To Beryl many hours seemed to have crept away, since she had been left
alone in a small dusty apartment, adjoining the office where the chief
magistrate of X---daily held court. Too restless to sit still, she
paced up and down the floor, trying to collect her thoughts, and at
last knelt by the side of a table, and laid her weight of dread and
peril before the Throne of the God she trusted. The Father of the
fatherless and Friend of the friendless, would surely protect her in
this hour of intolerable degradation.
"O, Thou that hearest prayer; unto Thee shall all flesh come."
The door opened, and a venerable, gray-haired man approached the table,
where her head was bent upon her crossed arms. When she lifted her
white face, with the violet circles under her dry eyes, making them
appear preternaturally large and luminous, and the beautiful mouth
contracted by a spasm of intense pain, a deep sigh of compassion passed
the stranger's lips.
"I am Mitchell Dent, an old friend of General Darrington's, and of your
mother, who has often sat upon my knee. Because of my affection for
your grandfather, I have asked permission to see you for a few moments.
If you are unjustly accused, I desire to befriend you, and offer you
some advice. I am told you assert your innocence of the great crime of
which you are suspected. I hope you can prove it; but for your own sake
I advise you to waive an examination, and await the action of the Grand
Jury, as you have had no opportunity of consulting counsel, or
preparing your defence."
"You knew my mother? Then you should require no other proof that her
child is not a criminal. I am innocent of every offence against General
Darrington, except that of being my father's daughter; and my
unjustifiable arrest is almost as foul a wrong as his murder."
She drew herself proudly to her full height, and as his eyes dwelt in
irrepressible admiration upon her, his manhood did homage to her grace
and dignity, and he took off his hat.
"I earnestly hope so; and the law holds every person innocent until her
guilt be fully proved and established."
"Of the significance of law terms I know nothing; and of the usages of
courts I am equally ignorant. If, as you suggest, I should waive an
examination, should I escape imprisonment?"
"No."
"Then I must be tried at once; because I want to hurry back to my
mother who is ill, and needs me."
"But you have no counsel as yet, and delay is your best policy."
"Delay might cost my mother's life. I have no money to pay a lawyer to
stand up and mystify matters, and my best policy is to defend myself,
by telling the simple truth."
Again Judge Dent sighed. Could guilt be masked by this fair semblance
of childlike guilelessness?
"Can you summon any witnesses to prove that you were not at Elm Bluff
on the night of the storm?"
"Yes, the ticket agent knows I was in the waiting-room during that
storm."
He shook his gray head.
"He will be one of the strongest witnesses against you."
"Then I have no witnesses except--God, and my conscience."
The door opened, and with his watch in his hand the deputy sheriff
entered.
"Sorry to shorten your interview, Judge, but you know we have a
martinet in yonder, a regular Turk, and he splits seconds into
fractions."
As Judge Dent withdrew, Beryl realized that her hour of woe had
arrived, and she began to pin her veil tightly over her face.
"Come along--You can't keep your veil on. Try to be as non-committal as
possible when they ask you crooked questions. Of course I want justice
done, and I hope I am a faithful servant of the law; but if you are as
innocent as a flock of ring-doves, the lawyers will try to confuse you."
He attempted to lead her, but she drew back.
"I will follow you; but please do not hold my arm; do not touch me."
A moment later, a door opened and closed, a glare of light showed her a
crowded room; a monotonous hum like the swell of the sea fell on her
ear; then stifled ejaculations, to which succeeded a sudden, deathlike
hush. The officer placed a chair for her in front of the platform where
the magistrate sat, and retired to the rear of the room. With some
difficulty Judge Dent made his way through the throng of spectators,
and seated himself beside Mr. Dunbar.
"Well, sir, how did the prisoner impress you?" asked the latter, as he
folded up a paper.
"Dunbar, you have made a mistake. I have spent the best of my life in
the study of criminals; and if that woman yonder is not innocent, I am
in my dotage."
"Pardon me, Judge, if I dispute both propositions. I made no mistake;
and you are merely, in the goodness of your heart, and the fervor of
your chivalry, dazzled momentarily by the glamour of extraordinary
beauty and touching youth."
When Beryl recovered in some degree from the shock of finding herself
actually on trial, she endeavored to collect her faculties; but the
violent palpitation of her heart was almost suffocating, and in her
ears the surging as of an ocean tide, drowned the accents of the
magistrate. At first the words were as meaningless as some Sanskrit
formula, but gradually her attention grasped and comprehended. In a
strident incisive voice he read from a paper on the desk before him:
"At an inquisition held at X---, T---county, on the twenty-seventh day
of October, before me, Jeremiah Bateman, Coroner of said county, on the
body of Robert Luke Darrington, there lying dead, by the jurors whose
names are hereto subscribed; the said jurors upon their oath do say
that Robert Luke Darrington came to his death on the night of Thursday,
October twenty-sixth, by a murderous assault committed upon him by
means of a heavy brass andiron. And from all the evidence brought
before them, the jury believe that the fatal blow was feloniously given
by the hand of his granddaughter, Beryl Brentano.
"In testimony whereof, the said jurors have hereunto set their hands,
this twenty-seventh day of October, A.D., 18--.
"Signed------
"Attest,
"JEREMIAH BATEMAN, Coroner."
"In consequence of this verdict, and by virtue of a warrant issued at
the request of the District Solicitor, Governor Glenbeigh made a prompt
requisition for the arrest and detention of the said Beryl Brentano,
who has been identified and returned to this city, to answer the
charges brought against her. The prisoner will unveil and stand up.
"Beryl Brentano, you are charged with the murder of Robert Luke
Darrington, by striking him with a brass andiron. Are you guilty, or
not guilty?"
"Not guilty." Her voice was unsteady, but the words were distinct.
Mr. Dunbar, Mr. Burk, and a middle-aged woman lean as Cassius, came
nearer to the platform, and after a leisurely survey of the girl's face
and figure, pronounced her the person whom they had severally accused
of the crime of causing the death of General Darrington.
The canons that govern psychical phenomena are as occult as the
abstraction of the "fourth division of space"; and they defy the
realism of common-place probability, mock all analysis, and annihilate
distance. When Beryl had first met the keen scrutiny of Mr. Dunbar's
glittering blue eyes, their baleful influence made her shiver slightly;
and now at the instant in which he approached, and inspected her
closely, she forgot that she was on trial for her life, became
temporarily oblivious of her dismal entourage, and stood once more
before a marble image in the Vatican, where the light streamed full on
the cold face, that for centuries has been the synonym of blended
beauty and cruelty. In her ears rang again the words her father had
rend aloud at her side, while she sketched: "But he does not inspire
confidence, by the smile that would like to express goodness. The
finely cut underlip that rises from the strongly marked hollow over the
chin ought to sharpen with a dash of contempt the conscious superiority
that lies upon his broad, magnificent forehead. His smile is in strong
contrast with the cold gaze of the large open eyes; a gaze that
hesitates not, but without mercy verifies a judgment fixed in advance,
that gives up every one to condemnation."
The dusty crowded court-room appeared to swim in the rich aroma
distilled from the creamy hearts of Roman hyacinths; and the velvet
lips of purple Roman violets suddenly babbled out the secret of the
mysterious repulsion which had puzzled her, from the hour in which she
first looked into Mr. Dunbar's face; his strange resemblance to the
Chiaramonti Tiberius, which she had studied and copied so carefully. In
days gone by, the subtle repose, the marvelous beauty of that marble
face, where as yet the demon of destruction had cast no stain,
possessed a singular fascination for her; and now the haunting likeness
which had perplexed her at Elm Bluff, became associated inseparably
with old Bedney's description of Mr. Dunbar's merciless treatment of
witnesses, and Beryl realized with alarming clearness that in her
grandfather's lawyer she had met the incarnation of her cruel fate.
Standing quite near her, he gravely related, with emphatic distinctness
and careful detail, his first meeting with the prisoner on the piazza
at Elm Bluff, and the vivid impression she left on his mind; his return
to Elm Bluff about half-past nine the same evening, in order to get a
deed which he had forgotten to put into his pocket at the first visit.
Learning that General Darrington had not yet retired for the night, he
sent in to ask for the deed, and was summoned "to come and get it
himself." On entering the bedroom, he found his client wrapped in a
cashmere dressing-gown, and sitting in an easy chair by the window,
which opened on the north or front piazza. He appeared much perturbed
and harassed, and in reply to inquiries touching his health, answered
that he was "completely shaken up, and unnerved, by a very stormy and
disagreeable interview held that afternoon with the child of his
wayward daughter Ellice. "When witness asked: "Did not the great beauty
of the embassadress accomplish the pardon and restoration of the erring
mother?" General Darrington had struck his cane violently on the floor,
and exclaimed: "Don't talk such infernal nonsense! Did you ever hear of
my pardoning a wrong against my family name and honor? Does any man
live, idiotic enough to consider me so soft-hearted? No, no. On the
contrary, I was harsh to the girl; so harsh that she turned upon me,
savage as a strong cub defending a crippled helpless dam. They know now
that the last card has been played, and the game ended; for I gave her
distinctly to understand that at my death, Prince would inherit every
iota of my estate, and that my will had cut them off without a cent. I
meant it then, I mean it now. I swear that lowborn fiddler's brood
shall never darken these doors; but somehow, I am unable to get rid of
the strange, disagreeable sensation the girl left behind her, as a
farewell legacy. She stood there at that glass door, and raised her
hand like a prophetess. 'General Darrington, when you lie down to die,
may God have more mercy on your poor soul than you have shown to your
suffering child.'"
Witness advised him to go to bed, and sleep off the unpleasant
recollections of the day, but he said it was so oppressively hot, he
wanted to sit at the window, which was wide open. Witness having
secured the deed, which was on the table in the room, bade his client
good-night, and left the house.
He was riding toward town, and thought it was about ten o'clock, when
he saw the prisoner sitting under a pine tree near the road, and not
more than a half a mile from the bridge over the "Branch" that runs at
the foot of Elm Bluff. His horse had shied and plunged at sight of her,
and, the moonlight being bright as day, witness easily recognized her
as the same person he had seen earlier in the afternoon. Thinking her
appearance there at that hour was rather mysterious, he asked her if
she had lost her way; to which she replied "No, sir." On the following
morning, when the mournful news of the murder of General Darrington had
convulsed the entire community with grief and horror, witness had
smothered his reluctance to proceed against a woman, and a solemn sense
of duty forced him to bring these suspicious circumstances to the
knowledge of the District Solicitor.
While he gave his testimony, Mr. Dunbar watched her closely for some
trace of emotion, but she met his gaze without the movement of a
muscle, and he detected not even a quiver of the jet lashes that
darkened her proud gray eyes.
Antony Burk next testified that he had given the accused instructions
about the road to Elm Bluff, when she arrived at X--; and that after
buying her return ticket, she told him it was necessary she should take
the 7:15 train, and that she would be sure to catch it. The train was a
few minutes late, but had pulled out of the station twenty minutes
before the prisoner came back, when she appeared much annoyed at having
missed it.
Then she had sent a telegram (a copy of which was in the possession of
the Solicitor), and requested him to allow her to remain in the ladies'
waiting-room until the next train at 3:05. He had directed her to a
hotel close by, but she declined going there. Thinking she was fatigued
and might relish it, he had, after supper, carried a pitcher of iced
tea to the waiting-room, but though he remained there until nine
o'clock she was nowhere visible. He went home and went to sleep, but
the violence of the storm aroused him; and when he took his lantern and
went back to unlock the ticket office, he searched the whole place, and
the prisoner was not in the building. This was at half-past two A.M.,
and the pitcher of tea remained untouched where he had placed it. It
was not raining when he returned, and a few minutes after he had hunted
for the prisoner, he was standing in the door of his office and he saw
her coming down the railway track, from the direction of the water tank
and the bridge. She was breathing rapidly as if she had been running,
and witness noticed that her clothes were damp, and that some drops of
water fell from the edge of her hat. A lamp-post stood in front of the
station, and he saw her plainly; asked her why she did not stay in the
room, which he had left open for her? Prisoner said she had remained
there. Witness told her he knew better; that she was not there at nine
nor yet at half-past two o'clock. The accused did not appear inclined
to talk, and gave no explanation, but got aboard the 3:05 train.
Witness considered her actions so suspicious, that he had related all
he knew to Mr. Dunbar, who had summoned him before the magistrate. He
(witness) was very loath to think evil of a woman, especially one so
beautiful and noble looking, and if he wronged her, he hoped God would
forgive him; but he never dodged telling the truth.
Here the female Cassius rose, and gave her name as Angeline Dobbs.
"She had for several years attended to the sewing and mending at Elm
Bluff, being summoned there whenever her services were required. On the
afternoon previous to General Darrington's death she was sitting at her
needlework in the hall of the second story of his house. As the day was
very hot, she had opened the door leading out to an iron balcony, which
projected just over the front hall door downstairs; and since the
piazza was open from the roof to the floor, she had peeped over, and
seen the prisoner when she arrived and had watched her while she sat on
the steps, waiting to be admitted. After the accused had been inside
the house some time, she (witness) recollected that she had seen a hole
in one of the lace curtains in the library downstairs, and thought this
would be such a nice time to darn it. The library was opposite the
drawing room, and adjoined General Darrington's bed-room. The door was
open and witness heard what she supposed was a quarrel, as General
Darrington's voice was loud and violent; and she distinctly heard him
say: 'My will is so strong, no contest can touch it! and it will stand
forever between your mother and my property.' Soon after, General
Darrington had slammed the door, and though she heard loud tones for
some time, she could not make out the words. The impression left on
witness's mind was that the prisoner was very impudent to the old
gentleman; and not long afterward she saw accused standing in the rose
garden, pretending to gather some flowers, but really looking up and
down at the front windows. Witness knew the prisoner saw the vault
where the General kept his papers, because she heard it opened while
she was in the bed-room. The door of the vault or safe did not open on
hinges, but was iron, and slid on a metal rod, which made a very
peculiar squeaking sound. When she heard the noise she thought that
General Darrington was so enraged that he got the will to show prisoner
it was all fixed forever, against her and her mother."
When Miss Dobbs sat down, a lame man, disfigured by a scar on his
cheek, learned upon a stick and testified:
"My name is Belshazzar Tatem. Was an orderly sergeant attached to
General Darrington's staff dtiring the war; but since that time have
been a florist and gardener, and am employed to trim hedges and vines,
and transplant flowers at Elm Bluff." On the afternoon of the
prisoner's visit there, he was resetting violet roots on a border under
the western veranda, upon which opened the glass door leading out from
the General's bed-room. He had heard an angry altercation carried on
between General Darrington and some one, and supposed he was scolding
one of the servants. He went to a shed in the barn yard to get a spade
he needed, and when he came back he saw the prisoner walk down the
steps, and thought it singular a stranger should leave the house that
way. Wondered whom she could be, and wondered also that the General had
quarrelled with such a splendid looking lady. Next morning when he went
back to his work, he noticed the glass door was shut, but the red
curtain inside was looped back. He thought it was half-past eight
o'clock, when he heard a loud cry in the bed-room, and very soon after,
somebody screamed. He ran up the steps, but the glass door was locked
on the inside, and when he went around and got into the room, the first
thing he saw was General Darrington's body lying on the floor, with his
feet toward the hearth, and his head almost on a line with the iron
vault built in the wall. The servants were screaming and wringing their
hands, and he called them to help him lift the General, thinking that
he had dropped in a fit; but he found him stone cold and stiff. There
was no sign of blood anywhere, but a heavy, old-fashioned brass andiron
was lying close to the General's head, and he saw a black spot like a
bruise on his right temple. General Darrington wore his night clothes,
and the bed showed he had been asleep there. Some broken vases were on
the floor and hearth, and the vault was wide open. The tin box was
upside down on the carpet, and some papers in envelopes were scattered
about.
Witness had picked up a leather bag carefully tied at the top with red
tape, drawn into hard knots; but in one side he found a hole which had
been cut with a knife, and at the bottom of the bag was a twenty-dollar
gold piece. Two more coins of the same value were discovered on the
floor, when General Darrington's body was lifted; and on the bolster of
the bed lay a bottle containing chloroform. Witness immediately sent
off for some of General Darrington's friends, and also notified the
coroner; and he did not leave the room again until the inquest was
held. The window on the front piazza was open, and witness had searched
the piazza and the grounds for tracks, but discovered no traces of the
burglar and murderer, who had escaped before the rain ceased, otherwise
the tracks would have been found. Witness was positive that the
prisoner was the same person whom he had seen coming out of the
bed-room, and with whom General Darrington had quarrelled.
The sheriff here handed to the magistrate, the gold pieces found on the
floor at Elm Bluff, by the last witness; then the little wicker basket
which had been taken from the prisoner when she was arrested. The coins
discovered therein were taken out, and careful comparison showed that
they corresponded exactly with those picked up after the murder. The
case of sapphires was also shown, and Mr. Dunbar rose to say, that "The
prosecution would prove by the attorney who drew up General
Darrington's will, that these exceedingly valuable stones had been
bequeathed by a clause in that will to Prince Darrington, as a bridal
present for whomsoever he might marry."
A brief silence ensued, during which the magistrate pulled at the
corner of his tawny mustache, and earnestly regarded the prisoner. She
stood, with her beautiful white hands clasped before her, the slender
fingers interlaced, the head thrown proudly back. Extreme pallor had
given place to a vivid flush that dyed her cheeks, and crimsoned her
delicate lips; and her eyes looking straight into space, glowed with an
unnatural and indescribable lustre. Tadmor's queen Bath Zabbai could
not have appeared more regal in her haughty pose, amid the exulting
shouts that rent the skies of conquering Rome. The magistrate cleared
his throat, and addressed the accused.
"You are Beryl Brentano, the granddaughter of General Darrington?"
"I am Beryl Brentano."
"You have heard the charges brought against you. What have you to say
in defence?"
"That I am innocent of every accusation."
"By what witnesses will you prove it?"
"By a statement of the whole truth in detail, if I may be allowed to
make it."
Here the Solicitor, Mr. Churchill, rose and said:
"While faithfully discharging my official duties, loyalty to justice
does not smother the accents of human sympathy; and before proceeding
any further, I hope your Honor will appoint some counsel to confer with
and advise the prisoner. Her isolation appeals to every noble instinct
of manhood, and it were indeed puerile tribute to our lamented General
Darrington, to bring his granddaughter before this tribunal, without
the aid and defence of legal advisers. Justice itself would not be
welcome to me, if unjustly won. My friend, Mr. Hazelton, who is
present, has expressed his desire to defend the prisoner; and while I
am aware that your Honor is under the impression she refuses to accept
counsel, I trust you will nevertheless commit her, until she can confer
with him."
Mr. Hazelton rose and bowed, in tacit approval.
Beryl advanced a few steps, and her clear pure voice thrilled every
heart in the crowded room.
"I need no help to tell the truth, and I want to conceal nothing. Time
is inexpressibly valuable to me now, for a human life more precious
than my own is at stake; and if I am detained here, my mother may die.
May I speak at once, and explain the circumstances which you consider
so mysterious as to justify the shameful indignity put upon me?"
"Since you assume the responsibility of your own defence, you may
proceed with your statement. Relate what occurred from the hour you
reached Elm Bluff, until you left X---next morning."
"I came here to deliver in person a letter written by my mother to her
father, General Darrington, because other letters sent through the
mail, had been returned unread. It contained a request for one hundred
dollars to pay the expense of a surgical operation, which we hoped
would restore her health. When I reached Elm Bluff, I waited on the
steps, until General Darrington's attorney finished his business and
came out; then I was led by an old colored man to the bed-room where
General Darrington sat. I gave no name, fearing he might refuse to
admit me, and he was very courteous in his manner until I laid the
letter before him. He immediately recognized the handwriting, and threw
it to the floor, declaring that no human being had the right to address
him as father, except his son Prince. I picked up the letter, and
insisted he should at least read the petition of a suffering, and
perhaps dying woman. He was very violent in his denunciation of my
parents, and his voice was loud and angry. So painful was the whole
interview, that it was a bitter trial to me to remain in his presence,
but knowing how absolutely necessary it was that mother should obtain
the money, I forced myself to beg him to read the letter. Finally he
consented, read it, and seemed somewhat softened; but he tore it into
strips and threw it from him. He drank several glasses of wine from a
decanter on the table, and offered me some, expressing the opinion that
I must be tired from my journey. I declined it. General Darrington then
questioned me about my family, my mode of living; and after a few
moments became very much excited, renewing his harsh invectives against
my parents. It was at this stage of the interview that he uttered the
identical words quoted by the witness: 'My Will is so strong, no
contest can touch it, and it will stand forever between your mother and
my property.'
"Immediately after, he went to the door leading into the library and
called 'Bedney!' No one answered, and he shut the door, kicking it as
it closed. When he came back to his chair, he said very bitterly: 'At
least we will have no eavesdroppers at this resurrection of my dead.'
He told me all the story of my mother's girlhood; of her marriage,
which had infuriated him; that he had sent her a certain proportion of
property, and then disowned and disinherited her. Afterward he
described his lonely life, his second marriage which was very happy,
and his adoption of his wife's son, who, he repeatedly told me, had
usurped my mother's place in his affections. Finally he said:
"'Your mother has asked for one hundred dollars. You shall have it; not
because I recognize her as child of mine, but because a sick woman
appeals to a Southern gentleman.'
"He took a bunch of keys from his pocket, and with one of them opened a
safe or iron closet on the wall near the chimney, and from that vault
he brought a square black tin box to the table, where he opened it. He
took out a leather bag, and counted into my hand five gold pieces of
twenty dollars each. The money was given so ungraciously that I told
him I would not accept it, save as a loan for mother's benefit; and
that as soon as I could earn it I would return the amount to him. I was
so anxious to get away, I started toward the library door, but he
called me back, and gave me the morocco case which contains the
sapphires. He said my mother's mother had bought them as a gift for her
daughter, to be worn when she was graduated at school; but as she
married and left school without his knowledge, the jewels had never
been seen by her. He told me he had intended to give them to his son
Prince, for his bride, but that now he would send them to mother, who
could sell them for a handsome sum, because they were valuable. He
showed so much sorrow at this time, that I begged him to give me some
message of pardon and affection, which she would prize infinitely more
than money or jewels; but he again became angry and bitter, and so I
left him. I came away by the door leading out on the iron veranda,
because he directed me to do so, saying that he did not wish me to meet
the servants, who would pry and tattle. When I closed the glass door I
saw him standing in the middle of the room, leaning on his cane, and he
had the black tin box in his hand. The sun was setting then, and now--"
She ceased speaking for some seconds, then raised her hands toward
heaven, and with uplifted eyes that seemed in their strained gaze to
pierce beyond the veil, she added with solemn emphasis:
"I call God to witness, that was the last and only time I ever saw
General Darrington. That was the last and only visit I ever made to Elm
Bluff."
There was a general movement among the spectators, and audible
excitement, which was promptly quelled by the magistrate.
"Silence there in front, or I shall order the room cleared."
Turning toward Beryl, he said:
"If you left Elm Bluff at sunset, why did you not take the 7:15 train?"
"I tried to do so, but missed it because I desired to obey my mother's
injunctions as strictly as possible. She gave me a small bunch of
flowers, and asked me to be sure to lay them for her on her mother's
grave. When I reached the cemetery, which you know is in sight of the
road from Elm Bluff, the gate was locked, and it required some time to
enable me to climb over the wall and find the monument. It was growing
dark, and when I arrived at the station, I learned the train had just
gone."
"Why did you not go to a hotel, as you were advised to do?"
"Because after sending the telegram to my mother, I had no money to pay
for lodging; and I asked permission to stay in the ladies'
waiting-room."
"State where and how you spent the night."
"It was very hot and sultry in that room, and as there was a bright
moon shining, I walked out to get some fresh air. The pine woods had
appeared so pretty and pleasant that afternoon, that I went on and on
toward them, and did not realize how far they were. I met people
passing along the road, and it did not seem lonely. The smell of the
pines was new to me, and to enjoy it, I sat down on the straw. I was
tired, and must have fallen asleep at once, for I remember nothing till
some noise startled me, and there I saw the same man on horseback in
the road, whom I had met at Elm Bluff. He asked me if I had misled my
way, and I answered 'No, sir.' The height of the moon showed me it was
late, and as I was frightened at finding myself alone in the woods, I
almost ran back to the railway station, where I saw no one, except a
telegraph operator, who seemed to be asleep in his chair. I cannot say
what time it was, because I could not see the clock. Soon after, it
began to thunder, and all through that terrible storm I was alone in
the waiting-room. So great was my relief when the wind and lightning
ceased, that I went to sleep, and dreamed of a happy time when I lived
in Italy, and of talking with one very dear to me. Just then I awoke
with a start, and heard a voice talking outside, which seemed very
familiar. There were two persons; one, a negro, said:
"'There ain't no train 'till daylight, excepting the through freight.'
"The other person asked: 'When is it due?' The negro answered:
"'Pretty soon, but it don't stop here; it goes to the water tank where
it blows for the railroad bridge; and that is only a short distance up
the track.'
"I think I must have been only half awake, and with my mind fixed on my
dream, I ran out in front of the station house. An old negro man
limping down the street was the only person visible, and while I
watched him he suddenly vanished. I went along the track for some
distance but saw no one; and when I came back, the ticket agent was
standing in the door of his office. I cannot explain to you the
singular impulse which carried me out, when I heard the dialogue,
because it is inexplicable to myself, save by the supposition that I
was still dreaming; and yet I saw the negro man distinctly. There was a
lamp-post near him, and he had a bundle on his shoulder. When the 3:05
train came, I went aboard and left X---."
A smile parted Mr. Dunbar's lips, and his handsome teeth glittered as
he whispered to Judge Dent:
"Even your chivalrous compassion can scarcely digest this knotty
solution of her movements that night. As a fabrication, it does little
credit to her ingenuity."
"Her statement impresses me differently. She is either entirely
innocent, or she had an accomplice, whose voice she recognized; and
this clue should be investigated."
The District Solicitor rose and bowed to the Magistrate.
"With your Honor's permission, I should like to ask the prisoner whom
she expected to see, when she recognized the voice?"
"A person who is very dear to me, but who is not in the United States."
"What is the name of that person?"
Her lips moved to pronounce his name, but some swift intuitive warning
restrained the utterance. Suddenly a new horror, a ghastly possibility,
thrust itself for the first time before her, and she felt as though
some hand of ice clutched her heart.
Those who watched her so closely, saw the blood ebb from cheeks and
lips; noted the ashy pallor that succeeded, and the strange groping
motion of her hands. She staggered toward the platform, and when the
Magistrate caught her arm, she fell against him like some tottering
marble image, entirely unconscious.
* * * * *
So prolonged and death-like was the swoon, and so futile the usual
methods of restoration, that the prisoner was carried into the small
ante-room, and laid upon a wooden bench; where a physician, who chanced
to be in the audience, was summoned to attend her. Finding restoratives
ineffectual, he took out his lancet:
"This is no ordinary fainting fit."
He attempted to roll up one of her sleeves, but seeing this was
impracticable, would have unfastened her dress, had not Judge Dent
arrested his hand.
"No, doctor; cut out the sleeve if necessary, but don't touch her
otherwise."
"Let me assist you; I can easily bare the arm."
As he spoke, Mr. Dunbar knelt beside the bench, and with a small, sharp
pen-knife ripped the seam from elbow to shoulder, from elbow to wrist,
swiftly and deftly folding back the sleeve, and exposing the perfect
moulding of the snowy arm.
"Just hold the hand, Dunbar, so as to keep it steady."
Clasping closely the hand, which the physician laid in his palm the
attorney noted the exquisite symmetry of the slender fingers and oval
nails. He bent forward and watched the frozen face. When the heavily
lashed lids quivered and lifted, and she looked vacantly at the grave
compassionate countenances leaning over her, a certain tightening of
the hold upon her fingers, drew her attention. Her gaze fastened on the
lawyer's blue eyes as if by a subtle malign fascination. The veil that
shrouded consciousness was rent, not fully raised; and as in some dream
the solemn eyes appeared to search his. A strange shivering thrill shot
along his nerves, and his quiet, well regulated heart so long the
docile obedient motor, fettered vassal of his will, bounded, strained
hard on the steel cable that held it in thrall.
"You feel better now?" asked the physician, who was stanching the flow
of blood.
Still her gaze seemed to penetrate the inmost recesses of the lawyer's
nature, calling into sudden revolt dormant elements that amazed and
defied him.
A shadowy smile curved her pale lips.
"At the mercy of Tiberius. At the mercy of Tiberius."
Those present looked inquiringly at each other.
"Her mind wanders a little. Sheriff, give her some of that brandy. She
is as weak as a baby."
Judge Dent raised her head, and the officer held the tumbler to her
mouth; while the former said gently:
"My poor girl, drink a little, it will strengthen you."
With a gesture of loathing, she rejected it; and as she attempted to
raise herself, all the dire extremity of her peril rushed back upon her
mind, like a black overwhelming tide from the sea of the past.
"Lie still, until I have bandaged your arm. Here, Dunbar, you acquitted
yourself so dexterously with your knife, just lend a hand. Hold the arm
until I secure the bandage."
To find herself surrounded by men, helpless in the grasp of strangers,
with no womanly touch or glance to sustain her, served to intensify her
misery; and wrenching herself free, she struggled into a sitting
posture, then staggered to her feet. The heavy coil of hair loosened
when they bore her from the court-room, now released itself from
restraining pins, and fell in burnished waves to her knees, clothing
her with a glory, such as the world's great masters in art reserve for
the beatified. Had all the blood that fed her heart been drained, she
would not have appeared more deadly pale, and in her wide eyes was the
desperate look of a doomed animal, that feels the hot fangs of the
hounds, and the cold steel of the hunters.
"Be persuaded for your own sake, to swallow some stimulant, of which
you are sadly in need. You will require all your strength, and, as a
physician, I insist upon your taking my prescription."
"If I might have some water. Just a little water."
Some one brought a brown stone pitcher, and she drank long and
thirstily; then looked for a moment at the faces of those who crowded
about her.
"What will be done now?"
Every eye fell to the floor, and after a painful silence Judge Dent
said very gently:
"For the present, the Magistrate will retain you in custody, until the
action of the Grand Jury. Should they fail to indict you, then you will
at once be released."
"I am to go to prison? I am to be thrust among convicts, vile
criminals! I--? My father's Beryl? O, righteous God! Where is Thy
justice? O, Christ! Is Thy mercy a mockery?"
She stood, with her chin resting on her clenched hands, and twice a
long violent shudder shook her from head to foot.
"I hope your imprisonment will be only temporary. The Grand Jury will
be in session next week. Meantime diligent search may discover the
persons whose conversation you overheard at the station; and if you be
innocent, we are all your friends, and the law, which now seems so
stern, will prove your strongest protector and vindicator."
Judge Dent stood close beside her, as he essayed these words of
comfort, and saw that she caught her breath as though in mortal agony.
Her face writhed, and she shut her eyes, unable to contemplate some
hideous apparition. He suspected that she was fighting desperately an
impulse that suggested succor; and he was sure she had strangled it,
when her hands fell nerveless at her side, and she raised her bowed
head. If the finger of paralysis had passed over her features, they
would not have appeared more hopelessly fixed. Mechanically she twisted
and coiled her hair, and took the hat and shawl which the officer held
out to her.
"If I can assist you in any way, you have only to send for me."
She looked at Judge Dent intently, for an instant, then shook her head.
"No one can help me now."
She tied her veil over her face, and silently followed the deputy
sheriff to a carriage, that stood near the pavement.
When he would have assisted her, she haughtily repelled him.
"I will follow you, because I must; but do not put your hands on me."