In a deep, narrow "railway cut," through Virginia hills, a south-bound
freight train had been so badly wrecked in consequence of a "washout,"
that the southern passenger express going north was detained fourteen
hours; thereby missing connection at Washington City, where the
passengers were again delayed nearly twelve hours. Tired and very
hungry, having eaten nothing but a sandwich and a cup of coffee for
three days, Beryl felt profoundly thankful when the cars rolled into
Jersey City. In the bustle and confusion incident to arrival in that
Babel, she did not observe the scrutiny to which she was subjected by a
man genteelly dressed, who gave her his hand as she stepped down from
the train, and kept by her side while she hastened in the direction of
the ferry.
Reaching the slip where the boat awaited passengers, she was vexed to
see it backing out into the stream, and leaned against the chain which
barred egress until the next trip.
"You have only five minutes to wait for the boat. You seem to have had
a long and trying journey, madam?"
Glancing at him for the first time, Beryl perceived that he held a slip
of yellow paper from which he looked now and then to her face. His
features were coarse and heavy, but his eyes were keen as a ferret's;
and without answering his question, she turned away and looked across
the water which teemed with craft of every description, laden with
freight animate and inanimate, passing to and from the vast city, whose
spires, domes and forest of masts rose like a gray cloud against the
sky, etching there their leaden outlines.
"You live at No.--West--Street, between 8th and 9th Avenue?"
"You are a stranger, and your questions are offensive and impertinent."
As she turned and confronted him haughtily, he stepped closer to her,
threw back his blue overcoat, and pointed to the metal badge on his
breast.
"I am an officer of the law, and have a warrant for your arrest. You
are Beryl Brentano."
"I am Beryl Brentano, yes; but there is some blunder, some mistake. How
dare you annoy me? Arrest me? Me!"
"Do not make a scene. My instructions are to deal with you as gently as
possible. Better come quietly into the station near, and I will read
you the warrant, otherwise I shall be obliged to use force. You see I
have two assistants yonder."
"Arrested for what? By whom?"
"I am ordered to arrest you for the murder of General Darrington."
"Murder! General Darrington is alive and well. I have just left him.
Stand back! Do not touch me. I will call on the police to protect me."
Laying his fingers firmly on her arm, he beckoned to two men clad in
police uniform, who promptly approached.
"You see resistance is worse than useless, and since there is no
escape, come quietly."
"You are insulting me, under some frightful mistake. I am a lady. Do I
look like a criminal?"
"General Darrington has been robbed and murdered, and I have
telegraphic orders to arrest and hold a woman named Beryl Brentano, who
corresponds in every respect with the description of the person
suspected of having committed the crime."
Hitherto she had attributed the insult of the interview to some
question of mistaken identity, but as she slowly comprehended the
possibility that she was the person accused, and intended for arrest, a
sickening horror seized and almost paralyzed her, blanching her face
and turning her to stone. As he led her along the street, she staggered
from the numbness that possessed her, and her eyes stared blankly, like
those of a somnambulist. When she had been ushered into a room where
several policemen were lounging and smoking, the intolerable sense of
shame and indignation shook off her apathy.
"This is a cruel and outrageous wrong, and only base cowards could
wantonly insult an unprotected and innocent woman. You call yourselves
men? Have you no mothers, no sisters, whose memory can arouse some
reverence, some respect for womanhood in your brutal souls?"
Electric lamps set in the sockets of some marble face, might perhaps
resemble the blaze that leaped up in her eyes, as she wrenched her arm
from the officer's profaning touch, and her voice rang like the clash
of steel.
"Madam, we are allowed no discretion; we are only the blind and deaf
machines that obey orders. Read the warrant, and you will understand
that our duty is imperative."
Again and again she read the paper, in which the sheriff of the county
where Elm Bluff is situated, demanded her arrest and return to X---, on
the charge of robbery and murder committed during the night which she
had spent at the station. Then several telegrams were placed before
her. The description of herself, her dress, even of the little basket
and shawl, was minutely accurate; and by degrees the horror of her
situation, and her utter helplessness, became frightfully distinct. The
papers fell from her nerveless fingers, and one desperate cry broke
from her white lips:
"O just God! Will you permit such a shameful, cruel outrage? Save me
from this horrible injustice and disgrace!"
Seeing neither the men, nor the room, her strained gaze seemed in her
great agony fixed upon the face of Him, who, silvering the lilies of
the field and watching the flight of sparrows, has tender care for all
who trust Him. Even in this terrible trial, the girl's first thought
was of her mother; and of the disastrous effect that the misfortune
would produce upon the invalid.
"I am sorry to tell you, that we are required to search all persons
arrested under similar charges, and in the next room a female detective
will receive and retain every thing in your possession, except your
clothing. You are suspected of having secreted money, jewelry and some
very valuable papers."
"Suspected of being a common thief! I am as innocent as any angel
beside the throne of Christ! Save me at least from the degradation of
being searched. Here is my basket, and here is my purse."
She handed him the worn leather pocket-book, which contained only the
few pennies reserved to pay her passage across the ferry, and turned
the pocket of her dress inside cut.
At the tap of a hand-bell, a tall, angular woman opened the door of an
adjoining room.
"Mrs. Foster, you will very carefully examine the prisoner, and search
her clothing for papers, as well as valuables."
"Spare me at least this indignity!" cried the shuddering girl.
"Come with me, madam. We have no choice."
When the door closed behind her, the constable walked up and down the
floor.
"How deceitful appearances are! That woman looks as pure and innocent
as an angel, and I half believed her protestations; but here in the
basket, sure enough, hidden at the bottom, are the jewelry and the
gold. No sign of the papers, but she may have destroyed them.
"Thief or not, she is a grand beauty; and if her heart was not in that
prayer she put up just now, she is a grand actress also. This is a
beastly trade of ours, hunting down and trapping the unwary. Sometimes
I feel no better than a sleuth-hound, and that girl's eyes went through
and through me a while ago like a two-edged dirk."
As he vented his views of his profession, one of the policemen lighted
his pipe and puffed vigorously.
Mrs. Foster came back, followed by her victim.
"I find absolutely nothing secreted on the prisoner."
"No papers of any description?"
"None, sir."
"Madam, your basket contains the missing jewelry and money, at least a
portion of it, and I shall place it in the hands of the sheriff."
"The money and jewels are not mine. They belong to my mother, to whom
they were given by her father; and she needs the money at this moment--"
"Let me advise you to say as little as possible for your own sake;
because your words will be weighed against you."
"I speak only the truth, and it will, it must, vindicate me. What
papers are you searching for?"
"General Darrington's will. It was stolen with the money. Here is
yesterday's paper, with an account of the whole affair, telegraphed
from X----. If you need to learn anything, you will understand when you
read it."
The sight of the capital letters in the Telegraphic Despatches,
coupling her name with a heinous and revolting crime, seemed to stab
her eyes with red-hot thrusts; and shivering from head to foot, she
slowly realized the suspicious significance of the disappearance of the
will, which was the sole obstacle that debarred her from her
grandfather's wealth. Although sustained by an unfaltering trust in the
omnipotence of innocence, she was tormented by a dread spectre that
would not "down" at her bidding; how could she prove that the money and
jewels had been given to her? Would the shock of the tidings of her
arrest kill her mother? Was there any possible way by which she might
be kept in ignorance of this foul disgrace?
Beryl hid her face in her hands, and tried to think, but the whole
universe appeared spinning into chaos. She had opposed the trip South
so steadily and vehemently: had so sorrowfully and reluctantly yielded
at last to maternal solicitation, and had been oppressed with such dire
forebodings of some resultant evil. So bitter was her repugnance to the
application to her grandfather, that she had set out on her journey
feeling as though it were a challenge to fate; and this was the answer?
The vague distrust, the subtle sombre presentiment, the haunting shadow
of an inexplicable ill, had all meant this; this bloody horror,
dragging her fair name down to the loathsome mire of the slums of
crime. Had some merciful angel leaned from the parapets of heaven and
warned her; or did her father's spirit, in mysterious communion of
deathless love and prescient guardianship, stir her soul to oppose her
mother's scheme? Sceptical and heedless Tarquins are we all, whom our
patient Sibylline intuitions finally abandon to the woes which they
sought to avert.
In the maddening rush and whirl of Beryl's reflections, her mother's
image was the one centre around which all things circled; and at
length, rallying her energies, she turned to her captor.
"You intend to take me to prison?"
"I am obliged to detain and deliver you to the officer who has come
from X---with the warrant, and who will carry you back there for trial.
He knew from the detentions along the route, that he could easily
overhaul you here, so he went straight to Trenton with a requisition
from the Governor of his State upon Governor Mansfield, for your
surrender. It is but a short run to the Capital, and he expects to get
here in time to catch the train going South to-day. We had a telegram a
while ago, saying the papers were all right, and that he would meet us
at the train, as there will be only a few moments to spare."
"But I must first see my mother. I must give her the money and
explain--"
"The money will be claimed by the officer who takes charge of you."
"Have you no mercy? My mother is ill, destitute; and she will die
unless I can go to her. Oh! I beg of you, for the sake of common
humanity, carry me home, if only for five minutes! Just let me see
mother, let me speak to her!"
In the intensity of her dread, she fell upon her knees, and lifted her
hands imploringly; and the anguish in her white quivering face was so
piteous that the man turned his head away.
"I would oblige you if I could, but it is impossible. The law is cruel,
as you say, but it is intended as a terror to evil-doers. Things look
awfully black for you, but all the same I am sorry for you, if your
mother is to suffer for your deeds. If you wish to write to her, I will
see that she receives your note; but you have very little time left."
"O God! how hard! What a foul, horrible wrong inflicted upon the
innocent!"
She cowered on the floor, unconscious that she still knelt; seeing only
the suffering woman in that dreary attic across the river, where sunken
feverish eyes watched for her return.
Accidentally Beryl's gaze fell on the bunch of faded chrysanthemums
which had dropped unnoticed on the floor, and snatching them she buried
her face in their petals. Their perfume was the potent spell that now
melted her to tears, and the tension of her overtaxed nerves gave way
in a passionate burst of sobs. When she rose a few moments later, the
storm had passed; the face regained its stony rigidity, and henceforth
she fronted fate with an unnatural calmness.
"Will you give me some paper and a pen?"
"You can write here at the desk."
Mrs. Foster approached her, and said hesitatingly:
"Would it comfort you at all, for me to go and see your mother and
explain why you could not return to her? I am very sorry for you, poor
thing."
"Thank you, but--you could not explain, and the sight of a stranger
would startle her. In one way you can help me; do you know Dr. Grantlin
of New York?"
"Only by reputation; but I can find him."
"Will you deliver into his hand the note I am writing?"
"I certainly will."
"How soon?"
"Before nine o'clock to-night."
"Thank you--a thousand times."
After a while she folded a sheet containing these words:
"DEAR DR. GRANTLIN:
"In the extremity of my distress, I appeal to you as a Christian
gentleman, as a true physician, a healer of the suffering, and under
God, the guardian of my mother's life. You know why I went to my
grandfather. He gave me the money, one hundred dollars, and some
valuable jewels. When in sight of home, I have been arrested on the
charge of having murdered my grandfather, and stolen his will. Need I
tell you that I am as innocent as you are? The thought of my mother is
the bitterest drop in my cup of shame and sorrow. You can judge best,
how much it may be expedient to tell her, and you can devise the
kindest method of breaking the truth, if she must know it. Have her
removed to the hospital, and do not postpone the operation. O Doctor!
be pitiful, be tender to her, and do not let her need any little
comforts. Some day I will pay you for all expenses incurred in her
behalf, but at present I have not a dollar, as the money has been
seized. I am sure you will not deny my prayer, and may God reward and
bless you, for your mercy to my precious mother.
"In grateful trust,
"BERYL BRENTANO.
"P.S.--If you approve, deliver the enclosed note."
On a separate sheet she wrote:
"MY DARLING MOTHER:
"Finding it necessary to return to X---, I have requested Dr. Grantlin
to take particularly good care of you for a few days. Your father will
never forgive, never receive you, but he kindly complied with your
request and gave me one hundred dollars. Try to be patient until I can
come and tell you everything, and believe that God will not forsake us.
With these hurried lines, I send you a few chrysanthemums--your
favorite flowers--which I gathered in the rose garden of your old home.
When you smell them, think of your little girl who loves you better
than her own life, and who will hasten home at the earliest possible
moment, to take you in her arms. Mother, pray for me, and may God be
very merciful to you, my dearest, and to--
"Your devoted child,
"BERYL."
She had bound the withered flowers together with a strip of fringe from
her shawl, and now, with dry eyes and firm white lips, she kissed them
twice, pinned the last note around them and laid the whole in Mrs.
Foster's hand.
"I trust you to deliver them in person to Dr. Grantlin before you sleep
to-night; and if I survive this awful outrage, perpetrated under the
name of law, I will find you some day, and thank you."
Looking at the lovely face, pure in its frozen calm, as some marble
lily in the fingers of a monumental effigy, Mrs. Foster felt the tears
dimming her own vision and said earnestly:
"Keep as silent as possible. The less you say, the safer you will be;
and run no risk of contradicting your own statements."
"I appreciate your motive, but I have nothing to conceal."
Beryl laid her hand on her shawl, then drew back.
"Am I allowed the use of my shawl?"
"Oh, certainly, madam."
The officer would have opened and put it around her, but with an
indescribable movement of proud repulsion, she shook it out, then
wrapped it closely about her, and sat down, keeping her eyes fixed on
the face of the clock ticking over the fireplace. After a long and
profound silence, the man who had arrested her, said gravely and gently:
"Time is up. I must deliver you to Officer Gibson at the train. Come
with me."
She rose, gave her hand to Mrs. Foster, and stooping suddenly touched
with her lips the withered flowers, then followed silently.
In subsequent years, when she attempted to recall consecutively the
incidents of the ensuing forty-eight hours, they eluded her, like the
flitting phantasmagoria that throng delirium; yet subtle links fastened
the details upon her brain, and sometimes most unexpectedly, that
psychic necromancer--association of ideas--selected some episode from
the sombre kaleidoscope of this dismal journey, and set it in lurid
light before her, as startling and unwelcome as the face of an enemy
long dead. Life and personality partook in some degree of duality; all
that she had been before she saw Elm Bluff, seemed a hopelessly
distinct existence, yet irrevocably chained to the mutilated and
blackened Afterward, like the grim and loathsome unions enforced by the
Noyades of Nantes.
The sun did not forget to shine, nor the moon to keep her appointment
with the throbbing stars that signalled all along her circuit. Men
whistled, children laughed; the train thundered through tunnels, and
flew across golden stubble fields, where grain shocks and hay stacks
crowded like tents of the God of plenty, in the Autumnal bivouac; and
throughout the long days and dreary lagging nights. Beryl was fully
conscious of a ceaseless surveillance, of an ever-present shadow, which
was tall and gaunt, wore a drab overcoat and slouched hat, and was
redolent of tobacco. As silent as two mummies in the crypts of Karnac
they sat side by side; and twice when the officer touched her arm and
asked if she would take some refreshments, she merely shook her head,
and tightened the folds of her veil; shrinking closer to the window
against which she leaned. Not until they approached X---, and she
recognized some features of the landscape, were her lips unsealed:
"What persons are responsible for my arrest?"
"Our District Solicitor, Mr. Churchill, and Mr. Dunbar, the lawyer, who
made the affidavit under which the warrant was issued. I am only a
deputy, acting under orders from the sheriff."
"You are taking me to prison?"
"Perhaps not; it depends on the result of the preliminary examination,
and you may be allowed bail."
A ray of hope silvered the shrouding gloom; there was a possibility of
escaping the stain of incarceration.
"When will the examination take place?"
"About noon to-day. You will have time to eat something and freshen up
a little. Here we are. What a crowd to welcome us! Don't stir. We will
just wait a while, and I will get you into a carriage as quietly as
possible."
He whispered some directions to the conductor of the train, and
standing in the aisle with his arm across the seat, screened her from
the gaze of a motley crew of men and boys who rushed in to stare at the
prisoner, whose arrival had been impatiently expected. On the railway
platform and about the station house surged a sea of human heads,
straining now in the direction of the first passenger coach; and when
in answer to some question, the conductor pointed to the sleeping car
which was at the rear of the train, the mass swayed down the track.
"Quick! Now is our time!"
The deputy sheriff hurried her out, almost lifted her from the steps,
and pushing her forward, turned a corner of the street, and handed her
into a carriage which awaited them.