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diff --git a/8223.txt b/8223.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..9c4b3bc --- /dev/null +++ b/8223.txt @@ -0,0 +1,10048 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Edgar Huntley, by Charles Brockden Brown + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most +other parts of the world 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. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have +to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. + +Title: Edgar Huntley + +Author: Charles Brockden Brown + +Posting Date: February 11, 2015 [EBook #8223] +Release Date: June, 2005 +First Posted: July 3, 2003 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK EDGAR HUNTLEY *** + + + + +Produced by Online Distributed Proofreading Team + + + + + + + + + +EDGAR HUNTLY + +or, MEMOIRS OF A SLEEP-WALKER + +by + +CHARLES BROCKDEN BROWN + + + + + + + +To the Public: + +The flattering reception that has been given, by the public, to Arthur +Mervyn, has prompted the writer to solicit a continuance of the same +favour, and to offer to the world a new performance. + +America has opened new views to the naturalist and politician, but has +seldom furnished themes to the moral painter. That new springs of action +and new motives to curiosity should operate,--that the field of +investigation, opened to us by our own country, should differ +essentially from those which exist in Europe,--may be readily conceived. +The sources of amusement to the fancy and instruction to the heart, that +are peculiar to ourselves, are equally numerous and inexhaustible. It is +the purpose of this work to profit by some of these sources; to exhibit +a series of adventures, growing out of the condition of our country, and +connected with one of the most common and most wonderful diseases or +affections of the human frame. + +One merit the writer may at least claim:--that of calling forth the +passions and engaging the sympathy of the reader by means hitherto +unemployed by preceding authors. Puerile superstition and exploded +manners, Gothic castles and chimeras, are the materials usually employed +for this end. The incidents of Indian hostility, and the perils of the +Western wilderness, are far more suitable; and for a native of America +to overlook these would admit of no apology. These, therefore, are, in +part, the ingredients of this tale, and these he has been ambitious of +depicting in vivid and faithful colours. The success of his efforts must +be estimated by the liberal and candid reader. + +C. B. B. + + + + + +Chapter I. + + +I sit down, my friend, to comply with thy request. At length does the +impetuosity of my fears, the transports of my wonder, permit me to +recollect my promise and perform it. At length am I somewhat delivered +from suspense and from tremors. At length the drama is brought to an +imperfect close, and the series of events that absorbed my faculties, +that hurried away my attention, has terminated in repose. + +Till now, to hold a steadfast pen was impossible; to disengage my senses +from the scene that was passing or approaching; to forbear to grasp at +futurity; to suffer so much thought to wander from the purpose which +engrossed my fears and my hopes, could not be. + +Yet am I sure that even now my perturbations are sufficiently stilled +for an employment like this? That the incidents I am going to relate can +be recalled and arranged without indistinctness and confusion? That +emotions will not be reawakened by my narrative, incompatible with order +and coherence? Yet when I shall be better qualified for this task I know +not. Time may take away these headlong energies, and give me back my +ancient sobriety; but this change will only be effected by weakening my +remembrance of these events. In proportion as I gain power over words, +shall I lose dominion over sentiments. In proportion as my tale is +deliberate and slow, the incidents and motives which it is designed to +exhibit will be imperfectly revived and obscurely portrayed. + +Oh, why art thou away at a time like this. Wert thou present, the office +to which my pen is so inadequate would easily be executed by my tongue. +Accents can scarcely be too rapid; or that which words should fail to +convey, my looks and gestures would suffice to communicate. But I know +thy coming is impossible. To leave this spot is equally beyond my power. +To keep thee in ignorance of what has happened would justly offend thee. +There is no method of informing thee except by letter, and this method +must I, therefore, adopt. + +How short is the period that has elapsed since thou and I parted, and +yet how full of tumult and dismay has been my soul during that period! +What light has burst upon my ignorance of myself and of mankind! How +sudden and enormous the transition from uncertainty to knowledge! + +But let me recall my thoughts; let me struggle for so much composure as +will permit my pen to trace intelligible characters. Let me place in +order the incidents that are to compose my tale. I need not call on thee +to listen. The fate of Waldegrave was as fertile of torment to thee as +to me. His bloody and mysterious catastrophe equally awakened thy grief, +thy revenge, and thy curiosity. Thou wilt catch from my story every +horror and every sympathy which it paints. Thou wilt shudder with my +foreboding and dissolve with my tears. As the sister of my friend, and +as one who honours me with her affection, thou wilt share in all my +tasks and all my dangers. + +You need not be reminded with what reluctance I left you. To reach this +place by evening was impossible, unless I had set out early in the +morning; but your society was too precious not to be enjoyed to the last +moment. It was indispensable to be here on Tuesday, but my duty required +no more than that I should arrive by sunrise on that day. To travel +during the night was productive of no formidable inconvenience. The air +was likely to be frosty and sharp, but these would not incommode one who +walked with speed. A nocturnal journey in districts so romantic and wild +as these, through which lay my road, was more congenial to my temper +than a noonday ramble. + +By nightfall I was within ten miles of my uncle's house. As the darkness +increased, and I advanced on my way, my sensations sunk into melancholy. +The scene and the time reminded me of the friend whom I had lost. I +recalled his features, and accents, and gestures, and mused with +unutterable feelings on the circumstances of his death. + +My recollections once more plunged me into anguish and perplexity. Once +more I asked, Who was his assassin? By what motives could he be impelled +to a deed like this? Waldegrave was pure from all offence. His piety was +rapturous. His benevolence was a stranger to remissness or torpor. All +who came within the sphere of his influence experienced and acknowledged +his benign activity. His friends were few, because his habits were timid +and reserved; but the existence of an enemy was impossible. + +I recalled the incidents of our last interview, my importunities that he +should postpone his ill-omened journey till the morning, his +inexplicable obstinacy, his resolution to set out on foot during a dark +and tempestuous night, and the horrible disaster that befell him. + +The first intimation I received of this misfortune, the insanity of +vengeance and grief into which I was hurried, my fruitless searches for +the author of this guilt, my midnight wanderings and reveries beneath +the shade of that fatal elm, were revived and reacted. I heard the +discharge of the pistol, I witnessed the alarm of Inglefield, I heard +his calls to his servants, and saw them issue forth with lights and +hasten to the spot whence the sound had seemed to proceed. I beheld my +friend, stretched upon the earth, ghastly with a mortal wound, alone, +with no traces of the slayer visible, no tokens by which his place of +refuge might be sought, the motives of his enmity or his instruments of +mischief might be detected. + +I hung over the dying youth, whose insensibility forbade him to +recognise his friend, or unfold the cause of his destruction. I +accompanied his remains to the grave; I tended the sacred spot where he +lay; I once more exercised my penetration and my zeal in pursuit of his +assassin. Once more my meditations and exertions were doomed to be +disappointed. + +I need not remind thee of what is past. Time and reason seemed to have +dissolved the spell which made me deaf to the dictates of duty and +discretion. Remembrances had ceased to agonize, to urge me to headlong +acts and foster sanguinary purposes. The gloom was half dispersed, and a +radiance had succeeded sweeter than my former joys. + +Now, by some unseen concurrence of reflections, my thoughts reverted +into some degree of bitterness. Methought that to ascertain the hand who +killed my friend was not impossible, and to punish the crime was just. +That to forbear inquiry or withhold punishment was to violate my duty to +my God and to mankind. The impulse was gradually awakened that bade me +once more to seek the elm; once more to explore the ground; to +scrutinize its trunk. What could I expect to find? Had it not been a +hundred times examined? Had I not extended my search to the neighbouring +groves and precipices? Had I not pored upon the brooks, and pried into +the pits and hollows, that were adjacent to the scene of blood? + +Lately I had viewed this conduct with shame and regret; but in the +present state of my mind it assumed the appearance of conformity with +prudence, and I felt myself irresistibly prompted to repeat my search. +Some time had elapsed since my departure from this district,--time +enough for momentous changes to occur. Expedients that formerly were +useless might now lead instantaneously to the end which I sought. The +tree which had formerly been shunned by the criminal might, in the +absence of the avenger of blood, be incautiously approached. Thoughtless +or fearless of my return, it was possible that he might, at this moment, +be detected hovering near the scene of his offences. + +Nothing can be pleaded in extenuation of this relapse into folly. My +return, after an absence of some duration, into the scene of these +transactions and sufferings, the time of night, the glimmering of the +stars, the obscurity in which external objects were wrapped, and which, +consequently, did not draw my attention from the images of fancy, may in +some degree account for the revival of those sentiments and resolutions +which immediately succeeded the death of Waldegrave, and which, during +my visit to you, had been suspended. + +You know the situation of the elm, in the midst of a private road, on +the verge of Norwalk, near the habitation of Inglefield, but three miles +from my uncle's house. It was now my intention to visit it. The road in +which I was travelling led a different way. It was requisite to leave +it, therefore, and make a circuit through meadows and over steeps. My +journey would, by these means, be considerably prolonged; but on that +head I was indifferent, or rather, considering how far the night had +already advanced, it was desirable not to reach home till the dawn. + +I proceeded in this new direction with speed. Time, however, was allowed +for my impetuosities to subside, and for sober thoughts to take place. +Still I persisted in this path. To linger a few moments in this shade, +to ponder on objects connected with events so momentous to my happiness, +promised me a mournful satisfaction. I was familiar with the way, though +trackless and intricate, and I climbed the steeps, crept through the +brambles, leaped the rivulets and fences with undeviating aim, till at +length I reached the craggy and obscure path which led to Inglefield's +house. + +In a short time, I descried through the dusk the widespread branches of +the elm. This tree, however faintly seen, cannot be mistaken for +another. The remarkable bulk and shape of its trunk, its position in the +midst of the way, its branches spreading into an ample circumference, +made it conspicuous from afar. My pulse throbbed as I approached it. + +My eyes were eagerly bent to discover the trunk and the area beneath the +shade. These, as I approached, gradually became visible. The trunk was +not the only thing which appeared in view. Somewhat else, which made +itself distinguishable by its motions, was likewise noted. I faltered +and stopped. + +To a casual observer this appearance would have been unnoticed. To me, +it could not but possess a powerful significance. All my surmises and +suspicions instantly returned. This apparition was human, it was +connected with the fate of Waldegrave, it led to a disclosure of the +author of that fate. What was I to do? To approach unwarily would alarm +the person. Instant flight would set him beyond discovery and reach. + +I walked softly to the roadside. The ground was covered with rocky +masses, scattered among shrub-oaks and dwarf-cedars, emblems of its +sterile and uncultivated state. Among these it was possible to elude +observation and yet approach near enough to gain an accurate view of +this being. + +At this time, the atmosphere was somewhat illuminated by the moon, +which, though it had already set, was yet so near the horizon as to +benefit me by its light. The shape of a man, tall and robust, was now +distinguished. Repeated and closer scrutiny enabled me to perceive that +he was employed in digging the earth. Something like flannel was wrapped +round his waist and covered his lower limbs. The rest of his frame was +naked. I did not recognise in him any one whom I knew. + +A figure, robust and strange, and half naked, to be thus employed, at +this hour and place, was calculated to rouse up my whole soul. His +occupation was mysterious and obscure. Was it a grave that he was +digging? Was his purpose to explore or to hide? Was it proper to watch +him at a distance, unobserved and in silence, or to rush upon him and +extort from him, by violence or menaces, an explanation of the scene? + +Before my resolution was formed, he ceased to dig. He cast aside his +spade and sat down in the pit that he had dug. He seemed wrapped in +meditation; but the pause was short, and succeeded by sobs, at first low +and at wide intervals, but presently louder and more vehement. Sorely +charged was indeed that heart whence flowed these tokens of sorrow. +Never did I witness a scene of such mighty anguish, such heart-bursting +grief. + +What should I think? I was suspended in astonishment. Every sentiment, +at length, yielded to my sympathy. Every new accent of the mourner +struck upon my heart with additional force, and tears found their way +spontaneously to my eyes. I left the spot where I stood, and advanced +within the verge of the shade. My caution had forsaken me, and, instead +of one whom it was duty to persecute, I beheld, in this man, nothing but +an object of compassion. + +My pace was checked by his suddenly ceasing to lament. He snatched the +spade, and, rising on his feet, began to cover up the pit with the +utmost diligence. He seemed aware of my presence, and desirous of hiding +something from my inspection. I was prompted to advance nearer and hold +his hand, but my uncertainty as to his character and views, the +abruptness with which I had been ushered into this scene, made me still +hesitate; but, though I hesitated to advance, there was nothing to +hinder me from calling. + +"What, ho!" said I. "Who is there? What are you doing?" + +He stopped: the spade fell from his hand; he looked up and bent forward +his face towards the spot where I stood. An interview and explanation +were now, methought, unavoidable. I mustered up my courage to confront +and interrogate this being. + +He continued for a minute in his gazing and listening attitude. Where I +stood I could not fail of being seen, and yet he acted as if he saw +nothing. Again he betook himself to his spade, and proceeded with new +diligence to fill up the pit. This demeanour confounded and bewildered +me. I had no power but to stand and silently gaze upon his motions. + +The pit being filled, he once more sat upon the ground, and resigned +himself to weeping and sighs with more vehemence than before. In a short +time the fit seemed to have passed. He rose, seized the spade, and +advanced to the spot where I stood. + +Again I made preparation as for an interview which could not but take +place. He passed me, however, without appearing to notice my existence. +He came so near as almost to brush my arm, yet turned not his head to +either side. My nearer view of him made his brawny arms and lofty +stature more conspicuous; but his imperfect dress, the dimness of the +light, and the confusion of my own thoughts, hindered me from discerning +his features. He proceeded with a few quick steps along the road, but +presently darted to one side and disappeared among the rocks and bushes. + +My eye followed him as long as he was visible, but my feet were rooted +to the spot. My musing was rapid and incongruous. It could not fail to +terminate in one conjecture, that this person was _asleep_. Such +instances were not unknown to me, through the medium of conversation and +books. Never, indeed, had it fallen under my own observation till now, +and now it was conspicuous, and environed with all that could give edge +to suspicion and vigour to inquiry. To stand here was no longer of use, +and I turned my steps towards my uncle's habitation. + + + + +Chapter II. + + +I had food enough for the longest contemplation. My steps partook, as +usual, of the vehemence of my thoughts, and I reached my uncle's gate +before I believed myself to have lost sight of the elm. I looked up and +discovered the well-known habitation. I could not endure that my +reflections should so speedily be interrupted. I therefore passed the +gate, and stopped not till I had reached a neighbouring summit, crowned +with chestnut-oaks and poplars. + +Here I more deliberately reviewed the incidents that had just occurred. +The inference was just, that the man, half clothed and digging, was a +sleeper; but what was the cause of this morbid activity? What was the +mournful vision that dissolved him in tears, and extorted from him +tokens of inconsolable distress? What did he seek, or what endeavour to +conceal, in this fatal spot? The incapacity of sound sleep denotes a +mind sorely wounded. It is thus that atrocious criminals denote the +possession of some dreadful secret. The thoughts, which considerations +of safety enable them to suppress or disguise during wakefulness, +operate without impediment, and exhibit their genuine effects, when the +notices of sense are partly excluded and they are shut out from a +knowledge of their entire condition. + +This is the perpetrator of some nefarious deed. What but the murder of +Waldegrave could direct his steps hither? His employment was part of +some fantastic drama in which his mind was busy. To comprehend it +demands penetration into the recesses of his soul. But one thing is +sure: an incoherent conception of his concern in that transaction +bewitches him hither. This it is that deluges his heart with bitterness +and supplies him with ever-flowing tears. + +But whence comes he? He does not start from the bosom of the earth, or +hide himself in airy distance. He must have a name and a terrestrial +habitation. It cannot be at an immeasurable distance from the haunted +elm. Inglefield's house is the nearest. This may be one of its +inhabitants. I did not recognise his features, but this was owing to the +dusky atmosphere and to the singularity of his garb. Inglefield has two +servants, one of whom was a native of this district, simple, guileless, +and incapable of any act of violence. He was, moreover, devoutly +attached to his sect. He could not be the criminal. + +The other was a person of a very different cast. He was an emigrant from +Ireland, and had been six months in the family of my friend. He was a +pattern of sobriety and gentleness. His mind was superior to his +situation. His natural endowments were strong, and had enjoyed all the +advantage of cultivation. His demeanour was grave, and thoughtful, and +compassionate. He appeared not untinctured with religion; but his +devotion, though unostentatious, was of a melancholy tenor. + +There was nothing in the first view of his character calculated to +engender suspicion. The neighbourhood was populous. But, as I conned +over the catalogue, I perceived that the only foreigner among us was +Clithero. Our scheme was, for the most part, a patriarchal one. Each +farmer was surrounded by his sons and kinsmen. This was an exception to +the rule. Clithero was a stranger, whose adventures and character, +previously to his coming hither, were unknown to us. The elm was +surrounded by his master's domains. An actor there must be, and no one +was equally questionable. + +The more I revolved the pensive and reserved deportment of this man, the +ignorance in which we were placed respecting his former situation, his +possible motives for abandoning his country and choosing a station so +much below the standard of his intellectual attainments, the stronger my +suspicions became. Formerly, when occupied with conjectures relative to +the same topic, the image of this man did not fail to occur; but the +seeming harmlessness of his ordinary conduct had raised him to a level +with others, and placed him equally beyond the reach of suspicion. I did +not, till now, advert to the recentness of his appearance among us, and +to the obscurity that hung over his origin and past life. But now these +considerations appeared so highly momentous as almost to decide the +question of his guilt. + +But how were these doubts to be changed into absolute certainty? +Henceforth this man was to become the subject of my scrutiny. I was to +gain all the knowledge, respecting him, which those with whom he lived, +and were the perpetual witnesses of his actions, could impart. For this +end I was to make minute inquiries, and to put seasonable +interrogatories. From this conduct I promised myself an ultimate +solution of my doubts. + +I acquiesced in this view of things with considerable satisfaction. It +seemed as if the maze was no longer inscrutable. It would be quickly +discovered who were the agents and instigators of the murder of my +friend. + +But it suddenly occurred to me, For what purpose shall I prosecute this +search? What benefit am I to reap from this discovery? How shall I +demean myself when the criminal is detected? I was not insensible, at +that moment, of the impulses of vengeance, but they were transient. I +detested the sanguinary resolutions that I had once formed. Yet I was +fearful of the effects of my hasty rage, and dreaded an encounter in +consequence of which I might rush into evils which no time could repair, +nor penitence expiate. + +"But why," said I, "should it be impossible to arm myself with firmness? +If forbearance be the dictate of wisdom, cannot it be so deeply engraven +on my mind as to defy all temptation, and be proof against the most +abrupt surprise? My late experience has been of use to me. It has shown +me my weakness and my strength. Having found my ancient fortifications +insufficient to withstand the enemy, what should I learn from thence but +that it becomes me to strengthen and enlarge them? + +"No caution, indeed, can hinder the experiment from being hazardous. Is +it wise to undertake experiments by which nothing can be gained, and +much may be lost? Curiosity is vicious, if undisciplined by reason, and +inconducive to benefit." + +I was not, however, to be diverted from my purpose. Curiosity, like +virtue, is its own reward. Knowledge is of value for its own sake, and +pleasure is annexed to the acquisition, without regard to any thing +beyond. It is precious even when disconnected with moral inducements and +heartfelt sympathies; but the knowledge which I sought by its union with +these was calculated to excite the most complex and fiery sentiments in +my bosom. + +Hours were employed in revolving these thoughts. At length I began to be +sensible of fatigue, and, returning home, explored the way to my chamber +without molesting the repose of the family. You know that our doors are +always unfastened, and are accessible at all hours of the night. + +My slumbers were imperfect, and I rejoiced when the morning light +permitted me to resume my meditations. The day glided away, I scarcely +know how, and, as I had rejoiced at the return of morning, I now hailed, +with pleasure, the approach of night. + +My uncle and sisters having retired, I betook myself, instead of +following their example, to the _Chestnut-hill_. Concealed among +its rocks, or gazing at the prospect which stretched so far and so wide +around it, my fancy has always been accustomed to derive its highest +enjoyment from this spot. I found myself again at leisure to recall the +scene which I had witnessed during the last night, to imagine its +connection with the fate of Waldegrave, and to plan the means of +discovering the secret that was hidden under these appearances. + +Shortly, I began to feel insupportable disquiet at the thoughts of +postponing this discovery. Wiles and stratagems were practicable, but +they were tedious, and of dubious success. Why should I proceed like a +plotter? Do I intend the injury of this person? A generous purpose will +surely excuse me from descending to artifices. There are two modes of +drawing forth the secrets of another,--by open and direct means and by +circuitous and indirect. Why scruple to adopt the former mode? Why not +demand a conference, and state my doubts, and demand a solution of them, +in a manner worthy of a beneficent purpose? Why not hasten to the spot? +He may be, at this moment, mysteriously occupied under this shade. I may +note his behaviour; I may ascertain his person, if not by the features +that belong to him, yet by tracing his footsteps when he departs, and +pursuing him to his retreats. + +I embraced this scheme, which was thus suggested, with eagerness. I +threw myself with headlong speed down the hill and pursued my way to the +elm. As I approached the tree, my palpitations increased, though my pace +slackened. I looked forward with an anxious glance. The trunk of the +tree was hidden in the deepest shade. I advanced close up to it. No one +was visible, but I was not discouraged. The hour of his coming was, +perhaps, not arrived. I took my station at a small distance, beside a +fence, on the right hand. + +An hour elapsed before my eyes lighted on the object of which they were +in search. My previous observation had been roving from one quarter to +another. At last, it dwelt upon the tree. The person whom I before +described was seated on the ground. I had not perceived him before, and +the means by which he placed himself in this situation had escaped my +notice. He seemed like one whom an effort of will, without the exercise +of locomotion, had transported hither, or made visible. His state of +disarray, and the darkness that shrouded him, prevented me, as before, +from distinguishing any peculiarities in his figure or countenance. + +I continued watchful and mute. The appearances already described took +place on this occasion, except the circumstance of digging in the earth. +He sat musing for a while, then burst into sighs and lamentations. + +These being exhausted, he rose to depart. He stalked away with a solemn +and deliberate pace. I resolved to tread, as closely as possible, in his +footsteps, and not to lose sight of him till the termination of his +career. + +Contrary to my expectation, he went in a direction opposite to that +which led to Inglefield's. Presently, he stopped at bars, which he +cautiously removed, and, when he had passed through them, as +deliberately replaced. He then proceeded along an obscure path, which +led across stubble-fields, to a wood. The path continued through the +wood, but he quickly struck out of it, and made his way, seemingly at +random, through a most perplexing undergrowth of bushes and briers. + +I was, at first, fearful that the noise which I made behind him, in +trampling down the thicket, would alarm him; but he regarded it not. The +way that he had selected was always difficult: sometimes considerable +force was requisite to beat down obstacles; sometimes it led into a deep +glen, the sides of which were so steep as scarcely to afford a footing; +sometimes into fens, from which some exertions were necessary to +extricate the feet, and sometimes through rivulets, of which the water +rose to the middle. + +For some time I felt no abatement of my speed or my resolution. I +thought I might proceed, without fear, through brakes and dells which my +guide was able to penetrate. He was perpetually changing his direction. +I could form no just opinion as to my situation or distance from the +place at which we had set out. + +I began at length to be weary. A suspicion, likewise, suggested itself +to my mind, whether my guide did not perceive that he was followed, and +thus prolonged his journey in order to fatigue or elude his pursuer. I +was determined, however, to baffle his design. Though the air was +frosty, my limbs were bedewed with sweat and my joints were relaxed with +toil, but I was obstinately bent upon proceeding. + +At length a new idea occurred to me. On finding me indefatigable in +pursuit, this person might resort to more atrocious methods of +concealment. But what had I to fear? It was sufficient to be upon my +guard. Man to man, I needed not to dread his encounter. + +We at last arrived at the verge of a considerable precipice. He kept +along the edge. From this height, a dreary vale was discoverable, +embarrassed with the leafless stocks of bushes, and encumbered with +rugged and pointed rocks. This scene reminded me of my situation. The +desert tract called Norwalk, which I have often mentioned to you, my +curiosity had formerly induced me to traverse in various directions. It +was in the highest degree rugged, picturesque, and wild. This vale, +though I had never before viewed it by the glimpses of the moon, +suggested the belief that I had visited it before. Such a one I knew +belonged to this uncultivated region. If this opinion were true, we were +at no inconsiderable distance from Inglefield's habitation. "Where," +said I, "is this singular career to terminate?" + +Though occupied with these reflections, I did not slacken my pursuit. +The stranger kept along the verge of the cliff, which gradually declined +till it terminated in the valley. He then plunged into its deepest +thickets. In a quarter of an hour he stopped under a projecture of the +rock which formed the opposite side of the vale. He then proceeded to +remove the stalks, which, as I immediately perceived, concealed the +mouth of a cavern. He plunged into the darkness, and in a few moments +his steps were heard no more. + +Hitherto my courage had supported me, but here it failed. Was this +person an assassin, who was acquainted with the windings of the grotto, +and who would take advantage of the dark to execute his vengeance upon +me, who had dared to pursue him to these forlorn retreats? or was he +maniac, or walker in his sleep? Whichever supposition were true, it +would be rash in me to follow him. Besides, he could not long remain in +these darksome recesses, unless some fatal accident should overtake him. + +I seated myself at the mouth of the cave, determined patiently to wait +till he should think proper to emerge. This opportunity of rest was +exceedingly acceptable after so toilsome a pilgrimage. My pulse began to +beat more slowly, and the moisture that incommoded me ceased to flow. +The coolness, which for a little time was delicious, presently increased +to shivering, and I found it necessary to change my posture, in order to +preserve my blood from congealing. + +After I had formed a path before the cavern's mouth, by the removal of +obstructions, I employed myself in walking to and fro. In this situation +I saw the moon gradually decline to the horizon, and, at length, +disappear. I marked the deepenings of the shade, and the mutations which +every object successively underwent. The vale was narrow, and hemmed in +on all sides by lofty and precipitous cliffs. The gloom deepened as the +moon declined, and the faintness of starlight was all that preserved my +senses from being useless to my own guidance. + +I drew nearer the cleft at which this mysterious personage had entered. +I stretched my hands before it, determined that he should not emerge +from his den without my notice. His steps would, necessarily, +communicate the tidings of his approach. He could not move without a +noise which would be echoed to, on all sides, by the abruptness by which +this valley was surrounded. Here, then, I continued till the day began +to dawn, in momentary expectation of the stranger's reappearance. + +My attention was at length excited by a sound that seemed to issue from +the cave. I imagined that the sleeper was returning, and prepared +therefore to seize him. I blamed myself for neglecting the opportunities +that had already been afforded, and was determined that another should +not escape. My eyes were fixed upon the entrance. The rustling +increased, and presently an animal leaped forth, of what kind I was +unable to discover. Heart-struck by this disappointment, but not +discouraged, I continued to watch, but in vain. The day was advancing +apace. At length the sun arose, and its beams glistened on the edges of +the cliffs above, whose sapless stalks and rugged masses were covered +with hoarfrost. I began to despair of success, but was unwilling to +depart until it was no longer possible to hope for the return of this +extraordinary personage. Whether he had been swallowed up by some of the +abysses of this grotto, or lurked near the entrance, waiting my +departure, or had made his exit at another and distant aperture, was +unknown to me. + +Exhausted and discouraged, I prepared, at length, to return. It was easy +to find my way out of this wilderness by going forward in one direction, +regardless of impediments and cross-paths. My absence I believed to have +occasioned no alarm to my family, since they knew not of my intention to +spend the night abroad. Thus unsatisfactorily terminated this night's +adventures. + + + + +Chapter III. + + +The ensuing day was spent partly in sleep, and partly in languor and +disquietude. I incessantly ruminated on the incidents of the last night. +The scheme that I had formed was defeated. Was it likely that this +unknown person would repeat his midnight visits to the elm? If he did, +and could again be discovered, should I resolve to undertake a new +pursuit, which might terminate abortively, or in some signal disaster? +But what proof had I that the same route would be taken, and that he +would again inter himself alive in the same spot? Or, if he did, since +his reappearance would sufficiently prove that the cavern was not +dangerous, and that he who should adventure in might hope to come out +again in safety, why not enter it after him? What could be the +inducements of this person to betake himself to subterranean retreats? +The basis of all this region is _limestone_; a substance that +eminently abounds in rifts and cavities. These, by the gradual decay of +their cementing parts, frequently make their appearance in spots where +they might have been least expected. My attention has often been excited +by the hollow sound which was produced by my casual footsteps, and which +showed me that I trod upon the roof of caverns. A mountain-cave and the +rumbling of an unseen torrent are appendages of this scene, dear to my +youthful imagination. Many of romantic structure were found within the +precincts of Norwalk. + +These I had industriously sought out; but this had hitherto escaped my +observation, and I formed the resolution of some time exploring it. At +present I determined to revisit the elm, and dig in the spot where this +person had been employed in a similar way. It might be that something +was here deposited which might exhibit this transaction in a new light. +At the suitable hour, on the ensuing night, I took my former stand. The +person again appeared. My intention to dig was to be carried into effect +on condition of his absence, and was, consequently, frustrated. + +Instead of rushing on him, and breaking at once the spell by which his +senses were bound, I concluded, contrary to my first design, to wait his +departure, and allow myself to be conducted whithersoever he pleased. +The track into which he now led me was different from the former one. It +was a maze, oblique, circuitous, upward and downward, in a degree which +only could take place in a region so remarkably irregular in surface, so +abounding with hillocks and steeps and pits and brooks, as +_Solesbury_. It seemed to be the sole end of his labours to +bewilder or fatigue his pursuer, to pierce into the deepest thickets, to +plunge into the darkest cavities, to ascend the most difficult heights, +and approach the slippery and tremulous verge of the dizziest +precipices. + +I disdained to be outstripped in this career. All dangers were +overlooked, and all difficulties defied. I plunged into obscurities, and +clambered over obstacles, from which, in a different state of mind, and +with a different object of pursuit, I should have recoiled with +invincible timidity. When the scene had passed, I could not review the +perils I had undergone without shuddering. + +At length my conductor struck into a path which, compared with the +ruggedness of that which we had lately trodden, was easy and smooth. +This track led us to the skirt of the wilderness, and at no long time we +reached an open field, when a dwelling appeared, at a small distance, +which I speedily recognised to be that belonging to Inglefield. I now +anticipated the fulfilment of my predictions. My conductor directed his +steps towards the barn, into which he entered by a small door. + +How were my doubts removed! This was no other than Clithero Edny. There +was nothing in his appearance incompatible with this conclusion. He and +his fellow-servant occupied an apartment in the barn as a lodging-room. +This arduous purpose was accomplished, and I retired to the shelter of a +neighbouring shed, not so much to repose myself after the fatigues of my +extraordinary journey, as to devise further expedients. + +Nothing now remained but to take Clithero to task; to repeat to him the +observations of the two last nights; to unfold to him my conjectures and +suspicions; to convince him of the rectitude of my intentions; and to +extort from him a disclosure of all the circumstances connected with the +death of Waldegrave which it was in his power to communicate. + +In order to obtain a conference, I resolved to invite him to my uncle's +to perform a certain piece of work for me under my own eyes. He would, +of course, spend the night with us, and in the evening I would take an +opportunity of entering into conversation with him. + +A period of the deepest deliberation was necessary to qualify myself for +performing suitably my part in this projected interview. I attended to +the feelings that were suggested in this new state of my knowledge. I +found reason to confide in my newly-acquired equanimity. "Remorse," said +I, "is an ample and proper expiation for all offences. What does +vengeance desire but to inflict misery? If misery come, its desires are +accomplished. It is only the obdurate and exulting criminal that is +worthy of our indignation. It is common for pity to succeed the +bitterest suggestions of resentment. If the vengeful mind be delighted +with the spectacle of woes of its own contriving, at least its canine +hunger is appeased, and thenceforth its hands are inactive." + +On the evening of the next day, I paid a visit to Inglefield. I wished +to impart to him the discoveries that I had made, and to listen to his +reflections on the subject. I likewise desired to obtain all possible +information from the family respecting the conduct of Clithero. + +My friend received me with his usual kindness. Thou art no stranger to +his character; thou knowest with what paternal affection I have ever +been regarded by this old man; with what solicitude the wanderings of my +reason and my freaks of passion have been noted and corrected by him. +Thou knowest his activity to save the life of thy brother, and the hours +that have been spent by him in aiding my conjectures as to the cause of +his death, and inculcating the lessons of penitence and duty. + +The topics which could not but occur at such a meeting were quickly +discussed, and I hastily proceeded to that subject which was nearest my +heart. I related the adventures of the two preceding nights, and +mentioned the inference to which they irresistibly led. + +He said that this inference coincided with suspicions he had formed, +since our last interview, in consequence of certain communications from +his housekeeper. It seems the character of Clithero had, from the first, +exercised the inquisitiveness of this old lady. She had carefully marked +his musing and melancholy deportment. She had tried innumerable +expedients for obtaining a knowledge of his past life, and particularly +of his motives for coming to America. These expedients, however profound +and addressful, had failed. He took no pains to elude them. He contented +himself with turning a deaf ear to all indirect allusions and hints, +and, when more explicitly questioned, with simply declaring that he had +nothing to communicate worthy of her notice. + +During the day he was a sober and diligent workman. His evenings he +spent in incommunicative silence. On Sundays, he always rambled away, no +one knew whither, and without a companion. I have already observed that +he and his fellow-servant occupied the same apartment in the barn. This +circumstance was not unattended to by Miss Inglefield. The name of +Clithero's companion was Ambrose. This man was copiously interrogated by +his mistress, and she found him by no means so refractory as the other. + +Ambrose, in his tedious and confused way, related that, soon after +Clithero and he had become bedfellows, the former was considerably +disturbed by restlessness and talking in his sleep. His discourse was +incoherent. It was generally in the tone of expostulation, and appeared +to be entreating to be saved from some great injury. Such phrases as +these,--"have pity;" "have mercy," were frequently intermingled with +groans, and accompanied with weeping. Sometimes he seemed to be holding +conferences with some one who was making him considerable offers on +condition of his performing some dangerous service. What he said in his +own person, and in answer to his imaginary tempter, testified the utmost +reluctance. + +Ambrose had no curiosity on the subject. As this interruption prevented +him at first from sleeping, it was his custom to put an end to the +dialogue, by awakening his companion, who betrayed tokens of great alarm +and dejection on discovering how he had been employed. He would +solicitously inquire what were the words that he had uttered; but +Ambrose's report was seldom satisfactory, because he had attended to +them but little, and because he grudged every moment in which he was +deprived of his accustomed repose. + +Whether Clithero had ceased from this practice, or habit had reconciled +his companion to the sounds, they no longer occasioned any interruption +to his slumber. + +No one appeared more shocked than he at the death of Waldegrave. After +this event his dejection suddenly increased. This symptom was observed +by the family, but none but the housekeeper took the trouble to notice +it to him, or build conjectures on the incident. During nights, however, +Ambrose experienced a renewal of his ancient disturbances. He remarked +that Clithero, one night, had disappeared from his side. Ambrose's range +of reflection was extremely narrow. Quickly falling asleep, and finding +his companion beside him when he awoke, he dismissed it from his mind. + +On several ensuing nights he awakened in like manner, and always found +his companion's place empty. The repetition of so strange an incident at +length incited him to mention it to Clithero. The latter was confounded +at this intelligence. He questioned Ambrose with great anxiety as to the +particulars of this event, but he could gain no satisfaction from the +stupid inattention of the other. From this time there was a visible +augmentation of his sadness. His fits of taciturnity became more +obstinate, and a deeper gloom sat upon his brow. + +There was one other circumstance, of particular importance, mentioned by +the housekeeper. One evening some one on horseback stopped at this gate. +He rattled at the gate, with an air of authority, in token of his desire +that some one would come from the house. Miss Inglefield was employed in +the kitchen, from a window of which she perceived who it was that made +the signal. Clithero happened, at the same moment, to be employed near +her. She, therefore, desired him to go and see whom the stranger wanted. +He laid aside his work and went. The conference lasted above five +minutes. The length of it excited in her a faint degree of surprise, +inducing her to leave her employment and pay an unintermitted attention +to the scene. There was nothing, however, but its duration that rendered +it remarkable. + +Clithero at length entered, and the traveller proceeded. The countenance +of the former betrayed a degree of perturbation which she had never +witnessed before. The muscles of his face were distorted and tremulous. +He immediately sat down to his work, but he seemed, for some time, to +have lost all power over his limbs. He struggled to avoid the sight of +the lady, and his gestures, irresolute or misdirected, betokened the +deepest dismay. After some time, he recovered, in some degree, his +self-possession; but, while the object was viewed through a new medium, +and the change existed only in the imagination of the observer, a change +was certainly discovered. + +These circumstances were related to me by Inglefield and corroborated by +his housekeeper. One consequence inevitably flowed from them. The +sleep-walker, he who had led me through so devious a tract, was no other +than Clithero. There was, likewise, a strong relation between this person +and him who stopped at the gate. What was the subject of discourse between +them? In answer to Miss Inglefield's interrogatories, he merely said +that the traveller inquired whither the road led which, at a small +distance forward, struck out of the principal one. Considering the +length of the interview, it was not likely that this was the only topic. + +My determination to confer with him in private acquired new force from +these reflections. Inglefield assented to my proposal. His own affairs +would permit the absence of his servant for one day. I saw no necessity +for delay, and immediately made my request to Clithero. I was fashioning +an implement, I told him, with respect to which I could not wholly +depend upon my own skill. I was acquainted with the dexterity of his +contrivances, and the neatness of his workmanship. He readily consented +to assist me on this occasion. Next day he came. Contrary to my +expectation, he prepared to return home in the evening. I urged him to +spend the night with us: but no; it was equally convenient, and more +agreeable to him, to return. + +I was not aware of this resolution. I might, indeed, have foreseen that, +being conscious of his infirmity, he would desire to avoid the scrutiny +of strangers. I was painfully disconcerted; but it occurred to me, that +the best that could be done was to bear him company, and seize some +opportunity, during this interval, of effecting my purpose. I told him, +that, since he would not remain, I cared not if, for the sake of +recreation, and of a much more momentous purpose, I went along with him. +He tacitly, and without apparent reluctance, consented to my scheme, +and, accordingly, we set off together. This was an awful crisis. The +time had now come that was to dissipate my uncertainty. By what means +should I introduce a topic so momentous and singular? I had been +qualified by no experience for rightly conducting myself on so critical +an emergency. My companion preserved a mournful and inviolable silence. +He afforded me no opening by which I might reach the point in view. His +demeanour was sedate, while I was almost disabled, by the confusion of +my thoughts, to utter a word. + +It was a dreadful charge that I was about to insinuate. I was to accuse +my companion of nothing less than murder. I was to call upon him for an +avowal of his guilt. I was to state the ground of my suspicions, and +desire him to confute or confirm them. In doing this, I was principally +stimulated by an ungovernable curiosity; yet, if I intended not the +conferring of a benefit, I did not, at least, purpose the infliction of +evil. I persuaded myself that I was able to exclude from my bosom all +sanguinary or vengeful impulses; and that, whatever should be the issue +of this conversation, my equanimity would be unsubdued. + +I revolved various modes of introducing the topic by which my mind was +engaged. I passed rapidly from one to another. None of them were +sufficiently free from objection to allow me to adopt it. My perplexity +became, every moment, more painful, and my ability to extricate myself, +less. + +In this state of uncertainty, so much time elapsed, that the elm at +length appeared in sight. This object had somewhat of a mechanical +influence upon me. I stopped short, and seized the arm of my companion. +Till this moment, he appeared to have been engrossed by his own +reflections, and not to have heeded those emotions which must have been +sufficiently conspicuous in my looks. + +This action recalled him from his reverie. The first idea that occurred +to him, when he had noticed my behaviour, was, that I was assailed by +some sudden indisposition. + +"What is the matter?" said he, in a tone of anxiety: "are you not well?" + +"Yes," replied I,--"perfectly well. But stop a moment; I have something +to say to you." + +"To me?" answered he, with surprise. + +"Yes," said I. "Let us turn down this path," (pointing, at the same +time, to that along which I had followed him the preceding night.) + +He now partook, in some degree, of my embarrassment. + +"Is there any thing particular?" said he, in a doubting accent. There he +stopped. + +"Something," I answered, "of the highest moment. Go with me down this +path. We shall be in less danger of interruption." + +He was irresolute and silent, but, seeing me remove the bars and pass +through them, he followed me. Nothing more was said till we entered the +wood. I trusted to the suggestions of the moment. I had now gone too far +to recede, and the necessity that pressed upon me supplied me with +words. I continued:-- + +"This is a remarkable spot. You may wonder why I have led you to it. I +ought not to keep you in suspense. There is a tale connected with it, +which I am desirous of telling you. For this purpose I have brought you +hither. Listen to me." + +I then recapitulated the adventures of the two preceding nights. I added +nothing, nor retrenched any thing. He listened in the deepest silence. +From every incident, he gathered new cause of alarm. Repeatedly he wiped +his face with his handkerchief, and sighed deeply. I took no verbal +notice of these symptoms. I deemed it incumbent on me to repress +nothing. When I came to the concluding circumstance, by which his person +was identified, he heard me without any new surprise. To this narrative +I subjoined the inquiries that I had made at Inglefield's, and the +result of those inquiries. I then continued in these words:-- + +"You may ask why I subjected myself to all this trouble. The +mysteriousness of these transactions would have naturally suggested +curiosity in any one. A transient passenger would probably have acted as +I have done. But I had motives peculiar to myself. Need I remind you of +a late disaster? That it happened beneath the shade of this tree? Am I +not justified in drawing certain inferences from your behaviour? What +they are, I leave you to judge. Be it your task to confute or confirm +them. For this end I have conducted you hither. + +"My suspicions are vehement. How can they be otherwise? I call upon you +to say whether they be just." + +The spot where we stood was illuminated by the moon, that had now risen, +though all around was dark. Hence his features and person were easily +distinguished. His hands hung at his side. His eyes were downcast, and +he was motionless as a statue. My last words seemed scarcely to have +made any impression on his sense. I had no need to provide against the +possible suggestions of revenge. I felt nothing but the tenderness of +compassion. I continued, for some time, to observe him in silence, and +could discover no tokens of a change of mood. I could not forbear, at +last, to express my uneasiness at the fixedness of his features and +attitude. + +"Recollect yourself. I mean not to urge you too closely. This topic is +solemn, but it need not divest you of the fortitude becoming a man." + +The sound of my voice startled him. He broke from me, looked up, and +fixed his eyes upon me with an expression of affright. He shuddered and +recoiled as from a spectre. I began to repent of my experiment. I could +say nothing suitable to this occasion. I was obliged to stand a silent +and powerless spectator, and to suffer this paroxysm to subside of +itself. When its violence appeared to be somewhat abated, I resumed:-- + +"I can feel for you. I act not thus in compliance with a temper that +delights in the misery of others. The explanation that I have solicited +is no less necessary for your sake than for mine. You are no stranger to +the light in which I viewed this man. You have witnessed the grief which +his fate occasioned, and the efforts that I made to discover and drag to +punishment his murderer. You heard the execrations that I heaped upon +him, and my vows of eternal revenge. You expect that, having detected +the offender, I will hunt him to infamy and death. You are mistaken. I +consider the deed as sufficiently expiated. + +"I am no stranger to your gnawing cares; to the deep and incurable +despair that haunts you, to which your waking thoughts are a prey, and +from which sleep cannot secure you. I know the enormity of your crime, +but I know not your inducements. Whatever they were, I see the +consequences with regard to yourself. I see proofs of that remorse which +must ever be attendant on guilt. + +"This is enough. Why should the effects of our misdeeds be +inexhaustible? Why should we be debarred from a comforter? An +opportunity of repairing our errors may, at least, be demanded from the +rulers of our destiny. + +"I once imagined that he who killed Waldegrave inflicted the greatest +possible injury on me. That was an error, which reflection has cured. +Were futurity laid open to my view, and events, with their consequences, +unfolded, I might see reason to embrace the assassin as my best friend. +Be comforted." + +He was still incapable of speaking; but tears came to his relief. +Without attending to my remonstrances, he betrayed a disposition to +return. I had, hitherto, hoped for some disclosure, but now feared that +it was designed to be withheld. He stopped not till we reached +Inglefield's piazza. He then spoke, for the first time, but in a hollow +and tremulous voice:-- + +"You demand of me a confession of crimes. You shall have it. Some time +you shall have it. When it will be, I cannot tell. Something must be +done, and shortly." + +He hurried from me into the house, and, after a pause, I turned my +steps home wards. My reflections, as I proceeded, perpetually revolved +round a single point. These were scarcely more than a repetition, with +slight variations, of a single idea. + +When I awoke in the morning, I hied, in fancy, to the wilderness. I saw +nothing but the figure of the wanderer before me. I traced his footsteps +anew, retold my narrative, and pondered on his gestures and words. My +condition was not destitute of enjoyment. My stormy passions had +subsided into a calm, portentous and awful. My soul was big with +expectation. I seemed as if I were on the eve of being ushered into a +world whose scenes were tremendous but sublime. The suggestions of +sorrow and malice had, for a time, taken their flight, and yielded place +to a generous sympathy, which filled my eyes with tears, but had more in +it of pleasure than of pain. That Clithero was instrumental to the death +of Waldegrave, that he could furnish the clue explanatory of every +bloody and mysterious event that had hitherto occurred, there was no +longer the possibility of doubting. "He, indeed," said I, "is the +murderer of excellence; and yet it shall be my province to emulate a +father's clemency, and restore this unhappy man to purity and to peace." + +Day after day passed, without hearing any thing of Clithero. I began to +grow uneasy and impatient. I had gained so much, and by means so +unexpected, that I could more easily endure uncertainty with respect to +what remained to be known. But my patience had its limits. I should, +doubtless, have made use of new means to accelerate this discovery, had +not his timely appearance made them superfluous. + +Sunday being at length arrived, I resolved to go to Inglefield's, seek +an interview with his servant, and urge him, by new importunities, to +confide to me the secret. On my way thither, Clithero appeared in sight. +His visage was pale and wan, and his form emaciated and shrunk. I was +astonished at the alteration which the lapse of a week had made in his +appearance. At a small distance I mistook him for a stranger. As soon as +I perceived who it was, I greeted him with the utmost friendliness. My +civilities made little impression on him, and he hastened to inform me, +that he was coming to my uncle's, for the purpose of meeting and talking +with me. If I thought proper, we would go into the wood together, and +find some spot where we might discourse at our leisure and be exempt +from interruption. + +You will easily conceive with what alacrity I accepted his invitation. +We returned from the road into the first path, and proceeded in silence, +till the wildness of the surrounding scenery informed us that we were in +the heart of Norwalk. We lighted on a recess, to which my companion +appeared to be familiar, and which had all the advantages of solitude, +and was suitable to rest. Here we stopped. Hitherto my companion had +displayed a certain degree of composure. Now his countenance betokened a +violent internal struggle. It was a considerable time before he could +command his speech. When he had so far effected the conquest of his +feelings, he began. + + + + +Chapter IV. + + +You call upon me for a confession of my offences. What a strange fortune +is mine! That a human being, in the present circumstances, should make +this demand, and that I should be driven, by an irresistible necessity, +to comply with it! That here should terminate my calamitous series! That +my destiny should call upon me to lie down and die, in a region so +remote from the scene of my crime; at a distance so great from all that +witnessed and endured their consequences! + +You believe me to be an assassin. You require me to explain the motives +that induced me to murder the innocent. While this is your belief, and +this the scope of your expectations, you may be sure of my compliance. I +could resist every demand but this. + +For what purpose have I come hither? Is it to relate my story? Shall I +calmly sit here, and rehearse the incidents of my life? Will my strength +be adequate to this rehearsal? Let me recollect the motives that +governed me, when I formed this design. Perhaps a strenuousness may be +imparted by them which, otherwise, I cannot hope to obtain. For the sake +of those, I consent to conjure up the ghost of the past, and to begin a +tale that, with a fortitude like mine, I am not sure that I shall live +to finish. + +You are unacquainted with the man before you. The inferences which you +have drawn, with regard to my designs and my conduct, are a tissue of +destructive errors. You, like others, are blind to the most momentous +consequences of your own actions. You talk of imparting consolation. You +boast the beneficence of your intentions. You set yourself to do me a +benefit. What are the effects of your misguided zeal and random efforts? +They have brought my life to a miserable close. They have shrouded the +last scene of it in blood. They have put the seal to my perdition. + +My misery has been greater than has fallen to the lot of mortals. Yet it +is but beginning. My present path, full as it is of asperities, is +better than that into which I must enter when this is abandoned. +Perhaps, if my pilgrimage had been longer, I might, at some future day, +have lighted upon hope. In consequence of your interference, I am +forever debarred from it. My existence is henceforward to be invariable. +The woes that are reserved for me are incapable alike of alleviation or +intermission. + +But I came not hither to recriminate. I came not hither to accuse +others, but myself. I know the retribution that is appointed for guilt +like mine. It is just. I may shudder at the foresight of my punishment +and shrink in the endurance of it; but I shall be indebted for part of +my torment to the vigour of my understanding, which teaches me that my +punishment is just. Why should I procrastinate my doom and strive to +render my burden more light? It is but just that it should crush me. Its +procrastination is impossible. The stroke is already felt. Even now I +drink of the cup of retribution. A change of being cannot aggravate my +woe. Till consciousness itself be extinct, the worm that gnaws me will +never perish. + +Fain would I be relieved from this task. Gladly would I bury in oblivion +the transactions of my life. But no! My fate is uniform. The demon that +controlled me at first is still in the fruition of power. I am entangled +in his fold, and every effort that I make to escape only involves me in +deeper ruin. I need not conceal, for all the consequences of disclosure +are already experienced. I cannot endure a groundless imputation, though +to free me from it I must create and justify imputations still more +atrocious. My story may at least be brief. If the agonies of remembrance +must be awakened afresh, let me do all that in me lies to shorten them. + +I was born in the county of Armagh. My parents were of the better sort +of peasants, and were able to provide me with the rudiments of +knowledge. I should doubtless have trodden in their footsteps, and have +spent my life in the cultivation of their scanty fields, if an event had +not happened, Which, for a long time, I regarded as the most fortunate +of my life, but which I now regard as the scheme of some infernal agent, +and as the primary source of all my calamities. + +My father's farm was a portion of the demesne of one who resided wholly +in the metropolis and consigned the management of his estates to his +stewards and retainers. This person married a lady who brought him great +accession of fortune. Her wealth was her only recommendation in the eyes +of her husband, (whose understanding was depraved by the prejudices of +luxury and rank,) but was the least of her attractions in the estimate +of reasonable beings. + +They passed some years together. If their union were not a source of +misery to the lady, she was indebted for her tranquillity to the force +of her mind. She was, indeed, governed, in every action of her life, by +the precepts of duty, while her husband listened to no calls but those +of pernicious dissipation. He was immersed in all the vices that grow +out of opulence and a mistaken education. + +Happily for his wife, his career was short. He was enraged at the +infidelity of his mistress, to purchase whose attachment he had lavished +two-thirds of his fortune. He called the paramour, by whom he had been +supplanted, to the field. The contest was obstinate, and terminated in +the death of the challenger. + +This event freed the lady from many distressful and humiliating +obligations. She determined to profit by her newly-acquired +independence, to live thenceforward conformably to her notions of right, +to preserve and improve, by schemes of economy, the remains of her +fortune, and to employ it in the diffusion of good. Her plans made it +necessary to visit her estates in the distant provinces. + +During her abode in the manor of which my father was a vassal, she +visited his cottage. I was at that time a child. She was pleased with my +vivacity and promptitude, and determined to take me under her own +protection. My parents joyfully acceded to her proposal, and I returned +with her to the capital. + +She had an only son of my own age. Her design, in relation to me, was +that I should be educated with her child, and that an affection, in this +way, might be excited in me towards my young master, which might render +me, when we should attain to manhood, one of his most faithful and +intelligent dependants. I enjoyed, equally with him, all the essential +benefits of education. There were certain accomplishments, from which I +was excluded, from the belief that they were unsuitable to my rank and +station. I was permitted to acquire others, which, had she been actuated +by true discernment, she would, perhaps, have discovered to be far more +incompatible with a servile station. In proportion as my views were +refined and enlarged by history and science, I was likely to contract a +thirst of independence, and an impatience of subjection and poverty. + +When the period of childhood and youth was past, it was thought proper +to send her son to improve his knowledge and manners by a residence on +the continent. This young man was endowed with splendid abilities. His +errors were the growth of his condition. All the expedients that +maternal solicitude and wisdom could suggest were employed to render him +a useful citizen. Perhaps this wisdom was attested by the large share of +excellence which he really possessed; and that his character was not +unblemished proved only that no exertions could preserve him from the +vices that are inherent in wealth and rank, and which flow from the +spectacle of universal depravity. + +As to me, it would be folly to deny that I had benefited by my +opportunities of improvement. I fulfilled the expectation of my +mistress, in one respect. I was deeply imbued with affection for her +son, and reverence for herself. Perhaps the force of education was +evinced in those particulars, without reflecting any credit on the +directors of it. Those might merit the name of defects, which were +regarded by them as accomplishments. My unfavourable qualities, like +those of my master, were imputed to my condition, though, perhaps, the +difference was advantageous to me, since the vices of servitude are less +hateful than those of tyranny. + +It was resolved that I should accompany my master in his travels, in +quality of favourite domestic. My principles, whatever might be their +rectitude, were harmonious and flexible. I had devoted my life to the +service of my patron. I had formed conceptions of what was really +conducive to his interest, and was not to be misled by specious +appearances. If my affection had not stimulated my diligence, I should +have found sufficient motives in the behaviour of his mother. She +condescended to express her reliance on my integrity and judgment. She +was not ashamed to manifest, at parting, the tenderness of a mother, and +to acknowledge that all her tears were not shed on her son's account. I +had my part in the regrets that called them forth. + +During our absence, I was my master's constant attendant. I corresponded +with his mother, and made the conduct of her son the principal theme of +my letters. I deemed it my privilege, as well as duty, to sit in +judgment on his actions, to form my opinions without regard to selfish +considerations, and to avow them whenever the avowal tended to benefit. +Every letter which I wrote, particularly those in which his behaviour +was freely criticized, I allowed him to peruse. I would, on no account, +connive at or participate in the slightest irregularity. I knew the duty +of my station, and assumed no other control than that which resulted +from the avoiding of deceit, and the open expression of my sentiments. +The youth was of a noble spirit, but his firmness was wavering. He +yielded to temptations which a censor less rigorous than I would have +regarded as venial, or, perhaps, laudable. My duty required me to set +before him the consequences of his actions, and to give impartial and +timely information to his mother. + +He could not brook a monitor. The more he needed reproof the less +supportable it became. My company became every day less agreeable, till +at length there appeared a necessity of parting. A separation took +place, but not as enemies. I never lost his respect. In his +representations to his mother, he was just to my character and services. +My dismission was not allowed to injure my fortune, and his mother +considered this event merely as a new proof of the inflexible +consistency of my principles. + +On this change in my situation, she proposed to me to become a member of +her own family. No proposal could be more acceptable. I was fully +acquainted with the character of this lady, and had nothing to fear from +injustice and caprice. I did not regard her with filial familiarity, but +my attachment and reverence would have done honour to that relation. I +performed for her the functions of a steward. Her estates in the city +were put under my direction. She placed boundless confidence in my +discretion and integrity, and consigned to me the payment, and, in some +degree, the selection and government, of her servants. My station was a +servile one, yet most of the evils of servitude were unknown to me. My +personal ease and independence were less infringed than that of those +who are accounted the freest members of society. I derived a sort of +authority and dignity from the receipt and disbursement of money. The +tenants and debtors of the lady were, in some respects, mine. It was, +for the most part, on my justice and lenity that they depended for their +treatment. My lady's household-establishment was large and opulent. Her +servants were my inferiors and menials. My leisure was considerable, and +my emoluments large enough to supply me with every valuable instrument +of improvement or pleasure. + +These were reasons why I should be contented with my lot. These +circumstances alone would have rendered it more eligible than any other, +but it had additional and far more powerful recommendations, arising +from the character of Mrs. Lorimer, and from the relation in which she +allowed me to stand to her. + +How shall I enter upon this theme? How shall I expatiate upon +excellencies which it was my fate to view in their genuine colours, to +adore with an immeasurable and inextinguishable ardour, and which, +nevertheless, it was my hateful task to blast and destroy? Yet I will +not be spared. I shall find, in the rehearsal, new incitements to +sorrow. I deserve to be supreme in misery, and will not be denied the +full measure of a bitter retribution. + +No one was better qualified to judge of her excellencies. A casual +spectator might admire her beauty, and the dignity of her demeanour. +From the contemplation of those, he might gather motives for loving or +revering her. Age was far from having withered her complexion, or +destroyed the evenness of her skin; but no time could rob her of the +sweetness and intelligence which animated her features. Her habitual +beneficence was bespoken in every look. Always in search of occasions +for doing good, always meditating scenes of happiness, of which she was +the author, or of distress, for which she was preparing relief, the most +torpid insensibility was, for a time, subdued, and the most depraved +smitten by charms of which, in another person, they would not perhaps +have been sensible. + +A casual visitant might enjoy her conversation, might applaud the +rectitude of her sentiments, the richness of her elocution, and her +skill in all the offices of politeness. But it was only for him who +dwelt constantly under the same roof, to mark the inviolable consistency +of her actions and opinions, the ceaseless flow of her candour, her +cheerfulness, and her benevolence. It was only for one who witnessed her +behaviour at all hours, in sickness and in health, her management of +that great instrument of evil and good, money, her treatment of her son, +her menials, and her kindred, rightly to estimate her merits. + +The intercourse between us was frequent, but of a peculiar kind. My +office in her family required me often to see her, to submit schemes to +her consideration, and receive her directions. At these times she +treated me in a manner in some degree adapted to the difference of rank +and the inferiority of my station, and yet widely dissimilar from that +which a different person would have adopted in the same circumstances. +The treatment was not that of an equal and a friend, but still more +remote was it from that of a mistress. It was merely characterized by +affability and condescension, but as such it had no limits. + +She made no scruple to ask my counsel in every pecuniary affair, to +listen to my arguments, and decide conformably to what, after sufficient +canvassings and discussions, should appear to be right. When the direct +occasions of our interview were dismissed, I did not of course withdraw. +To detain or dismiss me was indeed at her option; but, if no engagement +interfered, she would enter into general conversation. There was none +who could with more safety to herself have made the world her confessor; +but the state of society in which she lived imposed certain limitations +on her candour. In her intercourse with me there were fewer restraints +than on any other occasion. My situation had made me more intimately +acquainted with domestic transactions, with her views respecting her +son, and with the terms on which she thought proper to stand with those +whom old acquaintance or kindred gave some title to her good offices. In +addition to all those motives to a candid treatment of me, there were +others which owed their efficacy to her maternal regard for me, and to +the artless and unsuspecting generosity of her character. + +Her hours were distributed with the utmost regularity, and appropriated +to the best purposes. She selected her society without regard to any +qualities but probity and talents. Her associates were numerous, and her +evening conversations embellished with all that could charm the senses +or instruct the understanding. This was a chosen field for the display +of her magnificence; but her grandeur was unostentatious, and her +gravity unmingled with haughtiness. From these my station excluded me; +but I was compensated by the freedom of her communications in the +intervals. She found pleasure in detailing to me the incidents that +passed on those occasions, in rehearsing conversations and depicting +characters. There was an uncommon portion of dramatic merit in her +recitals, besides valuable and curious information. One uniform effect +was produced in me by this behaviour. Each day I thought it impossible +for my attachment to receive any new accessions, yet the morrow was sure +to produce some new emotion of respect or of gratitude, and to set the +unrivalled accomplishments of this lady in a new and more favourable +point of view. I contemplated no change in my condition. The necessity +of change, whatever were the alternative, would have been a subject of +piercing regret. I deemed my life a cheap sacrifice in her cause. No +time would suffice to discharge the debt of gratitude that was due to +her. Yet it was continually accumulating. If an anxious thought ever +invaded my bosom, it arose from this source. + +It was no difficult task faithfully to execute the functions assigned to +me. No merit could accrue to me from this source. I was exposed to no +temptation. I had passed the feverish period of youth. No contagious +example had contaminated my principles. I had resisted, the allurements +of sensuality and dissipation incident to my age. My dwelling was in +pomp and splendour. I had amassed sufficient to secure me, in case of +unforeseen accidents, in the enjoyment of competence. My mental +resources were not despicable, and the external means of intellectual +gratification were boundless. I enjoyed an unsullied reputation. My +character was well known in that sphere which my lady occupied, not only +by means of her favourable report, but in numberless ways in which it +was my fortune to perform personal services to others. + + + + +Chapter V. + + +Mrs. Lorimer had a twin-brother. Nature had impressed the same image +upon them, and had modelled them after the same pattern. The resemblance +between them was exact to a degree almost incredible. In infancy and +childhood they were perpetually liable to be mistaken for each other. As +they grew up, nothing, to a superficial examination, appeared to +distinguish them, but the sexual characteristics. A sagacious observer +would, doubtless, have noted the most essential differences. In all +those modifications of the features which are produced by habits and +sentiments, no two persons were less alike. Nature seemed to have +intended them as examples of the futility of those theories which +ascribe every thing to conformation and instinct and nothing to external +circumstances; in what different modes the same materials may be +fashioned, and to what different purposes the same materials may be +applied. Perhaps the rudiments of their intellectual character, as well +as of their form, were the same; but the powers that in one case were +exerted in the cause of virtue were, in the other, misapplied to sordid +and flagitious purposes. + +Arthur Wiatte (that was his name) had ever been the object of his +sister's affection. As long as he existed, she never ceased to labour in +the promotion of his happiness. All her kindness was repaid by a stern +and inexorable hatred. This man was an exception to all the rules which +govern us in our judgments of human nature. He exceeded in depravity all +that has been imputed to the arch-foe of mankind. His wickedness was +without any of those remorseful intermissions from which it has been +supposed that the deepest guilt is not entirely exempt. He seemed to +relish no food but pure unadulterated evil. He rejoiced in proportion to +the depth of that distress of which he was the author. + +His sister, by being placed most within the reach of his enmity, +experienced its worst effects. She was the subject on which, by being +acquainted with the means of influencing her happiness, he could try his +malignant experiments with most hope of success. Her parents being high +in rank and wealth, the marriage of their daughter was, of course, an +object of anxious attention. There is no event on which our felicity and +usefulness more materially depends, and with regard to which, therefore, +the freedom of choice and the exercise of our own understanding ought to +be less infringed; but this maxim is commonly disregarded in proportion +to the elevation of our rank and extent of our property. + +The lady made her own election; but she wras one of those who acted on a +comprehensive plan, and would not admit her private inclination to +dictate her decision. The happiness of others, though founded on +mistaken views, she did not consider as unworthy of her regard. The +choice was such as was not likely to obtain the parental sanction, to +whom the moral qualities of their son-in-law, though not absolutely +weightless in the balance, were greatly inferior to the considerations +of wealth and dignity. + +The brother set no value on any thing but the means of luxury and power. +He was astonished at that perverseness which entertained a different +conception of happiness from himself. Love and friendship he considered +as groundless and chimerical, and believed that those delusions would, +in people of sense, be rectified by experience; but he knew the +obstinacy of his sister's attachment to these phantoms, and that to +bereave her of the good they promised was the most effectual means of +rendering her miserable. For this end he set himself to thwart her +wishes. In the imbecility and false indulgence of his parents he found +the most powerful auxiliaries. He prevailed upon them to forbid that +union which wanted nothing but their concurrence, and their consent to +endow her with a small portion of their patrimony, to render completely +eligible. The cause was that of her happiness and the happiness of him +on whom she had bestowed her heart. It behooved her, therefore, to call +forth all her energies in defence of it, to weaken her brother's +influence on the minds of her parents, or to win him to be her advocate. +When I reflect upon her mental powers, and the advantages which should +seem to flow from the circumstance of pleading in the character of +daughter arid sister, I can scarcely believe that her attempts +miscarried. I should have imagined that all obstacles would yield before +her, and particularly in a case like this, in which she must have +summoned all her forces, and never have believed that she had struggled +sufficiently. + +Certain it is that her lot was fixed. She was not only denied the +husband of her choice, but another was imposed upon her, whose +recommendations were irresistible in every one's apprehension but her +own. The discarded lover was treated with every sort of contumely. +Deceit and violence were employed by her brother to bring his honour, +his liberty, and even his life, into hazard. All these iniquities +produced no inconsiderable effect on the mind of the lady. The +machinations to which her love was exposed would have exasperated him +into madness, had not her most strenuous exertions been directed to +appease him. + +She prevailed on him at length to abandon his country, though she +thereby merely turned her brother's depravity into a new channel. Her +parents died without consciousness of the evils they inflicted, but they +experienced a bitter retribution in the conduct of their son. He was the +darling and stay of an ancient and illustrious house, but his actions +reflected nothing but disgrace upon his ancestry, and threatened to +bring the honours of their line to a period in his person. At their +death the bulk of their patrimony devolved upon him. This he speedily +consumed in gaming and riot. From splendid he descended to meaner vices. +The efforts of his sister to recall him to virtue were unintermitted and +fruitless. Her affection for him he converted into a means of prolonging +his selfish gratifications. She decided for the best. It was no argument +of weakness that she was so frequently deceived. If she had judged truly +of her brother, she would have judged not only without example, but in +opposition to the general experience of mankind. But she was not to be +forever deceived. Her tenderness was subservient to justice. And when +his vices had led him from the gaming-table to the highway, when seized +at length by the ministers of law, when convicted and sentenced to +transportation, her intercession was solicited, when all the world knew +that pardon would readily be granted to a suppliant of her rank, +fortune, and character, when the criminal himself, his kindred, his +friends, and even indifferent persons, implored her interference, her +justice was inflexible. She knew full well the incurableness of his +depravity; that banishment was the mildest destiny that would befall +him; that estrangement from ancient haunts and associates was the +condition from which his true friends had least to fear. Finding +entreaties unavailing, the wretch delivered himself to the suggestions +of his malice, and he vowed to be bloodily revenged on her +inflexibility. The sentence was executed. That character must indeed be +monstrous from which the execution of such threats was to be dreaded. +The event sufficiently showed that our fears on this head were well +grounded. This event, however, was at a great distance. It was reported +that the felons, of whom he was one, mutinied on board the ship in which +they had been embarked. In the affray that succeeded, it was said that +he was killed. + +Among the nefarious deeds which he perpetrated was to be numbered the +seduction of a young lady, whose heart was broken by the detection of +his perfidy. The fruit of this unhappy union was a daughter. Her mother +died shortly after her birth. Her father was careless of her destiny. +She was consigned to the care of a hireling, who, happily for the +innocent victim, performed the maternal offices for her own sake, and +did not allow the want of a stipulated recompense to render hor cruel or +neglectful. + +This orphan was sought out by the benevolence of Mrs. Lorimer and placed +under her own protection. She received from her the treatment of a +mother. The ties of kindred, corroborated by habit, was not the only +thing that united them. That resemblance to herself which had been so +deplorably defective in her brother was completely realized in his +offspring. Nature seemed to have precluded every difference between them +but that of age. This darling object excited in her bosom more than +maternal sympathies. Her soul clung to the happiness of her +_Clarice_ with more ardour than to that of her own son. The latter +was not only less worthy of affection, but their separation necessarily +diminished their mutual confidence. + +It was natural for her to look forward to the future destiny of +_Clarice_. On these occasions she could not help contemplating the +possibility of a union between her son and niece. Considerable +advantages belonged to this scheme, yet it was the subject of hope +rather than the scope of a project. The contingencies were numerous and +delicate on which the ultimate desirableness of this union depended. She +was far from certain that her son would be worthy of this benefit, or +that, if he were worthy, his propensities would not select for +themselves a different object. It was equally dubious whether the young +lady would not think proper otherwise to dispose of her affections. +These uncertainties could be dissipated only by time. Meanwhile she was +chiefly solicitous to render them virtuous and wise. + +As they advanced in years, the hopes that she had formed were +annihilated. The youth was not exempt from egregious errors. In addition +to this, it was manifest that the young people were disposed to regard +each other in no other light than that of brother and sister. I was not +unapprized of her views. I saw that their union was impossible. I was +near enough to judge of the character of Clarice. My youth and +intellectual constitution made me peculiarly susceptible to female +charms. I was her playfellow in childhood, and her associate in studies +and amusements at a maturer age. This situation might have been +suspected of a dangerous tendency. This tendency, however, was obviated +by motives of which I was, for a long time, scarcely conscious. + +I was habituated to consider the distinctions of rank as indelible. The +obstructions that existed, to any wish that I might form, were like +those of time and space, and, in their own nature, as insuperable. + +Such was the state of things previous to our setting out upon our +travels. Clarice was indirectly included in our correspondence. My +letters were open to her inspection, and I was sometimes honoured with a +few complimentary lines under her own hand. On returning to my ancient +abode, I was once more exposed to those sinister influences which +absence had at least suspended. Various suitors had, meanwhile, been +rejected. Their character, for the most part, had been such as to +account for her refusal, without resorting to the supposition of a +lurking or unavowed attachment. + +On our meeting she greeted me in a respectful but dignified manner. +Observers could discover in it nothing not corresponding to that +difference of fortune which subsisted between us. If her joy, on that +occasion, had in it some portion of tenderness, the softness of her +temper, and the peculiar circumstances in which we had been placed, +being considered, the most rigid censor could find no occasion for blame +or suspicion. + +A year passed away, but not without my attention being solicited by +something new and inexplicable in my own sensations. At first I was not +aware of their true cause; but the gradual progress of my feelings left +me not long in doubt as to their origin. I was alarmed at the discovery, +but my courage did not suddenly desert me. My hopes seemed to be +extinguished the moment that I distinctly perceived the point to which +they led. My mind had undergone a change. The ideas with which it was +fraught wrere varied. The sight or recollection of Clarice was sure to +occasion my mind to advert to the recent discovery, and to revolve the +considerations naturally connected with it. Some latent glows and secret +trepidations were likewise experienced, when, by some accident, our +meetings were abrupt or our interviews unwitnessed; yet my usual +tranquillity was not as yet sensibly diminished. I could bear to think +of her marriage with another without painful emotions, and was anxious +only that her choice should be judicious and fortunate. + +My thoughts could not long continue in this state. They gradually became +more ardent and museful. The image of Clarice occurred with unseasonable +frequency. Its charms were enhanced by some nameless and indefinable +additions. When it met me in the way I was irresistibly disposed to stop +and survey it with particular attention. The pathetic cast of her +features, the deep glow of her cheek, and some catch of melting music +she had lately breathed, stole incessantly upon my fancy. On recovering +from my thoughtful moods, I sometimes found my cheeks wet with tears +that had fallen unperceived, and my bosom heaved with involuntary sighs. +These images did not content themselves with invading my wakeful hours, +but, likewise, encroached upon my sleep. I could no longer resign myself +to slumber with the same ease as before. When I slept, my visions were +of the same impassioned tenor. + +There was no difficulty in judging rightly of my situation. I knew what +it was that duty exacted from me. To remain in my present situation was +a chimerical project. That time and reflection would suffice to restore +me to myself was a notion equally fallacious. Yet I felt an +insupportable reluctance to change it. This reluctance was owing, not +wholly or chiefly to my growing passion, but to the attachment which +bound me to the service of my lady. All my contemplations had hitherto +been modelled on the belief of my remaining in my present situation +during my life. My mildest anticipations had never fashioned an event +like this. Any misfortune was light in comparison with that which tore +me from her presence and service. But, should I ultimately resolve to +separate, how should I communicate my purpose? The pain of parting would +scarcely be less on her side than on mine. Could I consent to be the +author of disquietude to her? I had consecrated all my faculties to her +service. This was the recompense which it was in my power to make for +the benefits that I had received. Would not this procedure bear the +appearance of the basest ingratitude? The shadow of an imputation like +this was more excruciating than the rack. + +What motive could I assign for my conduct? The truth must not be told. +This would be equivalent to supplicating for a new benefit. It would +more become me to lessen than increase my obligations. Among all my +imaginations on this subject, the possibility of a mutual passion never +occurred to me. I could not be blind to the essential distinctions that +subsist among men. I could expatiate, like others, on the futility of +ribbons and titles, and on the dignity that was annexed to skill and +virtue; but these, for the most part, were the incoherences of +speculation, and in no degree influenced the stream of my actions and +practical sentiments. The barrier that existed in the present case I +deemed insurmountable. This was not even the subject of doubt. In +disclosing the truth, I should be conceived to be soliciting my lady's +mercy and intercession; but this would be the madness of presumption. +Let me impress her with any other opinion than that I go in search of +the happiness that I have lost under her roof. Let me save her generous +heart from the pangs which this persuasion would infallibly produce. + +I could form no stable resolutions. I seemed unalterably convinced of +the necessity of separation, and yet could not execute my design. When I +had wrought up my mind to the intention of explaining myself on the next +interview, when the next interview took place my tongue was powerless. I +admitted any excuse for postponing my design, and gladly admitted any +topic, however foreign to my purpose. + +It must not be imagined that my health sustained no injury from this +conflict of my passions. My patroness perceived this alteration. She +inquired with the most affectionate solicitude into the cause. It could +not be explained. I could safely make light of it, and represented it as +something which would probably disappear of itself, as it originated +without any adequate cause. She was obliged to acquiesce in my imperfect +account. + +Day after day passed in this state of fluctuation. I was conscious of +the dangers of delay, and that procrastination, without rendering the +task less necessary, augmented its difficulties. At length, summoning my +resolution, I demanded an audience. She received me with her usual +affability. Common topics were started; but she saw the confusion and +trepidation of my thoughts, and quickly relinquished them. She then +noticed to me what she had observed, and mentioned the anxiety which +these appearances had given her She reminded me of the maternal regard +which she had always manifested towards me, and appealed to my own heart +whether any thing could be said in vindication of that reserve with +which I had lately treated her, and urged me, as I valued her good +opinion, to explain the cause of a dejection _that was too +visible_. + +To all this I could make but one answer:--"Think me not, madam, perverse +or ungrateful. I came just now to apprize you of a resolution that I had +formed. I cannot explain the motives that induce me. In this case, to +lie to you would be unpardonable, and, since I cannot assign my true +motives, I will not mislead you by false representations. I came to +inform you of my intention to leave your service, and to retire, with +the fruits of your bounty, to my native village, where I shall spend my +life, I hope, in peace." + +Her surprise at this declaration was beyond measure. She could not +believe her ears. She had not heard me rightly. She compelled me to +repeat it. Still I was jesting. I could not possibly mean what my words +imported. + +I assured her, in terms still more explicit, that my resolution was +taken and was unalterable, and again entreated her to spare me the task +of assigning my motives. + +This was a strange determination. What could be the grounds of this new +scheme? What could be the necessity of hiding them from her? This +mystery was not to be endured. She could by no means away with it. She +thought it hard that I should abandon her at this time, when she stood +in particular need of my assistance and advice. She would refuse nothing +to make my situation eligible. I had only to point out where she was +deficient in her treatment of me, and she would endeavour to supply it. +She was willing to augment my emoluments in any degree that I desired. +She could not think of parting with me; but, at any rate, she must be +informed of my motives. + +"It is a hard task," answered I, "that I have imposed upon myself. I +foresaw its difficulties, and this foresight has hitherto prevented me +from undertaking it; but the necessity by which I am impelled will no +longer be withstood. I am determined to go; but to say why is +impossible. I hope I shall not bring upon myself the imputation of +ingratitude; but this imputation, more intolerable than any other, must +be borne, if it cannot be avoided but by this disclosure. + +"Keep your motives to yourself," said she. "I have too good an opinion +of you to suppose that you would practise concealment without good +reason. I merely desire you to remain where you are. Since you will not +tell me why you take up this new scheme, I can only say that it is +impossible there should be any advantage in this scheme. I will not hear +of it, I tell you. Therefore, submit to my decree with a good grace." + +Notwithstanding this prohibition, I persisted in declaring that my +determination was fixed, and that the motives that governed me would +allow of no alternative. + +"So, you will go, will you, whether I will or no? I have no power to +detain you? You will regard nothing that I can say?" + +"Believe me, madam, no resolution ever was formed after a more vehement +struggle. If my motives were known, you would not only cease to oppose, +but would hasten, my departure. Honour me so far with your good opinion +as to believe that, in saying this, I say nothing but the truth, and +render my duty less burdensome by cheerfully acquiescing in its +dictates." + +"I would," replied the lady, "I could find somebody that has more power +over you than I have. Whom shall I call in to aid me in this arduous +task?" + +"Nay, dear madam, if I can resist your entreaties, surely no other can +hope to succeed." + +"I am not sure of that," said my friend, archly; "there is one person in +the world whose supplications, I greatly suspect, you would not +withstand." + +"Whom do you mean?" said I, in some trepidation. + +"You will know presently. Unless I can prevail upon you, I shall be +obliged to call for assistance." + +"Spare me the pain of repeating that no power on earth can change my +resolution." + +"That's a fib," she rejoined, with increased archness. "You know it is. +If a certain person entreat you to stay, you will easily comply. I see I +cannot hope to prevail by my own strength. That is a mortifying +consideration: but we must not part; that is a point settled. If nothing +else will do, I must go and fetch my advocate. Stay here a moment." + +I had scarcely time to breathe, before she returned, leading in Clarice. +I did not yet comprehend the meaning of this ceremony. The lady was +overwhelmed with sweet confusion. Averted eyes and reluctant steps might +have explained to me the purpose of this meeting, if I had believed that +purpose to be possible. I felt the necessity of new fortitude, and +struggled to recollect the motives that had hitherto sustained me. + +"There!" said my patroness; "I have been endeavouring to persuade this +young man to live with us a little longer. He is determined, it seems, +to change his abode. He will not tell why, and I do not care to know, +unless I could show his reasons to be groundless. I have merely +remonstrated with him on the folly of his scheme, but he has proved +refractory to all I can say. Perhaps your efforts may meet with better +success." + +Clarice said not a word. My own embarrassment equally disabled me from +speaking. Regarding us both, for some time, with a benign aspect, Mrs. +Lorimer resumed, taking a hand of each and joining them together:-- + +"I very well know what it was that suggested this scheme. It is strange +that you should suppose me so careless an observer as not to note, or +not to understand, your situation. I am as well acquainted with what is +passing in your heart as you yourself are: but why are you so anxious to +conceal it? You know less of the adventurousness of love than I should +have suspected. But I will not trifle with your feelings. + +"You, Clithero, know the wishes that I once cherished. I had hoped that +my son would have found, in this darling child, an object worthy of his +choice, and that my girl would have preferred him to all others. But I +have long since discovered that this could not be. They are nowise +suited to each other. There is one thing in the next place desirable, +and now my wishes are accomplished. I see that you love each other; and +never, in my opinion, was a passion more rational and just. I should +think myself the worst of beings if I did not contribute all in my power +to your happiness. There is not the shadow of objection to your union. I +know your scruples, Clithero, and am sorry to see that you harbour them +for a moment. Nothing is more unworthy of your good sense. + +"I found out this girl long ago. Take my word for it, young man, she +does not fall short of you in the purity and tenderness of her +attachment. What need is there of tedious preliminaries? I will leave +you together, and hope you will not be long in coming to a mutual +understanding. Your union cannot be completed too soon for my wishes. +Clarice is my only and darling daughter. As to you, Clithero, expect +henceforth that treatment from me, not only to which your own merit +entitles you, but which is due to the husband of my daughter."--With +these words she retired, and left us together. + +Great God! deliver me from the torments of this remembrance. That a +being by whom I was snatched from penury and brutal ignorance, exalted +to some rank in the intelligent creation, reared to affluence and +honour, and thus, at last, spontaneously endowed with all that remained +to complete the sum of my felicity, that a being like this-But such +thoughts must not yet be: I must shut them out, or I shall never arrive +at the end of my tale. My efforts have been thus far successful. I have +hitherto been able to deliver a coherent narrative. Let the last words +that I shall speak afford some glimmering of my better days. Let me +execute without faltering the only task that remains for me. + + + + +Chapter VI. + + +How propitious, how incredible, was this event! I could scarcely confide +in the testimony of my senses. Was it true that Clarice was before me, +that she was prepared to countenance my presumption, that she had +slighted obstacles which I had deemed insurmountable, that I was fondly +beloved by her, and should shortly be admitted to the possession of so +inestimable a good? I will not repeat the terms in which I poured forth, +at her feet, the raptures of my gratitude. My impetuosity soon extorted +from Clarice a confirmation of her mother's declaration. An unrestrained +intercourse was thenceforth established between us. Dejection and +languor gave place, in my bosom, to the irradiations of joy and hope. My +flowing fortunes seemed to have attained their utmost and immutable +height. + +Alas! They were destined to ebb with unspeakably-greater rapidity, and +to leave me, in a moment, stranded and wrecked. + +Our nuptials would have been solemnized without delay, had not a +melancholy duty interfered. Clarice had a friend in a distant part of +the kingdom. Her health had long been the prey of a consumption. She was +now evidently tending to dissolution. In this extremity she entreated +her friend to afford her the consolation of her presence. The only wish +that remained was to die in her arms. + +This request could not but be willingly complied with. It became me +patiently to endure the delay that would thence arise to the completion +of my wishes. Considering the urgency and mournfulness of the occasion, +it was impossible for me to murmur, and the affectionate Clarice would +suffer nothing to interfere with the duty which she owed to her dying +friend. I accompanied her on this journey, remained with her a few days, +and then parted from her to return to the metropolis. It was not +imagined that it would be necessary to prolong her absence beyond a +month. When I bade her farewell, and informed her on what day I proposed +to return for her, I felt no decay of my satisfaction. My thoughts were +bright and full of exultation. Why was not some intimation afforded me +of the snares that lay in my path? In the train laid for my destruction, +the agent had so skilfully contrived that my security was not molested +by the faintest omen. + +I hasten to the crisis of my tale. I am almost dubious of my strength. +The nearer I approach to it, the stronger is my aversion. My courage, +instead of gathering force as I proceed, decays. I am willing to dwell +still longer on preliminary circumstances. There are other incidents +without which my story would be lame. I retail them because they afford +me a kind of respite from horrors at the thought of which every joint in +my frame trembles. They must be endured, but that infirmity may be +forgiven which makes me inclined to procrastinate my suffering. + +I mentioned the lover whom my patroness was compelled, by the +machinations of her brother, to discard. More than twenty years had +passed since their separation. His birth was mean and he was without +fortune. His profession was that of a surgeon. My lady not only +prevailed upon him to abandon his country, but enabled him to do this by +supplying his necessities from her own purse. His excellent +understanding was, for a time, obscured by passion; but it was not +difficult for my lady ultimately to obtain his concurrence to all her +schemes. He saw and adored the rectitude of her motives, did not disdain +to accept her gifts, and projected means for maintaining an epistolary +intercourse during their separation. + +Her interest procured him a post in the service of the East India +Company. She was, from time to time, informed of his motions. A war +broke out between the Company and some of the native powers. He was +present at a great battle in which the English were defeated. She could +trace him by his letters and by other circumstances thus far, but here +the thread was discontinued, and no means which she employed could +procure any tidings of him. Whether he was captive, or dead, continued, +for several years, to be merely matter of conjecture. + +On my return to Dublin, I found my patroness engaged in conversation +with a stranger. She introduced us to each other in a manner that +indicated the respect which she entertained for us both. I surveyed and +listened to him with considerable attention. His aspect was noble and +ingenuous, but his sunburnt and rugged features bespoke a various and +boisterous pilgrimage. The furrows of his brow were the products of +vicissitude and hardship, rather than of age. His accents were fiery and +energetic, and the impassioned boldness of his address, as well as the +tenor of his discourse, full of allusions to the past, and regrets that +the course of events had not been different, made me suspect something +extraordinary in his character. + +As soon as he left us, my lady explained who he was. He was no other +than the object of her youthful attachment, who had, a few days before, +dropped among us as from the skies. He had a long and various story to +tell. He had accounted for his silence by enumerating the incidents of +his life. He had escaped from the prisons of Hyder, had wandered on +foot, and under various disguises, through the northern district of +Hindostan. He was sometimes a scholar of Benares, and sometimes a +disciple of the Mosque. According to the exigencies of the times, he was +a pilgrim to Mecca or to Juggernaut. By a long, circuitous, and perilous +route, he at length arrived at the Turkish capital. Here he resided for +several years, deriving a precarious subsistence from the profession of +a surgeon. He was obliged to desert this post, in consequence of a duel +between two Scotsmen. One of them had embraced the Greek religion, and +was betrothed to the daughter of a wealthy trader of that nation. He +perished in the conflict, and the family of the lady not only procured +the execution of his antagonist, but threatened to involve all those who +were known to be connected with him in the same ruin. + +His life being thus endangered, it became necessary for him to seek a +new residence. He fled from Constantinople with such precipitation as +reduced him to the lowest poverty. He had traversed the Indian conquests +of Alexander, as a mendicant. In the same character, he now wandered +over the native country of Philip and Philopoemen. He passed safely +through multiplied perils, and finally, embarking at Salonica, he +reached Venice. He descended through the passes of the Apennines into +Tuscany. In this journey he suffered a long detention from banditti, by +whom he was waylaid. In consequence of his harmless deportment, and a +seasonable display of his chirurgical skill, they granted him his life, +though they, for a time, restrained him of his liberty, and compelled +him to endure their society. The time was not misemployed which he spent +immured in caverns and carousing with robbers. His details were +eminently singular and curious, and evinced the acuteness of his +penetration, as well as the steadfastness of his courage. + +After emerging from these wilds, he found his way along the banks of the +Arno to Leghorn. Thence he procured a passage to America, whence he had +just returned, with many additions to his experience, but none to his +fortune. + +This was a remarkable event. It did not at first appear how far its +consequences would extend. The lady was, at present, disengaged and +independent. Though the passion which clouded her early prosperity was +extinct, time had not diminished the worth of her friend, and they were +far from having reached that age when love becomes chimerical and +marriage folly. A confidential intercourse was immediately established +between them. The bounty of Mrs. Lorimer soon divested her friend of all +fear of poverty. "At any rate," said she, "he shall wander no farther, +but shall be comfortably situated for the rest of his life." All his +scruples were vanquished by the reasonableness of her remonstrances and +the vehemence of her solicitations. + +A cordial intimacy grew between me and the newly-arrived. Our interviews +were frequent, and our communications without reserve. He detailed to me +the result of his experience, and expatiated without end on the history +of his actions and opinions. He related the adventures of his youth, and +dwelt upon all the circumstances of his attachment to my patroness. On +this subject I had heard only general details. I continually found +cause, in the course of his narrative, to revere the illustrious +qualities of my lady, and to weep at the calamities to which the +infernal malice of her brother had subjected her. + +The tale of that man's misdeeds, amplified and dramatized by the +indignant eloquence of this historian, oppressed me with astonishment. +If a poet had drawn such a portrait, I should have been prone to suspect +the soundness of his judgment. Till now I had imagined that no character +was uniform and unmixed, and my theory of the passions did not enable me +to account for a propensity gratified merely by evil, and delighting in +shrieks and agony for their own sake. + +It was natural to suggest to my friend, when expatiating on this theme, +an inquiry as to how far subsequent events had obliterated the +impressions that were then made, and as to the plausibility of reviving, +at this more auspicious period, his claims on the heart of his friend. +When he thought proper to notice these hints, he gave me to understand +that time had made no essential alteration in his sentiments in this +respect; that he still fostered a hope, to which every day added new +vigour; that, whatever was the ultimate event, he trusted in his +fortitude to sustain it, if adverse, and in his wisdom to extract from +it the most valuable consequences, if it should prove prosperous. + +The progress of things was not unfavourable to his hopes. She treated +his insinuations and professions with levity; but her arguments seemed +to be urged with no other view than to afford an opportunity of +confutation; and, since there was no abatement of familiarity and +kindness, there was room to hope that the affair would terminate +agreeably to his wishes. + + + + +Chapter VII. + + +Clarice, meanwhile, was absent. Her friend seemed, at the end of a +month, to be little less distant from the grave than at first. My +impatience would not allow me to wait till her death. I visited her, but +was once more obliged to return alone. I arrived late in the city, and, +being greatly fatigued, I retired almost immediately to my chamber. + +On hearing of my arrival, Sarsefield hastened to see me. He came to my +bedside, and such, in his opinion, was the importance of the tidings +which he had to communicate, that he did not scruple to rouse me from a +deep sleep---- + + +At this period of his narrative, Clithero stopped. His complexion varied +from one degree of paleness to another. His brain appeared to suffer +some severe constriction. He desired to be excused, for a few minutes, +from proceeding. In a short time he was relieved from this paroxysm, and +resumed his tale with an accent tremulous at first, but acquiring +stability and force as he went on:-- + + +On waking, as I have said, I found my friend seated at my bedside. His +countenance exhibited various tokens of alarm. As soon as I perceived +who it was, I started, exclaiming, "What is the matter?" + +He sighed. "Pardon," said he, "this unseasonable intrusion. A light +matter would not have occasioned it. I have waited, for two days past, +in an agony of impatience, for your return. Happily you are, at last, +come. I stand in the utmost need of your counsel and aid." + +"Heaven defend!" cried I. "This is a terrible prelude. You may, of +course, rely upon my assistance and advice. What is it that you have to +propose?" + +"Tuesday evening," he answered, "I spent here. It was late before I +returned to my lodgings. I was in the act of lifting my hand to the +bell, when my eye was caught by a person standing close to the wall, at +the distance of ten paces. His attitude was that of one employed in +watching my motions. His face was turned towards me, and happened, at +that moment, to be fully illuminated by the rays of a globe-lamp that +hung over the door. I instantly recognised his features. I was +petrified. I had no power to execute my design, or even to move, but +stood, for some seconds, gazing upon him. He was, in no degree, +disconcerted by the eagerness of my scrutiny. He seemed perfectly +indifferent to the consequences of being known. At length he slowly +turned his eyes to another quarter, but without changing his posture, or +the sternness of his looks. I cannot describe to you the shock which +this encounter produced in me. At last I went into the house, and have +ever since been excessively uneasy." + +"I do not see any ground for uneasiness." + +"You do not then suspect who this person is?" + +"No." + +"It is Arthur Wiatte." + +"Good heaven! It is impossible. What! my lady's brother?" + +"The same." + +"It cannot be. Were we not assured of his death? That he perished in a +mutiny on board the vessel in which he was embarked for transportation?" + +"Such was rumour, which is easily mistaken. My eyes cannot be deceived +in this case. I should as easily fail to recognise his sister, when I +first met her, as him. This is the man; whether once dead or not, he is +at present alive, and in this city." + +"But has any thing since happened to confirm you in this opinion?" + +"Yes, there has. As soon as I had recovered from my first surprise, I +began to reflect upon the measures proper to be taken. This was the +identical Arthur Wiatte. You know his character. No time was likely to +change the principles of such a man, but his appearance sufficiently +betrayed the incurableness of his habits. The same sullen and atrocious +passions were written in his visage. You recollect the vengeance which +Wiatte denounced against his sister. There is every thing to dread from +his malignity. How to obviate the danger, I know not. I thought, +however, of one expedient. It might serve a present purpose, and +something better might suggest itself on your return. + +"I came hither early the next day. Old Gowan, the porter, is well +acquainted with Wiatte's story. I mentioned to him that I had reason to +think that he had returned. I charged him to have a watchful eye upon +every one that knocked at the gate, and that, if this person should +come, by no means to admit him. The old man promised faithfully to abide +by my directions. His terrors, indeed, were greater than mine, and he +knew the importance of excluding Wiatte from these walls." + +"Did you not inform my lady of this?" + +"No. In what way could I tell it to her? What end could it answer? Why +should I make her miserable? But I have not done. Yesterday morning +Gowan took me aside, and informed me that Wiatte had made his +appearance, the day before, at the gate. He knew him, he said, in a +moment. He demanded to see the lady, but the old man told him she was +engaged, and could not be seen. He assumed peremptory and haughty airs, +and asserted that his business was of such importance as not to endure a +moment's delay. Gowan persisted in his first refusal. He retired with +great reluctance, but said he should return to-morrow, when he should +insist upon admission to the presence of the lady. I have inquired, and +find that he has not repeated his visit. What is to be done?" + +I was equally at a loss with my friend. This incident was so +unlooked-for. What might not be dreaded from the monstrous depravity of +Wiatte? His menaces of vengeance against his sister still rung in my ears. +Some means of eluding them were indispensable. Could law be resorted to? +Against an evil like this, no legal provision had been made. Nine years +had elapsed since his transportation. Seven years was the period of his +exile. In returning, therefore, he had committed no crime. His person +could not be lawfully molested. We were justified merely in repelling an +attack. But suppose we should appeal to law: could this be done without +the knowledge and concurrence of the lady? She would never permit it. +Her heart was incapable of fear from this quarter. She would spurn at +the mention of precautions against the hatred of her brother. Her +inquietude would merely be awakened on his own account. + +I was overwhelmed with perplexity. Perhaps if he were sought out, and +some judgment formed of the kind of danger to be dreaded from him, by a +knowledge of his situation and views, some expedient might be thence +suggested. + +But how should his haunts be discovered? This was easy. He had intimated +the design of applying again for admission to his sister. Let a person +be stationed near at hand, who, being furnished with an adequate +description of his person and dress, shall mark him when he comes, and +follow him when he retires, and shall forthwith impart to us the +information on that head which he shall be able to collect. + +My friend concurred in this scheme. No better could, for the present, be +suggested. Here ended our conference. + +I was thus supplied with a new subject of reflection. It was calculated +to fill my mind with dreary forebodings. The future was no longer a +scene of security and pleasure. It would be hard for those to partake of +our fears who did not partake of our experience. The existence of Wiatte +was the canker that had blasted the felicity of my patroness. In his +reappearance on the stage there was something portentous. It seemed to +include in it consequences of the utmost moment, without my being able +to discover what these consequences were. + +That Sarsefield should be so quickly followed by his arch-foe; that they +started anew into existence, without any previous intimation, in a +manner wholly unexpected, and at the same period,--it seemed as if there +lurked, under those appearances, a tremendous significance, which human +sagacity could not uncover. My heart sunk within me when I reflected +that this was the father of my Clarice. He by whose cruelty her mother +was torn from the enjoyment of untarnished honour, and consigned to +infamy and an untimely grave. He by whom herself was abandoned in the +helplessness of infancy, and left to be the prey of obdurate avarice, +and the victim of wretches who traffic in virgin innocence. Who had done +all that in him lay to devote her youth to guilt and misery. What were +the limits of his power? How may he exert the parental prerogatives? + +To sleep, while these images were haunting me, was impossible. I passed +the night in continual motion. I strode, without ceasing, across the +floor of my apartment. My mind was wrought to a higher pitch than I had +ever before experienced. The occasion, accurately considered, was far +from justifying the ominous inquietudes which I then felt. How, then, +should I account for them? + +Sarsefield probably enjoyed his usual slumber. His repose might not be +perfectly serene, but when he ruminated on impending or possible +calamities his tongue did not cleave to his mouth, his throat was not +parched with unquenchable thirst, he was not incessantly stimulated to +employ his superfluous fertility of thought in motion. If I trembled for +the safety of her whom I loved, and whose safety was endangered by being +the daughter of this miscreant, had he not equal reason to fear for her +whom he also loved, and who, as the sister of this ruffian, was +encompassed by the most alarming perils? Yet he probably was calm while +I was harassed by anxieties. + +Alas! The difference was easily explained. Such was the beginning of a +series ordained to hurry me to swift destruction. Such were the primary +tokens of the presence of that power by whose accursed machinations I +was destined to fall. You are startled at this declaration. It is one to +which you have been little accustomed. Perhaps you regard it merely as +an effusion of frenzy. I know what I am saying. I do not build upon +conjectures and surmises. I care not, indeed, for your doubts. Your +conclusion may be fashioned at your pleasure. Would to Heaven that my +belief were groundless, and that I had no reason to believe my +intellects to have been perverted by diabolical instigations! + +I could procure no sleep that night. After Sarsefield's departure I did +not even lie down. It seemed to me that I could not obtain the benefits +of repose otherwise than by placing my lady beyond the possibility of +danger. + +I met Sarsefield the next day. In pursuance of the scheme which had been +adopted by us on the preceding evening, a person was selected and +commissioned to watch the appearance of Wiatte. The day passed as usual +with respect to the lady. In the evening she was surrounded by a few +friends. Into this number I was now admitted. Sarsefield and myself made +a part of this company. Various topics were discussed with ease and +sprightliness. Her societies were composed of both sexes, and seemed to +have monopolized all the ingenuity and wit that existed in the +metropolis. + +After a slight repast the company dispersed. This separation took place +earlier than usual, on account of a slight indisposition in Mrs. +_Lorimer_. Sarsefield and I went out together. We took that +opportunity of examining our agent, and, receiving no satisfaction from +him, we dismissed him for that night, enjoining him to hold himself in +readiness for repeating the experiment to-morrow. My friend directed his +steps homeward, and I proceeded to execute a commission with which I had +charged myself. + +A few days before, a large sum had been deposited in the hands of a +banker, for the use of my lady. It was the amount of a debt which had +lately been recovered. It was lodged here for the purpose of being paid +on demand of her or her agents. It was my present business to receive +this money. I had deferred the performance of this engagement to this +late hour, on account of certain preliminaries which were necessary to +be adjusted. + +Having received this money, I prepared to return home. The inquietude +which had been occasioned by Sarsefield's intelligence had not +incapacitated me from performing my usual daily occupations. It was a +theme to which, at every interval of leisure from business or discourse, +I did not fail to return. At those times I employed myself in examining +the subject on all sides; in supposing particular emergencies, and +delineating the conduct that was proper to be observed on each. My daily +thoughts were, by no means, so fear-inspiring as the meditations of the +night had been. + +As soon as I left the banker's door, my meditations fell into this +channel. I again reviewed the recent occurrences, and imagined the +consequences likely to flow from them. My deductions were not, on this +occasion, peculiarly distressful. The return of darkness had added +nothing to my apprehensions. I regarded Wiatte merely as one against +whose malice it was wise to employ the most vigilant precautions. In +revolving these precautions nothing occurred that was new. The danger +appeared without unusual aggravations, and the expedients that offered +themselves to my choice were viewed with a temper not more sanguine or +despondent than before. + +In this state of mind I began and continued my walk. The distance was +considerable between my own habitation and that which I had left. My way +lay chiefly through populous and well-frequented streets. In one part of +the way, however, it was at the option of the passenger either to keep +along the large streets, or considerably to shorten the journey by +turning into a dark, crooked, and narrow lane. Being familiar with every +part of this metropolis, and deeming it advisable to take the shortest +and obscurest road, I turned into the alley. I proceeded without +interruption to the next turning. One night-officer, distinguished by +his usual ensigns, was the only person who passed me. I had gone three +steps beyond when I perceived a man by my side. I had scarcely time to +notice this circumstance, when a hoarse voice exclaimed, "Damn ye, +villain, ye're a dead man!" + +At the same moment a pistol flashed at my ear, and a report followed. +This, however, produced no other effect than, for a short space, to +overpower my senses. I staggered back, but did not fall. + +The ball, as I afterwards discovered, had grazed my forehead, but +without making any dangerous impression. The assassin, perceiving that +his pistol had been ineffectual, muttered, in an enraged tone, "This +shall do your business!" At the same time, he drew a knife forth from +his bosom. + +I was able to distinguish this action by the rays of a distant lamp, +which glistened on the blade. All this passed in an instant. The attack +was so abrupt that my thoughts could not be suddenly recalled from the +confusion into which they were thrown. My exertions were mechanical. My +will might be said to be passive, and it was only by retrospect and a +contemplation of consequences that I became fully informed of the nature +of the scene. + +If my assailant had disappeared as soon as he had discharged the pistol, +my state of extreme surprise might have slowly given place to resolution +and activity. As it was, my sense was no sooner struck by the reflection +from the blade, than my hand, as if by spontaneous energy, was thrust +into my pocket. I drew forth a pistol. + +He lifted up his weapon to strike, but it dropped from his powerless +fingers. He fell, and his groans informed me that I had managed my arms +with more skill than my adversary. The noise of this encounter soon +attracted spectators. Lights were brought, and my antagonist discovered +bleeding at my feet. I explained, as briefly as I was able, the scene +which they witnessed. The prostrate person was raised by two men, and +carried into a public house nigh at hand. + +I had not lost my presence of mind. I at once perceived the propriety of +administering assistance to the wounded man. I despatched, therefore, +one of the bystanders for a surgeon of considerable eminence, who lived +at a small distance, and to whom I was well known. The man was carried +into an inner apartment and laid upon the floor. It was not till now +that I had a suitable opportunity of ascertaining who it was with whom I +had been engaged. I now looked upon his face. The paleness of death +could not conceal his well-known features. It was Wiatte himself who was +breathing his last groans at my feet! + +The surgeon, whom I had summoned, attended; but immediately perceived +the condition of his patient to be hopeless. In a quarter of an hour he +expired. During this interval, he was insensible to all around him. I +was known to the surgeon, the landlord, and some of the witnesses. The +case needed little explanation. The accident reflected no guilt upon me. +The landlord was charged with the care of the corpse till the morning, +and I was allowed to return home, without further impediment. + + + + +Chapter VIII. + + +Till now my mind had been swayed by the urgencies of this occasion. +These reflections were excluded, which rushed tumultuously upon me the +moment I was at leisure to receive them. Without foresight of a previous +moment, an entire change had been wrought in my condition. + +I had been oppressed with a sense of the danger that flowed from the +existence of this man. By what means the peril could be annihilated, and +we be placed in security from his attempts, no efforts of mind could +suggest. To devise these means, and employ them with success, demanded, +as I conceived, the most powerful sagacity and the firmest courage. Now +the danger was no more. The intelligence in which plans of mischief +might be generated was extinguished or flown. Lifeless were the hands +ready to execute the dictates of that intelligence. The contriver of +enormous evil was, in one moment, bereft of the power and the will to +injure. Our past tranquillity had been owing to the belief of his death. +Fear and dismay had resumed their dominion when the mistake was +discovered. But now we might regain possession of our wonted confidence. +I had beheld with my own eyes the lifeless corpse of our implacable +adversary. Thus, in a moment, had terminated his long and flagitious +career. His restless indignation, his malignant projects, that had so +long occupied the stage and been so fertile of calamity, were now at an +end! + +In the course of my meditations, the idea of the death of this man had +occurred, and it bore the appearance of a desirable event. Yet it was +little qualified to tranquillize my fears. In the long catalogue of +contingencies, this, indeed, was to be found; but it was as little +likely to happen as any other. It could not happen without a series of +anterior events paving the way for it. If his death came from us, it +must be the theme of design. It must spring from laborious circumvention +and deep-laid stratagems. + +No. He was dead. I had killed him. What had I done? I had meditated +nothing. I was impelled by an unconscious necessity. Had the assailant +been my father, the consequence would have been the same. My +understanding had been neutral. Could it be? In a space so short, was it +possible that so tremendous a deed had been executed? Was I not deceived +by some portentous vision? I had witnessed the convulsions and last +agonies of Wiatte. He was no more, and I was his destroyer! + +Such was the state of my mind for some time after this dreadful event. +Previously to it I was calm, considerate, and self-collected. I marked +the way that I was going. Passing objects were observed. If I adverted +to the series of my own reflections, my attention was not seized and +fastened by them. I could disengage myself at pleasure, and could pass, +without difficulty, from attention to the world within, to the +contemplation of that without. + +Now my liberty, in this respect, was at an end. I was fettered, +confounded, smitten with excess of thought, and laid prostrate with +wonder! I no longer attended to my steps. When I emerged from my stupor, +I found that I had trodden back the way which I had lately come, and had +arrived within sight of the banker's door. I checked myself, and once +more turned my steps homeward. + +This seemed to be a hint for entering into new reflections. "The deed," +said I, "is irretrievable. I have killed the brother of my patroness, +the father of my love." + +This suggestion was new. It instantly involved me in terror and +perplexity. How shall I communicate the tidings? What effect will they +produce? My lady's sagacity is obscured by the benevolence of her +temper. Her brother was sordidly wicked,--a hoary ruffian, to whom the +language of pity was as unintelligible as the gabble of monkeys. His +heart was fortified against compunction, by the atrocious habits of +forty years; he lived only to interrupt her peace, to confute the +promises of virtue, and convert to rancour and reproach the fair dame of +fidelity. + +He was her brother still. As a human being, his depravity was never +beyond the health-restoring power of repentance. His heart, so long as +it beat, was accessible to remorse. The singularity of his birth had +made her regard this being as more intimately her brother, than would +have happened in different circumstances. It was her obstinate +persuasion that their fates were blended. The rumour of his death she +had never credited. It was a topic of congratulation to her friends, but +of mourning and distress to her. That he would one day reappear upon the +stage, and assume the dignity of virtue, was a source of consolation +with which she would never consent to part. + +Her character was now known. When the doom of exile was pronounced upon +him, she deemed it incumbent on her to vindicate herself from aspersions +founded on misconceptions of her motives in refusing her interference. +The manuscript, though unpublished, was widely circulated. None could +resist her simple and touching eloquence, nor rise from the perusal +without resigning his heart to the most impetuous impulses of +admiration, and enlisting himself among the eulogists of her justice and +her fortitude. This was the only monument, in a written form, of her +genius. As such it was engraven on my memory. The picture that it +described was the perpetual companion of my thoughts. + +Alas! It had, perhaps, been well for me if it had been buried in eternal +oblivion. I read in it the condemnation of my deed, the agonies she was +preparing to suffer, and the indignation that would overflow upon the +author of so signal a calamity. + +I had rescued my life by the sacrifice of his. Whereas I should have +died. Wretched and precipitate coward! What had become of my boasted +gratitude? Such was the zeal that I had vowed to her. Such the services +which it was the business of my life to perform. I had snatched her +brother from existence. I had torn from her the hope which she so +ardently and indefatigably cherished. From a contemptible and dastardly +regard to my own safety I had failed in the moment of trial and when +called upon by Heaven to evince the sincerity of my professions. + +She had treated my professions lightly. My vows of eternal devotion she +had rejected with lofty disinterestedness. She had arraigned my +impatience of obligation as criminal, and condemned every scheme I had +projected for freeing myself from the burden which her beneficence had +laid upon me. The impassioned and vehement anxiety with which, in former +days, she had deprecated the vengeance of her lover against Wiatte, rung +in my ears. My senses were shocked anew by the dreadful sounds, "Touch +not my brother. Wherever you meet with him, of whatever outrage he be +guilty, suffer him to pass in safety. Despise me; abandon me; kill me. +All this I can bear even from you; but spare, I implore you, my unhappy +brother. The stroke that deprives him of life will not only have the +same effect upon me, but will set my portion in everlasting misery." + +To these supplications I had been deaf. It is true I had not rushed upon +him unarmed, intending no injury nor expecting any. Of that degree of +wickedness I was, perhaps, incapable. Alas! I have immersed myself +sufficiently deep in crimes. I have trampled under foot every motive +dear to the heart of honour. I have shown myself unworthy the society of +men. + +Such were the turbulent suggestions of that moment. My pace slackened. I +stopped, and was obliged to support myself against a wall. The sickness +that had seized my heart penetrated every part of my frame. There was +but one thing wanting to complete my distraction.--"My lady," said I, +"believed her fate to be blended with that of Wiatte. Who shall affirm +that the persuasion is a groundless one? She had lived and prospered, +notwithstanding the general belief that her brother was dead. She would +not hearken to the rumour. Why? Because nothing less than indubitable +evidence would suffice to convince her? Because the counter-intimation +flowed from an infallible source? How can the latter supposition be +confuted? Has she not predicted the event? + +"The period of terrible fulfilment has arrived. The same blow that +bereaved _him_ of life has likewise ratified her doom. + +"She has been deceived. It is nothing more, perhaps, than a fond +imagination. It matters not. Who knows not the cogency of faith? That +the pulses of life are at the command of the will? The bearer of these +tidings will be the messenger of death. A fatal sympathy will seize her. +She will shrink, and swoon, and perish, at the news! + +"Fond and short-sighted wretch! This is the price thou hast given for +security. In the rashness of thy thought, thou saidst, 'Nothing is +wanting but his death to restore us to confidence and safety.' Lo! the +purchase is made. Havoc and despair, that were restrained during his +life, were let loose by his last sigh. Now only is destruction made +sure. Thy lady, thy Clarice, thy friend, and thyself, are, by this act, +involved in irretrievable and common ruin!" + +I started from my attitude. I was scarcely conscious of any transition. +The interval was fraught with stupor, and amazement. It seemed as if my +senses had been hushed in sleep, while the powers of locomotion were +unconsciously exerted to bear me to my chamber. By whatever means the +change was effected, there I was. + +I have been able to proceed thus far. I can scarcely believe the +testimony of my memory that assures me of this. My task is almost +executed; but whence shall I obtain strength enough to finish it? What I +have told is light as gossamer, compared with the insupportable and +crushing horrors of that which is to come. Heaven, in token of its +vengeance, will enable me to proceed. It is fitting that my scene should +thus close. + +My fancy began to be infected with the errors of my understanding. The +mood into which my mind was plunged was incapable of any propitious +intermission. All within me was tempestuous and dark. My ears were +accessible to no sounds but those of shrieks and lamentations. It was +deepest midnight, and all the noises of a great metropolis were hushed. +Yet I listened as if to catch some strain of the dirge that was begun. +Sable robes, sobs, and a dreary solemnity encompassed me on all sides, I +was haunted to despair by images of death, imaginary clamours, and the +train of funeral pageantry. I seemed to have passed forward to a distant +era of my life. The effects which were come were already realized. The +foresight of misery created it, and set me in the midst of that hell +which I feared. + +From a paroxysm like this the worst might reasonably be dreaded, yet the +next step to destruction was not suddenly taken. I paused on the brink +of the precipice, as if to survey the depth of that frenzy that invaded +me; was able to ponder on the scene, and deliberate, in a state that +partook of calm, on the circumstances of my situation. My mind was +harassed by the repetition of one idea. Conjecture deepened into +certainty. I could place the object in no light which did not +corroborate the persuasion that, in the act committed, I had insured the +destruction of my lady. At length my mind, somewhat relieved from the +tempest of my fears, began to trace and analyze the consequences which I +dreaded. + +The fate of Wiatte would inevitably draw along with it that of his +sister. In what way would this effect be produced? Were they linked +together by a sympathy whose influence was independent of sensible +communication? Could she arrive at a knowledge of his miserable and by +other than verbal means? I had heard of such extraordinary +copartnerships in being and modes of instantaneous intercourse among +beings locally distant. Was this a new instance of the subtlety of mind? +Had she already endured his agonies, and like him already ceased to +breathe? + +Every hair bristled at this horrible suggestion. But the force of +sympathy might be chimerical. Buried in sleep, or engaged in careless +meditation, the instrument by which her destiny might be accomplished +was the steel of an assassin. A series of events, equally beyond the +reach of foresight with those which had just happened, might introduce, +with equal abruptness, a similar disaster. What, at that moment, was her +condition? Reposing in safety in her chamber, as her family imagined. +But were they not deceived? Was she not a mangled corpse? Whatever were +her situation, it could not be ascertained, except by extraordinary +means, till the morning. Was it wise to defer the scrutiny till then? +Why not instantly investigate the truth? + +These ideas passed rapidly through my mind. A considerable portion of +time and amplification of phrase are necessary to exhibit, verbally, +ideas contemplated in a space of incalculable brevity. With the same +rapidity I conceived the resolution of determining the truth of my +suspicions. All the family, but myself, were at rest. Winding passages +would conduct me, without danger of disturbing them, to the hall, from +which double staircases ascended. One of these led to a saloon above, on +the east side of which was a door that communicated with a suite of +rooms occupied by the lady of the mansion. The first was an antechamber, +in which a female servant usually lay. The second was the lady's own +bedchamber. This was a sacred recess, with whose situation, relative to +the other apartments of the building, I was well acquainted, but of +which I knew nothing from my own examination, having never been admitted +into it. + +Thither I was now resolved to repair. I was not deterred by the sanctity +of the place and hour. I was insensible to all consequences but the +removal of my doubts. Not that my hopes were balanced by my fears. That +the same tragedy had been performed in her chamber and in the street, +nothing hindered me from believing with as much cogency as if my own +eyes had witnessed it, but the reluctance with which we admit a +detestable truth. + +To terminate a state of intolerable suspense, I resolved to proceed +forthwith to her chamber. I took the light and paced, with no +interruption, along the galleries. I used no precaution. If I had met a +servant or robber, I am not sure that I should have noticed him. My +attention was too perfectly engrossed to allow me to spare any to a +casual object. I cannot affirm that no one observed me. This, however, +was probable from the distribution of the dwelling. It consisted of a +central edifice and two wings, one of which was appropriated to +domestics and the other, at the extremity of which my apartment was +placed, comprehended a library, and rooms for formal and social and +literary conferences. These, therefore, were deserted at night, and my +way lay along these. Hence it was not likely that my steps would be +observed. + +I proceeded to the hall. The principal parlour was beneath her chamber. +In the confusion of my thoughts, I mistook one for the other. I +rectified, as soon as I detected, my mistake. I ascended, with a beating +heart, the staircase. The door of the antechamber was unfastened. I +entered, totally regardless of disturbing the girl who slept within. The +bed which she occupied was concealed by curtains. Whether she were +there, I did not stop to examine. I cannot recollect that any tokens +were given of wakefulness or alarm. It was not till I reached the door +of her own apartment that my heart began to falter. + +It was now that the momentousness of the question I was about to decide +rushed with its genuine force upon my apprehension. Appalled and aghast, +I had scarcely power to move the bolt. If the imagination of her death +was not to be supported, how should I bear the spectacle of wounds and +blood? Yet this was reserved for me. A few paces would set me in the +midst of a scene of which I was the abhorred contriver. Was it right to +proceed? There were still the remnants of doubt. My forebodings might +possibly be groundless. All within might be safety and serenity. A +respite might be gained from the execution of an irrevocable sentence. +What could I do? Was not any thing easy to endure in comparison with the +agonies of suspense? If I could not obviate the evil I must bear it, but +the torments of suspense were susceptible of remedy. + +I drew back the bolt, and entered with the reluctance of fear, rather +than the cautiousness of guilt. I could not lift my eyes from the +ground. I advanced to the middle of the room. Not a sound like that of +the dying saluted my-ear. At length, shaking off the fetters of +hopelessness, I looked up. + +I saw nothing calculated to confirm my fears. Everywhere there reigned +quiet and order. My heart leaped with exultation. "Can it be," said I, +"that I have been betrayed with shadows?--But this is not sufficient." + +Within an alcove was the bed that belonged to her. If her safety were +inviolate, it was here that she reposed. What remained to convert +tormenting doubt into ravishing certainty? I was insensible to the +perils of my present situation. If she, indeed, were there, would not my +intrusion awaken her? She would start and perceive me, at this hour, +standing at her bedside. How should I account for an intrusion so +unexampled and audacious? I could not communicate my fears. I could not +tell her that the blood with which my hands were stained had flowed from +the wounds of her brother. + +My mind was inaccessible to such considerations. They did not even +modify my predominant idea. Obstacles like these, had they existed, +would have been trampled under foot. + +Leaving the lamp, that I bore, on the table, I approached the bed. I +slowly drew aside the curtain, and beheld her tranquilly slumbering. I +listened, but so profound was her sleep, that not even her breathings +could be overheard. I dropped the curtain and retired. + +How blissful and mild were the illuminations of my bosom at this +discovery! A joy that surpassed all utterance succeeded the fierceness +of desperation. I stood, for some moments, wrapped in delightful +contemplation. Alas! it was a luminous but transient interval. The +madness to whose black suggestions it bore so strong a contrast began +now to make sensible approaches on my understanding. + +"True," said I, "she lives. Her slumber is serene and happy. She is +blind to her approaching destiny. Some hours will at least be rescued +from anguish and death. When she wakes, the phantom that soothed her +will vanish. The tidings cannot be withheld from her. The murderer of +thy brother cannot hope to enjoy thy smiles. Those ravishing accents, +with which thou hast used to greet me, will be changed. Scowling and +reproaches, the invectives of thy anger and the maledictions of thy +justice, will rest upon my head, + +"What is the blessing which I made the theme of my boastful arrogance? +This interval of being and repose is momentary. She will awake, but only +to perish at the spectacle of my ingratitude. She will awake only to the +consciousness of instantly-impending death. When she again sleeps she +will wake no more. I, her son,--I, whom the law of my birth doomed to +poverty and hardship, but whom her unsolicited beneficence snatched from +those evils, and endowed with the highest good known to intelligent +beings, the consolations of science and the blandishments of +affluence,--to whom the darling of her life, the offspring in whom are +faithfully preserved the lineaments of its angelic mother, she has not +denied! What is the recompense that I have made? How have I discharged +the measureless debt of gratitude to which she is entitled? Thus!-- + +"Cannot my guilt be extenuated? Is there not a good that I can do thee? +Must I perpetrate unmingled evil? Is the province assigned me that of an +infernal emissary, whose efforts are concentred in a single purpose, and +that purpose a malignant one? I am the author of thy calamities. +Whatever misery is reserved for thee, I am the source whence it flows. +Can I not set bounds to the stream? Cannot I prevent thee from returning +to a consciousness which, till it ceases to exist, will not cease to be +rent and mangled? + +"Yes. It is in my power to screen thee from the coming storm; to +accelerate thy journey to rest. I will do it." + +The impulse was not to be resisted. I moved with the suddenness of +lightning. Armed with a pointed implement that lay----it was a dagger. +As I set down the lamp, I struck the edge. Yet I saw it not, or noticed +it not till I needed its assistance. By what accident it came hither, to +what deed of darkness it had already been subservient, I had no power to +inquire. I stepped to the table and seized it. + +The time which this action required was insufficient to save me. My doom +was ratified by powers which no human energies can counterwork.--Need I +go further? Did you entertain any imagination of so frightful a +catastrophe? I am overwhelmed by turns with dismay and with wonder. I am +prompted by turns to tear my heart from my breast and deny faith to the +verdict of my senses. + +Was it I that hurried to the deed? No. It was the demon that possessed +me. My limbs were guided to the bloody office by a power foreign and +superior to mine. I had been defrauded, for a moment, of the empire of +my muscles. A little moment for that sufficed. If my destruction had +not been decreed, why was the image of Clarice so long excluded? Yet why +do I say long? The fatal resolution was conceived, and I hastened to the +execution, in a period too brief for more than itself to be viewed by +the intellect. + +What then? Were my hands imbrued in this precious blood? Was it to this +extremity of horror that my evil genius was determined to urge me? Too +surely this was his purpose; too surely I was qualified to be its +minister. + +I lifted the weapon. Its point was aimed at the bosom of the sleeper. +The impulse was given. + +At the instant a piercing shriek was uttered behind me, and a +stretched-out hand, grasping the blade, made it swerve widely from its +aim. It descended, but without inflicting a wound. Its force was spent +upon the bed. + +Oh for words to paint that stormy transition! I loosed my hold of the +dagger. I started back, and fixed eyes of frantic curiosity on the +author of my rescue. He that interposed to arrest my deed, that started +into being and activity at a moment so pregnant with fate, without +tokens of his purpose or his coming being previously imparted, could +not, methought, be less than divinity. + +The first glance that I darted on this being corroborated my conjecture. +It was the figure and lineaments of Mrs. Lorimer. Negligently habited in +flowing and brilliant white, with features bursting with terror and +wonder, the likeness of that being who was stretched upon the bed now +stood before me. + +All that I am able to conceive of angel was comprised in the moral +constitution of this woman. That her genius had overleaped all bounds, +and interposed to save her, was no audacious imagination. In the state +in which my mind then was, no other belief than this could occupy the +first place. + +My tongue was tied. I gazed by turns upon her who stood before me, and +her who lay upon the bed, and who, awakened by the shriek that had been +uttered, now opened her eyes. She started from her pillow, and, by +assuming a new and more distinct attitude, permitted me to recognise +_Clarice herself_! + +Three days before, I had left her, beside the bed of a dying friend, at +a solitary mansion in the mountains of Donegal. Here it had been her +resolution to remain till her friend should breathe her last. Fraught +with this persuasion, knowing this to be the place and hour of repose of +my lady, hurried forward by the impetuosity of my own conceptions, +deceived by the faint gleam which penetrated through the curtain and +imperfectly-irradiated features which bore, at all times, a powerful +resemblance to those of Mrs. Lorimer, I had rushed to the brink of this +terrible precipice! + +Why did I linger on the verge? Why, thus perilously situated, did I not +throw myself headlong? The steel was yet in my hand. A single blow would +have pierced my heart, and shut out from my remembrance and foresight +the past and the future. + +The moment of insanity had gone by, and I was once more myself. Instead +of regarding the act which I had meditated as the dictate of compassion +or of justice, it only added to the sum of my ingratitude, and gave +wings to the whirlwind that was sent to bear me to perdition. + +Perhaps I was influenced by a sentiment which I had not leisure to +distribute into parts. My understanding was, no doubt, bewildered in the +maze of consequences which would spring from my act. How should I +explain my coming hither in this murderous guise, my arm lifted to +destroy the idol of my soul and the darling child of my patroness? In +what words should I unfold the tale of Wiatte, and enumerate the motives +that terminated in the present scene? What penalty had not my +infatuation and cruelty deserved? What could I less than turn the +dagger's point against my own bosom? + +A second time, the blow was thwarted and diverted. Once more this +beneficent interposer held my arm from the perpetration of a new +iniquity. Once more frustrated the instigations of that demon, of whose +malice a mysterious destiny had consigned me to be the sport and the +prey. + +Every new moment added to the sum of my inexpiable guilt. Murder was +succeeded, in an instant, by the more detestable enormity of suicide. +She to whom my ingratitude was flagrant in proportion to the benefits of +which she was the author, had now added to her former acts that of +rescuing me from the last of mischiefs. + +I threw the weapon on the floor. The zeal which prompted her to seize my +arm, this action occasioned to subside, and to yield place to those +emotions which this spectacle was calculated to excite. She watched me +in silence, and with an air of ineffable solicitude. Clarice, governed +by the instinct of modesty, wrapped her bosom and face in the +bedclothes, and testified her horror by vehement but scarcely-articulate +exclamations. + +I moved forward, but my steps were random and tottering. My thoughts +were fettered by reverie, and my gesticulations destitute of meaning. My +tongue faltered without speaking, and I felt as if life and death were +struggling within me for the mastery. + +My will, indeed, was far from being neutral in this contest. To such as +I, annihilation is the supreme good. To shake off the ills that fasten +on us by shaking off existence, is a lot which the system of nature has +denied to man. By escaping from life, I should be delivered from this +scene, but should only rush into a world of retribution, and be immersed +in new agonies. + +I was yet to live. No instrument of my deliverance was within reach. I +was powerless. To rush from the presence of these women to hide me +forever from their scrutiny and their upbraiding, to snatch from their +minds all traces of the existence of Clithero, was the scope of +unutterable longings. + +Urged to flight by every motive of which my nature was susceptible, I +was yet rooted to the spot. Had the pause been only to be interrupted by +me, it would have lasted forever. + +At length, the lady, clasping her hands and lifting them, exclaimed, in +a tone melting into pity and grief,-- + +"Clithero! what is this? How came you hither, and why?" + +I struggled for utterance:--"I came to murder you. Your brother has +perished by my hands. Fresh from the commission of this deed, I have +hastened hither to perpetrate the same crime upon you." + +"My brother!" replied the lady, with new vehemence. "Oh, say not so! I +have just heard of his return, from Sarsefield, and that he lives." + +"He is dead," repeated I, with fierceness; "I know it. It was I that +killed him." + +"Dead!" she faintly articulated. "And by thee, Clithero? Oh! cursed +chance that hindered thee from killing me also! Dead! Then is the omen +fulfilled! Then am I undone! Lost forever!" + +Her eyes now wandered from me, and her countenance sunk into a wild and +rueful expression. Hope was utterly extinguished in her heart, and life +forsook her at the same moment. She sunk upon the floor pallid and +breathless. + +How she came into possession of this knowledge I know not. It is +possible that Sarsefield had repented of concealment, and, in the +interval that passed between our separation and my encounter with +Wiatte, had returned, and informed her of the reappearance of this +miscreant. + +Thus, then, was my fate consummated. I was rescued from destroying her +by a dagger, only to behold her perish by the tidings which I brought. +Thus was every omen of mischief and misery fulfilled. Thus was the +enmity of Wiatte rendered efficacious, and the instrument of his +destruction changed into the executioner of his revenge. + +Such is the tale of my crimes. It is not for me to hope that the curtain +of oblivion will ever shut out the dismal spectacle. It will haunt me +forever. The torments that grow out of it can terminate only with the +thread of my existence, but that, I know full well, will never end. +Death is but a shifting of the scene; and the endless progress of +eternity, which to the good is merely the perfection of felicity, is to +the wicked an accumulation of woe. The self-destroyer is his own enemy: +this has ever been my opinion. Hitherto it has influenced my actions. +Now, though the belief continues, its influence on my conduct is +annihilated. I am no stranger to the depth of that abyss into which I +shall plunge. No matter. Change is precious for its own sake. + +Well, I was still to live. My abode must be somewhere fixed. My conduct +was henceforth the result of a perverse and rebellious principle. I +banished myself forever from my native soil. I vowed never more to +behold the face of my Clarice, to abandon my friends, my books, all my +wonted labours and accustomed recreations. + +I was neither ashamed nor afraid. I considered not in what way the +justice of the country would affect me. It merely made no part of my +contemplations. I was not embarrassed by the choice of expedients for +trammelling up the visible consequences and for eluding suspicion. The +idea of abjuring my country and flying forever from the hateful scene +partook, to my apprehension, of the vast, the boundless, and strange; of +plunging from the height of fortune to obscurity and indigence, +corresponded with my present state of mind. It was of a piece with the +tremendous and wonderful events that had just happened. + +These were the images that haunted me, while I stood speechlessly gazing +at the ruin before me. I heard a noise from without, or imagined that I +heard it. My reverie was broken, and my muscular power restored. I +descended into the street, through doors of which I possessed one set of +keys, and hurried by the shortest way beyond the precincts of the city. +I had laid no plan. My conceptions with regard to the future were +shapeless and confused. Successive incidents supplied me with a clue, +and suggested, as they rose, the next step to be taken. I threw off the +garb of affluence, and assumed a beggar's attire. That I had money about +me for the accomplishment of my purposes was wholly accidental. I +travelled along the coast, and, when I arrived at one town, knew not why +I should go farther; but my restlessness was unabated, and change was +some relief. I it length arrived at Belfast. A vessel was preparing for +America. I embraced eagerly the opportunity of passing into a new world. +I arrived at Philadelphia. As soon as I landed I wandered hither, and +was content to wear out my few remaining days in the service of +Inglefield. + +I have no friends. Why should I trust my story to mother? I have no +solicitude about concealment; but who is there who will derive pleasure +or benefit from my rehearsal? And why should I expatiate on so hateful a +scheme? Yet now have I consented to this. I have confided in you the +history of my disasters. I am not fearful of the use that you may be +disposed to make of it. I shall quickly set myself beyond the reach of +human tribunals. I shall relieve the ministers of law from the trouble +of punishing. The recent events which induced you to summon me to this +conference have likewise determined me to make this disclosure. + +I was not aware, for some time, of my perturbed sleep. No wonder that +sleep cannot soothe miseries like mine; that I am alike infested by +memory in wakefulness and slumber. Yet I was anew distressed by the +discovery that my thoughts found their way to my lips, without my being +conscious of it, and that my steps wandered forth unknowingly and +without the guidance of my will. + +The story you have told is not incredible. The disaster to which you +allude did not fail to excite my regret. I can still weep over the +untimely fall of youth and worth. I can no otherwise account for my +frequenting his shade than by the distant resemblance which the death of +this man bore to that of which I was the perpetrator. This resemblance +occurred to me at first. If he were able to weaken the impression which +was produced by my crime, this similitude was adapted to revive and +enforce them. + +The wilderness, and the cave to which you followed me, were familiar to +my Sunday rambles. Often have I indulged in audible griefs on the cliffs +of that valley. Often have I brooded over my sorrows in the recesses of +that cavern. This scene is adapted to my temper. Its mountainous +asperities supply me with images of desolation and seclusion, and its +headlong streams lull me into temporary forgetfulness of mankind. + +I comprehend you. You suspect me of concern in the death of Waldegrave. +You could not do otherwise. The conduct that you have witnessed was that +of a murderer. I will not upbraid you for your suspicions, though I have +bought exemption from them at a high price. + + + + +Chapter IX. + + +There ended his narrative. He started from the spot where he stood, and, +without affording me any opportunity of replying or commenting, +disappeared amidst the thickest of the wood. I had no time to exert +myself for his detention. I could have used no arguments for this end, +to which it is probable he would have listened. The story I had heard +was too extraordinary, too completely the reverse of all my +expectations, to allow me to attend to the intimations of self-murder +which he dropped. + +The secret which I imagined was about to be disclosed was as inscrutable +as ever. Not a circumstance, from the moment when Clithero's character +became the subject of my meditations, till the conclusion of his talk, +but served to confirm my suspicion. Was this error to be imputed to +credulity. Would not any one, from similar appearances, have drawn +similar conclusions? Or is there a criterion by which truth can always +be distinguished? Was it owing to my imperfect education that the +inquietudes of this man were not traced to a deed performed at the +distance of a thousand leagues, to the murder of his patroness and +friend? + +I had heard a tale which apparently related to scenes and persons far +distant: but, though my suspicions have appeared to have been misplaced, +what should hinder but that the death of my friend was, in like manner, +an act of momentary insanity and originated in a like spirit of mistaken +benevolence? + +But I did not consider this tale merely in relation to myself. My life +had been limited and uniform. I had communed with romancers and +historians, but the impression made upon me by this incident was +unexampled in my experience. My reading had furnished me with no +instance in any degree parallel to this, and I found that to be a +distant and second-hand spectator of events was widely different from +witnessing them myself and partaking in their consequences. My judgment +was, for a time, sunk into imbecility and confusion. My mind was full of +the images unavoidably suggested by this tale, but they existed in a +kind of chaos, and not otherwise than gradually was I able to reduce +them to distinct particulars, and subject them to a deliberate and +methodical inspection. + +How was I to consider this act of Clithero? What a deplorable +infatuation! Yet it was the necessary result of a series of ideas +mutually linked and connected. His conduct was dictated by a motive +allied to virtue. It was the fruit of an ardent and grateful spirit. + +The death of Wiatte could not be censured. The life of Clithero was +unspeakably more valuable than that of his antagonist. It was the +instinct of self-preservation that swayed him. He knew not his adversary +in time enough to govern himself by that knowledge. Had the assailant +been an unknown ruffian, his death would have been followed by no +remorse. The spectacle of his dying agonies would have dwelt upon the +memory of his assassin like any other mournful sight, in the production +of which he bore no part. + +It must at least be said that his will was not concerned in this +transaction. He acted in obedience to an impulse which he could not +control nor resist. Shall we impute guilt where there is no design? +Shall a man extract food for self-reproach from an action to which it is +not enough to say that he was actuated by no culpable intention, but +that he was swayed by no intention whatever? If consequences arise that +cannot be foreseen, shall we find no refuge in the persuasion of our +rectitude and of human frailty? Shall we deem ourselves criminal because +we do not enjoy the attributes of Deity? Because our power and our +knowledge are confined by impassable boundaries? + +But whence arose the subsequent intention? It was the fruit of a +dreadful mistake. His intents were noble and compassionate. But this is +of no avail to free him from the imputation of guilt. No remembrance of +past beneficence can compensate for this crime. The scale loaded with +the recriminations of his conscience, is immovable by any +counter-weight. + +But what are the conclusions to be drawn by dispassionate observers? Is +it possible to regard this person with disdain or with enmity? The crime +originated in those limitations which nature has imposed upon human +faculties. Proofs of a just intention are all that are requisite to +exempt us from blame; he is thus, in consequence of a double mistake. +The light in which he views this event is erroneous. He judges wrong, +and is therefore miserable. + +How imperfect are the grounds of all our decisions Was it of no use to +superintend his childhood, to select his instructors and examples, to +mark the operations of his principles, to see him emerging into youth, +to follow him through various scenes and trying vicissitudes, and mark +the uniformity of his integrity? Who would have predicted his future +conduct? Who would not have affirmed the impossibility of an action like +this? + +How mysterious was the connection between the fate of Wiatte and his +sister! By such circuitous and yet infallible means were the prediction +of the lady and the vengeance of the brother accomplished! In how many +cases may it be said, as in this, that the prediction was the cause of +its own fulfilment! That the very act which considerate observers, and +even himself, for a time, imagined to have utterly precluded the +execution of Wiatte's menaces, should be that inevitably leading to it! +That the execution should be assigned to him who, abounding in +abhorrence, and in the act of self-defence, was the slayer of the +menacer! + +As the obstructer of his designs, Wiatte waylaid and assaulted Clithero. +He perished in the attempt. Were his designs frustrated? No. It was thus +that he secured the gratification of his vengeance. His sister was cut +off in the bloom of life and prosperity. By a refinement of good +fortune, the voluntary minister of his malice had entailed upon himself +exile without reprieve and misery without end. + +But what chiefly excited my wonder was the connection of this tale with +the destiny of Sarsefield. This was he whom I have frequently mentioned +to you as my preceptor. About four years previous to this era, he +appeared in this district without fortune or friend. He desired, one +evening, to be accommodated at my uncle's house. The conversation +turning on the objects of his journey and his present situation, he +professed himself in search of lucrative employment. My uncle proposed +to him to become a teacher, there being a sufficient number of young +people in this neighbourhood to afford him occupation and subsistence. +He found it his interest to embrace this proposal. + +I, of course, became his pupil, and demeaned myself in such a manner as +speedily to grow into a favourite. He communicated to us no part of his +early history, but informed us sufficiently of his adventures in Asia +and Italy to make it plain that this was the same person alluded to by +Clithero. During his abode among us his conduct was irreproachable. When +he left us, he manifested the most poignant regret, but this originated +chiefly in his regard to me. He promised to maintain with me an +epistolary intercourse. Since his departure, however, I had heard +nothing respecting him. It was with unspeakable regret that I now heard +of the disappointment of his hopes, and was inquisitive respecting the +measures which he would adopt in his new situation. Perhaps he would' +once more return to America, and I should again be admitted to the +enjoyment of his society. This event I anticipated with the highest +satisfaction. + +At present, the fate of the unhappy Clithero was the subject of abundant +anxiety. On his suddenly leaving me, at the conclusion of his tale, I +supposed that he had gone upon one of his usual rambles, and that it +would terminate only with the day. Next morning a message was received +from Inglefield, inquiring if any one knew what had become of his +servant. I could not listen to this message with tranquillity, I +recollected the hints that he had given of some design upon his life, +and admitted the most dreary forebodings. I speeded to Inglefield's. +Clithero had not returned, they told me, the preceding evening. He had +not apprized them of any intention to change his abode. His boxes, and +all that composed his slender property, were found in their ordinary +state. He had expressed no dissatisfaction with his present condition. + +Several days passed, and no tidings could be procured of him. His +absence was a topic of general speculation, but was a source of +particular anxiety to no one but myself. My apprehensions were surely +built upon sufficient grounds. From the moment that we parted, no one +had seen or heard of him. What mode of suicide he had selected, he had +disabled us from discovering, by the impenetrable secrecy in which he +had involved it. + +In the midst of my reflections upon this subject, the idea of the +wilderness occurred. Could he have executed his design in the deepest of +its recesses? These were unvisited by human footsteps, and his bones +might lie for ages in this solitude without attracting observation. To +seek them where they lay, to gather them together and provide for them a +grave, was a duty which appeared incumbent on me, and of which the +performance was connected with a thousand habitual sentiments and mixed +pleasures. + +Thou knowest my devotion to the spirit that breathes its inspiration in +the gloom of forests and on the verge of streams. I love to immerse +myself in shades and dells, and hold converse with the solemnities and +secrecies of nature in the rude retreats of Norwalk. The disappearance +of Clithero had furnished new incitements to ascend its cliffs and +pervade its thickets, as I cherished the hope of meeting in my rambles +with some traces of this man. But might he not still live? His words had +imparted the belief that he intended to destroy himself. This +catastrophe, however, was far from certain. Was it not in my power to +avert it? Could I not restore a mind thus vigorous, to tranquil and +wholesome existence? Could I not subdue his perverse disdain and +immeasurable abhorrence of himself? His upbraiding and his scorn were +unmerited and misplaced. Perhaps they argued frenzy rather than +prejudice; but frenzy, like prejudice, was curable. Reason was no less +an antidote to the illusions of insanity like his, than to the illusions +of error. + +I did not immediately recollect that to subsist in this desert was +impossible. Nuts were the only fruits it produced, and these were +inadequate to sustain human life. If it were haunted by Clithero, he +must occasionally pass its limits and beg or purloin victuals. This +deportment was too humiliating and flagitious to be imputed to him. +There was reason to suppose him smitten with the charms of solitude, of +a lonely abode in the midst of mountainous and rugged nature; but this +could not be uninterruptedly enjoyed. Life could be supported only by +occasionally visiting the haunts of men, in the guise of a thief or a +mendicant. Hence, since Clithero was not known to have reappeared at any +farm-house in the neighbourhood, I was compelled to conclude either that +he had retired far from this district, or that he was dead. + +Though I designed that my leisure should chiefly be consumed in the +bosom of Norwalk, I almost dismissed the hope of meeting with the +fugitive. There were indeed two sources of my hopelessness on this +occasion. Not only it was probable that Clithero had fled far away, but, +should he have concealed himself in some nook or cavern within these +precincts, his concealment was not to be traced. This arose from the +nature of that sterile region. + +It would not be easy to describe the face of this district, in a few +words. Half of Solesbury, thou knowest, admits neither of plough nor +spade. The cultivable space lies along the river, and the desert, lying +on the north, has gained, by some means, the appellation of Norwalk. +Canst thou imagine a space, somewhat circular, about six miles in +diameter, and exhibiting a perpetual and intricate variety of craggy +eminences and deep dells? + +The hollows are single, and walled around by cliffs, ever varying in +shape and height, and have seldom any perceptible communication with +each other. These hollows are of all dimensions, from the narrowness and +depth of a well, to the amplitude of one hundred yards. Winter's snow is +frequently found in these cavities at midsummer. The streams that burst +forth from every crevice are thrown, by the irregularities of the +surface, into numberless cascades, often disappear in mists or in +chasms, and emerge from subterranean channels, and, finally, either +subside into lakes, or quietly meander through the lower and more level +grounds. + +Wherever nature left a flat it is made rugged and scarcely passable by +enormous and fallen trunks, accumulated by the storms of ages, and +forming, by their slow decay, a moss-covered soil, the haunt of rabbits +and lizards. These spots are obscured by the melancholy umbrage of +pines, whose eternal murmurs are in unison with vacancy and solitude, +with the reverberations of the torrents and the whistling of the blasts. +Hickory and poplar, which abound in the lowlands, find here no fostering +elements. + +A sort of continued vale, winding and abrupt, leads into the midst of +this region and through it. This vale serves the purpose of a road. It +is a tedious maze and perpetual declivity, and requires, from the +passenger, a cautious and sure foot. Openings and ascents occasionally +present themselves on each side, which seem to promise you access to the +interior region, but always terminate, sooner or later, in insuperable +difficulties, at the verge of a precipice or the bottom of a steep. + +Perhaps no one was more acquainted with this wilderness than I, but my +knowledge was extremely imperfect. I had traversed parts of it, at an +early age, in pursuit of berries and nuts, or led by a roaming +disposition. Afterwards the sphere of my rambles was enlarged and their +purpose changed. When Sarsefield came among us, I became his favourite +scholar and the companion of all his pedestrian excursions. He was fond +of penetrating into these recesses, partly from the love of picturesque +scenes, partly to investigate its botanical and mineral productions, and +partly to carry on more effectually that species of instruction which he +had adopted with regard to me, and which chiefly consisted in moralizing +narratives or synthetical reasonings. These excursions had familiarized +me with its outlines and most accessible parts; but there was much +which, perhaps, could never be reached without wings, and much the only +paths to which I might forever overlook. + +Every new excursion, indeed, added somewhat to my knowledge. New tracks +were pursued, new prospects detected, and new summits were gained. My +rambles were productive of incessant novelty, though they always +terminated in the prospect of limits that could not be overleaped. But +none of these had led me wider from my customary paths than that which +had taken place when in pursuit of Clithero. I had a faint remembrance +of the valley into which I had descended after him; but till then I had +viewed it at a distance, and supposed it impossible to reach the bottom +but by leaping from a precipice some hundred feet in height. The +opposite steep seemed no less inaccessible, and the cavern at the bottom +was impervious to any views which my former positions had enabled me to +take of it. + +My intention to re-examine this cave and ascertain whither it led had, +for a time, been suspended by different considerations. It was now +revived with more energy than ever. I reflected that this had formerly +been haunted by Clithero, and might possibly have been the scene of the +desperate act which he had meditated. It might at least conceal some +token of his past existence. It might lead into spaces hitherto +unvisited, and to summits from which wider landscapes might be seen. + +One morning I set out to explore this scene. The road which Clithero had +taken was laboriously circuitous. On my return from the first pursuit of +him, I ascended the cliff in my former footsteps, but soon lighted on +the beaten track which I have already described. This enabled me to shun +a thousand obstacles which had lately risen before me, and opened an +easy passage to the cavern. + +I once more traversed this way. The brow of the hill was gained. The +ledges of which it consisted afforded sufficient footing, when the +attempt was made, though viewed at a distance they seemed to be too +narrow for that purpose. As I descended the rugged stair, I could not +but wonder at the temerity and precipitation with which this descent had +formerly been made. It seemed as if the noonday light and the tardiest +circumspection would scarcely enable me to accomplish it; yet then it +had been done with headlong speed, and with no guidance but the moon's +uncertain rays. + +I reached the mouth of the cave. Till now I had forgotten that a lamp or +a torch might be necessary to direct my subterranean footsteps. I was +unwilling to defer the attempt. Light might possibly be requisite, if +the cave had no other outlet. Somewhat might present itself within to +the eyes, which might forever elude the hands, but I was more inclined +to consider it merely as an avenue terminating in an opening on the +summit of the steep, or on the opposite side of the ridge. Caution might +supply the place of light, or, having explored the cave as far as +possible at present, I might hereafter return, better furnished for the +scrutiny. + + + + +Chapter X. + + +With these determinations, I proceeded. The entrance was low, and +compelled me to resort to hands as well as feet. At a few yards from the +mouth the light disappeared, and I found myself immersed in the dunnest +obscurity. Had I not been persuaded that another had gone before me, I +should have relinquished the attempt. I proceeded with the utmost +caution, always ascertaining, by outstretched arms, the height and +breadth of the cavity before me. In a short time the dimensions expanded +on all sides, and permitted me to resume my feet. + +I walked upon a smooth and gentle declivity. Presently the wall on one +side, and the ceiling, receded beyond my reach. I began to fear that I +should be involved in a maze, and should be disabled from returning. To +obviate this danger it was requisite to adhere to the nearest wall, and +conform to the direction which it should take, without straying through +the palpable obscurity. Whether the ceiling was lofty or low, whether +the opposite wall of the passage was distant or near, this I deemed no +proper opportunity to investigate. + +In a short time, my progress was stopped by an abrupt descent. I set +down the advancing foot with caution, being aware that I might at the +next step encounter a bottomless pit. To the brink of such a one I +seemed now to have arrived. I stooped, and stretched my hand forward and +downward, but all was vacuity. + +Here it was needful to pause. I had reached the brink of a cavity whose +depth it Avas impossible to ascertain. It might be a few inches beyond +my reach, or hundreds of feet. By leaping down I might incur no injury, +or might plunge into a lake or dash myself to pieces on the points of +rocks. + +I now saw with new force the propriety of being furnished with a light. +The first suggestion was to return upon my footsteps, and resume my +undertaking on the morrow. Yet, having advanced thus far, I felt +reluctance to recede without accomplishing my purposes. I reflected +likewise that Clithero had boldly entered this recess, and had certainly +come forth at a different avenue from that at which he entered. + +At length it occurred to me that, though I could not go forward, yet I +might proceed along the edge of this cavity. This edge would be as safe +a guidance, and would serve as well for a clue by which I might return, +as the wall which it was now necessary to forsake. + +Intense dark is always the parent of fears. Impending injuries cannot in +this state be descried, nor shunned, nor repelled. I began to feel some +faltering of my courage, and seated myself, for a few minutes, on a +stony mass which arose before me. My situation was new. The caverns I +had hitherto met with in this desert were chiefly formed of low-browed +rocks. They were chambers, more or less spacious, into which twilight +was at least admitted; but here it seemed as if I were surrounded by +barriers that would forever cut off my return to air and to light. + +Presently I resumed my courage and proceeded. My road appeared now to +ascend. On one side I seemed still upon the verge of a precipice, and on +the other all was empty and waste. I had gone no inconsiderable +distance, and persuaded myself that my career would speedily terminate. +In a short time, the space on the left hand was again occupied, and I +cautiously proceeded between the edge of the gulf and a rugged wall. As +the space between them widened I adhered to the wall. + +I was not insensible that my path became more intricate and more +difficult to retread in proportion as I advanced. I endeavoured to +preserve a vivid conception of the way which I had already passed, and +to keep the images of the left and right-hand wall, and the gulf, in due +succession in my memory. + +The path, which had hitherto been considerably smooth, now became rugged +and steep. Chilling damps, the secret trepidation which attended me, the +length and difficulties of my way, enhanced by the ceaseless caution and +the numerous expedients which the utter darkness obliged me to employ, +began to overpower my strength. I was frequently compelled to stop and +recruit myself by rest. These respites from toil were of use, but they +could not enable me to prosecute an endless journey, and to return was +scarcely a less arduous task than to proceed. + +I looked anxiously forward, in the hope of being comforted by some dim +ray, which might assure me that my labours were approaching an end. At +last this propitious token appeared, and I issued forth into a kind of +chamber, one side of which was open to the air and allowed me to catch a +portion of the checkered sky. This spectacle never before excited such +exquisite sensations in my bosom. The air, likewise, breathed into the +cavern, was unspeakably delicious. + +I now found myself on the projecture of a rock. Above and below, the +hill-side was nearly perpendicular. Opposite, and at the distance of +fifteen or twenty yards, was a similar ascent. At the bottom was a glen, +cold, narrow, and obscure. This projecture, which served as a kind of +vestibule to the cave, was connected with a ledge, by which, though not +without peril and toil, I was conducted to the summit. + +This summit was higher than any of those which were interposed between +itself and the river. A large part of this chaos of rocks and precipices +was subjected, at one view, to the eye. The fertile lawns and vales +which lay beyond this, the winding course of the river, and the slopes +which rose on its farther side, were parts of this extensive scene. +These objects were at any time fitted to inspire rapture. Now my delight +was enhanced by the contrast which this lightsome and serene element +bore to the glooms from which I had lately emerged. My station, also, +was higher, and the limits of my view, consequently, more ample than any +which I had hitherto enjoyed. + +I advanced to the outer verge of the hill, which I found to overlook a +steep no less inaccessible, and a glen equally profound. I changed +frequently my station in order to diversify the scenery. At length it +became necessary to inquire by what means I should return. I traversed +the edge of the hill, but on every side it was equally steep and always +too lofty to permit me to leap from it. As I kept along the verge, I +perceived that it tended in a circular direction, and brought me back, +at last, to the spot from which I had set out. From this inspection, it +seemed as if return was impossible by any other way than that through +the cavern. + +I now turned my attention to the interior space. If you imagine a +cylindrical mass, with a cavity dug in the centre, whose edge conforms +to the exterior edge; and if you place in this cavity another cylinder, +higher than that which surrounds it, but so small as to leave between +its sides and those of the cavity a hollow space, you will gain as +distinct an image of this hill as words can convey. The summit of the +inner rock was rugged and covered with trees of unequal growth. To reach +this summit would not render my return easier; but its greater elevation +would extend my view, and perhaps furnish a spot from which the whole +horizon was conspicuous. + +As I had traversed the outer, I now explored the inner, edge of this +hill. At length I reached a spot where the chasm, separating the two +rocks, was narrower than at any other part. At first view, it seemed as +if it were possible to leap over it, but a nearer examination showed me +that the passage was impracticable. So far as my eye could estimate it, +the breadth was thirty or forty feet. I could scarcely venture to look +beneath. The height was dizzy, and the walls, which approached each +other at top, receded at the bottom, so as to form the resemblance of an +immense hall, lighted from a rift which some convulsion of nature had +made in the roof. Where I stood there ascended a perpetual mist, +occasioned by a torrent that dashed along the rugged pavement below. + +From these objects I willingly turned my eye upon those before and above +me, on the opposite ascent. A stream, rushing from above, fell into a +cavity, which its own force seemed gradually to have made. The noise and +the motion equally attracted my attention. There was a desolate and +solitary grandeur in the scene, enhanced by the circumstances in which +it was beheld, and by the perils through which I had recently passed, +that had never before been witnessed by me. + +A sort of sanctity and awe environed it, owing to the consciousness of +absolute and utter loneliness. It was probable that human feet had never +before gained this recess, that human eyes had never been fixed upon +these gushing waters. The aboriginal inhabitants had no motives to lead +them into caves like this and ponder on the verge of such a precipice. +Their successors were still less likely to have wandered hither. Since +the birth of this continent, I was probably the first who had deviated +thus remotely from the customary paths of men. + +While musing upon these ideas, my eye was fixed upon the foaming +current. At length I looked upon the rocks which confined and +embarrassed its course. I admired their fantastic shapes and endless +irregularities. Passing from one to the other of these, my attention +lighted, at length, as if by some magical transition, on--a human +countenance! + +My surprise was so abrupt, and my sensations so tumultuous, that I +forgot for a moment the perilous nature of my situation. I loosened my +hold of a pine-branch, which had been hitherto one of my supports, and +almost started from my seat. Had my station been in a slight degree +nearer the brink than it was, I should have fallen headlong into the +abyss. + +To meet a human creature, even on that side of the chasm which I +occupied, would have been wholly adverse to my expectation. My station +was accessible by no other road than that through which I had passed, +and no motives were imaginable by which others could be prompted to +explore this road. But he whom I now beheld was seated where it seemed +impossible for human efforts to have placed him. + +But this affected me but little in comparison with other incidents. Not +only the countenance was human, but, in spite of shaggy and tangled +locks, and an air of melancholy wildness, I speedily recognised the +features of the fugitive Clithero! + +One glance was not sufficient to make me acquainted with this scene. I +had come hither partly in pursuit of this man, but some casual appendage +of his person, something which should indicate his past rather than his +present existence, was all that I hoped to find. That he should be found +alive in this desert, that he should have gained this summit, access to +which was apparently impossible, were scarcely within the boundaries of +belief. + +His scanty and coarse garb had been nearly rent away by brambles and +thorns; his arms, bosom, and cheeks were overgrown and half concealed by +hair. There was somewhat in his attitude and looks denoting more than +anarchy of thoughts and passions. His rueful, ghastly, and immovable +eyes testified not only that his mind was ravaged by despair, but that +he was pinched with famine. + +These proofs of his misery thrilled to my inmost heart. Horror and +shuddering invaded me as I stood gazing upon him, and, for a time, I was +without the power of deliberating on the measures which it was my duty +to adopt for his relief. The first suggestion was, by calling, to inform +him of my presence. I knew not what counsel or comfort to offer. By what +words to bespeak his attention, or by what topics to mollify his direful +passions, I knew not. Though so near, the gulf by which we were +separated was impassable. All that I could do was to speak. + +My surprise and my horror were still strong enough to give a shrill and +piercing tone to my voice. The chasm and the rocks loudened and +reverberated my accents while I exclaimed,--"_Man! Clithero!_" + +My summons was effectual. He shook off his trance in a moment. He had +been stretched upon his back, with his eyes fixed upon a craggy +projecture above, as if he were in momentary expectation of its fall and +crushing him to atoms. Now he started on his feet. He was conscious of +the voice, but not of the quarter whence it came. He was looking +anxiously around when I again spoke:--"Look hither. It is I who called." + +He looked. Astonishment was now mingled with every other dreadful +meaning in his visage. He clasped his hands together and bent forward, +as if to satisfy himself that his summoner was real. At the next moment +he drew back, placed his hands upon his breast, and fixed his eyes on +the ground. + +This pause was not likely to be broken but by me. I was preparing again +to speak. To be more distinctly heard, I advanced closer to the brink. +During this action, my eye was necessarily withdrawn from him. Having +gained a somewhat nearer station, I looked again, but--he was gone! + +The seat which he so lately occupied was empty. I was not forewarned of +his disappearance or directed to the course of his flight by any +rustling among leaves. These, indeed, would have been overpowered by the +noise of the cataract. The place where he sat was the bottom of a +cavity, one side of which terminated in the verge of the abyss, but the +other sides were perpendicular or overhanging. Surely he had not leaped +into this gulf; and yet that he had so speedily scaled the steep was +impossible. + +I looked into the gulf, but the depth and the gloom allowed me to see +nothing with distinctness. His cries or groans could not be overheard +amidst the uproar of the waters. His fall must have instantly destroyed +him, and that he had fallen was the only conclusion I could draw. + +My sensations on this incident cannot be easily described. The image of +this man's despair, and of the sudden catastrophe to which my +inauspicious interference had led, filled me with compunction and +terror. Some of my fears were relieved by the new conjecture, that, +behind the rock on which he had lain, there might be some aperture or +pit into which he had descended, or in which he might be concealed. + +I derived consolation from this conjecture. Not only the evil which I +dreaded might not have happened, but some alleviation of his misery was +possible. Could I arrest his footsteps and win his attention, I might be +able to insinuate the lessons of fortitude; but if words were impotent, +and arguments were nugatory, yet to sit by him in silence, to moisten +his hand with tears, to sigh in unison, to offer him the spectacle of +sympathy, the solace of believing that his demerits were not estimated +by so rigid a standard by others as by himself, that one at least among +his fellow-men regarded him with love and pity, could not fail to be of +benign influence. + +These thoughts inspired me with new zeal. To effect my purpose it was +requisite to reach the opposite steep. I was now convinced that this was +not an impracticable undertaking, since Clithero had already performed +it. I once more made the circuit of the hill. Every side was steep and +of enormous height, and the gulf was nowhere so narrow as at this spot. +I therefore returned hither, and once more pondered on the means of +passing this tremendous chasm in safety. + +Casting my eyes upward, I noted the tree at the root of which I was +standing. I compared the breadth of the gulf with the length of the +trunk of this tree, and it appeared very suitable for a bridge. Happily +it grew obliquely, and, if felled by an axe, would probably fall of +itself, in such a manner as to be suspended across the chasm. The stock +was thick enough to afford me footing, and would enable me to reach the +opposite declivity without danger or delay. + +A more careful examination of the spot, the site of the tree, its +dimensions, and the direction of its growth, convinced me fully of the +practicability of this expedient, and I determined to carry it into +immediate execution. For this end I must hasten home, procure an axe, +and return with all expedition hither. I took my former way, once more +entered the subterranean avenue, and slowly re-emerged into day. Before +I reached home, the evening was at hand, and my tired limbs and jaded +spirits obliged me to defer my undertaking till the morrow. + +Though my limbs were at rest, my thoughts were active through the night. +I carefully reviewed the situation of this hill, and was unable to +conjecture by what means Clithero could place himself upon it. Unless he +occasionally returned to the habitable grounds, it was impossible for +him to escape perishing by famine. He might intend to destroy himself by +this means, and my first efforts were to be employed to overcome this +fatal resolution. To persuade him to leave his desolate haunts might be +a laborious and tedious task; meanwhile, all my benevolent intentions +would be frustrated by his want of sustenance. It was proper, therefore, +to carry bread with me, and to place it before him. The sight of food, +the urgencies of hunger, and my vehement entreaties, might prevail on +him to eat, though no expostulations might suffice to make him seek food +at a distance. + + + + +Chapter XI. + + +Next morning I stored a small bag with meat and bread, and, throwing an +axe on my shoulder, set out, without informing any one of my intentions, +for the hill. My passage was rendered more difficult by these +encumbrances, but my perseverance surmounted every impediment, and I +gained, in a few hours, the foot of the tree whose trunk was to serve me +for a bridge. In this journey I saw no traces of the fugitive. + +A new survey of the tree confirmed my former conclusions, and I began my +work with diligence. My strokes were repeated by a thousand echoes, and +I paused at first, somewhat startled by reverberations which made it +appear as if not one but a score of axes were employed at the same time +on both sides of the gulf. + +Quickly the tree fell, and exactly in the manner which I expected arid +desired. The wide-spread limbs occupied and choked up the channel of the +torrent, and compelled it to seek a new outlet and multiplied its +murmurs. I dared not trust myself to cross it in an upright posture, but +clung, with hands and feet, to its rugged bark. Having reached the +opposite cliff, I proceeded to examine the spot where Clithero had +disappeared. My fondest hopes were realized, for a considerable cavity +appeared, which, on a former day, had been concealed from my distant +view by the rock. + +It was obvious to conclude that this was his present habitation, or that +an avenue, conducting hither and terminating in the unexplored sides of +this pit, was that by which he had come hither, and by which he had +retired. I could not hesitate long to slide into the pit. I found an +entrance through which I fearlessly penetrated. I was prepared to +encounter obstacles and perils similar to those which I have already +described, but was rescued from them by ascending, in a few minutes, +into a kind of passage, open above, but walled by a continued rock on +both sides. The sides of this passage conformed with the utmost +exactness to each other. Nature, at some former period, had occasioned +the solid mass to dispart at this place, and had thus afforded access to +the summit of the hill. Loose stones and ragged points formed the +flooring of this passage, which rapidly and circuitously ascended. + +I was now within a few yards of the surface of the rock. The passage +opened into a kind of chamber or pit, the sides of which were not +difficult to climb. I rejoiced at the prospect of this termination of my +journey. Here I paused, and, throwing my weary limbs on the ground, +began to examine the objects around me, and to meditate on the steps +that were next to be taken. + +My first glance lighted on the very being of whom I was in search. +Stretched upon a bed of moss, at the distance of a few feet from my +station, I beheld Clithero. He had not been roused by my approach, +though my footsteps were perpetually stumbling and sliding. This +reflection gave birth to the fear that he was dead. A nearer inspection +dispelled my apprehensions, and showed me that he was merely buried in +profound slumber. Those vigils must indeed have been long which were at +last succeeded by a sleep so oblivious. + +This meeting was, in the highest degree, propitious. It not only assured +me of his existence, but proved that his miseries were capable of being +suspended. His slumber enabled me to pause, to ruminate on the manner by +which his understanding might be most successfully addressed; to collect +and arrange the topics fitted to rectify his gloomy and disastrous +perceptions. + +Thou knowest that I am qualified for such tasks neither by my education +nor my genius. The headlong and ferocious energies of this man could not +be repelled or diverted into better paths by efforts so undisciplined as +mine. A despair so stormy and impetuous would drown my feeble accents. +How should I attempt to reason with him? How should I outroot +prepossessions so inveterate,--the fruits of his earliest education, +fostered and matured by the observation and experience of his whole +life? How should I convince him that, since the death of Wiatte was not +intended, the deed was without crime? that, if it had been deliberately +concerted, it was still a virtue, since his own life could by no other +means be preserved? that when he pointed a dagger at the bosom of his +mistress he was actuated, not by avarice, or ambition, or revenge, or +malice? He desired to confer on her the highest and the only benefit of +which he believed her capable. He sought to rescue her from tormenting +regrets and lingering agonies. + +These positions were sufficiently just to my own view, but I was not +called upon to reduce them to practice. I had not to struggle with the +consciousness of having been rescued, by some miraculous contingency, +from imbruing my hands in the blood of her whom I adored; of having +drawn upon myself suspicions of ingratitude and murder too deep to be +ever effaced; of having bereft myself of love, and honour, and friends, +and spotless reputation; of having doomed myself to infamy and +detestation, to hopeless exile, penury, and servile toil. These were the +evils which his malignant destiny had made the unalterable portion of +Clithero, and how should my imperfect eloquence annihilate these evils? +Every man, not himself the victim of irretrievable disasters, perceives +the folly of ruminating on the past, and of fostering a grief which +cannot reverse or recall the decrees of an immutable necessity; but +every man who suffers is unavoidably shackled by the errors which he +censures in his neighbour, and his efforts to relieve himself are as +fruitless as those with which he attempted the relief of others. + +No topic, therefore, could be properly employed by me on the present +occasion. All that I could do was to offer him food, and, by pathetic +supplications, to prevail on him to eat. Famine, however obstinate, +would scarcely refrain when bread was placed within sight and reach. +When made to swerve from his resolution in one instance, it would be +less difficult to conquer it a second time. The magic of sympathy, the +perseverance of benevolence, though silent, might work a gradual and +secret revolution, and better thoughts might insensibly displace those +desperate suggestions which now governed him. + +Having revolved these ideas, I placed the food which I had brought at +his right hand, and, seating myself at his feet, attentively surveyed +his countenance. The emotions which were visible during wakefulness had +vanished during this cessation of remembrance and remorse, or were +faintly discernible. They served to dignify and solemnize his features, +and to embellish those immutable lines which betokened the spirit of his +better days. Lineaments were now observed which could never coexist with +folly or associate with obdurate guilt. + +I had no inclination to awaken him. This respite was too sweet to be +needlessly abridged. I determined to await the operation of nature, and +to prolong, by silence and by keeping interruption at a distance, this +salutary period of forgetfulness. This interval permitted new ideas to +succeed in my mind. + +Clithero believed his solitude to be unapproachable. What new expedients +to escape inquiry and intrusion might not my presence suggest! Might he +not vanish, as he had done on the former day, and afford me no time to +assail his constancy and tempt his hunger? If, however, I withdrew +during his sleep, he would awake without disturbance, and be +unconscious, for a time, that his secrecy had been violated. He would +quickly perceive the victuals, and would need no foreign inducements to +eat. A provision so unexpected and extraordinary might suggest new +thoughts, and be construed into a kind of heavenly condemnation of his +purpose. He would not readily suspect the motives or person of his +visitant, would take no precaution against the repetition of my visit, +and, at the same time, our interview would not be attended with so much +surprise. The more I revolved these reflections, the greater force they +acquired. At length, I determined to withdraw, and, leaving the food +where it could scarcely fail of attracting his notice, I returned by the +way that I had come. I had scarcely reached home, when a messenger from +Inglefield arrived, requesting me to spend the succeeding night at his +house, as some engagement had occurred to draw him to the city. + +I readily complied with this request. It was not necessary, however, to +be early in my visit. I deferred going till the evening was far +advanced. My way led under the branches of the elm which recent events +had rendered so memorable. Hence my reflections reverted to the +circumstances which had lately occurred in connection with this tree. + +I paused, for some time, under its shade. I marked the spot where +Clithero had been discovered digging. It showed marks of being +unsettled; but the sod which had formerly covered it, and which had +lately been removed, was now carefully replaced. This had not been done +by him on that occasion in which I was a witness of his behaviour. The +earth was then hastily removed, and as hastily thrown again into the +hole from which it had been taken. + +Some curiosity was naturally excited by this appearance. Either some +other person, or Clithero, on a subsequent occasion, had been here. I +was now likewise led to reflect on the possible motives that prompted +the maniac to turn up this earth. There is always some significance in +the actions of a sleeper. Somewhat was, perhaps, buried in this spot, +connected with the history of Mrs. Lorimer or of Clarice. Was it not +possible to ascertain the truth in this respect? + +There was but one method. By carefully uncovering this hole, and digging +as deep as Clithero had already dug, it would quickly appear whether any +thing was hidden. To do this publicly by daylight was evidently +indiscreet. Besides, a moment's delay was superfluous. The night had now +fallen, and before it was past this new undertaking might be finished. +An interview was, if possible, to be gained with Clithero on the morrow, +and for this interview the discoveries made on this spot might eminently +qualify me. Influenced by these considerations, I resolved to dig. I was +first, however, to converse an hour with the housekeeper, and then to +withdraw to my chamber. When the family were all retired, and there was +no fear of observation or interruption, I proposed to rise and hasten, +with a proper implement, hither. + +One chamber in Inglefield's house was usually reserved for visitants. In +this chamber thy unfortunate brother died, and here it was that I was to +sleep. The image of its last inhabitant could not fail of being called +up, and of banishing repose; but the scheme which I had meditated was an +additional incitement to watchfulness. Hither I repaired at the due +season, having previously furnished myself with candles, since I knew +not what might occur to make a light necessary. + +I did not go to bed, but either sat musing by a table or walked across +the room. The bed before me was that on which my friend breathed his +last. To rest my head upon the same pillow, to lie on that pallet which +sustained his cold and motionless limbs, were provocations to +remembrance and grief that I desired to shun. I endeavoured to fill my +mind with more recent incidents, with the disasters of Clithero, my +subterranean adventures, and the probable issue of the schemes which I +now contemplated. + +I recalled the conversation which had just ended with the housekeeper. +Clithero had been our theme, but she had dealt chiefly in repetitions of +what had formerly been related by her or by Inglefield. I inquired what +this man had left behind, and found that it consisted of a square box, +put together by himself with uncommon strength, but of rugged +workmanship. She proceeded to mention that she had advised her brother, +Mr. Inglefield, to break open this box and ascertain its contents; but +this he did not think himself justified in doing. Clithero was guilty of +no known crime, was responsible to no one for his actions, and might +some time return to claim his property. This box contained nothing with +which others had a right to meddle. Somewhat might be found in it, +throwing light upon his past or present situation; but curiosity was not +to be gratified by these means. What Clithero thought proper to conceal, +it was criminal for us to extort from him. + +The housekeeper was by no means convinced by these arguments, and at +length obtained her brother's permission to try whether any of her own +keys would unlock this chest. The keys were produced, but no lock nor +keyhole were discoverable. The lid was fast, but by what means it was +fastened the most accurate inspection could not detect. Hence she was +compelled to lay aside her project. This chest had always stood in the +chamber which I now occupied. + +These incidents were now remembered, and I felt disposed to profit by +this opportunity of examining this box. It stood in a corner, and was +easily distinguished by its form. I lifted it and found its weight by no +means extraordinary. Its structure was remarkable. It consisted of six +sides, square and of similar dimensions. These were joined, not by +mortise and tennon, not by nails, not by hinges, but the junction was +accurate. The means by which they were made to cohere were invisible. + +Appearances on every side were uniform, nor were there any marks by +which the lid was distinguishable from its other surfaces. + +During his residence with Inglefield, many specimens of mechanical +ingenuity were given by his servant. This was the workmanship of his own +hands. I looked at it for some time, till the desire insensibly arose of +opening it and examining its contents. + +I had no more right to do this than the Inglefields; perhaps, indeed, +this curiosity was more absurd, and the gratification more culpable, in +me than in them. I was acquainted with the history of Clithero's past +life, and with his present condition. Respecting these, I had no new +intelligence to gain, and no doubts to solve. What excuse could I make +to the proprietor, should he ever reappear to claim his own, or to +Inglefield for breaking open a receptacle which all the maxims of +society combine to render sacred? + +But could not my end be gained without violence? The means of opening +might present themselves on a patient scrutiny. The lid might be raised +and shut down again without any tokens of my act; its contents might be +examined, and all things restored to their former condition, in a few +minutes. + +I intended not a theft. I intended to benefit myself without inflicting +injury on others. Nay, might not the discoveries I should make throw +light upon the conduct of this extraordinary man which his own narrative +had withheld? Was there reason to confide implicitly on the tale which I +had heard? + +In spite of the testimony of my own feelings, the miseries of Clithero +appeared in some degree fantastic and groundless. A thousand conceivable +motives might induce him to pervert or conceal the truth. If he were +thoroughly known, his character might assume a new appearance; and what +is now so difficult to reconcile to common maxims might prove perfectly +consistent with them. I desire to restore him to peace; but a thorough +knowledge of his actions is necessary, both to show that he is worthy of +compassion, and to suggest the best means of extirpating his errors. It +was possible that this box contained the means of this knowledge. + +There were likewise other motives, which, as they possessed some +influence, however small, deserve to be mentioned. Thou knowest that I +also am a mechanist. I had constructed a writing-desk and cabinet, in +which I had endeavoured to combine the properties of secrecy, security, +and strength, in the highest possible degree. I looked upon this, +therefore, with the eye of an artist, and was solicitous to know the +principles on which it was formed. I determined to examine, and, if +possible, to open it. + + + + +Chapter XII. + + +I surveyed it with the utmost attention. All its parts appeared equally +solid and smooth. It could not be doubted that one of its sides served +the purpose of a lid, and was possible to be raised. Mere strength could +not be applied to raise it, because there was no projecture which might +be firmly held by the hand, and by which force could be exerted. Some +spring, therefore, secretly existed, which might forever elude the +senses, but on which the hand, by being moved over it in all directions, +might accidentally light. + +This process was effectual. A touch, casually applied at an angle, drove +back a bolt, and a spring, at the same time, was set in action, by which +the lid was raised above half an inch. No event could be supposed more +fortuitous than this. A hundred hands might have sought in vain for this +spring. The spot in which a certain degree of pressure was sufficient to +produce this effect was, of all, the least likely to attract notice or +awaken suspicion. + +I opened the trunk with eagerness. The space within was divided into +numerous compartments, none of which contained any thing of moment. +Tools of different and curious constructions, and remnants of minute +machinery, were all that offered themselves to my notice. + +My expectations being thus frustrated, I proceeded to restore things to +their former state. I attempted to close the lid; but the spring which +had raised it refused to bend. No measure that I could adopt enabled me +to place the lid in the same situation in which I had found it. In my +efforts to press down the lid, which were augmented in proportion to the +resistance that I met with, the spring was broken. This obstacle being +removed, the lid resumed its proper place; but no means, within the +reach of my ingenuity to discover, enabled me to push forward the bolt, +and thus to restore the fastening. + +I now perceived that Clithero had provided not only against the opening +of his cabinet, but likewise against the possibility of concealing that +it had been opened. This discovery threw me into some confusion. I had +been tempted thus far by the belief that my action was without +witnesses, and might be forever concealed. This opinion was now +confuted. If Clithero should ever reclaim his property, he would not +fail to detect the violence of which I had been guilty. Inglefield would +disapprove in another what he had not permitted to himself, and the +unauthorized and clandestine manner in which I had behaved would +aggravate, in his eyes, the heinousness of my offence. + +But now there was no remedy. All that remained was to hinder suspicion +from lighting on the innocent, and to confess, to my friend, the offence +which I had committed. Meanwhile my first project was resumed, and, the +family being now wrapped in profound sleep, I left my chamber, and +proceeded to the elm. The moon was extremely brilliant, but I hoped that +this unfrequented road and unseasonable hour would hinder me from being +observed. My chamber was above the kitchen, with which it communicated +by a small staircase, and the building to which it belonged was +connected with the dwelling by a gallery. I extinguished the light, and +left it in the kitchen, intending to relight it, by the embers that +still glowed on the hearth, on my return. + +I began to remove the sod and cast out the earth, with little confidence +in the success of my project. The issue of my examination of the box +humbled and disheartened me. For some time I found nothing that tended +to invigorate my hopes. I determined, however, to descend, as long as +the unsettled condition of the earth showed me that some one had +preceded me. Small masses of stone were occasionally met with, which +served only to perplex me with groundless expectations. At length my +spade struck upon something which emitted a very different sound. I +quickly drew it forth, and found it to be wood. Its regular form, and +the crevices which were faintly discernible, persuaded me that it was +human workmanship, and that there was a cavity within. The place in +which it was found easily suggested some connection between this and the +destiny of Clithero. Covering up the hole with speed, I hastened with my +prize to the house. The door by which the kitchen was entered was not to +be seen from the road. It opened on a field, the farther limit of which +was a ledge of rocks, which formed, on this side, the boundary of +Inglefield's estate and the westernmost barrier of Norwalk. + +As I turned the angle of the house, and came in view of this door, +methought I saw a figure issue from it. I was startled at this incident, +and, stopping, crouched close to the wall, that I might not be +discovered. As soon as the figure passed beyond the verge of the shade, +it was easily distinguished to be that of Clithero! He crossed the field +with a rapid pace, and quickly passed beyond the reach of my eye. + +This appearance was mysterious. For what end he should visit this +habitation could not be guessed. Was the contingency to be lamented in +consequence of which an interview had been avoided? Would it have +compelled me to explain the broken condition of his trunk? I knew not +whether to rejoice at having avoided this interview, or to deplore it. + +These thoughts did not divert me from examining the nature of the prize +which I had gained. I relighted my candle and hied once more to the +chamber. The first object which, on entering it, attracted my attention, +was the cabinet broken into twenty fragments, on the hearth. I had left +it on a low table, at a distant corner of the room. + +No conclusion could be formed but that Clithero had been here, had +discovered the violence which had been committed on his property, and, +in the first transport of his indignation, had shattered it to pieces. I +shuddered on reflecting how near I had been to being detected by him in +the very act, and by how small an interval I had escaped that resentment +which, in that case, would have probably been wreaked upon me. + +My attention was withdrawn, at length, from this object, and fixed upon +the contents of the box which I had dug up. This was equally +inaccessible with the other. I had not the same motives for caution and +forbearance. I was somewhat desperate, as the consequences of my +indiscretion could not be aggravated, and my curiosity was more +impetuous with regard to the smaller than to the larger cabinet. I +placed it on the ground and crushed it to pieces with my heel. + +Something was within. I brought it to the light, and, after loosing +numerous folds, at length drew forth a volume. No object in the circle +of nature was more adapted than this to rouse up all my faculties. My +feelings were anew excited on observing that it was a manuscript. I +bolted the door, and, drawing near the light, opened and began to read. + +A few pages were sufficient to explain the nature of the work. Clithero +had mentioned that his lady had composed a vindication of her conduct +towards her brother when her intercession in his favour was solicited +and refused. This performance had never been published, but had been +read by many, and was preserved by her friends as a precious monument of +her genius and her virtue. This manuscript was now before me. + +That Clithero should preserve this manuscript, amidst the wreck of his +hopes and fortunes, was apparently conformable to his temper. That, +having formed the resolution to die, he should seek to hide this volume +from the profane curiosity of survivors, was a natural proceeding. To +bury it rather than to burn, or disperse it into fragments, would be +suggested by the wish to conceal, without committing what his heated +fancy would regard as sacrilege. To bury it beneath the elm was dictated +by no fortuitous or inexplicable caprice. This event could scarcely fail +of exercising some influence on the perturbations of his sleep, and +thus, in addition to other causes, might his hovering near this trunk, +and throwing up this earth, in the intervals of slumber, be accounted +for. Clithero, indeed, had not mentioned this proceeding in the course +of his narrative; but that would have contravened the end for which he +had provided a grave for this book. + +I read this copious tale with unspeakable eagerness. It essentially +agreed with that which had been told by Clithero. By drawing forth +events into all their circumstances, more distinct impressions were +produced on the mind, and proofs of fortitude and equanimity were here +given to which I had hitherto known no parallel. No wonder that a soul +like Clithero's, pervaded by these proofs of inimitable excellence, and +thrillingly alive to the passion of virtuous fame, and the value of that +existence which he had destroyed, should be overborne by horror at the +view of the past. + +The instability of life and happiness was forcibly illustrated, as well +as the perniciousness of error. Exempt as this lady was from almost +every defect, she was indebted for her ruin to absurd opinions of the +sacredness of consanguinity, to her anxiety for the preservation of a +ruffian because that ruffian was her brother. The spirit of Clithero was +enlightened and erect, but he weakly suffered the dictates of eternal +justice to be swallowed up by gratitude. The dread of unjust upbraiding +hurried him to murder and to suicide, and the imputation of imaginary +guilt impelled him to the perpetration of genuine and enormous crimes. + +The perusal of this volume ended not but with the night. Contrary to my +hopes, the next day was stormy and wet. This did not deter me from +visiting the mountain. Slippery paths and muddy torrents were no +obstacles to the purposes which I had adopted. I wrapped myself, and a +bag of provisions, in a cloak of painted canvas, and speeded to the +dwelling of Clithero. + +I passed through the cave and reached the bridge which my own ingenuity +had formed. At that moment, torrents of rain poured from above, and +stronger blasts thundered amidst these desolate recesses and profound +chasms. Instead of lamenting the prevalence of this tempest, I now began +to regard it with pleasure. It conferred new forms of sublimity and +grandeur on this scene. + +As I crept with hands and feet along my imperfect bridge, a sudden gust +had nearly whirled me into the frightful abyss below. To preserve +myself, I was obliged to loose my hold of my burden, and it fell into +the gulf. This incident disconcerted and distressed me. As soon as I had +effected my dangerous passage, I screened myself behind a cliff and gave +myself up to reflection. + +The purpose of this arduous journey was defeated by the loss of the +provisions I had brought. I despaired of winning the attention of the +fugitive to supplications, or arguments tending to smother remorse or +revive his fortitude. The scope of my efforts was to consist in +vanquishing his aversion to food; but these efforts would now be +useless, since I had no power to supply his cravings. + +This deficiency, however, was easily supplied. I had only to return home +and supply myself anew. No time was to be lost in doing this; but I was +willing to remain under this shelter till the fury of the tempest had +subsided. Besides, I was not certain that Clithero had again retreated +hither. It was requisite to explore the summit of this hill, and +ascertain whether it had any inhabitant. I might likewise discover what +had been the success of my former experiment, and whether the food, +which had been left here on the former day, was consumed or neglected. + +While occupied with these reflections, my eyes were fixed upon the +opposite steeps. The tops of the trees, waving to and fro in the wildest +commotion, and their trunks, occasionally bending to the blast, which, +in these lofty regions, blew with a violence unknown in the tracts +below, exhibited an awful spectacle. At length, my attention was +attracted by the trunk which lay across the gulf, and which I had +converted into a bridge. I perceived that it had already somewhat +swerved from its original position, that every blast broke or loosened +some of the fibres by which its roots were connected with the opposite +bank, and that, if the storm did not speedily abate, there was imminent +danger of its being torn from the rock and precipitated into the chasm. +Thus my retreat would be cut off, and the evils from which I was +endeavouring to rescue another would be experienced by myself. + +I did not just then reflect that Clithero had found access to this hill +by other means, and that the avenue by which he came would be equally +commodious to me. I believed my destiny to hang upon the expedition with +which I should recross this gulf. The moments that were spent in these +deliberations were critical, and I shuddered to observe that the trunk +was held in its place by one or two fibres which were already stretched +almost to breaking. + +To pass along the trunk, rendered slippery by the wet and unsteadfast by +the wind, was imminently dangerous. To maintain my hold, in passing, in +defiance of the whirlwind, required the most vigorous exertions. For +this end it was necessary to discommode myself of my cloak, and of the +volume which I carried in the pocket of my cloak. I believed there was +no reason to dread their being destroyed or purloined, if left, for a +few hours or a day, in this recess. If laid beside a stone, under +shelter of this cliff, they would, no doubt, remain unmolested till the +disappearance of the storm should permit me to revisit this spot in the +afternoon or on the morrow. + +Just as I had disposed of these encumbrances and had risen from my seat, +my attention was again called to the opposite steep, by the most +unwelcome object that, at this time, could possibly occur. Something was +perceived moving among the bushes and rocks, which, for a time, I hoped +was no more than a raccoon or opossum, but which presently appeared to +be a panther. His gray coat, extended claws, fiery eyes, and a cry which +he at that moment uttered, and which, by its resemblance to the human +voice, is peculiarly terrific, denoted him to be the most ferocious and +untamable of that detested race. + +[Footnote: The gray cougar. This animal has all the essential +characteristics of a tiger. Though somewhat inferior in size and +strength, these are such as to make him equally formidable to man.] + +The industry of our hunters has nearly banished animals of prey from +these precincts. The fastnesses of Norwalk, however, could not but +afford refuge to some of them. Of late I had met them so rarely, that my +fears were seldom alive, and I trod, without caution, the ruggedest and +most solitary haunts. Still, however, I had seldom been unfurnished in +my rambles with the means of defence. + +My temper never delighted in carnage and blood. I found no pleasure in +plunging into bogs, wading through rivulets, and penetrating thickets, +for the sake of dispatching woodcocks and squirrels. To watch their +gambols and flittings, and invite them to my hand, was my darling +amusement when loitering among the woods and the rocks. It was much +otherwise, however, with regard to rattlesnakes and panthers. These I +thought it no breach of duty to exterminate wherever they could be +found. These judicious and sanguinary spoilers were equally the enemies +of man and of the harmless race that sported in the trees, and many of +their skins are still preserved by me as trophies of my juvenile +prowess. + +As hunting was never my trade or my sport, I never loaded myself with +fowling-piece or rifle. Assiduous exercise had made me master of a +weapon of much easier carriage, and, within a moderate distance, more +destructive and unerring. This was the tomahawk. With this I have often +severed an oak-branch, and cut the sinews of a catamount, at the +distance of sixty feet. + +The unfrequency with which I had lately encountered this foe, and the +encumbrance of provision, made me neglect, on this occasion, to bring +with me my usual arms. The beast that was now before me, when stimulated +by hunger, was accustomed to assail whatever could provide him with a +banquet of blood. He would set upon the man and the deer with equal and +irresistible ferocity. His sagacity was equal to his strength, and he +seemed able to discover when his antagonist was armed and prepared for +defence. + +My past experience enabled me to estimate the full extent of my danger. +He sat on the brow of the steep, eyeing the bridge, and apparently +deliberating whether he should cross it. It was probable that he had +scented my footsteps thus far, and, should he pass over, his vigilance +could scarcely fail of detecting my asylum. The pit into which Clithero +had sunk from my view was at some distance. To reach it was the first +impulse of my fear, but this could not be done without exciting the +observation and pursuit of this enemy. I deeply regretted the untoward +chance that had led me, when I first came over, to a different shelter. + +Should he retain his present station, my danger was scarcely lessened. +To pass over in the face of a famished tiger was only to rush upon my +fate. The falling of the trunk, which had lately been so anxiously +deprecated, was now, with no less solicitude, desired. Every new gust, I +hoped, would tear asunder its remaining bands, and, by cutting off all +communication between the opposite steeps, place me in security. + +My hopes, however, were destined to be frustrated. The fibres of the +prostrate tree were obstinately tenacious of their hold, and presently +the animal scrambled down the rock and proceeded to cross it. + +Of all kinds of death, that which now menaced me was the most abhorred. +To die by disease, or by the hand of a fellow-creature, was propitious +and lenient in comparison with being rent to pieces by the fangs of this +savage. To perish in this obscure retreat, by means so impervious to the +anxious curiosity of my friends, to lose my portion of existence by so +untoward and ignoble a destiny, was insupportable. I bitterly deplored +my rashness in coming hither unprovided for an encounter like this. + +The evil of my present circumstances consisted chiefly in suspense. My +death was unavoidable, but my imagination had leisure to torment itself +by anticipations. One foot of the savage was slowly and cautiously moved +after the other. He struck his claws so deeply into the bark that they +were with difficulty withdrawn. At length he leaped upon the ground. We +were now separated by an interval of scarcely eight feet. To leave the +spot where I crouched was impossible. Behind and beside me, the cliff +rose perpendicularly, and before me was this grim and terrific visage. I +shrunk still closer to the ground and closed my eyes. + +From this pause of horror I was aroused by the noise occasioned by a +second spring of the animal. He leaped into the pit, in which I had so +deeply regretted that I had not taken refuge, and disappeared. My rescue +was so sudden, and so much beyond my belief or my hope, that I doubted, +for a moment, whether my senses did not deceive me. This opportunity of +escape was not to be neglected. I left my place, and scrambled over the +trunk with a precipitation which had liked to have proved fatal. The +tree groaned and shook under me, the wind blew with unexampled violence, +and I had scarcely reached the opposite steep when the roots were +severed from the rock and the whole fell thundering to the bottom of the +chasm. + +My trepidations were not speedily quieted. I looked back with wonder on +my hairbreadth escape, and on that singular concurrence of events which +had placed me, in so short a period, in absolute security. Had the trunk +fallen a moment earlier, I should have been imprisoned on the hill or +thrown headlong. Had its fall been delayed another moment, I should have +been pursued; for the beast now issued from his den, and testified his +surprise and disappointment by tokens the sight of which made my blood +run cold. + +He saw me, and hastened to the verge of the chasm. He squatted on his +hind-legs and assumed the attitude of one preparing to leap. My +consternation was excited afresh by these appearances. It seemed at +first as if the rift was too wide for any power of muscles to carry him +in safety over; but I knew the unparalleled agility of this animal, and +that his experience had made him a better judge of the practicability of +this exploit than I was. Still there was hope that he would relinquish +this design as desperate. This hope was quickly at an end. He sprung, +and his fore-legs touched the verge of the rock on which I stood. In +spite of vehement exertions, however, the surface was too smooth and too +hard to allow him to make good his hold. He fell, and a piercing cry, +uttered below, showed that nothing had obstructed his descent to the +bottom. + +Thus was I again rescued from death. Nothing but the pressure of famine +could have prompted this savage to so audacious and hazardous an effort; +but, by yielding to this impulse, he had made my future visits to this +spot exempt from peril. Clithero was, likewise, relieved from a danger +that was imminent and unforeseen. Prowling over these grounds, the +panther could scarcely have failed to meet with this solitary fugitive. + +Had the animal lived, my first duty would have been to have sought him +out and assailed him with my tomahawk; but no undertaking would have +been more hazardous. Lurking in the grass, or in the branches of a tree, +his eye might have descried my approach, he might leap upon me +unperceived, and my weapon would be useless. + +With a heart beating with unwonted rapidity, I once more descended the +cliff, entered the cavern, and arrived at Huntly farm, drenched with +rain, and exhausted by fatigue. + +By night the storm was dispelled; but my exhausted strength would not +allow me to return to the mountain. At the customary hour I retired to +my chamber. I incessantly ruminated on the adventures of the last day, +and inquired into the conduct which I was next to pursue. + +The bridge being destroyed, my customary access was cut off. There was +no possibility of restoring this bridge. My strength would not suffice +to drag a fallen tree from a distance, and there was none whose position +would abridge or supersede that labour. Some other expedient must, +therefore, be discovered to pass this chasm. + +I reviewed the circumstances of my subterranean journey. The cavern was +imperfectly explored. Its branches might be numerous. That which I had +hitherto pursued terminated in an opening at a considerable distance +from the bottom. Other branches might exist, some of which might lead to +the foot of the precipice, and thence a communication might be found +with the summit of the interior hill. + +The danger of wandering into dark and untried paths, and the +commodiousness of that road which had at first been taken, were +sufficient reasons for having hitherto suspended my examination of the +different branches of this labyrinth. Now my customary road was no +longer practicable, and another was to be carefully explored. For this +end, on my next journey to the mountain, I determined to take with me a +lamp, and unravel this darksome maze: this project I resolved to execute +the next day. + +I now recollected what, if it had more seasonably occurred, would have +taught me caution. Some months before this a farmer, living in the +skirts of Norwalk, discovered two marauders in his field, whom he +imagined to be a male and female panther. They had destroyed some sheep, +and had been hunted by the farmer with long and fruitless diligence. +Sheep had likewise been destroyed in different quarters; but the owners +had fixed the imputation of the crime upon dogs, many of whom had atoned +for their supposed offences by their death. He who had mentioned his +discovery of panthers received little credit from his neighbours; +because a long time had elapsed since these animals were supposed to +have been exiled from this district, and because no other person had +seen them. The truth of this seemed now to be confirmed by the testimony +of my own senses; but, if the rumour were true, there still existed +another of these animals, who might harbour in the obscurities of this +desert, and against whom it was necessary to employ some precaution. +Henceforth I resolved never to traverse the wilderness unfurnished with +my tomahawk. + +These images, mingled with those which the contemplation of futurity +suggested, floated, for a time, in my brain, but at length gave place to +sleep. + + + + +Chapter XIII. + + +Since my return home, my mind had been fully occupied by schemes and +reflections relative to Clithero. The project suggested by thee, and to +which I had determined to devote my leisure, was forgotten, or +remembered for a moment and at wide intervals. What, however, was nearly +banished from my waking thoughts, occurred in an incongruous and +half-seen form, to my dreams. During my sleep, the image of Waldegrave +flitted before me. Methought the sentiment that impelled him to visit me +was not affection or complacency, but inquietude and anger. Some service +or duty remained to be performed by me, which I had culpably neglected: +to inspirit my zeal, to awaken my remembrance, and incite me to the +performance of this duty, did this glimmering messenger, this +half-indignant apparition, come. + +I commonly awake soon enough to mark the youngest dawn of the morning. +Now, in consequence perhaps of my perturbed sleep, I opened my eyes +before the stars had lost any of their lustre. This circumstance +produced some surprise, until the images that lately hovered in my fancy +were recalled, and furnished somewhat like a solution of the problem. +Connected with the image of my dead friend was that of his sister. The +discourse that took place at our last interview; the scheme of +transcribing, for thy use, all the letters which, during his short but +busy life, I received from him; the nature of this correspondence, and +the opportunity which this employment would afford me of contemplating +these ample and precious monuments of the intellectual existence and +moral pre-eminence of my friend, occurred to my thoughts. + +The resolution to prosecute the task was revived. The obligation of +benevolence, with regard to Clithero, was not discharged. This, neither +duty nor curiosity would permit to be overlooked or delayed; but why +should my whole attention and activity be devoted to this man? The hours +which were spent at home and in my chamber could not be more usefully +employed than in making my intended copy. + +In a few hours after sunrise I purposed to resume my way to the +mountain. Could this interval be appropriated to a better purpose than +in counting over my friend's letters, setting them apart from my own, +and preparing them for that transcription from which I expected so high +and yet so mournful a gratification? + +This purpose, by no violent union, was blended with the recollection of +my dream. This recollection infused some degree of wavering and +dejection into my mind. In transcribing these letters I should violate +pathetic and solemn injunctions frequently repeated by the writer. Was +there some connection between this purpose and the incidents of my +vision? Was the latter sent to enforce the interdictions which had been +formerly imposed? + +Thou art not fully acquainted with the intellectual history of thy +brother. Some information on that head will be necessary to explain the +nature of that reluctance which I now feel to comply with thy request, +and which had formerly so much excited thy surprise. + +Waldegrave, like other men early devoted to meditation and books, had +adopted, at different periods, different systems of opinion on topics +connected with religion and morals. His earliest creeds tended to efface +the impressions of his education; to deify necessity and universalize +matter; to destroy the popular distinctions between soul and body, and +to dissolve the supposed connection between the moral condition of man +anterior and subsequent to death. + +This creed he adopted with all the fulness of conviction, and propagated +with the utmost zeal. Soon after our friendship commenced, fortune +placed us at a distance from each other, and no intercourse was allowed +but by the pen. Our letters, however, were punctual and copious. Those +of Waldegrave were too frequently devoted to the defence of his +favourite tenets. + +Thou art acquainted with the revolution that afterwards took place in +his mind. Placed within the sphere of religious influence, and listening +daily to the reasonings and exhortations of Mr. S----, whose benign +temper and blameless deportment was a visible and constant lesson, he +insensibly resumed the faith which he had relinquished, and became the +vehement opponent of all that he had formerly defended. The chief object +of his labours, in this new state of his mind, was to counteract the +effect of his former reasonings on my opinions. + +At this time, other changes took place in his situation, in consequence +of which we were once more permitted to reside under the same roof. The +intercourse now ceased to be by letter, and the subtle and laborious +argumentations which he had formerly produced against religion, and +which were contained in a permanent form, were combated in transient +conversation. He was not only eager to subvert those opinions which he +had contributed to instil into me, but was anxious that the letters and +manuscripts which had been employed in their support should be +destroyed. He did not fear wholly or chiefly on my own account. He +believed that the influence of former reasonings on my faith would be +sufficiently eradicated by the new; but he dreaded lest these +manuscripts might fall into other hands, and thus produce mischiefs +which it would not be in his power to repair. With regard to me, the +poison had been followed by its antidote; but with respect to others, +these letters would communicate the poison when the antidote could not +be administered. + +I would not consent to this sacrifice. I did not entirely abjure the +creed which had, with great copiousness and eloquence, been defended in +these letters. Besides, mixed up with abstract reasonings were +numberless passages which elucidated the character and history of my +friend. These were too precious to be consigned to oblivion; and to take +them out of their present connection and arrangement would be to +mutilate and deform them. + +His entreaties and remonstrances were earnest and frequent, but always +ineffectual. He had too much purity of motives to be angry at my +stubbornness; but his sense of the mischievous tendency of these letters +was so great, that my intractability cost him many a pang. + +He was now gone, and I had not only determined to preserve these +monuments, but had consented to copy them for the use of another; for +the use of one whose present and eternal welfare had been the chief +object of his cares and efforts. Thou, like others of thy sex, art +unaccustomed to metaphysical refinements. Thy religion is the growth of +sensibility and not of argument. Thou art not fortified and prepossessed +against the subtleties with which the being and attributes of the Deity +have been assailed. Would it be just to expose thee to pollution and +depravity from this source? To make thy brother the instrument of thy +apostasy, the author of thy fall? That brother whose latter days were so +ardently devoted to cherishing the spirit of devotion in thy heart? + +These ideas now occurred with more force than formerly. I had promised, +not without reluctance, to give thee the entire copy of his letters; but +I now receded from this promise. I resolved merely to select for thy +perusal such as were narrative or descriptive. This could not be done +with too much expedition. It was still dark, but my sleep was at an end, +and, by a common apparatus, that lay beside my bed, I could instantly +produce a light. + +The light was produced, and I proceeded to the cabinet where all my +papers and books are deposited. This was my own contrivance and +workmanship, undertaken by the advice of Sarsefield, who took infinite +pains to foster that mechanical genius which displayed itself so early +and so forcibly in thy friend. The key belonging to this was, like the +cabinet itself, of singular structure. For greater safety, it was +constantly placed in a closet, which was likewise locked. + +The key was found as usual, and the cabinet opened. The letters were +bound together in a compact form, lodged in a parchment case, and placed +in a secret drawer. This drawer would not have been detected by common +eyes, and it opened by the motion of a spring, of whose existence none +but the maker was conscious. This drawer I had opened before I went to +sleep, and the letters were then safe. + +Thou canst not imagine my confusion and astonishment, when, on opening +the drawer, I perceived that the packet was gone. I looked with more +attention, and put my hand within it; but the space was empty. Whither +had it gone, and by whom was it purloined? I was not conscious of having +taken it away, yet no hands but mine could have done it. On the last +evening I had doubtless removed it to some other corner, but had +forgotten it. I tasked my understanding and my memory. I could not +conceive the possibility of any motives inducing me to alter my +arrangements in this respect, and was unable to recollect that I had +made this change. + +What remained? This invaluable relic had disappeared. Every thought and +every effort must be devoted to the single purpose of regaining it. As +yet I did not despair. Until I had opened and ransacked every part of +the cabinet in vain, I did not admit the belief that I had lost it. Even +then this persuasion was tumultuous and fluctuating. It had vanished to +my senses, but these senses were abused and depraved. To have passed, of +its own accord, through the pores of this wood, was impossible; but, if +it were gone, thus did it escape. + +I was lost in horror and amazement. I explored every nook a second and a +third time, but still it eluded my eye and my touch. I opened my closets +and cases. I pried everywhere, unfolded every article of clothing, +turned and scrutinized every instrument and tool, but nothing availed. + +My thoughts were not speedily collected or calmed. I threw myself on the +bed and resigned myself to musing. That my loss was irretrievable was a +supposition not to be endured. Yet ominous terrors haunted me,--a +whispering intimation that a relic which I valued more than life was +torn forever away by some malignant and inscrutable destiny. The same +power that had taken it from this receptacle was able to waft it over +the ocean or the mountains, and condemn me to a fruitless and eternal +search. + +But what was he that committed the theft? Thou only, of the beings who +live, wast acquainted with the existence of these manuscripts. Thou art +many miles distant, and art utterly a stranger to the mode or place of +their concealment. Not only access to the cabinet, but access to the +room, without my knowledge and permission, was impossible. Both were +locked during this night. Not five hours had elapsed since the cabinet +and drawer had been opened, and since the letters had been seen and +touched, being in their ordinary position. During this interval, the +thief had entered, and despoiled me of my treasure. + +This event, so inexplicable and so dreadful, threw my soul into a kind +of stupor or distraction, from which I was suddenly roused by a footstep +softly moving in the entry near my door. I started from my bed, as if I +had gained a glimpse of the robber. Before I could run to the door, some +one knocked. I did not think upon the propriety of answering the signal, +but hastened with tremulous fingers and throbbing heart to open the +door. My uncle, in his night-dress, and apparently just risen from his +bed, stood before me! + +He marked the eagerness and perturbation of my looks, and inquired into +the cause. I did not answer his inquiries. His appearance in my chamber +and in this guise added to my surprise. My mind was full of the late +discovery, and instantly conceived some connection between this +unseasonable visit and my lost manuscript. I interrogated him in my turn +as to the cause of his coming. + +"Why," said he, "I came to ascertain whether it was you or not who +amused himself so strangely at this time of night. What is the matter +with you? Why are you up so early?" + +I told him that I had been roused by my dreams, and, finding no +inclination to court my slumber back again, I had risen, though earlier +by some hours than the usual period of my rising. + +"But why did you go up-stairs? You might easily imagine that the sound +of your steps would alarm those below, who would be puzzled to guess who +it was that had thought proper to amuse himself in this manner." + +"Up-stairs? I have not left my room this night. It is not ten minutes +since I awoke, and my door has not since been opened." + +"Indeed! That is strange. Nay, it is impossible! It was your feet surely +that I heard pacing so solemnly and indefatigably across the _long +room_ for near an hour. I could not for my life conjecture, for a +time, who it was, but finally concluded that it was you. There was +still, however, some doubt, and I came hither to satisfy myself." + +These tidings were adapted to raise all my emotions to a still higher +pitch. I questioned him with eagerness as to the circumstances he had +noticed. He said he had been roused by a sound, whose power of +disturbing him arose, not from its loudness, but from its uncommonness. +He distinctly heard some one pacing to and fro with bare feet, in the +long room: this sound continued, with little intermission, for an hour. +He then noticed a cessation of the walking, and a sound as if some one +were lifting the lid of the large cedar chest that stood in the corner +of this room. The walking was not resumed, and all was silent. He +listened for a quarter of an hour, and busied himself in conjecturing +the cause of this disturbance. The most probable conclusion was, that +the walker was his nephew, and his curiosity had led him to my chamber +to ascertain the truth. + +This dwelling has three stories. The two lower stories are divided into +numerous apartments. The upper story constitutes a single room whose +sides are the four walls of the house, and whose ceiling is the roof. +This room is unoccupied, except by lumber, and imperfectly lighted by a +small casement at one end. In this room were footsteps heard by my +uncle. + +The staircase leading to it terminated in a passage near my door. I +snatched the candle, and, desiring him to follow me, added that I would +ascertain the truth in a moment. He followed, but observed that the +walking had ceased long enough for the person to escape. + +I ascended to the room, and looked behind and among the tables, and +chairs, and casks, which were confusedly scattered through it, but found +nothing in the shape of man. The cedar chest, spoken of by Mr. Huntly, +contained old books, and remnants of maps and charts, whose +worthlessness unfitted them for accomodation elsewhere. The lid was +without hinges or lock. I examined this repository, but there was +nothing which attracted my attention. + +The way between the kitchen-door and the door of the long room had no +impediments. Both were usually unfastened; but the motives by which any +stranger to the dwelling, or indeed any one within it, could be prompted +to choose this place and hour for an employment of this kind, were +wholly incomprehensible. + +When the family rose, inquiries were made; but no satisfaction was +obtained. The family consisted only of four persons,--my uncle, my two +sisters, and myself. I mentioned to them the loss I had sustained, but +their conjectures were no less unsatisfactory on this than on the former +incident. + +There was no end to my restless meditations. Waldegrave was the only +being, besides myself, acquainted with the secrets of my cabinet. During +his life these manuscripts had been the objects of perpetual solicitude; +to gain possession, to destroy or secrete them, was the strongest of his +wishes. Had he retained his sensibility on the approach of death, no +doubt he would have renewed, with irresistible solemnity, his +injunctions to destroy them. + +Now, however, they had vanished. There were no materials of conjecture; +no probabilities to be weighed, or suspicions to revolve. Human artifice +or power was unequal to this exploit. Means less than preternatural +would not furnish a conveyance for this treasure. + +It was otherwise with regard to this unseasonable walker. His +inducements indeed were beyond my power to conceive; but to enter these +doors and ascend these stairs demanded not the faculties of any being +more than human. + +This intrusion, and the pillage of my cabinet, were contemporary events. +Was there no more connection between them than that which results from +time? Was not the purloiner of my treasure and the wanderer the same +person? I could not reconcile the former incident with the attributes of +man; and yet a secret faith, not to be outrooted or suspended, swayed +me, and compelled me to imagine that the detection of this visitant +would unveil the thief. + +These thoughts were pregnant with dejection and reverie. Clithero, +during the day, was forgotten. On the succeeding night, my intentions, +with regard to this man, returned. I derived some slender consolation +from reflecting, that time, in its long lapse and ceaseless revolutions, +might dissipate the gloom that environed me. Meanwhile, I struggled to +dismiss the images connected with my loss and to think only of Clithero. + +My impatience was as strong as ever to obtain another interview with +this man. I longed with vehemence for the return of day. I believed that +every moment added to his sufferings, intellectual and physical, and +confided in the efficacy of my presence to alleviate or suspend them. +The provisions I had left would be speedily consumed, and the abstinence +of three days was sufficient to undermine the vital energies. I +sometimes hesitated whether I ought not instantly to depart. It was +night indeed, but the late storm had purified the air, and the radiance +of a full moon was universal and dazzling. + +From this attempt I was deterred by reflecting that my own frame needed +the repairs of sleep. Toil and watchfulness, if prolonged another day, +would deeply injure a constitution by no means distinguished for its +force. I must, therefore, compel, if it were possible, some hours of +repose. I prepared to retire to bed, when a new incident occurred to +divert my attention for a time from these designs. + + + + +Chapter XIV. + + +While sitting alone by the parlour-fire, marking the effects of +moonlight, I noted one on horseback coming towards the gate. At first +sight, methought his shape and guise were not wholly new to me; but all +that I could discern was merely a resemblance to some one whom I had +before seen. Presently he stopped, and, looking towards the house, made +inquiries of a passenger who chanced to be near. Being apparently +satisfied with the answers he received, he rode with a quick pace into +the court and alighted at the door. I started from my seat, and, going +forth, waited with some impatience to hear his purpose explained. + +He accosted me with the formality of a stranger, and asked if a young +man, by name Edgar Huntly, resided here. Being answered in the +affirmative, and being requested to come in, he entered, and seated +himself, without hesitation, by the fire. Some doubt and anxiety were +visible in his looks. He seemed desirous of information upon some topic, +and yet betrayed terror lest the answers he might receive should subvert +some hope or confirm some foreboding. + +Meanwhile I scrutinized his features with much solicitude. A nearer and +more deliberate view convinced me that the first impression was just; +but still I was unable to call up his name or the circumstances of our +former meeting. The pause was at length ended by his saying, in a +faltering voice,-- + +"My name is Weymouth. I came hither to obtain information on a subject +in which my happiness is deeply concerned." + +At the mention of his name, I started. It was a name too closely +connected with the image of thy brother, not to call up affecting and +vivid recollections. Weymouth, thou knowest, was thy brother's friend. +It is three years since this man left America, during which time no +tidings had been heard of him,--at least, by thy brother. He had now +returned, and was probably unacquainted with the fate of his friend. + +After an anxious pause, he continued:--"Since my arrival I have heard of +an event which has, on many accounts, given me the deepest sorrow. I +loved Waldegrave, and know not any person in the world whose life was +dearer to me than his. There were considerations, however, which made it +more precious to me than the life of one whose merits might be greater. +With his life, my own existence and property were, I have reason to +think, inseparably united. + +"On my return to my country, after a long absence, I made immediate +inquiries after him. I was informed of his untimely death. I had +questions, of infinite moment to my happiness, to decide with regard to +the state and disposition of his property. I sought out those of his +friends who had maintained with him the most frequent and confidential +intercourse, but they could not afford me any satisfaction. At length, I +was informed that a young man of your name, and living in this district, +had enjoyed more of his affection and society than any other, had +regulated the property which he left behind, and was best qualified to +afford the intelligence which I sought. You, it seems, are this person, +and of you I must make inquiries to which I conjure you to return +sincere and explicit answers." + +"That," said I, "I shall find no difficulty in doing. Whatever questions +you shall think proper to ask, I will answer with readiness and truth." + +"What kind of property, and to what amount, was your friend possessed of +at his death?" + +"It was money, and consisted of deposits at the Bank of North America. +The amount was little short of eight thousand dollars." + +"On whom has this property devolved?" + +"His sister was his only kindred, and she is now in possession of it." + +"Did he leave any will by which he directed the disposition of his +property?" While thus speaking, Weymouth fixed his eyes upon my +countenance, and seemed anxious to pierce into my inmost soul. I was +somewhat surprised at his questions, but much more at the manner in +which they were put. I answered him, however, without delay:--"He left +no will, nor was any paper discovered by which we could guess at his +intentions. No doubt, indeed, had he made a will, his sister would have +been placed precisely in the same condition in which she now is. He was +not only bound to her by the strongest ties of kindred, but by affection +and gratitude." + +Weymouth now withdrew his eyes from my face, and sunk into a mournful +reverie. He sighed often and deeply. This deportment and the strain of +his inquiries excited much surprise. His interest in the fate of +Waldegrave ought to have made the information he had received a source +of satisfaction rather than of regret. The property which Waldegrave +left was much greater than his mode of life and his own professions had +given us reason to expect, but it was no more than sufficient to insure +to thee an adequate subsistence. It ascertained the happiness of those +who were dearest to Waldegrave, and placed them forever beyond the reach +of that poverty which had hitherto beset them. I made no attempt to +interrupt the silence, but prepared to answer any new interrogatory. At +length, Weymouth resumed:-- + +"Waldegrave was a fortunate man to amass so considerable a sum in so +short a time. I remember, when we parted, he was poor. He used to lament +that his scrupulous integrity precluded him from all the common roads to +wealth. He did not contemn riches, but he set the highest value upon +competence, and imagined that he was doomed forever to poverty. His +religious duty compelled him to seek his livelihood by teaching a school +of blacks. The labour was disproportioned to his feeble constitution, +and the profit was greatly disproportioned to the labour. It scarcely +supplied the necessities of nature, and was reduced sometimes even below +that standard by his frequent indisposition. I rejoice to find that his +scruples had somewhat relaxed their force, and that he had betaken +himself to some more profitable occupation. Pray, what was his new way +of business?" + +"Nay," said I, "his scruples continued as rigid, in this respect, as +ever. He was teacher of the negro freeschool when he died." + +"Indeed! How, then, came he to amass so much money? Could he blend any +more lucrative pursuit with his duty as a schoolmaster?" + +"So it seems." + +"What was his pursuit?" + +"That question, I believe, none of his friends are qualified to answer. +I thought myself acquainted with the most secret transactions of his +life, but this had been carefully concealed from me. I was not only +unapprized of any other employment of his time, but had not the +slightest suspicion of his possessing any property besides his clothes +and books. Ransacking his papers, with a different view, I lighted on +his bank-book, in which was a regular receipt for seven thousand five +hundred dollars. By what means he acquired this money, and even the +acquisition of it, till his death put us in possession of his papers, +was wholly unknown to us." + +"Possibly he might have held it in trust for another. In this case some +memorandums or letters would be found explaining this affair." + +"True. This supposition could not fail to occur, in consequence of which +the most diligent search was made among his papers, but no shred or +scrap was to be found which countenanced our conjecture." + +"You may reasonably be surprised, and perhaps offended," said Weymouth, +"at these inquiries; but it is time to explain my motives for making +them. Three years ago I was, like Waldegrave, indigent, and earned my +bread by daily labour. During seven years' service in a public office, I +saved, from the expenses of subsistence, a few hundred dollars. I +determined to strike into a new path, and, with this sum, to lay the +foundation of better fortune. I turned it into a bulky commodity, +freighted and loaded a small vessel, and went with it to Barcelona in +Spain. I was not unsuccessful in my projects, and, changing my abode to +England, France, and Germany, according as my interest required, I +became finally possessed of sufficient for the supply of all my wants. I +then resolved to return to my native country, and, laying out my money +in land, to spend the rest of my days in the luxury and quiet of an +opulent farmer. For this end I invested the greatest part of my property +in a cargo of wine from Madeira. The remainder I turned into a bill of +exchange for seven thousand five hundred dollars. I had maintained a +friendly correspondence with Waldegrave during my absence. There was no +one with whom I had lived on terms of so much intimacy, and had +boundless confidence in his integrity. To him therefore I determined to +transmit this bill, requesting him to take the money into safe-keeping +until my return. In this manner I endeavoured to provide against the +accidents that might befall my person or my cargo in crossing the ocean. + +"It was my fate to encounter the worst of these disasters. We were +overtaken by a storm, my vessel was driven ashore on the coast of +Portugal, my cargo was utterly lost, and the greater part of the crew +and passengers were drowned. I was rescued from the same fate by some +fishermen. In consequence of the hardships to which I had been exposed, +having laboured for several days at the pumps, and spent the greater +part of a winter night hanging from the rigging of the ship and +perpetually beaten by the waves, I contracted a severe disease, which +bereaved me of the use of my limbs. The fishermen who rescued me carried +me to their huts, and there I remained three weeks helpless and +miserable. + +"That part of the coast on which I was thrown was, in the highest +degree, sterile and rude. Its few inhabitants subsisted precariously on +the produce of the ocean. Their dwellings were of mud,--low, filthy, +dark, and comfortless. Their fuel was the stalks of shrubs sparingly +scattered over a sandy desert. Their poverty scarcely allowed them salt +and black bread with their fish, which was obtained in unequal and +sometimes insufficient quantities, and which they ate with all its +impurities, and half cooked. + +"My former habits, as well as my present indisposition, required very +different treatment from what the ignorance and penury of these people +obliged them to bestow. I lay upon the moist earth, imperfectly +sheltered from the sky, and with neither raiment nor fire to keep me +warm. My hosts had little attention or compassion to spare to the wants +of others. They could not remove me to a more hospitable district; and +here, without doubt, I should have perished, had not a monk chanced to +visit their hovels. He belonged to a convent of St. Jago, some leagues +farther from the shore, which used to send one of its members annually +to inspect the religious concerns of those outcasts. Happily, this was +the period of their visitations. + +"My abode in Spain had made me somewhat conversant with its language. +The dialect of this monk did not so much differ from Castilian but that, +with the assistance of Latin, we were able to converse. The jargon of +the fishermen was unintelligible, and they had vainly endeavoured to +keep up my spirits by informing me of this expected visit. + +"This monk was touched with compassion at my calamity, and speedily +provided the means of my removal to his convent. Here I was charitably +entertained, and the aid of a physician was procured for me. He was but +poorly skilled in his profession, and rather confirmed than alleviated +my disease. The Portuguese of his trade, especially in remoter +districts, are little more than dealers in talismans and nostrums. For a +long time I was unable to leave my pallet, and had no prospect before me +but that of consuming my days in the gloom of this cloister. + +"All the members of this convent but he who had been my first +benefactor, and whose name was Chaledro, were bigoted and sordid. Their +chief motive for treating me with kindness was the hope of obtaining a +convert from heresy. They spared no pains to subdue my errors, and were +willing to prolong my imprisonment, in the hope of finally gaining their +end. Had my fate been governed by those, I should have been immured in +this convent, and compelled either to adopt their fanatical creed or to +put an end to my own life, in order to escape their well-meant +persecutions. Chaledro, however, though no less sincere in his faith and +urgent in his entreaties, yet finding me invincible, exerted his +influence to obtain my liberty. + +"After many delays, and strenuous exertions of my friend, they consented +to remove me to Oporto. The journey was to be performed in an open cart, +over a mountainous country, in the heats of summer. The monks +endeavoured to dissuade me from the enterprise, for my own sake, it +being scarcely possible that one in my feeble state should survive a +journey like this; but I despaired of improving my condition by other +means. I preferred death to the imprisonment of a Portuguese monastery, +and knew that I could hope for no alleviation of my disease but from the +skill of Scottish or French physicians, whom I expected to meet with in +that city. I adhered to my purpose with so much vehemence and obstinacy, +that they finally yielded to my wishes. + +"My road lay through the wildest and most rugged districts. It did not +exceed ninety miles, but seven days were consumed on the way. The motion +of the vehicle racked me with the keenest pangs, and my attendants +concluded that every stage would be my last. They had been selected +without due regard to their characters. They were knavish and inhuman, +and omitted nothing but actual violence to hasten my death. They +purposely retarded the journey, and protracted to seven what might have +been readily performed in four days. They neglected to execute the +orders which they had received respecting my lodging and provisions; and +from them, as well as from the peasants, who were sure to be informed +that I was a heretic, I suffered every species of insult and injury. My +constitution, as well as my frame, possessed a fund of strength of which +I had no previous conception. In spite of hardship, and exposure, and +abstinence, I at last arrived at Oporto. + +"Instead of being carried, agreeably to Chaledro's direction, to a +convent of St. Jago, I was left, late in the evening, in the porch of a +common hospital. My attendants, having laid me on the pavement and +loaded me with imprecations, left me to obtain admission by my own +efforts. I passed the livelong night in this spot, and in the morning +was received into the house in a state which left it uncertain whether I +was alive or dead. + +"After recovering my sensibility, I made various efforts to procure a +visit from some English merchant. This was no easy undertaking for one +in my deplorable condition. I was too weak to articulate my words +distinctly, and these words were rendered, by my foreign accent, +scarcely intelligible. The likelihood of my speedy death made the people +about me more indifferent to my wants and petitions. + +"I will not dwell upon my repeated disappointments, but content myself +with mentioning that I gained the attention of a French gentleman whose +curiosity brought him to view the hospital. Through him I obtained a +visit from an English merchant, and finally gained the notice of a +person who formerly resided in America, and of whom I had imperfect +knowledge. By their kindness I was removed from the hospital to a +private house. A Scottish surgeon was summoned to my assistance, and in +seven months I was restored to my present state of health. + +"At Oporto, I embarked, in an American ship, for New York. I was +destitute of all property, and relied, for the payment of the debts +which I was obliged to contract, as well as for my future subsistence, +on my remittance to Waldegrave. I hastened to Philadelphia, and was soon +informed that my friend was dead. His death had taken place a long time +since my remittance to him: hence this disaster was a subject of regret +chiefly on his own account. I entertained no doubt but that my property +had been secured, and that either some testamentary directions or some +papers had been left behind respecting this affair. + +"I sought out those who were formerly our mutual acquaintance. I found +that they were wholly strangers to his affairs. They could merely relate +some particulars of his singular death, and point out the lodgings which +he formerly occupied. Hither I forthwith repaired, and discovered that +he lived in this house with his sister, disconnected with its other +inhabitants. They described his mode of life in terms that showed them +to be very imperfectly acquainted with it. It was easy indeed to infer, +from their aspect and manners, that little sympathy or union could have +subsisted between them and their co-tenants; and this inference was +confirmed by their insinuations, the growth of prejudice and envy. They +told me that Waldegrave's sister had gone to live in the country, but +whither, or for how long, she had not condescended to inform them, and +they did not care to ask. She was a topping dame, whose notions were +much too high for her station; who was more nice than wise, and yet was +one who could stoop when it most became her to stand upright. It was no +business of theirs; but they could not but mention their suspicions that +she had good reasons for leaving the city and for concealing the place +of her retreat. Some things were hard to be disguised. They spoke for +themselves, and the only way to hinder disagreeable discoveries was to +keep out of sight. + +"I was wholly a stranger to Waldegrave's sister. I knew merely that he +had such a relation. There was nothing, therefore, to outbalance this +unfavourable report, but the apparent malignity and grossness of those +who gave it. It was not, however, her character about which I was +solicitous, but merely the place where she might be found and the +suitable inquiries respecting her deceased brother be answered. On this +head, these people professed utter ignorance, and were either unable or +unwilling to direct me to any person in the city who knew more than +themselves. After much discourse, they, at length, let fall an +intimation that, if any one knew her place of retreat, it was probably a +country-lad, by name Huntly, who lived near the _Forks_ of +Delaware. After Waldegrave's death this lad had paid his sister a visit, +and seemed to be admitted on a very confidential footing. She left the +house, for the last time, in his company, and he, therefore, was most +likely to know what had become of her. + +"The name of Huntly was not totally unknown to me. I myself was born and +brought up in the neighbouring township of Chetasco. I had some +knowledge of your family, and your name used often to be mentioned by +Waldegrave as that of one who, at a maturer age, would prove himself +useful to his country. I determined, therefore, to apply to you for what +information you could give. I designed to visit my father, who lives in +Chetasco, and relieve him from that disquiet which his ignorance of my +fate could not fail to have inspired, and both these ends could be thus, +at the same time, accomplished. + +"Before I left the city, I thought it proper to apply to the merchant on +whom my bill had been drawn. If this bill had been presented and paid, +he had doubtless preserved some record of it, and hence a clue might be +afforded, though every other expedient should fail. My usual ill fortune +pursued me upon this occasion; for the merchant had lately become +insolvent, and, to avoid the rage of his creditors, had fled, without +leaving any vestige of this or similar transactions behind him. He had, +some years since, been an adventurer from Holland, and was suspected to +have returned thither." + + + + +Chapter XV. + + +"I came hither with a heart desponding of success. Adversity had +weakened my faith in the promises of the future, and I was prepared to +receive just such tidings as you have communicated. Unacquainted with +the secret motives of Waldegrave and his sister, it is impossible for me +to weigh the probabilities of their rectitude. I have only my own +assertion to produce in support of my claim. All other evidence, all +vouchers and papers, which might attest my veracity or sanction my claim +in a court of law, are buried in the ocean. The bill was transmitted +just before my departure from Madeira, and the letters by which it was +accompanied informed Waldegrave of my design to follow it immediately. +Hence he did not, it is probable, acknowledge the receipt of my letters. +The vessels in which they were sent arrived in due season. I was assured +that all letters were duly deposited in the post-office, where, at +present, mine are not to be found. + +"You assure me that nothing has been found among his papers, hinting at +any pecuniary transaction between him and me. Some correspondence passed +between us previous to that event. Have no letters, with my signature, +been found? Are you qualified, by your knowledge of his papers, to +answer me explicitly? Is it not possible for some letters to have been +mislaid?" + +"I am qualified," said I, "to answer your inquiries beyond any other +person in the world. Waldegrave maintained only general intercourse with +the rest of mankind. With me his correspondence was copious, and his +confidence, as I imagined, without bounds. His books and papers were +contained in a single chest at his lodgings, the keys of which he had +about him when he died. These keys I carried to his sister, and was +authorized by her to open and examine the contents of this chest. This +was done with the utmost care. These papers are now in my possession. +Among them no paper, of the tenor you mention, was found, and no letter +with your signature. Neither Mary Waldegrave nor I are capable of +disguising the truth or committing an injustice. The moment she receives +conviction of your right, she will restore this money to you. The moment +I imbibe this conviction, I will exert all my influence (and it is not +small) to induce her to restore it. Permit me, however, to question you +in your turn. Who was the merchant on whom your bill was drawn, what was +the date of it, and when did the bill and its counterparts arrive?" + +"I do not exactly remember the date of the bills. They were made out, +however, six days before I myself embarked, which happened on the 10th +of August, 1784. They were sent by three vessels, one of which was bound +to Charleston and the others to New York. The last arrived within two +days of each other, and about the middle of November in the same year. +The name of the payer was Monteith." + +After a pause of recollection, I answered, "I will not hesitate to +apprize you of every thing which may throw light upon this transaction, +and whether favourable or otherwise to your claim. I have told you, +among my friend's papers your name is not to be found. I must likewise +repeat that the possession of this money by Waldegrave was wholly +unknown to us till his death. We are likewise unacquainted with any +means by which he could get possession of so large a sum in his own +right. He spent no more than his scanty stipend as a teacher, though +this stipend was insufficient to supply his wants. This bank-receipt is +dated in December, 1784, a fortnight, perhaps, after the date that you +have mentioned. You will perceive how much this coincidence, which could +scarcely have taken place by chance, is favourable to your claim. + +"Mary Waldegrave resides, at present, at Abingdon. She will rejoice, as +I do, to see one who, as her brother's friend, is entitled to her +affection. Doubt not but that she will listen with impartiality and +candour to all that you can urge in defence of your title to this money. +Her decision will not be precipitate, but it will be generous and just, +and founded on such reasons that, even if it be adverse to your wishes, +you will be compelled to approve it?" + +"I can entertain no doubt," he answered, "as to the equity of my claim. +The coincidences you mention are sufficient to convince me that this sum +was received upon my bill; but this conviction must necessarily be +confined to myself. No one but I can be conscious to the truth of my own +story. The evidence on which I build my faith, in this case, is that of +my own memory and senses; but this evidence cannot make itself +conspicuous to you. You have nothing but my bare assertion, in addition +to some probabilities flowing from the conduct of Waldegrave. What facts +may exist to corroborate my claim, which you have forgotten, or which +you may think proper to conceal, I cannot judge. I know not what is +passing in the secret of your hearts; I am unacquainted with the +character of this lady and with yours. I have nothing on which to build +surmises and suspicions of your integrity, and nothing to generate +unusual confidence. The frailty of your virtue and the strength of your +temptations I know not. However she decides in this case, and whatever +opinion I shall form as to the reasonableness of her decision, it will +not become me either to upbraid her, or to nourish discontentment and +repinings. + +"I know that my claim has no legal support; that, if this money be +resigned to me, it will be the impulse of spontaneous justice, and not +the coercion of law, to which I am indebted for it. Since, therefore, +the justice of my claim is to be measured not by law, but by simple +equity, I will candidly acknowledge that, as yet, it is uncertain +whether I ought to receive, even should Miss Waldegrave be willing to +give it. I know my own necessities and schemes, and in what degree this +money would be subservient to these; but I know not the views and wants +of others, and cannot estimate the usefulness of this money to them. +However I decide upon your conduct in withholding or retaining it, I +shall make suitable allowance for my imperfect knowledge of your motives +and wants, as well as for your unavoidable ignorance of mine. + +"I have related my sufferings from shipwreck and poverty, not to bias +your judgment or engage your pity, but merely because the impulse to +relate them chanced to awake; because my heart is softened by the +remembrance of Waldegrave, who has been my only friend, and by the sight +of one whom he loved. + +"I told you that my father lived in Chetasco. He is now aged, and I am +his only child. I should have rejoiced in being able to relieve his gray +hairs from labour to which his failing strength cannot be equal. This +was one of my inducements in coming to America. Another was, to prepare +the way for a woman whom I married in Europe and who is now awaiting +intelligence from me in London. Her poverty is not less than my own, and +by marrying against the wishes of her kindred she has bereaved herself +of all support but that of her husband. Whether I shall be able to +rescue her from indigence, whether I shall alleviate the poverty of my +father, or increase it by burdening his scanty friends by my own +maintenance as well as his, the future alone can determine. + +"I confess that my stock of patience and hope has never been large, and +that my misfortunes have nearly exhausted it. The flower of my years has +been consumed in struggling with adversity, and my constitution has +received a shock, from sickness and mistreatment in Portugal, which I +cannot expect long to survive. But I make you sad," he continued. "I +have said all that I meant to say in this interview. I am impatient to +see my father, and night has already come. I have some miles yet to ride +to his cottage, and over a rough road. I will shortly visit you again, +and talk to you at greater leisure on these and other topics. At present +I leave you." + +I was unwilling to part so abruptly with this guest, and entreated him +to prolong his visit; but he would not be prevailed upon. Repeating his +promise of shortly seeing me again, he mounted his horse and +disappeared. I looked after him with affecting and complex emotions. I +reviewed the incidents of this unexpected and extraordinary interview, +as if it had existed in a dream. An hour had passed, and this stranger +had alighted among us as from the clouds, to draw the veil from those +obscurities which had bewildered us so long, to make visible a new train +of disastrous consequences flowing from the untimely death of thy +brother, and to blast that scheme of happiness on which thou and I had +so fondly meditated. + +But what wilt thou think of this new-born claim? The story, hadst thou +observed the features and guise of the relater, would have won thy +implicit credit. His countenance exhibited deep traces of the +afflictions he had endured, and the fortitude which he had exercised. He +was sallow and emaciated, but his countenance was full of seriousness +and dignity. A sort of ruggedness of brow, the token of great mental +exertion and varied experience, argued a premature old age. + +What a mournful tale! Is such the lot of those who wander from their +rustic homes in search of fortune? Our countrymen are prone to +enterprise, and are scattered over every sea and every land in pursuit +of that wealth which will not screen them from disease and infirmity, +which is missed much oftener than found, and which, when gained, by no +means compensates them for the hardships and vicissitudes endured in the +pursuit. + +But what if the truth of these pretensions be admitted? The money must +be restored to its right owner. I know that, whatever inconveniences may +follow the deed, thou wilt not hesitate to act justly. Affluence and +dignity, however valuable, may be purchased too dear. Honesty will not +take away its keenness from the winter blast, its ignominy and +unwholesomeness from servile labour, or strip of its charms the life of +elegance and leisure; but these, unaccompanied with self-reproach, are +less deplorable than wealth and honour the possession of which is marred +by our own disapprobation. + +I know the bitterness of this sacrifice. I know the impatience with +which your poverty has formerly been borne; how much your early +education is at war with that degradation and obscurity to which your +youth has been condemned; how earnestly your wishes panted after a state +which might exempt you from dependence upon daily labour and on the +caprices of others, and might secure to you leisure to cultivate and +indulge your love of knowledge and your social and beneficent +affections. + +Your motive for desiring a change of fortune has been greatly enforced +since we have become known to each other. Thou hast honoured me with thy +affection; but that union, on which we rely for happiness, could not +take place while both of us were poor. My habits, indeed, have made +labour and rustic obscurity less painful than they would prove to my +friend, but my present condition is wholly inconsistent with marriage. +As long as my exertions are insufficient to maintain us both, it would +be unjustifiable to burden you with new cares and duties. Of this you +are more thoroughly convinced than I am. The love of independence and +ease, and impatience of drudgery, are woven into your constitution. +Perhaps they are carried to an erroneous extreme, and derogate from that +uncommon excellence by which your character is, in other respects, +distinguished; but they cannot be removed. + +This obstacle was unexpectedly removed by the death of your brother. +However justly to be deplored was this catastrophe, yet, like every +other event, some of its consequences were good. By giving you +possession of the means of independence and leisure, by enabling us to +complete a contract which poverty alone had thus long delayed, this +event has been, at the same time, the most disastrous and propitious +which could have happened. + +Why thy brother should have concealed from us the possession of this +money,--why, with such copious means of indulgence and leisure, he +should still pursue his irksome trade, and live in so penurious a +manner,--has been a topic of endless and unsatisfactory conjecture +between us. It was not difficult to suppose that this money was held in +trust for another; but in that case it was unavoidable that some +document or memorandum, or at least some claimant, would appear. Much +time has since elapsed, and you have thought yourself at length +justified in appropriating this money to your own use. + +Our flattering prospects are now shut in. You must return to your +original poverty, and once more depend for precarious subsistence on +your needle. You cannot restore the whole, for unavoidable expenses and +the change of your mode of living have consumed some part of it. For so +much you must consider yourself as Weymouth's debtor. + +Repine not, my friend, at this unlooked-for reverse. Think upon the +merits and misfortunes of your brother's friend; think upon his aged +father, whom we shall enable him to rescue from poverty; think upon his +desolate wife, whose merits are, probably, at least equal to your own, +and whose helplessness is likely to be greater. I am not insensible to +the evils which have returned upon us with augmented force, after +having, for a moment, taken their flight. I know the precariousness of +my condition and that of my sisters; that our subsistence hangs upon the +life of an old man. My uncle's death will transfer this property to his +son, who is a stranger and an enemy to us, and the first act of whose +authority will unquestionably be to turn us forth from these doors. +Marriage with thee was anticipated with joyous emotions, not merely on +my own account or on thine, but likewise for the sake of those beloved +girls to whom that event would enable me to furnish an asylum. + +But wedlock is now more distant than ever. Mv heart bleeds to think of +the sufferings which my beloved Mary is again fated to endure; but +regrets are only aggravations of calamity. They are pernicious, and it +is our duty to shake them off. + +I can entertain no doubts as to the equity of Weymouth's claim. So many +coincidences could not have happened by chance. The non-appearance of +any letters or papers connected with it is indeed a mysterious +circumstance; but why should Waldegrave be studious of preserving these? +They were useless paper, and might, without impropriety, be cast away or +made to serve any temporary purpose. Perhaps, indeed, they still lurk in +some unsuspected corner. To wish that time may explain this mystery in a +different manner, and so as to permit our retention of this money, is, +perhaps, the dictate of selfishness. The transfer to Weymouth will not +be productive of less benefit to him and to his family, than we should +derive from the use of it. + +These considerations, however, will be weighed when we meet. Meanwhile I +will return to my narrative. + + + + +Chapter XVI. + + +Here, my friend, thou must permit me to pause. The following incidents +are of a kind to which the most ardent invention has never conceived a +parallel. Fortune, in her most wayward mood, could scarcely be suspected +of an influence like this. The scene was pregnant with astonishment and +horror. I cannot, even now, recall it without reviving the dismay and +confusion which I then experienced. + +Possibly, the period will arrive when I shall look back without agony on +the perils I have undergone. That period is still distant. Solitude and +sleep are now no more than the signals to summon up a tribe of ugly +phantoms. Famine, and blindness, and death, and savage enemies, never +fail to be conjured up by the silence and darkness of the night. I +cannot dissipate them by any efforts of reason. Sly cowardice requires +the perpetual consolation of light. My heart droops when I mark the +decline of the sun, and I never sleep but with a candle burning at my +pillow. If, by any chance, I should awake and find myself immersed in +darkness, I know not what act of desperation I might be suddenly +impelled to commit. + +I have delayed this narrative longer than my duty to my friend enjoined. +Now that I am able to hold a pen, I will hasten to terminate that +uncertainty with regard to my fate in which my silence has involved +thee. I will recall that series of unheard-of and disastrous +vicissitudes which has constituted the latest portion of my life. + +I am not certain, however, that I shall relate them in an intelligible +manner. One image runs into another; sensations succeed in so rapid a +train, that I fear I shall be unable to distribute and express them with +sufficient perspicuity. As I look back, my heart is sore, and aches +within my bosom. I am conscious to a kind of complex sentiment of +distress and forlornness that cannot be perfectly portrayed by words; +but I must do as well as I can. In the utmost vigour of my faculties, no +eloquence that I possess would do justice to the tale. Now, in my +languishing and feeble state, I shall furnish thee with little more than +a glimpse of the truth. With these glimpses, transient and faint as they +are, thou must be satisfied. + +I have said that I slept. My memory assures me of this; it informs me of +the previous circumstances of my laying aside my clothes, of placing the +light upon a chair within reach of my pillow, of throwing myself upon +the bed, and of gazing on the rays of the moon reflected on the wall and +almost obscured by those of the candle. I remember my occasional +relapses into fits of incoherent fancies, the harbingers of sleep. I +remember, as it were, the instant when my thoughts ceased to flow and my +senses were arrested by the leaden wand of forgetfulness. + +My return to sensation and to consciousness took place in no such +tranquil scene. I emerged from oblivion by degrees so slow and so faint, +that their succession cannot be marked. When enabled at length to attend +to the information which my senses afforded, I was conscious for a time +of nothing but existence. It was unaccompanied with lassitude or pain, +but I felt disinclined to stretch my limbs or raise my eyelids. My +thoughts were wildering and mazy, and, though consciousness was present, +it was disconnected with the locomotive or voluntary power. + +From this state a transition was speedily effected. I perceived that my +posture was supine, and that I lay upon my back. I attempted to open my +eyes. The weight that oppressed them was too great for a slight exertion +to remove. The exertion which I made cost me a pang more acute than any +which I ever experienced. My eyes, however, were opened; but the +darkness that environed me was as intense as before. + +I attempted to rise, but my limbs were cold, and my joints had almost +lost their flexibility. My efforts were repeated, and at length I +attained a sitting posture. I was now sensible of pain in my shoulders +and back. I was universally in that state to which the frame is reduced +by blows of a club, mercilessly and endlessly repeated; my temples +throbbed, and my face was covered with clammy and cold drops: but that +which threw me into deepest consternation was my inability to see. I +turned my head to different quarters; I stretched my eyelids, and +exerted every visual energy, but in vain. I was wrapped in the murkiest +and most impenetrable gloom. + +The first effort of reflection was to suggest the belief that I was +blind: that disease is known to assail us in a moment and without +previous warning. This, surely, was the misfortune that had now befallen +me. Some ray, however fleeting and uncertain, could not fail to be +discerned, if the power of vision were not utterly extinguished. In what +circumstances could I possibly be placed, from which every particle of +light should, by other means, be excluded? + +This led my thoughts into a new train. I endeavoured to recall the past; +but the past was too much in contradiction to the present, and my +intellect was too much shattered by external violence, to allow me +accurately to review it. + +Since my sight availed nothing to the knowledge of my condition, I +betook myself to other instruments. The element which I breathed was +stagnant and cold. The spot where I lay was rugged and hard. I was +neither naked nor clothed: a shirt and trousers composed my dress, and +the shoes and stockings, which always accompanied these, were now +wanting. What could I infer from this scanty garb, this chilling +atmosphere, this stony bed? + +I had awakened as from sleep. What was my condition when I fell asleep? +Surely it was different from the present. Then I inhabited a lightsome +chamber and was stretched upon a down bed; now I was supine upon a +rugged surface and immersed in palpable obscurity. Then I was in perfect +health; now my frame was covered with bruises and every joint was racked +with pain. What dungeon or den had received me, and by whose command was +I transported hither? + +After various efforts I stood upon my feet. At first I tottered and +staggered. I stretched out my hands on all sides, but met only with +vacuity. I advanced forward. At the third step my foot moved something +which lay upon the ground: I stooped and took it up, and found, on +examination, that it was an Indian tomahawk. This incident afforded me +no hint from which I might conjecture my state. + +Proceeding irresolutely and slowly forward, my hands at length touched a +wall. This, like the flooring, was of stone, and was rugged and +impenetrable. I followed this wall. An advancing angle occurred at a +short distance, which was followed by similar angles. I continued to +explore this clue, till the suspicion occurred that I was merely going +round the walls of a vast and irregular apartment. + +The utter darkness disabled me from comparing directions and distances. +This discovery, therefore, was not made on a sudden, and was still +entangled with some doubt. My blood recovered some warmth, and my +muscles some elasticity; but in proportion as my sensibility returned, +my pains augmented. Overpowered by my fears and my agonies, I desisted +from my fruitless search, and sat down, supporting my back against the +wall. + +My excruciating sensations for a time occupied my attention. These, in +combination with other causes, gradually produced a species of delirium. +I existed, as it were, in a wakeful dream. With nothing to correct my +erroneous perceptions, the images of the past occurred in capricious +combinations and vivid hues. Methought I was the victim of some tyrant +who had thrust me into a dungeon of his fortress, and left me no power +to determine whether he intended I should perish with famine, or linger +out a long life in hopeless imprisonment. Whether the day was shut out +by insuperable walls, or the darkness that surrounded me was owing to +the night and to the smallness of those crannies through which daylight +was to be admitted, I conjectured in vain. + +Sometimes I imagined myself buried alive. Methought I had fallen into +seeming death, and my friends had consigned me to the tomb, from which a +resurrection was impossible. That, in such a case, my limbs would have +been confined to a coffin, and my coffin to a grave, and that I should +instantly have been suffocated, did not occur to destroy my supposition. +Neither did this supposition overwhelm me with terror or prompt my +efforts at deliverance. My state was full of tumult and confusion, and +my attention was incessantly divided between my painful sensations and +my feverish dreams. + +There is no standard by which time can be measured but the succession of +our thoughts and the changes that take place in the external world. From +the latter I was totally excluded. The former made the lapse of some +hours appear like the tediousness of weeks and months. At length, a new +sensation recalled my rambling meditations, and gave substance to my +fears. I now felt the cravings of hunger, and perceived that, unless my +deliverance were speedily effected, I must suffer a tedious and +lingering death. + +I once more tasked my understanding and my senses to discover the nature +of my present situation and the means of escape. I listened to catch +some sound. I heard an unequal and varying echo, sometimes near and +sometimes distant, sometimes dying away and sometimes swelling into +loudness. It was unlike any thing I had before heard, but it was evident +that it arose from wind sweeping through spacious halls and winding +passages. These tokens were incompatible with the result of the +examination I had made. If my hands were true, I was immured between +walls through which there was no avenue. + +I now exerted my voice, and cried as loud as my wasted strength would +admit. Its echoes were sent back to me in broken and confused sounds and +from above. This effort was casual, but some part of that uncertainty in +which I was involved was instantly dispelled by it. In passing through +the cavern on the former day, I have mentioned the verge of the pit at +which I arrived. To acquaint me as far as was possible with the +dimensions of the place, I had hallooed with all my force, knowing that +sound is reflected according to the distance and relative positions of +the substances from which it is repelled. + +The effect produced by my voice on this occasion resembled, with +remarkable exactness, the effect which was then produced. Was I, then, +shut up in the same cavern? Had I reached the brink of the same +precipice and been thrown headlong into that vacuity? Whence else could +arise the bruises which I had received, but from my fall? Yet all +remembrance of my journey hither was lost. I had determined to explore +this cave on the ensuing day, but my memory informed me not that this +intention had been carried into effect. Still, it was only possible to +conclude that I had come hither on my intended expedition, and had been +thrown by another, or had, by some ill chance, fallen, into the pit. + +This opinion was conformable to what I had already observed. The +pavement and walls were rugged like those of the footing and sides of +the cave through which I had formerly passed. + +But if this were true, what was the abhorred catastrophe to which I was +now reserved? The sides of this pit were inaccessible; human footsteps +would never wander into these recesses. My friends were unapprized of my +forlorn state. Here I should continue till wasted by famine. In this +grave should I linger out a few days in unspeakable agonies, and then +perish forever. + +The inroads of hunger were already experienced; and this knowledge of +the desperateness of my calamity urged me to frenzy. I had none but +capricious and unseen fate to condemn. The author of my distress, and +the means he had taken to decoy me hither, were incomprehensible. Surely +my senses were fettered or depraved by some spell. I was still asleep, +and this was merely a tormenting vision; or madness had seized me, and +the darkness that environed and the hunger that afflicted me existed +only in my own distempered imagination. + +The consolation of these doubts could not last long. Every hour added to +the proof that my perceptions were real. My hunger speedily became +ferocious. I tore the linen of my shirt between my teeth and swallowed +the fragments. I felt a strong propensity to bite the flesh from my arm. +My heart overflowed with cruelty, and I pondered on the delight I should +experience in rending some living animal to pieces, and drinking its +blood and grinding its quivering fibres between my teeth. + +This agony had already passed beyond the limits of endurance. I saw that +time, instead of bringing respite or relief, would only aggravate my +wants, and that my only remaining hope was to die before I should be +assaulted by the last extremes of famine. I now recollected that a +tomahawk was at hand, and rejoiced in the possession of an instrument by +which I could so effectually terminate my sufferings. + +I took it in my hand, moved its edge over my fingers, and reflected on +the force that was required to make it reach my heart. I investigated +the spot where it should enter, and strove to fortify myself with +resolution to repeat the stroke a second or third time, if the first +should prove insufficient. I was sensible that I might fail to inflict a +mortal wound, but delighted to consider that the blood which would be +made to flow would finally release me, and that meanwhile my pains would +be alleviated by swallowing this blood. + +You will not wonder that I felt some reluctance to employ so fatal +though indispensable a remedy. I once more ruminated on the possibility +of rescuing myself by other means. I now reflected that the upper +termination of the wall could not be at an immeasurable distance from +the pavement. I had fallen from a height; but if that height had been +considerable, instead of being merely bruised, should I not have been +dashed into pieces? + +Gleams of hope burst anew upon my soul. Was it not possible, I asked, to +reach the top of this pit? The sides were rugged and uneven. Would not +their projectures and abruptnesses serve me as steps by which I might +ascend in safety? This expedient was to be tried without delay. Shortly +my strength would fail, and my doom would be irrevocably sealed. + +I will not enumerate my laborious efforts, my alternations of +despondency and confidence, the eager and unwearied scrutiny with which +I examined the surface, the attempts which I made, and the failures +which, for a time, succeeded each other. A hundred times, when I had +ascended some feet from the bottom, I was compelled to relinquish my +undertaking by the _untenable_ smoothness of the spaces which +remained to be gone over. A hundred times I threw myself, exhausted by +fatigue and my pains, on the ground. The consciousness was gradually +restored that, till I had attempted every part of the wall, it was +absurd to despair, and I again drew my tottering limbs and aching joints +to that part of the wall which had not been surveyed. + +At length, as I stretched my hand upward, I found somewhat that seemed +like a recession in the wall. It was possible that this was the top of +the cavity, and this might be the avenue to liberty. My heart leaped +with joy, and I proceeded to climb the wall. No undertaking could be +conceived more arduous than this. The space between this verge and the +floor was nearly smooth. The verge was higher from the bottom than my +head. The only means of ascending that were offered me were by my hands, +with which I could draw myself upward so as, at length, to maintain my +hold with my feet. + +My efforts were indefatigable, and at length I placed myself on the +verge. When this was accomplished, my strength was nearly gone. Had I +not found space enough beyond this brink to stretch myself at length, I +should unavoidably have fallen backward into the pit, and all my pains +had served no other end than to deepen my despair and hasten my +destruction. + +What impediments and perils remained to be encountered I could not +judge. I was now inclined to forebode the worst. The interval of repose +which was necessary to be taken, in order to recruit my strength, would +accelerate the ravages of famine, and leave me without the power to +proceed. + +In this state, I once more consoled myself that an instrument of death +was at hand. I had drawn up with me the tomahawk, being sensible that, +should this impediment be overcome, others might remain that would prove +insuperable. Before I employed it, however, I cast my eyes wildly and +languidly around. The darkness was no less intense than in the pit +below, and yet two objects were distinctly seen. + +They resembled a fixed and obscure flame. They were motionless. Though +lustrous themselves, they created no illumination around them. This +circumstance, added to others, which reminded me of similar objects +noted on former occasions, immediately explained the nature of what I +beheld. These were the eyes of a panther. + +Thus had I struggled to obtain a post where a savage was lurking and +waited only till my efforts should place me within reach of his fangs. +The first impulse was to arm myself against this enemy. The +desperateness of my condition was, for a moment, forgotten. The weapon +which was so lately lifted against my own bosom was now raised to defend +my life against the assault of another. + +There was no time for deliberation and delay. In a moment he might +spring from his station and tear me to pieces. My utmost speed might not +enable me to reach him where he sat, but merely to encounter his +assault. I did not reflect how far my strength was adequate to save me. +All the force that remained was mustered up and exerted in a throw. + +No one knows the powers that are latent in his constitution. Called +forth by imminent dangers, our efforts frequently exceed our most +sanguine belief. Though tottering on the verge of dissolution, and +apparently unable to crawl from this spot, a force was exerted in this +throw, probably greater than I had ever before exerted. It was +resistless and unerring. I aimed at the middle space between those +glowing orbs. It penetrated the skull, and the animal fell, struggling +and shrieking, on the ground. + +My ears quickly informed me when his pangs were at an end. His cries and +his convulsions lasted for a moment and then ceased. The effect of his +voice, in these subterranean abodes, was unspeakably rueful. + +The abruptness of this incident, and the preternatural exertion of my +strength, left me in a state of languor and sinking, from which slowly +and with difficulty I recovered. The first suggestion that occurred was +to feed upon the carcass of this animal. My hunger had arrived at that +pitch where all fastidiousness and scruples are at an end. I crept to +the spot. I will not shock you by relating the extremes to which dire +necessity had driven me. I review this scene with loathing and horror. +Now that it is past I look back upon it as on some hideous dream. The +whole appears to be some freak of insanity. No alternative was offered, +and hunger was capable of being appeased even by a banquet so +detestable. + +If this appetite has sometimes subdued the sentiments of nature, and +compelled the mother to feed upon the flesh of her offspring, it will +not excite amazement that I did not turn from the yet warm blood and +reeking fibres of a brute. + +One evil was now removed, only to give place to another. The first +sensations of fullness had scarcely been felt when my stomach was seized +by pangs, whose acuteness exceeded all that I ever before experienced. I +bitterly lamented my inordinate avidity. The excruciations of famine +were better than the agonies which this abhorred meal had produced. + +Death was now impending with no less proximity and certainty, though in +a different form. Death was a sweet relief for my present miseries, and +I vehemently longed for its arrival. I stretched myself on the ground. I +threw myself into every posture that promised some alleviation of this +evil. I rolled along the pavement of the cavern, wholly inattentive to +the dangers that environed me. That I did not fall into the pit whence I +had just emerged must be ascribed to some miraculous chance. + +How long my miseries endured, it is not possible to tell. I cannot even +form a plausible conjecture. Judging by the lingering train of my +sensations, I should conjecture that some days elapsed in this +deplorable condition; but nature could riot have so long sustained a +conflict like this. + +Gradually my pains subsided, and I fell into a deep sleep. I was visited +by dreams of a thousand hues. They led me to flowing streams and +plenteous banquets, which, though placed within my view, some power +forbade me to approach. From this sleep I recovered to the fruition of +solitude and darkness, but my frame was in a state less feeble than +before That which I had eaten had produced temporary distress, but on +the whole had been of use. If this food had not been provided for me I +should scarcely have avoided death. I had reason, therefore, to +congratulate myself on the danger that had lately occurred. + +I had acted without foresight, and yet no wisdom could have prescribed +more salutary measures. The panther was slain, not from a view to the +relief of my hunger, but from the self-preserving and involuntary +impulse. Had I foreknown the pangs to which my ravenous and bloody meal +would give birth, I should have carefully abstained; and yet these pangs +were a useful effort of nature to subdue and convert to nourishment the +matter I had swallowed. + +I was now assailed by the torments of thirst. My invention and my +courage were anew bent to obviate this pressing evil. I reflected that +there was some recess from this cavern, even from the spot where I now +stood. Before, I was doubtful whether in this direction from this pit +any avenue could be found; but, since the panther had come hither, there +was reason to suppose the existence of some such avenue. + +I now likewise attended to a sound, which, from its invariable tenor, +denoted somewhat different from the whistling of a gale. It seemed like +the murmur of a running stream. I now prepared to go forward and +endeavour to move along in that direction in which this sound apparently +came. + +On either side, and above my head, there was nothing but vacuity. My +steps were to be guided by the pavement, which, though unequal and +rugged, appeared, on the whole, to ascend. My safety required that I +should employ both hands and feet in exploring my way. + +I went on thus for a considerable period. The murmur, instead of +becoming more distinct, gradually died away. My progress was arrested by +fatigue, and I began once more to despond. My exertions produced a +perspiration, which, while it augmented my thirst, happily supplied me +with imperfect means of appeasing it. + +This expedient would, perhaps, have been accidentally suggested; but my +ingenuity was assisted by remembering the history of certain English +prisoners in Bengal, whom their merciless enemy imprisoned in a small +room, and some of whom preserved themselves alive merely by swallowing +the moisture that flowed from their bodies. This experiment I now +performed with no less success. + +This was slender arid transitory consolation. I knew that, wandering at +random, I might never reach the outlet of this cavern, or might be +disabled, by hunger and fatigue, from going farther than the outlet. The +cravings which had lately been satiated would speedily return, and my +negligence had cut me off from the resource which had recently been +furnished. I thought not till now that a second meal might be +indispensable. + +To return upon my footsteps to the spot where the dead animal lay was a +heartless project. I might thus be placing myself at a hopeless distance +from liberty. Besides, my track could not be retraced. I had frequently +deviated from a straight direction for the sake of avoiding impediments. +All of which I was sensible was, that I was travelling up an irregular +acclivity. I hoped some time to reach the summit, but had no reason for +adhering to one line of ascent in preference to another. + +To remain where I was was manifestly absurd. Whether I mounted or +descended, a change of place was most likely to benefit me. I resolved +to vary my direction, and, instead of ascending, keep along the side of +what I accounted a hill. I had gone some hundred feet when the murmur, +before described, once more saluted my ear. + +This sound, being imagined to proceed from a running stream, could not +but light up joy in the heart of one nearly perishing with thirst. I +proceeded with new courage. The sound approached no nearer, nor became +more distinct; but, as long as it died not away, I was satisfied to +listen and to hope. + +I was eagerly observant if any the least glimmering of light should +visit this recess. At length, on the right hand, a gleam, infinitely +faint, caught my attention. It was wavering and unequal. I directed my +steps towards it. It became more vivid and permanent. It was of that +kind, however, which proceeded from a fire, kindled with dry sticks, and +not from the sun. I now heard the crackling of flames. + +This sound made me pause, or, at least, to proceed with circumspection. +At length the scene opened, and I found myself at the entrance of a +cave. I quickly reached a station, when I saw a fire burning. At first +no other object was noted, but it was easy to infer that the fire was +kindled by men, and that they who kindled it could be at no great +distance. + + + + +Chapter XVII. + + +Thus was I delivered from my prison, and restored to the enjoyment of +the air and the light. Perhaps the chance was almost miraculous that led +me to this opening. In any other direction, I might have involved myself +in an inextricable maze and rendered my destruction sure; but what now +remained to place me in absolute security? Beyond the fire I could see +nothing; but, since the smoke rolled rapidly away, it was plain that on +the opposite side the cavern was open to the air. + +I went forward, but my eyes were fixed upon the fire: presently, in +consequence of changing my station, I perceived several feet, and the +skirts of blankets. I was somewhat startled at these appearances. The +legs were naked, and scored into uncouth figures. The _moccasins_ +which lay beside them, and which were adorned in a grotesque manner, in +addition to other incidents, immediately suggested the suspicion that +they were Indians. No spectacle was more adapted than this to excite +wonder and alarm. Had some mysterious power snatched me from the earth, +and cast me, in a moment, into the heart of the wilderness? Was I still +in the vicinity of my parental habitation, or was I thousands of miles +distant? + +Were these the permanent inhabitants of this region, or were they +wanderers and robbers? While in the heart of the mountain, I had +entertained a vague belief that I was still within the precincts of +Norwalk. This opinion was shaken for a moment by the objects which I now +beheld, but it insensibly returned: yet how was this opinion to be +reconciled to appearances so strange and uncouth, and what measure did a +due regard to my safety enjoin me to take? + +I now gained a view of four brawny and terrific figures, stretched upon +the ground. They lay parallel to each other, on their left sides; in +consequence of which their faces were turned from me. Between each was +an interval where lay a musket. Their right hands seemed placed upon the +stocks of their guns, as if to seize them on the first moment of alarm. + +The aperture through which these objects were seen was at the back of +the cave, and some feet from the ground. It was merely large enough to +suffer a human body to pass. It was involved in profound darkness, and +there was no danger of being suspected or discovered as long as I +maintained silence and kept out of view. + +It was easily imagined that these guests would make but a short sojourn +in this spot. There was reason to suppose that it was now night, and +that, after a short repose, they would start up and resume their +journey. It was my first design to remain shrouded in this covert till +their departure, and I prepared to endure imprisonment and thirst +somewhat longer. + +Meanwhile my thoughts were busy in accounting for this spectacle. I need +not tell thee that Norwalk is the termination of a sterile and narrow +tract which begins in the Indian country. It forms a sort of rugged and +rocky vein, and continues upwards of fifty miles. It is crossed in a few +places by narrow and intricate paths, by which a communication is +maintained between the farms and settlements on the opposite sides of +the ridge. + +During former Indian wars, this rude surface was sometimes traversed by +the red men, and they made, by means of it, frequent and destructive +inroads into the heart of the English settlements. During the last war, +notwithstanding the progress of population, and the multiplied perils of +such an expedition, a band of them had once penetrated into Norwalk, and +lingered long enough to pillage and murder some of the neighbouring +inhabitants. + +I have reason to remember that event. My father's house was placed on +the verge of this solitude. Eight of these assassins assailed it at the +dead of night. My parents and an infant child were murdered in their +beds; the house was pillaged, and then burnt to the ground. Happily, +myself and my two sisters were abroad upon a visit. The preceding day +had been fixed for our return to our father's house; but a storm +occurred, which made it dangerous to cross the river, and, by obliging +us to defer our journey, rescued us from captivity or death. + +Most men are haunted by some species of terror or antipathy, which they +are, for the most part, able to trace to some incident which befell them +in their early years. You will not be surprised that the fate of my +parents, and the sight of the body of one of this savage band, who, in +the pursuit that was made after them, was overtaken and killed, should +produce lasting and terrific images in my fancy. I never looked upon or +called up the image of a savage without shuddering. + +I knew that, at this time, some hostilities had been committed on the +frontier; that a long course of injuries and encroachments had lately +exasperated the Indian tribes; that an implacable and exterminating war +was generally expected. We imagined ourselves at an inaccessible +distance from the danger; but I could not but remember that this +persuasion was formerly as strong as at present, and that an expedition +which had once succeeded might possibly be attempted again. Here was +every token of enmity and bloodshed. Each prostrate figure was furnished +with a rifled musket, and a leathern bag tied round his waist, which +was, probably, stored with powder and ball. + +From these reflections, the sense of my own danger was revived and +enforced; but I likewise ruminated on the evils which might impend over +others. I should, no doubt, be safe by remaining in this nook; but might +not some means be pursued to warn others of their danger? Should they +leave this spot without notice of their approach being given to the +fearless and pacific tenants of the neighbouring district, they might +commit, in a few hours, the most horrid and irreparable devastation. + +The alarm could only be diffused in one way. Could I not escape, +unperceived, and without alarming the sleepers, from this cavern? The +slumber of an Indian is broken by the slightest noise; but, if all noise +be precluded, it is commonly profound. It was possible, I conceived, to +leave my present post, to descend into the cave, and issue forth without +the smallest signal. Their supine posture assured me that they were +asleep. Sleep usually comes at their bidding, and if, perchance, they +should be wakeful at an unseasonable moment, they always sit upon their +haunches, and, leaning their elbows on their knees, consume the tedious +hours in smoking. My peril would be great. Accidents which I could not +foresee, and over which I had no command, might occur to awaken some one +at the moment I was passing the fire. Should I pass in safety, I might +issue forth into a wilderness, of which I had no knowledge, where I +might wander till I perished with famine, or where my footsteps might be +noted and pursued and overtaken by these implacable foes. These perils +were enormous and imminent; but I likewise considered that I might be at +no great distance from the habitations of men, and that my escape might +rescue them from the most dreadful calamities. I determined to make this +dangerous experiment without delay. + +I came nearer to the aperture, and had, consequently, a larger view of +this recess. To my unspeakable dismay, I now caught a glimpse of one +seated at the fire. His back was turned towards me, so that I could +distinctly survey his gigantic form and fantastic ornaments. + +My project was frustrated. This one was probably commissioned to watch +and to awaken his companions when a due portion of sleep had been taken. +That he would not be unfaithful or remiss in the performance of the part +assigned to him was easily predicted. To pass him without exciting his +notice (and the entrance could not otherwise be reached) was impossible. +Once more I shrunk back, and revolved with hopelessness and anguish the +necessity to which I was reduced. + +This interval of dreary foreboding did not last long. Some motion in him +that was seated by the fire attracted my notice. I looked, and beheld +him rise from his place and go forth from the cavern. This unexpected +incident led my thoughts into a new channel. Could not some advantage be +taken of his absence? Could not this opportunity be seized for making my +escape? He had left his gun and hatchet on the ground. It was likely, +therefore, that he had not gone far, and would speedily return. Might +not these weapons be seized, and some provision be thus made against the +danger of meeting him without, or of being pursued? + +Before a resolution could be formed, a new sound saluted my ear. It was +a deep groan, succeeded by sobs that seemed struggling for utterance but +were vehemently counteracted by the sufferer. This low and bitter +lamentation apparently proceeded from some one within the cave. It could +not be from one of this swarthy band. It must, then, proceed from a +captive, whom they had reserved for torment or servitude, and who had +seized the opportunity afforded by the absence of him that watched to +give vent to his despair. + +I again thrust my head forward, and beheld, lying on the ground, apart +from the rest, and bound hand and foot, a young girl. Her dress was the +coarse russet garb of the country, and bespoke her to be some farmer's +daughter. Her features denoted the last degree of fear and anguish, and +she moved her limbs in such a manner as showed that the ligatures by +which she was confined produced, by their tightness, the utmost degree +of pain. + +My wishes were now bent not only to preserve myself and to frustrate the +future attempts of these savages, but likewise to relieve this miserable +victim. This could only be done by escaping from the cavern and +returning with seasonable aid. The sobs of the girl were likely to rouse +the sleepers. My appearance before her would prompt her to testify her +surprise by some exclamation or shriek. What could hence be predicted +but that the band would start on their feet and level their unerring +pieces at my head? + +I know not why I was insensible to these dangers. My thirst was rendered +by these delays intolerable. It took from me, in some degree, the power +of deliberation. The murmurs which had drawn me hither continued still +to be heard. Some torrent or cascade could not be far distant from the +entrance of the cavern, and it seemed as if one draught of clear water +was a luxury cheaply purchased by death itself. This, in addition to +considerations more disinterested, and which I have already mentioned, +impelled me forward. + +The girl's cheek rested on the hard rock, and her eyes were dim with +tears. As they were turned towards me, however, I hoped that my +movements would be noticed by her gradually and without abruptness. This +expectation was fulfilled. I had not advanced many steps before she +discovered me. This moment was critical beyond all others in the course +of my existence. My life was suspended, as it were, by a spider's +thread. All rested on the effect which this discovery should make upon +this feeble victim. + +I was watchful of the first movement of her eye which should indicate a +consciousness of my presence. I laboured, by gestures and looks, to +deter her from betraying her emotion. My attention was, at the same +time, fixed upon the sleepers, and an anxious glance was cast towards +the quarter whence the watchful savage might appear. + +I stooped and seized the musket and hatchet. The space beyond the fire +was, as I expected, open to the air. I issued forth with trembling +steps. The sensations inspired by the dangers which environed me, added +to my recent horrors, and the influence of the moon, which had now +gained the zenith, and whose lustre dazzled my long-benighted senses, +cannot be adequately described. + +For a minute, I was unable to distinguish objects. This confusion was +speedily corrected, and I found myself on the verge of a steep. Craggy +eminences arose on all sides. On the left hand was a space that offered +some footing, and hither I turned. A torrent was below me, and this path +appeared to lead to it. It quickly appeared in sight, and all foreign +cares were, for a time, suspended. + +This water fell from the upper regions of the hill, upon a flat +projecture which was continued on either side, and on part of which I +was now standing. The path was bounded on the left by an inaccessible +wall, and on the right terminated, at the distance of two or three feet +from the wall, in a precipice. The water was eight or ten paces distant, +and no impediment seemed likely to rise between us. I rushed forward +with speed. + +My progress was quickly checked. Close to the falling water, seated on +the edge, his back supported by the rock, and his legs hanging over the +precipice, I now beheld the savage who left the cave before me. The +noise of the cascade and the improbability of interruption, at least +from this quarter, had made him inattentive to my motions. + +I paused. Along this verge lay the only road by which I could reach the +water, and by which I could escape. The passage was completely occupied +by this antagonist. To advance towards him, or to remain where I was, +would produce the same effect. I should, in either case, be detected. He +was unarmed; but his outcries would instantly summon his companions to +his aid. I could not hope to overpower him, and pass him in defiance of +his opposition. But, if this were effected, pursuit would be instantly +commenced. I was unacquainted with the way. The way was unquestionably +difficult. My strength was nearly annihilated; I should be overtaken in +a moment, or their deficiency in speed would be supplied by the accuracy +of their aim. Their bullets, at least, would reach me. + +There was one method of removing this impediment. The piece which I held +in my hand was cocked. There could be no doubt that it was loaded. A +precaution of this kind would never be omitted by a warrior of this hue. +At a greater distance than this, I should not fear to reach the mark. +Should I not discharge it, and, at the same moment, rush forward to +secure the road which my adversary's death would open to me? + +Perhaps you will conceive a purpose like this to have argued a +sanguinary and murderous disposition. Let it be remembered, however, +that I entertained no doubts about the hostile designs of these men. +This was sufficiently indicated by their arms, their guise, and the +captive who attended them. Let the fate of my parents be, likewise, +remembered. I was not certain but that these very men were the assassins +of my family, and were those who had reduced me and my sisters to the +condition of orphans and dependants. No words can describe the torments +of my thirst. Relief to these torments, and safety to my life, were +within view. How could I hesitate? + +Yet I did hesitate. My aversion to bloodshed was not to be subdued but +by the direst necessity. I knew, indeed, that the discharge of a musket +would only alarm the enemies who remained behind; but I had another and +a better weapon in my grasp. I could rive the head of my adversary, and +cast him headlong, without any noise which should be heard, into the +cavern. + +Still I was willing to withdraw, to re-enter the cave, and take shelter +in the darksome recesses from which I had emerged. Here I might remain, +unsuspected, till these detested guests should depart. The hazards +attending my re-entrance were to be boldly encountered, and the torments +of unsatisfied thirst were to be patiently endured, rather than imbrue +my hands in the blood of my fellowmen. But this expedient would be +ineffectual if my retreat should be observed by this savage. Of that I +was bound to be incontestably assured. I retreated, therefore, but kept +my eye fixed at the same time upon the enemy. + +Some ill fate decreed that I should not retreat unobserved. Scarcely had +I withdrawn three paces when he started from his seat, and, turning +towards me, walked with a quick pace. The shadow of the rock, and the +improbability of meeting an enemy here, concealed me for a moment from +his observation. I stood still. The slightest motion would have +attracted his notice. At present, the narrow space engaged all his +vigilance. Cautious footsteps, and attention to the path, were +indispensable to his safety. The respite was momentary, and I employed +it in my own defence. + +How otherwise could I act? The danger that impended aimed at nothing +less than my life. To take the life of another was the only method of +averting it. The means were in my hand, and they were used. In an +extremity like this, my muscles would have acted almost in defiance of +my will. + +The stroke was quick as lightning, and the wound mortal and deep. He had +not time to descry the author of his fate, but, sinking on the path, +expired without a groan. The hatchet buried itself in his breast, and +rolled with him to the bottom of the precipice. + +Never before had I taken the life of a human creature. On this head I +had, indeed, entertained somewhat of religious scruples. These scruples +did not forbid me to defend myself, but they made me cautious and +reluctant to decide. Though they could not withhold my hand when urged +by a necessity like this, they were sufficient to make me look back upon +the deed with remorse and dismay. + +I did not escape all compunction in the present instance, but the tumult +of my feelings was quickly allayed. To quench my thirst was a +consideration by which all others were supplanted. I approached the +torrent, and not only drank copiously, but laved my head, neck, and +arms, in this delicious element. + + + + +Chapter XVIII. + + +Never was any delight worthy of comparison with the raptures which I +then experienced. Life, that was rapidly ebbing, appeared to return upon +me with redoubled violence. My languors, my excruciating heat, vanished +in a moment, and I felt prepared to undergo the labours of Hercules. +Having fully supplied the demands of nature in this respect, I returned +to reflection on the circumstances of my situation. The path winding +round the hill was now free from all impediments. What remained but to +precipitate my flight? I might speedily place myself beyond all danger. +I might gain some hospitable shelter, where my fatigues might be +repaired by repose, and my wounds be cured. I might likewise impart to +my protectors seasonable information of the enemies who meditated their +destruction. + +I thought upon the condition of the hapless girl whom I had left in the +power of the savages. Was it impossible to rescue her? Might I not +relieve her from her bonds, and make her the companion of my flight? The +exploit was perilous, but not impracticable. There was something +dastardly and ignominious in withdrawing from the danger, and leaving a +helpless being exposed to it. A single minute might suffice to snatch +her from death or captivity. The parents might deserve that I should +hazard or even sacrifice my life in the cause of their child. + +After some fluctuation, I determined to return to the cavern and attempt +the rescue of the girl. The success of this project depended on the +continuance of their sleep. It was proper to approach with wariness, and +to heed the smallest token which might bespeak their condition. I crept +along the path, bending my ear forward to catch any sound that might +arise. I heard nothing but the half-stifled sobs of the girl. + +I entered with the slowest and most anxious circumspection. Every thing +was found in its pristine state. The girl noticed my entrance with a +mixture of terror and joy. My gestures and looks enjoined upon her +silence. I stooped down, and, taking another hatchet, cut asunder the +deer-skin thongs by which her wrists and ankles were tied. I then made +signs for her to rise and follow me. She willingly complied with my +directions; but her benumbed joints and lacerated sinews refused to +support her. There was no time to be lost; I therefore lifted her in my +arms, and, feeble and tottering as I was, proceeded with this burden +along the perilous steep and over a most rugged-path. + +I hoped that some exertion would enable her to retrieve the use of her +limbs. I set her, therefore, on her feet, exhorting her to walk as well +as she was able, and promising her my occasional assistance. The poor +girl was not deficient in zeal, and presently moved along with light and +quick steps. We speedily reached the bottom of the hill. + +No fancy can conceive a scene more wild and desolate than that which now +presented itself. The soil was nearly covered with sharp fragments of +stone. Between these, sprung brambles and creeping vines, whose twigs, +crossing and intertwining with each other, added to the roughness below, +made the passage infinitely toilsome. Scattered over this space were +single cedars with their ragged spines and wreaths of moss, and copses +of dwarf oaks, which were only new emblems of sterility. + +I was wholly unacquainted with the scene before me. No marks of +habitation or culture, no traces of the footsteps of men, were +discernible. I scarcely knew in what region of the globe I was placed. I +had come hither by means so inexplicable as to leave it equally in doubt +whether I was separated from my paternal abode by a river or an ocean. + +I made inquiries of my companion, but she was unable to talk coherently. +She answered my questions with weeping, and sobs, and entreaties to fly +from the scene of her distress. I collected from her, at length, that +her father's house had been attacked on the preceding evening, and all +the family but herself destroyed. Since this disaster she had walked +very fast and a great way, but knew not how far or in what direction. + +In a wilderness like this, my only hope was to light upon obscure paths, +made by cattle. Meanwhile I endeavoured to adhere to one line, and to +burst through the vexatious obstacles which encumbered our way. The +ground was concealed by the bushes, and we were perplexed and fatigued +by a continual succession of hollows and prominences. At one moment we +were nearly thrown headlong into a pit. At another we struck our feet +against the angles of stones. The branches of the oak rebounded in our +faces or entangled our legs, and the unseen thorns inflicted on us a +thousand wounds. + +I was obliged, in these arduous circumstances, to support not only +myself, but my companion. Her strength was overpowered by her evening +journey, and the terror of being overtaken incessantly harassed her. + +Sometimes we lighted upon tracks which afforded us an easier footing and +inspired us with courage to proceed. These, for a time, terminated at a +brook or in a bog, and we were once more compelled to go forward at +random. One of these tracks insensibly became more beaten, and, at +length, exhibited the traces of wheels. To this I adhered, confident +that it would finally conduct us to a dwelling. + +On either side, the undergrowth of shrubs and brambles continued as +before. Sometimes small spaces were observed, which had lately been +cleared by fire. At length a vacant space, of larger dimensions than had +hitherto occurred, presented itself to my view. It was a field of some +acres, that had, apparently, been upturned by the hoe. At the corner of +this field was a small house. + +My heart leaped with joy at this sight. I hastened towards it, in the +hope that my uncertainties, and toils, and dangers, were now drawing to +a close. This dwelling was suited to the poverty and desolation which +surrounded it. It consisted of a few unhewn logs laid upon each other, +to the height of eight or ten feet, including a quadrangular space of +similar dimensions, and covered by a thatch. There was no window, light +being sufficiently admitted into the crevices between the logs. These +had formerly been loosely plastered with clay; but air and rain had +crumbled and washed the greater part of this rude cement away. Somewhat +like a chimney, built of half-burnt bricks, was perceived at one corner. +The door was fastened by a leathern thong, tied to a peg. + +All within was silence and darkness. I knocked at the door and called, +but no one moved or answered. The tenant, whoever he was, was absent. +His leave could not be obtained, and I, therefore, entered without it. +The autumn had made some progress, and the air was frosty and sharp. My +mind and muscles had been of late so strenuously occupied, that the cold +had not been felt. The cessation of exercise, however, quickly restored +my sensibility in this respect, but the unhappy girl complained of being +half frozen. + +Fire, therefore, was the first object of my search. Happily, some embers +were found upon the hearth, together with potato-stalks and dry chips. +Of these, with much difficulty, I kindled a fire, by which some warmth +was imparted to our shivering limbs. The light enabled me, as I sat upon +the ground, to survey the interior of this mansion. Three saplings, +stripped of their branches and bound together at their ends by twigs, +formed a kind of bedstead, which was raised from the ground by four +stones. Ropes stretched across these, and covered by a blanket, +constituted the bed. A board, of which one end rested on the bedstead +and the other was thrust between the logs that composed the wall, +sustained the stale fragments of a rye-loaf, and a cedar bucket kept +entire by withes instead of hoops. In the bucket was a little water, +full of droppings from the roof, drowned insects, and sand. A basket or +two neatly made, and a hoe, with a stake thrust into it by way of +handle, made up all the furniture that was visible. + +Next to cold, hunger was the most urgent necessity by which we were now +pressed. This was no time to give ear to scruples. We, therefore, +unceremoniously divided the bread and water between us. I had now +leisure to bestow some regards upon the future. + +These remnants of fire and food convinced me that this dwelling was +usually inhabited, and that it had lately been deserted. Some engagement +had probably carried the tenant abroad. His absence might be terminated +in a few minutes, or might endure through the night. On his return, I +questioned not my power to appease any indignation he might feel at the +liberties which I had taken. I was willing to suppose him one who would +readily afford us all the information and succour that we needed. + +If he should not return till sunrise, I meant to resume my journey. By +the comfortable meal we had made, and the repose of a few hours, we +should be considerably invigorated and refreshed, and the road would +lead us to some more hospitable tenement. + +My thoughts were too tumultuous, and my situation too precarious, to +allow me to sleep. The girl, on the contrary, soon sank into a sweet +oblivion of all her cares. She laid herself, by my advice, upon the bed, +and left me to ruminate without interruption. + +I was not wholly free from the apprehension of danger. What influence +this boisterous and solitary life might have upon the temper of the +being who inhabited this hut, I could not predict. How soon the Indians +might awake, and what path they would pursue, I was equally unable to +guess. It was by no means impossible that they might tread upon my +footsteps, and knock, in a few minutes, at the door of this cottage. It +behooved me to make all the preparations in my power against untoward +incidents. + +I had not parted with the gun which I had first seized in the cavern, +nor with the hatchet which I had afterwards used to cut the bands of the +girl. These were at once my trophies and my means of defence, which it +had been rash and absurd to have relinquished. My present reliance was +placed upon these. + +I now, for the first time, examined the prize that I had made. Other +considerations had prevented me, till now, from examining the structure +of the piece; but I could not but observe that it had two barrels, and +was lighter and smaller than an ordinary musket. The light of the fire +now enabled me to inspect it with more accuracy. + +Scarcely had I fixed my eyes upon the stock, when I perceived marks that +were familiar to my apprehension. Shape, ornaments, and ciphers, were +evidently the same with those of a piece which I had frequently handled. +The marks were of a kind which could not be mistaken. This piece was +mine; and, when I left my uncle's house, it was deposited, as I +believed, in the closet of my chamber. + +Thou wilt easily conceive the inference which this circumstance +suggested. My hairs rose and my teeth chattered with horror. My whole +frame was petrified, and I paced to and fro, hurried from the chimney to +the door, and from the door to the chimney, with the misguided fury of a +maniac. + +I needed no proof of my calamity more incontestable than this. My uncle +and my sisters had been murdered; the dwelling had been pillaged, and +this had been a part of the plunder. Defenceless and asleep, they were +assailed by these inexorable enemies, and I, who ought to have been +their protector and champion, was removed to an immeasurable distance, +and was disabled, by some accursed chance, from affording them the +succour which they needed. + +For a time, I doubted whether I had not witnessed and shared this +catastrophe. I had no memory of the circumstances that preceded my +awaking in the pit. Had not the cause of my being cast into this abyss +some connection with the ruin of my family? Had I not been dragged +hither by these savages and reduced, by their malice, to that breathless +and insensible condition? Was I born to a malignant destiny never tired +of persecuting? Thus had my parents and their infant offspring perished, +and thus completed was the fate of all those to whom my affections +cleaved, and whom the first disaster had spared. + +Hitherto the death of the savage, whom I had dispatched with my hatchet, +had not been remembered without some remorse. Now my emotions were +totally changed. I was somewhat comforted in thinking that thus much of +necessary vengeance had been executed. New and more vehement regrets +were excited by reflecting on the forbearance I had practised when so +much was in my power. All the miscreants had been at my mercy, and a +bloody retribution might, with safety and ease, have been inflicted on +their prostrate bodies. + +It was now too late. What of consolation or of hope remained to me? To +return to my ancient dwelling, now polluted with blood, or, perhaps, +nothing but a smoking ruin, was abhorred. Life, connected with the +remembrance of my misfortunes, was detestable. I was no longer anxious +for flight. No change of the scene but that which terminated all +consciousness could I endure to think of. + +Amidst these gloomy meditations the idea was suddenly suggested of +returning, with the utmost expedition, to the cavern. It was possible +that the assassins were still asleep. He who was appointed to watch, and +to make, in due season, the signal for resuming their march, was forever +silent. Without this signal it was not unlikely that they would sleep +till dawn of day. But, if they should be roused, they might be overtaken +or met, and, by choosing a proper station, two victims might at least +fall. The ultimate event to myself would surely be fatal; but my own +death was an object of desire rather than of dread. To die thus +speedily, and after some atonement was made for those who had already +been slain, was sweet. + +The way to the mountain was difficult and tedious, but the ridge was +distinctly seen from the door of the cottage, and I trusted that +auspicious chance would lead me to that part of it where my prey was to +be found. I snatched up the gun and tomahawk in a transport of +eagerness. On examining the former, I found that both barrels were +deeply loaded. + +This piece was of extraordinary workmanship. It was the legacy of an +English officer, who died in Bengal, to Sarsefield. It was constructed +for the purposes not of sport but of war. The artist had made it a +congeries of tubes and springs, by which every purpose of protection and +offence was effectually served. A dagger's blade was attached to it, +capable of being fixed at the end, and of answering the destructive +purpose of a bayonet. On his departure from Solesbury, my friend left +it, as a pledge of his affection, in my possession. Hitherto I had +chiefly employed it in shooting at a mark, in order to improve my sight; +now was I to profit by the gift in a different way. + +Thus armed, I prepared to sally forth on my adventurous expedition. +Sober views might have speedily succeeded to the present tempest of my +passions. I might have gradually discovered the romantic and criminal +temerity of my project, the folly of revenge, and the duty of preserving +my life for the benefit of mankind. I might have suspected the propriety +of my conclusion, and have admitted some doubts as to the catastrophe +which I imagined to have befallen my uncle and sisters. I might, at +least, have consented to ascertain their condition with my own eyes, and +for this end have returned to the cottage, and have patiently waited +till the morning light should permit me to resume my journey. + +This conduct was precluded by a new incident. Before I opened the door I +looked through a crevice of the wall, and perceived three human figures +at the farther end of the field. They approached the house. Though +indistinctly seen, something in their port persuaded me that these were +the Indians from whom I had lately parted. I was startled but not +dismayed. My thirst of vengeance was still powerful, and I believed that +the moment of its gratification was hastening. In a short time they +would arrive and enter the house. In what manner should they be +received? + +I studied not my own security. It was the scope of my wishes to kill the +whole number of my foes; but, that being done, I was indifferent to the +consequences. I desired not to live to relate or to exult in the deed. + +To go forth was perilous and useless. All that remained was to sit upon +the ground opposite the door, and fire at each as he entered. In the +hasty survey I had taken of this apartment, one object had been +overlooked, or imperfectly noticed. Close to the chimney was an +aperture, formed by a cavity partly in the wall and in the ground. It +was the entrance of an oven, which resembled, on the outside, a mound of +earth, and which was filled with dry stalks of potatoes and other +rubbish. + +Into this it was possible to thrust my body. A sort of screen might be +formed of the brushwood, and more deliberate and effectual execution be +done upon the enemy. I weighed not the disadvantages of this scheme, but +precipitately threw myself into this cavity. I discovered, in an +instant, that it was totally unfit for my purpose; but it was too late +to repair my miscarriage. + +This wall of the hovel was placed near the verge of a sand-bank. The +oven was erected on the very brink. This bank, being of a loose and +mutable soil, could not sustain my weight. It sunk, and I sunk along +with it. The height of the bank was three or four feet, so that, though +disconcerted and embarrassed, I received no injury. I still grasped my +gun, and resumed my feet in a moment. + +What was now to be done? The bank screened me from the view of the +savages. The thicket was hard by, and, if I were eager to escape, the +way was obvious and sure. But, though single, though enfeebled by toil, +by abstinence, and by disease, and though so much exceeded in number and +strength by my foes, I was determined to await and provoke the contest. + +In addition to the desperate impulse of passion, I was swayed by +thoughts of the danger which beset the sleeping girl, and from which my +flight would leave her without protection. How strange is the destiny +that governs mankind! The consequence of shrouding myself in this cavity +had not been foreseen. It was an expedient which courage and not +cowardice suggested; and yet it was the only expedient by which flight +had been rendered practicable. To have issued from the door would only +have been to confront, and not to elude, the danger. + +The first impulse prompted me to re-enter the cottage by this avenue, +but this could not be done with certainty and expedition. What then +remained? While I deliberated, the men approached, and, after a moment's +hesitation, entered the house, the door being partly open. + +The fire on the hearth enabled them to survey the room. One of them +uttered a sudden exclamation of surprise. This was easily interpreted. +They had noticed the girl who had lately been their captive lying asleep +on the blanket. Their astonishment at finding her here, and in this +condition, may be easily conceived. + +I now reflected that I might place myself, without being observed, near +the entrance, at an angle of the building, and shoot at each as he +successively came forth. I perceived that the bank conformed to two +sides of the house, and that I might gain a view of the front and of the +entrance, without exposing myself to observation. + +I lost no time in gaining this station. The bank was as high as my +breast. It was easy, therefore, to crouch beneath it, to bring my eye +close to the verge, and, laying my gun upon the top of it among the +grass, with its muzzles pointed to the door, patiently to wait their +forthcoming. + +My eye and my ear were equally attentive to what was passing. A low and +muttering conversation was maintained in the house. Presently I heard a +heavy stroke descend. I shuddered, and my blood ran cold at the sound. I +entertained no doubt but that it was the stroke of a hatchet on the head +or breast of the helpless sleeper. + +It was followed by a loud shriek. The continuance of these shrieks +proved that the stroke had not been instantly fatal. I waited to hear it +repeated, but the sounds that now arose were like those produced by +dragging somewhat along the ground. The shrieks, meanwhile, were +incessant and piteous. My heart faltered, and I saw that mighty efforts +must be made to preserve my joints and my nerves steadfast. All depended +on the strenuous exertions and the fortunate dexterity of a moment. + +One now approached the door, and came forth, dragging the girl, whom he +held by the hair, after him. What hindered me from shooting at his first +appearance, I know not. This had been my previous resolution. My hand +touched the trigger, and, as he moved, the piece was levelled at his +right ear. Perhaps the momentous consequences of my failure made me wait +till his ceasing to move might render my aim more sure. + +Having dragged the girl, still piteously shrieking, to the distance of +ten feet from the house, he threw her from him with violence. She fell +upon the ground, and, observing him level his piece at her breast, +renewed her supplications in a still more piercing tone. Little did the +forlorn wretch think that her deliverance was certain and near. I +rebuked myself for having thus long delayed. I fired, and my enemy sunk +upon the ground without a struggle. + +Thus far had success attended me in this unequal contest. The next shot +would leave me nearly powerless. If that, however, proved as unerring as +the first, the chances of defeat were lessened. The savages within, +knowing the intentions of their associate with regard to the captive +girl, would probably mistake the report which they heard for that of his +piece. Their mistake, however, would speedily give place to doubts, and +they would rush forth to ascertain the truth. It behooved me to provide +a similar reception for him that next appeared. + +It was as I expected. Scarcely was my eye again fixed upon the entrance, +when a tawny and terrific visage was stretched fearfully forth. It was +the signal of his fate. His glances, cast wildly and swiftly round, +lighted upon me, and on the fatal instrument which was pointed at his +forehead. His muscles were at once exerted to withdraw his head, and to +vociferate a warning to his fellow; but his movement was too slow. The +ball entered above his ear. He tumbled headlong to the ground, bereaved +of sensation though not of life, and had power only to struggle and +mutter. + + + + +Chapter XIX. + + +Think not that I relate these things with exultation or tranquillity. +All my education and the habits of my life tended to unfit me for a +contest and a scene like this. But I was not governed by the soul which +usually regulates my conduct. I had imbibed, from the unparalleled +events which had lately happened, a spirit vengeful, unrelenting, and +ferocious. + +There was now an interval for flight. Throwing my weapons away, I might +gain the thicket in a moment. I had no ammunition, nor would time be +afforded me to reload my piece. My antagonist would render my poniard +and my speed of no use to me. Should he miss me as I fled, the girl +would remain to expiate, by her agonies and death, the fate of his +companions. + +These thoughts passed through my mind in a shorter time than is demanded +to express them. They yielded to an expedient suggested by the sight of +the gun that had been raised to destroy the girl, and which now lay upon +the ground. I am not large of bone, but am not deficient in agility and +strength. All that remained to me of these qualities was now exerted; +and, dropping my own piece, I leaped upon the bank, and flew to seize my +prize. + +It was not till I snatched it from the ground, that the propriety of +regaining my former post rushed upon my apprehension. He that was still +posted in the hovel would mark me through the seams of the wall, and +render my destruction sure. I once more ran towards the bank, with the +intention to throw myself below it. All this was performed in an +instant; but my vigilant foe was aware of his advantage, and fired +through an opening between the logs. The bullet grazed my cheek, and +produced a benumbing sensation that made me instantly fall to the earth. +Though bereaved of strength, and fraught with the belief that I had +received a mortal wound, my caution was not remitted. I loosened not my +grasp of the gun, and the posture into which I accidentally fell enabled +me to keep an eye upon the house and a hand upon the trigger. Perceiving +my condition, the savage rushed from his covert in order to complete his +work; but at three steps from the threshold he received my bullet in his +breast. The uplifted tomahawk fell from his hand, and, uttering a loud +shriek, he fell upon the body of his companion. His cries struck upon my +heart, and I wished that his better fortune had cast this evil from him +upon me. + +Thus I have told thee a bloody and disastrous tale. When thou reflectest +on the mildness of my habits, my antipathy to scenes of violence and +bloodshed, my unacquaintance with the use of fire-arms and the motives +of a soldier, thou wilt scarcely allow credit to my story. That one +rushing into these dangers, unfurnished with stratagems or weapons, +disheartened and enfeebled by hardships and pain, should subdue four +antagonists trained from their infancy to the artifices and exertions of +Indian warfare, will seem the vision of fancy, rather than the lesson of +truth. + +I lifted my head from the ground and pondered upon this scene. The +magnitude of this exploit made me question its reality. By attending to +my own sensations, I discovered that I had received no wound, or, at +least, none of which there was reason to complain. The blood flowed +plentifully from my cheek, but the injury was superficial. It was +otherwise with my antagonists. The last that had fallen now ceased to +groan. Their huge limbs, inured to combat and _war-worn_, were useless +to their own defence, and to the injury of others. + +The destruction that I witnessed was vast. Three beings, full of energy +and heroism, endowed with minds strenuous and lofty, poured out their +lives before me. I was the instrument of their destruction. This scene +of carnage and blood was laid by me. To this havoc and horror was I led +by such rapid footsteps! + +My anguish was mingled with astonishment. In spite of the force and +uniformity with which my senses were impressed by external objects, the +transition I had undergone was so wild and inexplicable; all that I had +performed, all that I had witnessed since my egress from the pit, were +so contradictory to precedent events, that I still clung to the belief +that my thoughts were confused by delirium. From these reveries I was at +length recalled by the groans of the girl, who lay near me on the +ground. + +I went to her and endeavoured to console her. I found that, while lying +in the bed, she had received a blow upon the side, which was still +productive of acute pain. She was unable to rise or to walk, and it was +plain that one or more of her ribs had been fractured by the blow. + +I knew not what means to devise for our mutual relief. It was possible +that the nearest dwelling was many leagues distant. I knew not in what +direction to go in order to find it, and my strength would not suffice +to carry my wounded companion thither in my arms. There was no expedient +but to remain in this field of blood till the morning. + +I had scarcely formed this resolution before the report of a musket was +heard at a small distance. At the same moment, I distinctly heard the +whistling of a bullet near me. I now remembered that, of the five +Indians whom I saw in the cavern, I was acquainted with the destiny only +of four. The fifth might be still alive, and fortune might reserve for +him the task of avenging his companions. His steps might now be tending +hither in search of them. + +The musket belonging to him who was shot upon the threshold was still +charged. It was discreet to make all the provision in my power against +danger. I possessed myself of this gun, and, seating myself on the +ground, looked carefully on all sides, to descry the approach of the +enemy. I listened with breathless eagerness. + +Presently voices were heard. They ascended from that part of the thicket +from which my view was intercepted by the cottage. These voices had +something in them that bespoke them to belong to friends and countrymen. +As yet I was unable to distinguish words. + +Presently my eye was attracted to one quarter, by a sound as of feet +trampling down bushes. Several heads were seen moving in succession, and +at length the whole person was conspicuous. One after another leaped +over a kind of mound which bordered the field, and made towards the spot +where I sat. This band was composed of ten or twelve persons, with each +a gun upon his shoulder. Their guise, the moment it was perceived, +dissipated all my apprehensions. + +They came within the distance of a few paces before they discovered me. +One stopped, and, bespeaking the attention of his followers, called to +know who was there. I answered that I was a friend, who entreated their +assistance. I shall not paint their astonishment when, on coming nearer, +they beheld me surrounded by the arms and dead bodies of my enemies. + +I sat upon the ground, supporting my head with my left hand, and resting +on my knee the stock of a heavy musket. My countenance was wan and +haggard, my neck and bosom were dyed in blood, and my limbs, almost +stripped by the brambles of their slender covering, were lacerated by a +thousand wounds. Three savages, two of whom were steeped in gore, lay at +a small distance, with the traces of recent life on their visages. Hard +by was the girl, venting her anguish in the deepest groans, and +entreating relief from the new-comers. + +One of the company, on approaching the girl, betrayed the utmost +perturbation. "Good God!" he cried, "is this a dream? Can it be you? +Speak!" + +"Ah, my father! my father!" answered she, "it is I indeed." + +The company, attracted by this dialogue, crowded round the girl, whom +her father, clasping in his arms, lifted from the ground, and pressed, +in a transport of joy, to his breast. This delight was succeeded by +solicitude respecting her condition. She could only answer his inquiries +by complaining that her side was bruised to pieces. "How came you +here?"--"Who hurt you?"--"Where did the Indians carry you?"--were +questions to which she could make no reply but by sobs and plaints. + +My own calamities were forgotten in contemplating the fondness and +compassion of the man for his child. I derived new joy from reflecting +that I had not abandoned her, and that she owed her preservation to my +efforts. The inquiries which the girl was unable to answer were now put +to me. Every one interrogated me who I was, whence I had come, and what +had given rise to this bloody contest. + +I was not willing to expatiate on my story. The spirit which had +hitherto sustained me began now to subside. My strength ebbed away with +my blood. Tremors, lassitude, and deadly cold, invaded me, and I fainted +on the ground. + +Such is the capricious constitution of the human mind. While dangers +were at hand, while my life was to be preserved only by zeal, and +vigilance, and courage, I was not wanting to myself. Had my perils +continued, or even multiplied, no doubt my energies would have kept +equal pace with them; but the moment that I was encompassed by +protectors, and placed in security, I grew powerless and faint. My +weakness was proportioned to the duration and intensity of my previous +efforts, and the swoon into which I now sunk was, no doubt, mistaken by +the spectators for death. + +On recovering from this swoon, my sensations were not unlike those which +I had experienced on awaking in the pit. For a moment a mistiness +involved every object, and I was able to distinguish nothing. My sight, +by rapid degrees, was restored, my painful dizziness was banished, and I +surveyed the scene before me with anxiety and wonder. + +I found myself stretched upon the ground. I perceived the cottage and +the neighbouring thicket, illuminated by a declining moon. My head +rested upon something, which, on turning to examine, I found to be one +of the slain Indians. The other two remained upon the earth, at a small +distance, and in the attitudes in which they had fallen. Their arms, the +wounded girl, and the troop who were near me when I fainted, were gone. + +My head had reposed upon the breast of him whom I had shot in this part +of his body. The blood had ceased to ooze from the wound, but my +dishevelled locks were matted and steeped in that gore which had +overflowed and choked up the orifice. I started from this detestable +pillow, and regained my feet. + +I did not suddenly recall what had lately passed, or comprehend the +nature of my situation. At length, however, late events were +recollected. + +That I should be abandoned in this forlorn state by these men seemed to +argue a degree of cowardice or cruelty of which I should have thought +them incapable. Presently, however, I reflected that appearances might +have easily misled them into a belief of my death. On this supposition, +to have carried me away, or to have stayed beside me, would be useless. +Other enemies might be abroad; or their families, now that their fears +were somewhat tranquillized, might require their presence and +protection. + +I went into the cottage. The fire still burned, and afforded me a genial +warmth. I sat before it, and began to ruminate on the state to which I +was reduced, and on the measures I should next pursue. Daylight could +not be very distant. Should I remain in this hovel till the morning, or +immediately resume my journey? I was feeble, indeed; but, by remaining +here, should I not increase my feebleness? The sooner I should gain some +human habitation the better; whereas watchfulness and hunger would +render me, at each minute, less able to proceed than on the former. + +This spot might be visited on the next day; but this was involved in +uncertainty. The visitants, should any come, would come merely to +examine and bury the dead, and bring with them neither the clothing nor +the food which my necessities demanded. The road was sufficiently +discernible, and would, unavoidably, conduct me to some dwelling. I +determined, therefore, to set out without delay. Even in this state I +was not unmindful that my safety might require the precaution of being +armed. Besides, the fusil which had been given me by Sarsefield, and +which I had so unexpectedly recovered, had lost none of its value in my +eyes. I hoped that it had escaped the search of the troop who had been +here, and still lay below the bank in the spot where I had dropped it. + +In this hope I was not deceived. It was found. I possessed myself of the +powder and shot belonging to one of the savages, and loaded it. Thus +equipped for defence, I regained the road, and proceeded, with alacrity, +on my way. For the wound in my cheek, nature had provided a styptic, but +the soreness was extreme, and I thought of no remedy but water, with +which I might wash away the blood. My thirst likewise incommoded me, and +I looked with eagerness for the traces of a spring. In a soil like that +of the wilderness around me, nothing was less to be expected than to +light upon water. In this respect, however, my destiny was propitious. I +quickly perceived water in the ruts. It trickled hither from the thicket +on one side, and, pursuing it among the bushes, I reached the bubbling +source. Though scanty and brackish, it afforded me unspeakable +refreshment. + +Thou wilt think, perhaps, that my perils were now at an end; that the +blood I had already shed was sufficient for my safety. I fervently hoped +that no new exigence would occur compelling me to use the arms that I +bore in my own defence. I formed a sort of resolution to shun the +contest with a new enemy, almost at the expense of my own life. I was +satiated and gorged with slaughter, and thought upon a new act of +destruction with abhorrence and loathing. + +But, though I dreaded to encounter a new enemy, I was sensible that an +enemy might possibly be at hand. I had moved forward with caution, and +my sight and hearing were attentive to the slightest tokens. Other +troops, besides that which I encountered, might be hovering near, and of +that troop I remembered that one at least had survived. + +The gratification which the spring had afforded me was so great, that I +was in no haste to depart. I lay upon a rock, which chanced to be shaded +by a tree behind me. From this post I could overlook the road to some +distance, and, at the same time, be shaded from the observation of +others. + +My eye was now caught by movements which appeared like those of a beast. +In different circumstances, I should have instantly supposed it to be a +wolf, or panther, or bear. Now my suspicions were alive on a different +account, and my startled fancy figured to itself nothing but a human +adversary. + +A thicket was on either side of the road. That opposite to my station +was discontinued at a small distance by the cultivated field. The road +continued along this field, bounded by the thicket on the one side and +the open space on the other. To this space the being who was now +described was cautiously approaching. + +He moved upon all fours, and presently came near enough to be +distinguished. His disfigured limbs, pendants from his ears and nose, +and his shorn locks, were indubitable indications of a savage, +Occasionally he reared himself above the bushes, and scanned, with +suspicious vigilance, the cottage and the space surrounding it. Then he +stooped, and crept along as before. + +I was at no loss to interpret these appearances. This was my surviving +enemy. He was unacquainted with the fate of his associates, and was now +approaching the theatre of carnage to ascertain their fate. + +Once more was the advantage afforded me. From this spot might unerring +aim be taken, and the last of this hostile troop be made to share the +fate of the rest. Should I fire, or suffer him to pass in safety? + +My abhorrence of bloodshed was not abated. But I had not foreseen this +occurrence. My success hitherto had seemed to depend upon a combination +of fortunate incidents, which could not be expected again to take place; +but now was I invested with the same power. The mark was near; nothing +obstructed or delayed; I incurred no danger, and the event was certain. + +Why should he be suffered to live? He came hither to murder and despoil +my friends; this work he has, no doubt, performed. Nay, has he not borne +his part in the destruction of my uncle and my sisters? He will live +only to pursue the same sanguinary trade; to drink the blood and exult +in the laments of his unhappy foes and of my own brethren. Fate has +reserved him for a bloody and violent death. For how long a time soever +it may be deferred, it is thus that his career will inevitably +terminate. + +Should he be spared, he will still roam in the wilderness, and I may +again be fated to encounter him. Then our mutual situation may be widely +different, and the advantage I now possess may be his. + +While hastily revolving these thoughts, I was thoroughly aware that one +event might take place which would render all deliberation useless. +Should he spy me where I lay, my fluctuations must end. My safety would +indispensably require me to shoot. This persuasion made me keep a +steadfast eye upon his motions, and be prepared to anticipate his +assault. + +It now most seasonably occurred to me that one essential duty remained +to be performed. One operation, without which fire-arms are useless, had +been unaccountably omitted. My piece was uncocked. I did not reflect +that in moving the spring a sound would necessarily be produced +sufficient to alarm him. But I knew that the chances of escaping his +notice, should I be perfectly mute and still, were extremely slender, +and that, in such a case, his movements would be quicker than the light: +it behooved me, therefore, to repair my omission. + +The sound struck him with alarm. He turned and darted at me an inquiring +glance. I saw that forbearance was no longer in my power; but my heart +sunk while I complied with what may surely be deemed an indispensable +necessity. This faltering, perhaps, it was that made me swerve somewhat +from the fatal line. He was disabled by the wound, but not killed. + +He lost all power of resistance, and was, therefore, no longer to be +dreaded. He rolled upon the ground, uttering doleful shrieks, and +throwing his limbs into those contortions which bespeak the keenest +agonies to which ill-fated man is subject. Horror, and compassion, and +remorse, were mingled into one sentiment, and took possession of my +heart. To shut out this spectacle, I withdrew from the spot, but I +stopped before I had moved beyond hearing of his cries. + +The impulse that drove me from the scene was pusillanimous and cowardly. +The past, however deplorable, could not be recalled; but could not I +afford some relief to this wretch? Could not I at least bring his pangs +to a speedy close? Thus he might continue, writhing and calling upon +death, for hours. Why should his miseries be uselessly prolonged? + +There was but one way to end them. To kill him outright was the dictate +of compassion and of duty. I hastily returned, and once more levelled my +piece at his head. It was a loathsome obligation, and was performed with +unconquerable reluctance. Thus to assault and to mangle the body of an +enemy, already prostrate and powerless, was an act worthy of abhorrence; +yet it was, in this case, prescribed by pity. + +My faltering hand rendered this second bullet ineffectual. One +expedient, still more detestable, remained. Having gone thus far, it +would have been inhuman to stop short. His heart might easily be pierced +by the bayonet, and his struggles would cease. + +This task of cruel lenity was at length finished. I dropped the weapon +and threw myself on the ground, overpowered by the horrors of this +scene. Such are the deeds which perverse nature compels thousands of +rational beings to perform and to witness! Such is the spectacle, +endlessly prolonged and diversified, which is exhibited in every field +of battle; of which habit and example, the temptations of gain, and the +illusions of honour, will make us, not reluctant or indifferent, but +zealous and delighted actors and beholders! + +Thus, by a series of events impossible to be computed or foreseen, was +the destruction of a band, selected from their fellows for an arduous +enterprise, distinguished by prowess and skill, and equally armed +against surprise and force, completed by the hand of a boy, uninured to +hostility, unprovided with arms, precipitate and timorous! I have noted +men who seemed born for no end but by their achievements to belie +experience, and baffle foresight, and outstrip belief. Would to God that +I had not deserved to be numbered among these! But what power was it +that called me from the sleep of death just in time to escape the +merciless knife of this enemy? Had my swoon continued till he had +reached the spot, he would have effectuated my death by new wounds and +torn away the skin from my brows. Such are the subtle threads on which +hang the fate of man and of the universe! + +While engaged in these reflections, I perceived that the moonlight had +begun to fade before that of the sun. A dusky and reddish hue spread +itself over the east. Cheered by this appearance, I once more resumed my +feet and the road. I left the savage where he lay, but made prize of +his tomahawk. I had left my own in the cavern; and this weapon added +little to my burden. Prompted by some freak of fancy, I stuck his musket +in the ground, and left it standing upright in the middle of the road. + + + + +Chapter XX. + + +I moved forward with as quick a pace as my feeble limbs would permit. I +did not allow myself to meditate. The great object of my wishes was a +dwelling where food and repose might be procured. I looked earnestly +forward, and on each side, in search of some token of human residence; +but the spots of cultivation, the _well-pole_, the _worm fence_, +and the hayrick, were nowhere to be seen. I did not even meet with a +wild hog or a bewildered cow. The path was narrow, and on either side +was a trackless wilderness. On the right and left were the waving +lines of mountainous ridges, which had no peculiarity enabling me to +ascertain whether I had ever before seen them. + +At length I noticed that the tracks of wheels had disappeared from the +path that I was treading; that it became more narrow, and exhibited +fewer marks of being frequented. These appearances were discouraging. I +now suspected that I had taken a wrong direction, and, instead of +approaching, was receding from, the habitation of men. + +It was wisest, however, to proceed. The road could not but have some +origin as well as end. Some hours passed away in this uncertainty. The +sun rose, and by noonday I seemed to be farther than ever from the end +of my toils. The path was more obscure, and the wilderness more rugged. +Thirst more incommoded me than hunger, but relief was seasonably +afforded by the brooks that flowed across the path. + +Coming to one of these, and having slaked my thirst, I sat down upon the +bank, to reflect on my situation. The circuity of the path had +frequently been noticed, and I began to suspect that, though I had +travelled long, I had not moved far from the spot where I had commenced +my pilgrimage. + +Turning my eyes on all sides, I noticed a sort of pool, formed by the +rivulet, at a few paces distant from the road. In approaching and +inspecting it, I observed the footsteps of cattle, who had retired by a +path that seemed much beaten: I likewise noticed a cedar bucket, broken +and old, lying on the margin. These tokens revived my drooping spirits, +arid I betook myself to this new track. It was intricate, but, at +length, led up a steep, the summit of which was of better soil than that +of which the flats consisted. A clover-field, and several +apple-trees,--sure attendants of man,--were now discovered. From this +space I entered a corn-field, and at length, to my inexpressible joy, +caught a glimpse of a house. + +This dwelling was far different from that I had lately left. It was as +small and as low, but its walls consisted of boards. A window of four +panes admitted the light, and a chimney of brick, well burnt and neatly +arranged, peeped over the roof. As I approached, I heard the voice of +children and the hum of a spinning-wheel. + +I cannot make thee conceive the delight which was afforded me by all +these tokens. I now found myself, indeed, among beings like myself, and +from whom hospitable entertainment might be confidently expected. I +compassed the house, and made my appearance at the door. + +A good woman, busy at her wheel, with two children playing on the ground +before her, were the objects that now presented themselves. The +uncouthness of my garb, my wild and weatherworn appearance, my fusil and +tomahawk, could not but startle them. The woman stopped her wheel, and +gazed as if a spectre had started into view. + +I was somewhat aware of these consequences, and endeavoured to elude +them by assuming an air of supplication and humility. I told her that I +was a traveller, who had unfortunately lost his way and had rambled in +this wild till nearly famished for want. I entreated her to give me some +food; any thing, however scanty or coarse, would be acceptable. + +After some pause she desired me, though not without some marks of fear, +to walk in. She placed before me some brown bread and milk. She eyed me +while I eagerly devoured this morsel. It was, indeed, more delicious +than any I had ever tasted. At length she broke silence, and expressed +her astonishment and commiseration at my seemingly-forlorn state, adding +that perhaps I was the man whom the men were looking after who had been +there some hours before. + +My curiosity was roused by this intimation. In answer to my +interrogations, she said that three persons had lately stopped, to +inquire if her husband had not met, within the last three days, a person +of whom their description seemed pretty much to suit my person and +dress. He was tall, slender, wore nothing but shirt and trousers, and +was wounded on the cheek. + +"What," I asked, "did they state the rank or condition of the person to +be?" + +He lived in Solesbury. He was supposed to have rambled in the mountains, +and to have lost his way, or to have met with some mischance. It was +three days since he had disappeared, but had been seen by some one, the +last night, at Deb's hut. + +What and where was Deb's hut? + +It was a hut in the wilderness, occupied by an old Indian woman, known +among her neighbours by the name of Old Deb. Some people called her +Queen Mab. Her dwelling was eight _long_ miles from this house. + +A thousand questions were precluded and a thousand doubts solved by this +information. _Queen Mab_ were sounds familiar to my ears; for they +originated with myself. + +This woman originally belonged to the tribe of Delawares, or +Lenni-lennapee. All these districts were once comprised within the +dominions of that nation. About thirty years ago, in consequence of +perpetual encroachments of the English colonists, they abandoned their +ancient seats and retired to the banks of the Wabash and Muskingum. + +This emigration was concerted in a general council of the tribe, and +obtained the concurrence of all but one female. Her birth, talents, and +age, gave her much consideration and authority among her countrymen; and +all her zeal and eloquence were exerted to induce them to lay aside +their scheme. In this, however, she could not succeed. Finding them +refractory, she declared her resolution to remain behind and maintain +possession of the land which her countrymen should impiously abandon. + +The village inhabited by this clan was built upon ground which now +constitutes my uncle's barnyard and orchard. On the departure of her +countrymen, this female burnt the empty wigwams and retired into the +fastnesses of Norwalk. She selected a spot suitable for an Indian +dwelling and a small plantation of maize, and in which she was seldom +liable to interruption and intrusion. + +Her only companions were three dogs, of the Indian or wolf species. +These animals differed in nothing from their kinsmen of the forest but +in their attachment and obedience to their mistress. She governed them +with absolute sway. They were her servants and protectors, and attended +her person or guarded her threshold, agreeably to her directions. She +fed them with corn, and they supplied her and themselves with meat, by +hunting squirrels, raccoons, and rabbits. + +To the rest of mankind they were aliens or enemies. They never left the +desert but in company with their mistress, and, when she entered a +farm-house, waited her return at a distance. They would suffer none to +approach them, but attacked no one who did not imprudently crave their +acquaintance, or who kept at a respectful distance from their wigwam. +That sacred asylum they would not suffer to be violated, and no stranger +could enter it but at the imminent hazard of his life, unless +accompanied and protected by their dame. + +The chief employment of this woman, when at home, besides plucking the +weeds from among her corn, bruising the grain between two stones, and +setting her snares for rabbits and opossums, was to talk. Though in +solitude, her tongue was never at rest but when she was asleep; but her +conversation was merely addressed to her dogs. Her voice was sharp and +shrill, and her gesticulations were vehement and grotesque. A hearer +would naturally imagine that she was scolding; but, in truth, she was +merely giving them directions. Having no other object of contemplation +or subject of discourse, she always found, in their postures and looks, +occasion for praise, or blame, or command. The readiness with which they +understood, and the docility with which they obeyed, her movements and +words, were truly wonderful. + +If a stranger chanced to wander near her hut and overhear her jargon, +incessant as it was, and shrill, he might speculate in vain on the +reason of these sounds. If he waited in expectation of hearing some +reply, he waited in vain. The strain, always voluble and sharp, was +never intermitted for a moment, and would continue for hours at a time. + +She seldom left the hut but to visit the neighbouring inhabitants and +demand from them food and clothing, or whatever her necessities +required. These were exacted as her due; to have her wants supplied was +her prerogative, and to withhold what she claimed was rebellion. She +conceived that by remaining behind her countrymen she succeeded to the +government and retained the possession of all this region. The English +were aliens and sojourners, who occupied the land merely by her +connivance and permission, and whom she allowed to remain on no terms +but those of supplying her wants. + +Being a woman aged and harmless, her demands being limited to that of +which she really stood in need, and which her own industry could not +procure, her pretensions were a subject of mirth and good-humour, and +her injunctions obeyed with seeming deference and gravity. To me she +early became an object of curiosity and speculation. I delighted to +observe her habits and humour her prejudices. She frequently came to my +uncle's house, and I sometimes visited her: insensibly she seemed to +contract an affection for me, and regarded me with more complacency and +condescension than any other received. + +She always disdained to speak English, and custom had rendered her +intelligible to most in her native language, with regard to a few simple +questions. I had taken some pains to study her jargon, and could make +out to discourse with her on the few ideas which she possessed. This +circumstance, likewise, wonderfully prepossessed her in my favour. + +The name by which she was formerly known was Deb; but her pretensions to +royalty, the wildness of her aspect and garb, her shrivelled and +diminutive form, a constitution that seemed to defy the ravages of time +and the influence of the elements, her age, (which some did not scruple +to affirm exceeded a hundred years,) her romantic solitude and +mountainous haunts, suggested to my fancy the appellation of _Queen +Mab_. There appeared to me some rude analogy between this personage +and her whom the poets of old time have delighted to celebrate: thou +perhaps wilt discover nothing but incongruities between them; but, be +that as it may, Old Deb and Queen Mab soon came into indiscriminate and +general use. + +She dwelt in Norwalk upwards of twenty years. She was not forgotten by +her countrymen, and generally received from her brothers and sons an +autumnal visit; but no solicitations or entreaties could prevail on her +to return with them. Two years ago, some suspicion or disgust induced +her to forsake her ancient habitation and to seek a hew one. Happily she +found a more convenient habitation twenty miles to the westward, and in +a spot abundantly sterile and rude. + +This dwelling was of logs, and had been erected by a Scottish emigrant, +who, not being rich enough to purchase land, and entertaining a passion +for solitude and independence, cleared a field in the unappropriated +wilderness and subsisted on its produce. After some time he disappeared. +Various conjectures were formed as to the cause of his absence. None of +them were satisfactory; but that, which obtained most credit was, that +he had been murdered by the Indians, who, about the same period, paid +their annual visit to the _Queen_. This conjecture acquired some +force by observing that the old woman shortly after took possession of +his hut, his implements of tillage, and his corn-field. + +She was not molested in her new abode, and her life passed in the same +quiet tenor as before. Her periodical rambles, her regal claims, her +guardian wolves, and her uncouth volubility, were equally remarkable; +but her circuits were new. Her distance made her visits to Solebury more +rare, and had prevented me from ever extending my pedestrian excursions +to her present abode. + +These recollections were now suddenly called up by the information of my +hostess. The hut where I had sought shelter and relief was, it seems, +the residence of Queen Mab. Some fortunate occurrence had called her +away during my visit. Had she and her dogs been at home, I should have +been set upon by these ferocious sentinels, and, before their dame could +have interfered, have been, together with my helpless companion, mangled +or killed. These animals never barked: I should have entered unaware of +my danger, and my fate could scarcely have been averted by my fusil. + +Her absence at this unseasonable hour was mysterious. It was now the +time of year when her countrymen were accustomed to renew their visit. +Was there a league between her and the plunderers whom I had +encountered? + +But who were they by whom my footsteps were so industriously traced? +Those whom I had seen at Deb's hut were strangers to me, but the wound +upon my face was known only to them. To this circumstance was now added +my place of residence and name. I supposed them impressed with the +belief that I was dead; but this mistake must have speedily been +rectified. Revisiting the spot, finding me gone, and obtaining some +intelligence of my former condition, they had instituted a search after +me. + +But what tidings were these? I was supposed to have been bewildered in +the mountains, and three days were said to have passed since my +disappearance. Twelve hours had scarcely elapsed since I emerged from +the cavern. Had two days and a half been consumed in my subterranean +prison? + +These reflections were quickly supplanted by others. I now gained a +sufficient acquaintance with the region that was spread around me. I was +in the midst of a vale included between ridges that gradually approached +each other, and, when joined, were broken up into hollows and steeps, +and, spreading themselves over a circular space, assumed the appellation +of Norwalk. This vale gradually widened as it tended to the westward, +and was, in this place, ten or twelve miles in breadth. My devious +footsteps had brought me to the foot of the southern barrier. The outer +basis of this was laved by the river; but, as it tended eastward, the +mountain and river receded from each other, and one of the cultivable +districts lying between them was Solesbury, my natal _township_. +Hither it was now my duty to return with the utmost expedition. + +There were two ways before me. One lay along the interior base of the +hill, over a sterile and trackless space, and exposed to the encounter +of savages, some of whom might possibly be lurking here. The other was +the well-frequented road on the outside and along the river, and which +was to be gained by passing over this hill. The practicability of the +passage was to be ascertained by inquiries made to my hostess. She +pointed out a path that led to the rocky summit and down to the river's +brink. The path was not easy to be kept in view or to be trodden, but it +was undoubtedly to be preferred to any other. + +A route somewhat circuitous would terminate in the river-road. +Thenceforward the way to Solesbury was level and direct; but the whole +space which I had to traverse was not less than thirty miles. In six +hours it would be night, and to perform the journey in that time would +demand the agile boundings of a leopard and the indefatigable sinews of +an elk. + +My frame was in a miserable plight. My strength had been assailed by +anguish, and fear, and watchfulness, by toil, and abstinence, and +wounds. Still, however, some remnant was left; would it not enable me to +reach my home by nightfall? I had delighted, from my childhood, in feats +of agility and perseverance. In roving through the maze of thickets and +precipices, I had put my energies, both moral and physical, frequently +to the test. Greater achievements than this had been performed, and I +disdained to be outdone in perspicacity by the lynx, in his sure-footed +instinct by the roe, or in patience under hardship, and contention with +fatigue, by the Mohawk. I have ever aspired to transcend the rest of +animals in all that is common to the rational and brute, as well as in +all by which they are distinguished from each other. + + + + +Chapter XXI. + + +I likewise burned with impatience to know the condition of my family, to +dissipate at once their tormenting doubts and my own with regard to our +mutual safety. The evil that I feared had befallen them was too enormous +to allow me to repose in suspense, and my restlessness and ominous +forebodings would be more intolerable than any hardship or toils to +which I could possibly be subjected during this journey. + +I was much refreshed and invigorated by the food that I had taken, and +by the rest of an hour. With this stock of recruited force I determined +to scale the hill. After receiving minute directions, and, returning +many thanks for my hospitable entertainment, I set out. + +The path was indeed intricate, and deliberate attention was obliged to +be exerted in order to preserve it. Hence my progress was slower than I +wished. The first impulse was to fix my eye upon the summit, and to leap +from crag to crag till I reached it; but this my experience had taught +me was impracticable. It was only by winding through gullies, and +coasting precipices and bestriding chasms, that I could hope finally to +gain the top; and I was assured that by one way only was it possible to +accomplish even this. + +An hour was spent in struggling with impediments, and I seemed to have +gained no way. Hence a doubt was suggested whether I had not missed the +true road. In this doubt I was confirmed by the difficulties which now +grew up before me. The brooks, the angles, and the hollows, which my +hostess had described, were not to be seen. Instead of these, deeper +dells, more headlong torrents, and wider-gaping rifts, were incessantly +encountered. + +To return was as hopeless as to proceed. I consoled myself with thinking +that the survey which my informant had made of the hill-side might prove +inaccurate, and that, in spite of her predictions, the heights might be +reached by other means than by those pointed out by her. I will not +enumerate my toilsome expedients, my frequent disappointments, and my +desperate exertions. Suffice it to say that I gained the upper space not +till the sun had dipped beneath the horizon. + +My satisfaction at accomplishing thus much was not small, and I hied, +with renovated spirits, to the opposite brow. This proved to be a steep +that could not be descended. The river flowed at its foot. The opposite +bank was five hundred yards distant, and was equally towering and steep +as that on which I stood. Appearances were adapted to persuade you that +these rocks had formerly joined, but by some mighty effort of nature had +been severed, that the stream might find way through the chasm. The +channel, however, was encumbered with asperities, over which the river +fretted and foamed with thundering impetuosity. + +I pondered for a while on these stupendous scenes. They ravished my +attention from considerations that related to myself; but this interval +was snort, and I began to measure the descent, in order to ascertain the +practicability of treading it. My survey terminated in bitter +disappointment. I turned my eye successively eastward and westward. +Solesbury lay in the former direction, and thither I desired to go. I +kept along the verge in this direction till I reached an impassable +rift. Beyond this I saw that the steep grew lower; but it was impossible +to proceed farther. Higher up the descent might be practicable, and, +though more distant from Solesbury, it was better to reach the road even +at that distance than never to reach it. + +Changing my course, therefore, I explored the spaces above. The night +was rapidly advancing; the gray clouds gathered in the southeast, and a +chilling blast, the usual attendant of a night in October, began to +whistle among the pigmy cedars that scantily grew upon these heights. My +progress would quickly be arrested by darkness, and it behooved me to +provide some place of shelter and repose. No recess better than a hollow +in the rock presented itself to my anxious scrutiny. + +Meanwhile, I would not dismiss the hope of reaching the road, which I +saw some hundred feet below, winding along the edge of the river, before +daylight should utterly fail. Speedily these hopes derived new vigour +from meeting a ledge that irregularly declined from the brow of the +hill. It was wide enough to allow of cautious footing. On a similar +stratum, or ledge, projecting still farther from the body of the hill, +and close to the surface of the river, was the road. This stratum +ascended from the level of the stream, while that on which I trod +rapidly descended. I hoped that they would speedily be blended, or, at +least, approach so near as to allow me to leap from one to the other +without enormous hazard. + +This fond expectation was frustrated. Presently I perceived that the +ledge below began to descend, while that above began to tend upward and +was quickly terminated by the uppermost surface of the cliff. Here it +was needful to pause. I looked over the brink, and considered whether I +might not leap from my present station without endangering my limbs. The +road into which I should fall was a rocky pavement far from being +smooth. The descent could not be less than forty or fifty feet. Such an +attempt was, to the last degree, hazardous; but was it not better to +risk my life by leaping from this eminence than to remain and perish on +the top of this inhospitable mountain? The toils which I had endured in +reaching this height appeared, to my panic-struck fancy, less easy to be +borne again than death. + +I know not but that I should have finally resolved to leap, had not +different views been suggested by observing that the outer edge of the +road was, in like manner, the brow of a steep which terminated in the +river. The surface of the road was twelve or fifteen feet above the +level of the stream, which, in this spot, was still and smooth. Hence I +inferred that the water was not of inconsiderable depth. To fall upon +rocky points was, indeed, dangerous, but to plunge into water of +sufficient depth, even from a height greater than that at which I now +stood, especially to one to whom habit had rendered water almost as +congenial an element as air, was scarcely attended with inconvenience. +This expedient was easy and safe. Twenty yards from this spot, the +channel was shallow, and to gain the road from the stream was no +difficult exploit. + +Some disadvantages, however, attended this scheme. The water was smooth; +but this might arise from some other cause than its depth. My gun, +likewise, must be left behind me; and that was a loss to which I felt +invincible repugnance. To let it fall upon the road would put it in my +power to retrieve the possession, but it was likely to be irreparably +injured by the fall. + +While musing upon this expedient, and weighing injuries with benefits, +the night closed upon me. I now considered that, should I emerge in +safety from the stream, I should have many miles to travel before I +could reach a house. My clothes meanwhile would be loaded with wet. I +should be heart-pierced by the icy blast that now blew, and my wounds +and bruises would be chafed into insupportable pain. + +I reasoned likewise on the folly of impatience and the necessity of +repose. By thus long continuance in one posture, my sinews began to +stiffen, and my reluctance to make new exertions to increase. My brows +were heavy, and I felt an irresistible propensity to sleep. I concluded +to seek some shelter, and resign myself, my painful recollections, and +my mournful presages, to sweet forgetfulness. For this end, I once more +ascended to the surface of the cliff. I dragged my weary feet forward, +till I found somewhat that promised me the shelter that I sought. + +A cluster of cedars appeared, whose branches overarched a space that +might be called a bower. It was a slight cavity, whose flooring was +composed of loose stones and a few faded leaves blown from a distance +and finding a temporary lodgment here. On one side was a rock, forming a +wall rugged and projecting above. At the bottom of the rock was a rift, +somewhat resembling a coffin in shape, and not much larger in +dimensions. This rift terminated, on the opposite side of the rock, in +an opening that was too small for the body of a man to pass. The +distance between each entrance was twice the length of a man. + +This bower was open to the southeast, whence the gale now blew. It +therefore imperfectly afforded the shelter of which I stood in need; +but it was the best that the place and the time afforded. To stop the +smaller entrance of the cavity with a stone, and to heap before the +other branches lopped from the trees with my hatchet, might somewhat +contribute to my comfort. + +This was done, and, thrusting myself into this recess as far as I was +able, I prepared for repose. It might have been reasonably suspected to +be the den of rattlesnakes or panthers; but my late contention with +superior dangers and more formidable enemies made me reckless of these. +But another inconvenience remained. In spite of my precautions, my +motionless posture and slender covering exposed me so much to the cold +that I could not sleep. + +The air appeared to have suddenly assumed the temperature of midwinter. +In a short time, my extremities were benumbed, and my limbs shivered and +ached as if I had been seized by an ague. My bed likewise was dank and +uneven, and the posture I was obliged to assume, unnatural and painful. +It was evident that my purpose could not be answered by remaining here. + +I therefore crept forth, and began to reflect upon the possibility of +continuing my journey. Motion was the only thing that could keep me from +freezing, and my frame was in that state which allowed me to take no +repose in the absence of warmth, since warmth was indispensable. It now +occurred to me to ask whether it were not possible to kindle a fire. + +Sticks and leaves were at hand. My hatchet and a pebble would enable me +to extract a spark. From this, by suitable care and perseverance, I +might finally procure sufficient fire to give me comfort and ease, and +even enable me to sleep. This boon was delicious, and I felt as if I +were unable to support a longer deprivation of it. + +I proceeded to execute this scheme. I took the driest leaves, and +endeavoured to use them as tinder; but the driest leaves were moistened +by the dews. They were only to be found in the hollows, in some of which +were pools of water and others were dank. I was not speedily +discouraged; but my repeated attempts failed, and I was finally +compelled to relinquish this expedient. + +All that now remained was to wander forth and keep myself in motion till +the morning. The night was likely to prove tempestuous and long. The +gale seemed freighted with ice, and acted upon my body like the points +of a thousand needles. There was no remedy, and I mustered my patience +to endure it. + +I returned again to the brow of the hill. I ranged along it till I +reached a place where the descent was perpendicular, and, in consequence +of affording no sustenance to trees or bushes, was nearly smooth and +bare. There was no road to be seen; and this circumstance, added to the +sounds which the rippling current produced, afforded me some knowledge +of my situation. + +The ledge along which the road was conducted disappeared near this spot. +The opposite sides of the chasm through which flowed the river +approached nearer to each other, in the form of jutting promontories. I +now stood upon the verge of that on the northern side. The water +flowed at the foot, but, for the space of ten or twelve feet from the +rock, was so shallow as to permit the traveller and his horse to wade +through it, and thus to regain the road which the receding precipice had +allowed to be continued on the farther side. + +I knew the nature and dimensions of this ford. I knew that, at a few +yards from the rock, the channel was of great depth. To leap into it, in +this place, was a less dangerous exploit than at the spot where I had +formerly been tempted to leap. There I was unacquainted with the depth, +but here I knew it to be considerable. Still, there was some ground of +hesitation and fear. My present station was loftier, and how deeply I +might sink into this gulf, how far the fall and the concussion would +bereave me of my presence of mind, I could not determine. This +hesitation vanished, and, placing my tomahawk and fusil upon the ground, +I prepared to leap. + +This purpose was suspended, in the moment of its execution, by a faint +sound, heard from the quarter whence I had come. It was the warning of +men, but had nothing in common with those which I had been accustomed to +hear. It was not the howling of a wolf or the yelling of a panther. +These had often been overheard by night during my last year's excursion +to the lakes. My fears whispered that this was the vociferation of a +savage. + +I was unacquainted with the number of the enemies who had adventured +into this district. Whether those whom I had encountered at _Deb's +hut_ were of that band whom I had met with in the cavern, was merely +a topic of conjecture. There might be a half-score of troops, equally +numerous, spread over the wilderness, and the signal I had just heard +might betoken the approach of one of these. Yet by what means they +should gain this nook, and what prey they expected to discover, were not +easily conceived. + +The sounds, somewhat diversified, nearer and rising from different +quarters, were again heard. My doubts and apprehensions were increased. +What expedient to adopt for my own safety was a subject of rapid +meditation:--whether to remain stretched upon the ground or to rise and +go forward. Was it likely the enemy would coast along the edge of the +steep? Would they ramble hither to look upon the ample scene which +spread on all sides around the base of this rocky pinnacle? In that +case, how should I conduct myself? My arms were ready for use. Could I +not elude the necessity of shedding more blood? Could I not anticipate +their assault by casting myself without delay into the stream? + +The sense of danger demanded more attention to be paid to external +objects than to the motives by which my future conduct should be +influenced. My post was on a circular prefecture, in some degree +detached from the body of the hill, the brow of which continued in a +straight line, uninterrupted by this projecture, which was somewhat +higher than the continued summit of the ridge. This line ran at the +distance of a few paces from my post. Objects moving along this line +could merely be perceived to move, in the present obscurity. + +My scrutiny was entirely directed to this quarter. Presently the +treading of many feet was heard, and several figures were discovered, +following each other in that straight and regular succession which is +peculiar to the Indians. They kept along the brow of the hill joining +the promontory. I distinctly marked seven figures in succession. + +My resolution was formed. Should any one cast his eye hither, suspect or +discover an enemy, and rush towards me, I determined to start upon my +feet, fire on my foe as he advanced, throw my piece on the ground, and +then leap into the river. + +Happily, they passed unobservant and in silence. I remained in the same +posture for several minutes. At length, just as my alarms began to +subside, the halloos, before heard, arose, and from the same quarter as +before. This convinced me that my perils were not at an end. This now +appeared to be merely the vanguard, and would speedily be followed by +others, against whom the same caution was necessary to be taken. + +My eye, anxiously bent the only way by which any one could approach, now +discerned a figure, which was indubitably that of a man armed. None +other appeared in company; but doubtless others were near. He +approached, stood still, and appeared to gaze steadfastly at the spot +where I lay. + +The optics of a _Lenni-lennapee_ I knew to be far keener than my +own. A log or a couched fawn would never be mistaken for a man, nor a +man for a couched fawn or a log. Not only a human being would be +instantly detected, but a decision be unerringly made whether it wrere +friend or foe. That my prostrate body was the object on which the +attention of this vigilant and steadfast gazer was fixed could not be +doubted. Yet, since he continued an inactive gazer, there was ground for +a possibility to stand upon that I was not recognised. My fate therefore +was still in suspense. + +This interval was momentary. I marked a movement, which my fears +instantly interpreted to be that of levelling a gun at my head. This +action was sufficiently conformable to my prognostics. Supposing me to +be detected, there was no need for him to change his post. Aim might be +too fatally taken, and his prey be secured, from the distance at which +he now stood. + +These images glanced upon my thought, and put an end to my suspense. A +single effort placed me on my feet. I fired with a precipitation that +precluded the certainty of hitting my mark, dropped my piece upon the +ground, and leaped from this tremendous height into the river. I reached +the surface, and sunk in a moment to the bottom. + +Plunging endlong into the water, the impetus created by my fall from +such a height would be slowly resisted by this denser element. Had the +depth been less, its resistance would not perhaps have hindered me from +being mortally injured against the rocky bottom. Had the depth been +greater, time enough would not have been allowed me to regain the +surface. Had I fallen on my side, I should have been bereft of life or +sensibility by the shock which my frame would have received. As it was, +my fate was suspended on a thread. To have lost my presence of mind, to +have forborne to counteract my sinking, for an instant, after I had +reached the water, would have made all exertions to regain the air +fruitless. To so fortunate a concurrence of events was thy friend +indebted for his safety! + +Yet I only emerged from the gulf to encounter new perils. Scarcely had I +raised my head above the surface, and inhaled the vital breath, when +twenty shots were aimed at me from the precipice above. A shower of +bullets fell upon the water. Some of them did not fall farther than two +inches from my head. I had not been aware of this new danger, and, now +that it assailed me, continued gasping the air and floundering at +random. The means of eluding it did not readily occur. My case seemed +desperate, and all caution was dismissed. + +This state of discomfiting surprise quickly disappeared. I made myself +acquainted, at a glance, with the position of surrounding objects. I +conceived that the opposite bank of the river would afford me most +security, and thither I tended with all the expedition in my power. + +Meanwhile, my safety depended on eluding the bullets that continued +incessantly to strike the water at an arm's-length from my body. For +this end I plunged beneath the surface, and only rose to inhale fresh +air. Presently the firing ceased, the flashes that lately illuminated +the bank disappeared, and a certain bustle and murmur of confused voices +gave place to solitude and silence. + + + + +Chapter XXII. + + +I reached without difficulty the opposite bank, but the steep was +inaccessible. I swam along the edge in hopes of meeting with some +projection or recess where I might, at least, rest my weary limbs, and, +if it were necessary to recross the river, to lay in a stock of +recruited spirits and strength for that purpose. I trusted that the +water would speedily become shoal, or that the steep would afford rest +to my feet. In both these hopes I was disappointed. + +There is no one to whom I would yield the superiority in swimming; but +my strength, like that of other human beings, had its limits. My +previous fatigues had been enormous, and my clothes, heavy with +moisture, greatly encumbered and retarded my movements. I had proposed +to free myself from this imprisonment; but I foresaw the inconveniences +of wandering over this scene in absolute nakedness, and was willing +therefore, at whatever hazard, to retain them. I continued to struggle +with the current and to search for the means of scaling the steeps. My +search was fruitless, and I began to meditate the recrossing of the +river. + +Surely my fate has never been paralleled! Where was this series of +hardships and perils to end? No sooner was one calamity eluded, than I +was beset by another. I had emerged from abhorred darkness in the heart +of the earth, only to endure the extremities of famine and encounter the +fangs of a wild beast. From these I was delivered only to be thrown into +the midst of savages, to wage an endless and hopeless war with adepts in +killing, with appetites that longed to feast upon my bowels and to quaff +my heart's blood. From these likewise was I rescued, but merely to +perish in the gulfs of the river, to welter on unvisited shores, or to +be washed far away from curiosity or pity. + +Formerly water was not only my field of sport but my sofa and my bed. I +could float for hours on its surface, enjoying its delicious cool, +almost without the expense of the slightest motion. It was an element as +fitted for repose as for exercise; but now the buoyant spirit seemed to +have flown. My muscles were shrunk, the air and water were equally +congealed, and my most vehement exertions were requisite to sustain me +on the surface. + +At first I had moved along with my wonted celerity and ease, but quickly +my forces were exhausted. My pantings and efforts were augmented, and I +saw that to cross the river again was impracticable. I must continue, +therefore, to search out some accessible spot in the bank along which I +was swimming. + +Each moment diminished my stock of strength, and it behooved me to make +good my footing before another minute should escape. I continued to +swim, to survey the bank, and to make ineffectual attempts to grasp the +rock. The shrubs which grew upon it would not uphold me, and the +fragments which, for a moment, inspired me with hope, crumbled away as +soon as they were touched. + +At length I noticed a pine which was rooted in a crevice near the water. +The trunk, or any part of the root, was beyond my reach; but I trusted +that I could catch hold of the branch which hung lowest, and that, when +caught, it would assist me in gaining the trunk, and thus deliver me +from the death which could not be otherwise averted. + +The attempt was arduous. Had it been made when I first reached the bank, +no difficulty had attended it; but now to throw myself some feet above +the surface could scarcely be expected from one whose utmost efforts +seemed to be demanded to keep him from sinking. Yet this exploit, +arduous as it was, was attempted and accomplished. Happily the twigs +were strong enough to sustain my weight till I caught at other branches +and finally placed myself upon the trunk. + +This danger was now past; but I admitted the conviction that others, no +less formidable, remained to be encountered, and that my ultimate +destiny was death. I looked upward. New efforts might enable me to gain +the summit of this steep, but perhaps I should thus be placed merely in +the situation from which I had just been delivered. It was of little +moment whether the scene of my imprisonment was a dungeon not to be +broken, or a summit from which descent was impossible. + +The river, indeed, severed me from a road which was level and safe, but +my recent dangers were remembered only to make me shudder at the thought +of incurring them a second time by attempting to cross it. I blush at +the recollection of this cowardice. It was little akin to the spirit +which I had recently displayed. It was, indeed, an alien to my bosom, +and was quickly supplanted by intrepidity and perseverance. + +I proceeded to mount the hill. From root to root, and from branch to +branch, lay my journey. It was finished, and I sat down upon the highest +brow to meditate on future trials. No road lay along this side of the +river. It was rugged and sterile, and farms were sparingly dispersed +over it. To reach one of these was now the object of my wishes. I had +not lost the desire of reaching Solesbury before morning, but my wet +clothes and the coldness of the night seemed to have bereaved me of the +power. + +I traversed this summit, keeping the river on my right hand. Happily, +its declinations and ascents were by no means difficult, and I was +cheered, in the midst of my vexations, by observing that every mile +brought me nearer to my uncle's dwelling. Meanwhile I anxiously looked +for some tokens of a habitation. These at length presented themselves. A +wild heath, whistled over by October blasts, meagrely adorned with the +dry stalks of scented shrubs and the bald heads of the sapless mullein, +was succeeded by a fenced field and a corn-stack. The dwelling to which +these belonged was eagerly sought. + +I was not surprised that all voices were still and all lights +extinguished, for this was the hour of repose. Having reached a piazza +before the house, I paused. Whether, at this drowsy time, to knock for +admission, to alarm the peaceful tenants and take from them the rest +which their daily toils and their rural innocence had made so sweet, or +to retire to what shelter a haystack or barn could afford, was the theme +of my deliberations. + +Meanwhile, I looked up at the house. It was the model of cleanliness and +comfort. It was built of wood; but the materials had undergone the +plane, as well as the axe and the saw. It was painted white, and the +windows not only had sashes, but these sashes were supplied, contrary to +custom, with glass. In most cases the aperture where glass should be is +stuffed with an old hat or a petticoat. The door had not only all its +parts entire, but was embellished with mouldings and a pediment. I +gathered from these tokens that this was the abode not only of rural +competence and innocence, but of some beings raised by education and +fortune above the intellectual mediocrity of clowns. + +Methought I could claim consanguity with such beings. Not to share their +charity and kindness would be inflicting as well as receiving injury. +The trouble of affording shelter, and warmth, and wholesome diet, to a +wretch destitute as I was, would be eagerly sought by them. + +Still, I was unwilling to disturb them. I bethought myself that their +kitchen might be entered, and all that my necessities required be +obtained without interrupting their slumber. I needed nothing but the +warmth which their kitchen-hearth would afford. Stretched upon the +bricks, I might dry my clothes, and perhaps enjoy some unmolested sleep, +in spite of presages of ill and the horrid remembrances of what I had +performed and endured. I believed that nature would afford a short +respite to my cares. + +I went to the door of what appeared to be a kitchen. The door was wide +open. This circumstance portended evil. Though it be not customary to +lock or to bolt, it is still less usual to have entrances unclosed. I +entered with suspicious steps, and saw enough to confirm my +apprehensions. Several pieces of wood, half burned, lay in the midst of +the floor. They appeared to have been removed hither from the chimney, +doubtless with a view to set fire to the whole building. + +The fire had made some progress on the floor, but had been seasonably +extinguished by pailfuls of water thrown upon it. The floor was still +deluged with wet: the pail, not emptied of all its contents, stood Upon +the hearth. The earthen vessels and plates, whose proper place was the +dresser, were scattered in fragments in all parts of the room. I looked +around me for some one to explain this scene, but no one appeared. + +The last spark of fire was put out, so that, had my curiosity been idle, +my purpose could not be accomplished. To retire from this scene, neither +curiosity nor benevolence would permit. That some mortal injury had been +intended was apparent. What greater mischief had befallen, or whether +greater might not, by my interposition, be averted, could only be +ascertained by penetrating farther into the house. I opened a door on +one side which led to the main body of the building and entered to a +bed-chamber. I stood at the entrance and knocked, but no one answered my +signals. + +The sky was not totally clouded, so that some light pervaded the room. I +saw that a bed stood in the corner, but whether occupied or not its +curtains hindered me from judging. I stood in suspense a few minutes, +when a motion in the bed showed me that some one was there. I knocked +again, but withdrew to the outside of the door. This roused the sleeper, +who, half groaning, and puffing the air through his nostrils, grumbled +out, in the hoarsest voice that I ever heard, and in a tone of surly +impatience, "Who is there?" + +I hesitated for an answer; but the voice instantly continued, in the +manner of one half asleep and enraged at being disturbed, "Is't you, +Peg? Damn ye, stay away, now! I tell ye, stay away, or, by God, I will +cut your throat!--I will!" He continued to mutter and swear, but without +coherence or distinctness. + +These were the accents of drunkenness, and denoted a wild and ruffian +life. They were little in unison with the external appearances of the +mansion, and blasted all the hopes I had formed of meeting under this +roof with gentleness and hospitality. To talk with this being, to +attempt to reason him into humanity and soberness, was useless. I was at +a loss in what manner to address him, or whether it was proper to +maintain any parley. Meanwhile, my silence was supplied by the +suggestions of his own distempered fancy. "Ay," said he; "ye will, will +ye? Well, come on; let's see who's the better at the oak stick. If I +part with ye before I have bared your bones!--I'll teach ye to be always +dipping in my dish, ye devil's dam ye." + +So saying, he tumbled out of bed. At the first step, he struck his head +against the bedpost, but, setting himself upright, he staggered towards +the spot where I stood. Some new obstacle occurred. He stumbled and fell +at his length upon the floor. + +To encounter or expostulate with a man in this state was plainly absurd. +I turned and issued forth, with an aching heart, into the court before +the house. The miseries which a debauched husband or father inflicted +upon all whom their evil destiny allies to him were pictured by my +fancy, and wrung from me tears of anguish, These images, however, +quickly yielded to reflections on my own state. No expedient now +remained but to seek the barn and find a covering and a bed of straw. + +I had scarcely set foot within the barnyard when I heard a sound as of +the crying of an infant. It appeared to issue from the barn. I +approached softly and listened at the door. The cries of the babe +continued, but were accompanied by the entreaties of a nurse or a mother +to be quiet. These entreaties were mingled with heart-breaking sobs, and +exclamations of, "Ah, me, my babe! Canst thou not sleep and afford thy +unhappy mother some peace? Thou art cold, and I have not sufficient +warmth to cherish thee! What will become of us? Thy deluded father cares +not if we both perish." + +A glimpse of the true nature of the scene seemed to be imparted by these +words. I now likewise recollected incidents that afforded additional +light. Somewhere on this bank of the river there formerly resided one by +name Selby. He was an aged person, who united science and taste to the +simple and laborious habits of a husbandman. He had a son who resided +several years in Europe, but on the death of his father returned home, +accompanied by a wife. He had succeeded to the occupation of the farm, +but rumour had whispered many tales to the disadvantage of his morals. +His wife was affirmed to be of delicate and polished manners, and much +unlike her companion. + +It now occurred to me that this was the dwelling of the Selbys, and I +seemed to have gained some insight into the discord and domestic +miseries by which the unhappy lady suffered. This was no time to waste +my sympathy on others. I could benefit her nothing. Selby had probably +returned from a carousal, with all his malignant passions raised into +frenzy by intoxication. He had driven his desolate wife from her bed and +house, and, to shun outrage and violence, she had fled, with her +helpless infant, to the barn. To appease his fury, to console her, to +suggest a remedy for this distress, was not in my power. To have sought +an interview would be merely to excite her terrors and alarm her +delicacy, without contributing to alleviate her calamity. Here, then, +was no asylum for me. A place of rest must be sought at some +neighbouring habitation. It was probable that one would be found at no +great distance: the path that led from the spot where I stood, through a +gate, into a meadow, might conduct me to the nearest dwelling; and this +path I immediately resolved to explore. + +I was anxious to open the gate without noise, but I could not succeed. +Some creaking of its hinges was unavoidably produced, which I feared +would be overheard by the lady and multiply her apprehensions and +perplexities. This inconvenience was irremediable. I therefore closed +the gate and pursued the footway before me with the utmost expedition. I +had not gained the farther end of the meadow when I lighted on something +which lay across the path, and which, on being closely inspected, +appeared to be a human body. It was the corpse of a girl, mangled by a +hatchet. Her head, gory and deprived of its locks, easily explained the +kind of enemies by whom she had been assailed. Here was proof that this +quiet and remote habitation had been visited, in their destructive +progress, by the Indians. The girl had been slain by them, and her +scalp, according to their savage custom, had been torn away to be +preserved as a trophy. + +The fire which had been kindled on the kitchen-floor tvas now +remembered, and corroborated the inferences which were drawn from this +spectacle. And yet that the mischief had been thus limited, that the +besotted wretch who lay helpless on his bed and careless of impending +danger, and that the mother and her infant, should escape, excited some +degree of surprise. Could the savages have been interrupted in their +work, and obliged to leave their vengeance unfinished? + +Their visit had been recent. Many hours had not elapsed since they +prowled about these grounds. Had they wholly disappeared, and meant they +not to return? To what new danger might I be exposed in remaining thus +guideless and destitute of all defence? + +In consequence of these reflections, I proceeded with more caution. I +looked with suspicious glances before and on either side of me. I now +approached the fence which, on this side, bounded the meadow. Something +was discerned, or imagined, stretched close to the fence, on the ground, +and filling up the pathway. My apprehensions of a lurking enemy had been +previously awakened, and my fancy instantly figured to itself an armed +man lying on the ground and waiting to assail the unsuspecting +passenger. + +At first I was prompted to fly, but a second thought showed me that I +had already approached near enough to be endangered. Notwithstanding my +pause, the form was motionless. The possibility of being misled in my +conjectures was easily supposed. What I saw might be a log, or it might +be another victim to savage ferocity. This track was that which my +safety required me to pursue. To turn aside or go back would be merely +to bewilder myself anew. + +Urged by these motives, I went nearer, and at last was close enough to +perceive that the figure was human. He lay upon his face. Near his right +hand was a musket, unclenched. This circumstance, his deathlike +attitude, and the garb and ornaments of an Indian, made me readily +suspect the nature and cause of this catastrophe. Here the invaders had +been encountered and repulsed, and one at least of their number had been +left upon the field. + +I was weary of contemplating these rueful objects. Custom, likewise, +even in so short a period, had inured me to spectacles of horror. I was +grown callous and immovable. I stayed not to ponder on the scene, but, +snatching the musket, which was now without an owner, and which might be +indispensable to my defence, I hastened into the wood. On this side the +meadow was skirted by a forest; but a beaten road led into it, and might +therefore be attempted without danger. + + + + +Chapter XXIII. + + +The road was intricate and long. It seemed designed to pervade the +forest in every possible direction. I frequently noticed cut wood piled +in heaps upon either side, and rejoiced in these tokens that the +residence of man was near. At length I reached a second fence, which +proved to be the boundary of a road still more frequented. I pursued +this, and presently beheld before me the river and its opposite +barriers. + +This object afforded me some knowledge of my situation. There was a ford +over which travellers used to pass, and in which the road that I was now +pursuing terminated. The stream was rapid and tumultuous, but in this +place did not rise higher than the shoulders. On the opposite side was a +highway, passable by horses and men, though not by carriages, and which +led into the midst of Solesbury. Should I not rush into the stream, and +still aim at reaching my uncle's house before morning? Why should I +delay? + +Thirty hours of incessant watchfulness and toil, of enormous efforts and +perils, preceded and accompanied by abstinence and wounds, were enough +to annihilate the strength and courage of ordinary men. In the course of +them, I had frequently believed myself to have reached the verge beyond +which my force would not carry me; but experience as frequently +demonstrated my error. Though many miles were yet to be traversed, +though my clothes were once more to be drenched and loaded with +moisture, though every hour seemed to add somewhat to the keenness of +the blast, yet how should I know, but by trial, whether my stock of +energy was not sufficient for this last exploit? + +My resolution to proceed was nearly formed, when the figure of a man +moving slowly across the road at some distance before me was observed. +Hard by this ford lived a man by name Bisset, of whom I had slight +knowledge. He tended his two hundred acres with a plodding and +money-doting spirit, while his son overlooked a grist-mill on the river. +He was a creature of gain, coarse and harmless. The man whom I saw before +me might be he, or some one belonging to his family. Being armed for +defence, I less scrupled at meeting with any thing in the shape of man. +I therefore called. The figure stopped and answered me without surliness +or anger. The voice was unlike that of Bisset, but this person's +information I believed would be of some service. + +Coming up to him, he proved to be a clown belonging to Bisset's +habitation. His panic and surprise on seeing me made him aghast. In my +present garb I should not have easily been recognised by my nearest +kinsman, and much less easily by one who had seldom met me. + +It may be easily conceived that my thoughts, when allowed to wander from +the objects before me, were tormented with forebodings and inquietudes +on account of the ills which I had so much reason to believe had +befallen my family. I had no doubt that some evil had happened, but the +full extent of it was still uncertain. I desired and dreaded to discover +the truth, and was unable to interrogate this person in a direct manner. +I could deal only in circuities and hints. I shuddered while I waited +for an answer to my inquiries. + +Had not Indians, I asked, been lately seen in this neighbourhood? Were +they not suspected of hostile designs? Had they not already committed +some mischief? Some passenger, perhaps, had been attacked, or fire had +been set to some house? On which side of the river had their steps been +observed or any devastation been committed? Above the ford or below it? +At what distance from the river? + +When his attention could be withdrawn from my person and bestowed upon +my questions, he answered that some alarm had indeed been spread about +Indians, and that parties from Solesbury and Chetasco were out in +pursuit of them, that many persons had been killed by them, and that one +house in Solesbury had been rifled and burnt on the night before the +last. + +These tidings were a dreadful confirmation of my fears. There scarcely +remained a doubt; but still my expiring hope prompted me to inquire, "To +whom did the house belong?" + +He answered that he had not heard the name of the owner. He was a +stranger to the people on the other side of the river. + +Were any of the inhabitants murdered? + +Yes; all that were at home, except a girl whom they carried off. Some +said that the girl had been retaken. + +What was the name? Was it Huntly? + +Huntly? Yes. No. He did not know. He had forgotten. + +I fixed my eyes upon the ground. An interval of gloomy meditation +succeeded. All was lost! All for whose sake I had desired to live had +perished by the hands of these assassins! That dear home, the scene of +my sportive childhood, of my studies, labours, and recreations, was +ravaged by fire and the sword,--was reduced to a frightful ruin! + +Not only all that embellished and endeared existence was destroyed, but +the means of subsistence itself. Thou knowest that my sisters and I were +dependants on the bounty of our uncle. His death would make way for the +succession of his son, a man fraught with envy and malignity, who always +testified a mortal hatred to us, merely because we enjoyed the +protection of his father. The ground which furnished me with bread was +now become the property of one who, if he could have done it with +security, would gladly have mingled poison with my food. + +All that my imagination or my heart regarded as of value had likewise +perished. Whatever my chamber, my closets, my cabinets contained, my +furniture, my books, the records of my own skill, the monuments of their +existence whom I loved, my very clothing, were involved in +indiscriminate and irretrievable destruction. Why should I survive this +calamity? + +But did not he say that one had escaped? The only females in the family +were my sisters. One of these had been reserved for a fate worse than +death; to gratify the innate and insatiable cruelty of savages, by +suffering all the torments their invention can suggest, or to linger out +years of weary bondage and unintermitted hardship in the bosom of the +wilderness. To restore her to liberty, to cherish this last survivor of +my unfortunate race, was a sufficient motive to life and to activity. + +But soft! Had not rumour whispered that the captive was retaken? Oh! who +was her angel of deliverance? Where did she now abide? Weeping over the +untimely fall of her protector and her friend? Lamenting and upbraiding +the absence of her brother? Why should I not haste to find her?--to +mingle my tears with hers, to assure her of my safety, and expatiate the +involuntary crime of my desertion by devoting all futurity to the task +of her consolation and improvement? + +The path was open and direct. My new motives would have trampled upon +every impediment and made me reckless of all dangers and all toils. I +broke from my reverie, and, without taking leave or expressing gratitude +to my informant, I ran with frantic expedition towards the river, and, +plunging into it, gained the opposite side in a moment. + +I was sufficiently acquainted with the road. Some twelve or fifteen +miles remained to be traversed. I did not fear that my strength would +fail in the performance of my journey. It was not my uncle's habitation +to which I directed my steps. Inglefield was my friend. If my sister had +existence, or was snatched from captivity, it was here that an asylum +had been afforded to her, and here was I to seek the knowledge of my +destiny. For this reason, having reached a spot where the road divided +into two branches, one of which led to Inglefield's and the other to +Huntly's, I struck into the former. + +Scarcely had I passed the angle when I noticed a building on the right +hand, at some distance from the road. In the present state of my +thoughts, it would not have attracted my attention, had not a light +gleamed from an upper window and told me that all within were not at +rest. + +I was acquainted with the owner of this mansion. He merited esteem and +confidence, and could not fail to be acquainted with recent events. From +him I should obtain all the information that I needed, and I should be +delivered from some part of the agonies of my suspense. I should reach +his door in a few minutes, and the window-light was a proof that my +entrance at this hour would not disturb the family, some of whom were +stirring. + +Through a gate I entered an avenue of tall oaks, that led to the house. +I could not but reflect on the effect which my appearance would produce +upon the family. The sleek locks, neat apparel, pacific guise, sobriety +and gentleness of aspect by which I was customarily distinguished, would +in vain be sought in the apparition which would now present itself +before them. My legs, neck, and bosom were bare, and their native hue +was exchanged for the livid marks of bruises and scarifications. A +horrid scar upon my cheek, and my uncombed locks; hollow eyes, made +ghastly by abstinence and cold, and the ruthless passions of which my +mind had been the theatre, added to the musket which I carried in my +hand, would prepossess them with the notion of a maniac or ruffian. + +Some inconveniences might hence arise, which, however, could not be +avoided. I must trust to the speed with which my voice and my words +should disclose my true character and rectify their mistake. + +I now reached the principal door of the house. It was open, and I +unceremoniously entered. In the midst of the room stood a German stove, +well heated. To thaw my half-frozen limbs was my first care. Meanwhile I +gazed around me, and marked the appearances of things. + +Two lighted candles stood upon the table. Beside them were cider-bottles +and pipes of tobacco. The furniture and room was in that state which +denoted it to have been lately filled with drinkers and smokers; yet +neither voice, nor visage, nor motion, were anywhere observable. I +listened; but neither above nor below, within nor without, could any +tokens of a human being be perceived. + +This vacancy and silence must have been lately preceded by noise, and +concourse, and bustle. The contrast was mysterious and ambiguous. No +adequate cause of so quick and absolute a transition occurred to me. +Having gained some warmth and lingered some ten or twenty minutes in +this uncertainty, I determined to explore the other apartments of the +building. I knew not what might betide in my absence, or what I might +encounter in my search to justify precaution, and, therefore, kept the +gun in my hand. I snatched a candle from the table and proceeded into +two other apartments on the first floor and the kitchen. Neither was +inhabited, though chairs and tables were arranged in their usual order, +and no traces of violence or hurry were apparent. + +Having gained the foot of the staircase, I knocked, but my knocking was +wholly disregarded. A light had appeared in an upper chamber. It was +not, indeed, in one of those apartments which the family permanently +occupied, but in that which, according to rural custom, was reserved for +guests; but it indubitably betokened the presence of some being by whom +my doubts might be solved. These doubts were too tormenting to allow of +scruples and delay. I mounted the stairs. + +At each chamber-door I knocked, but I knocked in vain. I tried to open, +but found them to be locked. I at length reached the entrance of that in +which a light had been discovered. Here it was certain that some one +would be found; but here, as well as elsewhere, my knocking was +unnoticed. + +To enter this chamber was audacious, but no other expedient was afforded +me to determine whether the house had any inhabitants. I therefore +entered, though with caution and reluctance. No one was within, but +there were sufficient traces of some person who had lately been here. On +the table stood a travelling-escritoire, open, with pens and inkstand. A +chair was placed before it, and a candle on the right hand. This +apparatus was rarely seen in this country. Some traveller, it seemed, +occupied this room, though the rest of the mansion was deserted. The +pilgrim, as these appearances testified, was of no vulgar order, and +belonged not to the class of periodical and every-day guests. + +It now occurred to me that the occupant of this apartment could not be +far off, and that some danger and embarrassment could not fail to accrue +from being found, thus accoutred and garbed, in a place sacred to the +study and repose of another. It was proper, therefore, to withdraw, and +either to resume my journey, or wait for the stranger's return, whom +perhaps some temporary engagement had called away, in the lower and +public room. The former now appeared to be the best expedient, as the +return of this unknown person was uncertain, as well as his power to +communicate the information which I wanted. + +Had paper, as well as the implements of writing, lain upon the desk, +perhaps my lawless curiosity would not have scrupled to have pried into +it. On the first glance nothing of that kind appeared; but now, as I +turned towards the door, somewhat, lying beside the desk, on the side +opposite the candle, caught my attention. The impulse was instantaneous +and mechanical that made me leap to the spot and lay my hand upon it. +Till I felt it between my fingers, till I brought it near my eyes and +read frequently the inscriptions that appeared upon it, I was doubtful +whether my senses had deceived me. + +Few, perhaps, among mankind, have undergone vicissitudes of peril and +wonder equal to mine. The miracles of poetry, the transitions of +enchantment, are beggarly and mean compared with those which I had +experienced. Passage into new forms, overleaping the bars of time and +space, reversal of the laws of inanimate and intelligent existence, had +been mine to perform and to witness. + +No event had been more fertile of sorrow and perplexity than the loss of +thy brother's letters. They went by means invisible, and disappeared at +a moment when foresight would have least predicted their disappearance. +They now placed themselves before me, in a manner equally abrupt, in a +place and by means no less contrary to expectation. The papers which I +now seized were those letters. The parchment cover, the string that tied +and the wax that sealed them, appeared not to have been opened or +violated. + +The power that removed them, from my cabinet, and dropped them in this +house,--a house which I rarely visited, which I had not entered during +the last year, with whose inhabitants I maintained no cordial +intercourse, and to whom my occupations and amusements, my joys and my +sorrows, were unknown,--was no object even of conjecture. But they were +not possessed by any of the family. Some stranger was here, by whom they +had been stolen, or into whose possession they had, by some +incomprehensible chance, fallen. + +That stranger was near. He had left this apartment for a moment. He +would speedily return. To go hence might possibly occasion me to miss +him. Here, then, I would wait, till he should grant me an interview. The +papers were mine, and were recovered. I would never part with them. But +to know by whose force or by whose stratagems I had been bereaved of +them thus long, was now the supreme passion of my soul. I seated myself +near a table and anxiously waited for an interview, on which I was +irresistibly persuaded to believe that much of my happiness depended. + +Meanwhile, I could not but connect this incident with the destruction of +my family. The loss of these papers had excited transports of grief; and +yet to have lost them thus was perhaps the sole expedient by which their +final preservation could be rendered possible. Had they, remained in my +cabinet, they could not have escaped the destiny which overtook the +house and its furniture. Savages are not accustomed to leave their +exterminating work unfinished. The house which they have plundered they +are careful to level with the ground. This not only their revenge, but +their caution, prescribes. Fire may originate by accident as well as by +design, and the traces of pillage and murder are totally obliterated by +the flames. + +These thoughts were interrupted by the shutting of a door below, and by +footsteps ascending the stairs. My heart throbbed at the sound. My seat +became uneasy and I started on my feet. I even advanced half-way to the +entrance of the room. My eyes were intensely fixed upon the door. My +impatience would have made me guess at the person of this visitant by +measuring his shadow, if his shadow were first seen; but this was +precluded by the position of the light. It was only when the figure +entered, and the whole person was seen, that my curiosity was gratified. +He who stood before me was the parent and fosterer of my mind, the +companion and instructor of my youth, from whom I had been parted for +years, from whom I believed myself to be forever separated,--Sarsefield +himself! + + + + +Chapter XXIV. + + +My deportment, at an interview so much desired and so wholly unforeseen, +was that of a maniac. The petrifying influence of surprise yielded to +the impetuosities of passion. I held him in my arms; I wept upon his +bosom; I sobbed with emotion which, had it not found passage at my eyes, +would have burst my heart-strings. Thus I, who had escaped the deaths +that had previously assailed me in so many forms, should have been +reserved to solemnize a scene like this by--_dying for joy_! + +The sterner passions and habitual austerities of my companion exempted +him from pouring out this testimony of his feelings. His feelings were, +indeed, more allied to astonishment and incredulity than mine had been. +My person was not instantly recognised. He shrunk from my embrace as if +I were an apparition or impostor. He quickly disengaged himself from my +arms, and, withdrawing a few paces, gazed upon me as on one whom he had +never before seen. + +These repulses were ascribed to the loss of his affection. I was not +mindful of the hideous guise in which I stood before him, and by which +he might justly be misled to imagine me a ruffian or a lunatic. My tears +flowed now on a new account, and I articulated, in a broken and faint +voice, "My master! my friend! Have you forgotten, have you ceased to +love me?" + +The sound of my voice made him start and exclaim, "Am I alive? am I +awake? Speak again, I beseech you, and convince me that I am not +dreaming or delirious." + +"Can you need any proof," I answered, "that it is Edgar Huntly, your +pupil, your child, that speaks to you?" + +He now withdrew his eyes from me and fixed them on the floor. After a +pause he resumed, in emphatic accents:--"Well, I have lived to this age +in unbelief. To credit or trust in miraculous agency was foreign to my +nature, but now I am no longer skeptical. Call me to any bar, and exact +from me an oath that you have twice been dead and twice recalled to +life; that you move about invisibly, and change your place by the force, +not of muscles, but of thought, and I will give it. + +"How came you hither? Did you penetrate the wall? Did you rise through +the floor? + +"Yet surely 'tis an error. You could not be he whom twenty witnesses +affirmed to have beheld a lifeless and mangled corpse upon the ground, +whom my own eyes saw in that condition. + +"In seeking the spot once more to provide you a grave, you had vanished. +Again I met you. You plunged into a rapid stream, from a height from +which it was impossible to fall and to live; yet, as if to set the +limits of nature at defiance, to sport with human penetration, you rose +upon the surface; you floated; you swam; thirty bullets were aimed at +your head, by marksmen celebrated for the exactness of their sight. I +myself was of the number, and I never missed what I desired to hit. + +"My predictions were confirmed by the event. You ceased to struggle; you +sunk to rise no more; and yet, after these accumulated deaths, you light +upon this floor, so far distant from the scene of your catastrophe, over +spaces only to be passed, in so short a time as has since elapsed, by +those who have wings. + +"My eyes, my ears, bear testimony to your existence now, as they +formerly convinced me of your death. What am I to think? what proofs am +I to credit?" There he stopped. + +Every accent of this speech added to the confusion of my thoughts. The +allusions that my friend had made were not unintelligible. I gained a +glimpse of the complicated errors by which we had been mutually +deceived. I had fainted on the area before Deb's hut. I was found by +Sarsefield in this condition, and imagined to be dead. + +The man whom I had seen upon the promontory was not an Indian. He +belonged to a numerous band of pursuers, whom my hostile and precipitate +deportment caused to suspect me for an enemy. They that fired from the +steep were friends. The interposition that screened me from so many +bullets was indeed miraculous. No wonder that my voluntary sinking, in +order to elude their shots, was mistaken for death, and that, having +accomplished the destruction of this foe, they resumed their pursuit of +others. But how was Sarsefield apprized that it was I who plunged into +the river? No subsequent event was possible to impart to him the +incredible truth. + +A pause of mutual silence ensued. At length Sarsefield renewed his +expressions of amazement at this interview, and besought me to explain +why I had disappeared by night from my uncle's house, and by what series +of unheard-of events this interview was brought about. Was it indeed +Huntly whom he examined and mourned over at the threshold of Deb's hut. +Whom he had sought in every thicket and cave in the ample circuit of +Norwalk and Chetasco? Whom he had seen perish in the current of the +Delaware? + +Instead of noticing his questions, my soul was harrowed with anxiety +respecting the fate of my uncle and sisters. Sarsefield could +communicate the tidings which would decide on my future lot and set my +portion in happiness or misery. Yet I had not breath to speak my +inquiries. Hope tottered, and I felt as if a single word would be +sufficient for its utter subversion. At length I articulated the name of +my uncle. + +The single word sufficiently imparted my fears, and these fears needed +no verbal confirmation. At that dear name my companion's features were +overspread by sorrow. + +"Your uncle," said he, "is dead." + +"Dead? Merciful Heaven! And my sisters too! Both?" + +"Your sisters are alive and well." + +"Nay," resumed I, in faltering accents, "jest not with my feelings. Be +not cruel in your pity. Tell me the truth." + +"I have said the truth. They are well, at Mr. Inglefield's." + +My wishes were eager to assent to the truth of these tidings. The better +part of me was, then, safe: but how did they escape the fate that +overtook my uncle? How did they evade the destroying hatchet and the +midnight conflagration? These doubts were imparted in a tumultuous and +obscure manner to my friend. He no sooner fully comprehended them, than +he looked at me with some inquietude and surprise. + +"Huntly," said he, "are you mad? What has filled you with these hideous +prepossessions? Much havoc has indeed been committed in Chetasco and the +wilderness, and a log hut has been burnt, by design or by accident, in +Solesbury; but that is all. Your house has not been assailed by either +firebrand or tomahawk. Every thing is safe and in its ancient order. The +master indeed is gone, but the old man fell a victim to his own temerity +and hardihood. It is thirty years since he retired with three wounds +from the field of Braddock; but time in no degree abated his adventurous +and military spirit. On the first alarm, he summoned his neighbours, and +led them in pursuit of the invaders. Alas! he was the first to attack +them, and the only one who fell in the contest." + +These words were uttered in a manner that left me no room to doubt of +their truth. My uncle had already been lamented, and the discovery of +the nature of his death, so contrary to my forebodings, and of the +safety of my girls, made the state of my mind partake more of exultation +and joy than of grief or regret. + +But how was I deceived? Had not my fusil been found in the hands of an +enemy? Whence could he have plundered it but from my own chamber? It +hung against the wall of a closet, from which no stranger could have +taken it except by violence. My perplexities and doubts were not at an +end, but those which constituted my chief torment were removed. I +listened to my friend's entreaties to tell him the cause of my +elopement, and the incidents that terminated in the present interview. + +I began with relating my return to consciousness in the bottom of the +pit; my efforts to free myself from this abhorred prison; the acts of +horror to which I was impelled by famine, and their excruciating +consequences; my gaining the outlet of the cavern, the desperate +expedient by which I removed the impediment to my escape, and the +deliverance of the captive girl; the contest I maintained before Deb's +hut; my subsequent wanderings; the banquet which hospitality afforded +me; my journey to the river-bank; my meditations on the means of +reaching the road; my motives for hazarding my life by plunging into the +stream; and my subsequent perils and fears till I reached the threshold +of this habitation. + +"Thus," continued I, "I have complied with your request. I have told all +that I myself know. What were the incidents between my sinking to rest +at my uncle's and my awaking in the chambers of the hill; by what means +and by whose contrivance, preternatural or human, this transition was +effected, I am unable to explain; I cannot even guess. + +"What has eluded my sagacity may not be beyond the reach of another. +Your own reflections on my tale, or some facts that have fallen under +your notice, may enable you to furnish a solution. But, meanwhile, how +am I to account for your appearance on this spot? This meeting was +unexpected and abrupt to you, but it has not been less so to me. Of all +mankind, Sarsefield was the furthest from my thoughts when I saw these +tokens of a traveller and a stranger. + +"You were imperfectly acquainted with my wanderings. You saw me on the +ground before Deb's hut. You saw me plunge into the river. You +endeavoured to destroy me while swimming; and you knew, before my +narrative was heard, that Huntly was the object of your enmity. What was +the motive of your search in the desert, and how were you apprized of my +condition? These things are not less wonderful that any of those which I +have already related." + +During my tale the features of Sarsefield betokened the deepest +attention. His eye strayed not a moment from my face. All my perils and +forebodings were fresh in my remembrance: they had scarcely gone by; +their skirts, so to speak, were still visible. No wonder that my +eloquence was vivid and pathetic; that I portrayed the past as if it +were the present scene; and that not my tongue only, but every muscle +and limb, spoke. + +When I had finished my relation, Sarsefield sank into thoughtfulness. +From this, after a time, he recovered, and said, "Your tale, Huntly, is +true; yet, did I not see you before me, were I not acquainted with the +artlessness and rectitude of your character, and, above all, had not my +own experience, during the last three days, confirmed every incident, I +should question its truth. You have amply gratified my curiosity, and +deserve that your own should be gratified as fully. Listen to me. + +"Much has happened since we parted, which shall not be now mentioned. I +promised to inform you of my welfare by letter, and did not fail to +write; but whether my letters were received, or any were written by you +in return, or if written were ever transmitted, I cannot tell: none were +ever received. + +"Some days since, I arrived, in company with a lady who is my wife, in +America. You have never been forgotten by me. I knew your situation to +be little in agreement with your wishes, and one of the benefits which +fortune has lately conferred upon me is the power of snatching you from +a life of labour and obscurity, whose goods, scanty as they are, were +transient and precarious, and affording you the suitable leisure and +means of intellectual gratification and improvement. + +"Your silence made me entertain some doubts concerning your welfare, and +even your existence. To solve these doubts, I hastened to Solesbury. +Some delays upon the road hindered me from accomplishing my journey by +daylight. It was night before I entered the Norwalk path; but my ancient +rambles with you made me familiar with it, and I was not afraid of being +obstructed or bewildered. + +"Just as I gained the southern outlet, I spied a passenger on foot, +coming towards me with a quick pace. The incident was of no moment; and +yet the time of night, the seeming expedition of the walker, +recollection of the mazes and obstacles which he was going to encounter, +and a vague conjecture that perhaps he was unacquainted with the +difficulties that awaited him, made me eye him with attention as he +passed. + +"He came near, and I thought I recognised a friend in this traveller. +The form, the gesture, the stature, bore a powerful resemblance to those +of Edgar Huntly. This resemblance was so strong, that I stopped, and, +after he had gone by, called him by your name. That no notice was taken +of my call proved that the person was mistaken; but, even though it were +another, that he should not even hesitate or turn at a summons which he +could not but perceive to be addressed, though erroneously, to him, was +the source of some surprise. I did not repeat my call, but proceeded on +my way. + +"All had retired to repose in your uncle's dwelling. I did not scruple +to rouse them, and was received with affectionate and joyous greetings. +That you allowed your uncle to rise before you was a new topic of +reflection. To my inquiries concerning you, answers were made that +accorded with my wishes. I was told that you were in good health and +were then in bed. That you had not heard and risen at my knocking was +mentioned with surprise; but your uncle accounted for your indolence by +saying that during the last week you had fatigued yourself by rambling, +night and day, in search of some maniac or visionary who was supposed to +have retreated into Norwalk. + +"I insisted upon awakening you myself. I anticipated the effect of this +sudden and unlooked-for meeting with some emotions of pride as well as +of pleasure. To find, in opening your eyes, your old preceptor standing +by your bedside and gazing in your face, would place you, I conceived, +in an affecting situation. + +"Your chamber-door was open, but your bed was empty. Your uncle and +sisters were made acquainted with this circumstance. Their surprise gave +way to conjectures that your restless and romantic spirit had tempted +you from your repose, that you had rambled abroad on some fantastic +errand, and would probably return before the dawn. I willingly +acquiesced in this opinion, and, my feelings being too thoroughly +aroused to allow me to sleep, I took possession of your chamber and +patiently awaited your return. + +"The morning returned, but Huntly made not his appearance. Your uncle +became somewhat uneasy at this unseasonable absence. Much speculation +and inquiry as to the possible reasons of your flight was made. In my +survey of your chamber, I noted that only part of your clothing remained +beside your bed. Coat, hat, stockings and shoes lay upon the spot where +they had probably been thrown when you had disrobed yourself; but the +pantaloons, which, according to Mr. Huntly's report, completed your +dress, were nowhere to be found. That you should go forth on so cold a +night so slenderly apparelled, was almost incredible. Your reason or +your senses had deserted you, before so rash an action could be +meditated. + +"I now remembered the person I had met in Norwalk. His resemblance to +your figure, his garb, which wanted hat, coat, stockings and shoes, and +your absence from your bed at that hour, were remarkable coincidences: +but why did you disregard my call? Your name, uttered by a voice that +could not be unknown, was surely sufficient to arrest your steps. + +"Each hour added to the impatience of your friends. To their +recollections and conjectures I listened with a view to extract from +them some solution of this mystery. At length a story was alluded to of +some one who, on the preceding night, had been heard walking in the long +room: to this was added the tale of your anxieties and wonders +occasioned by the loss of certain manuscripts. + +"While ruminating upon these incidents, and endeavouring to extract from +this intelligence a clue explanatory of your present situation, a single +word, casually dropped by your uncle, instantly illuminated my darkness +and dispelled my doubts.--'After all,' said the old man, 'ten to one but +Edgar himself was the man whom we heard walking, but the lad was asleep, +and knew not what he was about.' + +"'Surely,' said I, 'this inference is just. His manuscripts could not be +removed by any hands but his own, since the rest of mankind were +unacquainted not only with the place of their concealment, but with +their existence. None but a man insane or asleep would wander forth so +slightly dressed, and none but a sleeper would have disregarded my +calls.' This conclusion was generally adopted; but it gave birth in my +mind to infinite inquietudes. You had roved into Norwalk, a scene of +inequalities, of prominences and pits, among which, thus destitute of +the guidance of your senses, you could scarcely fail to be destroyed, +or, at least, irretrievably bewildered. I painted to myself the dangers +to which you were subjected. Your careless feet would bear you into some +whirlpool or to the edge of some precipice; some internal revolution or +outward shock would recall you to consciousness at some perilous moment. +Surprise and fear would disable you from taking seasonable or suitable +precautions, and your destruction be made sure. + +"The lapse of every new hour, without bringing tidings of your state, +enhanced these fears. At length the propriety of searching for you +occurred; Mr. Huntly and I determined to set out upon this pursuit, as +well as to commission others. A plan was laid by which every accessible +part of Norwalk, the wilderness beyond the flats of Solesbury, and the +valley of Chetasco, should be traversed and explored. + +"Scarcely had we equipped ourselves for this expedition, when a +messenger arrived, who brought the disastrous news of Indians being seen +within these precincts, and on the last night a farmer was shot in his +fields, a dwelling in Chetasco was burnt to the ground, and its +inhabitants murdered or made captives. Rumour and inquiry had been busy, +and a plausible conjecture had been formed as to the course and number +of the enemies. They were said to be divided into bands, and to amount +in the whole to thirty or forty warriors. This messenger had come to +warn us of danger which might impend, and to summon us to join in the +pursuit and extirpation of these detestable foes. + +"Your uncle, whose alacrity and vigour age had not abated, eagerly +engaged in this scheme. I was not averse to contribute my efforts to an +end like this. The road which we had previously designed to take, in +search of my fugitive pupil, was the same by which we must trace or +intercept the retreat of the savages. Thus two purposes, equally +momentous, would be answered by the same means. + +"Mr. Huntly armed himself with your fusil; Inglefield supplied me with a +gun. During our absence the dwelling was closed and locked, and your +sisters placed under the protection of Inglefield, whose age and pacific +sentiments unfitted him for arduous and sanguinary enterprises. A troop +of rustics was collected, half of whom remained to traverse Solesbury, +and the other, whom Mr. Huntly and I accompanied, hastened to Chetasco." + + + + +Chapter XXV. + + +"It was noonday before we reached the theatre of action. Fear and +revenge combined to make the people of Chetasco diligent and zealous in +their own defence. The havoc already committed had been mournful. To +prevent a repetition of the same calamities, they resolved to hunt out +the hostile footsteps and exact a merciless retribution. + +"It was likely that the enemy, on the approach of day, had withdrawn +from the valley and concealed themselves in the thickets between the +parallel ridges of the mountain. This space, which, according to the +object with which it is compared, is either a vale or the top of a hill, +was obscure and desolate. It was undoubtedly the avenue by which the +robbers had issued forth, and by which they would escape to the Ohio. +Here they might still remain, intending to emerge from their concealment +on the next night and perpetrate new horrors. + +"A certain distribution was made of our number, so as to move in all +directions at the same time. I will not dwell upon particulars. It will +suffice to say that keen eyes and indefatigable feet brought us at last +to the presence of the largest number of these marauders. Seven of them +were slain by the edge of a brook, where they sat wholly unconscious of +the danger which hung over them. Five escaped, and one of these secured +his retreat by wresting your fusil from your uncle and shooting him +dead. Before our companion could be rescued or revenged, the assassin, +with the remnant of the troop, disappeared, and bore away with him the +fusil as a trophy of his victory. + +"This disaster was deplored, not only on account of that life which had +thus been sacrificed, but because a sagacious guide and intrepid leader +was lost. His acquaintance with the habits of the Indians, and his +experience in their wars, made him trace their footsteps with more +certainty than any of his associates. + +"The pursuit was still continued, and parties were so stationed that the +escape of the enemy was difficult, if not impossible. Our search was +unremitted, but, during twelve or fourteen hours, unsuccessful. Queen +Mab did not elude all suspicion. Her hut was visited by different +parties, but the old woman and her dogs had disappeared. + +"Meanwhile your situation was not forgotten. Every one was charged to +explore your footsteps as well as those of the savages; but this search +was no less unsuccessful than the former. None had heard of you or seen +you. + +"This continued till midnight. Three of us made a pause at a brook, and +intended to repair our fatigues by a respite of a few hours; but +scarcely had we stretched ourselves on the ground when we were alarmed +by a shot which seemed to have been fired at a short distance. We +started on our feet and consulted with each other on the measures to be +taken. A second, a third, and a fourth shot, from the same quarter, +excited our attention anew. Mab's hut was known to stand at the distance +and in the direction of this sound, and thither we resolved to repair. + +"This was done with speed, but with the utmost circumspection. We +shortly gained the road that leads near this hut, and at length gained a +view of the building. Many persons were discovered, in a sort of +bustling inactivity, before the hut. They were easily distinguished to +be friends, and were therefore approached without scruple. + +"The objects that presented themselves to a nearer view were five bodies +stretched upon the ground. Three of them were savages. The fourth was a +girl, who, though alive, seemed to have received a mortal wound. The +fifth, breathless and mangled, and his features almost concealed by the +blood that overspread his face, was Edgar,--the fugitive for whom I had +made such anxious search. + +"About the same hour on the last night I had met you hastening into +Norwalk. Now were you lying in the midst of savages, at the distance of +thirty miles from your home, and in a spot which it was impossible for +you to have reached unless by an immense circuit over rocks and +thickets. That you had found a rift at the basis of a hill, and thus +penetrated its solidities, and thus precluded so tedious and circuitous +a journey as must otherwise have been made, was not to be imagined. + +"But whence arose this scene? It was obvious to conclude that my +associates had surprised their enemies in this house, and exacted from +them the forfeit of their crimes; but how you should have been +confounded with their foes, or whence came the wounded girl, was a +subject of astonishment. + +"You will judge how much this surprise was augmented when I was informed +that the party whom we found had been attracted hither by the same +signals by which we had been alarmed. That on reaching this spot you had +been discovered, alive, seated on the ground, and still sustaining the +gun with which you had apparently completed the destruction of so many +adversaries. In a moment after their arrival you sunk down and expired. + +"This scene was attended with inexplicable circumstances. The musket +which lay beside you appeared to have belonged to one of the savages. +The wound by which each had died was single. Of the four shots we had +distinguished at a distance, three of them were therefore fatal to the +Indians, and the fourth was doubtless that by which you had fallen; yet +three muskets only were discoverable. + +"The arms were collected, and the girl carried to the nearest house in +the arms of her father. Her situation was deemed capable of remedy, and +the sorrow and wonder which I felt at your untimely and extraordinary +fate did not hinder me from endeavouring to restore the health of this +unfortunate victim. I reflected, likewise, that some light might be +thrown upon transactions so mysterious by the information which might be +collected from her story. Numberless questions and hints were necessary +to extract from her a consistent or intelligible tale. She had been +dragged, it seems, for miles, at the heels of her conquerors, who at +length stopped in a cavern for the sake of some repose. All slept but +one, who sat and watched. Something called him away, and, at the same +moment, you appeared at the bottom of the cave, half naked and without +arms. You instantly supplied the last deficiency by seizing the gun and +tomahawk of him who had gone forth, and who had negligently left his +weapons behind. Then, stepping over the bodies of the sleepers, you +rushed out of the cavern. + +"She then mentioned your unexpected return, her deliverance and flight, +and arrival at Deb's hut. You watched upon the hearth, and she fell +asleep upon the blanket. From this sleep she was aroused by violent and +cruel blows. She looked up: you were gone, and the bed on which she lay +was surrounded by the men from whom she had so lately escaped. One +dragged her out of the hut and levelled his gun at her breast. At the +moment when he touched the trigger, a shot came from an unknown quarter, +and he fell at her feet. Of subsequent events she had an incoherent +recollection. The Indians were successively slain, and you came to her, +and interrogated and consoled her. + +"In your journey to the hut you were armed. This in some degree +accounted for appearances: but where were your arms? Three muskets only +were discovered, and these undoubtedly belonged to your enemies. + +"I now had leisure to reflect upon your destiny. I had arrived soon +enough on this shore merely to witness the catastrophe of two beings +whom I most loved. Both were overtaken by the same fate, nearly at the +same hour. The same hand had possibly accomplished the destruction of +uncle and nephew. + +"Now, however, I began to entertain a hope that your state might not be +irretrievable. You had walked and spoken after the firing had ceased and +your enemies had ceased to contend with you. A wound had, no doubt, been +previously received. I had hastily inferred that the wound was mortal, +and that life could not be recalled. Occupied with attention to the +wailings of the girl, and full of sorrow and perplexity, I had admitted +an opinion which would have never been adopted in different +circumstances. My acquaintance with wounds would have taught me to +regard sunken muscles, lividness, and cessation of the pulse, as mere +indications of a swoon, and not as tokens of death. + +"Perhaps my error was not irreparable. By hastening to the hut, I might +ascertain your condition, and at least transport your remains to some +dwelling and finally secure to you the decencies of burial. + +"Of twelve savages discovered on the preceding day, ten were now killed. +Two at least remained, after whom the pursuit was still zealously +maintained. Attention to the wounded girl had withdrawn me from the +party, and I had now leisure to return to the scene of these disasters. +The sun had risen, and, accompanied by two others, I repaired thither. + +"A sharp turn in the road, at the entrance of a field, set before us a +startling spectacle. An Indian, mangled by repeated wounds of bayonet +and bullet, was discovered. His musket was stuck in the ground, by way +of beacon attracting our attention to the spot. Over this space I had +gone a few hours before, and nothing like this was then seen. The +parties abroad had hied away to a distant quarter. Some invisible power +seemed to be enlisted in our defence and to preclude the necessity of +our arms. + +"We proceeded to the hut. The savages were there, but Edgar had risen +and flown! Nothing now seemed to be incredible. You had slain three +foes, and the weapon with which the victory had been achieved had +vanished. You had risen from the dead, had assailed one of the surviving +enemies, had employed bullet and dagger in his destruction, with both of +which you could only be supplied by supernatural means, and had +disappeared. If any inhabitant of Chetasco had done this, we should have +heard of it. + +"But what remained? You were still alive. Your strength was sufficient +to bear you from this spot. Why were you still invisible? and to what +dangers might you not be exposed before you could disinvolve yourself +from the mazes of this wilderness? + +"Once more I procured indefatigable search to be made after you. It was +continued till the approach of evening, and was fruitless. Inquiries +were twice made at the house where you were supplied with food and +intelligence. On the second call I was astonished and delighted by the +tidings received from the good woman. Your person, and demeanour, and +arms, were described, and mention made of your resolution to cross the +southern ridge and traverse the Solesbury Road with the utmost +expedition. + +"The greater part of my inquietudes were now removed. You were able to +eat and to travel, and there was little doubt that a meeting would take +place between us on the next morning. Meanwhile, I determined to concur +with those who pursued the remainder of the enemy. I followed you, in +the path that you were said to have taken, and quickly joined a numerous +party who were searching for those who, on the last night, had attacked +a plantation that lies near this, and destroyed the inhabitants. + +"I need not dwell upon our doublings and circuities. The enemy was +traced to the house of Selby. They had entered, they had put fire on the +floor, but were compelled to relinquish their prey. Of what number they +consisted could not be ascertained; but one, lingering behind his +fellows, was shot, at the entrance of the wood, and on the spot where +you chanced to light upon him. + +"Selby's house was empty, and before the fire had made any progress we +extinguished it. The drunken wretch whom you encountered had probably +returned from his nocturnal debauch after we had left the spot. + +"The flying enemy was pursued with fresh diligence. They were found, by +various tokens, to have crossed the river, and to have ascended the +mountain. We trod closely on their heels. When we arrived at the +promontory described by you, the fatigues of the night and day rendered +me unqualified to proceed. I determined that this should be the bound of +my excursions. I was anxious to obtain an interview with you, and, +unless I paused here, should not be able to gain Inglefield's as early +in the morning as I wished. Two others concurred with me in this +resolution, and prepared to return to this house, which had been +deserted by its tenants till the danger was past, and which had been +selected as the place of rendezvous. + +"At this moment, dejected and weary, I approached the ledge which +severed the headland from the mountain. I marked the appearance of some +one stretched upon the ground where you lay. No domestic animal would +wander hither and place himself upon this spot. There was something +likewise in the appearance of the object that bespoke it to be man; but, +if it were man, it was incontrovertibly a savage and a foe. I +determined, therefore, to rouse you by a bullet. + +"My decision was perhaps absurd. I ought to have gained more certainty +before I hazarded your destruction. Be that as it will, a moment's +lingering on your part would have probably been fatal. You started on +your feet, and fired. See the hole which your random shot made through +my sleeve! This surely was a day destined to be signalized by +hairbreadth escapes. + +"Your action seemed incontestably to confirm my prognostics. Every one +hurried to the spot and was eager to destroy an enemy. No one hesitated +to believe that some of the shots aimed at you had reached their mark, +and that you had sunk to rise no more. + +"The gun which was fired and thrown down was taken and examined. It had +been my companion in many a toilsome expedition. It had rescued me and +my friends from a thousand deaths. In order to recognise it, I needed +only to touch and handle it. I instantly discovered that I held in my +hand the fusil which I had left with you on parting, with which your +uncle had equipped himself, and which had been ravished from him by a +savage. What was I hence to infer respecting the person of the last +possessor? + +"My inquiries respecting you, of the woman whose milk and bread you had +eaten, were minute. You entered, she said, with a hatchet and gun in +your hand. While you ate, the gun was laid upon the table. She sat near, +and the piece became the object of inquisitive attention. The stock and +barrels were described by her in such terms as left no doubt that this +was the _fusil_. + +"A comparison of incidents enabled me to trace the manner in which you +came into possession of this instrument. One of those whom you found in +the cavern was the assassin of your uncle. According to the girl's +report, on issuing from your hiding-place you seized a gun that was +unoccupied, and this gun chanced to be your own. + +"Its two barrels were probably the cause of your success in that unequal +contest at Mab's hut. On recovering from _deliquium_, you found it where +it had been dropped by you, out of sight and unsuspected by the party +that had afterwards arrived. In your passage to the river, had it once +more fallen into hostile hands? or had you missed the way, wandered to +this promontory, and mistaken a troop of friends for a band of Indian +marauders? + +"Either supposition was dreadful. The latter was the most plausible. No +motives were conceivable by which one of the fugitives could be induced +to post himself here, in this conspicuous station; whereas, the road +which led you to the summit of the hill, to that spot where descent to +the river-road was practicable, could not be found but by those who were +accustomed to traverse it. The directions which you had exacted from +your hostess proved your previous unacquaintance with these tracts. + +"I acquiesced in this opinion with a heavy and desponding heart. Fate +had led us into a maze which could only terminate in the destruction of +one or of the other. By the breadth of a hair had I escaped death from +your hand. The same fortune had not befriended you. After my tedious +search, I had lighted on you, forlorn, bewildered, perishing with cold +and hunger. Instead of recognising and affording you relief, I compelled +you to leap into the river, from a perilous height, and had desisted +from my persecution only when I had bereaved you of life and plunged you +to the bottom of the gulf. + +"My motives in coming to America were numerous and mixed. Among these +was the parental affection with which you had inspired me. I came with +fortune, and a better gift than fortune, in my hand. I intended to +bestow both upon you, not only to give you competence, but one who would +endear to you that competence, who would enhance, by participating, +every gratification. + +"My schemes were now at an end. You were gone, beyond the reach of my +benevolence and justice. I had robbed your two sisters of a friend and +guardian. It was some consolation to think that it was in my power to +stand, with regard to them, in your place; that I could snatch them from +the poverty, dependence, and humiliation, to which your death and that +of your uncle had reduced them. + +"I was now doubly weary of the enterprise in which I was engaged, and +returned with speed to this rendezvous. My companions have gone to know +the state of the family who resided under this roof, and left me to +beguile the tedious moments in whatever manner I pleased. + +"I have omitted mentioning one incident that happened between the +detection of your flight and our expedition to Chetasco. Having formed a +plausible conjecture as to him who walked in the long room, it was +obvious to conclude that he who purloined your manuscript, and the +walker, was the same personage. It was likewise easily inferred that the +letters were secreted in the cedar chest or in some other part of the +room. Instances similar to this have heretofore occurred. Men have +employed anxious months in search of that which, in a freak of +noctambulation, was hidden by their own hands. + +"A search was immediately commenced, and your letters were found, +carefully concealed between the rafters and shingles of the roof, in a +spot where, if suspicion had not been previously excited, they would +have remained till the vernal rains and the summer heats had insensibly +destroyed them. This packet I carried with me, knowing the value which +you set upon it, and there being no receptacle equally safe but your own +cabinet, which was locked. + +"Having, as I said, reached this house, and being left alone, I +bethought me of the treasure I possessed. I was unacquainted with the +reasons for which these papers were so precious. They probably had some +momentous and intimate connection with your own history. As such, they +could not be of little value to me, and this moment of inoccupation and +regrets was as suitable as any other to the task of perusing them. I +drew them forth, therefore, and laid them on the table in this chamber. + +"The rest is known to you. During a momentary absence you entered. +Surely no interview of ancient friends ever took place in so unexpected +and abrupt a manner. You were dead. I mourned for you, as one whom I +loved, and whom fate had snatched forever from my sight. Now, in a +blissful hour, you had risen, and my happiness in thus embracing you is +tenfold greater than would have been experienced if no uncertainties and +perils had protracted our meeting." + + + + +Chapter XXVI. + + +Here ended the tale of Sarsefield. Humiliation and joy were mingled in +my heart. The events that preceded my awakening in the cave were now +luminous and plain. What explication was more obvious? What but this +solution ought to have been suggested by the conduct I had witnessed in +Clithero? + +Clithero? Was not this the man whom Clithero had robbed of his friend? +Was not this the lover of Mrs. Lorimer, the object of the persecutions +of Wiatte? Was it not now given me to investigate the truth of that +stupendous tale? To dissipate the doubts which obstinately clung to my +imagination respecting it? + +But soft! Had not Sarsefield said that he was married? Was Mrs. Lorimer +so speedily forgotten by him, or was the narrative of Clithero the web +of imposture or the raving of insanity? + +These new ideas banished all personal considerations from my mind. I +looked eagerly into the face of my friend, and exclaimed, in a dubious +accent, "How say you? Married? When? To whom?" + +"Yes, Huntly, I am wedded to the most excellent of women. To her am I +indebted for happiness, and wealth, and dignity, and honour. To her do I +owe the power of being the benefactor and protector of you and your +sisters. She longs to embrace you as a son. To become truly her son will +depend upon your own choice, and that of one who was the companion of +our voyage." + +"Heavens!" cried I, in a transport of exultation and astonishment. "Of +whom do you speak? Of the mother of Clarice? The sister of Wiatte? The +sister of the ruffian who laid snares for her life? Who pursued you and +the unhappy Clithero with the bitterest animosity?" + +My friend started at these sounds as if the earth had yawned at his +feet. His countenance was equally significant of terror and rage. As +soon as he regained the power of utterance, he spoke:--"Clithero! Curses +light upon thy lips for having uttered that detested name! Thousands of +miles have I flown to shun the hearing of it. Is the madman here? Have +you set eyes upon him? Does he yet crawl upon the face of the earth? +Unhappy? Unparalleled, unheard-of, thankless miscreant! Has he told his +execrable falsehoods here? Has he dared to utter names so sacred as +those of Euphemia Lorimer and Clarice?" + +"He has; he has told a tale that had all the appearances of truth----" + +"Out upon the villain! The truth! Truth would prove him to be unnatural, +devilish; a thing for which no language has yet provided a name! He has +called himself unhappy? No doubt, a victim to injustice! Overtaken by +unmerited calamity. Say! Has he fooled thee with such tales?" + +"No. His tale was a catalogue of crimes and miseries of which he was the +author and sufferer. You know not his motives, his horrors------" + +"His deeds were monstrous and infernal. His motives were sordid and +flagitious. To display all their ugliness and infamy was not his +province. No; he did not tell you that he stole at midnight to the +chamber of his mistress; a woman who astonished the world by her +loftiness and magnanimity, by indefatigable beneficence and unswerving +equity; who had lavished on this wretch, whom she snatched from the +dirt, all the goods of fortune, all the benefits of education; all the +treasures of love; every provocation to gratitude; every stimulant to +justice. + +"He did not tell you that, in recompense for every benefit, he stole +upon her sleep and aimed a dagger at her breast. There was no room for +flight, or ambiguity, or prevarication. She whom he meant to murder +stood near, saw the lifted weapon, and heard him confess and glory in +his purposes. + +"No wonder that the shock bereft her, for a time, of life. The interval +was seized by the ruffian to effect his escape. The rebukes of justice +were shunned by a wretch conscious of his inexpiable guilt. These things +he has hidden from you, and has supplied their place by a tale specious +as false." + +"No. Among the number of his crimes, hypocrisy is not to be numbered. +These things are already known to me: he spared himself too little in +the narrative. The excellencies of his lady, her claims to gratitude and +veneration, were urged beyond their true bounds. His attempts upon her +life were related. It is true that he desired and endeavoured to destroy +her." + +"How? Has he told you this?" + +"He has told me all. Alas! the criminal intention has been amply +expiated." + +"What mean you? Whence and how came he hither? Where is he now? I will +not occupy the same land, the same world, with him. Have this woman and +her daughter lighted on the shore haunted by this infernal and +implacable enemy?" + +"Alas! It is doubtful whether he exists. If he lives, he is no longer to +be feared; but he lives not. Famine and remorse have utterly consumed +him." + +"Famine? Remorse? You talk in riddles." + +"He has immured himself in the desert. He has abjured the intercourse of +mankind. He has shut himself in caverns where famine must inevitably +expedite that death for which he longs as the only solace of his woes. +To no imagination are his offences blacker and more odious than to his +own. I had hopes of rescuing him from this fate, but my own infirmities +and errors have afforded me sufficient occupation." + +Sarsefield renewed his imprecations on the memory of that unfortunate +man, and his inquiries as to the circumstances that led him into this +remote district. His inquiries were not to be answered by one in my +present condition. My languors and fatigues had now gained a pitch that +was insupportable. The wound in my face had been chafed and inflamed by +the cold water and the bleak air; and the pain attending it would no +longer suffer my attention to stray. I sunk upon the floor, and +entreated him to afford me the respite of a few hours' repose. + +He was sensible of the deplorableness of my condition, and chid himself +for the negligence of which he had already been guilty. He lifted me to +the bed, and deliberated on the mode he should pursue for my relief. +Some mollifying application to my wound was immediately necessary; but, +in our present lonely condition, it was not at hand. It could only be +procured from a distance. It was proper therefore to hasten to the +nearest inhabited dwelling, which belonged to one by name Walton, and +supply himself with such medicines as could be found. + +Meanwhile, there was no danger of molestation and intrusion. There was +reason to expect the speedy return of those who had gone in pursuit of +the savages. This was their place of rendezvous, and hither they +appointed to reassemble before the morrow's dawn. The distance of the +neighbouring farm was small, and Sarsefield promised to be expeditious. +He left me to myself and my own ruminations. + +Harassed by fatigue and pain, I had yet power to ruminate on that series +of unparalleled events that had lately happened. I wept, but my tears +flowed from a double source: from sorrow, on account of the untimely +fate of my uncle, and from joy, that my sisters were preserved, that +Sarsefield had returned and was not unhappy. + +I reflected on the untoward destiny of Clithero. Part of his calamity +consisted in the consciousness of having killed his patroness; but it +now appeared, though by some infatuation I had not previously suspected, +that the first impulse of sorrow in the lady had been weakened by +reflection and by time; that the prejudice persuading her that her life +and that of her brother were to endure and to terminate together was +conquered by experience or by argument. She had come, in company with +Sarsefield and Clarice, to America. What influence might these events +have upon the gloomy meditations of Clithero? Was it possible to bring +them together; to win the maniac from his solitude, wrest from him his +fatal purposes, and restore him to communion with the beings whose +imagined indignation is the torment of his life? + +These musings were interrupted by a sound from below, which was easily +interpreted into tokens of the return of those with whom Sarsefield had +parted at the promontory. Voices were confused and busy, but not +turbulent. They entered the lower room, and the motion of chairs and +tables showed that they were preparing to rest themselves after their +toils. + +Few of them were unacquainted with me, since they probably were +residents in this district. No inconvenience, therefore, would follow +from an interview, though, on their part, wholly unexpected. Besides, +Sarsefield would speedily return, and none of the present visitants +would be likely to withdraw to this apartment. + +Meanwhile, I lay upon the bed, with my face turned towards the door, and +languidly gazing at the ceiling and Walls. Just then a musket was +discharged in the room below. The shock affected me mechanically, and +the first impulse of surprise made me almost start upon my feet. + +The sound was followed by confusion and bustle. Some rushed forth and +called on each other to run different ways, and the words, "That is +he,"--"Stop him!" were spoken in a tone of eagerness and rage. My +weakness and pain were for a moment forgotten, and my whole attention +was bent to discover the meaning of this hubbub. The musket which I had +brought with me to this chamber lay across the bed. Unknowing of the +consequences of this affray with regard to myself, I was prompted, by a +kind of self-preserving instinct, to lay hold of the gun and prepare to +repel any attack that might be made upon me. + +A few moments elapsed, when I thought I heard light footsteps in the +entry leading to this room. I had no time to construe these signals, +but, watching fearfully the entrance, I grasped my weapon with new +force, and raised it so as to be ready at the moment of my danger. I did +not watch long. A figure cautiously thrust itself forward. The first +glance was sufficient to inform me that this intruder was an Indian, +and, of consequence, an enemy. He was unarmed. Looking eagerly on all +sides, he at last spied me as I lay. My appearance threw him into +consternation, and, after the fluctuation of an instant, he darted to +the window, threw up the sash, and leaped out upon the ground. + +His flight might have been easily arrested by my shot, but surprise, +added to my habitual antipathy to bloodshed unless in cases of absolute +necessity, made me hesitate. He was gone, and I was left to mark the +progress of the drama. The silence was presently broken by firing at a +distance. Three shots, in quick succession, were followed by the deepest +pause. + +That the party, recently arrived, had brought with them one or more +captives, and that by some sudden effort the prisoners had attempted to +escape, was the only supposition that I could form. By wrhat motives +either of them could be induced to seek concealment in my chamber could +not be imagined. + +I now heard a single step on the threshold below. Some one entered the +common room. He traversed the floor during a few minutes, and then, +ascending the staircase, he entered my chamber. It was Sarsefield. +Trouble and dismay were strongly written on his countenance. He seemed +totally unconscious of my presence; his eyes were fixed upon the floor, +and, as he continued to move across the room, he heaved forth deep +sighs. + +This deportment was mournful and mysterious. It was little in unison +with those appearances which he wore at our parting, and must have been +suggested by some event that had since happened. My curiosity impelled +me to recall him from his reverie. I rose, and, seizing him by the arm, +looked at him with an air of inquisitive anxiety. It was needless to +speak. + +He noticed my movement, and, turning towards me, spoke in a tone of some +resentment:--"Why did you deceive me? Did you not say Clithero was +dead?" + +"I said so because it was my belief. Know you any thing to the contrary? +Heaven grant that he is still alive, and that our mutual efforts may +restore him to peace!" + +"Heaven grant," replied my friend, with a vehemence that bordered upon +fury,--"Heaven grant that he may live thousands of years, and know not, +in their long course, a moment's respite from remorse and from anguish! +But this prayer is fruitless. He is not dead, but death hovers over him. +Should he live, he will live only to defy justice and perpetrate new +horrors. My skill might perhaps save him, but a finger shall not be +moved to avert his fate. + +"Little did I think that the wretch whom my friends rescued from the +power of the savages, and brought wounded and expiring hither, was +Clithero. They sent for me in haste to afford him surgical assistance. I +found him stretched upon the floor below, deserted, helpless, and +bleeding. The moment I beheld him, he was recognised. The last of evils +was to look upon the face of this assassin; but that evil is past, and +shall never be endured again. + +"Rise, and come with me. Accommodation is prepared for you at Walcot's. +Let us leave this house, and, the moment you are able to perform a +journey, abandon forever this district." + +I could not readily consent to this proposal. Clithero had been +delivered from captivity, but was dying for want of that aid which +Sarsefield was able to afford. Was it not inhuman to desert him in this +extremity? What offence had he committed that deserved such implacable +vengeance? Nothing I had heard from Sarsefield was in contradiction to +his own story. His deed, imperfectly observed, would appear to be +atrocious and detestable; but the view of all its antecedent and +accompanying events and motives would surely place it in the list, not +of crimes, but of misfortunes. + +But wrhat is that guilt which no penitence can expiate? Had not +Clithero's remorse been more than adequate to crimes far more deadly and +enormous than this? This, however, was no time to argue with the +passions of Sarsefield. Nothing but a repetition of Clithero's tale +could vanquish his prepossessions and mollify his rage; but this +repetition was impossible to be given by me, till a moment of safety and +composure. + +These thoughts made me linger, but hindered me from attempting to change +the determination of my friend. He renewed his importunities for me to +fly with him. He dragged me by the arm, and, wavering and reluctant, I +followed where he chose to lead. He crossed the common room, with +hurried steps, and eyes averted from a figure which instantly fastened +my attention. + +It was indeed Clithero whom I now beheld, supine, polluted with blood, +his eyes closed, and apparently insensible. This object was gazed at +with emotions that rooted me to the spot. Sarsefield, perceiving me +determined to remain where I was, rushed out of the house, and +disappeared. + + + + +Chapter XXVII. + + +I hung over the unhappy wretch, whose emaciated form and rueful features +sufficiently bespoke that savage hands had only completed that +destruction which his miseries had begun. He was mangled by the tomahawk +in a shocking manner, and there was little hope that human skill could +save his life. + +I was sensible of nothing but compassion. I acted without design, when, +seating myself on the floor, I raised his head and placed it on my +knees. This movement awakened his attention, and, opening his eyes, he +fixed them on my countenance. They testified neither insensibility, nor +horror, nor distraction. A faint emotion of surprise gave way to an +appearance of tranquillity. Having perceived these tokens of a state +less hopeless than I at first imagined, I spoke to him:--"My friend, how +do you feel? Can any thing be done for you?" + +He answered me in a tone more firm and with more coherence of ideas +than previous appearances had taught me to expect. "No," said he; "thy +kindness, good youth, can avail me nothing. The end of my existence here +is at hand. May my guilt be expiated by the miseries that I have +suffered, and my good deeds only attend me to the presence of my divine +Judge! + +"I am waiting, not with trembling or dismay, for this close of my +sorrows. I breathed but one prayer, and that prayer has been answered. I +asked for an interview with thee, young man; but, feeling as I now feel, +this interview, so much desired, was beyond my hope. Now thou art come, +in due season, to hear the last words that I shall need to utter. + +"I wanted to assure thee that thy efforts for my benefit were not +useless. They have saved me from murdering myself, a guilt more +inexpiable than any which it was in my power to commit. + +"I retired to the innermost recess of Norwalk, and gained the summit of +a hill, by subterranean paths. This hill I knew to be on all sides +inaccessible to human footsteps, and the subterranean passages were +closed up by stones. Here I believed my solitude exempt from +interruption, and my death, in consequence of famine, sure. + +"This persuasion was not taken away by your appearance on the opposite +steep. The chasm which severed us I knew to be impassable. I withdrew +from your sight. + +"Some time after, awakening from a long sleep, I found victuals beside +me. He that brought it was invisible. For a time, I doubted whether some +messenger of heaven had not interposed for my salvation. How other than +by supernatural means my retreat should be explored, I was unable to +conceive. The summit was encompassed by dizzy and profound gulfs, and +the subterranean passages were still closed. + +"This opinion, though corrected by subsequent reflection, tended to +change the course of my desperate thoughts. My hunger, thus +importunately urged, would not abstain, and I ate of the food that was +provided. Henceforth I determined to live, to resume the path of +obscurity and labour which I had relinquished, and wait till my God +should summon me to retribution. To anticipate his call is only to +redouble our guilt. + +"I designed not to return to Inglefield's service, but to choose some +other and remoter district. Meanwhile, I had left in his possession a +treasure, which my determination to die had rendered of no value, but +which my change of resolution restored. Enclosed in a box at +Inglefield's were the memoirs of Euphemia Lorimer, by which, in all my +vicissitudes, I had been hitherto accompanied, and from which I +consented to part only because I had refused to live. My existence was +now to be prolonged, and this manuscript was once more to constitute the +torment and the solace of my being. + +"I hastened to Inglefield's by night. There was no need to warn him of +my purpose. I desired that my fate should be an eternal secret to my +ancient master and his neighbours. The apartment containing my box was +well known, and easily accessible. + +"The box was found, but broken and rifled of its treasure. My transports +of astonishment, and indignation, and grief, yielded to the resumption +of my fatal purpose. I hastened back to the hill, and determined anew to +perish. + +"This mood continued to the evening of the ensuing day. Wandering over +rocks and pits, I discovered the manuscript lying under a jutting +precipice. The chance that brought it hither was not less propitious and +miraculous than that by which I had been supplied with food. It produced +a similar effect upon my feelings, and, while in possession of this +manuscript, I was reconciled to the means of life. I left the mountain, +and, traversing the wilderness, stopped in Chetasco. That kind of +employment which I sought was instantly procured; but my new vocation +was scarcely assumed when a band of savages invaded our security. + +"Rambling in the desert by moonlight, I encountered these foes. They +rushed upon me, and, after numerous wounds, which for the present +neither killed nor disabled me, they compelled me to keep pace with them +in their retreat. Some hours have passed since the troop was overtaken +and my liberty redeemed. Hardships, and repeated wounds, inflicted at +the moment when the invaders were surprised and slain, have brought me +to my present condition. I rejoice that my course is about to +terminate." + +Here the speaker was interrupted by the tumultuous entrance of the party +by whom he had been brought hither. Their astonishment at seeing me +sustaining the head of the dying man may be easily conceived. Their +surprise was more strongly excited by the disappearance of the captive +whom they had left in this apartment, bound hand and foot. It now +appeared that, of the savage troop who had adventured thus far in search +of pillage and blood, all had been destroyed but two, who had been led +hither as prisoners. On their entrance into this house, one of the party +had been sent to Walcot's to summon Sarsefield to the aid of the wounded +man, while others had gone in search of cords to secure the arms and +legs of the captives, who had hitherto been manacled imperfectly. + +The cords were brought and one of them was bound; but the other, before +the same operation was begun upon him, broke, by a sudden effort, the +feeble ligatures by which he was at present constrained, and, seizing a +musket that lay near him, fired on his enemies, and then rushed out of +doors. All eagerly engaged in the pursuit. The savage was fleet as a +deer, and finally eluded his pursuers. + +While their attention was thus engaged abroad, he that remained found +means to extricate his wrists and ankles from his bonds, and, betaking +himself to the stairs, escaped, as I before described, through the +window of the room which I had occupied. They pestered me with their +curiosity and wonder, for I was known to all of them; but, waiving the +discussion of my own concerns, I entreated their assistance to carry +Clithero to the chamber and the bed which I had just deserted. + +I now, in spite of pain, fatigue, and watchfulness, set out to go to +Walton's. Sarsefield was ready to receive me at the door, and the +kindness and compassion of the family were active in my behalf. I was +conducted to a chamber and provided with suitable attendance and +remedies. + +I was not unmindful of the more deplorable condition of Clithero. I +incessantly meditated on the means for his relief. His case stood in +need of all the vigilance and skill of a physician, and Sarsefield was +the only one of that profession whose aid could be seasonably +administered. Sarsefield, therefore, must be persuaded to bestow this +aid. + +There was but one mode of conquering his abhorrence of this man,--to +prepossess my friend with the belief of the innocence of Clithero, or to +soothe him into pity by a picture of remorse and suffering. This could +be done, and in the manner most conformable to truth, by a simple +recital of the incidents that had befallen, and by repeating the +confession which had been extorted from Clithero. + +I requested all but my friend to leave my chamber, and then, soliciting +a patient hearing, began the narrative of Waldegrave's death; of the +detection of Clithero beneath the shade of the elm; of the suspicions +which were thence produced; and of the forest interview to which these +suspicions gave birth. I then repeated, without variation or addition, +the tale which was then told. I likewise mentioned my subsequent +transactions in Norwalk, so far as they illustrated the destiny of +Clithero. + +During this recital, I fixed my eyes upon the countenance of Sarsefield, +and watched every emotion as it arose or declined. With the progress of +my tale, his indignation and his fury grew less, and at length gave +place to horror and compassion. + +His seat became uneasy; his pulse throbbed with new vehemence. When I +came to the motives which prompted the unhappy man to visit the chamber +of his mistress, he started from his seat, and sometimes strode across +the floor in a troubled mood, and sometimes stood before me, with his +breath almost suspended in the eagerness of his attention. When I +mentioned the lifted dagger, the shriek from behind, and the apparition +that interposed, he shuddered and drew back, as if a dagger had been +aimed at his breast. + +When the tale was done, some time elapsed in mutual and profound +silence. My friend's thoughts were involved in a mournful and +indefinable reverie. From this he at length recovered and spoke:-- + +"It is true. A tale like this could never be the fruit of invention, or +be invented to deceive. He has done himself injustice. His character was +spotless and fair. All his moral properties seemed to have resolved +themselves into gratitude, fidelity, and honour. + +"We parted at the door, late in the evening, as he mentioned, and he +guessed truly that subsequent reflection had induced me to return and to +disclose the truth to Mrs. Lorimer. Clarice, relieved by the sudden +death of her friend, and unexpectedly by all, arrived at the same hour. + +"These tidings astonished, afflicted, and delighted the lady. Her +brother's death had been long believed by all but herself. To find her +doubts verified, and his existence ascertained, was the dearest +consolation that he ever could bestow. She was afflicted at the proofs +that had been noted of the continuance of his depravity, but she dreaded +no danger to herself from his malignity or vengeance. + +"The ignorance and prepossessions of this woman were remarkable. On this +subject only she was perverse, headstrong, obstinate. Her anxiety to +benefit this archruffian occupied her whole thoughts, and allowed her no +time to reflect upon the reasonings or remonstrances of others. She +could not be prevailed on to deny herself to his visits, and I parted +from her in the utmost perplexity. + +"A messenger came to me at midnight, entreating my immediate presence. +Some disaster had happened, but of what kind the messenger was unable to +tell. My fears easily conjured up the image of Wiatte. Terror scarcely +allowed me to breathe. When I entered the house of Mrs. Lorimer, I was +conducted to her chamber. She lay upon the bed in a state of +stupefaction, that arose from some mental cause. Clarice sat by her, +wringing her hands, and pouring forth her tears without intermission. +Neither could explain to me the nature of the scene. I made inquiries of +the servants and attendants. They merely said that the family as usual +had retired to rest, but their lady's bell rung with great violence, and +called them in haste to her chamber, where they found her in a swoon +upon the floor, and the young lady in the utmost affright and +perturbation. + +"Suitable means being used, Mrs. Lorimer had, at length, recovered, but +was still nearly insensible. I went to Clithero's apartments; but he was +not to be found, and the domestics informed me that, since he had gone +with me, he had not returned. The doors between this chamber and the +court were open; hence, that some dreadful interview had taken place, +perhaps with Wiatte, was an unavoidable conjecture. He had withdrawn, +however, without committing any personal injury. + +"I need not mention my reflections upon this scene. All was tormenting +doubt and suspense, till the morning arrived, and tidings were received +that Wiatte had been killed in the streets. This event was antecedent to +that which had occasioned Mrs. Lorimer's distress and alarm. I now +remembered that fatal prepossession by which the lady was governed, and +her frantic belief that her death and that of her brother were to fall +out at the same time. Could some witness of his death have brought her +tidings of it? Had he penetrated, unexpected and unlicensed, to her +chamber? and were these the effects produced by the intelligence? + +"Presently I knew that not only Wiatte was dead, but that Clithero had +killed him. Clithero had not been known to return, and was nowhere to be +found. He, then, was the bearer of these tidings, for none but he could +have found access or egress without disturbing the servants. + +"These doubts were at length at an end. In a broken and confused manner, +and after the lapse of some days, the monstrous and portentous truth was +disclosed. After our interview, the lady and her daughter had retired to +the same chamber; the former had withdrawn to her closet, and the latter +to bed. Some one's entrance alarmed the lady, and, coming forth after a +moment's pause, the spectacle which Clithero has too faithfully +described presented itself. + +"What could I think? A life of uniform hypocrisy, or a sudden loss of +reason, were the only suppositions to be formed. Clithero was the parent +of fury and abhorrence in my heart. In either case I started at the +name. I shuddered at the image of the apostate or the maniac. + +"What? Kill the brother whose existence was interwoven with that of his +benefactress and his friend? Then hasten to her chamber, and attempt her +life? Lift a dagger to destroy her who had been the author of his being +and his happiness? + +"He that could meditate a deed like this was no longer man. An agent +from hell had mastered his faculties. He was become the engine of +infernal malice, against whom it was the duty of all mankind to rise up +in arms and never to desist till, by shattering it to atoms, its power +to injure was taken away. + +"All inquiries to discover the place of his retreat were vain. No +wonder, methought, that he wrapped himself in the folds of impenetrable +secrecy. Curbed, checked, baffled in the midst of his career, no wonder +that he shrunk into obscurity, that he fled from justice and revenge, +that he dared not meet the rebukes of that eye which, dissolving in +tenderness or flashing with disdain, had ever been irresistible. + +"But how shall I describe the lady's condition? Clithero she had +cherished from his infancy. He was the stay, the consolation, the pride +of her life. His projected alliance with her daughter made him still +more dear. Her eloquence was never tired of expatiating on his purity +and rectitude. No wonder that she delighted in this theme, for he was +her own work. His virtues were the creatures of her bounty. + +"How hard to be endured was this sad reverse! She can be tranquil, but +never more will she be happy. To promote her forgetfulness of him, I +persuaded her to leave her country, which contained a thousand memorials +of past calamity, and which was lapsing fast into civil broils. Clarice +has accompanied us, and time may effect the happiness of others by her +means, though she can never remove the melancholy of her mother. + +"I have listened to your tale, not without compassion. What would you +have me to do? To prolong his life would be merely to protract his +misery. + +"He can never be regarded with complacency by my wife. He can never be +thought of without shuddering by Clarice. Common ills are not without a +cure less than death, but here all remedies are vain. Consciousness +itself is the malady, the pest, of which he only is cured who ceases to +think." + +I could not but assent to this mournful conclusion: yet, though death +was better to Clithero than life, could not some of his mistakes be +rectified? Euphemia Lorimer, contrary to his belief, was still alive. He +dreamed that she was dead, and a thousand evils were imagined to flow +from that death. This death, and its progeny of ills, haunted his fancy, +and added keenness to his remorse. Was it not our duty to rectify this +error? + +Sarsefield reluctantly assented to the truth of my arguments on this +head. He consented to return, and afford the dying man the consolation +of knowing that the being whom he adored as a benefactor and parent had +not been deprived of existence, though bereft of peace by his act. + +During Sarsefield's absence my mind was busy in revolving the incidents +that had just occurred. I ruminated on the last words of Clithero. There +was somewhat in his narrative that was obscure and contradictory. He had +left the manuscript, which he so much and so justly prized, in his +cabinet. He entered the chamber in my absence, and found the cabinet +unfastened and the manuscript gone. It was I by whom the cabinet was +opened; but the manuscript supposed to be contained in it was buried in +the earth beneath the elm. How should Clithero be unacquainted with its +situation, since none but Clithero could have dug for it this grave? + +This mystery vanished when I reflected on the history of my own +manuscript. Clithero had buried his treasure with his own hands, as mine +had been secreted by myself; but both acts had been performed during +sleep. The deed was neither prompted by the will nor noticed by the +senses of him by whom it was done. Disastrous and humiliating is the +state of man! By his own hands is constructed the mass of misery and +error in which his steps are forever involved. + +Thus it was with thy friend. Hurried on by phantoms too indistinct to be +now recalled, I wandered from my chamber to the desert. I plunged into +some unvisited cavern, and easily proceeded till I reached the edge of a +pit. There my step was deceived, and I tumbled headlong from the +precipice. The fall bereaved me of sense, and I continued breathless and +motionless during the remainder of the night and the ensuing day. + +How little cognizance have men over the actions and motives of each +other! How total is our blindness with regard to our own performances! +Who would have sought me in the bowels of this mountain? Ages might have +passed away, before my bones would be discovered in this tomb by some +traveller whom curiosity had prompted to explore it. + +I was roused from these reflections by Sarsefield's return. Inquiring +into Clithero's condition, he answered that the unhappy man was +insensible, but that, notwithstanding numerous and dreadful gashes in +different parts of his body, it was possible that, by submitting to the +necessary treatment, he might recover. + +Encouraged by this information, I endeavoured to awaken the zeal and +compassion of my friend in Clithero's behalf. He recoiled with +involuntary shuddering from any task which would confine him to the +presence of this man. Time and reflection, he said, might introduce +different sentiments and feelings, but at present he could not but +regard this person as a maniac, whose disease was irremediable, and +whose existence could not be protracted but to his own misery and the +misery of others. + +Finding him irreconcilably averse to any scheme connected with the +welfare of Clithero, I began to think that his assistance as a surgeon +was by no means necessary. He had declared that the sufferer needed +nothing more than common treatment; and to this the skill of a score of +aged women in this district, furnished with simples culled from the +forest, and pointed out, of old time, by Indian _leeches_, was no +less adequate than that of Sarsefield. These women were ready and +officious in their charity, and none of them were prepossessed against +the sufferer by a knowledge of his genuine story. + +Sarsefield, meanwhile, was impatient for my removal to Inglefield's +habitation, and that venerable friend was no less impatient to receive +me. My hurts were superficial, and my strength sufficiently repaired by +a night's repose. Next day I went thither, leaving Clithero to the care +of his immediate neighbours. + +Sarsefield's engagements compelled him to prosecute his journey into +Virginia, from which he had somewhat deviated in order to visit +Solesbury. He proposed to return in less than a month, and then to take +me in his company to New York. He has treated me with paternal +tenderness, and insists upon the privilege of consulting for my interest +as if he were my real father. Meanwhile these views have been disclosed +to Inglefield, and it is with him that I am to remain, with my sisters, +until his return. + +My reflections have been various and tumultuous. They have been busy in +relation to you, to Weymouth, and especially to Clithero. The latter, +polluted with gore and weakened by abstinence, fatigue, and the loss of +blood, appeared in my eyes to be in a much more dangerous condition than +the event proved him to be. I was punctually informed of the progress of +his cure, and proposed in a few days to visit him. The duty of +explaining the truth, respecting the present condition of Mrs. Lorimer, +had devolved upon me. By imparting this intelligence, I hoped to work +the most auspicious revolutions in his feelings, and prepared, +therefore, with alacrity, for an interview. + +In this hope I was destined to be disappointed. On the morning on which +I intended to visit him, a messenger arrived from the house in which he +was entertained, and informed us that the family, on entering the sick +man's apartment, had found it deserted. It appeared that Clithero had, +during the night, risen from his bed and gone secretly forth. No traces +of his flight have since been discovered. + +But, oh, my friend, the death of Waldegrave, thy brother, is at length +divested of uncertainty and mystery. Hitherto, I had been able to form +no conjecture respecting it; but the solution was found shortly after +this time. + +Queen Mab, three days after my adventure, was seized in her hut on +suspicion of having aided and counselled her countrymen in their late +depredations. She was not to be awed or intimidated by the treatment she +received, but readily confessed and gloried in the mischief she had +done, and accounted for it by enumerating the injuries which she had +received from her neighbours. + +These injuries consisted in contemptuous or neglectful treatment, and in +the rejection of groundless and absurd claims. The people of Chetasco +were less obsequious to her humours than those of Solesbury, her ancient +neighbourhood, and her imagination brooded for a long time over nothing +but schemes of revenge. She became sullen, irascible, and spent more of +her time in solitude than ever. + +A troop of her countrymen at length visited her hut. Their intentions +being hostile, they concealed from the inhabitants their presence in +this quarter of the country. Some motives induced them to withdraw and +postpone, for the present, the violence which they meditated. One of +them, however, more sanguinary and audacious than the rest, would not +depart without some gratification of his vengeance. He left his +associates and penetrated by night into Solesbury, resolving to attack +the first human being whom he should meet. It was the fate of thy +unhappy brother to encounter this ruffian, whose sagacity made him +forbear to tear away the usual trophy from the dead, lest he should +afford grounds for suspicion as to the authors of the evil. + +Satisfied with this exploit, he rejoined his companions, and, after an +interval of three weeks, returned with a more numerous party, to execute +a more extensive project of destruction. They were counselled and +guided, in all their movements, by Queen Mab, who now explained these +particulars and boldly defied her oppressors. Her usual obstinacy and +infatuation induced her to remain in her ancient dwelling and prepare to +meet the consequences. + +This disclosure awakened anew all the regrets and anguish which flowed +from that disaster. It has been productive, however, of some benefit. +Suspicions and doubts, by which my soul was harassed, and which were +injurious to the innocent, are now at an end. It is likewise some +imperfect consolation to reflect that the assassin has himself been +killed, and probably by my own hand. The shedder of blood no longer +lives to pursue his vocation, and justice is satisfied. + +Thus have I fulfilled my promise to compose a minute relation of my +sufferings. I remembered my duty to thee, and, as soon as I was able to +hold a pen, employed it to inform thee of my welfare. I could not at +that time enter into particulars, but reserved a more copious narrative +till a period of more health and leisure. + +On looking back, I am surprised at the length to which my story has run. +I thought that a few days would suffice to complete it; but one page has +insensibly been added to another, till I have consumed weeks and filled +volumes. Here I will draw to a close; I will send you what I have +written, and discuss with you in conversation my other immediate +concerns, and my schemes for the future. As soon as I have seen +Sarsefield, I will visit you. FAREWELL. E. H. + +SOLESBURY, November 10. + + + + +Letter I. + +_To Mr. Sarsefield._ + + + +PHILADELPHIA. + +I came hither but ten minutes ago, and write this letter in the bar of +the stage-house. I wish not to lose a moment in informing you of what +has happened. I cannot do justice to my own feelings when I reflect upon +the rashness of which I have been guilty. + +I will give you the particulars to-morrow. At present, I shall only say +that Clithero is alive, is apprized of your wife's arrival and abode in +New York, and has set out with mysterious intentions to visit her. + +May Heaven avert the consequences of such a design! May you be enabled, +by some means, to prevent their meeting! If you cannot prevent it--but I +must not reason on such an event, nor lengthen out this letter. + +E. H. + + + + +Letter II. + +_To the Same._ + + + +I will now relate the particulars which I yesterday promised to send +you. You heard through your niece of my arrival at Inglefield's, in +Solesbury: my inquiries, you may readily suppose, would turn upon the +fate of my friend's servant Clithero, whose last disappearance was so +strange and abrupt, and of whom, since that time, I had heard nothing. +You are indifferent to his fate, and are anxious only that his existence +and misfortunes may be speedily forgotten. I confess that it is somewhat +otherwise with me. I pity him; I wish to relieve him, and cannot admit +the belief that his misery is without a cure. I want to find him out. I +want to know his condition, and, if possible, to afford him comfort and +inspire him with courage and hope. + +Inglefield replied to my questions:--"Oh yes! He has appeared. The +strange being is again upon the stage. Shortly after he left his +sick-bed, I heard from Philip Beddington, of Chetasco, that Deb's hut had +found a new tenant. At first I imagined that the Scotsman who built it +had returned; but, making closer inquiries, I found that the new tenant +was my servant. I had no inclination to visit him myself, but frequently +inquired respecting him of those who lived or passed that way, and find +that he still lives there." + +"But how!" said I: "what is his mode of subsistence? The winter has been +no time for cultivation; and he found, I presume, nothing in the +ground." + +"Deb's hut," replied my friend, "is his lodging and his place of +retirement, but food and clothing he procures by labouring on a +neighbouring farm. This farm is next to that of Beddington, who +consequently knows something of his present situation. I find little or +no difference in his present deportment and those appearances which he +assumed while living with me, except that he retires every night to his +hut, and holds as little intercourse as possible with the rest of +mankind. He dines at his employer's table; but his supper, which is +nothing but rye-bread, he carries home with him, and, at all those times +when disengaged from employment, he secludes himself in his hut, or +wanders nobody knows whither." + +This was the substance of Inglefield's intelligence. I gleaned from it +some satisfaction. It proved the condition of Clithero to be less +deplorable and desperate than I had previously imagined. His fatal and +gloomy thoughts seemed to have somewhat yielded to tranquillity. + +In the course of my reflections, however, I could not but perceive that +his condition, though eligible when compared with what it once was, was +likewise disastrous and humiliating, compared with his youthful hopes +and his actual merits. For such a one to mope away his life in this +unsocial and savage state was deeply to be deplored. It was my duty, if +possible, to prevail on him to relinquish his scheme. And what would be +requisite, for that end, but to inform him of the truth? + +The source of his dejection was the groundless belief that he had +occasioned the death of his benefactress. It was this alone that could +justly produce remorse or grief. It was a distempered imagination both +in him and in me that had given birth to this opinion, since the terms +of his narrative, impartially considered, were far from implying that +catastrophe. To him, however, the evidence which he possessed was +incontestable. No deductions from probability could overthrow his +belief. This could only be effected by similar and counter evidence. To +apprize him that she was now alive, in possession of some degree of +happiness, the wife of Sarsefield, and an actual resident on this shore, +would dissipate the sanguinary apparition that haunted him, cure his +diseased intellects, and restore him to those vocations for which his +talents, and that rank in society for which his education, had qualified +him. Influenced by these thoughts, I determined to visit his retreat. +Being obliged to leave Solesbury the next day, I resolved to set out the +same afternoon, and, stopping in Chetasco for the night, seek his +habitation at the hour when he had probably retired to it. + +This was done. I arrived at Beddington's at nightfall. My inquiries +respecting Clithero obtained for me the same intelligence from him which +I had received from Inglefield. Deb's hut was three miles from this +habitation, and thither, when the evening had somewhat advanced, I +repaired. This was the spot which had witnessed so many perils during +the last year; and my emotions, on approaching it, were awful. With +palpitating heart and quick steps I traversed the road, skirted on each +side by thickets, and the area before the house. The dwelling was by no +means in so ruinous a state as when I last visited it. The crannies +between the logs had been filled up, and the light within was +perceivable only at a crevice in the door. + +Looking through this crevice, I perceived a fire in the chimney, but the +object of my visit was nowhere to be seen. I knocked and requested +admission, but no answer was made. At length I lifted the latch and +entered. Nobody was there. + +It was obvious to suppose that Clithero had gone abroad for a short +time, and would speedily return; or perhaps some engagement had detained +him at his labour later than usual. I therefore seated myself on some +straw near the fire, which, with a woollen rug, appeared to constitute +his only bed. The rude bedstead which I formerly met was gone. The +slender furniture, likewise, which had then engaged my attention, had +disappeared. There was nothing capable of human use but a heap of fagots +in the corner, which seemed intended for fuel. How slender is the +accommodation which nature has provided for man, and how scanty is the +portion which our physical necessities require! + +While ruminating upon this scene, and comparing past events with the +objects before me, the dull whistling of the gale without gave place to +the sound of footsteps. Presently the door opened, and Clithero entered +the apartment. His aspect and guise were not essentially different from +those which he wore when an inhabitant of Solesbury. + +To find his hearth occupied by another appeared to create the deepest +surprise. He looked at me without any tokens of remembrance. His +features assumed a more austere expression, and, after scowling on my +person for a moment, he withdrew his eyes, and, placing in a corner a +bundle which he bore in his hand, he turned and seemed preparing to +withdraw. + +I was anxiously attentive to his demeanour, and, as soon as I perceived +his purpose to depart, leaped on my feet to prevent it. I took his hand, +and, affectionately pressing it, said, "Do you not know me? Have you so +soon forgotten me, who is truly your friend?" + +He looked at me with some attention, but again withdrew his eyes, and +placed himself in silence on the seat which I had left. I seated myself +near him, and a pause of mutual silence ensued. + +My mind was full of the purpose that brought me hither, but I knew not +in what manner to communicate my purpose. Several times I opened my lips +to speak, but my perplexity continued, and suitable words refused to +suggest themselves. At length I said, in a confused tone,-- + +"I came hither with a view to benefit a man with whose misfortunes his +own lips have made me acquainted, and who has awakened in my breast the +deepest sympathy. I know the cause and extent of his dejection. I know +the event which has given birth to horror and remorse in his heart. He +believes that, by his means, his patroness and benefactress has found an +untimely death." + +These words produced a visible shock in my companion, which evinced that +I had at least engaged his attention. I proceeded:-- + +"This unhappy lady was cursed with a wicked and unnatural brother. She +conceived a disproportionate affection for this brother, and erroneously +imagined that her fate was blended with his, that their lives would +necessarily terminate at the same period, and that, therefore, whoever +was the contriver of his death was likewise, by a fatal and invincible +necessity, the author of her own. + +"Clithero was her servant, but was raised by her bounty to the station +of her son and the rank of her friend. Clithero, in self-defence, took +away the life of that unnatural brother, and, in that deed, falsely but +cogently believed that he had perpetrated the destruction of his +benefactress. + +"To ascertain the truth, he sought her presence. She was found, the +tidings of her brother's death were communicated, and she sank +breathless at his feet." + +At these words Clithero started from the ground, and cast upon me looks +of furious indignation. "And come you hither," he muttered, "for this +end?--to recount my offences and drive me again to despair?" + +"No," answered I, with quickness; "I come to outroot a fatal but +powerful illusion. I come to assure you that the woman with whose +destruction you charge yourself is _not dead_." + +These words, uttered with the most emphatical solemnity, merely produced +looks in which contempt was mingled with anger. He continued silent. + +"I perceive," resumed I, "that my words are disregarded. Would to Heaven +I were able to conquer your incredulity, could show you not only the +truth but the probability of my tale! Can you not confide in me? that +Euphemia Lorimer is now alive, is happy, is the wife of Sarsefield? that +her brother is forgotten and his murderer regarded without enmity or +vengeance?" + +He looked at me with a strange expression of contempt. "Come," said he, +at length; "make out thy assertion to be true. Fall on thy knees, and +invoke the thunder of Heaven to light on thy head if thy words be false. +Swear that Euphemia Lorimer is alive; happy; forgetful of Wiatte and +compassionate of me. Swear that thou hast seen her; talked with her; +received from her own lips the confession of her pity for him who aimed +a dagger at her bosom. Swear that she is Sarsefield's wife." + +I put my hands together, and, lifting my eyes to heaven, exclaimed, "I +comply with your conditions. I call the omniscient God to witness that +Euphemia Lorimer is alive; that I have seen her with these eyes; have +talked with her; have inhabited the same house for months." + +These asseverations were listened to with shuddering. He laid not aside, +however, an air of incredulity and contempt. "Perhaps," said he, "thou +canst point out the place of her abode?--canst guide me to the city, the +street, the very door of her habitation?" + +"I can. She resides at this moment in the city of New York; in Broadway; +in a house contiguous to the--." + +"'Tis well!" exclaimed my companion, in a tone loud, abrupt, and in the +utmost degree vehement. "'Tis well! Rash and infatuated youth, thou hast +ratified, beyond appeal or forgiveness, thy own doom. Thou hast once +more let loose my steps, and sent me on a fearful journey. Thou hast +furnished the means of detecting thy imposture. I will fly to the spot +which thou describest. I will ascertain thy falsehood with my own eyes. +If she be alive, then am I reserved for the performance of a new crime. +My evil destiny will have it so. If she be dead, I shall make thee +expiate." + +So saying, he darted through the door, and was gone in a moment beyond +my sight and my reach. I ran to the road, looked on every side, and +called; but my calls were repeated in vain. He had fled with the +swiftness of a deer. + +My own embarrassment, confusion, and terror were inexpressible. His last +words were incoherent. They denoted the tumult and vehemence of frenzy. +They intimated his resolution to seek the presence of your wife. I had +furnished a clue which could not fail to conduct him to her presence. +What might not be dreaded from the interview? Clithero is a maniac. This +truth cannot be concealed. Your wife can with difficulty preserve her +tranquillity when his image occurs to her remembrance. What must it be +when he starts up before her in his neglected and ferocious guise, and +armed with purposes perhaps as terrible as those which had formerly led +him to her secret chamber and her bedside? + +His meaning was obscurely conveyed. He talked of a deed for the +performance of which his malignant fate had reserved him, which was to +ensue their meeting, and which was to afford disastrous testimony of the +infatuation which had led me hither. + +Heaven grant that some means may suggest themselves to you of +intercepting his approach! Yet I know not what means can be conceived. +Some miraculous chance may befriend you; yet this is scarcely to be +hoped. It is a visionary and fantastic base on which to rest our +security. + +I cannot forget that my unfortunate temerity has created this evil. Yet +who could foresee this consequence of my intelligence? I imagined that +Clithero was merely a victim of erroneous gratitude, a slave of the +errors of his education and the prejudices of his rank; that his +understanding was deluded by phantoms in the mask of virtue and duty, +and not, as you have strenuously maintained, utterly subverted. + +I shall not escape your censure, but I shall, likewise, gain your +compassion. I have erred, not through sinister or malignant intentions, +but from the impulse of misguided, indeed, but powerful, benevolence. + + + + +Letter III. + +_To Edgar Huntly_. + + + +NEW YORK. + +EDGAR:-- + +After the fatigues of the day, I returned home. As I entered, my wife +was breaking the seal of a letter; but, on seeing me, she forbore, and +presented the letter to me. + +"I saw," said she, "by the superscription of this letter, who the writer +was. So, agreeably to your wishes, I proceeded to open it; but you have +come just time enough to save me the trouble." + +This letter was from you. It contained information relative to Clithero. +See how imminent a chance it was that saved my wife from a knowledge of +its contents! It required all my efforts to hide my perturbation from +her and excuse myself from showing her the letter. + +I know better than you the character of Clithero, and the consequences +of a meeting between him and my wife. You may be sure that I would exert +myself to prevent a meeting. + +The method for me to pursue was extremely obvious. Clithero is a madman, +whose liberty is dangerous, and who requires to be fettered and +imprisoned as the most atrocious criminal. + +I hastened to the chief-magistrate, who is my friend, and, by proper +representations, obtained from him authority to seize Clithero wherever +I should meet with him, and effectually debar him from the perpetration +of new mischiefs. + +New York does not afford a place of confinement for lunatics as suitable +to his case as Pennsylvania. I was desirous of placing him as far as +possible from the place of my wife's residence. Fortunately, there was a +packet for Philadelphia on the point of setting out on her voyage. This +vessel I engaged to wait a day or two, for the purpose of conveying him +to Pennsylvania Hospital. Meanwhile, proper persons were stationed at +Powles Hook, and at the quays where the various stage-boats from Jersey +arrive. + +These precautions were effectual. Not many hours after the receipt of +your intelligence, this unfortunate man applied for a passage at +Elizabethtown, was seized the moment he set his foot on shore, and was +forthwith conveyed to the packet, which immediately set sail. + +I designed that all these proceedings should be concealed from the +women, but unfortunately neglected to take suitable measures for +hindering the letter, which you gave me reason to expect on the ensuing +day, from coming into their hands. It was delivered to my wife in my +absence, and opened immediately by her. + +You know what is, at present, her personal condition. You know what +strong reasons I had to prevent any danger or alarm from approaching +her. Terror could not assume a shape more ghastly than this. The effects +have been what might have been easily predicted. Her own life has been +imminently endangered, and an untimely birth has blasted my fondest +hope. Her infant, with whose future existence so many pleasures were +entwined, is dead. + +I assure you, Edgar, my philosophy has not found itself lightsome and +active under this burden. I find it hard to forbear commenting on your +rashness in no very mild terms. You acted in direct opposition to my +counsel and to the plainest dictates of propriety. Be more circumspect +and more obsequious for the future. + +You knew the liberty that would be taken of opening my letters; you knew +of my absence from home during the greatest part of the day, and the +likelihood, therefore, that your letters would fall into my wife's hands +before they came into mine. These considerations should have prompted +you to send them under cover to Whitworth or Harvey, with directions to +give them immediately to me. + +Some of these events happened in my absence; for I determined to +accompany the packet myself, and see the madman safely delivered to the +care of the hospital. + +I will not torture your sensibility by recounting the incidents of his +arrest and detention. You will imagine that his strong but perverted +reason exclaimed loudly against the injustice of his treatment. It was +easy for him to out-reason his antagonist, and nothing but force could +subdue his opposition. On me devolved the province of his jailer and his +tyrant,--a province which required a heart more steeled by spectacles of +suffering and the exercise of cruelty than mine had been. + +Scarcely had we passed the Narrows, when the lunatic, being suffered to +walk the deck, (as no apprehensions were entertained of his escape in +such circumstances,) threw himself overboard, with a seeming intention +to gain the shore. The boat was immediately manned; the fugitive was +pursued; but, at the moment when his flight was overtaken, he forced +himself beneath the surface, and was seen no more. + +With the life of this wretch, let our regrets and our forebodings +terminate. He has saved himself from evils for which no time would have +provided a remedy, from lingering for years in the noisome dungeon of a +hospital. Having no reason to continue my voyage, I put myself on board +a coasting-sloop, and regained this city in a few hours. I persuade +myself that my wife's indisposition will be temporary. It was impossible +to hide from her the death of Clithero, and its circumstances. May this +be the last arrow in the quiver of adversity! Farewell. + + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Edgar Huntley, by Charles Brockden Brown + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK EDGAR HUNTLEY *** + +***** This file should be named 8223.txt or 8223.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/8/2/2/8223/ + +Produced by Online Distributed Proofreading Team +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will +be renamed. + +Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright +law 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. 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