diff options
Diffstat (limited to '30700-h')
| -rw-r--r-- | 30700-h/30700-h.htm | 14009 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 30700-h/images/img1.jpg | bin | 0 -> 49329 bytes |
2 files changed, 14009 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/30700-h/30700-h.htm b/30700-h/30700-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..f3f5c1e --- /dev/null +++ b/30700-h/30700-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,14009 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> + + <head> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content= + "text/html; charset=iso-8859-1" /> + <title> + The Project Gutenberg eBook of the Works of Robert Louis Stevenson Volume IV, by Robert Louis Stevenson. + </title> + + <style type="text/css"> + + body { margin-left: 12%; margin-right: 12%; text-align: justify; line-height: 1.4em;} + p { margin-top: .75em; margin-bottom: .75em; text-indent: 1em; } + p.noind { margin-top: .75em; margin-bottom: .75em; text-indent: 0; } + + h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 { text-align: center; } + hr { margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center; width: 70%; height: 5px; background-color: #dcdcdc; border: none;} + hr.full {width: 100%;} + hr.short {width: 20%; height: 2px;} + hr.art { margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; width: 40%; height: 5px; background-color: #778899; + margin-top: 2em; margin-bottom: 2em } + + .f90 { font-size: 90% } + .f80 { font-size: 80% } + .f70 { font-size: 70% } + + table.reg { margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; clear: both; } + table.nobctr { margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; } + + td.tc2 { padding-right: 0; padding-left: 0; text-align: right; vertical-align: top;} + td.tc2b { padding-right: 0; padding-left: 0; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;} + td.tc2c { padding-right: 0; padding-left: 0; text-align: right; vertical-align: middle;} + td.tc3 { padding-right: 0; padding-left: 0.5em; text-align: left; } + td.tc5 { padding-right: 0; padding-left: 0; text-align: left; } + td.tc5a { padding-right: 0; padding-left: 0; text-align: left; padding-top: 0.75em; padding-bottom: 0.75em; } + + table p { margin: 0;} + .center {text-align: center; } + + a:link, a:visited, link {text-decoration:none} + + .sc {font-variant: small-caps;} + .scs {font-variant: small-caps; font-size: 85%; } + + .pagenum {position: absolute; right: 5%; text-align: right; font-size: 10pt; + background-color: #f5f5f5; color: #778899; text-indent: 0; + padding-left: 0.5em; padding-right: 0.5em; font-style: normal; } + + span.correction {border-bottom: 1px dashed red;} + + .figcenter {text-align: center; padding-left: 1em; padding-right: 1em;} + + div.poemr {margin-top: .75em; margin-bottom: .75em; font-size: 90%;} + div.poemr p { margin-left: 0; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em; margin-top: 0em; margin-bottom: 0em; } + div.poemr p.i05 { margin-left: 0.5em; } + div.poemr p.i1 { margin-left: 1em; } + div.poemr p.i15 { margin-left: 1.5em; } + + div.quote { margin-left: 2em; font-size: 90%; line-height: 1.2em; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em; } + div.quote p { margin-top: .5em; margin-bottom: .5em; } + + .border1 {background-color: #dcdcdc; color: #696969;} + .pt05 {padding-top: 0.5em;} + .pt2 {padding-top: 2em;} + .pt3 {padding-top: 3em;} + + </style> + </head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson - +Swanston Edition Vol. 4 (of 25), by Robert Louis Stevenson + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson - Swanston Edition Vol. 4 (of 25) + +Author: Robert Louis Stevenson + +Other: Andrew Lang + +Release Date: December 17, 2009 [EBook #30700] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WORKS--R.L. STEVENSON, VOL 4 (OF 25) *** + + + + +Produced by Marius Masi, Jonathan Ingram and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<table class="border1" border="0" cellpadding="10" summary="TN"> +<tr> +<td style="width:25%; vertical-align:top"> +Transcriber's note: +</td> +<td> +A few punctuation errors have been corrected. They +appear in the text <span class="correction" title="explanation will pop up">like this</span>, and the +explanation will appear when the mouse pointer is moved over the marked +passage. Hyphenation inconsistencies were left unchanged. +<br /> +</td> +</tr> +</table> + +<div class="pt3"> </div> + +<h4>THE WORKS OF</h4> +<h3>ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON</h3> +<h4>SWANSTON EDITION</h4> +<h5>VOLUME IV</h5> + +<div class="pt3"> </div> + +<p class="noind center"><i>Of this SWANSTON EDITION in Twenty-five<br /> +Volumes of the Works of ROBERT LOUIS<br /> +STEVENSON Two Thousand and Sixty Copies<br /> +have been printed, of which only Two Thousand<br /> +Copies are for sale.</i></p> + +<p class="noind center"><i>This is No. <span style="font-size: 60%;">............</span></i></p> +<div class="pt05"> </div> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img style="border:0; width:431px; height:650px" + src="images/img1.jpg" + alt="" /> +<p class="f70">TREE AT SWANSTON BEARING INITIALS OF R. L. S.</p> +</div> + +<h3>THE WORKS OF</h3> +<h2>ROBERT LOUIS</h2> +<h2>STEVENSON</h2> + +<div class="pt3"> </div> +<h5>VOLUME FOUR</h5> +<div class="pt3"> </div> + +<h5>LONDON: PUBLISHED BY CHATTO AND<br /> +WINDUS: IN ASSOCIATION WITH CASSELL<br /> +AND COMPANY LIMITED: WILLIAM<br /> +HEINEMANN: AND LONGMANS GREEN<br /> +AND COMPANY MDCCCCXI</h5> + +<div class="pt3"> </div> +<h6>ALL RIGHTS RESERVED</h6> + +<div class="pt2"> </div> +<hr class="art" /> +<h3>CONTENTS</h3> + +<table class="nobctr" width="90%" summary="Contents"> + +<tr> <td class="center" colspan="3"><h4>NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS</h4></td> </tr> + +<tr> <td class="center" colspan="3">THE SUICIDE CLUB</td> </tr> + +<tr style="font-size: 70%; "> <td class="tc2"> </td> + <td> </td> + <td class="tc2">PAGE</td> </tr> + +<tr> <td class="scs tc5" colspan="2">Story of the Young Man with the Cream Tarts</td> + <td class="tc2"><a href="#page5">5</a></td> </tr> + +<tr> <td class="scs tc5" colspan="2">The Story of the Physician and the Saratoga Trunk</td> + <td class="tc2"><a href="#page37">37</a></td> </tr> + +<tr> <td class="scs tc5" colspan="2">The Adventure of the Hansom Cabs</td> + <td class="tc2"><a href="#page65">65</a></td> </tr> + +<tr> <td class="center" style="padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em;" colspan="3">THE RAJAH’S DIAMOND</td> </tr> + +<tr> <td class="scs tc5" colspan="2">Story of the Bandbox</td> + <td class="tc2"><a href="#page86">86</a></td> </tr> + +<tr> <td class="scs tc5" colspan="2">Story of the Young Man in Holy Orders</td> + <td class="tc2"><a href="#page111">111</a></td> </tr> + +<tr> <td class="scs tc5" colspan="2">The Story of the House with the Green Blinds</td> + <td class="tc2"><a href="#page127">127</a></td> </tr> + +<tr> <td class="scs tc5" colspan="2">The Adventure of Prince Florizel and a Detective</td> + <td class="tc2"><a href="#page159">159</a></td> </tr> + +<tr> <td class="center" style="padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em;" colspan="3">THE PAVILION ON THE LINKS</td> </tr> + +<tr style="font-size: 70%; "> <td class="tc2">CHAPTER</td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td></tr> + +<tr> <td class="tc2">I.</td> + <td class="scs tc3">Tells how I Camped in Graden Sea-wood, and beheld a Light in the Pavilion</td> + <td class="tc2b"><a href="#page167">167</a></td> </tr> + +<tr> <td class="tc2">II.</td> + <td class="scs tc3">Tells of the Nocturnal Landing from the Yacht</td> + <td class="tc2b"><a href="#page174">174</a></td> </tr> + +<tr> <td class="tc2">III.</td> + <td class="scs tc3">Tells how I became Acquainted with my Wife</td> + <td class="tc2b"><a href="#page180">180</a></td> </tr> + +<tr> <td class="tc2">IV.</td> + <td class="scs tc3">Tells in what a Startling Manner I learned that I was not Alone in Graden Sea-wood</td> + <td class="tc2b"><a href="#page189">189</a></td> </tr> + +<tr> <td class="tc2">V.</td> + <td class="scs tc3">Tells of an Interview between Northmour, Clara, and Myself</td> + <td class="tc2b"><a href="#page197">197</a></td> </tr> + +<tr> <td class="tc2">VI.</td> + <td class="scs tc3">Tells of my Introduction to the Tall Man</td> + <td class="tc2b"><a href="#page202">202</a></td> </tr> + +<tr> <td class="tc2">VII.</td> + <td class="scs tc3">Tells how a Word was cried through the Pavilion Window</td> + <td class="tc2b"><a href="#page208">208</a></td> </tr> + +<tr> <td class="tc2">VIII.</td> + <td class="scs tc3">Tells the Last of the Tall Man</td> + <td class="tc2b"><a href="#page214">214</a></td> </tr> + +<tr> <td class="tc2">IX.</td> + <td class="scs tc3">Tells how Northmour carried out his Threat</td> + <td class="tc2b"><a href="#page221">221</a></td> </tr> + +<tr> <td class="tc5a" colspan="2">A LODGING FOR THE NIGHT</td> + <td class="tc2c"><a href="#page227">227</a></td> </tr> + +<tr> <td class="tc5a" colspan="2">THE SIRE DE MALÉTROIT’S DOOR</td> + <td class="tc2c"><a href="#page250">250</a></td> </tr> + +<tr> <td class="tc5a" colspan="2">PROVIDENCE AND THE GUITAR</td> + <td class="tc2c"><a href="#page273">273</a></td> </tr> + +</table> + + +<div class="pt2"> </div> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page1"></a>1</span></p> +<hr class="full" /> +<h2>NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS</h2> +<hr class="full" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page2"></a>2</span></p> +<div class="pt2"> </div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page3"></a>3</span></p> + +<h5>TO</h5> + +<h3>ROBERT ALAN MOWBRAY STEVENSON</h3> + +<h6>IN GRATEFUL REMEMBRANCE OF THEIR YOUTH</h6> +<h6>AND THEIR ALREADY OLD AFFECTION</h6> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page4"></a>4</span></p> +<div class="pt2"> </div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page5"></a>5</span></p> +<h2>NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS</h2> +<hr class="art" /> +<div class="pt3"> </div> + + + +<h3>THE SUICIDE CLUB</h3> + + +<h5>STORY OF THE YOUNG MAN WITH THE CREAM TARTS</h5> + +<p class="noind"><span class="sc">During</span> his residence in London, the accomplished Prince +Florizel of Bohemia gained the affection of all classes +by the seduction of his manner and by a well-considered +generosity. He was a remarkable man even by what +was known of him; and that was but a small part of what +he actually did. Although of a placid temper in ordinary +circumstances, and accustomed to take the world with +as much philosophy as any ploughman, the Prince of +Bohemia was not without a taste for ways of life more +adventurous and eccentric than that to which he was +destined by his birth. Now and then, when he fell into +a low humour, when there was no laughable play to witness +in any of the London theatres, and when the season of +the year was unsuitable to those field sports in which he +excelled all competitors, he would summon his confidant +and Master of the Horse, Colonel Geraldine, and bid him +prepare himself against an evening ramble. The Master +of the Horse was a young officer of a brave and even temerarious +disposition. He greeted the news with delight, +and hastened to make ready. Long practice and a varied +acquaintance of life had given him a singular facility in +disguise; he could adapt, not only his face and bearing, +but his voice and almost his thoughts, to those of any rank, +character, or nation; and in this way he diverted attention +from the Prince, and sometimes gained admission for the +pair into strange societies. The civil authorities were +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page6"></a>6</span> +never taken into the secret of these adventures; the imperturbable +courage of the one and the ready invention +and chivalrous devotion of the other had brought them +through a score of dangerous passes; and they grew in +confidence as time went on.</p> + +<p>One evening in March they were driven by a sharp +fall of sleet into an Oyster Bar in the immediate neighbourhood +of Leicester Square. Colonel Geraldine was +dressed and painted to represent a person connected +with the Press in reduced circumstances; while the Prince +had, as usual, travestied his appearance by the addition +of false whiskers and a pair of large adhesive eyebrows. +These lent him a shaggy and weather-beaten air, which, +for one of his urbanity, formed the most impenetrable +disguise. Thus equipped, the commander and his satellite +sipped their brandy and soda in security.</p> + +<p>The bar was full of guests, male and female; but though +more than one of these offered to fall into talk with our +adventurers, none of them promised to grow interesting +upon a nearer acquaintance. There was nothing present +but the lees of London and the commonplace of disrespectability; +and the Prince had already fallen to yawning, +and was beginning to grow weary of the whole excursion, +when the swing doors were pushed violently open, and a +young man, followed by a couple of commissionaires, +entered the bar. Each of the commissionaires carried +a large dish of cream tarts under a cover, which they at +once removed; and the young man made the round of +the company, and pressed these confections upon every +one’s acceptance with an exaggerated courtesy. Sometimes +the offer was laughingly accepted; sometimes it was +firmly, or even harshly, rejected. In these latter cases +the new-comer always ate the tart himself, with some +more or less humorous commentary.</p> + +<p>At last he accosted Prince Florizel.</p> + +<p>“Sir,” said he, with a profound obeisance, proffering +the tart at the same time between his thumb and forefinger, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page7"></a>7</span> +“will you so far honour an entire stranger? I +can answer for the quality of the pastry, having eaten +two dozen and three of them myself since five o’clock.”</p> + +<p>“I am in the habit,” replied the Prince, “of looking +not so much to the nature of a gift as to the spirit in which +it is offered.”</p> + +<p>“The spirit, sir,” returned the young man, with another +bow, “is one of mockery.”</p> + +<p>“Mockery!” repeated Florizel. “And whom do you +propose to mock?”</p> + +<p>“I am not here to expound my philosophy,” replied +the other, “but to distribute these cream tarts. If I +mention that I heartily include myself in the ridicule of +the transaction, I hope you will consider honour satisfied +and condescend. If not, you will constrain me to +eat my twenty-eighth, and I own to being weary of the +exercise.”</p> + +<p>“You touch me,” said the Prince, “and I have all the +will in the world to rescue you from this dilemma, but +upon one condition. If my friend and I eat your cakes—for +which we have neither of us any natural inclination—we +shall expect you to join us at supper by way of recompense.”</p> + +<p>The young man seemed to reflect.</p> + +<p>“I have still several dozen upon hand,” he said at last; +“and that will make it necessary for me to visit several +more bars before my great affair is concluded. This will +take some time; and if you are hungry——“</p> + +<p>The Prince interrupted him with a polite gesture.</p> + +<p>“My friend and I will accompany you,” he said; “for +we have already a deep interest in your very agreeable +mode of passing an evening. And now that the preliminaries +of peace are settled, allow me to sign the treaty for +both.”</p> + +<p>And the Prince swallowed the tart with the best grace +imaginable.</p> + +<p>“It is delicious,” said he.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page8"></a>8</span></p> + +<p>“I perceive you are a connoisseur,” replied the young +man.</p> + +<p>Colonel Geraldine likewise did honour to the pastry; +and every one in that bar having now either accepted or +refused his delicacies, the young man with the cream tarts +led the way to another and similar establishment. The +two commissionaires, who seemed to have grown accustomed +to their absurd employment, followed immediately +after; and the Prince and the Colonel brought up the rear, +arm-in-arm, and smiling to each other as they went. In +this order the company visited two other taverns, where +scenes were enacted of a like nature to that already described—some +refusing, some accepting, the favours of this vagabond +hospitality, and the young man himself eating each +rejected tart.</p> + +<p>On leaving the third saloon the young man counted +his store. There were but nine remaining, three in one +tray and six in the other.</p> + +<p>“Gentlemen,” said he, addressing himself to his two +new followers, “I am unwilling to delay your supper. +I am positively sure you must be hungry. I feel that +I owe you a special consideration. And on this great +day for me, when I am closing a career of folly by my +most conspicuously silly action, I wish to behave handsomely +to all who give me countenance. Gentlemen, +you shall wait no longer. Although my constitution is +shattered by previous excesses, at the risk of my life I +liquidate the suspensory condition.”</p> + +<p>With these words he crushed the nine remaining tarts +into his mouth, and swallowed them at a single movement +each. Then, turning to the commissionaires, he +gave them a couple of sovereigns.</p> + +<p>“I have to thank you,” said he, “for your extraordinary +patience.”</p> + +<p>And he dismissed them with a bow apiece. For some +seconds he stood looking at the purse from which he had +just paid his assistants, then, with a laugh, he tossed it +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page9"></a>9</span> +into the middle of the street, and signified his readiness +for supper.</p> + +<p>In a small French restaurant in Soho, which had enjoyed +an exaggerated reputation for some little while, +but had already begun to be forgotten, and in a private +room up two pair of stairs, the three companions made a +very elegant supper, and drank three or four bottles of +champagne, talking the while upon indifferent subjects. +The young man was fluent and gay, but he laughed louder +than was natural in a person of polite breeding; his hands +trembled violently, and his voice took sudden and surprising +inflections, which seemed to be independent of his +will. The dessert had been cleared away, and all three had +lighted their cigars, when the Prince addressed him in +these words:—</p> + +<p>“You will, I am sure, pardon my curiosity. What I +have seen of you has greatly pleased but even more puzzled +me. And though I should be loth to seem indiscreet, I +must tell you that my friend and I are persons very well +worthy to be entrusted with a secret. We have many of +our own, which we are continually revealing to improper +ears. And if, as I suppose, your story is a silly one, you +need have no delicacy with us, who are two of the silliest +men in England. My name is Godall, Theophilus Godall; +my friend is Major Alfred Hammersmith—or at least, +such is the name by which he chooses to be known. We +pass our lives entirely in the search for extravagant adventures; +and there is no extravagance with which we are +not capable of sympathy.”</p> + +<p>“I like you, Mr. Godall,” returned the young man; +“you inspire me with a natural confidence; and I have +not the slightest objection to your friend the Major, whom +I take to be a nobleman in masquerade. At least, I am +sure he is no soldier.”</p> + +<p>The Colonel smiled at this compliment to the perfection +of his art; and the young man went on in a more +animated manner.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page10"></a>10</span></p> + +<p>“There is every reason why I should not tell you my +story. Perhaps that is just the reason why I am going to +do so. At least, you seem so well prepared to hear a tale +of silliness that I cannot find it in my heart to disappoint +you. My name, in spite of your example, I shall keep to +myself. My age is not essential to the narrative. I am +descended from my ancestors by ordinary generation, and +from them I inherited the very eligible human tenement +which I still occupy and a fortune of three hundred pounds +a year. I suppose they also handed on to me a harebrain +humour, which it has been my chief delight to indulge. +I received a good education. I can play the violin nearly +well enough to earn money in the orchestra of a penny +gaff, but not quite. The same remark applies to the +flute and the French horn. I learned enough of whist to +lose about a hundred a year at that scientific game. My +acquaintance with French was sufficient to enable me to +squander money in Paris with almost the same facility as +in London. In short, I am a person full of manly accomplishments. +I have had every sort of adventure, including +a duel about nothing. Only two months ago I met a +young lady exactly suited to my taste in mind and body; +I found my heart melt; I saw that I had come upon my +fate at last, and was in the way to fall in love. But when +I came to reckon up what remained to me of my capital, +I found it amounted to something less than four hundred +pounds! I ask you fairly—can a man who respects himself +fall in love on four hundred pounds? I concluded, +certainly not; left the presence of my charmer, and slightly +accelerating my usual rate of expenditure, came this +morning to my last eighty pounds. This I divided into +two equal parts; forty I reserved for a particular purpose; +the remaining forty I was to dissipate before the night. +I have passed a very entertaining day, and played many +farces besides that of the cream tarts which procured me +the advantage of your acquaintance; for I was determined, +as I told you, to bring a foolish career to a still more foolish +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page11"></a>11</span> +conclusion; and when you saw me throw my purse into +the street the forty pounds were at an end. Now you +know me as well as I know myself: a fool, but consistent +in his folly; and, as I will ask you to believe, neither a +whimperer nor a coward.”</p> + +<p>From the whole tone of the young man’s statement it +was plain that he harboured very bitter and contemptuous +thoughts about himself. His auditors were led to imagine +that his love affair was nearer his heart than he admitted, +and that he had a design on his own life. The farce of +the cream tarts began to have very much the air of a +tragedy in disguise.</p> + +<p>“Why, is this not odd,” broke out Geraldine, giving a +look to Prince Florizel, “that we three fellows should +have met by the merest accident in so large a wilderness +as London, and should be so nearly in the same +condition?”</p> + +<p>“How?” cried the young man. “Are you, too, +ruined? Is this supper a folly like my cream tarts? +Has the devil brought three of his own together for a +last carouse?”</p> + +<p>“The devil, depend upon it, can sometimes do a very +gentlemanly thing,” returned Prince Florizel; “and I am +so much touched by this coincidence that, although we +are not entirely in the same case, I am going to put an +end to the disparity. Let your heroic treatment of the +last cream tarts be my example.”</p> + +<p>So saying, the Prince drew out his purse and took from +it a small bundle of bank-notes.</p> + +<p>“You see, I was a week or so behind you, but I mean +to catch you up and come neck-and-neck into the winning-post,” +he continued. “This,” laying one of the notes upon +the table, “will suffice for the bill. As for the rest——“</p> + +<p>He tossed them into the fire, and they went up the +chimney in a single blaze.</p> + +<p>The young man tried to catch his arm, but as the table +was between them his interference came too late.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page12"></a>12</span></p> + +<p>“Unhappy man,” he cried, “you should not +have burned them all! You should have kept forty +pounds.”</p> + +<p>“Forty pounds!” repeated the Prince. “Why, in +Heaven’s name, forty pounds?”</p> + +<p>“Why not eighty?” cried the Colonel; “for to my +certain knowledge there must have been a hundred in +the bundle.”</p> + +<p>“It was only forty pounds he needed,” said the young +man gloomily. “But without them there is no admission. +The rule is strict. Forty pounds for each. Accursed life, +where a man cannot even die without money!”</p> + +<p>The Prince and the Colonel exchanged glances.</p> + +<p>“Explain yourself,” said the latter. “I have still a +pocket-book tolerably well lined, and I need not say how +readily I should share my wealth with Godall. But I must +know to what end: you must certainly tell us what you +mean.”</p> + +<p>The young man seemed to awaken: he looked uneasily +from one to the other, and his face flushed deeply.</p> + +<p>“You are not fooling me?” he asked. “You are +indeed ruined men like me?”</p> + +<p>“Indeed, I am for my part,” replied the Colonel.</p> + +<p>“And for mine,” said the Prince, “I have given you +proof. Who but a ruined man would throw his notes into +the fire? The action speaks for itself.”</p> + +<p>“A ruined man—yes,” returned the other suspiciously, +“or else a millionaire.”</p> + +<p>“Enough, sir,” said the Prince; “I have said so, and +I am not accustomed to have my word remain in doubt.”</p> + +<p>“Ruined?” said the young man. “Are you ruined, +like me? Are you, after a life of indulgence, come to such +a pass that you can only indulge yourself in one thing +more? Are you“—he kept lowering his voice as he went +on—“are you going to give yourselves that last indulgence? +Are you going to avoid the consequences of your +folly by the one infallible and easy path? Are you going +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page13"></a>13</span> +to give the slip to the sheriff’s officers of conscience by +the one open door?”</p> + +<p>Suddenly he broke off and attempted to laugh.</p> + +<p>“Here is your health!” he cried, emptying his glass, +“and good-night to you, my merry ruined men.”</p> + +<p>Colonel Geraldine caught him by the arm as he was +about to rise.</p> + +<p>“You lack confidence in us,” he said, “and you are +wrong. To all your questions I make answer in the affirmative. +But I am not so timid, and can speak the Queen’s +English plainly. We too, like yourself, have had enough +of life, and are determined to die. Sooner or later, alone +or together, we meant to seek out death and beard him +where he lies ready. Since we have met you, and your +case is more pressing, let it be to-night—and at once—and, +if you will, all three together. Such a penniless +trio,” he cried, “should go arm-in-arm into the halls of +Pluto, and give each other some countenance among the +shades!”</p> + +<p>Geraldine had hit exactly on the manners and intonations +that became the part he was playing. The Prince +himself was disturbed, and looked over at his confidant +with a shade of doubt. As for the young man, the flush +came back darkly into his cheek, and his eyes threw out +a spark of light.</p> + +<p>“You are the men for me!” he cried, with an almost +terrible gaiety. “Shake hands upon the bargain!” (his +hand was cold and wet). “You little know in what a +company you will begin the march! You little know in +what a happy moment for yourselves you partook of my +cream tarts! I am only a unit, but I am a unit in an +army. I know Death’s private door. I am one of his +familiars, and can show you into eternity without ceremony +and yet without scandal.”</p> + +<p>They called upon him eagerly to explain his meaning.</p> + +<p>“Can you muster eighty pounds between you?” he +demanded.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page14"></a>14</span></p> + +<p>Geraldine ostentatiously consulted his pocket-book, +and replied in the affirmative.</p> + +<p>“Fortunate beings!” cried the young man. “Forty +pounds is the entry-money of the Suicide Club.”</p> + +<p>“The Suicide Club,” said the Prince, “why, what the +devil is that?”</p> + +<p>“Listen,” said the young man; “this is the age of +conveniences, and I have to tell you of the last perfection +of the sort. We have affairs in different places; and +hence railways were invented. Railways separated us +infallibly from our friends; and so telegraphs were made +that we might communicate speedily at great distances. +Even in hotels we have lifts to spare us a climb of some +hundred steps. Now, we know that life is only a stage +to play the fool upon as long as the part amuses us. There +was one more convenience lacking to modern comfort: +a decent, easy way to quit that stage; the back stairs +to liberty; or, as I said this moment, Death’s private door. +This, my two fellow-rebels, is supplied by the Suicide Club. +Do not suppose that you and I are alone, or even exceptional, +in the highly reasonable desire that we profess. A large +number of our fellowmen, who have grown heartily sick +of the performance in which they are expected to join +daily, and all their lives long, are only kept from flight by +one or two considerations. Some have families who would +be shocked, or even blamed, if the matter became public; +others have a weakness at heart and recoil from the circumstances +of death. That is, to some extent, my own experience. +I cannot put a pistol to my head and draw the +trigger; for something stronger than myself withholds the +act; and although I loathe life, I have not strength enough +in my body to take hold of death and be done with it. For +such as I, and for all who desire to be out of the coil without +posthumous scandal, the Suicide Club has been inaugurated. +How this has been managed, what is its +history, or what may be its ramifications in other lands, +I am myself uninformed; and what I know of its constitution, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page15"></a>15</span> +I am not at liberty to communicate to you. To +this extent, however, I am at your service. If you are +truly tired of life, I will introduce you to-night to a meeting; +and if not to-night, at least some time within the +week, you will be easily relieved of your existences. It +is now (consulting his watch) eleven; by half-past, at +latest, we must leave this place; so that you have half +an hour before you to consider my proposal. It is more +serious than a cream tart,” he added, with a smile; “and +I suspect more palatable.”</p> + +<p>“More serious, certainly,” returned Colonel Geraldine; +“and as it is so much more so, will you allow me five +minutes’ speech in private with my friend Mr. Godall?”</p> + +<p>“It is only fair,” answered the young man. “If you +will permit, I will retire.”</p> + +<p>“You will be very obliging,” said the Colonel.</p> + +<p>As soon as the two were alone—“What,” said Prince +Florizel, “is the use of this confabulation, Geraldine? +I see you are flurried, whereas my mind is very tranquilly +made up. I will see the end of this.”</p> + +<p>“Your Highness,” said the Colonel, turning pale; “let +me ask you to consider the importance of your life, not +only to your friends, but to the public interest. ‘If not +to-night,’ said this madman; but supposing that to-night +some irreparable disaster were to overtake your Highness’s +person, what, let me ask you, what would be my despair, +and what the concern and disaster of a great nation?”</p> + +<p>“I will see the end of this,” repeated the Prince in his +most deliberate tones; “and have the kindness, Colonel +Geraldine, to remember and respect your word of honour +as a gentleman. Under no circumstances, recollect, nor +without my special authority, are you to betray the incognito +under which I choose to go abroad. These were +my commands, which I now reiterate. And now,” he +added, “let me ask you to call for the bill.”</p> + +<p>Colonel Geraldine bowed in submission; but he had +a very white face as he summoned the young man of the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page16"></a>16</span> +cream tarts, and issued his directions to the waiter. The +Prince preserved his undisturbed demeanour, and described +a Palais-Royal farce to the young suicide with great humour +and gusto. He avoided the Colonel’s appealing looks +without ostentation, and selected another cheroot with +more than usual care. Indeed, he was now the only man +of the party who kept any command over his nerves.</p> + +<p>The bill was discharged, the Prince giving the whole +change of the note to the astonished waiter; and the +three drove off in a four-wheeler. They were not long +upon the way before the cab stopped at the entrance to +a rather dark court. Here all descended.</p> + +<p>After Geraldine had paid the fare, the young man +turned, and addressed Prince Florizel as follows:—</p> + +<p>“It is still time, Mr. Godall, to make good your escape +into thraldom. And for you too, Major Hammersmith. +Reflect well before you take another step; and if your +hearts say no—here are the cross-roads.”</p> + +<p>“Lead on, sir,” said the Prince, “I am not the man +to go back from a thing once said.”</p> + +<p>“Your coolness does me good,” replied their guide. +“I have never seen any one so unmoved at this conjuncture; +and yet you are not the first whom I have escorted to this +door. More than one of my friends has preceded me, where +I knew I must shortly follow. But this is of no interest to +you. Wait me here for only a few moments; I shall return +as soon as I have arranged the preliminaries of your introduction.”</p> + +<p>And with that the young man, waving his hand to his +companions, turned into the court, entered a doorway and +disappeared.</p> + +<p>“Of all our follies,” said Colonel Geraldine in a low +voice, “this is the wildest and most dangerous.”</p> + +<p>“I perfectly believe so,” returned the Prince.</p> + +<p>“We have still,” pursued the Colonel, “a moment to +ourselves. Let me beseech your Highness to profit by the +opportunity and retire. The consequences of this step +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page17"></a>17</span> +are so dark, and may be so grave, that I feel myself justified +in pushing a little further than usual the liberty which your +Highness is so condescending as to allow me in private.”</p> + +<p>“Am I to understand that Colonel Geraldine is afraid?” +asked his Highness, taking his cheroot from his lips, and +looking keenly into the other’s face.</p> + +<p>“My fear is certainly not personal,” replied the other +proudly; “of that your Highness may rest well assured.”</p> + +<p>“I had supposed as much,” returned the Prince, with +undisturbed good-humour; “but I was unwilling to remind +you of the difference in our stations. No more—no +more,” he added, seeing Geraldine about to apologise; +“you stand excused.”</p> + +<p>And he smoked placidly, leaning against a railing, until +the young man returned.</p> + +<p>“Well,” he asked, “has our reception been arranged?”</p> + +<p>“Follow me,” was the reply. “The President will see +you in the cabinet. And let me warn you to be frank in +your answers. I have stood your guarantee; but the club +requires a searching inquiry before admission; for the indiscretion +of a single member would lead to the dispersion +of the whole society for ever.”</p> + +<p>The Prince and Geraldine put their heads together for +a moment. “Bear me out in this,” said the one; and +“bear me out in that,” said the other; and by boldly taking +up the characters of men with whom both were acquainted, +they had come to an agreement in a twinkling, and were +ready to follow their guide into the President’s cabinet.</p> + +<p>There were no formidable obstacles to pass. The +outer door stood open; the door of the cabinet was ajar; +and there, in a small but very high apartment, the young +man left them once more.</p> + +<p>“He will be here immediately,” he said with a nod, +as he disappeared.</p> + +<p>Voices were audible in the cabinet through the folding-doors +which formed one end; and now and then the noise +of a champagne cork, followed by a burst of laughter, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page18"></a>18</span> +intervened among the sounds of conversation. A single +tall window looked out upon the river and the embankment; +and by the disposition of the lights they judged +themselves not far from Charing Cross station. The +furniture was scanty, and the coverings worn to the thread; +and there was nothing movable except a hand-bell in the +centre of a round table, and the hats and coats of a considerable +party hung round the wall on pegs.</p> + +<p>“What sort of a den is this?” said Geraldine.</p> + +<p>“That is what I have come to see,” replied the Prince. +“If they keep live devils on the premises, the thing may +grow amusing.”</p> + +<p>Just then the folding-door was opened no more than +was necessary for the passage of a human body; and there +entered at the same moment a louder buzz of talk, and the +redoubtable President of the Suicide Club. The President +was a man of fifty or upwards; large and rambling in his +gait, with shaggy side whiskers, a bald top to his head, and +a veiled grey eye, which now and then emitted a twinkle. +His mouth, which embraced a large cigar, he kept continually +screwing round and round and from side to side, +as he looked sagaciously and coldly at the strangers. He +was dressed in light tweeds, with his neck very open in a +striped shirt collar; and carried a minute-book under one +arm.</p> + +<p>“Good-evening,” said he, after he had closed the +door behind him. “I am told you wish to speak with +me.”</p> + +<p>“We have a desire, sir, to join the Suicide Club,” replied +the Colonel.</p> + +<p>The President rolled his cigar about in his mouth.</p> + +<p>“What is that?” he said abruptly.</p> + +<p>“Pardon me,” returned the Colonel, “but I believe +you are the person best qualified to give us information +on that point.”</p> + +<p>“I?” cried the President. “A Suicide Club? Come, +come! this is a frolic for All Fools’ Day. I can make +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page19"></a>19</span> +allowances for gentlemen who get merry in their liquor; +but let there be an end to this.”</p> + +<p>“Call your club what you will,” said the Colonel; “you +have some company behind these doors, and we insist on +joining it.”</p> + +<p>“Sir,” returned the President curtly, “you have made +a mistake. This is a private house, and you must leave +it instantly.”</p> + +<p>The Prince had remained quietly in his seat throughout +this little colloquy; but now, when the Colonel looked over +to him, as much as to say, “Take your answer and come +away, for God’s sake!” he drew his cheroot from his mouth, +and spoke—</p> + +<p>“I have come here,” said he, “upon the invitation +of a friend of yours. He has doubtless informed you of +my intention in thus intruding on your party. Let me +remind you that a person in my circumstances has exceedingly +little to bind him, and is not at all likely to tolerate +much rudeness. I am a very quiet man, as a usual thing; +but, my dear sir, you are either going to oblige me in the +little matter of which you are aware, or you shall very +bitterly repent that you ever admitted me to your ante-chamber.”</p> + +<p>The President laughed aloud.</p> + +<p>“That is the way to speak,” said he. “You are a +man who is a man. You know the way to my heart, and +can do what you like with me. Will you,” he continued, +addressing Geraldine, “will you step aside for a few minutes? +I shall finish first with your companion, and some of the +club’s formalities require to be fulfilled in private.”</p> + +<p>With the words he opened the door of a small closet, +into which he shut the Colonel.</p> + +<p>“I believe in you,” he said to Florizel, as soon as they +were alone; “but are you sure of your friend?”</p> + +<p>“Not so sure as I am of myself, though he has more +cogent reasons,” answered Florizel, “but sure enough to +bring him here without alarm. He has had enough to +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page20"></a>20</span> +cure the most tenacious man of life. He was cashiered +the other day for cheating at cards.”</p> + +<p>“A good reason, I daresay,” replied the President; +“at least, we have another in the same case, and I feel +sure of him. Have you also been in the Service, may I +ask?”</p> + +<p>“I have,” was the reply; “but I was too lazy—I left +it early.”</p> + +<p>“What is your reason for being tired of life?” pursued +the President.</p> + +<p>“The same, as near as I can make out,” answered the +Prince: “unadulterated laziness.”</p> + +<p>The President started. “D—n it,” said he, “you must +have something better than that.”</p> + +<p>“I have no more money,” added Florizel. “That is +also a vexation, without doubt. It brings my sense of +idleness to an acute point.”</p> + +<p>The President rolled his cigar round in his mouth for +some seconds, directing his gaze straight into the eyes of +this unusual neophyte; but the Prince supported his +scrutiny with unabashed good temper.</p> + +<p>“If I had not a deal of experience,” said the President +at last, “I should turn you off. But I know the world; +and this much any way, that the most frivolous excuses +for a suicide are often the toughest to stand by. And +when I downright like a man, as I do you, sir, I would +rather strain the regulation than deny him.”</p> + +<p>The Prince and the Colonel, one after the other, were +subjected to a long and particular interrogatory: the +Prince alone; but Geraldine in the presence of the Prince, +so that the President might observe the countenance of +the one while the other was being warmly cross-examined. +The result was satisfactory; and the President, after having +booked a few details of each case, produced a form of oath +to be accepted. Nothing could be conceived more passive +than the obedience promised, or more stringent than the +terms by which the juror bound himself. The man who +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page21"></a>21</span> +forfeited a pledge so awful could scarcely have a rag of +honour or any of the consolations of religion left to him. +Florizel signed the document, but not without a shudder; +the Colonel followed his example with an air of great depression. +Then the President received the entry money; +and without more ado, introduced the two friends into +the smoking-room of the Suicide Club.</p> + +<p>The smoking-room of the Suicide Club was the same +height as the cabinet into which it opened, but much +larger, and papered from top to bottom with an imitation +of oak wainscot. A large and cheerful fire and a number +of gas-jets illuminated the company. The Prince and his +follower made the number up to eighteen. Most of the +party were smoking, and drinking champagne; a feverish +hilarity reigned, with sudden and rather ghastly pauses.</p> + +<p>“Is this a full meeting?” asked the Prince.</p> + +<p>“Middling,” said the President.—“By the way,” he +added, “if you have any money, it is usual to offer some +champagne. It keeps up a good spirit, and is one of my +own little perquisites.”</p> + +<p>“Hammersmith,” said Florizel, “I may leave the +champagne to you.”</p> + +<p>And with that he turned away and began to go round +among the guests. Accustomed to play the host in the +highest circles, he charmed and dominated all whom he +approached; there was something at once winning and +authoritative in his address; and his extraordinary coolness +gave him yet another distinction in this half-maniacal +society. As he went from one to another he kept both his +eyes and ears open, and soon began to gain a general idea +of the people among whom he found himself. As in all +other places of resort, one type predominated: people in +the prime of youth, with every show of intelligence and +sensibility in their appearance, but with little promise of +strength or the quality that makes success. Few were +much above thirty, and not a few were still in their teens. +They stood, leaning on tables and shifting on their feet; +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page22"></a>22</span> +sometimes they smoked extraordinarily fast, and sometimes +they let their cigars go out; some talked well, but +the conversation of others was plainly the result of nervous +tension, and was equally without wit or purport. As each +new bottle of champagne was opened, there was a manifest +improvement in gaiety. Only two were seated—one +in a chair in the recess of the window, with his head hanging +and his hands plunged deep into his trousers pockets, pale, +visibly moist with perspiration, saying never a word, a +very wreck of soul and body; the other sat on the divan +close by the chimney, and attracted notice by a trenchant +dissimilarity from all the rest. He was probably upwards +of forty, but he looked fully ten years older; and Florizel +thought he had never seen a man more naturally hideous, +nor one more ravaged by disease and ruinous excitements. +He was no more than skin and bone, was partly paralysed, +and wore spectacles of such unusual power that his eyes +appeared through the glasses greatly magnified and distorted +in shape. Except the Prince and the President, +he was the only person in the room who preserved the +composure of ordinary life.</p> + +<p>There was little decency among the members of the +club. Some boasted of the disgraceful actions, the consequences +of which had reduced them to seek refuge in +death; and the others listened without disapproval. There +was a tacit understanding against moral judgments; and +whoever passed the club doors enjoyed already some of the +immunities of the tomb. They drank to each other’s +memories, and to those of notable suicides in the past. +They compared and developed their different views of +death—some declaring that it was no more than blackness +and cessation; others full of a hope that that very night +they should be scaling the stars and commercing with the +mighty dead.</p> + +<p>“To the eternal memory of Baron Trenck, the type of +suicides!” cried one. “He went out of a small cell into +a smaller, that he might come forth again to freedom.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page23"></a>23</span></p> + +<p>“For my part,” said a second, “I wish no more than a +bandage for my eyes and cotton for my ears. Only they +have no cotton thick enough in this world.”</p> + +<p>A third was for reading the mysteries of life in a future +state; and a fourth professed that he would never have +joined the club if he had not been induced to believe in +Mr. Darwin.</p> + +<p>“I could not bear,” said this remarkable suicide, “to +be descended from an ape.”</p> + +<p>Altogether, the Prince was disappointed by the bearing +and conversation of the members.</p> + +<p>“It does not seem to me,” he thought, “a matter of +so much disturbance. If a man has made up his mind to +kill himself, let him do it, in God’s name, like a gentleman. +This flutter and big talk is out of place.”</p> + +<p>In the meanwhile Colonel Geraldine was a prey to the +blackest apprehensions; the club and its rules were still +a mystery, and he looked round the room for some one +who should be able to set his mind at rest. In this survey +his eye lighted on the paralytic person with the strong +spectacles; and seeing him so exceedingly tranquil, he +besought the President, who was going in and out of the +room under a pressure of business, to present him to the +gentleman on the divan.</p> + +<p>The functionary explained the needlessness of all such +formalities within the club, but nevertheless presented Mr. +Hammersmith to Mr. Malthus.</p> + +<p>Mr. Malthus looked at the Colonel curiously, and then +requested him to take a seat upon his right.</p> + +<p>“You are a new-comer,” he said, “and wish information? +You have come to the proper source. It is two +years since I first visited this charming club.”</p> + +<p>The Colonel breathed again. If Mr. Malthus had frequented +the place for two years there could be little danger +for the Prince in a single evening. But Geraldine was none +the less astonished, and began to suspect a mystification.</p> + +<p>“What!” cried he, “two years! I thought—but +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page24"></a>24</span> +indeed I see I have been made the subject of a +pleasantry.”</p> + +<p>“By no means,” replied Mr. Malthus mildly. “My +case is peculiar. I am not, properly speaking, a suicide +at all; but, as it were, an honorary member. I rarely +visit the club twice in two months. My infirmity and the +kindness of the President have procured me these little +immunities, for which besides I pay at an advanced rate. +Even as it is, my luck has been extraordinary.”</p> + +<p>“I am afraid,” said the Colonel, “that I must ask you +to be more explicit. You must remember that I am still +most imperfectly acquainted with the rules of the club.”</p> + +<p>“An ordinary member who comes here in search of +death, like yourself,” replied the paralytic, “returns every +evening until fortune favours him. He can even, if he is +penniless, get board and lodging from the President: very +fair, I believe, and clean, although, of course, not luxurious; +that could hardly be, considering the exiguity (if +I may so express myself) of the subscription. And then +the President’s company is a delicacy in itself.”</p> + +<p>“Indeed!” cried Geraldine, “he had not greatly prepossessed +me.”</p> + +<p>“Ah!” said Mr. Malthus, “you do not know the man: +the drollest fellow! What stories! What cynicism! He +knows life to admiration, and, between ourselves, is probably +the most corrupt rogue in Christendom.”</p> + +<p>“And he also,” asked the Colonel, “is a permanency—like +yourself, if I may say so without offence?”</p> + +<p>“Indeed, he is a permanency in a very different sense +from me,” replied Mr. Malthus. “I have been graciously +spared, but I must go at last. Now he never plays. He +shuffles and deals for the club, and makes the necessary +arrangements. That man, my dear Mr. Hammersmith, is +the very soul of ingenuity. For three years he has pursued +in London his useful and, I think I may add, his +artistic calling; and not so much as a whisper of suspicion +has been once aroused. I believe himself to be inspired. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page25"></a>25</span> +You doubtless remember the celebrated case, six months +ago, of the gentleman who was accidentally poisoned in a +chemist’s shop? That was one of the least rich, one of +the least racy, of his notions; but then, how simple! and +how safe!”</p> + +<p>“You astound me,” said the Colonel. “Was that +unfortunate gentleman one of the——” He was about +to say “victims“; but bethinking himself in time, he +substituted—“members of the club?”</p> + +<p>In the same flash of thought it occurred to him that +Mr. Malthus himself had not at all spoken in the tone of +one who is in love with death; and he added hurriedly—</p> + +<p>“But I perceive I am still in the dark. You speak of +shuffling and dealing; pray, for what end? And since +you seem rather unwilling to die than otherwise, I must +own that I cannot conceive what brings you here +at all.”</p> + +<p>“You say truly that you are in the dark,” replied Mr. +Malthus with more animation. “Why, my dear sir, this +club is the temple of intoxication. If my enfeebled health +could support the excitement more often, you may depend +upon it I should be more often here. It requires all the +sense of duty engendered by a long habit of ill-health and +careful regimen, to keep me from excess in this, which is, +I may say, my last dissipation. I have tried them all, +sir,” he went on, laying his hand on Geraldine’s arm, “all, +without exception, and I declare to you, upon my honour, +there is not one of them that has not been grossly and untruthfully +overrated. People trifle with love. Now, I +deny that love is a strong passion. Fear is the strong +passion; it is with fear that you must trifle if you wish +to taste the intensest joys of living. Envy me—envy me, +sir,” he added with a chuckle, “I am a coward!”</p> + +<p>Geraldine could scarcely repress a movement of repulsion +for this deplorable wretch; but he commanded +himself with an effort, and continued his inquiries.</p> + +<p>“How, sir,” he asked, “is the excitement so artfully +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page26"></a>26</span> +prolonged? and where is there any element of uncertainty?”</p> + +<p>“I must tell you how the victim for every evening is +selected,” returned Mr. Malthus; “and not only the +victim, but another member, who is to be the instrument +in the club’s hands, and death’s high priest for that occasion.”</p> + +<p>“Good God!” said the Colonel, “do they then kill +each other?”</p> + +<p>“The trouble of suicide is removed in that way,” returned +Malthus with a nod.</p> + +<p>“Merciful heavens!” ejaculated the Colonel, “and +may you—may I—may the—my friend, I mean—may +any of us be pitched upon this evening as the slayer of +another man’s body and immortal spirit? Can such +things be possible among men born of women? Oh! infamy +of infamies!”</p> + +<p>He was about to rise in his horror, when he caught the +Prince’s eye. It was fixed upon him from across the room +with a frowning and angry stare. And in a moment +Geraldine recovered his composure.</p> + +<p>“After all,” he added, “why not? and since you say +the game is interesting, <i>vogue la galère</i>—I follow the club!”</p> + +<p>Mr. Malthus had keenly enjoyed the Colonel’s amazement +and disgust. He had the vanity of wickedness; and +it pleased him to see another man give way to a generous +movement, while he felt himself, in his entire corruption, +superior to such emotions.</p> + +<p>“You now, after your first moment of surprise,” said +he, “are in a position to appreciate the delights of our +society. You can see how it combines the excitement of +a gaming-table, a duel, and a Roman amphitheatre. The +Pagans did well enough; I cordially admire the refinement +of their minds; but it has been reserved for a Christian +country to attain this extreme, this quintessence, this +absolute of poignancy. You will understand how vapid +are all amusements to a man who has acquired a taste for +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page27"></a>27</span> +this one. The game we play,” he continued, “is one of +extreme simplicity. A full pack—but I perceive you are +about to see the thing in progress. Will you lend me the +help of your arm? I am unfortunately paralysed.”</p> + +<p>Indeed, just as Mr. Malthus was beginning his description, +another pair of folding-doors was thrown open, and +the whole club began to pass, not without some hurry, +into the adjoining room. It was similar in every respect +to the one from which it was entered, but somewhat differently +furnished. The centre was occupied by a long green +table, at which the President sat shuffling a pack of cards +with great particularity. Even with the stick and the +Colonel’s arm, Mr. Malthus walked with so much difficulty +that everyone was seated before this pair and the Prince, +who had waited for them, entered the apartment; and, in +consequence, the three took seats close together at the +lower end of the board.</p> + +<p>“It is a pack of fifty-two,” whispered Mr. Malthus. +“Watch for the ace of spades, which is the sign of death, +and the ace of clubs, which designates the official of the +night. Happy, happy young men!” he added. “You +have good eyes, and can follow the game. Alas! I cannot +tell an ace from a deuce across the table.”</p> + +<p>And he proceeded to equip himself with a second pair +of spectacles.</p> + +<p>“I must at least watch the faces,” he explained.</p> + +<p>The Colonel rapidly informed his friend of all that he +had learned from the honorary member, and of the horrible +alternative that lay before them. The Prince was conscious +of a deadly chill and a contraction about his heart; +he swallowed with difficulty, and looked from side to side +like a man in a maze.</p> + +<p>“One bold stroke,” whispered the Colonel, “and we +may still escape.”</p> + +<p>But the suggestion recalled the Prince’s spirits.</p> + +<p>“Silence!” said he. “Let me see that you can play +like a gentleman for any stake, however serious.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page28"></a>28</span></p> + +<p>And he looked about him, once more to all appearance +at his ease, although his heart beat thickly, and he +was conscious of an unpleasant heat in his bosom. The +members were all very quiet and intent; every one was +pale, but none so pale as Mr. Malthus. His eyes protruded; +his head kept nodding involuntarily upon his +spine; his hands found their way, one after the other, to +his mouth, where they made clutches at his tremulous +and ashen lips. It was plain that the honorary +member enjoyed his membership on very startling +terms.</p> + +<p>“Attention, gentlemen!” said the President.</p> + +<p>And he began slowly dealing the cards about the table +in the reverse direction, pausing until each man had shown +his card. Nearly every one hesitated; and sometimes you +would see a player’s fingers stumble more than once before +he could turn over the momentous slip of pasteboard. As +the Prince’s turn drew nearer, he was conscious of a growing +and almost suffocating excitement; but he had somewhat +of the gambler’s nature, and recognised almost with astonishment +that there was a degree of pleasure in his sensations. +The nine of clubs fell to his lot; the three of spades was +dealt to Geraldine; and the queen of hearts to Mr. Malthus, +who was unable to suppress a sob of relief. The young +man of the cream tarts almost immediately afterwards +turned over the ace of clubs, and remained frozen with +horror, the card still resting on his finger; he had not come +there to kill, but to be killed; and the Prince in his generous +sympathy with his position almost forgot the peril that +still hung over himself and his friend.</p> + +<p>The deal was coming round again, and still Death’s +card had not come out. The players held their respiration, +and only breathed by gasps. The Prince received +another club; Geraldine had a diamond; but when Mr. +Malthus turned up his card a horrible noise, like that of +something breaking, issued from his mouth; and he rose +from his seat and sat down again, with no sign of his +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page29"></a>29</span> +paralysis. It was the ace of spades. The honorary member +had trifled once too often with his terrors.</p> + +<p>Conversation broke out again almost at once. The +players relaxed their rigid attitudes, and began to rise +from the table and stroll back by twos and threes into the +smoking-room. The President stretched his arms and +yawned, like a man who has finished his day’s work. But +Mr. Malthus sat in his place, with his head in his hands, +and his hands upon the table, drunk and motionless—a +thing stricken down.</p> + +<p>The Prince and Geraldine made their escape at once. +In the cold night air their horror of what they had witnessed +was redoubled.</p> + +<p>“Alas!” cried the Prince, “to be bound by an oath +in such a matter! to allow this wholesale trade in murder +to be continued with profit and impunity! If I but dared +to forfeit my pledge!”</p> + +<p>“That is impossible for your Highness,” replied the +Colonel, “whose honour is the honour of Bohemia. But +I dare, and may with propriety, forfeit mine.”</p> + +<p>“Geraldine,” said the Prince, “if your honour suffers in +any of the adventures into which you follow me, not only +will I never pardon you, but—what I believe will much +more sensibly affect you—I should never forgive myself.”</p> + +<p>“I receive your Highness’s commands,” replied the +Colonel. “Shall we go from this accursed spot?”</p> + +<p>“Yes,” said the Prince. “Call a cab in Heaven’s +name, and let me try to forget in slumber the memory +of this night’s disgrace.”</p> + +<p>But it was notable that he carefully read the name of +the court before he left it.</p> + +<p>The next morning, as soon as the Prince was stirring, +Colonel Geraldine brought him a daily newspaper, with +the following paragraph marked:—</p> + +<div class="pt05"> </div> +<p>“<span class="sc">Melancholy Accident.</span>—This morning, about two +o’clock, Mr. Bartholomew Malthus, of 16 Chepstow Place, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page30"></a>30</span> +Westbourne Grove, on his way home from a party at a +friend’s house, fell over the upper parapet in Trafalgar +Square, fracturing his skull and breaking a leg and an arm. +Death was instantaneous. Mr. Malthus, accompanied by +a friend, was engaged in looking for a cab at the time of +the unfortunate occurrence. As Mr. Malthus was paralytic, +it is thought that his fall may have been occasioned +by another seizure. The unhappy gentleman was well +known in the most respectable circles, and his loss will be +widely and deeply deplored.”</p> +<div class="pt05"> </div> + +<p>“If ever a soul went straight to Hell,” said Geraldine +solemnly, “it was that paralytic man’s.”</p> + +<p>The Prince buried his face in his hands, and remained +silent.</p> + +<p>“I am almost rejoiced,” continued the Colonel, “to +know that he is dead. But for our young man of the +cream tarts I confess my heart bleeds.”</p> + +<p>“Geraldine,” said the Prince, raising his face, “that +unhappy lad was last night as innocent as you and I; and +this morning the guilt of blood is on his soul. When I +think of the President, my heart grows sick within me. +I do not know how it shall be done, but I shall have that +scoundrel at my mercy as there is a God in heaven. What +an experience, what a lesson, was that game of cards!”</p> + +<p>“One,” said the Colonel, “never to be repeated.”</p> + +<p>The Prince remained so long without replying that +Geraldine grew alarmed.</p> + +<p>“You cannot mean to return,” he said. “You have +suffered too much and seen too much horror already. The +duties of your high position forbid the repetition of the +hazard.”</p> + +<p>“There is much in what you say,” replied Prince +Florizel, “and I am not altogether pleased with my own +determination. Alas! in the clothes of the greatest potentate +what is there but a man? I never felt my weakness +more acutely than now, Geraldine, but it is stronger than +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page31"></a>31</span> +I. Can I cease to interest myself in the fortunes of the +unhappy young man who supped with us some hours ago? +Can I leave the President to follow his nefarious career +unwatched? Can I begin an adventure so entrancing, +and not follow it to an end? No, Geraldine, you ask of +the Prince more than the man is able to perform. To-night, +once more, we take our places at the table of the +Suicide Club.”</p> + +<p>Colonel Geraldine fell upon his knees.</p> + +<p>“Will your Highness take my life?” he cried. “It is +his—his freely; but do not, O do not! let him ask me to +countenance so terrible a risk.”</p> + +<p>“Colonel Geraldine,” replied the Prince, with some +haughtiness of manner, “your life is absolutely your own. +I only looked for obedience; and when that is unwillingly +rendered, I shall look for that no longer. I add one word: +your importunity in this affair has been sufficient.”</p> + +<p>The Master of the Horse regained his feet at once.</p> + +<p>“Your Highness,” he said, “may I be excused in my +attendance this afternoon? I dare not, as an honourable +man, venture a second time into that fatal house until I +have perfectly ordered my affairs. Your Highness shall +meet, I promise him, with no more opposition from the +most devoted and grateful of his servants.”</p> + +<p>“My dear Geraldine,” returned Prince Florizel, “I +always regret when you oblige me to remember my rank. +Dispose of your day as you think fit, but be here before +eleven in the same disguise.”</p> + +<p>The club, on this second evening, was not so fully attended; +and when Geraldine and the Prince arrived there +were not above half a dozen persons in the smoking-room. +His Highness took the President aside and congratulated +him warmly on the demise of Mr. Malthus.</p> + +<p>“I like,” he said, “to meet with capacity, and certainly +find much of it in you. Your profession is of a very delicate +nature, but I see you are well qualified to conduct it +with success and secrecy.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page32"></a>32</span></p> + +<p>The President was somewhat affected by these compliments +from one of his Highness’s superior bearing. He +acknowledged them almost with humility.</p> + +<p>“Poor Malthy!” he added, “I shall hardly know the +club without him. The most of my patrons are boys, sir, +and poetical boys, who are not much company for me. +Not but what Malthy had some poetry too; but it was of +a kind that I could understand.”</p> + +<p>“I can readily imagine you should find yourself in +sympathy with Mr. Malthus,” returned the Prince. “He +struck me as a man of a very original disposition.”</p> + +<p>The young man of the cream tarts was in the room, +but painfully depressed and silent. His late companions +sought in vain to lead him into conversation.</p> + +<p>“How bitterly I wish,” he cried, “that I had never +brought you to this infamous abode! Begone, while you +are clean-handed. If you could have heard the old man +scream as he fell, and the noise of his bones upon the pavement! +Wish me, if you have any kindness to so fallen a +being—wish the ace of spades for me to-night!”</p> + +<p>A few more members dropped in as the evening went +on, but the club did not muster more than the devil’s dozen +when they took their places at the table. The Prince was +again conscious of a certain joy in his alarms; but he was +astonished to see Geraldine so much more self-possessed +than on the night before.</p> + +<p>“It is extraordinary,” thought the Prince, “that a +will, made or unmade, should so greatly influence a young +man’s spirit.”</p> + +<p>“Attention, gentlemen!” said the President, and he +began to deal.</p> + +<p>Three times the cards went all round the table, and +neither of the marked cards had yet fallen from his hand. +The excitement as he began the fourth distribution was +overwhelming. There were just cards enough to go once +more entirely round. The Prince, who sat second from +the dealer’s left, would receive, in the reverse mode of +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page33"></a>33</span> +dealing practised at the club, the second last card. The +third player turned up a black ace—it was the ace of clubs. +The next received a diamond, the next a heart, and so on; +but the ace of spades was still undelivered. At last +Geraldine, who sat upon the Prince’s left, turned his card; +it was an ace, but the ace of hearts.</p> + +<p>When Prince Florizel saw his fate upon the table in +front of him, his heart stood still. He was a brave man, +but the sweat poured off his face. There were exactly +fifty chances out of a hundred that he was doomed. He +reversed the card; it was the ace of spades. A loud roaring +filled his brain, and the table swam before his eyes. +He heard the player on his right break into a fit of laughter +that sounded between mirth and disappointment; he saw +the company rapidly dispersing, but his mind was full of +other thoughts. He recognised how foolish, how criminal, +had been his conduct. In perfect health, in the prime of +his years, the heir to a throne, he had gambled away his +future and that of a brave and loyal country. “God,” +he cried, “God forgive me!” And with that the confusion +of his senses passed away, and he regained his self-possession +in a moment.</p> + +<p>To his surprise, Geraldine had disappeared. There was +no one in the card-room but his destined butcher consulting +with the President, and the young man of the +cream tarts, who slipped up to the Prince and whispered +in his ear—</p> + +<p>“I would give a million, if I had it, for your luck.”</p> + +<p>His Highness could not help reflecting, as the young +man departed, that he would have sold his opportunity +for a much more moderate sum.</p> + +<p>The whispered conference now came to an end. The +holder of the ace of clubs left the room with a look of intelligence, +and the President, approaching the unfortunate +Prince, proffered him his hand.</p> + +<p>“I am pleased to have met you, sir,” said he, “and +pleased to have been in a position to do you this trifling +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page34"></a>34</span> +service. At least, you cannot complain of delay. On the +second evening—what a stroke of luck!”</p> + +<p>The Prince endeavoured in vain to articulate something +in response, but his mouth was dry and his tongue +seemed paralysed.</p> + +<p>“You feel a little sickish?” asked the President, with +some show of solicitude. “Most gentlemen do. Will you +take a little brandy?”</p> + +<p>The Prince signified in the affirmative, and the other +immediately filled some of the spirit into a tumbler.</p> + +<p>“Poor old Malthy!” ejaculated the President, as the +Prince drained the glass. “He drank near upon a pint, +and little enough good it seemed to do him!”</p> + +<p>“I am more amenable to treatment,” said the Prince, +a good deal revived. “I am my own man again at once, +as you perceive. And so, let me ask you, what are my +directions?”</p> + +<p>“You will proceed along the Strand in the direction of +the City, and on the left-hand pavement, until you meet +the gentleman who has just left the room. He will continue +your instructions, and him you will have the kindness +to obey; the authority of the club is vested in his +person for the night. And now,” added the President, “I +wish you a pleasant walk.”</p> + +<p>Florizel acknowledged the salutation rather awkwardly, +and took his leave. He passed through the smoking-room, +where the bulk of the players were still consuming champagne, +some of which he had himself ordered and paid for; +and he was surprised to find himself cursing them in his +heart. He put on his hat and greatcoat in the cabinet, +and selected his umbrella from a corner. The familiarity +of these acts, and the thought that he was about them for +the last time, betrayed him into a fit of laughter which +sounded unpleasantly in his own ears. He conceived a +reluctance to leave the cabinet, and turned instead to the +window. The sight of the lamps and the darkness recalled +him to himself.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page35"></a>35</span></p> + +<p>“Come, come, I must be a man,” he thought, “and +tear myself away.”</p> + +<p>At the corner of Box Court three men fell upon Prince +Florizel, and he was unceremoniously thrust into a carriage, +which at once drove rapidly away. There was +already an occupant.</p> + +<p>“Will your Highness pardon my zeal?” said a well-known +voice.</p> + +<p>The Prince threw himself upon the Colonel’s neck in a +passion of relief.</p> + +<p>“How can I ever thank you?” he cried. “And how +was this effected?”</p> + +<p>Although he had been willing to march upon his doom, +he was overjoyed to yield to friendly violence, and return +once more to life and hope.</p> + +<p>“You can thank me effectually enough,” replied the +Colonel, “by avoiding all such dangers in the future. And +as for your second question, all has been managed by the +simplest means. I arranged this afternoon with a celebrated +detective. Secrecy has been promised and paid for. +Your own servants have been principally engaged in the +affair. The house in Box Court has been surrounded since +nightfall, and this, which is one of your own carriages, has +been awaiting you for nearly an hour.”</p> + +<p>“And the miserable creature who was to have slain +me—what of him?” inquired the Prince.</p> + +<p>“He was pinioned as he left the club,” replied the +Colonel, “and now awaits your sentence at the Palace, +where he will soon be joined by his accomplices.”</p> + +<p>“Geraldine,” said the Prince, “you have saved me +against my explicit orders, and you have done well. I +owe you not only my life, but a lesson; and I should be +unworthy of my rank if I did not show myself grateful +to my teacher. Let it be yours to choose the +manner.”</p> + +<p>There was a pause, during which the carriage continued +to speed through the streets, and the two men were each +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page36"></a>36</span> +buried in his own reflections. The silence was broken by +Colonel Geraldine.</p> + +<p>“Your Highness,” said he, “has by this time a considerable +body of prisoners. There is at least one criminal +among the number to whom justice should be dealt. Our +oath forbids us all recourse to law; and discretion would +forbid it equally if the oath were loosened. May I inquire +your Highness’s intention?”</p> + +<p>“It is decided,” answered Florizel; “the President +must fall in duel. It only remains to choose his adversary.”</p> + +<p>“Your Highness has permitted me to name my own +recompense,” said the Colonel. “Will he permit me to +ask the appointment of my brother? It is an honourable +post, but I dare assure your Highness that the lad will +acquit himself with credit.”</p> + +<p>“You ask me an ungracious favour,” said the Prince, +“but I must refuse you nothing.”</p> + +<p>The Colonel kissed his hand with the greatest affection; +and at that moment the carriage rolled under the archway +of the Prince’s splendid residence.</p> + +<p>An hour after, Florizel in his official robes, and covered +with all the orders of Bohemia, received the members of +the Suicide Club.</p> + +<p>“Foolish and wicked men,” said he, “as many of you +as have been driven into this strait by the lack of fortune +shall receive employment and remuneration from my +officers. Those who suffer under a sense of guilt must +have recourse to a higher and more generous Potentate +than I. I feel pity for all of you, deeper than you can +imagine; to-morrow you shall tell me your stories; and +as you answer more frankly, I shall be the more able to +remedy your misfortunes. As for you,” he added, turning +to the President, “I should only offend a person of your +parts by any offer of assistance; but I have instead a piece +of diversion to propose to you. Here,” laying his hand on +the shoulder of Colonel Geraldine’s young brother, “is an +officer of mine who desires to make a little tour upon the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page37"></a>37</span> +Continent; and I ask you, as a favour, to accompany him +on this excursion. Do you,” he went on, changing his tone, +“do you shoot well with the pistol? Because you may +have need of that accomplishment. When two men go +travelling together, it is best to be prepared for all. Let +me add that, if by any chance you should lose young Mr. +Geraldine upon the way, I shall always have another +member of my household to place at your disposal; and I +am known, Mr. President, to have long eyesight, and as +long an arm.”</p> + +<p>With these words, said with much sternness, the Prince +concluded his address. Next morning the members of the +club were suitably provided for by his munificence, and +the President set forth upon his travels, under the supervision +of Mr. Geraldine, and a pair of faithful and adroit +lackeys, well trained in the Prince’s household. Not content +with this, discreet agents were put in possession of +the house in Box Court, and all letters or visitors for the +Suicide Club or its officials were to be examined by Prince +Florizel in person.</p> + +<div class="pt05"> </div> + +<p><i>Here</i> (says my Arabian author) <i>ends</i> <span class="sc">The Story of +the Young Man with the Cream Tarts</span>, <i>who is now a +comfortable householder in Wigmore Street, Cavendish Square. +The number, for obvious reasons, I suppress. Those who +care to pursue the adventures of Prince Florizel and the President +of the Suicide Club, may read</i></p> + +<div class="pt2"> </div> + +<h5>THE STORY OF THE PHYSICIAN AND THE SARATOGA +TRUNK</h5> + +<p class="noind"><span class="sc">Mr. Silas</span> Q. Scuddamore was a young American of a +simple and harmless disposition, which was the more to +his credit as he came from New England—a quarter of +the New World not precisely famous for those qualities. +Although he was exceedingly rich, he kept a note of all +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page38"></a>38</span> +his expenses in a little paper pocket-book; and he had +chosen to study the attractions of Paris from the seventh +story of what is called a furnished hotel in the Latin Quarter. +There was a great deal of habit in his penuriousness; and +his virtue, which was very remarkable among his associates, +was principally founded upon diffidence and youth.</p> + +<p>The next room to his was inhabited by a lady, very +attractive in her air and very elegant in toilette, whom, on +his first arrival, he had taken for a Countess. In course of +time he had learned that she was known by the name of +Madame Zéphyrine, and that whatever station she occupied +in life it was not that of a person of title. Madame +Zéphyrine, probably in the hope of enchanting the young +American, used to flaunt by him on the stairs with a civil +inclination, a word of course, and a knock-down look out +of her black eyes, and disappear in a rustle of silk, and +with the revelation of an admirable foot and ankle. But +these advances, so far from encouraging Mr. Scuddamore, +plunged him into the depths of depression and bashfulness. +She had come to him several times for a light, or to apologise +for imaginary depredations of her poodle; but his +mouth was closed in the presence of so superior a being, +his French promptly left him, and he could only stare and +stammer until she was gone. The slenderness of their +intercourse did not prevent him from throwing out insinuations +of a very glorious order when he was safely alone +with a few males.</p> + +<p>The room on the other side of the American’s—for +there were three rooms on a floor in the hotel—was tenanted +by an old English physician of rather doubtful reputation. +Dr. Noel, for that was his name, had been forced to leave +London, where he enjoyed a large and increasing practice; +and it was hinted that the police had been the instigators +of this change of scene. At least he, who had made something +of a figure in earlier life, now dwelt in the Latin +Quarter in great simplicity and solitude, and devoted +much of his time to study. Mr. Scuddamore had made his +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page39"></a>39</span> +acquaintance, and the pair would now and then dine together +frugally in a restaurant across the street.</p> + +<p>Silas Q. Scuddamore had many little vices of the more +respectable order, and was not restrained by delicacy from +indulging them in many rather doubtful ways. Chief +among his foibles stood curiosity. He was a born gossip; +and life, and especially those parts of it in which he had +no experience, interested him to the degree of passion. +He was a pert, invincible questioner, pushing his inquiries +with equal pertinacity and indiscretion; he had been +observed, when he took a letter to the post, to weigh it in +his hand, to turn it over and over, and to study the address +with care; and when he found a flaw in the partition +between his room and Madame Zéphyrine’s, instead of +filling it up, he enlarged and improved the opening, and +made use of it as a spy-hole on his neighbour’s affairs.</p> + +<p>One day, in the end of March, his curiosity growing +as it was indulged, he enlarged the hole a little further, +so that he might command another corner of the room. +That evening, when he went as usual to inspect Madame +Zéphyrine’s movements, he was astonished to find the +aperture obscured in an odd manner on the other side, +and still more abashed when the obstacle was suddenly +withdrawn and a titter of laughter reached his ears. Some +of the plaster had evidently betrayed the secret of his spy-hole, +and his neighbour had been returning the compliment +in kind. Mr. Scuddamore was moved to a very acute +feeling of annoyance; he condemned Madame Zéphyrine +unmercifully: he even blamed himself; but when he found, +next day, that she had taken no means to baulk him of his +favourite pastime, he continued to profit by her carelessness, +and gratify his idle curiosity.</p> + +<p>That next day Madame Zéphyrine received a long +visit from a tall, loosely-built man of fifty or upwards, +whom Silas had not hitherto seen. His tweed suit and +coloured shirt, no less than his shaggy side-whiskers, identified +him as a Britisher, and his dull grey eye affected Silas +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page40"></a>40</span> +with a sense of cold. He kept screwing his mouth from +side to side and round and round during the whole colloquy, +which was carried on in whispers. More than once it +seemed to the young New Englander as if their gestures +indicated his own apartment; but the only thing definite +he could gather by the most scrupulous attention was this +remark, made by the Englishman in a somewhat higher +key, as if in answer to some reluctance or opposition—</p> + +<p>“I have studied his taste to a nicety, and I tell you +again and again you are the only woman of the sort that I +can lay my hands on.”</p> + +<p>In answer to this, Madame Zéphyrine sighed, and +appeared by a gesture to resign herself, like one yielding +to unqualified authority.</p> + +<p>That afternoon the observatory was finally blinded, a +wardrobe having been drawn in front of it upon the other +side; and while Silas was still lamenting over this misfortune, +which he attributed to the Britisher’s malign +suggestion, the <i>concierge</i> brought him up a letter in a +female handwriting. It was conceived in French of no +very rigorous orthography, bore no signature, and in the +most encouraging terms invited the young American to +be present in a certain part of the Bullier Ball at eleven +o’clock that night. Curiosity and timidity fought a long +battle in his heart; sometimes he was all virtue, sometimes +all fire and daring; and the result of it was that, long before +ten, Mr. Silas Q. Scuddamore presented himself in unimpeachable +attire at the door of the Bullier Ball Rooms, +and paid his entry money with a sense of reckless devilry +that was not without its charm.</p> + +<p>It was Carnival time, and the Ball was very full and +noisy. The lights and the crowd at first rather abashed our +young adventurer, and then, mounting to his brain with +a sort of intoxication, put him in possession of more than +his own share of manhood. He felt ready to face the devil, +and strutted in the ball-room with the swagger of a cavalier. +While he was thus parading, he became aware of Madame +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page41"></a>41</span> +Zéphyrine and her Britisher in conference behind a pillar. +The cat-like spirit of eavesdropping overcame him at once. +He stole nearer and nearer on the couple from behind, +until he was within earshot.</p> + +<p>“That is the man,” the Britisher was saying; “there—with +the long blond hair—speaking to a girl in green.”</p> + +<p>Silas identified a very handsome young fellow of small +stature, who was plainly the object of this designation.</p> + +<p>“It is well,” said Madame Zéphyrine. “I shall do +my utmost. But, remember, the best of us may fail in +such a matter.”</p> + +<p>“Tut!” returned her companion; “I answer for the +result. Have I not chosen you from thirty? Go; but be +wary of the Prince. I cannot think what cursed accident +has brought him here to-night. As if there were not a +dozen balls in Paris better worth his notice than this riot +of students and counter-jumpers! See him where he sits, +more like a reigning Emperor at home than a Prince upon +his holidays!”</p> + +<p>Silas was again lucky. He observed a person of rather +a full build, strikingly handsome, and of a very stately and +courteous demeanour, seated at table with another handsome +young man, several years his junior, who addressed +him with conspicuous deference. The name of Prince struck +gratefully on Silas’s Republican hearing, and the aspect of +the person to whom that name was applied exercised its +usual charm upon his mind. He left Madame Zéphyrine +and her Englishman to take care of each other, and threading +his way through the assembly, approached the table +which the Prince and his confidant had honoured with their +choice.</p> + +<p>“I tell you, Geraldine,” the former was saying, “the +action is madness. Yourself (I am glad to remember it) +chose your brother for this perilous service, and you are +bound in duty to have a guard upon his conduct. He has +consented to delay so many days in Paris; that was already +an imprudence, considering the character of the man he has +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page42"></a>42</span> +to deal with; but now, when he is within eight-and-forty +hours of his departure, when he is within two or three days +of the decisive trial, I ask you, is this a place for him to spend +his time? He should be in a gallery at practice; he should +be sleeping long hours and taking moderate exercise on +foot; he should be on a rigorous diet, without white wines +or brandy. Does the dog imagine we are all playing +comedy? The thing is deadly earnest, Geraldine.”</p> + +<p>“I know the lad too well to interfere,” replied Colonel +Geraldine, “and well enough not to be alarmed. He is +more cautious than you fancy, and of an indomitable spirit. +If it had been a woman I should not say so much, but I +trust the President to him and the two valets without an +instant’s apprehension.”</p> + +<p>“I am gratified to hear you say so,” replied the +Prince; “but my mind is not at rest. These servants are +well-trained spies, and already has not this miscreant +succeeded three times in eluding their observation and +spending several hours on each in private, and most likely +dangerous, affairs? An amateur might have lost him +by accident, but if Rudolph and Jérome were thrown +off the scent, it must have been done on purpose, and +by a man who had a cogent reason and exceptional resources.”</p> + +<p>“I believe the question is now one between my brother +and myself,” replied Geraldine, with a shade of offence in +his tone.</p> + +<p>“I permit it to be so, Colonel Geraldine,” returned +Prince Florizel. “Perhaps, for that very reason, you +should be all the more ready to accept my counsels. But +enough. That girl in yellow dances well.”</p> + +<p>And the talk veered into the ordinary topics of a Paris +ball-room in the Carnival.</p> + +<p>Silas remembered where he was, and that the hour was +already near at hand when he ought to be upon the scene of +his assignation. The more he reflected the less he liked +the prospect, and as at that moment an eddy in the crowd +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page43"></a>43</span> +began to draw him in the direction of the door, he suffered +it to carry him away without resistance. The eddy stranded +him in a corner under the gallery, where his ear was immediately +struck with the voice of Madame Zéphyrine. +She was speaking in French with the young man of the blond +locks who had been pointed out by the strange Britisher not +half an hour before.</p> + +<p>“I have a character at stake,” she said, “or I would put +no other condition than my heart recommends. But you +have only to say so much to the porter, and he will let you +go by without a word.”</p> + +<p>“But why this talk of debt?” objected her companion.</p> + +<p>“Heavens!” said she, “do you think I do not understand +my own hotel?”</p> + +<p>And she went by, clinging affectionately to her companion’s +arm.</p> + +<p>This put Silas in mind of his billet.</p> + +<p>“Ten minutes hence,” thought he, “and I may be walking +with as beautiful a woman as that, and even better +dressed—perhaps a real lady, possibly a woman of +title.”</p> + +<p>And then he remembered the spelling, and was a little +downcast.</p> + +<p>“But it may have been written by her maid,” he +imagined.</p> + +<p>The clock was only a few minutes from the hour, and +this immediate proximity set his heart beating at a curious +and rather disagreeable speed. He reflected with relief that +he was in no way bound to put in an appearance. Virtue +and cowardice were together, and he made once more for the +door, but this time, of his own accord, and battling against +the stream of people which was now moving in a contrary +direction. Perhaps this prolonged resistance wearied him, +or perhaps he was in that frame of mind when merely to +continue in the same determination for a certain number of +minutes produces a reaction and a different purpose. Certainly, +at least, he wheeled about for a third time, and did +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page44"></a>44</span> +not stop until he had found a place of concealment within +a few yards of the appointed place.</p> + +<p>Here he went through an agony of spirit, in which he +several times prayed to God for help, for Silas had been +devoutly educated. He had now not the least inclination +for the meeting; nothing kept him from flight but a silly +fear lest he should be thought unmanly; but this was so +powerful that it kept head against all other motives; and +although it could not decide him to advance, prevented him +from definitely running away. At last the clock indicated +ten minutes past the hour. Young Scuddamore’s spirit +began to rise; he peered round the corner and saw no one +at the place of meeting; doubtless his unknown correspondent +had wearied and gone away. He became as bold as he +had formerly been timid. It seemed to him that if he came +at all to the appointment, however late, he was clear from +the charge of cowardice. Nay, now he began to suspect a +hoax, and actually complimented himself on his shrewdness +in having suspected and out-manœuvred his mystifiers. So +very idle a thing is a boy’s mind!</p> + +<p>Armed with these reflections, he advanced boldly from +his corner; but he had not taken above a couple of steps +before a hand was laid upon his arm. He turned and +beheld a lady cast in a very large mould and with somewhat +stately features, but bearing no mark of severity in her +looks.</p> + +<p>“I see that you are a very self-confident lady-killer,” +said she; “for you make yourself expected. But I was +determined to meet you. When a woman has once so far +forgotten herself as to make the first advance, she has long +ago left behind her all considerations of petty pride.”</p> + +<p>Silas was overwhelmed by the size and attractions of his +correspondent and the suddenness with which she had +fallen upon him. But she soon set him at his ease. She +was very towardly and lenient in her behaviour; she led +him on to make pleasantries, and then applauded him to +the echo; and in a very short time, between blandishments +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page45"></a>45</span> +and a liberal exhibition of warm brandy, she had not only +induced him to fancy himself in love, but to declare his +passion with the greatest vehemence.</p> + +<p>“Alas!” she said; “I do not know whether I ought not +to deplore this moment, great as is the pleasure you give me +by your words. Hitherto I was alone to suffer; now, poor +boy, there will be two. I am not my own mistress. I dare +not ask you to visit me at my own house, for I am watched +by jealous eyes. Let me see,” she added; “I am older +than you, although so much weaker; and while I trust in +your courage and determination, I must employ my own +knowledge of the world for our mutual benefit. Where do +you live?”</p> + +<p>He told her that he lodged in a furnished hotel, and +named the street and number.</p> + +<p>She seemed to reflect for some minutes, with an effort of +mind.</p> + +<p>“I see,” she said at last. “You will be faithful and +obedient, will you not?”</p> + +<p>Silas assured her eagerly of his fidelity.</p> + +<p>“To-morrow night, then,” she continued, with an encouraging +smile, “you must remain at home all the evening; +and if any friends should visit you, dismiss them at once on +any pretext that most readily presents itself. Your door is +probably shut by ten?” she asked.</p> + +<p>“By eleven,” answered Silas.</p> + +<p>“At a quarter past eleven,” pursued the lady, “leave +the house. Merely cry for the door to be opened, and be +sure you fall into no talk with the porter, as that might ruin +everything. Go straight to the corner where the Luxembourg +Gardens join the Boulevard; there you will find me +waiting you. I trust you to follow my advice from point to +point: and remember, if you fail me in only one particular, +you will bring the sharpest trouble on a woman whose only +fault is to have seen and loved you.”</p> + +<p>“I cannot see the use of all these instructions,” said +Silas.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page46"></a>46</span></p> + +<p>“I believe you are already beginning to treat me as a +master,” she cried, tapping him with her fan upon the arm. +“Patience, patience! that should come in time. A woman +loves to be obeyed at first, although afterwards she finds her +pleasure in obeying. Do as I ask you, for Heaven’s sake, or +I will answer for nothing. Indeed, now I think of it,” she +added, with a manner of one who has just seen further into a +difficulty, “I find a better plan of keeping importunate +visitors away. Tell the porter to admit no one for you, +except a person who may come that night to claim a debt; +and speak with some feeling, as though you feared the interview, +so that he may take your words in earnest.”</p> + +<p>“I think you may trust me to protect myself against +intruders,” he said, not without a little pique.</p> + +<p>“That is how I should prefer the thing arranged,” she +answered coldly. “I know you men; you think nothing +of a woman’s reputation.”</p> + +<p>Silas blushed and somewhat hung his head; for the +scheme he had in view had involved a little vain-glorying +before his acquaintances.</p> + +<p>“Above all,” she added, “do not speak to the porter +as you come out.”</p> + +<p>“And why?” said he. “Of all your instructions, that +seems to me the least important.”</p> + +<p>“You at first doubted the wisdom of some of the others, +which you now see to be very necessary,” she replied. “Believe +me, this also has its uses; in time you will see them; and +what am I to think of your affection, if you refuse me such +trifles at our first interview?”</p> + +<p>Silas confounded himself in explanations and apologies; +in the middle of these she looked up at the clock and clapped +her hands together with a suppressed scream.</p> + +<p>“Heavens!” she cried, “is it so late? I have not an +instant to lose. Alas, we poor women, what slaves we are! +What have I not risked for you already?”</p> + +<p>And after repeating her directions, which she artfully +combined with caresses and the most abandoned looks, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page47"></a>47</span> +she bade him farewell and disappeared among the +crowd.</p> + +<p>The whole of the next day Silas was filled with a sense +of great importance; he was now sure she was a countess; +and when evening came he minutely obeyed her orders and +was at the corner of the Luxembourg Gardens by the hour +appointed. No one was there. He waited nearly half an +hour, looking in the face of every one who passed or loitered +near the spot; he even visited the neighbouring corners of +the Boulevard and made a complete circuit of the garden +railings; but there was no beautiful countess to throw herself +into his arms. At last, and most reluctantly, he began +to retrace his steps towards his hotel. On the way he remembered +the words he had heard pass between Madame +Zéphyrine and the blond young man, and they gave him an +indefinite uneasiness.</p> + +<p>“It appears,” he reflected, “that every one has to tell +lies to our porter.”</p> + +<p>He rang the bell, the door opened before him, and the +porter in his bed-clothes came to offer him a light.</p> + +<p>“Has he gone?” inquired the porter.</p> + +<p>“He? Whom do you mean?” asked Silas, somewhat +sharply, for he was irritated by his disappointment.</p> + +<p>“I did not notice him go out,” continued the porter, +“but I trust you paid him. We do not care, in this house, +to have lodgers who cannot meet their liabilities.”</p> + +<p>“What the devil do you mean?” demanded Silas, +rudely. “I cannot understand a word of this farrago.”</p> + +<p>“The short, blond young man who came for his debt,” +returned the other. “Him it is I mean. Who else should +it be, when I had your orders to admit no one else?”</p> + +<p>“Why, good God! of course he never came,” retorted +Silas.</p> + +<p>“I believe what I believe,” returned the porter, putting +his tongue into his cheek with a most roguish air.</p> + +<p>“You are an insolent scoundrel,” cried Silas, and, feeling +that he had made a ridiculous exhibition of asperity, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page48"></a>48</span> +and at the same time bewildered by a dozen alarms, he +turned and began to run upstairs.</p> + +<p>“Do you not want a light, then?” cried the porter.</p> + +<p>But Silas only hurried the faster, and did not pause +until he had reached the seventh landing and stood in +front of his own door. There he waited a moment to +recover his breath, assailed by the worst forebodings, and +almost dreading to enter the room.</p> + +<p>When at last he did so he was relieved to find it dark, +and to all appearance untenanted. He drew a long breath. +Here he was, home again in safety, and this should be his +last folly as certainly as it had been his first. The matches +stood on a little table by the bed, and he began to grope +his way in that direction. As he moved, his apprehensions +grew upon him once more, and he was pleased, when his +foot encountered an obstacle, to find it nothing more +alarming than a chair. At last he touched curtains. +From the position of the window, which was faintly visible, +he knew he must be at the foot of the bed, and had only +to feel his way along it in order to reach the table in question.</p> + +<p>He lowered his hand, but what it touched was not +simply a counterpane—it was a counterpane with something +underneath it like the outline of a human leg. Silas +withdrew his arm and stood a moment petrified.</p> + +<p>“What, what,” he thought, “can this betoken?”</p> + +<p>He listened intently, but there was no sound of breathing. +Once more, with a great effort, he reached out the +end of his finger to the spot he had already touched; but +this time he leaped back half a yard, and stood shivering +and fixed with terror. There was something in his bed. +What it was he knew not, but there was something there.</p> + +<p>It was some seconds before he could move. Then, +guided by an instinct, he fell straight upon the matches, +and, keeping his back towards the bed, lighted a candle. +As soon as the flame had kindled, he turned slowly round +and looked for what he feared to see. Sure enough, there +was the worst of his imaginations realised. The coverlid +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page49"></a>49</span> +was drawn carefully up over the pillow, but it moulded +the outline of a human body lying motionless; and when +he dashed forward and flung aside the sheets, he beheld +the blond young man whom he had seen in the Bullier +Ball the night before, his eyes open and without speculation, +his face swollen and blackened, and a thin stream of +blood trickling from his nostrils.</p> + +<p>Silas uttered a long, tremulous wail, dropped the candle +and fell on his knees beside the bed.</p> + +<p>Silas was awakened from the stupor into which his +terrible discovery had plunged him, by a prolonged but +discreet tapping at the door. It took him some seconds +to remember his position; and when he hastened to prevent +any one from entering it was already too late. Dr. +Noel, in a tall nightcap, carrying a lamp which lighted up +his long white countenance, sidling in his gait, and peering +and cocking his head like some sort of bird, pushed the +door slowly open, and advanced into the middle of the room.</p> + +<p>“I thought I heard a cry,” began the Doctor, “and +fearing you might be unwell I did not hesitate to offer +this intrusion.”</p> + +<p>Silas, with a flushed face and a fearful beating heart, +kept between the Doctor and the bed; but he found no +voice to answer.</p> + +<p>“You are in the dark,” pursued the Doctor; “and yet +you have not even begun to prepare for rest. You will not +easily persuade me against my own eyesight; and your face +declares most eloquently that you require either a friend or a +physician—which is it to be? Let me feel your pulse, for +that is often a just reporter of the heart.”</p> + +<p>He advanced to Silas, who still retreated before him +backwards, and sought to take him by the wrist; but the +strain on the young American’s nerves had become too great +for endurance. He avoided the Doctor with a febrile +movement, and, throwing himself upon the floor, burst into +a flood of weeping.</p> + +<p>As soon as Dr. Noel perceived the dead man in the bed his +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page50"></a>50</span> +face darkened; and hurrying back to the door, which he had +left ajar, he hastily closed and double-locked it.</p> + +<p>“Up!” he cried, addressing Silas in strident tones; “this +is no time for weeping. What have you done? How came +this body in your room? Speak freely to one who may be +helpful. Do you imagine I would ruin you? Do you think +this piece of dead flesh on your pillow can alter in any degree +the sympathy with which you have inspired me? Credulous +youth, the horror with which blind and unjust law regards +an action never attaches to the doer in the eyes of those who +love him; and if I saw the friend of my heart return to me +out of seas of blood he would be in no way changed in my +affection. Raise yourself,” he said; “good and ill are a +chimera; there is nought in life except destiny, and however +you may be circumstanced there is one at your side who +will help you to the last.”</p> + +<p>Thus encouraged, Silas gathered himself together, and in +a broken voice, and helped out by the Doctor’s interrogations, +contrived at last to put him in possession of the facts. +But the conversation between the Prince and Geraldine he +altogether omitted, as he had understood little of its purport, +and had no idea that it was in any way related to his own +misadventure.</p> + +<p>“Alas!” cried Dr. Noel, “I am much abused, or you +have fallen innocently into the most dangerous hands in +Europe. Poor boy, what a pit has been dug for your simplicity! +into what a deadly peril have your unwary feet been +conducted! This man,” he said, “this Englishman, whom +you twice saw, and whom I suspect to be the soul of the contrivance, +can you describe him? Was he young or old? +tall or short?”</p> + +<p>But Silas, who, for all his curiosity, had not a seeing eye +in his head, was able to supply nothing but meagre generalities, +which it was impossible to recognise.</p> + +<p>“I would have it a piece of education in all schools!” +cried the Doctor angrily. “Where is the use of eyesight +and articulate speech if a man cannot observe and recollect +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page51"></a>51</span> +the features of his enemy? I, who know all the gangs of +Europe, might have identified him, and gained new weapons +for your defence. Cultivate this art in future, my poor boy; +you may find it of momentous service.”</p> + +<p>“The future!” repeated Silas. “What future is there +left for me except the gallows?”</p> + +<p>“Youth is but a cowardly season,” returned the Doctor; +“and a man’s own troubles look blacker than they are. I +am old, and yet I never despair.”</p> + +<p>“Can I tell such a story to the police?” demanded Silas.</p> + +<p>“Assuredly not,” replied the Doctor. “From what I +see already of the machination in which you have been involved, +your case is desperate upon that side; and for the +narrow eye of the authorities you are infallibly the guilty +person. And remember that we only know a portion of the +plot; and the same infamous contrivers have doubtless arranged +many other circumstances which would be elicited +by a police inquiry, and help to fix the guilt more certainly +upon your innocence.”</p> + +<p>“I am then lost, indeed!” cried Silas.</p> + +<p>“I have not said so,” answered Dr. Noel, “for I am a +cautious man.”</p> + +<p>“But look at this!” objected Silas, pointing to the +body. “Here is this object in my bed: not to be explained, +not to be disposed of, not to be regarded without horror.”</p> + +<p>“Horror?” replied the Doctor. “No. When this sort +of clock has run down, it is no more to me than an ingenious +piece of mechanism, to be investigated with the bistoury. +When blood is once cold and stagnant, it is no longer human +blood; when flesh is once dead, it is no longer that flesh +which we desire in our lovers and respect in our friends. +The grace, the attraction, the terror, have all gone from it +with the animating spirit. Accustom yourself to look upon +it with composure; for if my scheme is practicable you will +have to live some days in constant proximity to that which +now so greatly horrifies you.”</p> + +<p>“Your scheme?” cried Silas. “What is that? Tell +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page52"></a>52</span> +me speedily, Doctor; for I have scarcely courage enough to +continue to exist.”</p> + +<p>Without replying, Dr. Noel turned towards the bed, and +proceeded to examine the corpse.</p> + +<p>“Quite dead,” he murmured. “Yes, as I had supposed, +the pockets empty. Yes, and the name cut off the shirt. +Their work has been done thoroughly and well. Fortunately, +he is of small stature.”</p> + +<p>Silas followed these words with an extreme anxiety. At +last the Doctor, his autopsy completed, took a chair and +addressed the young American with a smile.</p> + +<p>“Since I came into your room,” said he, “although my +ears and my tongue have been so busy, I have not suffered +my eyes to remain idle. I noted a little while ago that you +have there, in the corner, one of those monstrous constructions +which your fellow-countrymen carry with them into +all quarters of the globe—in a word, a Saratoga trunk. +Until this moment I have never been able to conceive the +utility of these erections; but then I began to have a glimmer. +Whether it was for convenience in the slave-trade, or +to obviate the results of too ready an employment of the +bowie-knife, I cannot bring myself to decide. But one +thing I see plainly—the object of such a box is to contain a +human body.”</p> + +<p>“Surely,” cried Silas, “surely this is not a time for +jesting.”</p> + +<p>“Although I may express myself with some degree of +pleasantry,” replied the Doctor, “the purport of my words +is entirely serious. And the first thing we have to do, my +young friend, is to empty your coffer of all that it contains.”</p> + +<p>Silas, obeying the authority of Dr. Noel, put himself at +his disposition. The Saratoga trunk was soon gutted of its +contents, which made a considerable litter on the floor; and +then—Silas taking the heels and the Doctor supporting the +shoulders—the body of the murdered man was carried from +the bed, and, after some difficulty, doubled up and inserted +whole into the empty box. With an effort on the part of +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page53"></a>53</span> +both, the lid was forced down upon this unusual baggage, +and the trunk was locked and corded by the Doctor’s own +hand, while Silas disposed of what had been taken out between +the closet and a chest of drawers.</p> + +<p>“Now,” said the Doctor, “the first step has been taken +on the way to your deliverance. To-morrow, or rather +to-day, it must be your task to allay the suspicions of your +porter, paying him all that you owe; while you may trust +me to make the arrangements necessary to a safe conclusion. +Meantime, follow me to my room, where I shall give you a +safe and powerful opiate; for, whatever you do, you must +have rest.”</p> + +<p>The next day was the longest in Silas’s memory; it +seemed as if it would never be done. He denied himself +to his friends, and sat in a corner with his eyes fixed upon +the Saratoga trunk in dismal contemplation. His own +former indiscretions were now returned upon him in kind; +for the observatory had been once more opened, and he was +conscious of an almost continual study from Madame +Zéphyrine’s apartment. So distressing did this become that +he was at last obliged to block up the spy-hole from his own +side; and when he was thus secured from observation he +spent a considerable portion of his time in contrite tears and +prayer.</p> + +<p>Late in the evening Dr. Noel entered the room carrying +in his hand a pair of sealed envelopes without address, one +somewhat bulky, and the other so slim as to seem without +enclosure.</p> + +<p>“Silas,” he said, seating himself at the table, “the time +has now come for me to explain my plan for your salvation. +To-morrow morning, at an early hour, Prince Florizel of +Bohemia returns to London, after having diverted himself +for a few days with the Parisian Carnival. It was my fortune, +a good while ago, to do Colonel Geraldine, his Master +of the Horse, one of those services, so common in my profession, +which are never forgotten upon either side. I have no +need to explain to you the nature of the obligation under +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page54"></a>54</span> +which he was laid; suffice it to say that I knew him ready to +serve me in any practicable manner. Now, it was necessary +for you to gain London with your trunk unopened. To this +the Custom House seemed to oppose a fatal difficulty; but +I bethought me that the baggage of so considerable a person +as the Prince is, as a matter of courtesy, passed without +examination by the officers of Custom. I applied to Colonel +Geraldine, and succeeded in obtaining a favourable answer. +To-morrow, if you go before six to the hotel where the +Prince lodges, your baggage will be passed over as a part of +his, and you yourself will make the journey as a member of +his suite.”</p> + +<p>“It seems to me, as you speak, that I have already seen +both the Prince and Colonel Geraldine; I even overheard +some of their conversation the other evening at the Bullier +Ball.”</p> + +<p>“It is probable enough; for the Prince loves to mix +with all societies,” replied the Doctor. “Once arrived in +London,” he pursued, “your task is nearly ended. In this +more bulky envelope I have given you a letter which I dare +not address; but in the other you will find the designation +of the house to which you must carry it along with your box, +which will there be taken from you and not trouble you any +more.”</p> + +<p>“Alas!” said Silas, “I have every wish to believe you; +but how is it possible? You open up to me a bright prospect, +but, I ask you, is my mind capable of receiving so unlikely a +solution? Be more generous, and let me further understand +your meaning.”</p> + +<p>The Doctor seemed painfully impressed.</p> + +<p>“Boy,” he answered, “you do not know how hard a +thing you ask of me. But be it so. I am now inured to +humiliation; and it would be strange if I refused you this, +after having granted you so much. Know, then, that +although I now make so quiet an appearance—frugal, solitary, +addicted to study—when I was younger, my name +was once a rallying-cry among the most astute and dangerous +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page55"></a>55</span> +spirits of London; and while I was outwardly an object +for respect and consideration, my true power resided in the +most secret, terrible, and criminal relations. It is to one +of the persons who then obeyed me that I now address +myself to deliver you from your burden. They were men of +many different nations and dexterities, all bound together +by a formidable oath, and working to the same purposes; +the trade of the association was in murder; and I who speak +to you, innocent as I appear, was the chieftain of this redoubtable +crew.”</p> + +<p>“What?” cried Silas. “A murderer? And one with +whom murder was a trade? Can I take your hand? Ought +I so much as to accept your services? Dark and criminal +old man, would you make an accomplice of my youth and +my distress?”</p> + +<p>The Doctor bitterly laughed.</p> + +<p>“You are difficult to please, Mr. Scuddamore,” said he; +“but I now offer you your choice of company between the +murdered man and the murderer. If your conscience is too +nice to accept my aid, say so, and I will immediately leave +you. Thenceforward you can deal with your trunk and its +belongings as best suits your upright conscience.”</p> + +<p>“I own myself wrong,” replied Silas. “I should have +remembered how generously you offered to shield me, even +before I had convinced you of my innocence, and I continue +to listen to your counsels with gratitude.”</p> + +<p>“That is well,” returned the Doctor; “and I perceive +you are beginning to learn some of the lessons of experience.”</p> + +<p>“At the same time,” resumed the New Englander, “as +you confess yourself accustomed to this tragical business, +and the people to whom you recommend me are your own +former associates and friends, could you not yourself undertake +the transport of the box, and rid me at once of its detested +presence?”</p> + +<p>“Upon my word,” replied the Doctor, “I admire you +cordially. If you do not think I have already meddled +sufficiently in your concerns, believe me, from my heart I +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page56"></a>56</span> +think the contrary. Take or leave my services as I offer +them; and trouble me with no more words of gratitude, for +I value your consideration even more lightly than I do your +intellect. A time will come, if you should be spared to see +a number of years in health of mind, when you will think +differently of all this, and blush for your to-night’s behaviour.”</p> + +<p>So saying, the Doctor arose from his chair, repeated his +directions briefly and clearly, and departed from the room +without permitting Silas any time to answer.</p> + +<p>The next morning Silas presented himself at the hotel, +where he was politely received by Colonel Geraldine, and +relieved, from that moment, of all immediate alarm about +his trunk and its grisly contents. The journey passed over +without much incident, although the young man was horrified +to overhear the sailors and railway porters complaining +among themselves about the unusual weight of the Prince’s +baggage. Silas travelled in a carriage with the valets, for +Prince Florizel chose to be alone with his Master of the +Horse. On board the steamer, however, Silas attracted his +Highness’s attention by the melancholy of his air and attitude +as he stood gazing at the pile of baggage; for he was still +full of disquietude about the future.</p> + +<p>“There is a young man,” observed the Prince, “who +must have some cause for sorrow.”</p> + +<p>“That,” replied Geraldine, “is the American for whom +I obtained permission to travel with your suite.”</p> + +<p>“You remind me that I have been remiss in courtesy,” +said Prince Florizel, and advancing to Silas, he addressed +him with the most exquisite condescension in these words:</p> + +<p>“I was charmed, young sir, to be able to gratify the +desire you made known to me through Colonel Geraldine. +Remember, if you please, that I shall be glad at any future +time to lay you under a more serious obligation.”</p> + +<p>And he then put some questions as to the political condition +of America, which Silas answered with sense and +propriety.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page57"></a>57</span></p> + +<p>“You are still a young man,” said the Prince; “but +I observe you to be very serious for your years. Perhaps +you allow your attention to be too much occupied with grave +studies. But, perhaps, on the other hand, I am myself indiscreet +and touch upon a painful subject.”</p> + +<p>“I have certainly cause to be the most miserable of +men,” said Silas; “never has a more innocent person been +more dismally abused.”</p> + +<p>“I will not ask you for your confidence,” returned Prince +Florizel. “But do not forget that Colonel Geraldine’s recommendation +is an unfailing passport; and that I am not +only willing, but possibly more able than many others, to do +you a service.”</p> + +<p>Silas was delighted with the amiability of this great personage; +but his mind soon returned upon its gloomy preoccupations; +for not even the favour of a Prince to a Republican +can discharge a brooding spirit of its cares.</p> + +<p>The train arrived at Charing Cross, where the officers +of the Revenue respected the baggage of Prince Florizel in +the usual manner. The most elegant equipages were in +waiting; and Silas was driven, along with the rest, to the +Prince’s residence. There Colonel Geraldine sought him +out, and expressed himself pleased to have been of any service +to a friend of the physician’s, for whom he professed a +great consideration.</p> + +<p>“I hope,” he added, “that you will find none of your +porcelain injured. Special orders were given along the line +to deal tenderly with the Prince’s effects.”</p> + +<p>And then, directing the servants to place one of the +carriages at the young gentleman’s disposal, and at once to +charge the Saratoga trunk upon the dickey, the Colonel +shook hands and excused himself on account of his occupations +in the princely household.</p> + +<p>Silas now broke the seal of the envelope containing the +address, and directed the stately footman to drive him to +Box Court, opening off the Strand. It seemed as if the +place were not at all unknown to the man, for he looked +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page58"></a>58</span> +startled and begged a repetition of the order. It was with +a heart full of alarms that Silas mounted into the luxurious +vehicle, and was driven to his destination. The entrance +to Box Court was too narrow for the passage of a coach; it +was a mere footway between railings, with a post at either +end. On one of these posts was seated a man, who at once +jumped down and exchanged a friendly sign with the driver, +while the footman opened the door and inquired of Silas +whether he should take down the Saratoga trunk, and to +what number it should be carried.</p> + +<p>“If you please,” said Silas. “To number three.”</p> + +<p>The footman and the man who had been sitting on the +post, even with the aid of Silas himself, had hard work to +carry in the trunk; and before it was deposited at the door +of the house in question, the young American was horrified +to find a score of loiterers looking on. But he knocked with +as good a countenance as he could muster up, and presented +the other envelope to him who opened.</p> + +<p>“He is not at home,” said he, “but if you will leave +your letter and return to-morrow early, I shall be able to +inform you whether and when he can receive your visit. +Would you like to leave your box?” he added.</p> + +<p>“Dearly,” cried Silas; and the next moment he repented +his precipitation, and declared, with equal emphasis, +that he would rather carry the box along with him to the +hotel.</p> + +<p>The crowd jeered at his indecision, and followed him to +the carriage with insulting remarks; and Silas, covered with +shame and terror, implored the servants to conduct him to +some quiet and comfortable house of entertainment in the +immediate neighbourhood.</p> + +<p>The Prince’s equipage deposited Silas at the Craven Hotel +in Craven Street, and immediately drove away, leaving him +alone with the servants of the inn. The only vacant room, it +appeared, was a little den up four pairs of stairs, and looking +towards the back. To this hermitage, with infinite trouble +and complaint, a pair of stout porters carried the Saratoga +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page59"></a>59</span> +trunk. It is needless to mention that Silas kept closely at +their heels throughout the ascent, and had his heart in his +mouth at every corner. A single false step, he reflected, +and the box might go over the banisters and land its fatal +contents, plainly discovered, on the pavement of the hall.</p> + +<p>Arrived in the room, he sat down on the edge of his bed +to recover from the agony that he had just endured; but he +had hardly taken his position when he was recalled to a sense +of his peril by the action of the boots, who had knelt beside +the trunk, and was proceeding officiously to undo its elaborate +fastenings.</p> + +<p>“Let it be!” cried Silas. “I shall want nothing from +it while I stay here.”</p> + +<p>“You might have let it lie in the hall, then,” growled +the man; “a thing as big and heavy as a church. What +you have inside I cannot fancy. If it is all money, you are +a richer man than we.”</p> + +<p>“Money?” repeated Silas, in a sudden perturbation. +“What do you mean by money? I have no money, and you +are speaking like a fool.”</p> + +<p>“All right, captain,” retorted the boots with a wink. +“There’s nobody will touch your lordship’s money. I’m as +safe as the bank,” he added; “but as the box is heavy, I +shouldn’t mind drinking something to your lordship’s +health.”</p> + +<p>Silas pressed two Napoleons upon his acceptance, +apologising, at the same time, for being obliged to trouble +him with foreign money, and pleading his recent arrival for +excuse. And the man, grumbling with even greater fervour, +and looking contemptuously from the money in his hand to +the Saratoga trunk, and back again from the one to the other, +at last consented to withdraw.</p> + +<p>For nearly two days the dead body had been packed +into Silas’s box; and as soon as he was alone the unfortunate +New Englander nosed all the cracks and openings with the +most passionate attention. But the weather was cool, and +the trunk still managed to contain his shocking secret.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page60"></a>60</span></p> + +<p>He took a chair beside it, and buried his face in his hands, +and his mind in the most profound reflection. If he were +not speedily relieved, no question but he must be speedily +discovered. Alone in a strange city, without friends or accomplices, +if the Doctor’s introduction failed him, he was +indubitably a lost New Englander. He reflected pathetically +over his ambitious designs for the future; he should not +now become the hero and spokesman of his native place of +Bangor, Maine; he should not, as he had fondly anticipated, +move on from office to office, from honour to honour; +he might as well divest himself at once of all hope of being +acclaimed President of the United States, and leaving behind +him a statue, in the worst possible style of art, to adorn the +Capitol at Washington. Here he was, chained to a dead +Englishman doubled up inside a Saratoga trunk; whom he +must get rid of, or perish from the rolls of national glory!</p> + +<p>I should be afraid to chronicle the language employed +by this young man to the Doctor, to the murdered man, to +Madame Zéphyrine, to the boots of the hotel, to the Prince’s +servants, and, in a word, to all who had been ever so remotely +connected with his horrible misfortune.</p> + +<p>He slunk down to dinner about seven at night; but the +yellow coffee-room appalled him, the eyes of the other diners +seemed to rest on his with suspicion, and his mind remained +upstairs with the Saratoga trunk. When the waiter came +to offer him cheese, his nerves were already so much on edge +that he leaped half-way out of his chair and upset the remainder +of a pint of ale upon the table-cloth.</p> + +<p>The fellow offered to show him to the smoking-room +when he had done; and although he would have much preferred +to return at once to his perilous treasure, he had not +the courage to refuse, and was shown downstairs to the black, +gas-lit cellar, which formed, and possibly still forms, the +divan of the Craven Hotel.</p> + +<p>Two very sad betting men were playing billiards, attended +by a moist, consumptive marker; and for the moment +Silas imagined that these were the only occupants of the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page61"></a>61</span> +apartment. But at the next glance his eye fell upon a person +smoking in the farthest corner, with lowered eyes and a +most respectable and modest aspect. He knew at once that +he had seen the face before; and, in spite of the entire change +of clothes, recognised the man whom he had found seated on +a post at the entrance to Box Court, and who had helped him +to carry the trunk to and from the carriage. The New +Englander simply turned and ran, nor did he pause until he +had locked and bolted himself into his bedroom.</p> + +<p>There, all night long, a prey to the most terrible imaginations, +he watched beside the fatal boxful of dead flesh. The +suggestion of the boots that his trunk was full of gold inspired +him with all manner of new terrors, if he so much as +dared to close an eye; and the presence in the smoking-room, +and under an obvious disguise, of the loiterer from Box Court +convinced him that he was once more the centre of obscure +machinations.</p> + +<p>Midnight had sounded some time, when, impelled by +uneasy suspicions, Silas opened his bedroom door and peered +into the passage. It was dimly illuminated by a single jet +of gas; and some distance off he perceived a man sleeping +on the floor in the costume of an hotel under-servant. Silas +drew near the man on tiptoe. He lay partly on his back, +partly on his side, and his right fore-arm concealed his face +from recognition. Suddenly, while the American was still +bending over him, the sleeper removed his arm and opened +his eyes, and Silas found himself once more face to face with +the loiterer of Box Court.</p> + +<p>“Good-night, sir,” said the man pleasantly.</p> + +<p>But Silas was too profoundly moved to find an answer, +and regained his room in silence.</p> + +<p>Towards morning, worn out by apprehension, he fell +asleep on his chair, with his head forward on the trunk. In +spite of so constrained an attitude and such a grisly pillow, +his slumber was sound and prolonged, and he was only +awakened at a late hour and by a sharp tapping at the door.</p> + +<p>He hurried to open, and found the boots without.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page62"></a>62</span></p> + +<p>“You are the gentleman who called yesterday at Box +Court?” he asked.</p> + +<p>Silas, with a quaver, admitted that he had done so.</p> + +<p>“Then this note is for you,” added the servant, proffering +a sealed envelope.</p> + +<p>Silas tore it open, and found inside the words: “Twelve +o’clock.”</p> + +<p>He was punctual to the hour; the trunk was carried +before him by several stout servants; and he was himself +ushered into a room, where a man sat warming himself +before the fire with his back towards the door. The sound +of so many persons entering and leaving, and the scraping of +the trunk as it was deposited upon the bare boards, were +alike unable to attract the notice of the occupant; and Silas +stood waiting, in an agony of fear, until he should deign to +recognise his presence.</p> + +<p>Perhaps five minutes had elapsed before the man turned +leisurely about, and disclosed the features of Prince Florizel +of Bohemia.</p> + +<p>“So, sir,” he said, with great severity, “this is the +manner in which you abuse my politeness. You join yourself +to persons of condition, I perceive, for no other purpose +than to escape the consequences of your crimes; and I can +readily understand your embarrassment when I addressed +myself to you yesterday.”</p> + +<p>“Indeed,” cried Silas, “I am innocent of everything +except misfortune.”</p> + +<p>And in a hurried voice, and with the greatest ingenuousness, +he recounted to the Prince the whole history of his +calamity.</p> + +<p>“I see I have been mistaken,” said his Highness, when +he had heard him to an end. “You are no other than a +victim, and since I am not to punish you may be sure I shall +do my utmost to help.—And now,” he continued, “to +business. Open your box at once, and let me see what it +contains.”</p> + +<p>Silas changed colour.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page63"></a>63</span></p> + +<p>“I almost fear to look upon it,” he exclaimed.</p> + +<p>“Nay,” replied the Prince, “have you not looked at +it already? This is a form of sentimentality to be resisted. +The sight of a sick man, whom we can still help, should +appeal more directly to the feelings than that of a dead man +who is equally beyond help or harm, love or hatred. Nerve +yourself, Mr. Scuddamore,”—and then, seeing that Silas still +hesitated, “I do not desire to give another name to my request,” +he added.</p> + +<p>The young American awoke as if out of a dream, and +with a shiver of repugnance addressed himself to loose the +straps and open the lock of the Saratoga trunk. The Prince +stood by, watching with a composed countenance and his +hands behind his back. The body was quite stiff, and it +cost Silas a great effort, both moral and physical, to dislodge +it from its position, and discover the face.</p> + +<p>Prince Florizel started back with an exclamation of +painful surprise.</p> + +<p>“Alas!” he cried, “you little know, Mr. Scuddamore, +what a cruel gift you have brought me. This is a young +man of my own suite, the brother of my trusted friend; +and it was upon matters of my own service that he has +thus perished at the hands of violent and treacherous men. +Poor Geraldine,” he went on, as if to himself, “in what +words am I to tell you of your brother’s fate? How can I +excuse myself in your eyes, or in the eyes of God, for the +presumptuous schemes that led him to this bloody and +unnatural death? Ah, Florizel! Florizel! when will you +learn the discretion that suits mortal life, and be no longer +dazzled with the image of power at your disposal? +Power!” he cried; “who is more powerless? I look +upon this young man whom I have sacrificed, Mr. +Scuddamore, and feel how small a thing it is to be a Prince.”</p> + +<p>Silas was moved at the sight of his emotion. He tried +to murmur some consolatory words, and burst into tears. +The Prince, touched by his obvious intention, came up to +him and took him by the hand.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page64"></a>64</span></p> + +<p>“Command yourself,” said he. “We have both much +to learn, and we shall both be better men for to-day’s +meeting.”</p> + +<p>Silas thanked him in silence with an affectionate look.</p> + +<p>“Write me the address of Doctor Noel on this piece of +paper,” continued the Prince, leading him towards the +table; “and let me recommend you, when you are again in +Paris, to avoid the society of that dangerous man. He has +acted in this matter on a generous inspiration; that I must +believe; had he been privy to young Geraldine’s death he +would never have despatched the body to the care of the +actual criminal.”</p> + +<p>“The actual criminal!” repeated Silas in astonishment.</p> + +<p>“Even so,” returned the Prince. “This letter, which +the disposition of Almighty Providence has so strangely delivered +into my hands, was addressed to no less a person +than the criminal himself, the infamous President of the +Suicide Club. Seek to pry no further in these perilous +affairs, but content yourself with your own miraculous +escape, and leave this house at once. I have pressing affairs, +and must arrange at once about this poor clay, which was so +lately a gallant and handsome youth.”</p> + +<p>Silas took a grateful and submissive leave of Prince +Florizel, but he lingered in Box Court until he saw him +depart in a splendid carriage on a visit to Colonel Henderson +of the police. Republican as he was, the young American +took off his hat with almost a sentiment of devotion to the +retreating carriage. And the same night he started by rail +on his return to Paris.</p> + +<div class="pt05"> </div> + +<p><i>Here</i> (observes my Arabian author) <i>is the end of</i> <span class="sc">The +History of the Physician and the Saratoga Trunk</span>. +<i>Omitting some reflections on the power of Providence, highly +pertinent in the original, but little suited to our Occidental +taste, I shall only add that Mr. Scuddamore has already begun +to mount the ladder of political fame, and by last advices was +the Sheriff of his native town.</i></p> + +<div class="pt2"> </div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page65"></a>65</span></p> +<h5>THE ADVENTURE OF THE HANSOM CABS</h5> + +<p class="noind"><span class="sc">Lieutenant Brackenbury</span> Rich had greatly distinguished +himself in one of the lesser Indian hill wars. He it was who +took the chieftain prisoner with his own hand; his gallantry +was universally applauded; and when he came home, prostrated +by an ugly sabre-cut and a protracted jungle-fever, +society was prepared to welcome the Lieutenant as a celebrity +of minor lustre. But his was a character remarkable +for unaffected modesty; adventure was dear to his heart, +but he cared little for adulation; and he waited at foreign +watering-places and in Algiers until the fame of his exploits +had run through its nine days’ vitality and begun to be +forgotten. He arrived in London at last, in the early season, +with as little observation as he could desire; and as he was +an orphan and had none but distant relatives who lived in +the provinces, it was almost as a foreigner that he installed +himself in the capital of the country for which he had shed +his blood.</p> + +<p>On the day following his arrival he dined alone at a +military club. He shook hands with a few old comrades, +and received their warm congratulations; but as one and all +had some engagement for the evening, he found himself left +entirely to his own resources. He was in dress, for he had +entertained the notion of visiting a theatre. But the great +city was new to him; he had gone from a provincial school +to a military college, and thence direct to the Eastern +Empire; and he promised himself a variety of delights in this +world for exploration. Swinging his cane, he took his way +westward. It was a mild evening, already dark, and now +and then threatening rain. The succession of faces in the +lamplight stirred the Lieutenant’s imagination; and it +seemed to him as if he could walk for ever in that stimulating +city atmosphere and surrounded by the mystery of four +million private lives. He glanced at the houses, and marvelled +what was passing behind those warmly-lighted windows; +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page66"></a>66</span> +he looked into face after face, and saw them each +intent upon some unknown interest, criminal or kindly.</p> + +<p>“They talk of war,” he thought, “but this is the great +battlefield of mankind.”</p> + +<p>And then he began to wonder that he should walk so +long in this complicated scene, and not chance upon so much +as the shadow of an adventure for himself.</p> + +<p>“All in good time,” he reflected. “I am still a stranger, +and perhaps wear a strange air. But I must be drawn into +the eddy before long.”</p> + +<p>The night was already well advanced when a plump of +cold rain fell suddenly out of the darkness. Brackenbury +paused under some trees, and as he did so he caught sight +of a hansom cabman making him a sign that he was disengaged. +The circumstance fell in so happily to the occasion +that he at once raised his cane in answer, and had soon ensconced +himself in the London gondola.</p> + +<p>“Where to, sir?” asked the driver.</p> + +<p>“Where you please,” said Brackenbury.</p> + +<p>And immediately, at a pace of surprising swiftness, the +hansom drove off through the rain into a maze of villas. +One villa was so like another, each with its front garden, and +there was so little to distinguish the deserted lamp-lit streets +and crescents through which the flying hansom took its way, +that Brackenbury soon lost all idea of direction. He would +have been tempted to believe that the cabman was amusing +himself by driving him round and round and in and out +about a small quarter, but there was something business-like +in the speed which convinced him of the contrary. The +man had an object in view, he was hastening towards a definite +end; and Brackenbury was at once astonished at the +fellow’s skill in picking a way through such a labyrinth, and +a little concerned to imagine what was the occasion of his +hurry. He had heard tales of strangers falling ill in London. +Did the driver belong to some bloody and treacherous association? +and was he himself being whirled to a murderous +death?</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page67"></a>67</span></p> + +<p>The thought had scarcely presented itself, when the cab +swung sharply round a corner and pulled up before the +garden gate of a villa in a long and wide road. The house +was brilliantly lighted up. Another hansom had just driven +away, and Brackenbury could see a gentleman being admitted +at the front door and received by several liveried +servants. He was surprised that the cabman should have +stopped so immediately in front of a house where a reception +was being held; but he did not doubt it was the result of +accident, and sat placidly smoking where he was, until he +heard the trap thrown open over his head.</p> + +<p>“Here we are, sir,” said the driver.</p> + +<p>“Here!” repeated Brackenbury. “Where?”</p> + +<p>“You told me to take you where I pleased, sir,” returned +the man with a chuckle, “and here we are.”</p> + +<p>It struck Brackenbury that the voice was wonderfully +smooth and courteous for a man in so inferior a position; +he remembered the speed at which he had been driven; and +now it occurred to him that the hansom was more luxuriously +appointed than the common run of public conveyances.</p> + +<p>“I must ask you to explain,” said he. “Do you mean +to turn me out into the rain? My good man, I suspect the +choice is mine.”</p> + +<p>“The choice is certainly yours,” replied the driver; +“but when I tell you all, I believe I know how a gentleman +of your figure will decide. There is a gentleman’s party in +this house. I do not know whether the master be a stranger +to London and without acquaintances of his own; or whether +he is a man of odd notions. But certainly I was hired to +kidnap single gentlemen in evening dress, as many as I +pleased, but military officers by preference. You have +simply to go in and say that Mr. Morris invited you.”</p> + +<p>“Are you Mr. Morris?” inquired the Lieutenant.</p> + +<p>“Oh, no,” replied the cabman. “Mr. Morris is the +person of the house.”</p> + +<p>“It is not a common way of collecting guests,” said +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page68"></a>68</span> +Brackenbury: “but an eccentric man might very well indulge +the whim without any intention to offend. And suppose +that I refuse Mr. Morris’s invitation,” he went on, +“what then?”</p> + +<p>“My orders are to drive you back where I took you +from,” replied the man, “and set out to look for others up +to midnight. Those who have no fancy for such an adventure, +Mr. Morris said, were not the guests for him.”</p> + +<p>These words decided the Lieutenant on the spot.</p> + +<p>“After all,” he reflected, as he descended from the hansom, +“I have not had long to wait for my adventure.”</p> + +<p>He had hardly found footing on the side-walk, and was +still feeling in his pocket for the fare, when the cab swung +about and drove off by the way it came at the former break-neck +velocity. Brackenbury shouted after the man, who +paid no heed, and continued to drive away; but the sound +of his voice was overheard in the house, the door was again +thrown open, emitting a flood of light upon the garden, and +a servant ran down to meet him holding an umbrella.</p> + +<p>“The cabman has been paid,” observed the servant in a +very civil tone; and he proceeded to escort Brackenbury +along the path and up the steps. In the hall several other +attendants relieved him of his hat, cane, and paletot, gave +him a ticket with a number in return, and politely hurried +him up a stair adorned with tropical flowers, to the door of +an apartment on the first story. Here a grave butler inquired +his name, and announcing, “Lieutenant Brackenbury +Rich,” ushered him into the drawing-room of the +house.</p> + +<p>A young man, slender and singularly handsome, came +forward and greeted him with an air at once courtly and +affectionate. Hundreds of candles, of the finest wax, lit up +a room that was perfumed, like the staircase, with a profusion +of rare and beautiful flowering shrubs, A side-table was +loaded with tempting viands. Several servants went to and +fro with fruits and goblets of champagne. The company +was perhaps sixteen in number, all men, few beyond the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page69"></a>69</span> +prime of life, and, with hardly an exception, of a dashing +and capable exterior. They were divided into two groups, +one about a roulette-board, and the other surrounding a +table at which one of their number held a bank of baccarat.</p> + +<p>“I see,” thought Brackenbury, “I am in a private +gambling saloon, and the cabman was a tout.”</p> + +<p>His eye had embraced the details, and his mind formed +the conclusion, while his host was still holding him by the +hand; and to him his looks returned from this rapid survey. +At a second view Mr. Morris surprised him still more than +on the first. The easy elegance of his manners, the distinction, +amiability, and courage that appeared upon his +features, fitted very ill with the Lieutenant’s preconceptions +on the subject of the proprietor of a hell; and the tone +of his conversation seemed to mark him out for a man of +position and merit. Brackenbury found he had an instinctive +liking for his entertainer; and though he chid himself +for the weakness, he was unable to resist a sort of friendly +attraction for Mr. Morris’s person and character.</p> + +<p>“I have heard of you, Lieutenant Rich,” said Mr. +Morris, lowering his tone; “and believe me I am gratified +to make your acquaintance. Your looks accord with the +reputation that has preceded you from India. And if you +will forget for a while the irregularity of your presentation +in my house, I shall feel it not only an honour, but a genuine +pleasure besides. A man who makes a mouthful of barbarian +cavaliers,” he added with a laugh, “should not be appalled +by a breach of etiquette, however serious.”</p> + +<p>And he led him towards the sideboard and pressed him +to partake of some refreshment.</p> + +<p>“Upon my word,” the Lieutenant reflected, “this is +one of the pleasantest fellows and, I do not doubt, one of the +most agreeable societies in London.”</p> + +<p>He partook of some champagne, which he found excellent; +and observing that many of the company were already +smoking, he lit one of his own Manillas, and strolled up to the +roulette-board, where he sometimes made a stake and sometimes +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page70"></a>70</span> +looked on smilingly on the fortune of others. It was +while he was thus idling that he became aware of a sharp +scrutiny to which the whole of the guests were subjected. +Mr. Morris went here and there, ostensibly busied on hospitable +concerns; but he had ever a shrewd glance at disposal; +not a man of the party escaped his sudden, searching looks; +he took stock of the bearing of heavy losers, he valued the +amount of the stakes, he paused behind couples who were +deep in conversation; and, in a word, there was hardly a +characteristic of any one present but he seemed to catch and +make a note of it. Brackenbury began to wonder if this +were indeed a gambling-hell: it had so much the air of a +private inquisition. He followed Mr. Morris in all his +movements; and although the man had a ready smile, he +seemed to perceive, as it were under a mask, a haggard, +careworn, and preoccupied spirit. The fellows around him +laughed and made their game; but Brackenbury had lost +interest in the guests.</p> + +<p>“This Morris,” thought he, “is no idler in the room. +Some deep purpose inspires him; let it be mine to fathom it.”</p> + +<p>Now and then Mr. Morris would call one of his visitors +aside; and after a brief colloquy in an ante-room, he would +return alone, and the visitors in question reappeared no +more. After a certain number of repetitions, this performance +excited Brackenbury’s curiosity to a high degree. He +determined to be at the bottom of this minor mystery at +once; and strolling into the ante-room, found a deep window +recess concealed by curtains of the fashionable green. Here +he hurriedly ensconced himself; nor had he to wait long +before the sound of steps and voices drew near him from the +principal apartment. Peering through the division, he saw +Mr. Morris escorting a fat and ruddy personage, with somewhat +the look of a commercial traveller, whom Brackenbury +had already remarked for his coarse laugh and under-bred +behaviour at the table. The pair halted immediately before +the window, so that Brackenbury lost not a word of the +following discourse:—</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page71"></a>71</span></p> + +<p>“I beg you a thousand pardons!” began Mr. Morris, +with the most conciliatory manner; “and, if I appear rude, +I am sure you will readily forgive me. In a place so great +as London accidents must continually happen; and the +best that we can hope is to remedy them with as small delay +as possible. I will not deny that I fear you have made a +mistake and honoured my poor house by inadvertence; for, +to speak openly, I cannot at all remember your appearance. +Let me put the question without unnecessary circumlocution—between +gentlemen of honour a word will suffice—Under +whose roof do you suppose yourself to be?”</p> + +<p>“That of Mr. Morris,” replied the other, with a prodigious +display of confusion, which had been visibly growing +upon him throughout the last few words.</p> + +<p>“Mr. John or Mr. James Morris?” inquired the host.</p> + +<p>“I really cannot tell you,” returned the unfortunate +guest. “I am not personally acquainted with the gentleman, +any more than I am with yourself.”</p> + +<p>“I see,” said Mr. Morris. “There is another person of +the same name farther down the street; and I have no +doubt the policeman will be able to supply you with his +number. Believe me, I felicitate myself on the misunderstanding +which has procured me the pleasure of your company +for so long; and let me express a hope that we may +meet again upon a more regular footing. Meantime, I +would not for the world detain you longer from your friends. +John,” he added, raising his voice, “will you see that this +gentleman finds his great-coat?”</p> + +<p>And with the most agreeable air Mr. Morris escorted his +visitor as far as the ante-room door, where he left him under +conduct of the butler. As he passed the window, on his +return to the drawing-room, Brackenbury could hear him +utter a profound sigh, as though his mind was loaded with a +great anxiety, and his nerves already fatigued with the task +on which he was engaged.</p> + +<p>For perhaps an hour the hansoms kept arriving with such +frequency that Mr. Morris had to receive a new guest for +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page72"></a>72</span> +every old one that he sent away, and the company preserved +its number undiminished. But towards the end of that +time the arrivals grew few and far between, and at length +ceased entirely, while the process of elimination was continued +with unimpaired activity. The drawing-room began +to look empty: the baccarat was discontinued for lack of a +banker; more than one person said good-night of his own +accord, and was suffered to depart without expostulation; +and in the meanwhile Mr. Morris redoubled in agreeable +attentions to those who stayed behind. He went from +group to group and from person to person with looks of the +readiest sympathy and the most pertinent and pleasing talk; +he was not so much like a host as like a hostess, and there +was a feminine coquetry and condescension in his manner +which charmed the hearts of all.</p> + +<p>As the guests grew thinner, Lieutenant Rich strolled +for a moment out of the drawing-room into the hall in quest +of fresher air. But he had no sooner passed the threshold +of the ante-chamber than he was brought to a dead halt by a +discovery of the most surprising nature. The flowering +shrubs had disappeared from the staircase; three large +furniture-waggons stood before the garden gate; the servants +were busy dismantling the house upon all sides; and +some of them had already donned their great-coats and were +preparing to depart. It was like the end of a country ball, +where everything has been supplied by contract. Brackenbury +had indeed some matter for reflection. First, the +guests, who were no real guests, after all, had been dismissed; +and now the servants, who could hardly be genuine servants, +were actively dispersing.</p> + +<p>“Was the whole establishment a sham?” he asked +himself. “The mushroom of a single night which should +disappear before morning?”</p> + +<p>Watching a favourable opportunity, Brackenbury +dashed upstairs to the higher regions of the house. It was +as he had expected. He ran from room to room, and saw +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page73"></a>73</span> +Although the house had been painted and papered, it was +not only uninhabited at present, but plainly had never been +inhabited at all. The young officer remembered with astonishment +its specious, settled, and hospitable air on his +arrival. It was only at a prodigious cost that the imposture +could have been carried out upon so great a scale.</p> + +<p>Who, then, was Mr. Morris? What was his intention in +thus playing the householder for a single night in the remote +west of London? And why did he collect his visitors at +hazard from the streets?</p> + +<p>Brackenbury remembered that he had already delayed +too long, and hastened to join the company. Many had +left during his absence; and, counting the Lieutenant and +his host, there were not more than five persons in the drawing-room—recently +so thronged. Mr. Morris greeted him, +as he re-entered the apartment, with a smile, and immediately +rose to his feet.</p> + +<p>“It is now time, gentlemen,” said he, “to explain my +purpose in decoying you from your amusements. I trust +you did not find the evening hang very dully on your hands; +but my object, I will confess it, was not to entertain your +leisure, but to help myself in an unfortunate necessity. You +are all gentlemen,” he continued, “your appearance does +you that much justice, and I ask for no better security. +Hence, I speak it without concealment, I ask you to render +me a dangerous and delicate service; dangerous because +you may run the hazard of your lives, and delicate because +I must ask an absolute discretion upon all that you shall see +or hear. From an utter stranger the request is almost +comically extravagant; I am well aware of this; and I would +add at once, if there be any one present who has heard enough, +if there be one among the party who recoils from a dangerous +confidence and a piece of Quixotic devotion to he knows not +whom—here is my hand ready, and I shall wish him good-night +and God-speed with all the sincerity in the world.”</p> + +<p>A very tall, black man, with a heavy stoop, immediately +responded to this appeal.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page74"></a>74</span></p> + +<p>“I commend your frankness, sir,” said he; “and, for +my part, I go. I make no reflections; but I cannot deny +that you fill me with suspicious thoughts. I go myself, as I +say; and perhaps you will think I have no right to add words +to my example.”</p> + +<p>“On the contrary,” replied Mr. Morris, “I am obliged +to you for all you say. It would be impossible to exaggerate +the gravity of my proposal.”</p> + +<p>“Well, gentlemen, what do you say?” said the +tall man, addressing the others. “We have had our +evening’s frolic; shall we all go homeward peaceably in a +body? You will think well of my suggestion in the +morning, when you see the sun again in innocence and +safety.”</p> + +<p>The speaker pronounced the last words with an intonation +which added to their force; and his face wore a singular +expression, full of gravity and significance. Another of +the company rose hastily, and, with some appearance of +alarm, prepared to take his leave. There were only two +who held their ground, Brackenbury and an old red-nosed +cavalry Major; but these two preserved a nonchalant demeanour, +and, beyond a look of intelligence which they +rapidly exchanged, appeared entirely foreign to the discussion +that had just been terminated.</p> + +<p>Mr. Morris conducted the deserters as far as the door, +which he closed upon their heels; then he turned round, +disclosing a countenance of mingled relief and animation, +and addressed the two officers as follows.</p> + +<p>“I have chosen my men like Joshua in the Bible,” said +Mr. Morris, “and I now believe I have the pick of London. +Your appearance pleased my hansom cabmen; then it delighted +me; I have watched your behaviour in a strange +company, and under the most unusual circumstances: I +have studied how you played and how you bore your losses; +lastly, I have put you to the test of a staggering announcement, +and you received it like an invitation to dinner. It +is not for nothing,” he cried, “that I have been for years the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page75"></a>75</span> +companion and the pupil of the bravest and wisest potentate +in Europe.”</p> + +<p>“At the affair of Bunderchang,” observed the Major, +“I asked for twelve volunteers, and every trooper in the +ranks replied to my appeal. But a gaming party is not the +same thing as a regiment under fire. You may be pleased, +I suppose, to have found two, and two who will +not fail you at a push. As for the pair who ran away, +I count them among the most pitiful hounds I ever +met with.—Lieutenant Rich,” he added, addressing Brackenbury, +“I have heard much of you of late; and I cannot +doubt but you have also heard of me. I am Major +O’Rooke.”</p> + +<p>And the veteran tendered his hand, which was red and +tremulous, to the young Lieutenant.</p> + +<p>“Who has not?” answered Brackenbury.</p> + +<p>“When this little matter is settled,” said Mr. Morris, +“you will think I have sufficiently rewarded you; for I +could offer neither a more valuable service than to make +him acquainted with the other.”</p> + +<p>“And now,” said Major O’Rooke, “is it a duel?”</p> + +<p>“A duel after a fashion,” replied Mr. Morris, “a duel +with unknown and dangerous enemies, and, as I gravely +fear, a duel to the death. I must ask you,” he continued, +“to call me Morris no longer; call me, if you please, Hammersmith; +my real name, as well as that of another person +to whom I hope to present you before long, you will gratify +me by not asking, and not seeking to discover for yourselves. +Three days ago the person of whom I speak disappeared suddenly +from home; and, until this morning, I received no +hint of his situation. You will fancy my alarm when I tell +you that he is engaged upon a work of private justice. +Bound by an unhappy oath, too lightly sworn, he finds it +necessary, without the help of law, to rid the earth of an +insidious and bloody villain. Already two of our friends, +and one of them my own born brother, have perished in the +enterprise. He himself, or I am much deceived, is taken in +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page76"></a>76</span> +the same fatal toils. But at least he still lives and still +hopes, as this billet sufficiently proves.”</p> + +<p>And the speaker, no other than Colonel Geraldine, +proffered a letter, thus conceived:—</p> + +<div class="quote"> +<p>“<span class="sc">Major Hammersmith</span>,—On Wednesday, at 3 <span class="sc">A.M.</span>, you will +be admitted by the small door to the gardens of Rochester House, +Regent’s Park, by a man who is entirely in my interest. I must +request you not to fail me by a second. Pray bring my case of +swords, and, if you can find them, one or two gentlemen of conduct +and discretion to whom my person is unknown. My name must +not be used in this affair.</p> + +<p style="text-align: right; padding-right: 2em;" class="sc">T. Godall.”</p> +</div> + +<p>“From his wisdom alone, if he had no other title,” pursued +Colonel Geraldine, when the others had each satisfied +his curiosity, “my friend is a man whose directions should +implicitly be followed. I need not tell you, therefore, that I +have not so much as visited the neighbourhood of Rochester +House; and that I am still as wholly in the dark as either +of yourselves as to the nature of my friend’s dilemma. I +betook myself, as soon as I had received this order, to a +furnishing contractor, and, in a few hours, the house in +which we now are had assumed its late air of festival. My +scheme was at least original; and I am far from regretting +an action which has procured me the services of Major +O’Rooke and Lieutenant Brackenbury Rich. But the +servants in the street will have a strange awakening. The +house which this evening was full of lights and visitors they +will find uninhabited and for sale to-morrow morning. Thus +even the most serious concerns,” added the Colonel, “have a +merry side.”</p> + +<p>“And let us add a merry ending,” said Brackenbury.</p> + +<p>The Colonel consulted his watch.</p> + +<p>“It is now hard on two,” he said. “We have an hour +before us, and a swift cab is at the door. Tell me if I may +count upon your help.”</p> + +<p>“During a long life,” replied Major O’Rooke, “I never +took back my hand from anything, nor so much as hedged +a bet.”</p> + +<p>Brackenbury signified his readiness in the most becoming +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page77"></a>77</span> +terms; and after they had drunk a glass or two of wine, +the Colonel gave each of them a loaded revolver, and the +three mounted into the cab and drove off for the address in +question.</p> + +<p>Rochester House was a magnificent residence on the +banks of the canal. The large extent of the garden isolated +it in an unusual degree from the annoyances of neighbourhood. +It seemed the <i>parc aux cerfs</i> of some great nobleman +or millionaire. As far as could be seen from the street, +there was not a glimmer of light in any of the numerous +windows of the mansion; and the place had a look of +neglect, as though the master had been long from home.</p> + +<p>The cab was discharged, and the three gentlemen were +not long in discovering the small door, which was a sort of +postern in a lane between two garden walls. It still wanted +ten or fifteen minutes of the appointed time; the rain fell +heavily, and the adventurers sheltered themselves below +some pendent ivy, and spoke in low tones of the approaching +trial.</p> + +<p>Suddenly Geraldine raised his finger to command silence, +and all three bent their hearing to the utmost. Through +the continuous noise of the rain, the steps and voices of two +men became audible from the other side of the wall; and, +as they drew nearer, Brackenbury, whose sense of hearing +was remarkably acute, could even distinguish some fragments +of their talk.</p> + +<p>“Is the grave dug?” asked one.</p> + +<p>“It is,” replied the other; “behind the laurel hedge. +When the job is done, we can cover it with a pile of stakes.”</p> + +<p>The first speaker laughed, and the sound of his merriment +was shocking to the listeners on the other side.</p> + +<p>“In an hour from now,” he said.</p> + +<p>And by the sound of the steps it was obvious that the +pair had separated, and were proceeding in contrary directions.</p> + +<p>Almost immediately after the postern door was cautiously +opened, a white face was protruded into the lane, and a +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page78"></a>78</span> +hand was seen beckoning to the watchers. In dead silence +the three passed the door, which was immediately locked +behind them, and followed their guide through several +garden alleys to the kitchen entrance of the house. A single +candle burned in the great paved kitchen, which was destitute +of the customary furniture; and as the party proceeded +to ascend from thence by a flight of winding stairs, a prodigious +noise of rats testified still more plainly to the dilapidation +of the house.</p> + +<p>Their conductor preceded them, carrying the candle. +He was a lean man, much bent, but still agile; and he turned +from time to time and admonished silence and caution by +his gestures. Colonel Geraldine followed on his heels, the +case of swords under one arm, and a pistol ready in the +other. Brackenbury’s heart beat thickly. He perceived +that they were still in time; but he judged from the alacrity +of the old man that the hour of action must be near at hand; +and the circumstances of this adventure were so obscure and +menacing, the place seemed so well chosen for the darkest +acts, that an older man than Brackenbury might have been +pardoned a measure of emotion as he closed the procession +up the winding stair.</p> + +<p>At the top the guide threw open a door and ushered the +three officers before him into a small apartment, lighted by +a smoky lamp and the glow of a modest fire. At the chimney +corner sat a man in the early prime of life, and of a stout +but courtly and commanding appearance. His attitude and +expression were those of the most unmoved composure; he +was smoking a cheroot with much enjoyment and deliberation, +and on a table by his elbow stood a long glass of some +effervescing beverage which diffused an agreeable odour +through the room.</p> + +<p>“Welcome,” said he, extending his hand to Colonel +Geraldine. “I knew I might count on your exactitude.”</p> + +<p>“On my devotion,” replied the Colonel, with a bow.</p> + +<p>“Present me to your friends,” continued the first; and, +when that ceremony had been performed, “I wish, gentlemen,” +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page79"></a>79</span> +he added, with the most exquisite affability, “that +I could offer you a more cheerful programme; it is ungracious +to inaugurate an acquaintance upon serious affairs; but +the compulsion of events is stronger than the obligations of +good-fellowship. I hope and believe you will be able to +forgive me this unpleasant evening; and for men of your +stamp it will be enough to know that you are conferring a +considerable favour.”</p> + +<p>“Your Highness,” said the Major, “must pardon my +bluntness. I am unable to hide what I know. For some +time back I have suspected Major Hammersmith, but Mr. +Godall is unmistakable. To seek two men in London unacquainted +with Prince Florizel of Bohemia was to ask too +much at Fortune’s hands.”</p> + +<p>“Prince Florizel!” cried Brackenbury in amazement.</p> + +<p>And he gazed with the deepest interest on the features +of the celebrated personage before him.</p> + +<p>“I shall not lament the loss of my incognito,” remarked +the Prince, “for it enables me to thank you with the more +authority. You would have done as much for Mr. Godall, I +feel sure, as for the Prince of Bohemia; but the latter can +perhaps do more for you. The gain is mine,” he added, +with a courteous gesture.</p> + +<p>And the next moment he was conversing with the two +officers about the Indian army and the native troops, a subject +on which, as on all others, he had a remarkable fund of +information and the soundest views.</p> + +<p>There was something so striking in this man’s attitude +at a moment of deadly peril that Brackenbury was overcome +with respectful admiration; nor was he less sensible +to the charm of his conversation or the surprising amenity +of his address. Every gesture, every intonation, was not +only noble in itself, but seemed to ennoble the fortunate +mortal for whom it was intended; and Brackenbury confessed +to himself with enthusiasm that this was a sovereign +for whom a brave man might thankfully lay down his life.</p> + +<p>Many minutes had thus passed, when the person who +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page80"></a>80</span> +had introduced them into the house, and who had sat ever +since in a corner, and with his watch in his hand, arose and +whispered a word into the Prince’s ear.</p> + +<p>“It is well, Dr. Noel,” replied Florizel aloud; and then +addressing the others, “You will excuse me, gentlemen,” he +added, “if I have to leave you in the dark. The moment +now approaches.”</p> + +<p>Dr. Noel extinguished the lamp. A faint, grey light, +premonitory of the dawn, illuminated the window, but was +not sufficient to illuminate the room; and when the Prince +rose to his feet, it was impossible to distinguish his features +or to make a guess at the nature of the emotion which obviously +affected him as he spoke. He moved towards the +door, and placed himself at one side of it in an attitude of the +wariest attention.</p> + +<p>“You will have the kindness,” he said, “to maintain +the strictest silence, and to conceal yourselves in the densest +of the shadow.”</p> + +<p>The three officers and the physician hastened to obey, +and for nearly ten minutes the only sound in Rochester +House was occasioned by the excursions of the rats behind +the woodwork. At the end of that period, a loud creak of a +hinge broke in with surprising distinctness on the silence; +and shortly after, the watchers could distinguish a slow and +cautious tread approaching up the kitchen stair. At every +second step the intruder seemed to pause and lend an ear, +and during these intervals, which seemed of an incalculable +duration, a profound disquiet possessed the spirit of the +listeners. Dr. Noel, accustomed as he was to dangerous +emotions, suffered an almost pitiful physical prostration; +his breath whistled in his lungs, his teeth grated one upon +another, and his joints cracked aloud as he nervously shifted +his position.</p> + +<p>At last a hand was laid upon the door, and the bolt shot +back with a slight report. There followed another pause, +during which Brackenbury could see the Prince draw himself +together noiselessly as if for some unusual exertion. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page81"></a>81</span> +Then the door opened, letting in a little more of the light of +the morning; and the figure of a man appeared upon the +threshold and stood motionless. He was tall, and carried +a knife in his hand. Even in the twilight they could see his +upper teeth bare and glistening, for his mouth was open like +that of a hound about to leap. The man had evidently been +over the head in water but a minute or two before; and even +while he stood there the drops kept falling from his wet +clothes and pattered on the floor.</p> + +<p>The next moment he crossed the threshold. There was +a leap, a stifled cry, an instantaneous struggle; and before +Colonel Geraldine could spring to his aid, the Prince held the +man, disarmed and helpless, by the shoulders.</p> + +<p>“Dr. Noel,” he said, “you will be so good as to re-light +the lamp.”</p> + +<p>And relinquishing the charge of his prisoner to Geraldine +and Brackenbury, he crossed the room and set his back +against the chimney-piece. As soon as the lamp had kindled +the party beheld an unaccustomed sternness on the Prince’s +features. It was no longer Florizel, the careless gentleman; +it was the Prince of Bohemia, justly incensed and full of +deadly purpose, who now raised his head and addressed the +captive President of the Suicide Club.</p> + +<p>“President,” he said, “you have laid your last snare, +and your own feet are taken in it. The day is beginning; it is +your last morning. You have just swum the Regent’s Canal; +it is your last bathe in this world. Your old accomplice, +Dr. Noel, so far from betraying me, has delivered you into +my hands for judgment. And the grave you had dug for +me this afternoon shall serve, in God’s almighty providence, +to hide your own just doom from the curiosity of mankind. +Kneel and pray, sir, if you have a mind that way; for your +time is short, and God is weary of your iniquities.”</p> + +<p>The President made no answer either by word or sign; +but continued to hang his head and gaze sullenly on the floor, +as though he were conscious of the Prince’s prolonged and +unsparing regard.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page82"></a>82</span></p> + +<p>“Gentlemen,” continued Florizel, resuming the ordinary +tone of his conversation, “this is a fellow who has long +eluded me, but whom, thanks to Dr. Noel, I now have +tightly by the heels. To tell the story of his misdeeds +would occupy more time than we can now afford; but if the +canal had contained nothing but the blood of his victims, I +believe the wretch would have been no drier than you see +him. Even in an affair of this sort I desire to preserve the +forms of honour. But I make you the judges, gentlemen—this +is more an execution than a duel; and to give the rogue +his choice of weapons would be to push too far a point of +etiquette. I cannot afford to lose my life in such a business,” +he continued, unlocking the case of swords; “and as a +pistol-bullet travels so often on the wings of chance, and +skill and courage may fall by the most trembling marksman, +I have decided, and I feel sure you will approve my determination, +to put this question to the touch of swords.”</p> + +<p>When Brackenbury and Major O’Rooke, to whom these +remarks were particularly addressed, had each intimated +his approval, “Quick, sir,” added Prince Florizel to the +President, “choose a blade and do not keep me waiting; I +have an impatience to be done with you for ever.”</p> + +<p>For the first time since he was captured and disarmed the +President raised his head, and it was plain that he began +instantly to pluck up courage.</p> + +<p>“Is it to be stand up?” he asked eagerly, “and between +you and me?”</p> + +<p>“I mean so far to honour you,” replied the Prince.</p> + +<p>“Oh, come!” cried the President. “With a fair field, +who knows how things may happen? I must add that I +consider it handsome behaviour on your Highness’s part; +and if the worst comes to the worst I shall die by one of the +most gallant gentlemen in Europe.”</p> + +<p>And the President, liberated by those who had detained +him, stepped up to the table and began, with minute attention, +to select a sword. He was highly elated, and seemed +to feel no doubt that he should issue victorious from the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page83"></a>83</span> +contest. The spectators grew alarmed in the face of so +entire a confidence, and adjured Prince Florizel to reconsider +his intention.</p> + +<p>“It is but a farce,” he answered; “and I think I can +promise you, gentlemen, that it will not be long a-playing.”</p> + +<p>“Your Highness will be careful not to overreach,” said +Colonel Geraldine.</p> + +<p>“Geraldine,” returned the Prince, “did you ever know +me fail in a debt of honour? I owe you this man’s death, +and you shall have it.”</p> + +<p>The President at last satisfied himself with one of the +rapiers, and signified his readiness by a gesture that was not +devoid of a rude nobility. The nearness of peril, and the +sense of courage, even to this obnoxious villain, lent an air +of manhood and a certain grace.</p> + +<p>The Prince helped himself at random to a sword.</p> + +<p>“Colonel Geraldine and Doctor Noel,” he said, “will have +the goodness to await me in this room. I wish no personal +friend of mine to be involved in this transaction. Major +O’Rooke, you are a man of some years and a settled reputation—let +me recommend the President to your good graces. +Lieutenant Rich will be so good as lend me his attentions: +a young man cannot have too much experience in such +affairs.”</p> + +<p>“Your Highness,” replied Brackenbury, “it is an +honour I shall prize extremely.”</p> + +<p>“It is well,” returned Prince Florizel; “I shall hope to +stand your friend in more important circumstances.”</p> + +<p>And so saying he led the way out of the apartment and +down the kitchen stairs.</p> + +<p>The two men who were thus left alone threw open the +window and leaned out, straining every sense to catch an +indication of the tragical events that were about to follow. +The rain was now over; day had almost come, and the birds +were piping in the shrubbery and on the forest-trees of the +garden. The Prince and his companions were visible for a +moment as they followed an alley between two flowering +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page84"></a>84</span> +thickets; but at the first corner a clump of foliage intervened, +and they were again concealed from view. This was +all that the Colonel and the Physician had an opportunity +to see, and the garden was so vast, and the place of combat +evidently so remote from the house, that not even the noise +of sword-play reached their ears.</p> + +<p>“He has taken him towards the grave,” said Dr. Noel, +with a shudder.</p> + +<p>“God,” cried the Colonel, “God defend the right!”</p> + +<p>And they awaited the event in silence, the Doctor shaking +with fear, the Colonel in an agony of sweat. Many +minutes must have elapsed, the day was sensibly broader, +and the birds were singing more heartily in the garden before +a sound of returning footsteps recalled their glances towards +the door. It was the Prince and the two Indian officers who +entered. God had defended the right.</p> + +<p>“I am ashamed of my emotion,” said Prince Florizel; +“I feel it is a weakness unworthy of my station, but the continued +existence of that hound of hell had begun to prey +upon me like a disease, and his death has more refreshed me +than a night of slumber. Look, Geraldine,” he continued, +throwing his sword upon the floor, “there is the blood of the +man who killed your brother. It should be a welcome sight. +And yet,” he added, “see how strangely we men are made! +my revenge is not yet five minutes old, and already I am +beginning to ask myself if even revenge be attainable on this +precarious stage of life. The ill he did, who can undo it? +The career in which he amassed a huge fortune (for the house +itself in which we stand belonged to him)—that career is +now a part of the destiny of mankind for ever; and I might +weary myself making thrusts in carte until the crack of judgment, +and Geraldine’s brother would be none the less dead, +and a thousand other innocent persons would be none the +less dishonoured and debauched! The existence of a man +is so small a thing to take, so mighty a thing to employ! +Alas!” he cried, “is there anything in life so disenchanting +as attainment?”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page85"></a>85</span></p> + +<p>“God’s justice has been done,” replied the Doctor. “So +much I behold. The lesson, your Highness, has been a cruel +one for me; and I await my own turn with deadly apprehension.”</p> + +<p>“What was I saying?” cried the Prince. “I have +punished, and here is the man beside us who can help me to +undo. Ah, Dr. Noel! you and I have before us many a day +of hard and honourable toil; and perhaps, before we have +done, you may have more than redeemed your early errors.”</p> + +<p>“And in the meantime,” said the Doctor, “let me go +and bury my oldest friend.”</p> + +<div class="pt05"> </div> + +<p><i>And this</i> (observes the erudite Arabian) <i>is the fortunate +conclusion of the tale. The Prince, it is superfluous to mention, +forgot none of those who served him in this great exploit; +and to this day his authority and influence help them forward +in their public career, while his condescending friendship adds +a charm to their private life. To collect</i>, continues my +author, <i>all the strange events in which this Prince has played +the part of Providence were to fill the habitable globe with +books. But the stories which relate to the fortunes of</i> <span class="sc">The +Rajah’s Diamond</span> <i>are of too entertaining a description, says +he, to be omitted. Following prudently in the footsteps of this +Oriental, we shall now begin the series to which he refers with +the</i> <span class="sc">Story of the Bandbox</span>.</p> + +<hr class="art" /> +<div class="pt2"> </div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page86"></a>86</span></p> +<h3>THE RAJAH’S DIAMOND</h3> + + +<h5>STORY OF THE BANDBOX</h5> + +<p class="noind"><span class="sc">Up</span> to the age of sixteen, at a private school and afterwards +at one of those great institutions for which England is justly +famous, Mr. Harry Hartley had received the ordinary education +of a gentleman. At that period he manifested a remarkable +distaste for study; and his only surviving parent +being both weak and ignorant, he was permitted thenceforward +to spend his time in the attainment of petty and +purely elegant accomplishments. Two years later, he was +left an orphan and almost a beggar. For all active and +industrious pursuits, Harry was unfitted alike by nature and +training. He could sing romantic ditties, and accompany +himself with discretion on the piano; he was a graceful +although a timid cavalier; he had a pronounced taste for +chess; and nature had sent him into the world with one of +the most engaging exteriors that can well be fancied. Blond +and pink, with dove’s eyes and a gentle smile, he had an air +of agreeable tenderness and melancholy and the most submissive +and caressing manners. But when all is said, he was +not the man to lead armaments of war or direct the councils +of a State.</p> + +<p>A fortunate chance and some influence obtained for +Harry, at the time of his bereavement, the position of private +secretary to Major-General Sir Thomas Vandeleur, C.B. +Sir Thomas was a man of sixty, loud-spoken, boisterous, and +domineering. For some reason, some service the nature of +which had been often whispered and repeatedly denied, the +Rajah of Kashgar had presented this officer with the sixth +known diamond of the world. The gift transformed +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page87"></a>87</span> +General Vandeleur from a poor into a wealthy man, from an +obscure and unpopular soldier into one of the lions of London +society; the possessor of the Rajah’s Diamond was +welcome in the most exclusive circles; and he had found a +lady, young, beautiful, and well-born, who was willing to call +the diamond hers even at the price of marriage with Sir +Thomas Vandeleur. It was commonly said at the time that, +as like draws to like, one jewel had attracted another; certainly +Lady Vandeleur was not only a gem of the finest +water in her own person, but she showed herself to the world +in a very costly setting; and she was considered by many +respectable authorities as one among the three or four best-dressed +women in England.</p> + +<p>Harry’s duty as secretary was not particularly onerous; +but he had a dislike for all prolonged work; it gave him +pain to ink his fingers; and the charms of Lady Vandeleur +and her toilettes drew him often from the library to the +boudoir. He had the prettiest ways among women, could +talk fashions with enjoyment, and was never more happy than +when criticising a shade of ribbon or running on an errand +to the milliner’s. In short, Sir Thomas’s correspondence fell +into pitiful arrears, and my Lady had another lady’s maid.</p> + +<p>At last the General, who was one of the least patient of +military commanders, arose from his place in a violent access +of passion, and indicated to his secretary that he had no +further need for his services, with one of those explanatory +gestures which are most rarely employed between gentlemen. +The door being unfortunately open, Mr. Hartley fell downstairs +head-foremost.</p> + +<p>He arose somewhat hurt and very deeply aggrieved. +The life in the General’s house precisely suited him; he +moved, on a more or less doubtful footing, in very genteel +company, he did little, he ate of the best, and he had a lukewarm +satisfaction in the presence of Lady Vandeleur, which, +in his own heart, he dubbed by a more emphatic name.</p> + +<p>Immediately after he had been outraged by the military +foot, he hurried to the boudoir and recounted his sorrows.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page88"></a>88</span></p> + +<p>“You know very well, my dear Harry,” replied Lady +Vandeleur, for she called him by name like a child or a +domestic servant, “that you never by any chance do what +the General tells you. No more do I, you may say. But +that is different. A woman can earn her pardon for a good +year of disobedience by a single adroit submission; and, +besides, no one is married to his private secretary. I shall +be sorry to lose you; but since you cannot stay longer in a +house where you have been insulted, I shall wish you good-bye, +and I promise you to make the General smart for his +behaviour.”</p> + +<p>Harry’s countenance fell; tears came into his eyes, and +he gazed on Lady Vandeleur with a tender reproach.</p> + +<p>“My Lady,” said he, “what is an insult? I should +think little indeed of any one who could not forgive them by +the score. But to leave one’s friends; to tear up the bonds +of affection——“</p> + +<p>He was unable to continue, for his emotion choked him, +and he began to weep.</p> + +<p>Lady Vandeleur looked at him with a curious expression.</p> + +<p>“This little fool,” she thought, “imagines himself to +be in love with me. Why should he not become my +servant instead of the General’s? He is good-natured, +obliging, and understands dress; and besides, it will keep +him out of mischief. He is positively too pretty to be +unattached.”</p> + +<p>That night she talked over the General, who was already +somewhat ashamed of his vivacity; and Harry was transferred +to the feminine department, where his life was little +short of heavenly. He was always dressed with uncommon +nicety, wore delicate flowers in his button-hole, and could +entertain a visitor with tact and pleasantry. He took a +pride in servility to a beautiful woman; received Lady Vandeleur’s +commands as so many marks of favour; and was +pleased to exhibit himself before other men, who derided and +despised him, in his character of male lady’s-maid and man-milliner. +Nor could he think enough of his existence from a +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page89"></a>89</span> +moral point of view. Wickedness seemed to him an essentially +male attribute, and to pass one’s days with a delicate +woman, and principally occupied about trimmings, was to +inhabit an enchanted isle among the storms of life.</p> + +<p>One fine morning he came into the drawing-room and +began to arrange some music on the top of the piano. Lady +Vandeleur, at the other end of the apartment, was speaking +somewhat eagerly with her brother, Charlie Pendragon, an +elderly young man, much broken with dissipation, and very +lame of one foot. The private secretary, to whose entrance +they paid no regard, could not avoid overhearing a part of +their conversation.</p> + +<p>“To-day or never,” said the lady. “Once and for all, +it shall be done to-day.”</p> + +<p>“To-day, if it must be,” replied the brother, with a sigh. +“But it is a false step, a ruinous step, Clara; and we shall +live to repent it dismally.”</p> + +<p>Lady Vandeleur looked her brother steadily and somewhat +strangely in the face.</p> + +<p>“You forget,” she said; “the man must die at last.”</p> + +<p>“Upon my word, Clara,” said Pendragon, “I believe +you are the most heartless rascal in England.”</p> + +<p>“You men,” she returned, “are so coarsely built, that +you can never appreciate a shade of meaning. You are +yourselves rapacious, violent, immodest, careless of distinction; +and yet the least thought for the future shocks +you in a woman. I have no patience with such stuff. You +would despise in a common banker the imbecility that you +expect to find in us.”</p> + +<p>“You are very likely right,” replied her brother; “you +were always cleverer than I. And, anyway, you know my +motto: The family before all.”</p> + +<p>“Yes, Charlie,” she returned, taking his hand in hers, +“I know your motto better than you know it yourself. +’And Clara before the family!’ Is not that the second part +of it? Indeed, you are the best of brothers, and I love you +dearly.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page90"></a>90</span></p> + +<p>Mr. Pendragon got up, looking a little confused by these +family endearments.</p> + +<p>“I had better not be seen,” said he. “I understand +my part to a miracle, and I’ll keep an eye on the Tame Cat.”</p> + +<p>“Do,” she replied. “He is an abject creature, and +might ruin all.”</p> + +<p>She kissed the tips of her fingers to him daintily; and +the brother withdrew by the boudoir and the back stair.</p> + +<p>“Harry,” said Lady Vandeleur turning towards the +secretary as soon as they were alone, “I have a commission +for you this morning. But you shall take a cab; I cannot +have my secretary freckled.”</p> + +<p>She spoke the last words with emphasis and a look of +half-motherly pride that caused great contentment to poor +Harry; and he professed himself charmed to find an opportunity +of serving her.</p> + +<p>“It is another of our great secrets,” she went on +archly, “and no one must know of it but my secretary and +me. Sir Thomas would make the saddest disturbance; +and if you only knew how weary I am of these scenes! O +Harry, Harry, can you explain to me what makes you men +so violent and unjust? But, indeed, I know you cannot; +you are the only man in the world who knows nothing of +these shameful passions; you are so good, Harry, and so +kind; you, at least, can be a woman’s friend; and, do you +know? I think you make the others more ugly by comparison.”</p> + +<p>“It is you,” said Harry gallantly, “who are so kind to +me. You treat me like——“</p> + +<p>“Like a mother,” interposed Lady Vandeleur; “I try +to be a mother to you. Or, at least,” she corrected herself +with a smile, “almost a mother. I am afraid I am too +young to be your mother really. Let us say a friend—a +dear friend.”</p> + +<p>She paused long enough to let her words take effect in +Harry’s sentimental quarters, but not long enough to allow +him a reply.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page91"></a>91</span></p> + +<p>“But all this is beside our purpose,” she resumed. “You +will find a bandbox in the left-hand side of the oak wardrobe; +it is underneath the pink slip that I wore on Wednesday +with my Mechlin. You will take it immediately to this +address,” and she gave him a paper, “but do not, on any +account, let it out of your hands until you have received +a receipt written by myself. Do you understand? Answer, +if you please—answer! This is extremely important, and +I must ask you to pay some attention.”</p> + +<p>Harry pacified her by repeating her instructions perfectly; +and she was just going to tell him more when +General Vandeleur flung into the apartment, scarlet with +anger, and holding a long and elaborate milliner’s bill in his +hand.</p> + +<p>“Will you look at this, madam?” cried he. “Will, you +have the goodness to look at this document? I know well +enough you married me for my money, and I hope I can +make as great allowances as any other man in the service; +but, as sure as God made me, I mean to put a period to this +disreputable prodigality.”</p> + +<p>“Mr. Hartley,” said Lady Vandeleur, “I think you +understand what you have to do. May I ask you to see to +it at once?”</p> + +<p>“Stop,” said the General, addressing Harry, “one word +before you go.” And then, turning again to Lady Vandeleur, +“What is this precious fellow’s errand?” he demanded. +“I trust him no further than I do yourself, let +me tell you. If he had as much as the rudiments of honesty, +he would scorn to stay in this house; and what he does for +his wages is a mystery to all the world. What is his errand, +madam? and why are you hurrying him away?”</p> + +<p>“I supposed you had something to say to me in private,” +replied the lady.</p> + +<p>“You spoke about an errand,” insisted the General. +“Do not attempt to deceive me in my present state of +temper. You certainly spoke about an errand.”</p> + +<p>“If you insist on making your servants privy to our +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page92"></a>92</span> +humiliating dissensions,” replied Lady Vandeleur, “perhaps +I had better ask Mr. Hartley to sit down. No?” she +continued; “then you may go, Mr. Hartley. I trust you +may remember all that you have heard in this room; it may +be useful to you.”</p> + +<p>Harry at once made his escape from the drawing-room; +and as he ran upstairs he could hear the General’s voice upraised +in declamation, and the thin tones of Lady Vandeleur +planting icy repartees at every opening. How cordially he +admired the wife! How skilfully she could evade an awkward +question! with what secure effrontery she repeated +her instructions under the very guns of the enemy! and on +the other hand, how he detested the husband!</p> + +<p>There had been nothing unfamiliar in the morning’s +events, for he was continually in the habit of serving Lady +Vandeleur on secret missions, principally connected with +millinery. There was a skeleton in the house, as he well +knew. The bottomless extravagance and the unknown +liabilities of the wife had long since swallowed her own +fortune, and threatened day by day to engulf that of the +husband. Once or twice in every year exposure and ruin +seemed imminent, and Harry kept trotting round to all sorts +of furnishers’ shops, telling small fibs, and paying small +advances on the gross amount, until another term was tided +over, and the lady and her faithful secretary breathed again. +For Harry, in a double capacity, was heart and soul upon +that side of the war; not only did he adore Lady Vandeleur +and fear and dislike her husband, but he naturally sympathised +with the love of finery, and his own single extravagance +was at the tailor’s.</p> + +<p>He found the bandbox where it had been described, +arranged his toilette with care, and left the house. The sun +shone brightly; the distance he had to travel was considerable, +and he remembered with dismay that the General’s +sudden irruption had prevented Lady Vandeleur from +giving him money for a cab. On this sultry day there was +every chance that his complexion would suffer severely; +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page93"></a>93</span> +and to walk through so much of London with a bandbox on +his arm was a humiliation almost insupportable to a youth +of his character. He paused, and took counsel with himself. +The Vandeleurs lived in Eaton Place; his destination was +near Notting Hill; plainly, he might cross the Park by +keeping well in the open and avoiding populous alleys; and +he thanked his stars when he reflected that it was still comparatively +early in the day.</p> + +<p>Anxious to be rid of his incubus, he walked somewhat +faster than his ordinary, and he was already some way +through Kensington Gardens when, in a solitary spot among +trees, he found himself confronted by the General.</p> + +<p>“I beg your pardon, Sir Thomas,” observed Harry, +politely falling on one side; for the other stood directly in +his path.</p> + +<p>“Where are you going, sir?” asked the General.</p> + +<p>“I am taking a little walk among the trees,” replied the +lad.</p> + +<p>The General struck the bandbox with his cane.</p> + +<p>“With that thing?” he cried; “you lie, sir, and you +know you lie!”</p> + +<p>“Indeed, Sir Thomas,” returned Harry, “I am not accustomed +to be questioned in so high a key.”</p> + +<p>“You do not understand your position,” said the +General. “You are my servant, and a servant of whom I +have conceived the most serious suspicions. How do I +know but that your box is full of tea-spoons?”</p> + +<p>“It contains a silk hat belonging to a friend,” said Harry.</p> + +<p>“Very well,” replied General Vandeleur. “Then I +want to see your friend’s silk hat. I have,” he added +grimly, “a singular curiosity for hats; and I believe you +know me to be somewhat positive.”</p> + +<p>“I beg your pardon, Sir Thomas; I am exceedingly +grieved,” Harry apologised; “but indeed this is a private +affair.”</p> + +<p>The General caught him roughly by the shoulder with +one hand, while he raised his cane in the most menacing +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page94"></a>94</span> +manner with the other. Harry gave himself up for lost; +but at the same moment Heaven vouchsafed him an unexpected +defender in the person of Charlie Pendragon, who +now strode forward from behind the trees.</p> + +<p>“Come, come, General, hold your hand,” said he; “this +is neither courteous nor manly.”</p> + +<p>“Aha!” cried the General, wheeling round upon his new +antagonist, “Mr. Pendragon! And do you suppose, Mr. +Pendragon, that because I have had the misfortune to marry +your sister, I shall suffer myself to be dogged and thwarted +by a discredited and bankrupt libertine like you? My +acquaintance with Lady Vandeleur, sir, has taken away all +my appetite for the other members of her family.”</p> + +<p>“And do you fancy, General Vandeleur,” retorted +Charlie, “that because my sister has had the misfortune to +marry you, she there and then forfeited her rights and +privileges as a lady? I own, sir, that by that action she did +as much as anybody could to derogate from her position; +but to me she is still a Pendragon. I make it my business to +protect her from ungentlemanly outrage, and if you were ten +times her husband I would not permit her liberty to be restrained, +nor her private messengers to be violently arrested.”</p> + +<p>“How is that, Mr. Hartley?” interrogated the General. +“Mr. Pendragon is of my opinion, it appears. He too suspects +that Lady Vandeleur has something to do with your +friend’s silk hat.”</p> + +<p>Charlie saw that he had committed an unpardonable +blunder, which he hastened to repair.</p> + +<p>“How, sir?” he cried; “I suspect, do you say? I suspect +nothing. Only where I find strength abused and a +man brutalising his inferiors, I take the liberty to interfere.”</p> + +<p>As he said these words he made a sign to Harry, which +the latter was too dull or too much troubled to understand.</p> + +<p>“In what way am I to construe your attitude, sir?” demanded +Vandeleur.</p> + +<p>“Why, sir, as you please,” returned Pendragon.</p> + +<p>The General once more raised his cane, and made a cut +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page95"></a>95</span> +for Charlie’s head; but the latter, lame foot and all, evaded +the blow with his umbrella, ran in, and immediately closed +with his formidable adversary.</p> + +<p>“Run, Harry, run!” he cried; “run, you dolt!”</p> + +<p>Harry stood petrified for a moment, watching the two +men sway together in this fierce embrace; then he turned +and took to his heels. When he cast a glance over his +shoulder he saw the General prostrate under Charlie’s knee, +but still making desperate efforts to reverse the situation; +and the Gardens seemed to have filled with people, who were +running from all directions towards the scene of fight. This +spectacle lent the secretary wings; and he did not relax his +pace until he had gained the Bayswater Road, and plunged +at random into an unfrequented by-street.</p> + +<p>To see two gentlemen of his acquaintance thus brutally +mauling each other was deeply shocking to Harry. He +desired to forget the sight; he desired, above all, to put as +great a distance as possible between himself and General +Vandeleur; and in his eagerness for this he forgot everything +about his destination, and hurried before him headlong +and trembling. When he remembered that Lady +Vandeleur was the wife of one and the sister of the other of +these gladiators, his heart was touched with sympathy for a +woman so distressingly misplaced in life. Even his own +situation in the General’s household looked hardly so pleasing +as usual in the light of these violent transactions.</p> + +<p>He had walked some little distance, busied with these +meditations, before a slight collision with another passenger +reminded him of the bandbox on his arm.</p> + +<p>“Heavens!” cried he, “where was my head? and +whither have I wandered?”</p> + +<p>Thereupon he consulted the envelope which Lady Vandeleur +had given him. The address was there, but without +a name. Harry was simply directed to ask for “the gentleman +who expected a parcel from Lady Vandeleur,” and if he +were not at home to await his return. The gentleman, +added the note, should present a receipt in the handwriting +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page96"></a>96</span> +of the lady herself. All this seemed mightily mysterious, +and Harry was above all astonished at the omission of the +name and the formality of the receipt. He had thought little +of this last when he heard it dropped in conversation; but +reading it in cold blood, and taking it in connection with the +other strange particulars, he became convinced that he was +engaged in perilous affairs. For half a moment he had a +doubt of Lady Vandeleur herself; for he found these obscure +proceedings somewhat unworthy of so high a lady, and +became more critical when her secrets were preserved +against himself. But her empire over his spirit was too +complete, he dismissed his <span class="correction" title="corrected from supicions">suspicions</span>, and blamed himself +roundly for having so much as entertained them.</p> + +<p>In one thing, however, his duty and interest, his generosity +and his terrors, coincided—to get rid of the bandbox +with the greatest possible despatch.</p> + +<p>He accosted the first policeman and courteously inquired +his way. It turned out that he was already not far +from his destination, and a walk of a few minutes brought +him to a small house in a lane, freshly painted, and kept +with the most scrupulous attention. The knocker and bell-pull +were highly polished: flowering pot-herbs garnished +the sills of the different windows; and curtains of some rich +material concealed the interior from the eyes of curious +passengers. The place had an air of repose and secrecy; +and Harry was so far caught with this spirit that he knocked +with more than usual discretion, and was more than usually +careful to remove all impurity from his boots.</p> + +<p>A servant-maid of some personal attractions immediately +opened the door, and seemed to regard the secretary +with no unkind eyes.</p> + +<p>“This is a parcel from Lady Vandeleur,” said Harry.</p> + +<p>“I know,” replied the maid, with a nod. “But the +gentleman is from home. Will you leave it with me?”</p> + +<p>“I cannot,” answered Harry. “I am directed not to +part with it but upon a certain condition, and I must ask +you, I am afraid, to let me wait.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page97"></a>97</span></p> + +<p>“Well,” said she, “I suppose I may let you wait. I am +lonely enough, I can tell you, and you do not look as though +you would eat a girl. But be sure and do not ask the gentleman’s +name, for that I am not to tell you.”</p> + +<p>“Do you say so?” cried Harry. “Why, how strange! +But indeed for some time back I walk among surprises. +One question I think I may surely ask without indiscretion: +Is he the master of this house?”</p> + +<p>“He is a lodger, and not eight days old at that,” returned +the maid. “And now a question for a question: Do you +know Lady Vandeleur?”</p> + +<p>“I am her private secretary,” replied Harry, with a +glow of modest pride.</p> + +<p>“She is pretty, is she not?” pursued the servant.</p> + +<p>“Oh, beautiful!” cried Harry; “wonderfully lovely, +and not less good and kind!”</p> + +<p>“You look kind enough yourself,” she retorted; “and +I wager you are worth a dozen Lady Vandeleurs.”</p> + +<p>Harry was properly scandalised.</p> + +<p>“I!” he cried. “I am only a secretary!”</p> + +<p>“Do you mean that for me?” said the girl. “Because +I am only a housemaid, if you please.” And then, relenting +at the sight of Harry’s obvious confusion, “I know you mean +nothing of the sort,” she added; “and I like your looks; +but I think nothing of your Lady Vandeleur. Oh, these +mistresses!” she cried. “To send out a real gentleman +like you—with a bandbox—in broad day!”</p> + +<p>During this talk they had remained in their original +positions—she on the doorstep, he on the side-walk, bare-headed +for the sake of coolness, and with the bandbox on +his arm. But upon this last speech Harry, who was unable +to support such point-blank compliments to his appearance, +nor the encouraging look with which they were accompanied, +began to change his attitude, and glance from left to right in +perturbation. In so doing he turned his face towards the +lower end of the lane, and there, to his indescribable dismay, +his eyes encountered those of General Vandeleur. The +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page98"></a>98</span> +General, in a prodigious fluster of heat, hurry, and indignation, +had been scouring the streets in chase of his brother-in-law; +but so soon as he caught a glimpse of the delinquent +secretary, his purpose changed, his anger flowed into a new +channel, and he turned on his heel and came tearing up the +lane with truculent gestures and vociferations.</p> + +<p>Harry made but one bolt of it into the house, driving the +maid before him; and the door was slammed in his pursuer’s +countenance.</p> + +<p>“Is there a bar? Will it lock?” asked Harry, while a +salvo on the knocker made the house echo from wall to wall.</p> + +<p>“Why, what is wrong with you?” asked the maid. +“Is it this old gentleman?”</p> + +<p>“If he gets hold of me,” whispered Harry, “I am as +good as dead. He has been pursuing me all day, carries a +sword-stick, and is an Indian military officer.”</p> + +<p>“These are fine manners,” cried the maid. “And +what, if you please, may be his name?”</p> + +<p>“It is the General, my master,” answered Harry. “He +is after this bandbox.”</p> + +<p>“Did not I tell you?” cried the maid in triumph. “I +told you I thought worse than nothing of your Lady Vandeleur; +and if you had an eye in your head you might see +what she is for yourself. An ungrateful minx, I will be +bound for that!”</p> + +<p>The General renewed his attack upon the knocker, and +his passion growing with delay, began to kick and beat +upon the panels of the door.</p> + +<p>“It is lucky,” observed the girl, “that I am alone in +the house; your General may hammer until he is weary, +and there is none to open for him. Follow me!”</p> + +<p>So saying she led Harry into the kitchen, where she made +him sit down, and stood by him herself in an affectionate +attitude, with a hand upon his shoulder. The din at the door, +so far from abating, continued to increase in volume, and +at each blow the unhappy secretary was shaken to the heart.</p> + +<p>“What is your name?” asked the girl.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page99"></a>99</span></p> + +<p>“Harry Hartley,” he replied.</p> + +<p>“Mine,” she went on, “is Prudence. Do you like it?”</p> + +<p>“Very much,” said Harry. “But hear for a moment +how the General beats upon the door. He will certainly +break it in, and then, in Heaven’s name, what have I to look +for but death?”</p> + +<p>“You put yourself very much about with no occasion,” +answered Prudence. “Let your General knock, he will do +no more than blister his hands. Do you think I would keep +you here if I were not sure to save you? Oh, no, I am a +good friend to those that please me! and we have a back +door upon another lane. But,” she added, checking him, +for he had got upon his feet immediately on this welcome +news, “But I will not show where it is unless you kiss me. +Will you, Harry?”</p> + +<p>“That I will,” he cried, remembering his gallantry, “not +for your back door, but because you are good and pretty.”</p> + +<p>And he administered two or three cordial salutes, which +were returned to him in kind.</p> + +<p>Then Prudence led him to the back gate, and put her +hand upon the key.</p> + +<p>“Will you come and see me?” she asked.</p> + +<p>“I will indeed,” said Harry. “Do not I owe you my +life?”</p> + +<p>“And now,” she added, opening the door, “run as hard +as you can, for I shall let in the General.”</p> + +<p>Harry scarcely required this advice; fear had him by +the forelock; and he addressed himself diligently to flight. +A few steps, and he believed he would escape from his trials, +and return to Lady Vandeleur in honour and safety. But +these few steps had not been taken before he heard a man’s +voice hailing him by name with many execrations, and, +looking over his shoulder, he beheld Charlie Pendragon +waving him with both arms to return. The shock of this +new incident was so sudden and profound, and Harry was +already worked into so high a state of nervous tension, that +he could think of nothing better than to accelerate his pace +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page100"></a>100</span> +and continue running. He should certainly have remembered +the scene in Kensington Gardens; he should certainly +have concluded that, where the General was his enemy, +Charlie Pendragon could be no other than a friend. But +such was the fever and perturbation of his mind that he was +struck by none of these considerations, and only continued +to run the faster up the lane.</p> + +<p>Charlie, by the sound of his voice and the vile terms that +he hurled after the secretary, was obviously beside himself +with rage. He, too, ran his very best; but, try as he might, +the physical advantages were not upon his side, and his outcries +and the fall of his lame foot on the macadam began to +fall farther and farther into the wake.</p> + +<p>Harry’s hopes began once more to arise. The lane was +both steep and narrow, but it was exceedingly solitary, +bordered on either hand by garden walls, overhung with +foliage; and, for as far as the fugitive could see in front of +him, there was neither a creature moving nor an open door. +Providence, weary of persecution, was now offering him an +open field for his escape.</p> + +<p>Alas! as he came abreast of a garden door under a tuft +of chestnuts, it was suddenly drawn back, and he could see +inside, upon a garden path, the figure of a butcher’s boy +with his tray upon his arm. He had hardly recognised the +fact before he was some steps beyond upon the other side. But +the fellow had had time to observe him; he was evidently +much surprised to see a gentleman go by at so unusual a +pace; and he came out into the lane and began to call after +Harry with shouts of ironical encouragement.</p> + +<p>His appearance gave a new idea to Charlie Pendragon, +who, although he was now sadly out of breath, once more +upraised his voice.</p> + +<p>“Stop, thief!” he cried.</p> + +<p>And immediately the butcher’s boy had taken up the +cry and joined in the pursuit.</p> + +<p>This was a bitter moment for the hunted secretary. It +is true that his terror enabled him once more to improve his +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page101"></a>101</span> +pace, and gain with every step on his pursuers; but he was +well aware that he was near the end of his resources, and +should he meet any one coming the other way, his predicament +in the narrow lane would be desperate indeed.</p> + +<p>“I must find a place of concealment,” he thought, “and +that within the next few seconds, or all is over with me in +this world.”</p> + +<p>Scarcely had the thought crossed his mind than the lane +took a sudden turning, and he found himself hidden from +his enemies. There are circumstances in which even the +least energetic of mankind learn to behave with vigour and +decision, and the most cautious forget their prudence and +embrace foolhardy resolutions. This was one of those +occasions for Harry Hartley; and those who knew him best +would have been the most astonished at the lad’s audacity. +He stopped dead, flung the bandbox over a garden wall, and +leaping upward with incredible agility, and seizing the cope-stone +with his hands, he tumbled headlong after it into the +garden.</p> + +<p>He came to himself a moment afterwards, seated in a +border of small rose-bushes. His hands and knees were cut +and bleeding, for the wall had been protected against such +an escalade by a liberal provision of old bottles; and he was +conscious of a general dislocation and a painful swimming +in the head. Facing him across the garden, which was in +admirable order, and set with flowers of the most delicious +perfume, he beheld the back of a house. It was of considerable +extent, and plainly habitable; but, in odd contrast to +the grounds, it was crazy, ill-kept, and of a mean appearance. +On all other sides the circuit of the garden wall appeared +unbroken.</p> + +<p>He took in these features of the scene with mechanical +glances, but his mind was still unable to piece together or +draw a rational conclusion from what he saw. And when +he heard footsteps advancing on the gravel, although he +turned his eyes in that direction, it was with no thought +either for defence or flight.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page102"></a>102</span></p> + +<p>The new-comer was a large, coarse, and very sordid +personage, in gardening clothes, and with a watering-pot +in his left hand. One less confused would have been affected +with some alarm at the sight of this man’s huge proportions +and black and lowering eyes. But Harry was too gravely +shaken by his fall to be so much as terrified; and if he was +unable to divert his glances from the gardener, he remained +absolutely passive, and suffered him to draw near, to take +him by the shoulder, and to plant him roughly on his feet, +without a motion of resistance.</p> + +<p>For a moment the two stared into each other’s eyes, +Harry fascinated, the man filled with wrath and a cruel, +sneering humour.</p> + +<p>“Who are you?” he demanded at last. “Who are you +to come flying over my wall and break my <i>Gloire de Dijons</i>? +What is your name?” he added, shaking him; “and what +may be your business here?”</p> + +<p>Harry could not as much as proffer a word in explanation.</p> + +<p>But just at that moment Pendragon and the butcher’s +boy went clumping past, and the sound of their feet and +their hoarse cries echoed loudly in the narrow lane. The +gardener had received his answer; and he looked down into +Harry’s face with an obnoxious smile.</p> + +<p>“A thief!” he said. “Upon my word, and a very +good thing you must make of it; for I see you dressed like a +gentleman from top to toe. Are you not ashamed to go +about the world in such a trim, with honest folk, I daresay, +glad to buy your cast-off finery second-hand? Speak up, +you dog,” the man went on; “you can understand English, +I suppose; and I mean to have a bit of talk with you before +I march you to the station.”</p> + +<p>“Indeed, sir,” said Harry, “this is all a dreadful misconception; +and if you will go with me to Sir Thomas +Vandeleur’s in Eaton Place, I can promise that all will be +made plain. The most upright person, as I now perceive, +can be led into suspicious positions.”</p> + +<p>“My little man,” replied the gardener, “I will go with +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page103"></a>103</span> +you no farther than the station-house in the next street. +The inspector, no doubt, will be glad to take a stroll with +you as far as Eaton Place, and have a bit of afternoon tea +with your great acquaintances. Or would you prefer to go +direct to the Home Secretary? Sir Thomas Vandeleur, +indeed! Perhaps you think I don’t know a gentleman +when I see one, from a common run-the-hedge like you? +Clothes or no clothes, I can read you like a book. Here is a +shirt that maybe cost as much as my Sunday hat; and that +coat, I take it, has never seen the inside of Rag-fair, and +then your boots——“</p> + +<p>The man, whose eyes had fallen upon the ground, stopped +short in his insulting commentary, and remained for a +moment looking intently upon something at his feet. When +he spoke his voice was strangely altered.</p> + +<p>“What, in God’s name,” said he, “is all this?”</p> + +<p>Harry, following the direction of the man’s eyes, beheld +a spectacle that struck him dumb with terror and amazement. +In his fall he had descended vertically upon the +bandbox, and burst it open from end to end; thence a great +treasure of diamonds had poured forth, and now lay abroad, +part trodden in the soil, part scattered on the surface in +regal and glittering profusion. There was a magnificent +coronet which he had often admired on Lady Vandeleur; +there were rings and brooches, ear-drops and bracelets, and +even unset brilliants rolling here and there among the rose-bushes +like drops of morning dew. A princely fortune lay +between the two men upon the ground—a fortune in the +most inviting, solid, and durable form, capable of being +carried in an apron, beautiful in itself, and scattering the +sunlight in a million rainbow flashes.</p> + +<p>“Good God!” said Harry, “I am lost!”</p> + +<p>His mind racked backwards into the past with the incalculable +velocity of thought, and he began to comprehend +his day’s adventures, to conceive them as a whole, and to +recognise the sad imbroglio in which his own character and +fortunes had become involved. He looked round him as if +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page104"></a>104</span> +for help, but he was alone in the garden, with his scattered +diamonds and his redoubtable interlocutor; and when he +gave ear, there was no sound but the rustle of the leaves +and the hurried pulsation of his heart. It was little wonder +if the young man felt himself deserted by his spirits, and with +a broken voice repeated his last ejaculation—</p> + +<p>“I am lost!”</p> + +<p>The gardener peered in all directions with an air of guilt; +but there was no face at any of the windows, and he seemed +to breathe again.</p> + +<p>“Pick up a heart,” he said, “you fool! The worst of it +is done. Why could you not say at first there was enough +for two? Two?” he repeated, “ay, and for two hundred! +But come away from here, where we may be observed; and, +for the love of wisdom, straighten out your hat and brush +your clothes. You could not travel two steps the figure of +fun you look just now.”</p> + +<p>While Harry mechanically adopted these suggestions, +the gardener, getting upon his knees, hastily drew together +the scattered jewels and returned them to the bandbox. +The touch of these costly crystals sent a shiver of emotion +through the man’s stalwart frame; his face was transfigured, +and his eyes shone with concupiscence; indeed, it seemed +as if he luxuriously prolonged his occupation, and dallied +with every diamond that he handled. At last, however, it +was done; and concealing the bandbox in his smock, the +gardener beckoned to Harry and preceded him in the direction +of the house.</p> + +<p>Near the door they were met by a young man, evidently +in holy orders, dark and strikingly handsome, with a look of +mingled weakness and resolution, and very neatly attired +after the manner of his caste. The gardener was plainly +annoyed by this encounter; but he put as good a face upon +it as he could, and accosted the clergyman with an obsequious +and smiling air.</p> + +<p>“Here is a fine afternoon, Mr. Rolles,” said he: “a fine +afternoon, as sure as God made it! And here is a young +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page105"></a>105</span> +friend of mine who had a fancy to look at my roses. I took +the liberty to bring him in, for I thought none of the lodgers +would object.”</p> + +<p>“Speaking for myself,” replied the Reverend Mr. Rolles, +“I do not; nor do I fancy any of the rest of us would be +more difficult upon so small a matter. The garden is your +own, Mr. Raeburn; we must none of us forget that; and +because you give us liberty to walk there we should be +indeed ungracious if we so far presumed upon your politeness +as to interfere with the convenience of your friends. +But, on second thoughts,” he added, “I believe that this +gentleman and I have met before. Mr. Hartley, I think. I +regret to observe that you have had a fall.”</p> + +<p>And he offered his hand.</p> + +<p>A sort of maiden dignity, and a desire to delay as +long as possible the necessity for explanation, moved Harry +to refuse this chance of help, and to deny his own identity. +He chose the tender mercies of the gardener, who was at +least unknown to him, rather than the curiosity and perhaps +the doubts of an acquaintance.</p> + +<p>“I fear there is some mistake,” said he. “My name is +Thomlinson and I am a friend of Mr. Raeburn’s.”</p> + +<p>“Indeed?” said Mr. Rolles. “The likeness is amazing.”</p> + +<p>Mr. Raeburn, who had been upon thorns throughout +this colloquy, now felt it high time to bring it to a period.</p> + +<p>“I wish you a pleasant saunter, sir,” said he.</p> + +<p>And with that he dragged Harry after him into the +house, and then into a chamber on the garden. His first +care was to draw down the blind, for Mr. Rolles still remained +where they had left him, in an attitude of perplexity +and thought. Then he emptied the broken bandbox on the +table, and stood before the treasure, thus fully displayed, +with an expression of rapturous greed, and rubbing his hands +upon his thighs. For Harry, the sight of the man’s face +under the influence of this base emotion added another pang +to those he was already suffering. It seemed incredible +that, from his life of pure and delicate trifling, he should be +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page106"></a>106</span> +plunged in a breath among sordid and criminal relations. +He could reproach his conscience with no sinful act; and +yet he was now suffering the punishment of sin in its most +acute and cruel forms—the dread of punishment, the suspicions +of the good, and the companionship and contamination +of vile and brutal natures. He felt he could lay his life +down with gladness to escape from the room and the society +of Mr. Raeburn.</p> + +<p>“And now,” said the latter, after he had separated +the jewels into two nearly equal parts, and drawn one +of them nearer to himself; “and now,” said he, “everything +in this world has to be paid for, and some things +sweetly. You must know, Mr. Hartley, if such be your +name, that I am a man of a very easy temper, and good-nature +has been my stumbling-block from first to last. I +could pocket the whole of these pretty pebbles, if I chose, +and I should like to see you dare to say a word; but I think +I must have taken a liking to you; for I declare I have not +the heart to shave you so close. So, do you see, in pure kind +feeling, I propose that we divide; and these,” indicating the +two heaps, “are the proportions that seem to me just and +friendly. Do you see any objection, Mr. Hartley, may I +ask? I am not the man to stick upon a brooch.”</p> + +<p>“But, sir,” cried Harry, “what you propose to me is +impossible. The jewels are not mine, and I cannot share +what is another’s, no matter with whom, nor in what proportions.”</p> + +<p>“They are not yours, are they not?” returned Raeburn. +“And you could not share them with anybody, couldn’t you? +Well, now, that is what I call a pity; for here am I obliged +to take you to the station. The police—think of that,” +he continued; “think of the disgrace for your respectable +parents; think,” he went on, taking Harry by the wrist; +“think of the Colonies and the Day of Judgment.”</p> + +<p>“I cannot help it,” wailed Harry. “It is not my fault. +You will not come with me to Eaton Place.”</p> + +<p>“No,” replied the man; “I will not, that is certain. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page107"></a>107</span> +And I mean to divide these playthings with you +here.”</p> + +<p>And so saying he applied a sudden and severe torsion to +the lad’s wrist.</p> + +<p>Harry could not suppress a scream, and the perspiration +burst forth upon his face. Perhaps pain and terror quickened +his intelligence, but certainly at that moment the +whole business flashed across him in another light; and he +saw that there was nothing for it but to accede to the +ruffian’s proposal, and trust to find the house and force him +to disgorge, under more favourable circumstances, and +when he himself was clear from all suspicion.</p> + +<p>“I agree,” he said.</p> + +<p>“There is a lamb,” sneered the gardener. “I thought +you would recognise your interests at last. This bandbox,” +he continued, “I shall burn with my rubbish; +it is a thing that curious folk might recognise; and +as for you, scrape up your gaieties and put them in +your pocket.”</p> + +<p>Harry proceeded to obey, Raeburn watching him, and +every now and again, his greed rekindled by some bright +scintillation, abstracting another jewel from the secretary’s +share, and adding it to his own.</p> + +<p>When this was finished, both proceeded to the front door, +which Raeburn cautiously opened to observe the street. +This was apparently clear of passengers; for he suddenly +seized Harry by the nape of the neck, and holding his face +downward so that he could see nothing but the roadway and +the door steps of the houses, pushed him violently before +him down one street and up another for the space of perhaps +a minute and a half. Harry had counted three corners +before the bully relaxed his grasp, and crying, “Now be off +with you!” sent the lad flying head-foremost with a well-directed +and athletic kick.</p> + +<p>When Harry gathered himself up, half-stunned and +bleeding freely at the nose, Mr. Raeburn had entirely disappeared. +For the first time, anger and pain so completely +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page108"></a>108</span> +overcame the lad’s spirits that he burst into a fit of tears and +remained sobbing in the middle of the road.</p> + +<p>After he had thus somewhat assuaged his emotion, he +began to look about him and read the names of the streets +at whose intersection he had been deserted by the gardener. +He was still in an unfrequented portion of West London, +among villas and large gardens; but he could see some persons +at a window who had evidently witnessed his misfortune; +and almost immediately after a servant came running +from the house and offered him a glass of water. At the +same time, a dirty rogue, who had been slouching somewhere +in the neighbourhood, drew near him from the other side.</p> + +<p>“Poor fellow,” said the maid, “how vilely you have +been handled, to be sure! Why, your knees are all cut, and +your clothes ruined! Do you know the wretch who used +you so?”</p> + +<p>“That I do!” cried Harry, who was somewhat refreshed +by the water; “and shall run him home in spite of his precautions. +He shall pay dearly for this day’s work, I promise +you.”</p> + +<p>“You had better come into the house and have yourself +washed and brushed,” continued the maid. “My mistress +will make you welcome, never fear. And see, I will pick up +your hat. Why, love of mercy!” she screamed, “if you +have not dropped diamonds all over the street!”</p> + +<p>Such was the case; a good half of what remained to him +after the depredations of Mr. Raeburn had been shaken out +of his pockets by the summersault, and once more lay glittering +on the ground. He blessed his fortune that the maid +had been so quick of eye; “there is nothing so bad but it +might be worse,” thought he; and the recovery of these few +seemed to him almost as great an affair as the loss of all the +rest. But, alas! as he stooped to pick up his treasures, the +loiterer made a rapid onslaught, overset both Harry and the +maid with a movement of his arms, swept up a double-handful +of the diamonds, and made off along the street with +an amazing swiftness.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page109"></a>109</span></p> + +<p>Harry, as soon as he could get upon his feet, gave chase +to the miscreant with many cries, but the latter was too +fleet of foot, and probably too well acquainted with the +locality; for turn where the pursuer would he could find no +traces of the fugitive.</p> + +<p>In the deepest despondency, Harry revisited the scene of +his mishap, where the maid, who was still waiting, very +honestly returned him his hat and the remainder of the +fallen diamonds. Harry thanked her from his heart, and +being now in no humour for economy, made his way to the +nearest cabstand and set off for Eaton Place by coach.</p> + +<p>The house, on his arrival, seemed in some confusion, as if +a catastrophe had happened in the family; and the servants +clustered together in the hall, and were unable, or perhaps +not altogether anxious, to suppress their merriment at the +tatterdemalion figure of the secretary. He passed them +with as good an air of dignity as he could assume, and made +directly for the boudoir. When he opened the door an astonishing +and even menacing spectacle presented itself to +his eyes; for he beheld the General and his wife and, of all +people, Charlie Pendragon, closeted together and speaking +with earnestness and gravity on some important subject. +Harry saw at once that there was little left for him to explain—plenary +confession had plainly been made to the +General of the intended fraud upon his pocket, and the unfortunate +miscarriage of the scheme; and they had all +made common cause against a common danger.</p> + +<p>“Thank Heaven!” cried Lady Vandeleur, “here he is! +The bandbox, Harry—the bandbox!”</p> + +<p>But Harry stood before them silent and downcast.</p> + +<p>“Speak!” she cried. “Speak! Where is the bandbox?”</p> + +<p>And the men, with threatening gestures, repeated the +demand.</p> + +<p>Harry drew a handful of jewels from his pocket. He +was very white.</p> + +<p>“This is all that remains,” said he. “I declare before +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page110"></a>110</span> +Heaven it was through no fault of mine; and if you will +have patience, although some are lost, I am afraid, for ever, +others, I am sure, may be still recovered.”</p> + +<p>“Alas!” cried Lady Vandeleur, “all our diamonds are +gone, and I owe ninety thousand pounds for dress!”</p> + +<p>“Madam,” said the General, “you might have paved +the gutter with your own trash; you might have made debts +to fifty times the sum you mention; you might have robbed +me of my mother’s coronet and ring; and Nature might +have still so far prevailed that I could have forgiven you at +last. But, madam, you have taken the Rajah’s Diamond—the +Eye of Light, as the Orientals poetically termed it—the +Pride of Kashgar! You have taken from me the Rajah’s +Diamond,” he cried, raising his hands, “and all, madam, all +is at an end between us!”</p> + +<p>“Believe me, General Vandeleur,” she replied, “that +is one of the most agreeable speeches that ever I heard from +your lips; and since we are to be ruined, I could almost +welcome the change, if it delivers me from you. You have +told me often enough that I married you for your money; +let me tell you now that I always bitterly repented the bargain; +and if you were still marriageable, and had a diamond +bigger than your head, I should counsel even my maid +against a union so uninviting and disastrous.—As for you, +Mr. Hartley,” she continued, turning on the secretary, “you +have sufficiently exhibited your valuable qualities in this +house; we are now persuaded that you equally lack manhood, +sense, and self-respect; and I can see only one course +open for you—to withdraw instanter, and, if possible, return +no more. For your wages you may rank as a creditor in my +late husband’s bankruptcy.”</p> + +<p>Harry had scarcely comprehended this insulting address +before the General was down upon him with another.</p> + +<p>“And in the meantime,” said that personage, “follow +me before the nearest Inspector of Police. You may impose +upon a simple-minded soldier, sir, but the eye of the law will +read your disreputable secret. If I must spend my old age +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page111"></a>111</span> +in poverty through your underhand intriguing with my wife, +I mean at least that you shall not remain unpunished for +your pains; and God, sir, will deny me a very considerable +satisfaction if you do not pick oakum from now until your +dying day.”</p> + +<p>With that, the General dragged Harry from the apartment, +and hurried him down-stairs and along the street to +the police-station of the district.</p> + +<div class="pt05"> </div> + +<p><i>Here</i> (says my Arabian author) <i>ended this deplorable +business of the bandbox. But to the unfortunate secretary the +whole affair was the beginning of a new and manlier life. The +police were easily persuaded of his innocence; and, after he +had given what help he could in the subsequent investigations, +he was even complimented by one of the chiefs of the detective +department on the probity and simplicity of his behaviour. +Several persons interested themselves in one so unfortunate; +and soon after he inherited a sum of money from a maiden aunt +in Worcestershire. With this he married Prudence, and set +sail for Bendigo, or, according to another account, for Trincomalee, +exceedingly content, and with the best of prospects.</i></p> + +<div class="pt2"> </div> + +<h5>STORY OF THE YOUNG MAN IN HOLY ORDERS</h5> + +<p class="noind"><span class="sc">The</span> Reverend Mr. Simon Rolles had distinguished himself +in the Moral Sciences, and was more than usually proficient +in the study of Divinity. His essay “On the Christian +Doctrine of the Social Obligations” obtained for him, at the +moment of its production, a certain celebrity in the University +of Oxford; and it was understood in clerical and +learned circles that young Mr. Rolles had in contemplation a +considerable work—a folio, it was said—on the authority +of the Fathers of the Church. These attainments, these +ambitious designs, however, were far from helping him to +any preferment; and he was still in quest of his first curacy +when a chance ramble in that part of London, the peaceful +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page112"></a>112</span> +and rich aspect of the garden, a desire for solitude and study, +and the cheapness of the lodging, led him to take up his +abode with Mr. Raeburn, the nurseryman of Stockdove +Lane.</p> + +<p>It was his habit every afternoon, after he had worked +seven or eight hours on St. Ambrose or St. Chrysostom, to +walk for a while in meditation among the roses. And this +was usually one of the most productive moments of his day. +But even a sincere appetite for thought, and the excitement +of grave problems awaiting solution, are not always sufficient +to preserve the mind of the philosopher against the petty +shocks and contacts of the world. And when Mr. Rolles +found General Vandeleur’s secretary, ragged and bleeding, +in the company of his landlord; when he saw both change +colour and seek to avoid his questions; and, above all, when +the former denied his own identity with the most unmoved +assurance, he speedily forgot the Saints and Fathers in the +vulgar interest of curiosity.</p> + +<p>“I cannot be mistaken,” thought he. “That is Mr. +Hartley beyond a doubt. How comes he in such a pickle? +why does he deny his name? and what can be his business +with that black-looking ruffian, my landlord?”</p> + +<p>As he was thus reflecting, another peculiar circumstance +attracted his attention. The face of Mr. Raeburn appeared +at a low window next the door; and, as chance directed, his +eyes met those of Mr. Rolles. The nurseryman seemed disconcerted, +and even alarmed; and immediately after the +blind of the apartment was pulled sharply down.</p> + +<p>“This may all be very well,” reflected Mr. Rolles; “it +may be all excellently well; but I confess freely that I do +not think so. Suspicious, underhand, untruthful, fearful of +observation—I believe upon my soul,” he thought, “the +pair are plotting some disgraceful action.”</p> + +<p>The detective that there is in all of us awoke and became +clamant in the bosom of Mr. Rolles; and with a brisk, eager +step, that bore no resemblance to his usual gait, he proceeded +to make the circuit of the garden. When he came to the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page113"></a>113</span> +scene of Harry’s escalade, his eye was at once arrested by a +broken rose-bush and marks of trampling on the mould. He +looked up, and saw scratches on the brick, and a rag of +trouser floating from a broken bottle. This, then, was the +mode of entrance chosen by Mr. Raeburn’s particular friend! +It was thus that General Vandeleur’s secretary came to +admire a flower-garden! The young clergyman whistled +softly to himself as he stooped to examine the ground. He +could make out where Harry had landed from his perilous +leap; he recognised the flat foot of Mr. Raeburn where it +had sunk deeply in the soil as he pulled up the secretary by +the collar; nay, on a closer inspection, he seemed to distinguish +the marks of groping fingers, as though something +had been spilt abroad and eagerly collected.</p> + +<p>“Upon my word,” he thought, “the thing grows vastly +interesting.”</p> + +<p>And just then he caught sight of something almost +entirely buried in the earth. In an instant he had disinterred +a dainty morocco case, ornamented and clasped in +gilt. It had been trodden heavily underfoot, and thus +escaped the hurried search of Mr. Raeburn. Mr. Rolles +opened the case, and drew a long breath of almost horrified +astonishment; for there lay before him, in a cradle of green +velvet, a diamond of prodigious magnitude and of the finest +water. It was of the bigness of a duck’s egg; beautifully +shaped, and without a flaw; and as the sun shone upon it, +it gave forth a lustre like that of electricity, and seemed to +burn in his hand with a thousand internal fires.</p> + +<p>He knew little of precious stones; but the Rajah’s +Diamond was a wonder that explained itself; a village +child, if he found it, would run screaming for the nearest +cottage; and a savage would prostrate himself in adoration +before so imposing a fetich. The beauty of the stone +flattered the young clergyman’s eyes; the thought of its +incalculable value overpowered his intellect. He knew that +what he held in his hand was worth more than many years’ +purchase of an archiepiscopal see; that it would build +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page114"></a>114</span> +cathedrals more stately than Ely or Cologne; that he who +possessed it was set free for ever from the primal curse, and +might follow his own inclinations without concern or hurry, +without let or hindrance. And as he suddenly turned it, the +rays leaped forth again with renewed brilliancy, and seemed +to pierce his very heart.</p> + +<p>Decisive actions are often taken in a moment and without +any conscious deliverance from the rational parts of +man. So it was now with Mr. Rolles. He glanced hurriedly +round; beheld, like Mr. Raeburn before him, nothing but +the sunlit flower-garden, the tall tree-tops, and the house +with blinded windows; and in a trice he had shut the case, +thrust it into his pocket, and was hastening to his study +with the speed of guilt.</p> + +<p>The Reverend Simon Rolles had stolen the Rajah’s +Diamond.</p> + +<p>Early in the afternoon the police arrived with Harry +Hartley. The nurseryman, who was beside himself with +terror, readily discovered his hoard; and the jewels were +identified and inventoried in the presence of the secretary. +As for Mr. Rolles, he showed himself in a most obliging +temper, communicated what he knew with freedom, and +professed regret that he could do no more to help the officers +in their duty.</p> + +<p>“Still,” he added, “I suppose your business is nearly at +an end.”</p> + +<p>“By no means,” replied the man from Scotland Yard; +and he narrated the second robbery of which Harry had +been the immediate victim, and gave the young clergyman +a description of the more important jewels that were still +not found, dilating particularly on the Rajah’s Diamond.</p> + +<p>“It must be worth a fortune,” observed Mr. Rolles.</p> + +<p>“Ten fortunes—twenty fortunes,” cried the officer.</p> + +<p>“The more it is worth,” remarked Simon shrewdly, +“the more difficult it must be to sell. Such a thing has a +physiognomy not to be disguised, and I should fancy a man +might as easily negotiate St. Paul’s Cathedral.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page115"></a>115</span></p> + +<p>“Oh, truly!” said the officer; “but if the thief be a +man of any intelligence, he will cut it into three or four, and +there will be still enough to make him rich.”</p> + +<p>“Thank you,” said the clergyman. “You cannot +imagine how much your conversation interests me.”</p> + +<p>Whereupon the functionary admitted that they knew +many strange things in his profession, and immediately +after took his leave.</p> + +<p>Mr. Rolles regained his apartment. It seemed smaller +and barer than usual; the materials for his great work had +never presented so little interest; and he looked upon his +library with the eye of scorn. He took down, volume by +volume, several Fathers of the Church, and glanced them +through; but they contained nothing to his purpose.</p> + +<p>“These old gentlemen,” thought he, “are no doubt very +valuable writers, but they seem to me conspicuously ignorant +of life. Here am I, with learning enough to be a +Bishop, and I positively do not know how to dispose of a +stolen diamond. I glean a hint from a common policeman, +and, with all my folios, I cannot so much as put it into execution. +This inspires me with very low ideas of University +training.”</p> + +<p>Herewith he kicked over his book-shelf and, putting on +his hat, hastened from the house to the club of which he was +a member. In such a place of mundane resort he hoped to +find some man of good counsel and a shrewd experience in +life. In the reading-room he saw many of the country +clergy and an Archdeacon; there were three journalists and +a writer upon the Higher Metaphysic, playing pool; and at +dinner only the raff of ordinary club frequenters showed +their commonplace and obliterated countenances. None +of these, thought Mr. Rolles, would know more on dangerous +topics than he knew himself; none of them were fit to give +him guidance in his present strait. At length, in the smoking-room, +up many weary stairs, he hit upon a gentleman of +somewhat portly build and dressed with conspicuous plainness. +He was smoking a cigar and reading the <i>Fortnightly</i> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page116"></a>116</span> +<i>Review</i>; his face was singularly free from all sign of preoccupation +or fatigue; and there was something in his air which +seemed to invite confidence and to expect submission. The +more the young clergyman scrutinised his features, the more +he was convinced that he had fallen on one capable of giving +pertinent advice.</p> + +<p>“Sir,” said he, “you will excuse my abruptness; but +I judge you from your appearance to be pre-eminently a +man of the world.”</p> + +<p>“I have indeed considerable claims to that distinction,” +replied the stranger, laying aside his magazine with a look +of mingled amusement and surprise.</p> + +<p>“I, sir,” continued the curate, “am a recluse, a student, +a creature of ink-bottles and patristic folios. A recent +event has brought my folly vividly before my eyes, and I +desire to instruct myself in life. By life,” he added, “I do +not mean Thackeray’s novels; but the crimes and secret +possibilities of our society, and the principles of wise conduct +among exceptional events. I am a patient reader; can the +thing be learnt in books?”</p> + +<p>“You put me in a difficulty,” said the stranger. “I +confess I have no great notion of the use of books, except to +amuse a railway journey; although, I believe, there are some +very exact treatises on astronomy, the use of the globes, +agriculture, and the art of making paper-flowers. Upon the +less apparent provinces of life I fear you will find nothing +truthful. Yet stay,” he added, “have you read Gaboriau?”</p> + +<p>Mr. Rolles admitted that he had never even heard the +name.</p> + +<p>“You may gather some notions from Gaboriau,” resumed +the stranger. “He is at least suggestive; and as he +is an author much studied by Prince Bismarck, you will, at +the worst, lose your time in good society.”</p> + +<p>“Sir,” said the curate, “I am infinitely obliged by your +politeness.”</p> + +<p>“You have already more than repaid me,” returned the +other.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page117"></a>117</span></p> + +<p>“How?” inquired Simon.</p> + +<p>“By the novelty of your request,” replied the gentleman; +and with a polite gesture, as though to ask permission, +he resumed the study of the <i>Fortnightly Review</i>.</p> + +<p>On his way home Mr. Rolles purchased a work on precious +stones and several of Gaboriau’s novels. These last he +eagerly skimmed until an advanced hour in the morning; +but although they introduced him to many new ideas, he +could nowhere discover what to do with a stolen diamond. +He was annoyed, moreover, to find the information scattered +amongst romantic story-telling, instead of soberly set forth +after the manner of a manual; and he concluded that, even +if the writer had thought much upon these subjects, he was +totally lacking in educational method. For the character +and attainments of Lecoq, however, he was unable to contain +his admiration.</p> + +<p>“He was truly a great creature,” ruminated Mr. Rolles. +“He knew the world as I know Paley’s Evidences. There +was nothing that he could not carry to a termination with +his own hand, and against the largest odds. Heavens!” he +broke out suddenly, “is not this the lesson? Must I not +learn to cut diamonds for myself?”</p> + +<p>It seemed to him as if he had sailed at once out of his +perplexities; he remembered that he knew a jeweller, one +B. Macculloch, in Edinburgh, who would be glad to put him +in the way of the necessary training; a few months, perhaps +a few years, of sordid toil, and he would be sufficiently expert +to divide and sufficiently cunning to dispose with advantage +of the Rajah’s Diamond. That done, he might return to +pursue his researches at leisure, a wealthy and luxurious +student, envied and respected by all. Golden visions attended +him through his slumber, and he awoke refreshed +and light-hearted with the morning sun.</p> + +<p>Mr. Raeburn’s house was on that day to be closed by +the police, and this afforded a pretext for his departure. +He cheerfully prepared his baggage, transported it to +King’s Cross, where he left it in the cloak-room, and +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page118"></a>118</span> +returned to the club to while away the afternoon and +dine.</p> + +<p>“If you dine here to-day, Rolles,” observed an acquaintance, +“you may see two of the most remarkable men in +England—Prince Florizel of Bohemia, and old Jack Vandeleur.”</p> + +<p>“I have heard of the Prince,” replied Mr. Rolles; “and +General Vandeleur I have even met in society.”</p> + +<p>“General Vandeleur is an ass!” returned the other. +“This is his brother John, the biggest adventurer, the best +judge of precious stones, and one of the most acute diplomatists +in Europe. Have you never heard of his duel +with the Duc de Val d’Orge? of his exploits and atrocities +when he was Dictator of Paraguay? of his dexterity in +recovering Sir Samuel Levi’s jewellery? nor of his services +in the Indian Mutiny—services by which the Government +profited, but which the Government dared not recognise? +You make me wonder what we mean by fame, or even by +infamy; for Jack Vandeleur has prodigious claims to both. +Run down-stairs,” he continued, “take a table near them, +and keep your ears open. You will hear some strange talk, +or I am much misled.”</p> + +<p>“But how shall I know them?” inquired the clergyman.</p> + +<p>“Know them!” cried his friend; “why, the Prince is +the finest gentleman in Europe, the only living creature who +looks like a king; and as for Jack Vandeleur, if you can +imagine Ulysses at seventy years of age, and with a sabre-cut +across his face, you have the man before you! Know +them, indeed! Why, you could pick either of them out of a +Derby day!”</p> + +<p>Rolles eagerly hurried to the dining-room. It was as +his friend had asserted; it was impossible to mistake the +pair in question. Old John Vandeleur was of a remarkable +force of body, and obviously broken to the most difficult +exercises. He had neither the carriage of a swordsman, nor +of a sailor, nor yet of one much inured to the saddle; but +something made up of all these, and the result and expression +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page119"></a>119</span> +of many different habits and dexterities. His features +were bold and aquiline; his expression arrogant and predatory; +his whole appearance that of a swift, violent, unscrupulous +man of action; and his copious white hair and +the deep sabre-cut that traversed his nose and temple added +a note of savagery to a head already remarkable and menacing +in itself.</p> + +<p>In his companion, the Prince of Bohemia, Mr. Rolles +was astonished to recognise the gentleman who had recommended +him the study of Gaboriau. Doubtless Prince +Florizel, who rarely visited the club, of which, as of most +others, he was an honorary member, had been waiting for +John Vandeleur when Simon accosted him on the previous +evening.</p> + +<p>The other diners had modestly retired into the angles of +the room, and left the distinguished pair in a certain isolation, +but the young clergyman was unrestrained by any sentiment +of awe, and, marching boldly up, took his place at the +nearest table.</p> + +<p>The conversation was, indeed, new to the student’s ears. +The ex-Dictator of Paraguay stated many extraordinary +experiences in different quarters of the world; and the +Prince supplied a commentary which, to a man of thought, +was even more interesting than the events themselves. +Two forms of experience were thus brought together and +laid before the young clergyman; and he did not know +which to admire the most—the desperate actor or the skilled +expert in life; the man who spoke boldly of his own deeds +and perils, or the man who seemed, like a god, to know all +things and to have suffered nothing. The manner of each +aptly fitted with his part in the discourse. The Dictator +indulged in brutalities alike of speech and gesture; his hand +opened and shut and fell roughly on the table; and his voice +was loud and heady. The Prince, on the other hand, +seemed the very type of urbane docility and quiet; the +least movement, the least inflection, had with him a weightier +significance than all the shouts and pantomime of his companion; +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page120"></a>120</span> +and if ever, as must frequently have been the case, +he described some experience personal to himself, it was so +aptly dissimulated as to pass unnoticed with the rest.</p> + +<p>At length the talk wandered on to the late robberies and +the Rajah’s Diamond.</p> + +<p>“That diamond would be better in the sea,” observed +Prince Florizel.</p> + +<p>“As a Vandeleur,” replied the Dictator, “your Highness +may imagine my dissent.”</p> + +<p>“I speak on grounds of public policy,” pursued the +Prince. “Jewels so valuable should be reserved for the +collection of a Prince or the treasury of a great nation. To +hand them about among the common sort of men is to set +a price on Virtue’s head; and if the Rajah of Kashgar—a +Prince, I understand, of great enlightenment—desired +vengeance upon the men of Europe, he could hardly have +gone more efficaciously about his purpose than by sending +us this apple of discord. There is no honesty too robust for +such a trial. I myself, who have many duties and many +privileges of my own—I myself, Mr. Vandeleur, could scarce +handle the intoxicating crystal and be safe. As for you, +who are a diamond-hunter by taste and profession, I do not +believe there is a crime in the calendar you would not perpetrate—I +do not believe you have a friend in the world +whom you would not eagerly betray—I do not know if you +have a family, but if you have I declare you would sacrifice +your children—and all this for what? Not to be richer, nor +to have more comforts or more respect, but simply to call +this diamond yours for a year or two until you die, and now +and again to open a safe and look at it as one looks at a +picture.”</p> + +<p>“It is true,” replied Vandeleur. “I have hunted most +things, from men and women down to mosquitoes; I have +dived for coral; I have followed both whales and tigers; +and a diamond is the tallest quarry of the lot. It has +beauty and worth; it alone can properly reward the ardours +of the chase. At this moment, as your Highness may fancy, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page121"></a>121</span> +I am upon the trail; I have a sure knack, a wide experience; +I know every stone of price in my brother’s collection as a +shepherd knows his sheep; and I wish I may die if I do not +recover them every one.”</p> + +<p>“Sir Thomas Vandeleur will have great cause to thank +you,” said the Prince.</p> + +<p>“I am not so sure,” returned the Dictator, with a laugh. +“One of the Vandeleurs will. Thomas or John—Peter or +Paul—we are all apostles.”</p> + +<p>“I did not catch your observation,” said the Prince, with +some disgust.</p> + +<p>And at the same moment the waiter informed Mr. +Vandeleur that his cab was at the door.</p> + +<p>Mr. Rolles glanced at the clock, and saw that he also +must be moving; and the coincidence struck him sharply +and unpleasantly, for he desired to see no more of the +diamond-hunter.</p> + +<p>Much study having somewhat shaken the young man’s +nerves, he was in the habit of travelling in the most luxurious +manner; and for the present journey he had taken a +sofa in the sleeping carriage.</p> + +<p>“You will be very comfortable,” said the guard; “there +is no one in your compartment, and only one old gentleman +in the other end.”</p> + +<p>It was close upon the hour, and the tickets were being +examined, when Mr. Rolles beheld this other fellow-passenger +ushered by several porters into his place; certainly, +there was not another man in the world whom he would +not have preferred—for it was old John Vandeleur, the ex-Dictator.</p> + +<p>The sleeping carriages on the Great Northern line were +divided into three compartments—one at each end for +travellers, and one in the centre fitted with the conveniences +of a lavatory. A door running in grooves separated each +of the others from the lavatory; but as there were neither +bolts nor locks, the whole suite was practically common +ground.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page122"></a>122</span></p> + +<p>When Mr. Rolles had studied his position, he perceived +himself without defence. If the Dictator chose to pay him +a visit in the course of the night, he could do no less than +receive it; he had no means of fortification, and lay open to +attack as if he had been lying in the fields. This situation +caused him some agony of mind. He recalled with alarm +the boastful statements of his fellow-traveller across the +dining-table, and the professions of immorality which he +had heard him offering to the disgusted Prince. Some +persons, he remembered to have read, are endowed with a +singular quickness of perception for the neighbourhood of +precious metals; through walls and even at considerable +distances they are said to divine the presence of gold. +Might it not be the same with diamonds? he wondered; and +if so, who was more likely to enjoy this transcendental sense +than the person who gloried in the appellation of the Diamond +Hunter? From such a man he recognised that he had +everything to fear, and longed eagerly for the arrival of the +day.</p> + +<p>In the meantime he neglected no precaution, concealed +his diamond in the most internal pocket of a system of great-coats, +and devoutly recommended himself to the care of +Providence.</p> + +<p>The train pursued its usual even and rapid course; and +nearly half the journey had been accomplished before +slumber began to triumph over uneasiness in the breast of +Mr. Rolles. For some time he resisted its influence; but +it grew upon him more and more, and a little before York +he was fain to stretch himself upon one of the couches and +suffer his eyes to close; and almost at the same instant consciousness +deserted the young clergyman. His last thought +was of his terrifying neighbour.</p> + +<p>When he awoke it was still pitch dark, except for the +flicker of the veiled lamp; and the continual roaring and +oscillation testified to the unrelaxed velocity of the train. +He sat upright in a panic, for he had been tormented by the +most uneasy dreams; it was some seconds before he recovered +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page123"></a>123</span> +his self-command; and even after he had resumed a recumbent +attitude sleep continued to flee him, and he lay awake +with his brain in a state of violent agitation, and his eyes +fixed upon the lavatory door. He pulled his clerical felt hat +over his brow still further to shield him from the light; and +he adopted the usual expedients, such as counting a thousand +or banishing thought, by which experienced invalids +are accustomed to woo the approach of sleep. In the case +of Mr. Rolles they proved one and all vain; he was harassed +by a dozen different anxieties—the old man in the other end +of the carriage haunted him in the most alarming shapes; +and in whatever attitude he chose to lie, the diamond +in his pocket occasioned him a sensible physical distress. +It burned, it was too large; it bruised his ribs; and there +were infinitesimal fractions of a second in which he had half +a mind to throw it from the window.</p> + +<p>While he was thus lying, a strange incident took place.</p> + +<p>The sliding-door into the lavatory stirred a little, and +then a little more, and was finally drawn back for the space +of about twenty inches. The lamp in the lavatory was unshaded, +and in the lighted aperture thus disclosed Mr. +Rolles could see the head of Mr. Vandeleur in an attitude of +deep attention. He was conscious that the gaze of the +Dictator rested intently on his own face; and the instinct +of self-preservation moved him to hold his breath, to refrain +from the least movement, and, keeping his eyes lowered, to +watch his visitor from underneath the lashes. After about a +moment, the head was withdrawn and the door of the +lavatory replaced.</p> + +<p>The Dictator had not come to attack, but to observe; +his action was not that of a man threatening another, but +that of a man who was himself threatened; if Mr. Rolles +was afraid of him, it appeared that he, in his turn, was not +quite easy on the score of Mr. Rolles. He had come, it +would seem, to make sure that his only fellow-traveller was +asleep; and, when satisfied on that point, he had at once +withdrawn.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page124"></a>124</span></p> + +<p>The clergyman leaped to his feet. The extreme of +terror had given place to a reaction of foolhardy daring. +He reflected that the rattle of the flying train concealed all +other sounds, and determined, come what might, to return +the visit he had just received. Divesting himself of his +cloak, which might have interfered with the freedom of his +action, he entered the lavatory and paused to listen. As he +had expected, there was nothing to be heard above the roar +of the train’s progress; and laying his hand on the door at +the farther side, he proceeded cautiously to draw it back for +about six inches. Then he stopped, and could not contain +an ejaculation of surprise.</p> + +<p>John Vandeleur wore a fur travelling-cap with lappets +to protect his ears; and this may have combined with the +sound of the express to keep him in ignorance of what was +going forward. It is certain, at least, that he did not raise +his head, but continued without interruption to pursue his +strange employment. Between his feet stood an open hat-box; +in one hand he held the sleeve of his sealskin greatcoat; +in the other a formidable knife, with which he had just slit +up the lining of the sleeve. Mr. Rolles had read of persons +carrying money in a belt; and as he had no acquaintance with +any but cricket-belts, he had never been able rightly to conceive +how this was managed. But here was a stranger +thing before his eyes; for John Vandeleur, it appeared, +carried diamonds in the lining of his sleeve; and even as the +young clergyman gazed, he could see one glittering brilliant +drop after another into the hat-box.</p> + +<p>He stood riveted to the spot, following this unusual +business with his eyes. The diamonds were, for the most +part, small, and not easily distinguishable either in shape or +fire. Suddenly the Dictator appeared to find a difficulty; +he employed both hands and stooped over his task; but it +was not until after considerable manœuvring that he extricated +a large tiara of diamonds from the lining, and held +it up for some seconds’ examination before he placed it with +the others in the hat-box. The tiara was a ray of light to +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page125"></a>125</span> +Mr. Rolles; he immediately recognised it for a part of the +treasure stolen from Harry Hartley by the loiterer. There +was no room for mistake; it was exactly as the detective +had described it; there were the ruby stars, with a great +emerald in the centre; there were the interlacing crescents; +and there were the pear-shaped pendants, each a single stone, +which gave a special value to Lady Vandeleur’s tiara.</p> + +<p>Mr. Rolles was hugely relieved. The Dictator was as +deeply in the affair as he was; neither could tell tales upon +the other. In the first glow of happiness, the clergyman +suffered a deep sigh to escape him; and as his bosom had +become choked and his throat dry during his previous suspense, +the sigh was followed by a cough.</p> + +<p>Mr. Vandeleur looked up; his face contracted with the +blackest and most deadly passion; his eyes opened widely, +and his under jaw dropped in an astonishment that was +upon the brink of fury. By an instinctive movement he +had covered the hat-box with the coat. For half a minute +the two men stared upon each other in silence. It was not +a long interval, but it sufficed for Mr. Rolles; he was one of +those who think swiftly on dangerous occasions; he decided +on a course of action of a singularly daring nature; and +although he felt he was setting his life upon the hazard, he +was the first to break silence.</p> + +<p>“I beg your pardon,” said he.</p> + +<p>The Dictator shivered slightly, and when he spoke his +voice was hoarse.</p> + +<p>“What do you want here?” he asked.</p> + +<p>“I take a particular interest in diamonds,” replied Mr. +Rolles, with an air of perfect self-possession. “Two connoisseurs +should be acquainted. I have here a trifle of my +own which may perhaps serve for an introduction.”</p> + +<p>And so saying, he quietly took the case from his pocket, +showed the Rajah’s Diamond to the Dictator for an instant, +and replaced it in security.</p> + +<p>“It was once your brother’s,” he added.</p> + +<p>John Vandeleur continued to regard him with a look of +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page126"></a>126</span> +almost painful amazement; but he neither spoke nor +moved.</p> + +<p>“I was pleased to observe,” resumed the young man, +“that we have gems from the same collection.”</p> + +<p>The Dictator’s surprise overpowered him.</p> + +<p>“I beg your pardon,” he said; “I begin to perceive +that I am growing old! I am positively not prepared for +little incidents like this. But set my mind at rest upon one +point: do my eyes deceive me, or are you indeed a parson?”</p> + +<p>“I am in holy orders,” answered Mr. Rolles.</p> + +<p>“Well,” cried the other, “as long as I live I will never +hear another word against the cloth!”</p> + +<p>“You flatter me,” said Mr. Rolles.</p> + +<p>“Pardon me,” replied Vandeleur; “pardon me, young +man. You are no coward, but it still remains to be seen +whether you are not the worst of fools. Perhaps,” he continued, +leaning back upon his seat, “perhaps you would +oblige me with a few particulars. I must suppose you had +some object in the stupefying impudence of your proceedings, +and I confess I have a curiosity to know it.”</p> + +<p>“It is very simple,” replied the clergyman; “it proceeds +from my great inexperience of life.”</p> + +<p>“I shall be glad to be persuaded,” answered Vandeleur.</p> + +<p>Whereupon Mr. Rolles told him the whole story of his +connection with the Rajah’s Diamond, from the time he +found it in Raeburn’s garden to the time when he left +London in the Flying Scotchman. He added a brief sketch +of his feelings and thoughts during the journey, and concluded +in these words:—</p> + +<p>“When I recognised the tiara I knew we were in the +same attitude towards Society, and this inspired me with a +hope, which I trust you will not say was ill-founded, that +you might become in some sense my partner in the difficulties +and, of course, the profits of my situation. To one +of your special knowledge and obviously great experience +the negotiation of the diamond would give but little trouble, +while to me it was a matter of impossibility. On the other +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page127"></a>127</span> +part, I judged that I might lose nearly as much by cutting +the diamond, and that not improbably with an unskilful +hand, as might enable me to pay you with proper generosity +for your assistance. The subject was a delicate one to +broach; and perhaps I fell short in delicacy. But I must +ask you to remember that for me the situation was a new +one, and I was entirely unacquainted with the etiquette in +use. I believe without vanity that I could have married or +baptised you in a very acceptable manner; but every man +has his own aptitudes, and this sort of bargain was not +among the lists of my accomplishments.”</p> + +<p>“I do not wish to flatter you,” replied Vandeleur; +“but upon my word, you have an unusual disposition for a +life of crime. You have more accomplishments than you +imagine; and though I have encountered a number of +rogues in different quarters of the world, I never met with +one so unblushing as yourself. Cheer up, Mr. Rolles, you +are in the right profession at last! As for helping you, you +may command me as you will. I have only a day’s business +in Edinburgh on a little matter for my brother; and once +that is concluded, I return to Paris, where I usually reside. +If you please, you may accompany me thither. And before +the end of a month I believe I shall have brought your little +business to a satisfactory conclusion.”</p> + +<div class="pt05"> </div> + +<p><i>At this point, contrary to all the canons of his art, our +Arabian Author breaks off the</i> <span class="sc">Story of the Young Man in +Holy Orders</span>. <i>I regret and condemn such practices; but I +must follow my original, and refer the reader for the conclusion +of Mr. Rolles’ adventures to the next number of the cycle.</i></p> + +<div class="pt2"> </div> + +<h5>THE STORY OF THE HOUSE WITH THE GREEN BLINDS</h5> + +<p class="noind"><span class="sc">Francis Scrymgeour</span>, a clerk in the Bank of Scotland at +Edinburgh, had attained the age of twenty-five in a sphere +of quiet, creditable, and domestic life. His mother died +while he was young; but his father, a man of sense and +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page128"></a>128</span> +probity, had given him an excellent education at school, +and brought him up at home to orderly and frugal habits. +Francis, who was of a docile and affectionate disposition, +profited by these advantages with zeal, and devoted himself +heart and soul to his employment. A walk upon Saturday +afternoon, an occasional dinner with members of his family, +and a yearly tour of a fortnight in the Highlands or even on +the continent of Europe were his principal distractions, and +he grew rapidly in favour with his superiors, and enjoyed +already a salary of nearly two hundred pounds a year, with +the prospect of an ultimate advance to almost double that +amount. Few young men were more contented, few more +willing and laborious, than Francis Scrymgeour. Sometimes +at night, when he had read the daily paper, he would +play upon the flute to amuse his father, for whose qualities +he entertained a great respect.</p> + +<p>One day he received a note from a well-known firm of +Writers to the Signet, requesting the favour of an immediate +interview with him. The letter was marked “Private and +Confidential,” and had been addressed to him at the bank, +instead of at home—two unusual circumstances which made +him obey the summons with the more alacrity. The senior +member of the firm, a man of much austerity of manner, +made him gravely welcome, requested him to take a seat, +and proceeded to explain the matter in hand in the picked +expressions of a veteran man of business. A person, who +must remain nameless, but of whom the lawyer had every +reason to think well—a man, in short, of some station in the +country,—desired to make Francis an annual allowance of +five hundred pounds. The capital was to be placed under +the control of the lawyer’s firm and two trustees who must +also remain anonymous. There were conditions annexed to +this liberality, but he was of opinion that his new client would +find nothing either excessive or dishonourable in the terms; +and he repeated these two words with emphasis, as though +he desired to commit himself to nothing more.</p> + +<p>Francis asked their nature.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page129"></a>129</span></p> + +<p>“The conditions,” said the Writer to the Signet, “are, +as I have twice remarked, neither dishonourable nor excessive. +At the same time I cannot conceal from you that they +are most unusual. Indeed, the whole case is very much +out of our way; and I should certainly have refused it had +it not been for the reputation of the gentleman who entrusted +it to my care, and, let me add, Mr. Scrymgeour, the interest +I have been led to take in yourself by many complimentary +and, I have no doubt, well-deserved reports.”</p> + +<p>Francis entreated him to be more specific.</p> + +<p>“You cannot picture my uneasiness as to these conditions,” +he said.</p> + +<p>“They are two,” replied the lawyer, “only two; and +the sum, as you will remember, is five hundred a year—and +unburdened, I forgot to add, unburdened.”</p> + +<p>And the lawyer raised his eyebrows at him with solemn +gusto.</p> + +<p>“The first,” he resumed, “is of remarkable simplicity. +You must be in Paris by the afternoon of Sunday, the 15th; +there you will find, at the box-office of the Comédie Française +a ticket for admission taken in your name and waiting you. +You are requested to sit out the whole performance in the +seat provided, and that is all.”</p> + +<p>“I should certainly have preferred a week-day,” replied +Francis. “But, after all, once in a way—“</p> + +<p>“And in Paris, my dear sir,” added the lawyer soothingly. +“I believe I am something of a precisian myself, +but upon such a consideration, and in Paris, I should not +hesitate an instant.”</p> + +<p>And the pair laughed pleasantly together.</p> + +<p>“The other is of more importance,” continued the +Writer to the Signet. “It regards your marriage. My +client, taking a deep interest in your welfare, desires to +advise you absolutely in the choice of a wife. Absolutely, +you understand,” he repeated.</p> + +<p>“Let us be more explicit, if you please,” returned +Francis. “Am I to marry any one, maid or widow, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page130"></a>130</span> +black or white, whom this invisible person chooses to propose?”</p> + +<p>“I was to assure you that suitability of age and position +should be a principle with your benefactor,” replied the +lawyer. “As to race, I confess the difficulty had not occurred +to me, and I failed to inquire; but if you like I will +make a note of it at once, and advise you on the earliest +opportunity.”</p> + +<p>“Sir,” said Francis, “it remains to be seen whether this +whole affair is not a most unworthy fraud. The circumstances +are inexplicable—I had almost said incredible; and +until I see a little more daylight, and some plausible motive, +I confess I should be very sorry to put a hand to the transaction. +I appeal to you in this difficulty for information. +I must learn what is at the bottom of it all. If you do not +know, cannot guess, or are not at liberty to tell me, I shall +take my hat and go back to my bank as I came.”</p> + +<p>“I do not know,” answered the lawyer, “but I have an +excellent guess. Your father, and no one else, is at the root +of this apparently unnatural business.”</p> + +<p>“My father!” cried Francis, in extreme disdain. +“Worthy man, I know every thought of his mind, every +penny of his fortune!”</p> + +<p>“You misinterpret my words,” said the lawyer. “I +do not refer to Mr. Scrymgeour, senior; for he is not your +father. When he and his wife came to Edinburgh, you were +already nearly one year old, and you had not yet been three +months in their care. The secret has been well kept; but +such is the fact. Your father is unknown, and I say again +that I believe him to be the original of the offers I am +charged at present to transmit to you.”</p> + +<p>It would be impossible to exaggerate the astonishment +of Francis Scrymgeour at this unexpected information. +He pled this confusion to the lawyer.</p> + +<p>“Sir,” said he, “after a piece of news so startling, you +must grant me some hours for thought. You shall know +this evening what conclusion I have reached.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page131"></a>131</span></p> + +<p>The lawyer commended his prudence; and Francis, excusing +himself upon some pretext at the bank, took a long +walk into the country, and fully considered the different +steps and aspects of the case. A pleasant sense of his own +importance rendered him the more deliberate: but the issue +was from the first not doubtful. His whole carnal man +leaned irresistibly towards the five hundred a year, and the +strange conditions with which it was burdened; he discovered +in his heart an invincible repugnance to the name of Scrymgeour, +which he had never hitherto disliked; he began to +despise the narrow and unromantic interests of his former +life; and when once his mind was fairly made up, he walked +with a new feeling of strength and freedom, and nourished +himself with the gayest anticipations.</p> + +<p>He said but a word to the lawyer, and immediately +received a cheque for two quarters’ arrears; for the allowance +was ante-dated from the first of January. With this +in his pocket, he walked home. The flat in Scotland Street +looked mean in his eyes; his nostrils, for the first time, rebelled +against the odour of broth; and he observed little +defects of manner in his adoptive father which filled him +with surprise, and almost with disgust. The next day, he +determined, should see him on his way to Paris.</p> + +<p>In that city, where he arrived long before the appointed +date, he put up at a modest hotel frequented by English and +Italians, and devoted himself to improvement in the French +tongue. For this purpose he had a master twice a week, +entered into conversation with loiterers in the Champs +Elysées, and nightly frequented the theatre. He had his +whole toilette fashionably renewed; and was shaved and +had his hair dressed every morning by a barber in a +neighbouring street. This gave him something of a +foreign air, and seemed to wipe off the reproach of his past +years.</p> + +<p>At length, on the Saturday afternoon, he betook himself +to the box-office of the theatre in the Rue Richelieu. No +sooner had he mentioned his name than the clerk produced +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page132"></a>132</span> +the order in an envelope of which the address was scarcely +dry.</p> + +<p>“It has been taken this moment,” said the clerk.</p> + +<p>“Indeed!” said Francis. “May I ask what the gentleman +was like?”</p> + +<p>“Your friend is easy to describe,” replied the official. +“He is old and strong and beautiful, with white hair and a +sabre-cut across his face. You cannot fail to recognise so +marked a person.”</p> + +<p>“No, indeed,” returned Francis; “and I thank you for +your politeness.”</p> + +<p>“He cannot yet be far distant,” added the clerk. “If +you make haste you might still overtake him.”</p> + +<p>Francis did not wait to be twice told; he ran precipitately +from the theatre into the middle of the street and +looked in all directions. More than one white-haired man +was within sight; but though he overtook each of them in +succession, all wanted the sabre-cut. For nearly half an +hour he tried one street after another in the neighbourhood, +until at length, recognising the folly of continued search, he +started on a walk to compose his agitated feelings; for this +proximity of an encounter with him to whom he could not +doubt he owed the day had profoundly moved the young man.</p> + +<p>It chanced that his way lay up the Rue Drouot and +thence up the Rue des Martyrs; and chance, in this case, +served him better than all the forethought in the world. +For on the outer boulevard he saw two men in earnest colloquy +upon a seat. One was dark, young, and handsome, +secularly dressed, but with an indelible clerical stamp; the +other answered in every particular to the description given +him by the clerk. Francis felt his heart beat high in his +bosom; he knew he was now about to hear the voice of his +father; and making a wide circuit, he noiselessly took his +place behind the couple in question, who were too much +interested in their talk to observe much else. As Francis +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page133"></a>133</span> +had expected, the conversation was conducted in the English +language.</p> + +<p>“Your suspicions begin to annoy me, Rolles,” said the +older man. “I tell you I am doing my utmost; a man +cannot lay his hand on millions in a moment. Have I not +taken you up, a mere stranger, out of pure good-will? Are +you not living largely on my bounty?”</p> + +<p>“On your advances, Mr. Vandeleur,” corrected the other.</p> + +<p>“Advances, if you choose; and interest instead of good-will, +if you prefer it,” returned Vandeleur angrily. “I am +not here to pick expressions. Business is business; and +your business, let me remind you, is too muddy for such airs. +Trust me, or leave me alone and find someone else; but let +us have an end, for God’s sake, of your jeremiads.”</p> + +<p>“I am beginning to learn the world,” replied the other, +“and I see that you have every reason to play me false, and +not one to deal honestly. I am not here to pick expressions +either; you wish the diamond for yourself; you know you +do—you dare not deny it. Have you not already forged my +name, and searched my lodging in my absence? I understand +the cause of your delays; you are lying in wait; you +are the diamond-hunter, forsooth; and sooner or later, by +fair means or foul, you’ll lay your hands upon it. I tell +you, it must stop; push me much further and I promise you +a surprise.”</p> + +<p>“It does not become you to use threats,” returned Vandeleur. +“Two can play at that. My brother is here in +Paris; the police are on the alert; and if you persist in wearying +me with your caterwauling, I will arrange a little astonishment +for you, Mr. Rolles. But mine shall be once and +for all. Do you understand, or would you prefer me to tell +it you in Hebrew? There is an end to all things, and you +have come to the end of my patience. Tuesday, at seven; +not a day, not an hour sooner, not the least part of a second, +if it were to save your life. And if you do not choose to +wait, you may go to the bottomless pit for me, and welcome.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page134"></a>134</span></p> + +<p>And so saying, the Dictator arose from the bench, and +marched off in the direction of Montmartre, shaking his +head and swinging his cane with a most furious air; while +his companion remained where he was, in an attitude of +great dejection.</p> + +<p>Francis was at the pitch of surprise and horror; his +sentiments had been shocked to the last degree; the hopeful +tenderness with which he had taken his place upon the +bench was transformed into repulsion and despair; old Mr. +Scrymgeour, he reflected, was a far more kindly and creditable +parent than this dangerous and violent intriguer; but +he retained his presence of mind, and suffered not a moment +to elapse before he was on the trail of the Dictator.</p> + +<p>That gentleman’s fury carried him forward at a brisk +pace, and he was so completely occupied in his angry +thoughts that he never so much as cast a look behind him till +he reached his own door.</p> + +<p>His house stood high up in the Rue Lepic, commanding +a view of all Paris, and enjoying the pure air of the heights. +It was two stories high, with green blinds and shutters; and +all the windows looking on the street were hermetically +closed. Tops of trees showed over the high garden wall, +and the wall was protected by <i>chevaux-de-frise</i>. The +Dictator paused a moment while he searched his pocket for +a key; and then, opening a gate, disappeared within the +enclosure.</p> + +<p>Francis looked about him; the neighbourhood was very +lonely, the house isolated in its garden. It seemed as if his +observation must here come to an abrupt end. A second +glance, however, showed him a tall house next door presenting +a gable to the garden, and in this gable a single +window. He passed to the front and saw a ticket offering +unfurnished lodgings by the month; and, on inquiry, the +room which commanded the Dictator’s garden proved to +be one of those to let. Francis did not hesitate a moment; +he took the room, paid an advance upon the rent, and returned +to his hotel to seek his baggage.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page135"></a>135</span></p> + +<p>The old man with the sabre-cut might or might not be +his father; he might or he might not be upon the true scent; +but he was certainly on the edge of an exciting mystery, and +he promised himself that he would not relax his observation +until he had got to the bottom of the secret.</p> + +<p>From the window of his new apartment Francis Scrymgeour +commanded a complete view into the garden of the +house with the green blinds. Immediately below him a very +comely chestnut with wide boughs sheltered a pair of rustic +tables where people might dine in the height of summer. On +all sides save one a dense vegetation concealed the soil; but +there, between the tables and the house, he saw a patch of +gravel walk leading from the verandah to the garden gate. +Studying the place from between the boards of the Venetian +shutters, which he durst not open for fear of attracting +attention, Francis observed but little to indicate the manners +of the inhabitants, and that little argued no more than a +close reserve and a taste for solitude. The garden was conventual, +the house had the air of a prison. The green +blinds were all drawn down upon the outside; the door into +the verandah was closed; the garden, as far as he could see +it, was left entirely to itself in the evening sunshine. A +modest curl of smoke from a single chimney alone testified +to the presence of living people.</p> + +<p>In order that he might not be entirely idle, and to give +a certain colour to his way of life, Francis had purchased +Euclid’s Geometry in French, which he set himself to copy +and translate on the top of his portmanteau and seated on +the floor against the wall; for he was equally without chair +or table. From time to time he would rise and cast a glance +into the enclosure of the house with the green blinds; but the +windows remained obstinately closed and the garden empty.</p> + +<p>Only late in the evening did anything occur to reward +his continued attention. Between nine and ten the sharp +tinkle of a bell aroused him from a fit of dozing; and he +sprang to his observatory in time to hear an important noise +of locks being opened and bars removed, and to see Mr. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page136"></a>136</span> +Vandeleur, carrying a lantern and clothed in a flowing robe +of black velvet with a skull-cap to match, issue from under +the verandah and proceed leisurely towards the garden gate. +The sound of bolts and bars was then repeated; and a +moment after, Francis perceived the Dictator escorting into +the house, in the mobile light of the lantern, an individual +of the lowest and most despicable appearance.</p> + +<p>Half an hour afterwards the visitor was reconducted to +the street; and Mr. Vandeleur, setting his light upon one of +the rustic tables, finished a cigar with great deliberation +under the foliage of the chestnut. Francis, peering through +a clear space among the leaves, was able to follow his gestures +as he threw away the ash or enjoyed a copious inhalation; +and beheld a cloud upon the old man’s brow and a forcible +action of the lips, which testified to some deep and probably +painful train of thought. The cigar was already almost at +an end, when the voice of a young girl was heard suddenly +crying the hour from the interior of the house.</p> + +<p>“In a moment,” replied John Vandeleur.</p> + +<p>And, with that, he threw away the stump, and, taking +up the lantern, sailed away under the verandah for the +night. As soon as the door was closed, absolute darkness +fell upon the house; Francis might try his eyesight as much +as he pleased, he could not detect so much as a single chink +of light below a blind; and he concluded, with great good +sense, that the bed-chambers were all upon the other side.</p> + +<p>Early the next morning (for he was early awake after an +uncomfortable night upon the floor) he saw cause to adopt +a different explanation. The blinds rose, one after another, +by means of a spring in the interior, and disclosed steel +shutters such as we see on the front of shops; these in their +turn were rolled up by a similar contrivance; and for the +space of about an hour the chambers were left open to the +morning air. At the end of that time Mr. Vandeleur, with +his own hand, once more closed the shutters and replaced +the blinds from within.</p> + +<p>While Francis was still marvelling at these precautions, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page137"></a>137</span> +the door opened and a young girl came forth to look about +her in the garden. It was not two minutes before she re-entered +the house, but even in that short time he saw +enough to convince him that she possessed the most unusual +attractions. His curiosity was not only highly excited by +this incident, but his spirits were improved to a still more +notable degree. The alarming manners and more than +equivocal life of his father ceased from that moment to prey +upon his mind; from that moment he embraced his new +family with ardour; and whether the young lady should +prove his sister or his wife, he felt convinced she was an +angel in disguise. So much was this the case that he was +seized with a sudden horror when he reflected how little he +really knew, and how possible it was that he had followed +the wrong person when he followed Mr. Vandeleur.</p> + +<p>The porter, whom he consulted, could afford him little +information; but, such as it was, it had a mysterious and +questionable sound. The person next door was an English +gentleman of extraordinary wealth, and proportionately +eccentric in his tastes and habits. He possessed great collections, +which he kept in the house beside him; and it was +to protect these that he had fitted the place with steel +shutters, elaborate fastenings, and <i>chevaux-de-frise</i> along +the garden wall. He lived much alone, in spite of some +strange visitors, with whom, it seemed, he had business to +transact; and there was no one else in the house, except +Mademoiselle and an old woman servant.</p> + +<p>“Is Mademoiselle his daughter?” inquired Francis.</p> + +<p>“Certainly,” replied the porter. “Mademoiselle is the +daughter of the house; and strange it is to see how she is +made to work. For all his riches, it is she who goes to +market; and every day in the week you may see her going +by with a basket on her arm.”</p> + +<p>“And the collections?” asked the other.</p> + +<p>“Sir,” said the man, “they are immensely valuable. +More I cannot tell you. Since M. de Vandeleur’s arrival +no one in the quarter has so much as passed the door.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page138"></a>138</span></p> + +<p>“Suppose not,” returned Francis, “you must surely +have some notion what these famous galleries contain. Is +it pictures, silks, statues, jewels, or what?”</p> + +<p>“My faith, sir,” said the fellow, with a shrug, “it might +be carrots, and still I could not tell you. How should I +know? The house is kept like a garrison, as you perceive.”</p> + +<p>And then as Francis was returning disappointed to his +room, the porter called him back.</p> + +<p>“I have just remembered, sir,” said he. “M. de +Vandeleur has been in all parts of the world, and I once heard +the old woman declare that he had brought many diamonds +back with him. If that be the truth, there must be a fine +show behind those shutters.”</p> + +<p>By an early hour on Sunday Francis was in his place at +the theatre. The seat which had been taken for him was +only two or three numbers from the left-hand side, and +directly opposite one of the lower boxes. As the seat had +been specially chosen there was doubtless something to be +learned from its position; and he judged by an instinct that +the box upon his right was, in some way or other, to be +connected with the drama in which he ignorantly played a part. +Indeed, it was so situated that its occupants could safely +observe him from beginning to end of the piece, if they were +so minded; while, profiting by the depth, they could screen +themselves sufficiently well from any counter-examination +on his side. He promised himself not to leave it for a +moment out of sight; and whilst he scanned the rest of the +theatre, or made a show of attending to the business of the +stage, he always kept a corner of an eye upon the empty +box.</p> + +<p>The second act had been some time in progress, and was +even drawing towards a close, when the door opened and +two persons entered and ensconced themselves in the darkest +of the shade. Francis could hardly control his emotion. It +was Mr. Vandeleur and his daughter. The blood came and +went in his arteries and veins with stunning activity; his +ears sang; his head turned. He dared not look lest he should +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page139"></a>139</span> +awake suspicion; his play-bill, which he kept reading from +end to end and over and over again, turned from white to +red before his eyes; and when he cast a glance upon the +stage, it seemed incalculably far away, and he found the +voices and gestures of the actors to the last degree impertinent +and absurd.</p> + +<p>From time to time he risked a momentary look in the +direction which principally interested him; and once at +least he felt certain that his eyes encountered those of the +young girl. A shock passed over his body, and he saw all +the colours of the rainbow. What would he not have given +to overhear what passed between the Vandeleurs? What +would he not have given for the courage to take up his opera-glass +and steadily inspect their attitude and expression? +There, for aught he knew, his whole life was being decided—and +he not able to interfere, not able even to follow the +debate, but condemned to sit and suffer where he was, in +impotent anxiety.</p> + +<p>At last the act came to an end. The curtain fell, and the +people around him began to leave their places for the interval. +It was only natural that he should follow their example; +and if he did so, it was not only natural but necessary +that he should pass immediately in front of the box in +question. Summoning all his courage, but keeping his +eyes lowered, Francis drew near the spot. His progress was +slow, for the old gentleman before him moved with incredible +deliberation, wheezing as he went. What was he to do? +Should he address the Vandeleurs by name as he went by? +Should he take the flower from his button-hole and throw it +into the box? Should he raise his face and direct one long +and affectionate look upon the lady who was either his sister +or his betrothed? As he found himself thus struggling +among so many alternatives, he had a vision of his old +equable existence in the bank, and was assailed by a thought +of regret for the past.</p> + +<p>By this time he had arrived directly opposite the box; +and although he was still undetermined what to do or +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page140"></a>140</span> +whether to do anything, he turned his head and lifted his +eyes. No sooner had he done so than he uttered a cry of +disappointment and remained rooted to the spot. The box +was empty. During his slow advance Mr. Vandeleur and +his daughter had quietly slipped away.</p> + +<p>A polite person in his rear reminded him that he was +stopping the path; and he moved on again with mechanical +footsteps, and suffered the crowd to carry him unresisting +out of the theatre. Once in the street, the pressure ceasing, he +came to a halt, and the cool night air speedily restored him +to the possession of his faculties. He was surprised to find +that his head ached violently, and that he remembered not +one word of the two acts which he had witnessed. As the +excitement wore away, it was succeeded by an overmastering +appetite for sleep, and he hailed a cab and drove to his +lodging in a state of extreme exhaustion and some disgust +of life.</p> + +<p>Next morning he lay in wait for Miss Vandeleur on her +road to market, and by eight o’clock beheld her stepping +down a lane. She was simply, and even poorly, attired; +but in the carriage of her head and body there was something +flexible and noble that would have lent distinction to the +meanest toilette. Even her basket, so aptly did she carry +it, became her like an ornament. It seemed to Francis, as +he slipped into a doorway, that the sunshine followed and +the shadows fled before her as she walked; and he was conscious, +for the first time, of a bird singing in a cage above the +lane.</p> + +<p>He suffered her to pass the doorway, and then, coming +forth once more, addressed her by name from behind.</p> + +<p>“Miss Vandeleur,” said he.</p> + +<p>She turned and, when she saw who he was, became deadly pale.</p> + +<p>“Pardon me,” he continued; “Heaven knows I had +no will to startle you; and, indeed, there should be nothing +startling in the presence of one who wishes you so well as I +do. And, believe me, I am acting rather from necessity +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page141"></a>141</span> +than choice. We have many things in common, and I am +sadly in the dark. There is much that I should be doing, +and my hands are tied. I do not know even what to feel, +nor who are my friends and enemies.”</p> + +<p>She found her voice with an effort.</p> + +<p>“I do not know who you are,” she said.</p> + +<p>“Ah, yes! Miss Vandeleur, you do,” returned Francis; +“better than I do myself. Indeed, it is on that, above all, +that I seek light. Tell me what you know,” he pleaded. +“Tell me who I am, who you are, and how our destinies are +intermixed. Give me a little help with my life, Miss Vandeleur—only +a word or two to guide me, only the name of +my father, if you will—and I shall be grateful and content.”</p> + +<p>“I will not attempt to deceive you,” she replied. “I +know who you are, but I am not at liberty to say.”</p> + +<p>“Tell me, at least, that you have forgiven my presumption, +and I shall wait with all the patience I have,” he said. +“If I am not to know, I must do without. It is cruel, but I +can bear more upon a push. Only do not add to my +troubles the thought that I have made an enemy of +you.”</p> + +<p>“You did only what was natural,” she said, “and I +have nothing to forgive you. Farewell.”</p> + +<p>“Is it to be <i>farewell</i>?” he asked.</p> + +<p>“Nay, that I do not know myself,” she answered. +“Farewell for the present, if you like.”</p> + +<p>And with these words she was gone.</p> + +<p>Francis returned to his lodging in a state of considerable +commotion of mind. He made the most trifling progress +with his Euclid for that forenoon, and was more often at +the window than at his improvised writing-table. But +beyond seeing the return of Miss Vandeleur, and the meeting +between her and her father, who was smoking a Trichinopoli +cigar in the verandah, there was nothing notable in the +neighbourhood of the house with the green blinds before the +time of the mid-day meal. The young man hastily allayed +his appetite in a neighbouring restaurant, and returned with +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page142"></a>142</span> +the speed of unallayed curiosity to the house in the Rue +Lepic. A mounted servant was leading a saddle-horse to +and fro before the garden wall; and the porter of Francis’s +lodging was smoking a pipe against the door-post, absorbed +in contemplation of the livery and the steeds.</p> + +<p>“Look!” he cried to the young man, “what fine cattle! +what an elegant costume! They belong to the brother of +M. de Vandeleur, who is now within upon a visit. He is a +great man, a general, in your country; and you doubtless +know him well by reputation.”</p> + +<p>“I confess,” returned Francis, “that I have never +heard of General Vandeleur before. We have many officers +of that grade, and my pursuits have been exclusively civil.”</p> + +<p>“It is he,” replied the porter, “who lost the great diamond +of the Indies. Of that at least you must have read +often in the papers.”</p> + +<p>As soon as Francis could disengage himself from the +porter he ran upstairs and hurried to the window. Immediately +below the clear space in the chestnut leaves, the two +gentlemen were seated in conversation over a cigar. The +General, a red, military-looking man, offered some traces +of a family resemblance to his brother; he had something of +the same features, something, although very little, of the +same free and powerful carriage; but he was older, smaller, +and more common in air; his likeness was that of a caricature, +and he seemed altogether a poor and debile being by +the side of the Dictator.</p> + +<p>They spoke in tones so low, leaning over the table with +every appearance of interest, that Francis could catch no +more than a word or two on an occasion. For as little as he +heard, he was convinced that the conversation turned upon +himself and his own career; several times the name of +Scrymgeour reached his ear, for it was easy to distinguish +and still more frequently he fancied he could distinguish the +name Francis.</p> + +<p>At length the General, as if in a hot anger, broke forth +into several violent exclamations.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page143"></a>143</span></p> + +<p>“Francis Vandeleur!” he cried, accentuating the last +word. “Francis Vandeleur, I tell you.”</p> + +<p>The Dictator made a movement of his whole body, half +affirmative, half contemptuous, but his answer was inaudible +to the young man.</p> + +<p>Was he the Francis Vandeleur in question? he wondered. +Were they discussing the name under which he was +to be married? Or was the whole affair a dream and a +delusion of his own conceit and self-absorption?</p> + +<p>After another interval of inaudible talk, dissension +seemed again to rise between the couple underneath the +chestnut, and again the General raised his voice angrily so as +to be audible to Francis.</p> + +<p>“My wife?” he cried. “I have done with my wife for +good. I will not hear her name. I am sick of her very +name.”</p> + +<p>And he swore aloud and beat the table with his fist.</p> + +<p>The Dictator appeared, by his gestures, to pacify him +after a paternal fashion; and a little after he conducted +him to the garden gate. The pair shook hands affectionately +enough; but as soon as the door had closed behind +his visitor, John Vandeleur fell into a fit of laughter which +sounded unkindly and even devilish in the ears of Francis +Scrymgeour.</p> + +<p>So another day had passed, and little more learnt. But +the young man remembered that the morrow was Tuesday, +and promised himself some curious discoveries; all might +be well, or all might be ill; he was sure, at least, to glean +some curious information, and perhaps, by good luck, get at +the heart of the mystery which surrounded his father and +his family.</p> + +<p>As the hour of the dinner drew near many preparations +were made in the garden of the house with the green blinds. +That table, which was partly visible to Francis through the +chestnut leaves, was destined to serve as a sideboard, and +carried relays of plates and the materials for salad: the other, +which was almost entirely concealed, had been set apart for +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page144"></a>144</span> +the diners, and Francis could catch glimpses of white cloth +and silver plate.</p> + +<p>Mr. Rolles arrived, punctual to the minute; he looked +like a man upon his guard, and spoke low and sparingly. +The Dictator, on the other hand, appeared to enjoy an +unusual flow of spirits; his laugh, which was youthful and +pleasant to hear, sounded frequently from the garden; by +the modulation and the changes of his voice it was obvious +that he told many droll stories and imitated the accents of a +variety of different nations; and before he and the young +clergyman had finished their vermouth all feeling of distrust +was at an end, and they were talking together like a pair of +school companions.</p> + +<p>At length Miss Vandeleur made her appearance, carrying +the soup-tureen. Mr. Rolles ran to offer her assistance, +which she laughingly refused; and there was an interchange +of pleasantries among the trio which seemed to have reference +to this primitive manner of waiting by one of the company.</p> + +<p>“One is more at one’s ease,” Mr. Vandeleur was heard +to declare.</p> + +<p>Next moment they were all three in their places, and +Francis could see as little as he could hear of what passed. +But the dinner seemed to go merrily; there was a perpetual +babble of voices and sound of knives and forks below the +chestnut; and Francis, who had no more than a roll to +gnaw, was affected with envy by the comfort and deliberation +of the meal. The party lingered over one dish after +another, and then over a delicate dessert, with a bottle of +cold wine, carefully uncorked by the hand of the Dictator +himself. As it began to grow dark a lamp was set upon the +table and a couple of candles on the sideboard; for the night +was perfectly pure, starry, and windless. Light overflowed +besides from the door and window in the verandah, +so that the garden was fairly illuminated and the leaves +twinkled in the darkness.</p> + +<p>For perhaps the tenth time Miss Vandeleur entered the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page145"></a>145</span> +house; and on this occasion she returned with the coffee-tray, +which she placed upon the sideboard. At the same +moment her father rose from his seat.</p> + +<p>“The coffee is my province,” Francis heard him say.</p> + +<p>And the next moment he saw his supposed father standing +by the sideboard in the light of the candles.</p> + +<p>Talking over his shoulder all the while, Mr. Vandeleur +poured out two cups of the brown stimulant, and then, by +a rapid act of prestidigitation, emptied the contents of a +tiny phial into the smaller of the two. The thing was so +swiftly done that even Francis, who looked straight into +his face, had hardly time to perceive the movement before +it was completed. And next instant, and still laughing, +Mr. Vandeleur had turned again towards the table with a +cup in either hand.</p> + +<p>“Ere we have done with this,” said he, “we may expect +our famous Hebrew.”</p> + +<p>It would be impossible to depict the confusion and distress +of Francis Scrymgeour. He saw foul play going forward +before his eyes, and he felt bound to interfere, but +knew not how. It might be a mere pleasantry, and then +how should he look if he were to offer an unnecessary +warning? Or again, if it were serious, the criminal might +be his own father, and then how should he not lament if he +were to bring ruin on the author of his days? For the first +time he became conscious of his own position as a spy. To +wait inactive at such a juncture and with such a conflict +of sentiments in his bosom was to suffer the most acute torture; +he clung to the bars of the shutters, his heart beat fast +and with irregularity, and he felt a strong sweat break +forth upon his body.</p> + +<p>Several minutes passed.</p> + +<p>He seemed to perceive the conversation die away and +grow less and less in vivacity and volume; but still no sign +of any alarming or even notable event.</p> + +<p>Suddenly the ring of a glass breaking was followed by a +faint and dull sound, as of a person who should have fallen +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page146"></a>146</span> +forward with his head upon the table. At the same moment +a piercing scream rose from the garden.</p> + +<p>“What have you done?” cried Miss Vandeleur. “He +is dead!”</p> + +<p>The Dictator replied in a violent whisper, so strong and +sibilant that every word was audible to the watcher at the +window.</p> + +<p>“Silence!” said Mr. Vandeleur; “the man is as well as +I am. Take him by the heels whilst I carry him by the +shoulders.”</p> + +<p>Francis heard Miss Vandeleur break forth into a passion +of tears.</p> + +<p>“Do you hear what I say?” resumed the Dictator, in +the same tones. “Or do you wish to quarrel with me? I +give you your choice, Miss Vandeleur.”</p> + +<p>There was another pause, and the Dictator spoke again.</p> + +<p>“Take that man by the heels,” he said. “I must have +him brought into the house. If I were a little younger, I +could help myself against the world. But now that years +and dangers are upon me, and my hands are weakened, I +must turn to you for aid.”</p> + +<p>“It is a crime,” replied the girl.</p> + +<p>“I am your father,” said Mr. Vandeleur.</p> + +<p>This appeal seemed to produce its effect. A scuffling +noise followed upon the gravel, a chair was overset, and then +Francis saw the father and daughter stagger across the walk +and disappear under the verandah, bearing the inanimate +body of Mr. Rolles embraced about the knees and shoulders. +The young clergyman was limp and pallid, and his head +rolled upon his shoulders at every step.</p> + +<p>Was he alive or dead? Francis, in spite of the Dictator’s +declaration, inclined to the latter view. A great crime had +been committed; a great calamity had fallen upon the inhabitants +of the house with the green blinds. To his surprise, +Francis found all horror for the deed swallowed up in +sorrow for a girl and an old man whom he judged to be in +the height of peril. A tide of generous feeling swept into his +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page147"></a>147</span> +heart; he, too, would help his father against man and mankind, +against fate and justice; and casting open the shutters +he closed his eyes and threw himself with outstretched arms +into the foliage of the chestnut.</p> + +<p>Branch after branch slipped from his grasp or broke +under his weight; then he caught a stalwart bough under +his armpit, and hung suspended for a second; and then he +let himself drop and fell heavily against the table. A cry of +alarm from the house warned him that his entrance had not +been effected unobserved. He recovered himself with a +stagger, and in three bounds crossed the intervening space +and stood before the door in the verandah.</p> + +<p>In a small apartment, carpeted with matting and surrounded +by glazed cabinets full of rare and costly curios, Mr. +Vandeleur was stooping over the body of Mr. Rolles. He +raised himself as Francis entered, and there was an instantaneous +passage of hands. It was the business of a second; +as fast as an eye can wink the thing was done; the young +man had not the time to be sure, but it seemed to him as if +the Dictator had taken something from the curate’s breast, +looked at it for the least fraction of time as it lay in his hand, +and then suddenly and swiftly passed it to his daughter.</p> + +<p>All this was over while Francis had still one foot upon the +threshold, and the other raised in air. The next instant he +was on his knees to Mr. Vandeleur.</p> + +<p>“Father!” he cried. “Let me too help you. I will +do what you wish and ask no questions; I will obey you +with my life; treat me as a son, and you will find I have a +son’s devotion.”</p> + +<p>A deplorable explosion of oaths was the Dictator’s first reply.</p> + +<p>“Son and father?” he cried. “Father and son? What +d——d unnatural comedy is all this? How do you come in +my garden? What do you want? And who, in God’s name, are you?”</p> + +<p>Francis, with a stunned and shamefaced aspect, got +upon his feet again, and stood in silence.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page148"></a>148</span></p> + +<p>Then a light seemed to break upon Mr. Vandeleur, and +he laughed aloud.</p> + +<p>“I see,” cried he. “It is the Scrymgeour. Very well, +Mr. Scrymgeour. Let me tell you in a few words how you +stand. You have entered my private residence by force, +or perhaps by fraud, but certainly with no encouragement +from me; and you come at a moment of some annoyance, a +guest having fainted at my table, to besiege me with your +protestations. You are no son of mine. You are my +brother’s bastard by a fishwife, if you want to know. I regard +you with an indifference closely bordering on aversion; +and from what I now see of your conduct, I judge your mind +to be exactly suitable to your exterior. I recommend you +these mortifying reflections for your leisure; and, in the +meantime, let me beseech you to rid us of your presence. If +I were not occupied,” added the Dictator, with a terrifying +oath, “I should give you the unholiest drubbing ere you went!”</p> + +<p>Francis listened in profound humiliation. He would +have fled had it been possible; but as he had no means of +leaving the residence into which he had so unfortunately +penetrated, he could do no more than stand foolishly where +he was.</p> + +<p>It was Miss Vandeleur who broke the silence.</p> + +<p>“Father,” she said, “you speak in anger. Mr. Scrymgeour +may have been mistaken, but he meant well and kindly.”</p> + +<p>“Thank you for speaking,” returned the Dictator. +“You remind me of some other observations which I hold +it a point of honour to make to Mr. Scrymgeour. My +brother,” he continued, addressing the young man, “has +been foolish enough to give you an allowance; he was +foolish enough and presumptuous enough to propose a match +between you and this young lady. You were exhibited to +her two nights ago; and I rejoice to tell you that she rejected +the idea with disgust. Let me add that I have considerable +influence with your father; and it shall not be my fault if +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page149"></a>149</span> +you are not beggared of your allowance and sent back to +your scrivening ere the week be out.”</p> + +<p>The tones of the old man’s voice were, if possible, +more wounding than his language; Francis felt himself +exposed to the most cruel, blighting, and unbearable +contempt; his head turned, and he covered his face with +his hands, uttering at the same time a tearless sob of +agony. But Miss Vandeleur once again interfered in his +behalf.</p> + +<p>“Mr Scrymgeour,” she said, speaking in clear and even +tones, “you must not be concerned at my father’s harsh +expressions. I felt no disgust for you; on the contrary, I +asked an opportunity to make your better acquaintance. +As for what has passed to-night, believe me it has filled my +mind with both pity and esteem.”</p> + +<p>Just then Mr. Rolles made a convulsive movement with +his arm, which convinced Francis that he was only drugged, +and was beginning to throw off the influence of the opiate. +Mr. Vandeleur stooped over him and examined his face for +an instant.</p> + +<p>“Come, come!” cried he, raising his head. “Let there +be an end of this. And since you are so pleased with his +conduct, Miss Vandeleur, take a candle and show the bastard +out.”</p> + +<p>The young lady hastened to obey.</p> + +<p>“Thank you,” said Francis, as soon as he was alone with +her in the garden. “I thank you from my soul. This has +been the bitterest evening of my life, but it will have always +one pleasant recollection.”</p> + +<p>“I spoke as I felt,” she replied, “and in justice to you. +It made my heart sorry that you should be so unkindly used.”</p> + +<p>By this time they had reached the garden gate; and Miss +Vandeleur, having set the candle on the ground, was +already unfastening the bolts.</p> + +<p>“One word more,” said Francis. “This is not for the +last time—I shall see you again, shall I not?”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page150"></a>150</span></p> + +<p>“Alas!” she answered. “You have heard my father. +What can I do but obey?”</p> + +<p>“Tell me at least that it is not with your consent,” +returned Francis; “tell me that you have no wish to see the +last of me.”</p> + +<p>“Indeed,” replied she, “I have none. You seem to me +both brave and honest.”</p> + +<p>“Then,” said Francis, “give me a keepsake.”</p> + +<p>She paused for a moment, with her hand upon the key; +for the various bars and bolts were all undone, and there was +nothing left but to open the lock.</p> + +<p>“If I agree,” she said, “will you promise to do as I tell +you from point to point?”</p> + +<p>“Can you ask?” replied Francis. “I would do so +willingly on your bare word.”</p> + +<p>She turned the key and threw open the door.</p> + +<p>“Be it so,” said she. “You do not know what you ask, +but be it so. Whatever you hear,” she continued, “whatever +happens, do not return to this house; hurry fast until +you reach the lighted and populous quarters of the city; +even there be upon your guard. You are in a greater +danger than you fancy. Promise me you will not so much +as look at my keepsake until you are in a place of safety.”</p> + +<p>“I promise,” replied Francis.</p> + +<p>She put something loosely wrapped in a handkerchief +into the young man’s hand; and at the same time, with +more strength than he could have anticipated, she pushed +him into the street.</p> + +<p>“Now, run!” she cried.</p> + +<p>He heard the door close behind him, and the noise of the +bolts being replaced.</p> + +<p>“My faith,” said he, “since I have promised!”</p> + +<p>And he took to his heels down the lane that leads into +the Rue Ravignan.</p> + +<p>He was not fifty paces from the house with the green +blinds when the most diabolical outcry suddenly arose out +of the stillness of the night. Mechanically he stood still; +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page151"></a>151</span> +another passenger followed his example; in the neighbouring +floors he saw people crowding to the windows; a conflagration +could not have produced more disturbance in this +empty quarter. And yet it seemed to be all the work of a +single man, roaring between grief and rage, like a lioness +robbed of her whelps; and Francis was surprised and alarmed +to hear his own name shouted with English imprecations to +the wind.</p> + +<p>His first movement was to return to the house; his +second, as he remembered Miss Vandeleur’s advice, to continue +his flight with greater expedition than before; and he +was in the act of turning to put his thought in action, when +the Dictator, bare-headed, bawling aloud, his white hair +blowing about his head, shot past him like a ball out of the +cannon’s mouth, and went careering down the street.</p> + +<p>“That was a close shave,” thought Francis to himself. +“What he wants with me, and why he should be so disturbed, +I cannot think; but he is plainly not good company for the +moment, and I cannot do better than follow Miss Vandeleur’s +advice.”</p> + +<p>So saying, he turned to retrace his steps, thinking to +double and descend by the Rue Lepic itself while his pursuer +should continue to follow after him on the other line of +street. The plan was ill-devised: as a matter of fact, he +should have taken his seat in the nearest café, and waited +there until the first heat of the pursuit was over. But +besides that Francis had no experience and little natural +aptitude for the small war of private life, he was so unconscious +of any evil on his part, that he saw nothing to fear +beyond a disagreeable interview. And to disagreeable +interviews he felt he had already served his apprenticeship +that evening; nor could he suppose that Miss Vandeleur +had left anything unsaid. Indeed, the young man was sore +both in body and mind—the one was all bruised, the other +was full of smarting arrows; and he owned to himself that +Mr. Vandeleur was master of a very deadly tongue.</p> + +<p>The thought of his bruises reminded him that he had not +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page152"></a>152</span> +only come without a hat, but that his clothes had considerably +suffered in his descent through the chestnut. At the +first magazine he purchased a cheap wideawake, and had +the disorder of his toilet summarily repaired. The keepsake, +still rolled in the handkerchief, he thrust in the meantime +into his trousers pocket.</p> + +<p>Not many steps beyond the shop he was conscious of a +sudden shock, a hand upon his throat, an infuriated face +close to his own, and an open mouth bawling curses in his +ear. The Dictator, having found no trace of his quarry, +was returning by the other way. Francis was a stalwart +young fellow; but he was no match for his adversary, +whether in strength or skill; and after a few ineffectual +struggles he resigned himself entirely to his captor.</p> + +<p>“What do you want with me?” said he.</p> + +<p>“We will talk of that at home,” returned the Dictator grimly.</p> + +<p>And he continued to march the young man up hill in the +direction of the house with the green blinds.</p> + +<p>But Francis, although he no longer struggled, was only +waiting an opportunity to make a bold push for freedom. +With a sudden jerk he left the collar of his coat in the hands +of Mr. Vandeleur, and once more made off at his best speed +in the direction of the Boulevards.</p> + +<p>The tables were now turned. If the Dictator was the +stronger, Francis, in the top of his youth, was the more fleet +of foot, and he had soon effected his escape among the +crowds. Relieved for a moment, but with a growing sentiment +of alarm and wonder in his mind, he walked briskly +until he debouched upon the Place de l’Opéra lit up like day +with electric lamps.</p> + +<p>“This, at least,” thought he, “should satisfy Miss Vandeleur.”</p> + +<p>And turning to his right along the Boulevards, he entered +the Café Américain and ordered some beer. It was both +late and early for the majority of the frequenters of the +establishment. Only two or three persons, all men, were +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page153"></a>153</span> +dotted here and there at separate tables in the hall; and +Francis was too much occupied by his own thoughts to +observe their presence.</p> + +<p>He drew the handkerchief from his pocket. The object +wrapped in it proved to be a morocco case, clasped and ornamented +in gilt, which opened by means of a spring, and disclosed +to the horrified young man a diamond of monstrous +bigness and extraordinary brilliancy. The circumstance +was so inexplicable, the value of the stone was plainly so +enormous, that Francis sat staring into the open casket +without movement, without conscious thought, like a man +stricken suddenly with idiocy.</p> + +<p>A hand was laid upon his shoulder, lightly but firmly, +and a quiet voice, which yet had in it the ring of command, +uttered these words in his ear—</p> + +<p>“Close the casket, and compose your face.”</p> + +<p>Looking up, he beheld a man, still young, of an urbane +and tranquil presence, and dressed with rich simplicity. +This personage had risen from a neighbouring table, and, +bringing his glass with him, had taken a seat beside Francis.</p> + +<p>“Close the casket,” repeated the stranger, “and put it +quietly back into your pocket, where I feel persuaded it +should never have been. Try, if you please, to throw off +your bewildered air, and act as though I were one of your +acquaintances whom you had met by chance. So! Touch +glasses with me. That is better. I fear, sir, you must be +an amateur.”</p> + +<p>And the stranger pronounced these last words with a +smile of peculiar meaning, leaned back in his seat and enjoyed +a deep inhalation of tobacco.</p> + +<p>“For God’s sake,” said Francis, “tell me who you are +and what this means! Why I should obey your most unusual +suggestions I am sure I know not; but the truth is, I +have fallen this evening into so many perplexing adventures, +and all I meet conduct themselves so strangely, that I think +I must either have gone mad or wandered into another +planet. Your face inspires me with confidence; you seem +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page154"></a>154</span> +wise, good, and experienced; tell me, for heaven’s sake, +why you accost me in so odd a fashion.”</p> + +<p>“All in due time,” replied the stranger. “But I have +the first hand, and you must begin by telling me how the +Rajah’s Diamond is in your possession.”</p> + +<p>“The Rajah’s Diamond!” echoed Francis.</p> + +<p>“I would not speak so loud, if I were you,” returned the +other. “But most certainly you have the Rajah’s Diamond +in your pocket. I have seen and handled it a score of times +in Sir Thomas Vandeleur’s collection.”</p> + +<p>“Sir Thomas Vandeleur! The General! My father!” +cried Francis.</p> + +<p>“Your father?” repeated the stranger. “I was not +aware the General had any family.”</p> + +<p>“I am illegitimate, sir,” replied Francis, with a flush.</p> + +<p>The other bowed with gravity. It was a respectful bow, +as of a man silently apologising to his equal; and Francis +felt relieved and comforted, he scarce knew why. The +society of this person did him good; he seemed to touch firm +ground; a strong feeling of respect grew up in his bosom, +and mechanically he removed his wideawake as though in +the presence of a superior.</p> + +<p>“I perceive,” said the stranger, “that your adventures +have not at all been peaceful. Your collar is torn, your face +is scratched, you have a cut upon your temple; you will, +perhaps, pardon my curiosity when I ask you to explain how +you come by these injuries, and how you happen to have +stolen property to an enormous value in your pocket.”</p> + +<p>“I must differ from you!” returned Francis hotly. “I +possess no stolen property. And if you refer to the diamond, +it was given to me not an hour ago by Miss Vandeleur +in the Rue Lepic.”</p> + +<p>“By Miss Vandeleur in the Rue Lepic!” repeated the +other. “You interest me more than you suppose. Pray +continue.”</p> + +<p>“Heavens!” cried Francis.</p> + +<p>His memory had made a sudden bound. He had seen +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page155"></a>155</span> +Mr. Vandeleur take an article from the breast of his drugged +visitor, and that article, he was now persuaded, was a +morocco case.</p> + +<p>“You have a light?” inquired the stranger.</p> + +<p>“Listen,” replied Francis. “I know not who you are, +but I believe you to be worthy of confidence and helpful; I +find myself in strange waters; I must have counsel and support, +and since you invite me I shall tell you all.”</p> + +<p>And he briefly recounted his experience since the day +when he was summoned from the bank by his lawyer.</p> + +<p>“Yours is indeed a remarkable history,” said the +stranger, after the young man had made an end of his narrative; +“and your position is full of difficulty and peril. +Many would counsel you to seek out your father, and give +the diamond to him; but I have other views.—Waiter!” +he cried.</p> + +<p>The waiter drew near.</p> + +<p>“Will you ask the manager to speak with me a moment?” +said he; and Francis observed once more, both in his tone +and manner, the evidence of a habit of command.</p> + +<p>The waiter withdrew, and returned in a moment with +the manager, who bowed with obsequious respect.</p> + +<p>“What,” said he, “can I do to serve you?”</p> + +<p>“Have the goodness,” replied the stranger, indicating +Francis, “to tell this gentleman my name.”</p> + +<p>“You have the honour, sir,” said the functionary, addressing +young Scrymgeour, “to occupy the same table +with His Highness Prince Florizel of Bohemia.”</p> + +<p>Francis rose with precipitation, and made a grateful +reverence to the Prince, who bade him resume his seat.</p> + +<p>“I thank you,” said Florizel, once more addressing the +functionary; “I am sorry to have deranged you for so +small a matter.”</p> + +<p>And he dismissed him with a movement of his hand.</p> + +<p>“And now,” added the Prince, turning to Francis, +“give me the diamond.”</p> + +<p>Without a word the casket was handed over.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page156"></a>156</span></p> + +<p>“You have done right,” said Florizel; “your sentiments +have properly inspired you, and you will live to be +grateful for the misfortunes of to-night. A man, Mr. +Scrymgeour, may fall into a thousand perplexities, but if +his heart be upright and his intelligence unclouded, he will +issue from them all without dishonour. Let your mind be +at rest; your affairs are in my hand; and with the aid of +Heaven I am strong enough to bring them to a good end. +Follow me, if you please, to my carriage.”</p> + +<p>So saying the Prince arose, and, having left a piece of +gold for the waiter, conducted the young man from the café +and along the Boulevard to where an unpretentious brougham +and a couple of servants out of livery awaited his +arrival.</p> + +<p>“This carriage,” said he, “is at your disposal; collect +your baggage as rapidly as you can make it convenient, and +my servants will conduct you to a villa in the neighbourhood +of Paris where you can wait in some degree of comfort +until I have had time to arrange your situation. You will +find there a pleasant garden, a library of good authors, a +cook, a cellar, and some good cigars, which I recommend to +your attention. Jérome,” he added, turning to one of the +servants, “you have heard what I say; I leave Mr. Scrymgeour +in your charge; you will, I know, be careful of my +friend.”</p> + +<p>Francis uttered some broken phrases of gratitude.</p> + +<p>“It will be time enough to thank me,” said the Prince, +“when you are acknowledged by your father and married +to Miss Vandeleur.”</p> + +<p>And with that the Prince turned away and strolled +leisurely in the direction of Montmartre. He hailed the +first passing cab, gave an address, and a quarter of an hour +afterwards, having discharged the driver some distance +lower, he was knocking at Mr. Vandeleur’s garden +gate.</p> + +<p>It was opened with singular precautions by the Dictator +in person.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page157"></a>157</span></p> + +<p>“Who are you?” he demanded.</p> + +<p>“You must pardon me this late visit, Mr. Vandeleur,” +replied the Prince.</p> + +<p>“Your Highness is always welcome,” returned Mr. +Vandeleur, stepping back.</p> + +<p>The Prince profited by the open space, and without waiting +for his host walked right into the house and opened the +door of the <i>salon</i>. Two people were seated there; one was +Miss Vandeleur, who bore the marks of weeping about her +eyes, and was still shaken from time to time by a sob; in +the other the Prince recognised the young man who had consulted +him on literary matters about a month before, in a +club smoking-room.</p> + +<p>“Good-evening, Miss Vandeleur,” said Florizel; “you +look fatigued. Mr. Rolles, I believe? I hope you have +profited by the study of Gaboriau, Mr. Rolles.”</p> + +<p>But the young clergyman’s temper was too much embittered +for speech; and he contented himself with bowing +stiffly, and continued to gnaw his lip.</p> + +<p>“To what good wind,” said Mr. Vandeleur, following +his guest, “am I to attribute the honour of your Highness’s +presence?”</p> + +<p>“I am come on business,” returned the Prince; “on +business with you; as soon as that is settled I shall request +Mr. Rolles to accompany me for a walk.—Mr. Rolles,” he +added, with severity, “let me remind you that I have not +yet sat down.”</p> + +<p>The clergyman sprang to his feet with an apology; +whereupon the Prince took an arm-chair beside the table, +handed his hat to Mr. Vandeleur, his cane to Mr. Rolles, +and, leaving them standing and thus menially employed +upon his service, spoke as follows:—</p> + +<p>“I have come here, as I said, upon business; but, had +I come looking for pleasure, I could not have been more +displeased with my reception nor more dissatisfied with my +company. You, sir,” addressing Mr. Rolles, “you have +treated your superior in station with discourtesy; you, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page158"></a>158</span> +Vandeleur, receive me with a smile, but you know right +well that your hands are not yet cleansed from misconduct.—I +do not desire to be interrupted, sir,” he added imperiously; +“I am here to speak, and not to listen; and I have +to ask you to hear me with respect, and to obey punctiliously. +At the earliest possible date your daughter shall be +married at the Embassy to my friend, Francis Scrymgeour, +your brother’s acknowledged son. You will oblige me by +offering not less than ten thousand pounds dowry. For +yourself, I will indicate to you in writing a mission of some +importance in Siam which I destine to your care. And now, +sir, you will answer me in two words whether or not you +agree to these conditions.”</p> + +<p>“Your Highness will pardon me,” said Mr. Vandeleur, +“and permit me, with all respect, to submit to him two +queries?”</p> + +<p>“The permission is granted,” replied the Prince.</p> + +<p>“Your Highness,” resumed the Dictator, “has called +Mr. Scrymgeour his friend. Believe me, had I known he +was thus honoured, I should have treated him with proportional +respect.”</p> + +<p>“You interrogate adroitly,” said the Prince; “but it +will not serve your turn. You have my commands; if I +had never seen that gentleman before to-night, it would not +render them less absolute.”</p> + +<p>“Your Highness interprets my meaning with his usual +subtlety,” returned Vandeleur. “Once more: I have, unfortunately, +put the police upon the track of Mr. Scrymgeour +on a charge of theft; am I to withdraw or to uphold the +accusation?”</p> + +<p>“You will please yourself,” replied Florizel. “The +question is one between your conscience and the laws of this +land. Give me my hat; and you, Mr. Rolles, give me my +cane and follow me. Miss Vandeleur, I wish you good-evening. +I judge,” he added to Vandeleur, “that your +silence means unqualified assent.”</p> + +<p>“If I can do no better,” replied the old man, “I shall +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page159"></a>159</span> +submit; but I warn you openly it shall not be without a +struggle.”</p> + +<p>“You are old,” said the Prince; “but years are disgraceful +to the wicked. Your age is more unwise than the youth +of others. Do not provoke me, or you may find me harder +than you dream. This is the first time that I have fallen +across your path in anger; take care that it be the last.”</p> + +<p>With these words, motioning the clergyman to follow, +Florizel left the apartment and directed his steps towards +the garden gate; and the Dictator, following with a candle, +gave them light, and once more undid the elaborate fastenings +with which he sought to protect himself from intrusion.</p> + +<p>“Your daughter is no longer present,” said the Prince, +turning on the threshold. “Let me tell you that I understand +your threats; and you have only to lift your hand to +bring upon yourself sudden and irremediable ruin.”</p> + +<p>The Dictator made no reply; but as the Prince turned +his back upon him in the lamplight he made a gesture full +of menace and insane fury; and the next moment, slipping +round a corner, he was running at full speed for the nearest +cab-stand.</p> + +<div class="pt05"> </div> + +<p><i>Here</i> (says my Arabian) <i>the thread of events is finally +diverted from</i> <span class="sc">The House with the Green Blinds</span>. <i>One +more adventure, he adds, and we have done with</i> <span class="sc">The +Rajah’s Diamond</span>. <i>That last link in the chain is known +among the inhabitants of Bagdad by the name of</i></p> + +<div class="pt2"> </div> + +<h5>THE ADVENTURE OF PRINCE FLORIZEL AND A +DETECTIVE</h5> + +<p class="noind"><span class="sc">Prince Florizel</span> walked with Mr. Rolles to the door of a +small hotel where the latter resided. They spoke much +together, and the clergyman was more than once affected to +tears by the mingled severity and tenderness of Florizel’s +reproaches.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page160"></a>160</span></p> + +<p>“I have made ruin of my life,” he said at last. “Help +me; tell me what I am to do; I have, alas! neither the +virtues of a priest nor the dexterity of a rogue.”</p> + +<p>“Now that you are humbled,” said the Prince, “I command +no longer; the repentant have to do with God, and +not with Princes. But if you will let me advise you, go to +Australia as a colonist, seek menial labour in the open air, +and try to forget that you have ever been a clergyman, or +that you ever set eyes on that accursed stone.”</p> + +<p>“Accurst indeed!” replied Mr. Rolles. “Where is it +now? What further hurt is it not working for mankind?”</p> + +<p>“It will do no more evil,” returned the Prince. “It is +here in my pocket. And this,” he added kindly, “will +show that I place some faith in your penitence, young as +it is.”</p> + +<p>“Suffer me to touch your hand,” pleaded Mr. Rolles.</p> + +<p>“No,” replied Prince Florizel, “not yet.”</p> + +<p>The tone in which he uttered these last words was eloquent +in the ears of the young clergyman; and for some +minutes after the Prince had turned away he stood on the +threshold following with his eyes the retreating figure and +invoking the blessing of Heaven upon a man so excellent in +counsel.</p> + +<p>For several hours the Prince walked alone in unfrequented +streets. His mind was full of concern; what to do +with the diamond, whether to return it to its owner, whom +he judged unworthy of this rare possession, or to take some +sweeping and courageous measure and put it out of the reach +of all mankind at once and for ever, was a problem too grave +to be decided in a moment. The manner in which it had +come into his hands appeared manifestly providential; and +as he took out the jewel and looked at it under the street +lamps, its size and surprising brilliancy inclined him more +and more to think of it as of an unmixed and dangerous evil +for the world.</p> + +<p>“God help me!” he thought; “if I look at it much +oftener I shall begin to grow covetous myself.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page161"></a>161</span></p> + +<p>At last, though still uncertain in his mind, he turned +his steps towards the small but elegant mansion on the +river-side which had belonged for centuries to his royal +family. The arms of Bohemia are deeply graved over the +door and upon the tall chimneys; passengers have a look +into a green court set with the most costly flowers; and a +stork, the only one in Paris, perches on the gable all day +long and keeps a crowd before the house. Grave servants +are seen passing to and fro within; and from time to time +the great gate is thrown open and a carriage rolls below the +arch. For many reasons this residence was especially dear +to the heart of Prince Florizel; he never drew near to it +without enjoying that sentiment of home-coming so rare in +the lives of the great; and on the present evening he beheld +its tall roof and mildly illuminated windows with unfeigned +relief and satisfaction.</p> + +<p>As he was approaching the postern door by which he +always entered when alone, a man stepped forth from the +shadow and presented himself with an obeisance in the +Prince’s path.</p> + +<p>“I have the honour of addressing Prince Florizel of +Bohemia?” said he.</p> + +<p>“Such is my title,” replied the Prince. “What do you +want with me?”</p> + +<p>“I am,” said the man, “a detective, and I have to +present your Highness with this billet from the Prefect of +Police.”</p> + +<p>The Prince took the letter and glanced it through by the +light of the street lamp. It was highly apologetic, but +requested him to follow the bearer to the Prefecture without +delay.</p> + +<p>“In short,” said Florizel, “I am arrested.”</p> + +<p>“Your Highness,” replied the officer, “nothing, I am +certain, could be further from the intention of the Prefect. +You will observe that he has not granted a warrant. It is +mere formality, or call it, if you prefer, an obligation that +your Highness lays on the authorities.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page162"></a>162</span></p> + +<p>“At the same time,” asked the Prince, “if I were to +refuse to follow you?”</p> + +<p>“I will not conceal from your Highness that a considerable +discretion has been granted me,” replied the detective, +with a bow.</p> + +<p>“Upon my word,” cried Florizel, “your effrontery +astounds me! Yourself, as an agent, I must pardon; but +your superiors shall dearly smart for their misconduct. +What, have you any idea, is the cause of this impolitic and +unconstitutional act? You will observe that I have as yet +neither refused nor consented, and much may depend on +your prompt and ingenuous answer. Let me remind you, +officer, that this is an affair of some gravity.”</p> + +<p>“Your Highness,” said the detective humbly, “General +Vandeleur and his brother have had the incredible presumption +to accuse you of theft. The famous diamond, they +declare, is in your hands. A word from you in denial will +most amply satisfy the Prefect; nay, I go further: if your +Highness would so far honour a subaltern as to declare his +ignorance of the matter even to myself, I should ask permission +to retire upon the spot.”</p> + +<p>Florizel, up to the last moment, had regarded his adventure +in the light of a trifle, only serious upon international +considerations. At the name of Vandeleur the horrible +truth broke upon him in a moment; he was not only +arrested, but he was guilty. This was not only an annoying +incident—it was a peril to his honour. What was he to say? +What was he to do? The Rajah’s Diamond was indeed an +accursed stone; and it seemed as if he were to be the last +victim to its influence.</p> + +<p>One thing was certain. He could not give the required +assurance to the detective. He must gain time.</p> + +<p>His hesitation had not lasted a second.</p> + +<p>“Be it so,” said he, “let us walk together to the Prefecture.”</p> + +<p>The man once more bowed, and proceeded to follow +Florizel at a respectful distance in the rear.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page163"></a>163</span></p> + +<p>“Approach,” said the Prince. “I am in a humour to +talk, and, if I mistake not, now I look at you again, this is +not the first time that we have met.”</p> + +<p>“I count it an honour,” replied the officer, “that your +Highness should recollect my face. It is eight years since I +had the pleasure of an interview.”</p> + +<p>“To remember faces,” returned Florizel, “is as much a +part of my profession as it is of yours. Indeed, rightly +looked upon, a Prince and a detective serve in the same +corps. We are both combatants against crime; only mine +is the more lucrative and yours the more dangerous rank, +and there is a sense in which both may be made equally +honourable to a good man. I had rather, strange as you +may think it, be a detective of character and parts than a +weak and ignoble sovereign.”</p> + +<p>The officer was overwhelmed.</p> + +<p>“Your Highness returns good for evil,” said he. “To +an act of presumption he replies by the most amiable condescension.”</p> + +<p>“How do you know,” replied Florizel, “that I am not +seeking to corrupt you?”</p> + +<p>“Heaven preserve me from the temptation!” cried the +detective.</p> + +<p>“I applaud your answer,” returned the Prince. “It +is that of a wise and honest man. The world is a great +place, and stocked with wealth and beauty, and there is no +limit to the rewards that may be offered. Such an one who +would refuse a million of money may sell his honour for an +empire or the love of a woman; and I myself, who speak to +you, have seen occasions so tempting, provocations so irresistible +to the strength of human virtue, that I have been +glad to tread in your steps and recommend myself to the +grace of God. It is thus, thanks to that modest and becoming +habit alone,” he added, “that you and I can walk this +town together with untarnished hearts.”</p> + +<p>“I had always heard that you were brave,” replied +the officer, “but I was not aware that you were wise and +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page164"></a>164</span> +pious. You speak the truth, and you speak it with an +accent that moves me to the heart. This world is indeed a +place of trial.”</p> + +<p>“We are now,” said Florizel, “in the middle of the +bridge. Lean your elbows on the parapet and look over. +As the water rushing below, so the passions and complications +of life carry away the honesty of weak men. Let me +tell you a story.”</p> + +<p>“I receive your Highness’s commands,” replied the man.</p> + +<p>And, imitating the Prince, he leaned against the parapet, +and disposed himself to listen. The city was already +sunk in slumber; had it not been for the infinity of lights +and the outline of buildings on the starry sky, they might +have been alone beside some country river.</p> + +<p>“An officer,” began Prince Florizel, “a man of courage +and conduct, who had already risen by merit to an eminent +rank, and won not only admiration but respect, visited, in an +unfortunate hour for his peace of mind, the collections of an +Indian Prince. Here he beheld a diamond so extraordinary +for size and beauty that from that instant he had only one +desire in life: honour, reputation, friendship, the love of +country—he was ready to sacrifice all for this lump of sparkling +crystal. For three years he served this semi-barbarian +potentate as Jacob served Laban; he falsified frontiers, he +connived at murders, he unjustly condemned and executed +a brother-officer who had the misfortune to displease the +Rajah by some honest freedoms; lastly, at a time of great +danger to his native land, he betrayed a body of his fellow-soldiers, +and suffered them to be defeated and massacred by +thousands. In the end he had amassed a magnificent +fortune, and brought home with him the coveted diamond.</p> + +<p>“Years passed,” continued the Prince, “and at length +the diamond is accidentally lost. It falls into the hands +of a simple and laborious youth, a student, a minister of +God, just entering on a career of usefulness and even distinction. +Upon him also the spell is cast; he deserts everything, +his holy calling, his studies, and flees with the gem +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page165"></a>165</span> +into a foreign country. The officer has a brother, an astute, +daring, unscrupulous man, who learns the clergyman’s +secret. What does he do? Tell his brother, inform the +police? No; upon this man also the Satanic charm has +fallen; he must have the stone for himself. At the risk of +murder, he drugs the young priest and seizes the prey. And +now, by an accident which is not important to my moral, +the jewel passes out of his custody into that of another, +who, terrified at what he sees, gives it into the keeping of a +man in high station and above reproach.</p> + +<p>“The officer’s name is Thomas Vandeleur,” continued +Florizel. “The stone is called the Rajah’s Diamond. +And“—suddenly opening his hand—“you behold it here +before your eyes.”</p> + +<p>The officer started back with a cry.</p> + +<p>“We have spoken of corruption,” said the Prince. “To +me this nugget of bright crystal is as loathsome as though it +were crawling with the worms of death; it is as shocking as +though it were compacted out of innocent blood. I see it +here in my hand, and I know it is shining with hell-fire. I +have told you but a hundredth part of its story; what +passed in former ages, to what crimes and treacheries it +incited men of yore, the imagination trembles to conceive; +for years and years it has faithfully served the powers of +hell; enough, I say, of blood, enough of disgrace, enough of +broken lives and friendships; all things come to an end, +the evil like the good; pestilence as well as beautiful music; +and as for this diamond, God forgive me if I do wrong, but +its empire ends to-night.”</p> + +<p>The Prince made a sudden movement with his hand, +and the jewel, describing an arc of light, dived with a splash +into the flowing river.</p> + +<p>“Amen,” said Florizel, with gravity. “I have slain a +cockatrice!”</p> + +<p>“God pardon me!” cried the detective. “What have +you done? I am a ruined man.”</p> + +<p>“I think,” returned the Prince, with a smile, “that +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page166"></a>166</span> +many well-to-do people in this city might envy you your +ruin.”</p> + +<p>“Alas! your Highness!” said the officer, “and you +corrupt me after all?”</p> + +<p>“It seems there was no help for it,” replied Florizel.—“And +now let us go forward to the Prefecture.”</p> + +<div class="pt05"> </div> + +<p>Not long after, the marriage of Francis Scrymgeour and +Miss Vandeleur was celebrated in great privacy; and the +Prince acted on that occasion as groom’s man. The two +Vandeleurs surprised some rumour of what had happened +to the diamond; and their vast diving operations on the +River Seine are the wonder and amusement of the idle. It is +true that through some miscalculation they have chosen the +wrong branch of the river. As for the Prince, that sublime +person, having now served his turn, may go, along with the +<i>Arabian Author</i>, topsy-turvy into space. But if the reader +insists on more specific information, I am happy to say that +a recent revolution hurled him from the throne of Bohemia, +in consequence of his continued absence and edifying neglect +of public business; and that his Highness now keeps a cigar +store in Rupert Street, much frequented by other foreign +refugees. I go there from time to time to smoke and have a +chat, and find him as great a creature as in the days of his +prosperity; he has an Olympian air behind the counter; and +although a sedentary life is beginning to tell upon his waistcoat, +he is probably, take him for all in all, the handsomest +tobacconist in London.</p> + +<hr class="art" /> +<div class="pt2"> </div> + + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page167"></a>167</span></p> +<h3>THE PAVILION ON THE LINKS</h3> + +<h4>CHAPTER I</h4> + +<h5>TELLS HOW I CAMPED IN GRADEN SEA-WOOD, AND +BEHELD A LIGHT IN THE PAVILION</h5> + +<p class="noind"><span class="sc">I was</span> a great solitary when I was young. I made it my +pride to keep aloof and suffice for my own entertainment; +and I may say that I had neither friends nor acquaintances +until I met that friend who became my wife and the mother +of my children. With one man only was I on private terms: +this was R. Northmour, Esquire, of Graden-Easter, in Scotland. +We had met at college; and though there was not +much liking between us, nor even much intimacy, we were +so nearly of a humour that we could associate with ease to +both. Misanthropes we believed ourselves to be; but I have +thought since that we were only sulky fellows. It was scarcely +a companionship, but a co-existence in unsociability. +Northmour’s exceptional violence of temper made it no +easy affair for him to keep the peace with any one but me; +and as he respected my silent ways, and let me come and go +as I pleased, I could tolerate his presence without concern. +I think we called each other friends.</p> + +<p>When Northmour took his degree and I decided to leave +the University without one, he invited me on a long visit to +Graden-Easter; and it was thus that I first became acquainted +with the scene of my adventures. The mansion-house +of Graden stood in a bleak stretch of country some +three miles from the shore of the German Ocean. It was as +large as a barrack; and as it had been built of a soft stone, +liable to consume in the eager air of the seaside, it was damp +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page168"></a>168</span> +and draughty within and half-ruinous without. It was +impossible for two young men to lodge with comfort in such +a dwelling. But there stood in the northern part of the +estate, in a wilderness of links and blowing sand-hills, and +between a plantation and the sea, a small Pavilion or Belvidere, +of modern design, which was exactly suited to our +wants; and in this hermitage, speaking little, reading much, +and rarely associating except at meals, Northmour and I +spent four tempestuous winter months. I might have +stayed longer; but one March night there sprang up between +us a dispute, which rendered my departure necessary. +Northmour spoke hotly, I remember, and I suppose I must +have made some tart rejoinder. He leaped from his chair +and grappled me; I had to fight, without exaggeration, for +my life; and it was only with a great effort that I mastered +him, for he was near as strong in body as myself, and seemed +filled with the devil. The next morning we met on our usual +terms; but I judged it more delicate to withdraw; nor did +he attempt to dissuade me.</p> + +<p>It was nine years before I revisited the neighbourhood. +I travelled at that time with a tilt-cart, a tent, and a cooking-stove, +tramping all day beside the waggon, and at night, +whenever it was possible, gipsying in a cove of the hills, or +by the side of a wood. I believe I visited in this manner +most of the wild and desolate regions both in England and +Scotland; and, as I had neither friends nor relations, I was +troubled with no correspondence, and had nothing in the +nature of headquarters, unless it was the office of my solicitors, +from whom I drew my income twice a year. It was a +life in which I delighted; and I fully thought to have grown +old upon the march, and at last died in a ditch.</p> + +<p>It was my whole business to find desolate corners, +where I could camp without the fear of interruption; and +hence, being in another part of the same shire, I bethought +me suddenly of the Pavilion on the Links. No thoroughfare +passed within three miles of it. The nearest town, and that +was but a fisher village, was at a distance of six or seven. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page169"></a>169</span> +For ten miles of length, and from a depth varying from +three miles to half a mile, this belt of barren country lay +along the sea. The beach, which was the natural approach, +was full of quicksands. Indeed, I may say there is hardly a +better place of concealment in the United Kingdom. I +determined to pass a week in the Sea-Wood of Graden-Easter, +and making a long stage, reached it about sundown +on a wild September day.</p> + +<p>The country, I have said, was mixed sand-hill and links; +<i>links</i> being a Scottish name for sand which has ceased +drifting and become more or less solidly covered with turf. +The pavilion stood on an even space; a little behind it, the +wood began in a hedge of elders huddled together by the +wind; in front, a few tumbled sand-hills stood between it +and the sea. An outcropping of rock had formed a bastion +for the sand, so that there was here a promontory in the +coast-line between two shallow bays; and just beyond the +tides, the rock again cropped out and formed an islet of +small dimensions but strikingly designed. The quicksands +were of great extent at low water, and had an infamous reputation +in the country. Close inshore, between the islet +and the promontory, it was said they would swallow a man +in four minutes and a half; but there may have been little +ground for this precision. The district was alive with +rabbits, and haunted by gulls which made a continual piping +about the pavilion. On summer days the outlook was +bright, and even gladsome; but at sundown in September, +with a high wind, and a heavy surf rolling in close along the +links, the place told of nothing but dead mariners and sea +disaster. A ship beating to windward on the horizon, and +a huge truncheon of wreck half-buried in the sands at my +feet, completed the innuendo of the scene.</p> + +<p>The pavilion—it had been built by the last proprietor, +Northmour’s uncle, a silly and prodigal virtuoso—presented +little signs of age. It was two stories in height, +Italian in design, surrounded by a patch of garden in which +nothing had prospered but a few coarse flowers, and looked, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page170"></a>170</span> +with its shuttered windows, not like a house that had been +deserted, but like one that had never been tenanted by man. +Northmour was plainly from home; whether, as usual, +sulking in the cabin of his yacht, or in one of his fitful and +extravagant appearances in the world of society, I had, of +course, no means of guessing. The place had an air of +solitude that daunted even a solitary like myself; the wind +cried in the chimneys with a strange and wailing note; and +it was with a sense of escape, as if I were going indoors, that +I turned away and, driving my cart before me, entered the +skirts of the wood.</p> + +<p>The Sea-Wood of Graden had been planted to shelter the +cultivated fields behind, and check the encroachments of the +blowing sand. As you advanced into it from coastward, +elders were succeeded by other hardy shrubs; but the +timber was all stunted and bushy; it led a life of conflict; the +trees were accustomed to swing there all night long in fierce +winter tempests; and even in early spring the leaves were +already flying, and autumn was beginning, in this exposed +plantation. Inland the ground rose into a little hill, which, +along with the islet, served as a sailing mark for seamen. +When the hill was open of the islet to the north, vessels must +bear well to the eastward to clear Graden Ness and the +Graden Bullers. In the lower ground, a streamlet ran +among the trees, and, being dammed with dead leaves and +clay of its own carrying, spread out every here and there, +and lay in stagnant pools. One or two ruined cottages were +dotted about the wood; and, according to Northmour, +these were ecclesiastical foundations, and in their time had +sheltered pious hermits.</p> + +<p>I found a den, or small hollow, where there was a spring +of pure water; and there, clearing away the brambles, I +pitched the tent, and made a fire to cook my supper. My +horse I picketed farther in the wood where there was a patch +of sward. The banks of the den not only concealed the +light of my fire, but sheltered me from the wind, which was +cold as well as high.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page171"></a>171</span></p> + +<p>The life I was leading made me both hardy and frugal. +I never drank but water, and rarely ate anything more +costly than oatmeal; and I required so little sleep that, +although I rose with the peep of day, I would often lie long +awake in the dark or starry watches of the night. Thus in +Graden Sea-Wood, although I fell thankfully asleep by +eight in the evening, I was awake again before eleven with +a full possession of my faculties, and no sense of drowsiness +or fatigue. I rose and sat by the fire, watching the trees and +clouds tumultuously tossing and fleeing overhead, and +hearkening to the wind and the rollers along the shore; till +at length, growing weary of inaction, I quitted the den, and +strolled towards the borders of the wood. A young moon, +buried in mist, gave a faint illumination to my steps; and +the light grew brighter as I walked forth into the links. At +the same moment, the wind, smelling salt of the open ocean, +and carrying particles of sand, struck me with its full force, +so that I had to bow my head.</p> + +<p>When I raised it again to look about me, I was aware of a +light in the pavilion. It was not stationary; but passed +from one window to another as though some one were reviewing +the different apartments with a lamp or candle. I +watched it for some seconds in great surprise. When I had +arrived in the afternoon the house had been plainly deserted; +now it was as plainly occupied. It was my first idea that +a gang of thieves might have broken in and be now ransacking +Northmour’s cupboards, which were many and not ill +supplied. But what should bring thieves to Graden-Easter? +And, again, all the shutters had been thrown open, and it +would have been more in the character of such gentry to +close them. I dismissed the notion, and fell back upon +another: Northmour himself must have arrived, and was +now airing and inspecting the pavilion.</p> + +<p>I have said that there was no real affection between this +man and me; but, had I loved him like a brother, I was then +so much more in love with solitude that I should none the +less have shunned his company. As it was, I turned and ran +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page172"></a>172</span> +for it; and it was with genuine satisfaction that I found +myself safely back beside the fire. I had escaped an acquaintance: +I should have one more night in comfort. In +the morning I might either slip away before Northmour was +abroad, or pay him as short a visit as I chose.</p> + +<p>But when morning came I thought the situation so diverting +that I forgot my shyness. Northmour was at my mercy; +I arranged a good practical jest, though I knew well that my +neighbour was not the man to jest with in security; and, +chuckling beforehand over its success, took my place among +the elders at the edge of the wood, whence I could command +the door of the pavilion. The shutters were all +once more closed, which I remember thinking odd; and the +house, with its white walls and green venetians, looked +spruce and habitable in the morning light. Hour after hour +passed, and still no sign of Northmour. I knew him for a +sluggard in the morning; but, as it drew on towards noon, +I lost my patience. To say the truth, I had promised myself +to break my fast in the pavilion, and hunger began to prick +me sharply. It was a pity to let the opportunity go by +without some cause for mirth; but the grosser appetite prevailed, +and I relinquished my jest with regret, and sallied +from the wood.</p> + +<p>The appearance of the house affected me, as I drew near, +with disquietude. It seemed unchanged since last evening; +and I had expected it, I scarce knew why, to wear some +external signs of habitation. But no: the windows were +all closely shuttered, the chimneys breathed no smoke, and +the front door itself was closely padlocked. Northmour +therefore had entered by the back; this was the natural, +and indeed the necessary, conclusion; and you may judge +of my surprise when, on turning the house, I found the back-door +similarly secured.</p> + +<p>My mind at once reverted to the original theory of thieves; +and I blamed myself sharply for my last night’s inaction. +I examined all the windows on the lower story, but none of +them had been tampered with; I tried the padlocks, but +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page173"></a>173</span> +they were both secure. It thus became a problem how the +thieves, if thieves they were, had managed to enter the house. +They must have got, I reasoned, upon the roof of the outhouse +where Northmour used to keep his photographic +battery; and from thence, either by the window of the study +or that of my old bedroom, completed their burglarious +entry.</p> + +<p>I followed what I supposed was their example; and, +getting on the roof, tried the shutters of each room. Both +were secure; but I was not to be beaten; and, with a little +force, one of them flew open, grazing, as it did so, the back of +my hand. I remember I put the wound to my mouth and +stood for perhaps half a minute licking it like a dog, and +mechanically gazing behind me over the waste links and the +sea; and in that space of time my eye made note of a large +schooner yacht some miles to the north-east. Then I threw +up the window and climbed in.</p> + +<p>I went over the house, and nothing can express my +mystification. There was no sign of disorder, but, on the +contrary, the rooms were unusually clean and pleasant. I +found fires laid ready for lighting; three bedrooms prepared +with a luxury quite foreign to Northmour’s habits, and with +water in the ewers and the beds turned down; a table set +for three in the dining-room; and an ample supply of cold +meats, game, and vegetables on the pantry shelves. There +were guests expected, that was plain; but why guests when +Northmour hated society? And, above all, why was the +house thus stealthily prepared at dead of night? and why +were the shutters closed and the doors padlocked?</p> + +<p>I effaced all traces of my visit, and came forth from the +window feeling sobered and concerned.</p> + +<p>The schooner yacht was still in the same place; and it +flashed for a moment through my mind that this might be +the <i>Red Earl</i> bringing the owner of the pavilion and his +guests. But the vessel’s head was set the other way.</p> + +<hr class="short" /> +<div class="pt2"> </div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page174"></a>174</span></p> +<h4>CHAPTER II</h4> + +<h5>TELLS OF THE NOCTURNAL LANDING FROM THE +YACHT</h5> + +<p class="noind"><span class="sc">I returned</span> to the den to cook myself a meal, of which I +stood in great need, as well as to care for my horse, which I +had somewhat neglected in the morning. From time to time +I went down to the edge of the wood; but there was no +change in the pavilion, and not a human creature was seen +all day upon the links. The schooner in the offing was the +one touch of life within my range of vision. She, apparently +with no set object, stood off and on or lay to, hour after +hour; but as the evening deepened she drew steadily nearer. +I became more convinced that she carried Northmour and +his friends, and that they would probably come ashore after +dark; not only because that was of a piece with the secrecy +of the preparations, but because the tide would not have +flowed sufficiently before eleven to cover Graden Floe and +the other sea quags that fortified the shore against invaders.</p> + +<p>All day the wind had been going down, and the sea along +with it; but there was a return towards sunset of the heavy +weather of the day before. The night set in pitch dark. +The wind came off the sea in squalls, like the firing of a +battery of cannon; now and then there was a flaw of rain +and the surf rolled heavier with the rising tide. I was +down at my observatory among the elders, when a light +was run up to the mast-head of the schooner, and showed +she was closer in than when I had last seen her by the dying +daylight. I concluded that this must be a signal to Northmour’s +associates on shore; and, stepping forth into the +links, looked around me for something in response.</p> + +<p>A small footpath ran along the margin of the wood, +and formed the most direct communication between the +pavilion and the mansion-house; and as I cast my eyes to +that side I saw a spark of light, not a quarter of a mile away, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page175"></a>175</span> +and rapidly approaching. From its uneven course it appeared +to be the light of a lantern carried by a person who +followed the windings of the path, and was often staggered +and taken aback by the more violent squalls. I concealed +myself once more among the elders, and waited eagerly for +the new-comer’s advance. It proved to be a woman; and +as she passed within half a rod of my ambush I was able to +recognise the features. The deaf and silent old dame who +had nursed Northmour in his childhood was his associate in +this underhand affair.</p> + +<p>I followed her at a little distance, taking advantage of +the innumerable heights and hollows, concealed by the darkness, +and favoured not only by the nurse’s deafness, but by +the uproar of the wind and surf. She entered the pavilion, +and, going at once to the upper story, opened and set a light +in one of the windows that looked towards the sea. Immediately +afterwards the light at the schooner’s mast-head +was run down and extinguished. Its purpose had been +attained, and those on board were sure that they were expected. +The old woman resumed her preparations; although +the other shutters remained closed, I could see a glimmer +going to and fro about the house; and a gush of sparks from +one chimney after another soon told me that the fires were +being kindled.</p> + +<p>Northmour and his guests, I was now persuaded, would +come ashore as soon as there was water on the floe. It was +a wild night for boat service; and I felt some alarm mingle +with my curiosity as I reflected on the danger of the landing. +My old acquaintance, it was true, was the most eccentric of +men; but the present eccentricity was both disquieting and +lugubrious to consider. A variety of feelings thus led me +towards the beach, where I lay flat on my face in a hollow +within six feet of the track that led to the pavilion. Thence, +I should have the satisfaction of recognising the arrivals, and, +if they should prove to be acquaintances, greeting them as +soon as they had landed.</p> + +<p>Some time before eleven, while the tide was still dangerously +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page176"></a>176</span> +low, a boat’s lantern appeared close inshore; and, my +attention being thus awakened, I could perceive another +still far to seaward, violently tossed, and sometimes hidden +by the billows. The weather, which was getting dirtier as +the night went on, and the perilous situation of the yacht +upon a lee-shore, had probably driven them to attempt a +landing at the earliest possible moment.</p> + +<p>A little afterwards, four yachtsmen carrying a very +heavy chest, and guided by a fifth with a lantern, passed +close in front of me as I lay, and were admitted to the +pavilion by the nurse. They returned to the beach, and +passed me a second time with another chest, larger but apparently +not so heavy as the first. A third time they made +the transit; and on this occasion one of the yachtsmen +carried a leather portmanteau, and the others a lady’s +trunk and carriage bag. My curiosity was sharply excited. +If a woman were among the guests of Northmour, it would +show a change in his habits and an apostasy from his pet +theories of life, well calculated to fill me with surprise. When +he and I dwelt there together, the pavilion had been a temple +of misogyny. And now, one of the detested sex was to be +installed under its roof. I remembered one or two particulars, +a few notes of daintiness and almost of coquetry which +had struck me the day before as I surveyed the preparations +in the house; their purpose was now clear, and I thought +myself dull not to have perceived it from the first.</p> + +<p>While I was thus reflecting, a second lantern drew near +me from the beach. It was carried by a yachtsman whom +I had not yet seen, and who was conducting two other +persons to the pavilion. These two persons were unquestionably +the guests for whom the house was made ready; +and, straining eye and ear, I set myself to watch them as they +passed. One was an unusually tall man, in a travelling hat +slouched over his eyes, and a highland cape closely buttoned +and turned up so as to conceal his face. You could make out +no more of him than that he was, as I have said, unusually +tall, and walked feebly with a heavy stoop. By his side, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page177"></a>177</span> +and either clinging to him or giving him support—I could +not make out which—was a young, tall, and slender figure +of a woman. She was extremely pale; but in the light of +the lantern her face was so marred by strong and changing +shadows that she might equally well have been as ugly as +sin or as beautiful as I afterwards found her to be.</p> + +<p>When they were just abreast of me, the girl made some +remark which was drowned by the noise of the wind.</p> + +<p>“Hush!” said her companion; and there was something +in the tone with which the word was uttered that +thrilled and rather shook my spirits. It seemed to breathe +from a bosom labouring under the deadliest terror; I have +never heard another syllable so expressive; and I still hear +it again when I am feverish at night, and my mind runs upon +old times. The man turned towards the girl as he spoke; I +had a glimpse of much red beard and a nose which seemed +to have been broken in youth; and his light eyes seemed +shining in his face with some strong and unpleasant +emotion.</p> + +<p>But these two passed on and were admitted in their turn +to the pavilion.</p> + +<p>One by one, or in groups, the seamen returned to the +beach. The wind brought me the sound of a rough voice +crying, “Shove off!” Then, after a pause, another lantern +drew near. It was Northmour alone.</p> + +<p>My wife and I, a man and a woman, have often agreed +to wonder how a person could be, at the same time, so handsome +and so repulsive as Northmour. He had the appearance +of a finished gentleman; his face bore every mark of +intelligence and courage; but you had only to look at him, +even in the most amiable moment, to see that he had the +temper of a slaver captain. I never knew a character that +was both explosive and revengeful to the same degree; he +combined the vivacity of the South with the sustained and +deadly hatreds of the North; and both traits were plainly +written on his face, which was a sort of danger-signal. +In person he was tall, strong, and active; his hair and complexion +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page178"></a>178</span> +very dark; his features handsomely designed, but +spoiled by a menacing expression.</p> + +<p>At that moment he was somewhat paler than by nature; +he wore a heavy frown; and his lips worked, and he looked +sharply round him as he walked, like a man besieged with +apprehensions. And yet I thought he had a look of triumph +underlying all, as though he had already done much, and +was near the end of an achievement.</p> + +<p>Partly from a scruple of delicacy—which I daresay came +too late—partly from the pleasure of startling an acquaintance, +I desired to make my presence known to him without +delay.</p> + +<p>I got suddenly to my feet, and stepped forward.</p> + +<p>“Northmour!” said I.</p> + +<p>I have never had so shocking a surprise in all my days. +He leaped on me without a word; something shone in his +hand; and he struck for my heart with a dagger. At the +same moment I knocked him head over heels. Whether it +was my quickness, or his own uncertainty, I know not; but +the blade only grazed my shoulder, while the hilt and his +fist struck me violently on the mouth.</p> + +<p>I fled, but not far. I had often and often observed the +capabilities of the sand-hills for protracted ambush or +stealthy advances and retreats; and, not ten yards from the +scene of the scuffle, plumped down again upon the grass. The +lantern had fallen and gone out. But what was my astonishment +to see Northmour slip at a bound into the pavilion, +and hear him bar the door behind him with a clang of iron!</p> + +<p>He had not pursued me. He had run away. Northmour, +whom I knew for the most implacable and daring of +men, had run away! I could scarcely believe my reason; +and yet in this strange business, where all was incredible, +there was nothing to make a work about in an incredibility +more or less. For why was the pavilion secretly +prepared? Why had Northmour landed with his guests +at dead of night, in half a gale of wind, and with the floe +scarce covered? Why had he sought to kill me? Had he +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page179"></a>179</span> +not recognised my voice? I wondered. And, above all, +how had he come to have a dagger ready in his hand? A +dagger, or even a sharp knife, seemed out of keeping with +the age in which we lived; and a gentleman landing from +his yacht on the shore of his own estate, even although it +was at night and with some mysterious circumstances, does +not usually, as a matter of fact, walk thus prepared for +deadly onslaught. The more I reflected, the further I felt +at sea. I recapitulated the elements of mystery, counting +them on my fingers: the pavilion secretly prepared for +guests; the guests landed at the risk of their lives and to +the imminent peril of the yacht; the guests, or at least one +of them, in undisguised and seemingly causeless terror; +Northmour with a naked weapon; Northmour stabbing his +most intimate acquaintance at a word; last, and not least +strange, Northmour fleeing from the man whom he had +sought to murder, and barricading himself, like a hunted +creature, behind the door of the pavilion. Here were at +least six separate causes for extreme surprise; each part +and parcel with the others, and forming all together one consistent +story. I felt almost ashamed to believe my own senses.</p> + +<p>As I thus stood, transfixed with wonder, I began to grow +painfully conscious of the injuries I had received in the +scuffle; skulked round among the sand-hills; and, by a +devious path, regained the shelter of the wood. On the +way, the old nurse passed again within several yards of me, +still carrying her lantern, on the return journey to the +mansion-house of Graden. This made a seventh suspicious +feature in the case. Northmour and his guests, it appeared, +were to cook and do the cleaning for themselves, while the +old woman continued to inhabit the big empty barrack +among the policies. There must surely be great cause for +secrecy when so many inconveniences were confronted to +preserve it.</p> + +<p>So thinking, I made my way to the den. For greater +security I trod out the embers of the fire, and lit my lantern +to examine the wound upon my shoulder. It was a trifling +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page180"></a>180</span> +hurt, although it bled somewhat freely, and I dressed it as +well as I could (for its position made it difficult to reach) +with some rag and cold water from the spring. While I +was thus busied I mentally declared war against Northmour +and his mystery. I am not an angry man by nature, +and I believe there was more curiosity than resentment in +my heart. But war I certainly declared; and, by way of +preparation, I got out my revolver, and, having drawn the +charges, cleaned and reloaded it with scrupulous care. +Next I became preoccupied about my horse. It might +break loose, or fall to neighing, and so betray my camp in +the Sea-Wood. I determined to rid myself of its neighbourhood; +and long before dawn I was leading it over the links +in the direction of the fisher village.</p> + +<hr class="short" /> +<div class="pt2"> </div> + + +<h4>CHAPTER III</h4> + +<h5>TELLS HOW I BECAME ACQUAINTED WITH MY WIFE</h5> + + +<p class="noind"><span class="sc">For</span> two days I skulked round the pavilion, profiting by the +uneven surface of the links. I became an adept in the +necessary tactics. These low hillocks and shallow dells, +running one into another, became a kind of cloak of darkness +for my enthralling, but perhaps dishonourable, pursuit. +Yet, in spite of this advantage, I could learn but little of +Northmour or his guests.</p> + +<p>Fresh provisions were brought under cover of darkness +by the old woman from the mansion-house. Northmour +and the young lady, sometimes together, but more often +singly, would walk for an hour or two at a time on the beach +beside the quicksand. I could not but conclude that this +promenade was chosen with an eye to secrecy; for the spot +was open only to the seaward. But it suited me not less +excellently; the highest and most accidented of the sand-hills +immediately adjoined; and from these, lying flat in a +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page181"></a>181</span> +hollow, I could overlook Northmour or the young lady as +they walked.</p> + +<p>The tall man seemed to have disappeared. Not only +did he never cross the threshold, but he never so much as +showed face at a window; or, at least, not so far as I could +see; for I dared not creep forward beyond a certain distance +in the day, since the upper floor commanded the bottoms +of the links; and at night, when I could venture farther, the +lower windows were barricaded as if to stand a siege. +Sometimes I thought the tall man must be confined to bed, +for I remembered the feebleness of his gait; and sometimes +I thought he must have gone clear away, and that Northmour +and the young lady remained alone together in the +pavilion. The idea, even then, displeased me.</p> + +<p>Whether or not this pair were man and wife, I had seen +abundant reason to doubt the friendliness of their relation. +Although I could hear nothing of what they said, and rarely +so much as glean a decided expression on the face of either, +there was a distance, almost a stiffness, in their bearing +which showed them to be either unfamiliar or at enmity. +The girl walked faster when she was with Northmour than +when she was alone; and I conceived that any inclination +between a man and a woman would rather delay than accelerate +the step. Moreover, she kept a good yard free of +him, and trailed her umbrella, as if it were a barrier, on the +side between them. Northmour kept sidling closer; and, +as the girl retired from his advance, their course lay at a +sort of diagonal across the beach, and would have landed +them in the surf had it been long enough continued. But +when this was imminent, the girl would unostentatiously +change sides and put Northmour between her and the sea. +I watched these manœuvres, for my part, with high enjoyment +and approval, and chuckled to myself at every move.</p> + +<p>On the morning of the third day she walked alone for +some time, and I perceived, to my great concern, that she +was more than once in tears. You will see that my heart +was already interested more than I supposed. She had a +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page182"></a>182</span> +firm yet airy motion of the body, and carried her head with +unimaginable grace; every step was a thing to look at, and +she seemed in my eyes to breathe sweetness and distinction.</p> + +<p>The day was so agreeable, being calm and sunshiny, +with a tranquil sea, and yet with a healthful piquancy and +vigour in the air, that, contrary to custom, she was tempted +forth a second time to walk. On this occasion she was +accompanied by Northmour, and they had been but a short +while on the beach, when I saw him take forcible possession +of her hand. She struggled, and uttered a cry that was +almost a scream. I sprang to my feet, unmindful of my +strange position; but, ere I had taken a step, I saw Northmour +bareheaded and bowing very low, as if to apologise; +and dropped again at once into my ambush. A few words +were interchanged; and then, with another bow, he left the +beach to return to the pavilion. He passed not far from +me, and I could see him, flushed and lowering, and cutting +savagely with his cane among the grass. It was not without +satisfaction that I recognised my own handiwork in a +great cut under his right eye, and a considerable discoloration +round the socket.</p> + +<p>For some time the girl remained where he had left her, +looking out past the islet and over the bright sea. Then +with a start, as one who throws off preoccupation and puts +energy again upon its mettle, she broke into a rapid and +decisive walk. She also was much incensed by what had +passed. She had forgotten where she was. And I beheld +her walk straight into the borders of the quicksand where it +is more abrupt and dangerous. Two or three steps farther +and her life would have been in serious jeopardy, when I +slid down the face of the sand-hill, which is there precipitous, +and, running half-way forward, called to her to stop.</p> + +<p>She did so, and turned round. There was not a tremor +of fear in her behaviour, and she marched directly up to me +like a queen. I was barefoot, and clad like a common sailor, +save for an Egyptian scarf round my waist; and she probably +took me at first for some one from the fisher village, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page183"></a>183</span> +straying after bait. As for her, when I thus saw her face to +face, her eyes set steadily and imperiously upon mine, I was +filled with admiration and astonishment, and thought her +even more beautiful than I had looked to find her. Nor +could I think enough of one who, acting with so much boldness, +yet preserved a maidenly air that was both quaint and +engaging; for my wife kept an old-fashioned precision of +manner through all her admirable life—an excellent thing +in woman, since it sets another value on her sweet familiarities.</p> + +<p>“What does this mean?” she asked.</p> + +<p>“You were walking,” I told her, “directly into Graden +Floe.”</p> + +<p>“You do not belong to these parts,” she said again. +“You speak like an educated man.”</p> + +<p>“I believe I have right to that name,” said I, “although +in this disguise.”</p> + +<p>But her woman’s eye had already detected the sash.</p> + +<p>“Oh!” she said; “your sash betrays you.”</p> + +<p>“You have said the word <i>betray</i>,” I resumed. “May +I ask you not to betray me? I was obliged to disclose +myself in your interest; but if Northmour learned my +presence it might be worse than disagreeable for me.”</p> + +<p>“Do you know,” she asked, “to whom you are speaking?”</p> + +<p>“Not to Mr. Northmour’s wife?” I asked, by way of +answer.</p> + +<p>She shook her head. All this while she was studying my +face with an embarrassing intentness. Then she broke out—</p> + +<p>“You have an honest face. Be honest like your face, +sir, and tell me what you want and what you are afraid of. +Do you think I could hurt you? I believe you have far +more power to injure me! And yet you do not look unkind. +What do you mean—you, a gentleman—by skulking like +a spy about this desolate place? Tell me,” she said, “who +is it you hate?”</p> + +<p>“I hate no one,” I answered; “and I fear no one face +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page184"></a>184</span> +to face. My name is Cassilis—Frank Cassilis. I lead the +life of a vagabond for my own good pleasure. I am one of +Northmour’s oldest friends; and three nights ago, when I +addressed him on these links, he stabbed me in the shoulder +with a knife.”</p> + +<p>“It was you!” she said.</p> + +<p>“Why he did so,” I continued, disregarding the interruption, +“is more than I can guess, and more than I care to +know. I have not many friends, nor am I very susceptible +to friendship; but no man shall drive me from a place by +terror. I had camped in Graden Sea-Wood ere he came; I +camp in it still. If you think I mean harm to you or yours, +madam, the remedy is in your hand. Tell him that my +camp is in the Hemlock Den, and to-night he can stab me in +safety while I sleep.”</p> + +<p>With this I doffed my cap to her, and scrambled up once +more among the sand-hills. I do not know why, but I felt +a prodigious sense of injustice, and felt like a hero and a +martyr; while, as a matter of fact, I had not a word to say +in my defence, nor so much as one plausible reason to offer +for my conduct. I had stayed at Graden out of a curiosity +natural enough, but undignified; and though there was +another motive growing in along with the first, it was not one +which, at that period, I could have properly explained to the +lady of my heart.</p> + +<p>Certainly, that night, I thought of no one else; and, +though her whole conduct and position seemed suspicious, +I could not find it in my heart to entertain a doubt of her +integrity. I could have staked my life that she was clear +of blame, and, though all was dark at the present, that the +explanation of the mystery would show her part in these +events to be both right and needful. It was true, let me +cudgel my imagination as I pleased, that I could invent no +theory of her relations to Northmour; but I felt none the +less sure of my conclusion because it was founded on instinct +in place of reason, and, as I may say, went to sleep that +night with the thought of her under my pillow.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page185"></a>185</span></p> + +<p>Next day she came out about the same hour alone, and, +as soon as the sand-hills concealed her from the pavilion, +drew nearer to the edge, and called me by name in guarded +tones. I was astonished to observe that she was deadly +pale, and seemingly under the influence of strong emotion.</p> + +<p>“Mr. Cassilis!” she cried; “Mr. Cassilis!”</p> + +<p>I appeared at once, and leaped down upon the beach. +A remarkable air of relief overspread her countenance as +soon as she saw me.</p> + +<p>“Oh!” she cried, with a hoarse sound, like one whose +bosom has been lightened of a weight. And then, “Thank +God you are still safe!” she added; “I knew, if you were, +you would be here.” (Was not this strange? So swiftly +and wisely does Nature prepare our hearts for these great +life-long intimacies, that both my wife and I had been given +a presentiment on this the second day of our acquaintance. +I had even then hoped that she would seek me; she had felt +sure that she would find me.) “Do not,” she went on +swiftly, “do not stay in this place. Promise me that you +will sleep no longer in that wood. You do not know how +I suffer; all last night I could not sleep for thinking of your +peril.”</p> + +<p>“Peril?” I repeated. “Peril from whom? From +Northmour?”</p> + +<p>“Not so,” she said. “Did you think I would tell him +after what you said?”</p> + +<p>“Not from Northmour?” I repeated. “Then how? +From whom? I see none to be afraid of.”</p> + +<p>“You must not ask me,” was her reply, “for I am not +free to tell you. Only believe me, and go hence—believe +me, and go away quickly, quickly, for your life!”</p> + +<p>An appeal to his alarm is never a good plan to rid oneself +of a spirited young man. My obstinacy was but increased +by what she said, and I made it a point of honour to remain. +And her solicitude for my safety still more confirmed me in +the resolve.</p> + +<p>“You must not think me inquisitive, madam,” I replied; +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page186"></a>186</span> +“but, if Graden is so dangerous a place, you yourself +perhaps remain here at some risk.”</p> + +<p>She only looked at me reproachfully.</p> + +<p>“You and your father——” I resumed; but she interrupted +me almost with a gasp.</p> + +<p>“My father! How do you know that?” she cried.</p> + +<p>“I saw you together when you landed,” was my answer; +and I do not know why, but it seemed satisfactory to both +of us, as indeed it was the truth. “But,” I continued, +“you need have no fear from me. I see you have some +reason to be secret, and, you may believe me, your secret is +as safe with me as if I were in Graden Floe. I have scarce +spoken to any one for years; my horse is my only companion, +and even he, poor beast, is not beside me. You see, +then, you may count on me for silence. So tell me the +truth, my dear young lady, are you not in danger?”</p> + +<p>“Mr. Northmour says you are an honourable man,” she +returned, “and I believe it when I see you. I will tell you +so much; you are right; we are in dreadful, dreadful +danger, and you share it by remaining where you are.”</p> + +<p>“Ah!” said I; “you have heard of me from Northmour? +And he gives me a good character?”</p> + +<p>“I asked him about you last night,” was her reply. “I +pretended,” she hesitated, “I pretended to have met you +long ago, and spoken to you of him. It was not true; but +I could not help myself without betraying you, and you +had put me in a difficulty. He praised you highly.”</p> + +<p>“And—you may permit me one question—does this +danger come from Northmour?” I asked.</p> + +<p>“From Mr. Northmour?” she cried. “Oh, no; he +stays with us to share it.”</p> + +<p>“While you propose that I should run away?” I said. +“You do not rate me very high.”</p> + +<p>“Why should you stay?” she asked. “You are no +friend of ours.”</p> + +<p>I know not what came over me, for I had not been conscious +of a similar weakness since I was a child, but I was so +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page187"></a>187</span> +mortified by this retort that my eyes pricked and filled with +tears, as I continued to gaze upon her face.</p> + +<p>“No, no,” she said, in a changed voice; “I did not +mean the words unkindly.”</p> + +<p>“It was I who offended,” I said; and I held out my +hand with a look of appeal that somehow touched her, for +she gave me hers at once, and even eagerly. I held it for a +while in mine, and gazed into her eyes. It was she who first +tore her hand away, and, forgetting all about her request +and the promise she had sought to extort, ran at the top of +her speed, and without turning, till she was out of sight. +And then I knew that I loved her, and thought in my +glad heart that she—she herself—was not indifferent to +my suit. Many a time she has denied it in after days, +but it was with a smiling and not a serious denial. For my +part, I am sure our hands would not have lain so closely in +each other if she had not begun to melt to me already. And, +when all is said, it is no great contention, since, by her own +avowal, she began to love me on the morrow.</p> + +<p>And yet on the morrow very little took place. She +came and called me down as on the day before, upbraided +me for lingering at Graden, and, when she found I was still +obdurate, began to ask me more particularly as to my +arrival. I told her by what series of accidents I had come +to witness their disembarkation, and how I had determined +to remain, partly from the interest which had been wakened +in me by Northmour’s guests, and partly because of his own +murderous attack. As to the former, I fear I was disingenuous, +and led her to regard herself as having been an +attraction to me from the first moment that I saw her on the +links. It relieves my heart to make this confession even +now, when my wife is with God, and already knows all +things, and the honesty of my purpose even in this; for +while she lived, although it often pricked my conscience, I +had never the hardihood to undeceive her. Even a little +secret, in such a married life as ours, is like the rose-leaf +which kept the Princess from her sleep.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page188"></a>188</span></p> + +<p>From this the talk branched into other subjects, and +I told her much about my lonely and wandering existence; +she, for her part, giving ear and saying little. Although we +spoke very naturally, and latterly on topics that might +seem indifferent, we were both sweetly agitated. Too soon +it was time for her to go; and we separated, as if by mutual +consent, without shaking hands, for both knew that, between +us, it was no idle ceremony.</p> + +<p>The next, and that was the fourth day of our acquaintance, +we met in the same spot, but early in the morning, +with much familiarity and yet much timidity on either side. +When she had once more spoken about my danger—and +that, I understood, was her excuse for coming—I, who had +prepared a great deal of talk during the night, began to tell +her how highly I valued her kind interest, and how no one +had ever cared to hear about my life, nor had I ever cared +to relate it, before yesterday. Suddenly she interrupted +me, saying with vehemence—</p> + +<p>“And yet, if you knew who I was, you would not so +much as speak to me!”</p> + +<p>I told her such a thought was madness, and, little as we +had met, I counted her already a dear friend; but my +protestations seemed only to make her more desperate.</p> + +<p>“My father is in hiding!” she cried.</p> + +<p>“My dear,” I said, forgetting for the first time to add +“young lady,” “what do I care? If he were in hiding +twenty times over, would it make one thought of change +in you?”</p> + +<p>“Ah, but the cause!” she cried, “the cause! It is——“ +she faltered for a second—“it is disgraceful to us.”</p> + +<hr class="short" /> +<div class="pt2"> </div> + + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page189"></a>189</span></p> +<h4>CHAPTER IV</h4> + +<h5>TELLS IN WHAT A STARTLING MANNER I LEARNED +THAT I WAS NOT ALONE IN GRADEN SEA-WOOD</h5> + +<p class="noind"><span class="sc">This</span> was my wife’s story, as I drew it from her among +tears and sobs. Her name was Clara Huddlestone: it +sounded very beautiful in my ears; but not so beautiful as +that other name of Clara Cassilis, which she wore during the +longer, and I thank God the happier, portion of her life. +Her father, Bernard Huddlestone, had been a private banker +in a very large way of business. Many years before, his +affairs becoming disordered, he had been led to try dangerous, +and at last criminal, expedients to retrieve himself from +ruin. All was in vain; he became more and more cruelly +involved, and found his honour lost at the same moment +with his fortune. About this period Northmour had been +courting his daughter with great assiduity, though with +small encouragement; and to him, knowing him thus disposed +in his favour, Bernard Huddlestone turned for help +in his extremity. It was not merely ruin and dishonour, +nor merely a legal condemnation, that the unhappy man had +brought upon his head. It seems he could have gone to +prison with a light heart. What he feared, what kept him +awake at night or recalled him from slumber into frenzy, +was some secret, sudden, and unlawful attempt upon his life. +Hence he desired to bury his existence and escape to one +of the islands in the South Pacific, and it was in Northmour’s +yacht, the <i>Red Earl</i>, that he designed to go. The yacht +picked them up clandestinely upon the coast of Wales, and +had once more deposited them at Graden, till she could be +refitted and provisioned for the longer voyage. Nor could +Clara doubt that her hand had been stipulated as the price +of passage. For, although Northmour was neither unkind +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page190"></a>190</span> +nor even discourteous, he had shown himself in several instances +somewhat over-bold in speech and manner.</p> + +<p>I listened, I need not say, with fixed attention, and put +many questions as to the more mysterious part. It was in +vain. She had no clear idea of what the blow was, nor of +how it was expected to fall. Her father’s alarm was unfeigned +and physically prostrating, and he had thought more +than once of making an unconditional surrender to the +police. But the scheme was finally abandoned, for he was +convinced that not even the strength of our English prisons +could shelter him from his pursuers. He had had many +affairs with Italy, and with Italians resident in London, in +the later years of his business, and these last, as Clara +fancied, were somehow connected with the doom that +threatened him. He had shown great terror at the presence +of an Italian seaman on board the <i>Red Earl</i>, and had bitterly +and repeatedly accused Northmour in consequence. The +latter had protested that Beppo (that was the seaman’s +name) was a capital fellow, and could be trusted to the +death; but Mr. Huddlestone had continued ever since to +declare that all was lost, that it was only a question of days, +and that Beppo would be the ruin of him yet.</p> + +<p>I regarded the whole story as the hallucination of a mind +shaken by calamity. He had suffered heavy loss by his +Italian transactions; and hence the sight of an Italian was +hateful to him, and the principal part in his nightmare +would naturally enough be played by one of that nation.</p> + +<p>“What your father wants,” I said, “is a good doctor +and some calming medicine.”</p> + +<p>“But Mr. Northmour?” objected your mother. “He +is untroubled by losses, and yet he shares in this terror.”</p> + +<p>I could not help laughing at what I considered her +simplicity.</p> + +<p>“My dear,” said I, “you have told me yourself what +reward he has to look for. All is fair in love, you must +remember; and if Northmour foments your father’s terrors, +it is not at all because he is afraid of any Italian man, but +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page191"></a>191</span> +simply because he is infatuated with a charming English +woman.”</p> + +<p>She reminded me of his attack upon myself on the night +of the disembarkation, and this I was unable to explain. +In short, and from one thing to another, it was agreed between +us that I should set out at once for the fisher village, +Graden-Wester, as it is called, look up all the newspapers I +could find, and see for myself if there seemed any basis of +fact for these continued alarms. The next morning, at the +same hour and place, I was to make my report to Clara. +She said no more on that occasion about my departure; nor, +indeed, did she make it a secret that she clung to the thought +of my proximity as something helpful and pleasant; and, +for my part, I could not have left her, if she had gone upon +her knees to ask it.</p> + +<p>I reached Graden-Wester before ten in the forenoon; +for in those days I was an excellent pedestrian, and the distance, +as I think I have said, was little over seven miles; +fine walking all the way upon the springy turf. The village +is one of the bleakest on that coast, which is saying much: +there is a church in a hollow; a miserable haven in the rocks, +where many boats have been lost as they returned from fishing; +two or three score of stone houses arranged along the +beach and in two streets, one leading from the harbour, and +another striking out from it at right angles; and, at the +corner of these two, a very dark and cheerless tavern, by +way of principal hotel.</p> + +<p>I had dressed myself somewhat more suitably to my +station in life, and at once called upon the minister in his +little manse beside the graveyard. He knew me, although +it was more than nine years since we had met; and when I +told him that I had been long upon a walking tour, and was +behind with the news, readily lent me an armful of newspapers, +dating from a month back to the day before. With +these I sought the tavern, and, ordering some breakfast, sat +down to study the “Huddlestone Failure.”</p> + +<p>It had been, it appeared, a very flagrant case. Thousands +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page192"></a>192</span> +of persons were reduced to poverty; and one in particular +had blown out his brains as soon as payment was suspended. +It was strange to myself that, while I read these +details, I continued rather to sympathise with Mr. Huddlestone +than with his victims; so complete already was the +empire of my love for my wife. A price was naturally set +upon the banker’s head; and, as the case was inexcusable +and the public indignation thoroughly aroused, the unusual +figure of £750 was offered for his capture. He was reported +to have large sums of money in his possession. One day he +had been heard of in Spain; the next, there was sure intelligence +that he was still lurking between Manchester and Liverpool, +or along the border of Wales; and the day after, a +telegram would announce his arrival in Cuba or Yucatan. +But in all this there was no word of an Italian, nor any sign +of mystery.</p> + +<p>In the very last paper, however, there was one item not +so clear. The accountants who were charged to verify the +failure had, it seemed, come upon the traces of a very large +number of thousands, which figured for some time in the +transactions of the house of Huddlestone; but which came +from nowhere, and disappeared in the same mysterious +fashion. It was only once referred to by name, and then +under the initials “X.X.”; but it had plainly been floated +for the first time into the business at a period of great depression +some six years ago. The name of a distinguished +Royal personage had been mentioned by rumour in +connection with this sum. “The cowardly desperado“—such, +I remember, was the editorial expression—was supposed +to have escaped with a large part of this mysterious +fund still in his possession.</p> + +<p>I was still brooding over the fact, and trying to torture +it into some connection with Mr. Huddlestone’s danger, +when a man entered the tavern and asked for some bread +and cheese with a decided foreign accent.</p> + +<p>“<i>Siete Italiano?</i>” said I.</p> + +<p>“<i>Si, signor</i>,” was his reply.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page193"></a>193</span></p> + +<p>I said it was unusually far north to find one of his compatriots; +at which he shrugged his shoulders, and replied +that a man would go anywhere to find work. What work +he could hope to find at Graden-Wester, I was totally unable +to conceive; and the incident struck so unpleasantly upon +my mind that I asked the landlord, while he was counting +me some change, whether he had ever before seen an Italian +in the village. He said he had once seen some Norwegians, +who had been shipwrecked on the other side of Graden Ness +and rescued by the lifeboat from Cauldhaven.</p> + +<p>“No!” said I; “but an Italian, like the man who had +just had bread and cheese.”</p> + +<p>“What?” cried he, “yon black-avised fellow wi’ the +teeth? Was he an I-talian? Weel, yon’s the first that +ever I saw, an’ I daresay he’s like to be the last.”</p> + +<p>Even as he was speaking, I raised my eyes, and, casting a +glance into the street, beheld three men in earnest conversation +together, and not thirty yards away. One of them was +my recent companion in the tavern parlour; the other two, by +their handsome, sallow features and soft hats, should evidently +belong to the same race. A crowd of village children +stood around them, gesticulating and talking gibberish in +imitation. The trio looked singularly foreign to the bleak +dirty street in which they were standing, and the dark grey +heaven that overspread them; and I confess my incredulity +received at that moment a shock from which it never recovered. +I might reason with myself as I pleased, but I +could not argue down the effect of what I had seen, and I +began to share in the Italian terror.</p> + +<p>It was already drawing towards the close of the day +before I had returned, the newspapers at the manse, and got +well forward on to the links on my way home. I shall +never forget that walk. It grew very cold and boisterous; +the wind sang in the short grass about my feet; thin rain +showers came running on the gusts; and an immense mountain +range of clouds began to arise out of the bosom of the +sea. It would be hard to imagine a more dismal evening; +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page194"></a>194</span> +and whether it was from these external influences, or because +my nerves were already affected by what I had heard and +seen, my thoughts were as gloomy as the weather.</p> + +<p>The upper windows of the pavilion commanded a considerable +spread of links in the direction of Graden-Wester. +To avoid observation, it was necessary to hug the beach +until I had gained cover from the higher sand-hills on the +little headland, when I might strike across, through the +hollows, for the margin of the wood. The sun was about +setting; the tide was low, and all the quicksands uncovered; +and I was moving along, lost in unpleasant thought, when I +was suddenly thunderstruck to perceive the prints of human +feet. They ran parallel to my own course, but low down +upon the beach instead of along the border of the turf; and, +when I examined them, I saw at once, by the size and +coarseness of the impression, that it was a stranger to me +and to those in the pavilion who had recently passed that +way. Not only so; but from the recklessness of the course +which he had followed, steering near to the most formidable +portions of the sand, he was as evidently a stranger to the +country and to the ill-repute of Graden beach.</p> + +<p>Step by step I followed the prints; until, a quarter of a +mile farther, I beheld them die away into the south-eastern +boundary of Graden Floe. There, whoever he was, the +miserable man had perished. One or two gulls, who had, +perhaps, seen him disappear, wheeled over his sepulchre +with their usual melancholy piping. The sun had broken +through the clouds by a last effort, and coloured the wide +level of quicksands with a dusky purple. I stood for some +time gazing at the spot, chilled and disheartened by my own +reflections, and with a strong and commanding consciousness +of death. I remember wondering how long the tragedy +had taken, and whether his screams had been audible at the +pavilion. And then, making a strong resolution, I was +about to tear myself away, when a gust fiercer than usual +fell upon this quarter of the beach, and I saw, now whirling +high in air, now skimming lightly across the surface of the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page195"></a>195</span> +sands, a soft, black, felt hat, somewhat conical in shape, such +as I had remarked already on the heads of the Italians.</p> + +<p>I believe, but I am not sure, that I uttered a cry. The +wind was driving the hat shoreward, and I ran round the +border of the floe to be ready against its arrival. The gust +fell, dropping the hat for a while upon the quicksand, and +then, once more freshening, landed it a few yards from where +I stood. I seized it with the interest you may imagine. It +had seen some service; indeed, it was rustier than either of +those I had seen that day upon the street. The lining was +red, stamped with the name of the maker, which I have forgotten, +and that of the place of manufacture, <i>Venedig</i>. +This (it is not yet forgotten) was the name given by the +Austrians to the beautiful city of Venice, then, and for long +after, a part of their dominions.</p> + +<p>The shock was complete. I saw imaginary Italians upon +every side; and, for the first, and, I may say, for the last +time in my experience, became overpowered by what is +called a panic terror. I knew nothing, that is, to be afraid +of, and yet I submit that I was heartily afraid; and it was +with a sensible reluctance that I returned to my exposed and +solitary camp in the Sea-Wood.</p> + +<p>There I ate some cold porridge which had been left over +from the night before, for I was disinclined to make a fire; +and, feeling strengthened and reassured, dismissed all these +fanciful terrors from my mind, and lay down to sleep with +composure.</p> + +<p>How long I may have slept it is impossible for me to +guess; but I was awakened at last by a sudden, blinding +flash of light into my face. It woke me like a blow. In +an instant I was upon my knees. But the light had gone +as suddenly as it came. The darkness was intense. And, +as it was blowing great guns from the sea and pouring +with rain, the noises of the storm effectually concealed all +others.</p> + +<p>It was, I daresay, half a minute before I regained my +self-possession. But for two circumstances, I should have +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page196"></a>196</span> +thought I had been awakened by some new and vivid form +of nightmare. First, the flap of my tent, which I had shut +carefully when I retired, was now unfastened; and, second, +I could still perceive, with a sharpness that excluded any +theory of hallucination, the smell of hot metal and of burning +oil. The conclusion was obvious. I had been wakened +by some one flashing a bull’s-eye lantern in my face. It had +been but a flash, and away. He had seen my face, and then +gone. I asked myself the object of so strange a proceeding, +and the answer came pat. The man, whoever he was, had +thought to recognise me, and he had not. There was yet +another question unresolved: and to this, I may say, I +feared to give an answer; if he had recognised me, what +would he have done?</p> + +<p>My fears were immediately diverted from myself, for +I saw that I had been visited in a mistake; and I became +persuaded that some dreadful danger threatened the pavilion. +It required some nerve to issue forth into the black and +intricate thicket which surrounded and overhung the den; +but I groped my way to the links, drenched with rain, +beaten upon and deafened by the gusts, and fearing at every +step to lay my hand upon some lurking adversary. The +darkness was so complete that I might have been surrounded +by an army and yet none the wiser, and the uproar of the +gale so loud that my hearing was as useless as my sight.</p> + +<p>For the rest of that night, which seemed interminably +long, I patrolled the vicinity of the pavilion, without seeing +a living creature or hearing any noise but the concert of +the wind, the sea, and the rain. A light in the upper story +filtered through a cranny of the shutter, and kept me company +till the approach of dawn.</p> + + +<hr class="short" /> +<div class="pt2"> </div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page197"></a>197</span></p> +<h4>CHAPTER V</h4> + +<h5>TELLS OF AN INTERVIEW BETWEEN NORTHMOUR, +CLARA, AND MYSELF</h5> + +<p class="noind"><span class="sc">With</span> the first peep of day, I retired from the open to my +old lair among the sand-hills, there to await the coming of +my wife. The morning was grey, wild, and melancholy; +the wind moderated before sunrise, and then went about, +and blew in puffs from the shore; the sea began to go down, +but the rain still fell without mercy. Over all the wilderness +of links there was not a creature to be seen. Yet I felt +sure the neighbourhood was alive with skulking foes. +The light had been so suddenly and surprisingly flashed +upon my face as I lay sleeping, and the hat that had been +blown ashore by the wind from over Graden Floe, were two +speaking signals of the peril that environed Clara and the +party in the pavilion.</p> + +<p>It was perhaps half-past seven, or nearer eight, before I +saw the door open, and that dear figure come towards me +in the rain. I was waiting for her on the beach before she +had crossed the sand-hills.</p> + +<p>“I have had such trouble to come!” she cried. “They +did not wish me to go walking in the rain.”</p> + +<p>“Clara,” I said, “you are not frightened!”</p> + +<p>“No,” said she, with a simplicity that filled my heart +with confidence. For my wife was the bravest as well as +the best of women; in my experience I have not found the +two go always together, but with her they did; and she +combined the extreme of fortitude with the most endearing +and beautiful virtues.</p> + +<p>I told her what had happened; and, though her cheek +grew visibly paler, she retained perfect control over her +senses.</p> + +<p>“You see now that I am safe,” said I, in conclusion. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page198"></a>198</span> +“They do not mean to harm me; for, had they chosen, I +was a dead man last night.”</p> + +<p>She laid her hand upon my arm.</p> + +<p>“And I had no presentiment!” she cried.</p> + +<p>Her accent thrilled me with delight. I put my arm +about her, and strained her to my side; and before either +of us was aware, her hands were on my shoulders, and my +lips upon her mouth. Yet up to that moment no word of +love had passed between us. To this day I remember the +touch of her cheek, which was wet and cold with the rain; +and many a time since, when she has been washing her +face, I have kissed it again for the sake of that morning on +the beach. Now that she is taken from me, and I finish my +pilgrimage alone, I recall our old loving-kindnesses and the +deep honesty and affection which united us, and my present +loss seems but a trifle in comparison.</p> + +<p>We may have thus stood for some seconds—for time +passes quickly with lovers—before we were startled by a +peal of laughter close at hand. It was not natural mirth, +but seemed to be affected in order to conceal an angrier +feeling. We both turned, though I still kept my left arm +about Clara’s waist; nor did she seek to withdraw herself; +and there, a few paces off upon the beach, stood Northmour, +his head lowered, his hands behind his back, his +nostrils white with passion.</p> + +<p>“Ah! Cassilis!” he said, as I disclosed my face.</p> + +<p>“That same,” said I; for I was not at all put about.</p> + +<p>“And so, Miss Huddlestone,” he continued slowly but +savagely, “this is how you keep your faith to your father +and to me? This is the value you set upon your father’s +life? And you are so infatuated with this young gentleman +that you must brave ruin, and decency, and common human +caution——“</p> + +<p>“Miss Huddlestone——” I was beginning to interrupt +him, when he, in his turn, cut in brutally—</p> + +<p>“You hold your tongue,” said he; “I am speaking to +that girl.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page199"></a>199</span></p> + +<p>“That girl, as you call her, is my wife,” said I; and my +wife only leaned a little nearer, so that I knew she had +affirmed my words.</p> + +<p>“Your what?” he cried. “You lie!”</p> + +<p>“Northmour,” I said, “we all know you have a bad +temper, and I am the last man to be irritated by words. +For all that, I propose that you speak lower, for I am convinced +that we are not alone.”</p> + +<p>He looked round him, and it was plain my remark had +in some degree sobered his passion. “What do you mean?” +he asked.</p> + +<p>I only said one word: “Italians.”</p> + +<p>He swore a round oath, and looked at us, from one to +the other.</p> + +<p>“Mr. Cassilis knows all that I know,” said my wife.</p> + +<p>“What I want to know,” he broke out, “is where the +devil Mr. Cassilis comes from, and what the devil Mr. +Cassilis is doing here. You say you are married; that I +do not believe. If you were, Graden Floe would soon +divorce you; four minutes and a half, Cassilis. I keep my +private cemetery for my friends.”</p> + +<p>“It took somewhat longer,” said I, “for that Italian.”</p> + +<p>He looked at me for a moment half-daunted, and then, +almost civilly, asked me to tell my story. “You have too +much the advantage of me, Cassilis,” he added. I complied, +of course; and he listened, with several ejaculations, +while I told him how I had come to Graden: that it was I +whom he had tried to murder on the night of landing; and +what I had subsequently seen and heard of the Italians.</p> + +<p>“Well,” said he, when I had done, “it is here at last; +there is no mistake about that. And what, may I ask, do +you propose to do?”</p> + +<p>“I propose to stay with you and lend a hand,” said I.</p> + +<p>“You are a brave man,” he returned, with a peculiar +intonation.</p> + +<p>“I am not afraid,” said I.</p> + +<p>“And so,” he continued, “I am to understand that you +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page200"></a>200</span> +two are married? And you stand up to it before my face, +Miss Huddlestone?”</p> + +<p>“We are not yet married,” said Clara; “but we shall +be as soon as we can.”</p> + +<p>“Bravo!” cried Northmour. “And the bargain? +D—n it, you’re not a fool, young woman; I may call a +spade a spade with you. How about the bargain? You +know as well as I do what your father’s life depends upon. +I have only to put my hands under my coat-tails and walk +away, and his throat would be cut before the evening.”</p> + +<p>“Yes, Mr. Northmour,” returned Clara, with great +spirit; “but that is what you will never do. You made a +bargain that was unworthy of a gentleman; but you are +gentleman for all that, and you will never desert a man +whom you have begun to help.”</p> + +<p>“Aha!” said he. “You think I will give my yacht for +nothing? You think I will risk my life and liberty for love +of the old gentleman; and then, I suppose, be best-man at +the wedding, to wind up? Well,” he added, with an odd +smile, “perhaps you are not altogether wrong. But ask +Cassilis here. <i>He</i> knows me. Am I a man to trust? Am +I safe and scrupulous? Am I kind?”</p> + +<p>“I know you talk a great deal, and sometimes, I think, +very foolishly,” replied Clara, “but I know you are a gentleman, +and I am not the least afraid.”</p> + +<p>He looked at her with a peculiar approval and admiration; +then, turning to me, “Do you think I would give her +up without a struggle, Frank?” said he. “I tell you plainly, +you look out. The next time we come to blows——“</p> + +<p>“Will make the third,” I interrupted, smiling.</p> + +<p>“Ay, true; so it will,” he said. “I had forgotten. +Well, the third time’s lucky.”</p> + +<p>“The third time, you mean, you will have the crew of +the <i>Red Earl</i> to help,” I said.</p> + +<p>“Do you hear him?” he asked, turning to my wife.</p> + +<p>“I hear two men speaking like cowards,” said she. “I +should despise myself either to think or speak like that. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page201"></a>201</span> +And neither of you believe one word that you are saying, +which makes it the more wicked and silly.”</p> + +<p>“She’s a trump!” cried Northmour. “But she’s not yet +Mrs. Cassilis. I say no more. The present is not for me.”</p> + +<p>Then my wife surprised me.</p> + +<p>“I leave you here,” she said suddenly. “My father +has been too long alone. But remember this: you are to +be friends, for you are both good friends to me.”</p> + +<p>She has since told me her reason for this step. As long +as she remained, she declares that we two should have continued +to quarrel; and I suppose that she was right, for +when she was gone we fell at once into a sort of confidentiality.</p> + +<p>Northmour stared after her as she went away over the +sand-hill.</p> + +<p>“She is the only woman in the world!” he exclaimed, +with an oath. “Look at her action.”</p> + +<p>I, for my part, leaped at this opportunity for a little +further light.</p> + +<p>“See here, Northmour,” said I; “we are all in a tight +place, are we not?”</p> + +<p>“I believe you, my boy,” he answered, looking me in +the eyes, and with great emphasis. “We have all hell upon +us, that’s the truth. You may believe me or not, but I’m +afraid of my life.”</p> + +<p>“Tell me one thing,” said I. “What are they after, +these Italians? What do they want with Mr. Huddlestone?”</p> + +<p>“Don’t you know?” he cried. “The black old scamp +had <i>carbonaro</i> funds on a deposit—two hundred and eighty +thousand; and of course he gambled it away on stocks. +There was to have been a revolution in the Tridentino, or +Parma; but the revolution is off, and the whole wasps’ +nest is after Huddlestone. We shall all be lucky if we can +save our skins.”</p> + +<p>“The <i>carbonari</i>!” I exclaimed; “God help him indeed!”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page202"></a>202</span></p> + +<p>“Amen!” said Northmour. “And now, look here: +I have said that we are in a fix; and, frankly, I shall be +glad of your help. If I can’t save Huddlestone, I want at +least to save the girl. Come and stay in the pavilion; and, +there’s my hand on it, I shall act as your friend until the old +man is either clear or dead. But,” he added, “once that is +settled, you become my rival once again, and I warn you—mind +yourself.”</p> + +<p>“Done!” said I; and we shook hands.</p> + +<p>“And now let us go directly to the fort,” said Northmour; +and he began to lead the way through the rain.</p> + + +<hr class="short" /> +<div class="pt2"> </div> + +<h4>CHAPTER VI</h4> + +<h5>TELLS OF MY INTRODUCTION TO THE TALL MAN</h5> + +<p class="noind"><span class="sc">We</span> were admitted to the pavilion by Clara, and I was surprised +by the completeness and security of the defences. +A barricade of great strength, and yet easy to displace, +supported the door against any violence from without; +and the shutters of the dining-room, into which I was led +directly, and which was feebly illuminated by a lamp, were +even more elaborately fortified. The panels were +strengthened by bars and cross-bars; and these, in their +turn, were kept in position by a system of braces and struts, +some abutting on the floor, some on the roof, and others, in +fine, against the opposite wall of the apartment. It was +at once a solid and well-designed piece of carpentry; and +I did not seek to conceal my admiration.</p> + +<p>“I am the engineer,” said Northmour. “You remember +the planks in the garden? Behold them!”</p> + +<p>“I did not know you had so many talents,” said I.</p> + +<p>“Are you armed?” he continued, pointing to an array +of guns and pistols, all in admirable order, which stood in +line against the wall or were displayed upon the sideboard.</p> + +<p>“Thank you,” I returned; “I have gone armed since +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page203"></a>203</span> +our last encounter. But, to tell you the truth, I have had +nothing to eat since early yesterday evening.”</p> + +<p>Northmour produced some cold meat, to which I +eagerly set myself, and a bottle of good Burgundy, by which, +wet as I was, I did not scruple to profit. I have always +been an extreme temperance man on principle; but it is +useless to push principle to excess, and on this occasion I +believe that I finished three-quarters of the bottle. As I +ate, I still continued to admire the preparations for defence.</p> + +<p>“We could stand a siege,” I said at length.</p> + +<p>“Ye—es,” drawled Northmour; “a very little one, +per—haps. It is not so much the strength of the pavilion +I misdoubt; it is the double danger that kills me. If we +get to shooting, wild as the country is, some one is sure to +hear it, and then—why, then it’s the same thing, only different, +as they say: caged by law, or killed by <i>carbonari</i>. +There’s the choice. It is a devilish bad thing to have the +law against you in this world, and so I tell the old gentleman +upstairs. He is quite of my way of thinking.”</p> + +<p>“Speaking of that,” said I, “what kind of person is +he?”</p> + +<p>“Oh, he!” cried the other; “he’s a rancid fellow, as +far as he goes. I should like to have his neck wrung to-morrow +by all the devils in Italy. I am not in this affair +for him. You take me? I made a bargain for Missy’s +hand, and I mean to have it too.”</p> + +<p>“That by the way,” said I. “I understand. But how +will Mr. Huddlestone take my intrusion?”</p> + +<p>“Leave that to Clara,” returned Northmour.</p> + +<p>I could have struck him in the face for this coarse +familiarity; but I respected the truce, as, I am bound to +say, did Northmour, and so long as the danger continued +not a cloud arose in our relation. I bear him this testimony +with the most unfeigned satisfaction; nor am I without +pride when I look back upon my own behaviour. For +surely no two men were ever left in a position so invidious +and irritating.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page204"></a>204</span></p> + +<p>As soon as I had done eating, we proceeded to inspect +the lower floor. Window by window we tried the different +supports, now and then making an inconsiderable change; +and the strokes of the hammer sounded with startling loudness +through the house. I proposed, I remember, to make +loopholes; but he told me they were already made in the +windows of the upper story. It was an anxious business, +this inspection, and left me down-hearted. There were +two doors and five windows to protect, and, counting Clara, +only four of us to defend them against an unknown number +of foes. I communicated my doubts to Northmour, who +assured me, with unmoved composure, that he entirely +shared them.</p> + +<p>“Before morning,” said he, “we shall all be butchered +and buried in Graden Floe. For me, that is written.”</p> + +<p>I could not help shuddering at the mention of the quicksand, +but reminded Northmour that our enemies had spared +me in the wood.</p> + +<p>“Do not flatter yourself,” said he. “Then you were +not in the same boat with the old gentleman; now you are. +It’s the floe for all of us, mark my words.”</p> + +<p>I trembled for Clara; and just then her dear voice was +heard calling us to come upstairs. Northmour showed me +the way, and, when he had reached the landing, knocked +at the door of what used to be called <i>My Uncle’s Bedroom</i>, +as the founder of the pavilion had designed it especially for +himself.</p> + +<p>“Come in, Northmour; come in, dear Mr. Cassilis,” +said a voice from within.</p> + +<p>Pushing open the door, Northmour admitted me before +him into the apartment. As I came in I could see the +daughter slipping out by the side-door into the study, which +had been prepared as her bedroom. In the bed, which was +drawn back against the wall, instead of standing, as I had +last seen it, boldly across the window, sat Bernard Huddlestone, +the defaulting banker. Little as I had seen of him +by the shifting light of the lantern on the links, I had no +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page205"></a>205</span> +difficulty in recognising him for the same. He had a long +and sallow countenance, surrounded by a long red beard +and side-whiskers. His broken nose and high cheek-bones +gave him somewhat the air of a Kalmuck, and his light eyes +shone with the excitement of a high fever. He wore a skull-cap +of black silk; a huge Bible lay open before him on the +bed, with a pair of gold spectacles in the place, and a pile of +other books lay on the stand by his side. The green curtains +lent a cadaverous shade to his cheek; and, as he sat +propped on pillows, his great stature was painfully hunched, +and his head protruded till it overhung his knees. I believe +if he had not died otherwise, he must have fallen a victim to +consumption in the course of but a very few weeks.</p> + +<p>He held out to me a hand, long, thin, and disagreeably +hairy.</p> + +<p>“Come in, come in, Mr. Cassilis,” said he. “Another +protector—ahem!—another protector. Always welcome +as a friend of my daughter’s, Mr. Cassilis. How they have +rallied about me, my daughter’s friends! May God in +Heaven bless and reward them for it!”</p> + +<p>I gave him my hand, of course, because I could not help +it; but the sympathy I had been prepared to feel for Clara’s +father was immediately soured by his appearance, and the +wheedling, unreal tones in which he spoke.</p> + +<p>“Cassilis is a good man,” said Northmour; “worth +ten.”</p> + +<p>“So I hear,” cried Mr. Huddlestone eagerly; “so my +girl tells me. Ah, Mr. Cassilis, my sin has found me out, +you see! I am very low, very low; but I hope equally +penitent. We must all come to the throne of grace at last, +Mr. Cassilis. For my part, I come late indeed; but with +unfeigned humility, I trust.”</p> + +<p>“Fiddle-de-dee!” said Northmour roughly.</p> + +<p>“No, no, dear Northmour!” cried the banker. “You +must not say that; you must not try to shake me. You +forget, my dear, good boy, you forget I may be called this +very night before my Maker.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page206"></a>206</span></p> + +<p>His excitement was pitiful to behold; and I felt myself +grow indignant with Northmour, whose infidel opinions I +well knew, and heartily derided, as he continued to taunt +the poor sinner out of his humour of repentance.</p> + +<p>“Pooh, my dear Huddlestone!” said he. “You do +yourself injustice. You are a man of the world, inside and +out, and were up to all kinds of mischief before I was born. +Your conscience is tanned like South American leather—only +you forgot to tan your liver, and that, if you will believe +me, is the seat of the annoyance.”</p> + +<p>“Rogue, rogue! bad boy!” said Mr. Huddlestone, +shaking his finger, “I am no precisian, if you come to that; +I always hated a precisian; but I never lost hold of something +better through it all. I have been a bad boy, Mr. +Cassilis; I do not seek to deny that; but it was after my +wife’s death, and you know, with a widower, it’s a different +thing: sinful—I won’t say no; but there is a gradation, we +shall hope. And talking of that—— Hark!” he broke +out suddenly, his hand raised, his fingers spread, his face +racked with interest and terror. “Only the rain, bless +God!” he added, after a pause, and with indescribable +relief.</p> + +<p>For some seconds he lay back among the pillows like a +man near to fainting; then he gathered himself together, +and, in somewhat tremulous tones, began once more to +thank me for the share I was prepared to take in his defence.</p> + +<p>“One question, sir,” said I, when he had paused. “Is +it true that you have money with you?”</p> + +<p>He seemed annoyed by the question, but admitted with +reluctance that he had a little.</p> + +<p>“Well,” I continued, “it is their money they are after, +is it not? Why not give it up to them?”</p> + +<p>“Ah!” replied he, shaking his head, “I have tried that +already, Mr. Cassilis; and alas that it should be so! but it +is blood they want.”</p> + +<p>“Huddlestone, that’s a little less than fair,” said Northmour. +“You should mention that what you offered them +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page207"></a>207</span> +was upwards of two hundred thousand short. The deficit +is worth a reference; it is for what they call a cool sum, +Frank. Then, you see, the fellows reason in their clear +Italian way; and it seems to them, as indeed it seems to +me, that they may just as well have both while they’re +about it—money and blood together, by George, and no +more trouble for the extra pleasure.”</p> + +<p>“Is it in the pavilion?” I asked.</p> + +<p>“It is; and I wish it were in the bottom of the sea instead,” +said Northmour; and then suddenly—“What are +you making faces at me for?” he cried to Mr. Huddlestone, +on whom I had unconsciously turned my back. “Do you +think Cassilis would sell you?”</p> + +<p>Mr. Huddlestone protested that nothing had been +further from his mind.</p> + +<p>“It is a good thing,” retorted Northmour in his ugliest +manner. “You might end by wearying us.—What were +you going to say?” he added, turning to me.</p> + +<p>“I was going to propose an occupation for the afternoon,” +said I. “Let us carry that money out, piece by +piece, and lay it down before the pavilion door. If the +<i>carbonari</i> come, why, it’s theirs at any rate.”</p> + +<p>“No, no,” cried Mr. Huddlestone; “it does not, it cannot +belong to them! It should be distributed <i>pro rata</i> +among all my creditors.”</p> + +<p>“Come now, Huddlestone,” said Northmour, “none of +that.”</p> + +<p>“Well, but my daughter,” moaned the wretched man.</p> + +<p>“Your daughter will do well enough. Here are two +suitors, Cassilis and I, neither of us beggars, between whom +she has to choose. And as for yourself, to make an end of +arguments, you have no right to a farthing, and, unless I’m +much mistaken, you are going to die.”</p> + +<p>It was certainly very cruelly said; but Mr. Huddlestone +was a man who attracted little sympathy; and, although +I saw him wince and shudder, I mentally endorsed the rebuke; +nay, I added a contribution of my own.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page208"></a>208</span></p> + +<p>“Northmour and I,” I said, “are willing enough to help +you to save your life, but not to escape with stolen property.”</p> + +<p>He struggled for a while with himself, as though he were +on the point of giving way to anger, but prudence had the +best of the controversy.</p> + +<p>“My dear boys,” he said, “do with me or my money +what you will. I leave all in your hands. Let me compose +myself.”</p> + +<p>And so we left him, gladly enough I am sure. The last +that I saw, he had once more taken up his great Bible, and +with tremulous hands was adjusting his spectacles to read.</p> + + +<hr class="short" /> +<div class="pt2"> </div> + +<h4>CHAPTER VII</h4> + +<h5>TELLS HOW A WORD WAS CRIED THROUGH THE +PAVILION WINDOW</h5> + +<p class="noind"><span class="sc">The</span> recollection of that afternoon will always be graven on +my mind. Northmour and I were persuaded that an attack +was imminent; and if it had been in our power to alter in +any way the order of events, that power would have been +used to precipitate rather than delay the critical moment. +The worst was to be anticipated; yet we could conceive no +extremity so miserable as the suspense we were now suffering. +I have never been an eager, though always a great, +reader; but I never knew books so insipid as those which I +took up and cast aside that afternoon in the pavilion. +Even talk became impossible as the hours went on. One +or other was always listening for some sound, or peering +from an upstairs window over the links. And yet not a sign +indicated the presence of our foes.</p> + +<p>We debated over and over again my proposal with regard +to the money; and had we been in complete possession +of our faculties, I am sure we should have condemned it as +unwise; but we were flustered with alarm, grasped at a +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page209"></a>209</span> +straw, and determined, although it was as much as advertising +Mr. Huddlestone’s presence in the pavilion, to carry +my proposal into effect.</p> + +<p>The sum was part in specie, part in bank paper, and +part in circular notes payable to the name of James Gregory. +We took it out, counted it, enclosed it once more in a despatch-box +belonging to Northmour, and prepared a letter +in Italian which he tied to the handle. It was signed by +both of us under oath, and declared that this was all the +money which had escaped the failure of the house of Huddlestone. +This was, perhaps, the maddest action ever perpetrated +by two persons professing to be sane. Had the +despatch-box fallen into other hands than those for which it +was intended, we stood criminally convicted on our own +written testimony; but as I have said, we were neither of us +in a condition to judge soberly, and had a thirst for action +that drove us to do something, right or wrong, rather than +endure the agony of waiting. Moreover, as we were both +convinced that the hollows of the links were alive with +hidden spies upon our movements, we hoped that our +appearance with the box might lead to a parley, and perhaps +a compromise.</p> + +<p>It was nearly three when we issued from the pavilion. +The rain had taken off; the sun shone quite cheerfully. I +have never seen the gulls fly so close about the house or +approach so fearlessly to human beings. On the very doorstep +one flapped heavily past our heads, and uttered its +wild cry in my very ear.</p> + +<p>“There is an omen for you,” said Northmour, who, like +all freethinkers, was much under the influence of superstition. +“They think we are already dead.”</p> + +<p>I made some light rejoinder, but it was with half my +heart; for the circumstance had impressed me.</p> + +<p>A yard or two before the gate, on a patch of smooth +turf, we set down the despatch-box; and Northmour waved +a white handkerchief over his head. Nothing replied. +We raised our voices, and cried aloud in Italian that we were +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page210"></a>210</span> +there as ambassadors to arrange the quarrel; but the stillness +remained unbroken save by the sea-gulls and the surf. +I had a weight at my heart when we desisted; and I saw +that even Northmour was unusually pale. He looked over +his shoulder nervously, as though he feared that some one +had crept between him and the pavilion door.</p> + +<p>“By God,” he said in a whisper, “this is too much for +me!”</p> + +<p>I replied in the same key: “Suppose there should be +none, after all?”</p> + +<p>“Look there,” he returned, nodding with his head, as +though he had been afraid to point.</p> + +<p>I glanced in the direction indicated; and there, from the +northern quarter of the Sea-Wood, beheld a thin column of +smoke rising steadily against the now cloudless sky.</p> + +<p>“Northmour,” I said (we still continued to talk in +whispers), “it is not possible to endure this suspense. I +prefer death fifty times over. Stay you here to watch the +pavilion; I will go forward and make sure, if I have to walk +right into their camp.”</p> + +<p>He looked once again all round him with puckered eyes, +and then nodded assentingly to my proposal.</p> + +<p>My heart beat like a sledge-hammer as I set out walking +rapidly in the direction of the smoke; and, though up to +that moment I had felt chill and shivering, I was suddenly +conscious of a glow of heat over all my body. The ground +in this direction was very uneven; a hundred men might +have lain hidden in as many square yards about my path. +But I had not practised the business in vain, chose such +routes as cut at the very root of concealment, and, by keeping +along the most convenient ridges, commanded several +hollows at a time. It was not long before I was rewarded +for my caution. Coming suddenly on to a mound somewhat +more elevated than the surrounding hummocks, I +saw, not thirty yards away, a man bent almost double, and +running as fast as his attitude permitted along the bottom +of a gully. I had dislodged one of the spies from his ambush. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page211"></a>211</span> +As soon as I sighted him, I called loudly both in +English and Italian; and he, seeing concealment was no +longer possible, straightened himself out, leaped from the +gully, and made off as straight as an arrow for the borders +of the wood.</p> + +<p>It was none of my business to pursue; I had learned +what I wanted—that we were beleaguered and watched in +the pavilion; and I returned at once, and walking as nearly +as possible in my old footsteps, to where Northmour awaited +me beside the despatch-box. He was even paler than when +I had left him, and his voice shook a little.</p> + +<p>“Could you see what he was like?” he asked.</p> + +<p>“He kept his back turned,” I replied.</p> + +<p>“Let us get into the house, Frank. I don’t think I’m +a coward, but I can stand no more of this,” he whispered.</p> + +<p>All was still and sunshiny about the pavilion as we +turned to re-enter it; even the gulls had flown in a wider +circuit, and were seen flickering along the beach and sand-hills; +and this loneliness terrified me more than a regiment +under arms. It was not until the door was barricaded that +I could draw a full inspiration and relieve the weight that +lay upon my bosom. Northmour and I exchanged a steady +glance; and I suppose each made his own reflections on the +white and startled aspect of the other.</p> + +<p>“You were right,” I said. “All is over. Shake hands, +old man, for the last time.”</p> + +<p>“Yes,” replied he, “I will shake hands; for, as sure as +I am here, I bear no malice. But remember, if, by some +impossible accident, we should give the slip to these blackguards, +I’ll take the upper hand of you by fair or foul.”</p> + +<p>“Oh,” said I, “you weary me.”</p> + +<p>He seemed hurt, and walked away in silence to the foot +of the stairs, where he paused.</p> + +<p>“You do not understand,” said he. “I am not a +swindler, and I guard myself; that is all. It may weary +you or not, Mr. Cassilis, I do not care a rush; I speak for +my own satisfaction, and not for your amusement. You +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page212"></a>212</span> +had better go upstairs and court the girl; for my part, I +stay here.”</p> + +<p>“And I stay with you,” I returned. “Do you think I +would steal a march, even with your permission?”</p> + +<p>“Frank,” he said, smiling, “it’s a pity you are an ass, +for you have the makings of a man. I think I must be <i>fey</i> +to-day; you cannot irritate me even when you try. Do +you know,” he continued softly, “I think we are the two +most miserable men in England, you and I? we have got +on to thirty without wife or child, or so much as a shop to +look after—poor, pitiful, lost devils, both! And now we +clash about a girl! As if there were not several millions in +the United Kingdom! Ah, Frank, Frank, the one who +loses this throw, be it you or me, he has my pity! It were +better for him—how does the Bible say?—that a millstone +were hanged about his neck and he were cast into the depth +of the sea. Let us take a drink,” he concluded suddenly, +but without any levity of tone.</p> + +<p>I was touched by his words and consented. He sat down +on the table in the dining-room, and held up the glass of +sherry to his eye.</p> + +<p>“If you beat me, Frank,” he said, “I shall take to drink. +What will you do, if it goes the other way?”</p> + +<p>“God knows,” I returned.</p> + +<p>“Well,” said he, “here is a toast in the meantime: +’<i>Italia irredenta!</i>’“</p> + +<p>The remainder of the day was passed in the same +dreadful tedium and suspense. I laid the table for dinner, +while Northmour and Clara prepared the meal together in +the kitchen. I could hear their talk as I went to and fro, +and was surprised to find it ran all the time upon myself. +Northmour again bracketed us together, and rallied Clara +on a choice of husbands; but he continued to speak of me +with some feeling, and uttered nothing to my prejudice +unless he included himself in the condemnation. This +awakened a sense of gratitude in my heart, which combined +with the immediateness of our peril to fill my eye with tears. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page213"></a>213</span> +After all, I thought—and perhaps the thought was laughably +vain—we were here three very noble human beings to +perish in defence of a thieving banker.</p> + +<p>Before we sat down to table I looked forth from an +upstairs window. The day was beginning to decline; the +links were utterly deserted; the despatch-box still lay untouched +where we had left it hours before.</p> + +<p>Mr. Huddlestone, in a long yellow dressing-gown, took +one end of the table, Clara the other; while Northmour and +I faced each other from the sides. The lamp was brightly +trimmed; the wine was good; the viands, although mostly +cold, excellent of their sort. We seemed to have agreed +tacitly; all reference to the impending catastrophe was +carefully avoided; and, considering our tragic circumstances, +we made a merrier party than could have been expected. +From time to time, it is true, Northmour or I would rise +from table and make a round of the defences; and, on each +of these occasions, Mr. Huddlestone was recalled to a sense +of his tragic predicament, glanced up with ghastly eyes, +and bore for an instant on his countenance the stamp of +terror. But he hastened to empty his glass, wiped his forehead +with his handkerchief, and joined again in the conversation.</p> + +<p>I was astonished at the wit and information he displayed. +Mr. Huddlestone’s was certainly no ordinary +character; he had read and observed for himself; his gifts +were sound; and, though I could never have learned to love +the man, I began to understand his success in business, and +the great respect in which he had been held before his +failure. He had, above all, the talent of society; and +though I never heard him speak but on this one and most +unfavourable occasion, I set him down among the most +brilliant conversationalists I ever met.</p> + +<p>He was relating with great gusto, and seemingly no +feeling of shame, the manœuvres of a scoundrelly commission +merchant whom he had known and studied in his +youth, and we were all listening with an odd mixture of +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page214"></a>214</span> +mirth and embarrassment, when our little party was +brought abruptly to an end in the most startling manner.</p> + +<p>A noise like that of a wet finger on the window-pane +interrupted Mr. Huddlestone’s tale; and in an instant we +were all four as white as paper, and sat tongue-tied and +motionless round the table.</p> + +<p>“A snail,” I said at last; for I had heard that these +animals make a noise somewhat similar in character.</p> + +<p>“Snail be d—d!” said Northmour. “Hush!”</p> + +<p>The same sound was repeated twice at regular intervals; +and then a formidable voice shouted through the shutters +the Italian word “<i>Traditore!</i>“</p> + +<p>Mr. Huddlestone threw his head in the air; his eyelids +quivered; next moment he fell insensible below the table. +Northmour and I had each run to the armoury and seized +a gun. Clara was on her feet with her hand at her throat.</p> + +<p>So we stood waiting, for we thought the hour of attack +was certainly come; but second passed after second, and +all but the surf remained silent in the neighbourhood of the +pavilion.</p> + +<p>“Quick,” said Northmour; “upstairs with him before +they come.”</p> + + +<hr class="short" /> +<div class="pt2"> </div> + +<h4>CHAPTER VIII</h4> + +<h5>TELLS THE LAST OF THE TALL MAN</h5> + +<p class="noind"><span class="sc">Somehow</span> or other, by hook and crook, and between the +three of us, we got Bernard Huddlestone bundled upstairs +and laid upon the bed in <i>My Uncle’s Room</i>. During the +whole process, which was rough enough, he gave no sign of +consciousness, and he remained, as we had thrown him, +without changing the position of a finger. His daughter +opened his shirt and began to wet his head and bosom; +while Northmour and I ran to the window. The weather +continued clear; the moon, which was now about full, had +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page215"></a>215</span> +risen and shed a very clear light upon the links; yet, strain +our eyes as we might, we could distinguish nothing moving. +A few dark spots, more or less, on the uneven expanse, were +not to be identified; they might be crouching men, they +might be shadows; it was impossible to be sure.</p> + +<p>“Thank God,” said Northmour, “Aggie is not coming +to-night.”</p> + +<p>Aggie was the name of the old nurse; he had not thought +of her till now; but that he should think of her at all was a +trait that surprised me in the man.</p> + +<p>We were again reduced to waiting. Northmour went to +the fireplace and spread his hands before the red embers, as +if he were cold. I followed him mechanically with my eyes, +and in so doing turned my back upon the window. At that +moment a very faint report was audible from without, and +a ball shivered a pane of glass, and buried itself in the shutter +two inches from my head. I heard Clara scream; and +though I whipped instantly out of range and into a corner, +she was there, so to speak, before me, beseeching to know if +I were hurt. I felt that I could stand to be shot at every +day and all day long, with such marks of solicitude for a +reward; and I continued to reassure her, with the tenderest +caresses and in complete forgetfulness of our situation, till +the voice of Northmour recalled me to myself.</p> + +<p>“An air-gun,” he said. “They wish to make no noise.”</p> + +<p>I put Clara aside, and looked at him. He was standing +with his back to the fire and his hands clasped behind him; +and I knew by the black look on his face that passion was +boiling within. I had seen just such a look before he +attacked me, that March night, in the adjoining chamber; +and, though I could make every allowance for his anger, +I confess I trembled for the consequences. He gazed +straight before him; but he could see us with the tail of his +eye, and his temper kept rising like a gale of wind. With +regular battle awaiting us outside, this prospect of an internecine +strife within the walls began to daunt me.</p> + +<p>Suddenly, as I was thus closely watching his expression +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page216"></a>216</span> +and prepared against the worst, I saw a change, a flash, a +look of relief, upon his face. He took up the lamp which +stood beside him on the table, and turned to us with an air +of some excitement.</p> + +<p>“There is one point that we must know,” said he. +“Are they going to butcher the lot of us, or only Huddlestone? +Did they take you for him, or fire at you for your +own <i>beaux yeux</i>?”</p> + +<p>“They took me for him, for certain,” I replied. “I +am near as tall, and my head is fair.”</p> + +<p>“I am going to make sure,” returned Northmour; and +he stepped up to the window, holding the lamp above his +head, and stood there, quietly affronting death, for half a +minute.</p> + +<p>Clara sought to rush forward and pull him from the place +of danger; but I had the pardonable selfishness to hold her +back by force.</p> + +<p>“Yes,” said Northmour, turning coolly from the window; +“it’s only Huddlestone they want.”</p> + +<p>“Oh, Mr. Northmour!” cried Clara; but found no more +to add; the temerity she had just witnessed seeming beyond +the reach of words.</p> + +<p>He, on his part, looked at me, cocking his head, with +a fire of triumph in his eyes; and I understood at once that +he had thus hazarded his life, merely to attract Clara’s +notice, and depose me from my position as the hero of the +hour. He snapped his fingers.</p> + +<p>“The fire is only beginning,” said he. “When they +warm up to their work they won’t be so particular.”</p> + +<p>A voice was now heard hailing us from the entrance. +From the window we could see the figure of a man in the +moonlight; he stood motionless, his face uplifted to ours, +and a rag of something white on his extended arm; and as +we looked right down upon him, though he was a good many +yards distant on the links, we could see the moonlight glitter +on his eyes.</p> + +<p>He opened his lips again, and spoke for some minutes +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page217"></a>217</span> +on end, in a key so loud that he might have been heard in +every corner of the pavilion, and as far away as the borders +of the wood. It was the same voice that had already +shouted “<i>Traditore!</i>” through the shutters of the dining-room; +this time it made a complete and clear statement. +If the traitor “Oddlestone” were given up, all others should +be spared; if not, no one should escape to tell the tale.</p> + +<p>“Well, Huddlestone, what do you say to that?” asked +Northmour, turning to the bed.</p> + +<p>Up to that moment the banker had given no sign of life, +and I, at least, had supposed him to be still lying in a faint; +but he replied at once, and in such tones as I have never +heard elsewhere, save from a delirious patient, adjured and +besought us not to desert him. It was the most hideous +and abject performance that my imagination can conceive.</p> + +<p>“Enough,” cried Northmour; and then he threw open +the window, leaned out into the night, and in a tone of exultation, +and with a total forgetfulness of what was due to the +presence of a lady, poured out upon the ambassador a string +of the most abominable raillery both in English and Italian, +and bade him be gone where he had come from. I believe +that nothing so delighted Northmour at that moment as +the thought that we must all infallibly perish before the +night was out.</p> + +<p>Meantime the Italian put his flag of truce into his pocket, +and disappeared, at a leisurely pace, among the sand-hills.</p> + +<p>“They make honourable war,” said Northmour. +“They are all gentlemen and soldiers. For the credit of +the thing, I wish we could change sides—you and I, Frank, +and you too, Missy my darling—and leave that being on +the bed to some one else. Tut! Don’t look shocked! +We are all going post to what they call eternity, and may as +well be above-board while there’s time. As far as I’m concerned, +if I could first strangle Huddlestone and then get +Clara in my arms, I could die with some pride and satisfaction. +And as it is, by God, I’ll have a kiss!”</p> + +<p>Before I could do anything to interfere, he had rudely +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page218"></a>218</span> +embraced and repeatedly kissed the resisting girl. Next +moment I had pulled him away with fury, and flung him +heavily against the wall. He laughed loud and long, and I +feared his wits had given way under the strain; for even in +the best of days he had been a sparing and a quiet laugher.</p> + +<p>“Now, Frank,” said he, when his mirth was somewhat +appeased, “it’s your turn. Here’s my hand. Good-bye; +farewell!” Then, seeing me stand rigid and indignant, and +holding Clara to my side—“Man!” he broke out, “are you +angry? Did you think we were going to die with all the airs +and graces of society? I took a kiss; I’m glad I had it; +and now you can take another if you like, and square +accounts.”</p> + +<p>I turned from him with a feeling of contempt which I +did not seek to dissemble.</p> + +<p>“As you please,” said he. “You’ve been a prig in life; +a prig you’ll die.”</p> + +<p>And with that he sat down on a chair, a rifle over his +knee, and amused himself with snapping the lock; but I +could see that his ebullition of light spirits (the only one I +ever knew him to display) had already come to an end, and +was succeeded by a sullen, scowling humour.</p> + +<p>All this time our assailants might have been entering +the house, and we been none the wiser; we had in truth +almost forgotten the danger that so imminently overhung +our days. But just then Mr. Huddlestone uttered a cry, +and leaped from the bed.</p> + +<p>I asked him what was wrong.</p> + +<p>“Fire!” he cried. “They have set the house on +fire!”</p> + +<p>Northmour was on his feet in an instant, and he and I +ran through the door of communication with the study. +The room was illuminated by a red and angry light. Almost +at the moment of our entrance, a tower of flame arose in +front of the window, and, with a tingling report, a pane +fell inwards on the carpet. They had set fire to the lean-to +outhouse, where Northmour used to nurse his negatives.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page219"></a>219</span></p> + +<p>“Hot work,” said Northmour. “Let us try in your old +room.”</p> + +<p>We ran thither in a breath, threw up the casement, and +looked forth. Along the whole back wall of the pavilion +piles of fuel had been arranged and kindled; and it is probable +they had been drenched with mineral oil, for, in spite +of the morning’s rain, they all burned bravely. The fire +had taken a firm hold already on the outhouse, which blazed +higher and higher every moment; the back-door was in the +centre of a red-hot bonfire; the eaves, we could see, as we +looked upward, were already smouldering, for the roof +overhung, and was supported by considerable beams of +wood. At the same time, hot, pungent, and choking +volumes of smoke began to fill the house. There was not a +human being to be seen to right or left.</p> + +<p>“Ah, well!” said Northmour, “here’s the end, thank +God.”</p> + +<p>And we returned to <i>My Uncle’s Room</i>. Mr. Huddlestone +was putting on his boots, still violently trembling, +but with an air of determination such as I had not hitherto +observed. Clara stood close by him, with her cloak in both +hands ready to throw about her shoulders, and a strange +look in her eyes, as if she were half-hopeful, half-doubtful of +her father.</p> + +<p>“Well, boys and girls,” said Northmour, “how about +a sally? The oven is heating; it is not good to stay here +and be baked; and, for my part, I want to come to my +hands with them, and be done.”</p> + +<p>“There is nothing else left,” I replied.</p> + +<p>And both Clara and Mr. Huddlestone, though with a +very different intonation, added, “Nothing.”</p> + +<p>As we went downstairs the heat was excessive, and the +roaring of the fire filled our ears; and we had scarce reached +the passage before the stairs window fell in, a branch of +flame shot brandishing through the aperture, and the interior +of the pavilion became lit up with that dreadful and +fluctuating glare. At the same moment we heard the fall +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page220"></a>220</span> +of something heavy and inelastic in the upper story. The +whole pavilion, it was plain, had gone alight like a box of +matches, and now not only flamed sky-high to land and sea, +but threatened with every moment to crumble and fall in +about our ears.</p> + +<p>Northmour and I cocked our revolvers. Mr. Huddlestone, +who had already refused a firearm, put us behind him +with a manner of command.</p> + +<p>“Let Clara open the door,” said he. “So, if they fire +a volley, she will be protected. And in the meantime +stand behind me. I am the scapegoat; my sins have found +me out.”</p> + +<p>I heard him, as I stood breathless by his shoulder, with +my pistol ready, pattering off prayers in a tremulous, rapid +whisper; and I confess, horrid as the thought may seem, +I despised him for thinking of supplications in a moment so +critical and thrilling. In the meantime, Clara, who was +dead white, but still possessed her faculties, had displaced +the barricade from the front door. Another moment, and +she had pulled it open. Firelight and moonlight illuminated +the links with confused and changeful lustre, and far +away against the sky we could see a long trail of glowing +smoke.</p> + +<p>Mr. Huddlestone, filled for the moment with a strength +greater than his own, struck Northmour and myself a back-hander +in the chest; and while we were thus for the moment +incapacitated from action, lifting his arms above his head +like one about to dive, he ran straight forward out of the +pavilion.</p> + +<p>“Here am I!” he cried—“Huddlestone! Kill me, and +spare the others!”</p> + +<p>His sudden appearance daunted, I suppose, our hidden +enemies; for Northmour and I had time to recover, to seize +Clara between us, one by each arm, and to rush forth to his +assistance, ere anything further had taken place. But +scarce had we passed the threshold when there came near a +dozen reports and flashes from every direction among the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page221"></a>221</span> +hollows of the links. Mr. Huddlestone staggered, uttered +a weird and freezing cry, threw up his arms over his head, +and fell backward on the turf.</p> + +<p>“<i>Traditore! Traditore!</i>” cried the invisible avengers.</p> + +<p>And just then a part of the roof of the pavilion fell in, +so rapid was the progress of the fire. A loud, vague, and +horrible noise accompanied the collapse, and a vast volume +of flame went soaring up to heaven. It must have been +visible at that moment from twenty miles out at sea, from +the shore at Graden-Wester, and far inland from the peak +of Graystiel, the most eastern summit of the Caulder Hills. +Bernard Huddlestone, although God knows what were his +obsequies, had a fine pyre at the moment of his death.</p> + + +<hr class="short" /> +<div class="pt2"> </div> + +<h4>CHAPTER IX</h4> + +<h5>TELLS HOW NORTHMOUR CARRIED OUT HIS THREAT</h5> + +<p class="noind"><span class="sc">I should</span> have the greatest difficulty to tell you what +followed next after this tragic circumstance. It is all to me, +as I look back upon it, mixed, strenuous, and ineffectual, +like the struggles of a sleeper in a nightmare. Clara, I +remember, uttered a broken sigh and would have fallen +forward to earth, had not Northmour and I supported her +insensible body. I do not think we were attacked; I do +not remember even to have seen an assailant; and I believe +we deserted Mr. Huddlestone without a glance. I only +remember running like a man in a panic, now carrying Clara +altogether in my own arms, now sharing her weight with +Northmour, now scuffling confusedly for the possession of +that dear burden. Why we should have made for my camp +in the Hemlock Den, or how we reached it, are points lost +for ever to my recollection. The first moment at which I +became definitely sure, Clara had been suffered to fall +against the outside of my little tent, Northmour and I were +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page222"></a>222</span> +tumbling together on the ground, and he, with contained +ferocity, was striking for my head with the butt of his +revolver. He had already twice wounded me on the scalp; +and it is to the subsequent loss of blood that I am tempted +to attribute the sudden clearness of my mind.</p> + +<p>I caught him by the wrist.</p> + +<p>“Northmour,” I remember saying, “you can kill me +afterwards. Let us first attend to Clara.”</p> + +<p>He was at that moment uppermost. Scarcely had the +words passed my lips, when he had leaped to his feet and +ran towards the tent; and the next moment he was straining +Clara to his heart and covering her unconscious hands +and face with his caresses.</p> + +<p>“Shame!” I cried. “Shame to you, Northmour!”</p> + +<p>And, giddy though I still was, I struck him repeatedly +upon the head and shoulders.</p> + +<p>He relinquished his grasp, and faced me in the broken +moonlight.</p> + +<p>“I had you under, and I let you go,” said he; “and +now you strike me! Coward!”</p> + +<p>“You are the coward,” I retorted. “Did she wish your +kisses while she was still sensible of what she wanted? Not +she! And now she may be dying; and you waste this +precious time, and abuse her helplessness. Stand aside, +and let me help her.”</p> + +<p>He confronted me for a moment, white and menacing; +then suddenly he stepped aside.</p> + +<p>“Help her, then,” said he.</p> + +<p>I threw myself on my knees beside her, and loosened, +as well as I was able, her dress and corset; but while I was +thus engaged, a grasp descended on my shoulder.</p> + +<p>“Keep your hands off her,” said Northmour fiercely. +“Do you think I have no blood in my veins?”</p> + +<p>“Northmour,” I cried, “if you will neither help her +yourself, nor let me do so, do you know that I shall have to +kill you?”</p> + +<p>“That is better!” he cried. “Let her die also—where’s +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page223"></a>223</span> +the harm? Step aside from that girl, and stand up +to fight!”</p> + +<p>“You will observe,” said I, half-rising, “that I have not +kissed her yet.”</p> + +<p>“I dare you to,” he cried.</p> + +<p>I do not know what possessed me; it was one of the +things I am most ashamed of in my life, though, as my wife +used to say, I knew that my kisses would be always welcome +were she dead or living; down I fell again upon my knees, +parted the hair from her forehead, and, with the dearest +respect, laid my lips for a moment on that cold brow. It +was such a caress as a father might have given; it was such +a one as was not unbecoming from a man soon to die to a +woman already dead.</p> + +<p>“And now,” said I, “I am at your service, Mr Northmour.”</p> + +<p>But I saw, to my surprise, that he had turned his back +upon me.</p> + +<p>“Do you hear?” I asked.</p> + +<p>“Yes,” said he, “I do. If you wish to fight, I am ready. +If not, go on and save Clara. All is one to me.”</p> + +<p>I did not wait to be twice bidden; but, stooping again +over Clara, continued my efforts to revive her. She still +lay white and lifeless; I began to fear that her sweet spirit +had indeed fled beyond recall, and horror and a sense of +utter desolation seized upon my heart. I called her by +name with the most endearing inflections; I chafed and beat +her hands; now I laid her head low, now supported it +against my knee; but all seemed to be in vain, and the lids +still lay heavy on her eyes.</p> + +<p>“Northmour,” I said, “there is my hat. For God’s +sake bring some water from the spring.”</p> + +<p>Almost in a moment he was by my side with the water.</p> + +<p>“I have brought it in my own,” he said. “You do +not grudge me the privilege?”</p> + +<p>“Northmour,” I was beginning to say, as I laved her +head and breast; but he interrupted me savagely.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page224"></a>224</span></p> + +<p>“Oh, you hush up!” he said. “The best thing you can +do is to say nothing.”</p> + +<p>I had certainly no desire to talk, my mind being +swallowed up in concern for my dear love and her condition; +so I continued in silence to do my best towards her +recovery, and, when the hat was empty, returned it to him +with one word—“More.” He had, perhaps, gone several +times upon this errand, when Clara reopened her eyes.</p> + +<p>“Now,” said he, “since she is better, you can spare me, +can you not? I wish you a good-night, Mr. Cassilis.”</p> + +<p>And with that he was gone among the thicket. I made +a fire, for I had now no fear of the Italians, who had even +spared all the little possessions left in my encampment; +and, broken as she was by the excitement and the hideous +catastrophe of the evening, I managed, in one way or +another—by persuasion, encouragement, warmth, and such +simple remedies as I could lay my hand on—to bring her +back to some composure of mind and strength of body.</p> + +<p>Day had already come, when a sharp “Hist!” sounded +from the thicket. I started from the ground; but the +voice of Northmour was heard adding, in the most tranquil +tones: “Come here, Cassilis, and alone; I want to show +you something.”</p> + +<p>I consulted Clara with my eyes, and, receiving her tacit +permission, left her alone, and clambered out of the den. +At some distance off I saw Northmour leaning against an +elder; and, as soon as he perceived me, he began walking +seaward. I had almost overtaken him as he reached the +outskirts of the wood.</p> + +<p>“Look,” said he, pausing.</p> + +<p>A couple of steps more brought me out of the foliage. +The light of the morning lay cold and clear over that well-known +scene. The pavilion was but a blackened wreck; +the roof had fallen in, one of the gables had fallen out; and, +far and near, the face of the links was cicatrised with little +patches of burnt furze. Thick smoke still went straight +upwards in the windless air of the morning, and a great pile +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page225"></a>225</span> +of ardent cinders filled the bare walls of the house, like coals +in an open grate. Close by the islet a schooner yacht lay-to, +and a well-manned boat was pulling vigorously for the +shore.</p> + +<p>“The <i>Red Earl</i>!” I cried. “The <i>Red Earl</i> twelve hours +too late!”</p> + +<p>“Feel in your pocket, Frank. Are you armed?” asked +Northmour.</p> + +<p>I obeyed him, and I think I must have become deadly +pale. My revolver had been taken from me.</p> + +<p>“You see I have you in my power,” he continued. +“I disarmed you last night while you were nursing Clara; +but this morning—here—take your pistol. No thanks!” +he cried, holding up his hand. “I do not like them; that +is the only way you can annoy me now.”</p> + +<p>He began to walk forward across the links to meet the +boat, and I followed a step or two behind. In front of the +pavilion I paused to see where Mr. Huddlestone had fallen; +but there was no sign of him, nor so much as a trace of +blood.</p> + +<p>“Graden Floe,” said Northmour.</p> + +<p>He continued to advance till we had come to the head +of the beach.</p> + +<p>“No farther, please,” said he. “Would you like to +take her to Graden House?”</p> + +<p>“Thank you,” I replied; “I shall try to get her to the +minister’s at Graden-Wester.”</p> + +<p>The prow of the boat here grated on the beach, and a +sailor jumped ashore with a line in his hand.</p> + +<p>“Wait a minute, lads!” cried Northmour; and then +lower and to my private ear: “You had better say nothing +of all this to her,” he added.</p> + +<p>“On the contrary!” I broke out, “she shall know +everything that I can tell.”</p> + +<p>“You do not understand,” he returned, with an air of +great dignity. “It will be nothing to her; she expects it +of me. Good-bye!” he added, with a nod.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page226"></a>226</span></p> + +<p>I offered him my hand.</p> + +<p>“Excuse me,” said he. “It’s small, I know; but I +can’t push things quite so far as that. I don’t wish any +sentimental business, to sit by your hearth a white-haired +wanderer, and all that. Quite the contrary: I hope to +God I shall never again clap eyes on either one of you.”</p> + +<p>“Well, God bless you, Northmour!” I said heartily.</p> + +<p>“Oh, yes,” he returned.</p> + +<p>He walked down the beach; and the man who was +ashore gave him an arm on board, and then shoved off and +leaped into the bows himself. Northmour took the tiller; +the boat rose to the waves, and the oars between the thole-pins +sounded crisp and measured in the morning air.</p> + +<p>They were not yet half-way to the <i>Red Earl</i>, and I was +still watching their progress, when the sun rose out of the +sea.</p> + +<p>One word more, and my story is done. Years after, +Northmour was killed fighting under the colours of Garibaldi +for the liberation of the Tyrol.</p> + + +<hr class="art" /> +<div class="pt2"> </div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page227"></a>227</span></p> +<h3>A LODGING FOR THE NIGHT</h3> + +<h5>A STORY OF FRANCIS VILLON</h5> + +<p class="noind"><span class="sc">It</span> was late in November 1456. The snow fell over Paris +with rigorous, relentless persistence; sometimes the wind +made a sally and scattered it in flying vortices; sometimes +there was a lull, and flake after flake descended out of the +black night air, silent, circuitous, interminable. To poor +people, looking up under moist eyebrows, it seemed a +wonder where it all came from. Master Francis Villon had +propounded an alternative that afternoon at a tavern +window: was it only Pagan Jupiter plucking geese upon +Olympus? or were the holy angels moulting? He was only +a poor Master of Arts, he went on; and as the question somewhat +touched upon divinity, he durst not venture to conclude. +A silly old priest from Montargis, who was among +the company, treated the young rascal to a bottle of wine +in honour of the jest and the grimaces with which it was +accompanied, and swore on his own white beard that he had +been just such another irreverent dog when he was Villon’s +age.</p> + +<p>The air was raw and pointed, but not far below freezing; +and the flakes were large, damp, and adhesive. The whole +city was sheeted up. An army might have marched from +end to end and not a footfall given the alarm. If there +were any belated birds in heaven, they saw the island like a +large white patch, and the bridges like slim white spars, on +the black ground of the river. High up overhead the snow +settled among the tracery of the cathedral towers. Many +a niche was drifted full; many a statue wore a long white +bonnet on its grotesque or sainted head. The gargoyles +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page228"></a>228</span> +had been transformed into great false noses, drooping towards +the point. The crockets were like upright pillows +swollen on one side. In the intervals of the wind there was +a dull sound of dripping about the precincts of the church.</p> + +<p>The cemetery of St. John had taken its own share of the +snow. All the graves were decently covered; tall white +housetops stood around in grave array; worthy burghers +were long ago in bed, be-nightcapped like their domiciles; +there was no light in all the neighbourhood but a little peep +from a lamp that hung swinging in the church choir, and +tossed the shadows to and fro in time to its oscillations. +The clock was hard on ten when the patrol went by with +halberds and a lantern, beating their hands; and they saw +nothing suspicious about the cemetery of St. John.</p> + +<p>Yet there was a small house, backed up against the +cemetery wall, which was still awake, and awake to evil +purpose, in that snoring district. There was not much to +betray it from without; only a stream of warm vapour +from the chimney-top, a patch where the snow melted on +the roof, and a few half-obliterated footprints at the door. +But within, behind the shuttered windows, Master Francis +Villon the poet, and some of the thievish crew with whom +he consorted, were keeping the night alive and passing round +the bottle.</p> + +<p>A great pile of living embers diffused a strong and ruddy +glow from the arched chimney. Before this straddled +Dom Nicolas, the Picardy monk, with his skirts picked up +and his fat legs bared to the comfortable warmth. His +dilated shadow cut the room in half; and the firelight only +escaped on either side of his broad person, and in a little +pool between his outspread feet. His face had the beery, +bruised appearance of the continual drinker’s; it was +covered with a network of congested veins, purple in +ordinary circumstances, but now pale violet, for even with +his back to the fire the cold pinched him on the other side. +His cowl had half-fallen back, and made a strange excrescence +on either side of his bull-neck. So he straddled, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page229"></a>229</span> +grumbling, and cut the room in half with the shadow of his +portly frame.</p> + +<p>On the right, Villon and Guy Tabary were huddled +together over a scrap of parchment; Villon making a ballade +which he was to call the “Ballade of Roast Fish,” and +Tabary spluttering admiration at his shoulder. The poet +was a rag of a man, dark, little, and lean, with hollow cheeks +and thin black locks. He carried his four-and-twenty years +with feverish animation. Greed had made folds about his +eyes, evil smiles had puckered his mouth. The wolf and +pig struggled together in his face. It was an eloquent, +sharp, ugly, earthly countenance. His hands were small +and prehensile, with fingers knotted like a cord; and they +were continually flickering in front of him in violent and +expressive pantomime. As for Tabary, a broad, complacent, +admiring imbecility breathed from his squash nose and +slobbering lips: he had become a thief, just as he might +have become the most decent of burgesses, by the imperious +chance that rules the lives of human geese and human +donkeys.</p> + +<p>At the monk’s other hand, Montigny and Thevenin +Pensete played a game of chance. About the first there +clung some flavour of good birth and training, as about a +fallen angel; something long, lithe, and courtly in the +person; something aquiline and darkling in the face. +Thevenin, poor soul, was in great feather: he had done a +good stroke of knavery that afternoon in the Faubourg St. +Jacques, and all night he had been gaining from Montigny. +A flat smile illuminated his face; his bald head shone rosily +in a garland of red curls; his little protuberant stomach +shook with silent chucklings as he swept in his gains.</p> + +<p>“Doubles or quits?” said Thevenin.</p> + +<p>Montigny nodded grimly.</p> + +<p>“<i>Some may prefer to dine in state</i>,” wrote Villon, “<i>On +bread and cheese on silver plate</i>. Or—or—help me out, +Guido!”</p> + +<p>Tabary giggled.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page230"></a>230</span></p> + +<p>“<i>Or parsley on a golden dish</i>,” scribbled the poet.</p> + +<p>The wind was freshening without; it drove the snow +before it, and sometimes raised its voice in a victorious +whoop, and made sepulchral grumblings in the chimney. +The cold was growing sharper as the night went on. Villon, +protruding his lips, imitated the gust with something between +a whistle and a groan. It was an eerie, uncomfortable +talent of the poet’s, much detested by the Picardy +monk.</p> + +<p>“Can’t you hear it rattle in the gibbet?” said Villon. +“They are all dancing the devil’s jig on nothing, up there. +You may dance, my gallants, you’ll be none the warmer! +Whew! what a gust! Down went somebody just now! +A medlar the fewer on the three-legged medlar-tree!—I say, +Dom Nicolas, it’ll be cold to-night on the St. Denis Road?” +he asked.</p> + +<p>Dom Nicolas winked both his big eyes, and seemed to +choke upon his Adam’s apple. Montfaucon, the great +grisly Paris gibbet, stood hard by the St. Denis Road, and +the pleasantry touched him on the raw. As for Tabary, +he laughed immoderately over the medlars; he had never +heard anything more light-hearted; and he held his sides +and crowed. Villon fetched him a fillip on the nose, which +turned his mirth into an attack of coughing.</p> + +<p>“Oh, stop that row,” said Villon, “and think of rhymes +to ‘fish.’“</p> + +<p>“Doubles or quits?” said Montigny doggedly.</p> + +<p>“With all my heart,” quoth Thevenin.</p> + +<p>“Is there any more in that bottle?” asked the monk.</p> + +<p>“Open another,” said Villon. “How do you ever hope +to fill that big hogshead, your body, with little things like +bottles? And how do you expect to get to heaven? How +many angels, do you fancy, can be spared to carry up a +single monk from Picardy? Or do you think yourself +another Elias—and they’ll send the coach for you?”</p> + +<p>“<i>Hominibus impossibile</i>,” replied the monk, as he filled +his glass.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page231"></a>231</span></p> + +<p>Tabary was in ecstasies.</p> + +<p>Villon filliped his nose again.</p> + +<p>“Laugh at my jokes, if you like,” he said.</p> + +<p>“It was very good,” objected Tabary.</p> + +<p>Villon made a face at him. “Think of rhymes to +’fish’,” he said, “What have you to do with Latin? +You’ll wish you knew none of it at the great assizes, when +the devil calls for Guido Tabary, clericus—the devil with +the hump-back and red-hot finger-nails. Talking of the +devil,” he added in a whisper, “look at Montigny!”</p> + +<p>All three peered covertly at the gamester. He did not +seem to be enjoying his luck. His mouth was a little to a +side; one nostril nearly shut, and the other much inflated. +The black dog was on his back, as people say, in terrifying +nursery metaphor; and he breathed hard under the gruesome +burden.</p> + +<p>“He looks as if he could knife him,” whispered Tabary, +with round eyes.</p> + +<p>The monk shuddered, and turned his face and spread +his open hands to the red embers. It was the cold that +thus affected Dom Nicolas, and not any excess of moral +sensibility.</p> + +<p>“Come now,” said Villon—“about this ballade. How +does it run so far?” And beating time with his hand, he +read it aloud to Tabary.</p> + +<p>They were interrupted at the fourth rhyme by a brief +and fatal movement among the gamesters. The round was +completed, and Thevenin was just opening his mouth to +claim another victory, when Montigny leaped up, swift as +an adder, and stabbed him to the heart. The blow took +effect before he had time to utter a cry, before he had time +to move. A tremor or two convulsed his frame; his hands +opened and shut, his heels rattled on the floor; then his +head rolled backwards over one shoulder with the eyes wide +open; and Thevenin Pensete’s spirit had returned to Him +who made it.</p> + +<p>Every one sprang to his feet; but the business was over +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page232"></a>232</span> +in two twos. The four living fellows looked at each other +in rather a ghastly fashion; the dead man contemplating +a corner of the roof with a singular and ugly leer.</p> + +<p>“My God!” said Tabary; and he began to pray in +Latin.</p> + +<p>Villon broke out into hysterical laughter. He came +a step forward and ducked a ridiculous bow at Thevenin, +and laughed still louder. Then he sat down suddenly, all +of a heap, upon a stool, and continued laughing bitterly as +though he would shake himself to pieces.</p> + +<p>Montigny recovered his composure first.</p> + +<p>“Let’s see what he has about him,” he remarked; +and he picked the dead man’s pockets with a practised +hand, and divided the money into four equal portions on +the table. “There’s for you,” he said.</p> + +<p>The monk received his share with a deep sigh, and a +single stealthy glance at the dead Thevenin, who was beginning +to sink into himself and topple sideways off the +chair.</p> + +<p>“We’re all in for it,” cried Villon, swallowing his mirth. +“It’s a hanging job for every man jack of us that’s here—not +to speak of those who aren’t.” He made a shocking +gesture in the air with his raised right hand, and put out his +tongue and threw his head on one side, so as to counterfeit +the appearance of one who has been hanged. Then he +pocketed his share of the spoil, and executed a shuffle with +his feet as if to restore the circulation.</p> + +<p>Tabary was the last to help himself; he made a dash +at the money, and retired to the other end of the apartment.</p> + +<p>Montigny stuck Thevenin upright in the chair, and drew +out the dagger, which was followed by a jet of blood.</p> + +<p>“You fellows had better be moving,” he said, as he +wiped the blade on his victim’s doublet.</p> + +<p>“I think we had,” returned Villon, with a gulp. +“Damn his fat head!” he broke out. “It sticks in my +throat like phlegm. What right has a man to have red +hair when he is dead?” And he fell all of a heap again +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page233"></a>233</span> +upon the stool, and fairly covered his face with his +hands.</p> + +<p>Montigny and Dom Nicolas laughed aloud, even Tabary +feebly chiming in.</p> + +<p>“Cry baby,” said the monk.</p> + +<p>“I always said he was a woman,” added Montigny with +a sneer. “Sit up, can’t you?” he went on, giving another +shake to the murdered body. “Tread out that fire, +Nick!”</p> + +<p>But Nick was better employed; he was quietly taking +Villon’s purse, as the poet sat, limp and trembling, on the +stool where he had been making a ballade not three minutes +before. Montigny and Tabary dumbly demanded a share +of the booty, which the monk silently promised as he passed +the little bag into the bosom of his gown. In many ways +an artistic nature unfits a man for practical existence.</p> + +<p>No sooner had the theft been accomplished than Villon +shook himself, jumped to his feet, and began helping to +scatter and extinguish the embers. Meanwhile Montigny +opened the door and cautiously peered into the street. +The coast was clear; there was no meddlesome patrol in +sight. Still it was judged wiser to slip out severally; and +as Villon was himself in a hurry to escape from the neighbourhood +of the dead Thevenin, and the rest were in a still +greater hurry to get rid of him before he should discover +the loss of his money, he was the first by general consent to +issue forth into the street.</p> + +<p>The wind had triumphed and swept all the clouds from +heaven. Only a few vapours, as thin as moonlight, fleeted +rapidly across the stars. It was bitter cold; and by a +common optical effect, things seemed almost more definite +than in the broadest daylight. The sleeping city was +absolutely still: a company of white hoods, a field full of +little Alps, below the twinkling stars. Villon cursed his +fortune. Would it were still snowing! Now, wherever he +went, he left an indelible trail behind him on the glittering +streets; wherever he went he was still tethered to the house +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page234"></a>234</span> +by the cemetery of St. John; wherever he went he must +weave, with his own plodding feet, the rope that bound him +to the crime and would bind him to the gallows. The leer +of the dead man came back to him with a new significance. +He snapped his fingers as if to pluck up his own spirits, +and choosing a street at random, stepped boldly forward in +the snow.</p> + +<p>Two things preoccupied him as he went: the aspect of +the gallows at Montfaucon in this bright windy phase of +the night’s existence, for one; and for another, the look of +the dead man with his bald head and garland of red curls. +Both struck cold upon his heart, and he kept quickening his +pace as if he could escape from unpleasant thoughts by +mere fleetness of foot. Sometimes he looked back over his +shoulder with a sudden nervous jerk; but he was the only +moving thing in the white streets, except when the wind +swooped round a corner and threw up the snow, which was +beginning to freeze, in spouts of glittering dust.</p> + +<p>Suddenly he saw, a long way before him, a black clump +and a couple of lanterns. The clump was in motion, and +the lanterns swung as though carried by men walking. It +was a patrol. And though it was merely crossing his line +of march, he judged it wiser to get out of eyeshot as speedily +as he could. He was not in the humour to be challenged, +and he was conscious of making a very conspicuous mark +upon the snow. Just on his left hand there stood a great +hotel, with some turrets and a large porch before the door; +it was half-ruinous, he remembered, and had long stood +empty; and so he made three steps of it and jumped into +the shelter of the porch. It was pretty dark inside, after +the glimmer of the snowy streets, and he was groping forward +with outspread hands, when he stumbled over some +substance which offered an indescribable mixture of resistances, +hard and soft, firm and loose. His heart gave a +leap, and he sprang two steps back and stared dreadfully +at the obstacle. Then he gave a little laugh of relief. It +was only a woman, and she dead. He knelt beside her to +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page235"></a>235</span> +make sure upon this latter point. She was freezing cold, +and rigid like a stick. A little ragged finery fluttered in +the wind about her hair, and her cheeks had been heavily +rouged that same afternoon. Her pockets were quite +empty; but in her stocking, underneath the garter, Villon +found two of the small coins that went by the name of whites. +It was little enough; but it was always something; and the +poet was moved with a deep sense of pathos that she should +have died before she had spent her money. That seemed +to him a dark and pitiable mystery; and he looked from +the coins in his hand to the dead woman, and back again +to the coins, shaking his head over the riddle of man’s life. +Henry V. of England, dying at Vincennes just after he had +conquered France, and this poor jade cut off by a cold +draught in a great man’s doorway, before she had time to +spend her couple of whites—it seemed a cruel way to carry +on the world. Two whites would have taken such a little +while to squander; and yet it would have been one more +good taste in the mouth, one more smack of the lips, before +the devil got the soul, and the body was left to birds and +vermin. He would like to use all his tallow before the light +was blown out and the lantern broken.</p> + +<p>While these thoughts were passing through his mind, +he was feeling, half mechanically, for his purse. Suddenly +his heart stopped beating; a feeling of cold scales passed +up the back of his legs, and a cold blow seemed to fall upon +his scalp. He stood petrified for a moment; then he felt +again with one feverish movement; and then his loss burst +upon him, and he was covered at once with perspiration. +To spendthrifts money is so living and actual—it is such a +thin veil between them and their pleasures! There is only +one limit to their fortune—that of time; and a spendthrift +with only a few crowns is the Emperor of Rome until they +are spent. For such a person to lose his money is to suffer +the most shocking reverse, and fall from heaven to hell, +from all to nothing, in a breath. And all the more if he has +put his head in the halter for it; if he may be hanged to-morrow +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page236"></a>236</span> +for that same purse so dearly earned, so foolishly +departed! Villon stood and cursed; he threw the two +whites into the street; he shook his fist at heaven; he +stamped, and was not horrified to find himself trampling +the poor corpse. Then he began rapidly to retrace his +steps towards the house beside the cemetery. He had forgotten +all fear of the patrol, which was long gone by at any +rate, and had no idea but that of his lost purse. It was in +vain that he looked right and left upon the snow: nothing +was to be seen. He had not dropped it in the streets. Had +it fallen in the house? He would have liked dearly to go in +and see; but the idea of the grisly occupant unmanned him. +And he saw besides, as he drew near, that their efforts to put +out the fire had been unsuccessful; on the contrary, it had +broken into a blaze, and a changeful light played in the +chinks of door and window, and revived his terror for the +authorities and Paris gibbet.</p> + +<p>He returned to the hotel with the porch, and groped +about upon the snow for the money he had thrown away +in his childish passion. But he could only find one white; +the other had probably struck sideways and sunk deeply in. +With a single white in his pocket, all his projects for a +rousing night in some wild tavern vanished utterly away. +And it was not only pleasure that fled laughing from his +grasp; positive discomfort, positive pain, attacked him as +he stood ruefully before the porch. His perspiration had +dried upon him; and though the wind had now fallen, a +binding frost was setting in stronger with every hour, and +he felt benumbed and sick at heart. What was to be done? +Late as was the hour, improbable as was success, he would +try the house of his adopted father, the chaplain of St. +Benoît.</p> + +<p>He ran there all the way, and knocked timidly. There +was no answer. He knocked again and again, taking heart +with every stroke; and at last steps were heard approaching +from within. A barred wicket fell open in the iron-studded +door, and emitted a gush of yellow light.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page237"></a>237</span></p> + +<p>“Hold up your face to the wicket,” said the chaplain +from within.</p> + +<p>“It’s only me,” whimpered Villon.</p> + +<p>“Oh, it’s only you, is it?” returned the chaplain; and +he cursed him with foul unpriestly oaths for disturbing him +at such an hour, and bade him be off to hell, where he came +from.</p> + +<p>“My hands are blue to the wrist,” pleaded Villon; +“my feet are dead and full of twinges: my nose aches with +the sharp air; the cold lies at my heart. I may be dead +before morning. Only this once, father, and before God +I will never ask again!”</p> + +<p>“You should have come earlier,” said the ecclesiastic +coolly. “Young men require a lesson now and then.” +He shut the wicket and retired deliberately into the interior +of the house.</p> + +<p>Villon was beside himself; he beat upon the door with +his hands and feet, and shouted hoarsely after the chaplain.</p> + +<p>“Wormy old fox!” he cried. “If I had my hand +under your twist, I would send you flying headlong into the +bottomless pit.”</p> + +<p>A door shut in the interior, faintly audible to the poet +down long passages. He passed his hand over his mouth +with an oath. And then the humour of the situation struck +him, and he laughed and looked lightly up to heaven, where +the stars seemed to be winking over his discomfiture.</p> + +<p>What was to be done? It looked very like a night in +the frosty streets. The idea of the dead woman popped +into his imagination, and gave him a hearty fright; what +had happened to her in the early night might very well +happen to him before morning. And he so young! and +with such immense possibilities of disorderly amusement +before him! He felt quite pathetic over the notion of his +own fate, as if it had been some one else’s, and made a little +imaginative vignette of the scene in the morning, when they +should find his body.</p> + +<p>He passed all his chances under review, turning the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page238"></a>238</span> +white between his thumb and forefinger. Unfortunately +he was on bad terms with some old friends who would once +have taken pity on him in such a plight. He had lampooned +them in verses, he had beaten and cheated them; +and yet now, when he was in so close a pinch, he thought +there was at least one who might perhaps relent. It was +a chance. It was worth trying at least, and he would go +and see.</p> + +<p>On the way, two little accidents happened to him which +coloured his musings in a very different manner. For, +first, he fell in with the track of a patrol, and walked in it +for some hundred yards, although it lay out of his direction. +And this spirited him up; at least he had confused his trail; +for he was still possessed with the idea of people tracking +him all about Paris over the snow, and collaring him next +morning before he was awake. The other matter affected +him very differently. He passed a street corner, where, +not so long before, a woman and her child had been devoured +by wolves. This was just the kind of weather, he reflected, +when wolves might take it into their heads to enter Paris +again; and a lone man in these deserted streets would run +the chance of something worse than a mere scare. He +stopped and looked upon the place with an unpleasant +interest—it was a centre where several lanes intersected each +other; and he looked down them all one after another, and +held his breath to listen, lest he should detect some galloping +black things on the snow, or hear the sound of howling between +him and the river. He remembered his mother +telling him the story and pointing out the spot, while he was +yet a child. His mother! If he only knew where she lived, +he might make sure at least of shelter. He determined he +would inquire upon the morrow; nay, he would go and see +her too, poor old girl! So thinking, he arrived at his +destination—his last hope for the night.</p> + +<p>The house was quite dark, like its neighbours, and yet +after a few taps, he heard a movement overhead, a door +opening, and a cautious voice asking who was there. The +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page239"></a>239</span> +poet named himself in a loud whisper, and waited, not without +some trepidation, the result. Nor had he to wait long. +A window was suddenly opened, and a pailful of slops +splashed down upon the doorstep. Villon had not been +unprepared for something of the sort, and had put himself +as much in shelter as the nature of the porch admitted; +but for all that, he was deplorably drenched below the waist. +His hose began to freeze almost at once. Death from cold +and exposure stared him in the face; he remembered he +was of phthisical tendency, and began coughing tentatively. +But the gravity of the danger steadied his nerves. He +stopped a few hundred yards from the door where he had +been so rudely used, and reflected with his finger to his nose. +He could only see one way of getting a lodging, and that was +to take it. He had noticed a house not far away, which +looked as if it might be easily broken into, and thither he +betook himself promptly, entertaining himself on the way +with the idea of a room still hot, with a table still loaded +with the remains of supper, where he might pass the rest of +the black hours, and whence he should issue, on the morrow, +with an armful of valuable plate. He even considered on +what viands and what wines he should prefer; and as he was +calling the roll of his favourite dainties, roast fish presented +itself to his mind with an odd mixture of amusement and +horror.</p> + +<p>“I shall never finish that ballade,” he thought to himself; +and then, with another shudder at the recollection, +“Oh, damn his fat head!” he repeated fervently, and spat +upon the snow.</p> + +<p>The house in question looked dark at first sight; but +as Villon made a preliminary inspection in search of the +handiest point of attack, a little twinkle of light caught his +eye from behind a curtained window.</p> + +<p>“The devil!” he thought. “People awake! Some +student or some saint, confound the crew! Can’t they get +drunk and lie in bed snoring like their neighbours! What’s +the good of curfew, and poor devils of bell-ringers jumping +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page240"></a>240</span> +at a rope’s-end in bell-towers? What’s the use of day, if +people sit up all night? The gripes to them!” He grinned +as he saw where his logic was leading him. “Every man +to his business, after all,” added he, “and if they’re awake, +by the lord, I may come by a supper honestly for this once, +and cheat the devil.”</p> + +<p>He went boldly to the door and knocked with an assured +hand. On both previous occasions, he had knocked timidly +and with some dread of attracting notice; but now, when +he had just discarded the thought of a burglarious entry, +knocking at a door seemed a mighty simple and innocent +proceeding. The sound of his blows echoed through the +house with thin, phantasmal reverberations, as though it +were quite empty; but these had scarcely died away before +a measured tread drew near, a couple of bolts were withdrawn, +and one wing was opened broadly, as though no +guile or fear of guile were known to those within. A tall +figure of a man, muscular and spare, but a little bent, confronted +Villon. The head was in massive bulk, but finely +sculptured; the nose blunt at the bottom, but refining upward +to where it joined a pair of strong and honest eyebrows; +the mouth and eyes surrounded with delicate +markings, and the whole face based upon a thick white +beard, boldly and squarely trimmed. Seen as it was +by the light of a flickering hand-lamp, it looked perhaps +nobler than it had a right to do; but it was a fine face, +honourable rather than intelligent, strong, simple, and +righteous.</p> + +<p>“You knock late, sir,” said the old man in resonant, +courteous tones.</p> + +<p>Villon cringed, and brought up many servile words of +apology; at a crisis of this sort the beggar was uppermost +in him, and the man of genius hid his head with confusion.</p> + +<p>“You are cold,” repeated the old man, “and hungry? +Well, step in.” And he ordered him into the house with a +noble enough gesture.</p> + +<p>“Some great seigneur,” thought Villon, as his host +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page241"></a>241</span> +setting down the lamp on the flagged pavement of the entry, +shot the bolts once more into their places.</p> + +<p>“You will pardon me if I go in front,” he said, when +this was done; and he preceded the poet upstairs into a +large apartment, warmed with a pan of charcoal and lit +by a great lamp hanging from the roof. It was very bare +of furniture: only some gold plate on a sideboard; some +folios; and a stand of armour between the windows. Some +smart tapestry hung upon the walls, representing the crucifixion +of our Lord in one piece, and in another a scene of +shepherds and shepherdesses by a running stream. Over +the chimney was a shield of arms.</p> + +<p>“Will you seat yourself,” said the old man, “and forgive +me if I leave you? I am alone in my house to-night, +and if you are to eat I must forage for you myself.”</p> + +<p>No sooner was his host gone than Villon leaped from +the chair on which he had just seated himself, and began +examining the room, with the stealth and passion of a cat. +He weighed the gold flagons in his hand, opened all the +folios, and investigated the arms upon the shield, and the +stuff with which the seats were lined. He raised the window +curtains, and saw that the windows were set with rich +stained glass in figures, so far as he could see, of martial +import. Then he stood in the middle of the room, drew a +long breath, and retaining it with puffed cheeks, looked +round and round him, turning on his heels, as if to impress +every feature of the apartment on his memory.</p> + +<p>“Seven pieces of plate,” he said. “If there had been +ten, I would have risked it. A fine house, and a fine old +master, so help me all the saints!”</p> + +<p>And just then, hearing the old man’s tread returning +along the corridor, he stole back to his chair, and began +humbly toasting his wet legs before the charcoal pan.</p> + +<p>His entertainer had a plate of meat in one hand and a +jug of wine in the other. He set down the plate upon the +table, motioning Villon to draw in his chair, and going to +the sideboard, brought back two goblets, which he filled.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page242"></a>242</span></p> + +<p>“I drink to your better fortune,” he said, gravely touching +Villon’s cup with his own.</p> + +<p>“To our better acquaintance,” said the poet, growing +bold. A mere man of the people would have been awed +by the courtesy of the old seigneur, but Villon was +hardened in that matter; he had made mirth for great +lords before now, and found them as black rascals as himself. +And so he devoted himself to the viands with a +ravenous gusto, while the old man, leaning backward, +watched him with steady, curious eyes.</p> + +<p>“You have blood on your shoulder, my man,” he +said.</p> + +<p>Montigny must have laid his wet right hand upon him +as he left the house. He cursed Montigny in his heart.</p> + +<p>“It was none of my shedding,” he stammered.</p> + +<p>“I had not supposed so,” returned his host quietly. +“A brawl?”</p> + +<p>“Well, something of that sort,” Villon admitted with a +quaver.</p> + +<p>“Perhaps a fellow murdered?”</p> + +<p>“Oh, no—not murdered,” said the poet, more and +more confused. “It was all fair play—murdered by +accident. I had no hand in it, God strike me dead!” he +added fervently.</p> + +<p>“One rogue the fewer, I daresay,” observed the master +of the house.</p> + +<p>“You may dare to say that,” agreed Villon, infinitely +relieved. “As big a rogue as there is between here and +Jerusalem. He turned up his toes like a lamb. But it +was a nasty thing to look at. I daresay you’ve seen dead +men in your time, my lord?” he added, glancing at the +armour.</p> + +<p>“Many,” said the old man. “I have followed the wars, +as you imagine.”</p> + +<p>Villon laid down his knife and fork, which he had just +taken up again.</p> + +<p>“Were any of them bald?” he asked.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page243"></a>243</span></p> + +<p>“Oh yes, and with hair as white as mine.”</p> + +<p>“I don’t think I should mind the white so much,” said +Villon. “His was red.” And he had a return of his +shuddering and tendency to laughter, which he drowned +with a great draught of wine. “I’m a little put out when +I think of it,” he went on. “I knew him—damn him! +And then the cold gives a man fancies—or the fancies give +a man cold, I don’t know which.”</p> + +<p>“Have you any money?” asked the old man.</p> + +<p>“I have one white,” returned the poet, laughing. “I +got it out of a dead jade’s stocking in a porch. She was as +dead as Cæsar, poor wench, and as cold as a church, with +bits of ribbon sticking in her hair. This is a hard world in +winter for wolves and wenches and poor rogues like +me.”</p> + +<p>“I,” said the old man, “am Enguerrand de la Feuillée, +seigneur de Brisetout, bailly du Patatrac. Who and what +may you be?”</p> + +<p>Villon rose and made a suitable reverence. “I am +called Francis Villon,” he said, “a poor Master of Arts of +this university. I know some Latin, and a deal of vice. I +can make chansons, ballades, lais, virelais, and roundels, +and I am very fond of wine. I was born in a garret, and I +shall not improbably die upon the gallows. I may add, +my lord, that from this night forward I am your lordship’s +very obsequious servant to command.”</p> + +<p>“No servant of mine,” said the knight; “my guest for +this evening, and no more.”</p> + +<p>“A very grateful guest,” said Villon politely; and he +drank in dumb show to his entertainer.</p> + +<p>“You are shrewd,” began the old man, tapping his forehead, +“very shrewd; you have learning; you are a clerk; +and yet you take a small piece of money off a dead woman +in the street. Is it not a kind of theft?”</p> + +<p>“It is a kind of theft much practised in the wars, my +lord.”</p> + +<p>“The wars are the field of honour,” returned the old +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page244"></a>244</span> +man proudly. “There a man plays his life upon the cast; +he fights in the name of his lord the king, his Lord God, and +all their lordships the holy saints and angels.”</p> + +<p>“Put it,” said Villon, “that I were really a thief, should +I not play my life also, and against heavier odds?”</p> + +<p>“For gain, but not for honour.”</p> + +<p>“Gain?” repeated Villon, with a shrug. “Gain! +The poor fellow wants supper, and takes it. So does the +soldier in a campaign. Why, what are all these requisitions +we hear so much about? If they are not gain to those +who take them, they are loss enough to the others. The +men-at-arms drink by a good fire, while the burgher bites +his nails to buy them wine and wood. I have seen a good +many ploughmen swinging on trees about the country; ay, +I have seen thirty on one elm, and a very poor figure they +made; and when I asked some one how all these came +to be hanged, I was told it was because they could not +scrape together enough crowns to satisfy the men-at-arms.”</p> + +<p>“These things are a necessity of war, which the low-born +must endure with constancy. It is true that some +captains drive overhard; there are spirits in every rank not +easily moved by pity; and indeed many follow arms who +are no better than brigands.”</p> + +<p>“You see,” said the poet, “you cannot separate the +soldier from the brigand; and what is a thief but an isolated +brigand with circumspect manners? I steal a couple of +mutton chops, without so much as disturbing people’s +sleep; the farmer grumbles a bit, but sups none the less +wholesomely on what remains. You come up blowing +gloriously on a trumpet, take away the whole sheep, and +beat the farmer pitifully into the bargain. I have no +trumpet; I am only Tom, Dick, or Harry; I am a rogue +and a dog, and hanging’s too good for me—with all my +heart; but just you ask the farmer which of us he prefers, +just find out which of us he lies awake to curse on cold +nights.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page245"></a>245</span></p> + +<p>“Look at us two,” said his lordship. “I am old, strong, +and honoured. If I were turned from my house to-morrow, +hundreds would be proud to shelter me. Poor people +would go out and pass the night in the streets with their +children if I merely hinted that I wished to be alone. And +I find you up, wandering homeless, and picking farthings off +dead women by the wayside! I fear no man and nothing; +I have seen you tremble and lose countenance at a word. +I wait God’s summons contentedly in my own house, or, +if it please the king to call me out again, upon the field of +battle. You look for the gallows; a rough, swift death, +without hope or honour. Is there no difference between +these two?”</p> + +<p>“As far as to the moon,” Villon acquiesced. “But if I +had been born lord of Brisetout, and you had been the poor +scholar Francis, would the difference have been any the less? +Should not I have been warming my knees at this charcoal +pan, and would not you have been groping for farthings in +the snow? Should not I have been the soldier, and you the +thief?”</p> + +<p>“A thief!” cried the old man. “I a thief! If you +understood your words, you would repent them.”</p> + +<p>Villon turned out his hands with a gesture of inimitable +impudence. “If your lordship had done me the honour +to follow my argument!” he said.</p> + +<p>“I do you too much honour in submitting to your +presence,” said the knight. “Learn to curb your tongue +when you speak with old and honourable men, or some one +hastier than I may reprove you in a sharper fashion.” And +he rose and paced the lower end of the apartment, struggling +with anger and antipathy. Villon surreptitiously refilled +his cup, and settled himself more comfortably in the chair, +crossing his knees and leaning his head upon one hand and +the elbow against the back of the chair. He was now replete +and warm; and he was in nowise frightened for his +host, having gauged him as justly as was possible between +two such different characters. The night was far spent, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page246"></a>246</span> +and in a very comfortable fashion after all; and he felt +morally certain of a safe departure on the morrow.</p> + +<p>“Tell me one thing,” said the old man, pausing in his +walk. “Are you really a thief?”</p> + +<p>“I claim the sacred rights of hospitality,” returned the +poet. “My lord, I am.”</p> + +<p>“You are very young,” the knight continued.</p> + +<p>“I should never have been so old,” replied Villon, +showing his fingers, “if I had not helped myself with these +ten talents. They have been my nursing-mothers and my +nursing-fathers.”</p> + +<p>“You may still repent and change.”</p> + +<p>“I repent daily,” said the poet. “There are few people +more given to repentance than poor Francis. As for change, +let somebody change my circumstances. A man must continue +to eat, if it were only that he may continue to repent.”</p> + +<p>“The change must begin in the heart,” returned the +old man solemnly.</p> + +<p>“My dear lord,” answered Villon, “do you really fancy +that I steal for pleasure? I hate stealing, like any other +piece of work or of danger. My teeth chatter when I see a +gallows. But I must eat, I must drink, I must mix in +society of some sort. What the devil! Man is not a solitary +animal—<i>Cui Deus fœminam tradit</i>. Make me king’s +pantler—make me abbot of St. Denis; make me bailly of +the Patatrac; and then I shall be changed indeed. But +as long as you leave me the poor scholar Francis Villon, +without a farthing, why, of course, I remain the same.”</p> + +<p>“The grace of God is all-powerful.”</p> + +<p>“I should be a heretic to question it,” said Francis. +“It has made you lord of Brisetout and bailly of the +Patatrac; it has given me nothing but the quick wits under +my hat and these ten toes upon my hands. May I help +myself to wine? I thank you respectfully. By God’s +grace, you have a very superior vintage.”</p> + +<p>The lord of Brisetout walked to and fro with his hands +behind his back. Perhaps he was not yet quite settled in +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page247"></a>247</span> +his mind about the parallel between thieves and soldiers; +perhaps Villon had interested him by some cross-thread of +sympathy; perhaps his wits were simply muddled by so +much unfamiliar reasoning; but whatever the cause, he +somehow yearned to convert the young man to a better +way of thinking, and could not make up his mind to drive +him forth again into the street.</p> + +<p>“There is something more than I can understand in +this,” he said at length. “Your mouth is full of subtleties, +and the devil has led you very far astray; but the devil is +only a very weak spirit before God’s truth, and all his +subtleties vanish at a word of true honour, like darkness at +morning. Listen to me once more. I learned long ago +that a gentleman should live chivalrously and lovingly to +God, and the king, and his lady; and though I have seen +many strange things done, I have still striven to command +my ways upon that rule. It is not only written in all noble +histories, but in every man’s heart, if he will take care to +read. You speak of food and wine, and I know very well +that hunger is a difficult trial to endure; but you do not +speak of other wants; you say nothing of honour, of faith +to God and other men, of courtesy, of love without reproach. +It may be that I am not very wise—and yet I think I am—but +you seem to me like one who has lost his way and +made a great error in life. You are attending to the little +wants, and you have totally forgotten the great and only +real ones, like a man who should be doctoring a toothache +on the Judgment Day. For such things as honour and love +and faith are not only nobler than food and drink, but indeed +I think that we desire them more, and suffer more +sharply for their absence. I speak to you as I think you +will most easily understand me. Are you not, while careful +to fill your belly, disregarding another appetite in your +heart, which spoils the pleasure of your life and keeps you +continually wretched?”</p> + +<p>Villon was sensibly nettled under all this sermonising. +“You think I have no sense of honour!” he cried. “I’m +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page248"></a>248</span> +poor enough, God knows! It’s hard to see rich people with +their gloves, and you blowing in your hands. An empty +belly is a bitter thing, although you speak so lightly of it. +If you had had as many as I, perhaps you would change +your tune. Any way I’m a thief—make the most of that—but +I’m not a devil from hell, God strike me dead! I +would have you to know I’ve an honour of my own, as good +as yours, though I don’t prate about it all day long, as if it +was a God’s miracle to have any. It seems quite natural +to me; I keep it in its box till it’s wanted. Why now, look +you here, how long have I been in this room with you? Did +you not tell me you were alone in the house? Look at your +gold plate! You’re strong, if you like, but you’re old and +unarmed, and I have my knife. What did I want but a +jerk of the elbow and here would have been you with the +cold steel in your bowels, and there would have been me, +linking in the streets, with an armful of gold cups! Did +you suppose I hadn’t wit enough to see that? And I +scorned the action. There are your damned goblets, as +safe as in a church; there are you, with your heart ticking +as good as new; and here am I, ready to go out again as +poor as I came in, with my one white that you threw in my +teeth! And you think I have no sense of honour—God +strike me dead!”</p> + +<p>The old man stretched out his right arm. “I will tell +you what you are,” he said. “You are a rogue, my man, +an impudent and a black-hearted rogue and vagabond. +I have passed an hour with you. Oh! believe me, I feel +myself disgraced! And you have eaten and drunk at my +table. But now I am sick at your presence; the day has +come, and the night-bird should be off to his roost. Will +you go before, or after?”</p> + +<p>“Which you please,” returned the poet, rising. “I +believe you to be strictly honourable.” He thoughtfully +emptied his cup. “I wish I could add you were intelligent,” +he went on, knocking on his head with his knuckles. “Age, +age! the brains stiff and rheumatic.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page249"></a>249</span></p> + +<p>The old man preceded him from a point of self-respect; +Villon followed, whistling, with his thumbs in his girdle.</p> + +<p>“God pity you,” said the lord of Brisetout at the door.</p> + +<p>“Good-bye, papa,” returned Villon, with a yawn. +“Many thanks for the cold mutton.”</p> + +<p>The door closed behind him. The dawn was breaking +over the white roofs. A chill, uncomfortable morning +ushered in the day. Villon stood and heartily stretched +himself in the middle of the road.</p> + +<p>“A very dull old gentleman,” he thought. “I wonder +what his goblets may be worth.”</p> + + +<hr class="art" /> +<div class="pt2"> </div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page250"></a>250</span></p> +<h3>THE SIRE DE MALÉTROIT’S DOOR</h3> + +<p class="noind"><span class="sc">Denis de Beaulieu</span> was not yet two-and-twenty, but he +counted himself a grown man, and a very accomplished +cavalier into the bargain. Lads were early formed in that +rough, war-faring epoch; and when one has been in a +pitched battle and a dozen raids, has killed one’s man in +an honourable fashion, and knows a thing or two of strategy +and mankind, a certain swagger in the gait is surely to be +pardoned. He had put up his horse with due care, and +supped with due deliberation; and then, in a very agreeable +frame of mind, went out to pay a visit in the grey of the +evening. It was not a very wise proceeding on the young +man’s part. He would have done better to remain beside +the fire or go decently to bed. For the town was full of the +troops of Burgundy and England under a mixed command; +and though Denis was there on safe-conduct, his safe-conduct +was like to serve him little on a chance encounter.</p> + +<p>It was September 1429; the weather had fallen sharp; +a flighty piping wind, laden with showers, beat about the +township; and the dead leaves ran riot along the streets. +Here and there a window was already lighted up; and the +noise of men-at-arms making merry over supper within +came forth in fits and was swallowed up and carried away +by the wind. The night fell swiftly; the flag of England, +fluttering on the spire-top, grew ever fainter and fainter +against the flying clouds—a black speck like a swallow in +the tumultuous, leaden chaos of the sky. As the night fell +the wind rose, and began to hoot under archways and roar +amid the tree-tops in the valley below the town.</p> + +<p>Denis de Beaulieu walked fast, and was soon knocking +at his friend’s door; but though he promised himself to +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page251"></a>251</span> +stay only a little while and make an early return, his +welcome was so pleasant, and he found so much to delay +him, that it was already long past midnight before he said +good-bye upon the threshold. The wind had fallen again +in the meanwhile; the night was as black as the grave; +not a star, nor a glimmer of moonshine, slipped through the +canopy of cloud. Denis was ill-acquainted with the intricate +lanes of Château Landon; even by daylight he had +found some trouble in picking his way; and in this absolute +darkness he soon lost it altogether. He was certain of one +thing only—to keep mounting the hill; for his friend’s +house lay at the lower end, or tail, of Château Landon, while +the inn was up at the head, under the great church spire. +With this clue to go upon he stumbled and groped forward, +now breathing more freely in open places where there was +a good slice of sky overhead, now feeling along the wall in +stifling closes. It is an eerie and mysterious position to be +thus submerged in opaque blackness in an almost unknown +town. The silence is terrifying in its possibilities. The +touch of cold window-bars to the exploring hand startles +the man like the touch of a toad; the inequalities of the +pavement shake his heart into his mouth; a piece of denser +darkness threatens an ambuscade or a chasm in the pathway; +and where the air is brighter, the houses put on strange +and bewildering appearances, as if to lead him farther from +his way. For Denis, who had to regain his inn without +attracting notice, there was real danger as well as mere discomfort +in the walk; and he went warily and boldly at +once, and at every corner paused to make an observation.</p> + +<p>He had been for some time threading a lane so narrow +that he could touch a wall with either hand, when it began +to open out and go sharply downward. Plainly this lay +no longer in the direction of his inn; but the hope of a little +more light tempted him forward to reconnoitre. The lane +ended in a terrace with a bartizan wall, which gave an outlook +between high houses, as out of an embrasure, into the +valley lying dark and formless several hundred feet below. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page252"></a>252</span> +Denis looked down, and could discern a few tree-tops waving +and a single speck of brightness where the river ran across a +weir. The weather was clearing up, and the sky had +lightened, so as to show the outline of the heavier clouds and +the dark margin of the hills. By the uncertain glimmer, +the house on his left hand should be a place of some pretensions; +it was surmounted by several pinnacles and turret-tops; +the round stern of a chapel, with a fringe of flying +buttresses, projected boldly from the main block; and the +door was sheltered under a deep porch carved with figures +and overhung by two long gargoyles. The windows of the +chapel gleamed through their intricate tracery with a light +as of many tapers, and threw out the buttresses and the +peaked roof in a more intense blackness against the sky. +It was plainly the hotel of some great family of the neighbourhood; +and as it reminded Denis of a town-house of his +own at Bourges, he stood for some time gazing up at it and +mentally gauging the skill of the architects and the consideration +of the two families.</p> + +<p>There seemed to be no issue to the terrace but the lane +by which he had reached it; he could only retrace his steps, +but he had gained some notion of his whereabouts, and +hoped by this means to hit the main thoroughfare and +speedily regain the inn. He was reckoning without that +chapter of accidents which was to make this night memorable +above all others in his career; for he had not gone back +above a hundred yards before he saw a light coming to meet +him, and heard loud voices speaking together in the echoing +narrows of the lane. It was a party of men-at-arms going +the night-round with torches. Denis assured himself that +they had all been making free with the wine-bowl, and were +in no mood to be particular about safe-conducts or the +niceties of chivalrous war. It was as like as not that they +would kill him like a dog and leave him where he fell. The +situation was inspiriting, but nervous. Their own torches +would conceal him from sight, he reflected; and he hoped +that they would drown the noise of his footsteps with their +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page253"></a>253</span> +own empty voices. If he were but fleet and silent, he might +evade their notice altogether.</p> + +<p>Unfortunately, as he turned to beat a retreat, his foot +rolled upon a pebble; he fell against the wall with an ejaculation, +and his sword rang loudly on the stones. Two or +three voices demanded who went there—some in French, +some in English; but Denis made no reply, and ran the +faster down the lane. Once upon the terrace, he paused to +look back. They still kept calling after him, and just then +began to double the pace in pursuit, with a considerable +clank of armour, and great tossing of the torchlight to and +fro in the narrow jaws of the passage.</p> + +<p>Denis cast a look around and darted into the porch. +There he might escape observation, or—if that were too +much to expect—was in a capital posture whether for parley +or defence. So thinking, he drew his sword and tried to +set his back against the door. To his surprise, it yielded +behind his weight; and though he turned in a moment, +continued to swing back on oiled and noiseless hinges, until +it stood wide open on a black interior. When things fall +out opportunely for the person concerned, he is not apt to +be critical about the how or why, his own immediate +personal convenience seeming a sufficient reason for the +strangest oddities and revolutions in our sublunary things; +and so Denis, without a moment’s hesitation, stepped within +and partly closed the door behind him to conceal his place +of refuge. Nothing was further from his thoughts than to +close it altogether; but for some inexplicable reason—perhaps +by a spring or a weight—the ponderous mass of oak +whipped itself out of his fingers and clanked to, with a +formidable rumble and noise like the falling of an automatic +bar.</p> + +<p>The round, at that very moment, debouched upon the +terrace, and proceeded to summon him with shouts and +curses. He heard them ferreting in the dark corners; the +stock of a lance even rattled along the outer surface of the +door behind which he stood; but these gentlemen were in +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page254"></a>254</span> +too high a humour to be long delayed, and soon made off +down a corkscrew pathway which had escaped Denis’s +observation, and passed out of sight and hearing along the +battlements of the town.</p> + +<p>Denis breathed again. He gave them a few minutes’ +grace for fear of accidents, and then groped about for some +means of opening the door and slipping forth again. The +inner surface was quite smooth, not a handle, not a moulding, +not a projection of any sort. He got his finger-nails +round the edges and pulled, but the mass was immovable. +He shook it; it was as firm as a rock. Denis de Beaulieu +frowned and gave vent to a little noiseless whistle. What +ailed the door? he wondered. Why was it open? How +came it to shut so easily and so effectually after him? +There was something obscure and underhand about all this +that was little to the young man’s fancy. It looked like a +snare; and yet who could suppose a snare in such a quiet +by-street and in a house of so prosperous and even noble an +exterior? And yet—snare or no snare, intentionally or +unintentionally—here he was, prettily trapped; and for +the life of him he could see no way out of it again. The +darkness began to weigh upon him. He gave ear; all was +silent without, but within and close by he seemed to catch +a faint sighing, a faint sobbing rustle, a little stealthy creak—as +though many persons were at his side, holding themselves +quite still, and governing even their respiration with +the extreme of slyness. The idea went to his vitals with a +shock, and he faced about suddenly as if to defend his life. +Then, for the first time, he became aware of a light about +the level of his eyes, and at some distance in the interior +of the house—a vertical thread of light, widening towards +the bottom, such as might escape between two wings of arras +over a doorway. To see anything was a relief to Denis; +it was like a piece of solid ground to a man labouring in a +morass; his mind seized upon it with avidity; and he stood +staring at it and trying to piece together some logical conception +of his surroundings. Plainly there was a flight of +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page255"></a>255</span> +steps ascending from his own level to that of this illuminated +doorway; and indeed he thought he could make out +another thread of light, as fine as a needle, and as faint as +phosphorescence, which might very well be reflected along +the polished wood of a handrail. Since he had begun to +suspect that he was not alone, his heart had continued to +beat with smothering violence, and an intolerable desire +for action of any sort had possessed itself of his spirit. +He was in deadly peril, he believed. What could be more +natural than to mount the staircase, lift the curtain, and +confront his difficulty at once? At least he would be dealing +with something tangible; at least he would be no longer +in the dark. He stepped slowly forward with outstretched +hands, until his foot struck the bottom step; then he rapidly +scaled the stairs, stood for a moment to compose his expression, +lifted the arras, and went in.</p> + +<p>He found himself in a large apartment of polished stone. +There were three doors; one on each of three sides; all +similarly curtained with tapestry. The fourth side was +occupied by two large windows and a great stone chimney-piece, +carved with the arms of the Malétroits. Denis +recognised the bearings, and was gratified to find himself +in such good hands. The room was strongly illuminated; +but it contained little furniture except a heavy table and a +chair or two, the hearth was innocent of fire, and the pavement +was but sparsely strewn with rushes clearly many days +old.</p> + +<p>On a high chair beside the chimney, and directly facing +Denis as he entered, sat a little old gentleman in a fur +tippet. He sat with his legs crossed and his hands folded, +and a cup of spiced wine stood by his elbow on a bracket +on the wall. His countenance had a strongly masculine +cast; not properly human, but such as we see in the bull, +the goat, or the domestic boar; something equivocal and +wheedling, something greedy, brutal, and dangerous. The +upper lip was inordinately full, as though swollen by a blow +or a toothache; and the smile, the peaked eyebrows, and +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page256"></a>256</span> +the small, strong eyes were quaintly and almost comically +evil in expression. Beautiful white hair hung straight all +round his head, like a saint’s, and fell in a single curl upon +the tippet. His beard and moustache were the pink of +venerable sweetness. Age, probably in consequence of +inordinate precautions, had left no mark upon his hands; +and the Malétroit hand was famous. It would be difficult +to imagine anything at once so fleshy and so delicate in +design; the taper, sensual fingers were like those of one +of Leonardo’s women; the fork of the thumb made a dimple +protuberance when closed; the nails were perfectly shaped, +and of a dead, surprising whiteness. It rendered his aspect +tenfold more redoubtable, that a man with hands like these +should keep them devoutly folded in his lap like a virgin +martyr—that a man with so intense and startling an expression +of face should sit patiently on his seat and contemplate +people with an unwinking stare, like a god, or a +god’s statue. His quiescence seemed ironical and treacherous, +it fitted so poorly with his looks.</p> + +<p>Such was Alain, Sire de Malétroit.</p> + +<p>Denis and he looked silently at each other for a second +or two.</p> + +<p>“Pray step in,” said the Sire de Malétroit. “I have +been expecting you all the evening.”</p> + +<p>He had not risen, but he accompanied his words with a +smile and a slight but courteous inclination of the head. +Partly from the smile, partly from the strange musical +murmur with which the Sire prefaced his observation, +Denis felt a strong shudder of disgust go through his marrow. +And what with disgust and honest confusion of mind, he +could scarcely get words together in reply.</p> + +<p>“I fear,” he said, “that this is a double accident. I +am not the person you suppose me. It seems you were +looking for a visit; but for my part, nothing was further +from my thoughts—nothing could be more contrary to my +wishes—than this intrusion.”</p> + +<p>“Well, well,” replied the old gentleman indulgently, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page257"></a>257</span> +“here you are, which is the main point. Seat yourself, my +friend, and put yourself entirely at your ease. We shall +arrange our little affairs presently.”</p> + +<p>Denis perceived that the matter was still complicated +with some misconception, and he hastened to continue his +explanations.</p> + +<p>“Your door ——” he began.</p> + +<p>“About my door?” asked the other, raising his peaked +eyebrows. “A little piece of ingenuity.” And he shrugged +his shoulders. “A hospitable fancy! By your own +account, you were not desirous of making my acquaintance. +We old people look for such reluctance now and then; and +when it touches our honour, we cast about until we find +some way of overcoming it. You arrive uninvited, but +believe me, very welcome.”</p> + +<p>“You persist in error, sir,” said Denis. “There can be +no question between you and me. I am a stranger in this +countryside. My name is Denis, damoiseau de Beaulieu. +If you see me in your house, it is only ——“</p> + +<p>“My young friend,” interrupted the other, “you will +permit me to have my own ideas on that subject. They +probably differ from yours at the present moment,” he +added, with a leer, “but time will show which of us is in +the right.”</p> + +<p>Denis was convinced he had to do with a lunatic. He +seated himself with a shrug, content to wait the upshot; +and a pause ensued, during which he thought he could distinguish +a hurried gabbling as of prayer from behind the +arras immediately opposite him. Sometimes there seemed +to be but one person engaged, sometimes two; and the +vehemence of the voice, low as it was, seemed to indicate +either haste or an agony of spirit. It occurred to him that +this piece of tapestry covered the entrance to the chapel he +had noticed from without.</p> + +<p>The old gentleman meanwhile surveyed Denis from +head to foot with a smile, and from time to time emitted +little noises like a bird or a mouse, which seemed to indicate +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page258"></a>258</span> +a high degree of satisfaction. This state of matters became +rapidly insupportable; and Denis, to put an end to it, +remarked politely that the wind had gone down.</p> + +<p>The old gentleman fell into a fit of silent laughter, so +prolonged and violent that he became quite red in the face. +Denis got upon his feet at once, and put on his hat with a +flourish.</p> + +<p>“Sir,” he said, “if you are in your wits, you have +affronted me grossly. If you are out of them, I flatter +myself I can find better employment for my brains than to +talk with lunatics. My conscience is clear; you have made +a fool of me from the first moment; you have refused to +hear my explanations; and now there is no power under +God will make me stay here any longer; and if I cannot +make my way out in a more decent fashion, I will hack your +door in pieces with my sword.”</p> + +<p>The Sire de Malétroit raised his right hand and wagged +it at Denis with the fore and little fingers extended.</p> + +<p>“My dear nephew,” he said, “sit down.”</p> + +<p>“Nephew!” retorted Denis, “you lie in your throat“; +and he snapped his fingers in his face.</p> + +<p>“Sit down, you rogue!” cried the old gentleman, in a +sudden, harsh voice, like the barking of a dog. “Do you +fancy,” he went on, “that when I made my little contrivance +for the door I had stopped short with that? If you +prefer to be bound hand and foot till your bones ache, rise +and try to go away. If you choose to remain a free young +buck, agreeably conversing with an old gentleman—why, +sit where you are in peace, and God be with you.”</p> + +<p>“Do you mean I am a prisoner?” demanded Denis.</p> + +<p>“I state the facts,” replied the other. “I would rather +leave the conclusion to yourself.”</p> + +<p>Denis sat down again. Externally he managed to keep +pretty calm; but within, he was now boiling with anger, +now chilled with apprehension. He no longer felt convinced +that he was dealing with a madman. And if the old +gentleman was sane, what, in God’s name, had he to look +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page259"></a>259</span> +for? What absurd or tragical adventure had befallen him? +What countenance was he to assume?</p> + +<p>While he was thus unpleasantly reflecting, the arras +that overhung the chapel door was raised, and a tall priest +in his robes came forth, and; giving a long, keen stare at +Denis, said something in an undertone to Sire de Malétroit.</p> + +<p>“She is in a better frame of spirit?” asked the latter.</p> + +<p>“She is more resigned, messire,” replied the priest.</p> + +<p>“Now the Lord help her, she is hard to please!” sneered +the old gentleman. “A likely stripling—not ill-born—and +of her own choosing too? Why, what more would the +jade have?”</p> + +<p>“The situation is not usual for a young damsel,” said +the other, “and somewhat trying to her blushes.”</p> + +<p>“She should have thought of that before she began the +dance! It was none of my choosing, God knows that: +but since she is in it, by Our Lady, she shall carry it to the +end.” And then addressing Denis, “Monsieur de Beaulieu,” +he asked, “may I present you to my niece? She +has been waiting your arrival, I may say, with even greater +impatience than myself.”</p> + +<p>Denis had resigned himself with a good grace—all he +desired was to know the worst of it as speedily as possible; +so he rose at once, and bowed in acquiescence. The Sire +de Malétroit followed his example, and limped, with the +assistance of the chaplain’s arm, towards the chapel door. +The priest pulled aside the arras, and all three entered. +The building had considerable architectural pretensions. +A light groining sprang from six stout columns, and hung +down in two rich pendants from the centre of the vault. +The place terminated behind the altar in a round end, embossed +and honeycombed with a superfluity of ornament +in relief, and pierced by many little windows shaped like +stars, trefoils, or wheels. These windows were imperfectly +glazed, so that the night-air circulated freely in the chapel. +The tapers, of which there must have been half a hundred +burning on the altar, were unmercifully blown about; and +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page260"></a>260</span> +the light went through many different phases of brilliancy +and semi-eclipse. On the steps in front of the altar knelt +a young girl richly attired as a bride. A chill settled over +Denis as he observed her costume; he fought with desperate +energy against the conclusion that was being thrust +upon his mind; it could not—it should not—be as he +feared.</p> + +<p>“Blanche,” said the Sire, in his most flute-like tones, +“I have brought a friend to see you, my little girl; turn +round and give him your pretty hand. It is good to be +devout; but it is necessary to be polite, my niece.”</p> + +<p>The girl rose to her feet and turned towards the newcomers. +She moved all of a piece; and shame and exhaustion +were expressed in every line of her fresh young +body; and she held her head down and kept her eyes upon +the pavement, as she came slowly forward. In the course +of her advance, her eyes fell upon Denis de Beaulieu’s feet—feet +of which he was justly vain, be it remarked, and wore +in the most elegant accoutrement even while travelling. +She paused—started, as if his yellow boots had conveyed +some shocking meaning—and glanced suddenly up into the +wearer’s countenance. Their eyes met; shame gave place +to horror and terror in her looks; the blood left her lips; +with a piercing scream she covered her face with her hands +and sank upon the chapel floor.</p> + +<p>“That is not the man!” she cried. “My uncle, that +is not the man!”</p> + +<p>The Sire de Malétroit chirped agreeably. “Of course +not,” he said, “I expected as much. It was so unfortunate +you could not remember his name.”</p> + +<p>“Indeed,” she cried, “indeed, I have never seen this +person till this moment—I have never so much as set eyes +upon him—I never wish to see him again. Sir,” she said, +turning to Denis, “if you are a gentleman, you will bear +me out. Have I ever seen you—have you ever seen me—before +this accursed hour?”</p> + +<p>“To speak for myself, I have never had that pleasure,” +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page261"></a>261</span> +answered the young man. “This is the first time, messire, +that I have met with your engaging niece.”</p> + +<p>The old gentleman shrugged his shoulders.</p> + +<p>“I am distressed to hear it,” he said. “But it is never +too late to begin. I had little more acquaintance with my +own late lady ere I married her; which proves,” he added +with a grimace, “that these impromptu marriages may +often produce an excellent understanding in the long-run. +As the bridegroom is to have a voice in the matter, I will +give him two hours to make up for lost time before we proceed +with the ceremony.” And he turned towards the door, +followed by the clergyman.</p> + +<p>The girl was on her feet in a moment. “My uncle, you +cannot be in earnest,” she said. “I declare before God I +will stab myself rather than be forced on that young man. +The heart rises at it; God forbids such marriages; you dishonour +your white hair. Oh, my uncle, pity me! There +is not a woman in all the world but would prefer death to +such a nuptial. Is it possible,” she added, faltering—“is +it possible that you do not believe me—that you still think +this“—and she pointed at Denis with a tremor of anger +and contempt—“that you still think <i>this</i> to be the man?”</p> + +<p>“Frankly,” said the old gentleman, pausing on the +threshold, “I do. But let me explain to you once for all, +Blanche de Malétroit, my way of thinking about this affair. +When you took it into your head to dishonour my family +and the name that I have borne, in peace and war, for +more than threescore years, you forfeited, not only the right +to question my designs, but that of looking me in the face. +If your father had been alive, he would have spat on you +and turned you out of doors. His was the hand of iron. +You may bless your God you have only to deal with the +hand of velvet, mademoiselle. It was my duty to get you +married without delay. Out of pure goodwill, I have tried +to find your own gallant for you. And I believe I have +succeeded. But before God and all the holy angels, Blanche +de Malétroit, if I have not, I care not one jack-straw. So +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page262"></a>262</span> +let me recommend you to be polite to our young friend; for +upon my word, your next groom may be less appetising.”</p> + +<p>And with that he went out, with the chaplain at his +heels; and the arras fell behind the pair.</p> + +<p>The girl turned upon Denis with flashing eyes.</p> + +<p>“And what, sir,” she demanded, “may be the meaning +of all this?”</p> + +<p>“God knows,” returned Denis gloomily. “I am a +prisoner in this house, which seems full of mad people. +More I know not, and nothing do I understand.”</p> + +<p>“And pray how came you here?” she asked.</p> + +<p>He told her as briefly as he could. “For the rest,” he +added, “perhaps you will follow my example, and tell me +the answer to all these riddles, and what, in God’s name, is +like to be the end of it.”</p> + +<p>She stood silent for a little, and he could see her lips +tremble and her tearless eyes burn with a feverish lustre. +Then she pressed her forehead in both hands.</p> + +<p>“Alas, how my head aches!” she said wearily—“to +say nothing of my poor heart! But it is due to you to +know my story, unmaidenly as it must seem. I am called +Blanche de Malétroit; I have been without father or +mother for—oh! for as long as I can recollect, and indeed +I have been most unhappy all my life. Three months ago +a young captain began to stand near me every day in church. +I could see that I pleased him; I am much to blame, but I +was so glad that any one should love me; and when he +passed me a letter, I took it home with me and read it with +great pleasure. Since that time he has written many. He +was so anxious to speak with me, poor fellow! and kept +asking me to leave the door open some evening that we +might have two words upon the stair. For he knew how +much my uncle trusted me.” She gave something like a +sob at that, and it was a moment before she could go on. +“My uncle is a hard man, but he is very shrewd,” she said +at last. “He has performed many feats in war, and was a +great person at court, and much trusted by Queen Isabeau +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page263"></a>263</span> +in old days. How he came to suspect me I cannot tell; +but it is hard to keep anything from his knowledge; and +this morning, as we came from mass, he took my hand in +his, forced it open, and read my little billet, walking by my +side all the while. When he had finished, he gave it back +to me with great politeness. It contained another request +to have the door left open; and this has been the ruin of +us all. My uncle kept me strictly in my room until evening, +and then ordered me to dress myself as you see me—a hard +mockery for a young girl, do you not think so? I suppose, +when he could not prevail with me to tell him the young +captain’s name, he must have laid a trap for him: into +which, alas! you have fallen in the anger of God. I looked +for much confusion; for how could I tell whether he was +willing to take me for his wife on these sharp terms? He +might have been trifling with me from the first; or I might +have made myself too cheap in his eyes. But truly I had +not looked for such a shameful punishment as this! I +could not think that God would let a girl be so disgraced +before a young man. And now I have told you all; and I +can scarcely hope that you will not despise me.”</p> + +<p>Denis made her a respectful inclination.</p> + +<p>“Madam,” he said, “you have honoured me by your +confidence. It remains for me to prove that I am not unworthy +of the honour. Is Messire de Malétroit at hand?”</p> + +<p>“I believe he is writing in the salle without,” she +answered.</p> + +<p>“May I lead you thither, madam?” asked Denis, offering +his hand with his most courtly bearing.</p> + +<p>She accepted it; and the pair passed out of the chapel, +Blanche in a very drooping and shamefaced condition, but +Denis strutting and ruffling in the consciousness of a mission, +and a boyish certainty of accomplishing it with honour.</p> + +<p>The Sire de Malétroit rose to meet them with an ironical +obeisance.</p> + +<p>“Sir,” said Denis, with the grandest possible air, “I +believe I am to have some say in the matter of this marriage; +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page264"></a>264</span> +and let me tell you at once, I will be no party to forcing +the inclination of this young lady. Had it been freely +offered to me, I should have been proud to accept her hand, +for I perceive she is as good as she is beautiful; but as things +are, I have now the honour, messire, of refusing.”</p> + +<p>Blanche looked at him with gratitude in her eyes; but +the old gentleman only smiled and smiled, until his smile +grew positively sickening to Denis.</p> + +<p>“I am afraid,” he said, “Monsieur de Beaulieu, that you +do not perfectly understand the choice I have to offer you. +Follow me, I beseech you, to this window.” And he led +the way to one of the large windows which stood open on +the night. “You observe,” he went on, “there is an iron +ring in the upper masonry, and reeved through that a very +efficacious rope. Now, mark my words: if you should find +your disinclination to my niece’s person insurmountable, +I shall have you hanged out of this window before sunrise. +I shall only proceed to such an extremity with the greatest +regret, you may believe me. For it is not at all your death +that I desire, but my niece’s establishment in life. At the +same time, it must come to that if you prove obstinate. +Your family, Monsieur de Beaulieu, is very well in its way; +but if you sprang from Charlemagne, you should not refuse +the hand of a Malétroit with impunity—not if she had been +as common as the Paris road—not if she were as hideous as +the gargoyle over my door. Neither my niece nor you, nor +my own private feelings, move me at all in this matter. +The honour of my house has been compromised; I believe +you to be the guilty person; at least you are now in the +secret; and you can hardly wonder if I request you to wipe +out the stain. If you will not, your blood be on your own +head! It will be no great satisfaction to me to have your +interesting relics kicking their heels in the breeze below my +windows; but half a loaf is better than no bread, and if I +cannot cure the dishonour, I shall at least stop the scandal.”</p> + +<p>There was a pause.</p> + +<p>“I believe there are other ways of settling such imbroglios +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page265"></a>265</span> +among gentlemen,” said Denis. “You wear a +sword, and I hear you have used it with distinction.”</p> + +<p>The Sire de Malétroit made a signal to the chaplain, +who crossed the room with long, silent strides and raised +the arras over the third of the three doors. It was only a +moment before he let it fall again; but Denis had time to +see a dusky passage full of armed men.</p> + +<p>“When I was a little younger, I should have been delighted +to honour you, Monsieur de Beaulieu,” said Sire +Alain; “but I am now too old. Faithful retainers are the +sinews of age, and I must employ the strength I have. +This is one of the hardest things to swallow as a man grows +up in years; but with a little patience, even this becomes +habitual. You and the lady seem to prefer the salle for +what remains of your two hours; and as I have no desire +to cross your preference, I shall resign it to your use with +all the pleasure in the world. No haste!” he added, holding +up his hand, as he saw a dangerous look come into Denis +de Beaulieu’s face. “If your mind revolts against hanging, +it will be time enough two hours hence to throw yourself +out of the window or upon the pikes of my retainers. Two +hours of life are always two hours. A great many things +may turn up in even as little a while as that. And, besides, +if I understand her appearance, my niece has still something +to say to you. You will not disfigure your last hours by a +want of politeness to a lady?”</p> + +<p>Denis looked at Blanche, and she made him an imploring +gesture.</p> + +<p>It is likely that the old gentleman was hugely pleased +at this symptom of an understanding; for he smiled on +both, and added sweetly: “If you will give me your word +of honour, Monsieur de Beaulieu, to await my return at the +end of the two hours before attempting anything desperate, +I shall withdraw my retainers, and let you speak in greater +privacy with mademoiselle.”</p> + +<p>Denis again glanced at the girl, who seemed to beseech +him to agree.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page266"></a>266</span></p> + +<p>“I give you my word of honour,” he said.</p> + +<p>Messire de Malétroit bowed, and proceeded to limp +about the apartment, clearing his throat the while with that +odd musical chirp which had already grown so irritating in +the ears of Denis de Beaulieu. He first possessed himself +of some papers which lay upon the table; then he went to +the mouth of the passage and appeared to give an order to +the men behind the arras; and lastly he hobbled out through +the door by which Denis had come in, turning upon the +threshold to address a last smiling bow to the young +couple, and followed by the chaplain with a hand-lamp.</p> + +<p>No sooner were they alone than Blanche advanced towards +Denis with her hands extended. Her face was +flushed and excited, and her eyes shone with tears.</p> + +<p>“You shall not die!” she cried, “you shall marry me +after all.”</p> + +<p>“You seem to think, madam,” replied Denis, “that I +stand much in fear of death.”</p> + +<p>“Oh, no, no,” she said; “I see you are no poltroon. It +is for my own sake—I could not bear to have you slain for +such a scruple.”</p> + +<p>“I am afraid,” returned Denis, “that you underrate +the difficulty, madam. What you may be too generous to +refuse, I may be too proud to accept. In a moment of +noble feeling towards me, you forget what you perhaps owe +to others.”</p> + +<p>He had the decency to keep his eyes upon the floor as +he said this, and after he had finished, so as not to spy upon +her confusion. She stood silent for a moment, then walked +suddenly away, and falling on her uncle’s chair, fairly burst +out sobbing. Denis was in the acme of embarrassment. +He looked round, as if to seek for inspiration, and seeing a +stool, plumped down upon it for something to do. There +he sat, playing with the guard of his rapier, and wishing +himself dead a thousand times over, and buried in the +nastiest kitchen-heap in France. His eyes wandered round +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page267"></a>267</span> +the apartment, but found nothing to arrest them. There +were such wide spaces between the furniture, the light fell so +baldly and cheerlessly over all, the dark outside air looked +in so coldly through the windows, that he thought he had +never seen a church so vast nor a tomb so melancholy. The +regular sobs of Blanche de Malétroit measured out the time +like the ticking of a clock. He read the device upon the +shield over and over again, until his eyes became obscured; +he stared into shadowy corners until he imagined they were +swarming with horrible animals; and every now and again +he awoke with a start, to remember that his last two hours +were running, and death was on the march.</p> + +<p>Oftener and oftener, as the time went on, did his glance +settle on the girl herself. Her face was bowed forward and +covered with her hands, and she was shaken at intervals +by the convulsive hiccup of grief. Even thus she was not +an unpleasant object to dwell upon, so plump, and yet so +fine, with a warm brown skin, and the most beautiful hair, +Denis thought, in the whole world of womankind. Her +hands were like her uncle’s; but they were more in place +at the end of her young arms, and looked infinitely soft and +caressing. He remembered how her blue eyes had shone +upon him full of anger, pity, and innocence. And the more +he dwelt on her perfections, the uglier death looked, and the +more deeply was he smitten with penitence at her continued +tears. Now he felt that no man could have the courage to +leave a world which contained so beautiful a creature; and +now he would have given forty minutes of his last hour to +have unsaid his cruel speech.</p> + +<p>Suddenly a hoarse and ragged peal of cockcrow rose to +their ears from the dark valley below the windows. And +this shattering noise in the silence of all around was like a +light in a dark place, and shook them both out of their +reflections.</p> + +<p>“Alas, can I do nothing to help you?” she said, looking +up.</p> + +<p>“Madam,” replied Denis, with a fine irrelevancy, “if +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page268"></a>268</span> +I have said anything to wound you, believe me it was for +your own sake and not for mine.”</p> + +<p>She thanked him with a tearful look.</p> + +<p>“I feel your position cruelly,” he went on. “The world +has been bitter hard on you. Your uncle is a disgrace to +mankind. Believe me, madam, there is no young gentleman +in all France but would be glad of my opportunity, to +die in doing you a momentary service.”</p> + +<p>“I know already that you can be very brave and +generous,” she answered. “What I <i>want</i> to know is +whether I can serve you—now or afterwards,” she added, +with a quaver.</p> + +<p>“Most certainly,” he answered, with a smile. “Let +me sit beside you as if I were a friend, instead of a foolish +intruder; try to forget how awkwardly we are placed to +one another; make my last moments go pleasantly; and +you will do me the chief service possible.”</p> + +<p>“You are very gallant,” she added, with a yet deeper +sadness; “very gallant——and it somehow pains me. +But draw nearer, if you please; and if you find anything to +say to me, you will at least make certain of a very friendly +listener. Ah! Monsieur de Beaulieu,” she broke forth—“ah! +Monsieur de Beaulieu, how can I look you in the +face?” And she fell to weeping again with a renewed effusion.</p> + +<p>“Madam,” said Denis, taking her hand in both of his, +“reflect on the little time I have before me, and the great +bitterness into which I am cast by the sight of your distress. +Spare me, in my last moments, the spectacle of what I cannot +cure even with the sacrifice of my life.”</p> + +<p>“I am very selfish,” answered Blanche. “I will be +braver, Monsieur de Beaulieu, for your sake. But think if +I can do you no kindness in the future—if you have no +friends to whom I could carry your adieux. Charge me as +heavily as you can: every burden will lighten, by so little, +the invaluable gratitude I owe you. Put it in my power +to do something more for you than weep.”</p> + +<p>“My mother is married again, and has a young family +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page269"></a>269</span> +to care for. My brother Guichard will inherit my fiefs: +and if I am not in error, that will content him amply for my +death. Life is a little vapour that passeth away, as we are +told by those in holy orders. When a man is in a fair way +and sees all life open in front of him, he seems to himself +to make a very important figure in the world. His horse +whinnies to him; the trumpets blow and the girls look out +of window as he rides into town before his company; he +receives many assurances of trust and regard—sometimes +by express in a letter—sometimes face to face, with persons +of great consequence falling on his neck. It is not wonderful +if his head is turned for a time. But once he is dead, were +he as brave as Hercules or as wise as Solomon, he is soon +forgotten. It is not ten years since my father fell, with +many other knights around him, in a very fierce encounter, +and I do not think that any one of them, nor so much as +the name of the fight, is now remembered. No, no, madam, +the nearer you come to it, you see that death is a dark and +dusty corner, where a man gets into his tomb and has the +door shut after him till the judgment-day. I have few +friends just now, and once I am dead I shall have none.”</p> + +<p>“Ah, Monsieur de Beaulieu!” she exclaimed, “you forget +Blanche de Malétroit.”</p> + +<p>“You have a sweet nature, madam, and you are pleased +to estimate a little service far beyond its worth.”</p> + +<p>“It is not that,” she answered. “You mistake me if +you think I am so easily touched by my own concerns. I +say so, because you are the noblest man I have ever met; +because I recognise in you a spirit that would have made +even a common person famous in the land.”</p> + +<p>“And yet here I die in a mousetrap—with no more +noise about it than my own squeaking,” answered he.</p> + +<p>A look of pain crossed her face, and she was silent for a +little while. Then a light came into her eyes, and with a +smile she spoke again.</p> + +<p>“I cannot have my champion think meanly of himself. +Any one who gives his life for another will be met in Paradise +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page270"></a>270</span> +by all the heralds and angels of the Lord God. And +you have no cause to hang your head. For——Pray, +do you think me beautiful?” she asked, with a deep +flush.</p> + +<p>“Indeed, madam, I do,” he said.</p> + +<p>“I am glad of that,” she answered heartily. “Do you +think there are many men in France who have been asked +in marriage by a beautiful maiden—with her own lips—and +who have refused her to her face? I know you men +would half-despise such a triumph; but believe me, we +women know more of what is precious in love. There is +nothing that should set a person higher in his own esteem; +and we women would prize nothing more dearly.”</p> + +<p>“You are very good,” he said; “but you cannot make +me forget that I was asked in pity and not for love.”</p> + +<p>“I am not so sure of that,” she replied, holding down +her head. “Hear me to an end, Monsieur de Beaulieu. +I know how you must despise me; I feel you are right to do +so; I am too poor a creature to occupy one thought of your +mind, although, alas! you must die for me this morning. +But when I asked you to marry me, indeed, and indeed, it +was because I respected and admired you, and loved you +with my whole soul, from the very moment that you took +my part against my uncle. If you had seen yourself, and +how noble you looked, you would pity rather than despise +me. And now,” she went on, hurriedly checking him with +her hand, “although I have laid aside all reserve and told +you so much, remember that I know your sentiments towards +me already. I would not, believe me, being nobly +born, weary you with importunities into consent. I too +have a pride of my own: and I declare before the holy +Mother of God, if you should now go back from your word +already given, I would no more marry you than I would +marry my uncle’s groom.”</p> + +<p>Denis smiled a little bitterly.</p> + +<p>“It is a small love,” he said, “that shies at a little +pride.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page271"></a>271</span></p> + +<p>She made no answer, although she probably had her +own thoughts.</p> + +<p>“Come hither to the window,” he said, with a sigh. +“Here is the dawn.”</p> + +<p>And indeed the dawn was already beginning. The +hollow of the sky was full of essential daylight, colourless +and clean; and the valley underneath was flooded with a +grey reflection. A few thin vapours clung in the coves of +the forest or lay along the winding course of the river. +The scene disengaged a surprising effect of stillness, which +was hardly interrupted when the cocks began once more to +crow among the steadings. Perhaps the same fellow who +had made so horrid a clangour in the darkness not half an +hour before now sent up the merriest cheer to greet the +coming day. A little wind went bustling and eddying +among the tree-tops underneath the windows. And still +the daylight kept flooding insensibly out of the east, which +was soon to grow incandescent and cast up that red-hot +cannon-ball, the rising sun.</p> + +<p>Denis looked out over all this with a bit of a shiver. +He had taken her hand, and retained it in his almost unconsciously.</p> + +<p>“Has the day begun already?” she said; and then, +illogically enough: “the night has been so long! Alas! +what shall we say to my uncle when he returns?”</p> + +<p>“What you will,” said Denis, and he pressed her fingers +in his.</p> + +<p>She was silent.</p> + +<p>“Blanche,” he said, with a swift, uncertain, passionate +utterance, “you have seen whether I fear death. You +must know well enough that I would as gladly leap out of +that window into the empty air as lay a finger on you without +your free and full consent. But if you care for me at +all do not let me lose my life in a misapprehension; for I +love you better than the whole world; and though I will +die for you blithely, it would be like all the joys of Paradise +to live on and spend my life in your service.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page272"></a>272</span></p> + +<p>As he stopped speaking, a bell began to ring loudly in +the interior of the house; and a clatter of armour in the +corridor showed that the retainers were returning to their +post, and the two hours were at an end.</p> + +<p>“After all that you have heard?” she whispered, +leaning towards him with her lips and eyes.</p> + +<p>“I have heard nothing,” he <span class="correction" title="missing period">replied.</span></p> + +<p>“The captain’s name was Florimond de Champdivers,” +she said in his ear.</p> + +<p>“I did not hear it,” he answered, taking her supple +body in his arms and covered her wet face with kisses.</p> + +<p>A melodious chirping was audible behind, followed by +a beautiful chuckle, and the voice of Messire de Malétroit +wished his new nephew a good morning.</p> + + +<hr class="art" /> +<div class="pt2"> </div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page273"></a>273</span></p> +<h3>PROVIDENCE AND THE GUITAR</h3> + +<h4>CHAPTER I</h4> + +<p class="noind"><span class="sc">Monsieur Léon Berthelini</span> had a great care of his appearance, +and sedulously suited his deportment to the +costume of the hour. He affected something Spanish in his +air, and something of the bandit, with a flavour of Rembrandt +at home. In person he was decidedly small, and +inclined to be stout; his face was the picture of good-humour; +his dark eyes, which were very expressive, told +of a kind heart, a brisk, merry nature, and the most indefatigable +spirits. If he had worn the clothes of the period +you would have set him down for a hitherto undiscovered +hybrid between the barber, the innkeeper, and the affable +dispensing chemist. But in the outrageous bravery of +velvet jacket and flapped hat, with trousers that were more +accurately described as fleshings, a white handkerchief +cavalierly knotted at his neck, a shock of Olympian curls +upon his brow, and his feet shod through all weathers in +the slenderest of Molière shoes—you had but to look at him +and you knew you were in the presence of a Great Creature. +When he wore an overcoat he scorned to pass the sleeves; +a single button held it round his shoulders; it was tossed +backwards after the manner of a cloak, and carried with +the gait and presence of an Almaviva. I am of opinion +that M. Berthelini was nearing forty. But he had a boy’s +heart, gloried in his finery, and walked through life like a +child in a perpetual dramatic performance. If he were not +Almaviva after all, it was not for lack of making believe. +And he enjoyed the artist’s compensation. If he were not +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page274"></a>274</span> +really Almaviva, he was sometimes just as happy as though +he were.</p> + +<p>I have seen him, at moments when he has fancied himself +alone with his Maker, adopt so gay and chivalrous a +bearing, and represent his own part with so much warmth +and conscience, that the illusion became catching, and I +believed implicitly in the Great Creature’s pose.</p> + +<p>But, alas! life cannot be entirely conducted on these +principles; man cannot live by Almavivery alone; and the +Great Creature, having failed upon several theatres, was +obliged to step down every evening from his heights, and +sing from half a dozen to a dozen comic songs, twang a +guitar, keep a country audience in good humour, and preside +finally over the mysteries of a tombola.</p> + +<p>Madame Berthelini, who was art and part with him in +these undignified labours, had perhaps a higher position in +the scale of beings, and enjoyed a natural dignity of her own. +But her heart was not any more rightly placed, for that +would have been impossible; and she had acquired a little +air of melancholy, attractive enough in its way, but not +good to see like the wholesome, sky-scraping, boyish spirits +of her lord.</p> + +<p>He, indeed, swam like a kite on a fair wind, high above +earthly troubles. Detonations of temper were not unfrequent +in the zones he travelled; but sulky fogs and +tearful depressions were there alike unknown. A well-delivered +blow upon a table, or a noble attitude, imitated +from Mélingue or Frédéric, relieved his irritation like a +vengeance. Though the heaven had fallen, if he had played +his part with propriety, Berthelini had been content! And +the man’s atmosphere, if not his example, reacted on his +wife; for the couple doated on each other, and although you +would have thought they walked in different worlds, yet +continued to walk hand in hand.</p> + +<p>It chanced one day that Monsieur and Madame Berthelini +descended with two boxes and a guitar in a fat case at +the station of the little town of Castel-le-Gâchis, and the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page275"></a>275</span> +omnibus carried them with their effects to the Hotel of the +Black Head. This was a dismal, conventual building in a +narrow street, capable of standing siege when once the gates +were shut, and smelling strangely in the interior of straw +and chocolate and old feminine apparel. Berthelini paused +upon the threshold with a painful premonition. In some +former state, it seemed to him, he had visited a hostelry that +smelt not otherwise, and been ill received.</p> + +<p>The landlord, a tragic person in a large felt hat, rose +from a business-table under the key-rack, and came forward, +removing his hat with both hands as he did so.</p> + +<p>“Sir, I salute you. May I inquire what is your charge +for artists?” inquired Berthelini, with a courtesy at once +splendid and insinuating.</p> + +<p>“For artists?” said the landlord. His countenance +fell and the smile of welcome disappeared. “Oh, artists!” +he added brutally; “four francs a day.” And he turned +his back upon these inconsiderable customers.</p> + +<p>A commercial traveller is received, he also, upon a reduction—yet +is he welcome, yet can he command the fatted +calf; but an artist, had he the manners of an Almaviva, +were he dressed like Solomon in all his glory, is received like +a dog and served like a timid lady travelling alone.</p> + +<p>Accustomed as he was to the rubs of his profession, +Berthelini was unpleasantly affected by the landlord’s +manner.</p> + +<p>“Elvira,” said he to his wife, “mark my words: +Castel-le-Gâchis is a tragic folly.”</p> + +<p>“Wait till we see what we take,” replied Elvira.</p> + +<p>“We shall take nothing,” replied Berthelini; “we shall +feed upon insults. I have an eye, Elvira; I have a spirit +of divination; and this place is accursed. The landlord +has been discourteous, the Commissary will be brutal, the +audience will be sordid and uproarious, and you will take a +cold upon your throat. We have been besotted enough to +come; the die is cast—it will be a second Sedan.”</p> + +<p>Sedan was a town hateful to the Berthelinis, not only +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page276"></a>276</span> +from patriotism (for they were French, and answered after +the flesh to the somewhat homely name of Duval), but because +it had been the scene of their most sad reverses. In +that place they had lain three weeks in pawn for their hotel +bill, and had it not been for a surprising stroke of fortune +they might have been lying there in pawn until this day. +To mention the name of Sedan was for the Berthelinis to +dip the brush in earthquake and eclipse. Count Almaviva +slouched his hat with a gesture expressive of despair, and +even Elvira felt as if ill-fortune had been personally evoked.</p> + +<p>“Let us ask for breakfast,” said she, with a woman’s tact.</p> + +<p>The Commissary of Police of Castel-le-Gâchis was a +large red Commissary, pimpled, and subject to a strong +cutaneous transpiration. I have repeated the name of his +office because he was so very much more a Commissary than +a man. The spirit of his dignity had entered into him. +He carried his corporation as if it were something official. +Whenever he insulted a common citizen it seemed to him +as if he were adroitly flattering the Government by a side-wind; +in default of dignity he was brutal from an over-weening +sense of duty. His office was a den, whence passers-by +could hear rude accents laying down, not the law, but the +good pleasure of the Commissary.</p> + +<p>Six several times in the course of the day did M. Berthelini +hurry thither in quest of the requisite permission for +his evening’s entertainment; six several times he found the +official was abroad. Léon Berthelini began to grow quite a +familiar figure in the streets of Castel-le-Gâchis; he became +a local celebrity, and was pointed out as “the man who +was looking for the Commissary.” Idle children attached +themselves to his footsteps, and trotted after him back and +forward between the hotel and the office. Léon might try +as he liked; he might roll cigarettes, he might straddle, he +might cock his hat at a dozen different jaunty inclinations—the +part of Almaviva was, under the circumstances, +difficult to play.</p> + +<p>As he passed the market-place upon the seventh excursion +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page277"></a>277</span> +the Commissary was pointed out to him, where he stood, +with his waistcoat unbuttoned and his hands behind his +back, to superintend the sale and measurement of butter. +Berthelini threaded his way through the market-stalls and +baskets, and accosted the dignitary with a bow which was +a triumph of the histrionic art.</p> + +<p>“I have the honour,” he asked, “of meeting M. le +Commissaire?”</p> + +<p>The Commissary was affected by the nobility of his +address. He excelled Léon in the depth if not in the airy +grace of his salutation.</p> + +<p>“The honour,” said he, “is mine!”</p> + +<p>“I am,” continued the strolling player, “I am, sir, an +artist, and I have permitted myself to interrupt you on an +affair of business. To-night I give a trifling musical entertainment +at the Café of the Triumphs of the Plough—permit +me to offer you this little programme—and I have +come to ask you for the necessary authorisation.”</p> + +<p>At the word “artist” the Commissary had replaced his +hat with the air of a person who, having condescended too +far, should suddenly remember the duties of his rank.</p> + +<p>“Go, go,” said he, “I am busy; I am measuring +butter.”</p> + +<p>“Heathen Jew!” thought Léon. “Permit me, sir,” +he resumed, aloud. “I have gone six times already—“</p> + +<p>“Put up your bills if you choose,” interrupted the +Commissary. “In an hour or so I will examine your papers +at the office. But now go; I am busy.”</p> + +<p>“Measuring butter!” thought Berthelini. “O France, +and it is for this that we made ’93!”</p> + +<p>The preparations were soon made; the bills posted, +programmes laid on the dinner-table of every hotel in the +town, and a stage erected at one end of the Café of the +Triumphs of the Plough; but when Léon returned to the +office, the Commissary was once more abroad.</p> + +<p>“He is like Madame Benoîton,” thought Léon: “Fichu +Commissaire!”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page278"></a>278</span></p> + +<p>And just then he met the man face to face.</p> + +<p>“Here, sir,” said he, “are my papers. Will you be +pleased to verify?”</p> + +<p>But the Commissary was now intent upon dinner.</p> + +<p>“No use,” he replied, “no use; I am busy; I am quite +satisfied. Give your entertainment.”</p> + +<p>And he hurried on.</p> + +<p>“Fichu Commissaire!” thought Léon.</p> + + +<hr class="short" /> +<div class="pt2"> </div> + +<h4>CHAPTER II</h4> + +<p class="noind"><span class="sc">The</span> audience was pretty large; and the proprietor of the +café made a good thing of it in beer. But the Berthelinis +exerted themselves in vain.</p> + +<p>Léon was radiant in velveteen; he had a rakish way of +smoking a cigarette between his songs that was worth +money in itself; he underlined his comic points so that the +dullest numskull in Castel-le-Gâchis had a notion when to +laugh; and he handled his guitar in a manner worthy of +himself. Indeed, his play with that instrument was as +good as a whole romantic drama; it was so dashing, so +florid, and so cavalier.</p> + +<p>Elvira, on the other hand, sang her patriotic and +romantic songs with more than usual expression; her voice +had charm and plangency; and as Léon looked at her, in +her low-bodied maroon dress, with her arms bare to the +shoulder, and a red flower set provocatively in her corset, +he repeated to himself for the many hundredth time that +she was one of the loveliest creatures in the world of women.</p> + +<p>Alas! when she went round with the tambourine, the +golden youth of Castel-le-Gâchis turned from her coldly. +Here and there a single halfpenny was forthcoming; the +net result of a collection never exceeded half a franc; and +the Maire himself, after seven different applications, had +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page279"></a>279</span> +contributed exactly twopence. A certain chill began to +settle upon the artists themselves; it seemed as if they +were singing to slugs; Apollo himself might have lost heart +with such an audience. The Berthelinis struggled against +the impression; they put their back into their work, they +sang louder and louder, the guitar twanged like a living +thing; and at last Léon arose in his might, and burst with +inimitable conviction into his great song, “Y a des honnêtes +gens partout!” Never had he given more proof of his +artistic mastery; it was his intimate, indefeasible conviction +that Castel-le-Gâchis formed an exception to the law he +was now lyrically proclaiming, and was peopled exclusively +by thieves and bullies; and yet, as I say, he flung it down +like a challenge, he trolled it forth like an article of faith; +and his face so beamed the while that you would have +thought he must make converts of the benches.</p> + +<p>He was at the top of his register, with his head thrown +back and his mouth open, when the door was thrown +violently open, and a pair of new-comers marched noisily +into the café. It was the Commissary, followed by the +Garde Champêtre.</p> + +<p>The undaunted Berthelini still continued to proclaim, +“Y a des honnêtes gens partout!” But now the sentiment +produced an audible titter among the audience. +Berthelini wondered why; he did not know the antecedents +of the Garde Champêtre; he had never heard of a little +story about postage-stamps. But the public knew all +about the postage-stamps and enjoyed the coincidence +hugely.</p> + +<p>The Commissary planted himself upon a vacant chair +with somewhat the air of Cromwell visiting the Rump, and +spoke in occasional whispers to the Garde Champêtre, who +remained respectfully standing at his back. The eyes of +both were directed upon Berthelini, who persisted in his +statement.</p> + +<p>“Y a des honnêtes gens partout,” he was just chanting +for the twentieth time; when up got the Commissary +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page280"></a>280</span> +upon his feet and waved brutally to the singer with his +cane.</p> + +<p>“Is it me you want?” inquired Léon, stopping in his +song.</p> + +<p>“It is you,” replied the potentate.</p> + +<p>“Fichu Commissaire!” thought Léon, and he descended +from the stage and made his way to the functionary.</p> + +<p>“How does it happen, sir,” said the Commissary, +swelling in person, “that I find you mountebanking in a +public café without my permission?”</p> + +<p>“Without?” cried the indignant Léon. “Permit me +to remind you——“</p> + +<p>“Come, come, sir!” said the Commissary, “I desire no +explanations.”</p> + +<p>“I care nothing about what you desire,” returned the +singer. “I choose to give them, and I will not be gagged. +I am an artist, sir, a distinction that you cannot comprehend. +I received your permission and stand here upon the +strength of it; interfere with me who dare.”</p> + +<p>“You have not got my signature, I tell you,” cried the +Commissary. “Show me my signature! Where is my +signature?”</p> + +<p>That was just the question; where was his signature? +Léon recognised that he was in a hole; but his spirit rose +with the occasion, and he blustered nobly, tossing back his +curls. The Commissary played up to him in the character +of tyrant; and as the one leaned farther forward, the other +leaned farther back—majesty confronting fury. The +audience had transferred their attention to this new performance, +and listened with that silent gravity common to +all Frenchmen in the neighbourhood of the Police. Elvira +had sat down, she was used to these distractions, and it +was rather melancholy than fear that now oppressed her.</p> + +<p>“Another word,” cried the Commissary, “and I arrest +you.”</p> + +<p>“Arrest me?” shouted Léon. “I defy you!”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page281"></a>281</span></p> + +<p>“I am the Commissary of Police,” said the official.</p> + +<p>Léon commanded his feelings, and replied, with great +delicacy of innuendo—</p> + +<p>“So it would appear.”</p> + +<p>The point was too refined for Castel-le-Gâchis; it did +not raise a smile; and as for the Commissary, he simply +bade the singer follow him to his office, and directed his +proud footsteps towards the door. There was nothing for +it but to obey. Léon did so with a proper pantomime of +indifference, but it was a leek to eat, and there was no +denying it.</p> + +<p>The Maire had slipped out and was already waiting at +the Commissary’s door. Now the Maire, in France, is the +refuge of the oppressed. He stands between his people +and the boisterous rigours of the Police. He can sometimes +understand what is said to him; he is not always +puffed up beyond measure by his dignity. ’Tis a thing +worth the knowledge of travellers. When all seems over, +and a man has made up his mind to injustice, he has still, +like the heroes of romance, a little bugle at his belt whereon +to blow; and the Maire, a comfortable <i>deus ex machinâ</i>, +may still descend to deliver him from the minions of the +law. The Maire of Castel-le-Gâchis, although inaccessible +to the charms of music as retailed by the Berthelinis, had +no hesitation whatever as to the rights of the matter. He +instantly fell foul of the Commissary in very high terms, and +the Commissary, pricked by this humiliation, accepted +battle on the point of fact. The argument lasted some little +while with varying success, until at length victory inclined +so plainly to the Commissary’s side that the Maire was fain +to re-assert himself by an exercise of authority. He had +been out-argued, but he was still the Maire. And so, turning +from his interlocutor, he briefly but kindly recommended +Léon to get back instanter to his concert.</p> + +<p>“It is already growing late,” he added.</p> + +<p>Léon did not wait to be told twice. He returned to the +Café of the Triumphs of the Plough with all expedition. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page282"></a>282</span> +Alas! the audience had melted away during his absence; +Elvira was sitting in a very disconsolate attitude on the +guitar-box; she had watched the company dispersing by +twos and threes, and the prolonged spectacle had somewhat +overwhelmed her spirits. Each man, she reflected, retired +with a certain proportion of her earnings in his pocket, and +she saw to-night’s board and to-morrow’s railway expenses, +and finally even to-morrow’s dinner, walk one after another +out of the café-door and disappear into the night.</p> + +<p>“What was it?” she asked languidly.</p> + +<p>But Léon did not answer. He was looking round him +on the scene of defeat. Scarce a score of listeners remained, +and these of the least promising sort. The minute-hand +of the clock was already climbing upward towards +eleven.</p> + +<p>“It’s a lost battle,” said he, and then taking up the +money-box, he turned it out. “Three francs seventy-five!” +he cried, “as against four of board and six of railway fares; +and no time for the tombola! Elvira, this is Waterloo!” +And he sat down and passed both hands desperately among +his curls. “O fichu Commissaire!” he cried, “fichu Commissaire!”</p> + +<p>“Let us get the things together and be off,” returned +Elvira. “We might try another song, but there is not six +halfpence in the room.”</p> + +<p>“Six halfpence?” cried Leon, “six hundred thousand +devils! There is not a human creature in the town—nothing +but pigs and dogs and commissaries! Pray heaven +we get safe to bed.”</p> + +<p>“Don’t imagine things!” exclaimed Elvira, with a +shudder.</p> + +<p>And with that they set to work on their preparations. +The tobacco-jar, the cigarette-holder, the three papers of +shirt-studs, which were to have been the prizes of the +tombola had the tombola come off, were made into a bundle +with the music; the guitar was stowed into the fat guitar-case; +and Elvira having thrown a thin shawl about her neck +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page283"></a>283</span> +and shoulders, the pair issued from the café and set off for +the Black Head.</p> + +<p>As they crossed the market-place the church bell rang +out eleven. It was a dark, mild night, and there was no +one in the streets.</p> + +<p>“It is all very fine,” said Léon: “but I have a presentiment. +The night is not yet done.”</p> + + +<hr class="short" /> +<div class="pt2"> </div> + +<h4>CHAPTER III</h4> + +<p class="noind"><span class="sc">The</span> Black Head presented not a single chink of light upon +the street, and the carriage gate was closed.</p> + +<p>“This is unprecedented,” observed Léon. “An inn +closed by five minutes after eleven! And there were several +commercial travellers in the café up to a late hour. Elvira, +my heart misgives me. Let us ring the bell.”</p> + +<p>The bell had a potent note; and being swung under the +arch it filled the house from top to bottom with surly, +clanging reverberations. The sound accentuated the conventual +appearance of the building; a wintry sentiment, +a thought of prayer and mortification, took hold upon +Elvira’s mind; and, as for Léon, he seemed to be reading +the stage directions for a lugubrious fifth act.</p> + +<p>“This is your fault,” said Elvira; “this is what comes +of fancying things!”</p> + +<p>Again Léon pulled the bell-rope; again the solemn +tocsin awoke the echoes of the inn; and ere they had died +away, a light glimmered in the carriage entrance, and a +powerful voice was heard upraised and tremulous with +wrath.</p> + +<p>“What’s all this?” cried the tragic host through the +spars of the gate. “Hard upon twelve, and you come +clamouring like Prussians at the door of a respectable +hotel? Oh!” he cried, “I know you now! Common +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page284"></a>284</span> +singers! People in trouble with the Police! And you +present yourselves at midnight like lords and ladies? Be +off with you!”</p> + +<p>“You will permit me to remind you,” replied Léon, in +thrilling tones, “that I am a guest in your house, that I +am properly inscribed, and that I have deposited baggage +to the value of four hundred francs.”</p> + +<p>“You cannot get in at this hour,” returned the man. +“This is no thieves’ tavern, for mohocks and night-rakes +and organ-grinders.”</p> + +<p>“Brute!” cried Elvira, for the organ-grinders touched +her home.</p> + +<p>“Then I demand my baggage,” said Léon, with unabated +dignity.</p> + +<p>“I know nothing of your baggage,” replied the landlord.</p> + +<p>“You detain my baggage? You dare to detain my +baggage?” cried the singer.</p> + +<p>“Who are you?” returned the landlord. “It is dark—I +cannot recognise you.”</p> + +<p>“Very well, then—you detain my baggage,” concluded +Léon. “You shall smart for this. I will weary out your +life with persecutions; I will drag you from court to court; +if there is justice to be had in France, it shall be rendered +between you and me. And I will make you a by-word—I +will put you in a song—a scurrilous song—an indecent song—a +popular song—which the boys shall sing to you in the +street, and come and howl through these spars at midnight!”</p> + +<p>He had gone on raising his voice at every phrase, for all +the while the landlord was very placidly retiring; and now, +when the last glimmer of light had vanished from the arch, +and the last footstep died away in the interior, Léon turned +to his wife with a heroic countenance.</p> + +<p>“Elvira,” said he, “I have now a duty in life. I shall +destroy that man as Eugène Sue destroyed the concierge. +Let us come at once to the Gendarmerie and begin our +vengeance.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page285"></a>285</span></p> + +<p>He picked up the guitar-case, which had been propped +against the wall, and they set forth through the silent and +ill-lighted town with burning hearts.</p> + +<p>The Gendarmerie was concealed beside the telegraph-office +at the bottom of a vast court, which was partly laid +out in gardens; and here all the shepherds of the public +lay locked in grateful sleep. It took a deal of knocking to +waken one; and he, when he came at last to the door, could +find no other remark but that “it was none of his business.” +Léon reasoned with him, threatened him, besought him; +“here,” he said, “was Madame Berthelini in evening dress—a +delicate woman—in an interesting condition“—the last +was thrown in, I fancy, for effect; and to all this the man-at-arms +made the same answer—</p> + +<p>“It is none of my business,” said he.</p> + +<p>“Very well,” said Léon, “then we shall go to the Commissary.” +Thither they went; the office was closed and +dark; but the house was close by, and Leon was soon +swinging the bell like a madman. The Commissary’s wife +appeared at the window. She was a thread-paper creature, +and informed them that the Commissary had not yet come +home.</p> + +<p>“Is he at the Maire’s?” demanded Léon.</p> + +<p>She thought that was not unlikely.</p> + +<p>“Where is the Maire’s house?” he asked.</p> + +<p>And she gave him some rather vague information on +that point.</p> + +<p>“Stay you here, Elvira,” said Léon, “lest I should miss +him by the way. If, when I return, I find you here no +longer, I shall follow at once to the Black Head.”</p> + +<p>And he set out to find the Maire’s. It took him some +ten minutes’ wandering among blind lanes, and when he +arrived it was already half an hour past midnight. A long +white garden wall overhung by some thick chestnuts, a +door with a letter-box, and an iron bell-pull—that was all +that could be seen of the Maire’s domicile. Léon took the +bell-pull in both hands, and danced furiously upon the side-walk. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page286"></a>286</span> +The bell itself was just upon the other side of the +wall; it responded to his activity, and scattered an alarming +clangour far and wide into the night.</p> + +<p>A window was thrown open in a house across the street, +and a voice inquired the cause of this untimely uproar.</p> + +<p>“I wish the Maire,” said Léon.</p> + +<p>“He has been in bed this hour,” returned the voice.</p> + +<p>“He must get up again,” retorted Léon, and he was for +tackling the bell-pull once more.</p> + +<p>“You will never make him hear,” responded the voice. +“The garden is of great extent, the house is at the farther +end, and both the Maire and his housekeeper are deaf.”</p> + +<p>“Aha!” said Léon, pausing. “The Maire is deaf, is +he? That explains.” And he thought of the evening’s +concert with a momentary feeling of relief. “Ah!” he +continued, “and so the Maire is deaf, and the garden vast, +and the house at the far end?”</p> + +<p>“And you might ring all night,” added the voice, “and +be none the better for it. You would only keep me awake.”</p> + +<p>“Thank you, neighbour,” replied the singer. “You +shall sleep.”</p> + +<p>And he made off again at his best pace for the Commissary’s. +Elvira was still walking to and fro before the +door.</p> + +<p>“He has not come?” asked Léon.</p> + +<p>“Not he,” she replied.</p> + +<p>“Good,” returned Léon. “I am sure our man’s inside. +Let me see the guitar-case. I shall lay this siege in +form, Elvira; I am angry; I am indignant: I am truculently +inclined; but I thank my Maker I have still a sense +of fun. The unjust judge shall be importuned in a serenade, +Elvira. Set him up—and set him up.”</p> + +<p>He had the case opened by this time, struck a few +chords, and fell into an attitude which was irresistibly +Spanish.</p> + +<p>“Now,” he continued, “feel your voice. Are you +ready? Follow me!”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page287"></a>287</span></p> + +<p>The guitar twanged, and the two voices upraised, in +harmony and with a startling loudness, the chorus of a song +of old Béranger’s:—</p> + +<table class="reg" summary="poem"><tr><td> +<div class="poemr"> + +<p>“Commissaire! Commissaire!</p> +<p class="i05">Colin bat sa ménagère.”</p> + +</div> +</td></tr></table> + +<p>The stones of Castel-le-Gâchis thrilled at this audacious +innovation. Hitherto had the night been sacred to repose +and night-caps; and now what was this? Window after +window was opened; matches scratched, and candles began +to flicker; swollen, sleepy faces peered forth into the starlight. +There were the two figures before the Commissary’s +house, each bolt upright, with head thrown back and eyes +interrogating the starry heavens; the guitar wailed, shouted, +and reverberated like half an orchestra; and the voices, +with a crisp and spirited delivery, hurled the appropriate +burden at the Commissary’s window. All the echoes repeated +the functionary’s name. It was more like an +entr’acte in a farce of Molière’s than a passage of real life +in Castel-le-Gâchis.</p> + +<p>The Commissary, if he was not the first, was not the +last of the neighbours to yield to the influence of music, and +furiously threw open the window of his bedroom. He was +beside himself with rage. He leaned far over the window-sill, +raving and gesticulating; the tassel of his white nightcap +danced like a thing of life: he opened his mouth to +dimensions hitherto unprecedented, and yet his voice, +instead of escaping from it in a roar, came forth shrill and +choked and tottering. A little more serenading, and it was +clear he would be better acquainted with the apoplexy.</p> + +<p>I scorn to reproduce his language; he touched upon too +many serious topics by the way for a quiet story-teller. +Although he was known for a man who was prompt with +his tongue, and had a power of strong expression at command, +he excelled himself so remarkably this night that +one maiden lady, who had got out of bed like the rest to +hear the serenade, was obliged to shut her window at the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page288"></a>288</span> +second clause. Even what she had heard disquieted her +conscience; and next day she said she scarcely reckoned +as a maiden lady any longer.</p> + +<p>Léon tried to explain his predicament, but he received +nothing but threats of arrest by way of answer.</p> + +<p>“If I come down to you!” cried the Commissary.</p> + +<p>“Ay,” said Léon, “do!”</p> + +<p>“I will not!” cried the Commissary.</p> + +<p>“You dare not!” answered Léon.</p> + +<p>At that the Commissary closed his window.</p> + +<p>“All is over,” said the singer. “The serenade was perhaps +ill-judged. These boors have no sense of humour.”</p> + +<p>“Let us get away from here,” said Elvira, with a shiver. +“All these people looking—it is so rude and so brutal.” +And then giving way once more to passion—“Brutes!” +she cried aloud to the candle-lit spectators—“brutes! +brutes! brutes!”</p> + +<p>“<i>Sauve qui peut</i>,” said Léon. “You have done it now!”</p> + +<p>And taking the guitar in one hand and the case in the +other, he led the way with something too precipitate to be +merely called precipitation from the scene of this absurd +adventure.</p> + + +<hr class="short" /> +<div class="pt2"> </div> + +<h4>CHAPTER IV</h4> + +<p class="noind"><span class="sc">To</span> the west of Castel-le-Gâchis four rows of venerable lime-trees +formed, in this starry night, a twilit avenue with two +side aisles of pitch darkness. Here and there stone benches +were disposed between the trunks. There was not a breath +of wind; a heavy atmosphere of perfume hung about the +alleys; and every leaf stood stock-still upon its twig. +Hither, after vainly knocking at an inn or two, the Berthelinis +came at length to pass the night. After an amiable +contention, Léon insisted on giving his coat to Elvira, and +they sat down together on the first bench in silence. Léon +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page289"></a>289</span> +made a cigarette, which he smoked to an end, looking up +into the trees, and beyond them at the constellations, of +which he tried vainly to recall the names. The silence was +broken by the church bell; it rang the four quarters on a +light and tinkling measure; then followed a single deep +stroke that died slowly away with a thrill; and stillness +resumed its empire.</p> + +<p>“One,” said Léon. “Four hours till daylight. It is +warm; it is starry; I have matches and tobacco. Do not +let us exaggerate, Elvira—the experience is positively +charming. I feel a glow within me; I am born again. This +is the poetry of life. Think of Cooper’s novels, my dear.”</p> + +<p>“Léon,” she said fiercely, “how can you talk such +wicked, infamous nonsense? To pass all night out of doors—it +is like a nightmare! We shall die!”</p> + +<p>“You suffer yourself to be led away,” he replied soothingly. +“It is not unpleasant here; only you brood. Come, +now, let us repeat a scene. Shall we try Alceste and +Célimène? No? Or a passage from the <i>Two Orphans</i>? +Come, now, it will occupy your mind; I will play up to you +as I never have played before; I feel art moving in my +bones.”</p> + +<p>“Hold your tongue,” she cried, “or you will drive me +mad! Will nothing solemnise you—not even this hideous +situation?”</p> + +<p>“Oh, hideous!” objected Léon. “Hideous is not the +word. Why, where would you be? ‘<i>Dites, la jeune belle, +où voulez-vous aller?</i>’” he carolled. “Well, now,” he +went on, opening the guitar-case, “there’s another idea +for you—sing. Sing ‘<i>Dites, la jeune belle</i>’! It will compose +your spirits, Elvira, I am sure.”</p> + +<p>And without waiting an answer he began to strum the +symphony. The first chords awoke a young man who was +lying asleep upon a neighbouring bench.</p> + +<p>“Hullo!” cried the young man, “who are you?”</p> + +<p>“Under which king, Bezonian?” declaimed the artist. +“Speak or die!”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page290"></a>290</span></p> + +<p>Or if it was not exactly that, it was something to much +the same purpose from a French tragedy.</p> + +<p>The young man drew near in the twilight. He was a +tall, powerful, gentlemanly fellow, with a somewhat puffy +face, dressed in a grey tweed suit, with a deer-stalker hat +of the same material; and as he now came forward he +carried a knapsack slung upon one arm.</p> + +<p>“Are you camping out here too?” he asked, with a +strong English accent. “I’m not sorry for company.”</p> + +<p>Léon explained their misadventure; and the other told +them that he was a Cambridge undergraduate on a walking +tour, that he had run short of money, could no longer pay +for his night’s lodging, had already been camping out for +two nights, and feared he should require to continue the +same manœuvre for at least two nights more.</p> + +<p>“Luckily, it’s jolly weather,” he concluded.</p> + +<p>“You hear that, Elvira,” said Léon.—“Madame +Berthelini,” he went on, “is ridiculously affected by this +trifling occurrence. For my part, I find it romantic and far +from uncomfortable; or at least,” he added, shifting on the +stone bench, “not quite so uncomfortable as might have +been expected. But pray be seated.”</p> + +<p>“Yes,” returned the undergraduate, sitting down, “it’s +rather nice than otherwise when once you’re used to it; +only it’s devilish difficult to get washed. I like the fresh +air and these stars and things.”</p> + +<p>“Aha!” said Léon, “Monsieur is an artist.”</p> + +<p>“An artist?” returned the other, with a blank stare. +“Not if I know it!”</p> + +<p>“Pardon me,” said the actor. “What you said this +moment about the orbs of heaven—“</p> + +<p>“Oh, nonsense!” cried the Englishman. “A fellow +may admire the stars and be anything he likes.”</p> + +<p>“You have an artist’s nature, however, Mr. —— I +beg your pardon; may I, without indiscretion, inquire +your name?” asked Léon.</p> + +<p>“My name is Stubbs,” replied the Englishman.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page291"></a>291</span></p> + +<p>“I thank you,” returned Léon. “Mine is Berthelini—Léon +Berthelini, ex-artist of the theatres of Montrouge, +Belleville, and Montmartre. Humble as you see me, I +have created with applause more than one important <i>rôle</i>. +The Press were unanimous in praise of my Howling Devil +of the Mountains, in the piece of the same name. Madame, +whom I now present to you, is herself an artist, and I must +not omit to state, a better artist than her husband. She +also is a creator; she created nearly twenty successful songs +at one of the principal Parisian music-halls. But to continue: +I was saying you had an artist’s nature, Monsieur +Stubbs, and you must permit me to be a judge in such a +question. I trust you will not falsify your instincts; let +me beseech you to follow the career of an artist.”</p> + +<p>“Thank you,” returned Stubbs, with a chuckle. “I’m +going to be a banker.”</p> + +<p>“No,” said Leon, “do not say so. Not that. A man +with such a nature as yours should not derogate so far. +What are a few privations here and there, so long as you +are working for a high and noble goal?”</p> + +<p>“This fellow’s mad,” thought Stubbs: “but the +woman’s rather pretty, and he’s not bad fun himself, if you +come to that.” What he said was different: “I thought +you said you were an actor?”</p> + +<p>“I certainly did so,” replied Léon. “I am one, or, +alas! I was.”</p> + +<p>“And so you want me to be an actor, do you?” continued +the undergraduate. “Why, man, I could never so +much as learn the stuff; my memory’s like a sieve; and as +for acting, I’ve no more idea than a cat.”</p> + +<p>“The stage is not the only course,” said Léon. “Be +a sculptor, be a dancer, be a poet or a novelist; follow your +heart, in short, and do some thorough work before you die.”</p> + +<p>“And do you call all these things art?” inquired +Stubbs.</p> + +<p>“Why, certainly!” returned Léon. “Are they not all +branches?”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page292"></a>292</span></p> + +<p>“Oh! I didn’t know,” replied the Englishman. “I +thought an artist meant a fellow who painted.”</p> + +<p>The singer stared at him in some surprise.</p> + +<p>“It is the difference of language,” he said at last. +“This Tower of Babel, when shall we have paid for it? If +I could speak English you would follow me more readily.”</p> + +<p>“Between you and me, I don’t believe I should,” replied +the other. “You seem to have thought a devil of a +lot about this business. For my part, I admire the stars, +and like to have them shining—it’s so cheery—but hang +me if I had an idea it had anything to do with art! It’s not +in my line, you see. I’m not intellectual; I have no end of +trouble to scrape through my exams., I can tell you! But +I’m not a bad sort at bottom,” he added, seeing his interlocutor +looked distressed even in the dim star-shine, +“and I rather like the play, and music, and guitars, and +things.”</p> + +<p>Léon had a perception that the understanding was incomplete. +He changed the subject.</p> + +<p>“And so you travel on foot?” he continued. “How +romantic! How courageous! And how are you pleased +with my land? How does the scenery affect you among +these wild hills of ours?”</p> + +<p>“Well, the fact is,” began Stubbs—he was about to say +that he didn’t care for scenery, which was not at all true, +being, on the contrary, only an athletic undergraduate pretension; +but he had begun to suspect that Berthelini liked +a different sort of meat, and substituted something else: +“The fact is, I think it jolly. They told me it was no good +up here; even the guide-book said so; but I don’t know +what they meant. I think it is deuced pretty—upon my +word, I do.”</p> + +<p>At this moment, in the most unexpected manner, +Elvira burst into tears.</p> + +<p>“My voice!” she cried. “Léon, if I stay here longer +I shall lose my voice!”</p> + +<p>“You shall not stay another moment,” cried the actor.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page293"></a>293</span></p> + +<p>“If I have to beat in a door, if I have to burn the town, I +shall find you shelter.”</p> + +<p>With that, he replaced the guitar, and, comforting her +with some caresses, drew her arm through his.</p> + +<p>“Monsieur Stubbs,” said he, taking off his hat, “the +reception I offer you is rather problematical; but let me +beseech you to give us the pleasure of your society. You +are a little embarrassed for the moment; you must, indeed, +permit me to advance what may be necessary. I ask it as +a favour; we must not part so soon after having met so +strangely.”</p> + +<p>“Oh, come, you know,” said Stubbs, “I can’t let a +fellow like you——” And there he paused, feeling somehow +or other on a wrong tack.</p> + +<p>“I do not wish to employ menaces,” continued Léon, +with a smile; “but if you refuse, indeed I shall not take it +kindly.”</p> + +<p>“I don’t quite see my way out of it,” thought the undergraduate; +and then, after a pause, he said, aloud and ungraciously +enough, “All right. I—I’m very much obliged, +of course.” And he proceeded to follow them, thinking in +his heart, “But it’s bad form, all the same, to force an +obligation on a fellow.”</p> + + +<hr class="short" /> +<div class="pt2"> </div> + +<h4>CHAPTER V</h4> + +<p class="noind"><span class="sc">Léon</span> strode ahead as if he knew exactly where he was going; +the sobs of Madame were still faintly audible, and no +one uttered a word. A dog barked furiously in a courtyard +as they went by; then the church clock struck two, and +many domestic clocks followed or preceded it in piping +tones. And just then Berthelini spied a light. It burned +in a small house on the outskirts of the town, and thither +the party now directed their steps.</p> + +<p>“It is always a chance,” said Léon.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page294"></a>294</span></p> + +<p>The house in question stood back from the street behind +an open space, part garden, part turnip-field; and several +outhouses stood forward from either wing at right angles +to the front. One of these had recently undergone some +change. An enormous window, looking towards the north, +had been effected in the wall and roof, and Léon began to +hope it was a studio.</p> + +<p>“If it’s only a painter,” he said, with a chuckle, “ten +to one we get as good a welcome as we want.”</p> + +<p>“I thought painters were principally poor,” said +Stubbs.</p> + +<p>“Ah!” cried Leon, “you do not know the world as I +do. The poorer the better for us!”</p> + +<p>And the trio advanced into the turnip-field.</p> + +<p>The light was in the ground floor; as one window was +brightly illuminated and two others more faintly, it might +be supposed that there was a single lamp in one corner of a +large apartment; and a certain tremulousness and temporary +dwindling showed that a live fire contributed to the +effect. The sound of a voice now became audible; and the +trespassers paused to listen. It was pitched in a high, +angry key, but had still a good, full, and masculine note in +it. The utterance was voluble, too voluble even to be quite +distinct; a stream of words, rising and falling, with ever +and again a phrase thrown out by itself, as if the speaker +reckoned on its virtue.</p> + +<p>Suddenly another voice joined in. This time it was a +woman’s; and if the man were angry, the woman was incensed +to the degree of fury. There was that absolutely +blank composure known to suffering males; that colourless +unnatural speech which shows a spirit accurately balanced +between homicide and hysterics; the tone in which the best +of women sometimes utter words worse than death to those +most dear to them. If Abstract Bones-and-Sepulchre were +to be endowed with the gift of speech, thus, and not otherwise, +would it discourse. Léon was a brave man, and I +fear he was somewhat sceptically given (he had been educated +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page295"></a>295</span> +in a Papistical country), but the habit of childhood +prevailed, and he crossed himself devoutly. He had met +several women in his career. It was obvious that his instinct +had not deceived him, for the male voice broke forth +instantly in a towering passion.</p> + +<p>The undergraduate, who had not understood the significance +of the woman’s contribution, pricked up his ears at +the change upon the man.</p> + +<p>“There’s going to be a free fight,” he opined.</p> + +<p>There was another retort from the woman, still calm, +but a little higher.</p> + +<p>“Hysterics?” asked Léon of his wife. “Is that the +stage direction?”</p> + +<p>“How should I know?” returned Elvira, somewhat +tartly.</p> + +<p>“Oh, woman, woman!” said Léon, beginning to open +the guitar-case. “It is one of the burdens of my life, Monsieur +Stubbs; they support each other; they always pretend +there is no system; they say it’s nature. Even Madame +Berthelini, who is a dramatic artist!”</p> + +<p>“You are heartless, Léon,” said Elvira; “that woman +is in trouble.”</p> + +<p>“And the man, my angel?” inquired Berthelini, passing +the ribbon of his guitar. “And the man, <i>m’amour</i>?”</p> + +<p>“He is a man,” she answered.</p> + +<p>“You hear that?” said Léon to Stubbs. “It is not +too late for you. Mark the intonation. And now,” he +continued, “what are we to give them?”</p> + +<p>“Are you going to sing?” asked Stubbs.</p> + +<p>“I am a troubadour,” replied Léon. “I claim a +welcome by and for my art. If I were a banker, could I do +as much?”</p> + +<p>“Well, you wouldn’t need, you know,” answered the +undergraduate.</p> + +<p>“Egad,” said Léon, “but that’s true. Elvira, that is +true.”</p> + +<p>“Of course it is,” she replied. “Did you not know it?”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page296"></a>296</span></p> + +<p>“My dear,” answered Léon impressively, “I know +nothing but what is agreeable. Even my knowledge of life +is a work of art superiorly composed. But what are we to +give them? It should be something appropriate.”</p> + +<p>Visions of “Let dogs delight” passed through the under-graduate’s +mind; but it occurred to him that the poetry +was English and that he did not know the air. Hence he +contributed no suggestion.</p> + +<p>“Something about our houselessness,” said Elvira.</p> + +<p>“I have it,” cried Léon. And he broke forth into a +song of Pierre Dupont’s:—</p> + +<table class="reg" summary="poem"><tr><td> +<div class="poemr"> + +<p>“Savez-vous où gite</p> +<p class="i05">Mai, ce joli <span class="correction" title="originally single quote">mois?”</span></p> + +</div> +</td></tr></table> + +<p>Elvira joined in; so did Stubbs, with a good ear and +voice, but an imperfect acquaintance with the music. +Léon and the guitar were equal to the situation. The actor +dispensed his throat-notes with prodigality and enthusiasm; +and, as he looked up to heaven in his heroic way, tossing +the black ringlets, it seemed to him that the very stars +contributed a dumb applause to his efforts, and the universe +lent him its silence for a chorus. That is one of the best +features of the heavenly bodies, that they belong to everybody +in particular; and a man like Léon, a chronic Endymion +who managed to get along without encouragement, is +always the world’s centre for himself.</p> + +<p>He alone—and it is to be noted, he was the worst singer +of the three—took the music seriously to heart, and judged +the serenade from a high artistic point of view. Elvira, on +the other hand, was preoccupied about their reception; and +as for Stubbs, he considered the whole affair in the light of +a broad joke.</p> + +<p>“Know you the lair of May, the lovely month?” went +the three voices in the turnip-field.</p> + +<p>The inhabitants were plainly fluttered; the light moved +to and fro, strengthening in one window, paling in another; +and then the door was thrown open, and a man in a blouse +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page297"></a>297</span> +appeared on the threshold carrying a lamp. He was a +powerful young fellow, with bewildered hair and beard, +wearing his neck open; his blouse was stained with oil-colours +in a harlequinesque disorder; and there was something +rural in the droop and bagginess of his belted trousers.</p> + +<p>From immediately behind him, and indeed over his +shoulder, a woman’s face looked out into the darkness; it +was pale and a little weary, although still young; it wore a +dwindling, disappearing prettiness, soon to be quite gone, +and the expression was both gentle and sour, and reminded +one faintly of the taste of certain drugs. For all that, it +was not a face to dislike; when the prettiness had vanished, +it seemed as if a certain pale beauty might step in to take +its place; and as both the mildness and the asperity were +characters of youth, it might be hoped that, with years, both +would merge into a constant, brave, and not unkindly +temper.</p> + +<p>“What is all this?” cried the man.</p> + + +<hr class="short" /> +<div class="pt2"> </div> + +<h4>CHAPTER VI</h4> + +<p class="noind"><span class="sc">Léon</span> had his hat in his hand at once. He came forward +with his customary grace; it was a moment which would +have earned him a round of cheering on the stage. Elvira +and Stubbs advanced behind him, like a couple of Admetus’s +sheep following the god Apollo.</p> + +<p>“Sir,” said Léon, “the hour is unpardonably late, and +our little serenade has the air of an impertinence. Believe +me, sir, it is an appeal. Monsieur is an artist, I perceive. +We are here three artists benighted and without shelter, +one a woman—a delicate woman—in evening dress—in an +interesting situation. This will not fail to touch the woman’s +heart of Madame, whom I perceive indistinctly behind Monsieur +her husband, and whose face speaks eloquently of +a well-regulated mind. Ah! Monsieur, Madame—one +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page298"></a>298</span> +generous movement, and you make three people happy! +Two or three hours beside your fire—I ask it of Monsieur +in the name of Art—I ask it of Madame by the sanctity of +womanhood.”</p> + +<p>The two, as by a tacit consent, drew back from the door.</p> + +<p>“Come in,” said the man.</p> + +<p>“<i>Entrez</i>, Madame,” said the woman.</p> + +<p>The door opened directly upon the kitchen of the house, +which was to all appearance the only sitting-room. The +furniture was both plain and scanty; but there were one or +two landscapes on the wall, handsomely framed, as if they +had already visited the committee-rooms of an exhibition +and been thence extruded. Léon walked up to the pictures +and represented the part of a connoisseur before each in +turn, with his usual dramatic insight and force. The +master of the house, as if irresistibly attracted, followed him +from canvas to canvas with the lamp. Elvira was led +directly to the fire, where she proceeded to warm herself, +while Stubbs stood in the middle of the floor and followed +the proceedings of Léon with mild astonishment in his +eyes.</p> + +<p>“You should see them by daylight,” said the artist.</p> + +<p>“I promise myself that pleasure,” said Léon. “You +possess, sir, if you will permit me an observation, the art of +composition to a T.”</p> + +<p>“You are very good,” returned the other. “But +should you not draw nearer to the fire?”</p> + +<p>“With all my heart,” said Léon.</p> + +<p>And the whole party was soon gathered at the table over +a hasty and not an elegant cold supper, washed down with +the least of small wines. Nobody liked the meal, but nobody +complained; they put a good face upon it, one and all, +and made a great clattering of knives and forks. To see +Léon eating a single cold sausage was to see a triumph; by +the time he had done he had got through as much pantomime +as would have sufficed for a baron of beef, and he had +the relaxed expression of the over-eaten.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page299"></a>299</span></p> + +<p>As Elvira had naturally taken a place by the side of +Léon, and Stubbs as naturally, although I believe unconsciously, +by the side of Elvira, the host and hostess were +left together. Yet it was to be noted that they never addressed +a word to each other, nor so much as suffered their +eyes to meet. The interrupted skirmish still survived in +ill-feeling; and the instant the guests departed it would +break forth again as bitterly as ever. The talk wandered +from this to that subject—for with one accord the party +had declared it was too late to go to bed; but those two +never relaxed towards each other; Goneril and Regan in a +sisterly tiff were not more bent on enmity.</p> + +<p>It chanced that Elvira was so much tired by all the little +excitements of the night, that for once she laid aside her +company manners, which were both easy and correct, and +in the most natural manner in the world leaned her head on +Léon’s shoulder. At the same time, fatigue suggesting +tenderness, she locked the fingers of her right hand into +those of her husband’s left; and, half-closing her eyes, dozed +off into a golden borderland between sleep and waking. +But all the time she was not unaware of what was passing, +and saw the painter’s wife studying her with looks between +contempt and envy.</p> + +<p>It occurred to Léon that his constitution demanded the +use of some tobacco; and he undid his fingers from Elvira’s +in order to roll a cigarette. It was gently done, and he took +care that his indulgence should in no other way disturb his +wife’s position. But it seemed to catch the eye of the +painter’s wife with a special significancy. She looked +straight before her for an instant, and then, with a swift +and stealthy movement, took hold of her husband’s hand +below the table. Alas! she might have spared herself the +dexterity. For the poor fellow was so overcome by this +caress that he stopped with his mouth open in the middle +of a word, and by the expression of his face plainly declared +to all the company that his thoughts had been diverted into +softer channels.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page300"></a>300</span></p> + +<p>If it had not been rather amiable, it would have been +absurdly droll. His wife at once withdrew her touch; but +it was plain she had to exert some force. Thereupon the +young man coloured and looked for a moment beautiful.</p> + +<p>Léon and Elvira both observed the by-play, and a shock +passed from one to the other; for they were inveterate +match-makers, especially between those who were already +married.</p> + +<p>“I beg your pardon,” said Léon suddenly. “I see no +use in pretending. Before we came in here we heard sounds +indicating—if I may so express myself—an imperfect +harmony.”</p> + +<p>“Sir——” began the man.</p> + +<p>But the woman was beforehand.</p> + +<p>“It is quite true,” she said. “I see no cause to be +ashamed. If my husband is mad I shall at least do my +utmost to prevent the consequences. Picture to yourself, +Monsieur and Madame,” she went on, for she passed Stubbs +over, “that this wretched person—a dauber, an incompetent, +not fit to be a sign-painter—receives this morning an +admirable offer from an uncle—an uncle of my own, my +mother’s brother, and tenderly beloved—of a clerkship with +nearly a hundred and fifty pounds a year, and that he—picture +to yourself!—he refuses it! Why? For the sake +of Art, he says. Look at his art, I say—look at it! Is it +fit to be seen? Ask him—is it fit to be sold? And it is for +this, Monsieur and Madame, that he condemns me to the +most deplorable existence, without luxuries, without comforts, +in a vile suburb of a country town. <i>O non!</i>” she +cried, “<i>non—je ne me tairai pas—c’est plus fort que moi!</i> +I take these gentlemen and this lady for judges—is this +kind? is it decent? is it manly? Do I not deserve better +at his hands after having married him and“—(a visible +hitch)—“done everything in the world to please him?”</p> + +<p>I doubt if there ever were a more embarrassed company +at a table; every one looked like a fool; and the husband +like the biggest.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page301"></a>301</span></p> + +<p>“The art of Monsieur, however,” said Elvira, breaking +the silence, “is not wanting in distinction.”</p> + +<p>“It has this distinction,” said the wife, “that nobody +will buy it.”</p> + +<p>“I should have supposed a clerkship——” began +Stubbs.</p> + +<p>“Art is Art,” swept in Léon. “I salute Art. It is the +beautiful, the divine; it is the spirit of the world and the +pride of life. But——” And the actor paused.</p> + +<p>“A clerkship——” began Stubbs.</p> + +<p>“I’ll tell you what it is,” said the painter. “I am +an artist, and as this gentleman says, Art is this and the +other; but of course, if my wife is going to make my life a +piece of perdition all day long, I prefer to go and drown +myself out of <span class="correction" title="originally single quote">hand.”</span></p> + +<p>“Go!” said his wife. “I should like to see +you!”</p> + +<p>“I was going to say,” resumed Stubbs, “that a fellow +may be a clerk and paint almost as much as he likes. I +know a fellow in a bank who makes capital water-colour +sketches; he even sold one for seven-and-six.”</p> + +<p>To both the women this seemed a plank of safety; each +hopefully interrogated the countenance of her lord; even +Elvira, an artist herself!—but indeed there must be something +permanently mercantile in the female nature. The +two men exchanged a glance; it was tragic; not otherwise +might two philosophers salute, as at the end of a laborious +life each recognised that he was still a mystery to his +disciples.</p> + +<p>Léon arose.</p> + +<p>“Art is Art,” he repeated sadly. “It is not water-colour +sketches, nor practising on a piano. It is a life to be +lived.”</p> + +<p>“And in the meantime people starve!” observed the +woman of the house. “If that’s a life, it is not one for me.”</p> + +<p>“I’ll tell you what,” burst forth Léon; “you, Madame, +go into another room and talk it over with my wife; and +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page302"></a>302</span> +I’ll stay here and talk it over with your husband. It may +come to nothing, but let’s try.”</p> + +<p>“I am very willing,” replied the young woman; and she +proceeded to light a candle. “This way, if you please.” +And she led Elvira upstairs into a bedroom. “The fact +is,” said she, sitting down, “that my husband cannot +paint.”</p> + +<p>“No more can mine act,” replied Elvira.</p> + +<p>“I should have thought he could,” returned the other; +“he seems clever.”</p> + +<p>“He is so, and the best of men besides,” said Elvira; +“but he cannot act.”</p> + +<p>“At least he is not a sheer humbug like mine; he can at +least sing.”</p> + +<p>“You mistake Léon,” returned his wife warmly. “He +does not even pretend to sing; he has too fine a taste; he +does so for a living. And, believe me, neither of the men +are humbugs. They are people with a mission—which +they cannot carry out.”</p> + +<p>“Humbug or not,” replied the other, “you came very +near passing the night in the fields; and, for my part, I live +in terror of starvation. I should think it was a man’s +mission to think twice about his wife. But it appears not. +Nothing is their mission but to play the fool. Oh!” she +broke out, “is it not something dreary to think of that man +of mine? If he could only do it, who would care? But no—not +he—no more than I can!”</p> + +<p>“Have you any children?” asked Elvira.</p> + +<p>“No; but then I may.”</p> + +<p>“Children change so much,” said Elvira, with a sigh.</p> + +<p>And just then from the room below there flew up a +sudden snapping chord on the guitar; one followed after +another; then the voice of Léon joined in; and there was +an air being played and sung that stopped the speech of the +two women. The wife of the painter stood like a person +transfixed; Elvira, looking into her eyes, could see all +manner of beautiful memories and kind thoughts that were +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page303"></a>303</span> +passing in and out of her soul with every note; it was a piece +of her youth that went before her; a green French plain, +the smell of apple-flowers, the far and shining ringlets of a +river, and the words and presence of love.</p> + +<p>“Léon has hit the nail,” thought Elvira to herself. <span class="correction" title="missing text">“I</span> +wonder how.”</p> + +<p>The how was plain enough. Léon had asked the painter +if there were no air connected with courtship and pleasant +times; and having learned what he wished, and allowed an +interval to pass, he had soared forth into</p> + +<table class="reg" summary="poem"><tr><td> +<div class="poemr"> + +<p>“O mon amante,</p> + <p class="i15">O mon désir,</p> + <p class="i15">Sachons cueillir</p> +<p class="i05">L’heure charmante!”</p> + +</div> +</td></tr></table> + +<p>“Pardon me, Madame,” said the painter’s wife, “your +husband sings admirably well.”</p> + +<p>“He sings that with some feeling,” replied Elvira critically, +although she was a little moved herself, for the song +cut both ways in the upper chamber; “but it is as an actor +and not as a musician.”</p> + +<p>“Life is very sad,” said the other; “it so wastes away +under one’s fingers.”</p> + +<p>“I have not found it so,” replied Elvira. “I think the +good parts of it last and grow greater every day.”</p> + +<p>“Frankly, how would you advise me?”</p> + +<p>“Frankly, I would let my husband do what he wished. +He is obviously a very loving painter; you have not yet +tried him as a clerk. And you know—if it were only as the +possible father of your children—it is as well to keep him +at his best.”</p> + +<p>“He is an excellent fellow,” said the wife.</p> + +<div class="pt05"> </div> + +<p>They kept it up till sunrise with music and all manner +of good-fellowship; and at sunrise, while the sky was still +temperate and clear, they separated on the threshold with +a thousand excellent wishes for each other’s welfare. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page304"></a>304</span> +Castel-le-Gâchis was beginning to send up its smoke against +the golden east; and the church bell was ringing six.</p> + +<p>“My guitar is a familiar spirit,” said Léon, as he and +Elvira took the nearest way towards the inn; “it resuscitated +a Commissary, created an English tourist, and reconciled +a man and wife.”</p> + +<p>Stubbs, on his part, went off into the morning with +reflections of his own.</p> + +<p>“They are all mad,” thought he, “all mad—but wonderfully +decent.”</p> + +<hr class="art" /> +<div class="pt2"> </div> + +<h5>END OF VOL. IV</h5> +<div class="pt2"> </div> + +<hr class="full" /> +<p class="center noind" style="font-size: 65%;">PRINTED BY CASSELL AND COMPANY, LIMITED, LA BELLE SAUVAGE, LONDON, E.C.</p> +<hr class="full" /> +<div class="pt2"> </div> + + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson - +Swanston Edition Vol. 4 (of 25), by Robert Louis Stevenson + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WORKS--R.L. STEVENSON, VOL 4 (OF 25) *** + +***** This file should be named 30700-h.htm or 30700-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/0/7/0/30700/ + +Produced by Marius Masi, Jonathan Ingram and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +https://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere 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 + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at https://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +https://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at https://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit https://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including including checks, online payments and credit card +donations. To donate, please visit: https://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + https://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. + + +</pre> + +</body> +</html> diff --git a/30700-h/images/img1.jpg b/30700-h/images/img1.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..03901fd --- /dev/null +++ b/30700-h/images/img1.jpg |
