THE MAYOR AND HIS SON.
Nature hath many voices, and the soul
Speaks, with a power, when first it feels the thrill
Of buried Love. Then breaking all control,
She claims her own, against man's haughty will.
The Mayor was alone in his office--alone with his conscience. Cold
as he had seemed, the face of that murdered man haunted him. There
was no subterfuge for his conscience; now it was wide awake, stinging
him like a serpent. The sensation was so new, that the Mayor writhed
under it in absolute anguish; his hand was lifted to his forehead
unconsciously, as if to hide the brand of Cain, that seemed to be
burning there.
This was a sudden shock of conscience that he could neither shake
off nor endure. His act of injustice against the man Chester had
been followed so close by his death, that with all his subtle
reasoning he could not separate the two events in his mind. He began
to wonder about the family so terribly bereaved, and more than once
the form of Mary Fuller rose before him, with her little hand
extended, exclaiming, "He died of a broken heart--he died of a broken
heart."
The Mayor almost repeated these words with his lips, for his
conscience kept echoing them over and over, till they haunted him
worse even than that pale dead face.
As he sat with one hand shrouding his forehead, the office door
opened, and a boy stood in the entrance.
A strange thrill rushed through every nerve and pulse of Farnham's
frame, even before he looked up. It seemed as if a gush of pure
mountain wind had swept in upon him when he was struggling for breath.
It was a strange thing, but Farnham did not remove the hand from his
forehead, even when he looked up, and when his eyes fell upon the
gentle boy that stood with his straw hat in one hand, and his soft
golden hair falling in waves down his shoulders--for Joseph followed
the artistic taste of his father--the hand was pressed more tightly,
and the proud man felt as if he were thus concealing the stain upon
his brow from those pure blue eyes.
As Joseph looked at the Mayor, whose sternness had all departed, the
small hand that grasped the rim of his hat began to tremble, and an
expression full of gentleness shone over his face.
"I beg pardon, sir," he said, and the strong man was thrilled again
by his voice, "but I wish to see your son, and thought perhaps you
would be good enough to tell me where I can find him."
"My son, my son!" repeated the Mayor, with a sort of tender
exclamation. "Oh, I had forgotten, you wish to see Frederick."
"Yes, Frederick," said the boy.
"He is at home--at least I think so," answered Farnham, speaking with
kindly respect, as if he had not regarded the torn hat and humble garb
in which his visitor came, but thought it the most natural thing in
life that a boy like that should inquire thus familiarly after his
son, "I am almost certain that Fred is at home."
"I do not know where he lives," said the lad, hesitating, and drawing
a step forward as if held in that presence by some irresistible
influence.
"Indeed," said the Mayor, holding out his hand, "but you know my son!"
Joseph came forward and placed his little slender hand in that so
irresistibly, as it seemed, held towards him. The same tremor, too
keen for pleasure and too exquisite for pain, ran through the proud
man and the gentle boy while their fingers came lovingly together.
"He visits us sometimes, and you cannot think how much my father
loves him."
"But he must love you better," said Farnham, sweeping his hand down
the boy's golden hair with caressing gentleness.
"I don't know," said Joseph with a faint sigh, "but he loves me a
great deal, I am sure of that!"
"And where do you live?" questioned Farnham, rather as an excuse to
keep the boy's hand in his, than from a desire for information.
Joseph mentioned the street and number of his residence.
The Mayor started. "Great Heavens, you cannot be his child?"
"Who are you speaking of?" inquired Joseph.
"Is--is--was your father's name Chester?"
The tears rushed into Joseph's eyes. He drew his hand suddenly from
the Mayor's clasp, and his voice was broken as he answered:
"No, sir, it was my father's best friend that you killed!"
Farnham fell back in his chair, his hand dropped heavily upon the
table, he strove to disclaim the guilt so mournfully imputed to him,
but his eyes fell, and his tongue clove to the roof of his mouth.
The strong man was dumb in the presence of that rebuking child.
"I must go now," said Joseph, moving backward, "Mrs. Chester is lost,
and we must find her."
The Mayor did not hear him; he did not even know when the lad glided
from his office; the last words had stunned him.
After a little he looked up and saw that Joseph was gone. As if drawn
by some powerful magnetic force, he arose, took his hat and followed
the lad.
Joseph was half across the park, but Farnham saw him at once, and
followed with a sort of hushed feeling, as the wise men looked upon
the star which led them to a Saviour.
Meantime, Fred Farnham had heard of Chester's death and was preparing
to go out, hoping to give some comfort to his family. To this end
he had gone to his mother for money. The Chesters had refused aid
of him before, but now he was resolved to deceive them into accepting
it through his Uncle Peters.
"What do you want money for, Fred--twenty dollars--if you are in for
a champagne supper or something of that sort, I don't mind; but I
must know where the money goes?"
Mrs. Farnham was arranging a tiny French cap on the back of her head,
as she made these motherly demonstrations, and its graceful lightness
threw her into a charming state of liberality.
"As a mother, you know, Fred, I am bound to see that the money which
you ask rather liberally, I must say, is judiciously spent; now tell
me where this is going?"
"I intend to help a poor family, who have been wronged and are in
trouble," said the generous boy.
Mrs. Farnham closed her pearl portmonnaie with a fierce snap of the
clasp.
"Frederick," she said, with a degree of energy that made the delicate
spray in her cap tremble, as if it shared her indignation, "I cannot
encourage this extravagance, you are getting into low society, sir,
and--oh! Fred, you will break your mother's heart if you persist in
following after these low people."
"Why, they live in the house with my Aunt Peters, mamma."
"There it is--I do believe you intend to drive me into hysterics;
will you never learn that your Aunt Peters is not to be spoken of,
and only visited in a quiet way? There is a medium, Fred, a medium,
do you comprehend?"
"But what has my Aunt Peters done?"
"She has been ungrateful, Fred, so very ungrateful after I gave
up--that is, after I set them up in business; she would keep claiming
me as a sister, just as much as ever. Oh! it is heart-rending to know
that my own son is encouraging this impertinence."
"Will you give me a portion of the money, ten dollars? I shall be
very grateful for that."
"Not a shilling, sir," exclaimed the lady, putting the portmonnaie
into the pocket of her rustling silk-dress; "I will not pay you for
going among poor people and degrading yourself; only keep a proper
medium, my son, and you have a most indulgent mamma, but without that
I'm granite."
A very soft and unstable sort of granite the lady seemed, as she shook
her head and rustled across the room, repeating the hard word, more
and more emphatically, as Frederick resumed his pleading.
Whether the granite would have given way at last, it is impossible
to guess; for while Fred was urging his request with the eloquence
of desperation, the street-door opened, and the tall gentleman, whom
we have met in the tea-room, as the Mayor's guest, was seen in the
hall.
"Do be quiet, Fred, here is Judge Sharp," said Mrs. Farnham,
fretfully; "I won't be teased in this way about a parcel of
vagabonds!"
Fred Farnham was a passionate boy, and he stood with burning cheeks
and flashing eyes in the midst of the floor when the country-gentleman
came in.
"I will go to my father, then, or pawn my watch--something desperate
I'm sure to do," he muttered, walking to a window and half-concealing
himself behind the waves of crimson damask that swept over it.
Mrs. Farnham shook her head at him, reprovingly, as she advanced to
receive her visitor, with a torrent of superficial compliments and
frothy welcomes.
Before the Judge could recover from this overwhelming reception, the
door-bell rang, and a boy was admitted to the hall.
Frederick had seen the new-comer through the window, and went eagerly
forward to meet him, at which his lady-mother drew herself up with
imposing state, and called out--
"Frederick Farnham! will you never learn the just medium proper to
your father's position?"
Frederick did not heed this remonstrance, but, after a few eager words
in the hall, came forward, leading Joseph Esmond by the hand. The
boy had taken off his straw-hat, and the entire beauty of his
countenance, shaded by that rich golden hair, was exposed to the best
advantage, notwithstanding his poverty-stricken garments; even the
volubility of Mrs. Farnham was checked, as her eyes fell upon that
delicate face. She caught the glance of those large blue eyes, and
ceased speaking. It was the greatest proof of interest possible for
her to exhibit.
Fred led his friend directly up to his mother.
"This is the boy--this is Joseph, dear mother; he tells me that those
two little girls are suffering--that they have not a cent to get food
with; now will you refuse me?"
Mrs. Farnham kept her eyes bent upon Joseph.
"What is it you have been telling my son about these poor people?"
"Oh, they have suffered so much, Madam--not a morsel to eat nor a
house to rest in when they come home from poor Mr. Chester's funeral;
but worst of all, the good lady who was so very, very ill, has got
up when the girls were out, and gone away. She wasn't in her head,
ma'am, raving with fever, and may be killed in the street."
It seemed impossible to look into those pleading eyes, and resist
them. Mrs. Farnham took out her portmonnaie again, rather
ostentatiously, for vanity always mingled with the best feelings
and most trivial acts of her life.
"There," she said, presenting a bank-note to the lad, "take this,
and give it to the poor family," and she looked consequentially round
upon the stranger, as if to claim his approbation for her charity.
The Judge smiled rather constrainedly, and Mrs. Farnham added, turning
to Joseph,
"See now that the money is spent for comforts, nothing else; I would
have given it to you, Fred, only as I was saying, there is a medium
to be observed--you will remember, my boy."
Joseph's eyes shone like sapphires.
"I will give it to your sister, Mrs. Peters, ma'am; she lives down
stairs in the same house, and will take care of it for the little
girls," he said, giving a terrible blow to Mrs. Farnham's pride, in
the innocence of his gratitude.
Mrs. Farnham blushed up to the temples, shaded by her pale, flaxen
curls, at this exposure, and the Judge smiled a little more decidedly,
which turned the mean crimson of her shame into a flush of anger.
"You are a very forward little boy," she was about to say, but the
words faltered on her lips, and she merely turned away, overwhelming
poor Joseph with her stateliness.
"Mother, I am going with him to look for this poor lady," exclaimed
Frederick. "The police must help us."
"You will do no such thing," answered Mrs. Farnham, sharply; "I
declare, sir, the boy torments my life out with his taste for running
after low people."
"They are not low people."
Fred broke off abruptly, for his father entered very quietly, and
with a look so at variance with his usual cold reserve, that even
his vixenish and very silly wife observed it.
"What is the matter?--you have been walking home in the heat!" she
exclaimed. "Mr. Farnham, will you never remember that there is a
medium?"
For once Farnham deigned to answer his wife.
"I walked very slowly, and am not tired," he said, "but what is this?
what is it Frederick proposes to do?"
"Mrs. Chester has escaped from her house, sir, in a raving fever,
and cannot be found. I was going with Joseph, here, to search for
her," answered Frederick, looking anxiously into his father's face.
"What, another!" muttered the Mayor, with a pang of remorse. "Yes,
go my son, I will help you; the whole police shall be put on the
search if necessary."
Joseph lifted his eyes to the Mayor as he was speaking, and as Farnham
caught the look, a smile broke over his face, one of those powerful
smiles that transfigure the very features of some men.
"Thank you! oh! thank you!" exclaimed the boy, "we shall find her
now."
Here Judge Sharp stepped forward and held out his hand, for the Mayor
had not seen him till then.
"Let me go with these young people, perhaps I can help them better
than the whole police," he said, kindly.
"I wish you would," answered the Mayor, "for I feel very strangely
to-day." He certainly was pale, and seemed much shaken, as if some
powerful feeling had seized upon his vitality.
"Then I will leave you to your wife, while I go with these boys on
their merciful errand," said the Judge. "Come, my lads."
"One moment," said the Mayor, taking Joseph by the hand, while he
led him away from the group, and whispered in his ear. His lips were
pale with intense feeling, as he listened for the answer.
"My name is Joseph Esmond, that is his name also."
"I knew it--I was sure of it," muttered Farnham, and he sat down in
an easy chair, and watched the boy wistfully as he left the room.
God had reached the conscience of that man at last, and his granite
heart was breaking up with the force of old memories and sudden
remorse. That day, his past and present life had been linked forcibly
together. The shock made him look inward, and he saw clearly that
the hard, barren track of politics had led him to become a murderer.
The law did not recognize this, but his soul did.