IN THE CAMP OF THE ENEMY.
As I lay huddled up in that deep arm-chair, watching what was going on,
I noticed with satisfaction that they took no more notice of me than if
I had really been in the drunken slumber in which they assumed me to
be--which was well for my purpose. So carefully and deliberately had I
thought the matter out, that I had even arranged my position in the room
with a view to the proving of my suspicions; for I had seen, in the
bringing of this quite unnecessary bottle of wine, something about to be
done which should concern the girl. And everything in the attitude of
the doctor and Martha Leach seemed to scream "Danger" to my ears.
The position I had chosen was such that I could see not only the room in
which Harvey Scoffold, the doctor, and Debora were standing grouped
about the table, but also behind the screen which hid the many bottles
in that part of the room I have called the surgery. The better to keep
up the illusion of my drunkenness, I now began feebly to wave my arms,
and to croon a song, as I lay doubled up with my chin sunk on my breast;
and I saw the doctor look at me with some contempt, and shrug his
shoulders, and then glance at Martha Leach, who had remained waiting as
though to assist with the bottle and glasses. The glance he gave her
spoke as plainly as words could do his satisfaction in my
condition--Debora's protector was inert and useless.
What now happened was this. Harvey Scoffold, who I am convinced had
nothing whatever to do with the business in hand, had engaged the girl
in conversation, and had interposed his broad bulk between her and the
doctor and Leach. He had his legs set wide apart, and his hands were
clasped behind his back, and he was talking in a loud tone to Debora,
who seemed somewhat mystified by the whole proceedings. And the doctor
and Martha Leach had drawn close together, and while the doctor watched
the broad back of Harvey Scoffold, he covertly whispered to the woman.
"And so, my dear young lady, I am to have the pleasure of toasting you
in a special glass before I retire to my humble bachelor quarters--eh?"
Harvey Scoffold was saying in his loud tones. "This is a new experience
for me--bright eyes--sparkling wine--merry hearts!"
"I don't think anyone wants any more wine to-night," I heard Debora say
quickly. "One, at least, of us has had more than enough."
I knew that was meant for me, and my heart was bitter at the thought of
what she must be thinking of the man who had called himself her friend.
But there was no help for it; I had to play the game out to the end, for
her sake.
The doctor had made a quick sign to Leach, and she had gone behind the
screen. From where I lay, with my hands foolishly and feebly waving, and
my lips crooning out the song, I could see her distinctly; and what I
saw caused my heart almost to stand still. She picked up a small phial
from the corner of a shelf, and slipped it within the folds of her
dress; and the next moment was standing beside the doctor again. I saw
their hands meet, and I saw the phial pass from the one to the other.
Then the doctor slipped both hands into his pockets, and moved towards
the table, which, as it happened, stood between him and Harvey Scoffold.
He kept his eyes fixed on Scoffold and the girl, and very quietly and
very stealthily drew the phial from his pocket, and opened it. Moving
his hand a little to the right, he dropped the contents of the phial
into the glass nearest to me. It was a mere colourless liquid, and would
not have been noticed in the bottom of the glass. Then the phial was
slipped back into his pocket, and somewhat boisterously he picked up the
bottle and proceeded to open it. Martha Leach, with one long glance at
the girl, passed silently out of the room, and closed the door.
"Come--just one glass of wine before this merry party separates!" cried
Bardolph Just as the cork popped out. "And we'll have no heel-taps;
we'll drain our glasses. I insist!"
Harvey Scoffold turned round and advanced to the table. Bardolph Just
had filled that glass into which he had dropped the contents of the
phial, and was filling the second glass. I felt that the time for action
had arrived. Just as he got to the third glass I staggered to my feet,
apparently tripped on the carpet, and went headlong against him and the
table. I heard him splutter out an oath as the table went over and the
glasses fell with a crash to the floor.
He swung round upon me menacingly, but before he could do anything I had
wrenched the bottle from his hand, and with a wild laugh had swung it
round my head, spilling the wine over me as I did so. Then, with a last
drunken hiccough, I flung the bottle clean against the window, and
heard it crash through, and fall to the ground below.
"To the devil with all drink!" I exclaimed thickly, and dropped back
into my chair again.
For a moment the two men stared blankly at each other, and at the wreck
of glass and wine upon the carpet. I was waiting for an attack from the
doctor, and bracing myself for it; but the attack did not come. True, he
made one step towards me, and then drew himself up, and turned with a
smile to Debora.
"I'm sorry, my child," he said, in his most winning tones. "I did not
mean to have had your pleasure spoilt like this. If you will go to your
room, I will try to get rid of this fellow. Harvey," he added in a lower
tone to Scoffold, "give an eye to him for a moment."
He followed Debora out of the room, closing the door behind him. I had
determined by this time to show my hand, and Harvey Scoffold gave me the
opportunity. He strode across to me, and took me by the shoulder, and
shook me violently.
"Come, pull yourself together; it's time you were in bed," he said.
I sprang to my feet, and thrust him aside. I think I never saw a man so
astonished in all his life as he was, to see me alert and quick and
clear-eyed. "That's all you know about the business," I said. "I'm more
sober than either of you. Now, hold your tongue, and wait; I've a word
to say to Bardolph Just, and it won't keep."
Bardolph Just opened the door at that moment, and came in. By that time
I was standing, with my hands in my pockets, watching him, and something
in my face and in my attitude seemed to give him pause; he stopped just
inside the door, staring at me. Harvey Scoffold looked from one to the
other of us, as though wondering what game was afoot.
"Now, Dr. Bardolph Just," I said, "I'll trouble you for that phial. It's
in your right-hand trouser pocket. Pass it over."
Instead of complying with that request, he suddenly sucked in a deep
breath, and made a rush at me. But he had mistaken his man; I caught him
squarely on the jaw with my fist, and he went down at my feet. After a
moment or two he looked up at me, sitting there foolishly enough on the
floor, and began to tell me what he thought of me.
"You dog! So this is the way you repay my kindness to you, is it?" he
muttered. "You scum of a jail!--this is what I get for befriending you."
"Never mind about me," I retorted, "we'll come to my case presently.
Just now I want to talk about Miss Debora Matchwick, and I want to know
exactly what it was you put into the wine destined for her to-night."
"You're mad!" he said, getting slowly to his feet, and looking at me in
a frightened way.
"No, I'm not mad; nor am I drunk," I retorted. "You and the woman Leach
thought you were safe enough; look at me now, and tell me how much you
think I have seen. Your fine words mean nothing; murder's your game, and
you know it!"
All this time Harvey Scoffold had said nothing; he had merely looked
from one to the other of us, with something like a growing alarm in his
face. But now he stepped forward as though he would understand the
matter better, or would at least put an end to the scene.
"My dear Just, and you, Norton Hyde, what does all this mean? Can't you
be reasonable, and talk over the matter like gentlemen. What's this
talk of phials and stuff put into wine, and murder, and what not?"
"It's true!" I exclaimed passionately. "This is the second time that man
has tried to kill her, but it shall be the last. The thing is too
bare-faced--too outrageous!"
"Well, my fine jail-bird, and what are you going to do?" demanded the
doctor, having now regained the mastery over himself. "Fine words and
high sentiments; but they never broke any bones yet. Tell me your
accusation clearly, and I shall know how to meet it."
So I gave it them then and there, in chapter and verse; thus letting
Harvey Scoffold know, for the first time, of that business of the
eastern corridor, and of the mysterious door that opened only once to
the road to death; moreover, I put it plainly now, that I had seen the
woman Martha Leach take the phial and hand it to him; that I had
pretended drunkenness to lull his suspicions of me, and to be ready when
he least expected me to upset his plot.
He listened in silence, with his teeth set firmly, and his dark eyes
glittering at me; then he nodded slowly, and spoke.
"And the man you accuse is one holding a big position in the world--a
man against whom no breath of scandal or suspicion has ever been sent
forth," he said. "A man known in many countries of the world--member of
learned societies--a man with a name to conjure with. And what of his
accuser?"
I knew that he would say that; I knew before-hand the helplessness of my
position. But I was reckless, and I did not care what I said or what I
did.
"Your accuser is a fugitive from the law; a man who lives under an
assumed name, and who has taken advantage of the death of an innocent
man to begin life again on his own account. You need not remind me of
that," I went on, "because I admit it all. So far, I am in your power;
but my position, as something outside the pale of ordinary society,
gives me a greater power than you think. I have everything to win; I
have nothing to lose. If you had chosen a better man, and had given him
the chance to pry into your secrets, you might have had some hold upon
him. So far as I am concerned, I am utterly reckless, and utterly
determined to save this girl."
"Brave words--very brave words!" he said, with a sneer. "And how do you
propose to set about it?"
"I intend to get her out of this house. I intend to look after her, if I
have to steal to do it. I'm an adept at that, you will remember," I said
bitterly, "only this time I shall do it in a good cause. I mean to get
her out of this house, and it will go ill with you if you try to prevent
me."
He laughed and shrugged his shoulders; then he turned to Scoffold. "If
he were not so mad he would be amusing, this fellow," he said. But
Harvey Scoffold, somewhat to my surprise, was silent, and did not look
at him. I saw a frown come quickly upon the face of Bardolph Just.
"And pray what's the matter with _you_?" snapped the doctor at him.
"Nothing--nothing at all!" said Scoffold, in a constrained tone. "I'll
say good-night!" He turned towards the door, and I noticed that his head
was bowed, and that he looked at the carpet as he moved.
Bardolph Just stepped suddenly in front of him. "Look here, you're not
going like that?" he said. "I'll have some word from you about this
affair before you leave my house."
Harvey Scoffold looked up quickly. "Then here's the word," he said
aggressively. "I'm rather inclined to believe your friend here, and I
don't like the business. It's a dirty business, and I've seen enough of
it, and of you. Good-night!"
He thrust his way past the other man, and swaggered out of the room. I
was so surprised and so relieved that I was in a mood to run after him,
and hug him, in sheer joy at finding an honest man; but I refrained.
With the closing of the door the doctor stood for a moment, dazed; then
he opened the door again, and ran out after the other. I pitied him for
his weakness in doing that, because I felt absolutely certain in my own
mind that he would not change Harvey Scoffold's opinion of him. I had
hated Harvey Scoffold pretty cordially on my own account, and by reason
of my misfortunes; now I began to see (as, alas! I had seen so often
with other men, and all to my own undoing) that I had cruelly misjudged
him. However, I had said all I wanted to say to the doctor, and I
started off to my room.
Now, had I been of a suspicious nature, I must have been disturbed at
the sight of the doctor and Harvey Scoffold engaged in earnest talk at
the end of the corridor which led from the study; but as, the moment I
appeared, Scoffold shook himself angrily free of the other's clutch, and
burst out with a shout, I was more than ever convinced that the doctor
had been pleading with him in vain.
"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with you!" exclaimed Scoffold. "I
wish I'd never come into the house. Not another word; I've done with
you!"
I heard the great hall door bang, and I knew that Scoffold was gone; the
doctor, retracing his steps, favoured me with a scowl as he went past,
but said never a word; while I, greatly elated at having found a friend
in this business, went off to my room, determined that in some vague
fashion I would put matters right in the morning, and defy Bardolph Just
to do his worst.
As ill luck would have it, I had forgotten one important point. In the
eyes of Debora I had disgraced myself; she had every reason to believe
me the drunken madman who had hurled bottles, and broken windows, and
upset furniture the night before. I had forgotten that when I entered
the breakfast-room in the morning, and found her standing by the window.
I made my way eagerly to her. To my momentary surprise, she drew back,
as though fearing contact with me.
"Debora!" I began eagerly; but she drew herself up and looked at me
haughtily.
"Mr. New, your memory is a poor one," she said. "I'm afraid you don't
remember what happened last night."
"My dear Debora," I exclaimed eagerly, "I can explain all that--I can
show you----"
I heard the door open behind me, and I stopped. Bardolph Just came into
the room, and stopped on seeing me, looking at me frowningly. It was
with a very virtuous air that he addressed me.
"I'm glad to see you are striving to make your peace with Miss
Matchwick," he said. "She has been in the habit of dealing with
gentlemen, and is not used to such scenes as she witnessed last night."
I gave him a look which showed him I understood his drift; he was silent
for the moment or two that it took us to get to our places at the table.
But he evidently felt that he must labour the point, for he was at me
again before ever I had tasted a mouthful.
"I expect you'll have but a poor appetite this morning, John New," he
said, "therefore I won't trouble you with food. Take Mr. New a cup of
tea," he added to Martha Leach, who stood behind him.
I felt that that was rather petty, but somehow worthy of the man. I
drank my tea, and went without the substantial breakfast I should have
been glad to have eaten. After all, I felt that the game was in my
hands, and that I could well afford to let him wreak such petty
vengeance as this upon me. I waited eagerly until the meal was finished;
I meant to get speech with the girl, by hook or by crook, at the
earliest opportunity. I knew how pressing was the need; I knew how
relentless the man at the head of the table and the apparently docile
woman behind him would be in regard to Debora, and how powerless I, a
creature of no real name or position, would be in the matter, unless I
could win the girl to believe me.
I found that a more difficult task even than I had anticipated. Indeed,
she avoided me for some time, and when at last I came in touch with her,
she drew herself up, with that pretty little lift of her chin I had
noticed before, and warned me away.
"I want nothing to do with you, Mr. New," she began. But I was not to be
repulsed; the matter was much too urgent for that. I walked close up to
her, determined that I would have the matter out then and there.
"You must let me explain," I said. "If you don't you will regret it all
your life. You thought I was drunk last night, but I was not."
I waited for some response from her, but she said nothing. I went on
again eagerly.
"I was shamming, and with a purpose. Only by that means--only by making
the doctor think that I was practically unconscious of what he was
doing, was I able to observe him clearly. They tried to poison you last
night."
I suppose she saw the truth in my face; she came suddenly to me, and
laid her hands on my arm, and looked at me with startled eyes. "To
poison me?" she echoed breathlessly.
"Yes, the doctor and Martha Leach. That was why I upset the table and
flung the wine away. If you had seen me five minutes after you left the
room, you would have known what my real condition was. The doctor knew
it, I can assure you!" I laughed at the recollection.
Debora looked quickly all round about her, with the frightened air of
one who would escape, but sees no way; there was a hunted look in her
eyes that appalled me. "What shall I do?" she whispered. "I am more
frightened than I care to say, because I know Dr. Just, and I know how
relentless he can be. Don't you understand, John," she went on
piteously, "how utterly powerless I am? Anything may happen to me in
this dreadful house. I may be killed in any one of a dozen ways; and
this well-known physician and scientist, against whom no word of
suspicion would be spoken, can give an easy account of my death. What am
I to do?"
"I can't for the life of me understand why he should wish to kill you,"
I said, "unless it be a mere matter of revenge."
"It isn't that," she answered me slowly. "You see, my poor father
trusted him so completely, and believed in him so much, that in addition
to placing me under his guardianship he put a clause in his will which,
in the event of my death, leaves the whole of my property to Dr.
Bardolph Just."
Now, for the first time, I saw into the heart of this amazing business;
I had probed the motive. He would have secured the girl if he could;
failing that, he would secure her property. As he knew that she might,
in any ordinary event, pass out of his life, if only by the common gate
of marriage, he had determined to get rid of her, and so secure easily
what was hers. The whole thing was explained now clearly enough.
"What you must do," I answered steadily, wondering a little at my own
bravery in suggesting it, "is to come away from this house with me. You
must trust me to look after you."
I realise now how mad a proposition that was; but I did not see it in
that light then. I loved her, and I dreaded what might happen to her;
more than all else, I saw no greater happiness than in gaining for
myself the dear privilege of watching over her. You may imagine what my
feelings were when I heard her glad and eager assent.
"Yes, yes, I will come willingly," she said. "Where will you take me?"
"I don't know," I said a little ruefully, "but we can settle that matter
afterwards. Far better for us to tramp the roads, side by side, in
safety, than for you to remain in this place a day longer. Now listen to
me, while I tell you what my plan is."
We were pacing up and down a grass-grown walk while we talked; we were
well out of sight of the house. While I write this I seem to see again
her glowing face turned towards mine; to feel the touch of her hands in
mine; to hear the quick, eager whisper with which she answered me. I had
cause to remember that afterwards, with bitterness, as you shall
presently hear.
"The chances are that we shall be watched," I began, "because I was
foolish enough last night to tell the doctor of my intention.
Consequently, we must not be seen together during the day; we must
escape under cover of darkness. At ten o'clock to-night walk quietly out
of the house, as though you were going for a stroll in the grounds; when
you come to the gate, go out into the road, where I shall be waiting.
After that we must leave the rest to whatever good or ill fortune awaits
us. At some convenient time during the day put whatever you need to take
with you in the old summer-house where we first met; no one visits that,
and you can easily take the things from there when you finally leave the
house."
So it was settled; and for that time I knew that we should both wait
eagerly. I laughed a little ruefully to myself at the thought of how
little money I had in my pocket; but that matter did not greatly trouble
me. The future must take care of itself; I liked to think that Debora
and I were two waifs, setting out alone together, to explore a great
unknown world in which as yet we had neither of us had any real chance
of living. I painted a wholly impossible future for us both; for my own
part, I think I felt capable of conquering worlds, and carving out a
position for myself and for her.
The doctor chose to shut himself up in his study during the day, and
although Debora and I had lunch and dinner together in the big
dining-room, the woman Martha Leach never left us for a moment, and our
conversation was, perforce, confined to the most trivial things. To any
outside observer Martha Leach would have appeared to be merely a
highly-trained servant, devoted to us, and anxious to anticipate our
every want; to my clearer understanding she was a spy, eager to bring
about that which the doctor wished, at all costs. I seemed to see her
again slipping the phial into the doctor's hand.
So closely were we watched during the progress of those meals, and so
careful did we deem it necessary to be in our behaviour towards each
other, that I had no opportunity of learning whether Debora had
succeeded in getting her hat and coat and such things as she might need,
into the safe shelter of the summer-house. Therefore I determined, about
an hour before the time arranged for the girl to meet me, that I would
saunter down to the place, to see for myself that all was well. My
preparations were soon made; I had merely to put my cap in my pocket,
and so saunter out of the house, as though about to stroll in the
grounds.
So I came to the summer-house, and, walking quickly into it quite
unsuspiciously, came face to face with Mr. Harvey Scoffold, seated on
the bench, with his head leaning back against the wall, and his eyes
closed. He had a cigar between his lips, at which he was lazily puffing.
And beside him on the seat was a little bag, and Debora's hat and coat.
Here, I felt, was an end of the game--so far, at least, as that day was
concerned. How he had contrived to blunder upon the affair I could not
tell; I only knew that the mere presence of those things there at his
side must have given away the little plot at once. While I stared at him
he opened his eyes, and looked at me with a smile.
"Well, dear boy, so here you are at last!" he exclaimed pleasantly.
"I've been waiting for you."
"Much obliged to you," I retorted curtly. "What are you doing here at
all?"
He shook his head at me, with an air almost of whimsical sadness.
"My dear boy--my poor, misguided boy!" he said, "why will you always
blunder so infernally over your friends and your enemies?"
"I can distinguish pretty well between them, thank you," I assured him
with meaning.
He shook his head again and laughed. "Indeed you can't," he answered.
"Now, at the present moment, you never needed a friend so much in all
your life; and yet you endeavour to insult one who stands waiting to
help you. Didn't I show last night what my real feelings were in regard
to this business?"
I hesitated, for I remembered how loyal he had seemed to be to Debora,
and how much repugnance he had shown to what the doctor had endeavoured
to do. I suppose now he saw his opportunity, for he began to push the
matter home.
"My dear boy," he said eagerly, leaning forward towards me, "what
earthly chance will you have of helping this girl, if you set out on a
wild goose-chase through the world with her, without enough to pay even
for a night's lodging? Think for one moment: she has been used to every
comfort, she is a lady in every sense of the word."
"God knows that's true!" I exclaimed fervently.
"Very well, then; don't you see how mad it is?" he pleaded.
"Nevertheless, I mean to do it," I said doggedly. "Besides, how comes it
that you know what we're going to do?"
He shrugged his shoulders, and laughed. "My dear boy, the thing is so
transparent! I know enough of you to guess that you wouldn't allow her
to stay in this place; and then, by the merest chance, I saw her
creeping through the grounds this evening, and making for this
summer-house. Later I discovered these things which she had left.
There's the whole matter in a nutshell."
"And I suppose you think you'll prevent our going--or warn the doctor?"
I said, in a threatening tone.
He threw up his hands with a gesture of despair, and seemed to appeal to
the very trees and the stars against me. "Look at this fellow!" he
exclaimed. "What is one to make of him? As if I had suggested trying to
stop you--or suggested warning Bardolph Just! On the contrary, I swear
to you that I am here to help you."
He seemed so honest about the matter, and had taken my suspicions so
good-temperedly, that I was disarmed. "Tell me," I said, "what do you
mean to do? How will you help us?"
He sprang to his feet, and spread out his arms; and then suddenly
touched me lightly with his fingers on each shoulder--almost as though
he would embrace me. "My dear boy," he said in his eager fashion, "I am
all for romance. When I see a boy and a girl taking their way out on to
the great highway of life, ready to walk hand in hand together to the
very end of the road, my heart leaps out towards them. Consequently,
when I guessed your secret, I asked myself what I could do to help you.
And I have found a way."
"What is the way?" I asked.
"Our common foe is Dr. Bardolph Just," he said, lowering his voice, and
looking about him as though he feared that even in that secluded spot we
might be overheard. "Now, Dr. Bardolph Just does not know that I have
changed my abode; he is totally unaware of the fact that I reside within
a mile or so of this house. Consequently, what is to prevent your
bringing the young lady to that little cottage of which we both know,
and where there is a decent woman to look after her? Let the future take
care of itself, if you like--but be careful of the present. I will
provide you with what money is necessary, so that while the doctor is
eating his heart out with rage, and is moving heaven and earth to
discover the runaways, you will be lying snug at my place, making your
arrangements for the time to come."
I began to think that it was a good enough plan. I would, of course,
infinitely have preferred to start off with Debora on some journey of
which we did not even know the end; but that was, perhaps, a foolish
idea, and not one to be encouraged with a young girl to be considered.
More than that, as Harvey Scoffold had blundered upon the story, it was
quite impossible to keep him out of it; and I knew that he was a man of
that temper that, if I curtly refused his offer, he might well betake
himself to Bardolph Just at once, and let him into the whole secret.
There were many reasons urging me to close with his offer, and, although
with reluctance, I did so.
"Very well, then; I accept," I said. "Only, heaven help you if you play
any tricks with us!"
He shrugged his shoulders, and laughed again. "I hope some day to be
able to convince you that I am not a scoundrel," he replied lightly.
That Debora might not be disconcerted by coming upon the man
unexpectedly, I persuaded him to walk on a little towards his house. I
would meet the girl, and follow him. To that he consented, and together
we walked to the gate leading into the road. Mindful of what I had
promised Debora, I stepped out into the road myself, and watched the man
as he strode rapidly away. Then I set myself to wait, with what patience
I could muster, for the coming of Debora.
It was a fine night, and as I leaned against the wall, waiting, I heard
a clock in the distance chime the hour of ten. Then I heard the click of
the gate, and my heart gave a little leap as I thought of who was
coming. Imagine my surprise when, on turning my head, I saw a man
advancing towards me through the shadows. I was turning abruptly away,
not desiring to be seen by anyone then, when the man quickened his steps
and came after me.
"'Ere, 'old 'ard!--'old 'ard a bit!" he called; and I stopped and faced
about.
The man was George Rabbit, and he was in altogether different trim from
anything I had seen before. The shabby clothes were replaced by a suit
of tweeds of a rather smart cut, and a billycock hat of a sporting type
was perched on his head. He nodded impudently, and held out his hand. Of
that I took no notice.
"Too proud to shake 'ands with a pal--eh?" he said. "There's some people
wants to be learnt a lesson, it seems to me. I've jist bin up to the
'ouse, and 'is nibs there says 'e don't know me, an' don't want anythink
to do wiv me. An' I on'y wanted to touch 'im fer a quid."
"You've had all the money you'll get out of either of us," I said
sternly. "And you'd better go away now; I don't want to talk to you."
"That's w'ere we differ, guv'nor," said Mr. Rabbit impudently. "I'm
goin' to stick to you fer a bit, an' see if I can't make summink out of
yer."
I wondered what I was to do. I knew that in another moment that gate
might open again, and Debora come out; and I was quite certain that
George Rabbit would be only too eager to follow us, and to make capital
out of our adventure. I thought I would try something more than threats;
so I advanced upon the man, and suddenly took him by the throat, and
banged his head lustily with the flat of my hand.
"When I tell you I want you to go away I mean it," I said between my
teeth, as I towered over him in my wrath. "If you don't get out of this
I'll kick you into the middle of next week."
He wriggled out of my grasp, and picked up his billycock hat, which had
fallen into the road. He gave me an ugly scowl as he backed away.
"I'll knife yer one of these days," he whimpered--"see if I don't. You
know wot I could say if I'd a mind to say it--an' I----"
The door in the wall had clicked again, and I saw Debora coming swiftly
towards me. The voice of George Rabbit died away as he gazed on this new
apparition; he stood still at the other side of the road. I took the bag
from Debora's hand, and turned, and hurried away with her without a
word; but I had an uneasy feeling that Rabbit was following. I stopped
once in the darkness, and looked back; and I was certain that he
stopped, too, and waited. I did not wish to alarm the girl by calling
out to him; I could only hope that we might manage to elude him before
coming to Harvey Scoffold's cottage.
On the way I told Debora exactly what had happened, and explained to her
that this seemed the best and the only thing for us to do. She was a
little disconcerted, and urged me to remember that Harvey Scoffold was a
personal friend of the doctor; but on that point I endeavoured to
re-assure her, by telling her of the scene in the study the night
before, and of the attitude Scoffold had taken. Looking back on the
matter now, I wish with all my heart that I had adopted her suggestion,
and had flung caution to the winds, and had gone off with her in some
new direction; how much sorrow and misery might have been spared us if
we had done that you shall know hereafter.
We came at last to the cottage where Harvey Scoffold was lodging, and
there I found the man awaiting us. He was courtesy itself to Debora; put
a finger on his lips mysteriously when she would have thanked him; and
introduced us both to the old woman who kept the house. I was beginning
to think that all was very right, when I heard a knock at the door of
the cottage, and the old woman, who had been preparing supper, came out
of some room at the back to answer the summons. And then for the first
time I remembered George Rabbit.
It was his voice, sure enough; he wanted to speak to "the gent 'oo'd
jist gorn in." I gave a glance at Harvey Scoffold, and went out into the
passage to speak to the man; for I felt that I was in a tight place.
"Nah then," said George Rabbit loudly--"you an' me 'as got to come to
some sort of unnerstandin'. I'm a honest man, I am, wot's worked out 'is
time, and done 'is little bit right an' proper; I ain't no blooming
jail-bird, wot's cut 'is lucky afore 'is time."
I clapped a hand over his mouth; but it was too late. Even as I
struggled with him, I saw the door of the room in which Harvey Scoffold
and the girl were slowly opening, and the face of Harvey Scoffold looked
out. George Rabbit slipped out of my grasp like an eel, and rushed to
the door of the room, and forced his way in. He was absolutely mad with
rage, and not responsible for anything he said.
"What's to do here--what's to do?" asked Scoffold mildly; yet I thought
he watched Debora as he asked the question.
"Ask that man 'is name!" cried Rabbit, pointing fiercely to me. "Ask 'im
'is name--an' w'ere 'e come from--an' wot jail 'e broke out of!"
I stood still, watching Debora; my fate lay in her hands. Very slowly
she came across to me, and looked into my face, and asked me a question.
"What does the man mean, John?" she asked. "You must please tell me."
I glanced appealingly at Harvey Scoffold; and in a moment I read in his
grimly set lips that he meant that the exposure should be carried
through. I knew that if I did not tell the tale he would, in some more
garbled fashion. Therefore when I spoke it was to him.
"If you'll take this man away," I said slowly--"I'll tell her the
truth."
"The truth is always best, dear boy," he said, with a grin.
So I waited in a horrible silence, while the two men went out of the
room. Then when the door was closed I turned to the girl, who was more
to me than life itself; and my heart sank at the thought of what I had
to say to her.