UNCLE ZABDIEL IN PIOUS MOOD.
Dr. Bardolph Just, big, powerful man though he was, seemed practically
helpless in the grasp of William Capper, who hung on to him, and worried
him as some small terrier might worry a dog of larger size. Moreover,
the doctor was hampered with his broken wrist; while George Rabbit and
myself, for the matter of that, were so thunderstruck by the sudden
onslaught of that mild, quiet, little creature, who had hitherto seemed
so harmless, that we stood staring and doing nothing. And the doctor
battled with his one free arm, and shouted to us for help.
"Pull him off, can't you?" he shouted. "Devil take the man! what is he
at? Let go, I say; do you want to kill me?"
By that time I had recovered my senses so far as to fling myself upon
Capper, and to drag him off by main force. So soon as I had got hold of
him, he seemed to collapse in the strangest way--dropped into my arms,
and shuddered, and stared from one to the other of us, as though
awakening from some terrible nightmare. His teeth were chattering, and
he looked wildly round, as though wondering what had been happening.
The doctor was arranging his collar and tie, and looking amazedly at
Capper. "What's the matter with the fellow?" he panted. "What set him
off like that?" He stamped his foot, and looked at the trembling man.
"Answer me--you! What roused you like that?"
Capper shook his head in a dull way; then pressed the palms of his hands
to his forehead. "I--I don't know," he answered, in something of the
same fashion in which I had always heard him answer questions; "I didn't
mean--"
His voice trailed off, and he stood there, a drooping, pathetic figure,
staring at the floor. For my part, I could not take my eyes from the
man. I found myself wondering whether that outburst had been the mere
frenzy of a moment, or whether behind it lay something I did not then
understand. In the silence that had fallen upon us the doctor looked at
the man in a queer, puzzled way; I thought he seemed to be asking
himself the same questions that were in my own mind. After a moment or
two he turned his glance resentfully on me, seeming to become aware, for
the first time, of my presence.
"And what brings _you_ here?" he demanded. I was at a loss how to answer
him. I had had a vague hope that I might be able to see Capper alone,
or, at all events, only in the company of George Rabbit; I could not now
declare my intention of questioning the man. I resorted to subterfuge; I
shrugged my shoulders and made what reply I could.
"What is a poor wretch to do who has no home, no money, and no
prospects? You turn me out of one place, so I come to the other."
"Well, you can leave this one, too," he replied sourly. "How did you get
back from Essex? Did you tramp?"
I saw at once that he must have left the place and come to London on the
previous day; it was obvious that he knew nothing of Debora's
disappearance. Nor had he yet discovered the theft of that old-fashioned
watch. He could have no suspicion that I had money in my pockets. I
answered as carelessly as I could.
"Yes," I said, "I tramped most of the way. I should not have come in
now, but that I saw some trouble going on with Rabbit here, and thought
I might be of use."
"I can look after meself, thank you for nothink," retorted Mr. Rabbit
politely. "Seems to me that I'm given all the dirty work to do, an' I
don't git nuffink but thumps for it. If it 'adn't bin fer that plucky
little chap there, I shouldn't 'ave stood much charnce," he added,
scowling at the doctor. "He went for you a fair treat, guv'nor."
"You must have made him precious fond of you, to take your part like
that," said the doctor, with a glance at Capper. "Did he think I was
going to kill you?"
I saw that Capper was standing in the old attitude, with his hands
hanging beside him, and his eyes cast to the floor; then I had a curious
feeling that he was listening. So still was he, and so meek and broken,
that it seemed incredible that but a minute or two before he had been
tearing like a demon at the throat of the doctor. Now, while he stood
there, he suddenly began to speak, in a quiet, level voice, but little
raised above a whisper.
"I hope, sir, that you won't send me away," he said. "I forgot myself; I
wouldn't harm you for the world, sir. If you will let me stay--if you
will let me keep near you--if I might even be your servant? I don't want
to be sent away from you, sir."
All this without raising his head, and with the air of a shamed boy
pleading for forgiveness. It was the more pitiful because of the
meekness of the figure, and of the thin grey hair that covered the
man's head. To do him justice, the doctor behaved magnanimously.
"Well, we'll say no more about it, Capper," he replied. "Perhaps you're
not quite yourself. We'll overlook it. For the rest, you shall remain
here, if you behave yourself. You seem a good, faithful sort of fellow,
but you mustn't fly into passions because rogues like this get what they
deserve." He pointed sternly to George Rabbit.
"Rogues!" Mr. Rabbit looked properly indignant, and lurched forward from
the window towards the doctor. "I ain't so sure as you've put that boot
on the right leg, guv'nor," he said. "I've 'ad enough of this 'ere--this
keepin' me mouf shut, an' not gettin' anyfink for it. Wot's the good of
five quid--you can on'y dream abaht it w'en it's gorn. I'm goin' to take
wot I know w'ere I shall git summink for it--w'ere I shall be paid
'andsome, an' patted on the back, an' told I'm a good boy. I'm a honest
man--that's wot I am; an' I've 'ad enough of seem' jail-birds walking
about in good clobber, an' 'ighly respectable gents givin' 'em shelter,
an' payin' me not 'alf enough not to blab. Yus, Mr. Norton 'Yde, it's
you what I'm talkin' about--an' 'ere goes to make an endin' of it!"
Before anyone could stop him he had made a run for the window, and had
vaulted over the sill, and was gone. I made a step to go after him, but
the doctor detained me with a gesture.
"It's no use; if he has made up his mind to speak you can't stop him.
Take my advice, and keep away from here, and away from Green Barn, too.
There's a chance, of course, that the man will say nothing; he may come
whining back here, to try and get money out of me. In any case, Mr.
Norton Hyde, I've had enough of the business; you can shift for
yourself. It may interest you to know that I am winding up my affairs,
and I'm going abroad. And in this instance I shall not go alone."
I could afford not to notice that sneer, because I knew that I held the
winning hand, and that Debora was mine. So I made no answer; I knew that
there were cards I could play when the time came--cards of which he knew
nothing. My only doubt was as to the man Capper; because, if Debora's
suspicions were true, it was vitally necessary that we should get hold
of the man, and should question him. More than that, I knew that Debora
had in her the spirit to move heaven and earth over the matter of her
dead friend, Gregory Pennington, to discover the manner of his death.
Yet here was William Capper, for some strange reason, swearing devotion
to the doctor, and begging to be allowed to remain with him. Even if I
could get hold of the man, I knew that in his present state of mind I
could do no good with him; he might in all innocence go to the doctor,
and tell him what my questions had been. There was nothing for it but to
leave the matter alone, and to return to Debora. Accordingly I took my
leave, if such a phrase can be used to describe my going.
"I shan't trouble you again," I said to Bardolph Just. "For your own
sake, I think you will do your best to ensure that the secret of Gregory
Pennington's death is kept." I glanced quickly at the man Capper as I
spoke; but my words seemed to have no effect upon him, save that once
again I thought he seemed to be listening, and that, too, with some
intentness. But I felt, even in that, that I might be wrong.
"What do you mean by that?" snapped the doctor, turning upon me in
answer to my remark.
"You told me once that you were anxious to keep the matter a secret, in
order to avoid giving pain, and to prevent any scandal touching your
house," I answered steadily. "What other meaning should I have?"
"None, of course," he answered, and looked at me broodingly for a
moment, as though striving to see behind my words. "However, in that
matter you are right; I don't want that business all raked over again.
For both our sakes, you'd better keep out of the way of Mr. George
Rabbit."
There was nothing else to be done, and without any formal words I turned
and walked out of the house by the way I had come. I felt that I had
finished with Dr. Bardolph Just; I could afford to laugh at him, and
could leave him to settle matters with George Rabbit.
I went back to that hotel near the Charterhouse in which I had left
Debora; there were many things about which I must talk to her. In the
first place, we had to consider the great question of ways and means;
above all, we had to remember--or perhaps I should say that _I_ had to
remember, for she was utterly trustful of me--that she was in my hands,
and that I had to be careful of her until such time as I could make her
my wife. I had a sort of feeling that I could not go on in this
indefinite way, leaving her in hotels and such-like places. Besides, I
felt absolutely certain that the one person to whom in my dilemma I must
apply was my Uncle Zabdiel, for had I not already prepared him for her
coming?
While I had no great faith in Uncle Zabdiel, I yet felt that, from sheer
dread of me, he would hesitate before playing tricks. In his eyes I was
a most abandoned villain, capable of anything; he had hanging over him
that threat of mine to kill him--a threat which would remain a threat
only, but a very powerful deterrent if he had any hopes of betraying me.
This scheme I now laid before Debora, telling her the pros and cons of
it all, and trying to induce her to see it as I saw it. There was but
one flaw in it, and that was that Martha Leach had been to my uncle, and
would therefore know where he was to be found. Yet, on the other hand, I
felt that that made for safety, because the very daring of the scheme
gave it the greatest chance of success. No one would dream that I should
go back to the house that had seen the beginning of all my misfortunes,
still less would anyone dream of looking for Debora Matchwick there.
"You see, my dearest girl," I pointed out to Debora, "my money won't
last for ever; already it is dwindling alarmingly. I see no prospect of
getting any more at present, unless I hold horses, or sell matches in
the street. More than that, I believe that I have my uncle so much under
control, and so much in dread of me, that he will do nothing against me;
and that great house of his is a very warren of old rooms, in which you
can safely hide. More than that, I think there is a prospect that Uncle
Zabdiel will help me; he seemed to regard me in quite another light when
I saw him recently."
In all this it will be seen, I fear, that my original simplicity had not
entirely been knocked out of me by rough contact with the world; it will
also be seen that I had a colossal belief in my own powers of
persuasion, moral and otherwise. Perhaps also it is scarcely necessary
for me to say that Debora very willingly believed in me, and seemed to
regard my uncle as a man who might be won round to a better belief in
the goodness of human nature. I did not contradict that suggestion, but
I had my doubts.
I thought it best, however, to let Uncle Zabdiel know of his intended
visitor; it would never do to take him by surprise. With many promises
of speedy return I set off then and there for that house near Barnet,
wherein so many years of my own life had been passed. I was feeling
more cheerful than I had done for many a long day; I began to realise
that perhaps, after all, my troubles were coming to an end, and some
small measure of happiness was to be mine. Moreover, despite all my
difficulties, it has to be remembered that I was young and in love; and,
I suppose, under those circumstances mere outside troubles sit lightly
on one's shoulders.
I rang at the bell for a long time before anyone answered, and then it
was the grim old woman who came in by the day to look after my uncle who
answered it. I feared for a moment that she might recognise me, but she
was evidently one of those people to whom the mere duties of the day are
everything; it is probable that had I been the Archbishop of Canterbury
in full rig she would have taken no notice of my appearance. I asked for
Mr. Blowfield, and was left in the dark hall while she went in search of
him. I gave my name as John New.
In a minute or two she came back, and beckoned to me in a spiritless
way, and without speaking. I went at once by the way I knew so well into
my uncle's room--that room that was half sitting-room and half office,
and there discovered him standing before the empty fireplace waiting for
me. He was not alone in the room; that unfortunate youth, Andrew Ferkoe,
was seated in my old place, at my old desk, scribbling away as if for
dear life. Even before my uncle spoke I intercepted a furtive look out
of the tail of the youth's eye; I strove to give him a warning glance in
response.
"Good morning, Mr. New," said my uncle, with a touch of sarcasm in his
tone. "Glad to see you, I'm sure. Do you object to the presence of my
clerk?"
"It is a matter of indifference to me, Mr. Blowfield," I replied. "Of
course I should have preferred to have had a private interview with you,
but if any words of mine on a previous occasion have made you cautious,
by all means let him remain."
I saw that the old man was absolutely afraid of me; I guessed that he
meant to keep Andrew Ferkoe there, to save even a threat of violence. At
the same time I was relieved to see what I thought was a new and more
kindly light in his eyes. I felt that he might, after all, prove to have
a heart of flesh and blood, and that Debora might move it.
"Then you can go on with your work, Ferkoe," snapped my uncle; and the
boy, whose pen had been straying, started violently, and went on writing
again.
It was curious to note during our interview how frequently Andrew
Ferkoe's pen stopped, and how his eyes slowly turned round to feast on
me, and how, at a movement from his master, he brought the pen back to
its proper place and started writing again. I became quite fascinated
with watching him.
"Sit down, my dear New, sit down," said my uncle smoothly. "Tell me what
I can do for you; I've been expecting to see you."
I sat down, and asked permission to smoke. My uncle grunted in response,
and frowned; but I took the grunt for permission, and lighted a cigar.
The old man gave a plaintive cough, as though suggesting that this was a
martyrdom to which he must submit, and subsided into his own chair. I
answered his question.
"I want you to do what you promised to do, Mr. Blowfield," I said.
"I promised under threats," he broke in grudgingly. "And a promise
extorted under threats isn't binding."
"This one's got to be," I intimated sharply. "I want the young lady of
whom I spoke to come here, and to find a refuge in this house; I want
her to come to-day. I have not the means to keep her, and she is in
danger of being traced by those who are her enemies. I have chosen you,"
I added, with a touch of sarcasm I could not avoid, "because I know your
kindness of heart, and I know how eager you are to do me a service."
He grinned a little maliciously, then chuckled softly, and rubbed his
bony hands together. "Very well, call it a bargain," he said. "After
all, I'm quite pleased, my dear boy, to be able to help you; if I seem
to have a gruff exterior, it's only because I find so many people trying
to get the better of me."
I saw Andrew Ferkoe slowly raise his head, and stare at my uncle with a
dropping jaw, as though he had suddenly discovered a ghost. My uncle,
happening to catch him at it, brought his fist down with a bang upon the
desk that caused the youth to spring an inch or two from his stool, and
to resume his writing in such a scared fashion that I am convinced he
must have written anything that first came into his mind.
"And what the devil is it to do with you?" roared my uncle, quite in his
old fashion. "What do you think I pay you for, and feed you for, and
give you comfortable lodging for? One of these days, Ferkoe, I'll turn
you out into the world, and let you starve. Or I'll have you locked up,
as I once had a graceless nephew of mine locked up," he added, with a
contortion of his face in my direction that I imagine to have been
intended for a wink.
The boy stole a look at me, and essayed a grin on his own account;
evidently he congratulated himself on his secret knowledge of who I
really was. Uncle Zabdiel, having relieved himself with his outburst,
now turned to me again, still keeping up that pretty fiction of my being
but a casual acquaintance, knowing nothing of any graceless nephew who
had been very properly punished in the past.
"He's a thankless dog, this clerk of mine," he growled, with a vicious
look at the boy. "He must have starved but for me, and see what thanks I
get. Well, as I was saying, I shall be very pleased--delighted, in
fact--to welcome the young lady here. I've got a soft corner in my heart
for everybody, Mr. New, if I'm only treated fairly. I don't like girls
as a rule; I've no place for 'em in my life; but I've made up my mind to
make the best of it. You see, I haven't very long to live--not as long
as I should like; and I understand you've got to be so very particular
in doing the right sort of thing towards the end. Not that I've done
anything particularly to be ashamed of," he added hastily, "but a great
many people have made it their business to speak ill of me."
"It's a censorious world," I reminded him.
"It is, my dear boy, it is," he replied. "Besides," he went on, lowering
his voice a little, "I've dreamt three nights running that I went up
into my old room, and saw myself lying dead--not dead as you
described--but all broken and bloody." He shuddered, and sucked in his
breath hard for a moment, and glanced behind him.
I did not mind encouraging that thought, because it was all to my
advantage; I knew that unless he remained properly frightened there
would be small chance of his keeping faith with me in the matter of
Debora. Therefore I said nothing now. But once again I saw the youth at
the desk raise his head, and stare at the old man in that startled
fashion, and then drop his eyes suddenly to his work.
"Not a pleasant dream--not a pleasant dream, by any means," muttered my
uncle, getting up and striding about. "I lay on the floor, with the bed
clothes pulled across me, as if to hide me. And I was all broken and
bloody!"
"And you've dreamed that three times?" I asked mercilessly. "That's
unlucky."
"Why, what do you mean?" he whispered in a panic, as he stopped and
looked round at me.
"Oh! they say if you dream a thing three times, it's bound to come
true," I said.
"Stuff and nonsense!" he ejaculated. "Dreams go always by contraries;
everybody knows that. I shouldn't have mentioned the thing, only I can't
somehow get it out of my head. It was just as though I were another
person; I stood there looking down at myself. There, there, let's forget
it. In all probability, if I do this thing for you, out of pure kindness
of heart, I shall live quite a long time, and die naturally a good many
years hence. Now, when is the young lady coming?"
He seemed so perturbed by the recollection of his dream that he listened
only in a dazed fashion while I told him that I intended to bring her
there that day; he might expect her some time that evening. Andrew
Ferkoe seemed interested at the news that anyone was coming to that
dreary house; he kept on glancing up at me while I spoke. And it was
necessary, too, for me to say all over again, because my uncle had
evidently not been listening.
"Yes, yes, yes, I understand!" he said, rousing himself at last.
"Besides, it'll be better to have someone else in the house--safer for
me, you understand. Nobody will dare come to the place if they know that
I'm not a lonely old man, with only a fool of a boy in the house with
him--a boy that you can't wake for love or money."
I suppressed a grin. My experience of Andrew Ferkoe had been that he
woke rather too easily. I rose to take my leave, and Uncle Zabdiel, in
his anxiety to please me, came out into the hall with me, and seemed
inclined to detain me even longer.
"I'll be very good to her," he said; then, suddenly breaking off, he
gripped my arm, and pointed up the dark, uncarpeted stairs behind us.
"You remember my old room," he whispered. "Well, I saw the room, and
everything in it, quite clearly, three separate times, and I lying
there----"
"You're thinking too much about it," I broke in hastily. For his face
was ghastly. "You be kind to Debora, and you'll find she'll soon laugh
some of your fears out of you. Good-bye for the present; you'll see us
both later in the day."
He shook my hand quite earnestly, and let me out of the house. I saw
him, as I had seen him before, standing in the doorway, peering out at
me; in that moment I felt a little sorry for him. So much he had
missed--so much he had lost or never known; and now, towards the end of
his days, he was racked by fears of that death that he knew must be
approaching rapidly.
I started back for London, meaning to fetch Debora to my uncle's house
that night. I was fortunate enough not to have to wait long at the
station for a train, and I presently found myself in an empty
compartment. I was tired out, and excited with the events of the day. I
settled myself in a corner, and closed my eyes, as the train sped on its
way. And presently, while I sat there, I became aware of a most
extraordinary commotion going on in the compartment on the other side of
the partition against which I leaned. There was a noise as of the
stamping of feet, and shouts and cries--altogether a hideous uproar.
I thought at first that it must be some drunken men, uproarious after a
debauch; but I presently came to the conclusion that some severe
struggle was going on in the next compartment; I distinctly heard cries
for help. I leaned out of the window, in the hope that I might be able
to see into the next carriage; then, on an impulse, I opened the door,
and got out on to the footboard. It was not a difficult matter, because
the train was travelling comparatively slow. I closed the door of the
compartment I had been in, and stepped along the footboard to the next.
Clinging on there, I looked in, and beheld an extraordinary sight.
Two men were battling fiercely in the carriage; and I saw that the
further door of the carriage was open. As the men wrenched and tugged at
each other, I could not for a moment or two see their faces; but I could
make out clearly that the smaller man of the two was working strenuously
to force the other man out on to the line through the open door. I saw,
too, that the bigger man appeared to be using only one arm to defend
himself; and it was suddenly borne in upon me that I knew with certainty
who the two men were. I tore open the door on my side, and slipped into
the carriage, and shut the door again. Then I flung myself upon the
smaller man, who was no other than William Capper.
As it happened, I was only just in time. The other man had been driven
to the open door, until he was absolutely half in and half out; he had
dug his nails into the cushions on one side, in a desperate effort to
save himself from falling. And as I pulled Capper off, and flung him to
the other end of the carriage, I naturally pulled his intended victim
with him--and that intended victim was Dr. Bardolph Just!
How narrow his escape had been was brought home to me the next moment,
when, as I leaned out to close the door, another train tore past on the
next track, going in the opposite direction. I banged the door, and
stood against it, and looked at the two men.
The doctor had sunk down into a corner, and was nursing his wounded arm,
and staring in a frightened way at Capper. Capper, I noticed, had
suddenly lost all his frenzy, precisely in the same fashion as he had
lost it on that other occasion when he had attacked the same man. He now
sat in the corner into which I had flung him, with his head bowed, and
his hands plucking at his lips, exactly in the attitude of a naughty boy
who had been caught in some wickedness and stopped. He glanced at me
furtively, but said nothing.
"He--he tried--tried to kill me!" panted the doctor. "He tried--tried to
throw me out of the train! You saw for yourself!"
"But why?" I asked. "What had you done?"
"Nothing--absolutely nothing!" he stammered, striving to rearrange his
dress and to smooth his hair. "He suddenly said something--and then
opened the door--and sprang at me."
"But what did he say?" I insisted. And it was curious that we both spoke
of the man at the other end of the carriage as someone not responsible
for what he had done.
"Never mind what he said!" exclaimed the doctor pettishly. "You just
came in time. He'd have had me out in another moment."
In the surprise of his escape, the doctor did not seem astonished at
finding me there so opportunely he merely looked at the dejected Capper
in that frightened way, and kept the greatest possible distance from
him.
"Why do you take the man about with you, if he's liable to these fits?"
I asked.
"I don't take him about!" he exclaimed. "He follows me. I can't get rid
of him. He sticks to my heels like a dog. I don't like it; one of these
days it may happen that there's no one there in time--and that'll be the
end of the matter." All this in a whisper, as he leaned forward towards
where I sat.
"Give him the slip," I suggested; and now I watched the doctor's face
intently.
"Don't I tell you I can't," he snapped at me. "Besides, I don't want to
lose sight of him; I'm sorry for the poor old fellow. He'd only drift
into some madhouse or workhouse infirmary. I don't know what to do."
The doctor was dabbling nervously at his forehead with a handkerchief;
he was in a very sweat of terror. And at the further end of the
carriage--huddled up there, listening--sat the little grey-haired man,
like some grim Fate that must dog the steps of the other man to an end
which no one could see. A sudden ghastly theory had entered into my
mind; I determined to probe the matter a little further.
"You suggest," I said in a whisper, "that he has twice tried to kill
you; surely it is an easy matter to give him into the hands of the
police? If he's insane, he'll be properly looked after; if he is not, he
will be properly punished. And you will be safe."
Bardolph Just looked out of the window, and slowly shook his head. "You
don't understand; I can't do that," he replied. "I can't explain;
there's a reason."
We left the matter at that, and presently, when the train drew into the
London station, we all got out. The doctor and I walked away side by
side, and I knew that Capper was following. I knew something else,
too--that I must get away as quickly as possible, back to Debora. For I
realised that as yet the doctor had not been informed that Debora was
missing from Green Barn.
"Well, you don't want me any more," I said to him, stopping and turning
about. "I'll take my leave."
"Look here!" he exclaimed, suddenly seizing me with his uninjured hand,
and giving a sideways glance at Capper, "I'll forget everything and
forgive everything if you'll only stick to me. I don't want to be left
alone with this man."
"I have work of my own to do," I answered him, "and my way is not your
way. Pull yourself together, man; you're in London, among crowds. What
harm can a feeble old creature like that do to you?"
"You've seen for yourself--twice," he whispered. "I'll do anything you
like--pay you anything you like!"
I shook myself free. "It's impossible," I said; and a moment later I was
walking rapidly away; I had no desire that the doctor should follow me.
Looking back, I saw the man with his arm in a sling going at a great
rate across the station, and as he went he glanced back over his
shoulder. And always behind him, going at a little trot to keep up with
him, went William Capper, not to be shaken off.
I found Debora awaiting me, but I said nothing to her of my startling
encounter in the train. I only told her that all was ready for her
reception at the house of Uncle Zabdiel, and we set off at once, after
settling the score at the hotel. Our journey was without incident, and
in due course I rang the bell at my uncle's gate, and saw the door open
presently to receive the girl. I went in with her for the necessary
introductions.
To my delight I found Uncle Zabdiel rubbing his hands, and evidently
pleased to have her there. He went so far as to imprint a cold salute on
her cheek, and even to touch her under her soft rounded chin with his
bony finger.
"It's a pretty bird you've captured," he said, grimacing at me. "I'll
take care of her, never fear."
I thanked him, and then told him of my intention to seek a lodging
elsewhere. He seemed surprised, as did Debora. I merely told him that I
had business to attend to, and that I could not very well be so far from
London for the next few days at least. My real reason was, however, a
very different one.
I had made up my mind to pursue this matter of Capper to the very end;
the thing fascinated me, and I could not let it alone. So that, after I
had seen the dark house swallow up my darling, I went off, designing to
find a lodging for myself between that house and the one in which
Bardolph Just lived. It was very late, but I was not over particular as
to where I slept, and I knew that I could easily find a room.
But I was restless, and had many things to think about; so that it ended
finally in my walking that long distance back to the doctor's house, and
finding myself, something to my surprise, outside its gates at a little
after two o'clock in the morning. All the house was silent, and the
windows darkened. I was turning away, when I almost stumbled over
someone sitting on the high bank at the side of the road opposite the
gate. As I drew back with a muttered apology the man looked up, and I
knew him.
It was William Capper. In the very instant of his raising his head I had
seen a quick bright look of intelligence come over his face, but now the
mask he habitually wore seemed to be drawn down over his features, and
he smiled in that vacuous way I had before noted.
"What are you doing here?" I asked.
"He's turned me out," he said, in the old feeble voice. "I don't know
why." I saw his plucking fingers go up to his lips again, as he feebly
shook his head.
"Yes, you do," I said sternly. "Come, Capper, you've nothing to fear
from me; why don't you speak the truth? You've twice tried to kill the
man. What is your reason?"
He shook his head, and smiled at me in the same vacant fashion. "I don't
know--I don't understand," he said. "So much that I've forgotten--so
much that I can't remember, and never shall remember. Something
snapped--here."
He touched his forehead, and shook his head in that forlorn way; and
presently sank down on the bank again, and put his head in his hands,
and seemed to go to sleep.
When I came away at last, in despair of finding out anything from him,
he was sitting in the same attitude, and might have appeared, to any
casual observer, as a poor, feeble old creature with a clouded mind. Yet
I knew with certainty that something had happened to the man, and that
he was alive and alert; I knew, too, that grimly enough, and for some
reason unknown to me, he had set out to kill Dr. Bardolph Just. And I
knew that he would succeed.