"THE WITNESS IS DEAD."
In his room at the hotel Col. Montjoy awaited the return of his friend
Evan, who had gone to find out how, as he expressed it the boys were
getting on with their fight.
"I will strike the trail somewhere," he said, lightly. But he was
greatly disturbed over Col. Montjoy's concern, and noticed at once the
bad physical effect it had on him. His policy was to make light of the
matter, but he knew it was serious.
To force Royson to back down was now his object; in the event of that
failing, to see that Morgan had a fair show.
The colonel had removed his shoes and coat and was lying on the bed when
Evan returned. "I think I have given them a basis of settlement," said
the general. "I have vouched for the fact that the statements in
Royson's letter are erroneous. Upon my declaration he can retract and
apologize, or he must fight. I found him consulting with Thomas and
others, and I took it for granted he was looking for some way to dodge."
The colonel looked at him in surprise. "But how could you?"
"Upon my faith in John Morgan! He was a man of honor! He would never
have left his property to this man and put him upon the community if
there had been a cloud upon his title to gentility," and then he added,
with emotion: "A man who was willing to give his daughter to a friend
can risk a great deal to honor that friend's memory."
"There is but one Albert Evan in the world," said Montjoy, after a long
silence.
The general was getting himself a glass of wine. "Well, there is but one
such Montjoy, for that matter, but we two old fellows lose time sitting
up to pay each other compliments! There is much to be done. I am going
out to see Morgan; he is so new here he may need help! You stay and keep
quiet. The town is full of excitement over this affair, and people watch
me as if I were a curiosity. You can study on politics if you will;
consider the proposition that if Royson retracts we are entitled to
another trial over yonder in the lost county; that or we will threaten
them with an independent race."
"No! I am too glad to have a chance to stay out honorably. I know now
that my candidacy was a mistake. It has weakened me here fatally."
Col. Montjoy placed his hand over his heart wearily. The general brought
him the glass of wine he held.
"Nonsense! Too many cigars! Here's to long life, old friend, and to the
gallant Fire-Eaters." He laughed lightly over his remembrance of the
checkmate he had accomplished, buttoned the blue coat over his broad
chest and started. "I am going now to look in upon my outpost and see
what arrangements have been made for the night. So far we hold the
strong positions. Look for me about daylight!" And, lying there alone,
his friend drifted back in thought to Mary. He was not satisfied.
The door stood open at Ilexhurst when the general alighted. There was no
answer to his summons; he entered the lighted hall and went to the
library. Edward was sleeping quietly upon a lounge.
"What!" exclaimed the general, cheerily, "asleep on guard!" Edward
sprang to his feet.
"Gen. Evan!"
"Exactly; and as no one answered my summons to surrender I took
possession." Apologizing, Edward drew a chair, and they became seated.
"Seriously, my young friend," began the old soldier. "I was in the city
to-night and have learned from Col. Montjoy of the infamy perpetrated
upon you. My days of warfare are over, but I could not sit by and see
one to whom we all owe so much imposed upon. Let me add, also, that I
was very much charmed with you, Mr. Morgan. If there is anything I can
do for you in the way of advice and guidance in this matter kindly
command me. I might say the same thing for Montjoy, who is at the hotel,
but unfortunately, as you may not know, his daughter-in-law is Mr.
Royson's cousin, and acting upon my advice he is silent until the
necessity for action arises. I know him well enough to add that you can
rely upon his sympathy, and if needed, his aid. I have advised him to
take no action, as in the first place he is not needed, and in the
second it may bring about an estrangement between his son and himself."
Edward was very grateful and expressed himself earnestly, but his head
was in a whirl. He was thinking of the woman's story, and of Gerald.
"Such a piece of infamy as is embraced in that publication," said the
general, when finally the conversation went direct to the heart of the
trouble, "was never equaled in this state. Have they replied to your
note?"
"Not yet. I am waiting for the answer!"
"And your--cousin--is he here to receive it?"
"Gerald? Yes, he is here--that is, excuse me, I will see!"
Somewhat alarmed over the possibility of Gerald's absence, he hurried
through the house to the wing, and then into the glass-room. Gerald was
asleep. The inevitable little box of pellets upon his table told the sad
story. Edward could not awaken him.
"It is unfortunate, very," he said, re-entering the library hurriedly,
"but Gerald is asleep and cannot be aroused. The truth is, he is a
victim of opium. The poor fellow is now beyond cure, I am afraid; he is
frail, nervous, excitable, and cannot live without the drug. The day has
been a very trying one for him, and this is the first time he has been
out in years!"
"He must be awakened," said the general. "Of course he cannot, in the
event that these fellows want to fight, go on the field; and then his
relationship! But to-night! To-night he must be aroused! Let me go with
you." Edward started almost in terror.
"It might not be well, General--it is not necessary--"
"On the contrary, a strange voice may have more effect than yours--no
ladies about? Of course not! Lead on, I follow." Greatly confused,
Edward led the way. As they reached the wing he exclaimed the fact of
the glass-room, the whim, the fancy of an imaginative mind, and then
they entered.
Gerald was sleeping, as was his habit, with one arm extended, the other
under his head; his long hair clustering about his face. The light was
burning brightly, and the general approached. Thrilled to the heart,
Edward steeled himself for a shock. It was well he did. The general bent
forward and laid his hand on the sleeper's shoulder. Then he stepped
quickly back, seized Edward with the strength of a giant and stood there
trembling, his eyes riveted upon the pale face on the pillow.
"Am I dreaming?" he asked, in a changed voice. "Is this--the young
man--you spoke of?"
"It is Gerald Morgan."
"Strange! Strange! That likeness! The likeness of one who will never
wake again, my friend, never! Excuse me; I was startled, overwhelmed! I
would have sworn I looked upon that face as I did in the olden time,
when I used to go and stand in the moonlight and dream above it!"
"Ah," said Edward, his heart turning to ice within him, "whose was it?"
The answer came in a whisper.
"It was my wife's face first, and then it was the face of my daughter!"
He drew himself up proudly, and, looking long upon the sleeper, said,
gently: "They shall not waken you, poor child. Albert Evan will take
your place!" With infinite tenderness he brushed back a lock of hair
that fell across the white brow and stood watching him.
Edward turned from the scene with a feeling that it was too sacred for
intrusion. Over the sleeping form stood the old man. A generation of
loneliness, of silence, of dignified, uncomplaining manhood lay between
them. What right had he, an alien, to be dumb when a word might bring
hope and interest back to that saddened life? Was he less noble than the
man himself--than the frail being locked in the deathlike slumber?
He glanced once more at Gerald. How he had risen to the issue, and in
the face of every instinct of a shrinking nature had done his part until
the delicate machinery gave way! Suppose their positions were reversed;
that he lay upon the bed, and Gerald stood gazing into the night through
the dew-gemmed glass, possessed of such a secret. Would he hesitate? No!
The answer formed itself instantly--not unless he had base blood in his
veins.
It was that taint that now held back him, Edward Morgan; he was a
coward. And yet, what would be the effect if he should burst out in that
strange place with his fearful secret? There would be an outcry; Rita
would be dragged in, her story poured forth, and on him the old man's
eyes would be turned in horror and pity. Then the published card would
stand a sentence of social degradation, and he in a foreign land would
nurse the memory of a woman and his disgrace. And Royson! He ground his
teeth.
"I will settle that first," he said in a hoarse whisper, "and then if it
is true I will prove, God helping me, that His spirit can animate even
the child of a slave!" He bowed his head upon his breast and wept.
Presently there came to him a consciousness that the black shadow
pressing against the glass almost at his feet was more than a shadow. It
took the form of a human being and moved; then the glass gave way and
through the shivered fragments as it fell, he saw the face of Rita sink
from view. With a loud cry he dashed at the door and sprang into the
darkness! Her tall form lay doubled in the grass. He drew her into the
path of light that streamed out and bent above her. The woman struggled
to speak, moving her head from side to side and lifting it. A groan
burst from her as if she realized that the end had come and her effort
would be useless. He, too, realized it. He pointed upward quickly.
"There is your God," he said, earnestly, "waiting! Tell me in His name,
am I your child? You know! A mother never forgets! Answer--close your
eyes--give me a sign if they have lied to you!"
She half-rose in frantic struggle. Her eyes seemed bursting from their
sockets, and her lips framed her last sentence in almost a shriek.
"They lied!"
Edward was on his feet in an instant; his lips echoing her words. "They
lied!" The gaslight from within illumined his features, now bright with
triumph, as he looked upward.
The old general rushed out. He saw the prostrate form and fixed eyes of
the corpse.
"What is it?" he asked, horrified. Edward turned to him, dizzily; his
gaze followed the old man's.
"Ah!" he said, "the nurse! She has died of anxiety and watching!" A loud
summons from the ponderous knocker echoed in the house. Edward, excited,
had already begun to move away.
"Hold!" exclaimed the general, "where now?"
"I go to meet the slanderer of my race! God have mercy upon him now,
when we come face to face!" His manner alarmed the general. He caught
him by the arm.
"Easy now, my young friend; the poor woman's fate has unnerved you; not
a step further." He led Edward to the wing-room and forced him down to
the divan. "Stay until I return!" The summons without had been renewed;
the general responded in person and found Marsden Thomas at the door,
who gazed in amazement upon the stately form before him, and after a
moment's hesitation said, stiffly:
"I have a communication to deliver to Gerald Morgan. Will you kindly
summon him, general?"
"I know your errand," said Evan, blandly, "and you need waste no
ceremony on me. Gerald is too ill to act longer for Edward Morgan. I
take his place to-night."
"You! Gen. Evan!"
"Why not? Did you ever hear that Albert Evan left a friend upon the
field? Come in, come in, Thomas; we are mixed up in this matter, but it
is not our quarrel. I want to talk with you."
Thomas smiled; the matter was to end in a farce.
Without realizing it, these two men were probably the last in the world
to whom should have fallen an affair of honor that might have been
settled by concessions. The bluff old general defeated Thomas' efforts
to stand on formal ground, got him into a seat, and went directly at the
matter.
"It must strike you, Thomas, as absurd that in these days men cannot
settle their quarrels peacefully. There is obliged to be a right and a
wrong side always, and sometimes the right side has some fault in it and
the wrong side some justice. No man can hesitate, when this adjustment
has been made, to align himself with one and repudiate the other. Now,
we both represent friends, and neither of us can suffer them to come out
of this matter smirched. I would not be willing for Royson to do so, and
certainly not for Morgan. If we can bring both parties out safely, is it
not our duty to do so? You will agree with me!" Thomas said without
hesitation:
"I waive a great deal, General, on your account, when I discuss this
matter at all; but I certainly cannot enter into the merits of the
quarrel unless you withdraw your demand upon us. You have demanded a
retraction of a charge made by us or satisfaction. You cannot expect me
to discuss the advisability of a retraction when I have here a note--"
"Which you have not delivered, and which I, an old man sick of war and
quarrels, beg that you will not deliver until we have talked over this
matter fully. Why cannot Royson retract, when he has my assurance that
he is in error?"
"For the reason, probably, General, that he does not believe your
statements--although his friends do!" Evan arose and paced the room.
Coming back he stood over the young man.
"Did he say so? By the eternal--"
"General, suppose we settle one affair at a time; I as Royson's friend,
herewith hand you, his reply to the demand of Mr. Morgan. Now, give me
your opinion as to the locality where this correspondence can be quietly
and successfully concluded, in the event that your principal wishes to
continue it." Trembling with rage the old man opened the message; it
read:
"Mr. Edward Morgan--Sir. I have your communication of this date
handed to me at 8 o'clock to-night by Mr. Gerald Morgan. I have
no retraction or apology to make.
"Amos Royson."
Gen. Evan looked upon the missive sadly and long. He placed it upon the
table and resumed his seat, saying:
"Do you understand, Mr. Thomas, that what I have said is entirely upon
my own responsibility and as a man who thinks his age and record have
given him a privilege with his young friends?"
"Entirely, General. And I trust you understand that I am without the
privilege of age and record, and cannot take the same liberties." The
general made no reply, but was looking intently upon the face of the
young man. Presently he said, earnestly:
"Your father and I were friends and stood together on many a bloody
field. I bore him in my arms from Shiloh and gazed upon his dead face an
hour later. No braver man ever lived than William Thomas. I believe you
are the worthy son of a noble sire and incapable of any act that could
reflect disgrace upon his name."
The general continued: "You cannot link yourself to an unjust cause and
escape censure; such a course would put you at war with yourself and at
war with those who hope to see you add new honors to a name already dear
to your countrymen. When you aid and abet Amos Royson, in his attempt to
put a stigma upon Edward Morgan, you aid and abet him in an effort to do
that for which there is no excuse. Everything stated in Royson's letter,
and especially the personal part of it, can be easily disproved." Thomas
reflected a moment. Finally he said:
"I thank you, General, for your kind words. The matter is not one within
my discretion, but give me the proofs you speak of, and I will make
Royson withdraw, if possible, or abandon the quarrel myself!"
"I have given my word; is that not enough?"
"On that only, Mr. Royson's friends require him to give Mr. Morgan the
recognition of a gentleman; without it he would not. The trouble is, you
can be mistaken." Evan reflected and a look of trouble settled upon his
face.
"Mr. Thomas, I am going to make a revelation involving the honor and
reputation of a family very dear to me. I do it only to save bloodshed.
Give me your word of honor that never in any way, so long as you may
live, will you reveal it. I shall not offer my unsupported word; I will
produce a witness."
"You have my word of honor that your communication will be kept sacred,"
said Thomas, greatly interested. The general bowed his head. Then he
raised his hand above the call bell; it did not descend. The martial
figure for a moment seemed to shrink and age. When the general looked at
length toward his visitor, he said in a whisper:
"The witness is dead!" Then he arose to his feet. "It is too late!" he
added, with a slight gesture; "we shall fight!"