When I reached the charming little Surrey village of Bishopstowe, I
could see that it bore out Kitwater's description of it. A prettier
little place could scarcely have been discovered, with its tree-shaded
high-road, its cluster of thatched cottages, its blacksmith's shop,
rustic inn with the signboard on a high post before the door, and last
but not least, the quaint little church standing some hundred yards back
from the main road, and approached from the lych-gate by an avenue
of limes.
"Here," I said to myself, "is a place where a man might live to be a
hundred, undisturbed by the rush and bustle of the Great World."
That was my feeling then, but since I have come to know it better, and
have been permitted an opportunity of seeing for myself something of the
inner life of the hamlet, I have discovered that it is only the life of
a great city, on a small scale. There is the same keen competition in
trade, with the same jealousies and bickerings. However, on this
peaceful Sunday morning it struck me as being delightful. There was an
old-world quiet about it that was vastly soothing. The rooks cawed
lazily in the elms before the church as if they knew it were Sunday
morning and a day of rest. A dog lay extended in the middle of the
road, basking in the sunshine, a thing which he would not have dared to
do on a weekday. Even the little stream that runs under the old stone
bridge, which marks the centre of the village, and then winds its
tortuous course round the churchyard, through the Squire's park, and
then down the valley on its way to the sea, seemed to flow somewhat more
slowly than was its wont.
Feeling just in the humour for a little moralizing, I opened the
lych-gate and entered the churchyard. The congregation were singing the
last hymn, the Old Hundredth, if I remember rightly, and the sound of
their united voices fitted perfectly into the whole scheme, giving it
the one touch that was lacking. As I strolled along I glanced at the
inscriptions on the various tomb-stones, and endeavoured to derive from
them some notion of the lives and characters of those whose memories
they perpetuated.
"Sacred to the memory of Erasmus Gunning, twenty-seven years
Schoolmaster of this Parish. Born 24th of March, 1806, and rested from
his labours on September the 19th, 1876." Seating myself on the low wall
that surrounded the churchyard, I looked down upon the river, and while
so doing, reflected upon Erasmus Gunning. What had he been like, this
knight of the ferrule, who for twenty-seven years acted as pedagogue to
this tiny hamlet? What good had he done in his world? Had he realized
his life's ambition? Into many of the congregation now worshipping
yonder he must have driven the three R's, possibly with the assistance
of the faithful ferrule aforesaid, yet how many of them gave a thought
to his memory! In this case the assertion that he "rested from his
labours" was a trifle ambiguous. Consigning poor Erasmus to oblivion, I
continued my walk. Presently my eyes caught an inscription that made me
halt again. It was dedicated to the "Loving Memory of William Kitwater,
and Susan, his wife." I was still looking at it, when I heard a step on
the gravel-path behind me, and turning round, I found myself standing
face to face with Miss Kitwater. To use the conventional phrase, church
had "come out," and the congregation was even now making its way down
the broad avenue towards the high-road.
"How do you do, Mr. Fairfax?" said Miss Kitwater, giving me her hand as
she spoke. "It is kind indeed of you to come down. I hope you have good
news for us?"
[Illustration: "'HOW DO YOU DO, MR. FAIRFAX?' SAID MISS KITWATER."]
"I am inclined to consider it good news myself," I said. "I hope you
will think so too."
She did not question me further about it then, but asking me to excuse
her for a moment, stepped over the little plot of ground where her dear
ones lay, and plucked some of the dead leaves from the flowers that grew
upon it. To my thinking she was just what an honest English girl should
be; straight-forward and gentle, looking the whole world in the face
with frank and honourable simplicity. When she had finished her labour
of love, which only occupied her a few moments, she suggested that we
should stroll on to her house.
"My uncle will be wondering what has become of me," she said, "and he
will also be most anxious to see you."
"He does not accompany you to church then?"
"No," she answered. "He is so conscious of his affliction that he cannot
bear it to be remarked. He usually stays at home and walks up and down a
path in the garden, brooding, I am afraid, over his treatment by Mr.
Hayle. It goes to my heart to see him."
"And Mr. Codd?"
"He, poor little man, spends most of his time reading such works on
Archæology as he can obtain. It is his one great study, and I am
thankful he has such a hobby to distract his mind from his own trouble."
"Their coming to England must have made a great change in your life," I
remarked.
"It _has_ made a difference," she answered. "But one should not lead
one's life exactly to please one's self. They were in sore distress, and
I am thankful that they came to me, and that I had the power to
help them."
This set me thinking. She spoke gravely, and I knew that she meant what
she said. But underlying it there was a suggestion that, for some reason
or another, she had not been altogether favourably impressed by her
visitors. Whether I was right in my suppositions I could not tell then,
but I knew that I should in all probability be permitted a better
opportunity of judging later on. We crossed the little bridge, and
passed along the high road for upwards of a mile, until we found
ourselves standing at the entrance to one of the prettiest little
country residences it has even been my lot to find. A drive, some thirty
yards or so in length, led up to the house and was shaded by overhanging
trees. The house itself was of two stories and was covered by creepers.
The garden was scrupulously neat, and I fancied that I could detect its
mistress's hand in it. Shady walks led from it in various directions,
and at the end of one of these I could discern a tall, restless figure,
pacing up and down.
"There is my uncle," said the girl, referring to the figure I have just
described. "That is his sole occupation. He likes it because it is the
only part of the garden in which he can move about without a guide. How
empty and hard his life must seem to him, now, Mr. Fairfax?"
"It must indeed," I replied. "To my thinking blindness is one of the
worst ills that can happen to a man. It must be particularly hard to one
who has led such a vigorous life as your uncle has done."
I could almost have declared that she shuddered at my words. Did she
know more about her uncle and his past life than she liked to think
about? I remembered one or two expressions he had let fall in his
excitement when he had been talking to me, and how I had commented upon
them as being strange words to come from the lips of a missionary. I had
often wondered whether the story he had told me about their life in
China, and Hayle's connection with it, had been a true one. The
tenaciousness with which a Chinaman clings to the religion of his
forefathers is proverbial, and I could not remember having ever heard
that a Mandarin, or an official of high rank, had been converted to the
Christian Faith. Even if he had, it struck me as being highly improbable
that he would have been the possessor of such princely treasure, and
even supposing that to be true, that he would, at his death, leave it to
such a man as Kitwater. No, I fancied if we could only get at the truth
of the story, we should find that it was a good deal more picturesque,
not to use a harsher term, than we imagined. For a moment I had almost
been tempted to believe that the stones were Hayle's property, and that
these two men were conducting their crusade with the intention of
robbing him of them. Yet, on maturer reflection, this did not fit in.
There was the fact that they had certainly been mutilated as they
described, and also their hatred of Hayle to be weighed in one balance,
while Hayle's manifest fear of them could be set in the other.
"If I am not mistaken that is your step, Mr. Fairfax," said the blind
man, stopping suddenly in his walk, and turning his sightless face in my
direction. "It's wonderful how the loss of one's sight sharpens one's
ears. I suppose you met Margaret on the road."
"I met Miss Kitwater in the churchyard," I replied.
"A very good meeting-place," he chuckled sardonically. "It's where most
of us meet each other sooner or later. Upon my word, I think the dead
are luckier than the living. In any case they are more fortunate than
poor devils like Codd and myself. But I am keeping you standing, won't
you sit down somewhere and tell me your news? I have been almost
counting the minutes for your arrival. I know you would not be here
to-day unless you had something important to communicate to me. You have
found Hayle?"
He asked the question with feverish eagerness, as if he hoped within a
few hours to be clutching at the other's throat. I could see that his
niece noticed it too, and that she recoiled a little from him in
consequence. I thereupon set to work and told them of all that had
happened since I had last seen them, described my lucky meeting with
Hayle at Charing Cross, my chase after him across London, the trick he
had played me at Foxwell's Hotel, and my consequent fruitless journey to
Southampton.
"And he managed to escape you after all," said Kitwater. "That man would
outwit the Master of all Liars Himself. He is out of England by this
time, and we shall lose him."
"He has not escaped me," I replied quietly. "I know where he is, and I
have got a man on his track."
"Then where is he?" asked Kitwater. "If you know where he is, you ought
to be with him yourself instead of down here. You are paid to conduct
the case. How do you know that your man may not bungle it, and that we
may not lose him again?"
His tone was so rude and his manner so aggressive, that his niece was
about to protest. I made a sign to her, however, not to do so.
"I don't think you need be afraid, Mr. Kitwater," I said more soothingly
than I felt. "My man is a very clever and reliable fellow, and you may
be sure that, having once set eyes on Mr. Hayle, he will not lose sight
of him again. I shall leave for Paris to-morrow morning, and shall
immediately let you know the result of my search. Will that suit you?"
"It will suit me when I get hold of Hayle," he replied. "Until then I
shall know no peace. Surely you must understand that?"
Then, imagining perhaps, that he had gone too far, he began to fawn upon
me, and what was worse praised my methods of elucidating a mystery. I
cannot say which I disliked the more. Indeed, had it not been that I had
promised Miss Kitwater to take up the case, and that I did not want to
disappoint her, I believe I should have abandoned it there and then, out
of sheer disgust. A little later our hostess proposed that we should
adjourn to the house, as it was nearly lunch-time. We did so, and I was
shown to a pretty bedroom to wash my hands. It was a charming apartment,
redolent of the country, smelling of lavender, and after London, as
fresh as a glimpse of a new life. I looked about me, took in the
cleanliness of everything, and contrasted it with my own dingy
apartments at Rickford's Hotel, where the view from the window was not
of meadows and breezy uplands, but of red roofs, chimney-pots, and
constantly revolving cowls. I could picture the view from this window in
the early morning, with the dew upon the grass, and the blackbirds
whistling in the shrubbery. I am not a vain man, I think, but at this
juncture I stood before the looking-glass and surveyed myself. For the
first time in my life I could have wished that I had been
better-looking. At last I turned angrily away.
"What a duffer I am to be sure!" I said to myself. "If I begin to get
notions like this in my head there is no knowing where I may end. As if
any girl would ever think twice about me!"
Thereupon I descended to the drawing-room, which I found empty. It was
a true woman's room, daintily furnished, with little knick-knacks here
and there, a work-basket put neatly away for the Sabbath, and an open
piano with one of Chopin's works upon the music-rest. Leading out of the
drawing-room was a small conservatory, filled with plants. It was a
pretty little place and I could not refrain from exploring it. I am
passionately fond of flowers, but my life at that time was not one that
permitted me much leisure to indulge in my liking. As I stood now,
however, in the charming place, among the rows of neatly-arranged pots,
I experienced a sort of waking dream. I seemed to see myself standing in
this very conservatory, hard at work upon my flowers, a pipe in my mouth
and my favourite old felt hat upon my head. Crime and criminals were
alike forgotten; I no longer lived in a dingy part of the Town, and what
was better than all I had----
"Do you know I feel almost inclined to offer you the proverbial penny,"
said Miss Kitwater's voice behind me, at the drawing-room door. "Is it
permissible to ask what you were thinking about?"
I am not of course prepared to swear it, but I honestly believe for the
first time for many years, I blushed.
"I was thinking how very pleasant a country life must be," I said,
making the first excuse that came to me. "I almost wish that I could
lead one."
"Then why don't you? Surely it would not be so very difficult?"
"I am rather afraid it would," I answered. "And yet I don't know why it
should be."
"Perhaps Mrs. Fairfax would not care about it," she continued, as we
returned to the drawing-room together.
"Good gracious!" I remarked. "There is no Mrs. Fairfax. I am the most
confirmed of old bachelors. I wonder you could not see that. Is not the
word _crustiness_ written plainly upon my forehead?"
"I am afraid I cannot see it," she answered. "I am not quite certain who
it was, but I fancy it was my uncle who informed me that you
were married."
"It was very kind of him," I said. "But it certainly is not the case. I
fear my wife would have rather a lonely time of it if it were. I am
obliged to be away from home so much, you see, and for so long at
a time."
"Yours must be indeed a strange profession, Mr. Fairfax, if I may say
so," she continued. "Some time ago I came across an account, in a
magazine, of your life, and the many famous cases in which you had
taken part."
"Ah! I remember the wretched thing," I said. "I am sorry that you should
ever have seen it."
"And why should you be sorry?"
"Because it is a silly thing, and I have always regretted allowing the
man to publish it. He certainly called upon me and asked me a lot of
questions, after which he went away and wrote that article. Ever since
then I have felt like a conceited ass, who tried to make himself out
more clever than he really was."
"I don't think you would do that," she said. "But, if you will let me
say so, yours must be a very trying life, and also an extremely
dangerous one. I am afraid you must look upon human nature from a very
strange point of view!"
"Not more strange probably than you do," I answered.
"But you are continually seeing the saddest side of it. To you all the
miseries that a life of crime entails, are visible. The greater part of
your time is spent among desperate men who are without hope, and to whom
even their own shadows are a constant menace. I wonder that you still
manage to retain your kind heart."
"But how do you know that my heart is kind?" I inquired.
"If for no other reason, simply because you have taken up my uncle's
case," she answered. "Do you think when he was so rude to you just now,
that I could not see that you pitied him, and for that reason you
forbore to take advantage of your power? I know you have a kind heart."
"And you find it difficult to assimilate that kind heart with the
remorseless detective of Public Life?"
"I find it difficult to recognize in you the man who, on a certain
notable occasion, went into a thieves' den in Chicago unaccompanied, and
after a terrible struggle in which you nearly lost your life, succeeded
in effecting the arrest of a notorious murderer."
At that moment the gong in the hall sounded for lunch, and I was by no
means sorry for the interruption. We found Kitwater and Codd awaiting
our coming in the dining-room, and we thereupon sat down to the meal.
When we left the room again, we sat in the garden and smoked, and later
in the afternoon, my hostess conducted me over her estate, showed me her
vineries, introduced me to her two sleek Jerseys, who had their home in
the meadow I had seen from the window; to her poultry, pigs, and the
pigeons who came fluttering about her, confident that they would come to
no harm. Meanwhile her uncle had resumed his restless pacing up and down
the path on which I had first seen him, Codd had returned to his
archaeological studies, and I was alone with Miss Kitwater. We were
standing alone together, I remember, at the gate that separated the
garden from the meadowland. I knew as well as possible, indeed I had
known it since we had met in the churchyard that morning, that she had
something to say to me, something concerning which she had not quite
made up her mind. What it was, however, I fancied I could hazard a very
good guess, but I was determined not to forestall her, but to wait and
let her broach it to me in her own way. This, I fancied, she was now
about to do.
"Mr. Fairfax," she began, resting her clasped hands upon the bar of the
gate as she spoke, "I want, if you will allow me, to have a serious talk
with you. I could not have a better opportunity than the present, and,
such as it is, I want to make the best of it."
"I am quite at your service, Miss Kitwater," I replied, "and if I can be
of any use to you I hope you will tell me. Pray let me know what I can
do for you?"
"It is about my uncle and Mr. Codd that I want to speak to you," she
said, sinking her voice a little, as if she were afraid they might hear.
"And what about them?"
"I want to be loyal to them, and yet I want to know what you think of
the whole affair," she said, looking intently at me as she spoke.
"Believe me, I have good and sufficient reasons for my request."
"I am to tell exactly what I think about their pursuit of this man
Hayle? And what chances of success I think they possess?" I said.
"I am not thinking so much of their success," she returned, "as of the
real nature of their case."
"I believe I understand what is passing in your mind," I said. "Indeed
I should not be surprised if the suspicion you entertain is not the same
as I have myself."
"You have been suspicious then?"
"I could scarcely fail to be," I replied.
"Perhaps you will tell me what you suspect?"
"Will you forgive me, in my turn, if I am abrupt, or if I speak my mind
a little too plainly?"
"You could not do that," she answered with a sigh. "I want to know your
exact thoughts, and then I shall be able to form my own conclusions."
"Well," I said, "before I begin, may I put one or two questions to you?
You will, of course, remember that I had never seen or heard of your
uncle and Mr. Codd until they stopped me on Ludgate Hill. They were and
practically are strangers to me. I have heard their story of their
treasure, but I have not heard what any one else has to say upon
the subject."
"I think I understand. Now what are your questions?"
"In the first place, did your late father ever speak to you of his
brother as being a missionary in China?"
She shook her head, and from the look upon her face I could see that I
had touched upon something painful. This, at least, was one of the
things that had struck her as suspicious.
"If he were a missionary, I am quite sure my father did not know it,"
she said. "In fact I always understood that he was somewhat of a
scapegrace, and in consequence could never settle down to anything. That
is your first, now what is your second question, Mr. Fairfax?"
I paused for a moment before I replied.
"My second partakes more of the nature of an assertion than a question,"
I answered. "As I read it, you are more afraid of what may happen should
the two men meet than anything else."
"Yes, that is just what I _am_ afraid of," she replied. "My uncle's
temper is so violent, and his desire for revenge so absorbing, that I
dare not think what would happen if he came into actual contact with
Hayle. Now that I have replied to your questions, will you give me the
answer I want? That is to say will you tell me what you think of the
whole affair?"
"If you wish it, I will," I said slowly. "You have promised to permit me
to be candid, and I am going to take advantage of that permission. In my
own mind I do not believe the story they tell. I do not believe that
they were ever missionaries, though we have convincing proofs that they
have been in the hands of the Chinese. That Hayle betrayed them I have
not the least doubt, it seems consistent with his character, but where
they obtained the jewels, that are practically the keystones to the
whole affair, I have no more notion than you. They may have been
honestly come by, or they may not. So far as the present case is
concerned that fact is immaterial. There is still, however, one vital
point we have to consider. If the gems in question belong equally to the
three men, each is entitled to his proper share, either of the stones or
of the amounts realized by the sale. That share, as you already know,
would amount to a considerable sum of money. Your uncle, I take it, has
not a penny-piece in the world, and his companion is in the same
destitute condition. Now we will suppose that I find Hayle for them, and
they meet. Does it not seem to you quite possible that your uncle's rage
might lead him to do something desperate, in order to revenge himself
upon the other? But if he could command himself he would probably get
his money? If, on the other hand, they do not meet, then what is to be
done? Forgive me, Miss Kitwater, for prying into your private affairs,
but in my opinion it is manifestly unfair that you should have to
support these two men for the rest of their existences."
"You surely must see that I would rather do that than let my father's
brother commit a crime," she returned, more earnestly than she had
yet spoken.
The position was decidedly an awkward one. It was some proof of the
girl's sterling qualities that she should be prepared to make such a
sacrifice for the sake of a man whom it was certainly impossible to
love, and for that reason even to respect. I looked at her with an
admiration in my face that I did not attempt to conceal. I said nothing
by way of praise, however. It would have been an insult to her to have
even hinted at such a thing.
"Pardon me," I said at last, "but there is one thing that must be taken
into consideration. Some day, Miss Kitwater, you may marry, and in that
case your husband might not care about the arrangement you have made.
Such things have happened before now."
She blushed a rosy red and hesitated before she replied.
"I do not consider it very likely that I shall ever marry," she
answered. "And even if I did I should certainly not marry a man who
would object to my doing what I consider to be my duty. And now that we
have discussed all this, Mr. Fairfax, what do you think we had better
do? I understood you to say to my uncle that you intend leaving for
Paris to-morrow morning, in order to continue your search for the man
Hayle. Supposing you find him, what will you do then?"
"In such a case," I said slowly, looking at her all the time, "I should
endeavour to get your uncle's and Codd's share of the treasure from him.
If I am successful, then I shall let him go where he pleases."
"And supposing you are unsuccessful in obtaining the money or the
gems?"
"Then I must endeavour to think of some other way," I replied, "but
somehow I do not think I shall be unsuccessful."
"Nor do I," she answered, looking me full and fair in the face. "I fancy
you know that I believe in you most implicitly, Mr. Fairfax."
"In that case, do you mind shaking hands upon it?" I said.
"I will do so with much pleasure," she answered. "You cannot imagine
what a weight you have lifted off my mind. I have been so depressed
about it lately that I have scarcely known what to do. I have lain awake
at night, turning it over and over in my mind, and trying to convince
myself as to what was best to be done. Then my uncle told me you were
coming down here, and I resolved to put the case before you as I have
done and to ask your opinion."
She gave me her little hand, and I took it and held it in my own. Then I
released it and we strode back along the garden-path together without
another word. The afternoon was well advanced by this time, and when we
reached the summer-house, where Codd was still reading, we found that a
little wicker tea-table had been brought out from the house and that
chairs had been placed for us round it. To my thinking there is nothing
that becomes a pretty woman more than the mere commonplace act of
pouring out tea. It was certainly so in this case. When I looked at the
white cloth upon the table, the heavy brass tray, and the silver jugs
and teapot, and thought of my own cracked earthenware vessel, then
reposing in a cupboard in my office, and in which I brewed my cup of tea
every afternoon, I smiled to myself. I felt that I should never use it
again without recalling this meal. After that I wondered whether it
would ever be my good fortune to sit in this garden again, and to sip my
Orange Pekoe from the same dainty service. The thought that I might not
do so was, strangely enough, an unpleasant one, and I put it from me
with all promptness. During the meal, Kitwater scarcely uttered a word.
We had exhausted the probabilities of the case long since, and I soon
found that he could think or talk of nothing else. At six o'clock I
prepared to make my adieux. My train left Bishopstowe for London at the
half-hour, and I should just have time to walk the distance comfortably.
To my delight my hostess decided to go to church, and said she would
walk with me as far as the lych-gate. She accordingly left us and went
into the house to make her toilet. As soon as she had gone Kitwater
fumbled his way across to where I was sitting, and having discovered a
chair beside me, seated himself in it.
"Mr. Fairfax," said he, "I labour under the fear that you cannot
understand my position. Can you realize what it is like to feel shut up
in the dark, waiting and longing always for only one thing? Could you
not let me come to Paris with you to-morrow?"
"Impossible," I said. "It is out of the question. It could not be
thought of for a moment!"
"But why not? I can see no difficulty in it?"
"If for no other reason because it would destroy any chance of my even
getting on the scent. I should be hampered at every turn."
He heaved a heavy sigh.
"Blind! blind!" he said with despair in his voice. "But I know that I
shall meet him some day, and when I do----"
His ferocity was the more terrible by reason of his affliction.
"Only wait, Mr. Kitwater," I replied. "Wait, and if I can help you, you
shall have your treasure back again. Will you then be satisfied?"
"Yes, I'll be satisfied," he answered, but with what struck me as almost
reluctance. "Yes, when I have my treasure back again I'll be satisfied,
and so will Codd. In the meantime I'll wait here in the dark, the dark
in which the days and nights are the same. Yes, I'll wait and wait
and wait."
At that moment Miss Kitwater made her reappearance in the garden, and I
rose to bid my clients farewell.
"Good-bye, Mr. Kitwater," I said. "I'll write immediately I reach Paris,
and let you know how I am getting on."
"You are very kind," Kitwater answered, and Codd nodded his head.
My hostess and I then set off down the drive to the righ road which we
followed towards the village. It was a perfect evening, and the sun was
setting in the west in a mass of crimson and gold. At first we talked of
various commonplace subjects, but it was not very long before we came
back, as I knew we should do, to the one absorbing topic.
"There is another thing I want to set right with you, Miss Kitwater," I
said, as we paused upon the bridge to which I have elsewhere referred.
"It is only a small matter. Somehow, however, I feel that I must settle
it, before I can proceed further in the affair with any satisfaction
to myself."
She looked at me in surprise.
"What is it?" she asked, "I thought we had settled everything."
"So far as I can see that is the only matter that remains," I answered.
"Yet it is sufficiently important to warrant my speaking to you about
it. What I want to know is, who I am serving?"
"I don't think I understand," she said, drawing lines with her umbrella
upon the stone coping of the bridge as she spoke.
"And yet my meaning is clear," I returned. "What I want to be certain of
is, whether I am serving you or your uncle?"
"I don't think you are _serving_ either of us," she answered. "You are
helping us to right a great wrong."
"Forgive me, but that is merely trifling with words. I am going to be
candid once more. You are paying the money, I believe?"
In some confusion she informed me that this certainly was the case.
"Very well, then, I am certainly your servant," I said. "It is your
interests I shall have to study."
"I can trust them implicitly to you, I am sure, Mr. Fairfax," she
replied. "And now here we are at the church. If you walk quickly you
will be just in time to catch your train. Let me thank you again for
coming down to-day."
"It has been a great pleasure to me," I replied. "Perhaps when I return
from Paris you will permit me to come down again to report progress?"
"We shall be very pleased to see you," she answered. "Now, good-bye, and
a pleasant journey to you!"
We shook hands and parted. As I passed along the road I watched her
making her way along the avenue towards the church. There was need for
me to shake my head.
"George Fairfax," said I, "it would require very little of that young
lady's society to enable you to make a fool of yourself."