BAFFLED.
We must go back to the moment when Ralph saw his uncle leave the room,
fell the guard, and speed away through the mazy passages.
He followed as well as he was able, for he was wholly unacquainted with
the situation of the different cells and the way which led to them.
Every few moments Ralph paused to listen, to catch the sound of the
squire’s footsteps, and then hurried on.
At last there was a moment of utter silence, then he heard the sharp
clang of a heavy bolt as it was drawn from its socket, then the noise of
an opening door, after which an almost satanic laugh echoed through
those low vaults as Squire Moulton at last reached his victim.
Ralph crept cautiously nearer. He did not wish to be seen by his uncle,
and resolved not to interfere in any way, unless he should attempt
violence.
“Ha!” he heard the squire say, tauntingly, “I thought I’d bring you news
of the wedding. Your——” Ralph could not catch the next word, though he
strained his ears to do so—“has wedded the wealthy little lady, as I
told you he would, and deeming it likely that you would be anxious to
learn when it was all nicely over, I came to tell you.”
“Cease, babbler, and leave; I would be alone,” replied Mr. Ellerton,
commandingly.
“Oh, ho! Command the rocks to open and set you free; perhaps they will
hear and obey,” was the sneering retort. “But I cannot obey you just
yet; you know, I promised to return to you again, and I always keep
promises of this kind, especially when I have a purpose to accomplish.”
Mr. Ellerton bowed his head wearily upon his hands and made no reply.
The evil-hearted squire went on, sneeringly:
“Nice little match that of Ralph Ellerton’s. I presume you will be
interested to know that he will now have the command of three fortunes;
you have always taken such an interest in the lad’s welfare that it must
be pleasing to you to know of his present good luck. Miss Dupont’s, or
rather Mrs. Ellerton’s fortune, united with my own, and then yours on
the top of that, will make quite a little pile, amounting in all to
about two millions of dollars. You perceive I keep posted about these
things.”
“Villain! will you hold your peace?” demanded Mr. Ellerton, exasperated
nearly beyond control.
He raised his head again, and sharply scrutinized the face of his enemy,
and grew a shade paler at the diabolical purpose he saw written there.
He saw at once that the man meant to take his life.
Step by step the squire approached nearer to his victim, until only a
short space remained between them.
In a stern, authoritative tone, Mr. Ellerton cried out:
“Back, villain! Do not dare to take another step, or you shall pay
dearly for it!”
The wretch leered fearfully at him, and, with a shrill, mocking laugh,
glided still nearer.
“Do you think I fear you?” he asked, “or that I have come here
unprepared to defend myself! Look!”
The squire drew a long, slender dagger from his bosom as he spoke, and
held it up before the face of his victim.
“This beautiful little instrument,” he said, lightly feeling its edge
with one long, bony finger, “is poisoned, and one scratch would send you
to your long-lost and lovely bride—she who ought to have been mine, and
whom you stole from me, curses on you!”
His deepest passions began to be stirred, as they always were when his
mind reverted to the fancied wrongs of long ago.
“But,” he continued, “my revenge will soon be complete, for I am going
to stab you to the heart with this, and then watch you while you die.
Oh, it will be a feast to my eyes, a joy to my soul! No, no—better not
try that,” he said, as Ellerton made a motion as if to seize the weapon
from his hand. “Remember, the merest trick will prove fatal and cause
you tenfold more suffering. Better take it quietly to your heart at once
and have it over with; you will meet Jessie then all the sooner.”
“Oh, heavens, what a monster!” moaned the wretched man.
His heart sickened within him as he realized his horrible situation.
The fiend bent near to him; he could feel his hot breath against his
cheek, see the pupil of his eye dilate and then contract with the deadly
purpose of his heart shining through them.
The squire raised his arm high above his head, while his long, bony
fingers firmly clutched the handle of the dagger. For a moment it
quivered in the air, then it descended toward his foe with full force.
But it missed its destination, for his arm was fiercely arrested in its
downward motion, and with a howl of baffled rage the squire turned to
see who had cheated him of his long wished for revenge. He met the stern
face and flashing eyes of his nephew. He was pale as the dead, and he
shook with the excitement of the dreadful moment; but his hold upon his
uncle was like the grip of a vise, and the murderous wretch could no
more move his arm under it than if he had been an infant.
Ralph pulled him roughly from his intended victim, and said, hoarsely:
“I told you that you should not do this thing.”
“Curse you, I will!” he shrieked, frantically striving to free himself.
“He shall not live—I will have his black heart to pay me for what I have
suffered! Let me go, you young dog. Oh, it was treacherous in you to
cheat me so, when my triumph was so near. Help! help!—I will be free!”
The baffled wretch writhed and twisted in the iron grasp that held him.
His eyes grew blood-shot, his face became of a purple hue, while flecks
of foam flew from his mouth.
Gaining renewed courage from his almost miraculous deliverance, Mr.
Ellerton struck his foe a powerful blow, which felled him to the floor,
and sent the fatal dagger flying to the farthest corner of the room.
“Now,” said Ralph, “if you have a cord anywhere, we will bind this
dangerous gentleman until he recovers his senses; it will not do to let
him run at large.”
Mr. Ellerton picked up the weapon that had so nearly put an end to his
existence, and, quickly stepping to the stout bell-rope, severed it with
a single blow; then together they firmly bound the squire’s arms behind
him, wholly unmindful of his curses and shrieks.
When this was accomplished Mr. Ellerton turned to Ralph, and said
gratefully:
“Young man, I know not who you are, whether friend or foe; but you have
saved my life, and for this I am inexpressibly thankful.”
“I ask no thanks; I have simply done my duty,” replied Ralph, quietly
and coldly, though he gazed searchingly in the other’s face. Then, after
a moment, he added, while the hot blood rushed over his features,
“Perhaps it is right that you should know who I am. My name is Ralph
Moulton Ellerton.”
“You!” he gasped, staggering back as if some one had struck him.
“Yes, sir; and, of course, with your blood flowing in my veins, I could
not see him do this thing,” returned the young man.
“Ah, my friend, I know what you think, and I assure you you have been
grossly deceived about your history, and are not so much to be blamed
for the part you have taken against me and mine.”
“What! do you mean still to deny our relationship?” asked Ralph, an
indignant sparkle replacing the former cold glitter of his eye.
“I have never denied the true relationship existing between us. But I
have never wronged you, neither have I ever done you any good. How could
I, when you were in the hands of my bitterest foe? Had he not taken you,
believe me, I would never have allowed you to suffer,” said his
companion, earnestly.
Ralph gazed at him half wonderingly; he could not doubt the truthful
look which he saw upon his face, yet he asked severely:
“Do you mean to say that you have never done me wrong in denying your
own flesh and blood, and have you never done me wrong in the injury you
have done my mother? What am I if I am not your son?”
“You are not my son. I swear it! I told you that you had been cruelly
deceived. You are the son of my brother, who married your mother in
secret, or rather, without consulting his friends, and shame be upon
him, deserted her soon after your birth.”
“Is this true?” demanded Ralph, pale and faint.
“Every word of it, as sure as there is a heaven above us.”
“Is this true?” he asked again, turning fiercely to his uncle.
He would not answer, but remained sitting doggedly silent. But that
silence was answer enough; it convinced Ralph, who cried brokenly:
“If you have deceived me with this awful lie, I will have no mercy upon
you. Oh! if it is true—what have I done? May Heaven and you forgive me,
sir, for I have bent all my energies toward your own and your son’s
ruin, believing that you had done me this great wrong, and desiring to
be revenged upon you for it.”
He covered his face with his hands and groaned aloud. Mr. Ellerton went
to him and laid a hand gently on his shoulder, saying:
“My boy, I believe you, and I freely forgive you for all you may have
been influenced to do in this affair. I know what a black-hearted wretch
yonder man is, and feel that he alone will have to answer for all these
crimes. But I will explain all to your satisfaction some other time. Did
you come to give me liberty? I see the door is open—am I to go free? I
am anxious to see my son, whom I know has been a prisoner here like
myself.”
“Yes, sir; all within these vaults are now free, except the smugglers,
whose den it has been for so many years. But please answer me one more
question before I lead you to your son. Are my father and mother
living?”
“I know not,” replied Mr. Ellerton, sadly. “My brother suddenly
disappeared and went to California. I have never seen him since, and
your mother I can tell you nothing of. She went away soon after he left
her, and I have never heard from her since. I supposed she was dead, as
the squire had taken you. Ask him where she is; he ought to know, for
she was his sister,” he said, pointing to the squire.
“You told me she was not your sister, but your cousin, you reprobate,”
thundered Ralph, turning to the squire, who was now writhing beneath the
words which proved his lies. But he lifted his head defiantly, and
sneered:
“Yes, I’ve told you a good many things.”
“That were false?” questioned his nephew, with angry eagerness.
“Some were true, and some were false,” was the dogged reply.
“It is enough,” replied Ralph, with an ominous calmness. Then, turning
again to Mr. Ellerton, he said, “We will talk of this again; but come
now, and I will take you to your son. You, sir, must go also; there will
perhaps be some explanations to be made which will require your
presence,” he said to his uncle.
They each took an arm, and led the baffled wretch back through the
passages whence he came so jubilantly but a short while before.
They entered the principal room, placed him under guard, and then Ralph,
with a humble air, led Mr. Ellerton toward the group where he saw Robert
conversing with Madame Alroyd. He then immediately retired to a distant
part of the room, and sat down to nurse his sorrow and remorse alone.