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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Doctor, his Wife, and the Clock, by 
+Anna Katharine Green
+
+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 Doctor, his Wife, and the Clock
+
+Author: Anna Katharine Green
+
+Release Date: May 19, 2010 [EBook #32439]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: UTF-8
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DOCTOR, HIS WIFE, AND CLOCK ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Suzanne Shell, Irma Spehar and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+THE AUTONYM LIBRARY.
+
+
+Small works by representative writers, whose contributions will bear
+their signatures.
+
+    32mo, limp cloth, each 50 cents.
+
+    The Autonym Library is published in co-operation with Mr. T.
+    Fisher Unwin, of London.
+
+    I. THE UPPER BERTH, by F. Marion Crawford.
+
+    II. FOUND AND LOST, by Mary Putnam-Jacobi.
+
+    III. THE DOCTOR, HIS WIFE, AND THE CLOCK, by Anna Katharine
+         Green.
+
+    These will be followed by volumes by other well-known writers.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+              [Handwritten signature: Anna Katharine Green]
+
+
+                               THE DOCTOR
+                                HIS WIFE
+                              AND THE CLOCK
+
+                                   BY
+
+                          ANNA KATHARINE GREEN
+                          (MRS. CHARLES ROHLFS)
+
+ Author of “The Leavenworth Case,” “Hand and Ring,” “Marked ‘Personal,’”
+                               etc., etc.
+
+
+                             [Illustration]
+
+
+                           G. P. PUTNAM’S SONS
+
+                             NEW YORK LONDON
+          27 West Twenty-third Street 24 Bedford Street, Strand
+
+                         The Knickerbocker Press
+                                  1895
+
+
+                             COPYRIGHT, 1895
+                        BY ANNA KATHARINE ROHLFS
+                           All rights reserved
+
+
+                   Electrotyped, Printed and Bound by
+                    The Knickerbocker Press, New York
+                           G. P. PUTNAM’S SONS
+
+
+
+
+                        THE DOCTOR, HIS WIFE, AND
+                                THE CLOCK
+
+
+
+
+_The Doctor, his Wife, and the Clock._
+
+I.
+
+
+On the 17th of July, 1851, a tragedy of no little interest occurred in
+one of the residences of the Colonnade in Lafayette Place.
+
+Mr. Hasbrouck, a well-known and highly respected citizen, was attacked
+in his room by an unknown assailant, and shot dead before assistance
+could reach him. His murderer escaped, and the problem offered to the
+police was, how to identify this person who, by some happy chance or by
+the exercise of the most remarkable forethought, had left no traces
+behind him, or any clue by which he could be followed.
+
+The affair was given to a young man, named Ebenezer Gryce, to
+investigate, and the story, as he tells it, is this:
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+When, some time after midnight, I reached Lafayette Place, I found the
+block lighted from end to end. Groups of excited men and women peered
+from the open doorways, and mingled their shadows with those of the huge
+pillars which adorn the front of this picturesque block of dwellings.
+
+The house in which the crime had been committed was near the centre of
+the row, and, long before I reached it, I had learned from more than
+one source that the alarm was first given to the street by a woman’s
+shriek, and secondly by the shouts of an old man-servant who had
+appeared, in a half-dressed condition, at the window of Mr. Hasbrouck’s
+room, crying “Murder! murder!”
+
+But when I had crossed the threshold, I was astonished at the paucity of
+the facts to be gleaned from the inmates themselves. The old servitor,
+who was the first to talk, had only this account of the crime to give.
+
+The family, which consisted of Mr. Hasbrouck, his wife, and three
+servants, had retired for the night at the usual hour and under the
+usual auspices. At eleven o’clock the lights were all extinguished, and
+the whole household asleep, with the possible exception of Mr.
+Hasbrouck himself, who, being a man of large business responsibilities,
+was frequently troubled with insomnia.
+
+Suddenly Mrs. Hasbrouck woke with a start. Had she dreamed the words
+that were ringing in her ears, or had they been actually uttered in her
+hearing? They were short, sharp words, full of terror and menace, and
+she had nearly satisfied herself that she had imagined them, when there
+came, from somewhere near the door, a sound she neither understood nor
+could interpret, but which filled her with inexplicable terror, and made
+her afraid to breathe, or even to stretch forth her hand towards her
+husband, whom she supposed to be sleeping at her side. At length another
+strange sound, which she was sure was not due to her imagination, drove
+her to make an attempt to rouse him, when she was horrified to find that
+she was alone in the bed, and her husband nowhere within reach.
+
+Filled now with something more than nervous apprehension, she flung
+herself to the floor, and tried to penetrate, with frenzied glances, the
+surrounding darkness. But the blinds and shutters both having been
+carefully closed by Mr. Hasbrouck before retiring, she found this
+impossible, and she was about to sink in terror to the floor, when she
+heard a low gasp on the other side of the room, followed by the
+suppressed cry:
+
+“God! what have I done!”
+
+The voice was a strange one, but before the fear aroused by this fact
+could culminate in a shriek of dismay, she caught the sound of
+retreating footsteps, and, eagerly listening, she heard them descend the
+stairs and depart by the front door.
+
+Had she known what had occurred—had there been no doubt in her mind as
+to what lay in the darkness on the other side of the room—it is likely
+that, at the noise caused by the closing front door, she would have made
+at once for the balcony that opened out from the window before which she
+was standing, and taken one look at the flying figure below. But her
+uncertainty as to what lay hidden from her by the darkness chained her
+feet to the floor, and there is no knowing when she would have moved, if
+a carriage had not at that moment passed down Astor Place, bringing with
+it a sense of companionship which broke the spell that held her, and
+gave her strength to light the gas, which was in ready reach of her
+hand.
+
+As the sudden blaze illuminated the room, revealing in a burst the old
+familiar walls and well-known pieces of furniture, she felt for a moment
+as if released from some heavy nightmare and restored to the common
+experiences of life. But in another instant her former dread returned,
+and she found herself quaking at the prospect of passing around the foot
+of the bed into that part of the room which was as yet hidden from her
+eyes.
+
+But the desperation which comes with great crises finally drove her from
+her retreat; and, creeping slowly forward, she cast one glance at the
+floor before her, when she found her worst fears realized by the sight
+of the dead body of her husband lying prone before the open doorway,
+with a bullet-hole in his forehead.
+
+Her first impulse was to shriek, but, by a powerful exercise of will,
+she checked herself, and, ringing frantically for the servants who slept
+on the top-floor of the house, flew to the nearest window and endeavored
+to open it. But the shutters had been bolted so securely by Mr.
+Hasbrouck, in his endeavor to shut out light and sound, that by the time
+she had succeeded in unfastening them, all trace of the flying murderer
+had vanished from the street.
+
+Sick with grief and terror, she stepped back into the room just as the
+three frightened servants descended the stairs. As they appeared in the
+open doorway, she pointed at her husband’s inanimate form, and then, as
+if suddenly realizing in its full force the calamity which had befallen
+her, she threw up her arms, and sank forward to the floor in a dead
+faint.
+
+The two women rushed to her assistance, but the old butler, bounding
+over the bed, sprang to the window, and shrieked his alarm to the
+street.
+
+In the interim that followed, Mrs. Hasbrouck was revived, and the
+master’s body laid decently on the bed; but no pursuit was made, nor any
+inquiries started likely to assist me in establishing the identity of
+the assailant.
+
+Indeed, every one, both in the house and out, seemed dazed by the
+unexpected catastrophe, and as no one had any suspicions to offer as to
+the probable murderer, I had a difficult task before me.
+
+I began, in the usual way, by inspecting the scene of the murder. I
+found nothing in the room, or in the condition of the body itself, which
+added an iota to the knowledge already obtained. That Mr. Hasbrouck had
+been in bed; that he had risen upon hearing a noise; and that he had
+been shot before reaching the door, were self-evident facts. But there
+was nothing to guide me further. The very simplicity of the
+circumstances caused a dearth of clues, which made the difficulty of
+procedure as great as any I ever encountered.
+
+My search through the hall and down the stairs elicited nothing; and an
+investigation of the bolts and bars by which the house was secured,
+assured me that the assassin had either entered by the front door, or
+had already been secreted in the house when it was locked up for the
+night.
+
+“I shall have to trouble Mrs. Hasbrouck for a short interview,” I
+hereupon announced to the trembling old servitor, who had followed me
+like a dog about the house.
+
+He made no demur, and in a few minutes I was ushered into the presence
+of the newly made widow, who sat quite alone, in a large chamber in the
+rear. As I crossed the threshold she looked up, and I encountered a good
+plain face, without the shadow of guile in it.
+
+“Madam,” said I, “I have not come to disturb you. I will ask two or
+three questions only, and then leave you to your grief. I am told that
+some words came from the assassin before he delivered his fatal shot.
+Did you hear these distinctly enough to tell me what they were?”
+
+“I was sound asleep,” said she, “and dreamt, as I thought, that a
+fierce, strange voice cried somewhere to some one: ‘Ah! you did not
+expect _me_!’ But I dare not say that these words were really uttered to
+my husband, for he was not the man to call forth hate, and only a man in
+the extremity of passion could address such an exclamation in such a
+tone as rings in my memory in connection with the fatal shot which woke
+me.”
+
+“But that shot was not the work of a friend,” I argued. “If, as these
+words seem to prove, the assassin had some other motive than gain in his
+assault, then your husband had an enemy, though you never suspected it.”
+
+“Impossible!” was her steady reply, uttered in the most convincing tone.
+“The man who shot him was a common burglar, and, frightened at having
+been betrayed into murder, fled without looking for booty. I am sure I
+heard him cry out in terror and remorse: ‘God! what have I done!’”
+
+“Was that before you left the side of the bed?”
+
+“Yes; I did not move from my place till I heard the front door close. I
+was paralyzed by my fear and dread.”
+
+“Are you in the habit of trusting to the security of a latch-lock only
+in the fastening of your front door at night? I am told that the big key
+was not in the lock, and that the bolt at the bottom of the door was not
+drawn.”
+
+“The bolt at the bottom of the door is never drawn. Mr. Hasbrouck was so
+good a man he never mistrusted any one. That is why the big lock was not
+fastened. The key, not working well, he took it some days ago to the
+locksmith, and when the latter failed to return it, he laughed, and said
+he thought no one would ever think of meddling with his front door.”
+
+“Is there more than one night-key to your house?” I now asked.
+
+She shook her head.
+
+“And when did Mr. Hasbrouck last use his?”
+
+“To-night, when he came home from prayer-meeting,” she answered, and
+burst into tears.
+
+Her grief was so real and her loss so recent that I hesitated to afflict
+her by further questions. So returning to the scene of the tragedy, I
+stepped out upon the balcony which ran in front. Soft voices instantly
+struck my ears. The neighbors on either side were grouped in front of
+their own windows, and were exchanging the remarks natural under the
+circumstances. I paused, as in duty bound, and listened. But I heard
+nothing worth recording, and would have instantly re-entered the house,
+if I had not been impressed by the appearance of a very graceful woman
+who stood at my right. She was clinging to her husband, who was gazing
+at one of the pillars before him in a strange, fixed way which
+astonished me till he attempted to move, and then I saw that he was
+blind. Instantly I remembered that there lived in this row a blind
+doctor, equally celebrated for his skill and for his uncommon personal
+attractions, and, greatly interested not only in his affliction, but in
+the sympathy evinced for him by his young and affectionate wife, I stood
+still till I heard her say in the soft and appealing tones of love:
+
+“Come in, Constant; you have heavy duties for to-morrow, and you should
+get a few hours’ rest, if possible.”
+
+He came from the shadow of the pillar, and for one minute I saw his face
+with the lamplight shining full upon it. It was as regular of feature as
+a sculptured Adonis, and it was as white.
+
+“Sleep!” he repeated, in the measured tones of deep but suppressed
+feeling. “Sleep! with murder on the other side of the wall!” And he
+stretched out his arms in a dazed way that insensibly accentuated the
+horror I myself felt of the crime which had so lately taken place in the
+room behind me.
+
+She, noting the movement, took one of the groping hands in her own and
+drew him gently towards her.
+
+“This way,” she urged; and, guiding him into the house, she closed the
+window and drew down the shades, making the street seem darker by the
+loss of her exquisite presence.
+
+This may seem a digression, but I was at the time a young man of thirty,
+and much under the dominion of woman’s beauty. I was therefore slow in
+leaving the balcony, and persistent in my wish to learn something of
+this remarkable couple before leaving Mr. Hasbrouck’s house.
+
+The story told me was very simple. Dr. Zabriskie had not been born
+blind, but had become so after a grievous illness which had stricken him
+down soon after he received his diploma. Instead of succumbing to an
+affliction which would have daunted most men, he expressed his intention
+of practising his profession, and soon became so successful in it that
+he found no difficulty in establishing himself in one of the best-paying
+quarters of the city. Indeed, his intuition seemed to have developed in
+a remarkable degree after his loss of sight, and he seldom, if ever,
+made a mistake in diagnosis. Considering this fact, and the personal
+attractions which gave him distinction, it was no wonder that he soon
+became a popular physician whose presence was a benefaction and whose
+word a law.
+
+He had been engaged to be married at the time of his illness, and, when
+he learned what was likely to be its results, had offered to release the
+young lady from all obligation to him. But she would not be released,
+and they were married. This had taken place some five years previous to
+Mr. Hasbrouck’s death, three of which had been spent by them in
+Lafayette Place.
+
+So much for the beautiful woman next door.
+
+There being absolutely no clue to the assailant of Mr. Hasbrouck, I
+naturally looked forward to the inquest for some evidence upon which to
+work. But there seemed to be no underlying facts to this tragedy. The
+most careful study into the habits and conduct of the deceased brought
+nothing to light save his general beneficence and rectitude, nor was
+there in his history or in that of his wife any secret or hidden
+obligation calculated to provoke any such act of revenge as murder. Mrs.
+Hasbrouck’s surmise that the intruder was simply a burglar, and that she
+had rather imagined than heard the words that pointed to the shooting as
+a deed of vengeance, soon gained general credence. But, though the
+police worked long and arduously in this new direction, their efforts
+were without fruit, and the case bade fair to remain an unsolvable
+mystery.
+
+But the deeper the mystery the more persistently does my mind cling to
+it, and some five months after the matter had been delegated to
+oblivion, I found myself starting suddenly from sleep, with these words
+ringing in my ears:
+
+“_Who uttered the scream that gave the first alarm of Mr. Hasbrouck’s
+violent death?_”
+
+I was in such a state of excitement that the perspiration stood out on
+my forehead. Mrs. Hasbrouck’s story of the occurrence returned to me,
+and I remembered as distinctly as if she were then speaking, that she
+had expressly stated that she did not scream when confronted by the
+sight of her husband’s dead body. But some one had screamed, and that
+very loudly. Who was it, then? One of the maids, startled by the sudden
+summons from below, or some one else—some involuntary witness of the
+crime, whose testimony had been suppressed at the inquest, by fear or
+influence?
+
+The possibility of having come upon a clue even at this late day, so
+fired my ambition, that I took the first opportunity of revisiting
+Lafayette Place. Choosing such persons as I thought most open to my
+questions, I learned that there were many who could testify to having
+heard a woman’s shrill scream on that memorable night just prior to the
+alarm given by old Cyrus, but no one who could tell from whose lips it
+had come. One fact, however, was immediately settled. It had not been
+the result of the servant-women’s fears. Both of the girls were positive
+that they had uttered no sound, nor had they themselves heard any, till
+Cyrus rushed to the window with his wild cries. As the scream, by
+whomever given, was uttered before they descended the stairs, I was
+convinced by these assurances that it had issued from one of the front
+windows, and not from the rear of the house, where their own rooms lay.
+Could it be that it had sprung from the adjoining dwelling, and that——
+My thoughts went no further, but I made up my mind to visit the Doctor’s
+house at once.
+
+It took some courage to do this, for the Doctor’s wife had attended the
+inquest, and her beauty, seen in broad daylight, had worn such an aspect
+of mingled sweetness and dignity, that I hesitated to encounter it under
+any circumstances likely to disturb its pure serenity. But a clue, once
+grasped, cannot be lightly set aside by a true detective, and it would
+have taken more than a woman’s frown to stop me at this point. So I rang
+Dr. Zabriskie’s bell.
+
+I am seventy years old now and am no longer daunted by the charms of a
+beautiful woman, but I confess that when I found myself in the fine
+reception parlor on the first-floor, I experienced no little trepidation
+at the prospect of the interview which awaited me.
+
+But as soon as the fine commanding form of the Doctor’s wife crossed the
+threshold, I recovered my senses and surveyed her with as direct a gaze
+as my position allowed. For her aspect bespoke a degree of emotion that
+astonished me; and even before I spoke I perceived her to be trembling,
+though she was a woman of no little natural dignity and self-possession.
+
+“I seem to know your face,” she said, advancing courteously towards me,
+“but your name”—and here she glanced at the card she held in her
+hand—“is totally unfamiliar to me.”
+
+“I think you saw me some eighteen months ago,” said I. “I am the
+detective who gave testimony at the inquest which was held over the
+remains of Mr. Hasbrouck.”
+
+I had not meant to startle her, but at this introduction of myself I saw
+her naturally pale cheek turn paler, and her fine eyes, which had been
+fixed curiously upon me, gradually sink to the floor.
+
+“Great heaven!” thought I, “what is this I have stumbled upon!”
+
+“I do not understand what business you can have with me,” she presently
+remarked, with a show of gentle indifference that did not in the least
+deceive me.
+
+“I do not wonder,” I rejoined. “The crime which took place next door is
+almost forgotten by the community, and even if it were not, I am sure
+you would find it difficult to conjecture the nature of the question I
+have to put to you.”
+
+“I am surprised,” she began, rising in her involuntary emotion and
+thereby compelling me to rise also. “How can you have any question to
+ask me on this subject? Yet if you have,” she continued, with a rapid
+change of manner that touched my heart in spite of myself, “I shall, of
+course, do my best to answer you.”
+
+There are women whose sweetest tones and most charming smiles only serve
+to awaken distrust in men of my calling; but Mrs. Zabriskie was not of
+this number. Her face was beautiful, but it was also candid in its
+expression, and beneath the agitation which palpably disturbed her, I
+was sure there lurked nothing either wicked or false. Yet I held fast by
+the clue which I had grasped, as it were, in the dark, and without
+knowing whither I was tending, much less whither I was leading her, I
+proceeded to say:
+
+“The question which I presume to put to you as the next-door neighbor of
+Mr. Hasbrouck, is this: Who was the woman who screamed out so loudly
+that the whole neighborhood heard her on the night of that gentleman’s
+assassination?”
+
+The gasp she gave answered my question in a way she little realized,
+and, struck as I was by the impalpable links that had led me to the
+threshold of this hitherto unsolvable mystery, I was about to press my
+advantage and ask another question, when she quickly started forward and
+laid her hand on my lips.
+
+Astonished, I looked at her inquiringly, but her head was turned aside,
+and her eyes, fixed upon the door, showed the greatest anxiety.
+Instantly I realized what she feared. Her husband was entering the
+house, and she dreaded lest his ears should catch a word of our
+conversation.
+
+Not knowing what was in her mind, and unable to realize the importance
+of the moment to her, I yet listened to the advance of her blind
+husband with an almost painful interest. Would he enter the room where
+we were, or would he pass immediately to his office in the rear? She
+seemed to wonder too, and almost held her breath as he neared the door,
+paused, and stood in the open doorway, with his ear turned towards us.
+
+As for myself, I remained perfectly still, gazing at his face in mingled
+surprise and apprehension. For besides its beauty, which was of a marked
+order, as I have already observed, it had a touching expression which
+irresistibly aroused both pity and interest in the spectator. This may
+have been the result of his affliction, or it may have sprung from some
+deeper cause; but, whatever its source, this look in his face produced a
+strong impression upon me and interested me at once in his personality.
+Would he enter? Or would he pass on? Her look of silent appeal showed me
+in which direction her wishes lay, but while I answered her glance by
+complete silence, I was conscious in some indistinct way that the
+business I had undertaken would be better furthered by his entrance.
+
+The blind have been often said to possess a sixth sense in place of the
+one they have lost. Though I am sure we made no noise, I soon perceived
+that he was aware of our presence. Stepping hastily forward he said, in
+the high and vibrating tone of restrained passion:
+
+“Helen, are you here?”
+
+For a moment I thought she did not mean to answer, but knowing
+doubtless from experience the impossibility of deceiving him, she
+answered with a cheerful assent, dropping her hand as she did so from
+before my lips.
+
+He heard the slight rustle which accompanied the movement, and a look I
+found it hard to comprehend flashed over his features, altering his
+expression so completely that he seemed another man.
+
+“You have some one with you,” he declared, advancing another step but
+with none of the uncertainty which usually accompanies the movements of
+the blind. “Some dear friend,” he went on, with an almost sarcastic
+emphasis and a forced smile that had little of gaiety in it.
+
+The agitated and distressed blush which answered him could have but one
+interpretation. He suspected that her hand had been clasped in mine, and
+she perceived his thought and knew that I perceived it also.
+
+Drawing herself up, she moved towards him, saying in a sweet womanly
+tone that to me spoke volumes:
+
+“It is no friend, Constant, not even an acquaintance. The person whom I
+now present to you is an agent from the police. He is here upon a
+trivial errand which will be soon finished, when I will join you in your
+office.”
+
+I knew she was but taking a choice between two evils. That she would
+have saved her husband the knowledge of a detective’s presence in the
+house, if her self-respect would have allowed it, but neither she nor I
+anticipated the effect which this presentation produced upon him.
+
+“A police officer,” he repeated, staring with his sightless eyes, as if,
+in his eagerness to see, he half hoped his lost sense would return. “He
+can have no trivial errand here; he has been sent by God Himself to——”
+
+“Let me speak for you,” hastily interposed his wife, springing to his
+side and clasping his arm with a fervor that was equally expressive of
+appeal and command. Then turning to me, she explained: “Since Mr.
+Hasbrouck’s unaccountable death, my husband has been laboring under an
+hallucination which I have only to mention for you to recognize its
+perfect absurdity. He thinks—oh! do not look like that, Constant; you
+know it is an hallucination which must vanish the moment we drag it
+into broad daylight—that he—_he_, the best man in all the world, was
+himself the assailant of Mr. Hasbrouck.”
+
+Good God!
+
+“I say nothing of the impossibility of this being so,” she went on in a
+fever of expostulation. “He is blind, and could not have delivered such
+a shot even if he had desired to; besides, he had no weapon. But the
+inconsistency of the thing speaks for itself, and should assure him that
+his mind is unbalanced and that he is merely suffering from a shock that
+was greater than we realized. He is a physician and has had many such
+instances in his own practice. Why, he was very much attached to Mr.
+Hasbrouck! They were the best of friends, and though he insists that he
+killed him, he cannot give any reason for the deed.”
+
+At these words the Doctor’s face grew stern, and he spoke like an
+automaton repeating some fearful lesson.
+
+“I killed him. I went to his room and deliberately shot him. I had
+nothing against him, and my remorse is extreme. Arrest me, and let me
+pay the penalty of my crime. It is the only way in which I can obtain
+peace.”
+
+Shocked beyond all power of self-control by this repetition of what she
+evidently considered the unhappy ravings of a madman, she let go his arm
+and turned upon me in frenzy.
+
+“Convince him!” she cried. “Convince him by your questions that he never
+could have done this fearful thing.”
+
+I was laboring under great excitement myself, for I felt my youth
+against me in a matter of such tragic consequence. Besides, I agreed
+with her that he was in a distempered state of mind, and I hardly knew
+how to deal with one so fixed in his hallucination and with so much
+intelligence to support it. But the emergency was great, for he was
+holding out his wrists in the evident expectation of my taking him into
+instant custody; and the sight was killing his wife, who had sunk on the
+floor between us, in terror and anguish.
+
+“You say you killed Mr. Hasbrouck,” I began. “Where did you get your
+pistol, and what did you do with it after you left his house?”
+
+“My husband had no pistol; never had any pistol,” put in Mrs.
+Zabriskie, with vehement assertion. “If I had seen him with such a
+weapon——”
+
+“I threw it away. When I left the house, I cast it as far from me as
+possible, for I was frightened at what I had done, horribly frightened.”
+
+“No pistol was ever found,” I answered, with a smile, forgetting for the
+moment that he could not see. “If such an instrument had been found in
+the street after a murder of such consequence it certainly would have
+been brought to the police.”
+
+“You forget that a good pistol is valuable property,” he went on
+stolidly. “Some one came along before the general alarm was given; and
+seeing such a treasure lying on the sidewalk, picked it up and carried
+it off. Not being an honest man, he preferred to keep it to drawing the
+attention of the police upon himself.”
+
+“Hum, perhaps,” said I; “but where did _you_ get it. Surely you can tell
+where you procured such a weapon, if, as your wife intimates, you did
+not own one.”
+
+“I bought it that self-same night of a friend; a friend whom I will not
+name, since he resides no longer in this country. I——” He paused;
+intense passion was in his face; he turned towards his wife, and a low
+cry escaped him, which made her look up in fear.
+
+“I do not wish to go into any particulars,” said he. “God forsook me and
+I committed a horrible crime. When I am punished, perhaps peace will
+return to me and happiness to her. I would not wish her to suffer too
+long or too bitterly for my sin.”
+
+“Constant!” What love was in the cry! and what despair! It seemed to
+move him and turn his thoughts for a moment into a different channel.
+
+“Poor child!” he murmured, stretching out his hands by an irresistible
+impulse towards her. But the change was but momentary, and he was soon
+again the stern and determined self-accuser. “Are you going to take me
+before a magistrate?” he asked. “If so, I have a few duties to perform
+which you are welcome to witness.”
+
+“I have no warrant,” I said; “besides, I am scarcely the one to take
+such a responsibility upon myself. If, however, you persist in your
+declaration, I will communicate with my superiors, who will take such
+action as they think best.”
+
+“That will be still more satisfactory to me,” said he; “for though I
+have many times contemplated giving myself up to the authorities, I have
+still much to do before I can leave my home and practice without injury
+to others. Good-day; when you want me, you will find me here.”
+
+He was gone, and the poor young wife was left crouching on the floor
+alone. Pitying her shame and terror, I ventured to remark that it was
+not an uncommon thing for a man to confess to a crime he had never
+committed, and assured her that the matter would be inquired into very
+carefully before any attempt was made upon his liberty.
+
+She thanked me, and, slowly rising, tried to regain her equanimity; but
+the manner as well as the matter of her husband’s self-condemnation was
+too overwhelming in its nature for her to recover readily from her
+emotions.
+
+“I have long dreaded this,” she acknowledged. “For months I have
+foreseen that he would make some rash communication or insane avowal. If
+I had dared, I would have consulted some physician about this
+hallucination of his; but he was so sane on other points that I
+hesitated to give my dreadful secret to the world. I kept hoping that
+time and his daily pursuits would have their effect and restore him to
+himself. But his illusion grows, and now I fear that nothing will ever
+convince him that he did not commit the deed of which he accuses
+himself. If he were not blind I would have more hope, but the blind have
+so much time for brooding.”
+
+“I think he had better be indulged in his fancies for the present,” I
+ventured. “If he is laboring under an illusion it might be dangerous to
+cross him.”
+
+“_If?_” she echoed in an indescribable tone of amazement and dread. “Can
+you for a moment harbor the idea that he has spoken the truth?”
+
+“Madam,” I returned, with something of the cynicism of my later years,
+“what caused you to give such an unearthly scream just before this
+murder was made known to the neighborhood?”
+
+She stared, paled, and finally began to tremble, not, as I now believe,
+at the insinuation latent in my words, but at the doubts which my
+question aroused in her own breast.
+
+“Did I?” she asked; then with a great burst of candor, which seemed
+inseparable from her nature, she continued: “Why do I try to mislead you
+or deceive myself? I did give a shriek just before the alarm was raised
+next door; but it was not from any knowledge I had of a crime having
+been committed, but because I unexpectedly saw before me my husband whom
+I supposed to be on his way to Poughkeepsie. He was looking very pale
+and strange, and for a moment I thought I was beholding his ghost. But
+he soon explained his appearance by saying that he had fallen from the
+train and had been only saved by a miracle from being dismembered; and
+I was just bemoaning his mishap and trying to calm him and myself, when
+that terrible shout was heard next door of ‘Murder! murder!’ Coming so
+soon after the shock he had himself experienced, it quite unnerved him,
+and I think we can date his mental disturbance from that moment. For he
+began almost immediately to take a morbid interest in the affair next
+door, though it was weeks, if not months, before he let a word fall of
+the nature of those you have just heard. Indeed it was not till I
+repeated to him some of the expressions he was continually letting fall
+in his sleep, that he commenced to accuse himself of crime and talk of
+retribution.”
+
+“You say that your husband frightened you on that night by appearing
+suddenly at the door when you thought him on his way to Poughkeepsie. Is
+Dr. Zabriskie in the habit of thus going and coming alone at an hour so
+late as this must have been?”
+
+“You forget that to the blind, night is less full of perils than the
+day. Often and often has my husband found his way to his patients’
+houses alone after midnight; but on this especial evening he had Harry
+with him. Harry was his driver, and always accompanied him when he went
+any distance.”
+
+“Well, then,” said I, “all we have to do is to summon Harry and hear
+what he has to say concerning this affair. He surely will know whether
+or not his master went into the house next door.”
+
+“Harry has left us,” she said. “Dr. Zabriskie has another driver now.
+Besides—(I have nothing to conceal from you)—Harry was not with him when
+he returned to the house that evening, or the Doctor would not have been
+without his portmanteau till the next day. Something—I have never known
+what—caused them to separate, and that is why I have no answer to give
+the Doctor when he accuses himself of committing a deed on that night
+which is wholly out of keeping with every other act of his life.”
+
+“And have you never questioned Harry why they separated and why he
+allowed his master to come home alone after the shock he had received at
+the station?”
+
+“I did not know there was any reason for doing so till long after he
+left us.”
+
+“And when did he leave?”
+
+“That I do not remember. A few weeks or possibly a few days after that
+dreadful night.”
+
+“And where is he now?”
+
+“Ah, that I have not the least means of knowing. But,” she suddenly
+cried, “what do you want of Harry? If he did not follow Dr. Zabriskie to
+his own door, he could tell us nothing that would convince my husband
+that he is laboring under an illusion.”
+
+“But he might tell us something which would convince us that Dr.
+Zabriskie was not himself after the accident, that he——”
+
+“Hush!” came from her lips in imperious tones. “I will not believe that
+he shot Mr. Hasbrouck even if you prove him to have been insane at the
+time. How could he? My husband is blind. It would take a man of very
+keen sight to force himself into a house that was closed for the night,
+and kill a man in the dark at one shot.”
+
+“Rather,” cried a voice from the doorway, “it is only a blind man who
+could do this. Those who trust to eyesight must be able to catch some
+glimpse of the mark they aim at, and this room, as I have been told, was
+without a glimmer of light. But the blind trust to sound, and as Mr.
+Hasbrouck spoke——”
+
+“Oh!” burst from the horrified wife, “is there no one to stop him when
+he speaks like that?”
+
+
+
+
+II.
+
+
+When I related to my superiors the details of the foregoing interview,
+two of them coincided with the wife in thinking that Dr. Zabriskie was
+in an irresponsible condition of mind which made any statement of his
+questionable. But the third seemed disposed to argue the matter, and,
+casting me an inquiring look, seemed to ask what my opinion was on the
+subject. Answering him as if he had spoken, I gave my conclusion as
+follows: That whether insane or not, Dr. Zabriskie had fired the shot
+which terminated Mr. Hasbrouck’s life.
+
+It was the Inspector’s own idea, but it was not shared in by the others,
+one of whom had known the Doctor for years. Accordingly they compromised
+by postponing all opinion till they had themselves interrogated the
+Doctor, and I was detailed to bring him before them the next afternoon.
+
+He came without reluctance, his wife accompanying him. In the short time
+which elapsed between their leaving Lafayette Place and entering
+Headquarters, I embraced the opportunity of observing them, and I found
+the study equally exciting and interesting. His face was calm but
+hopeless, and his eye, which should have shown a wild glimmer if there
+was truth in his wife’s hypothesis, was dark and unfathomable, but
+neither frenzied nor uncertain. He spake but once and listened to
+nothing, though now and then his wife moved as if to attract his
+attention, and once even stole her hand toward his, in the tender hope
+that he would feel its approach and accept her sympathy. But he was deaf
+as well as blind; and sat wrapped up in thoughts which she, I know,
+would have given worlds to penetrate.
+
+Her countenance was not without its mystery also. She showed in every
+lineament passionate concern and misery, and a deep tenderness from
+which the element of fear was not absent. But she, as well as he,
+betrayed that some misunderstanding, deeper than any I had previously
+suspected, drew its intangible veil between them and made the near
+proximity in which they sat, at once a heart-piercing delight and an
+unspeakable pain. What was this misunderstanding? and what was the
+character of the fear that modified her every look of love in his
+direction? Her perfect indifference to my presence proved that it was
+not connected with the position in which he had put himself towards the
+police by his voluntary confession of crime, nor could I thus interpret
+the expression of frantic question which now and then contracted her
+features, as she raised her eyes towards his sightless orbs, and strove
+to read, in his firm-set lips, the meaning of those assertions she could
+only ascribe to a loss of reason.
+
+The stopping of the carriage seemed to awaken both from thoughts that
+separated rather than united them. He turned his face in her direction,
+and she, stretching forth her hand, prepared to lead him from the
+carriage, without any of that display of timidity which had been
+previously evident in her manner.
+
+As his guide she seemed to fear nothing; as his lover, everything.
+
+“There is another and a deeper tragedy underlying the outward and
+obvious one,” was my inward conclusion, as I followed them into the
+presence of the gentlemen awaiting them.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Dr. Zabriskie’s appearance was a shock to those who knew him; so was his
+manner, which was calm, straightforward, and quietly determined.
+
+“I shot Mr. Hasbrouck,” was his steady affirmation, given without any
+show of frenzy or desperation. “If you ask me why I did it, I cannot
+answer; if you ask me how, I am ready to state all that I know
+concerning the matter.”
+
+“But, Dr. Zabriskie,” interposed his friend, “the why is the most
+important thing for us to consider just now. If you really desire to
+convince us that you committed the dreadful crime of killing a totally
+inoffensive man, you should give us some reason for an act so opposed to
+all your instincts and general conduct.”
+
+But the Doctor continued unmoved:
+
+“I had no reason for murdering Mr. Hasbrouck. A hundred questions can
+elicit no other reply; you had better keep to the how.”
+
+A deep-drawn breath from the wife answered the looks of the three
+gentlemen to whom this suggestion was offered. “You see,” that breath
+seemed to protest, “that he is not in his right mind.”
+
+I began to waver in my own opinion, and yet the intuition which has
+served me in cases as seemingly impenetrable as this, bade me beware of
+following the general judgment.
+
+“Ask him to inform you how he got into the house,” I whispered to
+Inspector D——, who sat nearest me.
+
+Immediately the Inspector put the question I had suggested:
+
+“By what means did you enter Mr. Hasbrouck’s house at so late an hour as
+this murder occurred?”
+
+The blind doctor’s head fell forward on his breast, and he hesitated for
+the first and only time.
+
+“You will not believe me,” said he; “but the door was ajar when I came
+to it. Such things make crime easy; it is the only excuse I have to
+offer for this dreadful deed.”
+
+The front door of a respectable citizen’s house ajar at half-past eleven
+at night. It was a statement that fixed in all minds the conviction of
+the speaker’s irresponsibility. Mrs. Zabriskie’s brow cleared, and her
+beauty became for a moment dazzling as she held out her hands in
+irrepressible relief towards those who were interrogating her husband. I
+alone kept my impassibility. A possible explanation of this crime had
+flashed like lightning across my mind; an explanation from which I
+inwardly recoiled, even while I was forced to consider it.
+
+“Dr. Zabriskie,” remarked the Inspector who was most friendly to him,
+“such old servants as those kept by Mr. Hasbrouck do not leave the front
+door ajar at twelve o’clock at night.”
+
+“Yet ajar it was,” repeated the blind doctor, with quiet emphasis; “and
+finding it so, I went in. When I came out again, I closed it. Do you
+wish me to swear to what I say? If so, I am ready.”
+
+What could we reply? To see this splendid-looking man, hallowed by an
+affliction so great that in itself it called forth the compassion of the
+most indifferent, accusing himself of a cold-blooded crime, in tones
+that sounded dispassionate because of the will that forced their
+utterance, was too painful in itself for us to indulge in any
+unnecessary words. Compassion took the place of curiosity, and each and
+all of us turned involuntary looks of pity upon the young wife pressing
+so eagerly to his side.
+
+“For a blind man,” ventured one, “the assault was both deft and certain.
+Are you accustomed to Mr. Hasbrouck’s house, that you found your way
+with so little difficulty to his bedroom?”
+
+“I am accustomed——” he began.
+
+But here his wife broke in with irrepressible passion:
+
+“He is not accustomed to that house. He has never been beyond the
+first-floor. Why, why do you question him? Do you not see——”
+
+His hand was on her lips.
+
+“Hush!” he commanded. “You know my skill in moving about a house; how I
+sometimes deceive those who do not know me into believing that I can
+see, by the readiness with which I avoid obstacles and find my way even
+in strange and untried scenes. Do not try to make them think I am not in
+my right mind, or you will drive me into the very condition you
+deprecate.”
+
+His face, rigid, cold, and set, looked like that of a mask. Hers, drawn
+with horror and filled with question that was fast taking the form of
+doubt, bespoke an awful tragedy from which more that one of us recoiled.
+
+“Can you shoot a man dead without seeing him?” asked the Superintendent,
+with painful effort.
+
+“Give me a pistol and I will show you,” was the quick reply.
+
+A low cry came from the wife. In a drawer near to every one of us there
+lay a pistol, but no one moved to take it out. There was a look in the
+Doctor’s eye which made us fear to trust him with a pistol just then.
+
+“We will accept your assurance that you possess a skill beyond that of
+most men,” returned the Superintendent. And beckoning me forward, he
+whispered: “This is a case for the doctors and not for the police.
+Remove him quietly, and notify Dr. Southyard of what I say.”
+
+But Dr. Zabriskie, who seemed to have an almost supernatural acuteness
+of hearing, gave a violent start at this and spoke up for the first time
+with real passion in his voice:
+
+“No, no, I pray you. I can bear anything but that. Remember, gentlemen,
+that I am blind; that I cannot see who is about me; that my life would
+be a torture if I felt myself surrounded by spies watching to catch some
+evidence of madness in me. Rather conviction at once, death, dishonor,
+and obloquy. These I have incurred. These I have brought upon myself by
+crime, but not this worse fate—oh! not this worse fate.”
+
+His passion was so intense and yet so confined within the bounds of
+decorum, that we felt strangely impressed by it. Only the wife stood
+transfixed, with the dread growing in her heart, till her white, waxen
+visage seemed even more terrible to contemplate than his
+passion-distorted one.
+
+“It is not strange that my wife thinks me demented,” the Doctor
+continued, as if afraid of the silence that answered him. “But it is
+your business to discriminate, and you should know a sane man when you
+see him.”
+
+Inspector D—— no longer hesitated.
+
+“Very well,” said he, “give us the least proof that your assertions are
+true, and we will lay your case before the prosecuting attorney.”
+
+“Proof? Is not a man’s word——”
+
+“No man’s confession is worth much without some evidence to support it.
+In your case there is none. You cannot even produce the pistol with
+which you assert yourself to have committed the deed.”
+
+“True, true. I was frightened by what I had done, and the instinct of
+self-preservation led me to rid myself of the weapon in any way I could.
+But some one found this pistol; some one picked it up from the sidewalk
+of Lafayette Place on that fatal night. Advertise for it. Offer a
+reward. I will give you the money.” Suddenly he appeared to realize how
+all this sounded. “Alas!” cried he, “I know the story seems improbable;
+all I say seems improbable; but it is not the probable things that
+happen in this life, but the improbable, as you should know, who every
+day dig deep into the heart of human affairs.”
+
+Were these the ravings of insanity? I began to understand the wife’s
+terror.
+
+“I bought the pistol,” he went on, “of—alas! I cannot tell you his name.
+Everything is against me. I cannot adduce one proof; yet she, even she,
+is beginning to fear that my story is true. I know it by her silence, a
+silence that yawns between us like a deep and unfathomable gulf.”
+
+But at these words her voice rang out with passionate vehemence.
+
+“No, no, it is false! I will never believe that your hands have been
+plunged in blood. You are my own pure-hearted Constant, cold, perhaps,
+and stern, but with no guilt upon your conscience, save in your own wild
+imagination.”
+
+“Helen, you are no friend to me,” he declared, pushing her gently aside.
+“Believe me innocent, but say nothing to lead these others to doubt my
+word.”
+
+And she said no more, but her looks spoke volumes.
+
+The result was that he was not detained, though he prayed for instant
+commitment. He seemed to dread his own home, and the surveillance to
+which he instinctively knew he would henceforth be subjected. To see him
+shrink from his wife’s hand as she strove to lead him from the room was
+sufficiently painful; but the feeling thus aroused was nothing to that
+with which we observed the keen and agonized expectancy of his look as
+he turned and listened for the steps of the officer who followed him.
+
+“I shall never again know whether or not I am alone,” was his final
+observation as he left our presence.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+I said nothing to my superiors of the thoughts I had had while listening
+to the above interrogatories. A theory had presented itself to my mind
+which explained in some measure the mysteries of the Doctor’s conduct,
+but I wished for time and opportunity to test its reasonableness before
+submitting it to their higher judgment. And these seemed likely to be
+given me, for the Inspectors continued divided in their opinion of the
+blind physician’s guilt, and the District-Attorney, when told of the
+affair, pooh-poohed it without mercy, and declined to stir in the matter
+unless some tangible evidence were forthcoming to substantiate the poor
+Doctor’s self-accusations.
+
+“If guilty, why does he shrink from giving his motives,” said he, “and
+if so anxious to go to the gallows, why does he suppress the very facts
+calculated to send him there? He is as mad as a March hare, and it is to
+an asylum he should go and not to a jail.”
+
+In this conclusion I failed to agree with him, and as time wore on my
+suspicions took shape and finally ended in a fixed conviction. Dr.
+Zabriskie had committed the crime he avowed, but—let me proceed a little
+further with my story before I reveal what lies beyond that “but.”
+
+Notwithstanding Dr. Zabriskie’s almost frenzied appeal for solitude, a
+man had been placed in surveillance over him in the shape of a young
+doctor skilled in diseases of the brain. This man communicated more or
+less with the police, and one morning I received from him the following
+extracts from the diary he had been ordered to keep.
+
+     “The Doctor is settling into a deep melancholy from which he
+     tries to rise at times, but with only indifferent success.
+     Yesterday he rode around to all his patients for the purpose
+     of withdrawing his services on the plea of illness. But he
+     still keeps his office open, and to-day I had the opportunity
+     of witnessing his reception and treatment of the many
+     sufferers who came to him for aid. I think he was conscious of
+     my presence, though an attempt had been made to conceal it.
+     For the listening look never left his face from the moment he
+     entered the room, and once he rose and passed quickly from
+     wall to wall, groping with outstretched hands into every nook
+     and corner, and barely escaping contact with the curtain
+     behind which I was hidden. But if he suspected my presence, he
+     showed no displeasure at it, wishing perhaps for a witness to
+     his skill in the treatment of disease.
+
+     “And truly I never beheld a finer manifestation of practical
+     insight in cases of a more or less baffling nature than I
+     beheld in him to-day. He is certainly a most wonderful
+     physician, and I feel bound to record that his mind is as
+     clear for business as if no shadow had fallen upon it.
+
+            *       *       *       *       *
+
+     “Dr. Zabriskie loves his wife, but in a way that tortures both
+     himself and her. If she is gone from the house he is wretched,
+     and yet when she returns he often forbears to speak to her, or
+     if he does speak, it is with a constraint that hurts her more
+     than his silence. I was present when she came in to-day. Her
+     step, which had been eager on the stairway, flagged as she
+     approached the room, and he naturally noted the change and
+     gave his own interpretation to it. His face, which had been
+     very pale, flushed suddenly, and a nervous trembling seized
+     him which he sought in vain to hide. But by the time her tall
+     and beautiful figure stood in the doorway he was his usual
+     self again in all but the expression of his eyes, which stared
+     straight before him in an agony of longing only to be observed
+     in those who have once seen.
+
+     “‘Where have you been, Helen?’ he asked, as, contrary to his
+     wont, he moved to meet her.
+
+     “‘To my mother’s, to Arnold & Constable’s, and to the
+     hospital, as you requested,’ was her quick answer, made
+     without faltering or embarrassment.
+
+     “He stepped still nearer and took her hand, and as he did so
+     my physician’s eye noted how his finger lay over her pulse in
+     seeming unconsciousness.
+
+     “‘Nowhere else?’ he queried.
+
+     “She smiled the saddest kind of smile and shook her head;
+     then, remembering that he could not see this movement, she
+     cried in a wistful tone:
+
+     “‘Nowhere else, Constant; I was too anxious to get back.’
+
+     “I expected him to drop her hand at this, but he did not; and
+     his finger still rested on her pulse.
+
+     “‘And whom did you see while you were gone?’ he continued.
+
+     “She told him, naming over several names.
+
+     “‘You must have enjoyed yourself,’ was his cold comment, as he
+     let go her hand and turned away. But his manner showed
+     relief, and I could not but sympathize with the pitiable
+     situation of a man who found himself forced to means like
+     these for probing the heart of his young wife.
+
+     “Yet when I turned towards her I realized that her position
+     was but little happier than his. Tears are no strangers to her
+     eyes, but those that welled up at this moment seemed to
+     possess a bitterness that promised but little peace for her
+     future. Yet she quickly dried them and busied herself with
+     ministrations for his comfort.
+
+            *       *       *       *       *
+
+     “If I am any judge of woman, Helen Zabriskie is superior to
+     most of her sex. That her husband mistrusts her is evident,
+     but whether this is the result of the stand she has taken in
+     his regard, or only a manifestation of dementia, I have as
+     yet been unable to determine. I dread to leave them alone
+     together, and yet when I presume to suggest that she should be
+     on her guard in her interviews with him, she smiles very
+     placidly and tells me that nothing would give her greater joy
+     than to see him lift his hand against her, for that would
+     argue that he is not accountable for his deeds or for his
+     assertions.
+
+     “Yet it would be a grief to see her injured by this passionate
+     and unhappy man.
+
+            *       *       *       *       *
+
+     “You have said that you wanted all details I could give; so I
+     feel bound to say, that Dr. Zabriskie tries to be considerate
+     of his wife, though he often fails in the attempt. When she
+     offers herself as his guide, or assists him with his mail, or
+     performs any of the many acts of kindness by which she
+     continually manifests her sense of his affliction, he thanks
+     her with courtesy and often with kindness, yet I know she
+     would willingly exchange all his set phrases for one fond
+     embrace or impulsive smile of affection. That he is not in the
+     full possession of his faculties would be too much to say, and
+     yet upon what other hypothesis can we account for the
+     inconsistencies of his conduct.
+
+            *       *       *       *       *
+
+     “I have before me two visions of mental suffering. At noon I
+     passed the office door, and looking within, saw the figure of
+     Dr. Zabriskie seated in his great chair, lost in thought or
+     deep in those memories which make an abyss in one’s
+     consciousness. His hands, which were clenched, rested upon the
+     arms of his chair, and in one of them I detected a woman’s
+     glove, which I had no difficulty in recognizing as one of the
+     pair worn by his wife this morning. He held it as a tiger
+     might hold his prey or a miser his gold, but his set features
+     and sightless eyes betrayed that a conflict of emotions was
+     waging within him, among which tenderness had but little
+     share.
+
+     “Though alive, as he usually is, to every sound, he was too
+     absorbed at this moment to notice my presence though I had
+     taken no pains to approach quietly. I therefore stood for a
+     full minute watching him, till an irresistible sense of the
+     shame of thus spying upon a blind man in his moments of
+     secret anguish seized upon me and I turned away. But not
+     before I saw his features relax in a storm of passionate
+     feeling, as he rained kisses after kisses on the senseless kid
+     he had so long held in his motionless grasp. Yet when an hour
+     later he entered the dining-room on his wife’s arm, there was
+     nothing in his manner to show that he had in any way changed
+     in his attitude towards her.
+
+            *       *       *       *       *
+
+     “The other picture was more tragic still. I have no business
+     with Mrs. Zabriskie’s affairs; but as I passed upstairs to my
+     room an hour ago, I caught a fleeting vision of her tall form,
+     with the arms thrown up over her head in a paroxysm of feeling
+     which made her as oblivious to my presence as her husband had
+     been several hours before. Were the words that escaped her
+     lips ‘Thank God we have no children!’ or was this exclamation
+     suggested to me by the passion and unrestrained impulse of her
+     action?”
+
+Side by side with these lines, I, Ebenezer Gryce, placed the following
+extracts from my own diary:
+
+     “Watched the Zabriskie mansion for five hours this morning,
+     from the second story window of an adjoining hotel. Saw the
+     Doctor when he drove away on his round of visits, and saw him
+     when he returned. A colored man accompanied him.
+
+     “To-day I followed Mrs. Zabriskie. I had a motive for this,
+     the nature of which I think it wisest not to divulge. She
+     went first to a house in Washington Place where I am told her
+     mother lives. Here she stayed some time, after which she drove
+     down to Canal Street, where she did some shopping, and later
+     stopped at the hospital, into which I took the liberty of
+     following her. She seemed to know many there, and passed from
+     cot to cot with a smile in which I alone discerned the sadness
+     of a broken heart. When she left, I left also, without having
+     learned anything beyond the fact that Mrs. Zabriskie is one
+     who does her duty in sorrow as in happiness. A rare and
+     trustworthy woman I should say, and yet her husband does not
+     trust her. Why?
+
+            *       *       *       *       *
+
+     “I have spent this day in accumulating details in regard to
+     Dr. and Mrs. Zabriskie’s life previous to the death of Mr.
+     Hasbrouck. I learned from sources it would be unwise to quote
+     just here, that Mrs. Zabriskie had not lacked enemies ready to
+     charge her with coquetry; that while she had never sacrificed
+     her dignity in public, more than one person had been heard to
+     declare, that Dr. Zabriskie was fortunate in being blind,
+     since the sight of his wife’s beauty would have but poorly
+     compensated him for the pain he would have suffered in seeing
+     how that beauty was admired.
+
+     “That all gossip is more or less tinged with exaggeration I
+     have no doubt, yet when a name is mentioned in connection with
+     such stories, there is usually some truth at the bottom of
+     them. And a name is mentioned in this case, though I do not
+     think it worth my while to repeat it here; and loth as I am to
+     recognize the fact, it is a name that carries with it doubts
+     that might easily account for the husband’s jealousy. True, I
+     have found no one who dares to hint that she still continues
+     to attract attention or to bestow smiles in any direction save
+     where they legally belong. For since a certain memorable night
+     which we all know, neither Dr. Zabriskie nor his wife have
+     been seen save in their own domestic circle, and it is not
+     into such scenes that this serpent, of which I have spoken,
+     ever intrudes, nor is it in places of sorrow or suffering that
+     his smile shines, or his fascinations flourish.
+
+     “And so one portion of my theory is proved to be sound. Dr.
+     Zabriskie is jealous of his wife: whether with good cause or
+     bad I am not prepared to decide; for her present attitude,
+     clouded as it is by the tragedy in which she and her husband
+     are both involved, must differ very much from that which she
+     held when her life was unshadowed by doubt, and her admirers
+     could be counted by the score.
+
+            *       *       *       *       *
+
+     “I have just found out where Harry is. As he is in service
+     some miles up the river, I shall have to be absent from my
+     post for several hours, but I consider the game well worth the
+     candle.
+
+            *       *       *       *       *
+
+     “Light at last. I have seen Harry, and, by means known only to
+     the police, have succeeded in making him talk. His story is
+     substantially this: That on the night so often mentioned, he
+     packed his master’s portmanteau at eight o’clock and at ten
+     called a carriage and rode with the Doctor to the Twenty-ninth
+     Street station. He was told to buy tickets for Poughkeepsie
+     where his master had been called in consultation, and having
+     done this, hurried back to join his master on the platform.
+     They had walked together as far as the cars, and Dr. Zabriskie
+     was just stepping on to the train when a man pushed himself
+     hurriedly between them and whispered something into his
+     master’s ear, which caused him to fall back and lose his
+     footing. Dr. Zabriskie’s body slid half under the car, but he
+     was withdrawn before any harm was done, though the cars gave
+     a lurch at that moment which must have frightened him
+     exceedingly, for his face was white when he rose to his feet,
+     and when Harry offered to assist him again on to the train, he
+     refused to go and said he would return home and not attempt to
+     ride to Poughkeepsie that night.
+
+     “The gentleman, whom Harry now saw to be Mr. Stanton, an
+     intimate friend of Dr. Zabriskie, smiled very queerly at this,
+     and taking the Doctor’s arm led him away to a carriage. Harry
+     naturally followed them, but the Doctor, hearing his steps,
+     turned and bade him, in a very peremptory tone, to take the
+     omnibus home, and then, as if on second thought, told him to
+     go to Poughkeepsie in his stead and explain to the people
+     there that he was too shaken up by his mis-step to do his
+     duty, and that he would be with them next morning. This seemed
+     strange to Harry, but he had no reasons for disobeying his
+     master’s orders, and so rode to Poughkeepsie. But the Doctor
+     did not follow him the next day; on the contrary he
+     telegraphed for him to return, and when he got back dismissed
+     him with a month’s wages. This ended Harry’s connection with
+     the Zabriskie family.
+
+     “A simple story bearing out what the wife has already told us;
+     but it furnishes a link which may prove invaluable. Mr.
+     Stanton, whose first name is Theodore, knows the real reason
+     why Dr. Zabriskie returned home on the night of the
+     seventeenth of July, 1851. Mr. Stanton, consequently, I must
+     see, and this shall be my business to-morrow.
+
+     “Checkmate! Theodore Stanton is not in this country. Though
+     this points him out as the man from whom Dr. Zabriskie bought
+     the pistol, it does not facilitate my work, which is becoming
+     more and more difficult.
+
+            *       *       *       *       *
+
+     “Mr. Stanton’s whereabouts are not even known to his most
+     intimate friends. He sailed from this country most
+     unexpectedly on the eighteenth of July a year ago, which was
+     _the day after the murder of Mr. Hasbrouck_. It looks like a
+     flight, especially as he has failed to maintain open
+     communication even with his relatives. Was he the man who shot
+     Mr. Hasbrouck? No; but he was the man who put the pistol in
+     Dr. Zabriskie’s hand that night, and, whether he did this with
+     purpose or not, was evidently so alarmed at the catastrophe
+     which followed that he took the first outgoing steamer to
+     Europe. So far, all is clear, but there are mysteries yet to
+     be solved, which will require my utmost tact. What if I should
+     seek out the gentleman with whose name that of Mrs. Zabriskie
+     has been linked, and see if I can in any way connect him with
+     Mr. Stanton or the events of that night?
+
+            *       *       *       *       *
+
+     “Eureka! I have discovered that Mr. Stanton cherished a mortal
+     hatred for the gentleman above mentioned. It was a covert
+     feeling, but no less deadly on that account; and while it
+     never led him into any extravagances, it was of force
+     sufficient to account for many a secret misfortune which
+     happened to that gentleman. Now, if I can prove he was the
+     Mephistopheles who whispered insinuations into the ear of our
+     blind Faust, I may strike a fact that will lead me out of this
+     maze.
+
+     “But how can I approach secrets so delicate without
+     compromising the woman I feel bound to respect, if only for
+     the devoted love she manifests for her unhappy husband!
+
+            *       *       *       *       *
+
+     “I shall have to appeal to Joe Smithers. This is something
+     which I always hate to do, but as long as he will take money,
+     and as long as he is fertile in resources for obtaining the
+     truth from people I am myself unable to reach, so long must I
+     make use of his cupidity and his genius. He is an honorable
+     fellow in one way, and never retails as gossip what he
+     acquires for our use. How will he proceed in this case, and
+     by what tactics will he gain the very delicate information
+     which we need? I own that I am curious to see.
+
+            *       *       *       *       *
+
+     “I shall really have to put down at length the incidents of
+     this night. I always knew that Joe Smithers was invaluable to
+     the police, but I really did not know he possessed talents of
+     so high an order. He wrote me this morning that he had
+     succeeded in getting Mr. T——’s promise to spend the evening
+     with him, and advised me that if I desired to be present also,
+     his own servant would not be at home, and that an opener of
+     bottles would be required.
+
+     “As I was very anxious to see Mr. T—— with my own eyes, I
+     accepted the invitation to play the spy upon a spy, and went
+     at the proper hour to Mr. Smithers’s rooms, which are in the
+     University Building. I found them picturesque in the extreme.
+     Piles of books stacked here and there to the ceiling made
+     nooks and corners which could be quite shut off by a couple of
+     old pictures that were set into movable frames that swung out
+     or in at the whim or convenience of the owner.
+
+     “As I liked the dark shadows cast by these pictures, I pulled
+     them both out, and made such other arrangements as appeared
+     likely to facilitate the purpose I had in view, then I sat
+     down and waited for the two gentlemen who were expected to
+     come in together.
+
+     “They arrived almost immediately, whereupon I rose and played
+     my part with all necessary discretion. While ridding Mr. T——
+     of his overcoat, I stole a look at his face. It is not a
+     handsome one, but it boasts of a gay, devil-may-care
+     expression which doubtless makes it dangerous to many women,
+     while his manners are especially attractive, and his voice the
+     richest and most persuasive that I ever heard. I contrasted
+     him, almost against my will, with Dr. Zabriskie, and decided
+     that with most women the former’s undoubted fascinations of
+     speech and bearing would outweigh the latter’s great beauty
+     and mental endowments; but I doubted if they would with her.
+
+     “The conversation which immediately began was brilliant but
+     desultory, for Mr. Smithers, with an airy lightness for which
+     he is remarkable, introduced topic after topic, perhaps for
+     the purpose of showing off Mr. T——’s versatility, and perhaps
+     for the deeper and more sinister purpose of shaking the
+     kaleidoscope of talk so thoroughly, that the real topic which
+     we were met to discuss should not make an undue impression on
+     the mind of his guest.
+
+     “Meanwhile one, two, three bottles passed, and I saw Joe
+     Smithers’s eye grow calmer and that of Mr. T—— more brilliant
+     and more uncertain. As the last bottle showed signs of
+     failing, Joe cast me a meaning glance, and the real business
+     of the evening began.
+
+     “I shall not attempt to relate the half-dozen failures which
+     Joe made in endeavoring to elicit the facts we were in search
+     of, without arousing the suspicion of his visitor. I am only
+     going to relate the successful attempt. They had been talking
+     now for some hours, and I, who had long before been waved from
+     their immediate presence, was hiding my curiosity and growing
+     excitement behind one of the pictures, when suddenly I heard
+     Joe say:
+
+     “‘He has the most remarkable memory I ever met. He can tell to
+     a day when any notable event occurred.’
+
+     “‘Pshaw!’ answered his companion, who, by the by, was known to
+     pride himself upon his own memory for dates, ‘I can state
+     where I went and what I did on every day in the year. That may
+     not embrace what you call ‘notable events,’ but the memory
+     required is all the more remarkable, is it not?’
+
+     “‘Pooh!’ was his friend’s provoking reply, ‘you are bluffing,
+     Ben; I will never believe that.’
+
+     “Mr. T——, who had passed by this time into that state of
+     intoxication which makes persistence in an assertion a duty as
+     well as a pleasure, threw back his head, and as the wreaths of
+     smoke rose in airy spirals from his lips, reiterated his
+     statement, and offered to submit to any test of his vaunted
+     powers which the other might dictate.
+
+     “‘You have a diary——’ began Joe.
+
+     “‘Which is at home,’ completed the other.
+
+     “‘Will you allow me to refer to it to-morrow, if I am
+     suspicious of the accuracy of your recollections?’
+
+     “‘Undoubtedly,’ returned the other.
+
+     “‘Very well, then, I will wager you a cool fifty, that you
+     cannot tell where you were between the hours of ten and eleven
+     on a certain night which I will name.’
+
+     “‘Done!’ cried the other, bringing out his pocket-book and
+     laying it on the table before him.
+
+     “Joe followed his example and then summoned me.
+
+     “‘Write a date down here,’ he commanded, pushing a piece of
+     paper towards me, with a look keen as the flash of a blade.
+     ‘Any date, man,’ he added, as I appeared to hesitate in the
+     embarrassment I thought natural under the circumstances. ‘Put
+     down day, month, and year, only don’t go too far back; not
+     farther than two years.’
+
+     “Smiling with the air of a flunkey admitted to the sports of
+     his superiors, I wrote a line and laid it before Mr.
+     Smithers, who at once pushed it with a careless gesture
+     towards his companion. You can of course guess the date I made
+     use of: July 17, 1851. Mr. T——, who had evidently looked upon
+     this matter as mere play, flushed scarlet as he read these
+     words, and for one instant looked as if he had rather flee our
+     presence than answer Joe Smithers’s nonchalant glance of
+     inquiry.
+
+     “‘I have given my word and will keep it,’ he said at last, but
+     with a look in my direction that sent me reluctantly back to
+     my retreat. ‘I don’t suppose you want names,’ he went on,
+     ‘that is, if anything I have to tell is of a delicate nature?’
+
+     “‘O no,’ answered the other, ‘only facts and places.’
+
+     “‘I don’t think places are necessary either,’ he returned. ‘I
+     will tell you what I did and that must serve you. I did not
+     promise to give number and street.’
+
+     “‘Well, well,’ Joe exclaimed; ‘earn your fifty, that is all.
+     Show that you remember where you were on the night of’—and
+     with an admirable show of indifference he pretended to consult
+     the paper between them—‘the seventeenth of July, 1851, and I
+     shall be satisfied.’
+
+     “‘I was at the club for one thing,’ said Mr. T——; ‘then I went
+     to see a lady friend, where I stayed till eleven. She wore a
+     blue muslin—— What is that?’
+
+     “I had betrayed myself by a quick movement which sent a glass
+     tumbler crashing to the floor. Helen Zabriskie had worn a
+     blue muslin on that same night. I had noted it when I stood
+     on the balcony watching her and her husband.
+
+     “‘That noise?’ It was Joe who was speaking. ‘You don’t know
+     Reuben as well as I do or you wouldn’t ask. It is his
+     practice, I am sorry to say, to accentuate his pleasure in
+     draining my bottles, by dropping a glass at every third one.’
+
+     “Mr. T—— went on.
+
+     “‘She was a married woman and I thought she loved me; but—and
+     this is the greatest proof I can offer you that I am giving
+     you a true account of that night—she had not had the slightest
+     idea of the extent of my passion, and only consented to see me
+     at all because she thought, poor thing, that a word from her
+     would set me straight, and rid her of attentions that were
+     fast becoming obnoxious. A sorry figure for a fellow to cut
+     who has not been without his triumphs; but you caught me on
+     the most detestable date in my calendar, and——’
+
+     “There is where he stopped being interesting, so I will not
+     waste time by quoting further. And now what reply shall I make
+     when Joe Smithers asks me double his usual price, as he will
+     be sure to do, next time? Has he not earned an advance? I
+     really think so.
+
+            *       *       *       *       *
+
+     “I have spent the whole day in weaving together the facts I
+     have gleaned, and the suspicions I have formed, into a
+     consecutive whole likely to present my theory in a favorable
+     light to my superiors. But just as I thought myself in shape
+     to meet their inquiries, I received an immediate summons into
+     their presence, where I was given a duty to perform of so
+     extraordinary and unexpected a nature, that it effectually
+     drove from my mind all my own plans for the elucidation of the
+     Zabriskie mystery.
+
+     “This was nothing more nor less than to take charge of a party
+     of people who were going to the Jersey heights for the purpose
+     of testing Dr. Zabriskie’s skill with a pistol.”
+
+
+
+
+III.
+
+
+The cause of this sudden move was soon explained to me. Mrs. Zabriskie,
+anxious to have an end put to the present condition of affairs, had
+begged for a more rigid examination into her husband’s state. This being
+accorded, a strict and impartial inquiry had taken place, with a result
+not unlike that which followed the first one. Three out of his four
+interrogators judged him insane, and could not be moved from their
+opinion though opposed by the verdict of the young expert who had been
+living in the house with him. Dr. Zabriskie seemed to read their
+thoughts, and, showing extreme agitation, begged as before for an
+opportunity to prove his sanity by showing his skill in shooting. This
+time a disposition was evinced to grant his request, which Mrs.
+Zabriskie no sooner perceived, than she added her supplications to his
+that the question might be thus settled.
+
+A pistol was accordingly brought; but at sight of it her courage failed,
+and she changed her prayer to an entreaty that the experiment should be
+postponed till the next day, and should then take place in the woods
+away from the sight and hearing of needless spectators.
+
+Though it would have been much wiser to have ended the matter there and
+then, the Superintendent was prevailed upon to listen to her entreaties,
+and thus it was that I came to be a spectator, if not a participator,
+in the final scene of this most sombre drama.
+
+There are some events which impress the human mind so deeply that their
+memory mingles with all after-experiences. Though I have made it a rule
+to forget as soon as possible the tragic episodes into which I am
+constantly plunged, there is one scene in my life which will not depart
+at my will; and that is the sight which met my eyes from the bow of the
+small boat in which Dr. Zabriskie and his wife were rowed over to Jersey
+on that memorable afternoon.
+
+Though it was by no means late in the day, the sun was already sinking,
+and the bright red glare which filled the heavens and shone full upon
+the faces of the half-dozen persons before me added much to the tragic
+nature of the scene, though we were far from comprehending its full
+significance.
+
+The Doctor sat with his wife in the stern, and it was upon their faces
+my glance was fixed. The glare shone luridly on his sightless eyeballs,
+and as I noticed his unwinking lids I realized as never before what it
+was to be blind in the midst of sunshine. Her eyes, on the contrary,
+were lowered, but there was a look of hopeless misery in her colorless
+face which made her appearance infinitely pathetic, and I felt confident
+that if he could only have seen her, he would not have maintained the
+cold and unresponsive manner which chilled the words on her lips and
+made all advance on her part impossible.
+
+On the seat in front of them sat the Inspector and a doctor, and from
+some quarter, possibly from under the Inspector’s coat, there came the
+monotonous ticking of a small clock, which, I had been told, was to
+serve as a target for the blind man’s aim.
+
+This ticking was all I heard, though the noise and bustle of a great
+traffic was pressing upon us on every side. And I am sure it was all
+that she heard, as, with hand pressed to her heart and eyes fixed on the
+opposite shore, she waited for the event which was to determine whether
+the man she loved was a criminal or only a being afflicted of God, and
+worthy of her unceasing care and devotion.
+
+As the sun cast its last scarlet gleam over the water, the boat
+grounded, and it fell to my lot to assist Mrs. Zabriskie up the bank.
+As I did so, I allowed myself to say: “I am your friend, Mrs.
+Zabriskie,” and was astonished to see her tremble, and turn toward me
+with a look like that of a frightened child.
+
+But there was always this characteristic blending in her countenance of
+the childlike and the severe, such as may so often be seen in the faces
+of nuns, and beyond an added pang of pity for this beautiful but
+afflicted woman, I let the moment pass without giving it the weight it
+perhaps demanded.
+
+“The Doctor and his wife had a long talk last night,” was whispered in
+my ear as we wound our way along into the woods. I turned and perceived
+at my side the expert physician, portions of whose diary I have already
+quoted. He had come by another boat.
+
+“But it did not seem to heal whatever breach lies between them,” he
+proceeded. Then in a quick, curious tone, he asked: “Do you believe this
+attempt on his part is likely to prove anything but a farce?”
+
+“I believe he will shatter the clock to pieces with his first shot,” I
+answered, and could say no more, for we had already reached the ground
+which had been selected for this trial at arms, and the various members
+of the party were being placed in their several positions.
+
+The Doctor, to whom light and darkness were alike, stood with his face
+towards the western glow, and at his side were grouped the Inspector and
+the two physicians. On the arm of one of the latter hung Dr.
+Zabriskie’s overcoat, which he had taken off as soon as he reached the
+field.
+
+Mrs. Zabriskie stood at the other end of the opening, near a tall stump,
+upon which it had been decided that the clock should be placed when the
+moment came for the Doctor to show his skill. She had been accorded the
+privilege of setting the clock on this stump, and I saw it shining in
+her hand as she paused for a moment to glance back at the circle of
+gentlemen who were awaiting her movements. The hands of the clock stood
+at five minutes to five, though I scarcely noted the fact at the time,
+for her eyes were on mine, and as she passed me she spoke:
+
+“If he is not himself, he cannot be trusted. Watch him carefully, and
+see that he does no mischief to himself or others. Be at his right hand,
+and stop him if he does not handle his pistol properly.”
+
+I promised, and she passed on, setting the clock upon the stump and
+immediately drawing back to a suitable distance at the right, where she
+stood, wrapped in her long dark cloak, quite alone. Her face shone
+ghastly white, even in its environment of snow-covered boughs which
+surrounded her, and, noting this, I wished the minutes fewer between the
+present moment and the hour of five, at which he was to draw the
+trigger.
+
+“Dr. Zabriskie,” quoth the Inspector, “we have endeavored to make this
+trial a perfectly fair one. You are to have one shot at a small clock
+which has been placed within a suitable distance, and which you are
+expected to hit, guided only by the sound which it will make in striking
+the hour of five. Are you satisfied with the arrangement?”
+
+“Perfectly. Where is my wife?”
+
+“On the other side of the field, some ten paces from the stump upon
+which the clock is fixed.”
+
+He bowed, and his face showed satisfaction.
+
+“May I expect the clock to strike soon?”
+
+“In less than five minutes,” was the answer.
+
+“Then let me have the pistol; I wish to become acquainted with its size
+and weight.”
+
+We glanced at each other, then across at her.
+
+She made a gesture; it was one of acquiescence.
+
+Immediately the Inspector placed the weapon in the blind man’s hand. It
+was at once apparent that the Doctor understood the instrument, and my
+last doubt vanished as to the truth of all he had told us.
+
+“Thank God I am blind this hour and cannot see _her_,” fell
+unconsciously from his lips; then, before the echo of these words had
+left my ears, he raised his voice and observed calmly enough,
+considering that he was about to prove himself a criminal in order to
+save himself from being thought a madman.
+
+“Let no one move. I must have my ears free for catching the first stroke
+of the clock.” And he raised the pistol before him.
+
+There was a moment of torturing suspense and deep, unbroken silence. My
+eyes were on him, and so I did not watch the clock, but suddenly I was
+moved by some irresistible impulse to note how Mrs. Zabriskie was
+bearing herself at this critical moment, and, casting a hurried glance
+in her direction, I perceived her tall figure swaying from side to side,
+as if under an intolerable strain of feeling. Her eyes were on the
+clock, the hands of which seemed to creep with snail-like pace along the
+dial, when unexpectedly, and a full minute before the minute hand had
+reached the stroke of five, I caught a movement on her part, saw the
+flash of something round and white show for an instant against the
+darkness of her cloak, and was about to shriek warning to the Doctor,
+when the shrill, quick stroke of a clock rung out on the frosty air,
+followed by the ping and flash of a pistol.
+
+A sound of shattered glass, followed by a suppressed cry, told us that
+the bullet had struck the mark, but before we could move, or rid our
+eyes of the smoke which the wind had blown into our faces, there came
+another sound which made our hair stand on end and sent the blood back
+in terror to our hearts. Another clock was striking, the clock which we
+now perceived was still standing upright on the stump where Mrs.
+Zabriskie had placed it.
+
+Whence came the clock, then, which had struck before the time and been
+shattered for its pains? One quick look told us. On the ground, ten
+paces at the right, lay Helen Zabriskie, a broken clock at her side, and
+in her breast a bullet which was fast sapping the life from her sweet
+eyes.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+We had to tell him, there was such pleading in her looks; and never
+shall I forget the scream that rang from his lips as he realized the
+truth. Breaking from our midst, he rushed forward, and fell at her feet
+as if guided by some supernatural instinct.
+
+“Helen,” he shrieked, “what is this? Were not my hands dyed deep enough
+in blood that you should make me answerable for your life also?”
+
+Her eyes were closed, but she opened them. Looking long and steadily at
+his agonized face, she faltered forth:
+
+“It is not you who have killed me; it is your crime. Had you been
+innocent of Mr. Hasbrouck’s death, your bullet would never have found
+my heart. Did you think I could survive the proof that you had killed
+that good man?”
+
+“I—I did it unwittingly. I——”
+
+“Hush!” she commanded, with an awful look, which, happily, he could not
+see. “I had another motive. I wished to prove to you, even at the cost
+of my life, that I loved you, had always loved you, and not——”
+
+It was now his turn to silence her. His hand crept over her lips, and
+his despairing face turned itself blindly towards us.
+
+“Go,” he cried; “leave us! Let me take a last farewell of my dying wife,
+without listeners or spectators.”
+
+Consulting the eye of the physician who stood beside me, and seeing no
+hope in it, I fell slowly back. The others followed, and the Doctor was
+left alone with his wife. From the distant position we took, we saw her
+arms creep round his neck, saw her head fall confidingly on his breast,
+then silence settled upon them and upon all nature, the gathering
+twilight deepening, till the last glow disappeared from the heavens
+above and from the circle of leafless trees which enclosed this tragedy
+from the outside world.
+
+But at last there came a stir, and Dr. Zabriskie, rising up before us,
+with the dead body of his wife held closely to his breast, confronted us
+with a countenance so rapturous that he looked like a man transfigured.
+
+“I will carry her to the boat,” said he. “Not another hand shall touch
+her. She was my true wife, my true wife!” And he towered into an
+attitude of such dignity and passion, that for a moment he took on
+heroic proportions and we forgot that he had just proved himself to have
+committed a cold-blooded and ghastly crime.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The stars were shining when we again took our seats in the boat; and if
+the scene of our crossing to Jersey was impressive, what shall be said
+of that of our return.
+
+The Doctor, as before, sat in the stern, an awesome figure, upon which
+the moon shone with a white radiance that seemed to lift his face out of
+the surrounding darkness and set it, like an image of frozen horror,
+before our eyes. Against his breast he held the form of his dead wife,
+and now and then I saw him stoop as if he were listening for some tokens
+of life at her set lips. Then he would lift himself again, with
+hopelessness stamped upon his features, only to lean forward in renewed
+hope that was again destined to disappointment.
+
+The Inspector and the accompanying physician had taken seats in the bow,
+and unto me had been assigned the special duty of watching over the
+Doctor. This I did from a low seat in front of him. I was therefore so
+close that I heard his laboring breath, and though my heart was full of
+awe and compassion, I could not prevent myself from bending towards him
+and saying these words:
+
+“Dr. Zabriskie, the mystery of your crime is no longer a mystery to me.
+Listen and see if I do not understand your temptation, and how you, a
+conscientious and God-fearing man, came to slay your innocent neighbor.
+
+“A friend of yours, or so he called himself, had for a long time filled
+your ears with tales tending to make you suspicious of your wife and
+jealous of a certain man whom I will not name. You knew that your friend
+had a grudge against this man, and so for many months turned a deaf ear
+to his insinuations. But finally some change which you detected in your
+wife’s bearing or conversation roused your own suspicions, and you began
+to doubt if all was false that came to your ears, and to curse your
+blindness, which in a measure rendered you helpless. The jealous fever
+grew and had risen to a high point, when one night—a memorable
+night—this friend met you just as you were leaving town, and with cruel
+craft whispered in your ear that the man you hated was even then with
+your wife, and that if you would return at once to your home you would
+find him in her company.
+
+“The demon that lurks at the heart of all men, good or bad, thereupon
+took complete possession of you, and you answered this false friend by
+saying that you would not return without a pistol. Whereupon he offered
+to take you to his house and give you his. You consented, and getting
+rid of your servant by sending him to Poughkeepsie with your excuses,
+you entered a coach with your friend.
+
+“You say you bought the pistol, and perhaps you did, but, however that
+may be, you left his house with it in your pocket and, declining
+companionship, walked home, arriving at the Colonnade a little before
+midnight.
+
+“Ordinarily you have no difficulty in recognizing your own doorstep.
+But, being in a heated frame of mind, you walked faster than usual and
+so passed your own house and stopped at that of Mr. Hasbrouck’s, one
+door beyond. As the entrances of these houses are all alike, there was
+but one way by which you could have made yourself sure that you had
+reached your own dwelling, and that was by feeling for the doctor’s sign
+at the side of the door. But you never thought of that. Absorbed in
+dreams of vengeance, your sole impulse was to enter by the quickest
+means possible. Taking out your night-key, you thrust it into the lock.
+It fitted, but it took strength to turn it, so much strength that the
+key was twisted and bent by the effort. But this incident, which would
+have attracted your attention at another time, was lost upon you at this
+moment. An entrance had been effected, and you were in too excited a
+frame of mind to notice at what cost, or to detect the small differences
+apparent in the atmosphere and furnishings of the two houses—trifles
+which would have arrested your attention under other circumstances, and
+made you pause before the upper floor had been reached.
+
+“It was while going up the stairs that you took out your pistol, so that
+by the time you arrived at the front-room door you held it ready cocked
+and drawn in your hand. For, being blind, you feared escape on the part
+of your victim, and so waited for nothing but the sound of a man’s voice
+before firing. When, therefore, the unfortunate Mr. Hasbrouck, roused by
+this sudden intrusion, advanced with an exclamation of astonishment, you
+pulled the trigger, killing him on the spot. It must have been
+immediately upon his fall that you recognized from some word he uttered,
+or from some contact you may have had with your surroundings, that you
+were in the wrong house and had killed the wrong man; for you cried out,
+in evident remorse, ‘God! what have I done!’ and fled without
+approaching your victim.
+
+“Descending the stairs, you rushed from the house, closing the front
+door behind you and regaining your own without being seen. But here you
+found yourself baffled in your attempted escape, by two things. First,
+by the pistol you still held in your hand, and secondly, by the fact
+that the key upon which you depended for entering your own door was so
+twisted out of shape that you knew it would be useless for you to
+attempt to use it. What did you do in this emergency? You have already
+told us, though the story seemed so improbable at the time, you found
+nobody to believe it but myself. The pistol you flung far away from you
+down the pavement, from which, by one of those rare chances which
+sometimes happen in this world, it was presently picked up by some late
+passer-by of more or less doubtful character. The door offered less of
+an obstacle than you anticipated; for when you turned to it again you
+found it, if I am not greatly mistaken, ajar, left so, as we have reason
+to believe, by one who had gone out of it but a few minutes before in a
+state which left him but little master of his actions. It was this fact
+which provided you with an answer when you were asked how you succeeded
+in getting into Mr. Hasbrouck’s house after the family had retired for
+the night.
+
+“Astonished at the coincidence, but hailing with gladness the
+deliverance which it offered, you went in and ascended at once into your
+wife’s presence; and it was from her lips, and not from those of Mrs.
+Hasbrouck, that the cry arose which startled the neighborhood and
+prepared men’s minds for the tragic words which were shouted a moment
+later from the next house.
+
+“But she who uttered the scream knew of no tragedy save that which was
+taking place in her own breast. She had just repulsed a dastardly
+suitor, and, seeing you enter so unexpectedly in a state of
+unaccountable horror and agitation, was naturally stricken with dismay,
+and thought she saw your ghost, or, what was worse, a possible avenger;
+while you, having failed to kill the man you sought, and having killed a
+man you esteemed, let no surprise on her part lure you into any
+dangerous self-betrayal. You strove instead to soothe her, and even
+attempted to explain the excitement under which you labored, by an
+account of your narrow escape at the station, till the sudden alarm from
+next door distracted her attention, and sent both your thoughts and hers
+in a different direction. Not till conscience had fully awakened and the
+horror of your act had had time to tell upon your sensitive nature, did
+you breathe forth those vague confessions, which, not being supported by
+the only explanations which would have made them credible, led her, as
+well as the police, to consider you affected in your mind. Your pride as
+a man, and your consideration for her as a woman, kept you silent, but
+did not keep the worm from preying upon your heart.
+
+“Am I not correct in my surmises, Dr. Zabriskie, and is not this the
+true explanation of your crime?”
+
+With a strange look, he lifted up his face.
+
+“Hush!” said he; “you will awaken her. See how peacefully she sleeps! I
+should not like to have her awakened now, she is so tired, and I—I have
+not watched over her as I should.”
+
+Appalled at his gesture, his look, his tone, I drew back, and for a few
+minutes no sound was to be heard but the steady dip-dip of the oars and
+the lap-lap of the waters against the boat. Then there came a quick
+uprising, the swaying before me of something dark and tall and
+threatening, and before I could speak or move, or even stretch forth my
+hands to stay him, the seat before me was empty and darkness had filled
+the place where but an instant previous he had sat, a fearsome figure,
+erect and rigid as a sphinx.
+
+What little moonlight there was only served to show us a few rising
+bubbles, marking the spot where the unfortunate man had sunk with his
+much-loved burden. We could not save him. As the widening circles fled
+farther and farther out, the tide drifted us away, and we lost the spot
+which had seen the termination of one of earth’s saddest tragedies.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The bodies were never recovered. The police reserved to themselves the
+right of withholding from the public the real facts which made this
+catastrophe an awful remembrance to those who witnessed it. A verdict of
+accidental death by drowning answered all purposes, and saved the memory
+of the unfortunate pair from such calumny as might have otherwise
+assailed it. It was the least we could do for two beings whom
+circumstances had so greatly afflicted.
+
+THE END.
+
+
+
+
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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Doctor, his Wife, and the Clock, by 
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+<p>The Autonym Library is published in
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+London.</p>
+
+<p class="negin">I. <span class="smcap">The Upper Berth</span>, by F. Marion Crawford.</p>
+
+<p class="negin">II. <span class="smcap">Found and Lost</span>, by Mary Putnam-Jacobi.</p>
+
+<p class="negin">III. <span class="smcap">The Doctor, His Wife, and the
+Clock</span>, by Anna Katharine Green.</p>
+
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+<img src="images/tp01.jpg" width="300" height="60" alt="Anna Katharine Green" title="Anna Katharine Green" />
+</div>
+
+<hr />
+
+<h1>THE DOCTOR<br />
+HIS WIFE<br />
+AND THE CLOCK</h1>
+
+<p class="center">BY</p>
+
+<p class="author"><b>ANNA KATHARINE GREEN</b><br />
+<span style="font-size: 80%">(MRS. CHARLES ROHLFS)</span></p>
+
+<p class="center">Author of “The Leavenworth Case,” “Hand and
+Ring,”<br /> “Marked ‘Personal,’” etc., etc.</p>
+
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 30px; padding-top: 3em">
+<img src="images/tp02.jpg" width="30" height="29" alt="Decoration" title="Decoration" />
+</div>
+
+
+<p class="publisher"><big>G.&nbsp;P. PUTNAM’S SONS</big><br />
+
+NEW YORK<span style="padding-left: 7em">LONDON</span><br />
+27 West Twenty-third Street<span style="padding-left: 2em">24 Bedford Street, Strand</span><br />
+
+The Knickerbocker Press<br />
+1895</p>
+
+<p class="publisher"><span class="smcap">Copyright</span>, 1895<br />
+<small>BY</small><br />
+ANNA KATHARINE ROHLFS<br />
+All rights reserved</p>
+
+<p class="publisher">Electrotyped, Printed and Bound by<br />
+The Knickerbocker Press, New York<br />
+<span class="smcap">G.&nbsp;P. Putnam’s Sons</span></p>
+</div>
+
+
+<h1>THE DOCTOR, HIS WIFE, AND<br />
+THE CLOCK<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[3]</a></span></h1>
+
+
+
+<h2><i>The Doctor, his Wife,<br />
+and the Clock.</i></h2>
+
+<h2 class="cht">I.</h2>
+
+
+<p class="newchapter"><span class="firstword"><span class="dropcap">O</span>n</span> the 17th of July, 1851, a
+tragedy of no little interest
+occurred in one of the residences
+of the Colonnade in Lafayette
+Place.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Hasbrouck, a well-known
+and highly respected citizen, was
+attacked in his room by an unknown
+assailant, and shot dead
+before assistance could reach him.
+His murderer escaped, and the
+problem offered to the police was,
+how to identify this person who,
+by some happy chance or by the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[4]</a></span>
+exercise of the most remarkable
+forethought, had left no traces behind
+him, or any clue by which
+he could be followed.</p>
+
+<p>The affair was given to a young
+man, named Ebenezer Gryce, to
+investigate, and the story, as he
+tells it, is this:</p>
+
+
+<p class="mtop">When, some time after midnight,
+I reached Lafayette Place,
+I found the block lighted from
+end to end. Groups of excited
+men and women peered from the
+open doorways, and mingled their
+shadows with those of the huge
+pillars which adorn the front of
+this picturesque block of dwellings.</p>
+
+<p>The house in which the crime
+had been committed was near the
+centre of the row, and, long before
+I reached it, I had learned<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[5]</a></span>
+from more than one source that
+the alarm was first given to the
+street by a woman’s shriek, and
+secondly by the shouts of an old
+man-servant who had appeared, in
+a half-dressed condition, at the
+window of Mr. Hasbrouck’s room,
+crying “Murder! murder!”</p>
+
+<p>But when I had crossed the
+threshold, I was astonished at the
+paucity of the facts to be gleaned
+from the inmates themselves. The
+old servitor, who was the first to
+talk, had only this account of the
+crime to give.</p>
+
+<p>The family, which consisted of
+Mr. Hasbrouck, his wife, and three
+servants, had retired for the night
+at the usual hour and under the
+usual auspices. At eleven o’clock
+the lights were all extinguished,
+and the whole household asleep,
+with the possible exception of Mr.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[6]</a></span>
+Hasbrouck himself, who, being a
+man of large business responsibilities,
+was frequently troubled with
+insomnia.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly Mrs. Hasbrouck woke
+with a start. Had she dreamed
+the words that were ringing in her
+ears, or had they been actually
+uttered in her hearing? They
+were short, sharp words, full of
+terror and menace, and she had
+nearly satisfied herself that she
+had imagined them, when there
+came, from somewhere near the
+door, a sound she neither understood
+nor could interpret, but
+which filled her with inexplicable
+terror, and made her afraid to
+breathe, or even to stretch forth
+her hand towards her husband,
+whom she supposed to be sleeping
+at her side. At length another
+strange sound, which she was sure<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[7]</a></span>
+was not due to her imagination,
+drove her to make an attempt to
+rouse him, when she was horrified
+to find that she was alone in the
+bed, and her husband nowhere
+within reach.</p>
+
+<p>Filled now with something more
+than nervous apprehension, she
+flung herself to the floor, and tried
+to penetrate, with frenzied glances,
+the surrounding darkness. But
+the blinds and shutters both having
+been carefully closed by Mr.
+Hasbrouck before retiring, she
+found this impossible, and she
+was about to sink in terror to the
+floor, when she heard a low gasp
+on the other side of the room,
+followed by the suppressed cry:</p>
+
+<p>“God! what have I done!”</p>
+
+<p>The voice was a strange one,
+but before the fear aroused by
+this fact could culminate in a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[8]</a></span>
+shriek of dismay, she caught the
+sound of retreating footsteps, and,
+eagerly listening, she heard them
+descend the stairs and depart by
+the front door.</p>
+
+<p>Had she known what had occurred—had
+there been no doubt
+in her mind as to what lay in the
+darkness on the other side of the
+room—it is likely that, at the noise
+caused by the closing front door,
+she would have made at once for
+the balcony that opened out from
+the window before which she was
+standing, and taken one look at
+the flying figure below. But her
+uncertainty as to what lay hidden
+from her by the darkness chained
+her feet to the floor, and there is
+no knowing when she would have
+moved, if a carriage had not at that
+moment passed down Astor Place,
+bringing with it a sense of companionship<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[9]</a></span>
+which broke the spell
+that held her, and gave her
+strength to light the gas, which
+was in ready reach of her hand.</p>
+
+<p>As the sudden blaze illuminated
+the room, revealing in a burst the
+old familiar walls and well-known
+pieces of furniture, she felt for a
+moment as if released from some
+heavy nightmare and restored to
+the common experiences of life.
+But in another instant her former
+dread returned, and she found
+herself quaking at the prospect of
+passing around the foot of the
+bed into that part of the room
+which was as yet hidden from her
+eyes.</p>
+
+<p>But the desperation which
+comes with great crises finally
+drove her from her retreat; and,
+creeping slowly forward, she cast
+one glance at the floor before her,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[10]</a></span>
+when she found her worst fears
+realized by the sight of the dead
+body of her husband lying prone
+before the open doorway, with a
+bullet-hole in his forehead.</p>
+
+<p>Her first impulse was to shriek,
+but, by a powerful exercise of will,
+she checked herself, and, ringing
+frantically for the servants who
+slept on the top-floor of the house,
+flew to the nearest window and
+endeavored to open it. But the
+shutters had been bolted so securely
+by Mr. Hasbrouck, in his
+endeavor to shut out light and
+sound, that by the time she had
+succeeded in unfastening them, all
+trace of the flying murderer had
+vanished from the street.</p>
+
+<p>Sick with grief and terror, she
+stepped back into the room just as
+the three frightened servants descended
+the stairs. As they appeared<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[11]</a></span>
+in the open doorway, she
+pointed at her husband’s inanimate
+form, and then, as if suddenly
+realizing in its full force the
+calamity which had befallen her,
+she threw up her arms, and sank
+forward to the floor in a dead
+faint.</p>
+
+<p>The two women rushed to her
+assistance, but the old butler,
+bounding over the bed, sprang to
+the window, and shrieked his
+alarm to the street.</p>
+
+<p>In the interim that followed,
+Mrs. Hasbrouck was revived, and
+the master’s body laid decently on
+the bed; but no pursuit was
+made, nor any inquiries started
+likely to assist me in establishing
+the identity of the assailant.</p>
+
+<p>Indeed, every one, both in the
+house and out, seemed dazed by
+the unexpected catastrophe, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[12]</a></span>
+as no one had any suspicions to
+offer as to the probable murderer,
+I had a difficult task before me.</p>
+
+<p>I began, in the usual way, by
+inspecting the scene of the murder.
+I found nothing in the room,
+or in the condition of the body itself,
+which added an iota to the
+knowledge already obtained. That
+Mr. Hasbrouck had been in bed;
+that he had risen upon hearing a
+noise; and that he had been shot
+before reaching the door, were
+self-evident facts. But there was
+nothing to guide me further. The
+very simplicity of the circumstances
+caused a dearth of clues,
+which made the difficulty of procedure
+as great as any I ever
+encountered.</p>
+
+<p>My search through the hall and
+down the stairs elicited nothing;
+and an investigation of the bolts<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[13]</a></span>
+and bars by which the house was
+secured, assured me that the assassin
+had either entered by the front
+door, or had already been secreted
+in the house when it was locked
+up for the night.</p>
+
+<p>“I shall have to trouble Mrs.
+Hasbrouck for a short interview,”
+I hereupon announced to the
+trembling old servitor, who had
+followed me like a dog about the
+house.</p>
+
+<p>He made no demur, and in a
+few minutes I was ushered into
+the presence of the newly made
+widow, who sat quite alone, in a
+large chamber in the rear. As I
+crossed the threshold she looked
+up, and I encountered a good
+plain face, without the shadow of
+guile in it.</p>
+
+<p>“Madam,” said I, “I have not
+come to disturb you. I will ask<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[14]</a></span>
+two or three questions only, and
+then leave you to your grief. I
+am told that some words came
+from the assassin before he delivered
+his fatal shot. Did you
+hear these distinctly enough to
+tell me what they were?”</p>
+
+<p>“I was sound asleep,” said she,
+“and dreamt, as I thought, that a
+fierce, strange voice cried somewhere
+to some one: ‘Ah! you
+did not expect <i>me</i>!’ But I dare
+not say that these words were
+really uttered to my husband, for
+he was not the man to call forth
+hate, and only a man in the extremity
+of passion could address
+such an exclamation in such a
+tone as rings in my memory in
+connection with the fatal shot
+which woke me.”</p>
+
+<p>“But that shot was not the
+work of a friend,” I argued. “If,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[15]</a></span>
+as these words seem to prove, the
+assassin had some other motive
+than gain in his assault, then your
+husband had an enemy, though
+you never suspected it.”</p>
+
+<p>“Impossible!” was her steady
+reply, uttered in the most convincing
+tone. “The man who
+shot him was a common burglar,
+and, frightened at having been
+betrayed into murder, fled without
+looking for booty. I am sure
+I heard him cry out in terror and
+remorse: ‘God! what have I
+done!’”</p>
+
+<p>“Was that before you left the
+side of the bed?”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes; I did not move from
+my place till I heard the front
+door close. I was paralyzed by
+my fear and dread.”</p>
+
+<p>“Are you in the habit of trusting
+to the security of a latch-lock<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[16]</a></span>
+only in the fastening of your front
+door at night? I am told that
+the big key was not in the lock,
+and that the bolt at the bottom
+of the door was not drawn.”</p>
+
+<p>“The bolt at the bottom of the
+door is never drawn. Mr. Hasbrouck
+was so good a man he
+never mistrusted any one. That
+is why the big lock was not fastened.
+The key, not working well,
+he took it some days ago to the locksmith,
+and when the latter failed
+to return it, he laughed, and said
+he thought no one would ever
+think of meddling with his front
+door.”</p>
+
+<p>“Is there more than one night-key
+to your house?” I now asked.</p>
+
+<p>She shook her head.</p>
+
+<p>“And when did Mr. Hasbrouck
+last use his?”</p>
+
+<p>“To-night, when he came home<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[17]</a></span>
+from prayer-meeting,” she answered,
+and burst into tears.</p>
+
+<p>Her grief was so real and her
+loss so recent that I hesitated to
+afflict her by further questions.
+So returning to the scene of the
+tragedy, I stepped out upon the
+balcony which ran in front. Soft
+voices instantly struck my ears.
+The neighbors on either side were
+grouped in front of their own windows,
+and were exchanging the
+remarks natural under the circumstances.
+I paused, as in duty
+bound, and listened. But I heard
+nothing worth recording, and
+would have instantly re-entered
+the house, if I had not been impressed
+by the appearance of a
+very graceful woman who stood
+at my right. She was clinging to
+her husband, who was gazing at
+one of the pillars before him in a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[18]</a></span>
+strange, fixed way which astonished
+me till he attempted to
+move, and then I saw that he was
+blind. Instantly I remembered
+that there lived in this row a blind
+doctor, equally celebrated for his
+skill and for his uncommon personal
+attractions, and, greatly interested
+not only in his affliction,
+but in the sympathy evinced for
+him by his young and affectionate
+wife, I stood still till I heard her
+say in the soft and appealing tones
+of love:</p>
+
+<p>“Come in, Constant; you have
+heavy duties for to-morrow, and
+you should get a few hours’ rest,
+if possible.”</p>
+
+<p>He came from the shadow of
+the pillar, and for one minute I
+saw his face with the lamplight
+shining full upon it. It was as
+regular of feature as a sculptured
+Adonis, and it was as white.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[19]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>“Sleep!” he repeated, in the
+measured tones of deep but suppressed
+feeling. “Sleep! with
+murder on the other side of the
+wall!” And he stretched out his
+arms in a dazed way that insensibly
+accentuated the horror I myself
+felt of the crime which had so
+lately taken place in the room behind
+me.</p>
+
+<p>She, noting the movement, took
+one of the groping hands in her
+own and drew him gently towards
+her.</p>
+
+<p>“This way,” she urged; and,
+guiding him into the house, she
+closed the window and drew down
+the shades, making the street seem
+darker by the loss of her exquisite
+presence.</p>
+
+<p>This may seem a digression, but
+I was at the time a young man of
+thirty, and much under the dominion
+of woman’s beauty. I was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[20]</a></span>
+therefore slow in leaving the balcony,
+and persistent in my wish
+to learn something of this remarkable
+couple before leaving Mr.
+Hasbrouck’s house.</p>
+
+<p>The story told me was very simple.
+Dr. Zabriskie had not been
+born blind, but had become so
+after a grievous illness which had
+stricken him down soon after he
+received his diploma. Instead of
+succumbing to an affliction which
+would have daunted most men, he
+expressed his intention of practising
+his profession, and soon became
+so successful in it that he
+found no difficulty in establishing
+himself in one of the best-paying
+quarters of the city. Indeed, his
+intuition seemed to have developed
+in a remarkable degree after
+his loss of sight, and he seldom, if
+ever, made a mistake in diagnosis.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[21]</a></span>
+Considering this fact, and the personal
+attractions which gave him
+distinction, it was no wonder that
+he soon became a popular physician
+whose presence was a benefaction
+and whose word a law.</p>
+
+<p>He had been engaged to be
+married at the time of his illness,
+and, when he learned what was
+likely to be its results, had offered
+to release the young lady from all
+obligation to him. But she would
+not be released, and they were
+married. This had taken place
+some five years previous to Mr.
+Hasbrouck’s death, three of which
+had been spent by them in Lafayette
+Place.</p>
+
+<p>So much for the beautiful woman
+next door.</p>
+
+<p>There being absolutely no clue
+to the assailant of Mr. Hasbrouck,
+I naturally looked forward to the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[22]</a></span>
+inquest for some evidence upon
+which to work. But there seemed
+to be no underlying facts to this
+tragedy. The most careful study
+into the habits and conduct of the
+deceased brought nothing to light
+save his general beneficence and
+rectitude, nor was there in his history
+or in that of his wife any secret
+or hidden obligation calculated to
+provoke any such act of revenge
+as murder. Mrs. Hasbrouck’s surmise
+that the intruder was simply
+a burglar, and that she had rather
+imagined than heard the words
+that pointed to the shooting as a
+deed of vengeance, soon gained
+general credence. But, though
+the police worked long and arduously
+in this new direction,
+their efforts were without fruit,
+and the case bade fair to remain
+an unsolvable mystery.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[23]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>But the deeper the mystery the
+more persistently does my mind
+cling to it, and some five months
+after the matter had been delegated
+to oblivion, I found myself
+starting suddenly from sleep, with
+these words ringing in my ears:</p>
+
+<p>“<i>Who uttered the scream that
+gave the first alarm of Mr. Hasbrouck’s
+violent death?</i>”</p>
+
+<p>I was in such a state of excitement
+that the perspiration stood
+out on my forehead. Mrs. Hasbrouck’s
+story of the occurrence
+returned to me, and I remembered
+as distinctly as if she were then
+speaking, that she had expressly
+stated that she did not scream
+when confronted by the sight of
+her husband’s dead body. But
+some one had screamed, and that
+very loudly. Who was it, then?
+One of the maids, startled by the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[24]</a></span>
+sudden summons from below, or
+some one else—some involuntary
+witness of the crime, whose testimony
+had been suppressed at the
+inquest, by fear or influence?</p>
+
+<p>The possibility of having come
+upon a clue even at this late day,
+so fired my ambition, that I took
+the first opportunity of revisiting
+Lafayette Place. Choosing such
+persons as I thought most open to
+my questions, I learned that there
+were many who could testify to
+having heard a woman’s shrill
+scream on that memorable night
+just prior to the alarm given by
+old Cyrus, but no one who could
+tell from whose lips it had come.
+One fact, however, was immediately
+settled. It had not been the
+result of the servant-women’s fears.
+Both of the girls were positive that
+they had uttered no sound, nor<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[25]</a></span>
+had they themselves heard any,
+till Cyrus rushed to the window
+with his wild cries. As the scream,
+by whomever given, was uttered
+before they descended the stairs, I
+was convinced by these assurances
+that it had issued from one of the
+front windows, and not from the
+rear of the house, where their own
+rooms lay. Could it be that it had
+sprung from the adjoining dwelling,
+and that—— My thoughts
+went no further, but I made up
+my mind to visit the Doctor’s
+house at once.</p>
+
+<p>It took some courage to do this,
+for the Doctor’s wife had attended
+the inquest, and her beauty, seen
+in broad daylight, had worn such
+an aspect of mingled sweetness
+and dignity, that I hesitated to
+encounter it under any circumstances
+likely to disturb its pure<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[26]</a></span>
+serenity. But a clue, once grasped,
+cannot be lightly set aside by a
+true detective, and it would have
+taken more than a woman’s frown
+to stop me at this point. So I
+rang Dr. Zabriskie’s bell.</p>
+
+<p>I am seventy years old now
+and am no longer daunted by the
+charms of a beautiful woman, but
+I confess that when I found myself
+in the fine reception parlor on the
+first-floor, I experienced no little
+trepidation at the prospect of the
+interview which awaited me.</p>
+
+<p>But as soon as the fine commanding
+form of the Doctor’s wife
+crossed the threshold, I recovered
+my senses and surveyed her with
+as direct a gaze as my position
+allowed. For her aspect bespoke
+a degree of emotion that astonished
+me; and even before I spoke
+I perceived her to be trembling,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[27]</a></span>
+though she was a woman of no little
+natural dignity and self-possession.</p>
+
+<p>“I seem to know your face,”
+she said, advancing courteously
+towards me, “but your name”—and
+here she glanced at the card
+she held in her hand—“is totally
+unfamiliar to me.”</p>
+
+<p>“I think you saw me some
+eighteen months ago,” said I.
+“I am the detective who gave
+testimony at the inquest which
+was held over the remains of Mr.
+Hasbrouck.”</p>
+
+<p>I had not meant to startle her,
+but at this introduction of myself
+I saw her naturally pale cheek
+turn paler, and her fine eyes, which
+had been fixed curiously upon me,
+gradually sink to the floor.</p>
+
+<p>“Great heaven!” thought I,
+“what is this I have stumbled
+upon!<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[28]</a></span>”</p>
+
+<p>“I do not understand what business
+you can have with me,” she
+presently remarked, with a show
+of gentle indifference that did not
+in the least deceive me.</p>
+
+<p>“I do not wonder,” I rejoined.
+“The crime which took place next
+door is almost forgotten by the
+community, and even if it were
+not, I am sure you would find it
+difficult to conjecture the nature
+of the question I have to put to
+you.”</p>
+
+<p>“I am surprised,” she began,
+rising in her involuntary emotion
+and thereby compelling me to rise
+also. “How can you have any
+question to ask me on this subject?
+Yet if you have,” she continued,
+with a rapid change of manner
+that touched my heart in spite of
+myself, “I shall, of course, do my
+best to answer you.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[29]</a></span>”</p>
+
+<p>There are women whose sweetest
+tones and most charming
+smiles only serve to awaken distrust
+in men of my calling; but Mrs.
+Zabriskie was not of this number.
+Her face was beautiful, but
+it was also candid in its expression,
+and beneath the agitation which
+palpably disturbed her, I was sure
+there lurked nothing either wicked
+or false. Yet I held fast by the
+clue which I had grasped, as it
+were, in the dark, and without
+knowing whither I was tending,
+much less whither I was leading
+her, I proceeded to say:</p>
+
+<p>“The question which I presume
+to put to you as the next-door neighbor
+of Mr. Hasbrouck, is this:
+Who was the woman who screamed
+out so loudly that the whole neighborhood
+heard her on the night of
+that gentleman’s assassination?<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[30]</a></span>”</p>
+
+<p>The gasp she gave answered my
+question in a way she little realized,
+and, struck as I was by the
+impalpable links that had led me
+to the threshold of this hitherto
+unsolvable mystery, I was about
+to press my advantage and ask
+another question, when she
+quickly started forward and laid
+her hand on my lips.</p>
+
+<p>Astonished, I looked at her inquiringly,
+but her head was turned
+aside, and her eyes, fixed upon the
+door, showed the greatest anxiety.
+Instantly I realized what she
+feared. Her husband was entering
+the house, and she dreaded
+lest his ears should catch a word
+of our conversation.</p>
+
+<p>Not knowing what was in her
+mind, and unable to realize the importance
+of the moment to her, I
+yet listened to the advance of her<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[31]</a></span>
+blind husband with an almost
+painful interest. Would he enter
+the room where we were, or would
+he pass immediately to his office
+in the rear? She seemed to wonder
+too, and almost held her breath
+as he neared the door, paused, and
+stood in the open doorway, with
+his ear turned towards us.</p>
+
+<p>As for myself, I remained perfectly
+still, gazing at his face in
+mingled surprise and apprehension.
+For besides its beauty,
+which was of a marked order, as I
+have already observed, it had a
+touching expression which irresistibly
+aroused both pity and
+interest in the spectator. This
+may have been the result of his
+affliction, or it may have sprung
+from some deeper cause; but,
+whatever its source, this look in
+his face produced a strong impression<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[32]</a></span>
+upon me and interested me
+at once in his personality. Would
+he enter? Or would he pass on?
+Her look of silent appeal showed
+me in which direction her wishes
+lay, but while I answered her
+glance by complete silence, I was
+conscious in some indistinct way
+that the business I had undertaken
+would be better furthered by his
+entrance.</p>
+
+<p>The blind have been often said
+to possess a sixth sense in place of
+the one they have lost. Though
+I am sure we made no noise, I
+soon perceived that he was aware
+of our presence. Stepping hastily
+forward he said, in the high and
+vibrating tone of restrained passion:</p>
+
+<p>“Helen, are you here?”</p>
+
+<p>For a moment I thought she
+did not mean to answer, but<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[33]</a></span>
+knowing doubtless from experience
+the impossibility of deceiving
+him, she answered with a cheerful
+assent, dropping her hand as she
+did so from before my lips.</p>
+
+<p>He heard the slight rustle which
+accompanied the movement, and
+a look I found it hard to comprehend
+flashed over his features,
+altering his expression so completely
+that he seemed another
+man.</p>
+
+<p>“You have some one with you,”
+he declared, advancing another step
+but with none of the uncertainty
+which usually accompanies the
+movements of the blind. “Some
+dear friend,” he went on, with an
+almost sarcastic emphasis and a
+forced smile that had little of
+gaiety in it.</p>
+
+<p>The agitated and distressed
+blush which answered him could<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[34]</a></span>
+have but one interpretation. He
+suspected that her hand had been
+clasped in mine, and she perceived
+his thought and knew that I perceived
+it also.</p>
+
+<p>Drawing herself up, she moved
+towards him, saying in a sweet
+womanly tone that to me spoke
+volumes:</p>
+
+<p>“It is no friend, Constant, not
+even an acquaintance. The person
+whom I now present to you is
+an agent from the police. He is
+here upon a trivial errand which
+will be soon finished, when I will
+join you in your office.”</p>
+
+<p>I knew she was but taking a
+choice between two evils. That
+she would have saved her husband
+the knowledge of a detective’s
+presence in the house, if her self-respect
+would have allowed it, but
+neither she nor I anticipated the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[35]</a></span>
+effect which this presentation produced
+upon him.</p>
+
+<p>“A police officer,” he repeated,
+staring with his sightless eyes, as
+if, in his eagerness to see, he half
+hoped his lost sense would return.
+“He can have no trivial errand
+here; he has been sent by God
+Himself to——”</p>
+
+<p>“Let me speak for you,” hastily
+interposed his wife, springing to
+his side and clasping his arm with
+a fervor that was equally expressive
+of appeal and command.
+Then turning to me, she explained:
+“Since Mr. Hasbrouck’s unaccountable
+death, my husband has
+been laboring under an hallucination
+which I have only to mention
+for you to recognize its perfect
+absurdity. He thinks—oh! do not
+look like that, Constant; you
+know it is an hallucination which<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[36]</a></span>
+must vanish the moment we drag
+it into broad daylight—that he—<i>he</i>,
+the best man in all the world,
+was himself the assailant of Mr.
+Hasbrouck.”</p>
+
+<p>Good God!</p>
+
+<p>“I say nothing of the impossibility
+of this being so,” she went
+on in a fever of expostulation.
+“He is blind, and could not have
+delivered such a shot even if he
+had desired to; besides, he had
+no weapon. But the inconsistency
+of the thing speaks for itself, and
+should assure him that his mind
+is unbalanced and that he is merely
+suffering from a shock that was
+greater than we realized. He is a
+physician and has had many such
+instances in his own practice.
+Why, he was very much attached
+to Mr. Hasbrouck! They were
+the best of friends, and though he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[37]</a></span>
+insists that he killed him, he cannot
+give any reason for the deed.”</p>
+
+<p>At these words the Doctor’s face
+grew stern, and he spoke like an
+automaton repeating some fearful
+lesson.</p>
+
+<p>“I killed him. I went to his
+room and deliberately shot him.
+I had nothing against him, and
+my remorse is extreme. Arrest
+me, and let me pay the penalty of
+my crime. It is the only way in
+which I can obtain peace.”</p>
+
+<p>Shocked beyond all power of
+self-control by this repetition of
+what she evidently considered the
+unhappy ravings of a madman, she
+let go his arm and turned upon
+me in frenzy.</p>
+
+<p>“Convince him!” she cried.
+“Convince him by your questions
+that he never could have done this
+fearful thing.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[38]</a></span>”</p>
+
+<p>I was laboring under great excitement
+myself, for I felt my
+youth against me in a matter of
+such tragic consequence. Besides,
+I agreed with her that he
+was in a distempered state of
+mind, and I hardly knew how to
+deal with one so fixed in his hallucination
+and with so much intelligence
+to support it. But the
+emergency was great, for he was
+holding out his wrists in the evident
+expectation of my taking him
+into instant custody; and the sight
+was killing his wife, who had sunk
+on the floor between us, in terror
+and anguish.</p>
+
+<p>“You say you killed Mr. Hasbrouck,”
+I began. “Where did
+you get your pistol, and what did
+you do with it after you left his
+house?”</p>
+
+<p>“My husband had no pistol;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[39]</a></span>
+never had any pistol,” put in Mrs.
+Zabriskie, with vehement assertion.
+“If I had seen him with
+such a weapon——”</p>
+
+<p>“I threw it away. When I
+left the house, I cast it as far from
+me as possible, for I was frightened
+at what I had done, horribly
+frightened.”</p>
+
+<p>“No pistol was ever found,” I
+answered, with a smile, forgetting
+for the moment that he could not
+see. “If such an instrument had
+been found in the street after a
+murder of such consequence it certainly
+would have been brought to
+the police.”</p>
+
+<p>“You forget that a good pistol
+is valuable property,” he went on
+stolidly. “Some one came along
+before the general alarm was
+given; and seeing such a treasure
+lying on the sidewalk, picked it up<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[40]</a></span>
+and carried it off. Not being an
+honest man, he preferred to keep
+it to drawing the attention of the
+police upon himself.”</p>
+
+<p>“Hum, perhaps,” said I; “but
+where did <i>you</i> get it. Surely you
+can tell where you procured such
+a weapon, if, as your wife intimates,
+you did not own one.”</p>
+
+<p>“I bought it that self-same night
+of a friend; a friend whom I will
+not name, since he resides no
+longer in this country. I——”
+He paused; intense passion was
+in his face; he turned towards his
+wife, and a low cry escaped him,
+which made her look up in fear.</p>
+
+<p>“I do not wish to go into any
+particulars,” said he. “God forsook
+me and I committed a horrible
+crime. When I am punished,
+perhaps peace will return to me
+and happiness to her. I would<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[41]</a></span>
+not wish her to suffer too long or
+too bitterly for my sin.”</p>
+
+<p>“Constant!” What love was
+in the cry! and what despair! It
+seemed to move him and turn his
+thoughts for a moment into a
+different channel.</p>
+
+<p>“Poor child!” he murmured,
+stretching out his hands by an irresistible
+impulse towards her.
+But the change was but momentary,
+and he was soon again the
+stern and determined self-accuser.
+“Are you going to take me before
+a magistrate?” he asked. “If so,
+I have a few duties to perform
+which you are welcome to witness.”</p>
+
+<p>“I have no warrant,” I said;
+“besides, I am scarcely the one to
+take such a responsibility upon
+myself. If, however, you persist
+in your declaration, I will communicate<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[42]</a></span>
+with my superiors, who
+will take such action as they think
+best.”</p>
+
+<p>“That will be still more satisfactory
+to me,” said he; “for
+though I have many times contemplated
+giving myself up to the
+authorities, I have still much to
+do before I can leave my home
+and practice without injury to
+others. Good-day; when you
+want me, you will find me here.”</p>
+
+<p>He was gone, and the poor
+young wife was left crouching on
+the floor alone. Pitying her shame
+and terror, I ventured to remark
+that it was not an uncommon
+thing for a man to confess to a
+crime he had never committed,
+and assured her that the matter
+would be inquired into very carefully
+before any attempt was made
+upon his liberty.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[43]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>She thanked me, and, slowly
+rising, tried to regain her equanimity;
+but the manner as well as
+the matter of her husband’s self-condemnation
+was too overwhelming
+in its nature for her to recover
+readily from her emotions.</p>
+
+<p>“I have long dreaded this,” she
+acknowledged. “For months I
+have foreseen that he would make
+some rash communication or insane
+avowal. If I had dared, I
+would have consulted some physician
+about this hallucination of
+his; but he was so sane on other
+points that I hesitated to give my
+dreadful secret to the world. I
+kept hoping that time and his
+daily pursuits would have their
+effect and restore him to himself.
+But his illusion grows, and now I
+fear that nothing will ever convince
+him that he did not commit<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[44]</a></span>
+the deed of which he accuses himself.
+If he were not blind I would
+have more hope, but the blind
+have so much time for brooding.”</p>
+
+<p>“I think he had better be indulged
+in his fancies for the present,”
+I ventured. “If he is laboring
+under an illusion it might be dangerous
+to cross him.”</p>
+
+<p>“<i>If?</i>” she echoed in an indescribable
+tone of amazement and
+dread. “Can you for a moment
+harbor the idea that he has spoken
+the truth?”</p>
+
+<p>“Madam,” I returned, with
+something of the cynicism of my
+later years, “what caused you to
+give such an unearthly scream
+just before this murder was made
+known to the neighborhood?”</p>
+
+<p>She stared, paled, and finally
+began to tremble, not, as I now
+believe, at the insinuation latent<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[45]</a></span>
+in my words, but at the doubts
+which my question aroused in her
+own breast.</p>
+
+<p>“Did I?” she asked; then with
+a great burst of candor, which
+seemed inseparable from her nature,
+she continued: “Why do I
+try to mislead you or deceive
+myself? I did give a shriek just
+before the alarm was raised next
+door; but it was not from any
+knowledge I had of a crime having
+been committed, but because I
+unexpectedly saw before me my
+husband whom I supposed to be
+on his way to Poughkeepsie. He
+was looking very pale and strange,
+and for a moment I thought I was
+beholding his ghost. But he soon
+explained his appearance by saying
+that he had fallen from the train
+and had been only saved by a
+miracle from being dismembered;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[46]</a></span>
+and I was just bemoaning his mishap
+and trying to calm him and
+myself, when that terrible shout
+was heard next door of ‘Murder!
+murder!’ Coming so soon after
+the shock he had himself experienced,
+it quite unnerved him, and
+I think we can date his mental
+disturbance from that moment.
+For he began almost immediately
+to take a morbid interest in the
+affair next door, though it was
+weeks, if not months, before he let
+a word fall of the nature of those
+you have just heard. Indeed it
+was not till I repeated to him
+some of the expressions he was
+continually letting fall in his sleep,
+that he commenced to accuse
+himself of crime and talk of retribution.”</p>
+
+<p>“You say that your husband
+frightened you on that night by<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[47]</a></span>
+appearing suddenly at the door
+when you thought him on his way
+to Poughkeepsie. Is Dr. Zabriskie
+in the habit of thus going and coming
+alone at an hour so late as this
+must have been?”</p>
+
+<p>“You forget that to the blind,
+night is less full of perils than the
+day. Often and often has my husband
+found his way to his patients’
+houses alone after midnight; but
+on this especial evening he had
+Harry with him. Harry was his
+driver, and always accompanied
+him when he went any distance.”</p>
+
+<p>“Well, then,” said I, “all we
+have to do is to summon Harry
+and hear what he has to say concerning
+this affair. He surely will
+know whether or not his master
+went into the house next door.”</p>
+
+<p>“Harry has left us,” she said.
+“Dr. Zabriskie has another driver<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[48]</a></span>
+now. Besides—(I have nothing to
+conceal from you)—Harry was not
+with him when he returned to the
+house that evening, or the Doctor
+would not have been without
+his portmanteau till the next day.
+Something—I have never known
+what—caused them to separate,
+and that is why I have no answer to
+give the Doctor when he accuses
+himself of committing a deed on
+that night which is wholly out of
+keeping with every other act of
+his life.”</p>
+
+<p>“And have you never questioned
+Harry why they separated and
+why he allowed his master to come
+home alone after the shock he had
+received at the station?”</p>
+
+<p>“I did not know there was any
+reason for doing so till long after
+he left us.”</p>
+
+<p>“And when did he leave?<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[49]</a></span>”</p>
+
+<p>“That I do not remember. A
+few weeks or possibly a few days
+after that dreadful night.”</p>
+
+<p>“And where is he now?”</p>
+
+<p>“Ah, that I have not the least
+means of knowing. But,” she
+suddenly cried, “what do you
+want of Harry? If he did not
+follow Dr. Zabriskie to his own
+door, he could tell us nothing that
+would convince my husband that
+he is laboring under an illusion.”</p>
+
+<p>“But he might tell us something
+which would convince us that Dr.
+Zabriskie was not himself after the
+accident, that he——”</p>
+
+<p>“Hush!” came from her lips in
+imperious tones. “I will not believe
+that he shot Mr. Hasbrouck
+even if you prove him to have been
+insane at the time. How could
+he? My husband is blind. It
+would take a man of very keen<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[50]</a></span>
+sight to force himself into a house
+that was closed for the night, and
+kill a man in the dark at one shot.”</p>
+
+<p>“Rather,” cried a voice from the
+doorway, “it is only a blind man
+who could do this. Those who
+trust to eyesight must be able to
+catch some glimpse of the mark
+they aim at, and this room, as I
+have been told, was without a
+glimmer of light. But the blind
+trust to sound, and as Mr. Hasbrouck
+spoke——”</p>
+
+<p>“Oh!” burst from the horrified
+wife, “is there no one to stop him
+when he speaks like that?”</p>
+
+
+
+<h2 class="cht">II.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[51]</a></span></h2>
+
+
+<p class="newchapter"><span class="firstword"><span class="dropcap">W</span>hen</span> I related to my superiors
+the details of the foregoing
+interview, two of them
+coincided with the wife in thinking
+that Dr. Zabriskie was in an irresponsible
+condition of mind which
+made any statement of his questionable.
+But the third seemed
+disposed to argue the matter, and,
+casting me an inquiring look,
+seemed to ask what my opinion
+was on the subject. Answering
+him as if he had spoken, I gave
+my conclusion as follows: That
+whether insane or not, Dr. Zabriskie
+had fired the shot which terminated
+Mr. Hasbrouck’s life.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[52]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>It was the Inspector’s own idea,
+but it was not shared in by the
+others, one of whom had known
+the Doctor for years. Accordingly
+they compromised by postponing
+all opinion till they had themselves
+interrogated the Doctor, and I was
+detailed to bring him before them
+the next afternoon.</p>
+
+<p>He came without reluctance, his
+wife accompanying him. In the
+short time which elapsed between
+their leaving Lafayette Place and
+entering Headquarters, I embraced
+the opportunity of observing
+them, and I found the study
+equally exciting and interesting.
+His face was calm but hopeless,
+and his eye, which should have
+shown a wild glimmer if there was
+truth in his wife’s hypothesis, was
+dark and unfathomable, but neither
+frenzied nor uncertain. He<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[53]</a></span>
+spake but once and listened to
+nothing, though now and then his
+wife moved as if to attract his
+attention, and once even stole her
+hand toward his, in the tender
+hope that he would feel its approach
+and accept her sympathy.
+But he was deaf as well as blind;
+and sat wrapped up in thoughts
+which she, I know, would have
+given worlds to penetrate.</p>
+
+<p>Her countenance was not without
+its mystery also. She showed
+in every lineament passionate concern
+and misery, and a deep tenderness
+from which the element of
+fear was not absent. But she, as
+well as he, betrayed that some
+misunderstanding, deeper than any
+I had previously suspected, drew
+its intangible veil between them
+and made the near proximity in
+which they sat, at once a heart-piercing<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[54]</a></span>
+delight and an unspeakable
+pain. What was this misunderstanding?
+and what was the
+character of the fear that modified
+her every look of love in his direction?
+Her perfect indifference
+to my presence proved that it was
+not connected with the position
+in which he had put himself towards
+the police by his voluntary
+confession of crime, nor could I
+thus interpret the expression of
+frantic question which now and
+then contracted her features, as
+she raised her eyes towards his
+sightless orbs, and strove to read,
+in his firm-set lips, the meaning of
+those assertions she could only
+ascribe to a loss of reason.</p>
+
+<p>The stopping of the carriage
+seemed to awaken both from
+thoughts that separated rather
+than united them. He turned his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[55]</a></span>
+face in her direction, and she,
+stretching forth her hand, prepared
+to lead him from the carriage,
+without any of that display
+of timidity which had been previously
+evident in her manner.</p>
+
+<p>As his guide she seemed to fear
+nothing; as his lover, everything.</p>
+
+<p>“There is another and a deeper
+tragedy underlying the outward
+and obvious one,” was my inward
+conclusion, as I followed them into
+the presence of the gentlemen
+awaiting them.</p>
+
+
+<p class="mtop">Dr. Zabriskie’s appearance was
+a shock to those who knew him;
+so was his manner, which was calm,
+straightforward, and quietly determined.</p>
+
+<p>“I shot Mr. Hasbrouck,” was his
+steady affirmation, given without
+any show of frenzy or desperation.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[56]</a></span>
+“If you ask me why I did it, I
+cannot answer; if you ask me how,
+I am ready to state all that I know
+concerning the matter.”</p>
+
+<p>“But, Dr. Zabriskie,” interposed
+his friend, “the why is the most
+important thing for us to consider
+just now. If you really desire to
+convince us that you committed
+the dreadful crime of killing a totally
+inoffensive man, you should
+give us some reason for an act so
+opposed to all your instincts and
+general conduct.”</p>
+
+<p>But the Doctor continued unmoved:</p>
+
+<p>“I had no reason for murdering
+Mr. Hasbrouck. A hundred questions
+can elicit no other reply; you
+had better keep to the how.”</p>
+
+<p>A deep-drawn breath from the
+wife answered the looks of the
+three gentlemen to whom this suggestion<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[57]</a></span>
+was offered. “You see,”
+that breath seemed to protest,
+“that he is not in his right mind.”</p>
+
+<p>I began to waver in my own
+opinion, and yet the intuition
+which has served me in cases as
+seemingly impenetrable as this,
+bade me beware of following the
+general judgment.</p>
+
+<p>“Ask him to inform you how he
+got into the house,” I whispered
+to Inspector D——, who sat nearest
+me.</p>
+
+<p>Immediately the Inspector put
+the question I had suggested:</p>
+
+<p>“By what means did you enter
+Mr. Hasbrouck’s house at so late
+an hour as this murder occurred?”</p>
+
+<p>The blind doctor’s head fell
+forward on his breast, and he hesitated
+for the first and only time.</p>
+
+<p>“You will not believe me,” said
+he; “but the door was ajar when<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[58]</a></span>
+I came to it. Such things make
+crime easy; it is the only excuse
+I have to offer for this dreadful
+deed.”</p>
+
+<p>The front door of a respectable
+citizen’s house ajar at half-past
+eleven at night. It was a statement
+that fixed in all minds the
+conviction of the speaker’s irresponsibility.
+Mrs. Zabriskie’s brow
+cleared, and her beauty became
+for a moment dazzling as she held
+out her hands in irrepressible relief
+towards those who were interrogating
+her husband. I alone kept my
+impassibility. A possible explanation
+of this crime had flashed like
+lightning across my mind; an explanation
+from which I inwardly
+recoiled, even while I was forced
+to consider it.</p>
+
+<p>“Dr. Zabriskie,” remarked the
+Inspector who was most friendly<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[59]</a></span>
+to him, “such old servants as those
+kept by Mr. Hasbrouck do not
+leave the front door ajar at twelve
+o’clock at night.”</p>
+
+<p>“Yet ajar it was,” repeated the
+blind doctor, with quiet emphasis;
+“and finding it so, I went in.
+When I came out again, I closed
+it. Do you wish me to swear to
+what I say? If so, I am ready.”</p>
+
+<p>What could we reply? To see
+this splendid-looking man, hallowed
+by an affliction so great that in itself
+it called forth the compassion
+of the most indifferent, accusing
+himself of a cold-blooded crime, in
+tones that sounded dispassionate
+because of the will that forced
+their utterance, was too painful in
+itself for us to indulge in any unnecessary
+words. Compassion took
+the place of curiosity, and each
+and all of us turned involuntary<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[60]</a></span>
+looks of pity upon the young wife
+pressing so eagerly to his side.</p>
+
+<p>“For a blind man,” ventured
+one, “the assault was both deft
+and certain. Are you accustomed
+to Mr. Hasbrouck’s house, that
+you found your way with so little
+difficulty to his bedroom?”</p>
+
+<p>“I am accustomed——” he began.</p>
+
+<p>But here his wife broke in with
+irrepressible passion:</p>
+
+<p>“He is not accustomed to that
+house. He has never been beyond
+the first-floor. Why, why do you
+question him? Do you not
+see——”</p>
+
+<p>His hand was on her lips.</p>
+
+<p>“Hush!” he commanded. “You
+know my skill in moving about a
+house; how I sometimes deceive
+those who do not know me into
+believing that I can see, by the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[61]</a></span>
+readiness with which I avoid obstacles
+and find my way even in
+strange and untried scenes. Do
+not try to make them think I am
+not in my right mind, or you will
+drive me into the very condition
+you deprecate.”</p>
+
+<p>His face, rigid, cold, and set,
+looked like that of a mask. Hers,
+drawn with horror and filled with
+question that was fast taking the
+form of doubt, bespoke an awful
+tragedy from which more that one
+of us recoiled.</p>
+
+<p>“Can you shoot a man dead
+without seeing him?” asked the
+Superintendent, with painful effort.</p>
+
+<p>“Give me a pistol and I will
+show you,” was the quick reply.</p>
+
+<p>A low cry came from the wife.
+In a drawer near to every one of
+us there lay a pistol, but no one<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[62]</a></span>
+moved to take it out. There was
+a look in the Doctor’s eye which
+made us fear to trust him with a
+pistol just then.</p>
+
+<p>“We will accept your assurance
+that you possess a skill beyond that
+of most men,” returned the Superintendent.
+And beckoning me
+forward, he whispered: “This is a
+case for the doctors and not for
+the police. Remove him quietly,
+and notify Dr. Southyard of what
+I say.”</p>
+
+<p>But Dr. Zabriskie, who seemed
+to have an almost supernatural
+acuteness of hearing, gave a violent
+start at this and spoke up for
+the first time with real passion in
+his voice:</p>
+
+<p>“No, no, I pray you. I can
+bear anything but that. Remember,
+gentlemen, that I am blind;
+that I cannot see who is about me;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[63]</a></span>
+that my life would be a torture if
+I felt myself surrounded by spies
+watching to catch some evidence
+of madness in me. Rather conviction
+at once, death, dishonor, and
+obloquy. These I have incurred.
+These I have brought upon myself
+by crime, but not this worse fate—oh!
+not this worse fate.”</p>
+
+<p>His passion was so intense and
+yet so confined within the bounds
+of decorum, that we felt strangely
+impressed by it. Only the wife
+stood transfixed, with the dread
+growing in her heart, till her white,
+waxen visage seemed even more
+terrible to contemplate than his
+passion-distorted one.</p>
+
+<p>“It is not strange that my wife
+thinks me demented,” the Doctor
+continued, as if afraid of the silence
+that answered him. “But
+it is your business to discriminate,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[64]</a></span>
+and you should know a sane man
+when you see him.”</p>
+
+<p>Inspector D—— no longer hesitated.</p>
+
+<p>“Very well,” said he, “give us
+the least proof that your assertions
+are true, and we will lay your case
+before the prosecuting attorney.”</p>
+
+<p>“Proof? Is not a man’s
+word——”</p>
+
+<p>“No man’s confession is worth
+much without some evidence to
+support it. In your case there is
+none. You cannot even produce
+the pistol with which you assert
+yourself to have committed the
+deed.”</p>
+
+<p>“True, true. I was frightened
+by what I had done, and the instinct
+of self-preservation led me
+to rid myself of the weapon in any
+way I could. But some one found
+this pistol; some one picked it up<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[65]</a></span>
+from the sidewalk of Lafayette
+Place on that fatal night. Advertise
+for it. Offer a reward. I
+will give you the money.” Suddenly
+he appeared to realize how
+all this sounded. “Alas!” cried
+he, “I know the story seems improbable;
+all I say seems improbable;
+but it is not the probable
+things that happen in this life, but
+the improbable, as you should
+know, who every day dig deep
+into the heart of human affairs.”</p>
+
+<p>Were these the ravings of insanity?
+I began to understand
+the wife’s terror.</p>
+
+<p>“I bought the pistol,” he went
+on, “of—alas! I cannot tell you
+his name. Everything is against
+me. I cannot adduce one proof;
+yet she, even she, is beginning to
+fear that my story is true. I know
+it by her silence, a silence that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[66]</a></span>
+yawns between us like a deep and
+unfathomable gulf.”</p>
+
+<p>But at these words her voice
+rang out with passionate vehemence.</p>
+
+<p>“No, no, it is false! I will
+never believe that your hands
+have been plunged in blood. You
+are my own pure-hearted Constant,
+cold, perhaps, and stern, but with
+no guilt upon your conscience, save
+in your own wild imagination.”</p>
+
+<p>“Helen, you are no friend to
+me,” he declared, pushing her
+gently aside. “Believe me innocent,
+but say nothing to lead these
+others to doubt my word.”</p>
+
+<p>And she said no more, but her
+looks spoke volumes.</p>
+
+<p>The result was that he was not
+detained, though he prayed for
+instant commitment. He seemed
+to dread his own home, and the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[67]</a></span>
+surveillance to which he instinctively
+knew he would henceforth
+be subjected. To see him shrink
+from his wife’s hand as she strove
+to lead him from the room was
+sufficiently painful; but the feeling
+thus aroused was nothing to
+that with which we observed the
+keen and agonized expectancy of
+his look as he turned and listened
+for the steps of the officer who
+followed him.</p>
+
+<p>“I shall never again know
+whether or not I am alone,” was
+his final observation as he left our
+presence.</p>
+
+
+<p class="mtop">I said nothing to my superiors
+of the thoughts I had had while
+listening to the above interrogatories.
+A theory had presented
+itself to my mind which explained
+in some measure the mysteries of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[68]</a></span>
+the Doctor’s conduct, but I wished
+for time and opportunity to test
+its reasonableness before submitting
+it to their higher judgment.
+And these seemed likely to be
+given me, for the Inspectors continued
+divided in their opinion of
+the blind physician’s guilt, and
+the District-Attorney, when told
+of the affair, pooh-poohed it without
+mercy, and declined to stir in
+the matter unless some tangible
+evidence were forthcoming to substantiate
+the poor Doctor’s self-accusations.</p>
+
+<p>“If guilty, why does he shrink
+from giving his motives,” said he,
+“and if so anxious to go to the
+gallows, why does he suppress the
+very facts calculated to send him
+there? He is as mad as a March
+hare, and it is to an asylum he
+should go and not to a jail.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[69]</a></span>”</p>
+
+<p>In this conclusion I failed to
+agree with him, and as time wore
+on my suspicions took shape and
+finally ended in a fixed conviction.
+Dr. Zabriskie had committed the
+crime he avowed, but—let me
+proceed a little further with my
+story before I reveal what lies beyond
+that “but.”</p>
+
+<p>Notwithstanding Dr. Zabriskie’s
+almost frenzied appeal for solitude,
+a man had been placed in
+surveillance over him in the shape
+of a young doctor skilled in diseases
+of the brain. This man
+communicated more or less with
+the police, and one morning I received
+from him the following extracts
+from the diary he had been
+ordered to keep.</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>“The Doctor is settling into a
+deep melancholy from which he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[70]</a></span>
+tries to rise at times, but with only
+indifferent success. Yesterday he
+rode around to all his patients for
+the purpose of withdrawing his
+services on the plea of illness.
+But he still keeps his office open,
+and to-day I had the opportunity
+of witnessing his reception and
+treatment of the many sufferers
+who came to him for aid. I think
+he was conscious of my presence,
+though an attempt had been made
+to conceal it. For the listening
+look never left his face from the
+moment he entered the room, and
+once he rose and passed quickly
+from wall to wall, groping with
+outstretched hands into every
+nook and corner, and barely
+escaping contact with the curtain
+behind which I was hidden. But
+if he suspected my presence, he
+showed no displeasure at it, wishing<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[71]</a></span>
+perhaps for a witness to his
+skill in the treatment of disease.</p>
+
+<p>“And truly I never beheld a
+finer manifestation of practical
+insight in cases of a more or less
+baffling nature than I beheld in
+him to-day. He is certainly a most
+wonderful physician, and I feel
+bound to record that his mind is as
+clear for business as if no shadow
+had fallen upon it.</p>
+
+
+<p class="mtop">“Dr. Zabriskie loves his wife, but
+in a way that tortures both himself
+and her. If she is gone from
+the house he is wretched, and yet
+when she returns he often forbears
+to speak to her, or if he does speak,
+it is with a constraint that hurts
+her more than his silence. I was
+present when she came in to-day.
+Her step, which had been eager
+on the stairway, flagged as she<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[72]</a></span>
+approached the room, and he
+naturally noted the change and
+gave his own interpretation to it.
+His face, which had been very
+pale, flushed suddenly, and a
+nervous trembling seized him
+which he sought in vain to hide.
+But by the time her tall and
+beautiful figure stood in the doorway
+he was his usual self again in
+all but the expression of his eyes,
+which stared straight before him
+in an agony of longing only to be
+observed in those who have once
+seen.</p>
+
+<p>“‘Where have you been, Helen?’
+he asked, as, contrary to his wont,
+he moved to meet her.</p>
+
+<p>“‘To my mother’s, to Arnold
+&amp; Constable’s, and to the hospital,
+as you requested,’ was her
+quick answer, made without faltering
+or embarrassment.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[73]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>“He stepped still nearer and
+took her hand, and as he did so
+my physician’s eye noted how his
+finger lay over her pulse in seeming
+unconsciousness.</p>
+
+<p>“‘Nowhere else?’ he queried.</p>
+
+<p>“She smiled the saddest kind of
+smile and shook her head; then,
+remembering that he could not
+see this movement, she cried in a
+wistful tone:</p>
+
+<p>“‘Nowhere else, Constant; I
+was too anxious to get back.’</p>
+
+<p>“I expected him to drop her
+hand at this, but he did not; and
+his finger still rested on her pulse.</p>
+
+<p>“‘And whom did you see while
+you were gone?’ he continued.</p>
+
+<p>“She told him, naming over
+several names.</p>
+
+<p>“‘You must have enjoyed yourself,’
+was his cold comment, as he
+let go her hand and turned away.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[74]</a></span>
+But his manner showed relief, and
+I could not but sympathize with
+the pitiable situation of a man
+who found himself forced to means
+like these for probing the heart of
+his young wife.</p>
+
+<p>“Yet when I turned towards her
+I realized that her position was but
+little happier than his. Tears are
+no strangers to her eyes, but those
+that welled up at this moment
+seemed to possess a bitterness that
+promised but little peace for her
+future. Yet she quickly dried
+them and busied herself with ministrations
+for his comfort.</p>
+
+
+<p class="mtop">“If I am any judge of woman,
+Helen Zabriskie is superior to
+most of her sex. That her husband
+mistrusts her is evident, but
+whether this is the result of the
+stand she has taken in his regard,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[75]</a></span>
+or only a manifestation of dementia,
+I have as yet been unable to
+determine. I dread to leave them
+alone together, and yet when I
+presume to suggest that she should
+be on her guard in her interviews
+with him, she smiles very placidly
+and tells me that nothing would
+give her greater joy than to see
+him lift his hand against her, for
+that would argue that he is not
+accountable for his deeds or for
+his assertions.</p>
+
+<p>“Yet it would be a grief to see
+her injured by this passionate and
+unhappy man.</p>
+
+
+<p class="mtop">“You have said that you wanted
+all details I could give; so I feel
+bound to say, that Dr. Zabriskie
+tries to be considerate of his wife,
+though he often fails in the attempt.
+When she offers herself<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[76]</a></span>
+as his guide, or assists him with
+his mail, or performs any of the
+many acts of kindness by which she
+continually manifests her sense of
+his affliction, he thanks her with
+courtesy and often with kindness,
+yet I know she would willingly
+exchange all his set phrases for
+one fond embrace or impulsive
+smile of affection. That he is not
+in the full possession of his faculties
+would be too much to say,
+and yet upon what other hypothesis
+can we account for the
+inconsistencies of his conduct.</p>
+
+
+<p class="mtop">“I have before me two visions
+of mental suffering. At noon I
+passed the office door, and looking
+within, saw the figure of Dr. Zabriskie
+seated in his great chair,
+lost in thought or deep in those
+memories which make an abyss in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[77]</a></span>
+one’s consciousness. His hands,
+which were clenched, rested upon
+the arms of his chair, and in one
+of them I detected a woman’s
+glove, which I had no difficulty in
+recognizing as one of the pair worn
+by his wife this morning. He
+held it as a tiger might hold his
+prey or a miser his gold, but his
+set features and sightless eyes betrayed
+that a conflict of emotions
+was waging within him, among
+which tenderness had but little
+share.</p>
+
+<p>“Though alive, as he usually is,
+to every sound, he was too absorbed
+at this moment to notice
+my presence though I had taken
+no pains to approach quietly. I
+therefore stood for a full minute
+watching him, till an irresistible
+sense of the shame of thus spying
+upon a blind man in his moments<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[78]</a></span>
+of secret anguish seized upon me
+and I turned away. But not before
+I saw his features relax in a
+storm of passionate feeling, as he
+rained kisses after kisses on the
+senseless kid he had so long held
+in his motionless grasp. Yet when
+an hour later he entered the
+dining-room on his wife’s arm,
+there was nothing in his manner
+to show that he had in any way
+changed in his attitude towards
+her.</p>
+
+
+<p class="mtop">“The other picture was more
+tragic still. I have no business
+with Mrs. Zabriskie’s affairs; but
+as I passed upstairs to my room
+an hour ago, I caught a fleeting
+vision of her tall form, with the
+arms thrown up over her head in
+a paroxysm of feeling which made
+her as oblivious to my presence as<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[79]</a></span>
+her husband had been several
+hours before. Were the words
+that escaped her lips ‘Thank
+God we have no children!’ or
+was this exclamation suggested to
+me by the passion and unrestrained
+impulse of her action?”</p></div>
+
+<p>Side by side with these lines, I,
+Ebenezer Gryce, placed the following
+extracts from my own
+diary:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>“Watched the Zabriskie mansion
+for five hours this morning, from
+the second story window of an adjoining
+hotel. Saw the Doctor
+when he drove away on his round
+of visits, and saw him when he
+returned. A colored man accompanied
+him.</p>
+
+<p>“To-day I followed Mrs. Zabriskie.
+I had a motive for this, the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[80]</a></span>
+nature of which I think it wisest
+not to divulge. She went first to
+a house in Washington Place
+where I am told her mother lives.
+Here she stayed some time, after
+which she drove down to Canal
+Street, where she did some shopping,
+and later stopped at the
+hospital, into which I took the liberty
+of following her. She seemed
+to know many there, and passed
+from cot to cot with a smile in
+which I alone discerned the sadness
+of a broken heart. When
+she left, I left also, without having
+learned anything beyond the fact
+that Mrs. Zabriskie is one who
+does her duty in sorrow as in happiness.
+A rare and trustworthy
+woman I should say, and yet her
+husband does not trust her. Why?</p>
+
+
+<p class="mtop">“I have spent this day in accumulating<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[81]</a></span>
+details in regard to Dr.
+and Mrs. Zabriskie’s life previous
+to the death of Mr. Hasbrouck.
+I learned from sources it would be
+unwise to quote just here, that
+Mrs. Zabriskie had not lacked
+enemies ready to charge her with
+coquetry; that while she had
+never sacrificed her dignity in
+public, more than one person had
+been heard to declare, that Dr.
+Zabriskie was fortunate in being
+blind, since the sight of his wife’s
+beauty would have but poorly
+compensated him for the pain he
+would have suffered in seeing how
+that beauty was admired.</p>
+
+<p>“That all gossip is more or less
+tinged with exaggeration I have
+no doubt, yet when a name is
+mentioned in connection with
+such stories, there is usually some
+truth at the bottom of them.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[82]</a></span>
+And a name is mentioned in this
+case, though I do not think it
+worth my while to repeat it here;
+and loth as I am to recognize the
+fact, it is a name that carries with
+it doubts that might easily account
+for the husband’s jealousy.
+True, I have found no one who
+dares to hint that she still continues
+to attract attention or to
+bestow smiles in any direction
+save where they legally belong.
+For since a certain memorable
+night which we all know, neither
+Dr. Zabriskie nor his wife have
+been seen save in their own domestic
+circle, and it is not into
+such scenes that this serpent, of
+which I have spoken, ever intrudes,
+nor is it in places of sorrow
+or suffering that his smile
+shines, or his fascinations flourish.</p>
+
+<p>“And so one portion of my<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[83]</a></span>
+theory is proved to be sound. Dr.
+Zabriskie is jealous of his wife:
+whether with good cause or bad I
+am not prepared to decide; for
+her present attitude, clouded as it
+is by the tragedy in which she and
+her husband are both involved,
+must differ very much from that
+which she held when her life was
+unshadowed by doubt, and her
+admirers could be counted by the
+score.</p>
+
+
+<p class="mtop">“I have just found out where
+Harry is. As he is in service
+some miles up the river, I shall
+have to be absent from my post
+for several hours, but I consider
+the game well worth the candle.</p>
+
+
+<p class="mtop">“Light at last. I have seen
+Harry, and, by means known only
+to the police, have succeeded in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[84]</a></span>
+making him talk. His story is
+substantially this: That on the
+night so often mentioned, he
+packed his master’s portmanteau
+at eight o’clock and at ten called
+a carriage and rode with the
+Doctor to the Twenty-ninth Street
+station. He was told to buy
+tickets for Poughkeepsie where
+his master had been called in consultation,
+and having done this,
+hurried back to join his master on
+the platform. They had walked
+together as far as the cars, and Dr.
+Zabriskie was just stepping on to
+the train when a man pushed himself
+hurriedly between them and
+whispered something into his
+master’s ear, which caused him to
+fall back and lose his footing. Dr.
+Zabriskie’s body slid half under
+the car, but he was withdrawn before
+any harm was done, though<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[85]</a></span>
+the cars gave a lurch at that moment
+which must have frightened
+him exceedingly, for his face was
+white when he rose to his feet,
+and when Harry offered to assist
+him again on to the train, he refused
+to go and said he would
+return home and not attempt to
+ride to Poughkeepsie that night.</p>
+
+<p>“The gentleman, whom Harry
+now saw to be Mr. Stanton, an
+intimate friend of Dr. Zabriskie,
+smiled very queerly at this, and
+taking the Doctor’s arm led him
+away to a carriage. Harry naturally
+followed them, but the Doctor,
+hearing his steps, turned and bade
+him, in a very peremptory tone, to
+take the omnibus home, and then,
+as if on second thought, told him
+to go to Poughkeepsie in his stead
+and explain to the people there
+that he was too shaken up by his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[86]</a></span>
+mis-step to do his duty, and that
+he would be with them next morning.
+This seemed strange to Harry,
+but he had no reasons for disobeying
+his master’s orders, and so rode
+to Poughkeepsie. But the Doctor
+did not follow him the next day;
+on the contrary he telegraphed for
+him to return, and when he got
+back dismissed him with a month’s
+wages. This ended Harry’s connection
+with the Zabriskie family.</p>
+
+<p>“A simple story bearing out
+what the wife has already told us;
+but it furnishes a link which may
+prove invaluable. Mr. Stanton,
+whose first name is Theodore,
+knows the real reason why Dr.
+Zabriskie returned home on the
+night of the seventeenth of July,
+1851. Mr. Stanton, consequently,
+I must see, and this shall be my
+business to-morrow.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[87]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>“Checkmate! Theodore Stanton
+is not in this country. Though
+this points him out as the man
+from whom Dr. Zabriskie bought
+the pistol, it does not facilitate my
+work, which is becoming more and
+more difficult.</p>
+
+
+<p class="mtop">“Mr. Stanton’s whereabouts are
+not even known to his most intimate
+friends. He sailed from this
+country most unexpectedly on the
+eighteenth of July a year ago,
+which was <i>the day after the murder
+of Mr. Hasbrouck</i>. It looks like a
+flight, especially as he has failed
+to maintain open communication
+even with his relatives. Was he
+the man who shot Mr. Hasbrouck?
+No; but he was the man who put
+the pistol in Dr. Zabriskie’s hand
+that night, and, whether he did
+this with purpose or not, was evidently<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[88]</a></span>
+so alarmed at the catastrophe
+which followed that he took
+the first outgoing steamer to
+Europe. So far, all is clear, but
+there are mysteries yet to be
+solved, which will require my utmost
+tact. What if I should seek
+out the gentleman with whose
+name that of Mrs. Zabriskie has
+been linked, and see if I can in any
+way connect him with Mr. Stanton
+or the events of that night?</p>
+
+
+<p class="mtop">“Eureka! I have discovered
+that Mr. Stanton cherished a mortal
+hatred for the gentleman above
+mentioned. It was a covert feeling,
+but no less deadly on that account;
+and while it never led him
+into any extravagances, it was of
+force sufficient to account for many
+a secret misfortune which happened
+to that gentleman. Now, if<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[89]</a></span>
+I can prove he was the Mephistopheles
+who whispered insinuations
+into the ear of our blind Faust, I
+may strike a fact that will lead me
+out of this maze.</p>
+
+<p>“But how can I approach secrets
+so delicate without compromising
+the woman I feel bound to respect,
+if only for the devoted love
+she manifests for her unhappy
+husband!</p>
+
+
+<p class="mtop">“I shall have to appeal to Joe
+Smithers. This is something which
+I always hate to do, but as long as he
+will take money, and as long as he
+is fertile in resources for obtaining
+the truth from people I am myself
+unable to reach, so long must
+I make use of his cupidity and his
+genius. He is an honorable fellow
+in one way, and never retails as
+gossip what he acquires for our<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[90]</a></span>
+use. How will he proceed in this
+case, and by what tactics will he
+gain the very delicate information
+which we need? I own that I am
+curious to see.</p>
+
+
+<p class="mtop">“I shall really have to put down
+at length the incidents of this
+night. I always knew that Joe
+Smithers was invaluable to the
+police, but I really did not know
+he possessed talents of so high an
+order. He wrote me this morning
+that he had succeeded in getting
+Mr. T——’s promise to spend the
+evening with him, and advised me
+that if I desired to be present also,
+his own servant would not be at
+home, and that an opener of bottles
+would be required.</p>
+
+<p>“As I was very anxious to see
+Mr. T—— with my own eyes, I
+accepted the invitation to play the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[91]</a></span>
+spy upon a spy, and went at the
+proper hour to Mr. Smithers’s
+rooms, which are in the University
+Building. I found them picturesque
+in the extreme. Piles of
+books stacked here and there to the
+ceiling made nooks and corners
+which could be quite shut off by a
+couple of old pictures that were set
+into movable frames that swung
+out or in at the whim or convenience
+of the owner.</p>
+
+<p>“As I liked the dark shadows
+cast by these pictures, I pulled
+them both out, and made such
+other arrangements as appeared
+likely to facilitate the purpose I
+had in view, then I sat down and
+waited for the two gentlemen who
+were expected to come in together.</p>
+
+<p>“They arrived almost immediately,
+whereupon I rose and played<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[92]</a></span>
+my part with all necessary discretion.
+While ridding Mr. T——
+of his overcoat, I stole a look at his
+face. It is not a handsome one,
+but it boasts of a gay, devil-may-care
+expression which doubtless
+makes it dangerous to many
+women, while his manners are
+especially attractive, and his voice
+the richest and most persuasive
+that I ever heard. I contrasted
+him, almost against my will, with
+Dr. Zabriskie, and decided that
+with most women the former’s undoubted
+fascinations of speech and
+bearing would outweigh the latter’s
+great beauty and mental endowments;
+but I doubted if they
+would with her.</p>
+
+<p>“The conversation which immediately
+began was brilliant but
+desultory, for Mr. Smithers, with
+an airy lightness for which he is<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[93]</a></span>
+remarkable, introduced topic after
+topic, perhaps for the purpose of
+showing off Mr. T——’s versatility,
+and perhaps for the deeper
+and more sinister purpose of
+shaking the kaleidoscope of talk
+so thoroughly, that the real topic
+which we were met to discuss
+should not make an undue impression
+on the mind of his guest.</p>
+
+<p>“Meanwhile one, two, three bottles
+passed, and I saw Joe Smithers’s
+eye grow calmer and that of
+Mr. T—— more brilliant and more
+uncertain. As the last bottle
+showed signs of failing, Joe cast
+me a meaning glance, and the real
+business of the evening began.</p>
+
+<p>“I shall not attempt to relate
+the half-dozen failures which Joe
+made in endeavoring to elicit the
+facts we were in search of, without
+arousing the suspicion of his visitor.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[94]</a></span>
+I am only going to relate
+the successful attempt. They had
+been talking now for some hours,
+and I, who had long before been
+waved from their immediate presence,
+was hiding my curiosity and
+growing excitement behind one of
+the pictures, when suddenly I
+heard Joe say:</p>
+
+<p>“‘He has the most remarkable
+memory I ever met. He can tell
+to a day when any notable event
+occurred.’</p>
+
+<p>“‘Pshaw!’ answered his companion,
+who, by the by, was
+known to pride himself upon his
+own memory for dates, ‘I can state
+where I went and what I did on
+every day in the year. That may
+not embrace what you call ‘notable
+events,’ but the memory required
+is all the more remarkable,
+is it not?<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[95]</a></span>’</p>
+
+<p>“‘Pooh!’ was his friend’s provoking
+reply, ‘you are bluffing,
+Ben; I will never believe that.’</p>
+
+<p>“Mr. T——, who had passed by
+this time into that state of intoxication
+which makes persistence in
+an assertion a duty as well as a
+pleasure, threw back his head, and
+as the wreaths of smoke rose in
+airy spirals from his lips, reiterated
+his statement, and offered to submit
+to any test of his vaunted powers
+which the other might dictate.</p>
+
+<p>“‘You have a diary——’ began
+Joe.</p>
+
+<p>“‘Which is at home,’ completed
+the other.</p>
+
+<p>“‘Will you allow me to refer to
+it to-morrow, if I am suspicious of
+the accuracy of your recollections?’</p>
+
+<p>“‘Undoubtedly,’ returned the
+other.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[96]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>“‘Very well, then, I will wager
+you a cool fifty, that you cannot
+tell where you were between the
+hours of ten and eleven on a certain
+night which I will name.’</p>
+
+<p>“‘Done!’ cried the other, bringing
+out his pocket-book and laying
+it on the table before him.</p>
+
+<p>“Joe followed his example and
+then summoned me.</p>
+
+<p>“‘Write a date down here,’ he
+commanded, pushing a piece of
+paper towards me, with a look
+keen as the flash of a blade. ‘Any
+date, man,’ he added, as I appeared
+to hesitate in the embarrassment
+I thought natural under
+the circumstances. ‘Put down day,
+month, and year, only don’t go
+too far back; not farther than two
+years.’</p>
+
+<p>“Smiling with the air of a flunkey
+admitted to the sports of his superiors,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[97]</a></span>
+I wrote a line and laid it
+before Mr. Smithers, who at once
+pushed it with a careless gesture
+towards his companion. You can
+of course guess the date I made
+use of: July 17, 1851. Mr. T——,
+who had evidently looked upon
+this matter as mere play, flushed
+scarlet as he read these words,
+and for one instant looked as if
+he had rather flee our presence
+than answer Joe Smithers’s nonchalant
+glance of inquiry.</p>
+
+<p>“‘I have given my word and will
+keep it,’ he said at last, but with
+a look in my direction that sent
+me reluctantly back to my retreat.
+‘I don’t suppose you want names,’
+he went on, ‘that is, if anything I
+have to tell is of a delicate
+nature?’</p>
+
+<p>“‘O no,’ answered the other,
+‘only facts and places.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[98]</a></span>’</p>
+
+<p>“‘I don’t think places are necessary
+either,’ he returned. ‘I will
+tell you what I did and that must
+serve you. I did not promise to
+give number and street.’</p>
+
+<p>“‘Well, well,’ Joe exclaimed;
+‘earn your fifty, that is all. Show
+that you remember where you
+were on the night of’—and with
+an admirable show of indifference
+he pretended to consult the
+paper between them—‘the seventeenth
+of July, 1851, and I shall
+be satisfied.’</p>
+
+<p>“‘I was at the club for one
+thing,’ said Mr. T——; ‘then I
+went to see a lady friend, where I
+stayed till eleven. She wore a blue
+muslin—— What is that?’</p>
+
+<p>“I had betrayed myself by a
+quick movement which sent a glass
+tumbler crashing to the floor.
+Helen Zabriskie had worn a blue<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[99]</a></span>
+muslin on that same night. I had
+noted it when I stood on the
+balcony watching her and her
+husband.</p>
+
+<p>“‘That noise?’ It was Joe who
+was speaking. ‘You don’t know
+Reuben as well as I do or you
+wouldn’t ask. It is his practice,
+I am sorry to say, to accentuate
+his pleasure in draining my bottles,
+by dropping a glass at every
+third one.’</p>
+
+<p>“Mr. T—— went on.</p>
+
+<p>“‘She was a married woman and
+I thought she loved me; but—and
+this is the greatest proof I
+can offer you that I am giving
+you a true account of that night—she
+had not had the slightest
+idea of the extent of my passion,
+and only consented to see me at
+all because she thought, poor thing,
+that a word from her would set<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[100]</a></span>
+me straight, and rid her of attentions
+that were fast becoming obnoxious.
+A sorry figure for a
+fellow to cut who has not been
+without his triumphs; but you
+caught me on the most detestable
+date in my calendar, and——’</p>
+
+<p>“There is where he stopped being
+interesting, so I will not waste
+time by quoting further. And
+now what reply shall I make when
+Joe Smithers asks me double his
+usual price, as he will be sure to
+do, next time? Has he not earned
+an advance? I really think so.</p>
+
+
+<p class="mtop">“I have spent the whole day in
+weaving together the facts I have
+gleaned, and the suspicions I have
+formed, into a consecutive whole
+likely to present my theory in a
+favorable light to my superiors.
+But just as I thought myself in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[101]</a></span>
+shape to meet their inquiries, I received
+an immediate summons
+into their presence, where I was
+given a duty to perform of so extraordinary
+and unexpected a nature,
+that it effectually drove from
+my mind all my own plans for
+the elucidation of the Zabriskie
+mystery.</p>
+
+<p>“This was nothing more nor less
+than to take charge of a party of
+people who were going to the
+Jersey heights for the purpose of
+testing Dr. Zabriskie’s skill with a
+pistol.”</p></div>
+
+
+
+<h2 class="cht">III.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[102]</a></span></h2>
+
+
+<p class="newchapter"><span class="firstword"><span class="dropcap">T</span>he</span> cause of this sudden move
+was soon explained to me.
+Mrs. Zabriskie, anxious to have an
+end put to the present condition
+of affairs, had begged for a more
+rigid examination into her husband’s
+state. This being accorded,
+a strict and impartial inquiry had
+taken place, with a result not unlike
+that which followed the first
+one. Three out of his four interrogators
+judged him insane, and
+could not be moved from their
+opinion though opposed by the
+verdict of the young expert who
+had been living in the house with
+him. Dr. Zabriskie seemed to
+read their thoughts, and, showing<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[103]</a></span>
+extreme agitation, begged as before
+for an opportunity to prove
+his sanity by showing his skill in
+shooting. This time a disposition
+was evinced to grant his request,
+which Mrs. Zabriskie no sooner
+perceived, than she added her
+supplications to his that the
+question might be thus settled.</p>
+
+<p>A pistol was accordingly
+brought; but at sight of it her
+courage failed, and she changed
+her prayer to an entreaty that the
+experiment should be postponed
+till the next day, and should then
+take place in the woods away from
+the sight and hearing of needless
+spectators.</p>
+
+<p>Though it would have been
+much wiser to have ended the
+matter there and then, the Superintendent
+was prevailed upon to
+listen to her entreaties, and thus<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[104]</a></span>
+it was that I came to be a spectator,
+if not a participator, in the final
+scene of this most sombre drama.</p>
+
+<p>There are some events which
+impress the human mind so deeply
+that their memory mingles with
+all after-experiences. Though I
+have made it a rule to forget as
+soon as possible the tragic episodes
+into which I am constantly
+plunged, there is one scene in my
+life which will not depart at my
+will; and that is the sight which
+met my eyes from the bow of the
+small boat in which Dr. Zabriskie
+and his wife were rowed over to
+Jersey on that memorable afternoon.</p>
+
+<p>Though it was by no means late
+in the day, the sun was already
+sinking, and the bright red glare
+which filled the heavens and shone
+full upon the faces of the half-dozen<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[105]</a></span>
+persons before me added
+much to the tragic nature of the
+scene, though we were far from
+comprehending its full significance.</p>
+
+<p>The Doctor sat with his wife in
+the stern, and it was upon their
+faces my glance was fixed. The
+glare shone luridly on his sightless
+eyeballs, and as I noticed his unwinking
+lids I realized as never before
+what it was to be blind in the
+midst of sunshine. Her eyes, on
+the contrary, were lowered, but
+there was a look of hopeless misery
+in her colorless face which made
+her appearance infinitely pathetic,
+and I felt confident that if he
+could only have seen her, he would
+not have maintained the cold and
+unresponsive manner which chilled
+the words on her lips and made all
+advance on her part impossible.</p>
+
+<p>On the seat in front of them sat<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[106]</a></span>
+the Inspector and a doctor, and
+from some quarter, possibly from
+under the Inspector’s coat, there
+came the monotonous ticking of
+a small clock, which, I had been
+told, was to serve as a target for
+the blind man’s aim.</p>
+
+<p>This ticking was all I heard,
+though the noise and bustle of
+a great traffic was pressing upon
+us on every side. And I am sure
+it was all that she heard, as, with
+hand pressed to her heart and eyes
+fixed on the opposite shore, she
+waited for the event which was to
+determine whether the man she
+loved was a criminal or only a
+being afflicted of God, and worthy
+of her unceasing care and devotion.</p>
+
+<p>As the sun cast its last scarlet
+gleam over the water, the boat
+grounded, and it fell to my lot to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[107]</a></span>
+assist Mrs. Zabriskie up the bank.
+As I did so, I allowed myself to
+say: “I am your friend, Mrs. Zabriskie,”
+and was astonished to see
+her tremble, and turn toward me
+with a look like that of a frightened
+child.</p>
+
+<p>But there was always this characteristic
+blending in her countenance
+of the childlike and the
+severe, such as may so often be
+seen in the faces of nuns, and beyond
+an added pang of pity for
+this beautiful but afflicted woman,
+I let the moment pass without
+giving it the weight it perhaps
+demanded.</p>
+
+<p>“The Doctor and his wife had a
+long talk last night,” was whispered
+in my ear as we wound our way
+along into the woods. I turned and
+perceived at my side the expert
+physician, portions of whose diary<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[108]</a></span>
+I have already quoted. He had
+come by another boat.</p>
+
+<p>“But it did not seem to heal
+whatever breach lies between
+them,” he proceeded. Then in
+a quick, curious tone, he asked:
+“Do you believe this attempt on
+his part is likely to prove anything
+but a farce?”</p>
+
+<p>“I believe he will shatter the
+clock to pieces with his first shot,”
+I answered, and could say no more,
+for we had already reached the
+ground which had been selected
+for this trial at arms, and the various
+members of the party were
+being placed in their several positions.</p>
+
+<p>The Doctor, to whom light and
+darkness were alike, stood with
+his face towards the western glow,
+and at his side were grouped the
+Inspector and the two physicians.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[109]</a></span>
+On the arm of one of the latter
+hung Dr. Zabriskie’s overcoat,
+which he had taken off as soon
+as he reached the field.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Zabriskie stood at the
+other end of the opening, near a
+tall stump, upon which it had been
+decided that the clock should be
+placed when the moment came for
+the Doctor to show his skill. She
+had been accorded the privilege of
+setting the clock on this stump,
+and I saw it shining in her hand
+as she paused for a moment to
+glance back at the circle of gentlemen
+who were awaiting her
+movements. The hands of the
+clock stood at five minutes to five,
+though I scarcely noted the fact
+at the time, for her eyes were on
+mine, and as she passed me she
+spoke:</p>
+
+<p>“If he is not himself, he cannot<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[110]</a></span>
+be trusted. Watch him carefully,
+and see that he does no mischief
+to himself or others. Be at his
+right hand, and stop him if he does
+not handle his pistol properly.”</p>
+
+<p>I promised, and she passed on,
+setting the clock upon the stump
+and immediately drawing back to
+a suitable distance at the right,
+where she stood, wrapped in her
+long dark cloak, quite alone. Her
+face shone ghastly white, even in
+its environment of snow-covered
+boughs which surrounded her, and,
+noting this, I wished the minutes
+fewer between the present moment
+and the hour of five, at
+which he was to draw the trigger.</p>
+
+<p>“Dr. Zabriskie,” quoth the Inspector,
+“we have endeavored to
+make this trial a perfectly fair one.
+You are to have one shot at a
+small clock which has been placed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[111]</a></span>
+within a suitable distance, and
+which you are expected to hit,
+guided only by the sound which it
+will make in striking the hour of
+five. Are you satisfied with the
+arrangement?”</p>
+
+<p>“Perfectly. Where is my wife?”</p>
+
+<p>“On the other side of the field,
+some ten paces from the stump
+upon which the clock is fixed.”</p>
+
+<p>He bowed, and his face showed
+satisfaction.</p>
+
+<p>“May I expect the clock to
+strike soon?”</p>
+
+<p>“In less than five minutes,” was
+the answer.</p>
+
+<p>“Then let me have the pistol;
+I wish to become acquainted with
+its size and weight.”</p>
+
+<p>We glanced at each other, then
+across at her.</p>
+
+<p>She made a gesture; it was one
+of acquiescence.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[112]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Immediately the Inspector
+placed the weapon in the blind
+man’s hand. It was at once apparent
+that the Doctor understood
+the instrument, and my last doubt
+vanished as to the truth of all he
+had told us.</p>
+
+<p>“Thank God I am blind this
+hour and cannot see <i>her</i>,” fell unconsciously
+from his lips; then,
+before the echo of these words
+had left my ears, he raised his
+voice and observed calmly enough,
+considering that he was about to
+prove himself a criminal in order
+to save himself from being thought
+a madman.</p>
+
+<p>“Let no one move. I must
+have my ears free for catching
+the first stroke of the clock.” And
+he raised the pistol before him.</p>
+
+<p>There was a moment of torturing
+suspense and deep, unbroken<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[113]</a></span>
+silence. My eyes were on him,
+and so I did not watch the clock,
+but suddenly I was moved by some
+irresistible impulse to note how
+Mrs. Zabriskie was bearing herself
+at this critical moment, and, casting
+a hurried glance in her direction,
+I perceived her tall figure swaying
+from side to side, as if under an
+intolerable strain of feeling. Her
+eyes were on the clock, the hands
+of which seemed to creep with
+snail-like pace along the dial,
+when unexpectedly, and a full minute
+before the minute hand had
+reached the stroke of five, I caught
+a movement on her part, saw the
+flash of something round and white
+show for an instant against the
+darkness of her cloak, and was
+about to shriek warning to the
+Doctor, when the shrill, quick
+stroke of a clock rung out on the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[114]</a></span>
+frosty air, followed by the ping
+and flash of a pistol.</p>
+
+<p>A sound of shattered glass, followed
+by a suppressed cry, told us
+that the bullet had struck the
+mark, but before we could move,
+or rid our eyes of the smoke which
+the wind had blown into our faces,
+there came another sound which
+made our hair stand on end and
+sent the blood back in terror to
+our hearts. Another clock was
+striking, the clock which we now
+perceived was still standing upright
+on the stump where Mrs.
+Zabriskie had placed it.</p>
+
+<p>Whence came the clock, then,
+which had struck before the time
+and been shattered for its pains?
+One quick look told us. On the
+ground, ten paces at the right, lay
+Helen Zabriskie, a broken clock at
+her side, and in her breast a bullet<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[115]</a></span>
+which was fast sapping the life
+from her sweet eyes.</p>
+
+
+<p class="mtop">We had to tell him, there was
+such pleading in her looks; and
+never shall I forget the scream that
+rang from his lips as he realized
+the truth. Breaking from our
+midst, he rushed forward, and fell
+at her feet as if guided by some
+supernatural instinct.</p>
+
+<p>“Helen,” he shrieked, “what is
+this? Were not my hands dyed
+deep enough in blood that you
+should make me answerable for
+your life also?”</p>
+
+<p>Her eyes were closed, but she
+opened them. Looking long and
+steadily at his agonized face, she
+faltered forth:</p>
+
+<p>“It is not you who have killed
+me; it is your crime. Had you
+been innocent of Mr. Hasbrouck’s<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[116]</a></span>
+death, your bullet would never
+have found my heart. Did you
+think I could survive the proof
+that you had killed that good
+man?”</p>
+
+<p>“I—I did it unwittingly. I——”</p>
+
+<p>“Hush!” she commanded, with
+an awful look, which, happily, he
+could not see. “I had another
+motive. I wished to prove to you,
+even at the cost of my life, that I
+loved you, had always loved you,
+and not——”</p>
+
+<p>It was now his turn to silence
+her. His hand crept over her lips,
+and his despairing face turned itself
+blindly towards us.</p>
+
+<p>“Go,” he cried; “leave us! Let
+me take a last farewell of my
+dying wife, without listeners or
+spectators.”</p>
+
+<p>Consulting the eye of the physician<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[117]</a></span>
+who stood beside me, and
+seeing no hope in it, I fell slowly
+back. The others followed, and
+the Doctor was left alone with his
+wife. From the distant position
+we took, we saw her arms creep
+round his neck, saw her head fall
+confidingly on his breast, then
+silence settled upon them and
+upon all nature, the gathering twilight
+deepening, till the last glow
+disappeared from the heavens
+above and from the circle of leafless
+trees which enclosed this tragedy
+from the outside world.</p>
+
+<p>But at last there came a stir,
+and Dr. Zabriskie, rising up before
+us, with the dead body of his wife
+held closely to his breast, confronted
+us with a countenance so
+rapturous that he looked like a
+man transfigured.</p>
+
+<p>“I will carry her to the boat,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[118]</a></span>”
+said he. “Not another hand shall
+touch her. She was my true wife,
+my true wife!” And he towered
+into an attitude of such dignity
+and passion, that for a moment
+he took on heroic proportions and
+we forgot that he had just proved
+himself to have committed a cold-blooded
+and ghastly crime.</p>
+
+
+<p class="mtop">The stars were shining when we
+again took our seats in the boat;
+and if the scene of our crossing to
+Jersey was impressive, what shall
+be said of that of our return.</p>
+
+<p>The Doctor, as before, sat in the
+stern, an awesome figure, upon
+which the moon shone with a
+white radiance that seemed to lift
+his face out of the surrounding
+darkness and set it, like an image
+of frozen horror, before our eyes.
+Against his breast he held the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[119]</a></span>
+form of his dead wife, and now
+and then I saw him stoop as if he
+were listening for some tokens of
+life at her set lips. Then he would
+lift himself again, with hopelessness
+stamped upon his features,
+only to lean forward in renewed
+hope that was again destined to
+disappointment.</p>
+
+<p>The Inspector and the accompanying
+physician had taken seats
+in the bow, and unto me had been
+assigned the special duty of watching
+over the Doctor. This I did
+from a low seat in front of him.
+I was therefore so close that I
+heard his laboring breath, and
+though my heart was full of awe
+and compassion, I could not prevent
+myself from bending towards
+him and saying these words:</p>
+
+<p>“Dr. Zabriskie, the mystery of
+your crime is no longer a mystery<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[120]</a></span>
+to me. Listen and see if I do not
+understand your temptation, and
+how you, a conscientious and God-fearing
+man, came to slay your
+innocent neighbor.</p>
+
+<p>“A friend of yours, or so he
+called himself, had for a long time
+filled your ears with tales tending
+to make you suspicious of your
+wife and jealous of a certain man
+whom I will not name. You knew
+that your friend had a grudge
+against this man, and so for many
+months turned a deaf ear to his
+insinuations. But finally some
+change which you detected in your
+wife’s bearing or conversation
+roused your own suspicions, and
+you began to doubt if all was false
+that came to your ears, and to curse
+your blindness, which in a measure
+rendered you helpless. The jealous
+fever grew and had risen to a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[121]</a></span>
+high point, when one night—a
+memorable night—this friend met
+you just as you were leaving town,
+and with cruel craft whispered in
+your ear that the man you hated
+was even then with your wife, and
+that if you would return at once
+to your home you would find him
+in her company.</p>
+
+<p>“The demon that lurks at the
+heart of all men, good or bad,
+thereupon took complete possession
+of you, and you answered this
+false friend by saying that you
+would not return without a pistol.
+Whereupon he offered to take you
+to his house and give you his.
+You consented, and getting rid of
+your servant by sending him to
+Poughkeepsie with your excuses,
+you entered a coach with your
+friend.</p>
+
+<p>“You say you bought the pistol,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[122]</a></span>
+and perhaps you did, but, however
+that may be, you left his house
+with it in your pocket and, declining
+companionship, walked home,
+arriving at the Colonnade a little
+before midnight.</p>
+
+<p>“Ordinarily you have no difficulty
+in recognizing your own
+doorstep. But, being in a heated
+frame of mind, you walked faster
+than usual and so passed your own
+house and stopped at that of Mr.
+Hasbrouck’s, one door beyond.
+As the entrances of these houses
+are all alike, there was but one way
+by which you could have made
+yourself sure that you had reached
+your own dwelling, and that was
+by feeling for the doctor’s sign at
+the side of the door. But you
+never thought of that. Absorbed
+in dreams of vengeance, your sole
+impulse was to enter by the quickest<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[123]</a></span>
+means possible. Taking out
+your night-key, you thrust it into
+the lock. It fitted, but it took
+strength to turn it, so much
+strength that the key was twisted
+and bent by the effort. But this
+incident, which would have attracted
+your attention at another
+time, was lost upon you at this
+moment. An entrance had been
+effected, and you were in too excited
+a frame of mind to notice at
+what cost, or to detect the small
+differences apparent in the atmosphere
+and furnishings of the two
+houses—trifles which would have
+arrested your attention under
+other circumstances, and made you
+pause before the upper floor had
+been reached.</p>
+
+<p>“It was while going up the
+stairs that you took out your pistol,
+so that by the time you arrived<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[124]</a></span>
+at the front-room door you
+held it ready cocked and drawn in
+your hand. For, being blind, you
+feared escape on the part of your
+victim, and so waited for nothing
+but the sound of a man’s voice before
+firing. When, therefore, the
+unfortunate Mr. Hasbrouck, roused
+by this sudden intrusion, advanced
+with an exclamation of astonishment,
+you pulled the trigger, killing
+him on the spot. It must have
+been immediately upon his fall
+that you recognized from some
+word he uttered, or from some
+contact you may have had with
+your surroundings, that you were
+in the wrong house and had killed
+the wrong man; for you cried out,
+in evident remorse, ‘God! what
+have I done!’ and fled without
+approaching your victim.</p>
+
+<p>“Descending the stairs, you<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[125]</a></span>
+rushed from the house, closing the
+front door behind you and regaining
+your own without being seen.
+But here you found yourself baffled
+in your attempted escape, by
+two things. First, by the pistol
+you still held in your hand, and
+secondly, by the fact that the key
+upon which you depended for entering
+your own door was so
+twisted out of shape that you knew
+it would be useless for you to attempt
+to use it. What did you do
+in this emergency? You have
+already told us, though the story
+seemed so improbable at the time,
+you found nobody to believe it
+but myself. The pistol you flung
+far away from you down the pavement,
+from which, by one of those
+rare chances which sometimes
+happen in this world, it was presently
+picked up by some late<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[126]</a></span>
+passer-by of more or less doubtful
+character. The door offered less
+of an obstacle than you anticipated;
+for when you turned to it
+again you found it, if I am not
+greatly mistaken, ajar, left so, as
+we have reason to believe, by one
+who had gone out of it but a few
+minutes before in a state which
+left him but little master of his actions.
+It was this fact which provided
+you with an answer when
+you were asked how you succeeded
+in getting into Mr. Hasbrouck’s
+house after the family had retired
+for the night.</p>
+
+<p>“Astonished at the coincidence,
+but hailing with gladness the deliverance
+which it offered, you went
+in and ascended at once into your
+wife’s presence; and it was from
+her lips, and not from those of
+Mrs. Hasbrouck, that the cry arose<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[127]</a></span>
+which startled the neighborhood
+and prepared men’s minds for the
+tragic words which were shouted
+a moment later from the next
+house.</p>
+
+<p>“But she who uttered the scream
+knew of no tragedy save that
+which was taking place in her own
+breast. She had just repulsed a
+dastardly suitor, and, seeing you
+enter so unexpectedly in a state
+of unaccountable horror and agitation,
+was naturally stricken with
+dismay, and thought she saw your
+ghost, or, what was worse, a possible
+avenger; while you, having
+failed to kill the man you sought,
+and having killed a man you esteemed,
+let no surprise on her part
+lure you into any dangerous self-betrayal.
+You strove instead to
+soothe her, and even attempted to
+explain the excitement under<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[128]</a></span>
+which you labored, by an account
+of your narrow escape at the station,
+till the sudden alarm from
+next door distracted her attention,
+and sent both your thoughts and
+hers in a different direction. Not
+till conscience had fully awakened
+and the horror of your act had had
+time to tell upon your sensitive
+nature, did you breathe forth those
+vague confessions, which, not being
+supported by the only explanations
+which would have made them
+credible, led her, as well as the police,
+to consider you affected in
+your mind. Your pride as a man,
+and your consideration for her as
+a woman, kept you silent, but did
+not keep the worm from preying
+upon your heart.</p>
+
+<p>“Am I not correct in my surmises,
+Dr. Zabriskie, and is not
+this the true explanation of your
+crime?<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[129]</a></span>”</p>
+
+<p>With a strange look, he lifted up
+his face.</p>
+
+<p>“Hush!” said he; “you will
+awaken her. See how peacefully
+she sleeps! I should not like to
+have her awakened now, she is so
+tired, and I—I have not watched
+over her as I should.”</p>
+
+<p>Appalled at his gesture, his look,
+his tone, I drew back, and for a
+few minutes no sound was to be
+heard but the steady dip-dip of the
+oars and the lap-lap of the waters
+against the boat. Then there came
+a quick uprising, the swaying before
+me of something dark and tall
+and threatening, and before I could
+speak or move, or even stretch
+forth my hands to stay him, the
+seat before me was empty and
+darkness had filled the place where
+but an instant previous he had sat,
+a fearsome figure, erect and rigid
+as a sphinx.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[130]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>What little moonlight there was
+only served to show us a few rising
+bubbles, marking the spot where
+the unfortunate man had sunk with
+his much-loved burden. We could
+not save him. As the widening
+circles fled farther and farther out,
+the tide drifted us away, and we
+lost the spot which had seen the
+termination of one of earth’s saddest
+tragedies.</p>
+
+
+<p class="mtop">The bodies were never recovered.
+The police reserved to themselves
+the right of withholding
+from the public the real facts
+which made this catastrophe an
+awful remembrance to those who
+witnessed it. A verdict of accidental
+death by drowning answered
+all purposes, and saved the
+memory of the unfortunate pair
+from such calumny as might have<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[131]</a></span>
+otherwise assailed it. It was the
+least we could do for two beings
+whom circumstances had so greatly
+afflicted.</p>
+
+<p class="center" style="padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 2em">THE END.</p>
+
+
+<div class="advertisements">
+<h2>THE INCOGNITO LIBRARY.</h2>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p>A series of small books by representative
+writers, whose names will for the present not
+be given.</p>
+
+<p>In this series will be included the authorized
+American editions of the future issues of Mr.
+Unwin’s “<span class="smcap">Pseudonym Library</span>,” which has
+won for itself a noteworthy prestige.</p>
+
+<p class="center">32mo, limp cloth, each 50 cents.</p>
+
+<p class="negin">I. <span class="smcap">The Shen’s Pigtail</span>, and Other Cues of
+Anglo-China Life, by Mr. M——.</p>
+
+<p class="negin">II. <span class="smcap">The Hon. Stanbury and Others</span>, by
+Two.</p>
+
+<p class="negin">III. <span class="smcap">Lesser’s Daughter</span>, by Mrs. Andrew
+Dean.</p>
+
+<p class="negin">IV. <span class="smcap">A Husband of No Importance</span>, by
+Rita.</p>
+
+<p class="negin">V. <span class="smcap">Helen</span>, by Oswald Valentine.</p>
+
+<p>These will be followed by volumes by other
+well-known authors.</p>
+
+
+
+<h2 class="cht"><small>WORKS BY</small><br />
+ANNA KATHARINE GREEN</h2>
+
+
+<p class="negin"><span class="smcap">The Leavenworth Case.</span> A Lawyer’s
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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Doctor, his Wife, and the Clock, by 
+Anna Katharine Green
+
+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 Doctor, his Wife, and the Clock
+
+Author: Anna Katharine Green
+
+Release Date: May 19, 2010 [EBook #32439]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DOCTOR, HIS WIFE, AND CLOCK ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Suzanne Shell, Irma Spehar and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+THE AUTONYM LIBRARY.
+
+
+Small works by representative writers, whose contributions will bear
+their signatures.
+
+    32mo, limp cloth, each 50 cents.
+
+    The Autonym Library is published in co-operation with Mr. T.
+    Fisher Unwin, of London.
+
+    I. THE UPPER BERTH, by F. Marion Crawford.
+
+    II. FOUND AND LOST, by Mary Putnam-Jacobi.
+
+    III. THE DOCTOR, HIS WIFE, AND THE CLOCK, by Anna Katharine
+         Green.
+
+    These will be followed by volumes by other well-known writers.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+              [Handwritten signature: Anna Katharine Green]
+
+
+                               THE DOCTOR
+                                HIS WIFE
+                              AND THE CLOCK
+
+                                   BY
+
+                          ANNA KATHARINE GREEN
+                          (MRS. CHARLES ROHLFS)
+
+ Author of "The Leavenworth Case," "Hand and Ring," "Marked 'Personal,'"
+                               etc., etc.
+
+
+                             [Illustration]
+
+
+                           G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS
+
+                             NEW YORK LONDON
+          27 West Twenty-third Street 24 Bedford Street, Strand
+
+                         The Knickerbocker Press
+                                  1895
+
+
+                             COPYRIGHT, 1895
+                        BY ANNA KATHARINE ROHLFS
+                           All rights reserved
+
+
+                   Electrotyped, Printed and Bound by
+                    The Knickerbocker Press, New York
+                           G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS
+
+
+
+
+                        THE DOCTOR, HIS WIFE, AND
+                                THE CLOCK
+
+
+
+
+_The Doctor, his Wife, and the Clock._
+
+I.
+
+
+On the 17th of July, 1851, a tragedy of no little interest occurred in
+one of the residences of the Colonnade in Lafayette Place.
+
+Mr. Hasbrouck, a well-known and highly respected citizen, was attacked
+in his room by an unknown assailant, and shot dead before assistance
+could reach him. His murderer escaped, and the problem offered to the
+police was, how to identify this person who, by some happy chance or by
+the exercise of the most remarkable forethought, had left no traces
+behind him, or any clue by which he could be followed.
+
+The affair was given to a young man, named Ebenezer Gryce, to
+investigate, and the story, as he tells it, is this:
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+When, some time after midnight, I reached Lafayette Place, I found the
+block lighted from end to end. Groups of excited men and women peered
+from the open doorways, and mingled their shadows with those of the huge
+pillars which adorn the front of this picturesque block of dwellings.
+
+The house in which the crime had been committed was near the centre of
+the row, and, long before I reached it, I had learned from more than
+one source that the alarm was first given to the street by a woman's
+shriek, and secondly by the shouts of an old man-servant who had
+appeared, in a half-dressed condition, at the window of Mr. Hasbrouck's
+room, crying "Murder! murder!"
+
+But when I had crossed the threshold, I was astonished at the paucity of
+the facts to be gleaned from the inmates themselves. The old servitor,
+who was the first to talk, had only this account of the crime to give.
+
+The family, which consisted of Mr. Hasbrouck, his wife, and three
+servants, had retired for the night at the usual hour and under the
+usual auspices. At eleven o'clock the lights were all extinguished, and
+the whole household asleep, with the possible exception of Mr.
+Hasbrouck himself, who, being a man of large business responsibilities,
+was frequently troubled with insomnia.
+
+Suddenly Mrs. Hasbrouck woke with a start. Had she dreamed the words
+that were ringing in her ears, or had they been actually uttered in her
+hearing? They were short, sharp words, full of terror and menace, and
+she had nearly satisfied herself that she had imagined them, when there
+came, from somewhere near the door, a sound she neither understood nor
+could interpret, but which filled her with inexplicable terror, and made
+her afraid to breathe, or even to stretch forth her hand towards her
+husband, whom she supposed to be sleeping at her side. At length another
+strange sound, which she was sure was not due to her imagination, drove
+her to make an attempt to rouse him, when she was horrified to find that
+she was alone in the bed, and her husband nowhere within reach.
+
+Filled now with something more than nervous apprehension, she flung
+herself to the floor, and tried to penetrate, with frenzied glances, the
+surrounding darkness. But the blinds and shutters both having been
+carefully closed by Mr. Hasbrouck before retiring, she found this
+impossible, and she was about to sink in terror to the floor, when she
+heard a low gasp on the other side of the room, followed by the
+suppressed cry:
+
+"God! what have I done!"
+
+The voice was a strange one, but before the fear aroused by this fact
+could culminate in a shriek of dismay, she caught the sound of
+retreating footsteps, and, eagerly listening, she heard them descend the
+stairs and depart by the front door.
+
+Had she known what had occurred--had there been no doubt in her mind as
+to what lay in the darkness on the other side of the room--it is likely
+that, at the noise caused by the closing front door, she would have made
+at once for the balcony that opened out from the window before which she
+was standing, and taken one look at the flying figure below. But her
+uncertainty as to what lay hidden from her by the darkness chained her
+feet to the floor, and there is no knowing when she would have moved, if
+a carriage had not at that moment passed down Astor Place, bringing with
+it a sense of companionship which broke the spell that held her, and
+gave her strength to light the gas, which was in ready reach of her
+hand.
+
+As the sudden blaze illuminated the room, revealing in a burst the old
+familiar walls and well-known pieces of furniture, she felt for a moment
+as if released from some heavy nightmare and restored to the common
+experiences of life. But in another instant her former dread returned,
+and she found herself quaking at the prospect of passing around the foot
+of the bed into that part of the room which was as yet hidden from her
+eyes.
+
+But the desperation which comes with great crises finally drove her from
+her retreat; and, creeping slowly forward, she cast one glance at the
+floor before her, when she found her worst fears realized by the sight
+of the dead body of her husband lying prone before the open doorway,
+with a bullet-hole in his forehead.
+
+Her first impulse was to shriek, but, by a powerful exercise of will,
+she checked herself, and, ringing frantically for the servants who slept
+on the top-floor of the house, flew to the nearest window and endeavored
+to open it. But the shutters had been bolted so securely by Mr.
+Hasbrouck, in his endeavor to shut out light and sound, that by the time
+she had succeeded in unfastening them, all trace of the flying murderer
+had vanished from the street.
+
+Sick with grief and terror, she stepped back into the room just as the
+three frightened servants descended the stairs. As they appeared in the
+open doorway, she pointed at her husband's inanimate form, and then, as
+if suddenly realizing in its full force the calamity which had befallen
+her, she threw up her arms, and sank forward to the floor in a dead
+faint.
+
+The two women rushed to her assistance, but the old butler, bounding
+over the bed, sprang to the window, and shrieked his alarm to the
+street.
+
+In the interim that followed, Mrs. Hasbrouck was revived, and the
+master's body laid decently on the bed; but no pursuit was made, nor any
+inquiries started likely to assist me in establishing the identity of
+the assailant.
+
+Indeed, every one, both in the house and out, seemed dazed by the
+unexpected catastrophe, and as no one had any suspicions to offer as to
+the probable murderer, I had a difficult task before me.
+
+I began, in the usual way, by inspecting the scene of the murder. I
+found nothing in the room, or in the condition of the body itself, which
+added an iota to the knowledge already obtained. That Mr. Hasbrouck had
+been in bed; that he had risen upon hearing a noise; and that he had
+been shot before reaching the door, were self-evident facts. But there
+was nothing to guide me further. The very simplicity of the
+circumstances caused a dearth of clues, which made the difficulty of
+procedure as great as any I ever encountered.
+
+My search through the hall and down the stairs elicited nothing; and an
+investigation of the bolts and bars by which the house was secured,
+assured me that the assassin had either entered by the front door, or
+had already been secreted in the house when it was locked up for the
+night.
+
+"I shall have to trouble Mrs. Hasbrouck for a short interview," I
+hereupon announced to the trembling old servitor, who had followed me
+like a dog about the house.
+
+He made no demur, and in a few minutes I was ushered into the presence
+of the newly made widow, who sat quite alone, in a large chamber in the
+rear. As I crossed the threshold she looked up, and I encountered a good
+plain face, without the shadow of guile in it.
+
+"Madam," said I, "I have not come to disturb you. I will ask two or
+three questions only, and then leave you to your grief. I am told that
+some words came from the assassin before he delivered his fatal shot.
+Did you hear these distinctly enough to tell me what they were?"
+
+"I was sound asleep," said she, "and dreamt, as I thought, that a
+fierce, strange voice cried somewhere to some one: 'Ah! you did not
+expect _me_!' But I dare not say that these words were really uttered to
+my husband, for he was not the man to call forth hate, and only a man in
+the extremity of passion could address such an exclamation in such a
+tone as rings in my memory in connection with the fatal shot which woke
+me."
+
+"But that shot was not the work of a friend," I argued. "If, as these
+words seem to prove, the assassin had some other motive than gain in his
+assault, then your husband had an enemy, though you never suspected it."
+
+"Impossible!" was her steady reply, uttered in the most convincing tone.
+"The man who shot him was a common burglar, and, frightened at having
+been betrayed into murder, fled without looking for booty. I am sure I
+heard him cry out in terror and remorse: 'God! what have I done!'"
+
+"Was that before you left the side of the bed?"
+
+"Yes; I did not move from my place till I heard the front door close. I
+was paralyzed by my fear and dread."
+
+"Are you in the habit of trusting to the security of a latch-lock only
+in the fastening of your front door at night? I am told that the big key
+was not in the lock, and that the bolt at the bottom of the door was not
+drawn."
+
+"The bolt at the bottom of the door is never drawn. Mr. Hasbrouck was so
+good a man he never mistrusted any one. That is why the big lock was not
+fastened. The key, not working well, he took it some days ago to the
+locksmith, and when the latter failed to return it, he laughed, and said
+he thought no one would ever think of meddling with his front door."
+
+"Is there more than one night-key to your house?" I now asked.
+
+She shook her head.
+
+"And when did Mr. Hasbrouck last use his?"
+
+"To-night, when he came home from prayer-meeting," she answered, and
+burst into tears.
+
+Her grief was so real and her loss so recent that I hesitated to afflict
+her by further questions. So returning to the scene of the tragedy, I
+stepped out upon the balcony which ran in front. Soft voices instantly
+struck my ears. The neighbors on either side were grouped in front of
+their own windows, and were exchanging the remarks natural under the
+circumstances. I paused, as in duty bound, and listened. But I heard
+nothing worth recording, and would have instantly re-entered the house,
+if I had not been impressed by the appearance of a very graceful woman
+who stood at my right. She was clinging to her husband, who was gazing
+at one of the pillars before him in a strange, fixed way which
+astonished me till he attempted to move, and then I saw that he was
+blind. Instantly I remembered that there lived in this row a blind
+doctor, equally celebrated for his skill and for his uncommon personal
+attractions, and, greatly interested not only in his affliction, but in
+the sympathy evinced for him by his young and affectionate wife, I stood
+still till I heard her say in the soft and appealing tones of love:
+
+"Come in, Constant; you have heavy duties for to-morrow, and you should
+get a few hours' rest, if possible."
+
+He came from the shadow of the pillar, and for one minute I saw his face
+with the lamplight shining full upon it. It was as regular of feature as
+a sculptured Adonis, and it was as white.
+
+"Sleep!" he repeated, in the measured tones of deep but suppressed
+feeling. "Sleep! with murder on the other side of the wall!" And he
+stretched out his arms in a dazed way that insensibly accentuated the
+horror I myself felt of the crime which had so lately taken place in the
+room behind me.
+
+She, noting the movement, took one of the groping hands in her own and
+drew him gently towards her.
+
+"This way," she urged; and, guiding him into the house, she closed the
+window and drew down the shades, making the street seem darker by the
+loss of her exquisite presence.
+
+This may seem a digression, but I was at the time a young man of thirty,
+and much under the dominion of woman's beauty. I was therefore slow in
+leaving the balcony, and persistent in my wish to learn something of
+this remarkable couple before leaving Mr. Hasbrouck's house.
+
+The story told me was very simple. Dr. Zabriskie had not been born
+blind, but had become so after a grievous illness which had stricken him
+down soon after he received his diploma. Instead of succumbing to an
+affliction which would have daunted most men, he expressed his intention
+of practising his profession, and soon became so successful in it that
+he found no difficulty in establishing himself in one of the best-paying
+quarters of the city. Indeed, his intuition seemed to have developed in
+a remarkable degree after his loss of sight, and he seldom, if ever,
+made a mistake in diagnosis. Considering this fact, and the personal
+attractions which gave him distinction, it was no wonder that he soon
+became a popular physician whose presence was a benefaction and whose
+word a law.
+
+He had been engaged to be married at the time of his illness, and, when
+he learned what was likely to be its results, had offered to release the
+young lady from all obligation to him. But she would not be released,
+and they were married. This had taken place some five years previous to
+Mr. Hasbrouck's death, three of which had been spent by them in
+Lafayette Place.
+
+So much for the beautiful woman next door.
+
+There being absolutely no clue to the assailant of Mr. Hasbrouck, I
+naturally looked forward to the inquest for some evidence upon which to
+work. But there seemed to be no underlying facts to this tragedy. The
+most careful study into the habits and conduct of the deceased brought
+nothing to light save his general beneficence and rectitude, nor was
+there in his history or in that of his wife any secret or hidden
+obligation calculated to provoke any such act of revenge as murder. Mrs.
+Hasbrouck's surmise that the intruder was simply a burglar, and that she
+had rather imagined than heard the words that pointed to the shooting as
+a deed of vengeance, soon gained general credence. But, though the
+police worked long and arduously in this new direction, their efforts
+were without fruit, and the case bade fair to remain an unsolvable
+mystery.
+
+But the deeper the mystery the more persistently does my mind cling to
+it, and some five months after the matter had been delegated to
+oblivion, I found myself starting suddenly from sleep, with these words
+ringing in my ears:
+
+"_Who uttered the scream that gave the first alarm of Mr. Hasbrouck's
+violent death?_"
+
+I was in such a state of excitement that the perspiration stood out on
+my forehead. Mrs. Hasbrouck's story of the occurrence returned to me,
+and I remembered as distinctly as if she were then speaking, that she
+had expressly stated that she did not scream when confronted by the
+sight of her husband's dead body. But some one had screamed, and that
+very loudly. Who was it, then? One of the maids, startled by the sudden
+summons from below, or some one else--some involuntary witness of the
+crime, whose testimony had been suppressed at the inquest, by fear or
+influence?
+
+The possibility of having come upon a clue even at this late day, so
+fired my ambition, that I took the first opportunity of revisiting
+Lafayette Place. Choosing such persons as I thought most open to my
+questions, I learned that there were many who could testify to having
+heard a woman's shrill scream on that memorable night just prior to the
+alarm given by old Cyrus, but no one who could tell from whose lips it
+had come. One fact, however, was immediately settled. It had not been
+the result of the servant-women's fears. Both of the girls were positive
+that they had uttered no sound, nor had they themselves heard any, till
+Cyrus rushed to the window with his wild cries. As the scream, by
+whomever given, was uttered before they descended the stairs, I was
+convinced by these assurances that it had issued from one of the front
+windows, and not from the rear of the house, where their own rooms lay.
+Could it be that it had sprung from the adjoining dwelling, and that----
+My thoughts went no further, but I made up my mind to visit the Doctor's
+house at once.
+
+It took some courage to do this, for the Doctor's wife had attended the
+inquest, and her beauty, seen in broad daylight, had worn such an aspect
+of mingled sweetness and dignity, that I hesitated to encounter it under
+any circumstances likely to disturb its pure serenity. But a clue, once
+grasped, cannot be lightly set aside by a true detective, and it would
+have taken more than a woman's frown to stop me at this point. So I rang
+Dr. Zabriskie's bell.
+
+I am seventy years old now and am no longer daunted by the charms of a
+beautiful woman, but I confess that when I found myself in the fine
+reception parlor on the first-floor, I experienced no little trepidation
+at the prospect of the interview which awaited me.
+
+But as soon as the fine commanding form of the Doctor's wife crossed the
+threshold, I recovered my senses and surveyed her with as direct a gaze
+as my position allowed. For her aspect bespoke a degree of emotion that
+astonished me; and even before I spoke I perceived her to be trembling,
+though she was a woman of no little natural dignity and self-possession.
+
+"I seem to know your face," she said, advancing courteously towards me,
+"but your name"--and here she glanced at the card she held in her
+hand--"is totally unfamiliar to me."
+
+"I think you saw me some eighteen months ago," said I. "I am the
+detective who gave testimony at the inquest which was held over the
+remains of Mr. Hasbrouck."
+
+I had not meant to startle her, but at this introduction of myself I saw
+her naturally pale cheek turn paler, and her fine eyes, which had been
+fixed curiously upon me, gradually sink to the floor.
+
+"Great heaven!" thought I, "what is this I have stumbled upon!"
+
+"I do not understand what business you can have with me," she presently
+remarked, with a show of gentle indifference that did not in the least
+deceive me.
+
+"I do not wonder," I rejoined. "The crime which took place next door is
+almost forgotten by the community, and even if it were not, I am sure
+you would find it difficult to conjecture the nature of the question I
+have to put to you."
+
+"I am surprised," she began, rising in her involuntary emotion and
+thereby compelling me to rise also. "How can you have any question to
+ask me on this subject? Yet if you have," she continued, with a rapid
+change of manner that touched my heart in spite of myself, "I shall, of
+course, do my best to answer you."
+
+There are women whose sweetest tones and most charming smiles only serve
+to awaken distrust in men of my calling; but Mrs. Zabriskie was not of
+this number. Her face was beautiful, but it was also candid in its
+expression, and beneath the agitation which palpably disturbed her, I
+was sure there lurked nothing either wicked or false. Yet I held fast by
+the clue which I had grasped, as it were, in the dark, and without
+knowing whither I was tending, much less whither I was leading her, I
+proceeded to say:
+
+"The question which I presume to put to you as the next-door neighbor of
+Mr. Hasbrouck, is this: Who was the woman who screamed out so loudly
+that the whole neighborhood heard her on the night of that gentleman's
+assassination?"
+
+The gasp she gave answered my question in a way she little realized,
+and, struck as I was by the impalpable links that had led me to the
+threshold of this hitherto unsolvable mystery, I was about to press my
+advantage and ask another question, when she quickly started forward and
+laid her hand on my lips.
+
+Astonished, I looked at her inquiringly, but her head was turned aside,
+and her eyes, fixed upon the door, showed the greatest anxiety.
+Instantly I realized what she feared. Her husband was entering the
+house, and she dreaded lest his ears should catch a word of our
+conversation.
+
+Not knowing what was in her mind, and unable to realize the importance
+of the moment to her, I yet listened to the advance of her blind
+husband with an almost painful interest. Would he enter the room where
+we were, or would he pass immediately to his office in the rear? She
+seemed to wonder too, and almost held her breath as he neared the door,
+paused, and stood in the open doorway, with his ear turned towards us.
+
+As for myself, I remained perfectly still, gazing at his face in mingled
+surprise and apprehension. For besides its beauty, which was of a marked
+order, as I have already observed, it had a touching expression which
+irresistibly aroused both pity and interest in the spectator. This may
+have been the result of his affliction, or it may have sprung from some
+deeper cause; but, whatever its source, this look in his face produced a
+strong impression upon me and interested me at once in his personality.
+Would he enter? Or would he pass on? Her look of silent appeal showed me
+in which direction her wishes lay, but while I answered her glance by
+complete silence, I was conscious in some indistinct way that the
+business I had undertaken would be better furthered by his entrance.
+
+The blind have been often said to possess a sixth sense in place of the
+one they have lost. Though I am sure we made no noise, I soon perceived
+that he was aware of our presence. Stepping hastily forward he said, in
+the high and vibrating tone of restrained passion:
+
+"Helen, are you here?"
+
+For a moment I thought she did not mean to answer, but knowing
+doubtless from experience the impossibility of deceiving him, she
+answered with a cheerful assent, dropping her hand as she did so from
+before my lips.
+
+He heard the slight rustle which accompanied the movement, and a look I
+found it hard to comprehend flashed over his features, altering his
+expression so completely that he seemed another man.
+
+"You have some one with you," he declared, advancing another step but
+with none of the uncertainty which usually accompanies the movements of
+the blind. "Some dear friend," he went on, with an almost sarcastic
+emphasis and a forced smile that had little of gaiety in it.
+
+The agitated and distressed blush which answered him could have but one
+interpretation. He suspected that her hand had been clasped in mine, and
+she perceived his thought and knew that I perceived it also.
+
+Drawing herself up, she moved towards him, saying in a sweet womanly
+tone that to me spoke volumes:
+
+"It is no friend, Constant, not even an acquaintance. The person whom I
+now present to you is an agent from the police. He is here upon a
+trivial errand which will be soon finished, when I will join you in your
+office."
+
+I knew she was but taking a choice between two evils. That she would
+have saved her husband the knowledge of a detective's presence in the
+house, if her self-respect would have allowed it, but neither she nor I
+anticipated the effect which this presentation produced upon him.
+
+"A police officer," he repeated, staring with his sightless eyes, as if,
+in his eagerness to see, he half hoped his lost sense would return. "He
+can have no trivial errand here; he has been sent by God Himself to----"
+
+"Let me speak for you," hastily interposed his wife, springing to his
+side and clasping his arm with a fervor that was equally expressive of
+appeal and command. Then turning to me, she explained: "Since Mr.
+Hasbrouck's unaccountable death, my husband has been laboring under an
+hallucination which I have only to mention for you to recognize its
+perfect absurdity. He thinks--oh! do not look like that, Constant; you
+know it is an hallucination which must vanish the moment we drag it
+into broad daylight--that he--_he_, the best man in all the world, was
+himself the assailant of Mr. Hasbrouck."
+
+Good God!
+
+"I say nothing of the impossibility of this being so," she went on in a
+fever of expostulation. "He is blind, and could not have delivered such
+a shot even if he had desired to; besides, he had no weapon. But the
+inconsistency of the thing speaks for itself, and should assure him that
+his mind is unbalanced and that he is merely suffering from a shock that
+was greater than we realized. He is a physician and has had many such
+instances in his own practice. Why, he was very much attached to Mr.
+Hasbrouck! They were the best of friends, and though he insists that he
+killed him, he cannot give any reason for the deed."
+
+At these words the Doctor's face grew stern, and he spoke like an
+automaton repeating some fearful lesson.
+
+"I killed him. I went to his room and deliberately shot him. I had
+nothing against him, and my remorse is extreme. Arrest me, and let me
+pay the penalty of my crime. It is the only way in which I can obtain
+peace."
+
+Shocked beyond all power of self-control by this repetition of what she
+evidently considered the unhappy ravings of a madman, she let go his arm
+and turned upon me in frenzy.
+
+"Convince him!" she cried. "Convince him by your questions that he never
+could have done this fearful thing."
+
+I was laboring under great excitement myself, for I felt my youth
+against me in a matter of such tragic consequence. Besides, I agreed
+with her that he was in a distempered state of mind, and I hardly knew
+how to deal with one so fixed in his hallucination and with so much
+intelligence to support it. But the emergency was great, for he was
+holding out his wrists in the evident expectation of my taking him into
+instant custody; and the sight was killing his wife, who had sunk on the
+floor between us, in terror and anguish.
+
+"You say you killed Mr. Hasbrouck," I began. "Where did you get your
+pistol, and what did you do with it after you left his house?"
+
+"My husband had no pistol; never had any pistol," put in Mrs.
+Zabriskie, with vehement assertion. "If I had seen him with such a
+weapon----"
+
+"I threw it away. When I left the house, I cast it as far from me as
+possible, for I was frightened at what I had done, horribly frightened."
+
+"No pistol was ever found," I answered, with a smile, forgetting for the
+moment that he could not see. "If such an instrument had been found in
+the street after a murder of such consequence it certainly would have
+been brought to the police."
+
+"You forget that a good pistol is valuable property," he went on
+stolidly. "Some one came along before the general alarm was given; and
+seeing such a treasure lying on the sidewalk, picked it up and carried
+it off. Not being an honest man, he preferred to keep it to drawing the
+attention of the police upon himself."
+
+"Hum, perhaps," said I; "but where did _you_ get it. Surely you can tell
+where you procured such a weapon, if, as your wife intimates, you did
+not own one."
+
+"I bought it that self-same night of a friend; a friend whom I will not
+name, since he resides no longer in this country. I----" He paused;
+intense passion was in his face; he turned towards his wife, and a low
+cry escaped him, which made her look up in fear.
+
+"I do not wish to go into any particulars," said he. "God forsook me and
+I committed a horrible crime. When I am punished, perhaps peace will
+return to me and happiness to her. I would not wish her to suffer too
+long or too bitterly for my sin."
+
+"Constant!" What love was in the cry! and what despair! It seemed to
+move him and turn his thoughts for a moment into a different channel.
+
+"Poor child!" he murmured, stretching out his hands by an irresistible
+impulse towards her. But the change was but momentary, and he was soon
+again the stern and determined self-accuser. "Are you going to take me
+before a magistrate?" he asked. "If so, I have a few duties to perform
+which you are welcome to witness."
+
+"I have no warrant," I said; "besides, I am scarcely the one to take
+such a responsibility upon myself. If, however, you persist in your
+declaration, I will communicate with my superiors, who will take such
+action as they think best."
+
+"That will be still more satisfactory to me," said he; "for though I
+have many times contemplated giving myself up to the authorities, I have
+still much to do before I can leave my home and practice without injury
+to others. Good-day; when you want me, you will find me here."
+
+He was gone, and the poor young wife was left crouching on the floor
+alone. Pitying her shame and terror, I ventured to remark that it was
+not an uncommon thing for a man to confess to a crime he had never
+committed, and assured her that the matter would be inquired into very
+carefully before any attempt was made upon his liberty.
+
+She thanked me, and, slowly rising, tried to regain her equanimity; but
+the manner as well as the matter of her husband's self-condemnation was
+too overwhelming in its nature for her to recover readily from her
+emotions.
+
+"I have long dreaded this," she acknowledged. "For months I have
+foreseen that he would make some rash communication or insane avowal. If
+I had dared, I would have consulted some physician about this
+hallucination of his; but he was so sane on other points that I
+hesitated to give my dreadful secret to the world. I kept hoping that
+time and his daily pursuits would have their effect and restore him to
+himself. But his illusion grows, and now I fear that nothing will ever
+convince him that he did not commit the deed of which he accuses
+himself. If he were not blind I would have more hope, but the blind have
+so much time for brooding."
+
+"I think he had better be indulged in his fancies for the present," I
+ventured. "If he is laboring under an illusion it might be dangerous to
+cross him."
+
+"_If?_" she echoed in an indescribable tone of amazement and dread. "Can
+you for a moment harbor the idea that he has spoken the truth?"
+
+"Madam," I returned, with something of the cynicism of my later years,
+"what caused you to give such an unearthly scream just before this
+murder was made known to the neighborhood?"
+
+She stared, paled, and finally began to tremble, not, as I now believe,
+at the insinuation latent in my words, but at the doubts which my
+question aroused in her own breast.
+
+"Did I?" she asked; then with a great burst of candor, which seemed
+inseparable from her nature, she continued: "Why do I try to mislead you
+or deceive myself? I did give a shriek just before the alarm was raised
+next door; but it was not from any knowledge I had of a crime having
+been committed, but because I unexpectedly saw before me my husband whom
+I supposed to be on his way to Poughkeepsie. He was looking very pale
+and strange, and for a moment I thought I was beholding his ghost. But
+he soon explained his appearance by saying that he had fallen from the
+train and had been only saved by a miracle from being dismembered; and
+I was just bemoaning his mishap and trying to calm him and myself, when
+that terrible shout was heard next door of 'Murder! murder!' Coming so
+soon after the shock he had himself experienced, it quite unnerved him,
+and I think we can date his mental disturbance from that moment. For he
+began almost immediately to take a morbid interest in the affair next
+door, though it was weeks, if not months, before he let a word fall of
+the nature of those you have just heard. Indeed it was not till I
+repeated to him some of the expressions he was continually letting fall
+in his sleep, that he commenced to accuse himself of crime and talk of
+retribution."
+
+"You say that your husband frightened you on that night by appearing
+suddenly at the door when you thought him on his way to Poughkeepsie. Is
+Dr. Zabriskie in the habit of thus going and coming alone at an hour so
+late as this must have been?"
+
+"You forget that to the blind, night is less full of perils than the
+day. Often and often has my husband found his way to his patients'
+houses alone after midnight; but on this especial evening he had Harry
+with him. Harry was his driver, and always accompanied him when he went
+any distance."
+
+"Well, then," said I, "all we have to do is to summon Harry and hear
+what he has to say concerning this affair. He surely will know whether
+or not his master went into the house next door."
+
+"Harry has left us," she said. "Dr. Zabriskie has another driver now.
+Besides--(I have nothing to conceal from you)--Harry was not with him when
+he returned to the house that evening, or the Doctor would not have been
+without his portmanteau till the next day. Something--I have never known
+what--caused them to separate, and that is why I have no answer to give
+the Doctor when he accuses himself of committing a deed on that night
+which is wholly out of keeping with every other act of his life."
+
+"And have you never questioned Harry why they separated and why he
+allowed his master to come home alone after the shock he had received at
+the station?"
+
+"I did not know there was any reason for doing so till long after he
+left us."
+
+"And when did he leave?"
+
+"That I do not remember. A few weeks or possibly a few days after that
+dreadful night."
+
+"And where is he now?"
+
+"Ah, that I have not the least means of knowing. But," she suddenly
+cried, "what do you want of Harry? If he did not follow Dr. Zabriskie to
+his own door, he could tell us nothing that would convince my husband
+that he is laboring under an illusion."
+
+"But he might tell us something which would convince us that Dr.
+Zabriskie was not himself after the accident, that he----"
+
+"Hush!" came from her lips in imperious tones. "I will not believe that
+he shot Mr. Hasbrouck even if you prove him to have been insane at the
+time. How could he? My husband is blind. It would take a man of very
+keen sight to force himself into a house that was closed for the night,
+and kill a man in the dark at one shot."
+
+"Rather," cried a voice from the doorway, "it is only a blind man who
+could do this. Those who trust to eyesight must be able to catch some
+glimpse of the mark they aim at, and this room, as I have been told, was
+without a glimmer of light. But the blind trust to sound, and as Mr.
+Hasbrouck spoke----"
+
+"Oh!" burst from the horrified wife, "is there no one to stop him when
+he speaks like that?"
+
+
+
+
+II.
+
+
+When I related to my superiors the details of the foregoing interview,
+two of them coincided with the wife in thinking that Dr. Zabriskie was
+in an irresponsible condition of mind which made any statement of his
+questionable. But the third seemed disposed to argue the matter, and,
+casting me an inquiring look, seemed to ask what my opinion was on the
+subject. Answering him as if he had spoken, I gave my conclusion as
+follows: That whether insane or not, Dr. Zabriskie had fired the shot
+which terminated Mr. Hasbrouck's life.
+
+It was the Inspector's own idea, but it was not shared in by the others,
+one of whom had known the Doctor for years. Accordingly they compromised
+by postponing all opinion till they had themselves interrogated the
+Doctor, and I was detailed to bring him before them the next afternoon.
+
+He came without reluctance, his wife accompanying him. In the short time
+which elapsed between their leaving Lafayette Place and entering
+Headquarters, I embraced the opportunity of observing them, and I found
+the study equally exciting and interesting. His face was calm but
+hopeless, and his eye, which should have shown a wild glimmer if there
+was truth in his wife's hypothesis, was dark and unfathomable, but
+neither frenzied nor uncertain. He spake but once and listened to
+nothing, though now and then his wife moved as if to attract his
+attention, and once even stole her hand toward his, in the tender hope
+that he would feel its approach and accept her sympathy. But he was deaf
+as well as blind; and sat wrapped up in thoughts which she, I know,
+would have given worlds to penetrate.
+
+Her countenance was not without its mystery also. She showed in every
+lineament passionate concern and misery, and a deep tenderness from
+which the element of fear was not absent. But she, as well as he,
+betrayed that some misunderstanding, deeper than any I had previously
+suspected, drew its intangible veil between them and made the near
+proximity in which they sat, at once a heart-piercing delight and an
+unspeakable pain. What was this misunderstanding? and what was the
+character of the fear that modified her every look of love in his
+direction? Her perfect indifference to my presence proved that it was
+not connected with the position in which he had put himself towards the
+police by his voluntary confession of crime, nor could I thus interpret
+the expression of frantic question which now and then contracted her
+features, as she raised her eyes towards his sightless orbs, and strove
+to read, in his firm-set lips, the meaning of those assertions she could
+only ascribe to a loss of reason.
+
+The stopping of the carriage seemed to awaken both from thoughts that
+separated rather than united them. He turned his face in her direction,
+and she, stretching forth her hand, prepared to lead him from the
+carriage, without any of that display of timidity which had been
+previously evident in her manner.
+
+As his guide she seemed to fear nothing; as his lover, everything.
+
+"There is another and a deeper tragedy underlying the outward and
+obvious one," was my inward conclusion, as I followed them into the
+presence of the gentlemen awaiting them.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Dr. Zabriskie's appearance was a shock to those who knew him; so was his
+manner, which was calm, straightforward, and quietly determined.
+
+"I shot Mr. Hasbrouck," was his steady affirmation, given without any
+show of frenzy or desperation. "If you ask me why I did it, I cannot
+answer; if you ask me how, I am ready to state all that I know
+concerning the matter."
+
+"But, Dr. Zabriskie," interposed his friend, "the why is the most
+important thing for us to consider just now. If you really desire to
+convince us that you committed the dreadful crime of killing a totally
+inoffensive man, you should give us some reason for an act so opposed to
+all your instincts and general conduct."
+
+But the Doctor continued unmoved:
+
+"I had no reason for murdering Mr. Hasbrouck. A hundred questions can
+elicit no other reply; you had better keep to the how."
+
+A deep-drawn breath from the wife answered the looks of the three
+gentlemen to whom this suggestion was offered. "You see," that breath
+seemed to protest, "that he is not in his right mind."
+
+I began to waver in my own opinion, and yet the intuition which has
+served me in cases as seemingly impenetrable as this, bade me beware of
+following the general judgment.
+
+"Ask him to inform you how he got into the house," I whispered to
+Inspector D----, who sat nearest me.
+
+Immediately the Inspector put the question I had suggested:
+
+"By what means did you enter Mr. Hasbrouck's house at so late an hour as
+this murder occurred?"
+
+The blind doctor's head fell forward on his breast, and he hesitated for
+the first and only time.
+
+"You will not believe me," said he; "but the door was ajar when I came
+to it. Such things make crime easy; it is the only excuse I have to
+offer for this dreadful deed."
+
+The front door of a respectable citizen's house ajar at half-past eleven
+at night. It was a statement that fixed in all minds the conviction of
+the speaker's irresponsibility. Mrs. Zabriskie's brow cleared, and her
+beauty became for a moment dazzling as she held out her hands in
+irrepressible relief towards those who were interrogating her husband. I
+alone kept my impassibility. A possible explanation of this crime had
+flashed like lightning across my mind; an explanation from which I
+inwardly recoiled, even while I was forced to consider it.
+
+"Dr. Zabriskie," remarked the Inspector who was most friendly to him,
+"such old servants as those kept by Mr. Hasbrouck do not leave the front
+door ajar at twelve o'clock at night."
+
+"Yet ajar it was," repeated the blind doctor, with quiet emphasis; "and
+finding it so, I went in. When I came out again, I closed it. Do you
+wish me to swear to what I say? If so, I am ready."
+
+What could we reply? To see this splendid-looking man, hallowed by an
+affliction so great that in itself it called forth the compassion of the
+most indifferent, accusing himself of a cold-blooded crime, in tones
+that sounded dispassionate because of the will that forced their
+utterance, was too painful in itself for us to indulge in any
+unnecessary words. Compassion took the place of curiosity, and each and
+all of us turned involuntary looks of pity upon the young wife pressing
+so eagerly to his side.
+
+"For a blind man," ventured one, "the assault was both deft and certain.
+Are you accustomed to Mr. Hasbrouck's house, that you found your way
+with so little difficulty to his bedroom?"
+
+"I am accustomed----" he began.
+
+But here his wife broke in with irrepressible passion:
+
+"He is not accustomed to that house. He has never been beyond the
+first-floor. Why, why do you question him? Do you not see----"
+
+His hand was on her lips.
+
+"Hush!" he commanded. "You know my skill in moving about a house; how I
+sometimes deceive those who do not know me into believing that I can
+see, by the readiness with which I avoid obstacles and find my way even
+in strange and untried scenes. Do not try to make them think I am not in
+my right mind, or you will drive me into the very condition you
+deprecate."
+
+His face, rigid, cold, and set, looked like that of a mask. Hers, drawn
+with horror and filled with question that was fast taking the form of
+doubt, bespoke an awful tragedy from which more that one of us recoiled.
+
+"Can you shoot a man dead without seeing him?" asked the Superintendent,
+with painful effort.
+
+"Give me a pistol and I will show you," was the quick reply.
+
+A low cry came from the wife. In a drawer near to every one of us there
+lay a pistol, but no one moved to take it out. There was a look in the
+Doctor's eye which made us fear to trust him with a pistol just then.
+
+"We will accept your assurance that you possess a skill beyond that of
+most men," returned the Superintendent. And beckoning me forward, he
+whispered: "This is a case for the doctors and not for the police.
+Remove him quietly, and notify Dr. Southyard of what I say."
+
+But Dr. Zabriskie, who seemed to have an almost supernatural acuteness
+of hearing, gave a violent start at this and spoke up for the first time
+with real passion in his voice:
+
+"No, no, I pray you. I can bear anything but that. Remember, gentlemen,
+that I am blind; that I cannot see who is about me; that my life would
+be a torture if I felt myself surrounded by spies watching to catch some
+evidence of madness in me. Rather conviction at once, death, dishonor,
+and obloquy. These I have incurred. These I have brought upon myself by
+crime, but not this worse fate--oh! not this worse fate."
+
+His passion was so intense and yet so confined within the bounds of
+decorum, that we felt strangely impressed by it. Only the wife stood
+transfixed, with the dread growing in her heart, till her white, waxen
+visage seemed even more terrible to contemplate than his
+passion-distorted one.
+
+"It is not strange that my wife thinks me demented," the Doctor
+continued, as if afraid of the silence that answered him. "But it is
+your business to discriminate, and you should know a sane man when you
+see him."
+
+Inspector D---- no longer hesitated.
+
+"Very well," said he, "give us the least proof that your assertions are
+true, and we will lay your case before the prosecuting attorney."
+
+"Proof? Is not a man's word----"
+
+"No man's confession is worth much without some evidence to support it.
+In your case there is none. You cannot even produce the pistol with
+which you assert yourself to have committed the deed."
+
+"True, true. I was frightened by what I had done, and the instinct of
+self-preservation led me to rid myself of the weapon in any way I could.
+But some one found this pistol; some one picked it up from the sidewalk
+of Lafayette Place on that fatal night. Advertise for it. Offer a
+reward. I will give you the money." Suddenly he appeared to realize how
+all this sounded. "Alas!" cried he, "I know the story seems improbable;
+all I say seems improbable; but it is not the probable things that
+happen in this life, but the improbable, as you should know, who every
+day dig deep into the heart of human affairs."
+
+Were these the ravings of insanity? I began to understand the wife's
+terror.
+
+"I bought the pistol," he went on, "of--alas! I cannot tell you his name.
+Everything is against me. I cannot adduce one proof; yet she, even she,
+is beginning to fear that my story is true. I know it by her silence, a
+silence that yawns between us like a deep and unfathomable gulf."
+
+But at these words her voice rang out with passionate vehemence.
+
+"No, no, it is false! I will never believe that your hands have been
+plunged in blood. You are my own pure-hearted Constant, cold, perhaps,
+and stern, but with no guilt upon your conscience, save in your own wild
+imagination."
+
+"Helen, you are no friend to me," he declared, pushing her gently aside.
+"Believe me innocent, but say nothing to lead these others to doubt my
+word."
+
+And she said no more, but her looks spoke volumes.
+
+The result was that he was not detained, though he prayed for instant
+commitment. He seemed to dread his own home, and the surveillance to
+which he instinctively knew he would henceforth be subjected. To see him
+shrink from his wife's hand as she strove to lead him from the room was
+sufficiently painful; but the feeling thus aroused was nothing to that
+with which we observed the keen and agonized expectancy of his look as
+he turned and listened for the steps of the officer who followed him.
+
+"I shall never again know whether or not I am alone," was his final
+observation as he left our presence.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+I said nothing to my superiors of the thoughts I had had while listening
+to the above interrogatories. A theory had presented itself to my mind
+which explained in some measure the mysteries of the Doctor's conduct,
+but I wished for time and opportunity to test its reasonableness before
+submitting it to their higher judgment. And these seemed likely to be
+given me, for the Inspectors continued divided in their opinion of the
+blind physician's guilt, and the District-Attorney, when told of the
+affair, pooh-poohed it without mercy, and declined to stir in the matter
+unless some tangible evidence were forthcoming to substantiate the poor
+Doctor's self-accusations.
+
+"If guilty, why does he shrink from giving his motives," said he, "and
+if so anxious to go to the gallows, why does he suppress the very facts
+calculated to send him there? He is as mad as a March hare, and it is to
+an asylum he should go and not to a jail."
+
+In this conclusion I failed to agree with him, and as time wore on my
+suspicions took shape and finally ended in a fixed conviction. Dr.
+Zabriskie had committed the crime he avowed, but--let me proceed a little
+further with my story before I reveal what lies beyond that "but."
+
+Notwithstanding Dr. Zabriskie's almost frenzied appeal for solitude, a
+man had been placed in surveillance over him in the shape of a young
+doctor skilled in diseases of the brain. This man communicated more or
+less with the police, and one morning I received from him the following
+extracts from the diary he had been ordered to keep.
+
+     "The Doctor is settling into a deep melancholy from which he
+     tries to rise at times, but with only indifferent success.
+     Yesterday he rode around to all his patients for the purpose
+     of withdrawing his services on the plea of illness. But he
+     still keeps his office open, and to-day I had the opportunity
+     of witnessing his reception and treatment of the many
+     sufferers who came to him for aid. I think he was conscious of
+     my presence, though an attempt had been made to conceal it.
+     For the listening look never left his face from the moment he
+     entered the room, and once he rose and passed quickly from
+     wall to wall, groping with outstretched hands into every nook
+     and corner, and barely escaping contact with the curtain
+     behind which I was hidden. But if he suspected my presence, he
+     showed no displeasure at it, wishing perhaps for a witness to
+     his skill in the treatment of disease.
+
+     "And truly I never beheld a finer manifestation of practical
+     insight in cases of a more or less baffling nature than I
+     beheld in him to-day. He is certainly a most wonderful
+     physician, and I feel bound to record that his mind is as
+     clear for business as if no shadow had fallen upon it.
+
+            *       *       *       *       *
+
+     "Dr. Zabriskie loves his wife, but in a way that tortures both
+     himself and her. If she is gone from the house he is wretched,
+     and yet when she returns he often forbears to speak to her, or
+     if he does speak, it is with a constraint that hurts her more
+     than his silence. I was present when she came in to-day. Her
+     step, which had been eager on the stairway, flagged as she
+     approached the room, and he naturally noted the change and
+     gave his own interpretation to it. His face, which had been
+     very pale, flushed suddenly, and a nervous trembling seized
+     him which he sought in vain to hide. But by the time her tall
+     and beautiful figure stood in the doorway he was his usual
+     self again in all but the expression of his eyes, which stared
+     straight before him in an agony of longing only to be observed
+     in those who have once seen.
+
+     "'Where have you been, Helen?' he asked, as, contrary to his
+     wont, he moved to meet her.
+
+     "'To my mother's, to Arnold & Constable's, and to the
+     hospital, as you requested,' was her quick answer, made
+     without faltering or embarrassment.
+
+     "He stepped still nearer and took her hand, and as he did so
+     my physician's eye noted how his finger lay over her pulse in
+     seeming unconsciousness.
+
+     "'Nowhere else?' he queried.
+
+     "She smiled the saddest kind of smile and shook her head;
+     then, remembering that he could not see this movement, she
+     cried in a wistful tone:
+
+     "'Nowhere else, Constant; I was too anxious to get back.'
+
+     "I expected him to drop her hand at this, but he did not; and
+     his finger still rested on her pulse.
+
+     "'And whom did you see while you were gone?' he continued.
+
+     "She told him, naming over several names.
+
+     "'You must have enjoyed yourself,' was his cold comment, as he
+     let go her hand and turned away. But his manner showed
+     relief, and I could not but sympathize with the pitiable
+     situation of a man who found himself forced to means like
+     these for probing the heart of his young wife.
+
+     "Yet when I turned towards her I realized that her position
+     was but little happier than his. Tears are no strangers to her
+     eyes, but those that welled up at this moment seemed to
+     possess a bitterness that promised but little peace for her
+     future. Yet she quickly dried them and busied herself with
+     ministrations for his comfort.
+
+            *       *       *       *       *
+
+     "If I am any judge of woman, Helen Zabriskie is superior to
+     most of her sex. That her husband mistrusts her is evident,
+     but whether this is the result of the stand she has taken in
+     his regard, or only a manifestation of dementia, I have as
+     yet been unable to determine. I dread to leave them alone
+     together, and yet when I presume to suggest that she should be
+     on her guard in her interviews with him, she smiles very
+     placidly and tells me that nothing would give her greater joy
+     than to see him lift his hand against her, for that would
+     argue that he is not accountable for his deeds or for his
+     assertions.
+
+     "Yet it would be a grief to see her injured by this passionate
+     and unhappy man.
+
+            *       *       *       *       *
+
+     "You have said that you wanted all details I could give; so I
+     feel bound to say, that Dr. Zabriskie tries to be considerate
+     of his wife, though he often fails in the attempt. When she
+     offers herself as his guide, or assists him with his mail, or
+     performs any of the many acts of kindness by which she
+     continually manifests her sense of his affliction, he thanks
+     her with courtesy and often with kindness, yet I know she
+     would willingly exchange all his set phrases for one fond
+     embrace or impulsive smile of affection. That he is not in the
+     full possession of his faculties would be too much to say, and
+     yet upon what other hypothesis can we account for the
+     inconsistencies of his conduct.
+
+            *       *       *       *       *
+
+     "I have before me two visions of mental suffering. At noon I
+     passed the office door, and looking within, saw the figure of
+     Dr. Zabriskie seated in his great chair, lost in thought or
+     deep in those memories which make an abyss in one's
+     consciousness. His hands, which were clenched, rested upon the
+     arms of his chair, and in one of them I detected a woman's
+     glove, which I had no difficulty in recognizing as one of the
+     pair worn by his wife this morning. He held it as a tiger
+     might hold his prey or a miser his gold, but his set features
+     and sightless eyes betrayed that a conflict of emotions was
+     waging within him, among which tenderness had but little
+     share.
+
+     "Though alive, as he usually is, to every sound, he was too
+     absorbed at this moment to notice my presence though I had
+     taken no pains to approach quietly. I therefore stood for a
+     full minute watching him, till an irresistible sense of the
+     shame of thus spying upon a blind man in his moments of
+     secret anguish seized upon me and I turned away. But not
+     before I saw his features relax in a storm of passionate
+     feeling, as he rained kisses after kisses on the senseless kid
+     he had so long held in his motionless grasp. Yet when an hour
+     later he entered the dining-room on his wife's arm, there was
+     nothing in his manner to show that he had in any way changed
+     in his attitude towards her.
+
+            *       *       *       *       *
+
+     "The other picture was more tragic still. I have no business
+     with Mrs. Zabriskie's affairs; but as I passed upstairs to my
+     room an hour ago, I caught a fleeting vision of her tall form,
+     with the arms thrown up over her head in a paroxysm of feeling
+     which made her as oblivious to my presence as her husband had
+     been several hours before. Were the words that escaped her
+     lips 'Thank God we have no children!' or was this exclamation
+     suggested to me by the passion and unrestrained impulse of her
+     action?"
+
+Side by side with these lines, I, Ebenezer Gryce, placed the following
+extracts from my own diary:
+
+     "Watched the Zabriskie mansion for five hours this morning,
+     from the second story window of an adjoining hotel. Saw the
+     Doctor when he drove away on his round of visits, and saw him
+     when he returned. A colored man accompanied him.
+
+     "To-day I followed Mrs. Zabriskie. I had a motive for this,
+     the nature of which I think it wisest not to divulge. She
+     went first to a house in Washington Place where I am told her
+     mother lives. Here she stayed some time, after which she drove
+     down to Canal Street, where she did some shopping, and later
+     stopped at the hospital, into which I took the liberty of
+     following her. She seemed to know many there, and passed from
+     cot to cot with a smile in which I alone discerned the sadness
+     of a broken heart. When she left, I left also, without having
+     learned anything beyond the fact that Mrs. Zabriskie is one
+     who does her duty in sorrow as in happiness. A rare and
+     trustworthy woman I should say, and yet her husband does not
+     trust her. Why?
+
+            *       *       *       *       *
+
+     "I have spent this day in accumulating details in regard to
+     Dr. and Mrs. Zabriskie's life previous to the death of Mr.
+     Hasbrouck. I learned from sources it would be unwise to quote
+     just here, that Mrs. Zabriskie had not lacked enemies ready to
+     charge her with coquetry; that while she had never sacrificed
+     her dignity in public, more than one person had been heard to
+     declare, that Dr. Zabriskie was fortunate in being blind,
+     since the sight of his wife's beauty would have but poorly
+     compensated him for the pain he would have suffered in seeing
+     how that beauty was admired.
+
+     "That all gossip is more or less tinged with exaggeration I
+     have no doubt, yet when a name is mentioned in connection with
+     such stories, there is usually some truth at the bottom of
+     them. And a name is mentioned in this case, though I do not
+     think it worth my while to repeat it here; and loth as I am to
+     recognize the fact, it is a name that carries with it doubts
+     that might easily account for the husband's jealousy. True, I
+     have found no one who dares to hint that she still continues
+     to attract attention or to bestow smiles in any direction save
+     where they legally belong. For since a certain memorable night
+     which we all know, neither Dr. Zabriskie nor his wife have
+     been seen save in their own domestic circle, and it is not
+     into such scenes that this serpent, of which I have spoken,
+     ever intrudes, nor is it in places of sorrow or suffering that
+     his smile shines, or his fascinations flourish.
+
+     "And so one portion of my theory is proved to be sound. Dr.
+     Zabriskie is jealous of his wife: whether with good cause or
+     bad I am not prepared to decide; for her present attitude,
+     clouded as it is by the tragedy in which she and her husband
+     are both involved, must differ very much from that which she
+     held when her life was unshadowed by doubt, and her admirers
+     could be counted by the score.
+
+            *       *       *       *       *
+
+     "I have just found out where Harry is. As he is in service
+     some miles up the river, I shall have to be absent from my
+     post for several hours, but I consider the game well worth the
+     candle.
+
+            *       *       *       *       *
+
+     "Light at last. I have seen Harry, and, by means known only to
+     the police, have succeeded in making him talk. His story is
+     substantially this: That on the night so often mentioned, he
+     packed his master's portmanteau at eight o'clock and at ten
+     called a carriage and rode with the Doctor to the Twenty-ninth
+     Street station. He was told to buy tickets for Poughkeepsie
+     where his master had been called in consultation, and having
+     done this, hurried back to join his master on the platform.
+     They had walked together as far as the cars, and Dr. Zabriskie
+     was just stepping on to the train when a man pushed himself
+     hurriedly between them and whispered something into his
+     master's ear, which caused him to fall back and lose his
+     footing. Dr. Zabriskie's body slid half under the car, but he
+     was withdrawn before any harm was done, though the cars gave
+     a lurch at that moment which must have frightened him
+     exceedingly, for his face was white when he rose to his feet,
+     and when Harry offered to assist him again on to the train, he
+     refused to go and said he would return home and not attempt to
+     ride to Poughkeepsie that night.
+
+     "The gentleman, whom Harry now saw to be Mr. Stanton, an
+     intimate friend of Dr. Zabriskie, smiled very queerly at this,
+     and taking the Doctor's arm led him away to a carriage. Harry
+     naturally followed them, but the Doctor, hearing his steps,
+     turned and bade him, in a very peremptory tone, to take the
+     omnibus home, and then, as if on second thought, told him to
+     go to Poughkeepsie in his stead and explain to the people
+     there that he was too shaken up by his mis-step to do his
+     duty, and that he would be with them next morning. This seemed
+     strange to Harry, but he had no reasons for disobeying his
+     master's orders, and so rode to Poughkeepsie. But the Doctor
+     did not follow him the next day; on the contrary he
+     telegraphed for him to return, and when he got back dismissed
+     him with a month's wages. This ended Harry's connection with
+     the Zabriskie family.
+
+     "A simple story bearing out what the wife has already told us;
+     but it furnishes a link which may prove invaluable. Mr.
+     Stanton, whose first name is Theodore, knows the real reason
+     why Dr. Zabriskie returned home on the night of the
+     seventeenth of July, 1851. Mr. Stanton, consequently, I must
+     see, and this shall be my business to-morrow.
+
+     "Checkmate! Theodore Stanton is not in this country. Though
+     this points him out as the man from whom Dr. Zabriskie bought
+     the pistol, it does not facilitate my work, which is becoming
+     more and more difficult.
+
+            *       *       *       *       *
+
+     "Mr. Stanton's whereabouts are not even known to his most
+     intimate friends. He sailed from this country most
+     unexpectedly on the eighteenth of July a year ago, which was
+     _the day after the murder of Mr. Hasbrouck_. It looks like a
+     flight, especially as he has failed to maintain open
+     communication even with his relatives. Was he the man who shot
+     Mr. Hasbrouck? No; but he was the man who put the pistol in
+     Dr. Zabriskie's hand that night, and, whether he did this with
+     purpose or not, was evidently so alarmed at the catastrophe
+     which followed that he took the first outgoing steamer to
+     Europe. So far, all is clear, but there are mysteries yet to
+     be solved, which will require my utmost tact. What if I should
+     seek out the gentleman with whose name that of Mrs. Zabriskie
+     has been linked, and see if I can in any way connect him with
+     Mr. Stanton or the events of that night?
+
+            *       *       *       *       *
+
+     "Eureka! I have discovered that Mr. Stanton cherished a mortal
+     hatred for the gentleman above mentioned. It was a covert
+     feeling, but no less deadly on that account; and while it
+     never led him into any extravagances, it was of force
+     sufficient to account for many a secret misfortune which
+     happened to that gentleman. Now, if I can prove he was the
+     Mephistopheles who whispered insinuations into the ear of our
+     blind Faust, I may strike a fact that will lead me out of this
+     maze.
+
+     "But how can I approach secrets so delicate without
+     compromising the woman I feel bound to respect, if only for
+     the devoted love she manifests for her unhappy husband!
+
+            *       *       *       *       *
+
+     "I shall have to appeal to Joe Smithers. This is something
+     which I always hate to do, but as long as he will take money,
+     and as long as he is fertile in resources for obtaining the
+     truth from people I am myself unable to reach, so long must I
+     make use of his cupidity and his genius. He is an honorable
+     fellow in one way, and never retails as gossip what he
+     acquires for our use. How will he proceed in this case, and
+     by what tactics will he gain the very delicate information
+     which we need? I own that I am curious to see.
+
+            *       *       *       *       *
+
+     "I shall really have to put down at length the incidents of
+     this night. I always knew that Joe Smithers was invaluable to
+     the police, but I really did not know he possessed talents of
+     so high an order. He wrote me this morning that he had
+     succeeded in getting Mr. T----'s promise to spend the evening
+     with him, and advised me that if I desired to be present also,
+     his own servant would not be at home, and that an opener of
+     bottles would be required.
+
+     "As I was very anxious to see Mr. T---- with my own eyes, I
+     accepted the invitation to play the spy upon a spy, and went
+     at the proper hour to Mr. Smithers's rooms, which are in the
+     University Building. I found them picturesque in the extreme.
+     Piles of books stacked here and there to the ceiling made
+     nooks and corners which could be quite shut off by a couple of
+     old pictures that were set into movable frames that swung out
+     or in at the whim or convenience of the owner.
+
+     "As I liked the dark shadows cast by these pictures, I pulled
+     them both out, and made such other arrangements as appeared
+     likely to facilitate the purpose I had in view, then I sat
+     down and waited for the two gentlemen who were expected to
+     come in together.
+
+     "They arrived almost immediately, whereupon I rose and played
+     my part with all necessary discretion. While ridding Mr. T----
+     of his overcoat, I stole a look at his face. It is not a
+     handsome one, but it boasts of a gay, devil-may-care
+     expression which doubtless makes it dangerous to many women,
+     while his manners are especially attractive, and his voice the
+     richest and most persuasive that I ever heard. I contrasted
+     him, almost against my will, with Dr. Zabriskie, and decided
+     that with most women the former's undoubted fascinations of
+     speech and bearing would outweigh the latter's great beauty
+     and mental endowments; but I doubted if they would with her.
+
+     "The conversation which immediately began was brilliant but
+     desultory, for Mr. Smithers, with an airy lightness for which
+     he is remarkable, introduced topic after topic, perhaps for
+     the purpose of showing off Mr. T----'s versatility, and perhaps
+     for the deeper and more sinister purpose of shaking the
+     kaleidoscope of talk so thoroughly, that the real topic which
+     we were met to discuss should not make an undue impression on
+     the mind of his guest.
+
+     "Meanwhile one, two, three bottles passed, and I saw Joe
+     Smithers's eye grow calmer and that of Mr. T---- more brilliant
+     and more uncertain. As the last bottle showed signs of
+     failing, Joe cast me a meaning glance, and the real business
+     of the evening began.
+
+     "I shall not attempt to relate the half-dozen failures which
+     Joe made in endeavoring to elicit the facts we were in search
+     of, without arousing the suspicion of his visitor. I am only
+     going to relate the successful attempt. They had been talking
+     now for some hours, and I, who had long before been waved from
+     their immediate presence, was hiding my curiosity and growing
+     excitement behind one of the pictures, when suddenly I heard
+     Joe say:
+
+     "'He has the most remarkable memory I ever met. He can tell to
+     a day when any notable event occurred.'
+
+     "'Pshaw!' answered his companion, who, by the by, was known to
+     pride himself upon his own memory for dates, 'I can state
+     where I went and what I did on every day in the year. That may
+     not embrace what you call 'notable events,' but the memory
+     required is all the more remarkable, is it not?'
+
+     "'Pooh!' was his friend's provoking reply, 'you are bluffing,
+     Ben; I will never believe that.'
+
+     "Mr. T----, who had passed by this time into that state of
+     intoxication which makes persistence in an assertion a duty as
+     well as a pleasure, threw back his head, and as the wreaths of
+     smoke rose in airy spirals from his lips, reiterated his
+     statement, and offered to submit to any test of his vaunted
+     powers which the other might dictate.
+
+     "'You have a diary----' began Joe.
+
+     "'Which is at home,' completed the other.
+
+     "'Will you allow me to refer to it to-morrow, if I am
+     suspicious of the accuracy of your recollections?'
+
+     "'Undoubtedly,' returned the other.
+
+     "'Very well, then, I will wager you a cool fifty, that you
+     cannot tell where you were between the hours of ten and eleven
+     on a certain night which I will name.'
+
+     "'Done!' cried the other, bringing out his pocket-book and
+     laying it on the table before him.
+
+     "Joe followed his example and then summoned me.
+
+     "'Write a date down here,' he commanded, pushing a piece of
+     paper towards me, with a look keen as the flash of a blade.
+     'Any date, man,' he added, as I appeared to hesitate in the
+     embarrassment I thought natural under the circumstances. 'Put
+     down day, month, and year, only don't go too far back; not
+     farther than two years.'
+
+     "Smiling with the air of a flunkey admitted to the sports of
+     his superiors, I wrote a line and laid it before Mr.
+     Smithers, who at once pushed it with a careless gesture
+     towards his companion. You can of course guess the date I made
+     use of: July 17, 1851. Mr. T----, who had evidently looked upon
+     this matter as mere play, flushed scarlet as he read these
+     words, and for one instant looked as if he had rather flee our
+     presence than answer Joe Smithers's nonchalant glance of
+     inquiry.
+
+     "'I have given my word and will keep it,' he said at last, but
+     with a look in my direction that sent me reluctantly back to
+     my retreat. 'I don't suppose you want names,' he went on,
+     'that is, if anything I have to tell is of a delicate nature?'
+
+     "'O no,' answered the other, 'only facts and places.'
+
+     "'I don't think places are necessary either,' he returned. 'I
+     will tell you what I did and that must serve you. I did not
+     promise to give number and street.'
+
+     "'Well, well,' Joe exclaimed; 'earn your fifty, that is all.
+     Show that you remember where you were on the night of'--and
+     with an admirable show of indifference he pretended to consult
+     the paper between them--'the seventeenth of July, 1851, and I
+     shall be satisfied.'
+
+     "'I was at the club for one thing,' said Mr. T----; 'then I went
+     to see a lady friend, where I stayed till eleven. She wore a
+     blue muslin---- What is that?'
+
+     "I had betrayed myself by a quick movement which sent a glass
+     tumbler crashing to the floor. Helen Zabriskie had worn a
+     blue muslin on that same night. I had noted it when I stood
+     on the balcony watching her and her husband.
+
+     "'That noise?' It was Joe who was speaking. 'You don't know
+     Reuben as well as I do or you wouldn't ask. It is his
+     practice, I am sorry to say, to accentuate his pleasure in
+     draining my bottles, by dropping a glass at every third one.'
+
+     "Mr. T---- went on.
+
+     "'She was a married woman and I thought she loved me; but--and
+     this is the greatest proof I can offer you that I am giving
+     you a true account of that night--she had not had the slightest
+     idea of the extent of my passion, and only consented to see me
+     at all because she thought, poor thing, that a word from her
+     would set me straight, and rid her of attentions that were
+     fast becoming obnoxious. A sorry figure for a fellow to cut
+     who has not been without his triumphs; but you caught me on
+     the most detestable date in my calendar, and----'
+
+     "There is where he stopped being interesting, so I will not
+     waste time by quoting further. And now what reply shall I make
+     when Joe Smithers asks me double his usual price, as he will
+     be sure to do, next time? Has he not earned an advance? I
+     really think so.
+
+            *       *       *       *       *
+
+     "I have spent the whole day in weaving together the facts I
+     have gleaned, and the suspicions I have formed, into a
+     consecutive whole likely to present my theory in a favorable
+     light to my superiors. But just as I thought myself in shape
+     to meet their inquiries, I received an immediate summons into
+     their presence, where I was given a duty to perform of so
+     extraordinary and unexpected a nature, that it effectually
+     drove from my mind all my own plans for the elucidation of the
+     Zabriskie mystery.
+
+     "This was nothing more nor less than to take charge of a party
+     of people who were going to the Jersey heights for the purpose
+     of testing Dr. Zabriskie's skill with a pistol."
+
+
+
+
+III.
+
+
+The cause of this sudden move was soon explained to me. Mrs. Zabriskie,
+anxious to have an end put to the present condition of affairs, had
+begged for a more rigid examination into her husband's state. This being
+accorded, a strict and impartial inquiry had taken place, with a result
+not unlike that which followed the first one. Three out of his four
+interrogators judged him insane, and could not be moved from their
+opinion though opposed by the verdict of the young expert who had been
+living in the house with him. Dr. Zabriskie seemed to read their
+thoughts, and, showing extreme agitation, begged as before for an
+opportunity to prove his sanity by showing his skill in shooting. This
+time a disposition was evinced to grant his request, which Mrs.
+Zabriskie no sooner perceived, than she added her supplications to his
+that the question might be thus settled.
+
+A pistol was accordingly brought; but at sight of it her courage failed,
+and she changed her prayer to an entreaty that the experiment should be
+postponed till the next day, and should then take place in the woods
+away from the sight and hearing of needless spectators.
+
+Though it would have been much wiser to have ended the matter there and
+then, the Superintendent was prevailed upon to listen to her entreaties,
+and thus it was that I came to be a spectator, if not a participator,
+in the final scene of this most sombre drama.
+
+There are some events which impress the human mind so deeply that their
+memory mingles with all after-experiences. Though I have made it a rule
+to forget as soon as possible the tragic episodes into which I am
+constantly plunged, there is one scene in my life which will not depart
+at my will; and that is the sight which met my eyes from the bow of the
+small boat in which Dr. Zabriskie and his wife were rowed over to Jersey
+on that memorable afternoon.
+
+Though it was by no means late in the day, the sun was already sinking,
+and the bright red glare which filled the heavens and shone full upon
+the faces of the half-dozen persons before me added much to the tragic
+nature of the scene, though we were far from comprehending its full
+significance.
+
+The Doctor sat with his wife in the stern, and it was upon their faces
+my glance was fixed. The glare shone luridly on his sightless eyeballs,
+and as I noticed his unwinking lids I realized as never before what it
+was to be blind in the midst of sunshine. Her eyes, on the contrary,
+were lowered, but there was a look of hopeless misery in her colorless
+face which made her appearance infinitely pathetic, and I felt confident
+that if he could only have seen her, he would not have maintained the
+cold and unresponsive manner which chilled the words on her lips and
+made all advance on her part impossible.
+
+On the seat in front of them sat the Inspector and a doctor, and from
+some quarter, possibly from under the Inspector's coat, there came the
+monotonous ticking of a small clock, which, I had been told, was to
+serve as a target for the blind man's aim.
+
+This ticking was all I heard, though the noise and bustle of a great
+traffic was pressing upon us on every side. And I am sure it was all
+that she heard, as, with hand pressed to her heart and eyes fixed on the
+opposite shore, she waited for the event which was to determine whether
+the man she loved was a criminal or only a being afflicted of God, and
+worthy of her unceasing care and devotion.
+
+As the sun cast its last scarlet gleam over the water, the boat
+grounded, and it fell to my lot to assist Mrs. Zabriskie up the bank.
+As I did so, I allowed myself to say: "I am your friend, Mrs.
+Zabriskie," and was astonished to see her tremble, and turn toward me
+with a look like that of a frightened child.
+
+But there was always this characteristic blending in her countenance of
+the childlike and the severe, such as may so often be seen in the faces
+of nuns, and beyond an added pang of pity for this beautiful but
+afflicted woman, I let the moment pass without giving it the weight it
+perhaps demanded.
+
+"The Doctor and his wife had a long talk last night," was whispered in
+my ear as we wound our way along into the woods. I turned and perceived
+at my side the expert physician, portions of whose diary I have already
+quoted. He had come by another boat.
+
+"But it did not seem to heal whatever breach lies between them," he
+proceeded. Then in a quick, curious tone, he asked: "Do you believe this
+attempt on his part is likely to prove anything but a farce?"
+
+"I believe he will shatter the clock to pieces with his first shot," I
+answered, and could say no more, for we had already reached the ground
+which had been selected for this trial at arms, and the various members
+of the party were being placed in their several positions.
+
+The Doctor, to whom light and darkness were alike, stood with his face
+towards the western glow, and at his side were grouped the Inspector and
+the two physicians. On the arm of one of the latter hung Dr.
+Zabriskie's overcoat, which he had taken off as soon as he reached the
+field.
+
+Mrs. Zabriskie stood at the other end of the opening, near a tall stump,
+upon which it had been decided that the clock should be placed when the
+moment came for the Doctor to show his skill. She had been accorded the
+privilege of setting the clock on this stump, and I saw it shining in
+her hand as she paused for a moment to glance back at the circle of
+gentlemen who were awaiting her movements. The hands of the clock stood
+at five minutes to five, though I scarcely noted the fact at the time,
+for her eyes were on mine, and as she passed me she spoke:
+
+"If he is not himself, he cannot be trusted. Watch him carefully, and
+see that he does no mischief to himself or others. Be at his right hand,
+and stop him if he does not handle his pistol properly."
+
+I promised, and she passed on, setting the clock upon the stump and
+immediately drawing back to a suitable distance at the right, where she
+stood, wrapped in her long dark cloak, quite alone. Her face shone
+ghastly white, even in its environment of snow-covered boughs which
+surrounded her, and, noting this, I wished the minutes fewer between the
+present moment and the hour of five, at which he was to draw the
+trigger.
+
+"Dr. Zabriskie," quoth the Inspector, "we have endeavored to make this
+trial a perfectly fair one. You are to have one shot at a small clock
+which has been placed within a suitable distance, and which you are
+expected to hit, guided only by the sound which it will make in striking
+the hour of five. Are you satisfied with the arrangement?"
+
+"Perfectly. Where is my wife?"
+
+"On the other side of the field, some ten paces from the stump upon
+which the clock is fixed."
+
+He bowed, and his face showed satisfaction.
+
+"May I expect the clock to strike soon?"
+
+"In less than five minutes," was the answer.
+
+"Then let me have the pistol; I wish to become acquainted with its size
+and weight."
+
+We glanced at each other, then across at her.
+
+She made a gesture; it was one of acquiescence.
+
+Immediately the Inspector placed the weapon in the blind man's hand. It
+was at once apparent that the Doctor understood the instrument, and my
+last doubt vanished as to the truth of all he had told us.
+
+"Thank God I am blind this hour and cannot see _her_," fell
+unconsciously from his lips; then, before the echo of these words had
+left my ears, he raised his voice and observed calmly enough,
+considering that he was about to prove himself a criminal in order to
+save himself from being thought a madman.
+
+"Let no one move. I must have my ears free for catching the first stroke
+of the clock." And he raised the pistol before him.
+
+There was a moment of torturing suspense and deep, unbroken silence. My
+eyes were on him, and so I did not watch the clock, but suddenly I was
+moved by some irresistible impulse to note how Mrs. Zabriskie was
+bearing herself at this critical moment, and, casting a hurried glance
+in her direction, I perceived her tall figure swaying from side to side,
+as if under an intolerable strain of feeling. Her eyes were on the
+clock, the hands of which seemed to creep with snail-like pace along the
+dial, when unexpectedly, and a full minute before the minute hand had
+reached the stroke of five, I caught a movement on her part, saw the
+flash of something round and white show for an instant against the
+darkness of her cloak, and was about to shriek warning to the Doctor,
+when the shrill, quick stroke of a clock rung out on the frosty air,
+followed by the ping and flash of a pistol.
+
+A sound of shattered glass, followed by a suppressed cry, told us that
+the bullet had struck the mark, but before we could move, or rid our
+eyes of the smoke which the wind had blown into our faces, there came
+another sound which made our hair stand on end and sent the blood back
+in terror to our hearts. Another clock was striking, the clock which we
+now perceived was still standing upright on the stump where Mrs.
+Zabriskie had placed it.
+
+Whence came the clock, then, which had struck before the time and been
+shattered for its pains? One quick look told us. On the ground, ten
+paces at the right, lay Helen Zabriskie, a broken clock at her side, and
+in her breast a bullet which was fast sapping the life from her sweet
+eyes.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+We had to tell him, there was such pleading in her looks; and never
+shall I forget the scream that rang from his lips as he realized the
+truth. Breaking from our midst, he rushed forward, and fell at her feet
+as if guided by some supernatural instinct.
+
+"Helen," he shrieked, "what is this? Were not my hands dyed deep enough
+in blood that you should make me answerable for your life also?"
+
+Her eyes were closed, but she opened them. Looking long and steadily at
+his agonized face, she faltered forth:
+
+"It is not you who have killed me; it is your crime. Had you been
+innocent of Mr. Hasbrouck's death, your bullet would never have found
+my heart. Did you think I could survive the proof that you had killed
+that good man?"
+
+"I--I did it unwittingly. I----"
+
+"Hush!" she commanded, with an awful look, which, happily, he could not
+see. "I had another motive. I wished to prove to you, even at the cost
+of my life, that I loved you, had always loved you, and not----"
+
+It was now his turn to silence her. His hand crept over her lips, and
+his despairing face turned itself blindly towards us.
+
+"Go," he cried; "leave us! Let me take a last farewell of my dying wife,
+without listeners or spectators."
+
+Consulting the eye of the physician who stood beside me, and seeing no
+hope in it, I fell slowly back. The others followed, and the Doctor was
+left alone with his wife. From the distant position we took, we saw her
+arms creep round his neck, saw her head fall confidingly on his breast,
+then silence settled upon them and upon all nature, the gathering
+twilight deepening, till the last glow disappeared from the heavens
+above and from the circle of leafless trees which enclosed this tragedy
+from the outside world.
+
+But at last there came a stir, and Dr. Zabriskie, rising up before us,
+with the dead body of his wife held closely to his breast, confronted us
+with a countenance so rapturous that he looked like a man transfigured.
+
+"I will carry her to the boat," said he. "Not another hand shall touch
+her. She was my true wife, my true wife!" And he towered into an
+attitude of such dignity and passion, that for a moment he took on
+heroic proportions and we forgot that he had just proved himself to have
+committed a cold-blooded and ghastly crime.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The stars were shining when we again took our seats in the boat; and if
+the scene of our crossing to Jersey was impressive, what shall be said
+of that of our return.
+
+The Doctor, as before, sat in the stern, an awesome figure, upon which
+the moon shone with a white radiance that seemed to lift his face out of
+the surrounding darkness and set it, like an image of frozen horror,
+before our eyes. Against his breast he held the form of his dead wife,
+and now and then I saw him stoop as if he were listening for some tokens
+of life at her set lips. Then he would lift himself again, with
+hopelessness stamped upon his features, only to lean forward in renewed
+hope that was again destined to disappointment.
+
+The Inspector and the accompanying physician had taken seats in the bow,
+and unto me had been assigned the special duty of watching over the
+Doctor. This I did from a low seat in front of him. I was therefore so
+close that I heard his laboring breath, and though my heart was full of
+awe and compassion, I could not prevent myself from bending towards him
+and saying these words:
+
+"Dr. Zabriskie, the mystery of your crime is no longer a mystery to me.
+Listen and see if I do not understand your temptation, and how you, a
+conscientious and God-fearing man, came to slay your innocent neighbor.
+
+"A friend of yours, or so he called himself, had for a long time filled
+your ears with tales tending to make you suspicious of your wife and
+jealous of a certain man whom I will not name. You knew that your friend
+had a grudge against this man, and so for many months turned a deaf ear
+to his insinuations. But finally some change which you detected in your
+wife's bearing or conversation roused your own suspicions, and you began
+to doubt if all was false that came to your ears, and to curse your
+blindness, which in a measure rendered you helpless. The jealous fever
+grew and had risen to a high point, when one night--a memorable
+night--this friend met you just as you were leaving town, and with cruel
+craft whispered in your ear that the man you hated was even then with
+your wife, and that if you would return at once to your home you would
+find him in her company.
+
+"The demon that lurks at the heart of all men, good or bad, thereupon
+took complete possession of you, and you answered this false friend by
+saying that you would not return without a pistol. Whereupon he offered
+to take you to his house and give you his. You consented, and getting
+rid of your servant by sending him to Poughkeepsie with your excuses,
+you entered a coach with your friend.
+
+"You say you bought the pistol, and perhaps you did, but, however that
+may be, you left his house with it in your pocket and, declining
+companionship, walked home, arriving at the Colonnade a little before
+midnight.
+
+"Ordinarily you have no difficulty in recognizing your own doorstep.
+But, being in a heated frame of mind, you walked faster than usual and
+so passed your own house and stopped at that of Mr. Hasbrouck's, one
+door beyond. As the entrances of these houses are all alike, there was
+but one way by which you could have made yourself sure that you had
+reached your own dwelling, and that was by feeling for the doctor's sign
+at the side of the door. But you never thought of that. Absorbed in
+dreams of vengeance, your sole impulse was to enter by the quickest
+means possible. Taking out your night-key, you thrust it into the lock.
+It fitted, but it took strength to turn it, so much strength that the
+key was twisted and bent by the effort. But this incident, which would
+have attracted your attention at another time, was lost upon you at this
+moment. An entrance had been effected, and you were in too excited a
+frame of mind to notice at what cost, or to detect the small differences
+apparent in the atmosphere and furnishings of the two houses--trifles
+which would have arrested your attention under other circumstances, and
+made you pause before the upper floor had been reached.
+
+"It was while going up the stairs that you took out your pistol, so that
+by the time you arrived at the front-room door you held it ready cocked
+and drawn in your hand. For, being blind, you feared escape on the part
+of your victim, and so waited for nothing but the sound of a man's voice
+before firing. When, therefore, the unfortunate Mr. Hasbrouck, roused by
+this sudden intrusion, advanced with an exclamation of astonishment, you
+pulled the trigger, killing him on the spot. It must have been
+immediately upon his fall that you recognized from some word he uttered,
+or from some contact you may have had with your surroundings, that you
+were in the wrong house and had killed the wrong man; for you cried out,
+in evident remorse, 'God! what have I done!' and fled without
+approaching your victim.
+
+"Descending the stairs, you rushed from the house, closing the front
+door behind you and regaining your own without being seen. But here you
+found yourself baffled in your attempted escape, by two things. First,
+by the pistol you still held in your hand, and secondly, by the fact
+that the key upon which you depended for entering your own door was so
+twisted out of shape that you knew it would be useless for you to
+attempt to use it. What did you do in this emergency? You have already
+told us, though the story seemed so improbable at the time, you found
+nobody to believe it but myself. The pistol you flung far away from you
+down the pavement, from which, by one of those rare chances which
+sometimes happen in this world, it was presently picked up by some late
+passer-by of more or less doubtful character. The door offered less of
+an obstacle than you anticipated; for when you turned to it again you
+found it, if I am not greatly mistaken, ajar, left so, as we have reason
+to believe, by one who had gone out of it but a few minutes before in a
+state which left him but little master of his actions. It was this fact
+which provided you with an answer when you were asked how you succeeded
+in getting into Mr. Hasbrouck's house after the family had retired for
+the night.
+
+"Astonished at the coincidence, but hailing with gladness the
+deliverance which it offered, you went in and ascended at once into your
+wife's presence; and it was from her lips, and not from those of Mrs.
+Hasbrouck, that the cry arose which startled the neighborhood and
+prepared men's minds for the tragic words which were shouted a moment
+later from the next house.
+
+"But she who uttered the scream knew of no tragedy save that which was
+taking place in her own breast. She had just repulsed a dastardly
+suitor, and, seeing you enter so unexpectedly in a state of
+unaccountable horror and agitation, was naturally stricken with dismay,
+and thought she saw your ghost, or, what was worse, a possible avenger;
+while you, having failed to kill the man you sought, and having killed a
+man you esteemed, let no surprise on her part lure you into any
+dangerous self-betrayal. You strove instead to soothe her, and even
+attempted to explain the excitement under which you labored, by an
+account of your narrow escape at the station, till the sudden alarm from
+next door distracted her attention, and sent both your thoughts and hers
+in a different direction. Not till conscience had fully awakened and the
+horror of your act had had time to tell upon your sensitive nature, did
+you breathe forth those vague confessions, which, not being supported by
+the only explanations which would have made them credible, led her, as
+well as the police, to consider you affected in your mind. Your pride as
+a man, and your consideration for her as a woman, kept you silent, but
+did not keep the worm from preying upon your heart.
+
+"Am I not correct in my surmises, Dr. Zabriskie, and is not this the
+true explanation of your crime?"
+
+With a strange look, he lifted up his face.
+
+"Hush!" said he; "you will awaken her. See how peacefully she sleeps! I
+should not like to have her awakened now, she is so tired, and I--I have
+not watched over her as I should."
+
+Appalled at his gesture, his look, his tone, I drew back, and for a few
+minutes no sound was to be heard but the steady dip-dip of the oars and
+the lap-lap of the waters against the boat. Then there came a quick
+uprising, the swaying before me of something dark and tall and
+threatening, and before I could speak or move, or even stretch forth my
+hands to stay him, the seat before me was empty and darkness had filled
+the place where but an instant previous he had sat, a fearsome figure,
+erect and rigid as a sphinx.
+
+What little moonlight there was only served to show us a few rising
+bubbles, marking the spot where the unfortunate man had sunk with his
+much-loved burden. We could not save him. As the widening circles fled
+farther and farther out, the tide drifted us away, and we lost the spot
+which had seen the termination of one of earth's saddest tragedies.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The bodies were never recovered. The police reserved to themselves the
+right of withholding from the public the real facts which made this
+catastrophe an awful remembrance to those who witnessed it. A verdict of
+accidental death by drowning answered all purposes, and saved the memory
+of the unfortunate pair from such calumny as might have otherwise
+assailed it. It was the least we could do for two beings whom
+circumstances had so greatly afflicted.
+
+THE END.
+
+
+
+
+THE INCOGNITO LIBRARY.
+
+
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+
+In this series will be included the authorized American editions of the
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+
+    32mo, limp cloth, each 50 cents.
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+       Mr. M----.
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+    II. THE HON. STANBURY AND OTHERS, by Two.
+
+    III. LESSER'S DAUGHTER, by Mrs. Andrew Dean.
+
+    IV. A HUSBAND OF NO IMPORTANCE, by Rita.
+
+    V. HELEN, by Oswald Valentine.
+
+These will be followed by volumes by other well-known authors.
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+
+WORKS BY ANNA KATHARINE GREEN
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+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Doctor, his Wife, and the Clock, by 
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