Mrs. Ocumpaugh's hand refused to take it or her eyes to consult it.
Nevertheless I still held it out.
"Pray read the few words you will find there," I urged. "They are in
explanation of the document itself, but they will serve to convince you
that the letter to which they were attached, and which is now in Mrs.
Carew's hands, came from that decaying room."
"No, no!" The gesture which accompanied this exclamation was more than
one of refusal, it was that of repulse. "I can not see--I do not need
to--I am convinced."
"Pardon me, but that is not enough, Mrs. Ocumpaugh. I want you to be
certain. Let me read these words. The story they prefaced is unknown to
you; let it remain so; all I need to tell you about it is this: that it
was written by Mr. Ocumpaugh's father--he who raised this partition and
who is the undoubted author of these lines. Remember that they headed
the letter:
"'_Perish with the room whose ceiling oozes blood! If in time to come
any man reads these lines, he will know why I pulled down the encircling
wall built by my father, and why I raised a new one across this end of
the pavilion._'"
Mrs. Ocumpaugh's eyes opened wide in horror.
"Blood!" she repeated. "A ceiling oozing blood!"
"An old superstition, Mrs. Ocumpaugh, quite unworthy your attention at
this moment. Do not let your mind dwell upon that portion of what I have
read, but on the word 'room.' 'Perish with the room!' We know what room
was meant; there can be but one. I have myself seen the desk from which
these sheets were undoubtedly taken--and for them to be in the hand of
a certain person argues--" Mrs. Ocumpaugh's hand went up in dissuasion,
but I relentlessly finished--"that she has been in that room! Are you
more than convinced of this now? Are you sure?"
She did not need to make reply; eyes and attitude spoke for her. But it
was the look and attitude of despair, not hope. Evidently she had the
very greatest reason to fear Mrs. Carew, who possibly had her hard side
as well as her charming one.
To ease the situation, I spoke what was in both our minds.
"I see that you are sure. That makes my duty very plain, Mrs. Ocumpaugh.
My next visit must be upon Mrs. Carew."
The spirit which, from the beginning of this later interview, had
infused fresh strength into her feeble frame, seemed to forsake her at
this simple declaration; her whole form drooped, and the eyes, which had
rested on mine, turned in their old way to the river.