HER FATHER'S NAME AND GOLD.
"But poor Lizette, did you ask him what had been her fate?" asked Dorian
anxiously.
"Yes, he told me that Lizette jumped out of the window and sprained her
ankle so badly that the doctor said she would not walk for months, so he
was compelled to leave her at the Rhodus house. They promised to take
the best of care of her, and he gave her money to pay them and to come
back to Pirate Beach when she was able to travel. That is the last he
has heard of her, but he will write and make inquiries. Oh, Dorian, I
miss my good Lizette very much. She loved me dearly, and she would be
such a comfort to me now, for since my trouble I do not seem to have but
one woman friend, good Mrs. Hill, the housekeeper at Gray Gables."
"And she is a noble old soul, and her friendship is worth having," said
Dorian. "But, darling, you will have two more kind friends soon, to
stand by you in your trouble. You know I have no near female relatives,
but Van Hise has a mother and sister, two of the noblest women in New
York, who believe in you so thoroughly, and have such sympathy for you,
that they have written him they are coming down here to-day to remain
until after your trial, and help you to bear your trouble. Shall you
like that, my darling?"
The tears were in her eyes as she listened to him. She had felt so
lonely, so deserted, as if the whole world were against her; and the
desertion of the Courtneys, their rancor and malice, had cut deeply to
her heart.
She had been so good to them; she had loaded them with gifts and favors,
and though she knew they did not love her, she had not believed them
capable of such heartlessness as they had displayed in persecuting her,
and yet staying on so coolly at Gray Gables without the shadow of a
right.
Dorian and his soldier friend were most indignant. Van Hise told Nita
frankly that as the widow of Charles Farnham, Gray Gables was her own
property, and she ought to turn the Courtneys out. But Nita was too
noble for paltry revenges. Somewhere in the blood of this girl, whose
ancestry was yet unknown, ran a strain of blue blood.
"No, let them stay," she said. "If I could stoop to revenge myself for
their treachery I should be as low and base as they are. Besides, I do
not forget that the dear Lord is watching over me. I leave all in His
hands."
And Captain Van Hise could say no more, but he thought admiringly:
"Jupiter, what a queen she is, and how proud Dorian must be of this
grand creature!"
But the tears of joy came into her eyes when Dorian told her of the true
woman friends who were on their way to her side.
"Now I love them already!" she cried fervently, and when they came she
leaned her weary head on the motherly breast of the elder woman and
sobbed like a weary child.
"I have never known a mother's love," she said, and Mrs. Van Hise
answered tenderly:
"You shall never miss it again, dear."
"And I will be your sister," added Lena Van Hise, with sympathetic tears
in her eyes.
She was a beautiful, slender, sixteen-year-old girl, and Nita, who was
not yet nineteen, felt her whole heart attracted to her. In that dark
and gloomy prison-cell there began that day a friendship that would last
to the end of both their lives.
It was one of the proudest and happiest moments of Donald Kayne's life
when Dorian sought him out and proffered anew the firm friendship that
had been broken off by their quarrel and the duel. Tears stood in the
eyes of both as they clasped hands, and Donald Kayne said huskily:
"I do not deserve this noble forgiveness from you and Nita, but I will
do my best to deserve it."
"I am sure you will," was Dorian's hearty reply, for he knew his old
friend's sterling worth.
Nita had given the unhappy man such minute directions as to finding the
narrow stairway and closed door leading to the gold vault at Gray Gables
that he did not think it would be necessary to pull down the old
mansion, as he had vowed to do. He confided freely in Dorian and asked
him to accompany him on the quest, saying frankly:
"With the gold that Nita saw in the chest I have nothing to do.
Doubtless it is the treasure referred to in old Meg's confidences to her
son, and of course it belongs to Nita. We must keep the secret of it
most carefully until such time as she is ready to take possession of it.
But in the woman whose dead body rests unburied in the vault I have a
painful interest, the secret of which I will later confide to you. But
until her poor bones are laid in the grave and her restless spirit is
appeased, I can know no rest or peace."
"Her spirit!" whispered Dorian Mountcastle, in awe.
"Yes, she walks, for I have seen her in the grounds at Gray Gables, and
she vanished into air against the basement wall. Poor Pepita, she was
trying to lead me to her hiding-place then," groaned Donald Kayne.
"How strange it seems that our chief purpose now is to find and punish
the murderer of Farnham, although there is no doubt but that the old
villain met a well-deserved fate."
"I believe the guilty party is the wicked old fortune-teller," said
Donald Kayne, and Dorian and Captain Van Hise, who were present, agreed
with him.
"But we can find neither evidence of her crime nor any motive for it.
She has proved, indeed, that she was his lifelong friend," added Dorian
dejectedly, for the utter failure to find the least clue to the murderer
of Miser Farnham depressed him very much.
He knew how terribly dark was the circumstantial evidence against Nita,
and his soul rebelled against the only verdict by which it seemed
possible she could escape conviction--emotional insanity.
"I will not believe that even in a moment of insanity, driven mad by her
troubles, she could have committed such a terrible deed!" he cried over
and over, but yet all the evidence pointed to Nita's guilt, and all the
detectives he had set to work could not find a clue to the murderer, nor
a single scrap of evidence on which to hang a warrant for charging old
Meg with slaying her friend the miser.
Meantime the days flew by, and in less than a week the trial was to come
off. There were strong, brave hearts working loyally in Nita's cause,
and yet they quailed with fear.
The three friends decided to go that day to Gray Gables to search for
the vault, but they determined to take no one into their confidence. It
would not be safe to let the hiding-place of the miser's gold be known.
As they walked toward Gray Gables they met Mrs. Courtney and her
daughter promenading on the sands. Both were elaborately attired, and
looked self-satisfied and happy.
Azalea met them with joyous smiles, and detained them several moments in
friendly conversation, but when they had passed on the dimpling smiles
faded from her face, and she said angrily:
"I hate them all for taking that girl's part and believing in her after
all the evidence that proved her guilt."
The three friends proceeded to Gray Gables, and it was a perfectly easy
task to induce Mrs. Hill to let them go into the room which Dorian had
occupied during his illness there.
They locked the door, lighted a lamp, and proceeded to explore the
corridors according to Nita's careful directions. Soon success crowned
their efforts. The little narrow stairway was easily found, but the door
at the foot resisted their efforts at first, but at last the bolts and
bars yielded, and it burst asunder.
She was there waiting for them--poor Pepita, in the ghastly grimness of
death! Dorian and Van Hise reverently drew aside the coarse gray blanket
that covered the skeleton in the chair, and when Donald Kayne saw what
remained of the beautiful woman once so madly loved, he fell in a swoon
upon the floor.
It was some time before he was restored. Then he was like one dazed. He
knelt by the chair with his head on the table, and sobs shook his strong
frame.
Ranged around the walls were a dozen strong cedar chests heaped to the
lids with Spanish gold coin. Upon a steel plate on the end of each chest
was engraved the name: "Juan de Castro."
Nita had told them of the attempt that old Meg had once made upon her
life, and the name by which she had called her then: "Juanita de
Castro."
They looked significantly into each other's face.
"Her father's name and her father's gold," uttered Captain Van Hise, and
choked back a sob at thought of the girl who, having been cheated out of
her heritage of wealth and love, had been driven to despair by lack of
bread.
"Some dark and hideous mystery lies back of all this," he said to
Dorian.
And the young man answered sternly:
"And the key to it all lies, perhaps, in the hands of Meg Dineheart, the
fortune-teller. Let us search carefully and perhaps we may find papers
to throw some light on the mystery. If not, the strong hand of the law
must be raised to force Meg to a full confession of the sin that
deprived Nita of her heritage."
They searched carefully, but not a scrap of writing rewarded their
efforts. After an hour they decided to leave the place for the time,
taking with them the bones of the murdered woman. A roll of white silk
that Donald Kayne had brought was wrapped about the skeleton, and he
bore it in his arms to Dorian's room, where it was decided they should
leave it until night, when it might be carried away unseen.
Then Dorian turned the key in the lock as they went out and dropped it
in his pocket. He knew that Mrs. Hill would not object to his keeping it
till night.
"Let us go at once to old Meg and force her into betraying the secret of
Nita's parentage, and the whole conspiracy by which she has been so
terribly wronged," suggested Captain Van Hise.
Dorian and his friend agreed, and they set off at a brisk pace for old
Meg's cabin, determined to unearth the mystery if possible. But they
were entirely ignorant of the fact that, while they were exploring the
gold-vault at Gray Gables, the Courtneys had returned to the house, and
that Azalea by accident had witnessed their departure.
Burning with curiosity, she flew to her mother with the story.
"There is something mysterious on foot surely," she said vindictively,
and added, "I mean to get into that room and find out what Dorian
Mountcastle has locked up there. I should like to get hold of some
disgraceful secret of his and expose it to the world."
"Fie! fie! Azalea! that would not be ladylike!" answered her mother.
"I don't care, so that I get revenge on Dorian for the way he has
treated me!" cried the jealous girl, eager to punish the lover who had
found her out and scorned her.
"You had better let well enough alone," cried the more prudent mother,
who was beginning to feel uneasy over their abandonment of Nita. She
knew well that she deserved to be turned summarily out of Gray Gables,
and feared to precipitate the blow by any interference in Dorian
Mountcastle's affairs.
"I don't care what you say, or whether you help me or not, I'm going
into that room and find out Dorian Mountcastle's secret!" she burst out
excitedly.
"Very well, Azalea, but take my advice and send that meddlesome old
housekeeper away on some errand first, for I know she hates you, and
would be delighted to have something to tell Dorian about you," Mrs.
Courtney answered coldly.
It did not take Azalea long to despatch Mrs. Hill, and then, armed with
a bunch of keys, she proceeded on her errand. The door soon yielded, and
with a little chuckle of triumph she glided in and closed the door, but
without locking it, for she knew well that her mother was hovering
near, consumed with secret curiosity.
Azalea wandered from object to object, but her eager eyes encountered
nothing strange until by accident her glance roved over the bed. Then
she saw the outlines of a long slender object beneath the coverlet.
"Pshaw! I won't be a coward!" she muttered, and thrust out a shaking
white hand and turned down the covers.
Something lay there swathed round and round and round in folds of soft,
thick white silk.
And catching hold of an end of silk, began to unwind it with rapid
hands.
Another moment, and a startled shriek rent the air. Mrs. Courtney,
tiptoeing outside, opened the door and darted in, horrified at her
daughter's shrill scream of terror.
Upon the bed she beheld the ghastly skeleton.