diff options
| -rw-r--r-- | .gitattributes | 3 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 5824-h.zip | bin | 0 -> 1345516 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 5824-h/5824-h.htm | 3204 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 5824-h/images/Bookcover.jpg | bin | 0 -> 121799 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 5824-h/images/Frontpiece.jpg | bin | 0 -> 99112 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 5824-h/images/Titlepage.jpg | bin | 0 -> 39519 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 5824-h/images/p507.jpg | bin | 0 -> 27989 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 5824-h/images/p508.jpg | bin | 0 -> 49342 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 5824-h/images/p514.jpg | bin | 0 -> 39116 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 5824-h/images/p516.jpg | bin | 0 -> 26850 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 5824-h/images/p518.jpg | bin | 0 -> 42085 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 5824-h/images/p520.jpg | bin | 0 -> 19968 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 5824-h/images/p521.jpg | bin | 0 -> 89929 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 5824-h/images/p523.jpg | bin | 0 -> 46906 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 5824-h/images/p525.jpg | bin | 0 -> 56624 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 5824-h/images/p532.jpg | bin | 0 -> 27881 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 5824-h/images/p535.jpg | bin | 0 -> 43668 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 5824-h/images/p538.jpg | bin | 0 -> 41695 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 5824-h/images/p541.jpg | bin | 0 -> 21694 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 5824-h/images/p545.jpg | bin | 0 -> 32910 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 5824-h/images/p546.jpg | bin | 0 -> 26479 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 5824-h/images/p549.jpg | bin | 0 -> 41420 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 5824-h/images/p551.jpg | bin | 0 -> 74141 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 5824-h/images/p554.jpg | bin | 0 -> 48460 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 5824-h/images/p559.jpg | bin | 0 -> 33706 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 5824-h/images/p562.jpg | bin | 0 -> 46757 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 5824-h/images/p564.jpg | bin | 0 -> 23120 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 5824-h/images/p566.jpg | bin | 0 -> 27833 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 5824-h/images/p568.jpg | bin | 0 -> 40198 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 5824-h/images/p571.jpg | bin | 0 -> 68055 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 5824-h/images/p573.jpg | bin | 0 -> 38701 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 5824.txt | 2877 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 5824.zip | bin | 0 -> 58495 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | LICENSE.txt | 11 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | README.md | 2 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/mt7ga10h.zip | bin | 0 -> 1421545 bytes |
36 files changed, 6097 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/5824-h.zip b/5824-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..5fb17c4 --- /dev/null +++ b/5824-h.zip diff --git a/5824-h/5824-h.htm b/5824-h/5824-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..7d98843 --- /dev/null +++ b/5824-h/5824-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,3204 @@ +<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> +<html> +<head> +<title>THE GILDED AGE, By Twain and Warner, Part 7</title> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> + + + +<style type="text/css"> + <!-- + body {background:#faebd7; margin:10%; text-align:justify} + P { text-indent: 1em; + margin-top: .75em; + margin-bottom: .75em; } + H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 { text-align: center; } + HR { width: 33%; text-align: center; } + blockquote {font-size: 97% } + .figleft {float: left;} + .figright {float: right;} + .toc { margin-left: 15%; margin-bottom: 0em;} + CENTER { padding: 10px;} + // --> +</style> + + +</head> +<body> + +<h2>THE GILDED AGE, Part 7</h2> +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Gilded Age, Part 7. +by Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) and Charles Dudley Warner + +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 Gilded Age, Part 7. + +Author: Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) and Charles Dudley Warner + +Release Date: June 20, 2004 [EBook #5824] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GILDED AGE, PART 7. *** + + + + +Produced by David Widger + + + + + +</pre> + + + + + + +<br><hr> +<br><br><br><br><br><br> + +<center><h1>THE GILDED AGE</h1> +</center> +<center><h3>A Tale of Today</h3> +</center> +<center><h2>by Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner</h2> +</center> +<center><h3>1873</h3> +</center> +<br><br> + +<center><h3>Part 7.</h3></center> + +<br><br> + + +<center><a name="Bookcover"></a><img alt="Bookcover.jpg (118K)" src="images/Bookcover.jpg" height="1028" width="650"> +</center> +<br><br><br><br> + + +<a name="Frontpiece"></a><center><img alt="Frontpiece.jpg (96K)" src="images/Frontpiece.jpg" height="863" width="571"> +</center> +<br><br><br><br> + + + +<center><a name="Titlepage"></a><img alt="Titlepage.jpg (38K)" src="images/Titlepage.jpg" height="993" width="650"> +</center> +<br><br><br><br> + + + +<br><br> +<center><h2>CONTENTS</h2> +</center> + +<blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><blockquote> +<a href="#ch55">CHAPTER LV</a><br> +The Trial Continued—Evidence of Harry Brierly +<br><br> +<a href="#ch56">CHAPTER LVI</a><br> +The Trial Continued—Col Sellers on the Stand and Takes Advantage of +the Situation +<br><br> +<a href="#ch57">CHAPTER LVII</a><br> +The Momentous Day—Startling News—Dilworthy Denounced as a Briber and +Defeated—The Bill Lost in the Senate +<br><br> +<a href="#ch58">CHAPTER LVIII</a><br> +Verdict, Not Guilty !—Laura Free and Receives Propositions to +Lecture—Philip back at the Mines +<br><br> +<a href="#ch59">CHAPTER LIX</a><br> +The Investigation of the Dilworthy Bribery Case and Its Results +<br><br> +<a href="#ch60">CHAPTER LX</a><br> +Laura Decides on her Course—Attempts to Lecture and Fails—Found Dead in +her Chair +<br><br> +<a href="#ch61">CHAPTER LXI</a><br> +Col Sellers and Washington Hawkins Review the Situation and Leave +Washington +<br><br> +<a href="#ch62">CHAPTER LXII</a><br> +Philip Discouraged—One More Effort—Finds Coal at Last +<br><br> +<a href="#ch63">CHAPTER LXIII</a><br> +Philip Leaves Ilium to see Ruth—Ruth Convalescent—Alice +<br><br> +<a href="#Appendix">APPENDIX</a><br> + +</blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote> + +<center><h2>ILLUSTRATIONS</h2> +</center> + +<center> +<table summary=""> +<tr><td> + + + +187. <a href="#p507">SEARCH FOR A FATHER</a> <br> +158. <a href="#p508">TAKING ADVANTAGE OF A LULL</a> <br> +189. <a href="#p514">TERM EXPIRED</a> <br> +190. <a href="#p514">RE-ELECTED</a><br> +191. <a href="#p516">THE "FAITHFUL OLD HAND"</a> <br> +192. <a href="#p518">A FIRE BRAND</a> <br> +193. <a href="#p520">TAIL PIECE</a> <br> +194. <a href="#p521">COL. SELLERS AND WASHINGTON RETURN HOME AFTER THE VOTE</a><br> +195. <a href="#p523">A COURT-IN SCENE</a> <br> +196. <a href="#p525">POPULAR ENDORSEMENT</a> <br> +197. <a href="#p532">ONE OF THE INSULTED MEMBERS</a> <br> +195. <a href="#p535">TOUCHED BY THE SIRUGGLES OF THE POOR</a> <br> +199. <a href="#p538">MR NOBLE ASKS QUESTIONS</a> <br> +200. <a href="#p541">THE WORN OUT STYLE OF SENATOR</a> <br> +201. <a href="#p545">THE PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE</a><br> +202. <a href="#p546">THE LAST LINK BROKEN</a> <br> +203. <a href="#p549">THE TERRIBLE ORDEAL</a> <br> +204. <a href="#p551">RETROSPECTION</a><br> +205. <a href="#p554">GOOD-BYE TO WASHINGTON</a><br> +206. <a href="#p559">TAIL PIECE</a> <br> +207. <a href="#p562">THE PARTING BLAST OFFERED</a> <br> +208. <a href="#p564">THE LAST BLAST</a> <br> +209. <a href="#p566">STRUCK IT AT LAST</a> <br> +210. <a href="#p568">THE RICH PROPRIETOR</a><br> +211. <a href="#p571">THE SICK CHAMBER</a><br> +212. <a href="#p573">ALICE</a><br> + +</td></tr> +</table> +</center> + + +<br><br><br><br><br><br> + + + + +<center><h2><a name="ch55"></a>CHAPTER LV.</h2></center> +<br> + +<p>Henry Brierly took the stand. Requested by the District Attorney to tell +the jury all he knew about the killing, he narrated the circumstances +substantially as the reader already knows them.</p> + +<p>He accompanied Miss Hawkins to New York at her request, supposing she was +coming in relation to a bill then pending in Congress, to secure the +attendance of absent members. Her note to him was here shown. She +appeared to be very much excited at the Washington station. After she +had asked the conductor several questions, he heard her say, "He can't +escape." Witness asked her "Who?" and she replied "Nobody." Did not see +her during the night. They traveled in a sleeping car. In the morning +she appeared not to have slept, said she had a headache. In crossing the +ferry she asked him about the shipping in sight; he pointed out where the +Cunarders lay when in port. They took a cup of coffee that morning at a +restaurant. She said she was anxious to reach the Southern Hotel where +Mr. Simons, one of the absent members, was staying, before he went out. +She was entirely self-possessed, and beyond unusual excitement did not +act unnaturally. After she had fired twice at Col. Selby, she turned the +pistol towards her own breast, and witness snatched it from her. She had +seen a great deal with Selby in Washington, appeared to be infatuated +with him.</p> + +<p>(Cross-examined by Mr. Braham.) "Mist-er.....er Brierly!" (Mr. Braham had +in perfection this lawyer's trick of annoying a witness, by drawling out +the "Mister," as if unable to recall the name, until the witness is +sufficiently aggravated, and then suddenly, with a rising inflection, +flinging his name at him with startling unexpectedness.) "Mist-er.....er +Brierly! What is your occupation?"</p> + +<p>"Civil Engineer, sir."</p> + +<p>"Ah, civil engineer, (with a glance at the jury). Following that +occupation with Miss Hawkins?" (Smiles by the jury).</p> + +<p>"No, sir," said Harry, reddening.</p> + +<p>"How long have you known the prisoner?"</p> + +<p>"Two years, sir. I made her acquaintance in Hawkeye, Missouri."</p> + +<p>"M.....m...m. Mist-er.....er Brierly! Were you not a lover of Miss +Hawkins?"</p> + +<p>Objected to. "I submit, your Honor, that I have the right to establish +the relation of this unwilling witness to the prisoner." Admitted.</p> + +<p>"Well, sir," said Harry hesitatingly, "we were friends."</p> + +<p>"You act like a friend!" (sarcastically.) The jury were beginning to hate +this neatly dressed young sprig. "Mister......er....Brierly! Didn't +Miss Hawkins refuse you?"</p> + +<p>Harry blushed and stammered and looked at the judge. "You must answer, +sir," said His Honor.</p> + +<p>"She—she—didn't accept me."</p> + +<p>"No. I should think not. Brierly do you dare tell the jury that you had +not an interest in the removal of your rival, Col. Selby?" roared Mr. +Braham in a voice of thunder.</p> + +<p>"Nothing like this, sir, nothing like this," protested the witness.</p> + +<p>"That's all, sir," said Mr. Braham severely.</p> + +<p>"One word," said the District Attorney. "Had you the least suspicion of +the prisoner's intention, up to the moment of the shooting?"</p> + +<p>"Not the least," answered Harry earnestly.</p> + +<p>"Of course not, of course-not," nodded Mr. Braham to the jury.</p> + +<p>The prosecution then put upon the stand the other witnesses of the +shooting at the hotel, and the clerk and the attending physicians. The +fact of the homicide was clearly established. Nothing new was elicited, +except from the clerk, in reply to a question by Mr. Braham, the fact +that when the prisoner enquired for Col. Selby she appeared excited and +there was a wild look in her eyes.</p> + +<p>The dying deposition of Col. Selby was then produced. It set forth +Laura's threats, but there was a significant addition to it, which the +newspaper report did not have. It seemed that after the deposition was +taken as reported, the Colonel was told for the first time by his +physicians that his wounds were mortal. He appeared to be in great +mental agony and fear; and said he had not finished his deposition. +He added, with great difficulty and long pauses these words. +"I—have—not—told—all. I must tell—put—it—down—I—wronged—her. +Years—ago—I—can't see—O—God—I—deserved——" That was all. He fainted +and did not revive again.</p> + +<p>The Washington railway conductor testified that the prisoner had asked +him if a gentleman and his family went out on the evening train, +describing the persons he had since learned were Col. Selby and family.</p> + +<p>Susan Cullum, colored servant at Senator Dilworthy's, was sworn. Knew +Col. Selby. Had seen him come to the house often, and be alone in the +parlor with Miss Hawkins. He came the day but one before he was shot. +She let him in. He appeared flustered like. She heard talking in the +parlor, I peared like it was quarrelin'. Was afeared sumfin' was wrong: +Just put her ear to—the—keyhole of the back parlor-door. Heard a man's +voice, "I—can't—I can't, Good God," quite beggin' like. Heard—young +Miss' voice, "Take your choice, then. If you 'bandon me, you knows what +to 'spect." Then he rushes outen the house, I goes in—and I says, +"Missis did you ring?" She was a standin' like a tiger, her eyes +flashin'. I come right out.</p> + +<p>This was the substance of Susan's testimony, which was not shaken in the +least by severe cross-examination. In reply to Mr. Braham's question, if +the prisoner did not look insane, Susan said, "Lord; no, sir, just mad as +a hawnet."</p> + +<p>Washington Hawkins was sworn. The pistol, identified by the officer as +the one used in the homicide, was produced Washington admitted that it +was his. She had asked him for it one morning, saying she thought she +had heard burglars the night before. Admitted that he never had heard +burglars in the house. Had anything unusual happened just before that.</p> + +<p>Nothing that he remembered. Did he accompany her to a reception at Mrs. +Shoonmaker's a day or two before? Yes. What occurred? Little by little +it was dragged out of the witness that Laura had behaved strangely there, +appeared to be sick, and he had taken her home. Upon being pushed he +admitted that she had afterwards confessed that she saw Selby there. +And Washington volunteered the statement that Selby, was a black-hearted +villain.</p> + +<p>The District Attorney said, with some annoyance; "There—there! That will +do."</p> + +<p>The defence declined to examine Mr. Hawkins at present. The case for the +prosecution was closed. Of the murder there could not be the least +doubt, or that the prisoner followed the deceased to New York with a +murderous intent: On the evidence the jury must convict, and might do so +without leaving their seats. This was the condition of the case +two days after the jury had been selected. A week had passed since the +trial opened; and a Sunday had intervened.</p> + +<p>The public who read the reports of the evidence saw no chance for the +prisoner's escape. The crowd of spectators who had watched the trial +were moved with the most profound sympathy for Laura.</p> + +<p>Mr. Braham opened the case for the defence. His manner was subdued, and +he spoke in so low a voice that it was only by reason of perfect silence +in the court room that he could be heard. He spoke very distinctly, +however, and if his nationality could be discovered in his speech it was +only in a certain richness and breadth of tone.</p> + +<p>He began by saying that he trembled at the responsibility he had +undertaken; and he should, altogether despair, if he did not see before +him a jury of twelve men of rare intelligence, whose acute minds would +unravel all the sophistries of the prosecution, men with a sense, of +honor, which would revolt at the remorseless persecution of this hunted +woman by the state, men with hearts to feel for the wrongs of which she +was the victim. Far be it from him to cast any suspicion upon the +motives of the able, eloquent and ingenious lawyers of the state; they +act officially; their business is to convict. It is our business, +gentlemen, to see that justice is done.</p> + +<p>"It is my duty, gentlemen, to untold to you one of the most affecting +dramas in all, the history of misfortune. I shall have to show you a +life, the sport of fate and circumstances, hurried along through shifting +storm and sun, bright with trusting innocence and anon black with +heartless villainy, a career which moves on in love and desertion and +anguish, always hovered over by the dark spectre of INSANITY—an insanity +hereditary and induced by mental torture,—until it ends, if end it must +in your verdict, by one of those fearful accidents, which are inscrutable +to men and of which God alone knows the secret.</p> + +<p>"Gentlemen, I, shall ask you to go with me away from this court room and +its minions of the law, away from the scene of this tragedy, to a +distant, I wish I could say a happier day. The story I have to tell is +of a lovely little girl, with sunny hair and laughing eyes, traveling +with her parents, evidently people of wealth and refinement, upon a +Mississippi steamboat. There is an explosion, one of those terrible +catastrophes which leave the imprint of an unsettled mind upon the +survivors. Hundreds of mangled remains are sent into eternity. When the +wreck is cleared away this sweet little girl is found among the panic +stricken survivors in the midst of a scene of horror enough to turn the +steadiest brain. Her parents have disappeared. Search even for their +bodies is in vain. The bewildered, stricken child—who can say what +changes the fearful event wrought in her tender brain—clings to the +first person who shows her sympathy. It is Mrs. Hawkins, this good lady +who is still her loving friend. Laura is adopted into the Hawkins +family. Perhaps she forgets in time that she is not their child. She is +an orphan. No, gentlemen, I will not deceive you, she is not an orphan. +Worse than that. There comes another day of agony. She knows that her +father lives. Who is he, where is he? Alas, I cannot tell you. Through +the scenes of this painful history he flits here and there a lunatic! +If he, seeks his daughter, it is the purposeless search of a lunatic, as +one who wanders bereft of reason, crying where is my child? Laura seeks +her father. In vain just as she is about to find him, again and again-he +disappears, he is gone, he vanishes.</p> + +<p>"But this is only the prologue to the tragedy. Bear with me while I +relate it. (Mr. Braham takes out a handkerchief, unfolds it slowly; +crashes it in his nervous hand, and throws it on the table). Laura grew +up in her humble southern home, a beautiful creature, the joy, of the +house, the pride of the neighborhood, the loveliest flower in all the +sunny south. She might yet have been happy; she was happy. But the +destroyer came into this paradise. He plucked the sweetest bud that grew +there, and having enjoyed its odor, trampled it in the mire beneath his +feet. George Selby, the deceased, a handsome, accomplished Confederate +Colonel, was this human fiend. He deceived her with a mock marriage; +after some months he brutally, abandoned her, and spurned her as if she +were a contemptible thing; all the time he had a wife in New Orleans. +Laura was crushed. For weeks, as I shall show you by the testimony of +her adopted mother and brother, she hovered over death in delirium. +Gentlemen, did she ever emerge from this delirium? I shall show you that +when she recovered her health, her mind was changed, she was not what she +had been. You can judge yourselves whether the tottering reason ever +recovered its throne.</p> + +<p>"Years pass. She is in Washington, apparently the happy favorite of a +brilliant society. Her family have become enormously rich by one of +those sudden turns, in fortune that the inhabitants of America are +familiar with—the discovery of immense mineral wealth in some wild lands +owned by them. She is engaged in a vast philanthropic scheme for the +benefit of the poor, by, the use of this wealth. But, alas, even here +and now, the same, relentless fate pursued her. The villain Selby +appears again upon the scene, as if on purpose to complete the ruin of +her life. He appeared to taunt her with her dishonor, he threatened +exposure if she did not become again the mistress of his passion. +Gentlemen, do you wonder if this woman, thus pursued, lost her reason, +was beside herself with fear, and that her wrongs preyed upon her mind +until she was no longer responsible for her acts? I turn away my head as +one who would not willingly look even upon the just vengeance of Heaven. +(Mr. Braham paused as if overcome by his emotions. Mrs. Hawkins and +Washington were in tears, as were many of the spectators also. The jury +looked scared.)</p> + +<p>"Gentlemen, in this condition of affairs it needed but a spark—I do not +say a suggestion, I do not say a hint—from this butterfly Brierly; this +rejected rival, to cause the explosion. I make no charges, but if this +woman was in her right mind when she fled from Washington and reached +this city in company—with Brierly, then I do not know what insanity is."</p> + +<p>When Mr. Braham sat down, he felt that he had the jury with him. A burst +of applause followed, which the officer promptly, suppressed. Laura, +with tears in her eyes, turned a grateful look upon her counsel. All the +women among the spectators saw the tears and wept also. They thought as +they also looked at Mr. Braham; how handsome he is!</p> + +<p>Mrs. Hawkins took the stand. She was somewhat confused to be the target +of so many, eyes, but her honest and good face at once told in Laura's +favor.</p> + +<p>"Mrs. Hawkins," said Mr. Braham, "will you' be kind enough to state the +circumstances of your finding Laura?"</p> + +<p>"I object," said Mr. McFlinn; rising to his feet. "This has nothing +whatever to do with the case, your honor. I am surprised at it, even +after the extraordinary speech of my learned friend."</p> + +<p>"How do you propose to connect it, Mr. Braham?" asked the judge.</p> + +<p>"If it please the court," said Mr. Braham, rising impressively, "your +Honor has permitted the prosecution, and I have submitted without a word; +to go into the most extraordinary testimony to establish a motive. Are +we to be shut out from showing that the motive attributed to us could not +by reason of certain mental conditions exist? I purpose, may, it please +your Honor, to show the cause and the origin of an aberration of mind, +to follow it up, with other like evidence, connecting it with the very +moment of the homicide, showing a condition of the intellect, of the +prisoner that precludes responsibility."</p> + +<p>"The State must insist upon its objections," said the District Attorney. +"The purpose evidently is to open the door to a mass of irrelevant +testimony, the object of which is to produce an effect upon the jury your +Honor well understands."</p> + +<p>"Perhaps," suggested the judge, "the court ought to hear the testimony, +and exclude it afterwards, if it is irrelevant."</p> + +<p>"Will your honor hear argument on that!"</p> + +<p>"Certainly."</p> + +<p>And argument his honor did hear, or pretend to, for two whole days, +from all the counsel in turn, in the course of which the lawyers read +contradictory decisions enough to perfectly establish both sides, from +volume after volume, whole libraries in fact, until no mortal man could +say what the rules were. The question of insanity in all its legal +aspects was of course drawn into the discussion, and its application +affirmed and denied. The case was felt to turn upon the admission or +rejection of this evidence. It was a sort of test trial of strength +between the lawyers. At the end the judge decided to admit the +testimony, as the judge usually does in such cases, after a sufficient +waste of time in what are called arguments.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Hawkins was allowed to go on.</p> + + + +<br><br><br><br><br><br> +<center><h2><a name="ch56"></a>CHAPTER LVI.</h2></center> +<br> + +<p>Mrs. Hawkins slowly and conscientiously, as if every detail of her family +history was important, told the story of the steamboat explosion, of the +finding and adoption of Laura. Silas, that its Mr. Hawkins, and she +always loved Laura, as if she had been their own, child.</p> + +<p>She then narrated the circumstances of Laura's supposed marriage, her +abandonment and long illness, in a manner that touched all hearts. Laura +had been a different woman since then.</p> + +<p>Cross-examined. At the time of first finding Laura on the steamboat, +did she notice that Laura's mind was at all deranged? She couldn't say +that she did. After the recovery of Laura from her long illness, did +Mrs. Hawkins think there, were any signs of insanity about her? Witness +confessed that she did not think of it then.</p> + +<p>Re-Direct examination. "But she was different after that?"</p> + +<p>"O, yes, sir."</p> + +<p>Washington Hawkins corroborated his mother's testimony as to Laura's +connection with Col. Selby. He was at Harding during the time of her +living there with him. After Col. Selby's desertion she was almost dead, +never appeared to know anything rightly for weeks. He added that he +never saw such a scoundrel as Selby. (Checked by District attorney.) +Had he noticed any change in, Laura after her illness? Oh, yes. +Whenever, any allusion was made that might recall Selby to mind, she +looked awful—as if she could kill him.</p> + +<p>"You mean," said Mr. Braham, "that there was an unnatural, insane gleam +in her eyes?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, certainly," said Washington in confusion.</p> + +<p>All this was objected to by the district attorney, but it was got before +the jury, and Mr. Braham did not care how much it was ruled out after +that.</p> + +<p>"Beriah Sellers was the next witness called. The Colonel made his way to +the stand with majestic, yet bland deliberation. Having taken the oath +and kissed the Bible with a smack intended to show his great respect for +that book, he bowed to his Honor with dignity, to the jury with +familiarity, and then turned to the lawyers and stood in an attitude of +superior attention.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Sellers, I believe?" began Mr. Braham.</p> + +<p>"Beriah Sellers, Missouri," was the courteous acknowledgment that the +lawyer was correct.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Sellers; you know the parties here, you are a friend of the family?"</p> + +<p>"Know them all, from infancy, sir. It was me, sir, that induced Silas +Hawkins, Judge Hawkins, to come to Missouri, and make his fortune. +It was by my advice and in company with me, sir, that he went into the +operation of—"</p> + +<p>"Yes, yes. Mr. Sellers, did you know a Major Lackland?"</p> + +<p>"Knew him, well, sir, knew him and honored him, sir. He was one of the +most remarkable men of our country, sir. A member of congress. He was +often at my mansion sir, for weeks. He used to say to me, 'Col. Sellers, +if you would go into politics, if I had you for a colleague, we should +show Calhoun and Webster that the brain of the country didn't lie east of +the Alleganies. But I said—"</p> + +<p>"Yes, yes. I believe Major Lackland is not living, Colonel?"</p> + +<p>There was an almost imperceptible sense of pleasure betrayed in the +Colonel's face at this prompt acknowledgment of his title.</p> + +<p>"Bless you, no. Died years ago, a miserable death, sir, a ruined man, +a poor sot. He was suspected of selling his vote in Congress, and +probably he did; the disgrace killed' him, he was an outcast, sir, +loathed by himself and by his constituents. And I think; sir"——</p> + +<p>The Judge. "You will confine yourself, Col. Sellers to the questions of +the counsel."</p> + +<p>"Of course, your honor. This," continued the Colonel in confidential +explanation, "was twenty years ago. I shouldn't have thought of referring +to such a trifling circumstance now. If I remember rightly, sir"—</p> + +<p>A bundle of letters was here handed to the witness.</p> + +<p>"Do you recognize, that hand-writing?"</p> + +<p>"As if it was my own, sir. It's Major Lackland's. I was knowing to these +letters when Judge Hawkins received them. [The Colonel's memory was a +little at fault here. Mr. Hawkins had never gone into detail's with him +on this subject.] He used to show them to me, and say, 'Col, Sellers +you've a mind to untangle this sort of thing.' Lord, how everything +comes back to me. Laura was a little thing then. 'The Judge and I were +just laying our plans to buy the Pilot Knob, and—"</p> + +<p>"Colonel, one moment. Your Honor, we put these letters in evidence."</p> + +<p>The letters were a portion of the correspondence of Major Lackland with +Silas Hawkins; parts of them were missing and important letters were +referred to that were not here. They related, as the reader knows, to +Laura's father. Lackland had come upon the track of a man who was +searching for a lost child in a Mississippi steamboat explosion years +before. The man was lame in one leg, and appeared to be flitting from +place to place. It seemed that Major Lackland got so close track of him +that he was able to describe his personal appearance and learn his name. +But the letter containing these particulars was lost. Once he heard of +him at a hotel in Washington; but the man departed, leaving an empty +trunk, the day before the major went there. There was something very +mysterious in all his movements.</p> + +<p>Col. Sellers, continuing his testimony, said that he saw this lost +letter, but could not now recall the name. Search for the supposed +father had been continued by Lackland, Hawkins and himself for several +years, but Laura was not informed of it till after the death of Hawkins, +for fear of raising false hopes in her mind.</p> + +<p>Here the Distract Attorney arose and said,</p> + +<p>"Your Honor, I must positively object to letting the witness wander off +into all these irrelevant details."</p> + +<p>Mr. Braham. "I submit your honor, that we cannot be interrupted in this +manner we have suffered the state to have full swing. Now here is a +witness, who has known the prisoner from infancy, and is competent to +testify upon the one point vital to her safety. Evidently he is a +gentleman of character, and his knowledge of the case cannot be shut out +without increasing the aspect of persecution which the State's attitude +towards the prisoner already has assumed."</p> + +<p>The wrangle continued, waxing hotter and hotter. The Colonel seeing the +attention of the counsel and Court entirely withdrawn from him, thought +he perceived here his opportunity, turning and beaming upon the jury, he +began simply to talk, but as the grandeur of his position grew upon +him—talk broadened unconsciously into an oratorical vein.</p> + +<p>"You see how she was situated, gentlemen; poor child, it might have +broken her, heart to let her mind get to running on such a thing as that. +You see, from what we could make out her father was lame in the left leg +and had a deep scar on his left forehead. And so ever since the day she +found out she had another father, she never could, run across a lame +stranger without being taken all over with a shiver, and almost fainting +where she, stood. And the next minute she would go right after that man. +Once she stumbled on a stranger with a game leg; and she was the most +grateful thing in this world—but it was the wrong leg, and it was days +and days before she could leave her bed.</p> + +<br><br><br><br> +<center><a name="p507"></a><img alt="p507.jpg (27K)" src="images/p507.jpg" height="413" width="405"> +</center> +<br><br><br><br> + +<p>Once she found a man with a scar +on his forehead and she was just going to throw herself into his arms,` +but he stepped out just then, and there wasn't anything the matter with +his legs. Time and time again, gentlemen of the jury, has this poor +suffering orphan flung herself on her knees with all her heart's +gratitude in her eyes before some scarred and crippled veteran, but +always, always to be disappointed, always to be plunged into new +despair—if his legs were right his scar was wrong, if his scar was right +his legs were wrong. Never could find a man that would fill the bill. +Gentlemen of the jury; you have hearts, you have feelings, you have warm +human sympathies; you can feel for this poor suffering child. Gentlemen +of the jury, if I had time, if I had the opportunity, if I might be +permitted to go on and tell you the thousands and thousands and thousands +of mutilated strangers this poor girl has started out of cover, and +hunted from city to city, from state to state, from continent to +continent, till she has run them down and found they wan't the ones; I +know your hearts—"</p> + +<p>By this time the Colonel had become so warmed up, that his voice, had +reached a pitch above that of the contending counsel; the lawyers +suddenly stopped, and they and the Judge turned towards the Colonel and +remained far several seconds too surprised at this novel exhibition to +speak. In this interval of silence, an appreciation of the situation +gradually stole over the, audience, and an explosion of laughter +followed, in which even the Court and the bar could hardly keep from +joining.</p> + +<br><br><br><br> +<center><a name="p508"></a><img alt="p508.jpg (48K)" src="images/p508.jpg" height="465" width="541"> +</center> +<br><br><br><br> + +<p>Sheriff. "Order in the Court."</p> + +<p>The Judge. "The witness will confine his remarks to answers to +questions."</p> + +<p>The Colonel turned courteously to the Judge and said,</p> + +<p>"Certainly, your Honor—certainly. I am not well acquainted with the +forms of procedure in the courts of New York, but in the West, sir, in +the West—"</p> + +<p>The Judge. "There, there, that will do, that will do!</p> + +<p>"You see, your Honor, there were no questions asked me, and I thought I +would take advantage of the lull in the proceedings to explain to the, +jury a very significant train of—"</p> + +<p>The Judge. "That will DO sir! Proceed Mr. Braham."</p> + +<p>"Col. Sellers, have you any, reason to suppose that this man is still +living?"</p> + +<p>"Every reason, sir, every reason.</p> + +<p>"State why"</p> + +<p>"I have never heard of his death, sir. It has never come to my +knowledge. In fact, sir, as I once said to Governor—"</p> + +<p>"Will you state to the jury what has been the effect of the knowledge of +this wandering and evidently unsettled being, supposed to be her father, +upon the mind of Miss Hawkins for so many years!"</p> + +<p>Question objected to. Question ruled out.</p> + +<p>Cross-examined. "Major Sellers, what is your occupation?"</p> + +<p>The Colonel looked about him loftily, as if casting in his mind what +would be the proper occupation of a person of such multifarious interests +and then said with dignity:</p> + +<p>"A gentleman, sir. My father used to always say, sir"—</p> + +<p>"Capt. Sellers, did you; ever see this man, this supposed father?"</p> + +<p>"No, Sir. But upon one occasion, old Senator Thompson said to me, its my +opinion, Colonel Sellers"—</p> + +<p>"Did you ever see any body who had seen him?"</p> + +<p>"No, sir: It was reported around at one time, that"—</p> + +<p>"That is all."</p> + +<p>The defense then sent a day in the examination of medical experts in +insanity who testified, on the evidence heard, that sufficient causes had +occurred to produce an insane mind in the prisoner. Numerous cases were +cited to sustain this opinion. There was such a thing as momentary +insanity, in which the person, otherwise rational to all appearances, +was for the time actually bereft of reason, and not responsible for his +acts. The causes of this momentary possession could often be found in +the person's life. [It afterwards came out that the chief expert for the +defense, was paid a thousand dollars for looking into the case.]</p> + +<p>The prosecution consumed another day in the examination of experts +refuting the notion of insanity. These causes might have produced +insanity, but there was no evidence that they have produced it in this +case, or that the prisoner was not at the time of the commission of the +crime in full possession of her ordinary faculties.</p> + +<p>The trial had now lasted two weeks. It required four days now for the +lawyers to "sum up." These arguments of the counsel were very important +to their friends, and greatly enhanced their reputation at the bar but +they have small interest to us. Mr. Braham in his closing speech +surpassed himself; his effort is still remembered as the greatest in the +criminal annals of New York.</p> + +<p>Mr. Braham re-drew for the jury the picture, of Laura's early life; he +dwelt long upon that painful episode of the pretended marriage and the +desertion. Col. Selby, he said, belonged, gentlemen; to what is called +the "upper classes:" It is the privilege of the "upper classes" to prey +upon the sons and daughters of the people. The Hawkins family, though +allied to the best blood of the South, were at the time in humble +circumstances. He commented upon her parentage. Perhaps her agonized +father, in his intervals of sanity, was still searching for his lost +daughter. Would he one day hear that she had died a felon's death? +Society had pursued her, fate had pursued her, and in a moment of +delirium she had turned and defied fate and society. He dwelt upon the +admission of base wrong in Col. Selby's dying statement. He drew a +vivid, picture of the villain at last overtaken by the vengeance of +Heaven. Would the jury say that this retributive justice, inflicted by +an outraged, and deluded woman, rendered irrational by the most cruel +wrongs, was in the nature of a foul, premeditated murder? "Gentlemen; +it is enough for me to look upon the life of this most beautiful and +accomplished of her sex, blasted by the heartless villainy of man, +without seeing, at the-end of it; the horrible spectacle of a gibbet. +Gentlemen, we are all human, we have all sinned, we all have need of +mercy. But I do not ask mercy of you who are the guardians of society +and of the poor waifs, its sometimes wronged victims; I ask only that +justice which you and I shall need in that last, dreadful hour, when +death will be robbed of half its terrors if we can reflect that we have +never wronged a human being. Gentlemen, the life of this lovely and once +happy girl, this now stricken woman, is in your hands."</p> + +<p>The jury were risibly affected. Half the court room was in tears. If a +vote of both spectators and jury could have been taken then, the verdict +would have been, "let her go, she has suffered enough."</p> + +<p>But the district attorney had the closing argument. Calmly and without +malice or excitement he reviewed the testimony. As the cold facts were +unrolled, fear settled upon the listeners. There was no escape from the +murder or its premeditation. Laura's character as a lobbyist in +Washington which had been made to appear incidentally in the evidence was +also against her: the whole body of the testimony of the defense was +shown to be irrelevant, introduced only to excite sympathy, and not +giving a color of probability to the absurd supposition of insanity. +The attorney then dwelt upon, the insecurity of life in the city, and the +growing immunity with which women committed murders. Mr. McFlinn made a +very able speech; convincing the reason without touching the feelings.</p> + +<p>The Judge in his charge reviewed the, testimony with great show of +impartiality. He ended by saying that the verdict must be acquittal or +murder in the first, degree. If you find that the prisoner committed a +homicide, in possession of her reason and with premeditation, your +verdict will be accordingly. If you find she was not in her right mind, +that she was the victim of insanity, hereditary or momentary, as it has +been explained, your verdict will take that into account.</p> + +<p>As the Judge finished his charge, the spectators anxiously watched the +faces of the jury. It was not a remunerative study. In the court room +the general feeling was in favor of Laura, but whether this feeling +extended to the jury, their stolid faces did not reveal. The public +outside hoped for a conviction, as it always does; it wanted an example; +the newspapers trusted the jury would have the courage to do its duty. +When Laura was convicted, then the public would tern around and abuse the +governor if he did; not pardon her.</p> + +<p>The jury went out. Mr. Braham preserved his serene confidence, but +Laura's friends were dispirited. Washington and Col. Sellers had been +obliged to go to Washington, and they had departed under the unspoken +fear the verdict would be unfavorable, a disagreement was the best they +could hope for, and money was needed. The necessity of the passage of +the University bill was now imperative.</p> + +<p>The Court waited, for, some time, but the jury gave no signs of coming +in. Mr. Braham said it was extraordinary. The Court then took a recess +for a couple of hours. Upon again coming in, word was brought that the +jury had not yet agreed.</p> + +<p>But the, jury, had a question. The point upon which, they wanted +instruction was this. They wanted to know if Col. Sellers was related to +the Hawkins family. The court then adjourned till morning.</p> + +<p>Mr. Braham, who was in something of a pet, remarked to Mr. O'Toole that +they must have been deceived, that juryman with the broken nose could +read!</p> + + + +<br><br><br><br><br><br> +<center><h2><a name="ch57"></a>CHAPTER LVII.</h2></center> +<br> + +<p>The momentous day was at hand—a day that promised to make or mar the +fortunes of Hawkins family for all time. Washington Hawkins and Col. +Sellers were both up early, for neither of them could sleep. Congress +was expiring, and was passing bill after bill as if they were gasps and +each likely to be its last. The University was on file for its third +reading this day, and to-morrow Washington would be a millionaire and +Sellers no longer, impecunious but this day, also, or at farthest the +next, the jury in Laura's Case would come to a decision of some kind or +other—they would find her guilty, Washington secretly feared, and then +the care and the trouble would all come back again, and these would be +wearing months of besieging judges for new trials; on this day, also, the +re-election of Mr. Dilworthy to the Senate would take place. So +Washington's mind was in a state of turmoil; there were more interests at +stake than it could handle with serenity. He exulted when he thought of +his millions; he was filled with dread when he thought of Laura. But +Sellers was excited and happy. He said:</p> + +<p>"Everything is going right, everything's going perfectly right. Pretty +soon the telegrams will begin to rattle in, and then you'll see, my boy. +Let the jury do what they please; what difference is it going to make? +To-morrow we can send a million to New York and set the lawyers at work +on the judges; bless your heart they will go before judge after judge and +exhort and beseech and pray and shed tears. They always do; and they +always win, too. And they will win this time. They will get a writ of +habeas corpus, and a stay of proceedings, and a supersedeas, and a new +trial and a nolle prosequi, and there you are! That's the routine, and +it's no trick at all to a New York lawyer. That's the regular +routine—everything's red tape and routine in the law, you see; it's all Greek +to you, of course, but to a man who is acquainted with those things it's +mere—I'll explain it to you sometime. Everything's going to glide right +along easy and comfortable now. You'll see, Washington, you'll see how +it will be. And then, let me think ..... Dilwortby will be elected +to-day, and by day, after to-morrow night be will be in New York ready to +put in his shovel—and you haven't lived in Washington all this time not +to know that the people who walk right by a Senator whose term is up +without hardly seeing him will be down at the deepo to say 'Welcome back +and God bless you; Senator, I'm glad to see you, sir!' when he comes +along back re-elected, you know. Well, you see, his influence was +naturally running low when he left here, but now he has got a new +six-years' start, and his suggestions will simply just weigh a couple of tons +a-piece day after tomorrow. Lord bless you he could rattle through that +habeas corpus and supersedeas and all those things for Laura all by +himself if he wanted to, when he gets back."</p> + +<br><br><br><br> +<center><a name="p514"></a><img alt="p514.jpg (38K)" src="images/p514.jpg" height="395" width="569"> +</center> +<br><br><br><br> + +<p>"I hadn't thought of that," said Washington, brightening, but it is so. +A newly-elected Senator is a power, I know that."</p> + +<p>"Yes indeed he is.—Why it, is just human nature. Look at me. When we +first came here, I was Mr. Sellers, and Major Sellers, Captain Sellers, +but nobody could ever get it right, somehow; but the minute our bill +went, through the House, I was Col. Sellers every time. And nobody could +do enough for me, and whatever I said was wonderful, Sir, it was always +wonderful; I never seemed to say any flat things at all. It was Colonel, +won't you come and dine with us; and Colonel why don't we ever see you at +our house; and the Colonel says this; and the Colonel says that; and we +know such-and-such is so-and-so because my husband heard Col. Sellers say +so. Don't you see? Well, the Senate adjourned and left our bill high, +and dry, and I'll be hanged if I warn't Old Sellers from that day, till +our bill passed the House again last week. Now I'm the Colonel again; +and if I were to eat all the dinners I am invited to, I reckon I'd wear +my teeth down level with my gums in a couple of weeks."</p> + +<p>"Well I do wonder what you will be to-morrow; Colonel, after the +President signs the bill!"</p> + +<p>"General, sir?—General, without a doubt. Yes, sir, tomorrow it will be +General, let me congratulate you, sir; General, you've done a great work, +sir;—you've done a great work for the niggro; Gentlemen allow me the +honor to introduce my friend General Sellers, the humane friend of the +niggro. Lord bless me; you'll' see the newspapers say, General Sellers +and servants arrived in the city last night and is stopping at the Fifth +Avenue; and General Sellers has accepted a reception and banquet by the +Cosmopolitan Club; you'll see the General's opinions quoted, +too—and what the General has to say about the propriety of a new trial and +a habeas corpus for the unfortunate Miss Hawkins will not be without +weight in influential quarters, I can tell you."</p> + +<p>"And I want to be the first to shake your faithful old hand and salute +you with your new honors, and I want to do it now—General!" said +Washington, suiting the action to the word, and accompanying it with all +the meaning that a cordial grasp and eloquent eyes could give it.</p> + +<br><br><br><br> +<center><a name="p516"></a><img alt="p516.jpg (26K)" src="images/p516.jpg" height="467" width="287"> +</center> +<br><br><br><br> + +<p>The Colonel was touched; he was pleased and proud, too; his face answered +for that.</p> + +<p>Not very long after breakfast the telegrams began to arrive. The first +was from Braham, and ran thus:</p> + +<blockquote><blockquote> + "We feel certain that the verdict will be rendered to-day. Be it + good or bad, let it find us ready to make the next move instantly, + whatever it may be." +</blockquote></blockquote> + +<p>"That's the right talk," said Sellers. "That Braham's a wonderful man. +He was the only man there that really understood me; he told me so +himself, afterwards."</p> + +<p>The next telegram was from Mr. Dilworthy:</p> + +<blockquote><blockquote> + "I have not only brought over the Great Invincible, but through him + a dozen more of the opposition. Shall be re-elected to-day by an + overwhelming majority." +</blockquote></blockquote> + +<p>"Good again!" said the Colonel. "That man's talent for organization is +something marvelous. He wanted me to go out there and engineer that +thing, but I said, No, Dilworthy, I must be on hand here,—both on +Laura's account and the bill's—but you've no trifling genius for +organization yourself, said I—and I was right. You go ahead, +said I—you can fix it—and so he has. But I claim no credit for that—if I +stiffened up his back-bone a little, I simply put him in the way to make +his fight—didn't undertake it myself. He has captured Noble—. +I consider that a splendid piece of diplomacy—Splendid, Sir!"</p> + +<p>By and by came another dispatch from New York:</p> + +<blockquote><blockquote> +"Jury still out. Laura calm and firm as a statue. The report that the +jury have brought her in guilty is false and premature." +</blockquote></blockquote> + +<p>"Premature!" gasped Washington, turning white. "Then they all expect +that sort of a verdict, when it comes in."</p> + +<p>And so did he; but he had not had courage enough to put it into words. +He had been preparing himself for the worst, but after all his +preparation the bare suggestion of the possibility of such a verdict +struck him cold as death.</p> + +<p>The friends grew impatient, now; the telegrams did not come fast enough: +even the lightning could not keep up with their anxieties. They walked +the floor talking disjointedly and listening for the door-bell. Telegram +after telegram came. Still no result. By and by there was one which +contained a single line:</p> + +<blockquote><blockquote> +"Court now coming in after brief recess to hear verdict. Jury ready." +</blockquote></blockquote> + +<p>"Oh, I wish they would finish!" said Washington. "This suspense is +killing me by inches!"</p> + +<p>Then came another telegram:</p> + +<blockquote><blockquote> +"Another hitch somewhere. Jury want a little more time and further +instructions." +</blockquote></blockquote> + +<p>"Well, well, well, this is trying," said the Colonel. And after a pause, +"No dispatch from Dilworthy for two hours, now. Even a dispatch from him +would be better than nothing, just to vary this thing."</p> + +<p>They waited twenty minutes. It seemed twenty hours.</p> + +<p>"Come!" said Washington. "I can't wait for the telegraph boy to come all +the way up here. Let's go down to Newspaper Row—meet him on the way."</p> + +<p>While they were passing along the Avenue, they saw someone putting up a +great display-sheet on the bulletin board of a newspaper office, and an +eager crowd of men was collecting abort the place. Washington and the +Colonel ran to the spot and read this:</p> + +<br><br><br><br> +<center><a name="p518"></a><img alt="p518.jpg (41K)" src="images/p518.jpg" height="463" width="537"> +</center> +<br><br><br><br> + +<blockquote><blockquote> +"Tremendous Sensation! Startling news from Saint's Rest! On first ballot +for U. S. Senator, when voting was about to begin, Mr. Noble rose in his +place and drew forth a package, walked forward and laid it on the +Speaker's desk, saying, 'This contains $7,000 in bank bills and was given +me by Senator Dilworthy in his bed-chamber at midnight last night to +buy—my vote for him—I wish the Speaker to count the money and retain it to +pay the expense of prosecuting this infamous traitor for bribery. The +whole legislature was stricken speechless with dismay and astonishment. +Noble further said that there were fifty members present with money in +their pockets, placed there by Dilworthy to buy their votes. Amidst +unparalleled excitement the ballot was now taken, and J. W. Smith elected +U. S. Senator; Dilworthy receiving not one vote! Noble promises damaging +exposures concerning Dilworthy and certain measures of his now pending in +Congress. +</blockquote></blockquote> + +<p>"Good heavens and earth!" exclaimed the Colonel.</p> + +<p>"To the Capitol!" said Washington. "Fly!"</p> + +<p>And they did fly. Long before they got there the newsboys were running +ahead of them with Extras, hot from the press, announcing the astounding +news.</p> + +<p>Arrived in the gallery of the Senate, the friends saw a curious +spectacle—every Senator held an Extra in his hand and looked as interested as if it +contained news of the destruction of the earth. Not a single member was +paying the least attention to the business of the hour.</p> + +<p>The Secretary, in a loud voice, was just beginning to read the title of a +bill:</p> + +<p>"House-Bill—No. 4,231,—An-Act-to-Found-and-Incorporate-the Knobs-Industrial-University! +—Read-first-and-second-time-considered-in-committee-of-the-whole-ordered-engrossed and-passed-to-third-reading-and-final passage!"</p> + +<p>The President—"Third reading of the bill!"</p> + +<p>The two friends shook in their shoes. Senators threw down their extras +and snatched a word or two with each other in whispers. Then the gavel +rapped to command silence while the names were called on the ayes and +nays. Washington grew paler and paler, weaker and weaker while the +lagging list progressed; and when it was finished, his head fell +helplessly forward on his arms. The fight was fought, the long struggle +was over, and he was a pauper. Not a man had voted for the bill!</p> + +<p>Col. Sellers was bewildered and well nigh paralyzed, himself. But no man +could long consider his own troubles in the presence of such suffering as +Washington's. He got him up and supported him—almost carried him +indeed—out of the building and into a carriage. All the way home +Washington lay with his face against the Colonel's shoulder and merely +groaned and wept. The Colonel tried as well as he could under the dreary +circumstances to hearten him a little, but it was of no use. Washington +was past all hope of cheer, now. He only said:</p> + +<p>"Oh, it is all over—it is all over for good, Colonel. We must beg our +bread, now. We never can get up again. It was our last chance, and it +is gone. They will hang Laura! My God they will hang her! Nothing can +save the poor girl now. Oh, I wish with all my soul they would hang me +instead!"</p> + +<br><br><br><br> +<center><a name="p521"></a><img alt="p521.jpg (87K)" src="images/p521.jpg" height="897" width="565"> +</center> +<br><br><br><br> + +<p>Arrived at home, Washington fell into a chair and buried his face in his +hands and gave full way to his misery. The Colonel did not know where to +turn nor what to do. The servant maid knocked at the door and passed in +a telegram, saying it had come while they were gone.</p> + +<p>The Colonel tore it open and read with the voice of a man-of-war's +broadside:</p> + +<p>"VERDICT OF JURY, NOT GUILTY AND LAURA IS FREE!"</p> + +<br><br><br><br> +<center><a name="p520"></a><img alt="p520.jpg (19K)" src="images/p520.jpg" height="343" width="323"> +</center> + + + +<br><br><br><br><br><br> +<center><h2><a name="ch58"></a>CHAPTER LVIII.</h2></center> +<br> + +<p>The court room was packed on the morning on which the verdict of the jury +was expected, as it had been every day of the trial, and by the same +spectators, who had followed its progress with such intense interest.</p> + +<p>There is a delicious moment of excitement which the frequenter of trials +well knows, and which he would not miss for the world. It is that +instant when the foreman of the jury stands up to give the verdict, +and before he has opened his fateful lips.</p> + +<p>The court assembled and waited. It was an obstinate jury.</p> + +<p>It even had another question—this intelligent jury—to ask the judge +this morning.</p> + +<p>The question was this: "Were the doctors clear that the deceased had no +disease which might soon have carried him off, if he had not been shot?" +There was evidently one jury man who didn't want to waste life, and was +willing to stake a general average, as the jury always does in a civil +case, deciding not according to the evidence but reaching the verdict by +some occult mental process.</p> + +<p>During the delay the spectators exhibited unexampled patience, finding +amusement and relief in the slightest movements of the court, the +prisoner and the lawyers. Mr. Braham divided with Laura the attention +of the house. Bets were made by the Sheriff's deputies on the verdict, +with large odds in favor of a disagreement.</p> + +<p>It was afternoon when it was announced that the jury was coming in. +The reporters took their places and were all attention; the judge and +lawyers were in their seats; the crowd swayed and pushed in eager +expectancy, as the jury walked in and stood up in silence.</p> + +<p>Judge. "Gentlemen, have you agreed upon your verdict?"</p> + +<p>Foreman. "We have."</p> + +<p>Judge. "What is it?"</p> + +<p>Foreman. "NOT GUILTY."</p> + +<p>A shout went up from the entire room and a tumult of cheering which the +court in vain attempted to quell. For a few moments all order was lost. +The spectators crowded within the bar and surrounded Laura who, calmer +than anyone else, was supporting her aged mother, who had almost fainted +from excess of joy.</p> + +<p>And now occurred one of those beautiful incidents which no fiction-writer +would dare to imagine, a scene of touching pathos, creditable to our +fallen humanity. In the eyes of the women of the audience Mr. Braham was +the hero of the occasion; he had saved the life of the prisoner; and +besides he was such a handsome man. The women could not restrain their +long pent-up emotions. They threw themselves upon Mr. Braham in a +transport of gratitude; they kissed him again and again, the young as +well as the advanced in years, the married as well as the ardent single +women; they improved the opportunity with a touching self-sacrifice; in +the words of a newspaper of the day they "lavished him with kisses."</p> + +<p>It was something sweet to do; and it would be sweet for a woman to +remember in after years, that she had kissed Braham! Mr. Braham himself +received these fond assaults with the gallantry of his nation, enduring +the ugly, and heartily paying back beauty in its own coin.</p> + +<p>This beautiful scene is still known in New York as "the kissing of +Braham."</p> + +<br><br><br><br> +<center><a name="p523"></a><img alt="p523.jpg (45K)" src="images/p523.jpg" height="389" width="535"> +</center> +<br><br><br><br> + +<p>When the tumult of congratulation had a little spent itself, and order +was restored, Judge O'Shaunnessy said that it now became his duty to +provide for the proper custody and treatment of the acquitted. The +verdict of the jury having left no doubt that the woman was of an unsound +mind, with a kind of insanity dangerous to the safety of the community, +she could not be permitted to go at large. "In accordance with the +directions of the law in such cases," said the Judge, "and in obedience +to the dictates of a wise humanity, I hereby commit Laura Hawkins to the +care of the Superintendent of the State Hospital for Insane Criminals, to +be held in confinement until the State Commissioners on Insanity shall +order her discharge. Mr. Sheriff, you will attend at once to the +execution of this decree."</p> + +<p>Laura was overwhelmed and terror-stricken. She had expected to walk +forth in freedom in a few moments. The revulsion was terrible. Her +mother appeared like one shaken with an ague fit. Laura insane! And +about to be locked up with madmen! She had never contemplated this. +Mr. Graham said he should move at once for a writ of 'habeas corpus'.</p> + +<p>But the judge could not do less than his duty, the law must have its way. +As in the stupor of a sudden calamity, and not fully comprehending it, +Mrs. Hawkins saw Laura led away by the officer.</p> + +<p>With little space for thought she was, rapidly driven to the railway +station, and conveyed to the Hospital for Lunatic Criminals. It was only +when she was within this vast and grim abode of madness that she realized +the horror of her situation. It was only when she was received by the +kind physician and read pity in his eyes, and saw his look of hopeless +incredulity when she attempted to tell him that she was not insane; it +was only when she passed through the ward to which she was consigned and +saw the horrible creatures, the victims of a double calamity, whose +dreadful faces she was hereafter to see daily, and was locked into the +small, bare room that was to be her home, that all her fortitude forsook +her. She sank upon the bed, as soon as she was left alone—she had been +searched by the matron—and tried to think. But her brain was in a +whirl. She recalled Braham's speech, she recalled the testimony +regarding her lunacy. She wondered if she were not mad; she felt that +she soon should be among these loathsome creatures. Better almost to +have died, than to slowly go mad in this confinement.</p> + +<p>—We beg the reader's pardon. This is not history, which has just been +written. It is really what would have occurred if this were a novel. +If this were a work of fiction, we should not dare to dispose of Laura +otherwise. True art and any attention to dramatic proprieties required +it. The novelist who would turn loose upon society an insane murderess +could not escape condemnation. Besides, the safety of society, the +decencies of criminal procedure, what we call our modern civilization, +all would demand that Laura should be disposed of in the manner we have +described. Foreigners, who read this sad story, will be unable to +understand any other termination of it.</p> + +<p>But this is history and not fiction. There is no such law or custom as +that to which his Honor is supposed to have referred; Judge O'Shaunnessy +would not probably pay any attention to it if there were. There is no +Hospital for Insane Criminals; there is no State commission of lunacy. +What actually occurred when the tumult in the court room had subsided the +sagacious reader will now learn.</p> + +<p>Laura left the court room, accompanied by her mother and other friends, +amid the congratulations of those assembled, and was cheered as she +entered a carriage, and drove away. How sweet was the sunlight, how +exhilarating the sense of freedom! Were not these following cheers the +expression of popular approval and affection? Was she not the heroine of +the hour?</p> + +<br><br><br><br> +<center><a name="p525"></a><img alt="p525.jpg (55K)" src="images/p525.jpg" height="459" width="531"> +</center> +<br><br><br><br> + +<p>It was with a feeling of triumph that Laura reached her hotel, a scornful +feeling of victory over society with its own weapons.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Hawkins shared not at all in this feeling; she was broken with the +disgrace and the long anxiety.</p> + +<p>"Thank God, Laura," she said, "it is over. Now we will go away from this +hateful city. Let us go home at once."</p> + +<p>"Mother," replied Laura, speaking with some tenderness, "I cannot go with +you. There, don't cry, I cannot go back to that life."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Hawkins was sobbing. This was more cruel than anything else, for +she had a dim notion of what it would be to leave Laura to herself.</p> + +<p>"No, mother, you have been everything to me. You know how dearly I love +you. But I cannot go back."</p> + +<p>A boy brought in a telegraphic despatch. Laura took it and read:</p> + +<blockquote><blockquote> +"The bill is lost. Dilworthy ruined. (Signed) WASHINGTON." +</blockquote></blockquote> + +<p>For a moment the words swam before her eyes. The next her eyes flashed +fire as she handed the dispatch to her m other and bitterly said,</p> + +<p>"The world is against me. Well, let it be, let it. I am against it."</p> + +<p>"This is a cruel disappointment," said Mrs. Hawkins, to whom one grief +more or less did not much matter now, "to you and, Washington; but we +must humbly bear it."</p> + +<p>"Bear it;" replied Laura scornfully, "I've all my life borne it, and fate +has thwarted me at every step."</p> + +<p>A servant came to the door to say that there was a gentleman below who +wished to speak with Miss Hawkins. "J. Adolphe Griller" was the name +Laura read on the card. "I do not know such a person. He probably comes +from Washington. Send him up."</p> + +<p>Mr. Griller entered. He was a small man, slovenly in dress, his tone +confidential, his manner wholly void of animation, all his features below +the forehead protruding—particularly the apple of his throat—hair +without a kink in it, a hand with no grip, a meek, hang-dog countenance. +a falsehood done in flesh and blood; for while every visible sign about +him proclaimed him a poor, witless, useless weakling, the truth was that +he had the brains to plan great enterprises and the pluck to carry them +through. That was his reputation, and it was a deserved one. He softly +said:</p> + +<p>"I called to see you on business, Miss Hawkins. You have my card?"</p> + +<p>Laura bowed.</p> + +<p>Mr. Griller continued to purr, as softly as before.</p> + +<p>"I will proceed to business. I am a business man. I am a lecture-agent, +Miss Hawkins, and as soon as I saw that you were acquitted, it occurred +to me that an early interview would be mutually beneficial."</p> + +<p>"I don't understand you, sir," said Laura coldly.</p> + +<p>"No? You see, Miss Hawkins, this is your opportunity. If you will enter +the lecture field under good auspices, you will carry everything before +you."</p> + +<p>"But, sir, I never lectured, I haven't any lecture, I don't know anything +about it."</p> + +<p>"Ah, madam, that makes no difference—no real difference. It is not +necessary to be able to lecture in order to go into the lecture tour. +If ones name is celebrated all over the land, especially, and, if she is +also beautiful, she is certain to draw large audiences."</p> + +<p>"But what should I lecture about?" asked Laura, beginning in spite of +herself to be a little interested as well as amused.</p> + +<p>"Oh, why; woman—something about woman, I should say; the marriage +relation, woman's fate, anything of that sort. Call it The Revelations +of a Woman's Life; now, there's a good title. I wouldn't want any better +title than that. I'm prepared to make you an offer, Miss Hawkins, +a liberal offer,—twelve thousand dollars for thirty nights."</p> + +<p>Laura thought. She hesitated. Why not? It would give her employment, +money. She must do something.</p> + +<p>"I will think of it, and let you know soon. But still, there is very +little likelihood that I—however, we will not discuss it further now."</p> + +<p>"Remember, that the sooner we get to work the better, Miss Hawkins, +public curiosity is so fickle. Good day, madam."</p> + +<p>The close of the trial released Mr. Harry Brierly and left him free to +depart upon his long talked of Pacific-coast mission. He was very +mysterious about it, even to Philip.</p> + +<p>"It's confidential, old boy," he said, "a little scheme we have hatched +up. I don't mind telling you that it's a good deal bigger thing than +that in Missouri, and a sure thing. I wouldn't take a half a million +just for my share. And it will open something for you, Phil. You will +hear from me."</p> + +<p>Philip did hear, from Harry a few months afterward. Everything promised +splendidly, but there was a little delay. Could Phil let him have a +hundred, say, for ninety days?</p> + +<p>Philip himself hastened to Philadelphia, and, as soon as the spring +opened, to the mine at Ilium, and began transforming the loan he had +received from Squire Montague into laborers' wages. He was haunted with +many anxieties; in the first place, Ruth was overtaxing her strength in +her hospital labors, and Philip felt as if he must move heaven and earth +to save her from such toil and suffering. His increased pecuniary +obligation oppressed him. It seemed to him also that he had been one +cause of the misfortune to the Bolton family, and that he was dragging +into loss and ruin everybody who associated with him. He worked on day +after day and week after week, with a feverish anxiety.</p> + +<p>It would be wicked, thought Philip, and impious, to pray for luck; he +felt that perhaps he ought not to ask a blessing upon the sort of labor +that was only a venture; but yet in that daily petition, which this very +faulty and not very consistent young Christian gentleman put up, he +prayed earnestly enough for Ruth and for the Boltons and for those whom +he loved and who trusted in him, and that his life might not be a +misfortune to them and a failure to himself.</p> + +<p>Since this young fellow went out into the world from his New England +home, he had done some things that he would rather his mother should not +know, things maybe that he would shrink from telling Ruth. At a certain +green age young gentlemen are sometimes afraid of being called milksops, +and Philip's associates had not always been the most select, such as +these historians would have chosen for him, or whom at a later, period he +would have chosen for himself. It seemed inexplicable, for instance, +that his life should have been thrown so much with his college +acquaintance, Henry Brierly.</p> + +<p>Yet, this was true of Philip, that in whatever company he had been he had +never been ashamed to stand up for the principles he learned from his +mother, and neither raillery nor looks of wonder turned him from that +daily habit had learned at his mother's knees.—Even flippant Harry +respected this, and perhaps it was one of the reasons why Harry and all +who knew Philip trusted him implicitly. And yet it must be confessed +that Philip did not convey the impression to the world of a very serious +young man, or of a man who might not rather easily fall into temptation. +One looking for a real hero would have to go elsewhere.</p> + +<p>The parting between Laura and her mother was exceedingly painful to both. +It was as if two friends parted on a wide plain, the one to journey +towards the setting and the other towards the rising sun, each +comprehending that every, step henceforth must separate their lives, +wider and wider.</p> + + + + +<br><br><br><br><br><br> +<center><h2><a name="ch59"></a>CHAPTER LIX.</h2></center> +<br> + +<p>When Mr. Noble's bombshell fell, in Senator Dilworthy's camp, the +statesman was disconcerted for a moment. For a moment; that was all. +The next moment he was calmly up and doing. From the centre of our +country to its circumference, nothing was talked of but Mr. Noble's +terrible revelation, and the people were furious. Mind, they were not +furious because bribery was uncommon in our public life, but merely +because here was another case. Perhaps it did not occur to the nation of +good and worthy people that while they continued to sit comfortably at +home and leave the true source of our political power (the "primaries,") +in the hands of saloon-keepers, dog-fanciers and hod-carriers, they could +go on expecting "another" case of this kind, and even dozens and hundreds +of them, and never be disappointed. However, they may have thought that +to sit at home and grumble would some day right the evil.</p> + +<p>Yes, the nation was excited, but Senator Dilworthy was calm—what was +left of him after the explosion of the shell. Calm, and up and doing. +What did he do first? What would you do first, after you had tomahawked +your mother at the breakfast table for putting too much sugar in your +coffee? You would "ask for a suspension of public opinion." That is +what Senator Dilworthy did. It is the custom. He got the usual amount +of suspension. Far and wide he was called a thief, a briber, a promoter +of steamship subsidies, railway swindles, robberies of the government in +all possible forms and fashions. Newspapers and everybody else called +him a pious hypocrite, a sleek, oily fraud, a reptile who manipulated +temperance movements, prayer meetings, Sunday schools, public charities, +missionary enterprises, all for his private benefit. And as these +charges were backed up by what seemed to be good and sufficient, +evidence, they were believed with national unanimity.</p> + +<p>Then Mr. Dilworthy made another move. He moved instantly to Washington +and "demanded an investigation." Even this could not pass without, +comment. Many papers used language to this effect:</p> + +<blockquote><blockquote> + "Senator Dilworthy's remains have demanded an investigation. This + sounds fine and bold and innocent; but when we reflect that they + demand it at the hands of the Senate of the United States, it simply + becomes matter for derision. One might as well set the gentlemen + detained in the public prisons to trying each other. This + investigation is likely to be like all other Senatorial + investigations—amusing but not useful. Query. Why does the Senate + still stick to this pompous word, 'Investigation?' One does not + blindfold one's self in order to investigate an object." +</blockquote></blockquote> + +<p>Mr. Dilworthy appeared in his place in the Senate and offered a +resolution appointing a committee to investigate his case. It carried, +of course, and the committee was appointed. Straightway the newspapers +said:</p> + +<blockquote><blockquote> + "Under the guise of appointing a committee to investigate the late + Mr. Dilworthy, the Senate yesterday appointed a committee to + investigate his accuser, Mr. Noble. This is the exact spirit and + meaning of the resolution, and the committee cannot try anybody but + Mr. Noble without overstepping its authority. That Dilworthy had + the effrontery to offer such a resolution will surprise no one, and + that the Senate could entertain it without blushing and pass it + without shame will surprise no one. We are now reminded of a note + which we have received from the notorious burglar Murphy, in which + he finds fault with a statement of ours to the effect that he had + served one term in the penitentiary and also one in the U. S. + Senate. He says, 'The latter statement is untrue and does me great + injustice.' After an unconscious sarcasm like that, further comment + is unnecessary." +</blockquote></blockquote> + +<p>And yet the Senate was roused by the Dilworthy trouble. Many speeches +were made. One Senator (who was accused in the public prints of selling +his chances of re-election to his opponent for $50,000 and had not yet +denied the charge) said that, "the presence in the Capital of such a +creature as this man Noble, to testify against a brother member of their +body, was an insult to the Senate."</p> + +<p>Another Senator said, "Let the investigation go on and let it make an +example of this man Noble; let it teach him and men like him that they +could not attack the reputation of a United States-Senator with +impunity."</p> + +<p>Another said he was glad the investigation was to be had, for it was high +time that the Senate should crush some cur like this man Noble, and thus +show his kind that it was able and resolved to uphold its ancient +dignity.</p> + + +<a name="p532"></a> +<br><br> +<center> +<img alt="p532 (27K)" src="images/p532.jpg" height="469" width="309" /> +</center> +<br><br> + + +<p>A by-stander laughed, at this finely delivered peroration; and said:</p> + +<p>"Why, this is the Senator who franked his, baggage home through the mails +last week-registered, at that. However, perhaps he was merely engaged in +'upholding the ancient dignity of the Senate,'—then."</p> + +<p>"No, the modern dignity of it," said another by-stander. "It don't +resemble its ancient dignity but it fits its modern style like a glove."</p> + +<p>There being no law against making offensive remarks about U. S. +Senators, this conversation, and others like it, continued without let or +hindrance. But our business is with the investigating committee.</p> + +<p>Mr. Noble appeared before the Committee of the Senate; and testified to +the following effect:</p> + +<p>He said that he was a member of the State legislature of the +Happy-Land-of-Canaan; that on the —- day of ——— he assembled himself +together at the city of Saint's Rest, the capital of the State, along +with his brother legislators; that he was known to be a political enemy +of Mr. Dilworthy and bitterly opposed to his re-election; that Mr. +Dilworthy came to Saint's Rest and reported to be buying pledges of votes +with money; that the said Dilworthy sent for him to come to his room in +the hotel at night, and he went; was introduced to Mr. Dilworthy; called +two or three times afterward at Dilworthy's request—usually after +midnight; Mr. Dilworthy urged him to vote for him Noble declined; +Dilworthy argued; said he was bound to be elected, and could then ruin +him (Noble) if he voted no; said he had every railway and every public +office and stronghold of political power in the State under his thumb, +and could set up or pull down any man he chose; gave instances showing +where and how he had used this power; if Noble would vote for him he +would make him a Representative in Congress; Noble still declined to +vote, and said he did not believe Dilworthy was going to be elected; +Dilworthy showed a list of men who would vote for him—a majority of the +legislature; gave further proofs of his power by telling Noble everything +the opposing party had done or said in secret caucus; claimed that his +spies reported everything to him, and that—</p> + +<p>Here a member of the Committee objected that this evidence was irrelevant +and also in opposition to the spirit of the Committee's instructions, +because if these things reflected upon any one it was upon Mr. Dilworthy. +The chairman said, let the person proceed with his statement—the +Committee could exclude evidence that did not bear upon the case.</p> + +<p>Mr. Noble continued. He said that his party would cast him out if he +voted for Mr, Dilworthy; Dilwortby said that that would inure to his +benefit because he would then be a recognized friend of his (Dilworthy's) +and he could consistently exalt him politically and make his fortune; +Noble said he was poor, and it was hard to tempt him so; Dilworthy said +he would fix that; he said, "Tell, me what you want, and say you will vote +for me;" Noble could not say; Dilworthy said "I will give you $5,000."</p> + +<p>A Committee man said, impatiently, that this stuff was all outside the +case, and valuable time was being wasted; this was all, a plain +reflection upon a brother Senator. The Chairman said it was the quickest +way to proceed, and the evidence need have no weight.</p> + +<p>Mr. Noble continued. He said he told Dilworthy that $5,000 was not much +to pay for a man's honor, character and everything that was worth having; +Dilworthy said he was surprised; he considered $5,000 a fortune—for some +men; asked what Noble's figure was; Noble said he could not think $10,000 +too little; Dilworthy said it was a great deal too much; he would not do +it for any other man, but he had conceived a liking for Noble, and where +he liked a man his heart yearned to help him; he was aware that Noble was +poor, and had a family to support, and that he bore an unblemished +reputation at home; for such a man and such a man's influence he could do +much, and feel that to help such a man would be an act that would have +its reward; the struggles of the poor always touched him; he believed +that Noble would make a good use of this money and that it would cheer +many a sad heart and needy home; he would give the, $10,000; all he +desired in return was that when the balloting began, Noble should cast +his vote for him and should explain to the legislature that upon looking +into the charges against Mr. Dilworthy of bribery, corruption, and +forwarding stealing measures in Congress he had found them to be base +calumnies upon a man whose motives were pure and whose character was +stainless; he then took from his pocket $2,000 in bank bills and handed +them to Noble, and got another package containing $5,000 out of his trunk +and gave to him also. He——</p> + +<br><br><br><br> +<center><a name="p535"></a><img alt="p535.jpg (42K)" src="images/p535.jpg" height="485" width="485"> +</center> +<br><br><br><br> + +<p>A Committee man jumped up, and said:</p> + +<p>"At last, Mr. Chairman, this shameless person has arrived at the point. +This is sufficient and conclusive. By his own confession he has received +a bribe, and did it deliberately.</p> + +<p>"This is a grave offense, and cannot be passed over in silence, sir. By +the terms of our instructions we can now proceed to mete out to him such +punishment as is meet for one who has maliciously brought disrespect upon +a Senator of the United States. We have no need to hear the rest of his +evidence."</p> + +<p>The Chairman said it would be better and more regular to proceed with the +investigation according to the usual forms. A note would be made of +Mr. Noble's admission.</p> + +<p>Mr. Noble continued. He said that it was now far past midnight; that he +took his leave and went straight to certain legislators, told them +everything, made them count the money, and also told them of the exposure +he would make in joint convention; he made that exposure, as all the +world knew. The rest of the $10,000 was to be paid the day after +Dilworthy was elected.</p> + +<p>Senator Dilworthy was now asked to take the stand and tell what he knew +about the man Noble. The Senator wiped his mouth with his handkerchief, +adjusted his white cravat, and said that but for the fact that public +morality required an example, for the warning of future Nobles, he would +beg that in Christian charity this poor misguided creature might be +forgiven and set free. He said that it was but too evident that this +person had approached him in the hope of obtaining a bribe; he had +intruded himself time and again, and always with moving stories of his +poverty. Mr. Dilworthy said that his heart had bled for him—insomuch +that he had several times been on the point of trying to get some one to +do something for him. Some instinct had told him from the beginning that +this was a bad man, an evil-minded man, but his inexperience of such had +blinded him to his real motives, and hence he had never dreamed that his +object was to undermine the purity of a United States Senator. +He regretted that it was plain, now, that such was the man's object and +that punishment could not with safety to the Senate's honor be withheld. +He grieved to say that one of those mysterious dispensations of an +inscrutable Providence which are decreed from time to time by His wisdom +and for His righteous, purposes, had given this conspirator's tale a +color of plausibility,—but this would soon disappear under the clear +light of truth which would now be thrown upon the case.</p> + +<p>It so happened, (said the Senator,) that about the time in question, a +poor young friend of mine, living in a distant town of my State, wished +to establish a bank; he asked me to lend him the necessary money; I said +I had no, money just then, but world try to borrow it. The day before +the election a friend said to me that my election expenses must be very +large specially my hotel bills, and offered to lend me some money. +Remembering my young, friend, I said I would like a few thousands now, +and a few more by and by; whereupon he gave me two packages of bills said +to contain $2,000 and $5,000 respectively; I did not open the packages or +count the money; I did not give any note or receipt for the same; I made +no memorandum of the transaction, and neither did my friend. That night +this evil man Noble came troubling me again: I could not rid myself of +him, though my time was very precious. He mentioned my young friend and +said he was very anxious to have the $7000 now to begin his banking +operations with, and could wait a while for the rest. Noble wished to +get the money and take it to him. I finally gave him the two packages of +bills; I took no note or receipt from him, and made no memorandum of the +matter. I no more look for duplicity and deception in another man than I +would look for it in myself. I never thought of this man again until I +was overwhelmed the next day by learning what a shameful use he had made +of the confidence I had reposed in him and the money I had entrusted to +his care. This is all, gentlemen. To the absolute truth of every detail +of my statement I solemnly swear, and I call Him to witness who is the +Truth and the loving Father of all whose lips abhor false speaking; I +pledge my honor as a Senator, that I have spoken but the truth. May God +forgive this wicked man as I do.</p> + +<p>Mr. Noble—"Senator Dilworthy, your bank account shows that up to that +day, and even on that very day, you conducted all your financial business +through the medium of checks instead of bills, and so kept careful record +of every moneyed transaction. Why did you deal in bank bills on this +particular occasion?"</p> + +<br><br><br><br> +<center><a name="p538"></a><img alt="p538.jpg (40K)" src="images/p538.jpg" height="461" width="533"> +</center> +<br><br><br><br> + +<p>The Chairman—"The gentleman will please to remember that the Committee +is conducting this investigation."</p> + +<p>Mr. Noble—"Then will the Committee ask the question?"</p> + +<p>The Chairman—"The Committee will—when it desires to know."</p> + +<p>Mr. Noble—"Which will not be daring this century perhaps."</p> + +<p>The Chairman—"Another remark like that, sir, will procure you the +attentions of the Sergeant-at-arms."</p> + +<p>Mr. Noble—"D—n the Sergeant-at-arms, and the Committee too!"</p> + +<p>Several Committeemen—"Mr. Chairman, this is Contempt!"</p> + +<p>Mr. Noble—"Contempt of whom?"</p> + +<p>"Of the Committee! Of the Senate of the United States!"</p> + +<p>Mr. Noble—"Then I am become the acknowledged representative of a nation. +You know as well as I do that the whole nation hold as much as +three-fifths of the United States Senate in entire contempt.—Three-fifths of +you are Dilworthys."</p> + +<p>The Sergeant-at-arms very soon put a quietus upon the observations of the +representative of the nation, and convinced him that he was not, in the +over-free atmosphere of his Happy-Land-of-Canaan:</p> + +<p>The statement of Senator Dilworthy naturally carried conviction to the +minds of the committee.—It was close, logical, unanswerable; it bore +many internal evidences of its, truth. For instance, it is customary in +all countries for business men to loan large sums of money in bank bills +instead of checks. It is customary for the lender to make no memorandum +of the transaction. It is customary, for the borrower to receive the +money without making a memorandum of it, or giving a note or a receipt +for it's use—the borrower is not likely to die or forget about it. +It is customary to lend nearly anybody money to start a bank with +especially if you have not the money to lend him and have to borrow it +for the purpose. It is customary to carry large sums of money in bank +bills about your person or in your trunk. It is customary to hand a +large sure in bank bills to a man you have just been introduced to (if he +asks you to do it,) to be conveyed to a distant town and delivered to +another party. It is not customary to make a memorandum of this +transaction; it is not customary for the conveyor to give a note or a +receipt for the money; it is not customary to require that he shall get a +note or a receipt from the man he is to convey it to in the distant town. +It would be at least singular in you to say to the proposed conveyor, +"You might be robbed; I will deposit the money in a bank and send a check +for it to my friend through the mail."</p> + +<p>Very well. It being plain that Senator Dilworthy's statement was rigidly +true, and this fact being strengthened by his adding to it the support of +"his honor as a Senator," the Committee rendered a verdict of "Not proven +that a bribe had been offered and accepted." This in a manner exonerated +Noble and let him escape.</p> + +<p>The Committee made its report to the Senate, and that body proceeded to +consider its acceptance. One Senator indeed, several Senators—objected +that the Committee had failed of its duty; they had proved this man Noble +guilty of nothing, they had meted out no punishment to him; if the report +were accepted, he would go forth free and scathless, glorying in his +crime, and it would be a tacit admission that any blackguard could insult +the Senate of the United States and conspire against the sacred +reputation of its members with impunity; the Senate owed it to the +upholding of its ancient dignity to make an example of this man +Noble—he should be crushed.</p> + +<p>An elderly Senator got up and took another view of the case. This was a +Senator of the worn-out and obsolete pattern; a man still lingering among +the cobwebs of the past, and behind the spirit of the age. He said that +there seemed to be a curious misunderstanding of the case. Gentlemen +seemed exceedingly anxious to preserve and maintain the honor and dignity +of the Senate.</p> + +<br><br><br><br> +<center><a name="p541"></a><img alt="p541.jpg (21K)" src="images/p541.jpg" height="479" width="327"> +</center> +<br><br><br><br> + +<p>Was this to be done by trying an obscure adventurer for attempting to +trap a Senator into bribing him? Or would not the truer way be to find +out whether the Senator was capable of being entrapped into so shameless +an act, and then try him? Why, of course. Now the whole idea of the +Senate seemed to be to shield the Senator and turn inquiry away from him. +The true way to uphold the honor of the Senate was to have none but +honorable men in its body. If this Senator had yielded to temptation and +had offered a bribe, he was a soiled man and ought to be instantly +expelled; therefore he wanted the Senator tried, and not in the usual +namby-pamby way, but in good earnest. He wanted to know the truth of +this matter. For himself, he believed that the guilt of Senator +Dilworthy was established beyond the shadow of a doubt; and he considered +that in trifling with his case and shirking it the Senate was doing a +shameful and cowardly thing—a thing which suggested that in its +willingness to sit longer in the company of such a man, it was +acknowledging that it was itself of a kind with him and was therefore not +dishonored by his presence. He desired that a rigid examination be made +into Senator Dilworthy's case, and that it be continued clear into the +approaching extra session if need be. There was no dodging this thing +with the lame excuse of want of time.</p> + +<p>In reply, an honorable Senator said that he thought it would be as well +to drop the matter and accept the Committee's report. He said with some +jocularity that the more one agitated this thing, the worse it was for +the agitator. He was not able to deny that he believed Senator Dilworthy +to be guilty—but what then? Was it such an extraordinary case? For his +part, even allowing the Senator to be guilty, he did not think his +continued presence during the few remaining days of the Session would +contaminate the Senate to a dreadful degree. [This humorous sally was +received with smiling admiration—notwithstanding it was not wholly new, +having originated with the Massachusetts General in the House a day or +two before, upon the occasion of the proposed expulsion of a member for +selling his vote for money.]</p> + +<p>The Senate recognized the fact that it could not be contaminated by +sitting a few days longer with Senator Dilworthy, and so it accepted the +committee's report and dropped the unimportant matter.</p> + +<p>Mr. Dilworthy occupied his seat to the last hour of the session. He said +that his people had reposed a trust in him, and it was not for him to +desert them. He would remain at his post till he perished, if need be.</p> + +<p>His voice was lifted up and his vote cast for the last time, in support +of an ingenious measure contrived by the General from Massachusetts +whereby the President's salary was proposed to be doubled and every +Congressman paid several thousand dollars extra for work previously done, +under an accepted contract, and already paid for once and receipted for.</p> + +<p>Senator Dilworthy was offered a grand ovation by his friends at home, who +said that their affection for him and their confidence in him were in no +wise impaired by the persecutions that had pursued him, and that he was +still good enough for them.</p> + +<blockquote><blockquote> +[The $7,000 left by Mr. Noble with his state legislature was placed in +safe keeping to await the claim of the legitimate owner. Senator +Dilworthy made one little effort through his protege the embryo banker +to recover it, but there being no notes of hand or, other memoranda to +support the claim, it failed. The moral of which is, that when one loans +money to start a bank with, one ought to take the party's written +acknowledgment of the fact.] +</blockquote></blockquote> + + +<br><br><br><br><br><br> +<center><h2><a name="ch60"></a>CHAPTER LX.</h2></center> +<br> + +<p>For some days Laura had been a free woman once more. During this time, +she had experienced—first, two or three days of triumph, excitement, +congratulations, a sort of sunburst of gladness, after a long night of +gloom and anxiety; then two or three days of calming down, by +degrees—a receding of tides, a quieting of the storm-wash to a murmurous +surf-beat, a diminishing of devastating winds to a refrain that bore the +spirit of a truce-days given to solitude, rest, self-communion, and the +reasoning of herself into a realization of the fact that she was actually +done with bolts and bars, prison, horrors and impending, death; then came +a day whose hours filed slowly by her, each laden with some remnant, +some remaining fragment of the dreadful time so lately ended—a day +which, closing at last, left the past a fading shore behind her and +turned her eyes toward the broad sea of the future. So speedily do we +put the dead away and come back to our place in the ranks to march in the +pilgrimage of life again.</p> + +<p>And now the sun rose once more and ushered in the first day of what Laura +comprehended and accepted as a new life.</p> + +<p>The past had sunk below the horizon, and existed no more for her; +she was done with it for all time. She was gazing out over the trackless +expanses of the future, now, with troubled eyes. Life must be begun +again—at eight and twenty years of age. And where to begin? The page +was blank, and waiting for its first record; so this was indeed a +momentous day.</p> + +<p>Her thoughts drifted back, stage by stage, over her career. As far as +the long highway receded over the plain of her life, it was lined with +the gilded and pillared splendors of her ambition all crumbled to ruin +and ivy-grown; every milestone marked a disaster; there was no green spot +remaining anywhere in memory of a hope that had found its fruition; the +unresponsive earth had uttered no voice of flowers in testimony that one +who was blest had gone that road.</p> + +<p>Her life had been a failure. That was plain, she said. No more of that. +She would now look the future in the face; she would mark her course upon +the chart of life, and follow it; follow it without swerving, through +rocks and shoals, through storm and calm, to a haven of rest and peace or +shipwreck. Let the end be what it might, she would mark her course +now—to-day—and follow it.</p> + +<p>On her table lay six or seven notes. They were from lovers; from some of +the prominent names in the land; men whose devotion had survived even the +grisly revealments of her character which the courts had uncurtained; +men who knew her now, just as she was, and yet pleaded as for their lives +for the dear privilege of calling the murderess wife.</p> + +<p>As she read these passionate, these worshiping, these supplicating +missives, the woman in her nature confessed itself; a strong yearning +came upon her to lay her head upon a loyal breast and find rest from the +conflict of life, solace for her griefs, the healing of love for her +bruised heart.</p> + +<br><br><br><br> +<center><a name="p545"></a><img alt="p545.jpg (32K)" src="images/p545.jpg" height="465" width="415"> +</center> +<br><br><br><br> + +<p>With her forehead resting upon her hand, she sat thinking, thinking, +while the unheeded moments winged their flight. It was one of those +mornings in early spring when nature seems just stirring to a half +consciousness out of a long, exhausting lethargy; when the first faint +balmy airs go wandering about, whispering the secret of the coming +change; when the abused brown grass, newly relieved of snow, seems +considering whether it can be worth the trouble and worry of contriving +its green raiment again only to fight the inevitable fight with the +implacable winter and be vanquished and buried once more; when the sun +shines out and a few birds venture forth and lift up a forgotten song; +when a strange stillness and suspense pervades the waiting air. It is a +time when one's spirit is subdued and sad, one knows not why; when the +past seems a storm-swept desolation, life a vanity and a burden, and the +future but a way to death. It is a time when one is filled with vague +longings; when one dreams of flight to peaceful islands in the remote +solitudes of the sea, or folds his hands and says, What is the use of +struggling, and toiling and worrying any more? let us give it all up.</p> + +<p>It was into such a mood as this that Laura had drifted from the musings +which the letters of her lovers had called up. Now she lifted her head +and noted with surprise how the day had wasted. She thrust the letters +aside, rose up and went and stood at the window. But she was soon +thinking again, and was only gazing into vacancy.</p> + +<p>By and by she turned; her countenance had cleared; the dreamy look was +gone out of her face, all indecision had vanished; the poise of her head +and the firm set of her lips told that her resolution was formed. +She moved toward the table with all the old dignity in her carriage, +and all the old pride in her mien. She took up each letter in its turn, +touched a match to it and watched it slowly consume to ashes. Then she +said:</p> + +<p>"I have landed upon a foreign shore, and burned my ships behind me. +These letters were the last thing that held me in sympathy with any +remnant or belonging of the old life. Henceforth that life and all that +appertains to it are as dead to me and as far removed from me as if I +were become a denizen of another world."</p> + +<br><br><br><br> +<center><a name="p546"></a><img alt="p546.jpg (25K)" src="images/p546.jpg" height="455" width="273"> +</center> +<br><br><br><br> + +<p>She said that love was not for her—the time that it could have satisfied +her heart was gone by and could not return; the opportunity was lost, +nothing could restore it. She said there could be no love without +respect, and she would only despise a man who could content himself with +a thing like her. Love, she said, was a woman's first necessity: love +being forfeited; there was but one thing left that could give a passing +zest to a wasted life, and that was fame, admiration, the applause of the +multitude.</p> + +<p>And so her resolution was taken. She would turn to that final resort of +the disappointed of her sex, the lecture platform. She would array +herself in fine attire, she would adorn herself with jewels, and stand in +her isolated magnificence before massed, audiences and enchant them with +her eloquence and amaze them with her unapproachable beauty. She would +move from city to city like a queen of romance, leaving marveling +multitudes behind her and impatient multitudes awaiting her coming. +Her life, during one hour of each day, upon the platform, would be a +rapturous intoxication—and when the curtain fell; and the lights were +out, and the people gone, to nestle in their homes and forget her, she +would find in sleep oblivion of her homelessness, if she could, if not +she would brave out the night in solitude and wait for the next day's +hour of ecstasy.</p> + +<p>So, to take up life and begin again was no great evil. She saw her way. +She would be brave and strong; she would make the best of, what was left +for her among the possibilities.</p> + +<p>She sent for the lecture agent, and matters were soon arranged.</p> + +<p>Straightway, all the papers were filled with her name, and all the dead +walls flamed with it. The papers called down imprecations upon her head; +they reviled her without stint; they wondered if all sense of decency was +dead in this shameless murderess, this brazen lobbyist, this heartless +seducer of the affections of weak and misguided men; they implored the +people, for the sake of their pure wives, their sinless daughters, for +the sake of decency, for the sake of public morals, to give this wretched +creature such a rebuke as should be an all-sufficient evidence to her and +to such as her, that there was a limit where the flaunting of their foul +acts and opinions before the world must stop; certain of them, with a +higher art, and to her a finer cruelty, a sharper torture, uttered no +abuse, but always spoke of her in terms of mocking eulogy and ironical +admiration. Everybody talked about the new wonder, canvassed the theme +of her proposed discourse, and marveled how she would handle it.</p> + +<p>Laura's few friends wrote to her or came and talked with her, and pleaded +with her to retire while it was yet time, and not attempt to face the +gathering storm. But it was fruitless. She was stung to the quick by +the comments of the newspapers; her spirit was roused, her ambition was +towering, now. She was more determined than ever. She would show these +people what a hunted and persecuted woman could do.</p> + +<p>The eventful night came. Laura arrived before the great lecture hall in +a close carriage within five minutes of the time set for the lecture to +begin. When she stepped out of the vehicle her heart beat fast and her +eyes flashed with exultation: the whole street was packed with people, +and she could hardly force her way to the hall! She reached the +ante-room, threw off her wraps and placed herself before the dressing-glass. +She turned herself this way and that—everything was satisfactory, her +attire was perfect. She smoothed her hair, rearranged a jewel here and +there, and all the while her heart sang within her, and her face was +radiant. She had not been so happy for ages and ages, it seemed to her. +Oh, no, she had never been so overwhelmingly grateful and happy in her +whole life before. The lecture agent appeared at the door. She waved +him away and said:</p> + +<p>"Do not disturb me. I want no introduction. And do not fear for me; the +moment the hands point to eight I will step upon the platform."</p> + +<p>He disappeared. She held her watch before her. She was so impatient +that the second-hand seemed whole tedious minutes dragging its way around +the circle. At last the supreme moment came, and with head erect and the +bearing of an empress she swept through the door and stood upon the +stage. Her eyes fell upon only a vast, brilliant emptiness—there were +not forty people in the house! There were only a handful of coarse men +and ten or twelve still coarser women, lolling upon the benches and +scattered about singly and in couples.</p> + +<br><br><br><br> +<center><a name="p549"></a><img alt="p549.jpg (40K)" src="images/p549.jpg" height="467" width="573"> +</center> +<br><br><br><br> + +<p>Her pulses stood still, her limbs quaked, the gladness went out of her +face. There was a moment of silence, and then a brutal laugh and an +explosion of cat-calls and hisses saluted her from the audience. The +clamor grew stronger and louder, and insulting speeches were shouted at +her. A half-intoxicated man rose up and threw something, which missed +her but bespattered a chair at her side, and this evoked an outburst of +laughter and boisterous admiration. She was bewildered, her strength was +forsaking her. She reeled away from the platform, reached the ante-room, +and dropped helpless upon a sofa. The lecture agent ran in, with a +hurried question upon his lips; but she put forth her hands, and with the +tears raining from her eyes, said:</p> + +<p>"Oh, do not speak! Take me away-please take me away, out of this. +dreadful place! Oh, this is like all my life—failure, disappointment, +misery—always misery, always failure. What have I done, to be so +pursued! Take me away, I beg of you, I implore you!"</p> + +<p>Upon the pavement she was hustled by the mob, the surging masses roared +her name and accompanied it with every species of insulting epithet; +they thronged after the carriage, hooting, jeering, cursing, and even +assailing the vehicle with missiles. A stone crushed through a blind, +wounding Laura's forehead, and so stunning her that she hardly knew what +further transpired during her flight.</p> + +<p>It was long before her faculties were wholly restored, and then she found +herself lying on the floor by a sofa in her own sitting-room, and alone. +So she supposed she must have sat down upon the sofa and afterward +fallen. She raised herself up, with difficulty, for the air was chilly +and her limbs were stiff. She turned up the gas and sought the glass. +She hardly knew herself, so worn and old she looked, and so marred with +blood were her features. The night was far spent, and a dead stillness +reigned. She sat down by her table, leaned her elbows upon it and put +her face in her hands.</p> + +<p>Her thoughts wandered back over her old life again and her tears flowed +unrestrained. Her pride was humbled, her spirit was broken. Her memory +found but one resting place; it lingered about her young girlhood with a +caressing regret; it dwelt upon it as the one brief interval of her life +that bore no curse. She saw herself again in the budding grace of her +twelve years, decked in her dainty pride of ribbons, consorting with the +bees and the butterflies, believing in fairies, holding confidential +converse with the flowers, busying herself all day long with airy trifles +that were as weighty to her as the affairs that tax the brains of +diplomats and emperors. She was without sin, then, and unacquainted with +grief; the world was full of sunshine and her heart was full of music. +From that—to this!</p> + +<p>"If I could only die!" she said. "If I could only go back, and be as I +was then, for one hour—and hold my father's hand in mine again, and see +all the household about me, as in that old innocent time—and then die! +My God, I am humbled, my pride is all gone, my stubborn heart +repents—have pity!"</p> + +<br><br><br><br> +<center><a name="p551"></a><img alt="p551.jpg (72K)" src="images/p551.jpg" height="849" width="553"> +</center> +<br><br><br><br> + +<p>When the spring morning dawned, the form still sat there, the elbows +resting upon the table and the face upon the hands. All day long the +figure sat there, the sunshine enriching its costly raiment and flashing +from its jewels; twilight came, and presently the stars, but still the +figure remained; the moon found it there still, and framed the picture +with the shadow of the window sash, and flooded, it with mellow light; by +and by the darkness swallowed it up, and later the gray dawn revealed it +again; the new day grew toward its prime, and still the forlorn presence +was undisturbed.</p> + +<p>But now the keepers of the house had become uneasy; their periodical +knockings still finding no response, they burst open the door.</p> + +<p>The jury of inquest found that death had resulted from heart disease, and +was instant and painless. That was all. Merely heart disease.</p> + + + +<br><br><br><br><br><br> +<center><h2><a name="ch61"></a>CHAPTER LXI.</h2></center> +<br> + +<p>Clay Hawkins, years gone by, had yielded, after many a struggle, to the +migratory and speculative instinct of our age and our people, and had +wandered further and further westward upon trading ventures. Settling +finally in Melbourne, Australia, he ceased to roam, became a steady-going +substantial merchant, and prospered greatly. His life lay beyond the +theatre of this tale.</p> + +<p>His remittances had supported the Hawkins family, entirely, from the time +of his father's death until latterly when Laura by her efforts in +Washington had been able to assist in this work. Clay was away on a long +absence in some of the eastward islands when Laura's troubles began, +trying (and almost in vain,) to arrange certain interests which had +become disordered through a dishonest agent, and consequently he knew +nothing of the murder till he returned and read his letters and papers. +His natural impulse was to hurry to the States and save his sister if +possible, for he loved her with a deep and abiding affection. His +business was so crippled now, and so deranged, that to leave it would be +ruin; therefore he sold out at a sacrifice that left him considerably +reduced in worldly possessions, and began his voyage to San Francisco. +Arrived there, he perceived by the newspapers that the trial was near its +close. At Salt Lake later telegrams told him of the acquittal, and his +gratitude was boundless—so boundless, indeed, that sleep was driven from +his eyes by the pleasurable excitement almost as effectually as preceding +weeks of anxiety had done it. He shaped his course straight for Hawkeye, +now, and his meeting with his mother and the rest of the household was +joyful—albeit he had been away so long that he seemed almost a stranger +in his own home.</p> + +<p>But the greetings and congratulations were hardly finished when all the +journals in the land clamored the news of Laura's miserable death. +Mrs. Hawkins was prostrated by this last blow, and it was well that Clay +was at her side to stay her with comforting words and take upon himself +the ordering of the household with its burden of labors and cares.</p> + +<p>Washington Hawkins had scarcely more than entered upon that decade which +carries one to the full blossom of manhood which we term the beginning: +of middle age, and yet a brief sojourn at the capital of the nation had +made him old. His hair was already turning gray when the late session of +Congress began its sittings; it grew grayer still, and rapidly, after the +memorable day that saw Laura proclaimed a murderess; it waxed grayer and +still grayer during the lagging suspense that succeeded it and after the +crash which ruined his last hope—the failure of his bill in the Senate +and the destruction of its champion, Dilworthy. A few days later, when +he stood uncovered while the last prayer was pronounced over Laura's +grave, his hair was whiter and his face hardly less old than the +venerable minister's whose words were sounding in his ears.</p> + +<p>A week after this, he was sitting in a double-bedded room in a cheap +boarding house in Washington, with Col. Sellers. The two had been living +together lately, and this mutual cavern of theirs the Colonel sometimes +referred to as their "premises" and sometimes as their "apartments"—more +particularly when conversing with persons outside. A canvas-covered +modern trunk, marked "G. W. H." stood on end by the door, strapped and +ready for a journey; on it lay a small morocco satchel, also marked "G. +W. H." There was another trunk close by—a worn, and scarred, and +ancient hair relic, with "B. S." wrought in brass nails on its top; +on it lay a pair of saddle-bags that probably knew more about the last +century than they could tell. Washington got up and walked the floor a +while in a restless sort of way, and finally was about to sit down on the +hair trunk.</p> + +<br><br><br><br> +<center><a name="p554"></a><img alt="p554.jpg (47K)" src="images/p554.jpg" height="477" width="535"> +</center> +<br><br><br><br> + +<p>"Stop, don't sit down on that!" exclaimed the Colonel: "There, now that's +all right—the chair's better. I couldn't get another trunk like +that—not another like it in America, I reckon."</p> + +<p>"I am afraid not," said Washington, with a faint attempt at a smile.</p> + +<p>"No indeed; the man is dead that made that trunk and that saddle-bags."</p> + +<p> +"Are his great-grand-children still living?" said Washington, with levity +only in the words, not in the tone.</p> + +<p>"Well, I don't know—I hadn't thought of that—but anyway they can't make +trunks and saddle-bags like that, if they are—no man can," said the +Colonel with honest simplicity. "Wife didn't like to see me going off +with that trunk—she said it was nearly certain to be stolen."</p> + +<p>"Why?"</p> + +<p>"Why? Why, aren't trunks always being stolen?"</p> + +<p>"Well, yes—some kinds of trunks are."</p> + +<p>"Very well, then; this is some kind of a trunk—and an almighty rare +kind, too."</p> + +<p>"Yes, I believe it is."</p> + +<p>"Well, then, why shouldn't a man want to steal it if he got a chance?"</p> + +<p>"Indeed I don't know.—Why should he?"</p> + +<p>"Washington, I never heard anybody talk like you. Suppose you were a +thief, and that trunk was lying around and nobody watching—wouldn't you +steal it? Come, now, answer fair—wouldn't you steal it?</p> + +<p>"Well, now, since you corner me, I would take it,—but I wouldn't +consider it stealing.</p> + +<p>"You wouldn't! Well, that beats me. Now what would you call stealing?"</p> + +<p>"Why, taking property is stealing."</p> + +<p>"Property! Now what a way to talk that is: What do you suppose that +trunk is worth?"</p> + +<p>"Is it in good repair?"</p> + +<p>"Perfect. Hair rubbed off a little, but the main structure is perfectly +sound."</p> + +<p>"Does it leak anywhere?"</p> + +<p>"Leak? Do you want to carry water in it? What do you mean by does it +leak?"</p> + +<p>"Why—a—do the clothes fall out of it when it is—when it is +stationary?"</p> + +<p>"Confound it, Washington, you are trying to make fun of me. I don't know +what has got into you to-day; you act mighty curious. What is the matter +with you?"</p> + +<p>"Well, I'll tell you, old friend. I am almost happy. I am, indeed. +It wasn't Clay's telegram that hurried me up so and got me ready to start +with you. It was a letter from Louise."</p> + +<p>"Good! What is it? What does she say?"</p> + +<p>"She says come home—her father has consented, at last."</p> + +<p>"My boy, I want to congratulate you; I want to shake you by the hand! +It's a long turn that has no lane at the end of it, as the proverb says, +or somehow that way. You'll be happy yet, and Beriah Sellers will be +there to see, thank God!"</p> + +<p>"I believe it. General Boswell is pretty nearly a poor man, now. The +railroad that was going to build up Hawkeye made short work of him, along +with the rest. He isn't so opposed to a son-in-law without a fortune, +now."</p> + +<p>"Without a fortune, indeed! Why that Tennessee Land—"</p> + +<p>"Never mind the Tennessee Land, Colonel. I am done with that, forever +and forever—"</p> + +<p>"Why no! You can't mean to say—"</p> + +<p>"My father, away back yonder, years ago, bought it for a blessing for his +children, and—"</p> + +<p>"Indeed he did! Si Hawkins said to me—"</p> + +<p>"It proved a curse to him as long as he lived, and never a curse like it +was inflicted upon any man's heirs—"</p> + +<p>"I'm bound to say there's more or less truth—"</p> + +<p>"It began to curse me when I was a baby, and it has cursed every hour of +my life to this day—"</p> + +<p>"Lord, lord, but it's so! Time and again my wife—"</p> + +<p>"I depended on it all through my boyhood and never tried to do an honest +stroke of work for my living—"</p> + +<p>"Right again—but then you—"</p> + +<p>"I have chased it years and years as children chase butterflies. We +might all have been prosperous, now; we might all have been happy, all +these heart-breaking years, if we had accepted our poverty at first and +gone contentedly to work and built up our own wealth by our own toil and +sweat—"</p> + +<p>"It's so, it's so; bless my soul, how often I've told Si Hawkins—"</p> + +<p>"Instead of that, we have suffered more than the damned themselves +suffer! I loved my father, and I honor his memory and recognize his good +intentions; but I grieve for his mistaken ideas of conferring happiness +upon his children. I am going to begin my life over again, and begin it +and end it with good solid work! I'll leave my children no Tennessee +Land!"</p> + +<p>"Spoken like a man, sir, spoken like a man! Your hand, again my boy! +And always remember that when a word of advice from Beriah Sellers can +help, it is at your service. I'm going to begin again, too!"</p> + +<p>"Indeed!"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir. I've seen enough to show me where my mistake was. The law is +what I was born for. I shall begin the study of the law. Heavens and +earth, but that Brabant's a wonderful man—a wonderful man sir! Such a +head! And such a way with him! But I could see that he was jealous of +me. The little licks I got in in the course of my argument before the +jury—"</p> + +<p>"Your argument! Why, you were a witness."</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes, to the popular eye, to the popular eye—but I knew when I was +dropping information and when I was letting drive at the court with an +insidious argument. But the court knew it, bless you, and weakened every +time! And Brabant knew it. I just reminded him of it in a quiet way, +and its final result, and he said in a whisper, 'You did it, Colonel, you +did it, sir—but keep it mum for my sake; and I'll tell you what you do,' +says he, 'you go into the law, Col. Sellers—go into the law, sir; that's +your native element!' And into the law the subscriber is going. There's +worlds of money in it!—whole worlds of money! Practice first in +Hawkeye, then in Jefferson, then in St. Louis, then in New York! In the +metropolis of the western world! Climb, and climb, and climb—and wind +up on the Supreme bench. Beriah Sellers, Chief Justice of the Supreme +Court of the United States, sir! A made man for all time and eternity! +That's the way I block it out, sir—and it's as clear as day—clear as +the rosy-morn!"</p> + +<p>Washington had heard little of this. The first reference to Laura's +trial had brought the old dejection to his face again, and he stood +gazing out of the window at nothing, lost in reverie.</p> + +<p>There was a knock-the postman handed in a letter. It was from Obedstown. +East Tennessee, and was for Washington. He opened it. There was a note +saying that enclosed he would please find a bill for the current year's +taxes on the 75,000 acres of Tennessee Land belonging to the estate of +Silas Hawkins, deceased, and added that the money must be paid within +sixty days or the land would be sold at public auction for the taxes, as +provided by law. The bill was for $180—something more than twice the +market value of the land, perhaps.</p> + +<p>Washington hesitated. Doubts flitted through his mind. The old instinct +came upon him to cling to the land just a little longer and give it one +more chance. He walked the floor feverishly, his mind tortured by +indecision. Presently he stopped, took out his pocket book and counted +his money. Two hundred and thirty dollars—it was all he had in the +world.</p> + +<p>"One hundred and eighty . . . . . . . from two hundred and +thirty," he said to himself. "Fifty left . . . . . . It is enough +to get me home . . . .. . . Shall I do it, or shall I not? . . . +. . . . I wish I had somebody to decide for me."</p> + +<p>The pocket book lay open in his hand, with Louise's small letter in view. +His eye fell upon that, and it decided him.</p> + +<p>"It shall go for taxes," he said, "and never tempt me or mine any more!"</p> + +<p>He opened the window and stood there tearing the tax bill to bits and +watching the breeze waft them away, till all were gone.</p> + +<p>"The spell is broken, the life-long curse is ended!" he said. "Let us +go."</p> + +<br><br><br><br> +<center><a name="p559"></a><img alt="p559.jpg (32K)" src="images/p559.jpg" height="575" width="283"> +</center> +<br><br><br><br> + +<p>The baggage wagon had arrived; five minutes later the two friends were +mounted upon their luggage in it, and rattling off toward the station, +the Colonel endeavoring to sing "Homeward Bound," a song whose words he +knew, but whose tune, as he rendered it, was a trial to auditors.</p> + + + +<br><br><br><br><br><br> +<center><h2><a name="ch62"></a>CHAPTER LXII.</h2></center> +<br> + +<p> +Philip Sterling's circumstances were becoming straightened. The prospect +was gloomy. His long siege of unproductive labor was beginning to tell +upon his spirits; but what told still more upon them was the undeniable +fact that the promise of ultimate success diminished every day, now. +That is to say, the tunnel had reached a point in the hill which was +considerably beyond where the coal vein should pass (according to all his +calculations) if there were a coal vein there; and so, every foot that +the tunnel now progressed seemed to carry it further away from the object +of the search.</p> + +<p>Sometimes he ventured to hope that he had made a mistake in estimating +the direction which the vein should naturally take after crossing the +valley and entering the hill. Upon such occasions he would go into the +nearest mine on the vein he was hunting for, and once more get the +bearings of the deposit and mark out its probable course; but the result +was the same every time; his tunnel had manifestly pierced beyond the +natural point of junction; and then his, spirits fell a little lower. +His men had already lost faith, and he often overheard them saying it was +perfectly plain that there was no coal in the hill.</p> + +<p>Foremen and laborers from neighboring mines, and no end of experienced +loafers from the village, visited the tunnel from time to time, and their +verdicts were always the same and always disheartening—"No coal in that +hill." Now and then Philip would sit down and think it all over and +wonder what the mystery meant; then he would go into the tunnel and ask +the men if there were no signs yet? None—always "none."</p> + +<p>He would bring out a piece of rock and examine it, and say to himself, +"It is limestone—it has crinoids and corals in it—the rock is right" +Then he would throw it down with a sigh, and say, "But that is nothing; +where coal is, limestone with these fossils in it is pretty certain to +lie against its foot casing; but it does not necessarily follow that +where this peculiar rock is coal must lie above it or beyond it; this +sign is not sufficient."</p> + +<p>The thought usually followed:—"There is one infallible sign—if I could +only strike that!"</p> + +<p>Three or four tines in as many weeks he said to himself, "Am I a +visionary? I must be a visionary; everybody is in these days; everybody +chases butterflies: everybody seeks sudden fortune and will not lay one +up by slow toil. This is not right, I will discharge the men and go at +some honest work. There is no coal here. What a fool I have been; I +will give it up."</p> + +<p>But he never could do it. A half hour of profound thinking always +followed; and at the end of it he was sure to get up and straighten +himself and say: "There is coal there; I will not give it up; and coal +or no coal I will drive the tunnel clear through the hill; I will not +surrender while I am alive."</p> + +<p>He never thought of asking Mr. Montague for more money. He said there +was now but one chance of finding coal against nine hundred and ninety +nine that he would not find it, and so it would be wrong in him to make +the request and foolish in Mr. Montague to grant it.</p> + +<p>He had been working three shifts of men. Finally, the settling of a +weekly account exhausted his means. He could not afford to run in debt, +and therefore he gave the men their discharge. They came into his cabin +presently, where he sat with his elbows on his knees and his chin in his +hands—the picture of discouragement and their spokesman said:</p> + +<p>"Mr. Sterling, when Tim was down a week with his fall you kept him on +half-wages and it was a mighty help to his family; whenever any of us was +in trouble you've done what you could to help us out; you've acted fair +and square with us every time, and I reckon we are men and know a man +when we see him. We haven't got any faith in that hill, but we have a +respect for a man that's got the pluck that you've showed; you've fought +a good fight, with everybody agin you and if we had grub to go on, I'm +d——d if we wouldn't stand by you till the cows come home! That is what +the boys say. Now we want to put in one parting blast for luck. We want +to work three days more; if we don't find anything, we won't bring in no +bill against you. That is what we've come to say."</p> + +<br><br><br><br> +<center><a name="p562"></a><img alt="p562.jpg (45K)" src="images/p562.jpg" height="397" width="573"> +</center> +<br><br><br><br> + +<p>Philip was touched. If he had had money enough to buy three days' "grub" +he would have accepted the generous offer, but as it was, he could not +consent to be less magnanimous than the men, and so he declined in a +manly speech; shook hands all around and resumed his solitary communings. +The men went back to the tunnel and "put in a parting blast for luck" +anyhow. They did a full day's work and then took their leave. They +called at his cabin and gave him good-bye, but were not able to tell him +their day's effort had given things a mere promising look.</p> + +<p>The next day Philip sold all the tools but two or three sets; he also +sold one of the now deserted cabins as old, lumber, together with its +domestic wares; and made up his mind that he would buy, provisions with +the trifle of money thus gained and continue his work alone. About the +middle of the after noon he put on his roughest clothes and went to the +tunnel. He lit a candle and groped his way in. Presently he heard the +sound of a pick or a drill, and wondered, what it meant. A spark of light +now appeared in the far end of the tunnel, and when he arrived there he +found the man Tim at work. Tim said:</p> + +<p>"I'm to have a job in the Golden Brier mine by and by—in a week or ten +days—and I'm going to work here till then. A man might as well be at +some thing, and besides I consider that I owe you what you paid me when I +was laid up."</p> + +<p>Philip said, Oh, no, he didn't owe anything; but Tim persisted, and then +Philip said he had a little provision now, and would share. So for +several days Philip held the drill and Tim did the striking. At first +Philip was impatient to see the result of every blast, and was always +back and peering among the smoke the moment after the explosion. But +there was never any encouraging result; and therefore he finally lost +almost all interest, and hardly troubled himself to inspect results at +all. He simply labored on, stubbornly and with little hope.</p> + +<p>Tim staid with him till the last moment, and then took up his job at the +Golden Brier, apparently as depressed by the continued barrenness of +their mutual labors as Philip was himself. After that, Philip fought his +battle alone, day after day, and slow work it was; he could scarcely see +that he made any progress.</p> + +<p>Late one afternoon he finished drilling a hole which he had been at work +at for more than two hours; he swabbed it out, and poured in the powder +and inserted the fuse; then filled up the rest of the hole with dirt and +small fragments of stone; tamped it down firmly, touched his candle to +the fuse, and ran.</p> + +<br><br><br><br> +<center><a name="p564"></a><img alt="p564.jpg (22K)" src="images/p564.jpg" height="463" width="279"> +</center> +<br><br><br><br> + +<p>By and by the I dull report came, and he was about to +walk back mechanically and see what was accomplished; but he halted; +presently turned on his heel and thought, rather than said:</p> + +<p>"No, this is useless, this is absurd. If I found anything it would only +be one of those little aggravating seams of coal which doesn't mean +anything, and—"</p> + +<p>By this time he was walking out of the tunnel. His thought ran on:</p> + +<p>"I am conquered . . . . . . I am out of provisions, out of money. +. . . . I have got to give it up . . . . . . All this hard work +lost! But I am not conquered! I will go and work for money, and come +back and have another fight with fate. Ah me, it may be years, it may, +be years."</p> + +<p>Arrived at the mouth of the tunnel, he threw his coat upon the ground, +sat down on, a stone, and his eye sought the westering sun and dwelt upon +the charming landscape which stretched its woody ridges, wave upon wave, +to the golden horizon.</p> + +<p>Something was taking place at his feet which did not attract his +attention.</p> + +<p>His reverie continued, and its burden grew more and more gloomy. +Presently he rose up and, cast a look far away toward the valley, and his +thoughts took a new direction:</p> + +<p>"There it is! How good it looks! But down there is not up here. Well, +I will go home and pack up—there is nothing else to do"</p> + +<p>He moved off moodily toward his cabin. He had gone some distance before +he thought of his coat; then he was about to turn back, but he smiled at +the thought, and continued his journey—such a coat as that could be of +little use in a civilized land; a little further on, he remembered that +there were some papers of value in one of the pockets of the relic, and +then with a penitent ejaculation he turned back picked up the coat and +put it on.</p> + +<p>He made a dozen steps, and then stopped very suddenly. He stood still a +moment, as one who is trying to believe something and cannot. He put a +hand up over his shoulder and felt his back, and a great thrill shot +through him. He grasped the skirt of the coat impulsively and another +thrill followed. He snatched the coat from his back, glanced at it, +threw it from him and flew back to the tunnel. He sought the spot where +the coat had lain—he had to look close, for the light was waning—then +to make sure, he put his hand to the ground and a little stream of water +swept against his fingers:</p> + +<p>"Thank God, I've struck it at last!"</p> + +<br><br><br><br> +<center><a name="p566"></a><img alt="p566.jpg (27K)" src="images/p566.jpg" height="481" width="329"> +</center> +<br><br><br><br> + +<p>He lit a candle and ran into the tunnel; he picked up a piece of rubbish +cast out by the last blast, and said:</p> + +<p>"This clayey stuff is what I've longed for—I know what is behind it."</p> + +<p>He swung his pick with hearty good will till long after the darkness had +gathered upon the earth, and when he trudged home at length he knew he +had a coal vein and that it was seven feet thick from wall to wall.</p> + +<p>He found a yellow envelope lying on his rickety table, and recognized +that it was of a family sacred to the transmission of telegrams.</p> + +<p>He opened it, read it, crushed it in his hand and threw it down. It +simply said:</p> + +<p>"Ruth is very ill."</p> + + + +<br><br><br><br><br><br> +<center><h2><a name="ch63"></a>CHAPTER LXIII.</h2></center> +<br> + +<p>It was evening when Philip took the cars at the Ilium station. The news +of, his success had preceded him, and while he waited for the train, he +was the center of a group of eager questioners, who asked him a hundred +things about the mine, and magnified his good fortune. There was no +mistake this time.</p> + +<p>Philip, in luck, had become suddenly a person of consideration, whose +speech was freighted with meaning, whose looks were all significant. +The words of the proprietor of a rich coal mine have a golden sound, +and his common sayings are repeated as if they were solid wisdom.</p> + +<p>Philip wished to be alone; his good fortune at this moment seemed an +empty mockery, one of those sarcasms of fate, such as that which spreads +a dainty banquet for the man who has no appetite. He had longed for +success principally for Ruth's sake; and perhaps now, at this very moment +of his triumph, she was dying.</p> + +<p>"Shust what I said, Mister Sederling," the landlord of the Ilium hotel +kept repeating. "I dold Jake Schmidt he find him dere shust so sure as +noting."</p> + +<p>"You ought to have taken a share, Mr. Dusenheimer," said Philip.</p> + +<p>"Yaas, I know. But d'old woman, she say 'You sticks to your pisiness. +So I sticks to 'em. Und I makes noting. Dat Mister Prierly, he don't +never come back here no more, ain't it?"</p> + +<p>"Why?" asked Philip.</p> + +<p>"Vell, dere is so many peers, and so many oder dhrinks, I got 'em all set +down, ven he coomes back."</p> + +<br><br><br><br> +<center><a name="p568"></a><img alt="p568.jpg (39K)" src="images/p568.jpg" height="449" width="409"> +</center> +<br><br><br><br> + +<p>It was a long night for Philip, and a restless one. At any other time +the swing of the cars would have lulled him to sleep, and the rattle and +clank of wheels and rails, the roar of the whirling iron would have only +been cheerful reminders of swift and safe travel. Now they were voices +of warning and taunting; and instead of going rapidly the train seemed to +crawl at a snail's pace. And it not only crawled, but it frequently +stopped; and when it stopped it stood dead still and there was an ominous +silence. Was anything the matter, he wondered. Only a station probably. +Perhaps, he thought, a telegraphic station. And then he listened +eagerly. Would the conductor open the door and ask for Philip Sterling, +and hand him a fatal dispatch?</p> + +<p>How long they seemed to wait. And then slowly beginning to move, they +were off again, shaking, pounding, screaming through the night. He drew +his curtain from time to time and looked out. There was the lurid sky +line of the wooded range along the base of which they were crawling. +There was the Susquehannah, gleaming in the moon-light. There was a +stretch of level valley with silent farm houses, the occupants all at +rest, without trouble, without anxiety. There was a church, a graveyard, +a mill, a village; and now, without pause or fear, the train had mounted +a trestle-work high in air and was creeping along the top of it while a +swift torrent foamed a hundred feet below.</p> + +<p>What would the morning bring? Even while he was flying to her, her gentle +spirit might have gone on another flight, whither he could not follow +her. He was full of foreboding. He fell at length into a restless doze. +There was a noise in his ears as of a rushing torrent when a stream is +swollen by a freshet in the spring. It was like the breaking up of life; +he was struggling in the consciousness of coming death: when Ruth stood +by his side, clothed in white, with a face like that of an angel, +radiant, smiling, pointing to the sky, and saying, "Come." He awoke with +a cry—the train was roaring through a bridge, and it shot out into +daylight.</p> + +<p>When morning came the train was industriously toiling along through the +fat lands of Lancaster, with its broad farms of corn and wheat, its mean +houses of stone, its vast barns and granaries, built as if, for storing +the riches of Heliogabalus. Then came the smiling fields of Chester, +with their English green, and soon the county of Philadelphia itself, and +the increasing signs of the approach to a great city. Long trains of +coal cars, laden and unladen, stood upon sidings; the tracks of other +roads were crossed; the smoke of other locomotives was seen on parallel +lines; factories multiplied; streets appeared; the noise of a busy city +began to fill the air;—and with a slower and slower clank on the +connecting rails and interlacing switches the train rolled into the +station and stood still.</p> + +<p>It was a hot August morning. The broad streets glowed in the sun, and +the white-shuttered houses stared at the hot thoroughfares like closed +bakers' ovens set along the highway. Philip was oppressed with the heavy +air; the sweltering city lay as in a swoon. Taking a street car, he rode +away to the northern part of the city, the newer portion, formerly the +district of Spring Garden, for in this the Boltons now lived, in a small +brick house, befitting their altered fortunes.</p> + +<p>He could scarcely restrain his impatience when he came in sight of the +house. The window shutters were not "bowed"; thank God, for that. Ruth +was still living, then. He ran up the steps and rang. Mrs. Bolton met +him at the door.</p> + +<p>"Thee is very welcome, Philip."</p> + +<p>"And Ruth?"</p> + +<p>"She is very ill, but quieter than, she has been, and the fever is a +little abating. The most dangerous time will be when the fever leaves +her. The doctor fears she will not have strength enough to rally from +it. Yes, thee can see her."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Bolton led the way to the little chamber where Ruth lay. "Oh," +said her mother, "if she were only in her cool and spacious room in our +old home. She says that seems like heaven."</p> + +<p>Mr. Bolton sat by Ruth's bedside, and he rose and silently pressed +Philip's hand. The room had but one window; that was wide open to admit +the air, but the air that came in was hot and lifeless. Upon the table +stood a vase of flowers. Ruth's eyes were closed; her cheeks were +flushed with fever, and she moved her head restlessly as if in pain.</p> + +<p>"Ruth," said her mother, bending over her, "Philip is here."</p> + +<p>Ruth's eyes unclosed, there was a gleam of recognition in them, there was +an attempt at a smile upon her face, and she tried to raise her thin +hand, as Philip touched her forehead with his lips; and he heard her +murmur,</p> + +<p>"Dear Phil."</p> + +<br><br><br><br> +<center><a name="p571"></a><img alt="p571.jpg (66K)" src="images/p571.jpg" height="839" width="553"> +</center> +<br><br><br><br> + +<p>There was nothing to be done but to watch and wait for the cruel fever to +burn itself out. Dr. Longstreet told Philip that the fever had +undoubtedly been contracted in the hospital, but it was not malignant, +and would be little dangerous if Ruth were not so worn down with work, +or if she had a less delicate constitution.</p> + +<p>"It is only her indomitable will that has kept her up for weeks. And if +that should leave her now, there will be no hope. You can do more for +her now, sir, than I can?"</p> + +<p>"How?" asked Philip eagerly.</p> + +<p>"Your presence, more than anything else, will inspire her with the desire +to live."</p> + +<p>When the fever turned, Ruth was in a very critical condition. For two +days her life was like the fluttering of a lighted candle in the wind. +Philip was constantly by her side, and she seemed to be conscious of his +presence, and to cling to him, as one borne away by a swift stream clings +to a stretched-out hand from the shore. If he was absent a moment her +restless eyes sought something they were disappointed not to find.</p> + +<p>Philip so yearned to bring her back to life, he willed it so strongly and +passionately, that his will appeared to affect hers and she seemed slowly +to draw life from his.</p> + +<p>After two days of this struggle with the grasping enemy, it was evident +to Dr. Longstreet that Ruth's will was beginning to issue its orders to +her body with some force, and that strength was slowly coming back. +In another day there was a decided improvement. As Philip sat holding +her weak hand and watching the least sign of resolution in her face, Ruth +was able to whisper,</p> + +<p>"I so want to live, for you, Phil!"</p> + +<p>"You will; darling, you must," said Philip in a tone of faith and courage +that carried a thrill of determination—of command—along all her nerves.</p> + +<p>Slowly Philip drew her back to life. Slowly she came back, as one +willing but well nigh helpless. It was new for Ruth to feel this +dependence on another's nature, to consciously draw strength of will from +the will of another. It was a new but a dear joy, to be lifted up and +carried back into the happy world, which was now all aglow with the light +of love; to be lifted and carried by the one she loved more than her own +life.</p> + +<p>"Sweetheart," she said to Philip, "I would not have cared to come back +but for thy love."</p> + +<p>"Not for thy profession?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, thee may be glad enough of that some day, when thy coal bed is dug +out and thee and father are in the air again."</p> + +<p>When Ruth was able to ride she was taken into the country, for the pure +air was necessary to her speedy recovery. The family went with her. +Philip could not be spared from her side, and Mr. Bolton had gone up to +Ilium to look into that wonderful coal mine and to make arrangements for +developing it, and bringing its wealth to market. Philip had insisted on +re-conveying the Ilium property to Mr. Bolton, retaining only the share +originally contemplated for himself, and Mr. Bolton, therefore, once +more found himself engaged in business and a person of some consequence +in Third street. The mine turned out even better than was at first +hoped, and would, if judiciously managed, be a fortune to them all. +This also seemed to be the opinion of Mr. Bigler, who heard of it as soon +as anybody, and, with the impudence of his class called upon Mr. Bolton +for a little aid in a patent car-wheel he had bought an interest in. +That rascal, Small, he said, had swindled him out of all he had.</p> + +<p>Mr. Bolton told him he was very sorry, and recommended him to sue Small.</p> + +<p>Mr. Small also came with a similar story about Mr. Bigler; and Mr. +Bolton had the grace to give him like advice. And he added, "If you and +Bigler will procure the indictment of each other, you may have the +satisfaction of putting each other in the penitentiary for the forgery of +my acceptances."</p> + +<p>Bigler and Small did not quarrel however. They both attacked Mr. Bolton +behind his back as a swindler, and circulated the story that he had made +a fortune by failing.</p> + +<p>In the pure air of the highlands, amid the golden glories of ripening +September, Ruth rapidly came back to health. How beautiful the world is +to an invalid, whose senses are all clarified, who has been so near the +world of spirits that she is sensitive to the finest influences, and +whose frame responds with a thrill to the subtlest ministrations of +soothing nature. Mere life is a luxury, and the color of the grass, of +the flowers, of the sky, the wind in the trees, the outlines of the +horizon, the forms of clouds, all give a pleasure as exquisite as the +sweetest music to the ear famishing for it. The world was all new and +fresh to Ruth, as if it had just been created for her, and love filled +it, till her heart was overflowing with happiness.</p> + +<p>It was golden September also at Fallkill. And Alice sat by the open +window in her room at home, looking out upon the meadows where the +laborers were cutting the second crop of clover. The fragrance of it +floated to her nostrils. Perhaps she did not mind it. She was thinking. +She had just been writing to Ruth, and on the table before her was a +yellow piece of paper with a faded four-leaved clover pinned on it—only +a memory now. In her letter to Ruth she had poured out her heartiest +blessings upon them both, with her dear love forever and forever.</p> + +<p>"Thank God," she said, "they will never know"</p> + +<br><br><br><br> +<center><a name="p573"></a><img alt="p573.jpg (37K)" src="images/p573.jpg" height="471" width="423"> +</center> +<br><br><br><br> + +<p>They never would know. And the world never knows how many women there +are like Alice, whose sweet but lonely lives of self-sacrifice, gentle, +faithful, loving souls, bless it continually.</p> + +<p>"She is a dear girl," said Philip, when Ruth showed him the letter.</p> + +<p>"Yes, Phil, and we can spare a great deal of love for her, our own lives +are so full."</p> + +<br><br><br><br> + + +<center><h3><a name="Appendix"></a>APPENDIX.</h3></center> + +<p>Perhaps some apology to the reader is necessary in view of our failure to +find Laura's father. We supposed, from the ease with which lost persons +are found in novels, that it would not be difficult. But it was; indeed, +it was impossible; and therefore the portions of the narrative containing +the record of the search have been stricken out. Not because they were +not interesting—for they were; but inasmuch as the man was not found, +after all, it did not seem wise to harass and excite the reader to no +purpose.</p> + +<p>THE AUTHORS</p> + + + +<br><br> +<hr> +<br><br> + + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Gilded Age, Part 7. +by Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) and Charles Dudley Warner + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GILDED AGE, PART 7. *** + +***** This file should be named 5824-h.htm or 5824-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/5/8/2/5824/ + +Produced by David Widger + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +https://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at https://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +https://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at https://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit https://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including including checks, online payments and credit card +donations. To donate, please visit: https://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + https://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. + + +</pre> + +</body> +</html> + diff --git a/5824-h/images/Bookcover.jpg b/5824-h/images/Bookcover.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..ba589bc --- /dev/null +++ b/5824-h/images/Bookcover.jpg diff --git a/5824-h/images/Frontpiece.jpg b/5824-h/images/Frontpiece.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..42944f9 --- /dev/null +++ b/5824-h/images/Frontpiece.jpg diff --git a/5824-h/images/Titlepage.jpg b/5824-h/images/Titlepage.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..92a942c --- /dev/null +++ b/5824-h/images/Titlepage.jpg diff --git a/5824-h/images/p507.jpg b/5824-h/images/p507.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..86df5fb --- /dev/null +++ b/5824-h/images/p507.jpg diff --git a/5824-h/images/p508.jpg b/5824-h/images/p508.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..b544fab --- /dev/null +++ b/5824-h/images/p508.jpg diff --git a/5824-h/images/p514.jpg b/5824-h/images/p514.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..9748509 --- /dev/null +++ b/5824-h/images/p514.jpg diff --git a/5824-h/images/p516.jpg b/5824-h/images/p516.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..112e5e1 --- /dev/null +++ b/5824-h/images/p516.jpg diff --git a/5824-h/images/p518.jpg b/5824-h/images/p518.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..6bf46bb --- /dev/null +++ b/5824-h/images/p518.jpg diff --git a/5824-h/images/p520.jpg b/5824-h/images/p520.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..324023a --- /dev/null +++ b/5824-h/images/p520.jpg diff --git a/5824-h/images/p521.jpg b/5824-h/images/p521.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..ae4cfc0 --- /dev/null +++ b/5824-h/images/p521.jpg diff --git a/5824-h/images/p523.jpg b/5824-h/images/p523.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..b2102c4 --- /dev/null +++ b/5824-h/images/p523.jpg diff --git a/5824-h/images/p525.jpg b/5824-h/images/p525.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..83626e1 --- /dev/null +++ b/5824-h/images/p525.jpg diff --git a/5824-h/images/p532.jpg b/5824-h/images/p532.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..5da227e --- /dev/null +++ b/5824-h/images/p532.jpg diff --git a/5824-h/images/p535.jpg b/5824-h/images/p535.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..671008c --- /dev/null +++ b/5824-h/images/p535.jpg diff --git a/5824-h/images/p538.jpg b/5824-h/images/p538.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..7abc6a2 --- /dev/null +++ b/5824-h/images/p538.jpg diff --git a/5824-h/images/p541.jpg b/5824-h/images/p541.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..43ded1c --- /dev/null +++ b/5824-h/images/p541.jpg diff --git a/5824-h/images/p545.jpg b/5824-h/images/p545.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..fb038ca --- /dev/null +++ b/5824-h/images/p545.jpg diff --git a/5824-h/images/p546.jpg b/5824-h/images/p546.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..c1bb716 --- /dev/null +++ b/5824-h/images/p546.jpg diff --git a/5824-h/images/p549.jpg b/5824-h/images/p549.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..7c213e9 --- /dev/null +++ b/5824-h/images/p549.jpg diff --git a/5824-h/images/p551.jpg b/5824-h/images/p551.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..ebcfb24 --- /dev/null +++ b/5824-h/images/p551.jpg diff --git a/5824-h/images/p554.jpg b/5824-h/images/p554.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..0ac2fb6 --- /dev/null +++ b/5824-h/images/p554.jpg diff --git a/5824-h/images/p559.jpg b/5824-h/images/p559.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..286364f --- /dev/null +++ b/5824-h/images/p559.jpg diff --git a/5824-h/images/p562.jpg b/5824-h/images/p562.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..9c961ab --- /dev/null +++ b/5824-h/images/p562.jpg diff --git a/5824-h/images/p564.jpg b/5824-h/images/p564.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..2598b81 --- /dev/null +++ b/5824-h/images/p564.jpg diff --git a/5824-h/images/p566.jpg b/5824-h/images/p566.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..3a14de8 --- /dev/null +++ b/5824-h/images/p566.jpg diff --git a/5824-h/images/p568.jpg b/5824-h/images/p568.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..0978876 --- /dev/null +++ b/5824-h/images/p568.jpg diff --git a/5824-h/images/p571.jpg b/5824-h/images/p571.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..26b58eb --- /dev/null +++ b/5824-h/images/p571.jpg diff --git a/5824-h/images/p573.jpg b/5824-h/images/p573.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..f6516c1 --- /dev/null +++ b/5824-h/images/p573.jpg diff --git a/5824.txt b/5824.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..237b7e3 --- /dev/null +++ b/5824.txt @@ -0,0 +1,2877 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Gilded Age, Part 7. +by Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) and Charles Dudley Warner + +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 Gilded Age, Part 7. + +Author: Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) and Charles Dudley Warner + +Release Date: June 20, 2004 [EBook #5824] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GILDED AGE, PART 7. *** + + + + +Produced by David Widger + + + + + +THE GILDED AGE + +A Tale of Today + +by Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner + +1873 + + +Part 7. + + + +CHAPTER LV. + +Henry Brierly took the stand. Requested by the District Attorney to tell +the jury all he knew about the killing, he narrated the circumstances +substantially as the reader already knows them. + +He accompanied Miss Hawkins to New York at her request, supposing she was +coming in relation to a bill then pending in Congress, to secure the +attendance of absent members. Her note to him was here shown. She +appeared to be very much excited at the Washington station. After she +had asked the conductor several questions, he heard her say, "He can't +escape." Witness asked her "Who?" and she replied "Nobody." Did not see +her during the night. They traveled in a sleeping car. In the morning +she appeared not to have slept, said she had a headache. In crossing the +ferry she asked him about the shipping in sight; he pointed out where the +Cunarders lay when in port. They took a cup of coffee that morning at a +restaurant. She said she was anxious to reach the Southern Hotel where +Mr. Simons, one of the absent members, was staying, before he went out. +She was entirely self-possessed, and beyond unusual excitement did not +act unnaturally. After she had fired twice at Col. Selby, she turned the +pistol towards her own breast, and witness snatched it from her. She had +seen a great deal with Selby in Washington, appeared to be infatuated +with him. + +(Cross-examined by Mr. Braham.) "Mist-er.....er Brierly!" (Mr. Braham had +in perfection this lawyer's trick of annoying a witness, by drawling out +the "Mister," as if unable to recall the name, until the witness is +sufficiently aggravated, and then suddenly, with a rising inflection, +flinging his name at him with startling unexpectedness.) "Mist-er.....er +Brierly! What is your occupation?" + +"Civil Engineer, sir." + +"Ah, civil engineer, (with a glance at the jury). Following that +occupation with Miss Hawkins?" (Smiles by the jury). + +"No, sir," said Harry, reddening. + +"How long have you known the prisoner?" + +"Two years, sir. I made her acquaintance in Hawkeye, Missouri." + +"M.....m...m. Mist-er.....er Brierly! Were you not a lover of Miss +Hawkins?" + +Objected to. "I submit, your Honor, that I have the right to establish +the relation of this unwilling witness to the prisoner." Admitted. + +"Well, sir," said Harry hesitatingly, "we were friends." + +"You act like a friend!" (sarcastically.) The jury were beginning to hate +this neatly dressed young sprig. "Mister......er....Brierly! Didn't +Miss Hawkins refuse you?" + +Harry blushed and stammered and looked at the judge. "You must answer, +sir," said His Honor. + +"She--she--didn't accept me." + +"No. I should think not. Brierly do you dare tell the jury that you had +not an interest in the removal of your rival, Col. Selby?" roared Mr. +Braham in a voice of thunder. + +"Nothing like this, sir, nothing like this," protested the witness. + +"That's all, sir," said Mr. Braham severely. + +"One word," said the District Attorney. "Had you the least suspicion of +the prisoner's intention, up to the moment of the shooting?" + +"Not the least," answered Harry earnestly. + +"Of course not, of course-not," nodded Mr. Braham to the jury. + +The prosecution then put upon the stand the other witnesses of the +shooting at the hotel, and the clerk and the attending physicians. The +fact of the homicide was clearly established. Nothing new was elicited, +except from the clerk, in reply to a question by Mr. Braham, the fact +that when the prisoner enquired for Col. Selby she appeared excited and +there was a wild look in her eyes. + +The dying deposition of Col. Selby was then produced. It set forth +Laura's threats, but there was a significant addition to it, which the +newspaper report did not have. It seemed that after the deposition was +taken as reported, the Colonel was told for the first time by his +physicians that his wounds were mortal. He appeared to be in great +mental agony and fear; and said he had not finished his deposition. +He added, with great difficulty and long pauses these words. "I--have +--not--told--all. I must tell--put--it--down--I--wronged--her. Years +--ago--I--can't see--O--God--I--deserved----" That was all. He fainted +and did not revive again. + +The Washington railway conductor testified that the prisoner had asked +him if a gentleman and his family went out on the evening train, +describing the persons he had since learned were Col. Selby and family. + +Susan Cullum, colored servant at Senator Dilworthy's, was sworn. Knew +Col. Selby. Had seen him come to the house often, and be alone in the +parlor with Miss Hawkins. He came the day but one before he was shot. +She let him in. He appeared flustered like. She heard talking in the +parlor, I peared like it was quarrelin'. Was afeared sumfin' was wrong: +Just put her ear to--the--keyhole of the back parlor-door. Heard a man's +voice, "I--can't--I can't, Good God," quite beggin' like. Heard--young +Miss' voice, "Take your choice, then. If you 'bandon me, you knows what +to 'spect." Then he rushes outen the house, I goes in--and I says, +"Missis did you ring?" She was a standin' like a tiger, her eyes +flashin'. I come right out. + +This was the substance of Susan's testimony, which was not shaken in the +least by severe cross-examination. In reply to Mr. Braham's question, if +the prisoner did not look insane, Susan said, "Lord; no, sir, just mad as +a hawnet." + +Washington Hawkins was sworn. The pistol, identified by the officer as +the one used in the homicide, was produced Washington admitted that it +was his. She had asked him for it one morning, saying she thought she +had heard burglars the night before. Admitted that he never had heard +burglars in the house. Had anything unusual happened just before that. + +Nothing that he remembered. Did he accompany her to a reception at Mrs. +Shoonmaker's a day or two before? Yes. What occurred? Little by little +it was dragged out of the witness that Laura had behaved strangely there, +appeared to be sick, and he had taken her home. Upon being pushed he +admitted that she had afterwards confessed that she saw Selby there. +And Washington volunteered the statement that Selby, was a black-hearted +villain. + +The District Attorney said, with some annoyance; "There--there! That will +do." + +The defence declined to examine Mr. Hawkins at present. The case for the +prosecution was closed. Of the murder there could not be the least +doubt, or that the prisoner followed the deceased to New York with a +murderous intent: On the evidence the jury must convict, and might do so +without leaving their seats. This was the condition of the case +two days after the jury had been selected. A week had passed since the +trial opened; and a Sunday had intervened. + +The public who read the reports of the evidence saw no chance for the +prisoner's escape. The crowd of spectators who had watched the trial +were moved with the most profound sympathy for Laura. + +Mr. Braham opened the case for the defence. His manner was subdued, and +he spoke in so low a voice that it was only by reason of perfect silence +in the court room that he could be heard. He spoke very distinctly, +however, and if his nationality could be discovered in his speech it was +only in a certain richness and breadth of tone. + +He began by saying that he trembled at the responsibility he had +undertaken; and he should, altogether despair, if he did not see before +him a jury of twelve men of rare intelligence, whose acute minds would +unravel all the sophistries of the prosecution, men with a sense, of +honor, which would revolt at the remorseless persecution of this hunted +woman by the state, men with hearts to feel for the wrongs of which she +was the victim. Far be it from him to cast any suspicion upon the +motives of the able, eloquent and ingenious lawyers of the state; they +act officially; their business is to convict. It is our business, +gentlemen, to see that justice is done. + +"It is my duty, gentlemen, to untold to you one of the most affecting +dramas in all, the history of misfortune. I shall have to show you a +life, the sport of fate and circumstances, hurried along through shifting +storm and sun, bright with trusting innocence and anon black with +heartless villainy, a career which moves on in love and desertion and +anguish, always hovered over by the dark spectre of INSANITY--an insanity +hereditary and induced by mental torture,--until it ends, if end it must +in your verdict, by one of those fearful accidents, which are inscrutable +to men and of which God alone knows the secret. + +"Gentlemen, I, shall ask you to go with me away from this court room and +its minions of the law, away from the scene of this tragedy, to a +distant, I wish I could say a happier day. The story I have to tell is +of a lovely little girl, with sunny hair and laughing eyes, traveling +with her parents, evidently people of wealth and refinement, upon a +Mississippi steamboat. There is an explosion, one of those terrible +catastrophes which leave the imprint of an unsettled mind upon the +survivors. Hundreds of mangled remains are sent into eternity. When the +wreck is cleared away this sweet little girl is found among the panic +stricken survivors in the midst of a scene of horror enough to turn the +steadiest brain. Her parents have disappeared. Search even for their +bodies is in vain. The bewildered, stricken child--who can say what +changes the fearful event wrought in her tender brain--clings to the +first person who shows her sympathy. It is Mrs. Hawkins, this good lady +who is still her loving friend. Laura is adopted into the Hawkins +family. Perhaps she forgets in time that she is not their child. She is +an orphan. No, gentlemen, I will not deceive you, she is not an orphan. +Worse than that. There comes another day of agony. She knows that her +father lives. Who is he, where is he? Alas, I cannot tell you. Through +the scenes of this painful history he flits here and there a lunatic! +If he, seeks his daughter, it is the purposeless search of a lunatic, as +one who wanders bereft of reason, crying where is my child? Laura seeks +her father. In vain just as she is about to find him, again and again-he +disappears, he is gone, he vanishes. + +"But this is only the prologue to the tragedy. Bear with me while I +relate it. (Mr. Braham takes out a handkerchief, unfolds it slowly; +crashes it in his nervous hand, and throws it on the table). Laura grew +up in her humble southern home, a beautiful creature, the joy, of the +house, the pride of the neighborhood, the loveliest flower in all the +sunny south. She might yet have been happy; she was happy. But the +destroyer came into this paradise. He plucked the sweetest bud that grew +there, and having enjoyed its odor, trampled it in the mire beneath his +feet. George Selby, the deceased, a handsome, accomplished Confederate +Colonel, was this human fiend. He deceived her with a mock marriage; +after some months he brutally, abandoned her, and spurned her as if she +were a contemptible thing; all the time he had a wife in New Orleans. +Laura was crushed. For weeks, as I shall show you by the testimony of +her adopted mother and brother, she hovered over death in delirium. +Gentlemen, did she ever emerge from this delirium? I shall show you that +when she recovered her health, her mind was changed, she was not what she +had been. You can judge yourselves whether the tottering reason ever +recovered its throne. + +"Years pass. She is in Washington, apparently the happy favorite of a +brilliant society. Her family have become enormously rich by one of +those sudden turns, in fortune that the inhabitants of America are +familiar with--the discovery of immense mineral wealth in some wild lands +owned by them. She is engaged in a vast philanthropic scheme for the +benefit of the poor, by, the use of this wealth. But, alas, even here +and now, the same, relentless fate pursued her. The villain Selby +appears again upon the scene, as if on purpose to complete the ruin of +her life. He appeared to taunt her with her dishonor, he threatened +exposure if she did not become again the mistress of his passion. +Gentlemen, do you wonder if this woman, thus pursued, lost her reason, +was beside herself with fear, and that her wrongs preyed upon her mind +until she was no longer responsible for her acts? I turn away my head as +one who would not willingly look even upon the just vengeance of Heaven. +(Mr. Braham paused as if overcome by his emotions. Mrs. Hawkins and +Washington were in tears, as were many of the spectators also. The jury +looked scared.) + +"Gentlemen, in this condition of affairs it needed but a spark--I do not +say a suggestion, I do not say a hint--from this butterfly Brierly; this +rejected rival, to cause the explosion. I make no charges, but if this +woman was in her right mind when she fled from Washington and reached +this city in company--with Brierly, then I do not know what insanity is." + +When Mr. Braham sat down, he felt that he had the jury with him. A burst +of applause followed, which the officer promptly, suppressed. Laura, +with tears in her eyes, turned a grateful look upon her counsel. All the +women among the spectators saw the tears and wept also. They thought as +they also looked at Mr. Braham; how handsome he is! + +Mrs. Hawkins took the stand. She was somewhat confused to be the target +of so many, eyes, but her honest and good face at once told in Laura's +favor. + +"Mrs. Hawkins," said Mr. Braham, "will you' be kind enough to state the +circumstances of your finding Laura?" + +"I object," said Mr. McFlinn; rising to his feet. "This has nothing +whatever to do with the case, your honor. I am surprised at it, even +after the extraordinary speech of my learned friend." + +"How do you propose to connect it, Mr. Braham?" asked the judge. + +"If it please the court," said Mr. Braham, rising impressively, "your +Honor has permitted the prosecution, and I have submitted without a word; +to go into the most extraordinary testimony to establish a motive. Are +we to be shut out from showing that the motive attributed to us could not +by reason of certain mental conditions exist? I purpose, may, it please +your Honor, to show the cause and the origin of an aberration of mind, +to follow it up, with other like evidence, connecting it with the very +moment of the homicide, showing a condition of the intellect, of the +prisoner that precludes responsibility." + +"The State must insist upon its objections," said the District Attorney. +"The purpose evidently is to open the door to a mass of irrelevant +testimony, the object of which is to produce an effect upon the jury your +Honor well understands." + +"Perhaps," suggested the judge, "the court ought to hear the testimony, +and exclude it afterwards, if it is irrelevant." + +"Will your honor hear argument on that!" + +"Certainly." + +And argument his honor did hear, or pretend to, for two whole days, +from all the counsel in turn, in the course of which the lawyers read +contradictory decisions enough to perfectly establish both sides, from +volume after volume, whole libraries in fact, until no mortal man could +say what the rules were. The question of insanity in all its legal +aspects was of course drawn into the discussion, and its application +affirmed and denied. The case was felt to turn upon the admission or +rejection of this evidence. It was a sort of test trial of strength +between the lawyers. At the end the judge decided to admit the +testimony, as the judge usually does in such cases, after a sufficient +waste of time in what are called arguments. + +Mrs. Hawkins was allowed to go on. + + + + +CHAPTER LVI. + +Mrs. Hawkins slowly and conscientiously, as if every detail of her family +history was important, told the story of the steamboat explosion, of the +finding and adoption of Laura. Silas, that its Mr. Hawkins, and she +always loved Laura, as if she had been their own, child. + +She then narrated the circumstances of Laura's supposed marriage, her +abandonment and long illness, in a manner that touched all hearts. Laura +had been a different woman since then. + +Cross-examined. At the time of first finding Laura on the steamboat, +did she notice that Laura's mind was at all deranged? She couldn't say +that she did. After the recovery of Laura from her long illness, did +Mrs. Hawkins think there, were any signs of insanity about her? Witness +confessed that she did not think of it then. + +Re-Direct examination. "But she was different after that?" + +"O, yes, sir." + +Washington Hawkins corroborated his mother's testimony as to Laura's +connection with Col. Selby. He was at Harding during the time of her +living there with him. After Col. Selby's desertion she was almost dead, +never appeared to know anything rightly for weeks. He added that he +never saw such a scoundrel as Selby. (Checked by District attorney.) +Had he noticed any change in, Laura after her illness? Oh, yes. +Whenever, any allusion was made that might recall Selby to mind, she +looked awful--as if she could kill him. + +"You mean," said Mr. Braham, "that there was an unnatural, insane gleam +in her eyes?" + +"Yes, certainly," said Washington in confusion. + +All this was objected to by the district attorney, but it was got before +the jury, and Mr. Braham did not care how much it was ruled out after +that. + +"Beriah Sellers was the next witness called. The Colonel made his way to +the stand with majestic, yet bland deliberation. Having taken the oath +and kissed the Bible with a smack intended to show his great respect for +that book, he bowed to his Honor with dignity, to the jury with +familiarity, and then turned to the lawyers and stood in an attitude of +superior attention. + +"Mr. Sellers, I believe?" began Mr. Braham. + +"Beriah Sellers, Missouri," was the courteous acknowledgment that the +lawyer was correct. + +"Mr. Sellers; you know the parties here, you are a friend of the family?" + +"Know them all, from infancy, sir. It was me, sir, that induced Silas +Hawkins, Judge Hawkins, to come to Missouri, and make his fortune. +It was by my advice and in company with me, sir, that he went into the +operation of--" + +"Yes, yes. Mr. Sellers, did you know a Major Lackland?" + +"Knew him, well, sir, knew him and honored him, sir. He was one of the +most remarkable men of our country, sir. A member of congress. He was +often at my mansion sir, for weeks. He used to say to me, 'Col. Sellers, +if you would go into politics, if I had you for a colleague, we should +show Calhoun and Webster that the brain of the country didn't lie east of +the Alleganies. But I said--" + +"Yes, yes. I believe Major Lackland is not living, Colonel?" + +There was an almost imperceptible sense of pleasure betrayed in the +Colonel's face at this prompt acknowledgment of his title. + +"Bless you, no. Died years ago, a miserable death, sir, a ruined man, +a poor sot. He was suspected of selling his vote in Congress, and +probably he did; the disgrace killed' him, he was an outcast, sir, +loathed by himself and by his constituents. And I think; sir"---- + +The Judge. "You will confine yourself, Col. Sellers to the questions of +the counsel." + +"Of course, your honor. This," continued the Colonel in confidential +explanation, "was twenty years ago. I shouldn't have thought of referring +to such a trifling circumstance now. If I remember rightly, sir"-- + +A bundle of letters was here handed to the witness. + +"Do you recognize, that hand-writing?" + +"As if it was my own, sir. It's Major Lackland's. I was knowing to these +letters when Judge Hawkins received them. [The Colonel's memory was a +little at fault here. Mr. Hawkins had never gone into detail's with him +on this subject.] He used to show them to me, and say, 'Col, Sellers +you've a mind to untangle this sort of thing.' Lord, how everything +comes back to me. Laura was a little thing then. 'The Judge and I were +just laying our plans to buy the Pilot Knob, and--" + +"Colonel, one moment. Your Honor, we put these letters in evidence." + +The letters were a portion of the correspondence of Major Lackland with +Silas Hawkins; parts of them were missing and important letters were +referred to that were not here. They related, as the reader knows, to +Laura's father. Lackland had come upon the track of a man who was +searching for a lost child in a Mississippi steamboat explosion years +before. The man was lame in one leg, and appeared to be flitting from +place to place. It seemed that Major Lackland got so close track of him +that he was able to describe his personal appearance and learn his name. +But the letter containing these particulars was lost. Once he heard of +him at a hotel in Washington; but the man departed, leaving an empty +trunk, the day before the major went there. There was something very +mysterious in all his movements. + +Col. Sellers, continuing his testimony, said that he saw this lost +letter, but could not now recall the name. Search for the supposed +father had been continued by Lackland, Hawkins and himself for several +years, but Laura was not informed of it till after the death of Hawkins, +for fear of raising false hopes in her mind. + +Here the Distract Attorney arose and said, + +"Your Honor, I must positively object to letting the witness wander off +into all these irrelevant details." + +Mr. Braham. "I submit your honor, that we cannot be interrupted in this +manner we have suffered the state to have full swing. Now here is a +witness, who has known the prisoner from infancy, and is competent to +testify upon the one point vital to her safety. Evidently he is a +gentleman of character, and his knowledge of the case cannot be shut out +without increasing the aspect of persecution which the State's attitude +towards the prisoner already has assumed." + +The wrangle continued, waxing hotter and hotter. The Colonel seeing the +attention of the counsel and Court entirely withdrawn from him, thought +he perceived here his opportunity, turning and beaming upon the jury, he +began simply to talk, but as the grandeur of his position grew upon him +--talk broadened unconsciously into an oratorical vein. + +"You see how she was situated, gentlemen; poor child, it might have +broken her, heart to let her mind get to running on such a thing as that. +You see, from what we could make out her father was lame in the left leg +and had a deep scar on his left forehead. And so ever since the day she +found out she had another father, she never could, run across a lame +stranger without being taken all over with a shiver, and almost fainting +where she, stood. And the next minute she would go right after that man. +Once she stumbled on a stranger with a game leg; and she was the most +grateful thing in this world--but it was the wrong leg, and it was days +and days before she could leave her bed. Once she found a man with a scar +on his forehead and she was just going to throw herself into his arms,` +but he stepped out just then, and there wasn't anything the matter with +his legs. Time and time again, gentlemen of the jury, has this poor +suffering orphan flung herself on her knees with all her heart's +gratitude in her eyes before some scarred and crippled veteran, but +always, always to be disappointed, always to be plunged into new +despair--if his legs were right his scar was wrong, if his scar was right +his legs were wrong. Never could find a man that would fill the bill. +Gentlemen of the jury; you have hearts, you have feelings, you have warm +human sympathies; you can feel for this poor suffering child. Gentlemen +of the jury, if I had time, if I had the opportunity, if I might be +permitted to go on and tell you the thousands and thousands and thousands +of mutilated strangers this poor girl has started out of cover, and +hunted from city to city, from state to state, from continent to +continent, till she has run them down and found they wan't the ones; I +know your hearts--" + +By this time the Colonel had become so warmed up, that his voice, had +reached a pitch above that of the contending counsel; the lawyers +suddenly stopped, and they and the Judge turned towards the Colonel and +remained far several seconds too surprised at this novel exhibition to +speak. In this interval of silence, an appreciation of the situation +gradually stole over the, audience, and an explosion of laughter +followed, in which even the Court and the bar could hardly keep from +joining. + +Sheriff. "Order in the Court." + +The Judge. "The witness will confine his remarks to answers to +questions." + +The Colonel turned courteously to the Judge and said, + +"Certainly, your Honor--certainly. I am not well acquainted with the +forms of procedure in the courts of New York, but in the West, sir, in +the West--" + +The Judge. "There, there, that will do, that will do! + +"You see, your Honor, there were no questions asked me, and I thought I +would take advantage of the lull in the proceedings to explain to the, +jury a very significant train of--" + +The Judge. "That will DO sir! Proceed Mr. Braham." + +"Col. Sellers, have you any, reason to suppose that this man is still +living?" + +"Every reason, sir, every reason. + +"State why" + +"I have never heard of his death, sir. It has never come to my +knowledge. In fact, sir, as I once said to Governor--" + +"Will you state to the jury what has been the effect of the knowledge of +this wandering and evidently unsettled being, supposed to be her father, +upon the mind of Miss Hawkins for so many years!" + +Question objected to. Question ruled out. + +Cross-examined. "Major Sellers, what is your occupation?" + +The Colonel looked about him loftily, as if casting in his mind what +would be the proper occupation of a person of such multifarious interests +and then said with dignity: + +"A gentleman, sir. My father used to always say, sir"-- + +"Capt. Sellers, did you; ever see this man, this supposed father?" + +"No, Sir. But upon one occasion, old Senator Thompson said to me, its my +opinion, Colonel Sellers"-- + +"Did you ever see any body who had seen him?" + +"No, sir: It was reported around at one time, that"-- + +"That is all." + +The defense then sent a day in the examination of medical experts in +insanity who testified, on the evidence heard, that sufficient causes had +occurred to produce an insane mind in the prisoner. Numerous cases were +cited to sustain this opinion. There was such a thing as momentary +insanity, in which the person, otherwise rational to all appearances, +was for the time actually bereft of reason, and not responsible for his +acts. The causes of this momentary possession could often be found in +the person's life. [It afterwards came out that the chief expert for the +defense, was paid a thousand dollars for looking into the case.] + +The prosecution consumed another day in the examination of experts +refuting the notion of insanity. These causes might have produced +insanity, but there was no evidence that they have produced it in this +case, or that the prisoner was not at the time of the commission of the +crime in full possession of her ordinary faculties. + +The trial had now lasted two weeks. It required four days now for the +lawyers to "sum up." These arguments of the counsel were very important +to their friends, and greatly enhanced their reputation at the bar but +they have small interest to us. Mr. Braham in his closing speech +surpassed himself; his effort is still remembered as the greatest in the +criminal annals of New York. + +Mr. Braham re-drew for the jury the picture, of Laura's early life; he +dwelt long upon that painful episode of the pretended marriage and the +desertion. Col. Selby, he said, belonged, gentlemen; to what is called +the "upper classes:" It is the privilege of the "upper classes" to prey +upon the sons and daughters of the people. The Hawkins family, though +allied to the best blood of the South, were at the time in humble +circumstances. He commented upon her parentage. Perhaps her agonized +father, in his intervals of sanity, was still searching for his lost +daughter. Would he one day hear that she had died a felon's death? +Society had pursued her, fate had pursued her, and in a moment of +delirium she had turned and defied fate and society. He dwelt upon the +admission of base wrong in Col. Selby's dying statement. He drew a +vivid, picture of the villain at last overtaken by the vengeance of +Heaven. Would the jury say that this retributive justice, inflicted by +an outraged, and deluded woman, rendered irrational by the most cruel +wrongs, was in the nature of a foul, premeditated murder? "Gentlemen; +it is enough for me to look upon the life of this most beautiful and +accomplished of her sex, blasted by the heartless villainy of man, +without seeing, at the-end of it; the horrible spectacle of a gibbet. +Gentlemen, we are all human, we have all sinned, we all have need of +mercy. But I do not ask mercy of you who are the guardians of society +and of the poor waifs, its sometimes wronged victims; I ask only that +justice which you and I shall need in that last, dreadful hour, when +death will be robbed of half its terrors if we can reflect that we have +never wronged a human being. Gentlemen, the life of this lovely and once +happy girl, this now stricken woman, is in your hands." + +The jury were risibly affected. Half the court room was in tears. If a +vote of both spectators and jury could have been taken then, the verdict +would have been, "let her go, she has suffered enough." + +But the district attorney had the closing argument. Calmly and without +malice or excitement he reviewed the testimony. As the cold facts were +unrolled, fear settled upon the listeners. There was no escape from the +murder or its premeditation. Laura's character as a lobbyist in +Washington which had been made to appear incidentally in the evidence was +also against her: the whole body of the testimony of the defense was +shown to be irrelevant, introduced only to excite sympathy, and not +giving a color of probability to the absurd supposition of insanity. +The attorney then dwelt upon, the insecurity of life in the city, and the +growing immunity with which women committed murders. Mr. McFlinn made a +very able speech; convincing the reason without touching the feelings. + +The Judge in his charge reviewed the, testimony with great show of +impartiality. He ended by saying that the verdict must be acquittal or +murder in the first, degree. If you find that the prisoner committed a +homicide, in possession of her reason and with premeditation, your +verdict will be accordingly. If you find she was not in her right mind, +that she was the victim of insanity, hereditary or momentary, as it has +been explained, your verdict will take that into account. + +As the Judge finished his charge, the spectators anxiously watched the +faces of the jury. It was not a remunerative study. In the court room +the general feeling was in favor of Laura, but whether this feeling +extended to the jury, their stolid faces did not reveal. The public +outside hoped for a conviction, as it always does; it wanted an example; +the newspapers trusted the jury would have the courage to do its duty. +When Laura was convicted, then the public would tern around and abuse the +governor if he did; not pardon her. + +The jury went out. Mr. Braham preserved his serene confidence, but +Laura's friends were dispirited. Washington and Col. Sellers had been +obliged to go to Washington, and they had departed under the unspoken +fear the verdict would be unfavorable, a disagreement was the best they +could hope for, and money was needed. The necessity of the passage of +the University bill was now imperative. + +The Court waited, for, some time, but the jury gave no signs of coming +in. Mr. Braham said it was extraordinary. The Court then took a recess +for a couple of hours. Upon again coming in, word was brought that the +jury had not yet agreed. + +But the, jury, had a question. The point upon which, they wanted +instruction was this. They wanted to know if Col. Sellers was related to +the Hawkins family. The court then adjourned till morning. + +Mr. Braham, who was in something of a pet, remarked to Mr. O'Toole that +they must have been deceived, that juryman with the broken nose could +read! + + + + +CHAPTER LVII. + +The momentous day was at hand--a day that promised to make or mar the +fortunes of Hawkins family for all time. Washington Hawkins and Col. +Sellers were both up early, for neither of them could sleep. Congress +was expiring, and was passing bill after bill as if they were gasps and +each likely to be its last. The University was on file for its third +reading this day, and to-morrow Washington would be a millionaire and +Sellers no longer, impecunious but this day, also, or at farthest the +next, the jury in Laura's Case would come to a decision of some kind or +other--they would find her guilty, Washington secretly feared, and then +the care and the trouble would all come back again, and these would be +wearing months of besieging judges for new trials; on this day, also, the +re-election of Mr. Dilworthy to the Senate would take place. So +Washington's mind was in a state of turmoil; there were more interests at +stake than it could handle with serenity. He exulted when he thought of +his millions; he was filled with dread when he thought of Laura. But +Sellers was excited and happy. He said: + +"Everything is going right, everything's going perfectly right. Pretty +soon the telegrams will begin to rattle in, and then you'll see, my boy. +Let the jury do what they please; what difference is it going to make? +To-morrow we can send a million to New York and set the lawyers at work +on the judges; bless your heart they will go before judge after judge and +exhort and beseech and pray and shed tears. They always do; and they +always win, too. And they will win this time. They will get a writ of +habeas corpus, and a stay of proceedings, and a supersedeas, and a new +trial and a nolle prosequi, and there you are! That's the routine, and +it's no trick at all to a New York lawyer. That's the regular routine +--everything's red tape and routine in the law, you see; it's all Greek +to you, of course, but to a man who is acquainted with those things it's +mere--I'll explain it to you sometime. Everything's going to glide right +along easy and comfortable now. You'll see, Washington, you'll see how +it will be. And then, let me think ..... Dilwortby will be elected +to-day, and by day, after to-morrow night be will be in New York ready to +put in his shovel--and you haven't lived in Washington all this time not +to know that the people who walk right by a Senator whose term is up +without hardly seeing him will be down at the deepo to say 'Welcome back +and God bless you; Senator, I'm glad to see you, sir!' when he comes +along back re-elected, you know. Well, you see, his influence was +naturally running low when he left here, but now he has got a new +six-years' start, and his suggestions will simply just weigh a couple of +tons a-piece day after tomorrow. Lord bless you he could rattle through +that habeas corpus and supersedeas and all those things for Laura all by +himself if he wanted to, when he gets back." + +"I hadn't thought of that," said Washington, brightening, but it is so. +A newly-elected Senator is a power, I know that." + +"Yes indeed he is.--Why it, is just human nature. Look at me. When we +first came here, I was Mr. Sellers, and Major Sellers, Captain Sellers, +but nobody could ever get it right, somehow; but the minute our bill +went, through the House, I was Col. Sellers every time. And nobody could +do enough for me, and whatever I said was wonderful, Sir, it was always +wonderful; I never seemed to say any flat things at all. It was Colonel, +won't you come and dine with us; and Colonel why don't we ever see you at +our house; and the Colonel says this; and the Colonel says that; and we +know such-and-such is so-and-so because my husband heard Col. Sellers say +so. Don't you see? Well, the Senate adjourned and left our bill high, +and dry, and I'll be hanged if I warn't Old Sellers from that day, till +our bill passed the House again last week. Now I'm the Colonel again; +and if I were to eat all the dinners I am invited to, I reckon I'd wear +my teeth down level with my gums in a couple of weeks." + +"Well I do wonder what you will be to-morrow; Colonel, after the +President signs the bill!" + +"General, sir?--General, without a doubt. Yes, sir, tomorrow it will be +General, let me congratulate you, sir; General, you've done a great work, +sir;--you've done a great work for the niggro; Gentlemen allow me the +honor to introduce my friend General Sellers, the humane friend of the +niggro. Lord bless me; you'll' see the newspapers say, General Sellers +and servants arrived in the city last night and is stopping at the Fifth +Avenue; and General Sellers has accepted a reception and banquet by the +Cosmopolitan Club; you'll see the General's opinions quoted, too +--and what the General has to say about the propriety of a new trial and +a habeas corpus for the unfortunate Miss Hawkins will not be without +weight in influential quarters, I can tell you." + +"And I want to be the first to shake your faithful old hand and salute +you with your new honors, and I want to do it now--General!" said +Washington, suiting the action to the word, and accompanying it with all +the meaning that a cordial grasp and eloquent eyes could give it. + +The Colonel was touched; he was pleased and proud, too; his face answered +for that. + +Not very long after breakfast the telegrams began to arrive. The first +was from Braham, and ran thus: + + "We feel certain that the verdict will be rendered to-day. Be it + good or bad, let it find us ready to make the next move instantly, + whatever it may be:" + +"That's the right talk," said Sellers. "That Braham's a wonderful man. +He was the only man there that really understood me; he told me so +himself, afterwards." + +The next telegram was from Mr. Dilworthy: + + "I have not only brought over the Great Invincible, but through him + a dozen more of the opposition. Shall be re-elected to-day by an + overwhelming majority." + +"Good again!" said the Colonel. "That man's talent for organization is +something marvelous. He wanted me to go out there and engineer that +thing, but I said, No, Dilworthy, I must be on hand here,--both on +Laura's account and the bill's--but you've no trifling genius for +organization yourself, said I--and I was right. You go ahead, said I +--you can fix it--and so he has. But I claim no credit for that--if I +stiffened up his back-bone a little, I simply put him in the way to make +his fight--didn't undertake it myself. He has captured Noble--. +I consider that a splendid piece of diplomacy--Splendid, Sir!" + +By and by came another dispatch from New York: + +"Jury still out. Laura calm and firm as a statue. The report that the +jury have brought her in guilty is false and premature." + +"Premature!" gasped Washington, turning white. "Then they all expect +that sort of a verdict, when it comes in." + +And so did he; but he had not had courage enough to put it into words. +He had been preparing himself for the worst, but after all his +preparation the bare suggestion of the possibility of such a verdict +struck him cold as death. + +The friends grew impatient, now; the telegrams did not come fast enough: +even the lightning could not keep up with their anxieties. They walked +the floor talking disjointedly and listening for the door-bell. Telegram +after telegram came. Still no result. By and by there was one which +contained a single line: + +"Court now coming in after brief recess to hear verdict. Jury ready." + +"Oh, I wish they would finish!" said Washington. "This suspense is +killing me by inches!" + +Then came another telegram: + +"Another hitch somewhere. Jury want a little more time and further +instructions." + +"Well, well, well, this is trying," said the Colonel. And after a pause, +"No dispatch from Dilworthy for two hours, now. Even a dispatch from him +would be better than nothing, just to vary this thing." + +They waited twenty minutes. It seemed twenty hours. + +"Come!" said Washington. "I can't wait for the telegraph boy to come all +the way up here. Let's go down to Newspaper Row--meet him on the way." + +While they were passing along the Avenue, they saw someone putting up a +great display-sheet on the bulletin board of a newspaper office, and an +eager crowd of men was collecting abort the place. Washington and the +Colonel ran to the spot and read this: + +"Tremendous Sensation! Startling news from Saint's Rest! On first ballot +for U. S. Senator, when voting was about to begin, Mr. Noble rose in his +place and drew forth a package, walked forward and laid it on the +Speaker's desk, saying, 'This contains $7,000 in bank bills and was given +me by Senator Dilworthy in his bed-chamber at midnight last night to buy +--my vote for him--I wish the Speaker to count the money and retain it to +pay the expense of prosecuting this infamous traitor for bribery. The +whole legislature was stricken speechless with dismay and astonishment. +Noble further said that there were fifty members present with money in +their pockets, placed there by Dilworthy to buy their votes. Amidst +unparalleled excitement the ballot was now taken, and J. W. Smith elected +U. S. Senator; Dilworthy receiving not one vote! Noble promises damaging +exposures concerning Dilworthy and certain measures of his now pending in +Congress. + +"Good heavens and earth!" exclaimed the Colonel. + +"To the Capitol!" said Washington. "Fly!" + +And they did fly. Long before they got there the newsboys were running +ahead of them with Extras, hot from the press, announcing the astounding +news. + +Arrived in the gallery of the Senate, the friends saw a curious +spectacle--every Senator held an Extra in his hand and looked as +interested as if it contained news of the destruction of the earth. +Not a single member was paying the least attention to the business +of the hour. + +The Secretary, in a loud voice, was just beginning to read the title of a +bill: + +"House-Bill--No. 4,231,--An-Act-to-Found-and-Incorporate-the Knobs- +Industrial-University!--Read-first-and-second-time-considered-in- +committee-of-the-whole-ordered-engrossed and-passed-to-third-reading-and- +final passage!" + +The President--"Third reading of the bill!" + +The two friends shook in their shoes. Senators threw down their extras +and snatched a word or two with each other in whispers. Then the gavel +rapped to command silence while the names were called on the ayes and +nays. Washington grew paler and paler, weaker and weaker while the +lagging list progressed; and when it was finished, his head fell +helplessly forward on his arms. The fight was fought, the long struggle +was over, and he was a pauper. Not a man had voted for the bill! + +Col. Sellers was bewildered and well nigh paralyzed, himself. But no man +could long consider his own troubles in the presence of such suffering as +Washington's. He got him up and supported him--almost carried him +indeed--out of the building and into a carriage. All the way home +Washington lay with his face against the Colonel's shoulder and merely +groaned and wept. The Colonel tried as well as he could under the dreary +circumstances to hearten him a little, but it was of no use. Washington +was past all hope of cheer, now. He only said: + +"Oh, it is all over--it is all over for good, Colonel. We must beg our +bread, now. We never can get up again. It was our last chance, and it +is gone. They will hang Laura! My God they will hang her! Nothing can +save the poor girl now. Oh, I wish with all my soul they would hang me +instead!" + +Arrived at home, Washington fell into a chair and buried his face in his +hands and gave full way to his misery. The Colonel did not know where to +turn nor what to do. The servant maid knocked at the door and passed in +a telegram, saying it had come while they were gone. + +The Colonel tore it open and read with the voice of a man-of-war's +broadside: + +"VERDICT OF JURY, NOT GUILTY AND LAURA IS FREE!" + + + + +CHAPTER LVIII. + +The court room was packed on the morning on which the verdict of the jury +was expected, as it had been every day of the trial, and by the same +spectators, who had followed its progress with such intense interest. + +There is a delicious moment of excitement which the frequenter of trials +well knows, and which he would not miss for the world. It is that +instant when the foreman of the jury stands up to give the verdict, +and before he has opened his fateful lips. + +The court assembled and waited. It was an obstinate jury. + +It even had another question--this intelligent jury--to ask the judge +this morning. + +The question was this: "Were the doctors clear that the deceased had no +disease which might soon have carried him off, if he had not been shot?" +There was evidently one jury man who didn't want to waste life, and was +willing to stake a general average, as the jury always does in a civil +case, deciding not according to the evidence but reaching the verdict by +some occult mental process. + +During the delay the spectators exhibited unexampled patience, finding +amusement and relief in the slightest movements of the court, the +prisoner and the lawyers. Mr. Braham divided with Laura the attention +of the house. Bets were made by the Sheriff's deputies on the verdict, +with large odds in favor of a disagreement. + +It was afternoon when it was announced that the jury was coming in. +The reporters took their places and were all attention; the judge and +lawyers were in their seats; the crowd swayed and pushed in eager +expectancy, as the jury walked in and stood up in silence. + +Judge. "Gentlemen, have you agreed upon your verdict?" + +Foreman. "We have." + +Judge. "What is it?" + +Foreman. "NOT GUILTY." + +A shout went up from the entire room and a tumult of cheering which the +court in vain attempted to quell. For a few moments all order was lost. +The spectators crowded within the bar and surrounded Laura who, calmer +than anyone else, was supporting her aged mother, who had almost fainted +from excess of joy. + +And now occurred one of those beautiful incidents which no fiction-writer +would dare to imagine, a scene of touching pathos, creditable to our +fallen humanity. In the eyes of the women of the audience Mr. Braham was +the hero of the occasion; he had saved the life of the prisoner; and +besides he was such a handsome man. The women could not restrain their +long pent-up emotions. They threw themselves upon Mr. Braham in a +transport of gratitude; they kissed him again and again, the young as +well as the advanced in years, the married as well as the ardent single +women; they improved the opportunity with a touching self-sacrifice; in +the words of a newspaper of the day they "lavished him with kisses." + +It was something sweet to do; and it would be sweet for a woman to +remember in after years, that she had kissed Braham! Mr. Braham himself +received these fond assaults with the gallantry of his nation, enduring +the ugly, and heartily paying back beauty in its own coin. + +This beautiful scene is still known in New York as "the kissing of +Braham." + +When the tumult of congratulation had a little spent itself, and order +was restored, Judge O'Shaunnessy said that it now became his duty to +provide for the proper custody and treatment of the acquitted. The +verdict of the jury having left no doubt that the woman was of an unsound +mind, with a kind of insanity dangerous to the safety of the community, +she could not be permitted to go at large. "In accordance with the +directions of the law in such cases," said the Judge, "and in obedience +to the dictates of a wise humanity, I hereby commit Laura Hawkins to the +care of the Superintendent of the State Hospital for Insane Criminals, to +be held in confinement until the State Commissioners on Insanity shall +order her discharge. Mr. Sheriff, you will attend at once to the +execution of this decree." + +Laura was overwhelmed and terror-stricken. She had expected to walk +forth in freedom in a few moments. The revulsion was terrible. Her +mother appeared like one shaken with an ague fit. Laura insane! And +about to be locked up with madmen! She had never contemplated this. +Mr. Graham said he should move at once for a writ of 'habeas corpus'. + +But the judge could not do less than his duty, the law must have its way. +As in the stupor of a sudden calamity, and not fully comprehending it, +Mrs. Hawkins saw Laura led away by the officer. + +With little space for thought she was, rapidly driven to the railway +station, and conveyed to the Hospital for Lunatic Criminals. It was only +when she was within this vast and grim abode of madness that she realized +the horror of her situation. It was only when she was received by the +kind physician and read pity in his eyes, and saw his look of hopeless +incredulity when she attempted to tell him that she was not insane; it +was only when she passed through the ward to which she was consigned and +saw the horrible creatures, the victims of a double calamity, whose +dreadful faces she was hereafter to see daily, and was locked into the +small, bare room that was to be her home, that all her fortitude forsook +her. She sank upon the bed, as soon as she was left alone--she had been +searched by the matron--and tried to think. But her brain was in a +whirl. She recalled Braham's speech, she recalled the testimony +regarding her lunacy. She wondered if she were not mad; she felt that +she soon should be among these loathsome creatures. Better almost to +have died, than to slowly go mad in this confinement. + +--We beg the reader's pardon. This is not history, which has just been +written. It is really what would have occurred if this were a novel. +If this were a work of fiction, we should not dare to dispose of Laura +otherwise. True art and any attention to dramatic proprieties required +it. The novelist who would turn loose upon society an insane murderess +could not escape condemnation. Besides, the safety of society, the +decencies of criminal procedure, what we call our modern civilization, +all would demand that Laura should be disposed of in the manner we have +described. Foreigners, who read this sad story, will be unable to +understand any other termination of it. + +But this is history and not fiction. There is no such law or custom as +that to which his Honor is supposed to have referred; Judge O'Shaunnessy +would not probably pay any attention to it if there were. There is no +Hospital for Insane Criminals; there is no State commission of lunacy. +What actually occurred when the tumult in the court room had subsided the +sagacious reader will now learn. + +Laura left the court room, accompanied by her mother and other friends, +amid the congratulations of those assembled, and was cheered as she +entered a carriage, and drove away. How sweet was the sunlight, how +exhilarating the sense of freedom! Were not these following cheers the +expression of popular approval and affection? Was she not the heroine of +the hour? + +It was with a feeling of triumph that Laura reached her hotel, a scornful +feeling of victory over society with its own weapons. + +Mrs. Hawkins shared not at all in this feeling; she was broken with the +disgrace and the long anxiety. + +"Thank God, Laura," she said, "it is over. Now we will go away from this +hateful city. Let us go home at once." + +"Mother," replied Laura, speaking with some tenderness, "I cannot go with +you. There, don't cry, I cannot go back to that life." + +Mrs. Hawkins was sobbing. This was more cruel than anything else, for +she had a dim notion of what it would be to leave Laura to herself. + +"No, mother, you have been everything to me. You know how dearly I love +you. But I cannot go back." + +A boy brought in a telegraphic despatch. Laura took it and read: + +"The bill is lost. Dilworthy ruined. (Signed) WASHINGTON." + +For a moment the words swam before her eyes. The next her eyes flashed +fire as she handed the dispatch to her m other and bitterly said, + +"The world is against me. Well, let it be, let it. I am against it." + +"This is a cruel disappointment," said Mrs. Hawkins, to whom one grief +more or less did not much matter now, "to you and, Washington; but we +must humbly bear it." + +"Bear it;" replied Laura scornfully, "I've all my life borne it, and fate +has thwarted me at every step." + +A servant came to the door to say that there was a gentleman below who +wished to speak with Miss Hawkins. "J. Adolphe Griller" was the name +Laura read on the card. "I do not know such a person. He probably comes +from Washington. Send him up." + +Mr. Griller entered. He was a small man, slovenly in dress, his tone +confidential, his manner wholly void of animation, all his features below +the forehead protruding--particularly the apple of his throat--hair +without a kink in it, a hand with no grip, a meek, hang-dog countenance. +a falsehood done in flesh and blood; for while every visible sign about +him proclaimed him a poor, witless, useless weakling, the truth was that +he had the brains to plan great enterprises and the pluck to carry them +through. That was his reputation, and it was a deserved one. He softly +said: + +"I called to see you on business, Miss Hawkins. You have my card?" + +Laura bowed. + +Mr. Griller continued to purr, as softly as before. + +"I will proceed to business. I am a business man. I am a lecture-agent, +Miss Hawkins, and as soon as I saw that you were acquitted, it occurred +to me that an early interview would be mutually beneficial." + +"I don't understand you, sir," said Laura coldly. + +"No? You see, Miss Hawkins, this is your opportunity. If you will enter +the lecture field under good auspices, you will carry everything before +you." + +"But, sir, I never lectured, I haven't any lecture, I don't know anything +about it." + +"Ah, madam, that makes no difference--no real difference. It is not +necessary to be able to lecture in order to go into the lecture tour. +If ones name is celebrated all over the land, especially, and, if she is +also beautiful, she is certain to draw large audiences." + +"But what should I lecture about?" asked Laura, beginning in spite of +herself to be a little interested as well as amused. + +"Oh, why; woman--something about woman, I should say; the marriage +relation, woman's fate, anything of that sort. Call it The Revelations +of a Woman's Life; now, there's a good title. I wouldn't want any better +title than that. I'm prepared to make you an offer, Miss Hawkins, +a liberal offer,--twelve thousand dollars for thirty nights." + +Laura thought. She hesitated. Why not? It would give her employment, +money. She must do something. + +"I will think of it, and let you know soon. But still, there is very +little likelihood that I--however, we will not discuss it further now." + +"Remember, that the sooner we get to work the better, Miss Hawkins, +public curiosity is so fickle. Good day, madam." + +The close of the trial released Mr. Harry Brierly and left him free to +depart upon his long talked of Pacific-coast mission. He was very +mysterious about it, even to Philip. + +"It's confidential, old boy," he said, "a little scheme we have hatched +up. I don't mind telling you that it's a good deal bigger thing than +that in Missouri, and a sure thing. I wouldn't take a half a million +just for my share. And it will open something for you, Phil. You will +hear from me." + +Philip did hear, from Harry a few months afterward. Everything promised +splendidly, but there was a little delay. Could Phil let him have a +hundred, say, for ninety days? + +Philip himself hastened to Philadelphia, and, as soon as the spring +opened, to the mine at Ilium, and began transforming the loan he had +received from Squire Montague into laborers' wages. He was haunted with +many anxieties; in the first place, Ruth was overtaxing her strength in +her hospital labors, and Philip felt as if he must move heaven and earth +to save her from such toil and suffering. His increased pecuniary +obligation oppressed him. It seemed to him also that he had been one +cause of the misfortune to the Bolton family, and that he was dragging +into loss and ruin everybody who associated with him. He worked on day +after day and week after week, with a feverish anxiety. + +It would be wicked, thought Philip, and impious, to pray for luck; he +felt that perhaps he ought not to ask a blessing upon the sort of labor +that was only a venture; but yet in that daily petition, which this very +faulty and not very consistent young Christian gentleman put up, he +prayed earnestly enough for Ruth and for the Boltons and for those whom +he loved and who trusted in him, and that his life might not be a +misfortune to them and a failure to himself. + +Since this young fellow went out into the world from his New England +home, he had done some things that he would rather his mother should not +know, things maybe that he would shrink from telling Ruth. At a certain +green age young gentlemen are sometimes afraid of being called milksops, +and Philip's associates had not always been the most select, such as +these historians would have chosen for him, or whom at a later, period he +would have chosen for himself. It seemed inexplicable, for instance, +that his life should have been thrown so much with his college +acquaintance, Henry Brierly. + +Yet, this was true of Philip, that in whatever company he had been he had +never been ashamed to stand up for the principles he learned from his +mother, and neither raillery nor looks of wonder turned him from that +daily habit had learned at his mother's knees.--Even flippant Harry +respected this, and perhaps it was one of the reasons why Harry and all +who knew Philip trusted him implicitly. And yet it must be confessed +that Philip did not convey the impression to the world of a very serious +young man, or of a man who might not rather easily fall into temptation. +One looking for a real hero would have to go elsewhere. + +The parting between Laura and her mother was exceedingly painful to both. +It was as if two friends parted on a wide plain, the one to journey +towards the setting and the other towards the rising sun, each +comprehending that every, step henceforth must separate their lives, +wider and wider. + + + + +CHAPTER LIX. + +When Mr. Noble's bombshell fell, in Senator Dilworthy's camp, the +statesman was disconcerted for a moment. For a moment; that was all. +The next moment he was calmly up and doing. From the centre of our +country to its circumference, nothing was talked of but Mr. Noble's +terrible revelation, and the people were furious. Mind, they were not +furious because bribery was uncommon in our public life, but merely +because here was another case. Perhaps it did not occur to the nation of +good and worthy people that while they continued to sit comfortably at +home and leave the true source of our political power (the "primaries,") +in the hands of saloon-keepers, dog-fanciers and hod-carriers, they could +go on expecting "another" case of this kind, and even dozens and hundreds +of them, and never be disappointed. However, they may have thought that +to sit at home and grumble would some day right the evil. + +Yes, the nation was excited, but Senator Dilworthy was calm--what was +left of him after the explosion of the shell. Calm, and up and doing. +What did he do first? What would you do first, after you had tomahawked +your mother at the breakfast table for putting too much sugar in your +coffee? You would "ask for a suspension of public opinion." That is +what Senator Dilworthy did. It is the custom. He got the usual amount +of suspension. Far and wide he was called a thief, a briber, a promoter +of steamship subsidies, railway swindles, robberies of the government in +all possible forms and fashions. Newspapers and everybody else called +him a pious hypocrite, a sleek, oily fraud, a reptile who manipulated +temperance movements, prayer meetings, Sunday schools, public charities, +missionary enterprises, all for his private benefit. And as these +charges were backed up by what seemed to be good and sufficient, +evidence, they were believed with national unanimity. + +Then Mr. Dilworthy made another move. He moved instantly to Washington +and "demanded an investigation." Even this could not pass without, +comment. Many papers used language to this effect: + + "Senator Dilworthy's remains have demanded an investigation. This + sounds fine and bold and innocent; but when we reflect that they + demand it at the hands of the Senate of the United States, it simply + becomes matter for derision. One might as well set the gentlemen + detained in the public prisons to trying each other. This + investigation is likely to be like all other Senatorial + investigations--amusing but not useful. Query. Why does the Senate + still stick to this pompous word, 'Investigation?' One does not + blindfold one's self in order to investigate an object." + +Mr. Dilworthy appeared in his place in the Senate and offered a +resolution appointing a committee to investigate his case. It carried, +of course, and the committee was appointed. Straightway the newspapers +said: + + "Under the guise of appointing a committee to investigate the late + Mr. Dilworthy, the Senate yesterday appointed a committee to + investigate his accuser, Mr. Noble. This is the exact spirit and + meaning of the resolution, and the committee cannot try anybody but + Mr. Noble without overstepping its authority. That Dilworthy had + the effrontery to offer such a resolution will surprise no one, and + that the Senate could entertain it without blushing and pass it + without shame will surprise no one. We are now reminded of a note + which we have received from the notorious burglar Murphy, in which + he finds fault with a statement of ours to the effect that he had + served one term in the penitentiary and also one in the U. S. + Senate. He says, 'The latter statement is untrue and does me great + injustice.' After an unconscious sarcasm like that, further comment + is unnecessary." + +And yet the Senate was roused by the Dilworthy trouble. Many speeches +were made. One Senator (who was accused in the public prints of selling +his chances of re-election to his opponent for $50,000 and had not yet +denied the charge) said that, "the presence in the Capital of such a +creature as this man Noble, to testify against a brother member of their +body, was an insult to the Senate." + +Another Senator said, "Let the investigation go on and let it make an +example of this man Noble; let it teach him and men like him that they +could not attack the reputation of a United States-Senator with +impunity." + +Another said he was glad the investigation was to be had, for it was high +time that the Senate should crush some cur like this man Noble, and thus +show his kind that it was able and resolved to uphold its ancient +dignity. + +A by-stander laughed, at this finely delivered peroration; and said: + +"Why, this is the Senator who franked his, baggage home through the mails +last week-registered, at that. However, perhaps he was merely engaged in +'upholding the ancient dignity of the Senate,'--then." + +"No, the modern dignity of it," said another by-stander. "It don't +resemble its ancient dignity but it fits its modern style like a glove." + +There being no law against making offensive remarks about U. S. +Senators, this conversation, and others like it, continued without let or +hindrance. But our business is with the investigating committee. + +Mr. Noble appeared before the Committee of the Senate; and testified to +the following effect: + +He said that he was a member of the State legislature of the +Happy-Land-of-Canaan; that on the --- day of ------ he assembled himself +together at the city of Saint's Rest, the capital of the State, along +with his brother legislators; that he was known to be a political enemy +of Mr. Dilworthy and bitterly opposed to his re-election; that Mr. +Dilworthy came to Saint's Rest and reported to be buying pledges of votes +with money; that the said Dilworthy sent for him to come to his room in +the hotel at night, and he went; was introduced to Mr. Dilworthy; called +two or three times afterward at Dilworthy's request--usually after +midnight; Mr. Dilworthy urged him to vote for him Noble declined; +Dilworthy argued; said he was bound to be elected, and could then ruin +him (Noble) if he voted no; said he had every railway and every public +office and stronghold of political power in the State under his thumb, +and could set up or pull down any man he chose; gave instances showing +where and how he had used this power; if Noble would vote for him he +would make him a Representative in Congress; Noble still declined to +vote, and said he did not believe Dilworthy was going to be elected; +Dilworthy showed a list of men who would vote for him--a majority of the +legislature; gave further proofs of his power by telling Noble everything +the opposing party had done or said in secret caucus; claimed that his +spies reported everything to him, and that-- + +Here a member of the Committee objected that this evidence was irrelevant +and also in opposition to the spirit of the Committee's instructions, +because if these things reflected upon any one it was upon Mr. Dilworthy. +The chairman said, let the person proceed with his statement--the +Committee could exclude evidence that did not bear upon the case. + +Mr. Noble continued. He said that his party would cast him out if he +voted for Mr, Dilworthy; Dilwortby said that that would inure to his +benefit because he would then be a recognized friend of his (Dilworthy's) +and he could consistently exalt him politically and make his fortune; +Noble said he was poor, and it was hard to tempt him so; Dilworthy said +he would fix that; he said, "Tell, me what you want, and say you will vote +for me;" Noble could not say; Dilworthy said "I will give you $5,000." + +A Committee man said, impatiently, that this stuff was all outside the +case, and valuable time was being wasted; this was all, a plain +reflection upon a brother Senator. The Chairman said it was the quickest +way to proceed, and the evidence need have no weight. + +Mr. Noble continued. He said he told Dilworthy that $5,000 was not much +to pay for a man's honor, character and everything that was worth having; +Dilworthy said he was surprised; he considered $5,000 a fortune--for some +men; asked what Noble's figure was; Noble said he could not think $10,000 +too little; Dilworthy said it was a great deal too much; he would not do +it for any other man, but he had conceived a liking for Noble, and where +he liked a man his heart yearned to help him; he was aware that Noble was +poor, and had a family to support, and that he bore an unblemished +reputation at home; for such a man and such a man's influence he could do +much, and feel that to help such a man would be an act that would have +its reward; the struggles of the poor always touched him; he believed +that Noble would make a good use of this money and that it would cheer +many a sad heart and needy home; he would give the, $10,000; all he +desired in return was that when the balloting began, Noble should cast +his vote for him and should explain to the legislature that upon looking +into the charges against Mr. Dilworthy of bribery, corruption, and +forwarding stealing measures in Congress he had found them to be base +calumnies upon a man whose motives were pure and whose character was +stainless; he then took from his pocket $2,000 in bank bills and handed +them to Noble, and got another package containing $5,000 out of his trunk +and gave to him also. He---- + +A Committee man jumped up, and said: + +"At last, Mr. Chairman, this shameless person has arrived at the point. +This is sufficient and conclusive. By his own confession he has received +a bribe, and did it deliberately. + +"This is a grave offense, and cannot be passed over in silence, sir. By +the terms of our instructions we can now proceed to mete out to him such +punishment as is meet for one who has maliciously brought disrespect upon +a Senator of the United States. We have no need to hear the rest of his +evidence." + +The Chairman said it would be better and more regular to proceed with the +investigation according to the usual forms. A note would be made of +Mr. Noble's admission. + +Mr. Noble continued. He said that it was now far past midnight; that he +took his leave and went straight to certain legislators, told them +everything, made them count the money, and also told them of the exposure +he would make in joint convention; he made that exposure, as all the +world knew. The rest of the $10,000 was to be paid the day after +Dilworthy was elected. + +Senator Dilworthy was now asked to take the stand and tell what he knew +about the man Noble. The Senator wiped his mouth with his handkerchief, +adjusted his white cravat, and said that but for the fact that public +morality required an example, for the warning of future Nobles, he would +beg that in Christian charity this poor misguided creature might be +forgiven and set free. He said that it was but too evident that this +person had approached him in the hope of obtaining a bribe; he had +intruded himself time and again, and always with moving stories of his +poverty. Mr. Dilworthy said that his heart had bled for him--insomuch +that he had several times been on the point of trying to get some one to +do something for him. Some instinct had told him from the beginning that +this was a bad man, an evil-minded man, but his inexperience of such had +blinded him to his real motives, and hence he had never dreamed that his +object was to undermine the purity of a United States Senator. +He regretted that it was plain, now, that such was the man's object and +that punishment could not with safety to the Senate's honor be withheld. +He grieved to say that one of those mysterious dispensations of an +inscrutable Providence which are decreed from time to time by His wisdom +and for His righteous, purposes, had given this conspirator's tale a +color of plausibility,--but this would soon disappear under the clear +light of truth which would now be thrown upon the case. + +It so happened, (said the Senator,) that about the time in question, a +poor young friend of mine, living in a distant town of my State, wished +to establish a bank; he asked me to lend him the necessary money; I said +I had no, money just then, but world try to borrow it. The day before +the election a friend said to me that my election expenses must be very +large specially my hotel bills, and offered to lend me some money. +Remembering my young, friend, I said I would like a few thousands now, +and a few more by and by; whereupon he gave me two packages of bills said +to contain $2,000 and $5,000 respectively; I did not open the packages or +count the money; I did not give any note or receipt for the same; I made +no memorandum of the transaction, and neither did my friend. That night +this evil man Noble came troubling me again: I could not rid myself of +him, though my time was very precious. He mentioned my young friend and +said he was very anxious to have the $7000 now to begin his banking +operations with, and could wait a while for the rest. Noble wished to +get the money and take it to him. I finally gave him the two packages of +bills; I took no note or receipt from him, and made no memorandum of the +matter. I no more look for duplicity and deception in another man than I +would look for it in myself. I never thought of this man again until I +was overwhelmed the next day by learning what a shameful use he had made +of the confidence I had reposed in him and the money I had entrusted to +his care. This is all, gentlemen. To the absolute truth of every detail +of my statement I solemnly swear, and I call Him to witness who is the +Truth and the loving Father of all whose lips abhor false speaking; I +pledge my honor as a Senator, that I have spoken but the truth. May God +forgive this wicked man as I do. + +Mr. Noble--"Senator Dilworthy, your bank account shows that up to that +day, and even on that very day, you conducted all your financial business +through the medium of checks instead of bills, and so kept careful record +of every moneyed transaction. Why did you deal in bank bills on this +particular occasion?" + +The Chairman--"The gentleman will please to remember that the Committee +is conducting this investigation." + +Mr. Noble--"Then will the Committee ask the question?" + +The Chairman--"The Committee will--when it desires to know." + +Mr. Noble--"Which will not be daring this century perhaps." + +The Chairman--"Another remark like that, sir, will procure you the +attentions of the Sergeant-at-arms." + +Mr. Noble--"D--n the Sergeant-at-arms, and the Committee too!" + +Several Committeemen--"Mr. Chairman, this is Contempt!" + +Mr. Noble--"Contempt of whom?" + +"Of the Committee! Of the Senate of the United States!" + +Mr. Noble--"Then I am become the acknowledged representative of a nation. +You know as well as I do that the whole nation hold as much as +three-fifths of the United States Senate in entire contempt.--Three-fifths +of you are Dilworthys." + +The Sergeant-at-arms very soon put a quietus upon the observations of the +representative of the nation, and convinced him that he was not, in the +over-free atmosphere of his Happy-Land-of-Canaan: + +The statement of Senator Dilworthy naturally carried conviction to the +minds of the committee.--It was close, logical, unanswerable; it bore +many internal evidences of its, truth. For instance, it is customary in +all countries for business men to loan large sums of money in bank bills +instead of checks. It is customary for the lender to make no memorandum +of the transaction. It is customary, for the borrower to receive the +money without making a memorandum of it, or giving a note or a receipt +for it's use--the borrower is not likely to die or forget about it. +It is customary to lend nearly anybody money to start a bank with +especially if you have not the money to lend him and have to borrow it +for the purpose. It is customary to carry large sums of money in bank +bills about your person or in your trunk. It is customary to hand a +large sure in bank bills to a man you have just been introduced to (if he +asks you to do it,) to be conveyed to a distant town and delivered to +another party. It is not customary to make a memorandum of this +transaction; it is not customary for the conveyor to give a note or a +receipt for the money; it is not customary to require that he shall get a +note or a receipt from the man he is to convey it to in the distant town. +It would be at least singular in you to say to the proposed conveyor, +"You might be robbed; I will deposit the money in a bank and send a check +for it to my friend through the mail." + +Very well. It being plain that Senator Dilworthy's statement was rigidly +true, and this fact being strengthened by his adding to it the support of +"his honor as a Senator," the Committee rendered a verdict of "Not proven +that a bribe had been offered and accepted." This in a manner exonerated +Noble and let him escape. + +The Committee made its report to the Senate, and that body proceeded to +consider its acceptance. One Senator indeed, several Senators--objected +that the Committee had failed of its duty; they had proved this man Noble +guilty of nothing, they had meted out no punishment to him; if the report +were accepted, he would go forth free and scathless, glorying in his +crime, and it would be a tacit admission that any blackguard could insult +the Senate of the United States and conspire against the sacred +reputation of its members with impunity; the Senate owed it to the +upholding of its ancient dignity to make an example of this man Noble +--he should be crushed. + +An elderly Senator got up and took another view of the case. This was a +Senator of the worn-out and obsolete pattern; a man still lingering among +the cobwebs of the past, and behind the spirit of the age. He said that +there seemed to be a curious misunderstanding of the case. Gentlemen +seemed exceedingly anxious to preserve and maintain the honor and dignity +of the Senate. + +Was this to be done by trying an obscure adventurer for attempting to +trap a Senator into bribing him? Or would not the truer way be to find +out whether the Senator was capable of being entrapped into so shameless +an act, and then try him? Why, of course. Now the whole idea of the +Senate seemed to be to shield the Senator and turn inquiry away from him. +The true way to uphold the honor of the Senate was to have none but +honorable men in its body. If this Senator had yielded to temptation and +had offered a bribe, he was a soiled man and ought to be instantly +expelled; therefore he wanted the Senator tried, and not in the usual +namby-pamby way, but in good earnest. He wanted to know the truth of +this matter. For himself, he believed that the guilt of Senator +Dilworthy was established beyond the shadow of a doubt; and he considered +that in trifling with his case and shirking it the Senate was doing a +shameful and cowardly thing--a thing which suggested that in its +willingness to sit longer in the company of such a man, it was +acknowledging that it was itself of a kind with him and was therefore not +dishonored by his presence. He desired that a rigid examination be made +into Senator Dilworthy's case, and that it be continued clear into the +approaching extra session if need be. There was no dodging this thing +with the lame excuse of want of time. + +In reply, an honorable Senator said that he thought it would be as well +to drop the matter and accept the Committee's report. He said with some +jocularity that the more one agitated this thing, the worse it was for +the agitator. He was not able to deny that he believed Senator Dilworthy +to be guilty--but what then? Was it such an extraordinary case? For his +part, even allowing the Senator to be guilty, he did not think his +continued presence during the few remaining days of the Session would +contaminate the Senate to a dreadful degree. [This humorous sally was +received with smiling admiration--notwithstanding it was not wholly new, +having originated with the Massachusetts General in the House a day or +two before, upon the occasion of the proposed expulsion of a member for +selling his vote for money.] + +The Senate recognized the fact that it could not be contaminated by +sitting a few days longer with Senator Dilworthy, and so it accepted the +committee's report and dropped the unimportant matter. + +Mr. Dilworthy occupied his seat to the last hour of the session. He said +that his people had reposed a trust in him, and it was not for him to +desert them. He would remain at his post till he perished, if need be. + +His voice was lifted up and his vote cast for the last time, in support +of an ingenious measure contrived by the General from Massachusetts +whereby the President's salary was proposed to be doubled and every +Congressman paid several thousand dollars extra for work previously done, +under an accepted contract, and already paid for once and receipted for. + +Senator Dilworthy was offered a grand ovation by his friends at home, who +said that their affection for him and their confidence in him were in no +wise impaired by the persecutions that had pursued him, and that he was +still good enough for them. + +--[The $7,000 left by Mr. Noble with his state legislature was placed in +safe keeping to await the claim of the legitimate owner. Senator +Dilworthy made one little effort through his protege the embryo banker +to recover it, but there being no notes of hand or, other memoranda to +support the claim, it failed. The moral of which is, that when one loans +money to start a bank with, one ought to take the party's written +acknowledgment of the fact.] + + + + +CHAPTER LX. + +For some days Laura had been a free woman once more. During this time, +she had experienced--first, two or three days of triumph, excitement, +congratulations, a sort of sunburst of gladness, after a long night of +gloom and anxiety; then two or three days of calming down, by degrees +--a receding of tides, a quieting of the storm-wash to a murmurous +surf-beat, a diminishing of devastating winds to a refrain that bore the +spirit of a truce-days given to solitude, rest, self-communion, and the +reasoning of herself into a realization of the fact that she was actually +done with bolts and bars, prison, horrors and impending, death; then came +a day whose hours filed slowly by her, each laden with some remnant, +some remaining fragment of the dreadful time so lately ended--a day +which, closing at last, left the past a fading shore behind her and +turned her eyes toward the broad sea of the future. So speedily do we +put the dead away and come back to our place in the ranks to march in the +pilgrimage of life again. + +And now the sun rose once more and ushered in the first day of what Laura +comprehended and accepted as a new life. + +The past had sunk below the horizon, and existed no more for her; +she was done with it for all time. She was gazing out over the trackless +expanses of the future, now, with troubled eyes. Life must be begun +again--at eight and twenty years of age. And where to begin? The page +was blank, and waiting for its first record; so this was indeed a +momentous day. + +Her thoughts drifted back, stage by stage, over her career. As far as +the long highway receded over the plain of her life, it was lined with +the gilded and pillared splendors of her ambition all crumbled to ruin +and ivy-grown; every milestone marked a disaster; there was no green spot +remaining anywhere in memory of a hope that had found its fruition; the +unresponsive earth had uttered no voice of flowers in testimony that one +who was blest had gone that road. + +Her life had been a failure. That was plain, she said. No more of that. +She would now look the future in the face; she would mark her course upon +the chart of life, and follow it; follow it without swerving, through +rocks and shoals, through storm and calm, to a haven of rest and peace or +shipwreck. Let the end be what it might, she would mark her course now +--to-day--and follow it. + +On her table lay six or seven notes. They were from lovers; from some of +the prominent names in the land; men whose devotion had survived even the +grisly revealments of her character which the courts had uncurtained; +men who knew her now, just as she was, and yet pleaded as for their lives +for the dear privilege of calling the murderess wife. + +As she read these passionate, these worshiping, these supplicating +missives, the woman in her nature confessed itself; a strong yearning +came upon her to lay her head upon a loyal breast and find rest from the +conflict of life, solace for her griefs, the healing of love for her +bruised heart. + +With her forehead resting upon her hand, she sat thinking, thinking, +while the unheeded moments winged their flight. It was one of those +mornings in early spring when nature seems just stirring to a half +consciousness out of a long, exhausting lethargy; when the first faint +balmy airs go wandering about, whispering the secret of the coming +change; when the abused brown grass, newly relieved of snow, seems +considering whether it can be worth the trouble and worry of contriving +its green raiment again only to fight the inevitable fight with the +implacable winter and be vanquished and buried once more; when the sun +shines out and a few birds venture forth and lift up a forgotten song; +when a strange stillness and suspense pervades the waiting air. It is a +time when one's spirit is subdued and sad, one knows not why; when the +past seems a storm-swept desolation, life a vanity and a burden, and the +future but a way to death. It is a time when one is filled with vague +longings; when one dreams of flight to peaceful islands in the remote +solitudes of the sea, or folds his hands and says, What is the use of +struggling, and toiling and worrying any more? let us give it all up. + +It was into such a mood as this that Laura had drifted from the musings +which the letters of her lovers had called up. Now she lifted her head +and noted with surprise how the day had wasted. She thrust the letters +aside, rose up and went and stood at the window. But she was soon +thinking again, and was only gazing into vacancy. + +By and by she turned; her countenance had cleared; the dreamy look was +gone out of her face, all indecision had vanished; the poise of her head +and the firm set of her lips told that her resolution was formed. +She moved toward the table with all the old dignity in her carriage, +and all the old pride in her mien. She took up each letter in its turn, +touched a match to it and watched it slowly consume to ashes. Then she +said: + +"I have landed upon a foreign shore, and burned my ships behind me. +These letters were the last thing that held me in sympathy with any +remnant or belonging of the old life. Henceforth that life and all that +appertains to it are as dead to me and as far removed from me as if I +were become a denizen of another world." + +She said that love was not for her--the time that it could have satisfied +her heart was gone by and could not return; the opportunity was lost, +nothing could restore it. She said there could be no love without +respect, and she would only despise a man who could content himself with +a thing like her. Love, she said, was a woman's first necessity: love +being forfeited; there was but one thing left that could give a passing +zest to a wasted life, and that was fame, admiration, the applause of the +multitude. + +And so her resolution was taken. She would turn to that final resort of +the disappointed of her sex, the lecture platform. She would array +herself in fine attire, she would adorn herself with jewels, and stand in +her isolated magnificence before massed, audiences and enchant them with +her eloquence and amaze them with her unapproachable beauty. She would +move from city to city like a queen of romance, leaving marveling +multitudes behind her and impatient multitudes awaiting her coming. +Her life, during one hour of each day, upon the platform, would be a +rapturous intoxication--and when the curtain fell; and the lights were +out, and the people gone, to nestle in their homes and forget her, she +would find in sleep oblivion of her homelessness, if she could, if not +she would brave out the night in solitude and wait for the next day's +hour of ecstasy. + +So, to take up life and begin again was no great evil. She saw her way. +She would be brave and strong; she would make the best of, what was left +for her among the possibilities. + +She sent for the lecture agent, and matters were soon arranged. + +Straightway, all the papers were filled with her name, and all the dead +walls flamed with it. The papers called down imprecations upon her head; +they reviled her without stint; they wondered if all sense of decency was +dead in this shameless murderess, this brazen lobbyist, this heartless +seducer of the affections of weak and misguided men; they implored the +people, for the sake of their pure wives, their sinless daughters, for +the sake of decency, for the sake of public morals, to give this wretched +creature such a rebuke as should be an all-sufficient evidence to her and +to such as her, that there was a limit where the flaunting of their foul +acts and opinions before the world must stop; certain of them, with a +higher art, and to her a finer cruelty, a sharper torture, uttered no +abuse, but always spoke of her in terms of mocking eulogy and ironical +admiration. Everybody talked about the new wonder, canvassed the theme +of her proposed discourse, and marveled how she would handle it. + +Laura's few friends wrote to her or came and talked with her, and pleaded +with her to retire while it was yet time, and not attempt to face the +gathering storm. But it was fruitless. She was stung to the quick by +the comments of the newspapers; her spirit was roused, her ambition was +towering, now. She was more determined than ever. She would show these +people what a hunted and persecuted woman could do. + +The eventful night came. Laura arrived before the great lecture hall in +a close carriage within five minutes of the time set for the lecture to +begin. When she stepped out of the vehicle her heart beat fast and her +eyes flashed with exultation: the whole street was packed with people, +and she could hardly force her way to the hall! She reached the +ante-room, threw off her wraps and placed herself before the +dressing-glass. She turned herself this way and that--everything was +satisfactory, her attire was perfect. She smoothed her hair, rearranged +a jewel here and there, and all the while her heart sang within her, and +her face was radiant. She had not been so happy for ages and ages, it +seemed to her. Oh, no, she had never been so overwhelmingly grateful and +happy in her whole life before. The lecture agent appeared at the door. +She waved him away and said: + +"Do not disturb me. I want no introduction. And do not fear for me; the +moment the hands point to eight I will step upon the platform." + +He disappeared. She held her watch before her. She was so impatient +that the second-hand seemed whole tedious minutes dragging its way around +the circle. At last the supreme moment came, and with head erect and the +bearing of an empress she swept through the door and stood upon the +stage. Her eyes fell upon only a vast, brilliant emptiness--there were +not forty people in the house! There were only a handful of coarse men +and ten or twelve still coarser women, lolling upon the benches and +scattered about singly and in couples. + +Her pulses stood still, her limbs quaked, the gladness went out of her +face. There was a moment of silence, and then a brutal laugh and an +explosion of cat-calls and hisses saluted her from the audience. The +clamor grew stronger and louder, and insulting speeches were shouted at +her. A half-intoxicated man rose up and threw something, which missed +her but bespattered a chair at her side, and this evoked an outburst of +laughter and boisterous admiration. She was bewildered, her strength was +forsaking her. She reeled away from the platform, reached the ante-room, +and dropped helpless upon a sofa. The lecture agent ran in, with a +hurried question upon his lips; but she put forth her hands, and with the +tears raining from her eyes, said: + +"Oh, do not speak! Take me away-please take me away, out of this. +dreadful place! Oh, this is like all my life--failure, disappointment, +misery--always misery, always failure. What have I done, to be so +pursued! Take me away, I beg of you, I implore you!" + +Upon the pavement she was hustled by the mob, the surging masses roared +her name and accompanied it with every species of insulting epithet; +they thronged after the carriage, hooting, jeering, cursing, and even +assailing the vehicle with missiles. A stone crushed through a blind, +wounding Laura's forehead, and so stunning her that she hardly knew what +further transpired during her flight. + +It was long before her faculties were wholly restored, and then she found +herself lying on the floor by a sofa in her own sitting-room, and alone. +So she supposed she must have sat down upon the sofa and afterward +fallen. She raised herself up, with difficulty, for the air was chilly +and her limbs were stiff. She turned up the gas and sought the glass. +She hardly knew herself, so worn and old she looked, and so marred with +blood were her features. The night was far spent, and a dead stillness +reigned. She sat down by her table, leaned her elbows upon it and put +her face in her hands. + +Her thoughts wandered back over her old life again and her tears flowed +unrestrained. Her pride was humbled, her spirit was broken. Her memory +found but one resting place; it lingered about her young girlhood with a +caressing regret; it dwelt upon it as the one brief interval of her life +that bore no curse. She saw herself again in the budding grace of her +twelve years, decked in her dainty pride of ribbons, consorting with the +bees and the butterflies, believing in fairies, holding confidential +converse with the flowers, busying herself all day long with airy trifles +that were as weighty to her as the affairs that tax the brains of +diplomats and emperors. She was without sin, then, and unacquainted with +grief; the world was full of sunshine and her heart was full of music. +From that--to this! + +"If I could only die!" she said. "If I could only go back, and be as I +was then, for one hour--and hold my father's hand in mine again, and see +all the household about me, as in that old innocent time--and then die! +My God, I am humbled, my pride is all gone, my stubborn heart repents +--have pity!" + +When the spring morning dawned, the form still sat there, the elbows +resting upon the table and the face upon the hands. All day long the +figure sat there, the sunshine enriching its costly raiment and flashing +from its jewels; twilight came, and presently the stars, but still the +figure remained; the moon found it there still, and framed the picture +with the shadow of the window sash, and flooded, it with mellow light; by +and by the darkness swallowed it up, and later the gray dawn revealed it +again; the new day grew toward its prime, and still the forlorn presence +was undisturbed. + +But now the keepers of the house had become uneasy; their periodical +knockings still finding no response, they burst open the door. + +The jury of inquest found that death had resulted from heart disease, and +was instant and painless. That was all. Merely heart disease. + + + + +CHAPTER LXI. + +Clay Hawkins, years gone by, had yielded, after many a struggle, to the +migratory and speculative instinct of our age and our people, and had +wandered further and further westward upon trading ventures. Settling +finally in Melbourne, Australia, he ceased to roam, became a steady-going +substantial merchant, and prospered greatly. His life lay beyond the +theatre of this tale. + +His remittances had supported the Hawkins family, entirely, from the time +of his father's death until latterly when Laura by her efforts in +Washington had been able to assist in this work. Clay was away on a long +absence in some of the eastward islands when Laura's troubles began, +trying (and almost in vain,) to arrange certain interests which had +become disordered through a dishonest agent, and consequently he knew +nothing of the murder till he returned and read his letters and papers. +His natural impulse was to hurry to the States and save his sister if +possible, for he loved her with a deep and abiding affection. His +business was so crippled now, and so deranged, that to leave it would be +ruin; therefore he sold out at a sacrifice that left him considerably +reduced in worldly possessions, and began his voyage to San Francisco. +Arrived there, he perceived by the newspapers that the trial was near its +close. At Salt Lake later telegrams told him of the acquittal, and his +gratitude was boundless--so boundless, indeed, that sleep was driven from +his eyes by the pleasurable excitement almost as effectually as preceding +weeks of anxiety had done it. He shaped his course straight for Hawkeye, +now, and his meeting with his mother and the rest of the household was +joyful--albeit he had been away so long that he seemed almost a stranger +in his own home. + +But the greetings and congratulations were hardly finished when all the +journals in the land clamored the news of Laura's miserable death. +Mrs. Hawkins was prostrated by this last blow, and it was well that Clay +was at her side to stay her with comforting words and take upon himself +the ordering of the household with its burden of labors and cares. + +Washington Hawkins had scarcely more than entered upon that decade which +carries one to the full blossom of manhood which we term the beginning: +of middle age, and yet a brief sojourn at the capital of the nation had +made him old. His hair was already turning gray when the late session of +Congress began its sittings; it grew grayer still, and rapidly, after the +memorable day that saw Laura proclaimed a murderess; it waxed grayer and +still grayer during the lagging suspense that succeeded it and after the +crash which ruined his last hope--the failure of his bill in the Senate +and the destruction of its champion, Dilworthy. A few days later, when +he stood uncovered while the last prayer was pronounced over Laura's +grave, his hair was whiter and his face hardly less old than the +venerable minister's whose words were sounding in his ears. + +A week after this, he was sitting in a double-bedded room in a cheap +boarding house in Washington, with Col. Sellers. The two had been living +together lately, and this mutual cavern of theirs the Colonel sometimes +referred to as their "premises" and sometimes as their "apartments"--more +particularly when conversing with persons outside. A canvas-covered +modern trunk, marked "G. W. H." stood on end by the door, strapped and +ready for a journey; on it lay a small morocco satchel, also marked "G. +W. H." There was another trunk close by--a worn, and scarred, and +ancient hair relic, with "B. S." wrought in brass nails on its top; +on it lay a pair of saddle-bags that probably knew more about the last +century than they could tell. Washington got up and walked the floor a +while in a restless sort of way, and finally was about to sit down on the +hair trunk. + +"Stop, don't sit down on that!" exclaimed the Colonel: "There, now that's +all right--the chair's better. I couldn't get another trunk like that +--not another like it in America, I reckon." + +"I am afraid not," said Washington, with a faint attempt at a smile. + +"No indeed; the man is dead that made that trunk and that saddle-bags." + + +"Are his great-grand-children still living?" said Washington, with levity +only in the words, not in the tone. + +"Well, I don't know--I hadn't thought of that--but anyway they can't make +trunks and saddle-bags like that, if they are--no man can," said the +Colonel with honest simplicity. "Wife didn't like to see me going off +with that trunk--she said it was nearly certain to be stolen." + +"Why?" + +"Why? Why, aren't trunks always being stolen?" + +"Well, yes--some kinds of trunks are." + +"Very well, then; this is some kind of a trunk--and an almighty rare +kind, too." + +"Yes, I believe it is." + +"Well, then, why shouldn't a man want to steal it if he got a chance?" + +"Indeed I don't know.--Why should he?" + +"Washington, I never heard anybody talk like you. Suppose you were a +thief, and that trunk was lying around and nobody watching--wouldn't you +steal it? Come, now, answer fair--wouldn't you steal it? + +"Well, now, since you corner me, I would take it,--but I wouldn't +consider it stealing. + +"You wouldn't! Well, that beats me. Now what would you call stealing?" + +"Why, taking property is stealing." + +"Property! Now what a way to talk that is: What do you suppose that +trunk is worth?" + +"Is it in good repair?" + +"Perfect. Hair rubbed off a little, but the main structure is perfectly +sound." + +"Does it leak anywhere?" + +"Leak? Do you want to carry water in it? What do you mean by does it +leak?" + +"Why--a--do the clothes fall out of it when it is--when it is +stationary?" + +"Confound it, Washington, you are trying to make fun of me. I don't know +what has got into you to-day; you act mighty curious. What is the matter +with you?" + +"Well, I'll tell you, old friend. I am almost happy. I am, indeed. +It wasn't Clay's telegram that hurried me up so and got me ready to start +with you. It was a letter from Louise." + +"Good! What is it? What does she say?" + +"She says come home--her father has consented, at last." + +"My boy, I want to congratulate you; I want to shake you by the hand! +It's a long turn that has no lane at the end of it, as the proverb says, +or somehow that way. You'll be happy yet, and Beriah Sellers will be +there to see, thank God!" + +"I believe it. General Boswell is pretty nearly a poor man, now. The +railroad that was going to build up Hawkeye made short work of him, along +with the rest. He isn't so opposed to a son-in-law without a fortune, +now." + +"Without a fortune, indeed! Why that Tennessee Land--" + +"Never mind the Tennessee Land, Colonel. I am done with that, forever +and forever--" + +"Why no! You can't mean to say--" + +"My father, away back yonder, years ago, bought it for a blessing for his +children, and--" + +"Indeed he did! Si Hawkins said to me--" + +"It proved a curse to him as long as he lived, and never a curse like it +was inflicted upon any man's heirs--" + +"I'm bound to say there's more or less truth--" + +"It began to curse me when I was a baby, and it has cursed every hour of +my life to this day--" + +"Lord, lord, but it's so! Time and again my wife--" + +"I depended on it all through my boyhood and never tried to do an honest +stroke of work for my living--" + +"Right again--but then you--" + +"I have chased it years and years as children chase butterflies. We +might all have been prosperous, now; we might all have been happy, all +these heart-breaking years, if we had accepted our poverty at first and +gone contentedly to work and built up our own wealth by our own toil and +sweat--" + +"It's so, it's so; bless my soul, how often I've told Si Hawkins--" + +"Instead of that, we have suffered more than the damned themselves +suffer! I loved my father, and I honor his memory and recognize his good +intentions; but I grieve for his mistaken ideas of conferring happiness +upon his children. I am going to begin my life over again, and begin it +and end it with good solid work! I'll leave my children no Tennessee +Land!" + +"Spoken like a man, sir, spoken like a man! Your hand, again my boy! +And always remember that when a word of advice from Beriah Sellers can +help, it is at your service. I'm going to begin again, too!" + +"Indeed!" + +"Yes, sir. I've seen enough to show me where my mistake was. The law is +what I was born for. I shall begin the study of the law. Heavens and +earth, but that Brabant's a wonderful man--a wonderful man sir! Such a +head! And such a way with him! But I could see that he was jealous of +me. The little licks I got in in the course of my argument before the +jury--" + +"Your argument! Why, you were a witness." + +"Oh, yes, to the popular eye, to the popular eye--but I knew when I was +dropping information and when I was letting drive at the court with an +insidious argument. But the court knew it, bless you, and weakened every +time! And Brabant knew it. I just reminded him of it in a quiet way, +and its final result, and he said in a whisper, 'You did it, Colonel, you +did it, sir--but keep it mum for my sake; and I'll tell you what you do,' +says he, 'you go into the law, Col. Sellers--go into the law, sir; that's +your native element!' And into the law the subscriber is going. There's +worlds of money in it!--whole worlds of money! Practice first in +Hawkeye, then in Jefferson, then in St. Louis, then in New York! In the +metropolis of the western world! Climb, and climb, and climb--and wind +up on the Supreme bench. Beriah Sellers, Chief Justice of the Supreme +Court of the United States, sir! A made man for all time and eternity! +That's the way I block it out, sir--and it's as clear as day--clear as +the rosy-morn!" + +Washington had heard little of this. The first reference to Laura's +trial had brought the old dejection to his face again, and he stood +gazing out of the window at nothing, lost in reverie. + +There was a knock-the postman handed in a letter. It was from Obedstown. +East Tennessee, and was for Washington. He opened it. There was a note +saying that enclosed he would please find a bill for the current year's +taxes on the 75,000 acres of Tennessee Land belonging to the estate of +Silas Hawkins, deceased, and added that the money must be paid within +sixty days or the land would be sold at public auction for the taxes, as +provided by law. The bill was for $180--something more than twice the +market value of the land, perhaps. + +Washington hesitated. Doubts flitted through his mind. The old instinct +came upon him to cling to the land just a little longer and give it one +more chance. He walked the floor feverishly, his mind tortured by +indecision. Presently he stopped, took out his pocket book and counted +his money. Two hundred and thirty dollars--it was all he had in the +world. + +"One hundred and eighty . . . . . . . from two hundred and +thirty," he said to himself. "Fifty left . . . . . . It is enough +to get me home . . . .. . . Shall I do it, or shall I not? . . . +. . . . I wish I had somebody to decide for me." + +The pocket book lay open in his hand, with Louise's small letter in view. +His eye fell upon that, and it decided him. + +"It shall go for taxes," he said, "and never tempt me or mine any more!" + +He opened the window and stood there tearing the tax bill to bits and +watching the breeze waft them away, till all were gone. + +"The spell is broken, the life-long curse is ended!" he said. "Let us +go." + +The baggage wagon had arrived; five minutes later the two friends were +mounted upon their luggage in it, and rattling off toward the station, +the Colonel endeavoring to sing "Homeward Bound," a song whose words he +knew, but whose tune, as he rendered it, was a trial to auditors. + + + + + +CHAPTER LXII + + +Philip Sterling's circumstances were becoming straightened. The prospect +was gloomy. His long siege of unproductive labor was beginning to tell +upon his spirits; but what told still more upon them was the undeniable +fact that the promise of ultimate success diminished every day, now. +That is to say, the tunnel had reached a point in the hill which was +considerably beyond where the coal vein should pass (according to all his +calculations) if there were a coal vein there; and so, every foot that +the tunnel now progressed seemed to carry it further away from the object +of the search. + +Sometimes he ventured to hope that he had made a mistake in estimating +the direction which the vein should naturally take after crossing the +valley and entering the hill. Upon such occasions he would go into the +nearest mine on the vein he was hunting for, and once more get the +bearings of the deposit and mark out its probable course; but the result +was the same every time; his tunnel had manifestly pierced beyond the +natural point of junction; and then his, spirits fell a little lower. +His men had already lost faith, and he often overheard them saying it was +perfectly plain that there was no coal in the hill. + +Foremen and laborers from neighboring mines, and no end of experienced +loafers from the village, visited the tunnel from time to time, and their +verdicts were always the same and always disheartening--"No coal in that +hill." Now and then Philip would sit down and think it all over and +wonder what the mystery meant; then he would go into the tunnel and ask +the men if there were no signs yet? None--always "none." + +He would bring out a piece of rock and examine it, and say to himself, +"It is limestone--it has crinoids and corals in it--the rock is right" +Then he would throw it down with a sigh, and say, "But that is nothing; +where coal is, limestone with these fossils in it is pretty certain to +lie against its foot casing; but it does not necessarily follow that +where this peculiar rock is coal must lie above it or beyond it; this +sign is not sufficient." + +The thought usually followed:--"There is one infallible sign--if I could +only strike that!" + +Three or four tines in as many weeks he said to himself, "Am I a +visionary? I must be a visionary; everybody is in these days; everybody +chases butterflies: everybody seeks sudden fortune and will not lay one +up by slow toil. This is not right, I will discharge the men and go at +some honest work. There is no coal here. What a fool I have been; I +will give it up." + +But he never could do it. A half hour of profound thinking always +followed; and at the end of it he was sure to get up and straighten +himself and say: "There is coal there; I will not give it up; and coal +or no coal I will drive the tunnel clear through the hill; I will not +surrender while I am alive." + +He never thought of asking Mr. Montague for more money. He said there +was now but one chance of finding coal against nine hundred and ninety +nine that he would not find it, and so it would be wrong in him to make +the request and foolish in Mr. Montague to grant it. + +He had been working three shifts of men. Finally, the settling of a +weekly account exhausted his means. He could not afford to run in debt, +and therefore he gave the men their discharge. They came into his cabin +presently, where he sat with his elbows on his knees and his chin in his +hands--the picture of discouragement and their spokesman said: + +"Mr. Sterling, when Tim was down a week with his fall you kept him on +half-wages and it was a mighty help to his family; whenever any of us was +in trouble you've done what you could to help us out; you've acted fair +and square with us every time, and I reckon we are men and know a man +when we see him. We haven't got any faith in that hill, but we have a +respect for a man that's got the pluck that you've showed; you've fought +a good fight, with everybody agin you and if we had grub to go on, I'm +d---d if we wouldn't stand by you till the cows come home! That is what +the boys say. Now we want to put in one parting blast for luck. We want +to work three days more; if we don't find anything, we won't bring in no +bill against you. That is what we've come to say." + +Philip was touched. If he had had money enough to buy three days' "grub" +he would have accepted the generous offer, but as it was, he could not +consent to be less magnanimous than the men, and so he declined in a +manly speech; shook hands all around and resumed his solitary communings. +The men went back to the tunnel and "put in a parting blast for luck" +anyhow. They did a full day's work and then took their leave. They +called at his cabin and gave him good-bye, but were not able to tell him +their day's effort had given things a mere promising look. + +The next day Philip sold all the tools but two or three sets; he also +sold one of the now deserted cabins as old, lumber, together with its +domestic wares; and made up his mind that he would buy, provisions with +the trifle of money thus gained and continue his work alone. About the +middle of the after noon he put on his roughest clothes and went to the +tunnel. He lit a candle and groped his way in. Presently he heard the +sound of a pick or a drill, and wondered, what it meant. A spark of light +now appeared in the far end of the tunnel, and when he arrived there he +found the man Tim at work. Tim said: + +"I'm to have a job in the Golden Brier mine by and by--in a week or ten +days--and I'm going to work here till then. A man might as well be at +some thing, and besides I consider that I owe you what you paid me when I +was laid up." + +Philip said, Oh, no, he didn't owe anything; but Tim persisted, and then +Philip said he had a little provision now, and would share. So for +several days Philip held the drill and Tim did the striking. At first +Philip was impatient to see the result of every blast, and was always +back and peering among the smoke the moment after the explosion. But +there was never any encouraging result; and therefore he finally lost +almost all interest, and hardly troubled himself to inspect results at +all. He simply labored on, stubbornly and with little hope. + +Tim staid with him till the last moment, and then took up his job at the +Golden Brier, apparently as depressed by the continued barrenness of +their mutual labors as Philip was himself. After that, Philip fought his +battle alone, day after day, and slow work it was; he could scarcely see +that he made any progress. + +Late one afternoon he finished drilling a hole which he had been at work +at for more than two hours; he swabbed it out, and poured in the powder +and inserted the fuse; then filled up the rest of the hole with dirt and +small fragments of stone; tamped it down firmly, touched his candle to +the fuse, and ran. By and by the I dull report came, and he was about to +walk back mechanically and see what was accomplished; but he halted; +presently turned on his heel and thought, rather than said: + +"No, this is useless, this is absurd. If I found anything it would only +be one of those little aggravating seams of coal which doesn't mean +anything, and--" + +By this time he was walking out of the tunnel. His thought ran on: + +"I am conquered . . . . . . I am out of provisions, out of money. +. . . . I have got to give it up . . . . . . All this hard work +lost! But I am not conquered! I will go and work for money, and come +back and have another fight with fate. Ah me, it may be years, it may, +be years." + +Arrived at the mouth of the tunnel, he threw his coat upon the ground, +sat down on, a stone, and his eye sought the westering sun and dwelt upon +the charming landscape which stretched its woody ridges, wave upon wave, +to the golden horizon. + +Something was taking place at his feet which did not attract his +attention. + +His reverie continued, and its burden grew more and more gloomy. +Presently he rose up and, cast a look far away toward the valley, and his +thoughts took a new direction: + +"There it is! How good it looks! But down there is not up here. Well, +I will go home and pack up--there is nothing else to do" + +He moved off moodily toward his cabin. He had gone some distance before +he thought of his coat; then he was about to turn back, but he smiled at +the thought, and continued his journey--such a coat as that could be of +little use in a civilized land; a little further on, he remembered that +there were some papers of value in one of the pockets of the relic, and +then with a penitent ejaculation he turned back picked up the coat and +put it on. + +He made a dozen steps, and then stopped very suddenly. He stood still a +moment, as one who is trying to believe something and cannot. He put a +hand up over his shoulder and felt his back, and a great thrill shot +through him. He grasped the skirt of the coat impulsively and another +thrill followed. He snatched the coat from his back, glanced at it, +threw it from him and flew back to the tunnel. He sought the spot where +the coat had lain--he had to look close, for the light was waning--then +to make sure, he put his hand to the ground and a little stream of water +swept against his fingers: + +"Thank God, I've struck it at last!" + +He lit a candle and ran into the tunnel; he picked up a piece of rubbish +cast out by the last blast, and said: + +"This clayey stuff is what I've longed for--I know what is behind it." + +He swung his pick with hearty good will till long after the darkness had +gathered upon the earth, and when he trudged home at length he knew he +had a coal vein and that it was seven feet thick from wall to wall. + +He found a yellow envelope lying on his rickety table, and recognized +that it was of a family sacred to the transmission of telegrams. + +He opened it, read it, crushed it in his hand and threw it down. It +simply said: + +"Ruth is very ill." + + + + +CHAPTER LXIII. + +It was evening when Philip took the cars at the Ilium station. The news +of, his success had preceded him, and while he waited for the train, he +was the center of a group of eager questioners, who asked him a hundred +things about the mine, and magnified his good fortune. There was no +mistake this time. + +Philip, in luck, had become suddenly a person of consideration, whose +speech was freighted with meaning, whose looks were all significant. +The words of the proprietor of a rich coal mine have a golden sound, +and his common sayings are repeated as if they were solid wisdom. + +Philip wished to be alone; his good fortune at this moment seemed an +empty mockery, one of those sarcasms of fate, such as that which spreads +a dainty banquet for the man who has no appetite. He had longed for +success principally for Ruth's sake; and perhaps now, at this very moment +of his triumph, she was dying. + +"Shust what I said, Mister Sederling," the landlord of the Ilium hotel +kept repeating. "I dold Jake Schmidt he find him dere shust so sure as +noting." + +"You ought to have taken a share, Mr. Dusenheimer," said Philip. + +"Yaas, I know. But d'old woman, she say 'You sticks to your pisiness. +So I sticks to 'em. Und I makes noting. Dat Mister Prierly, he don't +never come back here no more, ain't it?" + +"Why?" asked Philip. + +"Vell, dere is so many peers, and so many oder dhrinks, I got 'em all set +down, ven he coomes back." + +It was a long night for Philip, and a restless one. At any other time +the swing of the cars would have lulled him to sleep, and the rattle and +clank of wheels and rails, the roar of the whirling iron would have only +been cheerful reminders of swift and safe travel. Now they were voices +of warning and taunting; and instead of going rapidly the train seemed to +crawl at a snail's pace. And it not only crawled, but it frequently +stopped; and when it stopped it stood dead still and there was an ominous +silence. Was anything the matter, he wondered. Only a station probably. +Perhaps, he thought, a telegraphic station. And then he listened +eagerly. Would the conductor open the door and ask for Philip Sterling, +and hand him a fatal dispatch? + +How long they seemed to wait. And then slowly beginning to move, they +were off again, shaking, pounding, screaming through the night. He drew +his curtain from time to time and looked out. There was the lurid sky +line of the wooded range along the base of which they were crawling. +There was the Susquehannah, gleaming in the moon-light. There was a +stretch of level valley with silent farm houses, the occupants all at +rest, without trouble, without anxiety. There was a church, a graveyard, +a mill, a village; and now, without pause or fear, the train had mounted +a trestle-work high in air and was creeping along the top of it while a +swift torrent foamed a hundred feet below. + +What would the morning bring? Even while he was flying to her, her gentle +spirit might have gone on another flight, whither he could not follow +her. He was full of foreboding. He fell at length into a restless doze. +There was a noise in his ears as of a rushing torrent when a stream is +swollen by a freshet in the spring. It was like the breaking up of life; +he was struggling in the consciousness of coming death: when Ruth stood +by his side, clothed in white, with a face like that of an angel, +radiant, smiling, pointing to the sky, and saying, "Come." He awoke with +a cry--the train was roaring through a bridge, and it shot out into +daylight. + +When morning came the train was industriously toiling along through the +fat lands of Lancaster, with its broad farms of corn and wheat, its mean +houses of stone, its vast barns and granaries, built as if, for storing +the riches of Heliogabalus. Then came the smiling fields of Chester, +with their English green, and soon the county of Philadelphia itself, and +the increasing signs of the approach to a great city. Long trains of +coal cars, laden and unladen, stood upon sidings; the tracks of other +roads were crossed; the smoke of other locomotives was seen on parallel +lines; factories multiplied; streets appeared; the noise of a busy city +began to fill the air;--and with a slower and slower clank on the +connecting rails and interlacing switches the train rolled into the +station and stood still. + +It was a hot August morning. The broad streets glowed in the sun, and +the white-shuttered houses stared at the hot thoroughfares like closed +bakers' ovens set along the highway. Philip was oppressed with the heavy +air; the sweltering city lay as in a swoon. Taking a street car, he rode +away to the northern part of the city, the newer portion, formerly the +district of Spring Garden, for in this the Boltons now lived, in a small +brick house, befitting their altered fortunes. + +He could scarcely restrain his impatience when he came in sight of the +house. The window shutters were not "bowed"; thank God, for that. Ruth +was still living, then. He ran up the steps and rang. Mrs. Bolton met +him at the door. + +"Thee is very welcome, Philip." + +"And Ruth?" + +"She is very ill, but quieter than, she has been, and the fever is a +little abating. The most dangerous time will be when the fever leaves +her. The doctor fears she will not have strength enough to rally from +it. Yes, thee can see her." + +Mrs. Bolton led the way to the little chamber where Ruth lay. "Oh," +said her mother, "if she were only in her cool and spacious room in our +old home. She says that seems like heaven." + +Mr. Bolton sat by Ruth's bedside, and he rose and silently pressed +Philip's hand. The room had but one window; that was wide open to admit +the air, but the air that came in was hot and lifeless. Upon the table +stood a vase of flowers. Ruth's eyes were closed; her cheeks were +flushed with fever, and she moved her head restlessly as if in pain. + +"Ruth," said her mother, bending over her, "Philip is here." + +Ruth's eyes unclosed, there was a gleam of recognition in them, there was +an attempt at a smile upon her face, and she tried to raise her thin +hand, as Philip touched her forehead with his lips; and he heard her +murmur, + +"Dear Phil." + +There was nothing to be done but to watch and wait for the cruel fever to +burn itself out. Dr. Longstreet told Philip that the fever had +undoubtedly been contracted in the hospital, but it was not malignant, +and would be little dangerous if Ruth were not so worn down with work, +or if she had a less delicate constitution. + +"It is only her indomitable will that has kept her up for weeks. And if +that should leave her now, there will be no hope. You can do more for +her now, sir, than I can?" + +"How?" asked Philip eagerly. + +"Your presence, more than anything else, will inspire her with the desire +to live." + +When the fever turned, Ruth was in a very critical condition. For two +days her life was like the fluttering of a lighted candle in the wind. +Philip was constantly by her side, and she seemed to be conscious of his +presence, and to cling to him, as one borne away by a swift stream clings +to a stretched-out hand from the shore. If he was absent a moment her +restless eyes sought something they were disappointed not to find. + +Philip so yearned to bring her back to life, he willed it so strongly and +passionately, that his will appeared to affect hers and she seemed slowly +to draw life from his. + +After two days of this struggle with the grasping enemy, it was evident +to Dr. Longstreet that Ruth's will was beginning to issue its orders to +her body with some force, and that strength was slowly coming back. +In another day there was a decided improvement. As Philip sat holding +her weak hand and watching the least sign of resolution in her face, Ruth +was able to whisper, + +"I so want to live, for you, Phil!" + +"You will; darling, you must," said Philip in a tone of faith and courage +that carried a thrill of determination--of command--along all her nerves. + +Slowly Philip drew her back to life. Slowly she came back, as one +willing but well nigh helpless. It was new for Ruth to feel this +dependence on another's nature, to consciously draw strength of will from +the will of another. It was a new but a dear joy, to be lifted up and +carried back into the happy world, which was now all aglow with the light +of love; to be lifted and carried by the one she loved more than her own +life. + +"Sweetheart," she said to Philip, "I would not have cared to come back +but for thy love." + +"Not for thy profession?" + +"Oh, thee may be glad enough of that some day, when thy coal bed is dug +out and thee and father are in the air again." + +When Ruth was able to ride she was taken into the country, for the pure +air was necessary to her speedy recovery. The family went with her. +Philip could not be spared from her side, and Mr. Bolton had gone up to +Ilium to look into that wonderful coal mine and to make arrangements for +developing it, and bringing its wealth to market. Philip had insisted on +re-conveying the Ilium property to Mr. Bolton, retaining only the share +originally contemplated for himself, and Mr. Bolton, therefore, once +more found himself engaged in business and a person of some consequence +in Third street. The mine turned out even better than was at first +hoped, and would, if judiciously managed, be a fortune to them all. +This also seemed to be the opinion of Mr. Bigler, who heard of it as soon +as anybody, and, with the impudence of his class called upon Mr. Bolton +for a little aid in a patent car-wheel he had bought an interest in. +That rascal, Small, he said, had swindled him out of all he had. + +Mr. Bolton told him he was very sorry, and recommended him to sue Small. + +Mr. Small also came with a similar story about Mr. Bigler; and Mr. +Bolton had the grace to give him like advice. And he added, "If you and +Bigler will procure the indictment of each other, you may have the +satisfaction of putting each other in the penitentiary for the forgery of +my acceptances." + +Bigler and Small did not quarrel however. They both attacked Mr. Bolton +behind his back as a swindler, and circulated the story that he had made +a fortune by failing. + +In the pure air of the highlands, amid the golden glories of ripening +September, Ruth rapidly came back to health. How beautiful the world is +to an invalid, whose senses are all clarified, who has been so near the +world of spirits that she is sensitive to the finest influences, and +whose frame responds with a thrill to the subtlest ministrations of +soothing nature. Mere life is a luxury, and the color of the grass, of +the flowers, of the sky, the wind in the trees, the outlines of the +horizon, the forms of clouds, all give a pleasure as exquisite as the +sweetest music to the ear famishing for it. The world was all new and +fresh to Ruth, as if it had just been created for her, and love filled +it, till her heart was overflowing with happiness. + +It was golden September also at Fallkill. And Alice sat by the open +window in her room at home, looking out upon the meadows where the +laborers were cutting the second crop of clover. The fragrance of it +floated to her nostrils. Perhaps she did not mind it. She was thinking. +She had just been writing to Ruth, and on the table before her was a +yellow piece of paper with a faded four-leaved clover pinned on it--only +a memory now. In her letter to Ruth she had poured out her heartiest +blessings upon them both, with her dear love forever and forever. + +"Thank God," she said, "they will never know" + +They never would know. And the world never knows how many women there +are like Alice, whose sweet but lonely lives of self-sacrifice, gentle, +faithful, loving souls, bless it continually. + +"She is a dear girl," said Philip, when Ruth showed him the letter. + +"Yes, Phil, and we can spare a great deal of love for her, our own lives +are so full." + + + + +APPENDIX. + +Perhaps some apology to the reader is necessary in view of our failure to +find Laura's father. We supposed, from the ease with which lost persons +are found in novels, that it would not be difficult. But it was; indeed, +it was impossible; and therefore the portions of the narrative containing +the record of the search have been stricken out. Not because they were +not interesting--for they were; but inasmuch as the man was not found, +after all, it did not seem wise to harass and excite the reader to no +purpose. + +THE AUTHORS + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Gilded Age, Part 7. +by Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) and Charles Dudley Warner + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GILDED AGE, PART 7. *** + +***** This file should be named 5824.txt or 5824.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/5/8/2/5824/ + +Produced by David Widger + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +https://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at https://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +https://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at https://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit https://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including including checks, online payments and credit card +donations. To donate, please visit: https://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + https://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. diff --git a/5824.zip b/5824.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..ec23198 --- /dev/null +++ b/5824.zip diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..ad4d6a9 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #5824 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/5824) diff --git a/old/mt7ga10h.zip b/old/mt7ga10h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..981ba43 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/mt7ga10h.zip |
