"We have here a warrant for a search, young woman; and you will not be
annoyed by our putting it to execution."
She was silent, and shook from head to heel. One of the men drew off the
bed-cover, and discovered the object of their search. Captain Beachum's
name was on the top of it.
"So Mike committed nothing to your charge?" said the man, addressing
Alice again.
"No," she answered, firmly.
"You can tell that to the sheriff," said the man. "Meantime, we take
this article along with us."
He threw the portmanteau on his shoulders, and departed along with the
concurrents, leaving the girl fixed to the floor like a statue.
In a short time after, her mother, who was against Maxwell's suit, and
blamed her daughter for having anything to do with him, entered the
house. Alice dared not make her mother her confidant; she was reduced to
the necessity of not only wrestling single-handed with her difficulty,
but of concealing it from her parent. Bed-time came, and she retired to
rest, but slept none. At daybreak she started, dressed herself, and,
without saying one word to her mother, proceeded to Dumfries to visit
Lewis Threshum. On arriving at his house, she found he was in the prison
along with Maxwell, and waited till he came home. She informed him truly
of everything that had taken place, and saw, from the effects of her
communication, that she was condemning her lover. Starting up in great
agitation, he cried--
"Mike's life is in your hands, Alice: will you hang or save him?"
"Save him if I can," replied the girl.
"Then you must tell the shirra," said Lewie, "everything ye've tauld me,
but the last words uttered by the secret visiter. These you maun keep in
your bosom, and hauld like grim death, otherwise Mike's a dead man."
"I will speak the truth," said Alice, calmly.
"Didna you love Mike?" said the writer, staring at her.
"Yes, but I loved also, and still love, truth and honesty."
"Idiot cratur!" ejaculated Lewie, stamping with his feet. "Mike Maxwell
is a dead man--Mike Maxwell is a dead man!" (Pausing and looking at
her.) "Will you hide yourself then?"
"No," replied she; "I do not love secresy."
"Hang him then!" cried the infuriated man; "hang him, and then drown
yourself, like the rest o' your inconsistent sex."
Offended by the violence of Threshum, which resulted, however, from his
wish to save his friend and her lover, Alice left the room suddenly, and
had scarcely got to the door, when she heard the writer calling after
her. At this moment she was seized by a sheriff-officer, and conducted
before the sheriff to be examined. She told the truth, the whole truth,
and nothing but the truth. The fatal words of the secret visiter--"I
joined Mike in the robbery, and wish him to get off"--were formally
recorded, and the deposition closed. Threshum, finding the necessity of
exerting his best energies to overcome the weight of this overpowering
evidence, called at the office of the fiscal, and demanded, on behalf of
his client, to see the contents of the portmanteau. This was conceded to
him; and the man of the law, having examined carefully the papers in
presence of the fiscal, and taken notes of them, departed, to turn his
information to the best account he could for his client. He discovered
that the papers belonged to Mr William Anson, merchant in Bristol, the
guardian of the runaway bride, Miss Julia Anson.
This done, Lewis got hold of Alice before she left Dumfries, and took
her with him to the prisoner, to see if the efforts of Mike would have
any effect upon making her depart from her intention of adhering to the
truth on the day of trial--the examination she had already undergone
being merely a step in the preparation of the evidence. When they
entered, they found Mike enjoying himself over some brandy, which the
friendship of the jailer had procured for him. Lewis told him, with a
grave face, of the extraordinary circumstances attending the recovery of
the portmanteau, and, in particular, the words uttered by the individual
who handed it in at the window. Mike remained unmoved.
"And do ye believe the words o' the ruffian wha thus hounds me?" said he
to Alice.
"I cannot disbelieve what accords so well with everything else I have
seen," replied she. "Alas! would that I could disbelieve them!"
"But ye'll keep them at least to yersel, Alice?" said Mike.
"If I could keep my heart to mysel, Mike, I would," replied she. "But
God does not allow that, and I must speak the truth. What would you have
me to do?"
"To say naething," replied he.
"Fule, man!" rejoined Lewis; "say naething! That wad hang ye mair
certainly than what she has already said to the fiscal (to whom she has
tauld everything), and intends to repeat at the trial, unless we can, in
some way, prevent it. Say naething, man! You and she are tryin, like the
competin millspinners o' Dryden's mill, which o' ye is best at twistin
hemp. If she said naething, wha wad be presumed to be the depositor o'
the portmanteau in the hands o' Alice Parker, the weel-kenned lover o'
Mike Maxwell? Wha but Mike Maxwell himsel? Could it come frae a mair
likely hand than that on whase finger the owner's diamond ring was, or
micht hae been? Ye're baith fules. The lassie should swear, and she
_maun_ swear (unless, indeed, she wants to hang ye, which seems to be
the case), that the portmanteau was handed in at the window by a man wha
said ye were innocent, and had sent back the papers to try to save ye."
"Will ye say that, Alice?" said Mike.
"I cannot tell a lie, Mike," replied Alice. "I will speak the truth; and
I would do that if Alice Parker's neck, in place of Mike Maxwell's, were
in danger of the rope."
"Incomprehensible wench!" cried Mike. "Is this the last and strongest
proof o' your affection? Does this agree wi' the sabbin heart and watery
ee o' the greetin Alice, as she used to hang round my neck amang the
green shaws o' Netherwood, and get me to promise that I never again wad
see May Balfour? or does it agree wi' my promise, made on the condition
that you wad renounce Giles Baldwin, wha, I fear, is at the bottom o' a'
this affair? Is it common for women to agree to marry simple men, and
then hang them?--to promise them a gowden ring for the finger, and gie
them a hempen ane for the craig?"
"It is common for women to love," replied Alice, "and it is too common
for women to lie for love; but the love that is leagued with the
falsehood of the tongue, cannot be supported by the truth of the heart.
No woman ever loved man as I loved you, Mike; but you are only a man,
and there is a God" (looking upwards) "to be loved--ay, and to be
feared. But you say you are innocent; and when did white-robed innocence
require the piebald, ragged covering of falsehood, to show the purity
which it covers? It were a mockery of the laws of God and man, to swear
falsely to save an innocent man. And, alas! if you are guilty (and
appearances are sadly against you), no falsehood ought to save you from
the injured laws of your country."
"The plain Scotch o' a' this English, Mike," said Lewie, "is, that the
lassie is determined to hang ye, as a repayment for a' the kisses ye
were at the trouble to gie her in the holms o' Netherwood; and, after
ye're dead, she'll sing 'Gilderoy' owre your grave. But, in sober
seriousness, she's an idiot, like a' the rest o' her English freends. A
Scotchwoman wad hae leed through fire and brimstone for her lover; and,
after she swore the rope aff his neck, placed her saft arms round his
craig, in place o' the hemp. Mercy on me, whar wad be a' my glory at
_proofs_ if folk were to speak the truth? My pawkieness, slyness,
cunnin, art, and triumph o' the cross-question, wad be o' nae mair avail
than sae muckle ordinary fair rubbish o' straightforward judgments and
honesty. Keep up your spirits, Mike; I'll no let her hang ye. The
English man or woman's no born that will hang Mike Maxwell."
"Are ye resolved, Alice?" said Mike, approaching her, and holding out
his arms to enfold her.
"I am," replied she, receding. "Clear yourself by the aid of truth, and
there's no haven in this world that could be dearer to me than these
arms. Till then, I am the bride of sorrow. Farewell!"
And she departed, leaving Lewis Threshum with Maxwell.
"Saw ye ever sic a stubborn fule?" said Lewie.
"I never saw sae noble a wench," replied Mike.
"Ha! ha!" cried the writer. "A pair o' fules! Ye're the first man, Mike,
I ever heard praise the person that swears awa his life; but this
nonsense will neither prove nor pay. We maun set aboot discoverin the
mystery o' this adventure at Alice's window. Ae thing seems to me
perfectly clear; and that is, that it wasna the robber that handed in
that portmanteau."
"Hoo do ye mak oot that?" said Mike.
"You're as simple's the puir English fule," replied Lewie. "Wad the man
wha took the portmanteau frae Captain Beachum hae admitted to Alice
Parker that he was the robber? and, what's mair, wad he hae said that ye
joined him in the robbery--a lee--at the very moment when he wanted to
save ye by returnin the stolen article?"
"You astonish me, Lewie," said Mike; "thae things never occurred to me."
"A lawyer's ee has twa lenses," said Lewie. "The man, whaever he is, who
handed in that portmanteau at Alice Parker's window is your enemy, and
no the robber. How he got the portmanteau is a different thing; but
maybe we may be able to discover that also."
"If my enemy," said Mike, "he maun be Giles Baldwin, the lover o'
Alice."
"Ha!" cried Lewie, "there's light there, man. Why was the portmanteau no
taen to yer mother's? The question's a curious ane. Baldwin was the
likely man to tak it to Alice's, and the _only_ man wha wad hae tauld
the lover o' his successfu rival that that rival was the robber. There's
conies i' this hole; I see the marks o' their feet; and whar will ye
find a better terrier than Lewie Threshum? Mair, man: wha sent the
officers to Alice's house? That I'll sune discover. Keep up your
spirits, Mike; and, while ye try to shake that fause English woman frae
yer heart, I'll try and keep Hangie frae yer craig."
And away Lewie hastened; to continue his inquiries. He went first to the
officers who searched for the portmanteau, and ascertained from them,
through the influence of that heart-aperient whisky, that it was in fact
Giles Baldwin who had told them to go and search the house of Widow
Parker. Lewis next proceeded to Gretna, where he interrogated Alice more
distinctly.
"If ye're determined to speak the truth," said he to the grieved girl,
"ye should tell us the hail truth, as ye did te the shirra. Did the
voice o' the man no strike ye as a kent ane?"
"It did," replied Alice; "but though I have been trying to discover
whose it resembled, I have not been able to make anything of it."
"What say ye to Giles Baldwin's?" said Lewie.
"When you mention it," said Alice, "it does strike me that the
resemblance between the two voices was very great. But a thought now
strikes me: when the man said that Mike had joined him in the robbery, I
let fall the window, which struck him over the knuckles a severe blow.
The mark must be on his hand yet. For God's sake, fly to Giles' house,
and see if his hand is hurt. If that is the case, I will believe that
Mike Maxwell is an innocent man."
"Why," said Lewie, looking cunningly into her face.
"Because," said she, "Mike Maxwell never would have joined Giles
Baldwin, his enemy, in a robbery; and, therefore, the statement made to
me at the window was a lie; and one lie, like a fly in a box of
ointment, corrupts the whole mass of evidence."
"My writing-chamber maun be like a charnel-house, then," said Lewie.
"But, lassie, you're surely Scotch, wi' merely an English tongue."
"Sir," said Alice, "I would wish you would hasten to Giles Baldwin,
rather than joke about this serious affair."
"A' my triumph in the law consists in jokin when I am serious," replied
Lewie, with a grave face. "Ye wadna tak my advice when I wanted ye to
save yer lover; and now I'll no tak yours when ye want me to save him"
(leering); "I mean, Alice, just that I'll gang to Giles Baldwin at my
ain time. Will ye swear to his voice and his hand?"
"If Giles Baldwin's hand," said she, "is cut in such a way as might have
been done by the fall of that window, I will swear to my perfect belief
of his being the man who handed in the portmanteau."
"Aneugh, aneugh," cried Lewie; "I kent ye were Scotch; and now I'll awa
to Giles, and _shak hands_ wi' him."
Lewis departed, and went away direct to Baldwin's house. He found Giles
at the door, and, holding out his hand, asked him, in a friendly manner,
how he did. Giles intuitively extended his hand, which, as Lewie seized
it, he observed, was clearly peeled along the back, a little above the
knuckles.
"Ye hae a hard grip, Giles," said the writer. "Is this the arm that Mike
Maxwell broke at the wrestlin match last year?" (Looking down at his
hand.) "I declare, there's the marks o' Mike's fingers on yer hand yet!
But I'm sorry ye hae fa'n into this new scrape, Giles. The craig's a
mair kittle part than the arm or the hand, and aften does penance for
the acts o' its restless freend. I'm sorry for you, Giles."
"What's the matter?" said Giles. "I need no man's sorrow, nor money
either."
"A man that has been successful in the highway doesna need the last,"
said Lewie; "but he is in great need o' the first. It was strange that
twa enemies should join thegither to commit robbery. It's now quite
ascertained that you and Mike Maxwell were the robbers o' Captain
Beachum."
"Wha dares say that?" replied Giles, looking alarmed.
"Alice Parker," said Lewie. "That nicht ye handed into her Captain
Beachum's portmanteau at the window, and got your hand" (taking hold of
it) "hurt by the fa' o' the sash (the mark is on't yet--Providence winna
let thae marks heal), you told her very honestly--but I canna say,
Giles, it was prudent o' ye--at least I wadna hae dune sae unguarded a
trick--that Mike Maxwell joined you in the robbery. You then told Jem
Anderson, the shirra-officer, to gae and search for the portmanteau in
Widow Parker's hoose. What made ye do that, man? Couldna ye hae come to
me, and gien me six and eightpence for an advice? The neck o' a sheep,
wi' the head at ae end, and the harrigals at the ither, is worth
eighteen-pence. Surely the craig o' a man is worth six and eightpence."
Giles was bewildered by this speech, and appeared like a man who gets
the folds and meshes of a net thrown over him. He stood and stared at
the writer. The great terror was the charge of robbery, of which he was
quite innocent; and he was conscious that he had so far convicted
himself, by an unwary statement to that effect made for a certain
purpose to Alice Parker. His mind, occupied by this fear, let go the
apprehension of a discovery of the mere act of handing in the
portmanteau.
"I see no harm in handing in the portmanteau," he said, irresolutely,
his mind still occupied by the major terror; "a person finding it on the
road might take that way of returning it to the owner, and saving poor
Mike. I committed no robbery."
"Giles Baldwin," said Lewie "this winna do; I can prove that ye hae
_admitted being a robber_. Now, tak yer choice--admit the truth about
the portmanteau, (for I dinna believe ye stole it), or run the risk o' a
trial for yer life. If ye refuse me, I'll hae ye apprehended within an
hour."
The scrape into which Giles had got was evident to himself. He saw no
way of escaping; but he was still dogged and silent.
"Guid-day, Mr Baldwin!" said Lewis; "ye needna try to flee the country;
I'll hae twa beagles after ye afore ye can even cut a stick frae that
ash to help ye on. Twa hangins on ae wuddy maks twa pair o' shoon to the
hangman, but only ae ploy to the people."
"Mr Threshum," cried Baldwin, as the writer was going out, "what do you
want?"
"Explain to me a' ye ken about the portmanteau," said Lewis, "and I'll
guarantee ye against the wuddy: that's fair."
"I found the portmanteau," said Giles, at last overcome with fear, "and
gave it to Alice Parker to send to the owner, and save Mike."
"That's no a' true," said Lewis. "If ye wanted to save Mike, why did ye
tell a lee, and say that he was ane o' the robbers, yoursel bein the
ither?"
Giles was caught; he saw now that he had only one course, and agreed to
sign a paper, setting forth all he knew and everything he did in
relation to the transaction. Lewis sat down accordingly, and took down
his declaration, which, after it was finished, he signed and
authenticated. It bore that he had a grudge against Mike Maxwell, for
having broken his arm, and taken from him his lover, Alice Parker. He
had heard the suspicions which were afloat in regard to Mike's mode of
living; and, having seen him that night sitting on Black Bess, and
looking after the carriage, he suspected he was after prey. He insulted
him in the way mentioned; and Mike having retaliated in the way also
already set forth, Giles was wroth against him, and seeing, some time
after, a carriage hastening after the other, he got up behind it, and
rode on, with the view of watching the motions of Mike, and of being
enabled to inform upon him, and thus revenge himself. After riding for
some time, he heard the conversation between Mike and the gentleman in
the carriage, which has been already detailed; and, having proceeded on
some distance farther, to get some whisky at a house where he was
acquainted, he noticed, as the carriage swerved to a side, a portmanteau
lying on the ground. He jumped down, and, taking hold of the article,
swung it behind a hedge, and covered it with leaves and twigs. Some time
after, two men came up, and asked him if he had seen a portmanteau. He
denied that he had, and they passed on. Then came two sheriff-officers,
who told him that a robbery had been committed on a lady and gentleman
going to Berwick, whereby a valuable portmanteau had been taken from the
carriage. This made Giles prick up his ears: he suspected that Mike had
been the robber; and his suspicion was confirmed by the fact, that he
had heard him send the gentleman in the second coach to Newcastle,
though he knew they were after the couple that were bound for Berwick--a
device resorted to by Mike, no doubt, for preventing them from coming
upon the robbed couple, and giving information against him when they had
met. Filled with this suspicion, and his desire of revenge, Giles sent
the officers to Mike's house, and afterwards gave as much evidence
against him as he could, consistently with his wish to keep the contents
of the portmanteau to himself. Having gone and examined it next day, he
found nothing in it but papers; and therefore resolved upon committing
it to the charge of Alice, and then informing the officers that it was
in her custody. To prevent Alice from telling how it came into her
possession, and of course to leave the presumption open that she had got
it from Mike, he said that Mike had been one of the robbers; and the
reason why he had said that he himself was the other, was, that he was
personating one of the robbers at the time when he was speaking to
Alice; and, as he knew that the report spoke of two robbers, he glided
naturally into the statement he had made to Alice, whom he wished also
to prejudice against his rival. This declaration Giles signed; and Lewis
came away with it in his pocket very well pleased. He read it to Alice
Parker as he passed along. She was delighted beyond adequate powers of
expression, and only wanted an explanation of the ring to satisfy her
entirely.
"That ye'll get too," said Lewie. "I hae a' that, cut and dry; but the
time's no just come yet. Ye maun hae patience, and I wad recommend to ye
to pay some attention in the meantime to puir Mike, and mak amends for
yer cruelty, in refusin to tell a lee to save the life o' a
fellow-cratur."
"If people were not cruel to themselves," said Alice, "they would not
require any one to commit for them so heinous a sin."
Lewis left her, and returned to Dumfries, where he communicated his
success to Mike. Some time afterwards, the former understood that
Captain Beachum had written from Paris, wishing to avoid a personal
appearance in Scotland; but the Lord Advocate wrote him back, to say
that, if he did not appear, he would neither get the criminal
prosecuted, nor receive up his portmanteau and papers. The captain
(leaving his young wife on the Continent) accordingly came over to
Dumfries, extremely anxious to have the trial over, and get possession
of his papers. As soon as Threshum knew he was arrived at the Cross
Keys, he waited upon him.
"Captain Beachum," said Lewis, "ye hae committed an honest man to
prison, on a charge o' being the individual wha robbed ye o' your
portmanteau, guineas, and ring. Wad ye ken him if ye saw him?"
"No," said the captain; "but there's proof enough against him; he had my
ring in his possession, and the portmanteau was discovered in the house
of his sweetheart."
"The last part o' the charge gaes for naething," said Lewis, "as I can
prove to your satisfaction; and the first proves nae robbery, but only
your munificence in giein a man a dimond ring, as a luck-penny to a
bargain, whereby ye saved yersel and yer wife frae the vengeance o' Mr
Anson, wha was that nicht followin you wi' a' the speed o' a guardian's
flight after his ward."
"What mean you?" said the captain.
"Do ye no recollect," said Lewis, "o' giein a man on a black mare twenty
guineas to mak a red-herrin drag across the nose o' Mr Anson?"
"I do," said the captain; "but I did not give him the ring."
"I can assure ye that ye did, though," said Lewis. "Recollect yoursel."
"I'm not inclined to try to recollect my own stupidity," said the
captain. "It is impossible I could be so foolish as to give away my
diamond ring, either as a present or by mistake."
"If you're no inclined to do that muckle justice to an injured man,
maybe you'll gie me the papers that belang to Mr Anson, by virtue o'
this letter o' authority" (taking out the letter). "Tak your choice."
"The papers, sir," said the captain, getting frightened, "are all I
want. I care nothing for the prosecution of the man. It's certainly
possible I may have given him the ring by mistake; but how do you
account for the portmanteau being in his lover's house?"
Lewis read to him Giles Baldwin's deposition.
"Then," said the captain, "all the evidence against Maxwell is the
ring?"
"Naething mair," said Lewis.
"He shall not be hanged for that," said the captain. "I shall go off to
the authorities, and inform them that it is very probable I gave the man
the ring in the way you mention. You say nothing of Mr Anson and the
papers, you know."
"I canna interfere, luckily," said Lewis.
On the statement of Captain Beachum, Mike was liberated. He afterwards
took a farm, married Alice Parker, whom he admired the more for her love
of truth, and lived with happily for many years; but he ever lamented
the course of life he had led. He ran a great risk of being hanged, from
the curious combination of circumstances that conspired against
him--lost reputation by it, and caused unspeakable grief to one of the
best of women. Hence our moral: that one is not always safe from the
effects of vice, though he act within the laws.
REUBEN PURVES; or, THE SPECULATOR.