THE PARRICIDE'S FATE.
Meg Dineheart and her sullen son did not care to stay in to hear the new
evidence. They were trying to slip quietly away, but an officer, all
unconsciously to the guilty pair, had been quietly guarding them both,
and they were informed in a curt whisper that they must remain.
With sullen looks of baffled rage the conspirators sat down again, and
Lizette, who was looking very pale and ill, although resolute, began her
story.
She told of her return to Pirate Beach on Jack Dineheart's bark the
tenth of June, and of how he had gone over in the row-boat to see his
mother, returning soon, pale, agitated, and bloody, with the story of
the shark that had bitten him in the water, and the falsehood that Nita
had never returned from abroad. She dwelt on his taking her to New York,
and her inexplicable imprisonment there for no reason that she could
discover.
"Little did I dream," continued the maid, with tears in her eyes, "that
my dear mistress was on trial for murdering her husband, and that Jack
Dineheart was keeping me shut up, knowing that as soon as I heard about
it I would denounce him as the murderer, for I never did believe that
shark-story he told me. But I was in no danger of ever finding out the
awful truth, imprisoned as I was, if a kind friend had not interested
himself in my fate. Mr. Donald Kayne had promised my mistress to send
for me, and then he learned that I had sailed for home on Dineheart's
ship. He learned that Dineheart had landed at New York, but when he
sought the sailor and asked him for me, he was told I had died, and was
buried at sea.
"Not believing the story, Mr. Kayne placed a detective on the sailor's
track, and then he decided to murder me so as to escape espionage. He
and his mother bound me, while drugged, to a railroad track, believing I
would be killed, but they had been followed by the detective and Mr.
Kayne, and as soon as the sailor and his mother left me I was rescued
and taken to a place of safety.
"That was last night, and when Mr. Kayne told me of the awful plight of
my dear mistress, I knew that God had spared me to save her life, for I
know--and God knows--that it was Jack Dineheart who murdered the miser
that evening of the tenth of June, when he went ashore at twilight and
came back with that white, scared face, and the blood on his hand and
sleeve."
Mr. Fielding, the lawyer for the prosecution, knew now that he had no
case, that the prisoner at the bar was innocent of crime, for Jack
Dineheart and his mother, terrified at finding themselves in the power
of the law, confessed everything, and begged for mercy.
And a cruel and disastrous plot was laid bare when they revealed the
secret kept so long, under threats of death from Miser Farnham, should
they dare reveal it.
In his character of a well-to-do ship's captain, Farnham had been an
unsuccessful suitor for the hand of the beautiful American girl that
the rich Spaniard, Juan de Castro, had married.
Hiding his chagrin Farnham had vowed a bitter vengeance on his rival,
and the opportunity came to him within a year after the marriage. Juan
de Castro was very rich in his own right, having inherited the estates
of a millionaire uncle, and when his parents looked coldly on his choice
of an American bride, he swore in bitter anger that he would never look
on their faces again, but return and become an American citizen.
Converting all his wealth into money, he stored it in a dozen chests and
secured transportation for it on the vessel of his wife's pretended
friend, Captain Farnham. The young pair embarked for New York, but on
the voyage the young mother, after the birth of a daughter, died, and
Farnham murdered the unhappy young widower, and pretended that he had
committed suicide while in a frenzy of grief at the loss of his wife.
The babe was cared for by a sailor's wife until they reached Pirate
Beach, when he placed it in the care of old Meg, whom he had promised to
marry.
He stored the stolen gold in the cellar of his old house, Gray Gables,
and kept its hiding-place a secret, but he promised that Jack should
marry the little Juanita when she grew up, and become master of the
great treasure.
Later, when the murdered man's sister, Pepita, came to America to seek
her brother, the miser, fearing she would detect his villainy, had sent
her an anonymous letter, acknowledging her little niece's existence, and
promising if she would come at once, and secretly, to deliver Juanita
into her hands.
She went, fell into the spider's web, and met death in the gold-vault,
from whence her bleached skeleton had now been removed, to rest in a
consecrated grave.
When Jack Dineheart, listening at his mother's door that night, first
learned that his fiend of a father had married the girl promised in her
infancy to his son, he had gone mad with jealous rage for himself, and
honest pity for the lovely girl doomed to fall into the power of her
father's murderer. To avenge his own wrongs and to save Nita from a
fiend, Jack Dineheart had slain his father.
The miserable parricide and his whining old mother were led away to
prison to be tried for Miser Farnham's murder, and for conspiracy
against the life of Lizette Brittain.
A few months later the old fortune-teller was sentenced to imprisonment
for life, and her son was condemned to be electrocuted.
Long before the sentence of death was executed the prisoner became
violently insane, and, attempting to murder one of the wardens in the
prison, was shot dead.
Old Meg, whose affections had been centered on Jack, after his death
never held up her head, dying very suddenly one day, when she had been
in prison barely two years.
Mrs. Van Hise had made a charming discovery. When Meg Dineheart had
mentioned the name of Gertrude Vaughan as that of Nita's mother, the
lady had given a start of surprise, and made a few abrupt inquiries of
the fortune-teller. Later she said fondly to Nita:
"I have a claim upon you, after all; my maiden name was Vaughan, and
from what Meg told me I have discovered that your mother was a cousin of
mine whose acquaintance I had never made. So, Nita, dear, you belong to
me until Dorian claims you."
"Which will be to-morrow, if Nita will consent," exclaimed the happy
lover.
"She will not consent, for she has to order her trousseau first, and I
shall take her home with me to-morrow, and she will not be ready to be
married until late in the winter," laughed Mrs. Van Hise, determined to
hold on to her lovely cousin as long as possible.
They all went up to New York the next day, but before they went all
arrangements were made for Azalea Courtney's comfort. Nita went herself
to the hospital where the burned and disfigured girl would have to
remain many months.
But the heavy hand of affliction had not softened nor sweetened Azalea's
temper. She had heard how the trial had turned out, and her heart was
full of disappointment, hate, and jealous envy.
"I suppose you have come here to exult over my misery!" she said
bitterly.
"Oh, Azalea, how can you think me so cruel? I am sorry for you; I came
here to help you."
"I suppose you think me poor and came to give me money, but I have
startling news for you," Azalea returned angrily.
"News, Azalea!"
"Yes. You think yourself heiress to all Miser Farnham's money, but my
mother told me the day before she died that old Farnham was my own
uncle, and that I ought to have a share in his wealth, so I shall employ
a lawyer and sue you for a division of the spoils," said the disfigured
beauty, with angry triumph.
"You will not need to sue, Azalea, for all of the miser's possessions
that can be discovered shall be given to you freely. The chests of gold
that have been taken from Gray Gables since the fire are all mine, you
know, my father's property, but the house belonged to that wicked old
man, and the property will bring you a good sum. I am glad you will have
this money, since you are too proud to accept anything from me," Nita
said gently.
The next day, Nita accompanied her friends to their home in New York,
taking with her Mrs. Hill and Lizette, each of whom she presented with a
sum of money that, measured by their simple tastes, made them rich for
life.
"Miss Nita, you have made me so happy!" cried grateful Lizette.
The girl was the sole support of her mother and a crippled brother. The
sick boy needed country air and food, and would have died in the hot
city but for the present of money that Nita had given her the night she
had saved her from old Meg's murderous designs.
"With that money I sent them both into the country, my mother and my
brother, and it helped them, oh, so much!" cried the maid. "To-morrow I
shall seek them out, and now that I am rich, I can live with them and
take care of them so nicely, although I hate to leave your service."
Nita sympathized with all the good girl's plans and wishes, and lent her
aid heartily to their accomplishment, rejoicing in the great good she
could accomplish out of her store of wealth.
Mrs. Hill remained with her in spite of the fact that she was now
well-to-do.
"I love you too well to leave you, dear Miss Nita!" cried the
affectionate creature.
At Christmas, Nita and Dorian were married, and the beauty of the bride
and the splendor of the wedding at the Van Hise mansion, on Fifth
Avenue, created quite a sensation.
Their wedding-tour was to Spain. Nita had a longing to see her father's
birth-place, and Donald Kayne, now her devoted uncle and friend, shared
her yearning.
He had a fancy to see Pepita's old home, so he accompanied them, a
welcome guest, on their journey.
THE END.
The NEW EAGLE LIBRARY will next bring out a complicated and entrancing
romance, under the title of "The Wiles of a Siren," by Effie Adelaide
Rowlands, No. 1199.
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Transcriber's Notes
This story was originally serialized in the _New York Family Story
Paper_ as "They Looked and Loved; or, The Mystery of Pirate Beach," from
June 4, 1892 to September 3, 1892.
Italics are represented with _underscores_.
Added table of contents.
Retained inconsistent punctuation after "Alex" in Mrs. Alex. McVeigh
Miller.
Some inconsistent hyphenation retained (e.g. "serpent-ring" vs. "serpent
ring").
Eagle series list #982 and #1103, changed "Daugher" to "Daughter."
Copyright page, changed "Renewel" to "Renewal."
Page 6, changed "he eyes" to "her eyes."
Page 7, added missing close quote after "Where do you live?"
Page 10, changed "brning" to "burning."
Page 15, capitalized sentence "What if she recognizes me?"
Page 25, changed "suddered" to "shuddered."
Page 29, added missing quote after "Mr. Mountcastle's life."
Page 76, added "in" to "abroad in this lovely summer weather."
Page 87, changed "distressd" to "distressed."
Page 96, changed "prefered" to "preferred."
Page 103, changed "Azelea" to "Azalea."
Page 112, changed "heat-broken" to "heart-broken."
Page 120, changed "Kane" to "Kayne."
Page 133, added missing space in "dead white."
Page 141, changed "first" to "fist."
Page 153, changed "van" to "Van."
Page 160, changed "van" to "Van."
Page 168, changed "Van Wise" to "Van Hise."
Page 174, changed "Van Nise" to "Van Hise."
Page 179, changed "Castra" to "Castro."
Page 186, changed question mark to exclamation point after "walked on,"
changed "Castra" to "Castro," and changed "committed" to "commited."
Page 188, changed "take her from he" to "take her from me."
Page 196, added missing "in" to "he lifted her up in his arms."
Page 199, changed "bloor" to "blood."
Page 213, changed "heartlesness" to "heartlessness."
Page 214, changed "van" to "Van."
Page 223, added "his" to "her brother and his wife."
Page 224, changed "darding" to "darling."
Page 225, changed period to question mark after "fancy."
Page 234, changed comma to period at end of fourth full paragraph.
Page 237, added "I" to "but I was young."
Page 243, changed "van" to "Van."
Page 251, moved comma from after Nita in "The next day, Nita...."
End of Project Gutenberg's They Looked and Loved, by Mrs. Alex McVeigh Miller