BAFFLED!
If Corinne thought to create a sensation by her last disclosure, she
was gratified beyond her wildest expectations. It was not, however,
what they all _said_ (for they were rendered literally speechless by
surprise), but the way they _looked_ that caused her to go almost
into hysterics of laughter. If she had informed them that there was a
lighted bomb about to go off in the cellar, they could not have assumed
more open-mouthed, startled expressions!
"Oh, don't look so stunned!" she panted, at length, weak with laughter.
"It won't hurt you!"
"But—b-but—" stammered Margaret, and at last brought out the eternal
question, "how—how do you know?"
"The way I know is this, and in order to explain it, I might as
well tell you the whole history of the place. It won't take long,
and it will make you understand better. We know how Richmond Hill
began, so I won't go over that. After the battle of Long Island and
Washington's retreat from New York, we don't hear a thing about it
till the end of the war. About that time it was the headquarters of
the British general, Sir Guy Carleton. After the war, when Washington
became President and New York the capital, Richmond Hill was taken by
Vice-President John Adams as his residence till the capital was removed
to Washington.
"Then Aaron Burr took it, lived there a number of years, improved the
place a lot, and made the grounds very beautiful. I must tell you right
now that the place was a _hill_ at that time, about a hundred feet
high, and had a fine view over the Hudson. The river was nearer too,
just a few feet beyond Greenwich Street. That hardly seems possible,
for it's blocks farther off now. But in later years they filled it in
and made a lot more space to build on, and that has moved the river
banks farther away. Well, Burr lived here with his wife and a lovely
little daughter, Theodosia, till after he killed Hamilton in the duel.
Then he had to give the place up, and it was sold.
"After that, a number of different people lived there till 1817. Then
the city began to reach up this way, and they decided to put regular
streets through here and make city blocks. Of course they couldn't
leave a high hill like that standing, so they leveled it and lowered
the house gradually to the street, and it stood somewhere right about
here. I can't make out the _very_ spot, for some books say it was on
the north side of Charlton Street, and others, on the south side. And
one even said it faced on Varick Street. But anyway, right near this
spot it stood; and as no one seemed to want such a big place for a
residence any more, it became a sort of hotel or tavern.
"Then, some one else bought it and turned it into a theater, and for
several years it was called the Richmond Hill Theater. But it wasn't
very successful, so after a while it was sold again, and this time
became a menagerie and circus. Later it was turned into a tavern
again. But at last, in 1849, it was so old and rickety that they tore
it down and put up these nice little houses over the place where it
stood. That's all there is about it. Now are you convinced that I
wasn't crazy?"
"It seems too wonderful to be true!" sighed Margaret. "To think we're
living right on the spot where all these strange things happened to
Alison! I can scarcely believe I'm not asleep and dreaming all this.
But, oh, there are so many questions I want to ask! For instance, I
can't yet understand how it was that if Madame Mortier was a Tory,
Washington could have his headquarters at her house. Couldn't she have
forbidden it?"
"Why, it seems to be this way," answered Corinne. "In war time then,
as well as now, the army that was occupying a city could do about as
it pleased—used all the houses and food and so forth that it felt
inclined to, whether the things belonged to the enemy or not. Sometimes
they would pay the people for them, and sometimes they didn't—just
_took_ them. I suppose Washington had to have headquarters out of town
for some reason, and the only available place was Richmond Hill. He was
probably sorry enough to cause Madame Mortier any inconvenience, and
no doubt he offered her all reasonable compensation. For I read in one
book that Washington made it a rule that this should be done whenever
it was necessary to use any one's house or goods. If she didn't like
it, he couldn't help that. Matters were too serious for him to quibble
about such things.
"That's my only explanation of your question, Margaret. But what
puzzles me even more is how did Alison come to be there at all? Who was
she? Why did she leave Bermuda, and what did she do before she left it
that caused her to be under suspicion?"
As no one could throw any light on these mysteries, they all remained
silent a moment. Suddenly Jess, who had been turning the pages of the
blank-book in which Margaret had copied the journal, broke out with
this demand:
"What _I'd_ like to know is the explanation of this: 'A strange thing
happened last night. At midnight I awoke. I heard confused sounds on
the road without—carts creaking by, men shouting, women crying, and
babies screaming.' Now what do you suppose it was all about?"
"I think I can explain that," answered Corinne, who seemed literally
saturated with historical information since her recent researches. "In
February of 1776, while Washington was still besieging the British at
Boston, he sent General Lee down to New York to begin fortifying it.
Lee and his forces arrived in the city on the very day that Sir Henry
Clinton, the British commander, sailed into the harbor with a fleet of
vessels. Well, the city just about went into a panic, for every one
was certain there would be a big battle right off! And the histories
say just what Alison did—that they all began to pack up and move out
of the way as quick as they could, and all night the roads were filled
with carts, and coaches, and crying women and children. Every one was
scared to death! It proved to be a false alarm, for Clinton sailed
right off again, and Lee only tended to the business of fortifying.
"But, you notice, Alison says that was when all the servants ran away
but two, and Madame Mortier got sick and went to bed. She must have
been sick a long time, for Washington didn't get there till April or
May, and she was still in bed then. Perhaps she was quite an old lady
and had had a severe shock. Maybe she was delicate anyway. And she
evidently must have heard that her house was to be made use of, because
she sent for Alison and warned her about it, and that she wasn't to
have any communication with the rebels. Madame Mortier must have been a
_Tartar_!"
"But tell us more about the plot!" cried Margaret. "That's the main
thing, after all. How did they intend to kill Washington?"
[Illustration: "Madame Mortier warned Allison that she wasn't to have
any communication with the rebels"]
"Why, I read in one book that some one was to put poison in a dish
of peas, but somehow Washington was warned about it ahead of time
and didn't eat them, of course. But he learned all about the plot,
and he had a lot of the conspirators arrested. One of them was
courtmartialed and hanged, as a proof that such performances didn't
pay. I'm glad _somebody_ was punished for trying to do such an
abominable thing, anyway!"
"Well, one thing I'm convinced of!" declared Bess. "That wicked old
steward had a lot to do with the scheme. Don't you think so?"
"He certainly must have," agreed Corinne. "But what do you suppose he
was doing down there in the cellar when Alison saw him that night, and
why did he hide things in that place in the beam? And what part did
Alison take in the plot, anyway? Isn't it simply distracting that her
journal is torn off right there! And where _can_ the rest of it be, and
why was it torn at all? And why was this part saved so carefully? And
what became of the sapphire signet? Seems to me as though I'd go crazy
with all these unanswered questions pounding away in my brain!"
Nobody having any solutions to offer, again they all sat quietly for a
while, till Margaret's eye happened to light on the pile of books that
Corinne had laid on the floor.
"What are those, Corinne?"
"Oh, they are some books on New York City history that I got out of the
library to read up. Each one has something about Richmond Hill in it.
And this one even has a picture of the house. See! here it is."
They all crowded around her to look. "What a fine-looking place!" was
the general comment. And Bess added:
"Does it seem possible that this shabby old neighborhood ever looked
like that delightful country-place!"
"It was the most beautiful residence anywhere around New York for
a long while," said Corinne. "The grounds were fine too, and the
big gateway to the estate was right where the corner of Spring and
Macdougal streets is now. I thought you might like to read these books,
Margaret, so I brought them for you. But oh, girls!" she ended; "right
here and now I take the solemn determination that I will clear up this
mystery if it takes me the rest of my life! I'll never be content till
I know the explanation of it all. And, Margaret, I want you, if you
will, to make a copy of the journal for me—not the cipher, but the
plain English—so that I can refer to it whenever I want. Will you?"
"Indeed I will!" agreed Margaret. "We'll all help you in every way
we can. And here's something else I've decided on. I'm going to
change your office in this Antiquarian Club, Corinne, from just plain
secretary to Chief Investigator!"