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diff --git a/old/rubyk10.txt b/old/rubyk10.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..2224dbe --- /dev/null +++ b/old/rubyk10.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1774 @@ +The Project Gutenberg etext of The Ruby of Kishmoor, by Howard Pyle + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world, be sure to check +the laws for your country before redistributing these files!!! + +Please take a look at the important information in this header. +We encourage you to keep this file on your own disk, keeping an +electronic path open for the next readers. + +Please do not remove this. + +This should be the first thing seen when anyone opens the book. +Do not change or edit it without written permission. 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FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.06/12/01*END* +[Portions of this header are copyright (C) 2001 by Michael S. Hart +and may be reprinted only when these Etexts are free of all fees.] +[Project Gutenberg is a TradeMark and may not be used in any sales +of Project Gutenberg Etexts or other materials be they hardware or +software or any other related product without express permission.] + + + + + +This etext was produced by Paul J. Hollander <pholland@iastate.edu> + + + + + +The Ruby of Kishmoor + +By Howard Pyle + + + + +CONTENTS + +Prologue + +I. Jonathan Rugg + +II. The Mysterious Lady with the Silver Veil + +III. The Terrific Encounter with the One-eyed Little Gentleman in + Black + +IV. The Momentous Adventure with the Stranger with the Silver + Ear-rings + +V. The Unexpected Encounter with the Sea-captain with the + Broken Nose + +VI. The Conclusion of the Adventure with the Lady with the + Silver Veil + +Epilogue + + + + +Prologue + + + +A very famous pirate of his day was Captain Robertson Keitt. + +Before embarking upon his later career of infamy, he was, in the +beginning, very well known as a reputable merchant in the island +of Jamaica. Thence entering, first of all, upon the business of +the African trade, he presently, by regular degrees, became a +pirate, and finally ended his career as one of the most renowned +freebooters of history. + +The remarkable adventure through which he at once reached the +pinnacle of success, and became in his profession the most famous +figure of his day, was the capture of the Rajah of Kishmoor's +great ship, The Sun of the East. In this vessel was the Rajah's +favorite Queen, who, together with her attendants, were set upon +a pilgrimage to Mecca. The court of this great Oriental potentate +was, as may be readily supposed, fairly a-glitter with gold and +jewels, so that, what with such personal adornments that the +Queen and her attendants had fetched with them, besides an ample +treasury for the expenses of the expedition, an incredible prize +of gold and jewels rewarded the freebooters for their successful +adventure. + +Among the precious stones taken in this great purchase was the +splendid ruby of Kishmoor. This, as may be known to the reader, +was one of the world's greatest gems, and was unique alike both +for its prodigious size and the splendor of its color. This +precious jewel the Rajah of Kishmoor had, upon a certain +occasion, bestowed upon his Queen, and at the time of her capture +she wore it as the centre-piece of a sort of a coronet which +encircled her forehead and brow. + +The seizure by the pirate of so considerable a person as that of +the Queen of Kishmoor, and of the enormous treasure that he found +aboard her ship, would alone have been sufficient to have +established his fame. But the capture of so extraordinary a prize +as that of the ruby--which was, in itself, worth the value of an +entire Oriental kingdom--exalted him at once to the very highest +pinnacle of renown. + +Having achieved the capture of this incredible prize, our captain +scuttled the great ship and left her to sink with all on board. +Three Lascars of the crew alone escaped to bear the news of this +tremendous disaster to an astounded world. + +As may readily be supposed, it was now no longer possible for +Captain Keitt to hope to live in such comparative obscurity as he +had before enjoyed. His was now too remarkable a figure in the +eyes of the world. Several expeditions from various parts were +immediately fitted out against him, and it presently became no +longer compatible with his safety to remain thus clearly outlined +before the eyes of the world. Accordingly, he immediately set +about seeking such security as he might now hope to find, which +he did the more readily since he had now, and at one cast, so +entirely fulfilled his most sanguine expectations of good-fortune +and of fame. + +Thereafter, accordingly, the adventures of our captain became of +a more apocryphal sort. It was known that he reached the West +Indies in safety, for he was once seen at Port Royal and twice at +Spanish Town, in the island of Jamaica. Thereafter, however, he +disappeared; nor was it until several years later that the world +heard anything concerning him. + +One day a certain Nicholas Duckworthy, who had once been gunner +aboard the pirate captain's own ship, The Good Fortune, was +arrested in the town of Bristol in the very act of attempting to +sell to a merchant of that place several valuable gems from a +quantity which he carried with him tied up in a red bandanna +handkerchief. + +In the confession of which Duckworthy afterward delivered himself +he declared that Captain Keitt, after his great adventure, having +sailed from Africa in safety, and so reached the shores of the +New World, had wrecked The Good Fortune on a coral reef off the +Windward Islands; that he then immediately deserted the ship, and +together with Duckworthy himself, the sailing-master (who was a +Portuguese), the captain of a brig The Bloody Hand (a consort of +Keitt's), and a villainous rascal named Hunt (who, occupying no +precise position among the pirates, was at once the instigator of +and the partaker in the greatest part of Captain Keitt's +wickednesses), made his way to the nearest port of safety. These +five worthies at last fetched the island of Jamaica, bringing +with them all of the jewels and some of the gold that had been +captured from The Sun of the East. + +But, upon coming to a division of their booty, it was presently +discovered that the Rajah's ruby had mysteriously disappeared +from the collection of jewels to be divided. The other pirates +immediately suspected their captain of having secretly purloined +it, and, indeed, so certain were they of his turpitude that they +immediately set about taking means to force a confession from +him. + +In this, however, they were so far unsuccessful that the captain, +refusing to yield to their importunities, had suffered himself to +die under their hands, and had so carried the secret of the +hiding-place of the great ruby--if he possessed such a +secret--along with him. + +Duckworthy concluded his confession by declaring that in his +opinion he himself, the Portuguese sailing-master, the captain of +The Bloody Hand, and Hunt were the only ones of Captain Keitt's +crew who were now alive; for that The Good Fortune must have +broken up in a storm, which immediately followed their desertion +of her; in which event the entire crew must inevitably have +perished. + +It may be added that Duckworthy himself was shortly hanged, so +that, if his surmise was true, there was now only three left +alive of all that wicked crew that had successfully carried to +its completion the greatest adventure which any pirate in the +world had ever, perhaps, embarked upon. + + + + +I. Jonathan Rugg + + + +You may never know what romantic aspirations may lie hidden +beneath the most sedate and sober demeanor. + +To have observed Jonathan Rugg, who was a tall, lean, +loose-jointed young Quaker of a somewhat forbidding aspect, with +straight, dark hair and a bony, overhanging forehead set into a +frown, a pair of small, deep-set eyes, and a square jaw, no one +would for a moment have suspected that he concealed beneath so +serious an exterior any appetite for romantic adventure. + +Nevertheless, finding himself suddenly transported, as it were, +from the quiet of so sober a town as that of Philadelphia to the +tropical enchantment of Kingston, in the island of Jamaica, the +night brilliant with a full moon that swung in an opal sky, the +warm and luminous darkness replete with the mysteries of a +tropical night, and burdened with the odors of a land breeze, he +suddenly discovered himself to be overtaken with so vehement a +desire for some unwonted excitement that, had the opportunity +presented itself, he felt himself ready to embrace any adventure +with the utmost eagerness, no matter whither it would have +conducted him. + +At home (where he was a clerk in the counting-house of a leading +merchant, by name Jeremiah Doolittle), should such idle fancies +have come to him, he would have looked upon himself as little +better than a fool, but now that he found himself for the first +time in a foreign country, surrounded by such strange and unusual +sights and sounds, all conducive to extravagant imaginations, the +wish for some extraordinary and altogether unusual experience +took possession of him with a singular vehemence to which he had +heretofore been altogether a stranger. + +In the street where he stood, which was of a shining whiteness +and which reflected the effulgence of the moonlight with an +incredible distinction, he observed, stretching before him, long +lines of white garden walls, overtopped by a prodigious +luxuriance of tropical foliage. + +In these gardens, and set close to the street, stood several +pretentious villas and mansions, the slatted blinds and curtains +of the windows of which were raised to admit of the freer +entrance of the cool and balmy air of the night. From within +there issued forth bright lights, together with the exhilarating +sound of merry voices laughing and talking, or perhaps a song +accompanied by the tinkling music of a spinet or of a guitar. An +occasional group of figures, clad in light and summer-like +garments, and adorned with gay and startling colors, passed him +through the moonlight; so that what with the brightness and +warmth of the night, together with all these unusual sights and +sounds, it appeared to Jonathan Rugg that he was rather the +inhabitant of some extraordinary land of enchantment and +unreality than a dweller upon that sober and solid world in which +he had heretofore passed his entire existence. + +Before continuing this narrative the reader may here be informed +that our hero had come into this enchanted world as the +supercargo of the ship SUSANNA HAYES, of Philadelphia; that he +had for several years proved himself so honest and industrious a +servant to the merchant house of the worthy Jeremiah Doolittle +that that benevolent man had given to his well-deserving clerk +this opportunity at once of gratifying an inclination for foreign +travel and of filling a position of trust that should redound to +his individual profit. The SUSANNA HAYES had entered Kingston +Harbor that afternoon, and this was Jonathan's first night spent +in those tropical latitudes, whither his fancy and his +imagination had so often carried him while he stood over the desk +filing the accounts of invoices from foreign parts. + +It might be finally added that, had he at all conceived how soon +and to what a degree his sudden inclination for adventure was to +be gratified, his romantic aspirations might have been somewhat +dashed at the prospect that lay before him. + + + + +II. The Mysterious Lady with the Silver Veil + + + +At that moment our hero suddenly became conscious of the fact +that a small wicket in a wooden gate near which he stood had been +opened, and that the eyes of an otherwise concealed countenance +were observing him with the utmost closeness of scrutiny. + +He had hardly time to become aware of this observation of his +person when the gate itself was opened, and there appeared before +him, in the moonlight, the bent and crooked figure of an aged +negress. She was clad in a calamanco raiment, and was further +adorned with a variety of gaudily colored trimmings, vastly +suggestive of the tropical world of which she was an inhabitant. +Her woolly head was enveloped, after the fashion of her people, +in the folds of a gigantic and flaming red turban constructed of +an entire pocket-handkerchief. Her face was pock-pitted to an +incredible degree, so that what with this deformity, emphasized +by the pouting of her prodigious and shapeless lips, and the +rolling of a pair of eyes as yellow as saffron, Jonathan Rugg +thought that he had never beheld a figure at once so +extraordinary and so repulsive. + +It occurred to our hero that here, maybe, was to overtake him +such an adventure as that which he had just a moment before been +desiring so ardently. Nor was he mistaken; for the negress, first +looking this way and then that, with an extremely wary and +cunning expression, and apparently having satisfied herself that +the street, for the moment, was pretty empty of passers, beckoned +to him to draw nearer. When he had approached close enough to her +she caught him by the sleeve, and, instantly drawing him into the +garden beyond, shut and bolted the gate with a quickness and a +silence suggestive of the most extravagant secrecy. + +At the same moment a huge negro suddenly appeared from the shadow +of the gatepost, and so placed himself between Jonathan and the +gate that any attempt to escape would inevitably have entailed a +conflict, upon our hero's part, with the sable and giant +guardian. + +Says the negress, looking very intently at our hero: "Be you +afeard, Buckra?" + +"Why, no," quothed Jonathan; "for to tell thee the truth, friend, +though I am a man of peace, being of that religious order known +as the Society of Friends, I am not so weak in person nor so +timid in disposition as to warrant me in being afraid of any one. +Indeed, were I of a mind to escape, I might, without boasting, +declare my belief that I should be able to push my way past even +a better man than thy large friend who stands so threateningly in +front of yonder gate." + +At these words the negress broke into so prodigious a grin that, +in the moonlight, it appeared as though the whole lower part of +her face had been transformed into shining teeth. "You be a brave +Buckra," says she, in her gibbering English. "You come wid +Melina, and Melina take you to pretty lady, who want you to eat +supper wid her." + +Thereupon, and allowing our hero no opportunity to decline this +extraordinary invitation, even had he been of a mind to do so, +she took him by the hand, and led him toward the large and +imposing house which commanded the garden. "Indeed," says +Jonathan to himself, as he followed his sable guide--himself +followed in turn by the gigantic negro--"indeed, I am like to +have my fill of adventure, if anything is to be judged from such +a beginning as this." + +Nor did the interior sumptuousness of the mansion at all belie +the imposing character of its exterior, for, entering by way of +an illuminated veranda, and so coming into a brilliantly lighted +hallway beyond, Jonathan beheld himself to be surrounded by such +a wealth of exquisite and well-appointed tastefulness as it had +never before been his good-fortune to behold. + +Candles of clarified wax sparkled like stars in chandeliers of +crystal. These in turn, catching the illumination, glittered in +prismatic fragments with all the varied colors of the rainbow, so +that a mellow yet brilliant radiance filled the entire apartment. +Polished mirrors of a spotless clearness, framed in golden frames +and built into the walls, reflected the waxed floors, the rich +Oriental carpets, and the sumptuous paintings that hung against +the ivory-tinted paneling, so that in appearance the beauties of +the apartment were continued in bewildering vistas upon every +side toward which the beholder directed his gaze. + +Bidding our hero to be seated, which he did with no small degree +of embarrassment and constraint, and upon the extreme edge of the +gilt and satin-covered chair, the negress who had been his +conductor left him for the time being to his own contemplation. + +Almost before he had an opportunity to compose himself into +anything more than a part of his ordinary sedateness of demeanor, +the silken curtains at the doorway at the other end of the +apartment were suddenly divided, and Jonathan beheld before him a +female figure displaying the most exquisite contour of mould and +of proportion. She was clad entirely in white, and was enveloped +from head to foot in the folds of a veil of delicate silver +gauze, which, though hiding her countenance from recognition, +nevertheless permitted sufficient of her beauties to be discerned +to suggest the extreme elegance and loveliness of her lineaments. +Advancing toward our hero, and extending to him a tapering hand +as white as alabaster, the fingers encircled with a multitude of +jewelled rings, she addressed him thus: + +"Sir," she said, speaking in accents of the most silvery and +musical cadence, "you are no doubt vastly surprised to find +yourself thus unexpectedly, and almost as by violence, introduced +into the house of one who is such an entire stranger to you as +myself. But though I am unknown to you, I must inform you that I +am better acquainted with my visitor, for my agents have been +observing you ever since you landed this afternoon at the dock, +and they have followed you ever since, until a little while ago, +when you stopped immediately opposite my garden gate. These +agents have observed you with a closeness of scrutiny of which +you are doubtless entirely unaware. They have even informed me +that, owing doubtless to your extreme interest in your new +surroundings, you have not as yet supped. Knowing this, and that +you must now be enjoying a very hearty appetite, I have to ask +you if you will do me the extreme favor of sitting at table with +me at a repast which you will doubtless be surprised to learn has +been hastily prepared entirely in your honor." + +So saying, and giving Jonathan no time for reply, she offered him +her hand, and with the most polite insistence conducted him into +an exquisitely appointed dining room adjoining. + +Here stood a table covered with a snow-white cloth, and +embellished with silver and crystal ornaments of every +description. Having seated herself and having indicated to +Jonathan to take the chair opposite to her, the two were +presently served with a repast such as our hero had not thought +could have existed out of the pages of certain extraordinary +Oriental tales which one time had fallen to his lot to read. + +This supper (which in itself might successfully have tempted the +taste of a Sybarite) was further enhanced by several wines and +cordials which, filling the room with the aroma of the sunlit +grapes from which they had been expressed, stimulated the +appetite, which without them needed no such spur. The lady, who +ate but sparingly herself, possessed herself with patience until +Jonathan's hunger had been appeased. When, however, she beheld +that he weakened in his attacks upon the dessert of sweets with +which the banquet was concluded, she addressed him upon the +business which was evidently entirely occupying her mind. + +"Sir," said she, "you are doubtless aware that every one, whether +man or woman, is possessed of an enemy. In my own case I must +inform you that I have no less than three who, to compass their +ends, would gladly sacrifice my life itself to their purposes. At +no time am I safe from their machinations, nor have I any one," +cried she, exhibiting a great emotion, "to whom I may turn in my +need. It was this that led me to hope to find in you a friend in +my perils, for, having observed through my agents that you are +not only honest in disposition and strong in person, but that you +are possessed of a considerable degree of energy and +determination, I am most desirous of imposing upon your +good-nature a trust of which you cannot for a moment suspect the +magnitude. Tell me, are you willing to assist a poor, defenceless +female in her hour of trial?" + +"Indeed, friend," quoth Jonathan, with more vivacity than he +usually exhibited, with a lenity to which he had heretofore in +his lifetime been a stranger--being warmed into such a spirit, +doubtless, by the generous wines of which he had +partaken--"indeed, friend, if I could but see thy face it would +doubtless make my decision in such a matter the more favorable, +since I am inclined to think from the little I can behold of it, +that thy appearance must be extremely comely to the eye." + +"Sir," said the lady, exhibiting some amusement at this +unexpected sally, "I am, you must know, as God made me. Sometime, +perhaps, I may be very glad to satisfy your curiosity, and +exhibit to you my poor countenance such as it is. But now"--and +here she reverted to her more serious mood--"I must again put it +to you: are you willing to help an unprotected woman in a period +of very great danger to herself? Should you decline the +assistance which I solicit, my slaves shall conduct you to the +gate through which you entered, and suffer you to depart in +peace. Should you, upon the other hand, accept the trust, you are +to receive no reward therefor, except the gratitude of one who +thus appeals to you in her helplessness." + +For a few moments Jonathan fell silent, for here, indeed, was he +entering into an adventure which infinitely surpassed any +anticipation that he could have formed. He was, besides, of a +cautious nature, and was entirely disinclined to embark into any +affair so obscure and tangled as that in which he now found +himself becoming involved. + +"Friend," said he, at last, "I may tell thee that thy story has +so far moved me as to give me every inclination to help thee in +thy difficulties, but I must also inform thee that I am a man of +caution, having never before entered into any business of this +sort. Therefore, before giving any promise that may bind my +future actions, I must, in common wisdom, demand to know what are +the conditions that thou hast in mind to impose upon me." + +"Indeed, sir," cried the lady, with great vivacity and with more +cheerful accents--as though her mind had been relieved of a +burden of fear that her companion might at once have declined +even a consideration of her request--"indeed, sir, you will find +that the trust which I would impose upon you is in appearance no +such great matter as my words may have led you to suppose. + +"You must know that I am possessed of a little trinket which, in +the hands of any one who, like yourself, is a stranger in these +parts, would possess no significance, but which while in my +keeping is fraught with infinite menace to me." + +Hereupon, and having so spoken, she clapped her hands, and an +attendant immediately entered, disclosing the person of the same +negress who had first introduced Jonathan into the strange +adventure in which he now found himself involved. This creature, +who appeared still more deformed and repulsive in the brilliantly +lighted room than she had in the moonlight, carried in her hands +a white napkin, which she handed to her mistress. This being +opened, disclosed a small ivory ball of about the bigness of a +lime. Nodding to the negress to withdraw, the lady handed him the +ivory ball, and Jonathan took it with no small degree of +curiosity and examined it carefully. It appeared to be of an +exceeding antiquity, and of so deep a yellow as to be almost +brown in color. It was covered over with strange figures and +characters of an Oriental sort, which appeared to our hero to be +of Chinese workmanship. + +"I must tell you, sir," said the lady, after she had permitted +her guest to examine this for a while in silence, "that though +this appears to you to be of little worth, it is yet of extreme +value. After all, however, it is nothing but a curiosity that any +one who is interested in such matters might possess. What I have +to ask you is this: Will you be willing to take this into your +charge, to guard it with the utmost care and fidelity--yes, even +as the apple of your eye--during your continuance in these parts, +and to return it to me in safety the day before your departure. +By so doing you will render me a service which you may neither +understand nor comprehend, but which shall make me your debtor +for my entire life." + +By this time Jonathan had pretty well composed his mind for a +reply. + +"Friend," said he, "such a matter as this is entirely out of my +knowledge of business, which is, indeed, that of a clerk in the +mercantile profession. Nevertheless, I have every inclination to +help thee, though I trust thou mayest have magnified the dangers +that beset thee. This appears to me to be a little trifle for +such an ado; nevertheless, I will do as thou dost request. I will +keep it in safety and will return it to thee upon this day a week +hence, by which time I hope to have discharged my cargo and be +ready to continue my voyage to Demerara." + +At these words the lady, who had been watching him all the time +with a most unaccountable eagerness, burst forth into words of +such heart-felt gratitude as to entirely overwhelm our hero. When +her transports had been somewhat assuaged she permitted him to +depart, and the negress conducted him back through the garden, +whence she presently showed him through the gate whither he had +entered and out into the street. + + + + +III. The Terrific Encounter with the One-eyed Little Gentleman in +Black + + + +Finding himself once more in the open street, Jonathan Rugg stood +for a while in the moonlight, endeavoring to compose his mind +into somewhat of that sobriety that was habitual with him; for, +indeed, he was not a little excited by the unexpected incidents +that had just befallen him. From this effort at composure he was +aroused by observing that a little gentleman clad all in black +had stopped at a little distance away and was looking very +intently at him. In the brightness of the moonlight our hero +could see that the little gentleman possessed but a single eye, +and that he carried a gold-headed cane in his hand. He had hardly +time to observe these particulars, when the other approached him +with every appearance of politeness and cordiality. + +"Sir," said he, "surely I am not mistaken in recognizing in you +the supercargo of the ship SUSANNA HAYES, which arrived this +afternoon at this port?" + +"Indeed," said Jonathan, "thou art right, friend. That is my +occupation, and that is whence I came." + +"To be sure!" said the little gentleman. "To be sure! To be sure! +The SUSANNA HAYES, with a cargo of Indian-corn meal, and from +dear good friend Jeremiah Doolittle, of Philadelphia. I know your +good master very well--very well indeed. And have you never heard +him speak of his friend Mr. Abner Greenway, of Kingston, +Jamaica?" + +"Why, no," replied Jonathan, "I have no such recollection of the +name nor do I know that any such name hath ever appeared upon our +books." + +"To be sure! To be sure!" repeated the little gentleman, briskly, +and with exceeding good-nature. "Indeed, my name is not likely to +have ever appeared upon his books, for I am not a business +correspondent, but one who, in times past, was his extremely +intimate friend. There is much I would like to ask about him, +and, indeed, I was in hopes that you would have been the bearer +of a letter from him. But I have lodgings at a little distance +from here, so that if it is not requesting too much of you maybe +you will accompany me thither, so that we may talk at our +leisure. I would gladly accompany you to your ship instead of +urging you to come to my apartments, but I must tell you I am +possessed of a devil of a fever, so that my physician hath +forbidden me to be out of nights." + +"Indeed," said Jonathan, whom, you may have observed, was of a +very easy disposition--"indeed, I shall be very glad to accompany +thee to thy lodgings. There is nothing I would like better than +to serve any friend of good Jeremiah Doolittle's." + +And thereupon, and with great amity, the two walked off together, +the little one-eyed gentleman in black linking his arm +confidingly into that of Jonathan's, and tapping the pavement +continually with his cane as he trotted on at a great pace. He +was very well acquainted with the town (of which he was a +citizen), and so interesting was his discourse that they had gone +a considerable distance before Jonathan observed they were +entering into a quarter darker and less frequented than that +which they had quitted. Tall brick houses stood upon either side, +between which stretched a narrow, crooked roadway, with a kennel +running down the centre. + +In front of one of these houses--a tall and gloomy structure--our +hero's conductor stopped and, opening the door with a key, +beckoned for him to enter. Jonathan having complied, his +new-found friend led the way up a flight of steps, against which +Jonathan's feet beat noisily in the darkness, and at length, +having ascended two stairways and having reached a landing, he +opened a door at the end of the passage and ushered Jonathan into +an apartment, unlighted, except for the Moonshine, which, coming +in through a partly open shutter, lay in a brilliant patch of +light upon the floor. + +His conductor having struck a light with a flint and steel, our +hero by the illumination of a single candle presently discovered +himself to be in a bedchamber furnished with no small degree of +comfort, and even elegance, and having every appearance of a +bachelor's chamber. + +"You will pardon me," said his new acquaintance, "if I shut these +shutters and the window, for that devilish fever of which I spoke +is of such a sort that I must keep the night air even out from my +room, or else I shall be shaking the bones out of my joints and +chattering the teeth out of my head by to-morrow morning." + +So saying he was as good as his word, and not only drew the +shutters to, but shot the heavy iron bolt into its place. Having +accomplished this he bade our hero to be seated, and placing +before him some exceedingly superior rum, together with some +equally excellent tobacco, they presently fell into the +friendliest discourse imaginable. In the course of their talk, +which after awhile became exceedingly confidential, Jonathan +confided to his new friend the circumstances of the adventure +into which he had been led by the beautiful stranger, and to all +that he said concerning his adventure his interlocutor listened +with the closest and most scrupulously riveted attention. + +"Upon my word," said he, when Jonathan had concluded, "I hope +that you may not have been made the victim of some foolish hoax. +Let me see what it is she has confided to you." + +"That I will," replied Jonathan. And thereupon he thrust his hand +into his breeches-pocket and brought forth the ivory ball. + +No sooner did the one eye of the little gentleman in black light +upon the object than a most singular and extraordinary convulsion +appeared to seize upon him. Had a bullet penetrated his heart he +could not have started more violently, nor have sat more rigidly +and breathlessly staring. + +Mastering his emotion with the utmost difficulty as Jonathan +replaced the ball in his pocket, he drew a deep and profound +breath and wiped the palm of his hand across his forehead as +though arousing himself from a dream. + +"And you," he said, of a sudden, "are, I understand it, a Quaker. +Do you, then, never carry a weapon, even in such a place as this, +where at any moment in the dark a Spanish knife may be stuck +betwixt your ribs?" + +"Why, no," said Jonathan, somewhat surprised that so foreign a +topic should have been so suddenly introduced into the discourse. +"I am a man of peace and not of blood. The people of the Society +of Friends never carry weapons, either of offence or defence." + +As Jonathan concluded his reply the little gentleman suddenly +arose from his chair and moved briskly around to the other side +of the room. Our hero, watching him with some surprise, beheld +him clap to the door and with a single movement shoot the bolt +and turn the key therein. The next instant he turned to Jonathan +a visage transformed as suddenly as though he had dropped a mask +from his face. The gossiping and polite little old bachelor was +there no longer, but in his stead a man with a countenance +convulsed with some furious and nameless passion. + +"That ball!" he cried, in a hoarse and raucous voice. "That ivory +ball! Give it to me upon the instant!" + +As he spoke he whipped out from his bosom a long, keen Spanish +knife that in its every appearance spoke without equivocation of +the most murderous possibilities. + +The malignant passions that distorted every lineament of the +countenance of the little old gentleman in black filled our hero +with such astonishment that he knew not whether he were asleep or +awake; but when he beheld the other advancing with the naked and +shining knife in his hand his reason returned to him like a +flash. Leaping to his feet, he lost no time in putting the table +between himself and his sudden enemy. + +"Indeed, friend," he cried, in a voice penetrated with +terror--"indeed, friend, thou hadst best keep thy distance from +me, for though I am a man of peace and a shunner of bloodshed, I +promise thee that I will not stand still to be murdered without +outcry or without endeavoring to defend my life!" + +"Cry as loud as you please!" exclaimed the other. "No one is near +this place to hear you! Cry until you are hoarse; no one in this +neighborhood will stop to ask what is the matter with you. I tell +you I am determined to possess myself of that ivory ball, and +have it I shall, even though I am obliged to cut out your heart +to get it!" As he spoke he grinned with so extraordinary and +devilish a distortion of his countenance, and with such an +appearance of every intention of carrying out his threat as to +send the goose-flesh creeping like icy fingers up and down our +hero's spine with the most incredible rapidity and acuteness. + +Nevertheless, mastering his fears, Jonathan contrived to speak up +with a pretty good appearance of spirit. "Indeed, friend," he +said, "thou appearest to forget that I am a man of twice thy bulk +and half thy years, and that though thou hast a knife I am +determined to defend myself to the last extremity. I am not going +to give thee that which thou demandest of me, and for thy sake I +advise thee to open the door and let me go free as I entered, or +else harm may befall thee." + +"Fool!" cried the other, hardly giving him time to end. "Do you, +then, think that I have time to chatter with you while two +villains are lying in wait for me, perhaps at the very door? +Blame your own self for your death!" And, gnashing his teeth with +an indescribable menace, and resting his hand upon the table, he +vaulted with incredible agility clean across it and upon our +hero, who, entirely unprepared for such an extraordinary attack, +was flung back against the wall, with an arm as strong as steel +clutching his throat and a knife flashing in his very eyes with +dreadful portent of instant death. + +With an instinct to preserve his life, he caught his assailant by +the wrist, and, bending it away from himself, set every fibre of +his body in a superhuman effort to guard and protect himself. The +other, though so much older and smaller, seemed to be composed +entirely of fibres of steel, and, in his murderous endeavors, put +forth a strength so extraordinary that for a moment our hero felt +his heart melt within him with terror for his life. The spittal +appeared to dry up within his mouth, and his hair to creep and +rise upon his head. With a vehement cry of despair and anguish, +he put forth one stupendous effort for defence, and, clapping his +heel behind the other's leg, and throwing his whole weight +forward, he fairly tripped his antagonist backward as he stood. +Together they fell upon the floor, locked in the most desperate +embrace, and overturning a chair with a prodigious clatter in +their descent--our hero upon the top and the little gentleman in +black beneath him. + +As they struck the floor the little man in black emitted a most +piercing and terrible scream, and instantly relaxing his efforts +of attack, fell to beating the floor with the back of his hands +and drubbing with his heels upon the rug in which he had become +entangled. + +Our hero leaped to his feet, and with dilating eyes and expanding +brain and swimming sight stared down upon the other like one +turned to a stone. + +He beheld instantly what had occurred, and that he had, without +so intending, killed a fellow-man. The knife, turned away from +his own person, had in their fall been plunged into the bosom of +the other, and he now lay quivering in the last throes of death. +As Jonathan gazed he beheld a thin red stream trickle out from +the parted and grinning lips; he beheld the eyes turn inward; he +beheld the eyelids contract; he beheld the figure stretch itself; +he beheld it become still in death. + + + + +IV. The Momentous Adventure with the Stranger with the Silver +Ear-rings + + + +So our hero stood stunned and bedazed, gazing down upon his +victim, like a man turned into a stone. His brain appeared to him +to expand like a bubble, the blood surged and bummed in his ears +with every gigantic beat of his heart, his vision swam, and his +trembling hands were bedewed with a cold and repugnant sweat. The +dead figure upon the floor at his feet gazed at him with a wide, +glassy stare, and in the confusion of his mind it appeared to +Jonathan that he was, indeed, a murderer. + +What monstrous thing was this that had befallen him who, but a +moment before, had been so entirely innocent of the guilt of +blood? What was he now to do in such an extremity as this, with +his victim lying dead at his feet, a poniard in his heart? Who +would believe him to be guiltless of crime with such a dreadful +evidence as this presented against him? How was he, a stranger in +a foreign land, to totally defend himself against an accusing of +mistaken justice? At these thoughts a developed terror gripped at +his vitals and a sweat as cold as ice bedewed his entire body. +No, he must tarry for no explanation or defense! He must +immediately fly from this terrible place, or else, should he be +discovered, his doom would certainly be sealed! + +At that moment, and in the very extremity of his apprehensions, +there fell of a sudden a knock upon the door, sounding so loud +and so startling upon the silence of the room that every +shattered nerve in our hero's frame tingled and thrilled in +answer to it. He stood petrified, scarcely so much as daring to +breathe; and then, observing that his mouth was agape, he +moistened his dry and parching lips, and drew his jaws together +with a snap. + +Again there fell the same loud, insistent knock upon the panel, +followed by the imperative words: "Open within!" + +The wretched Jonathan flung about him a glance at once of terror +and of despair, but there was for him no possible escape. He was +shut tight in the room with his dead victim, like a rat in a +trap. Nothing remained for him but to obey the summons from +without. Indeed, in the very extremity of his distraction, he +possessed reason enough to perceive that the longer he delayed +opening the door the less innocent he might hope to appear in the +eyes of whoever stood without. + +With the uncertain and spasmodic movements of an ill-constructed +automaton, he crossed the room, and stepping very carefully over +the prostrate body upon the floor, and with a hesitating +reluctance that he could in no degree master, he unlocked, +unbolted, and opened the door. + +The figure that outlined itself in the light of the candle, +against the blackness of the passageway without was of such a +singular and foreign aspect as to fit extremely well into the +extraordinary tragedy of which Jonathan was at once the victim +and the cause. + +It was that of a lean, tall man with a thin, yellow countenance, +embellished with a long, black mustache, and having a pair of +forbidding, deeply set, and extremely restless black eyes. A +crimson handkerchief beneath a lace cocked hat was tied tightly +around the head, and a pair of silver earrings, which caught the +light of the candle, gleamed and twinkled against the inky +darkness of the passageway beyond. + +This extraordinary being, without favoring our hero with any word +of apology for his intrusion, immediately thrust himself forward +into the room, and stretching his long, lean, bird-like neck so +as to direct his gaze over the intervening table, fixed a gaping +and concentrated stare upon the figure lying still and motionless +in the centre of the room. + +"Vat you do dare," said he, with a guttural and foreign accent, +and thereupon, without waiting for a reply, came forward and +knelt down beside the dead man. After thrusting his hand into the +silent and shrunken bosom, he presently looked up and fixed his +penetrating eyes upon our hero's countenance, who, benumbed and +bedazed with his despair, still stood like one enchained in the +bonds of a nightmare. "He vas dead!" said the stranger, and +Jonathan nodded his head in reply. + +"Vy you keel ze man?" inquired his interlocutor. + +"Indeed," cried Jonathan, finding a voice at last, but one so +hoarse that he could hardly recognize it for his own, "I know not +what to make of the affair! But, indeed, I do assure thee, +friend, that I am entirely innocent of what thou seest." + +The stranger still kept his piercing gaze fixed upon our hero's +countenance, and Jonathan, feeling that something further was +demanded of him, continued: "I am, indeed, a victim of a most +extravagant and extraordinary adventure. This evening, coming an +entire stranger to this country, I was introduced into the house +of a beautiful female, who bestowed upon me a charge that +appeared to me to be at once insignificant and absurd. Behold +this little ivory ball," said he, drawing the globe from his +pocket, and displaying it between his thumb and finger. "It is +this that appears to have brought all this disaster upon me; for, +coming from the house of the young woman, the man whom thou now +beholdest lying dead upon the floor induced me to come to this +place. Having inveigled me hither, he demanded of me to give him +at once this insignificant trifle. Upon my refusing to do so, he +assaulted me with every appearance of a mad and furious +inclination to deprive me of my life!" + +At the sight of the ivory ball the stranger quickly arose from +his kneeling posture and fixed upon our hero a gaze the most +extraordinary that he had ever encountered. His eyes dilated like +those of a cat, the breath expelled itself from his bosom in so +deep and profound an expiration that it appeared as though it +might never return again. Nor was it until Jonathan had replaced +the ball in his pocket that he appeared to awaken from the trance +that the sight of the object had sent him into. But no sooner had +the cause of this strange demeanor disappeared into our hero's +breeches-pocket than he arose as with an electric shock. In an +instant he became transformed as by the touch of magic. A sudden +and baleful light flamed into his eyes, his face grew as red as +blood, and he clapped his hand to his pocket with a sudden and +violent motion. "Ze ball!" he cried, in a hoarse and strident +voice. "Ze ball! Give me ze ball!" And upon the next instant our +hero beheld the round and shining nozzle of a pistol pointed +directly against his forehead. + +For a moment he stood as though transfixed; then in the mortal +peril that faced him, he uttered a roar that sounded in his own +ears like the outcry of a wild beast, and thereupon flung himself +bodily upon the other with the violence and the fury of a madman. + +The stranger drew the trigger, and the powder flashed in the pan. +He dropped the weapon, clattering, and in an instant tried to +draw another from his other pocket. Before he could direct his +aim, however, our hero had caught him by both wrists, and, +bending his hand backward, prevented the chance of any shot from +taking immediate effect upon his person. Then followed a struggle +of extraordinary ferocity and frenzy--the stranger endeavoring to +free his hand, and Jonathan striving with all the energy of +despair to prevent him from effecting his murderous purpose. + +In the struggle our hero became thrust against the edge of the +table. He felt as though his back were breaking, and became +conscious that in such a situation he could hope to defend +himself only a few moments longer. The stranger's face was +pressed close to his own. His hot breath, strong with the odor of +garlic, fanned our hero's cheek, while his lips, distended into a +ferocious and ferine grin, displayed his sharp teeth shining in +the candlelight. + +"Give me ze ball!" he said, in a harsh and furious whisper. + +At the moment there rang in Jonathan's ears the sudden and +astounding detonation of a pistol-shot, and for a moment he +wondered whether he had received a mortal wound without being +aware of it. Then suddenly he beheld an extraordinary and +dreadful transformation take place in the countenance thrust so +close to his own; the eyes winked several times with incredible +rapidity, and then rolled upward and inward; the jaws gaped into +a dreadful and cavernous yawn; the pistol fell with a clatter to +the floor, and the next moment the muscles, so rigid but an +instant before, relaxed into a limp and listless flaccidity. The +joints collapsed, and the entire man fell into an +indistinguishable heap upon and across the dead figure stretched +out upon the floor, while at the same time a pungent and blinding +cloud of gunpowder smoke filled the apartment. For a few moments +the hands twitched convulsively; the neck stretched itself to an +abominable length; the long, lean legs slowly and gradually +relaxed, and every fibre of the body gradually collapsed into the +lassitude of death. A spot of blood appeared and grew upon the +collar at the throat, and in the same degree the color ebbed from +the face leaving it of a dull and leaden pallor. + +All these terrible and formidable changes of aspect our hero +stood watching with a motionless and riveted attention, and as +though they were to him matters of the utmost consequence and +importance; and only when the last flicker of life had departed +from his second victim did he lift his gaze from this terrible +scene of dissolution to stare about him, this way and that, his +eyes blinded, and his breath stifled by the thick cloud of +sulphurous smoke that obscured the objects about him in a pungent +cloud. + + + + +V. The Unexpected Encounter with the Sea-captain with the Broken +Nose + + + +If our hero had been distracted and bedazed by the first +catastrophe that had befallen, this second and even more dreadful +and violent occurrence appeared to take away from him, for the +moment, every power of thought and of sensation. All that +perturbation of emotion that had before convulsed him he +discovered to have disappeared, and in its stead a benumbed and +blinded intelligence alone remained to him. As he stood in the +presence of this second death, of which he had been as innocent +and as unwilling an instrument as he had of the first, he could +observe no signs either of remorse or of horror within him. He +picked up his hat, which had fallen upon the floor in the first +encounter, and, brushing away the dust with the cuff of his coat +sleeve with extraordinary care, adjusted the beaver upon his head +with the utmost nicety. Then turning, still stupefied as with the +fumes of some powerful drug, he prepared to quit the scene of +tragic terrors that had thus unexpectedly accumulated upon him. + +But ere he could put his design into execution his ears were +startled by the sound of loud and hurried footsteps which, coming +from below, ascended the stairs with a prodigious clatter and +bustle of speed. At the landing these footsteps paused for a +while, and then approached, more cautious and deliberate, toward +the room where the double tragedy had been enacted, and where our +hero yet stood silent and inert. + +All this while Jonathan made no endeavor to escape, but stood +passive and submissive to what might occur. He felt himself the +victim of circumstances over which he himself had no control. +Gazing at the partly opened door, he awaited for whatever +adventure might next befall him. Once again the footsteps paused, +this time at the very threshold, and then the door was slowly +pushed open from without. + +As our hero gazed at the aperture there presently became +disclosed to his view the strong and robust figure of one who was +evidently of a seafaring habit. From the gold braid upon his hat, +the seals dangling from the ribbon at his fob, and a certain +particularity of custom, he was evidently one of no small +consideration in his profession. He was of a strong and powerful +build, with a head set close to his shoulders, and upon a round, +short bull neck. He wore a black cravat, loosely tied into a +knot, and a red waistcoat elaborately trimmed with gold braid; a +leather belt with a brass buckle and hanger, and huge sea-boots +completed a costume singularly suggestive of his occupation in +life. His face was round and broad, like that of a cat, and a +complexion stained, by constant exposure to the sun and wind, to +a color of newly polished mahogany. But a countenance which +otherwise might have been humorous, in this case was rendered +singularly repulsive by the fact that his nose had been broken so +flat to his face that all that remained to distinguish that +feature were two circular orifices where the nostrils should have +been. His eyes were by no means so sinister as the rest of his +visage, being of a light-gray color and exceedingly +vivacious--even good-natured in the merry restlessness of their +glance--albeit they were well-nigh hidden beneath a black bush of +overhanging eyebrows. When he spoke, his voice was so deep and +resonant that it was as though it issued from a barrel rather +than from the breast of a human being. + +"How now, my hearty!" cried he, in stentorian tones, so loud that +they seemed to stun the tensely drawn drums of our hero's ears. +"How now, my hearty! What's to-do here? Who is shooting pistols +at this hour of the night?" Then, catching sight of the figures +lying in a huddle upon the floor, his great, thick lips parted +into a gape of wonder and his gray eyes rolled in his head like +two balls, so that what with his flat face and the round holes of +his nostrils he presented an appearance which, under other +circumstances, would have been at once ludicrous and grotesque. + +"By the blood!" cried he, "to be sure it is murder that has +happened here." + +"Not murder!" cried Jonathan, in a shrill and panting voice. "Not +murder! It was all an accident, and I am as innocent as a baby." + +The new-comer looked at him and then at the two figures upon the +floor, and then back at him again with eyes at once quizzical and +cunning. Then his face broke into a grin that might hardly be +called of drollery. "Accident!" quoth he. "By the blood! d'ye see +'tis a strange accident, indeed, that lays two men by the heels +and lets the third go without a scratch!" Delivering himself +thus, he came forward into the room, and, taking the last victim +of Jonathan's adventure by the arm, with as little compunction as +he would have handled a sack of grain he dragged the limp and +helpless figure from where it lay to the floor beside the first +victim. Then, lifting the lighted candle, he bent over the two +prostrate bodies, holding the illumination close to the +lineaments first of one and then of the other. He looked at them +very carefully for a long while, with the closest and most intent +scrutiny, and in perfect silence. "They are both as dead," says +he, "as Davy Jones, and, whoever you be, I protest that you have +done your business the most completest that I ever saw in all of +my life." + +Indeed," cried Jonathan, in the same shrill and panting voice, +"it was themselves who did it. First one of them attacked me and +then the other, and I did but try to keep them from murdering me. +This one fell on his knife, and that one shot himself in his +efforts to destroy me." + +"That," says the seaman, "you may very well tell to a dry-lander, +and maybe he will believe you; but you cannot so easily pull the +wool over the eyes of Captain Benny Willitts. And what, if I may +be so bold as for to ask you, was the reason for their attacking +so harmless a man as you proclaim yourself to be?" + +"That I know not," cried Jonathan; "but I am entirely willing to +tell thee all the circumstances. Thou must know that I am a +member of the Society of Friends. This day I landed here in +Kingston, and met a young woman of very comely appearance, who +intrusted me with this little ivory ball, which she requested me +to keep for her a few days. The sight of this ball--in which I +can detect nothing that could be likely to arouse any feelings of +violence--appears to have driven these two men entirely mad, so +that they instantly made the most ferocious and murderous assault +upon me. See! wouldst thou have believed that so small a thing as +this would have caused so much trouble?" And as he spoke he held +up to the gaze of the other the cause of the double tragedy that +had befallen. But no sooner had Captain Willitts's eyes lighted +upon the ball than the most singular change passed over his +countenance. The color appeared to grow dull and yellow in his +ruddy cheeks, his fat lips dropped apart, and his eyes stared +with a fixed and glassy glare. He arose to his feet and, still +with the expression of astonishment and wonder upon his face, +gazed first at our hero and then at the ivory ball in his hands, +as though he were deprived both of reason and of speech. At last, +as our hero slipped the trifle back in his pocket again, the +mariner slowly recovered himself, though with a prodigious +effort, and drew a deep and profound breath as to the very bottom +of his lungs. He wiped, with the corner of his black silk cravat, +his brow, upon which the sweat appeared to have gathered. "Well, +messmate," says he, at last, with a sudden change of voice, "you +have, indeed, had a most wonderful adventure." Then with another +deep breath: "Well, by the blood! I may tell you plainly that I +am no poor hand at the reading of faces. Well, I think you to be +honest, and I am inclined to believe every word you tell me. By +the blood! I am prodigiously sorry for you, and am inclined to +help you out of your scrape. + +"The first thing to do," he continued, "is to get rid of these +two dead men, and that is an affair I believe we shall have no +trouble in handling. One of them we will wrap up in the carpet +here, and t'other we can roll into yonder bed-curtain. You shall +carry the one and I the other, and, the harbor being at no great +distance, we can easily bring them thither and tumble them +overboard, and no one will be the wiser of what has happened. For +your own safety, as you may easily see, you can hardly go away +and leave these objects here to be found by the first-comer, and +to arise up in evidence against you." + +This reasoning, in our hero's present bewildered state, appeared +to him to be so extremely just that he raised not the least +objection to it. Accordingly, each of the two silent, voiceless +victims of the evening's occurrences were wrapped into a bundle +that from without appeared to be neither portentous nor terrible +in appearance. + +Thereupon, Jonathan shouldering the rug containing the little +gentleman in black, and the sea-captain doing the like for the +other, they presently made their way down the stairs through the +darkness, and so out into the street. Here the sea-captain became +the conductor of the expedition, and leading the way down several +alleys and along certain by-streets--now and then stopping to +rest, for the burdens were both heavy and clumsy to carry--they +both came out at last to the harbor front, without any one having +questioned them or having appeared to suspect them of anything +wrong. At the water-side was an open wharf extending a pretty +good distance out into the harbor. Thither the captain led the +way and Jonathan followed. So they made their way out along the +wharf or pier, stumbling now and then over loose boards, until +they came at last to where the water was of a sufficient depth +for their purpose. Here the captain, bending his shoulders, shot +his burden out into the dark, mysterious waters, and Jonathan, +following his example, did the same. Each body sank with a sullen +and leaden splash into the element where, the casings which +swathed them becoming loosened, the rug and the curtain rose to +the surface and drifted slowly away with the tide. + +As Jonathan stood gazing dully at the disappearance of these last +evidences of his two inadvertent murders, he was suddenly and +vehemently aroused by feeling a pair of arms of enormous strength +flung about him from behind. In their embrace his elbows were +instantly pinned tight to his side, and he stood for a moment +helpless and astounded, while the voice of the sea-captain, +rumbling in his very ear, exclaimed: "Ye bloody, murthering +Quaker, I'll have that ivory ball, or I'll have your life!" + +These words produced the same effect upon Jonathan as though a +douche of cold water had suddenly been flung over him. He began +instantly to struggle to free himself, and that with a frantic +and vehement violence begotten at once of terror and despair. So +prodigious were his efforts that more than once he had nearly +torn himself free, but still the powerful arms of his captor held +him as in a vise of iron. Meantime, our hero's assailant made +frequent though ineffectual attempts to thrust a hand into the +breeches-pocket where the ivory ball was hidden, swearing the +while under his breath with a terrifying and monstrous string of +oaths. At last, finding himself foiled in every such attempt, and +losing all patience at the struggles of his victim, he endeavored +to lift Jonathan off of his feet, as though to dash him bodily +upon the ground. In this he would doubtless have succeeded had he +not caught his heel in the crack of a loose board of the wharf. +Instantly they both fell, violently prostrate, the captain +beneath and Jonathan above him, though still encircled in his +iron embrace. Our hero felt the back of his head strike violently +upon the flat face of the other, and he heard the captain's skull +sound with a terrific crack like that of a breaking egg upon some +post or billet of wood, against which he must have struck. In +their frantic struggles they had approached extremely near the +edge of the wharf, so that the next instant, with an enormous and +thunderous splash, Jonathan found himself plunged into the waters +of the harbor, and the arms of his assailant loosened from about +his body. + +The shock of the water brought him instantly to his senses, and, +being a fairly good swimmer, he had not the least difficulty in +reaching and clutching the cross-piece of a wooden ladder that, +coated with slimy sea-moss, led from the water-level to the wharf +above. + +After reaching the safety of the dry land once more, Jonathan +gazed about him as though to discern whence the next attack might +be delivered upon him. But he stood entirely alone upon the +dock--not another living soul was in sight. The surface of the +water exhibited some commotion, as though disturbed by something +struggling beneath; but the sea-captain, who had doubtless been +stunned by the tremendous crack upon his head, never arose again +out of the element that had engulfed him. + +The moonlight shone with a peaceful and resplendent illumination, +and, excepting certain remote noises from the distant town not a +sound broke the silence and the peacefulness of the balmy, +tropical night. The limpid water, illuminated by the resplendent +moonlight, lapped against the wharf. All the world was calm, +serene, and enveloped in a profound and entire repose. + +Jonathan looked up at the round and brilliant globe of light +floating in the sky above his head, and wondered whether it were, +indeed, possible that all that had befallen him was a reality and +not some tremendous hallucination. Then suddenly arousing himself +to a renewed realization of that which had occurred, he turned +and ran like one possessed, up along the wharf, and so into the +moonlit town once more. + + + + +VI. The Conclusion of the Adventure with the Lady with the Silver +Veil + + + +Nor did he check his precipitous flight until suddenly, being led +perhaps by some strange influence of which he was not at all the +master, he discovered himself to be standing before the +garden-gate where not more than an hour before he had first +entered upon the series of monstrous adventures that had led to +such tremendous conclusions. + +People were still passing and repassing, and one of these +groups--a party of young ladies and gentlemen--paused upon the +opposite side of the street to observe, with no small curiosity +and amusement, his dripping and bedraggled aspect. But only one +thought and one intention possessed our hero--to relieve himself +as quickly as possible of that trust which he had taken up so +thoughtlessly, and with such monstrous results to himself and to +his victims. He ran to the gate of the garden and began beating +and kicking upon it with a vehemence that he could neither master +nor control. He was aware that the entire neighborhood was +becoming aroused, for he beheld lights moving and loud voices of +inquiry; yet he gave not the least thought to the disturbance he +was creating, but continued without intermission his uproarious +pounding upon the gate. + +At length, in answer to the sound of his vehement blows, the +little wicket was opened and a pair of eyes appeared thereat. The +next instant the gate was cast ajar very hastily, and the +pock-pitted negress appeared. She caught him by the sleeve of his +coat and drew him quickly into the garden. "Buckra, Buckra!" she +cried. "What you doing? You wake de whole town!" Then, observing +his dripping garments: "You been in de water. You catch de fever +and shake till you die." + +"Thy mistress!" cried Jonathan, almost sobbing in the excess of +his emotion; "take me to her upon the instant, or I cannot answer +for my not going entirely mad!" + +When our hero was again introduced to the lady, he found her clad +in a loose and an elegant negligee, infinitely becoming to her +graceful figure, and still covered with the veil of silver gauze +that had before enveloped her. + +"Friend," he cried, vehemently, approaching her and holding out +toward her the little ivory ball, "take again this which thou +gavest me! It has brought death to three men, and I know not what +terrible fate may befall me if I keep it longer in my possession. + +"What is it you say?" cried she, in a piercing voice. "Did you +say it hath caused the death of three men? Quick! Tell me what +has happened, for I feel somehow a presage that you bring me news +of safety and release from all my dangers." + +"I know not what thou meanest!" cried Jonathan, still panting +with agitation. "But this I do know: that when I went away from +thee I departed an innocent man, and now I come back to thee +burdened with the weight of three lives, which, though innocent I +have been instrumental in taking." + +"Explain!" exclaimed the lady, tapping the floor with her foot. +"Explain! explain! explain!" + +"That I will," cried Jonathan, "and as soon as I am able! When +I left thee and went out into the street I was accosted by a +little gentleman clad in black." + +"Indeed!" cried the lady; "and had he but one eye, and did he +carry a gold-headed cane?" + +"Exactly," said Jonathan; "and he claimed acquaintance with +friend Jeremiah Doolittle." + +"He never knew him!" cried the lady, vehemently; "and I must tell +you that he was a villain named Hunt, who at one time was the +intimate consort of the pirate Keitt. He it was who plunged a +deadly knife into his captain's bosom, and so murdered him in +this very house. He himself or his agents, must have been +watching my gate when you went forth." + +"I know not how that may be," said Jonathan, "but he took me to +his apartment, and there, obtaining a knowledge of the trust thou +didst burden me with, he demanded it of me, and upon my refusing +to deliver it to him he presently fell to attacking me with a +dagger. In my efforts to protect my life I inadvertently caused +him to plunge the knife into his own bosom and to kill himself." + +"And what then?" cried the lady, who appeared well-nigh +distracted with her emotions. + +"Then," said Jonathan, "there came a strange man--a +foreigner--who upon his part assaulted me with a pistol, with +every intention of murdering me and thus obtaining possession of +that same little trifle." + +And did he," exclaimed the lady, "have long, black mustachios, +and did he have silver ear-rings in his ears?" + +"Yes," said Jonathan, "he did." + +"That," cried the lady, could have been none other than Captain +Keitt's Portuguese sailing-master, who must have been spying upon +Hunt! Tell me what happened next!" + +"He would have taken my life," said Jonathan, "but in the +struggle that followed he shot himself accidentally with his own +pistol, and died at my very feet. I do not know what would have +happened to me if a sea-captain had not come and proffered his +assistance." + +"A sea-captain!" she exclaimed; "and had he a flat face and a +broken nose?" + +"Indeed he had," replied Jonathan. + +"That," said the lady, "must have been Captain Keitt's pirate +partner--Captain Willitts, of The Bloody Hand. He was doubtless +spying upon the Portuguese." + +"He induced me," said Jonathan, "to carry the two bodies down to +the wharf. Having inveigled me there--where, I suppose, he +thought no one could interfere--he assaulted me, and endeavored +to take the ivory ball away from me. In my efforts to escape we +both fell into the water, and he, striking his head upon the edge +of the wharf, was first stunned and then drowned." + +"Thank God!" cried the lady, with a transport of fervor, and +clasping her jewelled hands together. "At last I am free of those +who have heretofore persecuted me and threatened my very life +itself! You have asked to behold my face; I will now show it to +you! Heretofore I have been obliged to keep it concealed lest, +recognizing me, my enemies should have slain me." As she spoke +she drew aside her veil, and disclosed to the vision of our hero +a countenance of the most extraordinary and striking beauty. Her +luminous eyes were like those of a Jawa, and set beneath +exquisitely arched and pencilled brows. Her forehead was like +lustrous ivory and her lips like rose-leaves. Her hair, which was +as soft as the finest silk, was fastened up in masses of +ravishing abundance. "I am," said she, "the daughter of that +unfortunate Captain Keitt, who, though weak and a pirate, was not +so wicked, I would have you know, as he has been painted. He +would, doubtless, have been an honest man had he not been led +astray by the villain Hunt, who so nearly compassed your own +destruction. He returned to this island before his death, and +made me the sole heir of all that great fortune which he had +gathered--perhaps not by the most honest means--in the waters of +the Indian Ocean. But the greatest treasure of all that fortune +bequeathed to me was a single jewel which you yourself have just +now defended with a courage and a fidelity that I cannot +sufficiently extol. It is that priceless gem known as the Ruby of +Kishmoor. I will show it to you." Hereupon she took the little +ivory ball in her hand, and, with a turn of her beautiful wrists, +unscrewed a lid so nicely and cunningly adjusted that no eye +could have detected where it was joined to the parent globe. +Within was a fleece of raw silk containing an object which she +presently displayed before the astonished gaze of our hero. It +was a red stone of about the bigness of a plover's egg, and which +glowed and flamed with such an exquisite and ruddy brilliancy as +to dazzle even Jonathan's inexperienced eyes. Indeed, he did not +need to be informed of the priceless value of the treasure, which +he beheld in the rosy palm extended toward him. How long he gazed +at this extraordinary jewel he knew not, but he was aroused from +his contemplation by the sound of the lady's voice addressing +him. "The three villains," said she, "who have this day met their +deserts in a violent and bloody death, had by an accident +obtained knowledge that this jewel was in my possession. Since +then my life has hung upon a thread, and every step that I have +taken has been watched by these enemies, the most cruel and +relentless that it was ever the lot of any unfortunate to +possess. From the mortal dangers of their machinations you have +saved me, exhibiting a courage and a determination that cannot be +sufficiently applauded. In this you have earned my deepest +admiration and regard. I would rather," she cried, "intrust my +life and my happiness to you than into the keeping of any man +whom I have ever known! I cannot hope to reward you in such a way +as to recompense you for the perils into which my necessities +have thrust you; but yet"--and here she hesitated, as though +seeking for words in which to express herself--"but yet if you +are willing to accept of this jewel, and all of the fortune that +belongs to me, together with the person of poor Evaline Keitt +herself, not only the stone and the wealth, but the woman also, +are yours to dispose of as you see fit!" + +Our hero was so struck aback at this unexpected turn that he knew +not upon the instant what reply to make. "Friend," said he, at +last, "I thank thee extremely for thy offer, and, though I would +not be ungracious, it is yet borne in upon me to testify to thee +that as to the stone itself and the fortune--of which thou +speakest, and of which I very well know the history--I have no +inclination to receive either the one or the other, both the +fruits of theft, rapine, and murder. The jewel I have myself +beheld three times stained, as it were, with the blood of my +fellow-man, so that it now has so little value in my sight that I +would not give a peppercorn to possess it. Indeed, there is no +inducement in the world that could persuade me to accept it, or +even to take it again into my hand. As to the rest of thy +generous offer, I have only to say that I am, four months hence, +to be married to a very comely young woman of Kensington, in +Pennsylvania, by name Martha Dobbs, and therefore I am not at all +at liberty to consider my inclinations in any other direction." + +Having so delivered himself, Jonathan bowed with such ease as his +stiff and awkward joints might command, and thereupon withdrew +from the presence of the charmer, who, with cheeks suffused with +blushes and with eyes averted, made no endeavor to detain him. + +So ended the only adventure of moment that ever happened to him +in all his life. For thereafter he contented himself with such +excitement as his mercantile profession and his extremely +peaceful existence might afford. + + + + +Epilogue + + + +In conclusion it may be said that when the worthy Jonathan Rugg +was married to Martha Dobbs, upon the following June, some +mysterious friend presented to the bride a rope of pearls of such +considerable value that when they were realized into money our +hero was enabled to enter into partnership with his former patron +the worthy Jeremiah Doolittle, and that, having made such a +beginning, he by-and-by arose to become, in his day, one of the +leading merchants of his native town of Philadelphia. + + + + + +End of The Project Gutenberg etext of The Ruby of Kishmoor, by Howard Pyle + |