THE MYSTERIOUS HOUSE ON LONELY WAU-WINET ISLAND.
"We searched the stone house from cellar to garret in hopes of finding a
trace of the beautiful girl I felt sure was imprisoned within its grim
walls, the owner following, with a look of defiance on his dark,
handsome face.
"'She _must_ be on this island,' I declared, vehemently. 'I rowed you
and her over here.'
"It is quite true that you rowed _me_ over here, my good fellow, but no
fair lady accompanied me, unless it might have been some mermaid. I hope
you are satisfied,' said he, turning to my companions, 'that the man who
has brought you here has played you a trick.'
"And now stranger, you ask me to take you to Wau-Winet Island on just
such a mission, and I answer you that it would be as much as our lives
are worth."
"It is evident," returned Hubert Varrick, excitedly, "that there is some
fearful mystery, and it is our duty to try to fathom it if it is within
our power."
"As you say, sir," replied the man.
At this moment the skiff grated sharply upon the sand, and the two men
sprung out.
They had scarcely proceeded half the distance to the house when they
were suddenly confronted by a man.
"Who are you, and what do you want here?" he asked.
"I must see the master of Wau-Winet Island," returned Varrick, sternly.
"Are you he?"
"No," returned the man, rather uneasily. "He left the island scarcely
five minutes ago in his boat. I am only the man working about the
place."
"Tell me," cried Varrick, earnestly, "was there a lady with him? I will
pay you well to answer me."
The man's gaze shifted uneasily.
"There was no lady with him. I suppose that you have heard the strange
story about this island, and have come to investigate the matter. Let me
tell you, it is more than annoying to my master. Had he heard it he
never would have bought the place. As it is he has left it for good and
all to-night, and is going to advertise the place for sale. If they had
told my master, when he came here to buy, the story that a young and
beautiful woman was supposed to have been murdered here many years ago,
and that at nights her spirit haunts the place, he never would have
bought it. Other people imagine that they seen it; but we, who live
here, never have."
The man told this with such apparent earnestness and truth, that Varrick
was mystified. Had his eyes deceived him? They evidently had. And then
again he told himself that, thinking so much of Gerelda, he had imagined
that the face he had seen for a moment in the flash-light bore a
striking resemblance to hers. And he persuaded himself to believe that
the fisherman's story was a myth.
He well knew that, of all people in the world, fishermen loved to spin
the most exaggerated yarns, and be the heroes of the greatest
adventures.
He got out of the matter as gracefully as only Varrick could,
apologizing for his intrusion, and expressing himself as only too
pleased to know that his imagination had simply been at fault.
"Will you come in?" asked the man, turning to him. "My master has always
given orders that we are to be very hospitable to strangers."
"You are very kind, and I thank you for your courtesy," returned
Varrick, "but I think not. We will try to cut across the bay and catch
the steamer further down."
So saying, he motioned his companion to enter the boat.
The little boat containing the two men was scarcely out of sight, ere
the door of the mysterious stone house opened quickly, and a man came
cautiously down the path.
"What did they want?"
"They wanted to see you, Captain Frazier," answered the servant.
"What about?" asked the other hoarsely.
"They saw you and--and the young lady when you were out in the grounds,
a little while since, as the search-light went down, and they came
to--to rescue the young lady. I-- I succeeded in convincing them that
their eyes had deceived them, and told them that you were so annoyed at
that senseless tale that you had gone away from the island; that you did
not intend to come back, your aim being to sell the place."
"Bravo, bravo, McDonald!" exclaimed Captain Frazier--for it was he.
"Upon my soul, you did well! You are reducing lying down to a fine art."
"I made quite a startling discovery, sir," said McDonald. "It was the
same man who made you all the trouble last night, bringing those people
here."
Captain Frazier frowned darkly.
"But that is not all, sir," added McDonald. "Mr. Varrick was with him."
The name fell like a thunder-bolt on Captain Frazier's ears. He started
back as though he had been shot.
"Has he succeeded in hunting me down so quickly?" he cried.
"So I thought when I first saw him, sir. But, to my great amazement, I
soon discovered that he was totally ignorant of who lived on the
island--that it was yourself. The fisherman had been telling him the
story about the young lady, and he had come to investigate it. I soon
convinced him that there was nothing in the story, and that he was only
another one added to the list that the same fisherman had played that
practical joke on. He was angry enough when he took his departure."
"Are you sure of this, McDonald?" asked Captain Frazier.
"Quite sure."
Captain Frazier gave a sigh of relief. He had fancied himself so secure
here. Even the servants did not know him by his own name.
"If I thought for a moment that he suspected my presence here, I would
lose no time in getting away from Wau-Winet Island, and taking _her_
with me."
"You need have no fear, sir," returned the man.
For an hour or more Captain Frazier paced slowly up and down under the
trees, smoking cigar after cigar in rapid succession.
"It is a terrible thing," he muttered, "when love for a woman drives a
man to the verge of madness. I swore that Gerelda should never marry
Hubert Varrick, if I had to kill her. But I have done better. He will
never look upon her face again."
At length he walked slowly to the house. He was met on the porch by a
little French maid who seemed to be looking for him.
"Well, Marie?" said Captain Frazier.
"I have been looking for you, sir," returned the girl quickly. "I can do
nothing with mademoiselle. She will not speak; she will not eat. She
lies there hour after hour with her beautiful face turned toward the
wall and her white hands clasped together. She might be a dead woman for
all the interest she evinces in anything. I very much fear, sir, that
she will keep her vow--_never to speak again_--_never in this world_."
"You must keep close watch that she does not attempt to make away with
herself, Marie," he continued, earnestly. "Heaven only knows how she
obtained that revolver I took away from her out in the grounds to-night.
She was kneeling down in the long grass, and had it already pressed to
her temple, when I appeared in the very nick of time and wrenched it
from her little white hand. She would do anything save drown herself to
escape from here. Her father lost his life that way, and she would
never attempt _that_ means of escape, even from _this_ place."
"She even refuses to have her bridal-dress removed," said the maid; "and
I do not know what to do about it. She has uttered no word since first
she crossed your threshold; she will not speak."
Captain Frazier looked troubled, distressed.
Would Gerelda keep her vow? She had said when she recovered
consciousness and found herself on the island, and the boatman gone:
"I will never utter another word from this hour until I am set free
again. You are beneath contempt, Captain Frazier, to kidnap a young girl
at the altar."
He never forgot how she looked at him in the clear moonlight as he
turned to her, crying out passionately:
"It is your own fault, Gerelda. Why did you draw me on to love you so?
You encouraged me up to the last moment, and then it was too late for me
to give you up."