"Northmour," I remember saying, "you can kill me afterwards. Let us first
attend to Clara."
He was at that moment uppermost. Scarcely had the words passed my lips,
when he had leaped to his feet and ran toward the tent; and the next
moment, he was straining Clara to his heart and covering her unconscious
hands and face with his caresses.
"Shame!" I cried. "Shame to you, Northmour!"
And, giddy though I still was, I struck him repeatedly upon the head and
shoulders.
He relinquished his grasp, and faced me in the broken moonlight.
"I had you under, and I let you go," said he; "and now you strike me!
Coward!"
"You are the coward," I retorted. "Did she wish your kisses while she was
still sensible of what you wanted? Not she! And now she may be dying; and
you waste this precious time, and abuse her helplessness. Stand aside, and
let me help her."
He confronted me for a moment, white and menacing; then suddenly he
stepped aside.
"Help her then," said he.
I threw myself on my knees beside her, and loosened, as well as I was
able, her dress and corset; but while I was thus engaged, a grasp
descended on my shoulder.
"Keep your hands off her," said Northmour, fiercely. "Do you think I have
no blood in my veins?"
"Northmour," I cried, "if you will neither help her yourself, nor let me
do so, do you know that I shall have to kill you?"
"That is better!" he cried. "Let her die also, where's the harm? Step
aside from that girl! and stand up to fight."
"You will observe," said I, half rising, "that I have not kissed her yet."
"I dare you to," he cried.
I do not know what possessed me; it was one of the things I am most
ashamed of in my life, though, as my wife used to say, I knew that my
kisses would be always welcome were she dead or living; down I fell again
upon my knees, parted the hair from her forehead, and, with the dearest
respect, laid my lips for a moment on that cold brow. It was such a caress
as a father might have given; it was such a one as was not unbecoming
from a man soon to die to a woman already dead.
"And now," said I, "I am at your service, Mr. Northmour."
But I saw, to my surprise, that he had turned his back upon me.
"Do you hear?" I asked.
"Yes," said he, "I do. If you wish to fight, I am ready. If not, go on and
save Clara. All is one to me."
I did not wait to be twice bidden; but, stooping again over Clara,
continued my efforts to revive her. She still lay white and lifeless; I
began to fear that her sweet spirit had indeed fled beyond recall, and
horror and a sense of utter desolation seized upon my heart. I called her
by name with the most endearing inflections; I chafed and beat her hands;
now I laid her head low, now supported it against my knee; but all seemed
to be in vain, and the lids still lay heavy on her eyes.
"Northmour," I said, "there is my hat. For God's sake bring some water
from the spring."
Almost in a moment he was by my side with the water.
"I have brought it in my own," he said. "You do not grudge me the
privilege?"
"Northmour," I was beginning to say, as I laved her head and breast; but
he interrupted me savagely.
"Oh, you hush up!" he said. "The best thing you can do is to say nothing."
I had certainly no desire to talk, my mind being swallowed up in concern
for my dear love and her condition; so I continued in silence to do my
best toward her recovery, and, when the hat was empty, returned it to him,
with one word--"More." He had, perhaps, gone several times upon this
errand, when Clara reopened her eyes.
"Now," said he, "since she is better, you can spare me, can you not? I
wish you a good night, Mr. Cassilis."
And with that he was gone among the thicket. I made a fire, for I had now
no fear of the Italians, who had even spared all the little possessions
left in my encampment; and, broken as she was by the excitement and the
hideous catastrophe of the evening, I managed, in one way or another--by
persuasion, encouragement, warmth, and such simple remedies as I could lay
my hand on--to bring her back to some composure of mind and strength of
body.
Day had already come, when a sharp "Hist!" sounded from the thicket. I
started from the ground; but the voice of Northmour was heard adding, in
the most tranquil tones: "Come here, Cassilis, and alone; I want to show
you something."
I consulted Clara with my eyes, and, receiving her tacit permission, left
her alone, and clambered out of the den. At some distance off I saw
Northmour leaning against an elder; and, as soon as he perceived me, he
began walking seaward. I had almost overtaken him as he reached the
outskirts of the wood.
"Look," said he, pausing.
A couple of steps more brought me out of the foliage. The light of the
morning lay cold and clear over that well-known scene. The pavilion was
but a blackened wreck; the roof had fallen in, one of the gables had
fallen out; and, far and near, the face of the links was cicatrized with
little patches of burned furze. Thick smoke still went straight upward in
the windless air of the morning, and a great pile of ardent cinders filled
the bare walls of the house, like coals in an open grate. Close by the
islet a schooner yacht lay to, and a well-manned boat was pulling
vigorously for the shore.
"The 'Red Earl'!" I cried. "The 'Red Earl' twelve hours too late!"
"Feel in your pocket, Frank. Are you armed?" asked Northmour.
I obeyed him, and I think I must have become deadly pale. My revolver had
been taken from me.
"You see, I have you in my power," he continued. "I disarmed you last
night while you were nursing Clara; but this morning--here--take your
pistol. No thanks!" he cried, holding up his hand. "I do not like them;
that is the only way you can annoy me now."
He began to walk forward across the links to meet the boat, and I followed
a step or two behind. In front of the pavilion I paused to see where Mr.
Huddlestone had fallen; but there was no sign of him, nor so much as a
trace of blood.
"Graden Floe," said Northmour.
He continued to advance till we had come to the head of the beach.
"No farther, please," said he. "Would you like to take her to Graden
House?"
"Thank you," replied I; "I shall try to get her to the minister at Graden
Wester."
The prow of the boat here grated on the beach, and a sailor jumped ashore
with a line in his hand.
"Wait a minute, lads!" cried Northmour; and then lower and to my private
ear, "You had better say nothing of all this to her," he added.
"On the contrary!" I broke out, "she shall know everything that I can
tell."
"You do not understand," he returned, with an air of great dignity. "It
will be nothing to her; she expects it of me. Good-by!" he added, with a
nod.