It is only reasonable to believe that she sincerely +mourned the loss of her girlhood's ideal, but it was surely too much to +expect that she should be overwhelmed by grief at the death of one who +had been practically dead to her for years, and whose unworthiness had +recently been so unmistakably brought home to her. With her subsequent +fortunes the reader has no concern; but it can be no harm to inform him +that she remains a widow still, and that she at this moment resides +with her son--a prosperous lawyer--in one of the chief towns of Western +Canada. + + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Gerrard Street Mystery and Other +Weird Tales, by John Charles Dent + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GERRARD STREET MYSTERY *** + +***** This file should be named 6917.txt or 6917.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/6/9/1/6917/ + +Produced by David Moynihan, Charles Franks and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team. + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will +be renamed. + +Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright +law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, +so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United +States without permission and without paying copyright +royalties. 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Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..52bb569 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #6917 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/6917) diff --git a/old/grrsm10.txt b/old/grrsm10.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..10c26c9 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/grrsm10.txt @@ -0,0 +1,5574 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Gerrard Street Mystery and Other Weird +Tales, by John Charles Dent + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the +copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing +this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook. + +This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project +Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. 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You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: The Gerrard Street Mystery and Other Weird Tales + +Author: John Charles Dent + +Release Date: November, 2004 [EBook #6917] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on February 10, 2003] +[Date Last Updated: March 9, 2003] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GERRARD STREET MYSTERY *** + + + + +Produced by David Moynihan, Charles Franks +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + + + + +THE +GERRARD STREET MYSTERY +AND OTHER +WEIRD TALES. + +BY + +JOHN CHARLES DENT. + + + + +PREFATORY SKETCH. + +John Charles Dent, the author of the following remarkable stories, was +born in Kendal, Westmorland, England, in 1841. His parents emigrated to +Canada shortly after that event, bringing with them, of course, the +youth who was afterwards to become the Canadian author and historian. +Mr. Dent received his primary education in Canadian schools, and +afterwards studied law, becoming in due course a member of the Upper +Canada Bar. He only practised for a few years. He found the profession +profitable enough but uncongenial--as it could not well help being, in +an obscure Canadian, village, twenty years ago--and very probably he +was already cherishing ambitious dreams of literary labors, which he +was eager to begin in the world's literary centre, London. He +accordingly relinquished his practice as soon as he felt himself in a +position to do so, and went to England. He had not miscalculated his +powers, as too many do under like circumstances. He soon found +remunerative literary work, and as he became better known, was engaged +to write for several high-class periodicals, notably, _Once a +Week_, for which he contributed a series of articles on interesting +topics. But in England Mr. Dent produced no very long or ambitious +work. Perhaps he found that the requisite time for such an undertaking +could not be spared. At this period he had a wife and family depending +on him for support, and it speaks well for his abilities, that he was +able to amply provide for them out of the profits solely derived from +his literary labours. But of course to do this he had to devote himself +to work that could be thrown off readily, and which could be as readily +sold. + +After remaining in England for several years, Mr. Dent and his family +returned to America. He obtained a position in Boston, which he held +for about two years. But he finally relinquished it and came to +Toronto, having accepted a position on the editorial staff of the +_Telegram_, which was then just starting. For several years Mr. +Dent devoted himself to journalistic labours on various newspapers, but +principally the _Toronto Weekly Globe_. To that journal he +contributed a very notable series of biographical sketches on "Eminent +Canadians." Shortly after the death of the Hon. George Brown, Mr. Dent +severed his connection with the _Globe_, and immediately +thereafter commenced his first ambitious undertaking, _The Canadian +Portrait Gallery_, which ran to four large volumes. It proved to be +a most creditable and successful achievement. Of course in a brief +sketch no detailed criticism of either this or the succeeding works can +be attempted. Suffice it to say that the biographies of Canadian public +men, living and dead, were carefully prepared, and written from an +un-partisan standpoint. In this book there was no padding; every +individual admitted had achieved something of national value, and the +biographies are, therefore, of importance to the student of Canadian +history. This book deserved and attained a considerable circulation, +and brought to its author a comparatively large sum of money. + +Mr. Dent's second book was "The Last Forty Years: Canada since the +Union of 1841." This work has been highly praised in all quarters, and +is in every way a credit to its author's really brilliant powers as a +literary artist. + +The third work was a "History of the Rebellion in Upper Canada." +Although written in his best manner, with the greatest possible care, +from authentic sources of information not hitherto accessible, this +work has had the misfortune to meet with undeservedly severe criticism. +When Mr. Dent began his studies for the book he held William-Lyon +Mackenzie in high esteem, but he found it necessary afterwards to +change his opinion. He was able to throw a flood of new light on the +characters of the men who took part in the struggle, and if the facts +tended to darken the fair fame of some of them, the historian certainly +ought not to be censured for it. The tendency of the book was decidedly +in opposition to the ideas entertained to this day by the partizans of +the "Old Family Compact" on the one side, and also to the friends and +admirers of William Lyon Mackenzie on the other. + +But the severe criticism the work sustained, has left it stronger than +before, and it will stand undoubtedly as by far the best history of the +"Rebellion" that has appeared. + +In addition to these important works on which his reputation as a +writer will rest, Mr. Dent has written from time to time a great many +sketches, essays and stories, some of which are exceedingly interesting +and worthy of being preserved. All of Mr. Dent's work contains a charm +of its own. In writing, history, he was in accord with Macaulay. He +always believed that a true story should be told as agreeably as a +fictitious one; "that the incidents of real life, whether political or +domestic, admit of being so arranged as, without detriment to accuracy, +to command all the interest of an artificial series of facts; that the +chain of circumstances which constitute history may be as finely and +gracefully woven as any tale of fancy." Acting upon this theory, he has +made Canadian history very interesting reading. He is to my mind the +only historian, beside Mr. Parkman, who has been able to make Canadian +events so dry in detail, fascinating throughout. + +In private life, Mr. Dent was a most estimable man. He possessed +qualities of mind and heart, having their visible outcome in a +courteous, genial manner that endeared him very closely to his friends. +With all his wealth of learning, which was very great, he was +light-hearted, witty and companionable, and his early death leaves a +gap not very easily closed. + +The four stories composing the present volume were contributed by their +author at considerable intervals to different periodicals. Some time +prior to his death he contemplated publishing them in book form, and +actually selected and carefully revised them with that purpose in view. +He thought they were worthy of being rescued from obscurity, and if we +compare them with much of a similar class of work constantly issuing +from the press, we cannot think that his judgment erred. They are now +published in accordance with his wish, to take their chances in the +great world of literature. + + R. W. D. + +TORONTO, Oct. 25th, 1888. + + + + +CONTENTS + + + THE GERRARD STREET MYSTERY + GAGTOOTH'S IMAGE + THE HAUNTED HOUSE ON DUCHESS STREET + SAVAREEN'S DISAPPEARANCE + + + + +THE GERRARD STREET MYSTERY. + +I. + + +My name is William Francis Furlong. My occupation is that of a +commission merchant, and my place of business is on St. Paul Street, in +the City of Montreal. I have resided in Montreal ever since shortly +after my marriage, in 1862, to my cousin, Alice Playter, of Toronto. My +name may not be familiar to the present generation of Torontonians, +though I was born in Toronto, and passed the early years of my life +there. Since the days of my youth my visits to the Upper Province have +been few, and--with one exception--very brief; so that I have doubtless +passed out of the remembrance of many persons with whom I was once on +terms of intimacy. Still, there are several residents of Toronto whom I +am happy to number among my warmest personal friends at the present +day. There are also a good many persons of middle age, not in Toronto +only, but scattered here and there throughout various parts of Ontario, +who will have no difficulty in recalling my name as that of one of +their fellow-students at Upper Canada College. The name of my late +uncle, Richard Yardington, is of course well known to all old residents +of Toronto, where he spent the last thirty-two years of his life. He +settled there in the year 1829, when the place was still known as +Little York. He opened a small store on Yonge Street, and his +commercial career was a reasonably prosperous one. By steady degrees +the small store developed into what, in those times, was regarded as a +considerable establishment. In the course of years the owner acquired a +competency, and in 1854 retired from business altogether. From that +time up to the day of his death he lived in his own house on Gerrard +Street. + +After mature deliberation, I have resolved to give to the Canadian +public an account of some rather singular circumstances connected +with my residence in Toronto. Though repeatedly urged to do so, I +have hitherto refrained from giving any extended publicity to those +circumstances, in consequence of my inability to see any good to +be served thereby. The only person, however, whose reputation can be +injuriously affected by the details has been dead for some years. He +has left behind him no one whose feelings can be shocked by the +disclosure, and the story is in itself sufficiently remarkable to be +worth the telling. Told, accordingly, it shall be; and the only +fictitious element introduced into the narrative shall be the name of +one of the persons most immediately concerned in it. + +At the time of taking up his abode in Toronto--or rather in Little +York--my uncle Richard was a widower, and childless; his wife having +died several months previously. His only relatives on this side of the +Atlantic were two maiden sisters, a few years younger than himself. He +never contracted a second matrimonial alliance, and for some time after +his arrival here his sisters lived in his house, and were dependent +upon him for support. After the lapse of a few years both of them +married and settled down in homes of their own. The elder of them +subsequently became my mother. She was left a widow when I was a mere +boy, and survived my father only a few months. I was an only child, +and as my parents had been in humble circumstances, the charge of my +maintenance devolved upon my uncle, to whose kindness I am indebted for +such educational training as I have received. After sending me to +school and college for several years, he took me into his store, and +gave me my first insight into commercial life. I lived with him, and +both then and always received at his hands the kindness of a father, in +which light I eventually almost came to regard him. His younger +sister, who was married to a watchmaker called Elias Playter, lived +at Quebec from the time of her marriage until her death, which took +place in 1846. Her husband had been unsuccessful in business, and +was moreover of dissipated habits. He was left with one child--a +daughter--on his hands; and as my uncle was averse to the idea of his +sister's child remaining under the control of one so unfit to provide +for her welfare, he proposed to adopt the little girl as his own. To +this proposition Mr. Elias Playter readily assented, and little Alice +was soon domiciled with her uncle and myself in Toronto. + +Brought up, as we were, under the same roof, and seeing each other +every day of our lives, a childish attachment sprang up between my +cousin Alice and myself. As the years rolled by, this attachment +ripened into a tender affection, which eventually resulted in an +engagement between us. Our engagement was made with the full and +cordial approval of my uncle, who did not share the prejudice +entertained by many persons against marriages between cousins. He +stipulated, however, that our marriage should be deferred until I had +seen somewhat more of the world, and until we had both reached an age +when we might reasonably be presumed to know our own minds. He was +also, not unnaturally, desirous that before taking upon myself the +responsibility of marriage I should give some evidence of my ability to +provide for a wife, and for other contingencies usually consequent upon +matrimony. He made no secret of his intention to divide his property +between Alice and myself at his death; and the fact that no actual +division would be necessary in the event of our marriage with each +other was doubtless one reason for his ready acquiescence in our +engagement. He was, however, of a vigorous constitution, strictly +regular and methodical in all his habits, and likely to live to an +advanced age. He could hardly be called parsimonious, but, like most +men who have successfully fought their own way through life, he was +rather fond of authority, and little disposed to divest himself of his +wealth until he should have no further occasion for it. He expressed +his willingness to establish me in business, either in Toronto or +elsewhere, and to give me the benefit of his experience in all +mercantile transactions. + +When matters had reached this pass I had just completed my twenty-first +year, my cousin being three years younger. Since my uncle's retirement +I had engaged in one or two little speculations on my own account, +which had turned out fairly successful, but I had not devoted +myself to any regular or fixed pursuit. Before any definite +arrangements had been concluded as to the course of my future life, a +circumstance occurred which seemed to open a way for me to turn to good +account such mercantile talent as I possessed. An old friend of my +uncle's opportunely arrived in Toronto from Melbourne, Australia, +where, in the course of a few years, he had risen from the position of +a junior clerk to that of senior partner in a prominent commercial +house. He painted the land of his adoption in glowing colours, and +assured my uncle and myself that it presented an inviting field for a +young man of energy and business capacity, more especially if he had a +small capital at his command. The matter was carefully debated in our +domestic circle. I was naturally averse to a separation from Alice, but +my imagination took fire at Mr. Redpath's glowing account of his own +splendid success. I pictured myself returning to Canada after an +absence of four or five years with a mountain of gold at my command, as +the result of my own energy and acuteness. In imagination, I saw myself +settled down with Alice in a palatial mansion on Jarvis Street, and +living in affluence all the rest of my days. My uncle bade me consult +my own judgment in the matter, but rather encouraged the idea than +otherwise. He offered to advance me L500, and I had about half that +sum as the result of my own speculations. Mr. Redpath, who was just +about returning to Melbourne, promised to aid me to the extent of his +power with his local knowledge and advice. In less than a fortnight +from that time he and I were on our way to the other side of the globe. + +We reached our destination early in the month of September, 1857. My +life in Australia has no direct bearing upon the course of events to be +related, and may be passed over in a very few words. I engaged in +various enterprises, and achieved a certain measure of success. If none +of my ventures proved eminently prosperous, I at least met with no +serious disasters. At the end of four years--that is to say, in +September, 1861--I made up my account with the world, and found I was +worth ten thousand dollars. I had, however, become terribly homesick, +and longed for the termination of my voluntary exile. I had, of course, +kept up a regular correspondence with Alice and Uncle Richard, and of +late they had both pressed me to return home. "You have enough," wrote +my uncle, "to give you a start in Toronto, and I see no reason why +Alice and you should keep apart any longer. You will have no +housekeeping expenses, for I intend you to live with me. I am getting +old, and shall be glad of your companionship in my declining years. You +will have a comfortable home while I live, and when I die you will get +all I have between you. Write as soon as you receive this, and let us +know how soon you can be here,--the sooner the better." + +The letter containing this pressing invitation found me in a mood very +much disposed to accept it. The only enterprise I had on hand which +would be likely to delay me was a transaction in wool, which, as I +believed, would be closed by the end of January or the beginning of +February. By the first of March I should certainly be in a condition to +start on my homeward voyage, and I determined that my departure should +take place about that time. I wrote both to Alice and my uncle, +apprising them of my intention, and announcing my expectation to reach +Toronto not later than the middle of May. + +The letters so written were posted on the 19th of September, in time +for the mail which left on the following day. On the 27th, to my huge +surprise and gratification, the wool transaction referred to was +unexpectedly concluded, and I was at liberty, if so disposed, to start +for home by the next fast mail steamer, the _Southern Cross_, +leaving Melbourne on the 11th of October. I _was_ so disposed, and made +my preparations accordingly. It was useless, I reflected, to write to +my uncle or to Alice, acquainting them with the change in my plans, for +I should take the shortest route home, and should probably be in +Toronto as soon as a letter could get there. I resolved to telegraph +from New York, upon my arrival there, so as not to take them altogether +by surprise. + +The morning of the 11th of October found me on board the _Southern +Cross_, where I shook hands with Mr. Redpath and several other +friends who accompanied me on board for a last farewell. The +particulars of the voyage to England are not pertinent to the story, +and may be given very briefly. I took the Red Sea route, and arrived at +Marseilles about two o'clock in the afternoon of the 29th of November. +From Marseilles I travelled by rail to Calais, and so impatient was I +to reach my journey's end without loss of time, that I did not even +stay over to behold the glories of Paris. I had a commission to execute +in London, which, however, delayed me there only a few hours, and I +hurried down to Liverpool, in the hope of catching the Cunard Steamer +for New York. I missed it by about two hours, but the _Persia_ was +detailed to start on a special trip to Boston on the following day. I +secured a berth, and at eight o'clock the next morning steamed out of +the Mersey on my way homeward. + +The voyage from Liverpool to Boston consumed fourteen days. All I need +say about it is, that before arriving at the latter port I formed an +intimate acquaintance with one of the passengers--Mr. Junius H. Gridley, +a Boston merchant, who was returning from a hurried business trip to +Europe. He was--and is--a most agreeable companion. We were thrown +together a good deal during the voyage, and we then laid the foundation +of a friendship which has ever since subsisted between us. Before the +dome of the State House loomed in sight he had extracted a promise from +me to spend a night with him before pursuing my journey. We landed at +the wharf in East Boston on the evening of the 17th of December, and I +accompanied him to his house on West Newton Street, where I remained +until the following morning. Upon consulting the time-table, we found +that the Albany express would leave at 11.30 a.m. This left several +hours at my disposal, and we sallied forth immediately after breakfast +to visit some of the lions of the American Athens. + +In the course of our peregrinations through the streets, we dropped +into the post-office, which had recently been established in the +Merchants' Exchange Building, on State Street. Seeing the countless +piles of mail-matter, I jestingly remarked to my friend that there +seemed to be letters enough there to go around the whole human family. +He replied in the same mood, whereupon I banteringly suggested the +probability that among so many letters, surely there ought to be one +for me. + +"Nothing more reasonable," he replied. "We Bostonians are always +bountiful to strangers. Here is the General Delivery, and here is the +department where letters addressed to the Furlong family are kept in +stock. Pray inquire for yourself." + +The joke I confess was not a very brilliant one; but with a grave +countenance I stepped up to the wicket and asked the young lady in +attendance: + +"Anything for W. F. Furlong?" + +She took from a pigeon-hole a handful of correspondence, and proceeded +to run her eye over the addresses. When about half the pile had been +exhausted she stopped, and propounded the usual inquiry in the case of +strangers: + +"Where do you expect letters from?" + +"From Toronto," I replied. + +To my no small astonishment she immediately handed me a letter, bearing +the Toronto post-mark. The address was in the peculiar and well-known +handwriting of my uncle Richard. + +Scarcely crediting the evidence of my senses I tore open the envelope, +and read as follows:-- + + + + "TORONTO, 9th December, 1861. + +"MY DEAR WILLIAM--I am so glad to know that you are coming home so much +sooner than you expected when you wrote last, and that you will eat +your Christmas dinner with us. For reasons which you will learn when +you arrive, it will not be a very merry Christmas at our house, but +your presence will make it much more bearable than it would be without +you. I have not told Alice that you are coming. Let it be a joyful +surprise for her, as some compensation for the sorrows she has had to +endure lately. You needn't telegraph. I will meet you at the G. W. R. +station. + + "Your affectionate uncle, + "RICHARD YARDINGTON." + +"Why, what's the matter?" asked my friend, seeing the blank look of +surprise on my face. "Of course the letter is not for you; why on earth +did you open it?" + +"It _is_ for me," I answered. "See here, Gridley, old man; have +you been playing me a trick? If you haven't, this is the strangest +thing I ever knew in my life." + +Of course he hadn't been playing me a trick. A moment's reflection +showed me that such a thing was impossible. Here was the envelope, with +the Toronto post-mark of the 9th of December, at which time he had been +with me on board the _Persia_, on the Banks of Newfoundland. +Besides, he was a gentleman, and would not have played so poor and +stupid a joke upon a guest. And, to put the matter beyond all +possibility of doubt, I remembered that I had never mentioned my +cousin's name in his hearing. + +I handed him the letter. He read it carefully through twice over, and +was as much mystified at its contents as myself; for during our passage +across the Atlantic I had explained to him the circumstance under which +I was returning home. + +By what conceivable means had my uncle been made aware of my departure +from Melbourne? Had Mr. Redpath written to him, as soon as I acquainted +that gentleman with my intentions? But even if such were the case, the +letter could not have left before I did, and could not possibly have +reached Toronto by the 9th of December. Had I been seen in England by +some one who knew me, and had not one written from there? Most +unlikely; and even if such a thing had happened, it was impossible that +the letter could have reached Toronto by the 9th. I need hardly inform +the reader that there was no telegraphic communication at that time. +And how could my uncle know that I would take the Boston route? And if +he _had_ known, how could he foresee that I would do anything so absurd +as to call at the Boston post-office and inquire for letters? "_I +will meet you at the G. W. R. station_." How was he to know by what +train I would reach Toronto, unless I notified him by telegraph? And +that he expressly stated to be unnecessary. + +We did no more sight-seeing. I obeyed the hint contained in the letter, +and sent no telegram. My friend accompanied me down to the Boston and +Albany station, where I waited in feverish impatience for the departure +of the train. We talked over the matter until 11.30, in the vain hope +of finding some clue to the mystery. Then I started on my journey. Mr. +Gridley's curiosity was aroused, and I promised to send him an +explanation immediately upon my arrival at home. + +No sooner had the train glided out of the station than I settled myself +in my seat, drew the tantalizing letter from my pocket, and proceeded +to read and re-read it again and again. A very few perusals sufficed to +fix its contents in my memory, so that I could repeat every word with +my eyes shut. Still I continued to scrutinize the paper, the +penmanship, and even the tint of the ink. For what purpose, do you ask? +For no purpose, except that I hoped, in some mysterious manner, to +obtain more light on the subject. No light came, however. The more I +scrutinized and pondered, the greater was my mystification. The paper +was a simple sheet of white letter-paper, of the kind ordinarily used +by my uncle in his correspondence. So far as I could see, there was +nothing peculiar about the ink. Anyone familiar with my uncle's writing +could have sworn that no hand but his had penned the lines. His +well-known signature, a masterpiece of involved hieroglyphics, was there +in all its indistinctness, written as no one but himself could ever have +written it. And yet, for some unaccountable reason, I was half disposed +to suspect forgery. Forgery! What nonsense. Anyone clever enough to +imitate Richard Yardington's handwriting would have employed his +talents more profitably than indulging in a mischievous and purposeless +jest. Not a bank in Toronto but would have discounted a note with that +signature affixed to it. + +Desisting from all attempts to solve these problems, I then tried to +fathom the meaning of other points in the letter. What misfortune had +happened to mar the Christmas festivities at my uncle's house? And what +could the reference to my cousin Alice's sorrows mean? She was not ill. +_That_, I thought, might be taken for granted. My uncle would hardly +have referred to her illness as "one of the sorrows she had to endure +lately." Certainly, illness may be regarded in the light of a sorrow; +but "sorrow" was not precisely the word which a straight-forward man +like Uncle Richard would have applied to it. I could conceive of no +other cause of affliction in her case. My uncle was well, as was evinced +by his having written the letter, and by his avowed intention to meet me +at the station. Her father had died long before I started for Australia. +She had no other near relation except myself, and she had no cause for +anxiety, much less for "sorrow," on my account. I thought it singular, +too, that my uncle, having in some strange manner become acquainted with +my movements, had withheld the knowledge from Alice. It did not square +with my preconceived ideas of him that he would derive any satisfaction +from taking his niece by surprise. + +All was a muddle together, and as my temples throbbed with the +intensity of my thoughts, I was half disposed to believe myself in a +troubled dream from which I should presently awake. Meanwhile, on +glided the train. + +A heavy snow-storm delayed us for several hours, and we reached +Hamilton too late for the mid-day express for Toronto. We got there, +however, in time for the accommodation leaving at 3.15 p.m., and we +would reach Toronto at 5.05. I walked from one end of the train to the +other in hopes of finding some one I knew, from whom I could make +enquiries about home. Not a soul. I saw several persons whom I knew to +be residents of Toronto, but none with whom I had ever been personally +acquainted, and none of them would be likely to know anything about my +uncle's domestic arrangements. All that remained to be done under these +circumstances was to restrain my curiosity as well as I could until +reaching Toronto. By the by, would my uncle really meet me at the +station, according to his promise? Surely not. By what means could he +possibly know that I would arrive by this train? Still, he seemed to +have such accurate information respecting my proceedings that there was +no saying where his knowledge began or ended. I tried not to think +about the matter, but as the train approached Toronto my impatience +became positively feverish in its intensity. We were not more than +three minutes behind time, as we glided in front of the Union Station, +I passed out on to the platform of the car, and peered intently through +the darkness. Suddenly my heart gave a great bound. There, sure enough, +standing in front of the door of the waiting-room, was my uncle, +plainly discernible by the fitful glare of the overhanging lamps. +Before the train came to a stand-still, I sprang from the car and +advanced towards him. He was looking out for me, but his eyes not being +as young as mine, he did not recognize me until I grasped him by the +hand. He greeted me warmly, seizing me by the waist, and almost raising +me from the ground. I at once noticed several changes in his +appearance; changes for which I was wholly unprepared. He had aged very +much since I had last seen him, and the lines about his mouth had +deepened considerably. The iron-grey hair which I remembered so well +had disappeared; its place being supplied with a new and rather +dandified-looking wig. The oldfashioned great-coat which he had worn +ever since I could remember had been supplanted by a modern frock of +spruce cut, with seal-skin collar and cuffs. All this I noticed in the +first hurried greetings that passed between us. + +"Never mind your luggage, my boy," he remarked. "Leave it till to-morrow, +when we will send down for it. If you are not tired we'll walk +home instead of taking a cab. I have a good deal to say to you before +we get there." + +I had not slept since leaving Boston, but was too much excited to be +conscious of fatigue, and as will readily be believed, I was anxious +enough to hear what he had to say. We passed from the station, and +proceeded up York Street, arm in arm. + +"And now, Uncle Richard," I said, as soon as we were well clear of the +crowd,--"keep me no longer in suspense. First and foremost, is Alice +well?" + +"Quite well, but for reasons you will soon understand, she is in deep +grief. You must know that--" + +"But," I interrupted, "tell me, in the name of all that's wonderful, +how you knew I was coming by this train; and how did you come to write +to me at Boston?" + +Just then we came to the corner of Front Street, where was a lamp-post. +As we reached the spot where the light of the lamp was most brilliant, +he turned half round, looked me full in the face, and smiled a sort of +wintry smile. The expression of his countenance was almost ghastly. + +"Uncle," I quickly said, "What's the matter? Are you not well?" + +"I am not as strong as I used to be, and I have had a good deal to try +me of late. Have patience and I will tell you all. Let us walk more +slowly, or I shall not finish before we get home. In order that you may +clearly understand how matters are, I had better begin at the +beginning, and I hope you will not interrupt me with any questions till +I have done. How I knew you would call at the Boston post-office, and +that you would arrive in Toronto by this train, will come last in +order. By the by, have you my letter with you?" + +"The one you wrote to me at Boston? Yes, here it is," I replied, taking +it from my pocket-book. + +"Let me have it." + +I handed it to him, and he put it into the breast pocket of his inside +coat. I wondered at this proceeding on his part, but made no remark +upon it. + +We moderated our pace, and he began his narration. Of course I don't +pretend to remember his exact words, but they were to this effect. +During the winter following my departure to Melbourne, he had formed +the acquaintance of a gentleman who had then recently settled in +Toronto. The name of this gentleman was Marcus Weatherley, who had +commenced business as a wholesale provision merchant immediately upon +his arrival, and had been engaged in it ever since. For more than three +years the acquaintance between him and my uncle had been very slight, +but during the last summer they had had some real estate transactions +together, and had become intimate. Weatherley, who was comparatively a +young man and unmarried, had been invited to the house on Gerrard +Street, where he had more recently become a pretty frequent visitor. +More recently still, his visits had become so frequent that my uncle +suspected him of a desire to be attentive to my cousin, and had thought +proper to enlighten him as to her engagement with me. From that day his +visits had been voluntarily discontinued. My uncle had not given much +consideration to the subject until a fortnight afterwards, when he had +accidently become aware of the fact that Weatherley was in embarrassed +circumstances. + +Here my uncle paused in his narrative to take breath. He then added, in +a low tone, and putting his mouth almost close to my ear: + +"And, Willie, my boy, I have at last found out something else. He has +forty-two thousand dollars falling due here and in Montreal within the +next ten days, and _he has forged my signature to acceptances for +thirty-nine thousand seven hundred and sixteen dollars and twenty-four +cents_." + +Those to the best of my belief, were his exact words. We had walked up +York Street to Queen, and then had gone down Queen to Yonge, when we +turned up the east side on our way homeward. At the moment when the +last words were uttered we had got a few yards north of Crookshank +Street, immediately in front of a chemist's shop which was, I think, +the third house from the corner. The window of this shop was well +lighted, and its brightness was reflected on the sidewalk in front. +Just then, two gentlemen walking rapidly in the opposite direction to +that we were taking brushed by us; but I was too deeply absorbed in my +uncle's communication to pay much attention to passers-by. Scarcely had +they passed, however, ere one of them stopped and exclaimed: + +"Surely that is Willie Furlong!" + +I turned, and recognised Johnny Gray, one of my oldest friends. I +relinquished my uncle's arm for a moment, and shook hands with Gray, +who said: + +"I am surprised to see you. I heard only a few days ago, that you were +not to be here till next spring." + +"I am here," I remarked, "somewhat in advance of my own expectations." +I then hurriedly enquired after several of our common friends, to which +enquiries he briefly replied. + +"All well," he said; "but you are in a hurry, and so am I. Don't let me +detain you. Be sure and look in on me to-morrow. You will find me at +the old place, in the Romain Buildings." + +We again shook hands, and he passed on down the street with the +gentleman who accompanied him. I then turned to re-possess myself of my +uncle's arm. The old gentleman had evidently walked on, for he was not +in sight. I hurried along, making sure of overtaking him before +reaching Gould Street, for my interview with Gray had occupied barely a +minute. In another minute I was at the corner of Gould Street. No signs +of Uncle Richard. I quickened my pace to a run, which soon brought me +to Gerrard Street. Still no signs of my uncle. I had certainly not +passed him on my way, and he could not have got farther on his homeward +route than here. He must have called in at one of the stores; a strange +thing for him to do under the circumstances. I retraced my steps all +the way to the front of the chemist's shop, peering into every window +and doorway as I passed along. No one in the least resembling him was +to be seen. + +I stood still for a moment, and reflected. Even if he had run at full +speed--a thing most unseemly for him to do--he could not have reached +the corner of Gerrard Street before I had done so. And what should he +run for? He certainly did not wish to avoid me, for he had more to tell +me before reaching home. Perhaps he had turned down Gould Street. At +any rate, there was no use waiting for him. I might as well go home at +once. And I did. + +Upon reaching the old familiar spot, I opened the gate passed on up the +steps to the front door, and rang the bell. The door was opened by a +domestic who had not formed part of the establishment in my time, and +who did not know me; but Alice happened to be passing through the hall, +and heard my voice as I inquired for Uncle Richard. Another moment and +she was in my arms. With a strange foreboding at my heart I noticed +that she was in deep mourning. We passed into the dining-room, where +the table was laid for dinner. + +"Has Uncle Richard come in?" I asked, as soon as we were alone. "Why +did he run away from me?" + +"Who?" exclaimed Alice, with a start; "what do you mean, Willie? Is it +possible you have not heard?" + +"Heard what?" + +"I see you have _not_ heard," she replied. "Sit down, Willie, and +prepare yourself for painful news. But first tell me what you meant by +saying what you did just now,--who was it that ran away from you?" + +"Well, perhaps I should hardly call it running away, but he certainly +disappeared most mysteriously, down here near the corner of Yonge and +Crookshank Streets." + +"Of whom are you speaking?" + +"Of Uncle Richard, of course." + +"Uncle Richard! The corner of Yonge and Crookshank Streets! When did +you see him there?" + +"When? A quarter of an hour ago. He met me at the station and we walked +up together till I met Johnny Gray. I turned to speak to Johnny for a +moment, when--" + +"Willie, what on earth are you talking about? You are labouring under +some strange delusion. _Uncle Richard died of apoplexy more than six +weeks ago, and lies buried in St. James's Cemetery_." + + + + +II. + + +I don't know how long I sat there, trying to think, with my face buried +in my hands. My mind had been kept on a strain during the last thirty +hours, and the succession of surprises to which I had been subjected +had temporarily paralyzed my faculties. For a few moments after Alice's +announcement I must have been in a sort of stupor. My imagination, I +remember, ran riot about everything in general, and nothing in +particular. My cousin's momentary impression was that I had met with an +accident of some kind, which had unhinged my brain. The first distinct +remembrance I have after this is, that I suddenly awoke from my stupor +to find Alice kneeling at my feet, and holding me by the hand. Then my +mental powers came back to me, and I recalled all the incidents of the +evening. + +"When did uncle's death take place?" I asked. + +"On the 3rd of November, about four o'clock in the afternoon. It was +quite unexpected, though he had not enjoyed his usual health for some +weeks before. He fell down in the hall, just as he was returning from a +walk, and died within two hours. He never spoke or recognised any one +after his seizure." + +"What has become of his old overcoat?" I asked. + +"His old overcoat, Willie--what a question?" replied Alice, evidently +thinking that I was again drifting back into insensibility. + +"Did he continue to wear it up to the day of his death?" I asked. + +"No. Cold weather set in very early this last fall, and he was +compelled to don his winter clothing earlier than usual. He had a new +overcoat made within a fortnight before he died. He had it on at the +time of his seizure. But why do you ask?" + +"Was the new coat cut by a fashionable tailor, and had it a fur collar +and cuffs?" + +"It was cut at Stovel's, I think. It had a fur collar and cuffs." + +"When did he begin to wear a wig?" + +"About the same time that he began to wear his new overcoat. I wrote +you a letter at the time, making merry over his youthful appearance and +hinting--of course only in jest--that he was looking out for a young +wife. But you surely did not receive my letter. You must have been on +your way home before it was written." + +"I left Melbourne on the 11th of October. The wig, I suppose, was +buried with him?" + +"Yes." + +"And where is the overcoat?" + +"In the wardrobe upstairs, in uncle's room." + +"Come and show it to me." + +I led the way upstairs, my cousin following. In the hall on the first +floor we encountered my old friend Mrs. Daly, the housekeeper. She +threw up her hands in surprise at seeing me. Our greeting was very +brief; I was too intent on solving the problem which had exercised my +mind ever since receiving the letter at Boston, to pay much attention +to anything else. Two words, however, explained to her where we were +going, and at our request she accompanied us. We passed into my uncle's +room. My cousin drew the key of the wardrobe from a drawer where it was +kept, and unlocked the door. There hung the overcoat. A single glance +was sufficient. It was the same. + +The dazed sensation in my head began to make itself felt again. The +atmosphere of the room seemed to oppress me, and closing the door of +the wardrobe, I led the way down stairs again to the dining-room, +followed by my cousin. Mrs. Daly had sense enough to perceive that we +were discussing family matters, and retired to her own room. + +I took my cousin's hand in mine, and asked: + +"Will you tell me what you know of Mr. Marcus Weatherley?" + +This was evidently another surprise for her. How could I have heard of +Marcus Weatherley? She answered, however, without hesitation: + +"I know very little of him. Uncle Richard and he had some dealings a +few months since, and in that way he became a visitor here. After a +while he began to call pretty often, but his visits suddenly ceased a +short time before uncle's death. I need not affect any reserve with +you. Uncle Richard thought he came after me, and gave him a hint that +you had a prior claim. He never called afterwards. I am rather glad +that he didn't, for there is something about him that I don't quite +like. I am at a loss to say what the something is; but his manner +always impressed me with the idea that he was not exactly what he +seemed to be on the surface. Perhaps I misjudged him. Indeed, I think I +must have done so, for he stands well with everybody, and is highly +respected." + +I looked at the clock on the mantel piece. It was ten minutes to seven, +I rose from my seat. + +"I will ask you to excuse me for an hour or two, Alice. I must find +Johnny Gray." + +"But you will not leave me, Willie, until you have given me some clue +to your unexpected arrival, and to the strange questions you have been +asking? Dinner is ready, and can be served at once. Pray don't go out +again till you have dined." + +She clung to my arm. It was evident that she considered me mad, and +thought it probable that I might make away with myself. This I could +not bear. As for eating any dinner, that was simply impossible in my +then frame of mind, although I had not tasted food since leaving +Rochester. I resolved to tell her all. I resumed my seat. She placed +herself on a stool at my feet, and listened while I told her all that I +have set down as happening to me subsequently to my last letter to her +from Melbourne. + +"And now, Alice, you know why I wish to see Johnny Gray." + +She would have accompanied me, but I thought it better to prosecute my +inquiries alone. I promised to return sometime during the night, and +tell her the result of my interview with Gray. That gentleman had +married and become a householder on his own account during my absence +in Australia. Alice knew his address, and gave me the number of his +house, which was on Church Street. A few minutes' rapid walking brought +me to his door. I had no great expectation of finding him at home, as I +deemed it probable he had not returned from wherever he had been going +when I met him; but I should be able to find out when he was expected, +and would either wait or go in search of him. Fortune favored me for +once, however; he had returned more than an hour before. I was ushered +into the drawing-room, where I found him playing cribbage with his +wife. + +"Why, Willie," he exclaimed, advancing to welcome me, "this is kinder +than I expected. I hardly looked for you before to-morrow. All the +better; we have just been speaking of you. Ellen, this is my old +friend, Willie Furlong, the returned convict, whose banishment you have +so often heard me deplore." + +After exchanging brief courtesies with Mrs. Gray, I turned to her +husband. + +"Johnny, did you notice anything remarkable about the old gentleman who +was with me when we met on Young Street this evening?" + +"Old gentleman! who? There was no one with you when I met you." + +"Think again, He and I were walking arm in arm, and you had passed us +before you recognized me, and mentioned my name." + +He looked hard in my face for a moment, and then said positively: + +"You are wrong, Willie. You were certainly alone when we met. You were +walking slowly, and I must have noticed if any one had been with you." + +"It is you who are wrong," I retorted, almost sternly. "I was +accompanied by an elderly gentleman, who wore a great coat with fur +collar and cuffs, and we were conversing earnestly together when you +passed us." + +He hesitated an instant, and seemed to consider, but there was no shade +of doubt on his face. + +"Have it your own way, old boy," he said. "All I can say is, that I saw +no one but yourself, and neither did Charley Leitch, who was with me. +After parting from you we commented upon your evident abstraction, and +the sombre expression of your countenance, which we attributed to your +having only recently heard of the sudden death of your Uncle Richard. +If any old gentleman had been with you we could not possibly have +failed to notice him." + +Without a single word by way of explanation or apology, I jumped from +my seat, passed out into the hall, seized my hat, and left the house. + + + + +III. + + +Out into the street I rushed like a madman, banging the door after me. +I knew that Johnny would follow me for an explanation, so I ran like +lightning round the next corner, and thence down to Yonge Street. Then +I dropped into a walk, regained my breath, and asked myself what I +should do next. + +Suddenly I bethought me of Dr. Marsden, an old friend of my uncle's. I +hailed a passing cab, and drove to his house. The doctor was in his +consultation-room, and alone. + +Of course he was surprised to see me, and gave expression to some +appropriate words of sympathy at my bereavement. "But how is it that I +see you so soon?" he asked--"I understood that you were not expected +for some months to come." + +Then I began my story, which I related with great circumstantiality of +detail, bringing it down to the moment of my arrival at his house. He +listened with the closest attention, never interrupting me by a single +exclamation until I had finished. Then he began to ask questions, some +of which I thought strangely irrelevant. + +"Have you enjoyed your usual good health during your residence abroad?" + +"Never better in my life. I have not had a moment's illness since you +last saw me." + +"And how have you prospered in your business enterprises?" + +"Reasonably well; but pray doctor, let us confine ourselves to the +matter in hand. I have come for friendly, not professional, advice." + +"All in good time, my boy," he calmly remarked. This was tantalizing. +My strange narrative did not seem to have disturbed his serenity in the +least degree. + +"Did you have a pleasant passage?" he asked, after a brief pause. "The +ocean, I believe, is generally rough at this time of year." + +"I felt a little squeamish for a day or two after leaving Melbourne," I +replied, "but I soon got over it, and it was not very bad even while it +lasted. I am a tolerably good sailor." + +"And you have had no special ground of anxiety of late? At least not +until you received this wonderful letter"--he added, with a perceptible +contraction of his lips, as though trying to repress a smile. + +Then I saw what he was driving at. + +"Doctor," I exclaimed, with some exasperation in my tone--"pray dismiss +from your mind the idea that what I have told you is the result of +diseased imagination. I am as sane as you are. The letter itself +affords sufficient evidence that I am not quite such a fool as you take +me for." + +"My dear boy, I don't take you for a fool at all, although you are a +little excited just at present. But I thought you said you returned the +letter to--ahem--your uncle." + +For a moment I had forgotten that important fact. But I was not +altogether without evidence that I had not been the victim of a +disordered brain. My friend Gridley could corroborate the receipt of +the letter and its contents. My cousin could bear witness that I had +displayed an acquaintance with facts which I would not have been likely +to learn from any one but my uncle. I had referred to his wig and +overcoat, and had mentioned to her the name of Mr. Marcus Weatherley--a +name which I had never heard before in my life. I called Dr. Marsden's +attention to these matters, and asked him to explain them if he could. + +"I admit," said the doctor, "that I don't quite see my way to a +satisfactory explanation just at present. But let us look the matter +squarely in the face. During an acquaintance of nearly thirty years, I +always found your uncle a truthful man, who was cautious enough to make +no statements about his neighbours that he was not able to prove. Your +informant, on the other hand, does not seem to have confined himself to +facts. He made a charge of forgery against a gentleman whose moral and +commercial integrity are unquestioned by all who know him. I know +Marcus Weatherley pretty well, and am not disposed to pronounce him a +forger and a scoundrel upon the unsupported evidence of a shadowy old +gentleman who appears and disappears in the most mysterious manner, and +who cannot be laid hold of and held responsible for his slanders in a +court of law. And it is not true, as far as I know and believe, that +Marcus Weatherley is embarrassed in his circumstances. Such confidence +have I in his solvency and integrity that I would not be afraid to take +up all his outstanding paper without asking a question. If you will +make inquiry, you will find that my opinion is shared by all the +bankers in the city. And I have no hesitation in saying that you will +find no acceptances with your uncle's name to them, either in this +market or elsewhere." + +"That I will try to ascertain to-morrow," I replied. "Meanwhile, Dr. +Marsden, will you oblige your old friend's nephew by writing to Mr. +Junius Gridley, and asking him to acquaint you with the contents of the +letter, and the circumstances under which I received it?" + +"It seems an absurd thing to do," he said, "but I will if you like. +What shall I say?" and he sat down at his desk to write the letter. + +It was written in less than five minutes. It simply asked for the +desired information, and requested an immediate reply. Below the +doctor's signature I added a short postscript in these words:-- + +"My story about the letter and its contents is discredited. Pray answer +fully, and at once.--W. F. F." + +At my request the doctor accompanied me to the Post-office, on Toronto +Street, and dropped the letter into the box with his own hands. I bade +him good night, and repaired to the Rossin House. I did not feel like +encountering Alice again until I could place myself in a more +satisfactory light before her. I despatched a messenger to her with a +short note stating that I had not discovered anything important, and +requesting her not to wait up for me. Then I engaged a room and went +to bed. + +But not to sleep. All night long I tossed about from one side of the +bed to the other; and at daylight, feverish and unrefreshed, I strolled +out. I returned in time for breakfast, but ate little or nothing. I +longed for the arrival of ten o'clock, when the banks would open. + +After breakfast I sat down in the reading-room of the hotel, and vainly +tried to fix my attention upon the local columns of the morning's +paper. I remember reading over several items time after time, without +any comprehension of their meaning. After that I remember--nothing. + +Nothing? All was blank for more than five weeks. When consciousness +came back to me I found myself in bed in my own old room, in the house +on Gerrard Street, and Alice and Dr. Marsden were standing by my +bedside. + +No need to tell how my hair had been removed, nor about the bags of ice +that had been applied to my head. No need to linger over any details of +the "pitiless fever that burned in my brain." No need, either, to +linger over my progress back to convalescence, and thence to complete +recovery. In a week from the time I have mentioned, I was permitted to +sit up in bed, propped up by a mountain of pillows. My impatience would +brook no further delay, and I was allowed to ask questions about what +had happened in the interval which had elapsed since my over wrought +nerves gave way under the prolonged strain upon them. First, Junius +Gridley's letter in reply to Dr. Marsden was placed in my hands. I have +it still in my possession, and I transcribe the following copy from the +original now lying before me:-- + + + "BOSTON, Dec. 22nd, 1861. + +"DR. MARSDEN: + +"In reply to your letter, which has just been received, I have to say +that Mr. Furlong and myself became acquainted for the first time during +our recent passage from Liverpool to Boston, in the _Persia_, +which arrived here Monday last. Mr. Furlong accompanied me home, and +remained until Tuesday morning, when I took him to see the Public +Library, the State House, the Athenaeum, Faneuil Hall, and other points +of interest. We casually dropped into the post-office, and he remarked +upon the great number of letters there. At my instigation--made, of +course, in jest--he applied at the General Delivery for letters for +himself. He received one bearing the Toronto post-mark. He was +naturally very much surprised at receiving it, and was not less so at +its contents. After reading it he handed it to me, and I also read it +carefully. I cannot recollect it word for word, but it professed to +come from 'his affectionate uncle, Richard Yardington.' It expressed +pleasure at his coming home sooner than had been anticipated, and +hinted in rather vague terms at some calamity. He referred to a lady +called Alice, and stated that she had not been informed of Mr. +Furlong's intended arrival. There was something too, about his +presence at home being a recompense to her for recent grief which she +had sustained. It also expressed the writer's intention to meet his +nephew at the Toronto railway station upon his arrival, and stated that +no telegram need be sent. This, as nearly as I can remember, was about +all there was in the letter. Mr. Furlong professed to recognise the +handwriting as his uncle's. It was a cramped hand, not easy to read, +and the signature was so peculiarly formed that I was hardly able to +decipher it. The peculiarity consisted of the extreme irregularity in +the formation of the letters, no two of which were of equal size; and +capitals were interspersed promiscuously, more especially throughout +the surname. + +"Mr. Furlong was much agitated by the contents of the letter, and was +anxious for the arrival of the time of his departure. He left by the B. +& A. train at 11.30. This is really all I know about the matter, and I +have been anxiously expecting to hear from him ever since he left. I +confess that I feel curious, and should be glad to hear from him--that +is, of course, unless something is involved which it would be +impertinent for a comparative stranger to pry into. + + "Yours, &c., + "JUNIUS H. GRIDLEY." + + +So that my friend has completely corroborated my account, so far as +the letter was concerned. My account, however, stood in no need of +corroboration, as will presently appear. + +When I was stricken down, Alice and Dr. Marsden were the only persons +to whom I had communicated what my uncle had said to me during our walk +from the station. They both maintained silence in the matter, except to +each other. Between themselves, in the early days of my illness, they +discussed it with a good deal of feeling on each side. Alice implicitly +believed my story from first to last. She was wise enough to see that I +had been made acquainted with matters that I could not possibly have +learned through any ordinary channels of communication. In short, she +was not so enamoured of professional jargon as to have lost her common +sense. The doctor, however, with the mole-blindness of many of his +tribe, refused to believe. Nothing of this kind had previously come +within the range of his own experience, and it was therefore +impossible. He accounted for it all upon the hypothesis of my impending +fever. He is not the only physician who mistakes cause for effect, and +_vice versa_. + +During the second week of my prostration, Mr. Marcus Weatherley +absconded. This event so totally unlooked for by those who had had +dealings with him, at once brought his financial condition to light. It +was found that he had been really insolvent for several months past. +The day after his departure a number of his acceptances became due. +These acceptances proved to be four in number, amounting to exactly +forty-two thousand dollars. So that that part of my uncle's story was +confirmed. One of the acceptances was payable in Montreal, and was for +$2,283.76. The other three were payable at different banks in Toronto. +These last had been drawn at sixty days, and each of them bore a +signature presumed to be that of Richard Yardington. One of them was +for $8,972.11; another was for $10,114.63; and the third and last was +for $20,629.50. A short sum in simple addition will show us the +aggregate of these three amounts-- + + $ 8,972.11 + 10,114.63 + 20,629.50 + --------- + $39,716.24 + +which was the amount for which my uncle claimed that his name had been +forged. + +Within a week after these things came to light a letter addressed to +the manager of one of the leading banking institutions of Toronto +arrived from Mr. Marcus Weatherley. He wrote from New York, but stated +that he should leave there within an hour from the time of posting his +letter. He voluntarily admitted having forged the name of my uncle to +the three acceptances above referred to and entered into other details +about his affairs, which, though interesting enough to his creditors at +that time, would have no special interest to the public at the present +day. The banks where the acceptances had been discounted were wise +after the fact, and detected numerous little details wherein the forged +signatures differed from the genuine signatures of my Uncle Richard. In +each case they pocketed the loss and held their tongues, and I dare say +they will not thank me for calling attention to the matter, even at +this distance of time. + +There is not much more to tell. Marcus Weatherley, the forger, met his +fate within a few days after writing his letter from New York. He took +passage at New Bedford, Massachusetts, in a sailing vessel called the +_Petrel_ bound for Havana. The _Petrel_ sailed from port on the +12th of January, 1862, and went down in mid-ocean with all hands on the +23rd of the same month. She sank in full sight of the captain and crew +of the _City of Baltimore_ (Inman Line), but the hurricane +prevailing was such that the latter were unable to render any +assistance, or to save one of the ill-fated crew from the fury of the +waves. + +At an early stage in the story I mentioned that the only fictitious +element should be the name of one of the characters introduced. The +name is that of Marcus Weatherley himself. The person whom I have so +designated really bore a different name--one that is still remembered +by scores of people in Toronto. He has paid the penalty of his +misdeeds, and I see nothing to be gained by perpetuating them in +connection with his own proper name. In all other particulars the +foregoing narrative is as true as a tolerably retentive memory has +enabled me to record it. + +I don't propose to attempt any psychological explanation of the events +here recorded, for the very sufficient reason that only one explanation +is possible. The weird letter and its contents, as has been seen, do +not rest upon my testimony alone. With respect to my walk from the +station with Uncle Richard, and the communication made by him to me, +all the details are as real to my mind as any other incidents of my +life. The only obvious deduction is, that I was made the recipient of +a communication of the kind which the world is accustomed to regard as +supernatural. + +Mr. Owen's publishers have my full permission to appropriate this story +in the next edition of his "Debatable Land between this World and the +Next." Should they do so, their readers will doubtless be favoured with +an elaborate analysis of the facts, and with a pseudo-philosophic +theory about spiritual communion with human beings. My wife, who is an +enthusiastic student of electro-biology, is disposed to believe that +Weatherley's mind, overweighted by the knowledge of his forgery, was in +some occult manner, and unconsciously to himself, constrained to act +upon my own senses. I prefer, however, simply to narrate the facts. I +may or may not have my own theory about those facts. The reader is at +perfect liberty to form one of his own if he so pleases. I may mention +that Dr. Marsden professes to believe to the present day that my mind +was disordered by the approach of the fever which eventually struck me +down, and that all I have described was merely the result of what he, +with delightful periphrasis, calls "an abnormal condition of the +system, induced by causes too remote for specific diagnosis." + +It will be observed that, whether I was under an hallucination or not, +the information supposed to be derived from my uncle was strictly +accurate in all its details. The fact that the disclosure subsequently +became unnecessary through the confession of Weatherley does not seem +to me to afford any argument for the hallucination theory. My uncle's +communication was important at the time when it was given to me; and we +have no reason for believing that "those who are gone before" are +universally gifted with a knowledge of the future. + +It was open to me to make the facts public as soon as they became known +to me, and had I done so, Marcus Weatherley might have been arrested +and punished for his crime. Had not my illness supervened, I think I +should have made discoveries in the course of the day following my +arrival in Toronto which would have led to his arrest. + +Such speculations are profitless enough, but they have often formed the +topic of discussion between my wife and myself. Gridley, too, whenever +he pays us a visit, invariably revives the subject, which he long ago +christened "The Gerrard Street Mystery," although it might just as +correctly be called "The Yonge Street Mystery," or, "The Mystery of the +Union Station." He has urged me a hundred times over to publish the +story; and now, after all these years, I follow his counsel, and adopt +his nomenclature in the title. + + + + +GAGTOOTH'S IMAGE. + + +About three o'clock in the afternoon of Wednesday, the fourth of +September, 1884, I was riding up Yonge Street, in the city of Toronto, +on the top of a crowded omnibus. The omnibus was bound for Thornhill, +and my own destination was the intermediate village of Willowdale. +Having been in Canada only a short time, and being almost a stranger in +Toronto, I dare say I was looking around me with more attention and +curiosity than persons who are "native here, and to the manner born," +are accustomed to exhibit. We had just passed Isabella Street, and +were rapidly nearing Charles Street, when I noticed on my right hand a +large, dilapidated frame building, standing in solitary isolation a few +feet back from the highway, and presenting the appearance of a +veritable Old Curiosity Shop. + +A business was carried on here in second hand furniture of the poorest +description, and the object of the proprietor seemed to have been to +collect about him all sorts of worn-out commodities, and objects which +were utterly unmarketable. Everybody who lived in Toronto at the time +indicated will remember the establishment, which, as I subsequently +learned, was owned and carried on by a man named Robert Southworth, +familiarly known to his customers as "Old Bob." I had no sooner arrived +abreast of the gateway leading into the yard immediately adjoining the +building to the southward, than my eyes rested upon something which +instantly caused them to open themselves to their very widest capacity, +and constrained me to signal the driver to stop; which he had no sooner +done than I alighted from my seat and requested him to proceed on his +journey without me. The driver eyed me suspiciously, and evidently +regarded me as an odd customer, but he obeyed my request, and drove on +northward, leaving me standing in the middle of the street. + +From my elevated seat on the roof of the 'bus, I had caught a hurried +glimpse of a commonplace-looking little marble figure, placed on the +top of a pedestal, in the yard already referred to, where several other +figures in marble, wood, bronze, stucco and what not, were exposed for +sale. + +The particular figure which had attracted my attention was about +fifteen inches in height, and represented a little child in the +attitude of prayer. Anyone seeing it for the first time would probably +have taken it for a representation of the Infant Samuel. I have called +it commonplace; and considered as a work of art, such it undoubtedly +was; yet it must have possessed a certain distinctive individuality, +for the brief glance which I had caught of it, even at that distance, +had been sufficient to convince me that the figure was an old +acquaintance of mine. It was in consequence of that conviction that I +had dismounted from the omnibus, forgetful, for the moment, of +everything but the matter which was uppermost in my mind. + +I lost no time in passing through the gateway leading into the yard, +and in walking up to the pedestal upon which the little figure was +placed. Taking the latter in my hand, I found, as I had expected, that +it was not attached to the pedestal, which was of totally different +material, and much more elaborate workmanship. Turning the figure +upside down, my eyes rested on these words, deeply cut into the little +circular throne upon which the figure rested:--JACKSON: PEORIA, 1854. + +At this juncture the proprietor of the establishment walked up to where +I was standing beside the pedestal. "Like to look at something in that +way, sir?" he asked--"we have more inside." + +"What is the price of this?" I asked, indicating the figure in my hand. + +"That, sir; you may have that for fifty cents--of course without the +pedestal, which don't belong to it." + +"Have you had it on hand long?" + +"I don't know, but if you'll step inside for a moment I can tell you. +This way, sir." + +Taking the figure under my arm, I followed him into what he called "the +office"--a small and dirty room, crowded with old furniture in the last +stage of dilapidation. From a desk in one corner he took a large tome +labelled "Stock Book," to which he referred, after glancing at a +hieroglyphical device pasted on the figure which I held under my arm. + +"Yes, sir--had that ever since the 14th of March, 1880--bought it at +Morris & Blackwell's sale, sir." + +"Who and what are Messrs. Morris & Blackwell?" I enquired. + +"They _were_ auctioneers, down on Adelaide Street, in the city, +sir. Failed sometime last winter. Mr. Morris has since died, and I +believe Blackwell, the other partner went to the States." + +After a few more questions, finding that he knew nothing whatever about +the matter beyond what he had already told me, I paid over the fifty +cents; and, declining with thanks his offer to send my purchase home to +me, I marched off with it down the street, and made the best of my way +back to the Rossin House, where I had been staying for some days +before. + +From what has been said, it will be inferred that I--a stranger in +Canada--must have had some special reason for incumbering myself in my +travels with an intrinsically worthless piece of common Columbia +marble. + +I _had_ a reason. I had often seen that little figure before; and +the last time I had seen it, previous to the occasion above mentioned, +had been at the town of Peoria, in the State of Illinois, sometime in +the month of June, 1855. + +There is a story connected with that little praying figure; a story, +which, to me, is a very touching one; and I believe myself to be the +only human being capable of telling it. Indeed, _I_ am only able +to tell a part of it. How the figure came to be sold by auction, in the +city of Toronto, at Messrs. Morris & Blackwell's sale on the 14th of +March, 1880, or how it ever came to be in this part of the world at +all, I know no more than the reader does; but I can probably tell all +that is worth knowing about the matter. + +In the year 1850, and for I know not how long previously, there lived +at Peoria, Illinois, a journeyman-blacksmith named Abner Fink. I +mention the date, 1850, because it was in that year that I myself +settled in Peoria, and first had any knowledge of him; but I believe he +had then been living there for some length of time. He was employed at +the foundry of Messrs. Gowanlock and Van Duzer, and was known for an +excellent workman, of steady habits, and good moral character-- +qualifications which were by no means universal, nor even common, among +persons of his calling and degree of life, at the time and place of +which I am writing. But he was still more conspicuous (on the _lucus +a non lucendo_ principle) for another quality--that of reticence. It +was very rarely indeed that he spoke to anyone, except when called upon +to reply to a question; and even then it was noticeable that he +invariably employed the fewest and most concise words in his +vocabulary. If brevity were the body, as well as the soul of wit, Fink +must have been about the wittiest man that ever lived, the Monosyllabic +Traveller not excepted. He never received a letter from any one during +the whole time of his stay at Peoria; nor, so far as was known, did he +ever write to any one. Indeed, there was no evidence that he was able +to write. He never went to church, nor even to "meeting;" never +attended any public entertainment; never took any holidays. All his +time was spent either at the foundry where he worked, or at the +boarding-house where he lodged. In the latter place, the greater part +of his hours of relaxation were spent in looking either out of the +window or into the fire; thinking, apparently, about nothing +particular. All endeavours on the part of his fellow boarders to draw +him into conversation were utterly fruitless. No one in the place knew +anything about his past life, and when his fellow-journeymen in the +workshop attempted to inveigle him into any confidence on that subject, +he had a trick of calling up a harsh and sinister expression of +countenance which effectually nipped all such experiments in the bud. +Even his employers failed to elicit anything from him on this head, +beyond the somewhat vague piece of intelligence that he hailed from +"down east." The foreman of the establishment with a desperate attempt +at facetiousness, used to say of him, that no one knew who he was, +where he came from, where he was going to, or what he was going to do +when he got there. + +And yet, this utter lack of sociability could scarcely have arisen from +positive surliness or unkindness of disposition. Instances were not +wanting in which he had given pretty strong evidence that he carried +beneath that rugged and uncouth exterior a kinder and more gentle heart +than is possessed by most men. Upon one occasion he had jumped at the +imminent peril of his life, from the bridge which spans the Illinois +river just above the entrance to the lake, and had fished up a drowning +child from its depths and borne it to the shore in safety. In doing so +he had been compelled to swim through a swift and strong current which +would have swamped any swimmer with one particle less strength, +endurance and pluck. At another time, hearing his landlady say, at +dinner, that an execution was in the house of a sick man with a large +family, at the other end of the town, he left his dinner untouched, +trudged off to the place indicated, and--though the debtor was an utter +stranger to him--paid off the debt and costs in full, without taking +any assignment of the judgment or other security. Then he went quietly +back to his work. From my knowledge of the worthless and impecunious +character of the debtor, I am of opinion that Fink never received a +cent in the way of reimbursement. + +In personal appearance he was short and stout. His age, when I first +knew him, must have been somewhere in the neighbourhood of thirty-five. +The only peculiarity about his face was an abnormal formation of one of +his front teeth, which protruded, and stuck out almost horizontally. +This, as may be supposed, did not tend to improve an expression of +countenance which in other respects was not very prepossessing. One of +the anvil-strikers happening to allude to him one day in his absence by +the name of "Gagtooth," the felicity of the sobriquet at once commended +itself to the good taste of the other hands in the shop, who thereafter +commonly spoke of him by that name, and eventually it came to be +applied to him by every one in the town. + +My acquaintance with him began when I had been in Peoria about a week. +I may premise that I am a physician and surgeon--a graduate of Harvard. +Peoria was at that time a comparatively new place, but it gave promise +of going ahead rapidly; a promise, by the way, which it has since amply +redeemed. Messrs. Gowanlock and Van Duzer's foundry was a pretty +extensive one for a small town in a comparatively new district. They +kept about a hundred and fifty hands employed all the year round, and +during the busy season this number was more than doubled. It was in +consequence of my having received the appointment of medical attendant +to that establishment that I buried myself in the west, instead of +settling down in my native State of Massachusetts. + +Poor Gagtooth was one of my first surgical patients. It came about in +this wise. At the foundry, two days in the week, viz., Tuesdays and +Fridays, were chiefly devoted to what is called "casting." On these +days it was necessary to convey large masses of melted iron, in vessels +specially manufactured for that purpose, from one end of the moulding +shop to the other. It was, of course, very desirable that the metal +should not be allowed to cool while in transit, and that as little time +as possible should be lost in transferring it from the furnace to the +moulds. For this purpose Gagtooth's services were frequently called +into requisition, as he was by far the strongest man about the place, +and could without assistance carry one end of one of the vessels, which +was considered pretty good work for two ordinary men. + +Well, one unlucky Friday afternoon he was hard at work at this +employment, and as was usual with all the hands in the moulding shop at +such times, he was stripped naked from the waist upwards. He was +gallantly supporting one end of one of the large receptacles already +mentioned, which happened to be rather fuller than usual of the red-hot +molten metal. He had nearly reached the moulding-box into which the +contents of the vessel were to be poured, when he stumbled against a +piece of scantling which was lying in his way. He fell, and as a +necessary consequence his end of the vessel fell likewise, spilling the +contents all over his body, which was literally deluged by the red, +hissing, boiling liquid fire. It must have seemed to the terror-stricken +onlookers like a bath of blood. + +Further details of the frightful accident, and of my treatment of the +case, might be interesting to such of the readers of this book as +happen to belong to my own profession; but to general readers such +details would be simply shocking. How even his tremendous vitality and +vigour of constitution brought him through it all is a mystery to me to +this day. I am thirty-six years older than I was at that time. Since +then I have acted as surgeon to a fighting regiment all through the +great rebellion. I have had patients of all sorts of temperaments and +constitutions under my charge, but never have I been brought into +contact with a case which seemed more hopeless in my eyes. He must +surely have had more than one life in him. I have never had my hands on +so magnificent a specimen of the human frame as his was; and better +still--and this doubtless contributed materially to his recovery--I +have never had a case under my management where the patient bore his +sufferings with such uniform fortitude and endurance. Suffice it to say +that he recovered, and that his face bore no traces of the frightful +ordeal through which he had passed. I don't think he was ever quite the +same man as before his accident. I think his nervous system received a +shock which eventually tended to shorten his life. But he was still +known as incomparably the strongest man in Peoria, and continued to +perform the work of two men at the moulding-shop on casting days. In +every other respect he was apparently the same; not a whit more +disposed to be companionable than before his accident. I used +frequently to meet him on the street, as he was going to and fro +between his boarding-house and the work-shop. He was always alone, and +more than once I came to a full stop and enquired after his health, or +anything else that seemed to afford a feasible topic for conversation. +He was uniformly civil, and even respectful, but confined his remarks +to replying to my questions, which, as usual, was done in the fewest +words. + +During the twelve months succeeding his recovery, so far as I am aware, +nothing occurred worthy of being recorded in Gagtooth's annals. About +the expiration of that time, however, his landlady, by his authority, +at his request, and in his presence, made an announcement to the +boarders assembled at the dinner-table which, I should think, must +literally have taken away their breaths. + +Gagtooth was going to be married! + +I don't suppose it would have occasioned greater astonishment if it had +been announced as an actual fact that The Illinois river had commenced +to flow backwards. It was surprising, incredible, but, like many other +surprising and incredible things, it was true. Gagtooth was really and +truly about to marry. The object of his choice was his landlady's +sister, by name Lucinda Bowlsby. How or when the wooing had been +carried on, how the engagement had been led up to, and in what terms +the all-important question had been propounded, I am not prepared to +say. I need hardly observe that none of the boarders had entertained +the faintest suspicion that anything of the kind was impending. The +courtship, from first to last, must have been somewhat of a piece with +that of the late Mr. Barkis. But alas! Gagtooth did not settle his +affections so judiciously, nor did he draw such a prize in the +matrimonial lottery as Barkis did. Two women more entirely dissimilar, +in every respect, than Peggotty and Lucinda Bowlsby can hardly be +imagined. Lucinda was nineteen years of age. She was pretty, and, for a +girl of her class and station in life, tolerably well educated. But she +was notwithstanding a light, giddy creature--and, I fear, something +worse, at that time. At all events, she had a very questionable sort of +reputation among the boarders in the house, and was regarded with +suspicion by everyone who knew anything about her poor Gagtooth alone +excepted. + +In due time the wedding took place. It was solemnized at the +boarding-house; and the bride and bridegroom disdaining to defer to the +common usage, spent their honeymoon in their own house. Gagtooth had +rented and furnished a little frame dwelling on the outskirts of the +town, on the bank of the river; and thither the couple retired as soon +as the hymeneal knot was tied. Next morning the bridegroom made his +appearance at his forge and went to work as usual, as though nothing +had occurred to disturb the serenity of his life. + +Time passed by. Rumours now and then reached my ears to the effect that +Mrs. Fink was not behaving herself very well, and that she was leading +her husband rather a hard life of it. She had been seen driving out +into the country with a young lawyer from Springfield, who occasionally +came over to Peoria to attend the sittings of the District Court. She +moreover had the reputation of habitually indulging in the contents of +the cup that cheers and likewise inebriates. However, in the regular +course of things, I was called upon to assist at the first appearance +upon life's stage of a little boy, upon whom his parents bestowed the +name of Charlie. + +The night of Charlie's birth was the first time I had ever been in the +house, and if I remember aright it was the first time I had ever set +eyes on Mrs. Fink since her marriage. I was not long in making up my +mind about her; and I had ample opportunity for forming an opinion as +to her character, for she was unable to leave her bed for more than a +month, during which time I was in attendance upon her almost daily. +I also attended little Charlie through measels, scarlet-rash, +whooping-cough, and all his childish ailments; and in fact I was a +pretty regular visitor at the house from the time of his birth until +his father left the neighbourhood, as I shall presently have to relate. +I believe Mrs. Fink to have been not merely a profligate woman, but a +thoroughly bad and heartless one in every respect. She was perfectly +indifferent to her husband, whom she shamefully neglected, and almost +indifferent to her child. She seemed to care for nothing in the world +but dress and strong waters; and to procure these there was no depth of +degradation to which she would not stoop. + +As a result of my constant professional attendance upon his mother +during the first month of little Charlie's life, I became better +acquainted with his father than anyone in Peoria had ever done. He +seemed to know that I saw into and sympathized with his domestic +troubles, and my silent sympathy seemed to afford him some consolation. +As the months and years passed by, his wife's conduct became worse and +worse, and his affections centered themselves entirely upon his child, +whom he loved with a passionate affection to which I have never seen a +parallel. + +And Charlie was a child made to be loved. When he was two years old he +was beyond all comparison the dearest and most beautiful little fellow +I have ever seen. His fat, plump, chubby little figure, modelled after +Cupid's own; his curly flaxen hair; his matchless complexion, fair and +clear as the sky on a sunny summer day; and his bright, round, +expressive eyes, which imparted intelligence to his every feature, +combined to make him the idol of his father, the envy of all the +mothers in town, and the admiration of every one who saw him. At noon, +when the great foundry-bell rang, which was the signal for the workmen +to go to dinner Charlie might regularly be seen, toddling as fast as +his stout little legs could spin, along the footpath leading over the +common in the direction of the workshops. When about halfway across, he +would be certain to meet his father, who, taking the child up in his +bare, brawny, smoke-begrimed arms, would carry him home--the contrast +between the two strongly suggesting Vulcan and Cupid. At six o'clock in +the evening, when the bell announced that work was over for the day, a +similar little drama was enacted. It would be difficult to say whether +Vulcan or Cupid derived the greater amount of pleasure from these +semi-daily incidents. After tea, the two were never separate for a +moment. While the mother was perhaps busily engaged in the perusal of +some worthless novel, the father would sit with his darling on his +knee, listening to his childish prattle, and perhaps so far going out +of himself as to tell the child a little story. It seemed to be an +understood thing that the mother should take no care or notice of the +boy during her husband's presence in the house. Regularly, when the +clock on the chimney-piece struck eight, Charlie would jump down from +his father's knee and run across the room for his night-dress, +returning to his father to have it put on. When this had been done he +would kneel down and repeat a simple little prayer, in which One who +loved little children like Charlie was invoked to bless father and +mother and make him a good boy; after which his father would place him +in his little crib, where he soon slept the sleep of happy childhood. + +My own house was not far from theirs, and I was so fond of Charlie that +it was no uncommon thing for me to drop in upon them for a few minutes, +when returning from my office in the evening. Upon one occasion I +noticed the child more particularly than usual while he was in the act +of saying his prayers. His eyes were closed, his plump little hands +were clasped, and his cherubic little face was turned upwards with an +expression of infantile trustfulness and adoration which I shall never +forget. I have never seen, nor do I ever expect to see, anything else +half so beautiful. When he arose from his knees and came up to me to +say "Good Night," I kissed his upturned little face with even greater +fervour than usual. After he had been put to bed I mentioned the matter +to his father, and said something about my regret that the child's +expression had not been caught by a sculptor and fixed in stone. + +I had little idea of the effect my remarks were destined to produce. A +few evenings afterwards he informed me, much to my surprise, that he +had determined to act upon the idea which my words had suggested to his +mind, and that he had instructed Heber Jackson, the marble-cutter, to +go to work at a "stone likeness" of little Charlie, and to finish it up +as soon as possible. He did not seem to understand that the proper +performance of such a task required anything more than mere mechanical +skill, and that an ordinary tomb-stone cutter was scarcely the sort of +artist to do justice to it. + +However, when the "stone-likeness" was finished and sent home, I +confess I was astonished to see how well Jackson had succeeded. He had +not, of course, caught the child's exact expression. It is probable, +indeed, that he never saw the expression on Charlie's face, which had +seemed so beautiful to me, and which had suggested to me the idea of +its being "embodied in marble," as the professionals call it. But the +image was at all events, according to order, a "likeness." The true +lineaments were there and I would have recognised it for a +representation of my little friend at the first glance, wherever I +might have seen it. In short, it was precisely one of those works of +art which have no artistic value whatever for any one who is +unacquainted with, or uninterested in, the subject represented; but +knowing and loving little Charlie as I did, I confess that I used to +contemplate Jackson's piece of workmanship with an admiration and +enthusiasm which the contents of Italian gallaries have failed to +arouse in me. + +Well, the months flew by until some time in the spring of 1855, when +the town was electrified by the sudden and totally unexpected failure +of Messrs. Gowanlock and Van Duzer, who up to that time were currently +reported to be one of the wealthiest and most thriving firms in the +State. Their failure was not only a great misfortune for the workmen, +who were thus thrown out of present employment--for the creditors did +not carry on the business--but was regarded as a public calamity to the +town and neighbourhood, the prosperity whereof had been enhanced in no +inconsiderable degree by the carrying on of so extensive an +establishment in their midst, and by the enterprise and energy of the +proprietors, both of whom were first-rate business men. The failure was +in no measure attributed either to dishonesty or want of prudence on +the part of Messrs. Gowanlock and Van Duzer, but simply to the +invention of a new patent which rendered valueless the particular +agricultural implement which constituted the specialty of the +establishment, and of which there was an enormous stock on hand. There +was not the shadow of a hope of the firm being able to get upon its +legs again. The partners surrendered everything almost to the last +dollar, and shortly afterwards left Illinois for California. + +Now, this failure, which more or less affected the entire population of +Peoria, was especially disastrous to poor Fink. For past years he had +been saving money, and as Messrs. Gowanlock and Van Duzer allowed +interest at a liberal rate upon all deposits left in their hands by +their workmen, all his surplus earnings remained untouched. The +consequence was that the accumulations of years were swamped at one +fell swoop, and he found himself reduced to poverty. And as though +misfortune was not satisfied with visiting him thus heavily, the very +day of the failure he was stricken down by typhoid fever: not the +typhoid fever known in Canada--which is bad enough--but the terrible +putrid typhoid of the west, which is known nowhere else on the face of +the globe, and in which the mortality in some years reaches forty per +cent. + +Of course I was at once called in. I did my best for the patient, which +was very little. I tried hard, however, to keep his wife sober, and to +compel her to nurse him judiciously. As for little Charlie, I took him +home with me to my own house, where he remained until his father was so +far convalescent as to prevent all fear of infection. Meanwhile I knew +nothing about Gagtooth's money having been deposited in the hands of +his employers, and consequently was ignorant of his loss. I did not +learn this circumstance for weeks afterwards, and of course had no +reason for supposing that his wife was in anywise straitened for money. +Once, when her husband had been prostrated for about a fortnight, I saw +her with a roll of bank notes in her hand. Little did I suspect how +they had been obtained. + +Shortly after my patient had begun to sit up in his arm-chair for a +little while every day, he begged so hard for little Charlie's presence +that, as soon as I was satisfied that all danger of infection was past, +I consented to allow the child to return to his own home. In less than +a month afterwards the invalid was able to walk out in the garden for a +few minutes every day when the weather was favourable, and in these +walks Charlie was his constant companion. The affection of the poor +fellow for his flaxen-haired darling was manifested in every glance of +his eye, and in every tone of his voice. He would kiss the little chap +and pat him on the head a hundred times a day. He would tell him +stories until he himself was completely exhausted; and although I knew +that this tended to retard his complete recovery, I had not the heart +to forbid it. I have often since felt thankful that I never made any +attempt to do so. + +At last the fifteenth of September arrived. On the morning of that day +Messrs. Rockwell and Dunbar's Combined Circus and Menagerie made a +triumphal entry into Peoria, and was to exhibit on the green, down by +the river bank. The performance had been ostentatiously advertised and +placarded on every dead wall in town for a month back, and all the +children in the place, little Charlie included, were wild on the +subject. Signor Martigny was to enter a den containing three full-grown +lions, and was to go through the terrific and disgusting ordeal usual +on such occasions. Gagtooth, of course, was unable to go; but, being +unwilling to deny his child any reasonable pleasure, he had consented +to Charlie's going with his mother. I happened to be passing the house +on my way homewards to dinner, just as the pair were about to start, +and called in to say good-bye to my patient. Never shall I forget the +embrace and the kiss which the father bestowed upon the little fellow. +I can see them now, after all these years, almost as distinctly as I +saw them on that terrible fifteenth of September, 1855. They perfectly +clung to each other, and seemed unwilling to part even for the two or +three hours during which the performance was to last. I can see the +mother too, impatiently waiting in the doorway, and telling Charlie +that if he didn't stop that nonsense they would be too late to see +Sampson killing the lion. She--Heaven help her!--thought nothing and +cared nothing about the pleasure the child was to derive from the +entertainment. She was only anxious on her own account; impatient to +shew her good looks and her cheap finery to the two thousand and odd +people assembled under the huge tent. + +At last they started. Gagtooth got up and walked to the door, following +them with his eye as far as he could see them down the dusty street. +Then he returned and sat down in his chair. Poor fellow! he was +destined never to see either of them alive again. + +Notwithstanding her fear lest she might not arrive in time for the +commencement of the performance, Mrs. Fink and her charge reached the +ground at least half an hour before the ticket office was opened; and I +regret to say that that half hour was sufficient to enable her to form +an acquaintance with one of the property men of the establishment, to +whom she contrived to make herself so agreeable that he passed her and +Charlie into the tent free of charge. She was not admitted at the front +entrance, but from the tiring-room at the back whence the performers +enter. She sat down just at the left of this entrance, immediately +adjoining the lion's cage. Ere long the performance commenced. Signor +Martigny, when his turn came, entered the cage as per announcement; but +he was not long in discovering by various signs not to be mistaken that +his charges were in no humour to be played with on that day. Even the +ring master from his place in the centre of the ring, perceived that +old King of the Forest, the largest and most vicious of the lions, was +meditating mischief, and called to the Signor to come out of the cage. +The Signor, keeping his eye steadily fixed on the brute, began a +retrograde movement from the den. He had the door open, and was swiftly +backing through, when, with a roar that seemed to shake the very earth, +old King sprang upon him from the opposite side of the cage, dashing +him to the ground like a ninepin, and rushed through the aperture into +the crowd. Quick as lightning the other two followed, and thus three +savage lions were loose and unshackled in the midst of upwards of two +thousand men, women and children. + +I wish to linger over the details as briefly as possible. I am thankful +to say that I was not present, and that I am unable to describe the +occurrence from personal observation. + +Poor little Charlie and his mother, sitting close to the cage, were the +very first victims. The child himself, I think, and hope, never knew +what hurt him. His skull was fractured by one stroke of the brute's +paw. Signor Martigny escaped with his right arm slit into ribbons. Big +Joe Pentland, the clown, with one well-directed stroke of a crowbar, +smashed Old King of the Forest's jaw into a hundred pieces, but not +before it had closed in the left breast of Charlie's mother. She lived +for nearly an hour afterwards, but never uttered a syllable. I wonder +if she was conscious. I wonder if it was permitted to her to realize +what her sin--for sin it must have been, in contemplation, if not in +deed--had brought upon herself and her child. Had she paid her way into +the circus, and entered in front, instead of coquetting with the +property-man, she would have been sitting under a different part of the +tent, and neither she nor Charlie would have sustained any injury, for +the two younger lions were shot before they had leapt ten paces from +the cage door. Old King was easily despatched after Joe Pentland's +tremendous blow. Besides Charlie and his mother, two men and one woman +were killed on the spot: another woman died next day from the injuries +received, and several other persons were more or less severely hurt. + +Immediately after dinner I had driven out into the country to pay a +professional visit, so that I heard nothing about what had occurred +until some hours afterwards. I was informed of it, however, before I +reached the town, on my way homeward. To say that I was inexpressibly +shocked and grieved would merely be to repeat a very stupid platitude, +and to say that I was a human being. I had learned to love poor +little Charlie almost as dearly as I loved my own children. And his +father--what would be the consequence to him? + +I drove direct to his house, which was filled with people--neighbours +and others who had called to administer such consolation as the +circumstances would admit of. I am not ashamed to confess that the +moment my eyes rested upon the bereaved father I burst into tears. He +sat with his child's body in his lap, and seemed literally transformed +into stone. A breeze came in through the open doorway and stirred his +thin iron-gray locks, as he sat there in his arm chair. He was +unconscious of everything--even of the presence of strangers. His eyes +were fixed and glazed. Not a sound of any kind, not even a moan, passed +his lips; and it was only after feeling his pulse that I was able to +pronounce with certainty that he was alive. One single gleam of +animation overspread his features for an instant when I gently removed +the crushed corpse from his knees, and laid it on the bed, but he +quickly relapsed into stolidity. I was informed that he had sat thus +ever since he had first received the corpse from the arms of Joe +Pentland, who had brought it home without changing his clown's dress. +Heaven grant that I may never look upon such a sight again as the poor, +half-recovered invalid presented during the whole of that night and for +several days afterwards. + +For the next three days I spent all the time with him I possibly could, +for I dreaded either a relapse of the fever or the loss of his reason. +The Neighbours were very kind, and took upon themselves the burden of +everything connected with the funeral. As for Fink himself, he seemed +to take everything for granted, and interfered with nothing. When the +time arrived for fastening down the coffin lids, I could not bear to +permit that ceremony to be performed without affording him an +opportunity of kissing the dead lips of his darling for the last time. +I gently led him up to the side of the bed upon which the two coffins +were placed. At sight of his little boy's dead face, he fainted, and +before he revived I had the lids fastened down. It would have been +cruelty to subject him to the ordeal a second time. + +The day after the funeral he was sufficiently recovered from the shock +to be able to talk. He informed me that he had concluded to leave the +neighbourhood, and requested me to draw up a poster, advertising all +his furniture and effects for sale by auction. He intended, he said, to +sell everything except Charlie's clothes and his own, and these, +together with a lock of the child's hair and a few of his toys, were +all he intended to take away with him. + +"But of course," I remarked, "you don't intend to sell the stone +likeness?" + +He looked at me rather strangely, and made no reply. I glanced around +the room, and, to my surprise, the little statue was nowhere to be +seen. It then occurred to me that I had not noticed it since Gagtooth +had been taken ill. + +"By the by, where is it?" I enquired--"I don't see it." + +After a moment's hesitation he told me the whole story. It was then +that I learned for the first time that he had lost all his savings +through the failure of Messrs. Gowanlock and Van Duzer, and that the +morning when he had been taken ill there had been only a dollar in the +house. On that morning he had acquainted his wife with his loss, but +had strictly enjoined secrecy upon her, as both Gowanlock and Van Duzer +had promised him most solemnly that inasmuch as they regarded their +indebtedness to him as being upon a different footing from their +ordinary liabilities, he should assuredly be paid in full out of the +first money at their command. He had implicit reliance upon their word, +and requested me to take charge of the money upon its arrival, and to +keep it until he instructed me, by post or otherwise, how to dispose of +it. To this I, of course, consented. The rest of the story he could +only repeat upon the authority of his wife, but I have no reason for +disbelieving any portion of it. It seems that a day or two after his +illness commenced, and after he had become insensible, his wife had +been at her wits' end for money to provide necessaries for the house, +and I dare say she spent more for liquor than for necessaries. She +declared that she had made up her mind to apply to me for a loan, when +a stranger called at the house, attracted, as he said, by the little +image, which had been placed in the front window, and was thus visible +to passers by. He announced himself as Mr. Silas Pomeroy, merchant, of +Myrtle Street, Springfield. He said that the face of the little image +strikingly reminded him of the face of a child of his own which had +died some time before. He had not supposed that the figure was a +likeness of any one, and had stepped in, upon the impulse of the +moment, in the hope that he might be able to purchase it. He was +willing to pay a liberal price. The negotiation ended in his taking the +image away with him, and leaving a hundred dollars in its stead; on +which sum Mrs. Fink had kept house ever since. Her husband, of course, +knew nothing of this for weeks afterwards. When he began to get better, +his wife had acquainted him with the facts. He had found no fault with +her, as he had determined to repurchase the image at any cost, so soon +as he might be able to earn money enough. As for getting a duplicate, +that was out of the question, for Heber Jackson had been carried off by +the typhoid epidemic, and Charlie had changed considerably during the +fifteen months which had elapsed since the image had been finished. And +now poor little Charlie himself was gone, and the great desire of his +father's heart was to regain possession of the image. With that view, +as soon as the sale should be over he would start for Springfield, tell +his story to Pomeroy, and offer him his money back again. As to any +further plans, he did not know, he said, what he would do, or where he +would go; but he would certainly never live in Peoria again. + +In a few days the sale took place, and Gagtooth started for Springfield +with about three hundred dollars in his pocket. Springfield is seventy +miles from Peoria. He was to return in about ten days, by which time a +tombstone was to be ready for Charlie's grave. He had not ordered one +for his wife, who was not buried in the same grave with the child, but +in one just beside him. + +He returned within the ten days. His journey had been a fruitless one. +Pomeroy had become insolvent, and had absconded from Springfield a +month before. No one knew whither he had gone, but he must have taken +the image with him, as it was not among the effects which he had left +behind him. His friends knew that he was greatly attached to the image, +in consequence of its real or fancied resemblance to his dead child. +Nothing more reasonable then than to suppose that he had taken it away +with him. + +Gagtooth announced to me his determination of starting on an expedition +to find Pomeroy, and never giving up the search while his money held +out. He had no idea where to look for the fugitive, but rather thought +he would try California first. He could hardly expect to receive any +remittance from Gowanlock and Van Duzer for some months to come, but he +would acquaint me with his address from time to time, and, if anything +arrived from them I could forward it to him. + +And so, having seen the tombstone set up over little Charlie's grave, +he bade me good-bye, and that was the last time I ever saw him, alive. + +There is little more to tell. I supposed him to be in the far west, +prosecuting his researches, until one night in the early spring of the +following year. Charlie and his mother had been interred in a corner of +the churchyard adjoining the second Baptist Church, which at that time +was on the very outskirts of the town, in a lonely, unfrequented spot, +not far from the iron bridge. Late in the evening of the seventh of +April, 1856, a woman passing along the road in the cold, dim twilight, +saw a bulky object stretched out on Charlie's grave. She called at the +nearest house, and stated her belief that a man was lying dead in the +churchyard. Upon investigation, her surmise proved to be correct. + +And that man was Gagtooth. + +Dead; partially no doubt, from cold and exposure; but chiefly, I +believe, from a broken heart. Where had he spent the six months which +had elapsed since I bade him farewell? + +To this question I am unable to reply; but this much was evident: he +had dragged himself back just in time to die on the grave of the little +boy whom he had loved so dearly, and whose brief existence had probably +supplied the one bright spot in his father's life. + +I had him buried in the same grave with Charlie; and there, on the +banks of the Illinois river, "After life's fitful fever he sleeps +well." + +I never received any remittance from his former employers, nor did I +ever learn anything further of Silas Pomeroy. Indeed, so many years +have rolled away since the occurrence of the events above narrated; +years pregnant with great events to the American Republic; events, I am +proud to say, in which I bore my part: that the wear and tear of life +had nearly obliterated all memory of the episode from my mind, until, +as detailed in the opening paragraphs of this story, I saw "Gagtooth's +Image," from the top of a Thornhill omnibus. That image is now in my +possession, and no extremity less urgent than that under which it was +sold to Silas Pomeroy, of Myrtle Street, Springfield, will ever induce +me to part with it. + + + + +THE Haunted House on Duchess Street. + +BEING A NARRATION OF CERTAIN STRANGE EVENTS ALLEGED TO HAVE +TAKEN PLACE AT YORK, UPPER CANADA, IN OR ABOUT THE YEAR 1823. + + "O'er all there hung the Shadow of a Fear; + A sense of mystery the spirit daunted; + And said, as plain as whisper in the ear, + The place is haunted."--HOOD. + +I.--OUTSIDE THE HOUSE. + +I suppose there are at least a score of persons living in Toronto at +the present moment who remember that queer old house on Duchess street. +Not that there was anything specially remarkable about the house +itself, which indeed, in its best days, presented an aspect of rather +snug respectability. But the events I am about to relate invested it +with an evil reputation, and made it an object to be contemplated at a +safe distance, rather than from any near approach. Youngsters on their +way to school were wont to eye it askance as they hurried by on their +way to their daily tasks. Even children of a larger growth manifested +no unbecoming desire to penetrate too curiously into its inner +mysteries, and for years its threshold was seldom or never crossed by +anybody except Simon Washburn or some of his clerks, who about once in +every twelvemonth made a quiet entry upon the premises and placed in +the front windows announcements to the effect that the place was "For +Sale or To Let." The printing of these announcements involved a useless +expenditure of capital, for, from the time when the character of the +house became matter of notoriety, no one could be induced to try the +experiment of living in it. In the case of a house, no less than in +that of an individual, a bad name is more easily gained than lost, and +in the case of the house on Duchess street its uncanny repute clung to +it with a persistent grasp which time did nothing to relax. It was +distinctly and emphatically a place to keep away from. + +The house was originally built by one of the Ridout family--I think by +the Surveyor-General himself--soon after the close of the war of 1812, +and it remained intact until a year or two after the town of York +became the city of Toronto, when it was partly demolished and converted +into a more profitable investment. The new structure, which was a +shingle or stave factory, was burned down in 1843 or 1844, and the site +thenceforward remained unoccupied until comparatively recent times. +When I visited the spot a few weeks since I encountered not a little +difficulty in fixing upon the exact site, which is covered by an +unprepossessing row of dark red brick, presenting the aspect of having +stood there from time immemorial, though as I am informed, the houses +have been erected within the last quarter of a century. Unattractive as +they appear, however, they are the least uninviting feature in the +landscape, which is prosaic and squalid beyond description. Rickety, +tumble-down tenements of dilapidated lath and plaster stare the +beholder in the face at every turn. During the greater part of the day +the solitude of the neighbourhood remains unbroken save by the tread of +some chance wayfarer like myself, and a general atmosphere of the +abomination of desolation reigns supreme. Passing along the +unfrequented pavement, one finds it difficult to realize the fact that +this was once a not unfashionable quarter of the capital of Upper +Canada. + +The old house stood forty or fifty feet back from the roadway, on the +north side, overlooking the waters of the bay. The lot was divided from +the street by a low picket fence, and admission to the enclosure was +gained by means of a small gate. In those remote times there were few +buildings intervening between Duchess street and the water front, and +those few were not very pretentious; so that when the atmosphere was +free from fog you could trace from the windows of the upper story the +entire hithermost shore of the peninsula which has since become The +Island. The structure itself, like most buildings then erected in York, +was of frame. It was of considerable dimensions for those days, and +must have contained at least eight or nine rooms. It was two stories +high, and had a good deal of painted fret-work about the windows of +the upper story. A stately elm stood immediately in the rear, and its +wide-spreading branches overshadowed the greater part of the back yard +and outbuildings. And that is all I have been able to learn about the +exterior aspect of the place. + + + + +II.--INSIDE THE HOUSE. + +A small porch-door, about half way down the western side, furnished the +ordinary mode of entrance to and exit from the house. This door opened +into an apartment which served the double purpose of sitting-room and +dining-room, and which was connected by an inner door with the kitchen +and back premises. There was, however, a rather wide-mouthed front +entrance, approached by a short flight of wooden steps, and opening +into a fair-sized hall. To the right of the hall, as you entered, a +door opened into what served as a drawing-room, which was seldom used, +as the occupants of the house were not given to receiving much +fashionable company. To the left of the hall, another door opened into +the dining-room already mentioned. A stairway facing the front +entrance, conducted you to the upper story, which consisted of several +bed-rooms and a large apartment in front. This latter must have been by +long odds the pleasantest room in the house. It was of comfortable +dimensions, well lighted, and cheerful as to its outlook. Two front +windows commanded a prospect of the bay and the peninsula, while a +third window on the eastern side overlooked the valley of the Don, +which was by no means the stagnant pool which it was destined to become +in later years. The only entrance to this chamber was a door placed +directly to the right hand at the head of the stairway, which stairway, +it may be mentioned, consisted of exactly seventeen steps. A small +bedroom in the rear was accessible only by a separate door at the back +of the upper hallway, and was thus not directly connected with the +larger apartment. + +I am not informed as to the precise number and features of the other +rooms in the upper story, except that is they were bedrooms; nor is any +further information respecting them essential to a full comprehension +of the narrative. Why I have been so precise as to what may at first +appear trivial details will hereafter appear. + + + + +III.--THE TENANTS OF THE HOUSE. + +As already mentioned, the house was probably built by Surveyor-General +Ridout;--but it does not appear that either he or any member of his +family ever resided there. The earliest occupant of whom I have been +able to find any trace was Thomas Mercer Jones--the gentleman, I +presume, who was afterwards connected with the Canada Land Company. +Whether he was the first tenant I am unable to say, but a gentleman +bearing that name dwelt there during the latter part of the year 1816, +and appears to have been a well-known citizen of Little York. In 1819 +the tenant was a person named McKechnie, as to whom I have been unable +to glean any information whatever beyond the bare fact that he was a +pewholder in St. James's church. He appears to have given place to one +of the numerous members of the Powell family. + +But the occupant with whom this narrative is more immediately concerned +was a certain ex-military man named Bywater, who woke up the echoes of +York society for a few brief months, between sixty and seventy years +ago, and who, after passing a lurid interval of his misspent life in +this community, solved the great problem of human existence by falling +down stairs and breaking his neck. Captain Stephen Bywater was a +_mauvais sujet_ of the most pronounced stamp. He came of a good +family in one of the Midland Counties of England; entered the army at +an early age, and was present on a certain memorable Sunday at +Waterloo, on which occasion he is said to have borne himself gallantly +and well. But he appears to have had a deep vein of ingrained vice in +his composition, which perpetually impelled him to crooked paths. +Various ugly stories were current about him, for all of which there was +doubtless more or less foundation. It was said that he had been caught +cheating at play, and that he was an adept in all the rascalities of +the turf. The deplorable event which led to the resignation of his +commission made considerable noise at the time of its occurrence. A +young brother officer whom he had swindled out of large sums of money, +was forced by him into a duel, which was fought on the French coast, in +the presence of two seconds and a military surgeon. There seems to have +been no doubt that the villainous captain fired too soon. At any rate, +the youth who had been inveigled into staking his life on the issue was +left dead on the field, while the aggressor rode off unscathed, +followed by the execrations of his own second. A rigid enquiry was +instituted, but the principal witnesses were not forthcoming, and the +murderer--for as such he was commonly regarded--escaped the punishment +which everybody considered he had justly merited. The severance of his +connection with the army was a foregone conclusion, and he was formally +expelled from his club. He was socially sent to Coventry, and his +native land soon became for him a most undesirable place of abode. Then +he crossed the Atlantic and made his way to Upper Canada, where, after +a while, he turned up at York, and became the tenant of the house on +Duchess street. + +At the time of his arrival in this country, which must have been some +time in 1822, or perhaps early in 1823, Captain Bywater was apparently +about forty years of age. He was a bachelor and possessed of some +means. For a very brief period he contrived to make his way into the +select society of the Provincial capital; but it soon became known that +he was the aristocratic desperado who had so ruthlessly shot down young +Remy Errington on the sands near Boulogne, and who had the reputation +of being one of the most unmitigated scamps who ever wore uniform. York +society in those days could swallow a good deal in a man of good birth +and competent fortune, but it could not swallow even a well-to-do +bachelor of good family and marriageable age who had been forced +to resign his commission, and had been expelled from a not too +straight-laced London club, by a unanimous vote of the committee. +Captain Bywater was dropped with a suddenness and severity which he +could not fail to understand. He received no more invitations from +mothers with marriageable daughters, and when he presented himself at +their doors informally and forbidden he found nobody at home. Ladies +ceased to recognise him on the street, and gentlemen received his bows +with a response so frigid that he readily comprehended the state of +affairs. He perceived that his day of grace was past, and accepted his +fate with a supercilious shrug of his broad shoulders. + +But the Captain was a gregarious animal, to whom solitude was +insupportable. Society of some sort was a necessity of his existence, +and as the company of ladies and gentlemen, was no longer open to him, +he sought consolation among persons of a lower grade in the social +scale. He began to frequent bar-rooms and other places of public +resort, and as he was free with his money he had no difficulty in +finding companions of a certain sort who were ready and willing enough +to drink at his expense, and to listen to the braggadocio tales of the +doughty deeds achieved by him during his campaign in the Peninsula. In +a few weeks he found himself the acknowledged head and front of a +little coterie which assembled nightly at the George Inn, on King +street. This, however, did not last long, as the late potations and +ribald carousings of the company disturbed the entire neighborhood, and +attracted attention to the place. The landlord received a stern +admonition to keep earlier hours and less uproarious guests. When +Boniface sought to carry this admonition into effect Captain Bywater +mounted his high horse, and adjourned to his own place, taking his five +or six boon companions with him. From that time forward the house on +Duchess street was the regular place of meeting. + + + + +IV.--THE ORGIES IN THE HOUSE. + +Captain Bywater, upon his first arrival at York, had taken up his +quarters at a public house. The York inns of the period had an +unenviable reputation, and were widely different from the Queen's and +Rossin of the present day. Some of my readers will doubtless remember +John Gait's savage fling at them several years later. To parody Dr. +Johnson's characterization of the famous leg of mutton, they were +ill-looking, ill-smelling, ill-provided and ill-kept. In a word, they +were unendurable places of sojourn for a man of fastidious tastes and +sensitive nerves. Perhaps the Captain's tastes were fastidious, though +I can hardly believes that his nerves were sensitive. Possibly he +wished to furnish clear evidence that he was no mere sojourner in a +strange land, but that he had come here with a view to permanent +settlement. At all events his stay at an inn was of brief duration. He +rented the house on Duchess street and furnished it in a style which +for those days might be called expensive, more especially for a +bachelor's establishment. The greater part of the furniture was sent up +from Montreal, and the Captain proclaimed his intention of giving a +grand house-warming at an early date. He had hardly become settled in +the place, however, before his character and antecedent life became +known, as already mentioned, and the project was abandoned. + +His household consisted of a man-servant named Jim Summers, whom he had +picked up at Montreal, and the wife of the latter, who enjoyed the +reputation of being an excellent cook, in which capacity she was +afterwards employed at the Government House during the regime of Sir +John Colborne. At first this couple had a tolerably easy time of it. +The Captain was not exigeant, and allowed them to run the establishment +pretty much as they chose. He always rose late, and went out +immediately after breakfast, accompanied by his large Newfoundland dog +Nero, the only living possession he had brought with him from beyond +the sea. Master and dog were seen no more until dinner-time, which was +five o'clock. Between seven and eight in the evening the pair would +betake themselves to the George, where the Captain drank and howled +himself hoarse until long past midnight. But he was a seasoned vessel, +and generally had pretty fair control over his limbs. He could always +find his way home without assistance, and used to direct his man not to +wait up for him. The dog was his companion whenever he stirred out of +doors. + +But when the venue was changed from the tap-room of the George Inn to +the Captain's own house, the troubles of Jim Summers and his wife +began. The guests commonly arrived within a few minutes of each other, +and were all in their places by eight o'clock. They met in the large +upper room, and their sessions were prolonged far into the night, or +rather into the morning, for it happened often enough that daylight +peeped in through the eastern window and found the company still +undispersed. Ribald jests, drunken laughter and obscene songs were kept +up the whole night through. The quantity of rum, whisky, brandy and +beer consumed in the course of a week must have been something to +wonder at. The refreshments were provided at the expense of the host, +and as it was Jim's business to keep up the supply of spirits, lemons +and hot water, he had no sinecure on his hands. It might well be +supposed that he might, if so minded, have found a more congenial +situation, but as a matter of fact, he was not over scrupulous as to +the nature of his employment, and probably had his full share of the +fun. The Captain paid good wages, and was lavish in gratuities when he +was in good humor. On the whole Jim considered that he had not such a +bad place of it, and was by no means disposed to quarrel with his bread +and butter. His wife took a different view of affairs, and ere long +refused to remain on the premises during the nightly orgies. This +difficulty was got over by an arrangement whereby she was permitted to +quit the house at eight o'clock in the evening, returning on the +following morning in time to prepare the Captain's breakfast. She spent +her nights with a married sister who lived a short distance away, and +by this means she avoided what to any woman of respectability must have +been an unbearable infliction. + +The orgies, in process of time, became a reproach to the neighborhood +and a scandal to the town. They were, however, kept up with few +interruptions, for several months. More than one townsman declared that +so intolerable a nuisance must be abated, but no one liked to be the +first to stir in such an unpleasant business, and the bacchanalians +continued to "vex with mirth the drowsy ear of night," unchecked by +more cleanly-living citizens. But just about the time when these +carousings had become absolutely intolerable to the community, they +were put a stop to without any outside interference. + + + + +V.--THE CATASTROPHE IN THE HOUSE. + +On a certain Sunday night, which was destined to be memorable in the +annals of the Duchess street house, the number of Captain Bywater's +guests was smaller than usual. They consisted of only three persons: + +1. Henry John Porter, an articled clerk in the office of Simon +Washburn. Mr. Washburn was a well-known lawyer of those times, whose +office was on the corner of Duke and George streets. He acted +professionally for the Ridout family, and had the letting and sale of +the Duchess street property. It was probably through this circumstance +that his clerk had become acquainted with Captain Bywater. + +2. James McDougall, who was employed in some subordinate capacity in +the Civil Service. + +3. Alfred Jordan Pilkey, whose occupation seems to have been nothing in +particular. + +What had become of the other regular attendants does not appear. Not +only were the guests few in number on this particular evening, but the +proceedings themselves seem to have been of a much less noisy character +than ordinary. It was noticed that the host was somewhat out of humor, +and that he displayed signs of ill-temper which were not usual with +him. His demeanor reflected itself upon his company, and the fun was +neither fast nor furious. In fact the time passed somewhat drearily, +and the sederunt broke up at the unprecedentedly early hour of eleven +o'clock. The man-servant saw the company out, locked the door, and +repaired to the room up-stairs where his master still lingered, to see +if anything more was required of him. + +The Captain sat in a large armchair by the fire, sipping a final glass +of grog. He seemed gloomy and dispirited, as though he had something on +his mind. In response to Jim's enquiry whether he wanted anything he +growled out: "No, go to bed, and be hanged to you." Jim took him at his +word, so far as the first clause of the injunction was concerned. He +went to bed in his room on the opposite side of the hallway. In passing +through the hall he perceived Nero lying asleep on the mat in front of +his master's bedroom, which was the small room in the rear of the large +apartment where the meetings were held. + +Jim had not been in bed many minutes and was in a tranquil state +between sleeping and waking, when he heard his master emerge from the +front room, and pass along the hallway, as though about to enter his +bed-chamber. Another moment and he was roused from his half-somnolent +condition by the hearing of the sharp report of a pistol shot, followed +by a sound from Nero, something between a moan and a howl. He sprang to +the floor, but ere he could make his way into the hall he was well-nigh +stunned by hearing a tremendous crash, as though some large body had +been hurled violently down the stairs from top to bottom. A vague +thought of robbers flashed through his brain, and he paused for a +moment, as he himself afterwards admitted, half paralyzed with fright. +He called aloud upon his master and then upon the dog, but received no +response from either. The crash of the falling body was succeeded by +absolute silence. Pulling his nerves together he struck a match, +lighted his candle and passed in fear and trembling into the hallway. +The first sight that greeted his eyes was the seemingly lifeless body +of Nero lying stretched out at the head of the stairs. Upon approaching +the body he found blood trickling from a wound in the poor brute's +throat. One of the Captain's pistols lay on the floor, close by. But +where was the Captain himself? Shading his eyes and holding the candle +before him he peered fearfully down the stairway, but the darkness was +too profound to admit of his seeing to the bottom. By this time a +foreshadowing of the truth had made its way to his understanding. He +crept gingerly down the stairs, slowly step by step, holding the candle +far in advance, and anon calling upon his master by name. He had passed +more than half the way down before he received full confirmation of his +forebodings. + +There, lying at full length across the hallway, between the foot of the +stairs and the front door, was the body of Remy Errington's murderer, +with the sinister, evil face turned up to the ceiling. His left arm, +still grasping a candlestick, was doubled under him, and his body, in +its impetuous descent, had torn away the lower portion of the +balustrade. The distraught serving-man raised the head on his arm, and, +by such means as occurred to him, sought to ascertain whether any life +still lingered there. He could find no pulsation at the wrist, but upon +applying his ear to the left side he fancied he could detect a slight +fluttering of the heart. Then he rushed to the kitchen, and returned +with a pitcher of water, which he dashed in the prostrate face. As this +produced no apparent effect he ran back upstairs to his bedroom, threw +on part of his clothes, and made his way at full speed to the house of +Dr. Pritchard on Newgate street. + +The doctor was a late bird, and had not retired to rest. He at once set +out for Duchess street, Jim Summers going round by the house of his +sister-in-law on Palace street to arouse his wife, who slept there. +Upon receiving his wife's promise to follow him as soon as she could +huddle on her clothing, Jim ran on in advance, and reached the Duchess +street house, only a minute or two later than Dr. Pritchard. The doctor +had been there long enough, however, to ascertain that the Captain's +neck was broken, and that he was where no human aid could reach him. He +would preside over no more orgies in the large room on the upper story. + + + + +VI.--THE INQUEST IN THE HOUSE. + +There was an inquest. That, under the circumstances, was a matter of +course, but nothing of importance was elicited beyond what has already +been noted. Porter, Macdougall and Pilkey all attended, and gave +evidence to the effect, that Captain Bywater was tolerably drunk when +they left him at eleven, but that he was upon the whole the most sober +of the party and appeared quite capable of taking care of himself. They +had noticed his uncongenial mood, but could afford no conjecture as to +the cause. It was impossible to suspect anything in the shape of foul +play. The obvious conclusion to be arrived at was that the Captain's +long drinking bouts had produced their legitimate result, and that at +the moment when he met his death he was suffering from, or on the verge +of delirium tremens. He generally carried a loaded pistol in his breast +pocket. He had found the dog asleep on the mat before his bedchamber. +It was probably asleep, or, at all events, it did not hasten to get out +of his way, and in a moment of insane fury or drunken stupidity he had +drawn forth his weapon, and shot the poor brute dead. He had just then +been standing near the top of the stairs. The quantity of liquor he had +drunk was sufficient to justify the conclusion that he was not as +steady on his pins as a sober man would have been. He had over-balanced +himself, and--and that was the whole story. The coroner's jury brought +in a verdict in accordance with the facts, and the Captain's body was +put to bed with the sexton's spade. + +A will, drawn up in due form in the office of Mr. Washburn, and +properly signed and attested, had been made by the deceased a short +time after taking possession of the place on Duchess street. His +fortune chiefly consisted of an income of five hundred pounds sterling +per annum, secured on real estate situated in Gloucestershire, England. +This income lapsed upon his death, and it had thus been unnecessary to +make any testamentary provision respecting it, except as to the portion +which should accrue between the last quarter-day and the death of the +testator. This portion was bequeathed to an elder brother residing in +Gloucestershire. All the other property of the deceased was bequeathed +to Mr. Washburn, in trust to dispose of such personal belongings as did +not consist of ready money, and to transmit the proceeds, together with +all the cash in hand, to the said elder brother in Gloucestershire. + +The latter provisions were duly carried into effect by Mr. Washburn +within a few days after the funeral, and it might well have been +supposed that the good people of York had heard the last of Captain +Bywater and his affairs. + +But they hadn't. + + + + +VII.--THE BLACK DOG AND HIS MASTER. + +At the sale of Captain Bywater's effects a portion of the furniture +belonging to the dining-room, kitchen and one bedroom were purchased by +Jim Summers, who, with his wife, continued to reside in the Duchess +street house pending the letting of it to a new tenant. These temporary +occupants thus lived in three rooms, their sleeping apartment being on +the upper story at the northern side of the house, and on the opposite +side of the hall from the large room which had been the scene of so +much recent dissipation. All the rest of the house was left bare, and +the doors of the unoccupied rooms were kept locked. Summers found +employment as porter and assistant in Hammell's grocery store, but his +wife was always on hand to show the premises to anyone who might wish +to see them. + +All went on quietly until nearly a month after the funeral. Mrs. +Summers had an easy time of it, as no intending tenants presented +themselves, and her only visitor was her married sister, who +occasionally dropped in for an hour's chat. Jim was always at home by +seven in the evening, and the time glided by without anything occurring +to disturb the smooth current of their lives. + +But this state of things was not to be of long continuance. One night +when Mr. Washburn was busy over his briefs in his study at home he was +disturbed by a loud knocking at his front door. As it was nearly +midnight, and as everyone else in the house had retired to rest, he +answered the summons in person. Upon unfastening the door he found Jim +and his wife at the threshold. They were only half dressed, and their +countenances were colorless as Pallida Mors. They stumbled impetuously +into the hall, and were evidently laboring under some tremendous +excitement. The lawyer conducted them into the study, where they poured +into his astonished ears a most singular tale. + +Their story was to the effect that they had been disturbed for several +nights previously by strange and inexplicable noises in the house +occupied by them on Duchess street. They had been aroused from sleep at +indeterminate hours by the sound of gliding footsteps just outside of +the door of their bedroom. Once they had distinctly heard the sound of +voices, which seemed to come from the large front room across the hall. +As the door of that room was last closed and locked, they had not been +able to distinguish the particular words, but they both declared that +the voice was marvellously like that of Captain Bywater. They were +persons of fairly steady nerves, but their situation, all things +considered, was solitary and peculiar, and they had not by any means +relished these unaccountable manifestations. On each occasion, however, +they had controlled themselves sufficiently to institute a vigorous +investigation of the premises, but had discovered nothing to throw any +light upon the subject. They had found all the doors and the windows +securely fastened and there was no sign of the presence of anything or +anybody to account for the gliding footsteps. + +They had unlocked and entered the front room, and found it bare and +deserted as it had been left ever since the removal of the furniture +after the sale. They had even gone to the length of unlocking and +entering every other room in the house, but had found no clue to the +mysterious sounds which had disturbed them. Then they had argued +themselves into the belief that imagination had imposed upon them, or +that there was some natural but undiscovered cause for what had +occurred. They were reluctant to make themselves the laughingstock of +the town by letting the idea get abroad that they were afraid of +ghosts, and they determined to hold their tongues. But the +manifestations had at last assumed a complexion which rendered it +impossible to pursue such a course any longer, and they vehemently +protested that they would not pass another night in the accursed house +for any bribe that could be offered them. + +They had spent the preceding evening at home, as usual, and had gone to +bed a little before ten o'clock. The recent manifestations had probably +left some lingering trace upon their nerves, but they had no +premonitions of further experiences of the same character, and had soon +dropped asleep. They knew not how long they had slept when they were +suddenly and simultaneously rendered broad awake by a succession of +sounds which could not possibly be explained by any reference to mere +imagination. They heard the voice of their late master as distinctly as +they had ever heard it during his life. As before, it emanated from the +front room, but this time there was no possibility of their being +deceived, as they caught not only the sound of his voice, but also +certain words which they had often heard from his lips in bygone times. +"Don't spare the liquor, gentlemen," roared the Captain, "there's +plenty more where that came from. More sugar and lemon, you scoundrel, +and be handy there with the hot water." Then was heard the jingling +of glasses and loud rapping as if made with the knuckles of the hand +upon the table. Other voices were now heard joining in conversation, +but too indistinctly for the now thoroughly frightened listeners to +catch any of the actual words. There could, however, be no mistake. +Captain Bywater had certainly come back from the land of shadows and +re-instituted the old orgies in the old spot. The uproar lasted for at +least five minutes, when the Captain gave one of his characteristic +drunken howls, and of a sudden all was still and silent as the grave. + +As might naturally have been expected, the listeners were +terror-stricken. For a few moments after the cessation of the +disturbance, they lay there in silent, open-mouthed wonderment and fear. +Then, before they could find their voices, their ears were assailed by +a loud noise in the hall below, followed by the muffled "bow-wow" of a +dog, the sound of which seemed to come from the landing at the head of +the stairway. Jim could stand the pressure of the situation no longer. +He sprang from the bed, lighted a candle, and rushed out into the hall. +This he did, as he afterwards admitted, not because he felt brave, but +because he was too terrified to remain in bed, and seemed to be +impelled by a resolve to face the worst that fate might have in store +for him. Just as he passed from the door into the hall, a heavy +footstep was heard slowly ascending the stairs. He paused where he +stood, candle in hand. The steps came on, on, on, with measured tread. +A moment more and he caught sight of the ascending figure. Horror of +horrors! It was his late master--clothes, cane and all--just as he had +been in life; and at the head of the stairs stood Nero, who gave vent +to another low bark of recognition. When the Captain reached the +landing place he turned halfway round, and the light of the candle fell +full on his face. Jim saw the whole outline with the utmost clearness, +even to the expression in the eyes, which was neither gay nor sad, but +rather stolid and stern--just what he had been accustomed to see there. +The dog crouched back against the wall, and after a brief halt near the +stair-head, Captain Bywater turned the knob of his bed-room door and +passed in. The dog followed, the door was closed, and once more all was +silent. Jim turned and encountered the white face of his wife. She had +been standing behind him all the while, and had seen everything just +as it had been presented to his own eyes. Moreover, impelled by some +inward prompting for which she could never account, she had counted the +footsteps as they had ascended the stairs. They had been exactly +seventeen! + +The pair re-entered their room and took hurried counsel together. They +had distinctly seen the Captain turn the knob and pass into his +bed-room, followed by the semblance of Nero. As they well knew, the door +of that room was locked, and the key was at that moment in the pocket of +Mrs. Summers' dress. In sheer desperation they resolved at all hazards +to unlock the door and enter the room. Mrs. Summers produced the key +and handed it to her husband. She carried the candle and accompanied +him to the stair-head. He turned the lock and pushed the door wide open +before him, and both advanced into the room. It was empty, and the +window was found firmly fastened on the inside, as it had been left +weeks before. + +They returned to their own bedroom, and agreed that any further stay in +such a house of horrors was not to be thought of. Hastily arraying +themselves in such clothing as came readily to hand, they passed down +the stair-way, unbolted the front door, blew out the light, and made +their way into the open air. Then they relocked the door from outside +and left the place. Their intended destination was the house of Mrs. +Summers' sister, but they determined to go round by Mr. Washburn's and +tell him their story, as they knew he kept late hours and would most +likely not have gone to bed. + +Mr. Washburn, stolid man of law though he was, could not listen to such +a narrative without perceptable signs of astonishment. After thinking +over the matter a few moments, he requested his visitors to pass the +night under his roof, and to keep their own counsel for the present +about their strange experiences. As he well knew, if the singular story +got wind there would be no possibility of finding another tenant for +the vacant house. The young couple acceded to the first request, and +promised compliance with the second. They were then shown to a spare +room, and the marvels of that strange night were at an end. + +Next morning at an early hour the lawyer and the ex-serving man +proceeded to the Duchess street house. Everything was as it had been +left the night before, and no clue could be found to the mysterious +circumstances so solemnly attested to by Jim Summers and his spouse. +The perfect sincerity of the couple could not be doubted, but Mr. +Washburn was on the whole disposed to believe that they had in some way +been imposed upon by designing persons who wished to frighten them off +the premises, or that their imaginations had played them a scurvy +trick. With a renewed caution as to silence he dismissed them, and they +thenceforth took up their abode in the house of Mrs. Summers' sister on +Palace street. + +Mr. and Mrs. Summers kept their mouths as close as, under the +circumstances, could reasonably have been expected of them. But it was +necessary to account in some way for their sudden desertion of the +Duchess street house, and Mrs. Summers' sister was of an inquisitive +disposition. By degrees she succeeded in getting at most of the facts, +but to do her justice she did not proclaim them from the housetops, and +for some time the secret was pretty well kept. The story would probably +not have become generally known at all, but for a succession of +circumstances which took place when the haunted house had been vacant +about two months. + +An American immigrant named Horsfall arrived at York with a view of +settling there and opening out a general store. He was a man of family +and of course required a house to live in. It so happened that the +store rented to him on King street had no house attached to it, and it +was therefore necessary for him to look out for a suitable place +elsewhere. Hearing that a house on Duchess street was to let, he called +and went over the premises with Mr. Washburn, who naturally kept silent +as to the supernatural appearances which had driven the Summerses from +the door in the middle of the night. The inspection proved +satisfactory, and Mr. Horsfall took the place for a year. His household +consisted of his wife, two grown-up daughters, a son in his fifteenth +year, and a black female servant. They came up from Utica in advance of +Mr. Horsfall's expectations, and before the house was ready for them, +but matters were pushed forward with all possible speed, and on the +evening of the second day after their arrival they took possession of +the place. The furniture was thrown in higgledy-piggledy, and all +attempts to put things to rights were postponed until the next day. The +family walked over after tea from the inn at which they had been +staying, resolving to rough it for a single night in their new home in +preference to passing another night amid countless swarms of "the +pestilence that walketh in darkness." Two beds were hastily made up on +the floor of the drawing-room, one for the occupation of Mr. and Mrs. +Horsfall, and the other for the two young women. A third bed was +hastily extemporized on the floor of the dining-room for the occupation +of Master George Washington, and Dinah found repose on a lounge in the +adjacent kitchen. The entire household went to bed sometime between ten +and eleven o'clock, all pretty well tired, and prepared for a +comfortable night's rest. They had been in bed somewhat more than an +hour when the whole family was aroused by the barking of a dog in the +lower hall. This was, not unnaturally, regarded as strange, inasmuch as +all the doors and windows had been carefully fastened by Mr. Horsfall +before retiring, and there had certainly been no dog in the house then. +The head of the family lost no time in lighting a candle and opening +the door into the hall. At the same moment young G. W. opened the door +on the opposite side. Yes, there, sure enough, was a large, black +Newfoundland dog, seemingly very much at home, as though he belonged to +the place. As the youth advanced towards him he retreated to the +stairway, up which he passed at a great padding pace. How on earth had +he gained an entrance? Well, at all events he must be got rid of; but +he looked as if he would be an awkward customer to tackle at close +quarters and Mr. Horsfall deemed it prudent to put on a part of his +clothing before making any attempt to expel him. While he was dressing, +the tread of the animal on the floor of the upper hall could be +distinctly heard, and ever and anon he emitted a sort of low, barking +sound, which was ominous of a disposition to resent any interference +with him. By this time all the members of the household were astir and +clustering about the lower hall. Mr. Horsfall, with a lighted candle in +one hand and a stout cudgel in the other, passed up the stairs and +looked along the passage. Why, what on earth had become of the dog! It +was nowhere to be seen! Where could it have hidden itself? It was +certainly too large an animal to have taken refuge in a rat-hole. Had +it entered one of the rooms? Impossible, for they were all closed, +though not locked. Mr. H. himself having unlocked them in the course of +the afternoon, when some furniture had been taken into them. He, +however, looked into each room in succession, only to find "darkness +there and nothing more." Then he concluded that the brute must have +gone down stairs while he had been putting on his clothes in the room +below. No, that could not be, for George Washington had never left the +foot of the stairway from the moment the dog first passed up. Had it +jumped through one of the windows? No, they were all fast and intact. +Had it gone up the chimney of the front room? No; apart from the +absurdity of the idea, the hole was not large enough to admit of a dog +one-fifth its size. In vain the house was searched through and through. +Not a sign of the huge disturber of the domestic peace was to be seen +anywhere. + +After a while, Mr. Horsfall, at a loss for anything better to exercise +his faculties upon, opened both the front and back doors and looked all +over the premises, alternately calling Carlo! Watch! and every other +name which occurred to him as likely to be borne by a dog. There was no +response, and in sheer disgust he re-entered the house and again sought +his couch. In a few minutes more the household was again locked in +slumber. But they were not at the end of their annoyances. About half +an hour after midnight they were once more aroused.--this time by the +sound of loud voices in the large upper room. "I tell you we will all +have glasses round," roared a stentorian voice--"I will knock down the +first man who objects!" Everybody in the house heard the voice and the +words. This was apparently more serious than the dog. Mr. H. regretted +that he had left his pistols at the inn, but he determined to rid the +place of the intruders whoever they might be. Grasping the cudgel he +again made his way up-stairs, candle in hand. When more than half way +up he caught sight of a tall, heavily-built, red-faced man, who had +apparently emerged from the larger room, and who was just on the point +of opening the door of the back bedroom. "Who are you, you scoundrel?" +exclaimed Mr. H. The man apparently neither saw nor heard him, but +opened the door with tranquil unconcern and passed into the room. Mr. +H. followed quickly at his very heels--only to find that he had been +beguiled with a counterfeit, and that there was no one there. Then he +stepped back into the hallway, and entered the larger room with cudgel +raised, fully expecting to find several men there. To his unspeakable +astonishment he found nobody. Again he hurried from room to room, +upstairs and downstairs. Again he examined the doors and windows to see +if the fastenings had been tampered with. No, all was tight and snug. +The family were again astir, hurrying hither and thither, in quest of +they knew not what; but they found nothing to reward their search, and +after a while all gathered together half-clad in the dining room, where +they began to ask each other what these singular disturbances could +mean. + +Mr. Horsfall was a plain, matter of fact personage, and up to this +moment no idea of any supernatural visitation had so much as entered +his mind. Even now he scouted the idea when it was timidly broached by +his wife. He, however, perceived plainly enough that this was something +altogether out of the common way, and he announced his intention of +going to bed no more that night. The others lay down again, but we may +readily believe that they slept lightly, if at all, though nothing more +occurred to disturb them. Soon after daylight all the family rose and +dressed for the day. Once more they made tour after tour through all +the rooms, only to find that everything remained precisely as it had +been left on the preceding night. + +After an early breakfast Mr. H. proceeded to the house of Mr. Washburn, +where he found that gentleman was still asleep, and that he could not +be disturbed. The visitor was a patient man and declared his intention +of waiting. In about an hour Mr. Washburn came down stairs, and heard +the extraordinary story which his tenant had to relate. He had +certainly not anticipated anything of this sort, and gave vehement +utterance to his surprise. In reply to Mr. H.'s enquiries about the +house, however, he gave him a brief account of the life and death of +Captain Bywater, and supplemented the biography by a narration of the +singular experiences of Jim Summers and his wife. Then the American +fired up, alleging that his landlord had had no right to let him the +house, and to permit him to remove his family into it, without +acquainting him with the facts beforehand. The lawyer admitted that he +had perhaps been to blame, and expressed his regret. The tenant +declared that he then and there threw up his tenancy, and that he would +vacate the house in the course of the day. Mr. Washburn felt that a +court of law would probably hesitate to enforce a lease under such +circumstances, and assented that the arrangement between them should be +treated as cancelled. + + + + +VIII.--THE LAST OF THE HOUSE. + +And cancelled it was. Mr. Horsfall temporarily took his family and his +other belongings back to the inn, but soon afterwards secured a house +where no guests, canine, or otherwise, were in the habit of intruding +themselves uninvited in the silent watches of the night. He kept a +store here for some years, and, I believe, was buried at York. A son of +his, as I am informed--probably the same who figures in the foregoing +narrative--is, or lately was, a well-to-do resident of Syracuse, N. Y. + +Mr. Horsfall made no secret of his reasons for throwing up his tenancy, +and his adventures were soon noised abroad throughout the town. He was +the last tenant of the sombre house. Thenceforward no one could be +induced to rent it or even to occupy it rent free. It was commonly +regarded as a whisht, gruesome spot, and was totally unproductive to +its owners. Its subsequent history has already been given. + +And now what more is there to tell? Only this: that the main facts of +the foregoing story are true. Of course I am not in a position to vouch +for them from personal knowledge, any more than I am in a position to +personally vouch for the invasion of England by William of Normandy. +But they rest on as good evidence as most other private events of +sixty-odd years ago, and there is no reason for doubting their literal +truth. With regard to the supernatural element, I am free to confess +that I am not able to accept it in entirety. This is not because I +question the veracity of those who vouch for the alleged facts, but +because I have not received those facts at first hand, and because I am +not very ready to believe in the supernatural at all. I think that, in +the case under consideration, an intelligent investigation at the time +might probably have brought to light circumstances as to which the +narrative, as it stands, is silent. Be that as it may, the tale is +worth the telling, and I have told it. + + + + +SAVAREEN'S DISAPPEARANCE. + +A HALF-FORGOTTEN CHAPTER IN THE HISTORY OF AN UPPER CANADIAN +TOWNSHIP. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +THE PLACE AND THE MAN. + + +Near the centre of one of the most flourishing of the western counties +of Ontario, and on the line of the Great Western branch of the Grand +Trunk Railway, stands a pleasant little town, which, for the purposes +of this narrative, may be called Millbrook. Not that its real name is +Millbrook, or any thing in the least similar thereto; but as this +story, so far as its main events are concerned, is strictly true, and +some of the actors in it are still living, it is perhaps desirable not +to be too precise in the matter of locality. The strange disappearance +of Mr. Savareen made a good deal of noise at the time, not only in the +neighborhood, but throughout Upper Canada. It was a nine days' wonder, +and was duly chronicled and commented upon by the leading provincial +newspapers of the period; but it has long since passed out of general +remembrance, and the chain of circumstances subsequently arising out of +the event have never been made known beyond the limited circle +immediately interested. The surviving members of that circle would +probably not thank me for once more dragging their names conspicuously +before the public gaze. I might certainly veil their personalities +under the thin disguise of initial letters, but to this mode of +relating a story I have always entertained a decided objection. The +chief object to be aimed at in story-telling is to hold the attention +of the reader, and, speaking for myself, I am free to confess that I +have seldom been able to feel any absorbing interest in characters who +figure merely as the M. or N. of the baptismal service. I shall +therefore assign fictitious names to persons and places, and I cannot +even pretend to mathematical exactness as to one or two minor details. +In reporting conversations, for instance, I do not profess to reproduce +the _ipsissima verba_ of the speakers, but merely to give the +effect and purport of their discourses. I have, however, been at some +pains to be accurate, and I think I may justly claim that in all +essential particulars this story of Savareen's disappearance is as true +as any report of events which took place a good many years ago can +reasonably be expected to be. + +First: As to the man. Who was he? + +Well, that is easily told. He was the second son of a fairly well-to-do +English yeoman, and had been brought up to farming pursuits on the +paternal acres in Hertfordshire. He emigrated to Upper Canada in or +about the year 1851, and had not been many weeks in the colony before +he became the tenant of a small farm situated in the township of +Westchester, three miles to the north of Millbrook. At that time he +must have been about twenty-five or twenty-six years of age. So far as +could be judged by those who came most frequently into personal +relations with him, he had no very marked individuality to distinguish +him from others of his class and station in life. He was simply a young +English farmer who had migrated to Canada with a view to improving his +condition and prospects. + +In appearance he was decidedly prepossessing. He stood five feet eleven +inches in his stockings; was broad of shoulder, strong of arm, and well +set up about the limbs. His complexion was fair and his hair had a +decided inclination to curl. He was proficient in most athletics; could +box and shoot, and if put upon his mettle, could leap bodily over a +five-barred gate. He was fond of good living, and could always be +depended upon to do full justice to a well-provided dinner. It cannot +be denied that he occasionally drank more than was absolutely necessary +to quench a normal thirst, but he was as steady as could be expected of +any man who has from his earliest boyhood been accustomed to drink beer +as an ordinary beverage, and has always had the run of the buttery +hatch. He liked a good horse, and could ride anything that went on four +legs. He also had a weakness for dogs, and usually had one or two of +those animals dangling near his heels whenever he stirred out of doors. +Men and things in this country were regarded by him from a strictly +trans-Atlantic point of view, and he was frequently heard to remark +that this, that, and the other thing were "nothink to what we 'ave at +'ome." + +He was more or less learned in matters pertaining to agriculture, and +knew something about the current doctrines bearing on the rotation of +crops. His literary education, moreover, had not been wholly neglected. +He could read and write, and could cast up accounts which were not of +too involved and complicated a character. It cannot truly be said that +he had read Tom Jones, Roderick Random, and Pierce Egan's Life in London. +He regarded Cruikshank's illustrations to the last named work--more +particularly that one depicting Corinthian Tom "getting the best +of Charley,"--as far better worth looking at than the whole collection +in the National Gallery, a place where he had once whirled away a +tedious hour or two during a visit to town. + +Then, he was not altogether ignorant concerning several notable events +in the history of his native land. That is to say, he knew that a +certain king named Charles the First had been beheaded a good many +years ago, and that a disreputable personage named Oliver Cromwell had +somehow been mixed up in the transaction. He understood that the +destinies of Great Britain were presided over by Queen Victoria and two +Houses of Parliament, called respectively the House of Lords and the +House of Commons; and he had a sort of recollection of having heard +that those august bodies were called Estates of the Realm. In his eyes, +everything English was _ipso facto_ to be commended and admired, +whereas everything un-English was _ipso facto_ to be proportionately +condemned and despised. Any misguided person who took a different view +of the matter was to be treated as one who had denied the faith, and +was worse than an infidel. + +I have said that his appearance was prepossessing, and so it was in the +ordinary course of things, though he had a broad scar on his left +cheek, which, on the rare occasions when he was angry, asserted itself +somewhat conspicuously, and imparted, for the nonce, a sinister +expression to his countenance. This disfigurement, as I have heard, had +been received by him some years before his arrival in Canada. During a +visit to one of the market towns in the neighborhood of his home, he +had casually dropped into a gymnasium, and engaged in a fencing bout +with a friend who accompanied him. Neither of the contestants had ever +handled a foil before, and they were of course unskilled in the use of +such dangerous playthings. During the contest the button had slipped +from his opponent's weapon, just as the latter was making a vigorous +lunge. As a consequence Savareen's cheek had been laid open by a wound +which left its permanent impress upon him. He himself was in the habit +of jocularly alluding to this disfigurement as his "bar sinister." + +For the rest, he was stubborn as a mule about trifles which did not in +the least concern him, but as regarded the affairs of every-day life he +was on the whole pleasant and easy-going, more especially when nothing +occurred to put him out. When anything of the kind _did_ occur, he +could certainly assume the attitude of an ugly customer, and on such +occasions the wound on his cheek put on a lurid hue which was not +pleasant to contemplate. His ordinary discourse mainly dealt with the +events of his everyday life. It was not intellectually stimulating, and +for the most part related to horses, dogs, and the crop prospects of +the season. In short, if you have ever lived in rural England, or if +you have been in the habit of frequenting English country towns on +market-days, you must have encountered scores of jolly young farmers +who, to all outward seeming, with the solitary exception of the +sinister scar, might pretty nearly have stood for his portrait. + +Such was Reginald Bourchier Savareen, and if you have never come across +anybody possessing similar characteristics--always excepting the scar-- +your experience of your fellow-creatures has been more limited than +might be expected from a reader of your age and manifest intelligence. + +His farm--_i.e._, the farm rented by him--belonged to old Squire +Harrington, and lay in a pleasant valley on the western side of the +gravel road leading northward from Millbrook to Spotswood. The Squire +himself lived in the red brick mansion which peeped out from the clump +of maples a little further down on the opposite side of the road. The +country thereabouts was settled by a thrifty and prosperous race of +pioneers, and presented a most attractive appearance. Alternate +successions of hill and dale greeted the eye of the traveller as he +drove along the hard-packed highway, fifteen miles in length, which +formed the connecting link between the two towns above mentioned. The +land was carefully tilled, and the houses, generally speaking, were of +a better class than were to be found in most rural communities in Upper +Canada at that period. Savareen's own dwelling was unpretentious +enough, having been originally erected for one of the squire's "hired +men," but it was sufficient for his needs, as he had not married until +a little more than a year before the happening of the events to be +presently related, and his domestic establishment was small. His entire +household consisted of himself, his young wife, an infant in arms, a +man servant and a rustic maid of all work. In harvest time he, of +course, employed additional help, but the harvesters were for the most +part residents of the neighborhood, who found accommodation in their +own homes. The house was a small frame, oblong building, of the +conventional Canadian farm-house order of architecture, painted of a +drab color and standing a hundred yards or so from the main road. The +barn and stable stood a convenient distance to the rear. About midway +between house and barn was a deep well, worked with a windlass and +chain. During the preceding season a young orchard had been planted out +in the space intervening between the house and the road. Everything +about the place was kept in spick and span order. The tenant was fairly +successful in his farming operations, and appeared to be holding his +own with the world around him. He paid his rent promptly, and was on +excellent terms with his landlord. He was, in fact, rather popular with +his neighbors generally, and was regarded as a man with a fair future +before him. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +THE NEIGHBORHOOD. + + +About a quarter of a mile to the north of Savareen's abode was a +charming little hostelry, kept by a French Canadian named Jean Baptiste +Lapierre. It was one of the snuggest and cosiest of imaginable inns; +by no means the sort of wayside tavern commonly to be met with in +Western Canada in those times, or even in times much more recent. The +landlord had kept a high-class restaurant in Quebec in the old days +before the union of the Provinces, and piqued himself upon knowing what +was what. He was an excellent cook, and knew how to cater to the +appetites of more exacting epicures than he was likely to number among +his ordinary patrons in a rural community like that in which he had +piched his quarters. When occasion required, he could serve up a dinner +or supper at which Brillat Savarian himself would have had no excuse +for turning up his nose. It was seldom that any such exigeant demand as +this was made upon his skill, but even his ordinary fare was good +enough for any city sir or madam whom chance might send beneath his +roof, and such persons never failed to carry away with them pleasant +remembrances of the place. + +The creaking sign which swayed in the breeze before the hospitable door +proclaimed it to be The Royal Oak, but it was commonly known throughout +the whole of that country-side as Lapierre's. The excellence of its +larder was proverbial, insomuch that professional men and others used +frequently to drive out from town expressly to dine or sup there. Once +a week or so--usually on Saturday nights--a few of the choice spirits +thereabouts used to meet in the cosy parlor and hold a decorous sort of +free-and-easy, winding up with supper at eleven o'clock. On these +occasions, as a matter of course, the liquor flowed with considerable +freedom, and the guests had a convivial time of it; but there was +nothing in the shape of wild revelry--nothing to bring reproach upon +the good name of the house. Jean Baptiste had too much regard for his +well-earned reputation to permit these meetings to degenerate into mere +orgies. He showed due respect for the sanctity of the Sabbath, and took +care to make the house clear of company before the stroke of midnight. +By such means he not only kept his guests from indulging in riotous +excesses, but secured their respect for himself and his establishment. + +Savareen was a pretty regular attendant at these convivial gatherings, +and was indeed a not infrequent visitor at other times. He always met +with a warm welcome, for he could sing a good song, and paid his score +with commendable regularity. His Saturday nights' potations did not +interfere with his timely appearance on Sunday morning in his pew in +the little church which stood on the hill a short distance above +Lapierre's. His wife usually sat by his side, and accompanied him to +and fro. Everything seemed to indicate that the couple lived happily +together, and that they were mutually blessed in their domestic +relations. With regard to Mrs. Savareen, the only thing necessary to +be mentioned about her at present is that she was the daughter of a +carpenter and builder resident in Millbrook. + +There was a good deal of travel on the Millbrook and Spotswood road, +more especially in the autumn, when the Dutch farmers from the +settlements up north used to come down in formidable array, for the +purpose of supplying themselves with fruit to make cider and +"applesass" for the winter. The great apple-producing district of the +Province begins in the townships lying a few miles to the south of +Westchester, and the road between Millbrook and Spotswood was, and is, +the most direct route thither from the Dutch settlements. The garb and +other appointments of the stalwart Canadian Teuton of those days were +such as to make him easily distinguishable from his Celtic or Saxon +neighbor. He usually wore a long, heavy, coat of coarse cloth, reaching +down to his heels. His head was surmounted by a felt hat with a brim +wide enough to have served, at a pinch, for the tent of a side-show. +His wagon was a great lumbering affair, constructed, like himself, +after an ante-diluvian pattern, and pretty nearly capacious enough for +a first-rate man-of-war. In late September and early October it was no +unprecedented thing to see as many as thirty or forty of these +ponderous vehicles moving southward, one at the tail of the other, in a +continuous string. They came down empty, and returned a day or two +afterwards laden with the products of the southern orchards. On the +return journey the wagons were full to overflowing. Not so the drivers, +who were an exceedingly temperate and abstemious people, too +parsimonious to leave much of their specie at the Royal Oak. It was +doubtless for this reason that mine host Lapierre regarded, and was +accustomed to speak of them with a good deal of easy contempt, not to +say aversion. They brought little or no grist to his mill, and he was +fond of proclaiming that he did not keep a hotel for the accommodation +of such _canaille_. The emphasis placed by him on this last word +was something quite refreshing to hear. + +The road all the way from Millbrook to Spotswood, corresponds to the +mathematical definition of a straight line. It forms the third +concession of the township, and there is not a curve in it anywhere. +The concessions number from west to east, and the sidelines, running at +right angles to them are exactly two miles apart. At the northwestern +angle formed by the intersection of the gravel road with the first side +line north of Millbrook stood a little toll-gate, kept, at the period +of the story, by one Jonathan Perry. Between the toll-gate and +Savareen's on the same side of the road were several other houses to +which no more particular reference is necessary. On the opposite side +of the highway, somewhat more than a hundred yards north of the +toll-gate, was the abode of a farmer named Mark Stolliver. Half a mile +further up was John Calder's house, which was the only one until you +came to Squire Harrington's. To the rear of the Squire's farm was a +huge morass about fifty acres in extent, where cranberries grew in +great abundance, from which circumstance it was known as Cranberry +Swamp. + +Now you have the entire neighborhood before you, and if you will cast +your eye on the following rough plan you will have no difficulty in +taking in the scene at a single glance:-- + +[Illustration: map of the area described in preceding text] + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +A JOURNEY TO TOWN. + + +In the early spring of the year 1854 a letter reached Savareen from +his former home in Hertfordshire, containing intelligence of the sudden +death of his father. The old gentleman had been tolerably well off in +this world's gear, but he had left a numerous family behind him, so +that there was no great fortune in store for Reginald. The amount +bequeathed to him, however, was four hundred pounds sterling clear of +all deductions--a sum not to be despised, as it would go far toward +enabling him to buy the farm on which he lived, and would thus give a +material impetus to his fortunes. The executors lost no time in winding +up and distributing the estate, and during the second week in July a +letter arrived from their solicitors enclosing a draft on the Toronto +agency of the Bank of British North America for the specified sum. +Savareen made arrangements with the local bank at Millbank to collect +the proceeds, and thus save him the expense of a journey to Toronto. +Meanwhile he concluded a bargain with Squire Harrington for the +purchase of the farm. The price agreed upon was $3,500, half of which +was to be paid down upon the delivery of the deed, the balance being +secured by mortgage. The cash would be forthcoming at the bank not +later than the 18th of the month, and accordingly that was the date +fixed upon for the completion of the transaction. Lawyer Miller was +instructed to have the documents ready for execution at noon, when the +parties and their respective wives were to attend at his office in +Millbrook. + +The morning of Monday, the 17th, was wet and gave promise of a rainy +day. As there seemed to be no prospect of his being able to do any +outside work on the farm, Savareen thought he might as well ride into +town and ascertain if the money had arrived. He saddled his black mare, +and started for Millbrook--about ten in the forenoon. His two dogs +showed a manifest desire to accompany him, but he did not think fit to +gratify their desire and ordered them back. Before he had ridden far +the rain ceased, and the sun came out warm and bright, but he was in an +idle mood, and didn't think it worth while to turn back. It seems +probable indeed, that he had merely wanted an excuse for an idle day in +town; as there was no real necessity for such a journey. Upon reaching +the front street he stabled his mare at the Peacock Inn, which was his +usual house of call when in Millbrook. He next presented himself at the +bank, where he made enquiry about his draft. Yes, the funds were there +all right. The clerk, supposing that he wanted to draw the amount there +and then, counted the notes out for him, and requested him to sign the +receipt in the book kept for such purposes. Savareen then intimated +that he had merely called to enquire about the matter, and that he +wished to leave the money until next day. The clerk, who was out of +humor about some trifle or other, and who was, moreover, very busy that +morning, spoke up sharply, remarking that he had had more bother about +that draft than the transaction was worth. His irritable turn and +language nettled Savareen, who accordingly took the notes, signed the +receipt and left the bank, declaring that "that shop" should be +troubled by no further business of his. The clerk, as soon as he had +time to think over the matter, perceived that he had been rude, and +would have tendered an apology, but his customer had already shaken the +dust of the bank off his feet and taken his departure, so that there +was no present opportunity of accommodating the petty quarrel. As +events subsequently turned out it was destined never to be accommodated +in this world, for the two never met again on this side the grave. + +Instead of returning home immediately as he ought to have done, +Savareen hung about the tavern all day, drinking more than was good for +his constitution, and regaling every boon companion he met with an +account of the incivility to which he had been subjected at the hands +of the bank clerk. Those to whom he told the story thought he attached +more importance to the affair than it deserved, and they noticed that +the scar on his cheek came out in its most lurid aspect. He dined at +the Peacock and afterwards indulged in sundry games of bagatelle and +ten-pins; but the stakes consisted merely of beer and cigars, and he +did not get rid of more than a few shillings in the course of the +afternoon. Between six and seven in the evening his landlady regaled +him with a cup of strong tea, after which he seemed none the worse for +his afternoon's relaxations. A few minutes before dusk he mounted his +mare and started on his way homeward. + +The ominous clouds of the early morning had long since passed over. The +sun had shone brightly throughout the afternoon, and had gone down amid +a gorgeous blaze of splendour. The moon would not rise till nearly +nine, but the evening was delightfully calm and clear, and the +horseman's way home was as straight as an arrow, over one of the best +roads in the country. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +GONE. + +At precisely eight o'clock in the evening of this identical Monday, +July 17th, 1854, old Jonathan Perry sat tranquilly smoking his pipe at +the door of the toll-gate two miles north of Millbrook. + +The atmosphere was too warm to admit of the wearing of any great +display of apparel, and the old man sat hatless and coatless on a sort +of settle at the threshold. He was an inveterate old gossip, and was +acquainted with the business of everybody in the neighborhood. He knew +all about the bargain entered into between Savareen and Squire +Harrington, and how it was to be consummated on the following day. +Savareen, when riding townwards that morning, had informed him of the +ostensible purpose of his journey, and it now suddenly occurred to the +old man to wonder why the young farmer had not returned home. + +While he sat there pondering, the first stroke of the town bell +proclaiming the hour was borne upon his ear. Before the ringing had +ceased, he caught the additional sound of a horse's hoofs rapidly +advancing up the road. + +"Ah," said he to himself, "here he comes. I reckon his wife'll be apt +to give him fits for being so late." + +In another moment the horseman drew up before him, but only to exchange +a word of greeting, as the gate was thrown wide open, and there was +nothing to bar his progress. The venerable gate-keeper had conjectured +right. It was Savareen on his black mare. + +"Well, Jonathan, a nice evening," remarked the young farmer. + +"Yes, Mr. Savareen--a lovely night. You've had a long day of it in +town. They'll be anxious about you at home. Did you find the money all +right, as you expected?" + +"O, the money was there, right enough, and I've got it in my pocket. I +had some words with that conceited puppy, Shuttleworth, at the bank. +He's altogether too big for his place, and I can tell you he'll have +the handling of no more money of mine." And then, for about the +twentieth time within the last few hours, he recounted the particulars +of his interview with the bank clerk. + +The old man expressed his entire concurrence in Savareen's estimate of +Shuttleworth's conduct. "I have to pay the gate-money into the bank on +the first of every month," he remarked, "and that young feller always +acts as if he felt too uppish to touch it. I wonder you didn't drop +into 'un." + +"O, I wasn't likely to do that," was the reply--"but I gave him a bit +of my mind, and I told him it 'ud be a long time afore I darkened the +doors of his shop again. And so it will. I'd sooner keep my bit o' +money, when I have any, in the clock-case at home. There's never any +housebreaking hereabouts." + +Jonathan responded by saying that, in so far as he knew, there hadn't +been a burglary for many a year. + +"But all the same," he continued, "I shouldn't like to keep such a sum +as four hundred pound about me, even for a single night. No more I +shouldn't like to carry such a pot o' money home in the night time, +even if nobody knew as I had it on me. Ride you home, Mr. Savareen, and +hide it away in some safe place till to-morrow morning--that's +_my_ advice." + +"And very good advice it is, Jonathan," was the response. "I'll act +upon it without more words. Good night!" And so saying, Savareen +continued his course homeward at a brisk trot. + +The old man watched him as he sped away up the road, but could not keep +him in view more than half a minute or so, as by this time the light of +day had wholly departed. He lighted his pipe, which had gone out during +the conversation, and resumed his seat on the settle. Scarcely had he +done so ere he heard the clatter of horse's hoofs moving rapidly +towards the gate from the northward. "Why," said he to himself, "this +must be Savareen coming back again. What's the matter now, I wonder?" + +But this time he was out in his conjecture. When the horseman reached +the gate, he proved to be not Savareen, but mine host Lapierre, mounted +on his fast-trotting nag, Count Frontenac--a name irreverently +abbreviated by the sportsmen of the district into "Fronty." The rider +drew up with a boisterous "Woa!" and reached out towards the gate-keeper +a five-cent piece by way of toll, saying as he did so: + +"Vell, Mister Perry, how coes everytings wiss you?" + +"O, good evening, Mr. Lapierre; I didn't know you till you spoke. My +eyesight's getting dimmer every day, I think. Bound for town?" + +"Yes, I want to see what has cot Mr. Safareen. He went to town early +this morning to see about some money matters, and promised to pe pack +in a couple of hours, put he ain't pack yet. Mrs. Safareen cot so +uneasy apout him to-night, that she came up to my place and pegged me +to ride down and hunt him up. I suppose you saw him on his way down?" + +"Saw him! On his way down! What are you talking about? Didn't you meet +him just now?" + +"Meet who?" + +"Savareen." + +"Where? When?" + +"Why, not two minutes ago. He passed through here on his way home just +before you came up." + +"How long pefore?" + +"How long! Why, don't I tell you, not two minutes. He hadn't hardly got +out o' sight when I heerd your horse's feet on the stones, and thought +it was him a-coming back again. You must a met him this side o' +Stolliver's." + +Then followed further explanations on the part of old Jonathan, who +recounted the conversation he had just had with Savareen. + +Well, of course, the key to the situation was not hard to find. +Savareen had left the toll-gate and proceeded northward not more than +two or three minutes before Lapierre, riding southward along the same +road, had reached the same point. The two had not encountered each +other. Therefore, one of them had deviated from the road. There had +been no deviation on the part of Lapierre, so the deviator must +necessarily have been Savareen. But the space of time which had elapsed +was too brief to admit of the latter's having ridden more than a +hundred yards or thereabouts. The only outlet from the road within four +times that distance was the gateway leading into Stolliver's house. The +explanation, consequently, was simple enough. Savareen had called in at +Stollivers. Q. E. D. + +Strange, though, that he had said nothing to old Jonathan about his +intention to call there. He had ridden off as though intent upon +getting home without delay, and hiding his money away in a safe place +for the night. And, come to think of it, it was hard to understand what +possible reason he could have for calling at Stolliver's. He had never +had any business or social relations of any kind with Stolliver, and in +fact the two had merely a nodding acquaintance. Still another strange +thing was that Savareen should have taken his horse inside the gate, as +there was a tying-post outside, and he could not have intended to make +any prolonged stay. However, there was no use raising difficult +problems, which could doubt less be solved by a moment's explanation. +It was absolutely certain that Savareen was at Stolliver's because he +could not possibly have avoided meeting Lapierre if he had not called +there. It was Lapierre's business to find him and take him home. +Accordingly the landlord of the Royal Oak turned his horse's head and +cantered back up the road till he reached the front of Stolliver's +place. + +Stolliver and his two boys were sitting out on the front fence, having +emerged from the house only a moment before. They had been working in +the fields until past sundown, and had just risen from a late supper. +Old Stolliver was in the habit of smoking a pipe every night after his +evening meal, and in pleasant weather he generally chose to smoke it +out of doors, as he was doing this evening, although the darkness had +fallen. Lapierre, as he drew rein, saw the three figures on the fence, +but could not in the darkness, distinguish one from, another. + +"Is that Mister Stollifer?" he asked. + +"Yes; who be _you_?" was the ungracious response, delivered in a gruff +tone of voice. Old Stolliver was a boorish, cross-grained customer, who +paid slight regard to the amenities, and did not show to advantage in +conversation. + +"Don't you know me? I am Mister Lapierre." + +"O, Mr. Lapierre, eh? Been a warm day." + +"Yes. Hass Mister Safareen gone?" + +"Mister who?" + +"Mister Safareen. Wass he not here shoost now?" + +"Here? What fur?" + +The landlord was by this time beginning to feel a little disgusted at +the man's boorish incivility. "Will you pe so coot as to tell me," he +asked, "if Mister Safareen hass peen here?" + +"Not as I know of. Hain't seen him." + +Lapierre was astounded. He explained the state of affairs to his +interlocuter, who received the communication with his wonted stolidity, +and proceeded to light his pipe, as much as to say that the affair was +none of his funeral. + +"Well," he remarked, with exasperating coolness, "I guess you must 'a' +passed him on the road. We hain't been out here more'n a minute or two. +Nobody hain't passed since then." + +This seemed incredible. Where, then, was Savareen? Had he sunk into the +bowels of the earth, or gone up, black mare and all, in a balloon? Of +course it was all nonsense about the landlord having passed him on the +road without seeing or hearing anything of him. But what other +explanation did the circumstances admit of? At any rate, there was +nothing for Lapierre to do but ride back to Savareen's house and see if +he had arrived there. Yes, one other thing might be done. He might +return to the toll gate and ascertain whether Jonathan Perry was +certain as to the identity of the man from whom he had parted a few +minutes before. So Count Frontenac's head was once more turned +southward. A short trot brought him again to the toll-house. The +gatekeeper was still sitting smoking at the door. A moment's conference +with him was sufficient to convince Lapierre that there could be no +question of mistaken identity. "Why," said Jonathan, "I know Mr. +Savareen as well as I know my right hand. And then, didn't he tell me +about his row with Shuttleworth, and that he had the four hundred +pounds in his pocket. Why, dark as it was, I noticed the scar on his +cheek when he was talking about it.--I say, Missus, look here," he +called in a louder tone, whereupon his wife presented herself at the +threshold. "Now," resumed the old man, "just tell Mr. Lapierre whether +you saw Mr. Savareen talking to me a few minutes since, and whether you +saw him ride off up the road just before Mr. Lapierre came down. Did +you, or did you not?" + +Mrs. Perry's answer was decisive, and at the same time conclusive as to +the facts. She had not only seen Savareen sitting on his black mare at +the door, immediately after the town bell ceased ringing for eight +o'clock; but she had listened to the conversation between him and her +husband, and had heard pretty nearly every word. Lapierre cross +examined her, and found that her report of the interview exactly +corresponded with what he had already heard from old Jonathan. "Why," +said she, "there is no more doubt of its being Mr. Savareen than there +is of that gate-post being there on the road-side. 'Very good advice it +is,' says he, 'and I'll act upon it without more words.' Then he said +'good night,' and off he went up the road. Depend upon it, Mr. +Lapierre, you've missed him somehow in the darkness, and he's safe and +sound at home by this time." + +"Yes, yes, Mr. Lapierre, not a doubt on it," resumed old Jonathan, +"you've a passed him on the road athout seein' 'im. It was dark, and +you were both in a hurry. I've heerd o' lots o' stranger things nor +that." + +Lapierre couldn't see it. He knew well enough that it was no more +possible for him to pass a man on horseback on that narrow highway, on +a clear night, without seeing him--more especially when he was out for +the express purpose of finding that very man--than it was possible for +him to serve out _un petit verre_ of French brandy in mistake for +a gill of Hollands. The facts, however, seemed to be wholly against +him, as he bade the old couple a despondent good-night and put Count +Frontenac to his mettle. He stayed not for brook--there _was_ a +brook a short distance up the road--and he stopped not for stone, but +tore along at a break-neck pace as though he was riding for a wager. In +five minutes he reached Savareen's front gate. + +Mrs. Savareen was waiting there, on the look-out for her husband. No, +of course he had not got home. She had neither seen nor heard anything +of him, and was by this time very uneasy. You may be sure that her +anxiety was not lessened when she heard the strange tale which Lapierre +had to tell her. + +Even then, however, she did not give up the hope of her husband's +arrival sometime during the night. Lapierre promised to look in again +in an hour or two, and passed on to his own place, where he regaled the +little company he found there with the narrative of his evening's +exploits. Before bedtime the story was known all over the neighborhood. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +ONE HUNDRED POUNDS REWARD. + + +Mrs. Savareen sat up waiting for her lord until long past midnight, but +her vigil was in vain. Lapierre, after closing up his inn for the +night, dropped in, according to his promise, to see if any news of the +absentee had arrived. Nothing further could be done in the way of +searching for the latter personage until daylight. + +It was getting on pretty well towards morning when Mrs. Savareen sought +her couch, and when she got there her slumber was broken and disturbed. +She knew not what to think, but she was haunted by a dread that she +would never again see her husband alive. + +Next morning, soon after daylight, the whole neighborhood was astir, +and the country round was carefully searched for any trace of the +missing man. Squire Harrington went down to town and made inquiries at +the bank, where he ascertained that the story told by Savareen to old +Jonathan Perry, as to his altercation with Shuttleworth, was +substantially correct. This effectually disposed of any possible theory +as to Jonathan and his wife having mistaken somebody else for Savareen. +Squire Harrington likewise learned all about the man's doings on the +previous afternoon, and was able to fix the time at which he had +started for home. He had ridden from the door of the Peacock at about a +quarter to eight. This would bring him to the toll-gate at eight +o'clock--the hour at which Perry professed to have seen and conversed +with him. There was no longer any room for doubt. That interview and +conversation had actually taken place at eight o'clock on the previous +evening, and Savareen had ridden northward from the gate within +five minutes afterwards. He could not have proceeded more than a +hundred--or, at the very outside, two hundred--yards further, or he must +inevitably have been encountered by Lapierre. How had he contrived to +vanish so suddenly out of existence? And it was not only the man, but +the horse, which had disappeared in this unaccountable manner. It +seemed improbable that two living substances of such bulk should pass +out of being and leave no trace behind them. They must literally have +melted into thin air. + +No, they hadn't. At least the black mare hadn't, for she was discovered +by several members of the searching-party a little before noon. When +found, she was quietly cropping the damp herbage at the edge of the +cranberry swamp at the rear of Squire Harrington's farm. She was +wholly uninjured, and had evidently spent the night there. The bit had +been removed from her mouth, but the bridle hung intact round her neck. +The saddle, however, like its owner, had disappeared from her back. + +Then the men began a systematic search in the interior of the swamp. +They soon came upon the saddle, which had apparently been deliberately +unbuckled, removed from off the mare, and deposited on a dry patch of +ground, near the edge of the morass. A little further in the interior +they came upon a man's coat, made of dark brown stuff. This garment was +identified by one of the party as belong to Savareen. It was wet and +besmirched with mud, and, in fact was lying half in and half out of a +little puddle of water when it was found. Then the searchers made sure +of finding the body. + +But in this they were disappointed. They explored the recesses of the +swamp from end to end and side to side with the utmost thoroughness, +but found nothing further to reward their search. The ground was too +soft and marshy to retain any traces of footsteps, and the mare and +saddle furnished the only evidence that the object of their quest had +been in the neighborhood of the swamp--and of course this evidence was +of the most vague and inconclusive character. + +Then the party proceeded in a body to the missing man's house. Here +another surprise awaited them. The coat was at once recognised by Mrs. +Savareen as belonging to her husband, but IT WAS NOT THE COAT WORN BY +HIM AT THE TIME OF HIS DISAPPEARANCE. Of this there was no doubt +whatever. In fact, he had not worn it for more than a week previously. +His wife distinctly remembered having folded and laid it away in the +top of a large trunk on the Saturday of the week before last, since +which time she had never set eyes on it. Here was a deepening of the +mystery. + +The search was kept up without intermission for several days, nearly +all of the farmers in the vicinity taking part in it, even to the +neglect of the harvest work which demanded their attention. Squire +Harrington was especially active, and left no stone unturned to unravel +the mystery. Lapierre gave up all his time to the search, and left the +Royal Oak to the care of its landlady. The local constabulary bestirred +themselves as they had never done before. Every place, likely and +unlikely, where a man's body might possibly lie concealed; every tract +of bush and woodland; every barn and out building; every hollow and +ditch; every field and fence corner, was explored with careful +minuteness. Even the wells of the district were peered into and +examined for traces of the thirteen stone of humanity which had so +unaccountably disappeared from off the face of the earth. Doctor Scott, +the local coroner, held himself in readiness to summon a coroner's jury +at the shortest notice. When all these measures proved unavailing, a +public meeting of the inhabitants was convened, and funds were +subscribed to still further prosecute the search. A reward of a hundred +pounds was offered for any information which should lead to the +discovery of the missing man, dead or alive, or, which should throw any +light upon his fate. Hand-bills proclaiming this reward, and describing +the man's personal appearance, were exhibited in every bar room and +other conspicuous place throughout Westchester and the adjacent +townships. Advertisements, setting forth the main facts, were inserted +in the principal newspapers of Toronto, Hamilton and London, as well as +in those of several of the nearest county towns. + +All to no purpose. Days--weeks--months passed by, and furnished not the +shadow of a clue to the mysterious disappearance of Reginald Bourchier +Savareen on the night of Monday, the 17th of July, 1854. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +SPECULATIONS. + + +For a long time subsequent to the night of the disappearance a more +puzzled community than the one settled along the Millbrook and +Spotswood road would have been hard to find in Upper Canada. At first +sight it seemed probable that the missing man had been murdered for his +money. On the afternoon of the day when he was last seen in Millbrook +the fact of his having four hundred pounds in bank bills in his +possession was known to a great many people, for, as already intimated, +he told the story of his dispute at the bank to pretty nearly everyone +with whom he came in contact during the subsequent portion of the day, +and he in every instance wound up his narration by proclaiming to all +whom it might concern that he had the notes in his pocket. But it was +difficult to fix upon any particular individual as being open to +suspicion. There had been no attempt on the part of any of his +associates on that afternoon to detain him in town, and his remaining +there until the evening had been entirely due to his own inclinations. +So far as was known, he had not been followed by any person after his +departure from the Peacock at 7.45. Anyone following would have had no +prospect of overtaking him unless mounted on a good horse, and must +perforce have passed through the toll-gate. According to the testimony +of Perry and his wife, nobody had passed through the gate in his wake, +nor for more than an hour after him. But--mystery of mysteries--where +had he managed to hide himself and his mare during the two or three +minutes which had elapsed between his departure from the gate and the +arrival there of Lapierre? And, if he had been murdered, what had +become of his body? + +Had it been at all within the bounds of reason to suspect Stolliver, +suspicion would certainly have fallen upon that personage. But any idea +of the kind was altogether out of the question. Stolliver was a +boorish, uncompanionable fellow, but a more unlikely man to commit such +a serious crime could not have been found in the whole country side. +Again, he could not have had any conceivable motive for making away +with Savareen, as he had been working all day in the fields and knew +nothing about the four hundred pounds. Besides, a little quiet +investigation proved the thing to be an absolute impossibility. At the +time of Savareen's disappearance, Stolliver had been sitting at his own +table, in the company of his wife, his family, and a grown-up female +servant. He had sat down to table at about a quarter to eight, and had +not risen therefrom until several minutes after the town bell had +ceased to ring. On rising, he had gone out with his two boys--lads of +thirteen and fifteen years of age respectively--and had barely taken up +a position with them on the front fence when Lapierre came along and +questioned him, as related in a former chapter. So it was certainly not +worth while to pursue that branch of enquiry any farther. + +The only other persons upon whom the shadow of suspicion could by any +possibility fall were Lapierre and Jonathan Perry. Well, so far as the +latter was concerned the idea was too absurd for serious consideration. +To begin with, Jonathan was seventy-six years of age, feeble and almost +decrepid. Then, he was a man of excellent character, and, +notwithstanding his humble station in life, was liked and respected by +all who knew him. Finally, he could not have done away with Savareen +without the knowledge and concurrence of his wife, a gentle, kindly old +soul, who found her best consolation between the covers of her bible, +and who would not have raised her finger against a worm. So that branch +of the enquiry might also be considered as closed. + +As to Lapierre, the idea was at least as preposterous as either of the +others. The jovial landlord of the Royal Oak was on the whole about as +likely a man to commit robbery or murder as the bishop of the diocese. +He was of a cheery, open nature; was not greedy or grasping; had a +fairly prosperous business, and was tolerably well-to-do. On the night +of the 17th, he had undertaken to go down town and bring home the +absent man, but he had done so at the pressing request of the man's +wife, and out of pure kindness of heart. When setting out on his +mission he knew nothing about the altercation at the bank, and was +consequently ignorant that Savareen had any considerable sum of money +on his person. His first knowledge on these subjects had been +communicated to him by Perry, and before that time the man had +disappeared. It also counted for something that Savareen and he had +always been on the most friendly terms, and that Savareen was one of +his best customers. But, even if he had been the most bloodthirsty of +mankind, he had positively had no time to perpetrate a murder. The +two or three minutes elapsing between Savareen's departure from the +toll-gate and Lapierre's arrival there had been too brief to admit of +the latter's having meanwhile killed the former and made away with his +body; to say nothing of his having also made such a disposition of the +black mare as to enable it to be found in Cranberry Swamp on the +following day. + +After a while people began to ask whether it was probable that any +murder at all had been committed. The finding of the coat was an +unfathomable mystery, but it really furnished no evidence one way or +the other. And if there had been a murder, how was it that no traces of +the body were discoverable? How was it that no cry or exclamation of +any kind had been heard by old Jonathan, sitting there at the door in +the open air on a still night? It was certain that his ears had been +wide open, and ready enough to take in whatever was stirring, for he +had heard the sound of Count Frontenac's hoofs as they came clattering +down the road. + +Such questions as these were constantly in the mouths of the people of +that neighborhood for some days after the disappearance, but they met +with no satisfactory answer from any quarter, and as the time passed by +it began to be believed that no light would ever be thrown upon the +most mysterious occurrence that had ever taken place since that part of +the country had been first settled. One of the constables, discouraged +by repeated failures, ventured in all seriousness to express a +suspicion that Savareen had been bodily devoured by his mare. How else +could you account for no trace of him being visible anywhere? + +By an unaccountable oversight, Shuttleworth had kept no memorandum of +the number of the notes paid over to Savareen, and it was thus +impossible to trace them. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +"A WIDOW, HUSBANDLESS, SUBJECT TO FEARS." + + +The position of the missing man's wife was a particularly trying and +painful one--a position imperatively calling for the sympathy of the +community in which she lived. That sympathy was freely accorded to her, +but time alone could bring any thing like tranquillity to a mind +harrassed by such manifold anxieties as hers. After a lapse of a few +weeks Squire Harrington generously offered to take the farm off her +hands, but to this proposal she was for some time loath to assent. In +spite of her fears and misgivings, fitful gleams of hope that her +husband would return to her flitted across her mind. If he came back he +should find her at her post. Meanwhile the neighbors showed her much +kindness. They voluntarily formed an organisation of labor, and +harvested her crops, threshed them out and conveyed them to market for +her. Her brother, a young man of eighteen, came out from town and took +up his abode with her, so that she would not be left wholly desolate +among strangers. And so the summer and autumn glided by. + +But this state of things could not last. The strange solitude of her +destiny preyed sorely upon her and when the first snows of winter +arrived, bringing with them no tidings of the absent one, the fortitude +of the bereaved woman broke down. She gave up the farm, and with her +little baby boy and such of her household belongings as she chose to +retain, went back to the home of her parents in Millbrook. She was a +few hundred dollars better off in this world's goods than she had been +when she had left that home about thirteen months before, but her +spirit was sadly bent, if not altogether broken, and the brightness +seemed to have utterly faded out of her life. + +In process of time she became in some degree accustomed, if not +reconciled to her lot. But her situation was, to say the least, +anomalous. Her parents were, on the whole, kind and considerate, but +she was conscious of being, after a fashion, isolated from them and +from all the rest of the world. She felt, as one who was, in the +language of the proverb, neither maid, wife nor widow. She knew +not whether her child's father was living or dead. She was barely +twenty-three years of age, but she was not free to form a second +marriage, even if she had had any inclination for such a union, which, +to do her justice, she had not, for she cherished the memory of her +absent lord with fond affection, and persisted in believing that, even +if he were living, it was through no fault of his own that he remained +away from her. She lived a very quiet and secluded life. In spite of +her mother's importunities, she seldom stirred out of doors on week +days, and saw few visitors. She was a regular attendant at church +on Sundays, and sought to find relief from mental depression in the +consolations of religion. Her chief consolation, however, lay in her +child, upon whom she lavished all the tenderness of a soft and gentle +nature. She fondly sought to trace in the little fellow's bright +features some resemblance to the lineaments of him she had loved and +lost. To do this successfully required a rather strong effort of the +imagination, for, to tell the truth, the boy favored his mother's side +of the house, and was no more like his father than he was like the +twelve patriarchs. But a fond mother often lives in an ideal world +of her own creation, and can trace resemblances invisible to ordinary +mortals. So it was with this mother, who often declared that her boy +had a way of "looking out of his eyes," as she expressed it, which +forcibly brought back the memory of happy days which had forever passed +away. + +Of course Savareen's relatives in the old country received due notice +of his strange disappearance, and of the various circumstances +connected with that event. Mrs. Savareen had herself communicated the +facts, and had also sent over a copy of the Millbrook _Sentinel_, +containing a long and minute account of the affair. A letter arrived +from Herefordshire in due course, acknowledging the receipt of these +missives, and enquiring whether the lost had been found. Several +communications passed to and fro during the first few months, after +which, as there was really nothing further to write about, the +correspondence fell off; it being of course understood that should any +new facts turn up, they should be promptly made known. + +The stars do not pause in their spheres to take note of the afflictions +of us mortals here below. To the bereaved woman it seemed unaccountable +that the succeeding months should come and go as formerly, and as +though nothing had occurred to take the saltness and savor out of her +young life. Ever and anon her slumbers were disturbed by weird dreams, +in which the lost one was presented before her in all sorts of +frightful situations. In these dreams which came to her in the silent +watches of the night, she never seemed to look upon her husband as +dead. He always seemed to be living, but surrounded by inextricable +complications involving great trouble and danger. She sometimes awoke +from these night visions with a loud cry which startled the household, +and proved how greatly her nerves had been shaken by the untoward +circumstances of her fate. + +In the early spring of the ensuing year she sustained another painful +bereavement through the death of her mother. This event imparted an +additional element of sadness to her already cloudy existence; but it +was not without certain attendant compensations, as it rendered +necessary a more active course of life on her part, and so left her +less time to brood over her earlier sorrow. No Benvolio was needed to +tell us that + + "One fire burns out another's burning: + One pain is lessened by another's anguish." + +Most of us have at one time or another been forced to learn that hard +truth for ourselves. This forlorn woman had probably never read the +passage, but her experience brought abundant confirmation of it home to +her at this time. She was driven to assume the internal management of +the household, and found grateful solace in the occupations which the +position involved. She once more began to take an interest in the +prosaic affairs of everyday life, and became less addicted to looking +forward to a solitary, joyless old age. So that, all things considered, +this second bereavement was not to be regarded in the light of an +affliction absolutely without mitigation. + +It might well have been supposed that the place she was now called upon +to fill would have been the means of drawing closer the ties between +her surviving parent and herself. For a time it certainly had that +effect. Her presence in his house must have done much to soften the +blow to her father, and her practical usefulness was made manifest +every hour of the day. She carefully ministered to his domestic needs, +and did what she could to alleviate the burden which had been laid upon +him. But the old, old story was once more repeated. In little more than +a year from the time her mother had been laid in her grave, she was +made aware of the fact that the household was to receive a new +mistress. In other words, she was to be introduced to a stepmother. The +event followed hard upon the announcement. As a necessary consequence +she was compelled to assume a secondary place in her father's house. + +It may be true that first marriages are sometimes made in Heaven. It is +even possible that second marriages may now and then be forged in the +same workshop. But it was soon brought home to Mrs. Savareen that this +particular marriage was not among the number. Her stepmother, who was +not much older than herself, proved a veritable thorn in her side. She +was made to perceive that she and her little boy were regarded in the +light of encumbrances, to be tolerated until they could be got rid of. +But not passively tolerated. The stepmother was a rather coarse-grained +piece of clay--an unsympathetic, unfeeling woman, who knew how to say +and to do unpleasant things without any apparent temper or ill-will. +The immortal clockmaker, when he was in a more quaintly sententious +humor than common, once propounded the doctrine that the direct road to +a mother's heart is through her child. He might have added the equally +incontestable proposition that the most effectual method of torturing a +mother's heart is through the same medium. The mother who has an only +child, who is all the world to her, is actually susceptible to anything +in the shape of interference with her maternal prerogatives. Such +interference, by whomsoever exercised, is wholly intolerable to her. +This susceptibility may perhaps be a feminine weakness, but it is a +veritable maternal instinct, and one with which few who have observed +it will have the heart to find fault. In Mrs. Savareen's bosom this +foible existed in a high state of development, and her stepmother so +played upon it as to make life under the same roof with her a cross too +hard to be borne. After a few months' trial, the younger of the two +women resolved that a new home must be found for herself and her little +boy. The carrying out of this resolve rendered some consideration +necessary, for her own unaided means were inadequate for her support. +Her father, though not what could be called a poor man, was far from +rich, and he had neither the means nor the will to maintain two +establishments, however humble. But she was expert with her needle, and +did not despair of being able to provide for the slender wants of +herself and child. She rented and furnished a small house in the town, +where she found that there was no ground for present anxiety as to her +livelihood. There was plenty of needlework to be had to keep her nimble +fingers busy from morn till night, and her income from the first was in +excess of her expenditure. She was constrained to lead a humdrum sort +of existence, but it was brightened by the presence and companionship +of her boy, who was a constant source of pride and delight to her. +Whenever she caught herself indulging in a despondent mood, she took +herself severely to task for repining at a lot which might have lacked +this element of brightness, and which lacking that, would, it seemed to +her, have been too dreary for human endurance. + +No useful purpose would be served by lingering over this portion of the +narrative. Suffice it to say that the current of the lonely woman's +life flowed smoothly on several years, during which she received no +tidings of her lost husband and heard nothing to throw the faintest +scintilla of light upon his mysterious disappearance. Little Reginald +grew apace, and continued to be the one consolation in her great +bereavement--the solitary joy which reconciled her to her environment. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +A GUEST ARRIVES AT THE ROYAL OAK. + + +It was getting on towards the middle of the month of August, 1859. The +harvest all along the Millbrook and Spotswood road was in full +progress. And a bounteous harvest it was, even for that favored region. +Squire Harrington confidently counted upon a yield of fifty bushels of +wheat to the acre. True, he was a model farmer, and knew how to make +the most of a good season, but his neighbors were not far behind him, +and were looking forward to full granaries when threshing should be +over. For once there was little or no grumbling at the dispensations of +Providence. The weather had been as propitious as though the local +tillers of the soil had themselves had a voice in the making of it, and +even gruff Mark Stolliver was constrained to admit that there were +fewer grounds for remonstrating with the Great Disposer of events than +usual at this season of the year. Every wheat field in the township +presented an active spectacle throughout the day. The cradles were +busily plied from early morn till nightfall, and the swaths of golden +grain furnished heavy work for the rakers and binders. The commercial +crisis of 1857 had made itself felt in the district, as well as in all +other parts of Upper Canada. Many of the farmers had fallen +considerably behindhand, and had for once in a way felt the grip of +hard times. But the prolific crops which were now being gathered in +bade fair to extricate them from such obligations as they had been +compelled to incur, and the prevailing tone was one of subdued though +heartfelt satisfaction. + +On the evening of Saturday, the 13th of the month, sundry of the yeomen +who lived thereabouts assembled at Lapierre's, after a hard week's +work, to congratulate one another on the prospects of the harvest, and +to discuss a few tankards of the reaming ale for which the Royal Oak +was famous throughout the township. The landlord himself was on hand as +usual, to dispense the hospitalities of his bar and larder. The five +years which had rolled over his head since that memorable night of +Savareen's disappearance had left but slight traces of their passage +upon his jovial countenance. He had never been able to fathom the +impenetrable secret of that strange July night, but he had all along +been wont to remark that the mystery would be cleared up some day, and +that he confidently expected to hear some tidings of the missing man +before he died. As for his guests, though most of them had resided in +the neighborhood at the time of his disappearance, they had long ceased +to give themselves any particular concern about the matter. So long as +there had seemed to be any prospect of getting at the bottom of the +affair they had taken a vigorous part in the search, and had exerted +themselves to bring the mystery to light; but when month succeeded +month without supplying any clue to the puzzle, they had gradually +resigned themselves to the situation, and, except when the topic came +up for discussion at their Saturday night meetings, they seldom +indulged in anything more than a passing allusion to it. + +Ten o'clock had struck, and it seemed improbable that any further +company would arrive. The assembled guests, to the number of seven or +eight, sat in their accustomed places around a goodly-sized table in +the room behind the bar. Lapierre occupied an easy chair, placed near +the door communicating with the bar, so as to be handy in case of his +being needed there. Farmer Donaldson had just regaled the circle with +his favorite ditty, The Roast Beef of Old England, which he flattered +himself he could render with fine effect. Having concluded his +performance, he sat modestly back in his elbow-chair, and bowed to the +vociferous plaudits accorded to him. The tankards were then charged +afresh, and each man devoted himself to the allaying of his thirst for +the next minute or two. Mine host had promised to give Faintly as Tolls +the Evening Chime in the course of the evening, and was now called upon +to redeem his pledge. + +"Ah," he remarked, "that vas alvays a faforite song of mine. And ton't +you remember how font of it our frient Safareen used to pe? He used to +call for it regular efery Saturday night, schoost pefore supper in the +old times. Ah, put that wass a strange peesiness. I haf never peen aple +to think of it without perspiring." And so saying, he dived into the +pocket of his white linen jacket, and produced therefrom a red silk +handkerchief, with which he mopped his beaming countenance until it +shone again. + +"Ay," responded Farmer Donaldson, "that was the strangest thing as ever +happened in these parts. I wonder if it will ever be cleared up." + +"You know my opinion apout that," resumed the host, "I alvays said he +vould turn up. But it is--let me see--yes, it is more that fife years +ago. It wass on the night of the sefenteenth of Chooly, 1854; and here +it is, the mittle of Aucust, 1859. Vell, vell, how the years go py! +Safareen was a coot sort. I thought much of him, and woot like to see +him once acain." + +"I don't say but what he was a good fellow," remarked one of the +company; "but I can tell you he had a devil of a temper of his own when +his blood was up. I remember one night in this very room when he had +some words with Sam Dolsen about that black mare o' his'n. He fired up +like a tiger, and that scar on his cheek glowed like a carbuncle. It +seemed as if it was going to crack open. I made sure he was going to +drop into Sam, and he would 'a done, too, if our landlord hadn't +interfered and calmed him down." + +"Yes, yes," interrupted Farmer Donaldson; "Savareen had his tempers, no +doubt, when he had been drinking more free than common; but he was a +jolly feller, all the same. I wish he was with us at this moment." + +This sentiment was pretty generally re-echoed all round the festive +board. Just then a rather heavy footstep was heard to enter the +adjoining bar-room from outside. The landlord rose and passed out +through the doorway, to see if his services were required. The door of +communication was left open behind him, so that the company in the +inner room had no difficulty in seeing and hearing everything that took +place. + +In the middle of the bar room stood a short heavy-set man, whose dress +and bearing pronounced him to be a stranger in those parts. He was +apparently middle-aged--say somewhere between thirty-five and forty. +His clothing was of expensive material, but cut after a style more +_prononce_ than was then seen in Canada, or has ever since been +much in vogue here. His hat was a broad-brimmed Panama, which cost +twenty dollars if it cost a penny. His coat, so far as could be seen +under his thin summer duster--was of fine bluish cloth, short of waist, +long of skirt, and--the duster notwithstanding--plentifully besprinkled +and travel-stained with dust. The waistcoat, which seemed to be of the +same material as the coat, was very open-breasted, and displayed a +considerable array of shirt front. Across the left side was hung a +heavy gold watch-chain, from which depended two great bulbous-looking +seals. On his feet he wore a pair of gaiters of patent leather, white +from the dust of the road. In one hand he carried a light, jaunty +Malacca cane, while the other grasped a Russian-leather portmanteau, +called by him and by persons of his kind a valise. He wore no gloves--a +fact which enabled you to see on the middle finger of his left hand a +huge cluster diamond ring, worth any price from a thousand dollars +upwards. His face was closely shaven, except for a prominent moustache. +He had crisp, curling black hair, worn tolerably short. His eyes were +rather dull and vacant, not because he was either slow or stupid, but +because he felt or affected to feel, a sublime indifference to all +things sublunary. You would have taken him for a man who had run the +gauntlet of all human experiences--a man to whom nothing presented +itself in the light of a novelty, and who disdained to appear much +interested in anything you might say or do. Taken altogether he had +that foreign or rather cosmopolitan look characteristic of the citizen +of the United States who has led an unsettled, wandering life. His +aspect was fully borne out by his accent, when he began to speak. + +"Air you the landlord?" he asked, as the host stepped forward to greet +him. + +He received a reply in the affirmative. + +"This, then, is the Royal Oak tavern, and your name is Lapierre?" + +Two nods signified the host's further assent to these undeniable +propositions. + +"Have you got a spare bedroom, and can you put me up from now till +Monday morning?" + +The landlord again signified his assent, whereupon the stranger put +down his cane and portmanteau on a bench and proceeded to divest +himself of his wrapper. + +"You haf had supper?" asked Lapierre. + +"Well, I had a light tea down to Millbrook, but I know your Saturday +night customs at the Royal Oak, and if you hain't got any objections +I'd like to take a hand in your eleven o'clock supper. To tell the +truth, I'm sharp-set, and I know you always have a bite of something +appetizing about that time." + +Upon being informed that supper would be ready at the usual hour, and +that he would be welcome to a seat at the board, he signified a desire +to be shown to his room, so that he could wash and make himself +presentable. In response to an enquiry about his horse, he intimated +that that animal for the present consisted of Shank's mare; that he had +ridden up from town with Squire Harrington, and dismounted at that +gentleman's gate. "The Squire offered to drive me on as far as here," +he added; "but as it was only a short walk I reckoned I'd come on +afoot." + +Without further parley the guest was shown to his chamber, whence he +emerged a few minutes later, and presented himself before the company +assembled in the room behind the bar. + +"Hope I ain't intruding, gentlemen," he remarked, as he took a vacant +seat at the lower end of the table; "I've often heard of the good times +you have here on Saturday nights. Heard of 'em when I was a good many +hundred miles from here, and when I didn't expect ever to have the +pleasure of joining your mess. Guess I'd better introduce myself. My +name's Thomas Jefferson Haskins. I live at Nashville, Tennessee, where +I keep a hotel and do a little in horseflesh now an' agin. Now, I shall +take it as a favor if you'll allow the landlord to re-fill your glasses +at my expense, and then drink good-luck to my expedition." All this +with much volubility, and without a trace of bashfulness. + +The company all round the table signified their hearty acquiescence, +and while the landlord was replenishing the tankards, the stranger +proceeded to further enlighten them respecting his personal affairs. He +informed them that a man had cleared out from Nashville about six +months ago, leaving him, the speaker, in the lurch to the tune of +twenty-seven hundred dollars. A few days since he had learned that the +fugitive had taken up his quarters at Spotswood, in Upper Canada, and +he had accordingly set out for that place with intent to obtain a +settlement. He had reached Millbrook by the seven o'clock express this +evening, only to find that he was still fifteen miles from his +destination. Upon inquiry, he learned that the stage from Millbrook for +Spotswood ran only once a day, leaving Millbrook at seven o'clock in +the morning. There would not be another stage until Monday morning. He +was on the point of hiring a special conveyance, and of driving through +that night, when all of a sudden he had remembered that Lapierre's +tavern was on the Millbrook and Spotswood road, and only three miles +away. He had long ago heard such accounts of the Royal Oak and its +landlord, and particularly of the Saturday night suppers, that he had +resolved to repair thither and remain over for Monday's stage. "I was +going to hire a livery to bring me out here," he added, "but a +gentleman named Squire Harrington, who heard me give the order for the +buggy, told me he lived close by the Royal Oak, and that I was welcome +to ride out with him, as he was just going to start for home. That +saved me a couple of dollars. And so, here I be." + +Lapierre could not feel otherwise than highly flattered by the way the +stranger referred to his establishment, but he was wholly at a loss to +understand how the fame of the Royal Oak, and more especially of the +Saturday night suppers, had extended to so great a distance as +Nashville. In response to his inquiries on these points, however, Mr. +Thomas Jefferson Haskins gave a clear and lucid explanation, which will +be found in the next chapter. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +THE GUEST CREATES A SENSATION AT THE ROYAL OAK. + + +"Well," said Haskins, "I didn't hear of you quite so far off as +Nashville. It was when I was travelling in Kentucky buying horses, last +year. At Lexington I fell in with an English chap named Randall, who +used to live in this neighborhood. I hired him to buy horses for me. He +was with me about three months, an' if I could only 'a' kept him sober +he'd been with me yet, for he was about as keen a judge of a horse as +ever I came across in my born days, and knew mighty well how to make a +bargain. Well, we hadn't been together a week afore he begun to tell me +about a place where he used to live in Canada West, where he said a +little money went a long way, and where good horses could be bought +cheap. He wanted me to send him up here to buy for me, and I don't know +but I should 'a' done it if I'd found he was to be trusted. But he +would drink like all creation when he had money. Old Bourbon was a +thing he couldn't resist. He had an awful poor opinion of all the rest +of our American institootions, and used to say they wa'n't o' no +account as compared to what he used to have to home in England; but +when it come to Bourbon whisky, he was as full-mouthed as Uncle Henry +Clay himself. He 'lowed there wa'n't anything either in England or in +Canada to touch it. An' when he got four or five inches of it inside +him, there was no gittin' along with him nohow. There wa'n't anything +on airth he wouldn't do to git a couple of inches more, and when he got +them he was the catawamptiousest critter I ever did see. You couldn't +place any more dependence on him than on a free nigger. Besides, he +used to neglect his wife, and a man who neglects his wife ain't a man +to trust with a couple o' thousand dollars at a time. No sir-ree! Not +much, he ain't. But, as I was sayin', the way he used to harp on this +place o' Lapierre's was a caution. Whenever we used to git planted down +in one of our cross-road taverns, he'd turn up his nose till you could +see clean down his throat into his stommick. The fact is, our country +taverns ain't up to much, an' sometimes I could hardly stand 'em +myself. When we'd come in after a hard day's ridin', and git sot down +to a feed of heavy short-cake and fat pork, then Randall 'ud begin to +blow about the grub up here at Lapierre's. He used to tell about the +hot suppers served up here to a passel o' farmers on Saturday nights +till I most got sick o' hearing him. But I see your mugs air empty +again, gentlemen. Landlord, please to do your dooty, and score it up to +yours truly." + +During this long harangue the assembled guests alternately scanned the +speaker and each other with inquiring but vacant countenances. They +were puzzling themselves to think who this Randall could be, as no man +of that name had ever been known in that community. When Mr. Haskins +paused in his discourse, and gave his order for replenishment, Farmer +Donaldson was about to remonstrate against this second treat at the +expense of a stranger, and to propose that he himself should stand +sponsor for the incoming refreshments. But before he could get out a +word, the landlord suddenly sprang from his seat with a white, agitated +face. + +"Tell me," he said, addressing the stranger--"What like is this +Rantall? Please to tescripe his features." + +"Well," drawled the person addressed, after a short pause--"there +ain't much to describe about him. He's a tallish feller--fully four +inches taller'n I be. He's broad and stout--a big man ginerally. +Weighs, I should say, not much under a hundred and ninety. Ruther light +complected, and has a long cut in his face that shows awful white when +he gits his back up. Thunder! he pretty nearly scared me with that +gash one night when he was drunk. It seemed to open and shut like a +clam-shell, and made him look like a Voodoo priest! You'd think the +blood was goan to spurt out by the yard." + +By this time every pair of eyes in the room was staring into the +speaker's face with an expression of bewildered astonishment. Not a man +there but recognized the description as a vivid, if somewhat +exaggerated portraiture of the long-lost Reginald Bourchier Savareen. + +The stranger from Tennessee readily perceived that he had produced a +genuine sensation. He gazed from one to another for a full minute +without speaking. Then he gave vent to his surcharged feelings by the +exclamation: "For the land's sake!" + +An air of speechless bewilderment still pervaded the entire group. They +sat silent as statues, without motion, and almost without breath. + +Lapierre was the first to recover himself. By a significant gesture he +imposed continued silence upon the company, and began to ask questions. +He succeeded in eliciting some further pertinent information. + +Haskins was unable to say when Randall had acquired a familiarity with +the ways and doings of the people residing in the vicinity of the Royal +Oak, but it must have been some time ago, as he had lived in the States +long enough to have become acquainted with various localities there. As +to when and why he had left Canada the stranger was also totally +ignorant. He knew, however, that Randall was living in the city of New +York about three months ago, as he had seen him there, and had visited +him at his lodgings on Amity street in May, when he (Haskins) had +attended as a delegate to a sporting convention. At that time Randall +had been employed in some capacity in Hitchcock's sale stable, and +made a few dollars now and again by breeding dogs. He lived a needy +hand-to-mouth existence, and his poor wife had a hard time of it. His +drinking habits prevented him from getting ahead in the world, and he +never staid long in one place, but the speaker had no doubt that he +might still be heard of at Hitchcock's by anybody who wanted to hunt him +up. "But," added Mr. Haskins, "I hope I haven't got him into trouble by +coming here to-night. Has he done anything? Anything criminal, I mean?" + +After a moment's deliberation, Lapierre told the whole story. There was +no doubt in the mind of any member of the company that Randall and +Savareen were "parts of one stupendous whole." The one important +question for consideration was: What use ought to be made of the facts +thus strangely brought to light? + +By this time supper was announced, and the stranger's news, exciting as +it was, did not prevent the guests from doing ample justice to it. +Haskins was loud in his praises of the "spread," as he termed it. "Jack +Randall," he remarked, "could lie when he had a mind to, but he told +the holy truth when he bragged you up as far ahead of the Kentucky +cooks. Yes, I don't mind if I do take another mossel of that +frickersee. Dog me if it don't beat canvas-backs." + +Before the meeting broke up it was agreed on all hands that for the +present it would be advisable for the guests to allow the morrow to +pass before saying anything to their wives or anyone else about Mr. +Haskins' disclosures. It was further resolved that that gentleman +should accompany Lapierre to Millbrook after breakfast in the morning, +and that Mrs. Savareen's father should be made acquainted with the +known facts. It was just possible, after all, that Jack Randall might +be Jack Randall, and not Savareen, in which case it was desirable to +save the lost man's wife from cruel agitation to no purpose. It would +be for her father, after learning all that they knew, to communicate +the facts to her or to withhold them, as might seem best to him. On +this understanding the company broke up on the stroke of midnight. I am +by no means prepared to maintain that their pledges were in all cases +kept, and that they each and every one went to sleep without taking +their wives into confidence respecting the strange disclosures of the +night. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +NO. 77 AMITY STREET. + +The next day was Sunday, but this circumstance did not deter Lapierre +from hitching up his horse and conveying his guest down to Millbrook at +an early hour. The pair called at the house of Mrs. Savareen's father +before ten o'clock, and had a long interview with him. Church services +began at eleven, but it was remarked by the Methodist congregation, and +commented upon as a thing almost without precedent, that Mrs. Savareen +and her father were both absent on that day. + +The old gentleman was much disturbed by what he heard from Mr. Haskins. +His daughter had passed through an ordeal of great suffering, and had +finally become reconciled to her lot. To tell her this news would be to +open the old wounds afresh, and to bring back the domestic grief which +time had about dispelled. Yet his course seemed clear. To tell her the +truth was an imperative duty. It would be shameful to permit her to go +on mourning for one who was in every way unworthy, and who might turn +up at any unexpected moment to the destruction of her peace of mind. +Moreover, the secret was already known to too many persons to admit of +any hope that it would be permanently kept. She must be told, and there +could be no question that her father was the proper person to tell her. +She would, however, wish to personally see and converse with the man +who had brought the news, so there was no time to be lost. Leaving his +two visitors to await his return, the old man set out with a sad heart +for his daughter's house. He found her and her little boy just ready to +set out for church, but the first glance at her father's face told her +that something had happened, and that there would be no church-going +for that day. She sat pale and trembling as she listened, and the old +man himself was not much more composed. He broke the news as gently as +he could, and she bore it better than he had expected, suppressing her +agitation and taking in all the details without interruption. Even when +all the circumstances had been laid before her, her self-command did +not desert her. Yes, she must see the stranger from Tennessee. Possibly +she might extract something from him which others had failed to elicit. +Her father accordingly went back to his own home, and brought Mr. +Haskins over. The three spent several hours in talking of the affair, +but the stranger had nothing more to tell, and finally took his leave, +promising to call on his way back from Spotswood. + +Father and daughter spent the evening together, and tried to reach some +definite conclusion as to what, if anything, ought to be done. There +could be no reasonable doubt that Randall and Savareen were one. Since +there was just the shadow of doubt, and the want of absolute certainty, +made it impossible for Mrs. Savareen to leave the matter as it stood. +She felt that she must know the whole truth. + +A course was finally decided upon. Father and daughter would start for +New York without delay and probe the matter to the bottom. The news +could not wholly be kept from the stepmother, but she was enjoined to +maintain a strict silence on the subject until further light should be +thrown upon it. Master Reginald was temporarily left in her charge. + +They started for New York by the mid-day express on Monday, and reached +their destination on Tuesday afternoon. Lodgings were secured at a +quiet, respectable hotel, and then the old man set out alone to hunt up +Hitchcock's stable. He had no difficulty in finding it, and the man in +charge of the office readily gave him the information he sought. Jack +Randall was no longer employed at the establishment, but he lodged with +his wife at No. 77 Amity street. The best time to catch him at home was +early in the morning. He was of a convivial turn, and generally spent +his evenings about town. He was supposed to be pretty hard up, but that +was his chronic condition, and, so far as known, he was not in absolute +want. With these tidings the father returned to his daughter. + +Mrs. Savareen could not bear the idea of permitting the evening to pass +without some further effort. She determined to pay a visit to 77 Amity +street, in person, and if possible to see the man's wife for herself. A +servant-maid in the hotel undertook to pilot her to her destination, +which was but a short distance away. It was about eight o'clock when +she set out and the light of day was fast disappearing. Upon reaching +the corner of Amity street and Broadway, she dismissed her attendant +and made the rest of the journey alone. The numbers on the doors of the +houses were a sufficient direction for her, and she soon found herself +ringing at the bell of 77. + +Her summons was answered by a seedy-looking porter. Yes, Mrs. Randall +was upstairs in her room on the third story. Mr. Randall was out. The +lady could easily find the way for herself. Second door to the left on +the third flat. Straight up. And so saying the man disappeared into the +darkness at the rear of the house, leaving the visitor to group her way +up two dimly-lighted stairways as best she could. + +The place was evidently a lodging-house of very inferior description to +be so near the palatial temples of commerce just round the corner. The +halls were uncarpeted, and, indeed, without the least sign of furniture +of any sort. As Mrs. Savareen slowly ascended one flight of stairs +after another, she began to wonder if she had not done an unwise thing +in venturing alone into a house and locality of which she knew nothing. +Having reached the third story she found herself in total darkness, +except for such faint twilight as found its way through a back window. +This however was just sufficient to enable her to perceive the second +door on the left. She advanced towards it and knocked. A female voice +responded by an invitation to enter. She quietly turned the knob of the +door and advanced into the room. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +AN INTERVIEW BY CANDLELIGHT. + + +The apartment in which the "bold discoverer in an unknown sea" found +herself presented an appearance far from cheerful or attractive. It was +of small dimensions, but too large for the meagre supply of furniture +it contained. The unpapered walls displayed a monotonous surface of +bare whitewash in urgent need of renewal. In one corner was an +impoverished looking bed, on which reposed an infant of a few months +old. At the foot of the bed was a cheap toilet stand, with its +accessories. In the adjacent corner was a door apparently opening into +a closet or inner receptacle of some kind, against which was placed a +battered leather trunk with a broken hasp. A small table of stained +pine, without any covering, stood near the middle of the room, and two +or three common wooden chairs were distributed here and there against +the walls. The faint light of expiring day found admission by means of +a window looking out upon the roofs to the rear of the house. The only +artificial light consisted of a solitary candle placed on the table, at +the far end of which sat a woman engaged in sewing. + +The light, dim and ineffectual as it was, served to show that this +woman was in a state of health which her friends, if she had any, must +have deemed to be anything but satisfactory. It was easy to perceive +that she had once possessed an attractive and rather pretty face. Some +portion of her attractiveness still remained, but the beauty had been +washed away by privation and misery, leaving behind nothing but a faint +simulacrum of its former self. She was thin and fragile to the point of +emaciation, insomuch that her print dress hung upon her as loosely as a +morning wrapper. Her cheeks were sunken and hollow, and two dark +patches beneath a pair of large blue eyes plainly indicated serious +nervous waste. In addition to these manifest signs of a low state of +bodily health, her pinched features had a worn, weary expression which +told a sad tale of long and continuous suffering. Most of these things +her visitor, with feminine quickness of perception, took in at the +first momentary glance, and any pre-conceived feeling of hostility +which may have had a place in her heart gave way to a sentiment of +womanly sympathy. Clearly enough, any display of jealous anger would be +wholly out of place in such a presence and situation. + +Mrs. Savareen had not given much pre-consideration as to her line of +action during the impending interview. She had merely resolved to be +guided by circumstances, and what she saw before her made her errand +one of some difficulty. Her main object, of course, was to ascertain, +beyond the possibility of doubt, whether the man calling himself Jack +Randall was the man known to her as Reginald Bourchier Savareen. + +The tenant of the room rose as her visitor entered, and even that +slight exertion brought on a hollow cough which was pitiful to hear. + +"I am sorry to see," gently remarked the visitor, "that you are far +from well." + +"Yes," was the reply; "I've got a cold, and ain't very smart. Take a +chair." And so saying, she placed a chair in position, and made a not +ungraceful motion towards it with her hand. + +Mrs. Savareen sat down, and began to think what she would say next. Her +hostess saved her from much thought on the matter by enquiring whether +she had called to see Mr. Randall. + +"Yes," replied Mrs. Savareen, "I would like to see him for a few +moments, if convenient." + +"Well, _I_ am sorry he's out, and I don't suppose he'll be in for +some time. He's generally out in the fore part of the evening; but he's +most always home in the morning. Is it anything I can tell him?" + +Here was a nice complication. Had Mrs. Savareen been a student of +Moliere, the fitting reply to such a question under such circumstances +would doubtless have risen to her lips. But I shrewdly suspect that she +had never heard of the famous Frenchman, whose works were probably an +unknown quantity in Millbrook in those days. After a momentary +hesitation she fenced with the question, and put one in her turn. + +"Do you know if he has heard from his friends in Hertfordshire lately?" + +"Hertfordshire? O, that is the place he comes from in the Old Country. +No, he never hears from there. I have often wanted him to write to his +friends in England, but he says it is so long since he left that they +have forgotten all about him." Here the speaker was interrupted by +another fit of coughing. + +"No," she resumed, "he never even wrote to England to tell his friends +when we were married. He was only a boy when he left home, and he was a +good many years in Canady before he came over to the States." + +Just at this point it seemed to occur to Mrs. Randall that she was +talking rather freely about her husband to a person whom she did not +know, and she pulled herself up with a rather short turn. She looked +intently into her visitor's face for a moment, as though with an inward +monition that something was wrong. + +"But," she resumed, after a brief pause, "do you know my husband? I +can't remember as I ever seen you before. You don't live in New York: I +can see that. I guess you come from the West." + +Then Mrs. Savareen felt that some explanation was necessary. She fairly +took the animal by the extreme tip of his horns. + +"Yes," she responded, "I live in the West, and I have only been in New +York a very short time. I accidentally heard that Mr. Randall lived +here, and I wish to ascertain if he is the same gentleman I once knew +in Canada. If he is, there is something of importance I should like to +tell him. Would you be so kind as to describe his personal appearance +for me?" + +The woman again inspected her very carefully, with eyes not altogether +free from suspicion. + +"I don't exactly understand," she exclaimed. "You don't want to do him +any harm, do you? You haven't got anything agin him? We are in deep +enough trouble as it is." + +The last words were uttered in a tone very much resembling a wail of +despair. By this time the visitor's sympathies were thoroughly aroused +on behalf of the poor broken creature before her. + +She felt that she had not the heart to add to the burden of grief which +had been imposed upon the frail woman who sat there eyeing her with +anxiety depicted upon her weary, anxious face. + +"I can assure you," responded Mrs. Savareen, "that I have no intention +of doing any harm either to him or to you. I would much rather do you a +kindness, if I could. I can see for myself that you stand in great need +of kindness." + +The last words were spoken in a tone which disarmed suspicion, and +which at the same time stimulated curiosity. The shadow on Mrs. +Randall's face passed away. + +"Well," said she, "I beg your pardon for mistrusting you, but my +husband has never told me much about his past life, and I was afraid +you might be an enemy. But I am sure, now I look at you, that you +wouldn't do harm to anybody. I'll tell you whatever you want to know, +if I can." + +"Thank you for your good opinion. Will you be good enough, then, to +describe Mr. Randall's personal appearance? I have no other object than +to find out if he is the person I used to know in Canada." + +"How long ago did you know him in Canady?" + +"I saw him last in the summer of 1854--about five years ago." + +"Well, at that rate I've known him pretty near as long as you hev. It's +more'n four years since I first got acquainted with him down, in Ole +Virginny, where I was raised. Why, come to think of it, I've got his +likeness, took just before we was married. That'll show you whether +he's the man you knew." + +As she spoke, she rose and opened the leather trunk in the corner by +the closet door. After rummaging among its contents, she presently +returned with a small oval daguerreotype in her hand. Opening the case +she handed it to Mrs. Savareen. "There he is," she remarked, "an' it's +considered an awful good likeness." + +Mrs. Savareen took the daguerreotype and approached the candle. The +first glance was amply sufficient. It was the likeness of her husband. + +She made up her mind as to her line of action on the instant. Her love +for the father of her child died away as she gazed on his picture. It +was borne in upon her that he was a heartless scoundrel, unworthy of +any woman's regard. Before she withdrew her glance from the +daguerreotype, her love for him was dead and buried beyond all +possibility of revivification. What would it avail her to still further +lacerate the heart of the unhappy woman in whose presence she stood? +Why kill her outright by revealing the truth? There was but a step--and +evidently the step was a short one--between her and the grave. The +distance should not be abridged by any act of the lawful wife. + +She closed the case and quietly handed it back to the woman, whom it +will still be convenient to call Mrs. Randall. "I see there has been +some misunderstanding," she said. "This is not the Mr. Randall I knew +in Canada." + +In her kind consideration for the invalid, she deliberately conveyed a +false impression, though she spoke nothing more than the simple truth. +There had indeed been "some misunderstanding," and Savareen's likeness +was certainly not the likeness of Mr. Randall. As matter of fact, Mrs. +Savareen had really known a Mr. Randall in Millbrook, who bore no +resemblance whatever to her husband. Thus, she spoke the literal truth, +while she at the same time deceived her hostess for the latter's own +good. Affliction had laid its blighting hand there heavily enough +already. Her main object now was to get away from the house before the +return of the man who had so villainously wrecked two innocent lives. +But a warm sympathy for the betrayed and friendless woman had sprung up +in her heart, and she longed to leave behind some practical token of +her sympathy. While she was indulging in these reflections the infant +on the bed awoke and set up a startled little cry. Its mother advanced +to where it lay, took it up in her arms, sat down on the edge of the +bed, and stilled its forlorn little wails by the means known to mothers +from time immemorial. When it became quiet she again deposited it on +the bed and resumed her seat by the table. + +Mrs. Savareen continued standing. + +"I am sorry to have disturbed you unnecessarily," she remarked "and +will now take my leave. Is there anything I can do for you? I should be +glad if I could be of any use. I am afraid you are not very comfortably +off, and you are far from well in health. It is not kind of Mr. Randall +to leave you alone like this. You need rest and medical advice." + +These were probably the first sympathetic words Mrs. Randall had heard +from one of her own sex for many a long day. The tears started to her +tired eyes, as she replied: + +"I guess there ain't no rest for me this side o' the grave. I haven't +any money to git medical advice, and I don't suppose a doctor could do +me any good. I'm pretty well run down and so is baby. I'm told it can't +live long, and if it was only laid to rest I wouldn't care how soon my +time came. You're right about our being awful hard up. But don't you be +too hard on my husband. He has his own troubles as well as me. He +hain't had no cash lately, and don't seem to be able to git none." + +"But he could surely stay at home and keep you company at nights, when +you are so ill. It must be very lonely for you." + +"Well, you see, I ain't much company for him. He's ben brought up +different to what I hev, an's ben used to hevin' things comfortable. I +ain't strong enough to do much of anything myself, with a sick baby. +I'm sure I don't know what's to be the end of it all. Es a gineral +thing he don't mean to be unkind, but----" + +Here the long-suffering woman utterly broke down, and was convulsed by +a succession of sobs, which seemed to exhaust the small stock of +vitality left to her. The visitor approached the chair where she sat, +knelt by her side, and took the poor wasted form in her arms. + +They mingled their tears together. For some time neither of them was +able to speak a word, but the sympathy of the stronger of the two acted +like a cordial upon her weaker sister, who gradually became calm and +composed. The sobs died away, and the shattered frame ceased to +tremble. Then they began to talk. Mrs. Savareen's share in the +conversation was chiefly confined to a series of sympathetic questions, +whereby she extracted such particulars as furnished a key to the +present situation. It appeared that the _soi-disant_ Jack Randall +had made the acquaintance of his second victim within a short time +after his departure from Canada. He had then been engaged in business +on his own account as a dealer in horses in Lexington, Kentucky, where +the father of the woman whose life he had afterwards blighted kept a +tavern. He had made soft speeches to her, and had won her heart, +although, even then, she had not been blind to his main defect--a +fondness for old Bourbon. After a somewhat protracted courtship she had +married him, but the sun of prosperity had never shone upon them after +their marriage, for his drinking habit had grown upon him, and he had +soon got to the end of what little money he had. He had been compelled +to give up business, and to take service with anyone who would employ +him. Then matters had gone from bad to worse. He had been compelled to +move about from one town to another, for his habits would not admit of +his continuing long in any situation. She had accompanied him wherever +he went with true wifely devotion, but had been constrained to drink +deeply of the cup of privation, and had never been free from anxiety. +About six months ago they had come to New York, where he had at first +found fairly remunerative employment in Hitchcock's sale stable. But +there, as elsewhere, he had wrecked his prospects by drink and neglect +of business, and for some time past the unhappy pair had been entirely +destitute. The baby had been born soon after they had taken up their +quarters in New York. The mother's health, which had been far from +strong before this event, completely broke down, and she had never +fully recovered. The seeds of consumption, which had probably been +implanted in her before her birth, had rapidly developed themselves +under the unpromising regimen to which she had been subjected, and it +was apparent that she had not long to live. She was unable to afford +proper nourishment to her child, which languished from day to day, and +the only strong desire left to her was that she might survive long +enough to see it fairly out of the world. + +Such was the sad tale poured into the sympathetic ears of Mrs. +Savareen, as she knelt there with the poor creature's head against her +boson. She, for the time, lost sight of her own share in the misery +brought about by the man who, in the eye of the law, was still her +husband. She spoke such words of comfort and consolation as suggested +themselves to her, but the case was a hopeless one, and it was evident +that no permanent consolation could ever again find a lodgment in the +breast of the woman who supposed herself to be Mrs. Randall. The best +that was left to her in this world was to hear the sad rites pronounced +over her babe, and then to drop gently away into that long, last sleep, +wherein, it was to be hoped, she would find that calm repose which a +cruel fate had denied her so long as she remained on earth. + +Mrs. Savareen, it will be remembered, was a pious woman. In such a +situation as that in which she found herself, we may feel sure that she +did not omit all reference to the consolations of religion. She poured +into the ear of this sore-tried soul a few of those words at which +thinkers of the modern school are wont to sneer, but which for eighteen +centuries have brought balm to the suffering and the afflicted of every +clime. Moreover, she did not neglect to administer consolation of a +material kind. She emptied her purse into the invalid's lap. It +contained something like thirty dollars--more money, probably, than +Mrs. Randall had ever called her own before. "Keep this for your own +use," she said--"it will buy many little comforts for you and baby. No, +I will not take any of it back. I am comfortably off and shall not want +it." Then, with a final embrace, and a few hurried words of farewell, +she stepped to the bedside and imprinted a kiss on the little waif +lying there, all unconscious of the world of sin and sorrow in which it +held so precarious a dwelling place. Her mission was at an end. She +silently passed from the room, closing the door behind her. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +STILL A MYSTERY. + + +At the head of the stairway she paused for a moment to collect herself +before passing down and out into the street. What she had left behind +her was of a nature well fitted to excite emotion, and her bosom rose +and fell with a gentle tenderness and pity. But she had learned self +control in the school of experience, and her delay was a brief one. +Mastering her emotions, she walked steadily down the two flights of +stairs, opened the front door for herself, and was just about to cross +the threshold when a man entered. The light of the street lamp fell +full upon his face. It was the face of the man whose mysterious +disappearance five years before had created such a profound sensation +throughout Western Canada. There was no possibility of mistaking it, +though it was greatly changed for the worse. Five years had wrought +terrible havoc upon it. The scar on the left cheek was more conspicuous +than of yore, and the features seemed to have settled into a perpetual +frown. But, worst of all, the countenance was bloated and besotted. The +nose had become bulbous and spongy, the eyes watery and weak. The man's +clothes were patched and seedy, and presented a general aspect of being +desperately out at elbows. His unsteady step indicated that he was at +least half drunk at that moment. He did not see; or at any rate did not +take any notice of the woman who gazed into his face so intently. As he +staggered on his way upstairs he stumbled and narrowly escaped falling. +Could it be possible that this disreputable object was the man whom she +had once loved as her husband? She shuddered as she passed out on to +the pavement. Truly, his sin had found him out. + +She had no difficulty in finding her way back to the hotel, without +asking questions of anybody. Upon reaching it she conferred for a +moment with the office clerk, and then passed up to a small general +sitting-room where she found her father. The old gentleman was +beginning to be anxious at her long absence. + +"Well, father, I find there is an express for Suspension Bridge at +midnight. I think we had better take it. It is now half-past ten. I +have learned all I wanted to know, and there is no use for us to stay +here on expense. But perhaps you are tired, and would like a night's +rest." + +"Found out all you wanted to know? Do you mean to say you have seen +him?" + +"Yes, and I never wish to see or hear of him again in this world. Don't +question me now. I will tell you all before we get home, and after that +I hope you will never mention his name in my presence. When shall we +start?" + +Finding her really anxious to be gone, the old man assented to her +proposition, and they started on their way homeward by the midnight +train. They reached Millbrook in due course, the father having +meanwhile been informed of all that his daughter had to tell him. +Savareen's disappearance remained as profound a mystery to them as +ever, but it had at any rate been made clear that he had absconded of +his own free will, and that in doing so he must have exercised a good +deal of shrewdness and cunning. + +The question as to how far it was advisable to take the public into +their confidence exercised the judgment of both father and daughter. +The conclusion arrived at was that as little as possible should be said +about the matter. Their errand to New York was already known, and could +not be wholly ignored. The fact of Savareen's existence would have to +be admitted. It would inevitably be chronicled by the _Sentinel_, +and the record would be transferred to the columns of other newspapers. +The subject would be discussed among the local quidnuncs, and the +excitement of five years since would to some extent be revived. All +this must naturally be expected, and would have to be endured as best +it might; but it was resolved that people should not be encouraged to +ask questions, and that they should be made to understand that the +topic was not an agreeable one to the persons immediately concerned. It +might reasonably be hoped that gossip would sooner or later wear itself +out. For the present it would be desirable for Mrs. Savareen to keep +within doors, and to hold as little communication with her neighbors as +possible. + +This programme was strictly adhered to, and everything turned out +precisely as had been expected. Mr. Haskins reached Millbrook on his +way home to Tennessee within a day or two after the return of father +and daughter from New York. He was informed by the father that Randall +and Savareen were identical, but that the family wished to suppress all +talk about the affair as far as possible. He took the hint, and +departed on his way homeward, without seeking to probe further into +matters in which he had no personal concern. + +It was hardly to be supposed, however, that the local population would +show equal forbearance. Curiosity was widespread, and was not to be +suppressed from a mere sentiment of delicacy. No sooner did it become +known that the father and daughter had returned than the former was +importuned by numerous friends and acquaintances to disclose the result +of his journey. He so far responded to these importunities as to admit +that the missing man was living in the States under an assumed name, +but he added that neither his daughter nor himself was inclined to talk +about the matter. He said in effect: "My daughter's burden is a heavy +one to bear, and any one who has any consideration for either her or me +will never mention the matter in the presence of either of us. Anyone +who does so will thereby forfeit all right to be regarded as a friend +or well-wisher." This did not silence gossiping tongues, but it at +least prevented them from propounding their questions directly to +himself. He was promptly interviewed by the editor of the +_Sentinel_, who received exactly the same information as other +people, and no more. The next number of the paper contained a leading +article on the subject, in which the silence of Mrs. Savareen and her +father was animadverted upon. The public, it was said, were entitled to +be told all that there was to tell. Savareen's disappearance had long +since become public property, and the family were not justified in +withholding any information which might tend to throw light on that +dark subject. This article was freely copied by other papers, and for +several weeks the topic was kept conspicuously before the little world +of western Canada. Nowhere was the interest in the subject more keenly +manifested than at the Royal Oak, where it furnished the theme of +frequent and all-but-interminable discussion. Not a day passed but mine +host Lapierre publicly congratulated himself upon his acumen in having +all along believed and declared that Savareen was still in the land of +the living. This landlord shared the prevalent opinion that the family +should be more communicative. "I haf always," said he, "peen a coot +frient to Mrs. Safareen. I respect her fery mooch, put I think she +might let us know sometings more apout her discoferies in New York." +Scores of other persons harped to the same monotonous tune. But father +and daughter submitted to this as to a necessary penalty of their +situation, and by degrees the excitement quieted down. I am not +prepared to say whether the stepmother received further enlightenment +than other people, but if she did she kept her tongue between her teeth +like a sensible woman. As for Mrs. Savareen herself, she consistently +refrained from speaking on the subject to anyone, and even the most +inveterate gossips showed sufficient respect for her feelings to ask +her no questions. She held the even tenor of her way, doing her work +and maintaining herself as usual, but she lived a secluded life, and +was seldom seen outside her own house. + +Thus, several months passed away without the occurrence of any event +worthy of being recorded. The mystery of Savareen's disappearance +remained a mystery still. But the time was approaching when all that +had so long been dark was to be made clear, and when the strange +problem of five years before was to be solved. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +COALS OF FIRE. + + +The gloomy month of November, 1859, was drawing to its close. The +weather, as usual at that time of the year, was dull and sober, and the +skies were dark and lowering. More than three months had elapsed since +the journey to New York, and Mrs. Savareen and her affairs had ceased +to be the engrossing topics of discussion among the people of Millbrook +and its neighborhood. She continued to live a very secluded life, and +seldom stirred beyond the threshold of her own door. Almost her only +visitors were her father and brother, for her stepmother rarely +intruded upon her domain, and indeed was not much encouraged to do so, +as her presence never brought comfort with it. The little boy continued +to grow apace, and it seemed to the fond mother that he became dearer +to her every day. He was the sole light and joy of her life, and in him +were bound up all her hopes for the future. Of late she had ceased to +scan his features in the hope of tracing there some resemblance of his +absent father. Since her visit to Amity street, _that_ fond +illusion had wholly departed, never to return. She had ceased even to +speak to him about his other parent, and had begun to regard herself in +the light of an actual widow. Such was the state of affairs when the +humdrum of her existence was broken in upon by a succession of +circumstances which it now becomes necessary to unfold. + +It was rapidly drawing towards six o'clock in the evening, and the +darkness of night had already fallen upon the outer landscape. Mrs. +Savareen sat in her little parlor with her boy upon her knee, as it was +her custom to sit at this hour. The lamp had not been lighted, but the +fireplace sent forth a ruddy blaze, making the countless shadows +reflect themselves on the floor, and in the remote corners of the room. +To both the mother and the child, this hour, "between the dark and the +daylight" was incomparably the most delightful of the twenty-four, for +it was consecrated to story-telling. Then it was that the boy was first +introduced to those old-time legends which in one form or another have +thrilled the bosoms of happy childhood for so many hundreds of years, +and which will continue to thrill them through centuries yet unborn. +Then it was that he made the acquaintance of Little Red Riding Hood, +Jack the Giant Killer, and the Seven Champions of Christendom. The +mingled lights and shades from the blazing logs of hickory in the +fireplace lent additional charm to the thousand and one stories which +the mother recounted for the child's edification, and I doubt not that +Jack's wonderful bean-stalk is still associated in Master Reggie's mind +with that cosy little room with its blended atmosphere of cheerful +twilight and sombre shadow. + +A few minutes more and it would be tea time. It would never do, +however, to break off the story of the Babes in the Wood just at the +time when the two emissaries of the wicked uncle began to quarrel in +the depths of the forest. The child's sympathies had been thoroughly +aroused, and he would not tamely submit to be left in suspense. No, the +gruesome old tale must be told out, or at least as far as where the +robin redbreasts, after mourning over the fate of the hapless infants +"did cover them with leaves." And so the mother went on with the +narrative. She had just reached the culminating point when an +approaching footstep was heard outside. Then came a knock at the door, +followed by the entrance of Mrs. Savareen's father. It was easy to see +from his face that this was no mere perfunctory call. Evidently he had +news to tell. + +"Something has happened, father," said Mrs. Savareen, as calmly as she +could. + +"Well, yes, something has happened. It is nothing very dreadful, but +you had better prepare yourself to hear unpleasant news." + +"It is that man--he has come." + +"Yes, he has come to town." + +"Is he at the door?" + +"No, he is at my house. I thought I had better come over and tell you, +instead of letting him come himself and take you by surprise." + +"What has he come for, and what does he want?" inquired Mrs. Savareen, +in a harder tone of voice than she was accustomed to use. + +"Well, for one thing he wants to see you, and I suppose you can't very +well avoid seeing him. He is your husband, you know. He knows nothing +about the journey to New York. He has no means, and looks shabby and +sickly. I shouldn't wonder if he isn't long for this world." + +"So you didn't tell him anything about the New York trip?" + +"No, I didn't exactly know what your views might be, and he looked such +a worn-out, pitiful object that I held my tongue about it. I think you +had better see him and hear what he has to say." + +It appeared that Savareen had arrived at Millbrook by the 4:15 p.m. +train from New York, and that he had slunk round by the least +frequented streets to his father-in-law's house without being +recognised by any one. It might be doubted, indeed, whether any of his +old friends would have recognised him, even if they had met him face +to face in broad daylight, for he was by no means the ruddy, robust, +self-complacent looking personage they had been accustomed to see in +the old days when he was wont to ride into town on his black mare. His +clothes were seamy and worn, and his physical proportions had shrunk so +much that the shabby garments seemed a world too wide for him. His face, +which three months ago had been bloated and sodden, had become pale and +emaciated, and the scar upon his left cheek seemed to have developed +until it was the most noticeable thing about him. His step was feeble +and tremulous, and it was evident that his health had completely broken +down. He was in fact in a state bordering on collapse, and was hardly +fit to be going about. His financial condition was on a par with his +bodily state. He had expended his last dime in the purchase of his +railway ticket, and at the moment of reaching his father-in-law's door +he had been well-nigh famished for want of food. When a loaf of bread +and some slices of cold meat had been set before him, he had fallen to +with the voracity of a jungle tiger. He had vouchsafed no explanation +of his presence, except that he felt he was going to die, and that he +wanted to see his wife and child. As he was tired out and sorely in +need of rest, he had been put to bed, and his father-in-law, after +seeing him snugly stowed away between the sheets, had set out to bear +the news to his wife. + +There could be no doubt as to what was the proper thing to be done. +Mrs. Savareen made the fire safe, put on her bonnet and shawl and +locked up the house. Then, taking her little boy by the hand, she +accompanied her father to the old house where, six or seven years +before, the handsome young farmer had been in the habit of visiting and +paying court to her. On arriving she found the invalid buried in the +deep, profound sleep of exhaustion. Consigning her boy to the care of +her stepmother, she took her place by the bedside and waited. Her vigil +was a protracted one, for the tired-out sleeper did not awaken until +the small hours of the next morning. Then with a long drawn +respiration, he opened his eyes, and fixed them upon the watcher with a +weak, wandering expression, as though he was unable to fully grasp the +situation. + +The truth found its way to him by degrees. He shifted himself uneasily, +as though he would have been glad to smother himself beneath the +bedclothes, was it not for lack of resolution. A whipped hound never +presented a more abject appearance. + +His wife was the first to speak. "Do you feel rested?" she asked in a +gentle tone. + +"Rested? O, yes, I remember now. We are at your father's." + +"Yes; but don't talk any more just now, if it tires you. Try to go to +sleep again." + +"You are good to me; better than I deserve," he responded, after a +pause. Then great tears welled up to his eyes, and coursed one after +another down his thin, worn face. It was easy to see that he was weak +as water. His long journey by rail without food had been too much for +him, and in his state of health it was just possible he might never +rally. + +The womanly nature of the outraged wife came uppermost, as it always +does under such circumstances. Her love for the miserable creature +lying there before her had been killed and crucified long ago, never to +be revived. But she could not forget that she had once loved him, and +that he was the father of her child. No matter how deeply he had +wronged her, he was ill and suffering--perhaps dying. His punishment +had come upon him without any act of hers. She contrasted his present +bearing with that of other days. He was bent, broken, crushed. Nothing +there to remind her of the stalwart, manly young fellow whose voice had +once stirred her pulse to admiration and love. All the more reason why +she should be good to him now, all undeserving as he might be. Our +British Homer showed a true appreciation of the best side of feminine +nature when he wrote-- + + "O woman, in our hour of ease, + Uncertain, coy, and hard to please; + When pain and anguish wring thy brow, + A ministering angel thou!" + +She rose and approached the bed, while her gaze rested mildly upon his +face. Drawing forth her handkerchief, she wiped the salt tears from his +cheeks with a caressing hand. To him lying there in his helplessness, +she seemed no unfit earthly representative of that Divine Beneficence +"whose blessed task," says Thackeray, "it will one day be to wipe the +tear from every eye." Her gentleness caused the springs to well forth +afresh, and the prostrate form was convulsed by sobs. She sat by his +side on the bed, and staunched the miniature flood with a tender touch. +By-and-by calm returned, and he sank into a profound and apparently +dreamless sleep. + +When he again awoke it was broad daylight. The first object on which +his eyes rested was the patient watcher who had never left her post the +whole night long, and who still sat in an armchair at his bedside, +ready to minister to his comfort. As soon as she perceived that he was +awake she approached and took his wasted hand in her own. He gazed +steadily in her face, but could find no words to speak. + +"You are rested now, are you not?" she murmured, scarcely above her +breath. + +After a while he found his voice and asked how long he had slept. Being +enlightened on the point, he expressed his belief that it was time for +him to rise. + +"Not yet," was the response; "you shall have your breakfast first, and +then it will be time enough to think about getting up. I forbid you to +talk until you have had something to eat," she added, playfully. "Lie +still for a few minutes, while I go and see about a cup of tea." And so +saying she left him to himself. + +Presently she returned, bearing a tray and eatables. She quietly raised +him to a sitting posture, and placed a large soft pillow at his back. +He submitted to her ministrations like a child. It was long since he +had been tended with such care, and the position doubtless seemed a +little strange to him. After drinking a cup of tea and eating several +morsels of the good things set before him he evidently felt refreshed. +His eyes lost somewhat of their lack-lustre air of confirmed +invalidism, and his voice regained a measure of its natural tone. When +he attempted to rise and dress himself, however, he betrayed such a +degree of bodily feebleness that his wife forbade him to make further +exertions. He yielded to her importunities, and remained in bed, which +was manifestly the best place for him. He was pestered by no +unnecessary questions to account for his presence, Mrs. Savareen +rightly considering that it was for him to volunteer any explanations +he might have to make whenever he felt equal to the task. + +After a while his little boy was brought in to see the father of whom +he dimly remembered to have heard. His presence moved the sick man to +further exhibitions of tearful sensibility, but seemed, on the whole, +to have a salutary effect. Long absence and a vagabond life had not +quenched the paternal instinct, and the little fellow was caressed with +a fervor too genuine to admit of the possibility of its being assumed. +Master Reggie received these ebullitions of affection without much +corresponding demonstrativeness. He could not be expected to feel any +vehement adoration for one whom he had never seen since his earliest +babyhood, and whose very name for some months past had been permitted +to sink out of sight. His artless prattle, however, was grateful in the +ears of his father, who looked and listened as if entranced by sweet +strains of music. His wasted--worse than wasted--past seemed to rise +before him, as the child's accents fell softly upon his ear, and he +seemed to realize more than ever how much he had thrown away. + +In the course of the forenoon Mrs. Savareen's stepmother took her place +in the sick chamber, and she herself withdrew to another room to take +the rest of which she was by this time sorely in need. The invalid +would not assent to the proposal to call in a physician. He declared +that he was only dead tired, and that rest and quiet would soon restore +him without medicine, in so far as any restoration was possible. And so +the day passed by. + +In the evening the wife again took her place at the bedside, and she +had not been there long ere her husband voluntarily began his chapter +of explanations. His story was a strange one, but there was no room to +doubt the truth of any portion of it. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +THE BAD HALF CROWN. + + +He began by comparing himself to the bad half-crown, which always finds +its way back, but which has no right to expect a warm welcome on its +return. "Were it not," said he, "that I feel myself to be pretty near +the end of my earth's journey, I could not have the face to tell you my +story at all. But I feel that I am worn out, and don't think it likely +that I shall ever leave this room except for the grave. You shall know +everything, even more fully than I have ever known it myself until +within the last few hours. They say that when a man is nearing his end +he sees more clearly than at any other time of his life. For my part I +now see for the first time that I have never been anything but a +worthless lout from my cradle. I have never been fit to walk alone, and +if health and strength were to come back to me I should not be one whit +better than I have hitherto been. I don't know whether I ever told you +that I have a streak of gipsy blood in my veins. My grandmother was a +Romany, picked up by my grandfather on Wandsworth Common. I don't offer +this fact as any excuse for my conduct, but I have sometimes thought +that it may have something to do with the pronounced vagabondism which +has always been one of my most distinctive features. So long as I was +at home in my father's house he kept me from doing anything very +outrageous, but I was always a creature of impulse, ready to enter into +any hair-brained scheme without counting the cost. I never looked a +week ahead in my life. It was sufficient for me if the present was +endurable, and if the general outlook for the future promised something +new. My coming to this country in the first place was a mere impulse, +inspired by a senseless liking for adventure and a wish to see strange +faces and scenes. My taking Squire Harrington's farm was an impulse, +very largely due to its proximity to Lapierre's, who is a jolly +landlord and knows how to make his guests comfortable. I had no special +aptitude for farm life; no special desire to get on in the world; no +special desire to do anything except pass the time as pleasantly as I +could, without thought or care for the future. And as I have fully made +up my mind to make a clean breast of it, I am going to tell you +something which will make you despise me more than you ever despised me +yet. When I married you I did so from impulse. Don't mistake me. I +liked you better than any other woman I had ever seen. I liked your +pretty face, and your gentle, girlish ways. I knew that you were good, +and would make an excellent wife. But I well knew that I had no such +feeling towards you as a man should have towards the woman whom he +intends to make the companion of his life--no such feeling, for +instance, as I have for you at this moment. Well, I married you and we +lived together as happily as most young couples do. I knew that I had a +good wife, and you didn't know, or even suspect, what a brainless, +heartless clod you had for your husband. Our married life glided by +without anything particular happening to disturb it. But the thing +became monotonous to me, and I had the senseless vagabond's desire for +change. We did fairly well on the farm, but once or twice I was on the +point of proposing to you that we should emigrate to the Western +States. I began to drink more than was good for me, and two or three +times when I came home half-sees over you reproached me, and looked at +me in a way I didn't like. This I inwardly resented, like the besotted +fool I was. It seemed to me that you might have held your tongue. The +feeling wasn't a very strong one with me, and if it hadn't been for +that cursed four hundred pounds, things might have gone on for some +time longer. Of course I kept all this to myself, for I was at least +sensible enough to feel ashamed of my want of purpose, and knew that I +deserved to be horsewhipped for not caring more for you and baby. + +"The legacy from my father, if properly used, would have placed us on +our feet. With a farm of my own, I might reasonably hope to become a +man of more importance in our community than I had been. For a time +this was the only side of the picture that presented itself to my mind. +I began to contemplate myself as a landed proprietor, and the +contemplation was pleasant enough. I bought the farm from Squire +Harrington in good faith, and with no other intention than to carry out +the transaction. When I left home on the morning of that 17th of July, +I had no more intention of absconding than I now have of running for +Parliament. The idea never so much as entered my mind. The morning was +wet, and it seemed likely that we should have a rainy day. I was in a +more loaferish mood than usual, and thought I might as well ride to +town to pass the time. The hired man, whose name I have forgotten, was +not within call at the moment, so I went out to the stable to saddle +Black Bess for myself. Then I found that the inner front padding of the +saddle had been torn by rats during the night, and that the metal plate +was exposed. To use it in that state would have galled the mare's back, +and it was necessary to place something beneath it. I looked about me +in the stable, but saw nothing suitable, so I returned into the house +to get some kind of an old cloth for the purpose. If you had been there +I should have asked for what I wanted, but you were not to be seen, and +when I called out your name you did not answer. Then, in a fit of +momentary stupid petulance, I went into the front bedroom, opened my +trunk, and took out the first thing that came uppermost. I should have +taken and used it for what I wanted just then, even if it had been a +silk dress or petticoat; but it happened to be a coat of my own. I took +it out to the stable, placed it under the saddle, and rode off. Before +reaching the front gate I saw how it was that you had not answered my +call, for, as you doubtless remember, you were out in the orchard with +baby in your arms, at some distance from the house. I nodded to you as +I rode past, little thinking that years would elapse before I should +see you again. + +"I suppose you know all about how I spent the day. I had a bit of a +quarrel with the clerk at the bank, and that put me out of humor. I had +not intended to draw the money, but to leave it on deposit till next +morning. + +"Shuttleworth's ill-tempered remarks nettled me. I took the notes in a +huff, and left the bank with them in my pocket. I ought to have had +sense enough to ride home at once, but I went to the Peacock and +muddled myself with drink. I felt elated at having such a large sum of +money about me, and carried on like a fool and a sot all afternoon. I +didn't start for home till a few minutes before dark. Up to that moment +the idea of clearing out had never presented itself to my mind. But as +I cantered along the quiet road I began to think what a good time I +could have with four hundred pounds in my pocket, in some far-off place +where I was not known, and where I should be free from incumbrances of +every kind. + +"In the half-befuddled condition in which I then was, the idea quickly +took possession of my stupid imagination. I rode along, however, +without coming to any fixed determination, till I reached Jonathan +Perry's toll-gate. I exchanged a few words with him, and then resumed +my journey. Suddenly it flashed upon me that, if I was really going to +make a strike for it, nothing was to be gained by delaying my flight. +What was the use of going home? If I ever got there I should probably +be unable to summon up sufficient resolution to go at all. Just then I +heard the sound of a horse's feet advancing rapidly down the road. An +impulse seized me to get out of the way. But to do this was not easy. +There was a shallow ditch along each side of the road, and the fence +was too high for a leap. Before I could let down the rails and betake +myself to the fields the horseman would be on the spot. As I cast rapid +glances this way and that, I came in front of the gateway of the lane +leading down by the side of Stolliver's house to his barnyard. As it +happened, the gate was open. On came the horse clattering down the +road, and not a second was to be lost if I wished to remain unseen. I +rode in, dismounted, shut to the gate, and led my mare a few yards down +the lane to an overhanging black cherry tree, beneath which I ensconced +myself. Scarcely had I taken up my position there when the horse and +his rider passed at a swift trot down the road. It was too dark for me +to tell at that distance who the rider was, but, as you shall hear, I +soon found out. I stood still and silent, with my hand on Bess's mane, +cogitating what to do next. While I did so, Stolliver's front door +opened, and he and his boys walked out to the front fence, where the +old man lighted his pipe. Then I heard the horse and his rider coming +back up the road from the tollgate. In another moment the rider drew up +and began to talk to Stolliver. I listened with breathless attention, +and heard every word of the conversation, which related to myself. I +feared that Bess would neigh or paw the ground, in which case the +attention of the speakers would have been drawn to my whereabouts. But, +as my cursed fate would have it, the mare made no demonstration of any +kind, and I was completely hidden from view by the darkness and also by +the foliage of the cherry tree under which I stood. The horseman, as +you probably know, was Lapierre, who had been despatched by you to +bring me home. This proceeding on your part I regarded, in my then +frame of mind, in the light of an indignity. A pretty thing, truly, if +I was to be treated as though I was unable to take care of myself, and +if my own wife was to send people to hunt for me about the +neighborhood! I waited in silence till Lapierre had paid his second +visit to the toll-gate and ridden off homewards. Still I waited, until +old Stolliver and his boys returned into the house. Then I led the mare +as softly as I could down the lane, and around to the back of the barn, +where we were safe from observation. + +"I chuckled with insane glee at having eluded Lapierre, and then I +determined on a course of action. Like the egotistical villain I was, I +had no more regard for your feelings than if you had been a stick or a +stone. You should never suspect that I had wilfully deserted you, and +should be made to believe that I had been murdered. Having formed my +plans, I led the mare along the edges of the fields, letting down the +fences whenever it was necessary to do so, and putting them carefully +up again after passing through. I made my way down past the rear end of +John Calder's lot, and so on to the edge of the swamp behind Squire +Harrington's. Bess would take no harm there during the night and would +be found safe enough on the morrow. I removed the bit from her mouth, +so that she could nibble the grass, and left the bridle hanging round +her neck, securing it so that she would not be likely to trip or throw +herself. I showed far more consideration for her than I did for the +wife of my bosom. I removed the saddle so that she could lie down and +roll, if she felt that way disposed. I took the coat I had used for a +pad, and carried it a short distance into the swamp and threw it into a +puddle of water. I deliberated whether I should puncture the end of my +finger with my jack-knife and stain my coat with the blood, but +concluded that such a proceeding was unnecessary. I knew that you would +be mystified by the coat as you knew quite well that I had not worn it +when I left home in the morning. Then I bade farewell to poor Bess, +and, unaccountable as it may seem to you, I was profoundly touched at +parting from her in such a way. I embraced her neck and kissed her on +the forehead. As I tore myself away from her I believe I was within an +ace of shedding tears. Yet, not a thought of compunction on your +account penetrated my selfish soul. I picked my way through the swamp +to the fourth concession, and then struck out across unfrequented +fields for Harborough station, eight miles away. + +"The moon was up, and the light shone brightly all the way, but I +skulked along the borders of out-of-the-way fields, and did not +encounter a human being. As I drew near the station I secreted myself +on the dark side of an old shed, and lay in wait for the first train +which might stop there. I did not have to remain more than about half +an hour. A mixed train came along from the west, and as it drew up I +sprang on the platform of the last car but one. To the best of my +knowledge nobody saw me get aboard. I was not asked for my ticket until +the train approached Hamilton, when I pretended that I had lost it, and +paid my fare from Dundas, where I professed to have boarded the train. +I got off at Hamilton, and waited for the east-bound express, which +conveyed me to New York." + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +REGINALD BOURCHIER SAVAREEN DISCOVERS THE GREAT SECRET. + + +Thus far Savareen had been permitted to tell his own story. I do not, +of course, pretend that it came from his lips in the precise words set +down in the foregoing chapter, but for the sake of brevity and +clearness, I have deemed it best to present the most salient portion of +the narrative in the first person. It was related to me years +afterwards by Mrs. Savareen herself, and I think I am warranted in +saying that I have given the purport of her relation with tolerable +accuracy. There is no need to present the sequel in the same fashion, +nor with anything like the same fulness of detail. The man unburdened +himself with all the appearance of absolute sincerity, and made no +attempt to palliate or tone down anything that told against himself. He +admitted that upon reaching New York he had entered upon a career of +wild dissipation. He drank, gambled and indulged in debauchery to such +an extent that in less than six weeks he had got pretty nearly to the +end of his four hundred pounds. He assumed a false name and carefully +abstained from ever looking at the newspapers, so that he remained in +ignorance of all that had taken place in the neighborhood of his home +after his departure. Becoming tired of the life he was leading in the +great city, he proceeded southward, and spent some months wandering +about through the Southern States. His knowledge of horse-flesh enabled +him to pick up a livelihood, and even at times to make money; but his +drinking propensities steadily gained the mastery over him and stood in +the way of his permanent success in any pursuit. During a sojourn at a +tavern in Lexington, Kentucky, he had formed an attachment for the +daughter of his landlord. She was a good girl in her way, and knew how +to take care of herself; but Mr. Jack Randall passed for a bachelor, +and seemed to be several grades above the ordinary frequenters of her +father's place. Their marriage and subsequent adventures have been +sufficiently detailed by the unhappy woman herself, during her +conference with Mrs. Savareen at No. 77 Amity street. + +The _soi-disant_ Randall had gone on from bad to worse, until he +had become the degraded creature of whom his wife had caught a +momentary glimpse under the glare of gas lamp on her departure from the +Amity street lodgings. The woman who supposed herself to be his wife +had informed him that a strange lady had called and been very kind to +her, but she had told him nothing about the lady having come from +Canada. Why she was thus reticent I am unable to say with certainty. +Perhaps it was because she attached no importance to the circumstance, +after the lady's declaration that the daguerreotype did not represent +the man whom she wished to find. Perhaps she had some inkling of the +truth, and dreaded to have her suspicions confirmed. She knew that she +had but a short time to live, and may very well have desired to sleep +her last sleep without making any discovery detrimental to her peace of +mind. Whatever the cause may have been, she kept silent to everything +but the main fact that a kind lady had called and supplied her with a +small store of money to provide for herself and the child. Savareen +never learned or even suspected, that the lady who ministered to the +wants of his victims was his own wife, until the truth was told to him +by the wife herself. Small difference to him however, where the money +came from. He had no scruples about taking a part of it to buy drink +for himself and one or two loafers he numbered among his personal +acquaintances. But there was sufficient left to provide for all the +earthly needs of the dying woman and her child. The little one breathed +its last within two days of Mrs. Savareen's visit, and the mother +followed it to the grave a week later. + +Since then "Jack Randall" had dragged on a solitary existence in New +York, and had been on the very brink of starvation. Every half dime he +could lay hold of, by hook or by brook--and I fear it was sometimes by +both--was spent in the old way. Then his health suddenly broke down, +and for the first time he knew what it was to be weak and ill. Finally +he had been compelled to admit to himself that he was utterly beaten in +the race of life; and with a profound depth of meanness which +transcended any of his former acts, he had made up his mind to return +in his want and despair, to the wife whom he had so basely deserted. +Since leaving Westchester he had heard nothing of her, direct or +indirect; but he doubted not that she was supplied with the necessaries +of life, and that she would yield him her forgiveness. + +It is possible to sympathize with the prodigal son, but whose heart is +wide enough to find sympathy for such a prodigal husband as this? + +His wife heard him patiently out to the very end. Then she told him of +the arrival of Mr. Thomas Jefferson Haskins at the Royal Oak, and the +consequent visit to New York. The recital did not greatly move him. The +telling of his own story had again reduced him to a state of extreme +exhaustion, and he was for the time being incapable of further emotion. +He soon after dropped asleep, and as he was tolerably certain not to +awake until next morning, there was no occasion for further attendance +upon him. Mrs. Savareen drew to another apartment to ponder a while, +before retiring to rest, on the strange tale which she had heard. + +Next morning it was apparent that Savareen was alarmingly ill, and that +his illness did not arise solely from exhaustion. A doctor was called +in, and soon pronounced his verdict. The patient was suffering from +congestion of the lungs. The malady ran a rapid course, and in another +week he lay white and cold in his coffin, the scar on his cheek, +showing like a great pale ridge on a patch of hoar-frost. + + * * * * * + + +My story is told. The young widow donned the conventional weeds--"the +trappings and the suits of woe"--prescribed by custom under such +circumstances. It is only reasonable to believe that she sincerely +mourned the loss of her girlhood's ideal, but it was surely too much to +expect that she should be overwhelmed by grief at the death of one who +had been practically dead to her for years, and whose unworthiness had +recently been so unmistakably brought home to her. With her subsequent +fortunes the reader has no concern; but it can be no harm to inform him +that she remains a widow still, and that she at this moment resides +with her son--a prosperous lawyer--in one of the chief towns of Western +Canada. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Gerrard Street Mystery and Other +Weird Tales, by John Charles Dent + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GERRARD STREET MYSTERY *** + +This file should be named grrsm10.txt or grrsm10.zip +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, grrsm11.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, grrsm10a.txt + +Produced by David Moynihan, Charles Franks +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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