Each human soul is dowered with an inherent adaptability to its
environment, with an innate energy which properly directed, grapples
successfully with all assailing ills; and Time, the tireless
reconciler, flies always low at our side, hardening the fibre of
endurance, stealthily administering that supreme and infallible
anaesthetic whereby the torturing throes of human woe are surely
stilled. Existence involves strife; mental and moral growth depend upon
the vigor with which it is waged, and scorning cowardice, Nature
provides the weapons essential to victory. The evils that afflict
humanity are meted out with a marvellously accurate reference to the
idiosyncrasies of character; and no weight is imposed which cannot by
heroic effort be sustained. The Socratic belief that if all misfortunes
were laid in a heap, whence every man and woman must draw an equal
portion, each would select the burden temporarily laid down and walk
away comforted, was merely an adumbration of the sublimer truth, "As
thy day, so shall thy strength be."
Very slowly physical health and spiritual patience came back to Beryl;
but by degrees she bravely lifted the stained and mutilated wreck of
life, and staggered on her lonely way, finding that repose which means
the death of hope.
At one time death had smilingly pushed ajar the door that opened into
eternal peace, and beckoned her bruised soul to follow; then mockingly
barred escape, and left her to renew the battle. From that double
window in the second story of the prison, she watched the silver of
full moons shining on the spectral white columns that crowned "Elm
Bluff", the fire of setting suns that blazed ruby-red as Gubbio wine,
along the line of casements that pierced the front facade, a bristling
perpetual reminder of the tragedy that cried to heaven for vengeance.
She learned exactly where to expect the first glimpse of the slender
opal crescent in the primrose west; followed its waxing brilliance as
it sailed out of the green bights of the pine forest, its waning
pallor, amid the sparkling splendor of planets that lit the far east.
As the constellations trod the mazes of their stately minuet across the
distant field of blue, their outlines grew familiar as human
countenances; and from the darkness of her cell she turned to the great
golden stars throbbing in midnight skies, peering in through the iron
bars like pitying eyes of heavenly guardians. Locked away from human
companionship, and grateful for the isolation of her narrow cell, the
lonely woman found tender compensation in the kindly embrace of
Nature's arms, drawn closely about her.
The procession of the seasons became to her the advent of so many
angels, who leaned in at her window and taught her the secret of floral
runes; the mysterious gamut of bird melodies, the shrill and weird
dithyrambics of the insect world; the recitative and andante and
scherzo of wind and rain, of hail and sleet, in storm symphonies.
The Angel of Spring, with the snow of dogwood, and the faint pink of
apple blossoms on her dimpling cheeks; with violet censers swinging
incense before her crocus-sandalled feet, and the bleating of young
lambs that nestled in her warm arms.
The Angel of Summer, full blown as the red roses flaunting amid the
golden grain and amber silk tassels that garlanded her sunny brow;
poised languorously on the glittering apex of salmon clouds at whose
base lightning flickered and thunder growled,--watching through drowsy
half shut lids the speckled broods of partridges scurrying with frantic
haste through the wild poppies of ripe wheat fields, the brown covey of
shy doves ambushed among purple morning glories swinging in the dense
shade of rustling corn; listening as in a dream to the laughter of
reapers, whetting scythes in the blistering glare of meadow slopes, yet
hearing all the while, the low, sweet babble of the slender stream that
trickled through pine roots, down the hillside, and added its silvery
tinkle to the lullaby crooned by the river to its fringe of willows,
its sleeping lily pads.
The Angel of Autumn, radiant through her crystal veil of falling rain,
as with caressing touches she deepened the crimson on orchard
treasures, mellowed the heart of vineyard clusters, painted the leaves
with hectic glory that reconciled to their approaching fall, smiled on
the chestnuts that burst their burrs to greet her, whispered to the
squirrels that the banquet was ready; kissed into starry bloom blue
asters crowding about her knees, and left the scarlet of her lips on
the kingdom of berries ordained to flush the forest aisles, where
wolfish winds howled, when leaves had rustled down to die, and verdure
was no more.
The Angel of Winter, a sad, mute image, wan as her robes of snow,
stretching white wings to shelter perishing birds huddled on the cold
pall that covered a numb world,--crowned with icicles that clasped her
silver locks, shedding tears that froze upon her marble cheeks;
standing on the universal grave where Nature lay bound in cerements,
hearkening to the dismal hooting of the owl at her feet, the sharp
insistent cry of gray killdees hovering above icy marshes, the wailing
tempest dirge over the dead earth; and while with one benignant hand
she tenderly folded her mantle about the sleepers, the other kindled a
conflagration along the western sky, that reddened and warmed even the
wastes of snow, and when she beckoned, the attendant stars seemed to
circle closer and closer, burning with an added lustre that made night
glorious. Answering her call, the Auroral arch sprang out of the North,
spanning the sky with waving banners of orange and violet flame, that
illumined the Niobe of the Seasons, as she hovered with out-stretched
glittering pinions, and mournful ice-dimmed eyes above her shrouded
dead children.
With returning health, had come to Beryl activity of those artistic
instincts, which for a time, had slumbered in the torpor of despair;
and when her daily task of work had been accomplished, the prisoner
leaned with folded arms on the stone ledge of the window, and studied
every changing aspect of earth and atmosphere. By degrees the old
ambition stirred, and she began to sketch the slow panorama of July
clouds, built of mist and foam into the likeness of domes of burnished
copper, and campaniles of silver; the opaque mountain masses,
stratified along the horizon, leaden in hue, with sullen bluish gorges
where ravening January winds made their lair; the intricate, graceful
tracery of gnaried bare boughs and interlacing twigs, that would serve
as a framework when May hung up her green portieres to screen the
down-lined boudoirs where happy birds nestled; the gray stone arches of
the bridge in the valley below, the groups of cattle couched on the
rocky hillside, up which the pine forest marched like ranks of giants.
On sultry afternoons she watched lengthening tree-shadows creep across
the reddish-brown carpeting of straw, and in the long nights when
sleeplessness betrayed her into the clutches of torturing
retrospection, she waited and longed for the pearly lustre that paved
the east for the rosy feet of dawn; listened to the beating of Nature's
heart in the solemn roar of the Falls two miles away, in the strophe
and anti-strophe of winds quivering through pine tops, the startled cry
of birds dozing in cedar thickets, the shrill droning of crickets, the
monotonous recrimination of katydids, the peculiar, querulous call of a
family of flying squirrels housed in the cleft of an old magnolia, the
Gregorian chant of frogs cradled in the sedge and ferns, where the
river lapped and gurgled.
Humanity had turned its back upon her; but the sinless world of
creation, with all its glorious chords of beautiful color, and the
soothing witchery of the solemn voices of the night, ministered
abundantly to eye and ear. She had hoped and prayed to die; God denied
her petition; and sent, instead of His Angel of Death, two to comfort
her, the Angel of Health and the Angel of Resignation; whereby she
understood, that she had not yet earned surcease from suffering, but
was needed for future work in the Master's vineyard.
If live she must, through the five years of piacular sacrifice, why
vitiate its efficacy by rebellious repining, that seemed an affront to
the divine arbiter of human destinies? She could not escape the cross;
and bitterness of heart might jeopardize the crown. Beggared by time,
could she afford to risk the eternal heritage? The deepest conviction
of her soul was, "Behind fate, stands God"; hidden for a season, deaf
and blind and mute, it seemed, but always surely there; waiting His own
appointed season of rescue, and of recompense. So strong was her faith
in His overruling wisdom and mercy, that her soul found rest, through
perpetual prayer for patience; and as weeks slipped into months, and
season followed season, she realized that though no roses of happiness
could ever bloom along her arid path, the lilies of peace kissed her
tired feet.
Somewhere in the wicked world, Bertie was astray; and perhaps God has
kept her alive, intending she should fulfil her mission years hence, by
bringing him out of the snares of temptation, back into the fold of
Christ's redeemed. Five years of penal servitude to ransom his soul;
was the price exorbitant?
One dull, wintry afternoon as she pressed close to the window, to catch
the fading light on the page of her Bible, it chanced to be the chapter
in St. Luke, which contained the parable of the Pharisee and the
Publican; and while she read, a great compunction smote her; a
remorseful sense of having scorned as utterly unclean and debased, her
suffering fellow prisoners.
Was there no work to be done for the dear Master, in that moral
lazaretto--the long rows of cells down stairs, where some had been
consigned for 'ninety-nine years'? Hitherto, she had shrunk from
contact, as from leprous contagion; meeting the Penitentiary inmates
only in the chapel where, since her restoration to health, she went
regularly to sing and play on the organ, when the chaplain held
service. The world had cruelly misjudged her; was she any more lenient
to those who might be equally innocent?
Next day she went humbly, yet shyly, down to the common work-room, and
took her place among the publicans, hoping that the soul of some
outcast might be won to repentance. Now and then messages of sympathy
reached her from the outside world, in the form of flowers, books,
magazines; and two of the jurors who convicted her, sent from time to
time generous contributions of dainty articles that materially promoted
her comfort; while a third, whose dead child had clung to her Christmas
card, eased his regretful pangs by the gift of a box containing paper,
canvas, crayons, brushes, paints, and all requisite appliances for
artistic work.
Sister Serena had gone on a labor of love, to a distant State; and
faithful Dyce, hopelessly crippled by a fall from the mule which she
was forcing across the bridge leading to the State dungeon, had been
permanently consigned to the wide rocking chair, beside her cabin
hearth at "Elm Bluff".
It was a bleak night in January, and intensely cold, when Mrs.
Singleton wrapped a shawl about her head, and ran along the dark
corridor to the cell, where Beryl was walking up and down to keep
herself warm. Only the moonlight illumined it, as the rays fell on the
bare floor, making a broad band of silver beneath the window.
"I forgot to tell you, that something very dreadful happened at the
'Lilacs' last week. Judge Dent had a stroke of paralysis and died the
same night. As if that were not trouble enough to last for a while at
least, the house took fire in that high wind yesterday, and burned to
the ground; leaving poor Miss Patty Dent without a roof to cover her.
She had gone to the cemetery to carry flowers to her brother's grave,
and when she returned, it was too late to save anything. Miss Gordon's
new wing cost thousands of dollars and was furnished like a palace, so
I am told; but the flames destroyed every vestige of the beautiful
house, and the pictures and statues. It seems that it was heavily
insured, but money can't buy the old portraits and family silver, the
mahogany and glass, and the yellow damask--that have been kept in the
Dent family since George Washington was a teething baby; and Miss Patty
wails loudest over the loss of an old, old timey communion service,
that the Dents boasted Queen Anne gave to one of them, who was an
Episcopal minister. The poor old soul is almost crazy, I hear, and Mr.
Dunbar carries her to New York to-morrow, where she has a nephew
living; and next month she will go to Europe to join Miss Gordon. It is
reported in town, that when Judge Dent died so suddenly, Miss Patty
sent a cable telegram to her niece to come home; but early yesterday,
just before the fire, an answer came by cable, asking Miss Patty to
come to Europe. Some people think Mr. Dunbar intends escorting her, and
that when he meets Miss Gordon, the marriage will take place over
there; but I never will believe that, till it happens."
She peered curiously into the face of her listener, but the light was
too dim to enable her to read its expression.
"Why not? Under the circumstances, such a course seems eminently
natural and proper."
"Do you really think he intends marrying?"
"I am the confidant of neither the gentleman nor the lady; but you told
me long ago, that a marriage engagement existed between them; and since
both have shown me much kindness and sympathy, I sincerely hope their
united lives may be very happy. If Mr. Dunbar searched the universe, he
could scarcely find Miss Gordon's equal, certainly not her superior;
and he cannot fail to appreciate his good fortune in winning her."
Mrs. Singleton lifted her shoulder significantly. "Perhaps! but you can
never be sure of men. They are about as uncertain calculations as the
hatching of guinea eggs, or the sprouting of parsley seed. What is
theirs can't be worth much; but what belongs to somebody else, is
invaluable; moreover, they are liable to sudden tantrums of sheer
obstinacy, that hang on like whooping-cough, or a sprain in one's
joints. Did you never see a mule take the sulks on his way to the corn
crib and the fodder rack, and refuse to budge, even for his own
benefit? Some men are just that perverse. Mr. Dunbar is trailing game,
worth more to him at present, than a sweetheart across the Atlantic
Ocean; which reminds me of what brought me here. He asked Ned to-day,
if you saw Mr. Darrington yesterday when he came here; and learning
that you did not, he gave him this paper, which he said would explain
what the Legislature did last month, about declaring you of age. Ned
told him you signed some document Mr. Wolverton brought here last week,
which secured all the property to Mr. Darrington, and he said he had
been informed of the transaction, and that Mr. Darrington would soon go
back to Germany. Then he added: 'Singleton, present my respects to Miss
Brentano and tell her, I am happy to say that my trip West last summer
was not entirely unsuccessful. It has furnished me with a very valuable
clue. She will understand.' Oh, dear! how bitterly cold it is! Come to
my room, and get thoroughly thawed; Ned is down stairs, and the
children are asleep."
"No, thank you; I should only feel the cold more, when I came back."
"Then take my shawl and cover your ears and throat. There, you must.
Good night."
She closed the door, and fled down the long black passage, to the
bright cozy room, where her babes slumbered.
Slowly Beryl resumed her walk from window to door, from bar to bar, but
of the stinging cold she grew oblivious; and the blood burned in her
cheeks and throbbed with almost suffocating violence at her heart.
She comprehended fully the significance of the message, and dared not
comfort herself with the supposition that it was prompted by a spirit
of bravado.
To what quarter of the globe was he tracking the desperate culprit, who
had fled sorely wounded from his murderous assault? Ignorant of his
mother's death, and of his sister's expiatory incarceration, might not
Bertie venture back to the great city, where she had last seen him; and
be trapped by those wily "Quaestores Paricidii" of the nineteenth
century--special detectives?
Fettered, muzzled by the stone walls of her dungeon, she could send him
no warning, could only pray and endure, while she and her reckless,
wayward brother drifted helplessly down the dark, swift river of doom.
At every revival of fears for his safety, up started the mighty
temptation that never slumbered, to confess all to Mr. Dunbar; but as
persistently she took it by the throat, and crushed it back, resolved
at all hazards to secure, if possible, the happiness of the woman who
had trusted her.
In the midst of the wreck of her life, out of the depths of the dust of
humiliation, had sprung the beautiful blossom of love, shedding its
intoxicating fragrance over ruin; yet, because the asp of treachery
lurked in the exquisite, folded petals, she shut her eyes to the
bewildering loveliness, and loyalty strove to tear it up by the roots,
to trample it out; learning thereby, that the fibrous thread had struck
deep into her own heart, defying ejectment.
She had forbidden his visits, interdicted letters; but she could not
expel the vision of a dear face that haunted her memory; nor exorcise
the spell of a voice that had first thrilled her pulses when pleading
with the jury in her behalf.
Sometimes she wondered whether she had been created as a mere sentient
plummet to sound every gulf of human woe; then humbly recanted the
impious repining, and thanked God that, at least, she had been spared
that deepest of all abysses, the Hades of remorse. That which comes to
most women as the supreme earthly joy--the consciousness of possessing
the heart of the man they love, fell upon Beryl like the lash of
flagellation; rendering doubly fierce the battle of renunciation, which
she fought, knowing that sedition and treason were raising the standard
of revolt within the fortress.
During the eight months that had elapsed since Leo sailed for Europe,
Beryl had exchanged no word with Mr. Dunbar; but twice a sudden,
tumultuous leaping of her heart surprised her at sight of him, standing
in the door of the chapel; watching her as she sat within the altar
rail, playing the little organ, while the convict congregation stood up
to sing. Although no name was ever appended, she knew what hand had
directed the various American and foreign art magazines, which brought
their argosy of beauty to divert and gladden her sombre meditations.
On Christmas morning, the second of her sojourn within penitentiary
walls, the express messenger had brought to the door of her cell, two
packages, one a glowing heart of crimson and purple passion flowers,
the other an exquisite engraving of Sir Frederick Leighton's "Hercules
Wrestling with Death"; and below the printed title, she recognized the
bold characters traced in red ink: "The Alcestis you emulate."
To-night, a ray of moonlight crept across the wall, and shivered its
silver over the rigid face of the dead wife in the picture; and the
prisoner, gazing mournfully at it, comprehended that her own fate was
sadder than that of the immortal Greek devotee. To die for Admetus
after he had sworn on the altar of his gods, that he would spend alone
the remainder of his days, solaced by no fair successor, dedicating his
fidelity to appease her manes, was comparatively easy; but to turn
away, voluntarily resign the man she loved, and assist in forging the
links which she must live to see chaining him to a happy rival, were an
ordeal more appalling to Alcestis than premature descent into the dusky
realm of Persephone.
To secure to her brother immunity from pursuit, and to Miss Gordon the
allegiance of the husband of her choice, was the problem that banished
sleep and kept Beryl pacing the floor, until welcome day hung her
orange mantle over the quivering splendor of the morning star. One
final effort was all that seemed possible now; and kneeling before the
table she wrote and sealed a note, to be delivered before the express
train bore the lawyer away on his journey:
"Your message was received, and it has so disquieted and alarmed me
that I am forced to treat for peace. If you will cancel your police
contracts, cease your search, go to Europe with Miss Dent, and pledge
me your honor to marry Miss Gordon before you return, I will solemnly
promise, bind myself in the sight of the God I serve, to live and to
die Beryl Brentano; and never, without your consent and permission,
will I look again on the face of the man whom you are hunting to death.
The assurance of his safety will atone for all you have made me suffer;
will nerve me to bear whatever the future may hold. You will imagine
you understand, but it is impossible that you can ever realize the
nature of the pain this proposal involves for me; nevertheless, if you
accept and keep the compact, I believe you know that, at all costs, I
shall never forfeit the pledged word of
"BERYL BRENTANO."
When marriage vows had irrevocably committed Leo's happiness to his
honor, it might then be safe to tell him the truth, and solicit release
from the self-imposed terms. Five hours later, she received an answer:
"A trifle too late, you unfurled the flag of truce. With my game in
sight, I decline to forego the chase. For your solicitude regarding my
marriage, I tender my thanks; and the assurance, that no magnet can
draw, not all the charms of Circe lure me across the Atlantic, until I
have accomplished my purpose. The tardiness of your proposal is
unerring appraiser of its costliness; and I were a monster of cruelty
to debar you the sight of your idol, though I bring him with the grim
garniture of chains and handcuffs. When I consign Miss Dent to her
relatives in New York, I go to a miners' camp in Dakota, to identify a
man bearing the marks of one who fled from X---, and lost his pipe, on
the night he murdered Gen'l Darrington.
"DUNBAR."
To temporize longer would be fatal to Bertie; and no alternative
remained but to tell the simple truth.
Without an instant's delay she took up her pen, but ere half a line had
been traced on the paper, a hoarse whistle, somewhat muffled by
distance, told her the attempt was futile; and through the valley
beyond the river a trailing serpent of black smoke showed the express
train darting northward. The attorney had left X---, but might linger
in New York sufficiently long for a letter to reach him; and doubtless
his address could be learned at his office:
"If Mr. Dunbar will give me an opportunity of acquainting him with some
facts, he is anxious to discover, he shall find it unnecessary to
travel to Dakota; and will thank me for saving him from the long
journey he contemplates.
"B. B."
The sun was setting when Mr. Singleton returned from the attorney's
office, and held out the note which he had been instructed to address
and deposit in the mail.
"If it is a matter of any importance, I am sorry to tell you that this
cannot reach Mr. Dunbar immediately. He goes only as far as
Philadelphia, where Miss Dent's nephew meets her; then Dunbar travels
right on West without stopping, till he reaches Bismarck. He left
instructions at his office to retain all mail matter here, for a couple
of weeks, then forward to Washington City; as business would detain him
there some days after his return from the west. Good gracious! how
white your lips are. Sit down. What ails you?"
She put her hand over her eyes, and tried to collect her thoughts. To
suffer so long, so keenly, and yet lose the victory; could it be
possible that her sacrifice would prove utterly futile?
"Mr. Singleton, you have shown me many times your friendly sympathy,
and I am again forced to tax your kindness. It is important that I
should see or communicate with Mr. Dunbar within the next forty-eight
hours. Could you induce the telegraph operator here to have a message
delivered to him on the train, before it reaches Washington City?"
"I will certainly do my best; and to insure it I will go to the
railroad operator, who understands the stations, and can catch Dunbar
more easily than a message from the general office. Write our your
telegram, while I order my buggy."
"MR. DUNBAR. On board Train No. 2.
"Please let me see you before you go West. I promise information that
will render you unwilling to make the journey to Bismarck."
"B."
Anxiously she computed the time within which an answer might reasonably
be expected; and her heart dwelt as a suppliant before God, that the
message would avail to arrest pursuit; but hours wore wearily away,
tedious days trod upon the slow skirts of dreary nights; and no
response lifted the burden of dread. Hope whispered feebly that his
failure to send a telegraphic reply, implied his intention of returning
to X---from Philadelphia; and she clung to this rope of sand until a
week had passed. Then the conviction was inevitable that he regarded
her appeal as merely a ruse to divert his course, to delay the seizure
of his prey; and that while he misinterpreted the motive that prompted
her message, she had merely furnished an additional goad to his jealous
hatred.
As helpless wrack borne on the sullen tide of destiny, she struck her
trembling hands together, and cried out in the dark solitude of her
cell: "Verily! The stars in their courses fought against Sisera."