"THE COUNTERFEITER'S DAUGHTER."
I am somewhat anxious about this coming bit of work, and a little
reluctant as well, but it must be done, and that promptly.
Just outside of the avenue gate I encounter a servant from the Hill
House, and accost him.
"Is Miss Manvers at home, and awake?"
"Yes, she is at home; she has been disturbed by the bells," and has sent
him to inquire into the cause of the commotion.
She does not know, then! I heave a sigh of relief and hurry on.
I cross the avenue, and follow the winding foot-path leading up to the
front entrance. I make no effort to see Jim or Gerry, at the barn; I
feel sure that they are equal to any emergency that may arise.
Miss Manvers is standing at an open drawing-room window; she sees my
approach and comes herself to admit me.
Then we look at each other.
She, I note, seems anxious and somewhat uneasy, and she sees at a
glance that I am not the jaunty, faultlessly-dressed young idler of past
days, but a dusty, dishevelled, travel-stained individual, wearing,
instead of the usual society smile, a serious and preoccupied look upon
my face.
"Miss Manvers," I say, at once, "you will pardon my abruptness, I trust;
I must talk with you alone for a few moments."
She favors me with a glance of keen inquiry, and a look of apprehension
crosses her face.
Then she turns with a gesture of careless indifference, and leads the
way to the drawing-room, where she again turns her face toward me.
"I have before me an unpleasant duty," I begin again; "I have to inform
you that Arch Brookhouse has been arrested."
A fierce light leaps to her eyes.
"_Is that all?_" she questions.
"The charge against him is a grave one," I say, letting her question
pass unanswered. "He is accused of attempted abduction."
"Abduction!" she exclaims.
"And attempted assassination."
"Assassination! ah, _who_?"
"Attempt first, upon myself, in June last. Second attempt, upon Dr. Carl
Bethel."
A wrathful look crosses her face.
"I wish they could hang him for it!" she says, vindictively. Then she
looks me straight in the eyes. "Did you come to tell me this because you
fancy that I care for Arch Brookhouse?" she questions.
"No."
"Why, then?"
"Because I am a detective, and it was my duty to come. There is more to
tell you. 'Squire Brookhouse and his gang were arrested last night in
the act of removing stolen horses from your barn."
Her face pales and she draws a long sighing breath, but she does not
falter nor evince any other sign of fear.
"So it has come," she says. "And now you are here to arrest me. I don't
think I shall mind it much."
"I have come to make terms with you, Miss Lowenstein, and it will be
your fault if they are hard terms. I know your past history, or, at
least--"
"At _least_, that I am a counterfeiter's daughter, and that I have
served a term as a convict," she finishes, sarcastically.
"I know that you are the daughter of Jake Lowenstein, forger and
counterfeiter. I know that you were arrested with him, as an accomplice;
that immunity was offered you if you would testify against your father,
the lawyers being sure that your evidence alone would easily convict
him. I know that you refused to turn State's evidence; that you scoffed
at the lawyers, and rather than raise your voice against your father,
let them send you to prison for two years."
"You know all this?" wonderingly. "How did you find me out here?"
"Before you were taken to prison, they took your picture for--"
I hesitate, but she does not.
"For the rogue's gallery," she says, impatiently. "Well! go on."
"You were fiercely angry, and the scorn on your face was transferred to
the picture."
"Quite likely."
"I had heard of your case, and your father's, of course. But I was not
personally concerned in it, and I never saw him. I had never seen you,
until I came to Trafton."
"I have changed since then," she breaks in, quickly.
"True; you were a slender, pretty young girl then. You are a handsome
woman, now. Your features, however, are not much changed; yet probably,
if I had never seen you save when your face wore its usual serene smile,
I should never have found you out. But my comrade, who came to Trafton
with me--"
"As your servant," she interposes.
"As my servant; yes. He had your picture in his collection. On the day
of your lawn party, I chanced to see you behind a certain rose thicket,
in conversation with Arch Brookhouse. He was insolent; you, angry and
defiant. I caught the look on your face, and knew that I had seen it
before, somewhere. I went home puzzled, to find Carnes, better known to
you as Cooley, looking at a picture in his rogue's gallery. I took the
book and began turning its leaves, and there under my eye was your
picture. Then I knew that Miss Manvers, the heiress, was really Miss
Adele Lowenstein."
"You say that it will be my fault if you make hard terms with me. My
father is dead. I suppose you understand that?"
"Yes; I know that he is dead, but I do not know why you are here, giving
shelter to stolen property and abbetting horse-thieves. Frankly, Miss
Lowenstein, so far as your past is concerned, I consider you sinned
against as much as sinning. Your sacrifice in behalf of your father was,
in my eyes, a brave act, rather than a criminal one. I am disposed to be
ever your friend rather than your enemy. Will you tell me how you became
connected with this gang, and all the truth concerning your relations
with them, and trust me to aid you to the limit of my power?"
"You do not promise me my freedom if I give you this information," she
says, more in surprise than in anxiety.
"It is not in my power to do that and still do my duty as an officer;
but I promise you, upon my honor, that you shall have your freedom if it
can be brought about."
"I like the sound of that," says this odd, self-reliant young woman,
turning composedly, and seating herself near the open window. "If you
had vowed to give me my liberty at any cost I should not have believed
you. Sit down; I shall tell you a longer story than you will care to
listen to standing."
I seat myself in obedience to her word and gesture, and she begins
straightway:
"I was seventeen years old when my father was arrested for
counterfeiting, and I looked even younger.
"He had a number of confederates, but the assistant he most valued was
the man whom people call 'Squire Brookhouse. He was called simply Brooks
eight years ago.
"When my father was arrested, 'Squire Brookhouse, who was equally
guilty, contrived to escape. He was a prudent sharper, and both he and
father had accumulated considerable money.
"If you know that my father and myself were sentenced to prison, he for
twenty years, and I for two, you know, I suppose, how he escaped."
"I know that he did escape; just how we need not discuss at present."
"Yes; he escaped. Brookhouse used his money to bribe bolder men to do
the necessary dangerous work, for he, Brookhouse, needed my father's
assistance, and he escaped. I had yet six months to serve.
"Well, Brookhouse had recently been down into this country on a
plundering expedition. He was an avaricious man, always devising some
new scheme. He knew that without my father's assistance, he could hardly
run a long career at counterfeiting, and he knew that counterfeiting
would be dangerous business for my father to follow, in or near the
city, after his escape.
"They talked and schemed and prospected; and the result was that they
both came to Trafton, and invested a portion of their gains, the largest
portion of course, in two pieces of real estate; this and the Brookhouse
place.
"Before we had been here a year, my father grew venturesome. He went to
the city, and was recognized by an old policeman, who had known him too
well. They attempted to arrest him, but only captured his dead body. The
papers chronicled the fact that Jake Lowenstein, the counterfeiter, was
dead. And we, at Trafton, announced to the world that Captain Manvers,
late of the navy, had been drowned while making his farewell voyage.
"After that, I became Miss Manvers, the heiress, and the good
Traftonites were regaled with marvelous stories concerning a
treasure-ship dug out from the deep by my father, 'the sea captain.'
"Their main object in settling in Trafton, was to provide for themselves
homes that might afford them a haven should stormy times come. And,
also, to furnish them with a place where their coining and engraving
could be safely carried on.
"Then the 'Squire grew more enterprising. He wanted more schemes to
manage. And so he began to lay his plans for systematic horse-stealing.
"Little by little he matured his scheme, and one by one he introduced
into Trafton such men as would serve his purpose, for, if you inquire
into the matter, you will find that every one of his confederates has
come to this place since the first advent of 'Squire Brookhouse.
"The hidden place in our barn was prepared before my father was killed,
and after that--well, 'Squire Brookhouse knew that I could be a great
help to him, socially.
"I did not know what to do. This home was mine, I felt safe here; I had
grown up among counterfeiters and law-breakers, and I did not see how I
was to shake myself free from them--besides--"
Here a look of scornful self-contempt crosses her face.
"Besides, I was young, and up to that time had seen nothing of society
of my own age. Arch Brookhouse had lately come home from the South, and
I had fallen in love with his handsome face."
She lifts her eyes to mine, as if expecting to see her own self-scorn
reflected back in my face, but I continue to look gravely attentive, and
she goes on:
"So I stayed on, and let them use my property as a hiding-place for
their stolen horses. I kept servants of their selection, and never knew
aught of their plans. When I heard that a horse had been stolen, I felt
very certain that it was concealed on my premises, but I never
investigated.
"After a time I became as weary of Arch Brookhouse as he, probably, was
of me. Finally indifference became detestation. He only came to my house
on matters of business, and to keep up the appearance of friendliness
between the two families. Mrs. Brookhouse is a long-suffering,
broken-down woman, who never sees society.
"I do not intend to plead for mercy, and I do not want pity. I dare say
that nine-tenths of the other women in the world would have done as I
did, under the same circumstances. I have served two years in the
penitentiary; my face adorns the rogues' gallery. I might go out into
the world and try a new way of living, but I must always be an impostor.
Why not be an impostor in Trafton, as well as anywhere else? I have
always believed that, some day, I should be found out."