It was long before the one single fact of Christian's innocence--proved,
unquestionable innocence--had become sufficiently real and familiar for
the mother and daughter to hear or to tell how the truth had come to
light, and the justice of Heaven been swifter and surer than that of
man. But at length all that Mrs. Costello knew was told; and in the deep
joy and thankfulness with which they saw that horrible stain of murder
wiped out, they were ready to forget even more completely than before,
all the disgrace which still clung to the miserable prisoner, and to
welcome him on his release with no forced kindness.
"On his release? Ought he not to be with them now?"
Lucia asked the question.
"He does not yet even know all," Mrs. Costello answered. "He is so
excessively weak that they dared not tell him till to-morrow."
"To-morrow, then, he will be here?"
"No, that is impossible. There is much to be done first; but very soon I
hope."
Yet both doubted in their hearts whether the shadow--ever deepening--of
approaching death could yet be so checked as to suffer the prisoner to
breathe the free air for which he pined.
Meanwhile, the story was being told by every fireside in Cacouna with
more of wonder and of comment than by that one where it had the deepest
interest. And it was a tale that would be remembered and repeated for
years, though no living man could tell it all.
That morning Clarkson had been for some hours at Cacouna. He had various
places to go to, and both sales and purchases to make, but he found
time, as usual, to visit more than one place where whisky was sold; and
when at last he drove out of the town, he had but just enough power of
self-control to keep himself from swaying about visibly as he sat in his
sleigh. He was in boisterous spirits, and greeted every acquaintance he
met with some rough jest--pointless but noisy--singing snatches of
songs, and flourishing his whip with an air of tipsy bravado. At a small
tavern near the sawmill he dismounted for the last time.
It was a little after noon, and several of the men employed about the
mill were lounging round the stove in the tavern when Clarkson went in.
He found some of his own particular associates among the group, and,
being in a generous humour, he pulled out a dirty dollar-note and
ordered glasses round. These were followed by others; and when, after
another half-hour, he got into his sleigh again, he was quite beyond the
power of guiding his horse, or even of seeing where he was going. He was
more noisy than ever; and as he started off, some of his more sober
companions shouted warnings after him, and stood watching him as he
went, with a pretty strong feeling that he was not likely to reach home
safely.
In fact, he had proceeded but a little way across the open plain where
Dr. Morton's body had been found when he took a wrong direction, and,
instead of keeping a tolerably straight line towards his own home, he
turned to the left, following a track which led to the water's edge,
and ran beside it, over broken and boggy ground, until after making a
semicircle it rejoined the principal road on the further side of the
plain. No sober man would have chosen this track, for it was heavy for
the horse, and was carried over several rough bridges across the large
drains which had lately been cut to carry off the water from the swamp.
The deep snow which had fallen, with little previous frost, lay soft and
thick over the whole ground; it covered the holes in the bridges, and so
choked up the drains that in many places they were completely concealed,
and what appeared to be a smooth level surface of ground might really be
a dangerous pitfall. Here, however, Clarkson chose to go. He flogged his
horse unmercifully, and the sleigh flew over the ground, scattering the
snow and striking every moment against some roughness of the road which
it concealed. They passed one of the drains safely, though the round
logs of which the bridge was formed shook and rattled under them; but
between that and the next, the tipsy driver turned quite out of the
track, and drove on at the same headlong pace towards the open trench.
At the very brink the horse stopped; he tried to turn aside, but a
tremendous lash of the whip urged him on; he leaped forward and just
cleared the drain, but the weight of the sleigh dragged him backwards,
and the whole mass crashed through the snow and the thin ice under it
into the bottom of the cutting.
Some of the men who had watched Clarkson drive off from the tavern had
not yet returned to their work, and the place where the accident
happened was not so far off but that something of it could be seen. Two
or three started off, and soon arrived at the spot where the sleigh had
disappeared.
The drain, though deep, was not very wide, and if, even at the very
moment of the fall, Clarkson had been capable of exerting himself, he
might have escaped; as it was, he lay among the broken fragments of his
sleigh and shouted out imprecations upon his horse, which had been
dragged down on the top of him. But when the poor animal was freed from
the harness, and with as much care as possible removed from the body of
its master, a much harder task remained. Clarkson was frightfully
hurt--how, they could hardly tell, but it seemed as if his head and arms
were all that had escaped. The rest of his body appeared to be dead; he
had not the smallest power to move, and yet there was no outward wound,
and his voice was as strong as ever. They raised him with the greatest
gentleness and care, and bringing up the bottom of the broken sleigh,
laid his helpless limbs on it compassionately, and carried him back to
the tavern, paying no heed to the flood of curses which he constantly
poured out.
When they reached the tavern, they found the doctor already there, and,
going out of the house, they waited till he should have made his
examination and be able to tell them its result. After some time he
came, closing the door behind him and looking very grave.
"What's wrong with him, sir?" one of the men asked.
"Everything. He cannot live many hours."
There was a minute's silence, and then somebody said,
"Should not his missus be fetched?"
"Yes, poor woman, the sooner the better. Who will go?"
"I will, sir," and one of the oldest of the group started off
immediately to the mill to get the necessary permission from his master.
"Now," said the doctor, "there's another thing. Who will take my horse
and go into Cacouna and fetch Mr. Bayne out here? I do not mean to leave
Clarkson myself at present."
Another volunteer was found, and the doctor, having scribbled a pencil
note to Mr. Bayne, sent him off with it and went back into the house.
There was already a change in his patient. An indefinable look had come
over the hard, sunburnt face, and the voice was weaker. Why the doctor
had sent for Mr. Bayne, whom for the moment he regarded not as a
clergyman, but as a magistrate, he himself best knew. Clarkson had no
idea of his having done so; nor had he yet heard plainly that his own
fate was so certain or so near. But it was no part of the doctor's plan
to leave him in ignorance. He went to the side of the settee where the
dying man lay, and sitting down said,
"I have sent for your wife."
Clarkson looked at him suspiciously.
"What's that for?" he asked. "Can't they take me home? I should get well
a deal sooner there than in this place."
"You cannot be moved. In fact, Clarkson, there is no chance of your
getting well anywhere."
Clarkson turned his head sharply.
"Say out what you mean," he cried with an oath.
"I intend to do so. You are not likely to live till night."
The wretched man tried to raise himself, but his will had no power over
his body. He turned his head round with a groan, and hid his face
against the wall.
There were other people in the house; but since Clarkson had been
brought in, they kept as much as possible at the further end, and could
not hear what passed unless it was intended that they should. Presently
Clarkson again looked round, and there was a new expression of terror
and anxiety in his eyes.
"Are you _sure_?" he asked. "Quite certain I can't get well?"
"Quite certain. There is not the shadow of a chance."
"Look here, then; I have something to say."
"It had better be said soon."
"I say, Doctor, is that Indian fellow really going to die?"
"What Indian fellow?"
"The one in jail--the one that they say killed Doctor Morton."
"He is very ill. Why do you say that they _say_ he killed Doctor
Morton?"
"Because he did not do it, and I know who did."
"Is that what you have to tell?"
"I'd have let him hang, mind; I'd never have told a word. But it's to be
me after all!" He stopped and groaned again heavily.
"Look here, Doctor," he went on, "you'll just remember this, will you?
My missus knows nothing about it--not a word; and don't let them go and
bother her about it afterwards. Will you promise?"
"The best way to keep her from being troubled is to tell the truth
yourself."
"Well, I'll do it then, for her. She's a good one."
He was silent again for a minute, resolute not to let even the thoughts
of his good wife, who loved him through all his faults, change his hard
manner to any unusual softness.
In the pause the sound of sleigh bells outside was heard, and through
the window the doctor caught sight of his own little sleigh, with Mr.
Bayne in it, coming up to the door of the house.
"Now, Clarkson," he said, "you see that the best thing for everybody
is, that you should tell the exact truth about that murder. I am not
going to talk to you about the benefit it may be to yourself to make
what amends you can for the wrong you have done, but I can tell you that
Christian has friends who would be glad to see him cleared; and if you
will tell all the truth now, late as it is, I think I may promise that
they will look after your wife and children."
The doctor spoke fast, having made up his mind to deliver this little
speech before they were interrupted. Then he went to the door and opened
it, just in time to admit Mr. Bayne.
When they came together to Clarkson's side, he was lying quite quiet,
considering. His paralysed condition and fast increasing weakness seemed
to keep down all excitement. He was perfectly conscious, but it was a
sort of mechanical consciousness with which emotion of any kind had very
little to do. Mr. Bayne, who did not yet know why he had been sent for,
but thought only of the dying man's claim upon him as a clergyman, spoke
a few friendly words and sat down near the settee.
Clarkson motioned the doctor also to sit down.
"Must I tell _him_?" he said in a low voice.
"You had better. He is a magistrate, you know."
"Yes; all right. Tell him what it is about; will you?"
"Clarkson wants to tell you the exact truth about the murder which took
place here in autumn," the Doctor said. "There is not much time to
lose."
"That's it." And Clarkson began at once. "To begin with, it was not the
Indian at all. He never saw Doctor Morton that I know of, and I am
certain he never saw him alive that day. He happened to be lying asleep
under the bushes, that's all he had to do with it."
"But who did it then?" Mr. Bayne asked.
"Who should do it? He wanted to turn me out of my farm that I had
cleared myself; one day he pretty nearly knocked me down, and every day
he abused me as if I was a dog. _I_ killed him."
He stopped. All the exultation of his triumph was not quite conquered
yet. He had killed his enemy.
"That day," he went on, "I was going down to the mill; I had a big stick
in my hand that I had but just cut, and I thought what a good one it
would be to knock a man down with. I was going along, in and out among
the bushes, when I caught sight of him coming riding slowly in front. I
knew he was most likely going to the creek, for it seemed as if he could
not keep from meddling with me continually, and I did not want to talk
to him, so I slipped into a big bush to wait till he was gone by. I
declare I had no thought of harming him, but he always put me in a rage,
so I did not mean to speak to him at all. Well, he came close up, and
all of a sudden I thought I should like to pay him out for hitting me
with his whip, and I just lifted up my stick and knocked him over. It
was a sharper blow than I meant it to be, for the blood ran down as he
fell. He lay on the grass, and I was going to walk back home when I saw
that my stick was all over blood, and there was some on my hands too.
That made me mad with him, because I thought I might be found out by it.
I went a little way further to hide the stick, and I saw a man lying
down. Then I thought _he_ might have seen me and I should have to quiet
him too, but he was fast asleep, and did not move a finger; that made me
think of putting it on him. He had a big knife stuck in his belt, but it
had half fallen out, and I took it that I might put some of the blood on
it. When I came back with it to the place, I found that Doctor Morton
had moved. I had not meant at first to kill him, but when I saw that he
was alive I was vexed, and thought if I left him so he would be sure to
know who had hit him, so I finished him. I wanted to make people believe
that it was the Indian who had done it, and they did. That is all I've
got to tell."
Nearly the whole story had been told in a sullen, monotonous tone, and
when it was finished Clarkson shut his eyes and turned a little away
from his auditors, as if to show that he did not mean to be questioned.
They did indeed try to say something to him of his crime, but he would
not answer, and presently the doctor, after leaning over him for a
moment, motioned Mr. Bayne to be silent. Death was quickly approaching,
and it was useless to trouble the dying man further. After a little
while the man who had gone for Mrs. Clarkson arrived, with the poor
woman half stunned by the shock of his news, and the two gentlemen left
husband and wife together.
Later Mr. Bayne came back to his post in the more natural and congenial
character of a Christian priest; but Clarkson was not a man to whom a
deathbed repentance could be possible. The one human sentiment of his
nature--a half-instinctive love of wife and children--was the only one
that seemed to influence him at the last, and from the moment of his
confession he spoke little except of them. Gradually his consciousness
began to fail, and he spoke no more. Two hours later the doctor and Mr.
Bayne quitted the house together. All was over. Clarkson's turbulent
life had ended quietly, and all that was left of him was the body, over
which a faithful woman wept.
When Mr. Bayne returned to Cacouna he went straight to Mr. Bellairs and
told him the truth; not many minutes after, Mr. Bellairs hurried to the
jail. He felt anxious that he himself, the nearest connection of Dr.
Morton, should be the first to make what reparation was possible to the
innocent man who had already suffered so much. He did not know how grave
Christian's illness had become, and he thought the hope of speedy
liberation would be the best possible medicine to him. But when he saw
Elton and asked for admission to the prisoner, he heard with dismay that
the discovery had come too late, and that his plan was impracticable.
Elton did not hesitate in the least about letting him enter the room.
"Half the town might go in and out," he said, "and he would take no
notice of them, but I do not know about telling him of a sudden.
Perhaps, sir, you'd ask Mrs. Costello?"
"Mrs. Costello! Why? Is she here?"
"Yes, sir; and she seems to be to know more about him than even my wife
who nursed him what she could, ever since he's been ill."
"It might be as well to consult her, then; could you ask her to speak to
me?"
"Well, sir, if you like to go up into the room; it's a large one, and
you may talk what you please at the further side; he'll never hear."
Accordingly they went up. Mrs. Costello was sitting beside her husband,
and had been talking to him. He had been for a short time quite aroused
to interest in what she said, but very little fatigued him, and they
were both silent when the door softly opened to admit the unexpected
visitor. Mrs. Costello rose with a strange spasm at her heart. She
foresaw news, but could not guess what, and she trembled as Mr. Bellairs
shook hands with her.
"Do you think," he said at once, "that it would be safe to tell him good
news?"
She looked at him eagerly, and he in turn was startled by the
passionate interest that flashed into her face.
"What news?" She asked in a quick vehement whisper.
"That he is proved innocent; that the murderer has confessed."
"Is it true?"
"It is perfectly true. I have just left Mr. Bayne, who heard the
confession."
"Thank God!"
She felt her limbs giving way, and caught at the corner of the table for
support, but would have fallen if Mr. Bellairs had not prevented it, and
laid her on a sofa which had been lately brought into the room.
He hurried to the door, and just outside it met Mrs. Elton, who came to
Mrs. Costello's assistance. It was very long, however, before the
faintness could be overcome, and when that was at last accomplished,
Christian had fallen asleep; they waited then for his waking, and
meanwhile Mrs. Costello heard from Mr. Bellairs the outline of what had
happened.
At last Christian awoke, and Mrs. Costello begged herself to tell him as
much of the truth as it might be safe for him to hear, but she found it
extremely difficult to make him understand. If she could have said to
him, "You are free, and I am going to take you away from here," it would
have been easy; as it was, she even doubted whether he at last
understood that the accusation which had caused his imprisonment was
removed. But to herself the joy was infinite. The last few weeks had
taught her to look at things in a new aspect, and the removal of the
last horrible burden which had been laid upon her made all the rest seem
light.
Mr. Bellairs, much wondering at her agitation, wished to accompany her
home, but she longed to be alone, and sending for a sleigh, she left the
jail, and reached home at last with her happy tidings.