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diff --git a/32439.txt b/32439.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..0f50549 --- /dev/null +++ b/32439.txt @@ -0,0 +1,2373 @@ +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. + + +A series of small books by representative writers, whose names will for +the present not be given. + +In this series will be included the authorized American editions of the +future issues of Mr. Unwin's "PSEUDONYM LIBRARY," which has won for +itself a noteworthy prestige. + + 32mo, limp cloth, each 50 cents. + + I. THE SHEN'S PIGTAIL, and Other Cues of Anglo-China Life, by + Mr. M----. + + 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. 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